Super Robot Wars- An End To The Waltz

[Mortifer]

The Brittanian Times
Impact Recovery
In The Wake Of Meteor Strike, Brittania Stands Firm
B. Hardcheese

It's been six months since the event dubbed by the scientific community as 'Second Impact' rocked the world, and as is becoming more and more clear, the damage done was much more than the immediate devastation. The countries that weren't utterly destroyed by the impact have fallen apart in it's wake, and today, it is clear that very few political forces will survive long enough to recover.

It should be no surprise that Brittania is one of these. As innately superior as our country is, not only has our homeland recovered, but our hold over the various Area's is being re-established, even the ones from the southern hemisphere. Revolts are still common in these areas, but are being put down fast. Soon, Brittania will have recovered completely, and there is already talk of bringing in inferior colonies in as additional Area's to speed up their recovery.

Meanwhile, other forces at play have been fortunate enough to avoid the majority of the consequences of Second Impact, including the AEU. However, compared to our Emperor, the AEU leaders have been much less successful in stifling unrest in the wake of Second Impact, and scavengers still abound.

Amongst the independent countries, the status of the majority is unknown. Japan has been noted to be more crippled than most in the Northern Hemisphere, as a strange sterilizing toxin had been unleashed in the wake of the meteor strike. Currently unexplained, this strange phenomenon has aroused worry in the Brittanian scientific community, who have since pushed for more resources in the orbital ring and space colony projects, as a lifeline in the case that other mysterious effects occur.

(Continued on Page 3)
March 13, 2003 a.t.b.

~~~~~​

The European Morning Herald
Attack of the Festum
C. Tillery

Not long after the meteor struck Earth, there were reported sightings of golden things in orbit. Now, we have confirmation. Monstrosities, dubbed as 'Festum' by military forces, have been reported to attack planes and other flying vehicles above a certain distance.

Additionally, countries all over the world have had to fend off assault. Several smaller countries, already damaged by Second Impact, have been destroyed in their wake. Mech combat has proved suitable in fending them off. Brittania has been able to slay a small number, and Japan has arranged for protection in exchange for information relating to the artificial uterus development technology that was revealed early this year.

Current knowledge on these 'Festum' is unknown, but presently, attacks are more common in areas without protection than with. The AEU and Brittania have seen very few attacks, whilst the Southern Hemisphere nations that survived Second Impact are fading fast.

(Continued on Page 5)
Prairial 4, an CCXIV

~~~~~​

The European Morning Herald
Fall of the Sanc Kingdom
L. Ichte

In a mere day, the Sanc Kingdom, known for their anti-military stances, has been conquered by AEU forces. A clear demonstration of why their anti-war philosophy was a danger to it's people, the conquest ended in the death of King Peacecraft.

The search is still on for the missing heirs to the throne, Prince Milliardo and Princess Relena, neither of whom have been seen since. Due to their political value, the search for them is considered highly important.

The AEU has currently placed the area under the control of the military to prevent the chance of an uprising, until such time that the area is secure.

(Continued on Page 7)
Thermidore 5, an CCXV

~~~~~​

The Brittanian Times
Victory in Japan
Island Nation Formally Declared Area 11
S. Armstrong

In merely a month, the Japanese people have lost the war. The newly minted Area Eleven has been occupied completely. Of course, this result was undeniably inevitable. A small island nation, standing against the might of Britannia? They were doomed from the start.

While there is some surprise over the length of time since the invasion began, one must remember how weak the 'Elevens' are. Their leader went from a call of no surrender to committing suicide in a day to avoid the stress of war. The Elevens are a weak people, and are now where they deserve to be.

The children of former Empress Marianne, who were sent to Area 11 before the war, have not been found. It is believed that they were executed by the Elevens in the area.

Discussions are abounding over who will be appointed Viceroy over the area, and a few candidates have volunteered for the job.

(Continued on Page 3)
September 10, 2009 a.t.b.

~~~~~​

Cosmos Quarterly
VAGA Project Meets Tragic End
Expedition craft lost near Saturn
T. Chron

Tragedy struck the Royal Britannian Space Agency today when it's flagship endeavor, the Voyage to Acclimate Greater Aether, came to an unexpected and horrifying end. The RBSA's singular craft was on a voyage to map out the Solar System's various satellites for future colonization efforts as part of Brittania's answers to the Side Colonization Projects in our post-Impact world.

Details are sparse, but what is known is that en route to Saturn the crew of the ship recorded the appearance of a spatial anomaly before all contact was lost.

Inquiries to determine the validity of rumors of extraterrestrial involvement were not returned at the time of publication.

(Analysis on the available data of the incident as well as the Argos' contributions prior to this can be found on Page 2 and 7, respectively)

April 15, 2017 a.t.b.

~~~~~​

Tokyo Tribune
Gundams Strike Again
Despite International Condemnation, Celestial Being Continues Attacks
K. Crossroad

The mysterious organization that announced itself to the world only two weeks ago has struck yet again, launching another attack against an HRL garrison at Ceylon. Though Celestial Being has yet to issue a statement, it is believed that the intervention three days ago was a response to the ethnic conflict between the Sinhalese and Tamil populations of the island. If so, it would seem safe to assume that this second attack is a demand for the Human Reform League to cease their support for the Tamils.

The HRL has responded to the attacks, which they allege claimed the lives of 148 soldiers, with a promise to answer any Celestial Being activity in their territory with military action. The AEU and Britannia, by comparison, have officially stated that they will only be engaging the group defensively.

Although Celestial Being has limited its operations so far to the Advanced European Union and Human Reform League, it is almost certainly only a matter of time before they expand their activities to Britannia. Area 11 in particular, with the recent assassination of Prince Clovis and subsequent increase in terrorist activity, seems a likely target for intervention.

May 12, 2017 a.t.b.

Related Articles

• Mobile Suits Attack at AEU Demonstration
• Responsibility Claimed for Incidents at La Tour, The Internationale

~~~~~​

The Quibbler
Red Menace Drops Iron Curtain To Cover Up Alien Invaders
Mort I. Fier

Open your eyes, people! Can you not see the signs!

Ever since the first sighting of these 'Festum' creatures, the Human Reform League has been secretive about what is inside it's borders, and this has only grown with time. These obviously otherworldly creatures have had sightings in the area before the Iron Curtain was dropped. The logic is clear.

The Festum, clearly alien, are more clever than we thought. Or, at least, are some form of bioweapon used by actual aliens. Aliens now in bed with the Human Reform League!

These signs are coming together, more and moreso by the day. Have you wondered why the space exploration mission hasn't made contact when they were supposed to? Picked off by the aliens! And what other explanation is there, for the unidentified Mech to appear in Tokyo not long ago? It enters mysteriously, and escapes with ease! That's not earthly technology behind it.

Already, the Red Menace is infiltrating our press. The alien sympathisers have taken over all the other newspapers, and have had them turn this news away! Only the Quibbler can be trusted to keep you safe!

