Raise Your Hell

by TheLandMaster45

What exactly a Diver is to do when a force with a sick sense of humor decides to toss her off to a world where half of humanity is worth less than the dirt they die on, and the only hope for a red planet is a reckless band of orphans who fight with the help of demons from the past? Why... Raise hell, of course!

3. Chapter 3

Near the coast of Antarctica, uncharted island…

Sometimes, Deira Nadira wondered if she couldn't have performed her noble and glorious self-exile to some other place that was less of a frozen hellhole than Antarctica. Maybe some place with more sunlight, normal temperatures and no winds that threatened to flash-freeze her bones. Unfortunately, or somewhat fortunately, these thoughts were always squashed by the reminder that Gjallarhorn controlled most, if not all of said sunny territory, meaning she'd be discovered in a flash, and all the work to erase her traces from the world would have been for naught.

It still did nothing to ease the cold.

But if there was one thought always pushing her forward with this decision, was that this was the best path to finding the one person that mattered more in her life than revenge against Gjallarhorn in the name of her family: her fiancé, Mina Zalmfort.

Somewhere out there, be it on Earth or the colonies, Mina was waiting for her. Waiting for her to return, so they could finally have the marriage they had promised to one another. And Deira would be damned if she'd let Gjallarhorn stop her from getting revenge… and justice.

Sadly, these aspirations had long been put on hold by one large problem: there was very little Deira could do. Without her family's resources, a need to keep an extremely low profile, and her severe lack of allies meant that all she could do was hide herself… well, herself, and the one thing she had managed to steal away, hidden away beneath the ice near her compound for when the time was right. For now, however, Deira's life consisted of only a few simple activities: hide away in her compound alongside what few loyal Gjallarhorn members had stayed by her side, make a few supply runs from time to time, and check her scant surveillance equipment for whatever intel she had managed to gather. Overall, not a very glamorous life, but it was what Deira had for now, and what she would have to contend with for a long time.

Still, there were some creature comforts to be had that made the passage of time somewhat less monotonous: there was a fairly good selection of books to read, the combat simulator kept her occupied and her skills sharp, and finally the television, piggybacking off public signals so that some channels could be watched.

Or, during one particularly fascinating night, to pick up the transmission of that lunatic, Solomon.

It had been quite a shock to see someone so brazenly and openly challenge Gjallarhorn, especially during a time so filled with turmoil as now. Even more so when, instead of looking like some nutjob with a camera, this time they seemed very much well-informed, well-prepared, and not afraid to fire back. And while Deira had yet to risk attempting to enter their offered database, the conviction behind their words painted a good picture of just how correct their information likely was.

But who was Solomon? Where had they come from, and what was their goal? Were they really only aiming to expose Gjallarhorn's corruption and crimes, or was their objective something more insidious?

Well, if there was one thing Deira knew, it was that the answers wouldn't come to her if she just kept sitting here, staring at the television as yet another report on Gjallarhorn's hunt for Solomon that had ended in failure played on the screen. With a sigh, Deira turned off the TV, and rose from her chair, slowly moving towards the door…

And then the TV turned on again.

The suddenness of the noise made Deira stumble with her steps, the woman turning around to stare at the once-more present image of a reporter speaking, this time about the stock market and its ups and downs. With no small amount of confusion, Deira walked back to her chair, took hold of the controller and pressed on the power button once more. And just like before, the screen turned off… then back on again.

"What the…"

"Apologies for the interruption, miss Nadira."

The distorted voice coming from the TV almost made Deira jump out of her skin, her grip on the controller tightening to vise-like strength as the image on the screen began distorting and breaking apart, slowly being replaced by a pure-black background… and that now infamous sigil, code slowly bleeding from its edges.

"I am thankful, however, that I've finally managed to reach you," continued the voice, the symbol pulsing lightly as every word was spoken. "While I understand the need for secrecy, considering your current situation, it certainly made contacting you quite a hassle."

"You… How did you—"

"Find this place? Information gathering has been more than a pastime of mine for the longest time, and if I may say so, you are quite a person of interest to me."

It was hard to tell through the heavy electronic distortion, but Deira swore that there was more than a healthy dose of mirth in Solomon's tone as they spoke, though it did not lower her suspicion of the stranger who had now broken into her compound from somewhere, somehow negating all the efforts she had taken to hide her presence from the entire world. Nevertheless, with a quick moment to take a breath, Deira returned to her chair and sat down, staring intently at the screen as her thoughts began to race. "Alright then. What do you want with me? I can already tell this isn't a mere friendly call… if you would ever do those."

Solomon's response was a garbled chuckle from the other end of the line, before a few images began appearing on-screen. And even after a year, the sight of the destroyed and wrecked shuttle floating listlessly in space made Deira's hands clench tightly, and her breath hitch for the briefest of moments.

"Let us talk about your exile… and that heirloom you stole when you escaped."

-O-

Lagrange Point 4, colony cylinder Melus 2…

"Thank you for your services, mister Fossil. Payment has been wired to your account as requested."

"You're welcome, chairman. If you're in need of further services, feel free to contact me again."

With a small bow of his head, the elderly man shut off the communication, leaving Zaza Fossil alone with his thoughts as he took hold of the cup of coffee next to him and sipped from it, feeling the warm liquid heat up his mouth and throat as it went down, before heaving out a tired, drawn-out sigh.

"Zaza? Is everything alright?"

Any negative thoughts were quickly squashed, however, by the almost cherubic voice of the petite blonde girl sitting beside him, staring at the mercenary with those emotional, worry-filled eyes of hers, a small mug of tea held tightly in her equally small hands.

"It's fine, just… tired, is all," replied Zaza, making sure that his tone conveyed exactly what he had said, even as he put one hand atop of the girl's head and ruffled her hair lightly. "Just need a night of sleep and a good meal, that's all."

"Okay… you wanna go back now, then?"

"Alright. Let's get going, then."

With a nod, the girl drank the last contents of her cup, her cheeks flushing lightly from the warmth of the tea, before carefully pushing her chair away from the table and hopping onto the floor, making sure that her dress did not get hitched anywhere, while Zaza emptied his own mug in one go, placed a few bills on the table for the server, then took hold of the girl's hand and walked her out of the small café they had entered not an hour ago.

As Zaza walked through the streets of the colony's commercial districts, the lamp lights slowly coming alive as the cylinder shifted to its night cycle, he couldn't help but give fleeting glances to the sides and behind them, eyes always attentive to any possible ambushes that could come their way, all the while making sure that the weight of his concealed handgun was still where it was supposed to, inside the pocket of his coat.

Normally, one wouldn't really worry too much about this sort of danger. Even with the inherent corruption of the system and Gjallarhorn's heavy-handed attitude to security, the more affluent colonies very rarely had major crimes happen so brazenly. After all, the colonies were one of the biggest economical symbols of Earth, and it'd do no good to have their image sullied by such things as a common citizen being mugged or shot in the middle of the streets.

But then again, Zaza wasn't quite a common citizen, regardless of his status as a free-lance mercenary, and especially with his current ward… not to mention his prying into other sensitive matters. In the end, however, all Zaza could do was stay vigilant, keep his wits sharp, and make sure that they never drew too much attention to themselves.

With that in mind, as the artificial darkness of the colony finally fell upon its streets, the night-goers filling into the sidewalks and cars began passing by with increasing frequency, Zaza and the girl quickened their pace towards the apartment they had been staying at for the last two months, always mindful of crowds or bends with blind spots, until finally, the duo reached the ten-story building they for now called home. With a quiet sigh and a small relaxing of his shoulders, Zaza led the girl into the atrium of the building, giving a polite nod to the doorman as they passed before entering the elevator and pressing the button to the eighth floor.

"Hey, Zaza?" asked the girl aloud, once more staring at him with those worry-filled eyes. "Are we… going to leave again?"

"No, not this time," he replied calmly, lightly shifting his body around as he watched the floor counter go up. "We've got plenty of time to stay here, so don't worry about it." The girl, in response, let out a hum of acceptance, then let her gaze lower back towards the door as she waited alongside him for their floor. Moments later, the bell inside the elevator pinged and the doors slid open, allowing Zaza and the girl to enter the hallway that led to their room, their feelings slowly rising in positivity…

That is, until Zaza put his arm in front of the girl, almost making her stumble onto the floor, as he quickly withdrew his pistol from within his coat.

The reason for both his actions being quite simple: the light of their apartment was on.

Pressing a finger to his lips, Zaza crept forward towards the door, even as the girl gave a shaky nod and hid herself in one of the hallway's alcoves, until finally he was right beside the door. Carefully and slowly, Zaza reached for the door handle and gently twisted it until it was enough to open the door, but to his surprise, the door was still locked. Undeterred, Zaza took the key from his pocket, carefully slid it into the lock, and turned, the soft click being thankfully muffled by the low speed of the action, until finally the door came open.

