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Gundam 00: Laws of Attrition (RisaXSeph/Cypherxk2)

Halvern noticed Mimi's silence and her preoccupation with Fenrir. Shaking his head, he started trying to figure out how to turn the gravity back on. He, Halvern was in his late forties, and knew Fenrir since he barely up to his knee. He couldn't keep up with the younger Gundam Meister, even at the younger man's roughest. It was time the older man hung up fighting.

"Sorinson, c'mere when you get a chance." He called, seeing Fenrir take a misdirected drunken swipe to clear Mimi from his personal space with chuckle on his lips, "I need a word."
 
Mimi continued to attempt to treat Fenrir. After he continued to resist and not let her look him over she just observes the pilot; deep in thought about him, her situation, what it must have been like to kill a fellow pilot and friend… She wondered if he felt anything… Being requested by Halvern she comes over as normal gravity starts to take effect she just stands there looking over at him “What’s up?” She asked trying to keep her emotional struggle out of view.
 
"I'm passing looking after Fenrir off to you." Halvern said, standing and walking over to put his hands on her shoulders, "He's stubborn and cynical at times, but I know him enough to know he wouldn't do something without acknowledging his feelings on it. He takes his actions too seriously. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if he gets ill over having to kill "Him". To be honest, I think Fenrir needed you more."

Halvern trotted off after that, leaving Mimi to her own devices to think about his words. Fenrir was enigmatic if you didn't know him, but he was easily readable if you knew what you were looking for. He wasn't that difficult to understand as well. Fenrir didn't kill unless he had to. His disabling Sora's Gundam was proof of that.
 
Mimi followed Halvern as he had asked. He then explained to her that he was handing off the care of the young Meister to her. Why was he giving her "care" of him? She had worked with him before but didn't know how he thought of her... Even now she didn't know what Fenrir thought. Was he truly remorseful for killing? And would he actually care what she thought about him? She believed the only way that she could find out answers to these questions was to return to his side and so that's exactly what she did. She arrived next to him sitting on the cot very lightly on the edge as not to get too close she started looking to move or not touching him just looking to see what she could see and what she could find either by what he looked like for the reactions of his body. Once he tried to better away again she simply took his hand and then spoke in almost a whisper "Fenrir are you okay?" Considering all that has been going on in her head she almost felt like such a question was stupid and that she could say so much more but she didn't know how to explain her feelings in words or ask her questions in words.
 
"Besides the concussion and the onset of wanting to projectile vomit while my skull spins around rapidly on my spinal column?" Fenrir said in return, huffing as he tried not to aggravate his head injury, "Ask again when I'm not sick to my stomach with self-disgust."

That painted a colorful if not disturbing picture. It also gave a clue to how he felt. Which was, he felt like shit for killing Kira. He hated killing even though he knew he was necessary as a Gundam Meister. It wasn't often something incapacitated him like killing Kira had. It was a weakness, but it was another reason Veda chose him. He empathized with people, and he'd understood Kira's reasoning for betraying Celestial Being.

Fenrir understood because he felt the same. Yet the feeling of being a monster made him stay. There was too much blood on his hands. Plus, he had nowhere else to go. Al least nowhere that he knew of.

"He forced my hand....." He said, staring at his black gloved hands as he regarded Mimi out of the corner of his eye, "Yet I understood his motives. He wanted you and him to be free of fighting. He called out to you when his Mobile suit detonated. He regretted cheating on you, I could hear it in his voice and mind."
 
Mimi nodded pulling something out of one of her pockets. She opened it and took two pills out of it. "This one will melt in your mouth... It should help with the nausea feelings... This will help with pain... I won't be able to do much for the concussion though. Sorry." She realized killing was required in this line of work and she did not blame him... It was his job after all and sometimes duty was a tough pill to swallow. "I forgive you." She said after making him take the medications if he wanted to or not. The next statement he made hit her deep though. She didn't really say anything after that just continuing to ensure he would survive. Were they further along they would have been married and she would now be a widow. They were engaged to be married and then he cheated on her; even if he was sorry for that it was something that could not be undone. If he had asked her to have sex with another person joining them she might have discussed something with him but that... No... Especially with her best friend; she was disgusted with Kira... It did not matter if he was remorseful; he was dead AND he cheated on her. After a few minutes of milling around in her head the looked at Fenrir then knelt down lightly as not to injure him further and gave him a kiss.
 
Unlike before, he didn't resist her attention this time. However, he did recoil a bit from her kissing him. Any physical contact beyond taking blows were foreign to him. Technically, all signs of affection were foreign to him. He didn't openly broadcast it though.

