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

[X] Link up with the Florians and spend the night there.


"The Moonrace's flying battleship is based out of here." You say, tapping your finger against the map you made as you explain your findings to a gathering of Florian officers. "But the majority of the Dianna Counter Mechanical Dolls are based out of a fortified base camp here."

As the sky started to darken you decided to head south and sneak through the Dianna Counter lines to link up with the Florians. There was some mistrust to be found when you introduced yourself to a patrol of brown-clad soldiers in the middle of the night, but apparently your reputation (and the White Doll's picture) precedes you and they gave you directions to the nearest camp. That was last night, and now that it is daytime you have been introduced to one Ishmael Dant, the Colonel of the Florian Militia.

Colonel Dant is only happy to get his hands on Dianna Counter bases and patrol routes, and takes you on a quick tour of his forces. Floria is a lot less industrialized than Inglessa and even Luzianna, and it shows in their lack of armored vehicles, reliance on horse cavalry, and an air force that is outdated by Inglessan standards.

Where the Florans are strong is in their Mobile Suit force: More than a dozen, admittedly primitive-looking, Mobile Suits are parked at the center of the Florian Headquarters' motor pool. They are threaded instead of having proper legs, but those cannons they are sporting seem very formidable.



"The men call them the Geese." Explains the Colonel as he guides you past them. Corin and Arisa are with their Leos at the edge of the Florian Headquarters. "The proper name for one is Grand Cannoneer, but that was shortened to 'GC' to save ink on the reports, so now they are the Geese."

True to his word, the Florians have painted geese on the side of their Mobile Suits.

"By the way…Captain Rola?" He asks somewhat hesitatingly as he leads you into a guarded tent near the fuel storage. "You Inglessans have more experience with Dark History artifacts, so I wanted your opinion." The guards let him inside without trouble and once inside he walks straight up to a safe, which he unlocks with a key fastened around his neck.

And from it he withdraws a multicolored cube. "Have you ever seen anything like this, Captain?"

You nod. "Yes, sir. That is a device called a Nano-Block. The White Doll-"


[] "Uses them to repair itself."

[] "Can use them to repair next to anything, but the Nano-Block is expended in the process."


*


Once you are done with the Florians it is time for the Laura Rola Autonomous Mechanical Doll Corps to return to Headquarters. It is just a matter of deciding which route to take.


[] Northwest. Recheck the area closest to the Dianna Counter core.

[] North. Recheck the Dianna Counter's extended patrols and the battleship base.

[] Northeast. Recheck the Dianna Counter's previous expedition.



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Guntank MP Stats.

[X] "Can use them to repair next to anything, but the Nano-Block is expended in the process."


"-Can use them to repair next to anything, but the Nano-Block is expended in the process."

Colonel Dant's eyes widen before they return to the cube in his hand. "Truly?" At your nod he clutches it to his chest and exits the storage tent, barking for a car the moment he exits the flap. You jog after him to keep up.

"It might be presumptuous," He says once you have fallen in beside him. "But there is a find, damaged beyond our ability to repair, that I would like you to look at."

"Sir?"

"Please follow me." He asks as he gets into a car, hastily procured by confused, brown-clad militiamen. "I will take you to it."


*


Following the Colonel's car from the air is slow going due to the terrain and roads in poor repair, but you eventually reach a dig site to the southeast of the Florian headquarters. To be honest, it is less of a dig site and more of a place where a part of the hillside collapsed to reveal a ruined shell of spent nano-skin. Colonel Dant exits the car, Nano-Block in hand, and is met by confused Florians. You do not listen in to what he says to them, but after a minute he waves you through.

There isn't nearly enough room for the White Doll or the Leos to enter the tunnel, but you can look in from the outside. It is shallow enough that you can see the wrecked mobile suit within-

"IT'S A GUNDAM!"

Corin's scream, broadcasted over his Leo's loudspeakers as well as your team's channel, sends both you and the Florians into a moment of panic, but after a few seconds with no follow-up it turns into confusion.

"Thanks, Corin. I can see that." Arisa drily remarks once things have calmed down. "Not one I recognize though. Colors remind me of the Turn A, but the shape says AGE-One to me."

"Same." Corin admits. "But I'd add Zero-One to the list of things this Gundam reminds me of."

"If the circus act is done with, may we proceed?" Demands Colonel Dant, clearly flustered from the display of your technical subordinates. His request is simple: Use the Nano-Block to repair the Gundam. Sounds simple enough…


You place the Nano-Block in the White Doll's hand, letting go once it partially fuses with your mobile Suit before entering the cockpit. Once there you ignore the holographic screens listing White Doll systems that could use the Nano-Block's power in favor of targeting the wreckage in front of you. That done, you place the hand carrying the Nano-Block upon the wreck.

