Weeks 41-44 Part 15
[X] Gunslinger (lvl2). (Unlocks Gunslinger option in Battleplan. +1 Attack dice to selected ranged weapon.)
You decide to focus on applying your expanded reflexes and awareness to get more out of your ranged weapons, practicing the hours away in simulations. The spectacle draw an audience of AIPA psychics and other staff who stop on their way to watch the White Doll dance around, but you pay them little heed beyond moving your pale green Mobile Suit away from where they are standing.What you do pay heed to is the sensation of the Turn A's Combat Mode teleport skittering across your focus while heralded by the beeping of the White Doll's sensors. You stop your exercises immediately and look to the east. Remote Viewing projects your presence across the Atlantic Ocean, across the Mediterranean, and into the deserts past it. You find Ghingham at the head of another Ghingham Fleet landing into the mountains below. The Ghingham Fleet must not consider the Babel Region to be part of Ezia.
You are about to pull your point of view back to your body when the Turn A freezes with its head pointed straight at your spiritual projection. "Are you having fun, Ghingham?" You muse to yourself, the motion mirrored by your projected presence. Perhaps your meaning reaches him, but you doubt it.
Loran has earned the Gunslinger Perk! Unlocked Gunslinger Option in Battleplan (+1 Attack dice to selected ranged weapon.)!
*
You have been swamped with duties the past few weeks, but now that you are back you decide to allow yourself some time off with the people you love. And that means spending the day and the first half of the next with Sochie, catching up on the time lost during the weeks you were away, and then taking her, Corin, Arisa and Miashei to a fancy restaurant in Luzipurch. This time you remember to tell the waiting staff not to bring too much alcohol, nobody wants a repeat of that last night in Nocis.
"Shame that the Queen couldn't make it." Shrugs Corin as he downs another glass of weak wine. The lack of strong drink and the absence of someone who used to be here does nothing to alleviate the man's low spirits after such a long time of nothing to do but act as one of the heads of security at the AIPA headquarters.
Arisa pats him on the shoulder. "It can't be helped. Dianna's got stuff to do." She downs her own drink in a single gulp. "And so do we when Ameria really gets into the war, won't we Loran?"
You nod. It has been too long since you fought beside your comrades in the technically-disbanded Laura Rola Autonomous Mechanical Doll Corp. Speaking of, you can't help but wonder how Horace and Lieutenant Dana are doing. The former has been carried by train across Ameria to lend his expertise to the Mountain Cycle excavations in the time since you last saw each other and is currently on his way down to Floria to help restore the ship they found, but you haven't seen hide or hair of the Lieutenant since he took the LRAMDC's Gallop back to the Inglessan Militia.
"Loran?"
You look up from your plate to meet Sochie's worried eyes. "Hm? Yes, Sochie?"
Her Pressure gently slides against your own. "Are you alright? It feels like you have something on your mind."
"Lord Guin wants to talk to me early tomorrow, something to do with the recent disagreements in the Congress." You reply before glancing around. "Can't say more, sorry."
She nods, understanding your reasons without being happy about them. Personally, you would rather not think about the reasons he might have for calling you in for a political matter.
*
The meeting with Lord Guin is eye-opening, in a lot of ways. While Floria (and to a lesser extent Luzianna) supports him and his autocratic vision for a united Ameria, it is not nearly enough, and enough of the remaining states oppose the idea (most notably the democratic-ish republics of California and Newark) that those that have yet to pick a side remain comfortably neutral.
His main opposition seems intent on doing nothing more but solidify the bonds between the Amerian states, strengthening the unwritten rules that form the current Amerian Confederation into a proper Federation. It is not too different from Keith's attempts to force peace between Ameria and the Dianna Counter through economic interdependence, only vastly more involved in scale and the levels of society it intends to affect. It is also a lot less involved in the internal politics of the member states, which is one of the main sources of opposition to Lord Guin's position. Ameria is a patchwork of republics, absolute monarchies, constitutional monarchies and one dictatorship if you count Canud as an Amerian state. Any infringement on the people's franchise or the aristocracy's privileges will be unpopular at the best of times…
Ugh, why do they have to do this now? Don't they know that there is a war going on? Lord Guin even raised the possibility of-
You stop as you receive a telepathic message from a room near you. The Psychic's Pressure seems familiar, but since they are too weak (and too sincere) to be a likely threat you enter the room without hesitation. The four presences within turn out to be the familiar-feeling Psychic, who is dressed in an AIPA Adjutant uniform (Luziannan colors), Lady Lily, and a pair of men that you recognize as being from Captain Gavane's Special Suicide Squadron.
Lady Lily wastes no time in flashing you a pleasant smile. "How kind of you to join us, Loran Cehack." She turns to the adjutant. "That will be all Charles. John, please escort him back to the embassy. Ames, guard the door."
The three men practically jump to fulfill her orders, and soon enough you the two of you are alone.
"I believe that playing games with a mind reader would be a waste of effort," She begins while gesturing for you to take a seat at one of the other desks in the unused office. "So I will go straight to the point: The Congress of the Amerias will fail if things remain as they are and I want your help." Her eyes are locked onto yours. "He has asked for your support, hasn't he?"
You can only nod. "He has." He suggested that he might have need of you to enforce his position on the Amerian states.
She shrugs daintily in response. "I thought so. The White Doll's power and your control of the AIPA makes you not only the Earth's lone answer to Junno's own White Doll, but also the kingmaker of Ameria. Unless things change, you will have to declare for one side or maintain neutrality, am I right?"
