Save the Day Program, once again. (Gundam IBO/Satisfactory SI): Chapter 30

Chryse, Mars. P.D. 323.

Kudelia Aina Bernstein took a deep breath to suppress her nervousness, but failed spectacularly as she sat in the same room she always did with her teacher.

However, this time, she was not here for a lesson or to discuss reforms for the colony like she had always done in the past seven years.

As she waited for her teacher and her boss to arrive with her nerves on edge, she felt a reassuring hand on her shoulder, making her look back towards her companions.

Mikazuki Augus stood on the far side of the room, leaning on the wall lazily, but his eyes stayed on her, trying to see if she would need his help.

Orga Itsuka stood right beside his best friend with a reassured smirk.

Biscuit Griffon would have also accompanied her to this meeting if not for the test that he needed to give today at his academy to earn his FICSIT Mobile Equipment engineering license.

Her ever loyal and loving maid, Fumitan, standing stoically behind her with her documents and speech in hand, ready to assist her at any moment.

And finally, her closest friend and confidante, Atra Mixta, smiled reassuringly as she placed her palm on Kudelia’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry, we are all here to support you, so don’t think too much about anything. We've got your back.”

Kudelia smiled wryly, but her heart felt warm at those words.

Taking advantage of those words, Kudelia decided to let go of her worries in a different way.

“Can I take it that Orga, Mika, and the others also feel the same?”

The response she got to her words was Orga’s confident smirk and Mika’s nod.

“How bold, to think that the prized employee of FICSIT would be willing to betray their employers for little ol’ me.”

Instantly, Orga’s smirk was replaced by a look of terror at her teasing words, making the sixteen-year-old girl smirk.

“Don’t even joke about that! If Ms. Ada heard those words, we will never hear the end of it-”

“No need, Mr. Itsuka. I have already heard it, and I know it is only a joke.”

Instantly, Orga and Mika went straight as if they were soldiers who were caught making mischief by their commanding officer as Ada Monica walked into the room along with her boss, David Thornton.

David did not say anything and simply walked to his chair with a smile as he watched his second in command give the children a stern look.

“And yet, even as a joke, I would appreciate it if you don’t make such comments, Ms. Bernstein.”

“Sorry, Ms. Ada.”

Kudelia and the other children instantly apologized, knowing that there was no need to say anything more to this woman.

With a nod, Ada returned to her boss and stood by him as Kudelia’s nerves once again came back with full force while facing the two most powerful people on this planet and arguably the entire Sol System.

David smiled at the girl and started speaking.

“Well, Kudelia. It is rare that you call Ada and me for a meeting during business hours. What is it going to be this time? Want to talk more about the labor laws reform in Chryse that we were discussing previously? Or something else?”

The response he got for his words was silence as Kudelia felt panic start to rise from within her.

Normally, she would not have such a problem. Especially since this was not the first time she has spoken about her dream or her objective in front of people.

The Noachis July Assembly speech from more than a few years ago was something that she gave in front of thousands of people while barely a teenager, so it should not be that difficult for her to speak in front of two people.

But therein lies the problem.

Kudelia had spoken before thousands of people before, given passionate speeches and vows for reforms. However, these two were not some faceless people that she desired to protect and help improve their lives.

No. These two were some of the closest adults in her life. People she considered more than friends, more of a family.

It was the reason why she felt nervous speaking in front of them. Because she feared their rejection. Feared what they would say about her following plan.

It was an irrational fear, she knew that. Especially since they already knew of her dream and goal, since they had personally trained her for this her whole life.

Yet, the heart is rarely rational, so her fears remained.

Once again, feeling the reassuring presence of her friends, Kudelia Aina Bernstein, the daughter of Norman Bernstein and the future ruler of Chryse, took a deep breath to steady herself and started speaking.

“Mr. Thornton, Ms. Monica, I am here today to ask for your sponsorship in pursuing my goals.”

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“Mr. Thornton, Ms. Monica, I am here today to ask for your sponsorship in pursuing my goals.”

….Huh, that was not what I expected.

I stared at the teenager as several thoughts ran through my mind, as the implications of those words hit me like a freight train.

Shit! This is really happening!? Did I guess correctly all those years ago?

“Please elaborate.”

Ada’s words made the girl nod before she spoke again.

“As you know, I have been learning from you to get into politics so that I can better the lives of all people. To give them their independence from Earth’s Economic Blocs and Gjallarhorn’s tyranny.”

I nodded absentmindedly at her words because I already knew this much. I even admired the girl’s drive to do so much despite not having much power in her hands.

