Mobile Suit Gundam 00N

[Loki]

OOC Thread

Didn't proof read it. I'm wiped out, and I'll be gone almost all day tomorrow. :< So if you have any questions or beefs, please direct them to the OOC thread~

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The once united world had fallen back into its original state of three separate entities, but nothing outside of government and politics had changed. People moved on with life as usual, sparse objection to the changes coming in muted voices compared to the masses. Workdays were no different after the split, families were no different, and on the outside, it was nothing but a little change of pace for the general public. It was practically welcome, seeing as the gelatin had grown stiff and boring inside its delicate mold. It was not done through war, or a major, public event. It was spread like wildfire across the globe for the span of three days before news stations and magazines were hushed up. Those who had their reservations and suspicions found that their seeds of doubt did not take root, even after months of the change, and forgot their conflicts.

If the Advanced European Union, Human Reform League, and the World Economic Union unanimously agreed on something, it was most certainly the fact that there was no need to suddenly drop the Pandora's Box of war on a society that had long forgotten the suffering that came with battle, and loss. They were cooperative in saying nothing and doing nothing that would garner the attention of the public, gathering their military forces and silently waiting for the other to make a move. Nuclear mobile suits that had long been secretly developed from the original blueprints discovered by the dissolved Federation were claimed by the Union, and after five prototypes built in the barren deserts of Nevada proved successful, the suit was mass produced. The AEU received the mobile suits of old, the still operational Aheads that had been stored deep underground, or in the far off depths of space, improving their capabilities and weaponry to match up with the armaments of the new Gamma. The HRL, neutral in stance, was widely considered the losing end of the dissipation of unity, receiving the fewest Ahead models, and having no new suit in development, the HRL was severely crippled. However, unlike the Union and AEU, their advantage was the number of their volunteers, as they had more than enough volunteers to train and pilot the few suits they possessed.

The day after tomorrow would be the international event where hangars on earth were re-opened, re-furbished military bases opened to operation once more, and the official roll-out of the Union's Gamma would take place, in Washington D.C. It was a meticulously organized war by the new generation who was tentative with its first wobbly steps away from the bassinet of peace.


2461, 22:00, London, AEU.


Wearing a casual suit, Basilio Donate stood prim and confident, looking out the huge windows of his luxuriously modern loft. It was a single room, conveniently located in the heart of London, and though it had but one room, it was large, and lavishly decorated with geometrical black couchs, a lounge chair, and his own chair, sitting tall behind a stainless steel desk with a crystal surface. The walls were windows, providing the most perfect view of the glittering city expanding beneath Basil's feet. To his right was a black Faziolo grand piano to match the rest of the grayscale room, and the black marble floors were illuminated by square crystal chandeliers. It spoke of expensive items and furnishings, and its owner did no less. His pure blonde wavy hair was cropped neatly around his ears, with shockingly green eyes that surveyed the expanse below him as he waited. Basil's hands were tucked neatly in the pockets of his metallic gray suit, and he had taken the time out of his schedule to come and meet some agents of Celestial Being personally. He already had a mission in mind, and everything was set up perfectly. It was a tiring quality of Basil's, a perfectionist and overachiever who felt that anyone's work other than his own was simply not good enough. He'd relented, though. He was not accustomed to admitting he couldn't do something, but he had no reserves admitting that he had no experience piloting a mobile suit. After all, between all his pride and self-confidence, he felt that the risk for his precious life in piloting a mobile suit was simply not worth the trouble.

At the young age of 26, Basil had successfully used his father's company to create a huge enterprise who's yearly gross made a lavish apartment such as the one in which he currently stood look like penny candy. He had far reaching connections, and firmly believed that any militia interference would send a shock though his economy. He had been promptly upset when he'd heard the news that the government dogs were trying to mess with his possessions, and had therefore enthusiastically volunteered to become Celestial Being's new benefactor.

The doorbell rang, a smooth buzz, and Basil motioned to the butler beside the door, giving him permission to open the door.

"Please," Basil said with a pleasant smile as he turned around to meet familiar and unfamiliar faces, "Feel free to sit anywhere you like."


2461, 8:00, June- Sydney, Union


He was regularly one of the first people there, and one of the first to leave, though at times he would disappear for months and return with the same surly silence. He worked alone, speaking to no one and taking only periodic breaks. The others who came had grown accustomed to giving him his space, because even though he was an incredible kick boxer, deadly precision, and powerful hits that caused bystanders to cringe for the sake of the sandbag, he made for poor company. Any attempts to speak to him had been received in stride, quickly brushed off and left behind. This unfriendly front that Aesur had set up for himself was extremely grueling, but he spoke to no one he would see again with a smile unless they were apart of Celestial Being. And even some people he'd met, he'd never been able to smile to no matter how hard he tried to force the corners of his lips up. He gave a good solid kick at the sandbag, and then threw down three jabs- right left right. Ignoring any sweat that might've been slipping down the side of his face, he occupied his thoughts not with kickboxing, but with the upcoming Celestial Being debut mission. They had received no details yet, and it was already quite late in London, where this meeting was supposed to be taking place. He thrust his arm into an uppercut. It would be soon. Stepping back from the sandbag, Aesur looked around for the clock, finding it behind the concession stand. He pulled off his gloves and picked up a towel, mopping his face dry and collecting his things. As soon as he stepped out of the gym, the winter morning air biting into the heat that flushed his cheeks.

He silently tossed his things into the trunk of his compact car, looking at his watch. Three hours until his flight. That was plenty.

A shower, a collection of a small bag of things to accompany his gym things, and an hour later, Aesur was on his flight to the other hotel room that had been booked for him in Beijing, HRL. He would receive mission details soon, or so he'd been told. He looked down at his pocket pc, which was one of the newest in design, sleek and small. He had nothing else to spend his salary on, having no real material desires. Theritia was cloaked Northwest of Beijing, which would mean more driving, and most likely, by means of a motorcycle. Ugh. Aesur slunk down into his seat with a heavy sigh, closing his eyes to try and sleep the next 12 hours away.

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Why have I not gotten anything moving yet? Because Celestial Being doesn't have a tactitian! :D Hurrah! We need one, so if anyone wants to show off their intellect, please make it snappy. The first mission will be divided to make things move along. Each meister to their own, and it will begin and end in one post. Antagonists won't have much to do other than get in the way... xD; And be sure not to hold us up too much. It's just the first battle. :B I'll have more details on the first mission later, but yeah, for now, please feel free to give us a little introduction on your character while they head to their respective faction.

Aesur is headed for HRL, obviously. Kain, Abele, and Ryder can go to AEU. Alitaria goes to the Union. If you want Ryder to go somewhere else, Kansas, go for it. I put you with Kain and Abele simply because they're not going to fare well in close combat, and your unit will have more forte in those terms. If you guys want to switch around and stuff, just make it clear in the OOC Thread, or MSN, or whatever.

 

[parallelzero]

12:00AM, Abakan, Siberia, Russia, HRL.
"I'm doing the right thing, right Mom? Right Dad?" The chestnut coloured hair of the girl blew gently in the frosty breeze the nights in Russia had to offer. She was slouched delicately over over a relatively fresh gravestone amidst the grassy fields of similar stones and crosses, a relic of a white church barely standing atop a hill in the distance. The only things written on the stone were three names, Edward Stiyl, Mary Stiyl, and Sara Stiyl. Stiyl, she'd have to discard that name for now if she wanted to accomplish anything, she knew, but it was hard. Ms. Sara Stiyl would have to disappear for now - or rather, she had been assumed to have died in that attack with her parents only several months ago. Things had changed a lot in that time, and events had proceeded in a manner that gave her a new name. The discovery of her body by that man, her surgery that gave her a robotic eye and arm (though nobody would be able to tell the difference) and her eventual drafting into Celestial Being had left her with a new identity, Alitaria Sigma. But Alitaria still had doubts. She wanted revenge for the death of her parents, and that further fueled her belief that the world needed to change, but there was no possible way she could take a life.

That's the main reason she had decided to head to the city of her parent's grave prior to her first mission. She needed to obtain something that could help her overcome her weak mind, and thanks to some old notes she had recovered from one of her mom's offices, she found a way. It was a drug, ST98708R was it's name, but it had a very simple codename: RAGE. It was a serum invented by HRL scientists to better improve the combative abilities of their soldiers, but it had yet to be perfected. It was supposed to give them a rush in battle, which would be useful for those pilots who needed the extra motivation to kill, but what resulted in the test stages was a serum that turned the subject completely hostile. It was okay in small doses, but was ruled illegal shortly after it's creation. Luckily, Alitaria had a way of obtaining some, an old friend in the weapons development area of the HRL, and she had received a whole suitcase full in exchange for a large sum. She'd have to take it in secret though, else she risked her position as a Meister.

She eventually stood after hearing the voice of her cab driver calling out to her. She had a long flight to the Union, where her Celestia was concealed near Washington. She gave one glance back at the grave of her parents and herself, before straightening her beige jacket and continuing to trek up the hill towards the taxi, the chilly wind continuing to nip at her skin. She had to admit, a lot could go wrong in this mission. She was the newest Meister to be added to the roster, and other than field tests, she hadn't used Celestia for much combat. She also had no idea as to what effects RAGE would have on her, nor did she have any backup as she was working independently from the other Meister, at least it seemed to be so. Not that she really knew the other Meisters, as she hadn't had a lot of time to socialize with them. All she knew was, she seemed like she was the youngest. Oh well.

