The OMNI soldier frowned and was clearly miffed as he turned around, "First off the soldier is probably older than you, you dumbass. Second, If you were being interrogated kid, you wouldn't be in a nice car and I wouldn't be here. A man with a assault rifle would be here and you'd been kicked in the nuts faster than you could say 'Ow'" Stan said annoyed as he breathed in deeply, "However despite your immature accusations I'm willing to overlook it Mr. Augustus. I'm here to bring you to the finest ship in the space fleet of OMNI. The Lucifer is an Archangel Class Carrier which was charged with protecting the GUNDAMs and bringing back the Astrays from their modifications in Europe You're going to meet the captain of that ship and some high ranking OMNI and ORB nobles who want to hear the story personally from the people who piloted the gundams. The others who were in the midst of combat that day can be talked to later if need be." stated Stan as he took a deep breath, "I didn't even realize you had kill people I just knew your name because you were the one who dropped off the Blitz after the battle zone was secured. We could have benefited from prisoners no doubt but the mobile suits themselves are more important. Also if it means anything I heard rumors of pirates raiding their former allies in ZAFT at a military base and they took away a large amount of military grade equipment." He stated complacently. "Now shut your mouth if you're going to act like a rude jerkass or talk like a polite civilized person. I don't take shit from underage whelps who think their big cheese just because they have some training with giant robots and or piloted one special one for half a hour if that. If you're going to be polite then all the more power to you."

Augustus looked to the girl sitting next to him. "Told you." After returning to his position he continued on again. "I've looked at all the intel that has been made available to my rank, or well me rather. I have a bit of a bad following. Some of the reports are theorizing that ZAFT suits came out of Somalia. Looking at all the angles the suits attacked on. I'm betting on Reunion or Mauritius. It'd make sense from an operational standpoint. Mauritius is about 2,000 clicks off the coast of Africa, Reunion just 200 clicks east of Mauritius. Just based on that alone, ZAFT. Mauritius is the more likely of the two as its an independent nation verse Reunion who is under French control till whenever. Also take into account all the blood letting and murder done outside the base, again ZAFT. If it were pirates I'd make more sense for them to take on the base directly. Pirates are much more chaotic nor are they smart enough to pull this off, and go after money. Its always about money or needs with them. This attack increases none of those, this attack only makes sense for ZAFT or OMNI. Sense we can rule out OMNI, it has to be ZAFT. What gets me is... Why now? If they knew the suits when and where the suits were going why not snag it when everything was done? Better yet, why not in transit? Or in space? Bring a full armada in and crush the Archangel whatever it is. This seems pretty stupid to me. Whats worse is that I'm going to have repeat all of this later on in front of g-d only knows who." Augustus was running through even more scenarios in his head. There was no way that pirates made sense, had a hand in it, sure. All that was more than possible, and truth be told there was no way for him to know with any sort of certainty. Just a gut feeling he had.

vancexentan said
"There's not a doubt in my mind you're right kid reports say they were way to organized to be a some para-military group. They WERE a military group with god damn mobile suits. I don't care if what they say about reports of a ZAFT shipment of GINNs being hijacked what would a warlord do with suits he can't pilot....but at the end of the day all the recovered corpses are either Ex-ZAFT or listed as mercenaries of various parties or even henchmen from Africa who have a history with said the aforementioned war lords....I think I know what they're planning...at least that's what I think they're going to do. But your little brain can't handle my heightened level of thought you just are a boosted man not a genius. Now come along little boosted man we got to go meet the nice captain." Mizawa said boredly as he pushed up his glasses and adjusted the that hung loosely from his pants. "Oh and as for a witch hunt....don't think I'll even HESITATE to throw your ass out if you start murdering random OMNI personnel. There's a point you don't cross but don't worry we'll find out if there was indeed a spy still among us...if I were a spy I'd stick around and then take the first trip out of here to the safest OMNI location or ZAFT area. But that's just it how smart are these damn 'pirates'." Mizawa asked himself as he led the boy out of his room and down the corridor.

"Heh, I have no intention of hunting down any spies myself," Arsenio replied to Mizawa's statement, ignoring the previous insults to his intelligence, "after all, the fun of a witch hunt is in watching others fumble about in paranoia and suspicion. Though if I were the higher ups, I'd attempt to pressure ORB into locking down all travel into or out of the the country so that we can ensure the spy or spies do not escape."