[] Nod and let her talk.
[] "You have a third option in mind."
[] Write in.
You decide to focus on applying your expanded reflexes and awareness to get more out of your ranged weapons, practicing the hours away in simulations. The spectacle draw an audience of AIPA psychics and other staff who stop on their way to watch the White Doll dance around, but you pay them little heed beyond moving your pale green Mobile Suit away from where they are standing.What you do pay heed to is the sensation of the Turn A's Combat Mode teleport skittering across your focus while heralded by the beeping of the White Doll's sensors. You stop your exercises immediately and look to the east. Remote Viewing projects your presence across the Atlantic Ocean, across the Mediterranean, and into the deserts past it. You find Ghingham at the head of another Ghingham Fleet landing into the mountains below. The Ghingham Fleet must not consider the Babel Region to be part of Ezia.
You are about to pull your point of view back to your body when the Turn A freezes with its head pointed straight at your spiritual projection. "Are you having fun, Ghingham?" You muse to yourself, the motion mirrored by your projected presence. Perhaps your meaning reaches him, but you doubt it.
Loran has earned the Gunslinger Perk! Unlocked Gunslinger Option in Battleplan (+1 Attack dice to selected ranged weapon.)!
*
You have been swamped with duties the past few weeks, but now that you are back you decide to allow yourself some time off with the people you love. And that means spending the day and the first half of the next with Sochie, catching up on the time lost during the weeks you were away, and then taking her, Corin, Arisa and Miashei to a fancy restaurant in Luzipurch. This time you remember to tell the waiting staff not to bring too much alcohol, nobody wants a repeat of that last night in Nocis.
"Shame that the Queen couldn't make it." Shrugs Corin as he downs another glass of weak wine. The lack of strong drink and the absence of someone who used to be here does nothing to alleviate the man's low spirits after such a long time of nothing to do but act as one of the heads of security at the AIPA headquarters.
Arisa pats him on the shoulder. "It can't be helped. Dianna's got stuff to do." She downs her own drink in a single gulp. "And so do we when Ameria really gets into the war, won't we Loran?"
You nod. It has been too long since you fought beside your comrades in the technically-disbanded Laura Rola Autonomous Mechanical Doll Corp. Speaking of, you can't help but wonder how Horace and Lieutenant Dana are doing. The former has been carried by train across Ameria to lend his expertise to the Mountain Cycle excavations in the time since you last saw each other and is currently on his way down to Floria to help restore the ship they found, but you haven't seen hide or hair of the Lieutenant since he took the LRAMDC's Gallop back to the Inglessan Militia.
"Loran?"
You look up from your plate to meet Sochie's worried eyes. "Hm? Yes, Sochie?"
Her Pressure gently slides against your own. "Are you alright? It feels like you have something on your mind."
"Lord Guin wants to talk to me early tomorrow, something to do with the recent disagreements in the Congress." You reply before glancing around. "Can't say more, sorry."
She nods, understanding your reasons without being happy about them. Personally, you would rather not think about the reasons he might have for calling you in for a political matter.
*
The meeting with Lord Guin is eye-opening, in a lot of ways. While Floria (and to a lesser extent Luzianna) supports him and his autocratic vision for a united Ameria, it is not nearly enough, and enough of the remaining states oppose the idea (most notably the democratic-ish republics of California and Newark) that those that have yet to pick a side remain comfortably neutral.
His main opposition seems intent on doing nothing more but solidify the bonds between the Amerian states, strengthening the unwritten rules that form the current Amerian Confederation into a proper Federation. It is not too different from Keith's attempts to force peace between Ameria and the Dianna Counter through economic interdependence, only vastly more involved in scale and the levels of society it intends to affect. It is also a lot less involved in the internal politics of the member states, which is one of the main sources of opposition to Lord Guin's position. Ameria is a patchwork of republics, absolute monarchies, constitutional monarchies and one dictatorship if you count Canud as an Amerian state. Any infringement on the people's franchise or the aristocracy's privileges will be unpopular at the best of times…
Ugh, why do they have to do this now? Don't they know that there is a war going on? Lord Guin even raised the possibility of-
You stop as you receive a telepathic message from a room near you. The Psychic's Pressure seems familiar, but since they are too weak (and too sincere) to be a likely threat you enter the room without hesitation. The four presences within turn out to be the familiar-feeling Psychic, who is dressed in an AIPA Adjutant uniform (Luziannan colors), Lady Lily, and a pair of men that you recognize as being from Captain Gavane's Special Suicide Squadron.
Lady Lily wastes no time in flashing you a pleasant smile. "How kind of you to join us, Loran Cehack." She turns to the adjutant. "That will be all Charles. John, please escort him back to the embassy. Ames, guard the door."
The three men practically jump to fulfill her orders, and soon enough you the two of you are alone.
"I believe that playing games with a mind reader would be a waste of effort," She begins while gesturing for you to take a seat at one of the other desks in the unused office. "So I will go straight to the point: The Congress of the Amerias will fail if things remain as they are and I want your help." Her eyes are locked onto yours. "He has asked for your support, hasn't he?"
You can only nod. "He has." He suggested that he might have need of you to enforce his position on the Amerian states.
She shrugs daintily in response. "I thought so. The White Doll's power and your control of the AIPA makes you not only the Earth's lone answer to Junno's own White Doll, but also the kingmaker of Ameria. Unless things change, you will have to declare for one side or maintain neutrality, am I right?"
[] Nod and let her talk.
[] "You have a third option in mind."
[] Write in.
