Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam.
Big thanks to LW for beta reading and her encouragement all these months. More notes at the end.
Gundam Gemini
Episode Twenty
Ghosts of Lemuria
Part A
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The cheering from inside the packed stadium was so deafening it could be heard from miles around. It was the combined voices of thousands upon thousands of spectators who had come from all across the continent just to experience the venue's supercharged atmosphere. They were of all ages, genders and colours but they were united by the one name on their lips which they chanted with feverish excitement.
"WIN-TERS! WIN-TERS! WIN-TERS!"
Finally, a blonde figure took the stage and the stadium's giant screens were graced by the smiling face of President Caroline Winters. The crowd went wild, becoming twice as loud as they proudly waved their banners and signs which said things to the effect of 'WE LOVE WINTERS!' and 'WINTERS IS A WINNER!'. Taking her place at the podium, Caroline raised her arms and basked in the rockstar treatment.
"Thank you! Thank you for the warm welcome!" she began once the cheering had finally died down. "I love you too!"
The crowd roared again and the president gave out a hearty laugh. This was her orchestra and she was the conductor.
"My fellow Remians, as you may have heard, today marks an auspicious moment in the Lemurian Conflict." Winters began her speech with a seemingly serious tone and she then paused for effect. "Operation Hammerfall… has been a resounding success! We kicked their asses!"
Her supporters raucously cheered and applauded at the victorious news and, never one to miss an opportunity, Winters poured oil on the rhetorical fire.
"That's right! Those LIRA knuckleheads never knew what hit them! Our soldiers wiped the floor with them and then some before those Lux worms turned tail and slithered away like the spineless cowards they are!" she bellowed to increasing crescendos of approval. "That's revenge for the First Fleet! No one messes with Rem and gets away with it! No one! Not on my watch!"
The president's fans hooted and cheered for almost a full minute before she could make herself heard again.
"Now that the RDF has regained control of Lemurian space, we can finally begin the crucial task… of bringing our troops home!" The crowd cheered again and Winters nodded along in agreement. "Our men and women in green have been cooped up on the yellow planet for far too long… so my number one priority is to get them back on Remian soil safe and sound! All of them! No one gets left behind!"
Another thunderous round of applause followed and Winters waited patiently for it to pass before changing tact.
"But even as RDF reinforcements flood Lemuria, securing flawless victory after flawless victory against LIRA while relieving our exhausted troops, there is still one thing that could jeopardise it all…" the president ominously hinted before she was replaced onscreen by the unflattering photo of a portly man trying and failing to keep a gust of wind from exposing his grey combover. "Senator Philip Chalmers!"
A collective boo echoed throughout the stadium and the crowd mirrored Winters' actions, scowling at the image and giving it a thumbs down.
"This moron thinks he can stop the war. He thinks he can make peace with those murderous Luxites. He thinks he can be President of the Rem Republic!" she sarcastically hissed to silent disbelief before she hammered her message home. "OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
The roar of the crowd was like music to the president's ears but Winters was only just getting started.
"Need I remind you that Senator Surrender up there already had his shot when he was the Minister for Defence in the previous administration? Remember? The one that left us mired in this war to begin with on top of government debt and economic depression?" She paused to let her supporters jeer before reminding them who their saviour was. "So before Phoney Phil tells me how to do my job, he ought to remember who it was that cleaned up his mess! I got our record-level debt under control! I straightened out the economy! And I'm the one who is finally winning this war, kicking ass and taking names!"
The stadium erupted with the biggest cheers yet and Winters revelled in the adoration.
"If the senator gets his way, forget the Lemurian Conflict; it will become the Remian Conflict – and Lux will be knocking on our door! They'll do to us what they did to the Outer Rim and what they tried to do to the Zodiac Union! It will be complete and utter chaos! We can't let that happen!" Winters forcefully argued and the crowd rumbled with passionate agreement. "That's why I need your help… because this coming election season, I'm not ready to leave office just yet – not when the job is half-finished! Our beautiful republic faces the greatest challenge in its history and we need a leader. We need a winner. Well, I'm your woman!"
Right on cue, the stadium burst into a standing ovation that brought the house down. In response, Winters raised her arms to the sky with a white-toothed grin and soaked up their cheers like precious oxygen. God, she loved being president.
Her stump speech went on for another hour, boasting about all her achievements and ripping into all her opponents before she finally left the stage.
"Thanks for coming everybody! Treat yourself to a campaign T-shirt or cap on your way out, okay? God bless our troops and God bless the Rem Republic!"
Waving and blowing kisses to her army of diehard fans, President Winters walked offstage and into the stadium's lobby where she was greeted by another round of applause. It was her campaign team, which included a teary-eyed Ridgeway, congratulating her on another successful speech.
"Bravo, Madame President! Bravo!" Ridgeway led the salutations, his face a blubbering mess.
"Er, thanks…" said Winters, raising an eyebrow at her defence minister. "Jesus, Ridgeway… get a hold of yourself. You're a grown man!"
