After spending a long time wandering outside with Mayu—even staying with her overnight—Shinn finally returned to the Minerva in the morning.
In the dormitory, Rey was sitting on his bed, flipping through a book.
"Philosophy... you still have time for that?" Shinn glanced at the cover of the book in Rey's hand, his expression turning slightly odd as he reached out to pull out his uniform and prepare to change.
"It is precisely because I know how short my life is that I must acquire more knowledge." Closing the book casually, Rey sighed. "When do you plan to act?"
"Honestly, I don't know." Shinn finished putting on his uniform and tidied himself up. "Thinking back, I feel like slapping my past self. I talked big without having any kind of plan at all."
"Then we'll adapt to the situation. At worst, you pilot the Impulse to take her out, and I'll open the hangar doors for you." Rey spoke without a hint of hesitation after a moment's thought.
"Given how much Chairman Durandal values you... you won't be executed. Most likely, you'll just face confinement."
Rey's suggestion left Shinn stunned for a moment, unsure whether Rey was helping him or leading him toward disaster. But Rey's next words injected a sharp sense of urgency into him.
"The Minerva sets sail tonight. If you're going to act, it must be before the ship withdraws, or it will be too late for everything."
"Rey... why are you helping me to this extent?" Shinn stared at Rey, who was still sitting on the bed, his expression becoming serious. "This is an action that could brand you a traitor. By any logic, you should have reported me."
Faced with Shinn's question, Rey fell into a prolonged silence, lost in thought. His long golden hair obscured his eyes, making it impossible for Shinn to read his expression or judge his intent.
Strangely, however, Shinn had a vague feeling that Rey didn't intend to harm him.
"...It is of my own will," Rey finally gave a vague answer after a long silence.
Rey recalled his conversation with Durandal. He thought about it for a while but ultimately decided not to explain it to Shinn. After all, Durandal had told him that letting Shinn send Stellar away was "very important."
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On the bridge of one of the Archangel-class ships within the Earth Alliance fleet, an officer squinted at the intelligence report in his hand.
"How much further to Mendel?"
"Thirty minutes," the helmsman replied after checking the distance.
"Should we prepare the Daggers for sortie?" the adjutant asked from the side. "We can strike directly into their harbor and destroy the ZAFT warship where it sits."
A raid on a port like this reminded the officer of a certain battle from the Common Era he had studied in the war history of the military academy. The atmosphere on the bridge was a mix of calm and a brewing feverish intensity—the crew was eager to sink ZAFT's newest ship and claim the glory for themselves.
"According to Seiran, the ZAFT ship is docked in a small civilian port... once we cross Mendel's boundary, launch the Daggers," the officer ordered after a moment of reflection. "The fleet will then move to blockade the port entrance. Half of the Dagger force will move through Mendel's interior to pincer the ZAFT ship from both sides."
"But doing that... it will affect the interior of Mendel. Won't that be a problem?" The adjutant hesitated. "The Orb garrison will surely react."
"That is why the battle must be swift. We cannot cause excessive damage to the colony, and we must not give ZAFT or Orb time to react." The officer set down the intel report. "Besides, we made a deal with the Seiran family, not with Orb itself. If not for the terms of the deal, the mere fact that they are harboring ZAFT would be enough justification to organize a much larger fleet to purge Orb entirely."
In truth, several extreme factions within the Earth Alliance favored the total annihilation of Orb. However, following the Seiran family's overtures, the leadership decided that maximizing profit by turning Orb into a puppet state was the superior option. They abandoned the annihilation plan in favor of installing the Seirans as the new rulers.
"In any case, pass the word down: the fleet is to prepare for combat."
At the officer's command, the hangars burst into activity. A large number of pre-prepared Daggers were powered up, their Wetware components—biological CPUs—synching with the machines for the coming sortie.
The Earth Alliance still retained a small number of human pilots, but the majority of their Mobile Suits were now operated by these biological CPU units. This shift had greatly pleased Logos, the financial backers of Blue Cosmos. As the war progressed, the birth rates of Naturals had plummeted, but the massive influx of war orphans provided a nearly endless supply of "raw materials" for these biological components.
By comparison, the resources allocated for the development of "Extended" humans—like Stellar—had been reduced, which remained a constant source of frustration for Murta Azrael and his supporters.
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Aboard the Nahel Argama, Murrue sat in the captain's chair with a furrowed brow, staring at the screen displaying the radar tracks of the Earth Alliance fleet.
"The Orb forces aren't moving... Has the Seiran family suppressed them?" Natarle Badgiruel asked, her own doubts surfacing as she watched the scene unfold.
"Regardless, the Earth Alliance has crossed the line. Nahel Argama, start engines! Head for the Mendel colony!" Seeing that the Earth Alliance had already deployed its Mobile Suits, Murrue made a decisive call to engage.
As helmsman Arnold Neumann pushed the control levers, the Nahel Argama's thrusters erupted with fierce flames, propelling the ship toward Mendel.
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Meanwhile, the port where the Minerva was docked had descended into total chaos following a sudden notification from Morgenroete that the Earth Alliance was approaching. The Minerva, having only just completed basic repairs, immediately transitioned into a combat-ready state.
"Why would the Earth Alliance suddenly raid Mendel? Is it an attack on Orb?" Sitting in her command chair, Talia Gladys's mind raced through potential strategies.
"No... looking at how they're surrounding us, and the fact that the main Orb garrison hasn't deployed, this was likely orchestrated by Mendel's leadership and the Earth Alliance," Durandal analyzed, his eyes narrowing in the dim bridge light. "Furthermore, several MS are cutting directly through the residential sectors... they intend to pin us down."
