LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
Nothing that extreme, because any such outcome results in an automatic response to grab the nearest sharpest object to conduct vivisections.
There are two characters in 00 that share the same initials.
No Second Chances [Gundam 00/Battletech SI]
- Thread starter LGear
- Start date
Nothing that extreme, because any such outcome results in an automatic response to grab the nearest sharpest object to conduct vivisections.
- Location
- Puerto Rico
That could serve as a therapeutic.
meganeshounen
*tips glasses*
- Location
- Far East Asia
Even if I know almost nothing about Battletech, I loved Gundam 00 to bits (or maybe just its sexy mech designs).
Watched reaaaaal hard.
Also, the Exia is of course an superspecced CQC monster. What does Sora need for him to be given a long range or aerial specialist? Doesn't even need to be the Gen 1 Gundams.
Pilots, however, would be a more pressing need...
Watched reaaaaal hard.
Also, the Exia is of course an superspecced CQC monster. What does Sora need for him to be given a long range or aerial specialist? Doesn't even need to be the Gen 1 Gundams.
Pilots, however, would be a more pressing need...
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
Considering ASFs, he does need either more Mobile Suits, or at least a different beam weapon. Preferably more of a shotgun/scattergun-type beam weapon.
Makes it a helvalot harder to dodge snapshots.
Makes it a helvalot harder to dodge snapshots.
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Chapter 5: What is it?
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
LGear's Notes: A rather short one this time.
Commander Ricardo Foley of the Verona Militia surveyed the scene in front of him with weary eyes, struggling to maintain focus after the events of the day.
The physical damage to the town of Stillwell was less than he had expected for a large pirate raid like this: some buildings hit by stray fire along Blakeson Avenue, and a demolished restaurant by Holl's River Road after an enemy Jaegermech had fallen on it from battle damage. Apart from other small hits and pockmarks from all the fire traded between mechs and infantry, the town had escaped damage relatively well; certainly no part of the town had burned down afterwards. Already the townspeople were moving about, clearing up the roads of scrap and debris as they sought to restore their daily lives.
It could've been worse he mused. The militia's small contingent of ASF's had been undergoing maintenance today, and the pirates had capitalized on it to slip their Leopards past their then non-existent defenses. An embarrassing gaffe, softened only by the militia more than making up for that mistake with their valiant actions against the enemy battlemechs and raiders this day, ensuring that the pirates paid dearly for their transgression with blood.
Any surviving pirates had already been rounded up, where they would await interrogation once the Lord-General and his entourage arrived, and they would find out who they were, and where their jumpship was. Not that it would do them any good, as the Verona Militia currently had no transports capable of reaching any known pirate jump points in the system.
This one simply fact ground at him, for as of the latest report 19 of Stillwell's number had been taken by the pirates, among them his dear nephew Vilerno and his wife Sirna, both of whom had been working on one of the town's fledgling schools. Sure, they could ask for help from the Lusitianian Armed Forces, but they were caught in that quagmire of a war they had against the Tarsonians half a world away, and with the current state of the bureaucracy out here in the wastes it would take awhile for any requests for aid to be considered, let alone acted upon. By then, the pirates would have jumped out of the system, well and truly beyond their reach.
He refused to believe that his nephew and his niece-in-law was lost to him, even when his mind knew that holding on to that hope would only hurt. It was a frustrating state of affairs, but that was life out here in the Periphery.
'Stay strong you two.' His thoughts reached out to them.
Letting a puff of smoke out from his cigar, its sweet scent keeping him awake as he disembarked from his jeep, Foley looked up at the remaining mystery that this day had brought: the large white and blue assault mech currently resting by the plaza, taller than most of the two-story buildings nearby even when kneeling down. He had seen many models of battlemechs in his time with the Aurigan Coalition, and his profession by nature had required him to keep abreast of new information regarding them, and yet he knew he had never seen a mech quite like this before.
Then again, it had been a while since he had been within civilized space, and who knew what developments the Inner Sphere had made by now.
When he first saw the mech from the top of the belltower he commanded from he had thought it a mirage, a crimson hallucination borne from the stress of fighting overwhelming odds. Then he saw it dismantle four pirate mechs in less than a minute with its unbelievable weapon, and realized slackjawed that salvation had arrived for him and his men.
Suddenly its crimson light had faded into its now blue and white colors, before inexplicably freezing still like a statue in front of a pirate mech, becoming nothing more than target practice. He had ordered his men to assist the beleaguered mech on the way to cleaning up the now outnumbered pirates.
That was an hour and a half ago, and since then the mech had not moved from its place, still holding on to the stubs of those strange beam swords it used. He'd hate to think that the pilot had suddenly died in his cockpit mid-battle from the heat his mech must have generated to glow like that, or that this was some kind of elaborate trap on part of the pirates.
Even from a hundred feet away and lit only by the spotlights that shone on it, he began to notice the features that nagged at his experience with battlemechs: it was thin and lanky for something its size, far too clean even with the visible scratches, pits and scorches it had, and all that glass…. He filed them away for further consideration later, and raised his jeep radio's handset to his mouth.
"This is Commander Ricardo Foley of the Verona Militia, speaking to the assault mech pilot in front of me, identify yourself," he introduced with as much authority as he could muster.
Fortunately, he didn't wait long to get a response.
"This is Soran Ibrahim, freelancer for hire." A young voice replied, the fatigue in his voice apparent. "I hope I'm not causing any trouble here, Commander?"
A polite one at least. A small part of Foley thought to bring up that the assault mech was blocking the road, but then considering the damage to the rest of the town that was a trivial matter.
"Not at all, son," he reassured. "But I do wish to learn of your intentions as it may."
"Oh, that all?" the mechwarrior replied nonchalantly. "Well Commander, I've made it a personal mission of mine to make any pirate's day worse when I come across em'. I came across some last-minute intel warning of a pirate approach to this town, so I came as fast as I could to kick ass and perhaps get some salvage along the way."
'A merc who fancies himself a vigilante,' Foley thought to himself with some humor, and he would've scoffed at the man if not for his want of salvage, which was entirely expected. "According to my men you defeated a Shadowhawk, a Firestarter, a Locust and an Urbanmech, which you are entitled to as per standard salvage rules."
"No objection there, sir," Soran agreed immediately, which was a relief to Foley. "Though I was already intending on selling most of them, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in buying them?"
Claiming salvage right from their turf, then selling to them directly? Foley wasn't sure if the man was brazen, an idiot, or both. He couldn't see anything wrong with the arrangement though, apart from the impudence of it. It'll get them more mechs for the militia at the least.
"State your price," he challenged with a bit of wariness.
"I'd love to sir, but can we hold that thought till' tomorrow?" The young man's tired plea came as a small surprise. "I'm afraid I'll spout nonsensical figures if I try haggling now, and I figure we all need some rest after today's craziness."
"Indeed we do," Foley responded grimly. He was bone tired from all the action today, and some time to clear his head. "We'll continue these negotiations tomorrow."
"Thank you sir," the man replied in obvious relief. "In the meantime sir, I'll be leaving the mechs here while I get back to my lodgings. I'll be back by morning."
The assault mech suddenly stirred, startling everyone including himself, and nearby militiamen turned and pointed their weapons at the mech. It stood straight now, revealing its full, intimidating height, taller than anything he had seen. To his disbelief the mech suddenly rose slowly to the air without the flare or the roar of jumpjets, as if gravity had no hold on it, levitating a few feet off the ground. If his own men didn't also sport gobsmacked expressions on their faces he would've thought it was a trick of the light.
"Last question for the day sir," the radio crackled, the young man's voice featuring a odd worry. "How many were taken?"
Foley sighed sadly, there was no reason to hide the facts. "Nineteen men and women."
He heard a deep sigh on the other end.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Foley found a small measure of consolation in those words, from someone with no reason he could think of to care.
"It's alright son, this is life out in the periphery," he spoke with resignation.
"It shouldn't have to be sir."
A pregnant silence hung in the air, only filled by the soft whir of the mech's strange turbine as it turned around, and flew off into the darkness.
'An idealist and a merc… poor man…'
From the bridge's operations console Amia watched the Gundam, which she now knew was called the "Exia", enter the ship from the third catapult deck, stifling a gasp at the damage the mobile suit had sustained. Where before the mobile suit had been clean and immaculate, now it was pockmarked and blackened in places, scratches and streaks all over its body. The large sword and shield it held in its hands were in a similar state of damage, and she could see parts of the shield torn off and melted, a grisly testament to the punishment it had sustained.
She admitted that her view of Celestial Being, reinforced by years of documentaries and infovids, had colored her vision of the Gundams somewhat, seeing them less as machines and more forces of change, metal titans that enforced Aeolia Schenberg's will through violence. Indomitable and formidable, they were angels of death, nightmares of many a pilot who faced them, and for many perished against them. To see one of those Gundams now, battle-scarred and damaged, looking more a battered, beaten machine instead of a god of war put the hyperbole she knew to the test.
But it was the knowledge that there was a pilot inside, a human being who went out with fear in his heart but did his duty without question… If the Gundam was this battered inside, what about the pilot, what about Sora?
He had not taken the news of the takings well, having killed the comm right after. She did not know what happened afterwards, but she had a few guesses based on what little she knew of him, and none were pretty. It was half an hour after that Sora called her again to apologize, something he liked doing it seemed, and had left the comm open to talk to the militia commander, for what reason she didn't know.
Once the Exia was safely inside with the catapult hatch closed she left the bridge, and made her way to the hangar deck, where the automated subroutines she had started were working to move the Gundam via sliding platforms into the main central hangar.
She reached the main hangar just as the Exia locked into position by the central boarding catwalk with a loud thud, and no sooner had the catwalk affixed itself did the Gundam's cockpit hatch open, revealing Sora sitting inside helmet off.
"I'm back," he greeted weakly, tired and haggard, looking clammy with sweat. A maelstrom of emotions swirled within him - lethargy, worry, anger, pain, shame, regret… but the sheer relief that bloomed within him when he saw her was strong enough to relax her as well, and it really was rather flattering. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling by any means, and she found it easy to smile back.
"Welcome back."
Now that it seemed made him happy by quite a lot, though the hints of nostalgia and melancholy that accompanied it told her there was more to it than she saw. She decided to put it aside for now, and instead voice a question that had bothered her earlier.
"Sora, why did you make me listen to your conversation with the Commander?"
He blinked as he stepped out of the cockpit, confusion welling up. "I did?"
Ami suddenly realized what had happened, feeling silly at her earlier paranoia. She should've known just from seeing how fatigued he was earlier.
"You forgot to turn the comms off," she pointed out. As if confirming her thoughts, embarrassment accompanied Sora's sheepish laugh.
"It appears I did then," he admitted, scratching a hand behind his nape. "Sorry for that."
There he went again, and she shook her head at that. "There's nothing to apologize for Sora. It did allow me to learn a lot." She gave him an inquisitive look. "About the situation we're in."
The more Amia had learned of the situation, the more she realized that Sora's claims to her were proving their truthfulness with each factoid and bits of data she received. That there even were space pirates so far out of the frontier should've clued her in the first place, as it meant there were people apart from the Exploration Corps who had reached so far into space. There was also the developed human town in a planet she had not heard of: the Sumeragi had plans to colonize suitable planets they may come across, but they hadn't even found one as they were still in their five-year surveyor phase, let alone enact colonization plans already!
Something strange was happening, and the more she thought of their current situation, the less it made sense.
Sora must've picked up on this, because he turned to look at her, all business-like. "I see." He then sighed, before returning his gaze at her.
"Ami, meet me in fifteen minutes in the briefing room, don't really want to do it like this," he gestured to himself. Before she could get a word in edgewise Ami felt his eyes give her a once-over from top to bottom, and though she felt that small hint of appreciative satisfaction from him, he really was more…. Curious?
"What is it?" she accused warily, but still his gaze didn't abate.
"Do you really like wearing that?" he finally asked, and it took a while before Amia understood what he meant as she looked down on herself, still wearing her medical gown. She hadn't even removed the medical monitor clipped on her chest!
"I forgot," she laughed silly.
He gave her a blank stare before shrugging. "Well, don't stop on my account."
Despite his weariness Sora still managed to give her a smug face before he left, and she found herself giggling as she shook her head.
"Just get rid of that nervousness Sora, you're getting there."
So today there was a difficult decision for me to take regarding the previous chapters, and sad to say I decided to go through with it: I deleted the entire pirate analysis viewpoint from the second chapter. It was a fun write, and provided the "reaction" quota to the strangeness of the Gundam, but unfortunately I realized that it didn't jive with the tone of chapters before or since, and I figured I could do something better in the future.
==========
Commander Ricardo Foley of the Verona Militia surveyed the scene in front of him with weary eyes, struggling to maintain focus after the events of the day.
The physical damage to the town of Stillwell was less than he had expected for a large pirate raid like this: some buildings hit by stray fire along Blakeson Avenue, and a demolished restaurant by Holl's River Road after an enemy Jaegermech had fallen on it from battle damage. Apart from other small hits and pockmarks from all the fire traded between mechs and infantry, the town had escaped damage relatively well; certainly no part of the town had burned down afterwards. Already the townspeople were moving about, clearing up the roads of scrap and debris as they sought to restore their daily lives.
It could've been worse he mused. The militia's small contingent of ASF's had been undergoing maintenance today, and the pirates had capitalized on it to slip their Leopards past their then non-existent defenses. An embarrassing gaffe, softened only by the militia more than making up for that mistake with their valiant actions against the enemy battlemechs and raiders this day, ensuring that the pirates paid dearly for their transgression with blood.
Any surviving pirates had already been rounded up, where they would await interrogation once the Lord-General and his entourage arrived, and they would find out who they were, and where their jumpship was. Not that it would do them any good, as the Verona Militia currently had no transports capable of reaching any known pirate jump points in the system.
This one simply fact ground at him, for as of the latest report 19 of Stillwell's number had been taken by the pirates, among them his dear nephew Vilerno and his wife Sirna, both of whom had been working on one of the town's fledgling schools. Sure, they could ask for help from the Lusitianian Armed Forces, but they were caught in that quagmire of a war they had against the Tarsonians half a world away, and with the current state of the bureaucracy out here in the wastes it would take awhile for any requests for aid to be considered, let alone acted upon. By then, the pirates would have jumped out of the system, well and truly beyond their reach.