“Truthfully speaking, the lives of people on Mars have improved drastically ever since FICSIT first appeared on this planet. However, as I continued digging deeper, I saw that it was not just Mars suffering from this oppression from Earth.”

As she continued speaking, I could see the fear and nervousness in her disappearing as passion took hold.

Kudelia motioned towards Ms. Fumitan who put forth a data pad that showed a lot of information. Information that ADA and I already knew but pretended to read through anyways for the sake of the girl’s pitch.

“The Mercury colonies suffer under the tyranny of Gjallarhorn as they are forced to churn out Ahab reactors and precious metals from the surface since Gjallarhorn officially owns that colony.”

True. The Mercurian colony is one of the most heavily defended bases of Gjallarhorn and also its primary fabrication facility from which they produce Ahab reactors. They also export a lot of precious metals and alloys and is a key component in their supply chain.

Of course, what most people don’t know, including Kudelia, is that not only are the people over there abused and lacking basic human rights, but we have also found out through our various methods that the people living there are essentially slaves.

Initially, the Mercury and Venus colonies were developed together with the Mars colony before the war. However, after Mars won the race and became the first habitable colony aside from the Luna colony, which is basically a military outpost at this point, the Venusian and Mercurian colonies fell out of favor.

Slowly, the funding for developing these colonies shrank and was diverted elsewhere, such as the fledgling colonies of the Jupiter Sphere in those days that promised a great economic boom for all of humanity with their asteroid mining.

Then, the Calamity War happened, after which, the Venusian colonies were largely ignored by the Economic Blocs and Gjallarhorn except for collecting taxes, imposing their laws, and its brief stint as a penal colony after Gjallarhorn took control over it for a brief time after the war.

As for the Mercurian colonies, they directly fell under the ownership of three families that belonged to the Seven Stars.

The Kujan, the Fareed, and the Issue families.

Nowadays, the control of the colony is mostly handled by the Kujan family since the Issue family has sold its rights to the Kujan family in exchange for a fleet of ships that now serve under Carta Issue while the Fareed rarely even cares about the Mercurian colonies, especially the current head of the Fareed family, Iznario Fareed, who is more concerned about politics, increasing his influence in the Economic Blocs and their governments, and committing disgusting acts in the shadows than managing his family’s assets.

“Similarly, the Venusian colony, which once housed prisoners and remnants of the original colonists but is now a proper colony of its own, suffers from neglect by Gjallarhorn. Its people barely manage to survive day to day while Gjallarhorn and the Oceanic Federation put unfair taxes on them while exploiting their labor for cheaply produced luxury goods that the rich people of Earth buy at exorbitant prices.”

The Venusian colonies are interesting, to say the least.

Back in the day, the plan was to terraform Venus just like Mars. To that end, the Economic Blocs from before the war, which were basically a collection of old world nations in disguise, hence the USA registration within the Chassis of the Hashmal instead of the SAU, built a colossal, temporary, colony above Venus that would house the various scientific groups and people required for the project along with exporting condensed carbon dioxide from Venus to Mars for the terraforming project on the red planet.

When Mars won the race for terraforming, the plans for Venus were scrapped, and all those people left for Earth or Mars.

Eventually, the temporary colony above Venus became a permanent settlement after what people remained on it were stranded during and after the war, since most of the Ariadne network routes to the planet were cut off by the war.

After the war, Gjallarhorn took over the colony and turned it into a prison.

And then, a few decades later, the prison once again turned into a colony.

Now, the colony, which was renamed as the Radonitsa Colony shortly after the war, is ruled by a company called Afam Equipment, which has done a fairly good job of keeping its low population alive. But, we estimate that it is only a matter of time before the colony collapses on itself due to lack of a proper economy and its low population the majority of which are decedents from the stranded people from during the war and the rest being decedents of the prisoners held there during the initial days after the war.

Kudelia continued speaking while making her presentation.

“As for the Jupiter Sphere and the outer space colonies, since they lie so far from Earth and thus have little Gjallarhorn or Economic Bloc presence despite their ownership, these places have become havens for pirates and illegal activity. Meanwhile, the common people of these places live in fear of the various crime families and syndicates that might pounce on them out of nowhere to steal what little they have.”

True. The Jupiter Sphere is mostly controlled by the Teiwaz and a few minor crime syndicates. Until a few years ago, Tanto Tempo was also one of the groups that controlled the Jupiter Sphere.

Unfortunately for them, the fool known as Rosario Leone attacked my base to get my Gundam Frames under the instigation of a Gjallarhorn Official, the Lunar Inspection Bureau’s Head Auditor, Ville Klaassen.

