North African Desert
Setsuna continued to look over the area from his seat in 00. The large ship that he escaped from had set down and its Gundam standing between it and 00. Before them, a handful of desert jeeps drove up, being ridden by armed men with no uniforms. Guerilla fighters? Local resistance? A while later, two people emerged from the larger ship. One was the man who tried to stop him in the hanger, the other was a woman, the captain probably. Setsuna looked again at the Gundam.
Why did it turn gray? It certainly wasn't camouflage.
As the two parties met, Setsuna figured that now would be as good as time as any to try and communicate with the unknown Gundam pilot. He quickly scanned the airwaves and found a channel that was open, but not in use.
"Gundam 00 to unknown, do you read?" He waited, and waited. He adjusted the frequency slightly and tried again. "Gundam pilot, this is 00, do you read?" Hopefully he wasn't contacting that woman from earlier by accident.
Kira Yamato was listening in on the conversation between Captain Ramius and these resistance fighters when the comm channel he was using earlier emitted audio.
"Gundam 00 to unknown, do you read?" What the? That voice; he wasn't certain, but it vaguely reminded him of the voice he heard during their descent. He also says: Gundam, should I respond? He keyed in the main comm channel.
"Archangel, this is Strike. Should I try talking to the other mobile suit pilot?" He heard an exasperated sigh.
"If you can," said Natarle Badgiruel, "just be careful what you say to him."
"Gundam pilot, this is 00, do you read?" Double-Oh? Zero-zero?
"Yes ma'am." He muted his input on the main comm and switched to the other channel.
"Umm... double zero? This is Strike, I hear you." Sounds like someone younger than him. "Uh... thank you for earlier?"
"You're welcome. What is your name Meister?"
"It's Kira, Kira Yamato. And who are you?"
"I am Setsuna F. Seiei, Gundam Meister of Celestial Being." There was a pause.
"You are the only other person aside from me who calls Gundams Gundams." Okay...?
"What else are you supposed to call advanced mobile suits?"
"Most call them G-Weapons, G-Units or General Unilateral Neuro-link Dispersive Autonomic Maneuver systems." General Unilateral Neuro-what? "You said you were with Celestial Being..."
"Correct."
"Are you with the Earth Forces or the PLANTs?" Plants? What is this kid talking about?!
"We are with no one, and we take no sides."
"But then... why did you help us out? First in space, then this morning against the BaCUEs." True.
"The first time was not intentional."
"And also, your Gundam, where did you get it from?"
"Celestial Being." Another pause, he decided to break it. "Where did you get your Gundam?"
"The same as the others." What does that mean?
"You mean your Gundam and the Gundams that were attacking you came from the same place?" Another pause, longer this time.
"But... I thought the G-Weapons were Morgenroete's project. How could-hold on a moment." Morgenroete? Well, at least that's something.
"Ensign Yamato," Captain Ramius' voice came over the second comm channel.
"-hold on a moment." Kira switched channels, "yes Captain?"
"Can you communicate with the other pilot?"
"Actually yes, his name is Setsuna."
"The Resistance is willing to assist us, but they want to meet you two first. So both of you, come down here."
"Uh... yes ma'am." On second thought, he probably should've connected Setsuna to the main channel.
"You still there?" Kira's voice came back over comm.
"I am," Setsuna answered.
"The Resistance told Captain, my ship's captain, that they want to meet the pilots." Setsuna glanced at his monitors, displaying the local resistance fighters. They're definitely middle eastern, probably not so different from the so-called "soldiers of god" that he was familiar with. "So... would it be possible for you to exi-"
"Roger that."
"What?"
"I'll disembark as long as you do the same."
"Oh, then yes. Exiting now." He saw through his monitor the cockpit of the "Strike" Gundam open, and he decided to follow suit. The two pilots gently dropped down, riding their respective embarking lines to the ground. They approached the throng of guerrillas, Setsuna hanging back a little. Kira took off his helmet, showing his young face and dark brown hair.
Amid the sounding of murmurs over Kira's youth, a young boy- no girl- with blonde hair and amber-brown eyes suddenly ran up to Kira and stood before him with wide eyes.
"It's you?" Wait, they know each other? "Why?" Her face went from astonishment to fury. "Why the hell are you piloting that thing?!" She tried to punch Kira in the face, only for him to easily catch her punch by the wrist. He finally recognized her.
"You're... you're that girl at Morgenroete."
"LET GO IDIOT!" She snapped her arm forward and back, smacking Kira across the cheek and surprising basically everyone.
"Cagalli!" one of the resistance snapped. He looked like the one in charge. Setsuna passed Kira and the girl, approaching the man while taking off his helmet. Remembering stuff he was taught when he was a child, he placed his right hand over his chest and bowed his head forward.
"As-salamu alaykum." That got the man's attention.
"Oh... now that is a greeting I haven't heard in a long time." He made a receptive gesture with his hands. "Wa alaykumu s-salam. I am Sahib Ashman of Tassil. And who might you be?"
"Kamal Majirif of Krugis." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the woman, the captain, sigh in relief. Kira meanwhile, while still stunned by the awkward reunion, did not miss the false name Setsuna gave.
