"All right, December 21, After Disaster Stella 122. Days seem to fly faster as Christmas approaches, speaking of Christmas…speaking of Christmas…shit. I forgot to buy Gifts for Miorine and Suletta! I guess I know what I'm doing tomorrow. And that means getting up in the morning and sneaking out of the house without them noticing, thank god I still have enough time to soar though Chryse and searching for a perfect gift for both of them. And that's the smaller of my problems. The day after tomorrow is the reveal day for new Barbatos, tv coverages, press conferences, girls wearing latex costumes because according to Lafter "Sex appeal is the key?". At least this seems more easy then sneaking to the capital, get into the biggest mall on the planet somehow dodging anyone who'll ask me for an autograph. I guess that's a challenge for tomorrow then, finding the perfect gifts without asking them and trying to avoid a situation with a missed gift, for Miru, Damon and Hibiki it seems easy. Here in only knew them for couple of months and I have very little room for experiments. And I can't ask anyone because if it slipped out then it would ruin the surprise. Is this how engaged people search for gifts? I'm tired already and I still haven't begun."-Akatsuki Augus's private journal, Ad Stella 122.
MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM: DEMON INCARNATE
CHAPTER 16: THE GIFT AND THE JOYBRINGER
Akatsuki's eyes bursted open as the dawn light hit his windows. He then turned towards Miorine and Suletta, who were still sleeping on their mattress, with Akatsuki's only reaction and as always being 'cute.'. Following his secret operation known as. "Operation quickly get out of the bed, grabbing fresh clothes and after a quick shower get quietly though the staircase and to Chryse.". And so he quickly followed his plan, after doing his bed because of course he wouldn't want to leave a mess. Akatsuki took a quick shower before putting on a fresh set of clothes made out of jeans, a grey T-Shirt and his blue and red TSC jacket. He walked down the staircase while listening to the tv silently playing in the living room, as Akatsuki walked into the kitchen he saw Kudelia sitting on the couch with a cup of tea. She turned around to see her son as Kudelia lifted her eyebrow.
"Honey? Why are you up this early?"-Kudelia asked as she gestured her son to sat beside her, to which Akatsuki after grabbing himself a can of soda from the fridge complied.
"So, may I know the reason why a sleepyhead like you gets up at this early?"-Kudelia asked as Akatsuki sighed before pointing at the Christmas tree.
"I'm heading to Chryse to buy gifts for Miorine and Suletta, and since I want it to be a surprise I didn't want to wake up anyone."-Akatsuki said as Kudelia chuckled before patting his head.
"And wanting to give your mother a scare. If you wanted to surprise them you could just tell us and we would keep our mouths shut."-Kudelia said as Akatsuki nodded before looking at her attire and now he was the one confused.
"And why are you dressed up like you're going to the office?"-Akatsuki asked as Kudelia looked at her clothes and then once again looking at her son.
"Oh, I'm going to the office for some documents. Since I'll work from home for a while after Fumitan is born I wanted to sort those things out, at least here I won't be seeing those army officials face-to-face."-Kudelia said as Akatsuki looked at her belly.
"Are you sure that it's a good idea to keep working in this condition? You don't know if it hurts the baby?"-Akatsuki asked as Kudelia once again chuckled before bringing her son into a hug.
"Focus on getting those gifts Honey, besides rather than work I should be focused on finding a wedding venue that could fit all of our friends and family. Miorine's birthday is getting closer and closer and we still haven't done anything regarding the wedding, I just can't wait for seeing you in a suit walking down the aisle before making your wows. Considering that I never had my dream wedding."-Kudelia said as Akatsuki blushed from her comments.
"Come on Mama, there is still time for that later."-He said as Kudelia turned her head with a exenterated facial expression.
"Nuh uh! It's supposed to be the most important day of your life that you will nourish and cherish for decades to come! And as one of your mothers I want to make sure that this day will be perfect! A perfect job for my Maternity Leave."-Kudelia exclaimed lifting her fist up in triumph as Akatsuki then heard the sounds of feet upstairs.
"Oh, it looks like the sleeping beauties woke up. I guess I should get going before causing any ruckus, see ya Mama!"-Akatsuki said as he rushed towards the garage as Kudelia registered what her son said, before a teasing smile only a mother can have. 'Have I heard that correctly or did he just called Suletta and Miorine sleeping beauties? My my when did he gotten so bold? Well, that's a note for the future.'-Kudelia said as she continued to drink her tea.
"What do you mean he left?"-Miorine asked as She and Suletta were now standing in front of Mikazuki who was overlooking a graph of growth prepared for him by Kudelia in a simplified manner.
"He left, Kudelia said it was something important and when she whispered it to Atrra's ear she also agreed. So it must be important, since we don't have farm work today you are free to roam around."-Mikazuki said returning to reading the graph.
"Well then, I'll go train a little."-Suletta said as she rushed back upwards to Akatsuki's room leaving the silver-haired heiress alone as well. 'Great, so Suletta peaced out as well. What am I to do now?'-she thought as suddenly her phone buzzed, as Miorine looked at her phone she saw it was an E-Mail regarding GUND-ARM Inc., 'So work it is.'-she thought as she also made her way towards Akatsuki's room to find her laptop.
"Damn it, for the biggest mall in the capital it sure is hard to find an empty parking spot."-Akatsuki said as it marked the tenth minute he was cruising around the parking lot, it seemed that he wasn't the only one who was out late with buying Christmas gifts. And every adding minute made the blonde think of just parking it somewhere else and use public transportation to get to the mall instead. But that could cause a ruckus if someone would recognise him and make the whole tram or bus gather a crowd around him. But suddenly all his silent prayers were answered as he saw something he wanted to see for 12 minutes. A car leaving a parking spot, Akatsuki's glittered as he quickly parked the car just as another car was searching for its own spot, his silent victory didn't last long as he got out of the blue Lancia, stretching out his limbs before looking down on his phone.
"Right, so Damon, Miru and Hibiki are easy picks, Miorine and Suletta is something I'll leave for last."-He said out loud as he walked to the nearest staircase and after a quick walk down found himself staring at the worst possible nightmare for a country boy like him, he never liked malls, ever since he was a kid he always thought how weird this concept was when things like food and clothes can be bought in smaller places. Perhaps it was because the other city he was visiting other than Chryse when his Mama took care of him and other then sitting in her office or outside he wasn't allowed to roam around town because "Bad people will kidnap you and force you to have nanomachines in your back.". But for now he had to swallow this sour pill as he searched for the right store. And he was lucky as his first stop was just around the corner of the entrance. A music shop, filled with vinyl records of all the classics, both from before the Calamity Conflict and from the Post Disaster Calendar. Maybe it was intuition, or the fact that Hibiki was always blasting those songs either in cockpit or working on Mobile Suits. So he immediately knew what to pick for her. He took a look across the covers to see if there was anything that she didn't have, and luck proved him right as he picked up five albums, 'Right, so Fleming, Lorenz, the S-belts, Cartyle, Spiegel. All her favourites and no doubles, but there is something else I can add to it.'-he thought as he walked to the instruments section, and quickly searched though the cleaning kits, he bowed down and focused all his attention on finding the right one.
