Fallen Angels Rising Phoenix (Krung Thep, 2310 AD)

Simulation Name: Fallen Angels Rising Phoenix

Short Description:
Zero had been accepted into Celestial Being and is training at the Krung Thep Facility. During this time "Operation: Fallen Angels" occurs and Celestial Being is thrown into disarray. Zero uses this chance to hack into their database and find any useful information. Will he succeed in this attempt, or will someone intervene?

Location(s): Krung Thep asteroid facility, 2310 AD (2 years after Op: FA)

Character Restrictions: None

(Reposted and edited due to conflict of idea between myself and a second party)

Night Run Part 1: Thievery

Zero sat the terminal with one of the 3 haro he had with him. The room was empty as hardly anyone ever entered this particular room. Therefore the lights were turned off and the only illumination came from the terminal and Crusade haro's flashing eyes. Today, Zero planned to look into Ian Vashti's Gundam Design files.

Normally, this would be impossible, even for professional hackers. However Zero had reprogrammed his haro so that he could gain access into any part of Celestial Being's database.

At once the files opened and Zero began to rummage through them. He found files on the older Gundam models from generations 1-3. 0, Astraea, Sadalsuud, Abulhool, Plutone, Exia, Dynames, Kyrios, Nadleeh, Virtue, and Rasiel. Zero had been told that the 2nd generation Gundams were never used by the Ptolemaios Gundam Meisters but were rather used as testbeds for the equipment of the 3rd generation Gundams. Whatever the case, these files were not very interesting to Zero so he looked deeper.

Soon enough he found some more interesting Gundam Variation Designs. Among these files were: Avalanche Exia, Dynames Torpedo, Kyrios Gust, Nadleeh Akwos, Virtue Physical, Cherudim SAGA, Arios Ascalon, Seravee 3G, Seraphim SEM, Eins Terbulenz, and the Rasiel variants. Zero smirked as he initiated Crusade's copy function on the Gundam Variants. Zero left Avalanche Exia, Dynames Torpedo, Kyrios Gust, Cherudim SAGA, and Seravee 3G uncopied as they did not catch his fancy.

"Crusade, remember to cover our tracks. I don't want Ian or anyone to find out. Also make a list of materials needed to construct those Gundams, substitute in the GN Drive Tau instead of the regular GN Drives. Make sure to get data on GN-004 Nadleeh too, that will come in handy for the Nadleeh Akwos." Zero instructed.

Crusade flashed his eyes in recognition as it finished copying the files. Zero shut off the terminal and made for the door. He had about 10 minutes to get back to his room before the barrack monitor checked his room.

"Remember to erase any footage of me leaving my room. I'll come see you tomorrow. Good night Crusade!" Zero waved goodbye to the haro as it spun around flashing its green eyes in Morse Code (--. --- --- -.. / -... -.-- .).

Zero exited the room and closed the door behind him. He began to run down the corridors back to his room, sometimes artificial gravity could be so troublesome. Just as he was about to turn the last corner before the barracks, bang! Zero fell on his behind and papers flew everywhere, it appeared as though he had crashed into someone.

TBC in Part 2: Busted

"Oww!", said the man as he fell to the floor. Zero looked at the man and it was none other than Celestial Being test pilot Gabriel Scheinder AKA Fereshte operative/Gundam Meister Mars Denbrey. Gabriel rubbed his forehead a bit then looked at all the paper floating around.

"Aw, man! Mrs. Vashti is gonna kill me if I hand those papers out of order. Thanks a lot...!", Gabriel stopped as he noticed who it was that ran into him. "Zero Sue?" said Gabriel. He knew Zero from the training sessions they had had at Krung Thep.

Gabriel stood up and proceeded to grab the papers to put them in order again. He then said, "What are you doing way out here? And where were you going is such a hurry?"

Crap, of the rotten luck! Mars Denbrey... Zero had become acquainted with him through his training. Though he knew very little of the man, Zero knew very well what kind of job he had around here. If he didn't think of something fast, Mars would become a big problem.

Zero got to his feet and assisted Mars with the retrieval of Ian's papers. "Sorry bout all this. I was kinda in the middle of some... private training. I didn't expect to crash into anyone like that." Zero lied. He was about to hand Mars the small stack of papers he had picked up when he spotted something. Blue prints? Zero had seen all the Gundam and Support Craft blueprints up until now, and these designs were a lot different from the others.

Zero read the machine's name out loud without thinking, "Gundam... Ariel?"

As Mars organized the papers, he heard Zero say the words "Gundam... Ariel?" out loud and quickly snatched the stack of papers containing the blueprints from Zero's hands. "No problem, thanks for the help gathering all of these.", Mars said.

After a few moments Mars realized something, but decided to play it cool. He looked at Zero and said, "Private training, huh? That's cool. Though, I think you might have gotten a little lost. The simulation chambers are over that way." Mars pointed in the direction of a long corridor.

Mars continued to play it cool but still looking at Zero's face to see what reaction he would get.

Shit... Mars must have realized that something was up. While not changing his facial expression, Zero was completely worried now. If Mars found out on what Zero had been up to this whole time, well he decided not to think about it. Instead, Zero thought of simple, yet effective lie.