Ptolemaios II
orbit
"Why didn't you bring him back?" Tieria inquired, sounding annoyed as he and Allelujah exited their Gundams.
"He insisted on staying," Allelujah explained, removing his helmet. "And he said he wanted to look at the Gundam they had down there." That made Tieria perk up.
"Oh, that makes sense." The two of them made their way to the bridge, Sumeragi turning in her chair.
"Well done you two," she commended with a smile.
"What about Lockon?" Tieria asked.
"Cheridum is on approach," Mileina reported.
"Allelujah." The Meisters turned around as Marie came in behind them, drifting straight to Allelujah.
"Marie," he said, catching her in a gentle hug, "what's wrong?" She shook her head.
"Nothing now, I was just needlessly worried."
"Needlessly worried?"
"She was worried that we weren't able to contact you," Feldt explained.
"About that," Tieria interjected, "why are we having so much trouble with our communications?" Sumeragi shrugged and shook her head.
"Hell if I know. All I do know is that I need a drink, badly." Tieria resisted the urge to roll his eyes and looked to Anew, who had a perplexed expression on her face and a furrowed brow.
"Is something wrong Miss Returner?"
"Well..." she turned in her seat, "nothing 'wrong,' but there is something odd according to our sensors, especially the electromagnetic..." she faltered somewhat before asking: "Can you promise not to laugh?"
"Why would we laugh?" asked Sumeragi.
"Well... according to the sensors, there appears to be an abnormal lack of free neutron movement... which should be, well, impossible." Tieria drifted over to her station to look at her screen. After examining the electromagnetic data on-screen, he began frowning, sharing and understanding Anew's confusion.
"That... is weird."
"Now that's a word you never use," Allelujah pointed out. Feldt and Mileina looked at each other before bringing up the data from Anew's station on their screens.
"Should I worry about this?" Lasse asked from the helm.
"No," Tieria answered with certainty, "this won't have any effect on navigation."
"But could it be affecting-?" Anew wondered.
"-communications."
"-communications," both she and Tieria said at once.
"So that's why we're having so much trouble?" Feldt asked.
"Probably," said Tieria. "but it doesn't appear to be uniform. It looks like the neutrino particle scarcity is more apparent on Earth itself. Maybe there's something on Earth that is radiating out and disrupting neutrinos."
"On purpose?" Tieria frowned.
"I don't believe that's the case, but it is a possibility."
"Well," said Sumeragi, "we can't exactly operate freely if we can't communicate with each other. Anew, get together with Ian and Saji and see if there's something we can do to counteract the... this anti-neutron effect?"
"Yes ma'am."
Archangel
interrogation room (Mu's room)
"Why do we always take these things to MY room?" Mu asked looking around to Murrue and Natarle but both were watching Setsuna who was seated in front of them. "I'll even take 'because' as an answer at this point." Mu added but sighed seeing them both not even looking his direction.
"So," Murrue started with her arms crossed, "your name is Kamal Majirif; except Kira told me your name was Setsuna."
"My name is Setsuna," he clarified simply.
"Just Setsuna?"
"Setsuna F. Seiei."
"F?" When was the last time someone asked for Setsuna's middle name.
"Fatma."
"Setsuna Fatma Seiei," Murrue repeated, she forced a gentle smile. "I must thank you for your assistance, both during the fight and earlier with the Desert Dawn leader." He nodded briefly. "But I still want to know, why did you help us in the first place? Especially since Kira said that you 'take no sides."
"It is as he says."
"Then why help us at all? And what were you doing during our descent?"
"More importantly," Natarle interjected, "tell us how to activate your mobile suit." Setsuna recognized the voice as the one who attempted to order him around under threat of being: taken into custody.
"The engagement in orbit was... accidental."
"Accidental?" Murrue asked, sounding surprised.
"What exactly do you mean by that?" Mu inquired. "I seem to recall two other unknowns in addition to you and your... what do you call it? Double zero?"
"Double Oh."
"00, got it. There were two other machines."
"I know."
"So there were three of you because of an accident?" Setuna actually appeared somewhat uncomfortable.
"They came... after me, not with me."
"Oh, so they were trying to reign you in?"
"Probably."
"Probably?" Murrue asked incredulously.
"Look," Mu resumed, "we're not complaining. Despite all the chaos you brought to the battle, you most likely bought us some time for our descent. Anyone who picks a fight with ZAFT is a friend, as far as I'm concerned. We're just trying to keep the facts straight." Setsuna frowned in thought.
"I... can not explain why, exactly. I remember the combat and everything I did, but I don't remember my... thoughts leading up to the engagement. If I had to guess, I would have to say my actions were... instinctual."
"Instinctual?"
"That is correct."
"Regardless of intent," Natarle broke in again, "tell us how to activate your mobile suit." Setsuna looked at her before turning his attention to Murrue.
"There was an unarmed shuttle in orbit, I think it was carrying civilians. Where did they-?"
"Hey!" Natarle barked, "we're the ones asking questions here, not you. Now tell us how to-"
"Why do you want 00?" Setsuna shot in, keeping his voice firm but even.
