Author Note One

Usual reminder about canon scenes

"Regular speech"

'Thought'

"Soma/Hallelujah speech"

Bridge of the Ptolemy

An hour had passed since the members of Celestial Being heard about the Africa tower incident. Sumeragi was waiting for solid information on what was actually going on and that intel had finally come through in the form of a declaration from the coup forces. They wanted to inform the world of the crimes of the A-Laws and free political prisoners who spoke out against the government. They also were holding 60,000 people hostage in order to get that message out to the world.

The entire crew was called to the bridge so the tactical forecaster could give them a briefing. She gave them an overview of what is going on and what the demands were. Tieria, his arm resting on the top Sumeragi's chair, spoke first in a neutral tone, "So the regular military is staging a coup then, or at least part of them. I wonder how they got in a position to take control of the Africa tower?"

Anew responded, her curiosity about who was doing it answered, "No wonder the A-Laws withdrew from the battle. They must not have expected a coup."

Allelujah looked at Sumeragi and asked, "What are we going to do now?"

In a stern tone, Lyle added, "We are going to help them, right?"

Sumeragi was caught in a bind. She knew whatever was going to happen would be crushed by the A-Laws and Innovators, but what she wasn't sure about what was their plan was. 'What was their angle here? The elevators are important and just letting one get taken over made no sense.' In a controlled tone, she replied to the crew, "The innovators have complete control of Veda. So how did they fail to notice this coup?"

Feldt looked over from her chair at Sumeragi with worry, "Are you saying that the innovators allowed this to happen despite predicting it?"

Sumeragi replied, sounding like she was having an internal debate, "It's a distinct possibility."

Lasse looked to the tactical forecaster, voice curious, "But since the A-Laws are involved, we have to get involved." That drew a murmur of agreement among the crew.

Tieria spoke up in support, "And whatever the A-Laws are planning is being led by the innovators." 'How far are the innovators willing to go to see their plan come into fruition?'

Sumeragi commanded with authority, "Until we see this firsthand, I am not making a complete plan. I need to see the situation as it is in person. And hopefully by then, Setsuna has either joined us or made his way to the Africa tower. There is no way he would miss this news."

There was a chorus of agreement at that idea and the energy in the room became a little less anxious at that understanding. Sumergai turned her head around to look at Ian, and called out, "Ian, can you get the weapon systems up by the time we get to the tower?"

Ian asked rhetorically, "I don't have a choice, do I?" Sumeragi nodded in reply and Ian made his way out of the door. The crew understood their current plan and began to disperse off of the bridge when they heard the sound of a contact from Mileina's terminal. The girl looked at the contact and smiled, yelling out, "It's the 00 Raiser! It's Setsuna!"

There was an uproar of cheering as the crew was exhilarated by the news. They didn't have to worry about the safety of Setsuna and they had the 00 back. Feldt held back her surging happiness, wanting to keep her feelings private for now. Sumeragi called out an order, "Mileina, open up contact with the 00!"

Mileina made a noise of agreement and opened up a communication from the bridge that everyone could see to the 00 Raiser. What they saw surprised them. Setsuna looked tired, bags under his eyes, and some blood coming from his right shoulder. He spoke in a strained voiced, "Got your message. Rushed to get here. Need medical help." The crew looked worried at this information, wondering what had caused him to get a wound like that. The 00 also looked a little worse for wear. Visually, the 00 didn't look that damaged from the bridge sensors, only some scarring from a few blasts, but it had been away for more than a day, so they couldn't be sure of the damage, especially after the battle against the Memento Mori.

Staying calm, Sumeragi yelled out orders, "Mileina, open up the catapult for the 00. Saji, I need you to start repairing the 00 with Ian. Feldt, prepare a medical bed for him. Tieria, assist in getting Setsuna to medical. Everyone else will stay at their posts till I say so." People agreed and rapidly moved to follow orders. In the chaos of the situation, Feldt got out of her seat and just as she was about to head out, Sumeragi called her over, and curious to what she wanted, Feldt approached her. Sumeragi gave her an even look, quietly saying, "Anew needs to pilot the ship, so until she is free, I need you to watch over Setsuna." After finishing that statement, Sumergai smirked slightly and winked at her.

Feldt blushed slightly, catching on. She smiled and with a hitch in her voice, replied, "Understood." The pink haired girl walked out of the bridge, a little pep in her step.