"Ya well, someone would know if I went in there and then I'd be in some real trouble. Besides, I'm only running and it's sleeping hours for most of the others anyway. Speed and stamina are important too, but around here I feel like I don't get enough of that." Zero wanted to go on talking about his past as a merc, however he was able to stop himself before he started to drone on and on. Zero waited for Mars's next line, all the while looking innocent yet at the same time a little serious.

Thankfully, even if Mars did find out that Zero was lying, his Haro was smart enough to manipulate the surveillance camera data to make it seem as though he was telling the truth.

Mars wanted to believe Zero. As a life-long member of Celestial Being, he knew that trust was a big thing. Something that was needed in an organization that more or less took on the world by themselves. But after the incident with Alejandro Corner, Mars knew that putting your trust in somebody could be dangerous.

"Well, I know what that's like. Sometimes I feel like all I do is sit in a cockpit 24/7. But that's the job, right?" Something in Mars' gut didn't feel right. Maybe something was up with Zero. Or Maybe he's just grown a little paranoid with the recent events. Corner's betrayal, the GN Drive technology being used to build the Tau drives, the fall of the Gundam Meisters, his recent recruitment into Fereshte.\

"Anyway, I gotta go and input this data into the mainframe or else Ian and Linda will kill me. Don't stay up too late." Mars began to move in the direction of the room Zero came out of.

It was over... If mars went in and found Zero's haro unit, all would be lost. the greatest drawback concerning Crusade's hacking abilities was his need to be physically connected to a terminal already part of the system. By now Haro must have finished up in their and must have already edited the surveillance videos to fit Zero's story. Yet even finding this particular Haro inside that room would place Zero in huge trouble.

BANG! Another lie jumped into Zero's head at that instant. If he tried to spot Mars, things would get worse. Instead, Zero did nothing and waited for Mars to enter the terminal room. If all went well, they would never realize that those files were even looked at today.

Mars opened the door to the terminal room. It was very late. He had been running various tests on new Gundams and support crafts as well as doing a mission of Fereshte. Mars was very tired, so just as he was passing by the terminal with the Haro plugged into it, he yawned. With his eyes closed, he passed by the terminal and didn't see the Haro.

Mars then sat down and began to input the data on another terminal with his back to the Haro.

Zero peeked into the terminal room through the small window in the door. Zero began to wonder why they installed windows in sliding doors anyway. While he attempted to avoid being seen by Mars, Zero thought of how to get his Haro unit out of there. There were only so many options to choose from. For one, he could trigger an alarm as a distraction, but that wouldn't really remove all suspicion from himself. Maybe he could sneak in and knock out Mars? No, that didn't seem fair. Or he could...

Before the idea could finish forming, Zero made up his mind and waited outside the door until Mars was nearly finished his work. He seemed to have forgotten about the barrack monitor who must have been searching Zero's room by now.

Hoping with all his might that this would work, Zero punched in the entrance code causing the door to slide open. Zero ran into the room, his gun pointed at Mars' head.

Mars heard the door slide open. He thought to himself "Oh, I'm in trouble now.". He said, "Sorry Mr. Vashti. I thought I had more time to input this data." as he was turning around.

When he looked at how was at the door, he was surprised to was Zero. "I thought you had gone back to your room. What's...?", he said and stoped his sentenced when he saw that Zero had a gun in his hand. What's more, the gun was pointed at Mars.

"What's this all about, Zero?", said Mars as his eyes began to look around the room. He eventually spotted a Haro connected to a terminal.

Mars cracked a small smile and said, "Don't tell me you are trying to copy what Alejandro Corner did?".

Zero laughed a bit, as if this was all a joke. Mars thought Zero was the same as Corner? Now that was rich! Although, what he was doing was similar. Only in Zero's case, he didn't plan on helping the world, only Celestial Being.

"Sorry about this Mars, I was hoping you wouldn't come in here. After all, anyone would have recognized my haro right away." Zero sighed heavily, his voice was trembling somewhat. He really didn't want this to become a worst case scenario.

"Mars... You may not trust me anymore, especially when we look at recent events. I also don't expect you to let me get away with this act either, but I'll ask anyway. Finish what you were doing, pretend you didn't see my haro and walk away." Zero lowered his gun, dropped to his knees and bowed to Mars. He was begging, desperately.

"I'll tell you one more thing. One year from now, I'll be leaving here forever."

Mars looked at Zero with a puzzled look. He didn't know what to think of the situation. The man that just pointed a gun at him was now on his knees beggin him to let him go. Part of him wanted to believe Zero didn't want this to get ugly. After all, he could have shot him and run with whatever the Haro had downloaded.

After a few seconds, Mars took a deep breath and said "You're right Zero. I don't trust you. And if you think I can just ignore this, you're dreaming. Celestial Being technology was never meant to be used by the rest of the world. We all know how the stunt Laguna Harvey and Corner pulled went down. And you think I'm gonna let you just waltz out of here with more?"

