(Jokers Wild, Set 1, Chapter 12: Loud and Hard)
ADDENDUM TO STORY DISCLAIMERS: This is to clarify a point I made 11 chapters ago, and likely some overlooked.
DICE WARNING: Events in this story will be controlled by the dice, and are concrete, true-random results provided by number generation services. These results will change events dynamically and/or modify established plans. After all, there is no mistress more cruel than fate.
POLITICAL WARNING: Political concepts and methods may be presented in this story that may conflict with established 'norms'. This is deliberate on the part of the author, to show different and rather sharp viewpoints on these subjects. The views expressed most likely do not match the views of the author, and are also subject to the dice at any time.
ANTI-POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WARNING: AT NO TIME will this story be politically correct. Real life is not politically correct, much less 'nice' in some definitions of the word. If you take issue with this, I recommend finding another read.
Thank you, and now onto the story.
(Jokers Wild, Set 1, Chapter 12: Loud and Hard)
(27 September CE 71, 1000 hours)
(ZAFT Warship Fermi)
The cockpit section of the fighter the Fermi had destroyed was all the GuAIZ brought in, the rest of the fighter was well out of range for them to seize. On the other hand, some mobile worker units were recovering a unit of MS that had been eliminated during the initial thrust of the enemy forces, and included the Duel and a CGUE DEEP Arms unit that had survived partially intact.
"Amazing how much destruction they can cause with so little effort, Captain," Talia's Chief Mechanic notes sourly, seeing what had happened to the Duel.
"They are something else," the Captain replies after a few moments. "Yet, I just cannot figure out why they would attack both sides, and with such an otherwise small force. They had to know they were outnumbered by as much as 4-to-1, maybe more," she grumps as the Chief Mechanic follows her down a lift to the ground floor.
"They still won, no matter how much we outnumbered them," the Chief Mechanic says.
"True, but we were not expecting them at all. It is doubtful that our command structure even knew they existed...or anyone else knew of them, for that matter." the lift stopped at the bottom floor, and both Captain and Chief Mechanic kicked out of the elevator to head toward the incoming wounded units. "Mechanic, what is the status of the Duel pilot?"
"He's all right, Captain, mechanics are trying to get him out now," a senior mechanic that was directing the action from a computer terminal replies immediately. To point of fact, not a full second after the coordinating mechanic replied, the cockpit of the Duel blew open from emergency evacuation aids (explosive bolts) to allow Commander Joule to exit his shredded machine. He only took seconds to realize where he was, then single out the Captain and push off to intercept her.
"Commander," Talia says by way of greeting, with a salute thrown in for good measure.
"Captain," Yzak replies stoically. "How bad is your ship?"
"Significant damage to weapons and targeting systems, though it does not matter any more. ZAFT was the first to request a cease-fire, with the Earth Alliance throwing up their white flags less than fifteen minutes later."
"No hope, just as I expected," Yzak shakes his head ruefully.
"What do you mean, sir?" Captain Gladys requests.
"One of their ships and just one of their Mobile Armor units were able to destroy two Warships and sixteen GuAIZ outside of Mendel."
"Oh my—you mean Vesalius and Heusinger? How did you—"
"I was on the Helderton," Yzak replies stiffly. "I was inside Mendel, getting chewed up by their Marines, when one of their ships and the single Mobile Armor took down two of ZAFT's best ships and the entire mobile compliment. It was all over before I got there. The enemy ship suffered surface damage only, we couldn't even slow it down."
"Same thing this time around," Captain Gladys says. "We may have killed off a few dozen of their smaller ones, but their big ship took a nuke in the side and then went on the offensive."
"Yeah," Yzak replies. "They must be something insane if a nuclear weapon only pisses them off," his resignation was one of analysis, not desperation. Deep inside he may have resented losing to them twice, but the rest of him knew better than to assume he would survive repeated encounters with these maniacs.
"Shall we see what they are?" Captain Gladys asks.
"After you, Captain," Yzak already had an idea what would be inside, though the Captain clearly did not.
The Captain hoisted herself up to where she could see inside the bubble canopy of what was a fighter cockpit in hours past, and was now some form of ejection pod. She was expecting something at the least alien, given the almost complete disparity of form between the local units and these new foes, possibly some kind of biologic mashup or Eldritch abomination as the control center of the machine. She also considered the possibility that it was simply a computer-controlled device, with no pilot except a hunk of metal, though that possible was grossly unlikely given it had ejected from the deceased fighter. Her heart raced long and hard as she came into sight of the controlling being, ready for anything, or so she thought.
The reality of what she saw was almost a let-down to her, until the rest of her curiosity got off the 'anticipation' kick and onto the 'what the hell is this' kick. The form of a guy in what looked to be something akin to an exposure suit but plated in metal was stretched out in the cockpit almost luxuriously, the feet of the armored form resting on the top of the HUD console, the remainder of the pilot stretched out in a reclining position to the back of the command couch. And, if only to make it more bizarre, the pilot was reading a book with one hand, the other hand behind the helmet to brace the pilot in place.
Yzak taps on the canopy with the butt of his sidearm to draw the pilot's attention in their direction. The helmet shifts in their direction for a moment, the free hand comes forward to place a bookmark, and the right foot comes down off the console to slam into a button and trip it, all in a matter of seconds. The canopy unlatched from the frame moments later and began drifting away from the rest of the ejection pod, aided by a shove from the pilot a second later as he straightened out to something approaching a normal sitting position. As he shifted, the Captain noticed the symbols on his left arm, the three triangles on a white background, the silhouette of his fighter with a ball of fire just below that, and a playing card, the Ace of Spades but with the number '16' in lieu of the typical 'A' in the corners.
Unbidden, the pilot reached up to the back of the helmet, and with a counter-clockwise motion released a locking lug audibly. The helmet was hauled forward and off his head, and pushed aside. Captain Gladys almost gasped at the sight of the pilot underneath, but her military discipline kicked in. "You're...human?"
"You expected something else, Captain?" the pilot answers by way of reply. The violet series of tattoos on his face ceased glowing, which was the matter that had freaked Yzak out to the point of silence. He had never seen someone with face tattoos before, and certainly not a tattoo that glowed bio-luminescent like a firefly.
"Jesus," Yzak half-moans, drawing on his studies of old mysticism from years past.
"Jesus, Mohammed, or Abraham, take your pick, I am none of the above. I'm just a lowly Aerofighter pilot. You are?"
"Oh. Captain Talia Gladys, ZAFT Warship Fermi. You?"
"Point Commander Sevan, Ace fighter element, Magi Warship Mjolnr. Because your ship is the unit that defeated me in combat, I am honor-bound to serve as your bondsman, Captain Gladys."
"Uh, what?" The way it sounded to the Captain and Commander Joule, it almost sounded as if he was offering himself up as some kind of sado-masochist sex slave.
"Mind explaining that?" Yzak asks.
"The laws of military conduct from where I live require me to serve the person that defeated me in combat, until such a time as I am released or indoctrinated into your society. And breaking the law is severely discouraged in Magi society."
"He might as well be an alien," Talia says almost crassly.
She had no idea how much she would come to understand that simple phrase in the coming hours and days. On the other hand, her willingness to weather the interlocking illogical premises would give ZAFT a head-start on the inevitable negotiations.
-x-x-x-
(28 September CE 71, 0900 hours)
(Magi Warship Mjolnr)
"So, after reviewing all logs and crew inputs, it is the conclusion of all investigating teams that the missile that slipped past the Hyperion was not a failure to acquire and engage the missile but a failure of the system to target the missile properly, consistent with a general failure of the targeting systems throughout the Hyperion," Gerald says to avoid any confusion on the matter. "As such, the targeting systems had to be hard-rebooted for the ship to even use manual targeting procedures."
System failure was something not entirely new to Wayne, given that the Mjolnr suffered an average of two system failures a week worth noting. As such, he was not going to hold such a malfunction against Captain Freeman, and certainly not against his crew who had literally attempted to outpace the Captain at his makeshift orders to track and engage the missile outside normal targeting procedures.
"And the reason why the missile struck and detonated on the Mjolnr was because it was moving faster than a kamikaze light Aerofighter by the time it got to us, and though our own boresight footage shows repeated hits, apparently we did not contact anything critical in the missile," Wayne says. "Luck wins, luck loses, and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it."
"Aff, have to agree there," Gerald says. "Shall I?"
"Go for it," Wayne waves him onward.
"There wasn't much question as to whether or not you screwed up, Captain, and this inquiry was not meant as intimidation nor discipline. Concurrently, you have not at any time been stripped of your command nor shall you be now deprived of it. More to the point, given that Hyperion, Dominion and Vladivostok are the only three fully mission-capable ships in our fleet at this time, I expect you will keep your ship ready to operate at a moment's notice, in case the Earth Alliance reinforcements get rowdy and decide they want a second go at it."
"Aff, Century Commander," Captain James Freeman replies immediately.
"Thank you for intercepting one of those nukes, Captain," Wayne replies. "We might not have survived the second."
"Thank you for keeping that nuke off the colony, Star Admiral. If that would've been a hit, sepukku would have been a given, and I doubt much else of the Earth Alliance would have survived it."
"Aff, indeed," Wayne replies. He knew the costs of such actions, and Magi infuriated in such a way would not have been stopped until the offending parties ran out of blood and bodies to be spilled courtesy of their actions. "Return to your command and remain at standby, condition two stations. If we can effect repairs to some other ships, you may be pulled off for crew rest while someone else takes up the guard."
"If I may make a request, Star Admiral, for my crew?"
"Please," Wayne replies cordially.
James hesitates for a moment. "Don't give these bastards so much as half a micron at the negotiating table, sir. They've already proved themselves dishonorable whelps by firing nukes at civilians, they have earned no honorable conduct as far as my staff believe. Maybe others as well."
Wayne chuckles grimly. "I'll have to give them a centimeter or two as a matter of course, Captain, much as I would like to shove a pineapple or two up their arse and watch the fireworks (1). I, unfortunately, will also have to be civil to them. As to being nice, nope, not a chance in hell. Orb has earned 'nice', same for the other neutral states on Terra that were bullied into support of the war. Anyone else, big fat 'hell no'. Any else, Captain?"
"Neg, sir."
"Dismissed." The Captain was out the door seconds later. "All right, what is left?"
"Casualty counts, repair times, expenditure of ordinance, the typical crap that comes with winning."
"Fucking bean counters," Wayne grumps about the necessity of accounting for all the paperwork and ordinance and such. Was it not bad enough that he had to inform the families of the deceased that they would be receiving their loved ones in varying states of remnant after having stopped a nuclear war? Was it not bad enough that he could sortie and measure the hole in the side of his ship by lengths of his Gundam?
"Neg, and not likely that you will ever get a respite from the paperwork involved," Gerald replies before Wayne could even put voice to his internal bitching. "On the other hand, there is one thing that you do need to go over before you turn in or before the negotiations tomorrow. Shall we cover it now, or wait?"
"Which would you prefer?" Wayne asks, seeing no urgent need for him to decide the matter of mystery.
"Now, actually, while all the ships are in and the personnel are mostly available."
"Okay, what is it?" Wayne asks.
"An answer to a question you posed. One moment," and Gerald picks up a growler phone, entering the all-call command. "Teams Foxtrot-Alpha through Foxtrot-Hotel report to Briefing Four immediately. Repeat, teams Foxtrot-Alpha to Foxtrot-Hotel move to briefing four."
Team structures? No way... Wayne was rather shocked, since the three standard divisions of the Magi used command structures, whereby the Commandos were always rumored to use team structures inside a very loose command structure. "Am I going to have to officially object to this?"
"Neg, not likely," Gerald replies as they cross from the bridge bridge briefing room to the bridge to the central corridor headed downrange toward Sector 2, where said briefing room was located.
The trip took ten silent minutes of walking, through which the two officers were 'saluted' (2) by many and even twice had to stop to await the passage of cargo exoskeletons. The damage to the ship was extensive, especially in the area of the nuclear blast, and repairs would take months even with the nanomachine repair systems. Nobody maintained illusions about how much more vulnerable the ship was courtesy of acting as naval shields against a nuclear weapon headed straight for civilians. Thankfully, ZAFT and the Earth Alliance believed the opposite and quite clearly showed it by doing as ordered when ordered.
