As Gino, Anya and Suzaku approached Kamine Island, they were greeted with the sight of dozens of float equipped Sutherlands, no less than four battleships encircling the island, and a recon float carrier that had probably been ordered off of its normal flight route to come here so that the task force could take advantage of its sensor arrays. And if the intelligence he was receiving was accurate, there should be one more Knightmare Frame squad that should be coming over to assist with the operation. It'll be headed by the Knight of Nine herself and she'll be bringing along the new Knightmare Frame that's undergoing testing.
The silence in Suzaku's VTOL aircraft was broken by the Knight of Three whistling in awe. "Whoa boy... the Emperor sure wanted this place re-secured in a hurry. Just look at all those Knightmares and battleships!" The way Gino said that made him sound like a kid looking at all of this for the first time rather than one of the Empire's strongest soldiers.
As his mind was preoccupied by other thoughts, the Knight of Seven didn't respond immediately to Gino's little comment. 'Normally I would call this excessive force, but this time we’re dealing with an enemy that possesses Knightmare Frame technology generations ahead of ours. Even with our numbers, I don't know if we can truly contain that Gundam Knightmare.' He started to direct his craft towards the island and flicked on a switch to activate the landing gear.
"We're heading in?" asked Anya in her usual detached tone.
"That's right," answered Suzaku through the open channel. "Anya, Gino... I want you two to land the Tristan and the Mordred on top of the cavern's opening. That way if the Gundam re-activates, you two will be able to lay down suppressing fire and keep it busy."
"Oi, Suzaku... what makes you think that my machine guns would be able to scratch that Gundam's paint job? If I get into a shoot-out with it, I'm going to have my butt handed to me on a silver platter! I may as well just wave a flag and yell at that Knightmare Frame to shoot me!"
"He did not say to defeat it. He is only expecting us to keep it occupied," replied the Knight of Six.
"I know that, Anya! I was just kidding around! You know, being funny?" Had the Tristan been in Knightmare Frame mode, Gino probably would have had it wave its arms to drive home the fact that he meant that last comment as a joke.
The Mordred tilted its head slightly towards the Tristan's direction before she responded. "I missed the punch line it seems."
Suzaku sighed and shook his head upon listening to their banter over the channel. "Alright, enough with the jokes you two. I'm going in to land and join the team already inside the cavern that's examining the Gundam. You two get into position."
"I hear ya, Suzaku!"
"Roger that."
As his two fellow Knights of the Round moved out, the Knight of Seven's eyes caught the glowing mini-pillar of green light that was coming from inside of the exposed cavern. He remembered Guilford's report stating how that light seemed to cause a lot of electronic systems to go haywire. And if the latest information sent to him from the landing team was correct, the Gundam's engine alone was creating that pillar of light. Upon reviewing the information, Suzaku could only wonder what other secrets did the Gundam have up its sleeve.
Looking around nervously, Bartley Asprius couldn’t help but feel a chill running up and down his spine as he walked down the dimly lit corridor with his current master, his former superior officer and the energetic female immortal that he had met only recently. "I do not mean to be impertinent Lord V.V. but where are we going?"
"To one of the secret factories in the lower levels. Given the growing seriousness not just with Zero’s return but also the Gundams, we must put one of the contingency plans into action," replied V.V. without even looking back at the portly man.
"Contingency plans?" asked Jeremiah in a mildly curious tone.
Surprisingly, it was Ple who answered and in a rather reserved and calm tone."Several centuries ago, I once held a Geass power to see visions of future events. However given how young I was when I received my Geass, some of my visions did not come out so well. Add in how far-fetched they sounded in that day and age so it was obvious that nobody believed me. Even after the Order took me in, nobody bothered to actually take me seriously."
"Well, it's quite easy not to take you seriously when half the time, you go on and on about wanting to find this big brother you keep mentioning. And the fact that you act like a brat the other half of the time doesn't help."
In response to V.V. acting like a cute little snarker, Ple took an exaggerated step to make sure her foot caught the tail-end of his long hair. This resulted in the male immortal tripping and falling face first to the floor. "Don't forget that this brat is several centuries your senior, boya."
While Jeremiah held back an amused snicker, Bartley continued to question the sanity of those associated with the Order, and further bemoaned his lot in life. 'Why me?'
