Chapter 13: Frozen History
"These halls weren't on the map." Aki thought aloud as she wandered mindlessly around the back of the colony in search of the mobile suit transport bay. "This is an impossible maze of never ending halls. I wondered if they built it like this on purpose or if it became this way from year and years of adding on." After a few minutes of mindless wandering she went back to the stairs she came down on and pulled a red marker out of her pouch. She started putting and 'X' on the wall next to halls that had nothing down them. Every once in a while she'd put a small red arrow on the wall pointing in the direction she should go to get out. It was getting dark as she wandered into long unused and forgotten parts of the colony. The bulbs in the lights overhead had long since burned out and now she was wandering around led by the light of a small pocket flashlight from her issue waist pouch.
"How the Hell are you supposed to find anything down here? I'm just going to start opening doors with this universal access code I found." She fumed walking over to the first door she found and punching the code on the keypad. The door slid open revealing nothing but a file room. She went down the rows of doors opening them to one dead end after another until she came on one that looked like it hadn't been opened in decades at the end of one of the long halls. When she punched in the code instead of the keypad lighting up green and the door opening it blinked red.
"What's this?" She grumbled agitatedly. She punched a random set of keys angrily not expecting anything to happen but to her surprise the light blinked green and the door started to open. She gasped and backed away fearfully as there was a sudden rush of icy cold coming from the room. She peeked her head in and found that the whole room was coated in a think sheet of ice. As the door skidded stop halfway open she squeezed in and gasped in shock. A huge column of ice rose out of the floor; between metal supports in the ceiling was a huge tube of ice holding a human form.
"One... of the originals? One of the Coordinators the NCs are based from?" She walked over and carefully brushed frost off of the cylinder and gasped again when she saw an arm. She spun around and saw the control room behind her. She ran over and slammed the heel of her hand into the open button. The door motor made a whirring noise but it was frozen in place. She slammed her foot into the glass window in the center and it shattered easily and she dashed into the room. She hovered over the console and looked at it doubtfully; it was half covered in ice. She beat on the ice with the end of her flashlight until she had cleared all the buttons. She looked at it all studying it carefully then started pushing buttons like she knew exactly what to do. To her own shock the computer turned on and started talking to her.
"Cryogenics Mainframe accessed. Specimen number 001 of 005 accessed. Please select option." It recited in an electronic woman's voice. Aki looked over at the screen and the options at her disposal. She instantly scanned down to the last option and hit enter. "Defrost sequence activated. Estimated time until sequence completion: 72 hours. Please Standby."
"In 72 hours I'll have someone from the past. But who will it be? The computer said this was specimen one of five... Is this one of the Keys? I remember reading that there were three sets at various stages of development... Could this be one of them in a late stage of development? Or is it really one of the original Coordinators?" She wondered as she stepped out of the control room and ran her fingers against the frozen block. "Why am I doing this? Why do I feel like in here is someone who can understand me?"
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"Kou are you sure this is the right way?" The Captain wondered looking down at the hand drawn map Shiro held.
"We followed the direction down here exactly Sir but it seems the map they left on the mainframe was meant to be confusing on purpose. I'd say wherever this room is we'd be able to find it fairly easily." He replied flipping the map and looking at from different angles.
"What do you mean?" The Captain wondered as they turned a corner.
"Well I'd imagine it would have something by the door or a special door to identify it or something." The Captain simply nodded and they kept going turning the way they thought they should to follow the map. The Captain stopped and looked at the little marks and instructions Akiko had left herself and smiled.
"For a Natural we have to give her some credit don't we? Hmmm I might have to watch out for my job one day. Either you or her might get it!" He joked with a chuckle. "Hold on." He said suddenly as he held out his arm in front of Shiro and stopped him. He tapped his foot on the floor a few times then walked back a few feet and did the same thing. The two sounds were slightly different. "You're standing over it." Shiro spun around and ran to the door at the end of the hall by itself in the wall in front of him. He punched the universal access code on the keypad and watched the door slowly slide open. Captain Entrada walked up behind him and together they gazed on what Akiko told them they would find. Forty mobile suits of different sizes, shapes, and colors lined up in front of them. Beyond them to the right there seemed to be some sort of factory.
