Turn Plan
[X] Plan RE: The Children (and Dr Saotome) Aren't Alright
-[X] Mandatory (does not count against action count): New Year's party!
--[X] Archangel crew and pilots
-[X] Check in with the EVA pilots
-[X] Check on the Magic Knights
--[X] Lucia
-[X] Unholy Alliance -> Unholy Matrimony
-[X] Retroactive Thesis
-[X] Patchwork Amalgam
-[X] Second Advent
Mandatory End of Turn Event: Decisive Fire
January UE 0084
Lunar Orbit over Giganos territory
You are Kati Mannequin, and you, along with a substantial force from Katharon, the Dragonar Team, and the unit of Celestial Being under command of the woman you know to be Leesa Kujo have been monitoring communications between what you now know to be one of Ribbons' flunkies and Giganos itself.
What you've heard so far has been...interesting. Apparently, the Blue Hawk of Giganos, Meio Plato, has some reservations about collaborating with Ribbons, but given recent clashes with the Jovian Federation, Field Marshall Dorchenov has disregarded practically all protest from within his own ranks, and is eagerly incorporating both GN Particle technology and A-LAWS soldiers into his ranks and strategies.
Perhaps a bit too eagerly, if an intercepted communication from one Bring Stabity to Ribbons is any indication. The message itself is incredibly short, but what it says speaks volumes: 'The fool is falling for our ploy hook, line, and sinker.'
Well, it looks like Ribbons isn't going to be content playing second fiddle forever.
You open a line with Celestial Being's new ship.
"Leesa, are your preparations complete?" You ask.
"For the most part. One of our new Gundams is having some teething problems, but my engineers say it shouldn't be a problem for the upcoming operation." Leesa Kujo replies.
"I'll take your word for it. Good hunting out there." You say.
"Same to you, Kati." Kujo says.
You close the line with the
Ptolemios II, and open a different line with the other command ships Katharon sent. The video links come to life, and you're greeted by the faces of Sergei Smirnov and Graham Aker.
"Gentlemen." You greet them.
"Colonel Mannequin, a pleasure as always." Sergei says.
"What's our plan?" Graham asks.
"Our primary objective is to obtain intelligence on what Giganos and the A-LAWS are planning. As such, this mission is essentially going to be a smash and grab, although we'll need to provide a distraction so our hacking team can safely get into the facility we're going to hit. Any questions?" You say.
No one really has anything to ask, so you all end the call after some discussion of the particulars of the operation and make preparations for the raid.
Aboard the
Ptolemios II
You are Setsuna F. Seiei, and you look up at your new Gundam with a mixture of reverence and apprehension. Reverence because you are Gundam, and apprehension because the new system it has is quite fickle even at the best of times.
"Setsuna?" Someone says. You turn to see Feldt drifting in the microgravity toward you.
"Feldt. Is something the matter?" You ask.
"Just...please, come back safely. After what happened to Neil, Lichty, and Christina, I...I don't want to lose another friend." Feld says, her lip trembling.
You don't really know how to respond to that, and so are taken by surprise when Feldt suddenly comes up and kisses you on the cheek. She blushes heavily before hastily leaving the hangar, almost running into Nena Trinity on the way out.
"What was that?" Nena asks.
"Feld just kissed me on the cheek." You say as you touch the area in question.
"Well, lucky you! I suppose I might as well do this now then." Nena swoops in and kisses you on the mouth. You recoil in shock and shove her off.
"What was that for?" You ask.
"Just something I wanted to do for a while. Don't worry, I won't get in the way of you and Feldt though." Nena flashes a peace sign before kicking off toward the Throne Drei.
"...I don't understand women." You say out loud.
You'll have to ask Heero and Sosuke for advice on how to handle your relationship with Feldt.
You get into your new Gundam and boot it up.
"Hey Setsuna, finally deigned to show up, you prima donna, huh?" Lyle Dylandy playfully ribs you. He's Neil Dylandy's twin brother and replacement as the new Lockon Stratos.
"Some of the crew wanted to talk to me in person before I launched." You say. Lyle seems to accept this explanation, as he doesn't say anything else.
You take a look at the launch roster and are surprised to see Saji piloting the 0 Gundam.
"Saji? What are you doing? You don't have to fight." You say.
"I..I feel like I have to do something. How am I going to get Louise back if I don't take a more active role in things? Besides, I have the red Haro helping me pilot. Worst comes to worst, it'll take over and get me back to the ship if things get too hairy." Saji says.
"If you insist." You say.
After that, everyone starts launching.
"Tieria Erde, Gundam Seravee, launching!"
"Allelujah Haptism, Gundam Arios, launching!"
"Soma Peries, GN Archer, launching!"
"Lockon Stratos, Gundam Cherudim, launching!"