Arsenio followed Mizawa out of the room. "I guess we'll get to meet the others who managed to pilot the Gundams during the skirmish," he said. Then he added, "Pilots who are just as responsible as me, if not more so, in letting the enemy escape with the stolen prototypes," hoping to divert blame away from himself.

"You got to pilot prototype OMNI Suits but you're from ORB....whatever it must have been a miracle that you managed to work the things."

Well, she did work on the machine, as well as working some of its softwares, the smaller moving parts, and test piloting them through various testing phases, so it wasn't really a big deal. MIlya had opened her mouth to say something to that effect, but the man beside her was quicker with firing off his mouth.

Rash. Rash and unusually nonchalant about other people. Not really the sort of person she would like to work with. Good thing he doesn't seem to be working as a techie then.

But he was right about one thing. It would be an interrogation regardless of how they sugarcoat it, though not in the full sense of the word. She didn't think she could stand trying to explain her situation and circumstances to a cold, uncaring high ranked officer. At best she would be fired dishonorably from her position, and be returned to her home in disgrace, and worse would be... court martial? Execution? She didn't know. But when something had TOP SECRET and CONFIDENTIAL printed all over it, it was probably safe to bet the consequences of her failures would be great. Very much so when the government was in it.

"Told you."

"Eh?"

Told her what exactly? She didn't get anything from him as soon as she zoned out, staring out the window. The man, who no doubt was a soldier from his rugged appearance, soon started spouting some speculations and theories about the attack. It may or may not be true, but this was hardly the time for such things. Stan was only doing his job after all. If he wanted to, he should be spouting that when they were being questioned by the officers they would be meeting on the Lucifer.

Donald realised that he had to explain. "I was under orders to protect the Mobile Suits at all costs by Captain Harper before he died from his injuries." He went on to explain what happened to the intended pilot. "I also received news this morning that the original pilot must have been killed in the explosion that occured in the hotel they were staying in." "Securing the prototypes should be all that matters. I completed my orders as a soldier should." He was adamant that he did the right thing at that point or it would've been stolen or destroyed. When it looked like they will be taken to the captain he followed Mia as requested.

"WELL it will take a couple minutes but we'll get there don't worry kids." Stan said patiently as he ignored their comments flat out. He lit a cigarette and opened his car window just to make sure he didn't bother the princesses back in the corner. Not the kid driving he was paid to deal with bull shit like that. Or at least that's what Stan figured he was paid for after all he got stuck on car duty driving the now heavily locked down island. "And for the record the captain's name is Seth but just call him captain understood. I'm sure I don't need to tell miss back there she's probably met Seth so it's for your benefit big man. Talk to the guy with a heavily armed ship as you will." Stan continued as he chuckled to himself.
==
"Yeah one of them has a record for high talent mobile suit piloting....the others are techs and nobodies. Think of them as you will kiddo. Oh and I agree watching people bumble around in the dark like headless chickens is amusing to watch indeed." Mizawa said with a snorting chuckle as he walked along the pathway to the meeting room on the Lucifer.
==
"Actually as far as we know ALL the original pilots or dead or assassinated. There were a few decoys here with the normal pilots but the ones away were assassinated by a group of hitmen most likely ZAFT's guns for hire. However the connection to ZAFT here is at question." Mia informed Donald and Richard who looked down at his feet and kicked a railing. "Son of a gun....of course it's always the bloody space fairers isn't it? ORB used to be a nice place before the war came to our door step." Richard said in frustration which made Mia look away uncomfortably luckily for her Richard regained his composure. "Regardless of who's at fault for this massacre let's just get moving." Richard said as he waited for Mia to move but she turned to Donald instead, "Of course Captain Harper was a brave man for doing this job but it cost him his life in doing so. I have no real authority outside of where the ship moves and how it does so but the captain will know more and be there at the meeting so once it comes to these....'gundams' just ask him." Mia said as she quickly led them down the hall way to the stair cases and up towards the meeting room where Mizawa and his crew along with several laptops were waiting.
==
Timeskip - five minutes later.

