-[X] Mobility.
--[X] Stay on the ground with the Landskimmers.
-[X] Destruction Manipulator Melee Weapon.
--[X] Shining Finger.
-[X] Destruction Manipulator Ranged Weapon.
--[X] Buster Rifle.
-[X] Defenses.
--[X] Activate both of them.
-[X] NT Systems.
--[X] Activate the NT-D Mode.
-[X] NT Power.
--[X] Telekinetic Strike
--[X] NT Empathy.
-[X] Psycho-Field. (NT-D Mode only)
--[X] Spatial Distortion.
As the Whi-Hashmal leaps from the ravine your fingers are racing across holographic keys, changing the settings on the Destruction Manipulator to bring out the heavier weapons. You also, in a move that has you unconsciously licking your lips, activate the NT-D Mode for the first time in a combat situation.
The faint, ever-present red lines across the White Doll's body widen into cracks that bleed streams of red light as the armor shifts, bathing the surrounding area in crimson. The Hashmal stops after landing, and for a moment you can sense a glimmer of distant confusion as it stares at you. A moment later and the White Doll's face has been revealed to the world, a face you instinctively know resembles that of the Florian Gundam.
You can feel Vestige giggle to themselves.
Turn X Gundam, ready for battle!
DC 30-20(Remote Controlled) for Initiative = 63! Success! Loran (White Doll) goes first!
DC 10-20(Large Target) Spatial Distortion Hit = 97! Critical Hit! Double Damage + Ignore Saves!
Hashmal Remote takes 20 Integrity Damage! Hashmal Remote has been Destroyed!
White Doll Lightwave Shield Regenerates 2 Integrity.
You surge forward before the person controlling the Hashmal can react, clamping down the open claw of the Destruction Manipulator on its shoulder and letting loose with the contents of the weapon's entire capacitator. To your consternation your new senses are enough to let you see how the mega-particles fail to obliterate it like it did the last one. Instead the wave scatters across its armor while causing moderate damage, a far cry from the one hit kill at the Moonrace reception.
Once the wave has expended itself you disengage, allowing the NT-D Mode to push your abilities beyond their limit and release three blasts of telekinetic force. The first breaks through the Hashmal's armor and flips it around, out of the way of the second blast (your first miss with a telekinetic attack to boot). The third fails to damage it.
And then you unleash your secret weapon: The Psycho-Field you have been building up since you activated the NT-D Mode. The red light of the NT-D becomes, for just an instant, green and white as the laws of reality are momentarily undone to create a devastating Spatial Distortion that annihilates the Hashmal. Its white frame is twisted along with the rock it stands on and the air around it, the molecules within the area of effect being ripped apart and fused with each other in random patterns.
What remains is a set of odd sculptures, some craters, and a whole lot of dust. Most of it is made up of some odd, porous rock-metal substance created by the distortion.
Vestige, who has been silent since their announcement, choses this moment to make their presence felt.
Well done. All that remains now is the matter of the nukes.
"Yeah." You breathe as you deactivate the NT-D Mode, letting the armor panels slide shut to hide those red lights from the world. Vestige's training and your new abilities might have turned the strain into a gentle ache, but actually using a Psycho-Field Discipline proves to be seriously straining.
But the nukes, right. You raise the White Doll's left hand from its protective position at its chest and hold the contained up for inspection. What to do with them?
[] Take them with you.
--[] Tell Lord Guin.
--[] Keep them secret.
Loran's Condition worsens! Loran is now Tired. +10 to Initiative/Turn Start and Hit DC! -10 Hit DC for enemies targeting Loran's mobile suit (White Doll)!
"I think we should destroy them." You conclude after thinking about it. Everyone will be much better off if nobody, yourself included, has access to nuclear warheads. Especially this many because fuck.
Vestige is certainly aware of your inner thoughts, but simply shrugs in response.
Very well. Now let me take a look, see if I can identify what kind of warhead it is, how it is set up.
