Tieria Erde

The day's following Veda's announcement were filled with giddy anticipation. Christina and Feldt alternated manning the communications and radar 24/7; they weren't about to let his arrival go unnoticed. Lichty seemed even more talkative than usual, which meant Lasse would be even more annoyed than usual. Sumeragi, though, had a lot more on her mind.

First, the obvious youth of the first Meister had caught her off-guard. She had envisioned all the Meisters to be around Lasse's age, mid to late-twenties; Tieria Erde, in his picture at least, didn't look a day over sixteen. Maybe the picture was outdated…

She was maybe the most anxious for Tieria's arrival; there were too many unknown factors for any serious strategists comfort. Which Gundam will he pilot? What special skills will he bring? How much does he know about Veda? How old is he? And…why does he look like a girl?…

Sumeragi's thoughts were interrupted when Feldt Grace came on the ship's intercom.

"All hands report to docking bay. The Meister's ship has arrived. All hands report to docking bay."

Finally.

Sumeragi entered the docking bay, shortly followed by Feldt and Christina. Everyone else was already poised and ready to welcome the new addition. After about 30 seconds, the small ship finished docking and the piloting hatch opened. Gracefully, the young boy exited his ship, garnet eyes coolly scanning the group. He was wearing a purple and white flight suit, maybe to match his violet hair.

"I am Tieria Erde, your first Gundam Meister of Celestial Being."

Looking even younger in person, Tieria soon proved to be knowledgeable beyond his years. Apparently, he had also been receiving commands and information from Veda. Things like the fact that he would be piloting the GN-005 Gundam, Virtue. And when the remaining Meisters were to be expected.

Shortly after introductions and welcomes were made, they moved into the briefing room for further discussions. Tieria walked to the screen, punched a few keys, and waited for Veda to pop up.

"Right about now, Veda wants for me to inform you all on the process by which the Meisters will be recruited."

That caught everyone's attention.

"As you know, Celestial Being has an extended network of agents all around the world. A group of agents you may not know about yet are the Observers."

He paused here briefly to confirm that none of them knew what he was talking about.

"The Observers are an anonymous group of highly ranked people from around the world. They have no real access to Veda, but they hold the power to veto any decision Celestial Being makes, but only if they are all in complete consensus. Their main task is watching over the crew of Ptolemy and the Meisters."

"Wait a minute! Are you telling us that there are people higher ranked than Veda?" Christina exclaimed. Apparently, that was a mistake. Tieria gave her a look like a death threat before shouting back.

"Of course not! That's preposterous! Absolutely no one is higher ranked than Veda! The Observers can't go against anything Veda says, only what we as Celestial Being say!" He calmly regained his composure and fixed his glasses. The rest of the crew learned something new about this Meister: never question the power of Veda in his presence. Clearing his throat, he continued.

"Over the past few years, the Observers have been working on their first job, which is locating possible candidates for Gundam Meisters." At this, the screen was filled with files of various people. They guessed these were all the candidates.

"That's amazing." Lichty whispered as he tried to count the files. Then he noticed something. "But, hey, why can't we read their names or bios? There censored."

"That is to protect their privacy should they really be recruited. Not all of these persons would like their pasts to be known like some of you. A perfect example is Miss Sumeragi Lee Noriega. I'm sure you're all aware that is a codename, correct?" Tieria glanced around the room and followed the comprehension as it spread across everyone's face. His eyes stopped on Sumeragi briefly before returning them to the screen.

"As you can see, there is by no means a shortage of possible Meisters in the world. As we speak, people are continually being added and removed from the candidate list. Until the perfect match, as determined by Veda, is found, we can do nothing but sit and wait. When a Meister is finally chosen, further instruction shall be given to us via Veda."

The former excitement in the room slowly deflated as Tieria continued his speech, and noticeably so. Christina's once sparkling eyes now focused on the split ends she was acquiring. Lichty and Lasse mumbled in the back...well, more like Lichty mumbled while Lasse grunted in response. Sumeragi, although also disheartened by the news (or lack thereof), quickly interjected.

"So, then, until we get word from Veda, let's all work hard to prepare ourselves. We already have one Meister, and that means a whole new slew of work to be done. We need to run flight simulations, test out suits, configure systems-"

"Uwah, stop! I'm getting a headache just thinking about it!" Christina whined, ending the formality of the gathering once and for all.

"Are we finished here?" Sumeragi asked Tieria tentatively. He nodded curtly in response.

"In that case, let's go eat. I'm starving!" Christina grabbed Feldt and Lichty, dragging them along to the cafeteria. Lasse and Ian followed quietly, but Sumeragi noticed the Tieria was still hanging back.

"Hey, Mr. Erde, that means you too. Aren't you at least a bit hungry?" Tieria looked at Miss Sumeragi coldly, but answered anyways.

"I suppose." He began to follow, but she stopped him again. She looked him over questioningly. He narrowed his red eyes, his expression screaming a defiant 'What?'.

"Shouldn't you maybe change first? I mean, you can't wear your flight suit everywhere, right?" At this comment, Tieria's expression turned from harsh to lost.

"Change? Into what?" He looked down at himself and began to look a little panicky. "Am, am I supposed to have different clothes? Veda never mentioned anything about that. If Veda didn't tell me to bring clothing, then-"

Sumeragi cut off the boy with a small laugh. Was he serious? This kid, who had acted so superior earlier, didn't even pack extra clothes? Well, now that she thought about it, she didn't see him with any personal belongings whatsoever.