"I didn't knew the Demon Incarnate was a fan of Jazz and Blues?"-Someone said as Akatsuki looked up to see a girl, presumably the same age as her, with heavy make-up, short died dark blue hair and piercing in her right eyebrow. She also wore a black t-shirt with the store logo and black trousers.
"I like it, but that's not for me, a gift for a family friend. And since im currently in this situation I wanted to ask something, do you have Saxophone cleaning kits?"-Akatsuki asked as the girl gestured him to get to the side as she searched though the shelves, before handing a box to Akatsuki.
"Is this what you are looking for?"-She asked as Akatsuki gave a close look before nodding, the girl walked behind the counter as Akatsuki reached to his wallet for the "special" credit card that was connected with the account where all the fees and licensing royalties were being sent, and since he left that card on Mars there was a lot of money he could spare for gifts. So without a thought he slid the card over the register, just as the girl packed all the things in the bag and gave it to Akatsuki.
"A lot of cash to spare huh?"-She asked as Akatsuki nodded.
"Well I don't have other usage for it, I study abroad and things I want to buy what I want is enough for my regular allowance."-Akatsuki said as the girl nodded just as he walked out. 'Well, that's one out of five. I wonder what Suletta and Miorine are doing?'-Akatsuki thought as he made his way towards another destination.
"I said that thousands of time before, and I'll say it thousand times more. GUND-ARM Inc.'s mission is to save lives with medical technology, we're not outselling our patents for prosthetic joints in order to build, I say it in CEO's words, "Almost life-like Mobile Suit controls."."-Miorine said over the phone as meanwhile she kept reading the list of all the E-mails she has left unread after beginning of the trip to Mars.
"Please give it a thought CEO Rembran, with your strain-free joint technology together we could build a mobile suit that would quickly make work Jeturk's, Grassley's, Burion's and all the other suits in the group! With the expertise of your pilots and mechanics we c-"
"No, GUND-ARM Inc. serves to save lives, not building tools of war."-Miorine said as she ended the call, before suddenly the thought 'You are acting exactly like our old man.'-hit her in the brain as she then countered it with 'No! I'm only staying true to company's principles.'-she thought as suddenly her phone buzzed.
"Hello, this is Miorine Rembran, CEO of GUND-ARM Inc."-Miorine said as suddenly a familiar voice echoed through the other side of the call
"Miorine? It's me Yushetas Mirzakhani, CEO of the Langlands Corporation."-The voice spoke up as Miorine's eyes lit up.
"Yushetas? It is you! It's been so long!"-Miorine exclaimed as she heard the familiar voice of her old friend.
"Yes…who would've thought, me a CEO at this age?"-Yushetas said as Miorine was the first to speak up.
"Don't be so rough on yourself. I've heard about your and Yushura's parents, I'm sorry and i send my deep condolences. It was impressive to see both of you grow to be CEO and CTO respectively."-Miorine said as Yushetas only nodded from the other side of the galaxy as he overlooked his documents.
"Yes, quite unfortunate. And it made me quit my dream of going to M/J as a pilot."-Yushetas said sighing as Miorine then overlooked the documents regarding the E-Mail from his corporation.
"I believe you aren't calling for the sake of catching up do you?"-Miorine asked as she heard a grunt of approval.
"Of course, if I wanted I wouldn't call your work number. Let's just say I have a deal we could make."-Yushetas said as Miorine immediately sighed.
"As you probably know GUND-ARM Inc. is a medical company."-Miorine said as then turned towards Atrra who was working on dinner and also shot a glance at her.
"And Langlands is a Hydromagnetic Fluid company. The problem is?"-Yushetas asked as Miorine once again sighed.
"The problem is that create paint for Mobile Suits."-Miorine said as Yushetas risen his eyebrow.
"Funny, how your fiancé is a professional Mobile Suit pilot, and a bloody good one."-Yushetas said as Miorine sighed.
"Why was I expecting you to say it?"-Miorine asked as Atrra smiled hearing complements about her son from someone complete unknown.
"Because it's true, and I do want to meet him one day. But getting to the point. I do respect your principles, I was thinking on perhaps using both our expertise to create a liquid that could ease up the strain of the joints in your prosthetics, even though I haven't seen any prosthetics."-Yushetas said as Miorine quickly buried the arousing frustration within her.
"We are working on it, we already have blueprints for prosthetic legs ready for construction and blueprints for a special implant meant for repairing damage made by the Alaya Vinjana nanomachines."-Miorine exclaimed as she was slowly losing her patience.
"Well, I guess your R&D department made out of students works day and night to get it ready. There are rumours going around you know."-Yushetas said as Miorine perked up.
"What rumours?"-She asked as Yushetas awkwardly wiped the back of his head.
"The rumours that it is all some kind of a fraud because you are not doing anything with the machine that is Aerial. Even though you literally mentioned that you focus on saving lives."-Yushetas said as then Miorine couldn't believe that the person on the second end of the call was the same person she knew years ago.
"I still can't believe the same kid who was always to the side reading picture books is now running one of the top ten companies in the group at just 17. Yushura was more open and she was so sickly we needed to play in a low gravity room. Speaking of Yushura…how is she feeling?"-Miorine asked as on the other side Yushetas sighed.
"Still not showing progress, still needs a cane, ten doctors and twenty different medical prescriptions and it doesn't seem to get better, her mind however is still on top. I can't imagine what would I do without her."-Yushetas said as Miorine sadly sighed knowing that the condition of her friend still hasn't improved.
"Oh, but returning to the conversation. I believe we could arrange a meeting, but that's for later since I'm currently on a leave and went to work because I was bored."-Miorine said as Yushetas let out a slight chuckle.
"Ok ok, I'll call you sometime after Christmas. For now take care and enjoy your rest. And please, call Yushura some day...she does still miss you you know?"- Yushetas said as the call ended, with Miorine finally letting out a sigh of relief, with her head falling down on the keyboard, not noticing Atrra walking towards her with a cup of tea.
"Work?"-Atrra asked as she sat down next to her future daughter in law.
"You bet, I've mentioned this numerous times that GUND-ARM Inc. exists to save lives! Not to build Mobile Suits! They expect the technology that we work on for prosthetics to be used for Mobile Suits joints because they would be strain-free."-Miorine said grabbing her head as Atrra only patted her back.
"That last phone call seemed to bring something?"-Atrra said as Miorine nodded.
