Chapter 22:Terminus Pluvia [Earth]

[Strike Zero]

- Jessie -

...only to be stopped by the palm of a large iron hand. Jessie eased Lucia into the Infinte Justice's grip as she fell and brought her close the the Gundam's white-clad body.

"Got you..." Jessie murmured, gazing at the unconscious girl.

The radio crackled. "Nice catch Jessie," Jo complemented. "Now carry her on back up here, won't you?"

"Roger that..." she replied, her tone sharper than earlier. Though she had been sleepy before, Lucia's display had definitely managed to grab her full attention. Jessie continued to gaze at the unconsciouses witch until she ascended fully back towards the Artemis.

"This girl..."

***
- Jo -

The data terminals throughout the room were working madly, data streaming across their screens as the readings acquired from Lucia's technique were being processed and archived. It would take a good amount of review afterward to garner a full understanding of the specifics of it all... but it didn't take much more than a quick glance to know that the power Lucia had just exhibited was off the charts. Jo sighed with satisfaction and leaned back in her chair, resting her hands behind her head. "Well? How was that?"

Rosy's expression was made entirely of wide eyes and a gaping mouth. Her gaze was locked onto the central monitor and she could muster no reply other than a couple of stopped gagging noises. Lily's expression remained passive... but she too gazed intently at the approaching Infinite Justice.

"Impressive..." the pale-haired girl murmured.

Jo had to agree. Whatever had happened to prompt the change, Lucia had acquired a tremendous increase of control over her Witch powers. Perhaps even more so than both Lily and Rosy put together. Jo's feelings at the moment were a swirling mixture of admiration and pride and curiosity at this new development.

"Perhaps we're finally ready... I do believe we can pull it off..."

Rosy finally shook herself out of her shocked state to regard Jo. "Ready? For what, for what?"

Jo smiled. "For this little operation I've cooked up and have just so been itching to try..."

[Omega]

-Lucia Kamiya-

Lucia murmured something incomprehensible after Jessie caught her... Only Jo would likely figure out what it meant.

"Thank you, brother... I was able to do it because of you..." However, she would likely need a few days of rest to recover from it.

[The Big Zabowski]

-Kit-

"Where's the pilot.."

Kit had stepped into the hangar to the sight of the Fed Gundam team standing around the drives and her own Blackhawk. When they posed the question, she spoke up behind them.

"Right behind you.. And the drives can be tied down and secured as best you can until your R&D people can get to them. You've got quite the bounty on your hands.. these pair are the only working units in this dimension as far as I know. The pair that got away between the Fandom and DC are going to be out of commission for a long while."

She walked up to one of the large cylinders and placed a hand on it, patting it pridefully like she would a show horse or nice car.

"Plug these two into this very ship and you've got a nearly inexhaustible source of power for weapons, propulsion..what have you. Not to mention the ability to create a force that can counteract normal Earth gravity as well as produce enough thrust to escape the gravity well. These drive's aren't for the faint of heart."

Kit then walked over to them and extended a hand to Slug, not having met the man previously.

"And the name's Kit Estillo."

[Nero]

-Kai-

"Oh er... if you want, could you see to it that this reaches him?" He went ahead and added an envelope to the transfer papers, and handed them to Captain Altair.

"It was orders for Gai that didn't reach him before he left." He paused a moment. "If you need me, i'll be in the hangar." Kai then departed.

[Strike Zero]

- Jo -

Several hours after the fact, Jo took a seat in the Artemis' communication lounge. From there, she pulled up what was essentially a master directory and began cycling through the list of frequencies of the various Federation combat units.

Lucia was recovering nicely in the med bay -- the girl was certainly full of energy, and she was likely to have much to talk about when she came to. One thing was made certain though, and that was the Strike Witch's chances at succeeding in the "operation" Jo had made reference to earlier. It involved an assault against the DC; though such an operation would normally be futile for a small unit such as theres, but things were now a different story with Lucia added to the mix. They would be able to pull it off so long as she maintained that extraordinary power.

However, even with Lucia, assaulting Jo's intended target would not be an easy task without backup. In addition to more mobile suits, they would need heavy firepower, something the Artemis regrettably did not sport. Thus, Jo was now searching for a suitable unit which she could have accompany the Witches in their attack and thereby increase their success probability even further.