Of course, ADA and I did not take kindly to such actions.

The end result was the complete eradication of Tanto Tempo as an organization, the miserable death of Rosario Leone after one of my mobile suits crushed him underfoot. And the exposure of Ville Klaassen’s actions and involvements throughout his career through the internet and media outlets across the Solar System, and the mysterious ‘disappearance’ of Ville Klaassen’s personal Gundam unit, the Gundam Vual.

Incidentally, it was also this incident that brought Volco Warren and Argi Mirage under my employment.

After the deeds of Ville Klaassen were exposed, which also included the fall of the Warren family, which was orchestrated by this man, Volco Warren came to us to get back the Gundam Astaroth.

During our meeting, Ada and I saw the potential that this young man had, so we drew up a contract with an employment offer. According to the contract, we will not tamper with Gundam Astaroth and keep it as is, including its original armor pieces that we retrieved from various owners across the Solar System, until Volco gains enough money to buy it back from us. In return, he will be employed in FICSIT as the manager and one of the trainers for our Pilot school in the Jupiter Sphere.

A deal that he happily took since the salary package we offered was rather high compared to what is usually offered for the position.

As for Argi, he was under the employment of Tanto Tempo at that time as a mercenary and had no real attachment to the organization. As such, it was really easy for us to pull him to our side with better pay and permanent employment.

Kudelia looked at Ada and me with a determined gaze.

“All across the Solar System, the common people suffer because the Economic Blocs are uncaring, and Gjallarhorn uses its tyrannical influence to suppress them. I want to change that.”

“But, to change all this, I need to present myself as a voice for all these people. A voice that would speak for them and care for their need. A voice that will fight for their rights and dignity.”

“To that end, I am requesting that FICSTI Inc. sponsor me as I go to Earth, where Arbrau’s elections are going to take place soon. An occasion where the various representatives of the Economic Blocs and Gjallarhorn will be present. There, I will present my case in front of the various leaders of the world.”

I see. My guess that I made when this girl barged into our meeting room all those years ago was right after all.

This girl really is the protagonist of this Gundam plot.

How typical of my luck.

Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I subtly looked at ADA.

“Is her plan feasible?”

“Yes. While there is more passion than proper planning, the basic structure is there. I think we can make this work.”

“But, isn’t Project: Fallen Host still in the prototype stage?”

“Yes.  However, I should be able to complete it in time should we need it.”

“It is risky to do this without our full plan ready to deploy.”

“True. I calculate 80% probability that her plan will succeed with our current equipment and political influence.”

“That’s a rather high percentage, but still lower than I am comfortable with. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained, I guess.”

“An apt response, Administrator. I take it we are go for Project: Ascension?”

“Yes.”

“Confirmed.”

Done without out silent conversation, I looked at the girl who started to grow nervous as ADA and I remained silent.

Despite the serious thoughts and considerations swarming my mind, I felt a smile form on my face as I beheld her nervous form.

‘How adorable. The little girl from back then is all grown up.’

“….Norman must be very proud.”

“Huh!?”

I continued smiling at their confused look.

“FICSIT agrees to your request for sponsorship. However, you must have learned long ago under Ada that there is no such thing as a free lunch. As such, you will have to give FICSIT considerable benefits for the support we provide you with.”

The sheer joy in her eyes made me laugh a little while Ada gave a stern glare at Kudelia, making the girl quickly control her expressions and put on a professional look.

And yet, she still failed to suppress her joy as I could tell from her body language just like ADA could if the subtle sigh the AI gave was anything to go by.

As ADA and Kudelia talked shop and drew up percentages and benefits for FICSIT in exchange for the support, I simply stared out of the window at the bustling office that served as FICSIT’s HQ.

Ten years. Ten long years.

That was how long it took me from being thrown into a universe that I knew nothing about with nothing but ADA and my Build Gun to my name, to becoming one of the most powerful men in this star system.

A decade where I learned more about life and came to know people who became more important to me than anyone else in my whole life.

A decade where I saw the depths of the darkness that a human was willing to wade for their selfishness.

A decade where I witnessed beautiful souls that shone like the stars with their compassion and care for their fellow humans.

A decade of many ups and downs, of innovations and business, or subterfuge and politics.

A decade of preparing for a war that I knew I would need to wage.

And now, finally, after a decade, things are starting to move with the players and pieces finally making their moves.

It is finally time for me to stop holding back as well.

It is time, that the humanity of this universe realized their true potential when they are rid of corruption and weakness.

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Author Notes: We are finally here. At the beginning of the canon events.

Radonitsa Colony (Venus):

Rosario Leone:

Iznario Fareed: