Author Note One
Usual reminder about canon scenes
"Regular speech"
'Thought'
"Soma/Hallelujah speech"
With the 00
As Setsuna rushed towards the battlefield, he took stock of the situation using his sensors. He saw the Katharon fleet had taken significant damage from the combination of the station main weapon and the defense forces guarding the station. 'They aren't going to be able to do any damage to the station with their firepower. I have to back them up.' He spotted an Ahead heading towards one of the Katharon ships. Reacting quickly, he took aim and blasted the A-Laws suit, saving the ship from destruction.
He closed in on the ship, taking out a GN-X engaging a Katharon mobile suit on the way. He then flew past the ship that he saved, opening up a communication link. He saw the face of a middle-aged man in a space suit sitting in a chair, obviously the captain. Setsuna spoke tersely, "Attention Katharon fleet, this is Celestial Being. We will handle taking out the station."
The captain sighed in relief, "We are grateful for your assistance."
Setsuna replied in an even tone, "Please send us whatever info you have on the station over channel 34."
As he said this, he saw a Katharon mobile suit explode near the bridge of the ship, causing the image of the man responded to his request to shake, "We'll send it over right away!" Setsuna dropped the communication, charging into another A-Laws Ahead, slicing its leg off before shooting it through the cockpit. He got a notification on his computer saying that the info had been transferred. 'Good, now to send it to the Ptolemy.' He sent the info to the ship, hoping this data would be useful to them. 'Now to stick with the plan.'
Setsuna charged closer to the station, following the orbital ring that connected the orbital elevators, trying to draw enemy forces away from the Katharon fleet. He noticed that a squadron of three GN-Xs were following him. He moved to engage them, quickly overwhelming one of them and slicing them in half. He took aim at another one when out of the corner of his eye he saw a large orange energy blast headed his way. 'It's one of those new models!' The 00 Raiser quickly got out of the path of the blast, but the suit he was about to attack was not so lucky, getting caught in it. 'I have to draw that suit away from that position.' He moved out of the sightline of the new model, hoping to draw it away from the defense forces. Looking at his sensors, he saw a single trail of red particles moving towards him from the station. 'There we go. I did my part of the plan, now it's up to the Ptolemy.' The 00 Raiser engaged the final member of the trio of mobile suits, destroying it, and headed back to support Katharon, trying to lure the suit away from the station, hoping the pilot would see him as the biggest threat.
Bridge of the Ptolemy
Everyone else on the crew stood on the bridge as Mileina put up the information that the 00 had sent to them. The crew saw the large station positioned on the solar energy orbital ring; a radar dish shaped weapon was positioned on the top of it coming out of a hatch. Looking it over, Anew spoke in an even tone, "It's like we thought. This station uses the solar energy from the particles collectors on the orbital ring."
Feldt added on, "And just like you predicted, it looks like the weapon has a limited firing arc, based on the position of the escort ships."
Mileina heard a beep from her console and saw a strange information drop being sent to her. She took a quick look and found it was from an unknown agent. She spoke up to the group, "Ms. Sumeragi, it looks like we are being sent data from an agent."
Tieria spoke in confusion, "From Wang Liu Mei? Where was she all this time?" 'It's better late than never, but why so late?'
Sumeragi looked up at Mileina, "Put the info on display Mileina." She responded with a yes and the information was shown to everyone. The info they saw was surprising in the detail that they got. It was the blueprints and technical data for the entire station. The information displayed the name of the station to the crew. The Memento Mori. As the crew wondered how she got this data or looked at the blueprints, Saji got to work examining it. Scanning over it, he looked for any essential system they could target. Maybe the resonator or generator. 'Not there. Not there. Found it!'
He called out to the tactical forecaster, "Ms. Noriega! I found the weakness! It's the electromagnetic resonator!" The crew looked up at Saji, wondering what exactly he meant. He highlighted the area on the display so Sumeragi could see what he meant.
The brown-haired woman looked at the area highlighted by the Japanese man, realizing that was their best chance at destroying the Memento Mori. Confidence filled her voice as she spoke, "Well that settles it. Our plan is to approach the station's blind spot and launch a direct assault. Tieria and Lyle, you two will need to coordinate with the upmost precision."
Lyle asked her a clarifying question, "And the defense forces?"
Sumeragi responded without looking at him, "We'll blow right past them."
