To answer a question from the comments...
Taube's drive doesn't help the twin drive system in any way near to the 00 Riser. It does simply what you said, fill in what is missing between the drives. On other Gundam's it just backs the main drive up providing it with slightly stronger weapons and more powerful defenses.
To say Feldt was shocked by the new Lockon would be an understatement. She had found herself staring at the man she had once loved only to find it was not him but his brother. She knew that she had left her feelings behind when Lockon had died and she knew that she felt more for Setsuna than she had ever felt for Lockon but it was still hard to watch someone who was him but at the same time wasn't. She found herself confused by her own feelings. This new pain was different.
"Lyle Dylandy," she spoke his name and turned off the monitor from which she had been watching Tieria and him interact. She remembered the day when Lockon had first told her his real name and when he had comforted her from the pain of remembering her parents. Maybe it was wrong of her to remember him but he was still part of her.
She sighed and walked out of the room, she had lost a lot and she had thought that she put it all behind her when she really still hung on to it. There had to be a way for her to completely let go of the past but she hadn't found it yet.
As she walked down the hall what she didn't know was Setsuna stood at the other end just watching her walk away. He knew he had no right to still desire her affection but he couldn't bring himself to let go. She had been everything to him on earth and if had hurt him to leave her behind. Though he had told her to stay away from the battlefield part of him still wanted her to be at Celestial Being, and he was happy that she was there. He longed to close the distance between them now and tell her all he felt but it was not in his nature. Instead he stood 20 feet behind her watching her leave the hallway and trying his best to suffer in silence.
They both were exactly the same. They walked everyday ignoring their own desires and hurting themselves. Neither of them had the courage to face the past and while they fought so hard to let go of everything they both held it tight afraid that in giving it up they would give up part of themselves. Something was constantly getting in their way and it seemed to get progressively worse.
Feldt sat on the bridge analyzing the ship and its weapons. It seemed everything was ready for another mission should there be one anytime soon. She was pulled out of her thought by a small beeping on her screen. She was surprised as she opened the message and saw something she didn't expect.
"We have a message from Wong Lui Mei," Feldt exclaimed to everyone on the bridge, "she's found a detention center in the HRL that's holding Allelujah Haptism!" Lasse and Meliena instantly turned to her while Tieira stared straight ahead lost in thought.
"He's one of the Gundam Meisters," Meilina exclaimed clapping her hands together rather loudly. Feldt made a mental note to herself to somehow switch her sugar filled meals with sugarless ones to lower the girls endless stream of energy. It wasn't that Feldt minded it that much but at times in was unnecessary and a little random.
"He was captured by the federation?" Lasse questioned with a look of mental wandering, "that's why would couldn't find him. We assumed he was dead."
"You also assumed Setsuna was dead!" Meliena pointed out in a matter of fact voice, "maybe you shouldn't assume things anymore." Feldt sighed at Meliena as she thought of what their next move could be.
"Feldt get everyone together," Tieria said , "we're going to have a briefing." He floated out of the room and Feldt sighed. She sent a message to everyone from the loudspeaker knowing it would be the easiest way. When they all gathered in the briefing room Setsuna wasn't there.
"Where is he," Tieria asked Feldt. She shrugged her shoulders, "didn't you get everyone?"
"Yeah I sent a message on the loudspeaker," she responded.
"He might be asleep," Meliena replied shaking her finger pointedly, "in that case he could have slept through your unenthusiastic loudspeaker."
"You did sound a little bored and uninterested," Lasse said.
"Why don't you go look for him Feldt," Tieria said, "and since Sumeragi isn't here either you can find her as well."
"I'll get Sumeragi!" Meliena said excitedly, "it'll make everything go by much faster."
"Alright," Tieria said. Feldt floated out of the room dreading her own task. She knew she had to get used to the fact that her and Setsuna would be forced to spend time together. She dearly hoped that everything would go back to normal soon.
She searched around the many halls for a little while before checking his room. He wasn't there and she began to wonder where else she could look when she remembered something about him. She floated down toward the hangar and into the area the held the 00. Sure enough he was there asleep in the Gundam's cockpit. From what she could tell he had been working on the system. Part of her wanted to leave him alon ebut she knew she had to wake him up.
"Setsuna," she said shaking him gently. He woke up and looked at her in confusion. She quickly backed out of the cockpit and waited for him. He floated out soon after her and she spoke before he could, "We've found Allelujah."
"What, where?" he asked all at once.
"He was captured by the HRL," Feldt said, "we're going to brief on a mission to find him now. We hope to convince Sumeragi to plan the mission for us."
"Alright," he said taking in how she looked. She had gotten more beautiful since last time he saw her.
"Lets go," she said floating toward the door. He followed her in silence knowing that things would get better, they had to.
