NationStates Jolt Archive

UC0085

Six years after the Zeon War of Independence which brought forth the disbandment of the Earth Federation and the arduous evacuation of the planet, and nearly five years after Casval Deikun's Neo Zeon's ultimate demise, humanity is on a path towards recovery under the banner of Zeon; only real exception to the rule being Side 6. Two of the four practically scrapped Sides, Sides 1 and 2 respectively, had become major population centers once more, in part due to the depopulation of Earth and with civilians who had nothing to do with the Federation itself needing places to live in. While these two Sides had their own governing bodies, they were, mainly, puppets of the Principality. Side 1 was even overshadowed by the mighty asteroid fortress, Solomon. Side 5 was still a shoal zone, and Side 4 had only seen very limited re-settling - considering the amount of people who had perished in the war, the Side was simply not necessary.

Side 7, which had been a single space colony quite far away from the Principality during the war, had been turned into a gigantic concentration camp for the people who had had ties with the Federation, and due to the Side's close proximity to Luna II, which had been taken over by the Principality during its War of Independence, they could easily be kept under surveillance - and also, this way these ex-Earthnoids could be kept at a distance from the Spacenoids. This had seemed like a good idea in the past, as neither side of humanity had any love for the other. As things were, the former Earthnoids of the Federation found themselves persecuted and oppressed much in the way they had done to the Spacenoids before. But as one could expect, this caused the Side to be in a constant state of turmoil, where the remnants of the Federation attempted an uprising after another, forcing the Principality to keep a contingent of Mobile Suits and warships on constant standby in the area.

Gihren Zabi's views on the superiority of the elite of Side 3 did not have much of an impact outside Sides 3 and 7, however. While Sides 1 and 2 were aligned towards the Principality, the Earthnoids who had settled there were mostly left alone - in part because it was in many ways impossible to tell the difference between an Earthnoid and a Spacenoid, not to mention that they had already accepted their new lives as Spacenoids. While some ill will had come from the violent Zeon suppressions of rebellions (peaceful or otherwise) in Side 2, it was seen that the Principality had less effect on people's lives in general after the war than the Federation had had.

Some mining and manufacturing still took place on Earth itself, but that would end in some time since the Principality wasl in the process of bringing in the asteroid Axis to Earth's orbit. The need for new Mobile Suits and other war machines had not ended with the war as the first Neo Zeon war, the short-lived uprisings in Side 7 as well as the constant guerilla ambushes which still took place Earth-side had demonstrated. Earth couldn't be completely vacated because not all had left it voluntarily, as one would have expected, and the planet still saw constant, but limited, warfare. This was information that had been kept a secret from the general public all these years.

And thus things had gone until this day. Only some unsubstantiated rumors of a rising anti-Zeon movement were breaking the otherwise tranquil silence.

((OOC: Sorry if the text seems kind of uninspiring (not to mention uninspired), it's because I have been thinking what to write even before I actually made the nation and... It's harder than I thought. But I wanted to write *something* up right now or I'll never come up with anything, and this is what came forth.

Anyway, this sets the basic premise of this nation. It's... if Principality of Zeon had won the One Year War kind of thing. I'm not 100% set yet as to how I will play this nation, so I'll just try to follow the flow of things. Obviously, this Earth has very little to do with other Earths I see that dot the forum, and should be taken as a sort of alternate dimension kind of deal. As it is, in Universal Century, they have no faster than light capability (or even the capability to go at the speed of light), so the Principality is stuck in this Sol of theirs, with only Earth being a habitable planet and like 99,9999% of the populace living in space colonies.

If someone wants to come into contact with the Principality in some fashion, please feel free to send a telegram or even post in this thread. I'm sure we'll be able to come up with something.))

... pursued the guerillas to the ruins of Berlin, where they had prepared an ambush. At least two dozen Mobile Suits, GMs and variants, were counted. How they have access so many Mobile Suits at once is unknown. Air support was impossible due to AA. We lost many good men there...

... Probability of the guerilla forces having capability to manufacture their own Mobile Suits is now considered high, although it was thought that all manufacturing facilities were either relocated or destroyed. Even more GM variants have been seen lately in skirmishes with them after the defeat at Berlin. The old Zaku IIs can't match them. The Federation having hidden this many Mobile Suits before the war's end is also considered highly unlikely. The pristine state of the Mobile Suits also suggests against this theory...

... Requesting more Mobile Suits to Earth, or at least more men to man the mothballed Suits on ground. The situation is becoming threatening. This Federation remnant is now stronger than we ever thought they could be. If this is left unchecked, it will become impossible to cover the news on what is going on here, and that would have grave consequences...

... Intelligence sources suggest that it is likely that at least some level of support is given to the guerilla factions by the Federation loyalists in Side 7, from Mobile Suits to pilots. More surveillance on their activities is required...

These, and many similar reports had suddenly begun pouring out from the long mostly silent Earth theater. While the guerillas had always been a problem, they had never posed a threat to the Zeon presence there. Now, it seemed that it would soon be necessary to bolster their numbers and take a much more serious approach on the problems Earth-side. Losing on Earth would not be acceptable.

Once again, war was in the air.

OOC: Awesome! Zeon rocks!
SIEG ZEON!

"Mobile Suit squads, release ballutes!"

It was daytime in Europe when the operation commenced. The Zeons knew that their fleet was probably visible with naked eyes, but it didn't make much difference. The entire continent had been saturated with Minovsky particles so no communications were even possible, and considering the constant patrols it was highly unlikely that anything could even get through there for the moment.

"Prepare for re-entry!"

It'd just be a quick drop operation, and considering the positioning... No one in space should be able to notice it. And even if they did, it'll happen too fast for them to realize what's going on.

"Good luck down there, men! Sieg Zeon!"

"Sieg Zeon!"

They were aiming for the general area of Berlin, in particular. Considering the mobility of the guerilla forces, it was probable that they wouldn't be there in full force at the moment, considering that they've been reported to have been striking against Zeon positions further to the east.

"Hostile AA!"

"Hang in there!

"My ballute's damaged, I'll have to...!"

"Holy... We're like sitting ducks!"

"Don't shit in your pants, they're using visual, they can't really h...*clonk*... Uh... Nevermind."

Amazingly enough, a large majority the Mobile Suits came down unscathed. A small number took nominal damage to their legs due to gravity, and only a quarter of a dozen were damaged enough to not even start fighting.

"Get your asses into gear and show them what these ReGelgs are made of!"

In a few hours, what was left of Berlin would be under Zeon control.

Tag - expect contact from me.

"We've arrived at the target system," reported the helmsman.
"Scan the system," ordered Captain Barboni. "Find the moon with the Von Braun colony."
"Target located, setting a course."
"Speed, half impulse," said Barboni. "Prepare the contact team. We have to find someone conected to the Federation remnant. These phaser rifles won't sell themselves..."
The starship (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/akyazi2.jpg) moved into the system, trying to remain unnoticed...

tagging.

The Heiarchy always had probes moving through the Galaxy, always trying to find new places to harvest. And it appeared they had just found one.


Hyperspace exited...

Beginning System Scan...

System Scan Complete...

Analysis:
Eight Planets exist in this system...

ATTENTION!
One planet is considered habitable...

ATTENTION!
Planet contains sapient beings...

TECH LEVEL:
Late Information/Pre-FTL...

RECOMMENDATION:
Begin Harvesting Operations, Priority Two...

Sending Message...
Sent...

The probe then did a mini-hyperspace jump and arrived in orbit of the Earths moon. It promptly began broadcasting itself so that anything all the way up to the Asteroid Belt would notice it... it was broadcasting itself, like a homing beacon.

A lone Adeptus Mechanicus Explorator probe happened upon this system. It's scanners looking for technology, signs of life, even signs of the fabled STCs that the Adeptus eagerly sought to claim, for they held power unimaginable.

Now, the probe had detected transmissions of some sort. A civilization, human, embroiled in war. The home ship examined the feed, and noted the presence of what seemed to be mass movements of ships--presumably, from the transmissions, for the suppression of rebellion.

It was decided to redirect one of the exploration fleets, the one commanded by Fleet Captain Mendes. If there was anything of importance here, the Adeptus, and the Dominion for that matter, would know.

OOC: nice to see Zeon here, but ZAFT has been here a long time hope you can handle us, this might prove to be entertaining.

08:00 Zulu
Just outside the Kuiper Belt
ZAFT forces deep space recon fleet

A small recon fleet of two Sakura class destroyers and a Red Dragon class Battle cruiser were doing some exploring into the system they were passing "sir I'm detecting large objects around points of gravitational stability around the third planet, cross referencing with known structures indicates they are similar to our resource colonies" a officer on the bridge of the lead ship said to the captain.

The captain turned to him "well then we got signs of life, lets go make contact, fire up jump drive, lets get us to the third planet" the captain ordered. Within a few minutes they jumped into the system, in high orbit above earth.

OOC: just so you have a visual picture
Red Dragon class: http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d139/ZAFT20/battlecruiser2.jpg
Sakura class: http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d139/ZAFT20/Sakuraclass.jpg

Earth, ruins of Berlin

After the Zeon forces had secured the ruins of the city by destroying the AA systems, having apprehended or killed those guerillas they could and after having accomplished that, constructed hastily a field command, they had started search and destroy missions which would slowly advance further away from the city, thus increasing the size of the area they knew they had secured from the guerillas. The city itself and the growing, secured surroundings would be kept under Zeon control and patrolled with Zaku IIIs.

As it were, though, they couldn't find any hostile Mobile Suits in the area. Just groups of people on foot with Anti-MS weaponry at hand, hiding in the ruined buildings and in the patches of forest. Luckily for the Zeon forces, the guerillas did not manage to properly disable any of their Mobile Suits, just cause damage to the limbs of several ones. One lost an arm, another had its left leg blown off, but those were the most serious incidents recorded.

It was painfully obvious that the guerillas had been in the city en masse not too long ago, it was impossible to tell which way they had gone. In fact, they found out from their new prisoners of war that they had been left behind to make sure that that would be the case.

At least they were in control of Berlin now, and they were determined to keep it.

Odessa, Earth

In Odessa, mothballed Mobile Suits were being put back into active duty. Most of the Suits in the area were from the later parts of the War of Independence. Majority of the old Zaku IIs, MS-09 Doms and their ilk had been scrapped and recycled, and those that still remained had been refitted and were usually in some kind of active duty.

Instead, the Mobile Suits here were MS-09F Dom Funfs, the last MS-14Jg Gelgoog Jägers which hadn't been upgraded into MS-14J ReGelgs and their sorts from the United Maintenance Plan era, although quite a few MS-07B3 Gouf Customs also were there.

The Mobile Suits, as such, were a major downgrade to what most of the pilots were used to in the field - although the Principality still had its pilots train on aged Mobile Suits to get used to the basic system, so it weren't as bad as it could've been.

Soon, as more and more of the Suits were reactivated, they would bolster the defenses of the Odessa mining operations and begin operations similar to those which were taking place around Berlin.

The guerillas couldn't hide forever, after all.

Patrol Fleet 31, on board the vessel Asarum, Gwazine class battleship, Close to Axis

"So that's the ship, huh?", uttered the captain of the ship and smirked, "Open communications."

This is Axis Patrol Fleet 31, captain Baer speaking. We are on interception course of your vessel. Identify yourself. Also, bring yourself to a course towards us. We will take you to the Axis for debriefing.

He was certain things couldn't go wrong even if they decided to resist. It was just one ship, and he had a fleet of twenty ships with reinforcements close by.

Granada, Zeon base on the Moon

"Sir, we've detected a probe of some kind," said a female voice on the comms, which the Rear Admiral recognized as a certain Ensign who had been given the post of monitoring the sensors of the base, "We can't identify it and it seems to be transmitting something somewhere."

The Rear Admiral placed his pen on the side of the paper he was writing on, and rested his back on the back of his chair.

"And we haven't heard of it?", he scratched his shaven chin momentarily, "It has to be some kind of Federation trick. Order the patrol fleet which is closest to it to destroy it. Saturate it with M particles and crush it."

"Will do, Sir."

The communication was cut, and the Rear Admiral continued writing.

Patrol fleet 419, on board the ship Waltharius, Late type Musai, orbit of the Moon

"So we're ordered to destroy that thing now? Seems kind of pointless to me," spoke the captain of the Waltharius and sighed shallowly after continuing, "Well, orders are orders. Fire an M warhead to it and destroy it."

"Roger!", shouted the gunner, who first fired an M warhead at it causing its surroundings to be saturated with Minovsky particles, after which he summarily began firing the Musai's Mega Particle Cannons at it, while the other ships in the patrol fleet did the same.

Earth Patrol Fleet 214, on board the vessel Gawandan, Gwanvan class battleship, Earth orbit

"What the...?!" shouted the captain and hastily stood up, "Intercept those ships! Launch the Mobile Suits! Release Minovsky particles!", he shouted again, and pointed at the small group of vessels that just appeared out of thin air in front of his patrol fleet.

What the hell kind of a ship can just appear like that?! Is this some kind of Federation remnant ploy?!

"Oh yes. Don't fire first, though. Just get close up! We don't know what the hell we're dealing with here so might be better not to just go and try to kill them."

**

Odd things were happening all across Zeon space. But all who knew of one of them happening did not know of them all. Otherwise it could've been easier to realize what exactly might've been going on.

The Minovsky Particles seemed to do their job at first, silencing the probes communications. But then, the split second before the probe was destroyed, it began broadcasting the homing signal again. Of course, it was only for a split second... then the probe blew up from being fired upon.

About a half-minute passed... then, in the place where the probe had been, a small fleet of one Heiarchy Battleship, two Heiarchy Cruisers, four Heiarchy
Destroyers, and eight Heiarchy Frigates dropped out of hyperspace. The Heiarchy frigates were 600 meters long, the destroyers a kilometer in length, the cruisers 1.3 kilometers, while the battleship was 1.7 kilometers. In other words, even the Frigates were bigger then the largest Zeon ship.

There was another half-minute pause as the Heiarchy Ships took in the surroundings. Then, the Heiarchy's small fleet began to rumble towards the nearest Zeon Space Colony.

To the Zeon Principality, these craft would have a completely unfamiliar design and were covered in some sort of strange glyphs.

The captain looked outside the bridge "seems we have some guests already, open a channel" the captain ordered. A communications officer complied and opened a communications channel.
"I am captain John Tolan of the ZAFT forces, you have no need to be at arms with us, at this moment we are just making first contact" he said hoping the unknown ships would hear. On the other side of the bridge a NCO in the CIC was cataloging the new ships, and mobile suits that they wre seeing "Wonder if there any match for a Alpha Dreadfire?" he said to another in the CIC "I doubt it, sensors show they don't have any type of FTL drive, or shields, and i think there weapons tech is probably fair behind ours" he whispered back.

This was a dark time for the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. Although the second cylon war was over, and the re intergration of the colonies old advisaries was becoming successful beyond anyone's dreams, new threats loomed over the horizion.

A new race was threatening the Colonies. This threat came not from within, but from without, from a war that was never ending. The Galactic Empire had begun to take notice, and had attacked several Colonial Battlestars without provokation. The threat was indeed dire.

A order came from the office of the Twelve Colonies, and the order although seemingly simple, was a daunting task. Find and recolonize Kobal, and find the 13th tribe, Earth.

After many months, Kobal was indeed found, and new installations, and defenses were being devolped on the original homeworld of humanity, yet the lost colony of Earth, still seemed out of reach. That is until today.

A lone battlestar jumps into the sector, a bright flash of light appears in orbit around the third planet of the sector. This was a key point to survey the system, and to see if anyone was home. No one knew how right that was.

The Battlestar Griffon, easily slipped into orbit. After a few seconds, the draidus screen began to pick up multiple contacts. Some of them were satalites, others were star ships.

The crew's excitement could hardly be contained. Could this be earth? Could these be our long lost cousins, from a by-gone era. The Battlestar Griffon, a massive, and refit Mercury battlestar began to send a transmission to the planet.


The universal translator began to cycle the message.
This is the Battlestar Griffon from the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. We do not mean anyone any harm. Please do not be alarmed. Is this Earth?

ooc: Zeon Principality: forgive me, but I'm a little lost. are any of your ships engaging my ship?

OOC: Romano I believe your being intercepted by patrol fleet 31

((Tagged. Expect a -lot- of mobile suit and robotech units coming out of my ass.))

((OOC: To Romano: They aren't engaging you right now, they're just telling you to go with them to Axis.))

IC:

On the deck of the late type Musai class light cruiser, Waltharius

"What the hell are those?"

"No idea, captain. They don't match anything on file, but they do look like they're capable to wage war."

"What the hell? That probe thing was here for less than thirty minutes! That was all they required to get the information they needed to come here?"

"Guess so, Sir. What do we do?"

"Well. Can you triangulate their trajectory?"

"Yes, Sir."

The captain only managed to idly tap the armrest of his command seat for a few seconds.

"Sir! They're going for...!"

The officer seemed rather... Distraught.

"Yes, where are they going?"

"Side 3, Sir!"

"... Oh shit."

The captain sprang up from his seat.

"Quick! Tell Granada about this! We'll need to stop them before they get there!"

"Will do, Sir!"

Granada, Zeon base on the Moon

The Rear Admiral had found it hard to finish whatever he had been writing after getting disrupted like that and was now at the command center, initially boredly going through the report coming in on how they successfully destroyed the probe with only one odd discrepancy happening practically at the moment when it was getting hit with the Mega Particle Cannons, but they didn't think it was anything.

Well, until suddenly in all the sensors there appeared somewhat massive vessels of somekind, and a report came in saying that they were directly headed for Side 3, weren't attempting any kind of contact nor didn't seem to care too much about what was going on in their surroundings - and within moments, they had come to the conclusion that these things would need to be stopped.

But... How, exactly?

The Rear Admiral stood up.

"We'll need more than just a few patrol fleets to stop these things!"

Then he paced nervously about the command center.

"What the hell are we going to do?"

"Sir..."

He turned towards the speaker.

"What, Ensign?"

"Well... You could just order the local patrol fleets to pursue them... Inform Side 3... And let them take care of it. Maybe ready the mass driver and suggest them to ready the Colony Laser... It's not like these fellows seem to care about us."

"... That sounds like a plan. I just..."

He stopped and clenched his right fist and hit himself on the side.

"Arrgh. Just do it. We don't have time to lose."

"Roger, Sir!"

Side 3

Several minutes after the ominous report came in and was confirmed to be true by simple means of seeing the ships on sensors and with visual, the Principality began hastily to bring its fleets about, and readying ships which were in docks and trying to get ahold of crews who were on vacation, replacing crewmembers with people who were at hand in an act of desperation where ever possible.

Side 3 itself had never been directly in the way of danger, not like this. The Principality wasn't exactly prepared, but still could cobble together a formidable force. The enemy was unknown to them and their capabilities were unknown as well, so it was more than necessary to bring as much to bear as possible.

Indeed, even the dreaded Colony Laser was being prepared for firing if needed - in addition to a version of the Solar System as a backup if all else would fail.

Earth Patrol Fleet 214, on board the vessel Gawandan, Gwanvan class battleship, Earth orbit

"... So now they made contact," the aging captain muttered and fell back to his seat, sort of relieved. Although he had no idea whatever "ZAFT" is, they didn't seem excessively hostile.

He could tell from the voice. Somehow.

"Can we still respond, or is the Minovsky cloud too thick?"

"Yes, we can, Sir."

"Good."

This is captain Radalfsky, the commander of the 214th Earth Patrol Fleet of the Principality of Zeon, and the captain of this vessel, the Gawandan. You are trespassing on the Zeon peace zone. You say you are making "first contact". Please elaborate.

"And now..."

He scratched the back of his head.

"We wait."

Oblivious of the situation on Side 3, he figured he had all the time in the world to listen to whatever they were going to say.

Odessa, Earth

"Um, Sir."

"What is it? New orders?"

"Not exactly, Sir. Someone's..."

"If it's not new orders, who the hell is using this frequency?"

"Well, they're using a whole lot of frequencies from the looks of it, Sir."

"Who're they?"

"Well, listen to this."

And he did.

"Uh. What the hell is that?"

"I have no idea, Sir."

"Uh. Well. You could tell them that yeah, this is Earth, and they should go to Side 3 or something if they want to talk to someone. Since they're already here... You know."

"OK, Sir. Will do."

ODESSA MINING FACILITY - PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON

Yes, this is Earth alright. But people don't live here. You'd fare better if you went to the location which coordinates are attached to this transmission. Our superiors are there at least.

((OOC: They aren't engaging you right now, they're just telling you to go with them to Axis.))

IC:


"Uh. Well. You could tell them that yeah, this is Earth, and they should go to Side 3 or something if they want to talk to someone. Since they're already here... You know."

"OK, Sir. Will do."


Commander Ladia turned as the message was recieved. "What the frak, Earth has been abandoned. What happened here?

Colonel Smith was quick to reply to the commander's question, "Sir I have no idea, but included in the transmission was coordinates for something they call side 3."

Commander Ladia, Ok plot a jump coordinate to the location given, and just in case our dear cousins do not like long lost relatives knocking on their door, go to condition 2.

Lt. Makie responded, Aye Sir.

Moments later the Battlestar Griffon, vanished in the orbit of Earth to the coordinates given by the planet Earth. Using the Universal Translator, as the humans on earth probably did not speak ancient greek anymore the transmission was sent.

This is the Battlestar Griffon of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal to the race that used to occupy Earth. We have come a long way to find you and wish to meet with you at your earliest possible convience. We have much to discuss.

Lt. Makie replied after the transmission was sent, "How do you think they will react, after all they have not heard from us in at least 4000 years?"

Colonel Smith responded, "We are about to find out."

The communications officer looked up at the captain "well sir how shall we respond?" he asked "Rather simply really, they want us to explain so we will" he said. Soon after a new message was sent to the Gawandan.


We are a small deep space recon fleet, we were outside an asteroid belt
at the far edge of the system when we detected signs in advanced
life so we came to make contact with them, and we are a long way
from home and running low on supplies.
Would it be possible to get some water?


The XO walked over to the captain "sir we just met these people, they could be hostile and your asking for water?" he said to the captain "look it will be days before we get back to the homeland, so if they will give us some water then we are off to a good start, if not then oh well we will call for supplies" the captain told him "captain I still suggest we put the mobile suits on stand by" the XO told him "vary well make it so" the captain responded before walking back to his chair.

The Heiarchy fleet approached Side 3 without firing a shot, the rest of the fleet paused a little ways away from Side 3 while the Battleship just rumbled on up to it. Then it just and faced the space colony. There was a moments pause... and ten pods ejected out of the Battleship. Eight of these pods were about 270 feet long and 100 feet across.

The last two(landing in a triangle shape around the first seven) were bigger: 410 feet long and 150 feet across. On the other side of the colony walls the pods had attached too, something began to cut into the side of the colony.

On the deck of the Gwazine class battleship Gwazen, Side 3 Patrol Fleet 3, Side 3

"Sir! New orders."

The captain of the vessel hit his seat's armrest, almost breaking it.

"What?! What's more important than us helping to stop that incoming fleet?"

"They're saying that someone's trying to contact Side 3 and that these people need to be taken off the air, they're filling the frequencies with their transmission."

"How the hell is that possible?"

The Lieutenant shrugged, "Not my job to know. I just work here. See, they even sent us coordinates and such."

"Alright."

"Change our course towards the coordinates..."

The captain scratched his head, almost dropping his cap.

"But... Did they say what we are supposed to do with these people? They're saying 'we have much to discuss' and everything."

No one answered.

"Alright, alright."

He sighed.

"Damn useless rookies..."

This is captain Bramhall of the battleship Gwazen, representing the
Principality of Zeon at this time. Be advised, we are currently having a...
Situation here. Some things seem to be on their way here... We have
no idea what they exactly are, except that they seem to have hostile
intentions and aren't responding. And they seem somewhat massive, as
warships anyway. Added to that, they are coming straight for us. Not
that we have much idea who you exactly are, either. What is it that you want
to talk about?

Oh yes. Could we ask you to stop transmitting your message? It's clogging up
our comms and is making concentrated and quick efforts to thwart this
menace somewhat difficult.

Bramhall out.

On the deck of the Musai Kai class light cruiser, Burgess, Side 3

"What the...?! What the hell are they doing to Bunch 12?!"

"New orders just came in, Sir!"

"What are they?"

"'All ships, fire at will! Target: Largest hostile vessel! All Mobile Suit squads: engage and destroy the pods!'"

"Sounds good to me!"

Zeon Colony Laser, in orbit in the dark side of the Moon

"Our own forces are well away from our projected firing zone! We can fire whenever!"

"No friendly fire, huh. Good, good. While the others are supposed to take care of that largest thing... We'll try to destroy the smaller ones."

The Vice Admiral shuddered. To have to use this thing in defense of Side 3 itself! Who would've thought that it'd actually have to be used. Ever. It's bad enough that the leaders of the Principality thought it was a good idea to convert a colony into a weapon... But to actually have to use it as the trump card in trying to thwart some alien force from destroying Side 3...

It was... Unfathomable. But also oddly exciting.

He extended his left hand forwards, with his fingers protracted, he shouted "FIRE!", and slowly, dramatically, clenched his fist. He was wearing a black leather glove, and so the said glove made a sort of satisfying crunching sound.

A minute or so after quite innumerable of smaller rays of light had started spewing forth from the Mega Particle Cannons of the hastily amassed Zeon fleet which were targeting the battleship, an insanely large beam of light appeared from the behind of the assailing group of ships in an attempt to destroy it wholesale before it actually starts to fire at the Zeon fleet.

Earth Patrol Fleet 214, on board the vessel Gawandan, Gwanvan class battleship, Earth orbit

"What the...? They're asking for what now?"

"Water, Sir."

"I heard that, thank you. But... They just appeared out of nowhere and they're asking for water, of all things? What is this? Some kind of neighbor call?"

"Sir, we do have enough supplies, if..."

"Yes. I know. I know we have supplies and I know we could give them what they're asking for. But... Don't you think that's kind of random?"

"Well... Yes, yes it is."

The captain shook his head.

"What the hell are these people playing at...?"

Are they serious...? I'll just play along.

You're asking for water? Well... Sure. It could be arranged. How much
of it do you need, exactly?

The response to the battlestar was somewhat confusing. Could Earth really be so undisplined, especially in comparison to the Colonies, which were notorious for lack of protocol.

As the message continued to play one thing became painfully clear. Earth, or the reminants of it seemed to have enemies of their own. This left only two options, to defend Earth, or to let it be. As the debate occured in the Commanders mind, a draidus contact appeared on the screen.

All that draidus said was unknown, and it was a massive ship, beginning to launch multiple pods, or vehicles towards the moon.

Commander Ladia was quick to respond, Action stations.

Over the loud speakers an all too fimiliar message was played over the loud speakers, as pilots, repair crews, and the rest of the ship ran to their battlestations.

Action stations, action stations. Set Condition one, this is not a drill, I repeat this is not a drill.

Moments later hundreds of Viper Mark VII's and Raptors began to launch from the Flightpods of the Battlestar Griffon.

This is the Battlestar Griffon to Side 3 command. If you wish aid we will give it to you.

As the message was being broadcast, the Vipers began to form a wall formation, as the Main cannons were being armed. Rail guns and Flak cannons were being broguht online, as the shield began to charge. Heavy cannons 1-12 began to be loaded with the EMB chells (Ion cannons) while 13-24 were beign loaded with salvo fire. The Flak Cannons were prepared with Surpressive fire, as the rail guns were being brought on line. Missle tubes 1-36 were being armed with the jump missles, as well as the ship to ship missle tubes were being loaded. Only time would tell if Earth wished for the Colonial's help.

OOC: In case there is any confusion I have yet to fire anything at anyone.

((Okay, this is for reference to those who don't understand what a Side is in MSG terminology. A Side is a large cluster of 40 mile long, 8 mile in diameter cylinders with internal habitats. Each Side has, at the very least, 100 of said cylinders, with Side 3 having the most at a whopping 754 colonies. Each Side is divided into Bunches, and each Bunch is governed by a ruling body of local mayors and governors. The entire Side is ruled by a governing body of Senators that represent each individual Bunch. Each Side is represented by High Senators, and the number of High Senators each Side has is determined by each Side's population size.

Just a heads up for those who don't understand what they're dealing with.))

"Sir they are asking how much water we need" the communications officer told the captain. The captain looked to his XO "How much water would we need to be fully replenished?" the captain asked him wondering, after all he did not know how much water was left in the tanks "about 200 cubic liters for us, another 170 for the Goddly Thunder, and 230 for the Divine Pheonix, so 600 cubic liters total sir" the XO said to the captain. Althrough the captain did not know how much they had left before now he knew now "damn your telling me we are almost empty? alright send them how much we need and also offer a tour of our ship as a token of our graditude" the captain said "but sir!" the XO objected "Any objections you have you can write up in your report for those pencil pushers at HQ to read over!!" the captain told his XO, the captain was some what angered that the XO objected to them repaying captain Radalfsky.


We would need 600 cubic liters to resupply all our ships.
I do know its a large amount, but considering the planet down there is about
70% water im sure its not to much to ask.
Also as a token of my personal gratitude I would like to offer you
and your senior officers a chance to tour my ship, and perhaps dine here as well.

On the deck of the Gwazine class battleship Gwazen, Side 3 Patrol Fleet 3, Side 3

"Ugh. They aren't gonna like that," muttered the captain.

"Alright, I think we'll need to make it a bit more clear to these guys... Whoa!"

In the background, he saw the flash caused by the Colony Laser.

"What the hell was that?"

"That was the Colony Laser, Sir."

"Oh. OK. So, back to these people."

Captain Bramhall here again. I'm sorry, but the command you are trying to
contact gave us an order to deal with you at this moment, as we couldn't
identify you and we are currently having a situation, as you can probably see.
I'm sure our forces can handle the situation, though. No need for you to risk your
lives due to this.

You said you wanted to talk about something. Please, could you elaborate?

Earth Patrol Fleet 214, on board the vessel Gawandan, Gwanvan class battleship, Earth orbit

"So... They really weren't joking."

"Indeed, Sir."

"But... What's a cubic liter? Are they asking for 600 liters of water or 600 cubic meters of it? Guess I'll just have to ask them."

I apologize, but I need to ask you a question. What exactly do you mean?
600 liters of water, or 600 cubic meters of it? There's a huge difference
between the two, and problem is, I don't have any idea to which "cubic liter"
refers to.

OOC:

Each Side has, at the very least, 100 of said cylinders, with Side 3 having the most at a whopping 754 colonies. Each Side is divided into Bunches, and each Bunch is governed by a ruling body of local mayors and governors.

((OOC: That doesn't sound right. Certain colonies just on their own are called Bunch this and that. And considering that there was 9 billion people in space before the One Week War started, with 36~40 million fitting in one colony... It'd make the amount of colonies needed at most 250.

Right, here it is, on the official site: "Each colony can support millions of people, and they're grouped into clusters called Sides, each made up of between 35 and 40 colonies and housing a billion or more people."

The colony sizes were a bit off of the official: "These space colonies are enormous metal cylinders, twenty miles long and four miles in diameter, which rotate every two minutes to create artificial gravity..." and so on.

With half of humanity wiped out in UC0079, the amount of people is at... About 6 billion? Gotta take the likely population boom into consideration, so it'd be rising back and fast, though. But still, you were exaggerating a lil bit.))

The captain looked at the message "Well that’s my bad, XO clear this up will ya?" the captain asked "of course sir" the XO responded.


Ah yes our apologies yes we do mean 600 cubic meters,
We from the PLANTs might be genetically engineered but
even we make mistakes.


