"No one knows what's going to happen to the world. But I believe we have the ability to deal with that. Although we cannot change the past - we can change the future. We can change it into the world we desire."

Post Disaster 323

December 31st

Alarms sounded and bells rang throughout the Krung Thep space colony. Slowly, every inhabitant residing within the colony awoke from their long, icy sleep within Cryostasis as the life support for the colony once more came online. Various Haro units were attending to the stasis pods ensuring a safe and clean thawing process.

Hundreds of souls, once trapped within the confines of sleep, began exiting their dreams. Various groups formed to assist the others who had a harder time standing coming out of stasis, and during that process it became clear by the layers and layers of dust that it had been some time since they first entered the pods. The very last to awake was Setsuna F. Seiei. When he finally came to, he saw his closest comrades standing around his pod, both grave and hopeful faces among them.

His mind was clouded, but he maintained basic faculties, remembering why they had went into stasis in the first place. They had taken the most intact Mobile Armor they could find to determine who had released it and the others upon the world, but not long after Celestial Being's finest Engineers had started working on taking it apart, it had sent out a kind of electromagnetic pulse that shut down the colony's life support. It was a scramble to get everyone to their Cryostasis pods, and they could only hope that either life support eventually came back online or someone found them. Apparently, it was the former that ended up happening.

Setsuna rubbed his eyes as the fog lifted from his brain. "How long were we in stasis?"

Before someone could answer, Setsuna was practically glomped by two different people at the same time, one with a head of red hair, and the other pink. Setsuna stared at the two girls crying into his shirt before looking back up for answers.

Lockon Stratos shrugged, a small smile on his face. "As for how long, very. You were kept on ice for an additional week for a slower thaw due to the injuries you had before going in."

"How long?" Setsuna repeated, wanting specifics.

"We'll get some food in you and Ms. Sumeragi will explain everything in the briefing." Lockon said, turning away from Setsuna.

"Lockon!"

The taller man turned back to Setsuna, a small, sad smile on his face. "Over three hundred years, Setsuna."


Setsuna felt numb as he walked to Krung Thep's briefing room. On each side was a woman who was dear to him.

On his left was Nena Trinity, the original who had been cloned by Ribbons Almark, much like her 'siblings', who, as it turned out, were not truly her brothers. Unlike the clone, this Nena was capable of the full spectrum of emotions. Though she was still a rough, tomboyish girl who'd sooner pick up a gun than run from a fight, she was much more agreeable than her clone. Like her clone, she too was an Innovade, though that meant little now that Veda was gone.

On his right was Feldt Grace, one of Celestial Being's operators and former lover of the previous Lockon Stratos, Neil Dylandy. Though Neil's loss had greatly impacted Feldt most of all, she'd managed to move on with her life and come to a quiet, gentle relationship with Setsuna F. Seiei before the Mobile Armors made their appearance.

Nobody could accuse the three of them of having a normal relationship, but for those that they were around, it was widely accepted and respected. After all, it wasn't easy to find love while being an agent of Celestial Being, Gundam Meister or not.

However, Setsuna's numbness wasn't just because he had just gotten out of Cryosleep. The fact that three hundred years had passed contributed greatly to that, and judging from Lockon's behavior and what little he could get out of those he spoke with, including Nena and Feldt, those three hundred years hadn't been good.

Setsuna, finally reaching the doors, entered the briefing room to find that all other important people within Celestial Being were already there. Various Engineer team leaders, including Ian Vashti, every living Gundam Meister including those from Fereshte, and even several lead Doctors. In the room was a large screen displaying the logo of Gjallarhorn.

"Setsuna, it's good to see you're up and moving." Ms. Sumeragi said. Setsuna merely nodded, quickly finding a seat next to his fellow Gundam Meisters.

"Alright everyone, as I'm sure you've heard, we were in Cryo for over three hundred years. To be exact, three hundred and twenty three. Clearly we couldn't just go out to investigate what all has happened with the majority of our Gundams disabled, so I've put our best on establishing connections to any networks in range to find out what's become of the world since."

She clicked a remote control in her hand and the image of Gjallarhorn shrunk, showing off a picture of Mars next to it. "Firstly, the colony has drifted quite a bit. We've drifted all the way to Lagrange 5 of Mars. Mars has come a long way since terraforming began, and there's a moderately large population dwelling on it considering it's only been three hundred years or so."

