Ch 9 – Home of One's Heart

Office of the Commander-in-Chief, A-Laws HQ, Brussels

The A-Laws was led by its Commander-in-Chief, Homer Katagiri. In public eyes, he was the supreme commander of the A-Laws and accountable for its operations. However, the truth was that he was a part of the conspiracy that involved the Innovators.

Commander Homer was in his desk, calmly looking at his latest visitor. He was a young adult male, with brownish hair tied in a ponytail.

"William, I approve of you diligence and ability," Homer spoke, "you surely surprise me to volunteer yourself in overseeing the A-Laws in Nippon."

"I am only honoured that you allow me this chance," Billy replied, "after all, Nippon is still our homeland."

"Remember, do not allow your feelings to interfere," Homer said, "If there is opposition, they must be crushed."

"I understand," Billy answered calmly, leaving the office.

Innovator HQ, Unknown Location

V2 continued to stare at the various holo-screens in his chamber, all displaying various events and profiles. As the screens all vanished, he smiled and stood upright.

"C2, I am uploading you the details of your latest mission," he spoke, as his eyes glowed.

ESF Military Garrison, Osaka Bay Area

Since the surrender, several military garrisons were established throughout the occupied nation of Nippon. The Osaka Bay Area hosted one of the larger garrisons in the occupation. Along the harbours, a lone ESF soldier was patrolling the area. However, the man stopped when C2 was directly in front of him.

"Excuse me, Miss," the soldier spoke politely, "but this area is off-limits to civilians."

"Oh I see…" C2 innocently replied, "…you must be Mr Flinch, correct?"

"Ah yes…" Flinch replied, "ARG!"

Suddenly, Flinch clutched onto his head and screamed for dear life. In a short spans, the man collapsed on the ground and he stood up straight again. C2 looked amusingly at the man with the glowing eyes of the Innovator, which appeared on Flinch as well.

"I hope you are familiar with your mission," C2 said.

Flinch said nothing; he only nodded to C2 and walked off immediately.

"Fufu, Phase 1 completed, onward to Phase 2," C2 remarked.

Lelouch's Chamber, St. Cuthbert II

Kallen walked up towards Lelouch's own chamber and opened the door to it. Inside, Lelouch was facing her directly… as if he were waiting her all this time.

"Yes Sir, you want to see me," Kallen calmly spoke, looking at Lelouch closely.

"It is in regards to your previous mission," Lelouch said, "you had acted quite harshly. If not for the smoke signals, you could've been captured or worse. You understand the risks should you be captured by the enemy."

"Yes I do," she replied.

"I am aware of your attachment to Nippon," Lelouch said, "I understand the Imperium's war against Nippon drove you and your brother to the life of a rebel. Though your mother married an Imperial, you rejected him and the name of Stadtfeld."

"Zero, it's Kozuki!" Kallen shouted.

"You are unable to embrace yourself as Celestial Being even after all these years," Zero said, "should I eliminate you before you go rogue? I hope you understand me."

"I understand Sir," Kallen replied quickly, "I will put Celestial Being first."

Wang Estate, Shanghai, East Asian Federal Region

The Wang Estate was where the wealthy House of Wang lived, led by its matriarch Wang Liu Mei. Currently, Liu Mei was meeting C2 in person. Behind Wang, both Hong Long and Nena Trinity were there. C2 gave Liu Mei a slip of paper.

"You are to deliver this data to Celestial Being's Meister," she said, "The target Meister's name is Kozuki Kallen, code-name Q-1."

"Only to her," Liu Mei wondered.

"Only she needs to know the data for she will act on them," C2 explained, "Furthermore, you are not to be identified as the source of the data."

"Hong Long, see to it that Ms Kozuki gets this," Liu Mei calmly said, handing the note to her steward.

"And I would like to speak with Ms Trinity here… privately," C2 added.

Both Liu Mei and Long left the room, leaving C2 with the Trinity girl.

"What is it that you want?" Nena demanded, staring at the green-haired female.

"We, the Innovators, require your ability to change the world," C2 said.

"Why should I?" asked Nena.

"Because we can help you, we know what your heart desires," C2 continued, "You can finally avenge the death of your two brothers now."

"What do you mean?" Nena asked, becoming shocked at the revelation.

"The man who killed your brothers is now working for us," C2 explained, "however; we are willing to give his life to you once we defeat Celestial Being. Are you with us?"

"To avenge my brothers…" Nena repeated.

"Think about it, dear," C2 said, walking away, "you will definitely not regret joining us~"

"And now for my personal touch…" she thought on her way out.