"Does it matter? Shouldn't they just evaporate if I hit them with a beam weapon?" Contrary to popular fiction, nuclear weapons do not go off when shot at.
Vestige doesn't turn away from the viewscreen displaying the container and the readout from the White Doll's sensors.
True, but the First Humans, and some of the Dark History peoples, were capable of some complete assery. These warheads, for example, have impact detonators.
You freeze. "What."
Vestige giggles.
Don't worry, the way they are set up indicates that they are not primed until they are removed from the container. Some sort of magnetic system. It should be safe to just blast them.
"Right." You put the container down on the unnatural alloy you created and take a step back. One shot from the Buster Rifle later and the nukes are so much dust. On some level you are disappointed by the lack of drama.
Vestige pokes you as you search for a way back down into the tunnels so you can shake off any pursuers.
One more thing.
"Yes?" There's an opening…Good on you for making sure to map the tunnel system.
Whoever designed those things set them designed the warheads to act like Minovsky reactors once removed primed. Do you know what Minovsky Particles are?
"Not much. Only that they were used in older reactor designs." You admit. "It is why WaDoms and our warships have Minovsky cleanup devices. Why?"
What happens when a Minovsky reactor is struck by a mega-particle weapon?
"It exp-" Oh.
Yep. I do not know how or why anyone would make something like that. Not entirely unconvinced that they weren't some form of elaborate trap for whomever dug them up. The Baund Doc IIs make me think Jupiter Fleet or maybe some Zeon faction if it was deliberate fuckery, but it could have been genuine stupidity if they were a Vagan design. I honestly have no idea. Some of Kreis' memories are missing, but I am sure he is responsible for most, if not all, Mountain Cycles.
Whatever the case, a lot of things have been put in holes all over the globe.
While Vestige rambles, you focus on hurrying through the caves until you rendezvous with the others in the forest bordering Lost Mountain and return to the Gallop. Dinner and your bed sounds lovely right now.
*********
Genetic engineering doesn't come easily to you, but you manage to come up with a working procedure. Exowombs are unreliable, at best, so you settle for the inefficiencies of altering the embryo within the mother. Many you so covertly alter come out with only a fraction of the boons you granted them, but George is different.
George Glenn excels at anything he puts his mind to. Athletics, mathematics, engineering, astrophysics, the list goes on. By the time you approach him he has already sussed out and partially reverse-engineered the genetic treatments that made him. He is suspicious, of course, of this too-young stranger who claims to have created him, but a display of telekinesis fascinates him into hearing you out.
---
"And now I am here."
George is understandably overwhelmed by the scope of your story, but he starts to process and accept it within minutes of thought.
"And what would you have of me?"
"To lead humanity, to help them unify and advance. Make them become stronger, go farther and climb higher. I will show you where to begin, and from there you shall coordinate mankind's path."
---
Years after he left for Jupiter you still do not understand what made George release his reverse-engineered genetic treatment to the public when he took off in his ship. Whatever the reason the demand for the treatment explodes during his mission, ignoring the attempts by the powers of the world to ban the practice, and when he returns it is to a secret population of 'Coordinators'.
He also brings a fossil from an extraterrestrial species, but that is irrelevant. The Jovian Whales went extinct tens of millions of years before the dinosaurs did, so your only surprise at the find is that the ELS didn't eat it when they infested Jupiter during the AD Cycle.
The discovery eases tensions between Coordinators and 'Naturals' (a term coined by a group of ecoterrorists) as humanity is joined by the awe of extraterrestrial life, but it fades quickly as the first generation of Coordinators reveal themselves and make their presence felt on global society. They excel in all fields compared to Naturals, and instead of the inferior falling in line they start to resent their superiors. Maddening.
As the second generation of Coordinators is born you work as 'Professor Kreuz', an employee at GARM R&D. This is where you meet Ulen Hibiki, who reminds you all too much of yourself, even if you only learn how much a few years later.
