Super Robot Wars/Z2/Story Summary/Part 1

PROLOGUE.

Many worlds, many cosmoses... so-called "parallel worlds" which should never have interacted. Nor did they... until that day.

The "Great Spacetime Quake" began in one of the worlds, demolishing the dimensional walls that kept all the worlds separate. The result was the comingling of those worlds, and the birth of many new ones to form the Multidimensional World.

With this new world came new meetings, and those new meetings begat new wars. The newly-formed Multidimensional World was gripped by chaos well after its founding, only at length settling into several new orders.

Our story unfolds on one of the countless Earths in the Multidimensional World. This Earth, with two moons and two Japanese island chains, has finally attained order two decades after its creation. From its surface, orbital elevators stretch into space to meet an orbital ring, while clusters of space colonies grow at the Lagrange points. This is not a world at peace...

The majority of this world is aligned behind three great powers. One is the Britannia Union, created when the Holy Britania Empire and the International Federation both found themselves occupying North America following the Great Spacetime Quake. Another is the AEU, combining the nations of Europe. And the third is the Human Reform League, forged from Chinese Asia and the Russian bloc.

These so-called Three Great Nations vye for world supremacy, wielding in practice the international authority that the United Nations has in name only. It is also under the aegis of those three nations that the Colony Management Collective that oversees the space colonies is organized.

The Three Great Nations remain in a state of cold war, marred by a series of worldwide skirmishes. Wars between the lesser nations, armed resistance movements, and terrorist strikes are rampant. The arrival of humans from the Astrageus galaxy two years ago, many of whom went directly to work as mercenaries for the armies of the world, only fanned the flames.

Mankind also faces common enemies. Among them are the Dimension Monster, lifeforms from other worlds brought by the Great Spacetime Quake. As raids by the Emerge have decreased since the Great Dimensional Quake, Dimension Monster activity has increased steadily.

The embers of widespread anxiety and rage swirling around a world poised on the brink of a storm: Revolution.

---

CHAPTER 1. The Million-Dollar Man

Crow is pounding the mean streets of Chicago, homeless, penniless and hungry. Well, _almost_ penniless: he's got one whopping G after selling all his worldly possessions. Balance that against his one million G in debt (due today, by the way) and resignation from the military, and the future looks grim. But Crow isn't one to dwell on the negatives -- this is his big chance to risk his whole future on the toss of that one last coin. Heads and it's back to the military; tails, and it's off on some other adventure. He flips the coin...

...and Zenitory catches it, happy to have at least one millionth of the debt Crow owes in his hands. He doesn't seem especially sincere when he offers Crow "condolences" for his father's failed business venture and abrupt passing from an illness, adding that Crow would need to win two or three times with a single lottery ticket to have any hope of repayment. All he had to do was simply deny his inheritance and Crow would be debt free! Crow grimaces and says that even a shitty dad is still a dad, and assuming his debts is the least he could do after his dad fed him all those years.

A noble sentiment, to be sure. That still leaves Crow broke as hell, and throwing himself on Zenitory's mercy. Tomorrow! He'll pay tomorrow, or the day after that maybe! Zenitory asks if he'd even be willing to rejoin the military, knowing all about Crow's past with the "Firebug" squadron. All this blubbering idiocy Crow's displaying doesn't remotely match the black deeds he's said to have done, or the fearsome skills he still possesses. Zenitory says he has a much better job for Crow than slaving away for the army... nothing any more criminal than defaulting on a loan at any rate. Heck, look at the mess the world is in, between the three-sided cold war and the space monsters and God knows what else. Surely Crow can put is skillz to good use, and if he doesn't, Zenitory might just have to kick his debt-dodging ass.

Crow doesn't like being threatened, but as he tries to defuse the situation, an explosion rips through a nearby building. From the woods nearby, a voice comes over a loudspeaker claiming to be a member of the World Liberation Front (WLF). He announces an attack on a lab belonging to Axion Corporation, who he accuses of supplying weapons to the nations of the world, never mind the fact that his own mecha is made by Axion. Crow knows these guys: terrorists-for-hire who've been swelling their ranks with cast-off warmongers of late. They certainly know how to pick targets: Axion is the world's largest conglomerate, and according to terrorist ideology, the bigger the capitalist, the deeper in bed with The Man. Apparently terrorist ideology cares nothing for all the innocents caught in the crossfire, and Crow tells Zenitory to bug out while he still can. Crow, on the other hand, has a little "errand" to run.

The head of the lab, "Traia", isn't interested in fleeing either, at least without taking the untested "Number 0" with her. She's actually enjoying the situation immensely, to the point of donning a festive fox mask, and suspects that a certain jackass she knows hired these terrorists specifically to mess up her plans. Whatever the case may be, there's no way the army's getting here in time to intervene.

Crow, however, does just that, showing up unannounced and telling Traia to give him any mech that'll move so he can fend off the bad guys. Traia is intrigued, asking if he's one of those Allys of Justice everyone always reads about. He's certainly no friend of terrorism, and Traia, laughing, says that if they're all going down anyway she might as well let this idiot try his hand first. Crow is clearly looking forward to showing what powerful idiot he can be.

More terrorist ideology first though: all authority must be denied, and the world must be destroyed before a new order can arise! Exclamation point! Crow sounds unconvinced, striding onto the field and telling this third- stringer to go play revolutionary where it won't bother the townsfolk. Incensed, the terrorist demands to know why Crow is casting aspersions on his "holy" war... just proving that he doesn't know what "holy war" really means. Traia is intrigued to see that Crow knows his way around the cockpit, and he tells her that he's been redlining the odometer since before his training wheels got taken off.... one of his many good features.

She smirks at that, telling him that the mech he's in is the Number-0, aka the "Blaster". There's no hope of him treating it nicely, but he's quite confident that its first sortie will also be its first victory.

 The first round of bad guys go down with negligible resistance, and Crow will
 leave it up to the military to scoop up the terrorist pilots who ejected.
 He's impressed with the Blaster's active, mild and non-idiosyncratic design,
 and tells Traia she can stop calling the thing by its pre-launch designation.

 Unfortunately, today's action isn't quite over: a dimensional tremor hits the
 area, and with it come a herd of Dimension Monster.  Nobody knows quite what
 they are or where they come from, but with no means to communicate with them
 or stop their destructive rampages, they're classified Threat Level Alpha.

 Traia, ever more impressed with Crow's acumen, decides to show him how
 "non-mild" the Blaster can be.  She cuts its limiters, revealing the true
 power of the DM Buster Number 0 (that's DM as in Dimension Monster), the
 world's first purpose built mech for throwing down with the pesky critters.
 No normal pilot could remain conscious aboard this beast of a machine, but
 Crow is anything but a normal pilot.  The question now is, which is greater:
 Crow's skill in battle, or the Blaster's newborn potential?

 The Blaster is one heck of a mech, but Crow realizes quickly that even its
 impressive firepower won't let him hold out for long on his own.  At that
 moment, a mobile suit he's never seen before shows up.  Its pilot isn't
 impressed at how weak all the combatants are, but is also unwilling to just
 let this battle deteriorate.  The other pilot, Wufei, wants to get this over
 with as quickly as possible so he can get on to his real mission.

 Wufei leaves without another word once the battle is over, ignoring Crow's
 thank you message.  You know, places to go, things to see, justice to mete
 out, etc.

Crow, on the other hand, has a little poverty problem to attend to. He's smarter than to pretend that the state of his affairs is antyhing but pathetic, and more or less throws himself on her mercy. When she asks, he says he's never seen the mystery mobile suit before, and reckons that its operating layout is unlike anything he's familiar with. Or Traia, for that matter, which isn't so surprising given all the weird and wacky goings-on in this world of late.

As for Crow's retirement from the military, he explains to her that there was more going on than just the desire to repay his father's debts. He hasn't liked some of the military's actions for quite a while, and enlisting in the first place was more out of a desire to be away from his dad than a desire to be _with_ the other soldiers. Traia asks how much money he wants for helping out, and while a million G would be nice, he says he'd rather leave the amount up to her. He may have financial debt hanging over his head, but it'd be against his beliefs to go into debt morally in exchange. Traia smirks and offers him a single G, which is in fact waaay less than he hoped for.

At this point, Zenitory walks in, proving just how lax this lab's security must be. He's grateful that Crow saved his bacon, but isn't willing to forgive the debt. Instead, he's got a plan for how Crow can repay it: work as a mercenary for the Private Military Corporation, who are sure to value Crow's obvious skills highly. Traia has a better ideal: she'll _buy_ Crow's skills from Zenitory for that million G on the spot, in return for him being the Number 0's test pilot. Since he's already demonstrated he can handle the Blaster with its limiters cut, she'll have satisfied that certain idiot's orders too! Crow is forced to admit that no better deal is likely to come his way, and has to grin and bear it. He does, however, demand his own G back from Zenitory now that he's got a million from Traia, and both he and Zenitory agree (somewhat in jest) that they never want to see each other again.

Now that that's dealt with, Traia Scott introduces herself fully as the person in charge of the "Scott Lab", Axion Corporation's 13th Defense Laboratory. Her fox mask is her alter-ego, "Okon". Crow Brust smiles and flips her his G, leaving 999,999 left to go. Both of them smirk alarmingly at each other, in eerie agreement about just how valuable every last coin is. As Traia sets about configuring the Blaster for real combat, she asks whether Crow prefers close-in or ranged combat.

 [You can pick either, which affects what kind of weaponry you'll get.  I
 chose close-range.]

Crow will have his work cut out for him as a test pilot, between analyzing combat data, evaluating new weapons, and actually battling those DM's. He'll also have to do demos from time to time, which seems like a good place to start now. His job will be to demolish the newest AEU mobile suit at its unveiling ceremony...

CHAPTER 2. Changing World

Crow has accepted the assignment to crash the new AEU mech's unveiling, but still wants to know more about the "whys" behind it. Traia figures that any man who counts his freedom one G at a time is unlikely to simply take his mech and flee, and agrees to give him the real lowdown. First the history lesson: Axion's principal business is arms sales, as any former military man like Crow should know. That Axion doesn't seem to care who they sell to has earned them considerable enmity in some quarters, and led to little problems like their own weapons being used against them (and VERY recently, at that...) Traia will be the first to admit that her company does idiotic things, and tells Crow that their orders this time are all about forcing that idiocy on the AEU.

Apparently the CEO doesn't like the fact that Axion's latest Axio Version 7, a global best-seller even among the terrorists, got its butt kicked by the new AEU mech in AEU's trials. AEU has long relied on mobile suits for both its airborne and terrestrial combat forces, so it's only natural to Crow that the Axio would be a tough sell. Traia says that any rational person would come to the same conclusion... but the CEO is an idiot after all, and plans to vent his misplaced indignation by trashing the unveiling. Doesn't that make Crow every bit as bad as the terrorists? Is this why he was ordered to fly his transport to the scene solo?

Not so fast, my friend! Turns out the Scott lab is a bit of a black projects operation even compared to the rest of Axion, unknown to the rank and file and staffed to the absolute minimum.... or, as Crow surmises, maybe they're just being slowly starved to death by a vindictive boss? Traia admits that she doesn't get along with the CEO, and has no plans to start any time soon. She assures Crow that he's being shielded from all the real political infighting, and that his little stunt is going to be nothing more than a sideshow, albeit one the idiot CEO expects him to win. Such is the price of Traia asking him to increase the Blaster's development budget, and from a certain viewpoint it's a great chance to demonstrate the Blaster's capabilities to the world.

There's no way for Crow to play this fiasco as the good guy, so he'll just have to trust in Traia's promise to clean up the mess afterwards. He knows better than to rock the boat when that boat is caught in a fox-vs-tanuki tug-of-war. Traia asks if what Crow really dislikes is the army, and he tells her he neither likes nor hates it: it's something the world needs. Goodness knows the Three Great Nations have found plenty to squabble over, to say nothing of the WLF and others like them.

Traia supposes that the WLF's recent spate of activity stems from landing a deep-pocketed patron, and wonders if they're really serious about changing the world. All Crow knows is that the yahoos he just pulverized were too drunk on the word "revolution" to have any real ideology to speak of. Traia suspects that that mystery mobile suit that helped him might actually come from a _real_ anti-government organization somewhere, which if true would be yet another manifestation of how much the world and the people in it have changed over the past twenty years. And that change is going to keep right on keeping on if she knows anything about it.

One of the effects of the Great Dimensional Quake was the sealing off of South Africa, resurrecting the notion of the "Dark Continent" and raising the possibility that the DM's are using it as a staging area. Crow's not far from there now, in fact, and both he and Traia would rather be kicking DM ass with the DM buster than screwing with the AEU. Still, when the CEO asked Traia if she wasn't confident in her creation, she at least got into the spirit. Crow's reward for victory will be 30k, plus 20k more if he emerges without a scratch... and that's got HIM in the mood too.

At the trial, Patrick has just put every practice round on target from his Enact, AEU's first solar-powered mech. Graham and Billy are watching the demo from the sidelines, and Graham reminds Billy how the AEU were behind the curve as the orbital elevators were built -- good to see that at least some technology of theirs is state-of-the-art. Billy asks him if it's really a good idea for an MSWAD ace to be here, and Graham tells him it is, in fact, a rotten idea. After all, their nation of Britannia is supporting the Commonwealth of Gizan in open warfare against Malania (supported by the AEU) not far from here.

Then again, says a masked man who walks over to the two, that little problem is for Gizan and Malania to solve; it's not as though Britannia and AEU have gotten into battle themselves. He introduces himself as Zechs Marquis of the AEU, known as the "Lightning Baron" of Oz. He's heard of Graham's exploits, and asks to join them in the regular spectators' section since today's unveiling has little to do with his own sphere. Billy takes this to mean that the new AEU mech was developed by someone other than the Romfeller Conglomerate, with whom Zechs has been linked.

Zechs asks them for their impression of their new mech, but Graham tells the superior officer (O-3 for Zechs versus his O-2) that he would like to withold comment... except to say that the new mech appears very "singular" in its design. Patrick, still in the cockpit, shouts out that he heard that statement, including a note of disdain. Graham smiles thinly and adds that its auditory sensors appear quite remarkable too.

While the banter is going on, Crow has managed to sneak up thanks to the Blaster's extensive array of stealth goodies. Since the demo has reached a nadir, it seems a good time to get the show on the road like a wrestling villain. No need for the bamboo swords and chains and junk, but he had wanted a proper luchador-like mask. Just then, an alarm signals the arrival of something approaching from overhead... something that managed to get _very_ close without notice.

That something is the Exia, piloted by someone named Setsuna. It's been dispersing GN particles as part of its mission profile, and it's quickly apparent to those in the stands that this new mobile suit isn't on today's program. It's emitting a strange light, and with the acquisition of his target Setsuna begins Phase One. Patrick for his part plans to kick this unknown newcomer's ass, but Zechs isn't so confident in the supposed "ace"'s abilities. Crow realizes that whatever this new mobile suit is up to, he's lost the ability to just jump into the fray.

Patrick yells to the interloper that he's a SPECIAL guy in all caps, who's never been beaten once in mock combat! That matters not at all to Setsuna, whose motive for attacking seems to be that there is no God. Oookayy...

 Now, Patrick is a pretty good pilot if his record in mock combat is 2000-0.
 Too bad for him this was real battle, and that his opponent was so much a
 Gundam that it's even got the word emblazoned on its forehead.  With Phase
 One finished, Setsuna continues to Phase Two, heading away from the arena.
 In the process, he gets close enough to the Number 0 for the GM particles to
 compromise its stealth capabilities.

 As both Crow and Setsuna stand startled, a horde of AEU mobile suits pour out
 of the orbital elevator... a structure required by law to be demilitarized.
 Of course they're going to see Crow as one of Setsuna's friends, but before
 Crow and figure out how to respond to the demand to lay down arms, a long-
 range barrage from Lockon takes one of the AEU mecha down.  With the AEU
 heading into the battle, Lockon and Setsuna decide to ignore Crow and destroy
 the AEU as planned.  Crow's only real option is to join the fighting too,
 and at least for Lockon Stratos and his Gundam Dunames, this will be their
 first real battle.

 Lockon knows that his friends on the space side should be kicking into gear
 right about now, and wishes them (Allelujah and Tielia) the best of luck.

 On turn 2, Duo arrives in his Deathscythe.  He _had_ been planning on simply
 spying on the AEU, but he's not one to sit this sort of battle out.  Since
 the other Gundams revealed the AEU's treaty breaking to him, he figures it'd
 be only right to repay the favor.  Crow sees something common to his previous
 tight-lipped helper in this new mech, and to everyone's surprise Duo
 broadcasts on an open channel to tell the three mecha that he's on their
 side... and will be the Grim Reaper to all three of the Great Nations.  He
 promises the AEU that everyone who sees his face, dies.

 Duo has no love for the AEU, one of the three powers manipulating the
 space colonies... but he's really after who's pulling the AEU's strings.
 And if it takes borrowing the strength of these mystery mobile suits to make
 that happen, so be it.

 After the AEU forces are toast, Setsuna seems ready to take on Duo too.
 Lockon tells him to hold his horses: they can't afford to attack someone
 whose origins they know nothing about.  Setsuna reluctantly agrees to declare
 this "mission accomplished" and withdraw.  Duo is about to do the same when
 Crow, taking advantage of the reduced levels of EM interference, asks him
 who the hell he and the others are.  Duo tells him not to try to find out if
 he values his life, and bugs out.  Crow has no choice but to follow suit,
 lest the the entire AEU army surround the place first.

The spectators are left marveling at the band of interlopers, who in Graham's estimation were _not_ from the same source. Graham reckons that the first mech was here as a warning, in the form of demolishing the new mech and laying bare the reserves in the orbital elevator. Now the whole world will be aware of the AEU's treaty violation, though only the "Gundam"'s pilot knows the motivation.

Word then reaches Zechs of another emergency: the Human Reform League's high orbit space station has just suffered a terrorist attack, which was repulsed by mobile suits of unknown origin. Neither Zechs nor Graham knows what would result in mobile suits showing up simultaneously on Earth and in space, but it can't be anything good....

Said space-based mobile suits belong to Tielia and Allelujah, acting on a tip-off and strategy hints from "Sumeragi". They leave as suddenly as they appeared, leaving Sergei and his forces scratching their heads.

Traia certainly doesn't know who they were either, though she's quickly figured that the mech which took out the AEU prototype, and the one with the long-range gunnery, are of the same lineage. And the grim reaper dude seemed to resemble the mech that helped out Crow before. As for the green light coming from the first Gundam, Traia figures it was emanating from its power source, and passes along the tidbit that the mecha who repulsed the terrorists from the Human Reform League station also shared traits in common with it. Crow is surprised she gets information like that delivered to her, and Traia smirks that she extracted it from her idiot boss as payback for using _her_ mech for his own ends. Apparently Traia's ties with her boss are tight enough that she can occasionally push back on him... In any event, someone with at least as much technology as the Blaster uses has decided to pick a fight with the AEU, and that can only mean a lot of bloodshed before all is said and done.

Traia then yells for Crow to turn on the news, which is about to broadcast an uncut message from the crew who repulsed the attack on the space station. "Oh shit", is what Crow's intuition is telling him. The broadcast is from someone named Ioria, representing the private army known as "Celestial Being". Their stated objective is the elimination of the causes of war, not for their own profit, and they are about to wage war on all those who wage war, regardless of rationale. All nations, organizations and corporations who support war will find themselves in the crosshairs too. All mankind should consider themselves warned.

This message does indeed reach the whole world, including the environs of "Tokyo" (in quotation marks) in Area 11, where the elite Ashford School sits. Lelouch is watching from the Student Council chambers, turning over this declaration of world-altering war in his mind. His fellow council members are divided on what to make of the announcement: are the Celestial Beings terrorists, or anti-terrorists? Lelouch mutters that they might actually have the wherewithal to make good on their declaration of war on the world, and starts considering the possibility that the Celestial Beings might actually topple Britannia... But no, that is a problem he needs to solve with his own hands, and for that he needs power somehow. Do the Celestial Beings really have that power?

Duo's parked on the plains of Africa to watch the broadcast, musing over how these Celestial Beings seem to be fellow Gundam users. But unlike his organization, they seem to have beau coup resources... and the bit about going after "organizations" who support war might well bring them and Duo into conflict before all is said and done. If so, so be it -- Duo will do whatever it takes to liberate the colonies.

Meanwhile, Treize Krushinada, leader of Oz, is conferring with Zechs. Treize wants to gather more information before speculating on who the Celestial Beings actually are, but if they actually have the firepower to carry out their threat... For the time being, Treize is actually more worried about the other Gundam hidden in the shadows of this incident: reports from the battle indicate that the black mech's armor includes Gundanium alloy, so "Gundam" is an appropriate name. And where is the only place that Gundanium can be manufactured? That's right, space, meaning the space colonies. And from what Treize saw, the black Gundam was at least as powerful as the Celestial Being mecha, to say nothing of the Enact or the regular AEU troops. Treize is hoping that Zechs could actually stand up to it though, planning to use the predictable response of the Three Great Nations to the broadcast as cover for sending Oz forces after the colony's Gundam.

As Zechs hangs up, Treize muses to Lady Une that the Celestial Beings will probably prove an obstacle to Oz... yet if they measure up to their declaration, he won't be able to hate them for it. That sounds cryptic, and he won't elaborate for now; instead, he tells Lady Une that they'll content themselves with watching the CB's actions in silence. After all, he too wishes to change the world.

On the bridge of the Ptolemeios, Sumeragi has started hitting the sauce in honor of the war finally beginning. Rasse reminds everyone that it's a long way from here to their final objective, and Allelujah tells Hallelujah that he can _see_ the malice of the world. Tielia says that the CB's are about to test the world, even if doing so is itself evil. Apparently Sumeragi can really handle her liquor, and promptly sends Tielia and Allelujah to the Earth's surface so that they can all change the world. Their friends are already down on the surface, looking up the moon and pondering the fight they just picked with the world. Setsuna doesn't need to be told what that means. He and his friends are the Gundam Meisters!

CHAPTER 3. [Route Split]

In contrast to the uproar going on elsewhere, Traia tells Crow that nobody on high is actually taking these Celestial yahoos seriously. In fact, the real identity of the dude in the broadcast came out the very same day... though that revelation actually made the identity of the CBs as a whole less clear. "Iolia Schenberg" turns out to be a seminal solar power engineer, thus one of the people responsible for the state of the world. Grandiose, you say? Not given that this guy did his work 200 years ago! Assuming the guy in the video isn't an imposter, that leaves open two possibilities: A) the guy has jumped 200 years forward in time during the Quake, or B) the message itself was recorded a good two centuries ago.

Both sound pretty far-fetched to Crow, who asks about some great-great-grandkid that might be the spitting image of Iolia. Been there, checked that, no relatives anywhere in the records. No conceivable motive for this all to be a collosal prank either. Traia's confident expression finally falters, and she asks Crow if he thinks the CB's really mean to go through with their jihad. Scowling, he replies that they seem much more "plausible" than those WLF knuckleheads, and by "plausible" he means "ready to die for the cause".

Interesting, and convenient too, since Traia's new assignment is to track the CB's down. Isn't it nice that her test pilot shares her concerns? Crow reminds Traia about his payment from the previous mission, and she says that since he didn't follow orders it's been completely cut. But lest he worry, her idiot boss has fixed it with the AEU so they won't be specifically trying to hunt him down along with the CBs. That sounds like excessive penny-pinching to Crow, even given Traia's limited development budget for the Blaster, and he asks if she intends to keep paying for the mech instead of paying for him. Like he told her: piloting is only one of his good points... math is another. Smirking ruefully, she agrees to give him 19.999k for the previous job: that makes the math easier in any case.

That's fine with Crow, who has to admit that he didn't really carry out his mission properly. Traia smoothed that out with the boss, and has a new idea in mind for testing the Blaster's capabilities out. Two ideas, actually: one for returning to Japan and the other for hunting down the CBs. The Japan junket involves swinging by the Photon Power Lab -- where a miraculous new energy source is being unveiled -- and keeping the new energy from falling into the hands of the Bad Guys(tm), whoever those might be. Going after the CBs would also entain throwdown along the way, and on both missions Crow's payout will be increased to 50k G to reflect the danger.

 [Japan will be Chapter 3J; Celestial Beings is Chapter 3C.]

If you chose 3J, Crow feels drawn to this light of hope in Japan, a natural response to the darkness of despair all around him. Let's just hope that Crow doesn't prove to be a moth diving into the flame.

If you chose 3C, something about the CBs smells like money to Crow, and Crow has a policy of following his intuition. After all, it hasn't gotten him killed yet (though it's come close). Traia smirks at that, and sends him off with the hope that he gets into as much trouble as possible. Great.

Meanwhile at Birds Island, Dr. Hell summons Baron Ashura to propose a toast: the time has finally come for his plans for World Domination(tm) to take flight. Ashura's forces get to lead the first assault, and Dr. Hell orders him/her to go to the Photon Power Lab in Japan: its light will show the way forward!

Chapter 3J. Mazinger, Launch!

Shirou gets the rudest awakening of his life when his grandfather Juuzou says "good morning": both of them agree that Juuzou's face has seen better days. Never mind that it's Juuzou footing the bill for keeping Shirou and Kouji fed these days, and Kouji doing most of the cooking. Kouji and Juuzou have a good laugh over his newfound skills with a skillet putting him in danger of being married off to someone or other, making the CB's declaration of war seem very far away. Kouji is sure it's some kind of hoax; after all, only God or the Devil could take on the whole world at once. "Only God or the Devil", ponders Juuzou...

As the boys finish breakfast and get ready for school, news of yesterday's successful Photon Power test flashes across the TV. The announcer declares that the first major step towards productizing this next-generation energy has just been taken, with a model facility being built in Atami, Japan. And what's more Professor Yumi has already developed the successor to Photon Power, something more awe-inspiring yet. Juuzou mutters under his breath about such idiocy, and tells the boys to hurry home after school today: he's got something important to tell them.

Kouji senses that something is amiss from Juuzou's unusually grave expression, but Shirou passes it off as just the usual difficulties in Juuzou's research. You can take the science away from the scientist, but you can't really take the scientist away from the science. Whatever he's working on is taking up most of the royalties from his previous inventions, and is something he won't show to the kids. Kouji just hopes that Juuzou doesn't suffer a research accident and perish like their father did... though one could do worse than to lose one's life in the pursuit of knowledge. Kouji for one is a huge fan of his noble granddad (Shirou for two), and like the good grandson he's resolved to head straight home this afternoon.

En route to Japan, Crow asks if this Photon Power stuff is really all that bad-ass. Traia's heard that it comes from this Japanium ore discovered deep under Mt. Fuji, and if utilized properly could immediately solve the world's energy problems. Japanium is not to be confused with "Sakuradite", a rare metal mined in the _other_ Japan, aka Area 11 of the Britannia Union. That Japan has been the victim of intense power games over the rare metal, and led to it becoming in effect a Britannian colony seven years ago. Crow wonders if Japanium will lead the remaining "Japan" to a similar fate, but Traia points out it's situated between Area 11 and the territories of the Human Reform League -- neither side can make a grab for it without starting a war with the other.

For now, Traia's used Axion's vast influence to secure Crow's entrance visa, and tells him to go get into trouble pronto. Better yet, he should go say hi to these Photon Power folks first: maybe he can get them to add some to the Blaster while they're at it. That gets Crow thinking: the Blaster seems to run on something other than Axion's standard Plasma Battery tech... something he's been ordered not to touch even when performing maintenance or repairs. What that "something" is is so secret that Traia can't even tell her test pilot, but so long as it keeps the mech running sweetly, it's okay by Crow.

The first thing Crow does upon reaching Atami is what any sensible tourist would do: avail himself of the abundant hot springs! There he encounters the grizzled (and good-humored) Juuzou going for a morning parboiling, and muses that a good enough hot-springing might just convince the whole world to stop fighting itself. Juuzou smiles at the thought, but adds with a glint in his remaining eye that real life is sadly not that simple. Crow agrees, with an equal glint in both eyes, as Juuzou departs the baths and tells him to enjoy the town.