As she reached the top of the hill, she gazed at the Russian city in the distance, noting the beauty of the lights, before getting in the cab bound for the airport. "Beauty is only an external affair."

OOC: Hope this was okay. XD I did some timezone checking to make sure the time was in line with the time Aesur was experiencing. And wasn't sure where in the Union you wanted her to go, so I just picked wherever...

 

[Alter Ego]

2461, 1:00, June- St.Wolfgang Mental Hospital, Munich, AEU

The rain went pitter-patter against the windows. He liked the rain. It made pretty patterns on the glass and bent the gray city beyond it into all kinds of funny shapes. He tried making a few faces at it in an attempt to see his reflection, but all he could see was the rain-blurred cityscape.

Heaving a sigh of quiet disappointment, Kain slumped back down onto his back on the bed. It was all nice and fluffy and soft, not at all like the beds in that other place...he forgot the name. Part of him wanted to just go to sleep now, just like the man in the white coat had wanted him to a while ago, but the rest of him knew he couldn't. It wasn't that he had trouble sleeping alone. It wasn't like he found anything wrong with the room they had put him in (because there wasn't anything wrong), it wasn't like he was the issue. Kain let his gaze slide to the tiny bed that had been propped onto a nightstand next to his, reaching out a hand to gently stroke the head of the little figure residing in it. It was a doll, its frame thin, delicate and stylized far beyond what one would have expected from such a thing, a picture-perfect little girl right down to the tiniest detail, scaled down to be able to comfortably sit in the palm of a hand. It was dressed in a little night gown right now, its red dress and matching ribbon carefully folded next to it.

"I miss her too, Rosa." he mumbled, turning to face the doll, "But she'll come and get us tomorrow, remember? Tomorrow..." he did his best to put up a brave smile, "...tomorrow, we'll get to show Abele our new act. With the big puppets. Won't that be great?" he gave his best attempt at an upbeat tone, a rather half-hearted one he had to admit, carefully lifting up Rosa and cradling the little doll in his arms - for her sake, of course; not his - "Tomorrow, my sweet...tomorrow..."

He sighed again, turning onto the other side to let Rosa watch the rain with him. This was going to be a long night.


OOC: Short, but...at this early hour there's not an awful lot a fellow can do. D: You sure know how to pick 'em, Al.

 

[Chibi-chan]

1:00 AM, Mannheim, Germany, AEU


Under the lights of the train station, Abele sat with her bags by her side, waiting for the intercom to say the name of her train to Munich. Fortunately, the funeral and wake had been done and over with just in time to meet her deadline. She had never been close to her great-aunt and their encounters during the past two weeks failed to remedy that gap before she departed. Sick on her deathbed, she had wished to see the last of her family before she passed on. At the thought, Abele chuckled inwardly. The old lady didn't want to die alone. Plain and simple, she knew that no one would have noticed her passing and so, invited family that she had not seen in years. When told of her aunt's sickness, Abele was sympathetic and willing to go and bring along Kain with her. To her surprise, she was told that the visit was going to be a family exclusive visit at her house; those who did not hold the Walburg name were not allowed. Arguing with an old woman's death wish didn't work that well either. So, it had been decided that Kain would stay at the AEU hospital in Germany and that she would meet him there when the funeral was over or when they were needed by the AEU. It was hard, but she somehow managed to board the train, waving goodbye to Rosa and Kain until they were out of sight.

She yawned. Kain should be asleep at this hour. He probably wasn't though. More the reason for her train to come in on time, she might be able to force him back to sleep. Along with that concern, they both needed a good night's sleep for the mission they would receive...today most likely. The details around the mission weren't very clear, but Abele was psyched as well as a bit nervous.

"Train 172A, Munich: Boarding at Port C"

Hearing her train's arrival over the intercom, Abele quickly slung her bag over her shoulder and headed towards her port. She's probably be getting a couple hours of sleep on the train; hopefully Kain was getting some sleep too.

 

[Kansas]

11:00 PM Paris, France, AEU

The evening sky of Paris was lit with an almost magical soft golden glow of the lights of France. The air was cool and comforting as cars could be heard whirring passed below. Letting his hair ruffle in the wind, a young man with short dirty blond hair stood silently, reviewing the cityscape. Behind him, the hotel room he was staying in could be seen, an extravagant room as per his request. He wished to continue the lifestyle he was used to growing up. It was somewhat risky still being in Paris but he couldn't help but say by to it one more time, the man who had already died once for Celestial Being. Jonas F. Cache, codename...

"Ryder Fleetback... So thats my new name from now on...It's got a nice ring to it that's for sure. As of tomorrow, Jonas Cache will be a forgotten tragedy compared to what the world will soon be facing." Ryder said aloud as he gazed out over the dark sky contrasted by the bright city lights. Wearing a nicely pressed maroon button up shirt and black pants, Ryder stood outside his room contemplating the future that his hands would create. The moon hung in the sky, shining down brilliantly. He let out a sigh, stepping back and turning into his hotel room, shutting the large double doors that led out to the balcony. The room in actuality was far too much for one person, and Ryder knew it. He plopped onto the large circular sofa in the center of the room which encompassed a small circular coffee table. Ryder fished out a small disc from his pocket, tossing it onto the smooth surface of the center piece coffee table.

"Display, Retribution." he said aloud to the disk.

"Password please." a small female voice responded to him.

"DY56K cache." he responded aloud in a casual tone.

"Password and Voice patterns confirmed, hello Ryder. Displaying Retribution. Would you like equipment specs or any additional calculations?" The voice responded again as a bright holographic image of a bulky dark Maroon and Black mobile suit appeared in front of him on a foot tall scale.

"Rotate imagine at a continuous 2rpm and that will be fine, M.I.D.D" Ryder confirmed back to the small disc. This was M.I.D.D. short for Mass Information Data Disc, a small trinket trusted to Ryder upon joining Celestial being, information on various speculations of Celestial Being, even containing its own navigational personality. Ryder stared down at the glowing model of the mobile suit as it spun slowly, showing off its various features and weapons.

"Retribution... this Gundam and I are going to do amazing things. According to tomorrow's specs, I do the mission along side one of the other pilots, right Midd?" Ryder asked aloud to the small disc.

The image of Retribution moved to the side of the visual as a map and display of the mission parameters came up next to it.

"You'll actually be accomplishing the mission with two Pilots instead of just one. Their names are Kain and Abele, their suit, Alice, supports dual-piloting capabilities." The small machine responded.

"Really now?! Hm... replace image Retribution with image of Gundam, Alice. " Ryder said to the small machine.

An image of a massive arsenal of a mobile suit appeared in front of him, cannons looming in every direction.

"Sheesh! What an eyesore... I bet that thing can't move much, probably why they had me tag along. Looks like I'll be babysitting the hulk of metal while it commences bombardment?" he commented aloud to Midd.

"I don't know how to answer that, Ryder." The voice commented back.

"I didn't think you would. I'm gonna hit the sack. We'll be leaving with Retribution for the mission site first thing in the morning... Go ahead and power down. Secure mode activate." Ryder said as he stood up, taking the small disc and placing it in his rear pocket. The image disappeared instantly and Ryder moved through the room, flipping a light switch on his way towards a bedroom. He flopped onto his bed, closing his eyes and letting slumber take hold.

"Ryder Fleetback and Retribution. Change will come at our hands."

 

[Loki]

Guys guys, feel free to be fifty thousand times more awesome than I was. <_< This post kind of sucked, I know. x_x

And Jack, I guess if you want, you can put in some introduction for your antagonists now. They won't get to do much, since these missions need to be started in the second post, and finished by the end. D: Sorry about that. Next mission, they'll get to have more action though.

If you have any questions, please ask in the OOC/VM me or bug me on MSN. And umm... yeah. :D I trust most of you guys know what you're doing, so feel free to take any liberties with your block.

David, your military thing is obviously at Washington D.C. You can pick which establishment it'll be at. None of them really have much room for military stuff, but hey. Whatever. This is Gundam. xD

Al, Chibbles, and Evas, I guess either you guys just randomly pick a nice big spot in Europe, or whoever posts first gets dibs on picking.

6:00 AM in Beijing. Do your own math. xD


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"Dui bu qi." Aesur bowed his head in apology to the man he'd bumped into, before turning around and hurrying back on his way. He hadn't missed the dirty look he'd gotten from the office worker. It had been years since he'd been in China, but the people weren't any more open to his distinct Taiwanese accent, and probably even less now that his mandarin was probably muddled up with English errors. "Sorry." He muttered under his breath in perfect English, rolling his eyes and hurrying along to the designated point where a motorcycle awaited him.