"We need to see the systems of your machine to see if it poses a threat to us." He glared at her.
"Am I in it?"
"No."
"Then how can an unpiloted mobile suit be a threat to anyone?"
"It's a threat enough on its own. A G-Weapon that even we weren't aware of and belonging to an unknown faction; unless your organization can prove itself to be an ally-"
"Natarle-" Murrue tried to cut in-
"00 is my Gundam," Setsuna asserted, now glaring at Natarle with fire-filled eyes. "I am 00's Meister, and no one can take my place. Even if you kill me, you will be unable to use 00."
Ptolemaios II
"Why Allelujah?" Marie asked while Allelujah was sitting down in the air, "Why should we leave?" The two of them were in one of the observation rooms while most everyone else was trying to come up with a counter-measure for their comms.
"Marie, the reason I stayed to fight was to help stop A-Laws and to protect you. If we leave we'd be safer on the Earth than in space. I don't want to fight anymore Marie."
"We're still needed back home Allelujah!" Marie said leaping next to him, "We can't just abandon everyone back there."
"I swear: if we do get the chance to go home, I'll take it so we can stop A-Laws. But the way I see it, right now, it would be best for us to just go into hiding for now. Maybe give everyone here any data we may find."
"We?"
"Oh... sorry, I didn't mean that." Allelujah said looking away out the window, "I'll just drop it then."
"It just feels sudden to leave everyone and go on our own to a place we've never been to an entirely new world. What would we do for money, or whatever they have for currency? I know what you mean and I think that's a good plan but we need to plan this out with the crew." Marie added.
Archangel
Desert Dawn Base
The Archangel had been moving for several hours now. 00 was in the hanger and Setsuna was left alone in Mu's room. The door eventually opened and Mu looked in.
"Can I exit now?" Setsuna asked and Mu nodded gesturing him to follow him.
"These Desert Dawn guys have an actual base, sort of, but it's better than nothing." Down the hall a ways. "You know, you could've just told us you had a biometric lock on your mobile suit. Badgiruel wouldn't have gotten mad at you, and we wouldn't have wasted precious time before following the resistance."
"00 is my Gundam, why would I give you any information on it?"
"Because we're friends?"
"That still doesn't change who and what I am."
"A cagey pilot with no friends?"
"A Gundam Meister of Celestial Being."
"Right, that was the name Kira mentioned," Mu recalled as they entered the ship's elevator. "Is Celestial Being associated with Orb?"
"What?"
"It obviously requires Coordinators, in order to manufacture your mobile suits. But you also have no qualms about attacking ZAFT. That only leaves Orb."
"What are you talking about?"
"Your group: Celestial Being."
"What makes you think we're associated with this: Orb?"
"Did I not explain my line of thought?"
"We are not with Orb, or anyone," Setsuna insisted. "Besides: Orb sounds like a stupid name for a country." Mu gaped at him as the elevator door opened. Murrue and Natarle stood waiting.
"What the hell? What is he doing out here!" Natarle shouted looking to Mu who shrugged.
"Captain's orders." Mu responded backing off while Natarle looked to Murrue.
"Captain!" she asked crossing her arms, "we're going into a rebel base. I don't think it would be best to bring him along, he could be a ZAFT spy for all we know."
"He seemed quite at home when he was talking to Ashman." Murrue explained a-matter-of-factly. "In fact, I would wager he has more in common with Desert Dawn than anyone else." She looked expectantly at Setsuna. "Am I wrong?" Setsuna gave a half-hearted shrug.
"You're not wrong, but you're not right either."
"In any case," Mu interjected, "we don't want to keep our hosts waiting." The four of them made for the ship's entrance. The door opened, leaving Setsuna blinded for a moment until his eyes adjusted. When they did, Setsuna saw they were in a small canyon.
["Setsuna" - Kenji Kawai]
"Th-this is..." Setsuna trailed off as an image of the Katharon base flashed in his mind. "Too much like Katharon..." Setsuna thought again as they eventually entered a room with computers set up. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught an amber-gold glint and looked to see that girl from earlier, now reading from a clipboard.
Mu gave off a short whistle seeing the room's condition, "You're forced to live in this sort of place?" Mu asked while Setsuna still was very much interested by everything he was seeing around him.
"Don't even think about running off." Natarle warned Setsuna but Murrue looked over to Setsuna kindly.
"I think it's fair, since we had you sit in that room for the last few hours, that you should get some fresh air." She said gesturing to the exit. "Please just stay in the canyon, and if you do go back inside the ship go back to Mu's room."
"I understand." Setsuna said while Natarle stood with her mouth hanging open. Setsuna left Murrue, Mu, and Natarle to speak to the older man. Back outside, he almost bumped into a young boy who gave him a double take, seeing as he was still in his flight suit. Once the boy turned away, Setsuna got another flashback of young child soldiers from Krugis. No, it has to be different than that, Setsuna thought, trying to shake the feeling away. When he shook his head, he saw the Strike, high on the cliffs looking over the base. He began to ascend the mountain side. While climbing, Setsuna noticed that same girl from earlier was walking up as well, but didn't seem to notice him. Setsuna increased his pace. The girl then noticed him and started increasing her speed to match. Setsuna stopped, so did she.
