Mobile Suit Gundam 00 Redefine

[FrostyFoster 452]

Any other pilot would be dead at this moment. In fact, even Graham knew he’d be a pile of guts had he been controlling a regular Union Flag. The customization of his new machine allowed him to blast upward at just the right time, barely dodging the dark blue Gundam. “I don’t think you understand who you’re dealing with, Gundam!” The American knew it wouldn’t be long until the jet turned back to him, causing him to act quickly.

The X shaped wings stayed stiff as the engines from the Flag went into full throttle. Graham’s head slammed into the back of his seat, easily being able to snap a human’s neck, but the extra padding around the pilot seat made the whiplash almost feel comfy. “Not so fast, winged one!” The gray machine started making the gap between the two shorter, a strange look for a mobile suit against the transformed Gundam. “Looks like I was right!” He yelled while grabbing the nose of the Kyrios with the Flag’s open hand.

Tossing his rifle aside, the confident pilot’s sonic blade shoot out of the left forearm. “Too easy…” Spinning the handle downward, the blue plasma ignited in front of the Gundam flier. The Flag let go with its right hand, causing the machine to go backward, hopefully cutting the Kyrios in two.

…

Christina emptied her entire clip upon the shooter, all while holding on to the bleeding Celestial Being member. “Multi… you…” She was shocked at what she saw, attempting to cover up the wounds with her hands. “We gotta get you out of here, come on.” The hacker pulled up her companion, only for him to scream in agony. “Stop, stop, stop!” He yelled out. “Just… put me down please. Chris complied, helping the crewmember back onto the ground.

Tears began to swell down her face, watching someone she called her friend in pain. “Please… I can’t leave you here.” Multi responded by coughing up blood. “I couldn’t… I couldn’t let him live…” She noticed the wounded man try to look up at her, but even that was too much energy. “I pictured millions dying… not… not again…” His head fell to the side, eyes still wide open. Staring at all the blood on her hands, she had just witnessed Celestial Being’s first casualty.  

Running out one of the back entryways, Chris found herself inside a dank sewer below the district. Suddenly, what felt like an earthquake rattled the hacker, causing her to hit the brick wall violently. The physical pain didn’t matter to her at all though. Everything about her demeanor was motionless and cold. With the help of her datapad, she quickly found a way back up to the surface, just far enough so the police wouldn’t notice her.

Pulling her hood above her head, Christina watched the authorities from afar. Their vehicles had been scorched from the fiery mess of whatever was left, the destroyed building incased in smoke. A few survivors looked to be questioned, but the hacker knew it wouldn’t matter. Multi’s body was gone and nothing done here could be traced back to the organization. She could care less though, noticing the white convertible was missing. Grabbing her datapad by both hand, she snapped the device in two, tossing it aside. For all Sumeragi and the other would know, Christina Sierra died in that explosion as well.

…

Kinue watched as her neighbor left the apartment quickly, not having much time to react. “Oh… Ok, thanks again.” The reporter uttered while the door closed. All alone once again, she picked up the remote, turning the TV onto JNN. The main segments of the news block was currently about the inevitable collapse of the Republic of Moralia, an AEU country. While she wasn’t the one assigned to Moralia, he knew from her colleagues that the militaristic country was likely not being helped by its world power for a multitude of reasons.

The bad press the Union was receiving for their similar situation along with the obvious threat of Celestial Being made an impact on the AEU, causing Kinue to wonder what would become of the small nation. Her body continued to ache as she rubbed the side of her arm, laying atop the couch in the process. Her father, Saji, and now Jack raced through her head as she eventually came to a rest after a violent day.

[FrostyFoster 452]

“Too close!” Edmund scolded as he barely missed the bizarre Flag. His surprise was tenfold when the custom unit grabbed onto the nose of Kyrios. “Bastard!” He yelled as he tried to react. If the flag was fast enough to keep up with him then his advantage of speed was no more. It was his quick thinking that saved him from catastrophic damage. 

Kyrios transformed just as the Flag attempted to slice into him. The move reduced his speed but it wasn’t enough to stop the sonic blade from eating into his right arm. Warnings blared in his cockpit as the limb was liberated from the Gundam. The alarms seemingly jumped out at Edmund as one of the monitors exploded sending debris to clatter against his body and helmet. 

Graham smiled as the arm crashed into the fields. The custom Flag had proved itself to be a challenging adversary to the Celestial Being mobile suit, but the pilot’s self-praise caused him to almost miss the shield claw coming close to him.

Growling, Edmund jerked the Gundam to reverse its momentum and immediately dive in towards Graham, shield claw opened with the blade extended. “I’ve had enough of you!”

“Damn!” Pointing his beam saber to the side, the weapon caught the tip of the shield’s blade, but the weapon was never built for a situation like this. The handle cracked as the plasma sword diminished, the blade digging deep into the left shoulder of the Flag. “Get off me!” Graham yelled while watching the blade burn hotter into the mobile suit. He responded by planting its legs on the waist of the Kyrios, hoping it’d be enough to push and slid off of the blade.

Specter coughed up something warm inside his helmet as his shield claw ate into the enemy. With his free hand he reached up to feel a piece of shrapnel digging into his body. The Flag tried to kick into Kyrios’ belly, but Edmund wasn’t about to let the machine get away. He brought Kyrios’ right winged knee up, hoping the aerodynamic blades would help hamper the Flag’s escape attempt. 

Opening up a comm channel he hailed the enemy pilot; in a gurgling and heavily filtered voice he condemned, “I won’t suffer such cowardice…” Wincing as he talked he flared his engines, hoping to dive the pair of them into the rapidly approaching ground. “I won’t be the play thing of that damned woman again…” he coughed out loud, if only to strengthen his own resolve in his chosen attack.

The Flag pilot could barely make out the words from the garbled mess producing though his comms. However, Graham could clearly tell the Gundam pilot was injured based on his inflections. Nevertheless, the injury didn't prevent the pilot from still fighting. The "wing" slit the crotch of the Flag, stopping the American in his tracks. Once the Kyrios took the Flag downward with him, the shield blade slid back into the shoulder, locking Graham into the crazed divebomb. "Gundam? You're crazy!... I love it..." 

The Flag custom braced for impact in the best position it could, slamming deep into the farmland. Corn flew into the air as the backpack dug into the dirt, rocks hitting the top of both machines. Something underground caught the X shaped backpack, snapping the part clean off. "Da-ah!" Airbags hit the pilot roughly, with the Kyrios getting sent in a different direction. There, the Flag laid on its now bare back, shoulder torn completely open by the blade. Not like he'd be using the mobile suit anytime soon...