"Okay, Gerald, what is this about?" Wayne asks at the threshold of the briefing room.
"You asked Kingfisher a question in the last battle. The answer is inside."
"Oh," Wayne replies, before tripping the door with trepidation in heart.
When immediately inside the door, someone shouted, "Star Admiral on deck!" shortly accompanied by the sounds of many pairs of boots stamping to attention. It was an amazing sight to Wayne, for the modest briefing room was stocked full of people and there was a concentric ring of people around the chairs standing without seating. Even still, Wayne did not block the door, as more were coming.
"You asked how many Commandos are on the ship. Sadly, three of our ranks did not survive the battle past, but this is what we have," Gerald says. "I was one of their ranks, until I was transferred to the Techstrikers and assigned to this ship. Still, they call me commander above else, so I guide their hands as you request. And now, Star Admiral Centara, their purpose is yours."
"Our lives, in defense of the Empire!" One of the ranks shouts.
"Our foes, in deference to the Empire!" A younger lady shouts in reply.
"Seyla," Wayne replies at the podium. (3)
"Be seated," Gerald orders. The unit was quick but rather noisy about being seated.
"Is this room soundproofed?" Wayne asks off microphone.
"Aff, I saw to it myself," Gerald replies. He also made sure that only the AI had an electronic link to the room, no other parties. The AI was necessarily in on the conspiracy parts of the matter, as it was she who usually did the bulk of the coordinating and dissemination of orders and information among the Commandos.
It only took Wayne four seconds to really calculate his tack, and go from there. "From the day I started this tour, I knew there was something unusual about this ship. A Phalanx-class ship, steeped in history, one that fought in every major naval campaign of the Star Empire Wars, taking the name of the weapon of a God friendly to the Empire, and yet abused to the point of criminal neglect and forgotten in every major upgrade phase over the last four thousand years. By the Gods of yore, if only the Star Admiralty really knew who they had pissed on, they may have rectified their misconduct." There were a few chuckles at such a thought.
"I don't need to tell you of the situation. More than the average, you should know what is at stake here. We have averted disaster, prevented a nuclear holocaust, and thoroughly smashed the navies of the two dominant superpowers of this planet. Like our ancestry in wars long past, we have smashed skulls and completed wars in deft, thoroughly Magi strokes."
"SEYLA!" the assembled Commandos shout.
"We have won the war, but the peace looms ahead, and we must win this as well or we shall be victim to the machinations of people who now assuredly hate us more than their traditional enemies. For now, I shall be the only one who officially knows of your ranks, though it is unlikely I can conceal from one other on the ship; I trust her discretion more than—" A lady entered markedly late, immediately tripping the door closed behind her.
"My apologies for being late, Century Commander—eep," the instant hesitation in Calamira's demeanor when she realized that it was the Star Admiral at the podium and not the person who normally held such assemblies.
"I stand corrected," Wayne continues smoothly as Calamira takes a seat in the only other open chair in the facility. "Regardless, I will hold this group classified at this time, though for what I believe will be needed of your services your existence shall be 'grey' soon enough, as opposed to the traditional 'black' existence of your ranks. Now, that being said, I need an idea of your capabilities and placement, that I may do what must be done as efficiently and directly as possible."
Unbidden, the sound-off began: "Alpha Team, Gundam Trinary, latest equipment and resources."
"Bravo Team: Gundams, Trinary formation, also latest equipment."
"Charlie Team: Aerofighter support. You tag 'em, we frag 'em."
"Delta Team: Omnimechs and supporting Mechanized Assault Infantry."
"Echo Team, Assault Ghosts."
"Foxtrot Team: Infiltration Ghosts. Hiding in plain sight and enjoying it."
Calamira was the last to stand up. "Hotel Team, Special Operations, espionage, command and control."
The procession continued with teams that were already standing. "NEST Team, nuclear armaments, special operations, long range recon and strike." Kingfisher says.
"Angel Team, overall command and spaceborne interdiction," Gerald completes the sound-off.
"Damn," Wayne replies stone cold. The array of capabilities, never to mention the badassitude of the individual troopers, was shocking to the otherwise simple Star Admiral. The Techstrikers routinely had less than twenty percent of the capabilities of these troops, and now Wayne not only had them but would need to rely on them.
"Aff, sir, it is a weight, but it may also be our saving grace in months to come."
"The only branch not represented here is the Magi," Wayne replies. "Why so?"
"It is an illusion that all Commandos are also Magi, as that would be gross and rather undue favoritism, though even I must admit that none of the ranks being wizards throughout this ship is extremely long-ball odds at best, and engineering on someone's part at worst."
"Probably those fat bastards in the Admiralty review again," Wayne grouses. "All right, people, thank you for revealing your presence. I will end with a clear statement of my purpose here. Until further notice, my intention is to return to the Empire with any and all personnel that so wish to return, and for those who will inevitably wish to remain here I will build a stable future. Any objections from the floor?"
There was an eerie silence from the whole unit. "I daresay not, Star Admiral," Calamira replies.
"Very well. No sense hanging around, people might get the wrong idea what's going on in here," Wayne says, meaning more than one possible thing all at once. "At your leisure, ladies and gentlemen."
"All rise!" a Gundam pilot shouts. "For the Empire, we shall do what we must!"
"SEYLA!"
-x-x-x-
(30 September CE 71, 0800 hours)
(Warship Mjolnr)
Captain Ramius, Lacus Clyne, and Cagalli Athha (each with a single secondary person, namely Commander La Flaga, Andrew Waltfeld, and Colonel Kisaka) were the last to arrive.
"Calamira, how bad is it so far?"
"We have the Earth Alliance and ZAFT pretty much at each other's throats in the conference room, and that is only the beginning. The real work has not even begun yet. Nor have we formally joined the negotiations, hell, the two groups have not even spoke to the Star Admiral yet."
"This could be interesting," Captain Ramius replies.
" 'Interesting' is not the word of choice, Captain, more like 'bloody chaotic'. I am reminded of six-year-olds accused of breaking a flower pot and blaming each other for the mishap."
"Might as well get to it, then," Colonel Kisaka replies. "What are the accommodations?"
"Both sides have refused accommodations in the ship, they will be returning to their own sides after talking. I suggest you do the same to maintain the illusion of neutrality in the matter, or they will accuse you of bias towards our positions."
"And what positions will you be taking?" Lacus asks.
"What positions any Mage would take: restoration of honorable conduct and rights. No less."
As they were walking 'north' up the central corridor toward Briefing 2, Calamira didn't even have to try hard to understand that what she said had immediately caused consternation in at least three of the six she was leading to the destination room. The 'why' of such matters was also fairly obvious: Calamira's phrasing, likely because of it being not exactly the most politic, was also rather inflexible whereas the Star Admiral was planning on being far more flexible than most the crew wanted him to be. After all, how could one expect honorable conduct out of someone who just shot a nuclear weapon at civilians?
"And where does the Star Admiral draw the line? When he's restarted the war?" Captain Ramius asks.
Smartass, Calamira thinks but only belatedly hoped it didn't bleed across telepathically. If it did, nobody reacted to it in the seconds thereafter. "Oh no, there will be no restart of the war. Neither side has enough resources, active units, capital ships, or mobile suits to make a good case of it."
The cluster of officers came to a halt in the center of the corridor, away from the door. "Anything else we should know?"
"You know as much as we do. I won't be in on this, someone from the command group has to remain ready. Good luck, all of you, and hope to having Orb restored."
"Thank you, Calamira," Cagalli says sincerely before being the second to last to enter the room.
It was Waltfeld who was the last. "Is there a reason you are being inflexible on some things, or is this just a stunt?"
Calamira sighs. "Magi law, and more to the point Magi convictions, require we have to take certain positions and not relent on them. One of the big ones is the gross violation of a nation's sovereignty for the purpose of fighting a war and/or exploiting its resources. We believe that if you cannot fight without exploiting others, you should not be fighting to begin with, or you should pay the price of your own accord."
"Ah, so this isn't just an attitude issue, but also a legal issue on your part."
"Aff," Calamira says diffidently. "Were we not willing to hold to our responsibilities and convictions, we would not be Magi." A moment's hesitation; "Good luck, everyone."
Cagalli watched the retreating form of the Strategic Psionic almost wistfully, wishing she would be involved in the talks, but only the Star Admiral and Century Commander would be involved in that.
-x-
"Ready to go, boss-man?" Gerald asks after stepping inside the Star Admiral's quarters.
"Aff, shall we?" Wayne says after giving his ribbon bars one last tug and making sure they were seated properly. Without much more concern for his appearance, he was out the door. "Your ghosts, do they stir today?"
"Neg, the specters are silent today, I usually prefer shooting people over negotiating with them, especially this lot."
"Including the Three Ships?" Wayne asks.
"With three exceptions," Gerald replies. "Though, when you get down to it, they are far lower on the shoot-list. Damned idealists and politicians can fuck a peace up faster than we professionals."
"Old hat, man," Wayne replies, meaning that history had already proved Gerald right time and time and time again.
Calamira came to attention as they approached her, since by one technicality out of two both command officers outranked her. "Everyone there?" Gerald asks after a moment.
"Aff, they are there. And already are they doing the 'he did it, she did it' routine."
"I get the feeling this shall be a babysitting detail if ever one," Gerald gripes.
"Such price we pay for victory," Wayne replies stolidly. "Commander Ward has the Conn right now, so I want you to keep a very close eye on the Earth Alliance remnant fleets, and keep a look out for even more of them. We're in a neutral zone right now, but we know how much BC respects neutral parties...or their betters."
"Aff, sir, will do," Calamira replies.
"As you were, Calamira. And thank you for pulling our butts out of the fire."
"Sir," and without further ado she was on her way towards the bridge.
"Where was I? Oh, yes, ranting on and on about pissant politicians. See, soldiers will stare at each other for time immemorial; it takes a radical, a politician, or a lot of pissed-off civilians to start a war," Gerald continues as if they had not been interrupted.
"Through?" Wayne asks; the two had stopped outside the briefing room that had been rearranged for the treaty negotiations.
"Yeah, should be," he sighs. Both officers look to the door.
"This is probably going to suck," Wayne says before composing himself.
The Marines at the door came to attention, as they had for every other entrant into the room, and the door snapped open. Wayne advanced on the door as his right hand switched down the volume on his radio; an alert tone would still come through at standard volume, but general command-band chat would not. Without that distraction, and with a competent pair of officers in the CIC to handle any matters that might crop up, Wayne prepared himself for the wall of sound to come his way.
Only, it was not a wall of sound and shouting and fury that assailed him, but a complete silence brought on by the entrance of the Star Admiral, as the two main parties of the negotiation, ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, stared at him accusatory. It did not take much in the way of imagination to understand why, either. The two representatives of the Earth Alliance and the one ZAFT military officer in the room sat down as Wayne and Gerald moved to their seats immediately inside the door. Even still, the dirty looks did not cease as everyone took or resumed their seats.
-x-
The reactions of the three groups present, and assuredly the reaction of the Star Admiral and the Century Commander, were all wildly different from each other.
Cagalli, the main speaking official for the neutral parties of the war, took solace in the arrival of the Star Admiral. She, more than even the other five with her, knew that the Magi were not given to their emotions, but to cold and rational honor in their conduct, and this negotiating would reflect that. The fact that both the senior Magi officers were armed with their typical sidearms, unlike everyone else in the room except probably Colonel Kisaka (and that concealed), only added to her comfort zone. Lastly, the fact that the location of the negotiations was deliberately scheduled to be conducted on the Mjolnr only made things psychologically more advantageous to everyone except ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, mainly from the shock value of having to sign the cease-fire on the ship that thoroughly crushed their forces. The hard look in the eyes of the Century Commander only confirmed what she thought: the games were over, time had come for everyone to ante up or get the hell out of the casino.