"Message sent captain" the XO said to him "excellent" he said. He stood up and went over to the window to look at the ships of these Zeon. They were an interesting design; nothing ZAFT had ever created came close. They were smaller then the Red Dragon Class, but the captain thought size is not every thing "What’s with these mega particles? they have been deployed in the area" a officer said speaking up "My guess is some sort of old style communications and radar jammer, like our original N-Jammer" a ensign from the CIC said "hmm a interesting idea, any effects on our sensors?" the captain said. The ensign turned around in his chair "minor sir, communications are unaffected though" he told the captain "vary well; you know I wonder why the planet is almost empty? Could some kind of environmental damage could have happened? Like the tiberian outbreak on one of Endymions moons? Or could it just be war?" the captain said wondering out loud. The officer over at the sensors turned his head "from these scans I’d say neither, no sign of environmental damage or mass destruction, looks like they just got up and left" the officer told the captain "well if they accept our invitation to dinner maybe we will find out" said a petty officer who was one of the only female bridge officers.

OOC: IC Post coming up....little busy at the moment, but otherwise very much interested. Was my probe destroyed?

OOC: IC Post coming up....little busy at the moment, but otherwise very much interested. Was my probe destroyed?

((OOC: No, it wasn't destroyed because you said it didn't really come all too close, unlike the other probe that came to the orbit of the Moon.))

IC:

Earth Patrol Fleet 214, on board the vessel Gawandan, Gwanvan class battleship, Earth orbit

"... That's a lot of water they're asking for," said the captain and snorted, "It'll be one hell of a report to make to explain why do we need to resupply again since we just did that last week."

"Sir, you aren't seriously...?"

"Of course I am. This is some kind of a 'first contact' situation. You know, the kind you read about in science fiction books. Even I can tell that these people aren't from around here. 'Plants', 'genetically engineered'..."

The officer nodded.

The captain sighed.

"I just never thought it'd happen here, and to me."

Alright, we'll transfer you about that amount of water as a gesture of
good will. As for your offer to let us come for a tour to your vessels... We
accept.

"Sir, you can't be...!"

"But I am. I'm too curious about these people to let them just go away without at least seeing what they and their vessels like from the inside. And we outnumber them one to five. What could go wrong?"

((OOC: Just in case. When spread into the surroundings Minovsky particles scramble sensors (especially radars are mentioned and that sort), leaving visual as the best (and the only) way to see what's going on. They also scramble all kinds of communications that aren't direct, like radiowaves and the sorts. They also have an EMP effect on electric appliances that aren't properly safeguarded.

In this situation, they didn't spread enough Minovsky particles to cause trouble on communications anyhow, so your reaction was A-OK. And it kind of makes them seem like the arrogant bastages Coordinators tend to be. I like it.))

OOC: ah minovsky physics the one thing no one will ever understand lol

The message was received "alright then, make sure the crew behaves, I want you and our mobile suit force leader to come with me to meet them when they arrive" the captain said "Oh and prepare an Alpha and Omega Dreadfire to escort them in" the captain quickly added.


We feel honoured that you accepted,
When you are ready we will send out
Two mobile suits to escort you in


"Well now lets hope all goes well, don't want first contact to go badly" the XO said to the captain "indeed we don't, at least there scientists are not coming, those science guys always love to tear the systems of a ship apart to see how they work" the captain said "well if it wasn't for those science guys captain you would not be protected by shields, we wouldn't even have FTL" the XO noted.

"Axis Patrol Fleet 31, captain Baer. I am Captain Barboni, commanding the Roma. I guess you could say we're from Side 6, and are heading for the Von Braun colony. You could call us a 'cargo' ship, with many new technologies available for trade. May we proceed through you system?"




(ooc: sorry for the confusion and delayed response.)

Edge of Zeon Space| Imperial Sector Designation: Uncharted Territory

Most fleet captains would be more than happy when they received the command of a new ship, and when it was a new as mint, right out of the shipyards, Imperial-class IV Star Destroyer then the captain in question would undoubtably get very drunk and end up buying a lot of people drinks at the club & bar he happens to be near enough to celebrate in. However that is not the case for Captain Daren Kiwolski.

"Why me?" Daren grumbled, sitting in a lank position in his command chair. "Why here? Why attached to a unit that only surveys dead space? No combat tours for me! No! That would be TOO much!"

The crew pretended not to hear their captain as he went through his ritual of self pity and attempts to try making a plan for a glorious suicide involving a lovely woman, a rebel, and a Hodin. Thus far Sergeant Kines had a bet down in a pool of 400 Imperial Credits that Captain Daren would take no more than another three weeks before he really cracked.

Lieutenant Stahl marched forward and snapped to attention next to Captain Daren. "Sir, we've just passed the middle check point in our hyperspace flight. May I recommend we lower the engine speed? Its already 30% above red-line. Any more stress and we could be brought out of hyperspace."

Daren looked miserably up at his adjutant. "No." He didn't even blink. Stahl gaped at him.'

"But sir-"

"I want to see how far I can push her," said Daren, tapping his arm rest as if he were petting the ship itself. "If she can run at 30% for as long as this trip will last, then I will gain a better understanding of how far I can take her."

"If you say so sir."

"I'm never wrong Lieutenant. So don't worry!"

There was a loud boom. Proceeded by a lot of heavy crunching noises, followed by a literal orcestra of grinding metal. The Imperial Star Destroyer came out of hyperspace like a running athlete who had just been clothes-hangered.

Lieutenant Stahl was thrown to his feet all the way down the middle path between the crew pits and lay against the side of the view port, two ribs feeling obviously broken. Captain Daren had fallen face-flat onto the floor and had slid for a good ten meters before stopping just before his head impounded into the metal wall next to Stahl.

He rose to his feet unsteadily, a gash of red on his forehead. Stahl cursed his way to his feet, holding onto the wall for support. "Damage report!" called out Stahl.

"Sir," replied one of the communications ensigns, a nasty looking cut on his arm and a few fingers twisted at odd angles. "Engine Room reports reactor malfunction. Engines 1-4 are dead. Engines 5-8 are redline and close to full rupture."

"Have them shut down all main power to all engines. Bring us up on auxiliary power," ordered Daren. He turned to the deck officer. "Have the medic teams make sweeps of the decks. All injured men are to report to the infirmiry."

Stahl struggled over to the ComScan station. Both of the operators seemed shaken but largely unhurt. They'd be wearing their safety belts. Go figure Stahl thought. "Where in the seven hells are we?" he asked.

"Sir, I'm coming up with an estimate right now."

"Estimate?! I don't want a fraking estimate! I want a fraking result!"

"Yes sir, it will take a few moments to calculate our-"

"I have it sir!" interrupted the other ensign. "We're about 12 parsecs from the nearest Imperial outpost. We've entered an uncharted system, or so that computer logs say."

"Uncharted?"

"Yes sir," replied the ensign. He worked his controls. "Sir! I've detected numerous ships in the area. I'm detecting as many as a dozen foreign vessels...make that a few hundred. Sir I believe we've just stumbled upon another civilization."

Stahl turned and saw that the captain had reseated himself in his chair. He was hard put not to laugh that Daren had secured himself with a safety belt.

"All turbolasers online! Pilots, who are uninjured, to their fighters! I want shields up to maximum level."

"But sir," argued Stahl, limping over to him. "Without the our engines we're a lame duck. We can't maneuver!" Daren's face grew dark as he starred off into the blackness of space.

"Send a distress signal and a signal of greetings, in all forms of communication we have. Maybe we're lucky and someone here speaks Basic."

"Aye, sir."

Greetings from the Empire of Thrashia,

We are in need of help. We come on a peaceful mission to greet the inhabitants of this planetary system. Our ship's engines are down however. We come in pea...*static*....lure of engines. We would like to meet a representative of your government.

Captain Daren Kiwolski
Commander
Imperial Star Destroyer Dark Fable

This is the Battlestar Griffon to Side 3 command. The reason we came to seek you out is a long and ancient one. I am assuming since you do not seem to recongize the name Kobal, that your history of Kobal has been lost.

To save time, according to our history books, a great war took place on kobal, and 12 of the thirteen tribes of humans settles the 12 colonies of Kobal, while the 13th left to settle earth. We however did not come for a history lesson, but please be assured we are human like yourselves.

We have only begun to encounter new spieces outside our own race much the same as you seem to be, but a new threat has come to threaten the galaxy, and we wish to talk to you about it and maybe reform the old alliance, from 4000 years ago. A group called the Galactic Empire (sending you the specs of the Imperial Star Destroyers) has come and threatened many systems. They have threatened us, and are suspected of destroying two of our battlestars without any kind of communications.

We are not officially at war with them, but if the Empire does not see reason, we may soon have to be. They have the capabilities of destroying planets as a whole. We prefer peace, and wish to have a diplomatic conversations with them, but as of yet, they have shown little interest... (Transmission ends)

Lt. Makie shouts, "Draidus contact, Sir it is an Imperial Star Destroyer."

Commander Ladia replies, 'Frak they found this place, Lock on the Star destroyer and send this transmission."

Imperial Star Destroyer, This is the Battlestar Griffon of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. State the reason you are in this area, and power down your weapons and shields or we will be forced to fire upon you. This is your only chance.

Commander Ladia, "Engage the Holo-cloak, and tell the Squadrons to do the same." In the backdrop of space, the Entire Colonial Battlestar as well as all of the fighters vanish in the backdrop of space, as if they were never there.

Battlestar Griffon to Side 3 command. It would seem that the Empire has found it's way here. We are sorry, and if they attack you we will defend you at all cost.

Moments Later...

Lt. Makie, "Sir the Imperial Star Destroyer is sending out a distress call, it would seem that their engines are malfunctioning, and they are requesting assistance."

Commander Ladia, " It may be a trick, scan their engine core."

Lt. Makie, "Already done sir, it appears that several of their engines are currently disabled. It appears as though they have been running hard and long for some reason. "

Commander Ladia, "Hmm this is surprising, perhaps we can finally talk to one of the Empire's faction then.

This is the Battlestar Griffon to the Imperial Star Destroyer. We have just picked up your distress call. Unfortunately do to Imperial Aggression, we are very wary of you. Lower your shields and weapons as a sign of good faith and we will send over one transport to your star destroyer to assess the damage and cause of your engine failure. If no harm comes to our personnal, and if you comply with these requirements, we will assist you in bringing your FTL drives back online. If you do not meet these requirements, or if you show any hostility towards the people of this space, or this ship, we will fire upon you.

(OOC: Thrashia, if you had a chance to scan my vessel Sith, Chrono, as well as many others usually confuse my ships for Coreworlds Battlestar class, although the weapons and the fighters do not match at all nor do the power signatures.)

Earth Patrol Fleet 214, on board the vessel Gawandan, Gwanvan class battleship, Earth orbit

"... They have Mobile Suits, too?"

"That's what he said, Sir," said the Lieutenant Commander, smirking.

"Whatever."

He rose up from his seat and turned to leave the deck.

"Have them ready my Mobile Suit! And this one's, too! I'm taking this bastard of an LtCmdr with me!"

Just as he was walking out, they sent out a transmission once more.

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - PATROL FLEET #214 - GAWANDAN

It seems he is ready now. He's coming over ASAP.

Over and out.

Axis Patrol Fleet 31, on board the vessel Asarum, Gwazine class battleship, Close to Axis

"That's suspicious. REALLY suspicious," said Baer as he listened to the message, "'You could say we're from Side 6...' If they're seriously from Side 6, why are they heading to Von Braun from all the way up here?"

"What will we do, captain?"

"I'm not gonna let them get away that easy."

Captain Baer here again. I'm sorry, but I can't just let you go. Even if
you are from Side 6, this is an area under the Principality's jurisdiction, not
yours. And I am sure you understand that orders are orders, and we were
given an order to take you back to Axis. We would welcome your cooperation
in this issue.

On the deck of the Gwazine class battleship Gwazen, Side 3 Patrol Fleet 3, Side 3

"Why do they keep on calling us 'Side 3 command'? They should know by now that their... Issue was turned over to us..."

"I don't think that is the point of their visit, Sir."

"Yeah. I get that. This is getting a bit over my head, if you know what I mean."

He could hear people commenting on that with silent voices around the bridge.

"I mean I haven't been trained to be a damn diplomat, and you know that!"

"Yes, Sir. I don't think the high command expected outsiders to happen around Side 3 in such a number."

"Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. We're..."

And just then, came in both the distress call from the "Imperial Star Destroyer" and the continuation of the Battlestar Griffon's transmission.

"What the hell... OK, this is getting excessively over my jurisdiction here. We'll have to get people who actually do this kind of stuff here."

And then, the Griffon sent a transmission to the "Star Destroyer". Not to mention seemingly vanished, but since it was transmitting it was probably still there.

"Yep. This is definitely out of my league. These people are almost at war from the looks of it, and I have no idea how I should act to this. Send in a laser transmission. Tell them we need help here. And with those other fellows."

"Will do, Sir."

"Meanwhile, I'll try to continue talking with these people..."

Uh, alright. An interesting story, to say the least. I have come to the
realization that this isn't something I can deal with, especially with this new
turn of events. We have sent a request to the high command to take this out
of our hands, or at least send us someone who has been trained to deal with
diplomacy. And with the authority to speak of alliances and... Such. Which we
don't really have.

Oh yes, and it'd make things easier if we could see you. If the transmission
they are sending is true, they are stranded in our space - if they try
something... I doubt they could survive a direct hit from the Colony
Laser.

Zum City, Capital space colony of the Principality, Side 3

"Another unknown party," he murmured with a tired look on his face, "I thought all we had to deal with was this Federation scum..."

He sighed.

"At least we can use this. No matter what they might have, they're at our mercy. Send the closest patrol fleet with at least a Gwazine in it there and tell them to do this," he gave the officer a note he had written something on, "in addition to the usual things."

"What about these? They're requesting help."

"Give it to them. I, personally, only care about ridding those... Things from Bunch 12 right now. Everything has to wait on my part until that's done."

"Very well, Sir."

The officer bowed shallowly and walked away.

Damn incompetents.

Axis Patrol Fleet 13, on the deck of the vessel Einheri, Gwanvan class battleship, in relative proximity of the Imperial Star Destroyer

"Sir," shouted the SCPO on the comms, "incoming laser transmission! It originates from Side 3!"

Rear Admiral (lower half) Snowden nodded in response.

"Put it on screen."

And so she did. And so, the Rear Admiral had a conversation where he received his new orders. He pointed his dislike for them, his position and the fact that he and the fleet were just supposed to be on an observational duty here, but it didn't matter, and in the end he could only acknowledge the orders and... Get to it. Then, he was given some background information on the situation, and the somewhat critical information from the other patrol fleet in which the other unknown party said that these people may be... Homicidal. After that, the transmission was cut.

"Alright. You heard what she said what the Supreme Commander wants us to do. Let's get to it," he said. "Change our direction towards the vessel which has been sending that distress call, and tell the rest of the fleet to do the same."

"Will do, Sir!"

"Aye, Sir!"

"And before I forget, send a transmission to the few closest fleets to stay alert. We have no idea what we're looking at and this might end badly. If that happens... I'd really like some backup."

The SCPO nodded, and quickly did what he asked.

"Done."

"Good. And now, put me through to them. Laser transmission, please. We don't want these people think we're not serious enough and let people eavesdrop on us."

"The line's open... Now, Sir!"

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - AXIS PATROL FLEET #13 - EINHERI

We understand that you have a... Problem with propulsion, and are drifting
uncontrollably. Understand that you are trespassing within Zeon space, and
if we notice any hostility from your side, we are authorized to blow you
out of the sky regardless of your seemingly peaceful intentions. We are here
to assess your situation, and to see whether or not you are fit to receive any
kind of assistance from the Principality.

For this to be done, we ask you to prepare to be boarded and to give us your
full cooperation.

-- Rear Admiral Snowden, Zeon Mobile Suit Forces

The large doors of the hanger bay opened and two different mobile suits flew out. The suits where black and dark red, they were both duel eye mobile suits with a Gundam style V-fin. The omega version how ever had a fin that made its head look more like the Infinate Justice, while the Alpha had the more traditional version of a head. They both had a sleek profile, the had different weapons and different packs. The omega had a large plasma machine gun that had to be handled with its two hands, while the alpha had a smaller plasma rifle. They stood out in space there two eyes fixed on the zeon ships, waiting.

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - AXIS PATROL FLEET #13 - EINHERI

We understand that you have a... Problem with propulsion, and are drifting
uncontrollably. Understand that you are trespassing within Zeonic space, and
if we notice any hostility from your side, we are authorized to blow you
out of the sky regardless of your seemingly peaceful intentions. We are here
to assess your situation, and to see whether or not you are fit to receive any
kind of assistance from the Principality.

For this to be done, we ask you to prepare to be boarded and to give us your
full cooperation.

-- Rear Admiral Snowden, Zeonic Mobile Suit Forces


Captain Daren frowned at the message. It seemed only natural, considering the fact that an Orthodox Battlestar was in the area. Leave it to the idiots on Imperial Center to not inform them of their enemies movements. Lieutenant Stahl, a large bandage wrapped around his stomach, march-limped over to Daren.

"Sir, our emergency code signal was sent as you ordered."

"The techs sent it when I told them to?" asked Daren, turning to Stahl.

"Yes sir, in the shadow of the first distress signal we sent out in this system. Since it went along the emergency holo-net ways, we should have a response in under two hours. Our task force will get it within the hour."

Daren nodded and then showed Stahl the message. "We've already started our own repairs. Engineering teams 1-20 are already out in vacuum suits taking care of the outer hull and engine ducts, and a few of the techs are working on the reactor. If we're given a couple of hours without interruption, then we should have the ship fully operational."

"What about this boarding party?" asked Stahl.

"Might as well, we have to meet them face to face eventually. No need to alienate them right off the bat," said Daren, rubbing his head where he had hit the floor. "See to it that the main hanger is made ready, organize Captain Piet's men for ceremonial greeting."

"Yes sir," said Stahl.


Rear Admiral Snowden,

Greetings. I am Captain Daren Kiwolski, commander of the Imperial Star Destroyer 'Dark Fable.' We've had a malfunction in our main engines, due to stress by going through hyperspace. It was actually by accident that we appeared in your home system. As of right now we are affecting out own repairs, however we would be more than happy to greet you aboard our ship. Shall you be arriving by shuttle or by mobile suit?

Signed,
Captain Daren Kiwolski
Commander
Imperial Star Destroyer 'Dark Fable'

Berlin, Germany

The once beautiful and proud city of Berlin lay in ruin after Zeon forces airdropped over the city, gaining control easily against weak resistance. Refugees clogged the streets, struggling to flee from the oncoming mobile suits and enemy units. AA guns did what they could but all positions were overrun within minutes of the first mobile suits landing. Bombed out buildins, reduced to rubble. Buildings were skeletons as thousands fled. The giant mobil suits patrolled the streets and outlying suburbs as infantry marched down the streets as hundreds crowded the sidewalks to watch as their conquerors proudly waltzed through Berlin. A woman with dirty blonde hair weaved in and out of the crowds. Her clothes were old, blending in with the other refugees, but she was not one of them. The sight of Zeon scum nausiated and infuriated her senses. Both her parents and sister were killed during the war, her father fighting for the Earth Federation as a mobile suit pilot. It cut her soul deeply, a man in a military uniform knocking on their door, eyes stoic and demanor almost robotic as he broke the news of her fathers' death and her mother collapsing to the ground cursing the war and God. It was seered in her memory, and a hatred of Zeon grew.

Now, she dedicated her life to resisting, the Federation may have crumbled but there were still those who fought on against the forces of Zeon and there relentless campaign to exterminate Earth. She tried not to shout out against the soldiers but instead darted off into a side alley. Inside an old building, there were other people waiting in the basement. Several of them greeted her and they exchanged small talk. Soon, she took her place off in a corner and waited with the others. They were comrades, brothers in arms against Zeon. They were known as the Coalition. A few minutes passed and a man with graying hair and steel eyes emerged.
"Comrades, today is a sad day for not only Berliners, but for the world" he paused, adding drama to his words "The totalitarian forces of Zeon have taken our beloved city, reducing it to nothing more than rubble. Thousands are suffering under their oppression while thousands more flee from their forces. It is our duty to resist, other commandants from other sectors have ordered their units to strike at a designated time. Now is our time...a time to make them remember the day they entered our city!" those gathered cheered and qucickly withdrew their applause. The man's name was Lugner, a commandant of The Coalition. He was charasmatic, tough, and ruthless but respected by those under him.
"Mika Krueger" he called out to the woman with dirty blonde hair.
"Yes Commandant!" she replied, quickly.
"You will be leading the assault team 2 tonight, I will brief you later" Lugner replied. Mika was in her mid-twenties, with beautiful features and deep blue eyes. She hardly seemed like a freedom fighter but looks can be decieveing. For several years now she's been a dedicated and loyal member of the Coalition. Tonight was her night to seek vengence.

Earth Patrol Fleet 214, on the Mobile Suit bay of Gawandan, Gwanvan class battleship, Earth orbit

"Sir, shouldn't you get rid of that..."

"Shut up! This Mobile Suit has emotional value! I can't just let it get scrapped!"

"But you do know they could refit it...?"

"Yes, yes, but that'd take too long! I might end up using some other Mobile Suit in a mission when they're still refitting it!"

He noticed his Mobile Suit was no longer attached to the holders and he lowered its legs to the floor, and started walking towards the way out.

"But you aren't even in the main Mobile Suit squad of the fleet, Sir."

"... Shut the hell up."

"OK."

"Alright, we're ready to launch."

"The hangar has been sealed, Sir. You can take off when ready."

"Great. Open the hatch!"

The captain was using an aged MS-14B Gelgoog High Mobility Type from the Zeon War of Independence. Only difference it had with the original was its cockpit which had been modernized a year back. It was black in color and had a large Zeon emblem on its equally black shield which was attached to the side of its left arm, and it wielded a regular Gelgoog beam rifle on its right hand.

The LtCmdr on the other hand used a refitted MS-11 Act Zaku, which was now designated as type C. Just like the captain's Gelgoog, the Act Zaku had the beam rifle designed for it. Unlike the custom coloring on the captain's Gelgoog, it had the usual green colors that had been in use on these types of Mobile Suits ever since Zaku II.

And in a few moments, the captain and the Lieutenant Commander were outside. The mono eye of the Gelgoog turned towards the waiting Mobile Suits of the other side, and he didn't exactly like what he was seeing. He made a contact link with the LtCmdr to avoid any kind of detection.

"Those look like Federation Mobile Suits."

"Yes, I noticed, Sir. Didn't you see them on the monitors before?"

"No, not really. I left too quickly. Better keep our eyes open."

"Yes, Sir."

Those Mobile Suits... They remind me of "Project V"...

And then they cut the contact link and started moving towards the "ZAFT" Mobile Suits.

Axis Patrol Fleet 13, on the deck of the vessel Einheri, Gwanvan class battleship, in relative proximity of the Imperial Star Destroyer

How, exactly, do they know of the name used for our Mobile Suits...?, pondered the Rear Admiral, massaging his temples with his eyes closed. I guess it is possible it's a mere coincidence, that someone has used a similar name and... Or have they been keeping an eye on us? And what is this "hyperspace"? ...

He opened his eyes as he placed his hands on the armrests of his seat.

"It's likely they don't know this is our home system, but are just making an assumption, just like their knowing the words 'Mobile Suit' must be a coincidence. Unless they've been observing us without us noticing for a longer period of time... And that's an idea I'm not willing to entertain."

"How do we proceed, Sir?"

"The same," he said with a grin. "They are still trespassing, and we are still going in to assess their situation."

He paused momentarily.

"They said that I, personally, should go out there. Seems like they know how good I am at getting out of bad situations... Heh. And I guess I'm expendable. Too many enemies, and I have no family."

"And who's going with you?"

"Some techies... Some guards. We'll be taking the Komusai. I hear we already have volunteers waiting there, too. The higher ups aren't really wasting any time," he said and sighed shallowly, "Makes sense, though. Although from the looks of it I doubt these people are going to actually do anything, but it tells me something about how much they want me out of the way."

He shook his head. This wasn't a time for self-pity.

"Alright. Time to respond."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - AXIS PATROL FLEET #13 - EINHERI

We will be arriving by both means, actually, although the Mobile Suits will
simply be escorts. I hope you understand. I will personally come onboard the
Komusai to speak with you, and I will bring with me some technicians to
assess the relative compatibility of our technologies to see if it is even
hypothetically possible for us to assist you in your time of need.

We will come in as soon as possible.

-- Rear Admiral Snowden, Zeon Mobile Suit Forces

"There it is. Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Snowden rose up from his seat, momentarily stopped to watch the monitors showing the massive bulk of the stranded vessel in front of them. He saw some ReGelgs floating in space. Those would be the escorts. He sighed again and walked out of the bridge of the vessel, going for the Mobile Suit bay where even the Komusai was currently located.

Soon enough, he and the volunteers under his command would take off and be on his way to the "Star Destroyer", going towards an uncertain future.

((OOC: By the way, the MS-11C Act(ion) Zaku is just a different way for me to say RMS-106 Hizack. It's a Hizack, it looks like a Hizack, acts like a Hizack, feels like a Hizack, but since this is Zeon, it's designated differently.))

*Snip!*

((OOC: Um, what? I think I missed the memo where you took over people who aren't even there anymore. There aren't any refugees there, only guerillas who're a remnant of the Federation. Federation loyalists are now stuck up in the ghetto called Side 7. Most regular civilians who were more or less neutral over the Zeon takeover were let to mingle with the Spacenoids in the somewhat rebuilt Sides 1 and 2. Earth was depopulated by the Principality of Zeon after the successful Zeon War of Independence 5 years ago. Of course, as they pretty much knew from the beginning, not everyone actually left Earth - they just had no idea the remnant was as strong as it is now.

Seriously, if you wanted to roleplay the Federation remnant, you should at least first ask me. Now it's just another side played by yours truly.))

The mobile suits floated as the captain and the executive officer got down to the hanger deck. The two suits gave a friendly salute to the two zeon suits. The Pilot of the Omega Dreadfire was the commander for all the mobile suits among the three ships, he got on his short range radio "When you two get on board brace your self for artificial gravity" he told the two zeon pilots. As the Zeon suits passed by they turned and made for the ship. They would land on the hanger deck via a landing net, some pilots thought it was fun to just land using the landing net, they said it was like a amusement park ride. Although there was an AG field it was always weakest on the hanger deck to give work crews a much easier time. The two Dreadfires landed and moved aside so the two zeon suits could land "All right just bring them in, don't worry too much to net will slow you down" the MS commander said over the comm.

OOC: just for the record except for the head and equipment the Dreadfire line is a combination between the Infinite Justice, RX-78NT-1, RX-78GP04, and small elements from the DOM trooper and the destiny, slim look but high speed with power.

"Hmmm, this was unexpected," Barboni thought outloud. He watched the main viewscreen as the Patrol Fleet surrounded his ship.
"What should we do?" asked a crewman.
"Well, all Romano said was to make contact and try to get an arms contract." He scratched his chin. "Let's try to negotiate with this group."

Captain Baer. We will gladly follow you back to Axis. I have many technologies that are available for sale. Perhaps you Principality's leaders will be interested in our products.

Dark Fable Main Hangar

Captain Daren, followed by Lieutenant Stahl and Army Captain Piet, came through the main blast doors and into the main hangar. Two crewmen in gray uniforms were using red glowing batons to show a large transport into the hangar in a place usually reserved for high ranking visitors to the Star Destroyer. Beside the landing square standing at attention was an entire company of white armored stormtroopers, their rifles at shoulder attention.

Daren coughed and came to a halt by where he thought the transports down ramp would be located. He'd watched as it and a few mobile suits had come flying near and had thought the guard especially skilled in how they broke off from their flight paths and went back to the large warship that had come forward.

"Is this Read Admiral Snowham going to show up?" asked Captain Piet.

"Thats Snowden," said Stahl tersely, "not Snowham."

"Captain Piet," said Daren, "it would greatly suffice if you would keep your tongue between your teeth for this meeting, unless I directly address you. Understood?"

"Yes sir," said Captain Piet.

Within the hangar of the ZAFT vessel

Instead of letting his Gelgoog hit the safety net, the captain slowed it down quickly enough to avoid doing precisely that. Instead, he managed to land the Mobile Suit into the hangar without any kind of external help. The Lieutenant Commander, however, wasn't paying the same kind of attention as the captain, and almost hit his Gelgoog before going smack dab in the middle of the safety net. But the Action Zaku still came to a halt, and landed.

... So clumsy, thought the captain, feeling pity for the officer momentarily. Then he took a few steps closer to the Dreadfires.

"So... Where do we put our Suits?"

Axis Patrol Fleet 31, on board the vessel Asarum, Gwazine class battleship, Close to Axis

"At least they understand reason," the captain said, somewhat relieved. "Now we don't need to force them back to Axis. Or even worse, destroy them... I can't say I have ever even seen a ship like that in my life... Something's up."

Good to hear. Just follow us now. I'm sure there's someone at Axis you
can talk with about selling your technologies.

After turning the vessels around and surrounding the Roma, the patrol fleet started its journey back to Axis, the massive asteroid base, escorting the unidentified ship.

Komusai II, inside the main hangar of the Dark Fable

"... Sieg Zeon!"

After some words of encouragement from the Rear Admiral, it was time.

The downward ramp was lowered, and Snowden began walking down from the ship, with two guards in Zeon normal suits on his sides, slightly behind him. He, on the other hand, was wearing the black Zeon uniform of a Rear Admiral. Like most of their uniforms, it had a distinct ornamental symbol (http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4016/ralhchestyd0.gif) on the torso and a rank emblem (http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/729/ralhcollarvw1.gif) on the collar. He himself, as the Thrashians could notice if they cared enough, was a fit man in his thirties with short, black hair and a rather forgettable face.

As he was walking down, he quickly glanced around with very slight head movements. He quietly noted the Stormtroopers and that they seemed to be in far better shape than the people who were actually waiting down. Apparently, he thought, they take greater care in keeping their ground pounders in shape than their officers.

When he finally was in front of the men, he saluted, and said, "Rear Admiral Snowden of the Principality of Zeon reporting," after which he lowered his hand back to his side, "I take it you are captain Kiwolski?"

A member of the hanger crew floated by and then began to lead the two Zeon suits to the back of the hanger where there were two empty spots. The hanger had been re-pressurized and the captain the XO where standing on the hanger deck. The mobile suit commander opened his cockpit and got on the comm. "just follow that member of the ground crew, he will lead you to your spots" he said before shutting his MS down. On most ZAFT ships there were at least two spots empty on the hanger deck in case there was any unofficial visits. The mobile suit commander walked over to the captain and XO and the three waiting for the Zeon officers to join them. The captain was in a white uniform with his rank pins on your neck and arms. the XO had a black uniform, and the mobile suit commander was still in his flight suit which was Black and grey.

Komusai II, inside the main hangar of the Dark Fable

"... Sieg Zeon!"

After some words of encouragement from the Rear Admiral, it was time.

The downward ramp was lowered, and Snowden began walking down from the ship, with two guards in Zeonic normal suits on his sides, slightly behind him. He, on the other hand, was wearing the black Zeonic uniform of a Rear Admiral. Like most of their uniforms, it had a distinct ornamental symbol (http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/4016/ralhchestyd0.gif) on the torso and a rank emblem (http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/729/ralhcollarvw1.gif) on the collar. He himself, as the Thrashians could notice if they cared enough, was a fit man in his thirties with short, black hair and a rather forgettable face.

As he was walking down, he quickly glanced around with very slight head movements. He quietly noted the Stormtroopers and that they seemed to be in far better shape than the people who were actually waiting down. Apparently, he thought, they take greater care in keeping their ground pounders in shape than their officers.

When he finally was in front of the men, he saluted, and said, "Rear Admiral Snowden of the Principality of Zeon reporting," after which he lowered his hand back to his side, "I take it you are captain Kiwolski?"

The three Imperial officer returned the Rear Admiral's salute. "You would be correct Rear Admiral Snowden," replied Daren. He turned to his subordinates. "This is Lieutenant Stahl, my adjutant, and Captain Piet who commands the ground forces attached to my ship."

