2023-06-03: Where Feelings and Power Go
- Log: 2023-06-03: Where Feelings and Power Go
- Cast: Akane Shinjo, Rikka Takarada, Alouette Pommier, Suberoa Zinnerman, Leina Ashta (designation Puru-1), Mineva Lao Zabi, Banagher Links, Knight, Char Aznable
- Where: Vist Foundation Atmospheric Supercarrier "Garuda", Senegal - Federation-Administrated Capital Region of Dakar
- OOC - IC Date: 0097-05-30
- Summary: The tension boiling on the Garuda finally bubbles over, and many of its captives escape. Akane, Rikka, and Alouette focus on escaping in a cramped cockpit, while Banagher and Mineva fight to save Leina's heart. Even with unexpected aid from Gridknight, Suberoa Zinnerman, and even Char Aznable, not everyone can be reached; Leina's wounded heart still bears too many shackles.
- CW: Brainwashing
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
30 MINUTES BEFORE THE DATA BOMB
It's been a harrowing few days. Akane's had to do a lot of things she doesn't like to get to this point. Had to watch a lot of things she didn't like. Learned... more than makes her happy about her captors past and present.
Aumerei has parked Alouette in the monitoring room. Treasure Chest, of course, comes with her, because she needs to discuss her regimen with Dr. Murasame.
"I had been considering the possibility that either your brother or Puru-1's had been pursuing the Garuda when I forbid RC-01's retrieval," Dr. Murasame points out to Akane. There's irritation in his voice, but not quite malice -- the frustration of someone receiving his fourth-best result when he'd actively tried to turn it down. "However, your continued compliance has proven Treasure Chest's long-term viability."
He slides a marked-up version of her report on their trip to Banadiya to her along with another document. "Another procedure for Treasure Chest and Ms. Pommier has already been prepared."
Aumerei cuts in, "You're kinda getting ahead of yourself. You get that I'm on 'junior executive' track and not 'lab rat' track, right?" she starts, eyes narrowing. "I don't think you should act like we're your subjects anymore. This project is still going because Martha tolerates it for now. Also, this is like the third or fourth time you've wrecked Fun Time with someone I was in the mood for? Like, jeez, at least let me have a little fun with Alouette."
"Your, indiscretions," said with the same tone as when he'd accused Aumerei of trying to provoke him, "with Ms. Pommier push the limits of my, tolerance, for the behavior of junior lab staff. I expect, you will comply with this test to the letter." There's a faint narrowing of his eyes as he adds, "You and Treasure Chest remain unique specimens, and the program that created Ms. Pommier would be, difficult to duplicate."
Akane's eyes narrow back as she reviews the other document she's been handed. This plan...
... creates an opportunity. She squints at the document. "Why all three of us in the Mu Gundam's cockpit?" she asks, slowly but surely. "Is this another one of your 'basic psycommu tests'? I don't think Alouette adds much to that..."
There is a reason to do that. Akane knows that, and by asking the question at that pace, with that tone -- she's made it clear she knows it.
A tense silence settles over the room. There's a moment where, Murasame's eyes meet Akane's, and Akane's meet Murasame's. Suspicion builds for the shortest of moments.
He opens his mouth. "Treasure Chest, Aumerei will need to be de --"
Akane Shinjo reaches into her suit and pulls the stun baton from the inner pocket, jabbing it into Dr. Murasame's side. He falls -- not quite unconscious, but close, and visibly in pain.
"I'm not losing to someone who can only think of people's connections as a way to tie them down," Akane says, angrily, shocking him a second time. It's so cathartic.
... He's got to be, what, 70? Akane looks down at him -- and for a moment the temptation to continue to shock him spikes. She could do it. She could kill him. She'd be a hero for it, even -- this man has been a menace for decades. A phantom whose name occurs only before lists of victims at war crimes trials. A monster who carves humans into monsters.
Her face scrunches up, and her shoulders pull inward. Teeth grinding, she hunches over a little --
-- and forces herself to put the baton back in her jacket.
'Rikka' might not survive seeing Akane give in to the real world's callous logic -- and the world's better with her in it, too.
... For now, Akane moves Dr. Murasame back to his desk, at considerable strain. If he's simply slumped over at it, asleep -- well.
The Garuda's schedule has been grueling for those with the advantages of youth on their side. Surely an older man would eventually need a nap from overwork -- and where better than his private office?
Other than the monitoring shuttle... this plan would work.
Akane sets to work with a bottle of corrective fluid.
10 MINUTES BEFORE THE DATA BOMB
"I've received the detailed testing order from Dr. Murasame. He's in the process of reworking Puru-1's regimen to accommodate all the contradictory requests from above, and is not to be disturbed," Aumerei explains to one of the lab staff members. She hands over both the review of her own report -- as if to indicate 'yes, I just had business with Dr. Murasame,' and 'this is a genuine document and the experiment reflects the needs raised in that document.'
Straightening out her suit and tie, she says, "I'm glad this one's short. I need to have a talk with Alberto after this," before gesturing to Alouette. "Bestie. Treasure Chest. Let's get this over with, shall we?"
1 MINUTE BEFORE THE DATA BOMB
The Mu Gundam's cockpit is cramped, there's no doubt about that. Two was pushing it; three is miserable. Akane's hunched over and pressed into the side of the cockpit, a hand stuck into Alouette's hair and not really by choice. Three Anksha-Jegan pairs -- about 30% of the remaining MS contingent of the Garuda -- circle around the Mu Gundam lazily in standby, weapon output set to training mode.
"Alouette, Rikka," she starts. Genuine confidence returns to her expression for the first time in ages.
"Wherever we go... let's make an impression."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
30 MINUTES BEFORE THE DATA BOMB
For the first time, Treasure Chest is accompanying Aumerei to one of her meetings with Dr. Murasame. It's about her, after all, it seems, so she supposes it makes sense that she should be here for it. She sits quietly, listening to the two of them talk. It isn't her place to intrude, but some of the things they say... catch in her mind a bit.
Viability... A procedure... Is this what they were talking about the other day - her reward for bringing Aumerei back safely? ...She should be happy about this, right? It'll make it easier to protect her... But for some reason, the idea only fills her with trepidation.
She doesn't flinch at all when Aumerei brings up 'Fun Time'. Maybe the idea doesn't register - or maybe she just trusts her that much. She does look toward her, though, as she goes over the provided document detailing the next test. ...Even she can feel the tension that enters the room following Aumerei's question, though.
Dr. Murasame addresses her with the beginnings of a command, and Treasure Chest's attention moves from Aumerei to him. Because of that, she doesn't realise what's happening until he's already on the floor. It takes a second for her to register it - and then Aumerei shocks him a second time.
"A-Akane!" Treasure Chest jumps out of her seat a little with a surprised gasp, looking down at Dr. Murasame's fallen form. She looks back up at Aumerei, then. "I-Is he- Did you-"
...She settles after a moment as Aumerei gets to work, but still seems a little shaken.
10 MINUTES BEFORE THE DATA BOMB
Treasure Chest stands quietly and dutifully by Aumerei's side as ever as the latter relays the specifications of today testing orders to the lab staff. By all accounts, she's the perfect model of obedience - and when Aumerei addresses her, she nods.
"Yes." Treasure Chest replies - and begins to follow.
1 MINUTE BEFORE THE DATA BOMB
The three of them sit in the cockpit of the Mu Gundam. Treasure Chest shifts a little bit to accomodate both of them, but ultimately this machine was not built to carry three people - much less two. She can still reach the controls, at least - and right now, that's all she needs.
...And then, Aumerei speaks.
'Wherever we go... let's make an impression.' Familiar words reverberate through her subconscious. A look of surprise crosses over Treasure Chest's face - which eventually settles into a familiar expression.
The steadfast resolve of Rikka Takarada is unmistakeable.
"... Okay. I will." Rikka agrees, offering Akane and Alouette both a nod as she takes hold of the Mu Gundam's controls.
"Launching funnels." Rikka announces to the hangar in Treasure Chest's typical toneless timbre. The Mu Gundam's funnels release, floating about it at the ready. By all accounts, the test is proceeding normally... but within the cockpit, Rikka is carefully studying the hangar's set-up and the Ankshas surrounding them.
Watching... and waiting.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
30 MINUTES BEFORE DATA BOMB
Alouette waits patiently in the monitoring room, signalling full compliance with Aumerei's orders, after their 'fun time' was unfortunately cut short.
It's almost over, she remembers. If their plan succeeds, and it will succeed they'll be out of here within 30 minutes.
Once Doctor Murasame is incapitated, that's her chance. She slips away to the computers in his lab - currently unoccupied. All it takes is to break the security on one and the whole ship goes down like a stack of cards. Now it's time to play the ace.