"I-I'm sorry, Madame President… No matter how many times I hear it, I just…"
A ringtone interrupted the minister and he fumbled for his phone while still in tears.
"Y-Yes?" Ridgeway asked, answering the phone as he dried his eyes with a handkerchief. "Madame President, it's Admiral Barton."
"Barton!" Winters snatched the phone from Ridgeway and bellowed. "You should have seen it, Barton – I killed them! The crowd loved me! But it would have been even better if you'd let me parachute in off a Garm…"
"My apologies, Madame President, but you know I cannot authorise the use of military hardware to promote an election campaign," Barton replied, as patient as ever with his commander-in-chief.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. Keeping the RDF politically neutral or whatever," Winters scoffed. "So what's up?"
"Madame President, I just received word over the relay that Lieutenant Laura Hartmann has been found safe and sound."
"Laura! Thank god!" Winters exclaimed and clapped a hand over her heart. "The girl sure knows how to give me a scare… I still need her for those infomercials! So where is she? Details, Barton!"
"She and the Orthrus are currently back aboard the Lionheart and the ship has resumed its relic hunting mission," the admiral explained. "According to Captain Hartmann's report, the lieutenant was able to survive her forced entry into Lemuria's atmosphere due to the Gundam's Solar Mode and made an emergency landing behind enemy lines. There, she was found by a passing RDF platoon which saved her from a LIRA patrol before taking her back to the 62nd Armoured Battalion where she remained for the duration of Operation Hammerfall. During this time, Lieutenant Hartmann ended up temporarily serving with the battalion and participated in the Battle for Mount Dirge before being picked up by the Lionheart."
"That's my Laura! Not even falling out of the sky could take her out of the fight!" Winters proudly crowed and pumped her fist. "Once this war is over, I'm going to have to award her another Presidential Order of the Lion – this time on national television!"
"It would certainly be appropriate judging from the reports of her actions during the battle," Barton agreed. "The 62nd suffered extremely high casualties before reinforcements could arrive but without the help of the Gundam it could have been much worse."
"Damn, those poor souls… They were meant to be aboard a transport headed for home by now…" Winters seemingly lamented before her eyes twinkled. "…Barton, I think I just found our next big sob story! No, it could be a major film – and young Laura could play herself!"
"I had a feeling you would work that angle…" Barton said without so much as a sigh. When it came to President Winter's depraved instinct for publicity, nothing surprised the veteran soldier anymore. "I must also inform you that with the success of Operation Hammerfall, the Eureka has left Colony Zero for Lemuria as planned and is expected to arrive within a fortnight."
"The Eureka, huh?" The president twisted her lips with distaste. "I still don't know about this, Barton. Sending our chief research vessel into the middle of a warzone… How the hell did that creepy Professor-What's-His-Face talk me into this?"
Before Barton could reply, the cacophony of an entire stadium chanting the president's name inundated his receiver.
"Oh! There's my encore! We'll talk later, Barton!"
With a picture-perfect smile on her face, President Winters tossed the phone back to Ridgeway, smoothed out her short blonde hair and strode outside into a waiting spotlight. Instantly, the fanatical roar of the crowd hit her like a tsunami and, as she soaked up the adoration with the giant sponge that was her ego, there was only one thought on her mind.
God, it's good to be the president!
.
.
Situated on either side of the Lionheart were its observation decks. The long, windowed corridors provided the crew with a view to the outside of the ship and the starboard side was where Laura went when she needed some time alone. However, since rejoining the battlecruiser, she found herself standing there more often than usual; staring at the passing landscape of Lemuria outside without end.
It was just rolling sand dunes as far as the eye could see – an inhospitable desert where nothing could possibly survive – but she could not get the sight out of her mind. She eventually realised that somehow, despite the thick ballistic glass separating her from the alien terrain, she knew exactly how it would feel to be outside in the sweltering heat. She could feel everything – the blazing sunlight scorching her skin, the dusty winds blinding her eyes, the hot sand sinking beneath her bare feet… She could feel it all even when she shut her eyes.
Laura didn't know what it was but ever since she had crash-landed on Lemuria, she had felt like there was something familiar about the lost planet. To be more accurate, there was something it was trying to tell her and the Battle for Mount Dirge had only made it worse. When she closed her eyes, it felt like she could almost see it – something or someone on the desert horizon – before a sandstorm swallowed everything up and she was left sighing at her own reflection once more.
It was during one of these failed efforts at finding answers that Ray found Laura with her hand pressed against the window. The blonde's frequent disappearances since her return had not escaped the attention of her friends and, as the more experienced pilot, Ray had taken it upon himself to see if he could be a sympathetic ear. After all, Laura had been one for him when they had first met; it was the least he could do in return.
"I was wondering where you were," was how he chose to announce himself, waltzing in as casually as he could to avoid her suspicion. "So… see anything interesting out there?"
Grinning, Ray parked himself beside Laura and peeked at her reflection in the window only to find an icy purple gaze looking back.
"Cut the crap, Ray-Man," the blonde snapped. "What do you want?"