As Crow is musing about what the CBs may be up to while he's soaking up the warm water, another man saunters over and asks if Crow knows the old scientist. Nope, never seen him before in his life. The sinister figure makes to head off, but Crow stops him, having figured out that there's something fishy going on. The man (Ankokuji by name) says that he's nobody respectable folk ought to worry themselves about and sneaks off, leaving Crow wondering about the somewhat disreputable clientele this particular hot spring seems to cater to.

That's when the bathing attendant "An" shows up, a very fishy sort who plans to wash Crow's back in a big hurry.... Not because the place is crowded, but because the proprietor is expecting trouble. Now _that_ is the kind of bath Crow likes, and the fact he declares that while naked doesn't really deduct too many coolness points...

Elsewhere in the resort, Cross reports to Tsubasa that Yasu has been sent to deal with the last of the guests: all is in readiness. Tsubasa tells her subordinate not to underestimate the guests they're about to receive, and is looking forward to her first glimpse of her prey.

Kouji's plan to head straight home from school doesn't last very long, as Boss and his lackeys get in the way. Boss says that Kouji's in the presence of the gang leaders of all Japan, and they all report to _him_. Seems that Boss has been busy beating his way across Japan, taking over gang turf after gang turf, and Atami is last on the list... except that it doesn't appear to have anyone _owning_ that turf. He's heard that Kouji is actually the one in power around here, and had his boys grab Shirou in a bid to make Kouji fight him. Smart, huh? And if that doesn't get Kouji's goat, how about they go grab Kouji's ugly-ass granddad out of that hotspring he hangs out in all the time? What's the deal with his face anyway, huh?

Now, Kouji's a very good kid. But one thing you don't do is talk shit about his family, as Boss finds out to his extreme sorrow. Kouji ridicules any talk of taking over Japan with Boss's shitty combat skills, and offers menacingly to fix Boss so he can never say shit about people's face again. Just then, a woman's voice rings out in the night, telling Kouji he's gotta leave these punks alone and go save his grandfather.

Just then the ground shakes violently, heralding the arrival of a bunch of giant... thingies that are apparently after Kouji and his grandfather. Juuzou radios in to Kouji and tells him to run _fast_ until he can send the Pilder to them. Ankokuji, who's been hanging out with Juuzou, wants to know what the hell a "Pilder" is, not to mention what the giant thingies are, but Juuzou has totally no time to explain. Ankokuji explains he's a cop assigned to keep Juuzou safe, which makes him one unlucky mo-fo under the circumstances.

As the Pilder flies toward Kouji, one of the giants moves to intercept it. Intercepting the giant in turn is Aphrodite-A, a giant robot from the Photon Power Lab. Its pilot is the female voice Kouji heard before, who turns out to be Professor Yumi's daughter. Juuzou scoffs at Yumi's little toy, saying that he's got something far better on hand. Once Kouji gets into the Pilder, Juuzou has him don the flight suit he finds there and grab the controls, which resemble the motorcycles Kouji's been raised to ride. Oh, and the Pilder has missiles too!

Juuzou tells Kouji to buy him a little time, and Sayaka introduces himself and says she's here to help. Kouji tells Shirou to hang on tight as he twists the throttle...

 Shoot down one of the giants and Ashura will scoff at Juuzou's pathetic
 little aircraft.  Before (s)he can set up a pincer attack, Crow strides onto
 the field in the Blaster, telling the puzzled Photon Power folks that he's
 here to save them for cryptic reasons of his own.  His unexpected arrival
 gives Juuzou just enough time to finish whatever he was doing, and Juuzou
 yells for Kouji to fly over to him.  Kouji's fate was decided the moment he
 got into the cockpit, a fate of never-ending battle!  Juuzou shall bear
 witness to whether Kouji elects to be God, or the Devil!!

 Behold Juuzou's life's work, a titanic shape shrouded in fog that Shirou
 thinks is Satan incarnate.  But no, this is not the Devil -- somehow Kouji
 knows it to be a God: omnipotent, omniscient, and his to pilot.  Ashura
 cries out that this is Zeus, the Traitor, and suddenly Kouji remembers all
 the books on Greek ruins stacked around his house.  These books were his
 childhood companions, though he knew not why, and the shape he sees before
 him resembles the statues of the greatest of gods... and the nemesis of the
 Mikeene Empire!

 Only one thing is missing: the top of the head.  And if Kouji's smart, he'll
 fly his ass over there right now, and scream out "Pilder On" at the top of
 his lungs!  This triggers the docking sequence, and puts at Kouji's
 fingertips the power to become the ultimate good or the ultimate evil.
 Juuzou hollers for him to obliterate the bad guys with its irresistable
 might, in an attack called.... (wait for it)... (wait for it)... "Rocket
 Punch"!  HOLY SUFFERING CATS!!!

 Yeah, all in a day's work for the grizzled scientist, and jaw-dropping
 awesomeness for everyone else watching, especially Professor Yumi.  This new
 robot is obviously the work of his mentor, who he never dreamed was working
 this close at hand.  Juuzou yells that what just happened was thanks both
 to Mazinger and to Kouji himself: the two are now one being, Mazinger-Z, a
 form that transcends humanity.  Hell, maybe even a form that transcends
 _that_, and it's time to kick some sorry Mikeene ass.

 Everyone quickly sees how tough Mazinger is: its metal skin isn't the crappy
 Alloy-Z that Aphrodite-A uses, but rather Super-Alloy-Z, an impregnable
 material suitable for a mech as grand as Mazinger-Z.  With this, Kouji has
 nothing to fear, though he be surrounded by a thousand enemies!

 As the battle progresses, Ashura finds h(im/er)self overcome by laughter.
 Mazinger-Z is both god _and_ demon, and the bitterest enemy his/her
 people have waited millenia to face.  Apparently it's been time well-spent,
 as Ashura is able to _bare-handedly_ sock Mazinger-Z right where it hurts.
 Apparently the Olympian traitor "Zeus" must have really ticked Ashura off at
 some point...

 The rest of the combattants stand agape at this new development, and Shirou
 is the first to comment on Ashura's weird face.  Weird?  Yep, and all thanks
 to Zeus and his cardinal sin that left so many of Ashura's fellow gods
 imprisoned behind the Door.  Ashura's tirade is abruptly interrupted by a
 booming voice from off-set, one which Juuzou recognizes grimly.  It is
 indeed Dr. Hell, acting as the voice of reason to his suddenly penitant
 subordinate.

 Indeed, Mazinger-Z resembles Zeus, and as such Ashura's outburst is
 understandable.  To illustrate his point, he projects a giant hologram for
 all present to see.  Dr. Hell knows Juuzou well enough to know that Juuzou
 has seen this image before, having been plagued by visions of the guy every
 night in bed for a decade.  Juuzou on the other hand has been sleeping like
 a fucking LOG at the thought of Dr. Hell's comeuppance, and refuses to
 repeat Dr. Hell's idiotic dream.

 That would be world domination, and Ashura's Iron Masked ARmy is the main
 instrument for bringing it about.  And in case a few goons in armor isn't
 scary enough, Dr. Hell tells Ashura to bring forth Garuda K7 and Dublas M2.
 Ashura sics them on the Photon Power Lab, about as big a fracas as Traia
 could have hoped for.

 Juuzou warns Kouji that these are far more durable than his previous foes,
 fretting that the Rocket Punch may not be enough to take them down.  Dr.
 Hell smirks that Juuzou's robot seems pretty puny, or perhaps it's just that
 his robots are that cool.  Juuzou doesn't deign to dispute this, but Dr.
 Hell tells him that in a way he's to thank for all of this.  The sight of
 the impending carnage reminds him of the moment years ago when the Door
 opened, and Kouji asks Juuzou what all this talk about Doors and Mikeene
 is about.  Juuzou hesitates, and tells him he doesn't need to know yet.
 Serious discussion will have to wait in any case, given that the enemy are
 right in front of the team.

 Watching the battle, Tsubasa decides that her men can no longer sit idly
 by.  She sets her plans in motion, but before lifting a finger herself
 opts to see just how far Kouji can get on his own.  Meanwhile, Dr. Hell
 thinks this battle is already decided, and offers Juuzou a chance to join
 him once more, even sending Ashura to politely request Juuzou's cooperation.
 Ashura reminds Juuzou that it's his fault that Ashura is the way (s)he is
 today, though Juuzou scoffs that all he did was open the Doorway to Hell.

 But, since he seemingly can't run away, he'll at least hear Ashura out.
 The proposition is this: use Photon Power to enhance the Mecha-Beasts and
 thereby improve Dr. Hell's chances at world domination.  An interesting idea,
 and Juuzou calls Ashura aside to hear more about it.  Ashura thinks he's
 actually consented to returning to the vacant fifth seat among Dr. Hell's
 generals, but of course it's a trap.

 Juuzou gleefully detonates a load of explosives, but Ashura manages to at
 least survive the blast.  Before (s)he can do anything else, Yasu asks the
 Teacher to intervene, and with nothing but a katana he's able to actually
 slice Ashura open.  Yasu warns that she's equally cunning with explosives,
 and tells Juuzou to get his butt elsewhere for now: she'll wash his back
 again tomorrow!

 Kouji picks his grandfather up and into the safety(?) of the cockpit,
 somehow bringing Ankokuji along for the ride.  Juuzou can only show Kouji
 how to properly use Mazinger in battle once, and Ashura doesn't plan to give
 him that much time.  Crow figures he'll have to hold Ashura's forces off
 by himself, but just then Allelujah and Tielia show up.  Sumeragi was right
 on the money with her guess that terrorists would show up at the Photon
 Power lab... and what terrorists too!  Even Veda doesn't know much about
 Dr. Hell, and that makes him especially dangerous.

 Tielia sounds far from sure that Photon Power is a good thing in the long
 run, but since its initial application is peaceful he says that it's worth
 defending.  And in the process, they can gauge just how peaceful it really
 is.  The two won't answer Crow's query whether they can be trusted, but at
 the very least their arrival has bought Juuzou the precious seconds he
 needed to educate Kouji.

 Destroy either of the two principal bad guys and Ashura will flee in fear,
 sure now that Mazinger-Z is the reincarnation of the hated Zeus.  Allelujah
 is very impressed with Mazinger-Z, but Tielia reminds her that they'll have
 to destroy it if it's ever used as a (offensive?) weapon.  Allelujah prays
 that that won't happen, and with their mission over the CB pilots head off
 to join up with the other Meisters.

 Juuzou reminds Kouji that this is his power, to become a god or a devil as
 he sees fit.  Giving it to him is the best he can do to apologize for costing
 the lives of Kouji's parents, a mighty gift that will serve both boys when
 Juuzou himself is gone.  Juuzou has the satisfaction of knowing that his
 masterwork is indeed the mightiest robot in the world, and when Shirou says
 he wants one too promises to make one for him next time.

Unfortunately, there won't be a next time: the blast that failed to claim Ashura did irreparable damage to him as well, and as Shirou wails beside him Kouji prepares to dash off after Ashura and take vengeance immediately. It takes Sayaka going and standing in his way, her mech a sibling of his through its use of Alloy-Z if nothing else, to partially bring him to his senses. He tells him that he's not mastered piloting yet, and if he were to pursue he'd just get repulsed quickly. Ankokuji also has a lot of questions for him about the state of the town, and will use his sidearm to subdue Kouji if forced...

Ashura expects to be severely scolded by Dr. Hell, but the scientist is in a pretty good mood, all things considered. For starters, Juuzou has been confirmed dead by the remaining Iron Mask soldiers, a bittersweet moment for Dr. Hell given that, once upon a time, he and Juuzou were the best of friends. All that remain in his way are "that woman" and Mazinger-Z, and he orders Ashura to use the remaining forces to strike Mazinger down and acquire Photon Power for his plans.

CHAPTER 3C. The Comet that Ignited a War

These CB guys are proving mighty hard to find, even for the principal nations of the world. Conveniently for the CBs and irritatingly for everyone else, the very engines that propel their mecha seem to emit particles that interfere with electronic means of tracking them down. That would seem to make it a waste of time for Crow to be buzzing around aimlessly in his transport plane, but Traia takes a different view. The CBs have declared war on companies who support war, right? Who's the largest war-mongering company out there (hint: Axion)? What's one of the most volatile regions in the world (hint: North Africa, where Crow happens to be now)? Doesn't that sound like a good way to attract some action (hint: Yikes!)? Crow recalls an old proverb that "a dog who walks gets hit with a stick", and hopes he's dog enough to come out on top.

Traia tells Crow that the grim reaper Gundam he fought beside seems to be of Space Colonial origin ("Gundam" due to its Gundanium alloy armor), and its presumptive goal is liberating the colonies from the CMC. The CMC, dominated by the Three Great Nations, has proved ruthless in supressing anyone who dared agitate for Colonial freedom -- even leaders advocating non-violent, non-armed conflict like the iconic Hiiro Yui. His death served to make the Colonial resistance _more_ violent, causing the CMC to send in full-scale military forces. While it seemed that Yui's assassination handed CMC victory over the Colonies, this new development shows that the chess match is far from over.

Just then a proximity alarm goes off: looks like Crow has successfully attracted some fish to his lure. Traia wasn't joking at all about using him as bait, though she waxes cutesy when she says she's _sure_ he can win. Crow smirks and informs her that her cute voice won't work on him. It's his policy never to trust women... _especially_ beautiful ones. Turns out that the approaching forces are AEU, which should mean Crow's safe thanks to Axion's negotiations. Sadly, "should" doesn't always pan out, and when the AEU forces open fire Traia realizes to her horror that these aren't the regular AEU army: they belong to Oz!

Crow recalls that Oz amounts to AEU's special forces, reporting to a different chain of command and backed by the powerful Romfellar conglomerate. Apparently Romfellar is pissed that Axion went behind their back to the AEU government, and plans to confiscate the Blaster as part of their search for those new Gundams. They've got Armored Troopers (ATs) on their side, which means they've got the Gilgamesh mercs on the payroll. Crow doesn't at all mind indulging in a little "self-defense" at their expense.

 Reinforcements for the bad guys arrive quickly, headed by Zechs himself.
 Zechs suspects that the new Axion mech might be connected to the enemy
 Gundam, and in any case wants to test Axion mech's power with his own hands.
 Just from Zechs' movements, Crow guesses that he's facing the famed Lighting
 Baron, and that's not a pleasant prospect.  Just then something shoots in
 from overhead: a variable-geometry mech that converts into another Gundam.
 Ats controls is Hiiro, whose mission involves trashing AEU's mobile suits.
 Zechs hastily reorganizes his battle lines, and Crow will be more than happy
 to use the chaos to his advantage.  Zechs finds out very quickly that his
 vintage mech is no match for Hiiro, even with _him_ at the controls.

 Things get more chaotic yet when Britannia Union forces show up, apparently
 ready to renew their longstanding skirmish with the AEU.  Before anyone can
 fire a shot, a barrage of artillery rains down on them: it's four of the CB
 mecha, including the ones who repulsed the terrorists in space!  Tielia tells
 his forces to focus on the AEU and Britannia combattants, and to leave the
 Colonial mecha alone since the Colonies' warlike intentions are still being
 investigated.  The Axion mech is a lower-priority target.

 Unfortunately, this sort of orderly strategy requires a set of disciplined
 principles... which the CBs are most definitely _not_.  Allelujah doesn't
 seem to have his heart fully in the battle, whereas Tielia is eager to kick
 somebody's ass thoroughly.  And Setsuna seems to be in some sort of
 delusional state, growling that he _is_ his Gundam!  Lockon has his work
 cut out for him babysitting it seems.  For his part, Graham is very curious
 about his bold adversaries, and orders his men to ignore the AEU in favor of
 the Colony and CB mecha -- he's counting on the AEU commander to reach the
 same conclusion if he's got half a brain.  Zechs does indeed decide likewise,
 and Crow is left scratching his head trying to figure out who is and is not
 on his side.

 Even Zechs can't make up for the vast difference in technology levels, and
 is forced to eject and flee.  Graham on the other hand finds himself
 infatuated with Setsuna and/or his Gundam, proclaiming himself to be a
 stereotypically sentimental Virgo.  He wants a memento of this day, and
 he'll settle for a piece of Setsuna's mech!  Setsuna does _not_ want this
 dude touching him, but even in defeat Graham vows to spend lots more time
 with this fascinating new foe from now on.

After the AEU and Britannia forces are defeated, Tielia still has stuff to check. He orders Hiiro to surrender his mech, but Hiiro ignores him completely and simply flies off, rapidly vanishing from sight. Even Allelujah can't follow something that fast, which leaves the CBs to turn their attention to Crow. Crow manages to dodge Lockon's first shot, but he isn't likely to be so lucky next time. Tielia is the sort who would normally decide to simply destroy the thing, but Veda has told him it wants to find out more about the unknown tech used in the Blaster. Lockon tells Crow to heave to, and with a 4-to-1 disadvantage, Crow isn't in much position to refuse. Apparently the dog took a critical hit from the stick this time...

Orumi, a suppor agent for the CBs, arrives quickly on the scene. She says that the main effect of the CB's declaration was to clarify relations between the world's nations. The Three Great Nations will presumably see the CBs as a threat and move to eliminate them; if not, the Meisters would be mostly wasting their time. Orumi says that the CBs ideals can be realized only through action, and says that their next mission is already waiting: vanquishing the local AEU forces now that Britannia has elected to withdraw. While that will end the regional conflict plaguing this area, Setsuna finds it hard to understand why Britannia would unilaterally leave. That would be thanks to two of the Colonial Gundams, which just demolished Britannia's main forward base.

From combined intelligence reports, it seems that the Colonies are fielding a grand total of five Gundams, and although they could prove a useful tool in the fight against the AEU, Tielia at least figures they need to be taken out now that their true identity is coming into focus. The fine details of the plan are taking Sumeragi and Veda some time to concoct, thanks to the meddling of Dancougar in this region. Dancougar, entirely mysterious in origin, has a fondness for jumping into battle on the side of the underdogs... almost as iconoclastic as the CBs themselves, really. For now, Lockon settles for three coffees and one milk (for Setsuna). That is meant as a little pointed humor, and Lockon nicely asks Setsuna to try to not charge on ahead in future battles. Setsuna mutters assent and wanders off alone to think, leaving an exasperated Tielia fuming about why the unpredictable kid was made a Gundam Meister in the first place. And as for Crow, Orumi will help question him in good time...

Graham has returned to what remains of the Britannia base, pleased to find that Billy is still in one piece. Harry got a good look at the culprits: a heavily armored combat monster and a firepower-intensive model. Their capability is obvious from how it took just to of them to reduce this installation to rubble, and between them and the CBs it seems Britannia has a real fight on its hands. Graham comments that the CB pilot he faced was very young -- not from talking to him of course, but from the degree of emotion that showed through his mech's movements.

As for the decision to withdraw so easily, Graham tells Billy a little something he's heard whispered around: the Emperor seems to have not had his heart in the decision to send troops here in the first place. That's a surprise, as most would assume that Charles Zi Britannia would naturally want to unite the whole world. Graham thinks back to the Great Spacetime Quake, when the United States of America and the Holy Britannia Empire found themselves together on North America and elected to merge, where the hard-core Imperial nature of Britannia held more sway than the nominal "constitutional monarchy" system would indicate.

What Billy can't figure is why the same man who tolerates no dissent with his military strategies would give up on such a strategically significant area as this. Graham notes that neither of them, as front-line soldiers, have enough information to understand what their commanders are up to... nor should they try. Instead, they have a new assignment together: they've been transferred to the new Anti-Gundam task force, whose chief engineer will be noted scientist and instructor Raef Eifmann. Britannia is placing a lot of value on this showdown with the CBs and the Colonial Gundams, and Graham for one can hardly wait...

CHAPTER 4J. Catastrophe Arrived

After the battle, Sayaka and her father are both pondering Juuzou's beast of an invention, every inch a "super-robot". Juuzou's death is both a blow to the Photon Power research community, and of course a personal loss to Kouji and his brother. As such, it seems like adding insult to injury that Kouji got hauled in by the cops... but also unavoidable given how his grandfather _personally_ possessed a robot super-weapon. Even in Japan, famed for its robot know-how, only licensed companies and laboratories are permitted to build something like Mazinger-Z... and even if Kouji is of little value for questioning, the world's governments are on edge after the CB's proclamation... and after the Dancougar incident.

Ah, Dancougar, mysterious interloper in world events, always taking the side of the underdog and making a royal mess of things as far as the government is concerned. Nobody knows who pilots it, or why, and that has the intelligence community up in arms. Yumi personally doubts that it's another of Dr. Hell's gambits, but until Dancougar's intentions are clear, he plans to treat it with due caution. For now, Yumi has taken custody of Mazinger-Z, and pulled a few strings to get Kouji released sooner rather than later.

Kouji isn't the only one in the slammer: Crow is interned there too, and apparently holding out quite well against Ankokuji's questioning. Ankokuji is convinced Crow's a terrorist, but Crow continues to maintain the truth: that he is an Axion test pilot. Ankokuji eventually agrees to contact the Scott Lab and check out his story, but only after a good night's sleep and breakfast; until then, Crow is stuck in the joint, with the possibility of a little arm-twisting looming when Ankokuji gets back.

For now, he and the Kabuto boys get to hang out. Kouji's rage has cooled to near-depression, and Crow does the best he can to offer his condolences. Kouji is obviously so shocked that even Ankokuji couldn't muster much enthusiasm for questioning him, and Crow suggests that if Kouji stays this far down in the dumps, even Shirou will likely follow suit. That puts a bit of light back in Kouji's eyes, and he apologizes for being so self-centered. No problemo, says Crow: Kouji and he are now comrades in arms, and anyone who cares deeply for their family is someone Crow figures he can trust.

Crow reckoned Juuzou was serious business ever since hot-springing with him (sans clothing, as is normal for Japan), but wouldn't have guessed the old guy was capable of building something as kick-ass as Mazinger-Z. And a damn sight better than Crow's own father, whose only legacy to his son was a mountain of debt. Anyway, Kouji doesn't know much more than Crow about this "Dr. Hell" character, other than the bit about world domination. Crow smirks ironically and says that in this world where some genius came up with the idea of destroying war _with_ war, it's not so improbable for some other genius to try their hand at the world domination thing. Which raises interesting questions about Juuzou's past, since he seemed to know Dr. Hell and Ashura, but those are questions that can't be answered now.

The question for now is, what is Kouji going to do with Mazinger-Z once he gets out of here? Yeah yeah, revenge for his grandfather... but how? What's the plan for tracking Dr. Hell down? Crow may not be one to talk much, but he tells Kouji anyway that he's got to figure out the right way to use his newfound power, or nothing good will ever come of it. Ankokuji returns at that point, figuring that someone who's lived through a battle or several _would_ say something like that. He hasn't checked up on Crow yet, but maybe he won't have to: a higher-up from the Federation is here to see him.

Meanwhile, at the 21st Century Security Insurance headquarters, yesterday's fracas in Atami is on everybody's lips. Akagi in particular is thrilled at how Mazinger-Z saved the city (though not without extensive damage), though he hastens to insist he isn't planning to run off and do the same. Conversation is cut short by today's special event, a Security Show highlighting the latest in security products that 21st Century offers. Not the most glorious of assignments for the ladies of Info Section 2, but that's business.

The centerpiece of the expo is the Dai Guard, some 20m tall and designed for Anti-Heterodyne action. What's a Heterodyne, you ask? A type of interdimensional beastie that shows up every time there's a spacetime quake, which there hasn't been for some twelve years. Some of the kids in the crowd have heard tales from their parents about how monstrous they can be, and the whole point of the Dai Guards is to fend them off the next time they show up. Now, even the kids are asking why the Dai Guard weren't sent to help out with the mess in Atami, and those directly involved with the Dai Guard program don't have a good answer. The answer, which is not so good, turns out to be that the Dai Guard are restricted to dealing with Heterodyne matters only; anything else falls to the Security Insurance Army.

Akagi in particular would really love to actually boot up the Dai Guard and prove to everyone (including the doubting little kids) that they're more than just giant worthless statues. Oh, his section chief wouldn't mind letting him... so long as he's prepared to forfeit his entire month's salary: does he have any idea how much these things cost to operate?? Basically, there's no chance of running one unless the Heterodynes show up, and no one including Akagi wants _that_. Maybe it'll cool Akagi's head to be stuck in the mascot suit starting at 1500h, while Aoyama wanders around chatting up the ladies in the audience? Le sigh.

Meanwhile, sparks are flying in the boardroom. It seems the Mt. Fuji observatory has declares a Level 1 emergency after detecting a series of spacetime quakes in the vicinity of Tokyo Bay, and some on the board feel it's one more false alarm. But a sudden phone call puts the lie to that: the energy readings at Uragasuidou are at 8.6 hectobless and rising, the highest in recorded history! The observatory wants persmission to declare a Level 2 emergency.

At the unveiling, the crowds catch sight of something resembling a seagull... a REALLY MUGE ONE! This is a Heterodyne, the object of everyone's deepest fears for a dozen years running. HQ orders the event disbanded and all participants led to safety, which if not done gingerly could lead to a mass riot. Akagi has made a bee-line for the Dai Guard, planning to fire it up and fight the Heterodyne, or at least slow it down so everyone can be evacuated. The other staffers barely persuade him to wait for word from HQ, but that doesn't last long as the Heterodyne advances on the city. Demanding to know what the Dai Guard was built for if not for a moment like this, Akagi is about to board it anyway, even at the cost of his job, when a car screeches onto the scene.

Out of it steps Shiroda from the Self-Defense Forces Staff HQ, clearly not a fan of the useless Dai Guard project. He wants everyone to evacuate at once, but that might be hard with the Heterodyne freezing the city and blocking all the roads. Akagi is definitely not one to listen to the (self-proclaimed) voice of reason, and is able to persuade Ibuki and Aoyama to go along with his reckless plan. Boy is he going to get it afterwards...

Aoyama stresses that their mission is saving human life, _not_ fighting the Heterodyne per se. Akagi heads right over to where the rubble lies blocking the street, but the Heterodyne seems determined to press its attack and keep the people from fleeing. With no real choice, Akagi has to fight back, despite his lack of any real combat training. It doesn't help that the Dai Guard doesn't have any real weaponry to speak of at present.

 Even doubting Thomas Saitou sees the wisdom of Dai Guard fighting when it's
 explained to him that, should it withdraw, the Heterodyne might head their
 way next.  He yells for someone to bring him some paperwork to sign, and
 has the order sent out to beat down the Heterodyne.  He finishes right around
 the time the Heterodyne is defeated, but it's not all wine and roses yet.
 More of the robots that assailed Atami show up, led once again by Ashura.
 Ashura had hoped to find Mazinger-Z, but contents h(im/er)self with taking
 this one down before it causes trouble for Dr. Hell's forces.

 Things look grim until, of all robots, Dancougar shows up!  Will it side with
 Dai Guard, since they're the underdogs?  It certainly doesn't answer to
 hailing frequencies, and as there are still people trying to evacuate Akagi
 sees no choice but to keep up the fight.  Ashura will be more than happy
 to pulverize this interloper and burn everything in sight to ash.

 Before any burninating can occur though, the Mazinger squad plus Crow show
 up, under the watchful eyes of Ankokuji.  They're on special furlough, as it
 were, and Crow welcomes the chance to help clear his name.  Dancougar 
 is a threatening presence, but since it seems to be willing to battle the
 Mecha-Beasts, Ankokuji elects not to attack it.  Kouji tells Crow that he
 hasn't decided what to do with his power in general, but in this particular
 case he intends to exact full revenge for Juuzou.  That direct, heartfelt
 approach suits Crow just fine!

 The combined force is too much for Ashura's little band, and (s)he is forced
 to withdraw.  Kouji is ready to follow until Ankokuji reminds him that he's
 still working on the police's time, not his own.  The good news is that
 between he and Dai Guard (and Crow), the townspeople have been saved... and
 _that_ is something worth smiling about.  Mercifully, Dancougar vanishes
 without a word, just in time for the four CB mecha to appear.  They reckon
 Mazinger-Z will provide an ample counter to Dr. Hell for a while, and also
 elect to leave the Axion mech alone... for now anyway.  That said, they fly
 off in pursuit of Dancougar.

