[X] Accept Rhea's original deal. It's ReZEL time.
The Funnels are tempting. Very tempting…
But no. You need to think of your team, and having them fly in goddamn Jegans is not an option for you.
"We'll take the ReZELs." You nod, accepting her first proposal, "It'll hurt going without the Woundwort for a while, but I'll deal with it for now."
"Good." Rhea smiled thinly, "At the rate you were going through equipment, I was worried I'd have to force the issue."
You grimace a bit at that. Ouch. You didn't think you were that reckless with the Option Parts, were you?
….
Actually you wrecked quite a few pieces and never thought to check if that was sustainable.
Actually…
"Commander Bright, why were you offering Jegans to my team anyways?" You ask, a little pissed, "I know Londo Bell is short on suits, but we have to have something better in stock than Jegans. Plus we're all Newtypes-except Mort no offense-so we're wasted on anything that isn't Psycommu-equipped at least."
He returns your question with an irritated glare.
"Ensign, I'm sure you'd realize this if you stopped to think about it," he says, "but the Jegan variants set aside for your team are some of the best machines Londo Bell can muster. You are not the only Newtypes amongst our forces, far from it. Most of our Psycommu-equipped machines are already allocated to Newtype pilots, and those units date back to the Gryps War. Frankly, the only machines that I could pull out of storage were a couple of old Jeddahs."
He frowns, "However, one of the teams attached to the Ra Chutter offered a couple of their suits to your team. I'm sure they'll be glad to know their offer won't be needed."
Ah…. Okay. You feel kinda bad now.
"Ah, what does it matter anymore?" Rhea cheers, "ReZELs for them, Woundwort for me! Woundwort, Woundwort~!"
She happily skips out of the room, leaving awkward silence.
Actually, if the MS situation is so dire…
"Commander, how is Londo Bell's stock of machines faring?" You ask, "We lost a lot of people and MS in that last battle."
Bright looks rather pained as you speak, and after a moment he replies, "Frankly, Ensign? Not good. The fighting has steadily eaten through our stockpile. Even with us dipping into our Titans machine reserves, it's only a matter of time before we no longer have replacement parts. Anaheim hasn't been able to keep up with demand."
He grows thoughtful, adding, "I've been in talks with them to move one of their production colonies near Londenion, but we're hitting roadblocks with the relocation."
"Wait, why?" Mort asks, "I know getting permission for relocating a colony is hard, but that was before the war. You don't need to ask the Federation for approval anymore."
"You would think so," Bright says, "but the production colony is a stone's throw away from a Federation-allied colony, and attaching the engines necessary to move that colony is something we can't hide. We don't want the Federation thinking we're planning a Colony Drop."
Rita shivers as Bright says that. Michele too. You should ask why, later.
"We've been picking up orders from Von Braun," he continues, "but we need to arrive in force to retrieve our order. The Federation is operating patrols around the city now."
Oh? That wasn't there last time. Must be because of what happened when you visited.
"Because of this operation, arriving in force is now off the table." He shakes his head regretfully, "We no longer have any spare ships to send on an armed convoy to Von Braun."
Captain Nouri adds, "Ensign, the Bellerophon is being assigned patrol duty while the rest of Londo Bell's forces pull back to Londenion. We will be the only ship available to respond to distress calls."
"Wait, the only ship?" You stare pointedly at her, "Tell me I misheard."
She gives you a small shake of her head.
"You want us to protect all of Londo Bell's allied colonies? No offense, Captain, but that's suicide."
"Not so." Bright reassures you, "The Federation and Zeon Republic also took heavy losses from the Phenex. They're pulling back too, with only minimal deployments for peacekeeping reasons."
That is both reassuring and concerning. It does mean that you won't have to deal with too many hostile Feds, but it also means that there is now the appearance of a power vacuum. All the minor league groups are going to come out of the woodwork, smelling opportunity.
Bright is right, Londo Bell needs to stay on patrol.
"Please tell me that the Republic is dedicating at least one ship to peacekeeping." You ask, resigned.
"There is one. The Shalimar, a Tivvay-class. You've worked with them before, when you went to meet the Jupitris II." Bright replies, "Their team is an elite Newtype unit, so they can pull their weight."
God, you hope so. It's going to be tough enough covering the Earth Sphere with just two ships.
"I'm also looking into hiring private contractors to shore up our numbers." Bright continued, "We have a few promising leads… which leads into your next mission."
He clicks his remote and the screen changes to display three very different logos. He pans to the first, a stylized "AK".
"First off, we have Argent Keil. They were an off-the-books Black Ops group operating under the guise of a private contractor. Around the time of the Laplace Incident, they cut contact with the EFF and went truly independent. They're currently being courted by us, the Federation, and the Zeon Republic."
The AK vanished, replaced with one in military font reading "PMC".
…
My God, they're literally called "PMC".
"The PMC, yes that's their name, is more straightforward. Everyone knows them, anyone can hire them… I suspect that they're run by Anaheim."
You raise your hand, "What makes you think that?"
"Because they operate machines that they shouldn't be able to get their hands on." Bright answers dryly, "But I won't look a gift horse in the mouth in this instance. They'll be on our payroll to help defend some of our allied colonies, but the Feds also have some of them hired to harass us. They should identify their allegiance on approach… emphasis on should."
He switched to the third one, a bold "B" in purple.
