"You people down there, are you satisfied with the way the world is? As for me.. I hate it."

Post Disaster 324

February 4th

In the conference room of the Krung Thep space colony, another meeting had been called. New footage of Barbatos fighting had been copied from Gjallarhorn's database. All Celestial Being operatives were present. Reviewing the footage, it was clear that the boy piloting Barbatos hadn't fought in space before, nor was Barbatos properly calibrated for zero-g combat.

"I'll give the kid credit, he's good. Reckless, but good." Lockon commented.

Tieria Erde rolled his eyes, scoffing. "Putting aside the recklessness of his comrade's actions with that asteroid, he was outnumbered, outgunned, and didn't take any measures to make combat in space easier. Reckless doesn't cover it."

"He's a kid. Younger than Setsuna when he first started piloting Exia. The fact that he's even able to pilot it without dying is an accomplishment." Allelujah countered.

"Either way, he's survived another fight with Gjallarhorn. They're on their way to Earth, according to Gjallarhorn's logs. However.." Ms. Sumeragi paused, changing the footage to one of their own feeds. It showed a similar looking ship to Tekkadan's, but with a large, bulbous front that seemed to act as a shield or ram following Tekkadan's ship just out of range of where their sensors could detect. "They're being followed, but not by Gjallarhorn yet. This ship seems to belong to a huge crime syndicate. Teiwaz."

The screen changed once again, outlining Teiwaz's power structure. "The ship specifically belongs to the Turbines, a subsidiary of Teiwaz. They're a bit more of a grey organization, taking both legitimate and illegitimate jobs. Also, it is comprised of almost entirely women and headed by one man. Naze Turbine."

Lockon whistled. "Either he's a true philanthropist or that's a harem of the highest degree. Maybe both."

Ms. Sumeragi nodded. "According to all the records we could get our hands on, every single member of his crew are his 'wives'. We don't know any other specifics about the Turbines. Teiwaz is more careful with their information than Gjallarhorn."

The screen clicked off. "As you all know, we've sent Fereshte to observe. Their equipment was less beat-up than our own, but they've been ordered to only use ASW-G-16 Zepar should they need to sortie unless they're at risk of losing it or Barbatos. Zepar's been minimally outfitted to avoid suspicion. If it gets out that we can fully outfit a Gundam with how expensive and old they are, Gjallarhorn is going to get more interested than we want at this point." Ms. Sumeragi stated.

Each member of Celestial Being knew the stakes. They'd been down this road before. Reveal equipment vastly superior and the other side will start improving their own. Even if they can never match performance, if they have vastly superior numbers and resources it doesn't matter. They needed to be careful.

Ms. Sumeragi ceded the floor to Ian Vashti, allowing him to bring them up to speed on the status of the repairs that needed to be made to both the colony and the Gundams. "Luckily for us, the morale of the workers here at Krung Thep is higher than expected. They didn't really know anyone outside of the colony, so coming out of cryo after 300 years wasn't as big of a deal as it could have been. Repairs are coming along pretty quickly as a result. We've focused on the GN Frames because they're an unknown and that makes them more valuable if we're attacked out of the blue." He paused, bringing up a live-feed of the Gundam hanger.

"Kyrios, Dynames, Astraea F2, and Raisel/Sefer went with Fereshte along with Zepar. Cherudim, Arios, and Saravee are all ready to sortie. Harute and Virtue are close to being ready. Arche Drei is a wreck that is only good for parts at this point. Exia is about 70% done. Everything else either hasn't been touched or is on the back-burner, including the ASW-G Frames." As Ian spoke the video panned across various Gundams, some of them actively under repair. Many of them still bore the scars of the war that, in their frame of reference, they just got done fighting.

"As for the colony itself, we've repaired the major issues. Our cloaking system is working as intended. But, we're operating on borrowed time. Without new shipments of materials, food, or water, we'll run out within a year if we don't sortie. If we do, each time we're rolling the dice on how much time we lose."

Just as Ian was finishing up his explanation, Feldt Grace hurriedly entered the room, causing the occupants to turn to her. "Fereshte has reported in stating that Tekkadan is fighting with the Turbines. They say it's not looking good and are requesting to sortie." She said, partly out of breath.