 Crow doesn't like how someone from the Federation freed him, fearing he'll be
 made into one of their chesspieces if he's not very careful.  What he needs
 is a pretext to get back to following the CBs...

 [If you join Kouji, go to Chapter 5K.  If you want to follow the CBs, go to
 Chapter 5D.]

 If you elect to stay with Kouji, it's because Crow doesn't like making an
 exit while still under suspicion as a terrorist.  Ankokuji yells for Crow and
 Kouji to get their asses offstage already, and Crow tells the reprobate cop
 he's hardly one to talk.  Crow tells Kouji that it's time to go home: neither
 of them knows what they want to do long-term, so the best they can do is try
 to ride their current wave out.  Crow bids farewell to the gutsy members of
 Dai Guard.

 If you elect to go after the CBs, Ankokuji yells for Crow and Kouji to get
 their asses offstage already, and Crow tells the reprobate cop he's hardly
 one to talk.  He flees the scene, leaving a grateful Kouji vowing to hold up
 his end here.

In the control room of the Dragons' Hive, Commander Tanaka reports that Dancougar Nova has returned, with mixed results -- he thinks they still need more samples. His mysterious collaborator (boss?) reckons that another pilot will need to be designated, and fast: things are moving far quicker than expected. And she doesn't mean the CBs, which she's already set about dealing with... The lifeforms of this planet have but moments left, and Dancougar Nova must be completed first...

Back at 21st Century HQ, Akagi finds a towering mountain of paperwork awaiting him -- including numerous copies of basically the same form. The good news is tha this little stunt didn't result in anyone getting fired, but this _is_ a major company after all, and companies have this thing called "bureaucracy". Never mind the fact that there was no real choice _but_ to take on the Heterodynes... In any case, Akagi has to hand it to the pilot of Mazinger-Z for being such a cool dude. Nobody really knows who Mazinger-Z is affiliated with, but at least it's clear he's one of the good guys. Yokozawa tells everyone to cut the chitchat and fill out their paperwork; after all, their section chief has been summoned before the board to explain today's unauthorized activity. The question is, what additional punishment might be handed down...

Taigauchi is one skilled operator, and has parlayed today's throwdown into a new business opportunity with the UN. This new project will be led by Section Chief Oosugi, and its first mech (the Dai Guard) will have as its lead pilot Kamimura's cousin. Other board members aren't as easily convinced, but them's the breaks.

CHAPTER 5K prologue:

Crow and the others are back in jail temporarily, left to the "tender" mercies of Ankokuji. Not for long fortunately: they've got a heavy patron in Ootsuka, the commander of a special batallion reporting directly to the UN Security Council. He wants to offer Crow a suitable apology for how he's been treated, and though Crow can expect no apology from the hard-ass Ankokuji, he tells him that the cop's little katsudon has bought him Crow's forgiveness this time. Crow can guess Ootsuka's request: participating in that special batallion of his. And he will too, if Ootsuka will help him out with his little debt issue.

CHAPTER 5D prologue:

Crow has made it back to his hidden transport, and is back on the trail of the CBs. Traia has no way of tracking them on radar, so she sends him her best guess based on their last known course. Any info Crow can find out about the CBs is surely worth a fortune to the press, and Traia doesn't mind any side business he might concoct so long as he piles up lots of combat data. As he heads offshore, he's confident that Kouji and the Dai Guard folks will do good work in keeping Japan safe. The Mecha-Beast data already looks very useful, but its extra worth to Crow's debt gets cancelled out by the fact that he went incommunicado for a while -- he only gets his baseline 50k G, plus an extra 5k G for getting thrown in the slammer... or so he thought, until some sort of long range blast hits his transport plane. The damn thing is a wreck, and it's coming out of his bonus!

That kind of long-range gunnery could come from only a few places, and the most likely is... those damn CBs! They know that they can still be tracked visually even if their GN Drive makes radar useless, and have been lying in wait for anyone trying to track them. Tielia decides that this new Axion mech should be captured, rather than destroyed -- Veda is interested in the many mysteries it contains. Crow knows he likely can't win a 4-on-1 fight, and mumbles to himself that he might have been better off busting ass for the Federation...

The CBs have Crow close his eyes and do the usual hands behind his head thing. They don't want him to see their faces, regardless of how they've already fought on the same side of battles before. They ask why he's following them, and Crow comes up with an answer that they _didn't_ expect: he says he wants to _join_ them!

CHAPTER 4C. Battlefield of Chaos

Crow, blindfolded, introduces himself as an Axion test pilot to Orumi, who in turn tells Crow she's a CB agent, doing whatever is necessary to support the pilots' operations. After a bit of mild joking around, Crow explains that his mission for Axion is accumulating combat data for his mech. That explains why he was at the AEU unveiling, and why he was supposed to be the one to wreck the new Inact until the CBs got there first. Lockon lets it slip that the pilot who did the damage is here, but Tielia won't let Crow deviate from the questions he's asked, firing a warning pilot shot and telling him that the next one won't miss. See, the CBs aren't bound by any of the international treaties for the treatment of prisoners...

Crow answers Orumi's query: the CBs have twice showed up independently at the very places Crow was trying to go. Though he has to admit that that was good for him the second time... Tielia frowns and figures that Crow really was trying to hunt them down, but Crow tells him to get a grip: her whole organization have made themselves the biggest celebrities going. And where there are celebrities, there are paparazzi. Is Crow saying, asks Lockon, that he followed them out of curiosity? That's right: it means money for Crow, and money is what he needs right about now. He freely owns up to the strange tastes of the person holding his leash: she's less interested in the CBs as an organization, and more interested in what makes their Gundams tick.

Lockon notes drily that curiosity has killed many a cat, and Crow has been prepared for as much: he's known in his gut that the CBs are serious about taking on the whole world. He also reckons that Orumi introducing herself to him implies that they don't intend to let him go alive. Orumi leaves that up to his imagination, her youthful voice belying a frightening resolve. Crow's instinctive distrust of women just got worse, that's for sure, and on a personal level Orumi sympathizes.

As a little souvenir to take to the afterlife, Crow asks whether the CBs really think they can put an end to all war. Orumi hesitates, but Setsuna answers a very definitive "yes". Orumi announces that the Q&A session is over, and that she's going to need Crow to remain their prisoner for a while longer while they check out his Axion mech. And after that, they will confiscate both his mech and his memory of his time with them. Well heck, short-term memory erasure is better than permanent life erasure. They'll leave him enough food and water to hold out until they get back from their latest mission: the best they can do under their limited circumstances.

The good news is that their interest in the Blaster has kept him alive. The bad news is that losing the Blaster will only make his debt load increase, and he can't abide that. The only hope is a rather dangerous gamble, involving a little joint dislocation to free himself. Frankly, he's more used to that than he is to being a pilot.

Tielia tells the others that Veda is interested in the Axion mech's power source, something mysterious but clearly different from Axion's normal Plasma Batteries. It's certainly not GM Drive, but what it _is_ will require some investigation. Their first task is taking down the AEU base though, and that base has some PMC mercs helping guard it. And among _those_ are the "Red Shoulders", the strongest squadron in the Gilgamesh army and a remnant of the fracturing of the Atrageus forces. Facing them is going to be a real gut check for the CBs... There's also a good possibility that the two Colonial MSs that took out the Britannia base are still around, and that they'll take advantage of the CBs operation to attack the AEU as well. And when they do, part of the mission is taking them out -- Lockon figures that they're the only ones who need Gundams.

This is the point where Crow escapes, triggering the CBs to chase after him. He knows that Traia would love for him to fight them, but he also doubts he can win 4-on-1. Hell, even 1-on-1 looks to be a challenge with these guys. Gunfire erups around Crow just then, coming from the last two Colonial mecha. They had mistaken Crow for an AEU recon plane, but whatever he is, they can't let him go now. Trois offers to help Quatre immobilize the Blaster, and Quatre for his part is extremely glad the two met. 2-on-1 is better than 4-on-1 for this stick-beaten dog, and the thought of turning more combat data into money has Crow's blood boiling. The trick will be getting that data back with him alive.

 After trading a single blow, the CBs catch up.  They naturally want Crow to
 dismount, and just as naturally they can't guarantee his safety if he does.
 Crow asks what they intend to do about the Colonial mecha, and Tielia
 furiously snaps that that's none of his concern.  Getting a bit too emotiona
 there, smirks Crow, divining correctly that the CBs mean to attack them.
 Crow then does something random, hailing the Colonial Gundams and offering
 to join forces against the CBs who mean them all harm.  Hell, 4-on-3 ain't
 such bad odds, right?

 Explosions erupt all around, and Crow yells for the CBs to wait until his
 little strategy session is over.  But they weren't the ones that fired: it's
 the AEU forces, led by the aforementioned Red Shoulders.  Patrick is informed
 of orders to not touch the Axion mech, but the hot-headed pilot is determined
 to trash _all_ the forces facing him regardless of origin.  Gregor and
 Beimann aren't impressed, figuring that Riemann sent them to keep Patrick
 from running completely amok.  This operation certainly has no real semblance
 of strategy or planning otherwise.  Gregor tells his lieutenants to fuck the
 "Red Shoulder" name and just do their job by the book.

 Crow guesses that there's no hope of the Axion name shielding him now, and
 any plans the CBs had for a surprise attack have gone totally out the window.
 The same goes for the Colonial mecha, and Crow addresses both factions with a
 proposal to join forces.  After all, if the AEU intend to take them all on
 anyway, why not show them a united front?  Tielia is fit to be tied, but
 Lockon sees the wisdom of the suggestion and accepts the temporary
 cease-fire, as does Quatre and Trois.  Interestingly, two more Colonial
 Gundams were independently planning to raid the AEU base, and pop out to
 join in the fun: Duo and Hiiro.

 Dancougar shows up in short order, siding with Crow and company on the
 apparent theory that they're the underdogs here.  Patrick is of course
 furious, but there's little to do but just accept Dancougar's help.

 The Red Shoulder heavies know better than to lay down their lives here.
 Patrick manages to escape too, confused as hell as to why he, some top ace
 d00d, is getting smacked around so severely by these Gundams and their damn
 dog.  No AEU forces arrive to take his place, so Lockon concludes that the
 AEU military is completely tapped out in this region.  The CBs mission isn't
 over yet though...

 Dancougar abruptly withdraws, leaving the CBs to deal with the Colonial
 Gundams... who it would appear are _not_ all from the same organization.
 Duo would rather avoid unnecessary complications if possible, and Hiiro just
 flies off without saying another word.  Duo follows suit, his next mission
 taking him to Area 11.  Quatre wisely does likewise, keeping Trois with him
 for now.  Trielia wants to pursue, but Lockon points out that they've spent
 more fuel and ammo than they originally planned: they need to keep at least
 something in reserve for emergencies.  As it is, they've met their minimum
 mission parameters, and they all need to try to adapt to their constantly-
 changing situation.

 That still leaves Crow, who really needs to improve in the timely-exit
 category.  If you surrender to the CBs, go to Chapter 5E.  If you want to
 follow the Colonial Gundams, go to Chapter 5J.

 If you chose to surrender, Crow comes up with a very unusual proposition:
 would the CBs be interested in hiring him?  Now _that_ is unexpected...

 If you opt for following the Colonials, Crow dodges Lockon's shooting,
 telling him that he doesn't fall for the same trick twice.  Neither his
 memory nor his mech are theirs to keep!  Lockon keeps his charges from trying
 to follow, not worried about the small amount of info Crow has gained and
 sure that they can settle the score when they eventually battle Axion.

[See 4J for the conversation at the Dragons' Hive.]

Quatre thanks Trois for furnishing the help he needed to complete his mission. Both seem to share a similar mission, and figure that the two other Colonial Gundams they've seen must too. Trois then tells Quatre he's going his separate way, giving "Trois Burton" in lieu of a real name (which he claims not to have). Never mind that Trois now knows the location of Quatre's private army's hideout: Quatre assures his right-hand man Rasheed that Trois is a comrade, and wouldn't betray them. Quatre is just glad to know they're not alone in their struggle. Rasheed tells him that the other two Colonial Gundams have headed toward Area 11, a place that -- like the Colonies -- is held in thrall against its will. Their target would seem to be Britannia, and Quatre smiles and says that the CBs aren't the only ones with the power to improve the world.

Patrick is furious with the Red Shoulders, especially when they insinuate that it was _his_ tactical error that led to the battle being lost. He even calls them "Votoms", apparently a dire insult, and they reply that their lives aren't for free, even if all they are capable of is fighting. The Red Shoulders have no plans to die because of Patrick's reckless operations, and before the argument can escalate further, Sarshes intervenes. He and Riemann represent the PMC, and tell Patrick in no uncertain terms that it was _his_ blunder in using the Red Shoulders that's at fault here. Patrick stalks off in fury, but the Red Shoulders needn't worry: their skills are certainly still needed in battle, and verys oon at that. They're to be scattered in several different directions, perhaps an indicatino of how much hates them. The sergeant, for instance, is being sent to...

Asteroid Reed, subject of an extended flashback! In the past, a base on Reed was being protected by rank and file Gilgamesh troops. Kiriko was on the scene, wantiing to know what the point of this mission is, and Konin refused to tell him until later. As he pressed farther into the base, he found some sort of cold sleep capsule, inside of which was a woman. What the hell?! His commanders shouted out that that's what they've been looking for, and ordered Kiriko to withdraw and leave her to them. They wouldn't say why, and when he tried to rejoin them, they promptly opened fire and demolished his mech.

He came to on Earth, having been discovered drifting around Reed by the Gilgamesh Army. He told his captors what he knows, which isn't much: his age, his immediate commander, etc. He admitted to having seen the capsule, but claims to have not seen what's inside. Rotchina didn't buy that, and electrically shocked him till he passes out, nearly dead of cardiac arrest. Rotchina planned to resume the questioning once Kiriko wakes up, and orders his subordinates to keep a close eye on their captive. Kiriko, not unconscious after all, escaped the first chance he got, setting in motion his endless personal struggle amidst the larger backdrop of the Atrageus and then Multidimensional World wars.

CHAPTER 5K. Jack of All Space Trades Calling!

There are two Japans in this world. One has become part of the Britannia Union after the Far East Uprising 7 years ago, being renamed Area 11. The other Japan had not been involved in any major conflicts until the Great Spacetime Quake, and in the new world is a place of relative peace.

This peace was shattered by the reappearance of Dr. Hell's Mecha Beasts, and the return after twelve years of the Heterodynes. To combat these threats, the UN Security council elected to send in the special Crusher Squadron, thus setting in motion the battle to restore peace to the people...

Yes, the "Crusher Squad" is what they're calling Ootsuka's new command, comprised of the Mazinger Folks, the Dai Guard folks, and Crow. Clearly, they've got a long list of menaces to combat, and they have the luxury of a separate chain of command to the UN, via a Mr. Elgan Loading. Mr. Loading is, from what Crow's gathered, one of the last honest men in the UN, given all the politicking the Three Great Nations have been indulging in. 21st Century will officially be helping out, though a problem crops up almost immediately: Aoyama and Ibuki aren't at all sure they want to be charging into battle against terrorists and whatnot, and request time to discuss it back at the company. Kouji hasn't really given thought to the whole "world peace" thing either, and wants a bit of time to mull it over too.

Crow tells Sayaka to give him that time, adding that he's totally on board with the Crushers so long as he gets paid. And by "paid" he means the full 980k G, since his creditor will surely penalize him for being incommunicado so long. He does ask his amazed teammates to give him credit for coming up with the 19.999k he's paid so far all on his own. Instead of a lump sum, he offers Ootsuka a deal: 200 G every time he sorties. SOLD! Ibuki is impressed at the crispness of the transaction, and Crow tells her he's glad just to have a job in this day and age. He cautions her lightly that if she's too picky about her own career, she may find herself in the unemployment line. Aoyama suggests he mind his own business, saying he's not prepared to risk his behind for something like this. Well, _someone's_ got to risk _some_ part of their anatomy, or nothing will ever improve in the world...

Since Akagi can't pilot Dai Guard alone, he and the others will have to head back to 21st Century for some serious pow-wowing. That effectively leaves Crow and Sayaka as the only committed members here -- Ootsuka says that his other pilots are currently tied up in the asteroid belt outside the Earth sphere, investigating something. Akagi is fascinated by the changes wrought in the solar system by the Great Spacetime Quake, like that second moon, and Ootsuka seems momentarily disturbed before waving it off. For now, it seems the Crashers will have to rely on a certain company, known for doing anything and everything in the world...

That would be Takeo General Company, whose member Watta just returned to the main office. He's been busy hauling Space Colony materials up to orbit, a rather trivial task for Trider. Kaoru fills him in on the mess Dr. Hell has been making in Japan during his absence, not to mention the return of the Heterodynes. This has disrupted Watta's mom's preschool fieldtrip, and means he's on his own for dinner tonight. Kaoru invites him over to her place for a meal and stories about space, and Watta is all over it!

...Well, he would be except that he's got a prior appointment for his teacher Mijuko to give him some make-up instruction to compensate for all the time he's been absent. He is, after all, an elementary school student as well as an interplanetary hero. Kaoru's house can wait until later, and to his credit Watta proves to be a willing pupil. Daimon elects to act as "hall monitor", though really he just wants to spend time around Mijuko. Plans change abruptly though when Watta's butler shows up and informs the kid -- also a CEO despite his tender years -- that they've gotten a job request that is too pivotal to company expenses to be ignored. Watta can't leave his employees in the lurch, and promises Mijuko that he'll study as soon as he gets the time.

Watta blasts off with much fanfare, though he finds himself having difficulty eating at the regularly-scheduled time. He's so into the whole saving the world business that the thought of chowing down while others tremble in misery saps his appetite. Fortunately there are cookies, which he's happy to munch on so long as he leaves room for dinner at Kaoru's later. Today's job is more work for Ootsuka, a friend of Watta's dad and a frequent source of business for the Trider team.

The job du jour is transporting a Photon Power Dynamo from the Photon Power Lab on Mt. Fuji to Atami. This is a portable generator powered by Photon Power, and comparable in output to a whole power plant. That's just what Atami needs to help recover from its recent string of calamities until its own power station is back online, and given that that's where Watta's mom has gone on her field trip, there's all the more reason to hurry the job along.

On the way home, Akagi pulls aside his copilots, and the hairsplitting begins. What's the difference between the Heterodynes and a terrorist like Dr. Hell? Sure, one's a human and the other isn't, but both threaten the peace. Ibuki asks why Akagi hasn't joined the army if he wants to fight so much, and he says that he doesn't want to fight a nation-vs-nation war: he wants to fight specifically for peace. The guy really, truly wants to be an Ally of Justice, and Aoyama for one isn't having any of it: let the actual combattants do the actual combat, seems to be his policy.

Crow them comes over to interrupt their tete-a-tete with a little news: the Crushers are rolling out again for Atami. If they like talking so much, why not get a little exercise in the process?

Watta finishes emplacing the Dynamo in record time, but no sooner does he finish than a bunch of WLF thugs show up. The announce that they're appropriating the Dynamo for use in world liberation (or something), and the people of Atami can just suffer if that's what it takes. No child is goingt to tell _them_ how to run a revolution! As they lock on weapons, Watta decides to fight back and protect the generator he just finished installing: maybe having their robots trashed will bring them to their senses!

 Watta quickly finds out that he's very low on missiles, another victim of
 tight budgets.  Better get up close and personal...

 The terrorists still don't stand a chance, but a much bigger menace
 appears shortly: Ashura and his Mecha-Beasts.  They are of course after any
 source of Photon Power they can get their hands on, and Ashura brought along
 a Nonacargo H2 to fend off Trider.  There's plenty of Iron Mask troopers to
 do the actual stealing, and no passle of schoolkids is going to deter them
 from their dirty work...

 ...that is, until Atami's shady characters get involved, thoroughly
 stymying the Iron Mask folks and even giving Ashura pause.  Ashura's Mecha-
 Beasts won't fare any better as the Crushers arrive.  Kouji needs no urging
 to fight the Mecha-Beasts, and even Akagi's coworkers have reluctantly
 joined him... for now at least.

This battle ends quickly, but the war is just beginning for Kouji. He spies Ashura and rushes over, to where Ashura is still facing off against Tsubasa. Ashura can't comprehend how anyone besides Dr. Hell could harm his/her body, and Tsubasa smirks and says that Ashura must not remember her. Every attempt Ashura makes to touch Tsubasa deals him/her intense pain, and Ashura demands to know why. Is (s)he _sure_ about that, asks Tsubasa -- there are some things in this world one is better off not knowing... Ashura insists, and so Tsubasa says that she made some "adjustments" to his/her body so that Ashura's unreasoning hatred of anything and everything couldn't be used against her!

Kouji runs up at this point, finding Ashura immobilized and Tsubasa offering him the chance to finish Ashura off for good. Kouji hesitates to attack a defenseless foe, and Tsubasa spits that that's why he can't even use half of Mazinger's power yet. Say what?! Just then, a bolt of lightning strikes, and from it emerges Pigman to help Ashura out. This is another of Dr. Hell's five generals, the greatest witchdoctor in all Perdition, who uses not Mecha- Beasts in battle, but rather all of Creation: Lord Pigman! Pigman greats "Lady Nishikori" in turn, and like Ashura there's no way he can attack her without becoming immobilized.

At least, that's what Nishikori Tsubasa thought, but Pigman abruptly blinds himself so his body won't recognize who he's fighting. Saying this is all Dr. Hell's will, he prepares to retrieve Ashura, and Tsubasa yells for Kouji to run. Pigman vows to take Tsubasa's life the next time they meet, and disappears again in a bolt of lightning. Kouji demands to know who the hell Tsubasa is and how she knows Juuzou and Ashura, but before she answers with more than a dangerous smirk, Crow shows up to check that Kouji's okay. Tsubasa takes that as her cue to leave, and Kouji pleads with her to wait. Smiling dangerously, she tells Kouji to come visit her at Kurogane-Ya hot springs if he has business with her -- there, she will show him Hell. And if he can't stand that, she doubts he'll ever beat Dr. Hell...

Back at the Battle Camp base, Ootsuka apologizes to Watta for the bit about the Mecha-Beasts: no one expected them to show up. Ootsuka agrees to give Watta and friends a bonus for their little "overtime" activity, and asks them if they'd like to work for the Crashers on long-term retainer. Guaranteed moolah = hell yes he replied! Watta understands the dangers, but would rather risk his own life if it means protecting the multitudes as he did today. Going on retainer means both defending peace on earth, and assuring his company's fortunes -- nothing more to dither over after that, is there? Plus, he'll have stout allies like Crow on the scene, who even share the same kind of financial concerns.

Watta is a beacon of do-goodingness, and that's helped Kouji make up his mind. There are a lot of bad guys out there besides Dr. Hell, and all of them need an ass-whuping so the good people of the Earth can live in peace. Ootsuka sets about preparations for housing Mazinger, Kouji and Shirou at Battle Camp, but Kouji has one little "selfish" request first...

Kouji's decided to live _at_ Kurogane-Ya, betting that Tsubasa's challenge to him is the best way forward. Crow is tagging along too, both as Kouji's official guardian, and because he loves the hot springs here. To say that the staff are a motley-looking crue would be an insult to hair metal bands everywhere, but they're damn good at what they do. Tsubasa greets Kouji, and he asks her if he can really get stronger here. She tells him that depends entirely on him, adding with a feral smile that she's counting on the answer being "yes".

CHAPTER 5D. Super Beast Fusion

The arrival of the Celestial Beings has slowly but surely shifted the balance of world power. And the five Gundams, sent from the Colonies almost simultaneously, have sprung into action. The tensions caused by these two groups has moved the world closer to revolution.

Also appearing on the battlefield is Dancougar Nova, which appears to side with whoever is disadvantaged in any conflict. Its motives shrouded in mystery, the fruit of Dancougar's actions has been the prolonging of warfare.

The Celestial Beings seek to root out the causes of war, the Dancougar Nova seems bent on expanding that war. These two inimical forces seen destined to meet on the fields of the battles that even now are engulfing the world.

---

Lockon and the others question Crow about his reasons for trying to join up with their group. He's kept blindfolded at first, and the CBs degree of caution in handling him is pretty understandable given the state of the world. Allelujah is the first to admit that they need as many comrades as they can get, and Lockon says that he's been given the authority to add to his forces as circumstances dictate. It all depends on Crow.

Crow then tells them the truth, or at least a version of it. He relates his mission as an Axion test pilot, sent to gather as much combat data as he can. While that could be done in the PMC, his boss wanted him with the CBs instead. As for what _Crow_ wants... well, he's tried being a soldier, and has a lot to say about the forces that have twisted this world. Presumably so do most of the world's people, given a certain lack of truly peaceful nations on the map. Crow finds himself intensely curious about anyone with the stones to declare war on the whole world, and wants to watch what they intend to do from close range. Crow knows very well that this isn't any sort of game, and is prepared to stain his own hands with blood once more when need be.

He asks if the CBs think they can truly put an end to war, and it's Setsuna's definitive "yes" that finally decides Crow: he wants to see the world change, or rather, wants to have a hand in doing the changing. The CBs think a long moment, and Tielia is the first to voice approval for Crow joining up... though he does it by warning that any treachery will be repaid with death. Lockon agrees with taking Crow in, saying that their ever-changing circumstances demand he accept a little risk. Allelujah agrees with the two of them, and Setsuna lets his silence equal consent.

Crow's blindfold is removed, and he gets to see the faces of the CBs for the first time. He expected someone like Setsuna thanks to that "yes", and Setsuna proclaims that Crow is "not a Gundam" before stalking off. In Setsuna- speak, that means Crow is not to be trusted, and frankly Lockon doesn't fully trust Crow either. But after all, Crow can be disposed of at any time -- it makes good sense to get whatever use out of him the group can. And during that time, Tielia plans to collect as much data about the Axion mech as possible: this is the main reason he agreed to let Crow join. Lockon tells Tielia to shoot Crow dead if he tries any funny business, and then moves on to the lighter topic of their next mission: raising hell with the Human Reform League. Best prepare for Dancougar to intervene again...

Back at the Dragons' Hive, the new pilots for Dancougar have arrived, and to say they're disoriented is a gross understatement. Rue Riruri (as opposed to Ruri-Ruri, for those who remember a certain Mobile Battleship...) and Commander Tanaka greet them in turn: champion F-1 racer and top model Hidaka Aoi, narcotics investigator Tachibana Kurara, rising advertising agency star Johnny Burnette, and Kamon Sakuya, a bum off the street [no, really]. The base they find themselves on is a small volcanic island formed in the Pacific twenty years ago... and few know of its existence.

Kurara observes that all four of them appear to have been kidnapped, but before she cuffs Tanaka he tells them why they've been brought here: he wants them to sign contracts to become pilots of Dancougar Nova. Yes, _that_ Dancougar, the one everyone's heard of but nobody seems to have any solid info on. Tanaka emphasizes that this is Dancougar _Nova_ he's talking about, which requires four pilots fulfilling very specific roles. The previous set of pilots have completed their contract, and these four were selected as candidates after a very extensive search.

...None of which excuses the fact that Tanaka has strong-armed everyone into coming here. Aoi turns the offer down flat, telling Tanaka to go through her agent if he's got a proposition. Secret organizations can't generally do that sort of thing, but not to worry: Tanaka can offer her a good ten times the salary she made last year, though her regular career will have to go on hiatus to achieve that. And the benefits are great! Kurara doesn't have time for this kind of "joke", but before she or anyone can leave Seimii comes in to report that "they" have begun to move. Who are "they", exactly? Never mind that now: Dancougar Nova is ready to launch, and Tanaka recommends that everyone give it a try once before reaching a final decision on their contract. Oh, and by the way they've all been hypnotically instructed on how to pilot the thing for the last several days, so no worries!

As the pilots are ferried to their cockpits, Tanaka hears from his mystery collaborator that "that" organization is ready to talk turkey once this mission is over...