The image of Mars zoomed in, showing multiple cities, farms, and mines in high detail. Then, it shifted to street views, each one showing more and more of the poverty that had clearly stricken Mars. Various PMC outfits could be seen in the pictures with what seemed to be lightly armored assault vehicles. However, these PMCs clearly employed children of all ages. "The people of Mars, however, are being oppressed financially. Not just Mars, but also on Earth in certain locations and other space colonies. This oppression is all linked back to one entity. Gjallarhorn."

Gjallarhorn's logo once more took up the screen, with various faces in front of it. "Gjallarhorn, as you all know, was a group of highly skilled pilots who fought Mobile Armors alongside us, formed of the comrades of Graham Aker, one of our late Gundam Meisters. However, it seems despite Graham's influence, Gjallarhorn has turned into what amounts to nothing better than what A-Laws was. They're tyrannical in every sense, though they do a better job at putting out a nice public face."

The image on the screen changed to something grotesque looking. It seemed to be a metal protrusion from a human's spine with a hexagonal ending almost like a spike. It looked almost like.. "Somehow, scientists among Gjallarhorn were able to replicate the Alaya-Vijnana implants, though they all seem to look like this, and it's not nearly as safe. The practice has long since been banned, but the practice is still in use by various rogue entities who are not directly under Gjallarhorn's control."

There were mutters among the crowd, commenting about how poorly done the Alaya-Vijnana reverse engineering was done. Then, the image of the screen changed again to a Mobile Suit. One that clearly wasn't as advanced as older models used to be before the Mobile Armors. "This is the typical Mobile Suit that Gjallarhorn uses. It's called a 'Geirail', and its successor is called the 'Graze'. They're both reliant upon single Ahab reactors. They seem to be designed from the Valkyrja frames that Gjallarhorn was once entrusted with, though their performance isn't nearly as good."

Next, the image changed to weaponry used by Mobile Suits. "Conventional Weaponry has made a comeback. It seems that the majority of Mobile Suits still rely on Nanolaminate Armor, which means beam weaponry isn't as effective. However, Ian says that he's confident their armor isn't nearly strong enough to stop any beam weaponry we have." Ian Vashti, leaning up against the wall, nodded in affirmation. He'd come to realize after watching combat footage of the new Mobile Suits that their armor wasn't nearly as strong as it should be. At best it might dissipate weaker beam weaponry, but he doubted it.

"Also, it seems that we've been written out of the history books. Completely. Not a single reference to Celestial Being can be found. According to the world, Gjallarhorn developed Gundams and fought the Mobile Armors. There's no trace of us or Aeolia Schenberg anywhere in the records we've hacked into. The only people who might know what Celestial Being is are the 'Seven Stars' of Gjallarhorn, who are the leaders." Ms. Sumeragi said, a grave look on her face. This news came to most in the room as a powerful blow. It wasn't that the world didn't remember them, or that they forgot, but that they were completely erased from history. Not only that, but the world hadn't even improved. From the looks of things, it had gotten quite a bit worse.

Ms. Sumeragi clicked the remote once more, showing silhouettes of every Gundam frame ever produced. Some were colored in appropriately, but many were blacked out. "Lastly, as I'm sure you all know many of the Gundam Frames we entrusted to Gjallarhorn for transport are missing. We're currently sending out a locator beacon to find out where they've ended up, but it seems that most didn't remain in Gjallarhorn's possession since we've yet to see any footage of them, in use or not."

Quiet murmurs turned into something louder and more agitated. Ms. Sumeragi raised her hand, however, and the room quieted once more. "I know this is upsetting. It's like nothing we did mattered, and that's something to be angry about. However, before we can do anything, we need to learn more and repair our Gundams. Until then, we're powerless to do anything about it. For now, please just attend to your duties. Rest assured that Celestial Being will find a way to guide the world back into the light once again.

As the room emptied, Ian Vashti approached Setsuna, who remained seated, taking it all in. "Setsuna, I'd like to talk to you about your Gundams. As you know, the 00 Raiser is almost damaged beyond repair. I can fix it, but it's gonna be a long time before I get to it. Minimally damaged machines are getting first priority. Agares is in a similar state as 00. Exia, however.."