May 21, 2017 a.t.b.

~~~~~​

The Brittanian Times
Orbital Ring Closed For Maintenance
No date given for completion of repairs
B. Asimov

It has been several days since the Orbital Ring, heralded as Mankind's answer to impact by the AEU, shut down after being attacked by unknown parties. While no major terrorist groups have claimed responsibility for the deed, it is commonly assumed that Celestial Being was responsible. While the reveal of the presence of surface-targeting laser weapons in AEU controlled-portions of the Orbital Ring came as little surprise to many, it has thrown into stark relief the desperate ends which the once-mighty AEU will go to in order to continue it's relevance in a Britannia-dominated world.

While the presence of the cowardly munitions on the AEU's sections of the Orbital ring would be enough to ostensibly earn the ire of the Gundams, it does little to expedite the repairs that would bring the superstructure back online. For now, however, the energy crisis continues around the world, even as superior Brittanian Engineering renders it a non-issue.

(Analysis continued on Page 2)
May 23, 2017 a.t.b.

~~~~~​

Route Selection:
[X] Super Terrorist Wars
You are a Japanese Freedom Fighter, testing your Knightmare piloting skills in preparation for future attacks.

[X] Rule Brittania
A battle in Area 11 between two unknown Mech's has cost the Viceroy thousands. You are part of the taskforce sent to investigate.

[X] Fafner in the Tundra
You are a Super Soldier of the Human Reform League, tasked with the seizure of a high-performance Fafner from the Japanese survivors on D-Island.

[X] An End to the Waltz
You are a new recruit of the Organization of the Zodiac, serving under Treize Kushrenada himself. Even as the world falls to chaos and anarchy around you, you shall do your part to bring about a Lasting Peace.

Once route has been selected, Character Creation will begin.

(Go-GM'd by @TehChron and @Lichte)​

 

[Mortifer]

And now that the GM's have finished finalizing the options:

Character Creation

Select base character options. Write-ins can be used to expand on them, but character traits below should be used as a base.

[X] Name

[X] Gender

[X] Age (13-16)

[X] Rommefeller Plant. Sure, OZ has an impressive goal, but their objective is not your objective. Formerly from a Noble Family, the disgrace of your father cost your family it's honour. By serving Rommefeller to be present in case Trieze oversteps his bounds, you have a chance to earn it back.
-[X] Torn Loyalty. Working for OZ is a means to an end, but... You have to admit, you won't feel good about killing Trieze, if it comes down to that.
-[X] Hotblooded. There's a fire in your blood. When your father was disgraced, you refused to accept that you'd lose everything. You fought tooth and nail for the life you have now. And no matter what, no matter what, you won't let someone stand in the way of you getting it back.
-[X] Celestial Being Sympathizer. You're not quite a member, but VEDA keeps you updated. A few actual members lent a hand when you needed one, and you hate leaving a favour unpaid.
-[X] Write-in (Requires GM Approval)

[X] Former Japanese Patriot. Raised in Berlin, you still felt some loyalty to the homeland your father came from, and when it fell, your father died with it. Joining OZ was your best way of gaining your revenge against Brittania.
-[X] NERV Knowledge. Before joining OZ, you worked for NERV. You know... Some of their secrets. Not many, but enough that you could probably get into contact with some NERV assets if absolutely needed. You even met a pilot once.
-[X] GOOD SOCIAL SKILLS: You're actually somewhat sociable. Just because you want vengeance doesn't mean you're going to be frothing at the mouth all the time. You also happen to know a few people. People in high places, people in low places, you got contacts.
-[X] Hotblooded. Your father's death and the fall of Japan... Both are unacceptable. You'll exact your vengeance from Brittania. Nothing else matters.
-[X] Celestial Being Sympathizer. These guys are doing good work against Brittania, and even if you think you can do more with OZ, keeping contact would help you spot any good opportunities to get vengeance.
-[X] Write-in (Requires GM Approval)

[X] Veteran Leo Pilot. You've been through countless deployments with those inferior machines, and managed to hold off all sorts of mecha regardless. Your recruitment into OZ was a recent one, following a successful mission dealing with Festum in orbit.
-[X] Tinker. You don't get places in an old Leo by leaving it unmodified. You're pretty good at fixing it up and changing equipment, and could probably use this knowledge for more advanced mechs eventually.
-[X] Hotblooded. People have made the mistake of assuming you're no good because you use a crappy Gundam. You've shown them time and time again not to underestimate you! You could tear down any fancy machine Brittania throws at you using an old Leo!
-[X] Failed Super-Soldier. Okay, maybe you had a slight advantage that other Leo pilots didn't have. The AEU picked you up after you escaped the Institute, and you've worked for them since.
-[X] Celestial Being Sympathizer. The eradication of warfare? You'd like something like that, even if you don't think it's possible. You don't believe in the group enough to outright join them, but you do some favours for the organisation from time to time, in exchange for information.
-[X] Write-in (Requires GM Approval)

[X] Ex-Mercenary. Hired by OZ Prize for several missions, your performance eventually impressed Trieze enough for him to officially recruit. you.
-[X] Impact Survivor. You weren't lucky enough to be born and raised in the AEU or Brittania. You lived on an island nation that got torn apart by Second Impact. Civil war, mass starvation, dictators and tyrants... Only the best survived. Like you.
-[X] Money Makes The World Go Round. Let's face it, mercenary work is the best way to make a quick buck you have, and you're good at it. You don't need any more reason than that.
-[X] The Highest Bidder. You've worked for a lot of people, and have a lot of contracts. Even if you're with OZ now, you could always call in a friend you made while working for Brittania.
-[X] Hotblooded. If people are gonna look down on you because you have more loyalty, more power to them. If they won't respect you, though, you'll show them why they should.
-[X] Failed Super-Soldier. A survivor of the Super Human Research Institute, you escaped the HRL's thumb to be your own person. You don't particularly like the idea of being on another's leash, but if this OZ thing doesn't work out, you could always go back to the mercenary life.
-[X] Celestial Being Sympathizer. Yeah, you've worked with the group. VEDA keeps you updated, and some Celestial Being agents won't target you unless you target them. They're interested in possibly recruiting you long-term, but seem content with you working for OZ for now.
-[X] Write-in (Requires GM Approval)

(No limit on traits selected, but any contradictions in traits will result in the vote being ignored, and most traits have hidden demerits).

 

[Mortifer]

[X] Sudran Vilgan
[X] Female
[X] 15
[X] Former Japanese Patriot. Raised in Berlin, you still felt some loyalty to the homeland your father came from, and when it fell, your father died with it. Joining OZ was your best way of gaining your revenge against Brittania.
-[X] NERV Knowledge. Before joining OZ, you worked for NERV. You know... Some of their secrets. Not many, but enough that you could probably get into contact with some NERV assets if absolutely needed. You even met a pilot once.
-[X] GOOD SOCIAL SKILLS: You're actually somewhat sociable. Just because you want vengeance doesn't mean you're going to be frothing at the mouth all the time. You also happen to know a few people. People in high places, people in low places, you got contacts.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, each of you should be proud for being here today."

The voice echoed through the hall, as the new recruits walked down it. The speaker wasn't visible, but was clearly heard through the loudspeaker.

"Each of you here today are here because you've proven yourself better than the average pilot. Be it talent or experience, each of you stand head and shoulders above your previous peers."

The group that marched down the hall was not what one would usually think, of a military organization. For one thing, not a single one of them was older than sixteen.