"Then there is Birnam. They are publicly known, but still rather secretive. I believe your team has actually fought them once, at Axis. I didn't think they'd be receptive to our overtures, but they seemed open to working with us… with one caveat. One of their senior members wants a one-on-one with the leader of Cascadia Team."
Everyone turns to look at you.
"...What." You say in complete deadpan. You have no idea how to process that information.
"They said that they had a quote, 'Score to Settle' unquote, with you." He explains with some bemusement, "They also sent a letter, but not to you."
Looking at Christina, Bright asked, "Lieutenant, you flew a Rick Dijeh during that mission, yes?"
She nods and he holds the envelope out to her, "This is for you, then."
Christina grabs it and rips it open, unfolding the paper within.
Her face screws up in confusion, "What the hell?"
Everyone moves to check it out.
Written on a single sheet of blank printer paper are three words.
"I LIVED, BITCH"
Who the hell?
"Was this that guy in the GM Custom that Christina sucker-punched?" Eris asks.
"I think so, yeah." Theo mutters, "She nailed his cockpit, though."
"And yet he lives." You shrug, "Well, I'll just kick his ass properly this time. I assume you want us to meet up with Birnam, Commander?"
"Yes, although the route is rather roundabout. There's more than a few things to handle on the way."
He switches to another slide showing a chart of the Earth Sphere, and begins drawing your path.
"First, we need you to drop by Moon Moon. They're officially neutral, but there are reports of piracy out there, and they only have one Mobile Suit for defense. The Colony Corporation reached out to us to handle this."
He pointed to the next spot, an abandoned Resource Satellite, "Next, you'll stop by M0-II. A group of Sleeves is hiding out here, and the Zeon Republic wants our help to recruit them. We don't expect fighting, but be ready for anything."
"After that, you'll head to Sevastopol Station. It's an old Stanford Torus, one of the first habitats during the early days of space colonization. It's been decommissioned and abandoned for decades… or, at least, it should be. The ring is rotating again, and the mirrors are active. You're simply to ascertain the situation. We need to know if it's merely squatters, or if the Federation is plotting something."
You raise your hand again, "And what if it is just squatters?"
"Then you leave them alone." He gives you a weird look, "That station is technically still Federation property, so it's their problem."
"Finally, you'll head to the colony Amelia in Side 2 to meet with Birnam. After that, you'll assume normal patrol duties until we can repair and rebuild our fleet."
He turns the map off, and Captain Nouri is back on the screen. Looking back at your team, he asks, "Any questions?"
You raise your hand again.
"Yes, Ensign Naese?"
There are a lot of things you'd like to ask, but firstly…
"We get some time off first, right?" You say expectantly, "I mean, this last sortie was… kind of a lot."
"Of course, Ensign. You'll get a few days of shore leave once we dock back at Londenion." He reassures you with a slight smile, "I've seen pilot burnout before, and I never want to see it again."
As you push off of the flight deck, you spin around and look at the Ra Cailum as it sits in port.
Like a wounded whale, it sits in dock, missing a whole engine pod and sporting numerous deep gouges all along its hull. You see repair crews already moving in, along with small tugs. The huge heavy duty cargo arm trundles closer on its tracks mounted above the ship.
"Looks like they're serious about repairs." Eris whistles with appreciation. Your whole team is viewing the spectacle as you drift away.
You wave at Captain Amuro as he floats past, "Captain! We're going to head out into town! Want to join us?"
He smiles but shakes his head, "Sorry Ensign, I've got work. Bright wants me to lead the Ra Cailum's refit."
Refit? You thought that they were just doing repairs. Before you can ask, he fires his grapple and heads in an entirely different direction.
"What sort of refit, I wonder…" Rita muses as you all finally reach one of the walkways around the hangar, grabbing onto the rails and magnetizing your boots to the floor.
"Ooh, maybe they're going to turn the Ra Cailum into a giant Mobile Armor!" Mort suggests excitedly, "Just imagine it! Unmatched maneuverability, missile silos filled with Bits, maybe even turrets that can act as Incoms!"
You roll your eyes, "Get real, Mort. A Mobile Armor that big would cost as much as a small fleet. Londo Bell can't afford that."
A nearby cargo hatch yawns open, and several large cargo containers with the AE logo on the side are pushed through by a small tug.
"...They could if Anaheim funded it." Eris comments, but you just ignore that and grab one of the mobility rail handles to head towards the inner colony.
Ra Cailum, a Mobile Armor. Ridiculous.
You've got other things to worry about. Things like how to spend your leave.
[] Shore Leave
-[] Anaheim Electronics is hosting a Weapons Convention a few colonies over. You should check it out.
-[] Try to do normal kid stuff as team building activities. Go shopping, hit up the arcades, eat some good food…
-[] Tell your team to go do their own thing. Spend time with your mother.
[] Mission Prep
-[] Familiarize yourself with ReZEL specs and operations. It's very different from what you've flown so far.
-[] Train your Newtype powers with Haman. She can unlock your potential.
-[] Train your Newtype powers with Rita. Surely the Golden Phoenix has a few pointers.
[] Extra
-[] Talk to Artesia and the Zeon Republic pilots before they leave.
-[] Steal Kaylen's
letter from your mother and read it.
-[] Finally build that Amuro-Edition Haro you bought a while back.