He turned and motioned for the rear admiral to follow him. "We're unhappy that such a disaster need happen before our two peoples could meet in another more dignified fashion," said Daren, walking through the blast doors, followed by Snowden and his men, Stahl and Piet taking up the rear. "But then our reactors are still just now coming back to functional levels. Our engines are near cooked and are being repaired as I speak."

Within the hangar of the ZAFT vessel

The two did as they were told, and after placing their Mobile Suits to the holding area, they came down from their Mobile Suits.

As the ZAFT officers would notice, they wore nearly identical uniforms when it came to ornamentation - both had golden ornamentation placed on capes which continued from the chest to the back. There were some slight differences, such as the captain's cape (http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/196/cchestcapeoa4.jpg) being more angular than the Lieutenant Commander's one (http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/8663/ltcchestcapeyv5.jpg), not to mention slight differences in the actual ornamentation itself.

That, and the fact that while the captain's uniform was mostly black, the Lieutenant Commander's uniform was red - and only the captain was wearing a cap. Not to mention the fact that the Lieutenant Commander was a woman, while the captain was not.

As they walked towards the ZAFT officers, he was shaking his head while keeping it downwards, and kept his hand over his eyes behind his cap, while the Lieutenant Commander was smirking smugly. "Stop acting like a moron," he muttered beneath his breath, to which the Lieutenant Commander nodded slightly and quickly took a much more serious expression. Soon after, the captain lowered his hand to the side and raised his eyes from the ground.

It was time to get serious, anyway.

Then, as they were close enough to the officers, he saluted and said, "Captain Radalfsky of the 214th Autonomous Patrol Fleet."

Then, he lowered his hand and pointed at the Lieutenant Commander momentarily, "And this... Is Lieutenant Commander Radalfskaya. My beloved daughter."

And now, I have no idea why I took her with me here.

Dark Fable

"Indeed, indeed," said the Rear Admiral, while glancing at the surroundings that went past them as they walked towards where ever the good captain was taking them, making mental notes of the ship. Somewhat a boring design, with grey on grey on grey - although it seemingly works. Sure, it had seen better days, but that holds true for anything that's been pushed beyond its limit.

Everyone for their own.

"I am sure our technicians would like to take a look at your engines if you happen to need anything... Although I do think that our technologies might not be exactly compatible."

The Emperor's Benediction, on its exploratory mission to seek out new worlds in the service of the Immortal Emperor, moved with its ponderous train of Fleet Mechanicus and its lone Space Marine Assault Frigate. Having detected the transmissions from their probe, Mechanicus command in the home system ordered them to intercept the probe. Thus, they changed course, and Fleet Captain Michael Mendes was there to oversee the flock under his command. It was a small group as exploratory fleets went, just 50 Fleet Mechanicus, 2 Lunar vessels and a Frigate. But that was good enough.

"What's our heading?"

One of the officers replied, "Due southeast, sir. We're moving carefully."

The officer examined another pict-screen, having a servitor change viewpoints. The man then said, "Sir, there seems to be a nubmer of foreign ships ahead of us. Make and model unknown. Lots of traffic."

Mendes said, "Stay on course, but stay alert."

The captain and the other two returned the salute and the captain then spoke up "I'm Captain John Tolan of the 82nd deep space exploration fleet" he then point to his XO "This is Executive Officer 1st class Patrick O'niel" He then pointed to the last man "and lastly our mobile suit commander, Lieutenant Llyod Takahashi" he then turned back "pleasure to meet you both, shall we start the tour, might as well start with the hanger" he said to them.

Far from the center of this blighted system, though not so far as to go unnoticed, massive gates tore through reality, opening the way for a sleek and deadly group of vessels. Ships of the Sharonan Space Navy, seeking through space for new polities, first to emerge was the Shaylar class Destroyer Explorer, Sturmmitfahrer. Its powerful passive sensors took in every detail, and its long range gravitic arrays probed the system for information. Several items of note popped up, vessels of varying sizes, and what appeared to be orbital habitats. A reasonably advanced civilization...

More ships emerged, Heavy Cruisers, Der Jäger, Engel Holocaust, Gefrorene Masse, Erntemaschine von sorgen, and Carriers, Meister der Marionetten, Aussätzig-Messias, nimble destroyers, too numerous to name, but all bearing names that denoted their fel intent. The totality of the force was some 32 ships, but their intentions belied their names. Peaceful contact was their goal, but even the most polite of greetings can sound rather hostile in Sharonan.

Dieses ist Sharonan schwere Kreuzer Engel Holocaust, Kapitän Halian III chan Calirath, Kronprinz von Ternathia, im Namen des Kaisers Zindel II chan Calirath von Sharona. Ich bitte um Erlaubnis, meine genaueren Behälter zu holen und engagiere mich in der Darlegung mit Ihnen oder Ihren Repräsentanten.

A single Cruiser separated from the small task group, and moved a short distance closer to the nearest, and seemingly second most populous of the several orbital colonies, before broadcasting its message, in a dialect so ancient as to be nearly extinct.

OOC: Cause I'm nice, a translation of the message:

This is Sharonan Heavy Cruiser Angels Holocaust, Captain Halian III chan Calirath, Crown Prince of Ternathia, on behalf of Emperor Zindel II chan Calirath of Sharona. I request permission to bring my vessels closer, and engage in discourse with you or your representatives.

Axis

"Even more uninvited guests, I see," said the Admiral with his arms crossed as he watched the information the sensors were bringing in. "A fleet here," he said as he tapped the screen where the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet was at the moment ",and another closer to Side 3... All the while the fighting is still going on there."

He turned around, walked back to his seat and sat down.

"Put the first fleet under surveillance and have patrol fleets through 1 to 10 on standby. We don't need any more trouble as it is."

"What about the second one?"

"What'll be done about it is within Side 3's control, not ours. Our job is to get Axis to Earth orbit in a year's time, it's not, however, our business how Side 3 goes around doing its part."

Within the hangar of the ZAFT vessel

The captain glanced around him. The place didn't look that different from the hangar of a Zeon ship. But in truth, it looked a bit more like the hangar of a Federation ship than a Zeon one... In fact, if he didn't know better, he thought it would've been easy to make the mistake of thinking that he was in a Federation ship.

"Well, yes, the tour you promised is the reason why we are here after all. And of course, it is up to you where you want to start it from."

Zum City, Side 3

"Another fleet that's different from everything that's showed up so far?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What do we have close to it?"

"Well... Most of our fleet elements are engaging the hostile ships which are assailing Bunch 12..."

"So what do we have?"

"Uh... There's patrol fleet with the designation '1' in close proximity, in transit to the fight."

"Tell them to change their direction towards this unknown fleet. We don't want outsiders unchecked this close to Side 3. Also, give them Mobile Suit support from the colonies."

"As you wish, Sir."

"Of course."

A few minutes passed, and the officer suddenly hurried back.

"Sir, they're transmitting something."

"What, now? Show me."

And the officer did as she was told.

"German? That's novel. Alright, I'll cultivate a response for them."

And thus it went:

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - HIGH COMMAND

While we do appreciate you identifying yourself in such a forthright manner, we
must ask you to stay where you are as you still are trespassing on Zeon
territory. We have sent a group of ships to rendezvous with you. Their leader
has full authority to speak for the Principality.


Not to mention that we have no proof of their good intentions...

Most of the larger languages spoken on Earth were far from dead within the Principality. English was used for convenience, since most people knew it in addition to their native languages. Although, it was true that quite a few people no longer spoke any other languages than English.

Side 3 Patrol Fleet 1, on board the vessel Grawen, Gwazine class battleship, Side 3

"New orders!"

"Let's hear them."

And so, the officer spoke them out loud. They were to go towards the newest unidentified fleet of ships, because they were closest to the location, and that the orders came straight from the Supreme Commander himself.

"So instead of going to assist in the battle, we're to go there? Well, these orders came from the top. Tell the fleet and change our direction ASAP."

"Roger!"

And so, the fleet diverted its direction towards yet another unknown fleet.

The difference was from almost all the earlier ones, that this one actually had more than a handful of ships in it.

((OOC: Since I can't speak German, but this character supposedly should be able to, just consider the transmission was in it, please.))

The captain looked at him "Indeed it is, we shall make our way to engineering, along the way we will stop at a gunnery station, and several others, after that we will probably make our way to the bridge." he then turned around and the door opened "this way" he said to the two.

Axis

"Even more uninvited guests, I see," said the Admiral with his arms crossed as he watched the information the sensors were bringing in. "A fleet here," he said as he tapped the screen where the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet was at the moment ",and another closer to Side 3... All the while the fighting is still going on there."

He turned around, walked back to his seat and sat down.

"Put the first fleet under surveillance and have patrol fleets through 1 to 10 on standby. We don't need any more trouble as it is."

"What about the second one?"

"What'll be done about it is within Side 3's control, not ours. Our job is to get Axis to Earth orbit in a year's time, it's not, however, our business how Side 3 goes around doing its part."

Within the hangar of the ZAFT vessel

The captain glanced around him. The place didn't look that different from the hangar of a Zeonic ship. But in truth, it looked a bit more like the hangar of a Federation ship than a Zeon one... In fact, if he didn't know better, he thought it would've been easy to make the mistake of thinking that he was in a Federation ship.

"Well, yes, the tour you promised is the reason why we are here after all. And of course, it is up to you where you want to start it from."

Zum City, Side 3

"Another fleet that's different from everything that's showed up so far?"

"Yes, Sir."

"What do we have close to it?"

"Well... Most of our fleet elements are engaging the hostile ships which are assailing Bunch 12..."

"So what do we have?"

"Uh... There's patrol fleet with the designation '1' in close proximity, in transit to the fight."

"Tell them to change their direction towards this unknown fleet. We don't want outsiders unchecked this close to Side 3. Also, give them Mobile Suit support from the colonies."

"As you wish, Sir."

"Of course."

A few minutes passed, and the officer suddenly hurried back.

"Sir, they're transmitting something."

"What, now? Show me."

And the officer did as she was told.

"German? That's novel. Alright, I'll cultivate a response for them."

And thus it went:

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - HIGH COMMAND

While we do appreciate you identifying yourself in such a forthright manner, we
must ask you to stay where you are as you still are trespassing on Zeonic
territory. We have sent a group of ships to rendezvous with you. Their leader
has full authority to speak for the Principality.


Not to mention that we have no proof of their good intentions...

Most of the larger languages spoken on Earth were far from dead within the Principality. English was used for convenience, since most people knew it in addition to their native languages. Although, it was true that quite a few people no longer spoke any other languages than English.

Side 3 Patrol Fleet 1, on board the vessel Grawen, Gwazine class battleship, Side 3

"New orders!"

"Let's hear them."

And so, the officer spoke them out loud. They were to go towards the newest unidentified fleet of ships, because they were closest to the location, and that the orders came straight from the Supreme Commander himself.

"So instead of going to assist in the battle, we're to go there? Well, these orders came from the top. Tell the fleet and change our direction ASAP."

"Roger!"

And so, the fleet diverted its direction towards yet another unknown fleet.

The difference was from almost all the earlier ones, that this one actually had more than a handful of ships in it.

((OOC: Since I can't speak German, but this character supposedly should be able to, just consider the transmission was in it, please.))

"Kapitan, Meine Sensoren ermitteln eine in BewegungSchlacht, diese ist ein ziemlich schlechtes Zeichen, das ich denke."

"Ich sehe es Krueger, aber es gibt nichts, das wir tun können. Sie haben uns Anweisungen erteilt, und wir befolgen. Anders zu tun würde Unsinnigkeit sein. Unterstützung an diesem Punkt anzubieten würde auch vorzeitig sein."

Wir erwarten die Ankunft Ihrer Behälter, aber ich muß meine Neugier an der scheinenden abgenutzten Stelle in der Nähe ausdrücken. Was hat es gefunkt?

OOC: Cause I'm still nice.

We await the arrival of your vessels, but I must express my curiosity at the seeming fray nearby. What has sparked it?

(OOC: SOrry all I have been away for the last five days. I am trying to catch up with events on this thread. THrashia, quick question did you ever respond to my battlestar's transmission to your star destroyer?) I will post later on tomorrow when I have more time.)

Axis

"Even more uninvited guests, I see," said the Admiral with his arms crossed as he watched the information the sensors were bringing in. "A fleet here," he said as he tapped the screen where the Adeptus Mechanicus fleet was at the moment ",and another closer to Side 3... All the while the fighting is still going on there."

He turned around, walked back to his seat and sat down.

"Put the first fleet under surveillance and have patrol fleets through 1 to 10 on standby. We don't need any more trouble as it is."

"What about the second one?"

"What'll be done about it is within Side 3's control, not ours. Our job is to get Axis to Earth orbit in a year's time, it's not, however, our business how Side 3 goes around doing its part."

Mendes got a signal from some of the Fleet Mechanicus. They were being scanned; a clear sign that the locals were not going to be friendly.

One of the officers says, "Recommended course of action, sir?"

Mendes then said, "Hail them. Send a message, tell them we mean no harm."

This is Fleet Captain Arnold Mendes, of Squadron Honorius, in service to the Dominion of Hailung, Imperium of Man. We are not a threat, and we apologize for the intrusion. We are a mere exploratory force, seeking new lands and life in the name of the Immortal Emperor. We would like to speak with a representative from your leadership.

"Well, here goes," Barboni said as the Roma followed Patrol Fleet 31 to the asteroid base. "Send a message back to the Bari. Let them know we made contact and are investigating sales leads."
"Yes sir," replied the Andorian at the comm station. "I still think we should have stuck to the origonal plan to contact the Federation."
"That's why I'm captain," Barboni said while pointing his thumb at his chest. "Gotta be able to make quick choices on the fly. Relax," he sat back in the comand chair, "just as long as we can make a profit."
The Roma followed the fleet...

(ooc: sorry for the delayed response)

Within the hangar of the ZAFT vessel

The captain nodded and glanced towards his daughter, who grinned at him momentarily in response.

Just don't do anything...

He hoped that this would go on smoothly, while he noted the strength of the gravity in the ship. It actually was pretty much the same as in the colonies, or Earth for that matter.

Zum City, Side 3

The man tapped his seat's left armrest with his fingers, as his arm, well, rested on it.

"Hmph."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - HIGH COMMAND

It is an unprovoked attack on a space colony. They initially sent an invasive
probe and now are attempting to do something to a colony. Of course,
this is unacceptable.

Do not worry. They will be dealt with.


Side 3 Patrol Fleet 1, on board the vessel Grawen, Gwazine class battleship, Side 3

"We have them on visual, Sir!"

"Good. Let's get this thing done. Preferably sooner than later. Open a laser link."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - SIDE 3 PATROL FLEET #1 - GRAWEN

This is captain Steinhauer, commander of the Principality's Mobile Patrol Fleet
#1, Side 3 subdivision. We are here to represent the Principality of Zeon on
the behalf of the Supreme Commander himself.


Axis

"'Imperium of Man'? 'Immortal Emperor'?" Soon, the Admiral shook his head and continued, "Why do they all show up now? This is hardly convenient... For us."

"Well, Sir. You should be the one to know that things never tend to go the way they are planned."

The Admiral laughed out.

"Yes, you're right. I know that very well."

He glanced at the monitors.

"What's the status on the other unidentified vessel?"

"They're escorting it in as we speak. No problems reported so far."

"Good. Tell Rear Admiral Reynes to go to the hangar to meet up with these people. And remember to tell him that he won't be able to weasel out of this one. If he even tries, I'll have him thrown into the brig. And tell him to wear a normal suit. We have no idea what these people are packing."

"Heh, will do, Sir!"

"But now, open up communications with these," he pointed at the the fleet in one of the monitors, "people."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - AXIS COMMAND

Duly noted. As the commander of this asteroid station and its surroundings
which you currently inhabit, I ask you, what is it that you wish to speak
about?


Axis, hangar

"... I can't believe he gave me such a menial task," uttered the Rear Admiral while waiting in the hangar which was currently de-pressurized due to it having a direct passage to space in his black normal suit.

"It's not like you have anything else to do. And it'll be good for your diplomatic skills," spoke a man who was right next to him in a green normal suit. His face was obscured by the helmet.

"True, true. I hope this'll turn out well. Tell me again who these people are."

"But I..."

"Just humor me."

"Well, they claim to be from Side 6. But the report says that they've been acting oddly and saying weird things to be such. Not to mention that the ship isn't even close to anything we have on file."

"Suspicious bunch, aren't they."

"Yes, Sir."

Axis Patrol Fleet 31, on board the vessel Asarum, Gwazine class battleship, Very close to Axis

"OK, so now we need to tell them to get inside, and we can go back to doing our regular job," said the captain with a certain level of relief coming over him.

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - Axis Patrol Fleet #31 - Asarum

This is captain Baer again. We now ask you to land inside the Axis, right into
that large, lighted hole on the side. The hangar has been cleared out for
you. I have been told that someone who can speak to you about the
Principality buying your technologies is waiting for you there.

Oh yes, and once you have docked inside, please wait for the hangar to
pressurize. It is currently hard vacuum.

Over and out.



((OOC: I was waiting for Thrashia and the guy with the fellers at Bunch 12 to post, but they seem to have gone AWOL. That's no reason for me to stop the other, non-related parts of the story, though.))

(OOC: Sorry I seem to be away, but I am waiting for THrashia, since his next post will determine if I can attempt to have a friendly relation with him, or if I will attempt to blow him out of the sky. Principle, if you would like I can send a diplomatic team to your command center to talk, or I can wait til after the situation with Thrashia has been resolved your call.)

"Well, take us in," ordered Barboni. "Let's see where this goes." He turned to address a Ferengi (http://www.dfmk.hu/trektorbeam/cikkek/lexikon/ferengi.jpg) standing at the back on the bridge. "Ranax, get to the lower airlock with your sample kit," he said.
"It's already their," Ranax replied. "Just get me into that base, and leave the marketing to me." With that, he entered the turbolift and left the bridge.

The Roma (http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h52/nx9100/akyazi2.jpg) slowly entered the hanger and hovered on it's thrusters. "All right, lower the boarding ramp," Barboni ordered. "And settle in. Knowing Ranax, we could be here a while..."

As the ship came to a stop, a cargo ramp lowered from the portside-aft section of the saucer. Ranax walked down, followed by a pair of humans pushing a anti-grave container about the size of a coffin. All three wore pressure suits. Ranax paused at the bottom and looked around. After spotting Rear Admiral Reynes, he led the humans over to greet him.
"Greeting!" he said over the suit's comm. "My name is Ranax, trade representitive of the Romano Family Cartel. I come with free samples of some of our fine products available for sale." He clasped his hands together and, looking at the two figures, asked, "To whom am I addressing?"

The captain began walking down the hall with the Zeon officers close behind. As they walked down the corridor crew of the ship passed by on there normal routine. They then came to a door and they group walked in "This is the armoury; there are several of them on the ship if there is a need to arm the crew we will order them to come here and pick up a weapon." He then walked over to one of the racks and picked up a rifle and took it over to the range "This is the R-131 Automatic Plasma Rifle, it can go though its 200 round energy pack in under 70 seconds and has multiple attachments from a grenade launcher to a sensor probe launcher" he then turned the gun around "would you like to give it a try on the range captain?" he asked.

The CIC of the Battlestar Griffon, was as quiet as a tomb. The only noise that was to be heard was the hum of the computers, and the clicking of buttons on computer panels. Everyone seemed to be nervous, as if something terrible was about to happen.

Commander Ladia looked at her watch. 5 minutes had past, and still no word from the ISD. This was unacceptable.

"Have they lowered their shields and powered down their weapons?"

No Sir, all reports indicate that the ISD still has them powered up.

Fire Cannons 1-8 across their bow, to let them know that we are serious.

Sir, Cannons 1-8 are loaded with the EMB shells.

That is fine, they will see a prettly light show then, hopefully they will get the point that we are being serious.

From the blackness of space, several shots were fired, as massive blue streaks past the ISD's bow. None of them were intended to hit the ship, as the shots barely missed the shields of the Imperial Star Destroyer. 24 shots in total streaked past the ship before the firing stopped.

"10 degrees bow up, close the distance between us and the star destroyer, I do not want them to figure out where are. All ahead Flank speed.

[I]Ayre sir, 10 degrees bow up, engines are reporting all ahead flank speed./I]


Transmission to the Imperial Star Destroyer
This is the Battlestar Griffon to the Imperial Star Destroyer, power down your shields and weapons, or next time we will not be so kind.

Transmission to the Principle of Zion

This is the Battlestar Griffon to the Principle of Zion. Until the situation is resolved, we will maintain radio silence. Please be advised that we wish very much to meet with you in person, but as long as an Imperial Star Destroyer is in orbit, we believe it is dangerous to meet face to face. We will contact you when the situation has been resolved.

Axis

"'Imperium of Man'? 'Immortal Emperor'?" Soon, the Admiral shook his head and continued, "Why do they all show up now? This is hardly convenient... For us."

"Well, Sir. You should be the one to know that things never tend to go the way they are planned."

The Admiral laughed out.

"Yes, you're right. I know that very well."

He glanced at the monitors.

"What's the status on the other unidentified vessel?"

"They're escorting it in as we speak. No problems reported so far."

"Good. Tell Rear Admiral Reynes to go to the hangar to meet up with these people. And remember to tell him that he won't be able to weasel out of this one. If he even tries, I'll have him thrown into the brig. And tell him to wear a normal suit. We have no idea what these people are packing."

"Heh, will do, Sir!"

"But now, open up communications with these," he pointed at the the fleet in one of the monitors, "people."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - AXIS COMMAND

Duly noted. As the commander of this asteroid station and its surroundings
which you currently inhabit, I ask you, what is it that you wish to speak
about?




A reply came back from Mendes' command, saying, "You seem to be a civilization of some technological prowess; thus, we wish to communicate with whoever's in charge here, if you so please."

Now all Mendes could do was wait....

Axis, hangar

What the...?

He could tell that something was amiss with the character that was in front of him. As though he wasn't exactly... Human. As it came closer, it became obvious that this thing wasn't human. It also quickly became painfully obvious that they weren't from Side 6.

Odd of them to practically admit it at this point.

He still saluted the creature. He didn't want to cause any kind of trouble with breaching protocol and all that. And he seemed to be escorted by humans, so apparently they weren't aggressive types.

Something positive.

"I am Rear Admiral Reynes of the Principality of Zeon, Axis division."

He lowered his hand.

"So, what exactly are you selling?"

Inside the ZAFT vessel

So they use plasma weapons, thought the captain ,That is good in space... But their range should be rather short in an atmosphere. Well, guess it works well in the corridors of a space ship.

When the man asked him if he wanted to try the weapon out in the range, he shook his head.

"No, no need for that," he said, smiling, "Let's just continue on this tour, shall we?"

On the deck of the Gwazine class battleship Gwazen, Side 3 Patrol Fleet 3, Side 3

"Sir, the high command has approved our request for a proper envoy."

"That's good. When will he be arriving?"

"She'll be here in a half an hour, Sir."

"'She'? Oh. OK. Well, I'll formulate a response to them again."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - SIDE 3 PATROL FLEET #3 - GWAZEN

If that is what you wish to do. We should, hopefully by that time, have
someone who has the authority to speak with you of the issues you brought
up earlier.

We will wait for your response.


Axis

The Admiral scratched his head whilst still having his officer's cap on.

"That was an odd response. Maybe they didn't quite understand what I said. I'll try again."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - AXIS COMMAND

As the commander of this asteroid base, Axis, I, Admiral Roth, am the
one in charge here. And I ask you again, what is it that you want to talk
about?

((OOC: If Red Tide2 doesn't post in the next few days, I'll consider his thing in the thread as resolved by the way. I can't keep the entire Side 3 at war status all the time!))

(OOC: Until Thrashia returns to this thread, I will assume that the situation is resolved. When thrashia returns, if he does, then we can resume that side story.)

To the Principality of Zion, this is the Battlestar Griffon of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. In order to conduct better diplomatic talks, and in a gesture of friendship, we invite a diplomatic team to come onboard the Battlestar Griffon. Refreshments will be provided, however you must come unarmed. This is a requirement of the Articles of Colonization, the core law of the Twelve Colonies. If you will agree to this, we will clear our starboard Flightpod, in order for you to land. Please Acknowledge.

Ranax signeled for his helpers to open the container. "We have many items available," he said. "For example," he reached into the container and withdrew a device that could only be a weapon. "This is a Type 2 Phaser (http://www.movieprop.com/d9a.jpg) rifle. It fires a streamed energy beam at the target. It can be set at different levels of power, including stun and disintegrate." He held the rifle out to the Rear Admiral. "Care to try it out?" he asked as the helpers gathered other items from the container.

"Alright then" he said putting the gun down and walking out the door "we are near gunnery station 24 so we will go there next" he said as they all walked down the corridor. Several hundred meters soon passed under there feet and they walked in a door, the ship was built like a true warship, no luxury items. The men of the gunnery station noticed the captain, turned around and stood at attention "at ease, we are just giving our guests a tour" the captain told them as the group walked up a ramp to the station. At the station they were looking out a window, on the other side of the windows was the warships main cannons "This gunnery station controls one of the ships main cannons, each cannon is a 480mm Quad barrel Hyper Positronic cannon, there are 15 of them on the ship, along with several other weapon systems. Each individual barrel has a power output high enough to blast cracks into the surface of a small moon, or a large creator in a planets surface, There range is within a few thousand light minutes, putting us in range of that red planet at a lower power setting and that gas giant on the higher settings. They are extremly powerful and vary new, most ZAFT ships are still being refitted with them, except for the newer classes like our Dagger class dreadnought" he told them

On the deck of the Gwazine class battleship Gwazen, Side 3 Patrol Fleet 3, Side 3

"So they're willing to begin. Good, good. Send word to the envoy, and tell her that she shouldn't be carrying any weapons. The patrols will take care of her safety... More or less."

"Will do, Sir!"

"And now..."

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - SIDE 3 PATROL FLEET #3 - GWAZEN

We agree to your terms. We have sent word to the designated envoy of the
condition you have set, so there will be no misunderstandings on that front.
She should be arriving soon.



Komusai II, #59

"No weapons?! How am I supposed to protect myself?"

"Well, Ma'am, that is the only condition they set. And they say the patrols will make sure nothing gets to happen."

"... That's not very comforting," she said and sighed. "Do you know what that means, usually?"

"Uh, no, Ma'am."

"That they'll destroy the ship with me in it if something happens."

"Oh... Right."

She shook her head.

"Well, let's change course and get there."

"Roger."

Axis, hangar

He looked at the weapon the veritable peddler of goods was showing to him with a certain amount of astonishment. Indeed, the last time he had seen a weapon that looked like that was when he bought a toy gun for his child years ago before he got divorced. Indeed, it felt like ages.

"An energy based hand weapon, you say? As someone from Side 6, you should know that we have something called 'Beam Resistance Coating' on everything these days, ever since the Independence War," he said as he took the weapon and looked at it. It sure looks like a child's toy... That could be handy, though, if you need to smuggle weapons to some Feddie remnant base without them noticing.

"But what the hell, I'll try it anyway."

He pointed the weapon at one of the ReGelg shields in the hangar.

"Hey guys, get out of the way, I'm going to try this thing on that shield!"

The techies who were working in that general direction laughed and moved out of the way. And anyway, it wasn't out of their pay that one of the officers wanted to try to wreck some gear.

Let's try at full power...

Then, he fired.

And as expected, the shield was still there, although smoke was rising from the spot that had been hit. Well, what do you know, it obviously did something.

"Hey guys, could you check the damage on that thing now?"

"Sure, Sir," shouted back one of the techies whilst grinning widely, still wearing the helmet of his normal suit even though the hangar had been pressurized.

"Damage report!"

"The spot you shot at wasn't punctured, but it was a close call, Sir! There's damage on the Beam Resistance Coating on the surroundings, but the damage isn't as bad as in the point of impact when you go further away from it."

The Rear Admiral looked at the weapon again.

"Hmm. Not bad for a weapon with practically no recoil and of this general feel. Not bad at all."

He gave it back to Ranax.

"How hard is it to manufacture those, anyway? And... What else do you have?"

Inside the ZAFT vessel

"That is quite impressive for a capital ship weapon, I must say. Although it sounds like the drain on the reactors must be... Heavy. How do you power them and the entire ship in a battle situation, exactly? Or are the reactors of your vessels powerful enough to fire all of them at once in the first place?"

But you need weapons of that caliber with these outsiders that seem to be popping in here now? Interesting. And somewhat frightening.

Zum City, Side 3

They finally rid us of the ships that were attacking Bunch 12... Some are now looking through the wreckage for anything of use, as they should be... A few fleets staying put to observe if anything happens now, some are returning to regular duty, others are helping with the recovering of Bunch 12 itself... Good, things are returning to normalcy in Side 3. Now we can concentrate on the less hostile outsiders, and on the resistance on Earth.

((OOC: Again, was waiting for Thrashia because he promised to post. Note to self. Don't wait like that when people say they'll post, it's unlikely anyhow.))

This is the Battlestar Griffon to the Battleship Gwazen. Be advised that the starboard flightpod has been cleared and your designated envoy has clearance to land.

When your diplomat exits the ship, an entire squad of marines is awaiting her. They are dressed in black uniforms, with a kevlar vest, armed with rifles, in a military parade formation, of two rows. At the end of the row is Commander Ladia, and her command staff in their dress uniforms. Commander Ladia, who stands about 5'7, with blond hair, about shoulder length, and has a gray uniform with a golden sash. On her Sash are several medals.

As your diplomat begins to walk through the formation, Commander Ladia, and her command staff salute. She gives a faint smile. "Welcome to the Battlestar Griffon. On behalf of the Twelve Colonies, I would like to thank you for your visit. She turns slightly extending her hand to a door.

"If you will please, let's go to the briefing room. We have several things that we would like to discuss with you."

As you begin to walk with her, a marine opens the bulkhead door. THe walls are gray with florecscent lighting. The hallway themselves are shaped in a octogon formation. It seems to be very spacious.

As you walk into the briefing room, the first thing you will notice is the table is set up very lavishly. Food of every variety is on the table, turkey, ham, steak, an assortment of vegtables and fruit, several bottles of wine.

On the wall hangs the flag of the twelve colonies. A bird like creature with 12 pointed feathers surronded by a circle. Underneath the circle you see Battlestar Griffon BSG 21. The flag hangs down instead of sideways. The colors are purple with yellow trim. Next to the central flag, is a flag representing all of the Twelve individual colonies each with a greek symbol representing the colony.

"Would you care for some food or something to drink?", Commander Ladia says with a smile.

The captain looked at him " Our Reactor can turn out enough power for this ship to function at 100% in a combat situation, Everything from our FTL drive to these and the other weapons on the ship, we can get the guns to fire continuously, our reactor has a large number of cooling systems so that if a few go offline we can still fight" he told him.

Ranax took the phaser and handed it to one of his aids. "Producing them is not difficult," he replied. "However, it is not required. We can provide all the phaser rifles you may need. And more powerful ones as well." He turned to accept a data PADD from his aid. "Thank you," he said, as the aids lifted something new from the container. It was a thin object that looked like a giant cassette and was about 1 meter long by 3/4 of a meter tall. "This is a prototype, or sample of our newest technology," Ranax said. As the aids set the object on the ground, Ranax pressed a control on his PADD. The aids stepped back as the object began to make humming sounds. Ranax pressed another control. The object began to unfold itself, parts that appeared to be legs moved and lifted it off of the ground. A pair of weapon pods extended, one on each side. Finally, what looked like a head rotated around to face the Rear Admiral. The whole process took a matter of seconds, and left a robotic creature that appeared like a jungle cat. "Behold," proclaimed Ranax. "Our newest form of combat. The prototype, Ravage EX (http://www.transformersclassics.com/news/data/upimages/ravage-robot.jpg)!" He waved his hand at the robot. "This is only a prototype," he reminded the Read Admiral, "the final versions are much larger, and have different bodies. They're armed with various energy and physical weapons, in both vehical and robot modes. Controlling them is simple." He indicated his PADD. "While they have basic intelligence, they must be controlled from a remote location. These are only drones, and cannot think for themselves." He tapped a control, "would you like a demonstration?"