George's assassination at the hands of some nameless deficient idiot with a handgun burns, decades of effort slipping down the drain. But you will persevere. You just need to find your Plan B.
You leave GARM R&D for the PLANTs, having groomed some kid named Durandal to take over for you, and quickly move your way up the ranks of their academic world.
---
Plan B, as it turns out, comes in the form of Siegel Clyne's unborn daughter. His wife, one Gyda Clyne, has a very exact list of modifications she wants for her child: Bright pink hair, blue eyes, physical beauty (she brought you a picture of what she wanted her daughter to look like), a second stage voice box, the list goes on.
To keep up appearances you make some token objections, citing the life-endangering results should any of the brain and throat modifications fail to manifest properly in utero (not to mention the insane demand that you change the way the girl is to develop fat tissue), but she tells you to do your job instead.
You are of course lying. Oh, the modification are extremely risky, but with you in charge of making the modifications to the embryo there is little, if any, danger involved. The only tricky part is the second stage voice box, an organ that gives the person possessing it the ability to hold several notes at once (current record is four) alongside inbuilt post-production. If that goes wrong the baby will have the airways of a pug without some extensive surgeries.
Speaking of pugs, you deeply regret not being around to put the people responsible in front of a firing line.
---
Arranging for Gyda's death in childbirth from an 'allergic reaction' is easy, and the grieving Siegel is easy to manipulate into making you little Lacus' tutor. You find out about Hibiki's Ultimate Coordinator Project at this point, but decide to leave it on the backburner. If it succeeds the result can be Plan C.
Lacus proves herself to be an able student over the years, but as things escalate between the PLANTs and the sponsor nations you decide it is time to end your tutelage. You fake being disappeared by Blue Cosmos, the ecoterrorists that have waged an extensive anti-Coordinator campaign for decades now, while on a business trip to the Atlantic Federation. Lacus is crushed, of course, but busies herself with her music career and listening in on her father's meetings. The war that is later named the Bloody Valentine War will be her first test.
You spend two years watching the situation unfold while working on Turn X. Progress is slow due to lacking a proper nanoforge, unlimited resources and an army of expert personnel, but you manage. It might be just a head and a torso at the point when you hear on PLANT news that Lacus has disappeared, but it still possesses the Turn System, the cockpit Psychoframe and the tactical teleporter, more than enough to handle anything that threatens your investment.
Not that you need it. In an astronomic coincidence your Plan B has been rescued by Plan C (who is apparently named Kira Yamato. You'll need to look into that). She proceeds to play the boy like a fiddle and is returned to ZAFT custody shortly after becoming a prisoner aboard the Earth Alliance ship.
You stick around to watch the boy fight in his Gundam (because of course a Gundam is involved why wouldn't there be), shadowing the ship until it descends to Earth. He is clearly talented, but obviously new at this. You will have to check on him later if he survives.
Back on the PLANTs Lacus is subtly involving herself in her father's political machine. She doesn't make any moves at first beyond having Clyne Faction agents on the lookout for information on Plan C. Her gambit pays off when a wounded Kira Yamato is delivered to her.
After she has nursed him back to health she gives him one of ZAFT's new Gundams and sends him on his way. From what you see of the boy later he has grown remarkably fast in just a few short months, which leads to the question of if Lacus could sense his potential or if she succumbed to some hormonal insanity that turned out to have a beneficial outcome.
---
You are not easily baffled, but Lacus turning down a seat of power in favor of moving in with Plan C is definitively enough. What did you do wrong? Did you not instill enough ambition in the girl? You'd observe her closer, but the psychic aura around the two of them is syrupy and cloying, not to mention what they get up to the moment they are alone in the house.
No matter, you can wait. Things are not even close to lost. Besides, you have confirmation that humans able to enter the Blossom State have appeared for the first time since the FC Cycle. Only four at the moment, but in addition to the two (sadly deceased) men who manifested psychic abilities…
Is humanity evolving to overcome the Turn Nanites?