The two mobile suits hit the field rather unceremoniously, with dirt and plants flying around. Edmund recalled diving down and hitting the dirt, what he didn’t recall was how he ended on his back. His vision slowly faded back into focus from blackness. Something caught in his throat and and coughed out more warm liquid into his mask. For a few moments all he could do was cough, his whole body shuddering with each painful wheeze for air. 

Finally he collected himself and studied the controls, seeing what he could do. Edmund doubted he could attack the base any longer, but Kyrios should be able to limp away thanks to its’ GN drive. Edmund studied the carnage of mobile suit debris. Briefly, he pondered trying to retrieve any Gundam parts but decided that the solar reactor was the bigger factor to consider. He didn’t even try to transform as he simply flew away, retreating.

…

Sunlight pushed through the blinds of the hotel room, catching Sumeragi. As it woke up the Forecaster, her head began to pound, receiving the after effects of her fun night prior. Looking to the side, her phone had multiple missed calls from many different members of their organization, puzzling her. “They’re always hounding me… Can’t I get one night off?” Sumeragi whispered as she called back Wang Liu Mei. What she would soon realize was that Celestial Being wasn’t going to be the same…

END OF EPISODE 6

EMERGENCE ARC: COMPLETE

Edited April 6, 2021 by FrostyFoster

[FrostyFoster 452]

EPISODE 7

“Heheheh… HEHEHEHEH! I can’t believe it! Celestial Being seriously just… lost the Virute? I mean, they just let that cheese loving weirdo disappear?” Deep within an undisclosed jungle, Feresthe operated within a secret base, recently receiving news about the main organization. Fon Spaak continued his fit of laughter, amazed by the thought of the group crumbling. 

“Knock it off, Fon! This is a serious situation. One of the Gundams is GONE.” Chall Acustica, Feresthe’s leader walked toward a wall of screens, showing data from all areas of the globe. “It doesn’t make sense. Was Rai a spy? Did someone else kill him and steal it?” A Haro with cat ears bounced up in the air. 

“Thief! Thief!”

The entire staff of Feresthe, including Eco Calore and Sherilyn Hyde, contemplated what this would mean for their own organization, only to be met with two figures waltzing inside as if nothing was wrong. Chall adjusted her clothing to look more presentable. “Wang! I wasn’t expecting you to come here.” The girl only smiled, but her emotion seemed facetious. “You should have. This is a serious situation, one that now involves you.” She turned to the crazed Gundam Meister, began to chuckle once again.

“Are you kidding me? You think we had something to do with this. A Feresthe uprising perhaps? Listen here, trust fund. That mobile suit is gone because you didn’t screen your Meisters better. I’m sure Rai has alrea-“

Click

“GYAH!...”

Fon’s body dropped to the floor, slamming the surface violently as blood burst out of his neck. There was what sounded like choking for a few seconds, only for the room to be completely silent. “You…” Chall watched the body twitch in horror, only for Hong Long to point a pistol at the group.

“Shame. He was a decent pilot, if not a moron.” Wang shook off the death like it was someone being let go for their office job. “But Celestial Being has no room for people who even have the SLIGHTEST chance of being traitors. Is that understood?” It wasn’t like the members of the organization had a choice, but none of them had a betrayal even cross their minds to begin with. “Good. Sherilyn, prep the 0 Gundam. Feresthe is to be disbanded immediately.”

A FEW WEEKS LATER…

Moralia had collapsed after the AEU’s decision to not intervene. Without help, the country turned into a battlefield of chaos. A majority of civilians, immigrants to begin with, left for their own countries. Whoever was left either lived in agony or attempted to take control with whatever mercenary group that were apart of. It was a conflict promoting war. Celestial Being continued to not intervene.

Sumeragi spent most of her days in sorrow, drinking herself to sleep as she looked through her large database in her quarters. Both of the previous missions ended in failure, albeit Edmund did get information on the Union’s new mobile suit. However, the masked Meister get been injured in the altercation, still recovering in the Ptolemaios’ medical quarters. Albus arrived in space shortly after on the Forecaster’s orders, bringing all the remaining members back for standby.

The captain shed a few tears as she thought about Christina and Multi. While the colony drop was prevented (although Sumeragi wondered how exactly they would have actually been able to perform this task), it came with a heavy unexpected price. She had received no contact from the two crewmembers since the paramilitary organization’s building exploded, killing dozens. The Forecaster had to assume the worst, having a small service for the two.

As much as this hurt Sumeragi, nothing was more important than the Virtue being stolen. Most of the work during the past few weeks had been on attempting to find the Celestial Being mobile suit, but to no avail. In fact, there was even a single clue that could lead them in a path to retrieve it. Sumeragi herself hadn’t picked the Virtue’s pilot as a Meister, but she and the other crewmembers did trust Rai over the years. A lot of questions weren’t being answered. Only more were being piled up upon them… 

[Albus]

The Ptolemaios was wrapped in the silent shroud of mourning. No one wanted to talk about it, but the three they had lost occupied the minds of everyone on board, of that Albus was sure. It had been a while since he had said anything at all, in fact. For the last hour or two, he had been content simply to float in front of one of the ship’s windows and look out at the vast, empty field of stars beyond it. A single thought had set up camp in his mind, a stubborn guest unwilling to leave.

If only he had been there.

If Albus had been with Rai, Christina, and Multi on their operation, then they might still be around. Maybe he could’ve saved them—maybe he could’ve stopped Rai from going to…wherever he and the Virtue went. If not with words, then at least using the power of the Exia. But his actions in the missions before had seen him benched. He had been told to stay put in Tokyo and standby because he was becoming a liability. Albus’s thoughts drifted to that night with Kinue. What would have happened to her if he wasn’t there? Would she have died? Was her life worth the three that he wasn’t there to save?

“Agh!” Albus slammed his metal hand against the wall of the ship, the impact pushing him away and into the centre of the room. He clutched at his white hair and clenched his teeth, unable to escape the vicious cycle of his thoughts.

Before he could talk sense into himself, he found himself standing in the doorway of the medical bay. Just beyond, he could see Edmund laying in one of the cots.

“We need to talk,” he said in his usual brusque manner.

[Spectre]

(Thanks to Judge for the awesome dialogue!) 

Everything was a hazy flutter. He could recall piloting Kyrios to safety. He could even recall staggering along as he made it back into space.  There were just parts that were blacked out from his head, as if coming in and out if consciousness. He did recall debating about even returning back to the ship in his current state but ultimately decided that the ship would be his safest course. 

Yes, Edmund could recall the shocked looks and stares as he floated into the medical bay, blood orbs trailing behind him as he clutched his side. He remembered Dr. Moreno asking him to remove his helmet only for the Miester to point a pistol at the doctor. And so the doctor worked as best he could on the injured man with no face. 

Laying in the medical bay Edmund breathed slowly and deeply as he continued to fade in and out of consciousness. His pain hovered between numb and bearable as he insisted on not being dosed with too many pain killers. He had enough on his mind already he didn’t want any drug induced lucidity. 

Despite himself, Edmund kept thinking about her, about his fight with the strange flag. His mind wondered from his history of injuries to why he was there, why was he in Celestial Being at all? Worse of all his mind drifted to her, to Sumeragi, or was it Leesa Kujo? Why did she matter? Why did it make him so angry to know her real name? To see her like she is now? 

Edmund groaned as he mulled over his thoughts. He was laying down, asleep really, when Albus approached him saying, “We need to talk.” The masked Miester shuddered awake and with no warning sat up and leveled his pistol at Albus yelling out, “Leesa!” It took Edmund a moment to realize what was going on and the steely glare from Albus for him to sheepishly put the gun down. Edmund coughed, an act that reminded him how much his chest hurt. Shrugging he pulled himself to fully sit up, albeit it slouched over some. Putting the gun on the cot next to him he reached up to feel the cracks on his helmet, he pulled off a piece of the white plating, the mask was just about broken it seemed. Muttering incoherently he looked up and asked, “What is it you want? Here to gloat?” His tone was bitter as he kept feeling around the edges of the mask. 

 

- Albus didn’t flinch as the gun was pulled on him, but he did deepen his frown. He stood stark still in the doorway until his fellow Meister lowered his firearm. From what Albus had heard, Edmund had underwent a rather rigorous battle against a Flag. The white haired pilot had wondered if it was the same ace he had encountered but didn’t press for information. 

 “Gloat? I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but I’m the biggest screw-up here. Rai stole a gundam and took off and everyone else still likes him more than me.” Albus shifted uncomfortably, stepped forward, and closed the door behind him. He looked at the crumbling mask and fought through a wave of discomfort. “I came here to…shit, this is stupid. Look, I came here because I’m tired of being on everyone’s bad side,”

Albus put a hand on his hip and looked away from Edmund. “I get that I’m not a nice person, that I’m hard to get along with. I’ve had my fair share of trauma that’s led me down that road. I’m not making excuses, that’s just the truth. It’s hard to let people in after everything—you especially. Looking at you—at that mask of yours—I hate it. It terrifies me for reasons I don’t even fully get. But I don’t hate you.” 

Albus considered turning and bolting from the room then and there. Being so earnest and open made him want to cringe at himself, made him panic. But he forced himself to remain. “I want to get along with you. And everyone else. But I don’t know how…”

 

-Edmund stiffened at Albus’ revelation. He didn’t scoff or reply beyond lightly nodding his head. He wanted to ask what had happened to Rai but suspected that there was more going on as the other Miester spilled his guts out. For a long while Edmund said nothing, and just played with the broken piece of his mask. Slowly he spoke up at last, “we’re all broken… you know that?” He looked up and nodded, more to agree with his own words, “I wonder what kind of game Veda is playing at when it picked all of us? Surely there’s better people out there.” 

The masked man slipped down the cot and tested his feet on the floor. He was barefoot, with a simple hospital gown covering his body. He grimaced in pain and took a moment to slowly stretch his limbs. “When I was with the AEU… I worked hard to be liked by everyone around me, to build a team….” He paused as he considered his words carefully. He dropped the white shard of his mask to the floor then without warning dipped his head down and reached up to jerk at the mask. The movement seemed unnatural, almost like he was trying to hurt himself. He grunted loudly and after a moment the helmet crashed onto the floor, chartered into pieces. 

The raven haired man grimaced and let out a deep breath as he felt the cold air against his face. Edmund had fair features, with only a few scars crowning around his face and dipping into his slightly graying hairline. His brown eyes looked up at the ceiling, reacting like he had just stepped under running water as he breathed deeply. Finally with an unfiltered voice he looked down at Albus, “it takes a lot to be honest. Especially with ourselves. I think you’ve made a good step in the right direction.” He flashed the other pilot a friendly smile. “If you’ll trust me then I’ll trust you.” He walked over and offered his hand out for a truce.  

 

- Behind the screen of his orange glasses, Albus’s eyes narrowed as he watched Edmund wrestle with his mask. His heart raced as it became clear what the Meister was trying to do and fear filled Albus’s heart in that time. But when the mask finally came off, that fear was replaced with resentment and sadness. 

Edmund looked, well, normal. A little rough around the edges, perhaps, but remarkably unscathed by the accident that had presumably warranted the mask. Reflexively, Albus’s hands curled into fists as he tried to fight back the wave of self-loathing that churned deep inside him. Part of him had wanted the Meister to look horrific, like he had after his accident and yet that was what he feared most. 

 Edmund’s words, now free of the mechanical tinkering of his helm, made Albus look up and see an outstretched hand awaiting him. The Exia’s pilot clenched his teeth. 

 It’s time to let go of him. You’ll be okay.

 Albus removed his sunglasses with one hand and met Edmund’s handshake with the other, meeting his gaze with his bloodshot eyes. 

“I guess we’re in this together, after all. Let’s show that computer that we aren’t completely lost causes,”

 

-Edmund gripped the other man’s hand hard and held it for a moment along with the mutual gaze. “I can agree with that sentiment.” He offered before letting the man go. He fumbled back to the table and picked up a washcloth to clean his face, blood had dried around his mouth. “Care to fill me in on what’s been going on exactly? Last couple of days have been a bit hazy for me…” he went about cleaning his face and listening asking the occasional question. 

[FrostyFoster 452]

“Docking with the Euclides.”

Lichty and Lasse maneuvered the Ptolemaios towards the bright orange factory ship. To the majority of the crew, it was unknown who and what they would even be taking from it, only that Celestial Being was going to be reorganized. Ian Vashti floated through the hangar bay, the mobile suits around him in awkward positions. While the Exia had remained unchanged, the Dynames’ torso was gutted open, wires and scrap surrounding it. Meanwhile, the Kyrios had been temporarily remodeled after its encounter with the Flag.

With its arms too damaged for repair (One likely in the hands of the Union), the head engineer had to improvise with whatever parts they had in stock. Now unable to transform, the Kyrios Repair used a rifle intended for the Virtue’s inner frame mobile suit. Ian sighed, contemplating the entire situation. The organization’s plan wasn’t completely known yet, only that he was told to remove parts of the Dynames’ cockpit in advance. “What is their deal? I need to know this stuff more than anyone… else.” Haros and Karels floated toward a bulky white and green mobile suit, its cockpit also torn open.

