Dearka's squad was getting slaughtered by the unknown enemy. They weren't prepared for combat, and were at a massive disadvantage.
"Retreat! We need to retreat for now!" Dearka commanded.
He fired out a shot that disrupted the foe, blowing up part of the ruined colony.
"I'm sending out rifles for your GuAIZes!" Yzak shouted. "Dearka, protect those Meteor Breakers! I'll be right there!"
Mayu watched as her brother combined the Core Splendor into the Force Impulse. Seeing that combination never got old for her, and always reassured her that her brother was there to protect them.
It'll be fine. She said to herself. Big Brother, Luna and Rey are all here with me. Not to mention Athrun, a hero of the last war. We'll be okay.
Her hands were still trembling.
Cagalli entered the ship's bridge to see that the operation was already underway.
"So they're using GINNs?" Durandal asked.
"Yes. They appear to be using High Maneuver Type 2s." Talia said. "Any sign of the mothership?"
"None."
"But what the hell…" Arthur said, wiping his brow. "Does this mean these guys are responsible for altering Junius Seven's orbit?"
"Eh?" Cagalli expressed surprise as Durandal looked over at her.
"Who in their right mind would do that?!" Arthur asked.
"But if that's true, it's all the more reason why we can't let them drop it on Earth!" Talia said. "Please keep Rey and the others updated!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Meyrin nodded.
"Princess." Durandal raised a hand to Cagalli, gesturing for her to sit down.
"R-Right." Cagalli sat in a chair. "Where's Athrun?"
"What? You don't know?" Durandal looked rather surprised.
"Huh?"
"He came to us and asked that he be allowed to help." Durandal answered. "He's out there right now."
Cagalli widened her eyes, before looking at the monitor showing the falling remains of the colony.
Yzak took off in his Slash ZAKU Phantom towards Dearka's squad with reinforcements. Dearka fired a blast from his beam cannon, which the enemy managed to dodge.
"Who are these guys, anyway?!" Dearka grit his teeth. "They sure know how to handle those GINNs!"
Yzak fired several shots with his beam rifle, protecting several of his own men who were carrying demolition tools. "The workers are to continue with the demolition! If we stop, we'll be playing right into their hands!"
As soon as he dodged another shot and took down another enemy, the radar started to beep. Looking over, they saw three distinct mobile suits flying towards them.
"You've gotta be kidding!" Sting said. "Who the hell fights in this kind of area?!"
"Were you the ones who set the colony in motion?!" Auel shouted.
Stella said nothing, but joined Auel and Sting in attacking. Neither side was spared as the attacks were indiscriminate.
"What the-?! Chaos, Gaia and Abyss?!" Yzak recognized.
"The machines stolen from Armory One!" Dearka said.
Approaching the fallen colony, the Minerva members saw the stolen mobile suits on their radar.
"It's them!" Shinn shouted.
"They're here?" Mayu was confused. "Why?"
"Well, whatever they're here for, we'll get those three today!" Luna said.
"Those machines are not our objective!" Athrun said.
"I know that!" Luna said. "But they're attacking us! Unless we get rid of them, we won't get any work done, will we?!"
Athrun grunted in reluctant agreement as they approached the battle.
"Mayu, stay close to any of us." Rey said. "Do not go off on your own."
"I know, I know…" Mayu gripped her controls.
Shinn looked at his communicator, seeing how his sister was trying her best to stay calm. Damn it… It's thanks to the bastards that stole the mobile suits that Mayu has to fight…! I won't forgive them!
"Junius Seven's descent angle has increased by 1.5! Four percent acceleration!" Arthur reported.
"The Joule Team is under attack by the Chaos, the Gaia and the Abyss!" Meyrin turned to the Captain.
"They're unable to continue with the demolition work." Arthur said. "Captain! We should go after Bogey One!"
Talia considered it for a moment, before turning to Chairman Durandal. "Mr. Chairman, what is your assessment of Bogey One's current involvement?"
"Hm?"
"Pirates? Or part of the Earth Forces?"
Cagalli looked at Durandal, curious to see what he'd say.
"That's a difficult question." Durandal said. "I would rather not get into a battle with the Earth Forces."
"There's no saying what it could trigger, after all." Talia said.
"But the situation has changed." Durandal said.
"Right. The situation is critical; if they declare themselves to be with the Earth Forces or associated with them in some way, fighting them here would be meaningless." Talia agreed.
"On the contrary, they could be interpreting our actions as protecting those GINNs." Durandal noted.
