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

[X] Side with Dianna.


Later, once Dianna is gone and Sochie has punched you straight in the jaw, you find yourself with a bit of a problem. Two problems actually, but the most pressing has to be-

"How do we explain what happened to the Rhineford guy? Like, Kihel was in charge of keepin' him posted, right?" Asks Arisa. She, Corin, Sochie and yourself are locked up in the captain's quarters to hold a private meeting. Sochie is still feeling furious and betrayed, but she still wanted a say in what to do next. Vestige is stuck in the White Doll and cannot participate, but you aren't quite sure how much you can trust the odd creature, so it is no big loss.

"We could tell him the truth." You say with little conviction. "But he might try to use it during the negotiations. Anything that hurts the Dianna Counter is fair game to him."

"And it might risk my sister." Sochie grumbles, still refusing to look at you.

"We could try to just pretend nothing is wrong." Corin shrugs. "But even if we keep our traps shut the crew has to know that something is up, and they might start talking when we get back to Kingsley Valley. You could try telling them to keep quiet, but if you think that'll help I don't know what to tell you kiddo."

"So what do we do then? Just run away?" Demands Sochie, who pauses a moment later. "Wait…"

"We could." You agree, and for the first time since she punched you Sochie turns around to look you in the eye. "We are an Autonomous Corps. We could just go on an 'independent mission' and not tell anyone where we are going or what we are doing until we want to. Or when we have to stop at a Militia base to resupply, whichever comes first."

Arisa coughs to gain everyone's attention, cutting off Sochie who was about to speak. "Not to rain on your parade, Loran, but that sounds like it could inflame tensions. Turn X is the effective face of the combined Militias, at least here on the eastern front. If it suddenly goes missing with no way to contact us it is going to make a lot of people nervous, perhaps even embolden the Dianna Counter into doing something stupid." She sighs and looks up to stare at the ceiling. "And that's ignoring all the fun ways which the Militias might lash out if they think they have lost the Turn X or that we've defected."

"We wouldn't!" Sochie hotly protests.

"True." Arisa fires back, her hand massaging her forehead. "But they might think we have. Especially if we drop out of contact for too long."

Corin pipes up before the resulting silence can stretch on. "Speaking of tensions, what do we say about Sunglasses crossin' the border?" He looks at everyone in turn. "In case you've forgotten that caused a bit of a stir back at the valley. 'Sides, the story he thought up is gonna hurt the Dianna Counter."

The cover story Harry Ord gave you is that an auxiliary pilot took a newly-excavated Mobile Suit for a joyride and Queen Dianna sent in the Royal Guard to catch them. It isn't difficult to see how it could impact the Dianna Counter's prestige, and that's just to the Earth. To the Dianna Counter itself it must be obvious that it is a cover story. It is that White Machine all over again…

"I know it is far from ideal, but we have to go with it. Contradicting accounts will only cause confusion, even if everyone knows that it is a cover story."

A knock on your door silences further discussion.

You blink, surprised, before remembering that you are the captain. "Enter."

A militiaman peeks in the door to give you a report. The Gallop will arrive at Kingsley Valley shortly.

Meaning that you do not have long to determine what to do.


[] Tell Lord Guin everything.

[] Cover for "Kihel's" absence while acting as normal at Kingsley Valley.

[] Go on an extended independent mission to stay out of contact for as long as possible.

Week 17 (Week 7 of the Lunar-Amerian War)


[X] Tell Lord Guin everything.


Nobody is happy with your decision to come clean to Lord Guin, but everyone knows that you have no good options. This whole Dianna situation has been an ungodly clusterfuck from day one. Although you cannot quite call yourself blameless…

Your first stop once the Gallop is parked at Kingsley Valley, after making sure that things are taken care of on your land battleship, is the communications tent. You order everyone out before you call Headquarters, waiting for the secretary at the desk to put Lord Guin on. When he picks up it is with the Colonels, which saves you some time.

"Sir, it is about the SUMO that crossed the border."

"Laura?" His voice crackles over the radio. "Why are you calling? Where is Miss Kihel?"

"She has taken ill, sir." You deflect, intending to tell him the truth once he is alone. "I have her resting in her room at the Gallop."

You go on to tell him the story of how you were informed of the SUMO and went to intercept it, ending it with Lieutenant Harry's cover story. "By the time my pilots caught up with me the Lieutenant had received a communication that the joyrider had been caught. He left immediately after."

"Is that right…" Lord Guin's voice is distant. The man must be deep in thought.

"Yes sir." And here comes the tricky part. "But I also obtained a piece of intelligence, your ears only, sir."

"Really, Laura?" He says, his voice perking up. There is some rustling over the radio as the others leave the tent, or so you think. "I must insist that Lady Lily stays, Laura. The alliance with Luzianna has become more important than ever."

You take a deep breath. Hopefully he won't be too angry…


*


Lord Guin was absolutely livid. For the moment that just means that you have been ordered to stay put at Kingsley Valley indefinitely, but you doubt that will be the end of it.

All Systems gain +1 Condition!

Plenty of time to set the Priority Repair System.


[] Keep it working of the I-Field (402 Condition)

[] Another of the White Doll's systems. (System gains 1d100 Condition)
--[] Write in System.




*


Being grounded at Kingsley Valley gives you and your men a lot of free time.


Choose 3

[] Talk with Arisa and Corin.

[] Find Miashei and hang out.

[] Spend time with Vestige.

[] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure together.

[] Check in on Sid.