He wasn't trying to be rude by recoiling, but the act aggravated his head injury by how hard he did so. Cue vivid cursing fit as he clutched his head. Some thing's with him never really changed much. Still, he was grateful to her for not smacking him around. It was something he was used to getting. Celestial Being had saved him in that regard.

"Hey, it looks like the Amaterasu just settled into an orbit above the Tenchū Orbital Elevator." Halvern called, surprised to be getting open frequency transmission from their commander, "The commander is broadcasting a full recall of Gundam Meisters, effective immediately."
 
Mimi felt him pull back and sat up turning away then said. “I see… Well consider that me accepting your apology.” Him not letting it happen though seemed to do further damage to her. She stood up and then Halvern mentioned the return of their ship. She did not even have time to deal with Sora either. Her day was not going well for her. She just sighed and simply nodded at Halvern. It almost slipped her mind but she asked it anyway to Fenrir. “Do you need any further assistance?” Her reaction was in a bit of a colder manner than usual. It seemed she took his rejection rather harshly regardless of its intent; it was not like she expected him to take her into his arms but she expected more than just an attempt at pulling back then him hurting himself. She waited for a response; if he did not respond she would just return to her mobile weapon and begin checking it over… Once again trying to keep her mind off of what was actually going on inside of her head.
 
"Could use something to eat and some rest....." Fenrir said, seeming to read Mimi's reaction like a book, "Also, I'm not used to displays of affection. That all me pulling away was. It wasn't the rejection you think it was. He always said he felt you could find someone better at protect you if you tried....."

He'd switched from verbal to telepathic communication mid-way, something that was impossible to ignore as the words were meant only for her. His Innovator abilities allowed that, though the strain of it was evident in how pained he felt when he called to her. The impression that he felt Kira had meant him passed to her, followed by him telling Kira that if he didn't get the pessimistic stick out of his ass, he(Fenrir) really would take over protecting Mimi. Kira had laughed in his face but there had been a note of relief in his laughter that Fenrir had disregarded as stress. He now knew he was dead wrong.

"Guess He always wanted it to be me....." He grunted, severing the telepathic connection after he realized Kira had practically bequeathed her protection, as it was, to him in case he died, "Cheeky motherfucker pulled on over on me..... Well played, asshole...."
 
Mimi heard his request for food and rest and continued her stroll away. Then she heard him in her head. Upon his explanation she did not respond. However, when he went on further explaining about Kira Mimi punched a nearby wall. She was going to respond telepathically but instead spoke. “I don’t need protection… I need someone to be alive…” She still resumed heading for her mobile suit. Kira was dead and her friend betrayed her; she was alone; again… Just like her parents dying now those she cared about were gone too. She waited on Halvern to let her know when they could leave.
 
"That's what He wanted for you too." He said, an annoyed huff in his voice as he covered his eyes to stop the area from spinning, "I'm not gonna coddle you just so you can have your pity party....."

The second part was to himself, as he felt Mimi was looking for comfort just to cut herself off from her issues. Sora, while untrustworthy for now, he saw as an asset. One that he realized he was willing to break rules and limits to protect. So, rest was out of the question.

"Something isn't right.... Celestial Being wouldn't call back Gundam Meisters all at once." Halvern said, quickly jotting down the words of the recall order and using a substitution cipher to rework the message, "Veda wouldn't ordain that kind of order unless it's been compromised."

"Hal, get Repunzal and some tools." Fenrir called as he got up and walked laboriously over to damaged Phys. Virtue while trying not to fall over from his concussion, "We're cracking Sora's protective Shell to get answers."
 
Mimi was still in her MS though she kept the hatch open and the speakers on so she could hear what was going on. She wasn’t going to shut herself off completely; that would make survival more difficult especially with the enemy using people she trusted against her. She could tell by his reaction that Fenrir did not think highly of her and that pissed her off. She was not a child but yet she literally had no one… This guy at least had pilots who looked up to him… Did he have family; she never asked and at this point would likely not care about his answer. The two were Meisters and that was the only thing they had in common. Mimi overheard Halvern speak and then Fenrir make his chide comment. She thought “This guy must love unconsciousness… I’m tempted to just knock him on his ass…” Mimi then had a thought; Fenrir was the type to follow orders unless it did not suit him… She knew that meant he would try to kill Sora unless she was useful to him; a traitor was useful to no one. Mimi got out of her machine and drew her sidearm pointing it at Fenrir. “You will do no such thing; I won’t let you kill her… If we are going to get anything out of her I will do it MY way; you will not lay a hand on her… ever.” Sora was in danger or so Mimi thought; the ship would kill her, they would kill her… Mimi was her only protector at this point or so she thought. Mimi so wanted to just go over there and punch his lights out; all that stopped her was that multiple concussions one after the other could kill him… As much as she disliked him right now and feared that he would hurt her friend she had no intention of harming him.
 