"But that is no longer true. When all are exceptional, none are. Each and every one of you has shown to be above the average Mobile Suit pilot, but your standings compared to each other have yet to be determined."

At last, the hall came to an end, in a room with an empty stage.

"You work for OZ now, and until you prove otherwise, each of you is no better than a novice. For those not satisfied with this arrangement, your chance to prove yourself will come soon."

And with that, the voice faded out, leaving the group to themselves. A moment passed, before the assembled teenagers decided to take a moment to mingle.

In the back of the group, Sudran Vilgan took a moment to observe her new comrades. Each of them were able to satisfy the requirements to join OZ, and some had seen actual combat, unlike Sudran herself. Each were a skilled pilot to be here.

They had best live up to the reputation, then.

Each of them had their reasons to be here. Some were simply patriots who OZ had taken in. Others had joined for the pay, or had wanted the glory to be found in combat. And some, potentially, were just here because piloting giant robots appealed to them on a primal level.

Sudran wasn't too proud to admit that piloting a giant rampaging machine of death and destruction was something that made her feel giddy. But that was more a side-benefit of joining the military, of joining OZ.

Sudran Vilgan's heart's desire was to see Brittania burn.

It wasn't a desire she was likely to see fulfilled anytime soon, but it was there nonetheless. Sudran had nursed her hatred of Brittania for most of her life, ever since the fall of Japan.

Even if she never stepped foot into the country herself, her father had come from there. He would speak of it's beauty and glory, when Sudran asked.

He'd considered it enough to die for when Brittania invaded.

Sudran would be the first to admit it wasn't the healthiest mindset, but ever since, she had held the desire for revenge. Even now, as she looked around her fellow recruits of OZ, the first thought on her mind was 'How useful will these people be in destroying Brittania?'

...Well, simply observing wasn't going to give her much of an answer, and judging by the fact that there was nobody waiting here, it would look as if the recruits had been given time to socialize. Best to make the most of this time.

Turning to the nearest person, Sudran spoke. "So, we're comrades now, huh?"

Turning to her, the boy with dark hair smiled. "Yeah. I'd resigned myself to working with grumpy old men in the AEU, but then OZ picks me up and surrounds me with beautiful girls! I don't know what I've done to deserve this."

Sudran smiled. "Oh, stop that, you're making me blush."

The dark-haired teen smiled. "Ah, I suppose I shouldn't use all my material now, then. The name's Solomon David. You?"

"Sudran Vilgan." The girl replied.

"That accent..." Solomon took a moment. "German, right?"

"Half." Sudran corrected. "Spent most my life in Berlin, and spent some time in Dublin until... Well, you know."

Solomon winced. "Ah. Yeah, that sucks."

"Not exactly good conversation fodder." Sudran agreed. "What about you?"

"I'm from France, myself." He noted, before looking up at the stage. "You think someone got delayed a bit?"

"Possible." Sudran noted. "More likely, the higher-ups wanted us all to interact a bit before giving us a formal introduction. Get the rookies used to the people they'll be spending time with for a while."

A gruff voice interrupted, suddenly. "A waste of time, for some of us."

Turning, Sudran came face to face with a rather tall boy. Swedish, judging by the accent.

"Oh?" Solomon asked. "Do go on."

"It's rather simple." The Swedish boy replied. "I don't intend to spend much time on par with the rabble. Perhaps a few of you could keep up with me as I soar through the ranks, but I find that... Unlikely."

Solomon took a step forward. "An arrogant type? Oh, perfect. I love finding people like you. It's so satisfying when to wipe the smirks from their faces."

The Swedish boy scoffed. "I'd like to see how you intend to do that."

Solomon cocked his head. "Oh, that's easy. I'll just have to outrank you, then ask to have you put under me so you can never forget it."

"Hey, cut it out!" Sudran called. "Let's not make any enemies here, guys. We're meant to fight together, remember?"

The two took a moment to glare at each other, before the Swedish boy smirked.

"Linus Ceder." He said simply. "Remember that name."

And with that, he left.

Solomon looked after him for a second, before shaking his head. "Why I oughta..."

And then he walked off, in the opposite direction, and Sudran sighed.

"Is this what I'm going to be dealing with here?" She asked herself. "I wonder if it's too late to go join NERV..."

Just as she considered finding someone else to talk with, a footstep echoed off the stage, and the room fell into silence gradually, as people turned their eyes to the stage.

Standing in the center was a brown-haired woman, a stern expression on her face. A harsh gaze looked through the room through her glasses, and the woman seemed to take a moment to evaluate the group, as the last of the speakers realized everyone else had stopped talking.

Pushing up her glasses, the woman began her speech.

"Welcome, one and all." She begins. "I am Colonel Une, and I have come before you today to give you your first mission."

There was a bit of a whisper through the crowd, before Une continued.

"Indeed, your mission shall begin immediately." The Colonel explains. "Your Mobile Suits have been prepared for transport, and you will be shipping out to Turkey today."

Turkey? Sudran had heard the news frequently enough. While not technically part of the AEU, it had received a lot of media coverage.

"Within the country, a terrorist organization known as the Knights of Saint Michael have, in recent times, started occupying territory in Turkey. Officially, the Knights of Saint Michael do not belong to any nation, nor work for anyone other than themselves. Unofficially, they use Brittanian equipment and their tactics are comparable to the Brittanian military."

The implications were obvious. The enemy were Brittanians, except they could not be referred to as such, lest the AEU be roped into a war that would leave them vulnerable to the HRL.

Sudran smiled. Good.

"For the duration of the mission, this will be true of all of you. You do not work for the AEU, and you do not work for OZ. You are unaligned mercenaries, hired by the president of Turkey to drive back the Knights of Saint Michael."

Ah. A black-ops mission.

"Until the Knights of Saint Michael have been defeated or destroyed, this will remain true. Officially, until this time, you will be in a training program to ensure that you have been trained to OZ standards. Any deaths will be attributed to freak accidents or terrorist attacks, depending on how many of you fail to return."

An unwelcome reminder, but a clear one nonetheless. This would be Sudran's first combat deployment. There was the chance it would be her last.

"The Turkish military has identified several possible objectives you can accomplish." Colonel Une went on. "And as you work for them, you may expect them to continue scouting the enemy. However, their Mobile Suit collection is rather poor, so you should not expect reinforcement from them during this operation."

Looking over the recruits once more, Colonel Une reached her conclusion.

"Further information on this operation will be provided on the flight to Turkey. You will have one hour to prepare to board the flight, and if you have any belongings you wish to keep away from the battlefield, a room has been provided to store them. Return to this room by the required time to begin your deployment."

