Chapter 1
Shinn Asuka sat in his room as he looked at his hands, trembling, almost feeling the controls of his Mobile Suit, the Destiny as he struck down his mentor, Athrun Zala as he tried to run and defect. He told himself as did Rey that he did something right, but since they got back, all he felt was this empty sense of nothingness.
"Shinn?" a knock came from his door as he recognized the voice of Lunamaria Hawke, his friend, and his ally. Shinn looked up at the door and said nothing, he couldn't face Lunamaria after shooting Athrun down, her sister Meyrin was in there and was caught in the fireball.
"Shinn, please talk to me. You just blew right past all of us without saying a word, just please tell me you're okay!" Shinn blankly stared at the door before getting back up and headed toward the door, creaking it open, looking at Lunamaria with his crimson red eyes.
"I'm fine." He said meekly "I want to be left alone right now." Lunamaria looked sad and worried about him, before she could say a word he closed the door once more, leaving him alone with his thoughts, his dark thoughts and his survivors guilt. Memories of Berlin came crashing back to him, a blonde female pilot in Shinn's arms, clinging onto what little life she had left.
Shinn, I love you….
Tears began to cascade down his cheeks as he silently wept, sliding down onto the floor. Minutes pass before Shinn worked up his muster to continue. The intercom in his room started to beep, Shinn got himself off the floor and went over pressing the button showing the person on screen. It was an older female in a white Zodiac Alliance Freedom Treaty (ZAFT) uniform, she looked stern and stoic as she stared back at Shinn.
"Shinn, report to my office. Chairman Durandul wants to debrief on what happened on base." The woman, Captain Talia Gladys ordered
"Yes, Captain Gladys. I'll be there shortly." Shinn said with a calm and deep breath before turning the monitor off. There was a deep sense of dread forming in the pit of Shinn's stomach, a feeling of the worst yet to come.
It was never easy, having to put down people you called your own. But then again, perhaps Athrun Zala really wasn't one of theirs to begin with. There had been too much situations and outbursts from him in previous incursions and fights with the renegade warship, The Archangel, previously flying under the flag of the Earth Alliance, then the nation of ORB, and now flying on its own as a rogue element on the battlefield, causing mass confusion leading to more casualties.
"Talia are you paying attention?" Chairman Gilbert Durandul asked from his desk, hands folded and his cool gaze looking at her.
"Yes Chairman." She said with a short nod
"A rogue element taking one of our own is never easy, but there's a possibility that Athrun Zala's treachery had infected some of our own." The Chairman spoke, fingers rapping against the table as he leaned in, relaxed.
"What are you referring to?"
"I'm talking about Shinn Asuka. While he might have been an asset earlier on in the conflict, he's developed quite the track record of disobeying orders, he let one of the Earth Alliance's EXTENDED soldiers slip through our grasp, went AWOL. We need to consider the fact that he too may be a problem." The Chairman's relaxed expression turned to one of cold and calculating.
"You're assuming that one of my pilots is a double agent?" Gladys looked absolutely bewildered at the notion "Chairman, with all due respect that is absolutely insane!"
"Is it though?" Durandul snapped, standing up from his chair moving across the office space to stand in front of Talia "Captain, we are at war, we are on the defensive here since the Alliance struck at us. They've used subterfuge, sabotage and other vile and villainous methods against us. Is it really that hard to see that there is a virus and a cancer that needs to be cleansed here?" Gladys looked shocked, with no words she could say that was coming to mind for her.
"And this debrief with Shinn?" Gladys finally mentioned
"Until we can ascertain where Shinn's loyalties are, it's best if we have him subdued and imprisoned." Durandul said briefly before taking his seat again. A sense of anger and venom started to build within the ZAFT captain as she stared at the Chairman.
"Understood." She said, sharply, trying to contain her venom against the man she called her leader.
"You're dismissed Captain." Gladys gave a salute to the Chairman before she left, heading into the elevator down. Once she was alone however, the venom and all that anger rushed out, Talia Gladys cursed and yelled out in anger, alone in the elevator.
Shinn was smoothing out his uniform as he rode the elevator up to the Chairman's office, he took the time to try and control his breathing, constantly trying to tell himself that what he was feeling was all in his mind. The elevator came to its stop and the doors were open into a lobby area that lead into Chairman Durandul's office, it was a bit more expansive and flashy for the leader of the PLANT colonies and the ZAFT military, a couple of his elite guard stood at attention at the door way, giving Shinn a look before letting him in.
"Shinn, welcome." The Chairman said with a faint smile "Can I interest you in some tea or coffee?"
"Uh no thanks." Shinn said with a brief sigh "I've come to file my report on the matter of the rogue operative."
"Your report on killing Athrun Zala and Meyrin Hawke. Correct?" the Chairman specified in his question, staring at Shinn almost as if he was looking deep into his soul. Athrun's betrayal might have hit him hard, but having Meyrin, Luna's little sister in the crossfire hit harder than the latter.
"That's…correct."
"You confirmed the kill, right?" Durandul asked, right to the point
"Sir?"
