Mission Three: The Beginning of a New Age

"Because I am the man who is obsessed with everything you are... GUNDAM!"

Orochimaru brought his rifle to bear, launching shot after shot at Exia. Setsuna cursed under his breath, maneuvering around the shot with the practiced ease of one who had to deal with people shooting at him quite often. Another shot was blocked by Exia's blade, as Setsuna set the massive machine forward to attack. The Flag brought it's rifle up to block, the sharpened edge of the barrel slamming against the sword.

"So, this is the best you can do? Heh, and here I thought this would be a challenge!" Rushing forward, the Flag pushed past the giant sword, ramming into Exia's torso. Shaken by the impact, Setsuna shook the fuzz out of his head, before flying back to a safe distance. As Orochimaru moved to close the distance, Setsuna sliced forward, cutting the rifle in half.

"Is this the power of the Gundam? I suppose it's fate that has brought us together, since you weren't emitting that light... Then let us take this to the next level!" Drawing his sonic blade, he rushed forward, only for the arm to be cut off by a new weapon, a bright pink energy blade from a small hilt, held in the Exia's off hand. "W-What the? A beam type weapon? But those are just theory... So that's just how far ahead you are... We shall meet again young man, someday soon." He broke off the engagement, flying rapidly toward his ship. Setsuna watched on for a moment, before turning to fly in the direction of his comrades.

Aboard the carrier, Orochimaru stood, watching as the mechanics worked over the giant suit, tools sparking in the air as they fixed it.

"A pity, I rather liked that rifle, I finally got it calibrated just how I liked it..."

"Yea, but the data we got on that Gundam is completely worth the effort, so much so that it would have been worth losing the whole suit."

"The way that machine moved... That pilot must have been a young man, judging by the way he moved..."

Nodding his head at his friend's musings, Jiraiya turned his head to watch the radar, keeping an eye on the Gundam. Before his eyes, however, the blip just... disappeared. "Suppose that means that light is able to block them from all sorts of communications, not just cellular or radio waves."

Within Exia, Setsuna was doing some musing of his own. 'That man... Who was he? I need to get stronger, if fighting him was so much of a problem. Otherwise, I can't fight that man.'

Sitting at a computer, Kinue Akimichi was working away, doing her best to finish a report before her deadline. The name Sage of Six Paths stood out prominently at the top of her monitor, as a browser window waited to the side, a recording of the declaration paused as she took a break from her work. A grumbling behind her told her that her boss was on the move, and she looked up to find him hovering behind her.

"C'mon, Kinue! I need this report done last week!"

"Got it boss, just got a few things left to finish up. Interesting fact, this guy lived over two hundred years ago."

"So he's had this whole thing planned for over two centuries? The insanity of some people never ceases to amaze me. Keep up the good work, and get yourself something nice, I'm tossing you a bonus for this one." An envelope fluttered down in front of her, something she was quick to toss in her bag. He walked away, as Kinue sighed, cracking her knuckles as she went back to work.

Within the AAC, the head of intelligence, by the odd name of Zetsu, was being briefed on the self-same information as Kinue was in the process of uncovering, though he had a rather different view on the matter.

"So, that old bastard planned this far ahead? This will be troublesome, if he predicted what would happen, then who knows how much power those fools, Celestial Being, will have. This will increase our timetable. Tell the others; We move as soon as possible."

At the base of the SRL elevator, Lockon, Allelujah, and Tieria all stood around in casual dress, still clad in the colors of their piloting suits. Some small talk was exchanged, and the subject of Allelujah was breached more than once, only to be deflected as the light haired pilot mentioned that he would explain once they were back in space.

"So, to use the orbital elevators to get our suits back into space... Miss Sumeragi is quite the tactical forecaster..." Lockon mentioned off hand, admiring the blond forecaster's planning and foresight.

"I don't like this, it's too much of a risk of someone recognizing us." Allelujah muttered, glaring out from beneath his hair's fringe at people around them.

"Have some faith, it's not like Baa-chan's ever been particularly wrong before..." Tieria replied, the blond's odd penchant for nicknames coming through with great clarity. "Finally Setsuna, what, did you get lost on the way here?"

"It's in my report." Setsuna stated flatly as he walked up the group, an irritated look of distaste on his face.

"Think anyone will notice Virtue in all that camouflage?" Lockon wondered, looking to the others for an answer.