The WLF are nothing if not persistent, having just taken over a HRL base to use as their own. The CBs arrive just in time to see the aftermath of the battle. Tielia tells Crow that this base is used as part of the HRL's campaign to keep minorities supressed, and that the people attacking it are not actually acting in the interest of said minorities. The WLF often cook up such excuses to cover their program of spreading war indiscriminately, and the strategy here seems to be to use the real resistance fighters to enter into stalemate with the HRL. Lockon tells the team to destroy every weapon in the base, forcing the resistance to negotiate via peaceful means. Of course, the HRL will just sent in more weapons eventually... at which point the CBs will destroy them once again, et cetera. For now, the mission is striking down the WLF, who seem to have found someone behind the scenes to fund their rapid increase in warpower.

Crow isn't exactly in a blameless position himself, but people like the WLF still make him want to puke. Setsuna runs ahead again, and Lockon delegates Crow to be the person tagging along behind. Tielia reminds Crow that he's one screw-up away from getting shot, and he promises to fight hard enough to keep that possibility off the table.

 After a few moments, the four constituent mecha of Dancougar Nova appear.
 Tanaka told them to enjoy themselves, which seems pretty much impossible
 under the circumstances.  It's certainly a little late to go home, what
 with how everyone seems to hate Dancougar's guts by now.  Tanaka radios in
 and tells them that they're at the controls of Variable Beast Machines (VBM).
 Their first task is to get used to them by fighting the WLF (whose evil
 deeds are widely known) and to cooperate with the CBs, with whom Tanaka
 claims to have a rapport.  In fact, Sumeragi radios the CBs just then to
 tell them to cooperate with Dancougar -- must be a major emergency if she
 broke radio silence during an operation.  Veda agrees, so Tielia is okay with
 it.  Setsuna sounds unconvinced, but will follow orders.

 In short order, the enemy send out their trump card: a heavily armored
 mobile suit that even the CBs are wary of.  That can mean only one thing:
 time for Dancougar to combine!  This works out well enough, but the pilots
 need to be wary of a certain time limit.  Thanks to the peculiar generators
 required to run Dancougar, they can't stay combined more than five minutes,
 else the interior temperature will pass 100 degrees (Celcius, one supposes).
 Lest the pilots' blood boils, the thing will auto-separate when the time
 limit arrives, and can't be rejoined again on the same sortie.  All that
 means is that they _must_ defeat the bad guys, which sounds pretty
 thrilling!

 The WLF have no chance, and Lockon declares that Crow's fighting skills are
 every inch worthy of inclusion among the CBs.  Not that Crow should expect a
 bonus or anything, especially since he basically volunteered for the job.
 Sumeragi then sends another strange order to the CBs: they are to follow
 Dancougar back to its base!  Weird, but whatever -- Crow at least thinks
 he's either hugely in luck, or totally up shit creek.

The new Dancougar pilots are still figuring out what to make of the amazing experience of fighting inside Dancougar. Sumeragi too seems to be working on making up her mind about allying herself for good with Dancougar, and has come to the surface in person to meet with Tanaka. The CB pilots are very skeptical, but Sumeragi says that the proposal has plenty of merit. Tanaka introduces himself to them, saying that he's basically a mid-level manager in the grand scheme of things. The real boss is one hell of an operator, and unlikely though it might sound, she actually accessed Veda itself to request this meeting.

Tielia is speechless at that, and Crow asks what this Veda thing is that Tielia keeps talking about. Sumeragi and Orumi introduce themselves to Crow, also pointing out Orumi's bodyguard Kuuryuu. Crow sighs ruefully at having more women as his superiors, interesting Orumi a bit. Veda turns out to be a quantum computer, with final decision-making authority for the CBs. Access to it is sharply limited, and if the Dragons' Hive commander could break its protections, she must be one formidable woman indeed. Okay, so Veda = CBs' brain, got it. Now, what about the source of the CBs' Gundams' power, something far above and beyond ordinary mecha out there? All Sumeragi will tell Crow is its name: "GN Drive". It is one of the CBs' top secrets, and is deeply connected to why they exist in the first place.

Clearly both sides of this deal have their deep dark secrets, and Tanaka fully expects they can get along as "adults" about it all. Trielia won't go against Veda's edit that this alliance proceed, but he does have several questions left. The CBs are trying to stop all war, and as such Dancougar's habit of helping the underdog made it a target that tended to _prolong_ war. So why the request for alliance? Did the Dancougar folks have some sort of change of heart?

Only superficially, answers Tanaka; their ultimate objective remains the same, and that objective is what the CBs are after too. So why prolong the fighting up till now? Tanaka has to beg off that question, saying only that there were a variety of reasons behind it. From now on though, Dragons' Hive and Dancougar Nova will follow along with the CBs' way of doing things. The pilots of said Dancougar Nova are nowhere to be seen, as they've not yet signed their contracts. Tanaka apologizes again for all this uncertainty, and tells his guests to make themselves at home throughout the whole facility -- he will treat them and their privacy with the utmost respect. Lockon doubts that an alliance like this, with so many secrets kept on both sides, can last long... but at least from Sumeragi's point they've effectively solved their Dancougar problem. Crow doesn't much care what becomes of it all so long as he gets loads of data to take back to Traia. Go to Chapter 6E.

CHAPTER 5E. Super Beast Fusion

[This is basically the same as Chapter 5D, with trivial dialog changes to reflect the fact that Crow has _re_joined the CBs. This is the route I kept of the two ways to get here. Go to Chapter 6E.

CHAPTER 5J. Battling

There are two Japans in this world. One had not been involved in any major conflicts until the Great Spacetime Quake, and in the new world is a place of relative peace. The other Japan Britannia Union after the Far East Uprising 7 years ago, being renamed Area 11. The Japanese people were renamed "Elevens" and -- apart from a small number of "honorary Britannians" who had sworn allegiance to the Britannia Union -- were subject to blatant discrimination.

In response, a number of the Elevens organized themselves as a resistance movement and began to resist the Britannia Union. Among them, the Kantou Block boasted a sizeable number of refugees from Astrageus, and took advantage of the deteriorating state of lawlessness in Area 11 to spread its influence outward. Nevertheless, the disparity in power between them and the Britannia Union was massive, and the Elevens faced a truly desperate situation.

While the flames of conflict crept across the world, Area 11 remained peaceful under Britannia Union rule... until _that_ day arrived...

---

Rotchina receives a report that Kiriko has infiltrated the Shinjuku Ghetto. The tracking device implanted in him seems to be alive and well, and Rotchina is most curious to see what Kiriko is about to do now.

The Student Council are all assembled on time at Ashford Academy, which is almost a shame since Milly was prepared to "punish" any latecomers by making them dress up as the opposite gender for a day. And anyone who refused _that_ would have to wear bunny ears for a week and end every sentence with the word "boing". Louise wishes Shoji would have been late so she could see him in drag, dress up in drag herself, and take him out on a date(!) Maybe some of her oddities can be explained by the fact that she's an exchange student from Spain, but Milly tells her not to sweat it. The charaismatic student council president is the granddaughter of the Academy's chairman, and is quite solicitous about all the students despite her impish nature.

...And by "solicitous", we mean detailed knowledge of the council members three sizes, who they're in love with, and who hasn't gotten up the courage to ask their love interest out. Lelouch interrupts Milly's teasing Shirley by asking why they've all been summoned, and Shirley can't tell if Lelouch is trying to save her embarassment, or whether he doesn't want Shirley's crush on him discussed. It doesn't take a chess master like Lelouch to guess what the meeting is about: adding a certain famous new student to the Council. Nanaly escorts this new student in: Rilina Dorian, a picture-perfect lady that all the students are already calling "Princess". Mill tells Rilina not to sweat it, adding the perhaps dubious assurances of a Britannian noble in decline that Rilina is totally worthy of the epithet.

Rilina shouldn't worry about being put onto the Student Council so soon after transferring either: it's really less of an administrative body and more a group of playmates, with a few responsibilities for running student morale- boosting events. Besides Milly, there is Shirley (also on the swim team), Rival (a willing courier and escort), Nina (Milly's childhood friend), plus the aforementioned Louise and Shoji, who are very much an item. Rounding out the lineup are Lelouch (Shirley's crush) and his sister Nanaly. Those two live in the club house as a special acoomodation to Nanaly's condition, which renders her both blind and paralyzed from the waist down. Lelouch's family has a few connections with the Ashfords, it would seem.

Rilina is no small potatos either on the family front: her father is a Vice-Foriegn Minister for the UN. In fact, it was her father's wish that she travel the world and learn what's really going on in it firsthand -- and Area 11 is as much an international crossroads as anywhere these days. Lelouch suggests that she may not get a thorough education in world affairs just by staying inside the Britannian residential zone known as the Tokyo Settlement. If she really wants to see what the Elevens are going through, she'll need to visit the ghettos as well: dangerous, chaotic places where the Elevens live side by side with the war-hardened refugees from Astrageus. Rival figures that the Astrageus people seem like all thugs and punks, and few can controvert him.

In any case, the ghetto is where the rulers and rulees meet in a microcosm of the world as a whole... and it's dangerous enough that Lelouch isn't seriously recommending Rilina go there. He thinks to himself that if Rilina doesn't need to face the godawful truth, she's better off not doing so. But he can't afford to turn away from reality, in his quest to build a world where Nanaly can live in peace...

Crow has made his way to the Shinjuku Ghetto in pursuit of the Colonial Gundams... which are nowhere to be found at present. He's hoping to make a killing selling the data about them, maybe even enough to make up for his being incommunicado thanks to the CBs. Axion was able to help him smuggle the Blaster onto the island, but it running around in it would be suicide at this point. His only real option is to play secret agent and pound the street looking for clues... which is what his original job was anyway. His aimless wanderings bring him to Kokona, who figures quickly that he's not from around these parts. Normal visitors from Britannia don't come around here often, so Crow's claim to be a tourist would make him an _abnormal_ Britannian... though not one of the army, as his shrewdness might lead one to suspect.

Kokona tells him that a bunch of Britannian police have been roaming around searching for someone. _Surely_ not a law-abiding citizen like Crow! Maybe the Gundam pilots? Crow decides to enlist Kokona's help with a bit more info gathering, since she seems to think he's come here to get a look at "the item". She'll even show him the way for free since he's a good-looking guy, though Crow is quick to tell her he's not interested in anything "physical". That surprises her, since she naturally assumes that any Britannians coming here are pervs. If he's not a perv, and he's not a normal tourist, she figures he must be some kind of pilot... after all, she's seen plenty of people with oil instead of blood in her homeland in Astrageus. Say, why not enter "the tournament"? It's great money...

Just then Vanilla comes over and tries to recruit Crow instead, accusing Kokona of stealing his clients. Pot, meet kettle. As the two argue about a deal that Crow hasn't even made yet, Crow suddenly tells them both to get down. A gunshot rings out and Crow is hit, though he's able to fire back once before his assailant disappears. Kokona and Vanilla argue again about whose place to take Crow to for treatment, eventually agreeing on a third party: the Goat. Crow has just received an unexpected chance to learn a lot about the ghetto's underworld... assuming he doesn't bleed out along the way first.

Rilina has come to Shinjuku too, wandering the ruins of a public park despite the palpable danger. The eyes of the Elevens, the Japanese people, she's seen along the way were filled with anguish, seven year-old wounds that have never closed. Her reverie is interrupted when she almost literally runs into a young man, blood seeping around the hand clasped to his arm. He gruffly orders her not to touch him and runs off, but something about his eyes gives Rilina pause. Unlike the Japanese, that young man's eyes are the eyes of someone still fighting something. She then voices a greeting to the air where he stood...

Crow gets to Goat's warehouse, where the man himself is just preparing to go out on a little errand. Goat's surprised to see Vanilla and Kokona together, and tells all of them to relax while he's gone. Vanilla finds this very fishy, and Kokona recalls seeing a young man at Goat's house yesterday... maybe even the person the police are looking for? Whoever it was was wearing a pressure suit, possibly making him a Votoms pilot. If so, that might mean that Goat is...!!

Crow isn't following any of this, so Kokona tells him to forget about the contract thingie for now: she wants him to come with her and spectate. Spectate on... "Battling" apparently, and Vanilla is incensed that Goat seems to have found someone to get into the ring on his behalf. That someone is Kiriko, and Battling is sport fighting carried out by ex-military pilots for the benefit of the crowds. Of course there's betting, and rumor has it that even Britannia thrill-seekers come to watch.

Goat knows how to pick his Votoms drivers, but since Kiriko seems a bit... detached, he gives him the pep-talk anyway. The pilots of the Gilgamesh and Balaland armies had to find something new to do after their galaxy was blown away, and Kiriko should know by now how cheap life can be. What Goat can offer him is the closest thing to an actual comfortable life the ghetto can offer, so long as he keeps winning at Battling. Tonight, Goat has set up a battle between Kiriko and the "Red Devil of the Elevens", a mystery figure who fights not in an AT but a Britannian KMF. The gimmick is that the pilot is supposed to be an Eleven who goes berserk in the KMF to vent their fury at the Britannia Union, which Goat very much doubts is the truth.

If Kiriko can beat this guy, he'll be an instant celebrity, and Goat as his manager will stand to make a fortune. The rules of tonight's battle preclude firearms, so Kiriko will get his pick of various hand-to-hand weapons. As he and Goat go to inspect the AT for tonight's battle, a figure from the shadows scowls: it's Konin, _very_ unhappy to see that Kiriko is still alive. Konin figures that Kiriko's become one of the Gilgamesh army's dogs and come here to sniff around his organization...

Hiiro manages to make it back to the warehouse he and Duo are hiding their Gundams in, still very much wounded and not in much mood to talk to Duo about it. Duo brightly reminds him that they decided to cooperate during their time together here in Area 11, but Hiiro growls that he's only doing it because their missions happened to coincide. They've been saddled with the seemingly impossible task of liberating Area 11, and at this rate even a minor shock to the Britannian system would count as a success. Hiiro is forced to admit that he didn't kill Crow, vowing to get rid of him next time. Duo isn't worried about Crow, and has decided that their job will be _easier_ to do if Crow is allowed to stir up the hornet's nest on his side. And if he still gets in their way after all the dust settles, he can be disposed of then.

Duo's found out some interesting info while Hiiro was out. It seems the Britannia Union uses "police" comprised of Astrageus folk to help keep the peace in the ghetto. But in reality, most of those forces actually work for the PMC, which include members of the Red Shoulders. Duo senses there may be some hay to be made there, but if Hiiro agrees he certainly doesn't let it show on his face.

Vanilla and Kokona aren't happy that Goat has found a Battling fighter without giving them a piece of the action. Crow says he's willing to give it a shot if they can pay the 980k G he still owes, and Vanilla and Kokona both hang their heads in sorrow. Ahh, sorrow later: Battling spectating now! Goat honestly has no idea if Kiriko can beat the Red Demon, but he's bet a _whopping_ 5 G that he will. From what Kokona saw of Kiriko, he was pretty hunky, and much more her speed than the 980 k G man seated next to her. Vanilla tells Crow to try wiping out some of his debts by betting on Kiriko, but Crow says nothing doing. Of of the only things he learned from his shitty father was to never gamble as a way to pay off debts. Fortunately, there's more to attract audiences than just the betting -- combat is pretty thrilling to watch when you don't do it every day for a living.

As the match starts, it's immediately obvious that something is wrong. Instead of the Red Demon, Kiriko gets to face two other ATs. Konin turns out to be in charge of the local Battling union despite only recently coming to town, and he says there's no way an unknon new Battler would get to face the Red Demon right off the bat. He'll have to prove himself first! Goat yells for Kiriko to withdraw from such an obviously unfair match, but as though drawn by the roar of the crowd Kiriko advances instead. Fancy finding the man responsible for that disastrous mission to Reed, here in this town...

 Kiriko wins easily, and an incensed Konin is about to throw more lackeys at
 him when the Red Demon comes onto the field unannounced.  Its pilot turns
 out to be female, and she is sick of Konin interfering with _her_ battle.
 The crowds seem to agree, and the pilot Karen tells Kiriko that this is
 nothing personal.  She just wants to show everyone how strong Japan is, and
 it's anyone's guess whether Kiriko can carry the day.  One thing is sure:
 Konin is likely to try something underhanded sooner rather than later...

 Karen has a reason she's been Battling: getting more combat data for her KMF.
 And if she can't defeat Kiriko, she certainly won't be of much good against
 the Britannia Union.  She has quite a bit of trouble with Kiriko, and her
 problems only get worse when Konin sends a bunch of _armed_ goons to take
 them both out.  As things are about to devolve into a full-fledged riot, Crow
 strides onto the scene in his mech, ready to even the odds with the people
 to disrupted such a wonderful show.  That buys Goat just enough time to throw
 some real weapons to Karen and Kiriko.

 Kiriko's one thought is to grab Konin and make him explain who that woman in
 the capsule, who so altered his life, really is.  Crow meanwhile has a
 deeper motive for entering this fight: the ruckus will definitely summon
 the police, and where there are police there will likely be those Colonial
 Gundams......

 The police arrive in short order, apparently on Konin's payroll since Konin
 has taken the field himself.  And just as Crow expected, the Colonial
 Gundams are not far behind.  They do the sensible thing and go after the
 Britannian forces: the start of one hell of an uprising here in Area 11.

 Konin won't tell Kiriko what the deal with that girl was, only that Kiriko
 was supposed to have died back then.  But why?!  There will be no answers
 now, and if they don't all look lively they'll have the real Britannian army
 to deal with.  Goat leads all the combattants, Gundams included, back to his
 hideout.  It appears Kiriko's time wandering through hell isn't yet over...

Not long after the crew arrive at Goat's hideout, Karen's friends arrive: a bunch of Resistance fighters Vanilla has had dealings with before in the arms business. Not really surprising Karen would want some backup, since she's only just met these shady characters. Crow remembers Duo and Hiiro though, saying that he came to Area 11 specifically thanks to their "invitation". And for the benefit of the tight-lipped Hiiro, Crow says that he is not out to _get_ them. He hopes for his part that he and Hiiro, having both shot each other once, can get along.

Oogi Kaname introduces himself as the leader of his Resistance cell, with Tamaki Shin'ichiro handling logistical support and Karen as the ace pilot. Crow is, of course, Crow, and Kiriko is one tight-lipped dude. He shows so little interest in being a Battler-for-hire that he seems to be asleep as the three Astrageus folks squabble over rights to his contract. Duo is used to the silet treatment from Hiiro, who he's only just come to hang out with since arriving at Area 11. Duo doesn't know where all five Colonial Gundams are from, but he's sure that he and Hiiro came from different Colonies at the least.

They do have a mission in common though, which is to sow chaos in the Britannia Union by liberating Area 11. Karen asks him if he thinks one mobile suit can really beat the Britannians. Head-on against the army? No chance in hell, but that's not the mission here; the mission is to disrupt the Britannia Union just enough so the military balance with the other two Great Nations collapses. And that the Colonies can definitely use to their advantage. Oogi asks Duo and Hiiro to lend their strength to the Resistance, which is struggling just to keep up with the regular police, and they certainly see the merit of it. And with two Gundams signed up, Vanilla is willing to throw his hat in with the Resistance too.

Shoot, in that case Goat is willing to deal directly with the Resistance too, getting a good source of business _and_ getting back at the Britannians too. He's even willing to loan Kiriko to the resistance, and since Kiriko has a bone to pick with certain members of the police force, he'll go along with it. And if Kiriko is in, Kokona and her information sources are in too. Crow has lived the freedom fighter life before and wouldn't normally return to it, but under the circumstances it's the best way to achieve his mission. It also lets him get back at Britannia for something in the past, though even he is ambivalent over whether his grudge is justified. He will settle for 50 G per mission, which the Resistance can afford. With all this firepower assembled, Oogi has to wonder if he'll be able to marshall it effectively...

News of the Colonial Gundams and the mess in the ghetto is all over the news by morning, and it's clear to everyone what the Gundams are trying to do. Rilina dodges the question of where she went yesterday after school, quickly realizing that the wounded boy she saw must have something to do with the ghetto fracas. Lelouch shows up and interrupts her thoughts with a light warning that she'll be late for class. With a mild smile, he adds that her father seems to have been right on target: Area 11 looks to be in for some major changes, and none too far off either. Lelouch himself feels powerless to affect the rising tide of world events, and desperately longs for some sort of power to put his will into action.

CHAPTER 6K. Awakening Power

A sinister voice calls upon "Mars" to awaken, and the recipient of the message is Takeru. The voice tells the confused guy that he's been sent to Earth for precisely this day, and informs him that his real name is Mars, son of Zhul, emperor of the planet Gishin. The voice orders Mars to destroy the Earth, lest its danger grow any further. Takeru remembers no father, and certainly isn't about to carry out an order to destroy the Earth. The voice tells him he has no choice, that no Gishinian can run from this destiny. The key the Earth's destruction lies in the robot with him, named "Gaia". Takeru screams at this demon to leave him alone, and the voice warns him that no one has defied the emperor of Gishin and lived to tell the tale. And to make the point, Takeru gets zapped by something painful...

Taigauchi and Watta move quickly to forge a business partnership between their two companies, now that they're both part of the Crushers. For Taigauchi, that means renewing a relationship dating back twelve years to Watta's father. It was from Watta's father that Watta inherited Trider itself, his father having taught him how to pilot the thing. Watta is a fully-licensed pilot despite his tender years, having gotten a license on special dispensation. Quite a disparity between that and what Crow's dad left him...

The Trider and Dai Guard teams get formally introduced to each other, including several heavyweights that Crow is surprised even fit into the elevator. Also notable is Tanigawa, who's singlehandedly resurrected the "kogal" look complete with excessive tanning salon visit and loose socks. The Dai Guard subpilots are non-gung-ho about their assignment, but they're willing to stay around until replacements are found. The team move out for Battle Camp, where Kouji will join them after finishing his round of special training...

Over at the Kurogane-Ya, Shirou and Ankokuji are loving every moment spent in the hot springs. Ankokuji is nominally here to guard Kouji when he's not actually in Mazinger-J, but it's unlikely anyone would try to start trouble here... even the demons of hell. Ankokuji tells Shirou that the staff are not your average service industry folk. Cross, for instance, was an infamous lone-wolf gangster with over 40 kills to his name -- they say no one who's ever crossed him is still around today. Then there's "the Teacher", reputed to be an unparalleled cook and so fast with his sword that his victims won't even feel themselves die. The thing about the entire crew is that they're supposed to have died like a long time ago. Yasu the Weasel knows a thing or two about explosives, and the Mexican Jango makes a suitably formidable doorman that any unwanted guests are likely to simply turn around and leave. The main thing they have in common is their boss-lady, whose charisma even Shirou at his tender age can sense.

Kouji's got his work cut out for him if he wants Tsubasa to disclose all she knows about Juuzou and Dr. Hell. Just being three Mecha-Beasts, and using Mazinger-Z to do it, doesn't begin to cut it. She's willing to give Kouji a chance to cut things short: a duel with Okiku. If he can even touch her shoulder, she'll tell him everything he wants to know. Of course, Kouji can't even come close to touching the elderly lady, even after an hour straight of trying. Even Yasu readily admits that she's nowhere near as fast as the old lady.

Crow then comes on the scene with a couple of coaches to help Kouji learn how to pilot Mazinger-Z better, which is the other way Tsubasa will agree to give him the info. Akagi and Watta aren't exactly ancient pros, but they're farther along than Kouji himself. And like Tsubasa, they tell Kouji that he's relying too much on Mazinger's power -- he needs to learn to do more than just flail around in rage. Kouji accepts their help, and Crow will also be on hand to supervise -- a little extra part-time work that he's extracted some salary for. Aoyama is okay with Akagi doing the instructor thing, but isn't so sure about tagging along when Akagi starts playing "hero". Crow suggests that to Akagi, it's not "playing" at all, and when it comes down to it, everybody has things they think are worth risking their life.

The rest of the Crushers have gone to the hot springs section already, but before Ootsuka follows suit, he introduces the Astrocrushers, who've just returned to the surface. They are Kenji, Naoto, Akira, Mika and Takeru, the crew of a large space fighter that's been busy fishing around in the asteroid zone left behind by the Quake. All other resources that would go there are instead being diverted to building more Colonies, so the Astrocrushers have a pretty big job. Crow asks jokingly if they found any alien secret bases, which reminds Takeru of the dream he had.

Before Ootsuka can explain what they _did_ find, an emergency report comes in of a UFO coming from space toward Japan... just as Ootsuka feared. UFO reports are why the Astrocrushers were sent to the astroid zone in the first place, and, nobody yet knows if these are _real_ aliens or just another Colony gambit. Apparently the answer will be at hand soon.

The UFO is nowhere to be seen on radar at its last known position, and as the Astrocrushers search for it it seems that Takeru is still fretting over the dream he had. Naoto is not impressed by that at all, but the argument gets cut short by the emergence of the flying saucer_s_, which open fire right away. All attempts at broadcasting peaceable intentions fall on deaf ears, and the squad has no choice but to fight back. Are Takeru's worst fears about to be realized?? If they are, and these are truly the UFO's Kenji's been informed about, it means the Earth is an even bigger target to "them" than Kenji thought.

 As battle is joined, one thing becomes clear about these UFO's: they're
 _alien_ UFOs.  Takeru gets permission to try and disrupt the enemy's
 formation and buy a little more time for reinforcements to arrive, and almost
 immediately suffers a catastrophic shot to his engine.  As a fiery death
 looms, a mysterious new robot zooms onto the scene and seemingly absorbs
 Takeru in the final moment before the blast.  This robot, which names itself
 Gaia, says that it moves as "Mars"' brainwaves command -- which would mean
 Takeru's little "dream" was nothing of the sort.  The bad guys must be
 Gishinians, which likely spells nothing but trouble.

 Reinforcements arrive, but explanation of what Takeru's robot is all about
 will have to wait.  This time, Akagi's teammates warm more quickly to the
 thought of battle, especially given that a town lies unprotected nearby.
 Never mind that genuine aliens would be the find of the century...

With the last alien shot down, the team pauses to fret over what the hell the aliens are doing here. Gaia helpfully tells Takeru that its anti-proton power source also functions as an anti-proton _bomb_, one capable of destroying the Earth. Said bomb will detonate when and where Mars commands it to, and Gaia asks him to order the Earth's destruction at once. See, the Earth has become a threat to Gishin, and better to nip it in the bud before--

Takeru screams for the electronic voice to stop, and the robot abruptly ejects him and begins to wander off. Its destination: Myojin Reef, an unmanned island created in the tectonic upheaval 17 years ago. Pursuit might be advised, but first the team return to base to get their commander's take on everything. And as for Takeru, he's going to have quite a bit of explaining to do...

Reports come in that Gaia has indeed reached Myojin, where is' buried itself under some rocks and gone dormant. B-O-R-I-N-G. Note however that those rocks seem to be surrounded by some kind of unbreakable barrier, making detailed exploration impossible. Takeru hesitates to divulge the anti-proton bomb and the orders to destroy the world, and Ootsuka recommends he go home to clear his head -- his father just called to see if Takeru could put in an appearance. Whatever is on the father's mind, it's important enough to override the usual prohibitions against Crusher members being allowed time off.

As Takeru walks away, Kenji tells the others that Takeru's been acting weird ever since dream a strange dream in space. WHAT ARE THE ODDS that that has anything to do with this robot that just happened to appear out of nowhere and save him?! Ootsuka is hoping that Takeru's father, his best friend Professor Myojin, can shed some light on the matter, and agrees with Kenji that Takeru needs to be kept under surveillance. Ootsuka actually knows all about Takeru already, and thinks that when Takeru learns the secret of his birth, it may well alter the Earth's fate...

CHAPTER 6E. To Distant Peace

Aoi has a very strange complaint about sleeping in her room in the Dragons' Hive: it's _too_ much like her room back at home. The other pilots have found the same attention to detail, right down to stocking their pantries with the same ingredients. In Sakuya's case, they fixed up a nice, cozy shack made out of cardboard and newspaper such as he might have had on the street... except that he doesn't really _like_ cardboard. In any case, all the pilots have turned up to sign their contracts for reasons of their own... wanting the thrill, the mystery, and mainly the non-having-part-of-their-memory-erased factor. Note: the four pilots are all used to a high level of independence, and Tanaka had better not forget it.

