Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

‘This is a thought’

“This is regular speech”

In a suburban home

“The Federation government announced the creation of a peacekeeping force under the control of the government in order to eliminate anti-government elements. Working in cooperation with intelligence agencies…”

Sergei muted the news, focusing on his call with Kati Mannequin, sitting down onto his couch. The older scarred retired soldier was curious if this was in relation in the creation of this new peacekeeping force.

The military woman stated with a professional tone, “Sergei, headquarters just told me they want to transfer me to this peacekeeping force.”

The scarred man asked neutrally, “Do you plan on going?”

“It might not be a bad idea to take a closer look at the ALAWS.”

“That’s a group with too many secrets.” He heard the door quietly open, and footsteps entered the room, and saw the white hair, yellow eyed 23-year-old super soldier enter the living room “I’d be grateful if you kept me informed of your findings Colonel Mannequin.”

“I always intended to.”

“Yeah.” He hung up the phone and looked up at Soma, seeing that she had a tray with two cups of tea.

“Was that Colonel Mannequin?” Soma inquired curiously as she took one of the cups and gave it to Sergei

“Yes, that’s right.” Keeping his neutral tone from before.

“What did she want?”

Sergei started to pick up his cup of tea, but then put it down, “It’s not really important. More importantly, have you thought about the matter we discussed earlier?”

Soma, in the middle of taking a sip of her tea, looked down and replied in a quiet voice, “No, not yet”

Closing his eyes, he told her in a comforting voice, “There is no need to rush anything. Take your time and think it over.”

Soma, blushed and kept looking down, debating internally on an issue she was having an issue with, but didn’t want to disturb the current atmosphere of the room, so the drank tea in silence, enjoying the peace.

Colony Proud

Saji steadily moved the plate into its proper location, making sure that it would connect properly. His coworker guided him into the correct position. They had been doing this for a while and it was nearing the end of their shift. ‘Finally.’ He wondered if maybe he could be doing something else, but he came to space to fulfill Louise’s and his dream, so he found some satisfaction in being an engineer, even if his relationship with Louise was nonexistent at the moment. He was broken out of stream of consciousness by his coworker saying, “Perfect. Let’s head back in.”

Sighing with relief, the short brown haired, brown eyed man responded with, “Sounds good.”

As they reached the locker room, his coworker turned to him as the glided through zero G. “You are getting pretty good at this job rookie!” he said as he gave Saji a teasing smile. The room was full of people who were either getting off shift or starting their shift.

“I’ve been here for half a year already. When are you going to stop calling me rookie, Eddie?” The brown-haired man bantered in a friendly tone, “My name is Saji Crossroads.” He looked up and stopped when he saw two armored security, only being able to see part of their faces, at the doorway into the hallway. Their gray shoulder armor, helmet and greaves stood out against the black of the rest of the uniform. Eddie turned around and looked at them with a surprised look on his face with his back to the lockers, the other workers in the room looked on confused.

“Eddie Miyasaka, right?” The security offer question with authority as he approached the pair of workers. Eddie looked at the guard with suspicion. The guard, seeing that reaction, commanded to the man, “You are under arrest for suspicion of working with Katharon!”

Eddie threw his helmet at them, hoping to catch the off guard, but one of the guards deflected it, both officers ending up next to Saji near the lockers. Eddie braced against one of locker and as one of the officers tried to grab him, he shouldered said officer and dashed to the doorway, trying to escape the two security members. The guard that just got hit pulled out his gun and hit Eddie twice in his left shoulder, causing Eddie to yell out in pain.

Saji then looked at Eddie getting hit, then the other officer next to him. He asked the officer in a confused voice, “Mr. Miyasaka! What’s going on here?!”

The officer then grabbed Saji and yelled with force behind his voice, “I’m taking you as well!”

Saji called out in surprise, “Me! What did I do?!” The officer then restrained him as he saw Eddie get clubbed over the head with a baton by the other security officer and then put into a headlock. Saji yelled out again, “Wait a minute! Won’t you even tell me what I’ve done? Please stop it!”

Saji and Eddie struggled as they are pulled away by security. The guards, however, kept them from escaping, leading them away from the locker room.

Somewhere in space

A Brown-haired girl with two spiral pigtails popped up on a view screen, with the view of a bridge of a ship behind her. With a higher pitched voice, she spoke to a purple-haired man on the other end of the call, “It looks like the Federations new space cruiser is headed to Lagrange 3.”

Behind her a black-haired man with a short black coat appeared and stated in a more raspy voice, “It’s like Wang Liu Mei told us. Maybe this…”

He was cut off by the purple-haired man, who was in a purple pilot suit with a low voice, “I’m going out in the Seravee.”

The man in black replied, “Good luck Tieria.” And he ended the call.

Tieria, after the call ended, quietly says to himself as a mobile suit rose up from an elevator, “He’ll come. I know he will.”

The Ptolemaios moved steadily through space, hoping to get to Proud in time, the crew hoping that their old comrade would be there too.

Colony Proud

Saji found himself in an exceptionally large and overwhelmingly hot room full of machinery. He wasn’t sure exactly what it was for, but it was most likely some sort of furnace room. He could feel the high gravity pushing down on him as other men were pushing large crates very slowly. He could feel his muscles strain under the pressure and weight of the industrial scale container he was pushing. ‘I wonder why they are forcing men to work here and if any of these guys actually guilty of anything.’ He saw one of the men drop to the ground and Saji moved to try to help him up, but was interrupted by a man in a large black exoskeleton power armor like suit.

In an angry tone, the security officer told him in a commanding tone “Don’t stop working R81!”

“But he needs help!” Saji replied in a weak voice. He looked down at the man and then the officer, hoping to elicit some form of sympathy. That was broken up when Eddie yells to him “Don’t waste your time if you want to live.”

 The officer yells for him to get back in line and to get back to work and Saji sighs, moving back into position to keep pushing the crates. ’What did I do to deserve this? Why won’t they help that man?’ He saw from the corner of his eye that that the officer was keeping his eye on him, holding a baton in his hand.

Eddie turned to him and asked, “You a member of Katharon too?”

Saji replied angrily, “I’ve got nothing to do with them!” He thought about how Katharon just caused chaos and disrupted the new order that had come into being since the gundams showed up.

Eddie sounded more relaxed to Saji than he expected based on their current circumstances, “Just happen to get caught up, huh. Still, things could be a whole lot worse.”

Looking curious and a bit frustrated, Saji asked, “What is that supposed to mean?”

With a confident smile, Eddie stated, “You’ll know soon enough.” Suddenly, there was a major tremor and what felt like an explosion. Crates of coal fell over and several people also fell prone. Saji heard men grunting in reaction from the tremors and the fall and asked in confusion, “What is going on? The gravity is back to normal?”

Eddie stated happily, “They’ve come to pick us up! Our comrades are here!” Another large explosion buffeted the station as Eddie exclaimed in surprise, “Enemy forces?”

Saji spotted a large number of men approaching a bulkhead door, when suddenly a cube shaped robot with four legs with wheels appeared at the opening bulkhead. The gun underneath it chassis started firing into the crowd of men, killing the majority of them, bodies collapsing in front of it. Saji thought, ‘What is going on? What are those things? I don’t want to die! I just wanted to work in space because of Louise!’ The surviving men rushed for cover, yelling about military automatons. The machine moved forward, targeting the men who were scrambling for cover, hunting them down one by one.

Saji and Eddie hid behind one of the crates, hearing the machine getting closer. Saji saw Eddie looking to move from their current cover to another crate. ‘Please don’t. Stay here!’. Unfortunately for him, Eddie saw his chance and tried to make a break for it. Saji saw him get gunned down as he tried to cross over the open ground, horrifying the Japanese man. All that was going through his head was how he wished he could have seen Louise one more time and he never wanted to die like this. His heartbeat increased higher and higher as the machine got closer.

Just then he heard gunshots and a call of “Get back!” A man in a sleek black military suit threw something at the machine that cause it to explode, leaving a dust cloud in its wake and left Saji prone on the ground with his eyes closed. When he opened his eyes, he saw that same man offering a hand with a familiar voice that Saji swear he knew. As he took the man’s hand and stood up, he looked at the face of the man who rescued him, it snapped into place as he saw the dull red eyes and messy brown of his former neighbor. With a surprised but happy voice, he asked, “Setsuna? Is that you?”

“And you are Saji Crossroad.” Setsuna replied in a more subdued tone. The two men stood looking at each other for a few seconds, wondering how each of them were there in this situation. The reunion was broken up when another machine came hovering down, having spotted the two men.

Setsuna commanded in a more monotone voice, “We need to get out of here.” The raven-haired man threw another explosive C4 at the machine and dashed into the hallway with Saji, pulling him by the wrist. The two made their way through the hallways of the colony, Setsuna dealing with the machines as they appeared, keeping a grip on Saji so he didn’t lose him. During this, Setsuna thought, ‘Nothing has changed. Despite all we did, not one damn thing has changed in all this time.’ Saji on the other hand was just trying to keep up and not fall, wanting to get out of this hellhole. Eventually they both made it to an empty hanger.

Looking at Saji, Setsuna said, “Put on your helmet.”

Saji responded, “Right.” He raised up the hood on his spacesuit, sealing it up. As he did that, the door opened and a thing of Saji’s nightmares was plain to see. While it was heavily damaged, with one arm gone, covered by a cloak of some kind and the end of the blade broken off, it was recognizable as one of the gundams from five years ago. The machines that ruined the life of the woman he loved and destroyed the world as he knew it. And Setsuna had piloted one of them. His mind was rapidly cycling through thoughts. ‘Was he involved with killing Louise’s family? Did he realize they cost him his sister? That her investigation of Celestial Being had cost her life? How did he not see it? Did they not know how many people they killed?’ He just stood there, overwhelmed, as Setsuna walked towards the mech.

Setsuna entered the mech and told Saji, “Stay here. Find a place to hide and you’ll be safe. I’ll get back here after I deal with whatever is outside.” He then closed the hatch of the Exia and flew out into space. He saw that Saji was conflicted, but that was not something he had time to deal with right now. There were enemies he had to deal with.

Space outside Colony Proud

Setsuna flew out into space, trying to find the source of the enemy force. Those machines in the station had to have been dropped by something, and they were most likely still in the area. Just as he was moving around the ring of the colony, he saw three red mobile suits with red particles behind him. ‘These must be the A-Laws’, Setsuna thought to himself. He recognized two of them as the GN-X’s from four years previously and what seemed to be a new model. ‘I’ll have to be careful.’ Taking the suits by surprise, he dashed quickly into the formation, taking the arm off of one of the GN-X’s

Over the radio, he heard the pilot of the new model say, voice deep and bass, “I knew I recognized that trail of GN particles. It was a gundam. Lieutenant, stay back and give us covering fire.”

“But Captain Zanin!” Setsuna heard the less deep male voice from a GN-X say with frustration.

Captain Zanin responded resolutely, “The gundam is still dangerous and we need to be careful. These guys aren’t like the Katharon troops we fought earlier.”

“Understood Captain.” Just as he finished that sentence, Setsuna opened fire with the blaster attached to his blade, forcing the mobile suit team to dodge out of the way to avoid getting hit, then he charged in, trying to catch any of the mobile suits with his blade. The new model pulled out his own beam saber and clashed their blades, hoping the overpower the Exia. Setsuna heard the pilot then talk to him angrily, “Why wait until now to show up?!”

Setsuna responded with an undertone of anger, rising to overt anger by the end, “I’ll destroy you. I’ll just have to destroy you. All of those who do things like this! I’ll eliminate you all by myself!” He pushed the suit back and flipped the blade back, blasting at the new model with a few shots, taking the shield off of it, but missing the actual suit. The Exia was then forced to dodge a few attacks from the supporting suit, putting him out of position.

Suddenly the GN-X that Setsuna damaged flew in, beam saber activated, attacking the gundam. The pilot called out, “Watch out captain!”

Captain Zanin desperately yelled to the man, “Wait!” But unfortunately for him, his subordinate had already gotten too close. The pilot tried to cut off the remaining arm of the Exia, but Setsuna dodged gracefully, and with one quick turn, cut the attacking mobile suit in half horizontally, eliciting a yell of, “You bastard! I will send you where you belong!” from the supporting mobile suit as he charged into attack the gundam. Setsuna reacted quickly and took a few shots at the suit, knocking off the arm that held the combination lance/blaster, as well as a leg.

The pilot responded angrily, “Damnit!” as he floated into space, suit effectively out of combat. The captain then yelled at Setsuna, “You’ll pay for that!” He charged in, matching blades once again. This time Setsuna couldn’t push him back and was actually losing to the suit. The pilot then stated “You maybe a gundam, but you are five years out of date. My Ahead will avenge my men!” Setsuna was frustrated by his inability to overpower the suit. ‘Damnit Exia! What is going on with you?’

Setsuna was then pushed back and with speed he didn’t expect, the suit drew out another beam saber and cut off the remaining arm of the Exia before Setsuna had a chance to react, leaving him floating helplessly, at the mercy of this new suit. ‘It can’t end this way! Not before I can fix what we did!’ But just as the suit was about to deliver a killing blow, a large pink energy blast came out of nowhere, destroying the beam sabers of the Ahead. The raven-haired pilot saw what looked to be a gundam, but not one he had seen before. It looked bulkier, more armored and more angular than the ones he knew before and it seemed to have four large blasters attached to it. The A-Laws pilot then stated, “Another gundam? I’ve got to pull back. Lieutenant, we are leaving!”

“But sir?!” the other pilot asked petulantly.

“We are outgunned and facing a new enemy with unknown capabilities, we are leaving.” He stated as he grabbed the damaged mobile suit and flew off into space. The new gundam fired after the two, but none of the shots connected. It decided to not engaged them, seeing that they were leaving the combat airspace and it moved towards the crippled Exia.

Letting the adrenaline wear off, Setsuna looked at the new suit. It looked like a gundam, but was it one of theirs? He then heard a voice over the comms that he recognized. Tieria asked with mirth in his voice, “How long has it been Setsuna? Four years?”

With relief in his voice, he said, “Tieria Erde.”

“It’s nice to see you alive. Let’s bring you back to the ship.”

“Wait. I need to pick someone up from the colony.” Stated Setsuna, calming down from the emotions from the battle.

“Lead on then.”

Colony Proud

Arriving back at the hanger, both mobile suits landed, and the two comrades met each other in the middle of the cluttered hanger. They closed the hanger doors, letting the hanger repressurize, giving them oxygen, letting them remove their helmets. They exited their suits, and met in the middle of the hangar. Tieria opened the conversation, stating evenly, “There is something different about you.” The purple-haired man

Setsuna replied, giving Tieria a once over, “You don’t seem to have changed much at all. You look exactly the same, besides the height.”

The purple hair, red eyed man looked very similar to when Setsuna saw him last. In a similar even tone, “I get that a lot.”

Setsuna gave a curious look at the Seravee, “So does this gundam belong to Celestial Being?”

“Naturally. It’s called the Seravee.”

As Tieria finished saying that, Saji came out from behind a crate in the hanger and rose his voice in anger, “Setsuna F Seiei! Were you always the pilot of that gundam!? Answer me!”

Setsuna responded in a neutral tone, “Yes, I was.”

“That means you were involved five years ago!”

“Yes, I was.”

“Do you know what you’ve done? Because of what you did, a lot of people that died that didn’t have to and you’re the ones responsible.” Saji waited for Setsuna to respond, but just saw his neutral face. He felt emotions welling up inside him. “Because of you guys, the woman I love lost her family and was injured in the process. Because of you guys, the only family I had left, my sister, died investigating you guys! I lost Louise! And my sister! Say something!” He could feel tears streaming down his face, but seeing Setsuna refuse to answer, he rushed him and forcibly took the raven-haired man’s gun and aimed it at him, “You give them back! Give them back to me!” Setsuna waited for him to shoot calmly, but he saw Saji slowly lower the gun and begin sob as he fell to his knees.

Tieria spoke up, “Should we take him and bring him to the ship?” Setsuna nodded and Tieria stood over Saji, “Very well.” Tieria picked up Saji by the arm and dragged him aboard the Seravee. The suit launched and headed back the Celestial Being main ship, the Seravee bringing the damaged Exia with it in one hand.

A-Laws Ship

As the two entered the locker room to change, Captain Zanine raised his voice, “What the hell was that Lieutenant? You could have gotten yourself killed! You disobeyed my orders!”

The Lieutenant angrily responded, “He killed my comrade! Did you expect me to stay back after that?!”

“I expected you to follow orders! One more of those and you’ll be demoted!”

“But Captain!”

“No ‘but captaining’ me.” His tone softened a bit and said to the lieutenant, “I know you are motivated 2^nd Lieutenant Andrei, but you don’t want to die stupidly. You have potential and I don’t want you to be wasted. You are a new transfer, but you have a lot to learn. Now get into your unform and lets head to get debriefed.”

Andrei, surprised his attitude, relaxed a bit, happier that it wasn’t just all anger, but some worry. In hindsight he did disobey orders and that made him a bad soldier. ‘Next time I’ll follow orders better to make sure I can protect more people!’

On the Ptolemaios II

Setsuna and Tieria landed in the hanger of the new ship, dropping the remains of the Exia for Ian to deal with. Tieria contacted Setsuna, “I’ll bring our guest to the brig. You should go meet the rest of the crew.”

“Will do. Don’t treat him badly, he just lacks understanding. He’s a decent person besides that.”

“I will.” Tieria then grabbed Saji on the shoulder and led him out of the hangers and into the halls of the ship, disappearing from Setsuna’s view.

Setsuna exited the remains of the Exia, spotting a familiar black haired mechanic. ‘So Ian did survive. I hope the rest of the old crew did.’ He did not notice any significant change to him, other than the fact he seemed to have a new uniform, a white suit with a black area reaching to the middle of the chest from the top and a short black coat over it. Said man called out to him jovially, “Good to see you back Setsuna. It’s been a long five years. Thanks for bringing back the solar reactor of the Exia, we needed it.”

Setsuna looked at him curiously and asked, “It’s good to see you too. Why do you need it?”

“We have a new suit for you, but we needed this reactor to get it working. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you when we have it ready for you.”

Setsuna felt a surge of excitement hearing about a new suit, “I can’t wait. Besides that, anything I should know or that changed?”

Ian gave him a thoughtful look, “The Ptolemaios now is actually armed, but right now it’s only you and Tieria as pilots, which is not enough for any missions. Sumeragi is also gone, but we have a lead on her and a new recruit back on earth. We do have a mission for you, but I’ll let you explore the ship for now. Let you get comfortable. You were on your own for five years. You should head to the bridge and talk meet the rest of the crew.”

Setsuna stated with a tone of appreciation, “Thank you. I’ll leave you to do what you need to do.”

With a tone of casual warning, Ian said, “Heads up. My daughter is on the bridge and she will have high energy. Don’t be surprised if she gets touchy.”

“You have a daughter?”

With a smile on his face, he said, “I’ve had one for a while. Haros! Let’s get going.” Setsuna floated towards the door to the hallway, hearing a clamor of Haro noises and words, the spherical robots doing their job as maintenance and repair bots.

He headed through the hallways; he found the layout similar enough to the old ship to navigate, but was curious as to what had changed. ‘Maybe someone on the bridge can help me.’ He found his way to the bridge and let go of the handgrip coming out of the wall. Opening the door, he saw three people up there. A short girl with brown hair, who he guessed was closer to his age from five years ago, with a yellow short coat and what looked like drill shaped pigtails and dark purple eyes, another short girl with long pink hair in a low ponytail and a pink short coat with sea blue eyes, and a man with short black hair with a similar colored uniform to Ian with brown eyes. The man turned his head and Setsuna was surprised to see Lasse. Lasse smirked at him, “Long time no see, eh Setsuna?”

Setsuna’s surprise was visible to him, “Lasse Aeon? You survived?”

The two girls then looked at the Krugis man standing at the door. He recognized Feldt but noticed she had grown, and her hair was different. He also noticed that Feldt had a soft smile on her face. The other girl he guessed by process of elimination was Ian’s daughter and she had a more wide, cheerful smile. Lasse spoke up, “Yes I did. I’d like to introduce you to our new member of the crew, Mileina Vashti. And I assume you remember Feldt?”

Setsuna gave a slight smile to both of them, “Feldt Grace, it’s good to see you again. And it’s nice to meet you, Mileina Vashti.”

She replied energetically, “Yep, I’m Mileina. I’ve heard stories about you!”

“I look forward to working with you.” He nodded to her and turned to face Feldt.

In a slightly warm tone, Setsuna said, “Feldt Grace, I noticed you changed your hair.” Feldt blushed slightly and responded, “Christina told me I should try to be more fashionable.”

“I wouldn’t know how to judge that, but it suits you.” Feldt’s cheeks went a little pinker but she quickly righted herself

Setsuna  looked around the bridge, not seeing Lichty or Christina. He questioned the bridge crew, “Speaking of Christina, where are her and Lichty?”

Both Lasse and Feldt looked at each other and Lasse said mournfully “They died in the final battle five years ago.” Setsuna noticed a Feldt’s eyes get a little watery. ‘She must have been close with them.’

“Condolences. I wish I would have been there to protect them” Setsuna stated with regret in his tone.

Feldt spoke up with rising emotion, “No Setsuna, you were needed to fight elsewhere and if Lasse was on the bridge, he would have died too. You saved us, even if you weren’t there. And it’s good to see you again. It’s been a long time.” Setsuna felt an unfamiliar emotion pass through him, noticing Feldt had looked away from him, blushing. He shoved it to the back of his mind, not knowing what it meant. He could think about it later. Feldt calmed down from her outburst and her blush had faded, saying, “It must have been a long day for you. One of us can show you how to navigate the ship.” She looked around the room, hoping one of the other bridge crew would jump in.

Lasse jumped in and said, “I’ll do that. We can catch up as we travel.” He gave Feldt a smirk, her glaring slightly at him in response, and guided Setsuna out of the bridge and started on his tour of the ship.

Somewhere in Spain

“There has been an anti-government force that attacked the Proud Colony, killing a large number of people. They were dealt with, but we also confirmed reports that gundams showed up and are active. We will give more info as we receive it. There is a list of people lost accessible to the public.”

Louise froze in shock at the statement from the news. ‘The gundams are back. Why are they back? We finally have peace!’ She could feel herself shaking as images of the past came flashing back, not as intense as previous years, but she could never forget what happened to her family. She saw images of a crater at a wedding full of dead bodies, her first seeing her stump where she now has a prosthetic. Another thought also went through her head. ‘Wait, Saji was on Proud! Was he safe?’

As she was sitting there in silence, she heard more from the news, “A number of anti-government prisoners also escaped and if you see any of them, call the authorities at once. Do not confront them. A list of names and faces will be available to the public. Onto our next story…” Louise rushed to her computer, accessing the list and saw Saji was not on the list of deaths. ‘At least he’s safe.’ They may not be together anymore, but she still didn’t wish anything bad to happen to him.

She then scanned the list of escaped prisoners and to her shock and horror, she saw Saji’s face and name. ‘He’s not a criminal. He may have been narrow-minded, but he despised the rebels. What is going on?’

Chapter Text

“This is regular speech”

‘This is a thought’

Sergei’s House

As Sergei was sitting down in his living room watching the news, he heard a knock at his door. Muting the volume and getting up off the couch, he saw Soma approaching the front door as well, guessing she heard that too. She looked at him curiously and asked, “Were you expecting anyone?”

Sergei responded, equally confused as her, “No, were you?”

“Let’s see who it is.” The two approached the door, Sergei taking the lead. As they open the door, he spotted Andrei. His son now had short, well organized brown hair, grey eyes and a two-toned green outfit with the sleeves having a lighter tone, the center dark green and three overlapping boomerangs vertically on the left breast, which marked it as a uniform of the A-Laws.

The man saluted and stated, “Second Lieutenant Andrei Smirnov from the 5^th Mobile Suit company.” Sergei stood shocked for a second, then regained his bearings.

“Andrei. When did you join the A-Laws?” He let curiosity enter his voice as he asked.

The A-Laws soldier responded in a harsh tone, “I am not at liberty to answer that question, father.” Soma looked around Sergei’s shoulder and asked “Father?”

Andrei interrupted his father as he looked like he was about to speak, “I was sent to here to request that Lieutenant Somas Peries join the A-Laws due to the gundams re-appearing.” Soma was shocked and looked at the Sergei. His face reflected his sadness at her being asked, but she saw he was basically saying ‘It’s up to you’.

She thought on the damage the gundams did four years and knew she needed to keep that from happening again. All of her fellow soldiers she lost facing the gundams, the loss of all of her super soldier brothers and sisters. If the gundams were back, then she was needed to defeat them, like last time.

She steeled herself and replied, “Lieutenant Soma Peires, willing to report for duty.”

She heard Sergei sigh in disappointment, but she saw him quickly walked back into the living room, and slump down onto the couch in defeat, his thoughts clearly a jumble right now.

Andrei spoke up, “Gather any belongings you wish to take with you, and we will report back to base. I’ll be outside.” The white-haired girl clearly saw there was an unspoken history of the two, since Sergei had not really discussed anything about his other family, and she had one thought, ‘What happened between these two?’

Dublin

Setsuna found himself waiting at a local memorial within the city of Dublin, sitting on one of the benches nearby. He was surrounded by old, stone faced European buildings staring him down as he tried to avoid drawing attention to himself. He had gotten the info on a recruit and where he was located from the crew of Ptolemaios, but the exact info on who they were was not known. Once he got to earth, he was informed by Wang Liu Mei that their recruit was in fact twin brother of Neil Dylandy, though the raven-haired pilot knew Neil better by his celestial being callsign, Lockon Stratos.

His brother was named Lyle Dylandy, and though he was Neil’s twin there was no guarantee they would be completely alike. For one, Liu Mei had passed on intel that she suspected Lyle to be a potential agent of the Katharon group. ‘I wonder how he will react to the news about his brother. I hope he shows up here.’

He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of footsteps approaching him from the street to his north. He looked up and spotted what was a shocking mirror to Neil Dylandy. A tall, lanky, Irish man with a relaxed demeanor and messy brown hair reaching to the middle of his neck with green eyes. ‘He must be his identical twin.’ The pilot saw Lyle take a long look at him sitting on the bench and Setsuna rose from the bench and approached the man. He spoke in a concise tone “You must by Lyle Dylandy.”

The man looked at Setsuna warily, “Yes, I am. What did you want? All you said was you had info on my brother and to meet you here.”

Setsuna looked him straight in the eye and replied evenly, “I was sent here to recruit you. I am a member of Celestial Being. And we want you to join us as a pilot.” He saw Lyle take a small step back, his face shocked and surprised.

The Irish man stood there for a second then said incredulously, “What is your deal? You call me here and you just come out and say you belong to a terrorist organization?”

Setsuna ignored his comment and continued on, “You brother was a pilot of Celestial Being four years ago. A gundam meister.”

Lyle lowered his voice as he asked, “My brother was a gundam meister?”

“Yes”

“He’s not dead, is he?”

Setsuna nodded his head and answered, “He died fighting four years ago.” He saw Lyle lower his head and stay quiet for a few seconds. The red-eyed man had one thought going through his head. ‘How long has Lyle Dylandy been out of date with what happened to his brother?’ The pilot waited for Lyle to respond to him. He saw the green-eyed man raise his head again.

“So let me get this straight. You want me to join you as a pilot and oppose the government I suppose? And why would I? Because my brother did?”

“No. But being a gundam meister is how you can change the world, like your brother always wanted to. So, join us if you want to change this corrupt world.” He saw the brown-haired man think for a few seconds, clearly mulling over his options. Setsuna needed something to push him over the edge, “Take this flash drive. It contains info on Celestial being if you are suspicious.” Setsuna pulled out a thin rectangular drive and handed it to the Irish man. The man looked it over and asked curiously “What’s to stop me from turning this into the authorities?” He held the flash drive up, shaking it slightly in the air, waiting for the pilot’s answer.

The raven-haired pilot hardened his voice as he stated, “The security agency is making a move on Kathron in Europe. They are going to attack their bases.” Lyle looked at Setsuna in confusion, curious as to how he got that info. However, the look on the other man’s face showed he was serious.

Lyle slumped over slightly and replied “Alright, I’ll think about it. Where should I meet you?”

“African orbital elevator by tomorrow. I’ll meet you there.” Setsuna turned to walk away and heard the Irish man reply to him. “Don’t be late.” Lyle proceeded to walk towards his car. He had a call he needed to make. And Setsuna had one more person to grab before he left Earth.

On the Ptolemaios

While Setsuna had been sent to Earth to do something, Saji found himself locked in bare metal room made of interconnected metal rectangles, which he guessed was a holding cell for prisoners or people who were being disciplined, floating in a corner furthest from the door. He was still stewing internally about everything that had just happened to him. He had gone from working a steady job in space, to being arrested as a supposed terrorist and now was on the ship of the people who created all the chaos four years ago. This was all their fault. If there was no Celestial Being, there would be no anti-government forces and then he wouldn’t have been arrested. And Louise wouldn’t have...

His thoughts were interrupted by the door sliding open, revealing Lasse and Mileina with a tray of food for him. Mileina cheerfully stated, “Hi! We brought you something to eat.” She placed the tray between two of the rectangular shapes on the walls. “I’ll just leave this right here, so just help yourself. We also are leaving red haro here to keep you company.” Saji saw what looked to be a minicomputer terminal attached to the machine.

The little red sphere spoke in a high-pitched voice “Pleased to meet you. Pleased to meet you.”

Mileina continued “If you need anything from me or the other, tell haro and he will tell us. You will also be able to access our database.”

Saji saw the little machine float in the room and after a second, Saji spoke up in a downcast voice “How much longer are you going to keep me here?”

Lasse responded evenly “Listen we know the A-Laws are looking for you.”

Saji stood up and angrily shouted at the two, “I’m not a member of Katharon!” ‘How could anyone think I’m a member of Katharon! I’m just an innocent man! I’m not part of the anti-government forces!’

Lasse took his yelling on the chin “Well let’s hope that they think you aren’t a member either.”

Keeping up his anger, Saji fired back, though lower in intensity than before “Are you people planning on doing those armed interventions like before?”

Lasse responded, “No, we are going to take on the A-Laws.”

“You mean the federation forces?”

“It’s an autonomous force that reports to the government. They have already committed fourteen acts of mass murder, something that they call suppression. They have produced tens of thousands of casualties, though all records of these attacks have been erased. You have seen it firsthand.” Saji squared his jaw, but then loosened up, thinking back to the attack on Proud and its horrific nature. But it couldn’t be that the whole government was corrupt? Someone must be hiding it from them?

He asked with some desperation in his voice, “But what does this all mean? Wasn’t the Federation government formed in the first place due to your actions?”

Lasse spoke up with heroic resolve, “Yes and that’s why we intend to make things right again.”

“But if you fight more innocent people will be hurt.”

“People will get hurt and killed regardless of if we fight”

Mileina jumped in and chirped, “Mr. Aeon, the test will start any minute now.” Lasse nodded and closed the door, leaving just Saji and the red haro in the room. He didn’t understand these people. If they knew fighting was going to get people hurt, then why keep fighting? They caused so much chaos and did a lot of damage to Saji’s life already and now they were going to do it again to more people! He sat in silence for about ten minutes then remembered they said he could access their records. Looking at the red haro, he stated, “I want to take a look at your records.”

The little machine responded cheerfully, “Roger. Roger.” Grabbing the terminal, the Japanese man started by going through a general timeline of their interventions from five years ago. What caught his interest was when the new machines, the gundams with red particles showed up. In the notes that he saw, they were called the throne models.

What caused his heart to clench was seeing that one report said they were involved in an attack on civilians in Spain, with seemingly no military value. That was Louise’s family! A secondary report said that the particles emitted by these machines was unusual and could potentially cause nerve damage or worse. ‘Is that why Louise’s regeneration treatment wouldn’t work?’

Unconsciously speaking aloud, said quietly stated, “It was the thrones that ruined Louise’s life.”

The little red machine spoke up suddenly, “They’re enemies. They’re enemies.”

Saji, confused by the fact that gundams could be enemies to Celestial Being, asked the machine, “What do you mean by that?” The machine did not answer him and eventually he read that the two teams came into conflict, though the exact reason why they opposed them wasn’t stated in the records he had access to. ‘Why would gundams fight each other? I thought they were on the same side?’

The United States

I took him a few hours, but Setsuna had made it to the location where their tactical forecaster, Sumeragi Lee Noriega, was located. Apparently, she was living with some engineer from the former Union. It looked like he lived in a large, expensive apartment complex. Making his way steadily through the building after he told the security guard that he was visiting a friend and they knew he was coming, he winded his way up the floor where this guy’s apartment was.

Listening in carefully at the door, he could hear whoever this guy was mentioning something about her drinking as well as Sumeragi replying she was leaving. ‘This is my chance.’ He hit the buzzer on the apartment and waited. If she sounded as bad as what Setsuna heard through the door, she must have taken the loss form four years ago hard. The pilot steeled himself for what he had to do. He saw the door opening and saw a wiry man with long, straight brown hair and a pair of glasses on looking at him curiously.

“You must be an old friend of Lisa! She hasn’t had a visit…”

Setsuna interrupted him, putting a harsh edge in his voice, “She is Sumeragi Lee Noriega, former tactical forecaster of Celestial Being.” He gave her a harsh look. She had changed since he last saw her. Gone was the energetic woman who led Celestial Being to victory in their original interventions. Her light brown eyes did not have the same life to them. She had cut her brown hair down to her shoulders and it was messy. She looked drunk, tired and shocked to see him and most likely due to him revealing her now. He continued, “And now you don’t have anywhere to run.”

The man next to her looked at him in shock and dropped to his knees, not saying a word. Setsuna grabbed Sumeragi by her wrist and said in a commanding voice, “Let’s go. We have a space elevator to catch.” She complied without a word and followed him out the building. Her mind was rushing. ‘Why would he want me back in Celestial being?’

African Tower

In the couple hours it took to reach the Africa tower, Sumeragi had been silent and Setsuna had not forced her to talk. The pilot knew he wouldn’t get anything out of her if he tried to pry it from her, so he kept them moving through the bustling elevator station. As the two both got a ticket and boarded their seats on the train, Sumeragi spoke up, still looking at the ground of the car they were in, “What do you think you’ll accomplish by bringing me back in. Even with the Federation government, nothing has changed. The plan failed, even with all those sacrifices.” Her voice was downcast the entire time.

In a calm voice, Setsuna replied, “Is that why you were drunk all this time?”

“Is that a problem? I’ve had enough of this.”

“We’re going to fight. If leading the world into a new form of sin is our crime, then the only way to make up for that sin is to change the world again.”

“I’m afraid that is impossible for me.” She turned in her seat, looking out the window to avoid the judgmental look she thought the raven-haired pilot was going her.

Keeping his eyes on her, Setsuna replied evenly, “So you are running away then?”

In an exhausted voiced, she answered, “What’s wrong with that? I don’t have the inner strength that you do”. She rested her head against the back of the seat, ignoring the glare the raven-haired pilot was giving her. They soon reached the station and the two drifted out of the train, stopping in the busy lobby. Setsuna soon spotted Lyle and led Sumeragi to him. She once again spoke up, “Please Setsuna, just forget about me.”

“I need to introduce you to a new meister.” He led her further into the station. As they got close to Lyle, Sumeragi came to a stop. She looked on in shock seeing Lyle. ‘It can’t be him. He died!’ The Irish man spoke up in a jovial tone, “Yo. You were running a little late.” Sumeragi couldn’t understand the sight. ‘Lockon died. How was he here?’

“Is that Lockon? Could he really be alive?” Her head was cycling through ideas on how he could have survived that explosion. Lyle interrupted her train of thought.

With a smirk on his face, he replied, “Get out of here. Do I really look like my brother that much?”

Sumeragi recovered from her shock, with a little stutter remaining, “You’re his brother?”

Setsuna jumped in at this. He was curious about why the cautious man he met before was so jovial and friendly, “Let me introduce you to Lyle Dylandy, the new gundam meister of Celestial Being.” Lyle waved his hand dismissively and responded to that.

“I’m Lockon Stratos. I’m a gundam meister for Celestial Being. Now do you guys got a ride out of here? I assume you have someplace we are going.” Setsuna nodded at him.

“Follow me.” Sumeragi and Lyle followed his lead, Lyle wondering where they were going and Sumeragi conflicted about coming back to her greatest failure, not knowing why the crew would want someone who got their crew killed four years ago.

Space near the Ptolemaios

As they flew the shuttle nearer to the ship in their space suits, with Setsuna in the front pilot seat, Lyle to his right and Sumergai in one of the four rear seats, Setsuna spotted a formation of five mobile suits a good distance away trailing red GN particles “Enemy formation headed to the Ptolemaios.”

Lyle spoke up questioningly “Are those A-Laws mobile suits?”

Sumeragi then asked, “What type of strength do you guys have?”

Setsuna replied, “Just Tieria’s unit, but we have another unit that’s almost operational.” The raven-haired man wasn’t one hundred percent sure if it was ready, but they might have to take a risk if they wanted to win this fight.

Sumeragi incredulously stated “Just two units?”

Lyle added to this, saying, “Pretty lean little group you got here.”

Sumeragi thought for a second, then approached the comm unit and sent out a message to the Ptolemaios, containing a plan for the crew to follow. She thought to herself ‘I hope this works’. She looked at Setsuna and said, “Follow this route to get to the ship”, pointing out the exact path. Sestuna nodded and Lyle looked at the plan that Sumeragi had made. With praise in his voice, he said, “Not a bad plan. That makes a lot of sense.”

At the same time as the shuttle was approaching the ship, Tieria had launched out in the Seravee to engage the enemy formation. He spotted three GN-Xs and two Aheads, along with the shuttle with Setsuna and the people he had found. He would have to be careful dealing with the Aheads. He saw the Ptolemaios lay down a barrage of missiles, leaving a large amount of GN particle residue as they exploded. One of the enemy GN-Xs in the formation seemingly got disabled or at least damaged by the missile’s explosions, but Tieria couldn’t let his guard down. He saw the Shuttle safely out of range of the blast zone. He lowered the two barrels of his long-ranged blaster, and opened fire, letting loose two beams of purple energy into the condensed particles, setting off a firestorm in space, eliminating another one of the GN-X’s, but he saw one of the Aheads heading directly for him.

As the Ahead got into close range, he saw the other two headed to the ship, but he was too busy dealing with this mobile suit to assist. He aimed several shots at the Ahead, but Tieria couldn’t get a bead on him. He was just too maneuverable. Whoever this pilot is was good. Fortunately for him, his barrier was keeping him protected, but a drag out fight would result in the ship being destoyed. ‘Sorry Setsuna, looks like it’s up to you to stop the other two mobile suits. Let’s hope Sumeragi’s plan works. I’m tied down fighting this guy.’

Back on the shuttle, they were nearing the ship, but had drawn the attention of the other two mobile suits. Setsuna opened communications, “Ian, I need you to send out the 00”

Ian responded incredulously, “Wait a minute Setsuna, we’re not done!”

Setsuna replied with urgency in his voice, “There’s no time.” He stood up and looked at Lyle. He spoke in a commanding, “Take the controls. I’m heading out.”

Lyle looked at him confused and asked, “What the hell?” Setsuna opened the back hatch of the shuttle just as they passed in front of the Ptolemaios, barely dodging past some blasts from the A-Laws mobile suits. He used the jet boosters in his suit to move towards the catapult deck, seeing the 00 rising from the elevator. ‘The 00, my new gundam. 0 Gundam and Exia’s solar reactors are in that suit.’  He dashed towards the cockpit and jumped into his seat, turning on the suit. Talking to Ian over comms, he stated decisively “I’m using Trans-am.”

Ian replied, “That’s crazy! Don’t do it!” Setsuna ignored that advice and announced, “Activating trans-am.” The suit started glowing red and the percentage meter rose rapidly, but not enough to activate. Ian thought to himself ‘Using the trans-am could blow up the reactors! It might not even work.’ Over his comms he also heard Mileina saying two mobile suits were approaching. He spoke quietly then rose to a roar, “Please 00, you have to activate. I need you to change the world.” The suit suddenly crossed the threshold and activated. He could feel the power of this suit outstripped the Exia by a wide margin. ‘So, this is the power of the twin drive.’ Setsuna rotated the engines to in front of him, using the back draft to block a blast heading towards the suit. He saw the trans-am deactivate and launched from the catapult the suit was attached to. He quickly flew through space to engage the two A-Laws suits.

He effortlessly dodged out of the way of the shots of the two mobile suits due to the maneuverability and power of the twin drives and took out the Ahead unit that was not engaging Tieria, using the blaster part of his blade/blaster combo. The remaining mobile suit tried to hit the 00 again, but Setsuna moved the engines to the front to block the shots. The GN-X then pulled out a grenade of some sort and threw it, creating a field of green mist. Setsuna tried to fire into it, but found his beam weapons weren’t effective. He heard the other mobile suit say, “Now your beam weapons are useless and in melee I have the advantage!” Setsuna, knowing this suit had underestimated this suit and his skills, charged into the mist, turning his sword to melee form and cleaved through the last mobile suit, causing the suit to explode. Setsuna and Tieria also noticed the last remaining mobile retreat, it realizing the battle was lost. Setsuna floated there for a few seconds, taking the power of this new gundam in. He re-focused himself, getting over his adrenaline from the battle, and moved towards the shuttle, escorting it back to the ship.

Meeting Room of the Ptolemaios

The crew had gathered in the meeting room around ten minutes after the A-Laws retreated, waiting for Sestuna to show up with Sumeragi and the new recruit. They were energized by the power of the 00 and this recent victory. They were also all happy to see Sumeragi and all of them were curious as to who Want Liu Mei could have picked for their new pilot. They saw the door slide open and Sestuna and Sumeragi were standing there, Sumeragi looking at the ground with no enthusiasm to be there. Feldt spoke first with a smile on her face, “Welcome back Ms. Sumeragi!”

She was quickly joined by Mileina saying cheerfully, “Long time no see Ms. Noriega.” While she still couldn’t fathom why they were happy to see her, it did feel a little good.

Sumeragi spoke up, “I’m not sure about this still.” She stopped talking when she heard footsteps behind her, Lyle walking into view of the group. As Lyle came into view, everyone stood shocked. They were seeing a ghost of the past. Lasse reacted first, stating “Lockon?” An orange haro chirped,“Lockon! You’re alive!”

Lyle responded smoothly, “Now that’s one hell of a welcome!” Lasse looked at Sumeragi and asked, “What’s the deal?”

She looked at him awkwardly and explained, “This is Lockon’s younger brother.” Two people in the room were having a particularly strong reaction. Tieria was giving the man a once over and realized he was an identical twin. He narrowed his eyes. Lockon was the man who opened his eyes to the potential of humanity. The man he had come to care for. Why didn’t Neil mention he had brother? ‘I’ll need to keep an eye on this and see what is up with this guy.’

Feldt on the other hand, was a mental mess at the moment. Neil was the man she had told her story to first, opened up her soul to. She may have been younger and less mature then, but it meant something to her. She had been working on getting over him after he had died fighting five years ago and now someone looking exactly like him had just re-entered her life. ‘I know what Sumeragi said, but why can’t my heart accept it?’

Unknown A-Laws Base on Earth

Soma and Andrei entered the office of Colonel Kati Mannequin. They had been told by a messenger that they had been requested for them to be brought to her office to speak with her. As the got inside, they saw a stern looking women with brown hair held up by a bun in the back of her hair and a pair of frameless glasses on with the same uniform they both had on. Both Soma and Andrei brought their hand up in a salute. The Colonel spoke up in a business-like tone, “It’s good to see you Lieutenant Peries and Second Lieutenant Andrei. You both have experience fighting gundams, correct?”

They both spoke at the same time, “Yes, ma’am!”

“Then good. We have a good idea when the gundams are going to strike next. We have one of their comrades held prisoner, who I am aware you have had previous history with, Lieutenant Peries.”

Soma responded to that evenly, “If you are referring to the pilot of the winged one, then I am. He is a super soldier like me.”

Kati looked at them in eyes, “While both of you are under my command, I am going to assign you to guard the prisoner in case the facility he is at will come under attack, which I estimate will be likely. Any questions?”

Once again, the soldiers both spoke in unison, “No, ma’am!”

“Our ship will leave by 0700 hours tomorrow. You are dismissed.” Soma and Andrei turned and left the office after they gave her a salute. Soma looked at Andrei and asked, “Are you ready to fight the gundams again?”

Andrei looked at her with resolve, “I am ready to maintain this peace, no matter who the enemy is.” Some felt something ominous about that statement but shoved that in the back of her mind. They had more important work to do.

Chapter Text

“Regular Speech”

‘Thoughts’

High Security Prison

As Allelujah sat in the dark of his prison cell in a chained chair holding him back along with his arms in a straitjacket, he could feel the weight of his exhaustion. He was kept decently fed, but sleep came difficult, and it was short. They even kept a mask on him that kept him from talking and only took it off when he got food. He had lost track of time a few months into his holding here and was utterly alone, not even the voice of Hallelujah to talk to. After living so long with another voice in his head, it was strange and lonely to be without it, especially since the two had come to better terms in the final battle however long ago that was. He wished his friends, or anyone really, would be able to find him, but he knew he was most likely somewhere top secret, and he wasn’t even sure what happened to them. Were they alive and reformed? Had they been caught one by one and eliminated? ‘No, stop thinking that way!’ They had to have made it and he just had to be patient.

The only thing that could distract him from that thought process was Marie. In that final battle where he lost Hallelujah, he finally saw the soldier who had tormented him so much. It was her. It was Marie. There was something about her personality that was completely different. Marie had never wanted to be a soldier. He was sure of it! They must have done something to her, seeing as she could function physically now. He immersed himself in the memory of when he first found Marie when he was a child and how he got his name.

Superhuman Institute

A boy found himself wandering the empty, stark white halls of the institute, having heard a voice of a girl calling out in his head for someone to react to it, wondering if anyone could hear them. He followed the voice as best he could, going up stairs and passed door after door. As he neared a large pair of sliding doors, he could feel the voice was coming from behind it. He stepped up to the door and he saw it slide open, revealing what looked like some room for medical experiments. On the sides of the room were weird box like devices and in the center was a large medical bed with a clear container over it, which had a girl around his age laying there, looking like she was unable to move. He noticed she had long white hair that went to the middle of her back and yellow eyes and covered with bandages of some sort over her lower torso and chest. He heard her call out again desperately again, “Can anybody hear me?”

He approached the container and asked the girl curiously “Are you the one that’s been calling out?”

With relief clear in the voice coming in his head, she said, “So you can hear me? But where are you?”

He looked at her confused and said, “I’m standing right next to you”

He heard the voice apologetically say, “I’m sorry, I can’t tell, but I’m really happy I can talk to you. Because up to now, I’ve been all alone. Thanks for coming to see me.”

Allelujah understood what it meant to be alone, and if he made this person happier to not be lonely, then he would make her happy. He asked, “Who are you?”

“I’m Marie. What’s your name?”

Allelujah looked down at the ground, just realizing he had no idea. He replied, “I don’t know. I can’t remember it. I don’t even know what I’m doing here.”

He heard the girl’s voice speak up curiously, then with tone of confidence. “If you don’t have a name, then I’ll give you a name. Let’s see, a good name for you would be…” she paused to think for a second “Allelujah!”

They boy asked curiously, “Allelujah?”

She informed him, “It’s the word you use when you give thanks to god.”

He spoke slightly incredulously, “Thanks to god? What would we give thanks for?”

“Why that’s obvious. For being alive.” The words struck a chord in him, but he didn’t know why. He stayed with her for a little while more, but eventually he was found by a staff member and taken back to his room. He hoped he would see her again sometime.

High Security Prison

He was awoken from the memory by a light turning on above his head and what looked like some new government troops he has never seen before entering the room. Two in particular stood out in this group. One was a brown-haired man with a stern look and the other was her. It was Marie. She looked older and had definitely grown since he saw her on the battlefield last, but it was obvious it was still her. Allelujah tried to move closer to her and tried to yell out Marie, but the mask gargled the words and the chains on chair held him back. He saw Marie raise one of her arms and one of the soldiers came to undo his mask.

As he raised her arms to have his mask taken off, Soma was curious as to why her brainwaves weren’t affecting him like they did before in the gundam attacks from four years ago. She thought to herself, ‘It could have been the damage to the head he took in that final battle.’ She heard the man speak up, noticing that mask had been fully removed, “Marie, you finally came.”

She looked at him with a slightly curious look and asked, “Marie?”

Allelujah spoke in a surprised and desperate voice, “It’s me. You and I used to talk all the time back in the institute. It’s Allelujah!”

Soma’s voice rose in anger as she spoke, “Stop calling me Marie! My name is Lieutenant Soma Peries!” Something about that name brought out strong emotions in her, but she didn’t know where it was from. Something that seemed to call out from inside her that wasn’t her, but she shoved that down.

Allelujah replied with quiet conviction, “No, there is no doubt about it. You are Marie.” Soma stormed out in anger, signaling for the soldiers with her to follow her. She felt a quiet voice in the back of her head saying, “Wait, don’t leave!” She ignored it, not sure what that was.

Allelujah, back in the darkness once again, was curious as to what was going on. That was definitely Marie. The institute must have done something to her. He had to get to the bottom of this and get her back.

The Ptolemaios

As the ship was restocking and resting in one of their asteroid bases, Tieria found himself assisting the new Lockon about how to operate his new gundam. He saw Lyle pressing some buttons on the inside of the cockpit and asked, “Do you have any combat experience?”

Lyle responded casually, “Well obviously I don’t. I have worked with industrial loaders before”

Tieria scowled and looked away from Lyle, “So Setsuna brought us someone with no experience?”

Lyle looked at him in a friendly manner and with a teasing tone in his voice said as he extended his hand towards the purple haired man, “Well that just means I have a lot of things to learn, oh so great instructor”

Tieria recoiled back slightly, biting back harshly, “I prefer less teasing.” Lyle shrugged his shoulders and started asking Tieria questions about the gundam and how it worked. As they talked, Tieria realized more and more that beneath the surface, this man wasn’t his brother, and he was hiding something. He would keep his eyes on him.

In Saji’s Cell

Setsuna had the terminal attached to red haro opened to the entry on the wedding as he told Saji evenly, “The records have it right. Our group had a different point of view than the thrones when it came to armed interventions.”

Saji turned in surprise to Setsuna, “So you guys weren’t allies with them?”

The raven-haired pilot replied, “No.”

Saji stood there for a second. And turned around, facing the wall, as he said with some anger in his voice “Even so, you hurt and killed people in your gundams. Those people you killed had friends and family, like you hurt my family and girlfriend. It’s only natural for people to hate you for killing the people they cared about.”

Setsuna replied, “I know that.” He wondered where Saji was going with this.

Saji continued, “Life was peaceful back then. My everyday normal life would have continued, if not for you people!”

Setsuna spoke up in a challenging tone, “So everything’s alright as long as you have peace?”

Saji jerked up in surprise, responding with less anger, “That’s not what I meant. But no one wants to be unhappy.” Setsuna was about to reply when he heard an announcement over the ship speakers from Feldt, “All crew, report the meeting room. We have important info about the location of Allelujah.”

Saji saw Setsuna turn around and just as the Japanese man was about to say something, Setsuna interrupted him, “Before you say the world was peaceful before us, tell those people that fought and died for nothing in Krugis that they lived in peace.” Setsuna then floated out of the room and closed the door behind him, leaving Saji and red haro the only beings in the room.

Saji stood conflicted. He knew Setsuna had a point, but did he not matter? Did his feelings not come into account? And what did Sestuna mean by that last statement? What was Krugis? That sounded personal. He remembered the incident four years ago with Celestial Being in the Middle East, but there sounded like there was more to the story than that. ‘What happened to Setsuna that made him this way? That made him willing to kill to fulfill his goal?’ Saji was confused and wanted even more to just get out of this and go back to when life made sense

Meeting Room in the Ptolemaios

Sumeragi floated into the meeting room in a rush, having heard the announcement about Allelujah. She grabbed onto one of the railings that dotted the room and noticed that everyone else on the crew were already present. It seemed they had beaten her here. They all had determined faces as she looked around the room. She saw that setsuna had changed into a similar uniform as the others, with a light blue color at the top of the uniform and a darker blue jacket. Lyle was wearing a green color shirt of the same type and dark green jacket. She asked with some desperation in her voice, “You found where they were holding Allelujah!?”

Lasse responded happily, “Yeah, this is reliable information from Wang Liu Mei.”

Ian spoke up next, “We are working on coming up with a rescue plan now.”

Sumeragi asked curiously, “How are you going to rescue him?”

Setsuna stepped forward and stated, “That’s what we want you to figure out.” Sumeragi turned her head to face him, and he continued, “Miss Sumeragi, we want one of your tactical forecasts.”

Her voice wavered, “But I’m…”

Tieria spoke up, interrupting her, “If he’s with us, then we can start operations with four gundams again.”

Lyle jumped in at this point, stating, “Hey, I’m not so sure about this.” Tieria glared at him and Lyle looked away, muttering under his breath.

Lasse joined in again, in a pleading voice, “Please help us out, we can save Allelujah!” Sumeragi looked down, conflicted about what they were asking her to do. She didn’t even trust herself and they did?

Her thoughts were interrupted by Feldt stepping up and offering her something, “Ms. Sumeragi, take this.” Sumeragi saw it was a purple-colored version of the outfit the others wore.

The tactical forecaster took a step back and in a desperate voice pleaded to the crew, “Stop it! I can’t live up to your expectations of me. I can’t actually change what happens. I’m just putting everyone in danger!”

She tried to rush out of the door but heard Setsuna’s voice behind her with a righteous tone, causing her to stop in her tracks, “There are no regrets! Even if the mission fails, we’ll never blame you for it, no matter what happens. Allelujah is our comrade, and we are going to save him. So please, work out a tactical plan for us.”

Sumeragi’s shoulders slumped defeated and replied to the group, “Feldt, can you update me later on our strength in our present situation.”

Feldt responded in a happy tone, “Yes Ms. Sumeragi!” Sumeragi floated out of the door, heading back to her room to contemplate what she was going to do.

Bridge of the Ptolemaios

After the ship had left the resupply asteroid they were parked in previously and begun their travel back to earth, Feldt found herself back at her station monitoring the ship systems. Suddenly she saw bunch of info that had been sent by Wang Liu Mei. As she scanned through it, she realized what it was. It was the names of all of the prisoners in the prison Allelujah was located at on a map of the hexagonal prison.

None of them seemed to stand out, except for one. Marina Ismail, the princess of Azadistan. ‘Setsuna would want to know this info. She seemed important to him last time.’  She felt a shadow of jealousy pass through her head for a split second, but it was gone in just as long. She would tell Setsuna before they launched about this.

Moving on from that info, she also wondered if Sumeragi was going to send them a plan. She believed she would, but it hurt to see the woman who was almost the mother of the bridge crew four years ago so depressed and despondent. She turned her head to the side and asked, “Lasse, do you think Ms. Sumeragi will come through?”

Lasse responded confidently, “I’m positive she will. Have faith.” Just then the console chimed and Lasse, Feldt and Mileina saw that Sumeragi had sent a plan to them. Looking it over, Lasse said in an impressed voice, “Well this plan is bold.” And Mileina was equally impressed saying, “That’s daring!” Feldt just smiled to herself. Even in her current state, Sumeragi was still a brilliant tactical planner.

Hanger of the Ptolemaios

Setsuna guided himself towards the 00, keeping a grip on the railing of the catwalk. He spotted Ian doing a last-minute check and Ian looked at Setsuna and said, “The reactors are operational but not fully stabilized. You should be good as long as you don’t use trans-am.” Setsuna felt annoyance at the fact he couldn’t use trans-am, but Ian was the mechanic. He responded evenly, “Roger that.” Ian made his way back to the catwalk, moving out of the way of the gundam.

The raven-haired man entered the cockpit and as he booted up the system, he saw a communication from Feldt pop up on his display. She spoke up immediately, “Setsuna, after getting info on where the prisoners are located, I have found the location of Allelujah and another person of interest. I’m sharing the info on Allelujah with everyone, but I thought you should know I saw Marina Ismail was there as well. Here is her cell.” He saw data on her cell had been sent by Feldt to his gundam.

Setsuna paused for a second, taking that in. ‘She must have been taken after we showed up again. The A-Laws must have assumed the previous incident in Azadistan showed a connection between the gundams and her.’ He would probably have enough time to grab her after he rescued Allelujah. He responded to Feldt with gratitude, “Thank you Feldt. I owe you for that.”

He saw her cheeks blush slightly at that and she replied, “No problem and you don’t owe me. Just rescue Allelujah.”

“Roger that.” He saw the communication drop and he mentally prepared himself for the mission. It had been a long while since he had been working with backup and he was grateful for that. As the ship headed to Earth, the crew was as ready as they could be to rescue a friend.

Bridge of a Guyana Class Ship

Kati sat in the center of the bridge of the Guyana class land battleship. It was currently hovering over the rear cliff that led into the valley where the prison was located. Celestial Being would eventually come and either the government forces would defeat them, or they would gather info on the capabilities on the gundams. The mobile suits of the A-Laws were to be kept as reserve forces while the outdated mobile suits near the actual prison would take the brunt of the initial attack. ‘The worst part about an ambush is the waiting.’ As she was thinking that she heard one of the bridge crew yell out, “Large object coming from orbit, too big to be a gundam. Most likely their carrier ship.” Kati was surprised. ‘They would risk their carrier this early?’ It also meant the gundams had more firepower available if they were on earth. ‘This got even more tricky.’ She yelled to the bridge crew, “Prepare for the attack! All mobile suits mobilize.” Alarms started blaring as she saw the defenders starting to mobilize. She opened communications to Lieutenant Peries, “See to E-57.”

Soma replied, ”Roger that.” And dropped communications with Kati. Suddenly, two large purple blasts came blasting from the sky, destroying a mobile suit hanger when they landed. She heard another member of the crew say, “Its Celestial Being’s spaceship!”

Kati responded decisively, “All forces, open fire on the Celestial Being carrier!” As the government forces opened fire ineffectually, she realized how sharp an angle the ship was coming at. Their GN barrier around the ship was blocking all of their shots. She now realized what they were doing. ‘They wouldn’t!’ She saw the front wings of the ship fold in as they approached the water and yelled out the defense forces, “Brace for a large wave!”

As the ship hit the water, a large wave came exploding out of the ocean, crashing onto the fort. Mobile suits were washed away, and windows were broken as water came flooding into the prison. Kati smashed her forearm into her chair. ‘Damn! Beam weapons will be fifty percent less effective. And the ship even has submersible capabilities. I will have to take that into account next time.’ She ordered to the bridge crew, “Fire missiles into where that ship landed. We will hit something.”

With the Gundams

The Seravee and the 00 came flying in from behind the prison. They only had 300 seconds when the enemy had less effective beam weapons. Setsuna opened comms to Tieria, “Tieria, after I find Allelujah, I have one more target to grab.”

Tieria nodded his head and replied, “Understood, just remember the time limit.” Setsuna nodded back and the two began their attack. Tieria started picking off the large defensive turrets located on the top of the prison as well as the concrete walls surrounding it. One by one they went down, one even crushing a mobile suit under it as it fell to the ground.

Setsuna began picking off a few of the mobile suits that he could see has he came crashing down into a wall of the prison builing, opening a hole in the wall allowing him access inside. Setsuna parked his gundam standing outside the hole he made, and he left the cockpit, headed towards Allelujah’s cell. Tieria moved in front of the 00, hearing the call that there were more enemy mobile suits on the way. It was his job to guard the 00 while Setsuna was inside the prison, so he put on his GN barrier and began to fire on the A-Laws troops with their distinct red suits.  As more suits gathered, he could feel the intensity of the shots hitting his shields, but he could take it. He kept up the fire with all of his blasters, keeping the A-Laws suits at a distance.

Tieria then saw that some of the mobile suits were getting taken out, not by his shots. ‘The new Lockon must have begun his part.’ The covering fire, while not as accurate as Neil four years ago, was more accurate than he expected from a new pilot with no combat experience. He heard the bridge crew say something similar to that. So, he wasn’t the only one. ‘Something is up with that. I should investigate that.’ He put that in the back of his thoughts, he had a job to do. The covering fire did provide him some relief and put less pressure on him. ‘Hurry up Setsuna. We can only hold for so long.’

In the Prison

As Soma and Andrei, along with the other men in their group, reached a T junction, there was a sudden explosion from the hallway to their left. Suddenly they were under fire by a group of militia looking troops. Soma thought, ‘This must be Katharon.’ Unfortunately for her, they were pinned by the fire of those troops. She and Andrei returned fire with their pistols, but they were outgunned. She heard Andrei yell to her, “I’ll cover here! You find another route to E-57.” Soma nodded and rushed back the way they came, knowing another route to get to Allelujah’s cell.

Meanwhile Allelujah was confused as to what was going on. One moment it was calm and the next the prison was shaking, and he heard explosions hitting the prison. He saw the door blow open, expecting a soldier coming to execute him, but was surprised when he saw Setsuna raise his gun and shoot his bindings. ‘They did come back for me!’ Allelujah removed his mask and asked, “Setsuna, what is happening?”

Setsuna tossed him a mini comm unit and said, “We are here to get you out of here. Head to the point listed there. You’ll find the Arios.”

Allelujah looked at him questioningly, “The Arios?”

Setsuna turned and replied, “Your new gundam.” Setsuna rushed off, trusting Allelujah to make it to that location. He opened up communications with the bridge and the other pilots, “Allelujah has been found and is heading to the rendezvous point”

Mileina responded, “Understood, launching the Arios.” Setsuna, completing that objective, headed towards Marina’s cell. He didn’t have a lot of time. It took him a minute, but he found the correct cell and shouted, “If you can hear me, step away from the door.” He heard a gasp and then he planted an explosive on the door, blowing up the locking mechanism.

Looking in the room, he saw Marina in prisoner garb. Marina reacted with surprise, asking “Setsuna?”

Setsuna replied, “I’m here to rescue you. Follow me.” She followed him, realizing she didn’t have any other options and trusting that Setsuna was here for a good reason. Setsuna guided her back to his Gundam, with a little time to spare.

With Allelujah

Allelujah ran through the halls, noticing that some sort of militia were here freeing other prisoners. He ignored them focusing on getting to his rendezvous point. He wished he could grab Marie, but there would be other opportunities for that. As he reached the point, he didn’t see anything other than a view of the ocean from a row of windows. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a fast-moving object heading towards the wall he was near. ‘That must be the Arios.’ He dove for cover as the gundam hit the wall, giving him access to the cockpit from where in crashed. As he ran towards the gundam, he heard Marie’s voice call out, “Hold it!” He saw that she had a gun aimed at him. She continued, “End of the line. Don’t move subject E-57.”

He looked at her calmly, though his eyes showed some desperation “Marie, it’s me, Allelujah.”

Soma yelled angrily, “I already told you that’s not my name!”

After seeing her react, he looked at her with more certainty than he had before, “No, I’m more certain than ever that’s your real name. Marie Parfacy.” Something about that name caused Soma to react, like she should know yet she doesn’t.

“Marie…Parfacy?” She asks uncertainly. She heard voices in the back of her mind. A young boys voice saying marie as images of a medical lab flash rapidly of a place she doesn’t remember yet knew. And lastly, she heard a voice that sounded just like hers say, “Don’t shoot him!” She grabbed her head in pain. Falling to her knees as she fought these images and that new voice. Allelujah tried to approach her but was interrupted as Andrei came around the corner and spoke to Allelujah, “Give yourself up, E-57!” The male super soldier ran to the cockpit and heard them opening fire as he started to move, avoiding hits from the small arms fire of the soldiers shooting at him. He entered the cockpit and took off, his muscle memory assisting him despite being held for so long in prison. He wished he could have grabbed her, but he couldn’t with the gunfire. ‘I’ll get you back, Marie!’

Back with the Gundams

The Seravee, 00 and Arios all rose up from the prison, seeing as their objective was complete. They all headed out into the ocean, seeing only four GN-X’s standing in their way. Setsuna quickly cut one in half as Tieria got two of the caught in one of his larger beam blasts. Lastly, the super soldier cut through the last one with his beam saber, opening their escape route.

Lockon followed them from a short distance, making sure no one was following them. He spotted no mobile suits maintaining pursuit. Out of the corner of his eye he could see a few boats moving behind the cliffs, looking full of escaped prisoners. He smiled seeing that, then followed his fellow pilots as the left the battle zone. He spoke to himself, “They got away safely.”

Pilot Prep Area of the Ptolemaios

Allelujah found himself in the prep area with a cup of coffee given to him by Tieria as he talked to Allelujah about how they found him. He heard the door open, and he saw Lockon enter the room. ‘Wait, didn’t Lockon die?’ Lockon looked at Tieria and said in an impressed tone, “This ship is amazing. It even operates underwater!”

Allelujah looked up in shock, “Lockon? You’re alive?”

Lyle replied casually, “I’m getting tired of that reaction.” Alleujah looked at the purple-haired man in confusion.

Tieria spoke up in a friendly tone, “Don’t worry, you haven’t changed. This is Lockon’s brother.”

Lyle put out his hand and said, “I’m Lyle Dylandy, welcome back to the team!”

Hanger of the Ptolemaios

As Setsuna exited the 00 behind Marina, he saw her resting on the railing on the platform he enters the gundam from. He spoke to her back softly, “It’s my fault you were held there. It’s all because I approached you before.”

She responded with confusion in her voice, “Why Setsuna? Why have you decided to start fighting again?”

Setsuna responded honestly, “It’s all I know how to do.” She turned around rapidly and with confusion and desperation lacing her voice, she asked, “That’s not true! There are countless ways you can live your life that don’t involve fighting!”

Setsuna looked away from her, “I can’t think of any.” He heard her gasp when said that. He continued “My wish will only come true through fighting.”

In a saddened voice, Marina responded, “That’s just sad.” She felt tears well in her eyes as she turned away from Setsuna.

Setsuna looked back up at her, surprised to hear her crying, “Why are you crying?”

“Because you can’t.”

Setsuna put some firmness behind his voice, “Of all the things I regret, fighting for Celestial Being isn’t one of them. Follow me and I’ll show you around the ship.” Marina followed him, not knowing what to say.

Chapter Text

“Speech”

‘Thought’

In the Ptolemaios Conference Room

Marina sat down at the long table, still in her prisoner garb with a drink in her hands. She looked at Ian, Setsuna, Tieria and Lasse, and said in a diplomatic tone, “For coming to my rescue and bringing an end to the terrible civil war in Azadistan five years ago, I thank you. You stopped the war without resorting to violence.” She gave the group a small smile and continued, “The course you chose was a good one.”

Setsuna spoke up, “That’s all well and good but what are your plans now?”

Marina responded to that, “I plan to return to Azadistan.”

Lasse stated slightly incredulously, “That’s ridiculous.” Ian and Tieria just quirked an eyebrow and Setsuna maintained his even face.

Setsuna spoke his thoughts, “The security forces will be looking for you.”

Tieria spoke up after Setsuna, adding on, “It’s possible the security forces will intervene, using you as an excuse.”

Marina looked down at the table and reflected sadly, “Since Azadistan hasn’t joined the Federation, the world has abandoned us. Our economy has failed and now that Rasa, the conservative leader, has passed away, their dispute with the reformists has reached a stalemate.” Her voice then picked up a bit of confidence, and she continued, “But, that is why I’m needed.”

Setsuna, understanding that she has her heart set on this course, stated, “Of course. We’ll have the Ptolemy set a course for Azadistan.”

Ian spoke up, his words surprising Lasse and Tieria, “Roger that Setsuna.” Tieria was surprised at the fact Ian was just going along with the suggestion, but they did not have an overall plan at the moment, so it made sense. Lasse nodded at that and Ian and Lasse headed out the door to lay a course to Azadistan.

As the door opened, Mileina suddenly popped in the room. She looked at Setsuna and Marina and with a curious voice asked, “By any chance, are you two lovers?”

Ian just looked on with sigh and Marina and Setsuna looked at Mileina and said at the same time in a deadpan voice, “We are not.”

Mileina had a look of disappointment on her face and said, “I guess my female intuition was wrong.” She left the room just as quickly, heading back to the bridge.

Setsuna looked at Marina and said, “Let’s go. I’ll show you where you will be staying.” Marina nodded at that, still trying to figure out what drove Setsuna to keep fighting as they walked to her room.

Hanger of the Ptolemaios

Feldt rested against a railing in the hanger, keeping her eyes on the Cheridum. She knew Lyle was in there, most likely practicing. She knew it was weird the way that she was always watching him, but she could feel the ghost of his brother in her heart and couldn’t get that out of her head. She couldn’t bring herself to talk to the new Lockon about it, so she kept her distance. As she left her train of thought, she saw the hatch of the Cheridum open, and Lyle came out of it, walking right towards her with the orange haro. She rotated 180 degrees and stood stiffly with her arms at her sides, hoping he didn’t notice she was watching him. Lyle had in fact noticed her and was curious as to why she was here.

Lyle had noticed that she always seemed to follow him a bunch and that she was always keeping her eyes on him. He wasn’t sure if she was suspicious of him or maybe something else. Maybe she even was attracted to him. ‘She’s not a bad looking girl.’ He figured they were alone here so now was a good time to find out. He approached her from behind and said in a friendly tone, “Hi, something wrong?”

Feldt replied awkwardly, still not looking at him, “Nothing’s wrong.”

He leaned forward slightly and stated, “Your name’s Feldt, right? I keep feeling like you are looking at me. Why is that?”

Feldt was about to respond, but haro spoke up, stating, “Feldt like Lockon! Feldt like Lockon!” As haro said this, Lyle’s mood changed. He thought to himself ‘Why does it always come back to my brother? I’m not my brother and I’ll show her that.’

Feldt turned around to face haro and yelled with an embarrassed tone, “Haro!”

 Keeping his tone the same as before, Lyle looked at Feldt as she turned to look at him and said, “You know I’m not my brother, right?”

The pink-haired girl turned to face the railing, away from the Irish man, and explained as she closed her eyes, “I didn’t mean to. I know…” She blushed slightly then felt a hand on her chin as Lyle moved her head to face his, his face close to hers. She thought to herself, ‘What is going on?’

Lockon spoke in flirtatious tone, telling her, “But if you’re alright with that, we could spend some time together.” He brought his lips down on hers and she stood there in shock, eyes wide open and not responding to the kiss. ‘This isn’t Neil! How dare Lyle kiss me!’

As he broke the kiss a few seconds later, he continued, “If you are up for it, swing by my-” He was interrupted by Feldt slapping him, and he noticed tears in her eyes. The girl stood there for a second, then ran to the elevator, pressing the button to head to the bridge level. She felt tears brimming up from her and her vision got a bit hazier as the elevator rose. She tried to fight back her sobs, but she couldn’t stop the tears flowing from her eyes. ‘He shouldn’t have kissed me! But I did treat him like he was Neil. That was unfair of me. Neil was dead. And he wasn’t coming back. How stupid could I be!’

As the door to the elevator opened, she ran through the hall, focusing her eyes on the ground, until she collided with someone. She heard them grunt from the impact, then heard Mileina’s voice speak to her in a worried tone, “Feldt! Are you ok? Why are you crying?”

Feldt attempted to catch her breath and contain her sobs, responding to Mileina with frayed emotions, “I was in the hanger and Lyle. He…”

She felt tears come up again and Mileina told her, “It’s ok. Take a few seconds to calm down.” Taking Mileina’s advice to heart, Feldt took some deep breaths and relaxed, collecting her thoughts. She restarted what she was saying earlier, explaining what happened to her. Mileina spoke up in indignation after hearing what happened, “That’s mean of him! He took your first kiss and hurt you! Should I get my dad? He could deal with him!”

Feldt raised her hands in a motion to calm Mileina down, “No, don’t worry about it. I shouldn’t have been looking at him like his brother.”

Mileina reacted to that comment in the same tone as before, “That may be true, but he shouldn’t have kissed you! You should ask him to apologize.”

Feldt placated her, knowing she was needed on the bridge more than dealing with her own issues, “I’ll talk to him about this at some point. Let’s just get back to the bridge. We are needed.”

Mileina nodded and the two made their way back to the bridge. As they approached the bridge, Mileina stopped and called out to Feldt, with a smile on her face, “I think you will find a nice guy. A pretty girl like you can find a good boyfriend. My female intuition is never wrong! Most of time…”

Feldt stopped as Mileina said that, her mind bringing up the memory of Setsuna being there when she left the letter for Neil. Even if Setsuna wasn’t aware of it at the time but being there with him had helped soothe her soul at that time. Without realizing it, she said aloud, “I should thank him for that.”

Mileina heard that and asked curiously, “Thank who?”

Feldt blushed slightly and in an embarrassed tone, deflecting the question, “No one!” Mileina saw that Feldt wasn’t going to answer her and realized she should keep an eye on the pink-haired girl. Feldt saw Mileina give her a mischievous look, realizing she wasn’t going to let this go, even if she stopped asking about it.

Mileina chirped happily, “Well, I hope that goes well.” Mileina then opened the door to the bridge and said, “Well, back to work.” The two girls got to work checking on systems, Feldt pushing back the memory of what just happened for now.

Marina’s Quarters

After leading Marina to her room, Setsuna found himself wandering the ship and eventually found his way back to Marina’s room, wanting to check up on her. ‘Perhaps she has gotten some rest since she got aboard.’ As the door slid open, he saw Marina leaning on the railing next to the window, which showed a wide expanse of the ocean. ‘I’m surprised she isn’t resting. Setsuna spoke up quietly, “Is something wrong?”

Marina turned around, surprised to see Setsuna. ‘I must have been so focused I didn’t hear the door open.’ She relaxed for a second then steeled herself. She knew what she needed to say to Setsuna. What she should have said when she met him four years ago, “I want you to come back with me to Azadistan! I want to rebuild the country into a place where people can live peaceful lives and you can help me!”

Setsuna furrowed his eyebrows in thought, then retorted, “I can’t do that. The world needs the gundams. There can be no peace until the A-Laws are defeated. Your country can’t rebuild while the world is as it is.”

Marina replied in a desperate voice, “But haven’t you done enough? Aren’t you tired of fighting? All it has done is create more chaos and destruction! You need to try to understand people!”

Setsuna raised his voice slightly and said, “And that destruction and chaos will continue as long as people like the A-Laws exist. You can’t fight people like that with kind words. You need people like me to fight those battles so other people can be safe. That’s why soldiers exist.” Marina hung her head as he said this. ‘Did he think that’s all he’s good for?’

Marina stated back, “I grew up seeing the destruction and damage the war did in the middle east when I was growing up. All the reports of people dying and fanatical calls for the death of their enemies! You are willing to keep continuing that cycle?”

Setsuna’s features darkened as he was reminded of the wars in the Middle East. He looked her straight in the eyes and stated cooly, “I also grew up in those wars. I served as a soldier in Krugis as a child and saw firsthand no talking would ever solve that war.” Marina gasped as he said that. ‘That explains why he acts the way he does. He’s known nothing but war. Now I understand, Setsuna.’ The raven-haired pilot continued, “Krugis was destroyed because your country absorbed it. Good people stood by and watched evil men create that situation. Good people need to be willing to fight against evil and corruption when there is no other option.” Setsuna finished his statement, waiting for Marina’s response.

Marina stood there absorbing what he said. She knew he was partially right deep down, but it made no sense to her personally. All she knew was violence and conflict ruined the Middle East and there still was conflict after. Force was needed to maintain peace. Shirin had said as much over the years as her advisor. But why? ‘People shouldn’t have to fight. They should be free to lead happy lives. I only wish I had Shirin here to talk to about this.’ Realizing she wasn’t going to convince Setsuna about this, she changed topics. Looking into his eyes, she asked Setsuna, “What do you plan to do after you beat the A-Laws? Do you plan to keep doing this peacekeeping?”

Setsuna tilted his head slightly and replied evenly, “Yes. I am only good at fighting, so that’s what I’ll continue to do.”

Marina looked down sadly, “You are more than just a soldier or warrior. You are a human who should find personal happiness. You don’t have to fight for your entire life. Finding a dream, love or even just a group of people to care about is something worth doing! Finding happiness beyond ideals should be something you look for.”

Setsuna let the words bounce around his head and quietly responded, “I don’t know how to do that.” ‘What was there beyond ensuring peace in the world? After killing my parents as a child, do I deserve to have someone that close me?’ He shook his head slightly side to side. ‘It’s too busy now to focus on that. I have bigger things to worry about.’

Marina gave him a small smile, “You have to open your heart and try to understand them. I can’t teach you, but if need be, I can help you try to understand. It’s the least I can do for you helping my country four years ago and rescuing me.”

Setsuna looked at her gratefully and said, “Thank you. I’ll think about what you said. You should get some rest. Do you need anything?”

Marina replied, “No, I’m good. Thank you for giving me your perspective.” Setsuna nodded to her and walked out the door, hearing it slide closed behind him.

Ptolemaios Hanger

Saji found himself following Ian on his maintenance tasks. They had told him that he could be of use and he was tired of sitting in that cell. Ian was currently working on the wiring within a panel in the hanger. ‘Why are they just letting me see all their technology?’ Saji put down a toolbox, staying on one knee, and asked, “Are you sure it’s ok if I see all of your secret technology?”

Ian responded gruffly, “We’re shorthanded and you’ve got your Class 2 Space Engineer’s License, right?”

Saji replied curiously, “Yeah?”

“If a man doesn’t work, he doesn’t eat.” Saji laughed slightly at that, and said, “Ok, I get it. Uh, Mr…”

Ian interrupted him, “Call me Ian. My name’s Ian Vashti.” Ian put out his hand, asking for another tool.

Saji nodded his head and handed him the tool he was asking for from the box. Saji was curious about one thing. He asked Ian, “What is someone like you doing here Mr. Ian?”

“I’ve seen plenty of battlefields, so I was sick of them. I wanted to get rid of war. Same with everyone here. Some served on the frontlines, some had their bodies rebuilt by the military and others had their parents die trying to save people. Others had their family killed in a terrorist attack and some of them even were forced to become child soldiers. Everyone has lost something precious. That’s the reality of the world.” This surprised Saji. He hadn’t really thought about what type of people would be willing to risk the world’s hatred to try to solve it. These weren’t monsters, but people. Saji wondered to himself ‘Would I have done the same if I lost my sister or Louise to something not related to gundams?’ It was a sobering thought to him.

He spoke up, asking a question he had wanted to ask for a while, “But doesn’t that…”

Ian interrupted him again pulling himself out of the panel he was working on and looking Saji straight in the eye, “Make us criminals? Yes, and we will accept our punishment, but only after we have stamped out war.” Saji saw the dedication in this man’s eyes. These people really believed in that cause. ‘I almost wished Mr. Ian hadn’t told me that. How can you hate someone who you know has a human reason to want to fight’? The world was more complicated than Saji had thought, but he just wanted to get back to his old life. ‘But why does it feel like that is impossible now?’

Sumeragi’s Room

Sumeragi and Allelujah were both in her room, a glass of wine in Sumeragi’s hands. Allelujah wanted to get her opinion on the Marie and Soma situation, so he had asked if they could talk in her room. Sumeragi asked him curiously, “Soma Peries, right? She was the HRL supersoldier?”

Allelujah looked down, asking himself as well as her, “How could I have not known it was her sooner? Marie was the only one who could have disrupted my quantum brainwaves like that.” Sumeragi looked away from him slightly, understanding he was beating himself up, like she was to herself. He paused for a second, then continued, “When I was captured by the UN forces, I felt like my time had come to pay for my sins and I was even ok with rotting away in that prison, but now everything’s changed. I want to get Marie back.”

Sumeragi rested against her desk, “You know she’s your enemy?”

“I know.” He replied.

“On top of that you destroyed the superhuman institute lab.”

He sighed, “I know. I killed our brothers and sisters. If she knew about that, she would probably hate me and I’ve done enough things to deserve it too.” He sat up a little bit straighter, “But even if she does despise me, I owe it to her.” Sumeragi felt envious of that. ‘To have something to fight for even if you know it might not work out.’

Sumeragi interrupted him, causing him to swivel his head to face her. She stated, her voice full of regret, “I envy you. You have a reason to fight now. I wonder if I ever had a reason to fight.”

Allelujah’s voice was full of surprise, “But didn’t you support Aeolia’s ideals?”

“I did believe in his ideals and wanted to eliminate war, but selfishly, I also wanted to leave behind my loathsome past.”

Allelujah was confused, “Loathsome past?” ‘What did she do?’

Self-loathing entered her voice, “Every battle I fought was with that in my mind. I sacrificed all these lives for my own ego.” Allelujah spoke up to try to say something, but she interrupted him. “But despite all I did, I couldn’t escape my past. The way things are now, I have no reason to fight. Or any reason to be here.”

Allelujah spoke with certainty in his voice, “I know how you feel, but there’s a reason you are here.”

“No, I doubt it.”

“If that’s true, then why did you rescue me? I know you’ll find a reason to keep fighting. You just have to look inside yourself. And even if you can’t trust yourself, trust that the crew believes in you.” The words caught her off guard. She tried to open her mouth to respond, but she couldn’t think of anything to say. Allelujah saw her state and said, “Thank you for talking with me. We all have our faith in you. I’ll give you time so you can think about it.” He gave her a smile and left the room. Sumeragi slumped down into a chair. ‘Can I really help? Maybe the crew is correct to believe in me. Emilio, please help me.’

Bridge of the Ptolemaios

The bridge crew sat on the bridge, focusing on their tasks, when a sonar reading came up in front of Mileina. She spotted six objects moving rapidly to the Ptolemy. Raising her voice and speaking through the PA system, she reported, “Six enemies on sonar, approaching fast.” Lasse spoke up, adding, “Those aren’t enemies. Those are torpedos! Feldt!”

Feldt responded immediately, “GN field, maximum output!” The green particle shield raised over the ship, ready to take the hits from the torpedoes. As the torpedo’s closed in and hit the Ptolemy, the shield blocked the direct damage from the weapons, but the ship was buffeted by the concussive force of the explosives, causing the ship to rock heavily. Feldt looked over the system and noticed that she couldn’t get any data from sonar. Scanning, she detected that there were chemicals in the aftermath of the explosions. ‘Those must be blocking our sensors.’ Over the PA, she announced, “The torpedoes were carrying a heavy chemical compound. Our sensors are blind at the moment!”

Lasse added in questioningly, “An enemy that can maneuver at this depth? It must be a new model.”

As the bridge finished that announcement, Feldt noticed a second wave of torpedoes approaching the ship visually. These two weapons seemed to have pseudo-GN particles coming off of them. She spoke to the ship again “Another wave of torpedoes approaching. Two large ones. Brace for impact!” The bridge prepared for impact, knowing they couldn’t dodge this attack. They were shocked when they saw the torpedoed pass through the GN field, and landed directly on the starboard side of the ship, opening a hull breach in the hanger section, causing water to flood in. Mileina relayed this over the PA, stating, “Hull breach in the hangers! Their weapon passed through the GN field!”

Lasse pushed the ship up at a steeper angle, stating over the PA, “I’m bringing the ship up to a lower depth so we can launch the gundams. Everybody hold on!” As he began to push the ship up to a lower depth, he suddenly felt impacts of explosions above him. ‘Depth charges!? The enemy was prepared for this.’ He heard Mileina shout over the PA, “Those were chemical charges! Weapon ports are jammed closed! I can’t access any of them!” Lasse jumped in, “I’ve lost steering as well!”

The bridge crew yelled out in confusion, not knowing what to do, when they heard the door open and Sumeragi’s voice confidently yell, “Calm down!” She rested her arm on the back of Lasse’s seat and continued, “There is a way out! The bombardment will stop soon.” The crew felt an aura of calm wash over the bridge, feeling better now that Sumeragi was here to lead them. “Once it does, the underwater enemy will approach us, and lead a direct attack.” As she finished that sentence, another impact rocked the ship, and the sensors reported another hull breach on the port.

Feldt spoke over the PA to inform the crew, “Hull breach on the port side! Severe damage! The ship can’t take much more!” The crew looked at Sumeragi, surprised that she seemed to be smirking about this. Lasse was about to ask what was going on when she beat him to the punch, “Boy are we lucky. The enemy that we couldn’t find is right next to us. And we are at a safe depth to launch the gundams. The enemy even helped speed up the flooding of the lower containers.

With the Gundams

As the container fully flooded, the Seravee floated out into the water, heading towards the enemy attached to the side of their ship. He spotted the thin black mobile armor. It had a thin, sleek black hull, with shades of red as highlights, and attached to the central part of it were two large arms that ran parallel with the cockpit portion that had spikes protruding into the Ptolemy, which could split into two more arms and a torpedo launcher below the chassis. Tieria grabbed the front of the machine and pushed his engines at full power. He heard the pilot of the machine say, “Trying to fight the power of the Trilobite? With just the power of the mobile suit?”

Tieria smirked and replied, “I have an ace up my sleeve. Trans-am!” His suit began to glow red, and he moved the Trilobite out of the hole that it had made, moving it a decent distance from the ship. The mobile arm had its arms try to pierce into the Seravee but found it unable to pierce the suits armor.

Just then, the Cheridum arrived, opening fire on the mobile armor from close range. Even though the water was reducing his particle weapons effectiveness, Lyle knew that he was doing damage to the Trilobite. The machine rocked from the hits, attempting to retreat to get at a further distance to fire its torpedoes, but the 00 came rocketing toward the mobile armor, surprising the pilots of that machine. As Setsuna charged the machine, the voice of Marina echoed in his head ‘You don’t have to fight for your entire life.’

 He shook it off, his voice filling with resolve as he yelled, “00, eliminating target!” He got into melee range, first cutting off the end of claw with his sword, then cutting a large gash in the front of the machine. He then put two more large cuts into the center of the hull, carving through it like butter. And as he carved through the last of its arms, he saw the machine react violently and explode. Wasting no time, he called out, “Allelujah!”

Alleujah replied, “On it!” As he dashed through the water towards the 00. Setsuna grabbed onto the fin of the Arios as he passed by and Allelujah rose through the water, activating his trans-am. As the two of them broke the surface of the water, Setsuna spotted a larger carrier class ship. ‘That must be where the attacks came from.’ Letting go of the Arios, he charged forward, intending to destroy the bridge of the ship.

But just as he was about to reach it, the raven-haired pilot felt another mobile suit slam into him. When he recovered from the hit, he saw what looked like an Ahead, but different. It had a samurai like helmet on and a curved beam saber as its weapon. It raised its sword at him and charged. The 00 responded in kind, clashing blades with him with an amazingly fast speed, and Setsuna was forced to dodge out of the way with some difficulty. ‘Wait, I know that technique. Is it that Union fighter from four years ago?’ The other pilot switched his sword to his other hand and charged back into to engage him again. ‘It’s a rematch then.’

As Setsuna and the other mobile suit engaged in battle, Allelujah saw a custom ahead launch, heading straight for him. He transformed into his mobile suit mode and opened fire. His first two attacks missed and the third one deflected by a small shield. The way it moves. That’s Marie! He saw Soma return fire and attempted to dodge out of the way, succeeding with most of them, but two landed solid hits. He felt the impact of the hits.

‘I should be dodging this easy with this suit. But without Hallelujah and my quantum brainwaves, I’m at a disadvantage. Those hits were due to me, not the suit.’ He was happy at least some of him muscle memories were intact. As Soma drew out her beam saber to engaging him in melee yelling, “Fall gundam!”, shells from out of nowhere hit her, forcing her to see where they came from as well as dodge the remaining shots coming at her. Her, along with all the other pilots, saw a formation of nine older mobile suits. They all recognized them as Katharon mobile suits. Setsuna’s saw his opponent charge into the formation, but he heard Feldt say to him, “Fall back to the designated point to regroup.” He replied, “Understood.” He moved away from the battlefield, Allelujah following behind him. Setsuna pondered about that fight. ‘Why do I feel like this isn’t that last time I will fight that pilot?’

Back on the Bridge of the Ptolemaios

As the order was given out to leave the battlefield, the bridge crew visibly relaxed. They had survived a desperate battle and won, thanks to Sumeragi. Lasse looked at her, “Thanks for the save. It’s good to see the old you again. What caused you to help us?”

Sumeragi gave him a smile and said, “Even if I don’t fully believe in myself, you guys seemingly do and I’m not going to let down you guys for a second time. Also, you guys need me if you want to win.”

Lasse gave her an appreciative head nod, “Are you officially joining us?”

“Looks like it.”

Feldt responded in a happy voice, “It’s good to have you back officially, Ms. Sumeragi!”

Mileina spoke in a similar tone, “Now we definitely have a chance to win!”

Sumeragi then blushed slightly and said, “It’s good to be back.” She turned to face Feldt, and with a slightly bashful look, stated, “Also Feldt, the uniform you gave me was a bit…tight. I think you need to get the next size up.”

Feldt giggled at that, “Don’t worry, I’ll get you the right size.”

The Ptolemaios

After the crew escaped from the A-Laws ship, Feldt was asked to head to the hanger to help oversee repairs from the battle damage. The holes had been patched and the water drained, but there were other repairs that needed to be looked at. About halfway to the hanger, she spotted Lyle coming the opposite direction, most likely from the hanger itself. She really wanted to avoid this, but she knew this was a good time to talk to him in private. If the crew had to save the world, keeping this festering wouldn’t be good, so she stopped in front of him, steeling her nerves. He looked at her confused, then smiled and asked, “Here to take me up on my offer?”

She glared at him and said with a hard voice, “I think we need to talk.”

He nodded at that and they entered the conference room nearby. He opened the conversation with a casual voice, “So do I start, or do you want to start?”

Feldt looked at him and with determination in her voice, she stated, “I know treating you like your brother was wrong on my part, but you didn’t have to kiss me to prove it!” She felt some tears welling up, but she held them back. “So, why? Why did you do that?”

Lyle sighed in frustration, “I always hated being compared to my brother and the way you watched me reminded me of that, especially after what haro said. It always hurt to be compared to him. So, I made sure you knew I wasn’t him.” Feldt could sense there was more to this than he was letting on, but her mind focused on the obvious statement he made.

“I never meant to compare you to him. Neil just meant so much to me.” She felt tears running down her face, which quickly slowed as she got control of her emotions. Seeing that, a pang of sympathy shot through Lyle and he probably had been harsher than he needed to.

Lyle ran his hand through his hair and said with sincerity, “I’m sorry I went too far. How about we start over with a clean slate? I’m not asking to be a friend, just clear up this mess so it doesn’t affect the work we do.”

Looking at his body language and facial expression, Feldt could tell he was being truthful and didn’t intend to hurt her so much. She gave him a slight smile and said, “I can agree to that. Just don’t do it again.”

Lyle replied in a flirtatious tone, “So I don’t have another shot?” He saw the girl glare at him. He put his hands up in defense, “Alright, I get it. Won’t happen again. We good?” He saw Feldt nod, and he continued, “Well back on duty I suppose.”

As he was about to exit the room, he heard Feldt ask in a quiet tone, “Do you still miss him?”

Without turning around, he replied, “Of course. It always hurts a little. Doesn’t mean I can’t move on. He would want you to move on, same as me. No point getting stuck in the past.”

He heard Feldt respond gratefully, “Thank you.” He gave her a thumbs up as he exited the door, leaving Feldt alone in the room.

‘Lyle was right. I have to move on from him. I hope wherever you are Neil, you are happy with us. And who knows, maybe Mileina was right about finding a boyfriend.’ She smiled to herself, an image of Setsuna flashing in her mind for a second, as she exited the room, feeling like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

Chapter Text

“This is speech”

‘This is thought’

Former AEU Europe

As Louise walked through the strip mall, a news broadcast caught her eye. She saw the woman from the broadcast a few weeks ago, a representative of the government, standing behind a podium near the government headquarters. Behind her sat what she assumed was the representatives of the A-Laws on folding chairs. Louise had apparently missed the first part of the conference, but she got there in time to hear her say, “We are not sure if the current gundams are related to the ones from five years ago, but the A-Laws are dedicated to eliminating this group that threatens our peace.” The speaker continued on, talking about government policy on Katharon and the gundams, but Louise moved her attention away from the news.

Louise mulled over the words. ‘I know the gundams are a threat, but why are they back? We’ve had relative peace for five years.’ She remembered the broadcast from start of the gundams intervention, stating that they were here to stop war. ‘Is there something going on that we don’t know about? Does it have something to do with the A-Laws maybe?’

Something seemed a bit odd about them, but she couldn’t place exactly what bothered her about them. It must have been something from one of her classes from years ago, but nothing came to mind. It did bother her about what happened with Saji. ‘I hope Saji is ok. There is no way he’s a rebel. There has to be more to that story than they are saying.’ She had no proof of it, but her gut and experience with Saji told her that she was missing context.

She continued her shopping and made her way home. As she drove, she felt thankful for the help she had gotten over years. She had at least partially gotten over her nervous breakdowns when it came to the gundams. She would never forgive them, but she had to move forward.

She was conflicted about supporting the A-Laws still. They asked her for support as the holder of the Halevy estate, and she had turned them down under the pretense that she would think about it. As she pulled up the estate, she saw another car waiting near the gate, with a male member of the A-Laws, a soldier by the look of him, standing outside of the car near the gate. Louise pulled up to the gate and stopped, lowering the passenger window of her car.

The A-Laws soldier approached her the car door and put out his hand, which had some sort of invitation on it, “I have been sent to bring you this invitation to a A-Laws fundraising party. They would be very appreciative if you came to this party.”

 Louise took the invitation from their hand reluctantly. She took a minute to read over it. The party would be in a week or so and apparently the leadership of the A-Laws would be there, along with some of the other benefactors of the organization. They must really want her support if they were inviting her to this. They had never invited her to something like this before. ‘This could be my chance to confirm some things about the organization. I want to be certain if they are telling the truth. And maybe find out about Saji.’ She gave the invitation one last scan then looked over at the soldier, “Tell them I will be showing up to the party. Thank you for inviting me.”

The soldier bowed and replied, “I will inform them. Command will certainly wish to talk to you there, so don’t be surprised.” Louise was surprised the soldier was being so honest. She watched them head back to their vehicle and drive off. Looking at the invitation one last time, she mentally prepared herself. ‘This party will be an exhausting evening.’

Katharon Base in the Middle East

The Arios and the Cheridum flew in front on the shuttle being piloted by Tieria and Setsuna as they travelled above the desert. They had met with Katharon forces after the battle with the trilobite and had been informed of the location of the Katharon base and had traveled with only two of the gundams just in case things got bad. Marina had been shocked to see that Shirin was among the leadership of Katharon. Shirin had promised to tell her more when they got back to the base.

The shuttle was currently carrying the two pilots, along with Sumeragi, Saji and Marina. The only notable thing that the pilots’ saw were large GN particles dispensers that dotted along the desert linked by a long winding cable. Tieria spoke up from the cockpit of the shuttle, “I’m surprised that the Federation hasn’t found the base.”

Lockon’s face popped up in the shuttles front window HUD, “The Federation scatters GN particles in the Middle East, which has a lot of nonmember nations. Officially its used to disrupt the networks of terrorist organizations, but it is actually there to paralyze the growth of middle eastern countries. Simply put, it’s the price you pay for not joining the Federation.” Marina gasped quietly as she overheard this. ‘Setsuna was right. Even if he joined me there was nothing I could do against the Federation. But I still have to help my country!’ Lyle took a breath and continued, “But thanks to the GN particles, the Katharon base has stayed hidden.”

Tieria responded with a teasing jab, “You sure know a lot about that.”

Lyle looked away slightly and deflected in a casual tone, “Oh, you think so? I thought it was just common sense.” He was surprised Tieria was so casual. Comments like that were his job.

Their conversation was interrupted by a male voice on the radio, “This is Katharon. We have detected your mobile suits and are opening the hatch.” The pilots all saw what looked like a metal structure covered by tan tarps suddenly open a good distance away. The pilots guided the shuttle and the two gundams into the base, landing near the entrance. The members of Celestial Being looked around the wide-open hanger that contained around twelve older model mobile suits painted blue, a catwalk high up for suit access and repairs. It was weird to see some of the mobile suits that put up a good fight against them five years ago. There were also doors on the lower levels that looked like they led further into the base.

As the gundam pilots, as well as the rest crew existed their vehicles, they saw a large crowd of Katharon members gathered around them, saying how happy they were to see the gundams. One of the men came up to Lockon and asked, “Aren’t you going to show us your faces?”

Lyle replied to that, “Oh right, my fault.”

He began to remove his helmet, but was interrupted by Tieria, “Our identities are secret.”

Lyle rolled his eyes as he finished taking off his helmet, “Don’t be such a stickler for rules. They helped us out, didn’t they?” Tieria grunted in reluctant agreement and pressed a button on the side of his helmet, removing the tint from his helmet, allowing the men to see his face. Allelujah followed suit.

One of the men from the crowd walked up to the members of Celestial Being, stating, “Our leaders want to meet you. Any of you interested, follow me.” Wordlessly, Saji, Marina, Setsuna and Sumergai followed him, leaving the other three pilots to watch over the gundams and the shuttle, as well as answer any questions the rebels had.

