In Another Time, Another World

by fnlrpa

You've all seen 00 as it is, but what if it was different? What if Marina was forced to look into the cost of her pacifism? What if our favorite split personality had a bigger role? What if Setsuna could actually react to romance? This and more inside. This is an AU/fix-it of Gundam 00 Season 2 long in the making (for me). Cross posted on Ao3.

6. Chapter 6

Author's Note One

Normal reminder about scenes

"Normal Speech"

'Thoughts'

"Split personalities speaking" (Tentative)

Hanger of the Katharon Base

The three gundam pilots entered the hanger, horrified by the sight. There were bodies all over the place, having been cut down by the Automatons. Rubble was strewn out across the room, mixed with remains of some of the mobile suits that hadn't been able to escape the hanger. They could hear people calling out for help moving bodies or rubble and the groans of wounded or dying men as they were moved or just laid on the ground. They had seen reports of what the A-Laws had been doing, but to see it personally was another thing entirely. Lyle gripped his fist tightly, having watched it happen firsthand. 'The A-Laws will pay for this.'

As the three pilots looked over the room, they saw a group of four men approach them, one of them armed with a pistol. When they got close, one of the men asked them accusingly, "Did you leak our location to the A-Laws?!"

Tieria responded evenly, "We did not tell the A-Laws where you were." The armed man got in Tieria's face, pointing his gun at Tieria, "This is your fault! You guys killed our friends!"

Lockon quickly grabbed the man's wrist and pointed the gun upward, out of his face, "Knock it off! They didn't do anything!"

The man looked at Lockon suspiciously, "How do I know that?"

"Trust me. We had no intentions of damaging Katharon."

Lockon saw the man was beginning to tear up as the Katharon member said, "A few minutes ago we were just relaxing and having fun. And now they are dead!"

Lyle put a hand on his shoulder, "We will avenge your comrades. Don't worry about that." The man nodded his head, tears falling down his face.

As Lockon talked to the soldier, Tieria looked around the room curiously. 'Who could have told the A-Laws where this base was? It couldn't have been us or any of the members.' Out of the corner of his eye he spotted Saji at the bottom of the ramp leading into the hanger, his face visibly shocked and horrified. 'I think I have an idea of who it was.'

Saji surveyed the destruction of the hanger, along with the bodies lying on the ground. 'All these people dead. It's all my fault. How could I have been so selfish!' Distracted by the sight of the hanger, he was caught by surprise when he saw Tieria approach him. Tieria spoke to him in a harsh tone, "Now where have you been?" Saji tried to respond, but no words came out. Tieria continued, "I know the base being destroyed had to do something with you, based on this reaction. You will follow me because I have a few questions to ask you." Saji heard the underlying threat in his tone. He followed the purple-haired man, walking like a man on death row heading to his hanging.

The two walked through the base, getting suspicious looks from some people, but otherwise not bothered. Tieria found a quiet corner and told Saji to stop. Tieria gave him a hard look, "Who are you really? An A-Laws spy?"

Saji gave him a desperate look, "I'm not a spy! I just…"

"You just what? Wanted to help the A-Laws?"

"I just wanted to get back to my old life! I don't want to fight or be caught in the fighting! I just wanted to get back to Louise!"

Tieria have him a withering look, "So you think that by going back home and burying your head in the sand, everything would be good and go back normal? What would happen to your friend? That the A-Laws wouldn't just arrest them too?"

Saji realized he never thought of that. Based on what he had seen, they probably would. 'How did I mess up so bad Louise?' Saji spoke up quietly, "I-I didn't think-"

"Of course you didn't. You can't pretend reality isn't the way it is. Running away makes you guilty too. You see the problem but just allow great evil to happen. It's a form of inadvertent malice." Tieria spoke with subtle anger.

Saji tried to say something, but once again, no words came out. He could feel the tears of frustration and grief flood out. 'This was my fault. How could I think I could just go back with all this blood on my hands? How do I make up for this?' Saji slumped to the ground with his back on the wall, burying his face into his knees. Tieria stood over him, watching Saji realize his mistake. 'Good. I hope understands the gravity of his mistake.' Tieria heard footsteps coming towards their position and saw Setsuna appear from around the corner. Setsuna, seeing Saji crying, asked, "What's going on?"

Tieria looked at Saji then back to Setsuna responding, "It was because of him this all happened. Without him the A-Laws wouldn't have found this place." Setsuna looked on Saji blankly, curious as to what thoughts that were going through the Japanese man's head.

