Author's note: Yes I'm well aware of the fact that Haro's are exclusively Celestial Being Technology and Lockon's family had nothing to do with them but for the sake of this fic, his dad was the engineer that first dabbled with the technology.
Here's chapter 5: Almagest, enjoy!!!!!!
Sumeragi awoke to the sound of a repressed cry of pain. Lockon was in the hallway leaning against the wall clutching his chest.
"What's wrong!" She asked alarmed, bolting to his side.
"It's okay," he replied through grit teeth, "I just need to get to my room."
"Here lean on me, we'll get there" with that she wrapped an arm around his waist leading him to put an arm around her for support as they made their way towards his room.
Once seated on his bed he began to remove his shirt.
"Argyria's effect?" She asked as she saw the blue colouring on his arms and chest.
"That's right" he replied, "The ointment is in my bag over there"
She was back in an instant and he gratefully took the plastic bottlefrom her, however in his weakened state he could barely hold it, let alone apply it.
"Here let me" She took the bottle and instructed him to lay back, before taking a seat and applying the cream directly onto his blue chest.
Lockon squeezed his eye shut as the pain began gradually subsiding. He concentrated on the soft feel of her fingers as they glided gently across his chest before moving down to his abs.
Any other time Sumeragi would have enjoyed this, but sensing how much pain each second brought him she worked fast and efficiently. When she moved on to his arms she noticed his chest started to regain its tone again.
She watched him breathe peacefully, the sharp pain had ceased. She ran a hand down his abs partly to make sure there was no more pain and partly because she couldn't help herself. Suddenly his hand shot up and clasped hers.
"Hmm...that tickles" he sighed as she breathed out relieved
"Are you feeling any better?"
He opened his eye and gave her one of his charming smiles. "Much better, thanks to you Leesa."
She smiled and looked down unable to meet his gaze. He started to sit up but she quickly put a hand to stop him.
"What do you think you're doing with your body in this condition" She reprimanded before firmly pushing him back against the covers. He had to laugh she was back to her old ways of ordering her crew around.
"So what do you think of coming back to Ptolemy?"
"Well..." she turned away, "...I don't think I'll be coming back anytime soon"
"I see..." he said solemnly
"You should get some rest, I'll be in the other room." With that she quickly walked out. Lockon wanted to go after her and make sure she was okay, but their relationship just did not permit that she was simply not ready for anything beyond friendship, especially now with all the chaos after 4 years. One day he hoped she would open up to him again, but until then he was happy to just be a friend. Lockon slowly drifted off to sleep thinking of a certain redhead he'd come to love.
***
Aboard Ptolemy
Feldt wandered into the hanger to find Lyle working on a simulation inside Cherudim. She took her time to look at him as he trained, the man who looked identical to the previousLockon was only feet away. When he first entered the Ptolomy she was about to run into his arms, yet as she stood there she noticed a slight difference. Call it intuition or a sixth sense but she could just feel that this man was not Lockon, when he finally introduced himself it felt as if she'd been punched in the gut. As the days went by Feldt got used to the lookalike miester, in fact she was coming to see him as his own man instead of Neil's little brother.
Lyle had finished his training and descended down to the platform, Feldt had been so out of it she didn't realize until he stood right in front of her.
"You're Feldt right?"
She turned bright red as he had caught her spying
"I've noticed the way you look at me, did you and my brother have a thing?"
"What! No it was nothing like that..."
"That's good to hear" noticing her shyness he drew closer. "Because maybe I could pick up on what he could not do" With that he leaned in and kissed her.
The contact was so soft, his lips glided over hers as hekissed her. At first she felt bliss, she got what she'd always dreamed of, yet as he deepened it she came back to her senses. This was not Lockon, this was not the Neil Dylandy who would always see her as a little sister, what was she doing using him to get what she could not have with Lockon.