Inside the mind of Eileen Canaver, it was a significantly different experience to finally see the man that had completely crushed ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. She had not had visual contact with any but a few of the Magi, the highest ranking thereof being the Galaxy Commander of Marines, who had delivered ZAFT the fair chance to surrender before having its military wiped out. Granted, after the shooting there was not much left in overall military strength for ZAFT, but that anything survived the frightful hands of the Magi was itself something nearly a miracle. Chairwoman Canaver found herself wondering how the Magi ran things and kept their society from falling apart if the military ran the whole affair, then came to the conclusion that she could probably take some liberties with a military officer. After all, for a society that prided itself on the fact that politics did not really exist in their government (at least in the expected fashion), for the Star Admiral to be facing off against a career politician gave her some maneuvering room to play with their sense of fair play, maybe even score a few advantages while enacting some much-needed reforms. After all, throwing a third monkey-wrench in the works, especially one that seemed pre-biased against Blue Cosmos and its supporters, would only make things easier for ZAFT in the long run, or at least she figured so.
Admiral Sutherland was the ranking survivor of the Earth Alliance 'Peacemaker' force, and after some heated argument, was able to convince EA headquarters in Ptolemaeus to call it off now while the Earth Alliance had a space force to save. After giving them a goodly amount of video transmitted from deceased ships as the Magi tore them apart, the EA brass lost heart for the battle and their bid to snuff out ZAFT and Coordinators. Admiral Sutherland was no friend to the likes of Coordinators, yet he was no fool and recognized that these Magi were only getting started, as the old euphemism went. Even the crater in the front of the Mjolnr was measured and far from fatal, such was the power of Earth Alliance nuclear weapons when compared to Magi Warships. If everything he had done before September 27 was simply a calculated battle motivated by victory and anger, then said battle on the 27th was the first calculation he had made that was motivated by outright fear at a foe capable of tearing his forces apart easily. As such, his instructions were to try and gain some form of advantage in negotiations, but William Sutherland was more than willing to walk away from this one and stop shooting if it meant his ass was intact and lacking any (extra) boot imprints or was missing chunks.
At a glance, Star Admiral Wayne Centara knew he was in for the other half of the hellish roller-coaster ride, even despite the intentions he brought to the table. Magi position on this matter was dead simple, and not at all unfair: both sides stop trying to massacre each other, neutral parties are reinstated to their sovereignty, and preferably find some kind of middle ground between the four sides so that he could obtain the resources and time needed to fix the ship. With Cagalli looking almost desperate, Admiral Sutherland wearing a poker face but having other traits showing something akin to fear, and the almost-leer coming from the ZAFT representative, Wayne was getting the feeling that this was definitely going to be hellish, possibly also intellectually violent, and nothing short of venomous. Don't expect Christmas cards from this lot, Wayne thinks sardonically, staving off the threatening string of four-letter invective that was back-building in the rear of his mind.
After a few moments of silence and contempt, Wayne began by asking: "Shall we begin, or is there something the involved parties would like to begin by airing out off the record?"
"The Earth Alliance government objects strongly to your taking sides in the ongoing war, especially in the—"
"I have not declared nor recognized sides at this time, Admiral Sutherland. I simply acted to stop an evolving nuclear slaughter of civilians. Shall I now take sides, or shall we discuss an amicable cease-fire policy and go from there?" Wayne's tone and phrasing made one thing clear: he was not going to put up with posturing and wangst, he was here to settle things down and get on with it. Admiral Sutherland's expression clearly denoted that he did not like having to take that tact, nor the attempt of it, and definitely did not relish the thought of trying to go head to head with the Task Force after being spanked once already.
ZAFT got the message loud and clear. "The PLANT supreme council is ready to begin cease-fire negotiations," chairwoman Eileen Canaver says.
"Feh, we will begin, but the Earth Alliance would like to claim aggrieved status at the first available opportunity."
"You can file a paper to that effect, I'll have a form for you to fill out at the first break, and we will go over it at 0700 tomorrow morning."
"Paperwork?" the Admiral asks almost indignantly.
"My commanding officer will review it and make sure you get a fair shake in the end, over and beyond what reparations I may make, but record of the grievances has to be on file. The regs are fairly clear on that front, sorry," Wayne actually did sound apologetic about the matter, given he hated all things paperwork and bean-counter.
"Understood," the Admiral replies almost sarcastically. It did not take Wayne nor Gerald much in imagination to figure out that the Admiral planned on bogging the notorious Admiralty Review down with paperwork, though Wayne intended on having the Division Commander see to the grievances, not the sods that thought they commanded the Empire's Navy.
"Shall we begin for actual?" Nods around the table was answer enough. "Session 1, negotiations on a cease-fire accord between the Earth Alliance, Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, Emirate of Orb in representation of neutral parties on Terra, and Task Force Jokers Wild. Present date and time is 29 September CE 71, 0800 hours Lima. At this time, I would like the parties to break seal on the initial proposal of cease-fire terms."
Letter openers had been supplied to all three stations, though Wayne had ensured that they were dull enough that using them as weapons would be a stretch; he wanted to minimize bloodshed in the proceedings, though he was unwilling to have Marines stationed inside the room for fear of being considered intimidating. After seals were broken, eyes immediately began reading through the first page of actual transcript.
It did not take long. "Oh, no, you did not suggest that we would cease fire without laying the blame on them, did you?" Eileen Canaver says. "Someone has to take responsibility for this nightmare!"
"And then what?" Wayne asks. "You blame the Earth Alliance. The Earth Alliance blames you. What does that solve? Nothing. With blame laid, the animosity only increases, and the war begins anew in less than a year. Been there, seen that, picked up the body parts after it happened. Thus, I suggest a deliberately faultless declaration of cease-fire, that way everyone walks away without the knife in the back."
"There is merit in this proposal," Admiral Sutherland replies. "The Earth Alliance is amicable to a completely neutral cease-fire, though what mechanism do you propose to actually prevent militancy from rising again?"
"If, by which you mean arms reductions or arms limitations, I included none," Wayne replies immediately. "Simply stated, it does not matter if you have one gun or a thousand, they will sit in armories or hangars until such a time as they are called into service again. It would be intellectually dishonest for me to suggest a limit of arms that no side would in good faith adhere to, given the lives on the line at all times from aggressor parties."
"Then how about a mutual arrangement, then," Lacus Clyne begins. "As the Earth Alliance and ZAFT are both likely concerned about the armaments becoming a cause to justify war, I propose that all sides be limited in armaments by volume and classification, to an amicable number well below the first-strike threshold that you have commented on before, Star Admiral," she concludes smoothly.
Damnable pacifistic airhead, Wayne thinks crassly. "Go on," Wayne replies smoothly.
"I recommend a force structure of no more than six armored divisions and ten mechanized infantry divisions, or equivalent numbers, to not include naval assets and such."
"Impossible!" Admiral Sutherland replies immediately. "That proposal would reduce OMNI by two thirds! If we did that, insurgency would destroy our respective member nations inside of six months! Not to mention how easily the Magi or ZAFT could go through such a limited force with their forces."
"I agree, while such a reduction would be politic and preferable, I cannot in good faith ask the Earth Alliance to cut their own throats in much a manner," Chairwoman Canaver replies.
What's her game, exactly? Wayne asks himself mentally of Eileen, but covered up with his spoken word. "I repeat myself, but; a reduction in arms would not even qualify as a symbolic gesture to anyone in the know on such matters, it would simply be undercutting the nation's position. Additionally, such reductions for the Earth Alliance would indeed be suicidal, and no party at this table would like to see two thirds of the world below us in the flames of anarchy, would we?" the question was entirely rhetorical, but served its purpose well. Lacus looked from the ZAFT delegation to the Earth Alliance side, then down at the table.
And thus it continued...
-x-
(Time: 1015 hours)
Recess had been called, and the group shifted across the hallway to the Sniper Bar and Grill, where sections had been reserved for each of the delegations. Wayne and Gerald took perch at the bar, where Calamira was waiting.
"How goes?"
Gerald simply barks a chuckle. "About as well as everyone expected."
"Ouch," she replies sincerely. "Need anything?"
"Nope," Gerald replies.
"I have one, what is Eileen's angle? I can get where the EA is going, they're trying to save their asses before anything else gets mulched, and I get Lacus' position, she is being an airhead pacifist that does not live nor think in the real world, but ZAFT's position is sufficiently muddled that I can't figure out what they are trying to accomplish."
"I will look into it," Calamira replies. "Cagalli?"
"So far, so good for the firebrand of Orb. Neither side is really against Orb regaining its sovereignty, but talking them out of reparations may be a bit challenging."
"Reparations? Of what? Last I checked, it was Orb that has been categorically butt-fucked by first ZAFT, then the EA. Reparations should be the other way around."
"Tell that to the delegations staffed by six-year-old sibko brats, not we," Gerald says almost crassly.
"True," Calamira concedes. "Incoming in our baffles." (4)
"Nothing alcoholic, right?" the bartender asks Colonel Kisaka as he sits down.
"No, please. Tonic and lime?"
"Certainly," the bartender pulls the necessary jugs for said drink.
"What is Lacus' intention?" Gerald asks, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.
"We are being outmaneuvered," Ledonir replies frankly. "Cagalli and I can't stave Lacus, Mu, and Murrue, and Waltfeld is waffling right now. You may end up standing on your own at the negotiation table, despite your already well-established position."
"It would not be the first or last time that Magi have stood alone and still managed to kick major rations of ass," the bartender answers for the two officers.
"You'd better pass along to Lacus that if she undercuts ZAFT and the EA with her pacifistic airhead hopes, she will blow her position at the negotiating table completely. I gave her three oblique warnings to soften her tack, if ZAFT gets in on her she will be completely out of the game and with no hope of influencing this outcome any more."
"You almost sound like you want that to happen, Star Admiral."
"She's overlooking plain damned history, Colonel. Fear starts more wars than arrogance and liebenstraum combined, especially after the turn of the Industrial Revolution. If she wants to instill fear in the parties, she can cut down the military might of both sides, but it will start the war again within two years, almost assured," Star Admiral Centara says.
"I don't think she has much grounding in history," Ledonir says.
"She does, most of it politically correct and some of it distorted from fact, the typical liberal and progressive taint," Calamira says. "I looked into her logic some time ago, and didn't like what I saw." the looks from Wayne, Gerald, and Colonel Kisaka were quite unusual. "What?"
"Never mind," Gerald grumps. "Better warn off the 'peace at all costs' faction, Colonel, or 'EA versus ZAFT, round two' will be far more bloody than round 1."
"Roger that," and without a further word he was on his way, with his drink.
-x-x-x-
(1 October CE 71, 0400 hours)
(In the demilitarized zone around Jachin Due)
"This is independent reporter Jess Rabble reporting from the neutral zone centered on ZAFT's Jachin Due space fortress," Jess begins his report, which was being retransmitted by ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, though the Magi had also agreed to beam it to a satellite for Orb—where it would go from there, no telling. Jess thought this could be his big break.
"Four days ago, what was thought to be the final stroke of the war for either ZAFT or the Earth Alliance came to a head, only with a far more bizarre conclusion than anyone could imagine. As ZAFT tried to maneuver the GENESIS nuclear laser—the last remaining part of it can be seen to the right of Jachin Due—and the Earth Alliance launched a desperate nuclear assault against ZAFT's space fortress and the PLANTs, a neutral faction interceded in the war and eliminated both nuclear arsenals before further civilian casualties could be sustained. In less than an hour of vicious warship and mobile suit battle, and a Marine invasion of Jachin Due resulting in the complete takeover of ZAFT's final defensive bastion, the battle ended in a stalemate for ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. "
The camera gun held by her Works GINN pans left, away from Jachin Due to a totally different and almost alien object. "The object you are seeing is not a malformed colony, it is a warship. This ship, belonging to a government that nobody has ever heard of, was stranded in the L4 colony area some four months ago and unable to return home. Within weeks, the ship had learned of the war and joined a neutral faction trying to stop the war before a nuclear massacre occurred. It would be this alliance that would turn the war around."