“Oh my gosh! It’s soooooo good to see you!” Sherilyn Hyde didn’t wait a second as she grabbed the engineer, pulling Ian in for a hug. “I can’t believe we’re gonna work together! All of these mobile suits are gonna become soooooo much better with our combined skills.” Ian grunted at the tight grip, signaling the apprentice to let the poor old man go. “Heh. It’s good to see you too, Sherilyn.” He stated, looking up as the Full Armor 0 Gundam was put next to the others. “So, why exactly are we taking apart these two’s cockpit.” Sherilyn glanced around in concern, as if she was being spied on. Leaning in to whisper, Ian let out a gasp.

“WHAT?!?!”

…

“Why though? Why were you kept a secret from us? From me?” Sumeragi had continued to pelt Chall with questions about the now disbanded secret organization, with the white haired woman attempting to respond adequately to each one. By this point, the Forecaster had gone through multiple drinks, only for the other Forecaster to prevent her from continuing. “I think it’s time to stop drinking those. They get in the way of our missions.”

Sumeragi scoffed at the idea. “So what? Just because we’re ‘Co-Forecasters’ now doesn’t mean you can boss me around. I don’t care how many years of experience you have with Celestial Being.” Chall felt concerned about the Captain, realizing it had been a rough time for both of them. “I’m sorry, Sumeragi. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings or anything. We’ll figure out the leadership plan once the meeting is concluded.

Celestial Being’s entire crew had been called to the conference room shortly after. As Lasse and Lichty mingled, the three Gundam pilots kept quiet with the doctor, likely having their own thoughts on the predicament. Ian came in soon after with a younger woman, braking the ice between the two organizations. “Everyone. This is Sherilyn Hyde. She trained under me as my apprentice. She’ll be helping us with our mobile suits from now on.” The quirky engineer waved at the new group. “Hello! Can’t wait to meet you all!” Her small talk would have to wait though. Three more members came through the sliding door, the man wearing an AEU replica uniform moving to the corner of the room.

Sumeragi stood tall with the white haired woman, almost as if she was proving to the crew that she could still be an effective leader. “Quiet down. I need to announce a couple of changes to the organization.” Stepping forward, the Forecaster continued. “It’s clear that Celestial Being currently needs some help, so the higher ups decided to merge two groups. The new faces in here are from Feresthe, which was a secret force that has been working in tandem with Celestial Being’s missions from the start. We-”

Interrupting Sumeragi, Chall spoke up. “My name is Chall Acustica. I will be commanding this vessel and organization along with your current Forecaster. However, I will also be taking Christina Sierra’s place until a suitable replacement can be found. Eco Calore will be taking over Multi’s.”

Sumeragi’s facial expression were beginning to let the crew know how much she loved this new chain of command, her face slightly red from the alcohol. “Sherilyn Hyde will be working with Ian Vashti, but that leaves one more new member…” Once again, the door slid open. “We have brought over a Gundam, along with your new Meister. A human didn’t appear through the door, only a yellow Haro with cat ears.

“Hello! Hello!”

[Albus]

Albus sat in the conference room, his arms crossed tightly across his chest as he listened to Sumeragi begin to explain what the new situation was, only to be interrupted by some white-haired woman who seemed to think she now ran the place. He didn’t particularly care for the implication and the tone that Sumeragi herself started with, but Chall interrupting her the way that she had left a sour taste in the Meister’s mouth. She was quick to lay down the situation and then…

The haro arrived.

Albus’s frown deepened. “You have to be shitting me,” he said aloud. “Do you people think this is cute? That this is a fun little joke? I don’t give a damn where you people came from or who you are—you could be Aeolia Schenberg’s great-great-granddaughter or something and I still wouldn’t care. You can’t just come in here, announce you’re the new sheriffs in town, and then just expect us to casually accept that the new Meister is a goddamn haro,”

The previous Meisters were far from perfect, but they were highly trained. Saying that some piece of machinery was going to replace Rai was a slap to the face to all of them.

“If you think a haro is good enough to pilot the Gundams alone, then why not just replace us all with them?”

Albus rose to his feet, slamming his metal hand on the table. He knew this was bothering him more than it should, but for these people to just show up and replace his old teammates just like that…

Even if they didn’t necessarily get along, Albus had spent the last two years getting to know Multi, Christina, and Rai. Maybe he wasn’t their friend, but they were his team.

 

[Spectre]

Edmund snuck into the briefing later than usual. Normally he’d be punctual, but he was fiddling with his replacement helmet. His new mask was the spitting image of the one that broke.  Even though he was willing to be more upfront with Albus, didn’t mean he was willing to be as open with everyone else, especially Sumeragi. A red flag was still raised in the back of his head about her and he deeply suspected that it had something to do with his past, specifically why he couldn’t fully remember her.

The miester’s thoughts trailed away as he heard Albus’ outburst over their newest member. Edmund frowned inside his mask; their newest member was a toy robot. He sucked in his breath as he walked up besides Albus, arms crossed in front of his chest. He let out a long sigh then reached up to put a hand on his teammate’s shoulder. “While I agree with my colleague here…” he said loudly. “I do want to hear the explanation for this development as well.” He gave a brief squeeze on the other miester’s shoulder, as if saying that he was with the man on this one. His mono eye gaze shifted from this new woman named Chall, and Leesa, who he couldn’t help but look at closely.

[FrostyFoster 452]

There was a sense of Déjà vu in the meeting room for the Forecaster. Sumeragi thought back to two years prior, when Feldt was introduced to the members of the team. Back then, seeing such a young person tasked with piloting a hi-tech mobile suit angered the other Meisters, but it was still nothing like this. She felt the fact that a small electronic replacing the team was insulting to the crew, especially Lasse, who had shown his very clear distain of not becoming a Meister before the meeting even began.

Chall on the other hand, wasn’t as sympathetic.

“First things first, this isn’t just a Haro. This is Hayano, also known as Gundam Meister 874. She was a Second Generation Gundam Meister along with me. This ALSO means she has plenty of more experience than any of you and is able to fill the role Rai once kept much better. Honestly, if there were more of her, I would replace all of you.”

Sumeragi took this statement from her “Co-Forecaster” by surprise, although she continued to keep her cool. “We’ve monitored you since the beginning and it seems your emotional problems have gotten in the way, Albus.”

“Starting off on the wrong foot…” Lichty muttered under his breath, feeling the uncomfortableness in the air. It seemed the Haro knew this as well. Two lights beamed down onto the floor of the area, creating a hologram of a young light blue-haired girl to show the entire team.

“Perhaps I should explain myself. I exist as pure data, not through a physical body, which allows me to perform my job piloting a Gundam without limitations. However, I understand the concern held by you two and apologize for my colleague giving the wrong impression. We should not act as if we can replace your friends like cogs in a machine. In fact, we recently lost a friend as well.”