---
That Durandal kid sure moved up in the world, becoming the chairman of the PLANTs after the war. He then exploits some Zala loyalists to kickstart the next war, even engineering his own fake Lacus to make his cause seem more just. You cannot believe people fall for it, but you suppose the idea that a pop singer getting a boob job and an image change is more believable than 'our leader decided to make a fake Lacus Clyne to drum up support for the war while trying to kill the real one because she opposes his plans for world domination'.
He also tries to kill Lacus, and of course he has to die for that alone, but Plan C deals with the assassins and so her and her subordinates are back in action. After a whole lot of faffing about the three sides collide and knock the Earth Alliance out of the war, which makes Durandal feel comfortable revealing his Destiny Plan.
You don't even know how to respond to it, so you let Lacus and her bedwarmer handle it. This time she takes power afterwards, letting the boy's Natural sister handle things on Earth. The future looks good.
Also Kira turns out to have some small level of active psychic power. Something to keep in mind.
---
…
Their idiot descendants pissed away everything and now the Turn A is here to end the cycle.
You are crying as you crawl into your hidey-hole, shamefully grateful that the Gidae's first rampage burnt out your ability to contact the dead.
*********
Another dream…
With the events of last night in mind, you report to Lord Guin through the Gallop's radio after you've had breakfast.
"And some of the new Mechanical Dolls were destroyed in the firefight?"
"Yes, sir. Along with another of the White Machines that I destroyed at the reception." You feel no great need to explain what a nuclear weapon is, so you tell him that you destroyed some of the Baund Doc IIs instead. "However, this one displayed a beam weapon that could cut straight through the surface of Lost Mountain and into the tunnels below. It could cause massive casualties if used against our forces."
"I know, the Coradans have had a run-in with one of them. It took out half of their force before it disengaged."
They made it run. "They made it disengage, sir?"
You can hear him smirk over the radio. "Not like that, Laura. While they did damage it with the odd lucky shot, the White Machine disengaged because it was needed elsewhere. The Corado Militia has enough Dark History vehicles to advance over a wide front and the White Machine can only be in one place at a time. It was no doubt withdrawn to defend somewhere else."
You'll need to look into these 'Dark History Vehicles'. "I see."
"Speaking of Corado, I will be meeting with Prince Elbert later this week in the Arkan Valley in southern Luzianna. You will be escorting me, so do not leave southern Luzianna for the foreseeable future." You hear the shuffling of papers and a feminine giggle in the background, probably Lady Lily. "We will meet at Kingsley Valley. With any luck we will have gotten the spaceship in the air by then, but if not we will use Gallops."
He gives you a time and place along with the orders to prepare. Once the briefing is over you go to the White Doll to begin your weekly ritual.
All Systems gain +1 Condition!
And what else could this ritual be but setting this week's task for the Priority Repair System?
[] Keep it working of the Invisible Umbrella (44/500 Condition)
[] Another of the White Doll's systems. (System gains 1d100 Condition)
--[] Write in System.
Weapons
Type-TX Beam Pistol 15/500 (Heavily Damaged. Ranged)
Attacks Per Turn: 1d2
Damage: 2
Critical Hit: On Critical Success.
Special: -Penetration 1: +1 to target's Armor Save DC. -Unreliable: Unusable for one Turn on Major Failure. Unusable for all following Turns in a Scene(Update) upon Critical Failure.
Defensive Systems.
Turn-Type Armor (Non-Combat Mode).
Armor Grade: 6
Armor Save: 1+
Special: -Beam Resistant 1: Beams that hit this unit lose one level of Penetration vs Armor. -Nano Lamination 2: Damage from non-Penetrating Kinetic and Explosive attacks is reduced by 2 (to a minimum of 1). Nullifies damage from Point Defense Weapons.
Left Arm Lightwave Shield (Non-Combat)
Shield Grade: 4
Shield Size: Medium.
Shield Save: 3+
Shield Integrity: 6
Special: -Lightwave Shield: Does not block lasers. -Regenerate 2: Regains 2 Integrity at the end of each Turn.
