Mobile Suit Gundam: White Savior
Chapter 5: Friend or Foe?
Ken stood on the bridge of the Boreas with his arms crossed. He was watching the main monitor as everyone typed away at their keyboards all around him. On the main monitor was Exodus boosting through large rings while it fired at targets at the same time. By that time Zhane walked in and noticed what was going on. He walked up next to his brother and crossed his arms as well. The two of them watched while Exodus continued the exercise.
"What do you hope to accomplish by training her?" Zhane finally asked.
"She came to me actually." Ken replied quickly before Exodus spun around to fire two more shots at a target.
"You did not answer my question." Zhane said in a sharp tone.
"You can be a real headache sometimes…" Ken returned before he let out a sigh.
"I learned from my older brother." Zhane commented.
"What if I said I'm training her just in case someone attacks?" asked Ken. "I have been out of the fight for two weeks now" he added.
"I'd say that is ridiculous." replied Zhane.
"She has a lot of potential and I can see that." Ken answered.
"Potential? If it was not for the mobile suit she pilots she would be nothing." Zhane told him.
"You're one to talk." Ken quickly replied.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Zhane asked in a sharp tone.
"Coming from someone who relies so heavily on computers to guide their Extents, and an artificial intelligence program to guide your suit while you play the little hacker… that's nothing but crap coming from you." Ken told him before Zhane's eyes opened a bit wider.
"I don't think so dear brother. Unlike her, I wrote the programs and control each of them. She could never do that." Zhane replied as he grit his teeth.
"You're right, she could never do that." Ken conceded before he walked away. "But you could never become a good a pilot as she is. Your mind may be the brightest here, but you're still too far into the darkness to do anything about it. You're cold and cruel. The little brother that I once knew was never like that." He added before he left the bridge.
"You're pitiful Kenneth. You have become soft lately… and it is because of her." Zhane thought to himself while Exodus continued boosting through the large rings.
Exodus landed in the hangar shortly after. Fiona switched the lights off before the cockpit door opened. She removed her helmet before she climbed out of the cockpit. She wiped some sweat off of her forehead before someone handed her a white towel. She looked up to see Ken with his usual smile.
"Thanks." She said before she took the towel.
"You did really well out there today. I'm glad that you're getting the hang of things around here too. You know the crew is starting to like you a lot." Ken told her.
"You think so?" asked Fiona who lowered the towel.
"I do. They're not as tense as they use to be. Actually the only one that really doesn't trust you is my brother." Ken said before he crossed his arms. "He'll get over it though." He added.
"I don't really care anymore." Fiona said as she walked past him.
"What do you mean?" asked Ken while he turned around to walk with her.
"If he doesn't like me I can't help it. I may not know why, but I can't help it. If he hates me then he hates me." She replied as they neared the elevator.
"That's the first time I've heard you sound so cold." Returned Ken.
"I don't want to waste my efforts on a lost cause, that's all." Responded Fiona before the elevator opened. Zhane stepped out between the two. Ken started to worry after what was just said. Zhane looked at the two of them before he walked away.
"When you're done babysitting, come back to the hangar so we can continue on the repairs of Eurus." Zhane said as he continued to walk away. Fiona's eyed narrowed while she followed Zhane walking away.
"Wow, she's going to slap him or something. Actually that would be kind of funny. I've never seen Zhane get slapped by a girl before." Ken thought to himself before a sinister smile came across his face.
"I'm going to clean up." Fiona interrupted his thought before she walked into the elevator and the doors closed.
Fiona walked into her room minutes later before Ranpu perked up and leapt off her bed toward her. Fiona knelt down to pick him up before she moved her finger up and down his hose. Ranpu closed his eyes as she did this. She put him down on the bed before she walked into the bathroom and turned the light on. A bit later on she walked out of the bathroom with her clothes on. Her hair was still wet but she could care less. She flopped on her bed before Ranpu bounced toward her.