Battlestar Griffon

As your diplomat begins to walk through the formation, Commander Ladia, and her command staff salute.

As the command staff salutes, she salutes back and says with a rather monotone voice, "Captain Santos, Zeon Special Forces, reporting in." She noted that they were, at least by the looks of it, quite human. It'd be impossible to tell them apart of... Well, anyone. And she wasn't dead yet, so they breathed oxygen, too. So far so good.

As she was of the special forces, her uniform was red as opposed to the more regular brownish or black uniforms used within the Zeon military, with the corresponding golden colored emblem on her chest. She had her brunette, somewhat short-ish hair on a pony tail. It'd be hard to say if she was of Germanic or Hispanic descent, as she had characteristics of both.

Welcome to the Battlestar Griffon. On behalf of the Twelve Colonies, I would like to thank you for your visit.

She nodded, smiled, and walked after the commander.

As they walked through the ship towards the briefing room, she noted that they obviously had a certain like for pomposity - much like the Zabi family. And their flags were sort of reminiscent of both Zeon and Federal ones - relatively interesting an observation.

Then the commander asked if she wanted food or drink.

She shook her head slightly, and said, "No, thank you, I'm fine."

She glanced around the room again.

"Now, what is it that you wish to talk about? And what are these 'twelve colonies', exactly?"

Inside the ZAFT vessel

He nodded.

"Interesting. Interesting indeed."

If what he's saying is true, and the weapons are as powerful as I think, I wonder if we have anything but the Colony Laser in our arsenal that could match their sheer destructive power... Well, and the Mass Drivers, but they aren't really weapons.

"So," he said, smiling, "what else do you have to show?"

Axis, hangar

He observed the machine with an amused look on his face, which was obscured by his normal suit's helmet's visor. Now, as if it wasn't before, it was 100% certain that these people weren't from Side 6.

"Remote controlled drones? You do realize that our Mobile Suits," he points at the large mechs all around the hangar, "already do what those could do and more? And due to the wide spread use of M particles, any form of regular remote control in warfare is out of the question. The controller has to be present to give the machine its commands or at least rather close, or else the M particles will scramble them all, rendering the machine useless."

And as far as I'm aware, there is already a project with transformable Mobile Suits.

"So, unless it uses some kind of exotic method for the remote controlling... What else do you have?"

Battlestar Griffon



As the command staff salutes, she salutes back and says with a rather monotone voice, "Captain Santos, Zeonic Special Forces, reporting in." She noted that they were, at least by the looks of it, quite human. It'd be impossible to tell them apart of... Well, anyone. And she wasn't dead yet, so they breathed oxygen, too. So far so good.

As she was of the special forces, her uniform was red as opposed to the more regular brownish or black uniforms used within the Zeonic military, with the corresponding golden colored emblem on her chest. She had her brunette, somewhat short-ish hair on a pony tail. It'd be hard to say if she was of Germanic or Hispanic descent, as she had characteristics of both.



She nodded, smiled, and walked after the commander.

As they walked through the ship towards the briefing room, she noted that they obviously had a certain like for pomposity - much like the Zabi family. And their flags were sort of reminiscent of both Zeonic and Federal ones - relatively interesting an observation.

Then the commander asked if she wanted food or drink.

She shook her head slightly, and said, "No, thank you, I'm fine."

She glanced around the room again.

"Now, what is it that you wish to talk about? And what are these 'twelve colonies', exactly?"

Commander Ladia begins to sit down, and motions for her guests to do the same.

"What are the Twelve Colonies? So you have lost all record of our existance, that explains a lot. She sighs. Ok, I will give you a brief history. Kobal is the birthplace of all of humanity. 4000 years ago we lived there along side the Lords of Kobal. It was a paridise, the 13 tribes of humanity lived in peace. According to our scriptures and ancient record books, a great blaze occured when one of the Lords, whos name was not recorded, desired to be worshipped as a God above all of the other lords. Then a great blaze occured, which caused the 13 tribes of humanity to scatter to the stars. 12 of the 13 colonized our current system, and became known as the Twelve Colonies of Kobal.

The 13th tribe however went the oppisite direction, for some unknown reason to a 13th Colony which was named Earth. Earth until very recently was thought to be a myth, as was Kobal until it was recently rediscovered. When we found Kobal, we decided to look for you, and found you we have.

The threat I wished so urgently to talk to you about, is known as the Galactic Empire. They are a imperialistic empire who is bent on subjectigating all of the universe into their fold. We simply wish to re-establish relations with the 13th colony, and to perhaps form an alliance with you.

Tell me what happened to earth, and why do you live in these space colonies?"

She listened to the Commander with some very deep doubts in her mind. While there was no obvious indication that the woman was aware that she was lying, it was obvious that she had to be... Somewhat... Delusional. Or then all the Principality and all before them knew of history was a lie - which was quite unlikely. Still, they seemed technologically sophisticated enough to be a force to be reckoned with, and if they weren't from Earth, they had to know how to travel faster than the speed of light.

But she still found the claims to be atrocious.

"Hmm. If this what you call 'Kobal' is the birth place of humanity, then why is there solid proof of humanity's evolution down there, on Earth? Proof that goes far beyond four thousand years, according to generations and generations of archaeologists? And if humans are 'from the stars' as you say, why did they start from absolute zero technology-wise and had to overrun the 'local' human species - who were, according to genetics, capable of interbreeding with our species - the hard way? Not to mention that genetically we are related to everything on the planet?"

She crossed her arms.

"That aside... This Galactic Empire you speak of? We haven't met them yet, apparently luckily enough. You mean that there is an empire which attacks non-aligned nations indiscriminantly, unprovoked just to gain a little bit of power? Hmm. That does sound like a major problem."

"And what happened to Earth, you ask? To summarize it... Earth was overcrowded and polluted, and the only way to really help it recover was to leave it alone. This was a philosophy called 'contolism', which is something Side 3 took in as its own. After our independence war some six years ago, we managed to transfer all remaining Earthnoids to the Space Colonies. Yes, Earth itself is still habitable, we just don't need to keep straining it."

We do have some proof. Kobal has ruins on it that date back to the time of the first great exodus, structure and bones that are indeed human. Perhaps though our time charts are different from yours, but as to the origins of humanity, as far as we know it did originate on Kobal. The colonist would have brought with them many forms of animals which could be the fossils of the evolution that you speak of. That would also explain why you are related to everything on the planet. As to why you started off with little or no technology, I do not know. The scriptures and history books are blank on what happened when you arrived at earth. Only the road to earth and the 13th tribe being established there was recorded. As I said we lost contact over 4000 years ago, and history from 4000 years ago can be a bit sketchy. Oneday, if you like, we can show you Kobal.

One thing is for certain, our history books say that the 13th tribe of humanity settled on earth, and here at a planet named earth, are humans. We are the same.

I know that you have your doubts, and if you like I will allow you to take a sample of my DNA to verify my claims, that we are human like you. If you would even like I will take you to Caprica, the Capitol of the Twelve Colonies of Kobal. We have some artifacts from Kobal there, like the Arrow of Apollo.

Have you heard that name before, or any of the other lords, Aphrodite, Artimis, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Ares, Hades, Posidion or have their names been lost as well?

But we did not travel across the galaxy to debate the origin of humanity, nor does it even matter if you believe me or the history books that we possess. I would however when we have gained sufficent trust begin to discuss a re-establishment of relations, or from your point of view an establishment, for mutual defense and perhaps allow us to create a small shipyard and base here as a fall back position should it ever be needed. Aside from money, we can offer you a technology trade that would prove to be mutually benificial.

The captain turned to him "Engine room, then the bridge" the captain said to him. He then turned to the door "this way" he told them. He then began to walk down the ramp towards the door on the far side of the room. He then stopped at the door "it will take a couple minutes to walk to the rear of the ship" he said before continueing through the door.

Battlestar Griffon

--One thing is for certain, our history books say that the 13th tribe of humanity settled on earth, and here at a planet named earth, are humans. We are the same.

"Yes, yes, I can believe that you're human, but that's not the point. I just don't believe that this planet here isn't where our species evolved. There's evidence here of the presence of life, human and otherwise, that goes well beyond mere four thousand years. It's in the range of hundreds of thousands of years - not to mention that everything alive here has a common ancestry with us humans, and they have been extant on this planet for millions of years."

Have you heard that name before, or any of the other lords, Aphrodite, Artemis, Zeus, Hera, Athena, Ares, Hades, Poseidon or have their names been lost as well?

"Yes. Those names are from the ancient Greek pantheon, some five to two hundred years before the beginning of the Gregorian calendar. But that doesn't prove anything - there were cultures all around the planet during that time already, and only those within the Greco-Roman cultural sphere believed in those gods before Christianity."

But we did not travel across the galaxy to debate the origin of humanity -- establishment of relations -- mutual defense -- technology trade --

"Fair enough," she said, nodding slightly. "The Principality of Zeon is interested in establishing relations with you, the Twelve Colonies of Kobal, as well. Any form of mutual defense would have to wait, though, as... Well. We first need to establish said relations, don't we? Similar reason stands for, at least for the moment, declining your request to form a base here in Sol. We still know precious little of you, other than the fact that you obviously have certain... What I would call Greco-Roman undertones, and that you are friendly enough to have a conversation with. But as a longer term plan, yes, it is workable."

Then, she took a deep breath.

"Having said that, what kind of technological trade are you speaking of?"

Inside the ZAFT vessel

"Alright, lead the way."

He glanced at his daughter who was showing quite unnecessary curiosity on... Certain items here and there. He gave her a mean look, she smiled at him momentarily and started following the two again.

Why did I take her with me? She always has to try to embarrass me somehow.

Truth to be told, she is a very capable officer when on regular duty. Just that now that she is on her father's command, she just can't help herself. On an unconscious level, it's like she's getting back at him for all the years of neglect caused by his military career, which she is ironically following.

Commander Ladia, stands up and walks over to the bar. She reaches below and grabs a crystal short glass, and begins to pour some scotch. "Would you like one?" as she holds the glass out to Captain Santos. (if you accept you will recieve one)

Commander Ladia sits back down and takes a sip. Ahh, she says, as the liquid burns down her throat.

"Forgive me for being so foward, we came here expecting to find our long lost cousins, and here it seems that we are actually in the middle of a first contact situation. If I had known the extent of the lost knowledge of Kobal and the colonies, I would never have been so forward and try to rush such strong diplomatic notions so early.

It is strange however that we are so similiar, yet so different, that so much of us has been lost to mythology and legend. I can not say I am that surprised, up until five years ago we thought Earth was a myth. It seems we have a lot to make up for. What is this Greco-Roman influence that you speak of, and what is this Christainity? I am very curious, how this Christainity, whatever it is has replaced the lords to you. However I am very pleased that the names at least are preserved in your history, it at least gives us a starting point to have open dialogue.

She takes another sip of her scotch. It would seem that one explaniation could be possible for your lost communications, or your lack of deep space exploration is the lost technology of the FTL jump drive. If I am wrong please stop me. We would like to offer you the schematics, theory on spacefold technology, and two working FTL drives which were designed for a fighter or bomber.

I have been told by other spacefarring races that the Earth has been in many wars, probably more than the Colonies themselves. If you have anything that could possibly aid us in our struggle then we would greatly appreciate it. After all so much time has past, and your stuggles might have caused the neccessity of devolping technologies that were not neccessary for the colonies.

(ooc: question is this thread closed to any new entires?)

"Would you like one?" as she holds the glass out to Captain Santos. (if you accept you will recieve one)

"No thank you, I'm on duty," she said, smiling politely.


What is this Greco-Roman influence that you speak of, and what is this Christainity? I am very curious, how this Christainity, whatever it is has replaced the lords to you.

"Now, I'm no historian, but these are things we are taught in school. I apologize if this seems hard to understand. Greco-Roman stands for Greek and Roman. I'm speaking of the ancient, 'classical' Greece, and of the Roman Empire, which would have been in existence around the time your supposed exodus reached Earth, I would think. Now, Greece was a bunch of city states, Athens, Sparta and such, and most of the names you mentioned would go into their Olympian pantheon. Zeus being the 'King of Gods', 'God of Thunder', who sired many of the other gods. Hera was his wife... And so forth. Note that these gods didn't really exist, it was all a religious belief. Greece has been called the 'home of the Western civilization', since many of the philosophic ideas and so forth which hatched many sciences in the Middle Ages came initially from there. The cultural influence of Greece was strong during and after its existence as what it was, but they didn't really conquer lands outside of Greece itself. Athens was the first place ever to use democracy in practice, even if it was limited to so called 'free men'."

Again, she took a deep breath.

"Rome, on the other hand, was an empire which grew to encompass much of the then-known world, which basically meant the surroundings of the Mediterranean... I'll show you the general area later on. They were deeply affected by the Greek philosophers and religion, and basically just renamed many of their gods and made them their own. As I said, they managed to take over much of the then-known world, and kept it for several hundred years. After that, the Empire was split in two, West and East. Just before that Christianity, a rather new monotheistic religion had been made the state religion in the entire Empire, and... This religion prevailed for quite some time. For over a thousand years. Even though the Empire in the West fell, it was just replaced by a strong religious, Christian mechanism, that was practically the same as an Empire, as their religious leader was supposedly higher than all the secular rulers."

She took another deep breath.

"Christianity replaced all the earlier religions in the 'West', as all the new small kingdoms wanted to be in the good graces of the church. There were many, many small countries, constant clashes between countries... And as time went on, since the so called Western civilization was the most competitive of all the civilizations in existence during those times, it pretty much had control of the entire planet for several hundred years. But everything slowly changed, the church lost its power, smaller Protestant churches were formed, enlightenment and trust in the almightiness of the church died... And then technology took many leaps forward during the Middle Ages, people started caring about human rights and the state of the planet."

And yet another deep breath.

"Note that most of the older civilizations were based on slavery. Greece was based on slavery, Rome had slavery, during the reign of the Christian religion there were different forms of slavery under the auspices of something called 'feudalism'. They were limited technology-wise, having only iron, bronze and steel to work with. This is also one of the reasons why I find it extremely hard to believe that humanity wouldn't have begun here on Earth. Why would they have started from zero, when they should've had the technology to start from close to where we are now?"

"... I babble. I apologize."

--, or your lack of deep space exploration is the lost technology of the FTL jump drive. If I am wrong please stop me.

"FTL? You mean Faster Than Light? Well, it is true that we don't have them, but considering that all the technology we have now isn't really something that just came to us from the sky, but rather has been arduously researched and created by very ingenious people during the passage of centuries... I wouldn't call it lost technology."

We would like to offer you the schematics, theory on spacefold technology, and two working FTL drives which were designed for a fighter or bomber.

"Hmm. You would offer us those... But what do you want in return? If there's something we have come to know, it is that there are no free lunches. And what kind of reactor output do these fighter/bomber drives require?"

-- If you have anything that could possibly aid us in our struggle then we would greatly appreciate it. -- and your stuggles might have caused the neccessity of devolping technologies that were not neccessary for the colonies.

"Well. That depends. It could be that since we have been completely isolated from other civilizations until now that we aren't technologically up to snuff, so to speak. Since there has been a need to create military technologies that can counter the technologies of our other local human adversaries, rather than some enemy that might have some exotic weaponry in its use..."

She stopped momentarily.

"Well, let me think. There's the Mobile Suit, most obviously... Then... We militarized the Mass Driver at Luna 2... And then there's that Colony Laser... The M particle, and Mega Particle Cannons, of course... What kind of technologies are you looking for, exactly, anyway?"

((OOC: And to answer The Fedral Union, no it's not closed. Lot of people haven't been posting so it's not as cluttered as before.

Oh yes, and for the people in the UC, "Middle Ages" also means the 20th century - so Hitler and the sorts are, for them, from the "Middle Ages".))

Ranax smiled at the Rear Admiral. "M Particles, you say," he replied. "I'm not sure if our drones can be shilded against them or not. However, as for a more exotic control system..." he rested his head on his fist, thinking. "Admiral," he said after a moment, "I'm not supposed to do this, but I think I can inpress you." he leaned forward with a mischievous look in his eye. "We have another prototype," he said. "One that has no need for remote control, for it has been equipped with an A.I., one that is more advanced that any other I've ever seen," he made this claim while jabbing a thumb into his chest. "It can think for itself, and make choices only living beings are capable off. Plus, its body is built of a new experimental material. In tests, not even a proton torpedo could break the frame." He stood back and placed his hands on his hips. "Of course, controling the personality would be just like any other soldier. This is more than a mere combat robot."
He leaned in again. "If your interested, I could have the specs transmitted to your office."

After a shoot time of walking they arrived at the engine room, they went through the doors, revealing the large engine room. They large FTL drives were the largest thing in the room and were at the back "Welcome to the engine room, two FTL drives are in this room, it gives us the power to travel instantly between any two points, but its range is limited so it takes several jumps to get to a far off location. Infact it took 17 jumps to get here from our home land, of course we took the long way here" He said to them "We have two auxiliary power supplies, and have things like life support and our environment on separate systems, I personally do not know every thing about quantum physics but the set we have I'm told is vary efficient" he said to them, for most pre-FTL civilizations a FTL drive would be a dream come true.

Axis, hangar

The Rear Admiral nodded approvingly.

"That sounds like something we could use. Although I do personally have reservations towards excessively intelligent, sentient even, artificial intelligences... Is it possible to dumb it down a few steps? Non-sapient animals can make choices, too."

After saying that, he quickly glanced at the officer next to him who had just been talking silently to his comm. He nodded silently at the Rear Admiral.

"Yes, we are interested in this. Feel free to transmit the specifications to us. Though, would you be willing to sell us some the technologies surrounding this machine? Like, how to make this artificial intelligence, and how to make this armor of yours? They could be of use in our Mobile Suits."

Inside the ZAFT vessel

The captain nodded. While the fact that others had the technology to move where ever they wanted, whenever they wanted did make him a bit nervous, it didn't show outwardly.

"I had gathered that you had to have some kind of method to move faster than the speed of light to get here, especially since we saw how you just simply seemed to appear out of thin air."

He looked at the drives.

"But why do you have two of them in one vessel? Is one for redundancy, or do you really need both?"

The other bits and pieces of information did make sense to him, as you wouldn't want a power down of certain systems to potentially kill everyone in the ship.

Commander Ladia after listening to her counterparts brief yet comprehensive explianation of culture and religion on Earth replied, "This is very informative."

"You are right there is no such thing as a free lunch, but the price does not have to be high. I hope that by offering such a useful tool, you will gain a little more trust in us, even though you doubt our claims that we are your long lost cousins. I would also like to learn more about this M-particle laser and the colony laser cannon. We would like to know what kind of power source do you use, and what kind of effects these unique weapons possess."

"The powersource of our FTL jump drive is a metal called tellium, that when refined is more like a liquid, similiar to gasoline. It is a common enough metal in astroids, and is easily mined. That is if you know what to look for. In the schematics given, we have included how to look for this tellium and mining it. After all what good is an engine if you do not have fuel for it."

The captain turned to him " The seconds one can serv as both a backup and as a way to increase the range of our jump, and yes you do pop out of thin air all the time with these but you have to have your calculations 99.9% acurate or you could end up inside a planet. Back at our homeland there are schools just for FTL navigation" he told the two of them. He looked over to his XO and combat/mobile suit commader, the two of them seemed rather quiet but it didn't matter to much.

Battlestar Griffon

"Well..."

Momentarily, she seemed hesitant.

I guess telling them can't hurt, especially if it's in the way of us gaining this faster than light technology...

"We use Minovsky physics based fusion reactors as our power source. The Minovsky Particle is a byproduct of the fusion process. When the Mega Particle Cannon is used, those Minovsky Particles are harnessed from the reactor, fused together in something called the energy condenser and fired as a large mega particle beam. Thus, to use the Mega Particle Cannon, you need to also use the Minovsky-type fusion reactor."

"The Colony Laser's different, though. It's basically a gigantic laser built into a hull of an abandoned space colony that is powered with solar power. Sure, it takes a while to recharge it, but since it can be used again and again unlike its predecessor, and the power is completely free, it has not been that large of a problem for us."

Inside the ZAFT vessel

He nodded.

"But how can you be sure you don't jump into a planet anyway even with all that training if the system is uncharted, especially if you need to be practically completely sure about where you're going is safe? You haven't been here before, have you? Didn't you take a rather massive risk when you came here?"

The captain looked at him, some rather good questions that of course he would answer " This ship and the entire ZAFT forces fleet all have FTL sensors it allowed us to see into this system and plot our jump, most of the galaxy has actually been charted by us, we know where planets, moons and other objects are but we can't tell if there populated unless we get up close"

Commander Ladia listened to the technologies stated by the Principality representitve. The M-particle cannon is truly unique, and we have yet to create such a weapon. The colony laser also is a true marvel. We have experimented with lasers in the past, yet the high power costs, as well as it is easy to disable the ships main weapons with a solid EMB cannon shot had placed this program on the back burner. What kind of power source do you use, and how do you insulate it from a weapon that is designed to target the electrical and computer system disruption weapons? How do you protect it from power draining weapons?

What is the main advantage of the M-particle over the laser cannon or vice versa?

Ranax smiled. "Sorry, but the method of creating the A.I. matrixes is considered... confidential. Not even I know how they're created. As for the armor... I'd have to check with my superiors." One of his aids hands him another PADD. "But here is something I can give you," he says while handing the Read Admiral the PADD. Here are the specs for our most promising Cybertron Drone. Just what you want. Enough intellegence to be independent of a remote control system, yet not enough to cause you any headaches. Finally, my ship has about 450 phaser rifles onboard. Would you like to ourchase or trade for them?"

(ooc: my connection's too slow right now, I'll get a pic of the drone up ASAP. For now, think of the tank drones from Transformers: Beast Machines.)

Inside the ZAFT vessel

"Alright. I guess that answers my question."

Although it does seem kind of flimsy with the earlier requirement he mentioned...

"Shall we continue the tour?"

Battlestar Griffon

"Well... In the case of the Colony Laser, just like with our Space Colones, we use massive solar panels to power it, so it has technically limitless energy as long as there's a star near by. We have been applying extensive EMP protection on everything ever since the Minovsky particle was found, as it causes an EMP effect naturally and any side using them would have to be protected. Generally it consists of somewhat, in our standards, bulky shielding placed on what we would consider otherwise exposed electric circuits."

She took a deep breath.

"Note that since the Minovsky particles make guided weapons and long range sensors practically useless, we haven't really considered the chance of someone using long range precision weapons against us, since... It just doesn't happen. If the Colony Laser needs protection, it gets it from its own fleet and the patrol fleets which dot our space. As for the differences between the Mega Particle Cannon and the Colony Laser..."

"Well. Since we never found lasers to be exceedingly powerful against our current technologies, we never started using lasers as weapons on our capital ships and such. Instead, we use the Mega Particle Cannons. The Colony Laser, however, skips the major flaws of lasers by being too large to defend against through regular means. In other words, the advantage of Mega Particle Cannons is that it is the greatest capital ship weapon at our disposal, while the advantage of the Colony Laser is that it can destroy a fleet of ships or even a colony in one shot, which pretty much makes it a super weapon of sorts."

Axis, hangar

"Hmmh. Very well, if that is what you say."

He glanced at the other officer again.

"I think we would prefer purchasing them. But are you sure you couldn't sell us the information as to how to construct these phaser rifles ourselves?"

(OOC: Bah, sorry, took me a while to post. That wasn't exactly my intention, but it still happened.)

"of course" the captain said as he lead them out of engineering, past crew quarters, gyms, and the mess hall, arriving at a elevator. They all got inside and it took them up to the command deck. After walking past briefing rooms they arrived on the bridge it self. It was rather large, crewed by 20 people with 10 more in the CIC. The captain looked at his guests "And finally this is our bridge, this is the main command and control area for the ship, while the CIC is actually right below us, the CIC is manned by 10 people using full 3D holographic displays" he said to them

Battlestar Griffon

"Well... In the case of the Colony Laser, just like with our Space Colones, we use massive solar panels to power it, so it has technically limitless energy as long as there's a star near by. We have been applying extensive EMP protection on everything ever since the Minovsky particle was found, as it causes an EMP effect naturally and any side using them would have to be protected. Generally it consists of somewhat, in our standards, bulky shielding placed on what we would consider otherwise exposed electric circuits."

She took a deep breath.

"Note that since the Minovsky particles make guided weapons and long range sensors practically useless, we haven't really considered the chance of someone using long range precision weapons against us, since... It just doesn't happen. If the Colony Laser needs protection, it gets it from its own fleet and the patrol fleets which dot our space. As for the differences between the Mega Particle Cannon and the Colony Laser..."

"Well. Since we never found lasers to be exceedingly powerful against our current technologies, we never started using lasers as weapons on our capital ships and such. Instead, we use the Mega Particle Cannons. The Colony Laser, however, skips the major flaws of lasers by being too large to defend against through regular means. In other words, the advantage of Mega Particle Cannons is that it is the greatest capital ship weapon at our disposal, while the advantage of the Colony Laser is that it can destroy a fleet of ships or even a colony in one shot, which pretty much makes it a super weapon of sorts."




Commander Ladia listened carefully to the representitive of the Principality. Very interesting, she stated. It would seem that you do have unique weapons. The colony laser in particular sounds very interesting. Perhaps we could arrange some sort of trade?

Commander Ladia, then stood up to grab another drink.

"Are you sure that you do not want one? I promise not to tell anyone, she says while grinning." She begins to sip a whiskey sour. How is it that you devolped such unique weaponry, yet still do not have ftl. Is it because your society has been at war with itself for so long? Have you not desired to see what is beyond your own solar system, or at least set up a base of operations in case your colonies are attacked?

Inside the ZAFT vessel

He nodded in acknowledgement.

So this is the bridge? Doesn't look all that different when compared to our vessels, but I guess it makes sense. Bridges of ships of this size...

"But aren't those 3D holographic displays a bit of an excessive drain on the ship's power? And wouldn't regular monitors be more robust and, well, have a higher rate of not just failing when the ship is hit?"

Battlestar Griffon

"Perhaps we could. But, as it is, we only have one of them, and I'm pretty sure that my superiors wouldn't be willing to part with it. We'd either have to make a new one for the trade or give you the blueprints of such."

Are you sure that you do not want one?

She shook her head while smiling politely.

"If I was caught drinking while in duty, it'd be bad for my career, even if I was requested to do so. I hope you understand."

How is it that you devolped such unique weaponry, yet still do not have ftl.

She shrugged.

"Well... I wouldn't really know. I'm not a scientist. I guess we've just seen faster than light travel as a thing of science fiction rather than a real thing. We never just managed to get to that revolutionary conclusion where it would've turned into a reality. We've been more at peace than at war, so I wouldn't say that it's a reason for anything. Well, anything but our build-up of military equipment. Since, although what I said was true, the peace has been quite uneasy often enough."

"A drain? no this ship has a vary large powersupply, as for it shutting down" he walked down to the CIC and to one of the holgraphic displays and pointed to the screen on the display "as you can see here the 3D image is displayed via the information displayed on these flat monitors" At that moment there was a image up displaying the ship, its two escorts and then the zeon ships.

Ranax smiled at the Rear Admiral. "Contructing the rifles would be easy," he replied. "They are very simple, a requirement for being able to repair in battle. I would think that after purchasing my inventory, it would be a simple matter to copy the design to produce your own. All of the components are easy to aquire and produce, nothing exotic. Now," he said while typing notes on a PADD, "should we discuss a price?"

Inside the ZAFT vessel

Battlestar Griffon

"Perhaps we could. But, as it is, we only have one of them, and I'm pretty sure that my superiors wouldn't be willing to part with it. We'd either have to make a new one for the trade or give you the blueprints of such."

Commander Ladia smiles. I am sorry for any confusion, I meant to ask for the blueprints for the colony laser, and possibly the theories behind this M-particle. I am sure the scientist on Caprica would find it quite a discovery. In exchange, I would like to offer you two jump drives and fuel for two fighter size ships, so you can begin to explore the outside universe, or to whatever usage you desire.

"If I was caught drinking while in duty, it'd be bad for my career, even if I was requested to do so. I hope you understand."


"Oh I fully understand, I would not want for you to get into any trouble with your superiors. You have been more than amiable towards us, and I hope that feeling will continue with not just you, but your entire culture, given enough time. "

Inside the ZAFT vessel

"Oh, right, of course," he said, scratching the back of his head, continuing with a much lower, muttering, voice, "How did I manage to miss them...?"

He lowered his hand and continued. "While we do have the technology to do the same, we just use monitors for ease of use... Well, that and the Minovsky particles. But it is, that way, easier for people to transfer from an older ship to a newer one, when there are some things that don't change a whole lot. During the War of Independence we came to realize that it was playing against us to have Mobile Suits with major differences in cockpits, same with the bridges of ships and the like. Having to train people every time they needed to use a different Mobile Suit, for instance, wasn't exactly a good thing..."

He shook his head.

"But this ship of yours seems to be quite a machine. It'd be interesting to see it in action."

Axis, hangar

"Very well."

Yet again, he glanced at the officer by his side, who nodded and took out a pad of his own.

"How many EF dollars were you thinking you would sell them for?"

Battlestar Griffon

"Hmm. Now, we would also want the ability to manufacture more of these faster-than-light drives, as well as learn how to attach them to our Mobile Suits and also how to control them. Obviously, we would also need to know how to make ones that go onto space faring vessels, as our Mobile Suits can't hold much in the ways of supplies, and are next to useless in any kind of exploration on their own."

She crossed her arms again.

"So, while I think that it is all fine and good that you would give us two drives as well... I don't think my superiors would be awfully happy with two drives which work but of which we'd have no idea as to how to use them."

She stopped momentarily.

"While I think you might've thought about these issues as well, but just haven't brought them up yet, I think they also need to be clarified before we actually commit to any deals."

((OOC: Romano Family, for the ease of the RP, let's assume that your people know about the EF dollars and whatnot. And as for more easiness, let's claim that they are about the same value as any other of those universally used currencies. Of course, I dunno how well using them will go elsewhere, but you could claim having used the money to buy materials/whatever from this part of space and so on and so on.))

Kilimanjaro, secret Earth Federation base, Earth

There was a lot of hustle and bustle in the cavernous base as a lot of new cargo had been brought in from the Anaheim Electronics factories in space. After the War, Anaheim Electronics had bought out everything it could get its hands on from the Federation that was related to Mobile Suits and their manufacturing. Too bad for them, though, that ZEONIC and other Zeon corporations had gotten there first, free of charge, no less, so the Principality had completely disregarded AE as any kind of credible competition. Thus, the only source of income they had, in the Mobile Suit front, was Side 6.

Although, a few years back they had managed to come to an agreement with the remains of the Federation, who, more than anything, wanted revenge against the Principality. And of course, on the side, gaining independence for Side 7, which was filled to the brim with Federation loyalists. Anaheim Electronics would sell its Mobile Suits to the Federation, at a lowered price (although the remnant forces felt this to be unnecessary - they still held considerable amounts of EF$ which were still used all across the Earth sphere). Indeed, a conflict would be a priceless source of information for AE, as it would give their new prototype Mobile Suits much needed live testing, and the Federation forces agreed to bring in any captured Zeon material to AE. And obviously, if the Federation would rise once more, AE's Mobile Suit branch would be less limited by the Principality of Zeon and its own companies.

But as for the situation on Earth, the goings on in Europe had given them the distraction they had needed to keep everything under the radar of the Principality, just as they had hoped. Container after container was being unloaded from the multitude of freight ships which had come in one after another during the last twenty four hours or so. The first few freight craft had already left the facility with empty containers, and a somewhat great number of Mobile Suits, identical mass-production models, dotted the scene, while some others were being walked away into the massive Mobile Suit hangar of the base. But it wasn't obviously massive enough, as many others had to be left standing into the unloading area.

