[Video]

[infinitejustice]

[The feed switches on to show Athrun standing in what appears to be some kind of apartment room. He's at home, broadcasting this from his living room.]

Excuse me. A new subarchway has opened in Nova City, and I thought it might be worth calling attention to, since it's from my home world.

The subarchway leads to an island called Onogoro. It's part of the Orb Union, my home nation. It's run jointly by the Orb military and Morgenroete, Inc., a manufacturer. And, as you might expect of such a place, security is, well...tight. Very tight.

Civilians should be able to get basic clearance to visit, as Morgenroete offers public tours of its facilities on a set schedule. However, if you want to see more, you'll have to come to me directly. I'm a member of Orb's military and I have some clout with Morgenroete. I can make no promises, but I'm certain I can at least get them to listen to what you have to say or offer.

That's all.

[He ends the broadcast, then sends two more messages.]

[Private -- to Satsuki and David]

[The message he sends to these two is a simple text message. However, it's accompanied by a photo. The photo shows a giant robot (though the photo shows its surfaces as all being gray rather than of shades of white, red, or purple) in some kind of advanced military hangar. Athrun had made sure to stand in front of it to further accentuate its size. It appears to be close to twenty meters tall.

The photo is accompanied by two words:]

It's here.

Comments

Re: [Action]

[infinitejustice]

It can house up to eight mobile suits, though it rarely goes out with that many.

[At present, the only mobile suits that it disembarks with are the Infinite Justice and the Akatsuki. But, to be fair, that's really all it needs.]

Er, well. We have no amphibious mobile suits -- mostly surface vessels and submarines. But how much of Nova City is occupied by water?

[Action] In which I yet live

[weavemyownfate]

[ .. That's actually a really good question. Satsuki's mun should follow up on that.]

I do not have exact numbers, but I would say very little. There is no sea trade that I know of, and I have yet to witness any sea attacks. Yet there is water beyond the beach, so I am rather curious to know what might be out there.

[She shakes her head.]

Anyhow a mobile suit would be overkill, a submarine or a water drone should be enough.

Yay life!

[infinitejustice]

Perhaps. It depends on what there needs to be a defense against.

[Athrun leads the way through the series of catwalks. After several more minutes, they arrive at some mobile suit holding mounts down near the bottom of the hangar, but still above the water that could be seen glistening below the Archangel.

It's in this part of the hangar that Athrun's Gundam stands.]

This is it. The Gundam-class mobile suit, ZGMF-X19A Infinite Justice. My personal machine.

[Now that they're up close, its size is all the more apparent. Athrun wasn't exaggerating when he said it was nearly twenty meters tall.]

[weavemyownfate]

[It's certainly something for her to think about. She has been so concerned about spirits she hadn't really put much thought into and aquatic dangers aside from flooding.

Once they arrive at the mobile suit, up close and personal.. It goes without saying she's impressed, but it's so much more interesting seeing it in person.]

It is massive...

[ She.. She kind of wants to fight it.]

I wonder; why is it so large? Are the threats you face normally of that size?

[infinitejustice]

More or less, but that isn't the real reason. A mobile suit has to have enough room to house a pilot and enough versatility to cover multiple options and weapons configurations.

Essentially, mobile suit war doctrine is similar to air doctrine in World War II. Some mobile suits are designed to establish air superiority, others are designed to support ground troops. All are meant to be capable of sinking a battleship with either proper placement of weapons fire or through liberal application of ordinance.

[weavemyownfate]

[Uh holy crap. It doesn't take Satsuki long to process all of that, but the versatility is somewhat surprising?]

So it is primarily the weapon set that makes the suit? Which category does yours fall into? Having access to only one makes it sound as if supporting ground troops would be the most lucrative deployment strategy.

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun shakes his head.]

Ground support requires air superiority -- mobile suits designed for that mission tend to be sitting ducks against mobile suits specifically designed for combat, especially when they're flight-capable. You need to shut down the enemy's capability to provide defense from the skies in order to coordinate effectively with the ground troops.

That's what my mobile suit is designed for -- combating other mobile suits. It's not heavily-armed, but it makes up for it in the number of weapons, agility, and special armor that mitigates or even eliminates altogether damage from kinetic weaponry.

[weavemyownfate]

[Oh. Right. Well, Satsuki feels rather stupid after that response.

But rather than stew on that, she takes a moment to consider other options.]

I see.. Then, as an example, let us suppose that the barrier in Nova City breaks and we fall prey to another influx of spirits. What do you see yourself capable of in such a situation?

[infinitejustice]

Well, there is one thing in particular worth noting about my mobile suit. The vast majority of its weapons are energy-based. The rifle and the cannons on my backpack shoot beams, and it's equipped with numerous beam blades.

[He had recalled that energy had been effective against these spirits. Only spiritual energy could kill them permanently, but he could at least incapacitate them.]

My objective in such a situation would be to buy enough time for the people who can kill those spirits permanently to mop them up with minimal casualties. If I can thin out the numbers, even if only temporarily, it'll help us hold steadfast.

[weavemyownfate]

[She gives a nod in response to the answer. Presumably an approving one.]

