Afterwards, on Earth

[deathflag_survivor]

[So Shu's not the only new face at Fort Alhambra now.   There's two more machines that came back in addition to the Granzon... and these two also start with the letter G!  They're not as OP though... just a gray Gespenst that somehow's gotten in on the Halloween Plan refits and a red Gesterben that doesn't seem related to the other ones the team fought earlier in the operation.]

[Video]

Never thought Mission Devil would lead to us working with the Unity Group, but then again stranger things have happened.  This is Second Lieutenant Albhard Bailaran of the ESUN's spec ops group Team Jelba.  My associates here are Second Lieutenant Selena Recital and her assistant robot, Elma.



A pleasure to work with you all, and thanks for showing up when you did.  Bought us a little more time before Shu arrived, time we might've not gotten otherwise.



Right.  We were investigating to confirm whether or not Shu Shirakawa had been killed or not, on account of no trace of the machine being found in the wake of its destruction at the hands of the Steel Dragons.  One way or another, we wound up being summoned to that other world -La Gias-, and it wasn't long before we met with some of your own people and then Shu himself.

According to the professor, he was resurrected by a man named Luozorl, though his memory is full of holes and there are also things he doesn't feel inspired to share.  In spite of that, his assistance in the battle and the cooperation he's given us have been taking into consideration by our superiors, and it's been decided he will remain under observation for the foreseeable future, with Lieutenant Recital and myself serving as his handlers.

Any suspicious behavior observed by Professor Shirakawa should be made known to us... but please refrain from antagonizing him.  I know some of you have prior history with Shu and some of you fought as members of the Steel Dragons, but the circumstances have changed.

Thank you for your cooperation.

(Albhard, Elma, and Selena can be tagged now or after this broadcast when they're milling around one place or another.)

Comments

[glorystargo]

That's some story. I wouldn't believe any part of it - if I wasn't there to see for myself.

Black Banpresto Originals unite!

[deathflag_survivor]

Then we'll be grateful you were there then.

And thanks for backing me up as well. Working with Shu wasn't an idea everyone was thrilled at, but having someone else with some actual rank agreeing to it probably convinced them.

Become bros, live to the end of the game, right?

[glorystargo]

Trust me, I wasn't thrilled either.

Sometimes, you just have to make a judgement call. This one proved to be working for us - for now.

[kinaesthete]

I'm not saying this to be insulting, so please don't take it the wrong way, but.

How sure can you be that a famously untrustworthy genius isn't going to trick or outsmart you?

[deathflag_survivor]

Because... at the moment we don't know what his goal really is. And at times like this, keep your friends close and your enemies close. Someone wanted Shu alive again for some reason, for some purpose. At least this way we can keep an eye on him.

That, and... in spite of the Granzon's power it's been destroyed once before, and when it was far stronger than it is now. If need be, Selena and I will lead the charge against him. You have my word on that.

[kinaesthete]

Still, wouldn't it be safer to keep him out of the Granzon and locked up somewhere? At least until we have some idea of what's going on with the magical dimension that brings bad guys back from the dead, if nothing else.

Speaking of which. Do we have any idea how everyone got there, or how Shirakawa had a TSEN to let you get back? Or what that implies about our vulnerability to surprise attacks?

[Because if, apparently, Setsuko again managed to do something weird without knowing what or how... that still wouldn't explain how the Jelba trio were transported there. And the girl could probably do with some separate explanation for what's been happening.]

[gold_four]

[Well, as Selene is wandering the corridors, probably trying to familiarise herself...]

Hello.

[There's... some teenager?]

They say the most incredible feature of the of the Mark 10 Deep Strike Drone is its high level heat sink. I think I can see some of it was inspired by you.

[prismphantom]

[Oh boy. Leave it to the outfit to get teenage boys pining after you. Well, let's see if we can't get some entertainment out of this.]

Oh really? Tell me... how many other ladies do you think were inspiration for it?

[gold_four]

Well...

[The lad seems mildly uncertain, before...]

Well the lead designer was one Diana Hamilton, renowned for her efforts in semi-autonomous computer systems, and had also minored in aeronautical engineering. She was the one who proposed a lithium core heatsink in order to address the increasing tendency of previous models to overheat should they stay in the air in excess of six hours. However, the particular model of heatsink was actually developed by Triple En industries, itself headed by Tatsu Yamashiro, whose work in...

