Turn, Turn and Turn [A]gain! (Turn A Gundam Quest)

[X] Bring everyone.



By the time you and the others have launched (i.e., jumped out of the side of the Borjarnaught due to its lack of a proper launch catapult), the Lieutenant is already floating in front of the bridge of the Gendarme-Class in his Gold SUMO. Corin and Arisa have altered the flight units on their Leos as best they could, but they are still fundamentally designed for atmospheric combat and as such Sochie's Qubeley leaves them in the dust.

Vestige told you that the Qubeley was a space superiority Mobile Suit, and now that you can see one dancing gracefully in zero gravity you believe it. Sochie is, of course, delighted about her Mobile Suit's speed, and takes to flying around in space like a fish to water.

Interestingly, the Gendarme-Class doesn't launch any of its own Mobile Suits until your team starts to move around the hangar. Gadget and her two manned teammates forgo their ship's launch catapult and simply hop out of the hangar bay before they use their maneuvering thrusters to float protectively around the Gendarme-Class.

Each of the greatshield-carrying Mobile Suits are holding a copy of that harpoon weapon those odd people shot you with months ago, and Gadget's Gundam is carrying one on its back. Yet none of their weapons are pointed towards you or your team, the lone exception being Gadget's oversized mace, which she is gesturing at the White Doll with.

Annoyance leaks out of her Pressure when she contacts you, her face mirroring it when the image appears. "Listen, y-!" Whatever she was about to say is interrupted when she gets a good look at you and screams in unadulterated terror. Her scream is accompanied by waves of terrified Pressure, each thrashing as if whipped. Her subordinates are confused at first, but then their helmeted, obscured faces join hers in the comm-channel and they join her in the terror.

Gadget gets a hold of herself within seconds, the fear banished by realization followed by white-hot rage. "You-you bastard. You absolute fuck." She hisses, spittle staining the inside of her helmet. "If this wasn't the Zacktraeger…if I wouldn't have to explain to Master Gym…if the Dragon wasn't-!"

She stops, still trembling in anger even as her rage cools to shining black ice. "I won't start a fight here, but next time?" Gadget leaves it unsaid by cutting the comm-link and resuming her idle position around the Gendarme-Class. Her Pressure told you she was being honest, so you continue as planned, splitting your team into two pairs.

Corin and Arisa will remain within the Zacktraeger dock as a safeguard while you and Sochie travel up the Zacktraeger's pillar to find a secondary control center. The vast pillar linking the dock and the central unit is about as long as the distance between the Amerian west and east coasts and is studded with small bases and control stations to make managing it easier, and if you find one you might be able to make them disengage the lockdown they placed on the Lunamantique and the Borjarnaught.




*


"What was she so afraid of?" Asks Sochie as the two of you scale the pillar. You have been wondering that yourself, and from the way Vestige is stirring it seems as if they have an idea.

Is it not obvious? Because of that combat suit you are wearing they, for one single instant, thought that you were Kreis.

That actually explains a lot. "Corin did say that the Ghingham Fleet inherited most of the resources of Kreis Kreuz' organization." You note before relaying Vestige's words to Sochie.

And now we know that they know. By the way, incoming from above.

The White Doll's sensors alert you to the presence of two WaDoms, painted purple to reveal them as WaDom Space Types. They are using the moving handles connecting sections of the Zacktraeger pillar in a manner like those used in spaceships to help the crew get around in zero gravity conditions.



They have also spotted you.

"Attention Earth Mobile Suits." Says the pilot of the lead WaDom over an open channel. "We are here to review the Ghingham Fleet's request that we lock down two other vessels making use of the Zacktraeger. Return to the dock immediately or be fired upon."


[] Refuse.
--[] Use Current Battleplan.
--[] New Battleplan (Write in).

[] Comply.

[X] Comply.


A quick touch of the White Doll's controls brings the ancient Mobile Suit to a halt. The Pressure of the soldiers piloting the incoming WaDoms tenses along with Sochie, who has brought her Qubeley to a stop behind you. You activate your comm-gear and broadcast over an open channel.

"This is Captain Laura Rola of the Inglessan Militia. Moonrace troops, do not fire. We will comply and return to the docking area."