And all that ace really is, is a flash drive. Perhaps it was a last resort for the Doctor, who never really cared about the Foundation - but regardless, it's Alouette's tech expertise that sees it become the key to victory tonight, as it devours upon this computer's security.
30 minutes - it becomes a timer for their escape. In 30 minutes, the monitoring systems will shut down and all the doors inside the Garuda will throw themselves open in emergency response. They'll finally get the room to move they needed- but it'll but up to Banagher and Audrey's own courage to use that opening to save Leina.
10 MINUTES BEFORE DATA BOMB
Alouette slips back to the monitoring room as if nothing happened. She's here for a basic psycommu test with Aumerei and Treasure Chest in the cockpit of the Mu Gundam. "Understood. I'll work as quickly as I can." she nods, following her companions to the cockpit. "Hopefully... no interruptions."
1 MINUTE BEFORE DATA BOMB
It's painfully cramped in the Mu Gundam, but it doesn't seem to bother Alouette. This is nothing compared to what they'd have to endure if they stayed.
Gathering herself, and hoping her efforts aren't for nothing, she watches the two people she's glad to call her friends.
"Yes. An impression they'll never be able to forget." She nods, resolutely. "Akane and Rikka," and it feels good to use those names, "My courage is with you!"
<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
A trapezoidal Garencieres-class freighter glides smoothly through cloud cover from the Three Ships Alliance's holding pattern over the United Emirates of Orb, its engines somehow silent despite its colossal bulk.
Wait, didn't this vehicle get destroyed?
No. This particular freighter - one of thousands you can find anywhere in the Earth Sphere - is not painted in that familiar olive green; its hull is a steel-blue, decorated with orange striping.
Aboard it, however: A number of familiar faces.
"Captain," Gilboa Sant reports, turning to face Suberoa Zinnerman in his seat, "The Junior's running like a dream. Honestly, better than our last one. Soon as I get the seat just how I like it, we're perfect."
Zinnerman snorts - rare good humour. "Flaste - express our thanks to Captain York for her hospitality. We'll be back... but we have work to do. How is the psycometer?" His first mate and comms officer doesn't look up from his readouts. "The device is active and in full reception mode, Captain. We'll get a better signal from the Unicorn, but if someone on that transport activates any psycoframe, we'll be - "
ping ping ping ping
"... the first to know," Flaste Schole finishes his sentence with a grin. "Captain! I'm getting a signal just off the coast of Dakar."
Zinnerman grunts, activating the ship intercom. "Tomura. How is the new project?"
In the repurposed cargo hangar, Tomura wipes his brow. "With all due respect, Captain: It is my professional opinion that this plan is mental and the likelihood of you suffering personal injury is catastrophically high."
"Understood," Zinnerman replies, in that tone of voice that indicates 'answer my question'. The prodigy mechanic sighs. "The base jabber has been modified for the objective, sir. Ready to deploy when we need it."
"Good." Zinnerman turns his attention to Gilboa. "Plot an intercept course for the psycometer signal, full speed ahead. Flaste: if you pick up the Unicorn's NT-D, use the psycometer to send Banagher a message."
"Let him know we're coming. Garencieres Team: Commence Operation 'Magpie'!"
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
Murasame and Alberto had a dispute over how recent gaps in security caused by Aumerei's outing ought to be filled. One argued that Puru-1 would best be served taking a shift as lab security, the other that their VIP was more important. In the end, Martha resolved the dispute, Puru-1 would be assigned to the Zeon Princess.
While Puru-1 didn't argue, she found she hated Alberto all the more, because the duty gave her no escape from looking at her sins. Arrangements had changed. Instead of an unlocked door with security standing outside, it was now locked with a key code. She knew the code. The intercom had been disabled in favor of a warning chime and a delay before the door opened.
These changes had not been fully communicated to Mineva, only that before the Guard stood outside, and now Puru-1 sat inside. Lab personnel had warned Mineva, privately, that any attempt to 'confuse' Puru-1 would have consequences to her, and that they'd force her to watch.
Now the two sat together in Mineva's gilded cage.
Sitting in her pilot suit for the Banshee, a sidearm strapped to her side, Leina stared vaguely forward. It may be unpleasant for Mineva to watch her. She was always so extroverted, so conversational. Now there was mostly an awkward silence from her. Like existing in this reality hurt her.
They crafted Leina's cage to be this stagnant status quo itself, meant to contain all the negative feelings of resentment and anger, fear and sorrow. Then abruptly she looks up, like a skittish animal in the field that just heard a stick break. A moment of insight perhaps?
She stands up, drawing her side arm just as the door to the room opens on it's own, Leina snapping up her sidearm as if to be ready for a threat on the other side. Nothing is forthcoming.
Her gaze snaps up at a certain area of the room, for a tell tale sign of the monitoring equipment. It's not there.
"What's going on. Why aren't the alarms going crazy!?" And that's when she hears the distant sound of explosions to the Mu Gundam's funnels. The ship rocks briefly, as she braces a hand to the door, steadying herself.
Holding onto it, she widens her stance and lets go. She then holds out her hand to her, palm up. "Audrey we have to go! I don't know what's happening but it doesn't matter-!" And despite the desolation in this moment, there is a sudden fire, a determination that didn't exist before, "I'll keep you safe, no matter what."
If she refuses to come, it'd be a problem for her, but something passes between them.
Please, trust me.
Despite it all, the outstretched hand feels like an offer not a command. Evidence perhaps that despite it all, the girl she loved is still in there. If she takes her hand, then they'll be on their way, breaking into a jog. One hand holding the gun, the other holding her hand as they head towards an emergency lift for evacuation.
...---...
"Blast it! What's going on! Someone give me a status update!" Alberto hurriedly looked over a datapad, but couldn't access the monitoring systems. Martha on the other hand, was already fully dressed in her normal suit.
"Alberto." She said calmly, "It seems the Doctor is making his move." She gestures to a viewport, at a glimpse of a funnel beam lancing across the hold. On a handheld comm, Martha tapped the edge, and spoke, "Security forces, focus on the evacuation of the VIPs. Terminate the Mu Gundam."
She then began to stride away down the hall with a complement of four armed guards, as Alberto hop hop hopped into his normal suit, following after her, "Puru-1 isn't a part of this! I made certain the Doctor couldn't activate her for anything he was planning."
"Well then, she'll bring the Princess right to us now won't she?" Martha said after a moment, "When it comes to managing employee relations in times like these, we have to prioritize, Alberto." She smiles, self-assured, until something comes over the comms.
"Repeat that- a what class freighter?" After rehearing it, she seethes, "Damnit, was the man conspiring with the SLEEVES?" Hitting the comms anew, "Change of plans, distract the Mu Gundam and remove it from the ship. Remaining mobile suit forces are to divert to engage enemy vessel." Martha began to walk more quickly, "The moment you get in touch with Puru-1, Alberto, activate her!"
"Easier said than done." Alberto murmured to himself as he clicked his helmet in place, remembering what he did to try and counter Murasame's plans.
Teletha Testarossa teleports in.
POT: Teletha Testarossa is now set observer.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva sits at the desk in her cell, a black Go stone in her hand. She turns it over, watching the way the light reflects off the smooth surface. Occasionally, she glances over at the room's sole other occupant. Leina Ashta. Not Puru-1. She refuses to even acknowledge the "name" that Vist has assigned Leina. She may believe it's the name she wants, or the name she deserves... but she knows that nothing could be further from reality.
Even so, she's made no attempt to break through her programming again. The threat of consequences was enough to dampen her desire.
They've talked, now and then, but it's nothing like the heart-to-heart conversations they'd had before all this. And so much of the time has been silence. Being locked away together with someone she loved wouldn't be so bad, but... well, the Leina in front of her isn't the Leina she knew. That unfamiliarity, that distrust... it's hard for Leina not to feel it.
The sudden motion catches her attention. "Leina. What's..."
The door opens... and nothing comes through. The distant sound of explosions reaches her ears. The faint sensations of heightened tension wash over her, and then-- explosions. She braces herself against the desk as the Garuda shudders... and her heart leaps.
This is it.
Leina offers her hand... and promises to keep her safe. She feels the traces of the girl she loves, still in there underneath it all.
Mineva hesitates. But after a moment, she stands, and takes Leina's hand, nodding.
I'll trust you.
She grips the stone in her other hand as they run, casting her thoughts toward Banagher. Please be safe...
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
Time escapes Banagher. Alone in his cell, he waits.
And waits.
And waits.
No one has come to see him since he met with Alberto Vist yesterday -- and Banagher knows they're trying to wear him down, to make him more willing to accept Vist's deal. Leaving the young pilot alone to his thoughts is more effective than torture. Fear runs wild in Banagher's mind. What's happening to the girls? To Leina?
