Relevant Notes Will Be At The End Of The Chapter
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Mobile Suit/Mass Effect
Episode 23
Coming Home
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Driving through Port Tsingtao a mere few days after the battle felt... strange, for a few reasons.
The first was that uncanniness of being around buildings modeled after early 20th Century AD European architecture. Having grown up in Arcturus Station, with its fancy high-rises and neon futurist aesthetic, this place felt like stepping into a time capsule. It was somehow both alien and familiar at the same time, which certainly didn't help the strangeness.
The second was that this whole city was a battlefield a mere few days ago. Buildings were destroyed, demolished, ruined. Leftover blazes were still smoldering, being put out by the city's Fire Department as well as the Army's support battalions. Smoke plumes were still rising from the sky here and there, casting the already cloudy sky in a further dull grey color.
It mustn't have been easy for Verns, to see his hometown like this. I'm not sure I would've taken it well if D-Block back in Arcturus got leveled.
Before we set out from port I offered to drive the car, but Verns insisted on driving himself. He knew the ins and outs of the city was his reason. Personally, I think he was just trying to distract himself.
We drove from our harbor towards Mount Glenn, on the northern eastern of the city. It was the mountain that Risima used for cover when it bombarded the enemy in the city, but it was also apparently where a lot of upper class families lived. Thanks to its geography, Mount Glenn was spared the worst of the damages. The road there wasn't very wide, and a large river separated it from the city. The soldier inside me mused of how defensible the path up there was, though the rich families that settled in the district were probably thinking more about the view of the sea than of a possible invasion.
The ride had been rather quiet, with Rosen being the one to speak up on occasion. Every once in a while she'd ask a few questions about the things she saw, and Verns would give a quick and simple answer. It wasn't until we reached the river itself that the atmosphere changed. A CDF checkpoint was regulating passage through the only bridge across, the Guardsman at our side of the river ordered us to pull over and then came to speak to us. He was rather tall, not quite as Verns, but definitely above average. His gear was par for the course for a Guardsman called up in emergency times - a regulation uniform, gear webbing, and a field cap. Besides that, he seemed relaxed... no, not relaxed... bored at his current assignment. His rifle had been slung on his back and he made no attempt to reach for it while he approached us, his posture laid back and largely unalert.
"Sir, ma'am." He saluted us. "I'm sorry, but unless it's an urgent military matter or if you don't have a written slip, the Ein Raeder Bridge is currently closed."
"What's wrong?" Verns asked. "Why can't we pass?"
"Sir, the bridge took a few hits during the battle... an alien plane got shot down and hit it." The Guardsman answered. He eyed us again, as if sizing us up... but then continued. "If it's urgent, please get a slip from Captain Volker over at CP 12."
"My family is up there." Verns pointed across, arguing with the Guardsman. "How long until I can pass through without a slip?"
"Some Engineer Battalions are setting up a pontoon bridge a little ways downstream." The Guardsman said. "They're prioritizing military vehicles for now, but after things calm down in a few days they should let you through no problem."
"Damnit." My friend cursed.
"It's okay Verns, I'm sure your family is fine..." I tried to reassure, when suddenly the Guardsman cut me off.
"Wait, Verns? As in Verns Hedder... from Class A of '73?" He asked, taking off his field cap.
Verns paused for a moment, squinting at the Guardsman before suddenly smiling.
"Frederick?" He then asked in return. "Freddy from Class C?"
"The one and only!" The Guardsman, who appeared to be named Frederick, then exclaimed. "Man alive, I didn't think I'd ever see you again! Almost didn't recognize you because of those goggles!"
Verns got out of the car and gave Frederick a big hug.
"Ah, same here buddy! Never thought I'd see you in uniform!"
"What are you doing down here?" Frederick asked after they parted. "Last I heard you ran off and joined the Space Force! Thought they would've sent you to other colonies!"
At that mention, Verns frowned a little.
"Yeah, they were going to send me to Elysium, believe it or not." He said. "But then, you know how Dad is..."
"Shit, yeah, forgot how your Pops could be sometimes..." Frederick shook his head. "How many strings do you think he pulled to get you posted here?"
"Too much." Verns grimly said.
"Hey, you're headed up Mount Glenn to check on your family, right? I'll put a word in with Kleiner... You remember Kleiner from Class B? He's our squad leader. He'll let you through the bridge."
"What?" Verns suddenly said, taken aback. "Oh no, I couldn't impose on you like that, I could always wait for the pontoon bridge in a few days..."
