Part 22: Mission 7 (Rand) - Prologue

We’ve got a new addition to our team, so let’s pay him some attention:

Unit Upgrades:


The Turn A Gundam will, eventually, start chugging through EN much quicker than the GX, so that should be a priority upgrade to it; Mobility and Accuracy are always useful but keep in mind that Loran has SP Regen and will eventually learn Focus, so that lowers their priority.
Weapons are good, especially considering the Turn A lags a bit behind in power.


Unit Parts:


Loran’s evasion is still crap and he doesn’t know Focus, so Poe’s old Magnet Coating (マグネットコーティング) will cover that a bit with a +10 Mobility bonus.


Pilot Training:


Loran’s Leader Bonus gives him morale+ (dodge) so we don’t need to worry about that; considering his eventual habit of going through his EN quickly, EN Save will be a good fit and, to top things off, the usual Morale Limit Break.
He really doesn’t need Blocking so that can later be replaced with either Predict or Attack Again (only if you plan on giving a nice boost to his Skill stat, mind).

With that done, let’s move on to the prologue:



Location: Country of Inglessa – City of Nocis



We find our team surveying town, with Garrod trying to calm Loran down lest his nervous appearance draw attention to them.
Gauli reminds everyone that our mission is to take a look at the situation in the city and see how things are going after yesterday’s battle. They cannot fail but must take care not to draw attention to themselves as there’ll be no one to help them (or to recover their dead bodies) if they’re caught.

As they do this, Gain says Cotsett and Bello are taking a look at Loran’s mustachioed mobile suit, while Rand and Jiron are investigating the mountain it came from, so he tells Loran not to worry about those details now.
Loran asks what we intend to do now and Gainer confesses that we don’t know for sure – it’s not like we planned on coming here before being warped – and Gain figures it’s still best to talk to the mayor to figure out a way to leave the region.



Sara wonders if this means goodbye to Garrod.
He affirms, saying that, from the start, he’s been helping Gain in order to find a way back to Ameria. That said, he can't do anything just yet without inviting attack by the lunar forces.
Gauli is still amazed to have found that there are people living inside the Moon which are now descending back to Earth. Loran, inwardly, realizes that both the people of Inglessa and Galia have no idea that they even exist.
He remembers how it’s been only 15 years since the end of a full-scale war between the Earth and Space. It seems there’s a big gap of information to be filled.



The third Moon Race immigrant, Fran, runs into Loran and he’s very relieved that she’s safe.
Whispering, she asks him what’s gonna happen now, what with the Moon Race’s sudden attack yesterday. In fact, Gwen has just made the existence of the Moon Race, and the fact that they're not the enemy, public.
Gwen seems to have also revealed that he’s been engaged in secret negotiations with the moon for a while and that makes Loran glad, as it means Gwen doesn’t intend on fighting them.
Fran is a bit worried as, after last night's battle, he may be the only one in town who feels that way, though. This certainly is a very poor start for their homecoming.
Gain finally notices her and asks who she is. Fran quickly introduces herself as Loran’s friend but leaves right after to get back to her job as a reporter.
Sara is quite impressed that girl her age is a reporter and Gauli figures she must be quite busy after last night’s events.



It seems the Moon Race’s warship (and their main forces) has landed at a nearby hill and, even if Gain doesn’t know their full combat capabilities, it’s pretty damn clear the local Militia and its antiquated armaments won’t stand a chance in battle.
There seems to be only one way for this to end but Sara wonders about those other Mobile Suits that showed up in town, which Gain recognized as the models used by the United Nations Earth. While he doesn’t know WHY they’re doing it, he thinks the Government will intervene in this situation.

Gainer also knows of the UNE an organization that supports the Siberian Rail but hasn’t helped them keep the Exodus in check. Regardless, with Zora’s Innocent defeated, they’re now the strongest military power on Earth.
They seem to be actively seeking to expand their area of influence across the Earth, including being the owners of most Overmen being used by the Siberian Rail (though they rely solely on MSs for the rest of the world).
Gain figures their eventual goal is to unify the world under them in order to wage war against Space…and possibly eliminate anyone who will not play ball.