Good grief.
Setsuna gestured ahead of him and the girl, blinking a bit, nodded in thanks and strode past him.
Kira was meanwhile standing letting the wind current at his higher elevation cool himself off from working in the Strike for the last few hours. Sai walked over by Kira passing by carrying rope.
"Excellent job." Sai complimented going by.
"Yeah sure." Kira noticed Cagalli walking up the mountain side toward him, with that Setsuna guy not far behind. When she stood before him, Kira noticed Setsuna walking off a bit to sit down on a nearby rock.
"I apologize for earlier, when I hit you I mean. Er- I did mean to, but it was in the heat of the moment. So... forgive me..." Kira just had to laugh a bit.
"What's so funny?" Cagalli asked, somewhat enraged.
"Well, think about it." He took a seat as Setsuna looked on with interest.
"I kept thinking about you after that. And about what happened to you. Then you show up here of all places, piloting this monstrosity! And further more, you're with the Earth Forces?" Kira sighed.
"Many things happened along the way. Many things." He looked up at her.
"So... what are you doing here? I thought you were from Orb?" Cagalli hesitated before responding.
"I was born on Yalafath," she admitted, "but I am here now. Now I am of Desert Dawn." Then she gave a rye smile. "Let's just say: many things happened along the way."
"I see." He heard movement and saw Setsuna stand and approach. Kira remained sitting. "Setsuna F. Seiei?" Setsuna nodded.
"And you're Kira Yamato." They shook hands.
["Setsuna" - END]
Aprilius One,
National Defense Committee Chairman's office
Patrick Zala glared at the low quality recording of Seravee as it blasted through a team of BuCUE's until it seemed to shoot the recording device as it went to pure static.
"This mobile suit attacked our Gibraltar Base?" Patrick asked, bringing up a second recording of the unknown flying straight up into the clouds and out of sight.
"Yes Chairman," one of three officers reported, "and a scout flight reported that the Alliance defensive position east of the Suez was also attacked." Zala looked up at them.
"I trust one of you has an explanation."
"It would seem, sir, that the unknown's armor is stronger than that of the new armor for the G-Weapons. The beam weaponry also seems different with the color of the beams-" Zala rolled his eyes.
"I'm not blind! I can tell as much from the recordings. How did these mobile suits just vanish without a trace?" The officers remained silent. "I see... at least we have footage... at least." He replayed image of Seravee. "Is this another suit made by those damn Naturals?" The console at the door beeped. "Who is it?"
"Chairman, it's Yuki."
"Come in Ray." The door slid open and Commander Ray Yuki entered with a data pad.
"Chairman Zala, we have confirmed reports of a third and forth unknown."
"Where?"
"The first, Unknown 3, was spotted in the Congo region, west of Victoria."
"Our losses?"
"None, it didn't attack. It just flew northward."
"A mobile suit?"
"More likely a mobile armor. Our ground forces would've been able to get a better look if they were able to detect it."
"What?"
"Yeah, it didn't show on radar. However," he raised a finger in emphasis, "the unknown was visually detected twice more, once south of Birao and again nearby the Ennedi Plateau." Zala crossed his arms in thought.
"So it was searching?"
"Possibly."
"You mentioned a forth."
"Yes. Unknown 4 is in space. Our long-ranged patrols took the liberty to classify it as: The Big One, most likely a carrier."
"And you are certain of this?"
"Yes, the patrols saw two mobile suits fly up and meet up with the Big One." Zala perked right up at that bit of info.
"They can enter space on their own?!" He felt cold sweat in the palm of his hands. "What else?" he asked, wiping his hands on his uniform. "You have any other details?"
"I'm sorry Chairman, but that's all we've been able to gather at the moment." Zala sighed.
"I see, good work gentlemen, that will be all." Yuki and the other officers saluted and dismissed themselves. "First the G-Weapons, now this?" Patrick pondered. "They attack Gibraltar and they attack the Alliance position on the Suez front. Would the Earth Alliance sacrifice their own?"
Ptolemaios II
"Marie and I have decided that we're going to the planet surface for now." Allelujah explained to everyone on the bridge. "We could collect data on anything that we need. Current events, possible weapon data and even base positions."
"Does Marie agree with this?' Miss Sumeragi asked.
"What are you talking about!" Lasse interjected, "You can't just leave, we have no idea what that Earth may be like." Feldt and Mileina nodded in agreement.
"I know that, but we have to try to give ourselves some kind of way to see what they are doing. Marie and I could head down with Arios and-" Allelujah started but Sumeragi raised her hand to stop him.
"If you're going to the surface and it's not for a mission, then I can't allow the use of the Arios. I'm sorry but we need to be careful." Allelujah nodded.
"I understand. But how else can we reach the surface?" he asked. "Maybe... Tieria could take us?"
