Gundam Crucible - [An AU Universal Century Quest]
- Thread starter TheBleachDoctor
- Start date
- Location
- A place
[X] Return to the Bellerophon and reconvene with your allies.
- Location
- USA
[X] Return to the Bellerophon and reconvene with your allies.
TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Closing votes in about four hours.
neutronium95
Mad Rocketeer
- Location
- The test site
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Talk with the Mafty people. What do they fight for? What are their motivations?
Zedman7054
Eternally 3rd
- Location
- United States
[] Return to the Bellerophon and reconvene with your allies.
[X] Go and talk to Elle and Hathaway. What went wrong on their mission?
Proper procedure? Or try to talk Hathaway out of doing something stupid? Because from what little I know of him, the kid has some screws loose. I suppose I shouldn't blame him too much. If your dad was as big a hero as Bright Noa, you'd develop some issues too.
[X] Go and talk to Elle and Hathaway. What went wrong on their mission?
Proper procedure? Or try to talk Hathaway out of doing something stupid? Because from what little I know of him, the kid has some screws loose. I suppose I shouldn't blame him too much. If your dad was as big a hero as Bright Noa, you'd develop some issues too.
[X] Return to the Bellerophon and reconvene with your allies.
Nah, Hathaway's main problem isn't daddy issues. It's that he was super unlucky that the person he formed his Newtype Soulmate connection with was the most Toxic AF character in all of Gundam and he became a SIMP for her after he died. It's like Char and Lalah except Quess is everything about Lalah 1000 times worse and with no redeeming qualities.
Nah, Hathaway's main problem isn't daddy issues. It's that he was super unlucky that the person he formed his Newtype Soulmate connection with was the most Toxic AF character in all of Gundam and he became a SIMP for her after he died. It's like Char and Lalah except Quess is everything about Lalah 1000 times worse and with no redeeming qualities.
Zedman7054
Eternally 3rd
- Location
- United States
I think the argument could be made that while Quess was definitely the worst thing that could have happened to him, Noa absolutely (should) have issues with his multiple war-hero dad, even if they were nothing more that childish "he doesn't spend enough time with me". I imagine a drive to get out of his father's shadow would certainly, partly, explain why he does some of what he does. Well, combined with the fact he's 13 in CC.
Edit: People in thread have also called Mafty stupid eco-terrorists, but looking at their gundam wiki page for a few seconds, their goal of "assassinating all high-rank Federation officers and forcing all humans on Earth to leave for the Space colonies" (the only thing I can fond about them) lines up with Cybele's current beliefs pretty well. Fuck the Federation, and iving in space makes humans stronger, smarter, and kinder.
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Nottheunmaker
Altman be praised
- Location
- USG Ishimura
[X] Go and talk to Elle and Hathaway. What went wrong on their mission?
- Pronouns
- Reader
Huh. This makes me wonder if Hathaway would have died if we'd read the manual?
It's stupid because their eco terrorists. "Everyone go live in space or we'll kill people" doesn't really work unless they strip the planet of enough Air, water, and resources to build a bunch of colonies for everyone to live on. Kind of takes the "Save the Planet" out of their "make people go live in space again" plan. While Cybele would probably agree that space people are the best people and colony living gives you character, she certainly doesn't want a few billion stinky earth babies foisted on existing Colonies without appropriate resources.
So it's not the people living in space or kill the federation leaders thats dumb, it's the part where they think it saves earth, unless they genuinely intend to send them too slow deaths in space do to lack of proper resources, in which case it's dumb because they can't possibly terrorist hard enough to convince people to go along with that.
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Zedman7054
Eternally 3rd
- Location
- United States
So it's a dumb ideology that lines up with two core tenants of our dumb protagonist, especially since she probably doesn't care about saving Earth, just F*ing over the Federation. There's a decent chance Cybele wouldn't care that much, or maybe we'd get to decide what she thinks of it.
To be fair, I do agree with you. Trying to force everyone on Earth to leave to move into space colonies isn't the kind of thing that's reasonable.
- Pronouns
- Reader
Well to be fair, it did work the first time mostly. It's simply that the situation has changed. It's not a working strategy any longer. Just because Cybele agrees with some of their notions, and isn't opposed to either of their latter ones, doesn't mean she can't appreciate the stupidity and contradictory nature of their goals.
Zedman7054
Eternally 3rd
- Location
- United States
That's right isn't it... part of the reason the space colonies were established was overpopulation. Were people really forced to leave Earth and live in the Sides?
- Pronouns
- Reader
Yeah, it was supposed to be like, almost all of them, but they stopped at around 8 or 9 billion I think? It's been a while since I had a refresh.
Mafty's main contention is (AFAIK) that if you're going to kick people off the planet by force to prevent ecological catastrophe, you can't make exceptions. If someone has to go, then everyone has to go.
The Federation, meanwhile, was opening broad exceptions for the rich, powerful, and connected to stay on earth, whereas the poor were relocated to space. Mafty responded, "if you plan to stay on earth and destroy it anyway after making people suffer for your sake, we will remove you from this mortal coil, and then get the job done right."