With practiced ease, Zaza slipped into the room with his gun at the ready, quickly sweeping it across the apartment in search of hostiles… but yet again, to his surprise, there was no one. For a moment, panic gripped the mercenary's heart, and he almost dashed out of the apartment to check on the girl… but she was still there, unharmed, staring at Zaza with deep concern and gripping the edge of the alcove as tight as her hands could.

So, steeling his mind one last time, Zaza moved into the apartment and began methodically sweeping all rooms for danger: bathrooms, kitchen, bedrooms, living room… all of them checked, and all of them clear of any sign of intruders, or that anyone had been inside. No furniture moved, no objects disturbed. All that was changed was the lights being on.

"I-Is it safe, Zaza?" called out the girl from the hallway, already peeking her head around the door's frame. And while for a moment longer, the mercenary did not respond, he finally lowered his weapon and gave the girl a nod.

"Yes… it's safe. You can come in, Mina."

With a shaky nod of her own, Mina walked into the apartment, her eyes glued to the pistol in Zaza's hand even as he placed it back into its holster inside his coat and threw himself onto the sofa, kneading his forehead almost furiously. "I'm sorry… I never meant for things to be this way…"

"It's… It's alright, Zaza…" she replied in return, carefully walking towards Zaza and taking hold of one of his hands. "I know you try your best… and that no matter what happens, you'll help me… so don't be too hard on yourself, okay?"

And with that, Mina threw her arms around Zaza's neck and pulled him into as tight a hug as she could, earning a gasp and widened eyes from the mercenary as he looked at the young girl hanging from his neck. And in response, Zaza awkwardly put his arms around her, lightly brushing one of his hands against her hair.

He might not be the most compassionate person, and he might not be the most approachable, but Zaza Fossil knew one thing: that no matter what… He would keep this girl safe.

To the end of his life, and until he found the answers he had been looking for, Zaza Fossil would fight on… him, and his Gundam.

"Very cute, very cute!"

Both Zaza and Mina, however, found their hearts jumping to their throats as they heard the high-pitched, almost child-like voice cry out inside the apartment, followed by a strange orange ball jumping out from within the laundry basket inside the bedroom and rolling all the way to them, stopping just shy of Zaza's feet as it stared at the two with its small, slit-shaped eyes.

"Message for you! Message for you!" it cried out happily yet again, and before either Zaza or Mina could do or say anything, the small ball opened up its "mouth", revealing a keyboard and screen inside itself, the latter which was showing a single green line, that began to shift and move as a garbled voice echoed from unseen speakers in the ball.

"Hello there, Zaza Fossil. Or perhaps you'd rather be called Zadiel Zalmfort? I only request that you do not destroy this machine in retaliation, as it is quite important to me."

Fortunately for the mysterious voice, and unfortunately for the two it was addressing, both Zaza and Mina were unable to properly take action against the ball machine. The reason, of course, being that both Zalmforts were staring with earth-shattering terror at the revealed intruder that had oh-so casually revealed a secret the older brother had literally killed to maintain. And as if sensing their horror, the voice continued its speech.

"You need not worry, my boy. Your secrets are known only to me, and no one else in the entire solar system. I am only here, of course, to extend an invitation to you. And I assure you, it will be in your best interest to accept this, pilot of the Dantalion. After all, your sister's bride misses her very dearly."

-O-

Radonitsa Colony, Venus' extreme lower orbit…

"Are you sure there's something here, Wistario?"

"I mean, Sinister and Dexter said they heard something down here, so better we check it out fully before giving up, right?"

"I guess…"

"Great, then let's keep going!"

Below the surface of the colony of Radonitsa, under the disrepaired-but-still-standing city where its rightless citizens lived, sat the maintenance tunnels where most of its infrastructure resided. Be it water pipes, electrical wiring, heating or even sewage systems, all of it could be easily accessed through the labyrinthian passages that criss-crossed their way through Radonitsa's deeper bowels. Being so expansive, however, meant that unless one had a map, or had intimate knowledge of the pathways the tunnels took, then they would soon become lost within the featureless metal hallways, with their chance of escape diminishing from slim to none.

Then again, this could certainly be considered a feature, not a flaw, of Radonitsa's designs. After all, a penal colony that could entomb its prisoners into a built-in mass grave was a penal colony with an efficient body disposal system. Who cared for rotting corpses hidden in the underground, after all?

So it could be considered quite a blessing that not only was Wistario Afam very knowledgeable of the tunnels' paths, but he also kept several copies of the maps necessary to navigate them, which were freely available for all of his company's workers. Thus, when he received a report from his two elderly engineers that "strange noises" had been heard within the tunnels, Wistario saw fit to go check out the rumor himself. And since Demner and Range wouldn't ever let Wistario out of his sight when such a blatant unknown factor had potentially infiltrated Radonitsa (no matter how many times Wistario tried to dissuade their assumptions), both of them had also come along, Range even going as far as bringing a handgun for both himself and Demner.

Now, however, the former mercenary's paranoia seemed to have given way to skepticism, considering the handgun had been long placed back into its holster, and Range's stance had gone from guarded to lax very quickly.

"I still think this might turn out to be a load of bollocks," muttered Range as he ducked under an outcropped pipe, with a growl of annoyance quickly following when a drop of dirty water splashed down against his poncho. "I mean, wouldn't we have found something by now?"

"It could also be that whatever was in the tunnels has already left," posited Demner, the elderly man expertly maneuvering his way around and somehow not getting any water on himself, unlike Range. "Or perhaps it has gone to some of the other less-frequented areas."

In response, Wistario hummed thoughtfully, still shining his flashlight over every nook and cranny that they passed, before stopping and rifling through his pockets for something. "Maybe, but Dexter and Sinister said the noises were always around here," said the young boy as he finally withdrew the candy from his pocket, Wistario quickly and skillfully unwrapping it with one hand before promptly taking a bite off the yellow misuzu candy. Humming happily at the taste, Wistario turned around to face his erstwhile escorts, and gave both of them a carefree smile. "Besides, if it was dangerous, it would have probably tried to hurt us already, wouldn't it?"

To Wistario's confusion, however, neither Demner nor Range were looking at him. Instead, both men were staring past him, and looked quite frightened, too. Curious, the young boy turned around, shining his flashlight down the tunnel to see what was–

… That was a lot of colored balls…

"WISTARIO, WISTARIO! LETTER FOR YOU! LETTER FOR YOU!"

Just before he and his panicking co-workers-slash-friends were buried under an avalanche of colorful ball-shaped robots with cutesy voices and the accompanying army of equally-adorable robots some of them seemed to be piloting, Wistario had enough time to wonder if this was a sign of things to come.

-O-

Mars, hidden ex-Force Nest…

"You can do this… C'mon, you can do this, you got this shit in the bag, let's go…"

The inside of Serena's Nest had seen many strange things during its lifetime, something expected considering how GBN was a very… let's say colorful place.

But still, the sight of the Nest's owner pacing back and forth inside an empty briefing room, half-dressed in her Solomon garbs, clutching her helmet-and-mask disguise and trying her best not to panic was definitely something new.

[Serena, you're about to flip the fuck out,] piped up Aria through the room's speakers, the AI clearly having the time of her life watching her creator, to quote her own words, "flip the fuck out". [As hilarious as it'd be to watch, we do have a meeting coming up, so maybe calm down?]

"Oh, I'm sorry, am I not allowed to freak out over the fact I'm about to try to play the big mysterious benefactor role here?" asked Serena in return, her tone a tad more acrid than usual, even as the woman set down the mask atop the table to massage the migraine off her head. "This is new stuff, I'm not good with the cloak and dagger shit!"

[Aren't you an information broker?]

"There's a fucking WORLD of difference between being a broker and being some revolutionary mastermind, Aria!"

And wasn't that a wild thing to say aloud…

The idea of "Solomon" had come about from both Serena and Aria recalling a time another GBN player joked about the former's surname being the same as that of SEED Destiny's main villain, to which Serena replied they better hope she never became some super villain whose goal was eugenics.

A bit morbid, but what the hell.

However, the memory of it also made the ex-Diver realize that perhaps, playing the role of Char Clone could have its uses. Sure, McGillis was already there, but as far as she had gotten to see, his work as "Montag" had never been very active, likely due to being promoted to head of the Outer Earth Orbit Regulatory Joint Fleet and thus having no free time to play a double life. So if, say, another masked man was to take the stage front and center, and decided to actively do something to shepherd the Mars and colonial freedom movements so as to keep Gjallarhorn's little schemes at bay, AND form a group of like-minded people who might want to change the world by going after the organization mostly responsible for it… well, Serena might take a few pages from Gilbert, after all. And hey, she always liked the Ars Goetia-themed Gundams from Iron-Blooded Orphans, so what better than to play the part of one of history's greatest exorcists, who had wielded said demons to chan

That didn't mean she was good at it, though. She was a GBN player, not a criminal mastermind, dammit!

Thankfully, Aria was around to pick up some of the slack, pitch some scripts on how to play the character, help with the transmission's broadcast and encryption… the more technical part of it all.

The get up and actual acting, though? All Serena. Those theater lessons were finally paying some dividends, even if she had to act everything while sitting, lest her height give her away. The woes of being seven feet tall and built like the NRX-010 Gable…

Taking one last deep breath, Serena rolled her shoulders to loosen up some of the stiffness from the weight of her cloak atop of them, then moved towards the large, ornate chair she now had set up for her transmissions. It was also SIGNIFICANTLY more comfortable, but that was a benefit, not a need… even if Serena had bitched constantly about the other chair not being as soft to sit on. "Okay, okay, I think I got this…" said the ex-Diver, taking one last look at the featureless white mask before glancing back at the screen where Aria was being displayed in, arms crossed and leaning against the background. "Alright, start calling everyone, let's get this going before I freak out again."

[Roger, roger,] replied the AI before promptly blinking out of view, turning off the monitor a moment later. In its place, four other monitors swung out from the wall and moved to hover in front of Serena, held up by mechanical arms that had been folded inside the wall. Each screen was black, save for the slowly pulsing demonic sigil displayed on the middle of them, each one representing a specific demon from the Lesser Key of Solomon: Marchosias, Astaroth, Dantalion, and Gremory.

The first one was kind of a guess shot, but come on, was it REALLY a coincidence that the Gundam Hajiroboshi and Marchosias shared so much in common? Also the blatant shot during the trailers of Marchosias' sigil flashing during Hajiroboshi's startup sequence.

If it turned out different, fine, no damage done, but it was such a blatantly obvious connection that Serena just decided to roll with it.

The moment Aria sent a ping back indicating things were ready, Serena slipped her mask over her head, making sure to tuck her horns into the proper slots and her hair away from view, before motioning with one hand. A second later, all four screens flickered, and the image displayed by them changed, revealing instead the speakers she had been waiting for.

In the first was Wistario Afam, staring at her cloaked figure with a plenty of curiosity and glee, Demner standing behind the boy with the expected stoic look on his face, which was somewhat undercut by the image of Haros rolling around the office in the background, or riding Karels carrying boxes atop their arms.

In the second, huddled together as closely as possible to fit inside the camera's frame, were Volco Warren, Liarina Morugaton, Nanao Narolina, and Argi Mirage, the four runaways sitting around a metal table in what clearly was the dining area of their ship.

In the third, Zaza Fossil, aka Zamriel Zalmfort, sat on a couch, staring down what Serena could guess was the Haro she had snuck into his apartment, and while Mina was not inside the frame, the ex-Diver doubted he'd let his sister out of his sight so easily, so she was bound to be close by.

And finally, on the last screen, was Deira Nadira, also sitting on a couch, inside her Antarctica compound, and strangely without Jizil Jizin at her side.

In total, four different parties, who would never have crossed paths in their lives, if Serena hadn't brought them together. And she had to convince them all to work together.

Easy peasy!

"Greetings, my friends," said Serena as calmly as she could, her tone of voice thankfully hidden by the heavy duty modulator mounted inside the mask. "Thank you for accepting this little invitation. I trust this means you are all willing to listen to what I have to offer?"

"That depends," quickly replied Deira, the woman leaning back against her seat while staring daggers at Serena/Solomon. "Will you also explain how the hell did you find us?"

"Or how you managed to sneak all of these… machines, into Radonitsa," added Denmer, the man pointedly ignoring the Haro that flew past his face and was grabbed out of the air by Wistario with a chuckle, and who promptly began to give the ball-shaped robot a few rubs to its top.

"Thanks for sending them, by the way, they've been a big help with work here!" said the young boy. "They managed to patch up so much stuff we missed out on, and even some stuff we thought couldn't be fixed!"

Serena couldn't suppress the chuckle Wistario's reaction brought from her, even if the sound came out quite garbled thanks to the voice modulator. "Of course. I will answer any and all questions you have for me, it is only fair."

"Any question?" suddenly asked Zaza, the Zalmfort heir's expression oddly serious as he stared down Serena. "Regardless of what it is?"

The way Zaza worded the question made a few alarms ring inside the ex-Diver's head. It sounded innocuous enough, just a way to confirm that she would be willing to share information openly, as a show of trust, but the way Zaza was staring at her painted the question in a whole different picture, one that Serena couldn't make out, and that made her worried. And it didn't help that all the others were now focused on the blonde Gundam pilot, staring at him with a gamut of expressions.

Still, it wouldn't do to falter literally one minute into the meeting, so Serena merely re-composed herself and turned to face Zaza while placing both her hands atop the table. "Bar specific limitations, I would be happy to clear away your doubts, Zaza Fossil," she said slowly but confidently, staring down the incognito Zalmfort through the shadowed eye slits of her mask. "I understand your reservations, and am ready to dispel them."

It was a proper, non-committal answer, one that could give Serena plenty of outs just in case.

"Then if I asked you to remove that mask, would you?"

A pity it was rendered moot by Zaza asking the one question she didn't want him to. And worst of all, it made everyone else turn back to face Serena, who was now metaphorically sweating up a storm as she tried to think of some bullshit excuse to either dodge the needed answer, or to justify not doing so.

Sadly, however, Serena's mind was drawing a complete blank. If she refused, they'd never trust her, especially considering things were already shaky due to the fact she had successfully tracked down two people who, by all accounts, should have been IMPOSSIBLE to find, not to mention sneak in tech no one else had, using tech no one else had. Sure, it let her test out the Minosvky Drive aboard Valefor, and proved that it still worked, ergo she could travel the Solar System in a matter of days if need be… but it was still something that she'd (maybe, possibly) kill to keep the secret of.

Except she couldn't do it to these people, because they were her ticket to changing the world, quite literally.

So, in the face of the unexpected attention now pinned solely onto her, chief of which was Zaza's stoney, defiant glare, Serena could only do one thing.

"... Haaahhh…"

That being to let out a long, very overdone sigh, and lean forward so much her mask's (and thus, her own) horns almost touched the table, completely ignorant of the bewildered expression on her "guests" faces, and only somewhat aware of the equally-weary groan Aria had just made echo into her ears. Then, after a long, almost awkward pause, the ex-Diver rose to her full height, ignoring the widening of eyes such a thing caused, and casually took off her mask, shaking her hair free before pulling the weighed black cloak off of her body and tossing it off to the side, and crossing her arms while giving her audience a cheeky grin. "Well, guess that's the end of the mystique and mystery… Let's start this over, then. Hey there, folks, name's Serena Durandal, and I got a big plan I could use some help with. Nice to meet you!"

If the previous silence was awkward, the one that followed her lackadaisical identity reveal was downright comical. Primarily because, unseen by any of the other people in the screens, Aria was once more occupying the larger screen in the room, while holding a sign with "You dumb fuck" written on it.

Thankfully, someone finally decided to end said silence.

Unfortunately, that person was Argi.

"... Solomon's a woman?"

Whack!

Which, naturally, resulted in Liarina whacking the back of his head with… something, the camera's angle didn't quite allow for Serena to see whatever it was.

It still didn't stop Serena from barking out a laugh at it, or pointing lazily at the white-haired boy.

"Heh, nice, keep beating the misogyny out of him, Liarina," said the ex-Diver, something that made Liarina's cheeks flush, even if she did smile as well. With the moment past, Serena eased her stance once more, and cast a gimlet eye over the others. "As for the rest of you, I'd appreciate it if you all could keep mum about my little side job. You know, even if you end up not tagging along, which I doubt you wouldn't, because it's definitely gonna be of your interest to stick with me."

"First let's hear your offer, then we'll consider," replied Volco, the brow of the young Warren heir set into a firm scowl as he stared at Serena. "Let's start with your goals."

Giving a nod in return, Serena moved back to her chair and threw herself onto it, the thing only lightly creaking under her weight. "Well, I think I made my stance somewhat clear on how I see the world: shit's currently fucked, and most of the problems can be laid right at Gjallarhorn's feet. Not all of them, sure, but enough that it gave me zero qualms with wanting to start my little shadowy revolutionary act and try to fix things by going after the culprit."

"You want to destroy Gjallarhorn?" asked Deira somewhat testily, but in response, Serena waved her hand dismissively and leaned further back against her seat.

"Hardly. I've got problems with the current administration, yeah, but that doesn't mean I want to blow everything to shit. I'm no bomb-slinging anarchist."

"As far as we know, at least," said Nanao with a smirk, though Serena paid the maid-slash-assassin no mind. "So what is it you wish to do, then?"