He refused to believe that his nephew and his niece-in-law was lost to him, even when his mind knew that holding on to that hope would only hurt. It was a frustrating state of affairs, but that was life out here in the Periphery.
'Stay strong you two.' His thoughts reached out to them.
Letting a puff of smoke out from his cigar, its sweet scent keeping him awake as he disembarked from his jeep, Foley looked up at the remaining mystery that this day had brought: the large white and blue assault mech currently resting by the plaza, taller than most of the two-story buildings nearby even when kneeling down. He had seen many models of battlemechs in his time with the Aurigan Coalition, and his profession by nature had required him to keep abreast of new information regarding them, and yet he knew he had never seen a mech quite like this before.
Then again, it had been a while since he had been within civilized space, and who knew what developments the Inner Sphere had made by now.
When he first saw the mech from the top of the belltower he commanded from he had thought it a mirage, a crimson hallucination borne from the stress of fighting overwhelming odds. Then he saw it dismantle four pirate mechs in less than a minute with its unbelievable weapon, and realized slackjawed that salvation had arrived for him and his men.
Suddenly its crimson light had faded into its now blue and white colors, before inexplicably freezing still like a statue in front of a pirate mech, becoming nothing more than target practice. He had ordered his men to assist the beleaguered mech on the way to cleaning up the now outnumbered pirates.
That was an hour and a half ago, and since then the mech had not moved from its place, still holding on to the stubs of those strange beam swords it used. He'd hate to think that the pilot had suddenly died in his cockpit mid-battle from the heat his mech must have generated to glow like that, or that this was some kind of elaborate trap on part of the pirates.
Even from a hundred feet away and lit only by the spotlights that shone on it, he began to notice the features that nagged at his experience with battlemechs: it was thin and lanky for something its size, far too clean even with the visible scratches, pits and scorches it had, and all that glass…. He filed them away for further consideration later, and raised his jeep radio's handset to his mouth.
"This is Commander Ricardo Foley of the Verona Militia, speaking to the assault mech pilot in front of me, identify yourself," he introduced with as much authority as he could muster.
Fortunately, he didn't wait long to get a response.
"This is Soran Ibrahim, freelancer for hire." A young voice replied, the fatigue in his voice apparent. "I hope I'm not causing any trouble here, Commander?"
A polite one at least. A small part of Foley thought to bring up that the assault mech was blocking the road, but then considering the damage to the rest of the town that was a trivial matter.
"Not at all, son," he reassured. "But I do wish to learn of your intentions as it may."
"Oh, that all?" the mechwarrior replied nonchalantly. "Well Commander, I've made it a personal mission of mine to make any pirate's day worse when I come across em'. I came across some last-minute intel warning of a pirate approach to this town, so I came as fast as I could to kick ass and perhaps get some salvage along the way."
'A merc who fancies himself a vigilante,' Foley thought to himself with some humor, and he would've scoffed at the man if not for his want of salvage, which was entirely expected. "According to my men you defeated a Shadowhawk, a Firestarter, a Locust and an Urbanmech, which you are entitled to as per standard salvage rules."
"No objection there, sir," Soran agreed immediately, which was a relief to Foley. "Though I was already intending on selling most of them, and I was wondering if you'd be interested in buying them?"
Claiming salvage right from their turf, then selling to them directly? Foley wasn't sure if the man was brazen, an idiot, or both. He couldn't see anything wrong with the arrangement though, apart from the impudence of it. It'll get them more mechs for the militia at the least.
"State your price," he challenged with a bit of wariness.
"I'd love to sir, but can we hold that thought till' tomorrow?" The young man's tired plea came as a small surprise. "I'm afraid I'll spout nonsensical figures if I try haggling now, and I figure we all need some rest after today's craziness."
"Indeed we do," Foley responded grimly. He was bone tired from all the action today, and some time to clear his head. "We'll continue these negotiations tomorrow."
"Thank you sir," the man replied in obvious relief. "In the meantime sir, I'll be leaving the mechs here while I get back to my lodgings. I'll be back by morning."
The assault mech suddenly stirred, startling everyone including himself, and nearby militiamen turned and pointed their weapons at the mech. It stood straight now, revealing its full, intimidating height, taller than anything he had seen. To his disbelief the mech suddenly rose slowly to the air without the flare or the roar of jumpjets, as if gravity had no hold on it, levitating a few feet off the ground. If his own men didn't also sport gobsmacked expressions on their faces he would've thought it was a trick of the light.
"Last question for the day sir," the radio crackled, the young man's voice featuring a odd worry. "How many were taken?"
Foley sighed sadly, there was no reason to hide the facts. "Nineteen men and women."
He heard a deep sigh on the other end.
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry."
Foley found a small measure of consolation in those words, from someone with no reason he could think of to care.
"It's alright son, this is life out in the periphery," he spoke with resignation.
"It shouldn't have to be sir."
A pregnant silence hung in the air, only filled by the soft whir of the mech's strange turbine as it turned around, and flew off into the darkness.
'An idealist and a merc… poor man…'
==========
From the bridge's operations console Amia watched the Gundam, which she now knew was called the "Exia", enter the ship from the third catapult deck, stifling a gasp at the damage the mobile suit had sustained. Where before the mobile suit had been clean and immaculate, now it was pockmarked and blackened in places, scratches and streaks all over its body. The large sword and shield it held in its hands were in a similar state of damage, and she could see parts of the shield torn off and melted, a grisly testament to the punishment it had sustained.
She admitted that her view of Celestial Being, reinforced by years of documentaries and infovids, had colored her vision of the Gundams somewhat, seeing them less as machines and more forces of change, metal titans that enforced Aeolia Schenberg's will through violence. Indomitable and formidable, they were angels of death, nightmares of many a pilot who faced them, and for many perished against them. To see one of those Gundams now, battle-scarred and damaged, looking more a battered, beaten machine instead of a god of war put the hyperbole she knew to the test.
But it was the knowledge that there was a pilot inside, a human being who went out with fear in his heart but did his duty without question… If the Gundam was this battered inside, what about the pilot, what about Sora?
He had not taken the news of the takings well, having killed the comm right after. She did not know what happened afterwards, but she had a few guesses based on what little she knew of him, and none were pretty. It was half an hour after that Sora called her again to apologize, something he liked doing it seemed, and had left the comm open to talk to the militia commander, for what reason she didn't know.
Once the Exia was safely inside with the catapult hatch closed she left the bridge, and made her way to the hangar deck, where the automated subroutines she had started were working to move the Gundam via sliding platforms into the main central hangar.
She reached the main hangar just as the Exia locked into position by the central boarding catwalk with a loud thud, and no sooner had the catwalk affixed itself did the Gundam's cockpit hatch open, revealing Sora sitting inside helmet off.
"I'm back," he greeted weakly, tired and haggard, looking clammy with sweat. A maelstrom of emotions swirled within him - lethargy, worry, anger, pain, shame, regret… but the sheer relief that bloomed within him when he saw her was strong enough to relax her as well, and it really was rather flattering. It wasn't an unpleasant feeling by any means, and she found it easy to smile back.
"Welcome back."
Now that it seemed made him happy by quite a lot, though the hints of nostalgia and melancholy that accompanied it told her there was more to it than she saw. She decided to put it aside for now, and instead voice a question that had bothered her earlier.
"Sora, why did you make me listen to your conversation with the Commander?"
He blinked as he stepped out of the cockpit, confusion welling up. "I did?"
Ami suddenly realized what had happened, feeling silly at her earlier paranoia. She should've known just from seeing how fatigued he was earlier.
"You forgot to turn the comms off," she pointed out. As if confirming her thoughts, embarrassment accompanied Sora's sheepish laugh.
"It appears I did then," he admitted, scratching a hand behind his nape. "Sorry for that."
There he went again, and she shook her head at that. "There's nothing to apologize for Sora. It did allow me to learn a lot." She gave him an inquisitive look. "About the situation we're in."
The more Amia had learned of the situation, the more she realized that Sora's claims to her were proving their truthfulness with each factoid and bits of data she received. That there even were space pirates so far out of the frontier should've clued her in the first place, as it meant there were people apart from the Exploration Corps who had reached so far into space. There was also the developed human town in a planet she had not heard of: the Sumeragi had plans to colonize suitable planets they may come across, but they hadn't even found one as they were still in their five-year surveyor phase, let alone enact colonization plans already!
Something strange was happening, and the more she thought of their current situation, the less it made sense.
Sora must've picked up on this, because he turned to look at her, all business-like. "I see." He then sighed, before returning his gaze at her.
"Ami, meet me in fifteen minutes in the briefing room, don't really want to do it like this," he gestured to himself. Before she could get a word in edgewise Ami felt his eyes give her a once-over from top to bottom, and though she felt that small hint of appreciative satisfaction from him, he really was more…. Curious?
"What is it?" she accused warily, but still his gaze didn't abate.
"Do you really like wearing that?" he finally asked, and it took a while before Amia understood what he meant as she looked down on herself, still wearing her medical gown. She hadn't even removed the medical monitor clipped on her chest!
"I forgot," she laughed silly.
He gave her a blank stare before shrugging. "Well, don't stop on my account."
Despite his weariness Sora still managed to give her a smug face before he left, and she found herself giggling as she shook her head.
"Just get rid of that nervousness Sora, you're getting there."
No Second Chances
LGear's Notes:
So today there was a difficult decision for me to take regarding the previous chapters, and sad to say I decided to go through with it: I deleted the entire pirate analysis viewpoint from the second chapter. It was a fun write, and provided the "reaction" quota to the strangeness of the Gundam, but unfortunately I realized that it didn't jive with the tone of chapters before or since, and I figured I could do something better in the future.
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Killer Hamster
Feed me.
Thanks for the update.
Wonder how Ami will react when the MC explains their situation to her. Humanity in her universe have barely touched the stars and now she is in an alternate universe? Also when the MC talks about the inner workings of Celestial Being that she most probably be not privy to as a civilian would be interesting as well.
Also can you threadmark the chapter?
Wonder how Ami will react when the MC explains their situation to her. Humanity in her universe have barely touched the stars and now she is in an alternate universe? Also when the MC talks about the inner workings of Celestial Being that she most probably be not privy to as a civilian would be interesting as well.
Also can you threadmark the chapter?
Chapter 6: What's true?
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
LGear's Notes: I'm not particularly sure about the quality of this chapter despite of (or because of) it's length, but I am treating this entire thing as one big writing exercise, to get me out of the writing rut I was under for over a couple of years. Anyways, not much in the way of action here.
With the excitement from yesterday's events, Amia Lee didn't have the luxury of simply taking in the sights as she could now, flying over the desert at a leisurely speed in her VTOL craft.
She had come with him in returning to Stillwell for the negotiations over their salvage, and Sora had decided that it'd be a good opportunity to warm up and test the VTOL transport the ship had, 'break it in' so to speak. After discovering that she had the relevant knowledge to fly the VTOL while Sora did not, she'd offered to be the pilot, which she was quickly discovering was becoming her de-facto role in this strange new reality. It was strange to control a vehicle using her hands and feet, a crude and primitive way to control machines compared to direct neural interfaces with the ELS, but it wasn't particularly tiring at the least.
Sora himself was on the Exia, flying in escort formation in front and beside her. It was decided that they would take the Gundam out as well, not only as contingency for any emergencies, but also to ease identification to the local militia - it would be hard to mistake the Gundam's unique appearance for anything else in the Inner Sphere after all.
All her thoughts however drifted to the things she had learned last night in that briefing room, the full and unblemished truth, whose implications still haunted her at this moment.
"What year do you think it is?"
An innocuous enough question asked by Sora, who was sitting on a chair in front of her, but with everything Ami knew about the situation she was quick to pick up the strangeness of it, how off it was. A deep pit in her stomach began to form.
"2369, it was 2369. Five years into our survey mission, and the last phase of exploration before the vetting process for colony worlds to inhabit."
Sora nodded at that. "For me, the year I knew before I died was 2017."
Now THAT had been a shock on Ami's system. "But that's nearly three-hundred years into the past!" She knew at this point that time travel probably shouldn't rank as strangely as outright resurrection in her books: There were theoretical models for it, and she'd more than enjoyed the stories featuring it, but to actually know it was possible…
Wait, she had to confirm it first. "Could it just be a difference in timekeeping? A Gregorian versus Japanese calendar type of thing?" Oh she never knew that piece of trivia might come in handy someday.
Unfortunately Sora shook his head. "In my time, mankind's furthest step into space was the Lunar landings, and stuff like holographic interfaces," he flashed his smart-tab's holoscreen, " was the stuff of science fiction, let alone things like mobile suits. And then there's this."
The large display to their right flashed with information, a listed assortment of dates and related factoids… a timeline.
"If you'd look here," Sora continued, "the Ptolemy databanks have an abbreviated timeline of historical events leading up to the 24th century, and the version of 21st century history I remember in my time line up neatly with yours."
Ami scrutinized the list, looking for any inconsistencies in the list she knew, even if she knew she might not remember everything from her history lessons. Still, no major oddities stuck out, no events different from how she remembered them being taught. Percolating the mix of thoughts in her head she could only agree with a single conclusion:
"So you're a time traveller." She grinned. "Should I start teaching the savage about the ways of civilized etiquette and class?"
"I'm no savage caveman I assure you," Sora waved off.
"Not with the way you're looking at me." Oh she hadn't missed the way Sora was very appreciative of her wearing Celestial Being's uniform. Regardless of her opinion of the organization, she admitted that they had some rather stylish wear, especially with the skin-tight suit and the accompanying long-sleeved vest over it, and that she looked quite classy in it, more than the normal suits of the Explorer Corps was at any rate.
Sora suddenly started thumping his chest and growling, "Big strong man see beautiful woman, must look see!"
She gave a hearty laugh at that. "I thank you for your compliments Mister Caveman."
He made noises like a monkey in response, and she couldn't help but spill her mirth at that.
"Well, that silliness aside," Sora regained his composure, though still smiling, "I could be a time traveller, or…"
"You could also be someone resurrected in the future," she pointed out.
"Or that."
Ami took comfort in her proposal, the tenets of Occam's Razor paring down their theory to the most basic possibility. After all this situation need not be stranger than it already was right? Unfortunately as if reading her mind Sora shot down that line of thinking.