"N-Nothing! I was just making friendly conversation," Ray weakly protested before his smile melted away. "…And checking up on you, I guess. Wouldn't want our ace pilot to go MIA again, after all."
"Ace pilot, huh?" Laura muttered the word almost contemptuously and returned her gaze to the desert. Something must have shown on her face because Ray didn't let it pass.
"Operation Hammerfall has been a success because of you. You saved a lot of people out there," he pressed. "That makes you an ace in my book."
"That's funny because I don't feel like an ace," was Laura's sardonic reply before her voice went quiet. "You saw Mount Dirge… It was a massacre."
"That wasn't your fault, Laura; the 62nd was outnumbered. There was nothing you could have done."
"That's exactly it." The blonde banged on the window with a tightly clenched fist and grit her teeth. "Even with the awesome power of the Gundam, I couldn't do a thing… Not a damn thing. I felt so powerless!"
Not since the death of Tully had Laura felt so powerless. It was a feeling Ray knew all too well.
"You got to know them?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Laura nodded and removed her fist from the glass.
"…The platoon that rescued me. I didn't know them long but they were good people. Always calling me White Hellhound and Lieutenant… I felt like I had to live up to their expectations, you know?" she said with downcast eyes as their faces flickered through her mind. "They were really looking forward to going home… but now they never will. I couldn't save them."
In the painful silence that followed, Ray was sure Laura was going to cry. When she didn't, he marvelled at her strength.
"Laura… I won't tell you there won't be more days like this. But I know you're going to pick yourself back up, get back in the Gundam and try to save even more people. It's in your nature – you couldn't stop yourself if you tried – and Team Orthrus will be right behind you every step of the way." Ray spoke from the heart with pride. "We'll be with you to celebrate the ones you save… and we'll be with you to mourn the ones you lost. Just because you're an ace doesn't mean you have to be alone."
When the man finished, he found Laura staring at him like he had grown another head.
"Wow, Ray… I never expected sage advice from you…" Although her compliment was backhanded, she was sincere and the technopath gave herself a shake. "You're right… I can't dwell on this. I've got to think about what I can do now, not what I can't. Thanks, Ray."
"That's what I'm here for, Lieutenant," Ray grinned and gave his superior a playful slap on the back.
"Yeah… that reminds me. About the whole lieutenant thing…" Laura murmured and crossed her arms. "I know I was all pumped for this promotion but after what happened… I don't know if I'm ready for more responsibility."
"Well, you better be ready because we both know President Winters is promoting you to full lieutenant the moment you get back!" Ray teased but between his feeble laughter and Laura's horrified expression, they both knew it was no joke.
"Ugh, she's going to try and use me in her campaigning again… saying her stupid slogans…" the Gundam pilot bemoaned and looked out the window to distract herself. The sight of the desert reminded her of why she had come to the observation deck to begin with and it gave rise to a question. "Have you ever been to Lemuria before, Ray?"
"No, but I know plenty of drinking buddies who have…" The former ace ominously turned his gaze towards the sands. "Strange place by all accounts… especially if you're a technopath. They said that sometimes, if you listen hard enough, you'll hear voices in the wind… The ghosts of the Lemurians… crying out for revenge!"
Laura rolled her eyes at Ray's obvious attempts to scare her.
"I should have known better than to have asked you…" she sighed before her lips curved into an impish smile. "…Have you told this to Freya yet?"
"No," Ray grinned back. "I'm waiting for the right moment."
The pair chortled at their devious plan until the smiles were wiped off their faces by Sofia's booming voice on the intercom calling for Team Orthrus and they made a mad dash for the briefing room.
.
.
When Vega felt the wind blowing against her cheeks, she couldn't help but cry out in delight. A natural breeze like this wasn't something you could experience in space or Lux's domed cities so ever since learning of her deployment to Lemuria, she had been looking forward to the feeling greatly. Lost in the moment, she chuckled with childlike glee as another gust sent her hair billowing back like a silver sail, never noticing the pair who had gathered to watch her.
"Major! Get down from there!"
Drawn back to reality by the voice, Vega looked down from the Blue Crow's radar tower to find Ursula staring up at her with a thoroughly cross expression. The brunette was shading herself from the sun with a frilly, pink parasol which no doubt belonged to the short blonde beside her. However, unlike the captain, Charlotte was madly snapping pictures of the Scarlet Wolf's daring feat and saving it to her phone, squealing incoherently all the while. Grinning, Vega struck a few more poses for her admirer before Ursula shouted at her again and she finally slid down the ladder with grand aplomb.
"That was dangerous, Major! You could have fallen!" Ursula's first reaction was to chide her superior but Vega merely chuckled in response.
"Oh, but look at this perfect weather, Ursula! How could I miss this feast for the senses?" the noblewoman proclaimed with her usual dramatic flair and gestured to the desert surrounding the ship. Being the taller of the three, she took the parasol from Ursula's hand and twirled it as she forced them to watch the passing landscape with her.