This got Setsuna's attention. Exia. His Gundam. He looked up to Ian, meeting his eyes.

"Exia's still damaged from the last fight it was in, but it's not so bad compared to most of the other machines. I could restore it to how it was before that last fight, but I've been thinking about doing something better. Just want to run it by you, since it's yours."

For the first time since waking up, Setsuna smiled.


Deep within Vingolf, Gjallarhorn's headquarters, a signal that had been sent out from Krung Thep finally reached Gjallarhorn's greatest treasure: Bael. Its slumber temporarily halted, the eyes flashed a pink crimson momentarily, receiving the locator signal and then sending back one of its own. Inside the cockpit, the main screen came on, showing a logo that had long since been buried by Gjallarhorn themselves. Then, the Gundam resumed its deep slumber. None were within the chamber that the legendary Gundam resided within, otherwise there might be cause for alarm.

However, there were multiple cameras to ensure nobody attempted to tinker with or sabotage the sleeping giant. Mostly, they were there for show. Nobody had ever been able to awaken it and the suit had to be moved into Vingolf's vault through cranes and lifts, so someone making it that far into the vault wouldn't ever be able to do much with it anyways, so the cameras largely went unmonitored.

All but one, that is. Inside a Gjallarhorn ship bound for Mars, a constant stream of the footage was being relayed through the various satellites placed between Earth and Mars directly to a tablet within McGillis Fareed's quarters, who had been watching when the signal reached Bael. At first, he wasn't sure what he saw. The video quality wasn't stellar, so he rewinded the footage and played it forward. Once. Twice. Three times.

A small, sinister smile graced his otherwise stoic face. He didn't know what had happened exactly, but he did know that not in the hundreds of hours of footage he'd watched of Bael had he ever seen this happen. It wasn't a self-maintenance routine. It wasn't someone trying to pilot Bael. It wasn't it trying to move on its own.

No, it was something else. Something related to all the things that Gjallarhorn must have buried so long ago. Fortunately for him, he was close to the very top of Gjallarhorn leadership. He was going to get all the answers he ever wanted, even if he had to dig them out of top-level archives. Even if he had to dig them out of Rustal Elion's flesh. He would find out the truth, awaken Bael himself, expose the disorder and corruption within Gjallarhorn, and lead the revolution himself. Even if he had to do it from the shadows. Even if he had to sacrifice his only friend.


Ian Vashti had a plan. A dream. A vision. Exia, but better. Faster. Stronger. Before, when Setsuna first joined Celestial Being, Exia was a tool that Setsuna used. It wasn't made specifically for him, but he was trained specifically for it, though that training never really took until it was too late in the game.

By the time Setsuna made his reappearance, he had outgrown Exia's capabilities, even without the limited repair state it was in that fateful day. Exia couldn't keep up with Setsuna, not even with Trans-Am, and soon Setsuna went on to pilot 00, removing the need for Exia to be brought up to match its Meister. Now, however, it was a different story.

While most of the other engineers were working on the colony repairs due to the 300 or so years of neglect with only Haros to keep up with extremely basic maintenance, Ian had a different task. Restoring Celestial Being's fighting power. He'd already assigned several people to assess what was needed for the other GN-Frames to be put back in working order. They were, after all, the least damaged since after the deployment of the ASW-G frames they became somewhat unnecessary.

With the information they had gathered, it appeared that GN drives had been 'forgotten', though that wasn't surprising considering the Mobile Armors were specifically designed to track down GN particles. Instead, Gjallarhorn and various other entities employed single Ahab reactor mobile suits, completely inferior to both GN and ASW-G frames, just barely ahead of where mobile suit technology was when they first started their interventions all those years ago. Having that shock and awe factor that GN frames were capable of, along with likely being an entirely unknown technology in this day and age, would be a significant factor in their favor.

After a lengthy discussion with Setsuna, along with going over footage of his most recent (relatively speaking) battles, and getting an idea of what Setsuna wanted out of his machine, his partner, Ian hammered out a few designs, though they each incorporated something another did not.

One design held extra GN Condensers to increase the overall performance and output available, kind of simulating a secondary GN Drive, along with a new kind of support craft much like the GNR-010 0 Raiser to increase the arsenal available to Setsuna and Exia. He'd even mocked up a few various pieces of equipment. This, he called Exia Astéri, or the Star of Authority.