Katharon Base Meeting Room

Saji, Setsuna, Sumeragi and Marina stood next to each other on one side of a table that was located in a command center of the base. Across from them stood four members of the leadership of Katharon. Two of them that stood out the most from this group were a man and a woman in the center. The man had light brown, closely cut hair, a red jacket and blue shirt and European features. To his left was a woman that Marina recognized, Shirin Bakhtiar. She had long dark brown hair that went to her lower back, currently in a ponytail and had on a black T-shirt along with cargo pants. The man spoke up first, bowing slightly, “We’re grateful you agreed to meet with us. I’m Klaus Grad, of the Katharon Middle Eastern branch.”

Sumeragi returned the bow, “We represent Celestial Being. That’s all we can say.”

Klaus replied, “That’s fine. We understand your situation.” Shirin spoke next, also bowing slightly, “We are grateful that you saved Princess Marina from the detention center. We’ll take care of her from now on.” Marina looked on at her in confusion. She was still trying to understand why her friend and advisor had become a rebel, “Shirin-“.

“Would you rather stay with Celestial Being?”

“Why did you join up with a group of dissidents?”

Shirin responded sharply, “Is there something wrong with that?” Marina, not able to come up with a reply, lowered her head, feeling conflicted. ‘Could Setsuna be right? Maybe I’m the one not fully understanding everything.’ Seeing that that conversation had come to an end, Setsuna stated, “There is one other person we would like to leave with you.” He pointed to Saji, “This is Saji Crossroad. He was a civilian and is accused of being a member of Katharon, even though he is completely innocent.”

Klaus gave Saji a sympathetic look and assured him, “I’m really sorry to hear about that. I’m not sure this would help his case, but I don’t have a problem with that. You can rest assured that we will take good care of him.”

Saji aggresively turned to face Setsuna, “Hold on! Don’t I get a say?”

Sumeragi jumped in, “It’s the best option for all of us.” Saji sighed and accepted it, realizing this could be to his advantage. ‘I haven’t made one real decision since I got rescued. But I can get a ride out of here and make my way home or find Louise.’

Klaus coughed to get everyone’s attention, “Now for the issue at hand. In order for Katharon to overthrow the current federation government- “

Sumeragi interrupted him, “I’m sorry, but unlike your group, our actions are not based on some political ideology.”

Klaus responded, confused by the statement, “But I thought you were taking a position against the Federation?”

Setsuna spoke up, “That’s not so. Our enemy is the A-Laws, not the Federation.”

Shirin replied to him, “That’s what you say. But doesn’t your goal of fighting an autonomous force coincide with our goals?”

Klaus added onto that in a hopeful voice, “Yes, that’s right! In order to stop the evil deeds of the A-Laws, both our groups should join forces!”

Sumeragi looked at him sadly, “Unfortunately the suits you have here cannot compete against suits with GN drives.”

Klaus stood tall and maintained his hopeful tone, “Even so, we want to help your cause! If that just means maintenance and supplies, we would be willing to assist you.”

Sumeragi sighed and with some resignation in her voice, responded, “We might be able to agree on those terms. Setsuna, head back to the hanger. I will stay here and come to an agreement with Katharon.” Setsuna nodded and left the room. Saji followed behind him. Marina looked up and tried to speak to Shirin, but she just shook her head in reaction to that. Marina realized she wasn’t going to get to talk to her and quickly followed Setsuna as well.

As Setsuna, Saji and Marina headed back to the hanger, Setsuna noticed a strange room to his left as he walked by. Inside he noticed a group of young children playing in a room that was colorful and looked like it had been decorated by them. ‘At least they aren’t turning these children into soldiers.’ He clenched his fist. ‘This is the world we created. Created more orphans.’ He paused a second, Marina and Saji getting ahead of him, but stopped when they noticed what he was looking at.

Marina looked in the room, seeing the children playing. ‘Oh Setsuna. You didn’t get to grow up like this, did you? This must be a reason you fight’. She looked at him with sympathy in her eyes, getting a more complete understanding of the man. ‘How can a peaceful word stop what happened to these children? Can they?’

Saji walked up to Setsuna with anger in his voice, “These children are your victims too. Victims of the world that you guys changed.”

Setsuna nodded his head, “I know.” Marina took a few steps back, not wanting to get into the middle of whatever this argument was about. It was clear there was a history between these two men.

Saji’s anger continued, glaring at Setsuna, “Doesn’t this make you feel anything?”

“Yes, I do. I’m not meant to live like them.” Setsuna heard Marina’s words in his head as he finished saying that. ‘Finding a dream, love or even just a group of people to care about is something worth doing! Could I find happiness? Beyond fighting?’

Ignorant of Setsuna’s thoughts, Saji asked, “Then why do you keep fighting if you know what you cause?”

Setsuna walked pass Saji, replying, “So those children don’t become people like me.” Setsuna continued walking, Marina following him to the hanger.

Saji stood there in the hallway, conflicted. He was still angry at Setsuna’s refusal to stop fighting, but that last comment caught him off guard. ‘Did this have to do with his past? Did it have to do with the fighting in Krugis?’

Setsuna heard only one step of footsteps behind him and turned around, spotting Marina, “Aren’t you staying here?”

She took a breath, “Setsuna, I want to go back to Azadistan. I’m not asking you to come with me, but I need you to drop me off.”

“Are you sure?” She nodded at that. Setsuna looked at her then said, “We’ll talk to Sumeragi when she gets back.”

A-Laws Carrier

Soma stood on the catwalk that snaked around the side of the carrier. Sergei’s face was on the other side of the call, wearing the Federation uniform. Soma looked surprised seeing this, “You were mobilized Colonel?”

Sergei replied, frustrated, “I have been assigned to hunt down gundams. To think that the Federation forces are being used as errand boys for the A-Laws.”

Soma replied curiously, “Is that so?”

Sergei let some of the tension and frustration leave his face, “By the way, how is he holding up?”

Soma looked up to see Andrei talking with a member of the ship’s crew. “Lieutenant Andrei? He’s always devoted to his duties.”

Sergei visibly sighed, “Andrei’s sending me a message. He and I don’t have a great relationship.”

Soma chimed in, “Sir?”

“I was a diligent soldier, but never a great parent to him. Holly was better at that than me.” Soma remembered Holly, at least by name. Sergei never talked about her, but she saw picture of her in the house. Whenever she asked about her, Sergei clammed up. ‘It must be something deeply damaging to him’.

Not wanting to press on this topic anymore, she said to Sergei in a quieter voice, “Remember that offer you gave me before, about the adoption?”

Sergei nodded, “Yes. Did you think about it?”

Soma gave him a smile, “I did, and I would love to become your daughter. We can go over the details next time we meet.”

Sergei smiled back, “That sounds good.” Soma ended the call, feeling happiness wash over her. ‘I am a lucky woman.’

Back at the Katharon Base

Marina, Sumeragi and the pilots, sans Lockon were all sitting in the passenger area of the shuttle. Sumeragi, Tieria and Allelujah were surprised to see Marina there with her. They had all assumed she would want to stay here. Allelujah spoke up first, “Is the meeting over?”

Sumeragi nodded, “Katharon is willing to help us with supplies and repairs if we are in areas where they operate.”

Tieria nodded at that and Allelujah sighed in relief, “At least someone is going to assist us.”

Setsuna spoke up, “There is one more thing I have to do.” All the members of Celestial Being looked at him curiously, “I’ll be escorting Marina Ismail back to Azadistan.”

Sumeragi gave a questioning look at Marina, “Is this truly what you want? Your country’s problems are being caused by the Federation and you may not be safe. The Federation might take you prisoner again.” Sumeragi was worried about Marina. ‘This woman could barely control her country last time and it was in much better shape. How could she do it now?’

Marina nodded at that, and with an apologetic voice, stated, “I’m sorry for all the trouble I am causing. I need to get back there and see what I can do. I owe it to my country.”

The tactical forecaster sighed at her comment. ‘I can’t stop her, but this is a bad move.’ Sumeragi then thought for a second. Taking a gundam to there would be dangerous, but maybe they could do something else. She turned her head to face Setsuna, “Bringing a gundam to Azadistan could potentially bring harm to the country.”

Setsuna replied, “Then let me use this craft. You can take the gundams.”

Sumeragi stood up and said, “That’ll work.”

Tieria, sounding a bit like his old self, said, “Oh, and Setsuna, don’t feel you have to come back.”

Setsuna said resolute tone, “That’s absurd.” ‘Was he telling a joke? If it is, then that’s new.’ He watched as the rest of the crew left the shuttle, moving down the stairs that lead to the boarding ramp. He turned to face Marina and was surprised to see a smile on her face. It reminded him of his mother’s smile before he joined the KPSA. He frowned slightly thinking of that memory.

“Thank you Setsuna. Azadistan owes you a debt twice over.”

Setsuna nodded at that and asked, “No problem. Are you ready to go?” She stood up and began to head to the cockpit, signaling that she was. Setsuna followed her, preparing himself to head back to that area that haunted his past.

Outside the Katharon Base

After looking around for a while, Saji had located an exit to the base. As he walked down the tunnel leading out, he reflected angrily. ‘I’m tired of the fighting that these groups cause. I have to leave here. It’s not fair that I get dragged into the fighting.’ He saw the door that led to the outside world and gave it a good shove, causing it to open. All he could see in the distance for miles was sand dune after sand dune. He could also feel the intense heat, even in the shaded area that was in front of the entrance. ‘Maybe they have a vehicle I could use?’ He walked out a few feet from the door when he heard a slightly aggressive voice from behind him, “Hey, what are you doing there?”

Saji turned around, seeing one of the Katharon soldiers holding a rifle. Nervous about getting caught, his voice cracked a little, “Well you see I was-“

The man interrupted him, but Saji saw the man’s face relax and give him a casual smile, “Oh you’re with Celestial Being, right?”

Saji relaxed, realizing he wasn’t in trouble. Coming up with a quick excuse, he told the man, “Yeah. I just had some comrades in town I wanted to check up on.”

He saw the man pull something out of his pocket and say, “Well the closest town is a while from here. Take a vehicle.” The man tossed him car keys.

The Japanese man nodded at him, and sighed in relief, “Thank you.” ‘I can’t believe that actually worked!’ The soldier he was talking to returned to his duty and Saji found a vehicle depot after a few minutes of looking around the base perimeter. He used the same story on the men guarding the depot and was quickly on his way traveling through the desert. ‘I’ll try to find someone in town that can help me. I just need to find a way to get to Japan or Louise, and I can just go back to the way life was.’

However, a small thought in the back of his mind wouldn’t leave him alone. ‘After all that’s happened, how can I pretend the world is ok?’ He shook the thought off. ‘No, everything would go back to normal, and I won’t have to worry about anything other than his personal issues.’

As he continued driving, he heard a strange rumbling sound coming from over a sand dune. Driving to the top of the dune, he spotted something he really didn’t want to see. It looked like a flying battleship of some kind with Federation markings on it. He was about to move when he saw a mobile suit painted in the Federation blue come flying out of the ship. Saji had been spotted and there was nothing he could do. He turned off the car and waited to get taken prisoner. ‘This day couldn’t get any worse!’

Federation Ship Interrogation Room

Saji had been taken to what looked like some sort of meeting or interrogation room, which was plain and bare besides from a table and two chairs. One of the soldiers on the ship had been yelling at him for the past couple minutes about why he was out in the desert. Saji had been telling him he just wanted to get to the next town, but the man didn’t believe him. The door opened up and two men stood at the door. One looked like another lower ranking soldier and the other was an older man with a trident like scar over his left eye. The soldier spoke up, “We got a hit on his biometrics. This man is a member of Katharon!”

Saji replied desperately, “I am not! I’ve never been a member of that group!” The soldier across from him got up and walked around the table to stand in front of him and grabbed Saji by his shirt collar, punching his across his left cheek. Saji grunted from the hit, glaring at the soldier.

Sergei raised his voice, “Enough! There is no need to rough him up. I want to hear his story.” The two soldiers saluted him and left the room, the door closing behind them.

Sergei sat down and Saji felt a little more comfortable with him in the room. ‘Maybe he’ll believe my story.’ Sergei gave him a piercing look and asked, “You aren’t really a soldier, are you?” Saji was caught off guard by that question. Was it that obvious? Sergei then answered his question without Saji needing to ask, “I’m an old soldier. I could tell. You don’t have the eyes of someone who has seen combat. You clearly aren’t a member of Katharon. So, what have you been up to?”

Saji looked at him with hope and filled him in on what he had gone on the past few weeks, leaving out some of the personal details he had learned about the crew as well as the identities of the crew. ‘Setsuna did save my life and the crew treated me decently.’

Sergei took it all in and looked Saji straight in the eyes, “You don’t seem like a liar to me. It looks like you were in the wrong place at the wrong time.” In his head, Sergei knew who was behind this. ‘The A-Laws. Does attacking innocent civilians in the name of peace justify your acts? And you even left a civilian to become a criminal because they might be suspicious? I hope you can avoid the worst of it Soma.’

Saji asked desperately, “Can you clear my name? I just want to go back to my normal life.”

Sergei sighed, “I’ll do what I can. It unfair to have a civilian punished for a crime they didn’t commit. I will need you to stay on this ship till I can try to clear this up.” Saji nodded at that and Sergei got up and left the room.

“By the way son, what’s your name?”

“My name is Saji Crossroads.”

“You can call me Colonel Sergei Smirnov.”

Little did both of them know, but one of the soldiers Sergei sent away had heard that entire conversation through eavesdropping and rushed off to inform the A-Laws.

A-Laws Carrier

Soma looked over the orders for the operation as she stood in the hanger of the carrier. Apparently, the regular forces had found a Katharon member and found out the location of a Katharon Base. ‘Search and destroy.’ The phrase left a bad taste in her mouth. They were even loading Automatons onto one of the Aheads for use in the operation. She spoke in a quiet tone to herself, “No wonder the Colonel was wary of me joining the A-Laws.”

She then heard Andrei’s voice come to her left, in a bitter voice, “You got it wrong. He never told you this to make him seem like a good person, but he’s not. That man would abandon his family to fulfill his precious duty.”

Soma asked, confused, “What do you mean, abandon his family?” Did this have to do with his wife?

“He allowed my mother to die.” The bitterness in his voice had only increased. Some looked at Andrei, conflicted and confused. Obviously, the Colonel had not mentioned this to her, which meant it was something very personal to him. ‘But why was Andrei so bitter? There must be more going on. I’ll ask the Colonel next time I speak with him. I am curious why Andrei feels this way.’

Grasping at straws, she asked, “Surely there’s more to the story than that?” 

Andrei responded in an icy tone, “We need to get to our mobile suits.” Soma thought to herself, ‘Looks like Andrei isn’t going to answer my questions. Guess I definitely have to talk to the Colonel.’ She headed to her mobile suit, the question of what happened in the back of her mind.

Federation Interrogation Room

About 10 minutes after Sergei left, Saji saw Sergei run into the room in, looking like he’s in a rush. Saji asked curiously, “Colonel Smirnov, what’s wrong?”

In a commanding voice, Sergei said, “Mr. Crossroad, we have to get you out of here right now.”

“What happened?”

“Someone leaked your presence to the A-Laws. Now that they know you are here, I can’t protect you. I don’t have enough authority.” Saji felt a growing fear. ‘The Federation forces are outranked by the A-Laws? Were the Celestial Being members right?’

Saji stood up from his seat, “You really can’t do anything?”

Sergei looked at him sadly, “Unfortunately no. Now follow me.” Saji followed him to the hanger, where they were keeping his vehicle. As he got in and the ramp lowered, Sergei said, “Most likely the A-Laws are headed to where you came from. I wouldn’t recommend you go back, but if you do, be careful.”

Saji nodded at him and said gratefully, “Thank you Colonel. I owe you for saving my life.”

Sergei gave him a salute, “Just doing my job as a good soldier. I hate to see innocent people suffer when they don’t have to.”

The vehicle drove off into the desert, leaving a dust cloud behind it. Saji’s thoughts were full of worry. ‘I’m such an idiot! There were children at that base! Along with a lot of other people! I didn’t want to join the fighting, but I didn’t want them to suffer. For once, I want the gundams to show up. I need them to. Those people don’t deserve to die for my mistake!’

Airspace around Katharon Base

As the formation of A-Laws forces headed to the Katharon base, Soma took a look over at the container attached the Ahead that contained the Automatons. ‘Weapons like this shouldn’t be needed. The Colonel would never have approved of something like them being used. Maybe the Colonel was right for me to not join.’

Andrei, on the other hand, was prepared to do his duty. ‘These rebels stood in the way of peace and happiness in the world. If that peace had to be secured through less-than-ideal means, then I will be happy to use those means.’ No one would have to suffer the loss of a parent like he did. ‘It would be even better if the gundams showed up. Then it would eliminate two threats.’ He still had a bone to pick with the pilot who killed his squad mate at Proud.

Both Soma and Andrei heard a call over comms. “Structure spotted. Most likely the enemy base. Permission to engage.” The two of them saw what looked like a metal structure covered by tents and tarps, with what looked like a hanger door that was currently closed. Andrei took aim at the structure with his lance and opened fire. The red energy blast punched through the structure, opening a wide hole in the base, leaving a large amount of debris surrounding the area of the blast. Several outdated mobile suits came out of the entrance of the base, opening fire on the A-Laws. Andrei, Soma and the rest of the A-Laws forces dodged out of the way easily, picking them off one by one.

Soma was not enjoying the sight of this one-sided battle. ‘This isn’t right. This is like shooting at fish in a barrel. They aren’t a threat to us.’ Over comms she heard the order to drop the Automatons. ‘They wouldn’t! It’s already easy! They should ask them to surrender.’ She watched as the suit dropped the box shaped robots onto the ground. She yelled over comms, “Wait a minute!” But her objection was seemingly ignored.

Andrei watched with an even face. He didn’t like that they had to use these weapons, but knew they were a necessary evil. At least he wasn’t getting his hands dirty. Though he wasn’t personally killing the people in the base, which calmed his nerves a little. But his thoughts were interrupted.

Out of nowhere, a purple energy blast came flying at the A-Laws formation, causing them to scatter. The Seravee, Cheridum and Arios flew into the battlefield. Andrei yelled over the comms, “It’s the gundams!”

In the cockpit of the Seravee, Tieria spoke up, “We’re too late!”

Allelujah, looking at the Katharon base, asked, “What about the base?”

Lockon’s voice was more intense than usual, “I’ll handle the base. You two deal with the mobile suits.” Allelujah and Tieria moved towards the formation rapidly as the Cheridum moved to the open hole in the base.

The Cheridum descended down to the base and noticed the custom ahead was following him, but seemingly not opening fire. As he got closer to the base, he noticed the Automatons steadily making their way through the hanger, leaving bodies in their wake. Red hot anger flowed through his blood. ‘Damn you A-Laws bastards!” He pulled out his two sidearms on the gundam and targeted the robots, dwindling their numbers. He had to keep them from reaching the inner part of the base.

As Soma followed the gundam, she got a horrifying glimpse of what was going on. She saw the bodies left by the Automatons, the machines not even stopping. ‘Is this what a soldier is supposed to do? Let massacres like this happen?’ She floated there, paralyzed by the sight in front of her. ‘This is what the Colonel protected me from. He made sure that I didn’t have to do this. Oh Colonel.”

 She was broken out of her thoughts by energy blasts from the Cheridum and heard the pilot yell, “I’ll never forgive you for this!” She pulled back, raising up her shield to block the shots, which destroyed the shield. ‘I wouldn’t be mad if you didn’t forgive us. I’m just as guilty of this as any of us.’

On another part of the battlefield, the Arios charged into the formation, still in jet mode, grabbing one of the GN-X’s with the front claw. He yelled out angrily as he cut the suit in half, “Just because you don’t pull the trigger yourself doesn’t mean you are guilty for the crime!” He heard the suit explode behind him and he transformed into mobile suit mode. ‘I’m feeling a little less rusty now.’ He opened fire on two of the mobile suits, missing but drawing them into a dogfight. Allelujah did notice one of the custom Aheads was staying out of the fight. ‘What’s up with that?’

As Allelujah was engaging those mobile suits, Tieria brought his bazooka forward, charging a large purple ball in front it. He released the energy, nearly hitting Andrei’s mobile suit as he barely dodged out of the way. ‘This was the mobile suit that saved the other gundam at Proud. Now’s my chance.’ As Andrei was about to charge, he heard orders of the comms, “We have achieved our objective. Withdraw at once.” ‘I’ll get you next time gundam. I promise that.’ The A-Laws suits pulled back, with Soma pulling up the rear as she retreated from the attacks from the Cheridum.

As Soma flew away, she had one thought running through her head. ‘I don’t deserve the happiness I’ve been granted. I’m sorry Colonel!’ Unknown to her, a presence in the back of her mind felt like their prison had been weakened. ‘Soon, Allelujah.’

Airspace of Azadistan

As Setsuna flew the shuttle, he noticed they were nearing Azadistan airspace. He took a glance over at Marina and saw she was noticeably happier. ‘Azadistan is that important to her apparently. While I do agree with Sumeragi, maybe Marina could make a difference.’ He spoke up, “We are almost there. Ready to return back to your country?”

Marina gave an enthusiastic nod, “It’s good to be back.”

Her smile became a face of shock immediately became a look of horror as the shuttle flew out of a cloud bank. Both of them saw could only see red and orange as fires raged across Azadistan. The colors were highlighted by the darkness of the nights, making smaller fires that much more obvious. From their vantage point, they could see the lights of emergency vehicles trying in vain to restore order. Some mobile suit units were trying to maintain order, but based on the level of destruction, it was most likely in vain.

Setsuna saw some tears coming from Marina as she was shocked by the sight. He was shocked as well. Even in his time, he had never seen destruction on this scale all at once. The silence in the shuttle was broken by Marina, “Azadistan is-“

Setsuna finished her sentence, “Burning.”

“But why is Azadistan burning?”

Setsuna tried to come up with an idea of what happened. ‘It’s too large scale for terrorism. You need a lot of firepower to do this much damage. It must be a- ‘. His thoughts were interrupted when he spotted a red gundam floating over the ruins of the city. The suit was very angular, with a large sword attached right arm and a silver shield on its left. Its head was very different from the gundams of Celestial Being, lacking the samurai helmet look. ‘It looks like a throne, but improved. And that color. Could it be Ali al Saachez? I thought the bastard died five years ago.’ The gundam turned to face the shuttle, flashing a familiar looking tattoo on its faceplate. The gundam then took off, almost taunting them with how casual the destruction it managed to cause was to it. ‘It was him. Only a man like him would go so far to do this.’

Setsuna did a pass over the city, seeing if they could do anything. Marina was unable to respond, only taking in the destruction. Seeing as there was nothing they could do, Setsuna flew back to the Ptolemaios, needing to report what happened as well as the fact that the man that murdered Neil was still alive.

Chapter Text

“Normal Speech”

‘Thoughts’

“Split personalities speaking” (Tentative)

Hanger of the Katharon Base

The three gundam pilots entered the hanger, horrified by the sight. There were bodies all over the place, having been cut down by the Automatons. Rubble was strewn out across the room, mixed with remains of some of the mobile suits that hadn’t been able to escape the hanger. They could hear people calling out for help moving bodies or rubble and the groans of wounded or dying men as they were moved or just laid on the ground. They had seen reports of what the A-Laws had been doing, but to see it personally was another thing entirely. Lyle gripped his fist tightly, having watched it happen firsthand. ‘The A-Laws will pay for this.’

As the three pilots looked over the room, they saw a group of four men approach them, one of them armed with a pistol. When they got close, one of the men asked them accusingly, “Did you leak our location to the A-Laws?!”

Tieria responded evenly, “We did not tell the A-Laws where you were.” The armed man got in Tieria’s face, pointing his gun at Tieria, “This is your fault! You guys killed our friends!”

Lockon quickly grabbed the man’s wrist and pointed the gun upward, out of his face, “Knock it off! They didn’t do anything!”

The man looked at Lockon suspiciously, “How do I know that?”

“Trust me. We had no intentions of damaging Katharon.”

Lockon saw the man was beginning to tear up as the Katharon member said, “A few minutes ago we were just relaxing and having fun. And now they are dead!”

Lyle put a hand on his shoulder, “We will avenge your comrades. Don’t worry about that.” The man nodded his head, tears falling down his face.

As Lockon talked to the soldier, Tieria looked around the room curiously. ‘Who could have told the A-Laws where this base was? It couldn’t have been us or any of the members.’ Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Saji at the bottom of the ramp leading into the hanger, his face visibly shocked and horrified. ‘I think I have an idea of who it was.’

Saji surveyed the destruction of the hanger, along with the bodies lying on the ground. ‘All these people dead. It’s all my fault. How could I have been so selfish!’ Distracted by the sight of the hanger, he was caught by surprise when he saw Tieria approach him. Tieria spoke to him in a harsh tone, “Now where have you been?” Saji tried to respond, but no words came out. Tieria continued, “I know the base being destroyed had to do something with you, based on this reaction. You will follow me because I have a few questions to ask you.” Saji heard the underlying threat in his tone. He followed the purple-haired man, walking like a man on death row heading to his hanging.

The two walked through the base, getting suspicious looks from some people, but otherwise not bothered. Tieria found a quiet corner and told Saji to stop. Tieria gave him a hard look, “Who are you really? An A-Laws spy?”

Saji gave him a desperate look, “I’m not a spy! I just…”

“You just what? Wanted to help the A-Laws?”

“I just wanted to get back to my old life! I don’t want to fight or be caught in the fighting! I just wanted to get back to Louise!”

Tieria have him a withering look, “So you think that by going back home and burying your head in the sand, everything would be good and go back normal? What would happen to your friend? That the A-Laws wouldn’t just arrest them too?”

Saji realized he never thought of that. Based on what he had seen, they probably would. ‘How did I mess up so bad Louise?’ Saji spoke up quietly, “I-I didn’t think-“

“Of course you didn’t. You can’t pretend reality isn’t the way it is. Running away makes you guilty too. You see the problem but just allow great evil to happen. It’s a form of inadvertent malice.” Tieria spoke with subtle anger.

Saji tried to say something, but once again, no words came out. He could feel the tears of frustration and grief flood out. ‘This was my fault. How could I think I could just go back with all this blood on my hands? How do I make up for this?’ Saji slumped to the ground with his back on the wall, burying his face into his knees. Tieria stood over him, watching Saji realize his mistake. ‘Good. I hope understands the gravity of his mistake.’ Tieria heard footsteps coming towards their position and saw Setsuna appear from around the corner. Setsuna, seeing Saji crying, asked, “What’s going on?”

Tieria looked at Saji then back to Setsuna responding, “It was because of him this all happened. Without him the A-Laws wouldn’t have found this place.” Setsuna looked on Saji blankly, curious as to what thoughts that were going through the Japanese man’s head.

Setsuna, looking at Tieria, asked, “We are going to bring him with us, aren’t we?”

Tieria nodded, “He won’t be safe here if they find out, so he’s coming back with us. And since you are back, I assume it went well with Marina?”

Setsuna sighed heavily, “About that…”

Storage Closet in Katharon Base

After Shirin saw Setsuna land and disembark the shuttle, along with marina, she quickly moved Marina from out of the hanger, realizing her friend needed a more private place to talk. Her expression screamed something was wrong and because she had come back, something bad must have happened to or in Azadistan. After she found one of the larger storerooms, Shirin seated Marina down on one of the crates in the room and she took another within arm’s reach of Marina. Marina looked on the verge of tears. Shirin began the conversation.

“What happened? Why aren’t you in Azadistan?”

Marina looked the brown-haired woman in the eye and with tears in her eyes, said, “Azadistan is a ruin. Some mobile suit destroyed the capital city. There were no emergency services operational, and any police or military units are powerless to stop anything. Its complete chaos.” Her tears began to pour out, regret for not being there for her people weighing down on her. Shirin looked at her in shock. ‘The capital city is in ruins? But why? Who would want to do that?’

Shirin asked in a desperate voice, “Do you know who did it or why?” Marina shook her head, just as frustrated she didn’t know who did it.

“I have no idea. Setsuna looked like he recognized who it was but didn’t tell me. What monster would do this?”

“This seems beyond what even the Federation would do and even the A-Laws would have more than one mobile suit there. What would someone gain by destroying the capital?”

Marina put her face in her hands and replied, tears still trailing down her cheeks, “I don’t know. Why can’t I help Azadistan? Why do I keep failing my people?” Shirin put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her friend.

“This is not your fault. You could not have planned or responded to this. If you had been there, you would be dead. Regardless of what happened, I’m glad you are alive.” Marina looked up from her hands, realizing this is a good time to ask Shirin the honest truth about her rule.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for the worst, she asked the question she has wanted to ask for a while, “Shirin, was I a good ruler of Azadistan?”

Shirin was caught off guard. She knew Marina had gone through a rough time recently, but she was curious as to what shook her so much as to ask this, “What brought this up? You were normally so set in your ways.”

“Setsuna said things that opened my eyes in hindsight, but you have a more political view than him. I want the honest, brutal truth. Was I a good leader?” Marina looked at her expectantly, her shoulders squared.

Shirin sighed heavily. There was a small part of her that was happy that her friend was asking her for her advice. ‘Whatever you said Setsuna, must have gotten to her. This isn’t going to be pretty.’ Shirin adjusted her glasses, “While I will say many of the circumstances were out of your control, there were things that you should have considered or done better. You relied on Raza to control the conservatives. In no way did you build loyalty with them politically. And when he died, tensions rose due to their distrust and hatred of you and the reform party. I admit I pushed hard for reforms, but you are the leader of our country. It’s not fair, but that’s the mantle you took when you were elected. The country is in chaos right now because we let the flames of hate engulf our people and divide them. If you want to rebuild the country, you need to work with both sides of politics as best you can. Obviously, it’s easier said than done, but it should be attempted. You can’t rely on your ideals to work.”

Marina replied quietly, “What about my ideals?”

“And you also are too idealistic. It’s one thing to be a citizen and be a pacifist, but as a leader you cannot afford to be that idealistic. You can personally not want to kill, but you cannot think like that as a leader. You yourself saw what happens when the military or police can’t help people. There are too many people who would take advantage of the country or use force to get what they want.” Marina felt her heart break hearing that. ‘Had my ideals brought so many problems to my people?’

“The people need protecting from those type of people. Not everyone will come to the negotiating table to talk. And to protect your people from those aggressors, you either need to become strong yourself or find trustworthy allies to back you up.”

Marina spoke up quietly, “Setsuna said something similar. I think he may be right.”

“He may not be a politician, but he does have a good understanding of force and how it’s used.” Shirin sighed again, seeing Marina looked a bit beat up by her previous points. ‘I’ll do one more.’ “Whenever there was a crisis, you had no idea what to do. You couldn’t decide on anything and would always ask me what to do. I understand you were inexperienced, but I was not the leader of Azadistan, you were. As a leader, you should listen to advice of advisors, but in the end, you made the final call. The people look to you as symbol, and you need to appear strong and decisive. That is one step towards being able to negotiate on favorable terms for Azadistan. And better terms in negotiations can mean a better future for Azadistan.” Shirin stopped, waiting for Marina to respond.

As Marina took in Shirin’s words, a lot of her past decisions started looking worse in hindsight. ‘I guess I did let my ideals come before being practical. I wish I had been better to Shirin before all this. She was smarter than I could have imagined. But I don’t know how to think that way. Like her.’ With a heavy sigh, Marina spoke up, “Thank you Shirin. I think it will take a while, but your perspective is something I needed to hear. I’m sorry for not listening to your advice before. I was an idiot.”

Shirin smiled at her, “It’s good you actually are taking advice. And maybe I could have done better in the past, but we can’t go back and fix that. I think I need to thank Setsuna. Clearly, he struck a chord in you. I also think you should learn how to defend yourself”

Marina quietly laughed, “I guess so. Shirin, I want to learn how to be a better leader. Would Katharon be ok with me at least listening in on your meetings?”

“I can’t promise you that they will allow it, but I’ll ask. And even if you can’t, I’ll teach you myself. And on the self-defense?”

Marina took a deep breath, “I’ll…think about it.” Shirin nodded her head, happy with that answer for now.

“I suppose you are staying with us now?” Marina nodded. Shirin stood up and opened her arms for a hug. Marina then stood up, hugging Shirin tightly. Shirin, in a happy voice, said, “No matter what happens, it’s good to have you back.” Marina nodded, feeling the same way.

Bridge of the Ptolemaios

As events in the base were happening, Ian, Lasse, and Sumeragi looked down at the display on the bridge showing the image of the ruined base. The mood on the bridge was somber. Ian spoke up quietly, “It’s terrible.” Lasse added onto that, “Do they have to be so ruthless?” Sumeragi just stood there, taking in the scene below. Feldt guided Mileina out of the bridge, saying, “Don’t look.” Feldt understood what it was like to see horrific sights like that and didn’t want the girl to have to see it.

Mileina just replied, “Ok.” The door closed behind the two, leaving the three older members of the crew alone. Something did catch Sumeragi’s attention as she watched from above. Three men stood around a body bag and one of them said, “We live for his sake, we die for his sake. If it is to be my fate, it is pointless to resist it.” Hearing that sent a shock through Sumeragi’s system. A memory of the past pushed itself forward in her mind.

Sumeragi, or Lisa, as she went by back then, ran towards a medical tent, pushing past men carrying bodies or dealing with the remains of mobile suits. The town was in ruins, rubble, gear and men scattered everywhere. She had learned that Emilio was among the casualties. Emilio had to be alive. She needed him to be alive. This was her fault. If she had only paid more attention to the information she had gotten and questioned it more, this wouldn’t have happened. She pushed open the medical tent and saw the dark-haired man lying on a cot, looking mortally wounded. She ran to the side of the bed, grasping his hand between hers. “Emilio! You can’t leave me!”

The man looked at her from his prone position, knowing there was no saving him, “Lisa, this isn’t your fault. You tried your best.” She could hear his breath becoming shallow. ‘He couldn’t die! Not now!’ She tried to say something, but her words wouldn’t come out, choking on her tears.

He looked up at her with tired eyes and gave her a sad smile, “Lisa, if this is to be my fate, then it is pointless to resist it. We travel a road we cannot see and what lies at the end of the road, is the end of life. All of this is the guidance of God.” His hands fell slack and his breathing stopped. Sumeragi scanned for a pulse, any sign of life, but found none. She fell to her knees, tears coming out like a flood. She laid her head on his chest, continuing to cry. One thought came unbidden through her head. ‘If this is war, then I hate it.’

As the memory concluded, Sumeragi fell forward, having fallen unconscious. Ian and Lasse both spoke at the same time, “Sumeragi!” Ian checked her pulse and felt she was alive. Lasse looked up at Ian, “Help me get her to the medbay!” Ian nodded, and him and Lasse began to carry her to the medbay. Ian wondered ‘Could this day get any worse?’

A-Laws Carrier Ship

Soma sat on her bed in her quarters, thinking back on the battle. ‘Is that what a real battle is like? Was that what the Colonel tried to keep me from doing? Is morality even appropriate on the battlefield?’ She heard a notification sound from her quarter’s computer, breaking her from her thoughts. She stood up and looked at the notification on the screen. ‘Why did the Colonel send me a message using the old Chobu team code?’ She opened up the message and took a minute to decipher the code. What she read surprised her.

Sorry to send you this is such a complex manner. Didn’t want to A-Laws to see this message. Heard you were involved in A-Law mopping up operation on the Katharon base. I’m afraid to say that it was my fault that happened. We captured an innocent civilian travelling from the base, and I was overheard talking to him, and they found out through that. I’m sorry that you had do an operation like that and whatever harm that may have done to you.

Soma was caught by surprise reading that. It was the Colonel’s fault that happened? ‘He must feel horrible about that. And yet he is trying to comfort me. I don’t deserve to be treated so well. Not after that.’ She felt tears begin to fall down her face. The Colonel had tried to keep her out of things like that and yet she still had to commit acts like that. Even if she hadn’t pulled the trigger, she watched what happened and did nothing. She spoke aloud to herself, tears streaming down her face.

“Thank you for reminding me Colonel. I am super soldier number one of the Superhuman Instuitute. I am a weapon, a tool to be used to kill people. Because of what I’ve done, I don’t deserve the happiness of being your daughter.”

In another part of her mind, the other voice could feel her shackles loosening. This event had shaken Soma up enough that the voice could feel more strength returning to it. ‘I just need one more good push and I can rejoin Allelujah!’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The next day, the gundam meisters stood on the bridge, waiting for Lasse and Feldt to report back on the status of Sumeragi. Mileina, sitting at her station, spoke up, “Katharon members will begin evacuating by 1200 hours, as planned.” She put up an image of a small red shuttle craft unloading supplies to the members of Katharon and the display on the floor of the bridge. Something about it seemed familiar to Sestuna, but he couldn’t place it. His thinking was interrupted by the door sliding open and Feldt and Lasse entering. Their faces did not show good news.

Allelujah asked, “How’s Ms. Sumeragi doing?” He had a feeling he knew what the answer was but needed to hear it out loud. Feldt replied, “She hasn’t woken up and may need to stay in bed for a while.”

Lyle shook his head and stated, “Sumeragi or no, we need to do something. The A-Laws are going to come back to finish the job.”

Setsuna spoke up, “We need to send out the gundams. We need to make sure these people get out safely.” Tieria and Lyle nodded their heads in agreement, but Allelujah leaned against the wall, his face showing concern.

Allelujah piped in, “But what about our strategy? With Ms. Sumeragi unconscious-“ Lasse interrupted Allelujah as he took his seat as the pilot of the ship.

“Even so, we have to do something. We can move to the coast and reveal our presence, drawing them away from the Katharon base.” Lasse heard no objections from the pilots other than a sigh from Allelujah and began raising the ship higher into the air. He heard confirmations from Feldt and Mileina about their course. He looked back at the pilots, “You guys should suit up and prepare for combat. We will give you a heads up when our camouflage is dropping.” The pilots nodded at that and headed out of the bridge. Lasse focused on flying, though one thing he had noticed since the base attack is Lyle seemed more intense than usual. If he put money on it, it was something to do with Katharon.

Hanger of the A-Laws Carrier

Soma rested on the railing in the hanger, watching as mobile suits were repaired and soldiers moved about doing their job. As she watched, she heard footsteps coming to her left on the metal walkway. She turned to face the footsteps and saw Andrei and a tall, broad man with a military buzz cut approaching her. On the tall me she saw on his uniform the rank of captain. She stood at attention and gave him a salute. He saluted back.

Andrei gave him a nod. He looked at her, having to look down due to the height difference. “I’m Captain Zanin. I’ve heard a lot about you Lieutenant Peries. You gave the soldiers five years ago a something to root for.”

Soma looked at him surprised, “You heard of me?” He laughed in response to this.

“Of course, I did. I served with the HRL during the gundam attacks four or so years ago. The men heard reports of some sort of special soldier serving alongside Colonel Smirnov. You did good work.”

“But so many soldiers-“

“No one could stop the gundams, but your teams did the best out of any of us. And now that I know you are on our side in this operation, I feel a little better. We can get back at them for the loss of our comrades four years ago.”

Soma collected her thoughts for a second, then responded, “I will certainly do my best. How do you know Lt. Andrei?”

Andrei spoke up, “He is my commanding officer. I was temporarily serving on earth till I got orders otherwise.” Soma felt a strong feeling of admiration from Andrei towards Captain Zanin with her quantum brainwaves. ‘You must really be attached to him Andrei’

Zanin replied, “And you have kept him alive, so thank you for that. I hate to lose soldiers under my command.”

Soma waved her hand dismissively, “No problem. It’s what a good soldier should do. Are you going to run the next operations sir?”

He nodded, “While Colonel Mannequin is in overall command, I will be controlling the mobile suit squadrons. If you have any requests or suggestions, I will gladly listen to them in combat. I need to get going, but it was great to meet you. Good luck in upcoming battles.” He gave her a salute and walked past her, Andrei following him after giving her a salute as well. She focused on her brainwaves, trying to get a read on the captain. What she felt was a combination of loss and righteous anger. ‘Something must have happened to him to cause him to support methods like the A-Laws. It must have hurt him deeply.’

Airspace over the Coast

As the Ptolemy reached the coast with their camouflage down, one by one the gundams were launched from the Ptolemy. As Setsuna was linked the catapult, he heard Ian’s voice come over the comms.

“Setsuna, remember you can’t use the Trans-am.” Setsuna replied, “Roger that.” He activated the catapult and felt the 00 be launched into the air, quickly catching up with the rest of the gundams. As the gundams traveled away from the Ptolemy, they saw info from the bridge about a formation of mobile suits heading their way. Soon enough they saw the tell-tale signs of red GN particle trails marking them as A-Laws suits and the formation contained four GN-X’s and three Aheads, two of them custom. Orange energy blasts began to target the gundams, beginning combat. The gundams separated, trying to divide the enemy formations. A team of three led by Soma’s custom ahead focused on moving towards the Arios, the suit that had engaged Setsuna in the previous battle dashed towards the 00 at high speeds and the remaining few mobile suits focused on the Seravee.

Tieira opened fire on the formation of three mobile suits heading his way, but one of the suits was fast enough to get in melee reach, forcing his long-range blaster up with the GN-X’s lance. His knee blaster shot at the A-Laws mobile suit, but the suit had already moved behind the Servavee, opening fire. ‘Damn, too slow!’ Tieria was forced to activate his barrier, but just after the suit opened fire on him, he saw it get torn apart by a purple energy blast, first to the leg, then the cockpit. Over comms he heard Lockon, “I’ve got your back.” What surprised Tieria about this is the tone of voice he had. He sounded deadly serious. ‘Something about the A-Laws massacre of the base must have done something to him.’ Getting his head back in the fight, he saw one of the Aheads try to approach him. He tried to hit the suit, but it effectively dodged all his shots. ‘Damn, this is the same pilot at Proud and the first attack on the ship. This isn’t going to be easy. At least I have the Cheridum as backup this time.’ It seemed the suit was keeping its distance for now, so he poured all his focus on engaging this suit, hoping the 00 and Arios were having better luck.

With the Arios

The Arios pulled away from the gundams formation, pulling away three of the mobile suits. One custom Ahead and two GN-X’s. He charged into the formation, quickly eliminating one of the GN-X’s with a larger burst of purple shots. ‘Definitely feeling better at piloting now.’ He heard a shout of “You’ll pay for that E57!” from a female voice. ‘That’s Marie!’ The two suits closed the distance, metal hitting metal as the collided with each other. As Soma got closer, Allelujah could feel the pull of quantum brainwaves that could only be Marie. He held his fire and attempted to get through to her, “Marie, it’s me!” There was no response from the other pilot and in his focus on trying to get through to Marie, he felt an energy blast hit the torso of the Arios. He took aim and managed to score a hit on the Ahead, destroying one of its shoulder pads.

The other GN-X moved to support Soma, but a large energy blast surprised the two A-Laws suits. Tracing the origin of the blast, they saw the Celestial Being ship flying into the battlefield, inaccurately firing their weapons. Andrei opened up comms with Soma, “I’m going to engage the mothership. Can you handle E57?”

Soma nodded and replied, “I can handle him. Be cautious, we don’t know the full firepower of this ship.” She fired another burst of shots at the Arios, missing but keeping it at a distance.

Andrei nodded, “Understood.” He flew off, leaving Soma and Allelujah in a one-on-one situation. He knew he wasn’t fighting at full capacity. How could he when he was fighting Marie. ‘If I could only get her to listen.’ He yelled out to the mobile suit, dodging a few blasts that came close enough to hit him, “Please, it’s me. You don’t have to do this.” Soma responded angrily, though Allelujah detected some desperation in the voice, “I’m not Marie!” She charged in, beam saber drawn and ignited.

As she closed into melee distance, she pointed her beam saber forward, cut through the blaster of the Arios and into the shoulder of the gundam, but not before a purple blast hit her engine, damaging her reactor. She was caught by surprised when the gundam grabbed onto her suit, grappling her suit and keeping her pinned. She struggled against the suit but found no luck. Allelujah, with some desperation, yelled, “I’m not letting you go again, Marie!” Soma was confused. ‘What is wrong with this guy?’ She felt some pressure push into the back of her head, disorienting her for a second. Allelujah felt a small explosion in the suit and all power to the engine stopped, pulling the Ahead with him as they dropped into the forest nearby.

With the 00

When Setsuna pulled away from the formation, he spotted the custom Ahead charging for him. ‘It’s the same guy as last time!’ Setsuna opened fire with his blaster, nearly hitting the fast-moving mobile suit. ‘Why is this guy so focused on me? He’s been like that even five years ago.’ He heard the other mobile suit pilot speak to him as Setsuna’s shots missed, “Good gundam, you’ve gotten better too.” The Ahead reached melee range, forcing Setsuna to switch his weapon to melee mode. The two blades clashed, each suit trying to push the other. Setsuna spoke to the other pilot, anger evident in his voice.

“You are Graham Aker, right?”

“Yes, but people call me Mr. Bushido. I don’t care what you call me.” Setsuna kicked his suit away, but Graham quickly recovered, catching the 00 at the end of the kick with his own, knocking Setsuna closer to the sea. Setsuna charged back up at him but was forced to block an attack from the Ahead when he couldn’t raise his weapon in time. He heard Graham speak to him in a condescending voice, “Is this all you can do? This is insulting!” Setsuna was shocked he couldn’t overpower this guy. ‘What type of suit was this. At this rate I’ll need to use the Trans-am.’ The Ahead pushed him back and sliced his shield in half, forcing Setsuna to dodge back to avoid losing an arm. ‘Looks like I need to use trans-am.’

As Graham went to finish the 00 again, he saw the suit glow red and disappear as his blade would have made contact, leaving a small amount of particles in the air. ‘So, you have another trick up your sleeve? Bring it on.’ Graham then felt two blasts hit the rear of his suit, dodging a third one. Setsuna then lowered altitude to just above the ocean in a charge, forcing Graham to block the attack. ‘This power! This is what I wanted to fight!’ Setsuna broke the clash, moving behind the Ahead leaving little time for Graham to react. The Ahead tired to turn to block the blow, but Setsuna cut off the arm midturn, leaving the suit down its beam saber. The Ahead pulled back, trying to get distance, but the 00 caught up quickly, attempting to finish off the suit, but just as he was about to swing down, Setsuna saw that the engine meter showed a warning then a small explosion in the engines, which caused the 00 to crash into the ocean, only its head above the water. Setsuna pushed on the controls, attempting to get the suit to move, but found no luck. ‘I can’t die here!’

The Ahead pulled out another beam saber and put it next to the head of the 00. He held it there for a second, but then moved it away from the 00, declaring, “Defeating you like this is worthless.” Setsuna sat there confused. What did he mean worthless? His enemy was right in front of him, and he wouldn’t kill them? He however did not have much time to react as he saw the rest of the surviving mobile suits head towards him. ‘Come on gundam, you have to move.’ He however was saved when he saw both the Seravee and Cheridum position themselves in front of him. Tieria spoke to him, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s the twin drives.”

A new voice popped into communications they didn’t expect. Sumeragi, in a tired voice, gave them orders, “All gundams, fall back. We have to divide the enemy. Fire high density particle and smoke torpedoes.” The Ptolemy launched two torpedoes into the water that exploded in midair after jumping back out of the water, filling the battlespace with GN particles and smoke. Taking advantage of that, the two gundams quickly grabbed the 00 and headed back towards the Ptolemy. As they were reaching the Ptolemy, Feldt spoke over the comms to everyone in a shaky voice, worry evident in her voice “I am unable to locate the Arios. Allelujah is…”

Setsuna gripped onto his controls tightly, anger and frustration coursing through him. Lockon swore under his breath at the A-Laws. Tieria was stunned for a second, unable to react. Sumeragi just stared into the ocean thinking ‘Please, not again.’

Author’s Note Two

Well, it looks like we have a mystery on our hands. Wonder what happened to him. But yeah, that’s chapter 6. In terms of changes of note, the whole Shirin and Marina scene was something that I have been wanting to write. Someone more political needed to point out her flaws as an effective leader and Shirin was the right person. I hope those of you who like her don’t think I was too harsh. I don’t want to bash on her by any means, unlike my editor, who would prefer a brick. I am excited for the next two chapters for very important reasons. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I’ll see you next time!

Chapter Text

“Normal Speech”

‘Thoughts’

“Split personalities speaking”

Crash Site in the Woods

Allelujah woke up slowly, his body sore all over from the crash. He took a look around the cockpit, getting his bearings. He knew he had crashed in the woods somewhere nearby and he had grappled Marie’s suit…’Wait, where’s Marie?’ He jumped out of his seat, trying to locate Soma’s Ahead. He opened the hatch and headed outside. Night had fallen since they had crashed. He spotted the suit quickly, still grappled with the Arios. It also appeared that he was in a clearing in the woods. ‘Hopefully it was like this before.’ Approaching the hatch of the Ahead, he opened it up and saw Soma still upright in her seat, unconscious. Without thinking, he yelled out, “Marie!”

He saw the girl began to stir and her eyes blinked open, but quickly took a hard edge as she jumped out of her seat, throwing a punch at him. He dodged backwards, attempting to keep some distance between the two of them. ‘Why is she attacking me? This is Marie!’ As she kept attacking him, he once again yelled out, this time confused and desperately, “Please, it’s me!”

Anger was apparent in her voice when she responded, “Even without my mobile suit, I’m-“ She suddenly was able to make contact with Allelujah, tackling him onto the ground. She straddled him, preparing to deliver a blow to him, but felt a sudden pain in her head as she heard a voice scream out in her head, “Leave him alone!” Soma grabbed her head in pain. It felt like her head was splitting open. Hearing Allelujah call out for Marie only made it worse. This entity forced its way forward, filling her with memories of a girl sitting on a bed with a glass container and a young boy with heterochromatic eyes talking to her. The memories felt familiar, yet separated by a barrier, almost like a part of herself that she forgot. Soma then felt herself falling into darkness as another entity surged forward, moving past her to taking her place. She reached out to the fading light, trying to grasp at it, but gave up. ‘Maybe just a little sleep. I’m so tired.’

While Soma was mentally struggling with herself, Allelujah looked at the woman straddling him, obviously in some kind of pain, seeing as her eyes were closed and she was wincing. ‘What’s going on with her?’ His question was answered quickly afterwards as Soma yelled out in anguish, then stilled. When Soma opened her eyes again, they were much softer. She then spoke affectionately and softly, “Allelujah.” She then fainted onto his chest, overwhelmed by what just happened. Allelujah looked at her happiness in his eyes. Even with the limited quantum brainwaves he had, he could feel it was her. She was back and he wouldn’t let her go again. He carried her to the two mobile suits and rested her against the Ahead and headed to the Arios to grab the camping gear in the cockpit. After she woke up again they would have a lot to talk about.

Hanger of the Ptolemaios

As Setsuna exited the 00 and got on the platform, he saw Ian gesturing for Setsuna to come over to talk to him. Setsuna walked over and saw Ian looked annoyed, saying, “Damnit Setsuna, I told you not to use the Trans-am! Lucky for us the Twin Drive appears to still be working, but even so…”

Setsuna replied with some desperation, “Please get the 00 fixed up. Allelujah is…” Setsuna felt irritation and frustration flow through him. Allelujah was out there, and he couldn’t even use the 00. Ian saw Setsuna look more tense than usual, and his annoyance faded away. He knew what it felt like to be useless and unable to help a comrade.

Ian spotted Saji further down the walkway in the hanger and called out, “Yeah, I’ll get right on it. Saji, come over here.” Setsuna turned his head and saw Saji approach the pair of men, curious about why Ian would ask him for help. He looked Saji in the eyes and asked, “Are you sure Saji? I thought you hated the gundams?” Saji looked down slightly, his eyes gaining a serious look.

“I’m doing it to keep the Katharon people safe. Until that happens, I’ll do whatever help needs to be done.” Setsuna nodded at both of the men, watching them head to collect the tools they need. It seemed after Saji’s mistake at the base, he wanted to make up for it. ‘He’s on the right path’. Setsuna headed to the elevator to the main deck, needing to find a private area to deal with his frustration.

Ian and Saji watched as Setsuna departed, both of them seeing the frustration in Setsuna’s eyes. Saji looked back to Ian, “I’ve never seen him this tense before.” Sure Saji had seen him angry before, but frustration was a new one to him. It was odd to see someone so calm act so irrational.

Ian responded, not looking at Saji, still grabbing the tools they would need, “For a pilot like him, not being able to actually search for a lost friend must be rough. Unfortunately for him, he pushed the engine too hard and now it has to be fixed. Nothing we can do about it. The best he can do is get it out of his system. Let’s get this done as quickly as possible.”

As the two began to work on the 00 alongside the haros, Saji spoke up, “Mr. Ian? I just wanted to apologize for freezing up on the guns. I know I should have fired, but I didn’t want to take a life.”

Ian just casually waved his hands in dismissal, “No worries kid. I’m not used to dealing with civilians after all this time. Its hard to look at the world the same after all the fighting we have done. In the future they can probably find a role for you on the bridge in combat. Otherwise you are down here with me. Does that work for you?”

Saji nodded his head happily, “Thank you Mr. Ian.” As he continued fixing the 00, he did feel a little weak at the fact he was unable to fire, despite the assurances of Ian. He just wanted something significant to do. Anything to make up for what he did to the Katharon base.

Main Deck of the Ptolemaios

Feldt made her way to the Hanger, going to fix the other gundams while Ian and Saji focused on the 00. The sooner they were fixed the sooner they could be sent out to search. As she passed by one of the observation lounges, she heard a loud slamming sound on one of the walls. Curious, she opened the door from where the sound came from and saw the back of a frustrated and irritated Setsuna standing near one of the walls. ‘I’ve never seen Setsuna like this. Is it Allelujah or the 00 that’s bothering him?’ She walked into the room quietly and called out, “Setsuna, are you ok?” She got no response from him, so she said it a little louder, “Setsuna?” She could almost feel the frustration and irritation leaking off of Setsuna.

Setsuna turned around, hearing her second call. His eyes were downcast, mostly focused on the ground. His whole body was tense, and his mouth was a grim line. He responded to her question in a distracted voice, “Why are you here?”

Feldt gave him a friendly smile, “I saw you seemed irritated and I wanted to help. Are you ok?”

He spoke in a terse voice, trying to hide his frustration, “I’m fine Feldt, just adrenaline.”

She knew he was lying, but she felt the urge to reassure him. In a kind voice, she asked, “Is this about Allelujah or the 00?” He looked at her for a second then looked away from her. It didn’t look like he wanted to answer her question. Feldt thought to herself, ‘There must be something I can do to help. Wait, I think I know what might help.’ When she was younger, sometimes someone being close could help her when she was distressed. She hoped it worked here. She cautiously approached him, looking for any sign of him reacting badly. Setsuna noticed her approaching but did nothing to stop her. He could see Feldt was being respectful and giving him time to react. This wasn’t like the time with Nena. Seeing no obvious reaction, she gently laid her hand on his forearm, grasping slightly.

Immediately, Setsuna felt the tension leave his body. The frustration and anger drained from his body, leaving him feeling emotionally drained. It felt strange for someone to be able to do this to him, but it felt right. Feldt also noticed this change in body language and the feeling in the room changed. It felt more relaxed. She asked again, “What’s wrong?”

Setsuna looked into her eyes, seeing that he could trust her. He sighed, then said, “Allelujah is lost, and I can’t even use the 00.  Ian said he and Saji could handle the work and that I should just relax.”

Feldt realized what his issue was, “So you feel useless right now?”

“Yes. If I hadn’t used the trans-am, I maybe could be helping now.” He pulled his right hand into a fist. She moved her hand down to his tensed hand, trying to help with his frustration.

She looked at him resolutely, “Setsuna, you shouldn’t feel useless. You did what you thought was correct in combat and you survived to protect us another day. We need to trust that Lockon and Tieria can find him.”

Setsuna took in her words, knowing that she was right. He nodded at her and gave her a small smile, “Thank you Feldt.” She let go of his hand, seeing him at least mostly relaxed.

She blushed and replied, “No problem. It just looked like you needed help.”

“I am going to stay here for a while and think. You are welcome to stay if you want.”

Feldt shook her head at that, “Thanks for the offer, but I have to go help Ian with some repairs on the other suits. Do you want me to tell him anything for you?”

“That I think I learned my lesson in the last battle. I’ll stop using the trans-am for now.” Feldt nodded at that and quietly left the room, leaving Setsuna to his thoughts, which were focused on why Feldt caused him to react the way he did.

A-Laws Carrier

Zanin stood in front of the door out of the pilot quarters, having just received standby orders from command. Andrei stood up and saluted, asking, “What are our orders about rescuing the Lieutenant?”

“At ease. Our orders are to standby and wait to see if the gundams attack. We are low on forces and can’t afford to stretch our resources at the moment. The regular forces have been assigned to search the area where she went down.” Andrei shoulders sagged a little hearing that someone else was assigned to look for her.

Andrei nodded, agreeing with the assessment, “Understood sir. Do you think she got the gundam sir?”

“Hopefully. If she died taking down the gundam, then her sacrifice was worth it. However we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Those gundams are tough bastards and it may very well be likely that she died and the pilot of the gundam survived.”

Andrei spoke righteously, “If that happened then we fight to avenge her.”

“Let’s hope she did survive. Don’t count her out just yet. She survived the fighting of five years ago. Don’t go on trying to avenge her just yet.” Andrei stewed on that for a second, before another thought came to his head, causing him to clench his fist.

“Why are the gundams doing this? The gundams keep killing good soldiers in the name of what? Disrupting a stable government creating peace and prosperity? Didn’t they claim to want to stop war? That is what we are doing!”

Zanin gave him an encouraging smile, “That’s the attitude. I see you took my lesson from before to heart. All who bring chaos and disorder to this world are enemies of peace. The faster we get rid of these gundams and Katharon, the sooner we will have peace. We will bring these people to justice.” The words resonated with Andrei, who felt bolstered by his trust of the A-Laws.

“Anything else to report, sir?”

“Besides that? No. Just stay ready to launch in case we spot the gundams approaching us. Don’t stray too far from the carrier.” Andrei nodded at that. Zanin, seeing that he understood, turned around and left the pilots quarters, leaving Andrei standing there alone, preparing himself mentally for another battle with the gundams.

Sergei’s Ship

Sergei entered the cockpit of the GN-X, ignoring the call of one of his soldiers. If this were anyone else, he would have let his soldiers do it, but this was his daughter in all but name. Sergei closed the cockpit, turning on the machine. Through the speakers on the machine, he commanded the man, “If you don’t want to get hurt, get out of the way.” No one was going to get in the way of him finding Soma. As soon as he heard she got shot down on the battlefield and they couldn’t find her suit, he was ready to go search for her himself. It helped that the regular forces were being assigned to look for her. Come hell or high water, he would find her. He was praying that she was alive. He couldn’t take the loss of another family member. Not after Holly and what happened with Andrei.

As he launched from the ship, heading to the coordinates where she was last located in the battle, he reflected on the last week or so. It must have been rough for her. ‘Nobody should have to witness or commit the crimes the A-Laws do.’ Even someone as tough as her must have taken it hard. He truly wished she didn’t have to see this side of war. She only had to fight the gundams before, not deal with the morally dubious side of warfare. He hoped she could forgive him for not preparing her for this part of war.

As he reached the airspace where she was shot down, he began to systematically scope the area. After about fifteen minutes of searching, he spotted rents in the earth on the edge of a clearing. Following the trail from above, he found Soma’s Ahead and the Arios grappled, and a bit to the south of that he saw a tent set up. It looked like both of the suits were out of commission at the moment. ‘So that’s where they are. Have to be careful. Don’t know what the gundam pilot will do.’ He shined his lights on the tent as he descended near the suits and tent, resolved to make sure Soma was alright.

Tent in the forest clearing

Marie opened her eyes, not sure where she was. She took in her surroundings, seeing that she was lying in a large tent within a sleeping bag. She could also hear the sound of rain bouncing off the tent. It also had gotten dark so she must have been out for a while. ‘Where was Allelujah?’ She sat up, trying to figure out where he had gone, and just then, Allelujah entered the tent through the flaps.

He gave her a relieved smile. “Marie, I see you are awake.” She gave him a soft smile, feeling happiness flow through her. It was good to be reunited with Allelujah. And even if they were weak, she could still feel his brainwaves calling to hers, giving her a feeling of completeness.

“I guess I am.”

Allelujah looked at her with soft eyes, “Do you want water? You must be thirsty.” Marie nodded her head and he grabbed one of the water bottles from his survival pack, tossing it to her. She caught it and took a big swig from it, feeling better immediately. Allelujah sat down, sitting cross legged, “Well I looked over both of our suits and all systems are down on both machines. I’m pretty sure neither of us can fix them. We are going to have to wait for a rescue.” Marie gave him a nod in understanding. Allelujah’s voice then had a curious tone, “I have a question. When did you become Soma Peries?”

Marie looked down at the sleeping bag she was in, “They must have implanted another personality to get back the senses I lost. They probably then sent me to the military in order to keep the project open.”

“That must have been terrible.” But to his surprise, she gave him a smile in response to that. ‘After what they did to her, what could possibly have made it better?’

“Yes, but because of that I could finally see what you looked like. I knew it was you right away. I could sense your quantum brainwaves.”

He blushed slightly, “Well here we are talking for the first time face to face. It’s surreal.” She nodded in agreement, and with a curious tone, she asked.

“What happened after you left the institute?”

Allelujah looked down at the ground, the shame and regret coming back to him. He looked into her eyes, “We were trying to avoid disposal, so my friends and I fled together. I really wanted to bring you with us, but in hindsight it was probably a good idea that I didn’t.”

“What happened?”

“We found a ship and managed to escape the colony in a transport ship, but we had no place to go. We just drifted in space. We ran out of food and ran low on air and Hallelujah…”

“So the other personality…” He nodded his head and she understood what he meant without needing to say it. “It must have haunted you Allelujah.”

“I cursed my fate as the sole survivor and when I joined Celestial Being, I realized the only thing supersoldiers were good for is fighting, so I became a gundam meister.”

“Soma thought the same way, though she got better as time went on. Did you get along with the other personality?”

He spoke in a low voice, “Not at first, but he and I came to an understanding later, but I still regret killing my friends and many of the things Hallelujah did. I do bear the responsibility of all the actions he committed, including killing our brothers and sisters.”

Marie touched his arm, her voice sad, “If you are guilty of those crimes, then I am guilty of what Soma Peries did. Those two are a part of each of us.” As she said that, she touched his heart for emphasis. He tried to interrupt her, but she stopped him, “I killed the other personality, killed a part of you and for that I will always be regretful.” Allelujah looked down, taking in her words. A part of him wanted to reject that, to pretend that they were two separate beings, but the other half realized that would be living a lie. If she were like Hallelujah and him, then what she said was the truth.

He spoke up after a few seconds, “What do we do now? I wanted to find you ever since I found out, but now that you are here, I don’t have a plan.”

Marie spoke uncertainly, “I hope your friends can find us first. I don’t want you to be captured again. Do you think they would accept me?”

Allelujah responded in a confident tone, “I’m certain they would. Sumeragi would probably run a background check, but I think she would have no problem.”

She looked at him with eyes full of happiness, and he could feel her brainwaves surging with positive emotions, however little he could feel, “I’m so happy to have found you. We can finally be together, more than just mentally talk. I can talk with you face to face, hold you, kiss you…” She flushed slightly at that comment.

‘Kiss me, huh?’ He began to move in to kiss her, her doing the same. Just as both of them were about to meet, they were interrupted by a floodlight hitting the tent, contrasting sharply against the darkness of the night. Both of the super soldiers ran out the tent to see what was shining that light and they were met with the sight of a blue colored GN-X. Marie thought to herself, ‘Is it the Colonel?’ The hatch opened and the pilot took off his helmet, revealing himself to be Colonel Smirnov. Sergei yelled out, “Lieutenant!” Marie yelled back, “Colonel!”

Allelujah asked curiously, “Someone you know?” Sergei grabbed the hand grip on the rope to get down from the cockpit to the ground, hitting the soft, muddy ground. The voice of the man seemed familiar to him. He thought back to when he heard it and it came to him. ‘He was the one when the station incident occurred five years ago. Without him, those people would have been dead.’ Sergei looked at Allelujah and said, “You’re that young gundam pilot from back then.” Allelujah looked at him with some confusion but was surprised when Sergei drew his pistol and aimed it at him, “Move away from the lieutenant.”

Marie spoke up, “Colonel! I’m not Soma. My name is Marie Parfacy. Soma was an implanted personality to give back my senses.”

“So your personality was overridden by Soma’s then? Why didn’t you come out before?”

“Because nothing catalyzed it. I didn’t know I was fighting Allelujah before.”

Sergei replied with some disgust in his voice, “This is what the super human institute did you, huh?”

Marie nodded her head. Allelujah put himself in front of Marie, trying to keep her safe “Marie is a kindhearted woman. She wouldn’t have agreed to become a soldier. I will never hand her back to you. If she goes back they are just going to make her fight again!” Marie looked at Allelujah in worry. She didn’t want him to die either. ‘What would I do without you?’

Sergei responded, a hard edge in his voice, “But you are a member of Celestial Being. Even if she goes with you she’ll be drawn into the fighting!”

Allelujah stayed his ground, “I won’t let that happen! You have to believe me!” Sergei felt his anger rising. ‘Did he really think he could keep her out of danger and the fighting? Did this man forget all the crap Celestial Being did to the world?’

“It’s too bad for you I’m not stupid enough to believe a terrorist. Because of all of the shit you did five years ago, I lost a lot of good subordinates. You think I would forget about all my anger so easily!?” Sergei cocked his pistol, ready to take out the Celestial Being pilot.

Marie stepped out from behind Allelujah, shielding him, “Please Colonel!” Allelujah stopped her and once again positioned himself in front of her. She looked at him with worried eyes, “Allelujah?”

Allelujah steeled himself and looked Sergei straight in the eye, “If you think it will keep her safe, then shoot me. Just promise you’ll keep Marie and Soma out of any future fighting.” Sergei narrowed his eyes. ‘This man really believes that’s possible. I’m not even sure I have the power to do that.’ Behind him, Marie gasped quietly. ‘I don’t want to go back there. I want to stay with you!’

Marie spoke with fear and anxiety “Allelujah, what are you doing?”

Allelujah spoke with certainty in his voice, “It’s alright Marie.” Sergei watched the scene with interest as the two continued to talk. Regardless how he felt about Celestial Being, he could see the love and affection between the two. It reminded Sergei of the relationship with his wife. He would have done the same for his wife. There was no way the Federation and A-Laws wouldn’t put her into service again.

Allelujah took a step forward, “Please shoot me.”

Sergei took solid aim at Allelujah, “Request acknowledged.” Allelujah kept his eyes open, keeping eye contact with the Colonel. Just as Sergei was about to fire, he saw Marie dive in front of Allelujah. Allelujah looked down in surprise as she did that, time almost crawling to a stop in his head. He yelled out to her, praying that the shot missed. ‘Please not her!’  Allelujah heard a gunshot. Marie hit the ground, getting splattered in mud. Allelujah rushed down to check on her, desperately hoping she wasn’t hit, but noticed that the Colonel’s gun was pointed in the air, smoke still coming from the barrel. He looked at Sergei in confusion, Marie the same from the ground seeing that there wasn’t a bullet hole in her. Sergei in an even tone then said, “Just now, Lieutenant Soma Peries died an honorable death in battle. Now, I’ll return the news to my superiors.” He turned around and began to walk back towards his mobile suit.

Marie stood up, appreciating that both her and Allelujah were alive, but confused by the fact they were. It then struck her. ‘The Colonel just wanted to keep me safe.’ She raised her voice a bit, “Colonel…”

Sergei replied, not even turning around, “I never did thank you. Five years ago during the accident at the low orbital station. I want to thank you for your participation in saving those people.” Sergei then gave him a nod of respect.

Soma spoke up, her voice choked with emotion, “Colonel, you only ever sent me on anti-gundam operations. For that and not sending me on any other fighting, I wanted to thank you.”

Sergei put on a sad smile, “Now I’m absolutely positive you aren’t Soma that I knew.”

“And the Soma part of me wanted you to know. More than anything, I wanted to be your daughter.” Sergei turned around, looking at her with that sad smile.

“Those words are more than enough for me.” Marie was overwhelmed by emotion and ran to the Colonel, wrapping her arms around him. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. Sergei reciprocated, resting one hand against her upper back and the other against the back of her head. “Keep on living and find happiness with him.” They broke the hug after a few seconds. She looked up at him and gave him a salute.

“Thank you for everything Colonel.” He replied with his own and turned around to go to his mobile suit again. She maintained her salute as Sergei enter the cockpit of his mobile suit. He then took off, one thought going through his head, ‘I hope I can see her at least one last time.’

Allelujah came up behind Marie as the suit faded into the night, grabbed her saluting had and resting it against the side of her head while his other hand intertwined their fingers in the non-saluting hand. He closed his eyes and spoke quietly, “Thank you for being alive and giving me a reason to fight. A reason to live.” The two basked in the atmosphere, quietly sending thanks to God for letting this happen. Marie then turned around and looked up at him, happiness shining in her eyes.

“Now about that kiss?” Allelujah gave her a smile and pulled her in for a passionate kiss, the world fading as they focused on what was more important than anything else. Each other.

In the Cheridum

Lockon had been searching for the past few hours but had had no luck. ‘Where could he have crashed? It’s not hard to find a crash site normally’ He was caught by surprise seeing a mobile suit on his radar. He kept his gun raised, just in case they tried to attack. As he got closer to the radar blip, he was surprised to see a regular forces mobile suit. The other mobile suit saw the rifle aimed at it and it raised its hands, showing it meant no harm. ‘Well that’s good.’ He also saw it look like it was sending a message to him and he saw some coordinated pop up on his HUD, showing the signal of an Ahead and the Arios. He spoke in confusion to himself, “Why?” The other suit just flew off, heading back to its home base.

Lockon flew towards the coordinates and spotted the clearing. He zoomed in on the area and to his surprise, he saw Allelujah making out with a white-haired girl. He sighed in exasperation.

“What the hell? We’ve been looking for him and he’s been out here with some girl.”

Bridge of the Ptolemaios

As the bridge crew waited for results from Tieria and Lockon, Mileina suddenly saw a message appear from the Cheridum. She relayed it over the shipboard comms.

“It appears Lockon has been able to locate Allelujah.”

Sumeragi sighed in relief, “This is good news”. ‘I didn’t lose another one of the people under my command.’

Mileina piped up again, with a scandalized look on her face, “It seems that Mr. Haptism has found a girlfriend.” The bridge crew was all thrown by that. Feldt blushed and yelled, “How did that happen?” Lasse asked shocked, “He got a girlfriend?” Sumergai yelled out in frustration, “What the hell does that boy think he’s doing?”

In the Hanger of the Ptolemaios

Saji and Setsuna were going over final system checks in the 00 as the announcement they had found Allelujah was said. Setsuna smiled, happy he didn’t lose another friend to this fight. Saji noticed him smile, “Look at that. You’re smiling.”

Setsuna replied back happily, “Anyone can smile if you give them something to be happy about.” Setsuna’s thoughts briefly paused when he realized he had only begun to smile when he thought about Feldt, confused to what that might mean. Both men went back to the system checks when the info about the girlfriend came over the Comms. Saji looked away for a second, Louise’s face passing through his mind. He hoped she was doing ok.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Airspace near the Battlefield

Tieria, hearing that Allelujah had been found, was on his way back to the Ptolemy. He was happy that Allelujah had been found, but that was not important to him at this very moment. The revelation that he learned trumped that. Not only had he learned that there were a group of artificial immortal beings called innovators pushing forward the plan, but for the first time, he had learned the true extent of Aeolia’s plan.

“Step one was to have Celestial Being to trigger a unification of the world. Step two was to have the A-Laws unite the will of humanity. And step three is to push humanity into space and prepare them for the dialogues that are to come. That is Aeolia’s plan in full. We who are suited to space will guide humanity.”

And all of this came courtesy of his genetic clone, who introduced themselves as Regene Regetta. ‘The fact that he could speak into my mind disturbs me.’ The fact someone could intrude into his mind, even if they couldn’t read his mind, made them seem alien. ‘Is it possible they could control me?’ The thought of that sent chills down his spine.

Tieria was also disturbed by the implication that their group were in the wrong and getting in the way of the plan. That all Celestial Being was doing was delaying the plan.

Tieria angrily turned and face Regene, “So you are saying we should just let the A-Laws continue their detestable conduct?!”

Regene responded calmly, “Reform is never painless. Do you think what you people are doing is painless? You people have become an obstacle to the plan. We were created to fulfill the plan. It is our purpose to see it through to the end. You are contradicting you purpose by opposing us.”

Even now he felt conflicted. Was he wrong? Should he be opposing the A-Laws? They were supposedly bringing peace, but thousands of people, innocent and guilty alike were getting killed. Was that true peace? His gut told him no. And besides him, the gundams were given to people. To humans. If Aeolia did intend this to be the plan, wouldn’t he have given them to people like the Innovators from the start? And then Neil’s words also came to his mind.

“Don’t squeeze yourself into a different mold like that. Just go out there and do what you think is right and be as gung ho about it as you want. Old man Aeolia trusted us with the gundams after all.”

He needed to confirm it. He needed to meet these innovators and make a judgement call. Then he could make a decision about what he would do. ‘The other’s don’t need to know yet. I’ll tell them when I gather more info about the innovators.’ Now all he had to do was find an opportunity to meet one.

New Katharon Base in the Middle East

Marina sat in a lounge in the base, contemplating the recent news. They had only arrived a day or two ago, but when they had arrived, she learned some devastating news. The Federation had formally annexed Azadistan, effectively removing the country from existence. Apparently, it was to help with stability and peace, but even she realized that this was just a way to get a foothold in the middle east. What surprised Marina was the fact that she didn’t feel as devastated as she thought she would. ‘It was probably Setsuna and Shirin’s talks with me. Based on what Setsuna said, they are just acting like what any strong power would do. What we did to Krugis.’

She was broken out of her thoughts when she saw Shirin walk into the room. Shirin felt hurt by the loss of her country, but she knew Marina would be worse than her. But the look she saw on Marina’s face was not of devastation, but contemplation. She gave Marina a confused look, “You look better than I expected after hearing that news. How are you feeling?”

Marina looked up at her, some sorrow in her voice, “I admit I am a hurt by what they are doing to our country, but with some thought it seemed inevitable. The instability of our country and the destruction of the capital made it easy for them to target.”

Shirin moved to sit down next to her, putting her hand on Marina’s lap, “Unfortunately there is nothing much we can do for now. We can only continue to fight and hope Celestial Being will help in that endeavor. Also Marina, I think I came off as a bit harsh a few days ago.”

Marina looked at her in confusion, “What do you mean?”

Shirin sighed heavily, “When you asked me for advice, a lot of the things that frustrated me about you came flooding back. I never wanted to imply you were all bad as a ruler. I respected you were idealistic, and just wished you tried to balance practicality and idealism. And if a group like the Federation were opposing you, even with a more unified country, it wouldn’t have helped much.”

Marina looked her friend in the eyes, a tired smile on her face, “Thank you Shirin. And for my part, I’m sorry for ignoring your advice about my over-idealism. I should have trusted you more. If after all this, I get Azadistan back, will you join me as my advisor again? I will need someone at my side to help me.”

Shirin shook her head, “I can’t say for certain. We don’t know what the world will be like, assuming we win. What I can say for certain is I will be there for you as a friend.”

Marina just nodded at that. She felt a fire burning in her heart. She had learned her lesson, painfully, about her past idealism and pacifism. This was her chance to learn and reflect, to make a better Azadistan. And make a better ruler. And in the back of her mind, she thought, ‘I understand why you fight now Setsuna.’

The Ptolemaios

Allelujah guided Marie through the ship, introducing her to the members of the crew. Ian had been his usual gruff self. Mileina had been excited, asking if the two were a couple. They reacted by blushing, causing Mileina to leave saying something about her feminine instincts. Setsuna, Saji and Tieria gave her friendly nods, but otherwise didn’t make much of a deal about it. Sumeragi had briefly met the two and did a security check on her, clearing her after a few minutes along with assurance from Marie that she has the Soma situation under control. Marie herself was amazed by the tech of the ship, taking in all the sights as Allelujah showed her around. As the two opened a door that led to a T-Junction, they saw Feldt standing in the middle of the T, looking down at the ground. The two began to approach her and Allelujah called out, “Feldt! I haven’t introduced you two, have I? This is-“

Feldt interrupted him, her voice harsh and full of emotion, “Soma Peries.” The two soldiers looked at her, shocked at her tone. “Five years she fought against us with the UN forces.”

Allelujah spoke up, “Feldt…”

Feldt continued, turning her head to face the pair, eyes full of pain, “In that last battle we lost a lot of good people. Christina, Lichty, Dr. Moreno and we even lost Lockon.” Marie reacted with shock, feeling the intense emotions coming off the girl.

Allelujah responded aggressively, “Hold on Feldt! Marie wasn’t-“

Feldt interrupted him again, sadness starting to replace the harshness of her voice, “I know that! I know it wasn’t her fault! But I needed to say something!” She took off down a hallway, headed towards the elevator. She could feel tears starting to build up. She heard Allelujah call out her, but she ignored it, reaching the elevator and pressing a random button, just needing to get out of there.

Allelujah watched her run away, realizing trying to talk with her wouldn’t help. He looked at Marie and spoke softly, “I’m sorry about that. To Feldt, every member of the crew is family. This ship is everything to her.”

Marie gave him a smile, “I can understand why she would be mad at me, or at least Soma. I or at least the Soma part of me, would have felt the same if someone killed the Colonel. When she ran, I felt feelings of grief radiating from her.”

Allelujah gave her an appreciative kiss, “Thank you for understanding. I’m certain she will apologize later.” The two continued the tour, going the opposite direction that Feldt had headed.

Elevator of the Ptolemy

The elevator door opened in front of Setsuna as heading to the cafeteria to get a snack. As the door opened, he saw Feldt leaning her back against one of the walls, her eyes facing down and puffy from crying. It seemed to him she was trying to hold back tears. He approached her and asked softly, “Feldt?” ‘Why was she in here and crying?’

He never got a chance to ask the second question as she turned her head to face him, her tears evident on her face, and without any warning, she grabbed onto him and embraced him tightly, her arms wrapped around his torso as both of them stood in the elevator. He was caught by surprise but didn’t reject the contact. She felt warm and comforting, even if she was the one in distress at the moment. Feldt put her face between his neck and shoulder, and her tears started to flow even more than they were before. After a few seconds of this, Setsuna wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in closer. As he pulled her in closer, Feldt’s emotional dam burst. All of her grief and reliving the death of Christina, Lichty and Neil came flooding out of her, her sobs coming hard and intense. She felt weak and like she was taking advantage of Setsuna, but she couldn’t help it. He was there for her four years ago and he was here for her now, even if he hadn’t planned it. Setsuna’s heart clenched in sympathy for the young woman. Something or someone must have really gotten to her. If she wanted him to hold her, then he would do it. She had helped him find Marina and calmed him down after Allelujah was missing, so he owed her for that. Strangely, he felt his heart rate increase as he held her.

Setsuna let her release all her pent-up emotions onto his neck for the next several minutes, knowing that he couldn’t say any words that would help. I can ask her what happened when she calms down. He gently rubbed her back up and down, hoping it would be any comfort for her. He could hear her breathing become steadier and the tears staining his jacket slowed down. Feldt pulled back slightly from the embrace and looked up at Setsuna, their arms still wrapped around the others body. His eyes met hers, her voice hitching a bit as she looked choked up, her eyes red, “Sorry about doing that without asking.”

Setsuna, keeping a soft voice, replied, “No problem. Are you feeling better?” He thought to himself, ‘Were her eyes always that pretty?’

Feldt hiccuped, then responded, “Yes. Thank you for that. That’s the second time you’ve helped me.”

“Second time?”

“After Neil died, and I put the letter in his gundam. You were there to comfort me as well.”

Setsuna nodded his head at that and though he was curious about what he did before that helped so much, but that wasn’t important right now. “Right. Why were you crying now?”

Feldt looked down for a second, then right back at Setsuna, “I ran into Marie and Allelujah, and I couldn’t help, but yell at her. Marie brought back memories of five years ago. Christina, Dr. Moreno, Lichty and Neil all died when her and the UN forces attacked us.”

Setsuna spoke up in a sympathetic voice, though it caught for a second before he corrected himself, “But Marie didn’t kill them, only fought Allelujah. If Allelujah trusts her, then so should we.”

Feldt could feel some tears starting to come back, but she resisted, “I know that she didn’t, but she brought up memories I guess I never fully got over.” She rested her forehead on Setsuna’s chest and said, “You must think I’m weak.”

Setsuna shook his head and Feldt could feel the vibrations in his chest as he spoke, causing her to blush slightly. “Grief is not a sign of weakness. It means that you care and put value in your relationships. And a weak person wouldn’t keep fighting against the odds we currently face or be willing to show their emotions to other people. You are a strong woman, Feldt.” Setsuna felt his cheeks flush slightly as he finished that statement, once again curious as to what is going on with him.

Feldt’s blush increased, leaving her cheeks a darker pink. She looked back up at Setsuna, her eyes shining with affection, “I should apologize to Marie, shouldn’t I?” She also noticed Setsuna was blushing, which caused her to smile. ‘Why am I smiling at that?’

The raven-haired pilot nodded at her without judgement, “When you feel ready to.” Right before he felt the pink-haired girl pull away from their embrace, he felt a pair of lips on his cheek and then Feldt whispered in his ear, “That was for being there for me five years ago.” Setsuna felt butterflies in his stomach, baffled by this entire event and what Feldt was doing to him. He gave her a small smile. She pulled out of the embrace entirely, and said, “I’m going to head back to the bridge. Are you headed there?”

Setsuna replied, “I was headed to get some food.” She nodded at that at and said, “If that’s the case, then you should continue. See you later?”

Setsuna nodded, saying evenly, “Most likely.” As the door opened to the bridge level and Setsuna saw Feldt begin to walk out of the elevator, he saw Feldt turn around to look at him and say, “Setsuna, when you said you had no one five years ago to write a letter to, that might have been true then. But that’s not true now. You can trust and rely on me if you need help.” Setsuna replied with another smile on his face, “Thank you. I’ll be there for you when you need it as well.” Without another word, she left the elevator, headed for the bridge. A rogue thought went through her head. ‘Setsuna certainly got more handsome…’

As Setsuna headed down to the hanger, he thought about how he reacted during that entire event as well as other times he interacted with her. He was blushing, felt nervous, the smiles, and the fact that she gave him strange feelings. An image of her looking up at him with flushed cheeks and eyes full of happiness popped into his head. It only took him a few seconds to realize why he reacted that way. ‘When had Feldt become so beautiful?

A-Laws Carrier

Kati stood in front of Soma’s Ahead, watching as mechanics were fixing it up. ‘Of all the people to lose to the gundams, it had to be her. Sergei must be heartbroken right now.’ She had seen that he had reported that she died in combat with the gundam and the gundam pilot had probably survived, seeing as the Celestial Being mobile suit was gone by the time they had found the Ahead. She then heard footsteps approaching her. She turned to face whoever was approaching and saw it was Andrei. He stopped right in front of her, a serious look on his face. He saluted her and then asked, “Colonel Mannequinn, with your permission, I wish to take over Lieutenant Peries’s machine.”

Kati gave him a studied look, “Well you have survived operations against the gundams and led an attack on their mothership. Do you think you can handle this machine?”

Andrei spoke with enthusiasm, “Yes Ma’am! With this machine I could be more effective against our enemies.”

“Very well. I will discuss this with Captain Zanin and get his opinion before making a decision.” She stopped for a second, pulling something out of her pocket and handing it to Andrei. He looked at it confused.

“What is that Colonel?”

“It’s an invitation to an A-Laws fundraiser. Apparently one of our benefactors is interested in meeting you. Something about meeting one of the first people who fought the gundams after five years. It is technically optional, but they stressed they were very interested in meeting you. I was actually about to look for you once I was finished here.”

Andrei thought it over for a second and then responded, “I’m confused as to why they are interested in meeting me and not the captain, but I am certainly willing to go. And thank you for considering my request.”

Kati gave him a nod, “The party is tomorrow at 1800 hours, so be ready to leave by 1500. And you’re welcome. I wonder what your father would think about you getting a new model, especially the Lieutenant’s.” Andrei felt anger flow through him at the mention of his father, visibly frowning, but pushed the feeling back. Colonel Mannequinn was willing to consider his request and it was not worth alienating her. He saluted her, saying, “I have to get back to my duties.”

She saluted back, “Understood.” Andrei watched as she moved away from the suit, then looked up at the suit. ‘This will be the machine I will use to defeat the gundams and avenge the Lieutenant.’

Briefing Room of the Ptolemaios

Sumeragi and Mileina stood near the terminal unit in the room, with the four pilots and Lasse standing near the railings in the room. Currently on the main screen was a picture of Ian. He spoke to the group in a happy tone, “Temporary repairs to the 00 and Arios are done. Also I got news that two of our support machines are done. We will need to head to space to pick them up, especially to get the twin drives fully operational. I’ll need to head up there before hand for final checks and fine tuning of the machines.”

Sumeragi nodded at that, “Understood.” She looked at Mileina and asked, “Do you think you could take over your father’s maintenance duties while he heads up to space?”

Mileina peppily replied, “Yes ma’am!” Then without warning they heard the beeping sound of a message coming in. Lasse responded to that first, “Looks like it’s a message from Wang Liu Mei.” Mileina opened the message.

“I have just found out information about an exclusive party being hosted by the A-Laws. Previously unknown members of their leadership will be appearing there. I will report my findings to you.”

Tieria desperately spoke up, “I want to go on the mission!” He knew that this was his best chance to try to find out about the innovators. ‘If anyone would be out of the public eye, it would be the artificial humans.’ The group looked at him surprised. They knew he had occasional emotional outbursts, but the fact he reacted so strongly to wanting to go to this party was strange. Lyle responded to that teasingly, “So you want to go to a party Tieria? Never thought I would see that.”

Tieria spoke in a resolute voice, “I want to see our real enemy with my own eyes.”

Lasse spoke cautiously, “Ok, but there is a good chance the enemy knows who we are.”

Setsuna jumped in, “I’ll go with him, just in case he gets in trouble.” Tieria nodded at him appreciatively and Setsuna looked over at Sumeragi. Sumeragi sighed exaggeratedly.

“Well I guess there is no choice. But if you two are going, you have to follow my exact plan.” As she said that, a mischievous smirk made its way to her face. Setsuna and Tieria felt a chill go down their spine. That look said she had an interesting idea for a plan.

Allelujah’s Room

Feldt stood outside Allelujah’s room, feeling a bit nervous. After her shift ended, she had immediately headed to super soldier’s room, hoping Marie was there. She went to knock on the door, but as she did, the door slid open, revealing the white-haired super soldier standing there, surprise on her face at seeing Feldt standing there. As Marie was about to say something, Feldt interrupted her.

“I’m sorry about what I said before. I talked with Setsuna after I ran, and he made me realize my emotions got the best of me.”

Marie gave her an awkward smile, “It’s alright. It’s fine.” Both of the stood awkwardly for a few seconds and as Feldt began to walk way, Marie spoke up again, “You really do think of the crew as a family, don’t you?”

Feldt turned around and gave her a friendly smile, “Yes. The ship and its crew are everything to me.”

Marie gave her a questioning look, “What about Setsuna?” Feldt immediately had her face go from smile to embarrassed blushing.

Feldt stuttered slightly, “W-What about Setsuna?”

“It’s just that when you mentioned his name, I felt you radiate affection that was not like family affection. It felt more like romantic affection.”

Feldt’s blush intensified, “How did you feel that?”

Marie blushed in embarrassment, realizing she might have intruded on something she didn’t want mentioned, “I can feel it with my brainwaves. I’m sorry if I intruded on your feelings. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Feldt shoulder’s sagged in defeat, “It’s alright. Ever since he talked to me earlier, he’s been on mind. I might like him but I’m not sure and I don’t know what I should do.”

Marie gave her a comforting look, “He seems like a nice guy. Quiet, and serious, but nice. I would maybe think about it and how he made you feel before that event. I’m sorry I can’t say much more. Allelujah and I are a unique case.”

Feldt could feel the embarrassment leave her, “Thank you. I think I just need time. Please don’t talk about it. I’ll talk to you another time?”

Marie nodded at her, “I’ll see you around.” The pink-haired woman began to walk back to her room, her mind focused on what Marie talked about. Setsuna had been there for her when she needed him, it had felt nice when he held her and he always seemed to smile at her, which in turn caused her to blush and smile herself. ‘And if I do like him, what do I do about it?’ She wasn’t completely sure she was right but thinking about Setsuna made her feel like she had butterflies in her stomach. ‘I’ll have to do another test, just in case.’

As Feldt began to walk away, Allelujah was headed to the room from the other part of the hallway opposite where Feldt was walking. He spotted Feldt walking away and Marie standing at the door of his room. Curious, he approached Marie.

“Did Feldt come to apologize?”

Marie nodded and said with mirth, “Yes.”

“What’s got you so happy?”

She replied teasingly, “Just a private conversation. Nothing you need to be worried about.” Allelujah rolled his eyes. Marie then asked, “What happened in the meeting?”

Allelujah gave her a teasing smile that said something interesting had happened, “Sumeragi has an interesting idea for a plan…” Marie looked at him curiously, wondering what plan would cause Allelujah to have that smile.

Upper Floor of the Party Mansion

A day had passed and Andrei found himself in a large mansion, which sprawled over several acres. ‘I’ve never been to a property so large.’ It looked to be built like a Victorian style house, though if he had to guess it was built well after that era. The only reason he wasn’t lost was due to a member of the staff guiding him to the owner of the house. ‘If they can afford this, then they must be one of the A-Laws biggest financial supporters.’ He was beginning to feel nervous about this. Why would someone so important be interested in meeting him? He adjusted his tie to try to hide it from his guide. He was just a soldier doing his duty. He also felt uncomfortable in his suit but knew he should make a good first impression. He was then stopped right before a room and the staff member said, “Please wait here. The master of the house is currently talking with another guest.”

Andrei looked at the staff curiously, “Do you know who he’s talking to?”

The staff member looked at him evenly, “I can’t say for certain, but most likely a guest of interest.” The conversation died as both of them waited for the door to open. A few minutes passed and the door opened to reveal a short blonde woman in a long pink dress, hair up in a bun and gloves that covered above her elbows. The woman looked up at Andrei and gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes. The staff member looked at Andrei and said, “The Master is ready to see you. I will guide this guest back to the main hall.”

Andrei nodded at him and said, “Thank you for guiding me.” He went through the door and saw a very elaborately decorated room, with older style furniture and large bookshelves lining the all, a fireplace between two of the bookshelves. It definitely reminded him of the old images of houses from the Victorian era. Whoever owned this house really wanted to show off their wealth. ‘It seems a bit too showy.’ He then saw a man of average height with bright green hair in what looked like a 18^th century european formal outfit made up of a blue coat, a white ruffly undershirt a pair of pantaloons and white tights on his legs. ‘This man certainly fits the look of this mansion.’ Andrei broke the silence, “Thank you for the invitation, Mr…”

The man turned around and the first thing that struck Andrei was the purple eyes. Beyond the unusual eye color, they showed friendliness and curiosity. The man gave a slight laugh then replied, “Ribbons Almark. But you can call me Ribbons. And no problem. I was interested to meet one of the first men who met the gundams in five years.”

Andrei asked curiously, “Who was that woman who just spoke to you?”

Ribbons gave him a smile, “Ah, that was Louise Halevy. She is the current head of the Halvey family after they were killed by a gundam attack five years ago. We have been trying to…court her for her support, but previously had been not open to supporting us. However I have made some progress in getting her to support us. But we don’t need to talk about her. I am interested in talking about your experiences.”

Andrei clenched his fist at that. ‘Another victim of the gundams.’ Ribbons noticed that and internally smirked. He had made the right decision. Andrei unclenched his fists after a second then asked, “Why are you interested in talking with me? Surely Captain Zanin would have been a better choice.”

Ribbons waved that off, “I plan to talk to him at a later point. He is needed on the frontlines at the moment, so I asked for you instead. I just have some questions I wanted to ask you is all. You won’t need to be here long.” Andrei let out an internal sigh. ‘I can get back to duty faster now.’

Andrei nodded at that and questioned, “What do you want to know?”

Ribbons began to pace the room, “How does it feel to fight the gundams, especially the first time?”

Andrei thought for a second then responded, “While I never fought the gundams previously, it felt overwhelming at first. I did not have time to react when the gundam damaged my GN-X. I thought they would kill me, but the captain saved my life and actually defeated the gundam before the other one was driven off.”

“So the power caught you by surprise then. Has that changed since?”

“Definitely. After fighting them in a few battles, I can see why they were feared before. But we have been able to hold them off with the Ahead models. The only one that seems more powerful is the one with two engines, but Mr. Bushido was able to defeat him.” Ribbons frowned at the mention of the 00. Andrei noticed that and asked, “Is there something up with that suit?”

Ribbons sighed, “Nothing for you to be concerned about. We have had engineers curious as to how that system works but have gotten nowhere with that. For now we are content, with focusing on other developments. If the Ahead suffices for now, then we will make do.” Ribbons looked at the clock, “Well it seems time has passed faster than I thought. I just have one more question for you. Why did you join the A-Laws? You could have joined the regular forces, like your father has.”

Andrei scowled for a second at the mention of his father, but corrected himself, “I wished to join a force that could bring peace to this world. After what the gundams did five years ago along with Katharon in the past couple years, the only way to ensure peace is to destroy the enemies that threaten the stability of the ESF.” ‘And to make sure nobody has to have their parent die pointlessly in war.’

Ribbons gave him a disarming smile, “That seems to be a good reason if anything to join them. And I do appreciate your service. I have good news for you in fact.”

“What is it?”

“You have been approved to pilot the custom ahead that was piloted by Lieutenant Peries. It just needed a little nudge is all.”

Andrei saluted him, “Thank you sir!”

Ribbons waved his hand in deference, “No need to salute. I just wanted to give you the best means to fight the gundams. You are going to go far in this organization, Second Lieutenant Smirnov.” Ribbons heard a knock on the door, “I am truly sorry, but I don’t have a lot of time left so one of the staff will guide you back to the main hall. It was an honor meeting you.”

“Same here. Thank you for your support of the A-Laws.”

“No need for that. Any good person should support this organization. Unlike some people.”

With that, Andrei was guided out of the door and back to the party, invigorated by his gaining the Ahead and affirmation he made the right decision to join the A-Laws. Ribbons just looked out the window into the night, grinning. ‘I’ll keep my eye on you Andrei. You may prove useful yet.’

Main Hall of the Mansion

Tieria was fuming internally. The fact he had to talk to these people willing to suck up to the Federation and the A-Laws. He was currently standing in the middle of the main hall of the mansion, being forced to socialize to blend in, disguised as a woman. He understood Sumergai’s logic, but being here how he was still wasn’t pleasant. And unfortunately for him, he did not see any of the innovators here. He had spotted some of their public leaders, like Homer Katagiri, but that’s not the goal here. He needed to get to the bottom of the innovator business. As he kept up his social interactions, he heard Regene’s voice in his head, “Very soon now”. A few minutes passed and he heard a calm voice behind him, “My name is Ribbons Almark, my dear. Do you care to dance?” Tieria turned around and saw Ribbons offering his hand. ‘He is one of them. He has to be.’ Tieria took the hand, scowling for a second. Ribbons guided them to the dance floor and the two began to waltz, Tieria following his lead. The crowd watched them intently, not knowing what was truly going on between the two. Ribbons began the conversation, “I never imagined you would show up like this.”

Tieria replied evenly, “It is well known that all of the gundam meisters are men. I merely following our tactical forecasters orders.” The two continued to move across the dance floor, Tieria asked, “We you the one who asked Regene to contact me?”

Ribbons gave him a slightly exasperated look, “Oh no, I’m also being tossed hither and yon by his little games.”

Tieria gave him a critical look, not fully believing him, “I heard you’re the one attempting to carry out Aeolia’s plan?”

“You don’t believe it? If you wish I could return them…” He whispered in Tieria’s ear, “Your Veda access rights.” Tieria stumbled for a second, caught off guard by that info. ‘He can do that?’ Ribbons caught Tieria without missing a beat.

Tieria looked at him in confusion, “Are you saying you actually control Veda?!” Ribbons just gave him a smirk as the dance ended.

He kissed Tieria’s hand and said, “We can discuss this more in my private quarters.” Tieria nodded his head and followed him, now curious as to how the green-haired man got control over Veda and what he was doing with it.

Outside of the Mansion

Louise walked out into the driveway of the mansion, heading to her car. She had met with Ribbons and throughout the short talk they had, she felt uneasy about him. Maybe it was her growing suspicion of the A-Laws, but the green-haired man seemed a bit too smooth for her comfort. She gave him a non-committal answer about full support of the A-Laws but conceded she would be willing to help out to a small degree monetarily. He seemed happy at that answer and she only stayed for a little bit longer before she decided to leave. As she started to approach where the cars were parked, she spotted a man using a handheld terminal, leaning against a car. Something about him reminded her of someone she knew. ‘Black hair. Reddish eyes. Was that Setsuna?’ She approached the man, who didn’t seem to notice her approach. Trying to get his attention, she spoke up, “Hi there.” She saw the man turn to face her, turning off the portable terminal. ‘It was him.’ “Your name was Setsuna, right? I’m Louise Halvey. We met five years ago in Japan.”