The Blue Crow had only just reached Lemuria a few days ago along with LIRA's First Fleet, arriving to discover an RDF offensive was already well underway. According to reports, the Second Fleet had been routed by Rem's new model Garms and warships and the space overlooking the planet's southern hemisphere had been retaken by the enemy. The loss of half the fleet's stealth cruisers during the battle was of particular concern and led to speculation that Rem had acquired anti-stealth technology, forcing LIRA to act with caution as they scrambled for countermeasures.
Fortunately, the RDF's sole goal appeared to be the reinforcement and resupply of their stranded ground troops, which explained why their fleet had stopped at the edge of Lux's half of Lemurian space. So while the First Fleet stood guard with the remnants of the Second, the Blue Crow made planetfall to bolster LIRA's own ground forces who were already fighting off a fierce planet-wide offensive. By the time they had landed, however, most of the fighting was already over and the two sides had returned to a tense stalemate, leading the stealth cruiser to resume its relic-hunting mission.
Currently, the Blue Crow was exploring one of Lemuria's many uncharted deserts, cruising at a low altitude on Commodore Sparrhorn's orders as a precautionary measure in light of the RDF's possible anti-stealth technology. As such, despite the oppressive heat, Vega could not help but let herself out onto the open-air observation deck and observe the scenery like a tourist. Designed in the event the ship required external repairs on the go, it was only a small deck and could only accommodate so many people as the trio soon found.
"Did you find her?" A familiar bedraggled head poked itself up from the hatch and Luke saw the answer to his question.
"We didn't just find her," Ursula sardonically replied as she watched Luke and Pavel climb out of the hatch. "We joined her."
"No one invited you two though," Charlotte scowled and stuck her tongue out at the men. "This would have been so much better if it was just Lady Vega and me!"
"Who the hell wants to be up here with you? I'm getting roasted alive just standing in place…" Luke whined and shielded his eyes from the sun as he tried to take shelter under Pavel's huge shadow.
"We bring news, Major," Pavel, who appeared unaffected by the heat, reported. "According to radio chatter, the Gundam was sighted at the Battle for Mount Dirge just several quadrants away. The RDF Relic Hunters are on Lemuria."
Vega's ears perked up and she finally tore her eyes away from the rolling sand dunes.
"She's here…" the huntress grinned almost gleefully. "The hands of fate bring us together once more, Hellhound."
"Not if I can help it," Ursula immediately poured cold water over her leader's aspirations. "Even if we do encounter Rem's Relic Hunters in this massive desert – which is extremely unlikely – need I remind you that we can no longer rely on the advantage of stealth? Even the Fenrir's new Camouflage Mode might be compromised!"
"Yeah, I don't like the Blue Crow's odds against that Relic Hunter ship in a straight-up fight…" Luke agreed while crouched on the deck like an uncouth delinquent. "Judging by the number the RDF did on the Second Fleet, the relics arms race just took another leap forward and we have no idea what their Relic Hunters could be packing now. Makes you wish the Valhalla System had been ready in time for the expedition, huh, Major?"
"The prototype impressed me greatly but in its current form it's more suitable as an anti-personnel weapon at best," Vega said regretfully. "I did, however, see incredible potential in the technology and made some suggestions to Nova Industries. Imagine, a mobile suit being able to deploy a flight of Valkyries, each armed with a mounted beam weapon… It would be as if each mobile suit was a carrier with its own self-contained squadron!"
"That sounds amazing, Lady Vega!" Charlotte chirped in right on cue. "But you'd still need to be a talented technopath to even have a hope of using the Valhalla System… like me!"
"Indeed," Vega chuckled, patting the blonde on the head. "That aside, I'm sure our brilliant commodore has already devised some cunning stratagems to make up for any technological disadvantages we may encounter should we go up against our Rem opponents. Despite his moniker, desert warfare is not outside the purview of the Lunar Fox – far from it in fact."
"I must admit, it is reassuring that Commodore Sparrhorn is already familiar with Lemuria's environment," Ursula concurred as she observed the endless sand dunes with unease. "Not many of the Space Wolves have had the experience of being deployed to this planet before."
"Pavel is one of those exceptions," Luke piped up and all eyes turned towards the gentle giant. "Any tips, Lieutenant Ivanov?"
"Nothing our LIRA training doesn't already cover…" Pavel bashfully rubbed the scar on his cheek in thought. "But if I had to give one piece of advice… Be prepared for this planet to play tricks on you."
"Tricks? What are you on about?" Luke chuckled, thinking it was a joke.
"Sometimes, when the wind blows, you hear things…" said Pavel as they all went silent. "Sounds you can't explain… Even voices…"
"…You're serious?" a dumbfounded Ursula stated what they were all thinking.
"The ghosts of Lemuria," Vega whispered, seemingly half in jest. "Speaking from beyond the grave that is their planet… What would they say?"
