A/N: Been a while, but I finally got a chapter out. I'm gonna put out two more chapters before switching back to another story of mine, but hopefully this and the chapters to come are enough to satisfy those of you who are reading for a while. I'm not feeling burned out of this story, and I'm feeling more lively about writing, so I hope this is up to everyone's standard that they expect from this book. Thanks for reading. See you guys in the next one!

"President Rembran, I will now inform you of our objection." Char said as he turned towards him. "Please allow Neo Zeon Systems to enter a Developer Co-Prosperity Agreement between us and Shin Sei Development Corporation." He said as this surprised and shocked all members of the hearing even more. "Neo Zeon Systems would head the relationship between our corporations and be held accountable for the actions of Shin Sei Development Corporation. If you grant us with your blessing, I believe a new age of machines will come, and may lead the group into an even greater future that your top engineers and scientists could not have foreseen coming." Char shared the proposal from their side of the matter as the entire hall was in awe of their request.

The audience that was attending this inquiry was silent and in awe of what Neon Zeon Systems had just requested for, and there was no initial response to this insane offer that was suddenly proposed to the President. Only after about a whole minute of silence had passed, did the President finally decide to speak of the situation.

"Your request is refused." Delling said as Char raised his head to the President.

"If it is the possibility of security risks that the Aerial poses, Neo Zeon Systems is fully prepared to take full responsibility and handle the situation. If the Shin Sei Development Corporation were to violate any act in the Co-Prosperity Agreement between our companies, their fates would like in our hands and we will fully abide by any ruling you wish to impose onto the Corporation. We will even be willing to dismantle the Aerial right before your own eyes." Char said to try and reassure the President, but his points were being ignored.

"That's where the problem lies, Captain." Char heard as he turned his head towards Sarius who was the one who spoke up. "If this alliance of yours and Lady Prospera's companies were to come to fruition, who's to say that there wouldn't be any further advancements of the mobile suit that would make it surpass any previous Gundam types that appeared in the past? You're company has shown great growth and earnings, yet we know little to nothing about any of the mobile suits you've created and barely get any information in regards to the other machines you've submitted to the company. There is no documented credibility that proves your company are responsible and trustworthy enough to handle a situation like this." Sarius said as Vim took his turn to speak.

"Not to mention the way you and your representative have come dressed to this inquiry. Not only do you conceal your faces from us with those strange masks, but you show yourselves in such militaristic designed uniforms. Just what kind of company are you really?" Vim questioned Char as everyone in the room mutually agreed to the shady feeling that Char and Iilya were giving off.

"Understood." Char said as everyone grew confused, even Iilya.

The confused looks were soon turned to stares of surprise as Char slowly reached to his head and grabbed the edges of his mask. Slowly lifting the head piece off, Iilya felt her heart rate rise as Char slowly pulled off his mask, and once it was off, he opened his eyes to reveal the intimidating blue eye that were hidden behind it. When Char turned to stare at Vim, the Jeturk representative couldn't help but feel a cold shiver run down his spine as he tensed up.

"If I may speak freely, I only wear it because it's my style. Or you could say it's a tool of propaganda. Without those of you like Vim Geturk to point it out to me, I usually forget I even have it on. My apologies." Char said as he cordially bowed in apology to everyone around him.

"Propaganda, you say? Just what kind of propaganda are you trying to spread with the use of those ridiculous masks and clothing." One of the representatives from the Peil Technologies asked as she received the same off putting stare from Char, making her tense up in her seat.

"As I am now, I consider myself a vessel. A vessel for the hopes of those who wish to bring about change throughout space and to those living in it, and for those who wish to follow me and others like me in our company to a brighter future for humanity." Char said as he put his mask back on as the light glared from the red tints in his eye slits and made them shimmer red. "For those who wish to bring about change for both space and Earth, I will allow them to pour their hopes into myself as a vessel, and guide them through the stars at three times the speed of any of your mobile suits. That's why I wear this mask." He said to them all as whispers were heard all around the hall. "President Rembran, I ask once again for your blessing. Allow us to enter into this Developer Co-Prosperity Agreement and further analyze the Aerial and its intriguing capabilities." Char said as Iilya tightened her hand into a fist nervously under her table as a tense and heavy amount of silence filled the hall for a few moments before Delling spoke up.