For a few brief moments, Serena let the question hang unanswered, the ex-Diver simply sitting there with her eyes closed as she rolled her thoughts inside her head. She had asked herself that same question throughout the year she had been here already, over and over, as she hashed out details regarding playing the role of Solomon, getting in touch with Ochs Earth, gathering up all those dossiers…

What did she want to do? And of course, every time, the answer would be the same.

"I want to do better."

When she opened her eyes once more, and was met with the somewhat confused (or, in Wistario's case, curious) stares of the called, Serena leaned forward again, this time resting her elbows on her thighs, and her head against her closed hands as she stared at at the top of her table. "Whether we like it or not, Gjallarhorn is the reason humanity survived. They defeated the Mobile Armors, and saved human life from extinction. They earned the right to become peacekeepers from all the blood they shed in those battles."

"But that's changed. Now they don't keep humanity safe, they keep their interests safe: the Seven Stars are almost all rotten to the core, the ground troops go around enforcing whatever rules their bosses want them to, we have actual scheduled work revolt put-downs… and this shit has to change. I want to sift through the muck and trash currently leading Gjallarhorn, separate the good from the rotten, and wipe the slate as clean as possible." After taking a moment to catch her breath, Serena raised her line of sight to stare down the screens once more, with a special focus towards Deira and Zaza. "Not everyone in or from Gjallarhorn are like that, obviously, but they're the rare exception, not the norm, when it should be the complete opposite of that. And this also ties into why I've decided to contact all of you: because you all either witnessed this fact, or were put through it in some way."

When she saw Zaza flinch, Serena had to fight to keep the grin off her face. Turnabout's fair play, you blue-blood fucker, she thought vengefully, though it was tempered by the memory that was the fact he had very good reasons to be suspicious of everyone around him. And besides, Zaza was not the only one who reacted to her declaration: Deira's brow scrunched in anger, Argi clenched both his hands so hard they began to shake, Volco's frown deepened further, and even Wistario looked uncomfortably to the side, no longer rubbing the top of the Haro unit still in his lap. The only ones to not directly react were Liarina, Denmer and Nanao, and even then the former two still turned towards their companions and tried to comfort them somehow, while the latter merely kept staring at Serena with well concealed, but still present, amusement and interest.

It didn't take long for them to move away from that, however, with Volco once more eyeing Serena cautiously. "And what about you? Do you have a history with Gjallarhorn as well?"

When his eyes drifted slightly towards her horns, Serena couldn't help but chuckle at the implication he was giving. "Nah, nothing like that," she replied, waving her hand in dismissal once more. "Never had any trouble that actually bothered me related to these. I guess people just don't want to piss off the huge bitch who could fold them like an omelet."

"... Quite."

"Yeah, my reasons are more on the level of thinking it was about time someone kicked Gjallarhorn down a peg or fifty."

And also to avoid the sequence of events that would lead to the slaughter of tens of dozens of kids because of their lack of foresight and knowledge on these things, but they didn't have to know that. Plus, Serena really did have the main goal of helping make things better in the Solar System. She was just taking an admittedly selfish route to achieve such a thing.

And if it let her kill some people who really deserved it, well… who was she to say no to it?

"There's also another reason I picked all of you," continued the ex-Diver with a smarmy grin. When the gathered stared at her once more, she raised one hand to the air. "Astaroth. Dantalion. Gremory. Marchosias." With each name she spoke, Serena raised one finger, with the last one earning a violent flinch from Denmer, and a confused tilt of the head from Wistario, both of which she decided to deal with later. "Throughout time, the Mobile Suits known as 'Gundam' were center-stage amidst sweeping changes to humanity's history. They were there when the Calamity War threatened humanity's existence, and it was because of them that we all survived, bloodied and bruised as we are, metaphorically speaking. But for over three hundred years, the Gundams have been asleep, and with them, any attempts to change this rotten status quo have been rendered moot." And when she opened her hand in full and held it up as if cradling the world on its palm, Serena's grin was as bloodthirsty as it was eager. "And I'm gonna change that. Every single surviving Gundam that I can reach, I'll bring to the forefront of history, and I'll make this rotten world change by using their power. Where once the Gundams fought to save humanity from its enemies… I would now bid them to save us from ourselves."

Her grandiose (and, admittedly, somewhat megalomaniacal) statement was met with an expected silence, leaving Serena free to lean back onto her chair once more. Finally, however, the group seemed to properly absorb the information given, and judging by the thoughtful expression some of them had, the pitch was starting to take effect at long last. "What would you expect out of us in return, then?" asked Deira, the woman's tone of voice now much more sedated. "I can't speak for everyone here, but if you're aware of my situation, then you know I can't expose my location whatsoever."

"And our current situation leaves little room for freedom regarding leaving Radonitsa," added Denmer, the old man laying one hand atop Wistario's shoulder as she talked, while the boy returned his attention to the Haro he was still carrying. "Even with the added help your machines have given us, the Gjallarhorn garrison stationed here would never allow us to leave this place so many times, especially if it were matters unrelated to Radonitsa."

"And I don't expect you to," replied Serena in return. "I know most of you are stuck for the meantime, but I'd still like to know if you're up to joining along… and of course, I'm not going to ask this without offering something in return for it."

Taking a breath to calm her nerves, Serena sat up straight once more on her chair, and let her seriousness paint her expression, the first time in all the meeting she did so. "I won't air details right now, I'm not that kind of person. But I also know what some of you went through, and what you most likely want to do in return for it… so I'm willing to help."

Even being as vague as that, Serena saw the sharp intake of breaths coming from Volco's group, and even the gasp that echoed from offscreen in Zaza's footage which he very likely did not want to be heard, considering the Zalmfort heir looked over the camera to stare at the unseen speaker. Deciding to give him some help, Serena readied herself to start speaking again…

"Do you promise that?"

Only to be beat to the punch by, of all people, Argi.

Serena knew he could be serious, it was his downright resting expression in most art that depicted the young man, but at that moment, it wasn't just seriousness to be seen in Argi's face… it was borderline desperation. The kind you'd see in the face of a drowning man who just caught a glimpse of something to keep him afloat a moment longer.

"Would you help us if we joined you?" asked the young man again, his posture making it clear the only reason he was not leaping out of his chair being that both Liarina and Volco had their hands on his shoulders. "Would you really help me– us?!"

"Argi…"

"Of course."

And she meant it. Like hell Serena was gonna let so many tragedies go unanswered. Sure, things might have changed compared to what she knew their canon backstory to be like, and she only tangentially knew Wistario's desire to help Venus, but that didn't matter. This was now, with her living in the same world as these people, and leaving them to fend for themselves would have been unthinkable.

Serena was here to do better. And she would do better.

"I don't care what I have to do to help you all," continued the ex-Diver, her tone of voice now significantly softened compared to the previous bombast it held. "If you stand with me, and help me fix all these problems plaguing our world, I won't rest until your own griefs are also put to rest."

And that was that. Serena's entire pitch delivered in full, even if in a less-than-formal way, like she had expected to do. And of course, when the gathered pilots kept quiet in face of her offer, even Serena started to feel cold sweat running down the back of her neck, and in the periphery of her vision, she saw Aria also begin to squirm from the uncomfortable silence.

That is…

"... My dream…"

The silence was broken by that wonderful, amazing boy called Wistario Afam, who once more had a smile on his face, even if it was more melancholic than cheerful.

"My dream, is to turn Radonitsa into a tourism colony," continued the boy, his eyes once more downcast and focused on the Haro in his lap. "A place that people would want to visit, to see who lives there, and would want to come back to more than once. I want to make my home into a prosperous place for us to live in, and to finally allow us to be considered human again for the people of Earth." Finally, after a long pause, Wistario looked up once more towards Serena, and it warmed the ex-Diver's heart to see that spark of determination in his eyes. "If you really promise to help us achieve this dream… then I'll gladly help you out, miss Serena."

The relief crashed down on the oni woman like Barbatos' mace, and the smile she returned was as genuine as the boy's, even as she fought back the tears of happiness that threatened to burst free. Before they could, however, Deira let out a huff, then grinned anew. "Well, certainly beats being stuck in the middle of nowhere with a half-baked plan… alright, I'm in."

"And so am I," quickly added Argi, the young man now no longer looking as desperate as before, but instead resolute. "I don't care if Volco says no, I'm going by myself if I have to."

The Warren heir, in return, let out an exasperated sigh, before strongly massaging his brow with his free hand, the other keeping itself tightly wrapped around his crutch. "Stop talking nonsense, stray dog, of course we're going with you."

"If we left you alone, you'd probably screw things up and end up insulting her in some weird way," added Liarina with a fond smile, even as she gave Argi a pat on the back that the young man grew surprisingly flustered from. "And besides, we're all in this together."

And thus, that only left one person having still not answered Serena's call, that being Zaza, the one who had made the ex-Diver unmask herself. And as expected, the young Zalmfort took far longer than the others to reply. But finally, after yet another long pause, the blonde pilot let out a sigh, then pinned Serena with a glare just as determined. "Very well. If nothing else, I'm willing to join you to at least keep you in check," said Zaza, though his brow quickly scrunched up in anger. "And… I have my own grudges I'd like to see settled at last."

"Consider it done, Zaza," replied Serena, her smile still wide even as she let the tension bleed from her body. "Hell, same for all of you. From now on, I got your backs. And… thanks."

"Don't celebrate just yet, Durandal. You still got a long while to prove your plan has merit."

"Heh, don't worry your pretty head, Fossil. My plans? Will rock your world. But for now, let's get organized, shall we?" With a round of nods as a response, the ex-Diver clapped her hands together, and began pointing fingers at each of the screens. "Right! Deira, you stay put for now, we don't need Olerus breathing down your neck. We'll still keep you up to date on things, and we'll definitely come pick you, though, so don't worry. But for now, I'm gonna have to ask you to put up with the ice for a while longer."

"I've been here for two years already, I think I can last a while longer," replied the Nadira heir, even if the huff she gave along with the reply made her feelings more apparent.

"Bueno!" With that done, Serena then turned to Wistario, snapping her fingers at the boy for good measure. "Now, of course the same applies to you, Wistario, but you'll actually be able to join up with us later on if things go well, so get your transport set and ready Hajiroboshi and the Enzo for loading." Just then, Serena caught sight of Aria waving yet another paper with something written on it, which prompted a sudden remembrance from the ex-Diver. "Oh, right, you should also try and get in touch with the Ochs Earth Foundation. They've been trying to set up some charity donations for you folks, so it'd probably help if they could coordinate with you."

"Roger that!" replied Wistario, while Denmer exited the camera's frame, no doubt to go perform some of the tasks mentioned. "Oh, and the Haros?"

"Keep 'em, consider them my birthday gift for ya. I also got some more stuff that could help, but we'll save that for later, when I can ship things better to Radonitsa." After she saw Wistario nod happily, Serena then turned her focus to Zaza. "Fossil, finish whatever contracts you have left on Melus 2, then pack your things and head over to Dort 3."

As expected, the incognito Zalmfort certainly was surprised by the comment, his expression growing puzzled and one eyebrow rising. "Dort? Last I heard, there's a worker revolt taking place in the colony, why would I go there?"

"Well, one, because I need some eyes and ears down there for both keeping an eye on things, and to make sure all the relief supplies Ochs Earth is bringing in and that yours truly is smuggling to Dort 3 get to the workers that need them. And two… well, because then it'll be easier to pick you up. For reasons."

Naturally, Zaza did not take to the blatant hiding of information well, his frown returning full force in the face of Serena's shameless grin, but before he could actually voice any questions over the "why", Serena made a show of making a surprised face of realization, and snapping her fingers. "Oh, right, also could you get Mina in here? I bet she'd be happy to see her wife after so long."

"Wait what–"/"WAIT, WHAT?!"

Ignoring Deira's outburst, Serena sneakily pinned Aria with a glance, who promptly cut their feed to everyone bar each other, Serena finally turned to the last group remaining. "Finally, you guys are coming here to Mars. I'll loan a private dock to keep your shuttle in, and we'll transfer your things into my ship so you're not stuck aboard an unarmed shuttle during the trip."

In response, the entire group gave nods, only for Liarina to blink owlishly. "Wait… trip? What trip?"

"Oops, sorry, ran out of credit on the phone, gotta go bye!"

"Wait what–"

And with that, she cut off the feed to them as well, leaving only Wistario still connected, and whom she turned to with a warm smile. "Thanks for agreeing, kid. I'll do my best to help your colony."

In return, Wistario nodded happily, before waving to her with one hand, right as Denmer walked in, along with another man Serena only knew as Range Dubrisko due to seeing art depicting him on teasers for Urdr Hunt. "Thank you for the help as well, miss Serena! See you later!"

And thus, the meeting ended, with Wistario cutting out a moment later, leaving Serena alone in the meeting room alongside the still-present Aria, who was staring quite unamusedly at her creator as the ex-Diver melted against her chair, arms hanging limply from beside it. "Phew… I think that went well, you think that went well?"

[That was a shitshow.]

"Yeah, that went well."

-O-

FIVE MONTHS UNTIL KUDELIA'S TRIP TO EARTH

Bernstein Estate, city of Chryse…

[Search prompt: Gjallarhorn's production capabilities]

[Search prompt: Gjallarhorn past treaties with Earth's nations]

[Search prompt: Mars' economical growth throughout the ages]

[Search prompt: Mars' economical downfall throughout the ages]

[Search prompt: Colonial development and economic systems]

It had been a long, long time since Kudelia Aina Bernstein had stayed up late, hidden from her parents, and perusing the web for things she'd rather they did not know she read about. She'd forever be thankful to Fumitan for always keeping quiet about all the boy pictures the woman had found on Kudelia's laptop, one fateful night.

This time, however, the contents were sensitive for an entirely different matter.

For if her parents, more specifically her father, were so against her decision to travel to Earth in the name of the Mars Independence Movement, what would they say if they caught her browsing the website of a borderline criminal, who had made clear their hatred for the organization responsible for maintaining order and peace for all mankind?

And yet, the more Kudelia browsed Solomon's database, the more the young woman realized that no matter what her parents would have said, she would have read these documents one way or another, because they were truly fascinating.

Being from a well-off family, Kudelia had gained education far beyond that which would be available to Martian children, and that meant access to libraries and databases of a much higher quality and size than other schools. And yet, even those paled in comparison to the data being put into Solomon's archives. There were documents, research papers, reports, recordings and videos both amateur and professional, most likely pulled from devices around the world…

The fact that Solomon simply had access to all this was a frightening thought, yet all of it painted a far more personal picture of the world to her, and hardened both her resolve and future decisions.

One way or another, Kudelia would make her way to Earth.

The question, of course, was how.

Financial support was not a worry, her benefactor had already made clear his willingness to pay for her journey, freeing Kudelia from requiring monetary help from her family, but the method of travel itself would be a complicated affair.

Before, Kudelia would have simply hired out a company to take her to Earth, maybe a security firm for protection, and that was it. But ever since Solomon had opened their database and made Gjallarhorn's past deeds public knowledge, the young Bernstein realized that such a plan would never be feasible: humanity's watch dogs would most likely do everything they could to hamper her travels in a way that could lead to plausible deniability, and thus deny her efforts any chance of succeeding.

No, what she needed now was a way to travel under wraps, and make sure her movements were at the very least difficult to track. And that would mean partaking in the less-than-legal side of Mars' civilization, yet not enough that her own cause would be undermined or looked down upon.

Carefully, Kudelia rose from her bed and tip-toed to the door of her room, placing one ear against it to check for any signs of servants or, heaven forbid, her parents coming to check on her. Once the silence was confirmed, the young girl walked back and took hold of the laptop once more, quickly opening an anonymous tab on the web browser before starting her search. Her goal? Security or transport companies on Mars.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, the results weren't very promising: what private security companies were available for hiring did not possess personal transportation that could leave the Mars Sphere, and those that did were very clear on utilizing only official routes out of safety. And though she had found a few transport corporations that looked willing to… bypass the legal pathways to head to Earth, they would offer no protection.

With a sigh, Kudelia slumped back onto her bed, an arm draped over her forehead as she stared at the ceiling of her room. "What can I do…" she muttered just loud enough for the words to reach her own ears, eyes half-lidded from both drowsiness and dreariness, before she shook her head and returned her attention to her laptop once more. She wouldn't, couldn't give up this soon. So, with one last, deep sigh to try and banish away her tiredness, Kudelia readied herself for however long it'd take, and scrolled down the list once more.

And when she did, the young Bernstein's eyes widened once more. Because in that split-second, she caught sight of two companies at the bottom of the list, as if they had been waiting for her all along.

One was for a smaller company, Jormungandr Security Services, with plenty of personnel and their own ship. And even if they had never performed a trip to Earth before, the fact they had only recently formed meant that they'd most likely both be free of any ties with Gjallarhorn, and cost very little to hire.

The other was an older company, established a few years ago, and while they were not very large either, they did possess their own ship to traffic between Mars and Earth, and apparent ties to others who knew plenty of backdoor routes to the blue planet. But more importantly, the portfolio made it clear that Chryse Guard Security seemed to employ a large number of Human Debris and child soldiers.

With sleep now forgotten, and a new sense of determination filling her heart, Kudelia noted down the contact number for both companies, and began drafting a proper business contract to present to both JSS and CGS.

-O-

THREE MONTHS UNTIL KUDELIA'S TRIP TO EARTH

"Are you sure about this, Miss Kudelia?"

"Yes, Fumitan, I am."

