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

[X] Stop the white machine.


The moment of hesitation passes and you keep going, redoubling your efforts to rush through the corridors and staircases of the Soleil on your way to the exit. The panicking crewmembers bear you no mind beyond getting out of your way.

"Pardon me!" You yell over your shoulder as you almost bowl over a Dianna Counter soldier, but you do not slow down enough to hear his response over the din of a pair of SUMOs being ripped to shreds.

Silver lining, you muse as the White Doll takes you up to the cockpit, the White Machine is using kinetic weapons so there isn't much in the way of reactor explosions. It also seems to exclusively target Mobile Suits over people.

The instant you are in the White Doll's pilot seat you begin broadcasting over all channels. "Dianna Counter and Royal Guard, this is Laura Rola in the White Doll." You say as your ancient Mobile Suit rises from its kneeling position. "I am entering the battle to assist you."

With all the friendlies in the line of fire here is no time for fancy shooting, so you ignite the right hand's Beam Saber while withdrawing your improvised spear from the White Doll's backpack. Lightwave Shield at the ready, you enter the battle.




Spear leveled, you charge in with the landskimmers to deliver a mighty thrust to the White Machine's side. The impact fails to penetrate your opponent's armor, but it is still pushed away from the reception by the sheer force of it. Your Beam Saber lashes out while your opponent is off-balance, but two of the blows are repelled by the White Machine's armor. The last one breaks through but some property of the armor is partially dissipating the Beam Saber's mega-particles, meaning that the attack does minimal damage to the White Machine's frame.

And then the White Machine regains its footing and goes on the offensive. Its claws strike you in a blinding flurry, one of the viciously serrated limbs taking a bite out of your Lightwave Shield. The other is not so lucky, its first strike going over your head before you catch it with the White Doll's left hand in a moment of impulse. This locks your arm (and your shield) above the White Doll's head cockpit, but it proves to be fortuitous, for the White Machine follows up on the claw strikes with a trio of whipcracks from its bladed. The first is blocked by your shield, but the second breaks it and opens the way for the third, which slams into the White Doll's shoulder and digs deep before the weapon retracts.

The Beam Saber isn't working. Time to test out your new weapon in combat!




You see an opening and take it: During a brief lull in the White Machine's unrelenting attacks you use your grip on its claw to pull it off balance. You deactivate your Beam Saber and latch on to its underside with the White Doll's clawed right hand, ducking under a strike from its tail as you use both arms to lift your massive opponent off its feet and into the air above your head.

For a moment the unmanned (you assume, for you cannot sense any Pressure from within it) machine simply wriggles in your grip, as if it cannot quite comprehend how it is being lifted by a machine a quarter its size, but its struggles redouble as you complete the motion and swing it into the ground. The throw does no damage, but it succeeded in getting it a little further away from the reception. Besides…

It is time to see if it is as tough on its underside as it is in front.

You stomp down on the machine's body, restricting its movements enough for you to find something that looks like a gap and jam the White Doll's open right hand into it.

Then you activate the burning hand weapon, unleashing a flood of charged mega particles over the White Machine. Within seconds it has become clear that the wave has melted its way through the armor as the plates covering the White Machine begin to bubble and expand, giving it the appearance of a balloon being inflated by a firestorm. It tries to wrench you off itself, but it is all in vain.

The world goes white as the machine explodes, throwing the White Doll off it. You activate the flight mode to keep your Mobile Suit from being tossed around like a leaf, managing to keep it somewhat steady until the explosion dies down. After looking over the melted scraps that remain of the White Machine you turn around to face your audience of WaDoms and SUMOs, all of them looking at you. They step aside as you make your way back to the reception.

Once you have been lowered from the kneeling White Doll's cockpit you are immediately swept away by Lord Guin, who jumps at the chance to introduce Laura Rola, the 'Flower of Inglessan Courage' (ugh) that commands Inglessa's mighty White Doll, to the other Amerian delegates. To your surprise there are delegates from all over America, even countries that are not involved in the war like Canud, California and Corado.

You see Sochie and one of the doppelgangers being escorted out of the Soleil by a pair of Royal Guardsmen, but the whirlwind ride that Lord Guin has forced you onto prevent you from going to them. The ride finally ends when Lieutenant Harry Ord emerges onto the podium and grabs the microphone to present Queen Dianna Soleil, sending a hush across the crowd.

The pause allows Sochie and her companion to catch up with you, which makes it clear that the person beside her is still Dianna-as-Kihel. If not from the woman's physical appearance, then from the was Sochie's pressure bubbles with frustration and disappointment.

"Someone tried to kill my sister during the attack." Sochie whispers to you once the three of you have come together. "She got help from the Royal Guard, but they stopped us from reaching her."

"I see." You mumble back. In lieu of anything to do, you settle in to listen to Kihel-as-Dianna's speech.