And with that statement, Colonel Une turned to leave.

~~~~~​

Looking over the pile of letters on her desk, Sudran sighed.

She's going to have to leave those for a while, isn't she? And she didn't have time to tell everyone she wouldn't be able to get into contact now, those letters would take too much time to write out.

Well, everyone knew she was going into the military, so they'd probably just think she was in boot camp or something. Hopefully. She'd be able to get back to them after the operation.

Well, she's got nothing to do before she flies out. Maybe she should look over the mission list again. Sudran had been informed that, assuming the group manages to balance it out well, they'd be permitted to choose which missions to go on themselves.

The options were varied, which was nice. Looking them over again, Sudran gave them a bit more consideration.

The Ambush operation sounded rather nice. Hide in a valley, wait until enemy Knightmares approached on a scouting mission, kill them all. Short, simple, to the point, and immediately satisfying, in terms of killing Brittanians.

But then, there was something to be said of the Supply Disruption plan. Finding out the routes of the enemy supply lines and taking them out would quickly demoralize any force, if they were forced to go on rations. Keep it up long enough, and they'd either starve, or have to do something stupid.

And then there were the tricky ones.

The files containing the mission information had a collection of photographs, or villages in a desert, each recently occupied by the Knights of Saint Michael. Out of them, three possible missions presented themselves.

In one village, it was noted that what appeared to be a high-ranking officer in the terrorist organisation dropped by on a schedule. Just after the dispatched task force arrived. Send in a team to kill the leader and blow up his Knightmare, and he wouldn't be contributing to the war effort for a while.

Another was noted to have only been occupied recently, and still be full of Turkish people. Including, apparently, a military commander who had been caught unaware. The Turkish Government wanted him out of the village, before the Knights of Saint Michael found him and started torturing information out of him.

And the last was a more complicated one. Lately, the Knights of Saint Michael had been pushing for the capital, from the looks of things. To do that, they'd ignored enough territory that going around and hitting one of their less important occupied towns was a possibility. Taking out any Knightmares guarding the place would piss off the Brittanians, but not as much as the idea that they'd lost territory. They'd try and take it back, wasting resources to do that, and would try and prevent a repeat by shoring up their defenses. In the process, their offensive would be stalled.

Or perhaps they'd ignore it and go on with trying to reach the conquer the capital, but that just opened them up to the possibility of having their main force ending up surrounded.

All good options, really. Still, she'd need to pick one of them, eventually. And in the end, one of them was more appealing than the others.

[X] Ambush
[X] Supply Disruption
[X] Assassination
[X] Extraction
[X] Liberation

Which force are you a part of, anyway?

[X] Air Team
[X] Ground Team​

 

[Lichte]

Meanwhile, in Area 11...

"As per your instructions, we've offered the Viceroy our assistance for the rescue efforts." The speaker, a young brunette in a black skirt and jacket, looked from the tablet in her hand to her boss.

The president's office, at first glance, was rather spartan. Despite the entire floor being dedicated to this office and its reception area, the room the pair occupied contained only a single chair behind a single desk, currently occupied by the man himself. The president looked young for his age, not a single speck of gray in the black hair hanging down to his shoulders. He narrowed his eyes at the report. "And?" he prompted.

"As you anticipated, they have declined any further assistance."

"Of course they did," he noted. "It was bad enough that she needed Numbers to handle those two for her, she certainly wouldn't allow us to act in the light of day. Some nonsense about maintaining secrecy, I expect?" At his secretary's nod, the president continued. "And what about the boy?" he asked.

"Which one?"

"Both."

"The pilot is still unconscious, as he has been since opening the new machine's cockpit. Physically there isn't anything wrong with him, but after last night…"

The president nodded, rubbing his fingers along his goatee. "Send him to me once he awakens. How is his friend?"

"All of Maki's attempts have failed. He... doesn't think there's anything more we can do."

"I see. Thank you, Ms. Ogawa, that will be all."

After her dismissal, the windows were rendered pitch black by a gesture. Glass windows along the floor and ceiling lit up, screens appearing in the air just above head height.

The first displayed footage from a Human Reform League carrier. He'd sent a list of coordinates and times, anonymously, with a single word. 'Tatsumiya.'

Of course, they couldn't afford not to act. If the same message had been sent to the AEU or Britannia, and it had been right, it would have destabilized the delicate balance between the three blocs. One of them hadbeen accurate, though obviously only one could have been. It had been years since he'd been in contact with the island, and Hino's information was woefully out of date. Myriad variables had needed to be accounted for, variables that had now been filled in by the operation's outcome.

The island had only recently made contact with Festum, doing so under Minashiro's command if their current location was any indicator. One Nothung model and pilot had been lost in the first battle, as had its commander at the time. That role had been filled by Makabe, as good a choice as the president could hope for.

Their meeting with the HRL force had been an abject disaster, by all accounts. Another Nothung model and its pilot had been lost; Mark Sechs, according to the reports from the HRL. The HRL itself had lost all of the Gnosis models attached to the task force, as well as most of its Mobile Suits and the experimental Fafner they had assigned to their second Super Soldier. Defenseless as they were, Makabe wasn't the type to shoot them in the back. The HRL's representative, Gallop, was certainly spiteful enough to turn a nuclear missile on the island, but they couldn't afford to do so without first recovering a core from one of Tatsumiya's Fafners.

At a standstill, the HRL had no choice but to withdraw, and the death of Sechs's pilot would begin stirring doubts in the other pilots. Soon enough one would depart, and the pieces necessary for Heaven's Door would be in place. The loss of the Super Soldier was regrettable, but overall he couldn't have hoped for that little incident to go any better.

The next displayed the footage from Area 11, shot during young Kururugi's transfer before his 'trial'. The night 'Zero' announced himself to the world. The president smiled to himself. The little boy had grown into quite the melodramatic little man. He was brilliant, driven. But reckless.

The next screen showed the Saitama ghetto, reduced to rubble during Cornelia's attempt to lure out her brother's killer. The young man had been arrogant enough to oblige her, and nearly exposed himself in the process. But if he could survive long enough to learn some sense, he would gather an effective force under his banner. The screen showed a rain of bombs falling onto the Britannian KMFs, the camera rising just in time to see a gunmetal gray block detach from a white and orange fighter.

Yes, Lelouch was far too useful a piece to be lost so early. It was worth the effort to nudge things in favor of his survival.

His own forces had been built up as best they could, though after last night's incident it would be some time before they were at their full fighting strength. Still, Ikari's group would be capable enough to survive unaided. NERV, the Argos, and Barton would all bear fruit soon enough.

The last screen showed a live satellite feed, displaying three Leos in the Turkish desert. Two major pieces were dependent on the outcome of this operation. If successful, everything he needed would be in place. And then...

The president allowed the screens to fade away and the windows to clear. "It's almost time, old friend."

 

[Mortifer]

[X] Extraction
[X] Ground Team

The desert was still, before the trio of Leos that slowly moved forward. This close to the conquered town, the three of them couldn't afford to move too fast. If the Knights of Saint Michael were watching closely enough, they'd notice high-speed Mobile Suits. By keeping it slow, they didn't attract much attention.

The trip to Turkey had taken a while, long enough that Sudran had been able to go over the cover story for the squads being dispatched.

Officially, they were part of 'The One-Eyed Wolves,' a Moralian PMC hired by Turkey. Given the use of outdated Leos and Aries, coupled with the number of such Mobile Suits stolen or 'misplaced' over the years, the OZ taskforce in Turkey had their equipment explained easily enough.

The Leo may have been outdated, but it was still more than what the Swords would have been expecting. Turkey hadn't had any Mobile Suits of its own, so the Swords of Saint Michael had, according to reports, mainly made use of Knightmare Frames so far. The smaller machines well suited for urban combat, true, but against a Mobile Suit, even one like a Leo, even large numbers of Knightmare frames would be unfavorable odds.