"Nonsense, I'm the one offering and K-man would do the same."
Without letting Verns protest any further, Frederick quickly pulled out his radio and began talking to who I can only assume was Kleiner. My friendly leaned back into his seat, embarrassed by the whole ordeal. Before I could rib him on it, he held up a hand and pointed accusingly at me.
In short order, we were cleared to pass through the bridge with the advice to stick to the left lane, which had suffered the least damage. We passed the Ein Raeder Bridge shortly, and after a quick exchange between Verns and his other friend we were back on track on our quiet drive to the Hedder Estate.
As we drove further up, I finally broke the ice.
"So... friends of yours?"
"Long story, but yeah, old high school buddies." Verns sighed. "Haven't seen them in years."
"You know, if you're still iffy on visiting your family, we could always double back and hang out with them." I suggested, pointing back.
"Tempting, but no." Verns sternly said. "I promised Saff I'd visit home. Hedder's honor and all that."
He paused for a moment before adding something.
"Besides, if I do this, Saff will be obligated to dig into the archives for me again."
"Oh, and what do you have her looking into this time?"
As soon as the words left my mouth, I saw Verns stiffen as he turned to me in the passenger seat and gave me a stern look. He nodded his head slightly towards the back of our car, and I realized then that he was quietly referring to our third wheel. Thankfully, Rosen was busy taking in the sights of Kronenberg Bay to notice.
A silent understanding formed between us.
Whatever it was that Verns wanted Saffira to look for, I hope it'll be what we need.
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Over in the Argus Labs, a few kilometers offshore from Port Tsingtao, Director Eilling was busy at work.
She had just seen off the team that was busy restoring the Longinus Prototype to working order. It's almost thirty years since that thing was last test-fired, and the times have not been kind to it. Frankly, it was a miracle that it could be restored at all. Most of the data regarding the project was very nearly left behind in Atlas Point, same goes for the prototype itself. It would take time to bring it back to working order, after which she would have to find a way to bring it up into orbit.
That would be a bridge she'd cross when she got there, Eilling supposed.
At any rate, she had more pressing matters to attend to... that being the Gundams.
With the Gundam Team's return, Eilling and her engineers were finally able to get a complete rundown on real combat data... something that the vaults in other colonies didn't have as of yet. After all, the original plan was to unveil the Specter later in the new year. Now that those plans were shot, every colony was rushing to get the few they have up to deployment standards, and their production lines ready for mass production.
Using the combat data, the director set her engineers to work thoroughly shaking down the machine, identifying spots where performance could be improved and also running desperately needed maintenance. But while her engineers worked on the machine directly, Eilling was instead at an office that she had taken over for the duration of her stay. She sat behind a computer, with a CAD program running on a side monitor. In it, she had a few designs in still in progress. Modifications meant to not just improve upon the Gundam's mass production model, but also to upgrade the existing units
Deciding which machine to upgrade first was easy enough, combat data from Specter Unit 01 -Lieutenant Hedder's machine- showed that at times, the machine was having trouble keeping up with his inputs. Realizing the implications of this, Eilling decided to call a few favors in places she never thought she would have to.
The Solar Newtype Institute.
Whenever someone displayed a degree of newtype potential, the SNI would swoop in -generally when the subject was still young- to do some tests. The results of these tests would be used to decide whether someone met the criteria to be legally considered a newtype, but were largely kept a private matter by the Institute. As it relates to Lieutenant Hedder, aspiring pilots who were legally certified as newtypes were often corralled into the Newtype Corps, a small but elite unit generally attached to either the Arcturus or Sol Fleets...
The combat data that came out of Hedder's machine indicated to the Director that he was very likely a newtype... but this only added to her confusion when her contact in the Institute told her that Hedder didn't meet the threshold.
"That's impossible." Director Eilling said to her friend in Port Tsingtao's SNI office. "I have his combat data right here. He can't be anything but a newtype!"
"Lena, buddy, I don't know what to tell you." Her friend responded. "I'm staring at the test results right here. Hedder scored 64 out of 100. Way higher than the average guy, but still doesn't qualify."
"Then the results must be faulty!" She countered. "Can't you look into it? There must've been something wrong with the methodology. The doctor in charge didn't run the test correctly."
"I can try." He sighed. "But Doctor Carlyle retired and moved to New Cyrene six years ago now. Haven't heard from him since. Any other day, I'd send a request to the Tember City office to track him down, but with the war going on..."
Eilling huffed as she leaned back on her seat and crossed her arms.