"However, there's a chink in that theory's armor." Sora took a sip from his canned coffee.
Ami sighed in exasperation as she realized she may have been too optimistic. "Spill it."
The look of…. Sympathy? That Sora gave her was not a good sign. "I asked you if you remember what year it was not because I needed it, but because you might." Ami was about to ask what he meant by that, but he continued, "I asked a mayor I met a couple of days ago about the circumstances, and according to him the current year, " he paused, seemingly for dramatic effect, "is 3025."
Ami's eyes widened at the declaration, trying to search for any falsehood in Sora's expressions and emotions, and to her distress found none. The 31st Century?!
"I'm sorry Sora, looks like I'm just as much a savage as you are." Her laughter was weak, but it served to buoy her spirits after what she had heard.
A barrage of questions filled her mind within a second. What happened to the Sumeragi? Did they succeed in their mission? The colonies she'd seen though seemed to point to that outcome, as it meant mankind had spread out among the stars enough for colony cities to be built.
"That's alright, I don't think humanity's that much more civilized in the 31st Century."
The look on Sora's face though brought her thoughts to a halt in alarm. There was a sadness in him, not for himself, but for her?
"There's more to this isn't there," she asked, and she was afraid of what the answer might be.
Fiddling with his pad once more, Sora's gaze turned towards the large monitor from earlier, and she turned to look as well. A second column had been laid down beside the first, detailing…. A second timeline? Her face paled even before Sora began his explanation.
"I got this complete historical timeline from the mayor up to the current year, along with other information regarding the state of humanity. They only have history up to the late 20th Century, however that's enough to see the differences in the two timelines, where they begin to diverge around 2005, with the establishment of this 'Crippen Station' that I'm pretty sure did not exist in the version of that year I know."
Words on both timelines suddenly turned red, highlighting the differences between the two lists. No Solar Elevators, FTL achieved in the 22nd Century with the Kearny-Fuchida Drive, the rise of the Terran Hegemony where the Earth Sphere Federation should've been… With each beep highlighting the differences Ami felt a piece of her worldview being chipped away, and as more and more text changed red they became more common until all that was left was crimson, at which point her belief collapsed.
"But that's…." She wanted to dispute it, refute it, tell him he was making this up, that he was wrong… but everything she'd seen in this world - the pirates, the transmissions - everything her senses were telling her, pointed her to the only logical and frightening conclusion.
"Not only are we both in the future, but it's the future of an alternate reality."
Questions had been asked, though Sora had admitted that he wasn't the best person to ask about the state of the galaxy, but he seemed to know enough: the events after the 24th Century with the fall of the Terran Hegemony; the rise and subsequent fall of the Star League, the largest empire humanity had ever created; and the three Succession Wars that followed afterward, the last of which was supposedly still raging. The map showing the scope of the Inner Sphere was the final straw… 400 light years from end to end, encompassing hundreds upon hundreds of worlds!
For Ami, this was a revelation whose implications she needed more time to digest before she could truly stomach it, but already she felt queasy at all the facts. More than being separated from her home, more than not seeing her family and friends again, there was one fact among the many presented to her that disturbed her on a deeper level.
Humanity had spread to the stars…. And brought only war with them.
When Ami had woken up from her attack all those decades ago, she had raged at the unfairness of it all, at why she had been the one to lose years of her youth to the ELS, to what they've done to her. But as time passed, and her symbiosis with the aliens deepened alongside her developing Innovator abilities, allowing her to reach out and share her thoughts and emotions with her fellow Innovators, Ami had began to realize something remarkable, to see something beautiful: the potential of mankind in the cosmos. A vision of prosperity and unity, where mankind brought the ideals of peace and understanding to the empty vastness of space, in which for the first time, even as mankind stood by themselves, a single, insignificant spark in the enormity of the universe, that they would never be alone again.
She had seen this beauty, this all-encompassing communion, in the final moments before her death, to know that everyone was in her thoughts, and hers in theirs. It had cemented her belief of the infinite possibilities that mankind could achieve among the stars.
To see and hear that this mankind had spread out to hundreds of solar systems, and yet were still plagued by war and conflict…
"Why… all this death and suffering? How could they let this happen?"
She had asked Sora then, who only shook his head, muted resignation in his heart.
"I don't know. I can point to a lot of things like greed, pride, ideals, misguided good intentions…. But in the end, there are as many reasons for war as there are humans in the world, and there are a lot of humans in the Inner Sphere." He let out a humorless laugh at that, perfectly mirroring her feelings. "And that's in between warfare becoming institutionalized to become the de-facto way of solving problems."
She almost felt like crying at the revelation, at how wrong this new reality appeared to be.That the pirate raid they had come across was not an isolated incident, but something common to the galaxy…
"There must be something, anything we can do..." She had cried out in her despair, and the sadness in Sora's eyes deepened at that.
"Not in this state, not with a single mobile suit, a ship and two people who haven't even grasped their reason for being here." The truth behind Sora's words were understandable, but it still hurt to hear them. "Not unless our benefactor does something suitably dramatic."
Now that peaked Ami's interests rather acutely. "Benefactor?"
It was at that moment that the discussion turned from the depressing to the truly strange…
"You remember I told you something about a 'being'," Sora air-quoted with his fingers, "giving me the Gundam and the ship?"
Ami did remember, along with another piece of info she picked up from their previous discussion. "You also implied that it was also responsible for our resurrection."
"I did," her companion nodded, "and I stick to that observation". Sora spread his arms wide, "Everything happening to us now was set in motion by a being of immense power, capable of not only resurrecting people, but transporting us to another reality, and as you've experienced yourself, transplanting knowledge and skills directly into our brains on a whim."
"You think of it like a god," she stated.
Sora shrugged at that. "I may not believe in a named all-powerful 'God'," he emphasised the last word by clasping his hands together like in prayer, "but I can definitely believe in the existence of an omnipotent entity after what I've seen. I guess you can call it a…. Celestial Being?"
The glare she gave his nervously laughing self caused Sora to wilt into himself.
"...sorry."
Ami sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, dispelling her momentary bemusement. "It's fine, you're just being silly."
Had she not been reading Sora's feelings on the matter she might have thought him crazy, but as it was the hint of fear in his heart told her how much she feared this entity he described. It wasn't like she had much to refute his belief though, from the fact that she had experienced everything he'd described, including her ability to now fly the ship without prior training via an indescribably surreal moment.
Still, she had to question it anyway to be thorough. "Couldn't all this just be the work of an organization with highly advanced technologies beyond our current understanding?"
"Maybe. Their technology would have to be so sufficiently advanced that they might as well be omnipotent from our point of view. And-"
Sora's eyes suddenly went wide, his confusion making itself known as he blinked repeatedly.
"What is it?" Alarm bells were ringing in Ami's head, had something happened? There wasn't any fear or alarm from her companion though, just…. Amusement?
"And that solves that question," Sora chuckled, "our benefactor just made itself known."
"What do you mean?"
"Well… " his fingers scratched against his cheek bashfully, "you look good in a school uniform."
She looked down wondering what he meant, and squeaked as she jumped at seeing herself in her old high school uniform, complete with the brown blazer, yellow undercoat, and the blue pleated skirt.
"But how?! What happened-" she turned her attention to Sora for answers, but then stopped as she witnessed something…. Odd. Sora appeared to have picked up on this, horror spiking from him in realization.
"Oh that sunnovabi-" he cried out, then looked at his… plushy paws?
The memory of Sora in a white, plushie polar bear suit still brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn't stop the snort that came out.
"What would it take for forget that memory?" Sora asked in resigned irritation through the comm, having seen her do this a few times now since then.
"You forgetting what you saw back then?" She sing-songed.
He stared at her blankly, but she already knew what his thoughts on the memory involving her were. It was flattering, but still embarrassing.
"Not. Happening."
"Then, I'm not forgetting about this either." She admonished, letting out a giggle as she let Sora stew in his shame.
The absurdity calmed down after they'd inexplicably changed back to their previous apparel in an instant, but the implications of the sudden act wasn't lost upon Ami: it may have seemed like a harmless prank, but it still spoke volumes of the capabilities of this 'benefactor'. It didn't help that the large display monitor they'd been using now had the message 'See, Then Believe' on it after their brief craziness. Sora then muttered something about 'damn feminazi' at the sign, but she chose to ignore it as she voiced her observations.
"I could speak in length about how everything that happened can be explained through the use of quantization and other theoretical fields related to non-GN Particle teleportation… but then I can't deny that I am starting to believe you in this, Sora."
Her companion had sat down after confirming that yes, he was no longer wearing a panda suit. Such a shame she didn't have a camera handy.
"You better start getting used to it Ami, because Rob can be kind of an unpredictable jerk."
"Rob? This benefactor of yours has a name?"
A shake of the head dismissed her question. "'Rob' is an acronym used in fanfiction circles, R.O.B., aka a 'Random Omnipotent Being', which I think describes our mysterious benefactor well."
"Fanfiction" She repeated incredulously, "You're naming something that can do as it wills with a fanfic term." Ami pinched the bridge of her nose before sighing. "It's convenient at least."
Isn't it?" He agreed, before the seriousness returned to his face. "As I was saying, our benefactor maybe all-powerful, but from everything I know about ROB so far it likely won't help us any further than giving us new toys to play with after accomplishing some unknown deeds for it. In fact, that's how I found you."
"What do you mean?" These constant surprises definitely was keeping her attention better than the coffee for sure.
Sora stood up lazily. "Follow me, I need to show you something."
An omnipotent being able to control their fates but unwilling to help them change this broken reality… it was a very frustrating thought to Ami. Power, she had learned, was meant to be used, and if it could be put into the service of good, then she would exercise her power without fail.
Thus the thought of a being capable of such great good, limiting their power to silly pranks and vague motivations annoyed her to no end. So much this being could do to fix the Inner Sphere, to stop the wars that destroyed the lives of thousands, if not millions…
On the other hand, she knew of the theological arguments surrounding the omnipotence of gods and their actions with man, on how their actions might cause more harm than good. That perhaps, by actively taking a heavy hand in ending the Inner Sphere's wars, that something fundamental to mankind might be lost in the process. An eternal argument about the freedom of man versus the will of the gods, benevolent or otherwise.
Questions that had previously been curiosities, mind games to stimulate discussion among her peers, were now questions paramount to her existence here in this reality. Unfortunately, just as in past discussions of the subject, there were no clear answers for her here, not when it was most important.
In the meantime however, at least she had some answers to more immediate queries, like…
"So who is this girl?"
Ami had been lead by Sora into the medbay, and seeing the young girl she'd comforted still unconscious on the med pod had brought the question to the fore. Sora looked sadly at the girl in question.
"When I woke up in this world, it was inside the Gundam, in the middle of a desert," he began, putting a hand on the glass inside which the girl lay. And so he told her of the slavers he saw, all the while anger bubbled up to the surface of his thoughts as he remembered, an anger she was starting to share against the people who would rob others of their will and freedom. He told her of how he fought, and later saved the prisoners, and returned them their town.
Ami could understand that, that will to act immediately to right a wrong, and knew that she might not have done differently had she been faced with the same situation.
"This girl…" she began, standing beside Sora looking over their charge, "was she one of those you saved?"
"She was," he replied, but there was unexpected regret in those words, "but not in the way you think. You see, she was one of the slavers."
Her head whipped towards the unconscious girl, seeing her in a new light. This mousy girl, scared and consumed by self-hatred, enslaved others and stripped them of their freedoms? Yet the memory of that self-loathing, that fear that she had felt, kept Ami's anger from growing beyond a simmer. She turned to him, her gaze demanding answers.
"I was angry you see," Sora continued, his voice subdued, "and I needed…. No, wanted to defeat the slavers and their mechs quickly. So I fought them, uncaring of whether they lived or...."
The words died in his lips as he tried to quell down his anguish, and she found herself automatically taking his hand on the glass unto hers. The gesture calmed him down, and the bit of gratitude she could detect was enough of a reply for her. He looked back at the girl.
"This girl was the pilot of the last mech standing after I'd dealt with her friends. She pleaded for her life, told me she'd stop being a pirate... " he sighed, "She sounded so scared and desperate that I took pity on her, had her run away." Muted amusement came from an equally muted laugh, "I told her to get out, I didn't think she'd leave her mech and run through the desert. It was only hours later, when I spotted her again on my way to retrieve this ship, that I took her in for medical treatment."
"I guess… you could say she was the one who tempered my anger, made me realize that I don't have to kill to save the prisoners… so I didn't."
They stood there in a few moments of silence, and Ami basked in the complex weave of emotions both Sora and the girl were making. Despite being from different sides of the sword, their feelings were more similar than they could've imagined: regret and loathing.
Sora stilled his emotions then with a deep breath. "This wasn't what I wanted to show you, but thanks for listening."
"Anytime."
The girl still hadn't woken up even now, which worried Ami to no end. She'll have to check on her later.
The both of them walked over to a barren wall on the med bay. Sora stood straight in front of the wall, before a red scanning laser passed by his eyes. A blue holo-screen appeared on the wall.
Cryo Bay Access Granted
Suddenly the wall dissolved into motes of light, revealing a door where there once was none.
"Ami, welcome to the Cryo Bay."
It did indeed fit Sora's name for it, a long, narrow hall filled with rows of cylindrical pods, each with a two-letter initial displayed large on them.
"So what is this?"
"This room," Sora swept a gesture towards the left wall, "is where our future crewmembers are kept." Then his expression soured as though he'd eaten something bad. "Unfortunately, in order to release them ROB demands payment for them."
A dubious note entered her voice. "An omnipotent being needing money?"
"I think it's less that it needs the money, and more giving us a goal to work towards." Sora shrugged with an interesting perspective on the matter.
"I see." Ami nodded at that, when she noticed a blank space where a pod used to be. Running Sora's previous words back, and it didn't take her long to guess what it signified.
"This was where my pod was, wasn't it?" she asked solemnly, and got a nod as her reply.
"When I came here, I didn't realize the significance of the initials, so I just picked the first one line, which was yours. Lucky me."
"Oh? Lucky you say?" She asked intrigued, seeing a window of opportunity. "Last I saw you haven't even made a move on me!"
Violent coughing followed her statement much to her amusement, and both Sora's face and heart agreed to share the same bashfulness. "T-that's not what I meant!"
She allowed herself a laugh at her successful attack. "Then, what do you mean?"