Satisfied with her petty revenge, Ple continued on with her tale. "However a chain of events started to change my luck and the Order started paying more attention to the stuff I said, rather than dismissing it as crap. After all, I predicted the discovery of the Americas by Columbus, the colonial uprisings in the Americas, the invention of the steam locomotive and the automobile, the development of Knightmares and the coming of the black vigilante who identified himself as nothing..." She paused a moment to let that sink in for the others before resuming. "Suffice it to say the predictions that I saw when I still had Geass would regularly show up whatever other thingy you used to tell the future."
V.V. wasn't in the mood to defend the scrying ability of Heaven's Door, especially since whatever future events his subordinate Geass users could make out were so erratic that nobody could bother interpreting how they would come to be. He simply picked himself up off the floor and dusted himself off. "And now your prediction of the coming of Gundam, the 'glowing metal giants', has come to pass."
"Since the advent of the Knightmare, several Order members saw that it might be in their best interests to put forth a contingency in case the glowing metal giants did come. My second most favourite person in the world is in charge of that plan!” exclaimed Ple.
"Second most favourite person?" asked Bartley in a puzzled tone.
"Yep yep! Second to my favourite big brother in the entire world!!" She skipped on ahead towards the metal door at the end of the corridor while the others lagged on a bit behind.
"Big brother? She speaks as if he were still alive," muttered Jeremiah quietly.
"For some reason, she's convinced that he's still out in the world somewhere. She completely ignores the fact that any family she had when she was still a regular human would have died of old age long ago and anybody who tries to remind her of such......" V.V. grimaced upon remembering how thoroughly she had dismembered the last person who raised that subject. "...... in any case, it would be in your best interests not to raise the subject when around her."
The half cyborg male made a note of that before going back to the original topic. "So what sort of contingency plan is in place? After all we are talking about fighting a war machine four times the height of a Knightmare posessing powerful energy weapons much stronger than the weapons currently in use by Eighth Generation Frames. Not to mention whatever is powering it must be using an engine far superior to the Yggdrasil Drive."
"The man in charge can explain it much better than I can," said the male immortal as he placed his thumb against a pad hidden among the rocky surface on the right just before the metal door. Upon confirming the thumbprint, the metal door opened to reveal a complex laboratory riddled with high tech computers, and a series of chemical beakers. It was a typical set up with some clutter in the form of strewn paper notes and file-folders. Near the entrance of the metal door was a storage closet that was next to a small kitchen with a fridge, sink and coffee brewing machine.
"What unprofessional cleanliness! Is this supposed to be a laboratory or someone’s frat house?" Bartley had a look of disgust on his face upon seeing the less-than-spotless condition of the lab.
"Technically… this place does serve as my abode," said a male voice which drew the attention of the group. They heard an approaching squeaking noise as a white-haired man, who looked no older than thirty, wheeled towards them in his office chair from the work area in the back. A distinct pair of customized glasses rested on his nose and he was dressed in a white lab uniform similar to Lloyd Aspund's attire. "Welcome back, my dear Ple. I see you brought company."
"Proffy!!" Ple practically flew over to the man before glomping him.
"Ooof!" He laughed as he caught her, returning the hug briefly before setting her down. "I see you're more energetic than ever. I take it another prediction has come true?"
"Yep, yep, yep! This time, the glowing metal giants have showed up!"
The professor had a brief look of surprise before he smiled fondly at the girl. "Yes, I saw that on the news. It's no wonder you're so excited..." He was genuinely happy for her as she had been one of the few people he could ever call as a friend in this place. They had often talked about small things when she visited him once in a while. The one thing she had been most excited about was the vision of the glowing metal giants as it served as a sign that her precious big brother was alive and waiting for her. He turned his attention to his other three guests. "I take it that this is the reason behind your visit?"
V.V. nodded. "Indeed. We’ve come to bring your project out of the shadows and into full production."
"Excellent, excellent! So who are these two chaps behind you, milord?"
"Ah, yes... let me introduce you to them. This is Bartley Asprius, the former head of the Code R Project. He is currently working with us," stated V.V. as he pointed out the portly former general before gesturing towards Jeremiah. "And this man here is-"
"O.J.!"
Bartley’s jaw hung open in shock, causing his monocle to fall from his face. As for the male immortal, his face remained neutral although one of his eyebrows was raised which indicated his amusement at the sudden comment. Ple, on the other hand, was far less subtle as she started giggling which soon gave way to a full out laugh. Jeremiah was obviously far from amused as his right eyebrow twitched in anger. "I beg your pardon?!"
