Chapter 3

Stella POV

We managed to escape through the hole that monster made and returned to our ship. My body was shaking after experiencing near death.

"I'm alright, I'm alive…" My voice quivers with a mix of relief and shock.

"Stella, are you okay?" Sting asked. I could feel he was worried, and that made me happy a bit.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"What the hell was that monster? We were supposed to steal only three new models, but we found out there was a fourth. Then a giant monster appeared, then a red giant and they started fighting each other. This is a crazy day." Aule started complaining again, but he had a point. Everything that happened was crazy. A monster and a giant appeared. I thought they were only fairytales.

We exited the cockpits, and the usual people who took care of us came.

"Where is Neo?" Sting asked.

"He's out fighting to stall time for us. Now, go rest. Your body won't last unless you rest."

We listened to his instructions and went to the recreation room. I was thinking about the giant on our way. Who is he? He appeared and killed the monster and he also disappeared shortly after. How mysterious.

"Stella? What are you thinking?" Sting asked.

"Just the red giant."

"Heh~ you're interested in him. How rare, well, who wouldn't be interested."

Aule also joined in on the conversation. "Do you think some lab created him? A new weapon?"

"I don't think so. Even with Coordinators. It is impossible to create something like that giant."

"Then… maybe he is an alien?"

"Alien? Are you joking?"

"I mean, think about it. It doesn't look human, and seeing it shoot beams and stuff. An alien is the only thing I can think of."

"Mmm~ you have a point, but an alien? It is hard to believe."

"When we already saw a monster and a giant appear. I say anything is possible at this point."

I thought a lot about what that giant is, and Sting and Aule's conversation had me thinking a lot about it. "An alien, huh?"

…

Haru and Yolan finally arrived at the Minerva. The Minerva is an impressive next-generation transatmospheric assault carrier specifically built to be the flagship of ZAFT. This cutting-edge vessel boasts a striking overall length of 365 meters, a towering height of 110 meters, a substantial beam width of 125 meters, and an expansive wingspan of 310 meters.

Haru is still in awe whenever he looks at the Minerva. "I always think it is an impressive ship whenever I look at it."

"I know, right? We are really lucky to be part of its crew. Come on, it is about to leave!" replied Yolan.

They entered the ship and were greeted by Vino. "You two! You're both safe! I thought you both died!"

Vino had tears in his eyes a little and was overreacting. Yolan can only shake his from Vino's foolishness. "Yes-Yes, we're safe. Stop crying, you idiot."

"How rude! I really thought we won't meet again, you know!"

Haru is happy his friend is worried about him. "Thank you for worrying about us, Vino."

"Of course! We're friends, aren't we!"

The three laughed, glad they were reunited.

"Haru! You're okay!" A woman with red hair called out and came up to him.

"Luna! Yes, I'm okay. How about you? I saw your machine got damaged fighting against the kaiju."

"It was nothing. My unit only lost an arm. The cockpit was unharmed."

Lunamaria Hawke is a fellow Coordinator and a close friend of Haru. She is a sociable person who is both cheerful and charming. However, she can be quite stubborn and prone to jealousy in certain situations. She is an elite pilot who operated the red ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior. With red-violet hair and indigo eyes, she is often seen wearing a ZAFT red uniform, holding the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. They met during their academy days and have remained close friends ever since, alongside her two other teammates.

"Anyway, are you sure you're not hurt? Did you hit anything? Since you saw the battle, you must have been near the battlefield."

"I'm okay, Luna. I'm not injured. I was helping people who were injured during the attack."

"Ha~ there you go, helping people again. Even back in the academy, you were the same. But this is a battlefield! What if you got hit by a stray bullet!?"

Haru scratches his head guilty. "Hahaha… sorry. But I can't leave them alone."

Lunamaria gave up. She knew how stubborn he was about helping people. "Yes, yes, at least you're safe now."

'I shouldn't tell her I became a giant and fought that monster. She will question me and lecture me to no end.' Haru thought, reminding himself.

"How are Rey and Shinn?"

"They're fine too. They are checking their units right now since we will be going into combat soon."

"I see…"

A Zaku entered the hangar, and Haru recognized this particular Zaku. It was the one who fought the Gundams and managed to survive.

"That Zaku, it survived."

"You know it, Haru." Luna asked

"Yeah, it fought the Gundams and managed to save the Impulse at one point. The pilot must be very skilled."

"Heh~"

The cockpit opened, and a man and a woman were revealed. Everyone became weary because the man and woman were not part of ZAFT forces.

"Who are they?" asked Luna

She borrowed a gun and walked toward the suspicious people.

"Don't move! Who are you people? You're not with the Forces, are you? What were you doing in that machine!?"

The man stood in front of the woman to protect her. "Lower your rifles. This is Miss Cagalli Yula Athha, Chief Representative of the Orb Union. I am her attendant, Alex Dino."

Luna lowered her gun a bit after knowing the two people were from Orb.

"We got caught up in the commotion while meeting with Chairman Durandal, and we were unable to escape. We had no choice but to borrow the machine to defend ourselves."

"Athha… of Orb?" said Luna

"The Representative has been injured! I understand that the Chairman has also boarded this ship. I'd like to see him."

Haru heard everything and now remembers these two. Before the attack, they were talking with Chairman Durandal, and they were certainly from Orb.

"Luna, they're speaking the truth. Before the attack happened, I saw them talking with the Chairman."

"I see… Very well, I'll report to the Captain of your arrival. I'll escort you to the clinic before the Chairman lets you meet him."