Hearing this talk about “war against space” makes Loran worried and wonders if they mean the Moon Race.
Gain isn’t sure seeing how he’s been living in Siberia for so long – information on the UNE isn’t very important there. Furthermore, he’d like to ask Loran something.
Despite living in this region, Loran seemed to have some knowledge regarding that unit he used before and, when he first met us, he showed that he knew about the Moon Race despite the fact that they hadn’t made their descent yet.



Gain doesn't get to ask anything, though, as Kihel interrupts the conversation, having been searching for Loran.
She’s heard from Sochie that it was him piloting the mustachioed machine but, when they returned to their home, they found out that their father didn’t survive the bombardment.
Loran apologizes but Kihel knows it wasn’t his fault and, besides, this isn’t the time to grieve for her father.
Gain interrupts and, after quickly apologizing for doing so, asks if she’s the Kihel Heim that Loran spoke of. Once she confirms, he introduces himself as a “wanderer” and she’s rightfully impressed that he’s so well-educated despite his appearance.

Judging from the way he’s dressed, Kihel assumes that he’s from outside Inglessa and Gain tells her that he and his companions hail from Galia. She’s never heard of such a place before and figures we were the ones who helped Loran yesterday.
Gain politely requests a meeting with Inglessa’s mayor in hopes we can be of service. Gainer realizes that Gain’s channeling his inner nobleman and Kihel agrees, figuring Gwen would find our help very useful.
She asks Loran to show us to Bostonia Castle.


Location: Town of Vicinity – Heim Mine



Our people make it to the mountain Loran pointed us to but the place is gon. All that’s left is a MASSIVE excavation ground which Rand assumes is due to the town’s mayor trying to find similar units to Loran’s.
They’re soon stopped by the dig’s prospector, Joseph, who tells them entry is forbidden. Rand quickly feigns ignorance, saying they “heard” there was an excavation going on and figured there was work to be had.

Joseph grumbles that Gwen is being hasty to be hiring people so quickly but seems to realize that we’re not from this area. Jiron gets a bit worried but Joseph calms him down, saying they need all the help they can get with this excavation.
You see, this entire area is filled with buried machines and they’ve been excavating it all – his job is to coordinate with the dig site’s foreman, Cid. After Joseph introduces himself, Rand does the same and points out he’s a repairman from Galia.
Joseph figures Cid will, indeed, have use for someone with his expertise and brings everyone along.



Inside we find Miashey and Sochie, who’s pestering Cid to see if he hasn’t found any other machines like yesterday’s and he tells her to be patient as the excavation has only just begun.
Miashey is also there and protests that the Moon Race will attack again and, if they can’t find any other machines quickly, they’ll just steamroll the entire place. Sochie gets a bit bummed at the prospect of all that happening again and, while Miashey apologizes for bringing it up, she says she’s done crying.
What’s important for her is to get revenge for her father and, to do that, she’ll need something like the White Doll – Miashey’s got her back and promises to fight alongside her.



Joseph comes in with Rand and everyone else and Cid eagerly asks for Rand’s help.
Rand gets all giddy with his, telling Chil that it’s been so very long since someone put this kind of trust in him as a repairman but Mel thinks he’s the only one to blame for his reputation. Sochie doesn’t care about the circumstances, though, and tells them to get digging right away.
Jiron tells her to leave it to us as we have someone perfect for the job.



That would be Fatman and Joseph’s jaw drops to the ground as he easily does a job that would’ve, normally, taken five people.
While Fatman’s doing his thing, Rand asks if they actually expect to find more mobile suits like the mustached mobile suit in this mountain, and Cid declares that the probability seems high. He and Joseph have certainly found plenty of mobile suits and mechanical giants in their journeys to other mountains in different countries.
This is the first time they've ever been allowed to dig here though, thanks to that taboo about the Promised Land inviting a calamity should it be disturbed. When Rand asks, Cid says he hasn’t found or heard of anything especially dangerous being buried here.