A few sickeningly thick summer headwinds later, Aesur hopped off the motorcycle, setting it on it's programmed path into a safe hiding place. He fished around his pocket and brought out his pocket PC. It wasn't hard to find Theritia, with the new information that had been apparently sent to him while he'd been taking a good nap on the plane. As soon as it was uncloaked, Aesur hopped onto the ladder, grabbing the top rung and securing his left foot on the bottom rung, using his right to go over the mission plan. It was short and concise. At least, his was anyway. Kiel probably hadn't wanted to blow the HRL away too much. They had such little to begin with anyway. Looking up at the musty sky, Aesur sighed. The most action would be at the Union, he guessed. The place where they'd sent that newbie. Shaking his head in disapproval, but voicing no displeasure with Kiel's mission plan, Aesur hopped into his cockpit, pulling off his courdouroy jacket and his extra long tie and grabbing his pilot suit off the floor behind the pilot's seat. He multi-tasked, putting on his suit and propping his PC up against the communications control, and folding his regular clothes into a perfectly neat square, before shoving them into a bag he'd brought with him.

As soon as he finished zipping up his suit, Aesur ran his hand through his hair, pushing his bangs away from his face and putting his helmet on, his eyes gaining an unfamiliar edge of malice. He didn't get this way in simulation, but he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his blood now that the real deal was coming. He chuckled darkly, turning off the receiver that would allow him to speak with the other pilots and the crew, but leaving the reception on so that he could still hear them, and maybe any changes. He doubted there would be any mission plan changes though. It was just a little rehearsal, to set the stage for the sequel of the first Celestial Being.

"Good morning Mr. President," Aesur smiled, a sinister curl of his lips as he sat down, the belts strapping him securely in place, "Before breakfast, let's play a little game, shall we?"

His control screen flashed, signaling the beginning of the mission, and green sparkling particles gushed out of the engine on Theritia's back. He'd done so much maintenance on this damn thing, and he was finally getting to give it a real spin.

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6:00, Beijing – Tiananmen Square, HRL


A professionally dressed woman with her hair tied tightly back into a perfect bun gave the morning report in Tiananmen Square. "Today marks the anniversary of a great national achievement for the Human Reform League." She spoke like a drone, and as Aesur watched the broadcast from his hiding place just past the first village outside of Beijing's city limits, he rolled his eyes, watching her with distaste. She had such a thick accent it was hard to even understand her. "Today, we will unveil our new militia in celebration of our new independence from the Earth Federation, and pledge our neutrality and humble good will to the new world's potential future conflicts. The Human Reform League will honor traditions of old while creating the new road for our new future-"

Aesur turned the news off, tossing his PC over his shoulder. Good riddance. All that propaganda. They said nothing about the AEU or the Union revealing their armaments too. No mention of the fact that the Human Reform League had gotten lynched in terms of military power, regardless of their "good will". Aesur hated these people. These conforming people who thought of either nothing but their government, or nothing but rebellion. Nothing had changed in over what- nearly half a millennia? Whatever. Math, politics, and history had never been Aesur's best subjects. He wasn't from this place, so what right did he have to judge it? In fact, he was from the very place that practically hated the Human Reform League the most. But… Aesur scoffed. Who cared about fairness? "C'mon." He crooned, drumming his fingers on his controls, "I'm dying here~"

"Countdown to ascension has begun. Fifteen… Fourteen…" Aesur sat up straighter, gripping the joysticks with anxiety and glee. "Ten, nine, eight, seven…"

Again, Aesur started up Theritia's GN Drive, the drill-like mechanism beginning to glow as it spun. "Three, two-"

"One!" The newswoman's excited voice came as an explosion of engines and mobile suits taking off muted her voice. The small window in the corner of his screen indicated that the sound had been switched off, giving him the visual of the handful of refurbished Ahead's.

Aesur cackled, shooting off into the sky, to hide in the smog covering Beijing. As the mobile suits did their rounds, Aesur hovered at a safe distance, just far enough so that he wouldn't show up on their sensors.



"Let them have their show." Basil spoke confidently to himself, swirling a maraschino cherry in his champagne, and looking at the small screen in front of him displaying the Union's rollout of the Gamma's, before looking up at his guests expectantly, "Just make sure it doesn't last."



Three quick bleeps and Aesur jerked the joystick forward in full thrust, pulling out the sub-machine guns and pointing shooting towards that accursed square. Two Aheads were down; one damaged and forced to make an emergency landing- the other blown into fireworks for the spectators frantically trying to run. Landing in the middle of the square, Aesur diligently followed his orders to leave any Ahead's as intact as safely possible, so that the Union and AEU couldn't take the chance to absorb the HRL with military force. "Weeeak!" Aesur laughed, his face gleeful but his eyes a little nervous as he checked to make sure the microphone in his helmet was still off. He didn't want anyone to see or hear him like this. As soon as he'd pummeled five ground units that didn't even function with pseudo-GN Drives, he caught his breath and turned on the receiver again, smoothing out his haggard voice and reporting cheerfully, "Phase one, complete!" He shook from the effort of keeping himself normal, "Moving on to phase two!"

He turned the communications off again, sliding Theritia around the square like a skate rink, evading particle beams raining in around him before shooting off into the sky again. The engine remained firmly in place, as he'd also been instructed to reveal only the barest of his Gundam's capabilities.

"Hey hey!" Aesur laughed, "This is like, fifty against one!"

His machine guns shattered the square, leaving the concrete in shambles, while the building overlooking it was washed in the gray dust rising from the rubble.

"But it's kind of like one God- against fifty peasants!" He added as footnote, laughing wildly as he waved Theritia's hand teasingly at the Aheads that were headed towards him at full speed. "Pathetic formation!" Aesur stuck his tongue out, pulling back on his joystick and disappearing up into the sky as quickly as he'd appeared.

"Phase two complete." Aesur reported when he flicked the switch back to on, feeling the adrenaline rush out of him with an almost immediate effect. "Preparing to pass through the upper layers of the stratosphere into the mesosphere and return to the Ptolemaios. Mission complete~!"

 

[Jack O'Neill]

Tiananmen Square, Beijing, People's Republic of China, Human Reform League
0600 hours local time
xx June 2461

While the Human Reform League obviously had no shortage of willing and qualified volunteers for its newly-reformed mobile suit corps, it had a severe shortage of actual mobile suits. When the Earth Sphere Federation's assets were partitioned in the aftermath of its dissolution, the HRL received the smallest and least advanced portion of the pie, with only a few GN-XIIIs and even fewer Aheads relative to its two rivals, the World Economic and Advanced European Unions; to compensate for this lack of advanced mobile suits, the HRL resorted to reinstating the obsolescent MSJ-06II Tieren and the even more obsolescent MSER-04 Anf in order to bolster its numbers. In addition, the HRL high command responded to the influx of volunteers by instituting a highly rigorous selection process that permitted only the best of the best of the best the privilege of piloting Aheads and GN-XIIIs; those who failed these assessments were relegated to piloting Anfs and Tierens. 2nd Lieutenant Marianne N. Santos was one of the lucky officers who performed particularly well on the tests required for pilot candidacy, and as such, she was currently sitting in the cockpit of one of the Aheads gathered at Tiananmen Square. The opening act of the show went well, with her and the rest of the Ahead and GN-XIII pilots demonstrating the capabilities of their upgraded mobile suits as they made their rounds over Beijing; masses of Anfs and Tierens were also showing off on the ground of the square, attempting to demonstrate that they were still worth something even in this day and age.

However, none of them were expecting a full-blown Gundam to crash the party.

The tightly-choreographed presentation soon dissolved into chaos as the Theritia effortlessly blasted two Aheads from the skies before landing right in the middle of the square. Marianne and the other Ahead pilots trained their GN beam rifles on the rogue mobile suit and opened fire, but their enemy was just too fast; by the time they were actually opened fire, their target was already on the ground, literally tearing it up with the Anfs and Tierens. Even with force of numbers on their side, the ground units had no chance; five Anfs and Tierens were ripped to shreds in close combat in relatively short order before the Gundam rocketed back into the skies, firing madly at the ground of Tiananmen Square partly out of spite and partly to deter the anti-air fire being thrown up by the survivors. The Aheads and GN-XIIIs doggedly gave chase to the Theritia but were quickly forced to break off the pursuit when it simply outran them.

Marianne simply sighed. "Until next time, I guess," she said to herself in a resigned tone of voice as she directed her Ahead back to Tiananmen Square. "Whatever that mobile suit is, whoever's piloting it...I'll get them. I'll make sure of it."

 

[Alter Ego]

The more he watched, the more confirmation he received for every cynical assumption underlying this particular mission plan. Brussels had been a given long before the official announcement. Where else, after all, could the internal squabbling of the AEU's representatives end up than Brussels, the eternal compromise city? From there, Grand Place had been a logical next step; the most visually impressive place in the city still capable of containing such a crowd. Synchronization with the other unveiling events to demonstrate the much-praised 'equality' between the three. Even the primly and properly dressed announcer woman who was currently treating the crowd...it was all so pitifully predictable. Part of him wanted to either laugh or cry, couldn't quite decide which.

"Haro." he said, leaning back in his seat a little as the tedious speech drew to a long-desired conclusion, "Give me the charge ratio of Gundam Alice."

