Exia Displaced Ch 9
Bonus Side Story: Kira's new job – Phase 14.
At Morgenroete HQ, Kira met his new boss; Erica Simmons was the senior engineer of Mobile Suit Research and Development as well as an integral member of the Astray Project.
"So you're our new Program Analysis." She said looking Kira over before turning back to examining his dossier. In her early thirties, she had chin length brown hair and hazel eyes. "It says you stumbled across our side project with the Federation at Heliopolis."
"Yes that's me." He said nervously. "Cagalli said that they were the Earth Forces new mobile weapons."
Erica arched an eyebrow at him. "Cagalli?"
Kira flinched, had he said something he shouldn't have? "She was with me when we were searching for a lifeboat; we stumbled across them in the factory area." He explained. Strangely enough her expression seemed more amused than reproachful.
'Poor boy has no idea who he's been talking to all this time.' Erica thought ruefully. 'Knowing that girl, she probably prefers it that way. Oh well...'
"Anyway." She started, "follow me and I'll introduce you to the test pilots you'll be working with."
She led him to one of the briefing rooms. Upon entering, Kira was surprised to see three (cute) girls close to his age. "Kira, these three are; Asagi Kodoueru the team leader, Mayura Lapats, and Julie Nien. Girls this Kira Yamato, our new Program Analysis."
"""A cute boy?!""" The three of them quickly crowded around him. Kira felt a little overwhelmed.
Asagi had chin length blonde hair and blue eyes. Mayura had ear length red hair and blue eyes. Julie had dark blue hair, amber eyes and wore glasses with pink frames. They were each about 16 years old.
'Adolescent girls…' Erica sighed. "That's enough you three; you're here to work, not to flirt. No funny business, you hear me."
"""Yes, ma'am!""" The three acknowledged.
"Well, It goes without saying that the three of them are Naturals, it'll be pointless otherwise, they will be testing the OS you'll be helping us develop, and provide feedback." Erica told him. "Our Coordinator pilots are currently calibrating their machines and practicing maneuvers under Lady Mina's supervision. Unless we succeed in developing a Natural Use MOS, they'll make up the bulk of Orb's Mobile Suit Division."
Seeing Kira put off, Erica placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder and said. "Sorry, I don't mean to put pressure on you. It just…"
"Important." Kira finished.
"Yes. I'm afraid so." Erica sighed ruefully. "With your help, I'm hoping to improve our chances."
Since then, Kira and the girls became fast friends over the course of their work on the Astrays, whether it is the team lead Asagi, the tomboyish Mayura, or the tech savvy Julie.
Naturally he had introduced the three girls to his friends Sai, Kuzzey, Tolle and Miriallia, who had all been transferred to the local Morgenroete technical college, except of course for Flay who had returned to the Atlantic Federation, the status of her engagement with Sai was unknown at this point.
The eight of them had met for lunch at a local café. After ordering, they chattered while they waited.
"So, what is it that you three do at Morgenroete?" Kuzzey asked the girls.
"We stress test prototype technology for R&D..." Asagi answered.
"However, the control software can be a little buggy..." Julie added.
"This was why we needed a program analyst to optimize the software." Mayura finished.
Naturally a lot of the specifics were left unspoken as they couldn't talk about the Astray Project with his friends as they weren't involved with the project themselves.
"I see." Sai said, "I imagine that such a position would be rather lucrative."
"I'll say." Tolle quipped. "So, you four run into each other often at work?"
"Part of the optimization process requires feedback from us on how certain components perform while interacting with other components, and resolving any software errors we encounter. At times Kira himself would physically inspect the component when it is too large to move to his workstation." Julie answer, "Given how frequently we are stress testing, then yes, we see Kira a lot around the facility."
"Oh, Kira gets regular visits from three girls."
"Or he goes looking for them. What a player."
Tolle and Miriallia mercilessly teased him about his new liaisons.
"Shut up! Unlike you, I have to work with them after this." Kira complained.
"How's progress on replacing the Natural use MOS?" Mina asked. She had called Erica from the satellite platform Ame-no-Mihashira in geosynchronous orbit above Orb.
"Kira has been a great help, we're making steady progress." Erica told her. "The only way this could go faster is if we had a look at the original MOS installed on Red Frame. But with Gina gunning for them, I doubt we'll have an opportunity to analyze it."
"I see. Well, you're in luck. My brother had to divert his attention elsewhere for the immediate future." Mina informed her.
"Another one of his black ops?" Erica asked.
"Do you really want to know?"
"No." She denied. Understanding the necessity, didn't mean she agreed with his tactics.
"Regardless, a window of opportunity has opened. Make the most of it." Mina cut the connection.
