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Gundam 00: Laws of Attrition (RisaXSeph/Cypherxk2)

Mimi was behind him but shortly after he sensed the MS she felt something she had never really felt before since she kept her powers in check so often; an overwhelming force of something felt like it was going to crush her mind. It was actually causing her pain. She worked through the pain staring at the two mobile suits; she didn't recognize the newcomer... Was in the source of her pain... Who was it and what was their intention. She hoped she wouldn't have to fight right now and knew that with Hal out, Sora being a tech and Fenrir injured she was the only pilot they had who could really fight... This was bad, really bad if this was an enemy.

Mimi drew her rifle and stayed a bit of a distance aimed at the unknown. The idea of opening comms crossed her mind and so she did. "Unknown mobile suit please identify yourself..." She said simply.
 
The 00 Raiser was suddenly in TRANS-AM, boosting upward and backward into the air as the unknown unexpectedly attacked with it's GN Blaster at close range. If it had been anyone else, they would been dead with how quickly it had happened. Having felt the 00 Raiser Quantize, Fenrir felt nauseous but forced it down as he converted one GN Sword II into Rifle mode and fired at the unknown. He felt the same pressure as Mimi, but it had the opposite effect on him. He couldn't sense her mind anymore.

He noted that the 00 Raiser seemed to move on it's own, as if it had protected him from death. Following his ranged attack, he rushed in with a melee strike. Not the best call but he was irritated. Irritation was a shortcoming of Fenrir's that left him acting reckless. Something he had to work on.
 
As Fenrir distracted the enemy Mimi waited for a precise moment and fired at the MS to disable it. Her goal was to find out how hte hell this was. She liked that Fenrir was doing well in his state as it allowed her to focus on trying to counter-attack this unknown. The pain inside her head was getting worse though. She felt like her head was going to split open if this continued on for much longer. She fired a decoy shot to get the enemy's attention when Fenrir rushed in for melee. So far she had fired two shots; one to disable and one to distract.
 
Two shots, two misses, the latter one being near catastrophic as it would have left a crater where the 00 Raiser's cockpit would have been had Fenrir not dodged at the last second. It left the unknown open to fire it's GN Blaster at Mimi. However, Fenrir noticed something rather peculiar. The unknown seemed to only engage him lethally as noted by the shot fired at Mimi being too high to do much. It struck him as odd.

"Who the hell are you?!" He yelled in his mind, unexpectedly triggering 00 Raiser's TRANS-AM BURST system as his innovator abilities kicked in full force, "Who sent you here?!"
 
As Mimi noticed her warning shot miss she was okay with that but the pilot avoiding her dead on shot... Who was this pilot and how were they that skilled to guide Fenrir nearly into her attack. When Mimi noticed it could fire at her she prepared herself but yet; nothing... What was going on. "What the hell..." She re-positioned herself behind the enemy trying to figure this all out.
 
Fenrir suddenly froze momentarily after a missed melee swipe. He'd realized that they were being tested. Not just as Gundam Meisters, but as individuals in a team. It infuriated him, but he had to admit that it was a neat and devious trick. One that he was gonna pay the unknown back for.

"Shoot me." He called to Mimi in his mind while diverting most of the pressure she was feeling on to himself, "You won't hit me, I promise."
 
Mimi had been wondering how this person was so good and what was going on exactly.. She trusted Fenrir's judgment as did all the others. He was usually right on with his thoughts and so when he told her to shoot him despite her hesitation she did it anyway. She hoped she did not hit him.
 
A backflip and a kick to the unknown suit's back propelled it into Mimi's shot, blowing the unknown's right arm clean off as a volley of GN micro missile from the 00 Raiser destroyed the suit's backpack. The Raiser was well clear, having pushed itself away with the momentum of kicking of the unknown. Of course, that also left it open to the shot shot taken from long range from a GN Sniper rifle. A shot that was taken by and obliterated Halvern's Kyrios in Fighter mode.

"I'm counting on you, Sorinson...." was heard before just white noise.
 
Mimi watched as Fenrir started to get the upper hand but then when he backed up the enemy went to fire and Halvern moved into the way of the fire. "What... No damn it!" Before she could react though it was already done. The action of watching her comrade die had caused something to flow through her; her innovator abilities activated. She took a few well placed attacks on the unknown then dropped her ranged weapon and drew her blade. "Damn you!" She rushed at the unknown while it was distracted by her fire.
 