Sochie hesitates as you bring the White Doll around to go back down the Zacktraeger's pillar, but after a moment of reluctance she lets her Mobile Suit be dragged along by yours to the elevator handles. It is not the most dignified of sights, but the Borjarnaught can only carry so much fuel and you need to save what you have.


*


The WaDoms do not attack upon their arrival, but they do block the Lunamantique and the Borjarnaught's launch ways to prevent them from trying to break the lockdown by force while they carry out the inspection. Above you the Gendarme-Class is preparing to launch, Gadget and her followers slipping back inside the battlecruiser lest they be left behind.

What happens next is…odd.

Kihel and Dianna broadcast a command to lift the lockdown on the Lunamantique and the Borjarnaught so that they can conduct peace negotiations on the Moon. Then they immediately switch personas to talk 'Dianna Soleil to Dianna Soleil, Kihel Heim to Kihel Heim' as the Gendarme-Class launches from the Zacktraeger.





You are psychic, and you still had trouble following that. No wonder that the unpowered WaDom pilots are asking the personnel manning the Zacktraeger to lift the lockdown.

They even salute the two ships as they lift off.



With that experience behind you, you decide to get some lunch. It will be a welcome break after all that has happened the past two hours. Besides, you haven't had any Mexican food for years and the supplies Taruka gifted the Borjarnaught earlier today should give you enough to make something simple if they let you into the kitchen.

Although it does make you wonder: What is a Mexican, anyway? Maybe Vestige knows.


*


The next morning begins with you eating breakfast with Sochie and ends with you launching in the White Doll to rescue a drunken Sergeant Yannis from death by 'trying to return to Earth by means of a wooden ale barrel'. As the frostbitten soldier is being carted away by the medics, you cannot help but notice the tension in the air. Seems like the militiamen are having trouble adjusting to being in space (you keep finding them on the ceiling, crashing into things, and floating around helplessly), and it is starting to take its toll on morale.

But really, storming the bridge with rifles and herding everyone but the pilots (you think their names are Jacop and Bruno, from what you have heard from Corin) out before barricading the doors and demanding that the Borjarnaught return to Earth immediately? Way out of line.

"Colonel Gern!" Demands Lord Guin, imperiously punctuating his shout by punching the door. "Open this door this instant! We can talk about this!"



Colonel Gern's response is so fraught with misunderstandings and outright ignorance that you are made speechless. If you couldn't feel the way his panicking mind has been consumed by an overwhelming desire to return to a terrestrial environment you might have hated the man, but as is…

"Does this mean we are going back?" Asks a militiaman with his wits about him.

Lord Guin wastes no time in chastising him. "Don't be foolish! With the Moon being such a distant threat, we must make sure that Queen Diana succeeds in reigning in her government. Nothing else can end this war as easily as that." He straightens away from the door. "Therefore, we must keep going."

"Lord Guin…" Swoons Lady Lily as she embraces him from behind. "You truly are our brave and heroic leader."



It wouldn't be right to call her words false, but she is definitively acting a lot more smitten than she actually is.

Your mind races as you look at the door. Lady Lily seems like she has a plan, but there are more direct options available. You could use mental attacks to put the mutineers to sleep, or clairvoyance and telekinesis to find and use the control panel on the bridge to make the doors open. On the other hand, you are still wearing the Combat Suit from your earlier sortie, so you could just force open the door and disable the mutineers yourself. That last one might be too risky, though…


[] Let Lady Lily take the lead.

[] Mental attacks.

[] Clairvoyance and Telekinesis.

[] Go in physically.

[] You kinda wonder what it feels like to use Psyco-Control on a person…

[] Write in.

[X] Let Lady Lily take the lead.


You remain silent, letting Lady Lily take the lead. She clearly has some sort of plan to resolve this mess. Her first move is to whisper something to Lord Guin before she extricates herself and walks up to the door to the bridge.

"Colonel Michael?"

"What is it!" Comes the gruff response, muffled by the door.

Lord Guin whispers something to Sid, something that Lady Lily clearly hears, for from the side her smile can only be described as predatory. "If I give myself up as a hostage, will you agree to negotiate?"

You miss her next words as Sochie, who is wondering about something judging by her Pressure, elbows you in the side. "Hey, why don't we use the White Doll to break in?"