Kallen's Chamber, St Cuthbert II

Inside Kallen's chamber, Kallen lay down by her bed and thought over recent events.

"It wasn't my fault…" she said, "but I need to be careful… if not, I couldn't fulfil Naoto's dream…"

"I only want a world where people need not to fight… do not be mad at our foster father… vengeance begets only vengeance…"

"To stop the fighting, one must fight those aggressions," Kallen spoke, "if not for me, the Federation would have stormed into Kyoto… and that again…"

A scene of a burning city resonated in her head, and its people burning in its flames as they fled the city. Legions of Sepoys stormed into that city and fired relentlessly, despite zero opposition. A young red-haired girl was almost gunned down, if not for the man next to her who pushed her forward.

"Go now, Kallen!" he cried, before he vanished within the Sepoys.

"They have no reason to say I'm wrong," Kallen reassured herself.

The female Meister sat up and looked at her holo-screen desktop. Surprisingly, there was a folder on it. She clicked it, and saw several encrypted data. As she looked further and more into the data, her face came to shock.

"This…" Kallen spoke, "… I can't let it happen…"

With that, the female Meister dashed out of her quarters and proceeded with her own actions. Those actions were no doubt would be her justice.

She went into the hangar, where all Mobile Suits were contained. Kallen walked around slowly and stealthily, hoping not to be detected by anything or anyone. Suddenly, a flash of light shone on her. The Meister turned and ready to retaliate, but found it was only Feldt there.

"Oh Feldt, didn't s-see you here," Kallen calmly greeted, maintaining her calm.

"Yes, what are you doing here?" Feldt asked.

"Er… I dropped something last time I'm here and so…" Kallen said.

Kallen walked past Feldt, and then it happened as if in a flash. The torchlight fell to the ground, along with the body of Feldt. Kallen stood up there, with her right hand curled into a fist.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, and she continued on her way… to her Gundam Akagi.

"I must do this… my apologies…" she thought.

Heisei Palace, Kyoto, Nippon Transitional Zone

While the Empire had surrendered, the former country was placed as a transitional zone under the direct rule of the Federation. Nonetheless, Heisei Palace was used as the centre of government out of mere convenience.

Since the surrender, Federation personnel had flocked into Heisei Palace to bring about the new regime. Among those people, one of them seemed to be returning to his home. However, no one would ever know that or this man's identity. Since a previous event in the past, that man swore to Bushido and hid himself under the mask of Mr Bushido.

Mr Bushido silently walked around the hallways of the Palace, a place that was likened to the days of a gentle past in his life.

"Did they design the Palace to be like that one before…" he thought.

"Hello, Mr Bushido," a cheerful voice called.

The masked soldier quickly turned around on instinct, coming face-to-face with the Innovator C2.

"Don't give me that look; continue to enjoy the scenery…" C2 said, "…Suzak…"

"That man has died five years ago!" Bushido cried, "I do not know who you are referring to."

"You're so fun to play with, like Lelouch~" C2 remarked, "but this war did take quite an unexpected manoeuvre, didn't it?"

"But peace was established before there is unnecessary bloodshed," Bushido pointed out.

"What if I tell you that the Federation has assigned someone to hunt down Tohdoh and the girl called Sumeragi Kaguya," C2 said.

The eyes of the masked man suddenly widened, as if in shock and astonishment.

"Weren't they granted safe passage?" Bushido inquired.

"Politics, they are only aimed to keep people in line," C2 said, "You, on the other hand, are above the average and thus, you should know."

"If they go through with the assassination… won't it ignite an internal conflict?" Bushido inquired.

"Keep it down now, the walls have ears," C2 calmly spoke, "I had told you, now do whatever you think its right for you. No one will blame you, especially not Mr Bushido."

C2 slowly retreated from Bushido, and laughed rather heartedly on her way.

"Now the show begins…" she thought.

Hangar, St. Cuthbert II

It wasn't long that Feldt had regained her consciousness. When she did, the Gundam Akagi was gone completely and Kallen along. It would be a disaster of astronomical proportions of course, hence the entire crew of the St. Cuthbert II gathered in the hangar.

"…And then she went behind me…" Feldt recounted, "…and it went all black. When I woke up, she and the Akagi were missing."

"She has deserted us," Setsuna remarked, "We have to locate her, silence her and retrieve the GN Drive."

"I agree, but to silence her would be drastic unless Q-1 truly opposes us," Zero added, "regardless, track down the Akagi's whereabouts."

"We're way ahead of you," Ian said, "it's somewhere in the South Pacific."