The second design incorporated something from the GNW-002 Throne Zwei; Sword Bits, or 'Fangs', as they seemed to be called. They'd already had experience with Bit technology and it wouldn't be much different in that regard. However, this design also featured a 'flight pack' that resembled wings, somewhat similar to what Bael had, where the 'Fangs' resided within and a 'shield' that could also separate into two swords, and a fold-down sword/beam pistol much like the original Exia design had. This, he called Exia Fáros, or the Beacon of Authority.

The third and final complete design was much more simple and lived closer to the 'Seven Swords' designation that Exia had. Not one, but two fold-down sword that lacked beam pistols but still also doubled as small shields, which freed up the two hand manipulators for two medium-sized GN blades similar to what Bael has. Two larger swords would be fitted to shoulder pieces that employed GN Condenser technology to increase the lethal nature of Exia, and one very large GN Buster sword that could either be deployed as the main weaponry, or attached to the back of Exia. Likewise, the newly designed GN Buster employed GN Condenser technology to mimic the gigantic beam saber that the 00 once deployed, though on a smaller scale. Additionally, this design featured several easy to reach beam daggers. This, he called Exia Fántasma, or the Ghost of Authority.

Each design featured various improvements to the frame itself, increasing mobility and performance and decreasing stress, but Ian was a man of vision. When he saw an opportunity, he took it. So, when he brought the designs to Setsuna, and Setsuna complimented various aspects of all three designs, Ian knew what he had to do. Setsuna was humble and rarely made demands of people, especially when it came to Ian, so he'd learned to figure out how to read Setsuna that allowed him to provide him with the best possible machine and equipment. He knew there was only one path ahead for him.

"Gotta stuff ten pounds of crap into a five pound bag." And so, Ian Vashti went to work on what would be his greatest piece.


Post Disaster 323

January 6th

The first time he connected to Barbatos, it was like waking a sleeping giant. It was unlike any Mobile Worker he'd ever connected to. Mobile Workers were tools. Weapons. They were all very similar, if not the exact same thanks to the Old Man's hard work keeping them running. Barbatos, however, was different. Upon initializing the connection, Barbatos spoke to him. Not literally, but not completely metaphorically either.

It was like the voice in the back of his head. Speaking to him, learning from him. Teaching him.

He didn't have much time to process the information that circulated through his head the first time. The second time, however, was different. While the Gjallarhorn Officer made his grand speech about something he didn't care about, he connected to Barbatos once more. This time, however, Mika had time to appreciate the feeling. The knowledge. The voice.

It was like there were two different people within that cockpit, yet Mika was alone. The connection between them was stronger than the first time. The three links that connected him to Barbatos surged with raw energy. Power. He could feel his mind expand beyond its previous limits, making him think quicker and react faster.

While connected, he ceased to be Mikazuki Augus. Instead, he became something more.

A strange face popped into his mind momentarily. A man with blonde hair and a scar on his face? He didn't get a good look, as the image dissipated as the desire the need to fight arose within him. The Ahab reactor within spooled up and the thrusters began taking in air. The frame itself loosened up and the air around him, around Barbatos, started vibrating. The thrusters fired an initial burst, clearing out the dust and debris stuck in the vents to ensure a smooth operation, throwing dust and smoke around his crouched form.

"We're counting on you, Mika!" Orga Itsuka said. Mikazuki nodded silently within the cockpit of Barbatos in affirmation. He had to win, because Orga, Atra, Kudelia, and the others were counting on him. They all needed him to win, so he would.


Six hours later..

Nearly after the last Celestial Being member and operative, Setsuna F. Seiei came out of Cryosleep, several alarms sounded around the colony. After making their way to the briefing room, Sumeragi Lee Noriega began going over the cause for alarm. On a large screen within the room, footage from a shaky camera, clearly mounted to a mobile suit, began playing. Its opponent was shocking to everyone there who hadn't already seen the footage.

"Is that.. Barbatos?!" Setsuna exclaimed, a rare look of surprise on his face. Celestial Being's tactical forecaster nodded.