The Federation, meanwhile, was opening broad exceptions for the rich, powerful, and connected to stay on earth, whereas the poor were relocated to space. Mafty responded, "if you plan to stay on earth and destroy it anyway after making people suffer for your sake, we will remove you from this mortal coil, and then get the job done right."
Thebigpieman
I've got this, I think.
- Location
- United States
As always the Federation creates its own worst enemies.
[X] Go and talk to Elle and Hathaway. What went wrong on their mission?
[X] Go and talk to Elle and Hathaway. What went wrong on their mission?
TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
- Pronouns
- Reader
Hmm. I wonder if RoZ & LB managed to make things more official before this shit show threw a wrench into things.
Edit: Damn Anaheim.
You have to wonder, if we had picked the char aznable paint job and shown up to to Artesia's aid with Cybele's fed hate full blast, would we have gotten an artesia Pov of her wondering if Cybele is somehow Casval for a sec?
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Chapter 42: Hathaway's Fall-Part 9
TheBleachDoctor
Secretly a Cat
- Location
- The Plane of Infinite Kittens
- Pronouns
- She/Her
[X] Return to the Bellerophon and reconvene with your allies.
Given how long you've been away from the ship, you should really check in with the Captain. You need to bring her up to speed on what you've been doing.
"Lorelei, Sicilia, let's go talk with the others." You motion for them to follow, "We've got a lot to chat about."
Leaving the Xi unattended like this feels risky, but there are tons of Mafty fighters around. Who could steal such a large Mobile Suit in these conditions? So the three of you make your way over to the Bellerophon, where some of the shipboard marines are holding a loose perimeter. They wave you through towards the open hangar doors.
"Sicilia!" Eris shouts from near the entrance, running over to you, "Cybele! You're alright! Oh, and Lorelei too!"
"Aww, I'm not an afterthought, am I?" The newest addition to your team pouts, to which Eris just claps her on the shoulder.
"Naw, girl, just getting used to there being a new face on the team. I mean, we've been a trio for so long…"
You point to Sicilia, "We stopped being a trio a while ago."
Eris shrugs, "Sure, but I mean, Sicilia fits in so well! She's like the little sister we all never had."
"Big Sister Three…" The short Cyber Newtype mouths quietly with stars in her eyes.
"Anyways, Captain wants to see you." Eris motions towards the rear of the hangar, past the rest of Cascadia Team's Mobile Suits, "A lot happened while you were gone."
As you walk past your teammate's MS, you notice that Mort's is in the process of a strip-down for refitting, and Eris has lost a wing binder. Jeez, what happened while you were gone?
"Glad to see you're okay, Ensign." Captain Nouri gives you a nod as she sits down opposite of the three of you, "And good work on securing the Xi. Our allies over at Mafty are pulling data off of it right now, and looks like you made the right call on which shipment to secure. But we'll get to that later. Why don't you start by telling me what happened after we lost contact?"
You straighten up, "Well, Captain, after I rescued Ms. Vogel, we fell behind and out of communications range. We continued travelling towards the mission area, expecting to arrive late. En route, we encountered a Gaw on the same heading. It was being operated by Principality of Zeon remnants."
"…Principality?" The Captain repeats with an amused smirk.
"Yes, Principality," You confirm with a shrug, "A lot looked like new recruits though. The guy in charge was definitely a veteran though. Anyways, they initiated hostilities, so we boarded their vessel and seized control."
Her amusement vanishes, replaced with sheer disbelief, "Let me get this straight. The three of you commandeered a whole Gaw? How did you subdue the crew?"
"We, uh…" You bite your lip. Oh dear, there's no good answer for this, "We… didn't."
Sicilia helpfully elaborates, "Yeah, a whole ton of them got sucked out of the hangar! They all fell while spinning, it looked really funny!"
"In addition, none of them had proper combat training." Lorelei adds, "The Federation put me through boot camp, at least. Most of those young men had never held a gun before. It was easy enough to kill them with small arms fire."
The silence is almost deafening.
"Oh, but they were definitely indoctrinated into some kind of cult by the leader," She smiles cheerfully, "So any and all violence was justified."
Captain Nouri massages her forehead for a minute.
"…Alright. Let's say you did take over a Gaw after murdering everyone on board. What did you do next?"
Moving on! Good, you really don't want to think about what happened on the Gaw.
"Okay, so after we took out their commanding officer-" You begin.
Sicilia raises her hand, "We ejected him out the airlock!"
"….as I was saying, after we took him out, we rode the Gaw the rest of the way in, then once we were on scene we began to assist the Mafty forces. We boarded the Garuda, but the ongoing fighting damaged the transport's engines. We had to dump weight to stay airborne, so I took the Xi out. From there, we accompanied the Mafty forces here… and that's that, Captain."
There's a war of emotions going on the Captain's face, looking like a mix of relief, disappointment, and exasperation.
"Ensign, Ms. Vogel, Sicilia," She finally sighs tiredly, "I'd like to talk with each of you privately, later. We'll table the issue of your conduct for now though, and I'll tell you what happened while you were gone."
She sits back, folding her hands on the table, "After you dropped out of communications range, the Republic ship, the Broadway, closed distance and began engaging us in a gunnery battle. We both deployed Mobile Suits in an attempt to disable the other, and although we didn't suffer any casualties, we both sustained damage that forced us to lower our speed. You must have overtaken us during this time. As you saw, we got here around the same time as you did. Most likely because the Garuda was forced to reduce speed as well."