"Uh… Zero, there is one more thing," Mileina added, "Kallen's room was open, so I went in… and found a mail file open. It detailed coordinates of a location in the South Pacific, similar to the one Papa tracked down."

"What… this is a trap!" Zero exclaimed, "They are luring us, the A-Laws perhaps."

"What should we do then?" Lockon asked.

"It would be risky to bring in all of us there; only one unit would be allowed in this mission," Zero said, "I volunteer myself for this task. Ian, monitor the path the Akagi is moving. Meisters, be on standby."

Submarine Kaijin, Deep Sea, South Pacific Ocean

Cruising in the deep seas of the South Pacific, it was the Submarine Kaijin. Within the vessel, there were the last remnants of the Nipponese elite and Princess Kaguya. Their final destination was in the private property of Penglai, located in the South Pacific.

"Tohdoh-san, how much longer?" asked the young princess.

"Hime-sama, it won't be long now," Tohdoh replied, "given that we would be uninterrupted in our journey, we should be there soon."

"Ah, it feels odd to be returning to that place again…" Kirihara remarked, "It's as though we never achieved anything, a lack of fulfilment."

Yet, it was unknown to those within the Kaijin that they were secretly followed. A single Federation-Type GN-XIII moved silently in the waves, but kept a significant distance away from the vessel. That particular GN-XIII was equipped with a cannon attached to the Suit's right shoulder.

Inside the Mobile Suit, the officer called Flinch sat there and he was immobile with both eyes closed. Suddenly, he stirred up with the eyes of the Innovator. He grabbed hold of the controls, and his GN-XIII moved out for an assault. The GN-XIII zoomed out of its cover and fired a torpedo projectile towards the Kaijin. Strangely, that surprise attack actually missed by a margin.

"What was that?" Tohdoh exclaimed.

"Tohdoh-dono, enemy attack near us!" declared Tamaki.

"We can't battle them here," Tohdoh calmly spoke, "prepare to evade the enemy."

The Kaijin only sped up and went upwards in response to the barrage. The GN-XIII continued its attack on the vessel, until one torpedo was shot down by a beam blast.

"Tohdoh-dono, the enemy unit seems to be moving away from us now," Tamaki reported, "and there is no more attack from the enemy either."

Flinch only moved his GN-XIII to meet with the mystery attacker. It was the Gundam Akagi, and it drew out his claw-arm for attack.

"I won't let you attack them," Kallen cried.

The Cannon attachment of the GN-XIII switched around and fired a canister. The Akagi grabbed hold of one of them, and the canister was crushed by the claw-arm's GN Radiation Wave. However, bubbles appeared and a pink gel-like substance seemed to be forming around that arm.

"What the Heck!" she cried.

Innovator HQ, Unknown Location

Meanwhile, V2 had kept surveillance of the underwater battle between Meister Q-1 and Flinch, an Innovator secretly stashed into the populace. On his screen, the visual of the Akagi caught in the pink gel was seen.

"Based on the schematics of the predecessor Suit, Gundam Michael," he said, "we have constructed a special residue that reacts with H2O to form this substance. It feeds on thermal energy, growing around like a moss or fungus. In short, the perfect weapon against you… Ms Kozuki…"

Deep Sea, South Pacific Ocean

With the Akagi incapacitated, the GN-XIII charged in with two Beam Sabres drawn out and fought in close range. The Akagi could only draw out its sole Beam Sabre and barely countered the dual-wielding GN-XIII.

"What is this?" Kallen wondered, "He knows how to disable my attacks… unless… this is a trap! Oi, is this a trap?"

However, no voice came from the GN-XIII and it ruthlessly continued its furious strikes against the Gundam.

"Damn it… that attacks… it was only a diversion to draw me out!" Kallen cursed, "I was a fool!"

Suddenly, something pushed the GN-XIII aside and the Akagi was free from the relentless war machine. Kallen would honestly hope that a fellow Meister was the one who intervened, but that was not how it turned out. It was an Ahead designed to appear as a samurai, the infamous Ahead Sakigate.

"The A-Laws?" thought Kallen, "They're involved…"

Innovator HQ, Unknown Location

"Oh my, who invited Mister Bushido?" V2 remarked, "How shall it develop from here?"

Deep Sea, South Pacific Ocean

The Ahead Sakigate pushed onward and slammed into the GN-XIII again. This time, it grabbed the entire Suit and dragged it towards the surface. Coincidentally, Gundam Apollyon soon approached the Akagi after the custom Ahead was gone.

"Q-1, are you there?" Zero called out, "declare your status."