"No, it could be too risky," said Sumeragi, thumbing her chin in thought, "but we definetly need intel. We'll figure something out. In the meantime, get some rest." Allelujah nodded and left the bridge. A message indicator lit up on Mileina's screen.
"Dad's hailing us." Sumergi floated over.
"Go ahead Ian." Ian appeared on screen.
"I admit, it's kind of hit-or-miss, but we may have a way to work around the anti-neutron effect."
"So our communications should work?"
"Not like before, but, hopefully, we should be able to have clear communications within short range."
"That's better than nothing."
"I always hated that phrase. That's why I took the liberty of modifying Seravee with Tieria's help."
"Is it operational?"
"It is."
"Good have Tieria prepare to sortie. Keep up the good work Ian."
"Roger that- oh, by the way, Saji is on his way to your office."
"My office?"
"He wants to ask you something, didn't tell me what." First Allelujah, now Saji, what could Saji want?
"Very well, thanks Ian." End transmission. "Have Tieria launch when he's ready. Tell him to head to the surface while maintaining contact with Ptolemy. If the comm is good, then have him locate Setsuna. You have the bridge Lasse."
"Roger that." Sumeragi exited the bridge and drifted down the corridor to the door of her room where Saji was waiting.
"What can I do for you Mr. Crossroad?"
"I want to ask about something that isn't in your database."
Desert Dawn base
Setsuna remains seated on a rock looking up at the starry sky seeing the bright sparkles. It looked more-or-less the same as it did on the original Earth.
"Hey." Setsuna looked over to see Cagalli standing behind him. "You're not with them are you?"
"What do you mean by 'them'?"
"ZAFT."
"No, I am not. I'm not with Earth Alliance either."
"Hard to tell from what I saw last night." Cagalli pointed out. "You basically tore into those BaCUEs. Then again," she put a finger on her chin in thought, "your mobile suit seems pretty advanced; on par with the Strike and those other models."
"You mean: the ones from Morgenroete?" Her eyes seemed to flash at this.
"So you know about them?"
"No, only what Kira mentioned. I just guessed."
"But you're not from Orb, I can tell." Orb again.
"What does that even mean?"
"Huh?"
"Orb, O-R-B; is it an acronym?"
"No, it's not." She looked at him with genuine curiosity now. "You seriously never heard of the 'Land of Peace'?"
"That sounds impossible." Cagalli sighed, then straightened her posture and closed her eyes, hands behind her back, before reciting: "Orb will not attack another nation, will not allow another nation to attack them, and will not intervene in the conflicts of other nations." She opened her eyes and relaxed her posture. "That is the core of Orb's ideals. Orb is well known for it's neutrality. Even in this war between Naturals and Coordinators, Orb has been able to remain free of conflict. Of course," her amber-gold eyes darkened, "that was before Morgenroete created those machines for the Earth Forces." Ah, so Morgenroete is part of Orb.
"I'm not of Morgenroete either." She sighed.
"Well... then where did your G-Weapon come from?"
"Gundam."
"What?"
"Its called: Gundam."
"Is that an acronym?"
"No, Gundam is Gundam, mobile suit designed and built by Celestial Being."
"Celestial Being?" Cagalli repeated, sounding confused. Setsuna stood up, turning to face her.
"That is what I am, a Gundam Meister of Celestial Being." Her eyes widened somewhat. He held out his hand. "My name is Setsuna by the way, Setsuna F. Seiei."
"And Kamal?" He shook his head.
"Not Kamal Majirif, but I was born in Krugis." She nodded at that answer and shook his hand.
"Cagalli, my name is Cagalli."
Ptolemaios II
"So what did you want to ask about?" Sumeragi asked as she settled into a chair in her room, pouring herself a glass of whiskey. "Want a glass?"
"Oh, no thank you," Saji refused politely refused, "I tried some when I came of age. I didn't care for the taste." He became serious. "In your database, that I could access through Red Haro, there was mention of a group called: Observers."
"Yes," Sumeragi confirmed, "they were, I suppose you could call them, our watchdogs. They are, or were, an independent branch of Celestial Being responsible for monitoring our progress in regard to Aeolia's Plan."
"Were?"
"I only ever spoke with one of them on a regular basis. But following the appearance of the Thrones, I heard nothing from him, or anyone else like him. They basically disappeared during our four year absence."
"I see."
"You wanted to ask about one of them?"
"Maybe. Did they do other things beside observe?"
"Hmm... probably, it wouldn't surprise me if they did. However I don't have any idea what they could've done; at least as far as I know. Anything specific in mind?"
"I want to know if any of them had anything to do with a reporter."
"A reporter..." she frowned, taking a sip of whiskey.
"A Japan News Network reporter, her name was Kinue Crossroad." Her eyes widened a bit at the name.
"A relative?"
"Yeah..." Sumeragi gave him a pensive look. She figured this person was probably more than just "a relative" to Saji. She poured a second glass. "Um... Miss Sumeragi?" She slid the glass over.
"I know what its like to lose someone close," she explained as Saji gingerly picked up the glass. "What happened?"
"I don't know. The police found her stabbed to death in Macau. When I asked her work about it, they said she was investigating Aeolia Schenberg."