Setsuna gave her a look over for a second, then replied meekly, maintaining his cover, “I think I remember. You were dating Saji right? And I’m surprised you remembered me.”

She rubbed her arm awkwardly, “Yeah, that was me. Also your name was not something you hear every day, so of course I remembered. I do want to apologize for yelling at you back then. It was unfair of me to do that.” She remembered yelling at him when he said at least her parents weren’t dead after her mom went back to Spain and while it was insensitive of him, she did overreact. And now that she had lost her parents, she understood the point he was trying to make.

Setsuna waved that off, “No problem. You were going through something and I was insensitive. It’s all in the past.”

Louise laughed at that, “I suppose so. Both of us have grown, though some of us more than others.” She definitely was aware that Setsuna had grown taller, and matured since she last saw him. With a curious tone, she asked, “By the way Setsuna, have you seen Saji at all since Japan?”

Setsuna, nodded his head, trying to be careful with his words, “I saw him a few weeks ago at one of the colonies. He seemed to be doing some sort of engineering job up there.” Louise could sense that Setsuna was leaving out some details, but they probably were inconsequential.

She awkwardly responded, “Well that’s good. What have you been up to since we last met?” Setsuna could see Saji was an awkward topic for her, but her asking about Saji reminded him of something Saji wanted him to do.

As Setsuna headed to the elevator to head to the hanger, he heard Saji call out to him. He stopped and turned around, seeing Saji running towards him, a note in his hand. Saji stopped in front of him, out of breath. Setsuna gave him a few seconds to catch his breath and then the Japanese man spoke up, “If you happen to see Louise at this party, can you please give her this note? The A-Laws are probably hounding her for support so there is a good chance she will be there.”

Setsuna took the note and asked, “Should I be worried about anything in the note?”

Saji shook his head, “You don’t need to worry. It’s only personal stuff I wanted to say to Louise. Nothing about Celestial Being or where I currently am.”

Setsuna nodded his head, “Then if I see her I will give it to her.”

In a grateful tone, the brown-haired man replied, “Thank you Setsuna. And if she’s there she will probably be happy to see you.”

Setsuna responded to her, “Just odd jobs here and there. Been on the move mostly.” He pulled the note out of his pocket and offered it out, surprising Louise, “When I met Saji he told me to give you this in case I met you. Said something about not getting to earth anytime soon.” Just then he heard a beep from his terminal unit and opened it up, seeing something from Tieria, “I’m sorry Louise, but I need to resolve a work thing. It was great meeting you again.”

Louise gave him a smile, “It was great seeing you again too. Good luck with whatever job you have now.” She walked to her car, finding it a bit strange to see Setsuna so friendly and animated. He still seemed awkward and a bit stiff, but he was more personable than five years previous. When she got into her car, she relaxed and opened the written note.

Dear Louise

This is Saji. I’m sorry that I have to talk to you this way, but if you have been watching the news, then you know I’m a criminal at the moment. I don’t want to drag you into my issues at this second, but long story short I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The A-Laws attacked the colony I was working at and massacred the people there. I got rescued by a third party and I am currently safe, so don’t worry about me.

Being where I am has helped me reflect on the past five years. I realized in that period, I was selfish and only focused on trying to maintain the bubble of my happiness, trying to ignore the outside world. I see that view was wrong. I also apologize for ignoring your wish to put the gundams behind you. I couldn’t let go of my anger at what they did to you and what happened to my sister. I want to become a better person, for myself and for you. I still love you Louise and I will come back, just after I feel like I made up for what I’ve done. Please stay safe.

Love,

Saji

P.S. Be careful around the A-Laws. They are not to be trusted.

Louise felt a storm of emotions reading the note. She was happy that Saji was at least safe, but still worried about the fact he was a wanted criminal. She then reread the second part of the letter and saw tears hitting the letter and realized she was beginning to cry. ‘He wants to get better, for me? Did he have to make it harder for me, having to worry about him?’ Even after all that had happened, she still had a flame for him. ‘Please stay safe Saji. I need you to come back and see what has changed with you.’

Resting Room of the Mansion

Tieria stood in the middle of a lavish room, the only light being that of a fire in a fireplace. He glared at Ribbons, who was casually sitting down on one of the couches in the room, “You were serious when you said you took control of Veda?”

Ribbons replied evenly, “You should be able to recall yourself.” Tieria began to think back, and realized what he meant.

“You mean you disengaged the trial field when we fought the Trinities? And that means you also gave the Pseudo GN drives to the UN forces. Why?”

Ribbons poured a glass of wine, lifting it up, “Because the plan explicitly called for the destruction of Celestial Being. According to the plan you were supposed to be gone five years ago.”

Tieria looked at him in shock, “You are kidding. That can’t be right! I know that Aeolia Schenburg trusted it all to us. The gundams, the GN drives and the Trans-Am system!” Tieria realized his gut was right. If Aeolia had trusted Ribbons, he would have given it to him. Instead, he gave them to Celestial Being. Whatever Ribbons was doing was not part of the plan. “As someone who was given a gundam, I’ll continue to fight and follow the path I believe in. Call me a fool, but I’ll stick with it to the end!”

Ribbons looked at him with a malicious smirk, “You’ve been influenced by the humans far more than I expected. You allowed that man to get deep into your heart. Lockon Stratos.” Tieria glared and grit his teeth. ‘This being will not insult Neil.’ Ribbons continued, “He placed vengeance for his lost family over the plan. What a foolish human.”

Unable to take it anymore, Tieria drew his gun from the holster he had hidden on his leg and was about to fire when he felt something graze his hand holding the gun, forcing him to drop it. He turned his face to see another green-haired innovator in the doorway, though they had wilder hair than ribbons. Seeing no choice, he ran, jumping out of the window. He landed and rolled in the grass, pulling out his terminal unit when he was evenly on the ground after the roll. He sent a message to Setsuna saying they needed to get out of there. ‘And I finally know my path. Lockon, you were right. If being an innovator means being like those people, I would rather be a human.’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Unknown Airspace

As the two pilots flew back to the Ptolemaios in their gundams, Setsuna opened up communications with Tieria, “What did you find out? Who is leading the A-Laws?”

Tieria responded with conviction, “I found it Setsuna! The twistedness in this world! With the gundams we can eliminate it!” Setsuna thought to himelf, ‘That didn’t answer my question.’

Suddenly the two pilots heard an older, rougher voice coming from in front of them, coming from a large red mobile suit, “Easier said than done.” Setsuna immediately recognized the suit. This was the suit that destroyed the capital of Azadistan. And now his fears were confirmed. Ali al Saachez had survived and was back.

Setsuna called out to Tieria, “It’s the mobile suit from Azadistan.” Tieria looked over the suit as it came to a stop. After a second, he realized exactly what it was, “This is an improved throne model. And that means he’s back!”

And as the suit came to a stop, Ali drew his large sword into the suits right hand and excitedly proclaimed, “Let’s get this started. It’s a war between gundams of epic proportions! Fly my fangs!” He immediately launched his fangs and they began to circle around the two gundams. Both Setsuna and Tieria were caught by surprise at the speed of these drones. Both of them took shots at the drones, but none of them could seem to connect.

Setsuna spoke to Tieria, “They’re fast!”

“Something is different about them!” Just then two blasts from the drones nailed the front of the Seravee, causing Tieria to cry out in pain and begin to plummet into the sea. Setsuna had little time to react as the suit charged towards him, Ali yelling, “You’ll have to do better than that, gundam!” His blade clashed with Setsuna’s two as the 00 tried to hold back the force of this mobile suit. Setsuna could see the sparks created by the clash.

Setsuna yelled out in anger, “So you’re still alive, Ali al Saachez!” He could feel the power of Ali’s suit. Even the 00 couldn’t move this suit at this very moment.

Ali responded in a more excited tone, enjoying the fight, “Yes, but thanks to Celestial whatchamacallit, most of my body was burnt to a crisp! I took that guy’s life and now I want more!” He shoved the 00 back, ending the blade clash and forced the 00 into a lower altitude.

“His name was Neil, you bastard!” Setsuna was about to charge him when he saw the drones return to the opposing suit. ‘What is he doing?’ He then heard Ali say, “You are going to pay for my regeneration treatments with your lives!” He charged in, meeting the 00 head on, and the two clashed blades, with the raven-haired pilot unable to go on the offensive. He once again tried to clash blades, but that was broken quickly by Ali delivering a solid blow with his sword, knocking Setsuna back from the combat. Just then several pink energy blasts came from below as Tieria began to open fire on this mobile suit, hoping to take advantage of the element of surprise, but Ali managed to dodge out of the way of the attacks.

Tieria tried to keep pressure on him to keep him at a distance, but he saw that the enemy suit was getting closer. He screamed in anger, “You’re the guy that killed Lockon!” The red haired man didn’t respond to that, quickly slicing the upper blasters of the Seravee off, creating a smoke cloud from the explosion. Ali savored his successful attack for a second, when he suddenly saw the arms of the Seravee attempt to grab him. He tried to pull back, but it was too late. The Seravee had a solid grip on Ali’s suit and pulled him closer. Tieria spoke angrily to Ali, “I’ll be the one that avenges him!”

Ali responded immediately in a flippant tone, “He got what he deserved! He entered battle despite being blind in one eye!”

“You damn-!” The Seravee pushed its knee forward, extending a beam saber from the knee joint. Ali spotted that and to Tieria’s surprise, successfully dodged out of the way. The purple-haired pilot gasped out in shock, “He dodged it?” He then noticed that part of the foot of the suit activated its own beam saber.

As the blade came around to cut off the appendage holding the Seravee’s beam saber, Ali retorted, bloodlust filling his voice, “Well I have a few of those too!” He cleanly cut the appendage off, causing it to explode after a second. He shoved Tieria back seeing that the grip had loosened. He scanned the battlefield, looking for the 00, when he saw on his radar Setsuna approaching from below, who quickly met Ali’s blade with his own, sparks once again being created from the impact. Ali’s instincts told him that that there was something going on and at the last second was able to stop the Seravee with one of the blades on the foot of his suit’s feet.

Setsuna yelled out in frustration, “Dammit!” ‘How has he gotten this good? And what kind of suit is that?’ Tieria was equally frustrated, wondering how this suit could have enough power to hold off two gundams in a melee. Then suddenly Ali yelled out “Fangs!” Two of the drones came flying out the waist of the suit, lining up the perfect shot. Both pilots realized they were unable to dodge this and were hit by the blasts as they hit the torsos of the 00 and Seravee, causing enough damage to force the two of them back. Ali seeing how easily he was dominating this fight, began to gloat, “I see you can’t handle the power of the Arche Gundam I see! I’ll just make sure you are never able to by killing you both right now!” Just as he was about to charge the Seravee, more energy blasts came from another direction, forcing him to dodge them. Looking at his sensors he saw two more signatures appear. Realizing that these must be the other two gundams, he yelled out to the 00 and Seravee, “Four vs one is just a bit too out of my favor. You got lucky this time!” He put away his sword and dashed out of the battlefield at incredible speeds, with one or two of the hits from the Arios and Cheridum being deflected by the shield. Allelujah spoke evenly, “Setsuna, Tieria, Ms. Sumeragi has ordered us to return.”

However, the Seravee began to chase after the Arche, but the Arios grabbed the Seravee by the shoulder, holding it back. Tieria called out to Allelujah in anger, “Why stop me!? That’s the guy that killed Lockon!”

Lyle gasped out in surprise to himself. ‘That was the man that killed my brother? These guys seem familiar with this man, so they would probably be able to fill me in.’

As the Setsuna and Tieria Gundam pilots saw the machine leave visual range, they recollected their thoughts. Scanning his systems, Tieria noticed that the damage wasn’t too severe, though it would need some repairs from Ian. Internally, he was stewing with anger. ‘How could we let the man that killed Neil get away!? He was right there!’ He realized Allelujah was right, but he hoped he would get a chance to face him. ‘And next time I’ll win.’

Setsuna also had not taken too much damage, but the bigger worry was now the knowledge the enemy had a skilled pilot in a gundam. And the fact that Ali survived seemed like cosmic injustice. ‘Why do men like that get to live yet good people still have to die?’

Allelujah’s Room

Marie rested in Allelujah’s room, feeling anxious about her boyfriend being sent out to fight again. She had no problems with him fighting and knew it was needed, but she still always worried about him not coming back. She was comforted by her memories of previous fights when Soma was in charge that showed that Allelujah had survived worse. But she was taken by surprise when she felt was seemed like yawning in the back of her mind. ‘She must be waking up.’ After a few seconds, she heard a voice going through her head, “Where am I? Who are you!? And why are you in my body?!”

Marie spoke back in a friendly tone, knowing Soma would be out of sorts right now, “I’m Marie Parfacy. I’m sorry I forcibly took over after you tried to kill Allelujah, but I couldn’t let you kill him. And I am actually the original personality of this body.”

Soma scrutinized those words, mulling them over. Soma then replied with some confusion, “If you were the original personality, then why weren’t you in charge? And why didn’t I know about you before?”

“If I had to guess, when I was implanted with another personality, you overrode my control. I was in some sort of coma like state, but realizing that you were fighting Allelujah must have woken me up.”

“What do you mean implanted with another personality? Why would they need to do that?”

Marie sighed, realizing she would need to explain a bunch to her, “I or we were a designer baby, but unfortunately, very few of my senses worked. I could only speak out with my mind, but when they implanted me with another personality, we could suddenly speak, move and see.”

Soma looked at her with suspicious eyes, “What do you mean we? Aren’t we separate people? Separate personalities?” Marie thought for a second and realized a simpler way to get across what she wanted to tell Soma.

“Soma, look through my memories and tell me what you feel.” Marie opened up her own mind, letting down her defenses. Soma, still suspicious of what Marie was saying, opened up her mind and began to scan the memories. As she scanned through the memories, that feeling of familiarity that she had previously felt returned. ‘These memories feel like mine, yet they don’t.’ Now that she wasn’t fighting something for control, she let herself bask in the feelings and memories. As she sat there, understanding began to come to her. Her and Marie were each one half of a soldier, of a person. She was reminded of what Hallelujah told her five years ago about not being a complete super soldier.

In a subdued voice, Soma asked, “We are both needed, aren’t we? Without you, I wouldn’t be a full super soldier?” Marie mentally gave her a confirmation. Soma continued, “Subject E-57 was right. I was an incomplete soldier. I lacked the support that the other personality gave.”

Marie gently responded, “It’s more than just that. We feed off of each other. Allelujah told me that he only was at his strongest when he merged minds with his personality. And he also had to work in harmony with his other side and understand them to truly be one. I don’t want to give up my body, but I don’t want us to have to fight over it.”

Soma replied, “It appears as if you have solid control over our body, so you don’t need to be worried about me taking over. And looking through your memories allayed my confusion a bit. I do want to thank you for telling the Colonel that. I wish I could have seen him again, but at least you told him what I wanted to say.”

Marie smiled at that, “It would have been wrong of me to do that. He was your father in all but legal name. He kept both of us safe, even of both of you didn’t know about me.”

Soma replied reflectively, still trying to get a full grasp of the situation, “So where does that leave us? It’s clear you don’t want to fight and aren’t going to leave your boyfriend’s side. I feel happy I don’t have to work for the A-Laws, but it feels strange to be on the other side of the conflict. I spent so much time fighting the Gundams, it’s hard to accept them as allies.”

Marie spoke to her in a calm voice, “I understand that. But you always wanted to leave a peaceful and normal life. While I can’t say this is normal, you don’t have to worry about committing warcrimes or hurting innocent people. And I promise you if Celestial Being can defeat the A-Laws, then I will do whatever I can to try to meet the Colonel again and let you talk to him.”

“That is…acceptable. I’m still trying to fully wrap my head around this whole situation, but as long as you don’t intend to hurt the Colonel, then I’m content to be where I am. I do want words with the other personality of your boyfriend though.”

Marie could sense the animosity coming off her voice, “I’m certain he would also have some things he would like to say to you, but as far as Allelujah and I can tell, he’s gone. You got him in that final battle.”

In a suddenly aggressive and flippant tone, Soma said, “Good.” Marie wanted to retort, but knew that Hallelujah had killed some of Soma’s comrades, so she kept her mouth shut. This was a good first meeting and she didn’t want to ruin it. Marie then felt Soma draw herself further into their mind. It was obvious for now that their conversation was done. Marie could still feel she was there and she could contact her at any time. ‘At least I won’t have to fight her like Allelujah and Hallelujah did. Allelujah will be happy to hear about this conversation. And I hope the Colonel is ok.’

Sergei’s Ship

Sergei sighed as the call with his superior dropped. He had been assigned to watch over Suille in case they decided to act against the ESF, but he knew they weren’t the big threat. Sure they had the strongest military in the middle east, but their suits did not compare to the GN-X or Ahead. They certainly didn’t need someone like him to be a constant watchdog over them. It annoyed him the regular forces were being used as backup to the A-Laws and Sergei just had to accept that.

Maybe it was actually a good thing now. Soma was now with Celestial Being and he didn’t know if he could fight them knowing that. Having a day to digest what happened had made him feel he made the right decision. Soma had probably not taken having to commit a warcrime very well and even if it was this Marie that was in charge, Soma would be safer with Celestial Being. It’s not like he didn’t have blood on his hands anyway. There was no way he could have kept Marie from getting dragged into the fighting. ‘And despite my misgivings, Marie looked happy with that boy.’

He looked over at a picture of Soma and him on his desk. It showed them in front of a theme park sign, and she was smiling brightly, her smile reaching her eyes. Sergei just looked tired, especially after hours of walking around. Sergei had wanted to take her someplace fun, and thought back on when Andrei was a child. Him and Holly had taken Andrei after he had begged and Sergei enjoyed it more than he expected. Andrei had been practically vibrating the whole time, even if he couldn’t go on some of the roller coasters. Based on that experience, Sergei thought Soma might enjoy the same experience, especially because she never got a chance to grow up normally. And he had been right after one of the roller coaster rides.

Soma bound out of the exit of the roller coaster, feeling the rush of adrenaline from the ride. Sergei followed behind her, smiling at seeing the super soldier so happy and carefree. She practically seemed to be floating. He spoke up with a teasing tone, “How does a soldier who fought in mobile suits even get excited by riding a roller coaster?”

Soma stopped and turned around giving him a beaming smile, “It’s not the ride Colonel, it’s the fact I can get a rush like that without risking my life feels so good! Let’s go on another!” Sergei still found it a bit odd to see her so relaxed, but he preferred it to her being so tense and serious. Peacetime had been good for her. She was able to enjoy herself without any pressure on what she needed to do.

Sergei shook his head at that, “I’m sorry Soma, but this old man needs a break. If you want to go on another ride, don’t let me stop you. I’ll wait nearby.” Soma nodded at that, wordlessly grabbing his hand and leading him to another ride. All the while Sergei could see the ghost of Andrei doing the same thing with his tiny hand years ago, Holly laughing at a grown man being dragged around by a child. A bittersweet feeling rushed through him, but he shook it off. Soma was a second chance, a chance to make up for his mistakes.

A tear rolled down his cheek as he thought back on the memory. She had walked around for hours with him, going on rides and taking pictures, including the one currently on his desk. He had been exhausted by the end of the day, but seeing her beaming smile had been worth it. He hoped one day he could meet Soma again, but for now he had to play the peacekeeper, even if he disagreed with the peace that was trying to be established.

Ptolemaios Briefing Room

After getting back from fighting off Ali al Saachez, the pilots separated, with Lyle following Tieria, bothering him with questions, while Setsuna found himself in the briefing room with Saji. Saji looked at him anxiously, “Did you happen to meet Louise?”

Setsuna nodded and responded evenly, “Yes, I met her as she was leaving the party. We talked for a bit before I had to leave.”

“What did you talk about? And did you give her my note?”

“I did give her the note. And the conversation was mostly small talk and trying to catch up. She asked where I saw you and I said that I saw you in the colonies a few weeks ago. I didn’t have too much time before I had to leave.”

Saji looked down nervously, “Did she say anything about me?”

“Besides asking about if I saw you, not specifically. When your name came up, she became nervous and awkward. Even if she didn’t say anything, I would say that she did miss you. I’m sorry I didn’t ask further.”

Saji waved that off, “Don’t worry. I let her know how I feel in the note I gave you. We broke up several months ago-“ He was cut off by the door opening and Tieria, followed by Lyle, walked into the room.

Both Setsuna and Saji heard Lyle ask in a harsh tone, “And what did you say about him killing my brother?”

Tieria turned around and glared at him harshly, “It’s just what I said. The pilot of that Gundam is Ali al Saachez and he’s the man that took Lockon’s life.”

Lyle narrowed his eyes at Tieria, “I want to hear all the details about this man.” Just as he finished that demand, the other door in the room opened, revealing Marie and Allelujah, who saw at the intense looks at Lyle’s face with confusion. Tieria saw that he would need to tell more of the story to him, so he motioned the two super soldiers to enter the room. Everyone made their way to the center of the room and Saji rested against one of the walls, curious about the story as well.

Tieria then covered the story of what happened to Neil, starting at when the trinities revealed the histories of the Gundam pilots, Neil’s motivation for joining Celestial Being and him going out into battle without one of his eyes, resulting in his death at the hand of Ali al Saachez. Lyle followed along, letting Tieria tell the whole story. As the purple-haired man continued, the reasoning behind his brother’s actions made more and more sense. ‘Of course he would want revenge for what happened to our family. He always was the more hot headed one.’ As Tieria finished up the story, the Irish man began to quietly chuckle, “So he faced this Ali guy to get revenge for killing our family?”

Tieria looked at him confused, “Why are you laughing?” ‘Why is he so casual about the death of his brother?’

Lyle gave him a grin, “Placing revenge before reforming the world? That sounds like my brother.”

Tieria gave him a slight glare, “Do you have a problem with that?”

Lyle smirked at Tieria, “Nope. I respect him for it actually. But our family was killed over ten years ago. I don’t see the point of brooding over what happened. It is nice to see someone care for my brother so much.”

Tieria scowled at Lyle, blushing at the compliment, but Setsuna, who had previously stayed in the back of the group in the room, stepped forward, saying, “Even if the one responsible is right in front of you?”

Lyle looked at him confused for a few second, their eyes meeting, then said, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Setsuna replied with a hint of regret in his voice, “I was a member of the group that killed your family.” Lyle narrowed his eyes, trying to understand why the raven-haired man needed to say this. Tieria looked at Setsuna, surprised he would say this.

Allelujah interjected with a confused voice, “Setsuna, you don’t need to tell him this.”

Still looking at Lockon, Setsuna responded, “He needs to know. My comrade and I were sent to Ireland to punish those that would abandon the holy land. I tried to convince my comrade to save his life, to not do it, but he called me a coward.” Setsuna took a deep breath, remembering at that point he was already beginning to have doubts about their holy mission. He continued, more regret seeping into his voice, “I let my comrade walk away and kill all those people in that city center, including your family. Neil would never had become a meister if we weren’t there.” The group stood there silently, getting a handle on the new aspect of Setsuna’s past.

Allelujah didn’t realize how rough Setsuna had had it. ‘Sure I knew he was a child soldier, but to have the guilt of allowing innocent people to die must be a lot. It’s not like I’m much better.’ Marie looked at him with sympathy. She could sense regret coming off of him. He went through so much and is even willing to risk his life revealing something he didn’t need to? ‘You picked a good one Feldt. I think he needs your help.’

With Saji, the pieces snapped into place. The fact he was a child soldier. His willingness to fight a potentially hopeless cause. ‘He grew up in a world that knew only violence. Of course he’s willing to fight for the chance change it. I’m sorry Setsuna. I should not have treated you like that before.’ Tieria just watched, hoping Lyle didn’t do anything stupid.

Lyle gave a heavy sigh, “It’s not your fault. The events that happened there would have happened whether you were there or not. It was just a part of that chaotic time.”

Setsuna spoke up, surprised, “But-“

“There is no point in dwelling on what happened. We can’t fix what happened in the past, but we can fight to make a better future.” The group look surprised at his reaction. He had more than a good enough reason to hurt Setsuna yet he didn’t. And they all knew he was right. They had all done things in their past that they regret, but they could only move forward. Tieria suddenly moved towards the door, the hiss of it opening and closing the only sound in the room as he left. ‘Fight for the future and my own sense of justice. Will that lead us to a better future? Will opposing the innovators lead to a better future?’

Bridge of the Ptolemaios

Looking at the sensors, Feldt saw six mobile armor silhouettes at the edge of the sensor’s range. She activated the alarm on her display, starting the loud buzzing sound throughout the ship. Over the PA, she announced, “Six underwater mobile armors confirmed. Everyone to primary battle stations. Enemy is closing in and preparing to surround the Ptolemy!”

Sumeragi looked up at her, asking, “Estimate time till enemy attack.”

Mileina responded quickly, “0024.”

Sumeragi analyzed the enemy plan. ‘The enemy accurately predicted we’d be over the equator. That’s not bad.’ The door to the bridge opened up and Saji and Marie walked in. Marie looked at Sumeragi and asked, “Is there anything we can do to help?”

Sumeragi thought for a second and then replied, “You can sit in the auxiliary support chairs. Things are about to get rough. Lasse.”

Lasse just nodded his head and said, “Roger. Ptolemy entering rapid surfacing mode.” The Ptolemy rapidly began to face its bow to face the surface, the movement causing everyone in the bridge to hold on to something to stabilize themselves.

As the ship ascended, Mileina called out, “0004 until contact with the enemy.”

Sumeragi, knowing the eyes of the bridge were on her, commanded, “Wait for it…”

Feldt then noticed more signatures on the sensors, “The enemy has launched torpedoes!” Sumeragi smirked hearing that. ‘Just what I was waiting for.’

Over the comms she yelled out, “Arios, Cheridum, Seravee, activate Trans-am!” After a few seconds, the bridge crew could feel the flow of power rush through the ship, pushing the engines to go even faster as the ship glowed a vibrant red. She continued to yell orders, “Increase GN Field to maximum output! Initiate emergency ascent! Ride the explosions!” The ship continued to ascend spaceward as a series of explosions went off beneath them. The bridge shook from the kinetic force of all of the torpedoes exploding, but everyone on the ship could feel the Ptolemy being pushed even faster by that same force.

As the ship approached the surface of the ocean, Sumeragi commanded, “Change Ptolemy over to flight mode.” Without a word, Lasse activated flight mode just before they burst through the surface of the ocean, leaving a large spray of sea foam as they broke through into the open air. The ship rapidly climbed through the air. Sumeragi gave another order to the gundams, “Setsuna, be ready on the catapult.”

“Roger that.”

As the ship travelled further and further upward, A-Laws mobile suits began chasing and firing at the ship to little effect, the shots either seemed to miss or just bounced off of the GN field. Marie looked at the visual sensors at the suits firing at them and noticed her, or rather Soma’s suit was among them. ‘Who could be piloting that suit? Is it Andrei?’  She never thought about how Andrei might react to her “death” but it was too late now. She could feel Soma’s grumbling about someone using her suit, but she spoke no objections otherwise. Sumeragi ordered the gunports to be opened and a barrage of missiles and energy blasts came shooting down on the mobile suits, taking out most of them. Andrei’s Ahead survived the attack.

Their travel into space was going relatively smooth until a large energy blast hit the starboard side of the ship, shifting them off the predicted path. Sumeragi looked at this worryingly. ‘The commander predicted our path. They are really good.’ Unfortunately there was nothing they could do to correct that at this moment. If there was an ambush, she only hoped Setsuna would be enough to deal with the enemy, seeing as Trans-am was running out and that meant the three other Gundams would be low on particles as well.

As they reached orbit, the readings on the bridge showed all the power from the Trans-am had run out and the particles count in the engine was low. Feldt reported nervously, “Particles count too low for the GN field. We will be without if for a while.” And worryingly, as soon as the GN field went, the ship was bombarded by energy blasts from six GN-X’s and an A-Laws cruiser positioned close to them. The damage they were taking was light for the moment, but it could get worse. The crew looked at each other nervously, but they noticed Sumeragi wasn’t worried. The tactical forecaster then calmly stated a command, “Setsuna, you are up.” They then saw two of the mobile suits attacking them get destroyed by two pink energy blasts.

With the 00

The 00 flew into the combat space after taking out the two mobile suits. ‘Sumeragi was correct about them not expecting this.’ Setsuna effortlessly dodged past the mobile suits in space, heading towards the enemy ship. Energy blasts came in a large volume at him as he charged towards the ship, and he could sense they were desperate when trying to hit him. ‘In the 00, you won’t be able to hit me.’  When he got close enough, he stopped and charged up his blasters, releasing two arrowhead shaped blasts. They hit the bridge head on, destroying it completely and the ship began to have detonations all throughout the hull, causing it to collapse and become space debris.

Setsuna headed back to the Ptolemy, prepared to deal with the suits attacking the ship, but they quickly disengaged from combat, retreating from the battle space.

On the Bridge

The crew was celebrating the victory over the A-Laws when Feldt noticed a message on her console. She opened it up and saw it was an open message from the A-Laws sent by a mobile suit. She spoke up, “Ms. Sumeragi, we have a message sent by a mobile suit sent by visual signal. Should I read it?”

Curious, Sumeragi nodded and said, “Go ahead.”

Clearing her throat, Feldt read the message, “I express my respect for the tactics of Lisa Kujo of Celestial Being. Colonel Kati Mannequinn of the A-Laws. End of message.”

Lasse spoke up, also curious, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Sumeragi was surprised to hear this message and frowned at the new knowledge. ‘Kati joined the A-Laws. Why would someone like her join the A-Laws?’ The crew looked in worry at Sumeragi’s sudden silence. Feldt spoke up, “Ms. Sumeragi, what’s the matter?”

Sumeragi spoke quietly to herself, regret in her tone, “I keep trying to escape, but I can’t break free.” ‘Of that detestable past. The indelible past.’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Lagrange 3

Setsuna crouched on the outside of the suit, near the cockpit hatch. He was finishing up his system check to make sure the 00 was combat ready. He was distracted by what was happening on Earth. ‘Nothing has changed. And I haven’t even-‘ His thoughts were interrupted by Feldt’s voice over the PA system along with an alarm sound.

“Enemy machine detected on E-Sensors!”

Setsuna looked up to the source of the PA, “Enemy machine? Is it A-Laws?” Mileina, who was in the hangers coordinating repairs for the suits, replied to the bridge.

“The Arios and Seravee are still too damaged!”

Feldt once again spoke to the crew, “Enemy is closing at a rate of 78 kiloseconds!” Setsuna was shocked at that speed. ‘What type of A-Laws machine could have that speed. Not even Graham’s suit was that fast.’ Sumeragi’s voice spoke over the PA, “00 and Cheridum, prepare for emergency launch!” Getting in the 00, he opened up communications with the bridge, seeing Feldt’s face appear in front of him, “00, ready for launch.”

Feldt nodded at that, “Understood. Preparing the linear catapult for launch.” Setsuna felt the 00 get moved up and into position on the catapult and locked in place. Feldt spoke up again, “Launch controls are in your control.”

He nodded at that and launched himself into space, curious as to what type of machine would have that kind of speed. ‘Is it a new model?’ He turned to face the direction the enemy was coming from and got a good look at the new machine. It was a light purple color with dark purple highlights on the shoulders, legs and arms. It carried no visible weaponry and had a face type similar to other A-Laws units and it possessed a pseudo solar reactor. The suit also had something attached to its leg that gave it additional speed, but as soon as the 00 got close enough, it was detached from the suit, revealing the rest of the legs. He opened fire on it with his two blasters, but the machine seemed to dodge all of it effortlessly. ‘What maneuverability! It must be a new model.’ Setsuna continued to fire on it, but suddenly the machine stopped and a red barrier, like what the Seravee could do, surrounded the machine. Setsuna’s eyes widened, “It has a GN field?” ‘Looks like I’ll have to deal with him in melee.’

The machine dissipated the field and opened fire on Setsuna with a blaster that was part of its left arm. The 00 managed to dodge all but one hit, which impacted the small shield on its left arm, creating a field of debris as it was destroyed. The new machine charged in, five beams coming out of projectors on one of its hands. Setsuna met the blade, but when he tried to hold it off for a few seconds, the other machine brought the five beams together, cutting through Setsuna’s hybrid blaster/blade weapon. Setsuna attempted to swing his other blade at him, but the purple machine dodged out of the way effortlessly. ‘This pilot is good.’ The machine charged him again and Setsuna prepared to dodge out of the way, but pink energy beams came blasting at the machine, forcing it to pull away. Setsuna heard Lyle’s voice come over communications in a worried tone, “Setsuna, you alright?” The Cheridum kept fire up on the new model and the Ptolemy joined in. The new machine found no opening, so it turned around and left the battlefield. Setsuna looked at the sight of the machine leaving with shock, “It ran away?” Internally, he was beginning to doubt if the 00 would be enough. ‘I need something more powerful if we are to face suits like that or Ali al Saachez’s suit.’ He then heard Sumeragi’s voice in his suit.

“All gundams, return back to the ship.”

He acknowledged the order and flew back to the Ptolemy. As he was reaching the hanger, Lyle’s face appeared on his display, “What was that all about?”

Setsuna thought for a second than replied, “They must be toying with us. Telling us they can attack us out here.”

Lyle let out a deep sigh, “Well if we have to face machines like that, we gotta get some upgrades. Wonder what this place out here has for us?”

“I wish I knew.”

Celestial Being Base

As the crew rode up in the elevator after docking with the base at Lagrange 3, a number of the group- which included Lyle, Allelujah, Setsuna and Saji- was surprised at having a base out here for five years. Lyle in particular was impressed that Celestial Being had been able to stay secret for so long from the government and even the A-Laws.

As the door slid open on the elevator, they saw the room in front of them. While mostly bare, shiny metal, it was impressively large and the room had a number of doors that led further into the base. In the middle of the room stood Ian and next to him was a light skinned woman in her early thirties with wavy blonde hair down below her shoulders, with a similar outfit to most of the crew, along with a pair of glasses. Her jacket color was a light pink and the color of her shirt was purple.

Behind the two of them stood another woman, younger than the other one, with somewhat messy purple hair going down below her shoulders, red eyes, with a red jacket and a shirt similar in design to the others that was blue.

Mileina immediately rushed towards the blonde woman, yelling excitedly, “Mom!” The blonde woman wrapped her in a quick hug and asked.

“How have you been, Mileina?” Mileina nodded happily. She released Mileina and looked crew of the Ptolemy, trying to put names to faces.

Allelujah looked at the scene curiously and commented to no one in particular, “She just said mom.” Setsuna replied evenly, “She did.” The group walked forward, Sumeragi and Feldt taking the lead.

As the group reached the middle of the room, Ian spoke up, “Oh right. For some of you this is the first time meeting her. This is my wife, Linda.”

Linda looked at the group with a kind smile, “Hi, I’m Linda Vashti. It’s nice to meet you all.”

Saji looked at Ian with surprise, “Wow, she’s young!” Allelujah added onto that with a smirk, “There ought to be a law.”

Ian scowled at Allelujah, “What is that supposed to mean?”

Sumeragi stepped forward, attempting to get the situation under control, though she was enjoying it a little, “Let’s put the joking aside for now.”

Ian spoke up again, still angry, “Why do you think this is a joke?”

Sumeragi responded urgently, unphased by his reaction, “How long to resupply Ptolemy and gundams?”

Ian was taken out of his anger, hearing the tone of her voice, “What happened out there?”

“The A-Laws are conducting reconnaissance in this area.”

Ian put a hand under his chin, realizing she was worried about their detection, “While I think our camouflage here is perfect, I understand your concern.” He was interrupted by a woman’s voice coming from behind him with an even tone.

“However, repair and resupply will take about five days.” All eyes in the room turned to this purple haired woman who had moved closer to the group. None of the crew recognized this woman.

Sumeragi responded, curious, “And who are you?”

Setsuna also responded, “I’ve never seen you before.”

The woman gave them a friendly smile, “It’s nice to meet you all. I was scouted when Celestial Being began operating again. My name is Anew Returner.”

Tieria spoke up next, “Who scouted you?” He was surprised they recruited after they started operating again.

Ian answered his question, voice full of energy, “Wang Liu Mei introduced her. Anew is simply amazing. She’s an expert in astrophysics, mobile suit engineering and regeneration treatments. She can navigate, cook, and to top it off she’s gorgeous! What do you think? She a keeper?” Anew rolled her eyes when Ian finished his speech but blushed slightly.

During Ian’s little speech, Feldt looked back at Setsuna, curious as to his reaction to her and an anxious look on her face. ‘Will he think she’s pretty? Will he like her more than me?’ As she watched Setsuna, she saw him turn his face towards her, an analytical look on his face. He then gave her a warm smile and they held their gazes for a second longer before she turned back to face forward, looking down at the ground as her cheeks burned with embarrassment and the butterflies in her stomach from Setsuna’s smile. ‘Was that jealousy? Oh. I think I really do like him. At least he only smiled at me.’ Setsuna looked at the back of her head, slightly confused and his smile dropped as he returned to look at Anew. ‘What was that about? And why is it only Feldt that brings out that reaction? Surely another attractive woman would bring out the same reaction.’ In the back of his mind, he was starting to put the pieces together, but something was holding it back. ‘Why her?’

Lyle, meanwhile, was also taking in the sight of this woman. She was attractive, smart, had a cute blush and, had probably no history with his brother? ‘All of a sudden Celestial Being was a little more appealing.’ Maybe he might have a shot with someone here, ‘Say what you will about it, it certainly has some attractive women.’ He made a mental note to get to know her better before they had to leave this place.

Anew casually responded to Ian’s complements, “I look forward to working with all of you.”

Linda coughed, bringing everyone’s attention to her, “We have two support units that we are ready to roll out for you guys, and we will need the 00 to test one of them. If you follow Anew, she will lead you to the test lab. Which one of you is leading the ship resupply?”

Feldt spoke up, the blushing having disappeared, though she was still a bit embarrassed, “I am.”

“While everyone else heads to the labs, I want to talk with you about the resupply. I’ll join the rest of you in a bit.” The group nodded and followed Anew and Ian, with Setsuna giving her a look over before joining the rest of them. As the crew, with the exception of Saji, Marie and Feldt, left through the hallways to head to the test lab, Linda looked at Feldt with a teasing look on her face, “What was that just then with Mr. Seiei?”

Feldt looked up, her face becoming red again, “What do you mean?” She tried to pretend she wasn’t hiding something, but her body language betrayed her.

Linda spoke kindly to her, “It’s alright Feldt. I was your age once. I know what a crush feels like. I don’t think I’ve heard of Mr. Seiei giving people smiles like that.”

Feldt’s shoulders slumped, defeated. This was one of the people who helped raise her when she was younger, someone she connected with. Of course she could see right through her. Looking the blonde woman in the eyes, Feldt said, “Yes, I like him. And I think I was feeling jealous with Anew there.”

Linda spoke in a teasing tone, “Well he certainly is handsome. If I was younger and single, you might have had competition.”

Feldt gave her a slight glare, “Mrs. Vashti! You’re married!”

Linda laughed, “Like I said, if I was younger and single. And besides, based on what just happened, I don’t think he has eyes for anyone but you. He didn’t give that look to Anew. What do you like about him?”

The pink-haired girl stood there for a second, then answered, “Well he’s handsome, brave, kind, supportive…”

“What do you mean by supportive?”

Feldt could feel the emotions for him being there for her rush in and could feel the happiness flooding her system, “I had an emotional moment and he let me cry into his shoulder. He even held me close. It felt so nice and at the time I didn’t want to let go.”

Linda could see her eyes light up and could hear the happiness radiating from her voice, “He sounds like a keeper.”

Confusion seeped into Feldt’s voice, “He is. I just don’t know what to do. I never have had an opportunity like this happen before. What do I do? What if he doesn’t like me like that?”

Linda gave her sympathetic smile, “It’s alright if you don’t know what to do. No one does. Just let your feelings guide you. My recommendation is after this test, talk to him and get to know him. You don’t need to tell him your full feelings if you don’t want to, though with our line of work it might be a sooner rather than later situation. Build a relationship. I’m certain he will return your feelings at one point.”

Feldt mulled over her suggestions and then gave her an appreciative smile, “Thank you Ms. Vashti. I’ll follow your advice. And on an unrelated note, here is our supply list.” She pulled out a flash drive and held it in front of the blonde woman.

Linda nodded at this, taking the drive and saying, “Thank you for the list. And whatever happens, I am rooting for you.” Feldt gave Linda a short hug and began to walk back to the elevator, looking back to see Linda heading to the door towards the lab. ‘I’ll tell him after the test. I won’t wait around, like with Neil.’

Testing Lab

The four pilots, Mileina, Ian, and Linda stood in a darkened control room, looking down onto a hanger from a viewing window. Anew was sat down, operating a console. In that hanger was two machines. One was a white jet like vehicle with blue highlights on the wings and chassis. The other machine was a red jet like vehicle with red wings and cockpit, with gray making up the rest of the center of the machine. Setsuna looked over the white machine, “So that is the 0 Raiser?”

Linda nodded, “This machine incorporates special functions that can help you control the twin drive system, and it amplifies the trans-am. It can function as just a support machine for the 00, but with a pilot it has a few special features.”

Setsuna looked at her curiously, “Like what?”

Linda responded, “It can unleash a large beam of energy, though that would heavily drain the energy supply of both the 00 and 0 Raiser. However, that system needs more testing before it can be used.” Setsuna nodded at that. ‘That feature sounds useful, but I wonder who would be willing to pilot that?’

Lyle spoke up, eyeing the red machine, “And that one?”

The blonde woman answered him, “That is a support unit for the Arios called the Gun Archer.”

Allelujah spoke quietly to himself, “The Gun Archer.”

Ian, seeing that enough time had been wasted and curious what the effect of the 0 Raiser would be, jumped in, “Let’s get to testing it Setsuna.”

Setsuna nodded at that, “Roger that.”

Entrance of Lagrange 3 base

Marie stood at one of the windows of the entrance, looking out onto the Ptolemy. Feldt had just passed by her heading down the elevator back to the ship and Marie had heard bits and pieces of her conversation with Linda. ‘I’m happy you realized your feelings, Feldt. I wish you luck.’ The other thing on her mind was the fact that there was such a large base out this far. She heard Soma’s voice in her head, “No wonder the government couldn’t find them. No one would have suspected some asteroids so far out to hide something this size.” Marie nodded in agreement, “It’s probably good we didn’t find it before, or we would never have gotten here.” She didn’t hear a reply so she focused her attention on the rest of the room, spotting Saji deep in thought resting against one of the pillars in the room. She approached him curiously, “Is there something wrong?”

Saji looked at her in surprise, her interruption having broken his train of thought, “I’m kind of at a loss for what to do. I made a mistake that got people killed. I have to make up for that, but I can’t bring myself to kill anyone. What do I do?”

Marie gave him a sympathetic smile, “It’s only natural that you can’t kill someone.”

Saji replied in a desperate voice, “But I have to help somehow! There must be something I can do!”

Marie thought for a second, then responded, “Even people on the frontline need support people. Engineers and people who operate systems on the bridge have an important role. Without them, people like the gundam meisters, wouldn’t be as effective.”

Saji clenched his fists, “It just feels like-“

“Talk to Ms. Sumeragi about what you can do. I’m sure she could give you something important to do, seeing the size of the crew. And you wouldn’t need to fight people.”

Saji reflected on her words for a second, frowning, “I’ll think about it. Thank you. I do have a question for you.”

Marie gave him a curious look, “Sure. What is it?”

“Do you intend to stay with Celestial Being?”

She gave him a thoughtful look, “Yes. As long as Allelujah is here, I am staying.”

He took a slight step forward, “Even if that means you might have to fight?”

The white-haired woman looked out the window, “I was a soldier once, so I’ve made my peace with that. Besides, I’ve made my choice. I’ll never leave Allelujah again.”

Saji gave her a sad smile, “I envy you. There’s someone that I feel the same way about. After all this is over, I hope she would be willing to take me back.” Marie walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. Saji let out a deep sigh then steeled his voice, “But until then, I’m here.”

“I’m certain the people here will appreciate whatever help you are willing to give.” Saji gave her a look of thanks and moved to the window, thoughts focused on Louise. ‘I hope you are safe.’

Innovator Base

Ali al Saachez had been looking around the base for around fifteen minutes or so, looking for an apparent rat in their base. Ribbons had been insistent that something was up so he had sent the red maned mercenary to look for this intruder. It felt beneath him to do such simple tasks, but he was getting paid, so he wouldn’t complain for now.

He entered one of the control rooms, casually scanning the area, spotting a woman sitting in front of one of the terminals. ‘And there we have the rat.’ He walked casually up to her, not trying to hide his presence. The yellow eyed, red-haired woman, who had on a purple and white space suit, had seemingly heard him and rapidly got out of her seat and turned to face him, a shocked expression on her face. ‘Do I know her? Must have done something to get that reaction.’

Nena spoke with anger at him, “It’s you! You’re the one who…the one who killed my brothers!”

Ali smiled at that. ‘Ah, she was one of those throne pilots.’ With an exaggeratedly excited tone, he responded, “Get out of here! I thought I recognized you. You were that little girl. Now what is someone like you doing back here? Following your mistress’s orders?”

Nena glared at him, a fire in her eyes, “And why should I tell you?”

The red-haired man kept a friendly tone, “Because I could report you now and have them see what you were doing, or you could tell me and I may let you go.”

Nena weighed her options. If she got caught now, her plans would be ruined. And realistically, she couldn’t take on the mercenary at this point. ‘Some honesty it is then.’  She kept her glare at him for a few more seconds, then she sighed, anger still flowing through her, “I’m just digging for some information on the world’s situation. And not on my mistress’s orders.” Those last words came out like she was spitting poison.

Ali could instantly tell that she was covering up her true intentions, but she wasn’t half bad at lying. He could also hear the contempt in her voice about her mistress. ‘Another person who doesn’t like their master, huh? Well, I’ll let her go for now. She might provide some entertainment later.’ He pretended to think for a few more seconds to have her sweat a little, then he casually waved one of his hands in the air, “See, was that so hard? If it was just info like that then you seem to be doing nothing wrong. Just finish gathering whatever you wanted to gather. I recommend you find somewhere less suspicious to be. My client is a rather paranoid man.”

Nena felt relief. ‘He had fallen for it’ Keeping a façade of anger continuing, she replied, “Once I’m done I’ll be out of here. Only needed a minute or two anyway.”

He gave her a deceptive smile, “Good. Wouldn’t want to have to hurt a woman like you. Have fun. I’m going to keep searching for this rat my boss is looking for. Hope to talk to you again!” He walked out of the room casually, a smirk crossing his features. ‘What can a little chaos hurt? I can’t wait to see how this plays out.’

Nena watched as the mercenary floated away out of the room. Her anger spiked. ‘They will all pay. The ones who killed my brothers, who use me a tool. And Celestial Being will be a tool of my vengeance.’

Test Chamber of Lagrange 3 Base

Setsuna sat in the 00, the 0 Raiser attached to his machine. He could feel the increased power coming from it, but in this environment, he couldn’t know what it would feel like in combat. “Hopefully I get to test it soon.’ He could hear the tech people talking about things going on in the control room through communications, but he tuned them out. He was just waiting to hear the signal to start the test. If this worked, then he could use trans-am without any issues. ‘If I had had it before, I could have eliminated some of those suits, like Ali al Saachez’s or Graham’s suit.’ With this machine, he could help create a better, more just world. His musings were broken by Ian talking to him, “Alright Setsuna, we are going to test the 0 Raiser’s control system. Activate the trans-am.”

Setsuna replied evenly, “Roger that.” He waited as they counted down to one and then he activated the trans-am. The 00 began to glow bright red and GN particles began to come off the machine and spread throughout the room, expanding more and more. Setsuna could feel the machine humming and vibrating with power. ‘Is this the true power of the 00?’ As the power bar began to rise and go above 300%, he started feeling strange. He could almost sense emotion around him. None of it was clear and it all blended together, but it was there. ‘Why am I feeling that sensation? What is the twin drive system? Is this it’s true power?’ As Setsuna pondered about what was going on, the particles began to spread around the base. With most people, it was a strange calming effect, but others reacted more strongly.

As Marie stood near the window once again, she suddenly felt a large rush of quantum waves hit her brain, giving her and Soma a vision. Both of them could see a beam from the sky hit the ground, then a large wave of sand and debris rushing towards a large military carrier that both of them realized was the one Sergei was in. Marie was too confused to fight Soma as she took control. Soma ran to the glass, yelling in anguish, “Get away from there Colonel! Run!” Saji looked at her in confusion. ‘What was going on? Why is she yelling about some Colonel?’

As Tieria was showering, he felt that same wave hit him. He leaned against the wall of the shower, one hand on the wall while the other was holding his head. ‘What is this sensation? It feels like connecting to Veda or when Regene talked to me in my mind, but how? Who has access to quantum brainwaves? Unfortunately for him, the feeling was overwhelming, however it was not malicious. It felt familiar, but he couldn’t place it.

Sitting at her console, Anew saw a vision appear in her mind. In front of her she could see a group of shadowy individuals, but one stood out among the group. All she could make out was green hair and purple eyes. She felt a current of fear as she looked up to this individual, but at the same time a sense of belonging, of familiarity. As she felt the vision fading, she could see that same being with green hair give her a malicious smile as she came back to reality, confused as to what that meant.

As Allelujah scanned around the Gun Archer, taking it in, he felt a rush of quantum waves hit him, causing him to grab his head in pain. Inside his mind, Hallelujah felt that same rush and absorbing the energy, rushing forward into reality. Allelujah felt felt a familiar presence in his mind. ‘Hallelujah?’ Instead of hearing nothing, he got a response, “It’s good to be back!” Allelujah physically stumbled for a second. ‘What just happened?’ He got an annoyed response, “Could you quiet your thoughts? It feels like I have a hangover.” Allelujah realized he wasn’t imagining it. He was back.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Hanger in Lagrange 3 Base

Allelujah made his way to an empty breakroom, realizing this conversation would be better done in private. He asked Hallelujah, “How are you back? I thought you were dead!”

Allelujah could feel Hallelujah rolling his eyes, “When that bitch of a soldier hit the cockpit, she must have put me in some kind of coma. It probably would be hard to kill a mind as tough as me. In any case, I felt a surge of quantum waves hit me all of a sudden, waking me up.”

Allelujah smiled at that, “Hey, don’t talk about her like that!”

Hallelujah responded snappily, “Well look who grew a spine! Cut me a break, I was in a coma for five years. It feels like I have a splitting headache right now.”

Allelujah ignored the insult, “How do you feel besides that?”

“Despite being happy to be awake, I feel weak. The coma must have done a number on my skills and reflexes. My quantum brianwaves are a bit on the weaker side, though still better than your level of them.”

Allelujah just rolled his eyes at the insult. He hadn’t realized how much he missed the crazy other voice in his head. Despite Hallelujah’s rough edges, he really did care. He asked curiously, “So does that mean you won’t be able to help much in battle?”

In an annoyed and frustrated tone, Hallelujah answered him, “You hit the target in one. I will get better as time passes or if I get hit with another large waves of particles like just now, but for now all I can do is let you have access to slightly more brainwaves, enough to actually actively use them.”

Allelujah responded like Hallelujah had two heads, “You are going to let me use some of them? That seems unlike you.”

Hallelujah huffed, “Do you want them or not? I think we have moved beyond our old relationship. I took a bullet for you, which I regret a little since it put me in a damn coma. I understand you want to survive as much as me, so I have no problem with letting you use them.

Allelujah shrugged his shoulders, “I guess I do. It’s nice to see you didn’t forget about that bit after you got shot. I will say it is nice to have you back.”

Hallelujah bristled a little, “Don’t get mushy on me. It’s mainly for survival. I want to survive, so you have to survive. But I did miss being back, though the coma was sort of a long nap, which was nice in its own way. But now that I’m back, tell me what’s happened. I’m a bit out of the loop.”

Allelujah spent the next couple minutes going over the events preceding and after his rescue, and he noticed Hallelujah seemed particularly interested in the events surrounding Marie and Soma. After he finished, Hallelujah said with gruff tone, “I see you got your girl then. If you ever use your brainwaves to connect with hers, leave me out of it. I don’t need any of that mushy shit.”

Allelujah laughed at that, not sure he even knows how to. His voice became more serious, “By the way, I don’t begrudge you holding that info from me about knowing it was Marie. If I did, I wouldn’t have fought as well against her.”

Hallelujah gave a dry laugh, “Thank you for acknowledging that. I wasn’t always the bad guy last time.”

“Just most of the time.”

“I usually had a reason. I didn’t tell you back then because we didn’t exactly get along.”

Allelujah nodded at that, “But now we can work together better?”

Hallelujah spoke in a fake sounding conciliatory tone, “Now that I know you want to survive, I don’t need to intercede on your behalf. I’m fine in my little corner of your mind for the time being, especially in the state I’m currently in. I do have one request.”

“And that is?”

Allelujah could hear the sadistic tone in Hallelujah’s voice, “I want to have a word with the soldier girl.”

Allelujah crossed his arms, “No violence. She’s still a part of my girlfriend.”

Hallelujah mentally rolled his eyes, “I know not to hurt her. I’m not an idiot. I just want to have a chat with the woman who put me in a coma. That’s all.”

Allelujah thought for a second, and replied evenly, “Ok. But the second I feel you have any violent intentions, I’m taking control again.”

“Fine, fine. Now let’s get out of this room. I want to see a little.”

Allelujah smiled at that comment. Despite his many negative qualities, Hallelujah wasn’t a completely awful person, just an acquired taste outside of the battlefield. But with him back, he could fight better, and he felt complete. Marie would definitely be interested in hearing about this. Also, they should probably find a quiet room for the two to argue.

Ptolemy Medical Bay

Sumeragi stood worriedly watching Lasse looking at the result of the medical scan. She had recently read Lasse’s previous medical reports and the results were something that she wasn’t comfortable with. ‘How can he be willing to keep going despite what the GN particles are doing to him?’ Knowing she had to say something, she spoke to Lasse through the glass, “I looked at your medical info. If you keep pushing yourself like this-“

Lasse looked away from the results, a small smile on his face, “I have no intention of leaving the ship now. Let’s just take it one day at a time.”

A look of worry was etched into Sumeragi’s face, “But-“

She was then interrupted by Feldt’s face appearing on the glass in front of her. Feldt spoke succinctly, “Ms. Sumeragi, our observation system detected an abnormal heat signature on earth.”

Sumeragi asked curiously, “Are you sure about that?”

“Please come to the bridge immediately. It will be easier to show you.”

“I’ll be right there.” Sumeragi looked at Lasse, who nodded. They both made their way to the bridge, where eventually the crew, along with Anew, was gathered. Feldt, in her regular seat, projected what looked like a giant hole on the earth for everyone to see. The crew looked at it curiously, wondering what was up with it. Sumeragi focused on it and realized what it was. With some surprise in her voice, she said, “This was caused by a satellite weapon.”

Feldt spoke up in response, “It was probably a device that used a solar power system, but we still don’t have much information about it.”

Lasse looked up at Feldt, “What was the target?”

“The capital of Suille.”

Setsuna looked grimly at the image which was most likely a major settlement of the country, “Not Suille.” ‘Hasn’t the middle east gone through enough?’  

A thought came to Tieria. ‘Was this the A-Laws? Or was this Ribbons?’ He knew he had been sitting on this information for a while, doing nothing with it. ‘Should I share this with the crew?’ Balling up his fists, he knew the answer. He looked again at the destruction the innovators were willing to cause and knew he shouldn’t keep it a secret anymore.  ‘They need to know.’

Allelujah gave Sumeragi a serious look. She sighed, getting the message, and she spoke with conviction, “Ok. As soon as repairs and resupply are done, the Ptolemy will head out and destroy the Federation’s satellite weapon!”

Tieria spoke up desperately as she finished her sentence, “Wait a moment!” Everyone looked at Tieria, confused by his outburst. He continued in a more even tone, “Before we go, there is something you should know. The Federation is being manipulated by a secret group that wants to control the whole world.”

Ian looked at him with confusion, “Secret group wanting to control the world?”

Lyle jumped in, his voice having a hard edge, “And how did you happen to come across this information?”

Tieria looked at the Irishman in the eyes, “Because I met them.” Tieria then told the group what happened at the party and his meeting with ribbons. He felt relieved to get this information off his chest. It had been weighing him down for the past week or so since he learned about it. Setsuna looked at Tieria, realizing this was what he didn’t answer when he asked about what he found after the party.

The first one to speak up was Setsuna, who was processing the information for himself, “Living terminals for Veda?”

Lyle spoke up next, “So these are the bastards controlling the A-Laws then?”

Ian added to both of those points, “And these people have control over Veda.”

Allelujah, realizing the full implications of this, interjected, “So that means five years ago when we started our armed interventions, they were interfering?”

Sumeragi looked down in contemplation, “They must have been behind team trinity and the UN getting the Pseudo-GN drives.”

Lasse spoke bluntly, “You know what this means. These guys went and changed Aeolia’s plan.”

Feldt came to her own realization at that, her voice a bit empty, “And because of them, Lockon, Chris and the others…”

Lyle gave Tieria a hard look, “Why wait until now to tell us something so important?”

Tieria gave him a look of slight regret, “They said they were the ones continuing Aeolia’s plan. If that’s true, then there is a chance that we are the ones going against the plan.”

Allelujah spoke up with resolve, “How can that be? How can real peace be achieved by killing thousands of innocent people?”

Setsuna’s low tones caught everyone’s attention, “The innovators changed the world for their own desires and are using the A-Laws as their tool to secure their vision of the future. We will eliminate them both, for the good of humanity.” The crew looked at Setsuna with appreciation, his presence bolstering their confidence. However, Feldt looked at him with wide, worried eyes. ‘Please don’t risk yourself so much.’ 

The majority of the crew, with the exception of Feldt, Sumeragi and Tieria all voiced their approval of Setsuna’s idea. Sumeragi looked contemplatively at him while Feldt continued to look on him worried. Tieria spoke up, desperation in his voice, “Wait, everyone! I’m-“

He was interrupted by Sumeragi putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a smile, “I know what you are trying to say, but what’s important is destroying the satellite weapon.” He looked at her warmly and she continued, “No matter what, you are one of us.” She looked to everyone else, “We leave as soon as repairs and resupply is done, so enjoy what free time you have here. We will be busy after we leave.”

The crew nodded to her, dispersing throughout the ship and station. As Setsuna was about to leave, he heard Feldt call out to him in a quiet voice, “Hey Setsuna...” ‘This is my chance.’ She could feel her nerves beginning to give out.

He turned to face her, and he asked with a concerned voice, “Is there something wrong?” Setsuna could see her looking down at her keyboard, avoiding looking at him.

Feldt’s nerves frayed, and her words died on her tongue, along with her confidence. ‘What if he doesn’t like me? What if I mess it up? What if he doesn’t answer me?’ After a second, she just said, “Good luck out there.”

He gave her a warm smile, filling her with happiness as well as more nervousness, “Thank you. I’ll talk to you another time.” She watched him leave the bridge, feeling despondent. ‘Why can’t I say it? Why can’t I tell him how I feel?’ What she didn’t notice was Sumeragi give her a curious look at that interaction. ‘What is happening with those two?’

Allelujah’s Room

As Allelujah led Marie to his room, she could detect something was odd with him. Not bad necessarily, but something was definitely different. When she first saw him on the bridge, he seemed happier somehow, like he had found something he was looking for. Allelujah had told her he wanted to talk with her about something, but it would be best in private. ‘What would he need to talk about in private?’

As they entered the room and the door closed behind her, she felt a brainwave of affection from Allelujah in her mind. ‘Since when could he do that?’ She stared at him in shock for several seconds, before asking, “When did you gain the ability to do that? I thought that you couldn’t access your brainwaves without…” She tapered off, realizing what had happened.

Allelujah gave her a happy smile, “After that strange wave of particles hit me, it woke up Hallelujah from what basically was a coma he was in. I had assumed he was dead but was pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t.”

Marie clasped her hands together in happiness, “That’s great! And it seems that you can use your brainwaves again. I assume Hallelujah has something to do with that?” Allelujah gave her a nod. She looked at him curiously, “Do you know what happened at the base when that happened? When I was looking at the Ptolemy, both Soma and I got a vision of some kind of laser hitting the ground and a large dust and debris storm from that hitting the Colonel’s ship. Contextually we know what happened now, but how could I and Soma have seen that? It’s very far away.”

“Based on what Hallelujah told me, it was a concentrated wave of quantum particles. Based on this waking him up, I don’t think we’ve seen that sort of concentrated wave like that before. My only guess is it came from Setsuna’s test.”

She nodded at, “That makes sense. Whatever you guys were testing, it must have been powerful to release that many particles. I never heard of that in all my time back on earth.” She sent her love with brainwaves to Allelujah, testing this new ability. She quickly received the same thing back, causing her to blush. ‘I didn’t realize how nice that this would be.’ She wrapped her arms around him, just wanting to sit in the comfortable silence, soaking in her own happiness that she can just be here with him. Allelujah wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer.

After a little bit of time had passed, Marie heard Soma’s voice speak to her impatiently, “Remember what you promised me?”

Marie internally sighed. Of course she remembered. ‘Did she have to ruin the moment?’ She looked up at Allelujah, “I promised Soma that if you ever got Hallelujah back, that I would let her talk to him. Do you mind?”

Allelujah chuckled, Marie feeling the vibrations as he did so, “Hallelujah asked the same of me with Soma. It’s funny both of them wanted to talk to each other. He agreed to play fair and not try to kill her. Is Soma the same?”

Marie felt a great deal of annoyance and frustration, but got a begrudging, “Yes.” Marie nodded up at Allelujah. He gave a heavy sigh.

The two of them broke their embrace reluctantly and stood apart from each other, preparing for the headache of an argument that was about to happen. They signaled to their other halves and felt as Soma and Hallelujah took control. Soma was the first to start talking. Her tone was angry and spiteful, “How dare you come back subject E57! You killed so many of my comrades!”

Hallelujah looked unphased by that, “Is this really what you are going to go on about? You killed my friend this or you killed my comrades that? I don’t regret surviving, especially after they wanted to capture us.”

Soma felt anger pulse in her system and gave him a death glare, “If I hadn’t promised Marie I wouldn’t kill her boyfriend, I would have killed you already. How could you have been so sadistic towards those people? What did you gain?”

Hallelujah gave her a smirk, enjoying the sight of her intense glare, “They fought in battle and lost. I don’t have to care what happens to them really, though the one guy who held us off after you escaped during the mission where you almost captured me was the only target of my anger at the time, so…”

Soma stepped up to him and grabbed him by the collar, “His name was Lieutenant Ming! He died saving us. Don’t you dare insult his memory!” Hallelujah seemed unafraid of the white-haired soldier attempting to threaten him.

A retort began to form but was quickly stopped when he felt Allelujah send him a stern warning. ‘Fine, I’ll play nice.’ He sighed and replied, “Calm down woman! I have been warned to play nice, so I’ll stop.” Soma blinked, surprised as she let go of her hold on his shirt collar. ‘Him being agreeable? This has to be a trick.’ Hallelujah continued, his voice containing some form sincerity, “You don’t like me and I don’t like you. We probably won’t ever like each other, but unfortunately the bodies we are in are tied together romantically, so we will have to tolerate each other. How about we agree to let bygones be bygones and just let the other two be happy?”

Soma thought for a second before nodding, “I can begrudgingly work under that, but if you ever hurt the Colonel, I will kill you again.”

Hallelujah rolled his eyes, “I still don’t understand your attachment to that man, but that’s fine. It’s not like Allelujah would agree to kill him anyway. I also don’t want to get shot by you again.”

Both of them faded back into their hosts head, allowing Marie and Allelujah to take back over. Marie spoke up first, “That went better than I expected. I thought Hallelujah would be more aggressive.”

Hallelujah shook his head as he chuckled, “He’s calmed down a bit since we managed to come to an agreement. He knows how much you mean to me.”

Marie grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers. Both of them were complete and with a tentative peace between the other two personalities, they were both free of worry. She pulled him into a deep kiss and after it broke, she said in a coy tone, “We have some time to burn.”

Allelujah gave her a smirk and pulled her into another kiss, dragging her onto the bed. No more words were spoken for a while between them.

The Ptolemy

After exploring the base a little, Lyle had found his way back to the Ptolemy, looking for Anew. Unfortunately, he had not had time to get to talk to her since his arrival and after that space laser, he might not have a lot of time. He knew she was on the ship somewhere overseeing the transfer of gear, but where was the question. He eventually found her in the hanger control center. He entered casually, seeing her typing at a console. He floated up next to her, asking, “It looked like both my machine and Tieria’s have had system upgrades.”

Anew, focusing on the transferring of the Gun Archer and 0 Raiser into the Ptolemy, replied evenly, “Mrs. Vashti has put a lot of trust in you guys. We are expecting good results.”

Lyle could see the 0 Raiser being moved over and with a curious voice, asked, “So is the 0 Raiser ready to go?”

“Not just yet. It is being transferred to the Ptolemaios, so it can be adjusted to the 00’s trans-am.”

Lyle looked down at the ground, smile coming to his face. In a playful voice, he asked, “I guess this is goodbye? I would have liked to spend more time with you.”

He looked back up and was surprised to see her turn to face him, her giving him a smirk, “This isn’t goodbye.” His surprised look continued. Anew continued, “I’m going to be joining the crew of the Ptolemy thanks to Mr. Vashti’s recommendation.”

Lyle grinned at that, “Well that’s good to hear.” ‘I could kiss you right now Ian!’

Anew returned the smile, “And it will be good to get to know you and the rest of the crew more.”

He could see a gleam in her eye as she said you. ‘So, she was flirting back? Maybe I do have a chance.’ He happily responded, “I’m certain most of the crew would love another person along with us. Do you need any help here?”

She shook her head at that, “The transfer process is almost done. After this I am headed to the bridge.” She watched as the 0 Raiser was finally fully transferred over when she suddenly felt something pass through her head. Red eyes flashed in her mind for second before disappearing.

Lyle noticed Anew was staring blankly into the hanger. Lyle called out confused, “Anew?” He then saw her shake her head and regain her faculties. Lyle asked, “Shouldn’t you be making your way to the bridge? Is something wrong?”

Despite being caught by surprise by what just happened, she replied in a slightly shaken voice, “No, nothing’s wrong.”

Lyle looked at her sympathetically, knowing the feeling of taking a new role with a new group of people, “You nervous about this?”

With a warm smile, she responded, “A little, but I can fake it.” She blushed slightly, hearing the sympathy in Lyle’s voice and Lyle’s heart raced a little seeing her smile.

Lyle headed to the door, “Let’s get going.” Anew nodded and followed him out of the room, headed to the bridge.

Hallways of the Ptolemy

A few hours into the wait, Setsuna anxiously wandered the halls. He had never enjoyed the calm before the storm. Too many things to think about and worry about. Too many potential things that can happen. As he was focused on his thoughts, he accidentally bumped into Saji, who had been floating the hallway just waiting for the inevitable battle. Saji turned to face Setsuna, a contemplative look on his face, “Sorry Setsuna, I didn’t realize I was in the way.”

Setsuna waved that off, “It’s not your fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

Saji looked down at the ground, then back up at Setsuna, a determined look on his face, “Setsuna, I’ve decided to stay onboard the Ptolemy.”

Setsuna looked at him, tilting his head slightly in curiosity, “You are certain of that?”

Saji nodded, “I’m not sure how exactly, but there has to be something I can do to help that isn’t fighting.”

Setsuna could respect that. He fought so other people didn’t have to. ‘It’s what I do, what I only need to do.’ Yet that previously consistent thought of his had been shaken up by recent interactions with a certain pink-haired crew member. ‘No, there is a battle coming up. I have to focus on that.’  

Setsuna was certain Saji would be given something to do by Sumeragi. But all thoughts about that were disrupted by the sound of explosions and rocking of the base. Both Saji and Setsuna looked around in confusion. In a confused state, Saji asked, “Wh-What is that?”

Setsuna replied more firmly, but still confused, “An attack?” He looked at Saji and in a commanding tone, said, “Saji, we need to suit up. You should head to the bridge.” Saji nodded and headed to the bridge, with Setsuna heading to the hanger to suit up and get in the 00. ‘I hope the 0 Raiser is ready.’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Feldt looked at the scanners, gathering info on the situation. What she saw was not good. She called out to Sumeragi, “We are under attack from three sides!”

Sumergai looked contemplative as she looked out the windows of the bridge, “We were one step too slow.” ‘This must be led by Kati. This battle isn’t going to be easy.’

Lasse asked curiously, “What is the enemy strength?”

Feldt looked through her sensors, but she couldn’t find anything. She had a gut feeling it was significant though. She reported, “Unknown. I can’t see much out there.”

Sumeragi spoke up as the rest of the bridge crew, including Saji and Marie, arrived, “Everyone, helmets on! Anew, take the helm.” Anew responded affirmatively to that order.

Lasse sighed in relief, “Thank you Anew. Now I can focus on firing.”

While that happened, Feldt looked at the Saji and Marie and told them, “Take the auxiliary seats and hold on tight.”

Sumeragi looked at Feldt, “Are the pilots in position in the hanger?”

“Yes ma’am!”

“Then send out the order to cancel the resupply and have the Ptolemy emergency launch. We’ll draw the enemy attention towards us.”

The crew complied with her orders and the ship rapidly detached from the anchor arms, putting GN field to maximum as the backed out of the base. The gundams launched from the ship, heading out to engage the enemy and protect the ship as it emerged. As the ship exited the exploding asteroid, Sumeragi sent out an order, “Allelujah, escort the shuttles to safety.”

Allelujah sent a roger in response and in his mind he heard Hallelujah, “My first time in combat again and we have to escort civilians? I wanted some excitement!”

Allelujah replied to him evenly, “Those people need to be protected. And besides, you aren’t much help at this point.”

“You didn’t need to say it so bluntly. But fine. I want the blood of my enemies soon though.”

Allelujah rolled his eyes, “Don’t worry. We’ll have plenty of fights after this.” The Arios, with the Gun Archer attached on top, headed towards the transports, hoping the three other gundams would be enough for now.

With the 00

Setsuna flew towards the enemy worried. ‘The 0 Raiser needs more time.’ His experience had shown him that the Ahead with the right pilot could be a challenge. ‘I need the 0 Raiser.’ As he and the rest headed into a group of asteroids, he suddenly saw movement nearby as mobile suits ripped off large cloaks, revealing twelve A-Laws mobile suits. ‘They must have cloaked their heat sources.’ Setsuna heard Sumeragi order, “Setsuna, intercept them!”

He complied with the order, dashing towards the enemy, taking out a GN-X with a few blasts, leaving an explosion in his wake. He was quickly met by one of the Aheads, who clashed its beam saber with his blade holding him in place. The enemy then pulled back for after a few seconds. ‘Why is it pulling back?’ His question was answered a few seconds later when a large electric shock came travelling through his suit, leaving him in immense pain. ‘Go-got to fight it.’ He saw the formation fly past him, being unable to engage them. He saw a device generating the electricity. ‘Ha-have to de-destroy that.’

After a minute or so, Setsuna was able to gather the strength to move enough to slice through the device that was generating the electricity. He could still feel some of the aftershock of the device, but he was now able to move. He looked towards the Ptolemy, which was far in the distance, but was interrupted by the sight of two Aheads, one normal piloted by Zinin and the custom Ahead piloted by Andrei. ‘Reinforcements?’ The normal one charged him, keeping him engaged in melee and the other provided fire support. ‘Wait, I know this form. This is the same pilot as the one at Proud.’ This fight would not be easy, knowing this was the same pilot who could fight him and Tieria fairly evenly. The 00 managed to push back the enemy suit and began to charge the other Ahead but was forcibly engaged by the melee suit. ‘I need to clear out the other suit to have a chance.’ Unfortunately, the pattern seemed to repeat every time he tried. ‘I need the 0 Raiser. I can’t keep up this fight long, especially with so many enemies attacking the Ptolemy.’

With the Seravee

Tieria noticed that despite the 00 being sent to engage the enemy, the formation continued to move towards the ship. ‘I hope you are ok Setsuna.’ Hearing the order to engage the enemy, he opened fire with his shoulder mounted cannons, unleashing a large pink blast headed towards the center of the formation. However, as the blast would have hit an asteroid, said asteroid disintegrated in front of Tieria’s eyes, revealing the mobile suit that Setsuna fought right before they had arrived at the base. The suit then deflected blast away from the A-Laws formation using its shoulder, leaving them and the rest of the formation unharmed. Tieria looked at the sight in shock. ‘How could it deflect an attack of that power? That’s impossible!’

He didn’t have much time to react as the machine charged him at a rapid pace, extending the beams out of its hand. He only had time to send out one blast before the machine was on him, knocking him back. He realized Lyle would be forced to engage the main enemy formation on his own. ‘I’m sorry everyone, this suit needs my full attention.’ Just as he was pulling out his beam saber to engage the purple suit in melee, he saw a large orange beam of energy heading towards the ship, hitting the starboard side, leaving a massive hole as it pierced through the GN field. ‘What type of firepower is that to go through a GN field?

He didn’t have much time to worry about the ship, however. The suit he was facing pulled back, preparing to charge him again, giving Tieria some distance to work with. He tried with no luck to hit the machine as it charged him, he was forced to drop his blasters as the machine grappled him, both of their suits grabbing each other’s hands. Tieria spoke to the enemy pilot, “Trying to overpower the Seravee?” Tieria was certain he could win in a battle of strength.

However, as he tried to crush the hands of the purple suit, he felt the Seravee being overpowered, its hands sending out sparks as they were slowly being crushed by the grip of the enemy. ‘What strength does this machine have? It must be one of them!’ He began to get moved back. As a last ditch move, Tieria fired the two retractable cannons, as they rose from his back, over at the innovator suit, hoping to drive it away. The machine dropped their grip and retreated, moving to where the 00 was. Tieria gave a sigh of relief. ‘Of course the innovators are out on the battlefield. I hope Setsuna can handle that suit.’ He moved back closer to the ship to assist Lyle in holding off the bulk of the forces.

On the Bridge

Reeling from the shock, Feldt looked at the damage report. She called out to Sumeragi, “Hanger 3 took a direct hit!”

Mileina called out in horror, “My dad!” She could feel tears beginning to form.

Feldt continued, fear in her voice, “Unable to make contact with hanger 3! Unable to bring up visual!”

In a commanding tone, Sumeragi tried to control the situation, turning to face Feldt, “Feldt, Saji. I need you to go check on Ian in hanger 3.”

Feldt called out, “But what about my station?” She was worried about Ian, but who could fill her role at this moment?

Sumeragi turned to face Marie, “Can you operate the sensors, Marie?” Marie nodded in confirmation. Sumeragi turned to face Feldt again, “You might need two people to get Ian to medical. I’m sending you because I fully trust you.”

Feldt nodded at that, and her seat lowered to the ground, Marie standing ready to get on it. She got out, helping Marie in. She looked at Saji, who had red haro in his arms, and the two made their way to the hanger, to assess the extent of the damage. When they reached the hanger, the found the hallway leading up to it was charred and blackened slightly and the door didn’t work. The two of them shoved the door open and when they entered the room, haro floating behind them, it was a mess. There was a massive hole where the blast had hit and the metal in the room was melted and warped. Feldt gasped as she saw Ian’s body floating in the middle of the room. The two moved towards him, trying to check on his condition. They saw he looked mostly unharmed physicially and there were no obvious holes in his suit, but they had no way to tell the full extent of his damage at this moment. When they reached him, Saji said to him desperately, “Mr. Ian, are you ok?”

Ian opened his eyes painfully, looking at the Japanese man and the pink-haired girl. He grunted with shallow breath, “I finished all of the adjustments to the 0 Raiser.”

Feldt asked, “The 0 Raiser?” She and Saji looked over to see it looked completely undamaged, which surprised both of them.

Ian looked at both of them, “One of you take it to the 00.” Ian’s eyes closed as he began to breath steady, shallow breaths.

Saji looked at Feldt, and in a serious tone, stated, “You take it. I’ll get Ian to medical.”

Feldt looked at him in surprise, “But I’m-”

He looked her right in the eyes, “I owe Mr. Ian for helping find something to do on this ship. I will take him to medical.”

Feldt’s thoughts were a rush. On one hand, she belonged on the bridge and had done that her entire career. It was comfortable to her. On the other hand, her parent’s path as pilots called out to her. ‘What do I do?’

Saji could see her hesitating. He knew they didn’t have time for hesitation, “Setsuna needs this machine. I don’t know if we can win if he doesn’t get it. We will probably die if we can’t win now.”

Hearing a reminder of the stakes brought it all into perspective for her. ‘The crew needs this. Setsuna needs this.’ She looked at Saji still a bit conflicted but convinced, her voice stuttering slightly, “I-I don’t know how to pilot.” Saji pointed to red haro, floating happily, seemingly oblivious to the destruction.

“Take red haro. I’m pretty sure they can do basic piloting.” Feldt nodded at Saji’s words. She knew in a pinch the machines could act as pilots, though they couldn’t match the skills of a human one. She grabbed the haro.

Steeling her nerves, she floated towards the 0 Raiser. She looked over at Saji, who was beginning to take Ian out of the hanger. He gave her a thumbs up. As she entered the cockpit, she put red haro in the round slot and watched at the displays turned on as the 0 Raiser powered up. Internally, she reassured herself ‘You can do this. My parents were pilots and I can follow in their footsteps. I can handle this.’ While she tried to calm down, she could still feel her hands shaking from her nervousness. She opened up communications with the bridge, “This is Feldt. I’m taking the Raiser to the 00.”

Sumeragi looked at her in shock, “Why are you-”

“Ian told us one of us needed to get this to Setsuna and Saji is taking him to medical. Haro is here to help me.”

Sumeragi thought for a second and then responded, “Tieria and Lockon will cover you. Make sure you get to the 00 safely.” Feldt could hear the slight fear in her voice at potentially losing another crew member. Before communications closed, Sumeragi said one last thing, “Good luck.” She blasted out of the hanger, heading towards the 00, already feeling the protection of the ship being stripped away from her. She was entering an unknown world to her, she knew what needed to be done. And as she blasted past the A-Laws suits, being covered by Lyle and Tieria, the shaking of her hands reduced somewhat, though her nerves were still a bit frayed.

With the 00

Andrei and Zinin were handily keeping the 00 busy. Setsuna was getting frustrated with their efforts at keep him at bay. ‘I need to get back to the Ptolemy! If only I had the 0 Raiser!’ Suddenly Setsuna saw a friendly signal on his radar marking it as the 0 Raiser. ‘Finally!’

As the machine approached the battle between the three mobile suits, Andrei called out to Zinin, “Captain! Unknown enemy!”

Zinin thought about the situation, and then in a commanding voice said, “Go deal with this new enemy. I’ll handle the double powered one.” Andrei opened up fire on the 0 Raiser, which managed to dodge out of the way with erratic maneuvers.

Inside the cockpit, Feldt was beginning to feel fear creep in. She had no one to cover for her and Setsuna was busy. She tried to calm herself down as her heart was racing and her adrenaline was pumping. A blast passed close by the cockpit, causing her to jump. ‘Stay calm. Setsuna will keep me safe. Just hold on.’ Setsuna saw the plight of the 0 Raiser and kicked Zanin away, rushing towards the 0 Raiser to dock with it. He was interrupted by Andrei attempting to bar his way, but the raven-haired pilot threw his ignited beam saber at him, hoping to catch the Ahead by surprise. Andrei dodged out of the way and Setsuna closed the distance to the Raiser, activating docking mode.

In the 0 Raiser, Feldt heard red haro yell out, “0 Raiser, docking mode! 0 Raiser, docking mode!” She could feel the ship come to a halt and then a sound of the two machines attaching. ‘Thank you Setsuna.’ Setsuna could feel the power flowing through the machine. This was the 00 Raiser. It felt complete. He could do this now. He could win.

He opened up communications to the 0 Raiser, curious as to who was piloting. He was shocked to see Feldt sitting in the pilot seat. ‘What is she doing here? It’s dangerous!’ She gave him a relieved smile, her heart rate decreasing and her sense of safety was more secure. She shakily spoke first, gratitude in her voice, “Thank you. I don’t know how much longer I could have dodged all that.”

‘I’ll ask her later.’ He also spoke with gratitude, “Good job getting this out here. Now hold on, it might get rough.”

She blushed slightly and began asking, “What do you mean-” Her words died when Setsuna rushed forward and she felt the G forces pushing on her, forcing her back into her seat. She grunted in pain as he pushed the machine to its limit, Feldt barely noticing the system fully integrating as he sped up. ‘Just let Setsuna do all the work now. He knows what to do.’ She gritted her teeth, preparing for other intense maneuvers.

Setsuna rushed past the two enemy mobile suits, hoping they would follow him as he maneuvered through asteroids. Andrei and Zanin were shocked by the new speed and maneuverability of the 00. Andrei thought to himself, ‘What did that machine do to it?’  When Setsuna saw that both were following him, he hugged the side of one of the larger asteroids, using the gravity of it to shoot him faster around it, catching up behind with the Ahead piloted by Zanin. ‘I’ll destroy them. Those that corrupt this world.’ Zanin turned around just in time to see the blade cut through his machine, destroying the cockpit with him inside it. Setsuna watched the suit blow up then began traveling at full speed back to the Ptolemy, which he saw in the distance in the middle of a large battle. He spoke to Feldt with urgency, “What is the situation with the Ptolemy?”

She replied, her voice more under control than before, “Enemy forces are surrounding the ship, but the suits are unable to get through the GN field. Tieria and Lyle are holding them off for now, but there seems to be something on the battlefield able to pierce through the GN field. It’s already caused massive damage to hanger 3. I don’t know if the ship can take another hit like that.”

Setsuna processed the information and realized the situation was worse than he thought. He needed to get back fast. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted the suit he had engaged before they made it to the Celestial Being base. ‘I don’t have time for you.’ He called out a warning to Feldt, “I’m activating trans-am.” She braced for the speed boost as she saw her display turn red, indicating trans-am had activated. What neither of them noticed was as it activated, two rings formed near the engines.

Suddenly both of them found themselves floating in multicolored space. Setsuna, who realized he was naked, but too confused to react about that at this point, looked around before his eyes met Feldt’s sea green ones. She also seemed to be naked, but was in the same boat as him. In a tone of confusion and worry, she called out, “Setsuna? What’s going on?” One strange thing Setsuna felt from her as she said his name was longing and affection. ‘What is this place? Why can I sense that?’

He responded to her equally confused, but tried to reassure her a little, “I have no idea, Feldt. But I think we are safe.” Feldt look at him and beyond the surface, felt something strange. It was almost like he was a cloudy day, the sun wanting to peek through and shine brightly, but it couldn’t. She shook her head. ‘What did that mean? Why can I feel that from Setsuna?’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

With the 00

Just as soon they entered the strange space, Setsuna and Feldt were pulled back into reality. As they got their bearings back, Feldt spoke first, “Setsuna, what was that? Where were we just then?” A thought in the back of her mind noted both of them had been completely exposed there, but the adrenaline kept that from coming to the forefront.

Sestuna, keeping his eyes forward, focusing on getting them back to the ship, replied, “I have no idea, but we can talk about it afterwards. We have to save the ship.”

She nodded, focusing her attention to looking at the sensors for any mobile suits as they approached and responded in a mostly calmed voice, “Right. We still have that new model approaching us.”

“Understood.” Setsuna dashed towards the enemy suit, dodging blaster fire as he closed in. As the suit reached melee distance, the blades of the new model combined into one large blade, clashing with one of the 00 Raiser’s blades. Unlike last time fighting this machine, Setsuna could feel the 00 Raiser successfully able to hold back the suit. ‘This time you won’t win.’ Pushing forward at a rapid pace, the 00 Raiser pushed back the suit, beginning to cut into the shoulder of the machine before it disengaged from the blade clash, opening fire to little effect on the 00.

Using the speed of the trans-am, Setsuna dashed around an asteroid, and fired a barrage of shots at the new model, hitting all over the suit, destroying the visor on the suits head. Taking advantage of the purple suit’s temporary loss of visual sensors, he charged it, attempting to finish it off once and for all. Just as he was about to reach the suit, it put up its blade to deflect Setsuna’s blow. The 00 Raiser caught the enemy beam saber with its own left blade, forcing the enemy beam saber aside with ease. He then cut through the suit with its other blade, bisecting it diagonally, sparks coming off the machine.

Just as the suit was about to explode, he was a small pod go off the back of it and said pod rapidly fly off into space away from him. He attempted to fire a few shots at the pod but it managed to dodge the shots. ‘Damnit! I should finish that pod off, but the Ptolemy comes first.’ He let the pod get away, knowing he had bigger fish to fry. As the 00 Raiser moved at a rapid pace towards the battlefield around the ship, and the ship was becoming visible for the two of them, Setsuna saw Feldt appear on his viewscreen, her tone worried, “Setsuna, the Cheridum is in trouble!” She showed him an image of Lyle being held up by a GN-X as two others began to move into position flanking him with an open shot.

Without any hesitation, Setsuna aimed and sent two powerful blasts at the flanking units, hitting them in the cockpit and destroying the suit. ‘So my attacks can go that far. Good to note.’ He then saw Lyle knock back the suit he was clashing with in the general direction they were coming from. Feldt sighed in relief. ‘They aren’t getting another member of the crew. Not while I’m here.’

Suddenly Setsuna heard a feminine voice in his head. “Compressed particles recharge complete.” He looked up in the direction that he felt it coming from and began heading that. Feldt looked at the back of the cockpit in confusion. ‘Where is he taking us?’ But Setsuna hadn’t let her down so far, so she would trust what he was doing. He approached one of the resource asteroids, where he felt a strange presence and spotted a mobile suit. ‘Another new model?’ It looked very similar to the suit he had just defeated, but it was mostly teal with light green highlights instead of purple. And instead of multiple beam sabers on its arm, it possessed a large cannon, similar in scale to Tieria’s larger ones. The suit turned to face him, moving off the asteroid and aimed it large cannon at him, releasing an incredibly large burst of energy. Setsuna could feel the heat and energy of the blast as he dodged the attack.

In the Raiser, Feldt, seeing the beam, realized this was the machine that had taken out hanger 3. She called out to Sestuna, “This is the machine that damaged the Ptolemy! We need to take it out!”

“Roger that!” Setsuna continued to move towards the machine, dodging as the new model directed the continuous beam towards where the 00 Raiser was. He also noticed the time for the trans-am was running out. ‘Gotta make this fast.’ Just as he was about to reach melee distance to the machine, the beam disappeared, leaving a smoke screen of particles in its wake. Setsuna charged into the smoke, when it was suddenly dissipated by a beam saber aimed right at the cockpit of the 00. Setsuna saw where he wanted to dodge, but he had no time. But suddenly he was in that position, watching the new machine stab into the ghost of the 00 Raiser, the ghost disappearing into a GN particle mist.

The new machine paused and Setsuna came in with a long swing of one of his blades. The pause didn’t last long, the machine blocked it with its cannon, destroying the weapon in the process. The machine slashed at him again, but Setsuna had already out of the way of the attack, coming in above it to bisect this new machine in half as well, the pod on the back shooting off into space as both Feldt and Setsuna noticed the trans-am had run out. The machine went from the glowing red to its normal colors, and the pure power of the machine lowered as the particle supply was low. The 00 Raiser floated there for a second, Setsuna catching his breath. ‘What just happened? Why did the 00 appear where I wanted it to be? Why did I hear that voice?’

Sitting back in the Raiser, Feldt was baffled by the events that just transpired. ‘Why hadn’t that beam saber killed us? What was that weird place? What was the true power of 00 Raiser?’ When they had been testing it, the Celestial Being engineers could not have predicted the sheer power of the twin drives. And despite her earlier fear, she was also feeling partially exhilarated. The freedom of being in a machine like this was something she didn’t expect. Her thoughts were interrupted by a message appearing on her display, saying to return to the Ptolemy. She opened up comms with Setsuna, “We have orders to return. The enemy has retreated.”

Setsuna took a second, still thinking, then replied evenly, “Understood. I’ll get us there.” He noticed Feldt looking at him nervously, “Are you ok Feldt?”

Her nervousness showed in her tone, “I’m fine, I just…” She let out a shaky sigh, “Can we talk when we get back? So much just happened and I…”

He gave her a comforting smile, “That sounds fine. You can rest on the way back. I’ll keep us safe.” She closed her eyes, the exhaustion from the loss of adrenaline hitting her. She sat back in her seat, replaying the events in that weird space and what it all meant.

Bridge of the Ptolemy

As Sumeragi sent out the order to the gundams to return to the ship, Lasse looked over at Anew, his voice full of amazement, “How many machines did Setsuna take out?”

Anew, equally full of awe, replied, “I think it was almost ten of them.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Sumeragi speaking in a forceful tone, “Don’t let your guard down yet. We still need to take out that enemy Satellite weapon.” She looked over at Mileina, “I know you are worried about your parents, but I need you to start repairing the Ptolemy and the gundams. Saji, I need you to get Feldt as soon as possible and tell her to come to the bridge. After that can you assist Mileina with repairs?”

Saji nodded at the orders and Allelujah’s voice came in over the bridge, “This is the Arios. I’ve escorted the transports to safety. And Mileina, your mom is safe.” The brown-haired girl let out a big sigh of relief and Marie commented happily, “That’s great!”

Mileina made her way out the door, the weight of her parent’s safety off her shoulders, and Saji followed behind her. As she left, Sumeragi reflected on the 00 Raiser. ‘Who knew that machine had such power. What else can it do?’ She would have to take that into account in future battle plans. Especially in the next battle.

Hanger Control Room

After the 00 Raiser docked and was separated out, the two made their way to one of the hanger control rooms. Setsuna grabbed her hand and guided her along, noticing that she didn’t seem to mind him doing that. He could also feel that she was jittery. ‘This must have been the first time on the battlefield like that. No wonder she wanted to talk.’

When they entered the control room, Setsuna tried to let go of her hand, but he was surprised when she maintained her grip. He stopped trying to let go of her hand and held onto it comfortingly. He turned around to face her, looking in her eyes as she raised her face to look at him. He saw a whirlwind of emotions reflected in her eyes. Knowing he would have to start, he spoke up softly, “Are you ok?”

She gave him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes, “I’m fine Setsuna. It’s just…” She took a few seconds to collect her thoughts, and she continued, “It’s just I never have been in combat like that. Being in the 0 Raiser, all of the protection from the ship was gone. I thought my combat experience before would help me, but I just seemed to partially shut down when I was getting shot at.”

He could feel her squeezing on his hand, wearing her emotions on her sleeve. He spoke in a comforting voice, “It’s alright. Frontline combat isn’t easy, especially for those that haven’t had to fight in a mobile suit. It’s alright if you are confused.”

Some tears came to her eyes, “I just feel so weak. I was so scared and overwhelmed.”

He squeezed her hand, noticing the tears stop welling up, “That’s perfectly normal. Nobody, especially during their first time, is somehow not afraid. Even I can get scared, I’m just used to it. I’ve had to do it since I was a child. No one will judge you for how you reacted. You were incredibly brave for flying the 0 Raiser out to me.” Feldt flushed embarrassed at the compliment. She then gave him a sympathetic look. She remembered reading up in his file about his past, though it lacked specific details. ‘It explains why he can act so controlled all the time.’ Setsuna gave her a warm smile, “I want to thank you for doing what you did. Without your bravery, the ship wouldn’t have been saved and we wouldn’t be here.”

She looked down at that compliment, her face bright red. The fact Setsuna was saying it made it harder to control her reaction. After a few seconds she looked back up at him, face still red, her smile reaching her eyes. She spoke happily, “But it was you who actually saved us. You defeated those two suits. Without that we wouldn’t have won.”

“Then let’s call it a team effort then.” They both let go of the others’ hands, taking a step back from each other.

She nodded at that idea and just then a thought passed through her head. ‘What was going on with all the strange things that happened during trans-am?’ She gave Setsuna a curious look, “Setsuna, what happened after you trans-am’d? First we were in that void and then you just teleported?”

He shrugged his shoulders, “I have no idea. The 0 Raiser must have more capabilities than expected. Maybe we’ll see more as time goes on.”

Feldt nodded at that and then she asked something that had been on her mind since leaving the 0 Raiser, “So, Setsuna, when were in that strange place floating, did you see me…”

He nodded, blushing a deep pink as he knew she was referring to both of their nudity in that place. He didn’t know what to say. ‘Do I say she was attractive? Do I say nothing?’ Feldt was equally embarrassed, not knowing how to respond to him. ‘What did he think? Do I just forget that happened? Do I tell him what I think?’ The awkward situation was stopped when they heard the door open and Saji entered obliviously, calling out to Feldt, “Ms Sumeragi wants you to report to the bridge.”

Taking advantage of the situation, Feldt quickly nodded at that, her voice cracking a little, “I’ll report right away.” She rushes out the door and just before she the door closed, she looked back at Setsuna, giving him a smile. That left the two men standing there. Saji looked at Setsuna and saw his face was red. Curious, he asked, “Are you ok? I don’t think I’ve seen you like that before.”

Coughing, he replied, “It’s fine. We were just having a conversation. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Saji shrugged his shoulders, “Ok. Just wanted to make sure.”

Saji looked like he was about to head out when Setsuna asked him, “You mentioned previously that you and Louise broke up. What happened?”

Saji sighed quietly. He knew Setsuna would be curious, and he never got the chance to tell him after they were interrupted last time. It wasn’t an easy memory to talk about. He looked at Setsuna and with a nervous tone, replied, “It was inevitable you asked that, isn’t it?” He took a deep breath, “To keep this story from going too long, we stayed together after your guys initial gundam stuff. We were as happy as we could be, but we began to drift apart as time went on. In hindsight, I would say it was my fault.”

Saji gave a heavy sigh, remembering the pain of the gradual fraying of his relationship with Louise, “I wanted the world to go back to the way it was before you guys showed up. She wanted to move on, try to get over what happened to her and adapt to this new world. I couldn’t let go of my anger towards the gundams, no matter how hard how I tried to hide it. So about 6 months ago, she broke up with me. That’s part of the reason why I was at Proud. To get away from Earth and the memories. I should have tried to see it from her view, but I see now I was too focused on my own little world.” He gave a bitter laugh.

Setsuna gave him a curious look, before his expression became understanding, “Thank you for telling me. It must not have been easy to think back on this.”

Saji just waved him off, “Don’t worry about it. It’s been on my mind since the attack on the Katharon base. It put it all in perspective.”

Setsuna tilted his head slightly, “Is that why you stayed with the Ptolemy?”

Saji gave him a smile, “Yeah. I need to prove to myself I can think beyond myself. That I can change and grow. I want to thank you for the opportunity, especially because of how rude I was at first to you and the others.”

Setsuna gave him a nod, replying in a grateful tone, “No problem. What are you doing on the ship now?”

“Sumeragi told me to help with fixing things. And speaking of, I think I got sidetracked here too long. I gotta get going.” Saji gave him a loose salute and floated out of the room headed to the hanger. ‘I hope Mileina isn’t too upset.’

Setsuna watched him leave the room, Saji’s words on changing and growth hitting him. Recently he had been a bit out of sorts around Feldt and he didn’t know how to deal with it. She was a recent change in his world and had disrupted his thoughts. And he was getting the suspicion that she liked him. Romantically. It had taken him awhile, but the signs were adding up. ‘All of the physical contact. The way she looked at me with happiness in her eyes. The smiles she gave me. The emotions I felt in that strange place. But why him? Why someone so damaged as him?’ He had never placed his happiness in another individual or even thought that he would be happy, but he found himself happier around her. ‘Do I like her? I know I enjoy spending time with her and she’s comfortable to be around, but it’s only her. And if I did, should I after all I’ve done.’

He heard a chuckle come from the door, breaking him from his thoughts. He looked over to see Lyle at the open door. Lyle spoke casually, “Well I didn’t expect you to be such a people person and a ladies man at that.”

Setsuna gave him a look of confusion, “Why would you say I’m a ladies man?”

Lyle laughed to himself, “I haven’t seen that girl as happy as she is now. I saw her coming from here as I travelled the ship, so I assume she talked to you after the battle. I would still be careful, she has a mean slap.”

Setsuna was still confused. ‘Mean slap?’ Setsuna gave the Irishman an even look, “She and I have gotten closer, but we aren’t like that.” Lyle detected some uncertainty in his voice.

Lyle then took that information in. ‘So there is something there? I’ll have to keep an eye out on those two.’ Lyle gave him a slap on the shoulder, speaking jokingly, “Relax man. I was only messing with you. Honestly, you need to get some rest. You did a good job out there saving our asses, especially mine when you took those two suits out.”

Setsuna nodded his head in agreement, “You did good defending the ship. You are probably right. We will need the 00 Raiser ready for future fights at full strength.”