An aging man in a uniform of an admiral of the Earth Federation stood there, observing the unloading process. He hadn't been told exactly what was coming in, other than that they were brought in to bolster their Mobile Suit numbers, which weren't quite as high as he would've liked. Well, unless the practically obsolete RGM-79 GMs were taken into account, which would more than quadruple the number of their Mobile Suits. But they were only good as light distractions these days.

And he liked what he saw so far.

An Ensign ran up to him, saluting and shouting "Sir!"

He was obviously out of breath.

"At ease," said the Admiral, smiling widely.

"Thank you, Sir," responded the Ensign, panting.

"Quite the sight, isn't it, Ensign?"

"Yes, sir! I was told there's at least a hundred of these new MSA-003 Nemos! I also overheard some people talking about some prototype Mobile Suits that are supposed to be like that Gundam of the earlier War, only upgraded for today!"

The Admiral, at this point, stopped looking at the Ensign, and begun watching the containers.

"Is that so? That's very interesting."

"Yes, everyone's excited, sir! We'll actually be able to get back to those damn Zeeks!"

The Admiral nodded silently, still watching the containers, wondering which ones of them happened to be the ones with prototypes.

"Uh, sir, I must go now!"

The Ensign saluted again hastily and ran away, towards the containers, shouting something unintelligible.

Indeed, a war was brewing once again, and it was not destined to be a simple skirmish.

"Interesting? Captain you haven't seen anything of ZAFT yet" the captain says as he brough up a image to the 3D display "these displays can be used to bring up 3D images and maps of ships and other objects, and This image is of the Black Hammer class Dreadnought, Its tweanty eight kilometers long" he said "We can't give to many details but easy enough to say its a mobile army with the fire power to match" the ships XO said.

Inside the ZAFT vessel

Battlestar Griffon

"Hmm. Now, we would also want the ability to manufacture more of these faster-than-light drives, as well as learn how to attach them to our Mobile Suits and also how to control them. Obviously, we would also need to know how to make ones that go onto space faring vessels, as our Mobile Suits can't hold much in the ways of supplies, and are next to useless in any kind of exploration on their own."

She crossed her arms again.

"So, while I think that it is all fine and good that you would give us two drives as well... I don't think my superiors would be awfully happy with two drives which work but of which we'd have no idea as to how to use them."

She stopped momentarily.

"While I think you might've thought about these issues as well, but just haven't brought them up yet, I think they also need to be clarified before we actually commit to any deals."

Commander Ladia replied, "Of course. Let me be a bit more specific. In exchange for the schematics of the colony laser, and the theories behind that and the M-Particle, the Colonies would like to exchange for you and your people two fighter usage FTL jump drives. Also in order to allow your speedy use of said device, we will send to your scientist, an FTL Engineer, who not only will instruct you on the theories and principles of the Space Fold drive, but will also help to convert the power source from the source that we use to the source that your society uses. He will be stationed at one of your colonies for a time not exceeding one year.

We will also send one flight instructor from our military academy to teach your pilots the proper usage of the FTL Jump drive, and the dangers that can occur if used improperly. This instructor will also be stationed at your colonies for a time not exceeding one year.

This should give your scientist, engineers and pilots enough time to be properly trained to use the device, and to make any conversions and proper installations that will be neccessary.

The Twelve Colonies of Kobal would also wish to open the dicussion of trade talks between our people. In order to establish a profitable, and safe transaction, I would like to purpose a neutral trade station to be constructed, in which all trade between our two people can be conducted. This station will allow the safe inspection of said trade goods. The trade will include any medicine, technologies, or consumable goods that is within the law of our perspective governments.

The trade of weapons, or military technologies will not be conducted from this station, and if you desire to buy weapons or military equiptment, or if we should then we can only buy it from the government itself. No civilian or corperation, or non-government affliated group, or individual may purchase said military goods.

We would also like to negotate with you access to travel within your space, provided it is within peaceful terms. We do not wish to bring any war or battles to you. This permission will allow trade vessels, diplomatic envoys with reasonable amount of guards, as well as medical ships to pass through your system.

Inside the ZAFT vessel

He scratched his chin as the man spoke about the vessel which was in the size range of a full blown colony.

"... An interesting concept, although makes one wonder what's the point for such a huge ship. Isn't it awfully easy to spot, and as such, a huge target that anyone could shoot at? Makes me think that even in a place saturated with M particles you couldn't go unnoticed with that. Hell, it's roughly comparable to me going and starting to fly around with a colony!"

And as he said that remark, his daughter briefly grinned at the thought, and he managed to glance at her at the moment she did it.

"But anyway, what possessed you to build such a monstrosity?"

Battlestar Griffon

After the commander had finished, she nodded and smiled momentarily, after which she said, "Very well, that sounds good. I am sure my superiors would be willing to have this deal made."

"As for continued trade... While I'm sure we would be interested in such, where would this station you suggested be placed in? In our space, your space, or some kind of neutral territory which neither of us has a hold of?"

We would also like to negotate with you access to travel within your space, provided it is within peaceful terms. --This permission will allow trade vessels, diplomatic envoys with reasonable amount of guards, as well as medical ships to pass through your system.

"And of course, we would want the same non-military access to your space. I think it would be fair enough a agreement. Although, why would medical ships need to pass through our system to get to their destination, unless it's just for resupply purposes? I'm obviously asking this because you have faster than light capability."

Commander Ladia replied. The purpose to allow medical ships access to your space, is less of a point of resupply, and more in case of some epidemic that may occur. We colonials like to plan for the worse case scenerio, and one day either you or we may befall some horrible disease. Virus and bacteria do mutate, as well as a chemical or biological attack might befall one of us. Our FTL otherwise can allow us to jump over your territories.

Inside the ZAFT vessel

He scratched his chin as the man spoke about the vessel which was in the size range of a full blown colony.

"... An interesting concept, although makes one wonder what's the point for such a huge ship. Isn't it awfully easy to spot, and as such, a huge target that anyone could shoot at? Makes me think that even in a place saturated with M particles you couldn't go unnoticed with that. Hell, it's roughly comparable to me going and starting to fly around with a colony!"

And as he said that remark, his daughter briefly grinned at the thought, and he managed to glance at her at the moment she did it.

"But anyway, what possessed you to build such a monstrosity?"



"War is a awful thing, we built the black hammer because we needed power, and power it gave, its high strength armour and extremly powerful shields and firepower can devestate fleets, we used 10 such ships in the defence of our homeland a few months ago during a massive battle engulfing our entire fleet against a foe that could destroy a colony, a moon, or a planet, hell what ever was in its was it would destroy. Millions died then thats why technological advancments where pursued more then ever" he turned to them "the only thing more powerful is our mobile fortresses which is a artificial astriod turned into a base with a giant super weapon strapped to it, mass damage area effect damage" he told them

Battlestar Griffon

"Fair enough," she said and nodded in agreement, "Considering that we're both human", or, she thought, at least that's the supposition, "it does make sense to try to cover all the bases in such a manner, especially before it spreads everywhere. I'm sure we can agree to that, just as long as we can do the same."

A moment of silence.

"Of course, this means that we would want to know where you are located. Can you agree to that?"

Inside the ZAFT vessel

"Hmm. I guess that makes... Some level of sense."

So, they have a tendency to rely on super weapons as well. Funny, that.

"Anything else you would want to show us?"

He stayed silent of the horrors of the War of Independence on purpose - indeed, he knew just how terrible war could be. Just as the many, many other veterans of the Principality, as well as of the shattered remains of the Earth Federation.

Odessa, Zeon mining base, Earth

"This is... Strange," muttered an Ensign who had been stationed on Odessa only for a few days. His current line of duty was to check the paperwork on vessels which had requested access to the Odessa space port, authorization to leave it and so forth. Even the individual requests of militarymen stationed in Odessa ended up going through his station before being archived or deleted. The base had been unable to keep tabs on these things lately, as, for some unpredictable reason, all of those who normally worked on these papers happened to be not on duty. While this was unusual, it wasn't unheard of. When practically all of the crew were away on their vacations and as such unavailable, all it needed was the person on duty to fall ill right before substitutes could be brought in. And then all you had to do was watch the paper stacks fill the place.

"What is, Ensign?", asked a passing captain, who happened to also be his direct superior for the time being.

"Well, Sir, these papers indicate that there's a lot of ships from Anaheim Electronics that came down here on Earth on scheduled time, but their times of actually showing up at the port don't add up," he said, shuffling through the papers which were in his hands and showing them to the captain momentarily, "They're off schedule by at least a couple of hours."

The captain scratched his chin.

"How many ships are we talking about?"

"At least twenty in the last few days, Sir. That's how many inbound AE ships I've gone through so far."

"How's that possible? Are you sure you're reading them right?"

"I don't know how it's possible, Sir. I am sure I've been reading them right, too, Sir."

"Well, anyway. Good work, soldier. I'm going to go ask someone who should know."

"Very well, Sir."

As it turned out to the captain, the constant discrepancies had been noted by the higher ups in the base, but they didn't seem too worried about it. What could've they been bringing to Earth, anyway? And to whom? The desperate Federation guerillas? No, it had to be something else.

Like the simple fact that so far anything Anaheim Electronics had actually released had been inferior to ZEONIC and so forth products, so it only made sense that their freight vessels were just as much inferior to those used by the Principality itself.

Nearly hundred kilometers south-east of Nairobi, old Kenya, Earth

"... You serious?," said the man (he was in his thirties) somewhat angrily whilst sitting in the cockpit of his Dom Tropen, who's been sweating like hell ever since the air conditioning started to act up an hour or so ago, "You know how much that'll slow our patrol down? And I told you, my AC's offline. I want to get out of here ASAP."

"Yeah, I heard you, and I'm serious," said the face on a window on his large screen. Face of the commander of his unit, who was sitting in the relative comfort of an aging Gallop land battleship, which happened to be the local mobile head quarters. "You're the closest group to it anyway. And hell, you're on top of the line Dom Tropens. It shouldn't take that long."

"'Top of the line?' You mean there's some other upgrades on these than just the damn cockpit?"

"Heh... Not really," said the commander, smiling, "But that doesn't change the fact that they should be fast out there. Just remember that regular bonuses apply here, and if there's actually something there, it gets..."

"Yeah yeah, I know, it gets tripled. No one's said they're in any particular hurry and I'm not saying no to easy money so I guess we'll do it."

"Yep. Just remember that the regular agreements apply."

"As always."

"One more thing. If the heat's getting THAT bad, just keep your cockpit open."

"... And get shot if there's something here? Heh, I guess I prefer the heat. Over and out."

"... Out."

And with that, the transmission was cut, and he opened a radio channel with his team.

"OK guys, we're gonna divert from our regular path a little."

"Where to?", asked one of the other pilots.

"Just south of here. The commander called and said there could be something wrong around Kilimanjaro, so we're gonna check it out. Probably just some animals going through old equipment and causing a ruckus, but... Who knows. So keep your guard up, guys."

"As always, Sir."

"Roger."

"Sure, let's go already."

And so, the small group of four Dom Tropens changed direction towards south instead of continuing towards south-east, where was their original waypoint, Mombasa.

Kilimanjaro, secret Earth Federation base, Earth

While the Zeon patrol was coming closer to Kilimanjaro, the Admiral had returned to the relative peace of his office and was going through some paperwork and specs relating to the Anaheim Electronics' Mobile Suits, and he was still impressed by what he saw. Even though the Federation remnant was, in a sense, an illegal party in the Earth sphere, as the conditional surrender to the Principality of Zeon had stated, the corporate heads of AE still wanted things to be done by the book even with them. After all, the only reason they were supporting the Federation was because they were the only ones actually buying their products.

A few minutes later, one of the many Ensigns who were stationed at the base barged into his office. He was obviously in a terrible hurry.

The Admiral raised his head and looked at the Ensign who was having trouble catching his breath.

"Yes?", he asked with a rather monotone voice. While it was obvious that this Ensign had no idea how people were supposed to act within the military, there was no reason for the Admiral to actually reprimand him for it.

"I'm sorry, Sir, about running in like this... But this is important!"

"... What is, exactly?"

"A Zeek Mobile Suit patrol is coming our way from the north!"

The Admiral jumped up from his seat.

"... This soon?!"

"Yes, Sir! It's the Mombasa patrol, and they've just turned our way. What're we going to do?"

The Admiral pulled out a datapad and a stylus from the highest drawer of his desk, and chose the map of the general location they were at.

"Hmm. This is what we'll do."

He marked several good locations for GM Snipers on the map for long range support, and hiding places they could use GMs or the new Nemos if any of them were actually combat ready from for ambushes as the Doms would come closer. The objective would be to dispatch them quickly and efficiently before they could report their current location as to delay the inevitable finding of the base by at least a few days. They had saturated their surroundings with so many M particles ever since the Zeeks started doing the same that it wasn't just a possibility that the base would be found, but also highly likely. But at least it had postponed the discovery of the base so far.

Then he gave the datapad to the Ensign.

"Take that to the command center. The sooner the better."

"Will do, Sir!"

And with that, the Ensign ran away.

"Ugh," muttered the Admiral and sat back down, holding his stomach.

I'm getting too old for this kind of excitement. Guess I'll need to go to the command center myself sooner or later.

After a minute or so, he continued going through the papers.

The captain looked at him "no, I'm sorry to say its the end of the tour, I'll have you escorted to the hanger, we have a couple supply ships and its escorts coming to resupply us in a couple minutes" he told the captain as he signaled a couple security personal to escort them back to the hanger. Soon supplies would arrive in due time.


OOC: Nothing against you personally but I'm a earth forces person and I have a plan

Inside the ZAFT vessel

"Very well," he said and saluted quickly.

"Thank you for the tour. It was most... Enlightening."

After having said that, he turned and went away with the security personnel, as did his daughter, reaching the hangar in due time. Then, they entered their respective Mobile Suits without ceremony and exited the vessel.

Momentarily, though, he centered his cockpit's panoramic monitor at the ship.

I wonder what they are really up to, he thought, as he realigned the monitor back to its regular location.

Indeed, he had this weird gut feeling that something was a bit off with these people.

(OOC: Fair enough, just as long as your plan isn't detrimental to the story. But I must say that it's kind of odd that a ZAFT guy would be more of an Earth Federation person, considering that ZAFT and Zeon have so much in common.

Orthodox Gnosticism, I'll consider the deal as concluded if there's no posting done in the next few days. I need the story to move along, and the FTL thing is going to have a part in it. Romano Family's weaponry and whatnot would probably have more of an effect on things later on, when they start exploring the great outdoors, so it's not as time critical.)

OOC: I was about to post, but the deal is acceptable, for the most part.)

Commander Ladia smiles. "Of course, but due to colonial law, the location of the colonies is top secret. In order to obtain the location of it, you will have to have a 20 year grace period. If after 20 years, our societies are still in good standing, then you will be given the location you want." She looks at the Zeon representitive, I do hope that you understand, but the galaxy is full of hostile people, and societies. Entire empires exist that can blow up planets at a whim, and as such we just need to be certain that we will not be betrayed. I wish it was not so, but this is Colonial law. Besides that minor detail, it would seem we are in agreement."

Commander Ladia hands the Zeon representitive a peice of paper. The paper looks a bit odd, as all the corners are cut off, as you read it, it contains all of the details discussed. If you or your government sign this, it is a deal."

Battlestar Griffon

"Twenty years? While this does leave us in a suboptimal situation regarding you, I guess we can live with that," she said, thinking along the lines of especially since this faster-than-light technology brings up limitless possibilities, after which she took out an earpiece with a microphone on it from her pocket and put it on.

"I'm sorry, this will only take a moment. I'll have to contact my superiors if we can go forward with this right now."

She turned around and mumbled something incoherently.

Mumbled some more. And more. Nearing the end, the only word one could make out was "yes". A few times.

Then, she took the earpiece out, put it back in her pocket and turned around.

"I'm really sorry about that. But I have been given the go ahead to sign this agreement."

She raised a pen and wrote in her signature, noticing that the other side had already signed. Then she gave the paper back.

"I guess this concludes our business for now?"

Commander Ladia takes the piece of paper and overlooks it. She smiles, "Yes it would seem that it does. We will send you the two Mark I raptors, as well as the engineers and scientist, as we agreed upon. Once I get bac kto colonial space, you should expect them in a hour or so. She raises her glass as if to toast. Here is to a long friendship, between our people. She takes a small sip.

(OOC: so sorry for the short post, but I am at work now. you can either assume that you got the two raptors, stripped of all electronics except basic navigation and the FTL drive. [that way you can but the equiptment on board that you would desire, and be used to] and the engineer and scientist as agreed upon or i can play it out, up to you. Either way it was great meeting you, and I hope to play with you again in the future.)

OOC: Don't worry, im just going to end up helping the earth forces due to a accident and the general opinions of the command staff

IC

"sir, supply ships will be here any minute" the CIC reported to the captain and the XO. The captain sat in his chair, the zeon captain and first officer had just left. He wondered what was going on with the earth but then he was interupted "New contacts on sensors, three Thunder class supply ships, and a Empiryon Battlecruiser, wait sir, they over jumped there within the planets atmosphere some where on one of the southern continents (Africa) what should we do?" the sensor operator asked "Lets go in after them, fireup the FTL and tell our escorts to do the same, all hands prepare for gravity" he said. Seconds later the ships disappeared and then reappeared where the supply ships and there escort was, near Kilimanjaro, approximatly 5 kilometers north of the base.

"Seem to of over shot your jump point captain" the XO said over the communications line to the ships the they just met up with "New ship, new crew not my fault" was the response the the Empiryion class's captain as he let out a small laugh.

Battlestar Griffon

Captain Santos smiled back at the Commander and nodded.

"Quite. We hope that this is the beginning of a fruitful relationship between our two nations. We will have the papers you requested ready and waiting once your people bring in your part of the agreement, as, well... Obviously, we can't bring them out to you once you have left our system."

"But as to not cause any further delays... I think it is now my time to leave."

(OOC: Well, I see that you are in a bunch of roleplays as it is and I think it'd be a bit too much to hold you up here on something that's basically done already. So you don't have to RP the entire bringing of the engineers and whatnot, I'll just make a sidenote of it sometime soon, or when I think it's time for me to start playing around with FTL. At least one branch of the RP is at its end. That counts for something! Especially when most others have just stopped posting.

And really, short posts don't bother me if they get the message through.)

IC:

Kilimanjaro, secret Earth Federation base, Earth

The Admiral had gotten to the command center to see the execution of the plan he had made an hour earlier, and was sitting at the commander's seat. He was watching it from a wall of monitors which all showed different parts of the northern side of Mount Kilimanjaro. The Snipers were in place, and a mix of new Nemos and GMs were hiding to ambush the incoming Dom Tropen patrol. Everything was ready to give the Zeon forces a "warm" welcome.

Well, that is, until, suddenly, in th sky, a bunch of vessels appeared, and after a few moments their amount grew even higher. They didn't look like anything the Federation remnant had on file.

The Admiral sprung up from his seat in a flash as they appeared.

"WHAT THE HELL are THOSE?!"

"Unknown, Sir! They are unlike anything we've seen before, but they bear certain resemblance to both Zeon and Federation vessels!"

"And if they aren't ours, they're THEIRS. Shit!"

The Admiral started pacing around anxiously.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! I didn't think they already knew we're here! And I didn't know they possessed that kind of technology!"

"What are we going to do?!"

The Admiral stood dramatically in front of the array of monitors, now showing only the vessels in the sky. Then he turned and started barking orders.

"All hands, BATTLESTATIONS! Activate defense grid! Send out all available Mobile Suit squads!"

And with that, the base went into full action.

A great number of hidden automated doors opened and Mega Particle Cannons rose from the northern side of the mountain, while from other holes came up RGM-79SP GM Sniper 2s, all locking on the ships in the sky, while Mobile Suits on Sub Flight Systems started to pour out hastily from the hidden hangar passageways, flying towards the same ships.

Then came out the order through constant, target changing laser communication, as radiowaves were out due to the massive cloud of M particles which surrounded Mount Kilimanjaro.

"Fire at will! BRING THOSE SHIPS DOWN!"

And with that, all hell broke loose, as beam flashes from both Mobile Suits and the Mega Particle Cannons started finding their way towards the unknown, thought to be Zeon vessels. It was an act of blatant desperation.

It had to be all or nothing. And nothing was not an option.

Fortunately for the Zeon patrol group, this display of the Federation's power was visible from far, far away, and they managed to retreat with information on a Federation outpost at Kilimanjaro with only moderate to near-but-not-quite-critical damage caused by potshots taken by the GM snipers which had been waiting for them.

(OOC: The area of Mount Kilimanjaro has a dense M particle cloud around it. It should have a very negative effect on your sensors, your communications and any exposed electronic circuitry you might have. And as such, contacting the Federation forces to get them to stop their assault is nigh impossible, since the interference is, well... Extremely strong.)

"Direct it, shields are holding" The CIC operator of the Empiryion class said as the weapons fire started coming in. ZAFT ships always had shields up during a jump just incase they jumped into a trap. The captain looked out "possible to get a communication out?" he asked "communication lines are down to much interference" came from the other side of the bridge "Try the laser communication line, sensors report" he ordered "heavy interference but my guess is these things are nuclear powered" he said "well then lets see if they are, CIC activate N-jammers" he ordered. The CIC complied, the N-jammer screwed over and shut down nuclear reactions within 100 kilometers of the ship. All they could do is hope it worked as point defence lasers intercepted missiles and the shields took more hits.

Kilimanjaro, secret Earth Federation base, Earth

"Keep firing! Keep firing!", shouted the Admiral, although only the gunners in the base could hear him, as the Mobile Suits were already in positions which made communications extremely arduous at best.

The unknown vessels were lighted constantly by mega particle cannon fire, beam rifle fire, sniper and otherwise, missile fire and so forth, while Nemos flew closer to them on their SFSs, firing just as furiously as all the other things that were firing at them, intent on slashing through the vessels with their beam sabers if they manage to get close enough. Only problem with the all-out attack seemed to be that it was relatively unsuccessful at actually downing the ships, but hopefully it was just a temporary issue. It wasn't acting anything like the I-field, after all.

As the ZAFT people would soon realize, the Mobile Suits of the Federation indeed used nuclear power, but it was nuclear fusion rather than fission, rendering the N-jammers useless against them. Thus, the entire usage of the N-jammers went unnoticed.

(OOC: As a side note, the shields should be taking a crapload of hits, though, as most of the firing coming in is beam-based and as such only dodgeable rather than down-shootable.)

"No effect sir" CIC reported "deploy all weapons load all anti-matter missile tubes and prepare to fire" the captain ordered. The Red Dragon class then went full speed and flanked the Earth forces mobile suits and its main guns then targeted. The ships misssiles and Hyperpositronic cannons aimed at the incoming mobile suits and fired. ZAFT forces dont kill when being attacked by a unknown force incase of a misunderstanding meaning they only target the heads and arms. The entire ZAFT forces opened up with what firepower they had. Only firing to disable this foe and not destroy no matter what.


OOC: Do remember my tech is extreamly advanced in comparison your mega particle cannons are basicly equel to a gottfried which to my shields doesn't do much, but because of the sheer amount of fire coming in your doing alot. Also I can easily see your trying to get me to destroy the earth forces to go along with what ever plan you got, but this is RP for ya sometimes people put a wrench in your plans.

(OOC: Thanks, man. That makes a lot more sense in the context. I'm gonna do a proper post later after I've gotten some sleep. Just you wait!)

OOC: done and done

Kilimanjaro, secret Earth Federation base, Earth

In a world with Minovsky Particles, the usability of missiles with guidance systems becomes questionable as they are easily confused by the interference caused by the M particles, just as targeting limbs of fast moving targets becomes almost nightmarish in its difficulty, especially when one tries to shoot them with large, capital ship grade weapons, which would be an arduous task even without the Minovsky Particle coverage.

As a result, while most attacks by the ZAFT vessels would go harmlessly past the Federation Mobile Suits due to their unpredictable movement patterns as they took evasive action, others would hit them more or less critically, bringing them down in flames. A moderate amount of damage was caused by stray shots to the defensive grid of the Kilimanjaro base, however, which slowed down the firing rate from the base itself. The change in the amount actual power of the continuing attacks was negligible due to the fact that more and more Mobile Suits were still coming out to the fray, filling the surroundings with them, giving a hard time for the GM Snipers to target anything but friendlies. Most of the suits were new Nemos, as a majority of the antiquated GMs were taking strategic positions inside the base for its eventual defense. Not only would they be easy pickings outside, they were also piloted by rookies with relatively limited experience on Mobile Suit combat who wouldn't be of much use in a proper fight.

Luna II, Space

With the cover of the Federation remnant blown, it took a very short time for the Zeons to realize the threat they posed for the continued peace of the Earth sphere. The Principality's Supreme Commander authorized the use of Luna II's Mass Driver to be used in a similar orbital bombardment action as it had been used during the Zeon War of Independence against Jaburo with great haste. He knew that using the Colony Laser was out of the question as it would have taken much longer to align it properly AND that it was still recharging after the earlier firing, giving the Feddies ample time to escape. Not to mention that it would've been impossible to bring in enough Mobile Suits to subdue the fortress quickly enough. Obviously, those two were unacceptable as choices.

As the fight went on, the asteroid was being realigned for the attack, and massive pieces of steel which originally were meant to be used for colony construction were being hauled to it. Thermonuclear bombs were to be hidden within them to be detonated after impact to help with breaking the fortress. Indeed, the point of this attack was to level the entire mountain of Kilimanjaro in one surgical strike.

"Sir our missiles there guidance systems are being affected, we can't get a solid target lock" reported CIC " switch them to blind shooting, just shoot them in the direction of the enemy, we are taking to many hits, put PDL's to full power and take those suits down, target the ground installations with the weapons on are underside" the captain ordered. The ships then began sending large continuous beams of energy from the hyper positronic cannons. The large beams swept in different patterns but with the number of mobile suits outside the ships it was almost impossible not to hit something "sir our shields will only last a few more minutes" CIC yelled out in a panic "how many mobile suits are on the transports?" the captain asked quickly "pulling up manifests now, seems these transports use the new compressor tech, so they got a lot of them"


2,000 Alpha Dreadfire mass production general-purpose mobile suit
1,500 Omega Dreadfire mass production commander type mobile suit
2,000 Sparrow mass production aerial combat mobile suit
1,000 Echo Hunter Hard Environment Type mobile suit
1,000 Cougar commander type ground assault mobile suit
1,000 Wolf mass production ground assault mobile suit
500 Athena mass production artillery mobile suit


He read the list out to the commander, the commander started to think "hmm I wonder if we could pull it off with the Shadow system?" he thought out loud "probably but with so many mobile suits in the air we couldn't get the ground forces down, but the Dreadfire's and the Sparrow's should be able to clear the skies for the most part, they are all ready to deploy we just need to unpack them with the compressor" the XO reported.

OOC: If you are wondering, about the compressor I would be more then happy to post the info about it

Kilimanjaro, secret Earth Federation base, Earth

"We still haven't downed them?! Status report!"

"Sir! The energy fields around the enemy vessels seem to be lowering the damage our weapons should be doing, but from the looks of it they are slowly fading out."

"Energy fields? What kind of technology is this?"

"Unknown, Sir. This is something we haven't encountered yet from Zeon forces."

"... Damnation. These must be some kind of prototype weapons!"

The Admiral turned towards his seat momentarily, and then turned to face the monitors.

"We'll have to use plan B then. We must bring these things down so those damn Zeeks don't get their vital battle information!"

"Plan B, Sir?"

"Yes. I authorize the use of our thermonuclear arsenal."

"... Sir, are you sure? That's in direct breach of..."

"Of course I'm sure! Signal the Mobile Suits to maneuver away from the hostile vessels! Prepare for an all-out assault!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"Begin countdown!"

Soon after, a signal flare suddenly appeared from a hole in the mountain, and the Mobile Suits quickly started to scatter away from the vicinity of the enemy, although they had no idea why. Orders were orders, and they were meant to be followed.

What they didn't see was the large opening on the southern side of the mountain, as the nuclear missile silo which had been built to that side of the mountain opened up. Soon afterwards, missiles began to emerge from the depths of the mountain, launching towards the hostile vessels.

If the earlier attacks had not worked, this had to.

Luna II, Space

The realignment of the asteroid base had been completed by now, in record time, too, and nuclear ordnance which had been in the base for quite some time, at least since the War of Independence, was being attached to the chunks of metal that were to be launched at Mount Kilimanjaro.

Soon the Federation rebellion would end before it had even gotten a chance to start.

(OOC: You know, I always wondered why they quit using anything but fission nukes and such in the Cosmic Era timeline. It makes no sense. As for the tech you are using, it sounds like the ass-space technology (also known as vector traps) used in the Zone of the Enders games. Problem is, where are you going to find enough people to actually pilot that many suits? Sounds kind of improbable that you'd just happen to be carrying thousands of MS pilots around in some random small patrol group, just in case, especially considering how prized commodities they are.)

Commander Ladia, sat up from the table after inspecting the signed document. She smiled, everything seems to be in order, I must say I am truly glad to meet our cousins on Earth. She held her hand out towards the bulkhead door. As the two walked through the octagon shapped cooridors, Commander Ladia continued to have small talk with the Principality of Zion's representitive. Soon they approached the flight pod. As they walked in the flight pod, a marine detachment stood by, in a military parade formation. As she was escorted into her shuttle, the marines saluted as she passed by each and every one.

As she left, Commander Ladia, Saluted. I hope this is the begining of a very fruitful relationship for both our peoples, Commander Ladia said. We will be in touch.

As the shuttle left the flightpod of the battlestar Griffon, it vanished in a white light, heading back to Picion, to begin to transfer the information from the treaty on the colony laser.

OOC: sorry it took me so long to write up an exit, I have been very busy recently.)

OOC: good try


"Sir incoming missiles.........nuclear signature detected I don't the shield can hold from a Direct hit" CIC yelled out "Emergency Jump NOW! take us to the far side of the mountain!" The captain yelled out. Before the missiles could hit the ships vanished into thin air, and reappeared on the far side of the mountain out of the missiles path "Look sir the missile silo's" the XO said. The ships could see the silos that launched the nukes "Order the Empiyion to take them out her main guns should do the trick" he ordered. The order was sent and the 24 guns on the forward lower section of the ship aimed down at the silos. Each gun was a twin barrel 550mm and had a large amount of power enough to rip open a mountain. The guns fired sending the large beams of energy at the silos.

"How shall we deal with this? drop pods?" The Xo asked the captain "no, that wont work with the mobile suits in this situation, how ever a Anti-matter missile bombardment to clear some of them out will do the trick before a Full mobile suit launch using the shaodw system" he told the XO.

OOC: its going to be a hard battle for the EFGF I'm a highly advanced civilization with weapon and mobile suit technology far beyond there own.

Kilimanjaro, Earth Federation base, Earth

"Sir, the enemy changed locations! They are firing at our nuclear silos!"

"What?! Those sneaky bastards! I wonder if they can do that multiple times. Use the northern side's silos and continue firing! Also, begin activation procedures of the main cannon!"

"The main cannon, Sir? We haven't even...!"

"I don't care! If these bastards get what they want, this has all been for nothing!"

"... What about the Mobile Suits squadrons?"

"Call them back, we don't want to lose them now."

"Will do, Sir!"

Soon, another signal flare came forth and the Mobile Suits which still were in the air began swift but organized returning to the base, whilst the northern side's silos, which were directly on the ground as opposed to being on the actual side of the mountain, opened, and quickly began launching their payloads intent on doing what the earlier ones failed at.

Luna II, Space

At this point in time, the Zeons already had at least a dozen makeshift rounds ready for the orbital bombardment of Kilimanjaro, with more being assembled. But, as things stood, the first dozen were to be used to see if they really needed more of them, as the slabs of steel could be used for other things as well, and the less was needed for obliterating the Federation remnant base the better.

And within a moment, it all finally started. First round was fired. Then second. Then third. All were fired with slightly differing trajectories as there had to be some room for error. Some, but not much. The people at the Federation base wouldn't know what's coming for them until it'd be too late due to the immense M particle interference, which the Zeons were quite happy to abuse.