Ms. Sumeragi shook her head. "It's too soon. We still don't have enough information."

"If they don't, we risk losing Barbatos!" Tieria Erde stated. Though he'd gotten closer to understanding what it was to be human, he was still an Innovade and felt responsible for protecting the Gundams.

Surprisingly, Celestial Being's tactical forecaster agreed. "I know, but we can't send out Zepar. Not yet. Feldt, have Fereshte set up a live feed of the battle and to send over all relevant data they have."

McGillis Fareed was grinning like a madman. First there was the strange occcurance with Bael, and now a group of child soldiers, protecting a woman fighting for independence, were using another Gundam Frame?

It was fate. It had to be. Perhaps, somehow, Bael detected the activation of Barbatos? Or was it unrelated? He didn't know, and until he moved up in rank he would continue being in the dark about all this. Without access to the sealed Top-Level Archives, he didn't have any leads to follow unless Barbatos was somehow related to what happened with Bael.

As it was, it was the only lead he could follow, and it lined up perfectly with his duties for a change. No need to 'take a vacation' and go incognito as Mr. Montag. Not yet. Besides, it was important now for him to work on his public image to gain support for the future, especially with his new promotion awaiting him back on Earth. One step closer to his dream.

The pilot of Barbatos – that boy – had already become a piece in the game he was playing. He just hadn't determined if that piece would be an ally or enemy nor how disposable he was. The Alaya-Vijnana that were used by those who employed child soldiers was a cheap, bastardized version of what came before. That much he knew. To be able to pilot Barbatos, a 300 year old Gundam Frame, with the modern Alaya-Vijnana implants was a miracle of its own. His three 'whiskers' must have contributed to that. The surgery was dangerous and held compounded risk for each successive surgery, but he was able to withstand it three times. That meant, if nothing else, he was strong both physically and mentally. If he became an enemy, he would be problematic to deal with.

Post Disaster 324

February 9th

Barbatos felt strange. It was as if the machine was distracted by something. The joints felt stressed and the thrusters were less responsive than they usually were. The old man had said the reactor hadn't been fine-tuned yet, but this seemed like something else entirely, and this fight hadn't been helping that situation. But, Orga was counting on him. Everyone was counting on him.

"Mr. Augus, another Mobile Suit has begun attacking the Isaribi. Anti-aircraft artillery can't stop it."

"Another one?" Mikazuki questioned. He found being called 'Mr. Augus' strange, but they had another enemy to face and he couldn't risk any unnecessary to the Isaribi.

"Don't look away!" Came another voice on an open channel.

"Mikazuki!" Akihiro warned, dragging Barbatos, dragging him out of the line of fire that had come his way in his moment of distraction.

Getting his head in the game, Mikazuki focused. There was an enemy attacking the Isaribi and only Barbatos was fast enough to get back to deal with it. That meant there was no other choice but to trust Akihiro. Not that he didn't already trust him. He just didn't like putting him in that situation.

"Sorry, Akihiro. Can you take the two in front of us?"

There was a short pause before a reply came over the radio. "Yeah, you bet."

"I'll be right back." He promised. Correcting his rotation, he spun Barbatos, himself, around and started to speed back towards the Isaribi.

"Leaving your friend out in the cold?" Came that voice again in the open channel, followed almost immediately by a grunt of surprise before the transmission cut out. Mikazuki smiled. The only person who ever got close to beating him in the melees they'd run for CGS was Akihiro, and just because he couldn't beat him didn't mean he couldn't stall those two until he got back.

On his way back, even as far away as he was, he could see the moving light from the Mobile Suit's thrusters running circles around the Isaribi. It was fast. Faster than him. But it wasn't just fast, it was agile as well. Not as agile as Barbatos, as he was, but enough to compound the problem. He realized he wouldn't be getting back to Akihiro as soon as he thought he would.

Either way, he'd need to get its attention first. He fired and having a feeling that the pilot would be able to dodge the first shot, swung around and fired again. It dodged both shots, but the pilot clearly knew he was there now.