She broke away and slapped Lyle before running off towards the elevators. As the doors closed the sound of Haro squeeling "rejected, rejected" echoed through the hangar. Alone in the elevator shaft she sunk to the floor and broke down. It was true Lockon was alive but they could never be what she wanted them to be, this he proved 4 years ago by rejecting her advance. Yet as she cried the tears were not for herself, or for Lockon's reputation they were for Lyle. All his life people like her used him as second choice if they could not get Neil, she knew that and felt the desperation in his kiss. She felt horrible for almost believing the lie he was selling, most of all she felt horrible for breaking his heart to justify her own selfish needs.
As the doors opened Feldt now standing ran out without looking where she was going only to run into someone. She mumbled a quick apology as she desperately wiped at her eyes only to find Setsuna standing before her.
"Feldt Grace. Are you okay?"
Setsuna was also like a ghost from the past, she could not believe he survived as well, yet it made her happy that he did. Without thinking she leaned into his arms and sobbed into his chest.
"Are we under attack!" he asked alarmed
At that the woman in his arms gave a small giggle, some things never change, especially clueless meisters she thought to herself.
***
After a nice long nap Neil took Sumeragi out for a walk. The air was crisp and even though it was overcast they had no troubles navigating the earthy terrain.
"They loved to take us here in the summer" Neil said as he looked around the familiar sights of trees leading to the lake.
"Your parents?"
He nodded, as they came to the lakes edge and found a dry log to sit on.
"They loved to get away from the daily grind, I think it was becoming an addiction" he added as they both smiled.
"What did you parents do for a living?"
"I thought you read my file?" he teased
"Veda's not as informative as you think." she admitted
"My dad was an Engineer, he specialized in robotics and always liked to tinker with Haros. My mom was an ER nurse, she was strong to deal with everyday casualties yet she never showed it."
"So that's why your Haro is a bit more advanced, I always wondered."
"What can I say, the little guy's useful. So what did your parent's do for a living?"
She turned to look out into the cold still Ocean; a light breeze hit them as she began
"My father was an AEU Air Force Colonel, and my mother was a surgeon."
He remembered the nights aboard Ptolemy when she told him she was part of the AEU Military at some point "Did your father spark your interest in joining the Air Force?"
She laughed bitterly at that "He died before I turned of enlistment age. His base in Azadistan was attacked by guerrilla fighters."
"I'm sorry to hear that" He said sincerely as he turned to her. Her gaze never left the water as she spoke
"I joined the military because I hated it...death, I had to stop people from dying. As a strategist, I could minimize the damage, it was within my power. That was my dream, and I followed it."
They were reaching new levels, never before had they talked so openly about personal lives. Aboard Ptolemy it was always about the then and there, now digging through the past brought them to a deeper level of trust. With this trust Lockon broke another one of their unspoken rules and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. To his surprise she not only accepted but slightly leaned into his shoulder.
"You're very strong to try and stop such a thing, but what did your mom think of it all?"
"Mom never really cared. Her busy schedule never kept her around, and when Dad died she just walked out. She couldn't face death anymore so she just walked out on me. Good thing I was of age, so when I signed up I had a place to stay."
Lockon was silent. He couldn't believe that a parent could ever walk out on their child like that. His mother was always busy with the ER but she would never have thought to just give up like that, it made him angry to think about the horrible injustice the world dealt out to each life.
She could tell he was angry as he unconsciously held her tighter and had yet to speak a word. She knew the anger was not directed at her, it was the first time since Emilio that someone else cared and it felt nice, but she just couldn't let this happen. She was his unofficial officer it just wasn't right and so she was the first to pull away once again catching him by surprise.
"We should get going, I think it's going to rain" She stood and headed back to the cabin leaving Lockon to follow.
As soon as they entered the cabin Ptolemy rang up on Lockon's phone. Without missing a beat he answered immediately. The images of Feldt and Setsuna projected onto the screen.
"Hey kids, what's going on?"
"Lockon we've got enemies approaching fast and double O's not ready yet." Feldt relayed
"A battle plan would be much appreciated." Tieria added as the image of him inside Seravee popped onto the screen.