"If Fenrir wanted to kill Sora, She'd already be dead. He clearly had the opportunity to kill her before and didn't." Halvern said, pointing out the obvious fact Fenrir clearly had the opportunity to kill her before now as he put himself right of her sidearm, "Besides, I don't see Sora as a traitor and I can almost guarantee he feels similarly."

"Yeah, I could have easily killed her before we got here." Fenrir said, his voice taking a deathly quiet tone that most Meisters knew to avoid him when he got it, "Matter of fact, I still can by leaving her in there since she ain't getting fresh oxygen. Your call, Sorinson. I may be a killer, but I sure as hell don't do it for fun."

Even in Fenrir's injured state, Halvern knew the younger man was a dangerous person to provoke. Technically, the younger man was rated hyper-lethal and almost impossible to stop when impassioned. Veda prioritized his return/retrieval more than anyone besides Mimi herself. Anything Mimi did now could tear the foundation of which Gundam Meisters apart as protocol dictates that a Gundam Meister that threats another is to be considered a threat and thus eligible for termination by the threatened Meister. Fenrir was considered the worst Meister to threaten. That was saying a lot.

"You're killing her chances at survival." He stated, looking at Mimi with hard eyes and a firm tone of voice, "I don't know what's going on in that head of yours, but every action you take in state of mind is inflammatory in a bad way. You pulling a gun on him could have just cost Sora her live if he takes it that far. Don't.... Fenrir, wha....?!"

"If you want to make this personal or bloody, fine..... But I've no intention of killing Sora unless my hand is forced again...." Fenrir said, swatting Mimi's sidearm upward and stripping her of it suddenly as he pinned her against a bulkhead, "Don't assume to know what I thinking based off what your shatter-brained thoughts tell you from how I react. Also, you draw on me again, I will kill her and you if you try to stop me."

He walked away after that, ejecting the magazine from her sidearm and the chambered round before tossed the slide one way and the grip another. He'd made his point clear though killing Mimi herself was an empty promise.
 
Mimi was going to reply to both of them but upon being disarmed and told that her line of thinking was incorrect to say the least was sort of a turning point for her. The O2 tanks should last a long time unless they were damaged. Mimi no longer knew what to think and figured she was just a burden to them at this point. “Just don’t hurt her.” Mimi said simply picking up her weapon and its ammo and stepping away. She didn’t make eye contact with Halvern or Fenrir again for a while.

She stood there having a ton of things going on inside of her; they must think she was being unreasonable… but she was protecting the only person she had left at least that she thought she did anyway.
 
"Got it... Hatch open.... Sorinson, you're up!! It's your court!!" Halvern called, Fenrir working to get the Phys. Virtue's GN Drive connections to the docking port running again as the older man dogged the Gundam's hatch open, "Do hurry, I think Zero's getting angry!!"

The damaged area wasn't all that bad, it was just the fact Fenrir didn't have the tools or expertise required to get the Phys. Virtue back into a combat ready state. At most, or best depending on how he looked at it, he was jerry-rigging new connections to bypass the damaged and/or destroyed ones. It was tedious and reminded him why he wasn't a mechanic. Though he possessed a ingenuity for tinkering. That ingenuity unknowingly allowed him to boost the Phys Virtue's power supply almost fifty percent and brought the Heavy Assault Gundam back to life.

"Ze..... keye.... On't... Repeat.... Do not..... Turn...." The voice of a fellew female Gundam Meister came from the Phys. Virtue's comm, "There, jamming clear..... Zero, Hawkeye, Sorinson, Don't return to the Amaterasu. There's an armed Coup led by Inovades going on here. Me, some other Meisters, and most of the Amaterasu's crew have jumped ship and are coming to your position. Until we meet up, Do not return to the Amaterasu. Sophitia out."
 
Mimi nodded to Halvern as Fenrir was working on the machine. She entered the hatch pulling Sora out of the restraints so Fenrir could work without the risk of her activating the mobile suit. Plus it was not exactly easy to treat someone’s wounds from within a cockpit. Once Mimi had removed her and laid her down on a makeshift pillow she looked her over and treated any bleeding or anything that was life threatening making sure that it was okay to revive her before she used smelling salts on Sora. Sora had no spinal, neck or severe head injuries; Mimi reminded herself to check BEFORE ripping someone out of the cockpit for such injuries in the future… She could have killed Sora had she been injured in such a manner. With that through she awoke her with the salts.