… Huh. So the Zeon Republic tried to take Londo Bell out of the picture (in terms of this operation) and inadvertently ruined their own chances too…
The debriefing is small, just you, Christina, and the Captain. The rest are repairing and refitting the ship and Mobile Suits. Time is short, so you'll be expected to delegate this information to your team later.
"Alright, both of you, this operation was a success, mostly. Here's what we accomplished." The Captain brings up the schematics of two Mobile Suits on screen. One of them is the Xi, the other resembles the Xi, but chunkier. The display labels it as the "Penelope".
"These were the two Fifth-Generation Mobile Suits that Anaheim developed. The one that we secured, the Xi, is the newer model. It is capable of maintaining aerial superiority over any Mobile Suit currently fielded by anyone. With this, we could dominate the Earth-based Federation forces… but they secured the other model."
She gestures to the Penelope.
"The Penelope is apparently the testbed for all of the Xi's technologies. It matches the Xi in nearly all performance metrics, but since the Minovsky Flight Unit is an optional part as opposed to integrated, it is not quite the Xi's equal. Theoretically, we should have the advantage, but the difference is so small that we can't take that for granted."
Christina stares intently at the Penelope's schematics, "So what you're saying is that we've merely maintained the status quo?"
"Not quite." She shakes her head, "Anaheim has made it abundantly clear that they will not supply parts or components for either of these Mobile Suits unless the part in question is standardized. All the spare parts and equipment we have on hand are all the parts we will ever have. There are only a finite number of times we can repair the Xi, but the same holds true for the Penelope."
So… the logistics for both of these suits will run out one day, despite them being powerful enough to curbstomp any MS that came before them. But that means…
"The Feds aren't going to want to throw the Penelope at the Xi anytime soon…" You voice your line of thought, "Which means… Captain, is Mafty going to create a zone of absolute defense with the Xi?"
Captain Nouri smiles at you, "Excellent, Ensign. Yes, they intend to create a zone of control around Southeast Asia. Demonstrating the Xi's power a few times should be enough to get the Feds in the area to pull back."
This is a solid plan, but… it'll just intensify the ground war. More people are going to die. You feel partly responsible, but if you had done nothing, then the Feds would have likely had free reign. This is the objectively good outcome… right?
"So, we're just leaving the Xi with Mafty?" You ask, "Can we trust them? What are they even fighting for, aside from a general stance of 'Fuck the Feds'?"
"As per our agreement, Mafty gets the Xi, we get a copy of all its data, and they support any future ground action we engage in." The Captain answers, "I understand your concerns, Cybele, but the fact of the matter is that Londo Bell has no presence on the Earth itself. Mafty Navue Erin was the organization most willing to work with us on this operation."
You get it, but you don't like it. You don't like this at all.
"So, the original plan is bunk." You cross your arms and lean back in your chair, "What now, Captain? Are we still Hathaway's chauffeur back to the stars?"
"Yes, but not right away." She dismisses the schematics of the Xi and Penelope, and brings up a systems display of the Bellerophon, "We took some hits to our port engine block in the fight with the Broadway. Nothing crippling, but we no longer have the thrust necessary to reach orbit. The Broadway also cannot reach orbit under its own power, leaving both of us stranded."
Christina grimaces, "I take it we don't have the parts on hand to fix our engines?"
The Captain shakes her head, "No, and the Broadway doesn't have a booster conveniently available. Thankfully, the solution to both our problems are in the same place."
The display zooms out, showing China as well.
"Luio and Co. have helpfully offered to supply both parts for our repair and a booster for the Broadway. We'll make our way to the Hong Kong Autonomous Zone at best speed. If all goes well, we'll be back in space in a few days. Hathaway will be back with his father, and Ms. Vianno can return to the Argama."
Luio and Co… Ah, right, weren't they a major sponsor of the AEUG back in the day? Plus, the Federation has no presence in Hong Kong. After the whole fiasco with the Titans, the zone's government was able to secure additional rights, like the formation of their own self-defense force and the restriction of Federation armed forces within the zone itself.
So in theory, you should be safe once there.
Provided no one else takes issue with you en route…
"Captain," You interject, "The crew of the Broadway… we fought them, right? Are we really just back to being friends after all this?"
She nods, although you notice it's a bit stiff, "I spoke with Captain Montagne. We understand that we have bigger fish to fry. It's water under the bridge."
After the briefing, as you and Christina leave to bring your teams up to speed, you can't help but feel that something is off.
"I don't like this…" You admit to her in the quiet corridors, "Most of us Anti-Fed folks were getting along just fine, then all of a sudden Anaheim tosses this juicy piece of meat into the pond and we all tear each other to bits over it."
She nods, and you remember something…
"Hey, Christina, you used to work at Anaheim, right? Any insights on this whole fiasco?"
She stops in the middle of the hallway with a pensive frown, and you pause to wait.
Finally, after a long minute, she replies.
"Most of the work I did was at the engineering and advising level. I can't say what it's like in the higher rungs of the company."
"Yeah, but you can take a guess, right?"