"You've found Allelujah!," Sumeragi declared in shock as she rushed into the briefing room. Feldt smiled at Sumeragi's response, she would help them for the sake of one of their old comrades. Sumeragi's forecast was essential for a safe rescue of Allelujah.
"Yes," Lasse said, "Wong Lui Mei sent us the information of where he is being held. It's in the HRL."
"We're planning our rescue mission," Ian said. Feldt sighed and looked around the room. It seemed as if everyone was coming back together. In the corner stood Teiria. Ian and Melina were on one side of the room with Lasse while Setsuna and Lyle Dylandy stood toward the middle of the room. She defected to her own corner out of Setsuna's line of sight.
"How? Sumeragi asked, "when!" Setsuna stepped forward with an answer.
"You're going to forcast it," Setsuna replied, "and we're going as soon as possible." Feldt felt moved to say something, Sumeragi was a very important part of Celestial Being. Without her operations would never go back to normal.
"Please Sumeragi," Feldt pleaded, "we need you, we have to change the world." Sumergai looked at the girl with a little surprise, something about Feldt was very different. She was piloting a Gundam now and maybe that was why she suddenly felt the world and all its changes. There was something sincere about her desire for peace yet at the same time there was something gritty and hardened beneath the surface of her real reason for hanging around the organization. She had seen way to much of war for her young age and yet at the same time she was still so innocent.
"With him we'll be able to mount operations with five gundams instead of four," Teiria said breaking Sumeragi out of her line of thought, "making us much more effective."
"Sumeragi," Feldt stepped forward, "please." She held in her hands a uniform of Celesital Being for her old comrade. Sumeragi examined the girl, she had barely grown up yet she had the strength to keep on fighting. Sumeragi looked inside herself wondering if she could find a resolve like the younger girls. But the past was still too near.
"But I'll put you all in danger," she protested shaking her head.
"You can't change the past," Setsuna said, "No one ever blamed you for your past failures and we will never blame you now. We don't regret a single thing we did back then and that is how we are able to keep going. Allelujah is our comrade and we're going to save him. So we need a mission plan or we're going without one. I'd say we were in more danger without one than with one." Sumeragi retreated deep into thought as everyone waited for her response. She didn't want to fight but at the same time she knew she had to, for Allelujah. There had to be a way to save him. She looked around and saw all the smiling faces. Everyone had so much faith in her, she had to find faith in herself.
"Feldt," she said catching the girls attention from something, "please update me on our current fighting strength and our present situation. I need to know all that we have to work with."
"Yes!" Feldt exclaimed.
"There's more data from Wong Lui Mei," Feldt "we have the names of every prisoner and their locations." She then noticed a name she had heard many times, Marina Ismail. Feldt thought about ignoring the name but she knew she couldn't; she immediately forwarded the information to Tieria for him to do whatever he would with it.
"Tieria, Lockon, Setsuna board your gundams," Melina said wondering what Sumeragi would cook up for the Gundam Meisters to do.
"No action for you today Feldt?" Lasse asked wondering why Feldt was still on the bridge.
"Just suprise action," Feldt said, "if that becomes necessary I think. The guys can handle this one without me."
"Setsuna can't use Trans-AM," Ian said, "I wonder what would happen if you Taube docked with 00 and then used Trans-AM. It might allow him to use Trans-AM as well."
"That is too risky to try on the battlefield," Feldt responded, "if something bad happened like an overload then both our Gundams would be affected plus I've never tested Taube's Trans-AM, I don't know if it will work."
"It is slightly different than the other Gundams," Ian repsonded, "It might actually be better."
"Or worse," Feldt responded, "I don't really understand how it works, but according to my calculations its slightly slower than everyone elses." She looked down toward her screen and noticed something new on it."I have Sumeragi's mission plan!" The bridge members looked it over a couple times to better understand how it would work.
"You're included in it Feldt," Lasse said, "get into your machine."
"But who's going to take my place here?" Feldt said with concern.
"I will," Ian said, "that's what the plan says for me to do. Now board your machine!"
"Right," Feldt said with a smile leaving the room. It was once again her time to show the world what it really took to be a Gundam Miester. She wasn't going to be left out of the action for one moment.
Feldt watched from above as the Ptolomy dived into the water. She followed Lockon to their place on the mountainside. Her part of the mission was pretty simple but at the same time it was vitally important. It was a little hard to be paired with the new lockon as he reminded her too much of the old one but she put it out of her mind. They were in the middle of a battle and the most important thing right now was the mission and nothing else.
"You have five minutes to complete the mission," Lasse said.
"Rodger!" Feldt affirmed as did the others. Setsuna and Tieira went straight for the base.
"Keep them ducking Lockon, Feldt!" Lasse said.
Feldt watched as Lockon actually hit a couple targets right on with a bit of surprise. Wasn't he sup-post to have had no previous mobile suit experience? Of course he wasn't as good as his brother but there was something about his style of fighting that showed he knew a bit about what he was doing. Feld then noticed something coming from her right.