Sora’s eyes began to open and she stirred realizing Mimi was kneeling over her. “Mimi… Mimi!” She practically yelled at her. Mimi stared into her eyes with a look of contempt. “So… friend… Let’s do this first.” She takes her through the standard post-concussion round of questioning that were Fenrir not so eager to go about and pull her off him she would have done to him. It was standard medical protocol after all though she was too emotionally charged to follow her training at this point; how she could do so now was beyond her… It could have had something to do with Fenrir basically giving her a reality check. Sora passed the tests meaning she was in no immediate danger and did not suffer brain damage. She was oriented and alert; that was a plus. “Congrats on recruiting Kira…” Mimi said coldly after making sure the girl was able to withstand whatever she wanted to do to her. “You don’t understand… It was once… He offered to join us after discovering who I was that he had a way to free the three of us from this war… There is only so long Celestial Being will survive you know… Or did you not just hear the communication… You are breaking apart at the seams.” Mimi glared at her for saying such things. “You don’t have any clue…” “I know more than you do obviously… Plus were it not for my targeting upgrades you would have been killed in that last battle. I know who my friends are; do you?” “The ESF would have killed you at a moment’s notice!” “No; you see you really don’t understand… I’m a double agent dear Mimi. It is unfortunate that Kira was killed but it is what is… If you cannot accept that then you shouldn’t be here…” Mimi stares at Sora. Did the others already understand this; was that why they said she was not a traitor… Was there information that was being withheld from her by the other pilots, the commander and Veda on purpose… She suspected as much but this just confirmed it. "Everyone has their purpose in the master plan... The current form of Celestial Being is expendable so long as the plan succeeds." Sora said.
 
"I don't buy it." Fenrir said, holding his head as he looked coldly at Sora, "I've been watching you since we were recruited and I've been doubting your loyalties to everyone but Sorinson so far. If you're a Double agent, what do you really know about me and why do I feel that you are an Innovade?"

Halvern looked at Fenrir sideways. He knew things about most Meisters but only Veda had important details about the younger Meister. He reckoned the question was rather loaded since almost nothing was known about where Fenrir came from other than the fact he was an Innovator. True, it made him an enigmatic part of Celestial Being but it also left him with the least amount of entanglements. Veda kept a tight lid on that.
 
Sora sighed "If I were an actual enemy wouldn't I have tried to kill my idiot friend when she pulled me out; come on think logically here... Three of you and even though I am injured; so are two of you and one is an old man... So if I wanted to kill you I'd just catch you unexpected or when you were unconscious like you were a little bit ago... As for what I know about you Zero... Veda keeps that information from EVERYONE... I doubt the Commander even knows the full picture about you." Sora then looks at Mimi. "So what are you going to do then..." Mimi rolled her eyes at Sora; she was done being treated like a child during this whole thing. Her friend wasn't the person she knew and her fiancee was dead; she didn't have any other friends that much was obvious. Mimi just left the rest to the other two as she returned to her mobile suit; keeping her hatch open but just taking a seat there to be alone. Sora again sighed thinking "Maybe she shouldn't be in this line of work if she takes everything so seriously."
 
"Maybe you shouldn't judge her by her actions." Fenrir said, being rather cutting with his words as an intense and almost debilitating pressure settled over Sora's consciousness, "I may have been unconscious on the way here, but I was far from unaware. You're got a clean slate for now. However, just know I'm got a knife and a bullet with your name on them if you so much as test the admittedly short safety line of leeway I'm giving you. Remember, I could have killed you before we even got here and I doubt you can keep up a mobile suit Blitz."

"Ah, maybe we could settle this without promises to kill each other.... How about some tea or coffee?" Halvern offered, only to feel the younger Meister glaring daggers in his back.

Fenrir left as well, his tone indicating his words were a cold promise. He was very much capable of being cold hearted. Something almost any Meister would say he was famous for. Others, almost affectionately in a terrified way, called him Zero the Heartless Meister from time to time.

He made his way to Mimi's mobile suit, looking at her while placing his hands on the arm rests. His proximity was unusually close and he wasn't known to willingly get within close proximity to anyone without handing them an asskicking. What he was doing now was far from normal for him. To anyone else, it would be very unsettling.

"About that kiss.... I wasn't rejecting you....." He said, voice low as he regarded her while shifting to telepathic communication, "However, I wasn't accepting you either.... If you think you can handle the price.... Go ahead and linger close to me.... Just remember I'm no blessing..."