The camera zoomed in on the ship, specifically the bow-port of the ship where it had been struck by the nuclear missile. "This is the Mjolnr, named after the hammer of the Norse God of Thunder. Given the ship's architecture and arsenal, it is obvious this ship is not of ZAFT or Earth Alliance manufacture, and bears little resemblance to the fighting styles of any space navy known. The Mjolnr masses roughly the same as the entire Jachin Due space fortress, with almost a thousand guns on the ship and more armor than the entire ZAFT warship fleet, this ship, its seven escorts ships, three ships from Orb and renegades of ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, and a myriad of mobile forces were able to stop both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance from further use of their nuclear arsenals, potentially using them on civilians. Just to make one thing clear, nuclear weapons were fired, and the section of the ship the camera is focused on right now is being repaired for nuclear blast damage. The Mjolnr was used as a naval shield to stop an errant Earth Alliance missile from striking one of the Januarius colonies." (Jess did not believe the last bit was entirely accurate on the Magi's part, but since it was the official word and the Earth Alliance had said nothing to countermand it, he considered it close enough to be newsworthy.)
The cameras traverse the length of the ship, crossing over a flight of the Fireball Aerofighters. "I am presently working with Commander Glennaste Ward, the ship's secondary commander, to get more information on the ship, its purpose and intentions, but details are thin at this time due to the ongoing cease-fire negotiations. Apparently, the Magi are very leery of contaminating the negotiations with press intervention, though their explanation as to why is also lacking in real depth. We do have statements from ZAFT and the Earth Alliance to cover as to the negotiation proceedings, and will get to that in a moment."
The camera centered back forward, where one of the escort Monitors was detaching from the ship. "The smaller escort ship that is unlatching from the Mjolnr is named Hyperion, and I am told by members of the Orb Warship Kusanagi that this ship intercepted one of two missiles aimed directly at the PLANT colonies, where the second missile struck the Mjolnr and detonated in the surface armor. The total casualties caused by that missile is listed at four crewmembers of the Mjolnr, all said to be unwilling to leave their posts even with a nuclear weapon strike on the ship imminent. I have been informed that the Magi are making a special exception to battle recordings and will have boresight camera footage available before the end of the day today."
The camera moved to and zoomed in on the silent Earth Alliance fleet, holding formation at a distance they believed to be out of range of the Mjolnr's long reach. "From the Earth Alliance, we have received word that they consider negotiations to be going well. Admiral Sutherland has gone on the record and said that all parties are being very reasonable and accommodating of Earth Alliance strategic needs and goals. ZAFT Supreme Chairwoman Eileen Canaver has said that the Magi in particular and Orb with special mention have negotiated hard to provide a clear and neutral cease-fire accord that respects the rights of all parties involved in the final stages of this war."
"This is Freelance Journalist Jess Rabble, reporting from the neutral zone at Jachin Due. I will report again, live, at 1900 hours with any new information from the negotiations or our mysterious travelers, the fleet of the Jokers Wild."
-x-x-x-
(Time: 0430 hours)
For Kira, finding the way to the pilot's ready room on the Dominion was no difficult task. The ship was so similar to his second home, the Archangel, that the layout was almost exactly the same. His guest ID even allowed him access to the room in question, something he almost did not expect.
"Hey, kids, what's up?" a lady in Magi Pilot's Armor asks. Athrun read her call-sign as being 'Cobalt', which was odd since most Magi Mobile Suit pilots did not go by call-signs.
"We're looking for, erm, 'Kingfisher' is his name?" Athrun says.
" 'Kingfisher' is it? Try the galley, he is on lunch break right now."
"Right here," said pilot declares. "For what do I owe the honor of a visit from the two best among the Three Ships?" Kingfisher begins the dialogue before taking a seat on the central couch for the pilots.
"We...we need to know how to get you to stop undercutting our representative at the negotiations."
"Lacus, right?" Kingfisher asks.
"Yeah. She's trying to prevent another war, and your commanding officer, Lightbringer, has done everything short of bury her in quicksand," Kira says.
Kingfisher chuckles. "She's trying to prevent a war only by way of ignoring how more than a few wars have been started. You may have heard of one of those such fracases, World War II, perchance?" Both pilots grimaced. "Oh yes, your politically correct history courses forgot to mention that by disarming and humiliating Germany after World War I, the Allies connived at their second great war by engineering the perfect preconditions of economic ruin and malcontent to give rise to the Nazi Party." Star Colonel Tellos, known as Kingfisher to most, leaned closer to the two pilots and gave them a hard stare, one sufficient to creep both of them out. "Earth has no shortage of malcontent right now. But no, let us disarm them, make the situation thirty times worse. It can only get better, can it not? How long will it be before you start understanding the history that you can parrot back to your instructors so readily?"
The look of pure frustration on Athrun's face told the tale faster than his words. "Come on, Kira, we'll have to talk directly to them about it."
"One moment," Cobalt requests, bringing all gaze to her. "You can have the best arguments in Existence for your intentions, but they are pointless in such matters of state and Fate. Only the strength of your convictions can sway the Century Commander on this matter. Talk is cheap, and the Magi have suffered enough lip service in sixteen millennia. Best you be willing to fight for your proposal, kiddies, or your words will fall on ears unwilling to listen to the bullshit and platitudes."
Silently, Kira and Athrun left the room, and were more than thirty meters down the hall before Athrun finally replied. "Damnit! Don't they see what they are doing?"
"We'll ask the Century Commander," Kira says almost consolingly. "They can't all be this blind."
-x-
What was it the Star Admiral said yesterday? Fucking bean counters? Gerald asks the AI entity by way of his neural implants.
Indeed, the ship's AI replies immediately. Wait a second, you have guests. Athrun Zala and Kira Yamato.
Moments later, the door buzzer goes off. "Who is?" Gerald asks plainly.
"Athrun Zala and one to speak to you, sir," the voice beyond the door replies over the intercom.
"Enter at will," he replies. The two pilots enter the stateroom of the Mjolnr, where Gerald was going over paperwork and operations plans pertaining to the negotiations today, and making notes on his changes in plans. "Ah, the aces of the Eternal, of what honor do I owe a visit?"
Kira and Athrun both sat down in the offered chairs, though neither said anything immediately. "Sir, we need you to allow Lacus to speak more freely in the negotiations," Athrun finally requests.
"Then what?" Gerald asks immediately thereafter.
"Uh, what?" Kira requests for clarification.
"I asked, 'then what,' if I remember my phrasing correctly. Not a hard question, when you get down to it. I let her run off at the mouth, then what happens? You should know this answer well enough."
"What? What do you mean I should know?" Athrun asks almost in a hostile fashion. "You—you all act as if you know exactly what the future holds!"
"There are beings in existence—eight of them to be accurate—that know exactly what the future holds. The three Fates: Urd, of the future, Skuld, of the past, Verdandi, of the present, all three know intimately the past, present, and future. The Executors of Ragnarok: Master Executor Erich Hess, Princess Hotaru Tomoe, not only do they know time back and forward, they control time back and forward, always trying to ensure someone survives the final battles of Ragnarok. The Oracle: Ellone Rigbaldi, the only being known to have both psychic skills for understanding the distant future and reading the distant past. The Chronicler: Fieldmarshall Erich Hess, the commanding officer of Sigma, a mercenary unit that makes the ZAFT FAITH teams look like pussies, their commander is tasked from on high with recording the final moments of Existence, that the next generation to come along shall not repeat our mistakes."
"That was seven. Who's the last?" Kira asks.
"The last is an old friend of mind, a soldier who has suffered much and knows the histories intimately by having written them. The Will Transcendent of Existence, a being that most people would simply refer to as God, can see Existence back and forward because it is he that channels the history we simple mortals write," Gerald says, not being completely inaccurate about the Will Transcendent, but not telling the whole story and/or adding extra things to muddle the affair. "I have an idea what the future holds, and more to the point I know what Lacus wants, and what that shall cause. She wants pacifism. I cannot say I blame her, after you have suffered wars as I have, to lay down arms would be welcomed. However, rampant pacifism is not going to solve the problems here, and rampant pacifism is only going to ensure the complete annihilation of Existence in the end. Is that what you want to live with, Kira? Athrun? Do you want to end your days knowing the path you have set shall mean all is dead at some point in the future? Or will you give your descendants a chance to fight, and possibly survive the coming days of Ragnarok?"
There was only stunned silence from Kira and Athrun, the shock apparent on their faces.
"You're crazy," Athrun gasps after a half-minute's breadth. "You're batshit crazy, you have to be."
"If believing that war can be subverted by the simple means of telling people they cannot have weapons, if that is the measure of sanity, I will take being batshit crazy as a compliment, thank you."
"You keep looking for ways it won't work, why?" Kira asks.
"I am not looking, all manner of evidence is writ throughout history for this exact thing, for anyone who cares to remember who screwed up in the exact same fashion in days long past, kid." Despite the growing flush on Athrun's face and Kira's growing tension, Gerald remained stone-cold calm and serious throughout.
"This isn't the past, damnit! Today is today! Things will be different, we can make it that way!" Athrun half-shouts in clear and sharp response to Gerald's constant insistence of a set and grim future.
Gerald chuckles grimly at Athrun's outburst. The Century Commander's arm came up, and slowly balled his hand into a fist, then released it. "These hands have killed their way across countless dimensions, in wars large and small, against foes obvious and indeterminate. If they could drip a tiny fraction of the blood they have reaped, this room would assuredly be flooded crimson. Yours are lucky, kid, you have only one war to your name, a nasty one but only one. You are young enough to be eternally optimistic in believing the heart of man is not depraved, and in most cases you would be correct. The problem is the people Lacus is negotiating with, up to and including we Magi, are fighting for nothing more than survival in the face of certain annihilation at the hands of one or more of the other parties. Now, in what frozen-over Hell would you reasonably believe someone would disarm themselves when their neighbors have a clear track record of trying to commit complete omnicide against everyone that does not match their idea of 'pure humanity' or 'evolved humanity'?"
"I'm through with this," Athrun says. "You're worse than Blue Cosmos and the ZAFT hard-liners."
The instant shift in demeanor of the Century Commander frightened Kira to complete silence and stillness. "Get the fuck out of my sight, boy. Right now."
"What? You are being—"
"Boy, if you make me get up, what will be left of you I will use as a hood ornament on my Neue Ziel. I have put up with your bullshit naivete and shortsightedness in a calm manner, but comparing blooded Magi soldiers to racist terrorist scumdogs is FAR past the pale. I will not tell you again," and Gerald points to the door out to the hall; "There is the fucking door, do not let it squash your sorry svashri ass on the way out. Is that clear?"
Without another word, Athrun left in a hurried manner and was glad to have the chance to retreat. "Erm, should I, er," and Kira points at the door.
"Neg, not necessary," Gerald replies in a somewhat calm fashion. "I have spent a lifetime in killing terrorists, before, during, and after they massacred civilians. I have cleaned up the body parts left over from their wanton and senseless attacks. I do not suffer terrorists, nor the governments that aid and abet them, as more than a few instances of Iran and Palestine have found out, not to mention several planetary states and four of six Star Empires. Were Athrun Magi-born, his sharp tongue would see him in the Trial of Grievance for that gross insult. And likely not to walk out of said Trial."
"Oh," Kira says, only now realizing the depth of Athrun's blunder. "Is...is there no recourse? You will not change your position?"
"Use your brains, kid. Trying to disarm everyone is not only counterproductive, it is a failed plan to begin with. Magi do not disarm, ever. You can have our weapons only by way of stepping over our dead bodies to collect them. At most, we may hangar a few units 'indefinitely' and that is it."
"Then...we really misinterpreted that one," Kira says.
"If you absolutely want the pink princess to keep flapping her lips without getting thrown out of the negotiations, your only recourse is a Trial of Possession for the right to front that theory without immediate censure. It will really be nothing more than wasted effort, neither ZAFT nor the Earth Alliance would go for it, and you know the Magi stance on disarmament: only after hell has frozen over and Satan rents out quarters on our ship."
"Does Satan....really exist? Given you know who God is?"
"All evidence points to 'neg' on that note, Kira. Though, given we've encountered everything from galaxy-traversing disembodied consciousnesses to Transcended humanoids (5), the possibility of Satan and/or an actual God existing somewhere is not entirely impossible. Just a matter of looking, I would say, should you be so inclined."
"Will...no, I think you can't get away with holding Jump technology secret forever," Kira opines.
"We expect to have to negotiate on that premise long and hard, but if we 'bass-ackwards' hill-rod Magi can build great fleets of Jumpships, so can the denizens of this planet."
Kira nods, expecting he would want to be in on such an engineering challenge. "All right, I have to at least try to get you to change your minds. How do I request a challenge?"