That settled, Tanaka has the base's main computer WILL explain why the pilots were selected in the first place. It tells the pilots that Dancougar Nova has been constructed specifically to confront those engaged in war, terrorism etc. and exhaust their resources without creating a victor. As such, it will always side with whoever is losing at the moment, regardless of any considerations of "right" or "wrong". This echoes the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabelle Cronkite, in her article "Does the Battlefield Need Dancougar?" Sakuya knows it well, telling a surprised Johnny that they still let homeless folk into libraries.

None of this answers Kurara's question as to why _they_ were chosen as pilots. Tanaka says vaguely that it was the result of "lots and lots of tests", and seems unfazed by Kurara's determination to unearth what those tests are from within his organization. As to why Dancougar Nova aided the Celestial Beings yesterday, Tanaka tells them that it's been decided for the Dragons' Hive to cooperate with them from now on... making the Dancougar team every bit as outcast as the CB's themselves. Tanaka assures them that this base's stealth systems will keep anyone from barging in in anger, and that their contracts with the organization will be held in the strictest confidence.

Aoi "hmms" at that, undecided on whether to like the CBs or not... much like Nova itself. Her biggest concern is the apparent contradiction between the stated CB goal of eliminating war, and WILL's little speech about effectively prolonging war. WILL says that from a combat strength level, aiding the CBs goes against his programming... but from a global view of the CBs versus the whole world, it makes sense. That makes the Nova pilots a bit more at ease, and serves as a good prolog to actually going and meeting their new comrades.

Said comrades are hanging out in, where else, the hangar, where Ian Vasty has just finished patching up the CB Gundams. Can't have the Dragon's Hive techs getting their grubby hands on the GN Drive, right? Seimy sniffs that she's way too busy working on Dancougar Nova to have time to peek anyway, and at least Haro seems to agree. Ian's installed a new GN Blade in Setsuna's mech, forming a nice pairing with the GN Sword and adding to its already bewildering variety of bladed weaponry. Lockon says that the Exia is finally starting to resemble the original design drawings, and Setsuna walks off without another word. Lockon has to be the one to thank Ian for pulling an all-nighter setting this up, saying that Setsuna has presumably run off to the Exia itself to check out its new gear.

He tells Crow that Setsuna's attachment to his mech goes far beyond any of the rest of the CBs, thanks to his hang-ups about the concept of "Gundams". Crow too is fairly attached to his mech, both as partner in battle and as meal ticket... and as collateral for his still formidable debts. Tielia tells Ian to sneak a peak at Crow's mech when he gets the chance, and Ian offers Crow an increased stipend in return for helping with the maintenance. If it means money, Crow's all over it.

This is when the Nova pilots come in and introduce themselves, and when Crow finds out what their salary is, he realizes he's totally working for the wrong people. He explains to Kurara that he's fighting for the money to buy his own freedom back... which at last count is still 980kG away. The Nova pilots know the CBs won't answer many questions about themselves, and basically don't even bother asking. They tell the CBs that their actions are no more good or bad than the phenomenon of war itself is, and as such their feelings toward the CBs are strictly neutral. Crow finds them rather a "dry" lot, though "wet" emotions aren't often a good thing on the battlefield.

Sumeragi comes over at this point, telling Allelujah that Orumi has left for a bit of info gathering in Area 11. Seems some sort of unrest is at work there, but the CBs won't be heading there just now. Instead, she's sending the team to Ezemistan, a small Central Asian nation propped up by the HRL. The country has been rocked by radical anti-government protesters for a decade now, and it appears the conflict is coming to a head: the perfect chance for the CBs to vanquish both sides.

Now, while it may be necessary in the course of human events to boot one's government, it doesn't help if you burn down all the cities in the process (see: Ezemistan rebels). This appears to be a good time to show both sides just how dumb they're being, and Tanaka warns "Team D" to be careful of their time limit. Err, what happened to Teams A-C, dead or something? ...No, more like "D" as in "Dancougar Nova", or "D" as in "DUH". Or maybe as in "Dangerous", for those who remember Tekkaman Blade. Anyways, Team "D" mumbles assent and zips into battle, leaving Tielia fuming on the sidelines while Setsuna dashes ahead of his protector Crow. Lockon tells Crow to go easy on the kid, who's got that new armament to play with. Let the three-way dance begin!

 Neither side can hold a candle to the CBs and Team D, but as it turns out,
 they weren't supposed to.  The real HRL force has been lying in wait, and
 their commander Sergei orders them to trounce the idiot CBs.  The word
 "defeat" isn't in the Gundam Meister dictionary (budget cuts?!?), and the
 Team D folks aren't given to turning tail either.  Crow, of course, smells
 cash.

 Sergei gets a very violent lesson in how not superior his forces are, and
 retreats before his own life is at risk.  In the grand scheme of things,
 this is only a minor victory for the CB+D team, especially in light of the
 fact that the Great Nations are apparently singling them out for special
 beatdown.  Still, this is the only way anyone present knows to eventually
 make all the fighting stop, and none on the CB+D team plan to stop now.

Orumi reports to Alejandro that she's succeeded in forging at least a superficial alliance with "that" organization, good news for his hopes to change the world. He doesn't savor it long though, already thinking ahead to tomorrow's meeting with the queen of Azadistan. She expects that when he makes it further up the UN ranks, there will be a lot of errands and requests for him regarding the Three Great Nations. He smiles and tells her he's very much looking forward to the CB's next exploit. After Orumi leaves, Alejandro confirms to his servant Ribbons that she's a CB agent... not what one would expect from the head of a famous House and a fixture in the business world to boot. Then again, the CBs have agents in many walks of life... not to mention "guardians" like Alejandro himself. Alejandro's role is to watch the CB's actions, whatever end they lead to, and his "angel" Ribbons is all to happy to help.

Back at the Dragons' Hive, Crow is still a ways away from Sumeragi increasing his salary... though she wouldn't mind drinking with him later. Tanaka effusively congratulates everyone on their victory, assuring the doubting Thomases among the team that he means to report all this to the commander in the glowingest of terms. Said commander is still nowhere to be seen, and even Sumeragi hasn't met him face to face. Tielia is going nuts trying to guess who the hell could assemble an organization like this, _and_ hack into Veda. The more immediate concern is how quickly the HRL will learn to keep their hands off this nation -- until they do, the CB+D team will have to keep up the game of whack-a-mole. Aoi sighs a bit at that, and Setsuna tells her she can quit if her heart's not in it. Allelujah explains that the little twerp is kind of touchy on certain subjects, and though Aoi doesn't take offense Setsuna marches out of the control room. Sumeragi thinks to herself that being _too_ serious-minded isn't a good thing...

Johnny supposes they can't really avoid Setsuna disliking them, especially since their backgrounds before going into war are so different. Japan is, after all, a comparatively peaceful place where the reality of war doesn't always sink in. Speaking of which, what's up with Area 11, that other Japan so jealously held by the Britannia Union? Well... stuff! For starters, the ruler of the Area, Clovis la Britannia, has been assassinated, and an honorary Britannian has been held in connection. Crow knows that conditions in the Shinjuku ghetto that rings the Tokyo Settlement are pretty complex, especially with the Astrageus refugees living there. Sumeragi says that the Colonial Gundams have turned up in the area too, which suggests just how pivotal things in Area 11 may be for world events. She's sending in a secret agent to gather more direct information, and rejoin the team when the time to act arrives. As for who that will be...

In Britannia's Langley Base, the fracas in Ezemestan dominates conversation. Daril has heard that Sergei Smirnoff was in charge of the HPL forces, and if the Russian Grizzly couldn't handle the CB Gundams, just about anyone else will have trouble too, even without their new ally Dancougar Nova. Graham muses that the hardest flowers to reach are the most rewarding to pluck, and dearly wants to pluck one of those Gundams. Daril is a realist, and doubts openly that their Flags can hope to beat the Gundams. Howard takes offense at this, but Graham cuts short the argument, saying that they simply have to push their machines as far as they can go. That's what Professor Eifmann likes to hear, and he promises to do everything in his power to give the anti-Gundam team the edge. Graham tells him to tune up their mecha, and when Eifmann asks about stress on the pilots, Graham tells him he can ignore it.

Eifmann has deduced already that the Gundams' strenght stems from their unique drive system, several decades ahead of any technology known to him. Isn't it a shame, he says, for that sort of weaponry to be aimed at other humans when so many common threats are assailing mankind as a whole?. From a grand perspective, Graham agrees entirely... but most humans, and he includes himself, are awkward creatures who have enough trouble dealing with the foes right in front of their noses. Eifmann can only hope that someone with the perspicacity to look farther ahead arises soon, or humanity will never change. The philosophy is abruptly interrupted by a call to Graham, telling of something going on in Ezemestan...

Things are certainly busy in the Tokyo Settlement, where the death of Clovis and the actions of the CBs have things in an uproar. Fortunately, the AEU and Britannia Union haven't actually resorted to open war with each other, so Louise figures she's safe to continue her study abroad in Area 11. Besides, Shoji's presence is enough to make her reluctant to return to Spain, though she herself can explain why to Shoji's elder sister Kinue. Kinue tells them of some big news she's heard from Ezemistan, where the government and the resistance have just signed a _peace_treaty_, ending the feud that was even part of yesterday's history lesson at school.

Apparently the thinking was that continuing the war would be an invitation for the CB's to level teh entire country, and at least the door is now open for more peaceful ways for Ezemistan to progress. It would seem that the CB's actually achieved their stated objective, at least in this case. Kinue tells Louise that she's welcome to have dinner at their house, but that she is not to stay over night. As Kinue trots off to work, the two ponder the unrest in the Ghetto, wondering if the CB's will be showing up in Area 11 next. There hardly seems need, with the Colonial Gundams aiding the resistance and stirring up trouble. Concerned for Louise's safety, Shoji asks again if she wouldn't be better off back in Spain... not that he wants to see her go, of course. Among other things, she's given him someone to talk to, after years of being shunned for his Eleven blood. Louise huffs that it's precisely due to all the danger in the world that she wants to be by his side.

Just then they meet their new neighbor, who's just moved into the apartment next door: _Setsuna_ of all people! The guy's as unsociable as ever, and Shoji can only hope he'll be able to talk to him eventually...

CHAPTER 6J. The Day the Grim Reaper Was Born

With the new additions to the team, Oogi finds himself in charge of a very formidable terrorist cell... possibly _too_ formidable. Tamashiro thinks the team is ready to oust the Britannian government in one fell swoop, though Crow (technically a Britannian himself, though he doesn't put much stock in national allignment) is less sanguine about their prospects. Karen doesn't immediately trust the mercenary Crow, though she tells him she'd love it if he made her do so. Fortunately Oogi doesn't have to do all the planning himself: Crow, Duo and Hiiro have a firm grip on the essentials: just smiting the Area 11 governors won't achieve much beyond forcing Britannia to send in a replacement for the current governor Clovis.

Crow says that any serious liberation effort has to start with showing the masses a vision of what life will be like after they're free. Take the WLF, everyone's _least_ favorite liberation front... they've never articulated a vision of what lies beyond their violent tactics, and thus it's only natural that most folk hate their guts. The team can't just inject positive thinking into everyone's heads, so the plan will be to start with soemthing they can do: sew chaos into the Britannian ranks. And that's where the laconic Kiriko and friends come in. Kokona has just found out that the Britannia Union is about to ship a big load of poison gas from Tokyo to parts unknown. Maybe it'd be best to relieve the Britannians of such a troublesome burden?

Back at Ashford Academy, Lelouch isn't in his usual seat at the student council table. Rival has hauled him off to help him win some game of chance or other, typically either chess or poker. The other council members tell a stunned Riliina that Lelouch is a frigging _genius_, even though he doesn't show it at school. When he gets called in to play on someone's behalf, he plays for MO-NAY, and Shirley at least thinks he's misusing his talents. Milly assures her that he wouldn't do anything stupid: after all, he's got his only blood relation Nanaly to look after. In fact, Milly knows more than she's letting on, that all Lelouch's _other_ blood relations merit nothing but hate from him.

The government hasn't been sitting idly by after the fracas in the ghetto, of course. Jeremia is consulting with Viletta about the mess, and it's her view that they never should have left ghetto peacekeeping to the "sherrifs". Jeremia rather prefers the mad dogs from Astrageus to be the ones tangling with the Elevens: it keeps his own hands clean. Of course, if the terrorists prove to be too much for the Astrageus folks, due perhaps to the addition of those Gundams, Jeremia will not hesitate to show everyone what it looks like when the Knights charge into battle. Sounds good in principle, but reality doesn't often cooperate. To wit: word comes in that the terrorists have stolen a shipment of poison gas, and Clovis plans to lead the operation to steal it back _in_person_. This requires nothing less than a wholehearted show of loyalty and force, and that means that the Knights are rolling out.

Unaware of the reckoning to come, Rival and Lelouch are heading back to the homestead for some well-deserved R&R. Lelouch has just extended his unbeaten streak at for-money chess to 51 and 0, and he's in no mood to celebrate. Pulverizing an incompetent, sheltered noble isn't his idea of a good time, though he holds out little hope for the Elevents either -- bunch of defanged beasts that they seem. Rival asks why Lelouch led with his king in this latest match, and Lelouch says that if the king doesn't move, His subjects won't follow. Lelouch isn't aspiring to be a CEO or anything, is he? *SURELY NOT*.

Rival's little shortcut through the ghetto turns out to be a major mistake, as explosions break out all around them. In the confusion, a semi traile plummets down from a nearby overpass, and despite Rival's warnings Lelouch goes over to help. Said trailer is part of the gas-stealing operation, and has Karen inside it. Oogi and the others are heading to her rescue now, so it will fall to Crow and the other heavy fighters to keep the constable as bay in the meantime. Rival gets split up from Lelouch in the chaos, and finds himself seriously wishing he'd never set foot in the ghetto...

The first waive of constables is easily repulsed, but Karen had better hurry: eventually the official forces will show up in enough numbers to overwhelm Crow and friends. Lelouch meanwhile has noticed that the drivers of the semi have fled once they realized it was too badly damaged to move: the resistance must have stolen something from the Union. What was it, and where were the resistance carrying it to? As he enters the trailer, he finds a radio the drivers abandoned in their haste, and a giant capsule of some sort.

As he appraoches it, he hears a voice inside his head, saying that it's found it's... Before he can open the capsule and figure out what's going on, a military figure comes on the scene and smacks Lelouch around, figuring him to be one of the terrorists intending to use the gas. It turns out to be Lelouch's old friend Suzaku, who's evidently become an honorary Britannian in order to join the military. Suzaku figures that Lelouch is part of the resistance, but their conversation is cut short by the capsule opening in a puff of smoke. Suzaku figures it's the poison gas in question, and hastily puts his own gas mask over Lelouch's mouth...

...Lo and behold, it isn't poison gas as such. This almost seems to disappoint Suzaku, who as much as says that his own life is worth nothing. When the smoke clears, the contents of the capsule become clear: a young girl with green hair. This is the point when Suzaku's superiors barge in, telling him in no uncertain terms that he's at the bottom of the totem pole compared to _real_ Britannians. Whoever this girl is, she appears to be "poison" enough to emperil Suzaku's masters. The Knight in charge orders Suzaku to shoot Lelouch as a terrorist, never mind the Suzaku's claim that Lelouch is a civilian and had nothing to do with any of this. When Suzaku refuses, he gets shot for his noble principles, and Lelouch is next on the hit list once the girl is secure.

A well-timed explosion disrupts the proceedings, letting Lelouch and the girl run for their lives. While trying to catch his breath, Lelouch demands to know what the girl's role is in all this -- what is it about her that would spur the Britannians to even greater atrocities, including killing Suzaku? Before the girl answers, the knights catch up, and decree that this is a suitably run-down place for this Britannian school kid to meet his end. The girl takes the first bullet meant for Lelouch, crumpling to the ground at his feet as the head knight begins concocting a story about how she died to tell to his superiors.

Lelouch wonders if this is it for him: if he's about to die without accomplishing anything for himself, or for Nanaly? The fallen girl suddenly seizes him by the leg, and a voice in his head asks if he wants to live on. She intuits that he has a reason, and asks if having power will enable him to endure. She offers him a contract: power, in return for granting one wish of hers. If he accepts, though he will live in the realm of men, he will be governed by a different Law than they are: forced to live a different life, along a different timeline. Is he prepared to take up the power of the King, knowing it will leave him isolated and alone? Yes. Yes he is.

Back in realtime, a smile comes to Lelouch's lips as he asks the knight how a Britannian who hates Britannia ought to be born. He then demands to know why they haven't shot him, a harmless highschool student, already. Is it because they lack the resolve? He then commands them at Lelouch Vi Britannia, to die. They hear and obey his command, shooting each other dead en masse after intoning "Yes, Your Highness". Surveying the carnage, Lelouch muses about how his whole life as been a lie since "that" day, a lie that has lacked any force to change the world. But now he has power: the power to live on!

Just then Viletta pulls up in her KMF, and demands to know what a Britannian student is doing here with a pile of Imperial troops. Lelouch attempts to order her to follow him, quickly learning that his newfound powers have a range and require direct eye contact. He then tricks Viletta into coming close enough to become vulnerable, and has her give him her KMF, access code included. That, plus the resistance radio Lelouch snagged, give him an idea...

The next Britannia wave is not long in coming, and it's armed to the teeth. Whatever this poison gas is, the Union *definitely* don't want it stolen. If Crow only knew the half of it: when word of the girl's recapture fails to reach Clovis in a timely fashion, he orders his men as third in line to the throne to destroy the entire ghetto rather than allow the possibility of her whereabouts to become known. Jeremia for one doesn't hesitate to enjoin the carnage, and that puts the crosshairs of Crow's team squarely on him.

 Near the battle, Lloyd and Cecil are on standby with a new KMF called the
 Lancelot, watching somewhat helplessly due to a lack of a Devicer to
 interface with it.  They definitely aren't bored however, especially when
 Karen shows up in her mech after ensuring that Oogi and the others are okay
 on foot.  The poison gas theft was a total bust, but the good news is that
 there are Britannian troups to attrite now.

 Something unexpected happens just then: a disembodied voice ordering the
 pilot of the red Glasgow (that would be Karen) to quickly open fire on a
 spot at 2 o'clock.  This forestalls an ambush that was hidden there, and
 Crow has to tell the others that it wasn't him who gave the order.  Hiiro
 notices something unusual about the voice, as though there were a cloth over
 the mouth of the speaker, and the voice impatiently orders the two on foot
 to jump into the now pilotless Britannian mecha.  A rapid series of commands
 follow that let Crow and friends utterly destroy all the Britannian ambush
 troops, much to the speaker (okay, it's Lelouch)'s glee.  He figured Clovis
 would try a strategy as pedestrian as this, and is ready when Clovis orders
 forth his reserves.  Karen wants a full explanation for who the speaker is
 after the battle is over, but decides to trust him for now.  And the speaker
 vows to repay that trust with victory!

 As the battle progresses, Suzaku wakes up in Lloyd's trailer, saved from
 the bullet by a pocket-watch inside his suit: a memento from his father.
 Lloyd tells him that the "poison gas" has dissipated, and all the other
 soldiers are dead.  He ebulliently congratulates Suzaku on a unique chance
 lying before him: he can become the world's first Eleven-born Knight, by
 piloting the Knightmare he just happens to have lying around.  If he does,
 Suzaku, and the world around him, will change... whether or not, Cecil adds,
 he wants it to.

 Clovis asks if Lloyd's little toy can beat whoever his mystery antagonist is,
 and Lloyd certainly gives it the old college try.  The new mech, designated
 Lancelot, is the first and only seventh-gen KMF in the world, and it's
 Lloyd's own invention as head of the Special Expeditionary forces.  Suzaku
 wastes no time putting the pedal to the metal, praying that Lelouch got away
 somehow and vowing to strike down the bad guys so the fighting doesn't
 spread any farther.

 It becomes quickly apparent that the Lancelot is a far more dangerous
 opponent than the rest of the Britannian forces.  Lelouch thinks quickly,
 and orders everyone to ignore the Lancelot and concentrating on dividing
 the enemy forces once and for all.  He isn't kidding, as the Lancelot
 seemingly can't be defeated for good.

 Once the enemy's main forces are kaput, the voice tells the party to
 withdraw along the route he indicates.  Sugiyama wants to press his
 advantage, but the voice tells them all that they won't beat the Britannia
 Union with a single victory here today.  Unless they start taking a LONG
 view, they'll never achieve their ultimate goal.  And, while the Britannian
 forces are concentrating on the fleeing resistance fighters, Lelouch has a
 little business of his own to attend to...

 Lloyd is amazed at how quickly Suzaku has mastered the Lancelot, and Suzaku
 shrugs that he only did what felt natural.  He asks if he should pursue the
 resistance forces, but Lloyd tells him to wait for an order he suspects will
 be coming soon.  Clovis' order is for all troops, including his personal
 guard, to remain on armed standby and prepare for a second terrorist
 offensive.  Smiling inscrutibly as always, Lloyd observes absently that that
 seems very cautious of the prince.

The order was made at gunpoint, thanks to a mysterious figure who's somehow managed to invade Clovis' bridge despite the obligatory heavy guard. Clovis isn't especially fazed, and asks his captor if he wants to hear him sing, or maybe to engage in a chess match. That brings back old memories for the shadowy figure, recalling when they were both kids... and when the figure would always win. Yes, the figure is again Lelouch, 17th in line for the imperial throne and, therefore, Clovis' younger brother. He's not surprised Clovis thinks he's dead: everyone else does too after he and Nanaly were given to Japan as a sort of hostages to ensure Britannia's good will after the invasion.

Lelouch and Nanaly's life as foreign policy tools began the moment their mother was killed, likely a victim of the other queens' contempt for her humble origins. This was certainly no excuse for covering the whole affair up as a terrorist plot, especially given that the very sight of it robbed Nanaly of her sight and her ability to walk. Clovis, terrified by this point, pleads that he wasn't responsible, and under the influence of Lelouch's newfound power says that Second Prince Schneizer and Second Princess Cornelia know who's responsible. Does that make them the ringleaders? Lelouch demands... but Clovis makes no further reply. He may not have been responsible, but it's hard to say his hands are clean... and Lelouch knows well that it will take more than platitudes to change the world. Action is needed, and the echo of a gunshot speaks volumes about what form that action will take.

The rebels have plenty to mull over in the wake of their assault, the first real defeat the Britannians have ever faced on this soil. And no mean feat that was, given the mess with the gas(?) and Clovis' personal forces coming on the scene. The two captured KMF's will ease the strain on Karen somewhat, who already has to balance ass-kicking terrorism with being a high school student (Crow struggles to picture Karen in a school uniform). As for that mysterious voice, the best efforts of the resistance have yet to unmask its source. Oogi recalls the iron-clad strategy and unerring aiming, thinking that _that_ is the sort of man really cut out to lead this crew.

It would certainly be nice to have someone competent to lead, since Tamashiro's next big plan is to kidnap Ambassasor Rilina. Crow says that that's a very _bad_ way to drum up sympathy for the cause, especially since Rilina is a civilian, but Tamashiro is all enthused since he managed to get her picture. Hiiro recognizes the girl he ran into in the park, though he won't admit it to the others, saying instead that he's going to infiltrate the school at once. Duo will tag along too, saying that he wants to do some investigating -- the kidnapping business can come later if need be. He reckons that school kids are a good barometer of how the rebels' actions appear to the public at large, and wants to listen in on their chatter. Crow likes that idea, but is a bit worried about what Hiiro might do (and since Rilina's seen his face, he might _do_ quite a bit...)

The conversation is interrupted by Kokona running in with some huge news: Clovis was assassinated right after the fracas yesterday. It doesn't really matter who did it at this point: events are going to move very quickly now... and for good or ill, none can say.

CHAPTER 7K. Miraculous Six Spirits' Combination

In Battle Camp's lounge, the pilots are abuzz with talk of yesterday's mystery adversaries. Were they really aliens, or maybe some sort of ultra-secret weapon from one of the Earth's nations? Ootsuka is following up on the latter possibility, though the odds of anyone actually owning up to building such things are nil. Naoto is fairly sure they're not of Earth origin, but whatever they are, they're making a mess out of Japan and need to quit it. Akagi's copilots still aren't fully sold on this whole hero business, but Watta's devoted manservant tells them to think of it as a chance to find purpose in their salaryperson lives.

Crow then comes in, beat after another session of dealing with his boss. It's not the incessant rounds of combat data submission and physical testing that bother him -- those are never boring given all the new adversaries he's faced since coming to Japan. The problem is that Crow has been fighting everyone _but_ the Dimensional Beasts, which if you think waaaay back are the original target behind the Blaster. The Dimensional Beasts' habit of turning up only when they're not wanted is really getting on his nerves, and striking out on his own wouldn't increase his odds of finding them any. In any case, these are dangerous times to go wandering around on one's own, given how sensitive the world has become to "terrorists" like the CBs and Dancougar.

Nobody's sure why those two forces are working together, but if the rumors are true they've got even more collaborators of late. No one can be sure if it's one assistant or three, but they've been quite a thorn in the Three Great Nations' side... as have the much less-publicized Colonial Gundams. Crow only knows about them thanks to his boss's extensive underworld ties, and to drive the point home he tells the team that the local ruler of Area 11 has been assassinated! This is at minimum a reminder of the tensions simmering in the ghettos that surround the Britannian settlements, especially with their load of Astrageus refugees. Word is that the Colonial Gundams have blended into the ghettos, further escalating tensions.

Takeru is still off visiting his father, and Naoto fully expects Takeru to be told that he's not an Earthing. Like, what's up with that robot Gaia, which just happened to appear just when the aliens did? Pretty huge for a coincidence, don'tchathink? Kouji digests this, and asks Naoto what he'd do if it turned otu that Takeru _was_ an alien, and further that he was of the same race as the aliens invading the Earth now. Naoto says that would make Takeru akin to the aliens in his eyes, and he'd take "appropriate measures". Kenji and Crow cut that line of conversation short, since there's not even any evidence yet of Takeru's origins...

Surprising utterly no one by this point, Myojin tells his "son" that he's actually nothing of the sort, having decided along with his wife that Takeru is at last strong enough to handle The Truth(tm). Some 17 years ago, on a night much like this one, Takeru literally fell to Earth inside a meteorite that created a new island where it fell. Myojin discovered the island first -- hence why it bears his name -- and found a capsule scattered among the debris after the fifth explosion. Takeru was the baby inside the capsule, and though Myojin doesn't know how the capsule came to be there, the implication is quite clear: Zhul may have been telling the truth.

The conversation is cut short when Takeru notices something, managing to get out of the way just as Gel unleashes a shockwave towards Takeru and Myojin. Gel's come to punish "Mars" for disobeying Zhul's orders despite his Gishin heritage, and is outraged when Takeru refuses to betray his new homeworld. Myojin falls first to Gel's shockwaves, and Takeru gets a dose too while shielding his mother. Gel advances on the helpless woman, determined to murder her and force Takeru to remember his "duty", but Takeru gets agitated enough to activate his latenty powers and give Gel a taste of his own shockwaves. Gel growls that Mars' shockwaves are every bit as strong as expected, and rather than engage in a losing battle of ESP he flees to get reinforcements.

Myojin is dying fast, but with his last breath he tells Takeru to live on, as a crucial link between the Earth and space. That will be difficult when facing Gel's full-sized mecha: the same ones that attacked yeterday. Gel gives Takeru one more chance to swear fealty to Zhul, which he of course refuses, and prepares to strike the final blow. That is, until Takeru summons Gaia and tells his mother to take this chance to flee to safety. It's now clear that Gaia responds to Mars' ESP, though Gel has another piece of news for him: should he fall in battle, Gaia's anti-proton bomb will detonate. The whole point of sending Takeru here 17 years ago was to serve as Gaia's detonator!

Whoever this Emperor Zhul is, he commands enough loyalty from Gel that Gel is quite prepared to die in the blast. Takeru's only hope to save his mother and his new planet is to fight, and win.