"Gundam Alice, Gundam Alice!" the automaton repeated in a digitized voice probably intended to be adorable, flapping the ear-like little hatches on its head and causing the tactician to roll his eyes. Whatever possessed someone to design a tool of war to act and look like a cute little toy marketed for twelve-year olds he would never understand, but despite its quirks he far preferred the device to their tactical officer. It had the distinct advantage of knowing how to stick to the point, "Gundam Alice. Main bazooka charge, 78 percent. Secondary cannons charge, 69 percent. Support system idle."

"And here we have them, ladies and gentlemen!" the announcer called, the camera zooming into the night sky above. And there, basked in the lighting of the square below and silhouetted against the night sky above, a full thirty ominous figures flew above the square in tight formation, "The new generation of Aheads!" the crowd cheered, the little timer in the upper corner ticked on to 21:58

"Main Bazooka, 93 percent. Secondary cannons, 82 percent."

"Truly, we are witnessing history in the making!"

"History in the making?" he couldn't help a wry grin as he reached for the glass of vintage wine he had kept waiting beside him.

"100 percent."

"...how right you are."

At that moment, a blinding ray of light shot across the screen, engulfing the leading Ahead just as the formation swept down into a bold dive and burying the cheers of the crowd and the commentator's inane blabber in the sound of an ear-rending explosion. For the tiniest fraction of a moment, the entire square was wrapped in complete silence, save for the pitiful groan of the devastated suits as they tumbled down from the sky. Then, reality caught up, chaos ensuing in the crowd while the Aheads that had managed to avoid the destruction hastily swiveled to the sides, scrambling to localize their opponent.

"Really now, still using those old formations?" the tactician shook his head disapprovingly as two only slightly smaller blasts illuminate the screen in quick succession to the first, ripping through another two suits as they passed, "How tediously predictable."

"Well then," he reached towards the contact button on his headset, "I suppose I shall have to make this game more interesting myself. Gundam Retribution. This is Kiel. Thirty additional Ahead units are stationed at Brussels Airport; dispose of them before they can mobilize and join the main force then proceed to the rendezvous point. Gundam Alice will dispose of the rest."

His piece thus said, Kiel turned his full attention to the screen once more, the television report now replaced by schematics monitoring the condition of four distinct Gundams, chuckling slightly. The Meisters had all objected to this mission plan in one way or the other - in their hearts, if not in words, but they missed the point. This mission was not a full-scale intervention. It was a test. Gundam Retribution's response speed and mobility, Gundam Alice's close-range capabilities, Gundam Thertia's true peformance speed. These were all important factors to determine early on. The pilots of these three suits were all qualified and more than capable of matching the amateurish opposition and their ancient toys, so their missions were little more than a flashier test run. The fourth, however...Kiel's attention focused on the schematic of Gundam Celestia, his hand reaching for the wine glass again. A little civilian girl, no prior combat experience or special talents for piloting, artifical limb transplants, psychological trauma, this...Alitaria Sigma, she was a hopeless mess at face-value yet someone had seen fit to appoint her a Meister. The only thing a good scientist could do when faced with such a comundrum was to put it to an empirical test. He may not have been at an authority to deny appointments, but as tactician he was very much in a position to gauge their abilities and that was precisely what he was going to do.

"Now then, my little maverick..."Kiel took a small sip of the wine, his attention now fully focused on the last schematic, "...show me what makes you worthy to pilot the Celestia."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
​

23: 05 City outskirts, Brussels, Belgium, AEU

The lights were really pretty...the lights that looked like a sunrise but were something different - he couldn't recall what. It was a big important word, just like the big, official words resounding in his ears, so he knew it was important, even if the precise meaning escaped him. Rosa was excited to be there too, he could tell, excited and a little scared. Kain had to cover her ears when the really big cannon fired; she didn't like the noise, though he could tell that she thought the sunrise that was no a sunrise pretty too. The precise contents of the past hours were a bit of a blur to Kain - he recalled watching the rain with Rosa when Abele came hurrying inside and told him to get dressed. He recalled the cold of the rain against his face and the familiar, comforting warmth of Abele's hand in his as she guided him through it, a comfortable seat, and then the Gundam. The suit that took him and shut him out from all the confusing things in the world and kept him warm and safe and made him lose track of the time. He might have fallen asleep, he couldn't remember and he didn't really care. He had Rosa beside him, the Gundam around him, and Abele's voice in his ears to tell him what to do. That was all he needed.

It was then that he caught sight of the spots of light approaching them, countless sparks of red soaring towards the matching screen of green surrounding them, bouncing off it with soft thuds. It was all very pretty. It was then that the other person spoke up. Kain didn't quite know who he was and had thought it a bit rude to ask since he had a feeling that he should have known, but the other person seemed to know almost as much about things as Abele. Which meant he knew almost everything. And right now, he was telling him something that immediately killed the relaxed smile on Kain's face.

"...hurt...us?"

Kain's eyes widened, his lip trembling, like that of a small child who had been adoring the cute little piglets when someone told him precisely what said piglets were being raised for. His hands clenched to fists, but he quickly stilled his body again as another sound struck him at the very edge of his senses.

"You..." he hissed out, placing each hand above their designated command nodes, feeling the connection between them building up, he turned his glare straight at the Ahead suit leading the charge, the cannons immediately swivelling from their standby mode to ready, "...how dare you...how dare you make Rosa cry?!"

His fists unclenched, his mind blanked, and the world in front dissolved into a blur of explosions and colorful lights.

 

[parallelzero]

16:50, Outside Washington D.C., Union.
Alitaria had never learned to drive. Since her home, her family, was always moving, there was never a location in which she had much of a chance, not to mention her parents were always too busy to teach her. To be fair, she had a learner's permit in the Union. Unfortunately, that left her at a disadvantage when it came from moving from place to place. Fortunately, she knew of a bus that would bring her out into the country to a point which was in the general area of Celestia. The entire time, she carried a vial of her RAGE in a small, cream coloured shoulder bag, having sent the rest of the stock in secret to Celestial Being after meeting with an operative at the airport. The thoughts of what this serum would do ruined her mood during her ridiculously long flight, as well as the bus ride that followed. It wasn't wise using an unfamiliar drug, stimulant or no, in any kind of military operation, let alone during her first intervention as a Meister. It had been bugging her lately, as well. Why was she picked as a Meister? Sure, she was familiar with the controls and functions of a mobile suit, but her piloting ability was only average. The Celestia was a magnificent machine to be sure, but during her test flights she didn't feel she had been operating it to it's full potential. She had a weak will, as well. She wasn't comfortable taking lives, which is why she had to refrain to taking drugs.

She finally arrived at where Gundam Celestia had been cloaked in it's mobile armor mode, below a tall bridge on the way into the city. It was only a short flight to her target, Andrews Air Force Base, from this location, and she needed to wait a short amount of time for the unveiling to begin. Why all of the supernational unions seemed to be revealing their cards at all seemed a little bizarre, let alone at the same time. But... what they had discovered, nuclear energy, and the capacity for nuclear weapons such as mobile suits was really something quite serious. Alitaria had seen possible plans for the use of this energy, and she had been quick to conclude that this was a power humanity should not trifle with.

The girl was quick to climb the machine and slip into it's cockpit. The area surrounding her was desolate, with no homes or possible traffic to create witnesses. Not that it would matter anyways, she considered, as she herself had just been hidden from mortal eyes. Her identity was what was important, considering Celestia would be headlining the news soon anyways. The Meister removed a portable PC from her handbag after dropping into her seat in the cockpit. She fumbled with it for a couple of moments, before eventually navigating to a live feed of the events at the Air Force Base.

The acting president of the Union was present atop a podium between the actual base and the press below, dressed in a fine black suit. It was at this point that Alitaria shakily reached for the syringe in her bag, which had a needle equipped for it's use. She stared at the video image with the translucent red liquid acting as a filter for the image on screen, staining the president red. "It is now, with great honor, that I reveal to you all our military power. There is no finer way to show that our separation from the Earth Sphere Federation, that was holding our people down, was the right decision! With this, we will-" The small electronic device fell to the floor of the cockpit as Alitaria drove the needle into her left arm, the only one made of flesh, before pushing down to release the liquid serum into her bloodstream.

It didn't take long to set in, as it felt as if her fears and concerns were just melting away. Or rather, any emotion whatsoever was melting away. Why was she so concerned about killing again? Humans were replaceable in the military, after all. The GN Drive in the back of Celestia began to spin rapidly after the girl activated it, her hands gripping the joysticks in a relaxed manner. She wasn't afraid anymore. Death wasn't something to fear. Killing wasn't something to fear. It was all natural. All that remained was her mission, and she knew that it had to be completed. "Celestia, subduing the targets." The girl murmured in a voice that lacked her usual warm and cheery tone. She had left the speaker and receiver on, so she could hear the other Meisters and vice versa. She knew the others had doubts about her, but with this, with this she could prove them wrong for sure. With that, the Gundam launched, climbing upwards into the sky at the speed of any well crafted jet.

In the opinion of military experts in the HRL, the only good kind of pilot, was an emotionless pilot.


17:00, Andrews Air Force Base, Union.
The Gamma's, having been revealed only a few moments ago, flew around in the air in various formations to demonstrate their mobility as Mr. President droned on about his plans for the future of the Union. One eventually fired a round off into the distance to demonstrate the enhanced firepower of a suit powered by contained nuclear energy. The beam was large, and it was powerful. To the pilot's surprise, however, two blasts of white energy were shot back from the distant location his own beam had been fired. The twin rays of light struck his machine, taking off both of the arms and sending it to the ground.