I-Field. 4/200 (Damaged)
Field Density: 4-1
Dissipation Save: 4+
Field Integrity: 8
Special: -I-Field: Barrier against Ranged Beam Attacks only. Immune to Beam Penetration. -Dampening: Whichever Ranged Beam Attack breaks through the I-Field has its Damage reduced by remaining Field Integrity. -Wide Guard: Expands the I-Field to cover a large area, cutting its Integrity in half in exchange for shielding everyone within close range of the White Doll. -Regenerate 2: Regains 2 Integrity at the end of each Turn.
Mobility Systems.
Landskimmers. 19/200 (Damaged) -Speed +: Hidden -15 modifier to speed DC while on the ground.
Lightwave Maneuvering Thrusters (Flight Mode). -Flight+: Unit can fly. Terrain modifiers ignored. Hidden -20 Modifier to Speed rolls while flying. -Lightwave Propulsion: This system requires no fuel, only energy.
Lightwave Main Propulsion (Voiture Lumiere). 19/500 (Heavily Damaged, Unstable) -Extreme Speed: Hidden -45 modifier to speed DC while in the air or in space. -Unstable: +1d45 modifier to speed DC while in use. -Demanding: +30 to Condition DC after three Turns or one Engagement of usage with Pilot Skill below 4. -Lightwave Propulsion: This system requires no fuel, only energy.
PSI Systems.
Psycommu System. -Psyco-Control: Pilot Level may not go below 1. May control the White Doll while outside the cockpit at NT-Level 3. -Requirement: Requires NT Level 2 to use.
Psychoframe. -NT-Amp: Allows the usage of MS scale NT powers. -Requires NT Level 2 to use.
NT-D Mode. -NT+: Allows the usage of NT power one level above that of the user's Level. -Demanding: +100 to Condition DC after three Turns or end of Engagement if the user is not NT Level 4 or above. -Exclusive: Cannot be used at the same time as Bloody Siege Mode.
Bloody Siege Mode. -Mode Change: Splits the mobile suit into pieces, nine in total (ten with backpack). Each piece (except backpack) has its own I-Field. Can be used within gravity. -Requirement: Requires Pilot Level 4 and NT Level 4. -Excusive: Cannot be used as the same time as NT-D Mode.
Stealth Systems.
Invisible Umbrella 44/500 (Heavily Damaged) -Cloak 1: -10 modifier to various DC as the White Doll disappears from passive sensors. Breaks when the White Doll enters Medium Range or attacks.
Holo-Decoy 19/500 (Heavily Damaged) -Decoy 1: Produces a faint afterimage.
Misc Systems.
LUNA Energy Transference Module 19/500 (Heavily Damaged) -Universal Compatibility: The White Doll can use most types of equipment by wirelessly transferring power to them.
Carapace Backpack. -Armory Backpack 5: Can store 5 weapons for later use. -Adaptive workings: Will alter itself to carry MS weapons no matter their shape. Within limits.
-Carapace I-Field 19/500 (Heavily Damaged)
-Carapace Flight Mode 19/200 (Damaged)
*
With the upcoming mission you don't have as much free time as you would have otherwise, but you will make the most of it. Also your birthday is this week.
Choose 2
[] Talk with Arisa and Corin.
[] Check out the Donkey Bakery.
[] Spend time with Vestige.
[] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure together.
[] Call Headquarters.
--[] Lady Lily.
--[] Lord Guin.
[X] Keep it working of the Invisible Umbrella (44/500 Condition)
[X] Check out the Donkey Bakery.
[X] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure together.
We still need that stealth before everything goes to hell. The basic I Field is enough for now.
Priority Repair.
3 votes for [X] Another of the White Doll's systems. (System gains 1d100 Condition)
--[X] I-Field
1 vote for [X] Keep it working of the Invisible Umbrella (44/500 Condition)
Actions.
4 votes for [X] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure together.