Erica made a call. "Julie, would come to my office, I have a special task for you."
Exia Astray 3; The Spy That Stole My Ride
After the Liteiria colony conversion, Lowe and the crew had stopped by the PLANTs after salvaging an experimental GINN, while they were there they thwarted an attack on the PLANTs by a Blue Cosmos fleet. However, because Red Frame's participation was unauthorized they were evicted from the PLANT's airspace.
Marlin's 1st day.
At the civilian space satellite Barnacle, the H.O.M.E. had docked for much needed maintenance.
Like most large satellites in Earth's orbit, the majority of them were converted asteroid mines made from hollowed out asteroids. Others included the likes of Actecon Industries Development Facility satellite, and Eurasia's Artemis Space Fortress.
Oddly enough maintenance was the last thing on a certain Junk Tech's mind.
"You idiot!" Lowe yelled.
[You're the idiot!] 8 retorted.
"That armor slows me down!" Lowe argued back, "And I'm not an idiot!"
Stepping into the hangar, Liam asked. "Are they arguing again?"
"Yup." Kisato confirmed, "They've been at it for a while."
"He's been working on upgrading Red Frame and slacking on maintenance." She complained to Liam.
Liam grimaced. "He knows the ship's here for a maintenance overhaul."
"Uh…" Came a voice from behind him.
He glanced back the way he came. "Oh, excuse me!" He said, "The Guild sent us an intern." He told Kisato.
"Oh really?" She asked excited at the prospect of extra help given that a certain somebody constantly found excuses to be preoccupied.
Liam motioned for the intern to enter. "Let me introduce her-" He started, however, the person in question cut him off pushing past.
"Yuppers! The Guild sent me here to learn the ropes! I'll be here for a whole week." The girl said. She wore trousers, a black long sleeved shirt and short sleeved jacket with the Junk Guild emblem on both shoulders left open at the front to reveal a surprisingly tantalizing bust. Her chin length black hair was tied back and a pair of goggles rested on her forehead.
"My name is Marlin!" She introduced herself, "thanks for having me!"
"Wow! A girl!" Kisato exclaimed ecstatic to have another girl on board. "How are you-?!"She offered to shake the new girl's hand only to stumble when Marlin bypassed Kisato, her attention fixated on what was behind her in the hangar.
"Ohmigod! You have a mobile suit!" Marlin exclaimed referring to both Liam's GINN, and Lowe's Red Frame. Behind Marlin, Liam tried to console a despondent Kisato.
"You're the intern? Nice to meet ya! I'm Lowe. This is 8." Lowe introduced himself while holding up 8 with [Hello!] displayed across its screen. "I expect you to work hard!"
'He's Lowe Gear! What a cutie!' Was her initial reaction to meeting him. "Of course! No problem!?"
"I'll give you some instructions." He said turning away oblivious to her reaction.
"Already? But I just got here." Marlin muttered in disbelief.
"Yes," Lowe answered. "First, I want you to look over these parts." He told her referring to a loose assortment of salvage floating about in the hangar's micro gravity. "Enter the data for the performance tests into 8. Then there's tons more to do when you're done."
As Lowe gave out her instructions, Marlin looked up at Red Frame with a peculiar expression. 'This is my target! Prototype MBF-P02!' Suddenly a large object banged into her head.
"Be careful!" Lowe warned her. "We've got all kinds of parts floating around here."
"Got it…" She groaned rubbing her head. 'What the hell…'
"Being a Junk Tech is so not my style…" She muttered until she got a good look at what had hit her. "What?!" 'Prototype 01's arm?! From the Gold Frame!' She realized. "What is this doing here?!"
"Huh? Say something?" Lowe asked.
"Oh, nothing." She replied before asking. "Um… Where did you get this?"
"Duh, I found it." Lowe answered. "At Heliopolis."
Suddenly Marlin grabbed him by the lapels. "What about the body? Do you have any other parts?" She demanded.
"I only found the right arm." He told her. "I think the rest got buried inside Heliopolis."
Marlin let go of his jacket. "Oh really? What a waste, it's so pretty. Tee-hee!" She said trying to cover for her outburst, which surprisingly Lowe seemed to accept. Brilliant engineer that he was, he can be dense when it came to people, particularly girls as Kisato could attest.
"She's a bit strange…" Liam noted.
"She's annoying." Kisato griped.
Marlin's 2nd day.
Having spent the previous day doing performance tests on salvaged equipment and uploading the results into the portable terminal '8,' Marlin went about stowing away all the parts floating about the ship's hold for safe transport.