A high-pitched gale suddenly whooshed across the deck and the group grimaced as a chill was sent down their spines. Squeezing up against Vega, a pale-faced Charlotte looked up to find her idol still staring unflinchingly into the desert as her silver hair twisted in the wind. Knowing a thing or two about the Scarlet Wolf's unreadable expressions, something told her the ace had an interest in the wasteland reflected in her mask – an interest that went beyond mere curiosity.
"Have you ever been to Lemuria before, Lady Vega?" Charlotte found herself asking.
Vega paused before answering.
"Once," she said, smiling. "Long ago, in a dream…"
Watching her superior carefully, Ursula could not help but think the smile twisting her lips was a forlorn one.
.
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When the elevator opened to the Lionheart's hangar bay, Laura jumped through the doors out of habit, fully expecting Zero-G to effortlessly carry her straight to the Gundam. Remembering in mid-flight that they weren't in space anymore, the blonde landed on her feet red-faced and quickly checked to see if any of the crew had noticed her embarrassing slip-up. Satisfied there had been no witnesses, she straightened out her white flight suit and made a dignified march into the busy hangar with her helmet under her arm. Reaching the designated bay of the Orthrus Gundam, she found two familiar figures standing at the foot of the towering mobile suit.
"Junko! Moses! Is the Orthrus ready?"
"Of course it's ready!" Junko boasted, looking up to admire her handiwork. "We restored the dented armour, oiled all the joints, gave it a new coat of white paint and we vacuumed out all the sand! Hard to believe that's all we had to do after the Orthrus almost burned up entering Lemuria's atmosphere…"
"Tell me about it…" Laura replied, recalling her uncontrolled atmospheric entry with a shudder. "If it wasn't for my Solar Shield, I would've been toast for sure."
"Yeah, try not to melt your equipment down into slag this time around… I keep telling you, those replacements don't grow on trees!"
"Don't worry, it's just a recon mission." Laura placed a gloved hand on the Gundam's foot, technopathically opening the cockpit and activating the winch system. "How's the Pulse Relic?"
"Operating at a ninety-eight percent efficiency while synced up with the new flight pack but knowing you, you can probably readjust it to a full hundred percent," Moses informed the pilot, watching as she stepped into the winch. "Don't let your guard down just because it's a recon mission, Lieutenant. Your dad was worried sick while you were MIA."
"Ugh. He's never going to let me hear the end of it, is he?"
With that final complaint, Laura activated the winch again and was hauled up to the Gundam's cockpit which closed after her. Strapping herself into the pilot's seat, the blonde immediately began start-up procedures, flipping switches and checking instruments like it was second nature to her. She wasn't even distracted when the monitor booted up and three familiar faces appeared on screen.
"You took your sweet time, Laura!" Freya snapped as soon as her pink-haired form materialised, sounding angrier than usual. "How long does it take to finish one burger?!"
"Two burgers," Laura corrected Freya as she continued to fiddle with her controls. "I had seconds… Why? What's got you so worked up?"
"Freya's just worried you'll disappear on her again," Alice helpfully answered with a tiny smile on her rosy lips. "The whole time you were MIA, she could barely eat or sleep until they found you."
"Oh, I was wondering why she was sticking to me like glue this past week…"
"S-Shut up, Alice!" the Pink Diva rounded on the unrepentant blonde first before turning on the Gundam pilot. "D-Don't misunderstand, Laura! It's just… someone's got to keep an eye on you!"
"Considering how many times you've gone missing, Freya has a point…" agreed Ray and a grin alighted on his lips. "We should really put a collar on our Hellhound."
"And a leash to go with it – a short one," Alice submitted.
"Don't forget to tag her with a microchip!" added Freya quite seriously.
"Hey, I'm not the only one who's gone MIA at some point so either we all get collars or none at all!" Laura shot back before she did a double take. "What the hell are you making me say?!"
"It really is good to have you back, Laura… Team Orthrus just isn't the same without you!" Junko suddenly appeared on screen and quipped in time to see the White Hellhound become the Blushing Hellhound. "Oh, and you're clear for launch."
Dispersing the portraits of her friends from the monitor with a swipe of her hand, Laura saw the Gundam was already looking down the catapult runway and put on her helmet.
"This is Laura Hartmann. Orthrus Gundam, taking off!"
The words were followed by a familiar and exhilarating rush of speed as the Orthrus was shot down the electro-magnetic rails like a runaway train. But instead of launching into the cold darkness of space this time, the Gundam erupted from the tunnel to be greeted by the blinding light of the Lemurian sun and clear blue skies. Spreading its steel wings to their full span, the Orthrus engaged its thrusters and took flight, becoming a fiery white streak shooting across the sky. The rest of Team Orthrus followed soon after in their Garms and the four admired their alien surroundings for a moment before gathering in formation.
"This is Team Orthrus. Proceeding with recon mission as planned. Over."
"Copy that, Lieutenant," Sofia answered Laura from the Lionheart's bridge. "Report back as soon as you find anything. In the meanwhile, the Lionheart will maintain its heading."