Lasse looked up at the tactical forecaster, smirking, "Is this plan about brute force or precision?"
"We're gonna need both. Time to get this mission underway." The crew all agreed, and the pilots headed to their gundams, ready for whatever they needed to do. The ship continued following the path to the battle, the sight of far-off explosions visible in the distance.
With the 00
Setsuna pulled his sword out of another GN-X, the mobile suit exploding behind him. 'That makes eight.' The battle was raging around him as the ships of Kathron had pulled back, leaving some of the mobile suits to hold the line against the A-Laws. He looked around for another enemy but before he saw one Sumeragi appear on his display. She spoke concisely, "Setsuna, we are beginning the operation now."
He nodded, "Roger." He charged towards the Memento Mori, ready to deal with the new model, having seen blasts from the new model take out Katharon suits. And just as he expected, the same large energy blast came at him again, which he dodged easily. The suit floated there, baiting Setsuna in. 'Too bad for you that's part of the plan.' He saw it was the same model as the one with the canon from the previous battle. He charged towards the machine, blades at the ready. The machine met his blades, holding him back. 'This must be one of them.'
He called out to the other machine in a low, threatening tone, "Innovator."
He heard a manic, higher pitched female voice come from the other suit, "So you know about us then!" Just then something caught both of their eyes. The Ptolemy came rocketing down the orbital ring, speeding past the two clashing mobile suits. The new model tried to pull away from him, but Setsuna kept up the pressure on the suit, leaving it unable to go after the ship.
In a satisfied tone, he spoke to the pilot, "I know you easy to bait." The new model pulled back a short distance and charged back in. If the innovator couldn't go after the carrier, then it would at least get the 00 Raiser.
With the Ptolemy
The ship passed by the two mobile suits clashing, their goal being the station. The GN field was pushed to max, a green barrier surrounding the ship. They were so close the orbital ring that the GN field was scraping against the barrier in place below the ship. Lasse opened up the missile ports, ready to open fire on the Memento Mori when they got close enough. Sumeragi looked out ahead of them as they approached the station. 'I'm counting on you, Tieria and Lyle.'
On Marie's display she could see their position relative to the angle of fire of the gun. They had to stay within the safe zone, or the ship wouldn't survive the blast from the station. Sumeragi had a plan just in case, but the hope was they didn't need it.
When the ship got close enough, they were assaulted by a withering amount of fire headed their way. Both ships and mobile suits took shots at the ship, not able to pierce through the GN field, but slowly and steadily moving it closer to the firing angle of the station.
The Ptolemy returned fire; their missiles were aimed at the side of the station facing them. A large barrage of missiles came at a steady rate out of the ship, trying to open a hole in the side of the Memento Mori. Many of the mobile suits and ships that were firing at them redirected their fire, aiming at the incoming missiles. The crew saw that the majority of their missiles were not reaching the target, the defenses shooting them down before they even reached the target.
As the missile barrage was being defeated, Anew called out, "We are being pushed to the right into the Memento Mori's firing angle!" The bridge crew remained steady, knowing that this was always a risk. Sumeragi sighed internally. 'It looks like we'll need that backup plan.'
Feldt reported to the crew, "Fifteen seconds until we cross the threshold." She began counting down, making sure Sumeragi was aware of the timing. The bridge heard sensor go off as they crossed the line, giving them a heads up they were no longer in the blind spot. The crew then saw the weapon begin to charge up, ready to wipe out the last major opposition to their regime. Feldt and Lasse called out to the tactical forecaster, wondering what she was up to. The tactical forecaster waited, knowing they had to time this right.
Just as the weapon fired, Marie called out, "Right now!"
Over the comms, Sumeragi yelled out, "Allelujah!"
The ship began to glow red, and just in time, dodged up and out of the way of the beam, moving out of the way of the sightline of the A-Laws defense force. After the beam dissipated, Sumergai ordered the ship to dive back onto the orbital ring, following the path they were following before. Their GN field was down at the moment, all power put into the engines due to the Arios trans-am. The machine rocketed towards the station, trying to blow past the first layer of defense forces. The main hatch opened, showing the Cheridum and Seravee in a position to fire at the station. Once again, the Ptolemy was subject to fire from the enemy and since the field was down, the ship's hull began to be battered by the enemy.