"And, by extension, us."
"Yes." Sumeragi drained her glass.
"As I said, I know very little about them. But I will look into it, you have my word on that."
"Thank you," said Saji. He put his glass down and was about to leave- before picking the glass back and taking a quick swig. He shuddered at the taste and coughed. Sumeragi had to smile.
"I admit, it is an acquired taste."
Desert Dawn base
There was commotion all throughout the base as members of the Desert Dawn scrambled to weapons and vehicles. Setsuna saw Mu hurrying toward the Archangel and took after him.
"What's going on?" Setsuna asked once he caught up.
"It seems that the local town is under attack by ZAFT." Mu responded, "place called: Tassil." Setsuna had a flash of Azadistan being burned, burned by that red Gundam.
"I'm going," Setsuna uttered under his breath.
"Huh?" was all Mu got out before Setsuna took off passing him toward the Archangel and into the hanger. He ran to the 00's cable and grasped onto it, being raised up to his Gundam's cockpit. He dropped inside and his flight suit plugged into the seat as he grabbed his helmet and slipped it on. "I won't let that happen..." Setsuna said to himself as another image of Azadistan appeared in his head. 00 began moving toward the launch catapult as the Strike stepped into the other while Mu was being prepped in the Skygrasper.
"00 Gundam, Setsuna F. Seiei, launching!"
00 took off fast and quickly ascended. Setsuna scanned the horizon and spied red and orange and smoke in the distance. He moved the 00 toward the firey glow. Three of the hound-like BuCUE's were leaving the area as Setsuna was getting closer. 00's scanners opened a zoomed in on a large people gathering of people on a hillside. Maybe an entire town's worth? Setsuna had 00's weapons locked onto the lead vehicle and was about to fire when-
Soran...
-Setsuna's trigger finger was pressed against the trigger as he saw the BuCUE's and other vehicles maintaining their retreat. He glanced back at the image of people on a hill, a lot of them.
"Did they clear out the town before burning it?" 00 lowered its weapons and continued toward the town. After what happened in orbit, he would be better off checking everything before rushing off to intervention. Once Setsuna landed, he noticed the Skygrasper nearby and Mu conversing with the locals. Once Setsuna lowered himself to the ground, he saw Cagalli shouting at Mu.
"You call this minor? Having a town burned to the ground is nothing to you? How could you even regard who would do this as kind!?"
"Calm yourselves," Setsuna said aloud, removing his helmet. "Your enemy went out of its way to spare lives, yes? They easily could have attacked without warning and then ambushed you as you approached." Setsuna said.
"You don't have any idea what's going on." Cagalli growled turning away walking away.
"I could have killed them but I didn't." Setsuna responded and everyone gaped at him. Cagalli looked taken aback, almost shocked.
"If that is true then why didn't you take the shot?"
"No one died here tonight," Setsuna pointed out, "there's no need to fight over a few scraped knees. You're alive, be proud of that." Setsuna turned to walk off, but a sudden rock hit him in the back of the head. He stopped and spun round, expecting to see Cagalli, but was surprised to see a young boy.
"You're a bad guy too aren't you?" the boy yelled, "Helping the evil ZAFT!" Setsuna stared at the boy. He suddenly remembered shouting something similar when he was younger, except with more "infidel" and "god" mixed in. He looked about, found the rock that hit him and approached the boy who then took cover behind what he could only assume to be his parents. His mother, giving him the same glare the others, but made an apologetic bow regardless. He knelt down. "Hold out your hand boy." The boy looked at him for a while, then cautiously held out- Setsuna took the boy's hand, turned the palm up and placed the rock there. "If you waste your weapon on me, then who's going to protect your family." The boy flinched. Setsuna stood up and strode back to 00.
Kira was in the Strike watching everything from far away he watched Setsuna reenter 00. Kira keyed in the comm channel to the 00.
"What did you say to that boy?"
"Something he needed to hear," Setsuna answered. "Now where are they going?"
"What?"
"Northeast." Kira looked toward that direction and saw several jeeps being loaded with some Desert Dawn members.
"Commander," he hailed Mu's Skygrasper, "what's going on? Where are they going?"
"They can't look a gift horse in the mouth," Mu responded. "No one was killed, but they're going after the Tiger anyway."
"So, what do we do?"
"I don't know. Is our 'guest' planning to do anything?"
"Setsuna?" There was a pause. "Setsuna?"
"What choice do I have?" he answered.
"What?"
"I'm a Gundam Meister of Celestial Being, I'll have to intervene."
"And what do you mean by that?" Mu inquired.
"Desert Dawn wants revenge, but their enemy destroyed their target while avoiding civilian casualties."
"That's right. This town was a supply hub, ZAFT's Desert Tiger obviously came here to destroy fuel and munitions."
"Both are in the right," Setsuna pointed out, "and both are wrong."
"So what are you planning to do?"
"Get in between them of course." A long pause followed as 00 began to rise into the sky.
"And just how are you planning to- oh damn it all!"