"That was my old friend of mine, at least those seem to listen when you tell them that your technology is supposed to save lives."-Miorine said as Atrra gave her the cup that Miorine quickly jugged, not minding how hot the tea was. Atrra only raised her eyebrow as she watched Miorine visibly struggling with her tea but continued to drink it regardless.
"Well, an old friend. And I remember Akatsuki mentioning that you aren't the type who had many friends."-Atrra said as Miorine turned around from her.
"That was years ago, when my Mom was still alive, after she died, my Old Man decided he would be the one responsible with who I can be friends with and what can I do."-Miorine said as her hands turned into fists.
"At least you have a father, some of us didn't have any parents or don't remember them. I know how this will sound, but mark my words, when something happens to your father you'll be sad that you weren't able to talk him before he passed away. Maybe the reason why you think your father acts this way is because he is just as complicated as you, or the fact unlike some people that came to know you as the "Girl Made Out Of Ice", you simply didn't bother to understand him?"-Atrra asked as Miorine gave it a thought before turning back to her future daughter-in-law.
"Atrra, you are great, you managed to raise Akatsuki more well then any of his fans could've imagined. But you are not my father, a real psychopath who enjoys in suffering of his underlings. Enjoyment of acting like his word is the law. Considers himself the king, no wonder neither Suletta or Akatsuki bothered to meet him. And it seems that it will never happen, considering the fact he probably won't bother showing up to the wedding."-Miorine said as Atrra only nodded and took away the empty cup. 'I hate saying this, but mark my words Miorine.'-Atrra thought as she returned to her work.
"All right, so Hibiki is done, Miru's done, Damon's done, now it's time for Suletta and Miorine, and to get all of this stuff packed."-Akatsuki thought as he was struggling with the amount of bags and boxes he was currently holding, 'Should've asked Dad for help.'-he thought as then another question struck his mind…what was he supposed to get for Suletta? With Miorine it was easy, at least in his mind…jewellery, rich girls like jewellery, so that wasn't a hard guess. Suletta was far more tricky, what she licked? Well anime and manga of course! And so he quickly found himself standing in front of a comic store that also sold manga, anime box sets, figures, statues, model kits and anything else a fan could think off, and so he stepped in and took a look around, it was a big store considering what it sold. He turned towards the model kit display, of course there were kits from various anime and games, ships, mecha, planes, vehicles, and of course as it was expected, a custom painted metallic blue Barbatos AA. 'Well, I can't blame them, that model kit is really nice even without paint.'-he thought as suddenly he found himself standing in front a woman, a bit shorter then him with round glasses on her face that was also covered by long black hair. All covered by a white apron.
"First of all, it is an honour to see you visit this store, might I ask you what are you looking for?"-the girl asked as Akatsuki put down his bags.
"I'm looking for Mangas for my fiancé as a Christmas gift. All I know she loves the slice of life, school romance stories and mecha stories."-Akatsuki said as the girl's glasses seemed to lit up. And so she went with suggestions, for 45 minutes. With different Mangas in her hands as Akatsuki finally had enough.
"You know what? I'll take everything you suggested, plus few following volumes. I have a lot of money to spare."-Akatsuki said as the girl for a second just stood there before rapidly nodding and rushing down towards the counter. As Akatsuki stood there his attention was also brought to the drawings that were hiding under the glass counter.
"Are those drawings made by you?"-Akatsuki asked as the girl rapidly nodded.
"Yes, I'm an amateur mangaka myself, in fact I have something that could possibly interest your fiancé as a surprise."-The girl said as Akatsuki risen his eyebrow, the girl rushed to the backrooms as she brought out a small manga with an entirely black cover, with the shop's logo in the upper left corner and the marking "R-18" in the upper right corner. As Akatsuki wanted to open it the girl quickly touched his hand.
"I'm saying that this should be a surprise! Don't worry, if she doesn't like it you have full right for a refund on this particular book, I rarely get to sell in it in print so it won't matter if you later return it or not."-The girl said as Akatsuki took a deep breath, 'Maybe it's something wholesome? Like a hot guy taking out a self-insert girl on a date? Although that R-18 rating doesn't seem like a good sign, ah screw it, a leap of faith.'-he thought as he took out his credit card an put it on the counter.
"I'll take it all."-Akatsuki said as the girl quickly scanned all the small books before handing the bag to Akatsuki.
"I'm sure your fiancé will enjoy all those manga, ESPECIALLY that black one."-The girl said with a teasing smile as Akatsuki only gave a careful nod, after he left the shop however another idea struck his head as he searched for a shop with sports equipment. As he found it he then begun to look for female headbands. A crimson band that Akatsuki thought would fit Suletta perfectly, alongside red rubbers he made his way towards the counter, of course the group of cashiers were surprised to see the Demon Incarnate with a determined facial expression, holding a female headband and pack of rubbers.
"Excuse me, do you make custom prints?"-Akatsuki asked as the two cashiers, a man and a woman shared a look confused, before beginning a conversation.
"Well, we do offer prints onto shirts. But I think we can print onto headbands."-The man said as Akatsuki nodded happily before taking out his credit card.
"Great! I do have some things I need to go buy some more things and pack all those gifts. I wish to have Iron Flowers printed on the sides. I'll pay in advance if you will be able to prepare it in two hours or so."-Akatsuki said as the two cashiers shared a look before nodding in agreement, Akatsuki used his card before nodding.
"Well, I'll be back to pick up the headband in two hours!"-He happily exclaimed leaving the shop and the two cashiers confused.
"So, I better get this dealt with."-The woman said as she grabbed the headband and left the man alone.
"Footwork, calm breath, clean mind, the sword is my extension."-Suletta exclaimed as she then made a quick cut with her bokken. She was sitting in the backyard of Augus's family home, dedicating her free time to getting back to her training, as she and Akatsuki were increasing the amount of their training after their duel with the Grassley House and Suletta's stance against Shaddiq. So she focused on improving her swordsmanship even without Akatsuki to spar with, and maybe the repaired Aerial will contain a weapon fit to her new fighting style? Maybe she could ask her…Mom? 'And speaking of Mom, I think I should call her.'-Suletta said as she put down her sword and reached out for her notebook, picking her mother's contact.
"Suletta! How is my girl doing right now?"-Prospera asked as Suletta smiled.
"Great! Mars is great! My in-laws are also great, they immediately took me in as their own! O-Oh! I'm sorry I didn't bother to call since we landed on Mars! It's just there were so many things going on I couldn't find time to call! W-We worked on a farm, partook in a simulation! Ate in canteen and-"
"Oh no no no! I'm not angry! In fact I'm happy that your sweetheart's family accepted you!"-Prospera said interrupting Suletta mid-sentence causing the redhead's face to blush.
"M-Mom! We're n-not sweethearts yet! B-but I-it is nice that his family and friends had accepted me and Miorine!"-Suletta said as Prospera chuckled while she looked at the graph displaying Akatsuki's body.