It is a beautiful speech, addressing humanity's shared origin and history while confirming that there is common ground to be found. The disguised secretary looks just like the real thing when she made her speeches, she even sounds almost exactly like how Queen Dianna sounded when she inducted your class into the DC-ASP. Oh the memories…

But the real shocker comes at the end: "And that is why I will forego declaring the establishment of a Moonrace fiefdom in the Amerian Sunbelt!" Kihel-as-Dianna roars over the speakers. "And instead request to once again open negotiations with the people of Ameria!"



Her declaration sends shockwaves throughout the Pressure of the listeners. The Dianna Counter soldiers are frustrated and confused, as is the Royal Guard and the Queen's aides, who are confronting 'Queen Dianna' as she steps down from the podium. Lord Guin and Lady Lily feel encouraged and darkly triumphant, which is shared (if not to the same extent) by Sochie. The real Queen Dianna, however, feels deeply moved by the speech.



As for yourself…what do you feel?


[] Frustrated and confused.

[] Encouraged and triumphant.

[] Deeply moved.

[] Impressed.

[] Write in.

[X] Impressed.


You can't help but feel impressed by Kihel. The speech, is beautiful as it was, is going to make things harder for her among 'her' people, and you are certain she knew this. It cannot have been easy to do this, even knowing that it would only embolden the Militias.

"She…she put my thoughts into words better than I could have done myself." Queen Dianna utters in open wonder, her words almost lost in the hubbub of the crowd.

Sochie huffs at hearing this, having caught the Disguised queen's words with both her ears and her senses. "That might be, but…even a Mechanical Doll like that-" She points at a WaDom. "Is useless if it doesn't have a great leader to direct it."



"She is right." Comes a voice from behind you. You turn your head to find Lady Lily. The noblewoman's Pressure is triumphant and calculating. "One shouldn't declare a fiefdom-" She says while adjusting her hat to block out the sun as she looks at the White Doll.



"-Without the strength to back it up. Don't you agree, Captain Rola?"

"I'm unconvinced." You say without commitment.

"Is that so?" She asks teasingly. For a moment it looks as if she is about to push further, but Lord Guin calls her over. "Excuse me, duty calls. We will have to speak further some other time. Farewell!"

…

No idea what to think of her…


*


Lord Guin takes Lady Lili and Dianna-as-Kihel with him to negotiate a ceasefire, leaving you and Sochie to your own devices.

The two of you decide to look for the Tejans, eventually coming across a trio of men in grey Militia uniforms. You assume that they are from the Tejan Militia by process of elimination, having already seen the uniforms used by the Luziannan and Florian Militias. A man in his fifties is wearing clothes similar to Lord Guin's, probably the ruler of one of the many Amerian nations. Sitting on a nearby stool is an elderly man in a colonel's uniform mumbling about the 'dirty Inglessans' while tended to by a younger man dressed in a grey and orange captain's uniform with an orange sash with blue highlights across his chest. The younger man is the first to notice you and Sochie walking up to them.

He takes a step away from the elderly gentleman. "Excuse me," he says "Would you be Captain Laura Rola of Inglessa? The pilot of the White Doll?"

You smile, nod and perform a quick curtsy (that Sochie hastens to echo) before answering. "I am, and to whom, may I ask, am I speaking to?" Sochie has an odd mixture of emotions radiating off her, and a quick glance at her face reveals an equally puzzled expression.

The sashed Tejan, who at a closer look seems to be in his mid-thirties at the youngest, coughs and scratches his short, light brown beard. "Right, right. I am Captain Peter Trivil, field commander of the Tejas Mechanical Doll forces." Peter points towards the quadrupedal Mobile Suit parked on the other side of the reception. "That one is my unit, the Orange Wolf."

You exchange some further peasantries before Peter hesitatingly raises a question. "Now, forgive me, but I have heard some rumors that the pilot of the White Doll was…male?"

It doesn't show on your face, but his words do spark a reaction. A covert squeeze of Sochie's hand prevents her from blurting anything out as you smile assuringly at the Tejan commander.

With a tilt of your head, a slightly pouty smile on your lips, and a slight shift in posture and you transform, becoming the very image of an amused young lady as you delightedly mention your 'younger brother'. When it comes to the White Doll he usually handles the mechanical stuff, but lately you have been teaching him how to pilot it a little. True, the White Doll only lets you and your friend Sochie here pilot it because the two of you were the first ones who entered its cockpit after it woke up, but even it seems to have problems with telling you and your brother apart!

The three of you share a laugh, opening the way for you to change the subject…


Choose 3

[] "How are things going on the Tejan front?"

[] "Where did you find the Orange Wolf?"

[] "What have you found in your Mountain Cycles?"

[] "Do you think Corado will join the war?"

[] "What do you think of Queen Dianna's speech?"

[] "Any thoughts on that White Machine?"

[] "Is your Colonel alright?"

[] Write in.