Still, Gwen wants some strong cards in hand while negotiating, so everyone who can lift a shovel is now digging away. Jiron wonders if the mecha they're looking for were used in previous wars, like the ones to the south.
Cid tells him that the Vultures' mecha are a scant fifteen years old, mostly created during the war that happened at the time. Anything buried in here, though, could be thousands of years old, and Rand wonders what the originators of this being the "Promised Land" had in mind.
The conversation is interrupted when Fatman finds something and Sochie can only hope that it’s a unit…



Back in Bostonia Castle, Gain formally offers the Iron Gear's services as mercenary help to Gwen, certain that he’s seen our skill during last night's battle.
Gain promises he won’t regret it but Gwen still has to wonder how a ship that large entered his country without anyone noticing. Silently, Gainer asks if this is really okay and Sara doesn’t like it, more interested in returning to Yapan’s Ceiling ASAP.

When Gauli asks, Gain says he wants to return to Siberia as well but a trip that big will require money and materials they don’t have, so they need something of a sponsor. In the end, he’s still an Exodus Contractor so the Moon Race/Militia fight doesn’t interest him.
His plan is for us to jump ship once we’re good to go and, while he’s not exactly proud of using Gwen, during an emergency, the adult thing to do is to take any chances that are presented.
Gain then starts searching for Garrod and Sara is sure that he was with them when they were coming to the castle…



Gwen asks if we’re done whispering and, once Gain asks, he confirms that he’s decided to accept our offer, citing the pressing need for more firepower.
His intention is to make use of our services until the Militia forces have been mechanized enough to fight on their own. Gain praises his wise decision but Gwen still has a few doubts concerning our strength and proposes a test to clear them up.

Gain asks if he wants us to get rid of the Moon Race forces that landed nearby but no, he still intends to negotiate with them. Instead, he wants us to send the UNE’s forces home, by whatever means necessary.
Inwardly, Gain realizes that Gwen is going to use us to keep his TRUE enemy suppressed for the time being.
Kihel soon enters the room and tells Gwen that the preparations are complete and with her is…


: …
: …So pretty…
: Hmm...so that’s the sort of girl you like…
: Th-that’s not—
: Gainer, she’s the pilot of the White Doll.
: She’s…what did you say?
: Allow me to formally introduce you: the member of our Militia’s elite, the pilot of the White Doll…
: Laura Rolla!
: I-it’s a pleasure to meet you, everyone…
: Laura…LORAN?!
: No way!!
: Heheh…please don’t stare so much.
: Laura, in three days, you’ll be the star of our party. Until then, you will practice on how to behave like a lady.
: (Gwen Lineford…this man’s more cunning that I gave him credit for…)



Turns out the reason Garrod’s missing is because he ran into Enil, an old acquaintance from Fort Severn. He asks what the hell she’s doing here and wonders if she’s still chasing after him.
She finds it a bit funny that he’s accusing her of chasing him when he’s the one who suddenly vanished and appeared out of nowhere. He gives her that point but, regardless, she got in touch with him and said she had some big info to give him.

That she does and it’s the fact that his little lady-friend is in this town, kidnapped by the Frost brothers. She’s been following them ever since she learned Tifa had been taken and giving this bit of information is her way of apologizing for the grief she caused him before.
Garrod is certainly happy that she’s so close by and, inwardly, Enil is glad to see his happiness at the thought of being reunited with the girl…which is why she can’t stand it.
The fact remains that he rejected her in favor of Tifa and the only suitable punishment for that is death…






Mission 7 (Rand) – Goddess of the Moon





The big day arrives and, while Loran deploys the Turn A, the Frost Brothers are watching it all unfold with Gwen.
The preparations are all complete and all that’s left is to wait the arrival of the Diana Counter. Gwen is counting on “Laura”, saying her talents are key to make tonight’s party a success.
Loran nervously confirms and Michael informs Gwen of the Moon Race’s arrival.





Amongst the troop stands Harry, marveling at how the stars shine very differently on Earth than on the Moon – so beautiful, their homeland.
Poe quickly points out the mustachioed mobile suit to the commander, Phil.