"That's great! I was sure his parents would nice to you! You are my daughter after all."-Prospera said as Suletta nodded before noticing Atrra waving her hand from the window.
"You are right! But I gotta go! Atrra is calling me back! Perhaps she needs my help! Buy Mom!"-Suletta said as she ended the call while Prospera continued to look at the graph.
"85 percent level of Data Storm withstanding, six years ago it was just 50 percent, correction 86 percent. I guess those monitoring nanites were a worthwhile investment. I guess Alaya Vinjana nanomachines really serve well as an enhancement for a developing foetus."-Prospera said as she then brought another graph that this time was showing Barbatos and its lit up receptors.
"And that his brain and body can take jumping straight to score seven without any problem, I wonder who worked on repairing it? Definitely someone with experience."-She added as she took off her helmet and wiped off the sweat of her forehead. 'Just give me more time, we'll see each other soon. And thanks to you Suletta is in good hands.'-she thought before returning to work.
Akatsuki took a long deep breath as he found himself standing in front of his final destination. He spent the last 45 minutes sitting on a bench looking for the best jewellery shop in the entire mall, and according to the internet "The best shop in the Mars Sphere.". And it was definitely showing even before entering, numerous people walking around the displays as the blonde could see they were definitely symptoms of the famous 10% of highest earning people on the planet or in the orbiting colonies. Akatsuki walked inside as he took a bit of time to see his reflection in the white floor that seemed to either be so clean that it reflected him, or the white tiles were so crystal clean. Akatsuki felt kinda odd in his blue converse, blue jeans and T-Shirt compared to other clients, so he only wanted to deal with it quickly. 'So, what should I get for Miorine? Rings are only being bought to show the engagement and we are already engaged, necklaces are not really her thing. Earrings? She does have pierced ears but I never seen her wear any earrings, but its small and compact enough to not be seen as ostentatious even if they are expensive.'-he thought as he made his way towards the Earring display, of course bringing attention to himself as he looked though the selection of various earrings. 'Well, I guess to choose is to imagine their face.'-he thought as he tried to get his imagination moving as he saw the face of the silverhaired beauty he was bethrowed to. Her pale skin and pearl grey eyes, before his brain then shifted images towards Miorine wearing the same blue dress she wore during the Benerit Group Incubation Party, and how well that beautiful blue colour seemed to match her skin and hair. Akatsuki's face then covered itself with a crimson blush, as he stopped himself from allowing his imagination to go wild with the dress slowly vanishing. 'Right Right! We can stop here! So silver and dark blue goes great with her, we can work with that. AND NO STRIPPING!'-he internally exclaimed as he searched for silver earrings. While also looking at other colours, gold, platinum, rose. A whole spectrum of colours, and with that thought he reached the display he was searching for, before a brief look at the prices that seemingly gave an heart attack. 'Some of those are probably worth more than all the things I'm holding in my bags combined!'-he thought before his eyes locked on something that brought attention to someone who never care about jewellery, in contrast to his rivals who many of them wore earrings or rings he was a simpleton. But what he now saw caused a small sparkle in his eyes as his mind quickly made work of imagining Miorine wearing those peculiar earrings. A pair of silver earrings topped off with long blue jewels, seemingly matching the same colour as her blue dress.
"Are you interested in something?"-Someone asked as Akatsuki turned around to see an older man wearing a black suit, Akatsuki also noticed the grey hair and moustache hiding the man's smile.
"Yes, those earrings…I'm looking for a Christmas gift for my fiancé. I thought those fit her perfect."-Akatsuki exclaimed as the man nodded at what Akatsuki said before taking a key out of his pocket and opening the display, the man handed over the earrings to Akatsuki.
"A good choice, these one are special. The blue jewels are actually Tanzanite, a rare mineral from Earth found only in Africa. Particularly rare since now most jewellery is made with space materials."-The man explained as Akatsuki's mind runned though calculations. 'Well, she loves Earth, so I'm sure she'll love them.'-he thought as he made his decision.
"I'll take them."-Akatsuki said as the man nodded and took the earrings as Akatsuki followed him to the counter.
"You know, those earrings will probably be expensive."-The man said as Akatsuki took out his credit card.
"I have enough money to buy it and give a nice gift to my fiancé."-Akatsuki said as the man then slipped him a piece of paper and a pen.
"You know, I can give 15% off if you sign an autograph for my grandson? Considering that you rarely make public appearances."-The man said as Akatsuki looked at the small piece of paper before taking the pen and signing the paper. Akatsuki gave back the paper as the man nodded, before pressing something on the cash register, gesturing Akatsuki to scan his card. And so he did, however a rational thought then stroke as he looked up towards the man.
"Are you sure that you can do that? What will your manager do when he finds out?"-Akatsuki asked as the man nodded smiling.
"Manager? I'm not worrying about him, in fact I am the owner. And why I wouldn't want to give a discount for someone causing my grandson to be glued to tv whenever he appears and the reason for why he wants a Mobile Suit for his birthday, I'll get those packed for you, give me five minutes."-The man said taking the earrings away as Akatsuki was left pondering. 'I guess being famous does pay in a way, and although the cons sometimes still out weigh the pros, the balance of powers seems to shift.' "Home sweet home, finally."-Akatsuki said out loud as he was holding the pile of boxes with his right hand as he drove with only his left, of course getting the boxes hiding the gifts wasn't a hard task. The problem was driving the car in a way so that the fragile gifts wouldn't break from falling onto the floor, tying them with seatbelts proved to only be a temporary solution before he entered the country road. So for the last 45 minutes he kept a hold of the boxes with his hand, making him bend in an uncomfortable position while still needing to look at the road. After quickly opening the door to the garage he parked his car, gathering all the boxes that formed a large tower. Using his foot to open the door he entered the house as he managed to take off his shoes.
"I'm home!"-he announced as he made his way towards the staircase and noticed his Dad, Moms, Suletta and Miorine sitting at the dining table and eating dinner.
"Oh honey! You're home! And I see the trip proved to be a success."-Kudelia said as then Miorine peaked from her seat to look at what Akatsuki was carrying.
"Really? You wasted an entire day on shopping?"-Miorine asked as Akatsuki raised his eyebrow.
"Those are Christmas gifts. I'll go get them stashed somewhere and join you."-He said as he made his way up the stairs while the parents and the brides simply returned to eating their dinner.
'Today is the day.'-Akatsuki thought as he looked at the reflection of himself in the mirror, currently it was 6:45 AM and he was trying to get himself ready for the conference. And since he set the alarm specifically on six AM he woke up the other inhabitants of his room, and causing a massive fit from Miorine. And so he stood, getting himself ready, already done with a cold shower and morning toiletries. He then put on his clothes set for the day made out of: his blue Converse, blue jeans, grey t-shirt and his jacket. He let out a yawn as he walked outside of the bathroom to see Suletta and Miorine standing in front of him, with only Miorine looking accusingly at him.