After Stan's group finally arrived after some prolonged amount of time, or what seemed to be for everyone in the room, the man took the seat next to the front of the long table. Richard sat next to him after the man prompted his nephew to do so but only after some hesitation on his part. "Alright everyone for anyone not aware I am the Head Scientist of ORB and the Head of the Gundam Development Project or The G Project for short. The Captain-" Stan started but he was interuppted by a door opening to reveal a rather rugged looking gentleman who wore his coat half buttoned and had short cut blonde hair "Eh Stan I told you to wait ya know. Just because I needed to go and make sure the people were doin' their damned jobs doesn't mean that you get to hog the spot light ya git." The man said in a heavy Irish accent as he more or less flopped down on his chair and sighed deeply, "Alright everyone my name is Captain Walsh and no that's not my blasted first name. And yes I'm as Irish as it comes so let's just get that off the table." The man said angrily as he rubbed his forehead slowly as if he was recovering from a mix of a boxing match and a drinking contest from the night before. "I'm wanting all of you to tell me ya names and ranks and how you came to be here today." Stan chuckled, "Captain you're scaring the others." he said sarcastically as the captain grunted, "Then ya all are a bunch'a wimps." the man said plainly as Richard sighed, "Ensign Rank ORB Officer Richard Stone. I was stationed here on the island and was on my way to reinforce the gates of the airport due to staff shortage when the attack started. I eliminated multiple enemy targets personally including an officer. I was unable to get far due to the low energy of my mobile suit, Gundam Calamity. However I do note that they traveled by air and that a scientist was found dead near Blue Astray after the battle. Well.... He wasn't all dead technically but he bled-" he started but the captain interrupted him. "I see.... a family member of Stan are ya? Then it's nice to meet you kid but you talk to much. I wanted a brief explanation not a damn biography. I know what the flying hell happened out there....I would have stopped them if I didn't want to risk losing the Lucifer to a possible MS attack. Now then what about the rest of you? I already know you Arsenio but you should introduce yourself to them. Leave out any classified shit though this is about yesterday's attack. Ah yes and my condolences on your 'friends' who piloted the gundams and got blown up for their trouble."

"I'm Senior Petty Officer Augustus Magnusson. I'm a transfer from OMNI, there I was a part of a Special Operations team. Those details are classified. I currently work for Commander Sendo. I oversee any and all ground operations. Since ORB doesn't do many of them, I act as Sendos errond boy more often than not. And this attack was all ZAFT and no I am not wrong." His words were quick and to the point there was no reason for any exposition.

They arrived in a big room, all important looking especially now since Stan took the center stage. He started on his speech, introducing himself before another man came in. Rugged, rough, and looking as if he haven't shaved in a few days.

The Captain of the ship himself if she was not mistaken.

Of course, after some banter with Stan he asked them to introduce themselves with their rank and what they did. Ensign Richard started first, before being interrupted halfway through his exposition of what he was doing yesterday. He seemed like the straight man of the group, level headed and calm under any circumstances. Of course that was only her first impression of him; she had no idea if he would act differently on field or under stress.

Next up was Petty Officer Augustus, who seemed rather.... uptight. The kind of man who would bomb a hospital with no remorse if thats what the situation calls for, and chalk the civilian casualties as 'unavoidable'.

So next should be.... Herself, perhaps? The sheep standing among wolves was how she felt. All these military people in one room, and she was the odd one out. it didn't deter her usually pleasant expression and smile however. Milya pushed her glasses back up on her nose and started talking.

"I'm the assistant technician in one of the groups for the G-Project. Eh..." She stopped for a moment, thinking of what to say. "I was relaxing in my quarters before I heard the Head requesting assistance using the emergency line. So I made my way there and shoved myself into GAT-X105 before any of the attackers could. I didn't really do much though, not like the others.."

She trailed off, wondering whether she had spoken too much or too little, feeling a bit uncomfortable around the others.

Donald listened to Petty Officer Augustus, followed by that assistant technician that piloted one of the prototypes. He is glad that there is another soldier at least that pilots one those Gundams as they are now called, but former OMNI is something he will have to watch for.

The soldier gave a salute before speaking. "I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Donald Sinclair, Captain." He began, speaking as a soldier is expected to. "I was sent here by JOSH-A with Captain Harper and other officers to oversee the final phase of the G-Project." He paused. "With yesterday's attack I am the only survivor of the group. The Captain has ordered me to defend the G-Project with my life before he passed away from his wounds. I commandeered one of the prototypes to protect it and was able to fight off a few GINN units."

If he is right then there's only the teenager left to speak.