"It is. Much of its armor and weaponry is gone, but it's definitely Barbatos. Somehow it came into the hands of these people," She paused, bringing up images of various mercenary-looking people. "Chryse Guard Security, or CGS for short. They're a PMC operating in the Chryse region of Mars, but that's not all,"

She switched to a different image, one clearly taken from much further away, but of Barbatos again. The cockpit was open, and a small, young boy was stepping out of it. On his back looked to be three somewhat grotesque protrusions sticking out. "They employed dozens of child soldiers, and somehow this boy was able to pilot Barbatos. Apparently, he and many others have that bastardized version of Alaya-Vijnana. 'Whiskers', and this boy has three of them. It has to be how he's able to pilot Barbatos."

Setsuna could feel his blood boiling. He was a child soldier. He knew that life. Around him, his fellow Meisters were also perturbed. Especially Allelujah and Marie. Then, Allelujah caught what Ms. Sumeragi was saying. "Wait, you said 'employed' as in past-tense. What happened to the children?"

She switched the screen off, having no more images to show. "Actually, the word is the children killed a large portion of the adults within CGS and have re-branded as a group called 'Tekkadan'. They've drawn the attention of Gjallarhorn now that they've bested them not once, but twice. In addition, they've apparently accepted the job of escorting Kudelia Aina Bernstein to Earth to gain independence for Mars among other liberties they've been stripped of since Gjallarhorn started running things."

Sumeragi turned to face the Meisters, a grave look on her face. "Sooner or later, we'll need to do something. Our mission has gone from success to failure time and time again. Now, we've been given another chance, but the odds are once again stacked against us."

"At first, much like I'm sure you all felt, my first instinct was to retrieve Barbatos. We still don't know what happened to Graham and Gjallarhorn for this to all occur, but we all know that Gundams belong to Celestial Being. However.." She turned, turning the screen back on to the image of the boy stepping out of Barbatos's cockpit.

"I can't say I want to fight children. In fact, I'm largely against it. They have Barbatos, but like Katharon, they have understandable motives, and their feud is against Gjallarhorn, same as us. We laid the foundations of what Gjallarhorn has become, whether intentionally or not. If we target these children, if we target Tekkadan, we'll be no better than they are. Indiscriminate armed interventions are no longer an option if we want to stay true to who we are and not just what we are."

The Meisters nodded. They'd come too far from how they each started out to be at a point where they could conduct armed interventions against children. Setsuna stepped forward.

"Gjallarhorn has been determined for promoting war, conflict, and suffering. They are the cause of how things are now. It's our duty to correct this." He said vehemently. Not only did he not wish to fight children, he knew that things had progressed past the ability to act impartially.

One by one, each Meister walked forward in a sign of solidarity with Setsuna's decision. They'd already been through so much, but they couldn't just sit back and watch as something they had a hand in creating twisted the world to suit Gjallarhorn's whims.

It was time to get back to work.


Gjallarhorn Top-Level Archives, Entry #01637

Following the final battle against the Mobile Armors, the paramilitary 'Peacekeeping Organization' Celestial Being returned to space. Several Gjallarhorn operatives were entrusted to oversee the transport of various Gundam and non-Gundam frame Mobile Suits to a designated location at a specific time for pick-up.

Celestial Being had decided that Gjallarhorn had earned enough trust to keep the Valkyrja frames they had used to help ensure peace remained after the defeat of the Mobile Armors, but demanded the return of all other Celestial Being property. The overseer of Gjallarhorn and 'Gundam Meister' of Celestial Being, Graham Aker, assured that he would see it done.

Upon reaching the location at the proper time, Celestial Being was a no-show. Being a fairly new member of Celestial Being, Graham Aker had limited options in contacting them. After waiting several days and attempting several methods of contact, it was decided to take the various Mobile Suits into safe keeping with the intent to return them to Celestial Being should they ever return.


A/N: I had fun writing the first official chapter of The Devil's Legacy, and I've got a lot of good stuff planned for this story. It came out a bit shorter than I intended, but it felt right to end it here. I'm excited for what Exia will become. You know that feeling you got when Barbatos Lupus made its first appearance in episode 1 of season 2? I'm going for something like that for Exia, but without it breaking down afterwards. Hopefully. Sometimes things write themselves in. We'll see a bit more of Tekkadan in the next chapter as Celestial Being approaches its return.