The death of the rebellion was coming close.

"Sir we got objects coming in from orbit at high speed for this mountain" CIC reported "seems we are in the middle of a war, get us into orbit and prepare to fire a Tri-thortanum missile" he ordered. As the ships then began to leave there main cannons and hundreds of point defence lasers opened fire on the missiles "FTL jump in 30 seconds" helm reported "Tri-Thortanum missiles loaded in tubes 1 through 30, sir are you sure you want to use them? that much fire power will wipe out a third of the continent" the XO asked from the CIC. Two missiles hit the Empiryion causing its shields to fail, several other ships also lost shields. Before they could get destroyed they jumped into orbit to safety. The captain of the Empiryion looked at the planet "Fire Tri-Thortanums at the target" he ordered "Roger that" was the reply. The captain looked outside the bridge but he saw no missiles "Whats going on? why haven't they fired?" he shouted "The missiles there jammed, they wont leave the tubes" came the reply "Then get them the frack out of the tubes before the blow" he yelled out.

(OOC: ...

I'm dumbfounded. Seriously. First, you, through your rash actions, cause the war I had planned between the Principality and the Federation remnant to be shortened into a mere orbital bombardment. Then, you downplay the power of the Mega Particle Cannons to nothing but flashlights, as you were *constantly* fired at by at least a few dozen full, capital ship grade Mega Particle Cannons from the mountain base, and added to that, by at least a hundred beam rifles from various Mobile Suits which were in the area, and they seemed to cause no damage on a somewhat lengthy period of time. Note that if your shields are based on magnetic fields of some kind, the Mega Particle Cannons would be *completely unaffected* and just pass through them. There's a reason why they went for I-fields and the sorts which are based on Minovsky physics.

Even though I found those things already on the wonky side, I was going along with them for the sake of the fluidity of the roleplay. But then you figured it was your place to DEFACE EARTH. You don't seem to realize that after that you'd find yourself in a state of bitter and constant war with ALL factions within the Earth sphere. The Zeons wanted to get PEOPLE off Earth through any means necessary. As per the philosophy of contolism. But now there's only like a few thousand of them down there for various reasons. Right now, causing an artificial ice age would mostly kill people from the Principality, and wreak havoc on the ecosystems worldwide FOR NO REASON AT ALL. Bombing just Kilimanjaro itself would have very little effect on the planet at large, even though it would have dire local effects. But THAT'S something the Zeons are willing to live with.

God damn, man. I'm thinking of retconning the last bits of your "visit" and then ignore any later things and just pretend that you emergency jumped the hell away from here.)

OOC: to settle the shields part, I am not downplaying there power I am down playing there effectiveness against shield tech that is far beyond your I-fields. In addition, do I not need to remind you that minovsky physics have no grounds in reality? My shields will work as along as there’s power and as long as the heat sinks are working. Also you down play the science of N-jammers, they work on the GUT otherwise known as the Grand unified theory. Yes, it does allow J-Jammers to slow fission, but it speeds fusion to the point that your reactors would be generating power so fast they would be going critical within minutes. As for my missiles its 30 missiles, I can't control them hitting you could intercept them, also I do apologize considering it is a weapon of mass destruction I should of asked permission to use it.

(OOC: The effectiveness of I-fields is based on the fact that they are one technology based on Minovsky physics. It *only* affects beam weapons that use Minovsky particles, nothing else, and would be completely useless against beam weapons of any other sort. There are some variations of it that affect missiles and the sorts, but those aren't as common as the regular form... Your comment still has no bearing on the fact whether or not your shield would be as effective against mega particle cannons and the other beam weapons as an I-field, because you haven't said what kind of shields they are. The I-field is a very specialized shield against a very specialized weapon.

And I quote: "As of 2005, there is still no hard evidence that nature is described by a Grand Unified Theory." The fun part is that there's a BUNCH of Grand Unified Theories. Hey, they aren't really that unified after all! The "Grand Unified Theory" things in CE are based on is as much fiction as the Minovsky particle is. They just took something that sounded cool and real enough and made everything up from that point on, while keeping a "realistic" tone so people'd be happy. So, what was your point again?

And what's that bee es about the N-jammer? In the source, which is Gundam SEED and Destiny, and thus Cosmic Era, all it does is stop the usage of FISSION based nuclear plants due to... Let's see. And I quote: "-- suppresses nuclear fission reactions by blocking the movement of free neutrons --" And here's the kicker: Minovsky-Ionesco reactors emit ZERO neutrons. Thus, effect on such a clean fusion reactor by the N-jammer? Nothing! Nada! Zilch! Your "speeding fusion reactions" effect is something you or someone else than the people who actually made the series made up. You know how this conclusion can be come to? N-jammers with that effect would BLOW UP THE SUN. The whole plot device is to stop the usage of FISSION. And, well, to force close combat. Fusion, on the other hand, is, as far as I am aware of, wholely unaffected, unless ZAFT went off and destroyed the entirety of humanity by having its jammers do in the Sun.

I'm gonna reply to the edited version of your post later, I'm all posted out for the moment due to this OOC postage.)

Kilimanjaro, Earth Federation base, Earth

"Sir! We have something coming straight at us! Some kind of slabs of metal!"

The Admiral turned with obvious fear in his eyes. He realized what was going on in a split second. The Principality had them already on their sights. It was obvious to him now that they were going to do the same thing to the Kilimanjaro base they did to Jaburo.

And he knew it was too late to react now. But they'd still try to anyway.

"What?!", he shouted, "DO SOMETHING! STOP THEM! DESTROY THEM! FIRE ALL THE MISSILES WE HAVE LEFT!"

"Doing that, Sir!"

And so, missiles meant for more like capital vessels than slabs of metal were launched. They could not hold a lock and flew around aimlessly, falling and exploding on the ground as the slab impacted right on the southern side of Kilimanjaro, causing gigantic tremors all across the base and its surroundings, and then it exploded, burning quite a lot of the vast cavern system of which the base was composed of as the thermonuclear bombs hidden within it detonated.

The second slab was a direct hit on Kilimanjaro. Even without the nukes within it, the gigantic mountain started to crumble, and many within the hangars, the living quarters, the command center and so forth were crushed under the mountain's weight, but still, some parts of the base were intact, giving those who had survived the initial impact false hope, as after the nukes exploded, a vast majority of the base gave in and fell upon them as well.

Several slabs of metal more fell upon the direct vicinity of the remains of Mount Kilimanjaro, but there was practically no one there to witness it. What was left were gigantic, smoldering craters on the ground, and even those who may have survived the bombing would be trapped inside and die anyway. Sooner or later.

And this brought a swift end to the Federation rebellion on Earth, and it also managed to demoralize those in space, giving the Principality more precious time, which they indeed would need.

But what was certain to the Principality was that they would have to prepare. The hatred of the Federation remnant ran deep, and it could only be quenched on the field of battle. They would have to learn the secrets of the unconventional technologies of the foreign powers, and further advance on their own as well.

OOC: Look, maybe I shouldn't even be posting here as I have no part...but if Spit Break wants to make a big deal out of all his fancied-up tech the simple truth is that while you are RPing with a UC player you MUST acknowledge that Minovsky physics works for UC.

If it gets down to "my weapons are better" the simple truth is that you're screwed, why? Because unless I'm mistaken Minovsky particles make all your guided weapons and targeting systems rather useless, whereas they have absolutely no effect on Minovsky particle based weapons and Minovsky-physics based mechanics.
You can't deny the physics of an enemy you've already agreed to RP with.

Also, CE shielding such as the Monophase light barriers, positron reflector shields and beam shields may or may not work, depending on how you rp them, but you RP with bastardised ZAFT technology that takes this vastly too far beyond the anime and manga to be taken as 100% reliable, however you cannot and I mean CAN NOT downplay the power of mega particle cannons, time and time again we see in UC just how powerful these babies can get and no matter how good your shields are even by the end of CE tech a Mega Particle blast is nothing to sneeze at and NEVER will be, unless you have an I-field or other Minovsky-physics based weapon that renders them useless.

It would be like if ZP claiming that his I-field protects him against all your antimatter blasts, ain't gonna work but neither is your fancy shielding going to protect you from his mega-particles.
You can't just claim that everything he throws at you is useless because you're more advanced, because if you want to bring UC tech into this you aren't really.

EDIT: One last thing, how the hell can you target only the limbs with positron cannons? The amount of ionisation would destroy the suit it hit.

OCC:my tech is extreamly far beyond the anime and so is my weapons tech not to mention targeting systems, i dont your positron reflecter shields or any of that crap from the anime. My stuff is what is called CE derived tech, orginally it was the stuff from the anime but no longer is and is far past that. As for the physics involved unless you can pump over 3x10^34 Watts of energy multiple times when my heat sinks are taking care of 7x10^35 Joules of the energy collected by the shields. now unless you can give me a exact power out for a mega particle cannon which according the the sources i have chacked there isn't one I am assuming its power. Also you target me for downplaying his physics when he downplayed the GUT so either stop being biased or get out

Yes but what basis have you used to come up with this new tech?
I've seen it and it really doesn't deal much with tech along CE lines, sure you can claim it is evolved or derived, but the simple truth is that unless you can provide some sources it is baseless assumption.

Look, Spit Break, I have nothing against you but you can't downplay HIS stuff because your stuff is equally as shaky, until it is proven.
GUT is yet to be proven by any evidence, check the wiki for some easy info but unless you can give me a link with hard evidence, why should the GUT be any more acknowledged than Minovsky Physics in this entirely fictional setting?
GUT wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_unification_theory#Current_status

What I'm saying Spit Break, is not meant to downplay you, but to say that the field is a lot more equal than you think.
Because the nature of Minovsky physics is such that unless you use some completely new sort of targeting and guiding system, they will be effected by Minovsky interference.
Even things based around UC tech have trouble with Minovsky Interferrance.

Given that you have not encountered it before you can't possibly have a counter for it, just like he can't have a counter for you, because it is an unknown.

You have agreed to play in his universe, you can't start downplaying it now.
It's like if you joined a Star Wars thread and started arguing about their faster-than-light travel or other physics.

Sure you have more brute force but because of the Minovsky interference you won't be able to aim and target so good, and your sensors will have trouble with him too, and you can not just sit back and say "well my shields can take all the damage you can dish out" because that's a god mode, unless this has been agreed upon outside of the thread in which case I apologize for the interference.
A Mega particle weapon is one that fires a focused beam of massive, high-velocity mega-particles, which cannot be deflected by magnetic fields and tears through any conventional armour material.
So it isn't only heat you need to worry about.

I'll say this once more, you can not downplay Minovsky Physics, because it is essentially to UC Gundam and that is what Zeon Principality is, you agreed to take part in this RP and now you have to deal with it.
It is one of the most common problems in comparing Gundamiverses, because Minovsky Physics gives UC an unfair advantage, you'll have to work out a happy medium yourselves and given time you could develop sensors and guiding systems that do work in UC Minovsky physics.

OOC: whats the difference between pictional physics and a unproven theory? nothing

IC

"Alright get us out of, here and label the system as hostile" The captain ordered. The ships then jumped away from the system, if ZAFT ever did return it would be in force.

OOC: im done with this good bye

(OOC: And that is exactly the point. All of the different GUTs are unproven, disputed theories. Thing with SEED is that it doesn't even try to explain WHICH GUT is "true" in their series. In the end, it's just as much Sci-Fi as the Minovsky Particle. Otherwise we'd be flying around in Mobile Suits with Phase Armor right now.

And as I explained earlier, I didn't downplay your stuff. All its weaknesses and strengths are readable on the internet. The N-jammer is designed to jam neutrons, that's where the N comes from, as the full name is "Neutron Jammer". As a result, it doesn't affect fusion at all, especially the kind of fusion that's free of neutrons. There are no neutrons to jam, makes perfect sense. And again, if it did affect fusion, there would be no story to tell because ZAFT would've long ago killed humanity to the last man, woman and child because the Sun would be no longer with us. Because, you know, Sun's a bigass fusion reactor. If you want to edit what's supposedly "canon", sure, that's your right, but don't claim that it's from the CE line, then. Otherwise you'll cause a lot of confusion when you call something this and then, when people actually bother to find its fictional specs on the internet and play on that, claim that it's something different altogether.

You marked the system hostile, huh. You barge in on Earth unannounced and think they'd be happy to see you there? That makes absolutely no sense. I'm sure anyone could be made to seem hostile that way, when, in fact, you are the one making those rash choices in a system you don't know, and playing around with people you don't know as well. It's obvious that, when it's humans we're talking about, and especially humans that are *expecting* to be forced to fight, you'll get attacked.

Blargh. I guess I still have hate left from that crazy, although retconned, killing of Africa and causing of an artificial ice age on the planet... That really got me close to quitting this thing entirely.)

OOC:
It's okay, Spit is obviously not interested in RPing properly, you can tell that when he just quits with such a cop-out.
I just hate the bastardisation he does to CE, he claims CE derivative and yet has no evidence, basically it is all his own gobbledygook stuff hashed together lightly with what could be CE influenced stuff.
He completely ignored things like practicality and existing technology.
Hell, I'm pretty sure no gundam has ever had Faster Than Light travel.

I have my own problems with Spit, I could rave about him for pages. But that'd be small minded.
If you need someone to RP with you I offer my assistance, I'm not that familiar with UC Gundam (seen all the side stories and half of MSG) but I'm sure I know enough to help you out if you need someone to RP an opposing force.

UC0086

A year had passed since the destruction of the Federation base and only a few skirmishes around central Europe had taken place. The Principality's Earth-side garrison had not lost a single Mobile Suit which had been strengthened after the Kilimanjaro incident, although some had been damaged to the point where they had to be removed from active duty. This could not be said of the Federation guerillas however - they had lost at least two dozen GMs in their attacks, with both destroyed and captured ones counted, showing the difference in quality between the current Zeon Mobile Suits and the ancient GM. Though, as Axis came closer with every passing moment, the actual mining operations at Odessa were slowly diminishing. It was scheduled to end completely sometime during the year UC0087, as Axis was supposed to arrive sometime that year to the Earth sphere. Then Earth would be abandoned and quarantined, leaving any Federation forces still lurking there to their own fates. They would find their supply lines from space severed, and they would be completely unable to do anything against the Principality anymore.

Back in UC0085, after the Zeons had sent the promised goods to Kobal, with the help of their engineers the Principality had begun to unlock the secrets of Faster than Light travel. When the fighter craft had arrived, the first order of business had been to remove the FTL engines from them and place them onto Mobile Suit testbeds, which had, after quite a few quirks had been taken care of, not to mention certain problems with the differences of the technologies used, worked out just fine, all things considered.The first faster than light travels took place quickly after the Mobile Suits had been equipped with the engines, showing that the technology did indeed work as the "outsiders" had claimed. This showed that the somewhat blind trust had most luckily paid off.

Shortly afterwards, while the select few Mobile Suit pilots continued to practice the use of the FTL engines and the feasibility of FTL engines on Mobile Suits in the field was still being debated (as they did indeed increase the weight and the encumberance of a Mobile Suit, making it an easier target while not traveling Faster than Light), the trial production of the Principality's own engines for actual starships had begun, again, of course, with the help of the Kobal's engineers. The Principality had commissioned both ZEONIC and Zimmad to make them. Initially only six starship-class engines were made, three by both, all slightly diffent due to certain factors which could not have been foreseen. They were embedded into aging vessels from the One Year War era which had been used for various experiments, but which had been decommissioned not too long ago as obsolete, and would've just been scrapped in due time.

As time went by and the engines were tested, it was concluded that half of them were too defective for any kind of use, as one ship exploded violently upon use, second imploded, and third was simply lost and never heard of again - while the engine might have worked, it obviously was not safe. Of the three remaining ones two were close enough in function to the specs given by the Kobal's engineers, the third functioning one had major problems with accuracy. The two remaining ones, one which had been made by Zimmad and the other by ZEONIC, remained in trial and were tested on different types of vessels, and a dozen more of both were made for this purpose.

Later, when the tests with the two remaining engines was in full swing, it was discovered that the Zimmad version could not function under as much stress as the ZEONIC version as it suddenly, without warning, broke down and left a Musai class vessel stranded well beyond Pluto, forcing another vessel, in this case a Gwazine class equipped with a ZEONIC engine, to make an unscheduled detour and be used to tow the Musai back to the Earth sphere. It had also been noted that the Zimmad engine which now had been found to be weaker was also faster and cheaper to produce of the two. While this weakness made it so that it would not be used in military vessels, it was concluded that it would be used for civilian ships, as they generally do not need to jump in quick succession as much as military vessels might.

Other advances were made during the year as well, some regarding the "phaser" weapon technology acquired from the unknown alien faction, and they would find some use as infantry-borne anti-Mobile Suit weapons, unless later times show their usefulness in other fields. Some new Mobile Suit weapons and designs were in the works as well, with an emphasis on added mobility in the form of transformable Mobile Suits.

Now, in UC0086, many ZEONIC production lines had been diverted to build their winning Faster than Light engine, and the Zeon warfleet was rather quickly being refitted with said engines, before the Kobal's engineers would leave as per the agreement. In comparison, only a few lines the Zimmad company had had been diverted to making their civilian FTL engine, as it was a common fact that a lot less money was involved when it came to civilians, especially since as of right now they couldn't really even advertise (or sell) their product or anything due to the secrecy surrounding the entire project. What they were doing right now was just adding more of these engines to their stockpile for the time when it'd become possible for them to actually sell them.

Also, now, the Federation remnant in space was preparing for war once more, having regrouped after the massive defeat at Kilimanjaro.

Ever since the Zeon War of Independence and the relocation of the people of Earth to Side 7, it had been a hotbed of civil unrest. Back in UC0080, during the Neo Zeon War, they had even attempted to rebel against their Zeon leaders, but shortly after it had started, the rebellion had been put down with coldblooded efficiency. Many of the Federation's veterans of the Zeon War of Independence, or as they preferred to call it, the One Year War, lost their lives then, and many more disappeared without a trace, never to be heard of again.

That is, among other less pressing reasons, why the remains of the Federation were not keen on starting another rebellion on their own soil, within their own colonies. Instead, they would start it somewhere else in Zeon territory.

Private residence, Green Noa 2, Side 7

Six men were holding a meeting in the home of an ex-Vice Admiral of the EFSF, sitting in armchairs around a somewhat low wooden coffee table. The only source of light was the fireplace, making the room relatively dark, all things considered. Only one of them wore an Earth Federation uniform - the Vice Admiral himself. The others were in civilian clothing. After all, Federation uniforms do draw unwanted attention from Zeonic authorities.

After the initial pleasantries and pointless small talk about the weather (they were in a colony with quite stable, and scheduled, weather, after all), the Vice Admiral was growing impatient, interrupted the conversation in an attempt to turn it into more... Pressing matters.

"How are the preparations coming along?", asked the Vice Admiral, slowly turning his head to look at them all, waiting for an answer.

Having gotten their attention, everyone looked at him, but they weren't saying a word.

He sighed, and said, "Don't worry, no one's listening. I've made sure of it."

After a minute of more silence, one of them spoke out.

"Well... Where should I start. The Solar System's been assembled, and the Zeeks haven't noticed it yet. We're just waiting for the right time to fire it at their Colony Laser. Also, the fleet is ready to attack Luna II, so when the Solar System fires and gets their attention, we'll attack it, to either capture it or destroy it, just as planned. We've replaced all the old GMs with the Nemos and other Mobile Suits from Anaheim Electronics, so we shouldn't be completely outclassed."

"Excellent. And the Martian fleet?"

"Still enroute, but it should be here in just a month or two, tops."

The Vice Admiral nodded, and said, "We're going to need them. With the Zeeks constantly watching over us we're going to be outgunned, fast."

"Quite right, Sir."

The conversation continued along those lines for a while, and when it ended, the five men left. But what was obvious, there would be war, and it would start very soon.

Zeon Colony Laser's control center, in orbit around the Moon

It seemed to be yet another quite uneventful day at the Colony Laser, the most potent weapon the Principality had in its disposal, the grandest symbol of its power. That was also the reason why it had to be guarded at all times - during the years, there had been several attempts to sabotage it by different factions, usually borne from the dissenters of Side 7. But always had the massive weapon survived.

The Commander sat on his seat, reading a book to kill time. He was in a Zeon normal suit sans the helmet, just like everyone else in the room. It was one of those precautions that just had to be taken in case of emergency, even though normal suits aren't very comfortable in regular use.

"... Come in, Patrol 43! Do you copy?"

The Commander sighed, stood up and put the book on his seat. The comms officer's near-shouting wasn't helping him read, so...

Due to the zero G conditions in the command center, he slid to the comms officer, stopping by grabbing the seat of said officer.

"What seems to be the problem?"

"Some of the patrols aren't responding," he said, still looking at his instruments, "The M particle coverage shouldn't be that bad, they should be picking the signal up."

"Hmm. Didn't this happen a few weeks ago, too?"

"Yes, Sir," said the officer, sighing and rubbing his eyes, "I bet those idiots are slacking off again."

"Don't worry about it," replied the commander with a smile on his face, "I'll school them again when they come back when their shifts end."

The officer nodded, and the commander was about to take a leap back to his seat, when another officer shouted for him.

"Sir! You should take a look at this!"

"What is it?", said the commander while he leaped to the officer's general direction.

"Look," he said, pointing at one of the many monitors in front of him, "what the hell is that? It looks like a gigantic mirror in space."

The commander squinted. It couldn't be...

"Where's this coming from? Is this some kind of a joke?"

"It's no joke. It's a feed from one of the closer patrol fleets. What is that?"

"... Does it have a direct line of sight to us?"

"Yeah. This patrol is like just a few clicks away from us, and to that thing's direction."

"... Jesus Christ."

He turned quickly. It had taken him mere moments to realize that what he was looking at it was that weapon the Federation had used during the fall of Luna II. He knew. He had been there..

"TURN THIS THING AROUND! TARGET THAT GODDAMN FEDDIE SOLAR SYSTEM BEFORE THEY HAVE A CHANCE TO USE IT!"

Surprise was the general reaction, but no one was doing anything. So, the commander took his pistol out of his pocket.

"THIS IS A DIRECT ORDER! DO IT NOW!"

"Yes, Sir!"

"And tell everyone in the way to GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE if they don't want to die!"

"Already doing it, Sir!"

The minutes the changing of the direction the Colony Laser was pointing at took felt like hours, but it was done. Just in time before the Solar System had a chance to fire, thought the commander.

But they weren't firing.

"What are you waiting for!? FIRE!"

"But, Sir..."

"WHAT?!"

He pointed his pistol at the officer.

"Don't force me to kill you," he said quite plainly with no emotion in his voice. It was like he had changed completely.

"..."

At that very moment, the Solar System finally fired and the officer realized what he had done, at which point he finally pulled the veritable trigger, and the Colony Laser fired as well.

The result?

Everyone in the command center of the Colony Laser were summarily burned to death. All the ships still docked to it were destroyed. The great Zeon superweapon was turned into a simple, charred, colony cylinder. Luckily, thanks to the hasty evacuation of fleet elements around the Colony Laser, loss of life was pretty much limited to a few thousand people. A miracle, really.

The Solar System was also rendered inoperable in the firing, as the laser managed to destroy its control systems and break many of the mirrors in the intense heat. Luckily, again, the parts of the laser which were reflected by the giant mirror flew harmlessly into unpopulated areas.

What was left of the Solar System was soon after destroyed by the fleet elements which had left the Colony Laser, removing both weapons completely from use.

This marked the beginning of the war against the ghost of the Federation.

Luna II, Zeon asteroid base close to Side 7

At the same time as the attack on the Zeon Colony Laser was being executed, another operation was taking place - it was to liberate the old Federation base of Luna II, which had been under Zeon control for the last seven years, and had been, rather ironically, the destroyer of the Federation's backbone on at least two completely separate occasions, originally during the Zeon War of Independence when its mass driver was used to destroy the Federation's nerve center of Jaburo, and later Kilimanjaro, the one largest base the Federation had left on Earth after the war.

It begun as an innocent-looking, unscheduled group of freighters which supposedly hailed from Side 6 were approaching Luna II for inspection after having been told to do thus after being intercepted by one of the many Zeon patrol fleets. This kind of thing happens quite often in this area of space, as neutral entities like Side 6 or many of the colonies of Moon do not answer for the Principality, and sometimes make the mistake of "forgetting" that the Principality is de-facto in control of Side 7, or at least keeps tabs on it at all times, which tends to mean more work for the Zeon forces stationed at Luna II. There is an actual reason for such a thing, though. Any non-Zeon goods being brought to Side 7 are subject to punitive tariffs, significantly lowers the profitability of trade with the people of the Side.

But this was just a ploy. It was their intent in the first place to be "caught" by the Zeon authorities and to be taken back to Luna II. After all, what better way was there to surprise them than to attack from up close? And considering how much a routine job this all was for them, the chances of the Zeon forces realizing what was going on until it was too late were infinitesmal, until they were in range for Mobile Suit combat. They knew exactly at what point their ships were going to be inspected.

And so, as they had reached the inspection area which was only few hundred kilometers off Luna II, just when the inspection was about to begin, the freighters busted open, jettisoning close to a hundred unmarked Federationesque Mobile Suits, mostly MSA-003 Nemos, fresh off Anaheim Electronics' Mobile Suit factories, although some who seemed to be aces from the level of their skill used some kind of never seen before prototypes. At such close range the relative green-ness of the majority of the pilots of the Mobile Suits did not matter, as it was nearly impossible to not to hit something, even with bad aim.

The attack devastated the inspection area quite quickly. A small fleet of a dozen Late Production Type Musais were destroyed before managing to even unload their Mobile Suit complements, with only several of the MS-23 Zaku IIIs actually surviving the explosions caused by the Musais, and then being destroyed by the beam rifle fire from the Federation remnant Mobile Suits.

As the Federation forces began their advance on Luna II from the inspection area, the few Zeon forces which were present scrambled to defend the asteroid base. The actual defenses of the asteroid base, which were largely useless due to them being on the wrong sides of the base itself, kept firing at the incoming Mobile Suits as long as they could, while being weakened by lucky potshots by the hostile forces, while similarily lucky shots damaged a good number of incoming hostile Mobile Suits.

The Zeon space forces never were that strong on this far side of the planet since most of them were centered around Side 3, but at least there were a number of Mobile Suits, mostly Zaku IIIs, inside the asteroid base as a garrison which were being manned as the enemy came ever closer, and as soon as they activated, they were catapulted out of the hangar.

By the time half of the Zakus had left the hangar, the large remaining enemy forces were already on the asteroid base. From this close range, the turrets could not effectively shoot at them anymore, so they were ignored by the invading forces. When the Zakus finally caught up with them, the Zeons, while they were keeping out of sight, noticed that several of the Federation Mobile Suits were offline. More attentive pilots also noticed a hole in the wall. At that moment it was very clear that the base had been breached, but there was a more pressing matter they had to attend to.

From their relatively safe positions, they began firing at the Federation Mobile Suits, who were like sitting ducks in an open area on the asteroid. Many a Nemo was destroyed very quickly, while others managed to evade destruction and fleed. Without thinking about it too much, the Zeons followed.

This was a huge mistake.

Suddenly, the group came under heavy fire from Mega Particle Cannons which originated from the asteroid base. While they tried to dodge, one Zaku III after another was destroyed. The pilots had not realized that the Federation remnant knew how the asteroid base was built, and that they had directly gone for its command center and that they had already taken it over.

Not too long after a small Federation fleet of old Salamis and Magellans came to garrison the base, and to bring in soldiers to pacify the remaining Zeon forces which still were within the base.

Afterwards, a transmission was sent out from Luna II, stating thus:

-- TRANSMISSION BEGINS --

LUNA II - EARTH FEDERATION SPACE FORCES

After seven years of unlawful occupation, the Earth Federation has reclaimed
the asteroid, Luna II. No longer shall we stand by and let the Zeon dogs
treat our people any way they desire. The Federation lives once more.

As such, Side 7 declares its independence of Side 3. Our intent is to
recolonize Earth, and we will restore what was lost due to the One Year War.

--TRANSMISSION ENDS--

(OOC: Gaah, I'm feeling horribly uninspired, but I also feel that I want to advance this story. If anyone's actually reading this, please, bear with me. I'm trying making it better as I go.)

(OOC: Hey I've been browsing through here... weird stuff in 0085 o_O Still taking applications for Federal remnants? I thought it might make some sense to operate out of the Shoal Zone, maybe develop a few custom models... don't have much RP experience but I can definitely stick to UC basics.)

(OOC: Well, it's not THAT strange if Zeon had won the war, as the Federation ended up doing the same as Zeon did in the official timeline (especially in New Type-related technology), which means that they started researching and producing more and more advanced prototype Mobile Suits in an attempt to stop the enemy's advance, culminating their overheating research in a RX-178 Gundam mark II. After the Principality found and captured this research, this advanced parts of the regular MS technology, making the panoramic view in the cockpit and movable frame at the very least common place a few years before it "really" happened. However, transformable Mobile Suits haven't yet become as common as they became during the Gryps War, but there are some lurking around.

And this timeline's MS-11C Act Zaku type C, since ZEONIC was never absorbed by Anaheim Electronics and all, is basically comparable to your run of the mill HiZack. To make things easier for me, I'm using the real Universal Century Mobile Suits of their time as time progresses in this timeline, rather than making up new ones.

And uh, I don't think I was taking applications for the Feddie remnant in the first place, but if you really want to roleplay them... If you really want to use prototype Mobile Suits and the sorts, please take them from Zeta Gundam or at most Gundam ZZ, and make them Anaheim Electronics-made, Federationesque ones, since AE never got access to ZEONIC for the more Zeon styled Mobile Suits, and the Federation remnant has pretty much no Mobile Suit manufacturing capability of its own, especially after the destruction of the Kilimanjaro base. Also note that while the path the roleplay may take is quite wide open, the destination is not, as the Federation will end up losing again. If the loss is nominal and leaves Side 7 independent or really crushing and leaving Side 7 again in Zeon control is not yet decided, however.)

(OOC: No not the war stuff, that was fine, I meant the aliens and stuff, I guess I thought it'd be more Gundamy... anyway thanks for responding, I think I'll step aside and let it run your way.)

(OOC: Oh, right, that. Well, you see, this thing is not in its own "universe", but rather the NS FT one. The one where Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5 and many other Sci-Fi things, some even made by the players themselves, live in not-quite-perfect harmony. That's why there will (and should) be outsiders, whenever someone feels like contributing to the thread. I didn't see the point of making a nation that would live in a bubble. If I wanted to make it that way, I probably would have made a sign up thread instead of an intro thread in the first place.

This is quite non-Gundamy for other reasons, too. Like, the fact that I'm roleplaying Zeon rather than the Federation. That means the Gundams will always be just footnotes in history, while the Gelgoog and so on have taken their rightful places as the ultimate Mobile Suits. And things like that.)

During the renewed war between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation, the research and application of different, new and exotic Mobile Suit technologies became relevant, with the first and most obvious change being the arrival of transformable Mobile Suits which have quickly saturated every level of warfare, as the need to remain competitive, for both sides, is paramount. Such marvels of engineering as the MSZ-006 Zeta Gundam had surfaced, its model number being such due to it being one of Anaheim Electronics' Mobile Suits rather than the Federation's, and named after an old, long gone Independence War era Mobile Suit which had caused trouble to the Principality for a while before being eliminated.

But it wasn't as though the Zeons had not done anything of their own - while they were behind in the transformable Mobile Suit front, as it from their point of view mattered less in space, they had managed to create many new prototype Mobile Suits and even new mass production types in such a short time,with one such being the MS-23 Zaku III, which had a striking resemblance to the old MS-06 Zaku II in appearance and would go on to slowly replace the MS-11C Act Zaku type C as the mainstay of the Zeon Mobile Suit forces.

