Author's Pre-Chapter Note: Hi everyone! I'm really sorry for leaving this on accidental cliff-hanger for half a year, but a bunch of stuff happened IRL and I needed to get my life back in some form of order. Of course, that also impacted me posting this story because my creative juices seeped away and I required more time to get back into things.
But I'm back now, and I'm pretty much set to take Renewing Trust through to its conclusion. I hope you enjoy what I have in store!
("Normal Dialogue" / "Thought" / "Ribbons Mental Projection")
"Lyle, I..."
Anew stared out the main window port of the Ptolemaios II, where an A-LAWS Ahead was pointing an anti-ship missile launcher straight at her and the bridge. Her blood ran cold and time seemed to slow down as the mobile suit prepared to decapitate the ship… only to be pelted by blue-glowing bolts from Ptolemy's starboard and driven off.
"Katharon! They came after all!" Sumeragi exclaimed from her commander's chair.
"Confirmed, two Virginia-class cruisers, twenty-plus mobile suits. More deploying." Anew had quickly shifted back to her mission, noting the new reinforcements on her console display. The Katharon forces capitalised on their surprise entry by unleashing a barrage of ballistic and electromagnetic gunfire, as the rapidly dwindling enemy contact counts on Anew's display attested to.
"Katharon's weapons are working… they predicted an anti-field would be used." Sumeragi pondered aloud. "In that case… steer Ptolemy straight at the enemy fleet!"
Lasse responded with an enthusiastic "Right on!" as he turned the ship to charge out of the anti-field right at the A-LAWS fleet, occupied with both Katharon and what appeared to be a mutiny by their rearguard carrier together with its complement of GN-Xs.
"Feldt, identify enemy flagship and relay targeting information to Setsuna. Mileina, get the other Meisters to maintain perimeter defence." Sumeragi reassumed control of the battle situation as Ptolemy was nearly clear of the anti-field and the enemy fleet fell into disarray being attacked from three distinct vectors. Barely a minute later, a pink beam visible even from the main bridge window signalled the flagship's destruction at the hands of Setsuna in the 00 Raiser, with Ptolemy and the lab transport ship fully clear of the field.
Anew reported to the crew, "The rebel transport is using standard Federation identifiers. Hold… these are codes consistent with the coup d'etat forces!"
"The A-LAWS fleet is being split apart! Their centre is collapsing!" Feldt updated Sumeragi and the bridge.
"These tactics…" Sumeragi mused, as if recognising a pattern. She then keyed up the sub-bridge: "Ian, concentrate your fire straight ahead at the centre of the fleet. Clear a path of Ptolemy to get through."
While Sumeragi closed the link with the sub-bridge without waiting for Ian's reply, Anew scanned the battle map on her display. There was no sign of Revive, Hiling, or any of the Innovators for that matter, even as their puppets in the A-LAWS continued to go down ship by ship, mobile suit by mobile suit. "Just where are they? They're supposed to be here…"
"All Gundams. Focus on defending your mothership. I repeat, all Gundams, focus on defending your mothership." A deep female voice commanded over an open communication channel, catching everyone on the Ptolemy, except for Sumeragi, by surprise.
"I knew it! Mannequin!" The tactical commander called out, but her turn to be surprised came as said commander established a direct video link with the Ptolemy.
"It has been a long time, Kujo." The commander greeted Sumeragi using her real last name, still serious and terse in her tone.
"Kati Mannequin! But why are you…"
"Do not get the wrong idea." Kati cut Sumeragi off. "We are only using you to punish the A-LAWS. Once this battle has been decided, rest assured that we will make sure you pay for all of your crimes."
Sumeragi seemed to slouch in her seat a bit, and Anew felt a sinking feeling that seemingly came from being privy to the commanders' conversation. However, Setsuna's voice over the open broadcast channel soon made clear the real reason:
"Attention all units! Take evasive action immediately! There's an incoming attack! Some ominous light is approaching!"
