none of which so dangerous as virtue

Luckily for Tieria, personnel at the base never really came to see exactly what it was he was doing. Oh, sure, they knew he was fixing up that big machine of his, but beyond that, nobody really had any of the details. This was decidedly a Good Thing, because he didn't have any idea how he was supposed to explain the various odd new details that had been applied during repairs.

Odd details like the rough approximation of a stripped down Virtue Physical armor set. Or even odder ones, such as the peculiar new cockpit.

Gundams were single cockpit affairs, with just enough room for everything a Meister needed to pilot the suit, as well as a little extra standing space for any "unexpected guests". But that wouldn't be enough for what Tieria had in mind.

Although he could just about scrape by with no tactical advisor--

(He was, after all, perfectly capable of making adequate plans that frequently matched up with Veda's predictions in the past. Sumeragi was far better, of course, but she was nowhere to be found, and as such, he had to cope by himself.)

--it was extremely difficult to concentrate on piloting a Gundam and try to remember what stage he was at in the mission plan he'd drawn up previously at the same time. What he really needed was a tactical operator, and as this mission would involve total stealth, as well as crossing the border between worlds, what he definitely needed was an operator on board.

And so, Tieria Erde was currently hanging upside down in Nadleeh's cockpit, screwing the last panels of the new dual cockpit tactical interface into place. Behind the normal set-up for a Meister, there was now another seat facing in the opposite direction, looking at a large bank of screens.

Now all he needed was his operator.

Tieria was putting the finishing touches to his makeshift disguise while waiting for the others to arrive. He had found some baggier clothes that belonged to Mikaela that managed to fit him, and he had managed to scrape his hair back into pigtails.

He didn't currently make the most fashionable girl, but it was enough. After all, despite what other people said, he still found his appearance rather male, and the last thing he wanted to do was draw attention to himself by obviously being a man shopping for girls' clothes.

He decided to give make-up a miss for now, however. He didn't trust himself not to make a complete mess of it.

"This is ridiculous," he sighed, looking at himself in the mirror.

Tieria drifted in and out of consciousness. Each time he passed out, he thought it would be the last. He had done all that he could to save the others, although whether his plan would actually work or not was anyone's guess. There was something nagging at him, something about a destination, maybe? He didn't know, and it hurt too much to think anymore.

Something started beeping frantically at him. Oh, that was right. The GN Drive. Despite being in zero gravity, it felt like he was swimming up through tar to reach the eject button. There. It wasn't as noisy as he thought it would be.

So, that was that. Not able to fight anymore. Everyone else as safe as he could make them. GN Drive ejected and en route back to the Ptolemaios. Everything taken care of. Now he could afford to be selfish for once.

Now he could go and find Lockon.

There were several things noticeably wrong with the way Tieria woke up. First, that he was lying down, on solid earth, rather than floating peacefully in zero-g. Second, that he was staring up at the sky. Thirdly, and most importantly, he couldn't feel his arm. However, instead of the more serious issue of the arm being missing, it was instead under a large weight. A large, Setsuna-shaped weight.

((Follow on from this.))