Part 180: Pre-Intermission

Pre-Mission Adjustments

Bazaar

Purchased:
Gerbera Tetra

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: Hm...?

: Thank you so much...

: For what...?

: For the tears you shed at my father's grave.

: Ah, the day we traded`places and caused trouble for the Heim family...

: Yes.

: Eh? Does that mean...

: You grieved even more than I did, didn't you...

: ...That was... Diana...?

: Yes, Sochie. That was the day that Lady Diana and I traded places.

: Ever since then...!?

: At first it was a little lark, for fun... But then we wound up getting stuck that way...

: Thanks to that, I've gained an understanding of Lady Diana's heart.

: No way! How could that... My Sis and the queen who tried to invade the Earth did things way more painful than me piloting a mechanical doll... I, how could I not get upset...!

: Miss Sochie...

[SCENE CHANGE]



: Yes. Tex and I came here from the moon.

: (.........)

: (.........)

: (.........) Long ago, to restore the ruined environment... a Moon Race group descended from the moon to the Earth. ...Those were the predecessors of the Innocent. Many years passed. After the Innocent's forefathers had cleansed several continents... They grew tired of being ruled from the moon, and declared their independence. That triggered the onset of a war between the moon and the Earth...

: (.........)

: Both sides researched past records and revived
many weapons to improve their own firepower.

: Was that when the Mountain Cycles were made...?

: So they reproduced weapons from our time...

: (.........) The fighting continued unabated for some time, and the Moon and the Earth both fell into decline. Then the moon devised a final strategy to defeat the Earth...



: (...The Turn X...)

: Then, that was when you were...

: Yes, that was around the time I met Tex and Lucille. As people believed to possess the power of the Newtypes of old... Lucille and I joined the war. Without ever realizing that we were just tools of warfare...

: (.........)

: ...The moon side's final strategy was to simultaneously destroy every major stronghold the Earth side held.



: (.........)

: My attack inflicted severe damage across the Eisia continent... In retribution, the Earth side deployed the Turn-A on the front lines.

: Th-the White Doll...?

: (.........) The Turn-A's power was dreadful to behold... Lunar troops lost, one after another, and fell to the Earth.

: (.........)

: That was probably the point when Lucille got taken prisoner by the Earth side...

: (.........)

: ...My squadron was also destroyed at the Turn-A's hands... I left the GX and barely escaped from the Earth alive.





: Moonlight Butterfly...!

: Even now, I can never forget that scene. The two Turn-types were locked in brutal combat, and got engulfed in the light of the Moonlight Butterfly... Those dreadfully powerful nanomachines were scattered across the Earth, and destroyed the Innocent's civilization.

: !

: (.........)



: Compounding things further, people like Tex and I who participated in the final strategy were pinned with all the blame for triggering the destruction of Earth. We were sentenced to cold sleep by Agrippa and Ghingnham's faction.

: (.........)

: After that... the fleet Ghingnham led was banished from the lunar city, and forbidden from doing battle... They ended up simply remaining in upper lunar orbit, practicing mock battles over and over.

: That was a plan by Agrippa to isolate those whose combat instincts had been awakened...

: And to give the Moon Race a peaceful way of life.

: And in doing so, you tried to avert another war between the moon and the Earth...

: Yes. The moon and the Earth entered a long period of relative isolation... The Moon Race and the Innocent sealed away the memories of their horrific war as the Black History and treated it as forbidden knowledge.

: (Ah hah... That means part of the Black History must be buried somewhere on Earth... The Mountain Cycles represent part of that, places where weapons used in that war were produced...)

: ...The few Innocent who survived the final war between the moon and Earth devised a plan to restore the environment. It's been many years since then. The environment has improved... The Moon Race, under direction from Agrippa and D.O.M.E., lived in peace and watched over that protectively...

: Then came Lady Diana's Operation Homecoming, right?

: ...That's correct, Loran Cehack...



: Like Loran, we were sent to Earth as experimental subjects.

: Experimental subjects...?

: That's what they call those who return to Earth in advance in order to study the Moon Race's environmental adaptability by testing out their own bodies.

: When Tex and I made Earthfall, we set out on a journey in search of Newtypes to avoid repeats of the same mistakes of the past.

: (.........)

: But, the reality is... The Innocent and Moon Race are both digging up Mountain Cycles, trying to start another war. As one who committed an unpardonable crime... It is my duty to prevent that.



: Lieutenant Quattro...

: Amuro said it before. We should fulfill the role we've been given, after being sent to this time... I think that's the whole reason we came here...

[SCENE CHANGE]



: All right. Have the Ra Cailum take off immediately. Queen Diana, this is all right?

: Yes. As you will...

: Captain, we're getting a transmission from the Iron Gear.

: They got our message? Put it on the main monitor.



: How are things on your end?

: We're currently headed for X-Point. But we've run into tons of trouble and fights, so it's taken longer than expected.

: I see...



: That means every member of the Preventers is now accounted for.

: Really. That's good to hear.

: What about on your end?

: We succeeded in preventing the Ghingnham Fleet from taking control of D.O.M.E. But with Khamen and the Ghingnham Fleet bound for Earth, we're moving to intercept them.

: Is that right? This could be a little bad...

: Did something happen?



: Have they begun an all-out surface invasion?

: No... They've sent some squads to attack us, but... They haven't made any definitive moves yet. That's what worries me.

: They're probably proceeding with some kind of plan behind the scenes, hm...

: All right, tell me your position. We'll pick a rendezvous point.

: Our current destination is a Lost Mountain.

: Lost Mountain...? You mean a Mountain Cycle with even more dangerous weapons than usual...?

: Yes. For now, investigating that takes top priority.

: Because it more than likely has a unit like the GP-02, right?

: (.........) ...In a sense, it's possible that an even more dangerous weapon may be buried there. After all, this Lost Mountain is located in eastern Eisia...



: (.........)

: (.........)

: A place that used to have many research facilities involved with superadvanced technology...

: ...It's true, if the Mountain Cycle's there, it'll be dangerous.

: That may have something to do with the reason Khamen headed for Earth...

: All right, we'll head for the Lost Mountain in Eisia, and rendezvous with Banjou's group.


[SCENE CHANGE]



: All that's left is to bring Machineland to the surface and release the atmospheric gasses that are poisonous to the humans.

: How many hours will it take to make them extinct?



: Hahaha... This time, we, the Dinosaur Empire, shall once more become the masters of the Earth. I can see those monkeys writhing in agony on the surface now...

: Reporting, sir!

: What is it?

: When Duke Gorgon headed for Eisia, he discovered an unidentified production plant!

: An unidentified plant? One of those things the humans call a Mountain Cycle?

: No, sir... The details are currently under investigation.

: ...Mm. The Eisia continent, isn't that...

: Yes, sir, it used to be called Asia. The area Gorgon headed to was in the far east there...

: The Far East... Where Japan once was, hm...