"You two got the plan down?" Asked the leader of the squad, Azmer Tau.

"We got the damn plan." Muttered Sudran's fellow soldier, Talib Chuma. "What, you think we forgot already?"

"I've been saddled with a girl who's never seen combat and a man who, until recently, worked for the highest bidder." Azmer sighed. "I reserve the right to have little faith in your ability to follow directions."

"Run it by me again." Sudran interrupted, putting an end to the argument before it could really begin.

Talib sighed, but Azmer began to explain.

"We need to go in to extract Professor Kotaro Hazuki." He started. "I'll be going in on foot to find him. Once I've done so, or if I get caught by the Knights, I'll hit the alarm. That'll be your cue to go in hot."

Sudran nodded. "Keep them distracted until you get back to your Leo, then you and Talib come and help me get out."

"Just remember to circle around a bit!" Talib called. "I need to be here to watch Azmer's Leo, but if you come running from here, they'll send people my way and make my life harder."

Sudran nodded, then checked for confirmation. "Just to be clear, sir, you have your radio on you, correct?"

Azmer grunted. "Yeah. If I can't report when I send the alarm, assume I got caught."

"You better not get caught, mister bigshot veteran." Talib grumbled.

"I'm a Mobile Suit pilot." Azmer replied. "Not an infiltrator."

"Then let me go in." Talib replied.

"What, and let them buy you when you get caught?"

"Just roll with it." Sudran interrupted again. "You get paid whether or not the rest of us make it out, so just accept it and let everyone be happy."

Talib paused, then sighed. "Fine. Let's go."

Sudran nodded, as she set off. "On it."

Keeping a good distance from the town she knew was just out of line of sight.

Eventually, she managed to find a good spot. Some distance from Talib, a small plateau formed, providing a chance to hide behind it and approach the town like that. The enemy would be watching it, of course, but that was good. Sudran was the distraction, after all.

It took time to find it, and she was waiting in it for a bit longer, before the radio crackled.

"Target is secure." Called Azmer. "Let's go, Sudran."

The girl quickly moved her Mobile Suit around to come into view of the town. Almost immediately, she had their attention. Several repainted Knightmares- Glasgows, from the looks of things- Immediately turned to her, and an alarm blared.

The Knightmares, at this point, had too options. Lure Sudran into an ambush, or hold out for reinforcements. Even if the Swords of Saint Michael were mostly Knightmare based, the odds of them not having any Mobile Suits was low, and with a confirmed sighting, the enemy sending one in was likely. But that would take time, time the Swords of Saint Michael didn't have.

As long as Sudran didn't fall into a trap somewhere, she shouldn't be at risk. She had, essentially, been given a season pass to the Brittanian slaughtering ground.

A grin on her face, Sudran opened fire.

As she began firing, the thump-thump-thump of her Leo's guns vibrating her cockpit in it's short bursts, Sudran couldn't help but feel the thrill, the excitement, of her first engagement. A part of her had been worried that she'd initially be set up for peacekeeping operations in the AEU for her initial sorties, but she had been mistaken.

OZ was letting her first blood be upon the Brittanian pigs that threw the world into chaos, that savaged her nation of Japan...

And she was loving every second of it.

But the Glasgows had seen her coming, and with the nimbleness of KMFs, they had launched Slash Harkens into the buildings around them and had already moved out of her line of fire. This was fine, she thought to herself, the sights of her 100mm rifle aligning with one of the Glasgows whose Harkens had hit at an awkward angle and left the KMF dangling atop the building in her line of fire.

She wouldn't let that garbage escape her vengeance now that she had them, and a full burst of fire launched into the KMF, the rounds accurately peppering the much smaller machine and the side of the building it had been grappling behind. Its Yggdrassil drive lit up, and the Brittanian machine exploded in a splash of flame that failed to do more than scorch the side of the building it had been attempting to use for cover.

Sudran smiled, she couldn't help it at the indicator of just how easy it had been, and charged straight into the town, determined to draw the fire of the remaining three Glasgows. What greeted her as she crossed the line of buildings, entering the city proper, was a trio of the Order of St. Michael positioned near the roofs, having turned her entry point into a killzone.

Instantly Sudran realized her error, and a hail of 30mm shells descended upon her Leo, the weaponry barely scratching her suit's Titanium Alloy armor. She was a giant among ants, and she turned her weapon upward as the Glasgow's harkens fired again, and the KMF's proceeded deeper into the city, swinging from building to building.

Sudran paused, her hands gripping at the controls of her Leo. She had been told about this. Common KMF tactics against Mobile Suits in Urban environments. Ambush strategies. Bait. The girl knew all that, but...

She just. Didn't. Care.

A savage grin on her lips, she willed her mobile suits forward, pursuing the fleeing Glasgows as they swung deeper into the city, splitting up as they reached what appeared to be some kind of square in the center of town. Her Leo stepped through, and with a single glance at her Radar she saw what awaited her:

Four more units, two of which were equipped with their giant cannons, doubtless loaded up with Anti-MS munitions. Sudran smirked, her feet moving deftly to evade...But was too late. Two of the Glasgows had apparently circled back around her Leo, Slash Harkens extended behind her Mobile Suits legs as a trip wire. The movement proved sufficient to knock the vastly larger Leo off it's balance, even as Sudran furiously worked the stabilizing rockets at the bottom of her machines feet and she felt a twinge of triumph as she defeated their attempt to play the David to her Goliath.

But then her cockpit rocked with a fierce impact, and her eyes went back to the front, where one of the Glasgows' oversized weapons had the telltale smoke of having just been fired.

Traps within traps, the Order of Saint Michael were no amateurs. Even with these outdated machines, not meant to deal with the vastly superior Leo in any reliable capacity, they were more than capable of keeping her on the backfoot.

Once again, those Britannians were screwing with her.

A second rocket launched from in front of her, and Sudran didn't have time to evade. So she simply charged in to the attack, the additional plating from her Leo's armored arm likely enough to provide protection to the suit's cockpit, and herself. An explosion rocked her back and forth, but she was furious! Gritting her teeth as she focused on what was stolen from her, the former Japanese's focus never wavered...And she closed the distance between her and her would-be ambushers.

"You bastards didn't trap me..." She growled, twisting the 100mm Machine gun with her Leos remaining arm directly into the too-slow Glasgows, "I've trapped you!" She pulled he trigger, and a hail of bullets tore through the Glasgows, shredding them like tissue paper even as they attempted to flee. But they had made a mistake, Sudran thought triumphantly as she twisted to the other two members of this apparent ambush squad:

They had lured her Leo into an open space, a park it seemed, where their Slash Harkens would prove unable to get them behind cover in time.

The next two Glasgows went up in a fireball much like the last two, and the harsh clicking of an empty magazine echoed through Sudran's awareness. Her focus shifting back to her gun, what greeted her was the sight of a scene from hell, the smooth lawns of the park chewed up and smoking as a result of the superheated troughs she had dug in her attempt to murder those Britannian pigs.

"...Oops?"

...Well, it wasn't like this war was going to have zero collateral damage anyway.

Reloading her weapon, Sudran looked around. Surely, that wasn't the entirety of their forces? They had to have more Knightmares hanging around somewhere, didn't they? Sure, they hadn't been expecting a Mobile Suit attack, but it seemed lacking nonetheless.

Looking around, keeping an eye out for a further ambush, Sudran's radio blared.

"We got a problem!" Talib called. "I got Knightmares converging on my position! Not sure I can deal with them before they start taking shots at the boss' Leo."

Azmer swore over the radio. "Do what you can." He called. "Me and the Professor will be a while, so try and keep them distracted."

"With this many of them?" Talib replied. "If I focus on one long enough to take it out, you're going to take some hits."

"I'm coming." Sudran called over the radio.

Damn it. The area between the village and where Azmer had left his Leo was mountainous enough that they'd be able to launch a few ambushes, at least. Not to mention that it'd take a while for Azmer to get back to his Mobile Suit, and if he and Hazuki were seen on the way through...

How had the Knightmares even noticed the two other Leos? Hadn't she done enough work distracting them? Or were they keeping a closer eye on the Professor than they thought?

Gritting her teeth, Sudran moved.