 Reinforcements arrive in short order, and Takeru quickly explains that
 the Gishin forces mean to destroy the Earth... which is somewhere above
 "planetary invasion" on the Oh Shit meter.  He hesitates again to explain
 how he knows all this, but Crow wisely tells his teammates to save the
 chitchat for later.  Gel is understandably annoyed by this turn of events,
 and directly strikes Mars with his mighty Gruder.  Takeru rages over his
 apparent inability to protect the Earth or take revenge for his father,
 and the outpouring of psych summons up some new buddies for him: the five
 other pieces to the Six Gods' Combination.

 The result is Mars' protector, God Mars!  The finished form is something
 only a 80's toy maker could love [whoops, did I say that out loud?], but its
 power is hard to deny.  Gel certainly stands no chance, but before Takeru
 can beat a description of Zhul's evil schemes out of him, a bunch of those
 missing Dimensional Beasts appear!  Crow ought to be happy, right?  Gel is
 shocked at this development, deciding that he must report the appearance to
 Zhul even if it costs him his life -- a convenient excuse for turning tail
 and fleeing in the confusion.

 Unfortunately for Takeru, the Dimensional Beasts are a dangerous enough foe
 that he can't afford to pursue Gel.  Gritting his teeth, he stays and
 fights, helping the team take the Dimensional Beasts down before what Sayaka
 calls their "time limit" expires.  Seems the DB's vanish after wreaking a
 certain amount of destruction, possibly because whatever they're made out of
 isn't stable in this dimension.

 Crow meanwhile is scowling at his instruments: it appears that these
 DBs were stronger than any previously encountered in every conceivable
 facet.  Akagi thinks he's imagining stuff -- heck, no two cats are quite
 the same strength for that matter.  Crow says that if Akagi wants a cat
 analogy, the DBs just now were more like panthers... okay, maybe small
 pantheres, but still... something far more fearsome than a housecat in any
 event.  Crow will have to leave it up to the folks back at the lab to say
 whether this is evidence that the DBs actually evolve.

 And then there's God Mars, whose contituent components split up now that the
 battle is over.  A mystery voice in Takeru's head informs him that these
 five other robots operate by absorbing Gaia's anti-proton energy.  Their
 names are Uranus, Titan, Shin, Lar, and Sphinx.  Without bothering to
 identify itself, the voice tells Mars to fight for peace in the universe
 and then falls silent.  At least this time Takeru is able to tell his 
 teammates honestly that he doesn't know precisely who he is.

Before the team can even get back to base to continue the conversation, Zhul sends a message to the peoples of Earth. He informs them that their planet holds the power to damage the universe, and like all such planets must be destroyed. THAT is something the Security Council needs to hear about at once...

Zhul receives Gel's report about the five helper mecha for Gaia: things he calls "Ideas". Just then, Marg wanders in, looking for his lost bird. Zhul's ambassadors irritably tell this "pet" of Zhul's to get lost, and that his bird hasn't been here lately. That Gel also ran into the DBs is further proof that the Earth is dangerous, and validates Zhul's decision to send Mars to Earth 17 years ago. He is not, however, interested in hearing that Gel seemingly passed out right after conveying the message: scum like Gel can always be replaced. Zhul orders his lieutenants to get busy destroying the Earth, and in the process showing Mars just what happens to those who say "no" to him.

CHAPTER 7E. Getter Robo, Sortie!

The UN is getting a dose of high theater in the form of dueling speeches about the impending invasion of the Earth. On one side are the dire warnings of Dr. Saotome, which his detractors hint are merely scare tactics to help secure more funding. On the other side are Singer and Corwen, who claim to know all about the "Invaders" Saotome spoke about. They claim they are space creatures raised to unnatural size under the influence of cosmic rays, which came to the Earth sphere stowed aboard a meteor. They claim that the Invaders are in fact few in number, and that any damage they might cause will be _strictly_ local. Delmeyer -- shady character extraordinaire and power behind the AEU facade -- wants an estimate of when and where the Invaders will strike next, which the duo can't give. Schneizer, second in line to the Britannian throne, presumes that Delmeyer's AEU would prefer if the Invaders struck the Britannia Union or the HPL, listening in silence as foreign minister Brian Stegmeyer requests international assistance in the event that the Invaders do strike Britannian soil. Delmeyer sneers at this apparent show of weakness from the self-proclaimed "world's policeman", and Brian cryptically states that his nation has its hands full with a variety of "internal and external" issues. That would be the rebellion in Area 11, and Treize knows that Britannia is closer to full-scale revolt of _all_ its colonies than it would like to admit.

Brian asserts that the Invaders, much like the Dimensional Beasts and Emerges, are an international problem -- and wants the UN to use the Security Council's personal military to help combat them. That puts Security Council chairman Elgan Roddick on the spot, especially when Delmeyer actually agrees with Brian. Elgan does not hesitate: his forces exist for _world_ peace, regardless of where in the world that peace is being threatened. A noble, if naive, sentiment in a world dominated by the Three Great Nations, but one that may yet stir a mighty wind throughout the globe.

At least one man at UN HQ is not party to the proceedings: Dr. Saotome himself, relegated to a separate chamber and fit to be tied over the willful ignorance rampant in the UN. His ranting is interrupted by Sionny Legis, Limonecia's youthful female ambassador. It's little wonder the young woman is intimidated by the scientist's menacing gaze, especially given the ill treatment he received from Stinger and Corwen during his speech. Her presence here means that the UN session has been adjourned, and Saotome dangerously inquires if she's come to laugh as this "crazed, egotistical" scientist. She hastily says she's come to hear more about the Invaders, but Saotome tells her to go fill her ears with Stinger and Corwen's optimistic bullshit instead.

To her credit, Sionny holds her ground, asking him directly if the Invaders are really the threat to mankind Saotome said they were. Saotome regards her a moment, and tells her that the Invaders are the arch-enemies of all life on Earth, if not in the universe as a whole. Eek. So... what should be done about them then? Obviously mankind needs to band together and face them! Sionny blanches at that, confirming for Saotome that these imbeciles will never learn... unless maybe they experience what it's like to have their world destroyed once before the Invaders arrive in full force. ...Uh, what?

The news out of Japan sounds pretty dire to the crew at the Dragons' Hive: Mecha-Beasts, Heterodynes, and now aliens, laying waste to the place. At least as regards the instigator of the mecha-beasts, Dr. Hell, Veda has already issued a standing death warrant to the CBs... though at the time of the warrant, Veda knew nothing of the mecha-beasts themselves. Kamon muses that even this "Veda" thingie has its limits, and telle Tielia not to scowl at him so: it messes up his perfect complexion. Tielia snarls that he doesn't trust the Dancougar organization, and was going to recommend eliminating Nova before Veda approved this collaboration. Makes sense, allows Johnny, from the CB perspective... and Tielia spits that his own personal feelings haven't changed.

After he stalks off, Aoi observes that this is the second CB that seems to hate them, after Setsuna. Allelujah tells her that Tielia and Setsuna can both be difficult to get along with at times, and Kurara doesn't mind so long as that emotion doesn't interfere with their work. Crow says he's sure the two of them are too professional for that... though he does wonder how Setsuna intends to carry out infiltration of Area 11 while maintaining his trademark unsociable facade. What will his neighbors-to-be say? Setsuna, sounding as though that hadn't actually occured to him before, tells Crow he'll try to be careful. Crow likes the fact the CBs seem willing to listen to him for a change, gradually won over by the fact that he's not actually a squeeb... and by the fact that Crow makes a study of how to get along with others, as a survival mechanism over the course of his many travels.

Speaking of Area 11, the topic du jour is the assassination of Clovis. Hard info is still scarce, but there are tales of a mysterious masked man and a honorary Britannian suspect swirling around, not to mention sightings of the Colonial Gundams. Apparently this masked man left quite an impression on the scandalized Knights, naming himself "Zero" and even admitting to being the one who assassinated Clovis. The CBs are planning to join the fray in Area 11 at some point, expecting to have to smite both the Britannians, and the resistance who would rise up against them. That may be the only way to stop the cycle of hatred.

To their credit, the CBs are willing to take on the challenge of fending off Earth's common external enemies (the Heterodynes, etc.) in repayment for trashing everyone else's military might. Lockon himself would prefer to see mankind united and fighting against said enemies as a whole, but he's enough of a cynic (realist?) to expect that that "common" struggle will actually allow the various factions to try to emphasize their own power over each other.

The philosophizing is cut short by Seimy's arrival: she's been informed that Kamon has something to tell her. He says it's something important enough that he wants her only to hear it, and runs off to the hangar to wait. Seimy blushes furiously as the others (sans clueless Setsuna) immediately jump to conclusions about what Kamon may be up to.

After all that build up, of COURSE it isn't going to be some kind of declaration of love -- this ain't no J-drama son! What's got Kamon so worked up is the burning desire for Seimy to... outfit his mech Rhinos with some kind of uber-kickass weapon, so he won't be the weak link among his fellow pilots. See, when Dancougar Nova is combined, he doesn't get to do anything other than twiddle his thumbs in his cockpit, and that's isn't right. ...Is that all? Seimy demands. Uh, yeah, kinda, like what else would there be- FINE!! No problemo, one uber-kickass weapons or two! And Kamon better damn well "fulfill" Seimy with them, understand?!? N-O P-R-I-S-O-N-E-R-S!!! (yikes!) Guess Seimy has more of a thing for Kamon than she lets on...

...Some time later, the CB+D team are on a mission to stop a weapons deal with the WLF, tipped off by their brilliant (and alocholic) strategist Sumeragi. The terrorists must be smote before they can drag more civilians into their mindless "liberation" schemes, especially since they seem to be improving the quality of their arsenal on a daily basis. Kamon's really into it today, saying cryptically that he and Seimy are getting along _just_ fine.

 Take out a few of the terrorists and a new group of mecha will show up, and
 all indications are they're _not_ friendly.  The team have no idea who they
 are or what their capabililties might be, but neither Setsuna nor Lockon
 want to simply pull out... that would be just as bad as the WLF, in terms of
 leaving the nearby townsfolk undefended.  With Team D and even the reluctant
 Tielia on board, the bad guys better say their prayers.  Crow just hopes
 their combat data will sell...

 As though this battle wasn't messy enough, a bunch of Dimensional Beasts
 show up in the middle of anything.  And in their wake come a trio of fighter
 jets, which combine to form... Getter Robo!!!  Its pilots Ryouma, Benkei and
 Hayato survey the battle, noting that the combattants represent the dumping
 ground of the world.  Appropriate, it seems.  Ryouma gets on the horn and
 orders the CBs out of the way: the Invaders are _his_ prey.  The Nova
 bristle at that a bit, but if Getter -- who seemingly knows something about
 these "Invaders" -- want to tangle with them, so much the better.
 Introductions over, Ryouma says it's time for action.  Assuming, of course,
 that he's up to it -- if not, Benkei or Hayato would be more than happy to
 take over for him.

 The Dimensional Beasts don't stick around long after the last Invader is
 beaten back -- they do have a time limit after all, something to do with
 their matter being unstable on this plane or whatnot.  Crow notes grimly that
 these DBs seem to be superior to any previously encountered on basically
 every scale... and it's not just per-individual variability.  These are as
 different from the previous DBs as a (mini-)panther would be from a domestic
 cat.  If this is a sign that the DBs are actually evolving, everyone is in
 for a world of hurting.

 Things nearly take an ugly turn when Tielia's baleful gaze turns to Getter.
 Ryouma would love to see him try to mess with Getter, but his copilots
 remind him what they're here for.  Besides... Saotome would beat them half
 to death if they actually crushed the CBs.  Johnny's heard of the
 eccentric leader of the Saotome laboratory, but Ryouma says that
 "eccentric" isn't the word -- dude is fucking insane in the membrane.
 Saotome's contributions to fields as diverse as energy production and
 robotics put him among the intellectual elite of Japan, but for the last
 several years Saotome has vanished from the conference circuit, immersed in
 some personal research or other.  Said scientist sent Getter here with a
 message: the CBs are to use Getter and its pilots to help destroy the world.

Unexpected much? Yes, to everyone except Tanaka, whose boss is the one who requested the loan of the Getter Team from Saotome. Of course, this also got Veda approval (much to Tielia's aggravation), and Ryouma is looking forward to helping out in this fight the CBs picked with the world (or whatever nobler- sounding name you want to give their declaration). To explain why the Getter team was recruited, Tanaka starts by discussing Saotome himself.

First of all, Saotome's research of late concerns Getter Rays, a species of cosmic radiation bombarding the Earth. Though many of its components remain obscure to science, what is clear is that it is a massive source of energy. This view is not shared by the scientific community at large, and Saotome's growing unorthodoxy led to his de facto exile from intellectual conferences. But even the eccentric scientist couldn't stay cloisted in his lab forever... not after the discovery his research led to.

He forecast the coming of the Invaders, mysterious foes from somewhere in space bent on the Earth's destruction. Exactly what they are or what they want is still under investigation, but one thing is certain: the unvierse isn't big enough for both them and mankind. Unfortunately, Saotome's attempt to warn the UN was a disaster, with Saotome's opponents using every trick they could to discredit the aging scientist. Some of Saotome's old collaborators were even bought off, providing data that seemingly disagreed with his. Even the fact that the Invaders have actually _arrived_ isn't enough to vindicate Saotome: his foes are claiming the Invaders are just a local menace.

The Three Great Nations have pawned off the Invader problem onto the impotent Security Council, and Saotome decided to start his own feud with the Invaders via Getter Robo, a mech of his design powered by Getter Rays. He also selected its pilots, basically abducting them away from their daily lives, but Ryouma isn't complaining: Getter Robo gives him a constructive outlet for his inherently violent nature. All the Getter pilots have to be hot-blooded, or the Getter Ray powerplant won't work. Crow feels more than a little kinship with these guys.

Tanaka's boss has been following Saotome's resarch for a long time, and was quick to volunteer assistance for Saotome's goals when the chance came. This is about more than just fending off the Invaders though: Saotome thinks the world needs a hard lesson in how selfish everyone is being. Hence the bit about "destroying" the world, or at least the elements in the world who insist on fighting with each other instead of with Earth's common foes. It seems like a natural fit to hook up with the CBs, and even Tielia will accept their assistance given that Veda says it's okay. Aoi wants to know what the deal is with Tielia and Veda: why is Veda's view so important to him? Tielia sniffs that that's what the CBs are, and Crow clarifies that there's quite a mixed force gathered here at the base. Be that as it may, their quarrels are now Ryouma and friends' quarrels. Crow just hopes that the volatile Getter team can focus most of their energy on the Invaders, and not the rest of the pilots here.

CHAPTER 7J. His Name is Zero

Clovis' death is dominating the news in Area 11, with no official comment forthcoming from the Britannian government. Nanaly grieves over her brother's loss, and Lelouch thinks to himself that nobody in the Britannia Union is worthy of that kind of gentleness. He's doing the best he can to muster his resolve, but the decision to pull the trigger still weighs heavily on his mind. On the TV, the anchorman reports that Jeremiah will act as Clovis temporary replacement. Jeremiah comes from a faction that believes the Britannian military should only be composed of actual natural-born Britannians, and Lelouch guesses that all honorary Britannians in the military are in for a rough time. Lelouch struggles to comprehend why Suzaku voluntarily became an honorary Britannian, when the Britannians are quite happy killing someone like Suzaku off like an unwanted insect.

Well, for starters it turns out Suzaku isn't actually dead! Lelouch hears in shock that Suzaku is very much alive and is being held on suspicion of aiding and abetting the assassin. Nanaly remembers Suzaku well, and asks Lelouch if this news story isn't a lie: Suzaku would never do something like this, right? Correctamundo! Lelouch assures Nanaly that the truth will prevail and bids her good night, while inside his mind is going a mile per second. The conclusion can only be that Jeremiah is trying to destroy Area 11's entire honorary Britannian system by making it look like one of them is the culprit. And the last thing Lelouch wants to see is Suzaku used as a pawn in such an underhanded scheme. In order to do anything about it, he'll have to master his newfound "Geass" powers, and then...

At least Milly is around to lend a sympathetic ear, knowing how hard Clovis' death must have been on Nanaly. It was her grandfather who took Nanaly and Lelouch in seven years ago, and Milly is fully aware of their royal blood. Lelouch tells Milly he's quite happy with his current lifestyle, as it gives him a chance to assure that Nanaly has somewhere safe to live. Inwardly though, he knows that the two of them will be used as political tools their entire lives, so long as Britannia stands. But enough with the doom and gloom: there are two new transfer students to introduce! And if that wasn't enough, Karen Stadtfeld is actually on campus today, her longstanding "illness" apparently on the wane for a change.

Lelouch immediately realizes that Karen is the pilot of the red resistance mech. Who would have guessed that the well-mannered, frail, academically brilliant Lady would actually be a terrorist combattant? In any case, she's his ticket into influencing the resistance, and he doesn't waste a moment in excusing himself and going off after her. That leaves Shirley speechless in his wake, wondering if Lelouch has somehow fallen for Karen.

Speaking of whom, Karen makes an astounding discovery in the library: the two new transfer students are Hiiro and Duo! Hiiro's hacked into the school's computers and entered all the necessary paperwork, leaving the two boys free to do their investigating. They've also brought a message for Karen from Oogi: seems the mystery man has contacted him again. Seems the man wants to meet the resistance, and the crew plan to assemble at their hideout tonight to discuss it. Karen agrees, and warns Duo not to make too much fun of her "retiring lady" facade lest she kick his ass.

Rilina and friends arrive just then with invitations to a welcome party to be held in the two transfer students' honor. Stop me if you've heard this one before: Hiiro deftly shreds the invitation, then wipes away the sudden teardrop from Rilina's cheek as he walks off. Duo makes some lighthearted excuse about the two of them having after-school jobs and traipses off too, telling Rilina and the others to party hearty without him. The rest of the Student Council trot off after him, leaving Lelouch alone to get some information from Karen.

Using his Geass, Lelouch has Karen explain why she's turned to terrorism. Turns out she's half-Japanese, and desperately wants to restore the peace of seven years ago -- a peace that her delusional mother dreams of daily. In the process, Lelouch learns two important things about the Geass: its power over its subject's mind is absolute, and it can only be used once per victim. Unfortuantely he also arouses her suspicions by asking about Shinjuku after the Geass effect ended, and Karen demands to know why he's interested. Fortunately Lelouch has prepared for this eventuality, using a timed, prerecorded phonecall of his Zero voice to trick Karen into believing it's not him. Karen hastily leaves Lelouch be and rushes off, just as he planned. With no one suspecting him and a better understanding of how his Geass works, it's time to act!

The meeting with the Oogi group is a fairly unusual one, in that Zero is represented by voice only, and then only to Oogi directly. Zero knows full well that trust will be hard to secure with this setup, so he's told Oogi that he'll win his group's trust via a demonstration -- of something that should be impossible. Zero means to free Suzaku, and says he'll do it in three days' time as Suzaku is being transported to a different prison. Oogi tells the team to get ready, though for what he can only guess, and has all plans to kidnap Rilina put on hold.

Later that evening, Nanaly and their caretaker Sayoko come visit Lelouch in his room. Sayoko has taught Nanaly how to make paper cranes, and it's said that if you wish on a thousand of them, your wish will come true. Nanaly wants to wish for a peaceful world, and Lelouch promises her it will be by the time she can open her eyes again. Inside, he knows that there are only a few outcomes he can choose from, including a short life as a disposable pawn in someone else's political intrigues if he does nothing. His friends and the Ashford name can't shield them forever. Whatever else happens, he's got to ensure that Nanaly gets a peaceful world to live in.

Nanaly then has Lelouch do a little ceremony she learned from her Eleven friends: "yubikiri". You keep your promise, or you lose that finger. Lelouch assures her he never lies (to her), and as Sayoko takes Nanaly away apologizes mentally to Sayoko for Geassing her into helping with the phonecall to Karen. He then takes out his new mask, made by a person who too has been Geassed into never revealing his secret. He's about to step onto a path from which there's no turning back, and when he promised to make the impossible possible, he meant it completely.

As the prisoner transfer arrives, Jeremiah checks with his press liaison Diethart that everything is in readiness. Diethart as much as expects some kind of trouble, but quickly tells Jeremiah to forgive his "journalist's" turn of phrase. Diethart politely declines Jeremiah's invitation to join the army's (dis)information bureau, content to remain civilian and record momentous events like this. Jeremiah will be transporting Suzaku in his personal Sutherland, and Viletta isn't sure she likes any of this. After all, many Elevens still see Suzaku as a hero, son of "Japan"'s final prime minister and all. Jeremiah smirks and says that should any terrorist cell get the bright idea to disrupt today's proceedings, the prisoner transport will very quickly become a public execution. Of _course_ that's a joke (Diethart isn't laughing), says Jeremiah, who vows to repulse anything resembling an attack.

Lloyd's having his own problems; namely, the most important part of his Lancelot is now on death row. Replacement pilots are very hard to arrange, and the odds that any of them could match Suzaku's skills are basically nil. As long as Jeremiah is running the show around here, Suzaku will _not_ be an option. Clovis' old second-in-command Bartley isn't faring much better, under arrest for deserting his post (and professing no memory of the time during which Clovis was assassinated).

For his part, Suzaku is playing the whole mess cool, telling Lloyd that he'll make a full statement in a court of law. In an ideal world, the truth would set him free. In this world, as Lloyd pointed out to Suzaku when he saw him last, the truth seldom carries the day in court. Suzaku responded then that if that's truly the way of the world, he will have no regrets leaving it. Lloyd isn't even sure what to call that: philanthropism? Humanitarianism? Whatever it is, Suzaku's doom is likely sealed as Lloyd can't even get a hold of a certain person who's busy at the UN.

As the procession is about to start, Diethart has nothing but disgust for the media circus he's helping fuel. Oogi's group are on standby, but dare not lift a finger lest Suzaku simply get blown away -- what is their mysterious benefactor planning, anyway? They don't have to wait long to find out. Zero is aboard one of the Britannian mecha, and parks himself directly in the route of the parade. He boldly steps out of his cockpit and names himself, his face hidden beneath a mask as he vows to pay Suzaku back in full. This seems suicidal until he tells Jeremiah that he has what Jeremiah was seeking in the ghetto the other day -- best to not threaten him.

As far as Jeremiah knows the item in question really is poison gas, and if so it means that the throngs of spectators for the prisoner transfer just all became hostages... and without even realizing it! Jeremiah's paralysis confirms to Zero that the true contents of the capsule were a tightly held secret, and he demands that Jeremiah hand over Suzaku at once. Jeremiah scoffs at the prospect of handing over Clovis' killer, but Zero tells him he's got it all wrong. The one who killed Clovis was Zero himself! As the newsmen struggle to keep up with this development, Jeremiah shouts that this is clearly some sort of ruse, and one that dishonors Clovis' memory to boot.

As Jeremiah threatens to smite him, Zero counters that if he dies, the "Orange" business will become public... and Jeremiah doesn't want _that_, does he? As everyone wonders what the heck he's talking about, Zero gets close enough to Geass Jeremiah, forcing him to let Zero and Suzaku go unharmed. Jeremiah orders everyone else to let the two go free, even firing a warning shot at Kyuell to keep him at bay. Zero thanks Jeremiah for his assistance and bugs out, leaving Jeremiah to wonder what the hell is going on as he regains his senses. Kyuell furiously orders his men to pursue...

...but Oogi's team emerge from hiding and get in the way. Zero actually returns, having put Suzaku somewhere safe, and tells Oogi that it's time they showed the people what a Britannian military defeat looks like. Viletta hastily gets all the civilians evacuated, and Jeremiah stammers an order to attack. Zero has Oogi's troops well in hand, and knows that if he can lead them to victory here, their trust in him will be helluva solid.

 The Knights' offsensive is helluva non-solid, and Zero's newfound army
 routs them with ease.  He tells everyone to rendezvous at point 152 after
 they've dispersed and hidden their mecha.  On the sidelines, Lloyd has
 fallen in love with the masterful show of tactics.  The unfortunate part is
 that Suzaku has been hauled off somewhere, probably to be offered a choice
 of joining the terrorists or dying.  Lloyd seems to have quickly resigned
 himself to never seeing Suzaku again, and sighs that he'll really have to
 find a new core for the Lancelot now...

Opinions are still divided among Oogi's group about whether Zero is for real. Oogi points out that what Zero orchestrated today is beyond anything anyone's managed to date, including the infamous Japan Liberation Front. Certainly Oogi himself couldn't have pulled it off... Zero has asked to speak with Suzaku alone, and in deference to his leadership during the battle Crow advises the others to give them some space.

Still wearing his helmet, Zero examines Suzaku, noting how roughly he's been treated by his Britannian captors. He tells Suzaku to join him if he wants to fix this broken world and rotten Britannian empire. Suzaku asks if Zero really killed Clovis, and Zero points out that this is war: does he need any further justification to kill the enemy's general? Suzaku counters by asking about the poison gas charade and implicit hostage-taking, and Zero says that bluffing is part of all negotiations: note that nobody actually died as a result.

Unfortuantely for Zero, Suzaku is more interested in the means than the result: he wants to _fix_ Britannia, and to do so in the "right" way. Suzaku begins to walk toward the courthouse, intending to stand trial as originally scheduled even though he knows that the entire thing is a charade set up to crucify him. Suzuaku tells Zero that if Suzaku doesn't follow the rules, the assault on all honorary Britannians will begin. If he goes, his death is assured, and Suzaku tells a flabbergasted Zero that he doesn't care. Zero calls him an idiot, which Suzaku often heard from an old friend of his. Heck, if he's going to die, at least he wants to die for everyone else's sake.

Zero lets Suzaku go, telling the enraged Tamashiro that no man can stop another from going to his own death. Crow supports Zero, seeing as how Zero was the one who saved Suzaku's life in the first place. Zero thanks him for the kind words, and asks all the pilots what they think of today's battle. Oogi says that it felt like a victory of sorts, but Zero tells him it was nothing of the kind. This kind of petty terrorism will never allow the resistance to defeat Britannia, given the yawning chasm between the two sides. Zero tells them it's time to put aside childish games, and focus on the real enemy: not the Britannian people, but Britannia itself!

It means outright war, it means keeping the civilians out of it, and it means doing whatever it takes for justice to prevail. These are things all of the pilots know already, but haven't been able to get much traction on to date. Oogi asks Zero if he knows how to do it, and Zero reminds him that he's already done the impossible once. Oogi asks Zero to lend them that strength, as their leader: he knew from the moment Zero faced Jeremiah that Zero was worth risking it all for. Crow is next to agree, followed by Duo, who knows that Zero's brains and courage are the real deal. Zero knows full well that appearing in his mask will be an impediment to trust, but points out to Karen that it was precisely because of her trust in him that she won in Shinjuku and again today. That's good enough for her, and for Hiiro and the others. Thus begins Zero's long climb to secure a peaceful world for Nanaly, even if it means using this group of warriors as his chesspieces...

The following morning, Ashford Academy is as peaceful as usual, testament enough to the soporific power of the Britannia Union. Anything not directly threatening is ignored completely by the common people... even dire events like the HPL's feud with the CBs, or the Gishin invasion of the other Japan. Not that peaceful living is an entirely bad thing, but this is ridiculous. Karen warns Duo not to talk to her at school lest her cover get blown, adding that she's got no other group of friends to hang out with instead. As for Rilina, Duo leaves it up to the new group leader whether or not to kidnap her... but Hiiro has already made his mind up. When the trio sees Rilina across the courtyard, Hiiro splits off and walks past Rilina, telling her succicntly as he passes that he'll kill her. No beating around the bush for this guy!

Back at UN HQ in New York, it's business as usual -- meaning a disturbing lack of reaction to Minister Dorian's impassioned speech. Rilina's dad is advocating, shock and amazement, actually _talking_ to the Space Colonies instead of simply insisting that the Colony Management Collective's will is absolute. Treize tells Lady Une that Dorian is completely in the right... and also completely going to get ignored by the Great Nations and Colonies alike. These are hostile times for rational thinkers like him, and more sacrifices are needed if those times are to change. Lady Une tells him that all the warriors of OZ are waiting for his words to begin that process of changing the world, but he says that the role of leading the change is too heavy for him alone. He accompanied Delmeyer here to search for like-minded comrades, and tells her that he'll know soon if "they" and he see eye to eye or not. And when that happens, he shall become the Defeated, unto this world...