"Zero, this…" Q-1 tried to explain.

"I understand completely, and our enemy is far stronger before I initially anticipated," Zero said, "They were able to infiltrate Celestial Being so easily."

"Are you suspecting a traitor among us?" Q-1 exclaimed.

"It is very probable, but they may want us to be divided and drive enmity among us," Zero said, "Q-1, your behaviour cannot be excused. However, I cannot have you roam free. Do you understand?"

"At least I stopped the attack… but I accept my fate…" Q-1 complied.

Remote Island, South Pacific

The Ahead Sakigate dragged the unknown GN-XIII up towards a remote island, and threw it towards the shores. The GN-XIII tried to regain momentum and fired several beam shots; however the Ahead Sakigate flew in with its Beam Katana. With several quick slashes, it sliced out the Cannon attachment, both arms and force opened the cockpit, sending it to crash on the island's shores.

Then, the Ahead Sakigate also descended near the fallen GN-XIII and Mister Bushido stomped out to confront the pilot there. By then, Flinch was damaged badly by the punishment dealt to him. He was bleeding from his eye, nose and coughing blood among other casualties.

"Tell me, who sent you?" Bushido demanded.

Flinch only remained silent as he was being shaken, his face without a single reaction. Without warning, Flinch's eyes glowed and he spoke… but in a voice familiar to him.

"Flinch is mostly dead by now," the feminine voice spoke.

"C2!" yelled Bushido, "what are you…"

"Flinch is among the Innovators who were planted within the regular army," the voice continued, "Flinch was chosen for this risky capture mission."

"You mean… that the target was the Gundam…" Bushido said.

"Correct," the voice said.

"Then why, why did you tell me to stop it?" Bushido shouted.

"I didn't, it was all you," the voice said, "You should seriously consider where your allegiances lie. And now…"

Flinch stuck out his tongue and bit on it. Part of his tongue dropped on his lap and the Innovator blanked out completely. He was dead.

Empress' Chamber, Heisei Palace, Nippon Transitional Zone

Outside Heisei Palace's Empress' Chamber, the new A-Laws Commander was just standing outside the chamber. There, he crossed paths with a woman of the Nipponese group who had negotiated with them.

"Ah, you must be the new governor the A-Laws sent in," Chiba said, looking at the uniform of the man.

"Yes I am, you may call me Billy Katagiri," Billy said, "I had heard well of you, Ms Chiba Nagisa."

"I would like to continue our conversation, but that would be another time," Chiba said.

The Nipponese woman left Billy to himself. Billy sighed and looked at the chamber's doors. Opening it slowly, he entered inside to see the Empress Lee Noreiga inside.

"Kujou…" he spoke.

"Who is that?" Lee Noreiga asked, looking towards the door, "my God, it's you… Billy…"

"Yes, I am here," Billy said, "my uncle pulled some strings and I am now here."

"For that, you joined the A-Laws," Lee Noreiga remarked, "You're not a soldier, just an engineer."

"That aside, the fact that I am Supreme Commander Homer Katagiri's nephew would help me gain quick respect," Billy said, "I know well what the A-Laws are capable of and I won't let it happen to you."

Lee Noreiga was astonished to some extend, but then she smiled.

"So you haven't given up on me all these years," she spoke.

Innovator HQ, Unknown Location

C2 had returned to the Innovator's HQ and met with V2, sitting there as usual and overlooking at the world's events.

"Ah, another mission of ours had failed, I suppose," C2 remarked.

"Actually, I know that you had informed Mister Bushido about our recent plans," V2 said, standing to face C2, "now, why did you?"

"You know me, I like to prove my point," C2 said, "despite Bushido's remarkable zeal, he is still human and hence easily swayed by emotions. You should be careful even around those humans."

"…Yes, you are correct on that… however if you had not told Bushido of it," V2 said.

"He could jeopardise a major operation in the future," C2 said, "hadn't I confirmed that possibility?"

"Nonetheless, Celestial Being has confirmed the possibility that they had been infiltrated," another voice spoke.

That voice belonged to a man with short purple-pink hair, who was dressed in a maroon robes. He walked down the stairs slowly and greeted both V2 and C2.

"Revive, you are here as well," V2 remarked.

"It is only logical that the leader Zero would assume that this is not of either Federation or A-Laws," C2 continued.

"In other words, they may acknowledge the work of a higher power beyond that of both the ESF and A-Laws," Revive added, "they are becoming an actual threat now."

"Ah, let me meet Zero again then," V2 said, "by then, the next course of action would be obvious."