Leaning by the only clean wall in the room, Sora sighed as he sheepishly scratched his cheek. "Had I picked someone else, I really wouldn't know what to do, or how to cope with all this."
It sounded very much like flattery, yet his heart was filled with the things she first saw in him: the nervousness, the anxiety, the momentary fear. But most of all, the absolute trust that he gave her rose above all others. "You've always put a lot of faith in me Sora, why is that?" She asked gently.
Sora paused for a bit, thinking in silent contemplation with his eyes closed. Then he met her eyes, and she saw only certainty.
"Because Ami, you're a mature Innovator."
Of all the answers Ami thought she'd hear, this was not one of them. Sora's emotions were shifting, mixing, difficult to read now. For the first time, she found herself at a loss to try and explain his answer. "I don't understand."
"I know of Innovators, and I seen their potential, and what they could do. Yet the only time I've ever seen them, was using their abilities for war. Even in the one time I saw them use their abilities without fighting, it was still in the context of ending a conflict. And for a time, I thought that was all Innovators could be, even when I learned the full extent of what they could achieve. Harbingers of change by force."
Ami bristled at the description, and if she didn't know better it almost felt like an insult to herself, to the principles she held dear before and now.
Sora calmed himself, and only his determination remained, tempered by a sincere fondness Ami had never felt before. It was the first time she sensed it from him, and its intensity directed at herself warmed her heart in a big way, easing her earlier indignation.
"When you told me the story of how you died, described all the emotions that eased your passing all the way to the end, I thought it was beautiful, to finally see the true potential of Innovation as wielded by people with hearts towards peace. People like you."
His eyes softened, but underneath was a shame that he couldn't hide. "Especially you Ami, who could make me calm even when I've passed my breaking point. I haven't properly apologized for that by the way."
Despite the growing embarrassment she was feeling every second, Ami managed to giggle timidly at her companion's apology. "Sora, I'm not that great a person. I've seen people get mad at the slightest provocation, and some give worse than the outburst you gave. I've felt rage like you wouldn't believe, enough for me to feel angry within its presence. Just the fact that you immediately tried to apologize is enough for me. There's nothing to apologize for okay?."
"But-"
She briefly put a finger on his lips to silence him. "No buts about this." She gave him a wink just in case. "Especially not mine."
His gobsmacked expression almost made her lose it again, but then he squashed it as quickly as it appeared, his gratitude and relief seeping out.
"Ami, it's because it's you that I want to ask you a favor. Well, two favors actually."
The seriousness in Sora's face made her stand to attention, jollity set aside, but not completely.
"You realize two favors means double the returns right?"
"For your abilities, any price I'm willing to pay."
Now he had her complete attention. "I'm listening."
Sora breathed in relief at that. "First, is something immediate: I was hoping you'd come to Stillwell with me for tomorrow's negotiations."
"The ones with Commander Foley over the salvage?"
"That's the one." Nervousness filled the air with Sora scratching the back of his head to a level Ami hadn't seen before. "To be honest, I'm not very good at negotiations on a professional level, certainly not over money. I don't need to rip off the guy, just make sure I don't end up with my foot in my mouth."
The atmosphere became unbearable to Ami after a while. "Sora, you're not going to do any good if you're this nervous right now, even with me around. Alright, leave the negotiations to me!"
Sora looked to her in disbelief and concern. "Are you sure it's not a problem with you-"
A playful flick of the finger to Sora's forehead shut him up, and Ami seized the moment before he could get a word in.
"You told me once that you wished you weren't the only one with the power to do something. You don't have to do everything yourself Sora, which is why I agreed to pilot the ship. If you can't find confidence in what you need to do, find someone who has." She made a show of clasping her hands and stretching her arms forward. "Besides, I want to see this new reality we're in for myself, including the people in it, and I can do that better by talking to them myself, we clear?"
"Crystal." Far from being dejected, Sora felt relieved and thankful at her reply, to which she beamed.
"With the first favor taken care of, what's the second one?"
Turning to the lone console inside the room with a nod, Sora brought up a list on the room's large display monitor, showing all of the initials she'd seen on the pods.
"This next favor isn't something crucial as of now, but would be helpful down the line." He pointed to the list. "As I said earlier, I didn't mean to choose you specifically because I didn't know what the initials stood for at the time. However, after seeing you I realized just who the others in these pods were, meaning that the next one I wake up will be a deliberate selection."
This was the first odd clue that saw Ami begin sorting over a niggling feeling she'd had about Sora since the beginning, trying to find out how the truths he'd given fit together. At the moment though, she let him continue.
"Once I saw what these initials meant, I realized I had to be careful when waking them up, because otherwise it could get really dicey in here."
Beeps and other sounds emanated from the screen, and several of the names were highlighted in light blue. "These initials you see here, are the pods belonging to members of the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations, aka the Union."
Another batch of names were highlighted, this time in green. "These are pods belonging to citizens of the Advanced European Union, aka the AEU." A few more blocks then turned red. "The red ones signify people who were citizens from the Human Reform League, or the HRL."
Sora glanced at her with curiosity. "Weren't you HRL as well?"
"I was," Ami replied carefully, surprised at the question. "I lived only a few kilometers from Tenchu, on the island of Nauru."
"Near the Orbital Elevator, as I suspected."
There was no confusion from Sora at pinpointing the significance of the location she gave out, and another piece fell into place.
Finally, the remaining names were given blue borders. "And these names, are the ones who were active members of Celestial Being."
And here Ami thought she was free from surprises now. There were actual people from Celestial Being here? She shuddered to think what they were like.
It was at that point, when she thought of her reaction to that revelation, did she understand what Sora's point was at showing her this.
"You want me to mediate for them."
"Yes," he nodded gratefully at the insight. "As you can see, we have people from three distinct power blocs here and the one organization they hate the most. And if all of these people are like you and me, people who were killed, then it stands to reason that some of them may not be the type to let go of grudges so easily."
Sora turned to her completely now. "I don't intend there to be only two of us in this ship, not if we're to survive in this crazy universe. Yet if the people we wake up our at each other's throats I fear for our chances aboard the ship, let alone out there."
Ami felt the urge to laugh, and obliged it with a snicker. "Sora, I'd do this even if you didn't ask me to, because seeing everyone getting along is my greatest joy in life. I'll do it, free of charge."
For a moment it looked like Sora would object to her terms, but then wisely kept quiet about it, and instead just let his gratitude take over. "Thank you."
"However," Ami interrupted, as the idea in her brain became more concrete, more tangible. "As compensation, I'd like to cash in on your first favor now."
Sora sighed in resignation. "That's your right. So what is it?"
The idea in her head had crystallized now, not clearly, but the shape of what she was about to ask was in place. From here, there was only suspicion.
"Sora, you yourself said that you're a person from 2017," she started her assertion, hoping that she didn't sound accusing. "three hundred years into my past. Yet I find it strange that you don't find it strange that you know stuff from the 24th Century without looking it up or feeling confusion. You also know too much about Celestial Being for someone who says they aren't a member or affiliated with them. Finally, you said that we were pulled into an alternate universe, and yet you seem to already have a grasp of the local threats since you've awoken, like jumping to the conclusion about the mechs being pirates instead of questioning what you saw."
She breathed in. "So… how do you know all this?"
The surprise in him when she began her spiel was expected, yet it faded quite fast, and for the rest of her speech all she picked up from him was resignation, concern and worry, and not even for himself.
Sora exhaled long, then looked to her. "When I told you about me being from 2017, and us being in 3025 in another dimension, did you think I was crazy?"
"Yes." The answer came so easily to her that it came as a shock to herself, yet Ami couldn't lie to herself: she really did think the theories he proposed were crazy, even with all the evidence.
"I thought so," he replied with a dejected look. Before she realized what he was doing he had already stepped up to her, and in a manner reminiscent of what she did for him before, held her hands. Coming from this nervous guy still trembling for reasons unknown to her, it was a significant gesture of trust on his part.
'Trust me now' it told to her, 'I'm putting my honor in your hands.'
"Ami, you're already straining your suspension of disbelief accommodating my observations and theories." There was a sadness there, a tangible frustration at being unable to do what was needed. "I don't want to mince words or be cryptic with you about anything, but the reason I know about these things" he paused to compose himself, "is something that you would find so utterly fantastic, so unbelievable that even our current situation would feel quaint. Yet I know that I'll lose your trust if I don't tell you the truth…"
As silence filled the space between them Ami contemplated everything in those moments. Indeed, his actions and words were highly suspicious, and yet the sense she trusted the most, the powers she was most proud of, were telling her that he was telling the truth on this matter, that he was hiding it not for his sake, but for hers. It was a heady thought, and for a moment she weighed the logic and reason of his physical acts, versus the subconscious emotions that lie within.
In the end, she was an Innovator, and her goal was to understand what lay within, to discover why people did without.
"Alright Sora, I'll trust you on this for now," she responded sincerely, and was vindicated by the blooming pure gratitude from the man's heart.
"Thank you," he replied, mirroring the feelings he had. "I will tell you about it, if you still want to ask tomorrow. I'm sure you've had enough surprises for one day" Now that she knew was an understatement.
He breathed deeply, releasing his hold on her. "I will leave you with at least a tidbit though: I knew all those before I died."
Well, wasn't that a disturbing thought to end the discussion?
While Sora's last revelation didn't lose her sleep, it sure didn't make it easy. She'd hold on to that promise of his however, and see if he abides by it later. The truth would come out, one way or the other.
Right now though, there was a question still unanswered that had been tugging at the back of her head since this morning.
"If the cryopods require money to open, how much did I cost?"
"Not a thing," Sora replied. "When I gained Level One clearance to unlock the Cryo Bay it also included the option to unlock a single pod immediately. That was when I chose your pod to see how it worked."
"So I'm a freebie then? How cheap," she laughed in mock indignation.
"No, it just means you're priceless."
Out of all the surprises she'd heard including yesterday's, that one took the cake as far as being completely unexpected went. He'd said it so seriously without breaking that for the first time in a long, long while, she'd caught herself blushing.
"Nine out of ten Sora, nine out of ten." She managed to blurt out.
"Really? Damnit, took me a while to think up that counter."
"Sora, revealing your plan after you executed them is poor form and in bad taste," she chided, clearing away some of the awkwardness she had.
"Sorry sensei," Sora laughed nervously, before the both of them heard the beep from his monitor. "We're coming up on Stillwell in five minutes, might be best to warn them since they won't pick us up until we're on top of them."
"Want me to handle this part?"
"Sure, I like hearing you all professional anyway."
Ami simply beamed at the compliment, then turned her focus to the comms.
==========
With the excitement from yesterday's events, Amia Lee didn't have the luxury of simply taking in the sights as she could now, flying over the desert at a leisurely speed in her VTOL craft.
She had come with him in returning to Stillwell for the negotiations over their salvage, and Sora had decided that it'd be a good opportunity to warm up and test the VTOL transport the ship had, 'break it in' so to speak. After discovering that she had the relevant knowledge to fly the VTOL while Sora did not, she'd offered to be the pilot, which she was quickly discovering was becoming her de-facto role in this strange new reality. It was strange to control a vehicle using her hands and feet, a crude and primitive way to control machines compared to direct neural interfaces with the ELS, but it wasn't particularly tiring at the least.
Sora himself was on the Exia, flying in escort formation in front and beside her. It was decided that they would take the Gundam out as well, not only as contingency for any emergencies, but also to ease identification to the local militia - it would be hard to mistake the Gundam's unique appearance for anything else in the Inner Sphere after all.
All her thoughts however drifted to the things she had learned last night in that briefing room, the full and unblemished truth, whose implications still haunted her at this moment.
==========
"What year do you think it is?"
An innocuous enough question asked by Sora, who was sitting on a chair in front of her, but with everything Ami knew about the situation she was quick to pick up the strangeness of it, how off it was. A deep pit in her stomach began to form.
"2369, it was 2369. Five years into our survey mission, and the last phase of exploration before the vetting process for colony worlds to inhabit."
Sora nodded at that. "For me, the year I knew before I died was 2017."
Now THAT had been a shock on Ami's system. "But that's nearly three-hundred years into the past!" She knew at this point that time travel probably shouldn't rank as strangely as outright resurrection in her books: There were theoretical models for it, and she'd more than enjoyed the stories featuring it, but to actually know it was possible…
Wait, she had to confirm it first. "Could it just be a difference in timekeeping? A Gregorian versus Japanese calendar type of thing?" Oh she never knew that piece of trivia might come in handy someday.
Unfortunately Sora shook his head. "In my time, mankind's furthest step into space was the Lunar landings, and stuff like holographic interfaces," he flashed his smart-tab's holoscreen, " was the stuff of science fiction, let alone things like mobile suits. And then there's this."
The large display to their right flashed with information, a listed assortment of dates and related factoids… a timeline.
"If you'd look here," Sora continued, "the Ptolemy databanks have an abbreviated timeline of historical events leading up to the 24th century, and the version of 21st century history I remember in my time line up neatly with yours."
Ami scrutinized the list, looking for any inconsistencies in the list she knew, even if she knew she might not remember everything from her history lessons. Still, no major oddities stuck out, no events different from how she remembered them being taught. Percolating the mix of thoughts in her head she could only agree with a single conclusion:
"So you're a time traveller." She grinned. "Should I start teaching the savage about the ways of civilized etiquette and class?"
"I'm no savage caveman I assure you," Sora waved off.
"Not with the way you're looking at me." Oh she hadn't missed the way Sora was very appreciative of her wearing Celestial Being's uniform. Regardless of her opinion of the organization, she admitted that they had some rather stylish wear, especially with the skin-tight suit and the accompanying long-sleeved vest over it, and that she looked quite classy in it, more than the normal suits of the Explorer Corps was at any rate.
Sora suddenly started thumping his chest and growling, "Big strong man see beautiful woman, must look see!"
She gave a hearty laugh at that. "I thank you for your compliments Mister Caveman."
He made noises like a monkey in response, and she couldn't help but spill her mirth at that.
"Well, that silliness aside," Sora regained his composure, though still smiling, "I could be a time traveller, or…"
"You could also be someone resurrected in the future," she pointed out.
"Or that."
Ami took comfort in her proposal, the tenets of Occam's Razor paring down their theory to the most basic possibility. After all this situation need not be stranger than it already was right? Unfortunately as if reading her mind Sora shot down that line of thinking.