~~~~~​

She heard the gunfire ring out before she saw the combat, but it was enough to predict the flow of combat. The combatants weren't firing constantly, but leaving long pauses between shots. Inconsistent shots.

But of course. The Knightmare Frames wouldn't be able to take a Mobile Suit in single combat, so they couldn't afford to be out in the open long enough for more than a few shots to ring out.

Eventually reaching the site of combat, Sudran took in the sight before her.

Neither Leo was overly damaged, but Talib's unit had taken a few hits. The active Leo was pointing its weapons towards a collection of stone pillars and hills, obscuring everything behind it.

"Sudran." Talib's voice called, without his mech moving. "Took your time. We've got three Knightmares here, at least two with heavy weapons, and all of them are targeting the boss' Leo."

"I'll flush them out." Sudran replied. "When I go in, hit anything that leaves itself ope-"

Talib suddenly opened fire, and Sudran had to turn her mech to see the three Knightmare Frames burst from their cover, opening fire. The first paused for a second to long to aim, and was town apart when Talib opened fire, but the second, which Sudran fired at, simply dashed back into cover, giving the third time to fire a rocket before anyone could target it.

Talib's Leo moved first, charging into the rocket before it could hit the inert Leo, the explosive hitting the armoured arm of his mech.

"Shit!" He swore. "Not gonna be able to take many more of those."

"Well, at least we got one down." Sudran noticed.

"Probably have your arrival to thank for that." Talib replied. "They know as well as us you can flush them out, so they tried to get in a good hit? They're dead either way, at this point."

Sudran smiled. "I'll finish them. You stay here."

And with that, she was off again.

For some time, nothing happened. Her Leo marched through the desert side, as Sudran's finger twitched on the trigger.

"You back yet, boss?" She asked over the radio. Azmer took a moment to reply.

"Almost." He replied. "Hold off for a little longer, and I'll have the VIP in my mech ready to go."

Sudran nodded, before spotting something move out of the corner of her eye. Spinning her Leo, she opened fire, narrowly missing the Knightmare as it ducked behind cover again.

Heh. Joke's on it. At this position, the cover was too far spread apart for the Knightmare to make a break for it after Sudran got into position.

Charging after it, Sudran opened fire as she turned the corner, ripping the enemy Knightmare apart, even as it charged at her Leo.

A taunt died on Sudran's lips as the Knightmare wreckage collided with her Mobile Suit. Before she could adjust her Leo's balance, a rocket collided into her from the back.

The girl spun her mech around as soon as possible, only for a second rocket to come flying at her. She raised her Leo's arm to block, and quickly opened fire before the Knightmare could escape.

The third rocket was off by a hair, hitting the hillside beside Sudran rather than her Leo, and the Knightmare Frame was down.

"We're up and ready." Azmer's voice called, over the radio. "You good, Sudran?"

"Knightmares are down." She replied. "Leo's still operational, but they got a good hit in on me. Might take a while to get it fully repaired."

"We shouldn't have to worry about any more combat at this point." Azmer's voice replied. "Mission accomplished, men. Let's get back before they start sending more mechs after us. We haven't had confirmation on the enemy having Mobile Suits nearby, but it's not our job to find that out."

You have time before you get back to base. What do? Due to being sociable, you can select two options instead of one.

[X] Start preparing your report.
[X] Ask Azmer about his combat experience.
[X] Ask Talib about his mercenary life pre-OZ
[X] Ask the Professor why he was in a war zone.

 

[Mortifer]

[X] Ask the Professor why he was in a war zone.
[X] Start preparing your report.

It was a long trip to extraction, and chances were there'd be a wait before the extraction arrived. So it'd be a while, at least, before Sudran got back to base.

...Well, she was expected to have a report before long, and that could take a while, so she may as well get it over and done with now.

Thankfully, recent advances in technology made that simple enough. It was rather cheap to outfit a mech with a speech to text device for the purpose of making reports while on the move, and all Sudran would have to do is double-check it after the fact to make sure it all recorded properly.

"I'm going to get started on my report." Sudran called over the radio. "Hail me if there's anything important you need to say, don't want the Text to Speech to record out conversation in the middle of the report, that'd be a pain to edit out later."

"I hear you." Azmer replied. "And keep an eye out. Don't get so distracted that you miss a potential ambush."

"Understood." Sudran replied, before cutting out her radio feed.

Clearing her throat, the girl took a moment to think back about her actions in the last mission.

...She'd gotten careless. It was a good thing the Knights of Saint Micheal didn't have any Mobile Suits at the site, with how she'd gone into that, she wouldn't have been able to last long.

But then, she knew going in that they probably didn't have any Mobile Suits, so it was fine, wasn't it? If she did walk into a confrontation knowing they had Mobile Suits, she'd need to be careful, but in a situation where she had basically won regardless, what did it matter that indulged in her hate?

...Well, she shouldn't phrase it like that in her report, at least. Last time she made it known how much she hated Britannia, she had to go through some mandatory therapy and a psyche evaluation. That was a pain in the ass. Sudran didn't want to go through that again.

Well, none of her teammates were watching, so nobody would be able to contradict her report if she claimed that she'd been level-headed the entire time?

Yeah, that'd work.

Turning on the Speech to Text converter and taking a moment to adjust it for her accent, Sudran began giving her report.

The record of the battle was factually accurate in what had occurred, even if she didn't comment on her mental state. The only outright lie on there was that she'd sprung the trap set for her because she wanted to keep attention away from her teammates, rather than because she wanted to kill some more Britannians.

Once the battle was covered, Sudran explained how Talib had called her in to deal with the Knightmares attacking Azmer's Mobile Suit, and included her suspicion that the Professor had been watched after all, and thus, his disappearance had been noted.

...Speaking of which, who was this Professor guy anyway? And what was he doing out in the middle of a warzone like this?

Shutting down the Text to Speech converter, Sudran re-opened her comms.

"All finished?" Talib asked.