2 votes for [X] Check out the Donkey Bakery.
2 votes for [X] Talk with Arisa and Corin.
[X] Keep it working of the Invisible Umbrella (44/500 Condition)
[X] Check out the Donkey Bakery.
[X] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure together.
[X] Another of the White Doll's systems. (System gains 1d100 Condition)
--[X] I-Field (4/200).
A quick tap of a holographic key switches the Priority Repair System's focus away from the Invisible Umbrella System and onto the I-Field.
Roll 1d100 Priority Repair = 23! I-Field Condition is now 4+23
*
[X] Ask Sochie if she wants to experiment with Pressure together.
Vestige uncoils from behind the pilot seat when you and Sochie enter the cockpit for your training.
Hey, kids. Back for more?
The two of you nod, making the Psychoframe Ghost soundlessly clap their hands.
Good! Now then, Sochie and I will be focusing on strengthening her abilities, but what about you? Do you want to join in or would you instead that I teach you something new?
Now that Vestige gives you the choice, you would rather-
[] Focus on becoming stronger.
[] Learn an advanced Discipline.
--[] Psyco-Regenerate.
--[] Form Chorus.
--[] Psyco-Shroud.
--[] Psyco-Hijack.
--[] Channeling.
*
[X] Check out the New Donkey Bakery.
The next day you have the Laura Rola Autonomous Mechanical Doll Corps pack up while you track down a convoy of trucks, shadowing them under the cover of the Invisible Umbrella to discover the location of the New Donkey Bakery. It takes a while, a truck moves a lot slower than the White Doll after all, but eventually you catch sight of a factory and the village that has sprung up around it.
You mark it down on your map and fly back to the Gallop. They have finished packing by the time you arrive, and after stowing away the White Doll you instruct Ladderum to turn your land battleship east. The New Donkey Bakery is situated in a valley not too far away from the western 'side' of the Albam Cup (a pair of rivers in eastern Albam that meet by the sea. From space they resemble a V more than a cup but whatever), so it is not nearly as far away as you had feared.
The trip is a slow one as the Gallop must cross said river, but you make it to the New Donkey Bakery before nightfall. On closer inspection it becomes clear that the buildings around the main factory are grain silos and housing for the workers. There is even a pair of windmills at the edge of the complex. Surrounding the factory are the fields worked by the nearby villages.
A crowd of onlookers has gathered by the time Ladderum has parked the Gallop somewhere it won't get in the way of the people here. They part when you exit the Gallop. You left Lieutenant Dana in command while you bring Sochie, Corin, and Arisa with you. A featherlight touch of killing intent slides across your senses the instant your foot touches the ground.
You snap around you act on instinct, your hand closing around your sidearm whilst your left hand clenches in preparation for striking or for directing the creation of a telekinetic barrier. When you finish your near-instant turn you find yourself looking straight into the eyes of an odd-looking man wearing a baker's work clothes.
The man starts as your eyes meet, carefully taking his hand out of his vest as his killing intent fades. He hurries back into the bakery as you consider what just happened.
"Loran?"
You glance over your shoulder to see Corin and Arisa looking worriedly at you. Sochie is staring at the place where the odd man retreated. You take your hand off your undrawn sidearm and straighten yourself.
"Sorry. I thought I sensed something."
After getting lectured by a matronly old woman who is rather cross with you for spooking 'Poor Midgard' you proceed to what looks like an office building.
"Hey you!"
You turn around at the hostility that skitters across your pressure, coming face to face with the baker Keith worked for back at Nocis. "Yes?"
The heavyset man hesitates. "Wait…Ain't you Keith- Mr. Laijie's friend? What are you-" His eyes roam across your entourage. "-and your…associates doing here?"
You nod and extend your hand. "Yes. My name is Loran Cehack. I'm looking for Keith." He shakes it, and you exchange some pleasantries before he gives you directions to Keith's office. You get some glimpses of the bread factory as you walk up the staircase, but not enough to get a proper overview of the factory floor.
The secretary at the door looks down her nose at you due to your lack of an appointment, but is eventually convinced to inform 'Mr. Laijie' that one Loran Cehack is here to see him.
Keith has changed since you last saw him, dressed in an expensive suit as he sorts the papers on his desk into neat little piles. The serious expression on his face brightens when he notices you. "Loran!" He rises from his chair in welcome. His expression becomes confused when he spots Sochie and the others. "Miss Heim?"
"I was promoted to captain about a month ago," You tell him before drawing him into a quick hug. "Sochie is one of my Mobile Suit pilots. Corin and Arisa are associates of my mother and defected after coming down to Earth."
After introducing everyone you sit down and talk about several things. Like how Keith sold the FLAT that the two of you and Fran came down to Earth with to the Inglessa Militia (which you are still somewhat cross over since you'd rather he waited until all three of you could talk about it), what you've been up to since the war moved to the Sunbelt, and his-
"You're getting married?!"
Keith grins and holds up a hand bearing a ring. "We're engaged, yes."
"Who is it?" You can't help but grin. This is wonderful news! True, you're all rather young, but-
"Verlaine Bond, the daughter of my former employer. You've met her a few times." Ah, her.
You forgo learning another Discipline in favor of joining Sochie in her training under Vestige. The regimen outlined by the Psychoframe Ghost only vaguely resembles the improvised training you and Sochie designed for yourself, but you suppose that is to be expected.
As the session ends Vestige has you both settle into the pilot seat.
Right. You are not all that far from reaching the next threshold, Sochie. As for you, Loran, you will probably be brushing the limit of how strong you can become without removing the Limiters on your body or joining a Chorus.
You blink. "There is an upper limit?" Sochie leans in as well, eager for the answer.
Vestige snorts.
Of course. You could feel the strain on your body after you used the Psycho-Field against that Hashmal, did you not? Your body will subconsciously stop you from using too much power if your body is not up to the task, even if your soul might be. Beyond that your options are to form a Chorus to attain greater power by sharing the strain across several people, or I could remove the limiters on your body to make you better equipped to handle that strain.
Vestige eyes you and Sochie dismissively.
But that would require me to believe that giving either you the ability to eventually juggle Mobile Suits with your bare hands is worth risking your life over. And considering how many advantages you have already considering that you have Turn X and my knowledge at your disposal, and the sheer pettiness of this conflict, that is not likely.
Sochie's anger flares up when Vestige writes off the war as petty, but a squeeze of her hands keeps her from lashing out. Vestige notices the near-outburst, which is a given considering their skill with Pressure, and softens.
Bad choice of words, I admit. This topic is for the future anyway.
They float away from the seat and onto the cockpit wall.
Now get Turn X back to the Gallop and shoo. I need a nap.
Great Progress made on Loran and Sochie's NT development.
*
[X] Keith's intentions.
[X] The odd man.
[X] The New Donkey Bakery.
"Keith, just what are you trying to do?" The question has been bothering you ever since you put the dots together when you heard about the New Donkey Bakery. Why would Keith come all the way here from Inglessa to build a bread factory?
Keith takes a deep breath before leaning back, exhaling as he sinks into the cushion. After a small pause, he answers you: "Did you know that the Dianna Counter is running out of food?"
What? Around you the other three make small noises of surprise. "I don't. Why?"
He looks you straight into the eye. "My people have been talking to some of the soldiers that landed a few weeks ago. According to them the transports from the Moon came down with only a fraction of the food they were supposed to carry. Instead of whole shiploads of rations and canned food it has just been more war material underneath a layer of food crates."
"Any idea what's going on?" Asks Arisa, who is resting her head in her hand while looking contemplatively at Keith.
Keith shakes his head. "I can't be certain, but I think someone on the Moon is trying to sabotage the Dianna Counter. They have been sending down more soldiers, Mobile Suits, ammunition, prefabs-"
"Prefabs?" Sochie interrupts.