"We should be fine, after all, who would question more materials for one of the colonies?" Tieria said.

"Our main weakness here is the Ptolemaios's operational limits without the Chakra Furnaces, even with Kisame up there-"

"Not in public." Setsuna cut Allelujah off.

"Fine, fine, let's get going already. The train is about to leave. Troublesome." Lockon murmured, as the group turned and boarded the train.

Behind the group, a man of slightly older age entered the plaza, a large scar over one eye, and his arm loosely wrapped in bandages. A young man runs up to greet him, saluting his elder. "Sir! Here to escort you to the commander, sir!"

"No, I think I need to take a trip to Yugakure first. I don't believe this sort of thing without viewing it with my own eyes."

"Sir, yes sir, Danzō sir!"

Within the MSWAD headquarters, Orochimaru and Jiraiya waited in the debriefing room, prepared for the light lecture that they were sure to get from their commanding officer.

"Second Lieutenant Orochimaru Aker and Jiraiya Katagiri, you have been reassigned for you fight with the Gundam."

"Sir, with respect-"

"This isn't a demotion, soldier. This is, for all intents and purposes, a promotion. You are being transferred to a special task force, with the purpose of capturing and analyzing a Gundam, headed by Hiruzen Sarutobi."

"That old monkey? This should be interesting..." Jiraiya joked, as he and Orochimaru left the room to gather their things.

In a completely average school in the middle of Tanzaku Gai, Chōji Akimichi sits in class, bored out of his skull. The teacher's lecture on the four centuries of war between the armed bandit groups and the remains of a wandering ninja clan in Kusa had gone right over his head. A tap on his arm brought him back to the living, as Ino asked him if he'd thought about the future during lunch, and if she played any part.

"W-Well, I dunno, I suppose. As long as there's some good food around..." He answered rather vaguely, hoping to avoid his friend's wrath.

In a bar in a downtown in a city that shall not be named, a man sits down at the counter, next to a woman in old-Iwa clothing, herself enjoying a light martini as he himself ordered a rather stronger wine.

"Good taste. A rather nice vintage, though I prefer the 2208 myself."

"So, Miss Hyuga, was it? Is it time?"

"The third mission will begin on schedule." She said, pushing the olive around the edge of her drink daintily.

Within the SRL base, a large black container is being examined, poked, and prodded. Arriving at the scene, Danzō looked on, before a man in a scientist's uniform arrived as well.

"This is the container that the flying gundam dropped. It contains no new technologies, but has no markings or design that designate it as being made by any known manufacturer or nation." Looking over the information that the man handed him, Danzō nodded his agreement, before turning to look at the container.

"So, this is what that man was up to when he said he would change the world..."

Within the new base for the Gundam task squad, Jiraiya found himself rather shocked as he looked at the data from the Flag.

"So much power... It's capable of putting out at least six times the amount as the Flag!"

Shaking his head, Orochimaru grinned. "That power... With that kind of maneuvering, I could do anything."

"As far as I can tell, the maneuverability comes from that light it emits."

To their slight shock, their mentor and now leader, Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke up from behind them, bringing them out of their interest. "With this information, it has become apparent that we must capture a Gundam if we want that sort of power. Hello boys, nice of you to drop in once in a while. Wish I could say the same for Tsunade."

"Professor! When did you get here?"

"Oh, no more than an hour ago, you know how it is with these impatient people. Now then, I hear you need your Flag tuned, eh Orochimaru?"

"Yes, I want you to tune it as high as possible, and to disregard normal protocol for pilot safety. I'll need all the power I can get." Before he could continue, an alarm went up, the klaxon sounding off across the compound. "An alarm? What for?"

"The Gundam have appeared again, in what appears to be the former nation state of Kusa!"

"Damn it, so soon? Looks like I won't have time to take you up on that offer just yet, Professor. Round up the Flags! We're going hunting!" Orochimaru cried out, as he ran for his flag, the mechanics already shucking cables as if the machine was on fire.

A blast flew by Exia's head as Setsuna launched himself forward, blade slicing through the rusting mech. A pink shot flew by in reply to the prior one, tearing through the mech attempting to gun down Exia. A glance at the monitor showed just how close Lockon had come to hitting him. Eh, a difference of centimeters. He would live. Moving on, he faced down another group before they suddenly threw down their weapons, turning and running as they did. Turning, he found himself staring down a large, blue combat mech, nothing like the group he had just been fighting. A blip on his monitor indicated that the pilot was hailing him, and he opened a one way audio channel. A talking opponent is a stupid opponent.