Even with Lasse immediately throwing Ptolemy into a dive, said attack - a massive particle beam - still grazed the top of the ship, blowing away Ptolemy's GN Field as the ship fell out of the beam's path. Everybody groaned as they were shaken from the impact forces, but they were lucky - half of Katharon's committed forces, including a cruiser, as well as the majority of the remaining A-LAWS fleet were simply vaporised. The whole field of battle had turned into a field of debris in a matter of seconds.
Recovering her bearings, Sumeragi requested damage reports and the status of the various factions in the battle area. While Mileina and Feldt hurriedly replied with the information available to them, the cold Anew felt when she thought she was going to die earlier returned, this time out of a stark realisation:
"It's them! Ribbons Almark and the Innovators."
As the Innovators' vessel - a monstrously huge colony ship that, as predicted from Wang Liu Mei's information, dwarfed the Ptolemy and the other gathered vessels combined - dropped its optical camouflage and presented itself in its presumed glory, and as the voice of Ribbons himself monotonous played explaining the ship's name and purpose, Anew gripped the armrests of her seat. "We will stop you, Ribbons. We Innovators - no, Innovades - are meant to work with humanity, not subjugate and puppet them."
It had been but a mild inconvenience to Ribbons Almark, being shot in the head by the traitorous Regene Regetta.
"Predictable. Regene always thought herself better than she really was." Ribbons, in a fresh, non-perforated body, could only muse with barely a hint of emotion. As he surveyed the effects of Celestial Being's main GN Laser, he did not feel any satisfaction in the display of power, or any other emotion for that matter. He simply acknowledged that he had a weapon of such power at his disposal, to be used as deemed necessary.
"Commence preparations for second strafing." Ribbons ordered. He only paused briefly for the reply from his minion, before setting his hand on the railing before him and continuing, "Disengage optical camouflage."
There was really no need to act with pomp - but Ribbons had a compulsion to meet the seeming gravitas of the occasion before him. As such, he slowly walked down the curved staircase, calmly announcing to those 'before' him, his voice carried out via Veda's data transmission capabilities:
"This is our colony class deep space mothership, Celestial Being. Aeolia had predicted all of this in his time, two centuries ago. An encounter with a still-unknown race. The dialogues that are to come from this… The GN Drives, Veda, Innovators… And…"
A pause, and a smirk.
"... how this ship is meant to be the hope of mankind."
An opening of his eyes, and a quantum brainwave command to Veda and his minions aboard the Celestial Being, brought the entire ship into a locked-down mode for the coming combat with the, from Ribbon's point of view, puny humans still desiring to resist their true saviour. The misty forest scenery 'outside' the pillars of the vast hall revealed themselves to be but digital wallpapers, giving way to tactical displays; the lush, curved seats receded into the floor, their presence replaced by raised holographic screens.
"This ship is meant to save humanity from extinction. A new Noah's Ark."
His proclamation complete, there was nothing for Ribbons to truly do, other than to sit and wait for the humans to throw themselves in futility. Out loud, he mused, "Let us begin. For the sake of the future that is meant to be. Perhaps… just not meant for you."
It was only then that he bothered to pick up on something that very recently gnawed at him. Something like a waveform that he detected in the brief moment that he was in Veda, between physical bodies.
A signal… from the Innovade he specifically created.
"Anew Returner. I see you have arisen when it is convenient for me. Since you desire to be with the humans who would rather die than submit to the true peace I offer, then I shall utilise you to fulfil their wishes."
The faint smile faded from Ribbon's face, going completely neutral.
"And after they have all been removed by your hand, I will let you join them in eternal purgatory."
There had been no respite once the battle with the Innovators' mothership began - the fire from said mothership's countless laser turrets was intense, even with all four Gundams already surging ahead and shooting every turret they found, such that their lack of aim was practically irrelevant. The super-heavy gun turret had also made an attempt to snuff the Ptolemy out, but Lasse's spirited piloting brought everyone away from harm for the time being.
"57 percent of the enemy's particle turrets along our advance route have been eliminated!" Mileina exclaimed her report. It was a hopeful piece of information, but the alert buzzer on Anew's console extinguished any uplift that Mileina may have instilled.