"This sector should be thousands of klicks away from the nearest LIRA outpost but the Lionheart will continue to fly under the radar just in case," Milos added. "Technically, Operation Hammerfall is still ongoing so we don't want to get caught on our lonesome while the RDF has its hands tied dealing with both LIRA and evacuations – especially if whatever is at these coordinates turns out to be a dud."
"Don't be such a downer, Milos!" Freya derided her superior officer, completely ignoring military protocol as usual. "Considering we got these coordinates off the relic on Arcturus, there's no way it could be a dud. If anything, we should be expecting treasure!"
"It's true we've rarely been disappointed when it comes to hunting relics," Alice surprisingly concurred. "But doesn't this remind you of something, Laura?"
"Yeah… Maybe it's because this is our first recon mission on Lemuria but this feels like that time on Lenos…" said the blonde, recalling the incident on Lemuria's moon with unease. "That time we found the Gundam…"
"We were also ambushed," Alice reminded her.
"Well, I doubt we have to worry about LIRA sneaking up on us anymore," said Ray, flashing his trademark overconfident grin. "Thanks to this new anti-stealth radar R&D invented, our jobs have become a hell of a lot safer. Man, they're pretty amazing, those Panda-whatsits…"
"Pandora Particles – or PP!" Being her helpful self as usual, Junko jumped at the chance to explain her latest favourite topic in excruciating detail. "Did you know? PP is only the newest and most exciting branch of Relic Research! Scientists had long suspected a peculiar particle was behind the inner workings of the most advanced relics but they were unable to detect it… until now! PP is what makes all the coolest Lemurian tech possible; everything from the Lionheart's Pion Engine and Gungnir Particle Cannon to the Gundam's Mode Changes – and yes, LIRA's stealth technology – uses PP! Those Crow-class creeps actually give off PP like crazy which allows the PP Radar™ to detect them with pinpoint accuracy! And did you know? The PP Radar™ is actually just a much more advanced version of our Relic Detectors! It turns out we've been detecting PP all along but the frequency of PP fluctuates greatly between dormant and active relics which is why we've only been picking up on the former so far! In that case, with the right modifications, maybe we could upgrade them into portable PP Detectors…"
Junko babbled on, never realising the others had quietly put her on mute until Superintendent Moses pointed it out to her. In the meantime, the recon flight continued peacefully for Team Orthrus who watched the monotonous desert scenery pass them by on their monitors. The calm was disturbed, however, when something appeared on the far distant horizon – something so unnatural in the Lemurian wasteland that the pilots were squinting their eyes with disbelief.
"Lionheart, this is Orthrus… Are you seeing this?"
"Affirmative, Orthrus," the operator replied, just as an image of the anomalies were brought up on the bridge's main monitor. "It looks like a…?"
The stunned operator trailed off and the shapes grew larger and larger onscreen until the entire bridge was silenced by what they saw.
Embedded in the desert like ancient monoliths were hundreds of dilapidated skyscrapers, still standing where they had been erected centuries ago. At the time of their construction, the buildings must have stood straight and tall, shimmering in the sunlight like majestic works of art. Now the sunburnt spires were crooked and decrepit, weighed down by the passage of time as they futilely reached for the sky once more before they were swallowed by the merciless sands.
"You're kidding…" Ray whispered over the com with more than a hint of shock. "It's a city…"
"It was a city," Freya corrected him while somehow keeping her own astonishment in check. "Now it's just… ruins."
"Should we check it out?" Alice, who unlike the others sounded unfazed, asked only to be answered with silence. "Laura?"
"…What? Oh, yeah…" came the blonde's belated reply. "Let's go in and scan for relics."
The sight of the city emerging from the desert had momentarily reminded Laura of her strange visions but she put it aside for now to focus on the mission.
Flying over the remnants of the metropolis from above, Team Orthrus split up and descended into the ruins to begin their exploration. Up close, the tilted skyscrapers were worse off than they had thought, reduced to little more than rusting steel and crumbling concrete. Any glass windows that might have looked down upon the city had long since been shattered by the very elements they were meant to keep out, exposing the insides to debris and sand. Furthermore, whole sections of the buildings had partially collapsed, making it look like giant bites had been taken out of them. Things were not much better on street level where the corroding chassis of upturned Lemurian vehicles could be seen half-buried underneath the encroaching desert along with the remains of fallen tower blocks which had succumbed to the pull of gravity.
The more the pilots saw, the more they realised the abandoned city was more akin to a graveyard – a rusted-red forest of skeletal tombstones buried in the forgotten sands. What had once been a thriving home to millions was now merely a decaying testament to the existence of its Lemurian architects. All that remained was a lifeless and eerie ruin that cast long shadows in the desert.
"Find anything yet?" Laura was the first to ask as she scanned her monitor left and right. "My Relic Detector is coming up with nothing."
"Me too," Freya replied with a click of her tongue. "There's nothing here except junk and sand. Either LIRA already raided this place or the Lemurians took any relics with them when they abandoned it during the Cataclysm."
"Either way, it is curious we have yet to discover any human remains…" Alice remarked, causing Freya to flinch. "Given the size of the city, I would have expected some signs of its former inhabitants but there is not so much as a ghost to be found."