[Well, Selene, if you were expecting amateurish flirting, you've got a military otaku rambling instead.]

[a_linear_mind]

[Willis is keeping himself busy by checking out...the Gesterben.]

Wow, that's one nice looking machine.

[prismphantom]

A customization of a customization, realized by Daniel Instruments.

A shame your friends had to fight against four of these prior to running into Albhard and myself.

[a_linear_mind]

Yeah I heard they ran a number on them. Here I thought that Mao Industries had a vice-grip on great Gespenst customizations.

[Willis turns around towards the new voice and whistles once his eyes meet Selena.]

Wow, the pilot's pretty good looking herself.

[majestic_keiki]

[After the transmission a teenage girl approach you.]

What is this about another world?

[prismphantom]

Unfortunately, there's very little we've managed to figure out regarding the other world, which Shu has referred to as "La Gias".

Some method of dimensional transit brought us there, though unfortunately I'm still trying to pierce things together and the phenomena occurred in a manner different than those I've read about. However, the presence of 'familiars' and the existence of summoning and resurrection spells leads me to wonder if it is a world where what we would consider as 'magic' is commonplace.

There's a great deal I'll still have to look into, including the space-time wormhole thesis papers of Professor Idris and-



Sorry about Elma running off on a tangent, he does that sometimes. But yes, while Albhard and myself were investigating where the Granzon fought its allegedly last battle, we were somehow drawn into the world of La Gias.

Your friends followed suit afterwards.

[majestic_keiki]

I'm more worried about the fact that there is another world. We have enough to deal with without needing to worry about that. What is known about it?

[srwjunker]

Russel has been overseeing the repairs to his machine after the fight at the colony and was now taking a bit of time off and has heard about the new arrivals. Russel had fought Shu in the Divine War, he knows what the man can do. This did not sit well with him at all. However the new squad were people had had no issue with and came to check up on them.

"Good to have you with us. Russel Bagman formally of the Steel Dragons. I'm still trying to figure out how he's still here, Shu that is. We did not hold back at all when we brought him down..."

[deathflag_survivor]

Well that robot of his has all sorts of bells and whistles; and they say that Bian funneled 2/3rds of the DC's entire budget into that one machine. And when you take something like that down and it just doesn't leave a single trace behind...

... Our bosses got suspicious and decided to cover their bases.

But good to have you with us, Bagman. People experienced with Shu'll be good to have if worse comes to worse.

[srwjunker]

"I know several POWs we took in spoke of that whole bit with the budget they were pretty darn bitter and willing to work with us over it actually. Thanks there's a few others from the Dragon we may want to keep LT Tarask away from Shu. She's ... ahem not going to be likely to give him a chance."

[fire_dancer]

Raquel has taken in the intro from the new arrivals to the group and goes to meet them as she seeks out Selena whom when she catches sight of? Raquel gets a very big old grin on her face.

"So we never really got a chance to talk when we first met. You and your unit doing all right? It seems you were on just as much of a wild ride as we had gone on."

She does seem to be looking Selena over for a moment like she's sizing something about her up.

[prismphantom]

[And yeah, she can take a good guess at what Raquel's examining.]

Fortunately yes. Thanks to all of you, Albhard and I got off without a scratch.

[fire_dancer]

"I'm glad we were able to get you and your partner out of there as for humm you know I like your sense of style where did you find clothes like that?"

[abugslife]

Resurrected? I wasn't aware Earthlings have technology that lets them bring the dead back to life. This is quite the amazing discovery.

[deathflag_survivor]

Well, it was news to us "Surfacers" as well. Then again there's a lot we don't know about La Gias, and between his memory loss and not feeling inclined to share everything he does know, Shu can't fill in anywhere near the number of blanks I'd like.

[3xmadder]

[Katina's main concern is, of course, the new mechs, so Albhard and Selena are most likely to run into her in the Fort Alhambra hangar, trying to look like she isn't trying to scope out the Granzon.]

More Gespensts, huh? I recognize the IIM Custom, but what's this one...?

[prismphantom]

That would happen to be Gesterben Custom.

[Cue it's pilot to give you some exposition!]

The original Gesterben models were good for electronic warfare and subterfuge, but they lacked any EOT. Daniel Instruments saw a business opportunity in fixing that issue, and it's been a worthwhile purchase for Team Jelba.

You one of the other Gespenst pilots here then?