The man wheeled over to the kitchen and opened up the fridge to pull out a plastic jug. "Would you like some O.J.? I'm terribly sorry about the outburst as I’m prone to strange whims. I rarely get out of this place, and my social skills are horrible to a degree Lord Jeremiah Gottwald."
Jeremiah could only just stare and blink, trying to decide if the scientist genuinely was offering him a beverage, or covering up for making an audacious reference to his dreaded nick name. Meanwhile Ple bounced over to grab a cup from the kitchen cabinet. "I’ll take some!"
"As you wish, my dear." The scientist poured some juice into Ple's cup as he addressed Jeremiah again. "I should probably introduce myself. My name is Mikhail Steamhein."
Bartley nearly dropped the monocle again just as he picked it up. "M-Mikhail Steamhein? You were one of the greatest contributors in the field of Knightmare Frame technology! The Glasgow... the Sutherland... they would still merely be drawings if if weren't for your work! You were tasked to further refine the Empire's fleet with the Sixth Generation until you vanished four years ago!"
"You forgot all my achievements in quantum physics and theories for space travel but I digress... I’m pleased to know you followed much of my career," replied Steamhein with a tone of genuine gratitude. He stood up from his chair, revealing that he was just as tall as Jeremiah. "Well, I wasted enough time. Shall I take you to see what you came for?"
'So this man is the legendary scientist who was reputed to ‘make the impossible possible’, as well as one of the few who had the Emperor’s ear. At least until he reputedly fell from grace, but it seems that may have been a cover up to make his transfer to this place much easier and away from prying eyes,' thought the half cyborg as he watched the scientist head towards his laboratory's entrance.
Upon completing a retina scan and punching in his access code, the door slid open to reveal another long corridor. The group followed Steamhein down the corridor which ended at a giant hollowed out cavern. It had been completely converted to a large scale factory, capable of producing large battleships and Knightmare Frames. Bartley gawked upon seeing this facility and nearly dropped his monocle again when the professor led the group to a second factory floor where vats full of liquid Sakuradite were being stored. If his eyes were seeing things clearly and correctly, there were at least one hundred vats sitting right there in front of him. "My God, where did you get all this Sakuradite?"
Steamhein adjusted his glasses before he replied. "Most of it came from Area 11 while the rest came from what little deposits were in the homeland. It is mostly stockpiled over the course of the four years I’ve been here. I haven't really been able to put together something yet due to lack of funding. Too many skeptics didn't believe in this project to allow me access to what I need."
"I can assure you that is going to change," stated V.V. with utmost certainty.
The professor smiled. "Well I’ll take your word for it milord. And just to put your mind at ease that your funding won't be going to waste, allow me to show you what I have come up with so far with what little resources I had to work with."
The group followed Steamhein through three more floors of stairs before they all walked on a large catwalk overlooking a large chamber. And that was when it all became clear to them. "My… lord..."
"H-how in the world?" Bartley's words were hardly more elegant than Jeremiah's earlier with both of them unable to believe what they were seeing in front of them.
Ple leaned over the railings of the catwalk, nearly dropping her now empty glass cup. "Hey, you got two more of them built!"
Down below the group, a set of ten giant mechanical skeleton frames lay across the floor of the chamber, each in various stages of completion with some bits of armour placed on their joints among other things. "I just finished the last two this week. Once they’re fully outfitted, they should be able to fight those Gundams on even footing."
'As expected from a genius of his caliber,' thought V.V. before he addressed Steamhein. "How soon can you get at least one of them operational, Professor?"
"If your promise of resources holds through, within three weeks tops assuming you want to skip standard testing. However I still need to solve the problem with the power supply. Sakuradite alone won’t cut it. I need something with more 'oomph' for its power reactor to ensure that there's no lag in the Frame's responsiveness to pilot input." That was when a thought came to the doctor's mind, causing him to snap his fingers. "I may know of someone who can help me with that little problem. I've read some of her papers and her research looks very promising but I want to see her work in action for myself before confirming anything. Tell me, milord... how hard will it be to get me to Dallas so I can visit the 'In Vogue' team?"
"I believe I can make an arrangement for you." One word to his younger brother Charles should be able to do the trick.
"Splendid! I promise you this milord...... my Neo-Knightmare machines shall serve as the Empire's sword to cut down Gundam!" exclaimed Steamhein as a mad grin slowly appeared on his face.
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(Posted Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:42)
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