This wordy statement made Chall cool down a bit. “She’s right. We need to be on the same track now more than ever. Meeting dismissed.” Sumeragi almost raised her hand, wanting to say more, but didn’t want to make the day even worse. She knew it was best to tell her grievances privately. Motioning Lichty and Lasse to come with her to the bridge, the three left for their posts. Chall was about to go with her, but saw Feldt Grace with her old allies from the corner of her eye, entirely silent during the whole meeting.

“That went much worse than I thought. Sorry for that, guys.” She told the two while going in for a hug. Hugging Ian and Moreno felt so right after many years. They were the only ones she had left, besides Hayano, who likely left for the Veda Terminal.

Like an awkward child, Feldt just stared at the white-haired girl and her facial scar. Knowing it was time, Chall looked down to properly introduce herself. “Hi Feldt. I… I was a good friend of your parents.” Feldt didn’t respond immediately, almost as if she was processing the information in her head.

“I understand. Requesting to go to the hangar to research the Dynames.”

“Don’t you want to talk with her a little more?” Ian asked the pilot.

“No.”

With a shrug, Ian allowed her to leave, Chall watching with somber eyes. “Did I say something wrong?” It broke her heart seeing Ruido and Marlene’s daughter act so robotic. Moreno shook his head. “No, that’s just the way she is, but I think we should talk somewhere less occupied.” While this was going on, Eco and Sherilyn had been talking with the two Gundam Meisters. “Soooo…” The blond engineer stated with a sense of a ineptness.

“This is awkward…um…do you have any questions for us. I know there’s a ton of changes going on…heh heh…” The four were alone in the conference room now, with each having an array of emotions.

[Albus]

Albus, with a huff, sat back down in his seat and folded his arms across his chest as Edmund took control of the conversation. Chall’s response was, as he expected, just as infuriating as the words she spoke before only this time she took to openly insulting him as well.

Then the Haro began to speak. Albus looked at it with glaring eyes, but strangely found its words reassuring. The robot, at least, seemed to have a realistic degree of self-awareness. The same couldn’t be said for Chall, unfortunately. But Albus said nothing more for the rest of the meeting, choosing instead to stew in his anger until the farce was over. Everyone began to disperse at that point and Albus, rising from his chair, stuck close to Edmund. At that moment, he was incredibly glad that he had opened up to his fellow Meister and began mending their frayed relationship. It felt good to know that someone had his back again.

In one corner of the room, Chall had approached Feldt. Albus turned his back to this exchange but kept his ears open.

So…they have some kind of connection, do they?

He didn’t know that Feldt was capable of having a connection with anyone. He had written her off early in their training as singularly focused and closed-off. But now…he had made amends with Edmund, maybe it was time to try and understand Feldt better too. At the very least, he could determine if it was a waste of time, but maybe if he got through to her they could put up more of a united front against these new arrivals.

When Eco and Sherilyn approached them to see if they had any questions, Albus brought his attention back to the surface. “Yeah, I have one,” he said, placing his hands on his hips. “What happened to this ‘friend’ of yours that you lost?”

[Spectre]

Edmund was surprised by the answer from the bizarre Haro unit. He supposed by this point he really shouldn’t have been surprised by the development. Despite himself his gaze followed both Hayano and Leesa leave the room. His thoughts wondered and when he was asked if he had any questions he blurted out, “Veda?” He shook his head hoping no one would think anything about his words. He zoned out slightly as he considered his thoughts. Maybe I could get access to Veda to figure out more about Leesa and myself? 

The stoic Meister focused again when he heard Albus mentioning something about the newcomers friend who was absent. Part of him didn’t really care to hear anymore tales of woe but he stayed, figuring that maybe he could hear something useful. He tilted his head and at least put up the front that he was interested. 

[FrostyFoster 452]

“Oh. Well…” Sherilyn hadn’t thought about how she’d explain the situation to her new allies. While she couldn’t forget it, watching someone’s neck explode in a bloody mess does that, but she was unsure if the Meisters would like the idea of being killed if the higher ups even just THOUGHT you could be a liability in the future. The engineer wondered if Edmund had an explosive device inside of his mask.

“He was killed in a mission off of Indonesia.” Eco blurted out. “We were barely able to even recover the GN Drive. It wouldn’t have happened if I was the one piloting…” Like Lasse, Eco was quite jealous of still not getting his shot to be a pilot. He wasn’t even sure if he was even a backup Meister from what the Forecasters had said. 

…

Time had passed and the Ptolemaios was back within the depths of space, all alone. Sumeragi deliberately kept looking forward, as to not see the new team members in the seats of her deceased friends. They seemed to be doing their job adequately, considering the silence on the bridge. “At least I get to keep my spot…” The captain thought, adjusting in her seat. It would have crushed her to get demoted, although she still wasn’t exactly sure if her continued position as even final, with plenty of vague mentions pertaining to being a “Co-Forecaster”.

Eco managed to bring Sumeragi out of her thoughts once he noticed three blips on his chart. “I got three mobile suits at the edge of our screen. Looks to be AEU.” He stated to both her and Chall. The white haired woman got out of her seat to stand next to Sumeragi, making sure the crew knew her rank in the matter. “Likely out on patrol. They’ll inevitably spot us.” As much as it annoyed her, Sumeragi knew she was right. “We’ll have to get rid of them quick. Send out the Exia to intercept.” With the Dynames and 0 out of commission, they had limited options.

“Send out the Kyrios as well. We better make sure there are no survivors in case the Exia’s pilot screws up.” Sumeragi scowled at her fellow Forecaster, heavily irritated by her constant jabs at the pilot she personally chose. Nevertheless, the orders were established. Defeat the three units and leave no trace of the attack. 

“What a surprise. There’s nothing here…” Marco, one of the Space Type Enact pilots, exclaimed through his intercom. They were all alone against the black curtain of nothingness, only moving horizontally forward. “Let me fight someone!” While the pilot whined, the three purple machines stayed in an “A” shape as they glided across the stars. “New variants and this is what we get?” Muttered Olivia as she played with the plastic grip on her joystick. Almost as if it was alive, the lead mobile suit put its arms out, as if to silence the two. “Knock it off. You never know what could be out there.” The pilot Giovanni silently wondered what the point of it all even was though. After all, it’d been a while since Celestial Being had attacked…
 

[Albus]

Albus turned his gaze to Eco as he spoke up, his face twisting in anger at his words.

“Oh yeah? You think you’re hot shit? Last I recall, your name and the word ‘Gundam’ didn’t even share the same sentence.” Barely hidden behind the sheen of his sunglasses, Albus fixed a contemptuous glare on the man. His anger at what the Meister was sure Eco thought was a harmless comment began to boil over. “Hell, I don’t even remember your name.”

