(A/N: This is 500 stone chapter from previous week)
"That's a lot of people. To think our Emperor was able to pull such a move. If they are responsible for Gundam development, then our working force doubled in the most literal sense." Sakuya watched as people left the transporters that arrived from the other Earth.
She could see rows and rows of scientists, engineers, physicians, mechanics… that's quite a group.
"We got 246 people," Rahskata said to her assistant as she checked the holograms with their profiles. These guys were shipped here the moment they went through screenings.
Her eyes stopped on the lead developer, Ian Vashti, the creator of most 2nd-generation gundams and all of the 3rd generation.
Not only that, this guy's wife developed Gundam attachments called GN Arms.
In other words, they got an enormous boost for their Gundam development.
'With this… we will roll out gen 4 in months instead of years.'
"That's a lot… isn't our main developer group around 150? We more than doubled our assets!" Sakuya gawked at the numbers.
"Yes, but you see. This Celestial Being proved a centuries-old concept of selective breeding and that surroundings play a vital part in upbringing." Rakshata said with a small grin.
"...You mean…this was in a way a self-sufficient colony that was purely working on Mobile Suit development?" Sakuya was a bit speechless; she checked the data. In this group, scientists married scientists, and their children would spend from a young age playing with electronics and computers… instead of toys and entertainment, their curiosity would be developed instead.
Creating a small population of highly educated and talented individuals. This is exactly what they have been trying to do with Academy City and in 'Project Academia', a project where the entire solar system will be dedicated to science and technology.
"Not just mobile suits but GN technology." The blonde woman smirked as she motioned for Sakuya to follow her.
"Let's go, time to meet the people who will help us create the 4th Generation."
"Right." The black-haired girl nodded as the pair walked to a lift that took them down to the ground floor.
"Attention! It's so wonderful to see you, everyone." The lady, smirking, walked over to the scientists who were taking in the paintings on the walls. They could see Gundams; these were paintings of the Independence War and the World Conquest.
Hell, there is a new scene from 'Gundam War' where G-Force was engaging Celestial Being. Though the painters only started this recently.
"I am Rakshata Chawa, the Head of GN Research and Development for the G-Force."
"...I am Ian Vashti–"
"I know, and we are excited to see you here. You are the one who made the 2nd and 3rd generation of Celestial Being's mobile suits. We want to know your opinion on our 4th-generation Gundam Thrones."
"...Your Emperor already is developing the next generation?"
"Our Emperor, there is only one authority in the human race. Better than council or government, isn't it?" The woman smiled as she smoked her pipe for a second.
"It's easy to remember, he is the one who doesn't limit our budget."
"!!!"
At that moment, Marcus won the heart of Celestial Being without even being in that reality.
~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~
Marcus scratched the back of his head when he heard the explanation from Lockon.
"You mean to say you used Trans-Am while Gravity Resonance was on?"
"Yes, the Gundam went crazy in less than three seconds. I was super close to the sun. If my hunch is right, I crossed tens of millions of miles in a fraction of just several seconds." The Ex-Celestial Being Pilot explained to him.
The Emperor needed to see this.
"Legion downloads data from Nemesis."
[Already did. It appears the gravity particles were supercharged the same way the GN particle was.
Those two particles are not that different, and there was synergy when Trans-Am was activated.] Marcus read through the files as Legion explained the whole thing to him.
"So…It's… In a form of Jump Drive?"
[If we are to compare to science fiction works… this is similar to warp drive, not jump drive.]
"...So is this good?" Lockon looked at Marcus.
"This is monumental, my dear friend. This is what my Empire needed to spread humanity through the very stars.
We have an angle to work with." Marcus grinned at him like a devil who had just found a way to leave his confinement!
"...Does that mean I can have Dynames back?" Lockon asked with a hopeful tone. This is what he wanted the most now that the merc was gone.
"Consider it done. Dynames will be fixed, and its tech improved to Imperial standards. We will add Gravity Resonators as well."
"Nice. That's what I wanted to hear, Emperor boss!" Lockon gave him a thumbs-up.
Marcus chuckled at his new nickname.
"Indeed, I am very satisfied with the latest haul. You did well, Lockon Stratos, you found a machine I was looking for."
The Emperor looked at the new holographic window that popped up. It had a direct link to the hangar where most of the loot had been removed, but there was one machine that remained: Gundam 1, with two GN Drives next to it.
He needs to do something in his free time, so why not merge two worlds on his own? It was Gundam 1 and Tiranis with two GN Drives that he was going to play around with for a bit.
"The Gundam 1? What is special about it? From what I read about it, it has similar capabilities to Dynames and the other three."
"It's not that it's special in any way. It's what I will do that makes it special. That's the whole thing. Don't you have hobbies? Like you take a piece of regular wood and carve it into something special for yourself." Marcus tried to compare, but all he did was baffle the pilot before him even more.
"You are the first ever person who sees this like some sort of hobby." The sniper was a bit speechless to hear that. This guy's mind was on a different plane of existence.
"I might be an Emperor of Humanity, but at the end of the day, I just love tinkering. It's what made me who I am and brought us to this point.
It's what brought peace to this world as well. Because if not for my tinkering and creation of big robots, you guys would have been betrayed by a biological Veda terminal and would have been fighting a literal war."