"Stay calm guys. Feldt send me all the enemy battle stats you've detected."
He was not the most brilliant strategist ever but he promised Sumeragi that he would never push her to do anything she did not want to do.
"It's the A-Laws and their GN-XIII units." Feldt relayed as the data came up on his laptop which was situated atop his coffee table.
"Incoming enemies, ETA 5 minutes" The robotic voice of Ptolemy relayed in the backround.
"Tieria Erde, Seravee launching" The meister launched as Setsuna grabbed his helmet and raced to the test hangar. Moments later Cherudim was launched on his first mission.
"Setsuna! It's not-"
"Just relay the mission" He shouted over his shoulder before disappearing from view.
'Damn it!' thought Lockon as the brute enemy strength hit him. There was no way in hell that Seravee and Cherudim were equipped to handle that fleet on their own, especially with Lyle's lack of experience.
"Feldt hang on I'll think of something." The pink haired girl nodded nervously at the A.I continued its warnings. Lockon worked fast but none of his plans seemed logically executable. Just when all hope seemed lost Sumeragi came out and took a seat next to Lockon.
"Feldt what's the status." She commanded. The mission tech was clearly pleased to see her former strategist and quickly relayed all the necessary stats on the new mobile suits as well Ptolemaios II. Lockon passed her his laptop which was now up to date with enemy stats, with this she began formulating plans.
Soon enough on the bridge, they had a solid plan.
"Mr. Aeon I've got tactical plans from a Sumeragi Lee Noriega. Should we proceed?"
Lasse lit up, "Thank god, pull them up now." With that he started steering towards his designated course.
"Tieria!" The image of Sumeragi popped up on his monitor.
"Sumeragi-san!"
"Do not engage the enemy carriers, focus on the mobile suits along with Cherudim."
"Roger that." Both meisters replied with relief
The fight raged on and both meisters were quickly overpowered, just as 3 suits broke through the protective radius. A brilliant flash of light seared out from the launch bay and destroyed all incoming suits. Others trying to engage were met with the same fate and after some time the carriers withdrew and the battle was over.
"Setsuna , double 0, all units destroyed." Was the last transmission the carriers got as they retreated.
Later everyone met back at the conference room with the projected images of Sumeragi and Lockon in the den. Ian was the first to speak up,
"Thank you Sumeragi-san, if it weren't for you we'd be done like dinner by now." The crew around him nodded in agreement
"Does this mean you will come back to us?" Feldt asked hopeful.
"I...I'm sorry but I can't go back." She got up to leave but Tieria interjected
"Sumeragi-san...please forgive me for being such a pain back then. Everything just happened so quickly...so I blamed you without really thinking. I was wrong, and I'm sorry. Please come back to Celestial Being."
"Tieria..." She was stunned by his admission, "...I'm sorry I can't go back." With that she left Lockon alone with the crew. Once again he wanted to go after her, yet he had questions of his own.
"Lyle how do you like your new suit?" He asked turning to his brother
"Not bad, it's unlike anything I've ever piloted."
"Does this mean you'll stay as a permanent meister?" Millenia asked
"Well about that, I don't want to steal your thunder, brother..."
Lockon shook his head "The suit's yours, Lyle, it's up to you whether you want to stay or not."
"Alright then I'll do it." He said with resolve and badly hidden excitement
"Yay!!! A new meister." Millenia rejoiced as the others in the room clapped.
Tieria stepped up and voiced his concerns "Lockon you can't be serious. He's just an amateur, he could put as at risk due to his lack of skill."
"Watch who you're calling an amateurthere sweetie" Lyle warned
"Look there's no way I can pilot a gundam in this condition" Lockon said pointing to his eye. "I've risked your lives once already"
"But we can fix that Lockon" Tieria added as nodded in agreement
Lockon shook his head and chuckled "Lyle is perfect for the job Tieria"
"If that's what you want Lockon then it's settled" Lasse interjected before the other Meister could go on.