Lyle saw Sumeragi appear on his display, "Lyle!"
He nodded with understanding and looked at orange haro, who yelled out, "Deploying shield bits! Deploying shield bits!" As Lyle activated trans-am, pieces of the Cheridum's armor split off, forming physical barriers blocking enemy attacks on the outside of the ship. Some of the pieces returned fire at enemy mobile suits, eliminating them. As they continued forward, Lyle noticed many of the bits were being damaged and destroyed by the large volume of fire coming at them. 'We aren't there yet!' He could only hope that they could hold out until they reached their target.
They passed by the first layer of defenses, only leaving a smaller force that guarded near the station in front of them. The ship rocked as some fire began to hit it from both sides as the shield bits were getting almost depleted. Sumergai saw they were getting close to the station. She called out, "Closer! Just a little closer!"
Mileina looked at the display in worry and stated, "The Arios trans-am is about to run out!"
The crew felt the ship suddenly lose speed as the ship lost the glowing red effect. Feldt also reported the shield bits were all gone, worry underlining her tone. Sumeragi sat defiant. 'This plan will succeed. I will protect everyone. The crew put their faith in me and I won't let them down!' She called out over communications, "Tieria!"
Tieria heard the call, activating his trans-am, charging up a large purple ball of energy in front of him. He saw it drawing a large amount of his particle count. The ball expanded to block the view of both the Cheridum and Seravee, crackling with energy. Tieria then released the compressed GN particles down the orbital rail, its target the side of the station and the weak point. The ball hit the side of the station with a high amount of destructive energy, melting the metal and other materials that made up the outer layer of the station. As the walls began to melt, a massive barrage of missiles were launched from the ship, aiming for the hole that was created. A large number of them hit the open hole and the rest of that side of the Memento Mori, leaving both sides unable to see the effect the damage done to the station due to the smoke of the explosions.
As the smoke cleared, the station remained heavily damaged, but intact. Lyle, knowing this was probably expected, took careful aim. Spotting the resonator, he knew he had one shot. He also knew this shot was at an extreme range for his weapon, meaning he had to be sure before he fired. Taking a deep breath, he centered himself, holding his breath to steady himself. 'This isn't just for Katharon. This is for Anew, Tieria, Setsuna, and the rest of the crew! It's for the safety of humanity!' Pulling the trigger, the energy blast came out of the rifle, headed straight towards the resonator. It hit with a resounding blast and as the Ptolemy came flying by the station, they began to see numerous small internal explosions all over the station, signaling they succeeded.
They continued to fly by but were hit with a minor shock when the station exploded, destroying the escort ships nearby. The bridge crew all gave a cheer as they saw the explosion on the screen. Lyle cheered in the Cheridum. Tieria realized there was no going back from this. He had chosen the path to oppose the innovators. Allelujah just sighed in relief at the destruction. He could hear Hallelujah let out a cackle at the carnage that was created. Sumeragi let out a breath and began to give out orders, "We are out of combat airspace. Give the order for the 00 Raiser to return."
Feldt responded eagerly, "Right away!" She sent out the orders, excited for him coming back. 'I can tell him now! I just have to wait for him to get to the ship!' The ship travelled to the designated rendezvous point, spirits high. Suddenly Feldt saw three new signatures appear on the long-range sensors. 'It must be A-Laws! But why now?' She called out to Sumeragi, who had heard the sound of new contact on the sensors, "Ms. Sumeragi, three contacts heading towards us! One looks larger than the others!"
Sumeragi gritted her teeth, not prepared for this. She called out the crew and gundam pilots, "Prepare for combat, we aren't out of this yet!" Sumeragi knew they had no real defenses and the gundams were low on particles, so she prayed that they would survive this next fight. 'Hurry up Setsuna! We need you!'
With the 00
As Setsuna was engaging the innovator, he saw the order to return to the Ptolemy. He pulled back from his attack, heading towards the rendezvous point. The innovator gave chase, not wanting to let the 00 Raiser get away, firing blasts from its gauntlet at the gundam. Setsuna sighed in frustration, knowing it would chase him all the way to the meeting point. 'I have to get them off my tail.' To the shock of both him and the innovator, several red energy blasts rained down on the new model from above, stopping its progress in chasing Setsuna. He tried to locate what shot at it, but the unknown machine that assisted him was gone by the time he looked.