Setsuna, looking at Tieria, asked, "We are going to bring him with us, aren't we?"

Tieria nodded, "He won't be safe here if they find out, so he's coming back with us. And since you are back, I assume it went well with Marina?"

Setsuna sighed heavily, "About that…"

Storage Closet in Katharon Base

After Shirin saw Setsuna land and disembark the shuttle, along with marina, she quickly moved Marina from out of the hanger, realizing her friend needed a more private place to talk. Her expression screamed something was wrong and because she had come back, something bad must have happened to or in Azadistan. After she found one of the larger storerooms, Shirin seated Marina down on one of the crates in the room and she took another within arm's reach of Marina. Marina looked on the verge of tears. Shirin began the conversation.

"What happened? Why aren't you in Azadistan?"

Marina looked the brown-haired woman in the eye and with tears in her eyes, said, "Azadistan is a ruin. Some mobile suit destroyed the capital city. There were no emergency services operational, and any police or military units are powerless to stop anything. Its complete chaos." Her tears began to pour out, regret for not being there for her people weighing down on her. Shirin looked at her in shock. 'The capital city is in ruins? But why? Who would want to do that?'

Shirin asked in a desperate voice, "Do you know who did it or why?" Marina shook her head, just as frustrated she didn't know who did it.

"I have no idea. Setsuna looked like he recognized who it was but didn't tell me. What monster would do this?"

"This seems beyond what even the Federation would do and even the A-Laws would have more than one mobile suit there. What would someone gain by destroying the capital?"

Marina put her face in her hands and replied, tears still trailing down her cheeks, "I don't know. Why can't I help Azadistan? Why do I keep failing my people?" Shirin put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her friend.

"This is not your fault. You could not have planned or responded to this. If you had been there, you would be dead. Regardless of what happened, I'm glad you are alive." Marina looked up from her hands, realizing this is a good time to ask Shirin the honest truth about her rule.

Taking a deep breath and steeling herself for the worst, she asked the question she has wanted to ask for a while, "Shirin, was I a good ruler of Azadistan?"

Shirin was caught off guard. She knew Marina had gone through a rough time recently, but she was curious as to what shook her so much as to ask this, "What brought this up? You were normally so set in your ways."

"Setsuna said things that opened my eyes in hindsight, but you have a more political view than him. I want the honest, brutal truth. Was I a good leader?" Marina looked at her expectantly, her shoulders squared.

Shirin sighed heavily. There was a small part of her that was happy that her friend was asking her for her advice. 'Whatever you said Setsuna, must have gotten to her. This isn't going to be pretty.' Shirin adjusted her glasses,"While I will say many of the circumstances were out of your control, there were things that you should have considered or done better. You relied on Raza to control the conservatives. In no way did you build loyalty with them politically. And when he died, tensions rose due to their distrust and hatred of you and the reform party. I admit I pushed hard for reforms, but you are the leader of our country. It's not fair, but that's the mantle you took when you were elected. The country is in chaos right now because we let the flames of hate engulf our people and divide them. If you want to rebuild the country, you need to work with both sides of politics as best you can. Obviously, it's easier said than done, but it should be attempted. You can't rely on your ideals to work."

Marina replied quietly, "What about my ideals?"

"And you also are too idealistic. It's one thing to be a citizen and be a pacifist, but as a leader you cannot afford to be that idealistic. You can personally not want to kill, but you cannot think like that as a leader. You yourself saw what happens when the military or police can't help people. There are too many people who would take advantage of the country or use force to get what they want." Marina felt her heart break hearing that. 'Had my ideals brought so many problems to my people?'

"The people need protecting from those type of people. Not everyone will come to the negotiating table to talk. And to protect your people from those aggressors, you either need to become strong yourself or find trustworthy allies to back you up."

Marina spoke up quietly, "Setsuna said something similar. I think he may be right."

"He may not be a politician, but he does have a good understanding of force and how it's used." Shirin sighed again, seeing Marina looked a bit beat up by her previous points. 'I'll do one more.' "Whenever there was a crisis, you had no idea what to do. You couldn't decide on anything and would always ask me what to do. I understand you were inexperienced, but I was not the leader of Azadistan, you were. As a leader, you should listen to advice of advisors, but in the end, you made the final call. The people look to you as symbol, and you need to appear strong and decisive. That is one step towards being able to negotiate on favorable terms for Azadistan. And better terms in negotiations can mean a better future for Azadistan." Shirin stopped, waiting for Marina to respond.