"Perhaps you did not hear what I said. That thing is a Gundam, and it will be disposed of." Delling said as Char stared back at the President.

"Because you say so, sir?" Char asked.

"That's right." Delling responded as the two had a stare off going for a few moments before Char took a step back and stood at attention.

"Understood..." Was all Char said as he turned to Lady Prospera. "I hope you may forgive us, Lady Prospera. We was truly fascinated by the Aerial, but it would seem this is the end for your mobile suit." Char said before giving her a cordial bow before turning to leave back to his seat.

"This will be the last warning you receive, Neo Zeon Systems. Do not get ahead of yourselves." President Delling said as he turned back to Prospera. "Then it's settled. The mobile suit shall be disposed of. We'll get rid of the student pilot." Delling said as Vim seemed to wish to say something, but everyone was caught off guard when the doors to the room at the level where Char and Prospera were stood opened and everyone turned in confusion.

With a click of each heel that tapped and echoed against the floor, all members of the inquiry watched as the daughter of the President, Miorine Rembran, entered the room unexpectedly and walked pass Char and Prospera. The princess to the Benerit Group walked further and further until she stood right in front of the President's seat.

"What are you doing here? Miorine..." Delling said in a low and intimidating tone as he turned to face his daughter who barged in without invitation or permission.

"I came to give you a piece of my mind. If you made these rules yourself, you shouldn't change them after the fact! You hypocritical loser of a father!" Miorine shouted in anger as her voice resonated through the chamber.

"The only people permitted to stand in this room are the powers-that-be from the top companies of the Benerit Group. But you are different. You are merely a student with no authority to speak of." Delling talked down to his daughter as she grew frustrated from his voice.

"It's always the same with you. You look down and control my life without asking or explaining." Miorine vented about the way her life was being treated by her father.

"Neither consultation nor explanation are necessary. I decide. You obey." Delling said as Miorine felt shaken by this sentence. "Did you think you could speak against me because you're my daughter?" He said to her as Char turned his gaze towards the Princess who seemed even more frustrated now.

"What's your problem?! You're a king?" Miorine asked as Delling instantly responded.

"That's right." Delling said as she tensed up and clenched her fists. "I am vested with power. You have none. The powerless shut their mouths and obey. Those are the rules of our world." Delling said as one of his aids came down to escort Miorine out as he grabbed her by the wrist.

"I see strength in your eyes. Strong eyes that can feed off of adversity. As long as you don't give up, you'll be able to seize whatever opportunities come along. It's the same strength that I saw in Suletta's eyes." Your words echoed through Miorine's mind as she felt her heart rate rising and felt a bit more confident in this situation. "Everything you two have been through so far may have been a coincidence, but even then, she's the one who came to your rescue and chose to stand by your side. That's why you have to take responsibility as well, and stand up for her now in her time of need. What was it that Suletta said to you? If you run, you gain one..." Your words trailed off as Miorine remembered the rest.

"If you move forward, you gain two..." Miorine muttered to herself as she summoned the strength to look back to her lousy father before pushing away the aid that held her. "In that case, I challenge you to a duel!" Miorine said as the President hummed in confusion. "If we win, you'll accept Suletta as my fiancé. If we lose, you can do as you please!" She said as Char heard something that seemed interesting.

"Were you unable to comprehend my words?" Delling asked as he was confused by how stubborn his daughter was being.

"I'm saying that I'll fight according to your rules!" Miorine yelled while pointing her finger towards her father. "At least take responsibility for your own decisions! You're an adult, aren't you?!" She yelled as silence fell between her and her father.