For the Seiran family, while losing Mendel would be painful, it was a price they were willing to pay to fulfill their ambitions. They were currently working feverishly to suppress the Orb military's movements; only a few scattered units had managed to mount any resistance.
Unfortunately, the main force of newly-deployed M1 Astrays had been grounded by the Seirans' orders, leaving those few resisting Orb soldiers to fight against the Alliance Daggers and MAs with inferior equipment.
"Shinn, take the Impulse and intercept the Alliance MS coming through the residential zone. Luna and Rey, pilot your Zakus and escort the Minerva during the breakout!" Talia issued her orders.
At that moment, Shinn—dressed in his pilot suit—was carrying a young girl in a white hospital gown into the Impulse's hangar. Just after changing, Shinn hadn't headed for his machine immediately. Instead, he had returned to the Minerva's infirmary. Under the confused gaze of the doctor, he had knocked the man out with a single punch and carried Stellar directly from her bed.
Rey had also used various excuses to draw the maintenance crew's attention away, allowing Shinn to reach the Impulse's hangar without further incident.
"How is this possible? Where did it go wrong...?" The maintenance crew was currently huddled around Rey's Zaku Warrior, frantically running diagnostics.
Rey's original Zaku had been completely destroyed in the battle with the Unicorn. Fortunately, there were spare parts available, and the crew had scrambled to assemble a replacement. In the frantic environment, no one suspected that the "errors" in the Zaku's systems were Rey's own doing.
Seeing Shinn enter the Impulse's cockpit out of the corner of his eye, Rey discreetly tapped a few keys on his console.
"It... it started up!" Hearing the surprised cheers of the maintenance crew, Rey donned his helmet.
"The situation is critical. We can worry about the fine-tuning if we survive." With that, Rey piloted the Zaku Warrior toward the hangar gate. "Rey Za Burrel, Zaku Warrior, launching!"
As the hangar doors opened, Rey flew the Zaku to the deck atop the Minerva and raised his machine gun. On the other side of the upper deck, Lunamaria was already waiting, her Gunner Zaku's beam sniper rifle at the ready.
"What took you so long?!" Lunamaria gripped her controls as she watched the Minerva begin to move.
"A machine cobbled together from spares is bound to have some flaws," Rey replied casually, though his attention was fixed on the Core Splendor that had just launched.
The speed is a bit slow... is he trying to be careful with that fragile girl?
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The violent shaking and the sudden, familiar pressure caused the incredibly weak Stellar to open her eyes.
The first thing she saw was Shinn, clad in his pilot suit. He looked as though he had made a final, firm resolution as he piloted the Impulse toward a residential sector. In the distance, several Daggers were flying toward the Minerva, intercepted by a small pocket of Orb garrison forces piloting MAs and Daggers.
"Shinn..."
A faint, weak voice reached his ears, snapping Shinn back to the moment. The cockpit's external comms were off; there was only one person who could have spoken.
"Stellar, you'll be safe very soon."
Shinn glanced down at Stellar in his arms and maneuvered the Impulse to land in a small plaza. On his monitors, he saw a young girl wearing a long black trench coat and sunglasses. She completely ignored the gale-force winds kicked up by the Impulse's landing, seemingly preoccupied with observing the machine itself.
"You're going to leave with my sister. You'll be saved then."
Seeing Mayu thoroughly enjoying her "secret agent" role-play, Shinn felt a slight sense of relief. The Impulse knelt on one knee, and the cockpit hatch hissed open. Shinn used the descent cable, carrying Stellar down to the ground.
"Whoa, so this is the sister-in-law? She's so light!" Mayu took one look at the uniformed Shinn and didn't say much else as she stepped forward to take Stellar into her arms.
In her weakened state, Stellar could only feebly grasp Shinn's arm before settling into Mayu's embrace. Shinn placed the broken, non-functional survival beacon he had snapped earlier into Stellar's hand.
"It's okay... go with my sister for now. We will meet again." Shinn reached out and gently stroked Stellar's head. "I promise."
"Alright, big brother, you need to go." Mayu looked down at Stellar in her arms. "Otherwise, you're definitely going to be caught by ZAFT."
"Make sure to give those Earth Alliance jerks a real thrashing."
"...Yeah."
Hearing Mayu's words, Shinn took one last look at Stellar before turning back to the Impulse without a second glance. Now was not the time for a dramatic, lingering idol-movie farewell. Whether it was covering Mayu's retreat or concealing his own unauthorized actions, he had to wipe out those Earth Alliance forces.
Rising once more, the Impulse ignited its thrusters and soared into the sky. After taking a moment to aim, Shinn opened fire. A green beam sliced through the gaps between the residential buildings, piercing the cockpit of a Dagger without detonating its battery. The depowered Dagger collapsed, crushing a nearby building as it settled into a heap of brick and concrete rubble.
Fortunately, the residents of Mendel had already evacuated; otherwise, that single fall would have caused significant casualties.
"Shinn..." Watching the Impulse fly through the air, Stellar instinctively reached out her hand.
"You're Stellar, right?" Mayu looked at the girl in her arms and flashed a mischievous, slightly wicked smile. "Let's go. If you don't recover, my brother will worry himself to death."
Based on Shinn's descriptions, Mayu knew exactly how to handle Stellar: treat her like a child. Every time she thought about it, Mayu mentally criticized her brother for his "dating a simpleton" behavior.
"If you come with me now to get treated, I'll tell you all about my brother's most embarrassing secrets," Mayu said, finally revealing her true aim. "That way, you can use his dark history to keep him wrapped around your finger later."
"Shinn's... stories?!"
Hearing Mayu's words, Stellar's eyes seemed to light up despite her extreme weakness.
....................