In the Hanger of the Ptolemy

Setsuna guided the 00 Raiser into the ship, trying his best to keep stable despite his injury. After getting info on the ship's flight path, he used trans-am as often as he could to get to the ship. The side effect of that was stressing his shoulder due to the speed. In hindsight, it was incredibly risky and could have made his wound worse, but he wanted to get back to the ship. Needed to get back to the ship. Not just for Feldt, but for everyone else. He needed them and they needed him. As the automatic systems guided the 00 into the hanger, he could feel the tiredness washing over him. 'I have to stay conscious. I have to talk to her.'

He heard the sound of the gundam being locked into place. He opened up the cockpit, using his good hand to try to get out of the suit, but couldn't muster the strength. 'C'mon! Just a little more strength!' He then felt a hand pull him out of the cockpit. As he got out of the cockpit with help, he saw Tieria give him a smile, his voice teasing, "Need help?"

Setsuna gave him a smile back and with a happy but tired tone replied, "Thank you. Think I'll need your help."

Tieria nodded at that, "No problem. It's good to see you back. We all missed you."

Setsuna chuckled at that. Tieria got underneath Setsuna's good arm, supporting Setsuna as they began to walk out of the hanger. Tieria took note of Setsuna's condition. His only injury seemed to be his shoulder, but he looked exhausted. 'He must have had quite the experience.' The two slowly made their way to the medical bay, Tieria not wanting to put any more stress on Setsuna's shoulder. As they walked in silence, Setsuna asked tiredly, "What happened after the battle?"

Tieria replied evenly, "We got ambushed, managed to survive a crash and fought a few hard battles against the A-Laws. But we made it."

Setsuna looked down in shame, "I'm sorry I couldn't be there." 'Maybe they would have been in a better spot if I hadn't chased Ali al Saachez.'

Tieria shook his head and gave Setsuna a comforting smile, "Setsuna, I'm sure whatever you chose to do was important. You made it back to us and we survived our battles. You just need to relax and get your injury checked out."

Setsuna looked up and saw Tieria's expression. He hadn't fully thought out in the past how much he meant to people and since Marina opened his eyes, he was realizing how much people on this crew cared for him. 'Maybe my detour did have a point.' The raven-haired man's voice was quiet and thoughtful, "Maybe you're right." Tieria nodded his head, chuckling quietly, and they continued in a comfortable silence till they reached the medical bay. Setsuna could feel his vision fading in and out as exhaustion threatened to defeat him. He fought it, knowing he had to talk to Feldt.

As Tieria guided him onto the bed in a sitting position, Setsuna saw who was waiting for him there. Feldt stood there, worried look on her face. At this moment, she looked even more beautiful than she was in his dream. Emotions came rushing through him, and words he wanted to say threatened to come out in a jumble. He was so distracted he didn't notice Tieria leaving without saying a word. He began to speak, his mind scrambled, "Feldt, I want to-"

She put a finger on his lips, silencing him. She spoke in a loving voice, "It's alright Setsuna. You are hurt. Just get some rest. We can talk after." Setsuna could feel his heart racing just being near her.

He reluctantly agreed, lying down on the medical bed. Gravity forced his eyelids down even more and in a weak, tired tone, he asked the pink-haired woman, "Please stay." He put out his left hand, grasping out at her.

She gave him a soft smile, "I'll stay as long as you want." She pulled up a chair on his left side, taking the offered hand and intertwining their fingers. Setsuna smiled warmly at the feeling of her hand in his. The exhaustion finally won, sleep claiming Setsuna a minute later, with him mumbling, "I kept my promise." She felt a tear run down her cheek. 'He remembered! He thought about me!' She wiped away the tear, and brushed some of his hair away, kissing him on the forehead.

Feldt was put at peace seeing Setsuna relaxed and smiling as he fell asleep. It looks like he had gone through a lot since they were separated. But she was just happy he was back. She reluctantly let go of his hand after a few minutes, standing up to grab the medical bag and check his wound. 'It feels so strange to see him vulnerable like this. Normally he seems invincible.' Yet seeing him trust her so much made her feel special. He had let her in, and she hoped he felt the same as she did about him.

She zipped down his pilot suit so she could access his wound. Cleaning and disinfecting it, she fought her blush seeing him half naked. 'You saw him fully naked before. Stop blushing.' Walking over and activating the medical scanner, it began the process of looking over Setsuna's wounds as the bed sealed around him. 'I hope they aren't too severe. We need him.' It hurt her to see him this wounded, but at least he was safe and back home. 'And from now on, he doesn't have to fight alone.'

Deck of A-Laws Carrier

Andrei stood near one of the sides of the boat away from the launch area, looking at the Orbital Elevator. The tower loomed in the distance like an enemy fortress. 'How could they have taken the tower? How long has this been planned?' He balled his fists in frustration. He wanted to rush in and deal with these traitors, but command told them to wait for orders. What made it harder for him to resist charging in was the fact he knew the leader of this coup very well.