Although the Federation remnant seemed to be in good shape, as they seemingly did have the upper hand technologically, their dependence on Anaheim Electronics and their far lesser base of competent military personnel was slowly proving to be a problem. Anaheim Electronics was a company which had to make money - and their secret sponsoring of the remnant was becoming more of a drain rather than of use. Not to mention that such prolonged, active aiding of the Principality's enemies had started to raise suspicions months ago - it was painfully obvious that the Federation couldn't have been building so many advanced Mobile Suits on its own. Especially since the ZEONIC Company, Zimmad Company, Anaheim Electronics and various smaller companies had hired nearly all the survivors of the Federation who had worked with their Mobile Suit, battleship and assorted other programs. All this had forced AE to slow down, if not completely shut down, the help it had been giving to the Federation.

The Federation found itself in an increasingly difficult position, as the Principality became bolder with every passing day, and they had hard time replacing destroyed or disabled Mobile Suits, not to mention repairing them. Since replacement parts were scarce, they found themselves using salvage for even small damages, making somewhat odd looking Mobile Suits, as they had no choice but to even use Zeon parts whenever they could. Zeon and AE Mobile Suits, however, were not completely compatible.

At this point in the war, their only hope was the arrival of the Martian fleet - and it was rumored to arrive any time now.

Luna II, Federation asteroid base close to Side 7

"Sir! Two ships just appeared several kilometers away from our position!"

The Admiral, who had been reviewing a document with a report on the base's current Mobile Suit capacity, captured or otherwise, slowly raised his head. He was sitting on the commander's seat which, as usual, was located in the middle of the bridge as to give him easy access to everyone there.

"... Appeared? What do you mean?"

"There was nothing there just a few moments ago and now there's two ships!"

The Admiral jumped from his seat to see it himself. The officer was just zooming in to the ships as he reached the position.

"... Just two Musais?" muttered the Admiral.

"What will we do, Sir?"

The Admiral straightened his back and turned towards the comms officer.

"Send two squads of Mobile Suits and a couple Salamis to intercept," he said, with a loud and clear voice, then turning back to the monitors and continuing with a much lower, almost whispering, voice, "Who knows what they're up to."

It took a few minutes for them to have the Mobile Suits scramble and for the Salamis to undock from the asteroid base. It wasn't exactly normal that Zeon ships would show up so far away from actual warzones, especially in such a manner. Although there had been some rumors of Zeon reinforcements showing up almost as though out of thin air... They were regarded just as such - rumors.

In those few minutes, as the Admiral observed, all the Musais did was spread M particles - nothing out of the ordinary when Federation and Zeon forces meet each other. It was quite strange that two ships, especially such old ones like Musais, would show up without any kind of escort. They weren't even launching their Mobile Suits. They did seem to have some quite large external weapons, one each, which he had not seen before, noted the Admiral in his mind. Too cumbersome to shoot at Mobile Suits, however, so they were probably some kind of anti-capital ship weapons. But as it had been from at least from the Zeon War of Independence, space ships were not much of a match for Mobile Suits on their own.

It would be a quick battle, the Admiral mused. Two Musai wouldn't stand a chance against ten state-of-the-art MSA-003 Nemo Mobile Suits.

But then, all of a sudden, the two Musai fired those strange external weapons, directed at Luna II - two large beams suddenly darted towards the asteroid base. Even at that point the Admiral was confident that they wouldn't be in any danger, although he did order blast doors to be shut just in case and everyone to put on their helmets in case of a rupture. How powerful two large Mega Particle Cannons could be, anyway?

But he was wrong in his assesment - the danger had been very real and very dire. His base had just become a testing ground for the newest Zeon capital ship weapon - the Hyper Mega Particle Cannon.

In a mere minute, the entire asteroid base had been completely obliterated and everyone inside had died, all ships which were still docked, scrapped. All that was left was debris - and ten Mobile Suits and two Salamis which now were without a base of operations and a serious bone to pick with the two Musai, which now, finally, had sent out their Mobile Suits - six Zaku IIIs in total.

Just as the Musai and the Salamis were starting to engage in a shooting match and the Mobile Suits were in range of each other to begin shooting, a group of five Zeon vessels arrived at the scene. Lead by a Gwazine class vessel which was followed by four Late Type Musais, the two Salamis were quickly eliminated, and the ten Mobile Suits destroyed.

After making sure that there was nothing related to the Federation remnant still active (or alive) in the region, the Mobile Suits returned to the ships and the small fleet of now seven ships disappeared just as quickly as they had appeared.

It was a dark day for the Federation.

Zum City, Capital space colony of the Principality, Side 3

The days after Luna II's destruction had been hell for the Federation remnant. While the Federation's morale had plummeted, the exact opposite had happened to the Principality. Nothing but Argama and one of its escort ships were left outside Side 7, and they weren't exactly in fighting order and had been forced to lay low until Anaheim Electronics would be bothered to repair them. Even Side 7 itself was doomed to fall.

Until, that is, the Martian fleet came. Side 7, which had been a lost cause, suddenly became a place one would not want to be if he happened to be in the Zeon military.

"... Titans, you say?"

"Yes, Sir," responded the woman in a red uniform - the type of uniform the Special Forces of the Principality used. The room was dark, the only thing emanating light was a screen with a quite dark picture of a fleet on it.

The picture zoomed in.

"As you can see," she said, pointing at a location on the screen with a black pointer, making it practically a pointless gesture, "these aren't regular Federation ships. The coloring doesn't match the Federation, and their emblems are completely different." Shortly after she lowered the pointer.

The man the woman was presenting this to nodded. His uniform was quite ornate - the usual fare you would see with the Supreme Commander of the Zeon military. Whom also happened to be the leader of the Principality.

"Continue."

The woman nodded. She pressed the small, plasticky switch in her left hand and the picture on the screen changed.

"They also have never seen before ships, such as this one," she said and circled one of the ships on the screen, which was then zoomed into, "It is something we've never seen before. And now this one, right here," she pointed at a ship practically right next to the earlier ship, "Is another, and," she again pointed at a ship that was quite close to the ones earlier, "here is yet another."

She lowered the pointer.

"It has been concluded that they have managed to build a new fleet of ships outside Earth sphere somehow. It's suspected that they've been assisted by some group from the Jupiter Energy Fleet."

"... What about their Mobile Suits?"

"Many of them are never seen before models as well, Sir."

She pressed the switch again, and a lot of smaller shots of different Mobile Suits came up. The man grinned. Thanks to the screen illuminating his face, the woman saw it.

It was obvious he knew what was coming next.

"While this one's easily recognizable as a GM variant," momentarily, the picture of said Mobile Suit took the entire screen, "the rest, however," now the other Mobile Suits began to show on the screen for a few seconds in similar fashion, one after another, "Well... As you can see, many of them resemble our Mobile Suits rather than Federation ones."

As the slide stopped and the screen returned to the state where it showed only the miniature pictures, he rose up in laughter.

"Who would've guessed... They stole our 'prints and built on them! Look," he walked towards the screen, "They have our Act Zakus. What do they call them?"

"Um, 'HiZacks', Sir."

He bursted into laughter again.

After regaining composure, he responded, "So that's where all the stolen material went to! I knew it'd come haunt us some day. Looks like this is the day."

He walked back to his seat and sat down.

"Looks like this little skirmish of ours just got a bit more interesting, then."

((Permission to jump in?))

(OOC: Permission granted. You're jumping in on a rather volatile situation, though. Tread with caution!)

((Heh. The Clans fear not this 'volatile situation!' I'll post when I have more time to do so.))

"Spreading Minovsky particles!"

"Spy satellites have been blinded!"

"Light Zeon presence in the region!"

It never was the aim of the Titans to keep Side 7. They knew it was a lost cause, just as the leaders of the Federation remnant which had been fighting the Principality for months did. They couldn't win a prolonged war in space against the Zeon forces which had far more experience when it came to warfare in space than the Federation forces.

The objective was simple - cram all military personnel in the remaining Federation ships and the ships of the Titans (re-entry capable or otherwise) as possible, and make a run for Earth. Whichever ships could also come back to space after re-entry would be used to take even more people back to Earth. There were bases on Earth which the Principality had not found yet - not to mention the many old abandoned bases which the Zeon forces had taken over during the course of the first war, which, with some luck and work should be usable once again.

"Prepare for re-entry!"

"Launch ballutes!"

It all happened too fast for the Principality to react - they were too busy taking over Side 7. They had no idea what was going on until it was too late.

The Federation ships and Mobile Suits began to fall on Earth, unseen and undetected by the Zeon forces there. The Minovsky particle interference was too high, not to mention that the Zeon presence on Earth was too weak anywhere else but around Odessa and in Africa. And, as it were, the Federation bases were not in those regions.

Some of the Mobile Suits and several of the transport ships went for the secret base in New Guinea (which had been running with a skeleton crew until this day - only couple of handfuls of people had stayed there). It was to be the base of operations on Earth - it'd be a safe haven for all Federation forces at least until the Principality would find out its location. And that was why it had to remain hidden.

That was part of the reason why so many of the vessels (and Mobile Suits with them) were launched into a multitude of locations across the globe. Part of the reason was to distract the Principality. Part of it was to gain access to the old space ports (for example New Hong Kong and Darwin in Australia), which, with any luck, could be still used to launch ships into space. It would also speed up the actual landing phase as well - time wasn't exactly on their side, as it was highly likely that it wouldn't take long for the Zeons to catch on to this little endeavor.

Of course the old military bases weren't forgotten, either. THe long-since-abandoned California base which the Principality had taken over during their war of independence received a complement of Mobile Suits and vessels, not to mention the many smaller Federation bases the Zeons had not bothered to even take over and had crushed during the course of the war. Who knows what could be found there. Who knows, maybe they would find parts of the old Federation Mobile Suit-related arsenal, parts of the fabled Project V and its derivatives... And some nuclear weapons as well.

Unbeknownst to the bickering Titan, Federation, and Zeon forces, a small fleet of JumpShips, fourty, to be exact, opened up into real-space near the Northern pole of the planet. The fourty JumpShips, each roughly three kilometers in length, were all carrying full loads: six Hrothgar-class DropShips and seven hundred Darket light fighters per JumpShip. There mission was to do recon along the edge of the Galaxy and find relatively uninhabited planets to colonize and find new resource nodes.

"Nav, what is our location?" The voice of Galaxy Commander Arcturus was stern, commanding. His physique, while not quite on par with an Elemental warrior, was much larger than that of the basic Clanner. His emotionless facial expression was set in stone, showing that he had seen more than his fair share of combat.

"Unknown sir," replied a young girl, looking barely the age of eighteen. "We...sir...it looks like we are in orbit over Terra."

Arcturus turned his head sharply in her direction. "Can you confirm?"

"Neg," she replied. "We would have to take samples of the crust of the planet to make a data comparison with those of the Scientist Caste back on Strana Mechty."

"Then we shall go to the planet ourselves," he announced. "I shall take a recon Star down to the planet at the largest continent. I shall contact you once we have secured the area and are ready to have our main force transported down."

"Aff, Galaxy Commander," replied 'Nav'.
_____________________________________________________

Less than a few minutes later, a single DropShip detached from the lead JumpShip, and it soon entered the planet's atmosphere. It looked like a meteor as it descended towards the surface of the planet, bee-lining for, little to their own knowledge, Zeon-controlled Germany...

Ruins of Berlin, Earth

As there had been close to no guerilla activity in the proximity of Berlin for at least six months, most of the ReGelgs had been sent back to Odessa from which they were hauled back to space. Only a tenth of them remained, and even they were scheduled to leave the area as soon as the last Dom Fünfs and Zaku II FZs from Odessa would come to take their place as the garrison of central Europe.

That, and they were needed in space more than on Earth... Or were, until the Titans started their landfall, but that wasn't exactly a thing the Principality could have foreseen, even if the Federation remnant had originally, when they started the war, made the claim that it aimed to settle Earth.

As the Clanner DropShip began its fall onto Earth, the very first people to see it were a group of pilots in their Zaku II FZs, who were on the look out for Federation guerillas. Radar was next to useless thanks to the heavy Minovsky particle cover. It had been kept high to make it harder to pick up on where all the Zeon forces were.

At first, only one of the Zaku pilots took an interest in the peculiar meteor - it wasn't really acting like one. It was moving with too high level of control for one. He zoomed on the moving object. It was still blurry, the Minovsky cover was interfering with the monitors. But the incoming object sort of looked like an HLV. Wrong color scheme, though, and whichever ones were coming there weren't supposed to be come straight into Berlin. So, he zoomed in again and again.

In seconds, it became obvious it wasn't a Zeon ship. Well, it was rather obvious also due to the massive amount of reflective surfaces in the general location it supposedly came from, too. The ships looked much larger than anything the Principality or the Federation/Titans were fielding, barring the asteroid bases of course.

"Incoming from the sky!"

The others now looked upwards as well and zoomed in, pointing their weapons in the sky in the process as well.

Yep, something was definitely coming towards their general location, and it didn't look friendly. But it wasn't like the Federation guerillas in the area knew that it wasn't Zeonic, either.

Several veteran Federation pilots in camouflaged RGM-79[G] GM Snipers - their leader used a RGM-79SC GM Sniper Custom - were stationed relatively close to Berlin. They had been waiting for something to happen for quite some time now, waiting for the Zeons to slip up so they could hit something big. The Zakus weren't exactly prime targets - telling the Zeons they were there wasn't exactly their objective. Indeed, the last thing they needed was a new complement of ReGelgs showing up and for something as little as a few measly Zakus.

And then they saw the ship coming down. They had to rise up to crouch because it was, well, coming downwards. They were sure the Zeons wouldn't see them anyway until it'd be too late.

It'd be a hard shot, though.

"The HLV is in range."

"I have clean shot. Orders, Sir?"

"Shoot it down. Let's show those Zeeks we're still around."

"Roger."

"OK."

"Will do, Sir!"

And so, after a few moments of targeting, first, one beam was shot at the incoming vessel. Then another. Then yet another. There were five shots in total, one from each Mobile Suit. They didn't enough time for repeated shots, though - they had to rise up and vacate the area before they'd be found.

"What the...?"

The Zaku pilots quite naturally saw this happen. One of them lowered the main camera of his Zaku to the general location where th shots came from. It wasn't exactly hard since some trees had been charred by the shots.

"Someone shot at it!"

"Was someone supposed to be there?"

"No. It's gotta be Feddies. Send the signals!"

"Roger."

And so, a few signal flares were fired into the sky as the Zakus jumped down from the roof of the building they had been standing on all this time, and started moving towards the general location where the beams were coming from.

Not too long after they had come down to the ground and began their run, they heard the AA in the city going live - it was quite obvious at this point that the ship wasn't Zeonic. Some of them momentarily wondered why were the shooting at it as they continued running - they hadn't heard the news of the Titans coming to Earth yet.

(OOC: I'm assuming your dropship is one of the spheroid types rather than an aerodyne one.)

((Exactly!))

As the 'HLV' dropped towards Berlin, it came within visual range- whump!...and firing range?

"We have taken fire!" The Captain of the HLV announced.

"Damage report," Arcturus demanded.

"Minimal," replied the co-pilot of the DropShip. "It took off some hull plating, but not enough to critically injure us."

"Coordinates of the shot," Arcturus demanded again.

"Unknown sir," replied the Captain. "Trying to get a trajectory is difficult. It was an energy weapon, although something seems to be interfering with-"

Whump, whump whump whump!

"More fire!"

"Trajectory?"

"Unknown! Seems to be the same vector, though!"

Boff boff tink poff wham!

"What in Kerensky's name is hitting us?!" Arcturus was becoming impatient and frustrated, and it was starting to sound in his voice.

"Anti-air weapons, sir," replied the Captain. "Coming from a city below us."

"Can you get a lock?" Arcturus had calmed himself now, but even then, it was obvious he was still frustrated.

"Aff, sir," replied the Captain.

"Then get rid of it, then," Arcturus ordered. "My warriors and I will hard-drop from here. I want you to provide us with air support."

"Aff, sir."

As the DropShip descended to a lower altitude, it became even more clear to those on the ground that this wasn't an HLV. In fact, it wasn't even the same design to be an HLV, because this thing had more to it. Once it reached within one thousand meters of the ground, the second reason became more obvious. Green blasts screamed down from the heavens, hitting the general areas of where the anti-air weapons were, cutting through buildings as the lasers, while highly accurate, were not accurate enough to pin-point the defensive emplacements. The weapons cut down unoccupied buildings in the process, causing massive explosive damage not seen since World War Two and the bombings of Berlin.

When the DropShip reached six hundred meters, the hatches on the DropShip opened, releasing large plumes of smoke as several smaller pods were released from the ship. The Mechs within had been released, dropping forth into the city's outskirts. The five Mechs were, roughly, the same size as the Zeon mobile suits. What was the difference? Design. These Mechs were obviously neither Federation or Zeon design, lacking the necessary human features to be mobile suits, even though two of them had the basic human-leg chassis.

Arcturus' Mech was a powerful, yet slow, Warhammer (http://sarna.net/wiki/Warhammer). While only a Heavy-class Mech, it packed a fearsome arsenal, and those Zeon forces on the ground were going to get a piece of it the hard way.

"Systems check," Arcturus said over the radio. "Sound off."

"Leah, all systems go."

"Matt, all systems operational."

"Arthur, ready for your orders."

"Kylee, weapons primed."

Arcturus made a rare smile as he heard his Star sound off. While considered a recon Star, the Ghost Bear Clan still liked to send in some heavy weapons to make it easy to engage in combat should the Star come under heavy fire. What the Zeon forces were hitting was considered as such.

"Alright, listen up," he said as a flak round popped harmless near his Mech's leg. "This recon mission has been redesignated to a search-and-destroy mission. You are cleared to engage all hostile forces that you come across. Once we have cleared the area, we are going to give the DropShip a confirmation code to signal the JumpShip to deploy the other DropShips. Until they arrive, we are to hold this city. Understood?"

"Aff, lead," was the unified response.

"Good," Arcturus replied. "It is time to show these people what the Ghost Bear Clan is made of."

As the Mechs came down, they would become clearer to the adjusting eye. The Star was pretty heavy in terms of weight and fire power. A Warhammer (http://sarna.net/wiki/Warhammer), a Fafnir (http://sarna.net/wiki/Fafnir), two Novas (http://sarna.net/wiki/Nova_%28Black_Hawk%29), and a Marauder (http://sarna.net/wiki/Marauder). All five Mechs landed with minimal cosmetic damage on the outskirts of the city, and they soon began their trek into the city, prepared to fight to the death if they need to.

((Second note is that all Mechs are in their primary standard configurations, just for reference.))

"Lasers?"

A man was observing the to-be battlefield from a bit of a distance, zooming in on at the HLV-lookalike, which it, quite obviously, wasn't. It was too large to be one, not to mention too heavily armored and... Well, it was actually armed. Not really the cost-efficient HLV he knew. His Mobile Suit was crouching in the ruins of some nondescript apartment building. Or at least he thought it was an apartment building. It was so hard to really know from all the rubble. After having looked at the "HLV" for a while, he zoomed in towards the anti-air guns. They weren't really doing much damage to the things coming down for some reason.

It wasn't like the defense network of Berlin was exactly up to snuff anymore anyway. At least the defenses weren't taking practically any damage themselves, either - just the usual burns you get from strong enough lasers. Nothing serious. The wonders of semi-transparent and beam-resistant coating.

"Who the hell uses lasers in this day and age?"

Then he zoomed in on the 'Mechs.

"And who the hell started making Mobile Suits that look like that? Hard to say if they're Mobile Armors or Suits. Sorta like both."

He pressed a few buttons, and the zoom-ins faded. They weren't exactly in the visual range of his Mobile Suit, so he didn't see them anymore - he was patched into external cameras which had been placed all over the city to help spotting hostiles when the place was covered in M particles.

"And seems they're lookin' for trouble."

He pressed a few buttons more.

"Lasers... God damn."

Nine other Mobile Suits which looked exactly the same as his, barring coloring (his was black whilst the others were brownish), rose up to crouching positions from the rubble around the ruins he was crouching on. That was a rather obvious sign of the laser link working just fine. He opened a video channel with them all.

"OK guys. Take a good look at 'em. We'll have to wipe 'em out before more of 'em show up. You four," he pointed at them on the screen, "Get to your positions and snipe the hell outta 'em once we have 'em where we want 'em. The rest, you're coming with me."

Nine acknowledgements later, four of the Mobile Suits took off, all towards different locations, while trying to make sure that the uninvited guests wouldn't spot them.

"OK. Let me just..."

He pressed a few buttons and windows started popping up in his screen. When he found the enemy, he left only that window open.

"I see 'em. Let's get going."

The six ReGelgs stood up.

"So, where to, boss?"

The blue ReGelg turned almost 180 degrees. He was facing an apartment building which was, oddly enough, still standing.

"They're just beyond that building, guys! Get ready for a fight! Maintain radio silence!"

"But we're not..."

"Shut up!"

He cut the laser link. He heard beam weapons being fired in the distance. A bunch of Dom Fünfs had started firing at the HLV-lookalike with beam bazookas to see if that'd have any effect.

The command ReGelg made some gestures and two of them took positions to commence their part of the operation from the front, while the others would come in from the behind.

First, two grenades which could break a Mobile Suit (or, as more often was the case, break one of its limbs or just blind its main camera/pilot) if it hit right from the front... Then, a barrage of beam fire from the back, and even if the bastards have enough time to turn, there ought to be more than enough time to seek shelter behind the buildings.

And then, came the execution.

(OOC: So, what happens with this hastily created "ambush"? You be the judge. And about the post as a whole, sorry, I'm not at my creative height as seems to be the case too often these days - bear with me. What you're running into right now is the ten ReGelgs that're still around. I originally didn't think about using them right off but I think it's kind of fitting.)

"Missiles. Take cover."

As the grenades came close, the five Mechs each came to a halt, crouching to let them soar over the Star, both grenades crashing and exploding a few dozen meters behind them, demolishing several other buildings and throwing up dust. This would, in turn, create a short, transparent smoke screen to help defend the Mechs, rendering the two Novas completely sheltered from view of the ReGelgs firing from behind the Star. As the beam shots struck the Star, the Fafnir and the Marauder took the brunt of the damage, with the Warhammer taking only a grazing hit to the left shoulder. The Fafnir, whose armour was quite thick and meant to withstand a boat-load of punishment, was barely rocked as some of its armour was chipped away. The Marauder, however, lost the top-side autocannon, the whole gun completely shorn away by a direct hit from a beam rifle, turning it into slag and causing the Marauder's heat to rise.

"Lousy surats," Arcturus swore, keeping his Mech crouched. "They flanked us without us realizing. Matt? Arthur? You two are small enough. Take separate paths and flank the freebirths behind us."

"Aff, lead." The two Novas, both half the height of their respective opponents and easily hidden from view by the buildings around them, both back-pedaled to the intersection ten meters behind them, and then both split up, choosing to pincer the Zeon forces as they kept out of sight.

"Leah," Arcturus continued. "Your Fafnir can take as much punishment as it can dish out. Give the Novas a distraction."

"With pleasure." Leah's massive Fafnir, easily two and a half heads taller than the Regelgs, stood up and turned around. It then used its targeting system, which was thankfully not impeded by the M-particles, locked on to the general position of the flanking ReGelgs and opened fire with all of its weapons, attempting to keep the enemy pinned. This was easy, as the medium pulse laser it had fired every point six five seconds, and the medium lasers recharged every two seconds. The 'Thor's Hammers,' however, took a bit of time to reload, about seven seconds, but their high-caliber projectiles and kinetic power was enough to blow holes in the ReGelg's cover. They were railguns, after all.

"Kylee, you are with me," he said. "Let us show these freebirths why the Ghost Bears are the most feared of all the Clans."

"Aff."

As the three other Mechs did as they were instructed, the Marauder and the Warhammer stood up, taking up a slow walk as they marched towards the ReGelgs ahead of them. Their answer to the grenades? Their own PPCs. The PPC was a weapon coveted by the warriors of all the Clans. Its power alone was enough to blast holes in Mech armour, and the weaker titanium frames of the ReGelgs would be little defense against them. PPCs were more feared because of their splash damage and heat build-up than the fact that Mechs without decent armour usually suffered temporary system shutdowns from their ion particles. Still, while they were merely over-sized ion cannons, PPCs had enough heat power to melt armour, so the ReGelgs would be in for a big surprise if they stood in one place too long. As it was, their cover would soon be turned into broken chunks of concrete and slag in a few seconds.

As the enemy began to turn, the ReGelgs in the back simply placed their standard-issue Gelgoog shields (which had been cut somewhat from the top to accomodate the much larger shoulder armor binders) in front and continued firing. Once the 'Mech had turned and started firing, the entire group hovered behind the buildings for cover, while the leader shot several grenades at the enemy before doing so. The lasers weren't exactly an issue due to the fact that they had beam-resistant coating which had been standard-issue ever since the War of Independence, the projectiles were - the ReGelgs weren't made of Luna Titanium after all.

"Status?"

The lead ReGelg took a few pot-shots from behind the building - part of which came down quickly after it got shot by another projectile.

"My shield's pretty banged up, boss. Those projectiles pack a punch. Nothing serious though."

"And everyone else?"

"My left-side shoulder binder got hit a little - but it's OK."

"Just fine. Just a couple of laser hits."

And so forth for three more times. Most seemed to have taken some light, non-critical damage which didn't stop them from continuing the fight. The shields, which weren't exactly standard-issue for ReGelgs even if they had been for Gelgoogs, had saved the day, and the leader of the team reminded everyone a few times that it had been his idea to take them, even if everyone else had thought it to be a bad idea. Luckily, at this point, it seemed that the bigger guns were easy enough to dodge after getting the hang of them, and the lasers weren't really doing much of anything.

But the buildings weren't really going to protect them much longer.

"OK. Here's the plan..."

While this took place, the ReGelgs in the front had continued firing their beam rifles with their shields raised. They, for the moment, had no contact with the other group due to the M-particles.

"What the hell is that?"

It was at this very moment whn the enemy had started firing their PPCs - and the lead ReGelg's pilot noticed that his shield was melting, which, usually, was not a good sign. He quickly ordered everyone to take cover, which they did - and as they were doing so, several grenades more flew at the enemy from the forearms of the ReGelgs, and missiles took off from their backpacks.

Just as the lead of this team was starting to think as to what to do next, the group behind did something.

First, one of the Mobile Suits on the side which was not being shot at by the gauss weapons at the moment made a slight jump from the side with its arms extended towards the thought-to-be cockpit of the Fafnir. In one hand it had a flare launcher while in the other it had nothing except a clenched fist and the fist was pointing somewhat downwards. Just as it had been visible for a few moments, it fired a flare from the launcher, eight missiles from its backpack missile pods and a grenade from its forearm grenade launcher at the 'Mech's cockpit (or what they thought to be such) that facing them - the point was, rather obviously, to blind its pilot.

While this happened, the only blue ReGelg in the group suddenly jumped out from cover and thrusted towards the belly of the beast with its two beam sabers raised, and on intent to slash the much suspected cockpit of the 'Mech into rubble.

Soon after all six were out in the open again, hovering towards the hostiles as quickly as they could.

The ReGelgs in front knew what was going on, but as long as the PPCs were firing at them there was very little they could do. If the six could get them all to turn, the fight could turn into a good, old-fashioned melee fest.

--

As for the Novas, while the ReGelgs had not realized their presence, there were many other Mobile Suit squads in the city, especially now that their friend the HLV-lookalike and their own drop down to the ground had raised much interest. They were in a city that was controlled by a faction of a civilization which was practically at civil war - since they hadn't exactly given any notice of their arrival or anything, it was obvious as to why everyone was hostile towards them. They could have been working for the other side, after all.

Two groups of Dom Fünfs, as inevitable as it was, ran into the Novas, one group each - one was a group of four, other was a group of three Mobile Suits, all equipped with beam bazookas as they were groups equipped to help in the firing down of the transport craft. They were coming from a location which was very close to the field of battle the ReGelgs were in, all things considered.

But since they found hostiles on ground... They couldn't just ignore them, and if all went well, it would only slow them down a little. After some initial confusion they all began firing at the unidentified hostile vehicles while hovering closer to them at a rather admirable speed. The intent was to keep firing their beam bazookas until they would be close enough to enter melee combat - which was what Dom-type Mobile Suits had been built for in the first place.

Why do things always end up like this?

He stood in a dark room showing the surrounding space, with Earth on floor-level. He watched Earth below his feet intently. Earth they had forcibly abandoned. That was one of the points of the war, after all. To enforce contolism. To get humans off Earth, to let Earth to heal.

They had been a bit hypocritical, but it couldn't be helped. The Odessa operation had been vital for all these years. Axis nor the asteroid belt hadn't been close enough until they, somewhat miraculously, acquired faster-than-light technology from some extra-Solar human colony, which hadn't been heard of ever since their people left after a year of helping the Principality understand and use the technology according to the deal. By now Axis had reached Earth Sphere - it was their intention even before the acquiring of this FTL technology to leave Earth completely after Axis's arrival.

But the sudden coming of the Titans changed everything. Now the Federation remnant was really racing for Earth instead of fighting for their "independence" in Side 7, which, they must have known, was a doomed battle in the first place. Now the Principality was actually forced to increase its presence on Earth - and for what reason? Because some people could not let go of the notion of living on Earth?

Why? Was their need to live on Earth that strong? Was living on Earth so much more important for them than letting the planet regenerate, and let it continue to exist as the green and blue planet they knew? Was it so much more important to just continue destroying the planet? What was wrong with living in colonies which could sustain themselves just as well as the planet itself?

Indeed, he stood there, in that room. Just like he had so many times in the past. Just like his older brother had before him - brother who had died during the war against Char's, or Casval Rem Deikun's, Neo Zeon, which had begun in the aftermath of the War of Independence. Who would've thought that one of the Zeon aces, and one of those he had considered friends back then, was actually the son of Zeon Zum Deikun, who had been thought to be dead?

Not only did a large number of Zeon aces turn to Neo Zeon, darkening what should have been the day of glory of the Principality, but it was also bolstered in numbers by defectors from the Earth Federation who just wanted pay back. They still were outnumbered by far... But they knew what they were doing.

Many good men and women lost their lives then, including most of the Zabi family whom were unceremonously assassinated by Neo Zeon sympathizers in the early days of the war. In the days the Principality did not even know it was at war. Casval, however, did not succeed in killing them all. His Neo Zeon failed in changing the Principality and was ultimately annihilated in late UC0080. Casval himself lost his life after being captured in one of the last battles of the war - he was executed only days after his capture.

The man who stood in the room was one of the very few living members of the family, and now he lead the Principality. He bore the scars of several assassination attempts, during and after the Neo Zeon war. He was not quite the naive, trusting boy he had been perceived as during the War of Independence - but that did not make him a fan of open conflict.

And so, he wondered in that dark room, why did people always look for war, even after the loss of more than half of the human population after the last ones.

He concluded, it was human nature.

"Huh?" Arcturus knew that sound. Whenever Leah made that sound, it signified that something she wasn't familiar with was about to happen. Stopping his Mech and torso-twisting a full one eighty, he just managed to catch the glimpse of the flare going out, and then he saw the beam saber.

"Leah! Eject!" But his words were too late. The weapon cut into the head of the Fafnir, and the Fafnir soon toppled over. However, unlike mobile suits, Mechs explode in a different fashion. Upon the explosion, a massive heat build-up would encompass everything for three hundred meters, melting even the pavement under foot. Secondly, within that same three hundred meeter area, a massive, high-charged EMP would enfold around any unlucky individuals caught in the blast radius. In this case, the advancing ReGelgs closest would be the unlucky ones, as they would be the first to experience the obvious effects of what would happen.

"Damn freebirths!" Arcturus then rotated his Mech back around to face the ReGelg leader and his squad members, whom Kylee had been keeping pinned with her lasers and PPCs as she continued advancing slowly. Arcturus was still in line with her, but he had veered slightly, so he adjusted to meet back into formation, opening up with both his PPCs, which had now recharged.