Arsenio looked around the room listening, absorbing information, scanning for weaknesses and exploitables. he put on a cheery smile and introduced himself, "Ensign Arsenio Forneus, designated test pilot of the Duel Gundam. As for my 'friends'," Arsenio continued in response to the Captain's statement, his smile turning into a somewhat devilish smirk and a shrug, "The ones who are culled have been definitively proven to be weak." Of the other designated pilots, the ones who had been boosted men like himself treated him like dirt for being the failed experiment, which led the ones who were Naturals to follow suit. He had little camaraderie for them, and even less empathy. That they were all killed was maybe a bit unsettling, but it proved their weakness, the one who survives was the strongest. "Who's laughing now?" he thought to himself. "The one who survives is the strongest," he actually said out loud to the table, "for that, I respect everyone here at the table for being alive, for being strong. I can't help but wonder, though, since we are in ORB, which gives equal treatment to all...genetic types...how many of you are...Coordinators. I also can't help but wonder what our esteemed leadership plans on doing with you once we've extracted necessary information." He grinned, he couldn't help but stir the pot a little.

"All righty then it seems to be a general consensus here...is that none of you were aware that this was going to happen and most of you were forced into the suits by necessity. Aside from the creepy little fuck Mizawa brought with him it seems most of you are normal people." He stated bluntly as Stan threw some files over to Captain Walsh as he looked through them with surprising speed and then looked at Augustus, "Kid you seem to WANT ZAFT to be the perps here. No doubt that they have'a good reason to come here but would they risk open war with ORB for some suits? I'm inclined to personally...say yeah I believe that they would." the man said as some mutters went around the room before Mizawa whistled loudly. "Thanks." he muttered to Mizawa before the man grunted indifferently in response to it. "Well let's start here the files say....only one or two of you all here today are coordinators. Augustus over there and Mr. Stone's nephew Richard are both natural born humans. I can say that for a fact it said so in the brief synopsis on those papers Stone just handed me." He stated to Arsenio. "Now I see that you may not be fond of your team but you're still a member of that team so you can at least pretend to be upset over their damn deaths. They weren't really weak they were the first victims blown up by a suicide bomber." Walsh said in disgust as he leaned back on the chair.

"Indeed I must say it's good that two technicians survived this we can certainly welcome your help in further making sure that this incident never happens again." Stan stated as Captain Walsh stopped talking. "We must endeavor to make sure this incident doesn't happen again." Stone stated calmly as he looked to Mizawa, "Mizawa tell me what is the status of the suits?" he asked as Stan looked over to the man next to him. "Sir I am PLEASED to say that while some damage was sustained these kids here did a fine job in defending the machines. Hell even your little nephew did a good job." He stated with a chuckle as Richard frowned along with Stan. "NO BULLSHIT IN THE MEETING ROOM." Walsh demanded as one of the officers raised his hand. "Yeah Jimmy what's up?" Walsh asked the man who cleared his throat. "We got the secure line ready sir." he said as Walsh nodded and fixed his suit quickly, "Well put it through then. Ladies and gentlemen I present to you...politicians." Walsh said in faint disgust as the screen popped alive behind him. First was Secretary of Defense of ORB Azami Kuroko of the esteemed Kuroko family of ORB. Next came Minister of War General Carmine Dawson of OMNI. The next two were unknown men with shadowed faces. Then finally came on screen Head of ORB and The newly made Preston Family, Richard Preson of ORB.

"Hello there everyone it's nice to meet all of you." Preston stated as Stan Stone re-introduced the key members in the room to the newcomers. He also gave testimonies from the attack and a brief synopsis of his role in it. "I see thank you Mr. Stone. I'm glad to see everyone in the room is safe." the man spoke in a calm endearing voice as he smoothed over his words like butter over bread. "I see that all of you are in a terrible state of being and I'm sorry for what happened I will do my best to make sure your island is safe once more expect aid soon." Preston promised as Richard stared at the man. He wasn't all that impressed with the man he seemed...to simple not as boisterous as other politicians. "So with that being said please continue on. We're here to hear the input not to aid anything this is your meeting and ship Captain Walsh." the president said patiently much to the annoyance of the Minister of War.

"Ai now then onto big business since the big men are here. Did anyone recognize anyone among the soldiers there? If we can get a confirmation on anyone and pin this on a specific faction we can link and counterattack faster." Walsh commented to Mizawa's delight as he nodded, "Indeed a good well placed kick in the butt should be delivered to those bastards who attacked us. We can't let this tragedy go unavenged." Mizawa said uncharacteristically to Stan's surprise as Azami nodded in agreement with Mizawa. "How about you Richard?" Stan offered quickly, "You have knowledge of a pretty decent chunk of the people around here so you'd be able to point out anyone suspicious. Miss Satsuki already confirmed she saw no one she knew. However some wonder how you managed to get to Calamity." Stan continued as he turned his eyes on his nephew.

Richard bit his lip and thought hard about this. He was quiet and calm but inside his insides felt like he swallowed glass shards. He remembered....he remembered Selena Oliver whom he had known as a kid point a gun at his face. It had to be Selena even if he was dazed he knew no one else with yellow hair like that and knew his name that wouldn't shutter at the thought of pulling the trigger. Then again if the situations had reversed...would he have hesitated? His mind panicked as he wondered if he should tell them about this. On one hand it had to be someone he knew on the other hand...what if it wasn't Selena and his testimony against her...."I-" Richard said carefully as he came to a choice. He swallowed deeply and breathed out the same way and calmly presented his choice, "I was able to get near a astray inside of the hanger but unfortunately I was grabbed from behind. The pilot was someone with black hair and I couldn't recognize the person. She would have shot me but her magazine was empty and I fought her off. I managed to force my way into Calamity's cockpit and instinct took over." Richard stated as Stan nodded his head. Did he do the right thing?

She stayed silent as the military people discussed military things. Milya found it oddly fascinating to be included in exactly the sort of meeting she thought she'd never had to see. At least she wasn't really expected to speak or anything. So she just stood at one side smiling, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.

"Ai now then onto big business since the big men are here. Did anyone recognize anyone among the soldiers there? If we can get a confirmation on anyone and pin this on a specific faction we can link and counterattack faster."

A strange question to ask. It was hardly expected of anyone to really know anyone else from another faction unless it was some big name. And even then most wouldn't even be able to tell them apart. She had merely shook her head at the question, thinking it was maybe just wistful thinking on the officers' part.

"I-"

Her eyes widened slightly as Richard started talking.

"I was able to get near a astray inside of the hanger but unfortunately I was grabbed from behind. The pilot was someone with black hair and I couldn't recognize the person. She would have shot me but her magazine was empty and I fought her off. I managed to force my way into Calamity's cockpit and instinct took over."

Doubt. Hesitation. And perhaps.... a lie?

Possibilities rushed through her head, and there was a moment where she almost blurted out her thoughts. But the moment passed and she stayed silent. Milya had no evidence to go on after all.

For now at least, if her suspicions were correct.

Arsenio sat back and soaked in the verbal abuse with a masochistic sense of delight. Not only had the captain called him a 'creepy little fuck', he had even chided him for considering his former teammates weak. The suicide bombing, however, unsettled Arsenio a little bit. He was sure they were ZAFT, but ZAFT should never resort to that kind of tactic for several reasons. Throughout history, suicide bombing has always been a tactic of fear and desperation, if a side had an advantage, no amount of raw hatred could push someone to perform such an act, it was only something resorted to when the chips were down, when one was at a disadvantage, and ZAFT was in no such position. ZAFT, being entirely populated by Coordinators, valued their individuality and thought very highly of themselves, suicide bombing was carried out by people who say themselves as expendable, which Coordinators in general, did not, especially not ZAFT coordinators, who had been fed pro-coordinator, anti-natural propaganda. So maybe ZAFT didn't carry out this attack after all, or the commander was a fool or madman.

When the politicians came on, Arsenio put his face on the table and put his hands over his head, groaning audibly. Here, truly were the weakest human beings in existence, people of no true talent or value who had risen to power and now lorded over the rest. They had no business here and Arsenio would try as much as he could in his passive aggressive manner to make it apparent that they were unwelcome by 'accidentally' ignoring them or not hearing them, or 'accidentally' making noise like coughing in order to interrupt them when they were speaking. They asked a completely inane question to see if anyone recognized the attackers, to which Arsenio was about to point out as a dumb question to make the politicians look stupid when Dr. Stone's supposed nephew spoke up. A curious incident.

Arsenio looked up from the table and smiled in a friendly manner which was in complete opposition to what he was about to do, "Most people would simply say they didn't recognize anyone, but you just described specifically the hair of someone you didn't know. That seems...unusually specific, or perhaps...intentionally misleading...? Any other features you'd like to point out?" Arsenio continued to smile as if he had simply been asking someone their favorite flavor of ice cream. His heightened senses alerted him that something wasn't right, and his experience with games, particularly those requiring bluffing, made him realize something was fishy about the man's statement.