She had to eliminate them. Those Gammas. They were responsible for the death of her parents. They were responsible for the imminent war. They're very existence was a threat to humanity. It was much to her dissatisfaction, of course, that she could not completely destroy the machines. If the nuclear energy contained within the machines was to be hit, there was no telling what the resulting radiation would do to all the innocent people in the area. That's why, at all costs, she kept the thought in her mind that she could not completely obliterate every machine in her way. Her task at the moment was only to leave a bad taste in the Union's mouth, anyways, while gathering data on the new machines.

Gundam Celestia finally became visible to the highly confused group of Gamma pilots as it closed in on it's target. The fact that it looked like a mobile armor at that moment was something Alitaria calculated on working to her advantage. If she was lucky, the enemy would let it's guard down. It would have been a lot easier if she could have just used her Assault Shroud, but as per orders, she wasn't permitted in order to keep that little feature a secret for later. She fired the main cannons once more, this time striking two side by side Gammas in the head. This task required extreme precision, and she seemed to be exhibiting abilities she never once thought she had before. Was it the RAGE? Probably, it was made in an attempt to create the perfect soldier. Quickly, she converted the Celestia into it's mobile suit form just moments before entering the airspace of the base.

She couldn't see their reaction, but it was quite obvious that the general reaction amidst the thirty plus pilots in her presence was hatred at the appearance of a Gundam. As her machine decelerated to a stop, she moved Celestia's hands up to it's shoulders to pull out a pair of plasma sabers. It was time to see just how well these machines matched up in close combat. It wasn't long until the nearest Gamma came flying at her with it's broadsword blade glowing furiously. The attack was blocked, of course, although her machine was pushed back in the air significantly from the impact. They were strong. Alitaria took a short poke at the general location of the cockpit, making sure not to pierce all the way through to spare the energy core. Chances are, the pilot was dead. Surprisingly, she didn't regret it. RAGE... it worked!

Distracted by her own thoughts, a beeping suddenly snapped her back to reality to inform her that something was closing in on her from behind. Her mind raced, and she quickly pulled the machine back into mobile armor form so that it could zip up into the air a ways to avoid it's attacker. To double the victory, the GN particles that were spewed from her drive at that moment scrambled the censors of the attacking Gamma, leaving the pilot unable to coordinate.

These kind of tests continued on for another ten minutes to follow, until she finally felt she had seen all she needed to see. At the very least, the Gammas weren't up to snuff in comparison to her Celestia. They were really strong, though, and really persistent - though that was typical of the Union. If the Union decided to upgrade the things some more, they would probably be really dangerous. Alitaria finished up by decapitating yet another Gamma with her blade, before transforming back into her mobile armor mode and zipping up towards the great orange sky, leaving the Air Force Base in disarray. She had made her point. Besides, RAGE had a time limit per dose, and by the time she reached the Ptolmy, that time limit would be up. There was no telling what after effects she would suffer.

"Celestia, mission complete. Returning to the Ptolemaios." Was the last line she spoke before preparing to break through the atmosphere.

 

[Kansas]

The night had gone quickly as with the short commute to the hidden sight of his suit. Ryder now sat comfortably nested in the cockpit of his Gundam as it arrived at the rendezvous point via undercover flatbed. He could see Alice Gundam through his cockpit monitors, preparing to start its assault as he stood up, exposing the full bulk of his armor and piercing blades. Placing the Midd onto a circular indent in the cockpit beside him, he moved his hands to the controls in front of him, grabbing tight and inhaling a deep breath.

"Midd, power on, password DY56K cache. Display mission status" He said calmly.

The small disc lit up quickly, showing a document of the mission and a chart of Alice's power output.

"Alice gundam will be ready to fire in approximately 2 minutes and counting." Midd responded.

"Thank you, end display." He replied quickly. The image vanished from in front of him as he leaned back, loosely moving the controls a bit.

"This is Ryder Fleetback... I have control." He proclaimed over the communication line. Retribution took a massive step off of its supports, and another. Alice's cannons blasted with a magnificent glory as they tore their targets assunder, wreaking havoc where they aimed. It didn't take long for the surprise assault to be countered as many red mobile suits lined the sky.

"Hm... I guess this is where we come in, Retribution!" He yelled aloud as his GN engine began to spin, spitting out green particles. Retribution stood tall, pulling the long glimmering blades from its waist and holding them in front before blasting straight towards the group of suits, accompanied by Alice's artillery fire but quickly stopped short at the familiar sound of a voice over the airwaves.

"Gundam Retribution. This is Kiel. Thirty additional Ahead units are stationed at Brussels Airport; dispose of them before they can mobilize and join the main force then proceed to the rendezvous point. Gundam Alice will dispose of the rest."

"Copy that, Retribution commencing interception." He confirmed back. Music to his ears. Ryder quickly disengaged his targets, halting in mid-air. Changing a few settings around his cockpit, Ryder spoke while adjusting.

"Midd, looks like we got out of baby sitting duty, display new mission specs."

"New mission target is the 30 support units mobilizing at Brussels Airport, 5km NNE of here." the small disc informed him.

"Perfect, lets roll." He said, blasting off away from the battle field at full speed. He quickly came within view of the airport, with people scrambling everywhere, trying to get into suits. "Looks like they were sleepin... oh well, they can go back to sleep once i destroy all these suits..."

Havoc tore down hard, to the surface, skimming close at high speed as it closed in on the base. It entered the grounds, slicing quickly and swiftly through the standing units, as they exploded in rhythmic sequence as he finished them one by one. His monitors began blinking red with two small marks to the left displaying on his cockpit.

"Looks like a few managed to mobilize... what an unfortunate day to have been so prepared... " Ryder commented quietly as he maneuvered in and out of the lazer fire, spinning and skimming the ground gracefully until he was right in the middle of the group. raising the blades above his head, he attached them together, forming the double bladed sword, and slicing through the group in a single slice like butter. As the smoke and debris cleared, Retribution stood, scanning the area. In the distance he saw one suit left, as a pilot attempted to scramble into it. Without blinking, he threw the double sided sword, sending it spiraling towards the suit. The cut went through clean, slicing it in half and traveling through the air, returning to Retribution. The suit sparked slightly before exploding nothing.

"Target destruction confirmed. Reinforcements intercepted." He said calmly as he looked over the destruction. He turned his gaze to a small monitor on the side, watching the end of Alice's battle to be soon at hand. Confident in their stance, he spoke again. "Mission Complete. Retribution returning to Ptolemaios."

 

[Jack O'Neill]

Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, United States of America, Union
1700 hours local time
xx June 2461

1st Lieutenant Michelle Nishikawa was one of the many officers assigned to the Union Gamma project, and it was here at Andrews Air Force Base, one of the Union's oldest continually-operating bases, that she could help prove the full extent of its capabilities to a wide audience. She did not pay much heed to the President's speech; all she was concerned with was making sure that she and the other thirty or so pilots gathered at the air base performed their demonstration without a hitch. Once the signal was given by ground control, the Gammas began strutting their stuff in the skies above Andrews, pulling off daring aerobatic feats and firing their weapons off into the distance.

Unfortunately for one of the Gamma pilots, the horizon fired back, as the arms of his mobile suit were shorn off by long-distance cannon fire. It wasn't long before the Gundam Celestia appeared on the other Gammas' visual sensors; the mass of GN particles kicked up by the Gundam's GN Drive masked it from the Gammas' radar and infrared sensors, allowing it to approach the air base more or less undetected. Two more Gammas were decapitated and disabled by another cannon salvo before the Celestia transformed into its mobile suit mode, throwing the survivors further into chaos.

"Well, well, well, it's a Gundam. This should be an...interesting exercise," Michelle remarked to herself as she charged into the fray. If anything, the Celestia was a very cagey opponent, swapping between its mobile suit and mobile armor modes at will as it toyed with the Gammas, shooting only to disable. One Gamma got its cockpit stabbed in by the Celestia's beam sabers and fell to the ground, while another got a face full of GN particles, completely frying its sensors.

"Radar and IR are useless with all the GN particles being thrown about," Michelle muttered to herself as she adjusted her controls and activated her comlink. "All units, switch to manual! Auto-targeting won't do a thing in this environment!"

The rest of the Gammas complied with 1st Lieutenant Nishikawa's orders as they resorted to the good old Mark 1 Eyeball for target acquisition. Wild beam cannon fire filled the air as the Gammas attempted to overtake the Celestia through sheer volume of fire; however, the Gundam simply weaved through the shots and engaged the Gammas at close range with its dual sabers, liberally severing limbs and heads as it sliced through its enemies before transforming back into mobile armor mode and firing off its own cannons.

"You're a slippery little bugger, aren't you? Let's see what you're really made of," Michelle said to herself as she and the other Gamma pilots doggedly engaged the Celestia, attempting to dodge its shots while strafing it with their beam cannons and bringing up their own swords to parry when the Gundam reverted back to its mobile suit mode and charged in with its beam sabers. Even in the face of severe damage, Michelle and the other Gamma pilots displayed unparalleled persistence and coordination, drawing out what would have been a simple recon mission for Celestial Being into an all-out brawl; not even having their suits dismembered would stop them, just as long as they still had the will to fight.