Besides the melee attacks, her attack was intercepted by shield bits, the same type found on Celestial Being's GN-006 Cherudim Gundam. Which made Fenrir realize that this may have been rigged. That made him back off, and allowed him to register the destroyed remains of Halvern's Kyrios Gundam. Shock, anger, and unexpected grief tore through him moments before he was forced to evade a melee strike from the unknown upgraded Throne Eins. It had avoided Mimi to strike at him.
 
As he blocked her attack she stared for a moment trying and worked to analyze the machine and figure out who was piloting it as well as any weakness she could point out. Mimi waited for the right moment when the enemy was attempting to attack Fenrir and where he would be wide open for attack. She then shot at the unknown and missed as she expected she would but then she took a rush at the enemy herself attempting to grab him and allow some form of counterattack; if she was grappling whomever this was it would be easier to mount a response against their attack and finally win against whoever this bastard is.
 
It was a good plan on Mimi's part, and she actually managed to cling to the Throne Eins momentarily but the 00 Raiser was slammed down into her Gundam the moment before she could brace herself by the Throne. The 00 Raiser seemed to shut down as the Twin GN drives on the suit deactivated. This little phenomena was because of a unique Innovator trait Fenrir alone had. He seemed to be able become the mobile suit but superimposition of his consciousness into the machine. Making even the weakest of mobiles suits a very potent threat to a Gundam. The trade off was the Mobile suit took extensively more wear than usual and was rendered totally useless if Fenrir was incapacitated.

"Enough, that will do....." A new voice with a baritone edge in it came over Mimi's radio, the signature from the communication designated it as from the Throne itself, "You both lack the skill of a true Innovator team. You both have a long way to go to properly challenge me."
 
Mimi thought they had won but then… What the hell was going on. Fenrir was disabled and then the enemy came over the line and baited them. She noticed that Fenrir’s machine was completely disabled. What could she do now but rescue her comrade and retreat… She still was not thinking about this and so she took one final rush at the enemy attempting to disable him in his confidence. “This guy; killed people… I can’t let him just leave…” Though with having to get the 00 off of her and go after following this her machine was in no condition to fight; the fact it could even move was some sort of miracle. Without thinking too much about it she took this chance and went to attack; she knew that she would be unable to do this again and so she put all she could into this final attack.
 
The Eins sidestepped the charging Gundam, drawing it's beam saber at the same time as It spun. A precise blow aimed at the suit's GN drive was commenced but was intercepted. It had been a perfect mirror to how Fenrir disabled the Physical variant of the Virtue, but a rapid volley of beam shots had removed the Throne's remaining hand from the rest of the suit. The Eins boosted backward as a Snow White GN-006GNHW/R Cherudim Gundam landed between the stricken GNY-001F2 replica and the damaged Throne with two Beam Pistol IIs drawn and a wall of GN shield and Rifle bits deployed.

"They're ours, so back off." Came the voice of Sophitia, steely determination in her usually soft, angelic voice as her Cherudim was joined by a grey GN-007 Arios Gundam and GN Archer, "You can't have them and we won't let you take him...."
 
The enemy blocked here again and took off one of her arms. It then went for a finishing blow but then assistance arrived. Mimi was grateful but still wanted to fight even though her death was impending if she took that course she did not seem to care much. The enemy mobile suit then took his leave continuing to tout that they are not ready and that they ere inferior. Mimi and Fenrir were then taken back to the camp to pick up Sora.

****

A couple hours pass as the group sets up a fully operational basecamp within the hanger. This also allowed for the automated systems in the hanger to focus on repairs. Having other pilots also made the area easier to secure; plus Mimi and Fenrir were slightly injured meaning that they would need to take time to recover. This might give them a moment to actually talk and do something other than prepare for battle. The two were placed in one of the adjoining rooms to give them privacy while the others worked on getting things sorted. Mimi glanced over at Fenrir whom was still unconscious; she wondered when or if he would wake up.
 
A mental flare, comparable in effect to that of a high yield, concentrated electromagnetic pulse, surged outwards as Fenrir bolted upright with a shout. Anger, frustration, and an overwhelming sense of pain was embodied by the flare, marking his return to consciousness alongside giving everyone in range of him a splitting headache for a while. He winced and recoiled sharply before curling into a ball as his body was wracked with residual pains from his time in the 00 Raiser. He hurt, and it felt like the pain was neverending.

"....lose twice..." He hissed, barely loud enough to be heard as his whole body spasmed slightly with pain, "Never.... Won't allow it....."
 