"Listen, bringing clothes is just common sense. But, if you really don't have anything, I guess we could find an outfit somewhere on this ship for you." Tieria didn't make anymore eye contact, but just nodded in submission. He was embarrassed.

Sumeragi had to think for a bit. She couldn't put him in Lasse's or Ian's clothes; Tieria was too small. Lichty's clothes might fit, but if she recalled correctly, Lichty didn't bring enough clothes to spare an entire outfit. I guess Christina and Feldt's clothes could fit him…

"Follow me." She strolled down the hallway, bound for Christina's room first. Tieria followed behind quietly. Humans were such strange creatures. Why would someone need more than one outfit? But, he thought it best not to argue. Veda did instruct him to follow everyone's lead, so that's what he would do. That's why he didn't protest as they raided what was obviously a woman's closet. Why he tried, to the best of his abilities, to choose an outfit. Why he left the room to don his new outfit, ignoring Sumeragi's amused expression.

They walked together to the cafeteria in silence. When they entered, everyone already had their food and were sitting at the main table. Lichty noticed the two first and waved to them. Then he noticed what Tieria was wearing. It was all he could do to not laugh.

"Are those my khaki slacks? And my yellow dress shirt?" Christina asked, breaking the short silence that followed their appearance.

"My pink cardigan…" Feldt stated more than asked.

"Yes. I hope you two don't mind, but our Meister here was in a bit of a predicament. And since the two of you, mainly Christina, have so much clothes, I thought you wouldn't miss a few pieces." Sumeragi explained as they sat down to their waiting meals.

"Oh, no, we don't mind. Um, did you at least let him choose that himself?" Christina was delighted and confused at the same time. This guy looked even more like a girl now. Was he into that kinda stuff…?

"Yes, he chose it himself. Honestly, these were some of the only pieces that weren't skin tight, low cut, or a dress-skirt-thing. Maybe when we land next, you would like to take him shopping?" Sumeragi meant it as a joke, but Christina's face lit up at the proposal.

"Really Miss Sumeragi? When are we gonna land?!" Sumeragi couldn't help but laugh; she acted like a kid on her way to a candy store.

"Hopefully, we'll land soon. We've been up in space now for over a month. Humans need some ground time too, you know." Tieria took this statement almost as a cue for another speech.

"Which reminds me; Veda has also determined our primary informant. Our top agent on the surface, Miss Wang Liu-Mei. She is the sole heir to her wealthy family fortune and has dedicated her time and resources to our cause. When we do wish to land on the surface, it must be arranged and cleared with her." He noticed everyone still looking at him and started a bit. "Ah, t-that is all."

"You're as useful as an information terminal, now aren't you?" Ian smirked at this boy. Not even an hour on the ship, and already he had been more useful than half the crew. Which reminded him..

"Hey, when you're finished here, why not come out and test pilot your Gundam." Tieria acknowledged the man with a curt nod. That seemed like a good idea to him. But before that…

quickly devouring his portions, he excused himself and left the mess hall. He strolled down a corridor, somehow knowing his way around the Ptolemaios already. He stopped at the end of a hallway and opened a hatch in the ground. He lowered himself into a glowing red space. It was the source of Veda aboard this ship. Removing his glasses, he closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them next, they were a strange golden hue that fluctuated with purples and greens in an unnatural fashion. He proceeded to relay his day to Veda.

3 Months Later

Sighing, Sumeragi sunk into her chair as the tension in the control room calmed down. Ever since Tieria had shown up, it had been an endless barrage of battle simulations and test flights. The last exercise left the crew especially frazzled, everyone taking a few moments to wind-down before the cause of their distress had a chance to make his appearance. Like clockwork, Tieria entered the control room right on schedule, looking every bit composed as they looked drained. Before he could begin his usual tirade of what went wrong in the simulation, a small beep came from Feldt's computer.

"Ms. Sumeragi, I'm getting a coded message from Earth." That sure grabbed everyone's attention fast. It even managed to stop Tieria, mouth open ready to rant.

"Can you determine who it's from?" Sumeragi wasn't going to get her hopes up just yet...

"Yes, hold on...it's from a Miss Wang Liu Mei..." Feldt trailed off.

"Open it on the main screen." Now Sumeragi got her hopes up. Feldt did as instructed, and a few clicks later, a video popped up on the main screen. The girl in it was a pretty little thing, and one had to wonder how she got herself mixed up in secret organizations in the first place.

"Hello, as you should all have guessed, my name is Wang Liu Mei. I am a primary agent of Celestial Being. As such, I am dutifully reporting to you some important information regarding the Gundam Meisters."

This was it. The moment everyone had been longing for. Literally on the edge of their seats, they watched as the recording continued.

"I have in my company your newest Gundam Meister. According to my information, the crew of the Ptolemy has been in space for nearly 5 months now. As such, I have made arrangements for your ship to land on Earth for a resupply, as well as recuperation of the crew. Along with this message, I have attached coordinates to a safe location where we shall be awaiting your arrival within the next week. Until then."

And just like that, the video ended. Feldt recovered the coordinates to a private island in the Pacific region. The crew was dismissed for a short break before returning to start a course to Earth.

A/N: So, here's where the changes really began, and I'm a lot happier with this chapter now. Why yes, in my head Tieria is a fussy prick. And I will characterize him as such. I just love the little prima donna LOL

Thanks for reading! Reviews are nice sometimes and the next chapter will be up in a few more days. Until then~bye!