Eventually, the Celestia was forced to withdraw, decapitating Michelle's Gamma with its saber as its final act before transforming into its mobile armor mode and blasting off from Andrews. The Gamma force was completely devastated; at least one pilot had been killed outright, and many of the mobile suits had been dismembered and/or decapitated. While technically a defeat for the Union, it was not a complete disaster; collateral damage at the air base and the surrounding area was surprisingly light even with all the ordinance and wreckage being thrown about. Even with all the damage they took, not a single Gamma had suffered a reactor accident during the fight, and between all of the mobile suits present, their data recorders had collected more than enough information to both piece together a reasonable estimate of the capabilities of this new enemy and determine the Gamma's strengths and weaknesses in actual combat. The defeat of the Union pilots could be spun into a testament to their sheer tenacity, if the PR folks chose the right words.

"Well, at least those civvies who actually stuck around got to see a really pretty light show," Michelle remarked to herself as she climbed out of the cockpit of her headless Gamma. "Yes, it's all just a big show, and we're the villains. If they're trying to play Kira Yamato, then what does that make me? Lunamaria Hawke?"

Such was the joy of being a mecha anime fan in a universe where mecha actually existed.

 

[Chibi-chan]

"Alright then Kain, let's show them what we're made of!"

Pulling back the throttle, the Gundam launched itself backwards into the air to gain distance between themselves and the oncoming Aheads. Once at the right altitude and a certain distance away from the approaching mechs, the large Gundam Alice was then placed to hover. The strategy for this mission would be nothing more than to blow them up with firepower; their full power wouldn't be necessary this early into the game. There seemed to be flanks of Aheads that approached, luckily the all came from the same direction. Abele thought of a plan quickly. Although there were many of them and the flank was wide, it would be best to pack them in close together and then release the power of the GN Bazooka. Abele flipped a switch from the top of the cockpit that opened up the projection screen of Kain's cockpit. He was already on the edge of his seat, ready to unleash some carnage against the opposing forces.

"Alright Kain! Let's fire the cannons!"

Abele fired the Gundam's two GN canons, creating an explosion of smoke and steel among the air. Even before the smoke had cleared, Kain fired more of the violet rays into the smog predicting where the surviving Aheads would have most likely maneuvered to and annihilating them with another eruption of debris. The more Kain fired into the smoke, the more smoke rose, limiting the view of the Aheads and creating a more erratic firing pattern from the flank from a limited area. In the meantime, Abele swiftly clicked the switches in her cockpit, pulling up the screen of the GN Bazooka. On the screen, it proved that the total enemy width was within the GN-Bazooka firing range. She cursed under her breath. Alas, the GN power was drained to about sixty percent; they needed to have a bit more time for the energy to recharge. Moving the Gundam back a bit farther, Abele setup the controls to load the GN Bazooka. The large weapon attached to the mobile suit's center as it's jaws began to charge with particles. Fortunately, everything was going according to plan. The smokescreen still left the Aheads scrambled. When it finally dissipated, they would be in for the full force of the GN Bazooka.

Ninety-five percent. The smoke slowly cleared as the remaining Aheads showed their faces, now locked on to Alice's position. Unfortunately for them, they wouldn't have the time to fire. With the click of a button, the GN-Bazooka fired with a violet glow and a blinding white flash of light. The blast lasted for a good five seconds, launching he Alice was sent backwards from the force and vaporizing the remaining attacking Aheads. When the glow disappeared and the smoke trailed off, the two pilots surveyed the remaining area.

"See? All the meanies are gone now~" Kain responded enthusiastically, cradling Rosa.

"So they are." That didn't seem that difficult. Abele opened another screen. ""Mission Complete. Alice returning to Ptolemaios." With that, the Gundam began it's asent into space.

 

[Loki]

As soon as he heard the dull whirr of Theritia's engine recharging, Aesur wrenched his helmet off, sitting where he was for a few moments longer. His breathing was hard and ragged, and nothing but the attempt to calm down ran through his mind. He was not alarmed, as there was no reason for him to have a nervous breakdown. He'd taken the last of his medicine before heading out in the morning, he'd been safe in his cockpit from the blazing flames that had been fizzling around destroyed suits, and now the mission was over. But his attitude and wrecklessness inside the cockpit always gave him a sick worry that maybe he'd unconsciously left the communications on. Maybe he'd accidentally stepped over the bounds of the mission. He stilled his trembling hands and squeezed his eyes shut to refocus his gaze. A very long, deep breath later, he felt perfectly fine, and tugged his helmet back onto his head. Reaching around his seat and picking up his things, he pressed a button and waited patiently for the cockpit to slide open. As soon as he stepped out, he felt the familiar sensation of being weightless, and he looked around to the other suits. He hadn't the time to put in a smile and a good job to the other meisters though, as the resident mechanic, in all his cranky glory impatiently shooed all the meisters out.

"I don't need help!" Royal barked irritably before anyone could say anything, programming instructions into a purple haro furiously. Other Haros propelled themselves towards the Gundams to retrieve data, "Go somewhere else!" He waved his hand, trying to make the meisters pick up the pace, "You're distracting me!"

Though the ashen haired man was usually somewhat amiable past his sour expressions, today, it was apparent that someone had pushed his buttons. Aesur shrugged, and quickly got out of the line of fire. Royal was another moderately new member of Celestial Being, the old mechanic having returned to earth a few years prior. Aesur had long gotten used to the random, pointless outbursts that the mechanic seemed to constantly have simmering just below the surface, but he hadn't had the chance to make peace with the machine-junkie's short temper.

As soon as he stepped out of the airtight elevator that lead from the docking bay to the middle of the Ptolemaios, Aesur took his helmet off a second time. Pulling out two bobby pins from his hair that pinned his hair away from his face while he was piloting, he mussed his hair and rearranged it with his fingers, before looking around. Kiel was probably still down on earth, with Basilio. But Kiel wasn't who Aesur was looking for. The sound of capsules rattling against plastic caught Aesur's attention and he smiled sheepishly at the woman standing with a dark bottle in her hands. She replaced the bottle in her white jacket, stating, "I'll give it to you later."

"Sure." Aesur replied, "Is there anything I-… Or we," He corrected himself, referring to the meisters as a whole, "Need to do?"

"Kiel should be on his way back, so he'll probably have one or two things to say to you guys regarding the mission. He'll show up soon. In the meantime, you guys can do whatever you want, but stay here until Kain contacts you." Dr. Quinn motioned to a blank screen before turning around.

Looking curiously at the motionless screen for a moment, Aesur sighed, leaning against the wall and putting his arms behind his head. He couldn't wait for the awkward silence between himself and the other meisters while they waited.

----------------------------

Siegen Dierk was not a genius, nor was he particularly good with reflexes. His best trait was his impeccable hand-eye coordination, but that wasn't nearly enough to get a good spot as a pilot. As such, he'd been stuck sitting indoors with a handful of other soldiers that hadn't managed to land a place in the show, watching the debut from a dinky TV, because the view from out the window wasn't exactly all that great, no thanks to the fact that the other side's flood lights that brightened the night sky were shining practically directly into it. His roommate had woken him up at 5:00 AM when he'd opted to take a shower at that godforsaken hour, and between boredom and lack of sleep, Siegen was not interested in the whole ordeal, his eyelids sliding shut periodically before he snapped them open again. It was only just as he put his head down on his arms that he heard explosions from the TV's poor speaker system, and the same explosion shaking the windows. At full attention now, Siegen looked out the window, finding that the flood light that had butchered his vision had been flushed out, and the main thing illuminating the sky now was a flurry of particle beams shooting this way and that.

In a rush of relief, Siegen was actually glad he hadn't been chosen. Otherwise, he be stuck in the fray above. But...

"Where's that suit from?" His nose crinkled up as he raised an eyebrow, mumbling to himself and staring stupidly out the window up at the huge mobile suit. "Ain't the Union... But what the heck's it... doin'?"

 

[Kansas]

Ryder and Retribution had broken through the atmosphere with ease, escaping their mission site without so much of a hint of trouble. Drifting through the void of space, he soon spotted the spec of white in the distance that he could scarcely call "home"

"Ryder commencing docking procedures..." Ryder said monotonously as he flipped several switches around the cockpit above his head, lining for entry. In no time he was stabilized, backing into his spot in the hangar, securing Retribution into the docking frame. A small catwalk extended in front as Ryder popped the cockpit open, snatching Midd from its spot on his console and pushing off into the zero gravity towards flat ground. He was quickly met by the crew who rushed to analyze.

"Shouldn't be a scratch on him" Ryder commented as the group of men floated by quickly. Ryder proceeded quietly towards where the other meisters seemed to be meeting up. He drifted in casually, stopping himself using a nearby wall. As he joined the circle, he heard one of the other pilots, Aesur, speaking.

"Is there anything I-… Or we, need to do?" He questioned to Dr. Quinn whom he had apparently been conversing with.