"Because is it a vacuum outside, as well as a massive temperature difference." Answers Fran, who inserts herself into the conversation. "If you broke a hole in the hull we wouldn't be able to use the bridge, and we have no way of repairing the damage either."

Speaking of the bridge, there is a whole lot of shouting and panicked Pressure coming out of it. And where did Sid go? The bridge door suddenly opens, releasing a flood of gasping militiamen that rushes towards the hangar with Colonel Michael in the lead. Whatever they are planning it cannot be good, so you hurry to follow them with Sochie, Corin, and Arisa in tow.

When it becomes clear that they are planning to attempt to return to Earth by taking the non-White Doll Mobile Suits you put your foot down, putting them to sleep with mental attacks. It is not ideal, but you would rather avoid having to launch to keep them from killing themselves again today.


*


Morale is still close to rock bottom amongst the mutineers, but at least they have calmed down after waking up. You understand that they are scared, but to let them take the Mobile Suits would have gotten them killed if you didn't also launch to bring them back, and if you did they would still have thrown away precious fuel.

And yet you still feel bad about it…

At least you aren't the one who has to explain this mess to the people aboard the Lunamantique.

During the bustle you almost forget to ask Sid what happened on the bridge. Apparently Lady Lily asked him to cut off the air supply to the bridge, making the Militiamen panic.


*


The next day sees Sochie, Fran, Miashei and yourself hanging around the hangar while the militiamen are trying to get used to life in zero gravity through exercises recommended by Lieutenant Harry.



"I knew something was up with you the moment you and that baker met with Loran by the museum back then." Declares Sochie, having figured out that Fran is of the Moonrace. "Besides, it was obvious by looking at how you have been acting since we came to outer space."

Your friend cannot help but giggle at your girlfriend's tone. "Is that so?"

"So…" Asks Miashei. "This expedition is just a trip home for you, then?"

Fran shrugs. "I guess so, but, what I would really like to do is to write a book about all this."

"I would like to read that book." Mumbles Sochie as she leans back against the wall, a minor application of telekinesis keeping her from floating away. "I'd love it if you published it in Inglessa if we make it."

Fran nods "I'd love to, if we make it."

They've both changed a lot since all this began almost half a year ago…

You are brought out of your musings when the terminal you are clustered around receiving a message from the bridge. The face of one of the Borjarnaught's borrowed helmsmen appears a moment later, telling you that they are passing on a message from the Lunamantique:

The real Queen Dianna has contacted the two ships.


*


By 'the real Queen Dianna has contacted the two ships' he meant that she is broadcasting what sounds like Amerian ballroom music over an open channel from the Misteltoe, an abandoned asteroid colony. From what you remember from your history textbooks at school, it was intended for agricultural research but was later abandoned late in Queen Junno's reign.



"Queen Dianna must be hiding on that colony." Says Lieutenant Harry over the laser-link allowing the two ships to communicate. "There isn't anyone living there, nor is it being monitored outside of the odd routine scan."

"But that does not mean that we were the only ones who have heard this signal." Argues Lord Guin before he turns to you. "Laura, I want you to go out and retrieve her with your White Doll."

"I will go as well." States the Lieutenant. "Alone. We cannot afford to leave the ships undefended."

Lord Guin nods in agreement. "Quite." He turns to you. "I leave it up to you who you want to take with you, but please leave enough to defend this ship."

He doesn't need to remind you, you have already decided on who you will take to go with you and the lieutenant:


[] Sochie.

[] Corin & Arisa.

[] Nobody, you will head out alone.

[X] Sochie.


You decide to take Sochie with you to the Mistletoe, leaving Corin, Arisa, and the Militia pilots behind to protect the Borjarnaught. The White Doll's Lightwave Thrusters only need electrical power, so you have it hold the hand of Sochie's Qubeley and pull them along with you to conserve fuel.


*


After linking up with Lieutenant Harry and his Gold SUMO it takes about an hour of steady burn forward until you have reached the Mistletoe. It is no less lumpy than it was on the monitor, or in the pictures in your history textbook.



Sochie interrupts your musings by opening a comm-channel to both you and the Lieutenant. "Hey, what was this place used for? You said it was abandoned."