Ptolemaios II
Sumeragi browsed the database on her room's computer. They actually did have information on the Observers from Veda, however, the said data was heavily encrypted. Mostly numbers, letters, dashes and a few other random symbols. Going line by line, Sumeragi kept an eye out for repeat patterns. These patterns had to be long enough to be actual names, not just random words. She could, technically, work the other way around, but that would take much longer. Her eyes settled on a certain complex segment.
Q-15-W-17-Q-13-23-9-R-X-24-R-9-13-W-9
She knew that "X" was actually a "_" and combined two words together; like a name. But then there are those letters. Q... W... R... T... E... also some Y... wait a minute? No way! That cannot be a code created by Veda! She brought out a notepad from a desk drawer and scrawled down a handful of the numbers. After a dozen numbers, she noticed that most ranged from 1 to 25. The English alphabet has 26 letters, so the letters that showed up were substitutions. Not out of the ordinary, but the letters used?
Q-W-E-R-T-Y = A-E-I-O-U-Y
That can't be it! Stupid little key like that! But she isolated the code segment anyway and substituted the letters for the alleged vowels.
A-15-E-17-A-13-23-9-O-X-24-O-9-13-E-9
A long "a-o" name followed by a "_-o-e-_" name. Next, since the numbers ranged from 1 to 25- no, wait. If she went by that logic:
A-15-E-17-A-13-23-9-O
begets~
A-O-E-Q-A-M-W-I-O
In other words: gibberish. She was missing something. She looked through the numbers again. Was it perhaps a combination of cyphers? Her notes from earlier were still correct, the numbers used ranged from 1 to 25... wait. Stupid! A is the first letter in the English alphabet, in other words: 1. There are 26 letters in total... is there 26? Not on the screen in front of her. That could just mean there isn't a "z" anywhere on-screen, but otherwise. What if it was reversed? What if instead of: 1-2-3 it was: 26-25-24? She used the computer and applied the "reverse-alphanumeric" to the code segment.
A-L-E-J-A-N-D-R-O-X-C-O-R-N-E-R
Alejandro Corner! That wasn't the one she was familiar with, but she knew of the Corner family, and Wang Liu Mei did namedrop "Alejandro" a few times. She applied the decoded segment to the rest of the on-screen text. The name, Alejandro Corner, then appeared in three other places. Around one of these places, other segments of code stood out.
14-W-W-7-E-13-20
Q-1-Q-23-E-8-7-Q-13
19-R-7-W-15
Her eyes skimmed the lines, the following columns looking like a list to her. A list of names, maybe? Her gaze settled on the fourth name from the top.
15-Q-20-T-13-Q-X-19-Q-9-5-W-2
Sumeragi tilted her at this segment. Saji said his "relative," the reporter, was killed at Macau. If that's the case, then she would be well within range of-
The comm beeped, and Sumeragi brought up an image of Feldt.
"Sumeragi. We just lost contact with Tieria."
"Lost contact as in?"
"We managed to communicate with Seravee into the lower stratosphere. Tieria was going to turn back, but then he said he detected something in North Africa."
"Around where Allelujah found Setsuna?"
"Yes. We lost contact with him after that."
"Understood. I'm on my way to the bridge." She closed the call and stood, glancing back at the screen. If these tidbits are anything to go by, then Saji Crossroad was right to be suspicious.
Northern Africa Desert
Andrew Waltfeld was leaned back in his seat while a trio of BuCUE's were right behind his vehicle, "Can't we go a little faster than this?' the young red haired man named Martin DaCosta.
"You're that eager to get back?" Andrew asked opening one eye to look over.
"At the speed we're going they'll catch up to us. I for one don't want the odd chance of that mobile suit to catch us either." He added thinking back to what they saw the day before of the 00. "The armor on that thing was insane."
"It wasn't phase shift either." Andy said, "That machine has some other kind of power system and I think it has to do with its special propulsion as well." Anew looked ahead, "If we meet then we meet. It's fate. Those resistance fighter's artillery trucks don't stand a chance against our BuCUE's."
"Commander? There are vehicles approaching us from behind." One of the BuCUE pilots reported over the radio. "Six...no eight vehicles. They appear to be those resistance fighters."
"Maybe those people would rather die after all." Andy said out loud leaning his head.
"Commander!" another BaCUE pilot called out, "the seismic sensor's going off!"
"Seismic sensor?" That was just a little indicator attached to hyper-sensitive sensors in the BaCUEs' legs. A last-minute addition that R&D threw in for now real reason; since earthquakes rarely happen to begin with. The only other use for it would be to detect whether or not the enemy was mining a tunnel underneath your feet-
"GET GOING! MOVE IT!" Andrew shouted.
["Strike" - Kenji Kawai]
Sand erupted just off their starboard side and the whirring of twin engines echoed through the air. Setsuna aimed the twin drives forward, propelling the hot airborne dust and conjuring an arid curtain across the desert.
The jeeps bearing the Desert Dawn fighters skidded to halt at the crest of a dune as 00 rose up and fired shots into the sand.
"Ah! I see why you were more nervous about that one Cagalli," said Sahib.
"We have the advantage then!" one of the other fighters called out. "Should we press on?"