As Marina took in Shirin's words, a lot of her past decisions started looking worse in hindsight. 'I guess I did let my ideals come before being practical. I wish I had been better to Shirin before all this. She was smarter than I could have imagined. But I don't know how to think that way. Like her.' With a heavy sigh, Marina spoke up, "Thank you Shirin. I think it will take a while, but your perspective is something I needed to hear. I'm sorry for not listening to your advice before. I was an idiot."

Shirin smiled at her, "It's good you actually are taking advice. And maybe I could have done better in the past, but we can't go back and fix that. I think I need to thank Setsuna. Clearly, he struck a chord in you. I also think you should learn how to defend yourself"

Marina quietly laughed, "I guess so. Shirin, I want to learn how to be a better leader. Would Katharon be ok with me at least listening in on your meetings?"

"I can't promise you that they will allow it, but I'll ask. And even if you can't, I'll teach you myself. And on the self-defense?"

Marina took a deep breath, "I'll…think about it." Shirin nodded her head, happy with that answer for now.

"I suppose you are staying with us now?" Marina nodded. Shirin stood up and opened her arms for a hug. Marina then stood up, hugging Shirin tightly. Shirin, in a happy voice, said, "No matter what happens, it's good to have you back." Marina nodded, feeling the same way.

Bridge of the Ptolemaios

As events in the base were happening, Ian, Lasse, and Sumeragi looked down at the display on the bridge showing the image of the ruined base. The mood on the bridge was somber. Ian spoke up quietly, "It's terrible." Lasse added onto that, "Do they have to be so ruthless?" Sumeragi just stood there, taking in the scene below. Feldt guided Mileina out of the bridge, saying, "Don't look." Feldt understood what it was like to see horrific sights like that and didn't want the girl to have to see it.

Mileina just replied, "Ok." The door closed behind the two, leaving the three older members of the crew alone. Something did catch Sumeragi's attention as she watched from above. Three men stood around a body bag and one of them said, "We live for his sake, we die for his sake. If it is to be my fate, it is pointless to resist it." Hearing that sent a shock through Sumeragi's system. A memory of the past pushed itself forward in her mind.

Sumeragi, or Lisa, as she went by back then, ran towards a medical tent, pushing past men carrying bodies or dealing with the remains of mobile suits. The town was in ruins, rubble, gear and men scattered everywhere. She had learned that Emilio was among the casualties. Emilio had to be alive. She needed him to be alive. This was her fault. If she had only paid more attention to the information she had gotten and questioned it more, this wouldn't have happened. She pushed open the medical tent and saw the dark-haired man lying on a cot, looking mortally wounded. She ran to the side of the bed, grasping his hand between hers. "Emilio! You can't leave me!"

The man looked at her from his prone position, knowing there was no saving him, "Lisa, this isn't your fault. You tried your best." She could hear his breath becoming shallow. 'He couldn't die! Not now!' She tried to say something, but her words wouldn't come out, choking on her tears.

He looked up at her with tired eyes and gave her a sad smile, "Lisa, if this is to be my fate, then it is pointless to resist it. We travel a road we cannot see and what lies at the end of the road, is the end of life. All of this is the guidance of God." His hands fell slack and his breathing stopped. Sumeragi scanned for a pulse, any sign of life, but found none. She fell to her knees, tears coming out like a flood. She laid her head on his chest, continuing to cry. One thought came unbidden through her head. 'If this is war, then I hate it.'

As the memory concluded, Sumeragi fell forward, having fallen unconscious. Ian and Lasse both spoke at the same time, "Sumeragi!" Ian checked her pulse and felt she was alive. Lasse looked up at Ian, "Help me get her to the medbay!" Ian nodded, and him and Lasse began to carry her to the medbay. Ian wondered 'Could this day get any worse?'

A-Laws Carrier Ship

Soma sat on her bed in her quarters, thinking back on the battle. 'Is that what a real battle is like? Was that what the Colonel tried to keep me from doing? Is morality even appropriate on the battlefield?' She heard a notification sound from her quarter's computer, breaking her from her thoughts. She stood up and looked at the notification on the screen. 'Why did the Colonel send me a message using the old Chobu team code?' She opened up the message and took a minute to decipher the code. What she read surprised her.