"How dare you mess with our ship," He said over the open channel before firing again. He didn't think he had any chance of landing any shots at range, but it put him as a priority to deal with over the Isaribi.

"You're so cheeky." Came the reply. Another girl. Younger than the other one from the sound of her voice. Just how many of the Turbines were women?

Mikazuki narrowly dodged two shots that came at him after the side-mounted guns rotated backwards, towards him. That distracted him long enough for it to swing around and go past him in the direction he just came from at an incredible speed.

"Damn it, it's fast." He commented. He was at a disadvantage in almost every regard. She was faster than him, obviously had more experience piloting a Mobile Suit than him especially in open space, and Barbatos was still acting strange. The only thing he had working in his favor in that moment was his willingness and ability to take any punishment she could dish out.

Not giving him a chance to breathe, the Mobile Suit swung back around and accelerated towards him while firing. "My propulsion power is stronger!"

Two shots landed before he could turn around, decimating the small amount Nanolaminate armor Barbatos had on the back of its legs, exploding into a mix of fragments and purple smoke. The other Mobile Suit accelerated past him before arcing back towards him, firing several more times, one of which hit the left shoulder. His left shoulder. "You're too slow!"

"Damn it, this is endless." Mikazuki said, dodging several more shots.

She was right. He was too slow. As she circled him and fired shots that occasionally hit, he knew he wouldn't be able to keep up with her speed. It would become death by a thousand cuts if he wasn't smart about this. However, he wasn't the best pilot within CGS or Tekkadan because he was fast. He was the best because he could think on his feet, stay calm in battle, and when it came time for it, to do what nobody else would think of.

Two more shots hit him, exploding more fragmented Nanolaminate armor and purple smoke. This time, however, it wasn't without reciprocation.

"There!"

He raised Barbatos's left arm, his left arm, and fired the Wire Claw that he'd taken from that Gali-Gali guy back above Mars. It dug deep into the other Mobile Suit, effectively leashing it to him.

"This is nothing!" Came the voice of the pilot. She accelerated and swung around violently like a bucking horse, trying to shake him loose. It was at that moment Mikazuki became aware that the inertial dampeners weren't working, as he was being subjected to g-forces that would make any normal person pass out in an instant. He wasn't normal, so instead he just groaned in protest to what his body was being subjected to.

He raised his smoothbore rifle and fired again. With him being towed around, he actually had a better chance of hitting than he did before.

"Your inertial control isn't working, right? You'll suffer if you don't let go."

Of course she'd picked up on that. For a moment all he could do was stay conscious, so he wasn't able to fight back in that moment and was just dragged along. If she didn't pick up on that, she wouldn't have been a very good pilot. But she did, and she was.

"If I let go, you'll go sink the Isaribi."

"But that's what a battle is for."

Mikazuki grit his teeth. "You won't get in Orga's way."

"You're the one that's in the way!" Came the reply before she accelerated harder, going into a small cluster of asteroids and wrapping the wire they were attached by around one. He realized her plan. If he didn't need to brace himself for the impact, he might've smiled. She was good. A better pilot than him. But she didn't have as much patience as him. She didn't think her plan through nearly enough.

Just before he and Barbatos impacted the asteroid with a force that would've at the very least caused considerable damage, in the corner of his eye he saw some kind of glimmering, pink light. Then, the impact came and his smoothbore rifle exploded, cutting the line of sight between the two.

"Good bye, little boy. It was fun."

What she forgot about when making this plan was his mace. A perfect anchor to tether him to the asteroid, and her to him. Her propulsion power and speed ceased to matter if she was tethered to an object that had more mass than she could move.

"I finally got you." He whispered, yanking the wire, sending her flying back towards the asteroid. She had more speed, but Barbatos has more strength than any Mobile Suit they've come across, and hers was no exception. She impacted the asteroid next to him at almost as much force as he did when she was towing him into it in the first place. He dislodged his mace from the rocky surface and prepared to strike.

"It's time for you to disappear." Mikazuki said. He didn't know if he was still broadcasting or not. He didn't care.

"Don't underestimate me!" Came the reply. Two arms dislodged from the elongated back, surprising Mikazuki. However, they were unable to fully deploy since the wire had tangled around the frame, preventing them from extending far enough to do anything but throw him off-balance. The mace, being used as a spear, slid along to one side of her Mobile Suit, gouging out one of the arms and making it inoperable.

"You're a sore loser." He said. He knew that if this went on, he'd win. She was one arm down, still tethered to him, and she didn't have any close-range weapons. Her small-caliber guns wouldn't be a problem to deal with this close, either.

"You, too. Girls hate pressing boys, you know."

"Then let's end this." He said, no remorse or mercy in his voice. If she wanted to die, he'd help her.

"That's enough, Mika! It's been settled." Mikazuki heard Orga's voice say. Almost immediately, another voice was heard over the same open channel.

"Sorry for the trouble, Amida. Come back. I've decided to hear their story."

Mikazuki breathed a sigh of relief. If this battle had gone on longer, they might've been in trouble. The other two were probably good pilots, too. With Barbatos so banged up, it might've been a close call. He turned his attention to the direction in which he was the pink light, but nothing was there. Was it just his imagination?

What definitely wasn't his imagination was the fact that Barbatos's joints felt better than they did when the battle started despite the punishment they had been put through. He hadn't made many on-the-fly adjustments during the battle, so he wasn't sure what had relieved the strange stress that he was feeling before.

"In the end, Leo aborted Dynames's long-range firing sequence after we picked up a cease-fire order from the leaders of both Tekkadan and Teiwaz. Nobody seemed to notice our presence and we were far outside sensor range for them to detect us even if their sensors can ignore GN particles."

"Thank you, Chall. Report back on any major updates and continue monitoring their communications."

The screen clicked off and Ms. Sumeragi felt the tension release from her body. They had come dangerously close to doing something that could reveal their existence to the world well before they were ready.

She took a moment to forward the report to the others before grabbing one of the last few bottles of scotch she had stashed away over 300 years ago. For just a moment she wondered what it might go for if she put it up for sale before opening the seal and pouring herself a glass. She raised a silent toast to Billy Katagiri who had given his life preparing a series of test Mobile Suits for an ambush against a Mobile Armor in the early days of the war.

Post Disaster 324

February 21st

Although Krung Thep was primarily a manufacturing colony, it wasn't without luxuries. It had three different parks that emulated being back on Earth. Green grass, tall trees, clear ponds, and simulated blue skies. In one of these parks, Setsuna, Feldt, and Nena sat together on a blanket with a basket of food in the middle.

Celestial Being afforded few chances to find love when their work was constantly getting in the way of that, so it was largely encouraged by others within the group to hang onto whatever love they might find regardless of what the nature of it was. Though the relationship between the three was complex at best, there was no mistaking that they loved each other and didn't get many chances to just live together.

"This is nice. We don't get to do something like this often." Feldt commented, breaking the contented silence.

Nena nodded her head in agreement. "We don't. I just wish.. I wish the others could be here. I don't think they ever got to see this place."

She wasn't talking about the other living Gundam Meisters. She was talking about Saji, and Graham, and Neil, and everyone else who didn't make it through the war. Wars.

Setsuna didn't say anything, but he didn't have to. They both knew that Celestial Being was the only family he had. That was something that the three of them had in common. Each death hit them hard. Each memory was of a time they didn't think things through well enough, didn't fight hard enough, or didn't make it in time. The good memories were easy to overlook when looking back at the reasons they died. The silver lining was that none of them knew what happened to Graham after the colony went into lockdown and they were forced to go into cryostasis. They still hadn't found any record of what happened to him or the other original members of Gjallarhorn.

Nine Hours Later...

Barbatos had been given some heavy maintenance by Teiwaz's engineers, bringing it closer to the original setup that was documented over 300 years ago. They'd improved the weight balance, changed out worn-down parts, and the two Ahab Reactors were given an overhaul to improve the output and performance. That's why Mikazuki could tell that during their first encounter with the Brewers, Barbatos was in a good mood. Gone was the strange strain and seemingly lower reaction times. It didn't feel like it was distracted.