"Cybele, it feels like you're looking for some sort of overarching mastermind behind this conflict, but it's not that simple." Her gaze meets yours, and it speaks of pity and regret, "Sometimes people just want different things for different reasons, and when those motives collide, someone is going to end up with the short end of the stick."
"I mean, sure," you shrug, "but what about selling Mobile Suits to anyone and everyone? Isn't that just prolonging the war? Don't they have a vested interest in making sure that the fighting never comes to an end?"
She shakes her head, "Anaheim is a corporation, Cybele. They want profit, and if selling weapons to all sides gets them that, then that is what they'll do. But that's probably all it is. You're reading too deeply into it."
You clench your fists so hard that you can feel your fingernails digging into your skin.
"Good people wouldn't do that."
She places her hand on your shoulder with what you think is supposed to be an understanding expression.
"Maybe not, but it's not like Anaheim is the only company benefiting from war. What about Luio and Co? Yashima Heavy Industries? Are they all made up of bad people?"
"They should understand that they're hurting people." You insist, a bitter taste in your mouth as you try and wrap your head around the concept of ruining the lives of millions of innocents simply for money, "If they weren't bad people, they'd know that."
Christina gives you a sad smile, "If everyone thought like you, maybe there wouldn't be any war… but they don't, and we're just pilots. We can only protect the ones we care about. Don't stress about things outside your sphere of influence. If those close to us are able to live happily, we have to accept that as enough."
She pats you on the shoulder again and continues. You don't follow, staring after her.
You have to accept that as enough?
No, that isn't enough.
It will never be enough.
"If that's beyond my sphere of influence…" your whispers fill the empty hallway, "Then I better start making it bigger, huh?"
The local authorities are more than happy to see your group leave, as every minute you stayed was a minute that the Feds could get wind of your location and turn the entire facility into a smoking crater. Granted, the Feds didn't have a presence in the area, but that wouldn't stop them from lobbing long-range missiles at your location in the hopes of getting lucky. Sure, inertial guidance wasn't as good as the defunct cruise missiles of old, but the missile knows where it is because it knows where it isn't… They don't need to hit you head on, just pack a big enough warhead and land in the general ballpark. It would have ruined your day.
Thankfully, they didn't, and so you and your fellow dissidents depart without being accosted.
To the north goes Mafty Navue Erin, an odd formation of old Medeas, Gunperrys, Fat Uncles, and Mobile Suits on Dodais escorting a patched-up Garuda, laden with a Mobile Suit that could determine who emerges victorious in the ground war. You're almost sad to see it go, but space is where you belong, and as revolutionary as the Xi is, it belongs in the atmosphere.
To the west fly two contrasting ships, both limping with multiple thruster nozzles silent. Londo Bell and the Republic of Zeon. The Bellerophon and the Broadway. Both spaceframes from an era where their makers fought tooth and nail. As you stare out the window at the Zanzibar-class taking up the rear, its hull scorched and battered from the Bellerophon's weapons, you can't help but feel that perhaps Gravity is pulling everyone down…
His back is turned towards you, but you'd recognize that silhouette anywhere.
After all, you'll always recognize family.
"Kaylen!" You run up to your brother, expecting him to turn and greet you with a smile.
He doesn't move.
Your run slows to a walk, and ten steps behind him you pause.
The air feels heavy, like it's keeping you pinned in place, unable to move another step.
"Kaylen?" You reach out towards him, danger pricking at you from the corners of your vision.
"Hey, Cy?" He says, your nickname spoken with fondness, "Take care of mom for me."
A bright flash of pink light erupts from his back, and you're sitting in a Mobile Suit's cockpit, hands gripping the controls so tightly that it hurts. In front of you is Kaylen's GM Command, speared on a beam saber.
The wielder of that saber kicks your brother's lifeless MS off of the weapon, discarding him like trash. A blue MP Nu stares you down, eyes glimmering with lethal intent.
"You…" Luke's voice is full of venom as he raises the blade level to your cockpit, "You did this!"
You move the controls, but the Woundwort doesn't move. The buttons do nothing. The Psycommu doesn't respond.
"Stay… Stay away from me…" Terror fills your stomach as you frantically try everything to get your MS to move, to respond, to do something. To ward off this oncoming death.
You see the flare of thrusters behind the enemy Nu, and it rushes forward, rapidly filling your screen.
"S-Someone help! No!" You raise your arms as if they could possibly do anything to save you as the monitors go dead, moments before the searing hot beam carves through them like butter, "Kaylen!"
Cybele Naese is the guiding figure in your life, the one who saved you when everyone else left you for dead.
She's strong, confident, and takes what she wants.
You can always look to her to be your north star. No matter what, Big Sis knows what to do.
So when she wakes screaming in the middle of the night, you don't know what to do.
When those screams turn to wails of despair, you don't know what to do.
When she's sobbing the name of her brother into her pillow, someone you've never met, you don't know what to do.
When her friends burst into the room and take over, comforting her and speaking to her of the past, a part of Cybele's life you weren't a part of, you don't know what to do.
When Lorelei takes you outside to let Cybele's friends handle her, you don't know what to do.
"I've never seen Big Sis like this before." You tell Big Sis Two, "What can I do to help her feel better?"