Sorry to send you this is such a complex manner. Didn't want to A-Laws to see this message. Heard you were involved in A-Law mopping up operation on the Katharon base. I'm afraid to say that it was my fault that happened. We captured an innocent civilian travelling from the base, and I was overheard talking to him, and they found out through that. I'm sorry that you had do an operation like that and whatever harm that may have done to you.

Soma was caught by surprise reading that. It was the Colonel's fault that happened? 'He must feel horrible about that. And yet he is trying to comfort me. I don't deserve to be treated so well. Not after that.' She felt tears begin to fall down her face. The Colonel had tried to keep her out of things like that and yet she still had to commit acts like that. Even if she hadn't pulled the trigger, she watched what happened and did nothing.She spoke aloud to herself, tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you for reminding me Colonel. I am super soldier number one of the Superhuman Instuitute. I am a weapon, a tool to be used to kill people. Because of what I've done, I don't deserve the happiness of being your daughter."

In another part of her mind, the other voice could feel her shackles loosening. This event had shaken Soma up enough that the voice could feel more strength returning to it. 'I just need one more good push and I can rejoin Allelujah!'

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The next day, the gundam meisters stood on the bridge, waiting for Lasse and Feldt to report back on the status of Sumeragi. Mileina, sitting at her station, spoke up, "Katharon members will begin evacuating by 1200 hours, as planned." She put up an image of a small red shuttle craft unloading supplies to the members of Katharon and the display on the floor of the bridge. Something about it seemed familiar to Sestuna, but he couldn't place it. His thinking was interrupted by the door sliding open and Feldt and Lasse entering. Their faces did not show good news.

Allelujah asked, "How's Ms. Sumeragi doing?" He had a feeling he knew what the answer was but needed to hear it out loud. Feldt replied, "She hasn't woken up and may need to stay in bed for a while."

Lyle shook his head and stated, "Sumeragi or no, we need to do something. The A-Laws are going to come back to finish the job."

Setsuna spoke up, "We need to send out the gundams. We need to make sure these people get out safely." Tieria and Lyle nodded their heads in agreement, but Allelujah leaned against the wall, his face showing concern.

Allelujah piped in, "But what about our strategy? With Ms. Sumeragi unconscious-" Lasse interrupted Allelujah as he took his seat as the pilot of the ship.

"Even so, we have to do something. We can move to the coast and reveal our presence, drawing them away from the Katharon base." Lasse heard no objections from the pilots other than a sigh from Allelujah and began raising the ship higher into the air. He heard confirmations from Feldt and Mileina about their course. He looked back at the pilots, "You guys should suit up and prepare for combat. We will give you a heads up when our camouflage is dropping." The pilots nodded at that and headed out of the bridge. Lasse focused on flying, though one thing he had noticed since the base attack is Lyle seemed more intense than usual. If he put money on it, it was something to do with Katharon.

Hanger of the A-Laws Carrier

Soma rested on the railing in the hanger, watching as mobile suits were repaired and soldiers moved about doing their job. As she watched, she heard footsteps coming to her left on the metal walkway. She turned to face the footsteps and saw Andrei and a tall, broad man with a military buzz cut approaching her. On the tall me she saw on his uniform the rank of captain. She stood at attention and gave him a salute. He saluted back.

Andrei gave him a nod. He looked at her, having to look down due to the height difference. "I'm Captain Zanin. I've heard a lot about you Lieutenant Peries. You gave the soldiers five years ago a something to root for."

Soma looked at him surprised, "You heard of me?" He laughed in response to this.

"Of course, I did. I served with the HRL during the gundam attacks four or so years ago. The men heard reports of some sort of special soldier serving alongside Colonel Smirnov. You did good work."

"But so many soldiers-"

"No one could stop the gundams, but your teams did the best out of any of us. And now that I know you are on our side in this operation, I feel a little better. We can get back at them for the loss of our comrades four years ago."

Soma collected her thoughts for a second, then responded, "I will certainly do my best. How do you know Lt. Andrei?"

Andrei spoke up, "He is my commanding officer. I was temporarily serving on earth till I got orders otherwise." Soma felt a strong feeling of admiration from Andrei towards Captain Zanin with her quantum brainwaves. 'You must really be attached to him Andrei'

Zanin replied, "And you have kept him alive, so thank you for that. I hate to lose soldiers under my command."

Soma waved her hand dismissively, "No problem. It's what a good soldier should do. Are you going to run the next operations sir?"

