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Washington apparently survived the DC War reasonably intact, despite the DCs crushing North America early on.
With the day's meetings regarding the Aegis Plan at an end, Kai heads out to meet Rai and Latooni. The tone was very different from a year ago; between President Midcrid's declaration and the L5 Campaign, there are no more skeptics like those who confronted Bian Zoldark. The current priority is selecting a new mass-produced unit for the rank-and-file troops, as the Gespenst was already obsolete when the assault on the White Star happened.
Mass-producing the Huckebein looks promising, but at the same time, the Gespenst would still have potential if, for example, it were fitted with a Tesla Drive. After all, we have the Alteisen and Weissritter as examples of that very potential. Rai thinks they're a special case, given their pilots; prolonging the use of old machines is well and good, but to be prepared for the future the Federation will have to focus on new development as well. Kai agrees, but the budget is limited; nonetheless, he'll have to get in touch with Gilliam and float some ideas for Mao Industries to look over.
Latooni: "...You have a lot of emotion for the Gespenst, Major."
Kai: "I suppose I do. It's been with me since the days of the Aggressors. It's an old friend... well, more like a son, really."
Footsteps approach, and there's a surprise reunion: Yuan Meilong is attending the conference on Ring Mao's behalf, which means that Rio is here in Washington as well. She insists that she didn't come here just for his sake; it's supposed to be a vacation! He says that he couldn't pass up an opportunity to travel with his daughter in any case. This doesn't make her any happier, but he stands firm; he can't let her go traveling alone with a man before she's married! Her mother would never forgive him...
Kai is a bit confused by this, but then the object of Yuan's paternal rage arrives with the car. He and Rio had intended to take a vacation by themselves, but one thing led to another and here they are at the conference. He can't complain, since it is his job and all (although Rio's disappointed with how easily he gave in to having her father along as a chaperone).
Rio protests that Yuan can't keep treating her like a child forever; he protests that he's just worried about her. At this point Kai steps in, saying that he can understand the director's feelings; Rio's going to have to understand that. Rio resigns herself to a lecture...
Ryoto asks if Rai will be heading back to Hickam after this, but they're taking a detour to Langley first, as there's a new batch of Aggressor candidates to be screened. There's no real shortage of talented pilots, but being an Aggressor takes more than just skill; devising new maneuvers for a giant robot requires a degree of unorthodox, downright reckless thinking that most people lack. Ryoto immediately thinks of Ryusei, and Rai admits that they considered using him as a demonstration.
In any case, that's the hurdle they're facing; they need not just good pilots, but those gifted few who can provide data for the next generation of the TC-OS.
...And Kai's lecture to Rio on the perils of being a single father with a daughter winds down, with a final admonition to try and keep in mind that Yuan's overprotectiveness is well-intentioned, however clumsy it may be.
Yuan has another meeting to go to, discussing the Pole Star System. Rio suggests that she and Ryoto should go to Langley, since her father will be occupied; they can meet up with Kusuha and Bullet while they're there. This takes Yuan by surprise, and it looks like they're set for another confrontation...
Kai: "Hm. It'll be a good chance for a reunion. Why not come along with us?"
Rio: "Huh? R-really?"
Ryoto: "But... we don't want to get in the way of your work."
Kai: "Don't worry. We'll just do the screening tomorrow. You can help out to make up for it."
Ryoto: "Um... okay..."
Kai: "That was a joke. Director, they'll be fine."
Yuan: "But..."
Rio: "Please, Dad..."
Yuan: "Mrgh... all right. But don't cause any trouble for Major Kai. Understand?"
Rio: "We won't. Thanks so much, Dad!"
Yuan: "W-well, that's... ha ha ha..."
Kai: "Well, Director..."
Yuan: "Yes, I see. Please take care of them."
Meanwhile, at Langley...
With that peaceful interlude over, we get dropped headfirst into the action. Somebody has seized the experimental testing station, having chosen the moment when Kyosuke, Excellen, and Bullet were away on a mission. That's where the latest development for the T-LINK System is being made, to be integrated into the next generation of super robot. That would be bad enough - but Kusuha was supposed to be there for data collection today, and the sudden communications blackout has Bullet beside himself with worry.
Kyosuke, as usual, takes charge of the situation; they're going to go investigate. Armored modules have attacked Federation troops; whoever these terrorists are, the ATX team will do what it does best and eliminate them. Bullet prays that Kusuha is safe...
Mission 4: Is Your Usefulness At An End?
The actual phrase here is koutoshishite soukuniraru (狡兎死して走狗煮らる) which literally means "when the wily rabbit is dead, cook the hounds," an expression for discarding tools - usually people - once they've served their purpose.
The team's Ladybird transport is ten minutes out from the target zone. Excellen's been reading about the situation on the news, and it looks like things are getting more complicated; apparently the chief of Isurugi Industries is among those caught up at the site, with four black-market Lions involved in the attack. It's looking like taking hostages was part of the terrorists' plan, though Excellen finds it a little worrying that the mass media is a more timely source of intel than the military chain of command.
quote:
Isurugi Industries
Manufacturer specializing in aircraft, shipbuilding, and power generation. A company with a great deal of history, Isurugi has particular pride in its contributions to the aerospace field, and works extensively with the military. Produced the F-32 Schwert fighter for the Federation army; then, thanks to its ties with EOTI, secretly mass-produced the Lion for the Divine Crusaders. Ironically, these Lions would later become the backbone of the Federation forces during the L5 campaign; to ensure stable lines of production, Isurugi's support for the DCs was deliberately overlooked.
A moment later the Ladybird's pilot reports eight Lions at twelve o'clock, and the ATX crew deploys to intercept. Looks like the mass media information isn't complete after all; the terrorists must be getting their hardware from other channels as well, especially since being attacked this far from the base means there must be more not far behind.
Excellen: "Mm... gotta say, that's really not the Alt's color. And to top it off, Weissy's feeling left out..."
Kyosuke: "Can't help it, there wasn't time to repaint it. But I don't know... it has a certain something."
Excellen: "Well, blue is the proper Gespy color after all. I guess we call it the Alteisen Nacht for now, huh?"
Kyosuke: "We'll figure that out some other time."
Anyway, they're all still concerned about Kusuha, so they resolve to settle things quickly and move on.