"They couldn't be!" Arthur said.
"It's entirely possible." Talia said. "If those machines happened to be Daggers, you'd be suspicious of the Earth Forces and their participation, wouldn't you?"
Cagalli looked down at the map of the situation.
"Can we get in touch with Bogey One?" Durandal suggested.
"We could use the International Rescue Channel." Talia said.
"Then reach out to them." Durandal said. "Make it clear to them that we are making every effort to crush Junius Seven and stop it from falling to Earth."
"Haaaaah!" The Impulse fired a shot at the Abyss, who blocked it with one of its shields. The Abyss responded by firing several more in response, the foe swiftly dodging. Luna's ZAKU and the Gaia got into their own firefight, while Rey's ZAKU took on the Chaos.
Mayu and Athrun flew nearby the ZAFT forces trying to destroy Junius Seven. Athrun scored a headshot on one of the enemy GINNs, before taking out its leg. He watched Mayu fire several shots, but they didn't hit the foe.
"Mayu!" Athrun called. "Aim at the direction that you predict they'll fly, as you'll be too predictable if you try direct shots!"
"Ah! Right!" Mayu tightened the grip on her controls.
They heard their radar beep, and two more GINNs flew in from behind them. Athrun managed to destroy the beam rifle of one, but to his surprise, Mayu managed to hit the other GINN. Though his surprise was less of how she managed to hit, and more of what she hit. Both of the arms of the GINN had been destroyed by her GuAIZ R's railguns, and her beam rifle took out the head, rendering it borderline inoperable. She had a clear shot to finish them off, but didn't take it, instead focusing on the rest of the enemy.
She chose not to aim for the cockpit… Athrun realized. Just like…
He didn't have much time to contemplate it further, as the Chaos blasted at the demolition tools. Gritting his teeth, he engaged with the machine, destroying one of its remote weapons before getting up close. "Cut it out!"
The Chaos fired its vulcans at Athrun's ZAKU, but he responded with a powerful strike that knocked it back. The enemy tried using its remaining remote blaster, but Athrun blocked it with his shield, drawing out the beam tomahawk. He threw the weapon, destroying the other mobile weapon pod.
"Who is this guy?!" Sting shouted. "He's strong!"
Luna fired a beam cannon blast at the Gaia pursuing her. In its canine mobile armor mode, it managed to jump to avoid the shot, jumping off a meteor before pouncing onto Luna's ZAKU, sending her crashing onto Junius Seven's surface.
"This'll finish you, Red Suit!" Stella screamed.
"Not so fast!" Luna yelled.
The ZAKU practically backflipped out of the charge, before kicking the Gaia away. Luna drew out the beam tomahawk, throwing it at the Gaia which returned fire, destroying her ZAKU's leg.
"Luna!" Mayu shouted, flying over towards her and firing at the swift Gaia.
On a remote beach a young man with brown hair was sitting on the front porch of a house. A girl with pink hair was watching him in concern, as they listened intently to a news report about Junius Seven.
The ZAFT destruction crew managed to land several of the drills, as they started boring holes into the remains of the colony. In spite of this advancement, the situation was tense as the Minerva reached out to Bogey One in an attempt for a temporary ceasefire due to the situation. The situation was rather flimsy, as their mobile suits were still in combat with one another.
"Hurry!" Yzak shouted, approaching his men. "It might still be too late even if we do manage to split it!"
"It's secure!"
"Good!"
The last drill started to bore through, as massive cracks started forming throughout Junius Seven. With massive tremors, the colony was torn in half.
"Great! We did it!" Dearka shouted.
Mayu watched, seeing the stolen mobile suits retreat slightly. It seems they realized how ZAFT was attempting to stop the falling colony.
"What's going on here?!" Sting said, confused.
"That thing just split in two!" Auel added.
While the situation seemed better now, it was still far from over.
"But we're not done yet!" Athrun shouted. "We need to break it into smaller pieces."
Both Yzak and Dearka widened their eyes at the voice. "Athrun?!"
"You bastard! What the hell are you doing here?!" Yzak yelled, knowing the hoops that were jumped to allow this.
"That's not important right now!" Athrun said. "We must continue with our mission!"
"R-Right!" Dearka nodded.
"I know that!" Yzak said, irritated.
Athrun and Yzak's ZAKU's flew alongside Dearka's, which was carrying another of the drills.
"You haven't changed, Yzak." Athrun noted.
"Neither have you!" Yzak shot back.