"I still say you are wasting time, effort, and chancing your life in battle to little or no gain, but if you still wish it so, file a challenge with Commander Ward or Strategic Officer Calamira, you can find them on the bridge."
"Thank you, sir," Kira says respectfully.
"You should not thank me. After all, when next we see each other, chances are high it shall be over the sights of our weapons. But I do thank you for at least not being as inflammatory as your comrade."
-x-
"The modifications are complete, Century Commander. That we scored some good beam claws from the deceased GuAIZ made the task easier. Putting the Heat Saber from Angel One's ground unit on your machine was a cake walk, of course."
"Excellent," Gerald replies. "The bazooka will be completely useless until we can reverse-engineer the Plasma Sabot from the Calamity's shells. Did Kika keep a beam bazooka for her Dom Tropen?" Gerald asks.
"Neg, she used a beam machine gun and heat saber. We can outfit you with just about anything in the arsenal, given your suit's special operations modifications."
"Damn," Gerald grumps. He wanted the power to obliterate Justice in one shot, and that kind of power required a buster rifle (easily dodged by a wary opponent) or a beam bazooka.
"You know, sir, maybe you should just severely humiliate and spank that fucking punk, not obliterate him," Calamira says.
"I'm more surprised he didn't just jack his shit up right there in the Stateroom," the Chief Mechanic for Angel Team says. "Seriously, calling a Star Empire's soldiers terrorists? Where the fuck does that arrogant brat get off? Fresh out of the sibko, not even shaving yet, and he thinks he can pass judgment on a Star Empire older than this planet's total recorded history?"
"Chill, man," Gerald replies calmly. Calamira could sense he was still pissed, but not in the white-hot sense, it was now a cold, determined fury. The same kind of fury that fueled the Magi for 3500 years and eventually gave them victory over some of the baddest mo-fos in Existence. "You know what? Give me a 60mm Gatling with some of my 'silver bullets'. That should be more than enough humiliation, wouldn't you agree?"
The smile on the face of the Chief Mechanic was more than ample for all three of the persons there. "Mount up, sir, I'll get you a gun worthy of the task."
Gerald climbed into the cockpit of his Gundam and began the process of locking himself into the restraining points. Calamira climbed in behind him to assist, though not necessary the pilots always welcomed the extra hand. Seriously, avoid killing them, regardless of how offensive they are, she requests telepathically.
I will have to rough them up, but there is a good chance I will lose this one just as readily as I might win it, Gerald replies in the same fashion.
Calamira finished up the last locking lug. "Come back alive, Century Commander."
The Armament Tug showed up with a 105mm machine gun taken from a Mobile Doll Leo that had been silenced months ago in the battle prior to the Mjolnr coming to this dimension. "Got it loaded with your 'happy 105s' sir. You only have a partial mag of them, though, so be sparing. I also have two mags of APEX ammo for use on them in critical locations, like thrusters, weapons, and sensors," Gerald's Chief Mechanic radios to him.
"I won't need them," Gerald replies. "This will be over in the second decent clash, far from enough time to go through a full magazine, much less two more." Gerald switches the radio off during his movement to pick up the proffered machine rifle. "Comrade, confirm weapon systems recognition and readiness."
The battle computer took a few moments to verify all systems. "60mm Vulcans verified, ammo type PSAP. Beam Sabers verified. Heavy Weapons Space Shield confirmed all subsystems live. Modified right Combat Gauntlet verified. 105 millimeter machine rifle verified, ammo type PSAP. All weapon systems nominal."
Gerald turned on his radio again. "Control, this is Angel Zero, requesting permission to taxi."
"Angel Zero, Control, taxi authorized in your bay, launch via catapult three-niner-romeo at first available."
"Understood, Angel Zero is moving now." The Gundam moved forward and right, guided by a marshaller down the taxiway to the hydraulic catapult. Gerald did the usual routine of placement and bracing; "Angel Zero, ready for cat-shot."
"Angel Zero, catapult is on automatic. You may launch when ready. Good luck, Century Commander."
"Gerald Lightbringer, Physalis Heavy Weapons Modified, launching!" As soon as he jammed the jet throttle to the max, the catapult tripped and loosed him at an extreme velocity for a few seconds, then his own acceleration took over. Two course corrections and he was headed in the general direction of the battle lines.
"Attention trial participants, this is Star Commodore Jin Kojima, warship Redland. I will be acting as Trial Command for this engagement. This battle is for one match, unrestricted arsenal, Trial of Possession against the Magi as has already been declared and bid. Your bounds of engagement are limited to the declared neutral zone only; leaving the zone is grounds for disqualification, for terms of the mission profile your unit will be considered destroyed. Magi forces, declare ready op."
"Magi force, Gerald Lightbringer on Physalis Heavy Weps, ready op."
"Eternal forces, declare ready op."
"Eternal force, Kira Yamato on Freedom, ready operation."
"Athrun Zala, Gundam Justice, ready operation," the emphasis he put on the word justice made it almost an insult to the Magi in its own right.
"All forces have declared ready operation. Trial will commence in three...two...one...go for Trial!"
"Kira, follow me in," Athrun almost growls.
"Athrun, don't get hasty. He normally drives a massive Mobile Armor, we don't know what he can do in a smaller machine," Kira cautions.
"Fear and hesitation in one, misguided rage and angst in the other," Gerald replies on their radio channel. "Misconception and blind idealism in the hands of those who build our fates, this alone is the price we pay for ignoring historical patterns and common fucking sense. And it shall be a heavy price to pay for eons to come."
"Where is he?" Athrun asks, moments before his systems alert him to the presence of an unidentified object. "There! Four o'clock low! C'mon, Kira!"
"Come, sibko brats, come! Show me your hatred of those who would understand history instead of following your blind idealism! Show me the strength of your convictions! Prove unto Existence you are better than the Magi!"
"Shut up!" Athrun shouts, punctuating his order with two shots of his beam rifle and a pair of rounds from the Fortis beam cannons on his Subflight lifter. "Shut up, damn you!"
"This is the nature of what you seek to squelch, surat!" The only beam weapons Gerald possessed were part of the Heavy Weapons (Space) shield, a modified Physalis shield that traded in the nuclear weapon and cooling systems for weapon space. Since he figured them unaware of his real armaments or destructive potential, he continued to close in, leaving the real weaponry for a surprise in close. "Conflict is the nature of Existence itself, you cannot squelch it, you cannot deny it, you cannot bury the human tendency to rail against its surroundings! It is as much a part of all consciousness as is the requirement to breathe, kid!"
"You're wrong!" Kira shouts, himself closing in after overcoming his hesitation. Gerald took the hits from the railguns and beam rifle on the Freedom by way of blocking them with his shield. "People aren't like that!"
"I pity you who would ignore your own reality!" Gerald unlatches the heat saber and energizes it. "Hai!" His first slash against Athrun was a miss only on the barest of dodges from the Justice pilot. "You can deny your surroundings only until they destroy you, kiddies!"
"Bah!" Athrun draws his beam saber and charges in counter, determined to force the battle in his favor if for no other reason than to shut up the arrogant asshole in the strange Gundam.
Clash, clash, the slice of Athrun's beam saber never made it past Gerald's shield, just as the heat saber never bypassed the shield of the Justice.
"Athrun!" Kira shouts, having flanked Gerald; in a position to decapitate the Physalis, Kira took the shot, but a moment prior to the squeeze of the trigger Gerald hammered his jets and moved enough of the shield into position to stop the shot. To keep Athrun off balance, Gerald thrust at the Justice twice, once a miss, the second slamming into and penetrating through the shield of Justice, though not far enough to reach the Gundam behind it.
"Bah! I want my sword back, asshole!" Despite his wording, Gerald had switched to the heavy-duty beam sabers that were practically infamous on the Physalis.
"Come and get it!" Athrun connected the second beam saber to his first, making a beam lance, and closed the gap again. Once more, sword and shield ground against each other, the larger Physalis using its powerful thrusters to drive in against the Justice and keep the pilot off balance. "Damn, stalemate!"
"Not quite, kid," Gerald replies coldly. Four circular impressions in the wide edges of his shield (where cooling vents would be on a standard shield) launched clear, each of the red cylinders opening up like a flower.
"What?" Athrun shouts, momentarily distracted by the flying objects launched from his shield.
"Now you see why the Negaverse calls me the Archangel of Death!" Kira managed to intercept one of the four with a beam rifle shot, but the other three struck hard and fast against the Justice. One beam to remove the left leg, one to disable the engines on the sub-flight lifter, and a third through the left shoulder and forearm in a double-penetration. "EIYAH!" With the shield of the Justice compromised, Gerald shoved in with his advantage, bypassing the compromised shield and severing first the entire left arm with an upswing, then continued his pattern with a backstroke intended to remove the head of the Gundam. Before Gerald could complete the swing, Justice was on the move, and managed to score a hit by grinding down the Physalis shield and off the bottom edge, catching the left foot of the Magi Gundam and removing it at the ankle. "Trivial damage! You will not escape me!" Despite Kira killing off another of the Funnels, the two remaining retargeted and fired on Athrun again, and this time the results were less in his favor. One shot went through the left shoulder and into the body of the Justice at a strange angle, the other through the hip plate and caused his main propellant tank to cook off spectacularly. "The final stroke!" Gerald shouts as he closes in with his beam saber set to impale. Athrun, half-dazed from the explosion inside his machine, could do naught but watch in disconnected horror as the Mage struck, impaling Justice fatally in the lower torso, missing the reactor but severing the neural linkage that gave him control of the machine.
"Athrun!" Kira shouts. The Justice did not explode, but Kira could see the eyes of the Gundam shut down, a sure sign that at least the fail-safes were working.
"I'm alive...I think..." Athrun replies.
"You are next, whelp," Gerald says calmly.
"NO WAY!" Kira shouts, firing everything he had at Gerald. The strike of two more Rail Gun slugs caused an explosion in the lower part of his shield, but the beam weapons only scorched paint off his shield.
"Not bad, kid, but you must do better! Show me your convictions!" Gerald had backtracked his Gundam to where the Justice lost its arm, to recover his heat saber. With a hand on the hilt, Gerald kicked into the surface of the shield with his Gundam's remaining foot to draw out the blade. With a flair brandish, the Physalis racked the sword and set shield, ready for Kira's next strike.
"Have some of this!" Kira shouts in clear defiance, six shots of the apparently-effective Xiphas rail cannons came Gerald's way, though forewarned and with distance available to him, he was able to clear the shots easily. "Gah! You're not all show!"
"The show is just beginning, pilot," Gerald replies as four more Funnels launch from his shield, putting six out and about. "And now I am close to the edge of Existence itself..." with a flick of a single switch, the radio channel became haunted with something Kira was not expecting. Kira sometimes listened to whatever his friends were listening to, and lately he had grown accustomed to the pagan/power/orchestral Metal the Magi relished, though the song he was assailed with was far from any of the above—and even more distracting. Kira had listened to Club music once, and immediately was dissuaded from it, and now he remembered why: the mix and constant repetition of elements in the music only served to distract him. As the song Solex (Close To The Edge) by Michael Woods really took off, Kira found himself less and less able to focus properly, until the closing enemy Gundam triggered something buried in his consciousness.
"I won't let you," Kira replies calmly. His mind goes clear, almost tranquil as his consciousness steps into the Superior Evolutionary Element Destined Factor.
"Whoa, holy fuck!" Gerald half-shouts, sensing the change in his foe and immediately seeing the net effect as his Gundam began moving with faster pilot's reaction. "This—no way! DAMN!" Much as he tried to hit the Freedom several times with beams from the Funnels, Kira dodged all six shots with grace and even intercepted two of the Funnels in one swift pair of shots. "Finally! A worthy challenge after all these years!" Two beam rifle shots impact on his shield but go no further as he begins maneuvering to close in on the Freedom.
"Go down!" Kira shouts as he fires his weapons in four directions at once, the plasma cannons and beam rifle aimed to the Funnels, the Rail Cannons aimed at the Physalis. All struck, depriving Gerald of all but one of his active funnels, thought the rail cannons missed by mere meters.