"So, why did you wake us up?"-Miorine asked as Akatsuki wiped the back of his head.
"I'm going to the TSC HQ with Dad, we have a reveal conference on 10:30 and we're going earlier to prepare."-Akatsuki explained as Miorine nodded.
"So, I guess we should get prepared."-Miorine said as she lead Suletta inside the bathroom and closed the door, leaving puzzled Akatsuki behind who had 'What in the bloody hell just happened?' facial expression.
"So, how do those conferences look like?"-Suletta asked as Akatsuki turned back towards her from the passenger seat.
"It's simple! I talk with the journalists, take off the canvas from Barbatos, a little bit of bait, few photos and a test run recorded by cameras, simple as that, we're going early for the sake of seeing if everything is fully prepared."-Akatsuki said as then Miorine perked from her seat.
"What kind of bait are you talking about?"-Miorine asked as Akatsuki initially wanted to spit it before getting stopped by the realisation what could it mean.
"You'll see."-Akatsuki said turning back to look at the front window, causing Mikazuki to look confused at his son. And so the rest of drive lasted in relative silence, with only the music from the radio briefly cutting the silence. After reaching the HQ all of them could see the situation at hand, mostly everyone preparing the HQ for the arrival of journalists and news crews. They all got out of the car before Hibiki runned up to them wearing a peculiar outfit.
"There you three are!"-Hibiki exclaimed as Miorine slowly begun to fume as she looked at her outfit. She wore a dark blue and red leotard with the iron flower logo, with a translucent dark blue skirt and red boots and held a dark blue and red umbrella that not only had TSC logos but also the logos of the Admoss Company.
"Why are you wearing that?"-Suletta asked as Hibiki then looked around herself before nodding.
"Oh, we are kinda thin on the regular MS Girls since most of my adult sisters are still en-route to Mars, so I volunteered as an temporary replacement. We also have prepared clothes for you and Miorine as well."-Hibiki said as Miorine turned around.
"No, no I'm not wearing that. As a CEO I can't be seen wearing those clothes, if I can call them clothes."-Miorine said as Hibiki risen her eyebrow turning towards Suletta.
"And what about you?"-Hibiki asked as then Miorine looked towards Suletta with a piercing glare. Suletta then looked at Hibiki, who seemed to have a pleading facial expression on her face.
"As long as my face won't be revealed on tv…"-Suletta said as Miorine's jaw dropped. Hibiki on the other hand happily nodded.
"Don't worry! You can be his Umbrella girl, come on!"-Hibiki said as she grabbed Suletta's hand and pulled her away. Miorine on the other hand turned her glare towards Akatsuki, who instinctively begun to wipe his cheek.
"This was this kind of bait you were talking about? And you wonder why girls see you the way they do."-Miorine asked as Akatsuki sighed.
"To explain myself, it wasn't my idea. Aunt Lafter said that "Since everyone does it why are you supposed to be worse?". So essentially it's just conformism, and the fact that we had bunch of young adults ready to volunteer helped it. And it serves as great advertisement for TSC."-Akatsuki said embarrassed as Mikazuki turned towards the kids.
"While you two continue to bicker I'll go to make all the final checks, meet me at 9:15 for the final briefing."-Mikazuki said as he left leaving them alone. The two only shared a look before Miorine walked away in an unknown destination with Akatsuki following her.
"Girls! I found Akatsuki's umbrella girl!"-Hibiki exclaimed as she lead Suletta inside the dressing room as Suletta saw girls, several girls that although with different skin, hair and eye colours they shared some similarities. 'Those must be the other Turbines.'-Suletta thought as she was pushed inside by Hibiki who shut and close the door.
"Oh, hey kid."-A familiar voice said as Suletta turned to see Vivian, who wore an outfit similar to Hibiki, and with her much more mature figure then Hibiki caused Suletta to blush. To focus her attention on something else she turned around the room to see other girls, perhaps or definitely other childhood friends all getting into their outfits, before then turning towards other group who seemed to glare at her as if she runned over their families with Aerial.
"What's gotten into them?"-Hibiki asked as another familiar voice appeared.
"They're just jealous because they thought that Akatsuki would look at them in the way he looks at Suletta, speaking of them, if you want to actually do something useful then get into your leotards!"-Miru suddenly said taking the leadership role as the girls then turned away from Suletta.
"Right! Now we got that out of the way, It is time to finally do some work with you."-Miru added as Suletta looked at her confused.
"Work?"-she asked as Miru's head turned around before she shot an understanding look to Hibiki.
"Right, but first things first, this is going off."-Hibiki said as she quickly took off Suletta's headband and rubbers allowing her hair to explode in an uncontrollable manner. As if it was being held hostage before suddenly set free. Suletta on the other hand was visibly confused by the situation as she was being eyed by Miru and Hibiki who put the headband and rubbers on the nearby bench.
"Ok, let's get to work."-Miru said as she and Hibiki were reaching out their hands towards Suletta, who's facial expression looked like as if she was caught on stealing food from the fridge. She slight backed away before she felt Vivian's strong hands on her arms. With her eyes keeping to look at the cheeky facial expressions of Miru and Hibiki that seemed like they would enjoy it. Suletta only swallowed air as she readied herself for what was to come.
"It's kinda tight in the chest, and in the bottom."-Suletta said as she, now in her borrowed dark blue and red TSC leotard that was the same as Miru's and Hibiki's and held the same umbrella as Hibiki.
"It is supposed to be tight, it's a leotard after all. And that's the point, besides I can see that a little enhancement of the view on your curves makes you look a bit nicer."-Miru said as Hibiki nodded.
"Miru's right! I'm sure that when Akatsuki and Miorine will see you their minds…and pants will probably explode! And holy your hair looks amazing without that headband! I'm having trouble with getting mine into bangs but here it's all natural! How do you take care of it?"-Hibiki asked as she, Miru and Suletta were walking together though the corridor to their destination, that destination being the TSC cage that was being quickly prepared as an conference room for the journalists and where Barbatos could be revealed without much trouble of having to move the suit throughout the facility and destroying numerous walls in the process. As they reached the room they saw Miorine and Akatsuki looking over Barbatos that was being covered with black canvas.
"Hey! Look who we have here!"-Miru exclaimed as Miorine and Akatsuki turned around to see the three girls, and as expected from Hibiki both of their faces were being covered with a blush that was quickly turning from brief crimson into full volcanic red. Both of their jaws dropped as Suletta herself blushed seeing their reactions.
"I-I originally wanted to wear my headband, but Miru and Hibiki said that I looked way better without it."-Suletta said in a meek voice as suddenly Vivian walked to the scene.
"All right all right don't turn those three into tomatoes. We have our final preparations, he has final preparations, let us all focus on that."-She said as she lead the three away from Miorine and Akatsuki, with Suletta shyly waving goodbye and walking away from them.
