The news reached us at White Star: Panama had fallen.
I received the report while taking a short break from acting as Cornelia's sparring partner in the flight simulator. Her conversion training was progressing at an incredible pace.
Thanks to the technical overhaul of our gate's communication system—funded entirely by the "generous donations" Lemon had squeezed out of Yuna Roma Seiran—we now had a direct, stable link between White Star and the SEED world. The gate essentially functioned as a massive signal repeater.
As for the spoils of that wager, Lemon had been remarkably thorough. She'd purchased everything from advanced industrial machinery to livestock. As a result, White Star had officially entered the era of animal husbandry. Even on an island nation like Orb, cattle, pigs, and chickens were plentiful. Currently, a detachment of mass-produced W-series units—their brains freshly imprinted with agricultural data—were tending to the pens.
Ideally, I would have preferred to use units with actual experience, but Shadow Mirror's database was filled with specialized combat maneuvers, not the nuances of cattle breeding. For now, they were learning from Orb's textbooks. There was something undeniably surreal about watching super-soldiers, capable of rivaling ZAFT's elite Red Coats or Cornelia's Glaston Knights, spend their afternoons shoveling manure.
Once this war reached a tentative conclusion, I considered inviting refugees to migrate to White Star. Of course, they'd have to be free of any ties to the Seirans or Logos. Finding a simple farmer in the SEED world without those political strings might be difficult, but within the isolated safety of White Star, we could make it work.
I caught myself smiling at the thought. Here I was, planning for the post-war era before the first shot of the main event had even been fired. I was getting ahead of myself.
"Axel? You look pleased. Was it good news?"
Cornelia asked as she took a seat near the simulator, tilting her head back to drain a sports drink.
"Neither good nor bad, really. Just expected," I replied. "Panama was wiped off the map, just as I predicted."
"I see. That leaves us with a grace period of less than two weeks, then. Will I be ready for the front by then?"
"You're the 'Witch of Britannia,' Cornelia. Even with your current progress, you'd make short work of our standard W-series pilots."
"Flattery doesn't suit you. My Gloucester was a close-quarters machine; this Rapierçage is a different beast entirely, built primarily for fire support. I still need to master the weight of its integrated systems."
"My apologies. I have to head to Orb now to deal with the fallout of Panama. If you want to continue training, I'd suggest sparring with Echidna, but… she's away today."
"Right. She's checking on the other side. Give Guilford my regards if you see her."
Echidna was currently back in the Code Geass world. The chaos following the Black Rebellion had finally begun to settle, and she was there to gather intelligence and maintain our link with Guilford. In the original timeline, Cornelia had cut all ties with her knight to hunt the Geass Order, but the woman sitting across from me now was different. She knew the truth about Geass and had enough heart to let her most loyal subordinate know she was alive and well.
As for her machine, Cornelia had officially claimed the Rapierçage. Initially, I'd offered her the Weiss Saviour, but she found the lack of melee options frustrating. The Rapierçage, with its Magnum Beak, allowed her to retain the aggressive, close-in style she had perfected in her Knightmare Frame. Lemon, who preferred precision sniping anyway, had been more than happy to swap.
"I'm heading out. Do you want me to call up a few W-units toSpar with?"
"No, I think I'll take a rest as well," Cornelia said, her eyes softening. "You're coming home tonight, aren't you?"
"That's the plan."
"Then Murrue and I will prepare dinner. Don't be late."
She gave me a light, lingering kiss before heading toward the showers.
Life had changed quite a bit. Currently, Lemon, Cornelia, Murrue, and I were all sharing a large estate on the base. When Murrue moved in, it seemed like the perfect excuse to consolidate our living arrangements. The house was massive, with plenty of spare rooms—a fact Cornelia occasionally teased me about, implying I was leaving space for "future additions" to the household. I liked to think she was joking.
When I materialized in Orb to meet with Uzumi, the atmosphere was thick with tension. The same council from our previous meeting was gathered, though Kira's gaze drifted away the moment our eyes met. He still hadn't found his answer.
"I assume you've heard about Panama?" I asked Uzumi.
"It happened exactly as you said," Uzumi replied grimly. "They deployed a tactical weapon from orbit."
"Gungnir," I provided.
Kisaka nodded. "An EMP strike. Every piece of Alliance electronic equipment on the base was fried instantly. Worse, the reports say ZAFT executed nearly every Alliance soldier who tried to surrender."
"Retribution for Alaska," Mu muttered.
To the Coordinators of ZAFT, who already looked down on Naturals, the massacre at Alaska—where the majority of their Earth-bound forces were incinerated by their "inferiors"—was an unforgivable sin.
"ZAFT lost their core strength in Alaska; the Alliance lost theirs at Panama," Uzumi observed. "The scales are balanced in blood."