All the while keeping tabs on Lowe in the hangar as he continued to squabble with his computer regarding modifications to Red Frame.
As she went about her business of squaring everything away. She noticed that in one of the docking cradles the silhouette of a mobile suit covered by a tarp.
"Um…Lowe." She called out. "What about this one?"
Lowe glanced at the tarp she pointed to. "That's the Professor's private project, a little mystery we dug up from Heliopolis." He explained, "It's different from the Red Frame we found."
'Could it be one of those five?' She wondered racalling the Omni Enforcer's G Project.
"Pity it isn't functional," he continued. "The more she tells me about it, the more it sounds like a sweet ride."
"Better than Red Frame?" She asked, her curiosity piqued.
"Well that's hard to say-" He started to say until the Professor whacked him over the head with 8's terminal interrupting him.
"I think you've said enough," The Professor rebuked him. "We have enough trouble with thieves trying to steal Red Frame. The last thing we need is for them to try for this thing, if you want to tell her about it wait until we've left dock, which won't happen until the maintenance overhaul is completed."
With a swift kick to Lowe's rear, she booted him towards Red Frame. "Which would go a lot faster if you got out there and helped? Marlin, come with me to the bridge and help me coordinate the station crew with ours.
"Ah, right!" Marlin hurried after the Professor. She spent the next two helping her coordinating the two groups.
Marlin's 5th day.
"These docking fees are way over budget." Liam grimaced having tallied the total cost of the H.O.M.E's overhaul. "If you hadn't spend so much time tinkering with Red Frame, Lowe…"
"Ha! A GINN or two will easily make up for the Cost." Lowe said dismissively.
"That's not the point," Kisato rebuked. "We could've been finished sooner if you came out and helped us."
"Hey! Those upgrades are essential to protecting us from thieves." Lowe groused.
"This wouldn't be a problem if you sold the damn thing!" Kisato countered.
"That's enough you two." The Professor intervened. "For today we will focus our efforts on my personal project."
"But I was going to continue work on Red Frame." Lowe complained.
"Too bad. It's on the backburner for now. Who knows, I might've allowed it if you hadn't spent most of our maintenance schedule screwing around."
With the maintenance complete, the H.O.M.E. detached from Barnacle Station, and Marlin finally got to see the mysterious mobile suit under the tarp.
When it was finally unveiled, it wasn't quite what she expected. Its design was considerably different from your typical mobile suit, armor was minimal, and its limbs were clearly designed for a wider range of motion compared to that of the GINN or Red Frame. Most notable of all was the hole melted through its chest.
'This was at Heliopolis…?' Marlin wondered. "What happened to it?"
"We're not entirely certain." Liam answered her. "Analysis of the damage is indicative of an energy weapon akin to Red Frame's beam saber."
"So, what are we doing with this suit?" Marlin asked curiously.
"This mobile suit is outfitted with a number of exotic technologies," The Professor explained. "However, we don't understand how they work exactly, so we're going to power up the suit in the hope that we can glen some insight from its computer.
Unfortunately the suits power plant is tied into those very same technologies which had been critically damaged before it was abandoned. Fortunately the computer runs off electricity so I'm having Lowe patch in one of the ultracompact batteries from a GINN into the suits power grid so we can start it up."
"All hooked up!" Lowe called out.
"Start her up, Liam." The Professor instructed.
"Initiating startup." Liam confirmed. Inside the cockpit he booted up the system. It had taken some time to identify the switches inside the cockpit comparing them to the console layout of other mobile suits they had onboard, even so, some of the functions were still a mystery.
[IIOS] The display read. [Individual Information Attestation System Start Up.]
Suddenly a scanner mounted to the ceiling of the cockpit scanned Liam's eyes.
[Alert! Invalid ID, ceasing start up!]
And just like that the mobile suit went dark.
"What happened, Liam?" the Professor asked.
"Security system." He answered as he clambered out of the cockpit.
"What type?"
"Biometrics, retina scan."
"Crap!" She swore. "Whoever built this really didn't want others messing with their stuff. I guess this is as far as we go."
"That's it?! We're not going to try anything else? What about overwriting the MOS?" Marlin suggested.
"It's possible," Liam agreed. "But without knowing how the hardware interacts with the software, best case scenario; nothing works-"
"Worst case scenario; the software glitches out, and the hardware fries itself." The Professor added. "The same applies to a physical tear down of the unit. If we compromise the suits integrity and fail to learn anything, there are no do-overs, and I've no idea who builds stuff like this. I don't even think the Coordinators on the PLANTs are working on this, what with the war and all. Unfortunately the H.O.M.E. is a salvage ship, not a science vessel; we're not equipped to perform in depth analysis."