"Hey Akatsuki! Might help us with this?"-A technician asked as Akatsuki turned around to see two people folding out a large piece of Bristol. Of course he walked up to help them as quickly they folded out and set the large Bristol and set it behind the chair and the conference table. As they finished Akatsuki then took the time to look at the Bristol and saw that it not only had TSC and Admoss logos, but also small GUND-ARM Inc. logos.
"Hey Miorine! You might want to look at this!"-Akatsuki said as she walked up towards him and also looked at the small logos.
"Good, it means that they are taking our partnership seriously, and that you don't have sponsors other than the taxpayers money."-Miorine said as Akatsuki frowned.
"Technically it's not the taxpayers money, rather the money that comes from assignments and export of Martian materials."-Akatsuki said as Miorine then turned to him with a cheeky facial expression.
"Well, the more money you keep taking away from my old man sitting in Asticassia and doing nothing the better."-She said leaving puzzled Akatsuki alone once again.
"Ok, it's go time."-Akatsuki said as he then turned towards Suletta, who held her umbrella covering her and his face.
"You'll do great! Like always."-Suletta said as Akatsuki couldn't help but smile.
"Thanks, and Miru and Hibiki were right, you look great without that headband."-He said as Suletta herself blushed from his comment, although he mentioned it days before and did…more than just complemented her. Here he wasn't tired and was 100 percent certain in his opinion. 'Yes, we are getting there.'-she thought as her mind went back to Atrra's words. But time was running short and so Akatsuki walked to the scene as he was quickly rained with flashlights. 'Complete cool, complete cool…as always.'-he thought as he sat down in his chair and quickly looked towards the group of journalists before allowing his improvisation skills to make appearance.
"First of all, I wanted to thank you all for gathering here just two days before Christmas. It really means a lot for me as someone with little to no time even after coming back home for a school break. So let's just roll with the questions before we come to the highlight."-Akatsuki said as suddenly several hands quickly risen up in the air. He pointed towards the fastest as a young woman holding a microphone peaked up.
"Excuse me Mister Augus! I'm from MSN Sports! Judging from what we saw from the footage from Asticassia the Barbatos was visibly damaged seemingly beyond repair. Are you certain that still going with a Gjallarhorn-Era Gundam Frame is still the way to earn another Galaxia? From what we heard from rumours and other sports news chains it seems that your hopes in triumphing in M/J seem to slowly grow lesser and lesser, comparing to what the Europa Corporation was showing with the Gabriel prototype and the Titan Fraternity with their Gundam Kuiper. "-The girl spoke up as Akatsuki's smile still didn't vanish.
"To answer that question, just because Barbatos was visibly damaged doesn't mean that it still not a state-of-the-art Mobile Suit. There were only 72 Gundam Frames for a reason. But to not spoil the surprise for now I'll keep my mouth closer, and about others? From what I seen I do have to admit that the Kuiper is a fairly good machine, and that Katma herself is a good pilot. The fact she managed to put down three students at the same time is impressive."-Akatsuki answered as then another person risen his hand, this time a youngster with his hair tied in a ponytail who had a notepad in his hand.
"Hello, I'm from the "Mobilia" sports magazine. This is probably a more personal question, it is now fairly known after that tv interview that you and Miorine Rembran, the CEO of GUND-ARM Inc. and the potential heiress to the Benerit Group are now engaged. The question is about the potential future start in a mobile suit similar to the company's mascot mobile suit, is there a chance for that?"-The man asked as Akatsuki nodded.
"Yes we are engaged, but about starting with a different Mobile Suit and the question about GUND-ARM Inc.? Well that's a no. GUND-ARM Inc. only exists to save lives, we are a medical company and we design prosthetics and spinal implants. The GUND technology has been stained for years in the Inner Rim after the supposed accusations towards the GUND format enhanced Mobile Suits and research institutes for deaths of their test pilots. Although 21 years had passed since the supposed "Witch Hunt" that was followed with migrations and documents like the Schism Act, it was proven that this technology can be still in use with mobile suits as proven by the fact of…that I am alive. For now our focus is to get rid of the stigma that the technology has over in the Inner Rim, henceforth it is why the CEO wanted to focus her efforts into using GUND in its primal state."-Akatsuki said as meanwhile Miorine couldn't help but smile from behind the scenes. 'Couldn't think of an better advertisement. Although it does seem like anti-advertisement for him, and less dumb E-Mails for me to read.'-she thought as she continued to listen to the interview. According to what Mikazuki said they had 45 minutes directed for questions. And those 45 minutes seemed to pass in a sluggish speed. Typical questions, ranging from what was involving his Mobile Suit career to questions about his personal life, with most of them asking about his mysterious second fiancé that he kept putting under the carpet. And with the 45th minute passing Akatsuki looked upwards realising it was the time.
"Ok ladies and gentlemen, it was nice answering your question but like I promised it is time for the highlight that I promised and the reason why the all of you are here in the first place. Everyone, say hello to our new Mobile Suit not only for the 124 Grand Prix, but also what I will be using as my main Mobile Suit that I will be using for the time being in school duels. Say hello to the TSC-G-08 Gundam Barbatos Eden/Inferno."-Akatsuki said as if on command the black canvas was dropped to reveal the new Barbatos that was quickly enveloped by the light of the cameras and seemingly bringing chaos into all journalists as unknowingly to him, the TSC crew, the MS girls and Miorine the reactions that meanwhile were happening on the internet seemed to cause quite a ruckus. And so the part for which the MS girls were needed finally came as now the photo sessions finally begun, with every MS girl aside from Suletta were now standing beside Akatsuki and in front of Barbatos all smiling to the camera, with Akatsuki putting his arms on the girl's shoulders, hiding the fact he feels uncomfortable behind a massive grin on his face.
"So, how do you feel?"-Suletta asked as she held her Umbrella over Akatsuki who was sitting on his chair. And according to the planned scenario in just a minute he was supposed to get inside Barbatos's cockpit and perform a small test flight in front of journalists.
"Great! Finally we are doing the interesting part and…."-He stopped himself for a second as rather than look at Suletta's face, his eyes begun to travel downwards towards her abs, her visible abs.
"Suki? Is everything ok?"-Suletta asked as Akatsuki was currently fighting his inner feelings as not make an embarrassment in front of the wide audience, and the fact he wore his skin-tight piloting suit. Akatsuki then saw Hibiki wave towards him, giving the signal for him to get inside the cockpit.
"Yes yes! I gotta go, you can change back to your own clothes now."-Akatsuki said as he got up from the chair and put on his helmet, leaving Suletta as he made his way towards the cockpit hatch, with the flashes from the cameras reflecting from the blue and red fabric of the TSC mode of his suit. He sat inside before closing the hatch and running though the start-up sequence. He watched as the journalists were taking photos, just as the large hangar bay door opened.