Pang Hercury was an old friend of his fathers, someone Andrei grew up around. 'He would always tell me about the ideals that an army would have. Of what a good soldier should and shouldn't do. And yet he becomes a traitor, going against those ideals and even holding 60,000 people hostage.'

Andrei had idolized those ideas growing up, especially after his mother died and his father became distant. And now the man had forced Andrei to treat him like an enemy. He was a threat to the future of the planet and he couldn't be treated kindly, even if he had been the one that had assisted in him joining the military academy.

Andrei stood near a metal and glass building waiting for Hercury to show up. He heard footsteps approaching and the tall man appeared in front of him, neutral faced. Andrei immediately saluted seeing a high ranked officer. Hercury saluted back, face and expression softening, "So I see you already joined the military academy."

Andrei spoke gratefully, "Thank you for putting in a good word with the higher ups for me! I didn't want to have to rely on my father's assistance."

Hercury smirked at that comment, "So are you joining the military to get back at your father?" Andrei's face became more serious at the mention of his father. Hercury's tone became kinder, "Don't resent your father too much. It was truly an unfortunate accident."

Andrei immediately flared with anger, "Don't dismiss what happened by calling it an accident! My father allowed my mother to die! And you're the same as him." Hercury looked on Andrei with concern and worry. Had Sergei's and Andrei's relationship degraded that bad since Holly died? Andrei continued, "I'm not going to live like my father did. I've chosen the path of a soldier to prove that there is another way." Andrei began to walk away from the old soldier.

Hercury replied accusatorily, "Do you think that kind of attitude would make Holly happy?"

Andrei stopped and turned to face Hercury, voice resolute, "Yes. My mother desired peace above anything else."

His path as a member of the A-Laws had only furthered in following the path of peace. And Hercury opposed his old friend's vision of the future, a world of peace. 'If I ever meet him again, I'll make him pay for what he did to the stability of this world. He can lie about the A-Laws all he wants, but he will face justice.'

The Orbital Elevator Shaft

Sergei flew up the shaft of the Africa's tower towards the low orbital station in a Tierian Taozi, wanting to find out exactly what exactly his friend was up to. He had technically been sent to give a message, but the contents of the message were the default government response to a terrorist threat, "We will not give into your demands." Sergei used this as an excuse to talk to Hercury and get a fuller picture of the situation. To understand why Hercury thought he could win against the A-Laws and Federation. He was already surrounded by the regular military and A-Laws forces, and A-Laws mobile suits were approaching the station, based on their particle trail.

As he moved up the shaft, two GN-X's from the coup approached his suit, signaling him to follow them up. He never intended to be stealthy, so he signaled that he would comply as he flew up the orbital elevator. It took a little while longer to reach the station, but he was guided into a hanger and was led out of his suit, armed men guiding him to where Hercury is. Soon enough the group reached the central control room, with Hercury standing at the top part of the room, looking down on three rows of men and women on consoles communicating what was going on in the station. On the displays were automatons traveling through the station and the coup forces managing to hold them off. His old friend was looking at him evenly as he entered the room. Sergei walked up to Hercury and the coup leader spoke first, not sounding surprised by this event, "So they did send you."

Sergei replied in a professional tone, face neutral, "Hercury, I was sent here to give you a message from the ESF. The Federation government will never give into the demands you made. We advise you to surrender immediately."

Hercury snorted at that, smirking at Sergei, "You are telling me they sent you here for that?"

Sergei gave his friend a worried look, "The information control of the Federation is absolute. There is no way your message is going to reach the world. Why did you take innocent people hostage?"

Hercruy raised his hand, stopping Sergei from continuing. He responded with an absence of doubt in his voice, "They are not innocent at all. Content with their wealth, they accept the Federation's policies without question. They are one of the main reasons for the government's corruption. It's people like these that allowed the rise of an organization like the A-Laws. We must open their eyes, even if the lesson is accompanied by pain."

Sergei asked with a firm, but curious tone, "Isn't the military supposed to protect the safety and interest of the people."

In a resolute tone, Hercury responded, "That is precisely why we are doing this."

Sergei pleaded with his friend desperately, "Just surrender now! Spare the lives of your men!"

Hercury shook his head at that, "The A-Laws won't show us any mercy after this. The men knew what they were getting into."

Sergei sighed, knowing his friend was set on this path. He then asked curiously, "How did you manage to get control of this station?"