"Kiel should be on his way back, so he'll probably have one or two things to say to you guys regarding the mission. He'll show up soon. In the meantime, you guys can do whatever you want, but stay here until Kain contacts you." Dr. Quinn motioned to a blank screen before turning around. As Aesur let out an audible sigh of what Ryder imagined was frustration and boredom, Ryder couldn't help but feel the same way.

"What are we waiting on anyway..." He asked aloud to no one in particular after a long awkward silence between the group. There wasn't much to talk about and Ryder was beginning to get antsy. He looked towards Aesur again, thinking.

"Hey... you're Theritia's pilot aren't you? That's one hell ofa suit. Its got high speed close and medium combat to a tee, I was checkin the specs. You could almost say I'm jealous... if I weren't piloting Retribution..." Ryder said to him rather fanboyish as he trailed off, realizing his attempt at conversation was probably going no where.

"What a dead crowd..."

 

[Alter Ego]

Much like he always did, Kain looked rather out of place as he half-stepped, half-stumbled out of the cockpit, staring at his surroundings with wide-eyed innocence, as if he was seeing them for the first time, or at least...for the first time outside of a dream, still panting quietly, sweat glistening on his brow from his frantic dance with the weapon controls mere moments before and his hair was in an even more unruly state than usual. The grouchy mechanic's shooing did not bother him in particular, the meister merely allowing himself to be ushered along with an expression of polite confusion plastered on his face. Then, slowly, the feeling of familiarity crept on him, a wide grin spreading across his face.

"We're home." he said, the excitement of this revelation clearly overtaking him as he turned first to the doll and then to his co-pilot, "Rosa, Abele, we're home!"

He let out a loud, hearty laugh over the sheer mirth of this revelation, eagerly skipping over to the others.

"Aesur!" he declared, pointing a triumphant finger at Theritia's pilot, "You're Aesur, and you-" he spun around to face, the pilot who had first addressed the person he had now identified as Aesur, "You are Ryder, and you're Quinn!"

He clapped his hands excitedly at having identified the ship's medical specialist, visibly proud of his discoveries. On the street, this kind of behavior would have earned him ever quizzical stare available, but to anyone who had spent any greater amount of time around the eccentric blonde: the signal was loud and clear. Kain's short-term memory came and went as it pleased; these bouts of rediscovery were simply confirmation that it had decided to return, like ringing of a shop's bell or a quick greeting from a friend passing another on the street.

"And you-"

Kain's brimming enthusiasm faded in one fell swoop as the name of the last meister failed to come to him, his finger still pointed at the girl as the sunny expression on his face turned pained, troubled, "You-you are..." he repeated slowly, obviously struggling with the mental effort of recalling the chestnut's name, "...you...are..."

He took a hesitant step away from the girl, now obviously bewildered as he lowered his hand and retreated behind Abele's back, peering cautiously from behind her as he half-whispered the question weighing on his mind, "...Abele...who is that?"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Kiel is peeping! Kiel is peeping!"

"Just process that data, machine."

"Processing! Processing!"

Leaving the haro to its antics, Kiel cast one last glance at the awkward mingling attempts of the meisters before shutting the screen off. 'Meisters'...such an outrageous euphemism. A spoiled brat who treated his Gundam as little more than an expensive toy, a mentally handicapped ex-pilot who habitually sought guidance in important decisions from an inanimate object, a half-blind cripple, a pilot who had to be medicated to keep him from blasting everything in sight and another who needed to be medicated for precisely the opposite reason. The only term that could reasonably encompass them all was 'misfits', and yet...yet they were the best they had. The tactician shook his head, turning back to the half-finished text document flashing on his screen.

'...as expected.' he typed, 'The design of each Gundam is near-flawless in all but one area. This area, the only true weakness of a Gundam, has always been and always will be the same: the pilot.'

"Processing complete! Processing complete!"

Kiel nodded in confirmation, "Transfer it to the usual folder." he declared, slowly rising from his chair. He had never been a great believer in associating closely with subordinates, hence why he spent most of his time holed away in his personal quarters as he was now, but at times like these...well, given the circumstances, an in-the-flesh meeting seemed to be in order. Humans weren't as disciplined as machines; every once in a while, you had to remind them of your existence to keep them from getting unproductive ideas, "I am going to have a little discussion with the meisters."

"Affirmative! Affirmative! Beginning transfer-"

The door behind Kiel slid shut with the tiniest of whirrs, gliding smoothly on its tracks and shutting out the obnoxious little information terminal's chatter. Feeling no particular need to hurry, the tactician began navigating a path towards the hangar in his own, leisurely pace, making use of the time to organize his thoughts. The address to the meisters he had already sorted out in his mind; contrary to what one might have expected, speeches had always been something he was good at, he was a professional lecturer after all, he just didn't enjoy giving them. For the moment, his real focus was on anticipating the mechanic's reaction. One might have faulted Royal for many things, but he was no fool. It would hardly take a glance for him to discover the additional monitoring equipment he had snuck into the suits to monitor various vitals of note concerning the pilots, not to mention the bugs he had installed for similar purposes. The mechanic would certainly not be happy about it, that much was for sure, but would he give voice to his feelings on the matter? If so, how? It wasn't that Kiel was particularly worried about any of the Meisters finding this out, far from it, but he did dislike spontaneous outbursts, the kind which Kain was already too eager to provide, and losing track in the middle of his address would be quite bothersome.

'Oh well.' the tactician mused, pausing to adjust his glasses before opening the last set of doors, 'I suppose there's only one way to find out.'

 

[parallelzero]

Alitaria had been one of the first to arrive, but one of the last to leave her Mobile Suit. If not for the sudden side effect of RAGE, she assuredly would have been out a lot sooner. During her fun little atmosphere exit, when the RAGE finally decided to wear off after exceeding it's proposed operational time, she had been struck with a serious case of fatigue. Barely able to move, let alone stay awake, she had problems making it to the Ptolmy, and docking was an even more annoying task than when she was fully awake. Even after docking, she remained aboard the Celestia for quite a while as she tried to muster the strength to get out. There was no gravity, so it wasn't as hard as she originally thought it would be as she gathered her things and finally opened Celestia's cockpit.

She winced quickly as the bright lights in the roof began to ravage her sleep-starved eyes - of course the fact that she got no sleep on her flight to the Union probably wasn't helping much. She used the last of her willpower to try and force a recovery on herself. At all costs, she couldn't allow her secret to be revealed. She would probably be removed from her position, and at the same time she wouldn't be permitted to leave Celestial Being since she knew all about it. It was going to be pretty difficult to hide her shortness of breath and inability to keep herself awake, though. She floated herself over to the elevator, in which she rested her eyes as it brought her up to the room in which she assumed the other Meisters would be meeting.

Sure enough, as she floated out of the elevator and struggled to catch herself on a nearby wall, she witnessed the others present as well, including that doctor. She owed a debt to Ms. Quinn for giving her an arm and eye, but she'd probably inquire into why she was so tired. Would she be able to stick with a sleep deprivation story of some sort? She had been ridiculously nervous about the mission days and days before, so it might be plausible. She didn't dwell on it much further, however, as her vision began to blur over and she leaned herself against the wall, shutting her eyes without even removing her helmet.

"You-you are..."

It had only been several moments of shuteye before she had been interrupted and snapped back to the awake condition she clearly didn't want. Through the glass of her helmet, she found herself staring at a blond haired man, whom she instantly recognized as Kain. She had seen him once, having only been a member for an extremely short amount of time, but she had been warned about his condition. Mustering up the last of her strength, she removed her helmet to let her hair drop. Cool air quickly hit her face, which had been hot the entire time, and she greeted the man with the only smile she could muster at the time. "I'm Alitaria Sigma. I haven't been around, so it's no wonder you don't know who I am." Despite her fatigue, her voice still had a warm quality to it, similar to her smile. She was quick to close her eyes again afterwards though. She really needed to sleep.

 

[Loki]

Aesur's signature grin was wide and goofy as he saluted in acknowledgement to Ryder's question about him being Theritia's pilot. "That's me. I love Theritia's specs- it's like an uber, now that I think about it. Too bad I'm the one piloting it." Aesur laughed good-naturedly, not really meaning what he said. "But dang if I get hit I'm grilled cheese- you don't have that problem with Retribution, so you don't gotta worry about getting taken out by a wimpy particle beam or anything." Aesur shrugged, waving his hand in the air, "I'm not gettin' grilled anytime soon though, so long as I don't get all up in some suit's face within beam saber distance. Retribution's got that big sword though, better than Theritia's dinky AEU style sonic-"

"Aesur!" The man in question cut his attempt to carry his side of the conversation up as he glanced over at Kain, who looked like he'd just won first place in the Olympics. … For correctly identifying the meister in red.

"... You got it down pat, man." Aesur replied to Kain's rhetorical address, an edge of confusion in his voice wondering whether Kain had any real reason for his exclamation. "That's me..." He trailed off again when Kain started to name everyone else. But "Everyone else" seemed to be limited to Dr. Quinn, who looked over her shoulder, nodding approvingly at the correct identification. Aesur looked over at Alitaria when Kain got hung up on her name. He didn't provide the answer, as Kain had already inquired to Abele for the answer- and Aesur still wasn't 100% sure on how to act around Kain. The girl of the hour though, the new pilot of the Celestia, seemed to be having a rough time. Aesur thought that maybe the mission- a simple run-through, might have been too much for her, but that was an offensive assumption, so he said nothing, merely asking, "You alright, Alitaria? Lookin' a little pale there-" The door's opened, the sound of the air rushing out of the pressure ducts in it's hinges catching Aesur's attention. "Oh, Kain. We were waiting for you."