"Right, Barbatos Eden/Inferno heading out!"-Akatsuki exclaimed over the communication channel as he made his way out of the hangar with journalists who took their positions outside were trying to capture the new Barbatos in all it's dark blue, black and white glory. Akatsuki took a long look around himself as he wanted to showcase what really mattered with the new Barbatos, after seeing that everyone was out the vicinity of the field generation. He smirked as he activated the Wings of Helios, causing a ruckus from the journalists as the generators were spitting out Permet particles. Suddenly Barbatos jolted upwards into the late morning sky as it begun to soar though the skies, much to the surprise of the journalists who kept taking photos of the soaring Mobile Suit. 'Well then, let's give them a good show shall we?'-Akatsuki thought as he increased the thrust and felt his body being shot into the chair. 'Damn it! I guess that's what happens when the thrust is max!'-he thought as he managed to keep the beast under control even though his body was definitely showing that it has been some time since he piloted a suit with a such a level of acceleration. With the first time he sat behind Eden/Inferno was being only for a small test, with him still not being used to using field generation rather than just plain old thrusters, especially with the combined might of the field generators and back GUND-bits that now served as additional backskirt thrusters. And it begun to hurt as he could feel his insides twist. And that was indicated by the inner HUD of his helmet, as the number of G's was increasing as was his heartbeat. However he was quickly getting used to it as he managed to get out of his seat. Meanwhile on the ground people couldn't do anything but marvel and be concerned about how fast the mobile suit was going.
"Yiiii haaaaaaaaa!"-Akatsuki managed to get out of his mouth as his brain was quickly absorbing all the information around him. However he kept going at full power, not even letting off the pedals as he could feel his breakfast going upwards his stomach. 'It would be nice for the Inferno mode to appear.'-he thought as suddenly the main cameras shut off just as the forehead visor slid down on his face. He felt himself being thrusted though the data storm as if he was tied to a missile, as he opened his eyes he found himself looking though Barbatos's eyes, as to the outside world the Gundam Frame's eyes turned red, as suddenly with Akatsuki it seemed that all the problems suddenly vanished…As he begun to gently soar though the air on maximum thrust as if he was piloting on the suggested middle level. And so he did for the next 30 minutes or so as from doing aerial acrobatics he flew down onto the Martian soil, pulling off some stunts as he used the given occasion to make use of his newly given weapons. He took out both of his swords, the Katana in the right and the Shoto in his left as he slashed nearest pile of rocks with them, both being made out of half-metal with traditional mix of Permet and nanolaminate, seemingly unfazed by the impact the rocks were sent flying away. He put away his swords back as he reached out for his beam handgun, and as on instinct the rear manoeuvre engines deattached from the backskirt GUND-bits and travelled towards the handgun, creating what was called the Beam machine gun, as Akatsuki used this new weapon to decimate another near pile of rocks, sending them to oblivion before he returned his machine gun back. But even Akatsuki himself thought that enough was enough and made his way back to the HQ, once again performing several air tricks as everyone, Suletta and Miorine included were slowly getting worried over the fact that Akatsuki hasn't contacted anyone. He managed to land inside the headquarters bringing out an applause from the journalists. Meanwhile inside the cockpit the Inferno mode finally deactivated itself, letting Akatsuki to shut down Barbatos and jumping out to the balustrade, taking out his helmet in the process.
"Suki? Are you okay?"-Suletta now wearing her normal clothes and headband suddenly asked as Akatsuki turned towards her, him looking uncharacteristically pale.
"I'm fine, it's just…"-He didn't finish that sentence as he threw out over the balustrade, Suletta only covered her mouth with her hand as for few seconds or so Akatsuki threw out not only his breakfast, but as it seemed also yesterday's dinner. Before someone had mercy and allowed him to pass out as he fell down face first on the floor.
As he was regaining his consciousness he felt several voices of various tones echoing throughout the space he was in. He opened his eyes to see not only an ice pack on his forehead but also the fact that his suit was unzipped, as he turned around to see not only Suletta and Miorine, but also his father, Hibiki, Miru plus Damon and Vivian and his father, all looking over him.
"Oh, he's up."-Vivian said as Akatsuki got himself from the bench he was laying on.
"Wha…What just happened?"- Akatsuki asked as he saw his father's face looming over him, his eyes more empty than ever.
"What happened? You crawled out of the cockpit, covered the floor with your vomit and passed out for 15 minutes. We managed to get the journalists out of the HQ and cleaned it up so nobody saw it, you're lucky Suletta saw you and quickly informed Vivian who brought you here."-Mikazuki said as his son turned towards the young Mercurian, visibly shaken by the situation as Miorine was shooting a glare at Akatsuki that felt as if it was an ray freezing him in absolute zero.
"Damn, I wasn't expecting those field generators to have such a punch on maximum power, it had to be over 10 G's."-Akatsuki said as Vivian looked at her notepad and showed it to Akatsuki. Who's jaw dropped when he saw the stats, it was impossible right? No human being could probably crawl out of the cockpit with all his insides intact…right?
"21 G-Force, and not for a brief second, 10 minutes of constant pushing your body to your limits. And the fact that the exhaust fumes turned red for a second made us worried you would overdo it."-Vivian said as then Akatsuki turned towards her confused.
"The weirdest part is that I didn't feel anything, at least in the beginning when I pushed the Wings of Helios to the max I felt my insides twist. At first I thought it was because I only piloted a Man-Rodi since I wrecked the AA, but then I activated the Inferno mode…and suddenly everything stopped hurting. As everything blurred together…"-Akatsuki said as he looked down towards his hands and everyone seemed to look at him as if he was an idiot or tried to sell them some kind of religion.
"Come on! Give him a break! So what if he overdid it? It happens! In fact now he knows to NOT OVERDO it again."-Damon said putting his hand on Akatsuki's shoulder, he smiled as at least one person wasn't troubled by the stunt he pulled off.
Akatsuki stood in front of the door that lead to his room. After they returned from the TSC Headquarters Akatsuki took a berate from both of his Mothers right in the face. Miorine seemed as if she didn't want to talk to him and just focused on reading company E-Mails. After their return Suletta only shut herself in the room she was staying at and didn't bother to come out. What was the best course of action for someone regarded as a ladies man even though it was far from the truth about how his relationships with women looked? Apologise to her of course! Even though he himself didn't know why.
"Suletta? I hope you are not mad but I'm coming in."-Akatsuki said as he opened the door to see Suletta sitting on his bed, drinking tea that Atrra made her.
"Suki?"-Suletta asked as Akatsuki closed the door behind him and took a long, deep breath before closing the door behind him.
"Listen, I know what happened today was really…uncomfortable and let's not be afraid to use it, shocking. I'm sorry!"-Akatsuki finally exclaimed as he sat down next to her, causing Suletta to get confused.