"Well, that's just another mystery of the Lemurian Cataclysm for you," said Laura as she hovered the Orthrus above the city and tried to imagine what it must have looked like before the disaster. "Just another secret the Lemurians took with them to their graves."
"Damn it, Laura! Alice! D-Don't say the g-words! This place is creepy enough already!" Freya screamed through her chattering teeth and wrapped her arms around her shivering torso. "R-Real people used to live here, you know… and they probably died here too!"
"Hey, I hate to break up your little ghost story exchange but I think I found something…" Ray interrupted them with an image from the Hermes' sensors. "Spotted it on the city's northern outskirts. What do you think?"
The picture had been taken from a distance but it appeared to show the ruins of a military facility which would otherwise be unremarkable except for one key feature.
"Laura, that's…!"
"Yeah…" the Gundam pilot finished for Alice as she focused on the giant circular hole in the ground. "That's a bunker… just like the one we found on Lenos."
"I thought so… It also matches the coordinates exactly," Ray went on to inform them.
"Yes, X marks the spot!" Freya hollered, ghosts all but forgotten. "Treasure, here we come!"
"Wait up, Freya!" Laura chased after the Brunhild with the others and contacted the Lionheart enroute. "Lionheart, this is Team Orthrus. We found the entrance to a bunker similar to the one discovered on Lenos at the stipulated coordinates . We'll continue our recon inside. Over."
"Copy that, Team Orthrus," Milos replied as he surveyed the bridge's main monitor with unease. "But be advised that a sandstorm appears to be on its way so don't linger too long."
Located on a rocky outcropping in the desert, the round entrance to the bunker was already wide open and the giant hole dwarfed even the abandoned military facility surrounding it. As Team Orthrus landed around the edges of the gaping chasm, their thrusters kicked up dust and cracked concrete into the air which fell into the abyss with nary a sound. Shining their head-mounted high-beams into the void before them, they tried to see to the bottom but were only met with more darkness.
"Well, that's a bunker all right…" Freya stated, staring down the abyss with forced bravado. "Nice that the Lemurians left this one open for us unlike the one on Lenos."
"It's not sitting in a giant crater either," said Alice, pointedly scanning their level surroundings. "I don't know whether that's good or bad…"
"If it's been left open since the Cataclysm, there's probably a whole ton of sand and junk down there…" Ray clicked his tongue with distaste. "So, who's going in, leader?"
"I'll go. The Orthrus will be more suited if we do find a relic," Laura reasoned, examining her silent relic detector one last time before checking on the brown sandstorm rolling in the distance. "You three stay on guard out here and wait for me."
"Oh no, Laura! There's no way I'm letting you go in alone – not again!" yelled Freya and her comm portrait practically got in the blonde's face. "I told you, remember? From now on, I'm keeping a close eye on you!"
"Fine…" Laura rolled her purple eyes almost to the back of her head. "Just don't come crying to me when you see a ghost…"
"Yeah, there's probably loads of ghosts down there, Freya…" Ray whispered a warning with false seriousness. "You won't be able to see them but if you hear the wind… or even just the slightest breeze… that's them, whispering into your ears…"
The former ace finished by making spooky noises with his voice and Freya almost jumped out of her seat.
"P-Put a sock in it, Ray!" the Pink Diva stammered and swallowed a sizable gulp of air as she watched the Orthrus jump into the bunker first before following after it in her Brunhild.
Activating their thrusters in mid-fall, the Orthrus and Brunhild both hovered like a pair of blue torches in the darkness as they slowly descended into the shaft. The void beneath them seemed to go on endlessly and all they could see was the monotonous walls of the tunnel illuminated by their headlights. But the deeper they went, the more disturbing it became. A scorch mark here. A scratch mark there. Soon, the walls were almost entirely blackened with plasma burns and it was clear a battle had taken place in the bunker – and they had been firing from below.
Finally, after what seemed like an age, the Orthrus and Brunhild touched down at the bottom, landing on a mountain of sand which their thrusters partially dispersed into a mini dust storm. When the dust settled, they found their lights flickering across a yawning cavern with a network of tunnels spreading in multiple directions. It appeared to have been the central area of the bunker at one point but now it was littered with rubble after the concrete had crumbled and half the tunnels had collapsed, revealing the rocky earth beneath.
"We're at the bottom…" Laura found herself unconsciously whispering as she reported to the others. "Checking my Relic Detector… I'm picking something up. It's a weak reading but I think we have a relic down here."
"G-Great. Then let's pick it up and get the hell out of here. This place is giving me the creeps!" said Freya and she made the mistake of trying to walk off the mountain of sand. "Kyaaaaaaah!"
The Brunhild immediately lost its footing, falling flat on its back and sliding down the sand dune like a pink sled with its pilot screaming all the way. Freya was only silenced when the ride came to a complete stop at the bottom as indicated by the sudden jolt within her cockpit. Shaking the hair out of her eyes, the diva looked up at her monitor in a daze – only to scream again when she saw a face filling up the screen.