As their car raced through the streets of Chryse, the sunlight filtered through the tinted windows, Kudelia gently wrung her hands as she stared at the passing scenery outside, while Fumitan calmly continued guiding the vehicle to their destination: the corporate headquarters of Jormungandr Security Services, for Kudelia's meeting with the company's owner. It had taken an unfortunately long time to prepare the contracts and find a proper date for the meeting due to the need for secrecy, but thankfully Fumitan had offered her help to perform corrections and suggestions to Kudelia's original draft, and agreed to keep mum of it for now, until the young woman was ready to let them know. She had done likewise to the drafted contract to CGS, but the matter of the "younger" workers made it a far more delicate matter to handle, so it would be left for later.

Thankfully, the response from JSS was significantly swifter, with their owner, Serena Durandal, simply requesting an in-person meeting to both confirm the delivery of the contract, and for "a quick talk" as the woman had put it. It wasn't truly an unusual request, granted, Fumitan had more than once commented on the suspicion of it.

Kudelia, however, disagreed. One way or another, she'd require allies for this mission, and right now this was the best route she could take.

"Miss Kudelia, we've arrived," called out Fumitan as she eased the car onto a spot near their destination, which the young Bernstein would admit looked surprisingly plain for a building where a private military security firm resided in. Once the car had stopped, Fumitan left the car, taking note to grab the small briefcase resting in the passenger seat, and opened the door for Kudelia, quickly falling into step behind her charge as they approached the headquarters for JSS. And already, the aide felt herself grow weary as she spotted the two figures standing guard at the door.

Because while the guards did not have any visible weapons in hand, the fact they stood two meters tall, dressed in heavy trench coats with hoods, gloves and boots, and had their faces hidden by eerie featureless masks served as enough incentive to keep distance from them.

That was made clear when Kudelia stopped mid-walk to stare nervously at the two guards, particularly when both turned to stare at the two women with strangely stiff head movements. The young woman quickly reeled her nerves in, and resumed walking towards the door. Once she was only five steps away from it, the two guards stepped between the two women and the door, one of them raising their hands in a sign to halt. "Please declare your business."

Huh? Why is his voice so… Strange?

Pushing the thought aside, Kudelia shook her head and turned towards the guard who had spoken up, one hand held close to her chest. "We… Have a meeting with the head of the company scheduled," said the young woman, her voice only slightly trembling. "She is expecting us."

The guards remained silent for a moment, only slightly turning their heads back towards the building, before finally returning their attention to Kudelia and Fumitan. "You may enter. Follow the directions given to you inside."

"T-Thank you."

With their part finished, the two guards stepped out of the way and resumed their post, allowing Kudelia and Fumitan to pass through unimpeded into the reception area. And just as the outside of the building hinted, the inside was just as plain and simplistic, with only the receptionist and two more guards waiting inside, surrounded by the most basic furniture Kudelia had ever seen. The moment the two visitors stepped foot inside, another guard stepped forward and motioned to them, leading them to a hallway off to the side and into the building itself, through featureless white halls and the occasional worker, who gave her a passing greeting before returning to their own affairs. It felt almost surreal to have people not react strongly to her presence, and yet… Kudelia couldn't help but feel relieved. At the very least, it was one less thing to fray her nerves over right before the meeting.

Finally, after several minutes of walking and riding up elevators, the guard led Kudelia and Fumitan through a pair of double doors and onto another reception area, this one far smaller than the entrance reception, but at least a bit more well-decorated, and a receptionist also waiting for any arrivals. Said receptionist gave a glance over the screen of the computer she was working with before returning her attention to it, only for her eyes to widen in a panic, and the girl to shoot to her feet in a panic. "O-Oh, welcome!" she sputtered, quickly walking around the table to meet the two new arrivals, and stopping just a few steps away from them. "M-Miss Bernstein, yes?"

"Yes, I am here for my meeting with the company's owner," replied Kudelia primly, while Fumitan merely stayed two steps back, watching their surroundings. "Is she in?"

"Of course! T-This way, please."

And with that, she motioned over to the second pair of doors in the room, walking towards it while Kudelia and Fumitan followed, until she finally reached the large wooden slabs, and with a slight grunt of effort, pushed them open. "Miss Serena, your guests have– M-MISS SERENA!?"

Confused, and somewhat worried by the sudden shout, Kudelia stepped around the assistant to see if something had befallen the CEO.

Instead, the young heiress felt her face heat up as blood flushed to it, as she was met with a sight she had never been met with before in her life: that of Serena Durandal, covered in sweat and lying against a weight lifting bench off to the side of the room, grunting softly as she raised a huge set of weights over herself, and seemingly heedless of the new arrivals, most likely due to the ear pods plugging her pointed, elf-like ears.

They stood still like that for a good while, three women standing up and staring with varying degrees of embarrassment at the one working out while heedless of the attention she was under, until at last, Serena set the weights down against their support hooks, and sat up on the bench, wiping some of the sweat out of her face with a towel that had been hanging from one of the bench's support struts, before finally turning around, and catching sight of the three other people standing inside the room.

And after a long, almost deliberate pause, the horned woman grinned brightly, and rose to her full height in a single bound. "Oh, hey, Nadia!" she called out happily, taking out her ear pods before draping the towel around her neck. "Sorry, didn't hear you walk in. What'd I miss?"

"M-Miss Serena, you have a meeting scheduled for now!" almost squeaked the assistant, her face just as red as Kudelia's as she stared at her boss, who in response to everything, merely shifted her expression to innocent confusion for a second, before her grin returned full-force and she rose from the bench in full, striding over to the three without a care in the world.

"Oh yeah, I did, didn't I?" she asked shamelessly, lightly ruffling her assistant's hair before fully turning her attention to the still-frozen Kudelia and Fumitan, who were now faced with JSS' CEO right in front of them.

And what an impression she made into Kudelia, indeed. She towered over both of the guests, both in terms of height and sheer mass. In fact, she was easily the largest human being the heiress had seen in her life. Durandal's body was powerful, with limbs and torso so heavily muscled, she could likely snap Kudelia in two with barely any effort, and the sheen of sweat from the just-ended workout made her skin glisten just so under the room's light, while also hugging her workout clothes tightly enough to showcase how… well-endowed the CEO was. Her hair, black and white, was tied into a ponytail that kept her face free of any stray strands, yet still leaving enough at the sides to frame her face, particularly her blood-red-colored eyes, her obsidian horns, and the large X-shaped scar spread across its surface. And rather than being dressed in anything reassembling formal wear, the woman wore a sports top, cargo pants and boots.

Overall, it was not quite how Kudelia expected her first encounter with Serena Durandal to go.

"Hey there! So you're the young lady, eh?" she asked, offering one massive hand forward for a handshake, and which Kudelia accepted after a mild moment of hesitance, her own hands disappearing in the CEO's grip.

"U-Umm… Yes, that is me," she said in response, her mind still somewhat reeling from the sheer shock of the meeting. And it seemed that the woman either did not realize, or did not think very much of it, instead choosing to give the young woman a pat on the shoulder with a massive grin plastered on her face before ending the handshake.

"Well, glad to have ya! Come on, let's talk business siitting, better than doing it standing in here!"

And with that cheerful remark, Serena turned around and marched back into her office, oblivious to the scathing glares Fumitan had aimed at her back. Nevertheless, Kudelia instead chose to shake her head lightly to clear her mind, then paced after the woman, her hands only lightly clenched as she tried to get her thoughts in order.

The office wasn't particularly different from the rest of the building, but at least the furniture (bar the blatant workout equipment off to the side that clashed with everything) was nicer, what with the two cushioned armchairs set up in front of the large wooden table filled with assorted knick-knacks, including a scale model of a warship, what seemed to be poseable Mobile Suit figures and Mobile Workers models, and a computer monitor mounted on a swivel arm. As Serena sat herself down on her own chair, Kudelia chose one of the armchairs, while Fumitan chose to remain standing off to the side, still eyeing the company owner with a disapproving look. "Either of you want anything to drink?" asked the horned woman as she lowered herself under her desk, the sound of a cooler opening clueing the guests to what she was doing. "Juice, soda, iced coffee… beer, wine?"

"N-No, thank you."/"I'll refuse."

"Alright, suit yourselves!"

Once she sat up again, Kudelia saw that Serena was holding a green bottle in her grasp, labeled "Jerez", and which she opened by biting down on the cork and pulling it free in a downright casual display, and taking a prolonged chug from the bottle before calmly setting it atop the table.

"Well, miss Bernstein, I'm happy that you gave us a call," began Serena as she leaned back on her chair, the woman taking hold of one of the Mobile Worker models and carefully playing with its articulated points. "It's an honor to have Mars' most preeminent reformist in touch with us, and let me say, huge fan of your work."