Unfortunately, that didn't last. The moment he connected to Barbatos before they were about to lure the Brewers into a trap, he could tell something was wrong. It felt just like it did before Teiwaz got their hands on Barbatos. Fortunately, after training in the simulators with Lafter, Azee, and Akihiro, he was a better pilot now, and strain or not, Barbatos was still Barbatos. Fighting is what he – what they – did best.

With the enemy's ships disabled, there was less to worry about. However, Akihiro had something he needed to do and both Azee and Lafter were helping him with that. That left him and Amida to deal with the rest.

Unfortunately, 'the rest' constituted a sizeable force, and they all had Alaya-Vijnana implants like him. The big Mobile Suit he was tasked with taking out was a lot more powerful than the other, smaller ones. Like the others, the pilot clearly had Alaya-Vijnana implants as well. However, what made him difficult to deal with was his armor. He could fly circles around him, but his sword couldn't cut deep enough to do any real damage.

He didn't know how to use a sword effectively, but it was the only weapon he had left and, unlike Barbatos, which by design was meant more for ground combat, his opponent's Mobile Suit was faster, if much less agile, than his. The others kept getting in his way just long enough for him to become a problem for someone else.

"Wait, what is that?! Another Mobile Suit?" Came Lafter's voice over the radio.

Then, something happened. Every joint in Barbatos seized as his proximity alert went off. The monitor enlarged, showing an extremely fast Mobile Suit heading right towards the others, and it was far enough away that it wasn't clearly defined. Did they have another card to play?

No. As it got closer to the battlefield, it became more defined on the monitor. It wasn't just a Mobile Suit. It was a Gundam. It had a minimal amount of armor, but the armor that it did have was pristine. The only weapon it carried was a sword. An image flashed in his mind of that very same Gundam, but it was painted and outfitted differently. Then, another image of it fighting some giant, blurry machine. Then another, and another.

He'd never seen this Gundam in his life. The only Gundam he ever saw was Barbatos. But.. he'd never seen it before, but it was a Gundam, and all Gundams were involved in the Calamity War according to Teiwaz's resident engineer. Had Barbatos seen this Gundam before? Did it fight together against whatever that machine was? Was Barbatos showing him these images?

Another image, this time of a man. The man he saw before when he connected to Barbatos the second time with blonde hair and a scar on his face. Who was he? What was happening? The image faded and the other Gundam struck. The sword it had was much like the one he had, and it used that sword to slice through the joints and gaps in the armor, tearing into the Brewers' Mobile Suits like a hot knife through butter. It was like there wasn't any resistance cutting through the metal frames of the Mobile Suits, using minimal effort to deliver debilitating strikes.

"What the hell is that?! Gjallarhorn didn't say anything about two Gundams!" Came another voice. The pilot of the Mobile Suit he was supposed to be dealing with. Yet, Mikazuki was too awestruck by this new arrival's actions to do anything but stare.

The entire event felt like he watched it in slow motion, but in reality it only lasted a few moments before the rogue Gundam disappeared into the debris field and didn't return. Those few moments, however, turned the tide of battle for them significantly, and it was able to do it without killing a single pilot or completely destroying their Mobile Suit.

"Who was that? Someone from the Teiwaz?"

"No, nobody else in Teiwaz has a Gundam Frame. You don't know who that was?"

"No."

He understood, then, how to use the sword in the hands of Barbatos. In his hands. It was like he absorbed the knowledge of that scene to use as his own. He just knew. It became instinct instantly. Then, the battle with the big Mobile Suit was back on. However, he was still more agile than it, and that's more important when fighting with a sword. Agility and precise strikes. Not the brutality that the mace called for.

'I'm getting the hang of using this.'

As he made his strikes, the other pilot's voice cried out in frustration over the open channel. Yet..

'What? That's strange. What is this feeling? Why do I feel this way?'

He struck again, and again, each strike dealing real damage to his opponent's Mobile Suit.

"Don't mess with me! You're enjoying this, aren't you?! The killing of men!"

Huh?

"For goodness sake, just die! Die! Why won't you just die?!"

'I'm enjoying this?' He thought, preparing his final strike.

Maybe. Maybe he was.

"Well, whatever. It's good if this one dies anyways."