With a frustrated yell, Banagher kicks the wall of his cell. "Let me see Leina!" He shouts. "What are you doing to her?!"
Normally, Leina is sent in to ensure Bangaher eats and drinks. He's refused to do so without her present. But today, despite the presence of food at his door (which he ignored), the young woman has not appeared. Nor has Alouette, or Akane, or Rikka... Not to mention Audrey, who he hasn't seen once since they were captured.
Nothing happens. The guards either aren't there or are ignoring Bangher entirely. He returns to pacing, wondering for the millionth time if he can somehow unscrew the bench from the floor of his cell and use it to lever the door open...
Time passes. Banagher begins to wish he'd kept the water bottle Vist offered with his breakfast.
--!
Something's about to change. Banagher feels it, like a bolt of lightning across his awareness. He doesn't know what it is, but he knows he needs to be ready.
So he sits on the edge of the cell's bed, staring out to the hallway. And, only a few moments later, the door swings open.
This must be it. The chance Akane promised. Golden eyes light up with a wild, near mad glow. One chance. Make it count. Banagher gets to his feet and sprints out into the hallway. He doesn't know his way around the Garuda. He was tazed unconscious when he was brought to his cell. But even so...
A hand comes to his chest. The Unicorn is close. He can feel her soul brushing at the edges of his own. If Banagher can get to his Gundam, he'll have all the leverage he needs to get the girls to safety.
"Unicorn--" Banagher whispers, between breaths.
UNICORN!
Green motes of light sparkle around the white Gundam. Though she does not move, the Unicorn heeds her pilot all the same -- internal systems coming to life. She has refused to come alive for three days, turning away Vist's every attempt at gathering information. The Unicorn has chosen her partner, and she will allow no other.
When Banagher skids into the hangar, everything is in chaos, and he lets out a breathy laugh at the sight. While Vist's security forces are mobilizing, none seem aware of him, their attention focused on the Mu Gundam.
The best thing he can do is stay out from underfoot. The Unicorn is at the end of the hangar, furthest from the launch bay, and so Banagher begins to run again. Explosions rock the hangar, nearly sending the young man toppling a few times, but he perseveres.
Audrey, Leina. I'm here.
Banagher's soul reaches out, resonating with hope as he searches for his girls. Only once before has his soul reached them so clearly -- it 'sounds' as though he's standing right next to them.
Come to the Unicorn. I'm waiting for you.
It's time to go home.
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
Nidaime did what she could. Vit's told them where they're hiding, after tailing them back.
Now, it's Knight's turn.
His suit can't quite obscure the bandages around his belly and over his hand, as he moves -- still small as a human -- closer to where the Garuda sails. He does not rise up, yet, crouched in the bush. He pulls some binoculars from his jacket; he looks up.
He is waiting.
A freighter begins an intercept course. The machines of the Garuda begin to stir.
"I won't have long," he says, to himself.
And then, he starts running.
The best way to hide, when one is fifty metres tall, is to not BE there until the critical moment. And so, here, at the critical moment -- Gridknight is come. No wounds are so evident, on his suit, though his Energy Lamp is dimmer than it could be. He charges in, and his flat palm chops into the back of an Anksha, as it turns to try and fire on the Mu Gundam.
He speaks. The Mu Gundam will receive it, on its radio. "Rikka Takarada. And..." He can see Akane's heart, all crammed in there, at least. He has some sense it's not just her. "All right. Come with me. We've made a path."
It's not just him, here, after all. The Neon Genesis Junior High Students are working in the sidelines, with Nidaime, to make sure they'll have a place to go.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
30 MINUTES BEFORE THE DATA BOMB
Akane shakes her head. "... I don't want to be that kind of person anymore," Akane murmurs.
She wants to say more -- about how unfair it'd be to Rikka, about how worried she is about what comes after for Rikka and Leina. ... and, for that matter, for herself and Alouette.
She can tell her that later. After all -- the future does exist.
NOW
They're committed -- and more than that: there's... "... Why is there a freighter here?" Akane reflects aloud, a worried look crossing her face. She couldn't have known that was coming -- but now she feels like she's gotten someone involved who has absolutely no business being involved. Awkwardly reaching down to open comms, she says, "Unidentified freighter -- this is gonna get even hotter really fast. I think you might wanna turn around."
She has no idea what's up on this point, actually! She's never been briefed on the Rivacona-class freighter associated with the Sleeves.
"... We need to get moving. We're seriously screwed if they just fold in on us -- and that freighter doesn't need to be part of this mess," Akane says. She's not cold about it, but she is firm.
A voice cuts through to Akane: it's... "Gridknight!" she says, breathing a deep sigh of relief, but more than that, joy -- she'd been terrified about what could have happened to him. "Thank you," she says, quieter, blinking back a few tears, overwhelmed.
She can't luxuriate in that feeling, though. She switches the comms to another frequency, now that she's thinking about them. "This is the RX-90 Mu Gundam," she starts, "calling for help. We need help -- we're escaping from the Garuda-class! Repeat, this is the RX-90 Mu Gundam..."
Though it's awkward positioning-wise, still, she gives Rikka's shoulder a squeeze. (She also accidentally catches a little of Alouette's hair in that.)
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
The 'bomb' goes off. The backlash is immediately evident, and in the following disarray Rikka takes her chance. She's been in the hangar enough times by now to recognize what looks important. By all accounts, the Mu Gundam's power output should be restricted for testing, much like the Ankshas... but the follow minutes prove that isn't the case. The Mu Gundam's funnels flash, guided by her will in a combination of Treasure Chest's surgical destructive instinct tempered by Rikka's gentleness - destroying vital, sensitive equipment and disabling some of the surrounding Ankshas with minimal damage to pilots and personnel.
The funnels round on the Banshee next... and Rikka hesitates. She could put an end to its curse here and now. No one has to be hurt by it anymore. She could... She could...
...She can't. She doesn't know what it'll do - she knows what it's done to her, and what it seems to have done to Leina but...
...She can't bring herself to do it. Not when there are still so many unknowns.
"...Hold on tight, you two. This is going to get rough here in a bit..." Rikka warns, as the Mu Gundam launches from the hangar, the remaining Ankshas following. The Ankshas' weapons, by this point, have been released just like hers - and Rikka grimaces as the Mu Gundam is rocked by fire. She lets Akane handle communications - right now, she needs to focus on getting them out safe. Speaking of which...
"Alouette, could you keep an eye on the radar? Let me know if I miss something important." Rikka requests.
With so many forces arrayed to deal with them, their objective is so incredibly difficult. She's not sure they can handle it on their own...
...But they aren't alone. As another Anksha gets a bead on her, help arrives.
"Gridknight...!" Rikka calls out, alongside Akane - and it isn't the anger-tinged growl of Treasure Chest this time. If there's any doubt how she feels, what comes next may provide a clue. The Mu Gundam reaches up, taking a hold of that distinctive black tarp, secured with red straps... and tears it right off, hurling it back toward the Garuda's engines.
"We're right behind you. Lead the way!" She starts... and hesitates for a moment before adding, "...Thank you."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
Akane gives her shoulder a squeeze. Rikka's tense shoulders relax visibly, and she lets out a breath she didn't realise she was holding. She can't take her eyes off the skies in front of her to look her way... but her gratitude is clear in the way she carries herself.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
A freighter, huh... "Maybe it's someone trying to help just disguised as a freighter?" Alouette considers. "I just hope they're not in over their head about this..." She frowns, how many people have tried fool's errands like this against the Garuda? Her assessment isn't totally off the mark, but there's no need for the Garencieres crew to disguise who they are.
She lets Akane handle the comms, while Rikka asks her to pay attention to the radar. "No problem, Rikka!" She nods. With this amount of enemies, it's hard to get a good read of the situation other than 'there's a lot of them and they're after us' but... hope has arrived.
"I'm getting readings of a large purple object headed this way. No, that's..."
"Gridknight!" She reports, with a wide smile on her face. "Somehow, I just knew you'd come. Thanks for being so persistent..." Nidaime said it best: the Gridknight Alliance's always working hard, and besides Knight truly has become someone who can hear a heart crying out.
The Mu Gundam too, reveals its heart, discarding that cloak-like tarp. While Akane calls for help, Alouette signals to Rikka: "We're good to go full speed. The sooner we link up with the Gridknight Alliance, the better!" Tonight two Alliances, work together in tandem.
<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
Zinnerman stands up from his seat as they receive Akane's broadcast, eyes tracking over the IFF readouts - enemy craft changing course to intercept. "Flaste, take control from Gilboa." He looks to their ace. "We need you out there."