"However, there's a chink in that theory's armor." Sora took a sip from his canned coffee.
Ami sighed in exasperation as she realized she may have been too optimistic. "Spill it."
The look of…. Sympathy? That Sora gave her was not a good sign. "I asked you if you remember what year it was not because I needed it, but because you might." Ami was about to ask what he meant by that, but he continued, "I asked a mayor I met a couple of days ago about the circumstances, and according to him the current year, " he paused, seemingly for dramatic effect, "is 3025."
Ami's eyes widened at the declaration, trying to search for any falsehood in Sora's expressions and emotions, and to her distress found none. The 31st Century?!
"I'm sorry Sora, looks like I'm just as much a savage as you are." Her laughter was weak, but it served to buoy her spirits after what she had heard.
A barrage of questions filled her mind within a second. What happened to the Sumeragi? Did they succeed in their mission? The colonies she'd seen though seemed to point to that outcome, as it meant mankind had spread out among the stars enough for colony cities to be built.
"That's alright, I don't think humanity's that much more civilized in the 31st Century."
The look on Sora's face though brought her thoughts to a halt in alarm. There was a sadness in him, not for himself, but for her?
"There's more to this isn't there," she asked, and she was afraid of what the answer might be.
Fiddling with his pad once more, Sora's gaze turned towards the large monitor from earlier, and she turned to look as well. A second column had been laid down beside the first, detailing…. A second timeline? Her face paled even before Sora began his explanation.
"I got this complete historical timeline from the mayor up to the current year, along with other information regarding the state of humanity. They only have history up to the late 20th Century, however that's enough to see the differences in the two timelines, where they begin to diverge around 2005, with the establishment of this 'Crippen Station' that I'm pretty sure did not exist in the version of that year I know."
Words on both timelines suddenly turned red, highlighting the differences between the two lists. No Solar Elevators, FTL achieved in the 22nd Century with the Kearny-Fuchida Drive, the rise of the Terran Hegemony where the Earth Sphere Federation should've been… With each beep highlighting the differences Ami felt a piece of her worldview being chipped away, and as more and more text changed red they became more common until all that was left was crimson, at which point her belief collapsed.
"But that's…." She wanted to dispute it, refute it, tell him he was making this up, that he was wrong… but everything she'd seen in this world - the pirates, the transmissions - everything her senses were telling her, pointed her to the only logical and frightening conclusion.
"Not only are we both in the future, but it's the future of an alternate reality."
==========
Questions had been asked, though Sora had admitted that he wasn't the best person to ask about the state of the galaxy, but he seemed to know enough: the events after the 24th Century with the fall of the Terran Hegemony; the rise and subsequent fall of the Star League, the largest empire humanity had ever created; and the three Succession Wars that followed afterward, the last of which was supposedly still raging. The map showing the scope of the Inner Sphere was the final straw… 400 light years from end to end, encompassing hundreds upon hundreds of worlds!
For Ami, this was a revelation whose implications she needed more time to digest before she could truly stomach it, but already she felt queasy at all the facts. More than being separated from her home, more than not seeing her family and friends again, there was one fact among the many presented to her that disturbed her on a deeper level.
Humanity had spread to the stars…. And brought only war with them.
When Ami had woken up from her attack all those decades ago, she had raged at the unfairness of it all, at why she had been the one to lose years of her youth to the ELS, to what they've done to her. But as time passed, and her symbiosis with the aliens deepened alongside her developing Innovator abilities, allowing her to reach out and share her thoughts and emotions with her fellow Innovators, Ami had began to realize something remarkable, to see something beautiful: the potential of mankind in the cosmos. A vision of prosperity and unity, where mankind brought the ideals of peace and understanding to the empty vastness of space, in which for the first time, even as mankind stood by themselves, a single, insignificant spark in the enormity of the universe, that they would never be alone again.
She had seen this beauty, this all-encompassing communion, in the final moments before her death, to know that everyone was in her thoughts, and hers in theirs. It had cemented her belief of the infinite possibilities that mankind could achieve among the stars.
To see and hear that this mankind had spread out to hundreds of solar systems, and yet were still plagued by war and conflict…
==========
"Why… all this death and suffering? How could they let this happen?"
She had asked Sora then, who only shook his head, muted resignation in his heart.
"I don't know. I can point to a lot of things like greed, pride, ideals, misguided good intentions…. But in the end, there are as many reasons for war as there are humans in the world, and there are a lot of humans in the Inner Sphere." He let out a humorless laugh at that, perfectly mirroring her feelings. "And that's in between warfare becoming institutionalized to become the de-facto way of solving problems."
She almost felt like crying at the revelation, at how wrong this new reality appeared to be.That the pirate raid they had come across was not an isolated incident, but something common to the galaxy…
"There must be something, anything we can do..." She had cried out in her despair, and the sadness in Sora's eyes deepened at that.
"Not in this state, not with a single mobile suit, a ship and two people who haven't even grasped their reason for being here." The truth behind Sora's words were understandable, but it still hurt to hear them. "Not unless our benefactor does something suitably dramatic."
Now that peaked Ami's interests rather acutely. "Benefactor?"
==========
It was at that moment that the discussion turned from the depressing to the truly strange…
==========
"You remember I told you something about a 'being'," Sora air-quoted with his fingers, "giving me the Gundam and the ship?"
Ami did remember, along with another piece of info she picked up from their previous discussion. "You also implied that it was also responsible for our resurrection."
"I did," her companion nodded, "and I stick to that observation". Sora spread his arms wide, "Everything happening to us now was set in motion by a being of immense power, capable of not only resurrecting people, but transporting us to another reality, and as you've experienced yourself, transplanting knowledge and skills directly into our brains on a whim."
"You think of it like a god," she stated.
Sora shrugged at that. "I may not believe in a named all-powerful 'God'," he emphasised the last word by clasping his hands together like in prayer, "but I can definitely believe in the existence of an omnipotent entity after what I've seen. I guess you can call it a…. Celestial Being?"
The glare she gave his nervously laughing self caused Sora to wilt into himself.
"...sorry."
Ami sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers, dispelling her momentary bemusement. "It's fine, you're just being silly."
Had she not been reading Sora's feelings on the matter she might have thought him crazy, but as it was the hint of fear in his heart told her how much she feared this entity he described. It wasn't like she had much to refute his belief though, from the fact that she had experienced everything he'd described, including her ability to now fly the ship without prior training via an indescribably surreal moment.
Still, she had to question it anyway to be thorough. "Couldn't all this just be the work of an organization with highly advanced technologies beyond our current understanding?"
"Maybe. Their technology would have to be so sufficiently advanced that they might as well be omnipotent from our point of view. And-"
Sora's eyes suddenly went wide, his confusion making itself known as he blinked repeatedly.
"What is it?" Alarm bells were ringing in Ami's head, had something happened? There wasn't any fear or alarm from her companion though, just…. Amusement?
"And that solves that question," Sora chuckled, "our benefactor just made itself known."
"What do you mean?"
"Well… " his fingers scratched against his cheek bashfully, "you look good in a school uniform."
She looked down wondering what he meant, and squeaked as she jumped at seeing herself in her old high school uniform, complete with the brown blazer, yellow undercoat, and the blue pleated skirt.
"But how?! What happened-" she turned her attention to Sora for answers, but then stopped as she witnessed something…. Odd. Sora appeared to have picked up on this, horror spiking from him in realization.
"Oh that sunnovabi-" he cried out, then looked at his… plushy paws?
==========
The memory of Sora in a white, plushie polar bear suit still brought tears to her eyes, and she couldn't stop the snort that came out.
"What would it take for forget that memory?" Sora asked in resigned irritation through the comm, having seen her do this a few times now since then.
"You forgetting what you saw back then?" She sing-songed.
He stared at her blankly, but she already knew what his thoughts on the memory involving her were. It was flattering, but still embarrassing.
"Not. Happening."
"Then, I'm not forgetting about this either." She admonished, letting out a giggle as she let Sora stew in his shame.
==========
The absurdity calmed down after they'd inexplicably changed back to their previous apparel in an instant, but the implications of the sudden act wasn't lost upon Ami: it may have seemed like a harmless prank, but it still spoke volumes of the capabilities of this 'benefactor'. It didn't help that the large display monitor they'd been using now had the message 'See, Then Believe' on it after their brief craziness. Sora then muttered something about 'damn feminazi' at the sign, but she chose to ignore it as she voiced her observations.
"I could speak in length about how everything that happened can be explained through the use of quantization and other theoretical fields related to non-GN Particle teleportation… but then I can't deny that I am starting to believe you in this, Sora."
Her companion had sat down after confirming that yes, he was no longer wearing a panda suit. Such a shame she didn't have a camera handy.
"You better start getting used to it Ami, because Rob can be kind of an unpredictable jerk."
"Rob? This benefactor of yours has a name?"
A shake of the head dismissed her question. "'Rob' is an acronym used in fanfiction circles, R.O.B., aka a 'Random Omnipotent Being', which I think describes our mysterious benefactor well."
"Fanfiction" She repeated incredulously, "You're naming something that can do as it wills with a fanfic term." Ami pinched the bridge of her nose before sighing. "It's convenient at least."
Isn't it?" He agreed, before the seriousness returned to his face. "As I was saying, our benefactor maybe all-powerful, but from everything I know about ROB so far it likely won't help us any further than giving us new toys to play with after accomplishing some unknown deeds for it. In fact, that's how I found you."
"What do you mean?" These constant surprises definitely was keeping her attention better than the coffee for sure.
Sora stood up lazily. "Follow me, I need to show you something."
==========
An omnipotent being able to control their fates but unwilling to help them change this broken reality… it was a very frustrating thought to Ami. Power, she had learned, was meant to be used, and if it could be put into the service of good, then she would exercise her power without fail.
Thus the thought of a being capable of such great good, limiting their power to silly pranks and vague motivations annoyed her to no end. So much this being could do to fix the Inner Sphere, to stop the wars that destroyed the lives of thousands, if not millions…
On the other hand, she knew of the theological arguments surrounding the omnipotence of gods and their actions with man, on how their actions might cause more harm than good. That perhaps, by actively taking a heavy hand in ending the Inner Sphere's wars, that something fundamental to mankind might be lost in the process. An eternal argument about the freedom of man versus the will of the gods, benevolent or otherwise.
Questions that had previously been curiosities, mind games to stimulate discussion among her peers, were now questions paramount to her existence here in this reality. Unfortunately, just as in past discussions of the subject, there were no clear answers for her here, not when it was most important.
In the meantime however, at least she had some answers to more immediate queries, like…
==========
"So who is this girl?"
Ami had been lead by Sora into the medbay, and seeing the young girl she'd comforted still unconscious on the med pod had brought the question to the fore. Sora looked sadly at the girl in question.
"When I woke up in this world, it was inside the Gundam, in the middle of a desert," he began, putting a hand on the glass inside which the girl lay. And so he told her of the slavers he saw, all the while anger bubbled up to the surface of his thoughts as he remembered, an anger she was starting to share against the people who would rob others of their will and freedom. He told her of how he fought, and later saved the prisoners, and returned them their town.
Ami could understand that, that will to act immediately to right a wrong, and knew that she might not have done differently had she been faced with the same situation.
"This girl…" she began, standing beside Sora looking over their charge, "was she one of those you saved?"
"She was," he replied, but there was unexpected regret in those words, "but not in the way you think. You see, she was one of the slavers."
Her head whipped towards the unconscious girl, seeing her in a new light. This mousy girl, scared and consumed by self-hatred, enslaved others and stripped them of their freedoms? Yet the memory of that self-loathing, that fear that she had felt, kept Ami's anger from growing beyond a simmer. She turned to him, her gaze demanding answers.
"I was angry you see," Sora continued, his voice subdued, "and I needed…. No, wanted to defeat the slavers and their mechs quickly. So I fought them, uncaring of whether they lived or...."
The words died in his lips as he tried to quell down his anguish, and she found herself automatically taking his hand on the glass unto hers. The gesture calmed him down, and the bit of gratitude she could detect was enough of a reply for her. He looked back at the girl.
"This girl was the pilot of the last mech standing after I'd dealt with her friends. She pleaded for her life, told me she'd stop being a pirate... " he sighed, "She sounded so scared and desperate that I took pity on her, had her run away." Muted amusement came from an equally muted laugh, "I told her to get out, I didn't think she'd leave her mech and run through the desert. It was only hours later, when I spotted her again on my way to retrieve this ship, that I took her in for medical treatment."
"I guess… you could say she was the one who tempered my anger, made me realize that I don't have to kill to save the prisoners… so I didn't."
They stood there in a few moments of silence, and Ami basked in the complex weave of emotions both Sora and the girl were making. Despite being from different sides of the sword, their feelings were more similar than they could've imagined: regret and loathing.
Sora stilled his emotions then with a deep breath. "This wasn't what I wanted to show you, but thanks for listening."
"Anytime."
==========
The girl still hadn't woken up even now, which worried Ami to no end. She'll have to check on her later.
==========
The both of them walked over to a barren wall on the med bay. Sora stood straight in front of the wall, before a red scanning laser passed by his eyes. A blue holo-screen appeared on the wall.
Cryo Bay Access Granted
Suddenly the wall dissolved into motes of light, revealing a door where there once was none.
"Ami, welcome to the Cryo Bay."
It did indeed fit Sora's name for it, a long, narrow hall filled with rows of cylindrical pods, each with a two-letter initial displayed large on them.
"So what is this?"
"This room," Sora swept a gesture towards the left wall, "is where our future crewmembers are kept." Then his expression soured as though he'd eaten something bad. "Unfortunately, in order to release them ROB demands payment for them."
A dubious note entered her voice. "An omnipotent being needing money?"
"I think it's less that it needs the money, and more giving us a goal to work towards." Sora shrugged with an interesting perspective on the matter.
"I see." Ami nodded at that, when she noticed a blank space where a pod used to be. Running Sora's previous words back, and it didn't take her long to guess what it signified.
"This was where my pod was, wasn't it?" she asked solemnly, and got a nod as her reply.
"When I came here, I didn't realize the significance of the initials, so I just picked the first one line, which was yours. Lucky me."
"Oh? Lucky you say?" She asked intrigued, seeing a window of opportunity. "Last I saw you haven't even made a move on me!"