"A form of building where the rooms are built in a factory. When it is time to construct the building, the sections are just slotted together in the desired manner." Keith explains. "But as I was saying: They have been sending down more soldiers, Mobile Suits, ammunition, prefabs, and even more colonists, but not the food needed to see them through the winter."
Corin chooses this moment to speak. "They were farming 'n shit back in Inglessa. Think they might have planned to make their own food? If they tried it now it'd be way too late unless they brought a lot of hydroponics with them."
Keith shakes his head. "No, it can't be that. I'm not ruling out that they are planning on making their own food in the long term, but it beggars belief that they wouldn't have brought enough non-perishable food with them in the case of an emergency." He leans forward until his elbows are resting on his knees. "The Dianna Counter soldiers my people talked to won't say just how bad it is, but Fran told me that some patrols have been raiding villages for food."
You perk up at the mention of your friend's name and jump on the distraction. "Fran is here?"
He nods. "She came by last week, straight from photographing a Dianna Counter force attacking a farming village to the south of here." A small smirk appears on his face. "She kept some thug in a WaD from gunning down fleeing villagers by threatening to publish their identities. Apparently, our countrymen aren't aware that Amerian cameras cannot connect to the cloud."
Keith continues the story after you have explained to Sochie what 'the cloud' means. "Still," He sighs. "when she contacted the newspaper she worked at the boss there broke and admitted that Lord Rhineford's people have been buying her pictures and forbidding any newspaper from publishing any of them. She tried calling around, but she got the same story everywhere."
He shrugs helplessly. "She came here by following the trucks, same as you did. She really wasn't feeling well, so I let her stay with us."
"This is nice and all," Gently chides Arisa. "but I'm hearing a distinct lack of you explaining why you are doing all this."
Keith stops and raises a hand, stops, and then lowers it back down. "Fair enough. It started out as a continuation of what I did in Inglessa after the first Dianna Counter landings. Some of the local commanders have been trying to crack down on the raiding and food shakedowns, so I got into contact with them to get them to buy bread from me. It isn't perfect, but according to my sources the frequency of raids dropped sharply and is still on the way down. I also sell to the Militias. There isn't much in a way of infrastructure out here, so their supplies need to travel far, as such I make good money of them."
You scan Keith's Pressure. "But it is not the money you are after."
He nods. "The money is just a means to an end, just like this factory is just the beginning." He stands up from the seat and walks over to the window. "I am going to use this factory as a stepping stone to corner the food market, and from there I will do everything in my power to end the war. Economic interdependence will keep the peace."
His shoulders sink. "I…realize that it is a long shot, and that it won't be half as easy as it sounds, but I am a baker! I'm not a soldier, a general, or a politician…I-I just want this war to end."
When he turns back it is to find you standing beside him. You place an arm around his shoulders and gently guide him back to the couch.
"Let's talk about something else," You say as you sit down beside him. "Like this man I saw when we came here."
Keith's eyes gain a glimmer of recognition as you give him your description of the man. "That would be Meme Midgard. He has been working for me since I opened the factory. Quiet fellow, doesn't talk much, but he is a good worker." Worry enters his Pressure. "Wait, he's not in trouble, is he?"
You shake your head. "I don't know. I saw him when I stepped off the Gallop. He seemed suspicious, so I thought I'd ask." Changing the subject, you keep going. "What can you tell up about this place?"
He chuckles, some of the weight that burdened him slipping away with every peal. "What's there to tell? I bought the land for cheap because it isn't good for farming and brought in laborers from the nearby towns and villages to build the factory. Some of them stayed on to bake bread and drive the trucks. I buy grain from the villages here and mill my own flour. I-"
As Keith loses himself in telling you about the operation of his factory your mind is pondering your next move. What do you want to do after he is done?
[] Ask Keith something else.
--[] Write in.
[] Pay Mr. Midgard a visit.
--[] Go alone.
--[] Bring Corin.
--[] Bring everyone.