"What is it?!" Laura cried and slid after the Brunhild, finding it had stopped directly in front of a giant humanoid figure, the sight of which had Freya frozen with fear. Illuminated by their headlights, they saw a battered Lemurian mobile suit sitting against the wall like a lifeless ragdoll, still clutching an antique rifle in its hand even as its purple armour had cracked and faded from centuries of neglect. It was clearly not a threat but the suit and its hexagonal head unit elicited unwanted memories in the two pilots.
"A Gorgon…!" Laura breathed, recalling the Reaper's secret squadron of ancient mobile suits with unease. "I guess we shouldn't be surprised to find one down here. This is Lemuria, after all."
"The damn thing near gave me a heart attack! I never wanted to see another Gorgon in my life after what happened in the ZU!" shouted Freya before calming herself with a deep breath. "Well… at least this one looks out of commission."
"Um… Freya?" Laura warily directed her friend to where the Orthrus' headlights were now shining and the diva gasped. Scattered in the darkness, whether half-buried in the sand or lying in pieces, were dozens of more Gorgon mobile suits in a similar condition. Like the ruined state of the bunker, it was clear they had been damaged in a fierce battle and the mystery of the Cataclysm only deepened.
"…Laura… Come in, Laura… What was that scream?"
Hearing Alice's voice, the technopath shook herself out of her stupor and answered. "Just Freya getting a face full of an old Gorgon. Alice, there's dozens of them down here..."
"Well, we ARE on Lemuria…"
"Lionheart, this is Orthrus. It looks like there was a battle inside the bunker and we're observing a lot of damaged Gorgons… but not what they were fighting against," Laura reported only to click her tongue when she received static. From the view at the bottom of the shaft, the sky was just a tiny blue puddle and she estimated they must be a kilometre beneath the earth. "Damn, looks like we're too deep underground. Alice, can I ask you to act as relay?"
"Roger, Laura." Alice's voice was riddled with static. "You're still breaking up sometimes though… Don't go too far…"
"Don't worry. Let me just find this relic and we'll be back before you know it," Laura assured her. "What's the situation with the sandstorm?"
"The wind is picking up a little but it's still far away."
"H-Hey, Laura, let's just get out of here…" an uncharacteristically meek Freya finally found her voice and suggested. "I've got a really bad feeling about this bunker now…"
"Come on, scaredy cat, or I'll leave you behind!"
Laura followed up her ultimatum by marching off in the direction of the relic, leaving Freya hesitating to even move. But after taking in another eyeful of the lifeless Gorgons surrounding her, she let out a frustrated scream and chased after the Orthrus in a hurry.
Putting the cavern behind them, the pair followed the sounds of their relic detectors and were led deep into the bunker's labyrinth of tunnels. Along the way they stumbled upon even more fallen Gorgons and signs of combat – mounting evidence that the bunker had been transformed into a battlefield – but still no hint as to who the enemy had been. Pressing onwards, they eventually emerged into another cavern and were met with the most unexpected oddity yet – a gargantuan round door.
"That's a big door…" Freya whistled and shone the Brunhild's high beams over the massive white construct like a tiny spotlight, reflecting long purple lines engraved in the steel. "Was there something like this on Lenos?"
"No…nothing like this…" uttered Laura, eyeing the vault-like door suspiciously as she reached out with the Orthrus' palm and made technopathic contact. "I'm sensing something… It's definitely locked…"
"Can you open it?"
Laura shook her head. "I've never seen a lock like this… It's like whoever made it doesn't want anyone opening this door. Ever."
"Y-You're kidding? A lock even you can't open?"
While Freya's mouth hung open and her cat-like eyes fearfully darted about for ghosts, Laura's brow furrowed with irritation.
"…It's no good. I need more time to analyse this…" she stressed and removed the Orthrus' hand from the door with a heavy sigh. "Let's get back to the Lionheart before the sandstorm hits. We can come back later–"
A mysterious sensation hit Laura like a bolt of lightning, stopping her lips in mid-sentence. It was a feeling she knew all too well and the technopath instinctively spun the Orthrus around with its solar rifle drawn. Firing several beams at a seemingly random spot, the dark chamber was lit up with bright blue light – followed by flashes of red as the beams were cut down by a disembodied beamsabre. For a split-second, as each beam was neutralised into fiery purple sparks, the spectral silhouette of a familiar mobile suit could be seen flickering in the darkness before disappearing into nothingness again.
"A-A-A ghost!" cried Freya, firing her rifle without a second thought.
"No, the Fenrir!" Laura corrected her and they thrust their mobile suits in opposite directions, only just dodging a barrage of beams as they continued to return fire.
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END OF PART A
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Damn... Seven months since the last update. 2021 sucked and 2022 is turning out to be even worse. But, still, I'm determined to finish this. Part B is being beta read so it should be up next week (or before the end of the month). I've also already made good progress on Episode 21. Praying I can finish GG this year and I hope the next few episodes make everything worth the wait (to anyone still reading).