"Yessir!" Gilboa Sant slaves his console to Flaste's and stands up, saluting before hurrying down to the hangar. Their intelligence suite picks up the Mu Gundam's second transmission, and Zinnerman looks back to Flaste. "Respond to their hail. Visual on."
A screen opens in the Mu Gundam's cockpit, greeting the three girls there with the visage of a stern, brown-skinned middle-aged man. TRANSMISSION ENCRYPTED blinks over the screen in amber, for a moment. His dark eyes track over the three of them, taking in their fear and determination. "I recognise that voice from the Dakar combat logs. Akane Shinjo?"
Once she responds: "Mu Gundam and passengers: I am Lieutenant Suberoa Zinnerman of the Sleeves, Captain of the intelligence vessel Garencieres... Junior." It will take some time to adjust to the new ship, even for a veteran such as himself. "I presume mister Links, miss Ashta, and Her Highness are still aboard the Garuda?"
As he speaks: The ventral hatch of the freighter's hangar opens - and a Geara Zulu launches into the air, equipped with heavy packs and a beam gatling gun, which rains fire down on an Anksha lining up a shot on the Mu Gundam, ripping it in two and condemning its Jegan rider to an unexpected rapid descent. Zinnerman continues, stoically: "My team will handle recovering the other prisoners and neutralising the Garuda; please use our armour to cover your escape if necessary. Zinnerman out."
He opens internal comms again: "Alec, Kwani: Meet me in the hangar for emergency deployment. Flaste: if the Banshee sorties, use the psycometer and the decrypted comms algorithm to gain access and try and disable the neurotoxin injectors. Gilboa: Give the rest of them hell."
"Aye, sir!" comes the crackling transmission from the Geara Zulu. Zinnerman heads down to the hangar.
After another moment - a second vehicle emerges from the freighter, this time from its aft dock - a Base Jabber, coated in signal-reflective camouflage paint, broadcasting no IFF. Zinnerman wishes Gilboa was flying this craft... but he's no slouch in the seat himself. "Brace yourselves", he advises his infiltration team. "This is going to be... hairy."
The stealth craft goes up over the fight, slipping through the upper atmosphere before descending over the Garuda and attaching a magnetic cable to secure its position. After another pause... three men in normal suits descend the cable, magnetic boots attaching to the Garuda's hull as they start to work on opening an access panel in the craft's ventral hull.
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
The look Mineva gets from Puru-1 is one of gratitude, relief, even love. Even thinking she's unworthy, undeserving of it, she still radiates it in this moment. There's a firm hold on her hand as they jog.
Despite keeping in shape, she's more breathless than usual. The result of so much forced weight loss so rapidly. All the same, she doesn't slow down, making it to an emergency lift to the hangar in short order.
"This should take us straight to the Banshee." She comments to her as the lift moves down into place. As her sea-green eyes give her a look, a thin smile, she's trying to be reassuring, "It's going to be alright, I promise. We'll get Banagher and the others. I'll keep you safe from-"
Her smile wavers as she feels Banagher reaching out to them. Did he do this? Is he a part of this!?
No. You stay put Banagher. I'll come get you.
The moment the lift doors slide open, she rushes onward hand in hand, only pausing for a moment as she sees the Mu Gundam's funnels hovering near the Banshee, "No! No no no-! Treasure Chest don't!" And in that moment, Treasure Chest feels her desperate plea.
Please don't take her away from me again!
Even knowing she has no right to ask her for anything, still, she begs her. The funnels never fire. The dread feeling of grief, of mourning for what felt inevitable, losing her again- it unravels out of her test, "Thank you... thank you. Audrey- Come on-!"
Reaching the ascent lift, the two are held up, and as the cockpit opens, she hoists Audrey inside, looking across the bay at the Gundam Unicorn, the way afoot blocked by debris and flame. "There's a spare normal suit strapped to the passenger seat. I won't take off until you're in it." Banagher might catch a glimpse of Puru-1 and Audrey all the same, next to the open hatch of the Banshee.
I won't allow you to ruin this. This is the only way, Banagher.
The cockpit hatch closes, even as she straps herself into the seat, and the engines fire, the Unicorn's dark twin coming to life.
Mineva can feel them, ephemeral fingers, whispers, sensations upon the edges of perception. It's not so intense yet in Unicorn mode, but it's definitely present. Is she the only one who has ever been in the cockpit with Leina during these experiences? There's a growing oppressiveness to the sensations, but in the end how her senses translate them is.
welcome
welcome
welcome welcome
welcome welcome
welcome welcome
n e v e r l e a v e
h i g h n e s s p r i n c e s s m i n e v a
hamans pet hamans doll hamans tool zabi
possessiveness loneliness jealousy sorrow
It does not resonate with her as strongly, but there is this strange twisted sense of indirect connection, of desire to her, of this idea of an idea of what a child of Neo-Zeon once had of Princess Mineva Lao Zabi.
Flaste's systems will pick it up the moment it comes on. It's encryptions as terrifying as ever, but more than that. There's this strange sense of distortion, like inputs are being warped as he puts them in. Like outputs are subtly different than what they ought to be.
Is that laughter he hears near his ear? No, he must be imagining things. Still, he makes progress... gradually.
"That's not... Gridman." She notes as the cockpit screens come on, as her senses stretch out, feeling the familiar sensation and-
"Knight?" She whispers. She'd heard that he could do this of course, but she had never seen it. The loudspeakers of the Banshee come on, as the engines start to roar, and yet like she promised, she doesn't take off.
"Take them and GO! Just don't get in my way KNIGHT!" The Banshee shifts subtly in how it turns to face the other Gundam, straight towards its focus. The only thing halting it the fact that Mineva isn't secure inside yet.
"Banagher. This doesn't end in any way except you coming with me." She warns him, sounding upset? Betrayed? Despite the fact that she herself is the one that betrayed both of them. "Don't make this any harder for yourself than it needs to be."
...---...
"Puru-1, do you read me!? Puru-1!" Alberto calls out into his datapad, that's supposed to automatically link to the Banshee at this range.
"Worry about it later and get in! She'll do what we need her to do automatically, or die trying."
Martha admonishes him as the two climb into their transport, a few stray Ankshas that survived the onslaught breaking off to cover them.
As she views Gridknight, the freighter, Martha, a shrewd operator reassesses what's going on, "... A rescue operation is it? Akane Shinjo, I thought you were a more forward thinking girl than this, I'm disappointed." She asides to Alberto, "Once this is over, we'll show them the price of defiance."
Alberto looks at Martha only out of the corner of his eyes at that moment, ashamed, "We aren't... aren't really going to...?" Martha cuts him off, "Alberto. Am I the type of woman that goes back on her word?"
"N-No... Aunt Martha..." The man falls into sullen silence, eyes distant, as he goes back to his work trying to connect to the Banshee, suddenly lost in thought.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva can't help worrying for Leina, as she watches her struggle for breath. While they move, she tries to plan. Once they get away, where will they go? Leina will still be compromised... but she got through to her once. Maybe she can do it again, with Banagher's help... but it's likely they've planned for that.
She feels Banagher, too. Her heart lifts further, and she looks to Leina... who shoots him down. Suspects him... it hurts, the way Leina reacts.
"Keep us safe from who?" she asks, her suspicions flaring. Vist? The Federation? Themselves? The last place Mineva wants to be is another cage... and it would kill her to be held prisoner by her own lover. But even as they reach the hangar, she can't bring herself to pull away. Before she can talk herself into doing anything else... they're inside the lift.
Stay safe. I'll be okay.
She looks, and feels, awful, but it doesn't feel like she has any other choice at the moment except to leave Banagher for now. And even now... she trusts Leina to at least keep her safe. She knows she will, even now.
Hesitant, she steps inside... and spots a spare Normal Suit in the Banshee's cockpit. Even as those sensations begin to creep into her... a new plan starts to form. A last resort...
She grabs the suit, putting it on as fast as she's able. She's... trembling as she does. The possessiveness, the jealousy, it all seems to stick to her skin through the suit. She knows, now, for sure, where these feelings are from. Whose they are.
She understands, and it makes her want to cry.
She tries to push back against those thoughts. It's not her, not anymore. A puppet, a doll... once, she may have been those things, before she knew any different. It's a life that's on the edge of memory, one she can hardly recall anymore. It's difficult for her to sit still, the way they grasp at her... and she knows it's so much more for Leina.
She knows it's not Leina's fault. They manipulated her. But some small part of her still thinks, still wonders as she secures herself into the seat, in thoughts loud enough to hear... Why would you do this to yourself? To her...?
"Leina... please..." she pleads, "You don't need to do this. This isn't the only way! They're lying to you... blinding you, making you think the only way to help us is to take away our freedom!"