"The raw numbers might be similar," I countered, "but the Alliance has the industrial mass to replace those losses almost instantly. Their problem isn't soldiers—it's logistics. Without Panama's mass driver, they can't resupply their lunar bases. They are desperate, and their eyes are fixed squarely on Orb."
Uzumi's face lined with weary frustration. "They've already sent the ultimatum."
"Join the Alliance or be branded a ZAFT collaborator," I guessed.
"They just want our technology and our mass driver!" Cagalli shouted, her fist clenched.
She wasn't wrong. Orb's neutral stance was an insult to the Atlantic Federation's "with us or against us" philosophy, and our technical prowess was a prize they couldn't ignore—especially if the Seirans had leaked word of Shadow Mirror's existence.
"Axel-kun, based on your information, we have roughly two weeks," Uzumi said. "Regarding our earlier discussion… have you reached a decision about the evacuation?"
"The evacuation?"
I remembered now. Uzumi had proposed moving a portion of Orb's civilian population to White Star once the shooting started. Since White Star existed in a different dimension, there was literally nowhere safer in the multiverse.
"It's possible," I said. "But White Star is a fortress of secrets. If we take in civilians, they will be restricted to the Multi-Platform—think of it as a massive enclosed farm. They'll be monitored by the W-series at all times to ensure no one wanders where they shouldn't. If Orb's people can accept those terms, I'll open the gates. But you haven't gone public with our alliance yet, have you? How will the public react to being told they're being sent to a 'hidden base' run by strangers?"
The Shadow Mirror-Orb alliance was currently a "black-level" secret known only to the highest echelons of the government and military.
"We've agreed to classify all Shadow Mirror units as 'Mobile Suits' for the sake of public simplicity," Uzumi noted with a faint smile. He had found it amusing that the SEED world categorized the four-legged Megilot as a Mobile Armor simply because it lacked a pilot. "As for the announcement, I intend to wait until the final ultimatum."
"The 'Hero' play?" I asked.
"In a way. When the Alliance's threat is at its peak, we will reveal Shadow Mirror as our brothers-in-arms. 'The brave defenders of Orb and their allies standing against tyranny.' It will minimize panic and foster a sense of gratitude toward your people. It's the only way to ensure a smooth integration."
Uzumi was often called a saint, but in moments like this, he proved why he was also called the "Lion of Orb." He was a master of political theater.
"On another note," Uzumi continued, "we've finalized the arrangements for Murrue Ramius. She will operate under Orb's tactical command for the duration of the defense."
"Glad to hear it," I said.
Mu raised a hand, looking uncharacteristically sheepish. "Oh, and one more thing. I'm officially an MS pilot now."
I looked at him, remembering the original timeline. Mu had made the jump to Mobile Suits during the battle for Orb, famously sparring with Kira's Freedom to get the hang of the controls.
"Kira's been putting me through the wringer every day," Mu added.
"Not at all," Kira said, finally speaking up. "Mu-san is a natural. I'm just helping him adjust to the extra degrees of freedom."
Watching them, I realized something. Kira's true calling wasn't as a soldier or a killer.
"You know, Kira," I said, "you might be better suited as an instructor than a combatant."
Kira blinked, looking surprised. "An instructor?"
"Your technical skill is beyond reproach. And the 'non-lethal' style I criticized? In a training environment, that's exactly what you want. You can push a pilot to their absolute limit without actually killing them."
"An instructor…" Kira repeated the word, his expression thoughtful.
"He's right," Mu agreed. "I can go all-out against Kira without worrying about an accident. It's the most effective training I've ever had. Axel's got a sharp eye for talent."
"He should," Murrue joked from the side. "He was supposed to be an instructor himself once, wasn't he?"
"Something like that," I replied, turning back to Mu. "And what about Natarle? Have you heard from her?"
Mu's smile faltered slightly. "No. We haven't spoken since Alaska. But she was reassigned before the Archangel left, so I'm sure she wasn't caught in the Cyclops blast. She's probably back at the Moon… or on Earth, if she made it through Panama."
In the original history, Natarle Badgiruel would return as the captain of the Dominion, the second ship of the Archangel class, under the thumb of Muruta Azrael. She was a brilliant officer and a woman of integrity; it would be a waste to let her die as a puppet for a madman. I'd have to find a way to pull her out of the fire when the time came.
Status Report
Name: Axel Almar
Level: 36 | PP: 165
Melee: 254 | Ranged: 274 | Skill: 264 | Defense: 264 | Evade: 294 | Hit: 314
SP: 446
Ace Bonus: SP Boost
Spirit Commands:
Accel (4) | Effort (8) | Focus (16) | Direct Hit (30) | Awaken (32) | Love (48)
Skills:
EXP Up | SP Boost (Lv.9/Regen/Focus) | Telekinesis Lv.10 | Attacker | Gunfight Lv.9 | Infight Lv.9 | Morale Limit Break | Geass (Grey)
Kill Count: 288
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