Dr. Quinn raised an eyebrow at Alitaria, and upon Kain's entrance, departed without a word.

"So how'd it go man?" Aesur asked the tactition of Ptolemy excitedly, "We kicked butt, am-I-right?"

 

[Chibi-chan]

Removing her helmet, Abele gracefully leaped out of the Gundam and onto the metallic floor. Kain, in a rush of eagerness had already found his way from his cockpit and looked around in awe. It'd been awhile since they had stepped aboard the Ptolemaios, it was invigorating to hear the noise of the mechanics and the tap of shoes against the metal. The mechanisms and gundams were fine, the only stressful part about this would be dealing with the other pilots; and the tactician.

"Yep. This is our home from now on." Abele replied with a smile towards her copilot. Kain was already getting a kick out of this though. He had already bounded over to the other pilots. She sighed and ran her hand through her hair, casually making her way over to the group of pilots that had already arrived. She'd met them before, but had never really had enough time to know much beyond their names and appearance. Later, she'd have to remind Kain who was wh-. She blinked. Kain had remembered their names! Abele chucked as she finally reached her enthusiastic friend. If he was so eager about everything, she'd force herself to be a bit friendlier too.

"You-you are..."

All too suddenly though, Kain's naming streak was brought to an end. She hoped he'd remember her name although the two hadn't met in person. It was understandable though to forget the name of the most recent Meister. Who seemed as if she were a bit drunk. Kain had made his way behind Abele like shy kid hiding behind a sibling for support. "...Abele...who is that?" He questioned from behind. The question was expected, but Abele wasn't so comfortable about answering the question. The newcomer was, well, a newcomer. If was best if she gave a first impression and introduced herself than someone who only knew her by picture. The girl removed her helmet and gave a forced but pleasant smile.

"I'm Alitaria Sigma. I haven't been around, so it's no wonder you don't know who I am." The girl closed her eyes again, her weight placed against the wall where she stood. Kain seemed a bit nervous at her response. She understood he wanted confirmation from his copilot.

"Yes, she's the newcomer Alitaria Sigma. We haven't met her before, but I'm sure she's a nice person," Abele moved beside him instead of in front of him, giving him a small nudge. "You remembered everyone else's name though! You think you can remember their gundams as well?" Although she didn't formally introduce herself to the other pilots, she'd have the time to again at some point.

 

[Alter Ego]

"Ali...taria?" Kain took a few moments to digest this new information, but Abele's assurance was good enough for him. She said that the new girl was nice, so that meant the new girl was nice. Since this was apparently not a person he knew from before, Kain briefly considered making an introduction, but his co-pilot's last question quickly caught his attention.

"You think you can remember their gundams as well?"

Kain nodded enthusiastically, turning around to face the giant shapes looming behind them. He liked naming things. It was really hard sometimes, but he'd always be praised when he got them right, and being praised was nice.

"Ours...is Alice." he began confidently, smiling fondly at the bulky gundam, "And that..." he pointed his finger to the slimmest one in the bunch, mostly because it created such a stark contrast with their own, "That-that is..."

"Theritia." a frank, matter-of-fact voice interrupted, finally drawing Kain's attention to the gray-haired man he vaguely acknowledged as someone whose name he should have known, "The remaining two are Retribution and Celestia...if I may interrupt what I'm sure would have been a most educational presentation."

The blonde looked a bit put off, but gave a reluctant nod, instinctively reacting to the other's authoritative manner. Kiel could practically feel the evil eye from Abele's side, but gave no indication of noting such a thing, just like he ignored the other meister's greeting, merely casting a quick glance at the notes in his hand before clearing his throat.

"Well, Meisters, I believe congratulations are in order." he let his glance travel across the gathered pilots, a faint semblance of a smile on his features, "With today's mission, you have all officially become mass-murderers. If some of you have not taken our secrecy stature seriously until this point, I would suggest that you do so now. From this point on, you must betray no sign of you connection to this organization in your civilian roles. No information received on board this ship, not even the slightest piece of trivial banter or the most irrelevant joke, must leave this place under any circumstances. Lives hang in the balance, including your own." he took a pause to allow this statement to sink in before continuing, "That being said...the results of today's mission. Aesur Therra and Gundam Theritia." he turned to red-dressed pilot first, "Target: the HRL unveiling in Tianmen Square. Crippling of Ahead units and destruction of older mobile suits. As expected, opposing units were handled without problems, but your approach was rather reckless." there was a slight hint of scolding in his tone as he surveyed the report, "There were civilians in that square, and you are lucky that your little parting shot doesn't seem to have struck any of them. This is Celestial Being's first armed intervention; we do not, I repeat: do not, need to be introduced to the world as vandals and mindless terrorists. Your opponents were mostly ancient toys from centuries past; you could easily have adopted a more precise method of attack without incurring any real risk." his piece thus said, the tactician turned to the largest grouping for the mission next, "Kain R. Heinlein, Abele Lansfeild and Gundam Alice-"

"Rosa."

Kiel raised an eyebrow at the blonde's interruption, "Excuse me?"

"Kain, Abele, and Rosa." the meister elaborated, pointing to himself, his co-pilot, and the doll peering out from his breast pocket in turn, his tone dead serious, "You forgot Rosa."

For a moment, the tactician seemed to consider counter-arguing, but then thought the better of it, "Of course." he replied woodenly, "Kain R. Heinlein, Abele Lansfeild, Rosa and Gundam Alice. Target: the AEU unveiling at Grand Place, destruction of unveiled new generation Ahead units. As anticipated, you seemed to be having some difficulties with close combat, but I will admit that your strategy was...passable. In the future, however, I would suggest quicker initiative with the remote cannon system. Ryder Fleetback and Gundam Retribution. Target: the AEU backup Aheads stationed at Brussels Airport. Emergency response and destruction mission. Good initiative. You eliminated most of the units before mobilization, as per orders. I shall expect this level of performance from you on future missions as well, even if they are, as you say, 'babysitting'. This is not a game or thrill ride and you can not always expect mission specs to be tailored to your liking. Regardless, you have exceeded your simulation run performance by a fair margin, though in that regard, I am still afraid that you have one other Meister to best." he finally turned his attention to the half-sleeping Alitaria, "Alitaria Sigma and Gundam Celestia. Target: the Union unveiling at Andrews Airforce Base. Test of the Gamma model's fighting capabilities. Your performance was...quite remarkable, nearly twice the usual reaction rate and far better aim and measurement in your attacks. Why if I didn't know better...I'd say that there was someone completely different in that cockpit." his gaze betrayed nothing but dead seriousness, even as he broke into what was supposed to be a good-natured chuckle; hardly a mannerism that suited him. He may not have had any proof he could press to prove this particular pilot's incompetence, but at the very least, he wanted to see if there was a reaction, "I do look forward to seeing the contents of that mission recorder."

Kiel took a brief pause, giving his notes a last check before nodding for himself, "That is all for our little unveiling ceremony." he said, "Alitaria Sigma. Given your current condition, I have requested a full medical checkup from Miss Quinn for you. Please report to the medical bay in fifteen minutes. The rest of you are on standby onboard the Ptolemaios until further notice. Dismissed."

And with that, he turned on his heels and left the same way he had come in.

 

[Loki]

"A-Ah…" Aesur scratched the back of his head after listening to Kiel's scolding, flushing in embarrassment at his unruly behavior. "Sorry, I was a little nervous." Lying through his teeth, Aesur wasn't exactly about to tell everyone that he went psycho in the cockpit, because- well. That didn't really inspire confidence. "Thanks for the analysis thou-" Aesur looked back up from the floor of shame and noticed that Kiel wasn't there anymore. "… Or not." He finished lamely, raising an eyebrow at the other meisters with a shrug. "Well anyway, 'gratz on the mission everyone! Especially you Alitaria- you really did well, as far as I can tell. Not that I was watching, since I was too busy making us look bad apparently, but y'know how it goes." Aesur laughed, "Now what to do for the rest of the day? There's really nothing on this ship is there?" Aesur stretched, reaching his arms up to the artificial lights in the ceiling.

"Gonna go get me some fake food," Aesur mentioned, referring to the usual rations aboard the Ptolemaios, "Anyone want to come with?" He faltered, looking over at Alitaria, "If you're not too beat from the mission, that is…?"

Shifting in his uniform he made a confused expression before pinching the fabric on his arm between his thumb and forefinger. "Oh, well I guess we should probably change first." Looking back up with a bright smile on his face, he addressed everyone, "Well since we're gonna be in this together from now on, we should get to know each other, right? How 'bout we meet up after Alitaria see's Quinn and gets a break? I'm wantin' to see the news. Bet they're all having cows over us!"


OOC: Yeah I dunno, I kind of suck at this guys. D: You'll all have to forgive the fact that I just... suck. :/