She smiles, but it's not a happy or a sad one. It's just… weird, and the feeling you get from her is strange too, but not in a way that you can pin down.
"Don't worry about it. This isn't something that you can fix in a day." She says, patting you on the head, "You'll know when you get the chance to help her."
You wonder what she means by that?
You're Cybele Naese and you feel like shit.
You didn't get much sleep, and had an awful nightmare that your friends had to calm you down from, which involved a lot of hot chocolate and a little pile of pillows and blankets.
You managed a quick nap before you got to Hong Kong, and now that you're here…
"Shore Leave?" You repeat the Captain's words back at her, "Seriously? Now?"
Captain Nouri nods, "Yes, Ensign. It'll be a while before Luio and Co are finished unloading our supplies. You should spend that time unwinding. Get away from all of this."
She gestures at the busy hangar.
But… what about your Gundam? It still hasn't been overhauled after the last battle! The Captain seems to anticipate your worry, though.
"I've got people working on your Mobile Suit, Ms. Naese. It'll be good as new when you get back."
She hands you a fat envelope, and you take a peek inside. Whoa, that's a lot of cash.
"That's the salary for you and your team for this past month." She supplies with a smile, "Go and have a good time. You've earned it. Just be back by evening… let's say 8PM. It'll take us at least that long to patch up the engines."
Admittedly, you're a bit stunned, and Captain Nouri takes your silence as acceptance, walking away before you can object.
Okay… so, shore leave in Hong Kong. You've heard that this place is pretty great. They really took the, uh, "opportunity" of the Gryps War to give the city a glow-up. You can't even tell that the Psycho Gundam rampaged through the city! They did make a memorial to that, though.
You've got the cash divvied up for your team by the time you round them all up. It's actually nice to take your mind off of last night. Nothing like fun to avoid facing your problems! Not that you have problems in the first place, and you'll fight anyone who says that you do.
"Let's hit up all their museums!" Eris suggests with excitement as the five of you disembark the Bellerophon in your civvies, "The history here goes way back, they've got a ton of ancient buildings too!"
"Seriously? Isn't one museum enough?" Theo sighs at her antics, "Eris, we only have today, and not even a full day at that. Shouldn't we do something fun?"
"History is fun!" She snaps back, sticking her tongue out at him.
Lorelei cuts in with a grin, "How about we go shopping? It's not often you get to buy clothes made on Earth! I bet they've got fashions we've never even imagined!"
"…Disneyland." Sicilia tugs at your shirt, "I wanna go to Disneyland, Big Sis!"
Disneyland does sound nice. But… something has been nagging at you. You saw Mobile Suits and a Gunperry during the fight with the MacDaniels logo. You probably should just dismiss that as a PMC taking the piss, but… what if it really was MacDaniels? You must know.
[] Museums and Tourist spots. See the giant Buddha statue!
[] Shopping for Earth fashion! Who knows, maybe you'll find something cool while you're here?
[] Hong Kong Disneyland. What better way to get your mind off of the dark trauma lurking in your mind than visiting the Happiest Place on Earth?
[] Investigate the Great MacDaniels Conspiracy. The Truth must be Revealed.
Given how long you've been away from the ship, you should really check in with the Captain. You need to bring her up to speed on what you've been doing.
"Lorelei, Sicilia, let's go talk with the others." You motion for them to follow, "We've got a lot to chat about."
Leaving the Xi unattended like this feels risky, but there are tons of Mafty fighters around. Who could steal such a large Mobile Suit in these conditions? So the three of you make your way over to the Bellerophon, where some of the shipboard marines are holding a loose perimeter. They wave you through towards the open hangar doors.
"Sicilia!" Eris shouts from near the entrance, running over to you, "Cybele! You're alright! Oh, and Lorelei too!"
"Aww, I'm not an afterthought, am I?" The newest addition to your team pouts, to which Eris just claps her on the shoulder.
"Naw, girl, just getting used to there being a new face on the team. I mean, we've been a trio for so long…"
You point to Sicilia, "We stopped being a trio a while ago."
Eris shrugs, "Sure, but I mean, Sicilia fits in so well! She's like the little sister we all never had."
"Big Sister Three…" The short Cyber Newtype mouths quietly with stars in her eyes.
"Anyways, Captain wants to see you." Eris motions towards the rear of the hangar, past the rest of Cascadia Team's Mobile Suits, "A lot happened while you were gone."
As you walk past your teammate's MS, you notice that Mort's is in the process of a strip-down for refitting, and Eris has lost a wing binder. Jeez, what happened while you were gone?
"Glad to see you're okay, Ensign." Captain Nouri gives you a nod as she sits down opposite of the three of you, "And good work on securing the Xi. Our allies over at Mafty are pulling data off of it right now, and looks like you made the right call on which shipment to secure. But we'll get to that later. Why don't you start by telling me what happened after we lost contact?"
You straighten up, "Well, Captain, after I rescued Ms. Vogel, we fell behind and out of communications range. We continued travelling towards the mission area, expecting to arrive late. En route, we encountered a Gaw on the same heading. It was being operated by Principality of Zeon remnants."
"…Principality?" The Captain repeats with an amused smirk.