"Thank you, Miss Durandal," replied Kudelia with a smile, even as she wrung her hands into nothingness atop her lap. "I apologize for the suddenness of my request, but circumstances were… unusual to me as well."

"Ah, no need to worry about that, young miss. Things have been quiet on that front for us, so it's no hassle." Still with a smile, Serena set down the model in her hands and leaned forward atop the table, her head resting atop her intertwined fingers. "So, now that we have time and privacy, tell me about your offer."

Her window given, Kudelia turned her head to the side and nodded, a gesture that Fumitan returned in equal before stepping forward while withdrawing a small pile of paper from the briefcase in her hand and presenting said papers to Serena. "This is the contract we've prepared. It details the services required and all information related to it. If you'd like a moment to review it—"

"Give me a moment."

And to Kudelia's shock, Serena began reading through the contract at incredible speeds, the woman's eyes flitting to and fro as she scanned every word on the document, quickly flipping through pages in a machine-like fashion until in barely three minutes, she had seemingly read through the entire contract and already withdrawn a pen from one of her drawers. "Yeah, I can work with these terms. I'll list up the number of personnel and equipment that I'll be bringing up, so you can offer it to CGS in case they request the information." With a smile, Serena initialed all pages and signed on all the lines she needed, then handed back the contract to the wide-eyed Fumitan, who, after a pause out of surprise, placed the contract back into the briefcase. "You don't have to worry about our travel costs, though, we can cover those no problem. I'll settle for a flat payment fee for our services… though I do have a question, Miss Bernstein."

Admittedly, the ending of the sentence certainly caught Kudelia off-guard, with the young woman blinking numbly for a moment before refocusing her attention onto Serena, who was now looking at her with a more serious, but still calm expression. "Oh… Of course, go ahead, miss Durandal."

At first, Serena did not reply, instead simply shifting her eyes to the side to focus on the monitor as she began typing down on an unseen keyboard. "I am a well-informed woman, Miss Bernstein, you need to be if you wish to succeed in this business. And that information can pertain to anything: clients, risks, work opportunities… competitors."

And Kudelia could feel her heart tightening as, with one smooth motion, Serena turned her monitor around and showed what it displayed to Kudelia and Fumitan both: it was a set of pictures showcasing CGS' base, equipment, and work personnel… and the number of children dressed in military uniforms far outstripped the number of adults.

"So forgive me if I'm overstepping here, but exactly why would you contract someone who sends kids out to the battlefield?"

There was no anger in the woman's voice, nor spite or disappointment. Rather, her tone was completely level and neutral, just as her expression and body language. It once more reminded Kudelia of a machine.

And yet, there was something more in it. As if the horned woman knew the answer to the question, but wanted Kudelia to properly voice it. So, with her hands tightening into fists, Kudelia cast her gaze down onto the floor, the young woman feeling the words rise up from her chest, the memory of everything she had seen all these past months flashing in her mind.

"… If you had asked me this long ago, I would have given a different answer than now. I would have answered that I wished to see the same world as these children, share their plight and stand equal to them, so I could help them better. It is that thought that motivated me for so long, and even back then, I would have made this same decision regardless. I have seen their pain and struggles, but I have not lived them, have not experienced them."

Her words were soft, almost quiet, but most of all, they were sorrowful. Every moment Kudelia spoke, she remembered the things she had seen both by herself throughout her years, and more recently in the nights she had stayed up, perusing the database of a criminal. Yet in that moment, something seemed to bloom in Kudelia's heart, and when the young woman raised her head once more, her eyes shone with determination and resolve.

It was still young, untested even. But certainly there.

"But I can experience it. I can allow myself to reach the same level as them, see the world they see, and share the pain and struggles that they do. And I can show them a world beyond what society has forced upon them, give them all a chance for something better. No matter what others say, either of me or them, I will do my duty, and help create a world where children don't need to suffer under the weight of a society that casts them aside."

For a moment, there was silence.

In the next, Kudelia watched as Serena Durandal let out a short, but honest chuckle, then stood up from her seat and offered one hand to the young woman, a warm smile upon her face.

"Then it's an honor to work for you, Kudelia Aina Bernstein. And I pledge that whatever happens, we will keep you safe until this world of yours comes true."

Minutes later, Kudelia and Fumitan were escorted out of the building by the guards back to their car, with a signed contract now in hands, and plans already forming for their encounter and meeting with Chryse Guard Security for their hiring.

And unbeknownst to either of them, inside her office Serena threw herself onto her chair, watching Kudelia's car drive away through her security cameras with a big grin.

"All according to plan~"

[Bullshit.]

"Can you fucking let me have this? Just once?"

[No.]

-O-

TWO MONTHS UNTIL KUDELIA'S TRIP TO EARTH

Serena took a bite off the burger she had bought, letting out a low moan of happiness that certainly should not have come from a woman like her, but that she could care less that people listened to, or how others sneered when they caught sight of her horns or ears. Besides, people would be crazy to stay close, considering the four M-Dolls she had brought as an escort, and who were standing around her like statues, keeping watch for any hostiles, just waiting for a reason to pump 12.7mm rounds onto any poor sap who tried their luck.

Not that there would be any here, thankfully. For all that Chryse could be a hellhole depending on where you went, no one would dare to cause any chaos on the city's spaceport, lest they risk having Gjallarhorn's wrath brought on their heads. It had already been a hassle and twelve to convince the troopers at the door to let her guards past and into the building, but a bit of hand-wetting had served to expedite the process. Besides, Serena had little time to lose, even if she had arrived earlier than needed to make sure she could have some lunch with no rush.

That the burgers from this Six Guys joint had been just, if not even better, than the ones from her home dimension's Four Fellas was icing on the cake.

So for now, all she needed to do was wait for her future employees-slash-collaborators to arrive, make sure everything was alright and their suits were ready for the tune-ups and repairs.

Well, that, and triple-check the list of assets she was bringing on the mission.

As much as she wished to throw everything she had into helping Kudelia and Tekkadan, Serena didn't have infinite resources, and what she had needed to be carefully rationed between Jormungandr, her Nest and all her little schemes she had set up. If the company had too few assets, they'd flounder, but if she pulled too much from her base, even if it was carefully hidden, in the event of an emergency, it required a contingent to make things safe.

For now, she had taken the liberty of going over her Nest's inventory, sorting it out, and making sure everything had survived the… transition? Transportation? Moving, survived the moving. And so far, the answer had been a resounding "yes". Granted, a lot of the equipment was anachronistic to the Post Disaster era, or would turn so many heads she'd be hard-pressed to find a way to justify them whatsoever. Thankfully, she still had plenty of IBO-era equipment stashed away that she could use, and even tons of raw materials she had pilfered in GBN just in case she needed to craft things.

Plus, even if she couldn't use a lot of her stuff publicly, she could still use it sneakily. She had already used Valefor to ship Haros all the way to Venus in under a week, after all!

Also the [Inle] still took up too much room, what a load of shit…

Serena had also set aside a generous piece of her black budget cash for the purchase of newer Mobile Worker models for Tekkadan, so their firepower could be marginally better without Mobile Suits, but that would have to wait until Orga had Mika put a bullet in the head of all the assholes of the First Group. Said purchase would also need to be done in a way that the Workers would be delivered to Dort without it being seized under the pretense of them being meant for the worker revolt, both to keep suspicions quelled and make sure that Gjallarhorn did not intercept the shipments at the last minute.

All in all, it was a tedious, arduous process, but Serena also knew that it was all needed. Either she did things right, or her plan would get shot out of the air before it even had a chance to start. And she owed it to her new allies to do all of this properly, so their own plans could come to fruition.

"Attention passengers, shuttle A254 is now docking for disembark at Gate 1. Please have your tickets in hand, and be present at gate 2 for boarding of shuttle B917. I repeat…"

And speaking of said allies…

Casually tossing the paper wrap for the burger and the emptied fries pack inside a trash can, Serena took hold of the soda cup she had yet to empty and took off toward Gate 1, her Mobile Doll escorts never leaving her side as they parted the crowd for her with their imposing presence and size, all the while Serena scanned the crowd in search of her new acquaintances. And indeed, in moments she had spotted two of them off to the side, picking up their luggage at the conveyor belt: Argi and Liarina, both looking the part of a casual civilian couple recently arrived on Mars.

With a bit more pep to her step, and slurping down the last of the soda inside the cup, Serena strode towards the two as inconspicuously as she could be when she was a seven-feet tall ogre of a woman followed by four towering death machines, which as it turned out had not nearly been enough, considering the way Argi began glaring her way, and Liarina's eyes widened at the sight of the oncoming group. "Well hey there, kids!" called out Serena happily, giving them a hearty wave until finally she stepped between the two young adults and draped her arms over their shoulders to pull them into a crushing hug. "Been a while, huh? How's things back home?"