He kissed her, punctuating his words with an unexpected and highly abnormal action before leaving her to herself again.
 
Sora wanted to roll her eyes but did not. She felt Mimi was being too whiney but figured it would be in her best interest to keep her mouth shut about that topic. She would also need to help them get back to the ship and fight off the Inovades however for now their focus should be repairs, getting back to health and actually being able to fight their enemy. “That fair… I wouldn’t expect anything else from you…” Sora said to Fenrir. She chuckled at Hal’s failed attempt at lightening the mood but it was quickly dismissed by Fenrir’s coldness. Sora decided to go take a nap in one of the cots to try to recover her energy and after she woke she would see about fixing the system of her machine to see if she could hack the enemy forces to gain some intel. If their home was under the control of an enemy she did not work for then she might as well use all her skills to destroy them or at least help Fenrir do as much.

Mimi initially didn’t seem to notice Fenrir was there until he spoke. She took in his words and initially it took her a moment to actual register what was being said. So long so that by the time he communicated with her telepathically she understood what he meant. The telepathic communication though was much easier to understand. Before his kiss she hurriedly spoke “I never planned on leaving your side… Hal entrusted you to me… and… I feel something else too…” She didn’t know how else to describe what she was feeling. Upon his kiss she felt that feeling go off within her and seemingly fill her. It wasn’t what she felt for Kira but it was something else… A devotion a wanting to be around him if not just for her own sake. It was no sooner than the exchange began that he had left her again. She wanted to run after him and try to explain but she didn’t know how.
 
"Save it for a rainy day." He said in her mind, annoyance at Halvern just noticeable in his mental voice, "It might come to you."

He'd unintentionally gleaned a little of what she was feeling from her mind, but he only got enough to tell that something was bothering her. What was bothering was lost on him as he sat in the 00 Raiser's cockpit and dosed off. This allowed the surfacing of a recently unknown ability to him. His body started healing healing itself at an accelerated rate thanks to how long he'd been around GN Particles. He could actually sense them if he focused enough.

"The vanity of youth......" Halvern sighed, feeling justified in bequeathing Fenrir's well being to Mimi as he stared at 00 Raiser's cockpit, "If only I knew back then what I knew now.... Maybe I could have been there....."
 
Mimi wondered if she should say what she thought it was and decided to exit her mobile suit but by that time he had went to take a nap. She entered his 00 and saw him healing faster. "Well that is one way to get better fast... What's going on... is... I think... Well with Kira gone; I need you." She left it at that exiting the 00 once she said what she thought. She checked on Sora and saw she was doing okay so she just sat on one of the cots watching Hal do his thing and seeing him talk to himself. She was so focused that she really didn't register what he was saying.
 
Halvern shrugged, going to find food for everyone. From what he saw from a map he found, the the place was huge. Larger than the Amaterasu and it's sister ship combined. That meant it would be difficult nit not impossible. He loved challenges and this was another one.
__________

Three hours later, Fenrir bolted into wakefulness in a cold sweat. Visions of another Twin Drive equipped Gundam with angelic wings dancing along the outer edges of his consciousness as he felt the malice the Gundam radiated. The strange thing was the malice was remarkably familiar, almost like it came from within him. A feeling of kinship was there too. Plus the feeling it was warning him of something.

"Zero, Moving out in 00 Raiser." He said, running the the Gundam's start up check list in record time as 00's optics started glowing ominously.
 
Mimi decided to rest sort of half awake until she heard Fenrir start to leave. She hurried to her machine telepathically linking with him. "What are you doing..." She hurried went through her start-up checklist and then went to follow after him. By this point seeing two machines leave Sora was awake too. Her mobile suit was partly functional and Mimi thought she and Hal could protect themselves besides her priority right now was Fenrir. She heded out after him not knowing what he was doing or what she would even find.
 
"Something's coming." Fenrir said subconsciously, barely aware that Mimi had mentally communicated with him as 00 accelerated out of the tunnel and into the open with both GN Sword IIs drawn, "I don't know what, but It's coming fast."

He spotted the offender long before 00's systems picked it up. It was a suit that he'd seen only in blueprints. Stunned to see a GNW-001/hs-T01 Gundam Throne Eins Turbulenz, the fusion of the GNW-001 Gundam Throne Eins, GNW-002 Gundam Throne Zwei, and GNW-003 Gundam Throne Drei in design terms, he was instantly on alert as he didn't know what side it was on. The 00 Raiser wasn't really in a condition to fight. Also, he wasn't sure if he could fight it off.
 
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