"Look, send me a copy of the combat data and I'll see if I can't convince my superiors to grant the Lieutenant newtype status." The Director's friend finally offered. "With the war right on our doorstep, the Shanxi board might be a bit more... pliable."
"Alright, fine... I'm counting on you for this one." The Director finally loosened up. "I'll have it on your desk as soon as I redact the sensitive bits."
"Sounds like a plan." He then said. "What do you need the Newtype certification for, anyways? I didn't think you're the kind of person to fight over this kind of stuff."
"It's a legal issue." She briefly said. "Can't get into the details with you, but I have... something that could help turn the war in our favor, but I can't legally start working on it until I can get the permit."
"There's only one thing that requires a legally certified newtype on hand..." Her friend preempted. "Christ, is the war going that badly?"
"Not quite, but with this, we can stop it from getting worse." Eilling said, not conceding anything.
"Damnit, alright." He sighed. "I'll go light a fire under the board's ass. You, go make sure everything's covered legally. I'm not looking forward to spending my twilight years in a federal prison."
With that, the two parted ways and ended their video call. Eilling closed the video call window on her main monitor, revealing the source of her heated debate.
It was the codename that Congressional Vaults gave to a technology sealed since even the days of the Earth Federation.
Component PF-093, nano-scale brainwave communicators.
Psycho-Frame Technology.
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We arrived shortly at the Hedder Estate... which wasn't as big as I thought it would be.
Well, it certainly was large, but I would've expected that a rich politician with eight children would've built much larger.
"We shared rooms." Verns said as he got off the jeep. He must've guessed what I was thinking just by my stumped look.
"Ah, must've been cramped." I responded as I got off and helped Rosen down.
"It was four to a room and we had bunk beds." He continued. "It... had its moments."
I could only imagine what it must've been like. Even though I grew up in an apartment in Arcturus Station, I was an only child. The space that I got was more than enough for me to grow up comfortably. We only went a few steps through the little courtyard in front of the estate when the main entrance suddenly burst open and a blurry mass of yellow and blue suddenly ran out.
"Veeeerns!" I heard it yell out as it tackled my friend.
Verns staggered backwards for a moment as the mass latched on to him. It was only after a moment to process what happened that I realized that it was a teenager.
"Oh Verns, I missed you so muuuuuuch!" She yelled out as she crushed him with a hug. "Why didn't you call?! I haven't heard from you in months!"
"Hey, Merry... it's been a while." Verns laughed.
As the commotion unfolded, the rest of the Hedder siblings seemed to pour out of the door. The only one of which I recognized was Saffira, the one from Atlas Point.
"Took you long enough, Lil' Bro." Said sister greeted. "Come on, all of you, we've got a lot to talk about."
We settled into the living room, the whole bunch of us. One by one, the Hedders introduced themselves.
"I'm Gillian, the oldest." The first one said. He had a goatee and mustache, which made him easy to pick out among the sea of tall, bespectacled, blonde haired people in the room. "And this bookworm beside me is Welkin, he's the second. Say hi to our guests, Welkin."
Welkin merely grunted and kept on reading his book. His hair went all the way down to his neck, and was somehow messier than Verns' own.
"You know me." Saffira then said. "I'm third in line, then Verns."
Well, that explained why the two seemed so close.
"Then you've got the runts of the pack." Gil continued, to the frowns of the youngest four, who stopped pestering Rosen for a moment to show their disapproval.
"Hey!" One of them, a college-aged girl with short blonde hair protested. "I'm not a kid anymore!"
"That's Noir." Gil pointed.
"The flower shop owner?" I asked. "Verns mentioned you a while back. Congrats on opening."
"Yep, that's me!" Noir happily answered. "And thanks, though we've had to close down because of the war. Hopefully we'll be back in business soon."
"Then you've got the twins, Erik and Erin." Gil pointed at the two siblings that looked like gender-swapped version of the other. "Last but not least, we've got Merry."
It was a lot to take in all at once, but as it turns out Verns wasn't kidding about having a big family.
The... adults -that being the five oldest of the Hedders as well as myself- continued to talk in the living room while the the twins and Merry dragged Rosen away to show her around the estate. As the conversation went on, Verns eventually sprung a question on his siblings.
"I haven't seen mom around." He asked. "Is she in the city, or..."
"Mom went to visit Gramma in Iscandar just before the war started." Saffira answered. "As far as I've been able to tell, she's safe."
"Thank Heavens." Verns sighed in relief. He then paused for a moment before asking another question. "And dad...?"
"Dad's at City Hall organizing relief efforts. He's worn out most days, but fine." Gil then answered. "But I called ahead. He'll be back in a few hours."
Verns quietly nodded, probably feeling a whole storm of emotions right now. I couldn't blame him, with what I knew about his relationship with his father. Still, if anything, I hope he'd mend things. For all the optimism that's been going around thanks to this last victory, there was still no telling what would happen in the future. Burying the hatchet now was better than never.
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A few hours passed, and the Hedder Patriarch finally arrived home. The man was a giant, standing even taller than Verns. With a quiet nod from his father, Verns followed him out of the living room and into his private study. The elder Hedder sat behind his desk then gestured to his son.
"Sit." He curtly told Verns, who complied.
As Verns sat down, he realized that his father had gotten a new desk. He looked it over, left to right, taking in the details. It was much bigger than the old desk, made almost entirely out of mahogany. A very oldschool design that went in a C-shape around the seat. In the middle of the desk was his father's nameplate.
Dr. Konrad Hedder, PhD.
Verns then watched as Konrad swiveled his seat to his left, then ducked down below the table. It was only after hearing the sound of rubberized magnets separating and the clinking of glass bottles that younger Hedder realized what his father was doing.
"I can't believe you actually put a mini-fridge under your desk." Verns remarked, almost incredulous. "Does mom know?"
His father kept a stern face as he pulled out two beer bottles and a bottle opener.
"No, neither do any of your siblings." Konrad said. "I'd rather not get pestered for day drinking, so let's keep it that way."
Konrad placed the two bottles on the desk and passed the bottle opener to his son - an unsaid order to have him crack them open. As Verns opened the bottles, the Hedder Patriarch turned a dial on his desk, which switched the hue of the study room's lights to a more soothing yellow. He took off his protective glasses and placed them on his desk, gesturing Verns to do the same with his goggles. Then, and only then, did the two finally take a sip from their bottles.
"Soo..." Verns started after a prolonged silence. "How have things been at home since I last called?"
"As good as it could be, given the circumstances." Konrad answered.
"That's... good?"
"Yes."
Another uncomfortable silence fell between the two, with neither really sure how to break the ice. They'd take turns sipping their drinks, thinking of ways to start a conversation, before overthinking the whole thing and going back to square one. It took a while, but Verns finally got tired of the silence and decided to rip the bandaid.
"Dad, it doesn't have to be like this." He said.
"Hmm?"
"Us, I mean." Verns explained. "I know that you don't... approve of me joining the military..."
"And I still don't."
"Aaand you still don't," Verns sighed. "But that shouldn't have to come between us. We're Hedders... surely we're better than this?"
It was Konrad's turn to sigh, as he got up from his seat and looked out the window behind him.
"You're right, we should be." He said after sipping his beer again. "But we aren't, and that's the problem."
The elder Hedder placed his beer down and leaned over his table.
"I know that you joined the Space Force because you wanted to serve the people, and I'm proud of you for it..." Konrad then started.
That first part of Konrad's speech took Verns by surprise.
"Y-you're... proud... of me?"
"Of course I am..." Konrad said, seeming almost insulted by the accusation. "You're my son! How can I not be, when I hear my son is out there putting his life on the line for the people of Shanxi? But at the same time, how can I not worry when my own son has to go out and fight?"
"Dad..."
"I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time... but it's hard to explain the kind of worry that overtakes you when you're worried about your own child." He continued. "You'll understand one day..."
Verns sat there, taking in everything that his father just told him. It was a lot to process all at once, but there was one thing that stood out to him.
"I actually do understand... a little." The younger Hedder said.
Konrad gave those words some thought before connecting the dots together.
"The black haired girl with you?" He asked.
"Yeah." Verns nodded, thinking about Rosen again. "Golden Beacon lent her to us as a sign of good will, so it's not really like we could say no..."
"They're using child soldiers? Those dogs!" The elder Hedder voiced his disdain, his anger bubbling up.
"I really wish we didn't have to rely on her so much... she's only sixteen, she shouldn't be anywhere close to the battlefield." Verns vented. "I know Irena's noticed, even if she hasn't brought it up. But it's hard, having to lead Rosen into battle."
Konrad looked at his son sympathetically. It wasn't the exact same sort of situation... but he understood.
"What do we do once this war is over? What happens to her?" Verns slumped into his seat. "Would Golden Beacon still need her once they've gotten what they wanted?"
The elder Hedder walked over from his spot and placed a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder.