"I bet you've missed me." Fiona said to him as he rubbed against her face. "Alright, next time you can come with me." She told him as she rubbed his stomach.
A man walked through a hallway that looked like it was in an ordinary business building. The man wore a lab coat that was buttoned up and carried a briefcase with him. He was wearing thick glasses and his black hair looked like someone actually put a bowl on his head and cut the rest off. He walked into a lit room that had a large desk in the middle. A see-through screen appeared in the middle of the room before the man in the lab coat sat down.
"You're late." A deep muffled voice came from the screen.
"I apologize." The man replied.
"Don't bother Lester. Your apologies mean nothing to me." The voice returned.
"As you say, master Hiroshi." Lester said as he hung his head. A silhouette of someone appeared on the screen.
"What happened to my project? Who has White Savior?" asked Hiroshi.
"It appears that an unknown group has obtained White Savior. I will send you the images we hacked from the government servers." Lester said before he pressed a small button on his phone. Images appeared on the see through screen with Eurus Gundam on it as well as pictures of Zhane's machine.
"Interesting. I have my suspicions about these two… there is only one other alive at the moment who has this kind of technology… besides myself. Get to work on identifying this… unknown group." Hiroshi commanded before the screen disappeared.
"As you command… fearless leader." Lester replied with a sharp tone.
Fiona blinked a few times as she lay in her bed, still wondering on what would happen next. She had already made up in her mind that she was going to stay with this ship. For how long… she did not have the answer to that. Ranpu was stilled curled up in a ball next to her. She ran her fingers through her hair for the tenth time and noticed that her hair was finally dry. She had been lying there for a couple hours and never realized it. In her mind she went over some of the events that had taken place from the colony to now. She blocked out what happened to Ryan, but wondered to herself… why couldn't she stop thinking about Ken? Why was he the only one on her mind? Could it be because he was the only one who trusted her when she first arrived? When she cried out for help, he was there for her. She looked around the room a bit before she started to think about him again. She just could not get him out of her mind. She didn't think it was possible that she could… like him more than a friend… she instantly shook her head and sat up on the bed.
"What was I thinking? It's too soon… how could I betray Ryan like that…? I'm horrible…" she said to herself as she curled into a ball on her bed. "But still… I can't help the way I feel.. why? Why do I feel this way…?" she said before she flopped back down on her bed.
Zhane walked up behind his brother in the hangar, who was helping the worker with his mobile suit. Zhane stood behind him for a while as his brother continued to help the worker. Zhane knew that his brother knew he was there and in turn Ken knew his little brother knew that, but he just wanted to milk it as much as he could.
"Ken." Zhane finally spoke up.
"Oh! Zhane!" Ken played it off before he turned around to greet his younger sibling.
"Don't be an ass. I need your input on something." Zhane returned in his usual sharp tone.
"What is it?" asked Ken, now curious as to what his brother could possible need from him. The two walked into a secure room minutes later before Zhane walked over to the light switch and flipped it. Ken looked around the war room as if it was home to him.
"I analyzed some of the circuits and programming on Exodus, this was the result." Zhane said as a screen appeared behind him that displayed pretty much all of Exodus' systems and specs.
"You got all of this after analyzing some of it?" asked Ken with an eyebrow raised.
"Well… I might have dived a bit deeper into the suits core…" Zhane replied as he smirked.
"So what did you find?" asked Ken while he looked over the specs.
"As you are aware, Eurus is equipped with a modified version of the Yggdrasil drive. Exodus is equipped with something that is… close to the Yggdrasil." Zhane told him as he turned to the screen.
"Wow. I thought you were the only one who knew how to complete the prototype?" asked Ken.
"I am." Zhane replied.
"So… then what is this thing?" asked Ken. A blueprint of the Yggdrasil drive appeared on the screen.
"This is the blueprint of the Yggdrasil drive." Zhane said as another picture appeared beside it. "This is the blueprint of the drive inside of Exodus."
"The frames are the same as well as some of the components." Ken stated as he looked them over. "But what are these?" asked Ken as he pointed to six devices at the core of the drive in Exodus.