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
I'm bringing you home. We're all going together!
There's a sort of insistence in Banagher's spiritual voice -- a certainty. Everyone going home together is the only possibility. Even if he has to drag Leina all the way, he won't give up.
The Unicorn shines all the brighter, motes of verdant radiance expanding to bits of stardust hovering around her. It's subtle, but if someone were to look...
Reaching the base of the Unicorn's gantry, Banagher begins to climb. He makes it to the cockpit -- it opens before him without being touched -- and Leina's distress tears through Banagher's soul like he touched a live wire.
"No!" He shouts, not fully knowing what he's reacting to.
It's only then that he turns, seeing Audrey and Leina in the hangar, exposed to the battle taking place. With another plast of the Mu Gundam's funnels, debris falls between the Unicorn and her sister, separated by the full length of the hangar.
No, don't -- I'm right here, don't --!
Desperately, his heart echoes to the two girls as they climb into the Banshee. With no other choice, Banagher turns and settles into the Unicorn's cockpit. The sense of relief is immediate. Safety, love, and familiarity wrap around his shoulders, a balm to the despair he's experienced these past three days.
"Thank you." He murmurs, then notices Zinnerman's message waiting for him. Banagher flips on his radio, broadcasting on an open channel.
"Banagher Links! Unicorn Gundam!" He can't keep the relief out of his voice. "I'm safe! The Mu Gundam is an ally, please help them! Leina -- Leina and Audrey are in the Banshee!"
Piloting the Unicorn is automatic, now, and Banagher urges the Beast of Possibility forward. She crashes through the gantry surrounding her, tearing a hole in the side of the ship from the desperation of Banagher's actions. Turning on her heel, she faces her sister.
"Mu Gundam, we're safe, get out of here! Captain, Garuda forces are reduced -- they've launched all the mobile suits they have. Interior security is limited. All captives are accounted for, and--" Banagher crashes the Unicorn through the debris littering the hangar, "I'm BRINGING THEM HOME WITH ME!"
Charging, the white Gundam lunges for the Banshee, aiming to pin it to the ground. An Anksha gets in the way, and the Unicorn draws one of her beam sabers, slashing the enemy machine clean in half above the cockpit.
"No!" He calls to the Banshee, pushing forward. "Leina Ashta, I love you, and I'm bringing you back where you belong! Sayla, Judau -- everyone, everyone's waiting! They love you, and nothing can change that. Fight! Fight for us, love, please!"
Again, the Unicorn reaches for the Black Lion. He can feel whispers of the spectre's hands awakening, and he knows he has to act fast. If someone activates the Banshee's NT-D, a psychofield could tear the Garuda apart, dooming everyone. The Unicorn herself trembles, straining against Banagher's control, wanting to transform.
"The very first day we met, you told me you trusted me. Trust me now!" Banagher begs. "I still believe in this world, and so do you! We can still change things for the better!"
<Pose Tracker> Knight has posed.
He is large, and he is purple. And by some definitions, yes, he is an object: somewhere in existence, there is a carved statuette of a boy in a scarf, so much a mirror of what was.
He looks different, now. Here, as well. He is not Gridman, but he is LIKE Gridman, the final destination of all that copied capacity.
"It's Gridknight," he says, and the Banshee's radio will hear him. He turns in her direction, and his mora linger, for one painful moment. Akane or Rikka may well recognise the throughline, between last they spoke, and now: "... I can't fight you right now. But I remember. Leina Ashta!" He can hear Banagher, recognising her heart. He speaks to the Unicorn, with a voice so like that young man who haunts the Villa like another cat: "Help her."
That cloak tears, flutters away, and he turns back to the Mu Gundam in the wake of it. "I hear you," he nods, though it wasn't a sentence spoken with any words. He hears Akane, just the same, as she calls for help. Perhaps she can see the way his Energy Lamp gutters too much, for having just begun the fight. "This way."
He dispatches of anything following them with less an eye to crushing them as simply getting them out of the way; he doesn't have the strength to clear out all these forces, himself, the way he is now. What he can do is help clear a path to escort the Mu Gundam away from the Garuda -- and all the Vist personnel on board who want Akane, Rikka, and Alouette for their wicked purposes. He is massive, beside Gundams; even hindered, he is an effective deterrent force.
He's spoken with Alouette before, about how she's not doing this alone. He'll take their own advice, today. This is what he can do, though it's not all that needs doing.
<Pose Tracker> Akane Shinjo has posed.
That precision from Rikka... that's new. That it's still there isn't -- outside tolerances, for the sort of work Akane's done, to be sure. She's anxious to see it, though, just the same; it does make her fear, just a little, for the person Rikka might become.
... There's still nothing but love in her heart, though. Maybe loving each other is enough.
She looks over to Alouette -- her comrade, despite everything -- and starts with, "Maybe?" -- Then a hail comes back in, and she pivots to addressing Zinnerman. "Yes. Akane Shinjo -- Alouette Pommier and Rikka Takarada and I are all stuffed into this thing, so it's a little cramped in here," she answers, before she gets the full introduction. Sleeves... that's complicated, but -- they'd at least be motivated to help Mineva, right?
"That's right," Akane says. At the mention of relying on them to cover their escape, she adds, "Understood." She kind of doesn't want to go into formal comms speak ever again if she can avoid it -- but right now it's probably best if she does.
Back to Alouette. "Thanks. Honestly, this amount of stuff to monitor is a little much for me... at least right now." She'd have an easier time at her desk.
The Banshee begins to move, and Akane frowns. This feels -- cruel. To send Leina out after all of them, to have her keep Banagher and Mineva somewhere that hurts them. She knows it's not Leina's fault, and that makes it worse. When Banagher opens comms to the Mu, Akane says, "We hear you, Banagher Links. ... Good luck." She's worried he won't be able to reach Leina, but -- he's the one who can.
The longer she looks at Gridknight, the more she notices the signs of wear. The energy lamp -- not quite emitting that low-energy blink but definitely operating at diminished capacity. "... I'll tell you everything later. I'm sorry I couldn't say it before," she tells him, anxiety giving way bit by bit to resolve.
"Focus on getting out of here," Akane says. "Gridknight's not gonna hold up forever. ... If you can, give him a little backup with your funnels. Stick to the Beam Smartgun for direct engagement."
<Pose Tracker> Rikka Takarada has posed.
The funnels take aim at the Banshee - and she can feel reaching out, pleading with her.
'Please don't take her away from me again!'
Rikka hesitates. ...She doesn't think it's good for her. She shouldn't. But...
In this place, they've both had so many decisions made for them. She doesn't, can't, be just another person doing the same. Even if she'll regret it... she can't decide this for her.
And, so she flies. Alouette keeping an eye on the radar helps her. Hasn't she always had others supporting her...? Something about this set-up feels familiar and comfortable, even if the physical space inside the cockpit is a little cramped.
And Knight - he says he hears her, as she performs her gesture. Within the Mu Gundam, Rikka nods. She doesn't needs words - they both understand each other, it seems.
The freighter who's signal they picked up - it hails them now. She lets Akane continue to handle the talking. The Garancieres Junior... the vessel's captain offers them cover.
"Understood, Captain." Rikka replies - tone slipping back just slightly. She'll accept whatever help she can get if it means safety, and adjusts her path accordingly.
...But, they aren't the only ones contacting them.
"Banagher?" Rikka replies, surprised. They're safe, he says - get out of here. She hesitates, for just a moment... and then, she nods. "...I trust you."
She picks up speed to follow after Gridknight, and nods as Akane gives her direction.
"Understood." She replies. Her funnels mobilize once again, and they dance - she seeks only to provide cover fire for Gridknight where capable, and to capitalize on opportunities to force a retreat. The Armed Armors are both at the ready, just in case.
...One way or another, whatever condition she's left in, she'll see them home.
<Pose Tracker> Alouette Pommier has posed.
Zinnerman introduces himself as a Lieutenant from the Sleeves. Allegiances aside: he's coming to help them. This whole time, they've had to fight tooth and nail.. it's almost unbelievable to hear another outside voice.
"This is Operator Pommier with 3G. Some things go beyond uniform.. so thank you for your assistance, Captain." He seems a grizzled veteran, she'll just hope he makes out okay after his intervention, as the Mu Gundam speeds ahead.
Akane thanks her for helping with operations, and Alouette turns to her with a nod. "You're welcome, Akane... I guess I'm just really used to working under all this pressure." But she feels just as exhausted.. she's glad they're working as a team on this one.
Another blip on the radar: to the Vist-aligned tracking system, it's an all important mobile suit: "Unicorn Gundam sighted!" That means...
"Banagher made it out!" Their plan was a success in getting him to move, but... "The Banshee's giving chase as well. We.. just have to trust in his love for them." She frowns.