It is the Lieutenant that answers. "It was a laboratory dedicated to manufacturing new crops and other organic solutions to the Moon's problems. Queen Junno, Her majesty's mother, opened it after the Calamity as part of the effort to rebuild the Moon, but it was shut down and abandoned a few centuries later."

"They called it the 'Green Star of Soleil' in my schoolbooks." You add, prompting a scoff from Sochie.



"What sort of star is this supposed to be? Aren't stars supposed to shine and twinkle?"

"It is a metaphor, Sochie Heim." Sighs the Lieutenant. "However, there is something I must share with you both."

You blink, both at his words and the six Presences closing in on Mistletoe from another angle. "We have incoming, six of them. They feel like they are the ones with Gadget." You warn them. "Whatever it is, say it fast."

He has refrained from making use of the White Doll to save the fuel in his Booster Skirt on the way here, but now he brings his Gold SUMO closer to Sochie and yourself.

"I…I wanted to make use of Kihel Heim as Her Majesty's shield. Someone who could play her role and assassinate her enemies without risking the Queen herself. But…" A rare form of Pressure leaks from the Lieutenant, one you usually encounter whenever you and Sochie get a moment to yourselves. Both of you already knew about Kihel's feelings towards Harry Ord, but Harry Ord himself has gained the means to hide his feelings when he gained powers like your own.

"But what?" Sochie snaps irritably. She has made no secret of her disapproval of her sister's feelings for the Lieutenant, sometimes to his face even, so he cannot have expected anything else from her.

"But before she was taken by the Ghingham Fleet, Her Majesty shared that people with powers like yours, and now mine, could tell her and Kihel Heim apart by reading their brainwaves. Then I started to feel the same kind of aura around the Ghingham Fleet operatives under Gadget that I felt around you, Loran Cehack." So he knows, then again you already knew that. No real reason to keep it secret anymore, really. "If you could identify Queen Dianna, then it stood to reason that they will be able to identify Kihel. My plan failed before I could even begin."

He chuckles darkly, mostly at himself. Vestige on the other hand is outright laughing at him as he refocuses on the task at hand.

"My powers and sensors are not as strong as your own, Cehack. How close are they?"

You check the position of the incoming units. "Close."

They have divided themselves into two teams of three, one skimming above the surface of the main asteroid.



While the other team is coming around one of the towers covering Mistletoe.



They might sense your presence, but for now they only seem to be firing randomly into the station. You decide to-


[] Stand and fight.

[] Focus on finding Dianna.

[] Stay behind while sending someone to look for the Queen within Mistletoe.
--[] Send Sochie.
--[] Send Harry.
--[] Send both of them.



As for how you will fight...


[] Engagement range.
--[] Stay at Long Range.
--[] Keep normal distance.
--[] Close in.

[] Mobility.
--[] Stick with the Lightwave Maneuvering Thrusters (Flight Mode).
--[] Risk using the Voiture Lumiere.

[] Initial Left Hand Weapon.
--[] Dober Gun.
--[] Leo Beam Rifle.
--[] Type-TX Beam Pistol.
--[] Dainsleif Spear.
--[] Muttowooo Gunsword.
--[] None.

[] Destruction Manipulator Melee Weapon.
--[] Beam Saber.
--[] Beam Cutter.
--[] Shining Finger.

[] Destruction Manipulator Ranged Weapon.
--[] Beam Rifle.
--[] Buster Rifle.
--[] Beam Machinegun.

[] Defenses.
--[] Activate the Lightwave Shield.
--[] Activate the I-Field.
--[] Activate both of them.

[] NT Systems.
--[] Stick to the Psychoframe.
--[] Activate the NT-D Mode.

[] NT Power.
Choose 2
--[] Telekinetic Strike.
--[] Telepathic Strike.
--[] Telekinetic Barrier.
--[] NT Empathy.
--[] Psyco-Regen.

[] Psycho-Field. (NT-D Mode only)
--[] Spatial Distortion.
--[] Deluge.
--[] Invasion.
--[] Dream Ward.
--[] Temporal Jaunt.
--[] Refrain from using a Psycho-Field ability.

[] Chorus. (Only if Sochie is present)
--[] Yes.
--[] No.