"Athrun and Meyrin, did you confirm the kill?" His question was a little more sharp
"I- Athrun's mobile suit went down in a ball of fire and exploded in the ocean, there really wasn't much to confirm. Both were killed." Shinn furrowed his eyebrows at the Chairman, the anxiety starting to build back up yet again, but the Chairman smiled faintly
"Good. Shinn, I'm going to be honest here with you. This war has taken many lives, displaced so much and destroyed a lot of what we rebuilt and achieved in the two years since the Bloody Valentine War. The Alliance has resorted to dirty tactics to try and wipe us out, they've already used commando units, spies, and other heinous things, it's starting to fester and infect our way of life. Tell me Shinn, where exactly do your loyalties lie?"
Shinn's jaw tightened up at the question, feeling his mouth go dry as the feeling of dread came back hard.
"My loyalty is to ZAFT and the PLANTs. I want to achieve Peace and get things back to the way they were." Shinn spoke with no waver in his voice.
"Is it though? You've had contacts with one of the Alliance experimental freaks, someone we've had in our captivity and you let her go against all orders." Durandul sharply retorted "Does that sound like someone who is loyal to his people? Does that sound like someone who is loyal to ZAFT?" Every ounce of Shinn's being wanted to punch Durandul right then and there.
"That freak had a name, and life that was stolen from her. That freak's name was Stella Loussier." Shinn spoke out, his anger slowly getting the best of him.
"It doesn't matter. She's dead, but thankfully, we fished her body out of the water and are still getting what we needed from her." Durandul said with a shrug. Shinn's eyes went wide in horror as his blood began to boil, and his pulse racing. "But you Shinn, until we can figure out where your loyalties are, you are hear-by sentenced to serve out a prison sentence until further notice, until we can figure out just what you are." Durandul looked at him dead in the eyes, Shinn's fist curled into a ball and before a thought could be process, Shinn was already up and delivering a thunderous uppercut to the Chairman's jaw, his eyes sharp and focused in a berserker like rage. The door to the Chairman's office flew open and a capture team had rolled in with their weapons drawn.
"Shinn Asuka hands on your head now!" the lead had shouted, Shinn's eyes darted to the letter opener on the desk, Shinn quickly grabbed it and threw it with precision, impacting into one of the soldier's throat, the shock of it letting the man's rifle free and flung in the general direction of Shinn who grabbed it and let loose on the gun. The gun fire went on for half a minute before the Capture team was dead. Shinn looked out into the lobby and saw more coming.
No way out… Shinn looked to his right and saw the window and the water below. Using what was left in the gun, he fired the rest of the magazine into window and jumped out down into the dark waters below.
"Shit! All units lock down the base, shoot ZAFT pilot Shinn Asuka on sight. He's a male sixteen-year-old, black hair and red eyes. He cannot be allowed to leave this base alive!" The second commando team lead cursed as he looked out the busted-out window down below while his team helped the Chairman out.
Lunamaria had been working on the Impulse Gundam since it was handed over to her once Shinn was assigned to the Destiny, the alarms snapped her from the focus she was in however. She couldn't make out what was said from the cockpit, climbing out she got a much better understanding, and what she heard made Lunamaria's blood run cold.
"Shinn Asuka is loose and considered armed and extremely dangerous! All armed personnel shoot Shinn Asuka on sight!" the intercom blared. Lunamaria made a quick run for the door leading down off the catwalks when she saw a figure move to the Destiny from the same catwalks. Now, she wasn't sure if this was Shinn or if someone else trying to sabotage or steal a Mobile Suit. She drew out her SIG P446 and ran after the figure, aimed and raised at the figure's back center mass.
"Stop! Turn around slowly and put your hands on your head." She ordered. The figure flinched, he was sopping wet in red ZAFT pants as he slowly turned around to look her in the face. Shinn had that look in his eye, the same look he had when he was on the fields of war, he looked cold. Lunamaria began to lower her gun just as Shinn started to speak
"Luna, turn around and walk away. Don't get involved."
"Shinn, what the hell happened? Why is everyone trying to kill you?"
"If I tell you, you walk away. You forget everything. The Chairman labeled me a traitor, was going to throw me into a Prison for God knows how long after I how close I was to Athrun and since I killed him." Lunamaria looked bewildered with this story, not knowing how to process how crazy it all sounded. But Shinn didn't have time for stories to process he was already running for the Destiny again as he saw guards enter the hangar bay. Climbing in, Shinn booted up the Destiny quick and brought the weapon systems online, locking on with the Head MG Cannons, Shinn squeezed the trigger and let out a burst of Machine Gun fire, killing the soldiers that were after them. From the camera that was online Shinn could see Lunamaria running for cover away from the chaos and back to the Impulse.
Be safe, I'm sorry. Some tears started to form in his eyes, Shinn wiped those away quickly before starting to get the Destiny on the move out of the hangar bay.
Talia paced about her quarters on the Minerva, stewing in her own anger, but upon hearing the alarms and the callout for Shinn's death, most if not all the questions that were on the crew of the Minerva was: Were they going to go after Shinn and kill him? The business with Athrun put a bad taste in the Captain's mouth, especially when he had one of their own, and now they're expecting them to just shut their doors to an ally who's saved their asses on more than one occasion.
You've changed Gil. You've really changed…
There was a distant explosion that caught Talia's attention, looking out the window she saw the Destiny take off full force from the base. Talia looked at the form of the Destiny Gundam take off as a streak of light across the sky before it disappeared.
"Good luck Shinn." She muttered