Dearka cracked his neck in annoyance, remembering the bickering that Athrun and Yzak used to do two years ago. "Good grief."
An alert appeared on their radar, before they saw two GINNs flying at them. While Dearka carried the drill, Athrun and Yzak went forward, intercepting them. They managed to disarm one, as Yzak fired the gatling guns on his machine's shoulders. Dearka provided support and fired his beam cannon, destroying the other.
The Abyss flew into view, still unsure about the situation as it scanned the ZAFT trio. "Those guys…!"
It fired a beam at them, as the three dodged. Athrun and Yzak turned towards the direction of the shot.
"Yzak!" Athrun called.
"Shut up!" Yzak shot back, as the two flanked the Abyss. "I'm the one in command here! Stop giving orders, you damn civilian!"
Yzak caught the Abyss off-guard, slicing its lance in half. Athrun took the opening to slice off one of its legs at the knee.
"Auel!" Sting shouted as the Chaos approached.
Athrun's ZAKU fired several beam shots, forcing it back. This allowed Yzak to get in close and use his beam axe to slice the shield of the Chaos, before Athrun threw his beam tomahawk to destroy its beam rifle. The Impulse and Mayu's GuAIZ R flew in nearby, amazed at the coordination and ability of the trio.
This is the strength and skill of the survivors of Jachin Due… Mayu was in awe. They're on a completely different level…
She turned, watching as Dearka placed another meteor breaker.
"Shinn! Mayu! What are you doing?! We're not finished with our mission yet!" Rey came over the comms.
Three explosive signals went off, as the stolen mobile suits stopped fighting to observe it.
Those in the Minerva's bridge also saw the signal, realizing what it meant.
"Looks like they finally believe us." Durandal said, relieved.
"That may be true, or there could be another reason." Talia said.
"Another reason?" Durandal raised a brow.
"The altitude." Talia said.
The realization hit everyone, as they realized where the ship was as the stolen mobile suits began retreating.
"If we continue to fall with Junius Seven, the ship won't be able to escape Earth's gravity." Talia said, as Luna's damaged ZAKU returned to the ship. "We must decide now what lives we cannot afford to lose. Who we can save, and who we cannot."
"Captain..." Durandal said, as she turned to him.
"I'm sorry to have to bring this up under the circumstances, but please make your way over to the Voltaire." She requested.
"Eh?"
"The Minerva will now descend into the atmosphere for as long as possible and continue to tear down the objective using our main canon." Talia said.
"What?!" Arthur shouted. "C-Captain! You can't be…"
"I don't know how much more we can do, but it wouldn't be right if we didn't try everything we could." Talia said.
"But Talia…" Durandal was about to protest.
"I'm a woman with lots of luck." Talia said. "Please trust me."
Cagalli noticed Durandal didn't seem comfortable with sending the Minerva crew on such a mission, but he relented. "All right. Thanks, Talia. I appreciate it."
"Thank you." She smiled with a salute. "Now, please hurry, Mr. Chairman."
"Let's go, Miss." Durandal told Cagalli before standing up and holding a hand out to her.
"Tell the Voltaire that Chairman Durandal is on his way!" Talia commanded. "Send out a retreat signal to the mobile suits!"
Cagalli shook her head at Durandal's hand. "I'm staying here."
Talia turned at her words.
"Athrun hasn't returned yet." Cagalli said. "If the Minerva will go to such lengths to protect the Earth, then I shall join you!"
"However, there are other duties where statespersons are required." Talia argued.
"If you insist, Miss Representative, I shall respect that." Durandal said, as Talia sighed.
Mayu watched as the Minerva launched several light signals, indicating the order to return.
"Tch! We've reached critical altitude!" Dearka realized.
Yzak looked at his monitor, seeing a text-only message from the Minerva. "Will the Minerva continue to descend while firing its main cannon?"
Their machines all started to retreat, watching as the Minerva descended. The Voltaire Lord Durandal was on took off, as he left the situation to ZAFT.
"Attention all hands! Upon retrieving all mobile suits, this ship will continue attacking the objective with the main cannon, while descending into Earth's atmosphere." Arthur announced.
"What?!" Luna said, as she stepped out of her damaged ZAKU.
"All hands are expected to review their manuals and take appropriate action."
Shinn watched as Junius Seven continued to fall. He looked down to see Athrun's ZAKU was still holding onto a meteor breaker. "What are you doing?!"
"Big Brother?" Mayu said, following his line of sight.