Her eyes finally came to rest on one unit in particular, based out of powerful warship called the Fafnir. Of course -- an Archangel class would be perfect in bringing their power to match the DC's, and the unit itself -- though relatively new -- had engaged the Fandom several times and performed admirably. They and the Strike Witches would work well together, Jo was certain.

Jo quickly keyed in the Fafnir's frequency, starting a long-range transmission to the ship's bridge. She intended to relay the details of her operation to the ship's crew and get them in on it. Hopefully, they would accept and join her within the next couple of days. For now though, all there was to do was sit and wait until they decided to respond.

[Sume Gai]

-Altair-

Hallen reached for the papers but just before he took them Kai produced an envelope as well noting it was for Gai. It must have been the reason Kai had flow all the way out here.

"Thank you Kai." Hallen took the transfer papers but with skillful fingers left the letter in Kai's hand. "you'll find Gai in the cabin right next to the hanger go a head and deliver those orders to him."

Tallis Stenner

though worried Talllis didn't try to speak to Kayla again during the long trip back; She followed diligently. Landing soon after the Cattleya she walked the mostly intact Angelg into the hanger. A team of mechanics would repair the busted shield in short order. More Pressing to Tallis though was Kizu; she didn't even know where he was.

It wasn't long till the Fandom flagship, projecting a hologram of Garmin's victory, came in. soon after the beaten Astraea arrived and from it's deliverer Tallis learned f Kizu's whereabouts. Naturally Tallis rushed to the infirmary to see him.

[Nero]

-Kizu-

He heard footsteps and somehow had a good guess who had come to see him. "In here..." Came Kizu's voice. He didn't really want Tallis to see him like this, all burned and battered, but knew he needed to allay her fears.

-Kai-

Kai had wondered how Captain Altair had slipped the letter back into his hands as he made his way towards the private room. After finding it, he knocked three times and spoke. "Sume Gai? I've got something for you."

[Sume Gai]

Sume Gai

"yes, yes, I'm coming" there were several shuffling sounds in the room then the door slide aside to reveal someone Gai didn't recognize. A Blonde haired boy who Gai had never seen around the ship before

"and how can i help you?"

Tallis Stenner

Tallis entered the room nervously. She was unsure what she would see, She had not expected to be awake much less call her. she walked over towards him.

"kizu..." her voice was quiet but full of concern.

[Nero]

-Kai-

"I'm Kai Hatake, pilot of the Gundam Kyrios, i've been assigned to this ship..." Kai then raised an envelope. "And i've got some orders for you concerning that Tallis woman. Do you want me to read them?"

-Kizu-

Luckily, he remembered that most of his body was hidden thanks to the bedspread, but his scarred face was still visible.

"I'm... sorry if I worried you."

[Sume Gai]

Tallis Stenner

"no... I..." the sight of just his face badly scared was almost too much, tears began to well up as she sat down on a low stool beside the bed. "I'm the one who's sorry I was so focused on Night Chaser..."

Her head fell forward and her hair hid her face from his view. "I was so focused on my own vengeance I let them... I let them.." her hands gripped her pants and kizu would hear several drops fall onto the hard floor. "I let them hurt someone else i care about."

Sume Gai

his brow creased when Kai mentioned Tallis though why was hard to tell.

"go on."

[Nero]

-Kai-

Kai opened the envelope and gave a quick skim over it's contents before summing up the letter.

"According to this, you've been ordered to kill that woman the next time you meet her." He said in a rather emotionless tone. "Apparently the brass think she's a traitor."

-Kizu-

"Don't be... it's my fault for being careless..." Kizu said in response to her words. Upon noticing her tears, he forced himself to sit up, making his full condition visible before pulling her into a tender embrace. "Please... Please don't cry." Kizu whispered.

[Sume Gai]

Sume Gai

His eyes narrowed in anger and he snatched the letter from Kai nearly tearing it in the process. Morpheus and Bian would never have sent this order on those pretenses. Morpheus knew the situation and had himself proposed to help her. He had no doubt Bian had received a thorough report on the matter as well since Morpheus was one of his advisers.

"The order has been received; however, I will use my own judgment in this matter. If you have no other business I must get back to my work."

In truth Gai was done with his 'work' But he thought it was the best excuse to avoid "shooting the messenger" so to speak.

Tallis Stenner

"Kizu..." Tallis couldn't help but feel responsible particularly after seeing his burnt body. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry. You just rest here, I'll take care of those monsters, I promise." She returned the embrace even though her tears did not abate.