"... You mean that data which you provided, that some Ribbons Almark guy was ready to take over the world instead of you?" Lockon recalled reading something Sumeragi had provided.
"Indeed. He was the original pilot of Gundam 0, the first-ever Gundam in this world, though he lost his way due to his superior biological capabilities; it's the issue with these Innovades. Something that I will improve upon in the future." Marcus dropped some scary information.
"...ugh… Celestial Being is full of these crazy things." By this point, Lockon was happy to know that all of that scary stuff was behind them!
"Indeed. Now for your next mission. Lockon, we will be acquiring Celestial Being and Veda."
"...What? What do you mean by Celestial Being?" Lockon was confused by the name. Is it some sort of physical object? Celestial Being is supposed to be an organisation.
"The colony spaceship, designed by Aeolia Schenberg himself, and most likely, we will recover the old man too." Marcus dropped another bombshell; it was time to talk with the founder who had frozen himself in ice.
"!!!"
~~~
As Marcus and Lockon were collecting Celestial Being's tech like it was collectables or trading cards, other things were happening.
For one, the Emperor has kept his promises. Allelujah Haptism was sent to meet his fellow Super Soldier in the military.
After a small misunderstanding, the girl recalled her real name, and it got a bit heated as she almost attacked him.
Thankfully, it ended up well.
'So there was a survivor.' Sergei Smirnov looked at the two super soldiers talking in the distance.
'Still though… what did happen that day?' The Wild Bear of Russia tried to recall what happened. They were losing even with 33 mobile suits. Celestial Being's tech was slightly superior, and they won, but then reinforcements arrived and immediately crushed them.
Where they came from or who they were is a mystery; his superiors either don't know or they don't want to know.
Regardless, in the end of the day, they were victorious, Celestial Being was gone, and the world could focus on rebuilding.
They were united under a single banner, and from the looks of it, a Golden Age is upon them.
'I do think that it's time for me to retire.'
The Wild Bear of Russia thought about getting himself a small cottage in the Siberian Wilderness. It would be a nice change of pace for the Soldier.
~~~
At the same time, in South Pole Base, a blonde Empress arrived to test if Thought Elevators are possible to build in this reality.
After all, Marcus might promise, but it's up to his Geass Order to make it happen.
After setting up shop in the main research facility, the Geass Order representatives began with their scans.
Less than an hour later, the tests were back, and they scanned the frequencies of Geass Energy.
"What do the preliminary readings show us?" Shamna asked one of her researchers after hearing that the scans had been completed.
"...This…well… It's identical." The man looked confused as he looked at his device and the readings on the computer; it's like they never left Earth to begin with!
"You mean to tell me that Collective Unconsciousness here is the same as in our world? We share… a single… afterlife?" The blonde woman was speechless for a second, but then it made sense to her.
"That is too soon to conclude, Empress!" The researcher didn't want to accept this so soon, not after running some more tests.
"No, it's fine. It makes sense. The reason why they never rebuild their Thought Elevators here." Shamna smirked. The reason is that the precursor civilisation wanted to leave that technology behind and never bring it here.
Geass can be… well, a double-edged sword; that is why this world never had it, and the people who crossed over never bothered, because they will all return to their roots either way after their death.
'They could have been a splinter group that ran away to this reality.
Marvelous… I wonder if they developed some sort of splitter technology. I do need to inform my darling husband that he needs to know about this discovery.'
Shamna licked her lips. This is exciting! As the Empress who is responsible for Precurson civilisation's technology, this is a breakthrough she wanted to find!
After getting this confirmation, she went to find a couple of women whom she needed to bring to see the afterlife.
It was her mission from her Husband.
~~~
"You two must be Chall Acustica and Leesa Kujo." Shamna strolled into the room as if she owned it. Two women are waiting for her.
"Yes."
"That would be me." The pair nodded and stood up; they had been waiting for this.
"Wonderful. I do have some news for you. It would seem that we all share the same afterlife. That means that I don't need to build anything on Earth.
I will take you back to my order were we can use my Thought Elevator there."
The pair looked at each other when they heard that. Do they all share the same afterlife? How does that even make sense? Aren't they separated by time and space?
At least that's the idea behind another reality…
"I know. I am excited just as much as you two are."
"Excitement is a strong word," Chall replied, a bit nervously.
If they are separated by a thinner layer of space and time, then Marcus could change his mind and keep this Earth to himself; that is the worry behind the 2nd generation Gundam pilot.
"So then. Can we use it soon?"
"Yes, in a week's time, when the portal opens, for now, enjoy your days off. I do believe my husband is doing something fascinating, so you two should check it.
He said something about talking to someone called Aeolia Schenberg…" Shamna looked to the side, trying to recall his exact words, but she had already lost the pair.
"!?"
"But…shouldn't he be dead by this point!? It has been close to two hundred years!" Sumeragi was speechless! What is with Celestial Being and its damn secrets left and right!
"Do not ask me. I am here to make sure you two talk to your deceased loved ones or friends. Nothing else matters to me; I will see you two when it's time to cross to the other side. Until then, stay safe." With a smile, the blonde Empress left them be; she had close to seven days to explore this reality, maybe find something of value.