Disclaimer: Don't own Gundam Seed Destiny or any elements I borrowed from other materials.
Author's Note: This fic is not mine but rather a friend's who just died recently. Before he died, he asked if I could post this and continue it if there were enough reviews since he left me his computer that had a pretty detailed summery on how the fic goes. I said I would so readers: PLEASE REVIEW if you want the fic to continue. The fic has elements from Space Empires 4 and the Homeworld series.
Cagalli Yula Athha stared out at the planet below her.
She had been looking at the celestial body for over an hour by herself. Cagalli was still feeling the aftereffects of stasis and was a bit sore.
Brushing a bit of her blond hair out of her face, Cagalli made a mental note to have her hair trimmed. She had let her hair grow out during the Ark's escape from the Earth Sphere.
"Lady Cagalli?" asked a voice from behind her. Cagalli turned to see the vessel's Captain, Jonathan Turner, standing at attention.
The man was over six feet tall with gray hair and brown eyes. He was wearing an Orb Union naval uniform and was one of oldest officers currently in the fleet. Cagalli planned on promoting the man to a full admiral when she had the chance.
"It looks beautiful" said the blond as she turned to gaze out at the planet once again. It almost reminded her of Earth.
"I have to admit that it does. We have been surveying it for the last few months and everything looks good so far" said the Captain with a smile.
"I hope so; since we have exhausted our fuel for the hyperdrive, we are left with very few options" said Cagalli. She had promised the two million that are now lying in stasis that she would find a home for them and would carry out that promise no matter what.
"I agree ma'am; if you follow me, Dr. Simmons and his team are ready to debrief you" said the officer, motioning for the blond to follow him.
As the two walked down the hall, the personnel that they passed saluted her. Cagalli returned their salute and smiled at them to reassure them that everything was going to be okay.
The last time Cagalli saw most of the crew was two years ago right before she was placed into stasis. The Ark only required a skeleton crew to handle the massive vessel while it is in hyperspace. The blond could not imagine what they went through during those long two years and vowed to reward them in some way once the planet has been settled.
After ten minutes of walking, the duo entered a large conference room. The walls were painted gray with a large monitor on the far wall opposite from the exit. A large rectangular table sat in the room, made from wood which was scarce on the ship. Waiting for them was a large group of people, most who Cagalli knew quite well.
The Orb leader was happy to see her friends Miriallia, Dearka, Meyrin, Yzak, Shiho, Martin DeCosta, and Erica Simmons awakened from stasis along with herself. The blond considered them almost like family. They were all seated at the conference table.
There were also two others seated with the group as well. They had been picked up by the Ark as it was leaving the system.
Selene McGriff fit in well with Erica Simmons and had contributed her expertise in the Ark's flight from the Earth Sphere. Cagalli liked the woman and was glad that she stayed despite her offers to let the woman return to the PLANTs.
Cagalli still did not know quite what to think about Sven Cal Bayan. His cold demeanor still bothered her and the fact that the man was a former member of Phantom Pain was also a factor. He did help defend the Ark from attacks by ZAFT and earned a place on the ship because of that fact. He currently shared command of Orb's mobile suit forces with Yzak. The two seemed to have a mutual respect of each other and got along quite well.
After taking her seat at the end of the table, Cagalli watched as the Science team took their seats at the other end. Only Dr. Jake Simmons, Erica Simmons younger brother, remained standing. He had a cheerful demeanor which seemed to put Cagalli at ease.
"I am glad to see you up my lady" said the scientist with a smile.
"Thank you; what do you have for us?" asked the Orb Leader, returning a smile of her own.
"Good news, I am happy to say. For the last five months since we arrived, my team and I have examined every bit of the planet below us for colonization. In spirit of our homeland, I have decided to name the planet Orb.
The planet is roughly two-thirds the size of Earth with only one large continent that makes up a third of the planet's surface and water making up the other two-thirds. It has two moons that are roughly half the size of Earth's moon and their orbit poses no danger of colliding with one another. The atmosphere is slightly different from Earths in the fact that it is composed of twenty-two percent oxygen and seventy six percent nitrogen. It is still far acceptable for human habitation. The planet's ocean is composed of salt water there is nothing lethal to human exposure. Gravity is about two percent Earth normal so everything on the surface is slightly lighter.
The land mass is made of large pockets of plains with surrounding forests. There are about six large lakes containing good amounts of fresh water as well as twenty major rivers. The fresh water has been tested and retested for any abnormalities. We have identified only six species of major plant life so far. The forests are composed of a tree that seems to be a cross mix of a redwood and a fern tree. It actually produces fifteen percent more oxygen than plant life back on Earth.
The planet seems to be plentiful in regards to natural resources. We have catalogued deposits of nickel, iron, copper, gold, silver, titanium, as well as other metals and rock. We have also identified three new types of metals which would be excellent for manufacturing.
The planet has excellent soil deposits for farming in some areas and not so well in others. It is recommended that we keep our farming situated on the northeastern seaboard. We also recommend constructing orbital farming colonies in case of environmental conditions.
We have found native life, but nothing that we can surmise as intelligent life. The forests seem to house a feline-like species of animal that appears to be carnivorous. They feed on another species of animal that are herbivores and resembles a type of squirrel; A very large squirrel. The plains are inhabited by a roaming species of a buffalo type of animal. The herds are quite large with up to eight thousand per group. They so far absolutely no threat and could possibly be domesticated for future use. We have found no insect life what so ever but we are still looking.