"I am become the Angel upon the edge of Existence itself, the reaper of solace and hand of Transcendence." As Kira watched the maneuvering Physalis, he thought he saw the space around it glow a smoky blue-green, but he fired still upon the Physalis. "My wings are the guide and shield of all life, that the darkness may never claim all Existence in its depraved grasp," and Kira was stunned motionless by the sight of four massive blue-tint angelic wings, apparently coming from the Physalis itself, each wing larger than the Eternal was itself long.
"What the hell is this?" Kira asks, now more frightened than determined. To the Archangel, its crew and comrades, the fact that the Magi were founded by wizards and regularly practiced it was no secret, but the Star Admiral had said there were none on his ship, and now this? "Is this...an illusion? Or is this...really you?"
"You will serve the counter purpose no more!" It was all Kira could do to avoid the first stroke of the beam saber from the Physalis, but the second he countered with his own beam saber. He was not expecting the second beam saber in the left hand, which chopped through both the legs of the Freedom at mid-thigh, the damage indicators screeching of the lost limbs and lost maneuvering options.
"DAMNIT!" Kira countered immediately with his Xiphas cannons, the left nicked the inside of his foe's right arm, the right cannon's slug tore into the left shoulder of the Physalis and sheared it clear off the Gundam with little hesitation. Of the Balaena plasma cannons, one missed, the other struck dead-center on the head of the Physalis, obliterating it in one fell swoop.
"This engagement is done!" and before Kira could begin to move away, the remaining active funnel sliced through the left shoulder of the Freedom, giving Gerald the opening he needed to slash in against the torso of Kira's Gundam, though Kira was not caught unawares and countered with a similar stroke. Both machines struck simultaneously, Gerald's saber finding the upper neural linkage and severed it before the stroked ended in the reactor cooling loop and shut the Freedom's engine down permanently. Kira's stroke went high and horizontal through the left shoulder, chopping through armor and cooling systems, only to end on the edge of the fusion reactor housing with the same result of a disabled engine.
Just like that, the battle was completed.
"What...oh my God, what are you?" Kira asks, his whole body trembling from the exertion, the fear, the sight of the wings, and the melee itself. The hapless Freedom pilot held his hands up in front of his face, the shaking visible and severe, his breathing ragged from exertion and panic.
"I am the Archangel of Solace, bound forever to those who wish not to go quietly into the night. I will not rest until it is assured that Existence is not damned to annihilation in the days of Ragnarok. So is my duty written, so shall it be."
If Gerald could sound any colder, how was lost on those who were listening in on the channel.
-x-x-x-
(same day, 0845 hours)
The battle two hours past had obviously changed the paradigm, despite the technically inconclusive result. On a double-kill outcome (where both sides were defeated at the conclusion of the battle), neither side's position advanced. In this case, however, Captain Ramius, Commander La Flaga, and Lacus Clyne had not come to the negotiations. Waltfeld was present and actually assisting Cagalli instead of waffling like he did the day prior. Gerald, due to his involvement, was also not present but had relayed that he would be at the meeting.
"Now that we have resolved the actual cease-fire accord, what is the next matter on the agenda?" Admiral Sutherland asks respectfully. The battle had been close enough to the Earth Alliance lines that they could watch every stroke of the beam saber, and confidence in Magi ass-kicking skills had shot up threefold with the demonstration that one Magi Gundam was a match for the two undisputed badasses from this planet. Or, at least that is how EA intelligence and analysis interpreted the results of the battle. The Magi were a bit leery to call it as such, though ZAFT knew they had no personnel capable to the task of matching a Magi Gundam at this time, even Commander Joule and his team were not up to the task. ZAFT military research was already stepped in plans to develop new and better Gundams for the next round, which they figured would be one hundred percent inevitable since this war ended on such a bizarre note.
"Prisoner exchanges," Wayne offers.
"Prisoner exchange?" Eileen Canaver replies, not even thinking of such an edifice. After mentioned, though, the logic of such was clear-cut and writ.
"Concur," Admiral Sutherland replies. "We have some ZAFT and a few Magi prisoners, and if I don't miss my guess, the Magi have almost a full fleet's worth of ours. Not to mention, ZAFT probably has a few of the Magi and some Alliance prisoners, so..."
"Huh? A whole fleet?" Eileen Canaver asks, looking at the Star Admiral. The sound of the door opening draws eyes from the Star Admiral up to the new entrant.
"My apologies for my delayed arrival," Century Commander Lightbringer says. "A professional dispute with two pilots from the Eternal."
"And?" Wayne asks.
"They now know better than to dispute my professional opinion," Gerald says after he takes his seat. The look of consternation on Cagalli's face was significant, so Gerald relented. "Just 'disassembled' their Gundams, no major injuries to the pilots. So, where stand we?" If anything, the look of consternation on Admiral Sutherland's face (and that of his subordinates) was even more significant than Cagalli's had been.
"Just beginning on today's matters of prisoner exchange," Wayne says.
"Ah, then I have not missed the interesting part," Gerald settles into his usual posture that gave him excellent peripheral vision of the various parties.
"I would like to begin by asking a serious, on-the-record question of the Magi pertaining to your soldiers," one of the ZAFT Commanders with the Chairwoman begins. "Your soldiers, they offer themselves to us as Bondsmen. Is this real, or are they crazy?"
"Some would consider them crazy, but not within our own ranks." Wayne replies. "If a Mage offers himself to you as bondsmen, you would be fool to ignore it, even if you use him no more than as training cadre and intelligence on what the Magi really are. We are bound by our honor and word, and those few who can defeat us have the opportunity to utilize the vanquished." Wayne shifts in his seat. "I will have a primer on the code Zellbrigen, the code of conduct that Magi follow in most circumstances, delivered to you at the next break. You will find it most useful in dealing with the captured, but keep in mind that not all Magi will make such an offer. Some would simply surrender under the Geneva, Hague, or Aries Convention regulations, and for they I request you follow the requested procedures."
"I shall," Eileen promises.
"This is a bit unusual," the Captain next to Admiral Sutherland says. "Of the six prisoners we captured alive, only one of them offered himself as a bondsman, the others requested Geneva Convention surrender."
"Interesting," Gerald says. "Not even during the nastiest of the Star Empire Wars would eighty percent of Magi prisoners refuse a term of bond. Quite interesting. I will need to inquire upon the exchanged as to why they did so."
"Regardless, it is the recommendation of the Magi that all persons captured, excepting those captured who request to serve their captors as Bondsmen, be released amicably and without delay upon the ratification of the cease-fire accord," Wayne fronts. "With the exception of known war criminals, of course."
"This will include the personnel captured during the fleet action on or about the 26th of September, correct? A small reinforcement and escort fleet centered on the Thrones, if you need a more direct idea which," Admiral Sutherland prompts.
"Aff, certainly. Gerald, how many ships survived that skirmish?" Wayne asks.
"3 Drake-class, 5 Nelson-class, and the Thrones itself. Angel 2 and Angel 3 allowed recovery of crew from the disabled or destroyed ships, though they admitted there was not much left of some of the ships, and less of the crew."
"And then there is the crew of the Dominion, captured in battle in L4, who will also be returned unharassed. If you so wish, you may speak with said crew, they are in the brig not far from where we sit, Admiral."
"I would welcome it. The Captain of the Dominion, Natarle Badgiruel?"
"Alive and uninjured, despite the hellish beating said ship took prior to its surrender."
"And a VIP on that ship?" Sutherland asks in series.
"He was taken alive, though determined to be a spy under the Geneva convention regulations as well as a war criminal. It is our intention to hand him over to the affronted parties to deal with him as appropriate."
"You will not negotiate on this?" Admiral Sutherland requests.
"Neg," Wayne replies deadpan. "There is a price to pay for certain actions, and it shall be paid. Should ZAFT decide to return him, that is in their hands, not ours." There were no further inquiries. "Then we are agreed on the terms of prisoner exchange?"
"ZAFT sees nothing to object to in this line of negotiation."
"The Earth Alliance is willing to accept the terms as you have laid out." The status of Murutha Azraiel had been discussed earlier in the day during the grievance review, and his involvement in the Junius Seven massacre could not be overlooked by the Magi. ZAFT would be the persons to deal with him.
"Thus is it ratified. Next matter up on the block is space defense territories, what we Magi commonly call a Space Defense Identification Zone," Wayne explains. "Common practice among the Star Empires is a two-stage area, an outer area where a craft must have an active transponder, and an inner area where positive identification, a filed flight plan, and permission to be in that area. Commonly, this is considered to be 1800 kilometers for the interior area, and another 1800 kilometers for the external area for military stations and triple that for civilian colonies and territory."
"And the purpose of this is what?" Eileen Canaver asks. "Besides to make space militant."
"Simple. Junius Seven was a veritable surprise attack, even if the nuclear strike did not occur until most the way through the battle, if I am understanding the battle correctly. A SDIZ is a legitimate patrol area where your forces have the right to challenge any craft that approaches, and gives you forewarning of an impending attack."
"And this would not be considered a provocation?" she asks in counter.
"No, it is expected. Every nation has a right to protect their legitimate interests and territory. As such, quantified boundaries would prevent misunderstandings between the states and neutral parties or between the states themselves..."
And thus it continued...
-x-x-x-
(2 October CE 71, 0100 hours)
(ZAFT territory, PLANT Aprilius One)
After Patrick Zala turns off the television unit, he simply sits there and stares at it.
There never was reticence for his actions. He did what he had to do, what he thought he had to do to save the PLANTs, and if that meant proving Coordinator superiority by cooking the people on the planet below him, so be it. Except, the Magi were right. The problem would never be solved by such an omnicidal stroke, it would only damn the PLANTs to a long and agonizing starvation death. Similarly, Earth's 'problem' with Coordinators could not be solved by nuking the PLANTs, since doing so would bombard the planet with chunks of colonies, which would end in death of all life on the planet.
After some thought, the Magi only had it partially right. Some annihilation had to be practiced, or there would be nothing but war between Coordinators and Naturals for millennia to come, maybe longer. Even they had to admit they had a checkered past on the subject of long-ass wars, theirs had lasted 3,500 years of off-and-on all-out war. Patrick could not readily imagine what a war lasting 3500 years would look like, especially invoking the scales of the Star Empires as this airhead Jess Rabble had tried conveying. No shit it would take several planets worth of tax revenue to run the Mjolnr without crippling economies, the PLANTs could not afford a ship like it, nor could they engineer something as brutally simplistic as the behemoth that had shredded both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT.
His attention was drawn to the phone as it rang. The identification came up as Joule, Ezalia, someone that Patrick figured would call after the news report. Without hesitation, he hit the video conference accept button, and was treated to a picture of Ezalia with her hair wrapped up in a towel.
"Morning," he began the conversation. "Starting early, or ending late?"
"Starting early," she replies, having been notorious for keeping weird hours when on the council, yet never missing a meeting. "I take it you just saw what I just saw."
"Yeah, I did."
"Well, Eileen is not selling us up the river. She even managed to score a few concessions at the negotiating table that I thought neither the Magi nor the Earth Alliance would give up, such as a massive space defense and identification zone and free transit of non-military transport craft, with prior approval."
"Those are trivial points," Patrick says. "The core issues will not be resolved until the Earth Alliance recognizes our sovereignty and right to live."
"I know," Ezalia replies quietly. "At least the Earth Alliance is distracted by the presence of the Magi, who I have found out literally cannot go away."
"The jump engine in their ship melted down," Patrick says, having heard the same thing from their Galaxy Commander of Marines shortly after the takeover of Jachin Due. "We are stuck with them, regardless of how much we like it."
"Keep in mind, they are stuck with us, which probably gives them more heartburn than vice-versa," Ezalia replies fairly.
"At least they intrinsically hate Blue Cosmos, which is a point in our favor."
"How so?" Ezalia requests, not entirely sure what Patrick meant.
"A line in their Remembrance, their great history. I quote: 'be wary the ethos of Blue Cosmos, for the path to hatred is based on the genetics, not on the person.' "
"That? In their history? They said they never encountered this dimension or anything similar to it!"
"I don't know, I won't pretend to know, they don't know, and they are not going to guess. The soldier that wrote that line, their first Emperor, he is presupposed dead at this time."