"Thank you." replied Alex.

…

On the bridge of the Minerva, a group of people were watching the recording of the monster and giant's appearance and their fight.

"What do you think, Talia?"

"I don't know what to say besides unbelievable, Mr. Chairman."

Gilbert Durandal is Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council and is currently discussing the recent confrontation between Chandlar and Ultraman with Captain Talia Gladys of the Minerva. Captain Gladys is known for her professionalism and strict demeanor, commanding the respect of her crew both on and off duty. They, along with the bridge crew, are analyzing the confrontation.

"Does the council know about this, Mr. Chairman?"

"No, If they did, I would know as well."

"I see. So, we are dealing with entirely different creatures and possibly extra-terrestrials. Am I right to assume?"

"Possibly, Talia. I will leave it at your discretion. There is no precedent case for this situation. We don't know if those things are new weapons or different creatures after all."

"Very well. We will refer to the unidentified humanoid as red giant for now. Since the whereabouts of the red giant are unknown. Let's focus on the stolen mobile suits for now. The Minerva will launch to pursue them. Will that be fine, Mr. Chairman?"

"Yes, I don't mind."

"Then please disembark, Mr. Chairman. The ship will no doubt enter combat."

"Talia, I have a duty, and I also have the authority. I will go with you. Please permit it."

"Haa… Understood, Mr. Chairman. I will permit it."

"Thank you, Talia."

"Meyrin, announce the launch of Minerva."

"Understood."

Meyrin Hawke is Lunamaria's sister and serves as the ship's communications controller. Unlike her cheerful and open sister, Meyrin is shy and somewhat reserved, even with her own sister. Nevertheless, she does maintain a friendly relationship with everyone on the ship, but it seems that she spends more time with her sister than anyone else.

{This ship is about to take off. All units, please proceed to your station. I repeat. This ship is about to take off. All units, please proceed to your station.}

Haru is in the docking area doing checks on the mobile suits. "So we are finally launching. I hope we will be okay."

"Don't be so pessimistic, Haru. The Minerva won't go down so easily. Besides, our Captain is good. She won't let us sink." said Vino

"I guess you have a point."

{The Minerva is taking off. Condition Red announced. Condition Red announced. Pilots are to gather in the briefing room at once.}

"And that's out queue. Let's go, Haru. We don't want to be thrown around when the Minerva launches."

"Okay"

As the Minerva readies for launch, the crew rushes through final checks. The elevator doors open, and the hands release the Minerva into the vast expanse of space. With Phantom Pain in their sights, the Minerva hurtles through the void in hot pursuit, closing in on their target.

"Log the vessel into our database. From now on, we will refer to it as Bogey One. Are there any enemies nearby?"

"No, no enemies detected, Captain."

"Can we send out our mobile suits?"

"No. They have sustained too much damage from the previous fight and are still undergoing repairs." replied Meyrin

"Hurry the repairs. We'll attack Bogey One. Lower the bridge."

The bridge floor lowers itself into a smaller floor, which is heavily fortified and called the combat bridge.

"Course, Indigo, Delta. Accelerate twenty percent. Prepare the ant-beam depth charges. Arthur! Get into your seat."

"Ah! Yes!"

Arthur Trine is the first officer of the Minerva and serves as Talia's aide. He lacks his captain's experience and tactical ability and is often bewildered by her seemingly reckless decisions. Nonetheless, he is friendly and reliable.

Arthur commands the crew to ready the weapons. "Load launcher eight, numbers one through four, with Neidhart! Activate Tristan one and two! Activate Isolde! Target: Bogey One!"

The Phantom Pain's ship, the Niranjan-class SCV/XA-SO1 Nana Buluku, is also preparing its confrontation with the Minerva.

The Minerva made the first move, launching missiles. "Neidhardts, fire!"

The Nana Buluku evaded shooting down the missiles. Instead of fighting, the Nana Buluku was trying to get away. It was the command of Neo Roanoke to retreat.

"Bogey One is retreating."

"Aim for their engines!" commanded Talia.

The "Isolde," the Triple Cannons of the Minerva, fire at the Nana Buluku, but the shots miss the engines. The Nana Buluku detaches two of its extra propellant tanks and sets them to detonate while evading the shots of the Minerva. 

"Bogey One has detached a section of its hull!"

Talia realizes what those are and issues another command. "Stop firing! Ten to starboard! Maximum thrust!"

The tanks detonate, sending shockwaves through the entire Minerva.

"Bart. What's the enemy ship's position!?"

"Wait a moment, I still haven't…"

"Activate CIWS, fire anti-beam depth charges! They'll be firing at us next."

Unlike what Talia thought. The ship instead ran away, which frustrated her.

"Didn't think they'd use that to escape."

"Seems to be one tough unit we are facing." said Chairman Durandal.

"All the more reason why we mustn't let them get away. It'd be bad news if such a team got their hands on those machines."

"Right."

"At this point, it is too late to disembark and I believe it is best we continue our pursuit of that ship. What is your opinion on this, Mr Chairman?"

"Don't worry about me, Captain. Judging from that firepower, it scares me to think of what might come later if we let them go now. Right now, our top priority is to capture them, or to destroy them."

"Thank you very much."

Talia puts her focus back on the enemy ship. "Still have a trace on them?"

"We can still go after them."

"Then this ship will resume its pursuit of Bogey One."

***

I hope you can leave a review and donate power stones for this story; thank you!

If you want to see advanced chapters and support me, Go to my Patreon.

patreon.com/Najicablitz

I'm trying to be a full time author and I appreciate your support.