Violent coughing followed her statement much to her amusement, and both Sora's face and heart agreed to share the same bashfulness. "T-that's not what I meant!"
She allowed herself a laugh at her successful attack. "Then, what do you mean?"
Leaning by the only clean wall in the room, Sora sighed as he sheepishly scratched his cheek. "Had I picked someone else, I really wouldn't know what to do, or how to cope with all this."
It sounded very much like flattery, yet his heart was filled with the things she first saw in him: the nervousness, the anxiety, the momentary fear. But most of all, the absolute trust that he gave her rose above all others. "You've always put a lot of faith in me Sora, why is that?" She asked gently.
Sora paused for a bit, thinking in silent contemplation with his eyes closed. Then he met her eyes, and she saw only certainty.
"Because Ami, you're a mature Innovator."
Of all the answers Ami thought she'd hear, this was not one of them. Sora's emotions were shifting, mixing, difficult to read now. For the first time, she found herself at a loss to try and explain his answer. "I don't understand."
"I know of Innovators, and I seen their potential, and what they could do. Yet the only time I've ever seen them, was using their abilities for war. Even in the one time I saw them use their abilities without fighting, it was still in the context of ending a conflict. And for a time, I thought that was all Innovators could be, even when I learned the full extent of what they could achieve. Harbingers of change by force."
Ami bristled at the description, and if she didn't know better it almost felt like an insult to herself, to the principles she held dear before and now.
Sora calmed himself, and only his determination remained, tempered by a sincere fondness Ami had never felt before. It was the first time she sensed it from him, and its intensity directed at herself warmed her heart in a big way, easing her earlier indignation.
"When you told me the story of how you died, described all the emotions that eased your passing all the way to the end, I thought it was beautiful, to finally see the true potential of Innovation as wielded by people with hearts towards peace. People like you."
His eyes softened, but underneath was a shame that he couldn't hide. "Especially you Ami, who could make me calm even when I've passed my breaking point. I haven't properly apologized for that by the way."
Despite the growing embarrassment she was feeling every second, Ami managed to giggle timidly at her companion's apology. "Sora, I'm not that great a person. I've seen people get mad at the slightest provocation, and some give worse than the outburst you gave. I've felt rage like you wouldn't believe, enough for me to feel angry within its presence. Just the fact that you immediately tried to apologize is enough for me. There's nothing to apologize for okay?."
"But-"
She briefly put a finger on his lips to silence him. "No buts about this." She gave him a wink just in case. "Especially not mine."
His gobsmacked expression almost made her lose it again, but then he squashed it as quickly as it appeared, his gratitude and relief seeping out.
"Ami, it's because it's you that I want to ask you a favor. Well, two favors actually."
The seriousness in Sora's face made her stand to attention, jollity set aside, but not completely.
"You realize two favors means double the returns right?"
"For your abilities, any price I'm willing to pay."
Now he had her complete attention. "I'm listening."
Sora breathed in relief at that. "First, is something immediate: I was hoping you'd come to Stillwell with me for tomorrow's negotiations."
"The ones with Commander Foley over the salvage?"
"That's the one." Nervousness filled the air with Sora scratching the back of his head to a level Ami hadn't seen before. "To be honest, I'm not very good at negotiations on a professional level, certainly not over money. I don't need to rip off the guy, just make sure I don't end up with my foot in my mouth."
The atmosphere became unbearable to Ami after a while. "Sora, you're not going to do any good if you're this nervous right now, even with me around. Alright, leave the negotiations to me!"
Sora looked to her in disbelief and concern. "Are you sure it's not a problem with you-"
A playful flick of the finger to Sora's forehead shut him up, and Ami seized the moment before he could get a word in.
"You told me once that you wished you weren't the only one with the power to do something. You don't have to do everything yourself Sora, which is why I agreed to pilot the ship. If you can't find confidence in what you need to do, find someone who has." She made a show of clasping her hands and stretching her arms forward. "Besides, I want to see this new reality we're in for myself, including the people in it, and I can do that better by talking to them myself, we clear?"
"Crystal." Far from being dejected, Sora felt relieved and thankful at her reply, to which she beamed.
"With the first favor taken care of, what's the second one?"
Turning to the lone console inside the room with a nod, Sora brought up a list on the room's large display monitor, showing all of the initials she'd seen on the pods.
"This next favor isn't something crucial as of now, but would be helpful down the line." He pointed to the list. "As I said earlier, I didn't mean to choose you specifically because I didn't know what the initials stood for at the time. However, after seeing you I realized just who the others in these pods were, meaning that the next one I wake up will be a deliberate selection."
This was the first odd clue that saw Ami begin sorting over a niggling feeling she'd had about Sora since the beginning, trying to find out how the truths he'd given fit together. At the moment though, she let him continue.
"Once I saw what these initials meant, I realized I had to be careful when waking them up, because otherwise it could get really dicey in here."
Beeps and other sounds emanated from the screen, and several of the names were highlighted in light blue. "These initials you see here, are the pods belonging to members of the Union of Solar Energy and Free Nations, aka the Union."
Another batch of names were highlighted, this time in green. "These are pods belonging to citizens of the Advanced European Union, aka the AEU." A few more blocks then turned red. "The red ones signify people who were citizens from the Human Reform League, or the HRL."
Sora glanced at her with curiosity. "Weren't you HRL as well?"
"I was," Ami replied carefully, surprised at the question. "I lived only a few kilometers from Tenchu, on the island of Nauru."
"Near the Orbital Elevator, as I suspected."
There was no confusion from Sora at pinpointing the significance of the location she gave out, and another piece fell into place.
Finally, the remaining names were given blue borders. "And these names, are the ones who were active members of Celestial Being."
And here Ami thought she was free from surprises now. There were actual people from Celestial Being here? She shuddered to think what they were like.
It was at that point, when she thought of her reaction to that revelation, did she understand what Sora's point was at showing her this.
"You want me to mediate for them."
"Yes," he nodded gratefully at the insight. "As you can see, we have people from three distinct power blocs here and the one organization they hate the most. And if all of these people are like you and me, people who were killed, then it stands to reason that some of them may not be the type to let go of grudges so easily."
Sora turned to her completely now. "I don't intend there to be only two of us in this ship, not if we're to survive in this crazy universe. Yet if the people we wake up our at each other's throats I fear for our chances aboard the ship, let alone out there."
Ami felt the urge to laugh, and obliged it with a snicker. "Sora, I'd do this even if you didn't ask me to, because seeing everyone getting along is my greatest joy in life. I'll do it, free of charge."
For a moment it looked like Sora would object to her terms, but then wisely kept quiet about it, and instead just let his gratitude take over. "Thank you."
"However," Ami interrupted, as the idea in her brain became more concrete, more tangible. "As compensation, I'd like to cash in on your first favor now."
Sora sighed in resignation. "That's your right. So what is it?"
The idea in her head had crystallized now, not clearly, but the shape of what she was about to ask was in place. From here, there was only suspicion.
"Sora, you yourself said that you're a person from 2017," she started her assertion, hoping that she didn't sound accusing. "three hundred years into my past. Yet I find it strange that you don't find it strange that you know stuff from the 24th Century without looking it up or feeling confusion. You also know too much about Celestial Being for someone who says they aren't a member or affiliated with them. Finally, you said that we were pulled into an alternate universe, and yet you seem to already have a grasp of the local threats since you've awoken, like jumping to the conclusion about the mechs being pirates instead of questioning what you saw."
She breathed in. "So… how do you know all this?"
The surprise in him when she began her spiel was expected, yet it faded quite fast, and for the rest of her speech all she picked up from him was resignation, concern and worry, and not even for himself.
Sora exhaled long, then looked to her. "When I told you about me being from 2017, and us being in 3025 in another dimension, did you think I was crazy?"
"Yes." The answer came so easily to her that it came as a shock to herself, yet Ami couldn't lie to herself: she really did think the theories he proposed were crazy, even with all the evidence.
"I thought so," he replied with a dejected look. Before she realized what he was doing he had already stepped up to her, and in a manner reminiscent of what she did for him before, held her hands. Coming from this nervous guy still trembling for reasons unknown to her, it was a significant gesture of trust on his part.
'Trust me now' it told to her, 'I'm putting my honor in your hands.'
"Ami, you're already straining your suspension of disbelief accommodating my observations and theories." There was a sadness there, a tangible frustration at being unable to do what was needed. "I don't want to mince words or be cryptic with you about anything, but the reason I know about these things" he paused to compose himself, "is something that you would find so utterly fantastic, so unbelievable that even our current situation would feel quaint. Yet I know that I'll lose your trust if I don't tell you the truth…"
As silence filled the space between them Ami contemplated everything in those moments. Indeed, his actions and words were highly suspicious, and yet the sense she trusted the most, the powers she was most proud of, were telling her that he was telling the truth on this matter, that he was hiding it not for his sake, but for hers. It was a heady thought, and for a moment she weighed the logic and reason of his physical acts, versus the subconscious emotions that lie within.
In the end, she was an Innovator, and her goal was to understand what lay within, to discover why people did without.
"Alright Sora, I'll trust you on this for now," she responded sincerely, and was vindicated by the blooming pure gratitude from the man's heart.
"Thank you," he replied, mirroring the feelings he had. "I will tell you about it, if you still want to ask tomorrow. I'm sure you've had enough surprises for one day" Now that she knew was an understatement.
He breathed deeply, releasing his hold on her. "I will leave you with at least a tidbit though: I knew all those before I died."
Well, wasn't that a disturbing thought to end the discussion?
==========
While Sora's last revelation didn't lose her sleep, it sure didn't make it easy. She'd hold on to that promise of his however, and see if he abides by it later. The truth would come out, one way or the other.
Right now though, there was a question still unanswered that had been tugging at the back of her head since this morning.
"If the cryopods require money to open, how much did I cost?"
"Not a thing," Sora replied. "When I gained Level One clearance to unlock the Cryo Bay it also included the option to unlock a single pod immediately. That was when I chose your pod to see how it worked."
"So I'm a freebie then? How cheap," she laughed in mock indignation.
"No, it just means you're priceless."
Out of all the surprises she'd heard including yesterday's, that one took the cake as far as being completely unexpected went. He'd said it so seriously without breaking that for the first time in a long, long while, she'd caught herself blushing.
"Nine out of ten Sora, nine out of ten." She managed to blurt out.
"Really? Damnit, took me a while to think up that counter."
"Sora, revealing your plan after you executed them is poor form and in bad taste," she chided, clearing away some of the awkwardness she had.
"Sorry sensei," Sora laughed nervously, before the both of them heard the beep from his monitor. "We're coming up on Stillwell in five minutes, might be best to warn them since they won't pick us up until we're on top of them."
"Want me to handle this part?"
"Sure, I like hearing you all professional anyway."
Ami simply beamed at the compliment, then turned her focus to the comms.
No Second Chances
LGear's Notes: It's odd how I keep finding myself writing an SI from another character's POV.
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victor janus
logic used by the illogical
Feminazi? can't say I get the reference. still it turned out ok. People coming out and telling the truth is pretty rare as is rob actually being present as anything but an excuse... So in a way you are deconstructing SI standards here.
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
Oh dear.
As long as Sora doesn't seriously screw up around Amia, or she doesn't die, the two of them are very likely going to be sharing quarters shortly.
You just don't act like that unless you're the proverbial 'married couple'. Especially as it keeps flipping back'n'forth between 'old married couple' (who know what the other is thinking before they do), and 'newlyweds'. Doesn't help matters that Amia has got one heck of a perverted streak and is, frankly, luxuriating in the attention she's getting. I suspect that any/all of the cryo-pod occupants - along with any other crew brought onboard, will be incredibly amused, constantly, by those two's antics and/or 'skirting the issue'.
EDIT/NOTE: Of course, this obviously means that Amia dies first.
As long as Sora doesn't seriously screw up around Amia, or she doesn't die, the two of them are very likely going to be sharing quarters shortly.
You just don't act like that unless you're the proverbial 'married couple'. Especially as it keeps flipping back'n'forth between 'old married couple' (who know what the other is thinking before they do), and 'newlyweds'. Doesn't help matters that Amia has got one heck of a perverted streak and is, frankly, luxuriating in the attention she's getting. I suspect that any/all of the cryo-pod occupants - along with any other crew brought onboard, will be incredibly amused, constantly, by those two's antics and/or 'skirting the issue'.
EDIT/NOTE: Of course, this obviously means that Amia dies first.
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Canon Omake: Lead In
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
LGear's Notes: While trying to clear up mental space for writing the next chapter, I decided to post an omake that used to be part of the early draft of Chapter 6. As it is now, it takes place before the memories from the previous chapter.
The Karels were blocky, bipedal robots with thin arms, serving as Celestial Being's handyman robots. If the Haros were the robotic brains of Celestial Being, the Karels were the brawn, with the actual appendages and tools necessary to perform the physical tasks needed to run the organization's more menial assignments, such as mobile suit and ship repairs. Though Karels do have their own limited intelligence to follow simple orders, more often they are paired with a Haro that rides them within a dedicated receptacle, allowing the Haro's more advanced intellect to utilize the Karel's physical prowess.
To me, the Karels and the Haros are understated marvels of technology on par with the Gundams when it comes to allowing the extreme automation that allows someone like me to run a ship that would normally require dozens, if not hundreds of crewmembers.
And I was using them to bring some chairs into the briefing room. Hey, have minions, shall use.
I had the chairs set down by the edges of the large, circular screen on the floor of the briefing room, sat down, and prepped the presentation through my handheld Celestial Being-issue PDA (shipboard networking is so awesome). Honestly I wanted to really sleep at this point, but I knew I'd been stalling my explanation to Ami for a bit now, so I just freshened up with a shower and a nice steaming cup of milk coffee.
I hadn't really realized it till now, but it seems my new 'instinctual' knowledge of the Ptolemaios II included running the computers, allowing me to instantly find what I was looking for: maps, multimedia, documents, and other articles relating to the history of the Inner Sphere, something to thank ROB for in his generosity.
The more I messed around with the files though, the more I realized that there was a lot more here than just practical information. There was a "Personal" folder which I curiously opened to reveal...
"What the... ROB, is this...."
My finger found itself hovering on a file listed inside the folder, then pressed it.
Is this the real life
Is this just fantasy
Caught in a land slide
No escape from reality
"Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see..."