"Yes, Principality," You confirm with a shrug, "A lot looked like new recruits though. The guy in charge was definitely a veteran though. Anyways, they initiated hostilities, so we boarded their vessel and seized control."
Her amusement vanishes, replaced with sheer disbelief, "Let me get this straight. The three of you commandeered a whole Gaw? How did you subdue the crew?"
"We, uh…" You bite your lip. Oh dear, there's no good answer for this, "We… didn't."
Sicilia helpfully elaborates, "Yeah, a whole ton of them got sucked out of the hangar! They all fell while spinning, it looked really funny!"
"In addition, none of them had proper combat training." Lorelei adds, "The Federation put me through boot camp, at least. Most of those young men had never held a gun before. It was easy enough to kill them with small arms fire."
The silence is almost deafening.
"Oh, but they were definitely indoctrinated into some kind of cult by the leader," She smiles cheerfully, "So any and all violence was justified."
Captain Nouri massages her forehead for a minute.
"…Alright. Let's say you did take over a Gaw after murdering everyone on board. What did you do next?"
Moving on! Good, you really don't want to think about what happened on the Gaw.
"Okay, so after we took out their commanding officer-" You begin.
Sicilia raises her hand, "We ejected him out the airlock!"
"….as I was saying, after we took him out, we rode the Gaw the rest of the way in, then once we were on scene we began to assist the Mafty forces. We boarded the Garuda, but the ongoing fighting damaged the transport's engines. We had to dump weight to stay airborne, so I took the Xi out. From there, we accompanied the Mafty forces here… and that's that, Captain."
There's a war of emotions going on the Captain's face, looking like a mix of relief, disappointment, and exasperation.
"Ensign, Ms. Vogel, Sicilia," She finally sighs tiredly, "I'd like to talk with each of you privately, later. We'll table the issue of your conduct for now though, and I'll tell you what happened while you were gone."
She sits back, folding her hands on the table, "After you dropped out of communications range, the Republic ship, the Broadway, closed distance and began engaging us in a gunnery battle. We both deployed Mobile Suits in an attempt to disable the other, and although we didn't suffer any casualties, we both sustained damage that forced us to lower our speed. You must have overtaken us during this time. As you saw, we got here around the same time as you did. Most likely because the Garuda was forced to reduce speed as well."
… Huh. So the Zeon Republic tried to take Londo Bell out of the picture (in terms of this operation) and inadvertently ruined their own chances too…
The debriefing is small, just you, Christina, and the Captain. The rest are repairing and refitting the ship and Mobile Suits. Time is short, so you'll be expected to delegate this information to your team later.
"Alright, both of you, this operation was a success, mostly. Here's what we accomplished." The Captain brings up the schematics of two Mobile Suits on screen. One of them is the Xi, the other resembles the Xi, but chunkier. The display labels it as the "Penelope".
"These were the two Fifth-Generation Mobile Suits that Anaheim developed. The one that we secured, the Xi, is the newer model. It is capable of maintaining aerial superiority over any Mobile Suit currently fielded by anyone. With this, we could dominate the Earth-based Federation forces… but they secured the other model."
She gestures to the Penelope.
"The Penelope is apparently the testbed for all of the Xi's technologies. It matches the Xi in nearly all performance metrics, but since the Minovsky Flight Unit is an optional part as opposed to integrated, it is not quite the Xi's equal. Theoretically, we should have the advantage, but the difference is so small that we can't take that for granted."
Christina stares intently at the Penelope's schematics, "So what you're saying is that we've merely maintained the status quo?"
"Not quite." She shakes her head, "Anaheim has made it abundantly clear that they will not supply parts or components for either of these Mobile Suits unless the part in question is standardized. All the spare parts and equipment we have on hand are all the parts we will ever have. There are only a finite number of times we can repair the Xi, but the same holds true for the Penelope."
So… the logistics for both of these suits will run out one day, despite them being powerful enough to curbstomp any MS that came before them. But that means…
"The Feds aren't going to want to throw the Penelope at the Xi anytime soon…" You voice your line of thought, "Which means… Captain, is Mafty going to create a zone of absolute defense with the Xi?"
Captain Nouri smiles at you, "Excellent, Ensign. Yes, they intend to create a zone of control around Southeast Asia. Demonstrating the Xi's power a few times should be enough to get the Feds in the area to pull back."
This is a solid plan, but… it'll just intensify the ground war. More people are going to die. You feel partly responsible, but if you had done nothing, then the Feds would have likely had free reign. This is the objectively good outcome… right?
"So, we're just leaving the Xi with Mafty?" You ask, "Can we trust them? What are they even fighting for, aside from a general stance of 'Fuck the Feds'?"
"As per our agreement, Mafty gets the Xi, we get a copy of all its data, and they support any future ground action we engage in." The Captain answers, "I understand your concerns, Cybele, but the fact of the matter is that Londo Bell has no presence on the Earth itself. Mafty Navue Erin was the organization most willing to work with us on this operation."
You get it, but you don't like it. You don't like this at all.
"So, the original plan is bunk." You cross your arms and lean back in your chair, "What now, Captain? Are we still Hathaway's chauffeur back to the stars?"