"Nena Trinity, Gundam Throne Drei, launching!"
"Saji Crossroad, 0 Gundam, launching!"
It's your turn now. You take a deep breath.
"Setsuna F. Seiei, 00 Gundam, launching!" You declare.
You and your fellow Gundam Meisters are joined by the Metal Armors of the Dragonar team, which have upgraded with new thruster units, in addition to Graham Aker, Sergei Smirnov, and Patrick Colasour in their GN-XIIIs. Aside from them, there are also numerous GN-Xs, GN-XIIIs, Flags, and Jegans from Task Force Katharon, in addition to Dragoons, the Federation's first Metal Armor, apparently designed using data taken from studying the Metal Armors of the Dragonar team.
"Ok, people, make some noise! We have to distract Giganos and the A-LAWS long enough for our hacking team to infiltrate the facility and steal whatever intel they can get their hands on! Hop to it!" Graham Aker yells.
Your assembled force charges forward, clashing against Metal Armors and Mobile Suits. You note with some consternation that Ribbons seems to have spread GN Tau technology to Giganos, as there are numerous GN-X and GN-XIII models on the battlefield, in addition to a new design that seems to be a high-spec combination of the GN-XIII and the Tieren Taozi and heavily resembles the proposed Ahead.
One of these Aheads rushes forward and fires its beam rifle at you, and you respond by shifting the 00's GN Drives into the frontal position.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7iHTqMzRuc
There's a large burst of green GN particles, and they coalesce in front of your Gundam, causing the enemy beam round to harmlessly disperse.
You respond by firing your GN rifle, coring the enemy Ahead. A GN-XIII hurls a canister of anti-beam chaff at you before charging at the 00 with some kind of lance, and you respond by shifting the GN rifle into sword mode and cleaving the enemy machine in half. A series of explosions gets your attention, and you see the Gundam Seravee firing its beam cannons into the enemy indiscriminately, reducing Metal Armors and Mobile Suits alike to molten droplets in the void. Close by, the Gundam Arios and the GN Archer work in tandem to cut apart any enemy machine that gets close to them, and the Gundam Cherudim takes off the limbs and heads of enemy machines from a distance.
A new cluster of contacts on your sensors reveals itself to be Meio Plato and his squadron, and the Dragonar team immediately move to intercept them.
"Meio! Can't you see that Giganos is being manipulated?" Kaine Wakaba yells over an open frequency.
"Even if it is, I cannot disobey my superiors. Show me your resolve, Kaine Wakaba!" Meio yells as his Metal Armor jockeys for position against Dragonar 1.
As the other members of the Dragonar team and some Dragoons step in to help Kaine, you spot a custom Ahead. Apparently Nena noticed to.
"Hey, Crossroad, something's off about that Ahead, it's heading right for you!" Nena alerts Saji.
The 0 Gundam pivots to face the new Ahead, and Saji screams in a mixture of terror and a battle cry as he fires the 0 Gundam's GN beam rifle, GN Condensors flaring. The enemy Ahead easily dodges Saji's telegraphed shots and fires back. Saji is able to dodge the first beam, but is forced to rely on the 0 Gundam's shield to deflect the rest of the salvo.
"He's outmatched, we need to help him!" Nena says as the Throne Drei jets toward the duel. Her point is accentuated by the Ahead drawing a beam saber and charging at the 0 Gundam. Saji hastily holsters his beam rifle before drawing a beam saber and clumsily deflecting the first blow.
Although you're not a Newtype, you feel an almost imperceptible shift in Saji's mood, as he seems to come to some kind of realization.
"Louise, is that you?!" He asks in horror.
"S-Saji...?" Louise says before she screams and redoubles her assault on the 0 Gundam in a berserk rage.
Nena fires the Throne Drei's GN handguns at Louise's Ahead, which is forced to momentarily back off, but that only succeeds in making Nena the new target of Louise's berserk rampage, as she charges at the Throne Drei.
You intercede and kick Louise's Ahead away.
This is going nowhere! You think to yourself.
What does Setsuna do next?
[ ] Assist Saji and Nena in disabling Louise's Ahead and capturing her
-Guaranteed success, but you currently have no way break whatever brainwashing Ribbons subjected Louise to, and there is the distinct possibility that she will escape later.
[ ] There are two new GN Particle powered mobile suits on the field that aren't GN-X series or Aheads, and they're harassing Tieria. Assist him in destroying them.
-Guaranteed to kill Bring Stabity, with a moderate chance to kill Devine Nova.
A/N:
And so, the start of this quest's equivalent to Gundam 00 Season 2. I hope everyone is in character. Also, upgraded stats for the new 00 Gundam stuff will come later because it's a lot to update. Please vote, discuss, and critique!