I agree that would be the best plan given with what we have at present. I am having Nova research facilities look into something that may prove more effective against such measures, and I believe having a specialized firearm created for your mobile suit would be fruitful.

How are the suits equipped? Is some sort of cache case deployed alongside them?

[infinitejustice]

No. They're outfitted with weapons before launching. In my mobile suit's case, the internal power generator also recharges the beam weaponry.

The base equipment is a beam rifle, two beam sabers, and a shield. The shield is equipped with an anti-beam field generator, a grapple stinger, and a beam boomerang.

[weavemyownfate]

That makes things a little easier, I think. I would be interested in seeing the beam weapons in action.

If we could create a firearm that is effective against spirit-like targets, would you be willing to share the specifications of its holster, weight limits, things like that?

[It is a research process still in the works, though by the time she meets Troy it will be a much faster possibility.]

[infinitejustice]

[Athrun nods. No harm could come of such things. The only things he's going to be fiercely protective of are the N-Jammer Canceler and the hyper deuterion nuclear reactor.]

I would. More weapons for my machine means more situations I can handle. I can't say no to that.

[weavemyownfate]

Excellent; then I will keep in touch with you on the matter.

[So, consider the city layout, figure out where to store the mobile suit, and measurements are the things she needs to look out for. Good enough.]

I suppose we will need to look for bay space if it is to remain stationed in Nova. How do you board it?

[infinitejustice]

David said he could miniaturize it, and then restore it when needed. Still, a small hangar wouldn't hurt for when routine maintenance is needed.

There's a hatch in the chest. The part of the chest under the chin extends out, then the floor of the cockpit rises up. There's also a cable that descends toward the ground, for when boarding from a catwalk or in space isn't possible.

[weavemyownfate]

That is rather generous of him; though I would recommend coming up with a back-up plan should David be unavailable when needed. Easier said than done, I know, but it is a very real possibility.

[She looks up at the mobile suit once more, though isn't certain she is really seeing what he's talking about.]

Sounds simple enough. I like what I see, and it is quite clear Nova City, if not most of Genessia would benefit from having you and Infinite Justice on our side. Now, while I believe Nova City can shift its layout a bit to grant more mobility, the other cities are not quite as versatile.

[infinitejustice]

If nothing else, it's capable of flight. The only problem with fighting in the city is the possibility for collateral damage.

But then, I don't imagine many people here would want to test their mettle against a giant robot that's almost 20 meters tall, so I'm fully expecting it to be a deterrent to our fellow inhabitants and not much more than that.

[weavemyownfate]

Right.

[It's something to plan for, that's for certain, but flight undoubtedly helps. The second comment actually gets an amused grunt in return.]

That is a logical conclusion; but I find myself regularly questioning how sane these inhabitants are. .. I suppose that might include myself, seeing as I would be quite curious to test Infinite Justice's swordplay.

What is the style you use?

[infinitejustice]

[that gets a look of surprise. That'd be hard to do.]

What? Erm. Well, the beam sabers connect to form a double-bladed weapon. That's how I use it most frequently. It's got other means for close combat, as well, plus some weapons for ranged combat.

[weavemyownfate]

A double-bladed weapon; how unusual. I .. Suppose I could see how that would work, but it does sound like it would be incredibly difficult to wield properly.

[But that is pretty awesome. Then again, many things used as weapons from her homeworld couldn't exactly be called practical either but Life Fibers tend to fix that.]

I take it the purpose of a beam saber is to cut through another mobile suit?

[infinitejustice]

Then I hope that my ability to do so is a testament to my skill as a pilot.

[Gundams in the Cosmic Era are often about the "awesome but impractical." That's why there are so few of them and their pilots are so good.]

Yes. Beam sabers are also effective against mobile armors when fighting in a zero-gravity environment. Against fighters and ships, the beam rifle and the backpack are my primary weapons. The backpack is detachable and contains beam edges on its wings. I've used it to cut through a battleship's engines in the past.

[weavemyownfate]

I believe it would be a suitable testament.

[Satsuki can't help but smirk a little there. She was serious, but the delivery amused her for whatever reason. It doesn't last long, as she appears thoughtful once more.]

The more I hear, the more impressive it sounds. Where do you practice your techniques?

[infinitejustice]

Here. There's a target range, and we occasionally hold mock battles. There's also simulator systems for the mass-produced mobile suits that I sometimes take part in.

[weavemyownfate]

I see. When the time is right, I would like to record some footage of it in action. I believe it would be helpful in taking its movements into account in order to create a weapon that can be withdrawn and handled in a manner both efficient and comfortable.

Hopefully it will not be too expensive, either.

[With that, there is a buzz from Satsuki's wrist. She draws back her cuff to glance at it, which is followed by a, roughly, six second silence.]

.. It appears I will have to cut this display short.

[infinitejustice]

That should be fine. Security may want to limit filming equipment, but I'm sure they'll allow it to a degree.

[He pauses as Satsuki looks to whatever is drawing her attention on her wrist. He looks surprised when she says she has to go, but he doesn't think much of it otherwise. He's sure that the life of a Guardian is a busy one.]

All right. Let's head back, then. Any final questions?