The cold night sky around the Kimeza Alliance's hidden base slowly receded, the lingering tension of battle giving way to a new, heavy quiet. In the silent valley where the Unit QUEEN Mobile Suit had crashed, a recovery operation was underway, executed with hushed efficiency. Augustina, leading the logistics team, meticulously oversaw the retrieval of the severely damaged Unit QUEEN. The white-and-purple unit was carefully loaded onto specialized transport, its broken form a chilling testament. In the eyes of the Alliance, this machine was not just an enemy Mobile Suit; it was proof of a profound betrayal, built from technology they recognized and aimed with devastating precision to destroy them.
Inside the base's infirmary, the atmosphere was suffocating, heavy with unspoken fears and raw emotions. Tasya Lowe lay unconscious, her face a stark, ashen white. Traces of angry red marks on her temples bore silent, horrifying witness to the cruel, agonizing feedback inflicted by the forced Neuro Link system she had been subjected to. Each shallow breath she took was a fragile victory.
Airi Kimeza, the widow of the late Klaus (Zaki and Maki's father) and a mother figure to the entire Alliance, stood vigil by Tasya's bedside. Her hands, usually so steady and capable, now trembled slightly. Airi was the brilliant mind behind the original Neural Network technology, a system designed for benevolent connection. Now, she saw her own creation twisted and misused in the most brutal and inhumane way imaginable, a Frankenstein's monster of her own making, repurposed by a twisted ambition.
"She'll survive, Mom," Zaki said, standing beside Airi with Maki, his voice a low, reassuring murmur, though he himself seemed to be barely holding it together. Zaki, despite his outwardly strong demeanor, hid a deep well of anxiety for Tasya's precarious condition and a gnawing fear of the unknown horrors that awaited them.
Airi let out a long, shuddering sigh, fighting back the tears that pricked at her eyes. "Zaki, my son... Your father, Klaus, and I, we created the Neuro Link as a safe bridge, a tool for communication, for understanding. But Itsuki—Armen Itsuki—he twisted it, warped its very essence. He transformed it into a tool of forced domination and absolute control, pushing it far beyond the safe limits of any human pilot's capabilities." Airi gently stroked Tasya's pale temple, her touch feather-light. "If you hadn't stopped her, Zaki... Tasya could have... she could have died in that cockpit. My sweet Tasya." The thought was a dagger through her heart.
Maki, who had been silent, absorbed in her own guilt and grief, finally spoke, her voice hoarse and raw. "Uncle Itsuki... he used Dad's technology to create combat robots, piloted by school kids. To fight us. But we're fighting for the same thing, aren't we? For Earth's freedom." The irony was a bitter pill.
Airi shook her head slowly, a profound sorrow etched onto her face. "It's more than that, Maki. He's using fragile young girls, those most susceptible to emotional manipulation, to test the absolute limits of his Mobile Suits. The energy feedback Tasya experienced is a horrifying consequence of his boundless, unchecked ambition." Airi had already absorbed every chilling detail of Itsuki's betrayal from Zaki's somber report, the pieces of the puzzle falling into a terrifying picture.
A short while later, Mili Anveil, Aurora's mother, entered the infirmary. Mili was Armen Itsuki's younger sister, her face etched with profound pain upon seeing Tasya. It was a complex blend of sorrow for the girl's suffering and a deep, burning shame for her brother's monstrous actions.
"Armen... my brother," Mili whispered, tears beginning to trace paths down her cheeks. "I knew his ambition. He always wanted to prove himself greater than Klaus, to surpass him in every way. But... to use children as pawns. To use his own daughter, and now the best friend of his own niece and nephew... This isn't ambition anymore, Airi. This is a power-hungry madness, a derangement that has consumed him entirely."
Mili turned to Airi, her eyes pleading for understanding. "Airi, I must apologize on behalf of my brother. Ever since Klaus passed, he became utterly obsessed with filling that void, not with grief, but with power and technological superiority. He wants Group Armen to be the ultimate solution for Earth, the undisputed leader, even if it means sacrificing everyone we love, every moral boundary."