With how that teenager in OMNI uniform was acting out of line Donald was considering of punching him through the room to teach him a lesson. Fortunately the appearance of the politicians made him reconsider and maintain himself in his seat. The Scotsman continued to observe the obnoxious behaviour of his comrade as the politicians were speaking, further fueling his desire to give him a well-deserved punch.

Richard speaking on the topic of recognising someone got his attention. Although he isn't a Military Police, the statement was suspiciously in detail, perhaps to hide something. The obnoxious teenager spoke again much to his irritation but he did have a point in hiding something. "I agree." He spoke as well in a calm, yet serious manner. "We need to know the truth behind this attack. We don't have much evidence so every information counts."

"You want what I saw that's what I saw I'm being specific in detail because maybe someone in here may know someone in ZAFT. I know a couple of people who went up into space but none of them would join ZAFT. Any information helps and why would I hide someone who killed dozens of my comrades in arms and or put them into the hospital. People are crippled damn it! If the color of her hair and gender is-" Richard said before Preston spoke up patiently, "While I agree with the younger man in the room I will trust Mr. Stone over there. And through Mr. Stone his nephew. If he says what he saw is true then we should trust him. Who knows maybe there will be a pilot with black hair out there in ZAFT with the description Ensign Stone said and we can definitively link ZAFT to this assault. However it is worth noting piracy has been a problem right Mr. Minister?" Preston said as the man nodded solemnly.

"A confirmed raid on ZAFT military bases off of the coasts of Africa and South America have been reported by well placed spies from OMNI. It's unlikely that they would go through the effort of sabotaging their own bases and attempt to pull ORB into a war AGAINST them. Me? I personally would have tried to frame OMNI for this and leave behind some prisoners to 'break under pressure' to further that. It's all about framing the other side. Besides what are we going to say to the general public? A neutral faction helped another side specifically make weapons of mass destruction?" The Minister of OMNI said patiently as Azami nodded depressingly, "Yes INDEED there is a major problem with all of this. If we let this go public and blame ZAFT then what about the suits we built? It WAS a joint effort for now it's been contained to this island and my special forces however if it gets out we had a hand in this we will be ousted as false and the public may turn against us. We can't afford to let that happen." Azami said as Mizawa chuckled, "Then it's simple we go with what Richard Stone told us about the pilot he saw and then we move on. Besides even if he's lying does it matter? We're planning on going and taking the suits back anyway I'm sure so we're bound to find the thieves. If he's lying then he can be thrown in jail for harboring a criminal or pardoned for saving a entire suit. If he was a spy why stay? It's not like he's going to be able to contact ZAFT with the full lock down going on." Mizawa commented with a smile. "I hate to agree with the smart man but he's got a point? Why is this even a major problem? If we drag ZAFT into this we're draggin' ORB and it's peoples into the war. That's not good for it's not gettin' involved in other peoples' shit if you pardon my language." Walsh agreed surprising Mizawa pleasantly. "Why is this about me what about you people? Did yo use anybody?" Richard said trying to get this on and off him.

Augustus Magnuson was getting more and more frustrated as time went on. In an ill needed fit of frustration, he went on a tangent. Pointing at Donald Sinclair, or the one with the pretty hair. He spoke words that were much better left u said. "Thought of that all yourself did you? We don't know anything so we need to know more."

He turned a to the Welshman and went on. "Pirates are better cleaner option, they can use all their own equipment out in the open. It affords the ability to sloppy, and you can easily kill all the pirates. But, this wasn't sloppy till the tale end were in this." He took a deep breath and exhaled before speaking. Mottly crew showed up." Augustus raised his hands signifying he was speaking of the group of Gundam pilots. He turned to the one that had asked why it was a major problems. "If we seem weak now or hide behind OMNI, I don't see how that's good for business. This was a joint venture, we got just as much if not more from this venture than they did. If ZAFT would have coming calling we'd have done just the same. That's how you avoid losing the public trust... Now I'm all for understanding the why and the how this happened, but when you get down to it. Does anyone have a fucking plan for this? How did anyone not see something like this coming?"

This was.... not what she was expecting. A military conversation where she had no hopes of following with her limited knowledge of military jargon was one thing, but this was starting to look like a full scale shitstorm of arguing that will only get worse by the second. Definitely not what she came in here for. Seeking an exit, she raised her hand, giving a meek smile.