After nearly three days in a universe I was barely knew, in a situation that was stressfully different from everything I once knew, thrust into circumstances beyond my control... to hear something so completely mundane and so familiar, something from my previous life that I knew and loved so well...
"Listen to the wind blow, doesn't really matter to me...."
I had to stand up and sing.
All the fatigue, all my tiredness just melted away as I belted out the lyrics of the song. It was definitely refreshing, invigorating, empowering.
....
"Nothing really matters..... to me...."
The sound wound down to its conclusion, and though my throat felt hoarse from the singing, it felt really good to let loose. It was like a major accomplishment, as though my altruism the past few days were nothing compared to what I just released now. Knowing that I had a treasure trove of these songs available to me made me realize that perhaps I wasn't as out of my depth as I thought I was. Perhaps, I could get by in this crazy reality.
And of course, almost three terabytes worth of songs had lots of potential for other things...
Then I heard the clapping.
"Wow, I didn't expect that, ninety out of a hundred!"
.... oh hell no.
I turned to the voice and wished it was just my imagination, but reality refused to comply. I've faced down deadly battlemechs, braved aerial dogfights, and dominated battlefields... but this was a threat unlike any before.
"Ami?"
"Yes, what is it?" She asked so innocently that I almost believed she wasn't trying her best to laugh, if only her eyes didn't give her away.
I did the only thing my mind could do: glare at her with a scowl and hope I looked serious enough.
"You saw nothing."
She broke down laughing.
ROB, can I be dead again now please?
That awkward episode aside (after waiting for Ami to calm down), I offered Ami one of CB's canned coffees, and she accepted graciously as she took her seat. I tried not to stare, but damnit Ami rocked the Celestial Being uniform very well - I knew that CB's Season 2 uniform was quite flattering and honestly looked great on any good-looking woman who wore it, and Ami was no different.
The smirk on her face as she met my stare with her own meant that she knew that I knew that she knew that I knew that she already knew what I was thinking... and wow that was redundantly long. She may not be mind-reading me exactly, but she's shown herself able to deduce my thinking just from my emotions, and there wasn't any point in trying to hide from her empathic sense... so I appreciated the sight in front of me as she drank.
"Sora, being too direct against ladies is bad."
"This isn't being direct, this is being observant of body language and cues."
"Oh? And what does my body language say?"
"It says that you're enjoying my unease way too much."
She gave one of her lovely giggles at that. "It's not your unease I'm enjoying, trust me. Good lead-in, though the follow-up fell flat, I give you a seven out of ten."
"Yes sensei."
Inane chatter it was, but it did help dissipate my current awkwardness. She put aside her drink, and the serious expression on her face told me all I needed to know.
"Sora."
It wasn't the first time she called my 'name', but hearing her say it with such weight was kind of intimidating, like a curse that'd snuff my life out if I dared do anything out of line.
Guess it was time.
"Alright, to start with.... what year do you think it is?"
==========
The Karels were blocky, bipedal robots with thin arms, serving as Celestial Being's handyman robots. If the Haros were the robotic brains of Celestial Being, the Karels were the brawn, with the actual appendages and tools necessary to perform the physical tasks needed to run the organization's more menial assignments, such as mobile suit and ship repairs. Though Karels do have their own limited intelligence to follow simple orders, more often they are paired with a Haro that rides them within a dedicated receptacle, allowing the Haro's more advanced intellect to utilize the Karel's physical prowess.
To me, the Karels and the Haros are understated marvels of technology on par with the Gundams when it comes to allowing the extreme automation that allows someone like me to run a ship that would normally require dozens, if not hundreds of crewmembers.
And I was using them to bring some chairs into the briefing room. Hey, have minions, shall use.
I had the chairs set down by the edges of the large, circular screen on the floor of the briefing room, sat down, and prepped the presentation through my handheld Celestial Being-issue PDA (shipboard networking is so awesome). Honestly I wanted to really sleep at this point, but I knew I'd been stalling my explanation to Ami for a bit now, so I just freshened up with a shower and a nice steaming cup of milk coffee.
I hadn't really realized it till now, but it seems my new 'instinctual' knowledge of the Ptolemaios II included running the computers, allowing me to instantly find what I was looking for: maps, multimedia, documents, and other articles relating to the history of the Inner Sphere, something to thank ROB for in his generosity.
The more I messed around with the files though, the more I realized that there was a lot more here than just practical information. There was a "Personal" folder which I curiously opened to reveal...
"What the... ROB, is this...."
My finger found itself hovering on a file listed inside the folder, then pressed it.
Is this the real life
Is this just fantasy
Caught in a land slide
No escape from reality
"Open your eyes, look up to the skies and see..."
After nearly three days in a universe I was barely knew, in a situation that was stressfully different from everything I once knew, thrust into circumstances beyond my control... to hear something so completely mundane and so familiar, something from my previous life that I knew and loved so well...
"Listen to the wind blow, doesn't really matter to me...."
I had to stand up and sing.
All the fatigue, all my tiredness just melted away as I belted out the lyrics of the song. It was definitely refreshing, invigorating, empowering.
....
"Nothing really matters..... to me...."
The sound wound down to its conclusion, and though my throat felt hoarse from the singing, it felt really good to let loose. It was like a major accomplishment, as though my altruism the past few days were nothing compared to what I just released now. Knowing that I had a treasure trove of these songs available to me made me realize that perhaps I wasn't as out of my depth as I thought I was. Perhaps, I could get by in this crazy reality.
And of course, almost three terabytes worth of songs had lots of potential for other things...
Then I heard the clapping.
"Wow, I didn't expect that, ninety out of a hundred!"
.... oh hell no.
I turned to the voice and wished it was just my imagination, but reality refused to comply. I've faced down deadly battlemechs, braved aerial dogfights, and dominated battlefields... but this was a threat unlike any before.
"Ami?"
"Yes, what is it?" She asked so innocently that I almost believed she wasn't trying her best to laugh, if only her eyes didn't give her away.
I did the only thing my mind could do: glare at her with a scowl and hope I looked serious enough.
"You saw nothing."
She broke down laughing.
ROB, can I be dead again now please?
==========
That awkward episode aside (after waiting for Ami to calm down), I offered Ami one of CB's canned coffees, and she accepted graciously as she took her seat. I tried not to stare, but damnit Ami rocked the Celestial Being uniform very well - I knew that CB's Season 2 uniform was quite flattering and honestly looked great on any good-looking woman who wore it, and Ami was no different.
The smirk on her face as she met my stare with her own meant that she knew that I knew that she knew that I knew that she already knew what I was thinking... and wow that was redundantly long. She may not be mind-reading me exactly, but she's shown herself able to deduce my thinking just from my emotions, and there wasn't any point in trying to hide from her empathic sense... so I appreciated the sight in front of me as she drank.
"Sora, being too direct against ladies is bad."
"This isn't being direct, this is being observant of body language and cues."
"Oh? And what does my body language say?"
"It says that you're enjoying my unease way too much."
She gave one of her lovely giggles at that. "It's not your unease I'm enjoying, trust me. Good lead-in, though the follow-up fell flat, I give you a seven out of ten."
"Yes sensei."
Inane chatter it was, but it did help dissipate my current awkwardness. She put aside her drink, and the serious expression on her face told me all I needed to know.
"Sora."
It wasn't the first time she called my 'name', but hearing her say it with such weight was kind of intimidating, like a curse that'd snuff my life out if I dared do anything out of line.
Guess it was time.
"Alright, to start with.... what year do you think it is?"
RoboRenee
Trans of gender
- Location
- FFXIV, probably
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Serious props for directly interfacing with the ROB as a story element & character (though as of now I'd say it is still the weakest part).
Also, I really like that you came clean with what you could ASAP and laid the groundwork for some of the other reveals. Much better than the usual 'keep everything quiet' or 'spill everything and be instantly believed'.
Also, I really like that you came clean with what you could ASAP and laid the groundwork for some of the other reveals. Much better than the usual 'keep everything quiet' or 'spill everything and be instantly believed'.
victor janus
logic used by the illogical
ah queen... I will always remember you for fried chicken... but you do vengeful boyfriends pretty good too.
Chapter 7: What are you after?
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
July 9, 3025
Stillwell, Verona
Stillwell, Verona
It was only in the clear light of day that Commander Ricardo Foley saw the blue and white battlemech in all its glory, flying in its impossible manner towards the small landing pads by Stillwell's Domestic Airport, which was where his 5th Mechanized Brigade had been based off for the past two years following the militia restructuring.
"Seeing it for myself, it looks weirder than you said it was, sir. I mean, where are the jets?"
The words of his young aide-de-camp Hollace Burnside, who had dressed up in her best dress uniform for this meeting, reflected his own thoughts on the matter, and he simply nodded at the observation.
Even from here he could tell that the strange battlemech had been cleaned off quite nicely, the scorch marks gone, and the finish smoother and cleaner than last night. The machine also carried a weapon on its right arm, a small shield that had a gigantic folded blade by the forearm, making the already formidable mech look intimidating.
He noted the small craft the mech was escorting, looking nothing like any other craft he'd seen, and his eye for detail saw the resemblance in engineering between the two machines just from their aesthetics alone. The battlemech and the craft were definitely related, likely made by the same factory, and coupled with the impressive state of both machines spoke of an organization with significant backing behind them.
'Freelance mercenaries eh?' his thoughts asked disbelieving. Then again, no matter the secrets behind this mech and its pilot, as long as their intentions towards Stillwell remained harmless or helpful he decided that he didn't need to pry on them, though he'd keep an eye open and ear out just in case.
The small craft landed vertically first, while the mech literally hovered about, likely scanning for threats. Only when the craft's engines died did the mech itself land, genuflecting with remarkable grace for a machine its size. Its left arm lifted a cupped hand to its chest, and before Foley could wonder what it was doing a large part of the torso armor opened up to reveal... the cockpit?
Now that was an unorthodox place for a humanoid mech to house its pilot in, not to mention quite dangerous in his opinion: most humanoid battlemechs had cockpits in the head not only for improved visibility, but also to ensure the best ejection route in case the pilot needed to punch out, and finally the cockpit would be farther away from the fusion reactor, resulting in a relatively cool ride. He could see the advantages, such as much heavier armor protection for the pilot, especially as he didn't see a visible glass canopy... unless that massive green glass orb on the chest served that function, in which case that would just be plain idiocy.
Between the seeming inability of the pilot to punch out, and the likely blistering heat inside the cockpit, Commander Foley thanked his stars that more sensible people worked on battlemechs instead of designing toys like these.
He shook his head at that. 'A very powerful toy' he admitted, but seemingly one designed without a shred of thought in sound battlemech design. Still, given the machine's inexplicable ability to fly and the combat abilities it displayed yesterday, perhaps the standard of logical design had changed while he was out here in the wastes.
The mechwarrior that came out though looked nothing like he expected: wearing a single-piece black and white suit that covered the entire body, showing off no skin. Having been a mechwarrior himself once wearing only a cooling vest and undies, Foley could not imagine how the young man could possibly withstand the heat in such stuffy attire, especially with a cockpit located directly under the reactor.... unless the full body suit was one of those Star League cooling suits he had heard about, making him realize that he was looking at a functional piece of LosTech.
'If only I'd had that back in the day...'
Even odder was the man's neurohelmet, a sleek, rounded design looking more like a motorcycle helmet than the boxy shoulder resting contraptions he was familiar with. Indeed, the unobtrusive helm allowed the man to turn his head towards them, and give them a bow.
The man stood on the machine's raised hand, fiddling with something unseen on the machine's middle finger, before the hand suddenly moved by itself, riding to the ground on it before taking a step off.
"Woah, flashy much ain't he?" Hollace exclaimed with much awe. It was a rather impressive and regal way to disembark from a mech, and from the amazed looks from Hollace and the riflemen around him they looked to share the same thought.
He watched as the mechwarrior ran over to the small craft, where a small ramp on its front had opened up, to reveal a young girl, looking vaguely Capellan, wearing a green and white jacketed uniform far too sharp and pristine to be on anyone but an offworlder with too much money. A noblewoman? She definitely stood out like a sore thumb against the loose and grungy sand-yellow outfits of his men, and even his own full-dress uniform looked nowhere as new or freshly pressed. The mechwarrior giving the lady a gentleman's bow with a hand across his chest didn't dispel the impression any, nor the woman's refined gait and confident movement, in contrast to the mechwarrior's more lax approach
Foley's two guests approached him as the mechwarrior easily removed his helmet, allowing the aging commander to see the man's face for the first time: sharp features, with the serious yet unfocused gaze of a rookie mechwarrior, just as young as the woman was, with messy dishevelled hair.
Time for the formalities then.
"Soran Ibrahim I assume," he greeted professionally, extending a hand out, which was steadily returned with the mechwarrior's own. "Once more, Commander Ricardo Foley of the Verona Militia, Fifth Mechanized Brigade."
"That's me, freelancer," the man replied casually, and it didn't escape Foley's attention that the man didn't name the organization behind them. Ibrahim then motioned towards the girl he came with. "And this lady here is Amia Lee."
"A pleasure to meet you, Commander Foley." The woman shook his hand gently, but firmly.
"The pleasure is mine, Miss Lee." Not a noble then, otherwise he'd have expected more of an introduction. "I admit, to see a lady such as yourself here is most unexpected."
"I'm no one special, Commander," she respectfully replied. There was a strange dissonance to her, a purpose in action only borne from experience in someone so young, yet so cheerful. "I'm simply here on my friend's request to handle negotiations for our party in regards to yesterday's agreements."
So not a superior then. If these two were not master and subordinate, but equals despite their appearance, then he was looking at something completely different from the power hierarchy he knew for people with the resources that they possess, though he couldn't see what exactly.
"My aide will be performing the same on my behalf," he nodded to the young girl beside him, who looked to be absolutely impressed at the newcomers, and gave them a lazy salute.
"Petty Officer Hollace Burnside, like the sir said I'll be here to make sure you don't rip him off!"
He levelled a glare at his exuberant aide. "Petty Officer Burnside."
She flinched at that. ".... right sir."
"I'm sure that the Petty Officer will perform an admirable job." A giggling Miss Lee moved to his aide with a friendly look. "Would you mind if I call you Holly?"
"Not at all! Like it that way in fact, but only if you let me call you Ami!"
