Disclaimer: I don't own Xenosaga I-III

'Thoughts'

"Words"

Xenosaga III: Es last Sich Nicht Lesen

Also Sprach Menschheit

By: Nim Maj

Chapter 3: Opening Moves

Katsu sighed as he stepped out of the Parliament hearings. Looking down to his companion, "I guess no good deed goes unpunished, eh kid?" Abel just looked up at him. "If you're old enough to kill, do you think you're old enough to drink?" Abel continued looking at him. Grimacing, Katsu continued. "Don't start. Alcohol can turn even the most calm and collected men into raving lunatics." Katsu then held Abel's hand as he walked off to find the bureaucrats he was supposed to tell about the change in the chain of command.


Everyone was gathered on the bridge of the Durandal. Allen, Jr, Shion, Jin, chaos, Mary, Shelley, MOMO, Albedo, Ziggy, were all present for this staff meeting, the bridge bunnies of the Durandal working at their posts.

"Allow me to begin with a situational report." Katsu started off. "The Zohar Project is on hold while investigations are carried out on its' former leaders. I have already been called in to the preliminary hearings and to give my input and advice. At the same time, the Elsa is trapped within a slowly shrinking hypersphere where the Unknown Landmass used to be. Also in our list of problems is the steady advance of the Gnosis and Ormus into Federation territory. Are there any questions so far?"

"Nah, continue. I just wanna say that I would have loved to see the look on our father's face when the Federation came to arrest him." snickered Jr.

"What about the Elsa?" asked a concerned Shion.

"Alright, I'll deal with that first. Jr. and Canaan briefed me on the situation and Canaan has also come up with a plan to rescue our errant comrades. Apparently it can only be pierced by a high energy weapon equivalent to Omega's Phase Transfer cannon. Unfortunately we won't be able to use it because of the freeze, and because we really can't justify the use of Omega for a mission that never happened." Katsu explained, his words laden with hints. "So were going to use the next best thing, KOSMOS' Tertiary weapons system."

"Eh? We can do that?" asked Jr.

"Of course! KOSMOS should have the power to break through!" Shion said with excitement. "But wait, can we get the clearance to use her?" she added doubtfully.

"No worries. We move on to KOSMOS. During the hearing I gave my honest opinion as one of the participating weapons developers and recommended to the Federation Parliament to adopt T-elos as the next generation anti-Gnosis combat android over KOSMOS."


Flashback

"Ladies and gentlemen of the Parliament, it is, in my honest opinion to the Federation's advantage to accept TP-XX as the next generation of anti-Gnosis android. She eclipses KOSMOS' performance by three times. Although KOSMOS is capable of defeating Omega Res Novae, it was through the use of tactics that she defeated her opponent. I have little doubt that even T-elos would have been defeated by Omega should it have been matched against it in a match of pure power. The demonstration was flawed in that it pitted two entirely different classes of weapons against each other, like comparing apples with oranges. It is my personal opinion that this match was politically motivated. A far more informative match would have been T-elos versus KOSMOS, but as far as performance, I go with my recommendation. This does not go so far to mean that Vector did not fulfill their contract. It only means that someone else did better. Both are actually viable systems, with T-elos the better by a significant amount."


"What!? Why?" were the various responses.

"As I said, I gave my honest opinion. T-elos was the better choice. As a result, they voted to scrap KOSMOS and start production of the T-elos series."

"Katsu! Why?!" cried a devastated Shion. "Allen? Did you know about this?" she demanded of the brown haired man.

"Y-yes Chief! But you really need to hear him out!" said a cowering Allen, hands crossed in his defense.

"Hear what Katsu?"

"Well…" he began.


Flashback

Katsu and Roth Mantel entered the room that housed KOSMOS.

"Hey Katsu!" Allen greeted. "Oh, Roth Mantel. So what brings you two here?"

"Oh I'm just here to offer congratulations. You're KOSMOS acquitted herself well in battle. I'm impressed. It's just too bad that it wasn't impressive enough." Roth said with an air of superiority. "Now that you've shown us how to do it, I'm sure that T-elos could do even better."

"Hmph. What do you mean not impressive enough? KOSMOS took down an Omega! Alone!"

"Oh joy!" Roth said sarcastically. "You beat a child." He drawled.

"Okay that's enough. If you can't act civil just wait outside." Katsu said in annoyance. "Chief Ridgeley, pack your things. By majority vote of the Federation Parliament, the KOSMOS project is officially disbanded. Here are the official orders." Taking it, an ashen faced Allen looked at it with dread. After rereading the orders Allen snapped up and started shouting orders. "All right you heard him! Let's get KOSMOS packed up and moved to the Cortana. Move it everyone!"

Looking confused, a slack-jawed Roth Mantel looked around in confusion. "What's going on sir?" he asked Katsu.

"At around 2100 hours last night, the KOSMOS project was officially scrapped. Shortly after, the KOSMOS project was sold to the Kukai Foundation as military surplus. Thus, as the designated representative of the Kukai Foundation, I assigned KOSMOS and her support crew to the Cortana."


"So you see, you have nothing to fear." said a grinning Katsu as he rocked back and forth on his heels. "KOSMOS is now the official property of the Kukai Foundation, and ours to do as we please."