"And then there is the fact that not only do they use Coordinator techniques similar to ours, they build people in gene tanks and gestate them artificially. That is going to make Blue Cosmos real happy real fast," Ezalia says at her most cynical.
"Yeah," Patrick says almost mirthlessly. "They will tie up Blue Cosmos for us, and ZAFT can swoop in with a good pretense and annihilate them from the side."
"If the next chairperson has the spine to do so," Ezalia tacks on. "Look, I had best forewarn you. They told me today, they will probably tell you tomorrow, we are going to be expatriated and deported soon. Do you have anywhere you can fall back on?"
"No, not really," Patrick replies. "All my family is dead courtesy of these Blue Cosmos scum, except for Athrun. You?"
"My sister is in Orb, I will see if she can put me up for a few until I get back on my feet."
Patrick chuckles grimly. "After...after all I have done, I have no right to ask Athrun to do anything for me." Patrick was silent for a few moments, looking away from the phone. "I may be alone, now."
"Have you considered what the Magi will do now?"
"If I don't miss my guess, they will take up residence in L4 and try to repair their ship or call for assistance from their own government." Patrick was silent again, but only for a brief moment. "You are not suggesting...them?"
This time, it was Ezalia with the grim chuckle. "Face it, Patrick, they are the only people you have not hacked off lately. Even I gave thought to asking them for asylum over the course of the day as I read through the reports coming in from my sources. And who knows, they may succeed in bringing down Blue Cosmos where ZAFT failed."
"No chance of that," Patrick replies haughtily, though even to himself the rebuke aired hollow. "Besides, what would you do in their society?"
"My background is in aerospace engineering, I think I can learn a few new tricks and put my talents to good use. You are a historian, and Magi respect history like nobody else around here, so I do not think it would be too hard for you to find a decent career among them, especially if they end up their own government."
Again, Patrick chuckles grimly, which segues into something almost humorous in terms of laughter. "A washed-up near-dictator in a society of military and freedom, teaching an inconvenient history to the people? Well, I could think of worse things."
"Such as?"
"Dying in a ditch somewhere, covered in petrol, on fire." Ezalia grimaced severely at the thought. "That is how Adolf Hitler went out, after consuming most of the world in the flames of war. And yet, we damn near did the same thing again, and the Magi even pointed it out to us."
"They also pointed it out to your son, with an appropriate spanking for ignoring history," Eileen adds to his maudlin musing. "Lacus Clyne was trying to get unilateral disarmament, and the Star Admiral rammed it down her throat until she choked."
"Good," Patrick replies, still not having any love for the Clyne family.
"Well, Athrun and Kira got all hot and bothered about it, and tried playing the Magi's game of ritual combat to force the issue in their favor. They blew it big-time. Reports are sketchy at best, but for all intents and purposes Justice and Freedom were damaged beyond usable, at only the cost of one Magi Gundam. Reportedly, Lacus Clyne and the defectors from the Earth Alliance were not present at the negotiations today...yesterday, I guess it would be."
"Damned brat, trying to screw everyone over for her 'ideal world'. That is exactly how the major European powers laid the groundwork for World War Two."
"And the Magi said the exact same thing, but she did not listen. Or, more appropriately, she did not listen until after she had a Magi boot applied to her butt and both her 'knights' had been thoroughly traumatized in battle," Eileen almost sounded smug about the outcome.
This time, it was a sardonic, almost resigned chuckle from Patrick. "A lesson in humility, it sounds like."
"Yeah, you could call it that," Eileen replies quietly.
"A lesson we all have received at their hands," Patrick muses. "There must be a lesson in their arrival here, and their actions." He glances at something else in the room, then back to the phone.
"There are bigger things in Existence than we can ever imagine?" Ezalia opines.
"No, any human in touch with their own sense of life can tell you that," Patrick replies. "I cannot really phrase what I want to say, what I believe is the lesson, but the significance...it must be something to do with honor, I think. Something we have gone away from."
"Lack of honor has destroyed many countries great and small, I guess. Maybe ZAFT is next, maybe the Earth Alliance is next."
"Maybe," Patrick muses. He sounded fatigued, both of body and of spirit, and both were readily apparent to Ezalia.
"Maybe. I won't keep you up any longer, Patrick, you sound like hell."
"I feel as I have been at its gates, Ezalia. Good evening...err, good morning, I guess."
"Good night," she concludes the call before canceling the video link.
-x-
(Same day, 0215 hours)
(Warship Mjolnr, primary bridge)
Soldiers, they were, but far from beyond the pale, Calamira concludes her mental summary. Were I in their position, I might have done the same. She considered that they were right, L4 was likely the new home of the Task Force, and a request for asylum from those two might be granted, if she could present them favorably. They were patriots, not monsters, despite the things they appeared to do. They may be able to find their redemption and true home among the Magi, if they would be willing to try.
"You stand lost in thought," Helmsman Willy says. "Something wrong, Strategic Officer?"
"Neg, not wrong, something is going right," Calamira replies.
"Of course, ma'am, we're on the job. Find me a junkyard; I'll unscrew it and organize the leftovers by type, make, model and year."
"This from the guy who spends almost as much time as Clotho Bauer in the Club 300 and gets no action?" Chief Warrant Officer Esmeralda, the suborbital fire control officer, answers haughtily. Clotho's complete lack of aptitude with the opposite sex was rapidly becoming infamous throughout the ship, though not of the form of infamous that caused people to lock doors when said person walked by.
"And when was the last time you got any action without the guy or girl involved gagging your loud mouth?" Willy asks in counter.
"Come over here and say that, dipshit," Esmeralda counters sharply.
"I would, but there isn't enough duct tape and paper bags on this ship to make it worth my time."
"Enough, you two," Calamira orders forcefully. "Good Gods, do you ever quit?"
"Certainly not, ma'am," Esmeralda says. "For some problems, there just is no solution."
"I got your solution right here, superbitch," and the 'fuck you' arm bar pump was clearly visible to most of the bridge.
"All right, sibkin, shut up," Calamira orders more forcefully.
"Aff, ma'am," both reply immediately.
-x-x-x-
(same day, 1030 hours)
"Thus, we are agreed that Orb will be repatriated and recognized as an independent state forthwith?" Eileen says. The more stalking horses, the better, she thinks almost sharply. She was no stranger to using force of numbers to achieve political ends, and in this case those ends would be the perfect marriage of concurrent needs between Orb, the Magi, and ZAFT.
"The Earth Alliance is willing to withdraw from Orb, only under the precondition that Orb does not sell its military technology to either ZAFT or the Magi for the time being. Additionally, I would also front the condition that the Magi may not sell nor give your military-grade fusion reactor technology away to any party, ZAFT, Orb, or neutral."
"The Magi will recognize this as a valid precondition only under the provision that this will be renegotiated to a favorable arrangement for Orb during the full peace treaty negotiations or no later than one year from the ratification of the cease-fire. To not allow Orb to export military gear to interested parties would stifle their economic rebuilding, given Morgenroete is one of their major economic powerhouses. Additionally, on the terms of our mil-spec fusion reactors, the only way you shall receive such devices is by way of stepping over our dead bodies to take them. I will not even entertain batchall (6) on such devices, given the potential destructive capacity in our latest engines, much less the military ramifications."
"This term is acceptable," Admiral Sutherland reluctantly says.
"It is unfortunate that you will not be flexible on your fusion engines, but we will accept the terms as listed," Eileen says.
"The neutral parties accept the terms," Cagalli declares calmly.
"Very well, this provision is ratified and shall take effect on signing of the cease-fire."
"One thing remains," Eileen says. "Now that you have stopped the shooting war, Star Admiral, what shall your task force do?"
"Colony group L4 is veritably uninhabited, abandoned to the ravages of the war. Additionally, it has come to my attention that several of the derelict colonies are orbitally unstable, and may be conflicting with the planet below us in short order. I was thinking, maybe clean up the run-down neighborhood, stay out of your way while I get my ship fixed up and jump worthy?" Wayne posits as his opening position.
"ZAFT has no major objection to this arrangement," Eileen says. "In fact, that is a very practical solution to quartering the Task Force, when weighed against the alternatives."
"The Alliance headquarters predicted you would front that solution," Sutherland begins. "It has also come to our attention that the original production costs have thus far not been paid off for those colonies, much less the horridly expensive PLANTs. The corporations to which those colonies are beholden need their just dues, Star Admiral."
"Very well," Wayne replies, expecting this line of argument. "In such a case, I propose forty percent salvage value at Junk Guild salvage rates as compense to the proprietors, to be renegotiated with additional or alternate means of compensation at the primary peace treaty negotiations."
"What rate of salvage intake do you expect?" Admiral Sutherland asks.
"Between L4, the void of space, Heliopolis, and the debris belt itself, I expect a mean salvage reclamation of about 10,000 tons per day to begin, with expected weekly increase of about 2000 tons as L4 is cleared and colonies come online, allowing more personnel to focus on salvage operations. Call it a top of thirty thousand tons at full swing."
"That is aggressive," a ZAFT industrial engineer replies. "If you can reprocess the salvage, Star Admiral, ZAFT would be willing to pay you going rate or better for the manufactured materials and goods."
"I will have to talk to some of my engineers about remanufacturing and the detail work involved, but it is not entirely out of the question. Would the Earth Alliance or Orb be willing to commit to such?"
"Orb shall commit what we can, especially if the Magi are willing to work out a line of credit on the process," Cagalli replies.
"I can talk to the industrial associations, but I would not hold out much hope on that account. Still, your offer is well beyond expectations, Star Admiral. How do you plan on executing such a feat of manpower and logistics?"
Wayne smiles. "The Magi are the only government known in Existence to beat out Greenpeace at the whole environmental schtick and do it without the radical environmental terrorism routine. We routinely recycle and salvage what others would scoff at. Cleaning up dirty orbital belts and space debris is nothing new to even the combat arms of the Magi. Trust me, if you can keep the attack dogs from hounding us, we will make good on those numbers and then some."
The derisive sniff from the Admiral was answer enough for Wayne. The Star Admiral would have to keep in mind that Blue Cosmos would soon be in among the refugees inevitably headed his way, and to deal with them accordingly. For that, he had Commandos. "Very well, the Earth Alliance accepts the base proposal. I take it you will want a SDIZ as well?"
"I will settle for a standard SDIZ, nothing as extravagant or padded as ZAFT has requested," and a sideways glance to Eileen reminded her that she only got that much on the sufferance of the Magi.
"Very well, the Earth Alliance approves the measures as declared."
"ZAFT concurs," Eileen says after a few moments of contemplation.
"Very well, all outstanding and requested issues have been dealt with. I will have copies of the accord printed and delivered to you within the hour. Might I suggest a lunch across the hall while the documents are prepared for your review?"
Much to his surprise, Wayne knew the arguing was simple and quiet this time around, the next round would be far louder than he could imagine.
He would not be disappointed.
Author's Chapter Afterword:
The cease-fire accord is done, the war is technically over as of 3 October CE 71, 1200 hours. Orb is now a nation restored, the Magi have their own grounds away from the other superpowers, there will be no immediate fighting for some time to come, and something akin to progress may be in the cards.
As to why things went smoothly, well, the dice rolls for the parties are as follows:
EA: 91 out of 100 (Scared shitless and willing to pull the plug ASAP),
ZAFT: 76 out of 100 (Know they are almost at death's maw but willing to do a little gambling)
Orb (Cagalli): 69 out of 100 (still favorable to Magi positions)
Archangel / Eternal: 23 out of 100 (Will do their damndest to push Lacus' 'ideal world' scenario).
Neutral Media: 57 out of 100 (Neutral to all parties)
On the other hand, the Junius Treaty looms ahead in the months to come, and plenty can go wrong between then and now. Specifically, Blue Cosmos is not going to be happy that Azraiel was effectively handed over to ZAFT as a war criminal after being taken alive and held as Dezgra by the Magi. ZAFT is not truly happy about having to restore Orb to sovereignty, after their involvement in the EA G-weapons project, but negotiations like this are a case of give-and-take, and ZAFT took more than they gave by a long shot.
As to Gerald's appearance during the fight, Anyone who has seen Char's Counterattack should recognize at least part of what was happening: a psychoframe reaction. For the rest, I will leave it up to your imagination quite deliberately.