As Fenrir seemed to be going through something and sending a pulse throughout the room Mimi's head felt like it was going to explode only for a brief second then he shouted. He seemed overtaken by anger and the fact that they lost. Mimi wondered what she could do; they were both pretty messed up right now and so she didnt think she could do much for him; after earlier though... Their kiss... This experience... She had to do something. She slowly got off of her cot and sat next to him on his putting a hand on his shoulder. "That is correct; we did lose but... We will get better... We will rain... We will win... You don't have to go this alone and you don't have to lose anyone else... I'll help you... I owe it to a friend..." She said looking into his eyes.
 
He met her eyes, a slight but hollow look of condescension masked in the overarching pained expression he wore before shutting his eyes. He never had anyone to lose until Halvern. Loss was a foreign thing to him before then. Now that he knew it, he never wanted to know it again. It sickened him beyond all natural reason.

"Spare me...." He growled, weakly swatting her hand away as he flipped over so his back was to her, "I'll accept your help but don't expect me to accept a pity party over getting our asses handed to us...."

He knew that wasn't what she meant, but that's what his pain ridden mind leaped to. He didn't want her pity. he wanted her to do better. She'd forgotten her role, and it had interfered with his. His mind couldn't tolerate that. Nor did he think to berate her for it.

"Once we are back in condition to pilot....." He said, indicating that communication opportunities was still open, "I'm putting you through an extensive CQC training cycle. Your suit, despite being a replica, is essentially a parts clone of my Exia. While it's a General purpose suit, the modifications in disrupt it's balance some by limiting it's agility and speed. Therefore, any melee attacks you attempt have to be made to count unless you want to join those of the dead."
 
When she saw his look distaste and superiority for her and then he turned away she shook her head. His response to her angered her a little and then she sighed. "... I am not pitying you... Blaming me and blaming yourself for his death is meaningless... He is gone. Nothing can be done about that... All we can do is do better... You being an ass to me is not going to help that at all... Besides I did what I did to protect you... Had I kept my distance and did what my position in our unit is YOU would be dead... and another thing... You need to act more human... show your emotions... Don't just... be a cold unnerved machine... slap me, tell me I'm... do something!" She felt like she was losing herself internally. She wanted to mourn the loss of a friend she just made, show Fenrir she loved him and accepted him taking Kira's place... She wanted him to know she felt useless just like he did... She did not feel pity for him; she felt compassion... She wanted to heal his wounds both physically and emotionally.

After nearly losing herself for a moment she shot back to reality. She then turned his face to her as best she could with the position he was faced in not letting him bat her away this time. She stared at him and then she kissed him her hand still holding on to his lower jaw to keep him there as she stared into him trying to convey her feelings to him and soothe him though she hoped it worked she knew he was likely too emotional for her to do any good.
 
"I thought I was stubborn...." He grunted sourly, a rough sigh coming out of his chest as he sat up while pulling away from her, "If anything, you're a fucking idiot. On all accounts of the term."

He fixed her with a glare that bordered on murderous grief and complete disinterest. If he died, it would have been fighting and he would have been content with it. It boiled down to the fact that when he came down to it, he saw himself as a weapon whenever he was in a cockpit of a Mobile Suit. A weapon that was used to eliminate those whom they can encountered. He couldn't afford to be human if he was to survive.

"Every time I've shown my emotions, someone has died." He said curtly, his voice brittle and severely sharp despite how softly he spoke, "It happened when I defended myself against Kira and again when Halvern died. If you understood what me unchaining my emotions would entail, you wouldn't ask me so carelessly."
 
“I’d give my life if it meant I was losing it protecting you... If that makes me an idiot then so be; I’d rather be an idiot then be an emotionless war machine...” Mimi said pulling away from him. While he continued to insult her and tell her how he viewed the world she seemed to still want to believe in him and care for him even though he killed her fiancé and their friend died because the two of them couldn’t connect. “You do remember what he said before he ran off right; we’re not ready... What do you suppose he meant by that... That we are not robotic enough... no; he meant we are not in sync... Do you just want me to just be a mindless drone too... Do you even understand why humans pilot mobile suits... if they just needed mindless Automatons they could have a computer control them and that would make people like us useless... notice I said people... emotion is part of it...” she flicked her hair for a moment “I care about you but you just don’t seem to get what that means; so we are both fools just in different ways...” she stares at him. “And you know; if we become in tune... I won’t be dying... you may think anyone who you share feelings with die but we are different... We are Innovators.”
 
"That doesn't make the prospect any easier." He growled, sighing darkly as he regarded her, "Besides, Innovators are still human. We can still die if fate decides it."

He didn't care why others operated Mobile suits. It was a means of survival for him. Still, he actually understood her words completely. Not discounting the fact that he couldn't bring him to give a damn at the moment or admit he understood. She was stabbing at near permanent psychological scars that were sometime as thick as mobile suit grade E-carbon armor.