Shortly after, Banagher hails them, and calls for them to focus on getting out. He's right ultimately... this is the only shot they get and they can't throw it away. "...Okay, Banagher. Then we'll be seeing all of you soon." She replies, with an air of confidence.
Funnels dance from the Mu Gundam, while Gridknight weathers assault after assault from the Garuda's mobile suit force. At the sight of it, Alouette honestly wants to close her eyes just a little...
But her eyes remain on the monitor alone, for the sake of returning home with her friends.
<Pose Tracker> Suberoa Zinnerman has posed.
"The hell is that?" Kwani calls out, pointing to Gridknight looming up at the height of the Garuda.
"Focus!" Zinnerman barks as Alec forces the access hatch open. "Breach, sweep, clear. Prioritise data recovery. If we find any of the laboratory staff still aboard, take them prisoner."
"Guards?" Alec asks. Zinnerman glowers. "Weapons free."
Alec is first down the hatch, followed by Kwani and then the Captain. They proceed to execute their plan to seize control of the transport.
====== ======
"Come on, come on," Flaste growls, typing furiously at his console. "Ivan, Tomura! I can't fly the boat and break through to the Banshee at the same time while it's fighting me! Take over from your stations!"
"Got it!" Tomura replies. Ivan nods. "I'll do my best. If we can figure out what kind of toxin it is we might be able to find another way to disable it."
"We're trying to save your pilot," Flaste mutters at the laughter in his ear, passing the hacking controls over to the remaining crew aboard as he returns his attention to flying the freighter. "Gilboa, how are you doing up there?"
The Geara Zulu plants its feet on the ventral hull of the Garencieres Jr., beam gatling gun providing cover for the Mu Gundam's escape. "Might be getting a bit hairy!" Gilboa calls back. "Are we sure we're not deploying the Kshatriya?"
"Captain's orders stand: Last resort only," Flaste replies. "Making Marida fight miss Ashta..."
"Got it. Ah, shi - " a Jegan leaps off its Anksha, beam saber flashing to life as it slashes down towards Gilboa's mobile suit - he draws his beam tomahawk and throws it, cutting off the saber arm in mid swing and the weapon sails downards into the clouds.
====== ======
"We have access to their comm system," Kwani reports, a pried-open panel the sign of his forced entry into the Garuda's systems. "Someone did a number on these systems, I don't know how much data we'll be able to get."
"Murasame will have backups," Zinnerman says with assurance. "Alec, how are we doing?"
"Our window's shortening. Guards will be closing on this spot soon," Alec reports. "We should secure the cockpit."
"Agreed. Forward it is. Kwani, patch me through to the Unicorn." Once the connection is established: "Banagher. Is Mineva with you? Kwani, Alec and I are going to secure the Garuda. Our new ship and Gilboa will provide cover if you need to escape."
He pauses, then: "I'm sorry we kept you waiting so long."
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
Keep us safe from who? Puru-1 doesn't answer Mineva. A glance out of the corner of her eyes. Perhaps it's because she herself doesn't quite understand who is attacking them, though she suspects.
Perhaps she feels her discomfort in this space, can understand why, because as she's putting on the suit, she tells Mineva, "Don't worry. Just relax. She doesn't - she doesn't mean you any harm." There's this vague abstraction to her, then quietly, "She just wants to live."
It is a relief to her, that at least she won't have to fight Gridknight. He remembers? Of course he does, but all Puru-1 tells him over the speakers, "Forget about me." Is her almost subdued plea, as if disgusted with herself, "Just get them home."
At the very least, they'll make it back. Perhaps to have another chance at starting over. What she did to them was unforgivable. The last she can do is let them have this.
A look out of the corner of her eyes at Mineva as she pleads with her, "And what's the alternative, Audrey?" She asks her after a moment, "How does this end, but with both of you shattered, or gone?"
She thinks of the first time she saw Kamille, with those vacant eyes, staring into nothing. She thinks of what she felt from Judau in his moment of 'triumph' from where she was on Earth. Of Amuro in the Conqueror King, bearing down upon them bent upon their destruction.
"Possibility... is a lie."
She declares as she shifts the Gundam in gear, thrusters erupting from the Armed Armor DE in brilliant azure. As Banagher lunges, it hovers off the ground, before twisting, the Unicorn's hand scraping against it's Obsidian Armor. Her thrusters flare brilliantly in a thrust, as the Banshee spirals out of the bay, before dropping into the clouds at this altitude.
"<Don't you get it, Banagher!? I'm already doing that!>" She declares as he tells her to fight for them, "<I trust you - except when it comes to knowing what's BEST FOR YOU!>"
A salvo of BOP missiles begin to erupt from the clouds, causing brief openings to form in the fluffy white as they blossom in the air like crimson lotuses around the Unicorn in its pursuit.
The Banshee Norn then follows suit. Hovering in mid-air as its Armed Armor DE goes off in favor of its simple jump jets, halting it in place. "<Just give in! You don't have to DESTROY YOURSELF for the ideals of a father that only saw you as an extension of his will in his final moments ANY LONGER!>"
Flaste continues to try, and after a time he at least gets confirmation that he's broken through the first few levels of security - despite the added difficulty, at least gaining some limited access to the comms.
However, every time he tries to touch the NT-D, he finds it is far better than protected.
ACCESS DENIED ACCESS DENIED ACCESS DENIED
ACCESS DENIED M I N E ACCESS DENIED
ACCESS DENIED ACCESS DENIED ACCESS DENIED
Did he see that? In the middle of all the error messages? ... Look again, there's nothing there, but the same error message. Does she understand that he's trying to save her? Can she understand?
However, something about his efforts tips off the pilot, as Puru-1 looks quietly towards the freighter, voice tight, "Zinnerman." Guilt, regret, immense grief.
Callie's gone. Don't send her if you know what's good for her.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva shudders. She closes her eyes, trying to keep her focus away from those thoughts, those sensations... but she opens them as Leina answers her.
"The alternative is for us to choose our own destinies, Leina. Char Aznable taught me about the ways the world tries to break us down, and I saw more out in the world." She looks long and hard at the pilot beside her. "The love of my life betrayed me... but... even so, I haven't given up. I won't give up!"
Something has been percolating in the back of her mind for months, alongside entertaining the prospect of leadership.
She looks away... toward her seat's console, though Leina can't see that past her helmet. "You think possibility is a lie. That this system is untouchable... unassailable."
The Banshee pauses in midair. Mineva presses a button on her console, and the panoramic viewscreen splits in front of Leina, the cockpit hatch opening, wind whipping through the small space. With a click, Mineva undoes her harness, and rushes forward, both hands grabbing onto the handles at either side of the entryway.
As Leina inevitably calls out to her, Mineva turns back to her. "I am a Zabi. I've always believed that anything is preferable to war, even if it's a twisted system. But... if the only purpose of that system is to stifle humanity, to perpetuate the falsehood that possibility means nothing... then in giving up, I'd be committing crimes as great as my father's and my grandfather's."
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
"And where will that stubborness take you, Audrey!? What will it CHANGE?!" Puru-1, tells her, pleading, desperate. She can't see her, and she's distracted, but she feels a flash of intent. Unfortunately, that intent moves her NOT to act. "AUDREY! STOP!"
With the hatch open, Puru-1 holds up her palms, as if trying to calm a skittish animal, "Audrey... I once believed the same. That if I was giving up, I'd be giving up on her. That I'd be giving up on the world she wanted to live in! On a kinder world! That would do right by her and everyone like her!"
Puru-1 sets it to continue to hover, unbuckling, continuing to hold out her palms. She makes no sudden movements as she continues to talk, to plead, to beg, "But the system is a vast ocean whose waves wear down the bedrock of our existence, breeding only suffering, resentment, and hatred - leaving behind only pale shadows of the hope and potential that once existed. Those feelings become curses that pit us against each other."
She continues, quietly, desperately, "You are asking me to believe you can stand against the ocean - that you can dispel these curses, and lead us to something different, Audrey. It's too much-! Too much for anybody!"
Her hand becomes a fist, with the grind of fabric, before she relaxes, and holds out the palm of her hand again, "There's no crime in giving up against the IMPOSSIBILITY of change, Audrey! In being weak against the overwhelming tide! I can't protect you from the system, but I can still SAVE you!"
She holds it out, a desperate plea, even beneath the shaded faceplate there are droplets of water in her eyes, "Please, Audrey. It's time to stop running. Take my hand-!"
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
There are so many things Mineva could say right now... away from Leina's handlers, there's so much she can say. So much she should say.
But now isn't the time.