The Professor sighed in disappointment. "Sorry guys, but I'm afraid we're going to have to take a chance and outsource some help."
"Surely we're not going to those Actecon Industries assholes." Lowe groused.
"Of course not." The Professor dismissing the possibility. "After attempting to steal Red Frame from us we can't trust them not to escalate the situation should they learn about this unit. Personally, I'm leaning toward Morgenroete, or DSSD."
And just like that, Marlin's introduction to the mystery mobile suit came to an end.
Marlin's last day.
"So how's the intern?" The Professor asked.
"She's kind of clumsy." Lowe answered. "She knows her shit though. She's no amateur."
"Do you think she worked for Actecon or Morgenroete?" Kisato wondered.
"If that were the case, she would not be a Junk Tech intern." Liam pointed out.
"Maybe she's got a really good reason." The Professor interjected before asking. "What's she doing right now?"
"She's pulling maintenance on Red Frame." Liam answered perplexed.
"Do you really think that's a bright idea?" The Professor asked them.
"Sure! I left 8 with her." Lowe answered misinterpreting her meaning. "He'll help her out."
"Oh, I don't think she needs much help." The Professor said in a peculiar tone.
A dubious feeling came over Kisato. "Wait a sec-"
Suddenly there was a shudder throughout the ship followed by an alarm. "What the hell?" Lowe wondered.
"See…" The Professor said casually taking a sip from her water bottle. "Red Frame just broke through the cargo bay."
"That little brat!" Lowe shouted in outrage,
'Brilliant each of them is in their own way, and yet they can be as dumb as bricks. Ah the human condition.' The Professor thought with a sigh.
Meanwhile, outside the ship, Marlin zoomed away in her stolen Red Frame.
[You thief!] 8's blared accusingly.
"You're a noisy little machine." Marlin complained as she worked the controls. "Stop bugging me!"
[Return to the ship! Now!]
"Whoa! Damn!" Marlin had to readjust her flight path a couple of times. "Just like ridin' a bicycle!"
Eventually she corrected her course. Her objective was to meet up with an unmarked transport. "All right, I'm getting the hang of this, and I'm a Natural! They put a lot of work into this OS." She remarked as she perused the data stored in Red Frame.
[You can't operate this safely! Go back!]
She intended to steal it earlier today, but, she curious about the mysterious mobile suit under the tarp.
"The Gerbera Straight? Very Interesting." She said, however the accompanying data threw her for a loop. "What the hell is this data?"
"Stop!" Demanded a familiar voice over the radio. Marlin looked behind her and saw a Chimera pursuing her. She recognized it as one used by the Junk Guild. "Listen, girlie, that's my ride – and I don't like to share!" Lowe declared as he closed the distance.
"No!" Marlin denied. "The P02 was originally ours."
"What are you takin' about?!" Lowe demanded.
"I'm taking it back!" She declared.
"I don't think so!" Lowe lunged at her with the Chimera's drill.
"What?!" She barely fended him off with Red Frame's shield, though the impact still knocked her about. "Damn brute!"
Lowe cringed. "You better learn some evasive maneuvers! I really don't wanna damage my machine!" It's not like he could find replacement parts as if it were a common GINN.
[WARNING. MS approaching!] 8 announced to both of them.
"What now?!" Marlin demanded in frustration, none of this was turning out as she planned.
"A mobile suit?" Lowe wondered as they both faced the intruder. As it got closer, Lowe made out a familiar silhouette. "A GINN?"
That's when the approaching GINN fired on Red Frame.
Marlin brought up her shield in the nick of time. "Aaaagghh!"
"Duck dammit!" Lowe told her.
Marlin ignored him. "Cocky bastard! I'm just getting warmed up. Time to bust out this baby's best toys."
She took aim at the GINN. "Gotta love the beam rifle!" And fired. However, the GINN nimbly dodged it.
"What?!" Marlin exclaimed. "That maneuver worked during simulations!"
The GINN quickly closed and batted her rifle away. "Look, I'm just here for the mobile suit." The GINN broadcasted. "Pilot, you will be exterminated." And took aim at Red Frame's cockpit.
"Over my dead body!" Lowe tackled the GINN with his Chimera restraining the GINN with his Chimera's arms. "How many times do I have to say it? Red Frame is MINE!"
"Marlin! Quick! Plug 8 into the cockpit!" Lowe shouted.
"What? Why?"
"Just do it!"
"O-okay."
[Connect to G.U.N.D.A.M OS]
"Let's do it, 8."
[Roger!]
"What the-?!" Marlin started as 9 suddenly popped the hatch, air venting out into the vacuum. "OHMIGOD!"