He nodded, "While Colonel Mannequin is in overall command, I will be controlling the mobile suit squadrons. If you have any requests or suggestions, I will gladly listen to them in combat. I need to get going, but it was great to meet you. Good luck in upcoming battles." He gave her a salute and walked past her, Andrei following him after giving her a salute as well. She focused on her brainwaves, trying to get a read on the captain. What she felt was a combination of loss and righteous anger. 'Something must have happened to him to cause him to support methods like the A-Laws. It must have hurt him deeply.'

Airspace over the Coast

As the Ptolemy reached the coast with their camouflage down, one by one the gundams were launched from the Ptolemy. As Setsuna was linked the catapult, he heard Ian's voice come over the comms.

"Setsuna, remember you can't use the Trans-am." Setsuna replied, "Roger that." He activated the catapult and felt the 00 be launched into the air, quickly catching up with the rest of the gundams. As the gundams traveled away from the Ptolemy, they saw info from the bridge about a formation of mobile suits heading their way. Soon enough they saw the tell-tale signs of red GN particle trails marking them as A-Laws suits and the formation contained four GN-X's and three Aheads, two of them custom. Orange energy blasts began to target the gundams, beginning combat. The gundams separated, trying to divide the enemy formations. A team of three led by Soma's custom ahead focused on moving towards the Arios, the suit that had engaged Setsuna in the previous battle dashed towards the 00 at high speeds and the remaining few mobile suits focused on the Seravee.

Tieira opened fire on the formation of three mobile suits heading his way, but one of the suits was fast enough to get in melee reach, forcing his long-range blaster up with the GN-X's lance. His knee blaster shot at the A-Laws mobile suit, but the suit had already moved behind the Servavee, opening fire. 'Damn, too slow!' Tieria was forced to activate his barrier, but just after the suit opened fire on him, he saw it get torn apart by a purple energy blast, first to the leg, then the cockpit. Over comms he heard Lockon, "I've got your back." What surprised Tieria about this is the tone of voice he had. He sounded deadly serious. 'Something about the A-Laws massacre of the base must have done something to him.' Getting his head back in the fight, he saw one of the Aheads try to approach him. He tried to hit the suit, but it effectively dodged all his shots. 'Damn, this is the same pilot at Proud and the first attack on the ship. This isn't going to be easy. At least I have the Cheridum as backup this time.' It seemed the suit was keeping its distance for now, so he poured all his focus on engaging this suit, hoping the 00 and Arios were having better luck.

With the Arios

The Arios pulled away from the gundams formation, pulling away three of the mobile suits. One custom Ahead and two GN-X's. He charged into the formation, quickly eliminating one of the GN-X's with a larger burst of purple shots. 'Definitely feeling better at piloting now.' He heard a shout of "You'll pay for that E57!" from a female voice. 'That's Marie!' The two suits closed the distance, metal hitting metal as the collided with each other. As Soma got closer, Allelujah could feel the pull of quantum brainwaves that could only be Marie. He held his fire and attempted to get through to her, "Marie, it's me!" There was no response from the other pilot and in his focus on trying to get through to Marie, he felt an energy blast hit the torso of the Arios. He took aim and managed to score a hit on the Ahead, destroying one of its shoulder pads.

The other GN-X moved to support Soma, but a large energy blast surprised the two A-Laws suits. Tracing the origin of the blast, they saw the Celestial Being ship flying into the battlefield, inaccurately firing their weapons. Andrei opened up comms with Soma, "I'm going to engage the mothership. Can you handle E57?"

Soma nodded and replied, "I can handle him. Be cautious, we don't know the full firepower of this ship." She fired another burst of shots at the Arios, missing but keeping it at a distance.

Andrei nodded, "Understood." He flew off, leaving Soma and Allelujah in a one-on-one situation. He knew he wasn't fighting at full capacity. How could he when he was fighting Marie. 'If I could only get her to listen.' He yelled out to the mobile suit, dodging a few blasts that came close enough to hit him, "Please, it's me. You don't have to do this." Soma responded angrily, though Allelujah detected some desperation in the voice, "I'm not Marie!" She charged in, beam saber drawn and ignited.