Lyle rolled his eyes, “Are you always so serious? Just get out of here.” Setsuna followed his advice and left the room, headed to his own. He would have to think on this Feldt issue. ‘Maybe after this mission.’

A-Laws Cruiser

A few tears made their way down Andrei’s cheeks as he watched an A-Laws soldier removed the items from Captain Zinin’s locker. The last thing that came out of the locker was a picture on the inside the locker door. It showed the captain in tank top and a light skinned woman with long brown hair smiling and happy.

As Andrei was gearing up for the mission to attack Celestial Being, he noticed a photo on the Captain’s door that showed him with a woman with long brown hair. Curious, he asked the Captain, “Who is that sir?”

Captain Zinin gave him a bitter smile, “She was my wife.”

“Was?”

Some anger entered Captain Zinin’s tone, “She was killed a couple months ago during an Anti-government attack.”

Andrei spoke remorsefully, “I’m so sorry sir.”

“Don’t apologize, you had nothing to do with it. Just keep focused for the next mission.”

He clenched his fist in anger. ‘Another good person killed pointlessly.’ So many good soldiers had been killed fighting Celestial Being, that he had stopped even keeping track. ‘All we want to do is create a peaceful world for everyone, yet the gundams continue to resist, along with Katharon.’ Andrei would follow Captain Zinin’s example. He would have wanted a peaceful world, even if it meant doing cruel things to make it happen. ‘I will do whatever it takes to bring peace to this world.’

And now there was a bigger threat to face within the gundams. The 00 and 0 Raiser created a significant threat to future battles. It could overpower an ahead and could even threaten the new models that were being brought in as reinforcements. ‘There had to be some way to counter that power. To get a weapon that can deal with that suit.’ Maybe he should talk with Ribbons at some point. He could probably give him something to help, right?

New Middle East Katharon Base

Marina rested against the wall in the hallway outside the meeting room, having just exited after the most recent meeting had ended. ‘They fired the space laser again. And they even wiped out a large refugee camp. How can anyone be so cruel?’ The more time progressed and events happened, the more she realized her old ideology just didn’t seem to work.

Between the two laser attacks, they had probably killed over one million people. ‘Was one million people enough for these people to justify what they were doing? How many more people were they willing to kill to make their point?’ Marina could see that Setsuna and Shirin were at least partially right about the world. No one would give her pacifism a second thought if they wanted something that she had, as the Federation had shown by taking over her country.

And even before that, when her country was tearing itself apart five years ago, she could do nothing to stop them. All her pleas for stopping the violence had been ignored and her people had suffered. She had been so married to her ideals when she was a ruler, but now that she no longer was, her belief in her dream was weakened. Someone had even attempted to assassinate her. ‘If I had been more forceful, stronger in the assembly, could I have averted that?’ She knew what ifs were always something you can’t fully trust, but it had been haunting her recently. ‘Could I have prevented the need for the gundams to show up to solve my problems, at least somewhat?’ She was aware there was a third party that had been stoking the fire, but there has to be an existing conflict for it to create such a large blaze.

The painful question she had to ask is would she be willing to fight personally. If the base was attacked right now, would she be willing to help defend the base against their attackers? If she had asked even a few months ago, she would have vehemently denied ever wanting a gun, but after the events of the last month or so, she was much more uncertain. Setsuna and other members of Katharon had shown how just because you are willing to kill people, doesn’t mean you would become cruel. ‘There are innocent people who live here. Would they judge me for being willing to kill?’

It had taken her a while, but she had realized one of her hang ups on using weapons personally. The previous ruler of Azadistan had shown himself to be willing to use force and violence to get what he wanted, such as with Krugis. She had wanted to separate herself as much from that image, becoming a princess of peace and diplomacy, which in hindsight was to her detriment. To the international world, she may have looked good, but to the traditionalists, her policies only made her look weak. ‘But who is there to judge me now? Would someone see me turn down a gun and look at me like I’m a hero?’ No, none of the people would judge her now. After all she had been through, it would be understandable if she changed her point of view.

Maybe she would take Shirin’s offer to learn how to defend herself. If the base was attacked or they ever had to go on the run, she could at least delay the enemy till someone who knew how to fight could deal with them.

Getting off the wall, she straightened her back and began her search for Shirin, walking with purpose. ‘If I’m going to break my old principle, I might as well do it without any doubts. It’s what Setsuna would have told me to do.’

Sergei’s Ship

Sergei stood looking at the gaunt face of Commander Kim on the computer screen in shock as he heard his orders, “A gag order?! The A-Laws used a high power laser attack from orbit on a base surrounded by refugees!”

With a cool tone, the commander replied, “This is an order from the Federation president. We can’t ignore it.”

Sergei looked at his commander like he had two heads, “All of the soldier saw what happened! Rumors are going to spread quickly. Many are questioning the methods of the A-Laws.”

“And that is why I want you to monitor them, to make sure the gag order is strictly enforced.”

Sergei narrowed his eyes accusingly, “Is that a direct order?”

Commander Kim gave him an equally harsh look, “Yes, and I expect you to obey it.” The screen went dark as the line of communication was cut. Sergei sighed and sat down in his chair, the weight and morality of the order weighing down on him.

He spoke to himself, “A soldier always follows orders.” Yet at the same time, he was beginning to seriously disagree with that assessment. Following orders had been good under the right people, but now he questioned his chain of command. ‘How can they sit by and let so many people die? Why can the A-Laws get away with so many crimes?’

He had to sit back and watch all of these crimes be done in the name of the Federation. He envied Soma right now. ‘She doesn’t have to worry about being an accessory who can’t do anything to stop what the government is doing.’

He wondered what Holly would think about all this. ‘Would she be going along with this? Would she just stand back and watch what is going on in the world? I wish you were here right now. Maybe Andrei and I wouldn’t be like we were now.’

In the 00

As Setsuna sat in the 00 as the other gundams used the trans-am to speed up their progress, Feldt’s face appeared on his display, a worried look on her face. Setsuna looked at her curiously, “Is there something wrong?”

She took a deep breath and with a quiet voice so only he could hear her, she said with longing in her voice, “I wish I could be out there with you, but Sumeragi said that she needed me on the bridge for now. I’m sorry.”

The longing in her voice caught Setsuna by surprise, only confirming his suspicions. ‘She definitely likes me, but that leaves me in the same place. What do I say back? I don’t even know how I fully feel.’ She looked at him anxiously, waiting for a reply.

After a few seconds he responded, his tone becoming unconsciously soft, “It’s alright Feldt. If Sumeragi says she needs you there, then I trust her on that. They need you up there just as much as I might need you in the 0 Raiser.”

Feldt looked down for a second before giving him a determined look, “Setsuna, promise me you will come back after this battle. I need to…I need to talk with you.” She had delayed enough about telling him how she felt. She couldn’t distract him for the battle, but after it there would be nothing stopping her.

Setsuna realized there was no avoiding the issue. ‘It looks like I might have to tell her about my confusion. I hope she wouldn’t take it too bad if I need more time.’ He returned her determined look, “I will return. You have my word.”

She gave him a nervous smile before saying, “Good luck.” The communication dropped, leaving Setsuna alone to sit in his cockpit. ‘Why did emotions like this have to be so complex? Why can’t it be as simple as combat?’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

With the 00

As Setsuna rushed towards the battlefield, he took stock of the situation using his sensors. He saw the Katharon fleet had taken significant damage from the combination of the station main weapon and the defense forces guarding the station. ‘They aren’t going to be able to do any damage to the station with their firepower. I have to back them up.’ He spotted an Ahead heading towards one of the Katharon ships. Reacting quickly, he took aim and blasted the A-Laws suit, saving the ship from destruction.

He closed in on the ship, taking out a GN-X engaging a Katharon mobile suit on the way. He then flew past the ship that he saved, opening up a communication link. He saw the face of a middle-aged man in a space suit sitting in a chair, obviously the captain. Setsuna spoke tersely, “Attention Katharon fleet, this is Celestial Being. We will handle taking out the station.”

The captain sighed in relief, “We are grateful for your assistance.”

Setsuna replied in an even tone, “Please send us whatever info you have on the station over channel 34.”

As he said this, he saw a Katharon mobile suit explode near the bridge of the ship, causing the image of the man responded to his request to shake, “We’ll send it over right away!” Setsuna dropped the communication, charging into another A-Laws Ahead, slicing its leg off before shooting it through the cockpit. He got a notification on his computer saying that the info had been transferred. ‘Good, now to send it to the Ptolemy.’ He sent the info to the ship, hoping this data would be useful to them. ‘Now to stick with the plan.’

Setsuna charged closer to the station, following the orbital ring that connected the orbital elevators, trying to draw enemy forces away from the Katharon fleet. He noticed that a squadron of three GN-Xs were following him. He moved to engage them, quickly overwhelming one of them and slicing them in half. He took aim at another one when out of the corner of his eye he saw a large orange energy blast headed his way. ‘It’s one of those new models!’ The 00 Raiser quickly got out of the path of the blast, but the suit he was about to attack was not so lucky, getting caught in it. ‘I have to draw that suit away from that position.’ He moved out of the sightline of the new model, hoping to draw it away from the defense forces. Looking at his sensors, he saw a single trail of red particles moving towards him from the station. ‘There we go. I did my part of the plan, now it’s up to the Ptolemy.’ The 00 Raiser engaged the final member of the trio of mobile suits, destroying it, and headed back to support Katharon, trying to lure the suit away from the station, hoping the pilot would see him as the biggest threat.

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Everyone else on the crew stood on the bridge as Mileina put up the information that the 00 had sent to them. The crew saw the large station positioned on the solar energy orbital ring; a radar dish shaped weapon was positioned on the top of it coming out of a hatch. Looking it over, Anew spoke in an even tone, “It’s like we thought. This station uses the solar energy from the particles collectors on the orbital ring.”

Feldt added on, “And just like you predicted, it looks like the weapon has a limited firing arc, based on the position of the escort ships.”

Mileina heard a beep from her console and saw a strange information drop being sent to her. She took a quick look and found it was from an unknown agent. She spoke up to the group, “Ms. Sumeragi, it looks like we are being sent data from an agent.”

Tieria spoke in confusion, “From Wang Liu Mei? Where was she all this time?” ‘It’s better late than never, but why so late?’

Sumeragi looked up at Mileina, “Put the info on display Mileina.” She responded with a yes and the information was shown to everyone. The info they saw was surprising in the detail that they got. It was the blueprints and technical data for the entire station. The information displayed the name of the station to the crew. The Memento Mori. As the crew wondered how she got this data or looked at the blueprints, Saji got to work examining it.  Scanning over it, he looked for any essential system they could target. Maybe the resonator or generator. ‘Not there. Not there. Found it!’

He called out to the tactical forecaster, “Ms. Noriega! I found the weakness! It’s the electromagnetic resonator!” The crew looked up at Saji, wondering what exactly he meant. He highlighted the area on the display so Sumeragi could see what he meant.

The brown-haired woman looked at the area highlighted by the Japanese man, realizing that was their best chance at destroying the Memento Mori. Confidence filled her voice as she spoke, “Well that settles it. Our plan is to approach the station’s blind spot and launch a direct assault. Tieria and Lyle, you two will need to coordinate with the upmost precision.”

Lyle asked her a clarifying question, “And the defense forces?”

Sumeragi responded without looking at him, “We’ll blow right past them.”

Lasse looked up at the tactical forecaster, smirking, “Is this plan about brute force or precision?”

“We’re gonna need both. Time to get this mission underway.” The crew all agreed, and the pilots headed to their gundams, ready for whatever they needed to do. The ship continued following the path to the battle, the sight of far-off explosions visible in the distance.

With the 00

Setsuna pulled his sword out of another GN-X, the mobile suit exploding behind him. ‘That makes eight.’ The battle was raging around him as the ships of Kathron had pulled back, leaving some of the mobile suits to hold the line against the A-Laws. He looked around for another enemy but before he saw one Sumeragi appear on his display. She spoke concisely, “Setsuna, we are beginning the operation now.”

He nodded, “Roger.” He charged towards the Memento Mori, ready to deal with the new model, having seen blasts from the new model take out Katharon suits. And just as he expected, the same large energy blast came at him again, which he dodged easily. The suit floated there, baiting Setsuna in. ‘Too bad for you that’s part of the plan.’ He saw it was the same model as the one with the canon from the previous battle. He charged towards the machine, blades at the ready. The machine met his blades, holding him back. ‘This must be one of them.’

He called out to the other machine in a low, threatening tone, “Innovator.”

He heard a manic, higher pitched female voice come from the other suit, “So you know about us then!” Just then something caught both of their eyes. The Ptolemy came rocketing down the orbital ring, speeding past the two clashing mobile suits. The new model tried to pull away from him, but Setsuna kept up the pressure on the suit, leaving it unable to go after the ship.

In a satisfied tone, he spoke to the pilot, “I know you easy to bait.” The new model pulled back a short distance and charged back in. If the innovator couldn’t go after the carrier, then it would at least get the 00 Raiser.

With the Ptolemy

The ship passed by the two mobile suits clashing, their goal being the station. The GN field was pushed to max, a green barrier surrounding the ship. They were so close the orbital ring that the GN field was scraping against the barrier in place below the ship. Lasse opened up the missile ports, ready to open fire on the Memento Mori when they got close enough. Sumeragi looked out ahead of them as they approached the station. ‘I’m counting on you, Tieria and Lyle.’

On Marie’s display she could see their position relative to the angle of fire of the gun. They had to stay within the safe zone, or the ship wouldn’t survive the blast from the station. Sumeragi had a plan just in case, but the hope was they didn’t need it.

When the ship got close enough, they were assaulted by a withering amount of fire headed their way. Both ships and mobile suits took shots at the ship, not able to pierce through the GN field, but slowly and steadily moving it closer to the firing angle of the station.

The Ptolemy returned fire; their missiles were aimed at the side of the station facing them. A large barrage of missiles came at a steady rate out of the ship, trying to open a hole in the side of the Memento Mori. Many of the mobile suits and ships that were firing at them redirected their fire, aiming at the incoming missiles. The crew saw that the majority of their missiles were not reaching the target, the defenses shooting them down before they even reached the target.

As the missile barrage was being defeated, Anew called out, “We are being pushed to the right into the Memento Mori’s firing angle!” The bridge crew remained steady, knowing that this was always a risk. Sumeragi sighed internally. ‘It looks like we’ll need that backup plan.’

Feldt reported to the crew, “Fifteen seconds until we cross the threshold.” She began counting down, making sure Sumeragi was aware of the timing. The bridge heard sensor go off as they crossed the line, giving them a heads up they were no longer in the blind spot. The crew then saw the weapon begin to charge up, ready to wipe out the last major opposition to their regime. Feldt and Lasse called out to the tactical forecaster, wondering what she was up to. The tactical forecaster waited, knowing they had to time this right.

Just as the weapon fired, Marie called out, “Right now!”

Over the comms, Sumeragi yelled out, “Allelujah!”

The ship began to glow red, and just in time, dodged up and out of the way of the beam, moving out of the way of the sightline of the A-Laws defense force. After the beam dissipated, Sumergai ordered the ship to dive back onto the orbital ring, following the path they were following before. Their GN field was down at the moment, all power put into the engines due to the Arios trans-am. The machine rocketed towards the station, trying to blow past the first layer of defense forces. The main hatch opened, showing the Cheridum and Seravee in a position to fire at the station. Once again, the Ptolemy was subject to fire from the enemy and since the field was down, the ship’s hull began to be battered by the enemy.

Lyle saw Sumeragi appear on his display, “Lyle!”

He nodded with understanding and looked at orange haro, who yelled out, “Deploying shield bits! Deploying shield bits!” As Lyle activated trans-am, pieces of the Cheridum’s armor split off, forming physical barriers blocking enemy attacks on the outside of the ship. Some of the pieces returned fire at enemy mobile suits, eliminating them. As they continued forward, Lyle noticed many of the bits were being damaged and destroyed by the large volume of fire coming at them. ‘We aren’t there yet!’ He could only hope that they could hold out until they reached their target.

They passed by the first layer of defenses, only leaving a smaller force that guarded near the station in front of them. The ship rocked as some fire began to hit it from both sides as the shield bits were getting almost depleted. Sumergai saw they were getting close to the station. She called out, “Closer! Just a little closer!”

Mileina looked at the display in worry and stated, “The Arios trans-am is about to run out!”

The crew felt the ship suddenly lose speed as the ship lost the glowing red effect. Feldt also reported the shield bits were all gone, worry underlining her tone. Sumeragi sat defiant. ‘This plan will succeed. I will protect everyone. The crew put their faith in me and I won’t let them down!’ She called out over communications, “Tieria!”

Tieria heard the call, activating his trans-am, charging up a large purple ball of energy in front of him. He saw it drawing a large amount of his particle count. The ball expanded to block the view of both the Cheridum and Seravee, crackling with energy. Tieria then released the compressed GN particles down the orbital rail, its target the side of the station and the weak point. The ball hit the side of the station with a high amount of destructive energy, melting the metal and other materials that made up the outer layer of the station. As the walls began to melt, a massive barrage of missiles were launched from the ship, aiming for the hole that was created. A large number of them hit the open hole and the rest of that side of the Memento Mori, leaving both sides unable to see the effect the damage done to the station due to the smoke of the explosions.

As the smoke cleared, the station remained heavily damaged, but intact. Lyle, knowing this was probably expected, took careful aim. Spotting the resonator, he knew he had one shot. He also knew this shot was at an extreme range for his weapon, meaning he had to be sure before he fired. Taking a deep breath, he centered himself, holding his breath to steady himself. ‘This isn’t just for Katharon. This is for Anew, Tieria, Setsuna, and the rest of the crew! It’s for the safety of humanity!’ Pulling the trigger, the energy blast came out of the rifle, headed straight towards the resonator. It hit with a resounding blast and as the Ptolemy came flying by the station, they began to see numerous small internal explosions all over the station, signaling they succeeded.

They continued to fly by but were hit with a minor shock when the station exploded, destroying the escort ships nearby. The bridge crew all gave a cheer as they saw the explosion on the screen. Lyle cheered in the Cheridum. Tieria realized there was no going back from this. He had chosen the path to oppose the innovators. Allelujah just sighed in relief at the destruction. He could hear Hallelujah let out a cackle at the carnage that was created. Sumeragi let out a breath and began to give out orders, “We are out of combat airspace. Give the order for the 00 Raiser to return.”

Feldt responded eagerly, “Right away!” She sent out the orders, excited for him coming back. ‘I can tell him now! I just have to wait for him to get to the ship!’ The ship travelled to the designated rendezvous point, spirits high. Suddenly Feldt saw three new signatures appear on the long-range sensors. ‘It must be A-Laws! But why now?’ She called out to Sumeragi, who had heard the sound of new contact on the sensors, “Ms. Sumeragi, three contacts heading towards us! One looks larger than the others!”

Sumeragi gritted her teeth, not prepared for this. She called out the crew and gundam pilots, “Prepare for combat, we aren’t out of this yet!” Sumeragi knew they had no real defenses and the gundams were low on particles, so she prayed that they would survive this next fight. ‘Hurry up Setsuna! We need you!’

With the 00

As Setsuna was engaging the innovator, he saw the order to return to the Ptolemy. He pulled back from his attack, heading towards the rendezvous point. The innovator gave chase, not wanting to let the 00 Raiser get away, firing blasts from its gauntlet at the gundam. Setsuna sighed in frustration, knowing it would chase him all the way to the meeting point. ‘I have to get them off my tail.’ To the shock of both him and the innovator, several red energy blasts rained down on the new model from above, stopping its progress in chasing Setsuna. He tried to locate what shot at it, but the unknown machine that assisted him was gone by the time he looked.

Taking advantage of the confusion, Setsuna turned around and charged the new model, slicing its arm off and immediately left the battlefield, knowing the new suit was in no condition to engage him at that point. He passed by the destroyed station, mentally noting, ‘Mission accomplished.’

He tried to raise communications with the Ptolemy but got nothing back but static. ‘Okay, that’s strange.’ Since he couldn’t raise the ship, he focused on getting to the rendezvous point, thinking about his back up in the fight in the meantime. ‘Those were red beams. Why would someone with a pseudo solar reactor back me up?’ He would inform Sumeragi of this when he got back on the ship.

As he approached the location of the meeting place several minutes later, he scanned his surroundings, yet he couldn’t find a trace of the ship anywhere. ‘Where could they be?’ An image then appeared on his display, shocking him. It showed a large field of debris made up of blue and white parts. It looked like the armor of the Ptolemy.

‘No, that can’t be! What could have done this?!’ He looked around the area, looking for any sign of the crew or the gundams. ‘This can’t be the end! We can’t go out like this, not after what we just did! I never got a chance to meet with the crew again! To talk with Feldt!’ He clenched his fists, frustration flowing through his veins. ‘I never got the chance to tell her how I feel, to maybe give it a chance. I should have sorted my feelings out sooner!’

His thoughts were broken by a contact on his sensor. He turned and aimed his gun, ready to take out his feelings of vengeance on the suit that showed up at the wrong time, friend or foe. He saw a small shuttle like craft approach him, trailing red particles. He was about to fire when a communication opened up on his display and a familiar face appeared. It was Nena Trinity. She was older, but he wouldn’t forget that face, especially when she forced a kiss on him five years ago. She spoke in a casual tone, eyes full of mischief, “Hiya Setsuna, it’s been a while.”

Setsuna gasped in surprise at seeing her, “Nena Trinity?”

She gave him a smile and flirtatiously said, “You’ve become a stud dude. Nena likes what she sees!” He brought up his other gun to aim at her and in an offended tone, she said, “Hey! I helped you out back there! Can’t a girl get a thank you!” He didn’t say anything and kept staring at her. She replied annoyed, “You’re welcome, but never mind that. It looks like your ship fell down to Earth.” He lowered his weapons, seeing that she isn’t hostile.

Setsuna let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. ‘They are alive! She is alive!’ He felt a tear roll down his cheek. Nena kept talking, not noticing Setsuna not focusing on her words, “I’m sending over the data to their rough location. Shouldn’t be too hard-“

“Why did you do it?” Setsuna interrupted her, speaking harshly, giving her a harsh glare. She was surprised by that, wondering what she had done to deserve it.

She responded, confused, “Do what?”

Setsuna’s voice took on an accusatory tone, “Kill all those innocent people five years ago during your interventions.”

Nena was surprised at the accusatory tone in his voice, and matched it in anger, “You killed just as many as people and created this new world! Don’t look down on me!”

Setsuna kept up his harsh look, “Wrong. You and your brothers followed the wrong plan, directly leading to this nightmare of a government. You may have been manipulated, but you didn’t even think to question your orders. We may have started it, but you worked to forward a corrupt plan. We never targeted civilians. You three did. We didn’t target innocent people, like blowing up a wedding. I don’t even care which one of you did it. So don’t put yourself on a high horse by blaming it on us.” With that he flew off towards earth, cutting off the communications, ignoring her calling out in anger at him. He had more important things to focus on than a girl who refused to recognize her role in creating this world.

In her shuttle, Nena stewed in her anger as the purple haro spoke to her, saying “He doesn’t like you! He doesn’t like you!” She smacked the top of the haro, ‘How dare he insult my brothers like that! How dare he judge me! I assisted him and he insults me and family! I want vengeance for my brothers! I want to make them pay for what they did, starting with my ‘Mistress’ and the man who killed my brothers.’ She flew off into space, her anger not abating.

As the raven-haired pilot flew to earth, a realization hit him. When he was thinking about the crew being dead, Feldt hurt the most. And now he knew why. He had already fallen for her.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

In the 00

As Setsuna traveled to the Ptolemy using the data that Nena gave him, he focused his thoughts on this new information. The realization felt like a weight in his chest. Without him realizing, Feldt had made her way into his heart and taken a part of it. He didn’t know if it was love, an alien feeling after so many years of fighting, but he knew enough that it was a very strong attachment. Her kindness, her smile, her bravery. Those traits, among others, had drawn him to her. She felt so comfortable to be around and she could always bring out a smile from him. When she was upset, he wanted to hold her and make her feel better, like after she piloted the 0 Raiser or when she cried tears of grief when Marie showed up. He wanted to make her happy, keep her smiling and laughing. He didn’t know how to though. He may have these feelings, but moving forward was another issue.

Ever since he had joined the KPSA as a child, his life had just been about fighting for one cause or another, Celestial Being being another one of them. He had never had time to think about or put any stock into romance or even thinking about any form of long-term future. He never thought about a happy personal future for himself. He had always assumed he would be an eternal watchdog, making sure that other people could be happy and have better lives. Probably go on until his body would give out from all the fighting or die in the fighting. He was ok with that, and had been for years. He had never tried to place himself in a normal life. Following his current path, people wouldn’t know who he was, but he would keep those people safe from those that brought harm to humanity, like the innovators. But with these new feelings, he was suddenly conflicted.

He wanted to make the world better, but at the same time wanted to be happy himself. Was it ok for him to put Feldt through that pain, knowing that he was always at risk of dying? ‘It would be unfair to ask her to constantly deal with that.’  Could he live a normal life with her potentially? ‘How could I if I don’t know how to do it?  All I know is how to fight.’ He felt envy at the ease at which Marie and Allelujah got along, how comfortable they were together as couple. Despite their past, they found a way to be happy. It was like Feldt was just beyond his grasp, and when he tried to reach a barrier blocked him.

Did he even deserve that happiness? After all he had done in his past, like killing his own parents, should he even have that? ‘That was probably what put off my realization. Me questioning subconsciously if I should be happy.’ He needed to talk with someone about this. He didn’t know who, he just needed to get this off his chest, get another perspective. Maybe Allelujah. Then he could talk to Feldt and clear the air between them. She deserved that much.

Reality set in as he knew he still had to meet up with the ship before he could deal with this personal issue. As he traveled to the area the ship was most likely in, he saw a large crater below him. His grip on the controls tightened. ‘This must have been the capital of Suille. What makes the innovators want to go this far? These people were monsters, but what part of the plan drove them? What had caused them to want to change the plan?’

His sensors registered a mobile suit, drawing his attention away from the crater. Looking at the information, he saw a familiar silhouette of Ali al Saachez’s suit. ‘What is that bastard doing here?’ The suit flew by him at high speed, ignoring him. Narrowing his eyes, Setsuna began to follow him, wondering where he was going. ‘Sorry guys, but I need to know what he’s doing out here.’

On the Ptolemy

Ian spoke in a deducing tone, “So after Lagrange 3, you learned the A-Laws had a satellite weapon and went on a mission to destroy it. You were successful, but you were caught by a surprise attack and crash landed on earth, making an emergency landing. You also have no idea where Setsuna and the 00 Raiser are. Did I get that right?”

Mileina spoke in a chipper tone, “That’s it exactly!”

He yelled in a cantankerous tone, “It sounds like a disaster!” Mileina pouted at her father’s response.

Lasse responded in an even tone, “C’mon, don’t say that old man. We did destroy the satellite weapon.”

Feldt spoke up, adding onto Lasse’s point, “And we were almost out of GN particles when we came under attack.”

Tieria gave Ian an neutral look, “Furthermore the enemy forces possessed a new mobile armor. It was Sumeragi’s plan to use the force of the impacts from the attacks to accelerate down to earth, covering the ship in smoke to hide us. If she hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”

Lasse put a hand on his shoulder, “We are just lucky that we survived.”

Ian sighed, calming down, “Alright, what’s the Ptolemy’s condition?”

Feldt listed off the issues, “The engines work, but the weapons, navigation, communications and sensors are all seriously damaged.”

Ian put a hand on his face, rubbing his brow, “Lord give me strength. If the enemy attacked us now we would be done for.”

As he finished saying that Marie walked through the doors with a stack of trays. She looked at the assembled crew and stated kindly, “I brought you guys food.”

Mileina perked up, yelling, “Food!”

Ian looked at his daughter, his frustration mounting, “I said done for!” Marie looked at Ian in concern, looking around at the rest of the group in confusion, but Lasse just waved it off. Ian saw that and walked off in a huff, heading to begin work on repairs inside the ship.

Ptolemy Hanger

Sumeragi stood in the hanger, looking at the hatch to the Arios. Sighing, she spoke to Allelujah in an apologetic tone, “I’m sorry Allelujah. I had Marie actively assist in the battle.”

Allelujah put down his comm unit, and sighed exasperatedly, “It’s ok. What’s done is done. Besides, Marie volunteered to do it. But please, in the future, never ask her to do that again as a favor to me.”

Sumeragi spoke sincerely, “I won’t do it again.” In the back of her mind, she knew Marie was a useful member for the crew, but she did owe Allelujah for all he had done. She would let the super soldiers deal with this between the two of them. She also had one more person she needed to talk to today.

With a nod, Sumeragi walked out of the hanger, leaving Allelujah in the cockpit of the Arios. He heard Hallelujah chuckle in his mind and speak to him in a sarcastic tone, “It seems you learned your lesson.”

Allelujah frowned at that. He asked curiously, “What do you mean by that?”

Laughing slightly, Hallelujah just gave a smug reply, “You really have learned nothing from living with me all these years? If you can’t figure it out now, you’ll just have to learn on your own.”

Allelujah silently cursed the other voice in his head, curious as to what he was missing. ‘I just want to keep her safe. What is wrong with that?’

Outside the Ptolemy

Lyle ended the call with his Katharon contact as he sat against a nearby rock, happy they would be able to give support. ‘It feels strange to talk to them now. I guess I’ve been with Celestial being long enough to get attached.’ He then heard footsteps approaching him. Looking up in curiosity, he saw Anew approaching him. Giving him a curious look, she asked, “Who were you talking to just now?”

‘She’s certainly sharp.’ He supposed it was another good quality to add to the pile with her. His heart rate increased slightly as he looked her. He looked away, trying to act casual, “Just some minor business.”

She looked down at her feet, confusion in her tone, “I’ve been noticing recently that the A-Laws always seem to know where the Ptolemaios is. How is that?”

Lyle looked over to her, curious about that as well. ‘Did she think it was me?’ He chuckled to himself and asked, “So you are suspicious of me, Ms. Returner?”

She rolled her eyes at his tone of voice and with a snarky tone, replied, “If it was, I don’t think you would be on the ship. And you can call me Anew you know. I don’t bite.”

Lyle laughed quietly, “Well if you say that, then you can call me Lyle.”

Anew gave him another curious look, leaning her head slightly, “If your real name is Lyle, why does everyone call you Lockon?”

Lockon deflated a little, his smile growing slightly smaller, “It was the code name for my brother when he was a member. I used it at first, but honestly I would rather just be called Lyle.”

Anew detected some lingering animosity in his voice at the mention of his brother. ‘I wonder why he feels that way about his brother.’ She looked at him apologetically, “I’m sorry if that was too personal.”

Lyle’s smile went back to the way it was before his brother was mentioned, and he waved off her concerns, “Don’t worry about it. You probably weren’t told any of that. It’s better than when I first joined the crew. Every single person who knew my brother was always shocked to see me. It got old fast.” He laughed at the memory quietly. ‘Granted one of those reactions did leave a mark.’ He continued, his voice becoming more flirtatious, “So Anew, what brought you out here? Looking for me?”

She responded, smirking, “Not intentionally, but I don’t mind that I found you. Mainly I was taking a short break when I noticed you up here. I realized that we haven’t got a chance to talk since the base attack, so I just wanted to see what you were doing. I then saw you talking with someone and overheard the very end of the conversation. I will say you should try to look less suspicious when you make secret calls. Someone might think you are up to something.”

Lyle, curious if she knew, asked, “And what would I be suspected of doing? I don’t need to keep secrets.”

Anew shook her head, “Ever since you joined, we suddenly have been able to contact Katharon a lot more easily. Almost as if they had someone inside our organization. And you are the only one here from outside the organization.”

Lyle looked ready to protest for a second, then stopped as he realized she had a point, giving her a look of ‘you caught me’, “I would try to refute that, but that wouldn’t go far. Good detective work, Sherlock. You have a problem with me doing it?”

Anew gave him a friendly smile, “Certainly not. They are allies, even if they aren’t the best fighting force. I don’t think any of us would have an issue with you continuing to report. I do think other people are aware, but just haven’t said.”

In a slightly exaggerated dramatic voice, the Irishman responded, “And here I was thinking I was a master spy.” He dropped that tone, shrugging his shoulders, “I only headed out here to make a call. Want to head back in?”

Anew looked at him warmly, “Not just yet. I’ll stay out here for a few more minutes. Get some fresh air.”

Lyle blushed slightly at her look, and gave her a flirtatious wink, “If you want company, I don’t mind staying.”

She rolled her eyes at that but laughed. She sat down against the rock Lyle was previously sitting on, patting a spot next to her on the ground, inviting him to sit down. He accepted the invitation, putting his arms behind his head and relaxing. Both of them knew they had to be back on duty soon, but would take advantage of the time they had.

On the bridge of the Ptolemy

Feldt looked at the status of the system checks. The damage to the ship was extensive and it would take hours to get many of the basic sensor systems back up, and she didn’t even want to think about the weapons. Currently all she could do was watch as the bar showing the scan progress slowly. ‘I hope Setsuna finds us soon. We need the 00 Raiser. And I need to talk to him.’ She could hear Mileina humming to herself as she focused on navigation fixes. ‘Hope it’s going better over there.’

She heard the door to the bridge open and she craned her head to see who it was. She saw Sumeragi enter, looking around the bridge, before the tactical forecaster’s eyes fell on the pink-haired girl. In a friendly tone, Sumeragi asked, “Feldt, do you mind talking with me for a bit?”

Feldt looked at the progress bar, seeing that it wouldn’t be done anytime soon, nodded her head and began to lower her seat, “Sure. It will be a while before we get any solutions to the system damage.” When the seat reached the ground, she stepped out of the chair and began to follow Sumeragi, reaching the conference room before stopping. Sumeragi gestured to the door, Feldt entered before Sumeragi, wondering what she wanted to talk about. Sumeragi gave her a smile when she got inside, the door closing behind her, “I’m sorry it took so long to get to this. I wanted to talk about you piloting the 0 Raiser at the battle of Lagrange 3, but the station took up so much of my time.”

Feldt shook her head, her tone friendly, “Don’t worry about it Ms. Sumeragi. The station was a bigger concern than anything else at the time. I don’t blame you.”

The brunette woman shrugged her shoulders, “Still, I wanted to see how you were doing. First time combat in a mobile suit can be intense, even if you are trained.”

Feldt looked down at the ground, her voice a bit shaky as she relived the experience of piloting during the battle, “I did shut down a little when I came under fire, but Setsuna saved me, so it all worked out. And I have to admit it was a little exciting in hindsight.” Feldt blushed slightly as she thought about Setsuna saving her. The next thing that popped in her head was wondering if Sumeragi would let her stay as the pilot.

Sumeragi replied sympathetically, “It was brave of you to willingly go out into the battlefield like that. We owe you for getting that to the 00. And if you want to talk about it in the future, you can always come to me.”

Feldt looked back up at Sumeragi, eyes and voice full of happiness, “It’s fine. I just did what needed to get done. And Setsuna talked to me after we got back and reassured me how I reacted was normal. Thank you for offering though.” Feldt then frowned slightly after she finished. Her voice became noticeably worried and longing, “I hope he gets back soon.”

Sumeragi took note of the shine in the pink-haired girl’s eye when she mentioned Setsuna, as well as her worried tone of voice after. Something connected in Sumeragi’s mind. The way Feldt was blushed when she talked about him saving her. The happiness in her voice mentioning him. The moment on the bridge after Setsuna’s speech came to her mind. Of Feldt wanting to say something but changing her words. She also remembered Feldt talking quietly to him before he launched to distract the enemy. Sumeragi recognized what was going on and sighed. Feldt had fallen for the raven-haired pilot. ‘Oh Feldt.’ Sumeragi remembered when she was younger and was like that with Emilio. ‘It’s not an easy emotion to deal with. There are plenty of happy moments, but love can also hurt. I hope you can avoid the heartache I went through.’

Feldt saw Sumeragi just looking at her, not saying anything. She tilted her head curiously and waved her hand in front of the tactical forecaster’s face, trying to get her attention, “Are you ok? Ms. Sumeragi?”

Sumeragi snapped back to attention, seeing the pink-haired girl looking at her strangely and waving her hand in her face. Her voice took a more serious tone “Feldt, how long has it been?”

Feldt lowered her hand, but her confusion continued, “How long has it been for what?”

“When did you fall for Setsuna?”

Feldt immediately blushed intensely and looked away from the older woman, embarrassed. ‘How did she know? Was I that obvious?’ Looking back up, stuttering as she asked, “Wh-what do you mean? He’s just a-“

Sumeragi immediately brought up the palm of her hand, causing Feldt to stop talking. Sumeragi, lowering her hand, spoke in a calm, comforting tone, “Feldt, you don’t need to pretend. I know what you are going through. It’s nice to see you so happy about something. It’s nice to see you care about Setsuna. I just want the truth.”

The pink-haired girl felt reassured by the tactical forecaster’s words, but still surprised at the bluntness of them. Feldt replied awkwardly, “Oh.”

“Do you like him?”

Taking a deep breath and swallowing, she looked right into Sumeragi’s eyes with obvious worry, “Yes. I really like him and I’m worried that he isn’t coming back or that he’s hurt. He’s alone out there and we can’t do anything to find him. I tried to tell him after the Lagrange 3 battle how I felt about him, but my nerves gave out. I told him I wanted to talk to him after the attack on the Memento Mori, but…” A tear rolled down her cheek and her voice raised, “But now he’s separated from us, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get a chance to tell him!”

Sumeragi looked at Feldt, the girl’s sea green eyes brimming with potential tears, and put her hand on Feldt’s shoulder. In a motherly voice, she responded, “Feldt, it’s alright. It’s natural to be worried about the people we love and care about, especially people as risk taking as Setsuna. But he survived for five years on his own and came back. We have to trust that he will come back this time as well. And when he comes back, you tell him how you feel. What made you stop before?”

Feldt’s voice hitched slightly, “I was worried he wouldn’t reciprocate my feelings, or just not say anything. I was worried about putting myself out there. It was stupid and I regret it now, but I couldn’t stop worrying.”

Sumeragi gave her a smile, chuckling a little, “Feldt, it’s love or at least close enough to it. You don’t have to explain yourself. Just tell him when he shows back up. Just be blunt and honest with him. Even if he doesn’t feel the same way, you can at least say you got your feelings out in the open. You don’t need to regret never telling him. And who knows, maybe he cares for you in the same way.”

Feldt nodded, her emotions calming down, causing the tears to go away. She gave the tactical forecaster a warm smile, “Thank you. I know he’ll come back, I just can’t help but worry.”

Sumeragi laughed, “With a boy like Setsuna, I can completely understand your worry. He constantly gave me heart attacks during the events five years ago.” Feldt laughed as well, remembering how many times he had broken protocol or shot ahead against orders, like when he opened his cockpit when facing Ali al Saachez in Moralia. ‘I really did pick an impulsive man, didn’t I?’

Sumeragi realized in the face of what she just learned, she had an important question to ask. Her tone shifted to become more serious, her smile evening out, “I do need ask you something. When he gets back, do you intend to stay as the pilot of the 0 Raiser?”

Feldt was once again caught by surprise. ‘I was just going to ask her that. It saves me the awkwardness in asking her.’ Feldt nodded resolutely, though still a little nervous, “As long as he intends to fight, I want to be at his side, supporting him. And I want to be able to protect the ship in a mobile suit.”

Sumeragi looked at her proudly, happy to see the introverted young girl from five years ago grow into a strong and resilient woman. The pride in her voice was apparent as she spoke, “Well if that is your plan, then I need you and Mileina to begin to teach Saji how to take over your role on the bridge. I need someone to cover your job when you are out there on the battlefield.”

The pink-haired girl felt a surge of happiness go through her. ‘Ms. Sumeragi is ok with it?!’ She pulled Sumeragi into a quick hug, both of them letting go after a few seconds. The pink-haired woman’s excitement was palpable, “Thank you! Thank you so much Ms. Sumeragi!”

Sumeragi felt a surge of maternal pride. ‘Is this what it feels like to be a mom?’ It certainly felt good. With a playful voice, the brunette asked, “So what color do you want on your pilot suit?”

With the 00

Setsuna had followed Ali al Saachez long enough to the point that the sun was setting. He had occasionally taken some potshots at him, but the Arche easily dodged all of them. The mercenary was not fighting back despite him shooting, so he must have a different goal entirely. ‘So, it’s clear he wants to lead me somewhere. But where does he want to lead me to?’ Without a detailed map of the area, he didn’t have a lot of reference to where Ali was heading. It was probably somewhere in the middle east if he had to guess. He looked at his sensors again and the topographical map reminded him of something. ‘Wait, this is Krugis.’ Why would the mercenary lead him here?

As the Arche flew over the ruins of town, it suddenly slowed down, floating down to the ground slowly. Setsuna caught up and followed him down to the ground. There was something nagging in the back of Setsuna’s mind, something familiar about this place. But he didn’t have time to think on that, not after seeing what Ali was doing. What shocked Setsuna was the fact that Ali stepped out of his cockpit, giving the raven-haired pilot a smirk as he stood on the descending mobile suit. ‘What is your plan?’

When they both reached the ground next to a ruined church, Setsuna scrambled out of the cockpit of the 00 Raiser, jumping into the raised palm of his mobile suit. He saw Ali standing on the shoulder of his own gundam, near the bell tower on the church. Ali spoke first in a flippant tone, “Well, well, well, it’s been a while Krugis punk. I’m sorry, I mean Mister Krugis punk.”

Setsuna replied angrily, “Ali al Saachez! You’re with the innovators!?”

Ali shrugged his shoulders, “That’s right. If a mercenary is asked to do a job, he’ll go anywhere for the right price.”

“So are you saying that you don’t need a reason to fight!?”

The mercenary just shook his head, “Even if I did have a reason, I’m sure you wouldn’t understand.” Setsuna drew out his gun, beginning to aim at Ali, when the man called out to him, “Hold on a minute. I brought you here because there is someone that wants to meet you.” Setsuna looked at him confused. ‘So that answers that question, but who wants to meet me?’ With a dramatic flair of his arm, Ali stated, “Allow me to introduce my sponsor.”

Setsuna heard steps coming from the other side of the tower heading towards the pair. As the person came into view, Setsuna saw a lithe green-haired man with purple eyes walking casually and confidently to face him. The first word that came to Setsuna’s mind was “innovator” upon seeing this man. ‘So this of those that corrupted the world.’ He spoke harshly to the green-haired man, “Are you an innovator?”

Nonchalantly, Ribbons replied, “I am. My name is Ribbons Almark. It’s been a long time Setsuna F Seiei, or should I say, Soran Ebrahim.” Setsuna’s eyes widened in shock. ‘How did he know my name!? What did he mean by it’s been a long time!?’ Ribbons continued, “To you this is the first time we met. But I first met you eleven years ago.” Setsuna glared at the man and Ribbons just smirked, “Here in this hellhole of a battlefield where foolish humans were fighting. And on it was one child running for his life. I was watching you, from the vantage point of a mobile suit cockpit.”

“A-are you saying…” Setsuna remembered those moments vividly. Running for his life from enemy mobile suits. Ineffectually firing at them, hoping to get a lucky shot. Rejecting God for the cruelty he saw and did. And that shining light in the sky saving his life. He had lived his life after that wanting to bring the justice that only a gundam could bring and now it turns out the pilot of this suit was this cruel, destructive being in front of him? ‘Was he the same then or had he changed?’

Ribbons let Setsuna soak that in for a few seconds, then continued, eyes glowing gold, “That armed intervention was a field test for the 0 gundam. We were supposed to dispose of all witnesses to maintain secrecy. But on the spur of the moment, I decided to spare your life. It was because the way you stared at the 0 gundam, at me. And that’s not all. Because of that, I decided to recommend you to Veda as a gundam meister.”

Setsuna continued to soak in what he was being told. ‘I was chosen because I fed this man’s ego? That’s the reason? Does he think that will get me to stop fighting? If he thinks I’ll be swayed by that, he’s wrong.’ Setsuna sent a harsh glare at Ribbons, narrowing his eyes, “Do you think that I’ll thank you?”

The innovator closed his eyes and smiled before reopening them, “Now that your services are no longer required, I thought it was about time to return that to me, seeing as I am its rightful pilot.”

Setsuna stood there for a few seconds, slightly shaking in anger. ‘He really thinks I would let him use the 00 Raiser to further corrupt the world? Not a chance.’ He raised his gun at the green-haired man, yelling, “Sorry! But I refuse!” He was about to shoot when he heard a gunshot and suddenly felt immense pain in his right shoulder. He saw Ali al Saachez aiming his gun at him, red particles coming out the end of it. Setsuna fell to his knees, some blood hitting the 00 Raiser. Grunting in pain, he raised the hand to the level of the cockpit, getting into it. He activated the suit, right shoulder causing constant pain as he manipulated the controls, trying to get out of there.

He left the town, trying to gain distance. However, he quickly spotted the Arche gundam following him. ‘Do I have to fight him in this condition? I hope the 00 Raiser can hold out.’

In the Arche gundam, Ali licked his lips at the prospect in front of him. ‘Not only can I get the fight I wanted, but I can kill the Krugis punk and mess with Ribbons plan at the same time? It’s like it’s my birthday!’

With the Arios

After they had gotten the warning that they had two enemy suits approaching from two opposite directions late in the evening, the Seravee and Arios had been sent out to deal with them. The Arios shot towards the coast in jet mode, spotting the contact on his radar. Hallelujah spoke to Allelujah happily, “Finally, some actual combat! I was tired of sitting there not getting to kill.” Allelujah rolled his eyes at the other personality’s bloodlust. He would have to get used to that again.

In an even tone, he asked, “Can you help out a little in this battle?”

Hallelujah laughed, “You are asking someone who just came out of a coma for help?” He paused for a second before continuing, “Fortunately for you, I can help a little. Nothing great, but it should help you keep up with the enemy more, especially if it’s one of those innovators.”

Allelujah smirked, “Then let’s go!” He located the enemy on the water, seeing it was the same type that Setsuna had fought. ‘The bombardment type, huh? Too bad you’ll never reach the ship!’ As he dashed towards the enemy, he could feel the quantum brainwaves from Hallelujah boosting his abilities. ‘I forgot how nice a feeling that was.’ The enemy opened fire on him, trying to hit him with the large orange blast, as well as smaller blasts coming from the smaller barrels on the cannon. The super soldier dodged out of the way of the shots, owing to the Arios fight jet shape. Hallelujah spoke pridefully to Allelujah, “Is that really the best they got? I thought the innovators were supposed to be good?”

Allelujah replied to that, feeling good with the advantage he had, “We can outmaneuver them on Earth, so they are on the backfoot.”

Allelujah waited for the right opportunity as he dodged around the blasts. The enemy was keeping up enough of a barrage that he had to focus on dodging. At last, he saw the opening he was looking for when he saw it shift the cannon to its left hand. He charged the suit, opening the shield on the Arios and grabbing the cannon, slicing it in half as he closed the shield back up. Allelujah called out to the enemy, “Not so tough now, innovator!”

He heard the enemy growl in response, pulling out its beam saber. Allelujah knew he wouldn’t be able to pull that trick off again and pulled back for another run, knowing the enemy had reduced firepower. Now this fight was more even.

With the Seravee

As the Arios was dealing with one of the Innovators, Tieria was facing his own. He was in a similar position to the bombardment model suit fighting Allelujah, firing at the new model with the beam saber claws with little success. The new model was dodging and weaving out of the way of his shots, returning fire with its own wrist mounted blasters, forcing Tieria to use the GN field to block them. ‘The Veda support for them is not making this easy!’ The enemy suit called out with a deep, male voice, “You are an innovator!” Tieria gritted his teeth. ‘I’m not like you bastards!’

The suit extended both sets of beam sabers, as it tried to get into melee range. The Seravee opened fire with its shoulder mounted canons, a purple blast narrowly missing the enemy. The suit took advantage of the missed shot, cutting off moist of the barrel of the weapons Tieria just fired, causing an explosion that rocked the gundam. The innovator called out again, the voice full of passion and anger, “Join us! We can carry out this mission together!”

It then raised its two arms, preparing to slice into the Seravee, but as the attack came down, it was intercepted by Tieria’s own beam saber as he called out in response, “I refuse!” They clashed their blades for a second, before the new model broke it and proceeded to kick the Seravee, sending it falling onto the nearby beach. After the Seravee landed, Tieria thought, ‘So much power. This is the power of the innovators. I need a plan. I can’t hit it at range and its better in melee. I need some way to take advantage of the Seravee’s strengths.’

Tieria took to the air again, re engaging the enemy with a new plan. He forced the suit back with more of his attacks, but his attempts didn’t dissuade it from charging in again. The enemy once again talked to Tieria, his voice just as angry, “I’m not happy about destroying one of us, but I must carry my mission!” Tieria charged forward himself, GN field active. The new model combined its beam sabers into one large blade, thrusting it at the Seravee. At the last second, the GN field turned off, slicing off the right arm of the Seravee. The innovator was confused. ‘Where did its GN field go?’ The pilot didn’t have time to react as the other arm grappled the new model and the hands in the knee joints of the Seravee grabbed the legs of the suit.

Tieria activated the trans-am and activated the second suit function of the Seravee. ‘The firepower wasn’t the only feature that was copied over to this.’ The back part of the suit began to shift, the shoulder cannons turning into arms as other parts of the back forming the torso, leg and head of the new gundam. He floated away from the Seravee and turned to face the grappled enemy. The innovator called out in confusion, “What is that!?”

Tieria replied, voice full of confidence, “This isn’t like with the Nadleeh. I do this of my own choosing! This is Seraphim gundam!” The innovator panicked, activating the GN field on his suit, surrounding it and the Seravee. Tieria calmly forced the Seraphim’s hands through the barrier, breaching the other side.

The new model spoke again, panic obvious in his tone, “You’re destroying you own kind!”

Tieria, with no mercy in his voice, replied, “I am a human being!” The hands shifted into blasters and aimed point blank at the enemy suit. He opened fire right at the cockpit of the enemy suit, causing it to explode into pieces, the explosion sending the Seravee flying. As the battle was over, Tieria realized he had just killed an innovator. He was certain that Ribbons would hate that. ‘Good. I hope realize you aren’t as invincible as you think.’

With the Arios

The two had been fighting on a more even front for a while when Allelujah noticed the enemy looking towards the direction of the other battle as it had stopped moving for a few seconds. Taking advantage of the enemy pause, he came in on another pass, slicing off the left arm with his shield claw. The enemy immediately pulled back in response to this, dashing away from the battlefield. Hallelujah yelled out to Allelujah, “We have them on the ropes! Go after them!”

Allelujah shook his head, “No, we have to protect the ship. Something must have happened in the other battle if they got that distracted.” He then saw an order to return to the Ptolemy. Following the order, he began to head back, wondering what happened with Tieria.

With the 00

After realizing he wasn’t going to outrun the Arche gundam, Setsuna resolved himself to fight, even with his shoulder wound. Flying lower to the ground, he opened fire on Ali, hoping to keep him at a distance. Most of his shots missed and the ones that hit didn’t seem to be effective. Ali, knowing the wound was slowing him down, dodged under his blasts and clashed with Setsuna’s blades. Setsuna felt the power of the strike, rippling through his body and leaving his shoulder in immense pain, causing Setsuna to yell out in agony. Ali grinned, gloating with bloodlust, “How is that shoulder of yours?”

He hit him a few more times with his blade, every hit jostling Setsuna’s wound. The raven-haired pilot gritted his teeth, resisting succumbing to the pain. ‘How much longer can I take this?’ The Arche gundam pulled back from its assault, launching its fangs at the 00 Raiser. The 00 Raiser opened fire on the drones, destroying two of them while it dodged attacks from the rest of them. The Arche, seeing an opening, charged in again, one of the beam sabers on its feet activated. Setsuna dodged out of the way faster than normal, something in the back of his head guiding his dodge, and the beam saber passed over the head of the 00 Raiser. ‘Where did that come from?’ Reacting quickly after the dodge, he sliced off the foot that just swiped at him.

Ali looked on in curiosity and worry. ‘How is he fighting so well with that shoulder?’ The drones continued to fire on the 00 Raiser, him flying low to the ground as he dodged all the blasts being sent at him. Setsuna could feel the buildup of sweat on his face as he tried to keep track of the drones. ‘There are so many of them!’

Ali examined the situation. It was clear the drones weren’t hitting him and trying to be tricky wasn’t going to work. ‘It looks like my plan to destroy the suit isn’t going to work. The punk has gotten better. Fine, I’ll play Ribbons game plan for now.’ He called back the drones, surprising Setsuna, before charging back into melee head on. He once again met Setsuna’s blades with his own, hoping the blood loss from the wound would make it easier. He was surprised he had lasted this long. Ali focused his attacks on raw power over finesse. ‘I still have the advantage in strength. If he wasn’t standing in my way, I might have been impressed.’ As the Arche and 00 Raiser fought in brutal melee combat, the 00 on the losing side, Setsuna could feel the mounting effect of his damaged shoulder. ‘I’m sorry everyone. I don’t know if I can make it out of this one.’

Just then, a memory flashed through Setsuna’s mind. Feldt looked down for a second before giving him a determined look, “Setsuna, promise me you will come back after this battle. I need to…I need to talk with you.” Energy traveled through Setsuna, revitalizing him. ‘No, I can’t think that. I made a promise. I owe it to her, to the rest of the crew. They need me!’ Activating trans-am, the air filled with GN particles. He visualized where he wanted to be out of the way of the next strike from the mercenary, leaving Ali confused. He called out, “Where did you go you Krugis punk?” He was answered by suddenly being kicked from behind, sending him flying forwards. ‘What is happening? Where did he go?’

He turned around to face the direction of where he was kicked from, but there was nothing there. The 00 Raiser suddenly appeared from the right side of the Arche, aiming for the cockpit. Ali managed to raise his sword just in time, but Setsuna’s blade sliced right through it, narrowly missing the suit as Ali pulled back. The suit disappeared once again, frustrating the pilot of the Arche gundam. ‘Did Ribbons leave this info out on purpose? He never said the suit could do this!’ He didn’t have much time to reflect on that as Ali saw the 00 teleport in front of him, slicing off the Arche’s right arm with one blade and the knee of the right leg with the other sword.

Ali was panicking now. ‘I have to get out of here. I didn’t take into account the pure power of this suit.’ As he was beginning to activate the escape pod, the 00 Raiser raised one of its swords aiming at the cockpit. Setsuna could feel the adrenaline flowing through him. ‘Now’s my chance to get rid of this monster! To have him pay for all the crimes he’s committed!’ Just as he was about to slash into the Arche, his shoulder flared up in immense pain, causing him to stop the attack mid swing. Ali, taking advantage of the situation, activated his pod and flew off, leaving Setsuna hovering in the air as the pain from his wound was becoming too much. He could see the blood that had soaked his suit as he had been fighting. ‘Why now?! I almost had him!’

Despite being in immense pain, he saw two contacts on his sensors. Immediately assuming A-Laws, he aimed his guns in that direction before he noticed they were GN drive equipped units. ‘It must be Katharon.’ Relaxing, he lowered his weapons as the suits approached. A male voice echoed in his cockpit, “Are you ok 00? We saw you just stop as the enemy escaped. Katharon sent backup just in case you needed it.”

In a pained voice, he replied, “Medic. Hurt.”

The other suit replied in a concerned voice, “Alright, we’ll guide you to our base. Just hold on and follow us.” The adrenaline in his system was flooding out, leaving him with a feeling of exhaustion on top of the pain he already felt. He tried to fight both feelings until he landed, holding out for now.

Setsuna followed the two suits to a large hanger door in located in the middle of some canyons. As the door opened, he noticed the layout was similar to the other Katharon base they were at before. A crowd gathered around the gundam, looking up in amazement. Setsuna slowly exited the cockpit, lowering himself on the rope attachment in the gundam. He could feel himself beginning to lose consciousness from the wound. As he hit the ground, he saw Marina running towards him, worry etched in her face. Just as she reached him, he collapsed in her arms, pain and exhaustion finally overcoming him.

Marina called out for help, getting a few people to assist her getting him to the medical bay. She looked at Setsuna’s wounded form. ‘What happened to you?’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The morning after the previous battle, the Ptolemaios was on its way to a rendezvous point with Katharon. Most of the systems were functional, but were still not at full capacity. That would take time they didn’t have. To make things worse, the system that was least functional was the weapons, meaning their aiming with the guns would be off until they had more extensive times to fix it. The bridge was currently staffed by Feldt, Lasse, and Anew at their usual stations, with Lyle standing behind the captain’s chair and Saji at one of the auxiliary chairs, studying the systems to get a feel for them.

Saji was actually surprised when Sumeragi had told him that he was going to be taught how to fulfill Feldt’s role on the ship and that Feldt was going to become a full-time pilot. ‘I suppose it’s something that I can get used to. It’s not like I didn’t have to mess with computer systems at my other jobs. Besides, she seems happier and lighter since that talk with Ms. Noriega.’

As they neared the rendezvous point, Feldt studied the sensors again, detecting no enemies in the current area. She happily called out, “Nothing on the e-sensors or the optical sensors. There are no Federation forces in this airspace.”

In an anxious voice, Lyle responded, “Then let’s get to the rendezvous point. I hear the Katharon supply trucks are already there and waiting for us.”

Lasse, smirking to himself, stated, “Well, we better thank Katharon for telling us about that.” Lasse turned to face Lyle, smirk still plastered on his face, “Right?”

Lyle saw the smirk and immediately realized that he was busted, assuming he didn’t know before. ‘Anew was right. I hope this doesn’t become a pattern.’ He shrugged his shoulders and gave a defeated sigh, “Yeah, I’ll tell them.”

Anew gave him a sly grin, stating with levity in her voice, “I told you so.” Lyle rolled his eyes at her but gave her a grin. Feldt happily smiled at the interaction. ‘It’s nice to see the crew in such high spirits.’

Hanger Control Center

“Allelujah, you are being ridiculous!” Marie’s voice rang out in the room, frustration evident in her tone. She looked at him, wanting him to understand.

Allelujah spoke firmly, “Marie, you know the promise I made. I don’t want you to have to fight. You are asking me to be ok with you piloting the Gun Archer.”

Marie sent him a feeling of exasperation over their bond, “We don’t know where Setsuna is and the A-Laws keep finding us! We can’t hold out forever with three gundams.”

Confusion filled Allelujah’s voice, “But I thought you didn’t want to fight?”

“I don’t, but Soma wants to protect me. She thinks the best way is to pilot the Gun Archer.”

“But-“

“She also wants to make up for just standing by and watching the A-Laws destroy the Katharon base, especially because she knew it was wrong.”

Allelujah spoke in a worried voice, “You would be ok with her taking over like that? Even if it puts you at risk?”

Marie looked him in the eyes, pleading with him, “Allelujah, I’m not doing this because I want to. Right now, we aren’t in a good situation. I may have some of the skills of a super soldier, but Soma is trained. She is a better fighter out there compared to me.”

Allelujah’s frustration was mounting. He wanted to keep Marie safe, and she was now asking him to be ok with her going out to fight. ‘It took so long for us to be reunited and her fighting would just put that at risk. I don’t want her to have the weight of killing people on her soul.’ Rubbing his brow, he replied, “We’ve held them off so far. We don’t need you to risk your life.”

Marie was about to reply when she felt Soma wordlessly asking if she can take over temporarily. Marie could feel the anger and frustration from the other personality. She mentally sighed and faded into the background, letting Soma take over. Her words came out hot and angry, “Do you think the Colonel would want me to die? To just sit here quietly and not try to survive?”

Allelujah was taken back by the sudden aggression in Marie’s voice. But it seemed off, especially the way she said ‘Colonel’. ‘Wait, Soma must have taken over.’ Sighing, the male super soldier spoke pleadingly, “Please Soma-“

Her words remained fiery, glaring intensely at him, “I’ve been sitting here listen to you get worried and controlling and not even listening to her. We aren’t fragile! I am a trained soldier, and she is also a super soldier, even if she doesn’t fight! And another gundam on your side gives you a better chance of survival!” He attempted to say something, but she stopped him, “I’ll go along with whatever Marie wants, but you need to get your head out of the clouds. I’ve said my piece and hope you two can work it out.” Marie felt Soma retreat back, allowing her to take back over her body. She added her own words, speaking sympathetically, “Allelujah, how do you think it feels to have to watch the person you love put their life on the line every time we face an enemy? It’s something I have to deal with. I just want to protect you and all the people on this ship.”

Allelujah took in Soma and Marie’s words, sighing internally. He heard Hallelujah whistle in his head, saying, “As much as I don’t like her, they make a good point.”

He sighed in frustration, replying mentally, “Not you too.”

“Just because someone is an asshole doesn’t mean they are always wrong. Also, you do worry your girlfriend.” Allelujah was aware of how true the first point was based on his experience with Hallelujah. ‘Maybe they both have a point. We have no idea how much forces the A-Laws can bring at us. And when did Hallelujah care about another person? I didn’t think he cared for more than just his own survival.’ Looking at Marie conflicted, he said, “I can’t say I’m thrilled about this idea, but Soma is right. I’m just too worried about you getting hurt or dying.”

Marie rested a hand on his wrist, voice calm and soft, “I know. It’s not ideal, but it’s better to break a promise like that than die. If it makes you feel better, I will try to tell you if I’m joining you.”

Allelujah felt comforted by those words, bringing her in close as he wrapped his arms around her waist. She responded by wrapping her arms around him, feeling the tension begin to leave Allelujah’s body. They rested their foreheads together, eyes closed, letting the tension from the conversation flow away. Both of them felt calmer and that everything will be alright. After a minute of that, they pulled away and Allelujah spoke in a subdued voice, “I don’t want to lose you again, but I’ll trust you.”

Marie pulled him into a quick kiss, her happiness palpable to Allelujah. After they broke the kiss, she gave him a warm smile, intertwining their fingers, “Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. I want to live just as much as you.”

Allelujah gave her a more uncertain smile, still uncomfortable with having to have her fight. She could sense his discomfort, and without a word, pulled him into a deep and passionate kiss. Allelujah’s worry disappeared, his mind happily focused on the kiss. They broke apart after a few minutes, Allelujah giving her a grin, “Trying to distract me?”

With a coy grin, she replied, “Did it work?” He responded by falling down onto the bench and pulling her with him, her straddling him. Their lips met in another kiss, the world around them falling out of focus.

Sergei’s Office

Sergei sat on the couch in his office, focusing on the empty middle seat on the couch across from him worriedly. The only thing illuminating the office was a reading lamp on his desk, highlighting the darkness outside. His old friend, Pang Hercury, had just left his office, his mutinous plan already in motion. There had been rumors and unease in the regular military, but to lead a coup against the Federation government?

Sergei spoke confused, “You’re saying that you’re the leader of the coup forces?”

A tall, brown-haired middle-aged man wearing a Federation uniform under a black long coat spoke resolutely, his deep voice carrying his words, “The Federation government established the A-Laws without consulting the public. It’s built up its strength and now is even resorting to satellite weapons. We can’t afford to overlook these actions anymore.”

Sergei replied in a harsh tone, “I don’t like the A-Laws, but don’t underestimate the A-Laws.”

Hercury closed his eyes, expecting that that response. In an even tone, he reassured his old friend, “Believe me, I’m not. But there is one place that not even they would touch us.” He opened his eyes, wanting to see his friend’s reaction.

Sergei looked at him in shock, “You don’t mean the orbital elevators!?” Hercury just gave him a smirk. Sergei asked in a resigned tone, “Let me guess. You are asking me to join me in your coup?”

Hercury shook his head, chuckling to himself, “I can’t imagine you ever disobeying orders, otherwise Holly would be-“

“Don’t say it!” Sergei interrupted him with a harsh tone, the memory not a pleasant one to remember.

Hercury sat up straight, voice resolute, “I came here to warn you to stay out of what’s going to happen.”

In a resigned voice, Sergei responded, “So you want me to look the other way.” It wasn’t a question he needed to ask; it was the answer.

Changing his tone to a more friendly one, Hercury spoke to Sergei, “I don’t want to have to fight an old friend.” He stood up and headed towards the door of the office. As he reached the door, he turned around to look at Sergei, “I’ve said this before Sergei. An army exists to act as a deterrent to foreign powers in order to protect the nations people and prosperity. However, an army can’t function properly under a misguided government. I just want to live like a soldier under an honorable army again.” He walked out the door, not waiting for Sergei’s response.

 It felt like there was a weight in Sergei’s stomach. Events had progressed rapidly since the arrival of the gundams. His old view of what the Federation was doing had been shattered after the destruction of the Katharon base, but his loyalty to the people he protected persisted. ‘Isn’t that why the Federation existed? To help protect the member nations? Yet how can the Federation ignore what the A-Laws are doing?’ His loyalty was being tested. He increasingly had to sit back and just watch as the A-Laws committed more and more war crimes. He even sympathized with Hercury. ‘You were always more idealistic than me. I just wasn’t prepared for you to act this way.’

His old friend had struck a raw nerve by mentioning Holly. Hercury had been his best man at the wedding. He knew what she had meant to him and for him to say that. Yet he knew Hercury wouldn’t say that for no reason.

He quietly sighed to himself, slumping into the seat. All these years and her name still brought some pain, though much less than in years past. His friend was right. If he had disobeyed orders, then she might have lived. But lives of hundreds of people were on the line. ‘I had to choose between my wife and the lives of the engineers working on the elevator. Holly understood. It was the right decision. Yet sometimes I wish I had saved her. Maybe life would be better. Maybe Andrei and I would have a better relationship.’

He shook those thoughts out of his head. It didn’t help to focus on past regrets. It only opened old wounds. Following orders was the only thing he had left. Andrei left him. Soma had gone to Celestial Being. Holly was dead. Orders were the only thing he had left. The only thing that gave him purpose. If he went against orders, what would he have. In the back of his mind, a traitorous thought formed, ‘Your dignity and sense of morality.’ He rejected the thought. Why had life been so cruel to him recently? He thought nothing else could happen, but now his old friend was going to die, even if it were a just cause.

Hercury made a good point. The Federation was abusing their power and the way the A-Laws acted like they unquestionable agents always bothered him. But what could he do? The A-Laws had control over the Federation and the media. Whatever his friend was planning had little chance of success. The media would modify whatever he was doing to make him look like an enemy to the people. He prayed that his friend would come out of it alive, but he feared his friend would rather die than surrender to the Federation. ‘Please don’t be stupid. I can’t lose another friend.’

Deck of A-Laws Carrier

The sky was open and clear as Andrei stared into the horizon from one of the catwalks below the deck. They were so close to beating the gundams. They were trapped on Earth with a damaged ship and apparently the A-Laws had very accurate information on the location of the ship. ‘Do we have a spy on board? We never had this intel before.’ He didn’t question the information’s origin. It had been reliable and regardless of the source, it was allowing them to follow and plan attacks on the ship. And command trusted it, so he would. ‘Now if only I had a suit that could fight on even terms with the gundams.’

He suddenly heard a more feminine male voice coming from his right, catching him by surprise as they called out, “Hey there.” Turning to face the direction where the voice came from, he saw an androgynous looking man with light purple hair and an A-Laws uniform giving him a grin. Andrei looked at him in confusion, before realizing this must be one of the pilots of the new models. His looks reminded Andrei of Ribbons, in terms of oddity. He gave him a salute, “Second Lieutenant Andrei, at your service.”

The man gave him one back, before saying casually, “Relax, I just wanted to talk with you. My name is Revive Revival.”

‘What an odd name.’ Andrei was once again confused, “Why are you interested in talking to me?”

Revive chuckled, “Ribbons told me to keep an eye on you. He thinks you have great potential.”

“How do you know Ribbons?”

Revive gave him a smile, “Let’s just say my associates and I are friends of Ribbons. He sent us to assist the A-Laws in dealing with the gundams.”

Andrei gave him an appreciative look, “So you are the pilots of the new models? If you are then you guys have been a great help fighting the gundams.”

The innovator smirked at Andrei, voice with an entertained tone, “You guys did need help. Ribbons decided some of the experimental models were good enough to be deployed.”

Andrei’s voice was full of envy, “So that is where the R&D budget is going to. I can certainly appreciate the power of those suits.”

Revive tilted his head slightly, catching the envy in Andrei’s voice, “You want one, don’t you?” Andrei gave him a curious look. ‘How did he know that?’ Knowing Revive had the soldier’s full attention, continued, “Ribbons is actually developing a suit for you, well mobile armor specifically. We are currently testing it out the prototype. You will probably see it in the next battle. It will probably be a few months before your suit rolls out. So, my Gadessa and my friend’s Garazzo will have to suffice for now, besides the prototype.” He recognized that the former was the one with the large cannon while the latter was the one that had those beam saber claws.

Andrei nodded at that, happy his wish is coming true, “Well I won’t look a gift horse in the mouth Mr Revival. Maybe with that we can eliminate the enemies of peace once and for all.” Revive just smirked, seeing his reaction. ‘Looks like you picked a good target Ribbons. I hope he doesn’t disappoint. He certainly is an interesting human, as far as humans go.’

Revive replied pleasantly, “I will keep you updated on the progress of the suit. Until then, stay alive. And just call me Revive. A friend of Ribbons is a friend of mine. I must be off now, but feel free to talk to me or my friends at any time. They wouldn’t mind your company.” Revive saluted him and Andrei saluted back, the innovator walking towards one of the doors leading inside.

Andrei looked out at the horizon, mind buzzing with excitement. Andrei could only dream of what a world where Celestial Being and Katharon were defeated was like. Now with these new mobile suits, that dream could become a reality. ‘We could bring peace to the world. No one innocent has to die again. We can progress and make a better world. With the A-Laws at the helm, this new world could be achieved. A world where a child doesn’t have to lose a parent to pointless wars. And one where people aren’t rewarded for getting their spouse killed.’

Unknown Location

Setsuna opened his eyes, feeling groggy and out of sorts. His shoulder felt perfectly normal. ‘Wasn’t I shot there?’ He also noticed he wasn’t in his pilot suit, but a button-down white shirt, black jacket and red scarf. Instincts kicking in, he scanned around, trying to figure out where he was. What he saw was like a ghost from the past. He was standing in the middle of a street; it was Krugis. He definitely recognized the buildings around him. It was dark, no lights illuminating the streets, only the moon providing an ominous glow. ‘But Krugis is gone. How can it be here?’ Memories of the past came back, ones of happy life with his mother and father before Ali al Saachez showed up, destroying his life as he knew it. And looking at the stone building next to him, he recognized that this was his childhood home. ‘But why am I here?’

His musings were interrupted by rapid footsteps on cobblestone approaching his old family home. He spotted what was heading his way and what he saw shocked him. He saw a younger version of himself, no older that seven, in a white shirt and grey pants, heading towards the wooden door of the house speaking prayers to God quietly to himself. Setsuna was frozen in place, realizing what his younger self was about to do. ‘I have to stop him! To keep him from making a mistake!’ He heard the shocked voices of his parents speaking to the young version of him, relieved that he had come home after being gone.

Knowing he had little time, Setsuna ran in, hoping he could stop the tragic event that set his current path into motion from happening. Seeing the child version of him aiming his gun at his parents, he grabbed his arm and disarmed him, taking a hold of the pistol. Young Setsuna called out in desperate anger, “What did you do that for?! I’m doing this to uphold the teachings of God!”

Setsuna glared at his younger self, anger in his voice, “There is no God in this world!” He looked away for a second before putting a hand on the shoulder of younger him, knowing the child would never listen at this point. He continued, “You are only continuing a horrible cycle that will not make you happy.” He shoved himself towards his parents, yelling, “Don’t let him out of the house!” He only looked at them for a second before dashing out. He couldn’t bring himself to really look at them. ‘After what I did to them, I don’t deserve any happy looks from them.’ 

As he ran out into the street, he was suddenly stopped by a pair of arms touching him from behind. One wrapped around his wrist while the other rested against the arm that held the pistol. He then felt a weight on his back as someone rested against it. It felt very familiar and comforting. A soft, familiar voice spoke from behind him, “Setsuna, you can’t change the past. The only thing you can do is reflect on it and try to look at it from another perspective.” He turned around to see Feldt in her uniform, looking at him with sad eyes. ‘This must be a dream, if she is here in this moment. Is she here because of my feelings?’

He saw the gun disappear from his hand and two gunshots come from the house. His heart clenched. ‘Not again. Why can’t I escape the past?’ He turned around and looked into the eyes of the woman he yearned to see, her eyes full of sorrow, yet determined. She continued, in a similar position to when he comforted her on the Ptolemy, “The past shapes the current you, but it doesn’t have to define your future. You can change Setsuna. Move forward and move on. You just have to grasp the future for yourself.”

Setsuna could see the world fading around him into white and her along with it. As she began to disappear, she said one last thing, “Setsuna, when you create a better world, don’t forget to give yourself a place in it.” He tried to reply, but she disappeared before he could say anything. He reached out desperately to where the pink-haired woman used to be. ‘But how do I do that without you?’ He saw a rush of light as the dream collapsed, sending him back to reality.

In the Katharon Medical Bay

Setsuna opened his eyes once again, this time to a bright light. Not expecting that, Setsuna tried to move his shoulder to block the light, but grunted in pain as he felt the wound from the gunshot. After a few seconds, he was able to open his eyes fully. Looking around the room he was in, he saw what seemed to be a makeshift medical bay and only a doctor that was looking over some paperwork.. The doctor, a middle-aged man with blonde hair, walked over to him, saying evenly, “I see you are awake. How are you feeling?”

Setsuna tried to speak, but his throat felt like a desert. Coughing, he sputtered out, “Water.”

The doctor nodded and brought over a glass, having been prepared for that. Setsuna drank eagerly, emptying the glass. Looking at the young man, the doctor spoke in a professional tone, “You are lucky young man. Any more jostling of your shoulder and it could have been worse. We got the bullet out, but there seems to be some strange effect on your arm that kept us from doing some healing.”

Setsuna, his throat feeling a bit better, spoke in a raspy voice, “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me young man, just doing my job. And the princess wanted to talk with you after you woke up. Are you ok with that?”

Setsuna nodded and the Doctor took the glass, filling it up again. He put it on the table next to Setsuna, saying, “I’ll go get her and leave you here to talk alone. I’ll be back later to check on you.” The doctor walked out of the room with a causal pace, leaving the Celestial Being pilot alone. ‘Maybe now is a good time to ask someone about Feldt and what I should do. Marina might understand.’

A few minutes later, Marina came rushing in, wearing her white dress. She came to Setsuna’s bedside, worry permeating her voice, “Are you ok? I saw your wound.”

He tried to move his shoulder again, wincing in pain. Resisting the pain, he said quietly, “I’ve had worse. How long have I been out?”

She could tell he was telling the truth, the way he resisted the pain showing this wasn’t a new experience. Calming down, she replied, “Several hours. You showed up late last night and it’s about early morning now. I was worried about you, but the doctor said you would be fine. I stayed up waiting till I heard.” Setsuna could see the bags under her eyes. Marina took a deep breath, and in a grateful tone, spoke, “Setsuna, I wanted to thank you for opening my eyes.”

Setsuna tilted his head, confused, “What do you mean?”

“When you told me about how my mindset wouldn’t work back on your ship, I mostly resisted what you said, but I’ve had time to think about what you said. After these last couple weeks of events, they showed me I was so focused on my ideals that I was ignoring reality. I was leading my country down a dead-end path, even without the Federation getting involved.” She took another deep breath, “I was wrong to say that you shouldn’t fight. You were doing the right thing, trying to fight the corruption of the world. You can’t always talk down every enemy. I just wanted you to find something to do after you didn’t need to fight anymore.”

Setsuna looked down, realizing her words on the ship had affected him too. Looking back up, he spoke in a confused voice, “At the time I didn’t get it, but I also understand what you mean now. Since then, something has come up that made me reconsider that.”

Marina looked at him in curiosity, wondering what changed is ironclad mindset he had before, “What caused that?”

Setsuna took a deep breath, knowing Marina could understand. In a conflicted tone, he began, “There’s a… a woman on board that I have come to care for. I realized it yesterday, but I don’t know if I deserve to be happy. If I deserve to move on.”

Marina, bright smile on her face, spoke with a motherly tone, “Setsuna, you don’t know how happy it makes me to hear you have fallen for someone.” She laid one of her hands on top of his, “Do you feel because of what you did as a child, you don’t deserve to find happiness in the future?”

He nodded at that. She sighed, sad smile on her face, “You were a child Setsuna. You have clearly grown and gotten better since you joined Celestial Being. When I first met you, you were less emotional open and focused so much on fixing the world. Look at you now. You are happier, more open, and asking me about what you should do with a girl. You don’t need to be trapped by your past. Are you happier around her?”

He nodded again, looking at Marina, eyes showing true contentment, “I am. I want to tell her how I feel, to make her happy, but I don’t know how.”

Marina laughed into her hand, “Setsuna, no one knows until they try. Do you think she likes you?” He nods his head at that, having felt her emotions previously. She continued, “Then go for it. Tell her how you feel and get to know her. You can’t understand someone until you connect with them.”

“But it’s so hard to let go…”

Marina gave him a sympathetic look, “I know what you mean. My failure with Azadistan haunts me. But you can’t let the past define your future. It may take a while to accept you past and move on, but you will find a way. I know it.”

‘I’ll tell her when I see her again. She deserves to know the truth.’ Setsuna gave her a grateful smile, “Thank you.”

She returned the smile, “I’ll let you get some rest. I know you are probably going to leave soon. I wanted to tell you that after Celestial Being changes the world, I want you to ask this girl if she wants to live in that future with you. And tell her you have my blessing.”

Setsuna felt a surge of happiness go through him. Marina wasn’t his mother, but at this moment, she felt like one. It was an alien, but welcome feeling. ‘I hope my parents are ok with me trying to move on.’ She stood up to leave the medical bay just as the doctor walked back in. Looking at the pair, he said in the same even tone, “Well I have good news for you Setsuna. Apparently, a branch in Europe resupplied your ship. You might be able to catch up to them if you hurry. Normally I would say you need to stay in bed, but you guys probably have better tech than I do and can fix you up better. I think they also sent info back to your guys’ ship about your status, but I can’t be sure.” Setsuna nodded at him, and the doctor sat back down at his desk, getting back to paperwork.

He looked up at Marina, silently asking for her help back to his gundam. She got under his good shoulder and began to support him as the two made their way back to the hanger. ‘Just give me a little more time. I’ll keep my promise.’

With the Ptolemy

 As the Ptolemy made its way to the coast after getting resupplied by Katharon, leaving the canyons it was hiding in, the situation they were in wasn’t bad. Morale on the bridge was good and they hadn’t been attacked for a while. The hull was almost fully fixed and most systems were functional, besides the weapons needing work still. Feldt was humming to herself when the e-sensors were lit up like a Christmas tree. Looking at them, she spotted a large number of enemy suits. Activating the alarm, she called out to Sumeragi, “We have thirty-six enemy contacts!”

Lasse’s eyes widened, “Thirty-six machines?!”

Feldt spoke again, “One of them is the enemy mobile armor!”

Anew bit out a reply, “It’s an all-out war on us!”

Sumeragi went into commander mode, “All gundams launch in sequence. Ptolemy will take cover in the mountain range!” The ship moved into cover and the three gundams launched, awaiting the enemy assault.

With the Cheridum

The Cheridum waited behind a rock outcropping, taking aim at the enemy. Lyle steadied his breath, knowing he had to pick his shots carefully. ‘Just keep your cool. It maybe extreme range, but you did it before.’ The sight approaching them was intimidating. Thirty-six machines approached their location over the open ocean in formations of three, filling the sky in front of them. ‘Let’s see how many I can get.’

Activating trans-am, Lyle opened fire, immediately destroying a GN-X. He yelled to Haro, “Don’t skimp on the particles!”

The little robot flapped its wings and replied, “Roger! Roger!” Lyle opened his long-range bombardment in earnest, hitting more of the formation, their numbers beginning to drop. He tried to aim for the innovator suits but they dodged out of the way of the attacks. Knowing he probably wouldn’t get those, he focused on the standard A-Laws suits. ‘Looks like I’ll have to leave the innovators for the other two.’ As his trans-am was beginning to deplete, the enemy formation widened. The mobile suits were less bunched up than before, making it harder to hit them. ‘It would have been nice if they stayed that way, but their commander probably realized what was going on.’

After another two minutes of firing, the red glow on the Cheridum died and he pulled back behind the cover of the rock outcropping in front of him. ‘I did my fair share. The rest is on you guys for now.’ All in all, he counted that he got six or seven enemy mobile suits. It wasn’t enough to fully blunt the enemy attack, but he did some damage.

With the Seravee and Arios

The two gundams passed over Lyle’s location, engaging an enemy formation of three standard suits. The gundams opened fired on the formation, destroying two out of the three after only a few seconds. Their initial assault was interrupted by the arrival of the Garazzo and the Gadessa. Tieria frowned slightly. ‘Looks like they are going to try to hold us off. We can’t allow that.’ Allelujah opened up communication with Tieria, “I’ll handle the innovators, you deal with the rest!” Allelujah charged into the two mobile suits, dodging between them trying to avoid their fire. Even if he couldn’t beat them, he could certainly draw their attention to him. The Garazzo kept up with him, keeping him at a distance and drawing out the fight with its blaster, not hitting him but keeping Allelujah from focusing away from it. He returned fire, but the enemy dodged his attacks. He then noticed the Gadessa seemed to be more focused on the Seravee. ‘Focus on me!’

Tieria tried to pull away from the new models to engage the regular suit, but was forced to engage his GN field as he came under intense fire from the Gadessa’s wrist blasters. He couldn’t find an opening to begin to fire back, but he didn’t have much time to react as the mobile armor approached the Seravee, opening up its claw and releasing an egg-shaped object on a wire. The object pierced through his field, releasing three wires that gripped onto the Seravee. Suddenly a powerful shock came through the Seravee, stunning Tieria through the intense pain of a continuous electric shock. He couldn’t move, leaving the Seravee hanging in the air.

The Arios noticed its fellow gundam’s distress and disengaged from his opponent to try to free him. The other claw on the enemy mobile armor launched the same attack at Allelujah as he rushed towards Tieria, but Hallelujah’s brainwaves gave him a boost, dodging out of the way of the object and slicing the wire with his beam saber, removing that weapon from play. ‘You’re not getting me.’ Not wasting time, he quickly did the same to the other one, free Tieria from the mobile armor. Allelujah called out to Tieria, “Are you ok?!”

Tieria, still feeling the aftershocks, gave him a tired thumbs up, “I’ll be fine. We need to deal with them fast.”

“Easier said than done.” The Arios engaged the Garazzo, using its speed to avoid the attacks and keep it in melee reach. The Seravee focused on the Gadessa, trying to keep it from potentially using its long-range cannon on the Ptolemy. At the same time, both of them were constantly having to keep an eye out for the fire of the mobile armor. They weren’t sure if they could help the Ptolemy at this rate.

With the Ptolemy

The enemy suits were getting closer and closer to the ship and based on what they could see, the gundams would be unable to aid them. The Seravee and Arios were held up by the Innovators and the Cheridum was being pinned down by enemy fire. The atmosphere on the bridge was tense as they realized the enemy was coming and they couldn’t even fire back. Mileina spoke up, her voice somewhat desperate, “The only thing we have is the Gun Archer!”

Marie, who had been standing on the bridge, walked up to Sumeragi and with an urgent tone said, “With your permission I’ll take it out.” She knew that she was needed. If no one defended the ship, they would all be dead. She rushed out of the bridge, not waiting for Sumeragi’s response. Marie felt Soma’s approval at her actions. Sumeragi looked over her shoulder at the retreating figure of Marie. ‘I promised Allelujah I wouldn’t get her involved, but once again I have no choice. Please forgive me for this.’

She didn’t have much time to do anything before the ship was buffeted by enemy fire. Over two dozen enemy mobile suits were hitting the ship and there was nothing they could do about it. The hits were doing minimal damage, but it was starting to add up as minor damage reports began to pile up all over the ship. But just as quickly as the enemy attacks came, they began to taper off and the mobile suits moved away from the ship. The bridge crew was confused as well as Marie, who was just about to enter the Gun Archer. The pilots in the gundams were also relieved and surprised when the enemies that were engaging them pulled back, including the Gadessa and Garazzo. Sumeragi took advantage of the confusion and ordered all the gundams back, trying to get stock of the situation.

Lyle, in a tired, but strangle upbeat voice, opened up communications with everyone, “Well I have no idea what’s going on with the A-Laws, but I just received news from Katharon. Apparently, they found Setsuna and the 00 in the middle east and brought him to one of their bases. They gave him our last known location, so he’s probably headed to this area.”

The crew, who felt relief after the battle ended, became more elated at the news about Setsuna. Tieria smiled at the news. ‘I knew he would come back.’ Allelujah and Lyle were relieved that he was safe and heading to join them, especially after that tough fight. Sumeragi felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. Even after she told Feldt to trust he would come back, she still kept him dead as a slim possibility. ‘I don’t have another death on my conscience. With him we will be much better off.’ Feldt could feel tears of joy threatening to spill. She knew he was alive, but to hear confirmation was something she needed.

Her happiness was turned to shock when she received information from a public channel. In a voice of disbelief to everyone on the ship and in the gundams, she said, “There is a coup at the Africa tower!”

Sumeragi maintained her cool, knowing that whatever was going on with the tower was important. She needed to see with her own eyes what was happening. She spoke in a commanding tone to Feldt, “Feldt, send out our flight path to the 00. He won’t be able to respond, but he might be able to meet us before we reach the tower. We are headed to the Africa tower after all gundams are onboard.”

At the Africa Tower

Louise walked through a packed shopping district near the Africa tower. It was a sunny day, but not too hot, meaning she wasn’t sweating to death. She had an appointment with a specialist about her arm to see if it could be fixed tomorrow, so she was spending some time shopping and exploring the area till then. She had seen many doctors over the years, but none of them could offer a permanent solution. She figured it may have to do something with the beam that cost her arm, but she got no confirmation on that. She didn’t know why she kept trying. She had been told that whatever happened, it was causing long term damage, similar to a cancer, but not exactly the same. ‘

Taking her mind off of that, she looked into the window of a fancy boutique, looking at some of the dresses on display. What took her by surprise was the sound of an armored vehicle and dozens and dozens of boots on the pavement and sidewalk. Focusing on the reflection, multiple dozens of soldiers passed by her, heading towards the tower. She moved closer to the side of the building, letting the soldier pass her by. ‘What is going on?’

She then heard a PA, a woman’s voice speaking in a calm and even tone, “There is an emergency at the tower. Terrorists have taken over orbital elevator. Please remain calm and stay away from the tower. Our security forces are being sent to deal with the issue. We will inform you when the crisis is over.”

Louise was shocked. ‘How could anyone take over the tower? What do they want?’ Some security forces were shepherding people away from the area, people beginning to panic. Louise could feel the nervous energy and fought against panicking. ‘Relax Louise, you have been through worse.’ She somewhat shakily followed the rest of the people outside of the security area, memories of the exploding bus flowing through her head. ‘What is going to happen now?’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

An hour had passed since the members of Celestial Being heard about the Africa tower incident. Sumeragi was waiting for solid information on what was actually going on and that intel had finally come through in the form of a declaration from the coup forces. They wanted to inform the world of the crimes of the A-Laws and free political prisoners who spoke out against the government. They also were holding 60,000 people hostage in order to get that message out to the world.

The entire crew was called to the bridge so the tactical forecaster could give them a briefing. She gave them an overview of what is going on and what the demands were. Tieria, his arm resting on the top Sumeragi’s chair, spoke first in a neutral tone, “So the regular military is staging a coup then, or at least part of them. I wonder how they got in a position to take control of the Africa tower?”

Anew responded, her curiosity about who was doing it answered, “No wonder the A-Laws withdrew from the battle. They must not have expected a coup.”

Allelujah looked at Sumeragi and asked, “What are we going to do now?”

In a stern tone, Lyle added, “We are going to help them, right?”

Sumeragi was caught in a bind. She knew whatever was going to happen would be crushed by the A-Laws and Innovators, but what she wasn’t sure about what was their plan was. ‘What was their angle here? The elevators are important and just letting one get taken over made no sense.’ In a controlled tone, she replied to the crew, “The innovators have complete control of Veda. So how did they fail to notice this coup?”

Feldt looked over from her chair at Sumeragi with worry, “Are you saying that the innovators allowed this to happen despite predicting it?”

Sumeragi replied, sounding like she was having an internal debate, “It’s a distinct possibility.”

Lasse looked to the tactical forecaster, voice curious, “But since the A-Laws are involved, we have to get involved.” That drew a murmur of agreement among the crew.

Tieria spoke up in support, “And whatever the A-Laws are planning is being led by the innovators.” ‘How far are the innovators willing to go to see their plan come into fruition?’

Sumeragi commanded with authority, “Until we see this firsthand, I am not making a complete plan. I need to see the situation as it is in person. And hopefully by then, Setsuna has either joined us or made his way to the Africa tower. There is no way he would miss this news.”

There was a chorus of agreement at that idea and the energy in the room became a little less anxious at that understanding. Sumergai turned her head around to look at Ian, and called out, “Ian, can you get the weapon systems up by the time we get to the tower?”

Ian asked rhetorically, “I don’t have a choice, do I?” Sumeragi nodded in reply and Ian made his way out of the door. The crew understood their current plan and began to disperse off of the bridge when they heard the sound of a contact from Mileina’s terminal. The girl looked at the contact and smiled, yelling out, “It’s the 00 Raiser! It’s Setsuna!”

There was an uproar of cheering as the crew was exhilarated by the news. They didn’t have to worry about the safety of Setsuna and they had the 00 back. Feldt held back her surging happiness, wanting to keep her feelings private for now. Sumeragi called out an order, “Mileina, open up contact with the 00!”

Mileina made a noise of agreement and opened up a communication from the bridge that everyone could see to the 00 Raiser. What they saw surprised them. Setsuna looked tired, bags under his eyes, and some blood coming from his right shoulder. He spoke in a strained voiced, “Got your message. Rushed to get here. Need medical help.” The crew looked worried at this information, wondering what had caused him to get a wound like that. The 00 also looked a little worse for wear. Visually, the 00 didn’t look that damaged from the bridge sensors, only some scarring from a few blasts, but it had been away for more than a day, so they couldn’t be sure of the damage, especially after the battle against the Memento Mori.

Staying calm, Sumeragi yelled out orders, “Mileina, open up the catapult for the 00. Saji, I need you to start repairing the 00 with Ian. Feldt, prepare a medical bed for him. Tieria, assist in getting Setsuna to medical. Everyone else will stay at their posts till I say so.” People agreed and rapidly moved to follow orders. In the chaos of the situation, Feldt got out of her seat and just as she was about to head out, Sumeragi called her over, and curious to what she wanted, Feldt approached her. Sumeragi gave her an even look, quietly saying, “Anew needs to pilot the ship, so until she is free, I need you to watch over Setsuna.” After finishing that statement, Sumergai smirked slightly and winked at her.

Feldt blushed slightly, catching on. She smiled and with a hitch in her voice, replied, “Understood.” The pink haired girl walked out of the bridge, a little pep in her step.

In the Hanger of the Ptolemy

Setsuna guided the 00 Raiser into the ship, trying his best to keep stable despite his injury. After getting info on the ship’s flight path, he used trans-am as often as he could to get to the ship. The side effect of that was stressing his shoulder due to the speed. In hindsight, it was incredibly risky and could have made his wound worse, but he wanted to get back to the ship. Needed to get back to the ship. Not just for Feldt, but for everyone else. He needed them and they needed him. As the automatic systems guided the 00 into the hanger, he could feel the tiredness washing over him. ‘I have to stay conscious. I have to talk to her.’

He heard the sound of the gundam being locked into place. He opened up the cockpit, using his good hand to try to get out of the suit, but couldn’t muster the strength. ‘C’mon! Just a little more strength!’ He then felt a hand pull him out of the cockpit. As he got out of the cockpit with help, he saw Tieria give him a smile, his voice teasing, “Need help?”

Setsuna gave him a smile back and with a happy but tired tone replied, “Thank you. Think I’ll need your help.”

Tieria nodded at that, “No problem. It’s good to see you back. We all missed you.”

Setsuna chuckled at that. Tieria got underneath Setsuna’s good arm, supporting Setsuna as they began to walk out of the hanger. Tieria took note of Setsuna’s condition. His only injury seemed to be his shoulder, but he looked exhausted. ‘He must have had quite the experience.’ The two slowly made their way to the medical bay, Tieria not wanting to put any more stress on Setsuna’s shoulder. As they walked in silence, Setsuna asked tiredly, “What happened after the battle?”

Tieria replied evenly, “We got ambushed, managed to survive a crash and fought a few hard battles against the A-Laws. But we made it.”

Setsuna looked down in shame, “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there.” ‘Maybe they would have been in a better spot if I hadn’t chased Ali al Saachez.’

Tieria shook his head and gave Setsuna a comforting smile, “Setsuna, I’m sure whatever you chose to do was important. You made it back to us and we survived our battles. You just need to relax and get your injury checked out.”

Setsuna looked up and saw Tieria’s expression. He hadn’t fully thought out in the past how much he meant to people and since Marina opened his eyes, he was realizing how much people on this crew cared for him. ‘Maybe my detour did have a point.’ The raven-haired man’s voice was quiet and thoughtful, “Maybe you’re right.” Tieria nodded his head, chuckling quietly, and they continued in a comfortable silence till they reached the medical bay. Setsuna could feel his vision fading in and out as exhaustion threatened to defeat him. He fought it, knowing he had to talk to Feldt.

As Tieria guided him onto the bed in a sitting position, Setsuna saw who was waiting for him there. Feldt stood there, worried look on her face. At this moment, she looked even more beautiful than she was in his dream. Emotions came rushing through him, and words he wanted to say threatened to come out in a jumble. He was so distracted he didn’t notice Tieria leaving without saying a word. He began to speak, his mind scrambled, “Feldt, I want to-“

She put a finger on his lips, silencing him. She spoke in a loving voice, “It’s alright Setsuna. You are hurt. Just get some rest. We can talk after.” Setsuna could feel his heart racing just being near her.

He reluctantly agreed, lying down on the medical bed. Gravity forced his eyelids down even more and in a weak, tired tone, he asked the pink-haired woman, “Please stay.” He put out his left hand, grasping out at her.

She gave him a soft smile, “I’ll stay as long as you want.” She pulled up a chair on his left side, taking the offered hand and intertwining their fingers. Setsuna smiled warmly at the feeling of her hand in his. The exhaustion finally won, sleep claiming Setsuna a minute later, with him mumbling, “I kept my promise.” She felt a tear run down her cheek. ‘He remembered! He thought about me!’ She wiped away the tear, and brushed some of his hair away, kissing him on the forehead.

Feldt was put at peace seeing Setsuna relaxed and smiling as he fell asleep. It looks like he had gone through a lot since they were separated. But she was just happy he was back. She reluctantly let go of his hand after a few minutes, standing up to grab the medical bag and check his wound. ‘It feels so strange to see him vulnerable like this. Normally he seems invincible.’ Yet seeing him trust her so much made her feel special. He had let her in, and she hoped he felt the same as she did about him.

She zipped down his pilot suit so she could access his wound. Cleaning and disinfecting it, she fought her blush seeing him half naked. ‘You saw him fully naked before. Stop blushing.’ Walking over and activating the medical scanner, it began the process of looking over Setsuna’s wounds as the bed sealed around him. ‘I hope they aren’t too severe. We need him.’ It hurt her to see him this wounded, but at least he was safe and back home. ‘And from now on, he doesn’t have to fight alone.’

Deck of A-Laws Carrier

Andrei stood near one of the sides of the boat away from the launch area, looking at the Orbital Elevator. The tower loomed in the distance like an enemy fortress. ‘How could they have taken the tower? How long has this been planned?’ He balled his fists in frustration. He wanted to rush in and deal with these traitors, but command told them to wait for orders. What made it harder for him to resist charging in was the fact he knew the leader of this coup very well.

Pang Hercury was an old friend of his fathers, someone Andrei grew up around. ‘He would always tell me about the ideals that an army would have. Of what a good soldier should and shouldn’t do. And yet he becomes a traitor, going against those ideals and even holding 60,000 people hostage.’

Andrei had idolized those ideas growing up, especially after his mother died and his father became distant. And now the man had forced Andrei to treat him like an enemy. He was a threat to the future of the planet and he couldn’t be treated kindly, even if he had been the one that had assisted in him joining the military academy.

Andrei stood near a metal and glass building waiting for Hercury to show up. He heard footsteps approaching and the tall man appeared in front of him, neutral faced. Andrei immediately saluted seeing a high ranked officer. Hercury saluted back, face and expression softening, “So I see you already joined the military academy.”

Andrei spoke gratefully, “Thank you for putting in a good word with the higher ups for me! I didn’t want to have to rely on my father’s assistance.”

Hercury smirked at that comment, “So are you joining the military to get back at your father?” Andrei’s face became more serious at the mention of his father. Hercury’s tone became kinder, “Don’t resent your father too much. It was truly an unfortunate accident.”

Andrei immediately flared with anger, “Don’t dismiss what happened by calling it an accident! My father allowed my mother to die! And you’re the same as him.” Hercury looked on Andrei with concern and worry. Had Sergei’s and Andrei’s relationship degraded that bad since Holly died? Andrei continued, “I’m not going to live like my father did. I’ve chosen the path of a soldier to prove that there is another way.” Andrei began to walk away from the old soldier.

Hercury replied accusatorily, “Do you think that kind of attitude would make Holly happy?”

Andrei stopped and turned to face Hercury, voice resolute, “Yes. My mother desired peace above anything else.”

His path as a member of the A-Laws had only furthered in following the path of peace. And Hercury opposed his old friend’s vision of the future, a world of peace. ‘If I ever meet him again, I’ll make him pay for what he did to the stability of this world. He can lie about the A-Laws all he wants, but he will face justice.’

The Orbital Elevator Shaft

Sergei flew up the shaft of the Africa’s tower towards the low orbital station in a Tierian Taozi, wanting to find out exactly what exactly his friend was up to. He had technically been sent to give a message, but the contents of the message were the default government response to a terrorist threat, “We will not give into your demands.” Sergei used this as an excuse to talk to Hercury and get a fuller picture of the situation. To understand why Hercury thought he could win against the A-Laws and Federation. He was already surrounded by the regular military and A-Laws forces, and A-Laws mobile suits were approaching the station, based on their particle trail.

As he moved up the shaft, two GN-X’s from the coup approached his suit, signaling him to follow them up. He never intended to be stealthy, so he signaled that he would comply as he flew up the orbital elevator. It took a little while longer to reach the station, but he was guided into a hanger and was led out of his suit, armed men guiding him to where Hercury is. Soon enough the group reached the central control room, with Hercury standing at the top part of the room, looking down on three rows of men and women on consoles communicating what was going on in the station. On the displays were automatons traveling through the station and the coup forces managing to hold them off. His old friend was looking at him evenly as he entered the room. Sergei walked up to Hercury and the coup leader spoke first, not sounding surprised by this event, “So they did send you.”

Sergei replied in a professional tone, face neutral, “Hercury, I was sent here to give you a message from the ESF. The Federation government will never give into the demands you made. We advise you to surrender immediately.”

Hercury snorted at that, smirking at Sergei, “You are telling me they sent you here for that?”

Sergei gave his friend a worried look, “The information control of the Federation is absolute. There is no way your message is going to reach the world. Why did you take innocent people hostage?”

Hercruy raised his hand, stopping Sergei from continuing. He responded with an absence of doubt in his voice, “They are not innocent at all. Content with their wealth, they accept the Federation’s policies without question. They are one of the main reasons for the government’s corruption. It’s people like these that allowed the rise of an organization like the A-Laws. We must open their eyes, even if the lesson is accompanied by pain.”

Sergei asked with a firm, but curious tone, “Isn’t the military supposed to protect the safety and interest of the people.”

In a resolute tone, Hercury responded, “That is precisely why we are doing this.”

Sergei pleaded with his friend desperately, “Just surrender now! Spare the lives of your men!”

Hercury shook his head at that, “The A-Laws won’t show us any mercy after this. The men knew what they were getting into.”

Sergei sighed, knowing his friend was set on this path. He then asked curiously, “How did you manage to get control of this station?”

Hercury smirked, “The Federation never suspected a betrayal from within, so it was all a matter of convincing people and getting them in position to the African tower. You would be surprised at how many people in the regular army dislike what is going on within the Federation. Once we had enough men and the time was right, we could strike against the A-Laws and the government.” Hercury’s expression then became more serious, “But this meeting is over now. You can give the Federation my message back. We won’t surrender and we’ll fight till the last man. Take him away.”

The armed escort began to grab Sergei to escort him back to the surface, but Sergei pulled out of their grip, looking at Hercury with determination, “Do you really believe I came here to deliver that message? If that was all they wanted they had plenty of other ways to do it. I don’t want to lose another friend.”

Just then a soldier spoke up, “Sir, a new wave of Automatons had broken through. They are headed to the gravity block.” Sergei’s panic grew. ‘The A-Laws have probably set them to kill mode. I have to do something!’ Sergei tried to rush out of the door he came in but was stopped by two soldiers holding him back. He looked over at Hercury, seeing his friend calm and not worried.

Hercury spoke up, “Activate bulkhead walls like we planned. Have the 1^st infantry unit escort the people to the trains. The 2^nd unit will intercept the Automatons.”

Sergei looked at his friend in wonder. ‘So this was your plan all along. But what is your end goal?’

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

After they neared the outskirts of the tower a few hours after Setsuna had arrived, Anew was able to get to the medical bay. When she had reached it, she found Feldt sitting in a chair next to the bed Setsuna was in, sleeping against his shoulder. Anew had smiled at the scene, seeing how happy the two of them looked, but she had needed to examine Setsuna. She had woken Feldt up and embarrassed, the pink-haired woman left, saying she was going to replace Saji on gundam repairs and gave a pensive look at the wounded pilot.

Examining the medical scan report, she found a worrying aspect to the wound he sustained. Besides the strain he had put on it recently, there were trace amounts of Pseudo GN particles in it. What surprised her was the fact that this was clearly an injury from a bullet and not a mobile suit blast or explosion. Someone clearly went through the effort to make a gun to shoot GN bullets. Anew knew there was nothing she could do to fix the GN particle problem, but there was an oddity. Looking at the spread of the infection, it seemed something was slowing it down. This was the first time she had seen this. Normally it just spread and would eventually kill you. ‘Setsuna was a human, so how was this possible?’

Her thoughts were interrupted as Lyle spoke up, leaning against the door to the medical bay. He looked at Setsuna and then Anew, curiously asking, “How’s he doing?”

Anew spoke honestly, tone worried, “He’s technically functional, but there is something worrying about what I saw.”

Lyle perked up, wondering what could worry her so much, “What’s wrong?” Anew went over what she just found, Lyle sort of understanding. He spoke up trying to clarify a point, “So he is dying, but slowly.”

Anew nodded her head, “That’s basically it. I’m going to need to keep checking on his arm. The regeneration treatment should assist in slowing it down at the very least” Anew finished what she had to say, but something crossed her mind, “…Also is there anything going on between Feldt and Setsuna?”

Lyle gave her a curious look, “What makes you say that?” He suspected there was something going on based in the talk with Setsuna before the Memento Mori battle and how Feldt seemed a bit out of sorts, but that could be him imagining things.

She tilted her head to the side, speaking thoughtfully, “When I arrived in here, I saw her taking a nap on Setsuna’s shoulder. They both seemed comfortable. It was nice to see her that happy and Setsuna smile like that. I never saw that before.”

Lyle grinned, “Well isn’t that interesting? Looks like we have to keep an eye on those two.” Lyle’s grin thinned out, “What do you think about the coup?”

Anew rubbed her brow, voice full of worry, “I admit I’ve been out of the loop before all this, but like we said on the bridge, it’s certainly a worrying sign. I can’t help but feel like this whole thing is a trap and we are walking right into it.”

Lyle could hear the tension in Anew’s voice and brought her into a hug, speaking quietly, “Whatever it is, we’ll make it out. We have all four gundams back and Sumeragi at the helm. We have survived worse.”

Anew pulled out of the hug, blushing as she softly said, “Thanks.” The tension in her body faded away, Lyle’s warm body against hers.

Lyle teased her, “I like seeing you like this. It’s nice to speak to you in quiet moments. Should I get used to this?”

She gave him a grin back, blush remaining, “If you get lucky.”

Lyle smirked, “I think I have a chance, don’t you?”

She rolled her eyes, but gave him a playful smile, “You can stay if you want, but I’m going to check with Setsuna to see if he wants to begin treatments.”

Lyle shook his head, “As fun as it would be to watch you work, I won’t distract you. I’ll see you later.” Lyle left the room, giving Anew a wink. The woman shook her head. ‘Sometimes that man…’

Orbital Elevator Control Room

Sergei’s voice, still full of wonder, spoke to Hercury, “So that was your plan all along? To release the hostages? Weren’t they your protection? Then what was the point of taking them in the first place”

Hercury nodded, “These people would never learn the cruelty of the A-Laws without seeing it firsthand. It’s a painful lesson, but a necessary one. If that means I have to sacrifice my name and image, so be it.”

Sergei looked at the display, seeing the soldiers successfully able to hold them off. ‘As misguided as his plan is, it was well organized.’ He winced seeing civilians getting hit by the crossfire between the coup forces and the automatons. He then saw one of the displays bring up a Federation news report. Sergei narrowed his eyes as he saw the footage was clearly manipulated, showing the soldiers gunning down civilians in the place of the automatons. ‘I should be shocked by this, but I’m not.’

Hercury looked at the display evenly, not visibly reacting. Sergei spoke up in a cynical tone, “Hercury, there is no way you come out of this looking good. The people will never believe you or your cause.”

Hercury just smirked at him, “But can the Federation silence 60,000 voices?”

Sergei looked at him in shock, “So you are telling me…?”

“That I was prepared for the manipulation? Yes. But you can’t silence 60,000 witnesses. The word will spread and doubt about the A-Laws and the Federation will spread. Friendly forces from Katharon on the ground will make sure they get off safely.”

Sergei sighed thinking about situation. ‘The A-Laws are just justifying their attack by that footage. But why haven’t they begun their assault? They are planning something.’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The Ptolemy entered the airspace of the tower, finally getting a visual on the tower and the forces deployed around it. The only oddity on the journey had been a red and black mobile suit, that looked similar to a Flag, had been following them at a far distance. It had shown no signs of aggression, so Sumeragi held off on deploying the gundams. Sumeragi still ordered the crew to keep an eye on it in case it decided to attack. It continued to shadow the ship as it reached the outskirts of the tower airspace, when the suit moved out the area at a quick pace, leaving visual and sensor range. Sumeragi wondered what it was up to. ‘If that was an A-Laws suit, then they probably know we are here. Granted they expect us, so we’ll have to be careful.’

Sumeragi called out to Mileina in a commanding tone, “Mileina, get me a visual on all deployments.”

Mileina replied quickly, “Yes ma’am.” It took her a second, but she pulled data on the positions that the ship could see. She then projected it so the entire bridge could see. Katharon was currently positioned around the pillar acting as a defense force along with coup forces. They also had forces on the ground keeping the Federation from taking the lower part of the station. The Federation regular forces were surrounding the elevator, making sure no more forces could get in or out. The A-Laws were positioned far back, far away from either the regular forces or rebels and out of the effective airspace of the tower.

 Neither force seemed to be aggressive at the moment, but that could change at any second. What struck Sumeragi as especially odd was where the A-Laws were deployed. ‘You would think they would want to be on the frontlines, but here they are positioned in the back. They could be waiting for the hostages to be freed, but that still doesn’t make sense. There is something I’m missing.’ An idea suddenly struck her. In an urgent tone, she commanded Saji, “Saji, get me the windspeed data one thousand kilometers around the tower.”

Saji replied confused, “What for?”

“Just hurry!”

Saji searched around the terminal for the information, taking a little time as he hadn’t been taught this yes, but found it and projected the information for Sumeragi to see. The data showed that the wind was blowing west towards the cities that were on a belt leading to the west coast of Africa. Sumeragi’s eyes widened. ‘They are preparing their forces for falling debris. But if they are doing that, then that means…’ She gripped the armrest of her chair. ‘They have another Memento Mori!’

Bridge of the A-Laws Carrier

Kati Mannequin was realizing the same thing that Sumeragi figured out. Her internal thoughts raged as her facial features tightened. ‘Why would High Command build two of them?! Would they really blow up one of the elevators!? How many lives were lost building them?! And they aren’t even considering saving the hostages!’

She had signed up to fight against the gundams and Katharon, not kill innocent people, as well as to keep an eye out on the organization. She knew they committed crimes, but something of this scale was unimaginable. This would kill millions of people. Not just those in the elevator, but those living in the cities near the tower. ‘The price of peace is not that high!’

For once in her life, she wished the gundams were here. They were the only ones with the firepower to deal with this station. ‘Kujo, if you can hear me, I need you to stop this. Before innocent people get hurt.’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Low Orbital Station

Hecury looked at the image of the satellite weapon on the display. The sheer scale of his mistake weighed down on him. He began to give out orders, trying to maintain control of the situation, “Attention all hands! Begin evacuating the low orbital station! Get the citizens moved out of the elevator faster. Don’t forget to tell the ground forces what we are doing.”

Soldiers moved out of the control room to help speed up the evacuation, saluting him. Hercury balled his fist in frustration, “I was being too naïve. The moment I took these poor people hostage, the Federation considered them dissidents. They know too much already.”

Sergei put a hand on his friend’s shoulder, “You couldn’t have known they had a weapon like that. It wasn’t public knowledge.”

Hercury shook the hand off of him, guilt in his voice, “The Federation is willing to kill 60,000 people to keep the crimes of the A-Laws from going public to maintain their political dominance. And I just showed the government who’s willing to betray them.”

Sergei reflected on those words. ‘I knew the Federation was willing to overlook a lot, but to be willing to risk millions of people in order to ensure things stay secret? What madness is that?!’

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

Setsuna groggily woke up, rubbing his eyes. He saw that he was on the medical bed, the healing mechanism currently ongoing. He had been briefly woken up earlier by Anew to tell him they were going to start the regeneration procedure, which he agreed to after asking where Feldt had gone. He had quickly fallen asleep again as that started.

His arm was feeling better, but he didn’t know if it was from the rest or the regeneration. Setsuna looked around for anyone in the medbay. He saw no one around. ‘They must be back on duty, even Feldt.’ He sighed at that. This would have been a good spot for a talk. He did manage to spot his pilot suit hanging on the wall. However his thoughts changed after hearing something over the ship’s PA speakers.

Over the speakers he heard Sumeragi mention they had another Memento Mori. His eyes narrowed. ‘They built two of them! But how can we destroy it?’ He thought for a second and then realized what it was. ‘There is only one thing that would be effective against it now.’ Turning off the regeneration and lowering the container around him, he got himself out of the bed, moving over to his pilot suit to put it back on. He winced slightly putting it back over his bad shoulder. ‘Sumeragi won’t be happy with me, but it’s what needs to get done.’ He made his way out of the medical bay and walked towards the elevator to the hanger.

As he opened the door to the antechamber, he saw a sight that surprised him. Standing in the middle of it was Feldt, who was wearing a pilot’s outfit. It was similar to the rest of the pilots, with dark pink on the outside and black on the inside. The one difference he noticed was the boots were all black instead of matching the outside color of the suit. It was also noticeably distracting to the raven-haired pilot as it highlighted her curves. She looked at him nervously, her tone shy, “How does it look?”

Setsuna’s mouth was dry, unable to come up with words, cheeks pink. The pink-haired woman saw his blush and looked down at the ground, a bit embarrassed. ‘I think he likes it.’ Setsuna recovered his wits and replied with a slight stutter, “You look great. But why are you here?”

She looked back up at him, eyes nervous but determined, “When I heard the news about the second Memento Mori, I knew you would want to use the 00 Raiser. You need someone to pilot the 0 Raiser to use the trans-am Raiser.”

Setsuna looked at her in wonder, “You want to pilot with me?”

She nodded her head, voice full of determination and affection, “As long as you are piloting the 00 Raiser, you will need someone in the 0 Raiser. As long as I am around, you don’t have to be alone.” Setsuna could hear the resolve in her tone.

He replied in a grateful tone, “I would want no one else by my side.” She looked at him, eyes shining with happiness. He smiled at the raw emotion on display, his voice confident, “Let’s get going. We have a station to destroy.”

She nodded her head and Setsuna walked past her, noticing that she wasn’t moving. He turned around to face her, wondering what she was doing, seeing that she was looking down at the ground again. He walked up to her, grabbing one of her hands and asked, “Are you ok?” ‘What’s he doing?’

She looked up at him, heart racing from the contact and her nervousness at what she wanted to do. With a nervous yet resolute tone, she spoke, “Setsuna, I like you. I really like you. I don’t know if you feel the same way, but I just wanted to get it off my chest. I tried to tell you before, but I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I don’t mind if you don’t-“

She was interrupted by Setsuna putting a hand under her chin and brought his lips down on hers, intertwining their linked hands. Her eyes widened for a second before she relaxed, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the sensation of Setsuna kissing her. She rested her hand on his chest, feeling his heartbeat.

The kiss broke after several seconds, both of them flustered by the event. Feldt opened her eyes, hoping that what just happened wasn’t a dream. What she saw was Setsuna looking down at her with happiness and affection. Her cheeks were bright pink. He spoke in a soft voice, warm smile on his face, “I like you too Feldt.”

She looked at him in happiness and shock, words tumbling out of her mouth as her mind was racing at a million miles an hour, “I didn’t expect…I’d hoped that…For how long?” ‘He likes me! He really likes me!’  

He pulled her in close, wrapping his other arm around her lower back, heart racing due to how close she was, “Since the Memento Mori battle. The first battle, at least. At least that’s when I realized it. It was probably before even that, I just couldn’t admit it to myself. What about you?”

She gathered her thoughts, calming her mind as she wrapped her free arm around Setsuna. Setsuna looked at her patiently, waiting for a response. ‘She’s probably a bit overloaded right now.’ He knew he would have had a hard time saying what he needed to say, so he wasn’t completely sure how he would have told her. And when she confessed her feelings to him, he felt no doubts about kissing her, freeing him from the worry about saying the wrong thing. And it was a like a wave of relief and joy going through him when they kissed. A weight had been partially lifted off his soul.

After several seconds of reorganizing her thoughts, she spoke in a quiet and nervous tone, “I thought I maybe liked you after you comforted me when Marie first showed up, but it really came after that look we shared when Anew first showed up. I was curious what you thought of her and was feeling jealous, so when you gave me that smile, I realized that I really did like you.”

He squeezed their intertwined hand, “I only had eyes for you. No one else.” ‘I am hers as long as she will have me.’

She felt rising emotions as tears threatened to come out. She wiped her eyes and asked in a curious tone, “So what now? This is a first for me.” It was another new thing thrown into her life. First piloting, then a relationship. ‘I want to make this work! I want this happiness!”

Setsuna replied, tone more even, “First we deal with this station.” His tone lightened up, “After we deal with that, we can talk about us as a couple.” Feldt smiled at the mention of “us”. He was just as serious as her about this.

Nodding, she replied determined, “Then let’s destroy this station. Do you want to tell Sumeragi your idea or me?”

“I will. Just get to the 0 Raiser.”

She gave him a nervous smile, “Understood.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek before walking to the elevator to access Hanger 3. She mentally congratulated herself. ‘I can’t believe I just did that!’ He watched her walk away, happiness flowing through him. He had showed her his feelings and she reciprocated. Marina had been right. Now all he had to do was not mess this up.

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Sumeragi was having difficulty coming up with a plan to deal with this situation. Last time they were in space and could attack it easier, not to say it was easy even then. But now they were in the atmosphere and just getting in space would require trans-am. ‘And the other gundams are already assisting the Katharon and coup forces.’ She rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. Suddenly a communication opened up in front of her, showing Setsuna ready to pilot. He spoke tersely, “Feldt and I will use the 00 Raiser.”

Sumeragi looked at him in worry, “But you are still injured!” The last time someone injured had been allowed to fight, Neil had died fighting. ‘I don’t want to see that happen again.’

Setsuna spoke evenly and resolutely, “The 00 Raiser is the only chance that we have at stopping that weapon. But you already know that.”

She replied quietly, “The trans-am Raiser.” She sighed, knowing Setsuna was right. They couldn’t allow this weapon to fire again, especially with the potential loss of millions and millions of people on the line.

Setsuna looked at her expectantly, “I need a mission plan.” Sumergai gave him a nod, dropping the communication. ‘Now I just have to trust that those two can get this done.’ She couldn’t help but worry immensely for the both of them. She was sending them up there without support. Even with Setsuna in the 00 Raiser, that doesn’t guarantee that there weren’t any defenses in place. ‘Please stay safe you two.’

Airspace around the Tower

The 0 Raiser and the 00 launcher from the ship, having been angled to face into space. For Setsuna this was routine, but for Feldt, this was only her second launch, so she was still feeling nervous. She gripped the controls, focusing on maintaining her course. With her new pilot suit, the G’s felt less intense, but that didn’t calm down the nervousness coursing through her. ‘Relax. This is your job now. You have to remain calm.’  Taking some deep breaths, she neared the 00, calling out, “0 Raiser, docking mode!”

The two machines combined together, power flowing between the two of them. With the power gained from the 0 Raiser, they rocketed up into space, heading towards the station. Setsuna saw Feldt open up a communication on his display, her looking curious, “Now that I’m your copilot, what should I be doing? What do you need me to do?”

Setsuna replied evenly, “I need you to keep an eye on sensors and other systems. Keep me informed of things like trans-am time limits and where enemies are. I’ll focus on fighting.”

She nodded, smiling at Setsuna, “Understood. How is your wound feeling?”

His expression softened, smiling at her, “It’s fine for now. Don’t worry about me.”

The two continued to rise into low orbit, Setsuna focused on piloting and Feldt working on making sure the Raiser system was fully functional. They only hoped that they could make it in time before the weapon fired.

Low Orbital Station

The control room was empty except for Sergei and Hercury, having been evacuated. Hercury was slumped in a chair. He spoke in a defeated voice, “All soldiers and civilians have been evacuated. Sergei, get out of here.”

Sergei asked in a subdued voice, “What about you?”

“I am the commander. It was my operation. I will stay till the end. Whatever happens after this, make sure future generations know abou-”

He was suddenly grabbed by his coat collar by Sergei, who’s expression was angry looking at his old friend, “This isn’t the right way to atone! You are a soldier, and a soldier always protects the citizens! Save as many people as possible! Then you can die.”

Hercury looked down, shame towards his defeated attitude coming to the forefront. He was so focused on his own failures, he didn’t think about the people he was protecting. ‘Thank you, Sergei. Now we just have to get out of here.’

Out of the corner of his eye, Sergei saw the weapon charging up on the monitors. His eyes widened and he yelled urgently, “It’s preparing to fire! We have to get out of here!” Sergei ran out of the room, not even looking at his old friend. Hercury sat there, thinking for another couple seconds, then got up and followed his old friend to the hangers.

With the 00 Raiser

Feldt called out to Setsuna, “The station is in range! Should I start the trans-am Raiser?”

Setsuna replied confidently, “Do it.” He faced the wings so the tips were aimed at the station, ready to cut through the center of the Memento Mori.

Activating the system, Feldt saw the meter counting up, “Thirty seconds!” Looking at the sensors, she spotted the mobile armor that had been a problem for them in battles past. With an urgent tone, she spoke to Setsuna, “Setsuna, it’s the Empruss.” They had received intel that the machine was called the Empruss as they had traveled to the tower from an unknown agent.

Setsuna spotted the Empruss approaching the 00 Raiser and dodge out of the way as it blasted at the 00 Raiser. Setsuna returned fire, his shots missing as the machine dodged out of the way. Neither suit was able to hit the other, pink and orange blasts shooting across space, but as Setsuna tried to pass below the mobile armor and take a shot at it, the two claws on the machine shot out, attaching themselves to the 00. Waves of electricity shot through the wire, causing both Feldt and Setsuna to cry out in pain.

Wincing in pain, Feldt opened one eye and saw the count rise to one hundred. In a pained voice, she called out to Setsuna, “It’s ready!”

Activating the trans-am, a beam of pink energy shot in a straight line out of the wings of the 0 Raiser. The mobile armor put up a GN field, but the beam went right through it, carving the machine in half and continuing up into space. It passed right above the station, barely missing it.

Now free of the electricity, Setsuna began to reposition the 00 facing further down. He could feel the resistance and energy of the beam fighting back against it, but the 00 Raiser brought the beam futher and further down through the station, explosions rippling through areas that were being hit. As the beam neared the bottom of the station, the energy from the 00 Raiser began to dissipate. Feldt spoke again, “Trans-am energy depleted! System needs to recharge!” ‘I didn’t realize it would drain our power this fast.’ She then noticed to her horror the weapon was about to fire, “It’s still operational!”

Setsuna spoke desperately and quietly, “Don’t do it. Don’t do it.” Yet despite his wish, he knew there would be no hesitation on the A-Laws part to fire the weapon.

A pale beam of energy shot out of the bottom of the station, glancing the side of the elevator. Feldt put up a zoomed in picture of what was happening on Setsuna’s screen. What they saw was the elevator beginning to collapse, the panels falling off and descending into the atmosphere. A structure that took humanity years to build was being destroyed in a matter of mere seconds. The two sat in shock for a second before Setsuna began to move back down to Earth. They needed to stop these panels from causing damage. Setsuna sent a quick comm to Feldt, “Hang on! The descent might be rough!”

Near the Africa Tower

Louise watched with trepidation and worry. The battle between the gundams, rebel forces. and regular army had suddenly stopped, a massive smoke cloud forming around the tower after a shining light appeared for a second. ‘What was that?’ She then noticed debris falling from the atmosphere. ‘What could that be?’ The sheer scale of things falling wasn’t something that just happened. She then remembered one of the engineering lessons from college. It talked about how the orbital elevators would auto purge the shell to try to reduce the damage done to it. But it wasn’t supposed to be done at the scale she was seeing. Something must have done extensive damage to cause that much of the elevator to purge. And the horror of the sheer scale of damage that the elevator debris could do hit her. ‘Everyone in the area will be hit!’ People began running in the streets, trying to find cover from the incoming debris. She stood behind the glass façade of a hotel, looking at what was going on from the inside of the building along with a large group of other people.

All of the mobile suits seemed paralyzed by the sheer amount of debris coming down on them. However, she did notice the gundams immediately jump into action, shooting and destroying the panels and debris that were descending on the planet. ‘Why are the gundams the only ones helping here? Where are the A-Laws and regular forces?’ The news made it seem like the gundams had been shown to be the enemy of peace and stability, but they were the first people to jump in and defend the people on the ground. What added to her horror was despite the effort the gundams were putting up, debris began falling past them, moving too fast for them to hit. She saw a crowd of people underneath the growing shadow of a piece, knowing they had little time to move. The people began to try to flee, but just when she thought it would be too late, a burst of weapon fire destroyed it.

Noticing it wasn’t an energy blast, she saw one of the Katharon mobile suits with a smoking cannon. ‘First the gundams, then the rebels?’ The rest of the Katharon and coup mobile suits then began to add their firepower in taking down the orbital elevator debris. There began to be a noticeable decrease in the amount of debris that was headed towards the city. ‘What are the regular forces doing? They are right here!’ Louise winced as she saw a mobile suit get a piece of debris through the cockpit. Even if they were against the Federation, no one deserved to die like that. The blonde then sighed in relief when she saw that the regular forces began to assist in destroying the debris. Louise felt a little less worry. With the amount of mobile suits dealing with the debris, the city would be safe hopefully. She felt a tear come to her eye. She had not seen people come together like this in her entire life. Everyone was fighting to defend the innocent people living near the Africa tower. There was still that one nagging question on the forefront of her mind. ‘Where are the A-Laws?’

Bridge of the A-Laws Carrier

Kati Mannequin sat in her chair, stewing. High command had told her to sit back and not do anything. Yet the gundams, rebels and even the regular forces were helping. The A-Laws were supposed to keep the peace and stability of this world, yet they caused this event to happen. ‘Not under my watch.’

Anger in her voice, she yelled out, “All A-Laws mobile suits, you are to assist in the destruction of descending debris!”

One of the bridge crew spoke up, “But Colonel, command says we are not to get involved till they say.”

Kati glared at the member of the bridge that spoke out, “I am in charge here! Are you willing to let millions of people die because of orders?!” The crew member shook their head and focused back on their job. The mobile suits deployed quickly, heading to the battlefield.

Kati glared up into space, hoping that the people on the Memento Mori suffered. When she first joined the A-Laws, she didn’t know how far they were willing to go, thinking they were shady but wanted peace for the masses. But the more she served with them, the more she realized they didn’t care about the people. They only cared about maintaining order. She signed up to protect the people and the gundams presented the biggest threat to the world, but after seeing the Memento Mori fire on the elevator and being ordered to sit and watch as innocent people would die, she realized the A-Laws were a bigger threat than the gundams and Celestial Being were.

‘The coup forces had the right idea. They only lacked information.’ She had the inklings of a plan after this event ended, but for now she had to make sure that the millions of people in the blast zone were safe. ‘The A-Laws will regret all of their actions.’

Near the Tower

Louise finally saw the red trails of the A-Laws suits arriving on the battlefield. ‘Why did it take them so long? Louise’s faith in the A-Laws had been steadily dwindling since the party. The backer that she met had set off warning bells and Saji, who had been at Proud which the A-Laws attacked, said the organization were not to be trusted. This, compounded with the gundams not acting like they did five years previous had raised her suspicions about what the media was saying about Celestial Being. She even regretted promising to give them minor support at the party, but she didn’t know any better at the time. They would use even that little amount of money to develop more weapons that would hurt and kill innocents. Ribbons said he would not use them for military pursuits, but it seems like he was lying. The A-Laws had shown no focus on helping outside hunting down the gundams.

Now that she felt safe in the city, Louise began to think. She had no idea what happened to the hostages, but she had a sinking feeling about that. And what could damage the elevator that significantly that it caused it to collapse? ‘It would make no sense for the rebels to do it. It was a thing that kept them safe. Most people wouldn’t mess with the elevator.’ It had to be someone with access to a large amount of firepower. Those panels weren’t easy to destroy, especially when they were fully intact on the elevator. She was suspicious of the A-Laws, but she had no proof one way or the other. ‘The gundams were the first on the scene, but they had never showed any interest in directly attacking the towers and are even destroying the debris.’ She needed more information before she could or would do anything. And not information directly given by the government.

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

After the elevator collapse had effectively ended, most of the gundams headed back to the ship. They had been at it for hours trying to stop the debris and by the evening, the combined forces of humanity had stopped it. The only gundams that stayed out were the Gun Archer and Arios, the former wanting to meet someone and Allelujah stayed out to keep Marie safe. Everyone was tired and drained after fighting for so long, so they went to their rooms to rest. Feldt had escorted Setsuna back to the medical bay after changing back into their uniform, his wound not too bad at this moment.

The pink-haired girl had checked out the wound and recleaned it, Setsuna not reacting in pain as he sat on the bed. Seeing he was good for now, Feldt told him to lie down and told him Sumeragi would want him to stay here to keep him under observation. He agreed reluctantly.

Feldt looked at him curiously, sitting in a chair next to the bed, “What happened after the first Memento Mori battle? How did you get that wound?”

Setsuna went over his experiences after the battle, talking about how he had met Ribbons, had to fight Ali after getting shot. She also had a brief surge of jealousy at Nena hitting on Setsuna, before she remembered that he came back for her.

She laid her hand on his, squeezing lightly, “You certainly went through a lot. How do you feel about what Ribbons told you?”

He gave her a bitter smile, “It hurt realizing why I was picked, but after seeing the original pilot, I knew I couldn’t let him have the 00. I am still its pilot and no one like him should pilot a gundam.”

She intertwined their fingers, giving him a warm smile, “Well I’m happy you were chosen as a gundam meister. If he hadn’t recommended you, we wouldn’t have met each other.”

He nodded at that, blushing, “No, we wouldn’t.” ‘If my path led me to Feldt, then maybe it wasn’t all for no reason.’

He continued his story, telling her how he was found by Katharon and given medical attention, meeting Marina again in the process. And how talked with her about Feldt.

Feldt perked up at hearing her name be mentioned, “What did she tell you?” The pink-haired woman was curious what would convince Setsuna to be so active about pursuing a relationship.

He sighed, the princess’s words coming back , “She told me that I deserved to be happy and if you were that for me, then I should go for it, especially if it was something that both of us wanted.” Feldt frowned slightly, remembering Setsuna’s past as a child soldier. ’Marina is right. He’s been through so much and deserves happiness. We deserve to be happy.’ The raven-haired man then remembered another thing Marina said, “She also told me to tell you that you have her blessing.”

Feldt blushed brightly at that, realizing Marina had approved of her. She looked away in embarrassment, “Well if I see her again, I have to thank her for her advice to you. I don’t think I’ve been this happy in a long time or seen you this happy.” She then turned back to look at him and gave him a peck on the lips. She continued, a confused smile gracing her lips, “I am new to relationships, so what do we do next? We can’t exactly go on dates.”

Setsuna gave her a similar expression, “I’m new to this too. Let’s figure this out one day at a time.”

She nodded, happy both of them were on the same page. She could see him beginning to nod off, “Do you want me to stay?”

In a tired, but happy tone, he replied, “I wouldn’t complain.”

She pulled the chair closer and once again, laid her head on his shoulder. She knew she would be sore from her position when she woke up, but it was worth it to be close to him. Both of them fell asleep quickly, relaxed smiles on both of their faces and hands still intertwined.

Both of them were unaware that they had been watched for a good chunk of that conversation. Sumeragi stood at a nearby corner, having heard everything after the pink-haired woman ask about Ribbons. She even saw Feldt kiss Setsuna. ‘Congratulations Feldt. Now hold onto that boy as long as you can.’

Secondary to this new relationship, Sumeragi took note of the mention of a Ribbons. ‘When Setsuna wakes up, he’s going to need to brief me on everything that happened to him, especially this Ribbons character. This was clearly data Veda had kept hidden from us.’ She headed to her own room, leaving the couple to rest peacefully as the ship found a safe place to rest before they headed into space again, taking advantage of the chaos.

Battlefield around the Africa Tower

The sun was setting as Sergei surveyed the damage caused by the collapse. Wrecks of mobile suits and debris were scattered all over the ground, a grim memorial to the destruction caused by the A-Laws. ‘This...is terrible. What was this all for? Was the Federation and A-Laws that desperate to remain in control?’

He spotted Hercury’s GN-X floating over the battlefield. Flying up to him, Sergei called out in a relieved voice, “Hercruy! You made it!”

Gripping his control’s tightly, Hercury spoke in a guilt-ridden tone, “Unbelievable! What happened here is something that can’t be taken back.” Just as he finished saying that, a red energy blast shot right through Hercury’s suit, exploding right in front of Sergei. Sergei yelled out in shock and horror watching his old friend die so unceremoniously. They had been through so much together over the years and he dies from a surprise attack in a peaceful area?

He looked up to see the attacker and was surprised to see Soma’s Ahead. ‘Soma isn’t with the A-Laws, so who could be piloting her mobile suit?’

The suit came charging in, blasting at the Tieren and pulling out it’s beam saber. Sergei heard his son speak in a chilling tone, “So you are the traitor. You caused this.” Sergei was disturbed by how unemotional his son sounded. Normally he was angry and emotive, but now he sounded like…a drone or something similar. It reminded him of how Soma used to talk when he first met her.

Sergei brought up his beam saber to counter Andrei’s attack, both of their blades clashing. Sergei called out desperately, “Andrei! Why did you kill Hercury?!”

“He was a traitor who betrayed the Federation. If he hadn’t staged the coup, none of this would have happened. And you were with him. You must be a traitor as well.”

“Andrei, wait a-“ He was interrupted by Andrei pushing against his suit, forcing it closer to the ground. Sergei grit his teeth as his suit was easily overpowered. ‘Please Andrei! Listen! Your mother wouldn’t like this!’

Andrei began to bash his saber against the Tierien’s, anger slowly rising in his voice, “You say you follow orders, getting my mother killed, but then you join the coup? That makes you a hypocrite!”

Sergei was taken aback by his son’s words. He hadn’t realized how much Holly’s death had gotten to him. ‘I’m so sorry Andrei. I should have been there. But I didn’t know how.’ The old soldier was so focused on this thought that he hadn’t realized he left himself open. Unfortunately for Sergei, that opening was immediately taken advantage of by Andrei, who stabbed his beam saber through the core of the suit, barely missing the cockpit. A console in the cockpit exploded, leaving Sergei wounded and bleeding.

As Sergei stared up at the Ahead, he could see memories passing by. Him and Holly at their wedding with Hercury. The first time he had seen Andrei as a new father. The memorial service after Holly’s death. Sitting in a church, lost after not knowing what to do with himself after his wife’s death. Him and Andrei’s worsening relationship. And lastly meeting Soma for the first time, not knowing how much of an impact she would have on him.

He snapped back to reality, weakly looking up at the Ahead with his son in it. He pushed the suit away from his own, knowing it was about to explode. With his last breath, he weakly said, “I’m so sorry Andrei.”

Andrei glared at the Tierien. ‘He apologizes now, instead of all those years ago? It’s too late father. I hope mom doesn’t forgive you.’

Andrei wordlessly watched as his father’s suit plummet to the ground. He felt one traitorous tear run down his face, but squashed that. His father was not only a traitor, but someone who had caused the death of the most important person in his life. ‘Good riddance.’

Unbeknownst to him, a gundam had gotten close enough to watch what happened. Marie had spotted Sergei in the battle and had planned to talk with him after everything had settled. But instead, Marie watched helplessly in the Gun Archer as Sergei’s suit fell to the ground and exploded, looking like just another casualty of the tower collapse. Inside her mind, she felt Soma go silent, then suddenly explode out in intense anger and grief, overwhelming Marie. No words were exchanged between the two and Marie was once again shoved into the back of their combined mind, left to watch helplessly as Soma took control.

Soma charged like a berserker at the Ahead, firing shot after shot at it. Andrei, knowing he was out of particles, beat a hasty retreat. Soma tried to chase him, but she noticed her particle count was also low, let out a cry of anger and frustration as she watched as the man who killed her mentor and father figure escaped

‘How could Andrei kill him?! He had a father and everything I could have wanted and yet he chose to kill him?! Why did the Colonel deserve that?! Andrei will pay for that!’ Tears began streaming down her face. Tears of grief, anger and frustration blended together, leaving Soma an emotional mess.

The Arios caught up with her, just seeing the Gun Archer hovering there. He called out in worry and curiosity, “Marie, are you ok?”

Soma’s voice spoke out in grief-stricken anger, “It’s not Marie! It’s Soma! And Andrei will pay for what he did!”

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Feldt and Setsuna (One week into time skip)

Setsuna exited the medical bay in his uniform, having just gone through a regeneration treatment session. Anew followed along with him out of the room, passing by him as she headed back to the bridge to take her post, though he didn’t notice, being deep in thought. While it was annoying that it wasn’t fixing the wound, it was at least some relief on his arm. It felt better, especially since he hadn’t had to use it seriously for a week. Despite the horrific destruction of the orbital elevator, Setsuna had to admit that the chaos had allowed the ship retreating back into space, allowing the crew a respite from fighting. The Ptolemy was currently resting near some debris floating close to a Lagrange point, waiting for a resupply from a Celestial Being support ship.

Anew had also informed him he was allowed to pilot again now that his arm was more functional than before. Sumeragi had informed him she didn’t want him piloting till his arm was in a better condition, which frustrated him, but he understood why. He had been impatiently waiting for permission, though Feldt had kept him somewhat distracted. There had been a general air of giddiness from her throughout the week, with the both of them spending a lot of time together in private when she wasn’t teaching Saji. Most of the crew assumed it was them bonding as pilot and co-pilot. They had kept their new relationship a secret from the crew, wanting to get a handle on it themselves before revealing it to the rest of the crew.

Setsuna saw Feldt in her regular uniform waiting outside in the hallway, looking at him with nervousness. She approached him and in an attempted casual tone, she asked, “Ready to pilot again?”

He nodded and smirked slightly, replying in a happy tone, “Very happy to.” He saw her looking at him nervously, her hands behind her back. Curiously, he asked, “Are you ok? You seem nervous.”

She took a deep breath and brought a letter out from behind her back, looking at him with trepidation, “Remember five years ago after Lockon died and I left a letter in the Dynames?” Setsuna nodded, remembering his first significant interaction with her. She continued, “Every year I write a letter to my parents, telling them my feelings and what’s going on. Normally I just write it and store it, but I wanted to do something special now that I’m a pilot. Normally I do it on my own, but I have a boyfriend now, so I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to take me out with you flying in the 00.”

Setsuna looked at her with a thoughtful look. ‘Boyfriend? I hadn’t thought to call her my girlfriend.’ His tone was light, “So I am your boyfriend then?”

Feldt looked down in embarrassment, blushing pink as she realized she had jumped the gun. ‘There you go assuming, Feldt. Might as well ask now.’ Steeling her nerves, she looked at Setsuna in the eyes, “Well do you want to be my boyfriend?”

He chuckled as he walked up to her and kissed her on the forehead, “I would love to. And of course you can join me in the 00.”

A surge of happiness went through Feldt as she wrapped her arms around Setsuna, her voice muffled by her face against his chest, “Thank you!”

“Well then, let’s just get changed. I’m sure you are just as impatient to pilot as I am.” She nodded at that and the two made their way to their rooms to get changed, meeting up in the hanger in front of the 00. He looked at her with a smile and asked, “You ready?”

She nodded, still a bit nervous, “Yes.” She saw him enter the cockpit of the 00 and the machine’s eyes lit up. It was an intimidating sight if she had to be honest.

Setsuna called out to her, “Jump in.” She pushed off the railing across from the gundam, and stood on top of the hatch, looking down in. She blushed, realizing that it was going to be a tight fit in the cockpit, having never been in there besides repairs, and seeing as it was meant for one person.

She spoke nervously as she looked down at her boyfriend, “Setsuna, where do you want me go? Next to you?” Her blush intensified as he wordlessly gestured to his lap. ‘Oh! Well he seems ok with it. Just avoid his bad arm.’ She laughed nervously, seeing Setsuna blushing as well, “If you are ok with that…” She descended into the cockpit, resting on Setsuna’s lap, putting her weight on his good arm. Her face was steaming, and she glanced behind her, seeing Setsuna with the same level of blushing. ‘I didn’t realize it was going to be this intimate.’

Setsuna also realized having his attractive girlfriend sitting on his lap might be a bit distracting, but he fought his urges. ‘She wanted me to be here with her. I don’t want to make her too uncomfortable.’ He coughed awkwardly and opened communications with the bridge. Mileina’s face popped into view, a happy smile shifting into a smirk when she saw the position of the two pilots. In a scandalized tone, she said, “Doing a test flight?”

Setsuna nodded and Feldt squirmed a bit, knowing Mileina was already making a judgement on what was going on. Setsuna swallowed awkwardly, feeling his girlfriend push into him further in embarrassment. Mileina continued, looking like the cat that caught the canary, “Loading you onto the catapult. Timing controls will be transferred to you.” In a quiet voice, she stated, “Have fun on your date!”

Her image disappeared, leaving the two to think about what she just said. Setsuna looked at the pink-haired girl curiously, “Is this a date?”

Feldt looked away from him, still blushing, “Well, no? I mean, yes? Do you want this to be a date?”

Setsuna replied, voice warm, “If you want it to be one, then it is one.” Feldt nodded, no able to vocalize her thoughts. ‘First I officially have a boyfriend and now we are on a date? Christina would be so overjoyed at this.’ She frowned for a second, remembering her best friend, but shook it off knowing she would want Feldt to be happy.

The gundam launched out of the ship, entering the openness of space. Feldt looked out into space, finally getting to experience the wonder of flying through space with no worries about enemies or other distractions. It was a sensation that she had never gotten the chance to really focus on. She had worked on the cockpits when fixing them, but this was an entirely separate experience. ‘I can’t believe I could have missed out on this. Is this what it was like for my parents? For Setsuna?’ She was awestruck by the experience, a wonder-filled expression on her face.

Setsuna looked at her expression, smiling at her wonder at the joys of piloting. ‘It seems like this is making her happy. Maybe I am doing this right.’ He let her gaze in wonder for a bit before reluctantly asking, “What is your plan with the letter?”

Feldt was pulled out of her own world, turning her head to look at the raven-haired pilot. She saw he had a relaxed smile, enjoying being there with her. She returned the smile, speaking up, “Oh, um I was going to leave it up in space. My parents were from space, and it feels appropriate.” Despite the short time they had been together, something inside her told her that she could trust him and open up fully to him.

Setsuna began to slow down the 00 as he replied in curious voice, “You’ve never told me about your parents. Who were they?” He had been curious for a while now how Feldt had joined Celestial Being and now seemed like an appropriate time to ask.

Feldt gave him a pensive look before starting to speak, “They were the gundam meisters before you guys. They died when I was young, so I never really got to know them, but I remember they were kind, caring and loved me.” Some tears welled up, blurry memories of her parents coming to her mind. She took a breath, taking a few seconds trying to get her emotions in check.

Setsuna’s heart clenched in sympathy. He knew exactly what it meant to lose a parent at a young age. He noticed her fighting tears and spoke in a soft tone, “You don’t have to continue if you don’t want to. If it brings up sad memories-“

He was interrupted by Feldt squeezing one of his arms with her hand, smile on her face, “It’s alright. It’s nice to talk to someone about it.” She took another deep breath, “My parents died in an early intervention, though I was never told the details. All they said it was about stopping terrorists.” A tear rolled down her cheek, yet the smile stayed on her face, pride in her voice, “I fight in their memory. They were brave enough to face the world despite the odds and as their daughter, I need to as well. Anything less wouldn’t be living up to them.” She pulled herself closer to Setsuna, him unconsciously wrapping an arm around her waist.

Setsuna took in what she just said, the pride in her voice inspiring. ‘So that is where her determination comes from, her drive to keep fighting.’ He spoke up, pride in his own voice, “Your parents would be proud of what you’ve done. You survived despite all the threats thrown against you and everyone else in Celestial Being. And you willingly flew into a dangerous battlefield, despite knowing the risks. You keep fighting. I don’t think you would ever disappoint them.”

Feldt could feel the tears she tried to resist start to flow out at a heavy rate, but all she could feel was happiness. ‘If it wasn’t for the helmet, I would kiss you!’ Setsuna could feel the gundam stop, so he wrapped his other arm around her, ignoring the wincing pain in his arm. He just held her as the pink-haired girl cried tears of happiness, fogging up her helmet visor. She curled into his arms, enjoying his comforting presence. After a few minutes she stopped crying, though her eyes were swollen by tears. She quietly said into his neck, “Thank you.” She looked into Setsuna’s eyes, voice full of happiness, “They would have liked you, at least I hoped they would.”

Setsuna blushed at that compliment, not used to this, “I would have liked to meet them. If they were anything like you, they must have been good people.” ‘It would have been great to meet the people that gave Feldt her determination. The old me would have been interested to meet the previous generation of meisters.’ He internally chuckled at that.

She nodded her head, words not coming to her mind. She then noticed that they had come to a stop. She looked at Setsuna, reluctance in her tone, “I’ll be back in a second. Can you…open the hatch?” He nodded. She pulled out of his arms and floated to the opening hatch, letter in hand. She pushed her upper body out of the hatch, holding out the letter for a minute before letting it float into space. ‘I hope you get this, wherever you guys are. So many things have changed.’ She floated there for several seconds, praying that her parents got her message.

While Feldt was praying, Setsuna’s mind was buzzing with thought. ‘There must be something I can do besides comforting her. Think!’ He felt like he owed her for his happiness. Nothing came to mind. ‘I know I’m new at this but there has to be something.’ His brow furrowed in thought, focusing on any idea that could help. Just then, his train of thought was interrupted by her arriving back and looking at him curiously, “Is there something wrong?”

He looked away quickly, “It’s nothing.”

She looked at him slightly worried, seeing something was bothering him, “Are you sure?”

“I was just thinking about something is all.”

She settled back into his lap, his hands back on the controls, though not moving the gundam yet. They both watched an asteroid pass by them as she asked with a curious tone, “What about your parents? Would they be proud of you?”

Memories of Setsuna shooting his own parents came rushing back, shame flooding through him. He looked away from her, grimacing as he sounded lost, “They…I don’t know.” He let go of one of the controls, his fist clenching, “My parents are…” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her. He absolutely trusted her. He didn’t want to lay his burdens on her. ‘This is my issue to deal with. When I sort out my past, I’ll tell her.’

Feldt rested her hand on his clenched fist, voice gentle, “It’s alright. I’m always here if you need to talk.” She knew Setsuna had been a child soldier, so something must have happened to them. There must be more to this story, but she could wait. Setsuna’s fist loosened up at Feldt’s touch and he became less tense, relaxing into the pilot seat. Just then an idea came rushing through his mind after thinking about what she said about her parents, which caused him to chuckle. ‘That’s what I’ll do for her.’

Setsuna expression changed from a grimace to a slight smirk. Feldt looked at him curiously, wondering what had caused this quick change in emotion. In a confident tone, Setsuna asked her, “How would you feel about piloting the 00?”

Her eyes widened, taken by surprise by what he said. ‘He would let me pilot his gundam?’ She spoke haltingly, “You would…let me pilot the 00?” He nodded at that. “Are you sure?” Another nod. ‘I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.’ She spoke with a growing excitement, “I would love to. But I think I might need some help. I’ve only done a simulation or two on the 0 Raiser.”

Setsuna chuckles at that, guiding her hands to the controls and leaving his over the top of hers, “I’ll help you out, then once you are comfortable I’ll let you take control.” She nodded at that, repositioning herself on his lap to get more comfortable, inadvertently forcing him to have to control himself. Comfortable, she knew she had to show how happy she was with Setsuna after they got back. ‘Just have to be patient.’

For the next couple minutes, Setsuna told her the basic functions of piloting a gundam and making sure she knew what she was doing. They started moving and while she initially was slow and careful, she eventually got a better grasp of the controls, pulling sharp turns and banks around the asteroids. She seemed to have a decent grasp on the basics. ‘I should probably teach her more in the future.’ While she was still new and it was not smooth piloting, Setsuna could see the child-like wonder in her getting to pilot, like she was a kid learning to ride a bike. He let of the controls himself, giving her full control. She was initially surprised, but stayed focused on piloting, knowing she wouldn’t have a lot of opportunities to do this outside of combat. ‘Mom, Dad, I’m doing what you did. Did you guys enjoy it as much as this?’

They did this for a while before she brought the machine to a stop, looking at the raven-haired meister excitedly, “That was amazing! Thank you so much!” She still exuded child-like energy, almost vibrating. A surge of pride went through Setsuna seeing how excited and energized she was. ‘Maybe I can do this.’

Smiling at her, he stated, “I’m glad you liked it. Maybe in the future I can help you train with piloting more.”

She nodded at that, grin on her face, “I would love that.” She looked up and saw a message on the display telling them to return, “Setsuna, we need to get back.”

Setsuna sighed, not wanting this moment to end, but he grabbed the controls again and began to fly the 00 back to the Ptolemy. The ride back was in comfortable silence, the two of them just enjoying each other’s company. In Feldt’s mind, she knew she had to do something for Setsuna to show him how much she appreciated his words and letting her fly the 00. How much she cared about him.

She zoned out from the emotions flowing through her and hadn’t realized they had landed until she felt the 00 being pulled back into the hanger. It was now or never. After they got out of the 00, they would have to deal with the rest of the world. In here, they were in their own world.

Still full of energy and excitement, she saw Setsuna take off his helmet in her peripheral vision. In an awkward motion, she pulled off her own helmet and rotated to straddle him, his eyes widening in surprise at her action. ‘What is she doing?’

In a flirty tone, she said, “Thank you so much Setsuna.”

He looked up at her, bewildered by her previous action and having never heard her speak like this. His voice caught in his throat looking up at the beautiful woman sitting on his lap, letting out, “You’re-“

She brought her lips down on his, interrupting him. Setsuna was initially caught by surprise, but he got caught up in the raw passion of the kiss, closing his eyes as he eagerly kissed her back, pouring as much passion as he could into it. Feldt poured all her affection into the kiss, wanting him to know how much he meant to her and how much she liked being with him. For Setsuna, he wanted her to know much he didn’t regret choosing her and how far into it she had gotten. They were both lost in their own world, no A-Laws, Innovators or even other crew members to interrupt them. It was just the two of them. Setsuna felt a feeling of admiration in the back of his head, but he was too caught up in the kiss to think about it. After a minute, the kiss broke, the two bright red and out of breath.

Setsuna looked at his girlfriend, a bit out of sorts, “Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?”

Her eyes shone as she replied, “For all you just did for me. For being with me. For everything.” Coming out of her stupor, she also realized her position, her face and neck bright red. A thought came unbidden into her mind about wonder what his thoughts were when he saw her naked. ‘Now that we are together, it’s a good time to ask.’ Her warm smile faltered a little, looking nervous, “Setsuna, when we were in that weird space, when you saw me…what did you think?”

Setsuna’s blush increased hearing this question. ‘Out of all of the things I expected to hear, that was not one of them.’ He swallowed, throat dry. In a slightly shaky voice but resolute voice, he replied, “You are beautiful.”

Feldt looked down, her face feeling like its steaming. ‘Oh. That’s good.’ She had been a bit self-conscious about what he would say or think, but had quietly hoped that he found her attractive. She replied in a quiet voice, looking back up at him, “Well I think you are handsome.” They moved in for another kiss but were interrupted when Ian’s face appeared on the display. The mechanic spoke with an exasperated tone, “Hey lovebirds, I need to work on the 00.”

The two both looked away from Ian, responding with a “Okay.” They both realized that their secret might not be a secret for much longer, though Feldt knew Ian wouldn’t tell if she talked to him. Ian dropped the communication and the two made their way out of the machine and back to the locker room to get into their uniforms. The two made small talk as they left the locker room and when they opened the door, they saw Mileina standing there, a smirk on her face. Feldt’s face went white, knowing that Mileina was going to confront them.

Mileina spoke in her usual happy tone, “So are you two lovers?”

Both blushed at that comment, not knowing how to respond to a blunt question like that.

The teenage girl, seeing their blushes, then shouted excitedly, looking at Feldt, “I knew it! I told you that you would find a good boyfriend!”

The pink-haired girl made a shushing motion, looking visibly embarrassed, “Keep it down! We wanted to keep it secret.”

Mileina harumphed at that, “Well you two aren’t very good at that, are you?” Setsuna just shrugged his shoulders, Feldt looked at the ground embarrassed. Mileina continued more quietly, “Setsuna, do you mind if I borrow Feldt? She owes me girl talk.” He looked at his girlfriend, who just hung her head in defeat. Seeing that, Mileina squeed and grabbed Feldt’s hand, beginning to pull her out of the room, stopping at the open door. Feldt tried to resist, but the small girl was stronger than she looked. Mileina then looked between the two of them and with genuine curiosity, asked, “So when you guys have kids, can I be their godmother?”

Feldt, who was already out of sorts, blushed intensely, voice raising a bit, “Mileina, that’s too soon! It’s only been a week!” She looked over at Setsuna, wondering what he was thinking and was surprised to see him look more thoughtful than embarrassed, despite his face being red. ‘Has he been thinking about this?’ She didn’t have much time to think about it or ask him before she was dragged out by the brown-haired girl, losing sight of her boyfriend.

In Setsuna’s mind, he was wondering about children. ‘I never thought about having kids. But does Feldt want them? Can I be a good father?’ He shook his head at his thoughts. It was too soon to think about kids, especially in their current situation. In the future they could discuss it, but for now, the stakes for the world were too high.

As Mileina dragged Feldt along, the pink-haired girl called out, “Mileina, I’ll follow you. Just let go of my arm!”

Mileina let go, smile on her face. She turned to face Feldt and asked curiously, “So what is it like to have a boyfriend? Have you kissed him? When did you start liking him? Why?”

Feldt responded in an exasperated voice, “Mileina, let’s head to my room and I’ll answer all your questions. Just give me a second to recover.” Mileina let go of the pink-haired pilot, the woman steadying herself. Feldt chuckled after she recovered, a thought going through her mind, “You know, you and Chris would have gotten along with each other. She would be grilling me about this as well, probably would have played matchmaker.”

Mileina tilted her head, voice curious, “Are you talking about the operator on the bridge before me?” Feldt nodded at that. Mileina continued, “It sounds like you were close. Can you tell me about her? I only know her by name.”

“Of course, Mileina. I would love to tell you.” The two girls made their way to Feldt’s room, where Feldt proceeded to answer Mileina’s questions as best she could and well as tell her all about her relationship with Christina. Feldt did make Mileina promise to keep hers and Setsuna’s relationship secret till they told the crew, which she agreed to. By the end, the two were laughing and feeling more relaxed than they had in a long time.

Lyle and Anew (Two weeks into timeskip)

Lyle sat in the cafeteria, enjoying the peace that they had been granted. The most recent two weeks had had no attacks from the innovators or A-Laws, which made him suspicious, since they seemed to always know where they were. ‘I’ll take what I can get. Though some people have taken advantage of the peace more than others.’

Sitting across the room, Feldt and Setsuna sat at a table, also eating. Currently, the pink-haired girl was talking excitedly about some technical thing, Setsuna listening intently. Lyle shook his head at that. It had just come to light a day or two before that the two of them were together. It was less of a shock to him, who suspected something was going on, but it was a big shock to most of the crew. Both of them seemed happier, so the crew was pretty accepting of it. ‘It’s also good to know she took my words to heart.’

He heard a chair pull out from his table and saw Anew sit down, a tray in her hand. She looked at him, smile on her face and asked, “Can I join you?”

Lyle gave her a casual smile and a shrug, “Sure.”

She sat down, asking curiously, “What were you looking at right before I joined you?” Lyle unconsciously looked at the couple on the other side of the room, Anew following where he looked. She smirked seeing where he looked, voice teasing, “Feeling jealous of Setsuna? I thought you liked me.”

Lyle chuckled at that, “No, not jealous at all. Well maybe a little that he has a girlfriend, but I had my shot and blew it with Feldt. It’s just strange to see the guy like that, smiling and everything.”

Anew continued teasing Lyle, “I see I’m not the first girl you flirted with. Should I ask Sumeragi what you said to her?”

Lyle rolled his eyes, “It was only her. And let’s just say that what happened is a bit more complex than simple flirting. We both moved on, so it’s fine.” Lyle’s tone shifted to curious, “So how is the kid’s wound? Getting any better?”

Anew sighed, sounding frustrated, “Regeneration is keeping it from getting worse, but I still can’t find the origin of why the injury isn’t spreading as much. There is something changing about him, but the scanners can’t find anything.”

“I’m surprised that Celestial Beings’ resources can’t find anything.”

She looked at him, shaking her head, “Most of the stuff Setsuna uses is experimental, especially the 00. We still have no idea what the upper limits of its power are with the 0 Raiser. Aeolia designed something beyond what we could imagine or even predict.”

Lyle shrugged, “Well it has won us several battles, so I’m not complaining. I couldn’t begin to wrap my head around the technical stuff. You guys are the smart ones, I just shoot mobile suits.”

She smirked at him, “Some of us aren’t there for thinking.”

Lyle pouted at that, “That’s not fair. I was a spy and that required thinking.”

“If I remember right, you were pretty obvious about giving info to Katharon.”

Lyle sighed in defeat, “Yeah yeah, I know. It seemed like everyone was aware of that. Still helped us get the ship supplied, so it worked out.” The two ate for a minute or two in silence before Lyle piped up again, “I’m curious how you came to join Celestial Being. How did you meet Wang Liu Mei?”

Anew finished swallowing her food, replying evenly, “I was actually working in the colonies for the last couple of years after getting my mechanical engineering and Mobile Suit development degrees. I had effectively been exiled to the colonies as I was a bit…outspoken about some of the things the Federation was doing. At that time, I had no idea the full scale of what the A-Laws were doing, but people working in space spoke in whispers about the A-Laws being fishy. You guys had just become active at Proud, and Wang Liu Mei saw my resume and decided to recruit me.”

Lyle leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms across his chest, “You got recruited before me it seems. What did you do before you worked in space?”

“I actually lived in the colonies for most of my life. I was raised by an uncle after my parents died.” She sighed, remembering the cold indifference of her teenage years, “My uncle was a…cold man. He expected the best from me, since he had no kids of his own. He pushed me to focus on my academics over everything else, saying that it was for my future. By the time I got into college, I tried to push boundaries with him, though not enough to have me disowned. He died in my freshman year at college, which I admit was a relief. I didn’t exactly have warm feelings about him.” Purple eyes flashed in her mind as she talked about her uncle.

Lyle put one of his hands on hers, leaning forward in his seat, “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

She gave him a warm smile, “Thank you. I made some friends in college, so I got to open up. No one close by any means, but enough to get me out of my shell.”

Lyle gave her a smirk, “Any boyfriends?”

Anew smirked back, “One or two non-serious ones. I mostly focused on my degrees, which pushed me away from any serious relationships.” Her smirk went away, a friendly smile replacing it, “After I graduated, which was around the time the original gundams were operating, I became an engineer on the orbital ring till they mentioned complaints against the government and now I’m here. How did you get here?”

Lyle replied in a casual tone, “Honestly not too much of a story. I used to work in finances but found myself disagreeing with the government, so I joined Katharon as a spy, as well as an occasional pilot. Then one day Setsuna called me up and told me my brother was a former gundam meister and I should take his place. I was suspicious of him at first but after some intel he gave me was correct, I decided it was a good idea to join. Also was a good opportunity to get intel for Katharon.”

She gave him a surprised look, “You know out of all the jobs I expected you to have, to work in the finance industry wasn’t one of them.”

Lyle shrugged, “It made money and wasn’t too bad, so I stuck with it.”

Anew spoke questioningly, “What about your family?” ‘Did he leave that out on purpose?’

Lyle sighed heavily, flashes of the mall being destroyed going through his head, “They died when I was a kid, leaving only my brother and I left. It’s not a happy memory.”

Anew gave him a sympathetic look, “I’m sorry for bringing it up. I didn’t know.” ‘I’ll leave that alone for now.’

Lyle gave her a sad smile, “It’s alright. You didn’t know.” He chuckled, “It seems everyone here has a bad past, with maybe Mileina as the exception.”

Anew chuckled at that as well, knowing it seemed to be a common thread among the people that she met in Celestial Being. As she got up to put away her tray, Lyle piped up, “You free now?”

She tilted her head in curiosity, “Yes. Why?” ‘What was his game?’

He smirked at her, “Well if you wanted to do something fun, I have somewhere we can go.”

She rolled her eyes playfully, “If you want to sleep with me, it will take a little more than a conversation.”

He laughed, “That isn’t what I meant. What I mean is do you want to join me at the target range. My trigger finger has been itchy.”

She gave him a flirty smile, “Well I certainly have better things to do, but I could put those aside for now.”

“That’s good to hear. Let’s go!” He stood up and both of them left the cafeteria, dropping off their trays. They made their way to the ships small gun range, making small talk along the way. They entered the range, her laughing at a comment from Lyle. The gun range was a relatively small room. He then asked, curious, “Used your gun a lot?”

She blushed, embarrassed, “Not really. Just enough for Celestial Being standards.”

He smirked at her, “Well then, this should be easy for me.”

She looked at him confused, “What should be easy?” She was curious why he chose regular weapons instead of something related to his gundam, but she wanted to see where this was going.

“Just a little friendly competition. You up for it?”

She narrowed her eyes, smile on her face, “Bring it on.” ‘I’m not going down easy.’

The two put on the ear protection and the competition began as they grabbed the pistols in the room. Anew shot first, hitting the paper target near the center mass. She then looked at him with a slight smirk. Lyle looked on in surprise. ‘She’s only shot a little? That shot seems like more than someone who only shot a few times. I was going to go easy on her, but not anymore.’ The two then began to shoot in earnest, Lyle edging her out narrowly in terms of accuracy. The energy in the room was fun and competitive, both of them trying their best. They went through four targets before deciding that the fifth would be the final target for each of them.

Anew lined up her shot on the final target, hitting near the exact center of the torso. Lyle sweated at that, knowing that was a close shot. He took careful aim, the world around him fading away. Just as he was about to fire, he felt something press into his side and a kiss on his cheek. His shot went way off target, not even hitting the target. He turned his head to see what happened and saw Anew standing there, blushing and smirking at him, “I win.”

He gave her a playful glare as he took off his ear protection, “You cheated.”

She replied in a sing song voice, “You didn’t say I couldn’t.”

He rolled his eyes, but smiled warmly at her, “Did you have fun?”

She smiled back at him, “That was more fun than I expected. Didn’t think I was that good.” She approached him, him looking at her curiously. She stood in front of him, and said flirtatiously, “I can make it up to you.”

“Make it up how?”

He saw a mischievous look in her eyes as she raised herself on her toes and pecked him on the lips. ‘Oh, I wasn’t expecting that. Yet I was expecting more at the same time.’ He was about to reply when he saw the looked in her eye. ‘Those are definitely bedroom eyes.’ He could feel his heart race at the realization.

She spoke in a lustful tone, “We can speak more in my room, if you want to.” He watched her begin to walk away, some extra sway in her hips. He recovered quickly, following her. ‘She did mention that I felt jealous at not having a girlfriend.’

Allelujah and Soma (1 Month into timeskip)

Allelujah floated through the ship, downcast. It had been a month since the pillar collapse and when Soma had taken control of his girlfriend’s body. They had also come under attack several times from the innovators and A-Laws, somehow always finding them. She had been consumed by vengeance, ignoring everything but wanting to kill Andrei. She mostly kept to herself, avoiding the company of other peoples besides when she went out in the Gun Archer to fight the occasional attack from the innovators and A-Laws, always on the lookout for Andrei’s mobile suit. It felt like there was a hole in his heart. He didn’t know if Marie would come out for a long time, and he couldn’t even talk to her through brainwaves. He had tried to ask Soma when Marie was coming back, but that only seemed to make her angrier. Whatever what was going on between the two, it hadn’t changed and didn’t look like it was getting better.

He moved through the hallways, passing by Saji and Mileina, who was chatting the ear off of the Japanese man. The two spotted him and called out to him, but he didn’t hear it, continuing to head to his room. The pair shrugged at that and headed to the bridge, knowing that Allelujah was going through a lot. Reaching his room, he splayed out on his bed, sighing in frustration. He heard Hallelujah’s voice voice speak to him in an annoyed tone, “Still moping? It’s getting old.”

Allelujah frowned at that, “It’s not like I don’t have a reason to. The woman I love is trapped inside her own body again.”

Hallelujah sighed, “Have you ever thought to talk to Soma? She’s being a bitch, but you aren’t helping.”

Allelujah found it strange that Hallelujah was being so…thoughtful. Normally he was blunter and self-serving, but here he was telling him to talk to Soma. He asked curiously, “What happened to you? I’ve never seen you act so unselfishly.”

Hallelujah spoke with frustration, “Annoyingly, it seems some of your morality has grown on me. And yet despite that I’m more selfish than you, I can see you are ignoring Soma’s feelings. You are aware she is a part of your girlfriend like I am of you, right?”

Hallelujah’s words hit Allelujah like a truck. He was so focused on not having Marie around, that he didn’t realize Soma was suffering. How she acted was unhealthy, but she had a reason for acting that way. ‘I would probably be the same if someone killed Marie.’ He had never really tried to understand her or what was going on in her head. And thinking back even further, he was even resistant to Soma piloting because he was so worried about Marie getting hurt, despite her assistance being a boon in recent battles against the A-Laws and Innovators. He spoke to Hallelujah, “I’ve been an idiot, haven’t I?”

Hallelujah replied bluntly, “Yes, you have. But Soma didn’t exactly make it easy to approach her in general, so I don’t blame you completely. How Marie gets along with her, I’ll never know.”

Allelujah chuckled bitterly, “I think you didn’t make a good impression on her five years ago.”

The other personality responded incredulously, “I wanted to survive. I wasn’t exactly thinking of sparing her comrades to make her happy!”

“It seems that both of us aren’t exactly her favorite people, though we definitely aren’t her most hated people.” Hallelujah chuckled at that, happy to not be on the top of that list. Regardless of the truce they had, he wouldn’t want to be the target of her wrath. The last time that happened, he was put in a coma.

They both were caught by surprise when the heard the door to Allelujah’s room open and saw Soma standing there, looking stiff and with a grimace on her face. She spoke in a tense voice, “Marie said I should talk to you. And I have some things I want to get off my chest.” She looked at the heterochromatic super soldier, “I haven’t talked to you because one of my frustrations is how you still don’t want me to pilot, to protect this ship. You agreed that it would be ok before, but even then you didn’t seem happy about that. You don’t seem to want me to ever switch places with her again. I felt useless, like I couldn’t do what I was good at!” Her tone picked up in anger, “And despite me watching my father die, you keep asking about Marie! You haven’t asked me how I feel! How I’m doing! Did Hallelujah tell you to ignore my feelings?!”

Allelujah felt the indignation from Hallelujah at that comment, him asking to take over. The super soldier sighed, knowing he would complain if he didn’t let him get his say. He let Hallelujah take over, hoping this wasn’t a mistake. The other personality responded to Soma, voice full of offense, “Of course you think it’s me. Like I’m always the bad guy. I was the one that just told this mopey bastard to listen to you!

Soma looked at him in confusion, anger leaving her voice, “Why would you do that?”

Hallelujah rolled his eyes, “Because I’m like you, whether you like it or not. This guy ignored me in the past, so I thought maybe I’d help you out. But after that, I’m not sure if I should have.”

Soma looked down awkwardly, not knowing how to respond. ‘I’m so used to him being combative, that I thought it was him encouraging him to not let me pilot. Maybe he’s softer than I thought.’ In a somewhat reluctant tone, she spoke up, “Well if you did, then thank you. Doesn’t mean I like you though.”

Hallelujah smirked at her, “Didn’t expect you to like me, just not blindly accuse me of things. Besides, Allelujah wouldn’t treat you that way because I told him to.” He felt Allelujah asking if he could take over again. His expression evened out, “Well I think the other guy wants to talk with you, so have fun.”

Allelujah felt control return to him as Hallelujah retreated back. He looked at Soma regretfully, “I’m sorry if ignored your feelings. I was so focused on Marie that I didn’t think about how you were feeling. You are just as much a part of her as Hallelujah is of me. I just didn’t want to put Marie in danger, and I see I might have gone a bit far with that. As long as you are careful and not reckless, I will fully support you fighting besides me and the other gundam meisters in battle with no complaints.”

Soma thought for a second, then sighed, conflict apparent on her face, “I can work with that. Just don’t get in my way if I see Andrei. He’s mine!”

Allelujah sighed at her need for vengeance, knowing he had to take it one step at a time with Soma, “I can understand that. Just don’t put yourself too out there when fighting him. You might kill Andrei, but you could get killed too”

Soma’s frustrations lessened slightly, knowing at least someone would listen to her besides Marie. After so long, Allelujah was trying to understand her. ‘Better late than never.’ She was still angry and grieving, but at least she could trust the other super soldier to have her back. Marie called out to Soma, “Can I talk with him? Please?”

Soma replied suspiciously, “Is that so you can take over?”

Marie responded desperately, “I just want to talk with him. I promise I’ll let you take control once I’m done.” Reluctantly, Soma let her take over, trusting Marie would keep her word.

Allelujah noticed immediately that Soma’s eyes softened, realizing that Marie was in charge. He pulled her close, desperate to see her and hold her. She responded eagerly, resting her head in his chest and wrapping her arms around him. They both sent brainwaves to each other, showing their happiness to see each other again. Allelujah finally felt content after a month of not being able to see her. They stood there for a minute in an embrace, just enjoying each other presence. They pulled back slightly from each other, looking in each other’s eyes. Marie spoke first, voice quiet and soft, “It’s been so long. I’m so sorry about what happened. I should have stayed on the ship.”

Allelujah shook his head, a tear rolling down his cheek, “You couldn’t have known that would have happened. None of us knew Colonel Smirnov was there.”

Marie sighed, knowing her time was short as she could feel Soma’s impatience, and wanting to stay in his embrace forever, “Allelujah, I don’t have much time here before she takes over again. Right now she is a mess of anger, grief and sorrow. I’m trying to help her, but I need time. She so fixated on revenge that she won’t let me take over, no matter how much I promise. I need to you to stay by her side in combat and keep her safe. I’ll be back once all her negative emotions leave her system.”

He sighed heavily, unhappy about having to separate again, but knew they needed to, “I’ll keep her safe.” Marie smiled warmly at him, sending all of her love for him over their connection. He felt the depths of her feelings, happiness rising in his chest. He pulled her in for a kiss, her eagerly pulling him closer and she responded with all the passion and love she had for him. He could viscerally feel them, him making sure she could feel how much devotion he had for her. They both knew their time was short, adding a sense of bitterness from both of them.

They kissed a few more times before they broke apart, smiling sadly at each other. They didn’t want this moment to end, but Marie could feel Soma pulling on their connection. She spoke for one last time before Soma took over again, “It’s time. I love you Allelujah.”

His voice was warm and quiet, “I love you too.” She smiled, tears in her eyes. With heavy reluctance, she pulled back, allowing Soma to take over. Allelujah could see her eyes harden again, knowing he would be lonely for a while. Soma walked towards the door, wiping the tears away. Turning around to Allelujah, eyes softening slightly, “Thank you.” She then turned around again, leaving Allelujah alone with Hallelujah and his own thoughts. ‘Stay strong. I have to trust her.’

Sumeragi and Tieria (4 month into timeskip)

Tieria approached Sumeragi’s room, a plan forming in his mind. They had recently been attacked and it seemed Setsuna was healed enough to be fully functional in a fight. ‘It’s been long enough.’ Tieria was curious why Setsuna was healing despite the pseudo GN particles and had a few ideas. There was something that was changing about him, beyond him opening up more. ‘Was this part of Aeolia’s plan? The 00 must have been part of it, seeing as he sent it to us. Did he predict something would happen with it?’

But whatever was happening with Setsuna was secondary. He wanted to discuss his ideas with their tactical forecaster and see what she thought. ‘We’ve been waiting long enough.’ Opening the door, he saw Sumeragi leaning back in her chair, half empty bottle of whiskey in her hand. He sighed, hoping he would be talking with a sober Sumeragi, but his luck was not that good.

She looked over at him and with a wide grin, she said, “Hey there Tieria! What brings you here?”

In an even tone, he replied, “I was hoping to discuss a plan with you, but it seems you are enjoying yourself.”

She rolled her eyes, her voice teasing as she put the whiskey down, “You sound like the old Tieria right now.” She chuckled seeing Tieria blush at that comment, “I’m just relaxing after the battle, so I’m entitled to a drink or two in celebration of Setsuna being back fully.”

Tieria nodded and smiled, “If I drank, I would agree. Anything else you are celebrating?”

She gave him a one-sided smile, “Besides the attacks, everything has been going relatively well. Soma has calmed down a little and Allelujah is happier. Soma is even willing to follow my battleplans. Setsuna and Feldt have become a well-oiled machine, on and off the battlefield. And I’ve never seen her so happy and confident or Setsuna so open. It’s still kind of strange to see those two being so affectionate.” Tieria heard pride in her voice talking about the two.

The purple-haired man smirked at her, “You sound like a proud mom. And I agree it’s nice to see Setsuna so open. We should thank Feldt for that.”

She rolled her eyes playfully, “You know it’s not just her. You have gotten closer to him, so you can take some of that credit.” She laughed, her eyes shining with happiness, “Our little family is well functioning. Do you disagree?”

He shook his head, “No. Despite the constant attacks, morale has been good. Even Saji has found his place on the bridge. Lasse and Mileina seem to enjoy his company and he does his job well.” ‘It is a nice feeling to have everyone so happy.’ His voice became more serious, though sounding regretful “But no matter how much morale is up, all we have done is play defensive and hide from the enemy, which is seemingly impossible. We need a plan to deal with the A-Laws and innovators.” They had been attacked around twenty times since their retreat into space and they had been unable to figure out why. Tieria looked at her with some regret. “I’m sorry to bring this up, but this is something that needs to be discussed.”

Sumeragi sighed, the good mood of earlier deflating. The tactical forecaster had been hoping to put off this conversation, but Tieria, for good or for ill, reminded her this needed to be dealt with. She had thought about how they could know where they were at all times so many times it drove her crazy. They had scanned for any trackers a dozen times and found nothing. The only thing that made sense was a spy. But they had seen no messages been sent out, digital or physical. ‘How could they know? Is there something the innovators have that we don’t know about?’ Her tone was subdued as she responded to Tieria, “You are right. The issue we are facing is we don’t know where the innovators are based out of. We both know they probably have the Celestial Being mothership, but we can’t seem to find it.”

Tieria nodded at that, voice even, “We actually had a tracker on the location of the base during the final battle five years ago, but by the time we recovered, the signal was gone. I’m guessing Ribbons managed to disable the tracker when he manipulated Veda.”

“So then how would we find out where the base it? We have no real leads.”

Tieria gave her a smile, “I actually have been thinking about this. And while it’s risky, I have an idea.”

She nodded her head, “Go ahead.”

He brought up his mini terminal, showing combat footage of an innovator suit being destroyed, “Whenever we defeat one of their suits, they manage to escape, along with their GN drives, through an escape pod-like system. If we can defeat one of them again and manage to capture one of them alive, we may be able to locate their base, if we can get information out of them.”

Sumeragi looked at him thoughtfully, “But what if we can’t get the information out of them? Then we are still in the same place.”

Tieria gave her a determined look, “We have no other options. We can sit here and wait for the perfect opportunity, but that means the A-Laws and innovators increase their grasp even further. And even if they don’t give us the info, we have one of their pilots taken out of commission.”

The brown-haired woman gave him an appreciative smile, “I don’t know what we would do without you. It’s funny to think that five years ago, you would have turned your nose at a plan like this.”

He laughed quietly, half smiling, “You are probably right. But we all have changed since then. Even you.”

Sumeragi blushed slightly at that, “I suppose so. Well, it appears that I have to get working on a plan.” She picked up the bottle and took a sip, offering the bottle to him, “Want a sip?”

He shook his head, “Thank you, but no thanks. I think I will leave you to it.”

She grimaced for a second, knowing that this plan had a lot of risks. She gave Tieria another appreciative smile, “Thank you for kicking me into gear.”

He smirked at her, “Someone had to.” He walked out of her room, the door sliding opened and closed behind him. She looked at her terminal, her mind beginning to form a plan. Taking one last sip of her drink, she put it down and started up her terminal. ‘Let’s hope this plan works.’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Louise (1 month into the timeskip)

Louise sat quietly watching the news in her family mansion, seeing a news story covering the rebuilding of the orbital elevators. She glowered at the TV, seeing them giving glowing praise to the A-Laws for their part in assisting of the rebuilding of the elevator. ‘They are the ones that probably caused this. And yet they get credit for rebuilding it.’ The news had constantly tried to reinforce the virtues of the peacekeeping force, with them even getting more influence over the military due to their supposed “effective elimination of anti-government forces.” She also saw no footage of the gundams or the rebel forces assisting in the defense, when they had been the first groups to start destroying the debris. ‘They are manipulating everyone and I’m not sure who exactly I can trust.’

She thought back on a few months ago, when she actually thought the A-Laws were good and had good intentions. She had been so naïve, thinking them opposing the gundams made them good. ‘Why wouldn’t I? The gundams had been the ones that killed my family.” But the new gundams hadn’t attacked anyone but the A-Laws and Federation forces, despite what the media said about their intentions. Yet despite her skepticism, everyone around her seemed to just accept what the A-Laws said. She was trapped in the bubble of the Federation and A-Laws and didn’t know how to get out of it.

Adding onto her worries was the lack of progress that was being made on her condition. The doctor near the tower had said that regeneration treatments could only slow down the slow degradation of her body and even then, it was a losing battle. Assuming that she didn’t put too much stress on her body, she probably had 2 or so years before her condition killed her.

Tears streamed down her cheeks thinking about it. There was always a dull pain that would fade in and out at random times. She had many regrets, things she couldn’t make up for. Things she wanted to say to her family. But they were gone. The only thing she had left of her old life was Saji and he was gone. ‘I’m sorry Saji. I just want to see you again. To hold you. I wish I could be where you are. Maybe it would be better than being here.’ She pulled her knees up to her head and rested her chin on them, the weight of loneliness sitting on her shoulders.

Her thoughts were interrupted by hearing a buzz on her comms. She pulled her head off of her knees and looked at the message she had received. It said that someone was at the gates requesting to come in. Getting up off the couch and turning off the news, she headed to the mounted communication unit in the foyer. Opening it up, she saw a blonde man in a government suit with sunglasses looking right at her. She spoke, confused, “Hello there. Who are you and why are you here?”

The man spoke evenly, “We are from the Federation. We wish to discuss what you saw at the tower collapse. We have been interviewing witnesses about their personal experiences.”

Louise looked warily at the man, unable to get a bead on if he was telling the truth. She was sure they wouldn’t harm her, but she was worried about what they were going to do with this. ‘What if they twist my words or put me on a list?’ She replied cautiously, “Ok. Follow the driveway up the front. I’ll let you in.” The metal gate slid open and the car made its way up the driveway, parking in front of the house.

Louise anxiously waited at the front door, curious why this was happening after a month. ‘I just hope this doesn’t take too long.’ She heard a knock on the door and opened the door. She saw three people standing behind the door. Two similarly dressed men and a woman with black hair down to her shoulders. The woman spoke up in a professional tone, “Do you have a preferred place where we can talk?”

Louise nodded and wordlessly led them into a parlor, taking a seat in an armchair. The group sat down and the woman gave her an analytical look. Taking off her sunglasses, the purple eyed woman looked Louise straight in the eye, and spoke evenly, “Thank you for talking to us ma’am. I am Kati Mannequin. Forgive us for the deception. We aren’t here to ask about the incident. We aren’t with the federation and in fact represent a third party.”

Louise looked at her confused, “Well if you aren’t here to ask about that, then why are you here?” Louise’s suspicions shot up as worry showed on her face. ‘Did I just make a mistake? Are they going to hold me hostage?’

Kati saw her worried look. ‘Hopefully she plays ball with us.’ She answered in a calm tone, “We are curious on your opinion of the A-Laws. We see you are only a minor investor in them. We looked into your history and saw you were at an attack site of the gundams, so we assumed you would support them whole heartedly. Why the hesitation?”

Louise rocked back and forth, not knowing how to answer, especially with the intense look Kati gave her. ‘Are they actually A-Laws agents? Are they testing me? Or are they actually a third party?’ Looking down nervously, she spoke up, “I feel that they focus too much on military endeavors. I had some assumptions that they did more than fighting the gundams and rebels, but after meeting one of their backers, I didn’t trust they did. I don’t want to support military development.”

Kati smirked, “Well what if I told you the A-Laws are up to more that the media is telling you?” ‘I knew it!’ Louise smiled in satisfaction. Kati saw her reaction, seeing the reaction she was hoping for. She continued, “The A-Laws have been manipulating the media and covering things up. Our group is interested in bringing their crimes into the light.”

Louise internally debated. Her gut said that she could trust this woman and her gut hadn’t been wrong before about the A-Laws. “But exactly what crimes have they done besides the elevator?” Louise asked with curiosity.

Kati brought out a mini terminal and handed it to Louise wordlessly. Louise took it and scanned through the information being presented on it. What she saw shocked her. Tens of thousands of people, innocent or guilty alike killed in raids by the A-Laws. Massive media manipulation, like showing the coup forces attacking the civilians instead of defending them and much more beyond that. The fact that the A-Laws were the ones that destroyed the orbital elevator. ‘It looks like my gut feelings were right. No wonder why it took so long for them to get involved.’ One bit of info really caught her attention, reminding her of Saji’s letter and she looked back up at the black-haired woman, voice quiet, “Um, at the attack at Proud when the gundams showed up, were there any other groups that were there besides the A-Laws, gundams and Katharon?”

Kati shook her head, “As far as we could find, no. Why are you asking?”

Louise looked at her anxiously, her voice full of worry at her ex-boyfriend, “Then do you know what happened to someone named Saji Crossroads? He was at the colony, but he disappeared and I have had no contact with him.”

Kati’s look softened seeing the look on the girl’s face. She had found a connection between the two when she researched for this exact meeting. She could tell she cared for this man a lot. She nodded at that, “Based on what we found, we could only come to one thing. He is most likely with Celestial Being, seeing as the last known location of him was in the middle east, but we can’t find any info of him being with Katharon.”

Hearing the information sent Louise’s mind racing. He was with Celestial Being? Were they holding him hostage? ‘That note didn’t seem like he was being held hostage. Wait, Setsuna said he met him after the Proud attack. Does that mean…’ The gears in her mind whirred, connections being made.  Was Setsuna a member of Celestial Being? He had disappeared right before the final battle with the gundams five years before as well as disappearing at random times. Admittedly it was a good cover story, and she wouldn’t have made that connection right away. ‘If you had told me this a couple months ago I would be freaking out. But now I’m just curious.’ And the only way for Setsuna to know to give her that letter is if Saji knew she would be at that party. That means the two would need to be in contact and Celestial Being would have an interest. ‘If Setsuna is a part of that group, then he would keep Saji safe. I need to meet Saji!’

Louise looked at her determinedly, “What do you want from me? Information? Financial support? I am willing to help.”

Kati smirked at her, “I see you are in then. We require financial backing as we gather support and evidence against the A-Laws.”

Louise nodded at that, her tone serious, “I am willing to do this, but I have one condition. When you go to face the A-Laws, I want to be with you guys.”

Kati looked at her curiously, “Why do you want to put yourself in danger?”

“Because when you face the A-Laws, the gundams will be there. That means Saji will be there. I want to see him.”

Kati gave the blonde a smile, “You must really like this man.” Louise nodded confidently, blushing slightly. Kati continued, clearing her throat, “I can agree to those conditions. We will stay in contact with you and send you info on how you will send us money.” Kati stood up, putting her sunglasses back on, “Have a good afternoon ma’am.” Louise watched the group leave, a weight lifting off her shoulders. She knew where the man she loved was. Nothing would keep her from reuniting with him. ‘Only a little more time. I just need to see him one more time.’

Saji (2 months into time skip)

Saji hummed quietly as he made his way to the bridge to take up an extra shift. Mileina had told him she wanted to help out Feldt with something, so Saji agreed to pick up part of her shift. He tried to resist at first, but she gave him puppy eyes, which caused him to fold. ‘Why can I not argue back with pushy women and girls?’ He didn’t mind it too much, but Louise was the same with him when they were dating. ‘She always said I was too polite.’ He frowned slightly thinking about her. ‘I wonder what she would think about the crew of the ship.’

As he neared the bridge, he saw Feldt carrying a box through the hallway heading the opposite direction. ‘What could she be doing?’ He called out to her curiously, “Ms. Feldt, where are you going with that?”

She looked up to see him, having not been paying attention. Blushing slightly at getting seen, she replied, “I’m moving my stuff into Setsuna’s room.” The two had talked about it after a month or so and they agreed to have her move in. It was a space that could become their own private sanctuary.

Saji gave her a surprised look, “I’m surprised that it happened so soon. I guess you two really connected.” ‘I guess Setsuna moves faster than I did.’

She softly smiled, “Yeah. We’ve gotten close.”

“Do you need help?”

Feldt shook her head, “It’s fine. I’m certain you have something to do and Mileina is helping us out.”

Saji nodded at that. ‘So that’s what she’s doing.’ He spoke in a sympathetic tone, “Good luck unpacking.”

She sighed at that, knowing she would have to put all her stuff away, “Thank you.” The two travelled in opposite directions, heading to their respective destinations. Saji reached the bridge door, seeing Lasse at his post. He floated in, calling out to Lasse, “Hey there!”

Lasse turned his head to see Saji taking up his position. Lasse looked at him curiously, “Where’s Mileina? Isn’t this normally her shift?”

Saji rubbed the back of his neck, “She convinced me to cover her shift till she shows up. She is helping Feldt right now.”

Lasse shook his head, smirking “You can’t let her walk all over you like that. She’ll just ask you to do more for her.”

Saji chuckled awkwardly, “Well she begged me and I couldn’t say no. It seems to be a reoccurring pattern with me.” Saji looked over the sensors, seeing no enemy contacts nearby.

“You have trouble telling people no? Or dealing with pushy women?”

Saji blushed with embarrassment, “A little bit of both. Louise always said I needed more of a backbone.” Saji’s tone had a hint of affection when mentioning Louise.

Lasse caught onto that and curious, asked, “Who’s Louise?”

Saji replied in a wistful tone, “She is my ex-girlfriend.”

Lasse spoke with surprise, looking at Saji, “You sound like you miss her.”

Saji smiled softly at that comment, “I suppose I still do. I messed up before and after this, I hope she’ll take me back.” ‘I hope you are safe. Just keep your head down and we will be back together.’

Lasse responded appreciatively, “Well if you are trying to prove you got better, I would say you have. I remember when you were mad at us when we first brought you on board.”

Saji spoke apologetically, “I’m sorry for that. I was going through a lot, but that’s no excuse to have talked to you and Mileina like that.” Saji was surprised at that time how they took it so well, but after seeing what they went through, he understood why it didn’t really get to them.

Lasse shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. You were going through a lot. I probably would have been the same if I had all of those revelations dumped on me all at once.”

“But…”

“You got better and that’s all that matters. And you have proven yourself on the bridge, so you have nothing to be worried about.” Lasse chuckled, “You don’t need to apologize as much, especially when you are trying to get better.”

The Japanese man chuckled as well, “I suppose that is true. You aren’t the first person who told me that.”

“Louise?”

“And my sister. But I suppose both of them were right.”

Lasse was happy to hear Saji open up to someone in the crew, “You have a sister?”

Saji’s voice became more bitter, “Had. She died investigating Celestial Being.”

The black-haired man replied sympathetically, pausing for a second, “I’m…sorry about that.” ‘Another innocent person caught in the crossfire.’

Saji shook his head at that, “Don’t apologize. I’ve come to accept that she chose to follow that path. You guys didn’t make her do it. While I wish she hadn’t, I can’t go back and fix that.” His voice picked up a questioning tone, “I am curious how you joined Celestial Being.”

Lasse smiled at that, enjoying the conversation “I worked in the mafia back on Earth a couple years before the first intervention. I got tired of having to do immoral work, so I left and was recruited by Celestial Being. I have no regrets joining Celestial Being, especially after we came back.”

Saji could detect the pride in his voice. The brown-haired man now partially understood why he had no regrets. It felt good to do something that could help people and change the world. Saji could still not fully push himself into that life, so he gave credit to the people of Celestial Being for being so willing to fight.

Saji asked with a curious tone, “How long were you with the mafia?”

Lasse spoke up again, “Since I was a teenager or so. Didn’t realize the full extent of what I was doing till a year or so in. Also it’s nice to have another dude on the bridge. Sometimes being around women all the time is a bit much, especially Mileina.”

Saji chuckled to himself, knowing the feeling, “She is a ball of energy, isn’t she?”

“Well she is a teenager, so I’m not surprised.” The two settled into a quiet, comfortable silence and the two focused on their work, with the occasional ping from either of their work consoles. After about thirty minutes of silence, Lasse asked teasingly, “Hey Saji, you have a picture of your ex? I want to see how lucky you got.”

Saji, looking at him curiously, replied, “Sure? Give me a second.” Lasse began to float over to Saji, who was pulling out his mini terminal. He pulled up a picture from a few years ago, showing both of them at a shopping mall, Louise happy and smiling, while Saji looked exasperated. Lasse smirked at Saji, commenting as he looked over the Japanese man’s shoulder, “Wow, you got real lucky.”

Saji shrugged his shoulders, a bit embarrassed, “Well she talked to me first, so you are right.” The door to the bridge slid open, Mileina entering. She saw Lasse looking at something Saji was holding, so she floated over, wanting to know what it was. Seeing the picture, she squealed, asking excitedly, “Who is that?!”

Saji, caught by surprise, responded, “My ex-girlfriend?”

“Why didn’t you tell me that before?! She’s really pretty!”

Lasse rolled his eyes, “Because he probably knew you would react like that?”

She glared at Lasse, “That’s not a good reason. Saji deserves a pretty girl, unlike you.” She pouted and crossed her arms, sticking her tongue out at Lasse.

Lasse rolled his eyes again, returning back to his post. He spoke more seriously, “Now that Mileina’s back, you can go, Saji.”

Mileina looked Saji in the eyes, already begging, “You have to tell me about her. C’mon!”

Saji looked away, trying to resist Mileina’s begging. ‘Just leave and you don’t have to get grilled.’ Unfortunately, he looked back for a second, and his will crumbled, causing him to sigh, “Alright. You won’t stop hounding me until I tell you, will you?”

Mileina replied casually, “Nope.” Lasse laughed, enjoying the fun and casual atmosphere as Mileina took up her station, Saji telling both of them some of the stories when he was with Louise, leaving out the ending of their relationship. Lasse smirked as he heard the stories. ‘It’s real nice to have a talkative bridge.’

Marina and Shirin (2 months into time skip)

Marina focused on the target, aiming her pistol at the improvised target range. While she would prefer to not have to shoot someone, she found shooting targets could be relaxing, as long as it wasn’t a person. She still was a bit uncomfortable at potentially shooting a person. There had been a lot of stress and tension among their group and Katharon in general, so she needed a release. The Federation had been hunting down Katharon, who had scattered for safety reasons after the collapse of the orbital elevator. It was demoralizing, but the gundams had retreated somewhere and hadn’t shown up in two months, thanks to encrypted communications informing them of that. So for now, Marina, Shirin and Klaus were hiding in rural Europe, along with a small group of other members.

Thinking about the gundams made her think about Setsuna. ‘I hope Celestial Being is able to help with his wound. And I hope that he told his feelings to that girl. He deserves to be happy.’ Setsuna was stuck in the past, and he needed to move forward and find a better path. She was happy he took her words to heart; even if he was just trying to make a path on his own, it was enough for her. She could only guide him onto that path, he had to follow it himself. ‘And what girl did he fall for? I remember there was that pink-haired girl, a woman closer to my age and a younger girl. If I had to guess it was the pink-haired girl, but I can’t know for sure.’

She focused on the happy feeling of helping Setsuna, but thoughts about Krugis came unbidden into her mind. While she was not the one who had decided to invade Krugis, it was a black stain on the history of the country, at least to her. So many people had died. She knew it was a chaotic time and the middle east in general was a mess, but all taking in the country had done was bring conflict. The economy had not improved significantly, the people of Azadistan, especially the older generations, looked down upon the former citizens of Krugis. ‘But what do about it? Krugis is in no state to run itself, especially with many parts of it not being rebuilt since the solar power wars.’

While she knew she could do nothing now, once the A-Laws were defeated, she knew she had to improve Azadistan along with dealing with Krugis. She owed to the people of Krugis and Azadistan to resolve this. She had failed them and let them get swallowed by the Federation, leaving them to the mercy of a corrupt government.

But one thing she had also realized since she had been rescued by Setsuna is she didn’t have the mindset to be a politician, especially one with the power of a princess. She had definitely learned by being a part of the Katharon meetings, but it wasn’t the same as running a country. She also knew her people would not necessarily be friendly to her just taking the reins of power again. She needed to earn that trust again, especially after the near civil war when Rasa was kidnapped and the gundams were forced to intervene. She was alone now with his death and she had no one to watch her back. She also failed to stop the Federation from annexing the country. ‘Maybe if I gave up some power, then the people would trust me more.’

Bringing her gun down to her side, she knew this was something she should ask Shirin about. She was better at understanding politics on the ground and how the people would react. Making her way back to the cabin, she saw Shirin was working in the kitchen, preparing dinner. Marina made her way to the kitchen, an anxious expression on her face. Shirin heard the door open and saw Marina come in, curious why she was looking so anxious. Shirin spoke worriedly, turning her head to face the princess, “Are you ok Marina?”

Marina sighed, sounding confused, “I’m ok, just thinking about things. I was thinking about what to do with Azadistan and my position as princess after the A-Laws are defeated.”

Shirin tilted her head, “What do you mean? You want to leave your position?”

Marina shook her head, “No, I don’t. But I’m not sure how the people of Azadistan will react to my failures as their leader.”

Shirin sighed. ‘Not this again.’ She responded in a comforting tone, “Marina, I’m sure the people will be willing to accept you. You still are a symbol of Azadistan.”

“I know, but I think I need to give the people more of a voice in running the country. Maybe something like England? I feel like I should step back as the ruler and act more as a symbol. Give the people more power.”

Shirin looked at Marina thoughtfully. ‘I never thought about that. It would allow her to remain a symbol of Azadistan, as well as showing the people she knows she made a mistake and is trying to make up for it.’

Shirin thought about the potential consequences of that and gave her a curious look, “You are aware you would be sharing power with a prime minister and an elected body, who may not exactly agree with you. They could ask to do things that you disagree with.”

Marina nodded, responding with shaky confidence, “Yes. But I can act as an ideal for the people to follow and maybe act as a check on government. And I’m more willing to be flexible.” Before she had been deposed, she had always wanted to take the weight of the country on her shoulders. ‘But now I realize I should have delegated more.’

Shirin smiled at the princess, pride in her voice, “You seemed to have thought about this. This seems to be a better fit for how you think and work. If you can go through with this, you can focus on the needs of the country and people without having to worry about the day-to-day issues. What happened to the old Marina?”

Marina gave her friend a warm smile back, “She grew up, thanks to you. These months with Katharon have given me a better understanding of what I’m good and bad at.”

Shirin pulled away from her cooking and pulled Marina into a hug, both of them closing their eyes as they enjoyed the moment. The pulled out of the hug after a few seconds and Shirin noticed Marina still had something on her mind. She asked curiously, “Do you have anything else you want to ask?”

Marina nodded, “I’ve also thought about Krugis. What happened to them was unfair and the people deserve better. But I don’t know what to do about it. I was hoping you could offer me some suggestions.”

Shirin frowned slightly, focusing her thoughts. It was certainly a tricky issue. There was still distrust and hatred between the Azadi people and the people of Krugis, even after a decade. ‘Azadistan just couldn’t let Krugis go, especially with the bad state both countries were in. But letting go of that country could reduce some of the unrest in Azadistan. But how could they go about dealing with it?’ An idea sprung to mind. In an even tone, she spoke, “How about a referendum? Have all those from Krugis or of Krugis descent vote on whether they want to have Krugis back or have Krugis stay a part of Azadistan, maybe a vote on more autonomy if independence fails.”

Marina smiled at Shirin, “I will keep that in mind, though first we need to win.” Marina sighed, smile still on her face, “What would I do without you?”

Shirin gave Marina a slight smirk, “Probably stuck in a worse situation. Maybe stuck with Celestial Being.” She looked over and saw a pot of water boiling. She looked back at Marina, “Do you mind helping me cook?”

Marina nodded, “No problem.” The two focused on cooking, moving away from politics and talking about more lighthearted topics. Despite the bumpy road she had been through, Marina felt more confident than ever. She didn’t know where her future would lead, but hopefully it would be better.

Andrei (4 months into time skip)

Andrei was once again being guided through Ribbons’s mansion again. Ribbons had asked for him to visit again, this time a more private setting then as a party guest. Life had changed for Andrei since the elevator collapse. He had been promoted to captain as a reward for eliminating the coup leader as well as Sergei, who had been officially named a traitor, backed up by the old soldier’s former commander. He was regarded as a hero and had been awarded for that. But he didn’t take too much pride in that. He was doing his job creating a true peace. He didn’t need an award for doing his duty.  

Initially Andrei had felt a little guilt creep into him after his father died, but the success the A-Laws had found since the elevator collapse in eliminating Katharon had shown that it was ultimately the right move. ‘Who knew how much damage a commander like him could have done.’ He was also angry at his father hiding the fact that Soma had joined Celestial Being. ‘He must have known it since he reported her death. That was the only time she could have joined them.’ He clenched his fist. ‘You are next Soma. I thought you were loyal, but it turns out my father sent you down the wrong path.’

The A-Laws had also been looking for Colonel Kati Manequinn, who had disappeared soon after the orbital elevator was destroyed. ‘Had she become a traitor? It would seem strange if she did.’ If she had, it was not his job to find her. That was military intelligence’s job. She was an intelligent woman, but they would find her eventually. However, Soma was still his.The butler leading him stopped, showing him they had reached their destination. The man opened the door, wordlessly telling him that he could enter. Andrei nodded, entering the study he had met Ribbons in before.

Andrei saw Ribbons sitting on one of the couches in the room, reading a book. Instead of that old fashioned outfit the soldier saw last time, Ribbons wore a white shirt with light blue sleeves and gray pants. The innovator looked up from his book, giving Andrei a smile, “It’s good to see you again Captain Andrei Smirnov. Congratulations on the promotion.”

Andrei gave him a slight smile, “Thank you. I couldn’t have been promoted if it wasn’t for your initial support of me.”

Ribbons waved him off, “Don’t be so modest. It’s your own talent that got you promoted. I only gave you a mobile suit.”

Andrei nodded, not wanting to disagree with Ribbons. He replied curiously, “What did you invite me here for? It seems kind of random.”

Ribbons pointed at one of the chairs, “Please take a seat. I have something I want to share with you. My friends in the A-Laws have confirmed that you are trustworthy.” The soldier took a seat in a chair, curious what the green-haired man wanted to tell him. Ribbons continued, “What would you say if I told you that my friends and I are not exactly…human?”

Andrei thought for a second. ‘Not human? What exactly does that mean? What could they be?’ He responded in an even tone, “What do you mean non-human? I didn’t think you were a super soldier.”

Ribbons laughed, “No, we are not animals. We are above animals in fact.” He tilted his head slightly, “We are immortal artificial beings created to facilitate and guide a peaceful planet into the future.”

Andrei was shocked by this reveal. While he knew Ribbons seemed odd, he did not expect that. It was like something out of sci-fi. He took a minute to calm down his mind. ‘Artificial humans? Who could do that? The closest we got was the super soldier project and that was overall a failure, besides Soma.’ He spoke slightly hesitant, “So you were…made in a lab? What sets you apart from the HRL super soldiers?”

Ribbons nodded, “We are…more capable that the average person, as you have seen in combat, as well as in other areas.” Andrei had noted Ribbons friends seemed to be better in combat that the best A-Laws soldiers, but he initially chalked that up to better training and better suits. ‘Apparently it is more than that.’

Andrei sat there for a minute, gathering his thoughts. Ribbons watched him casually, knowing he dumped a lot of new information on him. ‘He hasn’t reacted negatively, so I made the right call.’ Andrei looked Ribbons straight in the eye, serious look on his face, “You said you were created to guide a peaceful world. Is that why you support the A-Laws?”

Ribbons nodded, voice casual, “Yes. The gundams and Katharon are a threat to the stability of planet Earth. The A-Laws way is the path forward. Though I do have my own forces, like the mobile suits you have seen my friends use. The more forces we can bring, the more chances we have in destroying the gundams. But I am fully onboard to support the A-Laws.”

“And did you say immortal?”

Ribbons chuckled, “I did say that, yes. We were created as you see us and cannot age. The perfect people to watch and guide Earth into the future. We call ourselves the innovators.”

Andrei nodded at that. ‘I have met so many people I wouldn’t trust to lead anything. But Ribbons seems like he has the world’s stability in mind. Maybe an immortal would create a better future. People have proven they can’t.’

Andrei replied curiously, “Why are you staying back in the shadows if you support the A-Laws and are onboard with them? Why not tell people what you are?”

Ribbons folded his hands in his lap, “Do you think people would take it well to be told an immortal non-human is actually taking care of their issues and wants to guide them? No, most people wouldn’t be happy with that. We plan for it in the future, but that requires all threats to be removed.”

“But why trust me?”

“You have proven yourself to fully believe in the cause of making a stable earth. And you even killed your family, meaning you are a truly selfless person willing to put your own needs second. That is someone I can trust. And you took my reveal relatively well, so I think my belief was well founded.”

Andrei looked at him, curiosity piqued, “I have so many questions. So many things I want to know.”

Ribbons smirked, “And I’ll tell you as much as I can. But first, I have a gift for you.” He pulled out a mini-projector, a mobile armor that looked similar to the Empruss appearing, but black with red hands instead of the beige of the old mobile armor. He spoke proudly, “This is the Regnant. I did promise you a weapon that can beat the gundams and here it is. It is almost ready to be rolled out. We just need to do some more testing before we can give it to you.”

Andrei was speechless looking at the specs of the suit. ‘For…me? A weapon of this quality?’ He sputtered out a response, “Thank…you. I didn’t expect something like this.”

“I give the best equipment I possibly can. And I expect the best in return.” Andrei smiled at that complement. ‘Now I can beat the gundams. I can destroy traitors and those who would oppose peace. Watch out Soma, you are first.’ Ribbons gave him a casual look, “You said you had questions? I am an open book.”

Andrei proceeded to ask question after question in an even, but curious tone, wanting to learn about this new suit and about the innovators. Ribbons smirked internally at the curiosity. ‘And another pawn secured. He may not be most intelligent person, but I trust he will fall in line and keep people in line. And if the gundams defeat him, it will be no loss to me. Just another human.’ He could feel that things were coming to a head and the more people on his side, the better.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Hanger of the Ptolemy

Soma flew out the cockpit of the Gun Archer, frustration marking her features. ‘Where is Andrei?! Where are you, you coward?!’ The group had just destroyed the repaired Memento Mori during their reappearance after four months of gathering their strength. And despite her best efforts, she was unable to locate her old mobile suit, which she knew was in hands of Andrei. ‘Are you hiding from me?!’

While she would admit the burning fire inside her had cooled a little, Andrei still remained her primary target. But why did he do it? ‘Was it personal? Andrei was angry at his father for something that happened to Holly. Or was it more duty oriented? Did he think Sergei was a traitor?’ No matter his reason, Sergei was her father and she deserved justice.

She was broken out of her thoughts by Allelujah calling out to her with a worried tone at seeing her frustration, “Are you ok, Soma?”

She looked at him with an even look as she grabbed onto a railing, trying to hide her frustration, “I’m fine. Just thinking about the battle.”

Allelujah sighed, knowing she was hiding something. Despite them getting along better, she had been relatively closed off from everyone, more silent and brooding than angry. ‘I suppose that’s better than her snapping at everyone.’  Marie seemed to be more effective than he has been, so if Soma wanted to keep something secret, so be it. He spoke calmly, “If you are sure.”

She grimaced, before flying past Lyle, who moved out of the way, allowing her to continue unimpeded into the hallway of the ship. Her thoughts moved to the empty feeling in her heart. ‘I wish I could have saved you father. You deserved better than that. Even an honorable death on the battlefield would have been better.’ Watching him die in front of her felt like a part of her had been destroyed. He had been her rock for so long that even she didn’t know how much it would hurt to see him go. And to watch someone who was his biological child just murder him was too much for her. Sergei hadn’t even really fought back.

‘Andrei, how could you throw away something I never had? I would have killed to be in your position as a child.’ She felt a pang of sympathy come from Marie. She never realized how nice it felt to have someone at her side, even if it’s only mentally helped her. Marie hadn’t pushed her any more than she needed to, just making sure she was ok.

Back in the hanger, Lyle looked over at Allelujah with a questioning look at Soma leaving so aggressively, wondering what’s up with her, seeing as she had been calmer recently. Allelujah replied to the look, “I’ve made good progress with her. But she is a bit frustrated at not finding Andrei.”

Lyle looked at him thoughtfully, “Well she has been noticeably calmer over the last couple months, so I suppose that’s a good idea. She did seem unusually aggressive. Funny enough I would have suggested to give her space if you were being pushy, but it seems that I don’t have to.”

Allelujah gave the Irishman an even look, “If I wasn’t convinced to lighten up a bit on that, you probably would have had to tell me. I just had to have someone remind me that Soma was just as much a person as Marie.”

Lyle gave him a lopsided grin, “Whoever reminded you of that was smart.” Allelujah felt Hallelujah’s smugness as Lyle said that. The brown-haired man continued, “You’ll get her back. I’m guessing Soma will get over what’s bothering her, and things will go back to normal.” Lyle chuckled, “It seems like you and Soma are a pair of in-laws trying to get along for the sake of the sister.”

Allelujah shrugged his shoulders, smiling, “That sounds about right. I suppose it’s the same for Soma and Hallelujah. Split personalities make things more complex.”

Lyle snorted, “Yeah, I would agree, especially when it involves four personalities in two bodies.”

“You get used to it, especially when you get along with them. Not that it’s always easy.” Allelujah chuckled, “Let’s get out of here. We might as well celebrate a little after that battle.”

Lyle nodded at that, “Hear, hear! Might as well get a drink or two while we’re at it.” Allelujah rolled his eyes, but the two of them made their way out of the hanger, wanting to relax knowing that they would be more active after taking down the second Memento Mori.

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

Setsuna laid in the medical bed getting a routine regeneration session. He could see Anew was talking to Tieria and Sumeragi about something, but he couldn’t hear anything. So he focused on a thought that had popped up more recently. ‘Why did they try to slowly kill me? Why not just shoot me in the head or chest?’ He knew Ali al Saachez was a good shot and could have easily killed him, yet he didn’t. Maybe he wanted a good fight. He shelved that thought for now and thought about Ribbons interest in the 00. ‘They must want the 00 if they went after me instead of the 00. That must mean they lack information on the double engine system.’ He smirked slightly. ‘My gundam is our trump card if Ribbons is so worried about it.’ Now they just had to keep that info out of his hands.

As he noticed the treatment cycle nearing its end, he was curious about why his shoulder was healing. By now his shoulder was mostly functional, with slight pain from overexerting it. And the wound had sealed up, avoiding the bleeding problem. Anew had told him it was an anomaly and is not normal for people. ‘Have I become different? Am I changing?’ He had noticed something strange was going on with himself. In the last month or so before every attack, he had felt a strange feeling go through his mind, almost like a strong electric current, yet it felt similar to when he floated in that strange trans-am space. At first, he thought it was some sort of headache, but after the fourth or fifth time it became a pattern. ‘What is it? Is it related to what happens when I trans-am?’

There was an inkling to what was going on in the back of his mind, but he couldn’t place it or give it a name. He sighed, knowing he would just have to wait. Maybe it would become clear in the future. He got up off the bed, seeing Anew looking at the data from the scan he just went through. She nodded at him, wordlessly telling him he was good to go.

He put back on his uniform top and left the medical bay, beginning to wander the ship. He knew Feldt was busy doing maintenance on the 0 Raiser, so he would have to find someone else to talk to or find something else to do. He felt a tinge of loneliness. He was so used to her being around, so that when she was busy or hanging out with someone, loneliness tended to fill his mindset. He wasn’t jealous, just out out of sorts. He was happy she had other people to hang out with, but he couldn’t help but feel that way. He smiled sadly. ‘She really has me wrapped around her finger, hasn’t she?’ It was a relatively new feeling to him, so he was trying to get used to it. Looking up, he heard and saw Saji calling out to him further down the hallway, “Hey Setsuna. How’s the shoulder?”

Setsuna gave him an even look, voice casual as he approached, “It’s pretty much healed. Some soreness and pain, but I can handle that.”

Saji gave him a casual smile, “That’s good to hear. I was hoping you would get better.” Saji looked down for a second before looking back up, chuckling quietly, “It’s been a wild last several months, hasn’t it?”

Setsuna looked at him curiously, “What do you mean?”

Saji scratched the back of his neck, “Well since you rescued me from Proud, I went from hating you guys to becoming a full member of the crew. You went from more emotionally withdrawn to becoming more happy and friendly, along with even getting a girlfriend! I would never have thought that would happen to you. Thank you again for rescuing me.”

Setsuna smiled casually, realizing Saji was correct, “No problem. It was the right thing to do. And yeah, things have definitely changed for the better for both of us. If you had told me all this would have happened five years ago, I would have said you were lying, especially about Feldt. But it happened…” His eyes had a faraway look as he smiled warmly, “And I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

“You two do look happy together, so that seems like the right choice.” Saji frowned slightly, doubt filling his tone, “Setsuna, do you think Louise will take me back after all this? Especially because I worked with you guys?”

Setsuna put a hand on his shoulder, voice comforting, “After meeting her at the party, I’m certain she misses you as much as you miss her. Just show her you have changed and I’m certain she will take you back. You two belong together.”

Saji blushed slightly at his words. He knew he had changed, but whenever he thought about Louise, his doubts would come flooding back. ‘I was so selfish after the gundams were defeated, wanting the world to go back to the way it was. And Louise had to deal with all of my complaining and sticking my head in the sand.’ But he was a better man now, at least he hoped. ‘Only a little bit longer, at least I think.’

Saji chuckled, realizing something, “Hey Setsuna, you do know if Louise ever finds out about Feldt, she’s going to interrogate your girlfriend.”

Setsuna felt a shiver go down his spine, “Should I be worried about that?”

Saji grimaced, “Louise can be rather…forceful when she wants something, be it an object or answers. I love her stubbornness, but she can be a bit much at times, if you remember when her mom left.”

“She was a bit emotional, yes. I actually apologized for what I said to her. It was not exactly the right thing to say, even if she said it was fine and understood.”

Saji nodded at that, “Yeah, even without what happened after, she just wanted comfort. At least you learned being overly blunt isn’t always the best thing. Especially with women. Though after what happened to her, I can understand why Louise was like that. You got lucky.”

Setsuna shrugged his shoulders, “I suppose, though she does have her moments. Then again, her and Louise come from different worlds and it’s only been four months, so who knows what can happen.”

Saji looked around before looking back at Setsuna, “Do you want to talk somewhere else? It’s been a long while since we had a conversation.”

Setsuna nodded at him, smiling, “Sure.”

Innovator Base

Ali, leaning against the entrance to the living room of the base, watched as Regene walked past him, smirking. Ali gave him an analytical look. ‘What are you up to? Do you have some plan that Ribbon doesn’t know about?’ The longer he stayed here, the more he realized this was a larger den of vipers than he realized. Between Ribbons, Regene, Wang Liu Mei, Nena and himself, someone had to come out on top, though he was most worried about Regene and Ribbons. The other two were bugs he could crush after he was free from his shackles. The innovators were a larger issue that he had to deal with. They had enough skill to deal with him or at least put up a threat and he had no idea how strong Ribbons was. And even if he killed him, the consequences could be more immediate than he liked. ‘Just bide your time. Ribbons will have an opening at some point. Then I will strike.’

His best bet was Celestial Being attacking the base, which would draw out the innovators. He knew it would take a skilled pilot and powerful suit to defeat the gundam piloted by the Krugis punk. ‘I underestimated it and learned the hard way. Hopefully he will be weakened in a big fight, enough for me to defeat him.’ He could handle the rest of the pilots, but the double powered suit was the biggest threat. But he should be weakened by the infected wound and he hoped the upgrades being put into the new Arche gundam would put him on better footing. So, until he could see the innovators in a bad position, he had to play the loyal dog. ‘Let Ribbons think I’m loyal. He’ll learn the hard way what happens when you overestimate your control.’

He casually walked into the living room that Ribbons was lounging in, calling out to the innovator, “Hey boss, any reason you aren’t sending me to fight Celestial Being? Don’t you want to get your suit back?”

Ribbons spoke calmly, “I am keeping you here as a trump card. Your suit is something the gundams have had difficulty dealing with, so you can be the hammer that can destroy them. But until I capture the 00 and find out how that system works, I can’t risk it getting destroyed.”

“Are you sure there isn’t something I can do?”

Ribbons thought for a second before replying, “I do have a potential plan, but I will inform you if I need you. If it comes up, I will tell you immediately.” ‘Despite me wanting to capture the suit, you still want to destroy it. If you are another bump along the way, I will make sure you go.’ Ribbons knew Ali was a cunning man. He had thoughts the innovator was unaware of. But he was still useful, so he would keep him around until he wasn’t.

Ali grinned, “Thank you for keeping me in mind boss. It gets a bit boring being cooped up here. It’s steady work but doesn’t get the blood flowing.”

“It’s going to get interesting soon. Celestial Being is going to want to strike at us and I have… plans to deal with that. You will get your chance to fight the gundams again.”

Ali smirked at that, “Well that’s a relief. How are my upgrades coming along?”

Ribbons folded his hands in his lap, “They are coming along smoothly. Your suit should be able to keep up better with the 00, but I am not aware of its full capabilities, so I can’t promise anything. Also the trans-am system is being implemented, though be careful when using it. It’s still experimental.”

Ali smiled like a shark. ‘Well isn’t that interesting. He trusts me enough with that. I suppose I shouldn’t be ungrateful for a gift like that.’ He spoke happily, “Thanks for the gift boss. And don’t worry, I’ll be as careful as I can.”

Ribbons looked up at the mercenary, “Do you need anything else?”

Ali shook his head, “I’m good. Just wanted that question answered is all. And I got my answer.” Ali walked towards the hallway, smirking slightly. He didn’t see Ribbons doing the same thing. Both of them had the same thought. ‘He has no idea what I’m planning.’

A-Laws Space Cruiser

Andrei sat alone in the locker room, already changed into his pilot suit. With the destruction of the second Memento Mori, the gundams had signaled they were going back on the offensive. ‘Finally. It was tiring to hunt them down. Having them come to us will save us the time and trouble of finding them. And Lieutenant Peries will be showing up as well. Two birds at once.’ He also knew that the gundams were going to be targeting the innovators, seeing as Ribbons told him they were aware of who they were and what they were doing. ‘As long as I’m alive, I’ll keep them safe.’

He heard the door open and saw Revive enter in their pilot suit, floating in to rest against a nearby locker. The innovator tilted his head at seeing the soldier sitting in here on his own, “What brings you here? Surely it would be more comfortable anywhere else?”

Andrei spoke evenly, “I’m waiting for the mission alert. Hopefully we don’t have to chase the gundams like we have had to for four months.”

Revive laughed, “Well it shouldn’t be too long till we find out where they are. Our contact has been reliable ever since Celestial Being went off the grid or at least attempted to.”

Andrei looked at him curiously, “How do we learn where they are? You would think that they would catch any transmissions or other tech that would track their location?”

Revive smirked, “Since Ribbons trusts you, I think you have the right to know.” He closed the distance between the two and spoke quietly, “We have a mole inside the organization, and they don’t even know it.” He pulled back, letting Andrei absorb the information.

Andrei calmly thought about it. Of course, that made sense. If the innovators were special and artificial, then one could be made and not even know they were one. He still had no idea how exactly they would communicate with them to avoid suspicion, but maybe part of their creation allowed them to do that. Either way, it made the A-Laws suddenly being able to find them all the time make a lot more sense. If they didn’t have that, they might never have found the ship when it crashed back on earth.

He looked at Revive calculatingly, “So you haven’t told the A-Laws high command exactly how you know bec-“

“Because that’s our secret to know and them to never find out. It creates a symbiotic relationship between the two of us. A little deception doesn’t always hurt.”

Andrei felt conflicted about that. He was loyal to the A-Laws, but Ribbons and the other innovators had proven they subscribe to the same mindset of peace. If the government is allowed to keep secrets, then the innovators should be able to as well. He would keep an eye out on them just in case, but until then he would trust their judgement.

He sighed heavily, “Well, as long as it gets results, it makes no difference how those results are gained. How long till you can get their location again?”

“About thirty minutes or so. We want to let the crew of their ship relax before we attack. Maybe catch them by surprise.”

Andrei nodded, knowing he had to be patient. Another thought crossed his mind and he asked, “How long till the Regnant is done?” He was excited to finally pilot the machine that would let him go toe to toe with the gundams.

Revive gave him an even look, “It shouldn’t be much longer. Just needs some final adjustments and it should be ready. Just one more mission in that old Ahead of yours.”

Andrei spoke coldly, “How powerful is this new machine? I can only see the specs.”

Revive smirked, “Very powerful. Certainly more powerful that most of the gundams, though they are more maneuverable than the Regnant. The double powered suit Ribbons isn’t sure of, so be careful with that one.” The 00 was a suit that everyone seemed focused on. Andrei had learned that Ribbons was very interested in the suit, saying it has done things that he hasn’t expected. ‘If we can capture it, then maybe we can figure out exactly what is going on.’

“Does Ribbons have anything he expects from me? Any specific orders or commands?”

The purple-haired innovator responded casually, “Besides not destroying the 00? Not really. Just follow the orders being given at the time and everything besides the 00 is free game.” Revive gave him a grin, “Also don’t worry. The super soldier is all yours. We won’t get in the way.”

The soldier’s tone was cold and malicious, “Good. Traitors deserve to be punished.”

“That’s the spirit.” Revive began to float out of the locker room, turning enough to face Andrei, “Be ready to launch soon. We’ll give that info to your commander.” Andrei nodded and Revive left wordlessly, door closing behind her. Andrei stood up and began to float out of the locker room himself. ‘Soon gundams. Soon you will have nowhere to run and with the Regnant, I will crush you myself.’

Lyle’s Room

Anew cuddled into Lyle’s side, enjoying the peace they had had for the day. The large number of attacks they had suffered over the past couple months had been stressful, so any time she could find to relax, especially with Lyle, she took advantage of. They had gotten closer and she had felt more content and happy since then, as well as more satisfied then her previous boyfriends.

Ever since that first date months ago, the two had kept their relationship secret, wanting to keep it private. Lyle had told her he wouldn’t have minded it being public, but Anew was still worried about the looks they might get. Lyle had rolled his eyes at that but hadn’t complained.

Only three people had found out. Saji had accidentally seen them making out, agreeing to keep it secret and Feldt had figured it out based on seeing them spend so much time together. She said she would respect her wishes, but she would tell Setsuna, who she promised would keep it secret. And it hadn’t spread, so it seemed the two had kept their word, unlike Mileina, who had unintentionally revealed Setsuna and Feldt’s relationship.

She looked at his relaxed face in the dark room. She brushed some hair in front of his eyes with her hand. He looked over at her, curious, “What are you thinking about?”

She looked into his eyes, asking quietly, “You’ve talked about everyone else in your family with me, but you seem to go silent about your brother. What happened with him?”

Lyle sighed, his brother’s shadow still weighing on him, “Growing up, my brother was the perfect one. I was always compared to him. He wasn’t perfect obviously, but I could never live up to him in other people’s eyes. Eventually I moved into the dorms in junior school to avoid all the comparisons and attention. It was running away from the problem, but I didn’t have the courage to talk to Neil about it.”

Anew looked at him sympathetically, “Surely your brother didn’t act that way towards you?”

“No, he was always there for me, but he never saw the effect it had on me. He never really understood how much of a golden child he was, not that I hold that against him now. Teenage me definitely did, but I got over that after he disappeared to join Celestial Being.”

She gave him a curious look, “If you always lived in your brother’s shadow, why did you agree to join Celestial Being? Wouldn’t that be effectively doing that?”

Lyle smiled, “I did realize that, but getting info for Katharon took priority. And over time, you guys proved to be a cause worth fighting for, so I didn’t mind as much. The worst incident is what happened with Feldt.”

“What happened with her?”

He smiled bitterly at the memory, “She was unintentionally treating me like my brother, who she had a crush on when she was younger. I initially thought she was into me, but after haro said that she liked Lockon, I realized that she wasn’t looking at me for me and it brought me into a darker mood. I kissed her to show her I wasn’t my brother, then she slapped me and ran away.”

Anew tilted her head, “That’s an interesting way to make a point. But she has moved on, so I suppose it worked, seeing as she seems happy with Setsuna.”

Lyle shrugged his shoulders, “I probably could have done something better, but you can’t take back the past. We had a chat afterwards and that seemed to clear the air. I really underestimated the effect my brother had on the crew.”

She gave him a warm smile, “Well you seem to have found you own place on the crew, so it seems your brother’s shadow isn’t hanging over you.”

He returned the smile, “I suppose it doesn’t.” He pulled her into a deep kiss, Anew responding happily. In the middle of the kiss, Lyle felt Anew suddenly stop, her eyes blank, like she was in a trance. He also noticed a dull golden glow in her eyes.

“Anew?” No response. “Anew!” Once again, no response. He shook her lightly, trying to snap her out of her trance. A second later, she blinked, eyes filling with confusion. She felt Lyle shaking her and looked at him. He stopped shaking her, noticing she was back.

She spoke in a confused tone, “What’s going on? Why are you shaking me?”

Lyle let out a sigh of relief, “You zoned out when we were kissing. I was worried. Also, your eyes glowed gold.”

She blushed in embarrassment, “Sorry. I guess you are such a good kisser that I lose my mind. Also my eyes glowed?”

He chuckled, “It was probably the monitor shining light in your eyes. Just don’t zone out in the middle of us making out.” He pulled her into another kiss, this time not getting interrupted by her zoning out.

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The bridge was unusually full of people, with Saji, Mileina and Lasse in their usual position, with Sumeragi, Feldt, Setsuna and Tieria standing around one of the auxiliary consoles, Tieira operating it.

Saji spoke up in a tired tone, “When will we get a break from all these attacks? It’s exhausting.”

Mileina pouted as she stretched her arms, “Yeah, it just gets worse for us!”

Lasse turned to face the rest of the bridge from his position, eyes narrowed, “You know what, I’m thinking that the enemy knows our exact position at all times.” Sumeragi sighed, having come to that realization recently. ‘But what to do about it?’

Mileina spoke up again, sounding exasperated, “It just keeps getting worse.”

Tieria looked up at Sumeragi, piquing Feldt and Setsuna’s attention, “Sumeragi, it’s time we implemented that plan we discussed.”

Feldt looked at the two curiously, “What plan?”

Sumeragi replied evenly, “About Veda. We’ve concluded that the innovators have been controlling the flow of information within the Federation, cementing their control. If we can take Veda back…”

“But can we if we don’t know where the base is?” Saji interrupted her, curious to how they would exactly get that info.

Setsuna spoke up resolutely, “We have no choice but to ask someone who does know.”

Lasse responded, surprised by the suggestion, “Do you mean an innovator?”

Tieria smirked slightly as he faced Lasse, “That’s exactly right. Sumeragi and I discussed this, and we agreed this was the best option we have, short of another leak of information.” Lasse looked at the tactical forecaster for confirmation. She nodded her head. Feldt had a growing sense of confidence in her chest, knowing they actually had a plan. ‘I was wondering what our plan was.’

Just then Mileina saw contacts on their long range sensors. She called out to the ship, “Unknown number of enemies on long-range sensors. About ten minutes out!”

Sumeragi began issuing commands, “All pilots, suit up and prepare for combat. Everyone one else report to your station.” She looked at Tieria, “You need to try to capture one of those pods. Understood?”

He nodded, “Understood.”

Hallways of the Ptolemy

Lyle and Anew quickly exited Lyle’s room, having suited up after hearing the announcement of enemy forces. Just as the two began travelling opposite directions, Lyle called out to her, “Hey Anew?”

She turned and looked at him curiously, “Yes Lyle?”

He looked like he was about to say something, but she saw him catch himself before responding, “Never mind. It was nothing.”

She looked at him confused, but smiled at him before turning back around to continue to the bridge. ‘I wonder what he wanted.’ Lyle made his way to the Cheridum, hoping Anew would love the surprise.

Soma’s Room

On another side of the ship, Allelujah stood outside Soma’s room, waiting for her to come out. He hoped she had a cooler head since her angry outburst after the last mission. ‘The last thing I need is an angry Soma.’ He heard her door open, and she stepped out in her pilot suit, looking at him with a calmer expression. She looked at him in surprise, not expecting to see him. He nodded at her, “Feeling better?”

She nodded back, “Yes. You ready to head out?” Knowing Allelujah had her back made her feel more secure, even if she would never admit it to anyone. Marie spoke to her teasingly, “Well I know.” Soma blushed slightly at that.

He gave her a slight smile, “Yeah.” Without the need for another word, the two traveled to the hanger, ready for another combat.

Cockpit of the 0 Raiser

Feldt sat in the cockpit of the 0 Raiser, ready for combat. Months of pilot training and being in combat missions against the A-Laws had steeled her nerves. She no longer really felt nervous, especially with how comfortable she has gotten in the 0 Raiser. She looked at red haro, patting him.

She then saw a communication from Setsuna appear on her screen. She smiled seeing him, asking, “What’s up?”

He smiled back at her, “You ready to fight?”

She gave him a confident smile, “Whenever you are. How is your shoulder?”

He responded casually, “It’s doing fine. Sore at most.”

“Good, I need you in top shape.”

He looked at her with a smile, “I, not we?” She felt the 0 Raiser being lowered onto the catapult. She blew him a kiss before dropping the communication and launching into space. ‘Let’s hope this plan works.’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Anew sat at her post, ready to pilot the ship. Suddenly she saw Lyle’s face appear on her screen, speaking out loud to the entire bridge. She looked at him confused, “Lyle, what’s wrong?“

In a casual tone, Lyle replied, “I love you Anew.” Her cheeks immediately went red, looking around the room in embarrassment, anywhere but Lyle. ‘I had wanted to hear him say this, but not like this!’

Lasse smirked at her, “He’s targeted and firing all right!”

Mileina cheered out, “The power of love wins again!”

Sumeragi looked at the whole interaction confused, “When did this happen?!”

Saji just smiled at the pair, silently taking note he said that on a public channel, and the other gundams would have heard that. ‘Well at least there is no lack of people to ask advice about Louise to.’ He watched the gundams fly out to meet the innovators and A-Laws. ‘Good luck.’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

With the Gundams

The four gundams moved towards the approaching twelve red particles trails, that were concentrated in three groups of four suits. Sumeragi’s voice blared in their suits, “All gundams use tactical plan S43. Intercept incoming enemy mobile suits. Keep an eye out for reinforcements.” The gundam meisters all responded affirmatively.

Setsuna spoke to Feldt, “Keep an eye out for the innovators.”

She responded evenly, “Understood.”

The two formations met, beginning combat. Setsuna reached them first, charging through one of the formations. He opened fire with his blasters taking out two of the suits. ‘Where are the innovators?’ Feldt focused on the sensors, trying to locate the innovator’s mobile suits. But she couldn’t seem to locate them. ‘Are they hiding?’ Setsuna continued to engage the enemy mobile suits, staying mobile to dodge the red energy blasts, when he heard Feldt call out, “Setsuna, large energy blast!”

Seeing a large orange beam approaching him, he dodged out of the way easily. ‘It’s the Gadessa.’ Over the comms, he spoke to the rest of the gundams, “Innovator located. Tieria!” He sent the visual data to Tieria of the location of the Gadessa.

Tieria responded, kicking away a GN-X from the Seravee, “Roger that.” Setsuna turned his attention back to the rest of the battlefield, knowing Tieria could handle the Gadessa.

With the Arios and Gun Archer

As the Arios and Gun archer entered combat, Soma immediately noticed that her old suit leading one of the formations. Anger boiling, she charged into the enemy, focusing on getting to Andrei. Allelujah followed her, seeing Andrei’s suit as well. He spoke to Soma in a controlled voice, “Keep your head on straight. Don’t get sloppy.” He noticed in his peripheral vision that Tieria had pulled out of the general combat to engage the innovator’s mobile suit. ‘Looks like it’s up to the Cheridum and I to keep them busy.’

She called back angrily, “Don’t worry. He won’t know what hit him.” He sighed, knowing she had tunnel vision. ‘I need to cover her back.’ He switched over to mobile suit mode and engaged the rest of the formation, keeping them busy so Soma wouldn’t be overwhelmed. He dodged out of the way of most of the attacks, his reflexes feeling stronger than ever. He returned fire, damaging one and taking out another. ‘Those four months have done Hallelujah well.’ He could feel Hallelujah’s happiness at being in the thick of battle. ‘At least he got what he wanted.’

Soma charged Andrei, opening fire wildly. The Ahead dodged the attacks, returning fire but missing the Gun Archer. Closing in, she pulled out her beam saber and swiped at the Ahead, slicing his gun in half. She called out in anger, “You will pay for what you did to the Colonel!”

Andrei pulled back, pulling out his own beam saber before charging back in, replying coldly, “I did my duty. And you’ll join him soon enough, like the traitor you and him are.” She felt tears of anger flow up. ‘How dare he call him that!’ She let out a roar of anger, matching blades with Andrei. She would kill him, and she would enjoy it.

With the 00

As Setsuna was engaging enemy mobile suits, Feldt noticed something odd on her sensors. There were two asteroids approaching the Ptolemy, but she saw two mobile suit signatures inside them. ‘The enemy is trying that trick again? These sensors are good.’ She opened up communications with the ship, sending data on the asteroids, “Two enemy mobile suits hiding as an asteroids approaching the ship.”

Sumeragi gave her an appreciative look, “Thank you, Feldt.” Feldt dropped the communications, seeing the ship open fire on the approaching mobile suits. ‘I can’t believe they thought that trick would work twice.’

Feldt then heard Setsuna’s voice call out, “Incoming!”

The Garazzo came charging at the 00 Raiser, all hand blades extended, the pilot yelling out, “This is for Bring and Divine!” The Krugis pilot recognized the voice as the same innovator guarding the Memento Mori. Setsuna matched the blades, holding them back with more of a struggle than he expected. The suit felt a little stronger than it did before. ‘They must have upgraded it.’ He shoved the suit back, trying to shoot it with one of his blasters, but the Garazzo dodged out of the way, getting back into melee range. Setsuna swung his blade, but Hilling parried the blade, putting the 00 off balance. Setsuna pulled back to get some space and recover his balance.

After recovering his balance, he charged back in once again, hoping he could overwhelm his opponent. The two went back and forth attacking, dodging and parrying, unable to gain a significant advantage. Setsuna’s opponent called out in frustration, “How can you keep up with me?! You are only a human!”

Setsuna glared at the suit from inside the cockpit, tired of these claims of superiority, “You underestimate people. I’ll show you the power of humanity!” The 00 Raiser began to glow red and GN particles began to radiate in a wide area around the suit, spreading around the battlefield. Setsuna once again felt the normal buzz that came from using it, voices and thoughts surrounding him, this time coming in clearly. He could hear the thoughts of his fellow meisters as they engaged the enemy. He could feel the hatred between Soma and Andrei. Feel Feldt’s determination to protect the crew. Lyle’s frustration at the wave of enemies he was facing. ‘Trans-am lets me hear people’s thoughts? Feel their emotions? Can everyone feel this? Or is it just me?’

He focused on the innovator he was facing, teleporting to the side of the machine and opening fire with the 00’s blasters, scoring hits on the machine, destroying a leg and an arm. He then brought down the blasters on the wings of the 0 Raiser, destroying the head and left arm of the suit. He saw the pod eject from the suit and as he moved to grab it, he felt himself being pulled away from the battlefield as his vision turned to white. ‘Not now!’ When he opened them up again, he saw he was standing on a hill of flowers, looking over a ruined town in the middle of a rocky desert. ‘That’s my hometown. Why am I here?’ Scanning around, he saw he was wearing his uniform and saw Feldt to his left, a strong sense of confusion rolling off of her.

She looked up at him, confusion somewhat abating. She could sense he was just as confused as him. ‘Wait, how can I sense his emotions? What is going on?’ She walked up to him, grabbing onto one of his arms, trying to keep her cool, “Setsuna, where are we? Why aren’t we floating in that weird space?”

Setsuna thought for a second, before he realized something, “The 00 Raiser is the catalyst for all of this. Every time I use it, I can understand people. Hear their thoughts and sense their feelings. Like when I sensed your affection for me the first time we used trans-am.”

Feldt looked at him curiously, blushing slightly, “Oh, you sensed my affection? I guess that made it easier for us to get together. Seems easier than normal.”

Setsuna chuckled at that, “Yeah, that is true.”

“But how is this happening? Is this you or the machine?”

Setsuna gave her a thoughtful look, “I have no idea, but I get the sense it’s a mix of both.” Feldt began to ask a question when he interrupted her, “I don’t know exactly why, it’s something that I can just… feel.”

Knowing there was not much more she could ask about that, she asked another question that had been bugging her, “Where are we? Just some random place?”

Setsuna sighed heavily, “This is my hometown, or at least it was. It was destroyed during the wars in the middle east. Whatever dragged us here brought this out of my memories.” Feldt could feel a strong sense of regret and loss looking at Setsuna, the weight of his childhood coming down on his shoulders. Feldt had only read about what happened to Setsuna as a child, but to see what impact it had on him and the scars that it left showed her how far those wounds went. ‘I’m sorry no one was there for you. I wish I could have helped you sooner. But I’m here now.’

She wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling herself close. Setsuna wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his hands on her lower back. She spoke softly, “It’s alright. I’m here with you.” A sense of peace washed over both of them. Setsuna could feeling the devotion and affection radiating off of her. ‘How did I get so lucky?’

They held each other for a minute, once again in their own world, before he could feel both of them being pulled out of this world, back to reality. He whispered quietly to her, “Thank you.” The world turned to white and then they both saw they were in the 00 Raiser, and the feelings and thoughts he was sensing before had disappeared. The enemy pod had also disappeared. ‘Time must have passed.’ Setsuna sighed in frustration. ‘Damnit!’ Feldt’s face popped up on his display, “Setsuna, I looked at the output of the machine during the trans-am and I noticed it was seven times higher than baseline results. What is this machine?”

Setsuna spoke resolutely, “Whatever it is, Aeolia designed it like this for a reason. We just need to find out why.”

With the Seravee

Tieria reached the Gadessa, getting in closer than he normally would, but he needed to stay close. He needed to react fast when the escape pod flew away. Pulling out one of the small energy blasters, he opened fire on the Gadessa. Against his expectations, Revive skimmed the edge of the attack, its free hand punching through the Seravee’s blaster. The Seravee brought up its main blaster at the same time the Gadessa did, barrels nearly touching.

Both fired on each other, the two blasts hitting creating an explosion wrecking both of the primary weapons of each suit, as well as leaving a cloud of particles. Both suits were knocked back, but quickly recovered, each pulling out a beam saber. The two matched blades, neither side able to push the other, sparks of energy flying from the clashing blades.

Tieria spoke with a snarky tone, “It looks like close quarters isn’t your strength.”

Revive replied with a smug tone, “It looks like yours isn’t either. You’re nothing but firepower.”

Tieria chuckled, a smirk forming, “I wouldn’t be so sure. Trans-am!” He began to push the Gadessa back, the arm holding the beam saber being pushed away from the machine. Revive began to sweat in worry, not expecting this. Tieria then knocked the blade out of its hand, the Gadessa retreating to put some distance between the two of them. ‘I can’t allow that.’

He charged towards the Gadessa, pulling out five more beam sabers. The suit tried to hit the Seravee with its wrist blaster, but Tieria activated the GN field, blocking all of the attacks. As the Seravee closed into melee range, Revive pulled out another beam saber to try to block the attacks. It managed to block the upper two, but the rest of them sliced the machine to pieces, forcing Revive to eject from the mobile suit.

The Seravee, still in melee with the remains of the Gadessa, saw the pod beginning to escape. Tieria called out, “Oh no you don’t!” The Seraphim shot out of the Seravee, easily catching up with the escaping pod. Grabbing onto it, he spoke to Revive, “I have some questions for you, and you are going to answer them!”

Inside the pod, Revive smirked. ‘Just as planned.’

With the Arios and Gun Archer

As the Arios continued to engage the regular suits, Allelujah suddenly felt a wave of quantum particles hit him, just like when the 00 Raiser did its test back on Lagrange 3. He heard Hallelujah laugh manically then speak to him, “Let me off the leash! I want to have some fun!” Knowing that they weren’t at too much of a risk and Soma seemed to be doing decently, he agreed and let him take over.

Hallelujah let out a laugh then spoke over his speakers, “Well guess who I get to have fun with? You guys!” He shifted into jet mode and immediately charged into an enemy suit, cutting it in half. An explosion went off behind him, particles floating in the air. He cackled happily, “Who’s next?” He charged off into a formation of three suits, keeping an eye on Soma.

While Hallelujah felt a powerup from the wave of particles, Soma suddenly felt a strange feeling in the back of her head as she was firing her blasters at Andrei’s Ahead. ‘What is this? What is going on?’

Unexpectedly, she heard a response in her head that wasn’t from Marie, ‘Lieutenant Peries? Why can I hear you in my head? Trying to brainwash me or steal intel?’

Soma glared at the suit she was firing at, ‘Why did you kill him?! He wasn’t a part of that!’ She drew out her beam saber and charged back in, anger flooding more and more into her system. Andrei matched her, keeping her from moving him or hitting him.

Andrei responded in a chilling voice, ‘Of course a traitor would pretend he was innocent. He probably knew what was going on and went to join his friend. He did hide that you joined Celestial Being.’ He tried to knock her saber out of her hand, but she parried the blow, attempting to riposte the blow, but the Ahead avoided the blow.

She swung her blade again, but it was becoming more and more noticeable her form was becoming sloppy. She spit out her words with white hot anger, ‘You killed your father! Why?! Family was the one thing I wanted and you took him away from me! What did he do to deserve it?!’

Andrei sneered, easily dodging the blows being swung at him. ‘He killed my mother and practically abandoned me. What I did to him was the least that he deserved. He always said to follow orders and I was told to kill traitors. I was just doing my duty. I would think he would be proud of me.’

‘Proud!?’ Soma tried to swing again, but Andrei easily blocked the blade, redirecting it away from him. Soma, in her grief-fueled anger, did not notice how quickly the tide was turning against her. She spat mental venom at him, tears in her eyes, ‘Don’t you dare sully his name! He was a good man who did his best to treat me as his daughter!’

Andrei replied in a cold and harsh tone, ‘Did you think he actually cared for you? He only wanted to feel like less of a failure as a parent. He failed with me so maybe he thought he could redeem himself. You were nothing more than a substitute.’ Soma let out a roar and charged him, aiming her saber at his cockpit. Just as she was about to stab him, he dodged out of the way. It took her a second to realize the error she had made, but in that time, Andrei slashed across the back of the suit, damaging the power supply.

All her displays and lights went out. Her controls also refused to respond. All her anger flowed out of her, replaced in an instant by fear. She was so distracted she didn’t even notice the particles had disappeared. ‘I’m going to die here! Why did I make such a stupid mistake!? Why did I let him get to me!?’ She desperately tried to move the Gun Archer, hoping it would move. Andrei slashed his sword at the cockpit, happy to remove one more traitor. But just as he was about to hit the suit, a blast came towards him, destroying the hand with the beam saber along with knocking him back. The Arios came flying in, Hallelujah yelling, “Stay away from her!” He positioned himself in between Andrei’s ahead and Soma’s suit protectively.

Andrei, looking around and seeing most of the A-Laws suits destroyed along with the innovator suits gone, called a retreat. He retreated quickly, not seeing the Arios chasing him. Hallelujah watched the suit retreat, wanting to chase after him, but knew protecting Soma was more important. As he saw the surviving A-Laws retreat, Hallelujah flew out of the Arios’s cockpit and headed to the hatch on the Gun Archer. Opening it up, he saw Soma eyes swollen with tears, emotions plain to see. She looked at him in wonder and curiosity, “You… you saved me?”

Hallelujah rolled his eyes, voice friendly, “Of course I did. I don’t want to see you die just as much as Allelujah would.”

She gave him a weak smile, “It’s strange to hear you so friendly.”

He smirked, “Maybe I’m nicer than you expected. Do you want a ride back?” Allelujah internally smirked at Hallelujah’s reaction to her. ‘He likes her more than he knows. Still strange to see.’

Soma blushed at the question, “I think so. My power supply is shot.”

He motioned towards the Arios, “Jump in.”

Cabin somewhere in Europe

Marina and Shirin stood in the kitchen, casually talking when they heard a cry coming from outside. Curious, Marina approached the front door beginning to open it when suddenly it was thrown wide open, causing Marina to be thrown back. A man dressed in civilian garb yelled desperately, “They found-” He was interrupted by a bullet going through his chest, causing him to fall to the ground with his last breath. Marina and Shirin looked on with horror.

Unable to react quickly, Marina saw a man in the nearby fields take aim at her, presumably the same man who shot the man on the floor of the Cabin. Marina tried to move, but she had frozen. She was taken by surprise when she was tackled from behind and heard a grunt of pain.

Looking around in confusion, she saw Shirin on top of her, shoulder covered in blood. Her eyes widened in shock. Klaus came around the corner with a submachine gun in hand, taking aim and gunning down the man in front of the cabin. Seeing that the man was gone, Shirin looked at Marina, wincing in pain, “I…had to save you.”

Marina spoke desperately, “You didn’t need to take a bullet for me! You’re hurt!”

“You are my friend. Of course I would take a bullet for you.” Shirin looked over at Klaus, “We have to get out of here.” She then looked at Marina, “Get to the escape tunnel and go to the designated meeting spot. There should be a truck there.” Marina looked at her worried, knowing she wasn’t in good shape. Shirin stood up but grunted in pain when she tried to move her arm.

Klaus put a hand on her good shoulder, “I’ll hold them off.” She began to object but Klaus stopped her, “You are injured. Get your arm wrapped up and you two get to the truck.”

“But Klaus!”

Klaus shook his head, and looked at her resolute, “Someone needs to escape to warn the rest of Katharon. I’ll draw them away, so you should be safe. I’ll see you at the rendezvous point.” He looked at Marina, “Keep her safe.”

He ran out the front door, firing a burst of gunfire into the wheatfield. Shirin reached out desperately, yelling, “Klaus!”

“We…” Marina steeled her voice, “We have to get out of here Shirin. We will meet him at the rendezvous point.” Shirin nodded, fighting her urge to chase after Klaus. ‘You better make it back.’ The two women made their way to the hidden hatch, grabbing important documents and information on the way and opened up the hatch. Marina made her way down the ladder, watching as Shirin struggled through the pain as they reached the bottom. She closed the hatch behind her, hoping they had enough time to escape. Catching their breath, Marina looked at Shirin with a determined look, “I need to wrap your wound.”

Shirin nodded. Marina ripped a part of her dress, turning it into a makeshift bandage. She knew they had a proper medkit in the truck, but for now this would have to work. Her focus remained on bandaging the wound, unaware her friend was studying her. Shirin watched her friend cover her wound, impressed. Gone was the indecisive princess, Shirin could only see a woman who had come into her own. Marina was focused and maintaining her cool, despite the bad situation they were in. ‘You’ve grown so much. Now just carry this into the future.’

Marina finished up tying the bandage, and spoke calmly, “I’ll fix your shoulder when we get to the truck.”

Shirin nodded and grimacing in pain, she replied, “If we run into trouble, you will need to defend us. They got my good arm.”

Marina sighed, not keen on using a weapon, but she had to defend her friend, “I know. Just take cover if we get attacked.” The two women made their way through the tunnel, light from a lantern guiding them and they eventually made their way to the end of the tunnel, which led out into the forest that surrounded the cabin that they were in. Looking around, they saw no enemies, so the continued on through the path in the woods to the hidden truck.

About ten minutes into their travel, a shot rang out and impacted a nearby tree. Both women reacted quickly, diving for cover. Marina took cover behind a bigger tree while Shirin laid down behind a bush. Marina drew out her pistol and scanned the area where she heard the gunshot from. Behind two trees across from her were Federation agents, submachine guns aimed at the two Azadi women. She aimed and took a shot at one of the agents, shot impacting the ground right next to them. The agents returned fire, keeping Marina pinned where she was.

Marina fired back, trying to keep them pinned, adrenaline flowing through her. ‘I’m outnumbered and outgunned. I don’t know how long I can hold out.’ The two sides went back and forth for a few minutes, unable to gain an advantage. Marina noticed something odd, a chill going down her spine. ‘I only see one person. Where is the other agent?’ She scanned her environment, hearing approaching footsteps. In her peripheral vision, she saw the other agent approaching her position, out in the open. Taking careful aim, she fired and hit center mass. The agent dropped, not breathing, and Marina began to breathe heavily, the fact she just killed someone in the forefront of her mind. She had seen dead bodies before, but she had never caused them.

Guilt rolled into her mind, wondering if this agent had a family, maybe children or people depending on them. ‘No, I can’t focus on that. We need to survive, to escape. I’ll deal with this when I am not in danger.’ She reloaded her gun, hands shaking a bit, panic at shooting a person almost causing her to drop the magazine and just as she was turning to face the remaining agent, she heard the sound of a vehicle approaching her and Shirin’s position.

Looking in the direction of the approaching sound, she saw Klaus in the cabin of an old canvas covered army truck, who took aim and shot out a burst of gunfire of one of the open windows, hitting the remaining agent. Seeing them fall, Klaus called out, “Get in the truck!” Marina nodded, seeing Shirin stand up. The two women pulled back the flaps back in the back of the truck. Marina leaned against the wall, the adrenaline flowing out of her. ‘Setsuna, you did this as a child? I find it hard enough to kill one person. You had to kill so many as a child.’ She was still shaking a bit. Shirin saw her friend and spoke sympathetically, “Marina, how do you feel?”

Marina gave a tired smile, “I think I need some time to get a grip on what I just did. I’ll be fine.”

Shirin could tell her friend was hiding the true extent of how much it affected her, but they could talk later. Right now they just needed to get out of here. Marina moved over to Shirin with a medkit, undoing the binding and beginning to treat the wound. It wouldn’t be perfect, but they survived. They just had to hope the gundams could finally deal with the A-Laws, before they could be caught again.

Soma’s Room

Soma left the hanger as soon as she got out of the Arios. Allelujah called out to her, but she ignored the call. She had a lot weighing on her mind and she needed to be alone. She made her way to her quarters, feeling numb. ‘How could I be so stupid? Why did I let my urge for revenge take over?’ Her desire to kill Andrei, to avenge her father, had almost gotten her killed. When the power had died in the suit, her life flashed before her eyes. She had never been so close to dying. ‘Would he have wanted to me to avenge him? Would he have wanted me to put myself so at risk I almost died? No he wouldn’t have. Of course he wouldn’t have. He would have wanted me to live a long, happy life, free from conflict.’

She reached her room, the door sliding open and closing behind her. She floated to her bathroom, looking at herself in the mirror. ‘I am such an idiot.’ She heard Marie’s voice speak sympathetically, “It’s alright Soma. He pushed your buttons, but you survived.”

Soma’s voice cracked, “But if I hadn’t been so focused on killing him, so focused on avenging the Colonel, then that wouldn’t have happened! Would he have even been ok with me risking my life like that?”

“Maybe he would accept….”

Soma’s voice took on a hard edge, “Don’t bullshit me! Tell me what you really think!”

Marie sighed, “This obsession with revenge… it’s bad for you. I know why you are doing it, I miss the Colonel too, but he wouldn’t want you hurting yourself like this! I don’t want you to lose yourself and become a monster! Or die trying! You are a good person, Soma! Revenge won’t get you the happiness you want!

Soma could feel tears begin to flow down her cheeks, hanging her head in shame. ‘All this time she had talked to me about turning away from revenge, and it took me almost dying to get to this point? Why was I so stubborn?’

 Soma spoke from the bottom of her heart, “I’m so sorry! I’m sorry about all I’ve put you through! I wanted to feel better about what happened to the Colonel. I thought killing Andrei would alleviate that, bring me peace. But instead, I almost get both of us killed and took out my anger on you, Allelujah and Hallelujah.” Her vision fogged up from the tears, “What do I do now? How do I move on?”

Marie sent a comforting feeling to Soma, “It’s alright. You were dealing with grief and anger. They probably didn’t help your emotional state. Live by what the Colonel said. Find happiness. He would never have wanted you to sacrifice your life to avenge him.”

Soma remembered Sergei’s words, thinking back on all of the moments with her father, tears rolling down her cheeks at the memories. He had always treated her like a person. After so many years of being treated like a product, she got to experience human happiness. He had been her rock in this world, someone she didn’t know how to live without. That is what she had focused on after he had died. Someone who had been so important to her dying had driven her off the deep end. Her life had lost part of its meaning and getting any sort of revenge drove her. She hadn’t even really thought about what would have happened if she died. To some extent she didn’t even care if she died, as long as Andrei died for what he did. ‘How could I have been so selfish?’

Despite her initial misgivings, Marie, Allelujah, and even Hallelujah to a lesser degree had come to treat her with respect. She blushed slightly at realizing Hallelujah was part of that group. It had certainly been a surprise when he came to save her. He had even been her biggest advocate after the Colonel died. ‘He saved me, despite how I treated him. I probably should apologize to him.’

Even the crew of the Ptolemy had treated her well, in spite of her being part of the group that had defeated them five years ago. She had mostly ignored them, especially when they asked how she was doing. ‘They would probably miss me if I died. I wish I had been more open to them earlier.’ Soma spoke regretfully, tears stopping, ‘I want that happiness. I don’t want to be so angry, so full of hate.”

Marie asked curiously, “And I want you to find that happiness. I can help you, I will always be there to help you. We are basically sisters.’ Soma blushed at that, finally realizing that Marie had had a point all along. Marie continued, ”What is your plan with Andrei, if you regret your focus on revenge? Let him go? Forgive him?”

Soma shook her head, “No. Regardless my feelings, he is a threat. He is working for the A-Laws and innovators. He needs to be killed or locked up. And even if he lives, I will never forgive him.” Regardless of her epiphany, she still was a soldier. And Andrei was a skilled pilot who had been taken in by the A-Laws ideology. Someone like him wouldn’t accept the peace Celestial Being wanted. And he may have killed her father, but the threat he posed was beyond that. ‘He will never be able to make up for that fact, especially because the Colonel was also his father.’ Soma continued, “Marie, I think I am ok with you taking over again. It was unfair for me to control your body and keep you separated from Allelujah for so long. And when we face Andrei again, I won’t do it in anger. I’ll do it to protect us.”

Marie’s voice was happy, “Thank you Soma. If you ever want to do something or take temporary control, you just have to ask.”

Soma nodded at that, smile on her face. She spoke again, “Can I have control for one more day? After that, then you are in charge.” She felt Marie confirm that happily. Looking in the mirror, she could see that her eyes were swollen from the tears. She heard her entrance door open and Feldt’s voice call out, “Soma, are you here? I wanted to check up on you.”

Soma exited the bathroom, seeing the pink-haired pilot still in her pilot suit. Soma’s spoke in a friendly tone, “I am better. I just needed to be on my own for a couple minutes. Thank you for coming to check on me.”

Feldt was taken a bit back by her friendly tone, as well as her swollen eyes. ‘When had Soma become so friendly? And was she crying?’ Feldt gave her a smile, “Do you want to talk? Sometimes-“

Soma raised her hand, causing Feldt to stop talking in curiosity. The white-haired woman’s eyes narrowed, feeling a surge of quantum brainwaves travel through the ship, orginating from where Allelujah and presumably the rest of the pilots were. But these definitely were not the brainwaves of her fellow super soldier. Soma looked at Feldt, voice turning serious “Something is up. Someone sent Quantum brainwaves somewhere on the ship. I have felt it before but not nearly as strong.” Soma exited her room, Feldt right behind her.

Ptolemy Conference Room

The four pilots and Sumeragi stood looking at the prisoner, light purple helmet still darkened so the crew couldn’t see their face. Setsuna spoke up first, “So this is one of the innovators?”

Sumeragi nodded and spoke to Revive in a commanding tone, “You can take off your helmet now.”

Revive complied, removing his helmet, showing his light purple hair and purple eyes. What shocked the crew, and especially Lyle, was they looked just like Anew. ‘Is this what is was like with me for everyone else?’ For a second the eyes glowed gold, before disappearing. Lyle in particular noted the glowing eyes. ‘That’s what Anew’s looked like. Does that mean…?’ Setsuna and Allelujah both sense quantum brainwaves coming from the innovator in front of them, though Setsuna didn’t fully understand what he was detecting. Allelujah narrowed his eyes. ‘Where were those brainwaves going?’

Revive spoke in an even tone, “Greetings to you all, members of Celestial Being. My name is Revive Revival. I am an innovator.”

Sumeragi replied curiously, “Would you be willing to talk to us about the innovators?” The innovator smirked at that question.

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The bridge crew remained on standby, keeping an eye out for another attack. Out of the corner of his eye, Lasse noticed they were going off their designated course. ‘What is Anew doing?’ Looking at Anew, he stated, “Anew, you are taking us off course. Please get us back on track.”

Anew turned to look at him, her eyes glowing gold for a second before turning back to their normal color. She gave him a blank look before aiming her pistol at him. Lasse gave her a shocked look and yelled, “Anew!”

Saji and Mileina turned to see Anew aiming a gun at Lasse, having stood up from her seat. Mileina called out in desperate worry, “Anew, what are you doing!?” She responded in a cold tone, “What am I doing? It should be obvious that I am an innovator.” A gunshot then rang out in the cockpit.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Ptolemy Conference Room

The pilots and Sumeragi glared at the innovator. Allelujah spoke frustratedly, “What do you mean you don’t know where Veda is?”

Revive smirked at him, “Let’s say I do know where it is. What do you people intend to do with Veda?”

Tieria replied in a low tone, “Take it back.”

Revive chuckled, smiling, “But Veda was originally made for us innovators to use.”

Sumeragi looked at her with a stern, questioning look, “Let me ask you this. What do you intend to use Veda for?” Based on their previous actions, Sumeragi would need one hell of an explanation to justify their crimes.

“It’s to make sure the future of humanity isn’t guided by war and cruelty as they expand beyond Earth.”

Sumeragi looked at the innovator baffled, “So you commit cruel acts in order to stop cruelty from happening in the future?”

Allelujah narrowed his eyes, “How would that create a more peaceful future? You control people through force.”

Revive just shook her head, “Humans need to be controlled. It’s the only way that they can advance into the future. If that requires using Veda to manipulate them, then that’s the cost. We innovators have the wisdom and understanding to lead them.”

Lyle responded condescendingly, “You guys aren’t so perfect yourself. We managed to kill some of you and even captured you.”

Revive just smirked at the group, “Don’t be absurd. I allowed that to happen.”

“You what!?” Lyle began to step towards the innovator, but the tactical coordinator stopped him by putting a hand in front of his shoulder. Just then they heard the sound of a communication opening up behind them.

They saw Lasse’s face on the screen, worried look on his face, “Ms. Sumeragi!”

Fear growing in the back of her mind, Sumeragi replied coolly, “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Anew.”

Lyle looked at the screen, confused, “What about Anew?”

Lasse’s voice reflected his still present shock, “She shot Saji and took Mileina hostage!” The pilots and Sumeragi could hear the sounds of Saji as he tried to fight the pain. Sumeragi’s mind began to rush. ‘We have to get him to medical.’ Lasse continued, “She said she was an innovator.”

The crew in the room reacted in shock. Out of everything, they did not expect an innovator besides Tieria on the ship. Lyle balled his fists. ‘It wasn’t just my imagination then. Her glowing eyes must have been them tracking us. Damnit!’ He needed to get to Anew, to talk her down or at least do something. They all heard Revive begin to get up and turn towards her. Setsuna pulled out his pistol and aimed at him, voice commanding, “Don’t move!”

Revive spoke in the same frustrating smug tone, putting a hand on his helmet, “You know what is happening, right? If anything should happen to me, I cannot guarantee the safety of the hostage.” His eyes began to glow gold, “Because we are the same type, Anew and I are connected by thought.” He looked intently at Tieria, “I trust you understand.”

Tieria muttered quietly, “Quantum waves.” Allelujah narrowed his eyes. ‘So, innovators use quantum brainwaves. I must have felt the signal being sent to Anew. It must be the brainwaves that make them such dangerous enemies.’ Now he knew what it felt like to be on the other side of a super soldier, besides Soma from five years before.

The innovator began walking past everyone, helmet in hand. Lyle moved to try to stop him, but was once again stopped by Sumeragi, who gave him a stern look. Lyle glowered at the purple haired enemy, being forced to watch him get away. Just as they exited the door and it closed, the power went out.

Sumeragi spoke worriedly, “The shipboard systems!”

Hallways of the Ptolemy

Soma and Feldt moved through the hallways, the pink-haired girl following Soma as she tried to trace where that quantum message she felt went. It felt like it was going in the direction of the cockpit, so they went that way. Suddenly the lights died and she stopped, feeling a connection on the ship moving. Feldt stopped as well, looking at the super soldier curiously, “What’s going on? What killed the ship systems?”

Soma spoke tersely, “I can sense a quantum connection on the move. Someone must have infiltrated the ship.”

Feldt was confused. ‘Who could have done that? We only brought on the innovator?’ She asked evenly, “What do we do?”

Soma’s soldier instincts took over, drawing out her pistol, “We follow one of those ends of the connection and see what is going on. We need to be ready for a fight.” Feldt nodded at that, drawing out her own gun as the two of them followed the connection to the source.

Hanger Controls of the Ptolemy

Mileina sat at the console loading up the 0 raiser and 00 onto the launch pad, a gun aimed at her. She was terrified out of her mind right now, confused as to why their friend had betrayed them and scared for her life. The 00 raised up in front of them, Mileina wanting to not do this but being forced to. She looked at Anew desperately, “Ms. Returner, you don’t have to do this. Everyone will-“

“Shut up!” Anew emphasized her words by pointing her gun in the brunette’s face.

Mileina went back to focusing on the controls, voice shaky, “Ok.” Anew, satisfied in seeing the 00 on the catapult, led the girl back out into the hallway, heading towards the hanger. As they reached a T junction, the innovator saw Feldt and Soma with guns aimed at her. Soma sent a message through quantum brainwaves telling Allelujah where she was and that she found Mileina and Anew. Anew quickly aimed her gun at Mileina’s head, holding her from behind.

Soma spoke in a cold voice, “You aren’t getting out of here.” Feldt nodded in agreement, looking worriedly at Mileina. Mileina tried her best to contain tears, but it was becoming harder and harder to.

Anew asked confusedly, “How did you find me?”

Soma responded in an even tone, “You aren’t the only one with quantum brainwaves.”

Anew spoke in an annoyed tone, “Of course. You are the low-grade quantum brainwave user. I forgot you were on this ship.” She aimed her gun away from Mileina and aimed it at Soma, “The defective super soldier.” Her eyes then drifted to Feldt, “Also the wannabe pilot.” Feldt bristled at that. ‘How dare she! What happened to Anew? Why is she acting this way?’ She was caught between her worry about Anew and curiosity at what was going on with their supposed friend.

Soma spoke with anger, “You are the ones who caused everything!” She contained her anger, “Let the girl go and you will live!”

Both of the pilots were caught by surprise when they heard Setsuna’s voice come from behind, “Thanks for keeping her here Soma.” Setsuna and Lyle appeared from the junction behind them, Setsuna standing beside the girls and Lyle standing close to Anew and Mileina. Soma nodded at the two but kept a neutral face. Feldt looked gratefully at the two of them, giving her boyfriend a warm smile.

Lyle spoke desperately to Anew, “This has gone on long enough Anew!” Anew re-aimed the gun at Mileina, knowing the odds were getting worse for her. ‘I have to get out of here. I don’t know if I can get the 00 at this rate.’ Suddenly his voice changed, sounding more friendly, “Were you planning on leaving without me?” Anew looked at him confused. ‘What is he talking about?’ Mileina was shocked. ‘Lyle, no!’

Feldt and Soma looked equally confused, as well as betrayed. They glanced at Setsuna, trying to gauge his reaction, but he seemed stone faced with an even look. Both kept their aim on Anew, not wanting to be unable to react in time

Anew replied hopefully, “You want to come with me? You’ll witness the reformation of the world!”

Lyle smiled at that, “I like the sound of that.”

Milieina spoke up, sounding betrayed, “What?!” ‘What is he doing?! He knows how bad they are! How could he join them, even if it’s for love?!”

“I’ll even bring the Cheridum too!” He looked over at Setsuna, voice with a harder edge, “There you have it. Thanks for everything you’ve done for me.” He gave him a serious look, narrowing his eyes.

Setsuna stood there for a second, before he responded angrily, “Well if you’re sure, so be it!” ‘I hope you are ready Lyle. Just make sure you Get Mileina to safety.’ He grabbed the gun out of Soma’s hand in a split second, taking her by surprise. He took aim and shot, hitting Lyle in the shoulder. Mileina cried out in fear.

Anew reached out towards Lyle, loosening her grip on the brown-haired girl, her voice desperate and worried, “Lyle!” Lyle took advantage of the confusion, grabbing onto Mileina and pulling her out of Anew’s grip. Anew, realizing that her shield was gone, fled down the hallway, away from the direction of the 00. ‘Damnit! Looks like we aren’t getting the 00.’ Another regretful thought came through her mind as a tear ran down her cheek. ‘Oh Lyle. I’m so sorry!’

Feldt quickly moved to comfort Mileina as Lyle looked at Setsuna annoyed, “You didn’t have to hit me! C’mon!”

Soma looked at the two men, asking, “What is going on? And why is Anew an innovator?” Lyle quickly filled her in on what they had learned. Soma nodded, now realizing why she had felt quantum brainwaves every time before they were attacked. ‘I should have put it together sooner!’

Setsuna approached his girlfriend and Mileina, asking Mileina softly, “Are you ok?”

She nodded, tears in her eyes, replying, “Thank you for rescuing me! I think they are trying to steal the 00 and 0 Raiser. Ms. Returner was trying to get the 00.” Setsuna narrowed his eyes. ‘Of course. If they can get those two they can learn what makes them so powerful. We have to stop them!’

Feldt smiled at the interaction, before saying, “We need to get to the gundams. If they failed with the 00, then the innovator we captured must be going for the 0 Raiser. I’ll stay here with Mileina. You and Lyle get moving.” While she was annoyed that her vehicle was being taken, she knew she wouldn’t be useful if they captured the 0 Raiser.

Lyle and Setsuna quickly left the two women at the junction, heading towards their gundams.

Hanger 3

After knocking out Ian in the hanger, Revive entered the cockpit of the 0 Raiser. She might have killed the human, but it seemed like a waste of time. ‘It wasn’t worth the bullet.’ He felt a twinge of annoyance at the fact Anew was taking a shuttle instead of the 00. ‘That’s what we get for making her a woman. She got caught in her emotions.’ Looking over the system as he turned it on, he was annoyed at the system of the 0 Raiser. ‘Someone custom modified this. It must have been that pink-haired girl.’ Cursing under his breath, he managed to get the system functional, though he couldn’t get full power.

Launching from the ship, Revive saw the shuttle Anew was piloting and got a communication from her, Anew sounding apologetic, “I’m sorry I screwed up.”

In a cold voice, Revive replied, “Save your excuses for ribbons.” The two ships began to get a distance away when suddenly he noticed her power output began to drop and a password prompt appeared on the display. The controls also refused to respond. ‘Damnit! Must have been a system trap! The file on the pilot said she was good with computers.’ Once again humans frustrated him. ‘How can they keep beating us?’

Anew spoke to him again worriedly, “What’s wrong?” The shuttle overtook the 0 Raiser and stayed at a safe distance, knowing the gundams would soon appear.

Revive replied annoyed and frustrated, “The pilot of this set a system trap! I can’t control it and I have minimum power.” As he began to try to figure out what to type, she saw the 00 and Cheridum quickly approach. ‘Damn these humans.’

The 00 got close to the floating 0 Raiser, aiming its gun at it. Setsuna opened up communications with the 0 Raiser, “Surrender and we won’t kill you.”

Knowing he was beat, Revive sneered at the raven-haired pilot, “I’ll give up the 0 Raiser, but it’s going to cost you.” Setsuna saw him pull out his rifle and fire wildly into the cockpit, destroying the controls and systems till the communications drop. ‘Let’s see them use the 00 Raiser now!’

The cockpit was then shoved open and Revive flew out. Setsuna and Lyle hesitated at shooting so close to the 0 Raiser, granting an opportunity for Anew to come around with the shuttle. As the shuttle began to fly away, Lyle took aim at the shuttle and quickly drew a bead on it. His hands shook nervously. ‘You can do it. She’s a threat to us now. She’s our enemy.’ ‘Why is love so complicated?’

Even though he could see the shuttle getting away, memories of Anew flashing through his mind. Of the flirting. All the time they spent together, laughing and joking. The happiness he felt being with her. Tears of frustration began to rise. ‘Why can’t I do it? Why am I even here?’ He watched as the shuttle flew out of range, crying out in anguish, “Why am I so pathetic?!”

Setsuna watched in sympathy. Setsuna couldn’t shoot the shuttle. He knew that it would be better in the long run, but this was someone Lyle loved. He put himself in Lyle’s shoes. If it was Feldt, Setsuna would have hated Lyle if he killed her. ‘And If that was Feldt, I don’t know if I would be able to fire.’ He had killed loved ones before, but it was different then. He was different then. ‘Could I do it again? Would I do it again?’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

After having moved Saji to the medical wing, the crew investigated what caused the loss of ship systems. They discovered there was a virus in their systems after scanning, Mileina spoke to Lasse, Sumeragi, Mileina and Tieria in an unusually serious tone, “I removed the virus, but we lost a lot of data. Currently trying to restore as much as possible. It looks like the innovators took some data too!”

Sumeragi replied in a curious and serious tone, “How long till everything’s restored?”

“About 5-6 hours.”

Lasse looked at Sumeragi curiously, “What about Anew?”

Sumeragi responded in a decisive tone, “Focus on restoring the ship. The enemy is going to come back.” ‘Not only are we down the 00 Raiser, but Anew might come back with them. I hope you are ready for that Lyle.’ She opened up communications with Ian, “Ian, what is the status in the 0 Raiser?”

He replied in an even tone, “We have to replace the whole cockpit unit, but that’s the easy part. The trickier part is retuning the Raiser system. We won’t have the 00 for a while.”

Sumeragi swore under her breath. Their trump card was out of commission. ‘I can only hope the other pilots are good. And even Soma can’t fight, so we are down another gundam.’ She replied quietly, “I understand.”

Lyle’s room

Lyle stood in the dark room, looking down at the console his arms were resting on as he leaned over it. He quietly said, “Anew, how could you? How could you do it?!” ‘If she was an innovator, was what we went through fake? How much of her story was true? How could he kill her? Could he even kill her if she came back?’

His thoughts were interrupted be Setsuna’s voice coming from his door, “We’re about to see her on the battlefield.” Lyle slowly turned to face Setsuna as the Krugis man continued, “I don’t think they are going to miss this opportunity.” Lyle saw Feldt behind Sestuna as both of them walked into his room.

Lyle looked down, “Yeah, I know that. You don’t have to tell me what to do. That girl is an innovator. She is the enemy. Pulling the trigger will-“

“Don’t try to act tough.” Lyle glared at Setsuna as Setsuna interrupted him. Setsuna didn’t react to the glare, continuing, “She is the woman you love. I’ll be the one to pull the trigger. I don’t mind if you hate me.” Feldt looked at Setsuna disappointed, noticing his lack of tact.

Lyle shook his head, “Stop playing the hard case kid.”

“Look, you don’t have a reason to fight her.”

Lyle glowered at Setsuna, “Sure I do!”

Setsuna continued, “You have more of a reason not to fight her.” Lyle just glared at him before looking away. Feldt grabbed Setsuna by the arm, bringing him back to their room. He didn’t resist, following her.

Feldt and Setsuna’s Room

When they entered their room, Feldt gave Setsuna a disappointed look, voice stern, “Setsuna, you could have been more understanding. You were talking about the woman he loves. I don’t think he would want to hear anyone would want to kill her.”

Setsuna looked down at the disappointment in her voice. ‘I just don’t want him to have to go through what I did?’ A rogue thought went through his head. ‘Maybe you can trust her. She’s been by my side ever since we got together.’

He spoke in a tersely, “I told him that because I know what he’s going through, what it feels like.”

Feldt looked at him worried, yet curious, “What do you mean you know what it feels like?” She could see Setsuna look uncomfortable.

He took in a deep breath and began, “Remember when you asked me about my parents on the date?” She nodded, remembering how he never answered the question and they just moved on. He continued, “When I was recruited as a child by Ali al Saachez, I believed he was a man of god. So when he said me and my friends could become holy warriors if we joined his cause. He took us on a training trip and told us not to tell our parents.”

Feldt held her hand to her chest, “Your parents must have been worried.”

Setsuna nodded, sorrow filling his tone, “They were. But that didn’t matter, not to Ali. He told us in order to truly become warriors, we had to sever our connections to the people closest to us, our families.” Feldt laid a hand on his arm, seeing how heavy this topic was to him. ‘Ali al Saachez must have killed his parents.’ He smiled for a second at that, happy she was here. He continued with the story, “We were so caught up in the fervor of it, we didn’t question it. We all showed up back in town and when our parents met us all worried, we…” He trailed off, not wanting to say it. Not wanting to experience the memories again. He looked away from Feldt, not wanting to see her disappointed face. He could feel some tears fighting desperately to come out, but he fought them down.

Feldt took in the story silently. ‘I knew he had a bad childhood, but to have to kill his own parents? He stayed strong for so long, despite what happened to him?’ This did explain why he was so anti-social five years ago. He not only was a child soldier, but he also killed his family at the command of someone who didn’t care about his life. ‘No wonder his hometown still haunted him, and we showed up in that place. I’m sorry you had to suffer those memories so long, but not any longer.’

She approached him, gently bringing one of her hands to his face, “Setsuna.” He didn’t look up, not knowing what he would see, but not wanting to risk it. She spoke softly again, “Setsuna, look at me.” He looked up tentatively, looking into his girlfriend warm sea green eyes. What he didn’t see was any form of disappointment, but kindness and love.

He began to speak when she interrupted him, voice full of love, “Setsuna, I’m so sorry you had to suffer in silence for so long. Being alone, no matter how strong you are, is rough on anyone. Did you ever grieve for them?”

He shook his head. He was initially convinced that it was a good thing and by the time he realized the mistake he made, it was too late. Weakness was the enemy and emotions like grief were a weakness. As time passed, thinking back on it was too painful, so he shoved it into the recesses of his mind. Only recently had they come back, and they had carried the same weight as when he was younger.

Feldt rested her other hand on his chest, “I’m sorry you didn’t or thought you couldn’t.”

Setsuna spoke sorrowfully, “It was one of the reasons why I didn’t realize my feelings for you sooner. I didn’t think I was worthy of love and I was only looking forward to a future of fighting.”

Tears reached Feldt’s eyes, “Did you think I wouldn’t accept you because of what you did? That I wouldn’t care for you?” He nodded. She shook her head, looking back at him with a determined look, “What I see in front of me is a man who fought for the right thing despite all the suffering and torment he went through. A man who tried to change the world and himself despite the weight of his past. A man who is still growing and changing for the better. You grew into a man I fell in love with, one I would stay with for the rest of my life. You don’t have to handle all of your burdens alone anymore.”

Setsuna stood in shock. Her speech was more intense than he thought anything like that would be. He hadn’t expected that and one bit caught his attention. He replied hesitatingly, “Did you… did you say you love me?” The tears he had been fighting were rising up again. ‘She loves me? And puts that much faith in me?’ He hadn’t felt attachment like this to someone for so long. ‘My past held more grip than I thought.’

She nodded, beaming at him, happy tears in her eye, “Yes Setsuna. I love you. Nothing would make me not love you.”

Setsuna suddenly pulled her into a close embrace, wanting to hold her. Feldt was surprised at the embrace, but pulled him close happily. Happy tears began to flow out of him. Absolution and pure happiness flowed through him, something that had been alien to him for so long. Feldt smiled, feeling his tears falling onto her shoulder. He hadn’t said I love you back, but that was ok with her. This wasn’t about her. This was about him facing his past. He had helped her deal with her feelings and now it was time to return the favor.

For the first time in a long time, Setsuna felt like he could face his past. It was almost like a weight had been lifted off his chest. It was so hard to do it alone, but with Feldt by his side, he could do it. ‘It won’t be easy, but I have to progress, get better and change. It’s the only way to grab a happy future.’

A-Laws Cruiser

Andrei approached the captain’s lounge, having been invited by Ribbons to join him. Andrei was actually surprised Ribbons came personally. ‘I would have thought one of the innovators would have told me.’ His first thought is it would have been Revive, but he had been captured in the last battle.

Frustration flowed through him thinking about the battle. He had been so close to killing Soma, yet that other defective super soldier interfered, saving her. ‘How I used to respect her, I have no idea.’ She had always been weak, not wanting to do the necessary acts to create world peace. Back at the Katharon base, she spoke out against using the Automatons. And once again, his Ahead had failed him in the end. ‘I need that regnant.”

He knocked on the door, hearing an invitation in. The door slid open and he entered, the door closing behind him. He saw Ribbons lounging on the couch in the room. Ribbons gave him a smile, “Hello Andrei. I assume you are curious as to why I invited you?”

He nodded, “Yes, but I do have a question. What happened with Revive? Should we go rescue him?”

Ribbons raised up a hand, voice casual, “Don’t worry about it. If everything is according to plan, he should be on his way back, presumably with one of the gundams.” Ribbons cleared his throat, “I asked you here because your new mobile armor is ready.” He brought up a display showing it being attached on the outside of the ship. Ribbons shrugged, “It’s too large to fit on the ship, so you will have to enter it from the outside of the ship.”

Andrei missed what Ribbons said after showing him the image of the Regnant. ‘I had imagined seeing it in person, but now it’s right here. Within my grasp. Now I can make the gundams pay for all the chaos they created.’  He stared at the image, imagining the capabilities of this suit. If it was an improved version of that mobile armor, then it would definitely be devastating against the gundams.

He was broken out of his trance by Ribbons calling out, “Andrei, this is for you.” In Ribbons outstretched hand was a flash drive. Andrei looked at it curiously and Ribbons explained, “It contains the manual for the Regnant. I expect you to familiarize yourself with it for the next operation against the gundams.”

Andrei grabbed it with a determined looked, “Understood. The gundams won’t escape our wrath, not with this.”

Ribbons smirked, “See to it they learn in the hard way. This operation will be an innovator one, not A-Laws, so wait for my message.”

Andrei saluted him, “Yes sir!” Ribbons smirked at his reaction, though inwardly he was frustrated. ‘I’ll destroy your little toys Celestial Being. Especially the 00. If I can’t have it then neither can you.’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Tieria sat at the pilot controls, waiting for the enemy to appear. ‘They will show up eventually. They know we are weak.’ He felt a hand on his chair and turned to see Sumeragi facing him. In a commanding tone, she said, “Get the Seravee ready for launch. I’ll handle things here.”

The purple-haired man looked at her curiously, “But your ship handling skills aren’t the best.”

Sumeragi shrugged, voice humble, “That may be, but someone needs to pilot it and you are needed on the Seravee to protect us.”

Tieria closed his eyes and looked down, “Roger.” Just then, they heard the door open and saw Soma enter in her pilot suit. She floated towards Sumeragi, her tone even, “Sumeragi, I am ready to pilot the ship if you want me to.”

The tactical forecaster internally sighed. While she knew she wasn’t great, they needed Lasse on the guns more, which only left her. ‘I should have thought to ask Soma.’ Sumeragi nodded, her tone grateful, “Thank you Soma.”

Just then, the sensors went off, showing three mobile suits and one mobile armor. Sumeragi looked grimly at the info before looking at Tieria, nodding. He nodded back and left the bridge, headed toward the hanger. Mileina called out about the approaching enemies to the ship over the PA, telling the pilots to get ready for launch.

With the gundams

The Seravee, Arios, and Cheridum headed towards the approaching mobile suits, trying to keep them as far from the ship as possible. The 00 Raiser still needed more time before it was operational again. Their job was to delay the enemy as long as possible. They saw the group opposing them was made up of the Gadessa, Garazzo, a mobile suit similar to the Garazzo but blue with a physical sword instead energy claws, and lastly the red and black mobile armor.

Tieria called out to the other gundams, “Only a few enemy units, but one of them is a mobile amor. It looks like an improved version of the one we fought before, so be careful.”

Allelujah replied evenly, “Roger that.” He then saw a large blast come out of the front of the Regnant, heading towards them. He yelled out a warning to his fellow pilots, them dodging out of the way. What caught them by surprise was the fact the beam twisted, shooting towards them once again. The Cheridum easily got out of the way, but the beam continued to chase the Seravee. Tieria put up his GN field, stopping the blast, but he could still feel the raw force of the energy blast. He grunted out, “It’s so powerful!” ‘It’s even more powerful than the old one!’ Seeing that it began to focus on Alleujah, he focused his fire on the innovator’s mobile suits, trying to tie them down.

Allelujah dodged blast after blast, barely avoiding getting hit. He grit his teeth. ‘It almost hit me. We definitely need to be careful.’ While he couldn’t beat it in a straight fight, he could certainly keep it busy and away from the ship and his allies.

With the Cheridum

Lyle looked at the approaching mobile suits, hoping to spot Anew. ‘She will be back. Which one of them is her?’ He wouldn’t kill her. Despite his conversation with Setsuna earlier, Lyle had no idea if he even could bring himself to kill her. They could capture her and maybe he could convince her to join them again. The innovators must have done something to her to make her turn. They would figure it out. ‘Hopefully.’

He spotted the new suit approaching him. ‘This must be her.’ Every innovator seemed to have their own suit and this was the only one the crew hadn’t seen. Dropping his rifle, he headed towards the suit, drawing his pistols as he saw the new Gaddess swinging its sword as it charged. He blocked the blow with his weapons, holding the sword in place. He heard Anew speak to him in an even tone, “Don’t lose you head, Lyle. You’ve got an image to live up to.”

Lyle frowned at her voice. It lacked all the compassion and friendliness she had before. All the love the two had. ‘What happened to her?’ She showed worry when he got shot but now she seemed to have no problem trying to kill him.

He called out to her desperately, “Anew!” She didn’t respond, pulling back as she fired her wrist blasters at him. He was forced to evade the shots, returning fire at her. ‘Looks like I’ll have to defeat her before I can do anything.’ The two went back and forth firing at each other, with her occasionally coming into melee reach to try to attack him, but he managed to block those attacks.

The Gaddess pulled back once again, raising its sword as Anew yelled out, “Fangs, fly!” Parts of her armor flew out like drones, headed towards the Cheridum. Lyle saw that and looked at haro, telling him, “Haro. Deploy the shield bits in assault mode.”

“Roger! Roger!”

The armor on the Cheridum broke off, dogfighting with the drones from the Gaddess. Lyle assisted with destroying the enemy drones, destroying a few himself. Seeing the number of drones decreasing and those remaining distracted, he charged towards the Gaddess, clashing her blade with his pistols. He spoke to Anew with frustration, “Why do we have to fight each other like this?!”

Anew responded in a cold voice, though he caught a bit of wavering in it, “It’s because you’re human. And obviously I am an innovator!” One of the Gaddess’s drones pierced the Cheridum’s leg, causing it to explode. Lyle responded by firing a waist missile, hitting the left arm of the Gaddess, destroying it below the elbow.

He tried to appeal to her once again, “We understood each other!” Feelings began to flow through Anew, ones connected to the memories she had. She fought those encroaching feelings, shoving them to the back of her mind.

Anew replied in slightly shaky voice, “It was a false reality.”

Lyle’s voice picked up in intensity, “So it was all false?! The things I wanted and the things you felt!? Well then, have it your way.” He activated trans-am as regret flowed through Anew, her head a mess of suppressed feelings and her role as an innovator. ‘Why am I doing this? Why am I fighting him?’

Lyle began to strafe around the Gaddess, easily dodging any return fire and causing a good deal of damage to the suit. The Gaddess tried to engage the Cheridum in melee, but he easily dodged out of the way. Anew’s cockpit was sparking and her displays were static-y and she saw the Cheridum approach, both guns raised and aimed at her cockpit. Lyle was then joined by the surviving shield bits, who all turned their aim on her. ‘I’m sorry Lyle.’ All of her affection and love for Lyle came flowing back in, tears beginning to form.

What caught her by surprise was when Lyle threw away his pistols, hands grabbing the opening to the cockpit of her suit. She asked in confusion, “What are you doing?” ‘I’m still his enemy.’

Lyle responded in a decisive tone, “It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m going to do my best to make you my woman again!” He ripped off the cover of her suit’s cockpit with some effort and she looked up at the Cheridum, eyes full of tears. He continued, “And I’m not taking no for an answer!”

 She spoke out, not believing what she is seeing, “Lyle…” ‘But I’m an innovator.’

Lyle replied confidently, giving her a warm smile, “I’m getting what I want. Even if you are only an innovator.”

She smiled warmly, looking down, “Oh Lyle. I feel like I can… like I can…” He lowered his hand to let her on the Cheridum, waiting for her to move. She sat there for a second, before beginning to move to leave the open cockpit. ‘Maybe I can be happy, innovator or not.’ Just as she was about to push out of the suit’s cockpit, she felt Ribbons seize control of her mind, her eyes glowing gold. ‘Please no! Not now!’

She heard a callous reply to her thoughts. ‘It seems you have failed me. Oh well, at least I can take out one gundam thanks to you.’

Her mind was quieted as the green haired innovator took control of her body. Lyle looked on in worry, “Anew, is everything ok?” He was caught by surprise when he was kicked back by the Gaddess. ‘We were so close! Anew? What is going on?’ The suit then sliced through the remaining shield bits, leaving Lyle defenseless. Ribbons launched two last drones, who began to rake the Cheridum with fire. Lyle called out in confusion and desperation, “Anew!”

Ribbons, speaking through Anew, replied coldly, “Innovators are meant to guide humanity. That’s right, we are superior beings, absolute and perfect. I can’t stand us being treated as lowly as humans. Let me show you the real difference in our powers. Something in the voice was distinctly not…Anew. It was almost like it was an entirely different person. ‘What’s going on?’

As the Cheridum began to take more and more damage, the Gaddess aimed its sword and charged at the Cheridum, aiming for the cockpit. Lyle called out for her to stop, but Ribbons paid him no heed. Just as the blade was about to hit the Cheridum, two energy blasts hit the Gaddess, destroying the sword arm and the head of the suit. The innovator’s suit flew harmlessly into the chest of the Cherium, the remaining arm holding onto the suit. The console in the cockpit of the Gaddess began to spark, unnoticed by Lyle. GN particles began to fill space as the 00 Raiser flew by. ‘Setsuna, please don’t kill her!’

Lyle felt a strange pull on his mind and everything went white. He found himself in his room in his casual uniform and looked down to see Anew in her uniform looking at him in desperation and love. He pulled her into a crushing hug, equal amounts of desperation and love radiating off of him.

He began to tear up, “Anew, I’m so sorry. I tried to-“

She put a finger to his lips, her voice weak, “It’s alright. I never wanted to fight you. I love you so much Lyle.”

“I love you too!”

Her eyes began to slowly close, “Stay strong Lyle. Stay strong for…” He saw her go unconscious as it went bright white again. He opened his eyes to see Anew slumped over a ruined console. He rushed out of his cockpit to Anew, chanting under his breath for her to please be ok. ‘Setsuna better not have killed her.’ He found her with a cracked helmet, unconscious but breathing weakly. He only had one thought on his mind. ‘I have to get her out of here!’

He could hear the sound of distant battle, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was Anew. ‘If she dies Setsuna, you will pay.’

Trinities Ship

Wang Liu Mei stood looking out into space, the location of Veda in her hands on a small note. ‘That will show Ribbons for thinking he’s so superior. Now I just need to get this to Celestial Being.’ While Celestial Being wasn’t her favorite group, they were the only threat to Ribbons and the innovators. ‘And once Celestial Being eliminates Ribbons, I will advance in this new world.’

Her victorious thoughts were interrupted by Hong Long calling out to her as he struggled with the controls of the ship, “My mistress, the controls aren’t responding! Something isn’t right.”

She looked at him in confusion, “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but all our systems have been erased.”

She looked out the window in fear, realizing what’s going on, “Veda is interfering!” She looked at Hong Long and spoke with a commanding tone, “We are getting out of here now! Get the shuttle ready!”

He spoke frustratedly, “I can’t! The systems aren’t responding anymore!”

Just then, the screen in front of them crackled with static and the voice of Nena giggled as a communications channel opened. Wang Liu Mei called out in confusion, “Nena Trinity? Can you hear me? We can’t control the ships systems! Please come and help us!” 

Nena continued to giggle, her tone became taunting, “You dummy! I already know that, because I’m the one doing it.”

The Chinese woman recoiled in shock, “You’re the one!?” ‘Nena betrayed me! How could she?!’

Hong Long spoke in a strained even tone, “Something’s coming up on the monitor.” The screen cleared up, showing Nena’s shuttle in front of the ship.

Nena’s voice became bitter, “You’ve got everything. And yet you want even more.” The shuttle opened up at the top, Nena’s Throne unit rising out of the shell of the shuttle. Nena smirked viciously. ‘I bet you didn’t expect that.’ The gundam approached the ship, stopping in front of it. Nena continued, “On the inside, you are hollow.” Her voice picked up anger, “You know, I’ve always hated you for that.” She opened up the vents on her suit, spreading particles around the area, creating a blanket hiding their radar signatures. Nena glared at the Chinese woman, “That’s why I think you would be better off dead!”

Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long looked on in fear as Nena opened fire on the ship, easily hitting the motionless and defenseless vessel. Wang Liu Mei stood there shocked, unable to vocalize anything. ‘I was supposed to see the reformation of the world. I was supposed to live.’ Hong Long got up out of his chair and grabbed his mistress as the ship began to explode around her. Seeing that she was still in shock, he pulled her to the shuttles. ‘I’ll get us out of here sister!’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

Lyle watched from inside the medical bay, not even changed out of his pilot suit, as Anew was on the remaining medical bed in medical scrubs, scanner active. She was mostly  unharmed, but there was some scarring from the console explosion. He had brought her back to the ship in a rush, not seeing her responding to anything he did. After getting her onto the medical bed and activating the medical scanner, he stood the room, watching Anew with an empty look, sorrow apparent on his face. Lyle was lost and trying to hold back the flood of emotions inside him. ‘Please wake up. Please wake up!’

The rest of the pilots caught up and watched him from outside the glass, not knowing if they should talk to him or not. Feldt and Allelujah looked at the Irishman and Anew with worry, wanting to help but not knowing what to say. Tieria frowned, not having seen Lyle act like this before. Setsuna was looking away, guilt flowing through him. ‘I did this. I know I saved his life, but…’ The worst part is that Setsuna could sympathize with how he was feeling. If this had been Feldt, he would probably be the same.

He made his way inside the medical bay, the rest of the pilots looking at him worried and cautious. Tieria spoke out cautiously, “Setsuna, be careful.”

Setsuna nodded at that and entered the medical bay, slowly approaching Lyle. It didn’t seem that Lyle noticed him, his eyes only looking at Anew. The Krugis man spoke hesitatingly, “Lyle, I’m sorry I-”

Lyle turned around, red hot anger in his eyes, “You be quiet!” He clenched his fist, “She is like this because of you! She wouldn’t be hurt if you didn’t shoot her!” In the back of his mind, he knew Setsuna had saved his life. But his anger refused to accept that. ‘She’s hurt because of him!’ Setsuna tried to reply, but Lyle cut him off, “You’re lucky I’m not beating you black and blue right now! Get out!”

Allelujah spoke up, “Hey that’s not-“ He was interrupted by Setsuna raising his hand, silencing him. Setsuna realized he was going to get nowhere with Lyle and retreated from the medical bay, leaving Lyle to wallow in sorrow. As he reached the door to the hallway, he saw Feldt looking at him, silently asking if he’s ok. He grimaced, telling her what she needed to know. Feldt and Setsuna left the area, headed to their room.

Lyle’s anger towards Setsuna shifted to sorrow as the floodgate he opened yelling at Setsuna refused to close. Tears began to fall more and more steadily, till he began sobbing, resting his face against the pod surrounding Anew. ‘Why is everything so messed up!? Why did it have to be like this!? I really should kill him for that.’ Tieria and Allelujah looked at each other, understanding this probably a good time to give Lyle some privacy.

As they moved away from the medical bay, they saw Sumeragi headed to the medical bay. Allelujah looked at her and shook his head saying, “Give Lyle a minute.”

Sumeragi understood exactly what Lyle was going through, sympathy rising in her chest, “Is she alive at least?”

Tieria nodded, “She’s getting scanned, but she was breathing.”

The tactical forecaster let out a breath, “At least that’s one piece of good news.” In an exhausted tone, she looked at the two pilots, “Both of you get some rest. You need it.” She watched the two of them head to their quarters, a grimace on her face. ‘Our spy problem is over, but why did it have to end like that?’

Feldt and Setsuna’s Room

Setsuna and Feldt rested on their bed, all the emotion of the day weighing down on them. The had both removed their uniform top, both of them wearing tank tops. His black and hers green. His head was in her lap as she sat on the bed, the Krugis man looking at his girlfriend blankly. She ran her fingers through his hair, worried about what was going on through her boyfriend’s head, his thoughts were a mystery to her and his eyes gave away nothing.

One thing she noticed in the dark was his eyes had a dull golden glow. ‘Why are his eyes glowing?’ She remembered seeing his eyes looked the same in that strange place the 00 Raiser brought them. ‘Is it something similar to what the innovators do? I know he’s human, so is he changing?’  

She shoved that thought to the side. Right now, Setsuna needed her. She could ask him later. After fifteen minutes of dead silence besides breathing, her uneasiness grew. ‘He must feel guilty about Anew.’ In a quiet voice, she spoke comfortingly, “It’s alright Setsuna. Anew is alive and you didn’t kill her. I’m certain Lyle will forgive you.” She got no response back from him, worrying her more as his faced frowned slightly. Her voice picked up a bit, “Please Setsuna, tell me what’s going on in your head.”

While Feldt was worrying about him, Setsuna was deep in thought. Watching Lyle anguish over Anew gave him a realization. ‘If Feldt was in a coma, I would definitely not be ok. She’s gotten so far into my heart that losing her would hurt so much. Is this what love is? It hurts in equal part as it makes you happy?’ Yet he wouldn’t take it back for anything. Ever since Feldt entered his life, he had been happier and more open. He wanted a brighter future for himself and her. One where they didn’t need to fight and could live in peace. He wanted to smack himself for taking so long to realize this.

In a quiet and determined voice, he suddenly spoke up after his silence, “I love you.” She looked at him in shock, not expecting that.

She took in the words, blushing and beginning to tear up as she replied, “Setsuna…”

He spoke softly, rising up and sitting on the bed to look in her sea green eyes and intertwining one of their hands, “I’m sorry it took so long. For so many years I fought day to day, not planning for the future. All I could see was fighting till I couldn’t anymore, be it old age or death on the battlefield. But since we have gotten closer, I want a future with you.” She began to tear up, his words hitting her right in the heart. He rested his forehead against hers, tearing up, “I want a peaceful future with you. I want to have a family with you. After we beat the innovators, I want to live with you. No matter what happens after this, you are my home.” He looked into her eyes and saw adoration and love reflected in them.

She began sobbing happily as the words got to her. ‘I didn’t know it would feel this good.’ She loved Setsuna so much and to hear him return the depths of her feelings was such a relief and happiness. She pulled him close, crying into his shoulder, her frame shaking as he wrapped his arms around her. After a minute, her tears stopped flowing and she looked up at him happiness in her eyes.

She pulled him into a passionate kiss, straddling him as he fell on his back onto the bed. Their kissing intensified, both of them beginning to heat up. His hands traced up her sides, going underneath her tank top. She noticed this and did the same for him, her hands going underneath his. They looked each other in the eyes, knowing where this was going. She gave him a smile and nodded, both of them kissing again with increased fervor. They would both be sore the next day, but they needed this.