The effect is instant, multicolored strands erupting from the hand until the wreck is completely cocooned. For several minutes a dull hum drones through the hole in the Cliffside as the nanomachines so their work, and when they fade away it is to reveal a blocky Mobile Suit that looks like it is fresh off the assembly line.




*


[X] Northwest. Recheck the area closest to the Dianna Counter core.


The Colonel is most grateful for the help, as is the rest of the Florians once the news of 'their own White Doll' spreads, but you have to leave now if you are to get any scouting done and return to the Inglassan-Luziannan headquarters before sundown. You, Corin and Arisa take to the air to cheers from the brown-clad soldiers, and then you are off.

You decided on a northwestern route before heading back northeast to return to Headquarters, going over the land closest to the Dianna Counter core on your way back. You also got to map the Florian-Dianna Counter frontline, but that was easy enough: Just draw a line where the Florian peninsula begins and done.


DC50 Scouting = 51! Success!


For the most part all you get is confirmation of previous information as you double check the locations of Dianna Counter bases (both major and minor) and the routes that some of their patrols make. The latter is harder than the former, for you need to get closer to make sure that you are not marking down the same patrol as two different ones and vice versa.

As for new discoveries, on the back half of your route you spot a group of FLATs heading north. They seem to be acting erratically, waving their arms as they walk and screaming gibberish over the loudspeakers, so you follow them for an hour until they make camp for the night. Taking note of the pair of WaDs accompanying them, you decide to end the mission and return home.


*


"…and that is the situation, sir." You finish explaining to Lord Guin and the Colonels. Lady Lily and the disguised Queen Dianna are also present as you deliver your report.

"Thank you, Laura." Lord Guin says, smiling as he looks over the map you gave him. "That should make things a little easier on our end. However…"

You lean forward. "Sir?"

"I have another mission for you." He says while taking another map from the stack on his desk. "I have received a report of a large Dark History find in southern Luzianna. Unlike in Inglessa, there is no law that mandates that all Dark History technology is the property of the state, but the man who found it is willing to sell the dig site to us in exchange for a tidy sum and recognizing his ownership of a Mechanical Doll he found."

Lord Guin's finger taps a spot in southern Luzianna marked 'Kingsley Valley'. "I need you to take Miss Kihel to Kingsley Valley where she will formalize our purchase of the valley on my behalf as I am needed here. You leave after breakfast tomorrow."

You deliver a quick salute. "Sir, what about Corin and Arisa?"

"Take them with you." He says airily. "And Laura?"

"Yes?"

"You are absolutely certain that Floria's own White Doll is no match for yours?"

"Yes, sir. Corin and Arisa were very insistent on this. Supposedly it is an inferior imitation of the White Doll's sister unit." You not-quite-lie to him.


*


The next morning sees you take off to Kingsley Valley. Dianna-as-Kihel rides with you in the White Doll's cockpit, which is a tight fit. Physically she is a bit larger than Sochie, and her clothes a lot more voluminous, which makes it somewhat difficult to pilot with her sitting in your lap.

The not-entirely warm atmosphere (and your old secret, secret fantasies about having Queen Dianna in your lap) makes the flight north an awkward trip.


[] Try to strike up a conversation with Dianna.
--[] Write in.

[] Talk to Corin and Arisa instead.
--[] Write in.

[] Pilot in silence.


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Gundam UC79 Stats.

[X] Try to strike up a conversation with Dianna.
--[X] Ask her if she has been down to earth before the immigration, and what was it like back then?


You discreetly switch your team's channel so that Corin and Arisa can't listen in without you getting an alert before you turn to the disguised Queen Dianna. "Your Majesty?"

Lost in thought, the question startles her. She recovers quickly though. "Yes, Loran?"

"Did you ever go down to the Earth before all this started?"

Queen Dianna holds your gaze for a second before she looks back at the passing scenery through the wall of the White Doll's panoramic cockpit. "A few times. My mother took me to see it once, and since then I have accompanied several descent teams the past century."

She sighs wistfully. "I hope they thrived…"

"What was the Earth like back then?" You ask as she trails off, enraptured.

"I don't really remember my first visit. My mother's presence was just too powerful to a girl of six." Dianna admits. "But the last time I was here…"

Shrugging, she elaborates that there was less electricity and industrialization, but otherwise conditions on Earth were more or less the same as now. She spends the rest of the trip forlornly reminiscing about something, the same Pressure you felt from her as when you brought up her past visits. There is a lot of hunger to it.


*


Once the Laura Rola Autonomous Mechanical Doll Corps (plus Dianna-as-Kihel) arrive you decide to land on the edge of the property, within sight of the lonely villa and the surrounding fields but not too close. You ask Corin and Arisa to patrol the surrounding area while you and Queen Dianna talk to the farmer that made the Dark History find.