Hercury smirked, "The Federation never suspected a betrayal from within, so it was all a matter of convincing people and getting them in position to the African tower. You would be surprised at how many people in the regular army dislike what is going on within the Federation. Once we had enough men and the time was right, we could strike against the A-Laws and the government." Hercury's expression then became more serious, "But this meeting is over now. You can give the Federation my message back. We won't surrender and we'll fight till the last man. Take him away."

The armed escort began to grab Sergei to escort him back to the surface, but Sergei pulled out of their grip, looking at Hercury with determination, "Do you really believe I came here to deliver that message? If that was all they wanted they had plenty of other ways to do it. I don't want to lose another friend."

Just then a soldier spoke up, "Sir, a new wave of Automatons had broken through. They are headed to the gravity block." Sergei's panic grew. 'The A-Laws have probably set them to kill mode. I have to do something!' Sergei tried to rush out of the door he came in but was stopped by two soldiers holding him back. He looked over at Hercury, seeing his friend calm and not worried.

Hercury spoke up, "Activate bulkhead walls like we planned. Have the 1st infantry unit escort the people to the trains. The 2nd unit will intercept the Automatons."

Sergei looked at his friend in wonder. 'So this was your plan all along. But what is your end goal?'

Medical Bay of the Ptolemy

After they neared the outskirts of the tower a few hours after Setsuna had arrived, Anew was able to get to the medical bay. When she had reached it, she found Feldt sitting in a chair next to the bed Setsuna was in, sleeping against his shoulder. Anew had smiled at the scene, seeing how happy the two of them looked, but she had needed to examine Setsuna. She had woken Feldt up and embarrassed, the pink-haired woman left, saying she was going to replace Saji on gundam repairs and gave a pensive look at the wounded pilot.

Examining the medical scan report, she found a worrying aspect to the wound he sustained. Besides the strain he had put on it recently, there were trace amounts of Pseudo GN particles in it. What surprised her was the fact that this was clearly an injury from a bullet and not a mobile suit blast or explosion. Someone clearly went through the effort to make a gun to shoot GN bullets. Anew knew there was nothing she could do to fix the GN particle problem, but there was an oddity. Looking at the spread of the infection, it seemed something was slowing it down. This was the first time she had seen this. Normally it just spread and would eventually kill you. 'Setsuna was a human, so how was this possible?'

Her thoughts were interrupted as Lyle spoke up, leaning against the door to the medical bay. He looked at Setsuna and then Anew, curiously asking, "How's he doing?"

Anew spoke honestly, tone worried, "He's technically functional, but there is something worrying about what I saw."

Lyle perked up, wondering what could worry her so much, "What's wrong?" Anew went over what she just found, Lyle sort of understanding. He spoke up trying to clarify a point, "So he is dying, but slowly."

Anew nodded her head, "That's basically it. I'm going to need to keep checking on his arm. The regeneration treatment should assist in slowing it down at the very least" Anew finished what she had to say, but something crossed her mind, "…Also is there anything going on between Feldt and Setsuna?"

Lyle gave her a curious look, "What makes you say that?" He suspected there was something going on based in the talk with Setsuna before the Memento Mori battle and how Feldt seemed a bit out of sorts, but that could be him imagining things.

She tilted her head to the side, speaking thoughtfully, "When I arrived in here, I saw her taking a nap on Setsuna's shoulder. They both seemed comfortable. It was nice to see her that happy and Setsuna smile like that. I never saw that before."

Lyle grinned, "Well isn't that interesting? Looks like we have to keep an eye on those two." Lyle's grin thinned out, "What do you think about the coup?"

Anew rubbed her brow, voice full of worry, "I admit I've been out of the loop before all this, but like we said on the bridge, it's certainly a worrying sign. I can't help but feel like this whole thing is a trap and we are walking right into it."

Lyle could hear the tension in Anew's voice and brought her into a hug, speaking quietly, "Whatever it is, we'll make it out. We have all four gundams back and Sumeragi at the helm. We have survived worse."

Anew pulled out of the hug, blushing as she softly said, "Thanks." The tension in her body faded away, Lyle's warm body against hers.

Lyle teased her, "I like seeing you like this. It's nice to speak to you in quiet moments. Should I get used to this?"

She gave him a grin back, blush remaining, "If you get lucky."

Lyle smirked, "I think I have a chance, don't you?"

She rolled her eyes, but gave him a playful smile, "You can stay if you want, but I'm going to check with Setsuna to see if he wants to begin treatments."

Lyle shook his head, "As fun as it would be to watch you work, I won't distract you. I'll see you later." Lyle left the room, giving Anew a wink. The woman shook her head. 'Sometimes that man…'

Orbital Elevator Control Room

Sergei's voice, still full of wonder, spoke to Hercury, "So that was your plan all along? To release the hostages? Weren't they your protection? Then what was the point of taking them in the first place"

Hercury nodded, "These people would never learn the cruelty of the A-Laws without seeing it firsthand. It's a painful lesson, but a necessary one. If that means I have to sacrifice my name and image, so be it."