And unbeknownst to Setsuna and Feldt, a tiny bridge formed between their minds as the night progressed, connecting the couple in a way that neither of them expected.

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

A coma. A coma. Lyle held Anew’s hand as he saw the results from the medical scan. On one hand, he was happy she was alive and out of danger. On the other there was still the fact that she was stuck in a coma. ‘Why was she stuck in a coma? Why did she deserve this? I just wanted to hear her voice again. See her smile.’

He just felt drained after all that had happened. Not only physically, but mentally and emotionally. All of his anger and frustration at Setsuna really had done a number on him especially. It took all his self-control to not beat Setsuna for doing what he did to Anew. ‘Would Anew have wanted me to do it?’ His eyelids began to droop as he rested on a chair in the medical bay. ‘Maybe I just need some sleep.’ He closed his eyes and quickly fell asleep, only to find himself in a familiar yet strange place.

Lyle blinked several times groggily, looking around to see everyone looking down at the ground the briefing room. They all had looks of grief and anger, but one person’s face he couldn’t see was Feldt, who was directly in front of him. Curious, he spoke up, “Hey, what’s going on? What’s with the long faces?”

Tiera turned to face him, anger apparent on his face, “How dare you show up here! After what you did, you shouldn’t even be on the ship!”

Lyle put his hands up in confusion, “I don’t know what you are talking about! What did I do?!”

Allelujah responded, same anger in his voice, “How could you just forget what you did?! You didn’t have to kill him, but you did!” The rest of the room began to fade away, leaving only him and Feldt in a blank void.

‘Who did I kill? What is happening?’ Feldt then turned to face him, face read from crying and eyes showing immense grief and anger, “You killed Setsuna! You killed the man I love because of what he did to Anew!” She approached him, poking him hard in the chest, “He did it to save your life! If he hadn’t, Anew would have killed you! I thought you were one of us, that you were a good person, but you’re a monster.” Her voice trailed off in intensity, Feldt looking away from him, “Just leave. None of us need someone who can’t resist the need for vengeance.”

Lyle’s mind was rushing. What did they mean that he killed Setsuna? He hadn’t…had he? A tear fell down his face. ‘I never wanted to… I just felt so…’ He heard a disappointed sigh from behind him. A familiar sigh.

He turned around to see a man with two who looked just like him smiling at him. Lyle spoke confused, “Neil? I thought you died.”

Neil nodded, “I did. In pursuit of vengeance. Like what you killed Setsuna for.”

Frustration rose in Lyle, “But I didn’t! I wanted to, but I didn’t!”

Neil chuckled at that, “Then you are better than me.” His tone became more wistful, “You don’t know the cost of it until you see the consequences on other people. Like with Feldt and the rest of the crew. Or when it costs you your own life.” Neil approached him, putting a hand on Lyle’s shoulder, “Don’t be me. Be better than me.” Lyle shook his head. ‘It’s a bit rich to hear that coming from you.’

Lyle saw Neil beginning to fade away, and began to panic, “Don’t go!”

Neil chuckled and smiled, “You know I’m not real, right? I’m just a part of nightmare or maybe a dream?” He fully disappeared and Lyle felt the world around him falling apart as he fell into an empty void.

Lyle woke up, shooting straight up in the chair he was in, blinking at the bright lights of the ship being back on. He immediately felt the soreness in his back, remembering how not fun chairs are to fall asleep on. He immediately swore under his breath, realizing how caught up in his emotions he was before. Getting some rest had gotten rid of part of his anger at Setsuna. ‘Anew wouldn’t have wanted me to hurt or kill Setsuna. And he did save her life. I would rather have her alive and in a coma as opposed to her being dead.’ He needed to apologize to Setsuna. He looked at Anew breathing steadily. ‘I’m not my brother.’

Allelujah’s Room

Allelujah opened up his door, entering his room. He was definitely feeling post battle exhaustion. As he pulled off his jacket, he heard a knock at his door. Curious, he opened the door, seeing Soma standing there with a box in her arms containing her stuff. He looked at her confused, “Soma, why are you moving your stuff back in? I thought you wanted to stay somewhere else.”

He was caught by surprise when he felt a surge of love and happiness flow into his mind. ‘Marie?’ He looked at her with widened eyes, speaking breathlessly, “Marie? Is that you?”

She beamed at him, “Yes. Yes, it is!” She put the box to the side then rushed forward, wrapping her arms around Allelujah. He pulled her close, resting his face next to her head. The two stood there for a minute, just basking in each other’s presence, happy tears coming from both of them. It had been a long four months, but they were finally back together. The last four months, despite them being so close, there was a barrier between the two of them that neither could overcome. The two pulled back slightly from each other, before closing back in with a kiss. The love and devotion flowed in through their bond as well as the kiss, filling both of them with euphoria. Both of them felt complete.

The kiss broke after a minute and Allelujah spoke first, “What happened?”

Marie replied, smile on her face, “Soma realized her focus on vengeance was going to cost her life, like she almost did at the battle where we captured the innovator.” Both of them frowned for a split second at that battle in hindsight, but neither of them noticed it on the other.

Allelujah nodded, “I assume you are still going to have to take over when she pilots?”

“Yes. She still is more comfortable with battle than I ever will be.”

Allelujah chuckled at that, “I suppose that’s one benefit of our condition.” 

Marie nodded at that, completely agreeing, “I’m just happy Soma is doing much better. I never wanted her to be unhappy. Though I would rather be in control most of the time.”

Allelujah smiled, “Well apparently Hallelujah is happy about her surviving too. I personally think he has a crush on her.” He felt Hallelujah growl at him, which caused Allelujah to smirk. Marie felt Soma blush slightly and deny it. ‘I didn’t expect that reaction.’

Marie looked at the box near her, removing herself from Allelujah’s hold, “It’s been lonely without you. Maybe now I might be able to sleep better.” Allelujah was relieved he wasn’t the only one. Whenever he slept, it always felt like there was an empty weight on his bed.

He smirked, “I wouldn’t complain.”

“Do you want to help me move the rest of my stuff?”

He shook his head, “I’m a bit beat. Let’s just rest and I will help when I wake up again.”

Marie smiled at him, blushing as she quirked one of her eyebrows, “Do you want to…”

He blushed, “Maybe later. Honestly I just want to sleep.” She nodded at that, putting the box down in the room and he changed into casual wear, getting out of his sweaty pilot suit. The two laid down in bed, pulling each other close. Allelujah could hear her breath become steady. ‘I love you so much.’ Darkness overtook him as he fell into a restful sleep, holding Marie close.

Bridge of the Ptolemy

After restoring full ships systems, the crew was called up on the bridge, though Ian stayed in the hanger, needing to repair the Cheridum, having just finished repairs on the Gun Archer. Sumeragi looked at the crew, “We discovered a message that was sent to us when our systems were down. It was a set of coordinates in Lagrange 5. It seems like some sort of meeting place.”

Tieria spoke curiously, “So a mysterious set of coordinates were sent to us? How do we know this isn’t a trap?”

Sumeragi pursed her lips, “That bothered me too. I’m not comfortable with this. Too many unknowns.”

Setsuna spoke up, voice resolute, “We should go. This is probably important.”

Sumeragi looked at him, “How can you be sure?”

The raven-haired man looked down at his hands, then looked back at her, “I can’t tell you why, I just feel like it is. Feldt and I can go in the 00 Raiser if you don’t want to risk the ship.”

Sumeragi was about to respond when Ian interrupted her, “Setsuna is right. Besides, Linda and the others are at Lagrange 5 and if my timetables are right, they should be done with the gear they were working on. It will also give me more time to work on the gundams.”

The tactical forecaster thought for a second, looking over the room. She could see the crew was tired and needed a rest. They also had no leads to where the innovator’s main base was. Maybe this person knew where they were. She sighed, speaking up, “Setsuna, you and Feldt will head there with the 00 Raiser. Find out who is at this location and what they want. The ship will head to the R&D base and try to draw the enemy away from you. Meet us there after you have met with this contact. The rest of you are dismissed.”

Hallways of the Ptolemy

Feldt and Setsuna made their separate ways to the hangers, Feldt kissing him on the lips before heading off to hanger 3. It felt so nice to be fully open with her and to be able to show his affection so publicly. It was like the sun had come out after a rainy day. ‘She is my path forward.’

As he reached a T-junction, he saw Lyle standing there with a hand on his hip, looking like he was waiting for him. Lyle looked over Setsuna and noticed a hickey on his neck, causing the Irishman to scowl for a second before his face went back to normal. Setsuna spoke first, voice sounding apologetic, “Lyle I-“

“I’m sorry for yelling at you.” Setsuna looked at him confused as Lyle continued in a low voice, “I was so caught up in you hurting her, that I forgot you saved my life and hers.”

Setsuna nodded, his voice soft, “It’s alright. I would have been the same with Feldt.”

Lyle smirked slightly at that, “It seems we both understand how much we love the women in our lives.” He then gave Setsuna a serious look, “Don’t take her for granted. Hold her for as long as you can. And stay safe Setsuna. We need you.”

“I will.” The two men went in the opposite directions, nodding to each other in respect.

With the 00 Raiser

After linking up with the 0 Raiser, the 00 Raiser began its journey to the mysterious set of coordinates. The two pilots watched the Ptolemy fly off in another direction, eventually disappearing from view. After calculating it, Feldt informed Setsuna it would take a couple days, telling him that she would take over piloting duties so he could rest. He let go of his controls, happy to let her take control. In a teasing voice, she asked, “When you confessed to me, it sounded like a proposal. Were you asking?”

Setsuna blushed slightly, “While I would love to, now is not the best time. After all of this is over, I plan on it at some point.”

Feldt looked down, cheeks flushing, “Oh.” She felt warmth rush through her, knowing how serious her boyfriend was about their relationship. ‘I wouldn’t mind if we did it before.’ She shook her head at that thought. Now is not the time for that. She then asked him curiously, “When the lights were off, I saw that your eyes were glowing, like Anew’s did. What is that about?”

He took a breath and began explaining, “I think I have come to an understanding to what this gundam does and what that strange place is. Humans can connect their thoughts through the quantum realm, letting them understand and see each other’s thoughts. The 00 Raiser is a catalyst, allowing for that connection to be made.”

Feldt responded, deep in thought, “So do your eyes glow when connecting to this quantum realm?” He nodded at that, causing her to realize something, “So when Anew’s eyes were glowing…”

“She was connected with Revive. It seems all innovators have this ability to some degree.”

She tilted her head slightly, “So does that mean you are an innovator? You possess the same ability?”

He pursed his lips, “I suppose that I am, but not the same as them. I’m still human. I’m beginning to suspect this was part of Aeolia’s plan.”

“What do you mean?” ‘I know we were told by Tieria about this plan, but now it seems there are a lot of details missing or lied about.’

Setsuna collected his thoughts, then said evenly, “The first part of the plan was to unite humanity, which we did. The second part, done through the 00, was to bring about innovation. To help connect humanity and help their understanding of each other. That seems to be the true purpose of it. It helps in combat, but it’s there to unite people, not rule over them.” The raven-haired pilot began to sound less sure, “Beyond that I’m not sure. It probably has something to do with the future.” Some insecurity began to bubble up in Setsuna, “I don’t know if that changes any-“

“Setsuna, after last night, you know my answer.” Feldt’s tone was gentle, knowing Setsuna might be insecure about this, “I am with you, human or not. And besides, based on what you said, you are just a human with special abilities.” She gave him a teasing smile, “And I like the fact my boyfriend can know how I feel. Makes it easier.”

Setsuna gave her a warm smile, sensing happiness and love from her in the back of his mind. ‘That’s new. I never had that happen before when I’m not in trans-am. Maybe she’s changing too?’

Abandoned Colony

Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long took a short rest in grey, barren room looking out into space, which contrasted with their suits red and purple coloring. They had been hounded by Nena for the past couple of days, barely managing to get to the colony at Lagrange 5. It had been a game of cat and mouse throughout the station, and it was taking its toll on the two of them. They were both physically and mentally tired.

Hong Long spoke, trying to keep his tone even, “No one has shown up at the designated point yet. Do you think Celestial Being got the message?”

Wang Liu Mei replied in a strained voice, an injury from the ship blowing up making it hurt to speak a little, “Right now, I can’t say for certain. But if they don’t appear soon, the world will belong to the innovators. Or rather, Ribbons Almark.” ‘Even if I die, I will not allow that.’

Hong Long asked in curiosity, “How long has Nena been working with the innovators?”

The Chinese woman exploded in anger and frustration, the mindless question sending her over the edge, “Think for yourself! It’s because of your flaws that I was forced to become the head of the Wang family!” Hong Long looked on in shock as his sister continued, “Becoming the head of this family led my life to be twisted like this. That’s the real reason I want to see the world reformed. Even if I have to give up my status, reputation and wealth for it.” Her tone became a bit manic, “Yes, I’ll start my life again and obtain a future that’s just mine. You’re staying with me to end. That’s the responsibility you have to bear.” Hong Long looked at her in disbelief. ‘You wanted to make a future for yourself, yet you worked with the innovators?’

They both heard Nena’s voice come through the door they just came through, flippant tone apparent, “Why do you have to be so melodramatic?” The gunmetal grey door slid open and Nena stood there, purple haro at her side and gun aimed at them. She continued, “You’re pathetic! You’re little speech just shows how stupid you are.”

Hong Long spoke out angrily, “Nena Trinity!”

Nena’s voice sounded like venom, “I despise you. Goodbye, my mistress!” Nena sneered as she pulled the trigger, aiming at Wang Liu Mei. Hong Long immediately moved, putting his body in between Nena and his sister. He felt a shot impact his back and looked at Wang Liu Mei, grunting in pain.

The Chinese woman called out desperately, “Hong Long!” He began moving them closer to another exit door, making sure Wang Liu Mei was protected.

Nena yelled in frustration, “Get out of the way!” ‘You are not stopping me! She is not getting away for all the suffering she caused me!’

Hong Long felt several more shots hit his back as the floated towards the door. Wang Liu Mei looked up desperately, “Brother.”

They reached the door and he opened it, shoving her into a hallway. He spoke with shallow breath, “Live on.”

She reached out to him futilely, “Brother no!” But the door closed in front of her. Hong Long turned to face Nena trinity, preparing to charge her with his last breath. He knew he was dead. Anytime he could delay her would help his sister escape.

Nena looked at him with mounting frustration and anger, “You’re in my way!” She aimed her gun and hit him squarely in the center of his visor, hitting him right in the forehead. Hong Long’s body floated back from the impact, hitting the door Wang Liu Mei just went through and began free floating in the room.

Nena bounced off the door, commenting flippantly, “Going out in style.”

The purple haro floated around her, asking excitedly, “Going after her!? Going after her!?”

Nena shook her head, “We don’t have to.” She turned to face behind her, “Isn’t that right?”

Regene stood there in an old Celestial Being pilot suit, smirking, “That’s correct.” ‘With this, the plan is accelerating. Not Aelolia or Ribbons plan, but my plan.’ He looked out the window and saw the telltale signs of true GN particles. ‘He’s here.’

Outside the Colony

The 00 Raiser passed through the support beams of the colony, stopping after it passed them. Setsuna looked around and saw no entrance for the gundam, so he opened communications with the 0 Raiser, “It looks like we can’t reach the designated point in the 00. I’m heading in on foot. Control is back with you.”

Feldt replied with slight worry in her tone, “Roger. Please be safe.”

“I will.” He exited the gundam, quickly spotting an entrance for him to use. Setsuna entered a hanger, seeing a small craft parked in the unpainted hanger. It was strange to see a space colony look so unfinished. Usually, they were lived in and had a sense of life, but it just felt barren and lifeless. ‘I wonder what caused this to be unfinished.’ He pulled out his terminal, seeing his meeting location was right ahead of him.

Advancing cautiously, he pulled out his gun, prepared for anything. He knew there was an atmosphere in the colony, but he still didn’t want to get shot. The door in front of him opened and he spotted a purple suit with blue neon lights on it around the corner. He approached the person stealthily, not wanting to draw their attention.

As he got right behind them, he aimed his gun and heard a gasp in surprise as Wang Liu Mei turned to face him. ‘What’s she doing her?’ She quickly recovered her wits, “Setsuna F. Seiei, you made it.”

He looked at her worried, seeing she was holding her right side, “What’s going on Wang Liu Mei? Are you injured? And you were the one that contacted us?”

She replied in a pained and tired voice, “It’s nothing really. And yes. You should take this.” She put out her hand, holding the slip of paper with Veda’s coordinates on it.

Setsuna looked at her confused, “What is it?”

“The location of Veda itself is written on it.”

Setsuna spoke incredulously, “It shows the location of Veda?” ‘With this we can finally beat the innovators!’

Wang Liu Mei replied, sounding a little more desperate, “If the innovators know about this, they will move it to another location. You have to recover Veda as soon as you possibly can!”

Setsuna took the note out of her hand, “C’mon, we have to get you out of here.”

Wang Liu Mei shook her head, “No, I’ll be ok right here.” Setsuna looked at her confused once again. She saw that and said, “All you need to know is I cannot go with you. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be just fine.” He looked her in the eyes, knowing that she meant it, though sensing she was hiding something. ‘I’m not going to convince her to do anything. I have to get this to the ship as soon as possible.’

He nodded his head, “Alright then.” He began making his way back out the colony to the 00 Raiser. He did miss Wang Liu Mei’s last words as the door to the hanger opened, “The reason I can’t go with you guys is my goals are different from yours.”

Orbit around the Colony

Waiting for Setsuna to leave, Wang Liu Mei entered the hanger and left in the shuttlecraft parked there, heading out to another colony to wait out the battle that was to come. ‘And I don’t see any sign of Nena.’ As she made her way further and further away, seeing the sparks of battle in the background, she spoke to herself manically, “I offer up the lives of the innovators, Celestial Being and even my brother to achieve my reformation. All for the brilliant fut-“

“Don’t you know? You have no future!” Wang Liu Mei herard Nena’s smug tone from the gundam that moved in front of the shuttle.

Wang Liu Mei’s eyes widened, “Nena?! But why?!”

Nena’s tone became venomous, “I already told you. I despise you! I only obeyed you because I had to survive somehow. I just had to be a little friendly and you believed me!” The Chinese woman was shaking in anger, but was caught off guard by Nena’s next words, “But you know what? Your usefulness is over!”

Nena aimed and took a shot at the shuttle. Wang Liu Mei watched in slow motion as it approached, unable to avoid it. ‘It can’t end this way! Not like this! I had so many plans!’ The shot impacted the shuttle, blowing it up as debris began to float among space. Nena began to laugh, “She’s blown to pieces! That’s your punishment for treating me like some sort of possession! I’ll do whatever it takes to survive in this world and whatever it takes to be happy. I’ll follow the innovators till I can avenge my brothers, then I’ll be free.”

Haro turned to face her, voice sounding more robotic and monotone than usual, “Despite your words, your usefulness is over as well.”

She looked confused at the machine, “Haro?”

It continued, “Those who act selfishly must be punished.”

Nena gasped, realizing what was happening, “An innovator!”

The haro, under Ribbons control, replied to that, “The one who will pass judgement on you will be coming soon.”

“The one who will pass judgement?” She looked annoyed until Ali al Saachez flashed through her mind. Looking thoughtful, she said, “Could it be him?” ‘That’s just perfect. I can kill two birds with one stone.’

All of the sudden an energy blast came flying right by her, forcing her to dodge out of the way. She turned in the direction and saw that the Arche gundam was heading towards her, sword drawn out. She yelled out to Ali, “It’s you! It’s time I get my revenge!”

He licked his lips, happy for the opportunity for a battle, “Let’s see you try, little girl!” She opened fire on him, but Ali proceeded to dodge every blast easily. ‘Let’s have some fun with this one.’ Nena glared at the Arche, seeing how it mocked her brother Michael’s memory. ‘How dare you use a suit like his!’

The Arche flew circles around the Throne unit, toying with her. Ali spoke cheerfully, “Let’s have a little fun. I won’t use my fangs just to make it fair. Does that sound good to you?” She just let out a growl, firing at him unsuccessfully. He smirked, “I think that does!” He rushed in, slicing off one of her suits arms and then retreating back a distance away.

She yelled out in anger, “How dare you!” Ali just smirked enjoying toying with her. It wasn’t as fun as fighting the Krugis punk, but he would take it. He spoke in a insincere happy tone, “You know I was sent to kill a rat who caused problems, so this isn’t personal.”

Nena yelled out angrily, “But you let me do that!”

Ali just replied in a chipper tone, “Did I? I don’t remember that. Are you sure?” Ali began landing shots on the Throne, knocking it back. Nena’s anger was rising. First, she couldn’t hit him and now he was taunting her. ‘I refused to be toyed with!’

“Stop making fun of me!”

Ali shook his head in his cockpit, “But it’s more fun!... For me. Besides, you would already be dead if I wasn’t.” The Arche charged in once again, Nena pulling out a beam saber to try to stop him, but failed to block the attack, leading to losing a leg. Ali spoke again, “I will say I admire your handywork from five years ago. Especially the wedding. I couldn’t have done it better myself! You remind me of… well me!”

Nena replied in a blind fury, “I am not like you! I fought to make a better world for myself!” More shots missed Ali by a wide margin.

Ali smirked, knowing he was getting under her skin, “You killed innocent people who were doing nothing but living their lives! Sounds like me!” His tone became slightly more manic, “At least I don’t pretend I’m doing a good thing! I’m a monster and I’m honest enough to admit it! You are just a hypocrite!”

Her mind was racing. ‘I’m not…. I’m not…. No, I’m not a monster. I’m doing what needs to be done to survive!’ She rushed in, trying to engage him in melee. He parried her blade, pushing her away. Her anger was red hot, “How dare you judge me!” She charged him again, meeting his large blade. The two clashed, sparks flying. She failed to notice a leg blade slice off her other suit leg until it was too late, causing her to react in shock, giving Ali the opportunity to slice off the remaining arm.

The throne sat there, floating in space. Nena’s mind was a mess, desperation and despair setting in. ‘I have to avenge my brothers! I have to kill him!’ She looked up to see the Arche aiming its sword at the cockpit. Ali let out a manic laugh, “Well that was fun while it lasted! Too bad you had no chance! And I won’t judge you anymore if that makes you happy!” He brought the sword down, bisecting the throne. Nena only had a split second before her suit exploded, just leaving more debris.

Ali looked over his handwork. ‘That’s two down and two to go. And I didn’t even have to kill one of them!’

Outside the Colony

As Setsuna flew out of the colony looking at the note, he heard Feldt’s voice speak over their comms, sounding serious, “Setsuna!”

Setsuna put away the note, responding, “Feldt? What’s wrong?” He looked up to see a lithe black mobile suit with silver highlights and two large horns coming off of the head holding a physical sword to the 00 Raiser. ‘What the? That machine looks like a flag… but isn’t.’ Standing on top of the Susanowo was familiar man in the A-Laws pilot suit. Setsuna recognized that it was Graham but saw he had scarring over his right eye. ‘What happened to cause that? Was that from five years ago?’

Graham projected his voice as Setsuna got closer, “It’s been five years, young man.” Graham smirked at Setsuna recognizing him.

Setsuna spoke through gritted teeth, “It’s you again.”

“Young man, if you don’t want to lose your gundam, you’ll give me what I desire.”

Setsuna glared at the pilot, “And what is it you want?”

Graham stood straight, “I want an honorable duel!” Setsuna looked at him in surprise, not expecting that. Feldt was equally confused. ‘Honorable duel?’

Setsuna replied in confusion, “You want a what?”

Graham responded resolutely, “I, Graham Aker, stand before you and hereby challenged you to a proper duel.”

Setsuna gave him a serious looked then responded evenly, “You’re that desperate to settle things between us?”

The passion in Graham’s voice increased, “Of course! You’ve sullied my skies and stolen my brothers and mentor! Even my pride as a flag fighter was sullied because of what you did! You and your gundam!” He pointed at Setsuna, “Indeed, these feelings have surpassed love, transcended hatred. This has become destiny!”

The raven-haired pilot looked at him in disbelief, “Destiny?”

Graham smirked, “Do you laugh at my obsession? Don’t forget it was the gundams who started it all with their armed interventions.” Setsuna narrowed his eyes. ‘Here is someone else who can’t let go of the past. No matter how much time passed, he refused to move on. The only way to get to through to him is through combat.’

Setsuna replied determined, “Very well, I accept you challenge.”

Feldt called out in confusion, “Setsuna, what are you doing?”

“Hold nothing back!” Graham moved into his cockpit, preparing for combat.

Setsuna entered the cockpit of the 00, calling out to Feldt over communications, her face appearing on his display, “Feldt, give me the controls.”

Feldt responded as she complied, sounding confused, “What was he talking about? Duels? Love and hatred? Destiny? And why did you agree to this?”

Setsuna shrugged his shoulders, “I don’t know. All I know is he has been obsessed with me since I fought him five years ago. He was the guy I fought after defeating that golden mobile suit last time. And he will continue to chase me until I fight him.” ‘The reason I couldn’t join you guys right away.’

Reluctantly satisfied with that answer, she looked at the signature of the suit, she recognizing it, “Setsuna, this was the suit that was following us for a while after you rejoined us on Earth. He really has been stalking you.” She gave him a worried look, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“No, but we don’t have any choice but to fight him. So hold on. This pilot is good; it may be rough.”

She looked at him with absolute trust in her eyes, “You can do it Setsuna. I’ll keep an eye out for anything else. You stay focused on him.” He nodded, the 00 Raiser drawing out its blades. The two suits gained some distance from each other, finally charging and clashing blades, signaling the start of their battle.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Space around Abandoned Colony

The 00 Raiser and the Susanowo clashed around the station, blades meeting in earnest. Setsuna was surprised at the strength of the mobile suit. ‘Whoever made that put a lot of effort into it. It’s able to hold off the 00.’ Setsuna tried to pull back to get distance, moving along the outside of the colony, but Graham followed, the Susanowo’s feet creating a track in the metal shell of the colony. Not able to catch up to the 00, the Susanowo’s center opened up, revealing a small cannon. Charging up and firing a bright orange ball, it went careening towards the 00. Setsuna dodged, moving away from the surface of the colony. Graham followed him, attacking and pulling back repeatedly.

As the two suits fought, Graham’s blood became hot, “I survived for this! This is why I survived until this day! Even if it means I become a puppet of the innovators! The way of Bushido!”

Feldt called in confusion, “Why are you so obsessed with fighting? You are only making things worse thinking that way!”

Graham matched blades with the 00 again, sparks flying, “Stay out of this! This is between me and the young man! Don’t distract him from this destined duel!” Feldt frowned at this. ‘How could someone fall so far? No wonder Setsuna sounded frustrated with him.’

The two suits clashed for a few more seconds, Setsuna yelling out, “Is this worth it?” Graham didn’t respond, studying the 00 for a few seconds. Setsunc came to a realization. ‘Dammit! I can’t overpower this guy! I have to use trans-am!’ Graham also came to the same conclusion as Setsuna. Setsuna gave a warning to Feldt, “I’m activating trans-am!” The 00 Raiser began to glow red as GN particles began radiating around the machine.

What caught them by surprise was seeing the Susanowo begin to glow red. Setsuna called out to Graham, “When did you get trans-am!?”

Graham smiled in his cockpit, “It was something my friend did for me! Now prepare for battle!” The two charged at each other with incredible speed, slashing and parrying each other as they pulled back before moving back in to attack each other. Neither could find get the advantage on the other, finding that the two of them were evenly matched. Setsuna could feel the intensity which Graham fought, how devoted he was to fighting. He could also sense a hint of desperation, of want. ‘Let’s see if talking might help.’

As the two pushed against each other, matching blades, Setsuna began to pull the two of them into the quantum realm, away from their mobile suits. White light began to engulf the two of them as Graham was confused as to what was going on. He closed his eyes at the bright light and when they opened, he found himself in a desert, looking up at a large rock formation. ‘This looks so familiar. And where am I? Why am I not in my mobile suit?’ He was also caught by surprise seeing himself in his old union uniform. ‘What is going on?!’

He looked up to see Setsuna standing on the rock formation, looking out into the desert before looking down evenly at Graham, wearing what looked like a white button-down shirt, black pants and red scarf. The A-Laws pilot glared at Setsuna, “Where are we?! Why do I know this place?!” He could sense calmness and curiosity radiating off of the Krugis man. ‘Sensing his emotions? Why can I do that?’

Setsuna could feel the anger, confusion and desperation coming from the scarred pilot. He replied in a calm, even tone, “We are in the quantum realm. This is where people can connect and understand each other. Feel how other people feel.” Graham began to begin to ask what he meant by that, but was interrupted by the raven-haired man, “This is where we met in person for the first time. It seems to be a place important in your memories. That is why we are here”

Graham scowled at Setsuna, now just noticing Setsuna’s eyes were glowing gold, “You destroyed everything I love. Of course meeting you was important!” ‘How could this young man act like this means nothing?!’

Setsuna narrowed his eyes slightly, “So you fight because it’s the only thing you have left?”

“Wanting to fight kept me sane! From falling to despair! It didn’t matter what happened to the world. All that mattered was finding a worthy opponent.” He grinned, “When I heard that Celestial Being was back, I had hoped that meant you were too. And when I saw the double-powered suit, I knew you were piloting it. I have felt more alive than ever!”

Setsuna shook his head at that. He could feel that Graham was trying to justify his own existence. ‘A life devoted to fighting for fighting’s sake is no life.’ Setsuna’s spoke in an exasperated tone, “What about other things? What will you do when there is nothing to fight? No great opponent to fight? Is there no one you care about or love?”

Graham gave him a thoughtful look, before reverting to anger, though his voice wavered, “There will always be something to fight! Some great war to engage in! Friends to avenge! Attach…” Graham could feel Setsuna’s happiness talking about love, “Attachment and love are a weakness!”

Setsuna could sense the desperation flooding off of him. ‘He can’t accept the truth. He can’t move on.’ Setsuna knew exactly how Graham thought. While their motivation was different, both of them had only dedicated themselves to fighting, not looking at the future. But since he and Feldt got together, he realized how empty that felt. How much more complete his life is. ‘Unfortunately, I don’t know I can help with that side of it. I can’t tell him how to find that path.’ Setsuna grimaced at his words, “Is there no other path to follow? Nothing else to devote yourself to?”

Graham replied with shaky confidence, “Victory in battle is the only thing that gives me a rush! Fighting a worthy opponent is what defines a warrior!”

Setsuna realized despite his flagging resolve, words would never break him. He needed to be proven wrong, shown that strength comes from more than just fighting. He knew what he needed to do. Setsuna pulled both of them out of quantum space, bringing them back into reality.

Both of them floated there for a few seconds in their suits. Feldt spoke to Setsuna as she opened up communications, curious, “What happened? Did you talk to him?”

He nodded, “I couldn’t convince him through words. I’ll have to prove it to him through actions.”

Graham recovered, still partially confused, slashing at Setsuna, who parried the blow. As Graham began to attack over and over again, he noticed the 00 wasn’t really fighting back. It was dodging and parrying all his attacks, maybe pushing him back at most. Desperation entered his voice, “Fight back young man! Give me the duel I want!” Setsuna didn’t respond, leaving Graham in the dark, who continued to attack, trying to get Setsuna to fight back.

Feldt looked at Setsuna confused, “Why aren’t you fighting back? Isn’t he a threat?”

Setsuna shook his head, “Just trust me. He is less sure of himself than it seems.”

Feldt looked a bit unsure, but gave him an uneasy smile, “Ok. Just make sure we come out of this alive.”

He nodded, “Don’t worry, we will.” As those two talked, Graham was running himself ragged chasing the 00 Raiser. ‘Why aren’t you fighting back? You are my worthy opponent! Defeat or victory, the fight is the ultimate rush! Why do you deny me this?!’ He was confused. ‘Where does he draw this strength from? How can you be strong without focusing on victory?’ Setsuna could sense the wavering morale of Graham. The attacks that were coming were still strong, though they became sloppy an unfocused, becoming easier to parry or dodge.

Graham’s attack continued to falter as tears began streaming down his face, “Fight back! Don’t deny me what I need!” His attacks petered off, the trans-am on both the suits wearing off. The suits floated close to each other, tension thick in the air. Graham spoke in a quiet voice, sounding empty, “If I can’t fight, then what am I?”

Setsuna put away his blades and replied sympathetically, “I know how you feel. I can’t tell you who you are. Only you can do that. Only you can choose your own future. Find a cause, a friend, or even love. But I can’t tell you how do that. You have to decide on your own.” He then turned around and began to leave the airspace.

Graham just watched the 00 leave, not knowing how to respond. ‘He beat me and he didn’t even fight. And he drew strength from something other than being devoted to fighting. Was I wrong? Can I have a future?’ Having fought him, Graham knew the man that he fought here was not the boy he fought five years ago. He had changed. The way he fought was different. ‘Before he fought like a man with nothing to lose. Now he fights like he has something to lose. Was it that girl? Maybe something else?’ He sat there quietly, knowing Setsuna had given him many questions he needed to answer.

With the 00

As the 00 began its long journey back, Feldt opened up communications, sounding curious, “Why didn’t you kill him?”

Setsuna frowned slightly, “What would killing him have solved? He was a lost man, throwing out punches blindly.”

Feldt pursed her lips, “Did you sense that? And how did you know he wouldn’t attack us?”

Setsuna smiled warmly, “Because I learned he was just like the old me in the quantum realm. He was fueled by the need to fight to justify his life. But I changed. I found something else to fight for, to live for. If I could do it, so could he.”

Feldt blushed, “What is that reason?”

His eyes stared into her soul, “You.”

Feldt blushed deeper, despite expecting the answer, “Oh.” She looked down for a second, before looking back up, eyes shining with happiness, “Setsuna, can you stop the 00 for a second?”

Setsuna looked at her confused but complied. He was about to ask what she wanted him to do that for, but she cut communications. He then heard the 0 Raiser cockpit open and there was a knock at the cockpit hatch of the 00. Opening it up, he saw Feldt floating there, who quickly guided herself in, sitting herself on his lap. As the cockpit closed and oxygen filtered back into the 00, he asked in a confused tone, “What’s up?”

She cuddled into him, taking off her helmet, “After the innovators are defeated, if you were given the opportunity to have a normal life back on the planet, would you?”

He quirked his eyebrow, removing his own helmet, “Only if you wanted it. I’ll follow wherever you go.”

Feldt smiled, heart racing slightly and blushing, “Well, I think that would be a good idea. Earth would be a better place to have a family.” She smiled coyly, newfound confidence flowing through her, “Well we have a few days, so why don’t we practice?”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The pilots, Ian, and Sumeragi stood in the bridge along with the remaining bridge crew. Having handed off the data to Mileina, Feldt and Setsuna waited patiently for the results. Tieria looked at the two in surprise, “You found the location of Veda?”

Setsuna nodded, “We got the information from Wang Liu Mei.”

Tieria looked away thoughfully, “So Veda’s been found.”

Just then Mileina chirped in, “Data analysis complete. It’s at point CZ9842R.” Mileina paused for a second before speaking again, “Wait, that’s the dark side of the moon!”

Sumeragi gave her a commanding look, “Mileina, focus the super long-range camera at that point.” Mileina nodded, bringing up the location.

Allelujah immediately spoke up, “That’s Lagrange 2.” Ian chimed in, adding, “That’s an area where they aren’t even developing colonies. The perfect place to hide I’d say.” The location popped up on the observation screen, showing a blank area.

Lyle looked at it curiously, “There’s nothing there.”

Sumeragi narrowed her eyes looking at the image. ‘There must be something.’ Without looking up, she called to Mileina, “Superimpose the star map on our current location.” As Mileina did that, a bunch of red appeared where the starts should be in the center of the image.

Allelujah spoke in a confused tone, “The position of the stars are off.”

Sumeragi smirked slightly, speaking quietly, “Optical camouflage.” She turned her head to face Mileina, “Mileina, calculate the area of the discrepancy.”

Going over the information, Mileina was surprised. In a shocked tone, she replied, “It’s a diameter of 15 kms!”

Lyle’s eyes widened, “15 km?”

Tieria responded evenly to that, “Something like that has to be optically camouflaged.”

Just then Mileina’s console beeped and a message popped up. The brown-haired girl immediately smiled upon seeing it, “It’s a coded message from Mom! She says they are bringing the new gear to us!”

Sumeragi nodded at Ian, “You and Mileina get ready to get the stuff on board.”

Mileina looked at her curiously, “But who will run the sensors?”

Just then the doors slid open and Saji walked in, saying confidently, “I can do that.” Lasse immediately stood up and approached Saji, punching him in the arm lightly. Saji rubbed the impact site, asking casually, “What was that for?”

Lasse gave him a smile, “For taking that hit for me. I owe you for that.”

Saji put up his arms, “Don’t worry about it, just doing what I thought was right.” The rest of the crew told him how happy they were he was back and how they were worried about it. Saji blushed as he received all this public attention, moving to his seat as the crowd cleared.

Sumeragi nodded at him and spoke to the rest of the crew, “Everyone not doing upgrades, get some rest. You’ll need it. Once I have a battle plan, I’ll call you back to the bridge.” With that, everyone left the bridge, either resting or helping with the gundams.

Hanger 3

As Feldt went to the 0 Raiser to check up on it, she saw Linda floating above the machine. Curious, she asked, “What are you doing?”

Linda looked over at her, smiling, “Just giving the machine a quick check.” Linda then smirked at her, “So I hear you managed to hook up with a certain pilot.”

Feldt just smiled back, “You can say that.” Her smile became more bashful, “Thank you for encouraging me. I’m happier than I’ve ever been.”

Linda gave her a kind smile, “I watched you grow up. Of course I would encourage you.” Linda then gave her a curious look, “So how is he in bed?”

Feldt blushed bright pink, matching her hair, “Thank you for checking out the 0 Raiser.” She then retreated from the hanger, embarrassment obvious. Linda just smiled at her retreating form. ‘Ah, young love.’

Anew’s Room

Lyle rested by Anew’s bed, looking at her comatose form as he sat in a chair. She had been moved into her room after they determined nothing could be done with regeneration. They set up a feed for her to keep her alive, but that was all they could do.

Lyle felt a sense of melancholy wash over him. Here they were approaching the endgame and yet he still felt lost. He can’t say he thought about the future long term besides destroying the A-Laws, but Anew had a place in that future after they hopefully won. Yet here she was, unresponsive. ‘I sound pathetic. The Lyle of five months ago would have scoffed at the current me.’ Yet here he was now.

He grabbed Anew’s hand, hoping it would give him strength. ‘Anew wouldn’t want me to wallow in my suffering.’ He could imagine Anew looking at him disappointed by how he acted. Making a snarky comment on how he’s being a mopey bastard and that he should do something about it. She would probably yell at him for getting angry at Setsuna for saving her and his life. Feeling lost. He missed her smiles and laughs and even that infuriating smirk she had. He smiled sadly before he scowled. ‘I’ll make the innovators pay for all they’ve done. For all the people they killed. For using Anew like a puppet. For manipulating the world to make a false utopia.’ He knew anger wasn’t the healthiest response, but it was the only thing he had. ‘The repercussions can come later. Now is the time for action.’

He then heard the PA asking for all pilots to come to the bridge. He steeled his expression, knowing it was only a matter of time till they entered combat. He stood up and leaned down to kiss Anew on the forehead. ‘I’ll find a way to get you back.’ With a confident gait, he left his room, ready for what was to come.

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Sumeragi looked at all the pilots in their pilot suits, including Marie as they gazed at the observation screen. The bridge crew was gone except for Saji. She had gone over the plan, which wasn’t much as they lacked info, but it was something. They all saw that there was an A-Laws fleet blocking their path forward, the largest they had seen. It wasn’t going to be easy.

Setsuna spoke first, “We are going to bust through the A-Laws fleet and recover Veda.”

Tieria replied in a low tone, “This will be a battle like never before.” The pilots all nodded, knowing the scale and stakes of this battle. If they lost, no one could offer meaningful resistance to the innovators.

Sumeragi looked over the group, “Is everyone ready? This may be our final battle.”

Lyle nodded, “Despite our different goals, we all know what needs to be done to secure the future of humanity.”

Setsuna spoke resolutely, “We all are thinking about the future. That’s why we fight. To create a better future for everyone and ourselves.” He glanced at Feldt out of the corner of his eye. Feldt looked at Setsuna, happy smile on her face. The rest of the crew looked at Setsuna with awe, knowing he was right.

Tieria spoke up first, “To recapture Veda, so it can’t be used by the wrong people.”

Allelujah stepped up, his voice determined, “To make a world where super soldiers like Marie and I are never created again.” Both Marie and Allelujah heard their other personality grumble a bit at that, but sensed they agreed. Marie grabbed his hand, squeezing it comfortingly. He sent her feelings of gratefulness over their bond, her smiling at him when she received them.

Lyle nodded at the two who already spoke before stepping up himself, “My mission remove the A-Laws and innovators who would control this world. And to…” He trailed off, not finishing his thought.

Feldt balled her fists, “I want to create a world where no child has to lose their parents to terrorism.” Setsuna intertwined their fingers after loosening up her balled fist, smiling at her. Lyle gave her an approving nod.

Setsuna looked down before looking back up at the group, “I want a world where no child has to grow up fighting or become a child soldier.” He took a deep breath and continued, “We’ll change. If we don’t, we’ll never face the future.” Feldt squeezed his hand, looking at him with pride.

Saji looked at the assembled group, pride filling him. Despite his hatred of them months ago, he had come to enjoy being with them, even if it didn’t come through the best circumstances. His biggest shock was seeing how much Setsuna had grown. He had gone from a more closed off and standoffish teenager to being open enough to have a girlfriend. ‘I wouldn’t have believed that if you told me that five years ago.’ And once this was over, he had his own battle to face with Louise. ‘Just a little more time.’

Sumeragi scanned over the group, proud smile on her face. To see them go from a purely professional team to a family of sorts. She spoke up with confidence, “As soon as we finish resupplying, we are heading out.”

Everyone looked at Setsuna expectedly. He scanned around the room, blushing slightly at their confidence in him. Taking a deep breath, he looked out the window, sounding determined, “Then let’s go. To the dark side of the moon.”

Tieria’s Room

Tieira looked at himself in the mirror, trying to maintain a calm attitude. He could feel the tension on the ship. Everyone knew what was happening and the ship felt like a ball of tension. ‘The calm before the storm is the worst. We have no idea what we are facing, so we have to imagine.’ It was just like this after Neil died. They knew the enemy was coming and all they could do was wait.

‘But this is not like that time. All our gundams are intact. No one is injured. We are on the offensive this time. And the innovators won’t stop us. They can’t.’ He had faith they can do it. If they didn’t, the consequences would be disastrous. The innovators had corrupted the plan. ‘No, Ribbons corrupted it. The rest of the innovators were following him in this selfish plan. What was the point of guiding humanity if you just are going to rule over them?’

Taking back Veda would be their redemption. Even if they weren’t accepted, it would prove to themselves that they made the right call, that all the sacrifices were worth it. ‘Veda.’ Even now it felt empty without Veda. For so long, he was connected that without it he felt lost. He had gotten used to it after five years, but it was still an empty part of him that couldn’t be replaced. He spoke quietly to himself, “I finally get the opportunity to get Veda back.” He chuckled to himself. ‘What would Neil think of them now?’

Things had changed so much since he died. Everyone had opened up and truly become a family. Looking back, Tieria remembered how much of a stick in the mud he used to be. ‘I used to be so obsessed with the plan, I didn’t think of everyone’s wellbeing. I even used to hate Setsuna for his recklessness.’ Neil had showed him the human spirit was strong, even if it made mistakes. Tieria fought against his own kind because of that. And no one embodied that spirit more than Setsuna. It had been a long journey, but now he put all his faith in Setsuna. ‘Neil had a lot of trust in him. I guess he was right about that.’ And people had even come to like him. His old self would have scoffed at this trust, but then again, he hadn’t gone through the trauma of the last five years. ‘Even if I’m not physically a human, I would like to that that I am close enough to one.’

Taking one last look in the mirror, he left to head to the hanger to wait near the Seravee. He couldn’t rest. He needed to be ready to fight.

Allelujah’s Room

Allelujah and Marie rested in their room, trying to relax before the storm hit. They sat on the edge of the bed, her head resting on his shoulder. His arm was wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer. She spoke in a slightly worried tone, “Are you ready? This is the biggest battle we will fight.”

Allelujah sighed, “Honestly? No. But it is something that needs to get done. And only we can do this.”

She nodded her head, agreeing with his words. ‘Would I have been on the other side of this if Allelujah hadn’t rescued me?’ She pushed that though from out of her head. It didn’t happen, so it wasn’t important. She felt Soma send reassuring emotions at her. She sent a grateful response. Another thought came to mind.

She looked up at Allelujah, pulling her head off his shoulder. She spoke curiously, “Allelujah, after all of this is over, what do you want to do? What should we do?”

He smiled at her curiosity, “Why don’t we explore?”

“Explore?”

He nodded at that, “Neither of us had the opportunity to be human, to live. I want to see the world, see what’s out there.” Allelujah had always yearned to see the planet he was born on, see what made it tic. When they won, hopefully they would have the opportunity to.

She smiled at the irony, “We were made to colonize space and you want to explore the Earth? What would the institute say?”

Alleujah gave her a teasing smile, “Probably that we are failures and need to be locked up.” He frowned for a second at the old memories but shoved that back. They had escaped that fate and the institute was gone. They didn’t need to worry about that.

Marie gave him a quick kiss then beamed at him, “They probably would. And I would love to explore the world with you. See what we missed after years of being trapped.” She looked down at her lap, her tone nervous, “Allelujah, do you want to have a family? You know, kids?”

He kissed her on the forehead, his voice loving, “I would love to have a family with you. To get married to you. But I want to see the world before that, if only for a few years. If everything goes well, we will have plenty of time for that.”

She smiled warmly at that, “I suppose that is true. Now when do you want to get married?”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Sumeragi observed passing space as the ship continued towards the combat zone. The whole bridge crew was at their stations, except for Anew’s station Being empty. Gunning duties, however, were being taken over by Ian and Linda, who were in the secondary station. ‘This will hopefully be our final mission. In an ideal world, we would no longer be needed.’ She smiled sadly. ‘Unfortunately, this world isn’t ideal.’ If she had to be honest with herself, she suspected Celestial Being might always be needed. Maybe not to the same scale as currently, but sometimes even a good government needs help from the outside. To get around the red tape that keeps them from acting. She chuckled to herself, knowing the irony of people on the ship were planning for the future and she was here thinking their organization might always be needed. ‘I guess that’s why I’m the tactical forecaster.’

Sumeragi had no idea what she would even do, assuming she was allowed to go back to regular life. She had grown to mistrust government, especially after all the experience with Celestial Being. And working for a government as a tactical forecaster again would make her uncomfortable. However, Kati would probably be happy with her coming back and she had no idea what Billy would think, especially after what Setsuna did. ‘Setsuna could have been a little more subtle.’ She shook her head at that. ‘Of course, that wouldn’t be Setsuna. He doesn’t do things in half measures.’ And Billy was probably incredibly bitter at her. She would have been if he was in the same position. ‘I’m sorry that I took advantage of you like that. You deserved better.’ She had made many mistakes in her life and she wanted to apologize to both Kati and Billy, her closest friends when she was in school and beyond.

Her thoughts drifted to the rest of the crew. She had watched over them for so long it felt strange that if they won, many would be going their separate ways, assuming they could get away with that. It would be a strange feeling. The crew had been together for so long, having devoted the last several years to the organization, though some had been there longer than others. Sumeragi let out a sigh. The ship would be emptier. ‘But I suppose that is only natural. People need to move on with their lives.’ And with hindsight, she would miss Feldt the most. ‘I watched that girl grow up in front of me. Now she’s confident, has a boyfriend and hopefully a bright future after this.’ There was an empty feeling in her chest thinking of that. Her mother called it the empty nest after Sumeragi left for the school and the military. ‘Never expected to have that feeling so young.’ Yet she wanted Feldt, and Setsuna by extension, to find happiness. ‘But first, we have to win this fight.’

She readjusted herself on her captain’s chair, sitting up straight. ‘One more battle.’

Hanger of the Ptolemy

As the ship neared the combat zone, and the enemy fleet came on sensors, the pilots entered their gundams and machines, ready to go. Everyone either quietly reflected or talk among themselves. Allelujah was caught a little by surprise when he saw Soma appear on his screen, speaking to him in a calm voice, “Do you mind if I speak with Hallelujah?”

Allelujah tilted his head in confusion, not expecting her to start that interaction. He nodded, smiling slightly, “Sure. Give me a second.” He signaled to Hallelujah that Soma wanted to talk, letting him take over.

Hallelujah spoke in a snarky tone, “It’s funny to hear you want to talk to me and it isn’t yelling at me.”

Soma glared at him slightly, “I’m trying to be serious here. Can you listen to me for five minutes without the snark?”

He rolled his eyes, “Fine.”

Soma looked down for a second before refocusing on the male super soldier, “I just wanted to say I’m sorry for how I treated you. I thought you were some kind of monster, a thoughtless killer. It turns out there maybe something decent in you somewhere. And thank you for saving me from Andrei. He would have killed me otherwise. And as strange as it is to say, I consider you a friend.”

Hallelujah gave her a genuine smile, surprised by her tone, “It’s definitely strange to hear that coming from you, but I suppose you grew on me too. Granted it helped that you stopped yelling at me so much. And one friend would be nice that isn’t the softie I’m a part of.” His smile shifted to a smirk, “Though it is funny to see the ice queen defrost.”

Soma bristled at that, “I’m trying to be nice.”

Hallelujah raised his hands, sounding apologetic, “Yeah, yeah. I’m sorry. Just not used to people apologizing to me. Now let’s work together to save this world!”

Soma gave him a confident grin, “I can agree with that!” Marie and Allelujah smiled at the interaction, happy the two were truly getting along. Allelujah poked Hallelujah, signaling he was taking back over. Hallelujah allowed it, pouting slightly after having that moment with Soma.

Both Soma and Allelujah felt the Arios attaching to the rail of the catapult. Allelujah silently asked Soma if she was ready. She nodded. The gundam launched, joining the rest of them as they headed to the battlefield. It was time.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Battle Space

The four gundams flew from the Ptolemy, charging towards the enemy fleet and mobile suits, who were deploying out of the A-Laws ships in the dozens. Each of the gundams had received upgrades from the gear that was brought by the support ship, which had joined the Ptolemy for the upcoming battle. The Cheridum had received a shoulder mounted rifle, which synced up with his targeting system. The Arios had received a powerful blaster, closer in power to that of the Seravee’s. The 00 Raiser was equipped with a GN Blade attached to one hand, like the Exia did. Lastly, the Seravee was equipped with more bazookas and blaster, increasing its firepower.

Feldt began to count the enemies, wanting accurate information to send out to the meisters. As she saw more and more suits come out, she realized the true scale of the enemies. ’The A-Laws must be throwing everything they have at us.’ In a cool tone, she reported this to all the pilots, “I count around twenty enemy ships and over 100 enemy mobile suits. I don’t see any of the innovator suits.” Allelujah smiled at the comment. ‘Five years ago, we faced thirty suits and got overwhelmed. Now we face three times that and it’s in our favor.’

Lyle smirked as he replied, “Well that just means it’s even more of a shooting gallery.” Tieria rolled his eyes but didn’t fully disagree. Without the innovators supporting them, the A-Laws were not as much of a threat, despite their numbers. The five gundams charged into the fray, meeting the Aheads and GN-Xs.

The gundams began to cut through them like a knife through butter. Despite their superior numbers, the enemy suits were already outstripped by the power of the upgraded gundams. Long gone were the days when an Ahead could match one of the gundams. The Arios and Gun Archer maneuvered through formations, keeping them pinned down as they worked as a team, picking them off one by one. The Seravee sent blasts that destroyed several suits at once, scattering enemy squadrons. The Cheridum kept the enemy pinned through his two long range rifles, eliminating suit after suit. Setsuna carved through enemy after enemy, some suits even pulling out beam sabers to counter him, which all resulted in failure.

Setsuna saw an image appear on display from Feldt, showing three enemy ships charging towards the Ptolemy. ‘What are they doing? Are they going to ram the Ptolemy?’ He then heard Sumeragi come in, “Setsuna, take out the enemy ships with the Raiser sword!”

Setsuna responded aggressively, “Roger!”

Feldt, having heard Sumeragi, called out, “Activating the Raiser system!” Setsuna, seeing that the system was active, turned on trans-am. A large pink beam shot out of the sword as he held it aloft and as he brought it down to take out the ships, a GN-X tried to charge and destroy the 00 Raiser, failing as the beam came down and engulfed it. The beam then went through the other two ships, slicing them in half.

As Setsuna began to internally cheer at that, he noticed that a large amount of sickly green particles were coming out of the wrecks of the three ships, creating a large, concentrated field of it. He deactivated trans-am, and noticed his sensors were acting static-y. ‘Particle disruption?’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The ship entered the expanding field, the sensors becoming fuzzy. Mileina called out to bridge, “It looks like they have some sort of anti-particle field.”

Saji added onto her point, “Particle beam effectiveness diminished!”

Lasse spoke curiously, “Was it a trap?”

Sumeragi nodded, “We are just lucky this wasn’t at point blank range.” ‘Damn. I should have expected they had a trick up their sleeves.’ She looked at Lasse, “Get us out of this field!” Lasse began to turn the ship to get out of the field, hoping the gundams could hold off the enemy suits long enough.

With the Gundams

The pilots caught all of the info from the bridge. They did not have long to process it though, as they all saw a second wave of enemy mobile suits incoming. The gundams switched to missiles and began to fire into the horde of enemy suits approaching them, hoping it would be enough. They were on the backfoot now, but they couldn’t let the enemy get to the Ptolemy. The missiles impacted the enemy, causing noticeably less impact on the A-Laws than the previous wave. Setsuna did his best to get as many suits as possible, but there were enough enemies that between him and the rest of the gundams, they couldn’t destroy the enemy fast enough.

It also didn’t help that the enemy came with missile launchers, which gave them the advantage in this field. They A-Laws began to score hits against the gundams, pinning them down. Tieria activated his GN barrier, but a missile passed right through it, knocking him back. Tieria grunted in pain at the impact. ‘We have to do something!’ He was caught by surprise as a lance in front of his cockpit, ready to strike down at him. Before he could react, an armour bit from the cheridum blocked the blow, a missile destroying the suit that was just on top of the Seravee. He looked over at the Cheridum in appreciation.

What caught all of the gundam meister’s attention was the enemies advancing on the Ptolemy. They tried to turn and engage them, but another barrage of missiles interrupted them, keeping them pinned in place. Feldt looked at the event worryingly, memories of what happened to the old Ptolemy flashing through her mind. She spoke to Setsuna, desperation in her voice, “Setsuna! We have to help the ship!”

The 00 dodged another barrage of missiles, slicing through another suit. Setsuna gave her a determined look, “I’ll try my best!”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Missiles began to fly out of the Ptolemy, attempting to intercept the enemy before they could do too much damage. The enemy dodged much of the fire, the missiles they had going through the barrier and impacting the port side of the ship. Damage reports began to appear on the displays, Mileina calling them out in a worried tone. It was nothing severe, but it was only a matter of time before the numbers weighed against them. Sumeragi looked at the displays, seeing the gundams struggling against the enemy. ‘Just a little longer.’

She knew she had to remain calm. Despite the chaos of the battle, she had to keep morale up and not show weakness. More missile impacts hit the ship, rocking the bridge. Lasse yelled out in frustration, “Are they going to bully us to death!?”

Just then, two mobile suits with a large missile launcher came careening in front of the bridge, missile pod opening to reveal three remaining missiles. Everyone looked to Sumeragi, who was keeping her cool, despite all that had been thrown at them. Sumeragi glared at the suits. ‘We did not come all this way to lose now!’

To the two suits short lived surprise, shells began to impact them, destroying their missile launcher along with the suits. Sumeragi smirked confidently, “I was wondering when they would show up.” Saji, Mileina and Lasse looked at her shocked and then they looked at the display on the front window of the bridge. On the display was several Katharon ships with a large number of mobile suits.

Saji’s tone was relieved, then curious, “Thank god! It’s Katharon! And are they using projectile weapons? That means…”

Mileina finished his thought, pumping her fist in the air, “That they can shoot through the field!”

With the Gundams

The gundams could feel the balance of power suddenly shift when A-Laws mobile suits began to explode or pull back from their attacks. They all noticed the appearance of the Katharon mobile suits, freeing them from the pressure they were under. Lyle called out casually, “It’s about time you guys showed up!” As the older mobile suits moved in the field and engaging the steadily decreasing enemies, they all saw the order to advance on the enemy fleet appear on their display. The gundams happily complied with that, seeing the Ptolemy following them as they closed in on the end of the field.

As they cleared the field, they were caught by surprise at the appearance of another force engaging the A-Laws. It appeared to be made up of regular forces suits along with a large, heavily-armed, rectangular capital ship. Allelujah looked at the scene in confusion. ‘Is there another coup? Did the Federation betray the A-Laws?’ He heard Hallelujah speak in a calmer tone, “Let’s not look a gift horse in the mouth. Let’s destroy the A-Laws!” Allelujah nodded, agreeing completely, moving with the rest of the Gundams to defeat what remained of the A-Laws. The sooner they dealt with them, the sooner they could reclaim Veda.

Setsuna pressed the attack, the 00 Raiser activating the Raiser sword, firing it out of the blaster attached to the sword, decimating the central ship in a formation of five. He and the rest of the gundams then charged into the fray, the A-Laws fleet in complete disarray. Between the gundams and the Ptolemy, the regular forces faction and the Katharon forces following behind the Ptolemy, the A-Laws were being grinded down at a steady rate. However, they still presented a decent threat, so the fighting was still intense. Casualties began to mount on the Katharon and Regular forces mobile suits.

The gundams did their part, eliminating several capital ships along with many mobile suits. What caught them by surprise was a communication they received from an unknown voice. The female voice spoke to them in an even tone, “Go defend your mothership. I repeat, all gundams defend your mothership.”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Sumeragi smiled at hearing the voice, “It’s Kati.” Just then a communications screen appeared, showing the brown-haired former Colonel of the A-Laws.

Kati spoke in a professional and proud tone, “I knew it was you Kujo.” The rest of the bridge crew looked on in confusion, curious how their tactical forecaster knew this woman.

Sumeragi looked at her with curiosity, “Why are you doing this?”

Kati narrowed her eyes, “We aren’t doing this for you. We are only using you to defeat and punish the A-Laws. Rest assured, once this battle is over, you will have to answer for all of your crimes.”

Sumeragi looked down sadly. ‘Kati.’ She then heard a beep from her console as a private message appeared, which read, “I will talk to you in private. It is good to see you.’ Sumeragi smiled slightly before going back to a neutral face. She heard Feldt’s voice come over the bridge comms, “All units take evasive action! There is an attack coming!”

The crew on the bridge saw an orange beam of energy shoot out from nowhere, expanding as it got closer to the battlefield, engulfing whatever was in its path. A-Laws, Katharon and regular forces alike were swallowed up in the blast. The A-Laws ships twisted and melted as the beam hit them, causing them to explode. Mobile suits were swallowed by the energy, instantly destroyed. The beam then moved to the right, catching more combatants, nearly catching a few of the gundams in the blast radius. The Ptolemy was forced to veer to the left to get out of the way of the beam.

The beam then dissipated, leaving only destruction is its wake. The bridge crew looked on in horror at the scene left by the weapon. Hunks of metal that used to be ships and mobile suits floated in space, no longer recognizable. The only way you could tell was by the color the metal was and that wasn’t reliable.

Sumeragi yelled out in a commanding tone, “Damage report!”

Mileina spoke first, her voice subdued, “We took minor damage on the starboard side.”

Saji went after her, sounding numb, “One Katharon transport and twenty of their mobile suits were destroyed. Twelve regular suits destroyed. And it looks like the A-Laws fleet is beginning to withdraw.”

Taking a second to take stock of the situation, Sumeragi realized they were lucky to avoid that damage. ‘It could have been worse. All of the gundams are intact and the A-Laws are clearing out. We’ll leave them to Kati and Katharon.’ Her thoughts were interrupted by Lasse speaking out loud with a confused tone, “Huh, what the heck is that?”

Sumeragi looked at him curiously, “What?”

“I’ll bring it up on the viewscreen.” As the view screen popped up, they saw what looked to be some form of static slowly begin expanding. As it opened up, what they saw was not some sort of static. It was a large concave asteroid covered in small bowl like shapes that had several yellow extrusions coming out of them. The key feature that appeared was what looked to be a large ring that went around a circular yellow dome, a large gun positioned on the ring. Coming out of the concave part was several large yellow extrusions that looked to be some sort of power sources. Sumeragi looked at this grimly. ‘This must be Veda.’ She could see the gundams were all beginning to congregate around the Ptolemy. ‘It’s time.’

Taking a deep breath, she started an open audio channel. She spoke confidently and coolly, “Attention to all ships. We members of Celestial Being are going to break into the enemy’s mothership. We plan to recover the quantum processing system, Veda, which lies somewhere within the ship. I want to thank all of you that have assisted in our struggle and pay my respects to all who gave their lives in this battle.”

Closing the channel, she kept her eyes on the mothership, “Lasse, set a course for the enemy ship.”

Lasse nodded eagerly, “Roger. Setting a course.” The Ptolemy and the support science ship moved rapidly towards the asteroid, gundams moving ahead. Sumeragi took another deep breath. ‘There is no turning back now.’

With the Gundams

The gundam meisters all heard the voice of their tactical forecaster in their cockpits, her tone decisive, “Everyone, let’s get going. To atone for us changing the world, we need to redeem ourselves. Let us free the world from the innovator’s grip and change the world again! For the future!” The pilots saw the Ptolemy put on its GN field and Sumeragi continued, “Commencing mission!”

As the ship and the gundams approached the asteroid, they were met with a hail of lasers coming from the surface of the asteroid. Dodging out of the way, the pilots heard Sumergai’s orders, “The ship will try to find a break in point. The gundams will destroy the turrets and secure the route in once we’ve found it.” They all responded with a yes, dodging a hail of fire as they approached the surface of the innovator base.

The Cheridum and Seravee took long distance shots, using the distance from the station to reduce the chance of getting hit. The Arios, Gun Archer and 00 Raiser got closer, picking off turrets as they saw them. Between the four gundams, they steadily began to dwindle down the amount of defense turrets. Despite the fact they were progressing against the turrets, it felt to the meisters that there was an endless amount of them. For every one they destroyed, it seemed another would just pop up and keep firing at them.

On the Ptolemy

While the gundams were dealing with the turrets, the large gun on the base turned to face the Ptolemy. Saji called out to the tactical forecaster with worry in his voice, “That large gun is aiming right at us!”

Sumeragi nodded and looked to Lasse, “Lasse, evade!” The ship banked hard to starboard, barely evading the blasts. With that dodged, Saji went back to focusing on looking for a way into the base, keeping an eye on the gun for it firing again. Mileina kept watch on the gundams, seeing that they were having a significant effect on the defenses of the base. She spoke happily, “57% of the turrets defenses have been destroyed!”

Sumeragi kept a cool look. ‘We don’t know what tricks they have up their sleeves. They also haven’t sent out any of their mobile suits or that mobile armor. We have to be careful.’

With the Gundams

As the gundams were continuing their job, Feldt saw a hit on her sensors. She saw a large wave of mobile suits that looked similar to the other innovator mobile suits they had fought against. Hundreds of them began to pour out of the base, filling up the space around the asteroid, opening fire wildly at the ship. She opened up communications to Setsuna, sounding worried, “Setsuna, they have new models! Hundreds of them!”

“Where did they…” Setsuna turned the 00 to face the oncoming mobile suits, seeing a veritable horde of them, stopping his sentence short. Suddenly they all began to glow red and charged at the Ptolemy, taking no heed to their safety. The members of Celestial Being looked on in horror. ‘The enemy has trans-am!’ The suits formed a steady stream of mobile suits, all rushing towards the Celestial Being ship. The gundams turned their attention away from the defense turrets, seeing they had weakened them enough that they weren’t as big a threat. All the gundams began to fire into the horde, Tieria finding the most success with his large blasts that could destroy scores of enemies all at the same time. The Ptolemy even turned its weapons to engage the horde of enemies, ignoring the base. Yet despite this, the suits began to steadily progress closer and closer to the ship. The gundam pilots all realized what these suits were. ‘They were suicide weapons!’

Mobile suits began to push through the GN field, some of them even exploding in the process. They began to impact the side of the ship, not punching through the hull immediately, but the armor was starting to buckle. Setsuna looked desperately at the situation, watching helplessly as the support vessel became overwhelmed by the enemy forces, exploding as the suicide units showed no inkling of stopping.

On the Ptolemy

The crew on the bridge could feel the impacts on the ship, the bridge steadily rocking due to so many impacting the hull. The gundams were doing their best, but they could not stem the tide of enemies. Mileina then called out desperately, adding to the bad news, “Another group of enemies on the port side!”

Visual sensors then showed a large horde of those same units hitting the port side of the ship, the outer hull of each side showing dull red across the board. The ship was forced to divert fire from the starboard to cover both, immediately increasing the number of suits getting in. Sumeragi grit her teeth. ‘There are so many! C’mon Saji, we need that entry point!’

They were caught by surprise when the enemy contacts on the sensors began to decrease. Looking at the viewscreen, the crew saw weapon fire coming from Katharon and the regular forces. Sumeragi let out a sigh of relief. She saw a communications open up, showing Kati, “What are you doing Kujo? Get moving!” The communication quickly dropped. Sumeragi smiled. ‘Thank you, Kati. Kathron.’

While Sumeragi had been focusing on the battle, Saji had been desperately trying to find an entrance. He knew they couldn’t hold out for long. Yet he still couldn’t find anything. ‘Damnit! Where could it be? Where would I put an entrance or hanger on an asteroid base?’ He thought about it and an idea came to mind. Scanning the concave part of the asteroid, he found what he was looking for. Just as the communication dropped, he spoke up, “I found it!” He put the information on display, which showed a three-level vertical hanger which looked large enough to be a warship dock.

Sumeragi yelled out a command, “Activate trans-am! We’ll smash our way in!” The ship glowed red, dashing off at incredible speed for a short burst in order to get away from the enemy suicide units. Successfully pulling away, she yelled out another order, “Concentrate GN field in front of the ship!”

The ship rammed its way into the middle docking bay, the landing being very rough on everyone on the bridge. Damage reports showed parts of the hull breaking from the impact, but there was only one way in if they were attacked by the enemy mobile suits. Mileina spoke evenly, “Ptolemy has landed!”

However, Mileina then noticed units began to approach the ship. However they were quickly destroyed, pink energy coming from above. Looking at it confused, she heard Lyle’s voice on the bridge, determination in his tone, “The Cheridum will defend the Ptolemy!” The visual sensors showed the Cheridum position itself at the entrance to the hanger, already opening fire at the oncoming enemy.

Saji looked at Sumeragi, “I’m scanning the interior of the base for Veda!”

Sumeragi nodded at him, “Good.” She then noticed Lasse began to stand up.

He looked at her, sounding determined, “I’m going to the 0 Gundam.” Sumeragi knew of his health problems, but right now Lyle would need help defending the ship. ‘Please make it out of this alive.’

Sumeragi nodded reluctantly, “Go ahead. But before you go, can you please get Anew and bring her to the bridge? I get the feeling we are going to be boarded.” She hoped it wouldn’t happen, but there was a chance the Automatons might be used to get into the ship and she wanted to keep her safe.

Lasse gave her a confident look, “Understood.”

With the Seravee

Seeing the ship disappear into the base, Tieria looked at the others, “Keep to the plan! Spread out and break into the enemy mothership!” The pilots all responded affirmative, and spread around the base, looking for a break-in point.

Tieria began to travel around the outside of the asteroid, trying to find an entrance. ‘There has to be one!’ While scanning the outside of the base, he saw information on the layout of the base appear on his display. The information showed several entrances the gundams could use. ‘Thank you Saji!’ He did not get much time to celebrate as the Garazzo and the Gadessa appeared behind him in a two-man formation.

Hilling spoke casually, “Here come the real stars of the show.”

Revive was more serious as he spoke, “This is as far as you are going to go.”

Tieira replied angrily, “Just try to stop me!” Both of the innovators, hearing the challenge in his voice, activated trans-am, flying past the Seravee. Tieria narrowed his eyes. ‘They moved fast to put that in their machines.’ Knowing he couldn’t hesitate, he followed them, activating trans-am himself. He opened fire, attempting to hit the Garazzo, but the machine easily rolled past the shots. The innovator suit then turned around and charged back at the Seravee, claws extended. As it got into melee range, it sliced off the right arm of the Seravee and kicked it back, knocking the machine off balance. This was quickly taken advantage of the Gadessa, who shot the remaining bazooka out of the other hand. It then closed into melee, grabbing the head of the Seravee with one hand while the other hand began to punch the cockpit.

Tieira could see sparks coming off of the console in the cockpit. ‘I need to get out of this now!’ Hoping they were unprepared, Tieria activated a beam saber on the remaining hand, forcing the Gadessa to let go of the grapple. More beam sabers came out as he charged the long-ranged machine, the Gadessa barely dodging some of the strikes coming at it. Revive pulled back from the Seravee, trying to get some distance between the two of them. Tieria tried to keep him off balance by firing his shoulder blaster at Revive, but the innovator dodged out of the way, aiming his own blaster at the Seravee.

Tieria tried to get out of the way of the large energy blast coming at him, but his left arm was caught in it, destroying it. The Garazzo moved in before the Seravee could recover, slicing off the remaining arm of the Seravee. Tieira floated in space as the Gadessa took another shot at the Seravee, Revive yelling, “Die now!” Tieria put up his GN field, hoping it would help. The impact didn’t get through the barrier, but it launched him into the surface of the innovator base, an indent of the path of the Seravee as is slid along the rock of the asteroid forming. The Gadessa and Garazzo looked at their handywork, seeing an explosion come from where the Seravee was. Hilling spoke in a satisfied tone, “One down, three to go!” The two suits headed out, leaving the Seravee where it was.

Tieria looked around the cockpit, seeing the suit wasn’t in great shape. Looking at the damage, he saw that the parts needed for the Seraphim were all intact. ‘That was lucky. I hope they don’t come back to investigate.’ He could feel dull pain from the impact, but otherwise felt alright. ‘Looks like I have to find an entrance on foot.’

With the Arios and Gun Archer

The Gun Archer reattached itself to the Arios as they began to look for another entrance to the base. They had received the information from Saji and were headed to the closest entrance. Allelujah had an even look as he spoke to Soma, “How is your power supply?”

Soma nodded at him, her focus on the search, “It’s good for now. Where are the innovators? I thought they would be out here.”

Allelujah shrugged his shoulders, “I’m not sure. What I’m worried about is that mobile armor. Andrei is a good pilot and it’s a large threat.”

Soma’s reply was interrupted by an orange energy beam coming shooting at them, bending to try to hit them. Allelujah dodged out of the way, seeing the black and red mobile armor approaching them. Both of the super soldiers had the same thought. ‘I guess he found us.’ Allelujah had a stern tone as he looked Soma in the eyes, “Soma remember to keep your cool and don’t let him get in your head. I have your back.”

Soma smiled slightly as he said that, “Don’t worry, I will. It’s going to take the both of us to defeat him, so don’t get hit.” He nodded at that and Soma separated herself from the Arios, both of the suits transforming into their mobile suit form. She smirked at Allelujah, “Let’s go.”

With the 00 Raiser

As the 00 Raiser progressed, Setsuna spotted a large hanger that went across the asteroid. ‘These must be where the suicide units came from.’ He pointed his blaster at the hangers, firing several times at them, blocking off several exits. ‘That should keep more from joining the battle.’ He was caught by surprise when Feldt appeared on his display, speaking evenly, “Setsuna, I spotted the Gadessa.” She put the image on his display, showing the machine moving past their location.

He gave her a smile, “Good work. Let’s go!” He moved to follow them, blasting at the machine when he got close enough.

Revive dodged out of the way, speaking confidently, “You are going to have to try harder than that!” The machine kept moving around the curve of the asteroid, dodging the attacks from the 00. Setsuna let out a grunt of frustration, knowing he had to save trans-am for a more dangerous fight.

As the two suits flew around a hill-like protrusion, they saw something that caught both of them by surprise. They saw the Garazzo with a red sword going through the cockpit, the Arche floating menacingly behind the machine, eyes glowing menacingly.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

With the 00

Seeing Hilling get destroyed, Revive yelled out, anger and betrayal inundating his voice, “Hilling!” The Gadessa aimed its blaster at the Arche, “You bastard! You’ll pay for that!” He fired the blaster, which Ali responded to by pulling his sword out of the disabled mobile suit, kicking it into the beam as he moved out of the way. The Gadessa continued to attack, more reckless than usual.

As the two suits fought, Setsuna looked at Ali with simmering anger. ‘Back to his old tricks. Betraying his master when it suits him.’ His hands gripped the controls as memories of Ali’s actions flowed through his mind. ‘No more. He needs to be destroyed.’ Feldt opened up communications, strangely feeling anger from Setsuna despite not seeing him. Her voice was firm, “Setsuna, we need to get in there. I’ll keep track of whatever one you aren’t fighting.”

Setsuna shook his head, focusing again, “Understood.” He charged into combat, prioritizing the Arche. Revive pulled back, looking at her odds. He knew both the suits outmatched his in melee combat and could dodge his attacks fairly well. ‘Discretion is the better part of valor.’ He knew Ribbons would be upset, but Revive knew it was better to be alive and have Ribbons mad at him then be dead. Only Feldt watched the machine escape, speaking to Setsuna in a frustrated tone, “The Gadessa got away!”

Setsuna responded in a strained voice, clashing blades with the Arche, “Let them go! Ali takes priority!”

She nodded at him, “Right!” She could sense his determination and conviction. ‘Why can I sense that?’

Ali grinned in his suit, happy for the rematch. Both suits pulled back from their clash and Ali called out in a happy tone, “Good to see you Krugis punk! I’ve wanted a rematch since you beat me last time!” Ali pointed his sword at the 00, “And now I have it!”

Setsuna narrowed his eyes, “This time you won’t escape! Not after all you’ve done!”

Ali viciously smiled, voice low, “Then by all means, try.” Both suits raised their blades, prepared for the final battle.

On the Regular Forces Ship

Louise looked out the window of her room, nervous energy radiating from her. Kati had kept her safe for the last couple months, and finally had told her they were heading into space to deal with the A-Laws.

She had seen the swarm of enemies swarming the Celestial Being ship then the one she was on and lucky for her, they had not hit where she was. Moving her focus away from the decreasing numbers of suicide ships, she looked in the distance to see flashes of energy blasts around the large asteroid.

Her heart clenched thinking that Saji was there. Watching the swarm of mobile suits charge the Ptolemy caused her to worry intensely, not knowing if Saji would make it out of there. Her worry had decreased when the ship had gotten away from the swarm, but it had not completely gone away.

She also had no idea what was going on in these fights. She could only see flashes of combat. ‘I hope the gundams are winning. Whoever controls this Veda thing needs to go.’ She quietly prayed, hoping Saji and Setsuna would stay safe. ‘I hope I can see both of them again.’

With the Arios and Gun Archer

The two gundams were forced to dodge another beam as the Regnant opened fire again, impacting the side of the asteroid. Soma returned fire, hitting the machine but barely scratching it. ‘Damnit! It looks like my blasters aren’t going to be effective.’ Andrei spoke in a cold, harsh voice, “I finally found you, traitor. If I can beat you in an Ahead, then there is no way you can stand up to me in this.” As he finished talking, the mobile armor began to shift and rotate, standing upright, revealing a head underneath a metallic hood. The electric wire launchers turned into arms almost as tall as the body, with the small wings forming a spike-like extrusion on the shoulders.

Soma and Allelujah looked on with shock, a similar thought going through both of their heads. ‘This thing is a mobile suit!’ Allelujah let out a quiet, “Shit.” He spoke to Soma, “Let’s go!”

She nodded at that, jumping into action. Soma charged the machine with a beam saber, but it was met by the gauntlet of the suit, sparks flying from the impact. She tried to push back against the machine but could barely get anywhere. ‘How powerful is this machine?’ The Gun Archer was then thrown back as the Regnant swung its arm. Soma cursed under her breath, knowing Andrei was not going to be easy to defeat.

As Andrei was distracted by Soma, Allelujah lined up a shot with his blaster, hitting the shoulder of the machine, knocking off the shoulder spike. Andrei looked at the Arios in annoyance, not expecting that an attack like that would have any effect on his machine. ‘I wanted to make her suffer, so the other gundam has to go.’ He rotated his right hand to face the Arios, launching the electric wire. Allelujah dodged out of the way, slicing the wires with beam saber, causing Andrei to swear in anger. Soma called out with a smirk on her face, “Not such an easy time? I thought we couldn’t beat you?”

Andrei let out a growl of frustration, “You want to see the full power of this suit? I’ll show you!” The red fingers launched off the hand, flying around the battlefield. They began to fire shots at the two gundams, forcing them to disengage from the Regnant. Soma and Allelujah began to fire at the fingers, hitting some of them, destroying them. Both of the super soldiers could feel their brainwaves functioning at full blast, them dodging blast after blast coming at them. Soma called out to Andrei again, “Oh now you need backup. Are you really that strong or are you just a coward?”

Andrei glared at her from his suit, his anger building. ‘I’m not weak. I will help lead humanity to the future!’ He launched the remaining electric wire at Soma, which she dodged. However she didn’t notice one of the fingers take aim at her from behind, shooting off one of her legs below the knee. She felt the impact in her cockpit, the Gun Archer getting pushed forward. She shot at the finger in retribution, destroying it. The Arios shot the Regnant with his blaster, but knowing it could actually do damage, Andrei put up the Regnant’s GN field, blocking the attack. Allelujah scowled in frustration. ‘We need to get inside that machine to do damage.’

Soma called out to Allelujah over private comms, “Let’s attack him together! You get one arm I get the other.”

Allelujah nodded, “Sounds good!” The Arios and Gun Archer dodged the shots coming from the remaining fingers, both armed with beam sabers. They each attacked one arm, trying to move the machine, to cut through the armor. But they found no luck, the armor completely holding the attack. The Regnant smacked both of them back. The two pulled back to regroup as Andrei called back the fingers seeing they were ineffective. The chest cavity of the Regnant opened, the large energy attack coming shooting out, nearly hitting the Arios before it bounced, catching the edge of one of the wings. Allelujah let out a breath he was holding, opening comms with Soma, “What do we do? We can’t overpower him?”

Soma simmered in frustration, “We can’t hurt him due to his armor and GN field. How do we get him?”

Allelujah looked at the Gun Archer worried, “I have no idea. How is your energy?”

They were forced to dodge another blast, luckily missing the two of them. Soma looked at her display, seeing her energy reserves running low, her voice full of frustration, “Well we better hurry then, I’m running low!”

With Tieria

Tieria made his way through the asteroid, gun raised, having found an entrance. It was eerie going through the hallways, which were well decorated and well lit. ‘This must have been a colony ship, judging by the size of the vessel.’ He was on edge due to the fact the hallways were empty and he couldn’t even hear the sounds of combat happening around the colony. He could see how this place would be comfortable and friendly if it was full of people.

He continued his journey, reaching the door that would lead into Veda. Opening the door, he floated into Veda’s core. The room was large, with several vertical displays showing code and information from Veda, with a large sphere contained in the ceiling, blue lights dotting it. ‘That must be Veda.’ Tieria also saw that he wasn’t alone in the room. Ribbons was looking up at Veda in a light green version of their old pilot suits.

The innovator turned to face Tieria, who aimed his gun at Ribbons, his eyes glowing gold and tone voice even, “Tieria Erde. Surely as an innovator yourself-“

“You’re wrong! We are not the real innovators. We were artificially created to bring about the emergence of innovators. We are innovades! I’m taking Veda back from you, Ribbons Almark!”

Ribbons just smirked, “And what if an innovade succeeded in evolving himself?”

Tiera was incredulous, “What?”

Ribbons tone was smug, “I have surpassed the innovades. I’m now a being greater than a purebred innovator.”

Tieria replied angrily, “That’s utter nonsense!” ‘This man is delusional!’. He tried to take a shot Ribbons, but was caught by surprise when he felt a bullet go through his torso, the purple-haired man’s face contorting in pain. Tieria began to float down to the floor of the room from the momentum of the shot. Ribbons looked at Tieria like he was a lesser being, smoking gun in his hand, “I told you, didn’t I? I am a being that has surpassed even the innovators.”

He took three more shots at Tieria, sending him flying to the floor, “I won’t return Veda, for I am the one that is destined to guide humanity!”

Tieria could feel his consciousness slipping with every shot. ‘I’m sorry everyone. I failed.’ His last thoughts faded as a bullet went through his helmet, hitting him right in the skull, leaving a large blood splatter on the floor, the glass on the helmet shattering.

Ribbons looked over his handywork with a smirk, “One less threat to deal with. Now either I deal with the purebred innovator or the foolish mercenary after they are done fighting.” He had sensed that Ali had betrayed him, killing Hilling. ‘He will pay. He’s not allowed to break my tools like that.’

With the Cheridum

Even with the 0 Gundam and shield bits assisting him, Lyle could feel the weight of the assault on the ship. The suits just kept on coming and coming. ‘Is there no end to them? At least the cramped space means trans-am isn’t as useful.’ But he couldn’t fail. The crew was counting on him. Saji, Mileina, Lasse, Sumeragi and Anew all needed him. ‘I’ll keep you safe Anew. I won’t let them get you!’

The enemy was beginning to get uncomfortably close to them and he could see that the 0 Gundam was running out of juice. He opened up comms with the bridge, “How’s it going out there?”

He heard Mileina reply desperately, “The other gundams are engaging the enemy and I can’t find the Seravee! Ms. Sumeragi left the bridge, but Anew is safe with us!” Lyle could hear Mileina was beginning to crack. ‘The situation doesn’t sound good. We are down one gundam and I have no idea who the others are fighting. I can’t even help them! If I abandon the ship, they all die!’ If he wasn’t here, the ship would have already been destroyed.

He sighed internally at knowing Anew was safe on the bridge. In a tone of attempted confidence, he tried to reassure the teenager, “We just need to hold on a little longer. Tieria is probably recapturing Veda as we speak!” He had no idea if this was true, but they needed to keep morale up.

Saji spoke up, speaking to Mileina, “He’s right. We just need to hold on a little longer. We will make it out of this alive! Feldt wouldn’t want you to give up!”

Mileina’s calmed down a little, still sounding shaky, “Ok. For Feldt and everyone!”

He winced seeing another shield bit get taken out by a suicide suit. He spoke quietly to himself, “C’mon guys, I’m running a bit low on those!”

With the 00

The 00 matched blades with the Arche, the power of both the suits creating a blinding amount of sparks. Setsuna grit his teeth, feeling the greater resistance from trying the Arche. ‘His suit got upgraded! They probably gave him tran-am!’ Setsuna attempted to kick the suit, but Ali saw through that and dodged out of the way, pulling back slightly. Ali spoke to Setsuna is a happy tone, “Nice try gundam! But this suit got touched up a bit. Now you and the rest of your little group will pay for the damage you did to me! Fangs fly!”

The drones flew out of the suit, firing at the 00 while they maneuvered around the battle space. Setsuna spoke to Feldt, “Use the wing blasters on the drones! I’ll focus on the rest!” Feldt nodded at him and as he began to dodge the blasts coming at him, she took aim and began taking shots at the drones. However, she found their speed hard to keep up with, especially with the constant motion of the 00. But sometimes she had a flash in her mind and could feel like she knew where they were going. ‘How can I do this?’ She shook off the thought. She could wonder after this was all done. For now, she had to keep the drones off of their backs.

Ali swore in frustration at seeing the ineffectiveness of the drones. The 00 weaved between the fire, getting no worse than glancing hits. ‘They failed me again! How can he dodge so well?!’ He snarled at Setsuna, “Stay still and die!” Setsuna looked at the Arche gundam, sensing waves of frustration coming off of him. With the help of Feldt, he destroyed the remaining drones. ‘If I could dodge you before while injured and not aware of my powers, then you stand no chance now.’ A brief thought of vengeance passed through his mind, but he pushed that back. This was not about him. This was about removing a mad dog from this world. He steeled himself and charged back into melee, meeting the Arche’s sword with his own blade. Ali yelled out in a vicious tone, “I should have killed you when you were a child! Especially since you act like you are a saint!”

Feldt called out angrily to the mercenary as the two suits pushed against each other, “You were the one that ruined his life! He wouldn’t be this way if it wasn’t for you!”

Ali grit his teeth, “Well it looks like there is a Mrs. Krugis punk! Did you think that bringing backup would help?! Well it won’t!” He kicked the 00 back, nearly hitting the 00 Raiser with the feet blades. ‘It’s time for my secret weapon.’ He grinned as he looked at the 00, “Time to show you the full strength of this suit!” The suit began to grow bright red, charging the 00 with all his beam sabers extended. Setsuna had little time to react, immediately finding himself on the backfoot, one of them clipping the end of one of the wings. Ali scowled, not expecting him to dodge that as well. Setsuna activated trans-am, teleporting out of the way of a slash from the main sword. Ali looked around, feeling uncomfortable with the particles saturating the area around them. ‘It’s that disgusting feeling again.’

Setsuna teleported in behind him, cutting off the left arm of the Arche. Ali swung the main blade around to slash where the 00 was, but all he got was the ghost of the 00 Raiser, particles dispersing as the sword went through. Setusna then came from below, slicing the legs off of the machine, causing a small explosion and Ali’s console began to spark in the cockpit. ‘How can I be losing!? This suit was unstoppable before! This was only the Krugis punk!’

As Setsuna was fighting, Feldt felt very strange. She could hear voices in her head, emotions in her mind. She winced, trying to make sense of the whirlwind of thoughts and feelings rushing through her. ‘What is going on? Why can I feel this?’ A sense of worry washed over her. ‘Am I changing too? Am I becoming like Setsuna?’ It was all so new to her and she didn’t know what to make of it. With great effort, she kept her mind focused on Ali, pushing the new sensations she was feeling away as best she could. ‘Now is not the time to be distracted!’

Setsuna teleported one last time to the right side of the Arche, cutting off the right arm of the machine, leaving the machine helpless. He then shifted the blade into blaster mode, aiming it right at the cockpit. He took a deep breath, readying himself to shoot. Feldt spoke to him, feeling Setsuna’s satisfaction at besting Ali.

Ali raged in his cockpit, angrily smacking the side of the cockpit as he was being taken apart. ‘I have to get out of here! I will come back stronger and make sure Ribbons and this punk pay! Ribbons said this suit could beat the punk!’ When he activated the escape mechanism, a video appeared on his cockpit display, showing Ribbons sitting on a couch. The innovade began smirking, “This is a pre-recorded message, as I don’t have the time to talk directly. I know you betrayed me by letting that rat give the info on the Memento Mori. I know you don’t trust me and will probably betray me if I get attacked. So I disabled your escape pod. No more holes to run to.” The video ended, leaving him looking at the glowing end of Setsuna’s blaster. He yelled like a wild animal as Setsuna shot into the cockpit, the pink energy disintegrating the core of the machine, finally killing the mercenary for good.

Setsuna looked at the particles that used to be Ali al Saachez. For so long the man had haunted his past, yet with his death, he felt nothing personal. There was satisfaction, but not because personal revenge or justice. This man was a threat to the world, to everyday people. With him gone, the world was that much safer.

As he drifted away from the exploding machine, Setsuna was assaulted by the thoughts of his comrades. He could feel Allelujah and Soma frustration at being unable to defeat the Regnant. He could sense Lyle’s desperate struggle to keep the ship and Anew safe. Mileina’s desperation and worry over Sumeragi and Saji trying to keep morale up. Lasse thinking his time was up as the 0 Gundam ran out of energy. Sumeragi’s determination to protect the crew. Saji’s newfound focus on making it out of this alive. Stranglely, he couldn’t sense Tieria.

His eyes began to glow bright gold and the scanner went over his eyes, a message showing trans-am burst appearing on the display. Feldt looked at the display, confused. ‘Trans-am burst?’ Waves of GN particles radiated at a much faster and greater scale than before, covering the entire battlefield in brightly colored particles. A sense of peace washed over Feldt, realizing this was radiating from Setsuna. Her mind was filled with awe. ‘This is what is inside Setsuna, who he truly is.’

She opened her communications and saw Setsuna with bright golden eyes. She continued looking at him in awe, “Setsuna… I can feel you.” She teared up a little, “This is your soul! Is this because of what you told me about?”

He smiled at her, seeing her eyes glowing a dull gold, “Yes it is. And I’m not the only one who has changed…”

Feldt looked at him, the realization hitting her, “Am I becoming like you? What does that mean?”

He sent her a feeling of comfort, like wrapping her in a blanket, “I am not completely sure myself. But we will figure this out together. I will not let you suffer through that change alone. I will always be there with you.”

Feldt could feel tears streaming down her face, love and devotion flowing through their bond between the two of them, “And you won’t be alone either.”

With Louise

Louise saw the wave of GN particles rushing towards the regular forces ship. She put up her hands and closed her eyes, not knowing what this was or what it would do. But after a few second passed, she slowly opened one eye, not seeing or feeling anything happening. GN particles floated around the room, leaving her feeling at ease and a vague sense of familiarity.

But the strangest thing was the constant dull pain she was always in disappeared, her body feeling better than she had felt in a long time. ‘What is this? Are these particles making me feel better?’ If they were, she wasn’t complaining.

She suddenly heard Saji’s voice in her mind. “Louise? Is that you?”

Confused, she replied, “Saji? Why can I hear you in my mind? What is going on?”

There was relief in Saji response, “I’m so happy I can talk to you! But where are you?”

Louise’s nerves began acting up at talking with Saji after so long, “I’m…I’m with the regular forces. I’m on their ship. I wanted to find you. I learned you were with Celestial Being and I wanted to see you so badly!”

Saji choked up at little, “I’m sorry it took so long to see you. I’m just so happy you are ok!”

Louise began to cry, “I got your letter. I missed you so much and the letter reminded me of that. I’m so sorry you had to go through all that you did.” Her tone picked up a hint of worry, “Have you been safe with Setsuna? With Celestial Being?”

Saji chuckled at that, “Without Setsuna, I would have been dead. I owe my survival to him, even if I wasn’t fair to him at first. You wouldn’t believe how much he changed! He more friendly and even has a girlfriend.”

Louise was taken aback by that information. A girlfriend? She had noticed he seemed more friendly when they met, but a girlfriend? Her tone became more lighthearted, “You’ll have to tell me all about it when I see you.” She paused for a second, then continued, “I want to hear everything. I also want to see this change you went through. You said you would get better for me. Just stay alive and we’ll be together again.”

Saji sounded like he was trying to hold back tears, “I’ll tell you everything, though it might be a long story. And you stay alive too! I want us to have a real second chance.” Louise smiled at that. She could feel that he meant that, that something had changed about him. ‘I want to see that change!’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Anew slowly and groggily opened her eyes, taking in her surroundings. She could clearly tell she was on the bridge, seeing Saji and Mileina in their usual positions. ‘What is going on?’ She looked down to see she was in a medical scrub. ‘Why am I wearing this?’ Her mind was abuzz with activity. She could see GN particles floating around the bridge, seemingly doing nothing. Yet she felt a strange connection to them. It was like connecting to Veda, but different. It felt less powerful, but more organic. Warmer than when Revive or Ribbons connected to her. ‘These particles definitely have a quantum connection, but where is it coming from? It feels like when the 00 disabled my…’

Her mind immediately thought of Lyle. She looked around and saw the Cheridum on display shooting at the suicide ships. Her heart clenched, seeing him slowly losing ground. ‘Lyle, I’m so sorry!’ Mileina heard movement from the auxiliary chair that Anew was sitting in, looking over to see the purple-haired woman looked around, focusing on the display showing the Cheridum. Her voice was nervous, remembering the hostage situation, “Ms. Returner? Are you… normal?”

Anew turned to face the girl, guilt flooding through her, “Yes… it is me. At least I think I am.” Tears threatened to spill from her eyes, “I’m so sorry I held you hostage. I didn’t want to, but…”

“It’s alright!” Mileina chirped, interrupting her, her body tense, “We can talk later! Right now, we are in danger. We found the enemy base and the gundams are trying to capture Veda. The Cheridum is holding against a wave of suicide ships.” Anew could detect the worry in her tone. ‘They found Veda? Does that mean they can free me from Ribbons’s control?’ If they could do that, then she didn’t have to worry about the tyrant taking control of her. ‘I don’t have to betray my friends. I don’t have to betray Lyle!’

Anew replied in a serious tone, “Where is Sumeragi? Lasse?”

The worry in Mileina’s tone increased, “Ms. Sumeragi went out in the hallway to hold off automatons that boarded the ship. Lasse is in the 0 Gundam, though he ran out of power.” Anew could easily tell the situation wasn’t good. ‘Of course I had to wake up in the worst time possible. Lyle would probably make a joke about…’

It now hit her that Lyle didn’t know she had woken up. Looking at the console in front of her, she opened an audio link. She yearned to see his face, but right now she wanted to distract him as little as possible. She tried to control her emotions, but some desperation leaked into her voice, “Lyle, it’s Anew! I’m awake and safe. Just keep holding the line! I believe in you!”

His response was full of disbelief, “Anew! You’re awake?!” His worry about her dissipated, happiness flowing through him. ‘I don’t know how, but she’s awake! She’s back!’ The GN particles floated all around him, going unnoticed by him. He spoke in a yearning tone, “I’m not dreaming, right? You are back?”

Anew rolled her eyes, “Yes, I’m back! And keep your ass alive so you can see me again!”

Lyle smirked at that, happy to hear her sarcastic tone, “Yes ma’am!” He looked over at haro, “Ready buddy?”

The orange robot looked at him with a blank look, flapping its wings, “Ready when you are! Ready when you are!” Lyle activated trans-am, the Cheridum glowing red. Anew could see from her spot that Lyle began to push the small horde of suits further and further back between his own weapons and the shield bits. She looked at him in pride. ‘That’s my boyfriend!’

With the Arios and Gun Archer

As the two suits dodged attacks from the Regnant and its fingers, the wave of particles rushed over the three combatants. Both Soma and Allelujah immediately felt the rushing quantum particles, their reflexes increased. Allelujah immediately heard Hallelujah speak to him, sounding like he was holding back his excitement, “Let me take control! I have an idea!”

He was wary at the excitement in Hallelujah’s tone, mainly hearing that tone when the crazy personality wanted blood, but replied cautiously, “Alright. Just don’t get us killed.” He couldn’t think of anything, so maybe Hallelujah had an actual idea.

Hallelujah smiled viciously as he took control. He called out to Soma, “Follow me! I know how we can beat him!”

Soma recognized the change in tone and voice, sensing that the other personality had taken over. She spoke evenly, holding back the same wariness as well as lingering anger at hearing that tone, “What do I need to do?”

He nodded at the white-haired woman, “Just keep your beam saber ready and stay close. And act when I say.” The Arios charged towards the Regnant, activating trans-am, Soma then pushing her machine to try to keep up. Andrei looked at the charging suits, not worried. ‘If they couldn’t hurt me then, they can’t hurt me now.’ While he was angry, the short break in intense combat had calmed him slightly.

What caught him by surprise was when the Arios flew directly in front of his right claw, putting it in melee reach of the mobile armor. Andrei swiped at him, but the Arios easily dodged out of the way. ‘They are more stupid than I thought.’ Soma looked at him worried, curious and worried what he was doing. Despite his attitude, Soma had come to see Hallelujah as a friend. And here he was doing something as suicidal looking as this.

Hallelujah yelled out to Andrei, “You may be able to block my attack at range, but not at this distance!” The barrel of his blaster glowed, energy building up. Soma’s eyes widened, realizing what he was doing. ‘No! The feedback will hit you!’ Unfortunately for her, she was too far away to stop him even as she was closing in. Andrei also realized what was going on but had no time to react as the beam came bursting out of the blaster right into the right palm of the Regnant, expanding as the trans-am powered beam carved through the arm, blowing it off up to the right shoulder.

Hallelujah braced for the backlash, knowing releasing that much energy at point blank range was going to hit him too. ‘I don’t think either Soma or Allelujah expected this.’ While this did sound stupid on paper, sometimes unexpected strategies can pay off. They were having trouble trying to damage it steadily, so they had to destroy it in one blow. And he had to deal with the consequences of his recent action. The pink energy came back to hit the Arios, destroying the blaster, blowing off the arms up the elbow and singeing the surface of the machine. He could feel the heat even on the inside of the cockpit as well as the concussive force of the exploding arm. As this was happening, he called out to Soma, “He’s defenseless! Get the cockpit!” He heard Allelujah call out to him in shock, “Why did you do that?”

Allelujah replied with a weak smirk, “It was the only way.”

Soma, caught by surprise, felt her soldier instincts take over, “Got it!” She roared at the A-Laws soldier as she charged into the core of the mobile armor, aiming for the cockpit, “This is your end!”