"New enemy mobile suit force from the colony ship! Unknown type, hundred- no, two hundred units and counting, fast!" Anew reported from her auxiliary station, a slight panic rising within her.
"They still have new models? And so many of them?" Lasse called out in disbelief.
Sumeragi herself also seemed shocked, but for a different reason. "That design. Could it be…?!"
The camera feed that was trained on the newly arrived enemy units showed them all engaging Trans-Am and taking on the characteristic red hue, and the Meisters all reported in saying that they were focussing on the enemy swarm, albeit with limited effectiveness. Anew tracked all of them - Cherudim hanging back close to Ptolemy and letting all its surviving Bits loose to fire on the enemy was a fact she spent perhaps more time than necessary on - and gave her observation.
"The enemy force is headed straight for us. Single vector so far, starboard 30, elevation 20. No weapons fire from them."
"I suspected this; they're suicide weapons! Concentrate all our weapons to starboard!" Sumeragi commanded again, her shock seemingly dissipated.
Despite the defensive shift and the efforts from all the Gundam Meisters, one of the enemy suicide units broke through everything, even Ptolemy's maximum-strength GN Field, and crashed directly into the ship. It was soon followed by multiples of its brethren, and Ptolemy's starboard flank was soon pounded from bow to stern. The resulting explosions rocked the ship with everyone on board bracing in their seats, although the outer hull continued to hold, if only barely.
"Lab ship coming alongside - NO!" Mileina screamed out, as the smaller Celestial Being ship, having joined the fray unannounced, threw itself on the path of the suiciding enemies, taking multiple hits every second. It scarcely got the chance to raise its own GN Field before its superstructure buckled under the strain and it just… disintegrated, to the horror and dismay of the Plotemaios' crew.
Whatever brief relief the transport ship brought with its sacrifice was quashed when another stream of enemy suicide suits attacked from Ptolemy's port side. Caught in a double pincer, being crushed by the seemingly endless stream of suicide mobile suits seemed like a distinct possibility.
Then the rumblings subsided. Blinking, Anew gathered her bearings in an instant, checking her console. "No way… Sumeragi, the Federation and Katharon forces are assisting!"
"What are you doing, Kujo!" The deep female voice from earlier returned, with evident concern and a hint of disdain. "Hurry up and complete your mission!"
With the suicide swarms increasingly taken care of, Feldt finally managed to take care of her original task. "I found it! Warship docking bays in the midsection!"
"Accelerate with Trans-Am; we're smashing our way in! Concentrate GN Field in front of our bow!" Sumeragi exploited the opportunity at once, commanding Lasse to take the whole ship on a straight ramming course into one of the docking bays.
Even though she braced for the eventual hard stop, Anew was still jolted as the Ptolemy scraped the walls of the bay and slammed into the interior wall. She heard Mileina somehow report their "successful docking" without being out of breath, but the alerts from her console kept coming as a new division of suicide enemy units converge on their exposed stern.
"Archer Arios will defend Ptolemy!" Anew heard Allelujah call out on tactical communications. For the briefest of moments, Anew wondered, possibly due to the lingering effects of the crash docking, what was next on the task list. Feldt snapped her out of that.
"I'm scanning the enemy mothership's interior to locate Veda!" The pink-haired tactical operator bellowed out. "Anew, assist me!"
"Roger!" Anew began to hack into the Celestial Being's internal systems, aided by her privileges as an Innovade, but a fuzziness creeped in the corners of her vision, and a dull headache began to make itself known. "Uggh… not now of all times…"
As Lasse exited the bridge to provide further fire support with the 0 Gundam and Mileina panicked yet again, reporting automatons attempting to breach the ship on top of the suicide mobile suits still aiming for them, Anew felt a tremble in her hands which she could not explain. Her hearing, normally sharp and clear, began to fade, and even as she pressed the last few keystrokes to nail down Veda's position, pain seemed to sprout from every single movement of her fingers.