"Yes, but not right away." She dismisses the schematics of the Xi and Penelope, and brings up a systems display of the Bellerophon, "We took some hits to our port engine block in the fight with the Broadway. Nothing crippling, but we no longer have the thrust necessary to reach orbit. The Broadway also cannot reach orbit under its own power, leaving both of us stranded."
Christina grimaces, "I take it we don't have the parts on hand to fix our engines?"
The Captain shakes her head, "No, and the Broadway doesn't have a booster conveniently available. Thankfully, the solution to both our problems are in the same place."
The display zooms out, showing China as well.
"Luio and Co. have helpfully offered to supply both parts for our repair and a booster for the Broadway. We'll make our way to the Hong Kong Autonomous Zone at best speed. If all goes well, we'll be back in space in a few days. Hathaway will be back with his father, and Ms. Vianno can return to the Argama."
Luio and Co… Ah, right, weren't they a major sponsor of the AEUG back in the day? Plus, the Federation has no presence in Hong Kong. After the whole fiasco with the Titans, the zone's government was able to secure additional rights, like the formation of their own self-defense force and the restriction of Federation armed forces within the zone itself.
So in theory, you should be safe once there.
Provided no one else takes issue with you en route…
"Captain," You interject, "The crew of the Broadway… we fought them, right? Are we really just back to being friends after all this?"
She nods, although you notice it's a bit stiff, "I spoke with Captain Montagne. We understand that we have bigger fish to fry. It's water under the bridge."
After the briefing, as you and Christina leave to bring your teams up to speed, you can't help but feel that something is off.
"I don't like this…" You admit to her in the quiet corridors, "Most of us Anti-Fed folks were getting along just fine, then all of a sudden Anaheim tosses this juicy piece of meat into the pond and we all tear each other to bits over it."
She nods, and you remember something…
"Hey, Christina, you used to work at Anaheim, right? Any insights on this whole fiasco?"
She stops in the middle of the hallway with a pensive frown, and you pause to wait.
Finally, after a long minute, she replies.
"Most of the work I did was at the engineering and advising level. I can't say what it's like in the higher rungs of the company."
"Yeah, but you can take a guess, right?"
"Cybele, it feels like you're looking for some sort of overarching mastermind behind this conflict, but it's not that simple." Her gaze meets yours, and it speaks of pity and regret, "Sometimes people just want different things for different reasons, and when those motives collide, someone is going to end up with the short end of the stick."
"I mean, sure," you shrug, "but what about selling Mobile Suits to anyone and everyone? Isn't that just prolonging the war? Don't they have a vested interest in making sure that the fighting never comes to an end?"
She shakes her head, "Anaheim is a corporation, Cybele. They want profit, and if selling weapons to all sides gets them that, then that is what they'll do. But that's probably all it is. You're reading too deeply into it."
You clench your fists so hard that you can feel your fingernails digging into your skin.
"Good people wouldn't do that."
She places her hand on your shoulder with what you think is supposed to be an understanding expression.
"Maybe not, but it's not like Anaheim is the only company benefiting from war. What about Luio and Co? Yashima Heavy Industries? Are they all made up of bad people?"
"They should understand that they're hurting people." You insist, a bitter taste in your mouth as you try and wrap your head around the concept of ruining the lives of millions of innocents simply for money, "If they weren't bad people, they'd know that."
Christina gives you a sad smile, "If everyone thought like you, maybe there wouldn't be any war… but they don't, and we're just pilots. We can only protect the ones we care about. Don't stress about things outside your sphere of influence. If those close to us are able to live happily, we have to accept that as enough."
She pats you on the shoulder again and continues. You don't follow, staring after her.
You have to accept that as enough?
No, that isn't enough.
It will never be enough.
"If that's beyond my sphere of influence…" your whispers fill the empty hallway, "Then I better start making it bigger, huh?"
The local authorities are more than happy to see your group leave, as every minute you stayed was a minute that the Feds could get wind of your location and turn the entire facility into a smoking crater. Granted, the Feds didn't have a presence in the area, but that wouldn't stop them from lobbing long-range missiles at your location in the hopes of getting lucky. Sure, inertial guidance wasn't as good as the defunct cruise missiles of old, but the missile knows where it is because it knows where it isn't… They don't need to hit you head on, just pack a big enough warhead and land in the general ballpark. It would have ruined your day.
Thankfully, they didn't, and so you and your fellow dissidents depart without being accosted.
To the north goes Mafty Navue Erin, an odd formation of old Medeas, Gunperrys, Fat Uncles, and Mobile Suits on Dodais escorting a patched-up Garuda, laden with a Mobile Suit that could determine who emerges victorious in the ground war. You're almost sad to see it go, but space is where you belong, and as revolutionary as the Xi is, it belongs in the atmosphere.
To the west fly two contrasting ships, both limping with multiple thruster nozzles silent. Londo Bell and the Republic of Zeon. The Bellerophon and the Broadway. Both spaceframes from an era where their makers fought tooth and nail. As you stare out the window at the Zanzibar-class taking up the rear, its hull scorched and battered from the Bellerophon's weapons, you can't help but feel that perhaps Gravity is pulling everyone down…
His back is turned towards you, but you'd recognize that silhouette anywhere.
After all, you'll always recognize family.