Eco began to speak but Albus cut him off. “Save it for when you’re actually a Gundam Meister. Then you can talk all you want about how your teammates screwed up,” and with that, Albus sauntered out of the room, leaving many a stunned face behind.

 

--

The call came some time later for the Exia to sortie, news that the Meister couldn’t have been happier to hear. The atmosphere aboard the Ptolemaios had become tense and it wasn’t entirely to do with him either, though of course he played his part. This whole ‘Co-Forecaster’ business and the addition of the Fereshte crew had effectively created two factions within the confines of a very small ship and while some crew members got along with their Fereshte counterparts, others—Albus in particular—did not. Thus it was that he happily shut himself away within the confines of the Exia and launched quick as he could into the expanse.

His good mood was soured a little when he saw that the Kyrios was launching as well. He quickly hailed Edmund on a private channel, appearing on the masked Meister’s HUD.

“So our new ‘Co-Forecaster’ thought I needed some help, huh?”  he turned his attention to the feed of the enemy units, keeping the line open between him and the Kyrious. “These look like those AEU suits we saw when we crashed their test drive at the elevator. Didn’t think they were space capable though. Shouldn’t be an issue though, their armor is as weak every other non-Gundam,”

Albus opened a separate channel to the Ptolemaios. “Appreciate the vote of confidence, Miss Acustica. I was practically quivering in my normal suit until the Kyrios showed up.” He smirked. “The Exia is moving to engage the AEU units. Don’t worry, I’ll try to make sure Edmund isn’t inconvenienced,”

He closed the channel again, letting his smirk fade into that scowl of concentration as he approached the Enacts.

[Spectre]

Edmund grumbled something unintelligible as they duo talked about their comrade getting killed. Then Albus went off on poor Eco. Edmund stoically watched but gritted his teeth. Albus may have wanted to be a better team player but he sure wasn’t acting like it. Though in the end it didn’t really matter, after all the circumstances wouldn’t change them being all pushed upon each other. Celestial Being was crippled, forced to fall in on itself to try and salvage its’ abhorrently lofty goals. “In any case… sorry for your loss…” He muttered as he pushed to leave the room. What’s done was done, and it wasn’t his job to smooth things over for Albus’ sake . 

——

He let out a long and steady breath, gently blowing a stream of air from his lips. Edmund held his hands out in front of him as he went through his daily routine. His knees were bent slightly, his back held straight. For many moments he held the pose before shifting his weight and moving his arms in another routing. 

Halfway through the motion an alarm buzzed, telling him it was time for battle. With great control the Meister didn’t even flinch and very deliberately finished his arm movements before standing up straight and letting out a final puff of air. His eyes snapped open and it was all business then. 

Grabbing his space suit he was out the door before he could even get his helmet over his head. He nearly bumped into Feldt in the hallway who despite her stoicism did give him a questioning look. In a moment of impulsive humor he turned and winked at the stunned girl before pulling the helmet over his features and securing the air seal. 

A few moments later he was inside the cockpit of his rebuilt Kyrios. Of course he had gone over the new specs repeatedly and was still dismayed by the hasty nature of the repairs. “I gotta remember that I can’t transform anymore. At least I got a beefier rifle…” He kept muttering to himself as he booted up the OS. Just before him he spotted Exia taking off. 

“This is Spectre, Kyrios Repair heading out!” On cue his mobile suit shot out of the catapult into the cold void. He let out a long sigh, any solace was interrupted with Albus hailing him. He frowned at the other Miester’s attitude. “Albus don’t get too caught up in the the ‘why’, we need to focus on what’s going on. Now more than ever we have to prove to the world that Celestial Being still has strength…” and we’ll only be as strong as the person next to us... he silently lamented.

He grimaced as his heads up display showed him the AEU machines. Part of him still felt loyal to the AEU so he wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of defeating former comrades. “I’ll follow your lead Albus…” he resigned as he leveld his rifle to one of the targets. He took his time aiming before letting off a calculated shot. Things were about to get heated either way. 

[FrostyFoster 452]

“Wait. We’re not alone.” Giovanni got into a defensive position, backing away as he noticed the two Gundams coming their way. “Is that a new model?” Olivia stared inquisitively at the Kyrios, mimicking her superior. Marco on the other hand didn’t wait as he sent his Enact toward the Exia. “The Gods of combat are looking down upon me! Finally!” The purple mobile suit ignited its sonic blade to the plasma sword configuration, firing a few shots at the gray Gundam while it sped into battle.

“Dammit Marco! We need to go for backup, not engage.” It was too late for the three to retreat though as the Kyrios sent a single shot to the leader, just barely able to dodge the attack. “You’re with me, Olivia! Marco can learn the consequences of his actions on his own.” Almost in unison, the two launched rockets from their legs directly at the dark blue unit.  

Edmund hissed as the missiles came zooming in towards him. He uselessly jerked the controls to transform, only he couldn’t. “Shit!” He hissed as he made up the lost seconds to bring his rifle up to fire at the incoming attacks. They were committed now, one way or another. Pink beams lanced out from his rifle to caress the rockets one at a time, but it was too slow. One came in close and he had no choice but to raise his shield up to absorb the damage, smoke enveloping Kyrios from the explosion.

“Close in on him!” The two headed for the Kyrios once they saw the smoke, hoping to stay on the offensive. Not wanting to get sliced, they still kept a moderate distance as they both fired upon the dark blue machine with their rifles. “This is too easy!” Olivia called out to her boss. “To think we could actually beat a Gundam!” A sense of dread came from Marco as he heard this. “It IS too easy...” Stating as he continued his assault. “Watch your back.”

Albus took stock of the situation at hand as it unfolded before him. Three Enacts vs two Gundams didn’t seem like it’d be much of a fight but these were clearly newer units and the Kyrios was not fully operational. Discretion and patience was going to be what won the day for them today and the Meister wanted nothing more than to stick it to those Fereshte jerks. Winning this fight cleanly was just the way to do that. The Exia raised its shield and tanked the shots headed its way, Albus noting that one of the Enacts had moved to engage him personally while the others broke off to deal with Edmund.

Not happening.

Albus changed tack, jetting forward in a large burst of speed in hopes of throwing off his assailant. Once he had breezed past the AEU unit, the Exia braked hard and then zipped around to try and flank the two suits headed towards the Kyrios, shooting at them from behind with the gun mode of his GN Sword while keeping the third Enact, the solo combatant, in his peripheral vision as best he could.

“That speed!” Marco shouted as his beam sword slashed down, completely missing its target. While expected, he quickly realized that his confidence alone would get him nowhere. With the best motion he could make, the Enact slid right, turning to catch up with the Exia.

