Lockon left the Gundam the moment he called in the space ships that would pick up the Gundam and a strange-looking Cannon mobile suit.
'What the hell are you guys? Was there supposed to be a third group?'
The Ex-Celestial Being pilot floated over a console in the storage asteroid and began to check the computer.
He quickly noticed that his helmet had a fancy HUD neural interface support that was linked to AI and Veda.
It was literally supporting him, suggesting what to press, and even Veda was showing what kind of passwords to enter.
"Wait, the hell. If you can do that, then just tell me what I want to know! Now I feel like a damn idiot!" the pilot groaned. How stupid he was, he went back to the mech and got into the cockpit.
The spherical cockpit sealed behind him, and the screens came back to life, adjusting to his vision. The direct linkage to the helmet was wild. It felt like the whole machine was linked to where he was looking; the sensitivity was on a different level!
"Now show me what I want to know."
Sure enough, he saw Veda's databanks.
"This Gundam was built five years ago?" His eyes run through the paragraphs.
'Initially, Veda built this suit with the intention to use Innovades for intervention. But Innovades didn't quite understand humanity's nature, so their interventions were shelved, and CB-001 1 Gundam and CBY-077 GN Cannon were stored away for further notice.'
'Damn Celestial Being. They've been plotting all sorts of interventions for years.'
He then continued to read other stuff, like Innovades. Turns out there is a huge library of DNA samples, and Veda can make a bunch of them, both male and female or even genderless.
'Turns out our glorious ruler wants to get that system…'
Lockon pondered for a second, but then he got a glint in his eyes as he decided to see if he could use Veda and this AI to see what the Emperor had planned.
'Oh, it is working.'
He saw generated text.
Which made him a bit speechless.
'Veda has calculated that he will most likely use Innovade-style soldiers for upcoming wars against aliens in his reality.
While Veda doesn't know the specifics, Marcus constantly went through files related to combat usages of Innovades.'
These revelations made Lockon realise that his new boss cares deeply about his Empire.
'Well, I should return to my tasks.'
His gaze shifted to the soldiers recovering the 1 Gundam and the GN Cannon.
With them doing that, he turned Nemesis around and flew out. One of his other tasks is the colony itself, where the majority of Scientists who were working for Celestial Being should be stationed.
"Let's go. Time to face them." He sighed as Gundam moved towards that direction.
~~~
"How is the evacuation going?" Ian Vashti asked his wife as the Celestial Being was abandoning their bases.
Sadly, the bases began to go down one by one. Celestial Being needed to evacuate to a base that Veda doesn't know about. Something that they had in place.
If they were successful, then Celestial Being could continue to exist. But Marcus Anaheim used an extreme surgical attack to remove them from the picture.
Starting from donors and money, and now resources and bases.
The issue was that secrecy doesn't work that well, as the Empire they are facing is practically as secretive as they are, only on a huge scale.
"We are on schedule but…" The blonde woman tried to explain, but the security systems picked up on something.
*ALARM*
Alarms blared throughout the base as they walked over to a monitor and checked what it showed.
"...An Unknown Gundam… it has a GN drive, a green drive, one of our five? Or is it one of their creation!?"
Ian pondered, but his wife had no time for speculations.
"What should we do? There are no combatants here! We don't even have a mobile suit or a pilot!"
"...Yeah…"
Behind the Gundam, several spaceships 'magically' manifested.
"Try contacting it." The blonde woman suggested.
"Fine. From what I understood, he is collecting people. I suppose we can use that." With that in mind, the Gundam Developer pressed on the consoles.
"Gundam, answer Gundam." Ian tried to contact the mobile suit pilot.
"Ian? I thought you guys had already left. Damn, you are slow." Lockon appeared on screen, unlike his usual green Celestial Being suit, he was wearing Black and Purple with several crests. He was practically screaming military.
"Lockon…Stratos?"
"Yeah…turns out Imperials have a great sense of style, pay is high, and they are letting me deal with terrorists." The Sniper said with a smirk, leaving the developer speechless. The side switch was… fast, the last battle was like… a day and a half ago? Something like that.
"...So what will happen to us?" Ian asked. There was no time to think about a side switch in this situation.
"Nothing really. You will continue to do what you like; the same goes for your family. Believe me, I was surprised by how generous our boss is." The Ex-Dynames pilot said with a smile that he wasn't lying; he was expecting a bad guy who was not flexible, but Marcus Anaheim was nothing like he had expected.
He might be authoritarian, but that's because humans need a leader who is pushing them forward.
If there is one, then naturally, wars won't happen. It's a very simple solution to all of the issues.
"...So then… that's it? Just like that?"
"Indeed, we will transport you to the base, you will be briefed and then transported to the Empire, that it.
Celestial Being will cease to exist. Think of it as your mission is successful, the peace has been brought to Earth, and you will be assisting the Empire in advancing technology, the next generation of Gundams and colonisation efforts of Mars and Venus."
"...That's not what I was expecting." Ian was speechless. Was nothing going to happen to them? Celestial Being is branded as a terrorist group by all governments.