"What? Why? It wasn't your fault that you have a normal human body. Aerial was designed in a way to be resistant to high G-forces, this is still a new technology that isn't common and you never tested it in its full capacity. I was more afraid of the fact the exhaust fumes from your reactors turned red."-Suletta said as she looked down onto the floor as Akatsuki nodded both in agreement and shame.
"I understand, and I'm sorry, although I feel more shame for the part when I got out and passed out, I must've looked like a ghost."-Akatsuki said as Suddenly Suletta felt struck with the thought of the pale face that most of the time was vibrant with colours and emotions looking at her as if struck down.
"I'm not angry about that, I can say that I was afraid but not angry, like during your fight with Mister Stellaris. You keep getting hurt for no real reason…and the only place where I can I was kinda angry was that you scared Atrra and Kudelia, they love you so much and you keep bringing them fear and anxiety If you live to see the next day."-Suletta said as Akatsuki nodded.
"Yes, it was the reason why I initially stopped. If it wasn't for Miorine and…in fact you, for pulling me into this mess I wouldn't have a real reason for why I want to fight."-Akatsuki said as Suletta blushed from his comment.
"Well…glad I could help."-She said between stutters as Akatsuki turned towards his drawer, before walking towards it and taking out a small box.
"I wanted to give you this on Christmas, but since I do feel I kinda owe you I wanted to give you this now."-Akatsuki said as he opened the box to reach out for the custom crimson headband with white Iron Flowers on the sides. Suletta blushed immediately at the sight of the headband. It wasn't like she didn't get gifts before, but those were only from her mother. This…this was something else, and from one of her fiancés to boot, she didn't even register when Akatsuki slid on the headband in place of her own.
"Wow, It looks great with your hair…"-Akatsuki said as then Suletta turned towards him with her eyes seeming deeper than any of Earth's oceans.
"T-Thank you."-She said as Akatsuki himself couldn't help but blush.
"I mean, Christmas is about giving right? Now lets go see what's on lunch."-Akatsuki said as he got up from his bed with Suletta following, both their thoughts being the same. 'I think I'm falling more in love with her/him every day.'
CHAPTER 16: END CHAPTER 16:
EPILOGUE AFTER DISASTER STELLA 101
"Come on Seras! There is little to no time!"-The voice of a technician echoed throughout the head of the 13-year old Seras, already dressed up in her pilot suit as she was being pulled by her hand while the world was seemingly falling around her, the research lab she called home, The Tempest now was being under siege. She couldn't remember much of what has happened. Only an hour ago they lost the contact with the main Vanadis colony, the Folkvangr. And judging what the Development Council's frontman said it meant that Doctor Cardo Nabo and all others were dead, the directors of the Tempest ordered immediate evacuation, although that proved worthless as they were immediately attacked by the forces of newly formed "Cathedra". And so Seras, as the daughter of the Tempest's head researcher and director, was being transported away in order to reach her mother. Who was already waiting in an escape shuttle. And as she was pulled suddenly a gunshot pierced the technician's head. Suddenly two soldiers approached her, each pointing their rifle at the young girl.
"Oh look, another wi-"-the soldier was quickly cut off by a wound to the head. With his companion also sharing this fate. As Seras turned around she saw her father, holding a pistol and not even wearing a normal suit. His lab coat stained with blood.
"Daddy?"-The girl asked as her father only grabbed his daughter and made a run for it.
"Daddy? The shuttle bay is that way. Why are you taking me to the MS hangar?"-Seras asked as she looked up to see her father's sad face.
"They bombed the bay, your Mother has been dead for the last 45 minutes."-He said in an dead tone as Seras couldn't help but cry…her Mom was dead? Why? She was just a scientist like her Dad. They didn't do nothing wrong, right? It was all she could think about as they reached the Hangar Bay holding what was the Tempest's greatest achievement and perhaps the biggest proof of Cardo Nabo's trust in her father. The XGF-02 Lfrith Negro, the second full built Lfrith mobile suit, and the suit that Seras was testing.
"Will we run away together?"-Seras asked as her father opened the cockpit and threw his daughter inside and as quickly as he could runned the start-up procedure.
"The Lfrith was loaded with supplies that will allow you to survive, the autopilot was already programmed with the destination being the border, It's the only thing your mother would want for me to do."-her father said as she looked towards him pleadingly.
"What!? What about you!?"-She asked as pleadingly as her father patted her head.
"I was there with Vanadis when it was founded. If I went with you I would put a bigger target on your head, I'm so proud of you, I've thought you everything I knew. I love you more then I love the universe itself Seras."-her father said as he managed to kiss his daughter's forehead before closing the cockpit not minding his daughter's cries and plies. Meanwhile outside of the hangar he could hear the voices of incoming soldiers. Not wasting anyone time he runned towards the nearest terminal and opened the hangar sending the Lfrith down the bay. The man only smiled as he watched the Mobile Suit being prepared for launch. 'Avenge us daughter, build a better world unlike ours.'-were his last thoughts before being rattled by machine gun fire, dying with a smile on his face. Not knowing that his daughter had been the witness of his demise. Seras buried herself in her seat as the Negro flew away from the Tempest. Seras could only turn the unit's head as she saw the Tempest explode, like a quiet fireball.
Seras jolted off from her bed, covered in cold sweat as she reached out to her bedside table for a glass of water.
"That dream, again…"-She said as she clapped her hands in order to reveal the panorama of Chryse from the windows of her large apartment. She got up from her bed not even minding to correct her bedsheets, reaching for her phone to see the public's reaction to what Barbatos Eden/Inferno was showing. And she couldn't help but smile. Making her way to the bathroom in order to prepare herself for the next day of research and development for the glory of Mars.
A/N: Sorry it took so long, it just took me a bit of planning this story forward. Another neat filler chapter, with fanservice!. With the next chapter marking the end of the filler arc I think I can already announce it now, the next chapters will be adaptation of the side novels. And we will meet Yushura and Yushetas in person. Of course as always this chapter has been filled with references to other Gundam works (Kudos for those who can spot them all.) ranging from Thunderbolt to Wing. And of course more changes to the actual show, remember those blue earrings that Miorine wore with her business attire? Well in this series they are canonically a Christmas gift from Akatsuki. And there is one more thing, at the time I'm writing this A/N Demon Incarnate has 93 followers, and that might sound kinda weird because I know some stories have over 800 followers. But for me if this story will hit 100 followers it will feel like a big step. So I want to announce something that me and my beta reader FriendlyStand3632 were talking about for some time, we will do a special! Four short stories plus a neat surprise, a QNA where we will answer your questions, if you want to get your question answered just write it in the review below and by the time we will 100 followers all will be answered by me and FriendlyStand as he also now has his part in building this universe. Until next time! And as always I don't own Gundam, that belongs to Bandai and Sunrise.