Andrei, caught by complete surprise by the two suits, did not have enough time to even bring up his other arm to defend himself. The beam saber stabbed into the cockpit, intense heat radiating off of it as it melted the armor protecting him. Andrei’s last thought flowed through his mind. ‘It can’t end this way! I was supposed to…’ The thought was forever ended by the weapon going through wall of the cockpit, piercing right through Andrei, who slumped and began to burn as the beam saber was pulled out of the Regnant.

Soma began to see explosion perforate the mobile armor and quickly grabbed the Arios, pulling it out of the blast zone as the particles the covered the battlefield disappeared. She watched the Regnant explode into a large cloud of red particles, the realization that the man who had haunted her nightmares, who had caused her so much pain, was gone. Four months ago, she would be grinning viciously at this, but now, she didn’t know how to feel. Andrei was gone, but he was no longer the demon in her head. He was just another threat they had dealt with. And even more, Hallelujah, her most hated enemy five years ago, had risked his life to give her the opportunity. ‘Wait, Hallelujah!’

Her worry spiked at seeing the damage the Arios had taken. ‘That bastard! That idiot!’ Tears began to flow as she remembered the same thing happening five years ago. She yelled at Hallelujah angrily, tears streaking down her face. “You can’t do that to me! I will not go through this again!”

She ripped open the hatch to the cockpit, showing Hallelujah with his eyes closed, some of the displays melted. She opened up her own hatch, making sure the Gun Archer kept a grip on the Arios. She entered the cockpit of the Arios, her visor fogging up from the tears. Just as she got close, she saw Hallelujah give her a lazy grin and speak to her in a weak voice, “About time.”

She grabbed him by the front of his pilot suit, worry and anger intertwining, “You do something that stupid and then say something like that! You can’t scare me like that!”

He laughed, then winced in pain after a second of laughing, “What else would I say? I’m sorry?”

“Yes! Or not do something that stupid!“ Her tears intensified. She didn’t know when, but this idiot had become way more important than she even wanted to admit. She wanted to pull him close, but she also wanted to smack him at the same time.

“While I would love to look at that pretty face of yours, I think I need some medical help. You can hit me after I get better.”

Soma blushed, letting him go as the tears stopped flowing and anger went away, “I’ll hold you to that.”

In Veda

Ribbons felt the headache subside as the GN particles dispersed, “All those GN particles disrupted my quantum brainwaves!”

He heard Regene’s voice echo in his mind, “I was waiting for this moment.”

Ribbons looked around confused, “Regene?” The displays all around him turned from green to red as he was forcibly disconnected from Veda. He clenched his fists in rage. ‘What is going on?! I’m the master here!’ “Did Veda just reject my link? Does this mean-“

Regene’s voice once again popped up in his head, “Ribbons, we are not going to just let you do what you want. Isn’t that right Tieria?” Ribbons looked down at the corpse of the gundam meister, whose eyes began to glow gold. ‘What is going on?! Was all this because of those particles?!’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Mileina saw the Seraphim appear on her sensors. ‘Mr. Erde is alive!’ The suicide suits charging the ship then all began to shut down, floating in place where they were. Mileina called out happily to the crew on the bridge and to Lyle, “The Seraphim has activated the Trial field! All Veda connected machines have been disabled!”

Saji craned his head towards Mileina, “Does that mean we recaptured Veda?” Mileina nodded, pumping an arm in the air. Anew let out a sigh of relief. ‘Ribbons will no longer control me anymore. I am free!’ Right now she just wanted to kiss Lyle, to celebrate her newfound freedom.

Saji could feel the happiness in the room. While he certainly didn’t have the dedication the others did, they had achieved their objective, leaving him a feeling of satisfaction, though there was a seed of doubt in the back of his mind. ‘It’s all over, right?’

With Feldt and Setsuna

Feldt and Setsuna made their way through the base after finding a mobile suit hanger, leaving haro behind to watch the suit. Following the floor plan to Veda’s core, they opened the door, their guns raised. Both of them scanned the room, seeing the large sphere at the top of the room. Feldt spoke breathlessly, “Is that Veda’s core?” The sheer scale of the power that Veda possessed hit her. It was one thing to interact with it, but another to see it in person. ‘Aeolia really was planning for long into the future if he made it this powerful.’

She then heard Setsuna call out in a worried voice, “Tieria!” She turned to see what Setsuna was looking at, which was Tieria’s body. She floated over as Setsuna examined Tieria. Setsuna looked for signs of life, but saw a bullet hole through the purple-haired man’s skull. ‘I’m sorry Tieria.’ He spoke quietly to himself, “I’ll avenge you.” Feldt floated up behind him, gasping at Tieria’s fate. ‘Not Tieria!’

Tieria’s voice rang out in the room, echoing everywhere, causing Setsuna and Feldt to scan where it came from, eyes wide, “I’d rather you not be so quick to write me off.”

Both of the 00 Raiser pilots called out, “Tieria, where are you?”

“Right now, my consciousness is linked with Veda.” Both of the pilots looked up in awe at the core of Veda, Tieria continuing, “I’m sure glad I was an innovade, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to save you. And by linking with Veda, I was able to learn many things.”

Feldt chimed in, curious, “Like what?” ‘What information was being kept hidden from us for so long?’

Tieria replied evenly, “I’ll start with the Aeolia plan.”

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Space around the Asteroid

The 00 flew out of the hanger it was in, course set to head to the Ptolemy. As it passed by a large hill, the Seraphim loomed in the distance, keeping the Veda machines shut down. Feldt’s face popped up on Setsuna’s display, sounding curious, “So that was the plan then? We helped unify the world to keep us from spreading war and violence into the stars?” Tieira had explained everything he knew about the plan to them, including the role of the innovades.

Setsuna nodded, frowning slightly, “Yes. And we were still expendable in that plan, in the worst case.” He understood the logic of it, but it still bothered him that Aeolia had considered that an acceptable sacrifice. ‘All those people would have died for a potential failed solution. Like what almost happened with us.’

Feldt gave him an understanding look, “It bothers me too. But he was the one who started it, he would have to think about things long term. I don’t know if I could have. But where do we fit in? What is our role with our new powers? He never mentioned it.“

Setsuna gave her a small smile, always finding it inspiring how empathetic she could be. He responded pensively, “Maybe we could-“

He was interrupted by an orange blast going through the Seraphim, blowing apart the machine. Setsuna and Feldt looked at the wreckage, shocked. Feldt looked around, searching for the origin of the blast. ‘How could any innovade suit operate? The trial field is up!’ She heard Setsuna call out, “Ribbons Almark!” Using her sensors, she saw a large mobile suit sitting on the asteroid, one of the four barrels on its chest mounted blaster trailing particles. The large mobile suit was red with yellow and white highlights, its faceplate with one digital eye under a helmet gripped into the ground with two large claws.

Ribbons responded condescendingly, “Some gratitude is in order. If it weren’t for me, you two wouldn’t have the powers that you do. And one of you isn’t even fully awakened yet.”

Setsuna replied, anger seeping into his tone, “You saved me, guided me and now you are saying you are god?”

Ribbons smirked in his cockpit, “That is exactly what I’m saying.”

Feldt spoke out, her tone full of resolve, “Why do you want to rule humanity?”

“Because mankind will never be able to end its fighting and destroy itself. I will be its savior!” Both of them looked at the new suit, appalled. After all the crimes he committed, he thought that was peace?

Setsuna jumped in, anger building, “But you don’t want to work with humanity? Try to understand us?”

Ribbons rolled his eyes, “It’s like how humans watch over animals and use them for any purpose they see fit. And besides, if I can defeat two humans who have become pure-bred innovators, my worthiness will be undeniable!”

Setsuna scowled, Feldt feeling his frustration leaking into their link, “It’s your ego that has twisted this world! Whatever world you are trying to create, I will destroy it!”

Ribbons smirked as he launched off the asteroid, happy to show how outmatched Setsuna actually was, “A fine determination! Feel the wrath of the Reborns Cannon!”

Setsuna charged the machine, blade raised. ‘One more fight. One more and this is over!’

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Everyone but Marie, Billy, Allelujah and Lasse were on the bridge. Everyone was at a station, Anew back in the pilot seat with a space suit and uniform on. The exception was Lyle, who stood close to Anew and Billy, who felt out of place in this scenario. There was definitely an atmosphere of confusion, as the 00 had been heading to the ship before the Seraphim had been destroyed, but now wasn’t.

Saji was caught by surprise when he saw a notification on his console. Reading it, he knew he had to report it to Sumeragi. He called out to the tactical forecaster, “Ms. Sumeragi, I just got a message from Veda!”

Sumeragi looked at him in surprise, floating over to his station, “Veda?” ‘Why would Veda be contacting us? Is this Tieria?’

“It says a new machine unsupported by Veda is engaging the 00.”

Sumeragi replied, worried, “What kind of new machine?”

Their conversation was interrupted by Lasse barging into the bridge, “Get the Ptolemy moving!”

Everyone looked at him in shock and happiness. The tactical forecaster looked at him with wonder, “Lasse! You’re unharmed!” ‘I wasn’t sure how much longer he had, but he looks much healthier now.’

Lasse nodded at her, “Yeah, somehow.” ‘It must have been those waves, but what were they?’ He glared at Billy, not knowing who he was but suspecting he worked for Ribbons, but Sumeragi stepped closer to the man, silently asking her to trust him. Lasse sighed and headed to the gunner seat, “We’ll back Setsuna up.” He looked over at Anew, who seemed a bit awkward. Lasse gave her a nod, which she responded back with one of her own.

Sumeragi nodded at that idea and yelled out an order over the comms, “Ian, prepare to open fire!” Ian and Linda responded affirmatively. Lastly, she looked at Lyle, “I need you to launch and back up the 00. We know at least one enemy mobile was still out there.”

Lyle gave her a grin, “Roger that!” As he started to move, Anew looked at him, worried, “Please be careful.”

He looked at her with a soft smile, leaning over her, “Don’t worry. I’ll make it back. Wouldn’t want to worry a pretty lady.” Without thinking, she floated up slightly, giving him a peck on the lips, whispering, “For luck.” He looked at her surprised, blushing slightly. Realizing she did that in front of the crew without thinking, she turned and focused on her display, cheeks burning with embarrassment. Lyle then grinned and left the bridge, feeling ready for anything the innovators threw at him.

The rest of the crew looked at the interaction with a smile. While many of the crew were unsure about which side she stood on, that was a good sign it was on theirs. It was a small, happy moment in this rough day they had been having. Refocusing on the task, the ship launched from the hanger, the Cheridum speeding ahead of the ship.

With the 00

The 00 dodged the blasts that were coming in heavy at it. Setsuna was having a hard time getting closer to the Reborn, but so far it was unable to hit him. One thing that made him nervous was it had an attached blaster with the firepower of the Gadessa. He called out to Feldt, “How long till trans-am?”

She replied evenly, “Two minutes.” Setsuna swore under his breath. ‘Shit. Looks like I need to get close then.’ He saw out of the corner of his eye one of the claws launching at him, electric wires launching of the hand. Setsuna avoided the attack, slicing through the wires that were launched at the 00 Raiser. Keeping his momentum, he pushed forward, hoping this suit wasn’t very capable in melee combat.

As he reached the Reborn, he aimed for the chest, sword point like a lance. The machine then drew a beam saber with surprising speed, knocking the 00 into the asteroid below with a loud crash. Setsuna and Feldt looked up in confusion, their thoughts the same. ‘What kind of power does this suit have?’

This surprise was then compounded on when the Reborn began to shift, its various parts moving into a new place and a new head rising up as the old one lowered into the frame of the suit. Both of the 00 Raiser meisters looked in shock. Feldt spoke worryingly, “Is that…”

Her question was answered when the machine rotated to face them, looking like a gundam. Even more than that, it was obvious that the machine had two drives powering it. Setsuna let out the breath that he had been holding in. ‘Is that what he did with the data he stole? Make his own twin drive system suit?’

Ribbons spoke confidently, “I hope you weren’t expecting you were the only one with a twin drive system.” Ribbons watched as the 00 Raiser charged back towards him, smiling to himself, “This is the machine! The gundam that will guide humanity!” He met the 00 Raisers charge, the two clashing blades as Ribbons began to push back the 00 slightly. Setsuna grit his teeth as he felt the 00’s inability to push back against the Reborn. He broke the clash, getting some distance between them, trying to rethink his strategy.

The Reborn did not allow him to do that, firing at him with the back cannons, forcing Setsuna to focus on dodging the attacks. He spoke through gritted teeth to Feldt, “I need you to look for weaknesses. Anything we can use!”

Feldt nodded, her own frustration and anger at Ribbons beginning to grow, “Got it! Just keep us alive!”

Ribbons took advantage of their delayed action, firing his powerful blaster at the 00, catching its leg in the blast. Setsuna glared at the machine, but knew he was on the backfoot and needed to regroup. ‘I need some breathing room!’

Setsuna was forced to stay on the move as Ribbons fired the back cannons at the 00, getting uncomfortably close to hitting it. As the attacks continued, Ribbons called out to the 00 in a smug tone, “What? Can’t fight me up close?”

Feldt replied angrily, “You stay quiet!”

“Ah, Feldt Grace. It’s a shame you are going to die like your parents, fighting pointlessly and stupidly.” Anger flowed through her veins. ‘How dare you! They were heroes!’

“You do not insult their memory!” ‘How does he know my parents? Was he responsible for their deaths?’

Ribbons smirked, enjoying her frustration, “Well I would tell you what happened, but you won’t live long enough to learn.” She fired at him with the shoulder blasters as Setsuna charged the machine, Ribbons dodging easily, slicing off the tip of the right wing.

Feldt kept her focus on the innovade’s suit, gripping her controls tight. In Feldt’s anger and focus on Ribbons, she failed to notice a large orange blast coming to the side of them. Setsuna, sensing something coming, dodged just in time, calling out to Feldt, “Don’t let him get in your head! Stay calm and focused. Don’t let you anger control you.” She could hear that he was angry as well but was not blinded by it. She took a deep breath, refocusing herself. ‘He’s right. I can’t let him get to me!’ Looking at the sensors, she spotted a trail of GN particles approaching them.

In a more controlled tone, she reported to Setsuna, “It’s the Gadessa.” Setsuna scowled. ‘On top of our issues with Ribbons, we have to deal with another suit?’ Caught between the two suits, Setsuna was kept on the defensive, dodging blast after blast that came their way. He desperately wanted to strike against the two suits, but when he tried to advance on one, the other would force him to peel away from that attack.

He was curious when he saw an armor bit blocked one of the attacks from the Gadessa, getting destroyed in the process. The 00 Raiser’s sensors showed the Cheridum approaching them, opening fire on the Gadessa. Lyle opened communications with the 00 and 0 Raiser, casually smiling, “You handle Ribbons. I’ll handle the Gadessa!” Both the pilots nodded at him, ending the communication.

Setsuna gave Feldt a determined look, “Let’s end this!” Feldt nodded, matching his expression.

With the Cheridum

The Cheridum and the Gadessa traded fire, Lyle noticing the innovade was less accurate without Veda support. He smirked. ‘Looks like they aren’t as good as they say they are.’ Revive’s frustration was mounting, seeing the gundam dodge all of his attacks. He called out to the Cheridum, frustration apparent, “I see my twin is alive! Don’t worry about her! After I’m done with you, she won’t remember a single thing about any of you!” Lyle grit his teeth but kept calm. ‘They are only desperate. They want you off balance so they can win.’

He responded casually, “Well based on your aim, it looks like you innovades aren’t exactly as good as you say you are!” Revive growled at that, aiming his wrist blaster at the Cheridum, destroying the sniper rifle. Lyle pulled back, firing at the Gadessa, but found himself unable to hit the agile mobile suit. Lyle drew out his pistols, keeping up fire as the two maintained their dogfight away from the other fight, pink and orange blasts traveling through space.

It changed a little when the Cheridum’s right arm got caught in the large blast from the Gadessa, But the left blaster landed several shots on the Gadessa’s cannon, destroying it. Both of them pulled back, reconsidering their options. Lyle looked at his trans-am meter. ’30 seconds. Gotta make it count.’ Then the two entered combat, charging at each other as they poured fire on the other mobile suit. The Cheridum managed to destroy one of the legs of the Gadessa, but that came at the cost of a severely damaged head. Both of the suits began to spark, the damage adding up.

Revive could hear Anew’s voice in his head, “Stop fighting, Revive! It doesn’t have to be this way!”

The Gadessa pilot raged, “I will kill your pet human then bring you back! You won’t ever see or remember a single one of them again!” He shut the connection, not needing that distraction. ‘Ribbons will beat the 00 Raiser and I’ll beat the Cheridum. Then no one will be left to oppose us!’ Drawing out his beam saber, he charged towards the Cheridum, seeing he had the advantage in melee.

Lyle looked at the damage to his suit and knew he couldn’t trade like this. ‘I have an idea, but it’s risky.’ He could see the Gadessa was charging towards him, beam saber activated. Instead of his usual tactic of dodging, he floated there, firing at the Gadessa. Revive grinned. ‘What an idiot! Did he think that would work?’ He aimed his sword at the cockpit, going for the killing blow.

But just as the Gadessa was about to stab the cockpit, the Cheridum turned red, dodging behind the Gadessa. Revive’s eyes widened, knowing he made a catastrophic error, “No! I can’t die! Not like this!” Lyle responded to that by opening fire, the shots punching through the armor over and over again till the blasts went right through the cockpit, causing the suit to begin sparking violently. Lyle flew away from the suit, running out the last of the trans-am as he escaped the blast zone of the exploding suit.

Taking a deep breath and letting the adrenaline in his system rush out, he grinned at his success. ‘You were the one that almost cost me Anew. Who caused all that to happen.’ He shoved that thought away, knowing that was what cost Neil his life. He then saw the blasts coming from the 00 Raisers battle as well as a smoke cloud. He began to travel to assist Setsuna and Feldt, but a communication appeared on his display, showing Sumeragi, “Lyle, I need you to check on the 00 Raiser. We are launching the Exia, but Feldt will need a ride back to the ship.” He then saw a signal showing the Exia’s reactor on his display.

He nodded at that, “Understood.” The communication closed, leaving him a ride he knew would take a little more than a few minutes. ‘I wonder what happened with the 00 Raiser?’

With the 00

As the Cheridum pulled away the Gadessa, Ribbons scowled in annoyance. ‘Not that I needed him, but the 00 Raiser is still active.’ He shook his head. ‘No, I can handle him. Revive will have to answer some questions after this is over, however.’ He launched a few drones from his left arm, calling out to the 00, “Your little friend won’t be any help. He has only hastened his demise.”

The drones began to swarm around the 00, forcing Setsuna to keep dodging as Feldt returned fire at the drones, destroying two of them. Ribbons then began to open fire with his own blaster, adding more pressure on the 00 to avoid getting hit. Setsuna sliced through the last drones with the sword and turned to face the Reborn. Ribbons spoke evenly, “That was fairly impressive. It seems innovators can work well as a team. Too bad I don’t need one.”

Shots began to come from behind him as the Ptolemy rained energy blasts at the Reborn. Ribbons looked at the ship, annoyed, “Enough of that!” He aimed him blaster at the engines of the Ptolemy and unleashed the large orange energy blast, devastating them. Feldt looked on with worry about the crew while Setsuna focus his fury. ‘I can’t let them take another hit like that!’ Just as he was about to charge, GN-infused smoke began to billow out of the Ptolemy, surrounding the two mobile suits. Setsuna smirked. ‘Thank you, Sumeragi!’ He called out to Feldt, “We finish this!” Feldt could sense his confidence through their bond and gave him a smirk of her own.

The 00 Raiser charged the Reborn, blade forward. As Setsuna was getting close, the reborn, which had been firing shots at where it thought the Ptolemy was, turned to face him, sending drones to stop the 00 Raiser. Feldt managed to get all but one, which pierced the left arm of the 00, blowing the arm up as the drone detonated. However, that did not stop Setsuna, who slashed at the Reborn as he got in melee distance. Ribbons brought his shield to block the blow, but unlike before, the 00 Raiser seemed to have the advantage. ‘How can it have so much power! Is it the suit or him?’

Setsuna broke through the block quickly, slicing through the right arm of the reborn, leaving only the left arm with the beam saber. He shot off into the smoke cloud to pull back for another attack. The smoke began to clear around the Reborn, Ribbons spotting the 00 charging him once again. He met Setsuna’s blade with his own, sparks flying as the two suits were evenly matched this time. Ribbons spoke to Setsuna and Feldt, his voice full of frustration, “That power of yours, you two only have that because you have the original GN Drives!” He kicked away the 00, “I want them back!” He sent out a massive blast of energy, hoping to catch the 00, but the suit dodged out of the way.

Setsuna replied angrily as Feldt began to fire back at him, “Never!” The two suits fired at one another, neither able to hit the other. Ribbons voice took a manic tone, “Those drives are mine! Otherwise, what was the point of my creation? What meaning would my existence have?”

Suddenly Tieria’s voice appeared in Ribbons head, the green-haired innovades eyes glowing gold, “You’re wrong.”

Ribbons looked around for a second, confused, “Tieria Erde? You’re using Veda?”

Tieria continued, “We are not here to guide humanity. We are here to create a future together with mankind.” Ribbons was forced to dodge attacks from the 00 as he talked with Tieria, losing the shield on his right arm in the process, “That was the path that the innovades were meant to take.”

Ribbons replied angrily, “Together!? With inferior humans!?” He felt an impact on his suit as the 00 kicked the reborn, sending it flying back then raining blasts down on it, destroying a leg and two of the blasters on the back. Setsuna and Feldt could feel their bond adding to the combat prowess of the suit.

Tieria continued to talk down to Ribbons, “As long as you keep looking down on them, you’ll never understand them!”

Ribbons, frustrated by this battle and being told he had to treat humans like equals, snapped at Tieria, “I don’t want to understand them!” He activated trans-am, plowing toward the 00 Raiser. Setsuna matched him, seeing there was a minute and a half on his trans-am. The two suits began maneuver and fire on one another, both suits having a hard time hitting each other. The first blow that hit was from the back cannon on the Reborn, which destroyed the head of the 00. The drone that was meant to follow up that attack just phased through the 00 Raiser as it teleported, leaving only GN particles like a ghost behind. Setsuna teleported behind the Reborn, slicing through the machine’s legs as he let out a battle cry.

Ribbons, reacting on instinct, sliced his beam saber around, slicing off the left shoulder of the 00. The trans-am began to fade on both the machines. An explosion of both true and pseudo GN particles then went off, leaving the area covered in GN-infused smoke as the two suits were launched by the explosion, both Feldt and Setsuna getting knocked unconscious by the blast.

With the Remains of the 00

Setsuna opened his eyes, blinking as he looked out into space in front of him. He called out to Feldt in a panic but didn’t hear her respond. ‘Please be ok! Please be ok!’ He focused his mind, checking to make sure she was ok. Sensing the link was intact and she seemed ok, he relaxed. 

Remembering the explosion, he looked at the damage the suit had taken. He frowned seeing the damage report. They were down one leg, the head and the whole left arm was gone, the reactor with it. They had the emergency power, but that wouldn’t last long, maybe get them back to the ship at best. ‘Damnit! Ribbons must have the 0 Gundam’s drive. But how can we fight him? There are no other…’ His thoughts trailed off as he saw an approaching mobile suit. Looking at the sensors, he saw something he didn’t expect.

The Exia moved through space, getting stopped by the 00 as Setsuna put out the remaining hand. He looked at it with awe. ‘My old suit! Did they fix it?’ As he was caught up in looking at the Exia, he didn’t notice that Feldt had woken up.

She let out a grunt as her body felt sore from the explosion. She was about to check on Setsuna and ask what was going on, but her mouth went dry and tears began forming when she saw the Exia on her damaged sensors, realizing what this was for. ‘No! No! Please no! I can’t lose him!’ She opened up the comms, looking at Setsuna with tears streaming down her face, “Please Setsuna! Let’s go back to the ship! You don’t have to do this!”

Setsuna looked at her, regret readily apparent, “Feldt, you know someone has to fight Ribbons.”

“We can wait for the other suits to be repaired! We can…” She felt extreme regret and apology on their link, causing her tears to come on thicker. She could see a tear go down Setsuna’s cheek. Her voice cracked, “Please…I love you so much Setsuna! I…I can’t lose you! Not like my parents! Not like Chris! Not like Neil! I don’t want to write a letter for you!” She began to sob, looking away from Setsuna.

Setsuna, sensing the immense grief and fear from her, moved out of his cockpit to the cockpit of the 0 Raiser, knocking on the glass. Feldt looked up, eyes red from the tears, hearing the impact on glass. She opened up her cockpit as Setsuna got out of the way. She made a beeline for Setsuna, wrapping her arms around him, forcing the Krugis man to grab onto the suit so they didn’t get launched into space. He wrapped his free arm around her. He could hear her sobs as she put her helmet onto his chest, letting out all her fear and grief. Knowing that they were secure, he let go of the suit, putting that hand on the bottom of her helmet, lifting her head to look at him.

Sending an intense amount of love through their bond, he spoke resolutely, “I love you Feldt. I will never willingly abandon you. I will come back to you.” He put his helmet against hers, voice soothing, “Just one more battle and we won’t have to fight anymore. We can have the peaceful future we want.”

Feldt could sense the resolve and sincerity behind his word, looking into his brown-red eyes. Her tears began to slow down somewhat and her voice was shaky, “But last time…it took you…”

“It won’t be five years. We have the ship and gundams intact. We don’t need to operate in secret to find each other. Just trust in me and our bond. You will be able to find me.” He looked at her, begging, “I need you to help install the drive. I can’t do it without you.”

Against her selfish wish, she nodded, “Ok. Just don’t leave me alone. I don’t know if I can handle that, not after all we’ve been through.” He nodded, confirming her request. The two then began the process of removing the drive and inserting it in the Exia. The process took a few minutes, in which time Feldt secured a degree of control over her raging emotions but still felt like they could come out at any time. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do if he dies.’ As the drive was inserted, it fully connected and sync’d to the gundam, they saw an approaching trail of green GN particles.

The Cheridum closed in on the suit, seeing the drive sync with the Exia. Lyle called out to the two, “Nice to see two. Looks like you need help.” He sighed seeing Setsuna enter the cockpit of the Exia, its eyes lighting up. Setsuna spoke through the Exia’s comms, trying to hide the regret having to send Feldt away, “Take her back to the ship. I’m hunting Ribbons down.” He quickly shot off, not looking back, knowing it would just weaken his resolve. Lyle could see the anguish Feldt was going through. ‘I should probably ease up on the commentary.’

The Cheridum put out its remaining hand, Lyle’s voice gentle, “C’mon Feldt, let’s get back to the ship.” Feldt complied silently, too focused on keeping herself from crying.

Hanger of the Ptolemy

As Setsuna looked for Ribbons, Lyle made his way into the hanger of the Ptolemy. The Cheridum wasn’t steady but maintained its balance as it was lowered down the elevator. He could see that Anew and Sumeragi were waiting for them, helmets lowered, and for once, a not annoyed Ian at seeing a severely damaged gundam. The suit was put in its spot and he saw Feldt launch off the hand and Sumeragi brought her into an embrace, Lyle seeing tears begin to fall from the pink-haired girl. ‘It’s hard not to feel bad for her. Even Setsuna didn’t seem happy about having to hunt Ribbons.’

The two women exited the hanger, leaving Anew focused on the suit. Lyle exited the hatch of the gundam, floating towards anew. As he landed in front of her, taking off his helmet, he casually said, “Hey babe, I got-“

He felt Anew’s hand smack his face, leaving a solid red hang print where it hit. He looked at her confused, “What was that for? I got Revive then I rescued Feldt.”

Anew glared at him, “When Revive was about to stab you, I thought you were going to die!”

Lyle put his hands up defensively, “I had to draw him in! Make sure he couldn’t dodge out of the way of my attacks.”

She continued to glare, her tone picking up anger, “Did you think about how I felt?! How it looked?!”

Lyle spluttered, “Well…I…I didn’t-“ He was interrupted by Anew giving him a searing kiss, one he quickly found himself kissing her back with just as much fervor. The kiss broke after several seconds, both of them blushing and Lyle still confused. He tilted his head slightly, “Now I’m even more confused.”

Anew pulled him in tight, wrapping her arms around him, anger leaving her voice, “I’m just happy you survived. I was so worried during your battle with Revive.”

Lyle let out a breath, “I’m sorry for scaring you so much. I probably could have done a better plan. I promise not to do that again.”

Anew smiled slightly, “I don’t believe you.”

Lyle mock pouted, “Hey, it was a moment. I’m allowed an exaggeration or two.” Anew rolled her eyes and pecked him on the lips, showing her anger was all but gone.

Anew pointed towards the elevator, “Come on. Let’s head to the bridge.”

With the Exia

Setsuna scanned the area as he traveled around the asteroid, searching for Ribbons. ‘C’mon you bastard! Where are you? The faster I kill you, the sooner I get back to the woman I love.’ It hurt him more than anything to have to risk his life, with Feldt knowing she couldn’t do anything to help him. She had told him before how much she hated not being able to help Christina, Lichty and Neil five years ago, and how much she hated worrying about him when they were separated on earth. ‘And now I’m forced to do it to stop Ribbons.’ He saw on his sensors a signature had appeared, showing a GN Drive nearby. ‘There you are!’

He dashed towards the contact, getting a visual on the 0 Gundam with the GN drive in it, floating behind a hill on the asteroid. ‘I never thought I would have to face the suit that saved my life from so long ago. But Ribbons is no savior of humanity.’ Setsuna charged the machine, GN blade pointed and aimed at the 0 Gundam. This was not the time for words. Nothing he could say to Ribbons would affect him and vice versa. Only actions mattered now. He let out a battlecry as Ribbons turned to face him, firing the blaster on the gundam. Ribbons smirked at the irony. ‘Here is the little boy facing the god that saved him. It would be funny if wasn’t so deadly.’ Setsuna dodged and weaved through the blasts, colliding with the 0 Gundam, bringing it crashing down onto the surface of the asteroid. Ribbons knocked him back, shooting at the Exia as he tried to keep a distance from Setsuna.

Setsuna, seeing that they were equally fast, switched his sword to blaster mode, aiming and hitting the blaster out of Ribbons’s hand. Ribbons growled, stopping and counter-charging the Exia, throwing a punch at the mobile suit, hitting it in the head. Setsuna was stunned for half a second, before grabbing the arm of the 0 Gundam as it was throwing another punch and tossing it over the Exia’s head onto the asteroid. Seeing it crashing onto the ground, Setsuna pulled out a beam saber, aiming it at the cockpit. Ribbons dodged just in time, the saber shearing the front of the cockpit away, giving Ribbons a clear view of the Exia as it landed in front of him.

Ribbons pulled out his own beam saber, slashing down at the Exia as it pulled back slightly, landing a horizontal slash across the front of the Exia’s cockpit. Setsuna could feel the heat as it passed by, causing him to sweat a little. Setsuna stabilized himself, seeing his cockpit’s screens were non-functional due to Ribbons cutting through the front of his cockpit. He looked out on the 0 Gundam across from him, glaring at the innovade. Setsuna raised the GN blade, pointing it at the being who created his corrupt government. Ribbons threw away his shield, holding the beam saber in two hands.

The two men stood there for several seconds, waiting for the other to move first. Setsuna let out several bated breaths before he charged forward, blade aimed at the cockpit. After several steps, he saw Ribbons countercharge him, his blade aimed similarly. As the two suits met, Setsuna felt his blade pierce right through the cockpit and into the drive. It took him a second to feel the heat of the beam saber right above his head, piercing into his own drive. ‘I got you, Ribbons Almark.’

Both drives then blew out, exploding, sending both the suits flying. The 0 Gundam flew into the asteroid and the Exia launched into space. Pain erupted through Setsuna, the concussive force of the explosion hitting him. Breathing became harder and with every breath, there was only pain. His ears were also ringing. His eyes began to slowly close from the pain and exhaustion hitting him. He reached out in the direction of the ship, sending Feldt a wave of apology. ‘Feldt…’ His eyes closed and the Exia continued to travel into space, nothing guiding it.

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

Setsuna slowly opened his eyes as he came to, looking around the room, seeing the back wall of the medical bay on the Ptolemy. He could still feel pain flowing through his body, which was added to when he felt a pair of arms wrap around him and voluminous pink hair obscured his vision as he lay on the medical bed. His heart raced seeing the tear-soaked face of Feldt look at him in the eyes. Without thinking, he said, “I’m sorry.” Guilt rushed through him, knowing he caused Feldt to feel this way.

She buried her face into his neck as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close. He could feel the tension release from her body, fear and panic being replaced by relief and happiness in their bond. She sounded like she wanted to cry, but he couldn’t feel the tears. He turned his head slightly, seeing everyone but Sumeragi, who was in the medical bay, looking at him from the window. What surprised him the most was Anew was standing there, looking worried.

Lyle, seeing Setsuna was awake, called out the group, “Let’s give them some privacy.” Everyone nodded, moving away from the medical bay. That left only Feldt and Sumeragi in the medical bay, the former right next to him.

Feldt raised her head to look down at him, sounding drained, “I thought you were…you were…”

Setsuna brought his right hand to her cheek, “I’m so sorry I made you worry so much. I won’t do it again.” He looked at Sumeragi, “How did you find me?”

Sumeragi shook her head, also sounding tired, “It wasn’t me.” She pointed at Feldt, “It was her.”

Setsuna turned to face the pink-haired woman, curious. She let go of him, moving to a chair right next to the bed. She put one hand on her lap, and the other intertwined the free hand with Setsuna’s right hand, “Well, when I saw the Exia disappear…”

Feldt looked in horror as the Exia disappeared off the sensors along with the 0 Gundam. ‘No! No! He promised!’ The rest of the crew looked with varying degrees of horror and fear at seeing Setsuna’s suit getting destroyed. People began to look at Feldt, her face going blank. She had been through so much and she didn’t have any tears anymore. Her mind was a jumble, fear and desperation taking over. The man she loved had just disappeared off their sensors and they had no other way to track him. How could she find him? How could they find him? ‘Wait, I can track him. He said trust in our bond, right?’ She pulled on their link, trying find where he was. ‘Please work!’

Her eyes began to glow a dull gold, the crew looking on her with amazement and confusion. The only ones who could tell what was going on was Anew and the super soldiers, as they could sense the quantum brainwaves Feldt was sending out. Allelujah and Marie were confused as to how she could do this, but Anew smiled, knowing what was going on. ‘So, there are two pure-bred types. Ribbons must have hated that.’

She focused her mind, remembering his essence. All the memories of the two of them. Everything she wanted with him for the future. It took her a minute, but she felt a twinkle of life on Setsuna’s end of the bond. A tear came to her eye. ‘It worked!’ It didn’t tell her where he was, but she could follow the trail. She looked at Sumeragi, determined, “I know where he is! I’m taking the Gun Archer!”

Sumeragi was about to weakly reply, knowing how desperate Feldt was, but she was interrupted by Marie nodding at Feldt, knowing she would do the same if this was Allelujah. Sumeragi watched as the newly born innovator rushed out the bridge, focused on one thing. Her boyfriend.

Setsuna smiled at the story, squeezing their linked hands. Sumeragi smiled at the couple, happy Feldt didn’t have to go through the same thing she did. Feldt dipped down to lightly give Setsuna a chaste kiss on the lips, Setsuna kissing her back. Setsuna began to speak, but Feldt interrupted him, “You don’t need to apologize again. I know you had to and you came back. We can talk later. Right now, I just want to stay close to you.” Setsuna tried to sit up, but pain ripped through him, his entire body sore, especially his core. ‘I must have broken a few ribs in that explosion.’ He laid back down, feeling slightly better in that position.

Sumeragi looked at Feldt, sounding relaxed for the first time since the start of the battle, “Feldt, keep an eye on your boyfriend. Anew will need to look him over later, but you two need some private time.” She winked at the couple, “No funny business.”

Feldt blushed, “Understood.” Sumeragi walked out of the medbay, leaving the couple to enjoy a moment of peace. She could see Feldt curling up next to him, being gentle. ‘We finally won.’

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Having rescued Setsuna, Ian had gotten one of the ships engines running and the ship had moved slowly to the dock they were previously at, weapons facing outward. It had been an hour since the raven-haired man’s rescue, the crew unwinding from the battle if they weren’t occupied otherwise; Ian, Linda and Mileina working on repairs to the ship; Setsuna and Allelujah getting regeneration treatments with Anew monitoring them; and Saji, Lasse and Sumeragi on the bridge, making sure nothing caught them by surprise.

While keeping an eye on the sensors, Saji saw a notification on his terminal. He called out to Sumeragi, “Ms. Sumeragi, someone wants to open an encrypted channel. Should I open it?”

Sumeragi thought for a second, before realizing who it was. ‘Kati!’ She nodded at Saji, “Go ahead.” He opened up the link and an image of Kati appeared on the main display, a more relaxed look on her face. Sumeragi smiled at her, “I assume you are here about that message you sent earlier.” Both Saji and Lasse looked at her confused, wondering what message she meant.

Kati nodded, speaking evenly, “Yes. Officially I am here to tell you that you have a 48-hour time period to leave the space around this base, but I also have some…negotiations that I have privately been authorized to do. Do I have permission to come aboard?”

Sumeragi nodded, her tone light, “Certainly.”

“Also, I have a request. When you come to meet me, bring Saji Crossroads with you.” Sumeragi and Lasse looked confused craning their necks to look at the Japanese man.

Saji slowly began to realize why she was asking and that was accelerated when he heard Louise’s voice come from the side of Kati, her face appearing soon after, “It’s because I’m here! I came up to space to see my boyfriend!” Saji beamed at the blonde woman, happy to see her smiling face after so long apart.

Lasse’s confused look turned into a smirk, wolf whistling at seeing Louise in person, “You are a lucky man, Saji.” Saji blushed at the comment.

Sumeragi let out a sigh, somehow still having to deal with things like this, “I will bring him along.” Sumeragi gave Kati a warm smile, “It’s nice to see you again, Kati.”

Kati responded with a smile of her own, “Same here, Lisa. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

The communications dropped and Lasse smirked at Sumeragi, “Your name is Lisa?”

Sumeragi ignored the comment, a mock annoyed look on her face and called out to Saji, “Tell Ian to prepare the shuttle hanger for our guests, then follow me to wait there.”

With Saji

Saji stood anxiously next to Sumeragi, waiting for the shuttle to come in. His nervousness spiked, even knowing Louise was happy to see him. It had been a year or so since he last saw her and he wasn’t sure how much she was going to bring up. ‘I want a new start, a better start.’ He was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of a craft slowing coming into the hanger. It moved into the locks, the holds keeping the shuttle in place. ‘Well, no time to prepare.’

Sumeragi, meanwhile, was curious what terms Kati had that were private and couldn’t be public. ‘I know they can’t publicly support us, but it would be nice for them to recognize our role against the A-Laws.’ She knows Kati, even with their previously good relationship, would only go as far as she was legally allowed to. ‘She was always more willing to accept orders than I was, as long as they seemed reasonable.’

The hatch on the side of the shuttle opened, revealing three figures in space suits, the visor open. The first was Kati, the second was a red-headed man covered in bandages and minor burns and lastly Louise floated out of the shuttle, a wide smile on her face. Louise kicked off the shuttle, wrapping her arms around Saji when she reached him, yelling, “Saji!” Saji let out a grunt as he hit the wall, not expecting her to do that. He looked at her beaming smile and blue eyes, and immediately felt a weight off his chest, seeing just how happy she was to see him.

He looked at her, overwhelmed, “Hi.”

Louise responded breathlessly, “Hi.”

Kati and Sumeragi looked at the sight of the couple, smiling, before turning their attention to each other. Sumeragi nodded at her old friend, “It’s nice to see you in person. How many years has it been?”

Kati let out a breath, “It has been a long time. But before we reminisce, I think we should talk about the…terms I have.”

Sumeragi felt disappointed by that but understood her logic. It had been so long and both of them needed to get the other side of the story. Sumeragi pointed to the elevator, “Well then, follow me.”

As Kati passed by Louise and Saji, who were looking into each other’s eyes, she spoke casually, stopping for a second, “Louise, feel free to spend time with Saji. I will signal you when we are ready to go.” Both of them looked at her, Louise nodding. She then focused her eyes on Saji, “Mr. Crossroads, you can come back with us if you want. We have a cover story for you, don’t worry.” Saji looked flabbergasted and Kati continued, “You don’t need to say anything. Just be at the shuttle with all the stuff you want to bring back.”

Kati then pushed off the railing joining back up with Sumeragi, the three people entering the elevator and leaving the couple alone in the hanger. Saji looked at Louise, surprise evident, “So I can just go back? I’m not wanted?”

Louise shook her head, “Nope! You were framed for a crime, so they consider you innocent. And you joining Celestial Being wasn’t your fault, assuming people actually learn what happened, which that lady said wouldn’t be known. So you are free to come back with me!”

Saji stuttered slightly as he responded, a tear coming to his eye, “It’s…it’s like it’s a dream. I dreamed of this ever since Proud. Of being able to find you again and be free. Yet despite you being right in front of me, it still doesn’t feel real.”

Louise flicked him on the forehead, “Of course I’m real. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to do this.” She pulled him into a passionate kiss, Saji responding eagerly after a few seconds. It felt like finding fresh water in the desert after not having it for so long. He pulled her close, never wanting to separate from her again. The two pulled apart after a minute, both blushing and smiling brightly.

Saji spoke first, having recovered his wits, still out of breath, “Wow, that was better than I fantasized.” Louise nodded, looking down slightly. Saji continued, “So we are good? After all those things-“

Louise put a finger on his lips, shushing him, “Saji, that was the past. We both made mistakes and learned from them.” Scanning him, she could see that Saji was more confident, not filled with anger and overall happier. She intertwined their hands, “I can already see you have changed. You are not the same man that went into space a year ago.”

Saji laughed at that, but saw her eyes looked a little downcast despite the happiness of the moment, “I suppose. And you seem…troubled? I don’t know how to describe it.”

“I suppose that living on your own not being able to trust people and the government made me a bit cynical. I’m not the same woman from before.”

Saji looked at her shamefully, “I’m sorry for what I put you through before we broke up. I shouldn’t have taken my frustration at the gundams out on you. We both suffered but I refused to really acknowledge what you were going through, wanting you to not move on, like I couldn’t.”

Louise gave him a smile, “It’s alright Saji. You clearly moved on, seeing that you willingly worked with the gundams. And its not like I couldn’t have done better in the past.”

Saji gave her a confident smile, happy they could move beyond their past issues, “Well then, I guess we both need to learn about the new us. But I’m looking forward to it.” He pecked her on the lips and as he broke it, he heard the elevator ding. Saji and Louise turned to see Feldt and Setsuna exiting the elevator in their normal uniform, hands intertwined, looking around the hanger before their eyes fell on the couple.

The two began to approach Saji and Louise, and everyone was caught by surprise when Louise let go of Saji’s hand as she launched herself toward Setsuna, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug, pulling herself close to him. Setsuna’s eyes widened in shock as he grabbed the railing, stopping her from sending him shooting back. Feldt looked on in confusion as the stranger hugged her boyfriend. Louise pulled out of the hug and with a grateful look, she said, “Thank you Setsuna! Thank you for saving Saji!”

Gathering himself from her surprise hug, he gave her a smile, “No problem.”

Louise looked curiously to her left, seeing the pink-haired woman looking confused. She directed her question at Setsuna, “Who is this?”

Setsuna was about to speak when Saji spoke up first, “Sorry you two. I didn’t expect Louise to lunge at you like a mountain lion.” Louise gave him a mock glare, sticking out her tongue at him. Saji continued, “Anyway, Louise, this is Feldt Grace, one of the members of Celestial Being.” He saw her begin to raise her hand, “And yes, this is the girlfriend that I mentioned, if it wasn’t obvious before.”

Feldt gave Louise a smile, “Hi, I’m Feldt. It’s nice to meet you.” ‘What has he told her about me?’

She scanned Feldt up and down, the pink-haired pilot blushing slightly. Louise nodded at Feldt, “And it’s nice to meet you too.” Louise’s eyes lit up as she looked at Setsuna, “Wow, you found a cute one! And here I thought you would never get a girlfriend after the time I threw a pillow at you.”

Setsuna let out a chuckle as he squeezed Feldt and his intertwined hands, “I never expected it either, but it happened and I can’t say I’ve been happier.” Feldt smiled at that, pecking him on the lips as she sent him feelings of happiness. Louise looked at the scene in wonder. ‘When I met him at the party, I saw he was more sociable. But this is something I would never would have guessed without being told.’

Louise put her hands behind her back, “Well this is a story I would love to hear! Along with everything that happened.”

Saji stepped in, “Well let’s find somewhere else to talk. These are two long stories.”

Conference Room on the Ptolemy

Kati and Sumeragi sat across from each other at the long table, tension filling the air. The red-haired man stood in a corner awkwardly, sensing the tension. Sumargi spoke evenly, “So, what has the government given you permission to offer?”

Kati pulled out her terminal, reading an official document she pulled up, “We in the ESF recognize the role Celestial Being played in fighting and destroying the A-Laws. We also recognize how the gundams only attacked the A-Laws and an unknown faction, not the general Federation forces. In honor of your service, we offer a pardon to those who are currently part of Celestial Being, with assistance in creating new identities if necessary, similar to protective services. In return, members of Celestial Being will assist in teaching the Federation on aspects of their technology, in particular their different GN particles and trans-am technology.”

Sumeragi’s eyes widened slightly hearing the offer, the generosity surprising her. ‘Kati must have said something to them.’ Sumeragi let out a breath, “Well, I didn’t expect an offer like that. Did you convince them to do that?”

Kati smirked, folding her hands together in front of her, “Let’s just say I was very persuasive.”

“Why?”

The military woman’s smirk evened out, “I looked at the path you guys followed this time as well as your old interventions. It showed that you guys consistently only engaged military targets and bases. The only time that changed was when those new gundams showed up. It struck me as odd that they used the engines that we currently have, unlike your GN drives. While I can’t say I have proof, I was certain that you would never have supported attacking civilians.”

Sumeragi gave her old friend a warm smile, “It’s nice to know you had faith in me.”

Kati gave her a slight smile back, “I saw how you reacted to a bad military operation. I would never think you would attack civilians, even if you were all terrorists. And I’m humble enough to know that without you, the A-Laws and whoever was behind them would have gotten away with their crimes.”

Sumeragi tilted her head slightly, “What caused you to turn on the A-Laws? You certainly had me on the ropes a few times.”

Kati scowled, “The extreme measures they were willing to take, like massacring civilians and even taking pleasure in it. The point that fully turned me was seeing them destroy the orbital elevator. They were willing to kill millions of people in order to ‘maintain order’. I quietly left, gathering those that survived the coup and others who were disillusioned by the A-Laws. We got support from some members of the government and the rest is history.”

“You certainly got things done. Without your support, I don’t know if we would have made it.”

“Well with your risky tactics, you would need someone like me to back you up.”

Sumeragi began tapping her fingers on the table, “Well, back on the offer, what is the plan, assuming I take the offer to the crew and the rest of the organization?”

Kati looked at the brunette tactical forecaster evenly, “You will send us a list of people and their relevant information over a private channel that I will provide you and we will tell you when we they can come to Federation territory. We will then help them establish a life if they need it.”

Sumeragi laughed quietly, “If it wasn’t you here, I would have thought this was a trap. It seems too good to be true.”

Kati narrowed her eyes, “So, are you going to take it?”

Sumeragi smiled sadly, “Not me, but I will offer it to the crew. They deserve a chance to have a safer life.”

Kati looked at Sumeragi curiously, “Why aren’t you taking it?”

The Celestial Being tactical forecaster let out a sigh, “There will always be threats to the Federation and red tape is always a problem. Celestial Being can deal with those enemies without you guys having to deal with political and military issues. And the Federation will have corruption at some point that you would have a hard time dealing with. And this organization will need a tactical forecaster. And honestly, I don’t have anything on Earth anymore.”

Kati gave her friend a bittersweet smile, “While I would love to be able to go to the bar with you, I see your point. Celestial Being would certainly be a good deterrent to internal and external issues.” Her smile became happier, “And I can always give you a private line to me if you want to talk to a friend.”

“It would be nice to have a friend who is a tactical forecaster. Haven’t had one of those in a long while.” Sumeragi rubbed her eyes, “God, I’m exhausted. It’s been so long since I could truly relax. Are we done or…”

Kati quirked her head, “Well I was planning on leaving, but I would love to hear what happened to you.”

Sumeragi laughed, “Well that’ll need a drink. Give me a minute to go to my room. I’ll be back with glasses and some liquid courage.”

Kati nodded at her, watching the brunette woman leave the conference room. ‘Despite her being a terrorist, it is nice to see her again.’ She looked over at her red-headed fiancé, who was looking at her dreamily, covered in bandages. ‘You are lucky you are cute.’

Hallway of the Ptolemy

Saji and Louise made their way back to the hanger, having received the message from Kati. Saji had packed his few belongings after about an hour or so going over what happened to Saji and the story of Feldt and Setsuna. Both of them promised to answer her further questions if they ever came down to Earth, and Louise had told them they could stay in her house if they needed somewhere to stay.

Saji had said goodbye to the crew as he made his way to the hanger, Mileina, Ian and Lasse the saddest to see him go. Lasse had smirked at him, telling him to take care of Louise. Saji blushed at that and Louise had smiled, saying he definitely would.

As they reached the elevator, Saji saw Anew standing there, looking awkward. Saji turned to face Louise, “Go ahead of me. Tell the Colonel that I’ll be there in a few minutes.” Louise looked between Saji and Anew, but complied, taking the bag with his stuff and entering the elevator.

Anew rubbed the back of her neck, “I don’t want to hold you up. I just wanted to say I’m sorry for shooting you. I have no excuse for that and I understand if you don’t forgive me.”

Saji gave her a smile, “I forgive you.” Anew looked at him, shocked. Saji, seeing her shock, explained, “Setsuna told me what happened and I understand what you went through. Also Louise says she likes the scar.”

Anew laughed, “I didn’t expect that response to a bullet wound.” She pulled him into a hug, Saji hugging her back, “Good luck back on earth. I hope you find success.”

Saji broke the hug, and nodded at her, “I’ll try. Don’t feel too guilty. I’m sure everyone will accept an apology from you.”

Anew looked down, “I hope so.” Saji smiled at her one last time as he called for the elevator, the door opening. Anew watched the door close, Saji leaving the ship for the last time. ‘That went easier than I thought. I hope everyone else is the same.’

Briefing Room of the Ptolemy

The crew had been called by Sumeragi to gather in the Briefing room, their tactical forecaster saying she had important news for them. Everyone was there, except for Ian, who had a comm open from the hanger as he and Linda were working on ship repairs. Sumeragi scanned over the group, curious to how everyone would respond to the deal. She took a deep breath and began, “I know some of you are curious as to who that woman who came onboard was. She is an old friend of mine and gave me an offer. Something I was even surprised by.”

Sumeragi paused for a few seconds, which Anew took advantage of, “I’m sorry, Ms. Sumeragi, but I have something I want to say.” The brunette looked at her curiously but ceded the floor. Anew took a step forward, Lyle looking at her with worry. She gave him a reassuring smile before looking at the group, “I know we’ve been busy, so I never had the time to talk to everyone. I wanted to apologize about what I did, apologize about betraying all of you. And I especially apologize to Mileina, who didn’t deserve being held hostage and scared by me.”

Marie spoke up, curious, “You were controlled by Ribbons, right?”

Anew shook her head, needing to tell everyone the truth, “When I was first woken up, I believed in the cause, that innovades were superior. I was wrong, but it felt so right, like that was the proper order. But all my experiences with you guys made me realize how wrong Ribbons and the rest of the innovades were. Ribbons had to suppress my emotions towards you guys after my initial reaction to Lyle getting shot, hoping it would make it easy for me to fight you guys. But Lyle managed to get those emotions to come back, leaving me with no urge to fight against him or any of you.”

Lasse, leaning against a railing, asked curiously, “But why did you attack him after that then?”

Anew was about to speak up but was interrupted by Tieria’s voice echoing in the room, “She was taken over by Ribbons Almark. He was able to possess any of the innovades that he made, leaving them little opportunity to resist.”

Everyone but Setsuna and Feldt looked around the room, wondering where Tieria’s voice was coming from. Mileina felt tears come to her eyes, whipping her head around. Tieria chuckled, “I’m sorry, I should have explained before. I am now a part of Veda and wanted to convey that info to you about Anew.”

Sumeragi put a hand on her chin, “So that’s why we took control of Veda. You beat out Ribbons.”

“Yes. With help from Setsuna’s trans-am burst. But I will talk to you all later. You have Anew’s apology to listen to.”

His voice went silent and the group was trying to process that bombshell. Tieria was alive, albeit in Veda. But the reminder about Anew made everyone turn their heads towards her, wondering if she should be forgiven. Lyle came up behind her, and pulled her close, Anew curling into his side. A minute passed as every contemplated how to react to this. The super soldiers and innovators could sense her regret and dread as she looked like she was about to be sentenced for a hanging.

To everyone’s surprise, Mileina was the first person to speak, her tone downcast and shaky, “I was so scared, Ms. Returner. I thought I would die. I don’t know if I should trust you. But learning that you were controlled, that you fought when you didn’t want to and the fact you showed love for Lyle even during that, shows me that you regret what you did. I forgive you, though I still can’t exactly trust you.”

The rest of the group began to agree to varying degrees, some like Setsuna and Feldt fully accepting it, with others like Ian giving her a begrudging acceptance.

Anew smiled bitterly at the reaction, “I don’t expect you guys to fully forgive me. I just hope I can earn your trust back eventually.” Anew stepped back again, nodding at Sumeragi. Part of her guilt disappeared, though a ball of it remained in her stomach. ‘I have a long way to go.’ Lyle squeezed her hand, proud of her.

Sumeragi looked happy at the group, knowing Anew was making a good first step. ‘Though it may not be important after this next news.’ She cleared her throat, getting the groups attention, “Thank you Anew. Back the topic of this meeting. I have been given an offer by that woman. A surprisingly generous offer.”

Lyle rolled his eyes, “And this offer is?” ‘What trick of the Federation is this?’

“They are willing to quietly pardon anyone who wishes to have a normal life on Earth or the colonies. For those without a citizenship, they will set one up for you. The cost to us is we will teach the Federation about some of our technology, most importantly true GN particles.” She saw Lyle begin to object, “And yes, this sounds too good to be true, but the fact my old friend was sent to offer it leads me to trust her. You don’t need to decide now. Take the next couple days to come up with a decision.” Sumeragi looked at Linda, “Would you mind informing the rest of the organization and gather the names of those who are taking the offer?”

Linda nodded, “I’ll get right on it. I assume Ian and I will be sent to assist them.”

Sumeragi replied, “Yes. You and Ian were central in development and maintenance. That was all I had to tell you. Make sure to-“

“I’m taking the offer. I don’t want to go through that again. I just want a peaceful life.” The group looked and saw Feldt, who looked at Sumeragi with determination. They could see that she was nervous, trying hard to keeping looking at Sumeragi.

Sumeragi looked at Setsuna, curious. He caught her silent question. He looked at her, voice quiet, “I go where she goes.” Feldt waited for a look of disappointment, but instead saw a look of pride on Sumeragi’s face. She pulled close to Setsuna, curling into his side gently.

Sumeragi nodded at their decision, proud smile still on her face, “Understood. Anybody else?” The question hung in the air for thirty seconds before Sumeragi spoke again, looking at the innovators seeing no one else stepping up, “Can the two of you follow me after everyone leaves? I want to talk to you about some logistics in regard to that. Everyone else is free to go.”

The pair nodded and the rest of the crew left, pondering what decision to make. Sumeragi led the two pilots out of there to a more comfortable room.

Observation Room of the Ptolemy

Sumeragi and the two innovators stopped in one of the observation rooms that looked out into space. The two young adults stood side by side, their hands still linked as they stood in from of the tactical forecaster. Looking down, Feldt speaks first, focused on Sumeragi, “Why did you look at me like that when I told you what I wanted to do? I thought you would have wanted me to stay.”

Sumeragi chuckled as she shook her head, “Feldt, I want you to be happy. I saw how much Setsuna going off to fight Ribbons hurt you, which I am sorry for having to put you two through that. So you deciding to want a peaceful life makes me happy. After all the fighting we have had to do, you get to rest and not have to be constantly in danger.”

Tears of happiness began to come out of Feldt’s eyes, but she wiped them away, “I…I… without you I wouldn’t have been safe for so long. I wouldn’t be here with Setsuna. It just feels wrong to abandon you.”

Sumeragi shook her head once again, putting a hand on Feldt’s shoulders, “Feldt, you are like a daughter to me. And part of being a parent is watching their kid make their own path, even if it hurts a little to watch them leave. I want you to make your own future. To have a family. To experience things you never could on this ship. I will be there with you, even if only in spirit.”

Feldt couldn’t fight the tears, and wrapped her arms around Sumeragi, tears of happiness flowing out of her. Sumeragi wrapped her arms around the pink-haired woman, smiling warmly. As Feldt let out her emotions into Sumeragi’s shoulder, she looked at Setsuna, a warm smile still on her face, “Thank you for taking care of her. It’s so funny to see you so emotionally open. If you told me this would happen five years ago, I would have called you a liar.”

Setsuna blushed from the complement as well as the feelings coming from Feldt, “She helped open up my heart, so I owe it to her. I feel…more complete. Like I’m a better man.”

Sumeragi shook her head, “You were always a good man. It just took the right person to bring it out.”

Feldt pulled out of the hug, sniffling. She went back to Setsuna’s side, happiness shining in her eyes as she looked at Sumeragi, “I’m sorry for your shoulder. I couldn’t help myself.”

“It’s no problem.” Sumeragi smirked, “Also, when you two have kids, I want to see the pictures. I’m sure Tieria can set something up.”

Feldt smiled, blushing slightly, her tone teasing, “Excited to become grandma, Ms. Sumeragi?”

The tactical forecaster teased back, “I wouldn’t complain.” Her tone became more serious, it tinged with regret, “Take care of each other. Always stay at each other’s side. It’s a lonely world without the one you love.” Both Feldt and Setsuna could sense a growing feeling of regret and grief.

Setsuna spoke up, speaking softly, “Did you lose someone? Someone important?”

Sumeragi smiled bitterly, “Yes. I lost the man I loved on a bad operation. His loss has never fully left me.”

Feldt spoke up, curiosity lacing her tone, “Can you tell us what happened?” ‘Does this have to do with that Emilio person she sometimes said in her coma?’

Sumeragi closed her eyes, old memories flashing through her mind. ‘Maybe…maybe it’s time someone learned the story.’ She let out a deep breath, “This was when I was just starting my military career…”

Lyle’s Room

Lyle and Anew sat on Lyle’s bed, her head leaning on his right shoulder as they sat on his bed. They sat in silence, internally debating about this offer. Breaking the silence, Anew turned her head to look at Lyle, wanting to know what was in his head, “What do you think? Are you going to take the offer?” ‘Maybe hearing his opinion might help me with mine.’

Lyle snorted, “The Federation, after all this time hunting us and Katharon, suddenly wants to just pardon us? Sumeragi may trust her friend, but I don’t exactly give the Federation the benefit of the doubt.”

Anew replied, playing the devil’s advocate, “But what if they are being honest? Would you not want to go back to a normal life? Not have to worry about dying in battle?”

Lyle let out a breath, “While that sounds nice, the last couple years of my life have been the most exciting part of my life.” Anew looked at him quizzically, but Lyle elaborated, “You know before I was in finances. I had to watch the corrupt government do what they want. But now I’m in a position when I can deal with that. I can fight against those things. Make a difference.” Lyle chuckled, “That was what Setsuna told me I could do when I first met him and I didn’t believe him then. But look at me now, making a difference.”

Anew smiled at him, her tone teasing, “And you met me, right?”

Lyle squeezed her side, “I mean that was certainly a benefit…” She poked him in his side, causing him to cry out in surprise. He then playfully glared at her, before going back to an even look, “What about you? Would you want to take the offer?”

She let out a heavy breath, pulling out of Lyle embrace “I don’t know if I deserve it. I caused you and the crew so much pain. It feels like it would be taking the easy way out.” Her face scrunched up, “And not to mention I’m an innovade. An immortal. How long till people get suspicious? I would have to move constantly.”

Lyle smirked, looking into her eyes, “Well babe, I guess you will have to stay here with me then. And even as I got old, I could always say my girlfriend was hot.”

She blushed hotly at that comment, “Flattery won’t get me not mad at you for that stunt. And who’s to say you don’t get hotter when you get older.”

He smiled suggestively and winked, “I’m not trying to get on your good side. That is for later.” His tone became teasing, “And that is true. My dad said grandpa aged well. Maybe you can talk to Tieria, see if you can stop that immortality thing that the innovades have.”

She gave him an impressed smile, “That is actually a good idea. I don’t think any innovade ever asked that. I don’t expect it to work, but it’s worth a shot.”

Lyle looked at her, shocked, “You would give up your immortality? Why?”

Anew rolled her eyes, but her tone was loving, “For you, you idiot. I want to grow old with you and I can’t do that as an immortal, can I?”

Lyle gave her a warm smile, “Well I wouldn’t complain about that. So the two of us are staying then?” She nodded, knowing neither of them would get this opportunity again for a long time.

She then stood up and climbed into his lap, straddling him, “Now, what was that about getting on my good side?”

Bridge of the Ptolemy

Mileina and Lasse sat in their usual stations, the rest of the crew having left to discuss things. Mileina began to tap her hands against her terminal, feeling anxious. Her parents had said they would be talking and would get back to her, which just increased her anxiety. She looked at Lasse, curious and trying to avoid thinking about what her parents were talking about, “So Lasse, what are you planning on doing? Are you taking the deal?”

Lasse responded casually, “I’m staying. The ship needs a pilot after all.”

Mileina tilted her head slightly, “Aren’t you interested in going back to Earth? Not having to worry about being hunted?”

Lasse just smirked, “It wouldn’t be the first time I was hunted by the authorities. Honestly I’d rather be helping the world than living a normal life. It’s not liked the world will suddenly be super peaceful, even with us in control of Veda.” Lasse chuckled, “What do you think your parents will do?”

Mileina looked down at her hands, “My gut says that they will take the offer for me, so I can live a normal life. Both of them had said before that they wanted it for me.”

“Don’t you want to live a normal life?”

Mileina let out a breath, “I mean yes, but-“

“But you don’t know what it would be like.” Tieria’s even voice came over the bridge, finishing her thought. Lasse and Mileina looked around, curious where the voice came from, before stopping.

Mileina called out excitedly, blushing at hearing the innovade’s voice, “Mr. Erde! I’m so happy you are alive!”

Tieria chuckled, “Well technically I did die, but yes, I am not gone. I’m sorry that I worried you all. I was just focused on getting to Ribbons and Veda.” It was strange to not have a body, but in this new form he could help Celestial Being in different ways. ‘I wish my death didn’t scare Mileina that much.’

Lasse shook his head, “Don’t worry about it. You saved our asses out there. Without you the suicide suits would have gotten us.”

Mileina asked curiously, “So what are you planning on doing? Helping us?”

Tieria spoke casually, “Besides helping with data for the Federation, I will help keep you guys updated on what’s going on as well as support the gundams.” He chuckled, “Also I will help maintain some level of contact with those that are leaving, making sure they won’t become accomplices with known terrorist communications and associates.”

Lasse replied happily, “Well it’s good you will be there for us.” He looked over at Mileina, seeing a million questions in her eyes. He sighed, “Mileina, just ask you questions.”

Mileina let loose a stream of questions, which Tieria answered to the best of his ability. He smiled to himself, happy to still be considered a part of the crew.

Allelujah’s Room

Allelujah and Marie laid in bed, the relief from the defeat of the innovades rushing through them and what to do in the future weighing on them. This deal presented them with the perfect opportunity to find a normal life, something both of the wanted. Allelujah smiled at Marie, “Do you want to take this deal? This is what we have been looking for.”

Marie curled into him, “I think we should. I want to experience what it’s like to be a person. To not have to worry about the safety of the world.”

Allelujah smiled at her, pulling her close, “Well, we can explore the world, like we talked about before. Have a family. It’s not like we have anything we need to do and I don’t think I ever got a chance to hang out on earth. But I’m curious what our other halves to say.”

Marie nodded at that, “Why don’t we ask? I’m certain the two would agree.”

Allelujah nodded and the two closed their eyes, opening their connection to the other personality. Allelujah called out to Hallelujah and got a groggy answer, “What? I was trying to sleep after taking that attack to the face. It’s always me that happens to.”

Allelujah rolled his eyes, “You always do it voluntarily. Don’t get on me about that. Anyways, I wanted to ask how you would feel if we were given the opportunity to live on earth.”

Hallelujah spoke tiredly, “Honestly, I don’t really care. You are kind of boring, but I’ve come to expect that. You are probably going to do all that peaceful, standard life stuff, which I really don’t care about. You and Marie do deserve to be happy, so I will just be quiet. I don’t expect you to become some killer to satisfy me or anything.”

Allelujah smirked, “So you don’t want to hang out with Soma? I thought you liked her?”

Hallelujah bristled, “I don’t like people. She’s hot and not boring like you.” Hallelujah sighed, “If you really want me to be happy, let me take control every once and awhile. Stretch my legs.”

The brunette super soldier smiled, “I think that will work. It’s nice to see you settled down. The old you would find this disgusting.”

Hallelujah spoke pensively, “Well the old me didn’t know what I knew now. It’s not…all bad. Just don’t expect me to be all affectionate like you two lovebirds. It’s disgusting. Now let me nap please. I can still feel my head ringing from the blast.”

Allelujah smiled at that, knowing that Hallelujah wouldn’t be fighting him over things like that in the future. ‘It really is nice to be on a good footing with him.’

While those two were talking, Marie called out to Soma, who replied in an even voice, “I heard everything you guys said. I think you should take the deal. I wanted to live a normal life to and even if it’s not the most ideal, I’ll take it over having to be a soldier again.”

Marie responded gently, noting how Soma sounded much more relaxed after defeating Andrei, “How often do you want to get out? I don’t mind letting you have control sometimes.”

Soma thought for a second before replying, “I can’t say any specific amount of time, but being able to exercise or talk to Hallelujah would be nice.”

Marie chuckled, “If you want to take over exercise, I wouldn’t complain. And it’s funny to see how much you like him. If I was guessing, I would say you care for him romantically.”

Soma’s tone became more defensive and desperate, “I don’t like him like that! I just…came to appreciate him more as I talked with him!”

Marie smirked, “That sounds like denial!”

Soma scowled, “If you want to keep implying that, I can make you do all the exercise!”

Marie laughed, enjoying a more personable Soma, “Fine, fine, I’ll stop. But honestly, it’s nice to see you built up a friendship with him. I wouldn’t have ever seen that happening before.”

Soma replied, sounding bashful, “He’s…more complex than I thought. Also hot, but don’t tell him I said that.”

“I won’t.” With that, Soma broke away from the conversation, leaving the cuddling couple to open their eyes, happiness reflected in them. Without any words, the two conveyed the positive response over their bond.

Allelujah pecked her on the lips, “Ready for a new adventure?”

She nodded happily, “Yes.” The world was unfamiliar, but both were ready and happy to see where the world took them.

Hanger of Celestial Being Base

About a month passed before the crew got a response from the Federation about the deal. On top of everyone who decided to leave, the Vashti family also took the deal, saying they wanted to give Mileina the chance to grow up with a normal life. The family would be part of the group that would teach the Federation about most of their technology, though some things would remain secret.

Everyone felt the month passed by as people awaited the response. However, there were a few significant events that happened. About a week after the battle, Tieria sent data to Feldt about her parents and the exact details about their deaths. Despite the pain it brought her initially, the truth and Setsuna being there for her helped her accept it quickly, relief from learning the whole truth taking a burden off of her shoulders she didn’t know she had. Combined with the offer that Louise gave them, which was that she would house them until they got their situation stabilized, Feldt felt more confident about the future.

The other event was Lyle contacting Klaus about leaving Katharon and fully joining Celestial Being. Klaus was initially resistant, wanting Lyle to join them in keeping an eye on the Federation, but Lyle promised he would do that from a gundam. Klaus, though disappoint his friend wouldn’t join them, was happy to see his friend dedicated to this new task and realized Lyle would uphold Katharon’s ideals about holding the government responsible. He also teased Lyle about staying for his new girlfriend.

But after the month had passed, everyone stood at the docks containing several large shuttles. Around two-thirds of the organization took the deal, leaving the organization a skeleton of its former population. It would take a while to get everyone out, as they didn’t want to attract too much attention. The crew of the Ptolemy would be part of the first group.

As other people loaded onto the shuttles, the crew stood near one piloted by Lyle, those leaving dressed in civilian garb. A number of remaining crew were loading on the belongings. Everyone said their goodbyes, a bittersweet feeling in the air. They had been together for a varying amount of time, but everyone knew this was the end of the unified group. As everyone began to load onto the shuttle, Sumeragi pulled Setsuna and Feldt into one last hug, once again telling them to take care of each other. Setsuna accepted it awkwardly, but Sumeragi didn’t seem to be bothered by that. Feldt fought against crying, pulling Sumeragi close.

As the hug broke, the tactical forecaster pulled back, leaving the two innovators to be the last to board the shuttle. The two looked at each other, wordlessly conveying their nervousness. As soon as they got onboard, their world would be completely different. Setsuna intertwined their fingers, squeezing the bound hands. Taking the lead, he pushed off the railing, pulling Feldt with him, giving her a smile. She grabbed red haro just as Setsuna pulled her, ready for their new life, wherever it took them.

Chapter Text

“Regular speech”

‘Thought’

“Soma/Hallelujah speech”

5 Years Later

Setsuna and Feldt

Setsuna scanned the street he was on, seeing workers and civilians moving back and forth, dust and sand blowing down the streets and alleyways. Not everything was intact, with half of the town still a ruin, but it was slowly getting rebuilt. Setsuna felt a mix of relief and sadness flow through him at seeing his old hometown getting rebuilt. ‘It is strange to be back in Krugis after so long. It feels like I don’t even belong here.’

He felt Feldt squeeze his hand, sending comforting brainwaves to him. He looked at her, giving her a warm smile. Feldt’s hair reflected the sun; it was now strawberry-blonde as she had stopped dyeing her hair soon after they left Celestial Being. Both him and Feldt were dressed casually, her in tan pants and a white blouse, and him in a white button down and dark pants, along with his scarf. Setsuna had cut his hair short, making it easier to control and Feldt had abandoned her ponytail, letting her hair hang down naturally to just below her shoulder.

She had actually been the one to convince him to go to Krugis after hearing that the situation was stabilized in Azadistan. He remembered her words, “I dealt with my parents when Tieria gave us that info. I think you need to go back, clear up the guilt you still have.”

He realized she had been right and looking to his left, he felt his daughter Christina holding onto his hand, looking with wide-eyed wonder at his old hometown. The black-haired girl had inherited his hair color and style but had gotten Feldt’s eyes and nose. He squeezed her hand and the little girl looked up at him, eyes full of curiousity. She had been very excited to see where he had come from. A warm smile unconsciously came to his face, love flowing through him looking at the child that he and Feldt had created.

What caught him by surprise was Christina scanning her head then suddenly letting go of his hand, rushing off down the street. Feldt called out in a stern but worried voice, “Christina! Come back!” The two parents followed the girl, anxiety flowing through their bond. They caught up to her quickly, seeing her standing in front of Marina, who was wearing a simple blue and purple dress, with a few security guards nearby. Marina looked older than she did before. She had more noticeable stress lines, but still kept most of her beauty. Feldt and Setsuna’s worry was washed away by relief, but her daughter had to know she made a mistake. Before Christina could say anything, Feldt spoke in a stern tone, “Christina Seiei! You can’t just run off like that!”

Christina looked up at her with wide eyes, “But I saw a pretty lady!” The name Seiei caught Marina’s attention, who noticed Setsuna standing next to a strawberry blonde woman. Marina also noticed her bodyguards looked warily at the couple, but she waved off her bodyguards, silently telling them they were safe.

Marina chuckled, kneeling down to look at the little girl, “Your mother is right. You can’t do things like that. You will scare your mother and father.”

The girl looked down, Feldt and Setsuna sensing her guilt. She shuffled in front of her parents, “I’m sorry.”

Setsuna gave her a smile, picking her up, “It’s alright. Just don’t do it again.” He kissed her on the forehead, the girl blushing happily. He looked at Marina, casually smiling, “I’m sorry about that. We’ve told her not to rush off like that.”

Marina shook her head, “It’s alright Setsuna. It could have been worse and I don’t mind being called pretty by a pretty girl.” Christina blushed at the mention of that. Marina continued, “It’s nice to see you again. It’s been so long.”

Setsuna nodded, “Yeah, it has. A lot has changed.”

Marina smiled warmly, “Please introduce me to your family.”

Feldt intertwined her hand with Setsuna’s free hand, “I’m Feldt Seiei. And this is our daughter Christina.” Marina noticed the gold wedding bands on both of the adult’s hands before turning her attention to the child.

Marina gave a motherly smile at the little girl, “How old are you?”

Christina held up four fingers, “I’m four! And my brother Neil is two!” Christina got a good feeling about this lady. ‘Well daddy likes her.’

“Such a big girl. Are you a good older sister?” Christina nodded proudly at that, knowing it was her job to protect her brother if her mother and father weren’t around. The princess then focused her attention back on the couple, “Setsuna, is this the girl you were talking about so long ago? And where is your son?” She indicated Feldt.

He nodded, “Neil is at home being watched by a babysitter. And yes, this is her. Without you, I don’t know if I would have said anything.”  Feldt blushed at his comment.

Feldt gave Marina a smile, “Thank you for talking to him. We wouldn’t be here without you.”

Marina looked at Setsuna, peace washing over her, “You don’t need to thank me. I am happy he found a better future. I happy you two found each other. How does it feel to be parents?”

The strawberry blonde spoke first, “It’s a struggle sometimes, like when this one tries to make her own outfits, but it’s worth it.” The little girl harrumphed at that, which Feldt silently chuckled at.

Setsuna stared down at the ground slightly, frowning, “I feel the same, but sometimes I feel that…”

Feldt squeezed his hand, speaking softly, “Setsuna, we talked about this. You are a good father and even the best parents can make mistakes.”

Christina added her two cents, “Yeah daddy! I love you!” She didn’t fully understand what her mother said, but she knew Setsuna was a good father.

Setsuna smiled slightly, “Ok, you win.” Feldt pecked him on the lips, Christina looking away in disgust. Marina looked at the sight of this happy family, seeing that Setsuna still had a ways to go, but he has a loving family to support him. ‘He has found his place.’

Setsuna looked at Marina curiously, “How goes rebuilding?”

Marina gave him a tired smile, “It goes as well as can be expected. There is resistance and some people from Krugis and Azadistan disagree with my decision, but most have been placated. Whether Krugis becomes independent or not is in the air, but I’m just here to check on progress. I like to see how it’s going. I’m only here for a little bit before I move onto the next town. What are you here for?”

Setsuna sighed deeply, “I came to confront my past. This was my hometown when I was a child.” Marina nodded at him in understanding.

Just as she was about to say something, one of the bodyguards came up to her and whispered something. She looked at Setsuna with regret, “I wish I had more time to talk, but I’m needed elsewhere. It was nice to meet you and your family!”

Setsuna nodded, smiling, “It was nice to see you too.”

Feldt spoke happily, “It was nice to meet you again. Say goodbye, Christina!”

Christina waved one of her hands, still in her father’s arms, “Bye pretty lady!” Marina chuckled at that as she followed her security.

Feldt looked at Setsuna, a sense of peace washing over both of them, “It was nice to meet her. She seemed happy that you aren’t a soldier anymore.”

He nodded, “That’s what she wanted back then. After all these years, I can see why she wanted that for me.” Looking at the outskirts of town, he saw a field of yellow followers on a nearby hill. “C’mon, I want to do something.”

Setsuna guided his family to the hill, putting his daughter down halfway there, the small girl taking his hand. When he reached the top of the hill, near a ruined building, he began to collect nearby stone. Looking at Feldt, he spoke evenly, “Keep an eye on her, but let her run around.” She could sense he wanted to be alone, so she guided the little girl into the flowers, Christina happy to be free to roam.

When he collected enough stones to make a small pile, he created a rough oval shape, resting one side against a ruined wall. He inserted a stick into the pile and began to speak quietly, kneeling, “Feldt said I should talk to you, get my feelings off my chest. I’m sorry mom. I’m sorry dad. I’m sorry it took so long to come back. I felt so guilty about what I did to you and then I got caught up in Celestial Being.” A few tears began to flow down his cheeks, “But now I have a wife, a family. Something I never expected to have. I would have loved for you to meet them. To get to know your grandchildren. But I can’t take back what I did. I only hope you aren’t mad at me, though I wouldn’t blame you if you were. I hope you are at peace now.” He fought back sobs, keeping the tears partially under control, a sense of relief flowing through him, years of guilt washing away.

Standing nearby, Christina saw her father’s tears. She rushed over, flower in hand, “Don’t cry daddy! I have a flower!” She handed the flower to Setsuna, who gave her a warm smile. This was the flower he saw years ago on the battlefield as a child, a flowered that prospered in war. But here his daughter was, handing him that same flower in this peaceful time. He pulled her in close, hugging her. ‘What did I do to deserve a daughter like this?’ The little girl snuggled into him, enjoying the hug. He broke the hug, still kneeling. Christina looked at him confused for a second, before Setsuna put the flower behind her ear, gently pushing her hair back, “A flower for a pretty girl.” Happy tears came to Christina’s eyes as her father did that, energy bubbling up in her.

She looked at him and yelled excitedly, “Play with me!” Setsuna laughed and began to chase the little girl. Feldt looked on the scene, her heart bursting. It was a pure moment of happiness, watching a father and daughter play with no care in the world. There would be time later for a family moment. Now was a time for just the two of them.

Saji and Louise

The couple sat on the couch in the living room of the Halvey family mansion, the lights dimmed as a documentary played on the TV. They had just put their three-year-old son Yuki to bed and finally got a chance to relax from the endless energy of the toddler. The documentary of interest was one about Celestial Being and their impact on the world since they first showed up. Both Louise and Saji had looked at the documentary with interest, wondering how much it would reflect the truth. Feldt and Setsuna had filled them in with as much as they knew, before and after Saji left and they stayed in their house awhile.

It was strange for both of them to be on the other side of the truth. They had always been kept in the dark, but now they watched what regular people thought. The narrator began to cover the events, time passed by as they watched the expected events being covered, the couple paying particular attention to mentions of Saji’s sister. Saji began to get nervous and Louise squeezed the top of his hand, “You sure you want to watch this? I know how nervous you were getting interviewed.”

Saji shook his head, “It’s fine. I just hope they do my sister justice. She deserves better than to look bad.”

Louise nodded at that, “She was a great woman. I wish I had treated her better when I was younger. She must have thought I was a brat.”

Saji chuckled, “I’m certain she just thought we were a silly high school couple. You also did tend to be a bit impulsive.”

Louise stuck her tongue out at him, “You know you liked it. Remember when you wouldn’t kiss me in public? That was adorable.”

He pulled her in for a short kiss, smiling warmly as it broke, “Of course I do and I wouldn’t take it back for the world.” Louise snuggled into him, the pair focusing on watching the documentary. There was a discussion about Kinue, saying how good a reporter she was in digging for Aeolia’s history, shedding some light on the discussion, though Saji quietly laughed to himself about how his sister would have been stunned silent about the full plan of the guy. At last, his interview came up, Louise at his side as they had also interviewed her about her experience at the wedding. Watching through the section, there didn’t seem to be too much manipulated footage, mostly focusing on Saji’s experience of being raised by his sister.

Louise spoke curiously, “I’m surprised they didn’t try to manipulate what you said. That’s usually what happens.”

Saji shrugged, “I guess I wasn’t important enough to be that much of a worry? Also, after what the A-Laws did, I’m sure they didn’t want to look bad.”

“I suppose. Though the funniest part to me is that they keep guessing who most of the pilots were.” The documentary had tried to guess who the pilots were, but the closest they got was a bunch of former soldiers. Louise continued, “Well they were right on one of those, but I don’t think they would have guessed it was a child soldier.”

Saji replied evenly, “Still, it’s not like it’s bad that they got it wrong. They all deserve to live peaceful, happy lives.” Louise nodded in agreement, seeing how happy the former members of the crew all were now.

As it progressed more, Louise became a little uncomfortable, knowing the wedding was coming up. Saji, feeling her cuddle closer to him, pulled her to his side. She let out a breath, her nervousness leaving her body. ‘I can do this.’ Saji paused the video, looking at her, “You sure you want to continue? I know it’s still hard for you.” Louise didn’t talk about it a lot and said she had accepted it, but sometimes she had woken him up begging for her family back, though that had decreased since their son had been born.

She looked at him, determined, “Yes. I know they are gone and while I wish I could go back and save them, I can’t. I can only move forward. I can only imagine what would have happened to me if that Ribbons guy got to me.”

Saji laughed bitterly, “Then we would have been on the opposite sides of the battlefield. And I don’t know if I could have taken that.”

Louise smiled at him, “You would have gotten me back. You would have grown better to get me back as well as for yourself.”

“Probably, but I’m happy it never came to that. Ready?” She nodded and he un-paused the documentary. Footage rolled, cutting back and forth to relevant images of what happened as the narrator described what happened, shots at the wedding given a warning to the viewer about the graphic content. Intercutting that was clips of Louise’s interview, her answering questions to the best of her ability, Saji giving her strength in the interview when Louise looked like she was getting overwhelmed.

Louise, watching the documentary, kissed Saji on the cheek, “Thank you for being there for me. I don’t know if I could have made it through all the way without you.”

He smiled softly at her, “You were there for me when I spoke and you came rushing into space to get me back. It’s the least I could do for the woman I love.”

She blushed and shoved Saji lightly, “You know you can’t keep using that to flatter me. It will stop working eventually.”

He smirked, “But it hasn’t yet.” She squirmed, trying to scowl but unable to do it.

Her expression then turned serious, the narrator mentioning the gundams that blew up the wedding were different from the original ones, “At least the person who killed my family was brought to justice. I wouldn’t want Setsuna and the other pilots to be blamed. I don’t think I would have been able to hold back my anger in front of that Nena girl.”

“I wouldn’t have blamed you. All because of some personal thing. Would you have killed her?”

Louise spoke hesitatingly, “I don’t…know. I know I would have been tempted, but we can’t know for sure. But I was able to move on. My family wouldn’t have wanted me to kill her out of revenge.” Saji squeezed her hand, happy that they never had to deal with that situation.

The rest of the documentary passed, both of them getting minor mentions in relation to the A-Laws, Louise asking her contribution to the coup forces downplayed, and as the credits rolled, both sat there deep in thought.

Louise leaned her head on Saji’s shoulder, “Well that certainly wasn’t the most accurate thing I’ve seen. I can’t imagine how Setsuna or Feldt would view that.”

Saji shrugged, “You can’t really blame the documentary. They lack a lot of info that Celestial Being would want to be secret.”

Louise smiled, “I wonder if the public will ever learn the whole truth. It would certainly change the lives of a lot of people. Also how do you explain a race of immortal humans connected to a computer?”

Saji chuckled, “There are probably some people online who have guessed right, but no one believes them. But for now, this documentary is enough for me. It’s plausible enough.”

Louise yawned, “C’mon Saji, let’s go to bed. We have a ball of energy to deal with tomorrow.” Saji got up off the couch, picking up Louise princess style. Louise just smiled, enjoying being held, “Carry your queen to bed!”

Allelujah and Marie

Marie hummed to herself as she cooked lunch. She finally got a chance to relax, seeing as it was Sunday and their flower shop wasn’t open. After travelling around for a few years, the two decided to settle down, opening a flower shop after both had come to appreciate them throughout their travels. Marie had also gotten pregnant, giving birth to twins, one girl named Martha and one boy named Sergei. Both got Allelujah’s brown hair, but Sergei got Marie’s eyes while Martha got Allelujah’s heterochromatic eyes. It certainly was still a struggle to raise the two-year-olds but having a family had made the two happier than they expected. It certainly helped that they got advice from Feldt and Setsuna, who were going through the two-year-old phase at the moment with their son Neil.

The super soldiers had also come to a stable system when it came to their other personalities. For Marie, her and Soma switched more often, Soma doing a bunch of her exercising and sometimes running errands, seeing as she had lived a normal life before she joined the A-Laws. Hallelujah on the other hand came out less often, not enjoying “that peaceful crap”. The one thing that caught both of them by surprise was the fact that Soma and Hallelujah slept with each other, though Soma made sure both of them used birth control. Marie and Allelujah both asked if them if they liked the other person, but both denied it, saying they were just friends and it was stress relief. Neither Marie nor Allelujah believed them but found it more entertaining to tease them about their relationship.

As Marie pulled some chicken of the oven, she saw Allelujah walk in with the twins in his arms, the pair both glaring at each other. Marie put down the pan of chicken on the stove top and looked at Allelujah curiously, “What happened?”

Before he could respond, Sergei spoked angrily, “She stole toy!”

Martha responded equally angrily, “It my toy!”

“She started it!”

“No, he did!”

 The two began to yell back and forth, Allelujah giving Marie a frustrated sigh. This wasn’t the first time they argued over things, as they liked to compete over toys occasionally. Allelujah spoke evenly, “They were fighting over a teddy bear and they managed to rip off the legs”

‘So that’s what happened.’ Marie put her arms at her side and raised her voice, “Enough you two!” The two toddlers looked at Marie, surprised at her raising her voice, tears coming to their eyes. Marie controlled her anger, cooling down, “We’ve told you two to not fight over toys and what did you do?”

The children looked down with guilt, speaking at the same time, “Fight over toy?”

“And what did I say would happen if you guys fought over your toys?”

Martha replied evenly, “No more toy?” Marie nodded and Martha looked over at Sergei with shock and worry, him giving her the same look. The two began to cry, guilt settling in Marie’s chest. She moved over to Allelujah, picking up Martha from her husband’s arms. Both children cuddled into their parent’s chest, not liking their parents being unhappy with them, sensing the same feeling from the other twin.

She nodded, looking at Allelujah, “Is it fixable?” Allelujah nodded. She sighed and looked between her two children, “If I promise to fix the teddy bear, will you not fight over it?” Over the years, Marie learned sewing to help pass the time and a hobby to relax, which unintentionally made situations like this easier for her.

Both of them nodded desperately, Sergei speaking up through his drying tears, “We promise!”

She smiled at her children, “Good. Next time this happens, your tears won’t help. Can you please go get your toy? I can work on it today.” The two looked at her happily and the couple put the pair down, the toddlers rushing to their room to get the ripped stuffed animal. Marie leaned against the counter, “Sometimes they really are a pain.”

Allelujah gave her a warm smile, “But you love them.”

Marie blew air into her bangs, “Did I go too light on them?”

Allelujah shook his head, “They are only two. It’s not like they will fully understand why they shouldn’t do it at this point.”

Relief flowed through Marie, kissing her husband on the lips, “Thank you. How Feldt wants more children after going through this twice, I have no idea.”

Allelujah laughed, “I think it’s the fact that they can sense people emotions, even stronger than us, makes it a bit easy, though Neil is still a handful.”

“What would I do without you?”

The couple then hear small footsteps approaching them then stop. Looking down, they saw Martha and Sergei looking at them, Sergei holding the main body and Martha holding the legs of the bear. Scanning the stuffed animal, she saw it was mostly intact, though some of the stuffing had been lost. ‘I’ll probably have to get some at the store.’ She knelt down in front of the children, taking the toy from them, “If this happens again, no more teddy bear.” The two nodded, not wanting to lose their favorite stuffed animal.

Marie kissed the two children on the forehead, “You know we love both of you, right? Even when you make mistakes?” The two children wrapped their small arms around her shoulders, Marie responding in kind. Allelujah knelt down and joined the group hug, a warm atmosphere encompassing the family. The family was in their own little world, the worry about the teddy bear abating. The hug eventually broke and Marie spoke happily after putting the bear down on the counter, “Who wants chicken?”

Both children called out happily, “Chicken!” Allelujah shook his head and smiled, getting out plates. He handed the plates to Marie and watched at the two children looked up at her, happiness in their eyes looking at lunch. ‘Just another day in the Haptism family.’

Lyle and Anew

Lyle and Anew rested near the memorial where Lyle met Setsuna so many years ago. The couple had just come from leaving flowers on the graves of the Dylandy family, him introducing her to his family, even if it was only their graves. Both of them were dressed casually, him wearing a t-shirt and shorts and her a yellow summer dress. On the bench, Anew was about to say something about that when she saw Lyle leering at her legs. Rolling her eyes, she spoke quietly, “Lyle, we are in public.”

Lyle, realizing she caught him, smirked but looked up, “Listen, when you wear that summer dress that shows off your legs, you can’t expect a man to not stare at his wife’s legs.”

She smirked after rolling her eyes again, “I’m not complaining about you doing it, I’m saying don’t do it in public. You can see them all you want in private.”

Lyle wrapped an arm around her shoulder, “Fine, fine. I will say I would certainly not mind you wearing dresses and skirts more.” He let out a breath, “You know, it’s funny that we are here recruiting.”

She looked at him curiously, “Why?”

The memory of 5 years ago flashed through his mind, causing him to smile, “This was where Setsuna recruited me, casually talking about being part of Celestial Being. I half expected someone to report him just listening to our conversation.” He chuckled, “And now I’m the one here to get a recruit. How things have changed.” He did miss the old crew, despite the fact he had only been with them for six months or so, but he knew they were happy now. The ship would occasionally be updated on them, just enough to make sure they were safe.

Anew leaned her head on his shoulder, “You aren’t the only one that has had things change. I went from a member of the bridge crew to full gundam meister. I was surprised when I was offered that.” Sometime after the other pilots left, Sumeragi and Tieria had come to offer her a position as a meister. She had tried to deny it, her guilt telling her she shouldn’t, but she was convinced by Lyle to do it after the tactical forecaster and Tieria had given her time to think. Not only did they need pilots, but she could fight by his side on the battlefield. When she had accepted, Tieria had spoken to her privately through Veda, telling her she could also use the trial system in a case of emergencies and that there should always be an innovade on the team.

Lyle responded to her comment with a smile, waving in front of her face to get her attention, seeing her lost in thought, “Well you were an innovade, so you could always be a good pilot. Besides, you became a badass spy chick. I always wanted to date one of those after watching spy movies as a kid.”

She rolled her eyes at his flirting, “You know flattery isn’t needed, right?” Privately she loved the praise, but she loved giving him a hard time at the same time.

“Well, a man should make sure his wife feels good, in all ways.” He raised an eyebrow flirtatiously. She shoved him playfully. Lyle continued, voice turning serious, “How did that immortality thing go? I heard you and Tieria were working on that and you disappeared for a while right before this trip.”

She let out a breath, “After so long, Tieria figured out how to shut it down, though he warned that there was no way to turn it back on. He also said it would weaken my connection slightly to Veda, but it was negligible at best. He said he approved of it, saying humanity made Tieria the…man he became?”

“I would say he’s more computer than man, but he was a human in spirit.” His tone became hesitant, “So did you…”

She nodded, “Yes. I said years ago I want to grow old with you. I don’t want to have to watch you grow old alone. Ribbons would be upset with how human I want to be. But then again, his opinion could go to hell.”

“I can agree on Ribbons opinion being worthless. And while I would love to be the old guy with a hot wife, growing old with you sounds good.” He brought her into a passionate kiss, both of them smiling into it. As the kiss broke, Lyle smirked, “I wonder how I can explain I have a six-year-old girlfriend.”

She blushed and fake scowled, shoving him again, causing him to fall off the bench, “You ass!” People turned their head at the couple, wondering what was going on, before looking away and going about their business.

Lyle looked at her mock offended, standing up as he dusted himself off, “What did I do to deserve that? I was only making an observation!”

Anew shook her head, “Sometimes you have to learn to keep your mouth shut. We were having a moment.”

He gave her a roguish smile, “Well I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t say something that cause that reaction. It’s one thing I love about you.”

She tried to maintain her scowl, but couldn’t and began to laugh, “We are quite the couple, aren’t we?” He nodded in agreement, getting back on the bench, wrapping his arm around her shoulder again. The two sat in a comfortable silence, waiting for their recruit to appear. Lyle let out a relaxed breath. ‘I hope this recruit is a good one.’

Sumeragi and Lasse

Sumeragi spoke curiously, “I wonder when Lyle is going to show up with the new recruit.”

Lasse responded casually, his voice echoing around the waiting area of the private hanger they were in, “Lyle said he and Anew should be here soon. They were going on the elevator when I last talked to them a few hours ago.”

Sumeragi looked thoughtful, her shoulders full of tension, “I hope he can work with the rest of us. We can’t be sure of that till he joins.”

Lasse waved off her concerns, “Tieria and Veda recommended him and our reports show he will be a good match. You have to relax.”

Sumeragi let out a deep breath. Ever since most of the meisters left, the pilot positions had been empty. Anew had filled in the role for one of them, but they were still down two pilots. The good thing was they weren’t really needed, the ESF was able to handle their own problems, with assistance from Veda. They had occasionally dealt with threats on the fringes of the Federation, but they wanted to avoid any attention from the ESF, seeing as they were still the enemy of the public, even after the A-Laws.

Lasse rolled his eyes, knowing she was thinking too hard, “So, Sumeragi, how are the Seiei family? I know you are spying on them.”

Sumeragi was broken out of her thoughts by that, blushing slightly, “I just want to make sure they are happy.”

Lasse quirked an eyebrow, “And you don’t want pictures of their kids, grandma?” He had noticed throughout the years that she looked at stuff coming from the family like a proud grandmother.

She smirked, “Well Feldt is like a daughter to me, so I would say yes to that.” Her mind brought up memories of Setsuna and Feldt’s wedding, with one standing out in particular.

Sumeragi walked into Feldt’s changing room in the Halevy Mansion, having been told the bride wanted to talk with her. She had come in disguise, a blonde wig instead of her normal hair, just in case pictures with her made their way to social media. What shocked her was looking at Feldt in her wedding dress as Marie was working on her hair. While it was simple, it fit the now strawberry blonde woman perfectly. Sumeragi could feel tears coming to her eyes, proud of seeing her finding a place in this new world. Feldt turned her head at the sound of the door, turning her body slightly looking at Sumeragi, “Ms. Sumeragi! You showed up!”

Sumeragi gave her a warm smile, “Of course I’m here. I would never miss your wedding.” One thing that became apparent to Sumeragi was the fact that Feldt was beginning to show a baby bump. More tears came to her eyes, “You’re pregnant?”

Feldt blushed at the mention of that, “I can’t hide anything from you. I wanted to get your opinion on something.” Feldt looked down slightly at her lap, Sumeragi easily seeing this was important. Feldt took a deep breath and continued, “I was thinking of naming the baby Christina if it was a girl or Neil if it was a boy.” Feldt could feel tears beginning to come up at the mention of the two.

Marie, seeing what was happening, sighed in relief, “It was a good choice to get waterproof makeup.”

Sumeragi nodded and looked at her daughter with proud eyes, “Both of them would have felt honored.” Feldt felt more tears coming up, closing her eyes. A rush of happiness rushed through her and she stood up, pulling Sumeragi into a close hug. Sumeragi just closed her eyes, enjoying seeing Feldt on the happiest day in her life.

Lasse saw a tear come down the tactical forecasters face, “Getting lost in thought again?”

Sumeragi wiped away the tear, “Just thinking about Setsuna and Feldt’s wedding. It’s so strange to think that we got the chance to live a happy life and turned it down.”

Lasse laughed, “We are here to keep the world safe, regardless to the cost to ourselves. But the grass is always greener on the other side.”

 Sumeragi smirked, “It certainly is. And I heard you talked to Ian a few weeks ago.” The group tried to avoid contact with the rest of the old crew out of safety, meaning events like the wedding were rare, but they would occasionally contact each other to keep everyone in the loop.

“Yeah, I ran into the old man a few weeks ago on a resupply run. He filled me in on what’s going on with the Vashti family. He is still running that mechanic shop, but Mileina is focused on getting her engineering degree, so she’s there less. And Linda works with R&D in a civilian company now, developing aircraft and shuttles.”

Sumeragi smiled at the success the family was having, in particular Mileina. She always thought the girl was bright and now she got the chance to used it in a better life. She replied happily, “That’s good to hear. If you ever meet Ian again, tell him I miss his complaining. Our new mechanic definitely needs to get stress tested.”

Lasse snorted, “He will work out. Just needs some experience. And I will if I see Ian again. I’m certain he would want to complain to you about stuff he goes through on a daily basis.”

“It’s certainly not the same without him. The new-“ Her sentence was interrupted by the sound of the door to the waiting room they were in opening and Anew and Lyle stepping in.

Lyle gave them a casual wave, “Yo! We got the guy, right here!”

From behind him, an older blonde man with a scar over his right eye stepped up, looking at the tactical forecaster with a neutral look, “Graham Aker, reporting for duty!”