Mineva shakes her head. "I'm not asking you to believe. I know they've made you think it's impossible... and maybe it is, for one person." A faint smile comes to her lips, as she turns to fully face Leina. "But I'm not alone in this fight."
"Goodbye, Leina... I won't give up on you, either."
Mineva lets go, pushing off the lip of the cockpit and falling backward into the sky. The wind whips around her, muffled through her helmet. Her eyes closed, her stomach lurches... but she calls out to the Unicorn, to Banagher.
Catch me.
<Pose Tracker> Char Aznable has posed.
====== 10 MINUTES BEFORE DATA BOMB ======
An errant signal is transmitted from... somewhere. A program nestled in the Garuda's systems activates, and a beacon planted on the craft's hull pings - a locator - but for whose benefit?
====== NOW ======
As Mineva casts her prayer to the Unicorn, and takes the greatest leap of faith in her life...
From out of the sun: A yellow beam of megaparticle fire strafes in front of the Banshee, preventing it from reaching out to snatch the princess out of the air.
Then - movement. A dive at incredible speeds. A... Nemo? Not exactly; it has additional mobility verniers, and it carries a heavier-grade beam rifle linked to a backpack upon which an array of aerodynamic maneuverability binders has been mounted. Parts from the MSN-00100 Hyaku-Shiki. In the cockpit: A man in a grey normal suit, his helmet's visor polarised to minimise the glare reaching his eyes. It still hurts... but he has to fly.
"Unicorn," he opens a channel to the white RX-0. The voice is... familiar, but strained. "This is Callsign 'Enkidu'. Please... see to her safety. I will hold off the Banshee."
A beam bayonet sprouts from under the barrel of the beam rifle the Nemo carries, and the pilot dives in to jab it under the Banshee's shoulder.
The mobile suit's IFF is scrambled, but the presence within... is unmistakable.
"Leina Ashta." His voice comes through. "This future you think you want for them... Nobody should suffer through it."
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
<"Gridknight."> Banagher acknowledges, picking up the Giant's name from the radio, puzzling momentarily ove the familiar voice. <"I'll save her, I promise. Thank you -- please get the others out of here safely.">
Akane, Alouette, and Rikka's voices reach him, and Bangaher can't help but feel a near-overpowering wave of relief. He knew they were in the Mu Gundam, but hearing them safe -- tears come to his eyes. Blinking them away, he replies, trying to fill his voice with confidence and determination.
<"Thank you, Akane. Take care of everyone, and VERTEX me when you're safe, please."> Banagher takes a breath, slashing through the arm of another Aknsha. Vist is running out. <"Rikka, I trust you too! You can do this! And Alouette -- see you soon.">
Now he has to trust in Gridknight and Rikka. There's no way he can take down the Banshee while distracted, and Banagher must take it down. Leina, Audrey -- they're counting on him.
I won't let you down.
Zinnerman's voice reaches Banagher, and again, the young man has to fight away tears. <"Captain, I thought I'd never--"> He cuts himself off, disguising a sniffling breath. <"Leina and Audrey are still in the Banshee. I'm chasing them now!">
<"I won't leave without them.>" Banagher promises, pushing the Unicorn forward. <"We can't leave anyone with Vist. They'll--">
Though he hasn't heard Martha's ultimatum, Banagher can sense her intentions. It's hardly a surprise, after his meeting with Alberto. Perhaps Zinnerman, with his experience as a prisoner of war, will be able to tell what Banagher means without the young pilot spelling it out.
<"All that matters is that you're here now. Thank you, Captain, and everyone-- I knew you'd come for us."
The Unicorn comes so close to catching the Banshee, her fingers brushing over her sister. Banagher cries out in frustration, shoving his thrusters to full strength. Blue starlight builds and bursts around the Gundam's legs, chasing after the Banshee, heedless of the fact that they're both entering free fall.
Only the Phenex has wings with which to fly.
<"It was never about my father!"> Banagher shouts, as the Unicorn plummets, thrusters burning to hasten her fall. <"This was my choice! Every step of the way! Cardeas died before he could say more than a dozen words to me -- I don't care what he wanted! I never have!">
Jump jets fire in bursts. Closer, closer. The Unicorn does not return fire, or try to avoid the missile salvo fired around her, her pilot caring for nothing but saving the two girls within the Lion.
<"I know I can change this world! You made me believe that, Leina!"> The Gundam gets closer to her sister, again, reaching out, trying to wrap her arms around the black machine. <"I WON'T GIVE UP! Not after everything we've been through!">
Again, the Unicorn's fingers brush against the Banshee's armor. It sends a pulse of connection between the pilots.
It's time to go home.
Flickering into existence, arms outreached, Banagher's spiritual form beckons to Leina.
Impossibly, the Banshee's cockpit opens. Banagher's eyes go wide. What is this--? Worried, he guides the Unicorn as close to the other Gundam as he dares. All he can feel from Leina and Audrey is a conflicted, tangled mess of pain.
<"Leina! Audrey! What's happening?!"> Banagher calls, terror in his voice. <"What are you doing?!">
An agonized scream cuts through the radio, and the young pilot's spiritual form vanishes. Audrey -- she's falling!
Catch me.
"AUDREY!"
Banagher puts everything he has into the thrusters, pulling the Unicorn back and away from the Banshee. He's got to be careful -- if he gets too close, he's going to crush Audrey. Twisting in the air, the Unicorn shines from within, verdant and beautiful.
Diving, diving -- the Unicorn reaches the young woman's falling form. Ever so gently, the Beast of Possibility reaches out, cupping her hands just beneath the girl her pilot loves so dearly.
Banagher slams his hand down on the screen before him, opening his own cockpit. Bringing her hands in close to her chest, the Unicorn pulls Audrey to Banagher, and he reaches out to her.
"TAKE MY HAND!"
Pulling Audrey into the cockpit with him, Banagher doesn't let her go until she's safely strapped into the Unicorn's passenger seat. All the while, the white Gundam falls, plummeting from the sky. Utterly vulnerable.
"We're going to be fine!" He promises, as the cockpit lights up brilliant red with alarms. Something is approaching -- fast. Banagher can't get to his shield in time, but--
They're okay.
Golden eyes blink, even as the young pilot fires the Unicorn's jump jets, stabilizing their fall.
<"Callsign..."> Familiarity streaks across Banagher's soul, as vibrant red as the Unicorn's alarms. <"No. I know you. I know that machine.">
<"Char Aznable."> He breathes, wonder in his voice, glancing quickly to Audrey. <"N--no, we have to bring the Banshee home to the Garencieres! Leina's in there! We have to save her!">
The Unicorn swings around, trying to catch up to the Banshee -- without the capability for flight, she can't make it. She's burning fuel at an unsustainable rate, and Banagher knows it.
<"LEINA! PLEASE!">
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
"<I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! You think I don't remember everything you said in that hospital! About Loni! About your FATHER! About the CURSES of family! You are DELUDING yourself!>" She tells Banagher, "<IF YOU THINK THIS WAS YOUR CHOICE IN ANY WAY! YOU. NEVER. HAD. ONE!>"
...---...
"AUDREY!" She screams as she leaps, her eyelids pinching shut briefly. She knows. She knows Banagher will catch her. She can trust that.
"It's okay. It's going... to be okay." Raggedly, she lets herself breathe, "I can still... save you both, from yourselves."
Leaping into the cockpit seat, she straps in, and the hatch closes, "Come on Elpeo..." She suddenly says, as she feels the hands take ahold of her, "... let's go show them. BANSHEE!"
The jump jets disengage, as the top heavy Gundam falls end over end, thrusters reengaging as she watches the Unicorn encloses its hands around the Gundam.
Placing it's Beam Magnum to its back, both mounted sabers erupt in this moment, as it dives, ready to carve apart the Gundam, to make certain the cockpit survives at all costs, with surgical precision.
But midflight, something changes-
The sudden voice on the comm causes her to jolt, even as the Nemo blindsides it with a Beam Bayonet towards its shoulder, which half vanishes from the I-Field of its Armed Armor
"<You-!?>" She says with an air of incredulity and anger, an edge, as suddenly the threatening aura around the Banshee Norn just, erupts, "<HERE!?! NOW! YOU DARE?! YOU DARE!>"
The sudden bird like effigy perhaps reminding Char Aznable of Haman's Qubeley during Gryps, in that eerie horrible pressure, that sheer overwhelming hatred, all for him.
The Gundam shifts in mid-air as it tries to shake him off, it's psycoframe plating unveiling as if she'd cast aside a dark coat, expanding and moving. It's mounted Armed Armor unfurling even as if its face rotates into the Destroy mode, creating a golden mane around her.