"Not quiet." Sudran replied. "I've covered what I did solo, so I don't forget. I can compare reports with you later to make sure I didn't forget anything for the battle we were both there for, and I thought I'd talk to the Professor for a bit."

Kotaro Hazuki spoke up, here. "Hm? Was there something you needed?"

"Well, not need." Sudran answered. "I was just wondering. I don't think I've heard your name thrown around often, but you're apparently important enough to save from a war zone. What do you do, anyway?"

"Well, the details are classified." The Professor replied. "But I'm the head researcher of a group that's currently leading the development of new Mecha-based research, trying to develop a Mech with greater specs compared to the current designs- A "Super Robot," if you will."

"Hold up here." Talib interrupted. "You mean, like something new? Not an upgraded Mobile Suit of Knightmare or anything, but a Prototype for something new entirely?"

"Precisely, my boy." The Professor replied. "If we can get the technology functioning, then our current research project could give us a Mech capable of keeping up with the best of Britannia's."

"Would this be one of those one-off uniques?" Talib asked. "Or something the rank and file can enjoy?"

Kotaro shook his head. "It'd most likely be unique, unfortunately. The technology involved is expensive to put together, even at it's current state. To make it ready for live combat? I'd say that it'll be a long time before anything other than a new upgrade is mass-produced for the common soldier."

"If your project is so important." Sudran interrupted. "Then why are you out here, in the middle of a warzone?"

The Professor sighed. "Ah, yes, I was wondering that myself. Hopefully, the findings are worth all of this..."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, sorry. I was lost in thought." Kotaro noted, focusing again. "The research, recently, had been hitting a bit of a dead-end. The basis of what we have now was the work of a freelancer group who had noted a certain scientific phenomenon, and had previously given some of their research to the AEU, in exchange for materials and tools to further develop the technology. When we hit a dead-end in weaponising it for the project, we had hoped that the freelance group would have furthered their development, and be willing to trade it for additional resources."

"I assume the group in question asked to have the meeting out here?" Sudran asked.

"That would be correct." The Professor noted. "The leader of the group was here in person. He's a genius, but also careful. He doesn't seem willing to trust even the rest of his research partners to trade information without giving more than he wants."

"Aren't you worried about him?" Azmer asked. "I mean, if he's a freelancer who knows you're using the technology, what's stopping him from letting that information fall into Britannian hands? Or end up with Celestial Being?"

"It was a concern." Kotaro admitted. "But given how careful he was dealing with us, I suspect that Britannia wouldn't be able to make a deal with him at all. Even ignoring the issue of trust, the group insisted on me being there, and alone, in neutral territory. If the research group knew that Turkey was a puppet state, I suspect he would have demanded a meeting elsewhere. Britannia isn't nearly trusting enough to let one of their best researchers be at risk, and their puppet states are usually more obvious."

"Interesting." Sudran noted. "I'm curious as to who this researcher was, but I suspect that you would have given me a name already if it wasn't classified."

"You assume correct." The Professor noted.

"In that case, thank you for your answers." Sudran concluded. "It was enlightening, but I should get back to my report."

"No issue, miss..."

"Sudran Vilgan, professor." The girl intorduced herself.

"A pleasure." Kotaro replied. "Well, I won't keep you from your work any longer."

Sudran nodded, and turned off her communications again.

Well, time to finish up that report...

~~~~~​

Sitting back in the relative comfort of her bunk, the girl looked over her report again, quickly catching a few errors in spelling and making sure everything was in order.

Good. Done, and before sunset too. It was still a while before command would be wanting the reports, but now Sudran wouldn't have to worry about being late, and could take it easy.

Well, as soon as she handed the report in, of course. While the standard issue, cheap laptops weren't outfitted with an wireless connections to maintain perfect security, reports needed to be transferred somehow. Sudran would need to drop by and pick up a USB from whoever was in charge of keeping track of those...

Ugh, there was going to be a line, wasn't there? Almost everyone got sent out on a mission earlier, so everyone would have their reports to do. Maybe some people hadn't finished yet?

Well, she should get that over and done with before a line formed, rather than after.

Making sure her report was properly saved and backed up, Sudran left her bunk, folded-up laptop under her arm, and went to do exactly that.

It's rather quiet, in the base that had been set up for the fake PMC. On paper, the building was a combination bunker and warehouse, constructed with labour outsourced to the AEU as part of a trade agreement, and had been re-purposed by the PMC that Turkey had allegedly hired to store their Mobile Suits.

...Just how many people were fooled, by Turkey's state as a puppet nation? Perhaps the OZ intervention was what was going to make it obvious, but there's a lot of coincidences that have the end result of AEU resources ending up in an AEU constructed facility, in a country close to AEU territory that was allegedly neutral but had favourable opinions on the AEU and a negative outlook on Britannia.

The international stage involved a lot of people not looking too closely, didn't it? Sure, Britannia could call out Turkey being a puppet, but the AEU could deny it and call out the Swords of Saint Michael being Britannian plants, and then everyone was on everyone's throats and the war moved from proxies to the nations themselves.

While pondering on how long this charade would continue, Sudran nearly missed the sounds of footsteps, as someone else began walking the corridor. It wasn't until she rounded the corner and ran right into someone that she realised she wasn't alone.

Sudran stumbled back a step, as the other girl in the hall collided into the wall, stretching a hand to brace for impact.

"Oh, pardon me." The girl said, before Sudran could speak, and the half-Japanese girl froze at the accent. "Terribly sorry."

Britannian.

Sudran's hand clenched into a fist, and she breathed heavily for a moment. No, no, she was fine. She was calm. Even if the girl before her was a filthy Britannian pig who needed to-

Breath, breath, she was calm, she was calm.

The girl before her might have been a Brit, but that didn't mean anything, did it? She was in the base and in uniform, so she was with OZ, and plenty of Britannians hated Britannians. They were easy to hate.

So, pushing aside her first instinct to deck the girl in the face, Sudran smiled.

"No, that's my fault." She replied. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, ran straight into you, should've looked..."

The Britannian smiled. "Well, why don't we split the blame and agree both of us should pay attention?"

...Yep, definitely not the average Britannian.

"Yeah, sure." Sudran replied. "Ah, my name's Sudran. Yours?"

"Serena Pennyworth." The other girl replied. "Aries division."

"Nice." Sudran replied. "I'm a Leo pilot myself. Can pilot both, of course, but I doubt anyone here has issue in either unless they're ridiculously good in the one they can pilot."

Serena nodded, then looked at the laptop under Sudran's shoulder. "Oh, are you working on a report?"

"Just finished it, actually." Sudran admitted. "Worked on it a bunch while waiting for extraction, didn't need to do as much when I got back to base."

"How'd the mission go?" Serena asked. "A success?"

"Yeah. Extracted the target. Got a valuable ally out of enemy hands. Did good."

"That's nice." Serena smiled, a bit too forceful now. "At least one of us succeeded..."

"You failed your mission? Sudran asked.

"Unfortunately." Serena replied. "My unit was dispatched to assassinate an enemy commander. The squad leader was supposed to sneak in while everyone else drew attention, but he got caught and barely got out. He's in the medical bay right now. If I'd done better..."

The girl's forceful smile, momentarily faded, returned in full force. "Well, there's no point worrying about it, right? He's hurt, but he's alive, being cared for, and should be able to return to duty before long. We failed our mission, but it wasn't a priority, or someone more experienced would have been sent. I just need to do better next time."

"...Huh. Didn't expect to see an optimist in a war zone."

"I'm good at what I do, Sudran." The Britannian replied. "It'd be a waste of my talents to stay out of the war."

Sudran shrugged. "This sounds like the start of a war movie. You know, where they establish a rookie as having a bright viewpoint, being so full of hope and dreams, then spend an hour and a half grinding them down with the horrors of war."

Serena's smiled faded for a moment. "...Please, Sudran. Don't think I'm unsuited for this. Three hours ago, I killed people. People with mothers, fathers, maybe even families. They chose to enter a warzone, to kill and be killed, and today, they were the killed. But not everyone made that choice, and it's better that I kill the people who signed on to be killed, then let them kill people who didn't do anything, right?"

"...Sorry." Sudran apologised.

"I know you didn't mean anything by it." Serena replied, trying to smile again. After a moment, she stopped trying. "Ah, I've made the conversation depressing, haven't I?"

"My fault." Sudran replied. "But still, it was nice to talk. I'll see you around sometime?"

Serena managed a small smile. "Ah, yes, it'd be nice if we could talk again. But, I'll leave you to your report for now, shall I?"

The two said their goodbyes, and went their separate ways.

Well, she was nice, Sudran thought. Especially for a Britannian. She didn't treat Sudran as an inferior, she didn't have any problems killing other Britannians, liked to talk, and wasn't some old cynical bastard who thought they knew better just because they made it through their second decade.

If only everyone could be so cheery, Sudran thought.​