Zero stood up. He held the gun in one hand and looked at Mars. He laughed to himself. This was not going to be easy, but Zero still had one ace in the hole. Looking Mars in the eye, as if trying to see into his soul, Zero asked Mars a question:

"What can I do to convince you not to rat me out, Mr Denbrey?" Mind games were not Zero's thing, but he had something of a plan.

Mars stared at Zero in disbelief. "Are you freaking serious?! No, Zero. There is NOTHING that you can say or do that will convince me to just let you waltz on out of here like nothing happened."

He then took a deep breath and continued, "How can I know that you are not working for Corner or Harvey? And even if you are not trying to finish whatever the hell they were trying tp pull, how do I know your own agenda won't come back and bite Celestial Being in the butt?".

Zero continued to stare at Mars. He wasn't going to budge one bit. Sighing in boredom, Zero inched over to his Haro. Keeping his eyes on Mars Zero spoke again.

"Don't clump me together with those morons. My plans are on a more... suicidal scale. If you still have no faith in me, then just ask what my plans are and I'll tell you."

Mars gave some deep thought to what Zero had just said. Part of him wanted to know Zero's reasons for what he was doing. But the other part didn't care. After a few more seconds of debating with himself, he gave Zero and answer.

"You know what? I don't want to know what your plans are. Bottom line is, no matte how noble your intentions might be,you are a traitor. Just like Laguna Harvey and just like Alejandro Corner. You sneak around, steal data, and come in here with a gun. And you want me to put my faith in you? If you had a plan, you could have consulted with me. You could have brought it up to the higher ups and we all could have worked it out. But you chose to do this instead."

Mars stared a hole through Zero, took a deep breath and said, "And I'll tell you one more thing. You are not walking out of here with that Haro."

Zero shook his head, he realized this wasn't going to work out the way he wanted. Now he had no other options, talking was not going to guarantee anything. Zero raised his gun and aimed at Mars again. At the same time, something slipped from his sleeve and into his left hand now hidden behind him.

"Haro. Override all systems and lock the door." He commanded

Mars took a deep breath a thought to himself that if he made it out of here alive, he'd keep a weapon on him at all times. As he stared at the gun pointed at him, he said to Zero, "I'd ask you to give up and turn yourself in. But I guess that would be a waste of our time..."

A sense of excitement overtook Zero. This reminded him of his days as a mercenary. He would try to persuade his targets to see things his way, but that never worked. From then on he would always carry special dart bullets that released a paralysis solution into the victim. A wonderful side-effect was, the victim would also forget anything that happened within the last 30 minutes of being shot.

"Good night Mars Denbrey. Don't worry, you won't remember a thing." Zero fired at Mars's chest.

The dart hits Mars square in the chest. He looks down at it and thinks to himself he was too slow. He starts to feel groggy and puts his left elbow on the table next to him to attempt so stay standing up.

"Like hell I won't remember...", Mars said as his vision became blurry. He fell to his knees and looking at Zero said, "I'll get you for this. Sooner or later, I'll..."

Mars finally fell to the ground unconscious.

Zero collapsed and became slightly weak in the knees. He felt a sudden rush of heat appear throughout his body. Something in his gut twisted. He had done this several times before, but for once he felt guilty about it. He took a look at mars. Taking in a few quick breaths, Zero faced his Haro.

"Edit all security tapes, and hide. I'm getting into trouble anyway for not being in my room." Zero hid his gun and looked down at his left hand. A small black sphere stared at him. He was glad he wasn't forced to use this. Removing the dart from Mar's chest, Zero looked at the tiny puncture it made.

Carefully, Zero wiped the little bit of blood away and walked to the door. Now he had to get caught by the barrack monitor.

Part 2 Busted continued in Part 3: Detainment and Time Skip

Minutes later, Mars opened his eyes and realized he was on the floor of the computer room. He had a slight headache and a small itch on his chest. He stood up and immediately felt dizzy, so he sat on the chair that was next to him. He then put his palms to his face and began to rub it and then rubbed his eyes.

"What happened? Come to think of it, how did I get here? Last thing I remember, I was running some tests on the new Gundams. I was supposed to get here to input the data, but I don't remember coming here..."

Mars' chest continued to itch. In his gut, he felt something wasn't right. He uncovered his chest and notices a small red dot. He put his finger to it and noticed it was blood. He thought to himself, "What the...?"

Part 3: Detainment and Time Skip(several months later, 2 weeks left until escape.)

Zero waited in his cell. Several weeks ago he had been caught leaving his room after curfew. He had spent the time reflecting on what he did to Mars. Had he really made the right choice? Maybe, Mars would never have noticed the Haro and no one would have been the wiser. Regardless, this was going to comeback and bite him in the ass later.

The cell door opened. A Celestial Being operative stood there saying Zero was free to resume his duties as a Gundam Meister in training.

Time Skip happens now...

Zero rose from his seat and stared at the Gundam that would soon be his. The Uriel Gundam. He turned his head to see a familiar face.

"Hey Zero.", said Mars Denbrey. He approached with a smile on his face. When he was close, he tapped Zero on the shoulder.

"Looks good, don't it? Took a while to work out all the kinks in the system, but the Uriel finally ready. Soon, Celestial Being will be back at full strength."