Sergei looked at the display, seeing the soldiers successfully able to hold them off. 'As misguided as his plan is, it was well organized.' He winced seeing civilians getting hit by the crossfire between the coup forces and the automatons. He then saw one of the displays bring up a Federation news report. Sergei narrowed his eyes as he saw the footage was clearly manipulated, showing the soldiers gunning down civilians in the place of the automatons. 'I should be shocked by this, but I'm not.'

Hercury looked at the display evenly, not visibly reacting. Sergei spoke up in a cynical tone, "Hercury, there is no way you come out of this looking good. The people will never believe you or your cause."

Hercury just smirked at him, "But can the Federation silence 60,000 voices?"

Sergei looked at him in shock, "So you are telling me…?"

"That I was prepared for the manipulation? Yes. But you can't silence 60,000 witnesses. The word will spread and doubt about the A-Laws and the Federation will spread. Friendly forces from Katharon on the ground will make sure they get off safely."

Sergei sighed thinking about situation. 'The A-Laws are just justifying their attack by that footage. But why haven't they begun their assault? They are planning something.'

Bridge of the Ptolemy

The Ptolemy entered the airspace of the tower, finally getting a visual on the tower and the forces deployed around it. The only oddity on the journey had been a red and black mobile suit, that looked similar to a Flag, had been following them at a far distance. It had shown no signs of aggression, so Sumeragi held off on deploying the gundams. Sumeragi still ordered the crew to keep an eye on it in case it decided to attack. It continued to shadow the ship as it reached the outskirts of the tower airspace, when the suit moved out the area at a quick pace, leaving visual and sensor range. Sumeragi wondered what it was up to. 'If that was an A-Laws suit, then they probably know we are here. Granted they expect us, so we'll have to be careful.'

Sumeragi called out to Mileina in a commanding tone, "Mileina, get me a visual on all deployments."

Mileina replied quickly, "Yes ma'am." It took her a second, but she pulled data on the positions that the ship could see. She then projected it so the entire bridge could see. Katharon was currently positioned around the pillar acting as a defense force along with coup forces. They also had forces on the ground keeping the Federation from taking the lower part of the station. The Federation regular forces were surrounding the elevator, making sure no more forces could get in or out. The A-Laws were positioned far back, far away from either the regular forces or rebels and out of the effective airspace of the tower.

Neither force seemed to be aggressive at the moment, but that could change at any second. What struck Sumeragi as especially odd was where the A-Laws were deployed. 'You would think they would want to be on the frontlines, but here they are positioned in the back. They could be waiting for the hostages to be freed, but that still doesn't make sense. There is something I'm missing.' An idea suddenly struck her. In an urgent tone, she commanded Saji, "Saji, get me the windspeed data one thousand kilometers around the tower."

Saji replied confused, "What for?"

"Just hurry!"

Saji searched around the terminal for the information, taking a little time as he hadn't been taught this yes, but found it and projected the information for Sumeragi to see. The data showed that the wind was blowing west towards the cities that were on a belt leading to the west coast of Africa. Sumeragi's eyes widened. 'They are preparing their forces for falling debris. But if they are doing that, then that means…' She gripped the armrest of her chair. 'They have another Memento Mori!'

Bridge of the A-Laws Carrier

Kati Mannequin was realizing the same thing that Sumeragi figured out. Her internal thoughts raged as her facial features tightened. 'Why would High Command build two of them?! Would they really blow up one of the elevators!? How many lives were lost building them?! And they aren't even considering saving the hostages!'

She had signed up to fight against the gundams and Katharon, not kill innocent people, as well as to keep an eye out on the organization. She knew they committed crimes, but something of this scale was unimaginable. This would kill millions of people. Not just those in the elevator, but those living in the cities near the tower. 'The price of peace is not that high!'

For once in her life, she wished the gundams were here. They were the only ones with the firepower to deal with this station. 'Kujo, if you can hear me, I need you to stop this. Before innocent people get hurt.'

Author's Note Two

Back with another chapter! I cut the Graham fight after my editor and I talked about it. We both agreed that more character moments would be better. Sorry if you wanted to see the fight. Also I'm not sure if my explanation of them sending info is completely accurate, but I felt it was within the bounds of the programing of the gundam OS. And we are that much closer between our main couple. They are so close! At this point things are becoming more changes based on changes, so not as much needed to explain on the canon stuff.

See you guys next chapter!