"Hah! Real slick Katsu!" crowed Jr.

"Thank you…" said Shion quietly as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Turning to her, Katsu continued. "Now Shion, as you never officially resigned from the Kukai Foundation's employ, when you get back from your vacation, perhaps you would like to oversee KOSMOS' maintenance as well as our Realians in addition to joining the strike team again? If you agree Little Master?"

" Heck yeah!"

"I look forward to working with our princess again." added Albedo.

"Oh you guys!" said an openly emotional Shion as she attempted to hold back her tears.

"It's alright Chief." said a concerned Allen as he wrapped a comforting arm around her.

"I hate to rain on your bright day but we aren't through yet. Unfortunately the Gedalya region is under martial law, but by offering the assistance of the Kukai Foundation, we have been cleared to investigate the Unknown Landmass and recover any information it contains." Turning to Jr, he bowed. "Little Master, I await your final approval, but I was able to organize this: if the Durandal can be sent to Gedalya to reinforce the Andras Fleet under Commodore Jose Xavier, they will allow the Cortana to launch an expedition to investigate the Landmass. This is what it's designed for anyway, and it's not as combat oriented as the Durandal. Vector has already agreed."

"How the heck did you convince them to do that?" he asked, honestly surprised.

"I convinced the Federation Parliament that with the Zohar Project stalled we needed a break. By retaking Gedalya the Federation could build up morale and stall the Ormus advance. President Wilhelm was open to the idea of sending the Cortana mostly because he found out that I told KOSMOS how to beat Omega and caused Dr. Yuriev's plans to backfire. He was still kind of giddy over the fact." Katsu explained. "For someone of his reputation, his giggles seemed really creepy." Katsu mumbled distractedly (1).

"Hmmm, sounds good. And we can covertly pick up the Elsa while we're at it. Do it."

"Very well then Little Master. Oh, and Shion, while you're on the Cortana, could you do something for me? Whenever I look at T-elos, I remember the power gap between KOSMOS and her. I know it's rather petty of me, but I get a kind of "gun envy" whenever I see her. So, if you could, could you upgrade KOSMOS? If it comes down to a fight, I would like the stronger android. After all, there's always a next time." Katsu finished lamely.

"Heehee, sure Katsu. I'll see what I can do." Shion giggled in relief.

"Anything else?" Katsu asked.

"What about mommy?" asked MOMO in a small voice, gaining everyone's attention.

"That's right. This is one of the bad news. Juli Mizrahi, along with most of the Contact Subcommittee has been detained pending a full investigation." Walking over to MOMO he got down on one knee before her and took one of her hands in his. "MOMO, I promise you that nothing will happen to her. Your mother, as one of those who knew Abel was piloting the Omega did not expose Dr. Yuriev. Because she didn't, she may face demotion up to imprisonment. I will personally make sure she does not suffer unnecessarily. As long as you continue loving her, she will always have something to help her hope for the future. So stay alive and well, and eventually you will both get through this. Okay?"

MOMO sniffed with restrained sobs. "Okay Katsu. I will."

Standing up Katsu addressed Jr. "Little master, would it be alright if I assigned either Cecy or Kat to command the Durandal?"

"Sure. We're gonna need Mary and Shelley on the Cortana though, so make do with what you have."

"So, everyone, do we have a plan?"

"Yup. By the way, what are you gonna do Katsu?" Albedo asked.

"Aside from helping in the investigation and running the Foundation from here, I will be babysitting Abel who was handed off to me for some reason. I somehow get the feeling someone is messing with me (2). I'll also be looking for Master Gaignun. He hasn't been returning my messages."

"Hmmm, try using your URTV link. It might help. Unless he's blocking you off for a reason."

"I see. I'll keep that in mind."


Shion, KOSMOS, Allen, Jin, Jr., Albedo, MOMO, Ziggy, Mary, and Shelley boarded the Cortana and headed out to investigate the Unknown Landmass and rescue the Elsa.

In the meantime, Katsu stayed behind to tend to Foundation and Federation matters aided by Katarina. Cecilia took the Durandal and the reinforcements from Bastion and some of the Kukai/Vector prototype warships being developed to reinforce the Andras Fleet and retake Gedalya so as to distract Ormus from the Cortana's presence.

This was also the first glimpse the public had of the mass-produced Erde Kaisers fresh from construction on Bastion. They would be instrumental in not only driving out the Ormus' presence in Gedalya, but also in leaving a lasting impression on the Federation military, of the power of the Erde Kaisers. Due to their usefulness, and the glowing reports from the Andras Fleet, this prompted the Federation Parliament to increase the number of Erde Kaisers being produced by Vector. It also had one other effect. It catapulted Katsu into the spotlight, and his advice and input was sought in order to test him for usefulness.


A/N

1 - It was around this time that Wilhelm sneezed.

2 - Wilhelm sneezed again.

In response to Mina's review, the anime that inspired the Solomon is actually the Robotech/Macross series, specifically the VF-1 Valkyrie and all its' descendants. I'm also glad you like the names. Next time, Project Bleach is revealed!

Please Read and Review! I may award you with Omakes! (See the first scene of this chapter for an example.)