There is quite a large compliment of aquatic life. Most of the fish and amphibians are small and harmless; we have been doing studies to see which are good for human consumption and which are not. There are also a large amount of predators as well; nothing too large that we can find but we don't recommend setting up any beaches just yet.
The only negative effects we have found are that the winters seem to be very harsh, which is why the orbital farms might be necessary. A solar cycle lasts 402 days and winter takes up about a third of the year. There are times where snows for five days straight. The rain season lasts about two months and we have observed some coastal flooding. Temperatures range from forty below Fahrenheit to 110 degrees all year round; which is quite tolerable"
"Pinpoint ideal locations where we can start constructing cities. We will then awaken our engineers and other technicians" said Cagalli.
"How will we do that?" asked Selene.
"The Ark was designed to be an orbital construction yard as well as a colony ship. All we need is the raw materials and just about anything can be built" answered Erica Simmons with a smile.
"What about the rest of the population?" asked Dearka, stifling a yawn.
"It is probably better to awaken them in small groups once there is housing available" answered Captain Turner.
"I agree; I also want to make sure there is plenty of food to accommodate the people as well. Everyone here will be responsible for a particular area of the planet's colonization. I'll let you pick which area you want to do. Any Questions?" asked the Orb Leader.
"What are we going to do about defense?" asked Sven suddenly. Everyone looked at him at surprise.
"What do you mean defense?" asked Miriallia with a puzzled expression.
"In case we are attacked" said the former Phantom Pain pilot with a neutral look on his face.
"From whom? Little green men?" asked Dearka jokingly.
"He probably means ZAFT; it is only a matter of time before they discover hyperspace flight" said Yzak, scowling at his friend.
"Currently, we have about fifty-three mobile suits and two Izumo-class ships in our arsenal. We can construct more if we need it" informed Erica Simmons.
"I would like to concentrate on planet development than defense. However, I do see the wisdom in preparing for a possible attack. I want both Yzak and Sven to take charge of planetary defense. Build what you need but remember that planetary development comes first" said Cagalli in a firm voice. The two men nodded.
"Anything else?" asked the blond. No one spoke up.
"Very well then; we will start tomorrow. Dismissed" said Cagalli. She watched as mostly everyone left the room. Only Meyrin remained.
"Are you okay?" asked Meyrin as she watched Cagalli rub her eyes with both hands.
"Just tired; you would think that being in cold storage for about two years would make a person not feel drained" stated the blond with a groan.
"It didn't really seem like sleeping to me; I think you just need a real good night's sleep" said the red-head.
"You're right; how are you doing?" asked Cagalli, a little concerned for her best friend.
"I am hanging in there. Are you going to visit Lenore?" asked Meyrin.
"Yeah; along with Aki" answered the Orb Leader.
"Do you plan on waking them?" asked the woman.
"No; I plan to leave the children in storage until we start waking families. I am afraid to say that I don't have the time to raise them at the moment" answered Cagalli with a sad smile.
"I understand; I think Athrun, Lacus, and Kira would agree with you. Are you going to change Aki's name to Athha?" asked the red-head.
"No; Aki is Kira's and Lacus's child. I want Aki to grow up knowing her parents and the heroes they were" stated Cagalli with conviction. Meyrin nodded and after a minute of silence, the blond spoke up.
"Do you hate me because Lenore is my child and not yours?" asked Cagalli, looking at Meyrin.
"No, of course not; why would you think that?" asked the red-head, surprise in her voice.
"I know how much you and Athrun cared for each other. What happened on our last night together before the Battle of Messiah was something that wasn't planned" informed the blond in a soft voice.
"I understand that; I don't resent you, Athrun, or the child. I am actually glad that there is a piece of him that is still left" stated Meyrin.
Cagalli agreed with the woman. When Lenore was older, she planed to tell her all about her father. She had given birth to the boy about nine months after Athrun was killed. It was also the same for Lacus. The birth of Aki was only a few days apart from Lenore.
The thought of Lacus brought sadness to Cagalli. Lacus had died with Kisaka at Orb, making sure that ZAFT would never use the country's resources for its own use. The blond had tried to make her friend come with her, but was knocked out by Kisaka and loaded onto the Ark.
Cagalli still remembered watching the speech that the Songstress made before detonating the explosives that sank Orb into the ocean. The speech had been Defiant and passionate; condemning Gilbert Durandal and his Destiny Plan. Cagalli planned on building a memorial to the Pink Princess when she had the chance.
Until then, Cagalli would raise Aki as her own. Unlike Lenore who bore a close resemblance to her father, Aki looked more like her mother with her pink hair and blue eyes. She was also an Ultimate Coordinator as well, which Cagalli planned to keep secret.
Yawning, Cagalli stood up and headed to the exit. Meyrin walked beside her and the two chatted about Meyrin's coming duties as Cagalli's assistant, taking Kisaka's place at her side.
The Orb leader knew that the coming months would be hard. The colonization of their new home would be long and taxing, requiring everyone to do their fair share. She also had the task of setting up a new parliament once the population was settled. Cagalli vowed that Orb's Government would stay the same.
Please R&R