"I'm not sure, son." Konrad started. "I'm not sure what I'd do if I were in your shoes, but I know that you'll do the right thing."
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"Another delay?" Commodore Magarius asked, more irritated than surprised. "Admiral Arterius promised he'd send reinforcements almost a week ago at this point. What's taking so long?"
He sat in the Ashtareus' conference room, alone. He was in the middle of a conference call with the Expeditionary forces on the outside of the Sanggan Belt. His liaison on the other side of the call was another Turian Commodore, Cordo Haliat of the Explorator Fleet. Haliat's fleet had taken grievous losses in the initial stages of the expedition and were still reconstituting their strength, leaving their Commodore with more free time than he was comfortable with.
"Yeah, I know." Haliat sighed. "The Humans are intensifying their convoy raiding efforts, so a lot of the ships earmarked to be sent to you are getting held up in their respective patrol zones."
"That can't be a coincidence." Magarius mused. "This must be coordinated action, to keep our reserves pinned while they launch their plot in the Inner Sphere."
"I agree, and so does the Admiral." Haliat confirmed Magarius' theory. "He still intends on delivering your reinforcements, it's just a few matters holding things back."
Magarius wasn't entirely sure if he should be happy that the admiral agreed with him, since the implications were dire. If the Humans were intentionally pinning down the reserve forces from reinforcing the Inner Sphere, then they most definitely had big plans for the theatre.
"I see." He said. "I'm not one to rush the Admiral, but the sooner those reinforcements arrive, the sooner we'll be able to put a stop to their plans."
"No disagreements here." Haliat nodded. "Which is why I've volunteered the Explorator Fleet to take over patrols, while 9th Force deploys into the Inner Sphere."
This surprised Magarius quite a bit.
"You? Take over patrols?" He said, before wincing as he realized his tone had come off a little too... aggressive. "The Explorator Fleet is barely above half strength. I'm not saying this to demean your skill as a commander, but with your current numbers, I'm not sure it's within your capabilities."
"I know it isn't, Magarius." Haliat sighed. "But the fact remains that we're the only ones available to plug the gap. It's the only way we'll be able to reinforce you for the coming offensive."
His friend's words caused Magarius to shift uncomfortably. He knew that calling for reinforcements was going to add further strain to the Expedition's already stretched resources... but perhaps he didn't think things would be this desperate... or perhaps, would personally affect the people he knew.
"Damnit, you're right." He cursed. "I just hope the supply lines will hold."
"If things go as planned, this whole arrangement shouldn't last for very long, and I'll be rid of convoy escort duties before the end of the month.." Haliat assured Magarius. "With any luck, we'll be able to decisively defeat the enemy's navy and secure space supremacy, at which point we can let the army will take over the leading role."
"That's the keyword, isn't it?" Magarius bitterly mused. "Luck."
"Hey, don't be so glum." Haliat tried to cheer up his friend. "You've got the dreadnought Thanix coming to back you up. Hasn't been a battle that ship hasn't won."
Magarius felt the urge to point out that the Thanix has only participated in five battles in its entire service history, none of which were at this scale... but held his tongue. Haliat was right. There was no point in being overly pessimistic. The sailors under his command needed to feel that they could pull it off.
"I suppose you're right, Haliat." Magarius eventually relented. "But still, take care of yourself, Cordo. You've got a boy waiting for you back home."
"I thought that went without saying!" Haliat scoffed. "Spirits be damned, there's no way I'm letting Elanos grow up without a father."
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A/N: It's a coincidence, but it's a bit fitting that the episode coming out for Christmas mostly revolves. relates, or touches on family. I was going to expand on the Castis Vakarian subplot, but decided to push that back as next episode's cliffhanger ending.
At any rate, we're rapidly approaching the endgame. Depending on how things go, we might only have another 6 episodes left after this arc concludes, not including the interim CODEX chapter which'll include a mostly complete list of character bios and recaps. If I feel things are going too quick I might make a special exception and extend the final arc to 7 or 8 episodes, but that'll remain to be seen. Whatever the case, by next chapter, all the pieces will be on the board and then it's just a matter of execution (hopefully in a way I find satisfactory).
This makes the second Christmas this story's run through. If all goes well, it should wrap up before we reach a third, at which point I can move on to a sequel or other projects.
Also I'm staying up late crunching on this chapter to have it up by Christmas, so my apologies if it appears rushed or if the grammar seems worse than usual. I'll get back to it eventually.
Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and God bless you all.
Update Jan 1 2025: Fixed a minor error where I accidentally wrote the same section twice
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