"Automatons have breached the bulkheads and are entering the ship!" Mileina reported in her shrill voice, loud enough that Anew still managed to at least be aware of it. But the Innovade then heard another voice that was clear amongst the faded and panicked chatter on the bridge, one whose owner was not physically present in the room:
"Anew Returner. Submit to me now."
"Anew? Anew, can you hear me? You're shaking!" Feldt asked, an undertone of worry lying beneath her seemingly neutral voice. Yet the Innovade did not respond, her wide-eyed stare at her console and trembling hands unchanging.
"Damn it. At this juncture…" Sumeragi thought with bitter feelings, clutching the rifle in her hands. Memories from four years ago, of Fallen Angels, almost played back before her eyes, but she steeled herself.
"They've broken through the last bulkhead protecting the bridge!" Mileina reported, full of fear. Sumeragi immediately tapped on the control panel to open the bridge door, and the tactical commander looked back to her comrades as she stepped out into the passageway.
"Feldt, Mileina, carry on according to the plan." The tactical forecaster commanded. With a glance at the still-shaking Anew, Sumeragi added, "Take care of her too."
As the bridge door closed, Mileina hurriedly went back to looking at her console, updating the Meisters of enemy dispositions. Feldt would have done similarly, but something about Anew seemed off to her.
Then Anew's eyes seemed to flash golden for a moment, and she finally screamed in pain. "Anew!" Feldt called out, a hand reaching back for her pistol.
The Innovade fell out of her seat, slowly kicking herself to the corner of the bridge. Her strangled cries created an air of dread in the compartment, adding to the tension felt by the human operators.
"Anew, talk to us! What's happening?" Feldt asked, but Anew clutched her helmet, banging the back of her head against the walls of the bridge even. When the latter next opened her eyes, now golden and even pulsating, she was in tears and unable to vocalise. But her trembling lips moved, and Feldt could just about read what Anew wanted to say.
"Rib… bons… Ribbons? He's really attempting to control her?" The blood inside Feldt ran cold, the pink-haired tactical operator recalling what Setsuna had mentioned about the "dark hold" he had felt. For her part, Anew looked intensely pained, struggling to keep control of her own body, but other than a few grunts she maintained a gritted silence.
"Continue fighting him, Anew! I know you are, just keep doing that!" Feldt ordered, furiously typing using the hand not gripping her pistol. She could hear Mileina whimpering behind her, and she tried to maintain a grip on the situation, as volatile and unknown as it was.
"F-Feldt… Please… Don't… Don't tell Lyle… if… if I…" Anew haltingly choked out, closing her eyes as she felt herself slip, accepting her doom as Ribbons slowly slithered in her mind.
"Just keep resisting! We can't give up! You can't give up!" Feldt retorted back…
…but Anew was already unconscious.
"You are foolish. How long more do you think you can run away from my control? A minute? Ten minutes? By then I'd have eliminated everyone else already."
"I don't care. I'll… I'll resist to the end."
"They have corrupted you. Turned you away from what you were meant to be. I am merely making things right, as they should be. As Aeolia willed us."
"We were meant to assist humanity! Co-exist and work together with them!"
"YOU HAVE NOT SEEN WHAT I HAVE SEEN. EXPERIENCED WHAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED. Humanity desires nothing but conflict, in a drive to have order through subjugation. Only by the peace I offer them, and which they have already accepted, can Aeolia's plan be fulfilled."
"You're wrong!"
"You and Tieria Erde parrot the same lines. Would you believe me if I said I am facing down both of you at the same time?"
"What?"
"I have surpassed all you Innovades, and am now a being even greater than a purebred Innovator."
"Impossible…"
"...I have just eliminated that worthless Tieria Erde. As I said, I am superior to even an Innovator."
"N-No…"
"Once I am finished with you and Celestial Being, I will finally fulfil my destiny. To save humanity and guide it to its future."
"Never!"
"Disgusting. Your continued resistance disgusts me. You have ensured your own misery in whatever time you have left, Anew Returner. I will make it so."
Author's Post-Chapter Note: Thanks for reading so far! Reviews, favourites and alert setting are all greatly appreciated.