"<YOU SHOW UP NOW! AND PRETEND TO CARE ABOUT HER FUTURE?>"
ANGER HATRED RESENTMENT
CASVAL CASVAL CASVAL
F A T H E R O F M O N S T E R S
DISAPPEAR DISAPPEAR DISAPPEAR
FEAR LOATHING SORROW
And in that moment, he sees it, a younger girl huddled on the couch beside Sayla, head against her. The two of them watching the news as Axis fell, the fear she felt wondering if the two would survive to see the next day.
"<YOU LOST ALL RIGHT WHEN YOU TRIED TO DROP AN ASTEROID ON YOUR SISTER'S HEAD!>"
There is a psychic howl in the air as the Banshee suddenly tries to DIVE at top speed with him on it, the G-Force more than most people could withstand, as she twists VIOLENTLY to try and throw him off and attempts to catch his Nemo in a cleaving strike from the mournful grey Mounted Saber, mid-motion.
"<I'LL MAKE CERTAIN YOU ARE NO PART OF ANYONE'S FUTURE AFTER TODAY!>"
Banagher's plea to save her, it's lost, in this sudden, overwhelming hatred for this man. Her resolve to save them is still there, but perhaps it is buried under the idea, that in order to save them.
She must make certain this man ceases to exist.
BBSYS: Post 942, 'Escape Report: Vist Fdn. Atm. CM Garuda' has been published to NERV by Akane Shinjo.
BBSYS: Post 943, 'Intelligence Report: Vist Fdn. Atm. CM "Garuda"' has been published to NERV by Akane Shinjo.
<Pose Tracker> Mineva Lao Zabi has posed.
Mineva drops, hands clasped together, almost praying...
She lands suddenly, eyes opening. She looks up to see the Unicorn's cowled visage... and smiles. She rises to her hands and knees, unsteady in the rushing wind, looking back to the Banshee nearby for just a moment before reaching out to Banagher, carefully rising to her feet, stretching her arm out as far as she can... and their fingers grasp enough for her to grab onto his hand, crawling up into the cockpit alongside him.
She's on the floor of the cockpit for a few moments, then straps herself in... she nods to him, but before she can catch her breath, she feels
Him.
There's a stab of fear across her psyche. If his presence weren't so unmistakable to her already... she'd know that voice anywhere. But if he's here to protect her...? "They must have captured him after Dakar..." she whispers.
Banagher insists that they save her--but she recoils at the howl, eyes screwing shut. She can't argue against that rage. That anger is justified, it's--
The NT-D is active. "B... Banagher... the NT-D... If we stay, the psycho-field..."
It kills her. To leave Leina behind like this, it hurts more than she can say... but if that's really Char...
Her father...
She jams her thumb on the comm button, opening a line to the Nemo. <"Please, don't hurt her! This isn't her fault! They did this to her! It's not her fault...!"> There are tears in her eyes, rolling down her cheeks.
<Pose Tracker> Char Aznable has posed.
The Banshee comes swinging in with its mounted saber and the Nemo jets backwards, slipping away. It's much faster than the baseline's specs indicate it should be; the merits of the Hyaku-Shiki's mobility profile applied to the more modular frame. The Nemo's head turns towards the Unicorn as it receives Mineva's call.
"We have to bring her back up out of this," Char explains, "and her focus on me might just be enough."
The Nemo jets around the Banshee and closes in again, reaching out to grab at its saber arm and hold it away. This is objectively a bad move; in Destroy Mode, the Banshee is much larger than the Nemo, with stronger actuators bolstered by active psycoframe. This buys him... maybe seconds.
But there's touch contact.
"I don't deserve it," he agrees with Leina insisting he has no right to be part of Sayla's life, "but even so, she came to me and asked me to help save you... And I know the despair you're in. I know where that hopelessness leads."
He's seen the vision he gets from the young woman before - of her and Sayla holding each other while watching the news of his atrocity play out. With this connection open - and along his bond with Mineva... another vision comes to the fore.
He's confronting unarmed men wearing fine suits and empty smiles, who nonetheless pose a terrible threat. He'd spotted them watching Mineva, and had cornered the two of them in an alleyway. An offer is made: Either he agrees to become the 'desperately-needed leader of Neo Zeon' and 'secure a better future for spacenoids'... or they take Mineva away from him, and make her that figurehead.
"I won't let you become another me - full of nothing but despair."
<Pose Tracker> Banagher Links has posed.
<"Even so!"> Banagher calls back to Leina, tears forming in his eyes at the sheer force of the venom in her voice. <"I won't give up on this! It's my choice now, and I'm going to see this through until the end! Miss Loni -- she found her own way! Isn't that proof?!"> Banagher gasps, swiping at his eyes. <"We can change things! I know we can!">
The Banshee hurtles closer, weapons bristling. Banagher breathes quick, his heart in his throat as Char tackles the other Gundam away. Hatred washes over the Unicorn, empowered by the Banshee's NT-D, and the Beast of Possibility shudders beneath Bangher's hold.
"No--!" Banagher grits his teeth, holding fast against the urging of the machine. "I won't hurt her!"
Tears spill down the young pilot's cheeks, his shoulders trembling. Leina's hatred is such a force, he feels lightheaded. He can't reach her -- and the memories that echo from Leina's heart tear at Banagher's soul, rending it as he mourns for the girl who watched Axis fall.
<"PLEASE, STOP!"> Banagher screams, watching the Banshee take on more G-Force than Leina could possibly handle. <"PLEASE--!">
The Unicorn tries to climb again -- but only succeeds in slowing her fall. The Banshee and the Nemo duel just before Banagher, leaving him as helpless as he was in Vist's jail cell.
Audrey's voice cuts through Banagher's despair, answered with nothing but a sob. "Audrey, if we -- if Vist gets her back --"
He can't say it.
Another memory reaches Banagher, echoing through Audrey and Leina, threatening to overwhelm him. Alarms begin to blare in the cockpit. The Unicorn is almost out of fuel.
<"Is this why-- you left her--?"> Without thinking, he reaches for Audrey's hand, knowing how hard this memory will hit her. <"I'm sorry -- but please, we have to bring Leina back! Please--!">
What can he say? In this last chance, what words could reach Leina's heart when she's so consumed by NT-D enhanced hatred?
<"LEINA!"> Banagher's voice breaks as he yells. <"NO MATTER WHAT, YOU'RE NEVER ALONE!">
In one last, desperate motion, the Unicorn Gundam lunges after her sister, trying to tackle her out of the sky.
<Pose Tracker> Puru-1 has posed.
Mineva and Banagher are safe for the moment. Safe. Safe. They won't remain this way if she doesn't DO something. She has to hurry, the hatred surges within her, those feelings of emotions.
She can hear Mineva pleading over the haze, the idea she's brainwashed! No! Doesn't she know!? Can't she see!? Banagher demands her to stop, but she can feel the needles from the NT-D course the fire into her veins needed to survive Earth's gravity pulling against her soul with such great force.
She doesn't expect a Nemo to move so quickly. His hand touches the arm in it's Destroy Mode, and the Norn reaches as if it's going to lash out, shattering that arm as if it were a human one, it's bones made of tissue paper.
What he says however, locks her anger up in this liminal state, as if all that energy had regressed from active to potential.
"<She asked... you?>"
DESPAIR DESOLATION EMPTINESS
"<She asked you.>"
She never really trusted Leina, did she? Not from the start, not years later. But she trusted her brother. The brother that failed her again and again and again. The brother that betrayed her father's legacy, who tried to kill billions...
... to clean up this mess.
All the hollow smiles resonate back. A girl trying to force a smile in a mirror, with a man from Neo-Zeon's hand upon his shoulder. Being forced to dress up in so many formal dresses, made to be a doll.
Then suddenly it all disappears, she's alone in that dress. Surrounded by hundreds of disembodied white gloved hands, their resounding applause utterly empty of emotion.
A child panics at the sudden knowledge of the hollowness of the human heart, the realization of the emptiness of adulthood, the absolute understanding that this is what she would become one day.
There is a bitter, hollow laugh from the girl, in the cockpit as she utters to him in a whisper thin voice at the disgusting knowledge of something the two have in common, the awful parallels.
"<Too late.>"
The Banshee Norn shifts out of the Destroy mode in but a moment, moving like a marionette that just had its strings cut in mid-air. It's sheer weight too much for the Nemo to hold onto against the pull of Earth's gravity with such a tenuous grip. All fire and fury gone.
'NO MATTER WHAT, YOU'RE NEVER ALONE!'
Banagher will feel her sheer incredulity at his statement, turn to resignation. Resignation, as she smiles thinly in the cockpit, in a daze hollow of feeling.
Sure Banagher. What's one more lie to myself?
The Banshee Norn falls, plunging headlong to the sea. For a girl who has forgotten their dreams, the pull of earth's gravity will not be denied.