Soon, however, you and the Queen are alone on the path towards the Luziannan's house. On the way you silently review the facts as Lord Guin told them. You are not entirely clear on why a Luziannan's Dark History find would be something Lord Guin can just buy, even if Luzianna doesn't have any laws making the dig site the property of the state. Did Lady Lily pull some strings for him?

When you crest the slope you get a better view of the old villa, surrounded by a few fields and sheds. And beside the building kneels a pale red mobile suit, one with some sort of weapon standing on its right shoulder. Looks like a cannon.



Eager to hear the farmer's story about finding the Mobile Suit, you almost miss the man working in one of the patches beside the villa. You do notice him a second after Dianna-as-Kihel does.

"Will!" She whoops in joy before she sprints up to the man tending to his chicken coop. The man barely has the time to turn around in confusion before the disguised queen throws herself into his arms.

Sensing nothing from the man beyond honest confusion over the strange woman rubbing her face into his chest, you follow at a more leisurely pace. This ensures that you only catch the tail end of their conversation: Something about how he is Will Game the third, not the grandfather she had confused him with. Queen Dianna is crushed, but manages to keep her face apologetic. She must have really wanted to meet his grandfather.

"DIANNA SOREIL!"

You are almost within speaking distance when the shout erupts from the direction of the villa. A woman, redheaded and wearing a green dress, is charging the disguised queen with a pitchfork leveled like a lance and her face a mask of hate.


[] Words!
--[] "Stop! That woman is not Queen Dianna!"
--[] Write in.

[] Charge!
--[] Write in.

[] Sidearm!
--[] Write in.

[] Write in.

[X] Words!
--[X] "Stop! That woman is not Queen Dianna!"


You shake off your surprise and shout. "Stop! That woman is not Queen Dianna!"

The red-haired woman keeps going for a seconds before your words register, hatred leaving her Pressure until she comes to a stop a few meters from Queen Dianna. The pitchfork remains leveled at the disguised Queen's chest as she slowly turns towards you. "She's…not?"

"This is Miss Kihel Heim. She is the secretary of Lord Guin of Inglessa, here to make the purchase of Mr. Game's find on his behalf." You explain, slowly approaching Dianna-as-Kihel and Mr. Game so that you are closer should the woman attack again. "I am Captain Laura Rola, my subordinates and I are here to escort her."

The woman finally lowers her weapon, allowing Dianna-as-Kihel to regain her composure. "Right. Mr. Game, if you would?" She gestures to the villa. "If you would be so kind…" She then takes Mr. Game away, leaving you alone with his…wife?




The redheaded woman is about to follow Mr. Game and the Queen when she notices you watching her. "If you are Laura Rola, then that would be Inglessa's White Doll." She says while pointing at where you parked your Mobile Suit. You do not like the dark hunger in her Pressure when she looked at it, not one bit. "But where are my manners? My name is Teteth Halleh."

You blink. "Not Game?"

"Not Game." She easily confirms, her Pressure parroting her nonchalance.

Sensing the end of that discussion, you switch to a rather pressing issue. "Why do you hate Queen Dianna of the Moon that much anyway?"

She laughs teasingly, almost reaching out to ruffle your hair before a small wave of fear billows through her Pressure and stops her in her tracks. "Don't be silly! I do not want her dead, I just wanted to chase her away!"

A lie. Not only can you sense that it is a lie, but the complete, single-minded hatred she had for the woman she thought to be Queen Dianna was practically solid.

You do not dare leave Dianna-as-Kihel alone, at least not with both of them. Whatever you do, Miss Halleh will need to be present.


[] "Let us join them inside."

[] "You seemed interested in the White Doll, would you like a closer look?"

[] Make conversation.
--[] Write in.


*


Hours later, once the transaction has been signed and sealed, you part ways. Dianna-as-Kihel is taking a tour of the farm with Mr. Game while Miss Halleh is doing something inside the house. You are sitting on the front porch waiting for the Queen.

From your seat you watch the two of them enter a dilapidated shed together, only for Mr. Game to come out alone a few minutes later. The only reason you do not rush him with your sidearm drawn is because his Pressure bears no sign of anything untoward having happened. Besides, you can sense Queen Dianna's Pressure from here, however faintly thanks to the distance.

…

She sure is taking her time in there, and from here you cannot sense any details from her Pressure.

You walk back over to the shed to find her knees sobbing her heart out right inside the, clutching a music box to her chest. Her Pressure signifies that she is lost in her memories even as sorrow has overtaken her.

Amongst the sobs you can make out various variations on how to say 'Sir Will Game'…



[] "Are you alright?"

[] "Is there anything I can do?"

[] "…Please tell me that you didn't start this conflict just because you wanted to see your hundred years dead lover again."

[] Leave her be.
--[] It is what she would want.
--[] "So you're just human after all…"

[] Write in.


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Cannon Illefuto Stats,