~~~~~​

Her report transferred onto a USB and handed into command, Sudran was now free of all obligations for the night.

Working for a mercenary gang- Wait, not "Moralian PMC," needed to sound civilised- Was great, even if it was only because it was a black ops operation. Great improvement on boot camp. No drills, less regulation, Sudran basically just had her missions and the occasional shift on keeping guard and she was free to do what she wanted.

Maybe she should ask to be involved in this sort of work in the future. It was going to suck if it turned out that the proper AEU military went back to boot camp-level strictness.

Sudran approached a corner in the corridor, and slowed down in her walk, pausing momentarily to listen on what was around the corner.

...Yep, those are footsteps getting louder, good thing she stopped.

Leaning against the wall, the girl waited for a moment to see who was around the corner.

The moment passed, and the other person came around.

They were a small person. Smaller than Sudran. Looked like she was on the younger end of the spectrum of the usual OZ recruits. Which was rare, but not extremely so. Usually, people were kept in training long enough that they were hitting fifteen or sixteen when they made it to the military, let alone OZ. But that just meant she was good at what she did.

Or had started training at a young age, maybe from a military parent.

Or there was a political reason for her to be fast-tracked through training, like some sort of shady military contract, or someone wanted to have an agent keeping an eye on someone else.

Probably one of the first two, all things considered. Political reasons could happen, but they were rare, and this girl didn't look like she was thrown here with some ulterior motive.

What she did look like, though, was someone who just saw a dying puppy. Real sad. Not crying or anything, but she just had that kinda melancholic look about her, like someone who had been happy once and decided that it was the worst emotion.

"Had a bad day?" Sudran asked. The melancholic girl looked up a bit at that.

"...No, not a bad day." The girl replied softly.

"Something on your mind, then?"

"A few things."

...This wasn't going anywhere.

"Want to talk about it?" Sudran asked, trying to get an actual conversation out of the girl. Sure, she didn't need to, but if she just walked away, she was going to spend the rest of the week wondering what her deal was and that sort of curiosity is the worst.

"If you want to." The girl replied.

...A complete doormat, huh?

"Why don't we start from the top, then?" The Japanese girl asked. "My name's Sudran Vilgan. Yours?"

"Gail O'Gara." The girl replied.

"...Irish?" Sudran asked, a sudden hunch coming upon her.

Gail nodded, but said nothing.

"I see." Sudran continued. This... Was a delicate situation, if she was right.

Time to handle it as delicately as she could.

"I spent a while in Dublin before the attack, you know." Sudran tried. The melancholic girl blinked, looking surprised at the topic. "Wasn't too long, and I didn't know everyone there, but... Well, it sucked when it went down."

Gail was quiet for a moment, before she spoke. "...Did you lose anyone important to you?"

Sudran was quiet for a moment, before she finally spoke.

"...My mother." She decided, in the end. "She was distant, but father died while I was young, so she was all I had, for a while."

Distant was one way to put it. One that reflected better on Sudran than she deserved, probably. Her mother had never thought her hatred of Britannia was healthy, and never wanted Sudran in the military. Moving to Dublin was supposed to be a fresh start where Sudran could enjoy the scenery and hopefully decide she liked the quiet of Ireland enough to not join the military.

Sudran pushed the thought out of her mind, after a moment. She could be sad later, she needed to stop someone else being sad for now.

"My condolences." Gail said. "I lost people when the Festum attacked as well. My family lived in a small town just south of Dublin."

Sudran winced. "Did anyone make it out?"

"I did."

Gail was looking at the floor, avoiding Sudran's gaze. There was tears in her eyes, now.

"...Sorry." Sudran interrupted. "I shouldn't have asked. I barely know you, it was rude of me. But... Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine." Gail muttered, under her breath. It was the least convincing thing Sudran had ever heard.

"...Hug?" Sudran asked, holding her hands out. "It might make you feel better."

Gail seemed to consider it for a moment, before shaking her head. "No, I'm... I'm fine."

Sudran frowned. "Well, I won't force the issue. But... Well, if you need to talk about it, need a shoulder to cry on or anything, I'm bunking on the fifth room on the right from the cafeteria. All you need to do is ask."

"...Thanks." Gail replied. "I'll... See you later, Sudran."

And then she left, before Sudran could reply.

"...Could've handled that better." The Japanese girl muttered to herself. Should've tried to get to know Gail a bit before asking about her hunch about Ireland. Maybe she could have avoided making a girl cry if she had.

...Well, Gail should be fine, for now. If she was likely to go and do something harmful because she was sad, she'd never have made it past the psyche evaluation.

Maybe those therapists actually had a use, then, beyond being frustrating about insisting that everyone going into the military was mentally sound.

...Not that she'd ever imply something like that around the people responsible for the evaluations. Sudran had been in that room for three hours, and she'd forgotten to get lunch going in...

Grumbling to herself, Sudran went back to her bunk. Maybe she'd get a nap in before dinner.

~~~~~​

It'd be some time before Sudran's Mobile Suit was prepared, and until then, the most Sudran would be lookout duty on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Until then, she found herself doing the rounds in the base. Maintaining weapons, talking to people, all sorts of things. But there was three people in particular, that she really had time to talk with.

Pick three.

[X] Solomon David
[X] Linus Cider
[X] Azmer Tau
[X] Talib Chuma
[X] Serena Pennyworth
[X] Gail O'Gara

Votes will be by plan unless I'm overruled by the other two GM's, but they don't have to know they can do that so let's not tell them.