Then, he struck, stabbing the tip of his sword down the front of the other Mobile Suit where there wasn't any armor protecting the area between the chest and the head, killing the pilot and destroying the cockpit in the process. This way, they could recover the Mobile Suit without having to do very many major repairs. It had the Alaya-Vijnana system. Maybe Akihiro could use it instead and have Shino or someone use the Graze?

Post Disaster 324

February 23rd

It was done. Exia had been transformed from a 3rd generation Gundam into a true 5th generation Gundam. It had taken the data from the Avalanche retrofit of Exia, 00, Bael, and the original Exia design to piece together what was without a doubt one of the greatest Mobile Suits Celestial Being has ever made. The armor protecting the internals of the frame was similar to what was there before, only now it looked more streamlined and efficient. However, the armor was the least important change made.

Two medium-sized, high performance GN Condensers were mounted to the shoulders, similar to the Avalanche retrofit but smaller in size. Two small GN condensers also mounted to the sides and back of the knee joints in such a way that still allowed for a full range of motion. These four extra GN Condensers combined with Exia's GN Drive allowed the new Exia to surpass the 00 Raiser's base performance by huge margins.

Additionally, a 'flight pack' was designed for the new Exia to allow for more agile in-atmosphere flight and an additional array of weaponry. It was similar in looks to Bael's flight pack, but the applications of it were completely different. Within the 'wings' were four Sword Bits that were controlled by the Bit Control System within Exia, operable only by someone who could use Quantum Brainwaves. Two of these Sword Bits were similarly sized and shaped as a sword, and the other two, which mounted to the longer pieces at the end, were GN Particle Sword Bits, or 'fangs' that were more agile than the larger Bits. Up to six of each kind of Bit could be installed into the flight pack, but only two of each could be made with their limited materials in mind.

Exia's armaments were also updated. Two GN Buster Sword Kai were produced to be able to be mounted to the GN Condensers on Exia's shoulders. This allowed them to be coated with GN Particles before striking, theoretically allowing them to become an analogue to the gigantic beam saber Setsuna used with the 00 all those years ago fighting the A-Laws. While mounted, they absorbed stray GN Particles discharged from the Condensers that increased their cutting power simply by being there.

A shield was designed for Exia as well, one that could be mounted to either arm. It starts off large, but two GN Battle Blades that are attached to the shield are able to be removed and used in combat on-the-fly. These swords have their own 'Rifle Mode' that can be used to engage targets at medium to long range and are capable of being fitted with Bit technology after Celestial Being acquires more materials.

The hand manipulators were also changed to be more claw-like, similar to the majority of ASW-G Frames, which prove to be valuable in desperate times. Finally, Exia's primary weapon was completely redesigned. Its folding GN Sword that doubled as a pistol and buckler shield had been improved in design while retaining the quickness of the original's folding speed. Newer materials were used to ensure it cut quicker and cleaner than the other two as well.

There were other designs Ian had been mocking up, but those could wait. Exia was finished.

No. Exia Sṓzō was finished. The Savior of Authority. Setsuna's partner.

Ian walked over to a terminal and dialed a number.

"Setsuna? It's done."

Gjallarhorn Top-Level Archives, Entry #02022

After the restructuring of Gjallarhorn in 76PD, all public information relating to Celestial Being was slowly scrubbed from all information sources and all relevant documents were seized under the authority of local governments and immediately disposed of.

Following this, all citations regarding the Calamity War and the Anno Domini era were changed to reference only Gjallarhorn as the reason for the war ending to retain public support. Several of those within Gjallarhorn who were still aware of Celestial Being were given 'Noble' status, a Gundam Frame as a symbol of such, and sworn to secrecy.

Aside from Bael, which was kept as Gjallarhorn's own symbol of power, Dantalion, Amy, Kimaris, Andras, Sitri, Marax, Asmoday, Halphas, Gremory, Astaroth, Vual, and the majority of Valkyrja Frame Mobile Suits were distributed to parties that the upper-leadership of Gjallarhorn deemed deserving. Some were thought to be stolen from secure facilities or in-transit, but the upper-leadership has denied all allegations of such events occurring.