"Orders have been given for us to return!" Shinn said. "You should've received the notice!"
"Yeah, I know." Athrun said. "You two had better hurry on back."
"Eh?!" Mayu widened her eyes.
"You'll end up being blasted away!" Shinn shouted. "Are you okay with that?!"
"Even with a cannon like Minerva's, there's a greater margin for error if you fire at a distance." Athrun said. "So if we can at least get this one going…"
The two Asuka siblings shared a glance through communications, before nodding. They flew over, grabbing onto the meteor breaker, to Athrun's surprise.
"Why would someone like you side with Orb?" Shinn asked.
Mayu looked at the communicator, with Athrun having a conflicted expression in his face. He was unable to explain before blaster fire rained upon the three, as several of the remaining GINNs flew at them. "I won't let you do any more damage!"
"These guys are still here!" Shinn shouted, drawing a beam saber.
Athrun drew out a beam tomahawk while Mayu aimed her railguns. Athrun deflected a beam rifle shot, while Mayu flew out of the way of another. The blasts hit the ground, causing the meteor breaker to tip.
"Oh no!" Mayu quickly flew back, trying to stabilize it.
"My daughter's tombstone must be dropped and burned for this world to change!" One of the enemy forces shouted.
Shinn sliced through one of the GINNs, blowing it up. "Daughter…?"
"What the…?" Athrun widened his eyes.
Another GINN swung at Athrun, who blocked and swung with his own weapon.
"Why have you forgotten the sorrow of the lives mercilessly thrown away here?! Why do you live in a fabricated world, laughing with those who caused this?!"
"Ah!" Mayu's machine was tackled by one of the GINNs, as Shinn and Athrun continued to listen.
"Tricked by the cowardly successors of Clyne, ZAFT has changed for the worse!"
Mayu shoved off the GINN that had tackled her, blowing him back with her railguns. She flew towards her allies. "Big Brother! Sir Zala!"
Athrun blocked another slash. "Why can't you realize that for us Coordinators, the path of Patrick Zala was the one and only correct path!?"
The name of his late father was enough to distract Athrun, as the arm of his ZAKU was sliced off. Shinn sliced off the arms of one of the GINNs, but it wrapped its legs around the Force Impulse, before detonating, knocking Shinn back.
"Shinn!" Athrun shouted.
While concerned for her big brother, Mayu put her focus into tackling the remaining GINN, before grabbing him and keeping him in place. "Stop it! Stop it now!"
The soldier inside seemed stunned, hearing Mayu's voice. "A child…?"
"Stop it! Your daughter wouldn't want to see you become a monster!" Mayu shouted.
The meteor breaker launched, having been hit by some debris from the soldier that blew himself up. But it seemed to be too late, as Junius Seven started to heat up from reentry speeds.
"Descent sequence, phase two!" Arthur announced, as the Minerva started reentry.
"Where are the Impulse, the GuAIZ, and that ZAKU?" Talia asked.
"We don't know!" Meyrin shouted. "I can't get their position!"
"Athrun!" Cagalli shouted in concern.
"Mayu! We need to pull up!" Athrun shouted.
Mayu didn't seem to hear him as she kept her hold on the enemy.
"You… How old are you?" The soldier asked.
She was surprised by the question, but answered. "I'm twelve."
"She… Would have been twelve today…"
"Mayu!"
The Force Impulse flew in with its beam saber, slicing off the arms of the GINN. It quickly grabbed the hands of Mayu and Athrun's machines, pulling them away from the falling debris. Mayu could only watch as the GINN crashed into the rock, exploding. In spite of Shinn's best efforts, the Impulse was dragged down by gravity, as all three mobile suits started plummeting towards the Earth.
"Damn it!" He shouted, turning to see the GuAIZ falling towards the planet. "MAYU!"
On a remote beach down on Earth, a young woman with pink hair was leading a group of children. "Now, come over here, everybody. Please follow me."
"Where are we going?" One of them asked.
"Oh, I know!" Another said. "Shopping, right?!"
"I still wanna play…"
Lacus looked over at the deck of the nearby house, noticing that the chair was empty. "Kira?"
She looked around for the young man, before realizing he was standing at the edge of the beach, staring up at the falling remains of Junius Seven, mouth slightly agape at seeing the oncoming destruction.
A/N: We slowly start to see different scenes as Mayu gets involved. Some changes are major, some are minor. And we also see the first glimpse of a certain other major player down the line.
Feel free to leave a review. See you all next time.