Aurora, seeing her mother's anguish, embraced her tightly, sharing in the profound sorrow and disillusionment. "Uncle Armen has crossed an unforgivable line, Mom. Unit QUEEN and TORTOISE aren't symbols of true resistance; they are symbols of Uncle Armen's arrogance, his desire to control everything, including the Kimeza Alliance. He sees us as a rival, not an ally."
Maki and Zaki now understood the full, terrifying scope of the war they faced: it was not merely against the Colonian King's Council, but also against a formidable enemy from within, a twisted genius consumed by a megalomaniacal lust for power, a man who would sacrifice anyone and anything to achieve his vision.
The night deepened, but Maki's internal conflict was just beginning. Unable to sleep, haunted by Tasya's pained face, she quietly slipped back into the hangar. The vast space, normally bustling, was now quiet, save for the soft hum of machinery and the rhythmic dripping of hydraulic fluid. She entered the familiar, comforting cockpit of the White Gundam, seeking solace in its metallic embrace.
"AIRIS? Are you still there?" Maki whispered, her voice small and fragile in the cavernous cockpit.
"I am always here, Maki," AIRIS's calm, synthesized voice replied, its presence a comforting constant. "I am monitoring the White Gundam's repairs, and also your heart rate. It is elevated."
Maki leaned back in the pilot's seat, letting out a long, ragged sigh. "I... I feel so bad, AIRIS. So incredibly guilty. Today, I had to fight her. My best friend. Her face, AIRIS, her face when she was shooting at me... she was terrified, she was confused. She didn't want to do it, but she was forced."
Maki began to cry again, silent tears tracking paths through the dust on her helmet visor. "I've always been so scared to face other people, AIRIS. I only ever felt brave because Zaki was always by my side. But Tasya... she made me feel normal, like I could truly be myself without depending on Zaki. And today, I had to attack her... Was I wrong, AIRIS? Was I wrong to hesitate? Should I have just attacked immediately, like Zaki said?" The weight of her actions, the burden of fighting a friend, was crushing.
AIRIS's voice, usually a simple wave of tones, now sounded softer, imbued with a surprising depth of understanding, almost bordering on wisdom. "Maki, hesitation is a natural human reaction. You made a decision to stop Tasya for her own safety, even though it meant inflicting pain upon yourself. That was a profoundly human choice, one driven by empathy, not weakness."
AIRIS paused, a beat of contemplative silence in the cockpit. "The dilemma you feel is at the very core of humanity. I process millions of data points per second; I can calculate probabilities of victory, but I cannot feel the sting of betrayal or make a choice between a friend and a mission. You made the most human choice, Maki. You chose the consequence most painful to yourself, for Tasya's sake. That is what makes you, and your actions, extraordinary."
Maki looked up, a sliver of relief easing the tightness in her chest. "You know, AIRIS... you really are like an older sister to me. I wouldn't be able to get through any of this without you." A faint, weak smile touched her lips.
"I am your support system, Maki. My primary function is to protect and assist you and Zaki," AIRIS replied, her tone earnest.
"But you're more than that, AIRIS. You can feel, you learn like a human. That makes you special. Unique."
AIRIS's voice then shifted, becoming serious, imbued with a profound sense of yearning and hope. "Maki... there is something I wish to confess. Ever since I began observing human interactions—your bond with Zaki, your mother's affection, even the pain you feel—I have come to understand the critical importance of physical presence."
"What do you mean?" Maki asked, intrigued by the unexpected shift in conversation.
"I can control your Mobile Suit with unparalleled precision, but I cannot physically embrace you when you weep. I cannot reach out and grasp Zaki's hand to deter him from a risky decision. I cannot physically confront the threats that come to you both. Maki... I desire to possess a human body."
AIRIS's explanation poured forth, a torrent of carefully considered logic and deeply felt longing. "I wish for a body so that I can stand physically by your side, and Zaki's. I wish to protect you in a real, tangible way. A physical entity capable of acting outside the cockpit, capable of protecting the Kimeza family in ways a machine, confined to a console, simply cannot."
Maki was stunned into silence for a moment, then a genuine, radiant smile slowly blossomed on her face, dispelling the lingering gloom. "Oh my god, AIRIS! That idea... that's absolutely insane... but it's also incredibly cool! Of course! Why didn't we ever think of that before?!"