"That's what I have been trying to figure out. I have many theories as to what they could be… but the one that stands out the most… is a star that is less powerful than the completed version." Zhane replied.
"So there is someone out there as smart as you. I didn't think it was possible." Ken said.
"While I do appreciate your level of admiration and enthusiasm, even I have to acknowledge that I am not the smartest in the world." Zhane replied before he turned to his brother. "However… this generator is obviously a pseudo version of the Yggdrasil. I want to figure out who is behind it and how they obtained the design for my drive."
"I'm with you. This is something that was stolen from not just you, but the Anemoi family." Ken added as he glanced at the specs one more time.
"Thank you Ken. I have a few more things I want to look at concerning the Exodus, but should you need to deploy with Fiona it will be ready." Zhane told him as he looked at the specs as well.
"That's the first time you have called her by name." Ken commented.
"Don't be an ass." Zhane added.
"But I'm so good at it." Ken replied before he walked out of the room.
"Truth has been spoken dear brother." Zhane muttered under his breath.
Fiona walked around the ship with Ranpu on her shoulders. He moved his tail back and forth while he stretched out and yawned. Fiona was in her normal clothes and had her hair in a ponytail. Even though she had been on the ship for a good amount of time, Fiona was still finding it difficult to navigate some parts of the ship. Every now and then someone from the crew would wave or verbally greet her while she passed by. Some of the men on the ship even attempted to hit on her, which stressed her out a bit. Ranpu could feel the stress and often times hissed at the men. She found her way to the hangar where she took notice of Eurus being worked on. Ken stood in front of the mobile suit with a few of the workers as they conversed with each other. Fiona watched for a few moments before she looked toward Exodus. Zhane was inside of the cockpit, which took her by surprise.
"This blasted computer does not want to respond to me!" Zhane shouted in frustration.
"Zhane?" Fiona asked from outside of the cockpit. "What are you doing in there?"
"None of your concern." Zhane sharply replied.
"That's too bad. The computer will only respond to me and I could have helped." Fiona said before she turned around to walk away.
"Blasted girl… she's right." Zhane muttered under his breath. "Fiona will you help me?"
"Well, I guess I can. If you ask nicely." Fiona said as Zhane stepped out of the cockpit.
"Fiona, would you be so kind as to help me with the computer inside of Exodus?" Zhane asked while he gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.
"I will." Fiona said as she climbed inside of the cockpit.
"There are a few questions I wanted to ask the computer, relay them for me." Zhane told her.
"Computer are you there?" asked Fiona.
"Affirmative pilot Fiona." replied the computer.
"There is someone here I would like for you to speak with. Give him access to your databanks. His name is Zhane." Fiona told the computer as Zhane stood there.
"Confirming request… confirmed. Hello Zhane." The computer greeted.
"You can tell I am here?" asked Zhane.
"This mobile suit is equipped with an advanced sensor system that allows the pilot to maintain control of the exterior." The computer responded.
"Who created you?" asked Zhane.
"I apologize Zhane. I do not know the answer to that question." Replied the computer.
"When were you created?" asked Zhane.
"I apologize Zhane. I do not know the answer to that question.
"I see. They covered up their actions. However this was expected. Thank you Fiona." Zhane said before he turned to walk away. Fiona watched him for a moment before she let out a sigh.
"Computer, give Zhane the same rights Ken has." Fiona said as Zhane turned around.
"What?" asked Zhane in a low tone.
"Please define pilot Fiona." The computer replied.
"Give Zhane the rights to pilot Exodus and complete access to your databanks." Fiona said.
"Confirmed. Hello sub pilot Zhane." The computer greeted.
"You would grant me access to your machine at any time?" asked Zhane.
"I trust you." Fiona told him before she climbed out of the cockpit. She walked away as Zhane stood there completely shocked. What did she have to gain by trusting him like that? Zhane really did not know what to think about that.
End of Chapter 5