As she closed into melee distance, she pointed her beam saber forward, cut through the blaster of the Arios and into the shoulder of the gundam, but not before a purple blast hit her engine, damaging her reactor. She was caught by surprised when the gundam grabbed onto her suit, grappling her suit and keeping her pinned. She struggled against the suit but found no luck. Allelujah, with some desperation, yelled, "I'm not letting you go again, Marie!" Soma was confused. 'What is wrong with this guy?' She felt some pressure push into the back of her head, disorienting her for a second. Allelujah felt a small explosion in the suit and all power to the engine stopped, pulling the Ahead with him as they dropped into the forest nearby.

With the 00

When Setsuna pulled away from the formation, he spotted the custom Ahead charging for him. 'It's the same guy as last time!' Setsuna opened fire with his blaster, nearly hitting the fast-moving mobile suit. 'Why is this guy so focused on me? He's been like that even five years ago.' He heard the other mobile suit pilot speak to him as Setsuna's shots missed, "Good gundam, you've gotten better too." The Ahead reached melee range, forcing Setsuna to switch his weapon to melee mode. The two blades clashed, each suit trying to push the other. Setsuna spoke to the other pilot, anger evident in his voice.

"You are Graham Aker, right?"

"Yes, but people call me Mr. Bushido. I don't care what you call me." Setsuna kicked his suit away, but Graham quickly recovered, catching the 00 at the end of the kick with his own, knocking Setsuna closer to the sea. Setsuna charged back up at him but was forced to block an attack from the Ahead when he couldn't raise his weapon in time. He heard Graham speak to him in a condescending voice, "Is this all you can do? This is insulting!" Setsuna was shocked he couldn't overpower this guy. 'What type of suit was this. At this rate I'll need to use the Trans-am.' The Ahead pushed him back and sliced his shield in half, forcing Setsuna to dodge back to avoid losing an arm. 'Looks like I need to use trans-am.'

As Graham went to finish the 00 again, he saw the suit glow red and disappear as his blade would have made contact, leaving a small amount of particles in the air. 'So, you have another trick up your sleeve? Bring it on.' Graham then felt two blasts hit the rear of his suit, dodging a third one. Setsuna then lowered altitude to just above the ocean in a charge, forcing Graham to block the attack. 'This power! This is what I wanted to fight!' Setsuna broke the clash, moving behind the Ahead leaving little time for Graham to react. The Ahead tired to turn to block the blow, but Setsuna cut off the arm midturn, leaving the suit down its beam saber. The Ahead pulled back, trying to get distance, but the 00 caught up quickly, attempting to finish off the suit, but just as he was about to swing down, Setsuna saw that the engine meter showed a warning then a small explosion in the engines, which caused the 00 to crash into the ocean, only its head above the water. Setsuna pushed on the controls, attempting to get the suit to move, but found no luck. 'I can't die here!'

The Ahead pulled out another beam saber and put it next to the head of the 00. He held it there for a second, but then moved it away from the 00, declaring, "Defeating you like this is worthless." Setsuna sat there confused. What did he mean worthless? His enemy was right in front of him, and he wouldn't kill them? He however did not have much time to react as he saw the rest of the surviving mobile suits head towards him. 'Come on gundam, you have to move.' He however was saved when he saw both the Seravee and Cheridum position themselves in front of him. Tieria spoke to him, "What's wrong?"

"It's the twin drives."

A new voice popped into communications they didn't expect. Sumeragi, in a tired voice, gave them orders, "All gundams, fall back. We have to divide the enemy. Fire high density particle and smoke torpedoes." The Ptolemy launched two torpedoes into the water that exploded in midair after jumping back out of the water, filling the battlespace with GN particles and smoke. Taking advantage of that, the two gundams quickly grabbed the 00 and headed back towards the Ptolemy. As they were reaching the Ptolemy, Feldt spoke over the comms to everyone in a shaky voice, worry evident in her voice "I am unable to locate the Arios. Allelujah is…"

Setsuna gripped onto his controls tightly, anger and frustration coursing through him. Lockon swore under his breath at the A-Laws. Tieria was stunned for a second, unable to react. Sumeragi just stared into the ocean thinking 'Please, not again.'

Author's Note Two

Well, it looks like we have a mystery on our hands. Wonder what happened to him. But yeah, that's chapter 6. In terms of changes of note, the whole Shirin and Marina scene was something that I have been wanting to write. Someone more political needed to point out her flaws as an effective leader and Shirin was the right person. I hope those of you who like her don't think I was too harsh. I don't want to bash on her by any means, unlike my editor, who would prefer a brick. I am excited for the next two chapters for very important reasons. Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you next time!