"May I speak?" Vim Geturk raised his hand as everyone turned to him. "Even if it was accidentally, that machine defeated our company's Dilanza. Perhaps we should give it time to see what it can do." He said as he stood up with an intrigued smile on his face.

"What do you mean?" Delling asked the Geturk president.

"Recently, mobile suits from other companies have made market gains. That machine could be the key to recovering our market share." Geturk said as Lady Prospera picked up her blazer and threw it back on while holding it to her body with her only other hand.

"I believe the school duels will be an effective test of the Aerial's abilities." Lady Prospera said as Peil Technologies took their chance to chime in.

"And will you provide us with the machine's technical data?" The Peil Technologies representative asked.

"Of course." Prospera agreed as Sarius had some concerns.

"Hold it right there! Do you intend to violate the Cathedra Agreement?" Sarius brought to light the Cathedra Agreement and how all this violates multiple clauses in that act.

"I object!" Another representative called out.

"How will you announce this to the outside world?" Someone asked as multiple representatives were now stirred into arguments about the situation as Delling and Miorine stared each other down in this intense scenario.

"If that is a concern to you all, then may I provide some input?" Char's voice spoke up as all eyes were back on him. "If the Aerial is still posed as a Gundam and you are all worried about the violations this duel would have against the Cathedra Agreement we all intend to follow, then on behalf of Miorine and the Shin Sei Development Corporation, allow us to be the ones to engage in a duel against Jeturk Heavy Machinery." He said as Jeturk grew a confused and nervous look when Char spoke up. "We will abide and forget the idea of establishing a Developer Co-Prosperity Agreement between ourselves and Shin Sei Development Corporation, and wish to only support the proposal from Ms. Miorine." He said as the doors Miorine walked through opened once again and three sets of footsteps could be heard entering the room. "Please, allow me to introduce the pilot that would be the one to duel against Jeturk's own pilot, Y/N L/N." Char said as you stepped forward for all to see as everyone was surprised to see you as Marida and Darren stood behind you.

"Y/N?" Miorine muttered in surprise as you took notice of her and gave her a nod before standing back at attention.

"Y/N here is also a student at the academy and pilots the white mobile suit that you saw in that previous clip that we shared with you all." Char said as all their screens switched back to the clip of the Kshatriya and the Unicorn duel, and zoomed in on the white horned mobile suit. "Should we claim victory in this duel, the only results to come out of it will be the release and freedom of the Aerial and its pilot. We will not seek any further compensation from each side since the data from the Aerial will be released to all companies for examination anyways." Char said as Sarius spoke up.

"And if you were to lose?" Sarius asked as Char glanced over to him.

"If we are to lose this battle against Jeturk Heavy Machinery, Neo Zeon Systems will forfeit 65% of its company shares and donate another 20% to Jeturk Heavy Machinery." Char said as this was a shocking consequence if Neo Zeon Systems were to lose, and enticed Vim extremely as he grinned in confidence.

"Permission to speak, Captain?" You asked as Char turned to you.

"Granted." Char said as you stepped forward and looked to Delling.

"President Delling, in regards to the duel and the victor. Should I be the one to win, I ask that I be able to deny the role of Holder at the academy." You said as this surprised everyone.

"Huh?" Miorine was shocked by this request as you turned towards her.

"I believe that everyone is entitled to follow their own paths, regardless of who their parents are. If I win the duel, I choose to not be Miorine's fiancé and instead foist that role onto the pilot that I am filling in for, Suletta Mercury, who had claimed that victory all on her own." You said as Miorine was in awe of what you were saying.

"Y/N..." Was all Miorine could mutter as you looked back to the President and gave him a salute.

"Besides, I also have a duel scheduled against Guel Jeturk, as I'm one of the people who stopped him from destroying personal belongings that belonged to Ms. Rembran. If I win, he'll also have to apologize and repair the damages done to her greenhouse." You said as this annoyed Vim Jeturk a bit. "That is all. Excuse me." You said before bowing your head and stepping back to where you previously stood.

"Are you also willing to submit the technical data from one of your own machines?" Another of Peil Technologies representatives asked.

"We will be more than happy to oblige." Char said as he stepped forward and stood next to you as all eyes were now on the President.

"...You are toeing the line dangerously, Neo Zeon Systems." Delling said as he looked at Iilya who stared back at him before turning and leaving the inquiry.

"Guess that means we have permission to proceed with the duel." Prospera said as she turned around and walked towards you. "I have faith that you will turn out victorious in this duel, Y/N." She said as she stopped in front of you and extended her remaining arm out for a handshake as you stared at her hand for a few moments before cautiously grasping it.

"I'll make sure your daughter and the Aerial are both free of these accusations." You said to her as you gave her hand three shakes before stopping.

"I'm grateful my daughter has a friend like you." Prospera said as you felt an ominous feeling come off of her after she said that sentence before you pulled your hand away and she turned to Char. "Thank you for your assistance, Captain. Please extend my gratitude to your President." She requested.

"I'll pass on the word to her. Good day, Lady Prospera." Char said as the masked woman walked pass you all and went to retrieve her arm as you, Darren, Marida, and Char all stared at her with concerned eyes.

"Miorine..." You spoke up as the esteemed princess turned around to see you walk up to her. "...Here." You said as you handed her a paper and she read it to see it was a location at the facility. "You should go see her. It'd be nice for her to see a familiar face." You said as she realized you gave her the location where they were keeping Suletta.

"B-But, don't you want to see her? You're the one who's going to be dueling in her stead." Miorine said as you shook your head and gave her a determined look.

"Starting from now, I'll be preparing for the duel. Because we agreed to these terms to adhere to the Cathedra Agreement, I have to make sure I win so that Suletta can stay at the school with us." You said before giving her a brief smile. "Well, don't keep your fiancé waiting. Get going." You said as she was surprised by your demeanor, but felt glad at how serious you were taking this as she ran off to find Suletta.

"You've made some friends, I see." You heard as you turned around to see Char walk up to you.

"Yes, Captain. I know it's a little early, but I feel a strong bond connecting me to those two." You said while putting your hand up to your heart.

"The inquiry is over and now things must be set in motion to prepare for the duel. Regardless of the outcome, data from both the Unicorn and the Aerial will be made public. Make sure to put on a good show for those watching." Char said as he walked a few steps away before turning around and straightening himself out and looking at you, Marida, and Darren with a confident smile on his face while his hands were behind his back. "May the heavens protect the heir to Deikun's cause." He said as you three were surprised by the use of this name, but stood at attention and gave a firm salute.

"Sieg Zeon!" The three of you responded before Darren and Marida escorted you out of the chamber while Char returned to Iilya who was prepared to leave as well.

"Do you believe this is wise? The Aerial's technical data being released was bad enough, but the Unicorn--." Iilya whispered as the two of them headed for the exit in their aisle while maintaining distance from those around them, but Char stopped her mid-sentence.

"I understand your misgivings, President. Nevertheless, this was always bound for us to encounter one day. All of us, including Prospera's group have been waiting for all this to begin, also. Waiting while time stood still around us. People grow accustomed to waiting. I expect that they could have gone on waiting forever." Char said as they walked out of the exit and turned a corner as they left in the other direction of the majority of people leaving as they headed back to their ship and Iilya turned her head to look at Char who kept his gaze forward. "However, time has begun to flow again. Because of Elnora Samaya's actions." He said as Iilya was surprised at how easily and non-worriedly Char said Prospera's real name. "If we do nothing, the waters will only become hopelessly muddied. Do you not agree, President? To prevent that, we entrusted our hopes to our youngest son, the first Newtype of our century." He said as they entered a lift and disappeared as now there was only one thing left to do in this case, which was wait for the duel to commence.