"A factory? So Akiko was right this really was where the RPC developed and built mobile suits..." Shiro breathed quietly.
"That's why only half of the meteor was colonized. A lot of what we've seen today isn't on the lay-outs and blueprints they have at the Starshine." The Captain said in quiet understanding as he looked over at everything. "We have to find a way in there so we can figure out how to load these things on to that ship if it's there." Shiro looked down and realized that this was a false entrance and there were no stairs in front of them. He flipped on his headset and moved the mouthpiece in place.
"Akiko we've found the mobile suits have you found the ship?" He said as they turned and started punching the access code at every door trying to find a way down.
"I haven't found the ship but I have found the way down. Go back to the hall off of the stairs and follow it all the way down to the end. Turn down the last hallway on the left take the all the way down to the fifth hall on the right. There's a stairway at the end of the hall take it down and there's only one door and it will take you right in." She explained slowly and carefully and Shiro scribbled it down quickly.
"Right got it... Report immediately when you find the ship."
"Roger." She switched off her headset and jogged past the Cryogenics room in her search. She stopped at the door and peered in. "When should I tell them about you? Should I tell them about you?"
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"So then Captain Jacobin. You lost 4 units and their pilots? Documents show that one pilot even floated in front of the ship and you still ordered them to shoot the Napoleonus main cannon. This sort of reckless action can not and will not be tolerated! What do you have to say for yourself?" A very important looking man boomed from the center of a council table.
"My objectives were clearly stated Sir. Destroy the RPC colony at all costs. We know that particular colony to be the training facility of their pre-emptive strike force. They needed to be eliminated and if that meant risking 4 pilots to save the thousands of lives of this colony I believe the risk was worth it." Jacobin the tall black-haired man replied in a cool even tone.
"Your logic is understood however in the future please be sure to eliminate your target if you're going to risk so much in the process." Another said in an equally cool and calm voice. "Your next assignment is to dock at Allied PLANT 009 where you'll board a ship bound for Earth. There you will personally retrieve the suspected Key Matsuri Fushi and brig her back here. We wouldn't trust this task to just anyone so feel privileged. Understand though you'll have to set aside your risk-taking attitude. This is a straightforward mission and an important one at that. Matsuri Fushi is to be our leverage to gain what we want quickly and with as little blood shed as possible."
"I understand Chancellor. I'll bring her back safe and sound." Jacobin replied bowing. "However I'd like the Council to consider another option as well. The pilot whose skills are demonstrated in this video she took out and captured two of my best pilots. Now there wouldn't be anything extraordinary about this if it weren't for the last part of that sentence. She CAPTURED them. She couldn't and wouldn't kill them. She showed remarkable skill in immobilizing them without any such action that would endanger their lives. Now that ladies and gentlemen is a true pilot. I believe her reluctance to kill may make her persuadable especially if she's an NC and we can play up her creation and make her turn her back on the RPC." Jacobin explained calmly and clearly as a video of Akiko fighting played in the background on a huge monitor.
"You'd like this pilot wouldn't you Captain?" The first man who spoke wondered looking up from his smaller monitor to address Jacobin with a smirk.
"But of course Mister President." Jacobin replied with a smile of confidence.
"I'll put Shiro on it at once." The President replied smiling. "He is currently stationed there." A frantic aide rushed in and quietly sat a note down in front of the President. He read t quickly then crumpled it up angrily and slammed his fist into the table. "Intelligence intercepted a transmission from the Starfire colony... They've been hit with a biological attack from Blue Cosmos and have suffered major casualties." The other Council members started whispering amongst themselves.
"Don't worry Mister President. Shiro's a strong kid. If he doesn't contacted you with in a day I'll be on Earth soon, the home of Blue Cosmos. With your permission I could take revenge for you." Jacobin answered slyly. The President hesitated a moment before answering.
"Permission granted."