Marcus looked at the proposed exchange for the three children of ZAFT and the Council members.
"Suez channel, lands in Iberia, lands in Korea, spaceport they took in January, quite generous." He commented to his wife and daughter.
"Obviously, the kids are important."
"Should I be a bit mean and demand Victoria?" Marcus asked with an amused tone.
"Isn't it in the middle of ZAFT-controlled lands?" Cagalli commented. From what she can tell, Africa was under complete ZAFT control.
"I know, and I was messing on purpose." The Disguised Emperor shook his head as he said that.
"I know they won't give such an important plot of land because of the Mass Drive; they need it for transportation of personnel and resources."
"That is why I asked, I wanted to mess with them." He chuckled for a bit.
"Regardless, Cagalli, tell them that the deal is good and we can exchange, oh and tell the HQ that they should send the new Strike Daggers to these locations, but do keep them hidden until ZAFT attacks again.
Oh, and tell Jeanne and Lieutenant Mu La Flaga to come over."
"Alright." Cagalli nodded as she left the office.
"...Since she is gone~~ I can do this~" Lacus' eyes gleamed as she leaned forward and started a kiss.
Marcus rolled his eyes. They have around ten minutes… tops.
~~~
Around the same time, Jeanne and the blonde lieutenant arrived at the office.
"Sir, you wished to see me?" Mu asked first as he saw that the red-haired lady didn't mind waiting.
"Yes. I do have a proposal: how about piloting a mobile suit?"
"...Umm… I never piloted one before." The question was no surprise to him. He knew it would come his way.
"HQ is rolling out Mass Production machines based around Strike.
My Anaheim assisted with the OS and a bit with the system's neural interface. Apart from that, I basically took over thanks to repeated Blue Cosmos infiltration.
I have quite the pull in the Earth Alliance. Because of that, I am in control of who gets who.
Among those things, there are command versions of Daggers, which we call 105 Daggers. It can use Strike's packages.
I want to give one to you."
"...I see… I wouldn't mind, but I don't want to embarrass myself." The man grimaced while saying that.
"Is that so. Well, my son will assist you in practise, it's the least he can do after that debacle." Marcus frowned as he recalled his son.
"...You really grounded him…sir?"
"Indeed. Regardless, you can tell him that he will help you." Marcus chuckled while saying that.
"Understood." After that, the blonde saluted and left the office.
The moment he was gone, Lacus slipped right back on Marcus's lap. When Jeanne saw this… blatant behaviour, she could only deadpan. They were in a damn military office! Give some damn respect!
And the thing is, the pinkette would give the respect needed, but she is psychic; she can tell what her husband wants, and since he doesn't care, neither does she.
It's only that he gives some respect to the blonde pilot who just left.
"What can I do for you, sir?"
"I need you to oversee the creation of three physical swords for the Duel I will be piloting. You know my standards, so I want to make sure they are of good quality."
"Understood, leave it to me." With a nod, Jeanne left the office.
After a couple of moments of silence, the pinkette poked his cheek.
"You know, for someone who doesn't care about this reality, you sure are putting a considerable effort into this reality." Lacus smiled while saying that.
"Is that so? Well, I hate losing at a game I am good at. It's one of those moments when novices surround me, and I just want to show them how to do it." He explained, looking into her blue eyes.
"I see. Well, I find it attractive when my husband takes things seriously. It makes me… giddy."
"Is that so? Well, good to know."
This time around, he pulled her into a kiss.
~~~
After that, Marcus went to see how the work on the mobile suits was going.
"You haven't told me which machine you want. Lacus."
He asked his wife, as he saw, the finished Blitz. Aegis, Buster and Duel were getting their limbs replaced.
"...Hmm, from what I heard, Cagalli claimed Aegis, the red one, you took the blue and white, and that leaves the stealth and big rifle one.
"I am going with a rifle, though I do have requirements. These… machines are primitive, so I need some upgrades to compensate for my fighting style."
"Whatever you want. Just tell the mechanics." He nodded at her.
"Good, that's much better. Then I will start with OS."
"Just don't go overboard; they do have limited software and processing power." Marcus reminded her that these were not the Quantum computers their machines have.
"Don't worry, I can promise that my machine will work when you want me to fight."
"Fair enough."
As he said that, he went over to his Duel. And began to check specs.
'Holy… This brings back memories, even my first ever Lugh had better movement ability.'
For a second, he pondered how to fix this.
'Hmm…'
He then recalled Destiny Gundam.
The wings.
'The Voiture Lumiere system… hmmm…' His eyes widened as he realised how he could make it work.
"Oh, that could work."
With that said, Marcus went to check the situation.
…
…
…
"There is nothing that indicates that ZAFT are making a move anytime soon.
Long-range observation posts indicate that they are gathering forces; I assume it's for a massive advance.
They could try again after failing to take out the 8th fleet."
One of the officers explained to Marcus as Marcus looked at the map of Earth Sphere.
"Good, from the looks of it, we have at least two to three weeks.
By that point, I want you all to continue replacing the Moebius with Strike Daggers and 105 Daggers for the more talented pilots.
Continue with Strike Package assembly. We need diversity.
And…
No fucking suggestion to develop something as retarted as huge mobile armours! That's retarted beyond reason!
I want those reflect panels installed in our ships! Not damn mobile armours! We have numbers; we need quality!
The moment we have quality, ZAFT falls! Simple, yes?" Marcus aggressively tapped the armrest of his chair.