Before either of them could say something or try to pry themselves free, Serena pulled their heads closer until their ears were just next to her mouth, and her hair shadowed her face. "Keep it natural, let's leave the talking for inside the car," she whispered, before promptly tossing herself back and grabbing their arms just tight enough to keep Argi and Liarina from squirming away.

"Alright, time to visit that restaurant I kept telling you two about, lemme tell ya the shrimp there is just mmmm-hm!~ C'mon, we ain't got time to lose!"

And so, off they went, Serena dragging the two younger adults by their armpits as the bags they were carrying flopped wildly in the air, all the while the four M-Dolls circled the trio, parting the way until finally, they were out of the spaceport and headed to the parking lot, where two armored SUVs were waiting for them. Three of the Mobile Dolls took one of the SUVs for themselves, while the last one got into the driver seat of the second vehicle, leaving the passenger seat to Serena, and the back seats to Argi and Liarina.

"So, I take it Volco and Nanao are up in orbit aboard the Comet?" asked the ex-Diver, keeping her eyes on the streets outside as the sedans sped back towards the JSS HQ.

"He said he wanted to keep working on the Astaroth aboard your ship before you got there," replied Argi, the young man's mechanical hand clinking softly against the door of the car as his gaze flitted between the outside and Serena. "Can you really fix it up?"

"Of course I can, I've worked with Mobile Suits my whole life. Trust me, when the team's finished with your Gundam, it'll be better than ever! Hell, I'll even throw in a simulator for you to train on… Stray dog~."

Neither Serena nor Liarina could stop the smiles that Argi's sputter caused, even as the pilot leveled an annoyed glare at the white-haired woman, though Liarina quickly coughed into her hand as she schooled herself back into neutrality. "You said you had plans ready for the future. Do we factor into any of them?"

"Of course you do. But for now, don't worry, we've got about three or four months to get things settled and ready before our job," replied Serena as she turned back to give the two a smile, lazily pointing a finger at the younger woman sitting behind her. "For now, I'll let you two get acquainted with the company, the staff and how things work. We can talk revolution shop after everything's prepped… Oh, and when we get to the HQ, tell Volco the engineering team will be up there in about four hours. They'll get things ready."

"I see… Though I'd like to ask: do you trust your team?"

"Ahh, don't worry, they're the best~"

-O-

In orbit aboard the Accidalium-class ship Red Comet, Hakobune Civilian Port, four hours later…

"HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO! HARO!"

As he watched the rainbow-colored horde crawl all over both the Adler and Astaroth, Volco swore he could feel his blood pressure spike as his grip on his crutch threatened to rip it apart, and the headache made his brain feel like it was imploding.

That it was caused both by his implant working overtime to find intel on these robots or the ship he had come aboard of, and the incessant chatter of the tiny spheres that echoed inside the hangar, only made his annoyance grow.

"'Engineering team', she said…" muttered the Warren heir as he forced his focus back onto the software tuning he had been trying to perform until now. "I sure hope this is all worth it in the end…"

"Oh, I wouldn't be so grouchy about this, young master…"

The sound of Nanao's voice made Volco take his gaze away from the computer's screen once more, only to make his annoyance reach a point higher at the sight of the "maid" calmly stroking the ball-shaped pink robot that the woman held on her lap, a playful smile on her lips as its small ear flaps moved like a dog's.

"They're quite adorable, don't you think?"

"Adorable, adorable! Haro's adorable!"

"See? Such a cute little thing…"

And for a brief moment, Volco seriously considered using his crutch to whack some of the robots off into space.

-O-

FOUR MONTHS LATER…

"So, everybody ready for a long road trip?"

It was a rhetorical question, really. No matter what Serena asked, the Mobile Dolls would not respond, because small talk was not a part of their programming, only enough intelligence to respond to orders or pass off as slightly human. But the small talk wasn't for them, honestly.

It was for her.

Because this would be it. Over one year of planning and preparation, covering all the bases she could for now, seeking out help and making sure she'd be ready for when the big wigs of the game tried to come for her, Kudelia or Tekkadan. Over one year since she had been tossed into this new but familiar world by some whatever for shits and giggles, with the task of entertaining them and surviving a hellhole of a Solar System, helping save children who wouldn't give their own death a second thought, and a reformist with a bullseye the size of the planet she wanted to help on her head.

Was Serena worried? FUCK yes, she was. This was Eldora all over again, except even worse: there'd be no respawns, no being warped back to GBN, no logging off to go back home and build better gear… One go, with no room for fuck-ups, and that's it.

Could she do it? Who knows… but at this point, it was a bit late to have any self-doubt. Especially now, as the M-Dolls finished loading up the necessary supplies onto the cargo trucks, readied weapons and finished gearing up with armored suits, while the Haros filed into containers piloting their Karels alongside a few automatons that were joining said containers on the cargo holds.

Whatever happened now, and wherever the pieces landed on the board, Serena would have to play this game. And if nothing else, and everything really was doomed to fail… well, she'd kick and scream all the way to the grave, and she'd drag as many rotten souls as she could.

But she would still try, with all her might. She would do better than back on Eldora. She had to.

So, with one last sigh to calm her nerves and a last check on all the body armor she had strapped onto her body, plus the sidearm, knife and comm headset, Serena walked over to one of the APCs and slammed her fist on its side twice, an action that made the hatch at the top open and allow a thoroughly annoyed Liarina to pop her head out. "Why did you do that?" she asked with a growl, her eyes threatening to fusillade Serena away. "Do you realize how loud that was?!"

"Yup, wanted to make sure you were awake," shamelessly replied Serena with a grin, before her features softened into a smile. "You ready for this?"

"Yeah… Yeah, I'm ready. Argi's ready on the other one too, just don't knock, he'll probably try to strangle you later. He spent all day on the simulator yesterday…"

Unfortunately, that was the wrong comment to make. With a returned grin, Serena tip-toed her way to the second APC, readied her hand…

BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG-BANG–! "WAKE THE FUCK UP, ARGI, WE'RE LEAVING!"

And banged it repeatedly onto the APC, something that resulted in someone inside tumbling to the floor, followed by a long string of profanities that would have made any sailor proud.

Ignoring the glowering glare that Liarina aimed at her, Serena quickly rushed to the truck at the back of the convoy, and hopped onto the passenger seat, giving a honk of the horn before the M-Doll climbed onto the driver's seat. "Alright folks, let's get this show on the road!"

And with that, they were off, each vehicle riding the elevator of the hangar up to the surface until the convoy had left Jormungandr headquarters and began driving down the street as carefully as they could on their way out of Chryse, and soon being joined an armored, featureless sedan, inside of which sat Serena's charge, and Mars' only chance for reform.

On and on they drove, the gun turret of the APCs quickly starting to swivel as they exited the city and instead started driving down the dirt roads leading into the Martian countryside, searching for any possible threats in the darkness of pre-dawn, while Serena kept her eyes up and forward, scanning the horizon for anything that the Mobile Dolls might have missed. Thankfully, her attempts to keep a low profile seemed to have successfully paid off, considering the blatant lack of Gjallarhorn ambush forces or even a single vehicle trying to tail them, allowing Serena to finally relax from her constant state of alertness…

Just in time for the convoy to crest a large hill, revealing both the rising sun far beyond the mountain ridges in the horizon… and the small, blocky fort built a massive stone hill, the three-letter emblem spray-painted onto the largest building easily visible even from this distance.

"You ready, Aria?" Serena asked aloud, catching the slight shift in color of the Mobile Doll sitting next to her out of the corner of her eye.

[As much as I can be,] replied the AI in turn, her tone of voice much more uncertain compared to her usual. [And you?]

"Nope… but it's a little late for regrets, huh?"

And as her hands clenched into fists, and the wind blew into the truck's cabin in just the right way to part her bangs and reveal the horns in her forehead, Serena heard a playful, almost eager laugh.

~O~

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand done!

Man, this rewrite took a lot longer than I expected… still, it's here, and right at the start of February!

So yes, as you can see, Gianmarco has been replaced by Wistario. This is because I realized it made no sense for Serena to go after Gianmarco, considering that in GEKKO, he made clear he had no desire to be a big leader or whatever, so there's no reason he'd agree to joining a revolution.

Wistario, on the other hand… well, the little cinnamon boi has PLENTY of reasons to do such a thing. So, I brought him in instead. Don't worry, though, Gianmarco will still feature in the story, as will the Sampo twins, so keep your eyes open for that!

Now, onwards I go into rewriting chapter 4! It's not SUPPOSED to need a lot of rewriting, but also this rewrite added over two thousand words to the chapter, so uhh… well, pray for me, fellas!

I also got two drawings cooking, though one was delayed due to the artist getting surgery, while the other… Well, it's been one month of information blackout without even a WIP to show for things I paid already in full, so… not great, not gonna lie.

So, you know, the usual woes of commissioning art!

'Til next time, fellas!