"You're not going to do it." Feldt flew over the mobile suits approaching the Cheridum firing a few shots and then transforming into her Gundam mode. She fired a few more shots from the cannons on Taube's arms before pulling her beam boomerang and throwing it at two incoming mobile suits. When it returned to her she transformed back into the dove and retreated behind Lockon's cover fire. She watched everything firing shots when neccessary. She kept track of the time limit and waited for her next action.
"Arios has launched," Feldt said rushing away from the site on full speed to protect Arios; which was her next mission. She sat firing shots toward any approaching mobile suits as the clock ticked signaling to them that their five minutes were almost over. Time was running out and still there was no movement for Arios. They only had thirty seconds left; where were Allelujah and Setsuna? Tieria and Feldt could only hold them off for so long when those seconds ended.
"We're out of time Tieira!" Feldt exclaimed as she watched the counter move toward zero. Panic filled her heart as she thought of Setsuna and Allelujah trapped inside.
"I know!" he said, "I'm contacting them right now." She waited patiently but her mind could not stop working. She saw the past again as she fired on several mobile suits and moved into defense mode and her heart began to poud hard within her. It couldn't be, it couldn't happen. They couldn't fail again. Her heart cried out as her voice resounded through her own cockpit.
"Setsuna!" Feldt yelled. Suddenly the Arios was activated and she moved away quickly to help Tieria shield the 00. By the time she got there it was moving as well. The three Gundams began to blast away quickly. Feldt noticed several mobile suits approaching on her scanners She instantly jumped into action in taking them out. A voice rang on her radio.
"Feldt!" Setsuna said, "we're getting out of here now!" She detected a hint of worry in his voice as she fought away the mobile suits and hurried to follow her fellow miesters.
"I'm alright," she said though she was lagging a bit behind the others in her rush to get out of there, "I'm coming." The enemy units began to attack the four gundams blasting away. The three leaders broke through the lines. Feldt found herself fighting off the machines and trying to catch up with her comrades. She wasn't about to be overwhelmed was she? Using a series of maneuvers she confused the three mobile suits on her tail and then transformed into mobile armor mode to put up her small GN field. Switching back to Gundam mode she fired her highly charged particle cannon severing through the right side of one unit. A blast moentarily knocked her suit off balance and she worked to recover by hurrying through the hole she had made in the enemy's formation by taking out that unit. She transformed back into mobile armor mode to increase her speed when she noticed that she had taken more damage from that last shot than she had thought.
"Feldt!" Setsuna said again. The distance between the three lead Gundams and Feldt's Gundam was increasing as her system warned that she was having some problems with the right side of her unit. She worked with the system trying to cool off the system but nothing was responding exactly how it should.
"I'm almost there," she responded trying hard to follow her companions. Her breathing increased as she wondered if she could make it.
"There's one on you're tail!" she heard Tieira's voice and she saw it on her scanners. She couldn't outrun it with her machine like this. There was only one thing for her to do, but she didn't want to.
"Engaging enemy," Feldt said transforming her suit and turning to face it. She prepared to turn her mobile suit to Trans-Am mode when suddenly two things happened.
"There's no time!" Teiria yelled.
"Feldt," Setsuna's voice came again and she could only watch as the 00 tore right through the enemy machine, "Dock now!" His voice ordered her to obey and she had no choice if she wanted to get out of there. Her machine was too damaged to move as quickly as the others.
"Right!" Feldt transformed and docked with 00 and they were off and safe.
"That was too reckless," Tieria yelled at Feldt, "when time was called we were all leaving yet you stayed behind to fight. Do you understand how close you came to dying out there today?" Feldt, Teiria and Allelujah were all in the mobile suit bay watching as the Taube was being repaired by Ian and Melina. Allelujah put a hand on Teiria's shoulder.
"Don't be so hard on her," Allelujah said, "because she destroyed those units our escape was easier than it would have been."
"The point is we could have lost her and the Taube!" Tieria practically yelled.
"But we didn't!" Feldt yelled back.
"Only because Setsuna put the 00 at risk for you!" Teiria said calmer trying to be reasonable, "we already have enough with Setsuna's reckless antics, we don't need you performing them as well."
"I'm sorry," Feldt said, "but don't you realize there was no other way for me to get our of there?" Teiria was silent thinking about it; Feldt had been surrounded and maybe the rest of them should have paid more attention to that. If they had been there maybe it would have been easier for her to make it out.
"I see your point," Tieria responded, "then in the future call for aid. We need to act as a team if we are to survive through all this."
Sorry for the long wait. I've had this chapter written for awhile and it would have been posted Friday but when I finished editing it, it didn't save then I was just mad. I didn't want to rework everything I had already done but I finally went through it today! Hurray for spare time.
Please tell me what you think! Reviews are like water, an essential to survival and interest! SO REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!
-WintersChill