My apologies for the lack of advancement on my writing, despite being laid off at this time my speed of writing has not been all that fast. Much happens even when you officially have nothing to do, follow? Even given the angsty, almost depressing conditions, I will continue my writing. I swear I will never surrender! Lol.
That's pretty much it. Next up: The Task Force has a new home, and new problems to go along with that new home. Not that this was unexpected, but...
Review Replies: I got a lot of reviews from this last chapter, probably from the nature of the decisive battle. As of right now, I am at 5.66 reviews average per chapter. Much thank you all for the support :)
Frasermage: I'll wager good odds on that, and good odds that things are not going to go well for anyone involved in that.
Rickrolled: Much thank you for the compliment.
Deathzealot: Such powerful machines as Sazabi or Nu Gundam are exceedingly rare among Magi, as pilot have to qualify to a minimum standard for what they use, and the powerful Newtype machines (Quebley, Psycho Gundam, Sazabi, Nu Gundam, etc.) have very steep capability curves. As to Talia, she will play a very expanded role in this story and coming side stories or sequels, I don't like how she was practically thrown under the bus in Destiny.
One Village Idiot: Yes, I do roll new dice for each story. Yes, the original was quite different, and it was reflected here, though the net outcome remained fairly close to the same.
The Magi do a lot with robotics, and you will see a lot of that in chapters to come, but there are limitations even now with the capabilities needed and what can be provided. As to UAV and UCAV, yes, they are used, but more common are UGCV (Unmanned Ground Combat Vehicles), which you will see in the updated Inferno in Chicago and possibly in the main storyline systems.
No mixing involved, though not even all the Magi know of the presence of the androids yet, much less ZAFT or the EA. The Dice shall have to answer that one in due time, of course :)
There are multiple answers to your final question. Yes, Magi do survive their wounds when they lose a limb (sometimes), and there are multiple options for replacements. The 'basic' replacement as of this time in Magi history is a myomer prosthetic that is functionally almost identical to a real limb. An 'advanced' procedure would be using a nanomachine medical tank to rebuild a person's limb or other damaged body parts from the inside out, with a near 100 percent equivalent fix. The one option not available to the Task Force right now would be a wizard, who could use a regeneration or wish spell to (literally) magically rebuild the damage to a person's body.
Knives91: Given what was just revealed about the Angel Team in this chapter, the replacement for Angel One would have to a severe badass, and such would have to be up to the dice. There may be no person capable to the entry-level requirements at this time.
Necroblade: Oh yes, the Multimages still use magic, but there are no mages in the Task Force Jokers Wild. (Caveat: what Gerald Lightbringer happens to be is up for speculation at this time. I am deliberately not telling what he is, for good reason, despite all appearances in one direction or another.)
On the Haro scene, Athrun isn't quite sure yet that one of his Haros has been destroyed. Not that it shouldn't be obvious that Pink-Chan has been MIA this long, but he has no hard evidence to suggest foul play.
Knightowl: Eventually, comrade, I will teach you that hardware has its limitations. Severe limitations. II do like those designs, but not to the level of hype shown.
Cool Beans (Anon): Much thanks for the compliment. I aim for 'cool beans' in all my works, of course :)
Etienne Of The West Wind: There will be more fallout, especially with unresolved situations on Terra. As to things to learn about his ships and crew, there are more still. Even the question as to whether or not the jump engine can be fixed is still up in the air.
The Gripe Sheet:
No sign of my Beta reader at this time. If any gripes are picked up, they will be listed here and corrected in prose.
Frasermage got one: In my initial release, I referred to Jess Rabble as a lady, when he reports that he is not. My bad.
Footnotes:
(1): Pineapple is the nickname given to hand grenades used by US soldiers prior to the induction of the baseball grenades used at this time. This type of grenade was also used by Magi infantry until just prior to the end of the Star Empire Wars for its simplicity of manufacture and excellent fragmentation radius.
(2): Magi forces do not use any form of traditional military salute, as this is considered bad form and 'a check for snipers the hard way'.
(3): Seyla is a Clan term still in use by the Magi, very reverential and roughly equivalent to shouting 'DAMN STRAIGHT, SIR!'
(4): Baffles is a submariner's term referring to the area directly behind a sub's propellers, where without the benefit of a towed sonar array, it is impossible to hear an enemy sub tracking you. In this usage, it is referring to directly behind the trio.
(5): Transcended humanoids is actually a bit of misinformation on Gerald's part. In reality, the beings the Magi had met prior were actual humans that had 'Transcended' (become so powerful magically) that they could be rightfully called the next step beyond humanity. These beings, known as the ancient Gods, would serve to cause trouble for the Magi for a long time, though many of the Gods did not care about the Magi or actively sided with them.
(6): To entertain batchall means to listen to a declaration of intent to challenge the Magi (or Clans) for purposes of Trial by Combat. Batchall is the process by which challenges are issued and the method of the Trial is ascertained, then bidding is performed to determine what forces will participate in the combat.
TRO Section:
There was once a machine that fought Freedom and Justice to a standstill, named after a flower...
General and Technical Data
Model number: RX-78GP02H-LBC1
Code name: Gundam "Physalis" Heavy Weapons Type (Lightbringer Custom)
Unit type: prototype general purpose tactical mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics
Operator: Multimage Commando Caste, Multimage Task Force Jokers Wild, Mendel Armed Forces
Rollout: Unknown (Classified)
First deployment: Unknown (Classified; Negaverse rumor suggests first deployment year SL-112, or over 14000 years prior to formation of Task Force Jokers Wild. This rumor is completely unconfirmed and is disavowed by the Magi.)
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: overall height 19.5 meters; head height 18.5 meters
Weight: empty 66.5 metric tons; max gross 95.0 metric tons (not including shield or optional hand armaments)
Armor materials: Lamellor Ferro-Carbide, Mithiril and Gundanium Tri-weave composite armor
Powerplant: Toroidal Dual-Stage Fusion Reactor, power rated at 16,500 Kilowatts
Propulsion: rocket thrusters: 4 x 95000 kg, 6 x 7000 kg, Verniers / apogee motors: 24
Performance: maximum thruster acceleration 4.44 G; 180-degree turn time 0.4 seconds
Equipment and Design Features: External propellant tanks (max 6), ejectable; psychoframe system integrated into cockpit; Commando modifications (can carry up to 100 kilograms of material in several onboard internal storage compartments, interface systems and logic to use almost any Zeon, Earth Federal, Axis, Oz, White Fang, Vulture, UNE, or any Star Empire MS weapons).
Fixed armaments: 2 x 60mm Vulcan gun, fire-linked, mounted in head (400 rounds ammunition total); 2 x A. AEXB-5909S modified beam saber, stored in recharge racks in hip armor, hand-carried in use; 1 x heat saber, battery powered, stored in recharge rack on back, hand-carried in use.
Optional Fixed Armaments: total of five hardpoints on the back, back waist, and hips to carry up to five hand-held weapons or other gear as needed by the mission.
Optional hand armaments: 880mm RB-T27 Raketen bazooka, clip-fed, 5 rounds per clip, spare clips can be stored on waist armor storage racks; Optional armed shield (see entries below); theoretically can use any Mobile Suit hand armaments ever constructed, up to and including weapons that require special unlocking codes from the carrying MS.
Optional armaments (Nuclear Shield): AE/ZIM.G-BAZ-0186-A atomic bazooka (uses AG-R05-500X Long-Range Antimatter warhead, 1 round in chamber, breech and firing chamber), mounted on right shoulder, barrel/trigger mechanism stored in shield when not in use, NR-Sh-02-RX/S-00013 shield, stores barrel/trigger mechanism for atomic bazooka.
Optional Armaments (Ground Attack Shield): 10 x micromissile VLS silos, mounted in top edge surface of shield, six missiles per silo; 2 x 'Sniper' artillery Cannons, mounted on inside surface of shield facing downward, fire-linked or can be fired independently, 30 rounds of artillery ammunition or 50 rounds close-combat ammunition per cannon.
Optional Armaments (Space Attack Shield): 16 x Funnels (mounts beam gun, power rated at 25.47 MW), mounted in outer edge surfaces of shield, optional storage for hand weapons, magazines, and battery packs on inside surface of shield.
Technical And Historical Notes
The Physalis rapidly became the Magi's symbol of industrial and militaristic might in the face of the growing war effort against the Negaverse during the Star Empire Wars, even more so than the Warships and Battlemechs that did most of the fighting. However, the Physalis was not without its dangerous limitations, and the Magi command elements realized that this machine, though supreme in its purpose as a nuclear delivery platform, was lacking in almost every other capability. As such, a new set of capabilities was drawn up and submitted to the manufacturer, Anaheim Electronics, to prototype and demonstrate capability or to disavow as impossible. Within a year of initial Request for Comment, the first Physalis Heavy Weapons was deployed and saw action against the Negaverse Grenadiers with stunning success.
Centuries later, with continual upgrades and improvements, the Physalis HW would become the choice weapons platform of another soldier in the war effort, Gerald Lightbringer, who used his machine for everything it was worth and far more. Even still, he found the outer edge of the much-improved heavy weapons platform against such Negaverse machines as the Sazabi and Illyaris machines such as the Quin Mantha. With these limits coming to cost him destroyed machines, deceased comrades, and in two cases severe time in the hospital, Gerald requested a machine that pushes the limits of power and defensive capability while giving him the speed and striking power to eliminate anyone that needed to be destroyed. Thus, the Physalis Heavy Weapons / Lightbringer Custom was born in total secrecy, funded entirely by the pilot and engineered out of scraps from other Physalis production lines.
Despite the nature of its birth, the Physalis HW LBC is not a piecemeal machine, nor is it lacking in any fashion compared to contemporary machines. Where the Heavy Weapons (standard) natively has 2.25 Gs of acceleration, the LBC variant has increased foot thrusters and super-powered shoulder thrusters with a total of 4.44 Gs acceleration, almost double that of the upgraded version and almost triple the acceleration of the stock Physalis. In defensive terms, the LBC variant was the first Physalis to use a woven armor composite over the whole machine, at the time a combination of Ferro-Carbide and Gundanium, though this was revised much later to use a Tri-Weave composite of Lamellor Ferro-Carbide for energy resistance, Gundanium for ballistic and energy protection, and Mithiril to defeat shape charge penetrators. This combination armor, when applied in sufficient quantity, gives the Physalis near immunity to weaker ballistic, missile or beam weapons, and plenty of protection from heavier Gundam, Battlemech, and even some smaller Warship weapons. This combination of speed and staying power immediately gave Gerald the ability to go toe-to-toe with the best of any Star Empire's elite machines and survive the battle mostly intact or unharmed.
The combat power of the machine has been topnotch from the word 'go' and has not let down since inception. Initially fielded with a Gundam-class beam rifle, Gerald modified the hands of his machine to accept any class of mobile suit weapon usable, giving him the flexibility to carry local weapons and not reveal the presence of a Magi machine in the area. Additionally, with necessary engine upgrades over the years, the LBC has gained the ability to carry ever-increasingly powerful energy weapons, culminating in the much-feared dual buster rifle of the Wing Zero Gundams. This variability, combined with the integral hardpoints for carrying a wide array of weapons has given Gerald the power to engage targets at any range with overwhelming firepower, until such a time as he can close up with the enemies and finish them off with the heavy beam sabers.
Much like the Neue Ziel piloted by the same pilot, the Negaverse 'knows' that Gerald has sortied with the Physalis HW LBC many times over a great span of centuries, but much to their chagrin cannot prove his presence on any one battlefield. No Negaverse pilot has ever rightfully claimed to have survived the wrath of the 'Archangel of Death', and for good reason. Similarly, almost all of Gerald's combat codex is classified to the Division Commander of the Techstrikers and Division Commander of Commandos, meaning that no entity short of the Emperor and two of his immediate subordinates has the right to read his records. Therefore, any reports of the action of this pilot and/or any machines he may have piloted, or has been purported to pilot, is considered conjecture and cannot be confirmed. Every Division Commander asked about his records have invariably replied with some variant of 'go screw yourself'. The Emperor never answers questions on the records of his subordinates, therefore nobody has asked him about it. For all intents and purposes, this machine is 'known' to exist but has never been known to see combat.