Taking advantage of the confusion, Setsuna turned around and charged the new model, slicing its arm off and immediately left the battlefield, knowing the new suit was in no condition to engage him at that point. He passed by the destroyed station, mentally noting, 'Mission accomplished.'
He tried to raise communications with the Ptolemy but got nothing back but static. 'Okay, that's strange.' Since he couldn't raise the ship, he focused on getting to the rendezvous point, thinking about his back up in the fight in the meantime. 'Those were red beams. Why would someone with a pseudo solar reactor back me up?' He would inform Sumeragi of this when he got back on the ship.
As he approached the location of the meeting place several minutes later, he scanned his surroundings, yet he couldn't find a trace of the ship anywhere. 'Where could they be?' An image then appeared on his display, shocking him. It showed a large field of debris made up of blue and white parts. It looked like the armor of the Ptolemy.
'No, that can't be! What could have done this?!' He looked around the area, looking for any sign of the crew or the gundams. 'This can't be the end! We can't go out like this, not after what we just did! I never got a chance to meet with the crew again! To talk with Feldt!' He clenched his fists, frustration flowing through his veins. 'I never got the chance to tell her how I feel, to maybe give it a chance. I should have sorted my feelings out sooner!'
His thoughts were broken by a contact on his sensor. He turned and aimed his gun, ready to take out his feelings of vengeance on the suit that showed up at the wrong time, friend or foe. He saw a small shuttle like craft approach him, trailing red particles. He was about to fire when a communication opened up on his display and a familiar face appeared. It was Nena Trinity. She was older, but he wouldn't forget that face, especially when she forced a kiss on him five years ago. She spoke in a casual tone, eyes full of mischief, "Hiya Setsuna, it's been a while."
Setsuna gasped in surprise at seeing her, "Nena Trinity?"
She gave him a smile and flirtatiously said, "You've become a stud dude. Nena likes what she sees!" He brought up his other gun to aim at her and in an offended tone, she said, "Hey! I helped you out back there! Can't a girl get a thank you!" He didn't say anything and kept staring at her. She replied annoyed, "You're welcome, but never mind that. It looks like your ship fell down to Earth." He lowered his weapons, seeing that she isn't hostile.
Setsuna let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. 'They are alive! She is alive!' He felt a tear roll down his cheek. Nena kept talking, not noticing Setsuna not focusing on her words, "I'm sending over the data to their rough location. Shouldn't be too hard-"
"Why did you do it?" Setsuna interrupted her, speaking harshly, giving her a harsh glare. She was surprised by that, wondering what she had done to deserve it.
She responded, confused, "Do what?"
Setsuna's voice took on an accusatory tone, "Kill all those innocent people five years ago during your interventions."
Nena was surprised at the accusatory tone in his voice, and matched it in anger, "You killed just as many as people and created this new world! Don't look down on me!"
Setsuna kept up his harsh look, "Wrong. You and your brothers followed the wrong plan, directly leading to this nightmare of a government. You may have been manipulated, but you didn't even think to question your orders. We may have started it, but you worked to forward a corrupt plan. We never targeted civilians. You three did. We didn't target innocent people, like blowing up a wedding. I don't even care which one of you did it. So don't put yourself on a high horse by blaming it on us." With that he flew off towards earth, cutting off the communications, ignoring her calling out in anger at him. He had more important things to focus on than a girl who refused to recognize her role in creating this world.
In her shuttle, Nena stewed in her anger as the purple haro spoke to her, saying "He doesn't like you! He doesn't like you!" She smacked the top of the haro, 'How dare he insult my brothers like that! How dare he judge me! I assisted him and he insults me and family! I want vengeance for my brothers! I want to make them pay for what they did, starting with my 'Mistress' and the man who killed my brothers.' She flew off into space, her anger not abating.
As the raven-haired pilot flew to earth, a realization hit him. When he was thinking about the crew being dead, Feldt hurt the most. And now he knew why. He had already fallen for her.
Author's Note Two
Sorry this chapter is so short. Not a lot of character potential stuff, so it was mostly just plot and combat. That bit at the end with Setsuna was something I wished he had done in the show, especially because of his connection to Louise and Saji. Sorry for you fans of Nena redemption, but that's not going to happen in this story.
Thank you to all who follow and like my story. Next chapter will be longer, so look forward to that!