After the inquiry was over and you were returned to the Garenceries, you left the inquiry sight and charted back to the academy as you were half way home and you were relaxing and floating around in the cargo bay of the ship. Whilst you were spacing out and thinking of just what kind of situation you had found yourself in, your train of thought came to a stop when you floated in front of the Banshee as it ominously slept in its docking bay. You felt a cold shiver run up your spine as you stared at this sleeping beast, but while you were lost in thought, the ship suddenly shook in a violent as you looked around and saw a few supplies come loose and go flying all across the cargo bay and the alarms began to blare.

Play Song At Top
Title: Mobile Suit (W-Rec Mix)
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"Enemy ship detected!" You heard Gilboa's voice call out over the intercom as you bounced yourself off the wall nearby and launched yourself in the direction towards the Bridge of the ship.

"Disperse Minovsky Particles at combat density, now!" Flaste's voice spoke up as you floated through the halls and grunted when the ship shook once again from incoming beam fire, but you persisted ahead.

"Enemy ship, appears to be Clop class, unmarked and no familiar IFF readout. Thermal energy detected." You heard Gilboa's voice grow louer as you pushed yourself through the entrance of the Bridge and latched onto a railing nearby as the Garenceries closed all ports for battle as your brother, and everyone else in the Bridge were climbing into Normal Suits.

"What's going? Who's firing at us?" You asked as the ship shook violently once more and you struggled to keep your balance.

"We don't know, it's an unaffiliated ship it seems." Darren said as he put his helmet on.

"Intense heat sources emitted from enemy ship. Appears to be two mobile suits...No, three! Approaching at high speed!" Flaste announced as the lights in the Bridge went out and the Garenceries was prepared for combat.

"Send Marida out." You heard Zinnerman say as you noticed Marida wasn't in the Bridge, and on screen, you saw the Kshatriya was being prepared to deploy as it loaded into the exit hatch. "Ignore the mothership. The Garenceries can shake it off." Zinnerman ordered Marida.

"Roger that." Marida responded as she was fixing her helmet on her head before grabbing her controls as the cockpit displayed visual output outside and her center console closed up to secure her in the seat as her radar pinpointed the targets.

"I'll provide cover with the Banshee." Darren said as he was about to leave the Bridge to suit up.

"No, not needed." Marida responded as Darren was surprised by this denial. "We should take Y/N's warning seriously, remember?" She said to him as your brother looked to see you had a worried face when he mentioned the Banshee.

"...Right, sorry." Darren said as he remained in the Bridge.

"Target acquired. There's a high-speed mobile suit amongst the three that are detected. Possibly a special forces version." Marida informed as the bottom launch hatch of the Garenceries opened and the Kshatriya was now ready to leave the ship.

"That means this isn't a chance encounter" Zinnerman stated as the timing was too strange.

"Who would come after us?" You said in wonder.

"Well, I guess someone from the inquiry didn't like that we were sticking up for Shin Sei Development Corporation." Darren replied to you.

"Ten minutes to the debris cluster. Wrap things up and get back here." Zinnerman said to her as the Kshatriya's thruster system helped exit the launch hatch and she was now entering space.

"Roger that, Master." Marida said as Zinnerman finished putting on his helmet.

"Stop calling me that." Zinnerman said to her as the wings of the Kshatriya extended out from each corner and the thrusters powered up.

"Marida Cruz. Launching in Kshatriya!" Marida announced as the singular eye unit of the mobile suit lit up and all systems were online.

Engaging the thruster systems, Marida launched herself forward and did a U-Turn before flying off int eh opposite direction and heading back to the pursuing mobile suits. Glancing at her radar, she took notice that the three mobile suits were splitting apart and assuming an attack formation against her, and on the HUD of her cockpit, the targets spread out as the optical zoom on her visual sensors managed to give her visual of what her targets looked like.