Phil clearly sees that it’s of a different make than the UNE's forces and Poe wonders if it might be a pre-cataclysm model.
Phil doesn’t know but he figures one unit, regardless of origins, isn’t enough of a threat to change anything.
Laura gets in touch and welcomes them to the party and Harry is quickly surprised that the Mobile Suit’s pilot is such a young woman. Laura introduces herself and Harry Ord, Captain of Diana Soreil’s Royal Guard, does the same.

Gain quickly starts making sense of Gwen’s plan: by showing the White Doll's pilot to be a woman, he hopes to dumbfound them. Gainer wonders if that’ll really work and, while Gain isn’t sure, it seems to have had some effect in the gold unit’s pilot.
Sara can only angrily shake her head at these men. The Iron Gear is waiting outside of town just in case but, hopefully, things will keep going smoothly for the rest of the evening.
Gwen invites the lunar dignitaries inside the castle and Phil decides to oblige, if only to see how earthling manners are like.



This all suits Garrod just fine as the louder the party gets, the easier it’ll be for him to sneak around the castle.
“Hang on, Tifa…I’m coming to get you right now.”, he says.



Gwen makes formal introductions with Phil Ackerman, captain of the Diana Counter vanguard, and invites the lunar forces to dine before formal negotiations begin.
Phil wants an explanation for the attack the other night first, and Gwen explains it as an action undertaken by the United Nations Earth forces solely under their own discretion. Inglessan forces engaged as well out of self-preservation, but they bear no further grudge.
Phil doesn’t quite believe that since prior investigation had shown a relationship between Inglessa and the UNE – does he mean things are now different?
Indeed, Gwen says he has no connection with the UNE and intends to negotiate with the Moon Race on his own to the very end. Furthermore, he promises to show proof of his intentions eventually.
Phil certainly hopes he's telling the truth since Queen Diana didn't dispatch his forces here to start a war.
With that, Gwen officially kicks off the party.



Kihel sees that the party seems to have dispelled the tension that was present and Laura is sure everything will work out.
Harry comes over to talk and Laura says she’s very happy he remembered her name. He feels just as happy to be remembered by such a lovely lady.
He notices Kihel and she introduces herself as Gwen’s secretary – Harry is rather surprised, saying she’s the spitting image of a very dear person. Kihel is honored, and hopes she can meet this person someday.
Harry is sure that day will come and Laura, inwardly, sees how much faith Harry has in Diana; Harry decides to ask Laura out to dance and, while he moves to the dance floor, Kihel tells Loran to remember his dancing lessons.



Right then, though, the power runs out and Phil is quick to get on Gwen’s face to ask what the hell is going on.
Gwen tries his best to calm everyone down, saying he’ll have people locate the cause of the problem and fix it – he orders Laura to help out and get back to the White Doll.



Amidst the confusion inside the castle, Garrod has managed to grab Tifa and make a run for it – though, in his haste, he starts squeezing her hand a bit too hard.
She doesn’t mind, though, having been waiting for him to come back after all this time. Garrod figures she saw his return in a vision but, no, she just had faith in him.



Their moment is interrupted by a gunshot fired by Enil.
Garrod is confused as she was helping him before but her assistance only went as far as causing that blackout to cover his escape from the castle; her real goal here is to make him suffer.
She has him raise his hands and, if he tries anything, she has a bullet with Tifa’s name on it. Enil proclaims that this whole situation is his own doing for rejecting her.
She says their meeting each other was fate – they were made to each other and are the only people capable of dispelling each others' loneliness.

Despite her claims that they need each other, Garrod doesn’t care about any of that.
Garrod shouts back that he's not the same as he was back then, when he did everything without thinking - he's got a goal now, and that's protecting Tifa!
Enil plans on wrecking this goal of his but is stopped when a bullet knocks her gun out of her hand.



That would be Gain who says that, while it’s not his thing to shoot at beautiful women, he’s more than capable at aiming at her gun.
He tells Enil that he’s got his buddies coming here real soon and wonders if she still wants to keep going. She hadn’t been expecting Garrod to have help but, regardless, she says it’s over for him.
That’d be due to her telling the Frost Brothers everything about Garrod’s plans. Garrod wants to run away before they come over and asks for Gain’s help.
He says Tifa’s kidnappers are coming but, unfortunately, Gain realizes that it’s already too late.