All Hail the Conquering Heroes! [OPEN]

[cityship]

((Takes place several hours after the conclusion of this))

They survived. More than that, it seemed as if they actually won; the Ohm had successfully been driven away from their location. The fight hadn't been easy, which one could easily tell just by looking at the Quarter as it docked in back in Stacy's Hangar.

It had a number of dents, dings, and scorch marks where the Ohm had made their presence felt. Thankfully, there was no obvious serious damage. Still, though every crew member who went out was coming back, one had to wonder about their condition, particularly since they sent ahead a request for medics to be on standby.

But now that the ship was fully docked, and the main hatch opened, it was time to find out.

Comments

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Ah." So perhaps Setsuna was also an idealist... but in a diametrically opposite fashion.

Zouichi nodded, thoughtfully. "There are certainly things that are much easier to tell about a person when you've fought them. There's no room in a real match for posturing or pretense. But you say he didn't take you up on it?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Honestly, that was probably a good way to put it. Allenby believed in the Gundam Fight as the best way to channel people's drive for battle; Setsuna believed that humans could do away with war and fighting period. And he didn't communicate with his fists.

"Yeah, he didn't even hit back when I punched him! And when I tried to make him mad, he just walked away." It was true, Allenby understood that not everyone related to people that way. But she would have expected him to at least start talking again.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"You... you punched him?" If Zouichi sounded surprised, it was only because he was. "You didn't start off the conversation that way, did you?"

Use your words, Allenby!

"I've never had a chance to meet him, but he sounds like a very unusual person."

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Well no, I didn't do that!" Even Allenby wouldn't start off a conversation with her knuckles. "I punched him after he called the Gundam Fight a farce."

...Which, honestly, still made her mad to think about. Impressive as Setsuna's fighting skills had been out there, he was still wrong about that.

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Ah. ...after you explained what it was about? I can't see why he'd insult the Gundam Fight like that, especially if he knew the alternative."

It seemed like a pretty clear-cut choice: endless war, or exhibition fights? Anyone should be able to see that the latter alternative was the better of the two.

"I assume he had some other idea he advocates instead?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Yeah--I mean, the Gundam Fight has its problems. But we know about 'em now and we'll work to fix them once Earth is restored. I'd rather have that than... well, a war like this one."

She frowned as she thought back to what Feldt and Setsuna had said about Celestial Being's methods. "He's part of this organization. Whenever they see someone starting a war, they take their Gundams in to put a stop to it."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"Celestial Being, right? How exactly do they 'stop' someone starting a war, though? Threats? Blackmail?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, threats," Allenby said with a frown. "The idea I got from 'em was that if the two sides don't knock it off, they use their Gundams to wreck 'em."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"...I'm not sure how that would accomplish anything other than uniting all sides against them. And when someone acquires a Gundam capable of matching their own firepower, wouldn't it cause a breakdown in order? Since any 'peace' they would have achieved would have been gained through the weapons stalemate?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, it doesn't make any sense! You can't just point a gun at someone and get 'em to change their feelings."

She shook her head. "'Sides, I don't think you can ever stop people from wantin' to fight in the first place. We're always gonna find something to get mad about."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

Wow. For someone who was ridiculously idealistic, Allenby sure said a lot of things Zouichi agreed with.

"I agree. History is full of wars, skirmishes, petty infighting. Expecting humanity to suddenly put a stop to all conflict, especially without resolving the underlying issues that led to that conflict in the first place?" He shook his head. "Well, maybe there's more to their plan that he didn't tell you about.

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, you're probably right," said Allenby with a wide shrug. "But whatever their real philosophy is, it doesn't matter as long as they're our allies, right? What matters now is puttin' things back to rights."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

"If they're our allies," Zouichi pointed out. "Do you know if they're planning to work with us? Or if they simply agreed to join this one battle?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

"That's a good question." Allenby frowned. "I mean, they're here and they got their Gundams, and they saw for themselves what the Ohm intended to do to that planet, right? It'd make sense--buuut, people don't always do sensible things."

[zouichi.livejournal.com]

He nodded. "Perhaps it's something else to ask. Anyway, I should be going. Will you be all right? Only your Gundam was injured, correct?"

[nobel-berserker.livejournal.com]

Allenby nodded. "Yeah, I gotta put her foot back on, but mine's still attached. So I figure I got off light."

Despite the seriousness of the situation and their discussion, she grinned. "See ya around, then!"