Yet, they will be transported to a new place and allowed to work there? That's it!?
"Yes, I was thinking the same thing. But anyway, those spaceships will take you to the base at the South Pole, where the portal is.
The soldiers might look scary, but they won't do a thing." The Sniper offhandedly mentioned the A.S.P., which he recalled looked scary and most likely deadly with those strange weapons.
"...That doesn't give me confidence."
"Relax, Ian, everything will be fine."
Sure enough, the whole place was hacked by Veda in mere moments. The scientists who were working on firewalls for that computer were speechless to see that there was no point in resisting.
Soon after the main entrance opened, it became a base big enough for Ptolemaios to dock, so there was just enough space for the spaceships to land and soldiers to pour out.
"Umm… we surrender?" Ian raised his hands; behind him were a considerable number of people, men, women and even children.
Not only that, but the number was considerable, and these guys were geniuses in their fields. Celestial Being was still recruiting people who were the best in their fields.
"Come with us. Especially you, Ian Vashti, the creator of the 2nd and 3rd generations of Celestial Being's Gundams, His Majesty wants to see you. He has a job for you and your family."
The leading Black armoured soldier said to the leading glasses-wearing, black-haired man, who could only nod.
"Then lead the way."
The men turned around and motioned to board the spaceships.
Sure enough, the Celestial Beings scientists were in the transporter vessels, and they realised that they were flying first class! The seats were comfortable and wide.
'Damn… Lockon was not kidding.' The Mobile Suit Developer leaned back into the wide chair, which was meant for royalty… literally!
~~~
"Ohh wow, Dad, look at that!" A brown-haired girl pointed at the window. What they were looking at was a massive arch below it; there were buildings, an entire complex of them, there were landing areas for the spaceships and several big hangars that were most likely housing the mobile suits.
"That is a big arch. Is that the portal Lockon was talking about?"
"Most likely is, but what kind of technology is it? It looks stone. How can a portal to another reality work? Where does the power even come from?" Linda Vashti, Ian's wife, began to nerd out at the sight of such a technological marvel.
She was not the only one; the entire spaceship was like that. Every single scientist pondered how this thing worked.
"I am sure we are going to find out." Ian chuckled as he looked around. Everyone was glued to the windows, even his daughter, who was more of a software girl than a pure engineer.
Though she has her moments and easily gets bored by repetitive tasks.
As soon as the spaceships began to land in the designated areas, people were waiting for them.
The groups began to leave the transporter, and the coldness soon enough showed its fangs.
"...Damn it's cold," one of them commented, being dressed in a simple lab coat and an undershirt was a bit too much.
"It is the reason this place is called Antarctica." Another replied. He was wearing a spacesuit, so he was in much better shape.
"Come with us."
"Inside the building."
More of the black-armoured soldiers motioned to follow them.
The scientists went into the closest building. It looked like a reception area with a long corridor, reminding them of airports with something similar.
'Maybe it was an airport? With how big this was.'
The whole place, the sheer size, it was clear that this was a completely different world, and that was minus the cultural difference they could see in the designs.
A bit later, they arrived at a hall.
"Celestial Being! It is wonderful to see you! Welcome!" Marcus Anaheim, dressed in purple and black, greeted them from an elevated area.
Next to him were an array of unfamiliar people and some very familiar.
'Sumeragi, Allelujah… even Setsuna…' Though that kid was a bit of distance away, Exia's pilot was dressed in casual clothes, clearly not happy with his situation, unlike the other one who were part of this Empire.
"...umm… Thanks, I guess?" Ian was leading the front, so he was the spokesperson; behind him were the whole science and technology division; they were gawking at the amount of museum-level quality stuff, wooden furniture, with walls that had carvings. This was not a research facility but a museum.
Though Marcus is keeping this style on purpose instead of plain walls, one would expect it in a science-related facility.
"You're welcome. I want to invite you and your friends, alongside your families, to move to my Empire. Jobs and housing will be taken care of.
I will make sure your talents are appreciated and properly utilised in mobile suit development or in other fields you wish to work in.
I will begin Jupiter's colony construction and, with it, GN technology development, such as Solar Reactors and related technologies.
It would be fantastic if I could get some of your expertise in this." Marcus walked over as he said that.
"Are you sure? Just like that? Weren't we enemies, just days ago?" Ian replied while scratching the back of his head.
"You were, but I already won, and now I am collecting the spoils of my victory, among them were you guys.
This is your choice; the alternative is something you wouldn't like. And this is not a threat, it's reality. I rule two worlds now.
In one world, you are wanted criminals with delusions of peace through military strength, in another world, you don't exist, and I am giving you a chance to start again and this time as Imperial Researchers for my Empire that represents humanity as a whole."
Ian and the rest were smart enough to know what this means. They move to his Empire's territory or face consequences here, simple and straight to the point.
And something none of them needed to think. The answer was simple… especially for those who were part of Celestial Being their whole lives or were born into it.
Yes, born… the whole organisation had been around for hundreds of years, after all.
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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