Kira Yamato bolted down the deserted halls of Morganroete, Inc.'s Wilson Frade Development Facility and shamelessly indulged his desire to feel put-upon. Even if Blaze had been justified in her insistence in dragging him along as a 'cameraman' for her 'investigative reporting' - which she wasn't - the tremendous explosions rocking the entire place down to its foundations would have been entirely more than any person could reasonably be expected to stand in a given day. "Are you sure that the stairs were this way?" he panted.
"Uh-huh!" Blaze shot back over her shoulder. "I saw a map, and there was a way down marked in the mobilohshit!" she interrupted herself as they burst out of the hallway and onto the catwalk running the perimeter of the massive open room that had been used to build Morganroete's entry into the design competetion for ORB's primary mobile suit design. Both of them pulled up short at the sight of the dozens of corpses littering the floor, and, after trading a quick, instinctive glance, they ducked out of sight of the black-clad soldiers stalking across the blood-soaked concrete.
He was about to turn and sneak back the other way when he saw his friend crawling back towards the edge of the pathway. "what are you doing?" he demanded, as quietly as he could. "get away from there! if they see you..."
"i think they're from the atlantic federation," she replied. "if they get those suits, and let eurasia and the republic have the technology, the war this will start will probably destroy all of orb!"
"what? but the last war..." She was crazy! But trying to drag the suicidal girl away from there would make noise, and attract attention, and likely get them both shot and killed.
"was against the equatorial union! they fell apart after the first campaign - all that the rest of it was was trying to rescue some of the wreckage from eurasia and the republic."
"and give orb control of malaysia's mines, factories, and farmland," he muttered, mostly to himself.
"they already held the referendums about that," she retorted.
"for what those are worth."
"hey, who's the pol-sci major, here, anyway?" A woman in a light-colored Morganroete jumpsuit dashed out towards the largest cluster of figures, and Blaze waved for him to be quiet as she strained her ears to pick out what was being said.
"Lieutenant Marie Ramius," the woman on the floor said, snapping off a salute. "Authentication baker-echo-yankee-niner-zero-seven-golf."
"Are they ready?" one of the commandoes, probably the commander, answered.
"Yes sir, fueled, flight-prepped, and passwords cleared, as instructed."
"Pick one and set its self-destruct. We lost half our people when that GINN hit us on touchdown, including three of the pilots. The shuttle jock and the fast-mover who bailed out on top of us say they're whole enough to handle a suit, but-"
She was shaking her head. "I can handle one," she said firmly.
He hestitated a moment. "...All right. Move it, people!"
The plant pointed at two of the suits. "The X103 and X303 have the gentlest handling, so they shouldn't be as bad for the wounded."
"kira!" Blaze hissed as the strike team began to move. "have you played those arcade games?"
"arcade? yes, but...?" he asked, then made the connection to the mobile-suit simulations that had become popular since the fall of the Equatorial Union. "oh, no!" he tried to refuse, but she had already started scrambling towards the nearest of the looming metallic giants.
She's crazy! he thought in dismay, then turned in the opposite direction to move towards the next closest, since the only other choice was just leaving her hanging out to dry.
===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"
"Uh-huh!" Blaze shot back over her shoulder. "I saw a map, and there was a way down marked in the mobilohshit!" she interrupted herself as they burst out of the hallway and onto the catwalk running the perimeter of the massive open room that had been used to build Morganroete's entry into the design competetion for ORB's primary mobile suit design. Both of them pulled up short at the sight of the dozens of corpses littering the floor, and, after trading a quick, instinctive glance, they ducked out of sight of the black-clad soldiers stalking across the blood-soaked concrete.
He was about to turn and sneak back the other way when he saw his friend crawling back towards the edge of the pathway. "what are you doing?" he demanded, as quietly as he could. "get away from there! if they see you..."
"i think they're from the atlantic federation," she replied. "if they get those suits, and let eurasia and the republic have the technology, the war this will start will probably destroy all of orb!"
"what? but the last war..." She was crazy! But trying to drag the suicidal girl away from there would make noise, and attract attention, and likely get them both shot and killed.
"was against the equatorial union! they fell apart after the first campaign - all that the rest of it was was trying to rescue some of the wreckage from eurasia and the republic."
"and give orb control of malaysia's mines, factories, and farmland," he muttered, mostly to himself.
"they already held the referendums about that," she retorted.
"for what those are worth."
"hey, who's the pol-sci major, here, anyway?" A woman in a light-colored Morganroete jumpsuit dashed out towards the largest cluster of figures, and Blaze waved for him to be quiet as she strained her ears to pick out what was being said.
"Lieutenant Marie Ramius," the woman on the floor said, snapping off a salute. "Authentication baker-echo-yankee-niner-zero-seven-golf."
"Are they ready?" one of the commandoes, probably the commander, answered.
"Yes sir, fueled, flight-prepped, and passwords cleared, as instructed."
"Pick one and set its self-destruct. We lost half our people when that GINN hit us on touchdown, including three of the pilots. The shuttle jock and the fast-mover who bailed out on top of us say they're whole enough to handle a suit, but-"
She was shaking her head. "I can handle one," she said firmly.
He hestitated a moment. "...All right. Move it, people!"
The plant pointed at two of the suits. "The X103 and X303 have the gentlest handling, so they shouldn't be as bad for the wounded."
"kira!" Blaze hissed as the strike team began to move. "have you played those arcade games?"
"arcade? yes, but...?" he asked, then made the connection to the mobile-suit simulations that had become popular since the fall of the Equatorial Union. "oh, no!" he tried to refuse, but she had already started scrambling towards the nearest of the looming metallic giants.
She's crazy! he thought in dismay, then turned in the opposite direction to move towards the next closest, since the only other choice was just leaving her hanging out to dry.
===============================================
"Puripuri puripuri... Bang!"