Lacus, behind Marcus, giggled. She knew why he was so pissed. Those morons don't want to invest in Strike Daggers or 105 Daggers, but something as stupid as mobile armours?
While many of them were in their early stages, Marcus stripped those projects and simply sent the tech to Strike Daggers, 105 Daggers, and upgrades for the warships.
"Y-Yes, sir. Understood!"
"Good, and tell Captain Ramius to prepare my ship. I have to go somewhere," Marcus instructed, as he looked at a certain location on the Earth Sphere.
As he did that, his pinkette wife looked curious; she wondered where he wanted to go.
"As you wish!"
With the gone, Lacus asked curiously.
"Where are we going?"
"To start collecting advantages in this war. More precisely, a propulsion system."
As he said, he checked data on intelligence gathering. It would seem there was a bit of development towards him finding out where Genesis is.
Well, the prototype, he wants to collect as much data as he can on how the genesis functions.
Though he more or less hopes to just nuke the hell out of that thing.
Still, he allocated some resources to learning about Genesis.
~~~
With orders to depart received, Archangel was fully loaded with personnel, unlike its initial launch, and got Blitz Gundam as support alongside Strike Gundam.
"Sir, where are we going?'' Captain Ramius asked Marcus the moment he was on the bridge.
"To see people of DSSD."
"...DSSD?" The brown-haired captain looked confused as she had never heard of them.
"...If I am not wrong, it's called Deep Space Survey and Development Organisation. They are a neutral organisation that is developing deep space-related technology." The serious woman named Natarle Badgiruel explained to the captain.
She was the second-in-command and responsible for most subsystems.
"Indeed, I want their propulsion system," Marcus said as he got comfortable in his seat.
"...Propulsion system? And… if I may ask, what if they don't give it?"
"I don't want to ask for it for free; I have a lot of cards to play to buy from them. Worst case… well, worst case I have Blitz Gundam to sneak in and take their prototype mobile suit.
And that's the worst case. But honestly, we have a lot of things they would need. Like, for example, a Mass Drive."
"...I see."
"Indeed, now, Captain, you can set sail." Marcus motioned for them to depart.
"Understood!"
As the ship left Moon, they were flying towards a quite distant location, since DSSD was far from everyone, and by all means, they didn't want to do anything about the current conflict.
With that said, they had a bit of time, so Marcus began to compile a package for DSSD. As a fellow space lover, he understood them and what they wanted to do.
So he has quite a positive outlook towards the whole organisation.
After a while, when Marcus finished his list. He looked at the Natarle.
"Lieutenant. I hope you like your promotion."
"...Many thanks, sir. I hope to live up to your expectations." She saluted with a serious expression.
"Indeed, there is a reason why I went over and singled you out.
For one, you were with Archangel from the very beginning.
And did quite well when you were understaffed, that is why I am thinking of promoting you to captain and giving you the sister ship of Archangel."
"...Sister ship? There is another one that is getting built already?" Captain Ramius was speechless; as someone from the engineering corps, she was well aware of how resource-intensive the warship was.
"For now, we are only thinking of two. The issue is the Mobile Suits themselves.
Ships like Archangel require ace pilots; otherwise, they are just big carriers."
"...That is true."
"Indeed. So, Lieutenant, continue with your work, get used to the ship as much as you can." Marcus said before floating away towards the doors.
"I will be in my cabin if you need anything, Captain."
"Of course, Admiral Anaheim!" Ramius saluted the leaving Admiral.
Once he was gone, Ramius smiled at Natarle.
"Congratulations, Natarle."
The serious woman slowly nodded as she looked down, pondering a bit.
She can tell, the moment he took over, the whole 'feeling' from Earth Alliance has changed.
People are more motivated.
'We might pull this off. We regained our GAT units. Another Archangel is getting built. We are getting mass-produced units that can keep up with GINN…'
Natarle never questioned her superiors, but it doesn't mean she didn't have her private thoughts.
Especially after that crushing victory in Earth Orbit. They hit ZAFT so hard that they needed to rethink their future approach.
"My thanks, Captain, I will make the Archangel crew proud." Natarle seriously nodded.
~~~
"This is Deep Space Survey and Development Organisation, we are a neutral organisation, neither do we develop any weapons.
However, we wil defend ourselves if you attack us."
"Oh, they don't like us at all." Mu shook his head as he looked at the space station in the distance.
"Last time I remember, Earth Alliance shot a nuclear missile into an agricultural colony, killing 250 thousand coordinators," Lacus said to the blonde man with a strained smile.
"...Right…" He looked at her with a grimace.
"They have no reason to like us."
Marcus listened to the message he received from the DSSD station, then to his wife's comments, before sending a message.
"This is Marcus Anaheim, Head of Earth Alliance. I would like to meet a representative of your DSSD organisation.
I am sending over a message with my trade proposals. Do look them over before replying." The disguised Emperor sent them a message with his terms.
It's an extremely generous offer; all he wants is their propulsion system. In turn, he is offering quite a lot.
"So we're just going to wait for them?"
"...Indeed." The Boss of Earth Alliance looked at the crew before leaning into his chair.
"...Well, this could get boring quick."
"Better than running away from the ZAFT fleet." Captain rolled her eyes at the blonde.
"...That is true."
~~~
500 powers stones = 1 Extra Chapter
1000 Power Stones = 2 Extra Chapters
And so on, You know what to do.
~~~
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