At the same time Lowe popped the hatch of his Chimera and launched himself from it to Red Frame. As soon as Lowe was inside Red Frame, the hatch quickly snapped shut with Lowe now sitting on her lap, took the controls.
"What on Earth…" Marlin couldn't believe he'd actually done that, most ridiculous of all, he wasn't even wearing a space suit. 'This guy is nuts!'
The GINN freed itself tearing off the Chimera's arms in the process.
"Hey, you halfwit! That's expensive!" Lowe shouted at the GINN. "I modified that Chimera myself you prick!"
"Ask me if I care Junkie!" The GINN retorted.
Lowe drew the Gerbera Straight. "It slices, it dices!" And sliced off the GINN's right arm holding its rifle.
'That sword… is that a heat shotel?' Marlin wondered. Heat shotels were superheated physical blades allowing them to melt through armor at high speed; they were essentially a stopgap between conventional blades and beam sabers. But that wasn't all. Despite the simple design of its arms, Red Frame had surprising dexterity. 'How can he move like that?'
Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Lowe's elbow drove into her chest.
"Yeooowch!" She cried out.
"Hey! What's with all the racket?!" Lowe demanded.
"You're squashing my boobs! Get out, Lowe! This isn't exactly a bicycle for two!" The pair began bickering as they struggled within the cramped cockpit causing Red Frame to comically flail about.
"Forget it, Marlin! This machine's too sophisticated for you!"
"I almost had it all figured out! Do you think I'm stupid?"
"Just sit back and shut up!"
Drawing its heavy sword with its remaining arm, the GINN came charging back at them, "Sorry to wake you from naptime, but this fight ain't over yet kiddies! This is what you get for fighting a mercenary!"
The GINN lashed out with its sword. "Here's your ticket to the other side!" One could imagine his surprise when Lowe casually blocked his sword with Red Frame's shield before delivering a swift kick to the GINN's torso.
"I've fought real mercenaries! You're second rate at best!" Lowe declared. "Serpent's Tail would kick your ass all the way into tomorrow."
"S-Serpent's… Tail?" The mercenary uttered in surprise.
"You wouldn't survive a real fight."
"Let me take him out!" Marlin suddenly reached passed Lowe.
"What?"
"8, route power top the sword and-" Marlin began.
"Stop it! That isn't a beam saber, you idiot!" Lowe interrupted. "8! Drop the sword!"
[Disengaging Gerbera Straight!]
Red Frame released the sword; however, electricity arced from the power connector in its palm.
"Shit!" Lowe swore. "Power overlord!"
If he didn't discharge it soon, Red Frame's electrical system would fry. Acting on impulse, he discharged it into the only viable alternative; the opposing GINN.
Lowe shoved the electric sphere into the GINN's main camera, shorting it out.
"Damn! My sensor's dead!" The mercenary turned tail and zoomed away. "Until next time…"
Lowe watched him go. "Finally… So, 8… What just happened?"
[The power intended for the beam saber was routed to the arm and was discharged through the armor… The result; a new special attack!]
Lowe burst out laughing. "A new special attack?! That's brilliant 8!"
[Hee hee hee]
On the bridge of the H.O.M.E. Lowe and the crew watched as the ship carrying Marlin accelerated away.
"There she goes…" Kisato said.
"She had quite some nerve, that girl…" Liam groused.
"I don't think she was sent by a mercenary…" Lowe concluded. "I guess letting her go is our good deed for the week."
"She will certainly be expelled from the Junk Guild." Liam pointed out.
"I bet she's regretting what she did." Kisato commented.
"You think so?" the Professor asked with a hint of amusement from the Captain's chair. "Maybe, just maybe… she completed her mission?"
"""Huh?"""
Meanwhile, on the transport.
"And that's my final analysis. After analyzing the Astray OS, a Natural should definitely be able to operate it." Marlin reported. "By the way, I saw something most interesting on the ship. The Professor was talking about possibly outsourcing to us or DSSD for analysis."
The person she spoke to was none other than Erica Simmons. "Oh, and what is this something interesting?"
"A mobile suit like no other." She answered.
"Nicely done. Return to base… Julie."
"Roger! Right away." She ended the video call. "No need for this disguise anymore." She muttered out loud as she undid her hair tie. "I just don't like contact lenses."
Wearing familiar pink framed glasses revealed her to be none other than Julie Nien.
Considering the difficulty of writing the previous chapter, I think I'm being given the less-than-subtle hint to work on something else and come back to this fresh. Therefore I will be working on my other story which has been waiting over a year for an update and is close to completion, I'll finish it off and then come back to this story.
As usual check my profile every now and then for status updates.