"So, you're one of the new models, hm? Seems to me that a suit like that should be used by someone with a purpose. Someone like... Me." The channel went silent, before the darker blue machine dashed forward, a golden glyph appearing on it's faceplate as it moved. Pulling up his sword, he blocked the sonic blade, before retaliating, slashing away at the suit. To Setsuna's surprise, the mech managed to bend backwards, the blade barely missing the chest paneling, before leaping back up, arm already in flight as he swung again. The two clashed again, before parting and returning, until again, a hail came.

"Those moves... My, my, you're one of those little Konoha brats that I taught. You might remember me; Itachi Uchiha."

At that Setsuna froze. That voice. He knew that voice. It was him. The bastard who had done it. And now... Now he would pay. Grabbing up the small pistol from the holster in the siding of the cockpit, he flashed out a message to the other suit.

"What the... The little punk's sending me something... What? He want's me to come out of the cockpit? Kid, you must be as stupid as I thought if you thought I was going to fall for something as simple as-" In that moment, Itachi fell silent, as the cockpit of the Gundam began to open. "H-He's serious? Got to give the little brat credit, he's got a pair. Might as well, I suppose." A dark chuckle on his lips, he grabbed his own pistol before initiating the opening sequence.

He squinted through the light outside, his helmet automatically beginning to darken in the sunlight.
"So, you're one of those Konoha brats, eh? So whatd'd ya want, to give me a welcome hug?" The figure from the Gundam shook his head, before reaching up to his helmet. 'What is that little idiot doing now? Showing his face to an enemy? Oh this should be good. Wonder if I'll recognize him.' A click came from across the gap, before the pilot shrugged off his helmet, revealing... A face that looked all too familiar. "N-No. It can't be... Sasuke? Little Sasuke-kun is all grown up?" A more manic grin began to grow on his own face as he tapped the side of his own helmet, the visor sliding up, deep black eyes staring across the divide at the man he last saw when as a boy.

"Itachi... I will end you for what you did! You... You killed them!"

"Who now? Use your words, little brother. Use them well, before I kill you for insolence."

"All of them! Every last cousin, uncle, EVERYONE! And now... Now I'll kill you!"

Itachi glimpsed a quick smattering of bright red from his brother's face, before leaping back into the hollow of his cockpit as a bolt of pink shot through where he had been. Powering up, he turned to fight his little brother once more.

"Oh, little brother, it's simply been too long since I had a good assassination attempt! And you've gone and learned about chakra, and unlocked your sharingan to boot, oh I knew I picked well. Now then, little brother, fight for your life!" A glimmer of madness shone in his eyes as red began to bleed from cracks in the black of his eye, eventually flooding over the whole thing, save three tomoe shaped pools of black around the smallest dot of black in the center.

AN: Hello, and thank you for continuing to stay with me in our adventure through madness. I am your host, Lux, and tonight, I give to you; The Secrets of Who Is Currently Loyal To Who!
At current, we have five contending factions, the AAC, the SRL, the USV, Celestial Being, and of course, everyone else!
And here we go;
Setsuna F. Seiei AKA Sasuke Uchiha - Celestial Being
Lockon Stratos AKA *CLASSIFIED* - Celestial Being
Tieria Erde AKA *CLASSIFIED* - Celestial Being
Allelujah/Hallelujah Haptism AKA *CLASSIFIED/CLASSIFIED* - Celestial Being
Danzō Smirnov - SRL
Orochimaru Aker - USV
Jiraiya Katagiri - USV
Hiruzen Sarutobi AKA The Professor - USV
Kakashi Colasour - AAC
Hinata Hyuga AKA (In some underworld circles) Wang Lu Mei - Celestial Being?
A - USV
Itachi Uchiha AKA (To the general public) Ali Al Sachez - Himself
Ino Yamanaka, Chōji Akimichi, Kinue Akimichi - Civilians
Zetsu - ?
If I've missed anyone, let me know in the reviews. Also, here's a hint: Lockon is not Shikamaru, despite his earlier actions. He's just kinda lazy that way. Itachi is more than a little insane, though that doesn't mean he doesn't have his priorities straight. Ja Ne!

-Lux