The three blacked out mobile suits broke off in different directions as Marida's trackers came up with a predetermined route each mobile suit would take.

"I won't let you follow our ship." Marida muttered as the two front wings of Kshatriya extended outwards and Marida engaged her weapons systems. "Funnels." She called out as the swarm of Funnel's were ejected from their ports and stabilized before flying out ahead of her to engage the enemy.

Closing her eyes, Marida took a brief moment to prepare for this engagement as the cockpit began to light up a bit and the Psychoframe built into her cockpit was being engaged. Once that moment had passed, her eyes opened back up as the targeting systems for each funnel engaged and her HUD that marked each funnel turned red as the beams began to fire in different directions at each of the pursuing mobile suits. The first mobile suit to get attacked by this swarm of funnels turned around in circles in an attempt to try and defend itself, but in a futile attempt as bits and pieces were blasted off by each beam and after a few more shots and the pursuing mobile suit's head unit was melted off, the rest of the funnels dismember the machine as it exploded into a fiery ball of light. The other mobile suit like it was firing its beam rifle to try and destroy the funnels, but they moved at too fast and unreadable speeds as it met the same fate as the one before and Marida had successfully destroyed two of the three targets. Marida's targeting systems picked up on the last mobile suit, which was presumably the special forces version, and zoomed in to see it was equipped with shoulder loaded rockets as it fired a beam in the path Marida was flying in. With great reaction time, Marida was able to reverse her thrusters and stop her forward momentum as she pulled back on her controls and felt her machine vibrate from the abrupt stop as she looked up and pulled back as the blast flew by her. The locking mechanism on the blacked out mobile suits' shoulder rockets were unlatched as it fired three rockets towards Marida, and another three from the other shoulder. With incredible pilot skills though, Marida weaved through each blast and climbed to a higher axis as the rest of her funnels were deployed and all the funnels converged to fire on the last mobile suit. The pursuer suddenly shed the shoulder rocket pods and discard its beam rifle as it charged forward and deployed its beam blade while using the remaining armor to cover itself from the funnel beams that were peppering it. Pressing a sequence on her controls, Marida equipped the beam saber Kshatriya was armed with as well and the two of them charged towards one another before meeting each other half way and exchanging a brief clash as they flew pass one another. The two of them both turned to the right to circle around as they flew towards one another again and once more clashed as sparks from their sabers were sent flying around them and they held the clash while floating in circles. The pursuer broke away from the clash and went for a piercing attack with their blade, but with smart thinking, Marida used her thrusters at max output to stop the attacker just before their blade could reach as it used its arms to cover itself. However, while it was on the defensive, Marida took this chance and delivered a fatal blow to the center of the mobile suit where the cockpit was located and sliced clean through the machine as its systems shut down.

"Mission complete. Returning to ship." Marida reported as all her funnels were returning to their ports on the wings of the Kshatriya, and this was a big relief for you all as Marida took her helmet off to relieve herself of the of the cramp space around her head. "Hm?" She hummed in confusion when she noticed something.

Upon further inspection of the machine she had just destroyed, Marida noticed that there was no sign of a cockpit or pilot that was controlling the machine. At the center of the mobile suit were just electrical parts and wiring as she pressed a sequence into her console to record this sighting.

"What is this? A drone?" Marida said in confusion as she didn't know just what kind of machine she had engaged with.

"What's wrong, Marida?" Darren's voice came over her comms as she snapped out of her trance.

"Nothing. Returning to ship." Marida responded as she took hold of her controls once again and sped off back in the direction they were fleeing in. "Why were drones sent after us? I've never seen anything like them, either..." She thought as her mind took her back to when you stood before the entire audience at the Witch Trial. "...Could it be, they were after Y/N?" She thought as too many questions were circling around in her mind as she left the strange mobile suits behind to hurry back to you all and keep you safe, as the outcome of this Witch Trial has set something in motion, and a everyone involved were now walking down the path of a dangerous journey.