"Kaylen!" You run up to your brother, expecting him to turn and greet you with a smile.
He doesn't move.
Your run slows to a walk, and ten steps behind him you pause.
The air feels heavy, like it's keeping you pinned in place, unable to move another step.
"Kaylen?" You reach out towards him, danger pricking at you from the corners of your vision.
"Hey, Cy?" He says, your nickname spoken with fondness, "Take care of mom for me."
A bright flash of pink light erupts from his back, and you're sitting in a Mobile Suit's cockpit, hands gripping the controls so tightly that it hurts. In front of you is Kaylen's GM Command, speared on a beam saber.
The wielder of that saber kicks your brother's lifeless MS off of the weapon, discarding him like trash. A blue MP Nu stares you down, eyes glimmering with lethal intent.
"You…" Luke's voice is full of venom as he raises the blade level to your cockpit, "You did this!"
You move the controls, but the Woundwort doesn't move. The buttons do nothing. The Psycommu doesn't respond.
"Stay… Stay away from me…" Terror fills your stomach as you frantically try everything to get your MS to move, to respond, to do something. To ward off this oncoming death.
You see the flare of thrusters behind the enemy Nu, and it rushes forward, rapidly filling your screen.
"S-Someone help! No!" You raise your arms as if they could possibly do anything to save you as the monitors go dead, moments before the searing hot beam carves through them like butter, "Kaylen!"
Cybele Naese is the guiding figure in your life, the one who saved you when everyone else left you for dead.
She's strong, confident, and takes what she wants.
You can always look to her to be your north star. No matter what, Big Sis knows what to do.
So when she wakes screaming in the middle of the night, you don't know what to do.
When those screams turn to wails of despair, you don't know what to do.
When she's sobbing the name of her brother into her pillow, someone you've never met, you don't know what to do.
When her friends burst into the room and take over, comforting her and speaking to her of the past, a part of Cybele's life you weren't a part of, you don't know what to do.
When Lorelei takes you outside to let Cybele's friends handle her, you don't know what to do.
"I've never seen Big Sis like this before." You tell Big Sis Two, "What can I do to help her feel better?"
She smiles, but it's not a happy or a sad one. It's just… weird, and the feeling you get from her is strange too, but not in a way that you can pin down.
"Don't worry about it. This isn't something that you can fix in a day." She says, patting you on the head, "You'll know when you get the chance to help her."
You wonder what she means by that?
You're Cybele Naese and you feel like shit.
You didn't get much sleep, and had an awful nightmare that your friends had to calm you down from, which involved a lot of hot chocolate and a little pile of pillows and blankets.
You managed a quick nap before you got to Hong Kong, and now that you're here…
"Shore Leave?" You repeat the Captain's words back at her, "Seriously? Now?"
Captain Nouri nods, "Yes, Ensign. It'll be a while before Luio and Co are finished unloading our supplies. You should spend that time unwinding. Get away from all of this."
She gestures at the busy hangar.
But… what about your Gundam? It still hasn't been overhauled after the last battle! The Captain seems to anticipate your worry, though.
"I've got people working on your Mobile Suit, Ms. Naese. It'll be good as new when you get back."
She hands you a fat envelope, and you take a peek inside. Whoa, that's a lot of cash.
"That's the salary for you and your team for this past month." She supplies with a smile, "Go and have a good time. You've earned it. Just be back by evening… let's say 8PM. It'll take us at least that long to patch up the engines."
Admittedly, you're a bit stunned, and Captain Nouri takes your silence as acceptance, walking away before you can object.
Okay… so, shore leave in Hong Kong. You've heard that this place is pretty great. They really took the, uh, "opportunity" of the Gryps War to give the city a glow-up. You can't even tell that the Psycho Gundam rampaged through the city! They did make a memorial to that, though.
You've got the cash divvied up for your team by the time you round them all up. It's actually nice to take your mind off of last night. Nothing like fun to avoid facing your problems! Not that you have problems in the first place, and you'll fight anyone who says that you do.
"Let's hit up all their museums!" Eris suggests with excitement as the five of you disembark the Bellerophon in your civvies, "The history here goes way back, they've got a ton of ancient buildings too!"
"Seriously? Isn't one museum enough?" Theo sighs at her antics, "Eris, we only have today, and not even a full day at that. Shouldn't we do something fun?"
"History is fun!" She snaps back, sticking her tongue out at him.
Lorelei cuts in with a grin, "How about we go shopping? It's not often you get to buy clothes made on Earth! I bet they've got fashions we've never even imagined!"
"…Disneyland." Sicilia tugs at your shirt, "I wanna go to Disneyland, Big Sis!"
Disneyland does sound nice. But… something has been nagging at you. You saw Mobile Suits and a Gunperry during the fight with the MacDaniels logo. You probably should just dismiss that as a PMC taking the piss, but… what if it really was MacDaniels? You must know.
[] Museums and Tourist spots. See the giant Buddha statue!
[] Shopping for Earth fashion! Who knows, maybe you'll find something cool while you're here?
[] Hong Kong Disneyland. What better way to get your mind off of the dark trauma lurking in your mind than visiting the Happiest Place on Earth?
[] Investigate the Great MacDaniels Conspiracy. The Truth must be Revealed.