[Nero]

-Kai-

After that he simply saluted and left, though after turning away from Gai, his face bore quite the evil grin as he returned to the hangar.

-Kizu-

"Tallis... I may still be able to help you... They've offered to make me a cyborg... to do that, i've decided to accept the offer." He paused before speaking again. "I mean no disrespect, but no-one has ever been able to take down the gundams through conventional means, and I want to help you get rid of those bastards..." Another pause as he let go of her and pulled away to lay back down. "Can I... voice a request?"

[Sume Gai]

Sume Gai

Gai would try to catch Morpheus when they returned to Aidoneus to see if he knew what this was about. If Gai happened to find out this was some kind of prank then whoever was responsible would receive a stern lesson in humor.

Tallis Stenner

Tallis couldn't tell him that he shouldn't become a Cyborg when he had chosen it himself but something about it felt familiar. She felt like someone else she knew had- Her head throbbed cutting off the thought. Before she could find it again Kizu asked for a favor.

"yes Kizu, anything..."

Midori Ashita

"and what are you so happy about?"

As Kai entered the hanger he'd find someone else there. Leaning against the wall to his right was the girl in white and green. She'd been heading to the lounge to get something to eat but before she had entered the hall she overheard Tallis' name. Midori hadn't intended to stay but curiosity got the better of her and what she'd heard irritated her particularly when whoever this was entered the hanger with that grin.

[Nero]

-Kizu-

"Please... stay with me for tonight." Kizu wanted to ask her something else, but restraint kept the other request silent. "The surgery's going to be tomorrow is why I'm asking. I just wanted to spend my last day as a human with someone I care about."

-Kai-

"I have a pretty good idea of our commander, and I'm certain he's a weakling." Kai said before taking off for the Kyrios.

[Omega]

-Zaine Kamiya-

After the Valhalla returned to Aidoneus, Zaine quietly boarded the ship. Almost as though sensing something bad would happen, he quickly tried to hurry out of the hangar, hoping to get out before this bad feeling came to pass.

-Lucia Kamiya-

"Ngh... Where am I...?" She spoke as she stirred. "That's... right... I managed to do it..." The witch then sat up, taking a look around. "The medical bay? I didn't put myself in another coma, did I?" She asked a bit worried.

[Kylern]

-Kylern-

"No I'm alright Rena. I'll just sleep and be right as rain by the time we reach home." With that he gave her a hug and then walked away. After he reached his dorm he fell asleep soundly. Not even the images of the last battle bothered him...

-Ceres-

The battleship finally reached dock after its voyage. The last battle had been a nice little wake up call as to what they needed to do to win this war.

[Zangetsu]

-Zangetsu & Riman-

Zangetsu left the Ceres quickly and Riman followed as to not cuase anymore trouble. "Where are we going?" she asked.

"We are going to Bian's office where you will wait until he can meet with you." replied Zangetsu.

"And where are you heading off to?" Riman asked inquisitivly.

"I...Um....I'm going to report to someone." 'Yeah that a good obvious lie there.' He thought.

Although she knew he was lying Riman let it go as they reached Bian's office. Zangetsu walked up to Bian's Secretary and told her that Riman wish to meet with Bian and would wait here until he was ready.

"So you are all setup here. Hope your talk with him goes over smoothly." Zangetsu said as he quickly left to search for Reimi.

Riman sat down and waited for Bian to show up.

[Omega]

-Rena Lanford-

"A-all right." Rena said before quietly watching as he left. Once the ships returned to dock, Rena quietly left, and went to be alone somewhere.

-Reimi Saionji-

Zangetsu would find her waiting at the entrance to the dock, looking a little huffed up over something...

[Sume Gai]

Midori Ashita

She grit her teeth. This kid pissed her off. His attitude needed some serious adjusting.

"you think you're so tough beat me! I'll only let you insult Gai once you've managed that!"

By the time he looked back Kai would find her posed to fight and though the air in the hanger was still her scarf began to wave.

Valhalla/Sume Gai

The Blue battleship soon followed the Ceres to the dock and Gai began to make his way to the exit. Not the one near the hanger but rather the one near the bridge. He was looking for Morpheus.

Tallis Stenner

"yes yes yes" Tallis nodded her head trying to dry her tears. She was more than willing to watch over him scars burns and all.