"Wait for the sand to die down first! You don't want to be fighting blind!"
Andy's jeep and the BaCUEs sped off, continuing their initial withdraw. Andrew looked over his shoulder as the 00 sped around, switching to its blades and crisscrossing the area and kicking up more sand.
"Did that thing just burrow all the way here!?" DaCosta asked, visibly panicked.
"I doubt it," Andrew replied over the ruckus, "he probably just flew ahead of us and waited for us!"
"Damn pests!" one of the BuCUE pilots raged "I'm going to stomp you annoying bugs!"
"Nevermind them!" Andrew ordered over the radio. "Just maintain our withdraw! The only thing we have to worry about is that one mobile suit!"
"Damn it! Those resistance fighters are still on us!" One of the BaCUEs split off, charging back at the dissipating mist of sand.
"Hey! Get back here!" The lone BaCUE fired missiles through the sand-choked air at the Desert Dawn positions as it leapt forward- the Strike slammed into it! The BaCUE was thrown back as the Strike followed up its attack.
"This one's here too-wha!" 00 came up behind the BaCUE and stabbed with both its GN Blades. Sparks spurted forth and both the Strike and 00 backed off before the BaCUE blew up.
["Strike" - END]
"Well, what did I tell you?" Andrew said with a sigh.
"Maybe he wanted to die?" DaCosta wondered out loud.
"Hey, hey, there's a time and a place for jokes! And right now," Andrew looked to their starboard side, "looks like we still have something to worry about."
Desert Dawn had regrouped and was now driving toward them, now that the airborne dust had disappeared.
"Get ready!" Cagalli shouted, shouldering her rocket launcher, "the Tiger's right in front of us!"
"They want to die?" asked DaCosta.
"Yep." Andrew keyed the radio. "Target the jeeps."
"No!" Kira cried out from the Strike. "They're gonna get killed!"
"No they won't," Setsuna said calmly.
A salvo of purple particle blasts rained down between Desert Dawn and the BaCUEs.
"What?"
"What!"
"What the-!?"
["Fight" - Kenji Kawai]
Seravee slowly descended, Tieria scanning the desert sand beneath him after the barrage.
earlier
An indicator lit up. Seravee was hovering in the lower stratosphere, the communication link with Ptolemy just now beginning to weaken. Tieria looked to the indicator and recognized the signal.
Descending through the atmosphere, Tieria was finally able receive a signal message.
00 to CB / two factions about to engage northeast of previous location / vital that both sides are kept separate / any tactical assistance preferable / repeat: 00 to CB
Well Setsuna, Tieria thought, this is different.
"Tieria Erde, Seravee, continuing surgical bombardment!" More particle beams rained down, saturating the narrow area between the two sides. The BaCUEs backed up and Desert Dawn stayed put, many of them bracing from the shockwaves of the blasts. Cagalli looked up at the new arrival.
"Not another one! Just how many of these monstrosities are out there?"
DaCosta gave Andrew a nervous glance. Not that it mattered. Andrew used the radio again.
"Pull back boys! We're more than outmatched here." He put the radio down and started driving off. "You can say it now."
"What?"
"Come on DaCosta, I know you're thinking it." DaCosta frowned.
"We... don't want to die?"
"Right you are DaCosta."
Mu whistled whilst looking on the scene from his Skygrasper.
"That's one way to 'get between them' I suppose." As the BuCUEs sped away, kicking up more desert sand, Seravee eventually ceased the bombardment; dropping down and landing.
["Fight" - END]
The Strike and 00 landed and their pilots disembarked. The Desert Dawn fighters stopped their vehicles and Cagalli immediately jumped out and ran to meet them, a sour look on her face.
"Let me guess," she inquired of Setsuna as Tieria quietly disembarked, "that thing isn't from Morgenroete either?"
"No, it isn't."
"And you expect me to believe you aren't with ZAFT?"
"If I was with ZAFT, you would've been killed yesterday before you could slap him." He gestured to Kira.
"Don't think I didn't notice what you were doing!" she retorted, turning red somewhat. "The rest of Desert Dawn is grateful for your 'assistance,' but I could tell you were just keeping us away from the Tiger!"
"I did you a favor."
"Say what!?" she grabbed Setsuna by the collar. "How is letting our chance for revenge get away a favor?!"
"You can always rebuild," Setsuna said calmly, "as long as you're alive."
"Rebuild with what!?" she raged, quickly pulling a hand back and punching- Kira caught her hand.
"Cagalli, enough!" She growled at them, but eventually relented, letting go of Setsuna and Kira let go of her fist as a man in a purple flight suit and a helmet approached.
"I figured as much," the new arrival spoke up, "if you could survive for four years with nothing but a broken Exia, then you can easily last a few days with 00." Setsuna nodded to him.
"Thanks for the help."
"Are you?" Kira started. He was going to ask: are you Celestial Being? but changed it mid-thought. "Who are you?!" Tieria pulled off his helmet, revealing his purple hair and red eyes framed by glasses.
"I am Tieria Erde, I am a Gundam Meister of Celestial Being."