See Chapter 6E for Kinue's conversation with Shoji and Louise, and Setsuna...

CHAPTER 8K. Tested Resolve

Dr. Hell has a lot on his mind these days, and most of it has to do with all the different ways he hates Tsubaki's guts. And innards. And viscera. And other big words for the stuff he wants Ashura to spill all over the floor when (s)he finds the right moment to strike from the undersea fortress of Salud. Why so serious? Well, technically Tsubaki has killed Dr. Hell once already, along with his whole frigging island of Bardos, but maybe it's time for bygones to be bygones, eh? "Brocken, smite that women even if it means burning all Atami to the ground!!" ...Maybe not.

As Brocken cackles over some innovative new way of burninating Atami, opinions are divided at Battle Camp about what should be done with Takeru. At least two of his own teammates want him shot for spying for the Gishin... never mind the fact that he's been fighting by their side all this time _and_ lost his father while doing it. The team needn't wait long for Ootsuka to reach a decision.

He's given Gaia a pretty thorough checkup, and now possesses several important facts. Number one: Takeru comes from the self-same folks who just declared war on the Earth. Number two: Gaia uses anti-proton propulsion and can amplify Takeru's natural psychic powers (never mind that anti-proton power sources are still just a theoretical possibility for Earth's scientists). Number three: Gaia's anti-proton energy also powers a planet-killing bomb embedded in it... a bomb set to go off in the event of Takeru's death.

Ootsuka requests that Takeru's teammates not blame him for any of this: Takeru only found out about any of it over the last few days. Unfortunately, he overvalues their capacity for rational thought: even Mika is prepared to see the guy kicked off the planet. Ootsuka however has other ideas: Takeru is going to be kept under guard for a while, on the assumption that killing him will be the Gishinians' top priority. At the least, keeping him out of combat sounds like a smart move, and Takeru reluctantly agrees to Ootsuka's orders when even Crow says that he can't fight at Takeru's side as things currently stand.

Of course, Crow's got a reason for putting it that way -- no team can last long if its members can't trust each other. And it's far from a ringing endorsement of this outfit's teamwork if Takeru's own long-standing teammates are going to suddenly doubt him. The best they can do for now is focus on the task at hand, which is preparing for more Gishin attacks.

Taigauchi meanwhile is busy fending off an official demand to place the Dai Guard under army control. He makes an interesting procedural argument: the military has officially abandoned use of the Dai Guard units now that a later generation of D-equipped mecha are on hand. Dokujima protests that an ammendment is already on its way through the legislature, but Taigauchi tells him to drop it: the Dai Guards are already on direct assigment to the UN Security Council. But fear not: the Security Council is sure to dispatch the Dai Guard for anti-Heterodyne duty, as their original design calls for. Dokujima leaves in a huff, just in time for Kamimura to pass along word from the lab: "the item" is ready to rock.

Back in Atami, Professor Yumi is paying a visit to the Kurogane-Ya at Tsubaki's request. She explains to him how she knew about Mazinger-Z: her old friend Juuzou told her about it. He also told her to help out his grandson if things ever turned pear-shaped, which she's done admirably so far. One thing she won't explain yet is her connection to Ashura -- it's too early for Kouji to handle The Truth(tm).

...Which is why Kouji's busy training out in the courtyard. Akagi has Kouji doing some serious strength training, on the dubious theory that all those buttons and levers in the cockpit get hard to push as combat wears on. Certainly Akagi can't be counted on for insight into strategy or tactics, as his repertoire mainly consists of charging in blindly. Everyone's glad when breaktime and snacks arrive, especially Crow: he's been skipping breakfast in a bid to conserve cash. Watta tells him that's a bad idea, and offers to front the dough in exchange for Crow helping with his homework. DEAL!!

Word then arrives about some new equipment for the Dai Guard, accompanied by a hefty manifest. Crow is astonished at the total development cost: enough to make even his debts look small. This new item should kick some major ass... if Akagi and friends can master it, that is. And to be sure they do, the Crushers have been assigned a new strategic advisor from the UN Security Forces: Shiroda. Who, it becomes rapidly apparent, isn't Akagi's biggest fan. His self-introduction ends quickly, and before stalking off he intimates that Akagi might not be Dai Guard's pilot for long.

This goes back to the rumors swirling around about the Security Forces trying to take Dai Guard over for themselves. Akagi is furious at the thought that someone other than him might be made the pilot, but the other assure him that his position is secure for now... if only because the number of people who actually have a Super Robot pilot's licence is vanishingly small (much like the number of Super Robots...) Aoyama would be just as happy to let someone else pilot in his stead, but Ibuki is (finally!) starting to feel possessive about her part in fending off the Heterodynes.

That's what Tsubaki wants to hear. She warns Kouji and friends that they're up against the serious shit from all sides -- anyone not committed 100% to the cause will just drag the rest of the team down. It's a heavy responsibility to bear, and Aoyama wants no part of it. Too bad for him a dispatch comes in from HQ just then: the Heterodynes are attacking! Sounds like a good time to show Shiroda what's what! ...Or look like total morons.

Shiroda wastes no time in making his authority felt, and most of the tiem is far from thrilled. Crow tells them not to sweat it: a flock of sheep led by a wolf is far better than a flock of wolves led by a sheep (or so Napoleon had it, anyway). Crow's interested in seeing what species Shiroda turns out to be. Takeru is in fact imprisoned deep within the base, much to Kouji's discomfort. The bigger worry is the Dai Guard team, all of whom seem to be caught up in their own objectives and not focused on the team.

The Heterodynes look different from the last time, which Shiroda ascribes to the vagaries of the specific circumstances under which they leaked into this world. He orders Dai Guard to wait until the second wave of troops, on the theory that its firepower is "wanting". Never mind that it was specifically designed to battle the Heterodynes. Unexpectedly, Akagi grits his teeth and heeds Shiroda's command... and _not_ out of mere salaryman-like loyalty, it seems.

 The Heterodyne may be buff, but very rapidly it becomes the least of the
 team's problems -- another Spacetime Quake occurs, and from it emerge more
 Dimensional Beasts.  Crow shouts to Akagi and friends to take on the
 Heterodyne while Crow resumes his original D.B. fighting mission...
 somewhat to Shiroda's initial annoyance.  However, Shiroda quickly realizes
 how effective the team's freeform cooperation is.

 These Dimensional Beasts are tougher than any on record, and Crow can only
 hope that isn't a harbinger of worse to come.  And as though that wasn't
 bad enough, the Heterodyne proves surprisingly prone to healing its
 spherical self.  Aoyama wants to flee this menace, but even Ibuki has now
 bought into the concept that the Dai Guard is the last bastion of mankind's
 hope!!  ...'Kay so, what's the plan then?  Shiroda yells for Akagi to aim
 for the Heterodyne's original Fractal Knot, the point where it gathers the
 energy that allows it to regenerate.

 As Shiroda sends over the coordinates, bassd on his on-the-fly analysis of
 the battle, the Dai Guard team get a phone call from their chief mechanic:
 he's got a new weapon for them to try out.  Lo and Behold, it is none other
 than the "Knot Buster", which does pretty much what you'd expect it to do.
 Guess all that money the company's been blowing has gone to some good use
 anyway.

 Celebrations will have to wait however, as a new wave of Mecha-Beasts swarms
 ashore.  Ashura thinks the team pose no threat after blowing their wad on
 the Heterodyne, but Kouji takes a different view: the moment the team pulls
 out, Atami is toast.  Literally.

 As the team labors on in extra innings, Takeru's mother pays him a visit.
 She tells him of the team's struggles, as though urging Takeru to go join
 the fray.  He's not exactly thrilled, especially since she's part of the
 reason he's here, but she reminds him that his telekinesis will let him bust
 out any time he wishes... and Ootsuka knows that quite well.  She tells him
 that his life is his to live however he chooses, and reminds him that his
 parents are she and her husband, here on Earth.

 One. Small. Problem.  If he dies, said Earth goes kablooie, with everyone
 hating his guts no less.  A mystery voice comes into Takeru's head, chiding
 "Mars" to be more honest with his feelings.  Persevere, no matter how much
 it sucks!  Uh, okay, goes Takeru, and charges into the fray in Gaia.

 He tells his disbeliving teammates that he's here to fight for the Earth, and
 immediately starts breaking Mecha-Beast heads.  Crow is a believer that
 "actions speak louder than words", and no one else can gainsay that just at
 this moment.  Certainly not Ashura, whose Stronger-T4 proves just as feeble
 as every previous deathweapon (s)he has brought into battle.  This delights
 Brocken, who triumphantly emerges from the shadows to tell Ashura that (s)he
 is now persona non grata for their boss.

 It's fallen to Brocken to clean Ashura's mess up, and he wastes no time in
 dispatching the Groizer-X10.  This Mecha-Beast is a bomber with no recall
 mechanism, and a primary blast radius fully ten klicks wide!  Brocken sends
 it towards the Kurogane-Ya, intending to obliterate its mistress once and for
 all.  Shiroda sighs, and orders the team to withdraw: all the civilians have
 been evacuated safely out of harm's way.  The Kurogane-Ya's residents didn't
 budge however, and Shiroda says it's "unfortunate" they chose not to comply.
 The team hesitate to withdraw, and Shiroda snaps that the must be broken of
 their bad habit of getting hung up on challenges immediately before their
 eyes, even when they realize there's a bigger picture.

 Akagi snaps back that it's Shiroda who doesn't see the big picture: there's
 more to battle than just defeating enemies and minimizing the collateral
 damage.  Does he have any idea what it's like to have no home to return to,
 to live in a city with no power or running water?  This isn't about keeping
 the team alive, or saving money -- it's about saving a way of life!!  His
 words resonate with the team, and are just what Tsubasa has been waiting to
 hear.

 She yells for Kouji to get off his ass and fire his Photon Power Beam,
 using perhaps the last button he hasn't already pressed in Mazinger's
 cockpit.  As the massive Groizer bears down on the city, Ashura flees in
 terror.  (S)he needn't bother, really -- the flying rust-bucket crumbles
 easily under the team's onslaught.  Tsubasa smirks and tells Kouji that he's
 finally done _something_ right for a change, reminding him that he's got a
 hell of a long way to go before escaping failhood.

Takeru then tells the team he's got something important to discuss. He has no knowledge of Gishin, having been raised on Earth since a very early age. As far as he's concerned, Earth is his home, and he intends to put his life on the line to defend it. The end. Ootsuka walks over and sticks up for the guy, saying that he was wrong to regard Takeru's presence as a threat to the Earth. Given Takeru's resolve, it's better to think of him as part of Earth's defenses. Naoto agrees, having seen Takeru's words in action. All is seemingly forgiven, and Kenji vows to fight alongside and to protect Takeru.

Next up is Akagi, the current expert in disobeying orders. Shiroda walks up and asks him to turn in his report about today's battle by tomorrow. Shiroda tells Ibuki and the others that today's mess is partly his fault for not comprehending the Dai Guard's capabilities in full. Hence, he won't throw the book at the pilots this time -- but by the same token that he means to improve his command skills, he expects the team to follow his orders from now on. Aoyama has been hoping the military would send a replacement for him, but Shiroda says that there are no such plans... guess Aoyama has no choice but to give in and pilot for all he's worth for now.

In the meantime, Tsubasa tells the team to rinse off and enjoy the hot springs. of course, Akagi and Watta will be up all night writing reports, and to his chagrin Crow will be too. He'll even have to help Watta with his homework in exchange for some of the finest coffee Takeo General Company can offer. Meanwhile, back at base, Rika Domeki is overjoyed that her theory of how the Fractal Knot theory -- and countermeasure -- panned out so well. She knows however that she's got a lot more research to do to prepare for whatever horrendous stunt the Heterodynes will pull next.

CHAPTER 8E. For Whom, The Trigger

Setsuna runs into Shoji in the hall -- Shoji's on his way out the door to catch a flight to space: he's made it into Space Camp, and will be gone about a week. Space, huh? Oh right, that's that place where most of Setsuna's comrades are and he isn't. Sumeragi for instance wastes no time busting out the booze in honor of the glorious view of Earth from orbit. It's a good thing she operates best while tipsy, since she and Veda have a lot of planning to do in light of the CB's newfound foes. Allelujah has come along as Sumeragi's bodyguard, glad of the change of pace that space affords but still occasionally disconcerted by how _quiet_ space is. That couldn't _possibly_ have to do with anything in Allelujah's past, now could it?

Meanwhile, Sergei has arrived to help lead the anti-Gundam efforts of the HPL. With him is Soma Peries from the Superhuman Research Lab, a project geared at creating the better soldier by any means necessary. For example, Soma didn't volunteer for the project or anything: she was a designer baby born exclusively for the lab's use. She'll have a brand-new mech to test pilot out in space -- from what Sergei's heard it's specially designed to exploit the supersoldier's reflex speed. The mech is the MSJ-06II-SP "Tieren Taozi", and it's anybody's guess if it can actually stand up to a Gundam.

Back at the Dragons' Hive, the bridge bunnies are also acting in another of their capacities, as counselors for the pilots. Aoi isn't one to keep her worries bottled up, so instead she commiserates with Ruriruri on how rought these sessions must be to listen to. Ruriruri won't share exactly what was said, but she admits to being largely helpless to help Crow with his debts. Allelujah's tale was especially disturbing, whatever it was. The Getter team passed on counseling entirely, which doesn't surprise Aoi one bit given their almost instinctively wild disposition. Ruriruri asks what's made her take such an active interest in the welfare of others, and Aoi has to admit that it's a bit out of character for her. As she leaves, Ruriruri thinks to herself that although the D-team didn't actually divulge their own thoughts, they probably harbor animal instincts stronger even than those of the Getter team. Next on the proverbial couch, of all people, is Setsuna. Um, yikes?

Back in the control room, the Getter team notices that Sumeragi and Allelujah are elsewhere: space, as it turns out. Tielia won't confirm or deny whether the CB's base is in space, and the Getter team grimly agree not to ast too many questions of their uneasy allies. Musashi does explain why his team refused counseling, not out of a desire to keep secrets of their own, but out of concern for Ruriruri. A list of what Ryouma's done in his past might well drive her insane instead! The same goes for the other two, whose litany of mayhem and lawlessness might prove instructive to renegade debter Crow... if he had fewer scruples.

Then again, the biggest illegals here are still the CBs. Tielia, for instance, is willing to abandon others to the predations of the Invaders if that will keep Veda secret and safe. Ryouma spits on the floor at that -- what fucking point is there to ending war if not the ultimate welfare of the people? This nearly brings him and Tielia to blows before Lockon and Crow separate them. There'll be plenty of time to settle this debate once and for all later; for now, there are more immediate problems to attend to. Still, Aoi seems uncharacteristically fascinated to know Tielia's ultimate reason for stamping out warfare, and her interest seems to galvanize the rest of Team D in ways Tanaka hasn't seen before. At this rate, Tanaka thinks, these kids might just manage to open Dancougar Nova's "Door"...

The HPL soldiers are loving the Tieren Taozi and its pilot, but Sergei is worried about Soma's inexperience. The tests are interrupted by a civilian shuttle straying into the exercise area, forced to dodge spacetime distortions en route to Space Camp. Sergei tells his jumpy subordinates not to do anything rash, and to simply escort the shuttle somewhere safe and be sure it erases its memory banks. Aboard the shuttle, Shoji is breathing a big sigh of relief, and hearing it from Louise about not being more manly and protecting her. Still, now that the danger of the spacetime distortion is past, Earth and its oribital ring sure look pretty. Shoji loves how the traces of war aren't visible from up here, and plans to work in space when he's through school.

Just then, something stabs into Soma's mind, forcing its way into his consciousness. The same phenomenon strikes Allelujah, whose personality seems to change in the blink of an eye into someone far more vicious. Chris radios to his quarters to summon him to the bridge, where Sumeragi is planning to attack a group of Invaders that have maerialized near the HPL's military test site. The altered Allelujah can't wait to eviscerate them all, and it turns out that this is actually _Hallelujah_, Allelujah's twin/alter-ego/who knows what, and Allelujah pleads with him to go easy lest the civilians nearby get caught in the crossfire.

Back in the test zone, Soma is essentially paralyzed by her headache, and Sergei orders his men to retrieve her mech. The Invaders pop out before they can comply, leaving several of Sergei's men dead and the civilian shuttle's engines in ruins. Even Sergei's mothership is disabled, but before all hope is lost, a Gundam shows up and moves to protect the shuttle. At its controls is Allelujah, who seems to have regained control and who sympathizes with the plight of those adrift in space. It seems that Allelujah and Soma are responsible for each others' headaches, which get steadily worse the closer the two get to each other. The pain is too much for Allelujah, and Hallelujah forces his way to the front, vowing to take Soma _and_ the Invaders apart.

Hallelujah cries in something between anguish and triumph that Soma is just like him, a monstrosity fucked in body and mind by the scientists!! Sergei beats the hastiest retreat he can, pleading with Soma not to do anything rash until help arrives and to try to keep the civilians safe. That's going to be dangerous, since Hallelujah is determined not only to kill her, but to violate AND slaughter her for good measure.

 Sumeragi arrives a turn later, and quickly figures out what's going on.
 "Hallelujah" is a split personality that arose while Allelujah was a subject
 in the HPL's superhuman laboratories.  Sumeragi tells the crew of the
 Ptolemeos that they have no real choice but to back Hallelujah up, which
 might be easier if the ship was actually armed worth a damn.  Well, here
 goes nothing...

 The rest of the team appear in short order -- too short under normal
 circumstances, but they got tipped off to the Ptolemeos' whereabouts by a
 mysterious voice on the other side of a radio transmission, calling himself
 "Portman".  Not just anyone can track the CB's activities, and not just
 anyone could contact the Dragons' Hive about them.  Even Tanaka has no clue,
 and normally the team would put everything on hold to run this mystery down.
 But with teh Invaders, and Hallelujah, on the loose, priorities have been
 shuffled a bit.  Sumeragi remembers how Allelujah was found adrift in
 space after escaping the HPL's laboratory, and guesses that that memory is
 what brought Hallelujah back.  She's got a lot to answer for in revealing
 the top-secret Ptolemeos to the world, but Ryouma at least appreciates the
 gesture in protecting the civilians.  Since Hallelujah is slobbering all over
 in anticipation of slaughtering Soma, the rest of the team prudently focus
 on the Invaders.

 The preferred plan is to finish the fracas before the HPL reinforcements
 arrive, which is no big deal for the hotshots on the team.  They pull out
 just as Sergei's forces arrive, leaving him to ponder why the Gundams would
 offer humanitarian aid, and what the winged Gundam has to do with Soma's
 prostration.  The supersoldier program supposedly modified its subjects'
 glial cells to enhance their brainwaves, and Sergei has to wonder if the
 CB's have a supersoldier in their ranks too.  Shoji and Louise are mostly
 just happy to be alive...

Back on Earth, Kinue rejoices that her brother and friend are safe. Isabelle Cronkite, reporter extraordinaire, overhears this and strikes up a conversation. She's learned that Kinue is privately investigating the Celestial Beings, who just so happen to be hanging out with her favorite subject: Dancougar (remember that Pulitzer Prize she won?) She invites Kinue to join her in a search for the truth, going so far as to quote Kinue's late father about how the truth lies in the conjunction of the facts. Kinue agrees, and one can only hope that they can eventually shed light on what's really going on in the world.

Back on the Ptolemeios, Tielia tries to take Sumeragi to task for revealing the flagship to the world. Not so fast, says Allelujah, who says that Sumeragi was merely acting to protect him after he sortied against the Invaders. Ryouma and Aoi both praise Allelujah, saying they'd have done the same to protect the innocent from a clear and present danger. Crow adds that spent money comes back around, but spent lives go nowhere, but Tielia is fixated on how Sumeragi deviated so badly from the original plan. Sumeragi repeats that she did more than protect Allelujah: she protected his Gundam. Tielia spits back that no "defective" person should have ever been allowed to pilot a Gundam, and while Allelujah says quietly that he thinks Tielia's right, Sumeragi asks Tielia if his statement applies to himself too. OH SNAP.

Tielia stalks off, and Lockon tells her that he's with her on this one: though this outfit is in many ways like the WLF in its tactics, he likes to think he's a better person than to watch innocents die on his watch. Sumeragi sighs and figures it's time to get everyone onto the same page, and for that, she wants everyone fully moved aboard the Ptolemeios. She has Lockon show everyone around, and the Getter team assure her that whatever the four-eyed freak has to say, they've got her back. Hayato cautions her on the way out to keep her drinking to a dull roar though -- only death awaits those who flee their problems into the bottle. After the others have left, her level expression crumbles, and she wonders what she would have done if Allelujah

• hadn't* forced her to intervene on the civilians' behalf. She knows that

she can't make any mistakes... not after what happened the last time... Her reverie is interrupted by an incoming message, from Portman!

CHAPTER 8J. The Queen and the Witch

Zero's triumph over the Britannia Union forces is the talk of the town, and that includes those contracted with its safekeeping. Iskui and Blow of the peacekeeping forces are grimly amused to see their paymasters humiliated, and muse over Jeremiah's disgraceful demotion as a suspected Zero collaborator (Zero referred to him as Agent "Orange"). Iskui is a bit worried about the Britannians halting payment, but is more worried yet about the Gilgamesh Army's pursuit of "Proto One", which has the potential to turn this whole rotten planet on its head. He favors erasing the Gilgamesh agent, Kiriko, in thanks to Konin for discovering him among the Resistance fighters. In fact, Kiriko's Resistance ties provide the perfect pretext for mobilizing the peacekeepers without attracting Britannian suspicion. And heck, since the Britannian replacement commander seems inclined to burn down the ghetto anyway, who would notice? Little does Kiriko know that these guys already have Proto One, and aren't afraid to use her(?) against him...

Lelouch has a surprise waiting for him at home: C.C.! She's made herself quite at home with Nanaly, and hints to her that Lelouch has proposed marriage. The flustered guy stammers a denial and hustles C.C. off to his room for a little chat. For starters, how is she still alive? And what's the deal with this "Geass" power she's given him? He's managed to find out much in a short time, including it's 270-meter range, its effectiveness via all direct or reflected eye contact, its indefinite duration, and the fact that it seems to work by inducing selective brain damage (and memory loss) in its subjects. And of course, the fact that its commands work regardless of its target's will.

Lelouch offers her his thanks for greatly accelerating his "schedule" -- the planned destruction of the Britannia Union. She asks if he thinks he can pull that off using nothing but his newfound power, and he replies that he was originally planning to do it with no special powers at all! She smirks drily, finding him every bit as "interesting" as she first guessed. He admits that the whole "Orange" business was simply a ruse, trading on the Britannian tendencies toward divisiveness and suspicion.

She announces that she's sleeping here from now on, telling him that she'll be safe from the small subsection of the military that's after him. She orders him to sleep on the floor, or out on the front lawn if he's so inclined, and refuses to answer his questions about how she was saved or what she wants in return for the Geass. And when Lelouch thinks about using the Geass to force her, she informs him that it won't work on her. Anyway, is he satisfied with this current chaos in Area 11? Of course not: it's only the first step in something much bigger. And until the aliens and other menaces to the Earth are cut down to size, Lelouch won't have the leverage he wants to chart the course of world events. C.C. likes how Lelouch thinks, and tells him she'll do what she can to help. After, mind you, a good night's sleep. Lelouch can only marvel over the strange girl monopolizing his bed, and possibly his life from now on...

Lelouch's friend Suzaku is having an interesting evening too, finally released from the "tender" mercies of Britannia's prison system. Zero's appearance had the beneficial effect of defusing the murder rap against Suzaku, though Lloyd isn't thrilled that the court called Suzaku's release "due to insufficient evidence" rather than a clean exoneration. Lloyd's managed to pull a few strings and got Suzaku posted to his unit as the Lancelot's official Devicer (i.e. pilot). Lloyd blithely introduces himself and Cecil, seemingly oblivious to the rough time Suzaku's had in prison. Not so much oblivious as crazy... like a fox, as he shows when he slyly asks if the rough treatment he's received has shaken Suzaku's faith in Britannia. Suzaku denies this, saying that he's still got things to do within the Britannian system.

As he excuses himself, Cecil and Lloyd ponder Suzaku's monumental naivete, possibly the product of growing up the son of Japan's last prime minister, Kururugi Genbu. Genbu preached a policy of minimal resistance right up until his final broadcast, where he took his own life in a bid to placate the hawks in the Japanese military. The irony is how his declaration of surrender, meant to save the Japanese people, has instead prolonged their warfare up to today. Lloyd muses that by _not_ forcing Britannia to pulverize Japan, Genbu established the perfect conditions for an active Resistance -- who is very fond of saying "Japan isn't defeated yet!" Some of the Elevens call Genbu a traitor for his broadcast of surrender, which definitely puts his son, a voluntary Honorary Britannian, in a very odd position. Smirking inscrutibly, Lloyd wonders aloud just what the task Suzaku has to perform "within Britannia" might be. In any case, Lloyd figures the Resitance won't be long for this world, given who Britannia is sending to run the show now...

Amazingly, Suzaku's long day of abuse isn't over yet -- his solitary walk down the street is interrupted by a beautiful woman abruptly falling out of a nearby window onto his head. He manages to catch her with minimal damage just as Rilina shows up. She recognizes the woman right away, who tells Suzaku she's being chased and asks him to protect her. Rilina guesses that some sort of assassin must be on her tail, and the girl repeats a request that everyone present, including Hiiro (lurking in the shadows behind Rilina) aid her... by taking her to Shinjuku. Say what?

The quartet make their way to the heart of Shinjuku, where the young woman introduces herself as Euphy. She guesses the tight-lipped Hiiro to be Rilina's boyfriend, though from the way he's following her around it appears to her to be a one-sided love. Hiiro grinds his teeth at that, and Euphy brightly hopes that he and Rilina can get along in the future. Hiiro at least doesn't shoot her on the spot, though he also refuses to answer her query about being the "prince from the stars". Euphy doesn't need to ask who Suzaku is though: he's plenty famous in these parts.

Of course, Euphy's story about pursuers is a lie... unless you count the black cat who's been following her around. Suzaku tries to coax it over to him, but like all cats it seems to instinctively hate his guts. The poor guy loves cats too, and Euphy thinks that one-sided crushes like that are a sign that the bearer is actually kind at heart (hint hint, Hiiro!) Euphy's real reason for coming here is a desire to see what Area Eleven is really like, since her student vacation here has been cut short in the wake of last week's events.

The others tell her that the spot she's standing in was once a bustling town, and that even after the Britannian takeover, people were starting to return here until the fighting broke out with the resistance. Britannia's decision to attack the ghetto has left this place a smouldering ruin. Hiiro regards Suzaku as he surveys the devastation, and asks him why the son of Japan's last prime minister would become an Honorable Britannian. Suzaku doesn't flinch from the question, saying that the world seemed like a very sad place to him at the time of the surrender (when he was all of 10 years old). The dread chains of hunger, disease, poverty, war and terrorism are everywhere, and someone has to take action to sever them. Someone like the Celestial Beings, or the Colonial Gundams, for instance. Suzaku isn't trying to eliminate all sadness from the world, but he does want to do his part to create a world without war: a world where those precious to everyone needn't be lost.

Rilina is impressed by this, knowing what resolve it must take to seek power from the very people who subjugated his countrymen... and how much it must pain those same countrymen to see him wear their enemy's uniform. Rilina asks if he expected all the fighting to stop when Britannia takes over the world, and then quickly apologizes when her clear eyes see the hesitation in his. She apologizes and tells him that her questioning is to help her resolve her own doubts -- she tells Hiiro to ponder, as she will, whether fighting is really the right way to end war. Suzaku tells her that he doesn't know the answer to that, but does know that if he simply gives up his father's inevitable death will have been in vain.