"You can't sell me on that whole we are superior to those whom aren't Innovators." He partially snapped, his tone a clear indicator that she was about to lose him in that conversation if she said the wrong thing, "Besides our "gifts", we're no different from anyone else. We may stand as the next step in human evolution, but that same classification makes us targets. In sync or not, we've got a lot to learn before we can be anything beyond pilots around each other."
 
Mimi sighed and shook her head then spoke. “I was saying what I said to lift your spirits; I know that we are human… I am just trying to help you… Not because I pity you… It is because I care about you otherwise why would I have jumped in front of some fuckhead’s sword for you… You think that you are the only one mourning here and gifts or no gifts we all have our issues but really… you make it hard to care for you when you spout nonsense like “You are nothing to me”… What was that kiss then… What are you just trying to shut me up because you think all I want from you is sex… or is it that you are afraid to care for someone else because of all you have lost; so you would rather die with no one and nothing… You would rather live out your days knowing you have no one… Stupid… You may have seen more death than I have and all that but you don’t have the market cornered on tragedy… Just forget it…” She shook her head again as she walks out the door not giving him another look. She heads outside of the hanger just staring outside. He was all she had left and he was too dumb to see it… Hal had entrusted him to her but she didn’t even know what to do; Kira was dead and a traitor, Sora was a traitor and her parents were dead… She figured being lonely was the only state for a meister at this point. At this point she seriously considered picking up smoking or drinking; she knew she could cope but she didn’t want to. She just stares down at the rocks kicking some smaller ones off into the distance. “So stupid…” She yelled emotionally drained and finally taking her frustrations out on a nearby wall by punching it and hurting herself in the process.
 
"You have no idea..." He said, walking over and leaning on the wall next to her with a frustrated sigh, "I may be a merciless fighter.... But being smart about human interactions isn't my forte."

Over the next few months, Fenrir started to lose functionality in his left arm and the vision in his right eye. It was labeled as the side effect of Post Traumatic Stress and an unforeseen neurological condition. Fenrir knew it had something to do with his unique synchronization ability with machines though. He knew as whenever he was in a GN Drive powered mobile suit, the functionality in his arm and eye returned for the time the GN Drive was operating.

His new condition, while initially damaging, bore unexpected fruits. Interactions with people became immensely easier. Some actually noted that he seemed become an entirely different person excluding the point that he still insulted the chief mechanic like a drunk sailor. While surprising, it made him seem human. Something unexpected and unprecedented by previously known logic.

He also made sure to leave time aside for Mimi, especially since he noticed that his condition seemed to boost his Innovator abilities exponentially. Of everyone new and old, he'd opened up more to her than anything. In a real show of newly rekindled humanity in him, he so far as to give her a full and intricate account of his intense but one-sided duel with Kira. It was tough, and as he noticed a fellow Meister give him a sympathetic yet accusatory look, he realized that he had taken the wrong action and Kira had played him like a fiddle. Kira had counted on his "Kill first, ask later" habit to get in the way.

"I can't believe he played me like he did." He breathed sitting in his Exia's cockpit as he watched the maintenance crews swarm over the 00 Quan[T] piloted by a guy named Setsuna F Seiei, "The little fucker actually managed to fool me."
 
After Mimi’s display and his apparently following him she just wanted to run up to him and pour herself all over him but after his reaction telling her she had no idea about loss… She wanted to break his face in... His comment about people skills made her shake her head repeatedly. “You’re so stupid… I initially wasn’t even saying you were stupid… I was saying this situation is… but… You’re… just… unbelievable…” She sighed still releasing tears and turned away from him still shaking her head. She figured at this point telling him anything wouldn’t change a damn thing. She wanted to talk with him more but his coldness and then him not continuing their conversation just put her in a place she had never wanted to go again.

As time passed Mimi became more of a recluse. Even as her Mobile Suit was repaired and Fenrir seemed to change she did too. She bottled things up and really wouldn’t leave her cockpit for anything but sleep or food. She had changed for the worse as it seemed almost as though she had nothing left to live for. Even as he had talked to her in the few instances she would leave her Mobile Suit it seemed like something inside her had become broken. Even during training and if there was combat she was highly reckless… It seemed as though from the understanding of the medic her mental status had finally gotten to her. Hearing how her fiancé was killed seemed to harden her. She wasn’t cold or emotionless… It just seemed that as a result of her damaged mental state she had become completely apathetic to the world around her and it battle she was almost suicidal.
 
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