Olivia and Giovanni’s shield began to spin as they either dodged or blocked the GN Gunsword’s blast. “This is the fight of your life! Don’t back down!” Giovanni stated, firing the rest of his missiles at the Exia while dodging. With Marco on the way, Olivia kept on her original target of the Kyrios, opting to get in closer with her own plasma sword. Chaos erupted between the five mobile suits, with Marco being a part of pandemonium. “Oh no you don’t.” His Enact cris-crossed while firing missiles, sword still in hand.

A brilliant pink beam erupted from the cloud of smoke and arced out for one of the Enacts trying to engage Edmund. “I’m not going down that easy!” He roared out as the Kyrios burst through the cloud to try and follow suit. He had to try and close the distance to keep these enemies off guard. Sure enough he came up fast on one of the Enacts as it tried to cut him with its’ sword.

Edmund responded by bringing his shield up to block and raise the sword arm out of the way. He leveled his rifle towards the cockpit.

Something about the situation felt eerily familiar, like he had lived through something similar before. She wants me to kill for her again? Images of kujo drifted to his mind and Kyrios froze as he poised over the Enact. “Disarm!” He suddenly called out, blindly hoping for a bloodless option.

“Shit...” Olivia found herself in quite a predicament, the Enact stopping as the Kyrios’ rifle pointed directly at its torso. Without Marco and Giovanni to back her up, any sudden movements meant death for her. With no other options, Olivia slowly let her sword and rifle loose, watching as they floated away. “I-I can’t let myself be killed like that...” She thought, laying back in her seat.

Albus clenched his teeth as he faced down the barrage of missiles headed his way. He let out a flurry of blasts from the gunsword, prematurely detonating a few of the projectiles, which in turn caused more to explode as well. He couldn't get them all however, which meant a few broke past his onslaught and collided with the Exia head-on.

"Damn it," hissed the Meister as the Exia's alarms blared. The Gundam had taken some structural damage but nothing critical.

Have I bitten off more than I can...no, these are still just enacts His thoughts flashed quickly back to the unit he destroyed on their first deployment. These might be stronger than that model, but Albus doubted the armor was different in any kind of meaningful way. His eyes flicked over to Edmund, who seemed to have gotten his opponent under his control.

There's no need to turn this into a tragedy...

The Exia flipped out its sword, turned, and swiped at the weapon arm of the Enact that had first engaged him and pursued him doggedly even now.

"Cease fire immediately," Albus said over his radio, hailing the AEU suits. "Your comrade has been disarmed and you're clearly outmatched. Cease fire and leave this area immediately or I will be forced to eliminate you."

Giovanni almost bit his tongue as he heard the Gundam pilot speak. With Olivia disarmed and Marco LITERALLY disarmed, there wasn’t going to be much that he could do against two Celestial Being mobile suits. However, he was shown something unexpected from the terrorist organization. Mercy.

“You heard him. Time to go.” Giovanni responded, flying backward as Olivia followed suit. Marco’s machine stayed still for a moment, it’s pilot angered at his battle being cut short. Soon after though, he followed his superior’s command. A single Enact arm along with a rifle and plasma sword gently floated in the vacuum of space while the three machines left.

“AEU mobile suits are... that can’t be right.” Eco had a perplexed demeanor with Chall coming to his side. “The Enacts are retreating?” A horrifying glare protruded from the white haired woman’s eye towards Sumeragi. “Your pathetic pilots don’t even follow orders. Do want you wish with them.” Chall left the bridge at a quick pace, distraught that Feldt couldn’t be launched to finish the job. With Sumeragi back in charge, she order Eco to send a surprising message.

RETURN TO PTOLEMAIOS

Kyrios let go of the Enact. Edmund remained poised, but watch the enemies retreat. Sighing he hailed Albus, “sorry for going off script… I just… I was from the AEU…” he gulped as he flew alongside Exia. He didn’t say anything, curious how his friend would respond if at all.

Albus watched the Enacts retreat, frowning as they grey smaller and smaller against the black backdrop of endless night. They had done the right thing but…somehow it didn't feel right. There was no catharsis in their act of mercy. It didn't take long for him to hone in on the ‘why’ of it. While the Meister didn’t regret his actions, he knew they were counter to the mandate of his employers. Celestial Being wasn't about mercy. They were about nonpartisan conflict. If he was letting people go, he wasn’t doing what he was presumably hired to do and he had no doubt he'd hear about it later.

Even when you’re doing the right thing, you’re doing it wrong…

Edmund hailed him. Albus let the masked Meister's words tumble around in his head for a moment before responding. “It's fine,” was all he said at first, until he added to his statement. “I don’t think our goal at large should have to compromise our morals. I've been careless on the battlefield up till now and it’s caused us issues. It’s too early to say if what happened here will do the same but I think you made the right call.” Albus sat in silence for a moment before a small smile crept onto his face. He hailed Edmund again. “But I bet Chall is going to be pissed.”

“Exia and Kyrios are currently preparations to dock, Captain.” With Eco’s statement being heard, the remaining crew members left him on the bridge as they went to separate sections of the bridge. Once the Kyrios, who was carrying the scraps from the Enacts, was connected with the battleship, Edmund was met only by Lasse. “I’ve been told to escort you to the brig, sorry.” The buff individual motioned the masked man to follow him. “These Fereshte guys are real assholes, I know.”

Lichty, in the Exia’s hangar, wasn’t as relaxed about the situation as his companion. He’d seen Albus break protocol before, so what was stopping him from beating the living daylights out of him as he escorted him to Sumeragi’s quarters. “P-Please follow me...”

Edmund scoffed at Lasse and for a moment honestly considered fighting or fleeing in the Kyrios. Shaking his head he realized such a stunt was something Albus would do, “He must be wearing off on me…” he mused a little louder than he intended. Lasse tilted his head in confusion but Edmund only shrugged, “Let’s go big guy. I haven’t got all day.” Edmund followed Lasse obediently. He doubted that any of this would go well with the other Meister.

 Albus was confronted by none other than Lichty as he stepped out of the Exia upon docking. It only took a single glance at the young man’s face to know that he was here to deliver bad news. Albus grabbed the lip of the cockpit hatch with one hand, leaning out over the open space below him as he stared back at Lichty wordlessly.

You could just get back in, turn it on, and take off.

 How would they even stop him? They were down two and a half Gundams and he doubted that the robot ball would be any match for him. If he wanted to, he could take the Exia wherever he wanted and no one could stop him.