Everyone gathered at the bridge rejoiced, Lockon smiled as the image of the green gundam popped up on his laptop. Dynames, his Gundam. De-ja vu hit him from 4 years ago, his brother's new suit was the splitting image of his now destroyed Gundam.
Lyle was now being escorted back to the cafeteria by a group of merry technicians high-fiving him amazed that for once a newbie could hold his own with a meister. Now Feldt, Tieria and Ian were left alone with Lockon.
"I'd feel better if you were piloting Cherudim, Lockon."
"I know, which is why my next request will be kind of hard to ask." Taking a deep breathe he let it out, "Tieria, could you please teach Lyle how to pilot that gundam?"
The look of shock on Tieria's face made Feldt and Ian look away in order to stifle their laughter. Lockon was having trouble keeping a straight face as Tieria looked mortified.
"I think he could really benefit from an experienced pilot" he added
"I'll do it for you Lockon." Tieria replied before walking out to the hangars. "Just come back in one piece" he added over his shoulder.
"Thanks Tieria" Lockon spoke after him before turning to Ian. "Alright old man, I know that look what have you got up your sleeve?"
Ian chuckled, "you know me too well" with that he tapped a few keys and a digitized diagram of Ptolemy came up with what appeared to be a tank like cannon attached to the top between the ships arches.
"Meet the Almagest, Ptolemy's GN particle cannon that fires beams of compressed GN particles not too unlike, the extreme long range sniper rifle."
Feldt and Lockon watched with dropped jaws,
"This thing could have wiped out the entire enemy fleet just moments ago, why didn't you use it old man?"
"Yeah," Feldt added
"Hey, hey relax you two, it's not ready. We're still assembling the actual firing components."
"So that's why the bridge has been off limits during downtime" Feldt summarized
"Precisely"
"That's great but what does it have to do with me?" Lockon asked
"The Almagest is not operated by Ptolemy's firing systems. It would be too much for Lasse to pilot the ship and target this weapon so it can only be operated by one user, and who better than an experienced sniper."
Lockon shook his head "until my eye gets fixed I'd be worthless on that machine."
"Lockon..."Feldt sympathetically started but was interrupted by Ian
"I was here when said we can fix your eye, besides Almagest has a periscope like targeting module, one eye will not be so bad for a while" Lockon still looked unconvinced so Ian struck a nerve to get his comrade back to reality "If this machine had been installed 4 years ago Chris and Lichty would still be alive." Lockon flinched and looked down as he was reminded of how they died.
"Ian!" Feldt reprimanded, but the engineer was already walking out the door
"When you decide...you know how to reach me." Ian added over his shoulder before disappearing into the ship interior.
Lockon was solemn and silent as Feldt turned back to him, "Lockon...I'm sorry."
"Don't be Feldt, please don't ever apologize to me for anything. You have every right to blame me for their deaths. I should have done my job and defended Ptolemy."
"That's not true Lockon, no one blames you. I don't blame you."
He looked up at the girl he loved like a sister, she has grown more mature in the past 4 years. The innocence of youth in her eyes was replaced with battle hardened professionalism.
"When are you coming back?" she asked breaking him out of his thoughts
"Soon Feldt, I'll be back soon." He replied calmly as she studied him.
"I really miss you Lockon." She said with a slight hint of a blush, as Lockon looked a little confused. However before he could utter another word Millenia paged Feldt to the bridge. With a last good bye she ran off back to her station.
A/N: So we all know that Ptolemy is named after the philosopher, so the first person who tells me how the Almagest is related to Ptolemy gets a cameo in a later chapter ;D
This chapter was once again saved from being written in the Tribal tongues of the Ewoks by my awesome Beta Sieg. Without your no bs input and well placed comments I would not have gotten this far, thanks so much.
Plus a special thanks to Hotori who came with the perfectly worded explanation for Sumeragi's desire to join CB.
And of course thank you all for the wonderful reviews that really make my day. But hey don't stop there; you can leave another one right now by pressing the green button below.