"Uhm, may I be dismissed, sir? I still have to examine the Gundams, and rig up the system to record battles and combat data so we can tweak the mobile suits' performance."

Not that she was actually thinking of that before, but rigging up sensors and adjusting finicky parts was better than the inevitable argument that would come if the conversation went longer. And now that she thought of it, she was supposed to be examining the MSes by now anyways to ensure everything was still in good working condition.

Arsenio raised an eyebrow at Richard Stone getting flustered. But after Dr. Stone's deflection, and the meeting's overall dismissal of the topic, Arsenio was getting bored that his mischief had only gotten so far and lay his head down on the table again.

When Milya spoke up about leaving the meeting, he lifted his head again, "I agree, Miss Tech here doesn't need to be in this meeting, nor do I; I'm just a soldier, and I just follow orders, more so than normal soldiers even, but that's classified information and I won't get into it. What you, our 'esteemed leadership' ultimately decides, I will act upon, but as far as actual decision making, I'll leave that in your...'capable hands'."

Before getting permission to leave, he stood up out of his chair but didn't walk away just yet.

"You're not ORB kid don't try to rally us behind a war like that." Stan Stone commented bluntly as he as leaned forward on the table. "No you may not be dismissed because we got to ask you all one question. Minus our little friendly weasel boy over there." Stan continued impatiently as he looked at Richard, "I have no right to ask this of you but all of you need to answer the following." Stan Stone started to say but before he could continue he was interrupted by Welsh. The Irish Captain got up and cleared his throat for the first time he was actually looking professional since he got into the room itself. "Hey there listen up all of you and shut up I don't want to hear it from any of you children or you officers. We have come to an agreement. This agreement is the following: To prevent the leaking of knowledge about these suits in mass as to not cause chaos we are offering you the spots in the army of OMNI. You will be 'honorably discharged' from ORB for the time in OMNI. OMNI will offer increased pay or otherwise for you if you accept this offer? Why do we want you in OMNI you're going to ask next I bet. "The answer: We want you to pilot the mobile suits known as .G.U.N.D.A.M. for us until such a time where we can find pilots. If you decline this offer you will be asked to sign legal papers that threaten legal execution if you are caught talking about the suits until such a time where they become well known. So what do ya all say to that offer eh?" Welsh asked patiently as Richard sat there in silence as he thought about what happened and all the lives lost....and of course his long lost friend suddenly showing up as a terrorist. This was all insane....all of it! But what could he do about it? He could curl up and sign the papers....or...."I accept the commission granted in full view of the Head of ORB's Noble Families and yourself Captain Welsh. I want to pilot Calamity for a better future. ZAFT or whoever is behind this will pay!" Richard said without a second's more hesitation to the contrary.

"Hey there listen up all of you and shut up I don't want to hear it from any of you children or you officers. We have come to an agreement."

She tilted her head at that. Who was this we?

"This agreement is the following: To prevent the leaking of knowledge about these suits in mass as to not cause chaos we are offering you the spots in the army of OMNI. You will be 'honorably discharged' from ORB for the time in OMNI. OMNI will offer increased pay or otherwise for you if you accept this offer? Why do we want you in OMNI you're going to ask next I bet. "The answer: We want you to pilot the mobile suits known as .G.U.N.D.A.M. for us until such a time where we can find pilots. If you decline this offer you will be asked to sign legal papers that threaten legal execution if you are caught talking about the suits until such a time where they become well known. So what do ya all say to that offer eh?"

She wanted to say no. She wanted to just get away from all this, and leave everything behind. Forget about all these senseless deaths, and what she had indirectly helped to bring upon this island. But.... many of those who were killed were her friends. Her boss, as idiotic as he can be, was someone she looked up to.

"I accept the commission granted in full view of the Head of ORB's Noble Families and yourself Captain Welsh. I want to pilot Calamity for a better future. ZAFT or whoever is behind this will pay!"

And she certainly doesn't want that traitor to pilot one of the Gundams. In her mind it was certain that he was involved somehow in the attack. Why else would there be a note of hesitation in his normally confident voice? Why else would his words sound so carefully constructed?

"I...I accept as well. The boss would have wanted me to, plus, I doubt any mechanic or technician in OMNI could take care of those Gundams without messing it up."