“Stop worrying so much, Lichty,” he said at last, letting go of the Exia and floating down towards his comrade. “I’m not completely heartless. Lead the way,”

[FrostyFoster 452]

Albus was met by the two Forecasters standing across from him in Sumeragi’s room. She looked about the same as she always did, but Chall’s anger at the situation was irradiating more than normal, if it was even possible. “Once again, you have disobeyed direct orders from a superior.” Sumeragi crossed her arms as Chall said this. She couldn’t help but agree with her. Gundam Meisters had to leave emotional decisions like that behind. People HAD to die in order for their plan to succeed, but Sumeragi sometimes wondered if that was true in some cases.

“I’m sorry, but she’s right, Albus. We’ve dealt with this before and the operations can be jeopardized. Those three AEU pilots shouldn’t have been able to go back to base.” For some odd reason, she didn’t want to say that needed to die out loud. Chall on the other hand thought long and hard about Albus’ history based on what she heard. It was then that a statement popped into her head from Wang.

”But Celestial Being has no room for people who even have the SLIGHTEST chance of being traitors. Is that understood?”
Pulling out her pistol, she pointed it directly at the tanned Meister’s head. “Woah woah woah! Stop!” Sumeragi called out, but Chall didn’t budge.

“You have proven to be a liability to Celestial Being on these missions, which makes me believe you are a TRAITOR. Traitors are to be dealt with.” Sumeragi didn’t believe this in the slightest. Not only did she pick Albus personally to be a Meister, but he was an extremely talented pilot. She worried for the pilot, but without her own pistol available, there was little she could do...

Albus stared blankly at Chall as she levelled her pistol at him. All he did in response was slip his hands nonchalantly into his pockets—no other move was made. Sumeragi cried out in surprise, trying to put an end to such a hasty action, but the white-haired woman seemed to be having none of it as she kept the muzzle trained steadily on the Meister.

“A liability huh?” Albus said at last, his mouth curving up into a small smirk. On the inside, his mind was racing his pounding heart. He knew he was on the razor’s edge here but he had to remain cool and not show his fear to the woman holding the gun. Fear was what she wanted. Fear would justify her actions, let her believe that she was right about him. She had called him a traitor and Albus’s smirk intensified by a fraction. “Yeah, I’m a no good, dirty-rotten traitor. How dare I not kill those pilots for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Clearly I must be working for the enemy,”

He let his words hang in the distance between them for a moment before continuing. “Gotta’ say, you must not be a very good forecaster if you couldn’t see something like that coming and then react by pulling a gun on one of the only people in the world who can effectively get the job done for you. Seems a little reactionary to me. But I’m sure you’ll find some to justify killing me to yourself at the end of the day, won’t you? You won’t be able to tell the folks here that I was killed in a mission off of Indonesia though. You’re going to have to try a little harder than that,”

He stared her down behind his sunglasses. Egging her on perhaps wasn’t the smartest move, but he wanted to let her know that he didn’t believe that bullshit story for one second. He didn’t know what happened to their old pilot, but whatever it was, it wasn’t what Eco had told him. The answer was too quick, too panicked when he had asked. Eco had thrown it out there to stop him from asking any more questions. “What’s one more Meister, Chall?”

Albus was making a mockery of her abilities as a leader with each word, but he wasn’t just spewing dumb nonsense in the eyes of the white haired forecaster. “You want to know the truth? Fereshte’s Meister was killed by Wang Lu Mei. All of us watched as his neck erupted with blood, spewing out like a fountain just because she felt he was a traitor. You don’t forget something like that.”

Chall felt she was being torn in half. Part of her wished that they had their own collar to put on the Exia’s pilot to keep him in line, but part of her realized she was acting just like the one who murdered Fon in the first place.
Watching as Chall lowered her pistol, Sumeragi had a sigh of relief. “There, now everyone can calm down and-“ Her words were stopped as Chall proceeded to bring the weapon back up. “That still doesn’t excuse the fact that you disobeyed an order. An order that would’ve helped us all. Those three should’ve died!” 

Sumeragi responded to this by just grabbing the pistol, pulling it out of Chall’s hand. “Maybe they... didn’t have to die. You’re not apart of Fereshte anymore. We could’ve captured them.” Chall stared blankly at her fellow Forecaster, annoyed at the fact Sumeragi took the tense situation into her own hands. “Then what would we do with them? We can’t just keep tons of prisoners! This mission REQUIRED those AEU mobile suits to be destroyed.” Chall stared back at the Meister, leaving through the door to the side of him. 

“All of this will be reported. He’s your problem now.” A mix of emotions filled Chall’s head as she slammed her fist hand on the side of the door, causing it to shut. With the two alone, Sumeragi couldn’t help but worry for the entire organization. “I felt like I could solve the world’s problems with Celestial Being. What a stupid thought...” She stated while placing the pistol on the bar stool close to her. “Everything has been going wrong.”

Albus kept his eyes locked firmly on Chall as she recounted what had happened to their departed member—a gruesome tale but the Meister didn’t flinch. He did find it interesting that the blame had been placed on Wang Liu Mei. Albus had no reason to dislike Liu Mei, but was still a far cry from trusting her. It was interesting information to have, to be certain, and likely true as well given it was Chall who had said it. The Meister hadn’t known Chall for long but he already had more than a few words to describe her—liar wasn’t one of them. 

The gun went down, then came back up, and then Sumeragi simply disarmed her. Albus let the forecasters battle it out for a moment, slipping his hands back into his pocket, until at last Chall stormed off, leaving him alone with Sumeragi. The white-haired Meister turned his head to watch her go and then fixed his gaze back onto Sumeragi, who had lamented that everything seemed to be going wrong. Albus shook his head.

“According to who, exactly? VEDA?” his eyes followed the gun as it reached its resting place on the top of a stool. “I can’t deny that having all that data going into a situation is valuable—but it’s not data that wins a fight and it’s not data that’s going to bring about world peace—people will. You and I both know that and I’m sure somewhere deep in her thick head Chall knows it too. What exactly is world peace worth if we lose our humanity to obtain it? Those pilots didn’t need to die—not today—so I made a judgement call. If you have a problem with that, lock me up. Because if Celestial Being doesn’t believe in mercy, then theirs is a world peace I’m not willing to put my life on the line for,”

As if to put a period on his little speech, Albus shrugged and made his way to the door. When he reached it, he spoke once more without turning. “Live and let live, right? These battles are a necessary evil but they’re only a means to a greater end. Understanding each other—that’s the way to the future. Until then, I’ll fight to be understood, but only if I need to.”
With that, Albus stepped into the hall.

There was no response from the Forecaster, only the pouring of a colored drink as Albus left. Taking a hard swig, Sumeragi coughed as the liquid touched her throat. It was tough for her to accept that maybe the Meister was right in some aspects. The real challenge came from making sure these two teams could work together in harmony. However, whether their issues would truly be resolved was unclear...

END OF EPISODE 7