The philosophy is interrupted by the sound of gunfire nearby: the peacekeepers have apparently started burning the ghetto down! Euphy is aghast, and Suzaku quickly hustles everyone toward safety. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Britannian forces are led by Jeremiah, who tells his men to burn the place to the ground now that the residents have been warned to evacuate. Not that this "garbage-incineration" mission is especially glorious in the eyes of the other Britannian knights, but Jeremiah will take whatever work he can get at this point. The Britannians don't seem to care that there are actually people left in the area, including Suzaku and friends, but their onslaught is rudely interrupted by the sudden appearance of one of the Colonial Gundams. Given how Hiiro vanished shortly before, Rilina can pretty much guess he's the one piloting it.

Rilina has no idea why Hiiro is trying to save her life, and for his part neither does Hiiro. Jeremiah sees a potential chance at redemption, and orders the troops to defeat the Gundam at all costs. This is probably a bad move, since Hiiro is driven into a frenzy by his own irrationality...

 As Hiiro tangles with Jeremiah's goons, Suzaku gets the girls to safety.
 He's planning something heroic and likely to get himself killed, but before
 he can spring into action, Zero and his forces show up.  Zero isn't pleased
 that Hiiro sortied without his say-so, but Crow recommends that that debate
 get saved for later.  With the eyes of Japan's people focused on this ghetto,
 it's time to at least act like Allies of Justice.  Zero mulls this over,
 and orders the team to strike down the lawless Britannian dogs.

 First, another mech belonging to the oh-so-peaceful peacekeepers shows up.
 Kiriko seemingly recognizes it, but keeps mum on who might be piloting it.
 Instead, Hiiro indulges in a rare bout of talkativeness and tells the team
 to focus on the task at hand.  Duo guesses that Hiiro has someone or
 something he's trying to protect, but Hiiro certainly isn't saying what.
 That this new mech has come _alone_ has Zero's antenna twitching, and he
 orders Kiriko to be the one to engage it.  In all fairness, even Kiriko
 himself doesn't know what it is about this new A.T. that bothers him, but
 bother him it does anyway...

 The mystery A.T. is highly tuned, but despite its pilot's obvious skill is
 easily driven off.  Kiriko is left wondering if it's anything to do with
 the murderous Nikon...  Jeremiah meanwhile has a bona fide vendetta against
 Zero for runing his life.  Uh, news flash: the ruination has just begun!
 He attempts to flee when it's clear teh battle is turning against him, but
 several other knights show up to prevent him from getting away with such
 cowardice in the face of the enemy.

 As Zero suspected, Kuell is a suspicious, self-absorbed, self-righteous
 ass, who's resolved to pin all the blame for Clovis' death on the hapless
 "Orange".  His idea of mercy is reporting Jeremiah's death as "fallen in
 battle" after the fact, allowing his family's name to escape further damage.
 Before he can finish intoning "All Hail Britannia" and land the final blow,
 the Lancelot appears.  One thing Suzaku can't do is stand by and watch his
 (adopted) countrymen kill themselves in such a pointless dispute.  Before
 Kuell can strike him for this impudence, Euphy announces herself as none
 other than Euphemia Li Britannia, third-in-line for the throne!!

 Shock and amazement ensues, and Zero has to think very quickly about whether
 to capture the princess (and his childhood friend, to boot) to use as a
 hostage.  He's saved from having to make that call by a Dimensional Quake,
 which deposits a whole load of Dimensional Beasts for everyone to fight.
 Jeremiah rushes to Euphy's aid, and Suzaku implores him to get her to safety
 while he holds the Beasts off.  Suzaku's also thinking about the common
 people still cowering in the burned-out tenemants, and Zero rapidly 
 reaches the same conclusion: Beasts first, Lancelot second.  Oogi and Karen
 are loving it.  Time for Crow and the team to get PAID.

 The DBs get slaughtered in a hurry, but Crow's a very unhappy camper anyway.
 Turns out all these Beasts are far more studly than anything in his mech's
 data banks.  The difference is way above statistical noise, like the
 difference between a kitty cat and a frigging _panther_, and the thought of
 the DB's actually evolving is a daunting one.

 Meanwhile, Euphy returns with her knights to pick Suzaku up, telling him as
 one loved-one-loser to another that she wants his help to ensure that no more
 precious people have to die.  She tells the knights to withdraw for now,
 showing respect to Zero's men for the work they did in repulsing the DB's.
 Besides, any further fighting here would just harm the civilians.  As Suzaku
 leaves, he mulls the prospect of facing Zero as his enemy...  Zero tells the
 resistance fighters that he's got a new strategem in mind, far more effective
 than trying to take a princess hostage, and orders them to return to base
 too.

Clovis' replacement has finally arrived: Princess Cornelia, second-in-line to the throne. With her are her two personal knights, Dalton and Gilford, who she apologizes to in advance for the ordeal they're about to face. She's more than a little impressed with her little sister for running into the famous Zero so quickly, though she warns Euphy not to push her legendary good luck too far. The two sisters, daughters of the Queen, will have more to say to each other after official business is concluded, but first Cornelia has to put up with some of Kuell's idiocy. He was thinking of a welcome parade for Cordelia, but she furiously orders him to go arrest Zero's ass instead. You know, the enemy of all Britannia guy? The guy who iced Clovis? Yeah him.

Back at base, Zero receives Kokona's report that the reputedly-beautiful Cordelia has been named Clovis' successor. Zero cautions his confederates that she will be a far bigger menace than the largely-ornamental Clovis was. While most imperial princesses would be busy with dance lessons, Cordelia has been practicing swordsmanship instead -- and few or none of Britannia's many generals are her equal. Kiriko evidently couldn't care less, since he's busy fixing up his mech as always. Whether this has anything to do with the red A.T. that tried to kill him, God only knows.

Zero then announces his plan to liberate the ghetto: establish themselves as the side of Justice! After all: the Resistance aren't actually terrorists at heart -- better then to get the hearts and minds of the Japanese people united behind them. Sure the team will also be nipping at Britannia's heels, but the main thrust of their actions from now on will be to establish themselves as Just fighters. Figuring out exactly how to do that will be Zero's job, but for starters the plan to kidnap Rilina is cancelled. That pretty much ends Hiiro and Duo's need to remain students, leaving Karen to keep up the info gathering. That's just as well as far as Hiiro's concerned: he comments cryptically that he felt like he'd stop being himself if he stayed there any longer.

The conference is interrupted by a televised speech by none other than Charles Ji Britannia, sole power atop the Britannian Union throne (and the person who fucked up Lelouch's life, but it's not like he's vindictive about that or anything...) Charles gets right to the point: people exist to be discriminated among (and/or against). It is the differences between people that cause conflict, and it is conflict that causes progress! Just look at the dunces in the HPL or the AEU: incompetent and doomed to fail in their attempts to impose equality on all. Only Britannia, with its policy of INequality, is moving forward, as Clovis' death underscores. Charles orders his subjects to indulge in further mayhem, chaos and warfare, and by doing so to bring glory to Britannia now and forever!! And another !, for good measure.

Think the AEU government likes hearing that? Of course not, but at least Treize has to admit that Charles' bombastic speeches always contain a key dose of truth: fighting is a means to an outcome. Schneizer El Britannia has to agree, though he isn't so sure his father is acting in the most kingly fashion just now. That's not, however, why he agreed to this secret meeting with Treize; rather, he's interested in working toward a better world, not in becoming king of it as such. Nor does he have the grand ideals that Treize does -- he wants to do his part, a part that only one of the nobility can play. That suits Treize just fine, and is certainly worth a toast or two.

The next morning, Rilina is out of sorts as she arrives at school. This could be blamed on any number of recent events, including the mess in space that nearly killed Louise and Shoji. To think that the CB's and their Gundams would actually save people in need! Rilina's friends think her troubles must be related to those two transfer students who refused to attend her party, both heavily recruited by every club on campus thanks to their exceptional athletic skill. There's no time to give them a talking-to though: they've both just transferred elsewhere...

...and as their replacement, so to speak, is Suzaku! This Eleven has a pretty poor reputation among Britannian students like Nina, but Milly hustles everyone off too class before too many hurtful things can be said. Only Rilina is left behind, aggrieved at Hiiro leaving without answering her question. Then again, it seems fairly certain she'll see him again, and opening her arms wide to the sky, she hollers for Hiiro to come and kill her soon.

CHAPTER 9K. Dimensional Tremor

Traia is chatting with her mystery boss, informing him that the Number 0 is up to about 80% capacity (and at that, is doing better than she expected). Analysis of the "VX" is going a bit slower, and Traia doesn't like him teasing her about it. She huffs that once she's done figuring out the damn thing, she'll toss it right back into his crotch, and he smirks and says he hopes that'll be before he eventually kicks the bucket. She growls that she'd be happy to kick his bucket for him, and it doesn't entirely sound like she's joking. Traia says she's always serious, and complains that there's a lot of static on the line -- that would be due to all the dimensional storms over the Pacific, most likely. The mystery boss is in Japan right now in fact, and plans on watching the Number 0 in action in person. As he hangs up, Traia is furious that he, Carlos Axion Jr., has managed to get ahead of her.

Watta's typical account of a day at school consists of what he had for lunch, and what sport he played for P.E. Suffice it to say his fellow students don't stand a chance against his battle-hardened skillz. Today however he's got a surprise waiting for him: Takeru's mother has been given a job working the base's cafeteria. She seems like a much more placid sort than his own mom, who always pesters him to do his homework (and has committed the dreadful crime of actually looking *gasp* middle-aged!). In any case, the team has had very little to do the past few weeks, and if Watta's latest math test is the biggest worry they've got, it must mean the world is a (relatively) peaceful place.

Peace is fleeting, of course. Tanaka is getting antsy, and takes it out on Akagi by making his rewrite and clarify his combat reports. Akagi isn't pleased, but hops on it right away. He and Tanaka aren't exactly dysfunctional, but they certainly don't get along that well. The good news is the Knot Buster, which improves just about everybody's mood. Hats off to Domeki for inventing the thing, and for her ongoing research into the relationship between the DBs and the Dimensional Quakes (and, for that matter, with the Heterodynes too). Speaking of DBs, Crow's gone to the Kanagawa Axion branch for some maintenance on the Blaster...

The first person Crow runs into at the lab is Esther Elhas, who apparently hates his guts at first sight and lets him know it at some length. Crow quickly resolves to go about his business and leave her behind, lest his already famous dislike of women get even worse. But before he can go, Esther has a request for him, as the Blaster's pilot: kill each and every last one of the DBs. An odd request to hear from a total stranger, but not so surprising given that that's what the Blaster was built for.

So says Carlos, who strides onto the scene and sniffs out Crow's debt problems from a mile away. Crow quickly figures out that this guy is another Axion dude, and probably out to trip up Triela with his offers of buying out Crow's contract. Esther warns Crow not to listen to a word Carlos says, and a bizarre three-sided argument ensues about how Crow means to both pay off his debts himself, defeat the DBs, and do right by his erstwhile boss. The argument is mercifully cut short by the base's alarm, and Crow tells Mr. Moneybagz that all attempts to separate him from teh Blaster are futile: it has long since become his Partner.

There's no telling exactly what Crow is about to face, but he intends to do so with gusto to rub Carlos' nose in his piloting ability. Plus, he imagines Triela giving him a fat bonus for showing up her enemies. The enemy turn out to be "Emerges", and from the sidelines Carlos wonders aloud if Crow will able to master the VX...

 After a bit of combat, the UN's anti-Emerge forces appear, led by Holland
 Novak.  The newcomers are piloting KLFs, and profess to be from yet another
 special independent batallion -- just how many pieces is the United Nations
 divided into anyway??  Unbeknownst to Crow, Holland and friends have serious
 doubts about some of the pies Axion has its fingers in -- Holland warns his
 friends that they may have to take over thsi whole lab depending on how 
 things go.  He's playing a complicated game, trying to arrange for the "other
 key" to come to him once "they" detect his little ruse.

 Crow has heard of Holland's mech, the Devilfish, before, and knows that
 anyone who can master flying it like Holland has is one serious pilot.  His
 musings are cut short by the arrival of a boatload of DBs: just what he
 _didn't_ want to see just now, even though they are technically what he's
 getting paid to face.  Holland wants more info on how these critters cross
 dimensions, and plans to fight them to gather it.

 The rest of Crow's friends show up a bit later, done with their cake and tea
 at long last.  Before anyone can reflect on why so many DBs are appearing
 so suddenly, a massive Dimensional Quake breaks out -- large enough to be
 a Dimensional Tremor, a type of Quake bad enough to teleport people and even
 entire chunks of the surroundings along with it.  Holland and friends have
 been through this before, but even they have no time to really react.

 Out of the Quake emerges a new kind of DB, which makes a beeline for Crow...
 and instantly demolishes his mech!  The rest of the team scramble to
 organize a counterattack -- if they can't stop the DBs first, there'll be
 no hope of rescuing him.

 These new DBs are tough as hell, and hopes of victory aren't exactly high...
 until the Celestial Beings show up, accompanied by Dancougar Nova and Getter
 Robo.  Facing these DBs wasn't in the original plan, but now that they're
 here...

 When all the lesser beasties are defeated, the largest DB flees at high
 speed, vanishing from radar before the team can get a good track on it.  Note
 that it's still in this world: it has _not_ been defeated as such!  For the
 time being, the team's attention will have to be devoted to the CBs, who are
 hear to offer their cooperation.  At the command level, word comes in of a
 global emergency that takes precedence over any petty quarrels till now.
 After the latest quake (which was world-wide, by the way), the dimensional
 boundaries around the Dark Continent have stabilized.  If that weren't freaky
 enough, a large fleet of unknown space ships have appeared near Earth.  This
 confirms for Holland that these Quakes are the key, and that the Myth is
 about to unfold again.  He and his ships depart.  Oh, and what about Crow?
 Traia has rescued him and what remains of his mech...

A dour Elgan tells Ootsuka that someone calling himself "Boatman" has set up this collaboration with the Celestial Beings. Normally he would have nothing to do with such an anonymous mystery dude, but under the circumstances the Celestial Beings provide some much needed surplus firepower. The UN has decided to make contact with the alien fleet, and Elgan wants the Crushers and friends to investigate the Dark Continent in the meantime. Elgan will be hard at work trying to figure out more about the CBs (such as: can they be trusted) and about those new DBs that have just appeared.

Ootsuka tells Shiroda that Elgan is one of the few impartial people in the UN who has the ear of all three of the Great Nations, and although he's prone to occasional unorthodox tactics (such as agreeing to the CBs' help), he's someone whose orders Ootsuka is willing to follow. Introductions between the teams commence -- for the full details, check out the other paths in the split. There are plenty of dark secrets behind many of the participants, and it becomes apparent quickly that the pilots should avoid asking too many questions. It certainly looks like an _interesting_ partnership to come.

Crow finally regains consciousness, finding himself confronted by the "witch" and the "ogre", both female. Esther once again begs him to wipe out the DBs, and Crow starts to remember how the white, horned one demolished his ass. Traia admits that that particular type is not quite as unknown as Crow thought. It's been seen once before, one year ago and only for a few minutes... during which time it leveled an entire city. A little town in West Texas, named Ordis. The destruction was so complete that the only records are the memories of the one person that survived: Esther. Axion is calling that type "MD", short for "Moby Dick", and Traia smirks and says that killing it might earn Crow as much as 10 G. That's more than enough for him, given how much payback he already owes it.

Unfortunately, all his good work is being offset by the cost of repairing the Blaster, making him actually farther in debt than he was the last time he checked in. Crow accepts this, and cautions that it's going to be pretty risky taking on the MD again with Blaster. Traia tells him that he hasn't accessed its full power yet: it has features that aren't part of the catalog specs. Unfortuantely, she can't explain what those are just yet, and she even admits that she hasn't fully figured out its "VX" drive system yet. That's as in the Roman numeral, so the acronym properly expands to "Quintuple-X". Presumably it's going to be worth a hell of a lot of power once she figures out how to work it fully. She doesn't even know where Carlos got it from, but he gave it to her just to watch her squirm over trying to figure it out. While he may be annoying, Carlos also deserves the credit for turning Axion into the world-class outfit it is now -- he seldom does things without some sort of reason. And now that he knows Crow is the Blaster's pilot, he's sure to hone in on him too, probably exploiting Crow's need for money. In any case, Crow promises Esther that he'll take down the MD, and figure out VX's secrets in the process.

Carlos meanwhile has his own confidants, including someone names Sionny. He is overjoyed that his secret contact was right about the big DB showing up, craving the thrill of surprise so often denied to someone as ultra-rich as him. Sionny turns out to be in a country called Limonecia, which is locked in a struggle for survival and willing to do just about anything for help... including inciting regional conflicts world-wide at Carlos' behest. He hints to her that she may not be needed much longer to stir the pot, and says that only one thing is certain the way the world is going: his Project Vortex will definitely alter its course.

CHAPTER 9E. (Route Split)

The mysterious Boatman has contacted the CBs, and to get everyone into the same headspace, Sumeragi plays back for the team the first message he sent. Boatman starts by admitting that he's using an alias, then says that he wants their help and is prepared to deliver a suitable reward. He then says that he's sending the same message to Orumi, who he knows is a CB agent, and promises to chat live next time they're interested. Just the fact the message reached the Ptolemeios at all should be proof of how much clout Boatman's got, given that its existence, much less whereabouts, are secrets known only to a very few.

Whoever this "Boatman" is, he's in the same league as the true ruler of the Dragons' Hive, and surely not to be dicked around with. What he told Sumeragi is that he wants to hire the CBs to assist the UN Security Council's private army. Now, the Security Council chairman, Elgan Roddick, is known to prioritize global threats to man over any nation-vs-nation squabbling -- but as Crow has seen, there's only so much the UN can do when its three biggest members are the squabblees. Boatman claims to be working around that problem, offering resources and intelligence to the CBs as philosophical fellow travelers... and come to think of it, the reports the CBs received about the ailing shuttle now appear to have been a test of their prowess.

It sounds nice. But the CBs wouldn't be where they are today if they took everything at face value. Under normal circumstances the CBs would prefer to blow the UN off and continue their solo crusade to trash the world's military hardware and thereby end war. However, there's no point in ending war if the entire species dies out first, and Sumeragi has made the call to aid the UN and suspend the "forced disarmament" activities for now. As Lockon puts it: the CBs will use whomever they have to to reach their goals... including the Getter team and anyone else they've currently got friended.

The Dragons' Hive staffers have already given the thunbs up, and Saotome isn't likely to object. Veda has already bought in, and Tielia is characteristically uninterested in discussing why. If all goes well, this Boatman's identity should start becoming clearer the closer the team gets to him. And if things go poorly, the CBs are planning a suitably painful (to him) departure. As they say, "You can't get a tiger's cub without entering the tiger's den."

All objections cleared, Sumeragi contacts Boatman to convey the team's conditional agreement. She reserves the right of refusal over participating in the UN's operations, if they start running counter to the CB's principles, and Boatman gravely promises to pass that along. Tielia suddenly wonders if this guy, with his extensive underworld ties, is one of the "Guardians" [likely he's not talking about Vampire Princess Miyu, but you never know...]. Anyways, there are currently two operations available: go to Japan and rendezvous with the UN private army, or go to Side 11 and rendezvous with the Colonial Gundams. Boatman gives the CBs time to decide, and says he'll send details on the two plans straight to Veda (yow!)

Sumeragi gets the final decision -- Japan, or Area 11? If Japan, go to Chapter 9F. If Area 11, go to Chapter 9G. In either case, the "Ptolemy" will continue serving as the CB's mothership, so the remaining crew introduce themselves: operator Christina "Chris" Ciela, helmsman Richtendal "Richty" Tsielly, gunner/subpilot Lasse Ion, and combat operator Felt Gleois. Crow then asks permission to visit an Axion facility at their destination so he can dump his combat data and get his mech tuned up. Sumeragi allows it, but has the studly Lasse tag along just to ensure Crow doesn't get any funny ideas.

Go to Chapter 10A.

CHAPTER 9F. Dimensional Tremor

[This is almost identical to 9K, including Crow getting temporarily demolished.]

Go to Chapter 10A.

CHAPTER 9G. Dimensional Tremor

[Jeebus Kreist! All roads lead to the same chapter title and more or less the same battle, with minor variations in layout. See 9K for the full lowdown on the picnicking Ashford Academy students and arrival of Zero's forces. Except for Orumi acting as go-between for Boatman, everything else ends up the same.]

Go to Chapter 10B.

CHAPTER 9J. Dimensional Tremor

[See 9K for Traia and Carlos' conversation.]

Suzaku is getting the cold shoulder from most of his classmates, both for his "Eleven" blood and for the fact that he was briefly accused of Clovis' murder. Shoji, who has a bit of Eleven in his veins, urges the other student council members to show Suzaku more compassion, and they all seem to listen except Nina. Milly makes a grand entrance in the middle of this, towing Karen along behind her in order to introduce her as the council's newest member. Karen feebly protests a moment, then accepts lest she be seen as suspicious. She idly asks after Lelouch -- who tends to vanish as soon as school ends these days -- which makes Shirley fret that this is yet another romantic rival for her [if she only knew...]

The aforementioned Lelouch and Suzaku are chatting in the library: glad to see each other in one piece after all they've been through. Suzaku cheerfully tells Lelouch not to worry about how Suzaku shielded him: it's just returning the favor from seven years ago. He then asks what became of the girl in the capsule, and Lelouch says they got separated in the fighting. He learns from Suzaku that only the Special Forces seem to know anything about her, and tells Suzaku that "Lelouch" is what he's known as now that all official records list his former self as dead. He tells Suzaku to come by his house later, as there's someone he wants him to meet, and then walks off when he hears someone coming.

That someone is Rilina, who thanks him for saving them all the other day. She of course knew who "Euphy" was before Suzaku, thanks to her father's work with the UN, and wonders what he's doing here. Euphy tols Suzaku that all 17 year olds should get to enjoy high school, and arranged for him to enroll here after making sure his record was cleared of anything relating to Clovis. Rilina finds herself torn: on the one hand, her duty should be to inform this member of the Britannian army that Hiiro is a member of the Resistance. And yet, she can't bring herself to do so, nor can she even explain to herself just why...

Suzaku goes home with Lelouch, where Nanaly is overjoyed to "see" him (recall that she's blind). Suzaku describes his new post with the military as an "engineering" corps, and Lelouch concludes that he'll never be exposed to fighting with the Resistance. Suzaku is very glad to see that Nanaly is as kind-hearted as she used to be, and apologizes in advance for not being able to hang out at all times due to his work. As Nanaly goes off to wash up for dinner, Suzaku proposes to Lelouch that they ignore each other at school -- wouldn't want to invite questions that could lead to Lelouch's true identity as Britannian prince being divulged. Lelouch is thunderstruck anew at how far Suzaku will lower himself for the sake of others, and when Suzaku steps out a moment to let his superiors know not to make dinner for him, Lelouch's stoic mask crumbles into near-tears. C.C. emerges from her room and remarks on how even Lelouch can feel heartbreak, and he coldly orders her back to her room. She asks if it's okay for him to be associating with a Britannian soldier, and Lelouch assures her Suzaku is okay. He's a... friend...

Crow is off at the local Axion base getting his mech looked at and dumping his data about fighting the DB's. Zero authorized the trip in part out of hope of getting new information back from Axion about this menacing foe. Lelouch figures out from Karen's presence here that she's turned down Milly's invitation to a picnic in her honor... a picnic in Atsugi, where the Axion installation happens to be. Presumably the fun-loving council's gone without her anyway.

The question arises: if the Resistance keep gaining influence, won't the CBs eventually come down on them? The CBs have a lot of help these days, including such odd bedfellows as Dancougar Nova and several other robots large and small. They made quite a scene in the other Japan, which in most regards seems like a brighter place for Japanese opposed to Britannian rule. Karen doesn't want to try that: to her, _this_ is Japan. Maybe just as well, given the assaults by the Gishin and Dr. Hell the other Japan is weathering. The bad guys there are wielding a mixture of advanced tech and "O-Parts", a peculiar term that includes anachronistic archaeological finds from your typical hyper-advanced ancestor cultures. As Duo relates all the fun that's been going on on the other path, even Zero has to remind himself that both Japans have aliens already living in them, and on both sides of the conflict.

The UN Security Council is doing its best to fight mankind's common threats with its own private army of super robots, but sadly there's little chance of those robots helping liberate Area Eleven from Britannia. Since Britannia annexed this Japan fair and square(???), there is no legal recourse... which, Zero says, is an example in why Justice must sometimes rely on _illegal_ recourse. He thinks to himself that he's the only one capable of pulling that off...

[See the other path for Crow's meetings with Esther and Carlos.]

As expected, the picnis is underway even without several of the council. They will get a good eyeful of the battle as it unfolds, as will Lloyd and the crew from their vantage point in Axion's labs. They recognize the Axion mech as one that was helping the Resistance, though they're not exactly in a good position to tell that to their superiors. Lloyd wishes they'd brought the Lancelot with them, and Suzaku wonders if Crow will be okay on his own against all these Emerges.

 This time when Holland emerges, it gives the picnicers a chance to say their
 prayers before the monsters attack in earnest.  When further reinforcements
 come, it's Zero and the resistance.  Seeing his classmates on the scene
 puts Zero in a pickle: he can't be too solicitous about them lest people
 start asking questions about his identity.  The dilemma is resolved when he
 realizes Suzaku is here: he fires near the picnickers to draw attention to
 them, and Suzaku duly rushes off to save them.

 He makes it in time, and convinces them to follow his orders to reach a safe
 shelter -- even Nina, who he has to carry himself on account of her injured
 leg.  As on the other path, the CBs show up to save the day.

After the battle, Boatman has the CBs put him in touch with Zero. Boatman is a pretty smart guy, but Zero isn't impressed when he tries to act smarter than Zero himself. Boatman then cuts to the chase, and offers Zero the same terms that currently bind the CBs to him and thus to the UN Security Council: resources and info. Zero knows that adding his group to the mix will make the CBs easier for Boatman to control, but before agreeing to the terms he asks Boatman why it's the UN he wants cooperation with.

Boatman claims to be interested in "world peace", and there's no one more neutral than the UN. Zero finds "world peace" to be that noblest of hypocritical goals, but Boatman says that pursuing it would give Zero's group a good reason to waive the banner of "justice". Zero has to inwardly agree with this, and figures ties to the CBs and friends could prove extra useful in his fight to come. What Boatman wants in return is for Zero's men to aid the CBs in guarding the UN's expeditionary forces, which soon should be making contact with that alien fleet that just showed up with the Dimensional Tremor (remember them? kinda bit, kinda... hard to miss). Their role will be to watch from the shadows... just in case something goes pear-shaped.

Zero agrees to the terms, though for the moment he can only spare his two Gundams to the war effort. He wants Boatman to put him in touch with "Kyoto", a strong corporate conglomerate that predates the occupation. The plan is for their resources to fuel Zero's campaign, and Boatman says he can do it if given a little time. He seems to be very handy at the tiller of world events, and tells Zero he's looking forward to seeing Zero's hands on the tiller too as events progress.

Going to space suits Duo and Hiiro fine, as their mission was going to take them there anyway. Zero makes it clear to Sumeragi that he's not helping _her_ out as such; rather, he's helping Boatman. If the CB's crusade brings them into the middle of Zero's war, they should consider themselves on the hit list. That suits her fine. Cue the endless introductions and back story, which you can get in fuller form by just reading through the other path. Crow will also be part of the expedition, and Zero sounds confident he can replenish his firepower from the new comrades he expects will join. He even expects that the CBs will be among the comrades the next time they meet, despite the fact that their respective quests should make them natural enemies. In Zero's view, it is his strategems, not the CBs' Gundams, which will change the world. Sumeragi's gut is telling her she's going to have to fight this man one day, but for now, the Ptolemeios and its crew of uneasy allies sets sail.

[See the other path for Crow's reawakening and Carlos' conversation with Sionny.]

The following morning, the student council fills Lelouch in on all the terror^H^H^H^H^H^Hexcitement he missed. This time when Suzaku shows up, he's greeted warmly by everyone except Nina (who still seems scared), and despite the previous conversation, Lelouch says that Suzaku is his friend. He gets Milly to add him to the council, thinking that it's only proper for humans to join hands (as he has with Boatman). He wants to spare Suzaku from the fires of the changes he's planning, as his one true friend.

Go to Chapter 10B.

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