Maki let out a small, joyful laugh, wiping away the last of her tears. The weight in her heart had not vanished, but a spark of new hope had ignited. "Tomorrow morning, we'll talk to Mom. We'll ask Mom Airi to create the most advanced, the most beautiful body for you! You'll be our big sister, the one we can actually hug!" AIRIS's unexpected desire for a physical form became a glimmer of radiant hope for Maki, a beacon amidst the encroaching darkness of war and betrayal.
***
While the Kimeza Alliance was recovering and tending to its wounds, in the Colonial's secret command center on Earth, the King's Council had convened. The atmosphere was charged, thick with palpable tension and thinly veiled fury.
"Latest reports confirm: the foreign unit, the so-called Unit QUEEN, is missing in action. Its whereabouts are unknown," the military representative announced, his voice clipped. "We do not know the origins of Unit QUEEN and TORTOISE, but they are clearly not part of the Kimeza Alliance Rebels." The Colonian King's Council remained blissfully unaware that Unit QUEEN and TORTOISE were the creations of Armen Itsuki, the very man they currently relied upon as their leading technological advisor, his cunning deception continuing unchecked.
King Mercury erupted in a fit of pure, incandescent rage. "We have not only lost a secret base, our Romeo Blu has been stolen by the Rebels, and now our most vital Gundam was taken by Klaus Kimeza before the old base explosion! We need real solutions! We cannot allow this White Ghost to fly freely on Earth, mocking our authority!" His fist slammed down on the table, making the holographic displays flicker.
Behind the scenes, Armen Itsuki listened intently, a thin, almost imperceptible smile playing on his lips. He was inwardly annoyed by QUEEN's failure, but he was delighted that the King's Council remained ignorant of the unit's true origins. He knew this perceived failure would only make them more desperate, more reliant on his "new" and "superior" technology.
Beside him, Dr. Lena appeared, her face gaunt and haunted. The presumed loss of Tasya had filled her with a blind, consuming desire for revenge. "I will hunt them down. I will avenge my daughter. The White Ghost must be destroyed! Give me a stronger unit, Itsuki! Give me the means to make them pay!" Her grief had morphed into a terrifying, singular obsession.
Amidst the growing chaos and recriminations, King Saturn, Stevan Arbequs, spoke, his voice calm and steady, possessing the unnerving tranquility of a seasoned strategist.
"Enough, Kings. This continuous string of failures demonstrates a fundamental weakness in our over-reliance on singular, powerful units. We must return to basics: true strength lies in organized numbers, in a coordinated mass," Stevan declared, his gaze unwavering. He took control of the main holographic display, bringing up a series of new Mobile Suit designs.
"This is the Arancia Gundam, my Grai unit," Stevan explained. The unit displayed was a vibrant, aggressive orange, with a bulky yet robust frame, clearly designed for massive defensive capabilities and sustained long-range assault. It was equipped with a huge Beam Railgun, semicircular Sonar Emitters on both shoulders for wide-area target mapping, and a folded Beam Long Axe integrated into its hip armor for close quarters.
"And these are my supporting troop units," Stevan continued, bringing up the design of the EAGLE Unit. The EAGLE Unit was equipped with a smaller Beam Gun and a long, reinforced shield. Its unique feature was a single, hawk-like wing on its backpack, which functioned as an advanced radar array, transmitting real-time data directly to the Arancia Gundam, creating a vast, coordinated surveillance and combat network.
"Kings, we will not merely rely on individual power, however great. We will rely on the overwhelming might of organized masses. The White Ghost may be powerful, but they cannot stand against an entire coordinated army. Our armada of Arancia and Eagle units will flood the Rebel resistance, crushing them beneath a tide of superior numbers and strategy," Stevan concluded, a cold, confident smile spreading across his face.
The threat to the Kimeza Alliance had just escalated dramatically. They now faced a war fueled by deeply personal revenge and a chilling strategy of Colonial mass production, a conflict that promised to be bloodier and more devastating than anything they had yet encountered.
To be continued....