Commander Foley only exhaled as a sign of his exasperation at his aide's lack of professionalism, a chronic fault within the militia.
"We should proceed inside so we can commence our business," he invited, wanting to get away from the heat, motioning to the jeep behind him.
"Works for me, Commander" Mister Ibrahim agreed for all of them, unable to hide the impatience in his voice. With that, Foley rode shotgun as his guests piled at the back in short order, along with a couple of troopers.
==========
Riding on the back of a military vehicle with armed soldiers was actually kind of calming for me, as it was one of the few things I was very familiar with in my previous life due to growing up in a military family. It made me glad I wasn't armed, since who knows how the militia might treat us had we brought any weapons along. Besides, I still had the smartpad (as Ami had referred to the thing I'd been calling a PDA) at hand, and it would allow me to remote pilot the Exia if we needed to get out fast.
As such I was able to take a look at city immediately outside the airport. I had seen how large it was before, but yesterday's battle had prevented me from truly appreciating the town. It actually didn't look all that different from the American or Australian towns I had visited in my life, apart from being in a desert: there were obvious signs of age, not to mention battle damage, but otherwise it looked clean and orderly enough from here. The domestic airport itself was similarly not much different from what I was used to back then, a concrete construction only a couple of stories tall for the main building covered by lots of large glass, with the tallest structure being the air traffic control tower. If not for a Commando mech standing tall on the tarmac I would've thought this to be the DMIA or something.
My impression of the usual Battletech border town, based on accounts of the rampant technological degradation that the setting had suffered, had been more in line with the rickety towns of spaghetti westerns, so to see such a mundane and "modern" looking place from my perspective was a pleasant surprise, and further eased the nervousness I was feeling. Though I guess, a town looking like something from a thousand years ago was the very definition of backsliding...
Meanwhile Ami was engaged in impenetrable girl talk with Petty Officer Burnside just in front of me, and though I had seen Ami break out smiles during my talks with her, this was the first time I felt that she was truly ... animated. I did realize that this was the first time Ami had been in the company of people beside myself since her death, but to see her like this was like truly seeing her alive for the first time, in her element so to speak. I squashed the pang of loneliness I felt in short order: Ami was the happiest she had been since arriving in this reality, and I wished to see her find happiness here at least, like how I was trying to find my purpose here.
Besides, keeping an ear to their conversation, it was clear that Ami was learning all she can about the negotiation scene through the Petty Officer, while at the same time not making her relative lack of knowledge of Inner Sphere workings evident - well, Ami had apparently brushed up on Inner Sphere culture from the Ptolemy database, though obviously she wasn't going to get much reading in so short a time. I'm not sure if the good Commander caught it, but he did wear that lasting frown on his face.
We arrived at the terminal in short order, and a flight of stairs inside later we were led to the meeting room. It, like the rest of what I've seen, looked very 21st Century, all plastic furniture and textile flooring, and the smell of chemical cleaners mixed into the cool airconditioned air, a welcome reprieve from how hot it was outside. All of the windows shutters were closed so all the lights were open in return, but I could spy a hint of the Exia's colors outside.
Everyone took their seats, the Commander and his aide by the side nearest the door, while me and Ami took position opposite them by the windows. Finally, the negotiations can begin.
Then Commander Foley spoke out.
"Before we begin, there are questions that need to be addressed regarding your presence here."
.... okay, maybe not yet.
"Sure," I agreed, " Ask away."
==========
Clasping his hand together on the table, Foley looked at his guests, and the question he had been holding for a while came out.
"It is apparent to me that the both of you possess significant resources in the form of your battlemech and its technologies to be mere 'freelancers'," he added a mocking emphasis to the last word. His narrowed his eyes at them, "wanting to pick up scrap for money."
He narrowed his eyes. "Who are you really, and what are your plans for this town?"
There were lots of ways that his question could be answered, and indeed he had addressed the both of them just so he can confirm who was the one in charge. It was of course, standard procedure for negotiations like these, but in this case all of the oddities surrounding these two had forced him to be more direct in his approach.
He wasn't kept waiting for the answer.
"Very well," Soran Ibrahim answered, which was expected, but still unusual considering everything he'd seen, "no harm in throwing you a bone." The young man sat up straight, and crossed his arms.
"We're call ourselves Daybreak's Bell, a paramilitary organization new to the Inner Sphere."
"A long-winded way of saying 'mercenary'," Foley scoffed at the way these people seem to think themselves above mere guns for hire.
"You're not wrong on that," Ibrahim agreed light-heartedly, unperturbed by his barb, "we do take contracts and all that for people who can afford to pay. But we do also pride ourselves in being more than that."
There was just enough there for Foley to take a stab at a guess. "Son, you're hardly the first mercs I've seen who want to become the next Wolf's Dragoons."
The young man looked at him blankly in momentary confusion, before he let out a snort. "The Wolf's Dragoons are honorable and armed with the best toys no doubt. But in the end, no matter how advanced they are or how civilized they appear to be as mercs, their ambitions go no further than that of their paychecks and their masters."
A bit at the back of his mind found something very strange about Soran's descriptions of the famous mercenary group, but he decided to shelve that for later.
"So you claim to be ambitious?"
"More than them at any rate, once we got our foothold in the Sphere."
Now that alarmed him. "Stillwell..."
"Calm down Commander," Soran Ibrahim frantically raised his hands in a gesture of reassurance, "Stillwell is nothing but a pit stop, en route to our real destination. I meant what I said yesterday about my reasons for being here: I heard that pirates were attacking, and I was just in the right place at the right time to ruin their day. Rest assured we have no grand plans for your town."
The man's reaction did ease Foley's concern at their sincerity, though he still kept a suspicious gaze at them.
"And where will this 'foothold' of yours be?"
"Honestly sir, that's classified," Ibrahim shrugged nonchalantly, then their gazes clashed. "Commander, I'm already telling you as much as I can without getting into trouble with my superiors, because you're suspicious of us as it is, and I want at least a level of working trust between us during our negotiations."
There was no fault in the man's reasoning at least, and Foley realized he had been treating this like an interrogation. Getting unbalanced by the events of the recent days should've been no excuse to exchange words in bad faith on the negotiating table.
"Very well, I will not pry." Foley relented, though he did have one more item in mind. "If you could humor my curiosity one more time.... what is Daybreak's Bell's ambition in the Inner Sphere?"
Soran Ibrahim put a hand on his chin, seemingly in thought, though his eyes held a sparkle that told him the man was doing it for his benefit.
"Our mission, Commander?" The young man smiled. "To bring light to the darkness of the thirty-first century, one corner at a time."
'The hubris of youth', Foley thought to himself, shaking his head in disbelief at the man's statement. The only thing keeping him from thinking it as Ibrahim's personal folly was that it was stated to be the mission of his organization as a whole. Whoever their superiors were, they looked to be as idealistic as the young man in front of him was.
In all honesty, he still had a ton of questions for the young man, but this was a negotiation first and foremost, and they were supposed to be here to settle on the terms of their transaction.
"My thanks, Mister Ibrahim." Foley turned to his aide. "Petty Officer, if you please."
The girl bolted up with that restless energy she had. "Yes sir! First I'll just list the value of all the scrap from yesterday..."
==========
After the Commander's aide started spouting of numbers and figures relating to yesterday's battle, I let out the breath I didn't know I held and slumped slightly on the rather comfy chair. I felt Ami's pat on my shoulder while giving me a brief glare, and whether through her Innovator abilities or me just being more attentive of such things in this reality, I got the meaning clear enough.
'Good job, we'll talk more about this later.'
I did kind of just spring that on her at the last moment. Well, explanations for later I guess.
I let my mind glaze over as I tuned out the words being exchanged now, only keeping an ear out to spot odd things that I did understand. This was Ami's battlefield now, as she traded facts, figures and appeals to emotion to get the best deal for us. I interjected a few times to clarify what we wanted, but otherwise Ami took the lead, and my mind resigned itself to not being able to catch up to what the tangle of numbers and legalese they were spewing out was saying.
The next hour felt like eternity, and I spent most of it mentally reviewing some stuff of varying relevancy, like how I knew the Ptolemy K2 (as I'm calling it now) had a docking rig for connecting to a JumpShip, that the ship was actually powered by its own original GN Drive (something the original ship didn't have), that I did see a meat pie pastry shop outside the airport (priority mission), and other important things.
Ultimately Ami was able to squeeze 1.9 million C-Bills (the 'universal' currency for this era) for the four mechs I took out; as it turns out, stabbing the Shadowhawk's cockpit through with a beam saber actually raised its value due to the rest of the mech being intact. With that much dough we could finally begin getting more people out of cryo, not to mention having start-up capital for our little venture.
Overall it was a successful first negotiation in this reality, shorter than I thought it'd be, but no complaints there.
It was about the time that we were wrapping up the talks when a rather loud knock on the door interrupted us, and in came a trooper, who was clearly troubled and out of breath despite his attempts to stay calm, as he made to salute.
"Commander, urgent message from Lord-General Castor!"
The messenger handed over an envelope to the Petty Officer, who opened it, and read the message inside with an increasingly upset look.
"Oh no..."
"Report, Petty Officer," Commander Foley commanded, and his aide's face dropped even further at that.
"Sir, a Class-5 Hurricane has hit Thandor, and it's not expected to pass for another month."
I wasn't so sure what the importance of that was, but the mood in the entire room suddenly became deathly silent. I turned to Ami to see what she thought of it... and found her clasping her chest, her frozen expression as bad as the others in the room.
"Ami, what's wrong?!" I tried asking in a whisper, putting a hand on her shoulder unable to keep the worry out. Please don't be a heart attack or something like that!
However, she thankfully got out of her funk. "It's fine Sora, I just wasn't prepared for that," she replied weakly.
On the one hand, I sighed in relief as I realized it wasn't anything wrong with Ami at all, on the other hand I realized just how powerful the emotions around the entire room were for Ami to have looked so shocked still at the experience.
"So what is it?"
"It's like everyone's grieving, like they feel they've lost someone important."
"Someone died then?"
Ami shook her head. "There's more frustration in there, as if what happened just threw a wrench in their plans. And the Commander... he's taking this the hardest of all."
The Commander certainly didn't look like that from my perspective, looking as stone-faced as always, and yet Ami's senses never lied.
She steadied herself then, before she turned to look at the Petty Officer.
"Holly, what's wrong??" she asked worriedly.
The aide spoke in obvious distress. "The Commander's been trying to borrow a dropship from the Army so we can mount a rescue mission for the people who were taken, and the Lord-General promised to expedite our requests so we can get it within the week." She hugged the clipboard she was holding harder at that. "But with the war against Tarsonis going on the only dropship that can be spared was at Thandor."
"And with the storm there's no way they can fly it over," Ami concluded almost as sadly as everyone else in the room.
It all made sense now to me: Assuming the pirates arrived in-system yesterday on their JumpShip, they still had a week at minimum to charge their KF-Drives for another jump. Unfortunately the pirates were pretty much home free at this point, as the locals no longer had DropShips available to pursue them, and once they make their jump they could be pretty much anywhere. I could now understand why Ami felt much grief from them, since with this news the townspeople who were taken would pretty much dead to them now.
Yet the more I thought about it... the more I realized this was the opportunity I was waiting for, the itch in the back of my mind that's been nagging at me since yesterday when I first talked to the Commander. I knew nothing about these people, yet the moment I stepped into the fray they felt as much my responsibility as my own, thus hearing that the pirates had managed to get away with a couple dozen of them had been a blow. Like when I felt the urge to deliver the Valdez town residents back to their homes, the mission felt incomplete, unfinished.
Yet this wasn't a problem that could be solved with a Gundam, and unfortunately even if I, for some unthinkable reason, roped in Ami to help me try and rescue the hostages, none of us were foot soldiers ready to storm a JumpShip.
But now...
"Commander?" I called out loud for everyone in the room to hear, and everyone glared at me like I was this insensitive person who can't read the mood. Well, maybe I am usually.
"Yes, Mister Ibrahim?" the Commander tried to ask politely, but the suppressed growl he had was kinda obvious to me. I smirked at such a perfect moment to drop the bombshell.
"I got a dropship."
You could hear a pin drop as I smiled impishly.
"Would you like to borrow it?"
No Second Chances
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Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
"I've got a dropship."
not
"I got a dropship."
not
"I got a dropship."
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
Casualspeak, since this is from character dialogue afterall.
Sakuya's Butler
A refined Butler to a knife wielding Mistress.
- Location
- ↓, ↘, → + Punch
Fair enough.
Chaos Blade
Procrastinating Writer
- Location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
wait, I am not getting a part, this one:
Nuking the cockpit means you recover the mech intact-ish... that should make it more valuable rather than less?
now, this part:
The bolded part is the wild assumption, mostly because most jump points are several days from planets (Star's Nadir and Zenith plus L1 points)
Nuking the cockpit means you recover the mech intact-ish... that should make it more valuable rather than less?
now, this part:
The bolded part is the wild assumption, mostly because most jump points are several days from planets (Star's Nadir and Zenith plus L1 points)
LGear
Secret Society BLANKET
Huh, didn't know that for salvage rules.
Hmmm might need to fix that for a bit then. Was working on the assumption of pirates using a pirate jump point.
As I might've already mentioned in the first chapter, my Battletech knowledge ain't really the best, so details like these would be appreciated.
...On the other hand, I really might keep that particular assumption in for characterization later...
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Chaos Blade
Procrastinating Writer
- Location
- Buenos Aires, Argentina
ultimately is a matter of how much TLC you need before you can field the mech again. a center torso will more than likely kill the fusion reactor and in 3025 is more or less going to turn the mech into a paperweight, sure you could salvage weapons, ammo and armor, myomers too, but it is far less pricy. a cockpit kit kills the meat, and leaves yo with a mostly intact mech that only needs a new cockpit module and can go back to do stompy things
The L1 are the pirate points, mind you they can be L1 planet-star or L1 Planet-moon, but the smaller the L1, the more difficult and needs the pirates to know of it... so that implies a familiarity with the system.
as for a faulty assumption from a character? sounds neat.
Speaking to the last chapter, I find it weird that the pirates started looting before battle end.
victor janus
logic used by the illogical
Congratulations on your first job, and it's as humanitarian as it is a military based mission so Ami might delay that lecture on the paramilitary mercenaries thing.