[] Practice with the new weapons and systems.

[] Seek audience with Lord Guin.


***********************************************************

Loran has now gone back to NT Level 4.

[X] Keep it working of the I-Field (402 Condition)


A quick tap of a holographic key keeps the Priority Repair System working on the I-Field.

Roll 1d100 Priority Repair = 99! I-Field Condition is now 402+99! I-Field has been restored to Damaged! Overflow added to Condition. (2/200 Condition)


Vestige stirs as the orange symbol becomes yellow after the cloud of nanomachines have done their work on the system.

Looks like it is fixed enough to trust it with some more juice. Still some functions left in there though.

"Like what?" You ask, curious.

Hyper I-Field functionality, Lossless Field Shaping, that sort of stuff.

It shrugs.

It can do some of the second thing right now, but not without losing some of its integrity.




*


[X] Check in on Sid.


You spent a day helping the Moonrace defectors with the spaceship's computers and engines. The ship's reactor had been perfectly preserved by the nanoskin and is humming nicely in the heart of the vessel.

"We should be able to test fire the engines in a couple of days." Says Sid through a mouthful of bread. The two of you are eating lunch together after replacing some piping in an uncooperative thruster. "Depending on how it goes, we might even get it to fly early next month."

Next month huh. That's two weeks away. Your birthday is two weeks away. It is almost November already…

"Loran?"

You look up from your food. "Yes?"

Sid hesitates, uncertain, but he rallies himself. "I don't know what exactly you did to make Lord Guin ground you here, but don't take it too hard." He takes a sip out of his canteen. "He'll get over it before you know it and then you'll be back in action."

He gets up from his seat with a chuckle. "Or maybe not. Depending on how those talks go, there might not be a war by then. Ha!"


*


[X] Practice with the new weapons and systems.


New armaments in tow, you take the White Doll to your training ground. For the next few hours you practice the weapons under the supervision of Vestige, Corin and Arisa. The latter two came along when you asked for help.

Corin is the most help, leaving Arisa to tutor Sochie. He has you test fire the weapons while he calls out instructions for a few hours before he calls you out to talk.

"The big beam reminds me of Zero-One." He shudders. "But the machinegun is kinda like a Taurus rifle. Always wanted one of those…"

Vestige stirs from its state of lazy observation.

I would say that those resembled the weapons on the Turn X, seeing as they were developed, if not constructed, over a million years before. But what do I know? I am the youngest one here.

After that it explodes with laughter.


Loran gains +10 Pilot XP

Sochie gains +15 Pilot XP


*


[X] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure together.


Sochie is still upset with you, but the chance to develop her abilities, as well as that ambiguous hunger towards you-

HA!

-drive her to say yes.

The training ground bears the marks of yesterday's weapon test, which means that there are plenty of pieces of glass for the two of you to practice your powers without the assistance of the White Doll. Your telekinesis is strong enough to bodily lift someone now, or at least someone of Sochie's weight.

Vestige helps you practice, sharing meditation techniques and proper mental stances to effectively use your powers. Its lessons on mental combat between two active psychics are the most strenuous. It has you and Sochie sit opposite each other in the palm of the White Doll's left hand, launching black darts and claws at each other in an attempt to batter down the other's defenses. Vestige also has you try to defend yourselves against its mental intrusion, which is a hopeless effort even when you and Sochie gang up on it. Vestige is simply too skilled, and the two of you find yourself defeated by a deluge of blunted black blades.

As a side effect, you and Sochie also learn how to shape your mental attacks.

The shape doesn't really matter once you get down to it.

Vestige explains.

But finding which shape comes natural to you will make it easier to learn.

Sochie takes a liking to spikes, darts and arrows for her mental attacks. Personally you prefer.


[] Claws.

[] Fangs.

[] Swords.

[] Spears.

[] Arrows.

[] Thorns.

[] Hands.

[] Tendrils.

[] Write in.


Later, to you and Sochie's amazement, Vestige telekinetically creates a small ball of fire between its hands, heat bathing the cockpit before it is snuffed out.

Ugh, there went the last of my juice. Gonna go sleep.

"That was amazing!" Gushes Sochie. "Can you teach me?"

Vestige shrugs weakly.

Probably? It is not a question of power, only of control. I have a lot of the latter but next to none of the former. Now get in here you two, I need to drain some of that brimming power of yours.

As you and Sochie settle in you decide to hold off on the NT-D practice until Vestige has recovered. The time will give you the opportunity to dwell on ways to use your powers.


Choose 2 NT Perks.

[] Future Sight.
-NT Empathy triggers on non-ensouled Attacks such as traps and AI.

[] Combat Clairvoyance.
-Become immune to Ambush and Surprise. Doubles Critical Success range.

[] Hidden Hand.
-Reduces the effect of the Target's NT Empathy against you by one Level.

[] Rend.
-Telekinetic Strikes gain Penetration equal to their Level.

[] Destroyer.
-Doubles number of Telekinetic Strike Attacks.

[] Mindlash.
-Telepathic Strikes jump to deal half Damage to the nearest enemy mind.

[] Maze Counter.
-Attacker takes half Damage when you successfully resist a Mental Attack.

[] Bastion.
-Telekinetic Barriers gain -1 per Level to their Armor Save DC.

[] Last Ditch.
-If a Telekinetic Barrier has at least 2 points of Integrity left, no single non-Critical Hit Attack can reduce it below 1.


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Rebalanced the I-Field a bit to fit with the Armor Grade/Shield Density mechanics.