_______________________________________________________


"Whoa!" As Matt came into contact with the Funfs, he used his jumpjets to veer slightly as he continued on his full-speed run, tearing up pavement, knocking over cars, and ripping a huge gouge in the buildings on his right-hand side. As the first Funf made to target him, the Mech's imminent danger alarm went off, and he reacted swiftly to the first shot, using his jumpjets to move to the side of the beam cannon's path, watching a huge particle blast blow past him and splash over a building a few hundred meters ahead of him, blasting out a huge chunk of said building.

Wow...I have got to get me one of those...

His thought was cut short as a second alarm went off, and he activated his jumpjets once more, veering to the right to soar over two groups of buildings before landing two intersections ahead and to the right of the Funfs, disappearing from their sights as he made a dash out of the city.

"Star Colonel, I have encountered heavy resistance," he said.

"Belay my last order, then," Arcturus replied. "Contact the DropShip and tell them to get the rest of the force down here. I believe we're a bit in over our heads."

"Aff, Star Colonel."

Still running down the street, Matt made a sharp turn at the next intersection, using his jumpjets to help him rebalance his Mech before gunning it at top speed to get to the DropShip, which had bugged out of the area and was now marked Navpoint Delta on his display.

Damn...thirty kilometers out. Better hurry.

_________________________________________________________


"Whoa there..."

Arthur quickly slowed down his Mech just in time to stand before the other group of Funfs. They were big, and by process of deduction, Arthur concluded that these mobile suits had to be at least in the Assault-class range on the Mech scale. Being ignorant of the mobile suits' true potential, he quickly back-pedaled to an intersection behind him, and then gunned it just as the first Funf opened fire on him. Hitting it to his top speed, he raced down the road, hoping to outrun them, never realizing that these mobile suits could easily out-pace him.

He soon found out the hard way as a well-place beam blast impacted his leg, and his heat shot up into the yellow.

Yeesh, what are these guys packing?

Arthur then activated his jumpjets, giving him an extra speed boost as he kept running, jumping his top running speed past one hundred twenty kilometers per hour.

That's what you get for mistaking something for something which it is not.

After successfully tearing the cockpit of the Fafnir into pieces, the leader had landed on the other side of the fallen 'Mech and was heading straight for the two remaining 'Mechs. He'd have to be quick.

"Oh for the love of f...!"

"My ReGelg's...!"

It was all just random background noise to him. Right now, he didn't care that the others had stopped and that just two of the five ReGelgs behind him were at an operational status and they were withdrawing with the ejection pods of the three others which weren't much better now than scrap metal. However, he did note the fact that his backpack and shoulder armor binders melted a bit. The shoulder verniers were out of order, and some cameras in the back of the Suit had gone offline. Nothing serious on the ground when you know where the enemy is, but in space it would've made him a sitting duck.

At least he knew now that staying around when these strange half-human types go down, you shouldn't stick around for the aftermath.

Then the enemy started shooting. Knowing the ReGelg's added agility and the leader's piloting ability, he could dodge them with some ease, although he couldn't really advance closer while doing that. Without his beam rifle, all he could do in retaliation was use the grenade launchers on the forearms of his ReGelg.

Meanwhile, the others were retreating back to their original positions behind the buildings, which now were little more than just ruins - but enough to at least cover the ejection pods.

"Shoulda switched to those Zaku IIIs when they gave us the chance, eh..."

"Yep. This regular titanium ain't up to spec against these guys."

Indeed, if their Mobile Suits had been made of Luna Titanium, like the Zaku III is, their problems would've been far less acute. But who would've thought that they would fight, on Earth, against enemies which are at their deadliest when they lose?

"You said it."

The two ReGelgs lowered the ejection pods onto the ground.

"Get the hell out of here. Try get some replacement Suits."

"Sure, sure."

"I mean it. Get the hell outta here!"

He heard someone mumbling that he wasn't the commanding officer, but he ignored it. Sure, he wasn't a Captain like the leader of the squad, but he was a full Lieutenant, which made him third in command. With neither the Captain nor the Lieutenant Commander present to give orders, he was the commanding officer,

The three pods opened and a pilot emerged from each one. One of the two pilots still in their ReGelgs zoomed down to see if they were OK.

They were. Just some low degree burns from the looks of it - they weren't acting like one would if he was seriously hurt. Lucky they weren't in Africa, though. Everything festers there.

He then turned his ReGelg around and peeked to see what was going on on the street in which they had just witnessed the awesome reactor detonation.

"Oh hell, he's still going. We have to help him!"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's get 'em!"

The two ReGelgs popped out from behind the wall formerly known as an apartment building and started hovering (much in the way Doms do) towards the remaining hostile 'Mechs to aid their leader. They were quite left behind, and they chose to stop at the debris left by the gigantic, destroyed 'Mech - at least they could try taking a few aimed shots at them if the opportunity would arise, crouching behind the debris caused by the massive explosion. They figured it'd be easier to evade enemy fire this way.

The Lieutenant Commander, who was commanding four ReGelgs in the front, knew that when one of the enemy mechs turned, it was their time to start being aggressive again. He ordered one of his men to fire two grenades down the road again, this time aiming at the enemy a little if at all possible and jump back behind cover. He then ordered the two others to, once the grenades would explode, to begin firing at the enemy if at all possible without hitting friendlies. Not exactly the most elegant nor difficult of tactics, but who knows, maybe second time's a charm, especially now that they had lost their largest asset.

He, himself, would try jumping from behind the wrecked building and onto the enemy. They didn't seem exactly equipped for close combat, and the good captain had showed the way.

--

The problem with getting away from a group of Dom Fünfs is that they are as fast as race cars when they are hovering. Sure, you can jump over buildings - so can Dom Fünfs. Only problem the Dom would face is that, when a target is half the size of a Mobile Suit, the entire area is covered in M-particles and doesn't stand out like a Gundam, it becomes hard to pick things up in the rubble.

Lucky for them, however, a large HLV-like ship coming down to the ground is much harder to miss. Having lost the 'Mech, they began improvising on their earlier orders - which was to go and break that HLV.

And being faster than the Nova, it didn't take them (and a whole lot of others who had been heading to intercept whatever else would be coming from the HLV, and the HLV itself) long to pick up the trail again. Or more like, the trail of weapons' fire with loads of Mobile Suits, Zaku II FZs and Dom Fünfs alike, going after it. Who knows what it might be up to, so destroying it was quite important, after all. It could be a Feddie spy for what they knew.

The group stopped momentarily to watch the onslaught.

"Hey, you see what I'm seeing?"

"Yeah. That's a lot of ordnance. And that's a funny looking target to use it on."

"Yeah. And it kinda stands out, huh. Who makes things like that?"

"Hey, I dunno. I'm a soldier. I just make stuff blow up."

"We all do, sir. Let's get goin', that HLV needs to be taken out."

"No one in my team orders me around! No one! I'm calling the shots here! Let's go back to the original plan and attack that HLV!"

"Yes, sir..."

Bastard.

--

The gap between the Nova and the Dom Fünfs grew smaller and smaller even with the jump, although it did make a few shots miss because they weren't expecting it.

"It's time to finish this," said the lead of this particular group whose Dom Fünf was colored black with golden Zeon emblems covering its chest and arms. As he sped up, he made his Dom throw away the Beam Bazooka and picked up a Heat Saber from its backpack.

"What the hell are you doing, kid?"

"We need to get that thing before it gets away!"

"... Right. Just don't break your Dom with your theatrics."

As he sped up the Dom Fünf to three hundred kilometers per hour and got closer to the Nova, he used the thrusters of the Mobile Suit to jump and thrust himself towards the Nova even faster. The Heat Saber was in the Suit's hand, behind its back, ready to slash when it got close enough. It wasn't exactly a safe maneuver, nor even exactly a sane one, but at least it would, if all things went right, get the thing done fast.

Maybe it wouldn't have time to get out of the way before it was too late?

"Kylee, flip a one eighty and engage the freebirths behind us."

"Aff, lead."

The Marauder then turned around, scraping the buildings as it came too close to them, and it poked a hole through with its left arm as it came around on its right leg. Kylee then targeted the ReGelg still in the intersection and opened fire. However, this time, she Alpha Striked, where a Mech opens fire with all of its weapons at exactly the same time. In this case, the piercing medium lasers and the awesome PPCs acted as a one-two punch against him. However, the shots from the ReGelgs kept her rooted in place as she used her neurohelmet to keep the Mech balanced while it took hits, armour being chipped away as she stood there.

Arcturus, however, kept his view on the ones he had been pinning before. When the ReGelg jumped out, he grinned, opening up a wideband comm to all. The next sentence would thus prove that they weren't Federation soldiers.

"Hah! To challenge me, Star Colonel Arcturus of Clan Ghost Bear, is a bold move, freebirth! Come if you dare face my wrath!"

_________________________________________________________


Matt was racing against time. He could see many of the Zakus ahead of him as they converged on him as he made his way to the DropShip. He then activated his jumpjets, still keeping his Nova running as he reared back his Mech's arm and threw a punch into the face of the Zaku closest to his path, firing his six medium lasers in that arm at the same time. Since he still had plenty of momentum, he doubted that the impact would even slow his Mech down, and should it not, he would keep running until his jumpjets over-heated and shut down automatically.

__________________________________________________________


Arthur's Nova suddenly gave off a warning as the Funf behind him gained on him. Using his secondary viscreen, he switched to the back camera, and the heat saber instantly caught his attention.

Oooo, boy...close combat weapons, huh? Bet he won't expect this...

As the Funf came in for the kill, Arthur forces his Nova to crouch in mid-stride, causing the Nova to tumble. As it did, the friction caused the Mech to slow down exponentially, causing the Funf's swing to over-shoot the Nova, and as the Funf continued on and hit the Nova with its legs, it would more than likely trip over the Mech and go careening face first into the pavement. The Nova would quickly recover from its tumble, easily breaking back into a run, and it would purposely step on the fallen Funf's back as it went, just to make add insult to injury.

Just as the hostile half-human type fired all its weapons, the blue ReGelg jumped out of the intersection and behind a ruined building which was little more than just a couple of walls standing up. That one hadn't been ruined by this particular battle - but it probably would be soon enough.

As he finally went out of the way, the two ReGelgs which had been crouching in the rubble of the broken Fafnir now had a perfectly clear line of sight at the half-human type which was turned towards them, and their firing became much more frequent. It gave the captain a much needed breather.

How the hell do I get closer to them...

Then he figured it out.

Thanks to the hovering ability of his ReGelg, no one would know where he exactly was. That was something he intended to exploit.

As that was taking place, the front crew began its operation.

As the first ReGelg jumped out, it seemed as though someone was trying to communicate. The transmission was impeded by the M particle coverage, so the pilot did not give it a second thought and just fired the grenades at the half-human types, and then he quickly jumped out of the way as the two other ReGelgs jumped into his place and started firing.

The Lieutenant Commander had, however, due to some lapse in the Minovsky particle coverage, heard the transmission. They were using terminology he hadn't ever heard of before except possibly in some kind of Science Fiction stories. Maybe he should instead of trying to kill the pilot just try to disable the half-human type? It shouldn't be that hard.

He placed the beam rifle on the ground. He didn't want anyone hearing that he was there - and just throwing things around would have alerted the enemy to his presence. He then took one of the Beam Sabers from the backpack, not yet activating it.

He looked upwards. He could heard shots hitting armor behind the ruin - beam rifles weren't made to be gentle. Usually, however, they broke through any kind of armor in one shot. That's why they had dropped heavy armoring from the Mobile Suits in the first place.

Weird, that.

Then, he finally jumped. As he got high enough to pass the building and saw the enemy, he used the ReGelg's thrusters to force it to a faster landing while activating the Beam Saber. He was intending to slash the 'Mech's closer arm off in one strike - and if at all possible, cut off the other arm off as well.

At the same moment, a blue ReGelg bursted right through the ruins of the building on the other side of the street. THe first thing which would be seen on the other side of the said building would be the Beam Sabers, as he intended to slice into the 'Mech just on the other side. The others stopped firing as they realized that they would be risking hitting their superiors in the process - and that would be a sure fire way to get a good old fashioned demotion.

Neither of them were intending to cause the 'Mechs to blow however - just to incapacitate them. Whether that would be a mistake or not remained to be seen.

Clan Ghost Bear, huh? They had clans in some places on Earth before... But I bet these people aren't from around here.

(OOC: If you intended for Arcturus to send the transmission when the Lt Commander was actually done jumping in his face, tell me and we'll see what we can do about this one. I think we might have a slight disconnect in thought here. Otherwise, I'm of course fine with it going this way too.)

--

But these Zakus and the Dom Fünfs were not converging on the HLV at the moment, but rather the 'Mech which was running for the said vessel - they weren't close enough yet to actually fire at the transport vessel.

As the Nova ran forward towards the Zaku, the pilot instinctively dropped the machine gun and grabbed the heat hawk, slashing at the 'Mech as it came close enough. He couldn't tell if he had hit or missed, however. The shots from point blank in the Zaku's face broke its head, destroying the main camera and practically crippling the pilot's ability to see anywhere. While there are secondary cameras, it'd take a while for them to take over the main camera's functions.

(OOC: Confused? I'm a bit. I meant that the MSs were shooting at the 'Mech, not the DropShip which is why the three Dom Fünf pilots figured to leave the scene and go for the DropShip themselves - the 'Mech jumping and hitting a Zaku without it reacting would be strange. They were en-route to the DropShip, but they weren't there yet. Sure, some were, but not these particular ones, which I guess would be about two dozen Mobile Suits. If you want editing, it can be done - but then for everything to make sense you'd have to edit a bit too. Maybe another disconnect here?)

--

The 'Mechwarrior was quite correct - the pilot of the Dom did not think it would stop like that, and came tumbling down to the ground. In anticipation of hitting the ground he placed the Heat Saber quickly back into its place in the backpack of the Mobile Suit, as to not break anything in his Suit with it.

"Aww crap. The paint job's ruined!"

But the 'Mechwarrior had made a slight error in judgement.

Arrgh, this is gonna leave a mark. But I can't let that thing get away!

The Dom fired its thrusters just as the Nova was about to step on it, forcing it to move and causing sparks to fly everywhere. The idea was, with a few quick movements, to get the Dom back on its feet. But... Instead of stepping on something relatively stable, the Nova would end up stepping on the back of the Dom Fünf's left foot, causing more than just superficial damage to it.

"What the hell is that guy doing?! Is he insane?!", he shouted as he realized that the 'Mech was proceeding to nearly break the foot (cracking noises could be heard) and getting roasted by the thermonuclear jets just above the back of the Mobile Suit's foot, beneath the armor plating which hid them.

The others could just look in dismay as the situation unfolded. Still, they were ready to fire if the enemy managed to get out of the situation.

((On paragraph one, yes, let's just keep it that way. On paragraph two, I'll do some slight editing, but you won't have to edit your post.))

The shots at the Marauder weren't very well-placed. Each shot was generally a grazing hit, and it was quick to respond with its own salvo of fire. By the time the blue ReGelg had burst from the rubble, Kylee had been so focused on the other two ReGelgs in cover behind the Fafnir's wreckage that her response time was slightly off. As the blue ReGelg sliced down to cut her right arm off, she torso-twisted slightly, and then swung her Mech's arm as she torso-twisted back in the direction she came, barely parrying the slash and losing a chunk of the Mech's "fist" in the process. Still, she kept her momentum going, using her left arm to smack the back of the blue ReGelg and keep him going into the buildings to her right as she stepped back to give herself more space to combat this bold foe.

Meanwhile, Arcturus had managed to take very little damage in the way of those grenades, and as the Lieutenant Commander dropped down from the sky, he would have his Warhammer step back and turn with the downward slash of his beam saber, losing only half of his left-arm PPC barrel. Arcturus' response to this attack was to finally engage his SRM 6, which fired a salvo of short-range, high powered missiles. Unlike their larger counterparts, which are loaded with lots of fuel for long range flight, SRMs are packed with lots of explosives, making them great for explosive penetration rather than piercing penetration.

___________________________________________________________


As the Zaku made its downward swing with its heat hawk, Matt's Nova would come just under it, the swing only over shooting the Nova enough for the bladed part to miss hitting it. However, the fist of the mobile suit would come crashing down onto the top of the Nova, causing it to stumble on its path and tackle the damaged Zaku, sending the Nova sprawling on top of the mobile suit.

Having been momentarily dazed, it would take Matt a few moments to recover from this unfortunate event.

___________________________________________________________


Arthur was now in a bit of a predicament. His Nova was now kinda stuck as he tried wresting its foot free of where it was now slag-tached to the Funf. Fortunately, his attempt was successful, and Arthur stumbled backwards slightly with a bit of a slagged left foot. However, unlike mobile suits, which rely on balancers that act like a human inner ear, Mechs were equipped with neurohelmets which tapped into the pilot's own sense of balance. This, as could be expected, would allow Arthur to maintain balance regardless of the difference between each foot (that difference being that one foot was now a bit larger in respects to the other).

Since Arthur now had an opponent right in front of him, and he was now free, he reacted quickly and fired all twelve medium laser into the backpack unit of the Funf.

The Captain was not as stupid (nor as blind) as the 'Mechwarrior seemed to think - he saw the hit aimed at his ReGelg's back coming a mile away - after all, all Mobile Suits of this time were equipped with full, 360 degree panoramic cockpits. With no blind spots, it was very difficult to surprise a seasoned pilot in melee combat, especially with something as awkward as a 'Mech. The ReGelg was in its element in close combat - the Marauder was not. That, and the blaring of a collision warning made it evident that the 'Mech was up to something. Instead of just taking the blow and let his Suit be thrown into the building, he used whatever thrusters he had left to turn the ReGelg quickly while making a slashing movement with the right side Beam Saber at the incoming arm, all the while attempting to break one of the very long legs of the 'Mech with the left hand one.

In response to the earlier transmission by the Star Colonel of whatchimmacallit, the Captain opened a channel while fighting.

"And it takes a madman to challenge the Principality of Zeon's Earth-side Mobile Suit forces!"

Then he cut the transmission.

As for the Lieutenant Commander who was fighting the Warhammer - he heard a missile warning as the 'Mech fired its SRMs and only had to divert his upward slash to the direction of the missiles which were coming in as a swarm, effectively causing them to blow closer to the Warhammer than his ReGelg. The good side about having weapons which were beams rather than physical objects - while he had hit the ground with the initial strike, it hadn't really slowed him down at all.

--

A Dom Fünf was in a perfect position for sniping. The pilot wasn't exactly a rookie at the business, either, which would not be a thing Matt would appreciate if he knew. The situation was nearly optimal. The pilot had clear view of the Nova. He knew the speed of the 'Mech from observing it for a while now, so even if it got back to running, it had no chance of running away from him. As it stood up, still clearly a bit dazen from the collision with the Zaku, he took the shot. Clean and simple. He did prepare for another shot, just in case, although he did fully expect the Nova to be disabled by the shot.

Beam Bazookas weren't all about brute force when used by those who knew how to use them.

--

Somehow he hadn't realized that him getting free wasn't entirely of his own doing, but also in part caused by the Dom Fünf's constant thrusting forwards as the pilot wanted to get away from the 'Mech - it wasn't just lying down there doing nothing, as a 'Mech in similar situation might be unless it was equipped with Jumpjets. Soon after the 'Mech had freed itself, the Dom started moving, causing sparks to fly around as its front armor was still touching the ground. It only took a few seconds however for it to rise a little, and after that it was a trivial matter for it to turn to face upwards and thrust itself back on its feet - even if one of its feet was in a bad shape. The shots fired had rather harmlessly hit the healthier parts of the leg armor of the Suit, causing the armor to blacken, yes, but it did not yield. As the Suit now stood in front of the 'Mech whose pilot probably was slightly bewildered about the outcome of the situation, it fired its scattering beam gun in its chest in an attempt to blind the 'Mech's pilot. That was all it was meant to do, after all.

During the time the 'Mech had wasted with the black Dom, the other Dom Fünfs in its squad had moved much closer to the two, as Arthur would notice to his detriment (that is, if the scattering beam gun ended up being less effective than anticipated). And as they came even closer at an astonishing speed, he would probably also notice (if the blinding effect did not work) that they had switched to Heat Sabers, just like the one in front of him had, and that right now one of the Mobile Suits was going for his Nova's legs, while another was going for the cockpit.

And this time his tricks wouldn't work.

((My main character is the one in the Warhammer. Kylee is in the Marauder. I was under the impression that the Captain was fighting the Warhamer... Let's clear this up before we continue, because I'm thoroughly lost on positioning...))

((My main character is the one in the Warhammer. Kylee is in the Marauder. I was under the impression that the Captain was fighting the Warhamer... Let's clear this up before we continue, because I'm thoroughly lost on positioning...))

(OOC: The Captain's blue ReGelg broke through the ruins of the building (attacking the Marauder - your own earlier post affirms this), while the Lieutenant Commander's brown ReGelg came down from the sky (attacking the Warhammer - same deal in your own post). If this weren't the case, I think Arcturus firing his SRMs would've been a seriously bad idea. The Captain would've been right in his face and him shooting 'em would've lead to an explosion right at the 'Mech's (and the Mobile Suit's) skin.

Oh yeah, if you're wondering why I haven't named my characters in this battle of ours, it's because I have a horrible name memory. As a result I tend to only bring up names once the character introduces him/herself somehow. That way I don't have to make names for every guy who might end up dying right off or just not stay around for that long, and not keep up with the names in general. I'm not trying to be disrespectful or anything.)

Office of the Supreme Commander, Zum City, Side 3

He sat in front of his desk. It used to be Gihren's back in the War of Independence, but it had been his pretty much ever since the Neo Zeon War. There was a large picture of his father on the wall behind him, with some kind of marble walling below it. Light came in from the window. Considering the closed nature of the colonies in Side 3, it was artificial, but still Sun-like enough.

He hadn't been in the office for a while. It wasn't like the Principality couldn't run itself without his constant interfering everywhere - or at least so he thought. He hadn't taken into account that it was entirely possible that his inaction could be abused by others to drive the Principality into a direction he did not like. But he wasn't aware of any such transgressions. Surely someone would have come and told him if something of that sort was going on?

But he had that nagging feeling... Maybe things weren't as they seemed?

He had many piles of papers to go through - many on issues he hadn't actually given an opinion on for years. The wars had left him a human wreck, but that wasn't the case anymore. It was just a case of him having grown accustomed to not having to do much else than govern Side 3 with a rather loose hand, leaving maybe a bit too much power to the local Colonial governors and sign papers people brought him without reading them regarding the other parts of the realm. This included Side 7 where all the Earthnoids had been placed. It had been under Zeon supervision ever since the War.

His grip had been slipping, but that had to change. Something had gone horribly wrong with the Earthnoids, which was something he had not thought would happen. Not only did they go to war against the Principality, they actually managed to surprise them. His earlier assumption that it was just human nature to wage war may have been incorrect. Weren't they treated fairly, even though he had given explicit orders to that effect back in UC0080?

It's easy to lose sight when you are as high up as he is.

The topmost papers were a long report about the beginning of a Zeon mining operation in the asteroid field which relied on the new faster-than-light technology. How it had started smoothly and there had been no trouble with any kind of looters. First shipments had already come back to the refineries in the Principality. There were no strange clauses in it he could notice. No strange behavior. Just as he had been informed.

Next up was the emergency relocation of Mobile Weapons from Odessa to Berlin and related issues. He had already signed the papers as it had been an emergency relocation due to some new hostile force coming from space. Nothing seemed to be wrong with them. Multiple Mobile Armors and Mobile Suits were en-route to the old capital of Germany while a fleet of ships, including most of the ships which currently had Hyper Mega Particle Cannons, were en-route to close in, and if needed, engage. Two slightly remodeled Dolos had been assigned to the strike force.

Next, the remade budget due to the war. Much increased military production. Reactivation of mothballed Mobile Suits and ships. Nothing out of the ordinary there. Why it was at this point in the paper stash was a bit odd, since this wasn't exactly new as news went. It just showed that everything in his piles weren't in chronological order. That would make things harder.

He went through a bunch more reports, signing requests and so forth, all relating to issues in Side 3, the ZEONIC or Zimmad Company's constant competition over who gets to make the next mass production type Mobile Suit and so forth. Nothing wrong with them, and nothing he had not read or heard about enough already.

He sighed and let his head touch the top of his seat's back rest. The pile was growing smaller, but all he had seen so far were basic orders, issues about Side 3 and monetary issues which he already knew about. In some ways it was a relief that he hadn't managed to find anything alarming yet. Maybe he was wrong?

After a few minutes, he continued foraging through the papers, placing those he had already gone through to one pile which was on a tray of sorts. It was empty now, as someone had come and taken it away while he had been taking his small break.

After twenty minutes of reading similar reports, he found something odd. A large envelope, dated for this day, directed to him. He couldn't help but wonder why it wasn't on the top. Maybe someone had slipped it in there? He opened the highest drawer of his desk, taking out a scanner of sorts from there. After so many assassination attempts, he couldn't be cautious enough.

The scan came up empty, so he proceeded to open the envelope. He noticed that it was full of documents. As he begun reading the first one, his eyes widened and he stood up.

It was everything he had feared... And more.

The Principality was as though Gihren had never died! Indeed, at that moment he became more aware as to why the uprising of the Earthnoids began than ever before. They had been treated as though they were animals with no rights for six years... It was strange they hadn't started sooner!

He hit the desk in sheer anger, and left his office. He knew who he had appointed to oversee Side 7. And they would have no excuses for this insanity.

Heads would fall.

Office of the Supreme Commander, Zum City, Side 3

A few days had passed after he had realized what had been going on elsewhere than in the locations he had kept an eye on. Nine men stood in front of his desk, waiting for him to arrive. The men were hand cuffed with their hands behind their back - some even had leg cuffs. Two soldiers armed with rifles stood on both of their sides.

Then he entered the room, and the men turned their heads towards him as he walked up to his seat - he didn't sit down, however. They noticed that he had an official-looking file in his hands, which he was reading.

One of them spoke out.

"Garma, what's this...?"

He slammed the file on the desk. It wasn't exactly thin.

"Shut up," he said, while looking at the Zeon emblem on the file for a moment. Then he raised his eyes from the file and looked at them.

They saw the utter contempt in his eyes.

"You know full well why you are here."

He picked up the file from the desk and took the papers which were inside it and threw it in front of the group on their side of the desk.

"Did you think I would never find out?"

They were completely silent. Now they had the general idea what was up. They didn't dare to say it outloud, but yes, they had never expected him to find out that they had been, as a collective, disregarding his orders, and running Side 7 according to Gihren's ideals.

"You do realize that what you have done constitutes high treason?"

No one responded. Most of them had obvious fear in their eyes. They knew they wouldn't get away with a slap on the wrist with this. They were, after all, the ultimate cause of the current war.

He sighed.

"Of course you do."

He took a deep breath.

"You also must know that I can't let you get away with this. Considering your track record... Only a life in prison would be even close to enough."

He noticed that some of them were obviously relieved by those words. At least they weren't dying, huh?

"I'm not my brother. Even though you have betrayed me and the Principality... You don't believe killing you would help anything. It is my fault that I didn't keep a firmer grip on your leashes."

He sat down.

"Instead you will be cast aside. I will see to it that you will be put into a place where any of your possible loyalists cannot get to. Note that if you ever attempt to break out of there, you will be dealt with accordingly."

He left out the details. The prison he had in mind had many fail-safes in case of prison breaks - ones which would prove most fatal for every prisoner inside, and likely outside. He wasn't stupid. The last thing the Principality needed was another Neo Zeon.

"Guards, take them away."

The guards nodded, and the group left his office, leaving him alone. He stood up and started collecting the papers he had thrown on the desk before back into the file, making sure that they were in the right order at the same time.

That's it with the traitors from Side 7... I doubt this will be enough for the would-be-Federation... But at least it is a start in healing the Principality itself. Especially after I deal with these people. At the time, he was looking at the papers relating to a few men who were leaders in Side 3 itself. I can't believe they managed to do this right under my nose.

He hadn't simply blindly trusted the papers sent to him - he had used much resources in the last days to ascertain their truthfulness. Fortunately, it wasn't a difficult process, as after years of having done thus, the men had started to become sloppy with covering their tracks. They really thought that no one would ever even try to come after them. At this point they had fallen victim of their own lies, that their superiors had sanctioned their actions through inaction.

Too bad for them they were horribly wrong.

((And finally I post. Sorry I kept you waiting.))

The beam saber cleaved the Marauder's arm clean off, leaving only a slagged stump behind. Kylee grunted in frustration at this, but she was still relieved she even had a weapon. Still, she was in no condition to keep fighting, and these strange 'Mechs were a lot faster and a lot tougher than expected. There was really only one thing else she could do.

"Ejecting."

The Captain would now have the interesting chance to experience the exact same explosion as his subordinate had earlier. As his beam saber came for the leg of the Marauder, the cockpit blew open, and a small pod streaked forth into the air, leaving behind a trail of white smoke as it flew at a curve towards the DropShip's LZ. Within a two seconds of ejection, the Marauder violently exploded just as the Fafnir did with the exact same lethality.

Damn. Arcturus saw the light on his C3 master computer go down for Kylee, and his heat spiked as the Marauder exploded. While the Lieutenant Commander and the Star Colonel were close to the explosion, both were only within reach to be touched by heat. How the Lt. Cmdr.'s ReGelg would hold out was a different matter. While mobile suits were more advanced in design, 'Mechs were more advanced in the NBC defensive properties, and such explosions were commonplace on their battlefields.

However, he, too, was in a bit of a predicament as the beam saber coming for him was coming at a downward angle. With all his options spent, he did as Kylee did.

"Ejecting."

Arcturus, however, was not blown towards the DropShip. Instead, he was blown towards the forest where the Federation forces were. While this was not a known factor to him, he probably wouldn't think it mattered. He'd be picked up soon, as all Warriors carried a micro-pulse distress beacon that worked on a different wavelength than standard radio communications. In fact, if anyone tried to come looking for him, or got within a three-mile distance of him, the micro-pulse beacon would scramble every single one of their communication arrays and radar arrays.

"Guess pride does come before the fall," Arcturus muttered to himself.
___________________________________________________________

Matt, however, was quick to recover. As the Funf fired its beam bazooka, warning signals blared him back into consciousness, and he quickly activated his jumpjets, curling his Nova into a ball to allow it to roll over the Zaku. Once he cleared the Zaku, he would stand up quickly, using the Nova's low-slung arms to keep himself from falling again (tearing up pavement in the process), and break into a run, using the jumpjets to give him that added boost of speed.
___________________________________________________________

Arthur, however, did not see the Funfs coming. The blades struck true, but unfortunately for these three, they, too, were going to learn the hard way on why you don't fully destroy a 'Mech. Arthur died quickly with no pain as the blade struck the cockpit, and within a second of the blade killing Arthur, his Nova exploded in just the same fashion as the Fafnir, although with less force. Still, it would be enough to potentially destroy either of the Funfs who had decided to stick around.

Luckily for the Captain, however, he saw the cockpit blow open which, due to the lesson learned from the earlier 'Mech, made him engage all remaining thrusters at once in anticipation of an explosion. He still wasn't out of the affected zone when the explosion took place, however. The Suit's leg thrusters melted into an unrecognizable mess, not to mention the legs themselves. At least the backpack's thrusters were still working, although not exactly at an optimal level. He was running out of juice.

When the Suit came down and he tried to have it stand on its legs, the machine tumbled down. It was behind the rubble of the Fafnir, close by to the Suits which had been firing at the 'Mechs in relative safety. So, at least there was that - if the other 'Mech could've come back from the situation, at least the Captain's Suit was (sort of) safe.

While this took place, the Lieutenant Commander, found himself in a very similar situation - though due to the explosion he found that the arms of his ReGelg were fused in a way which pretty much disabled them - other parts of the Mobile Suit were burned as well, of course, but that was superficial damage and did not affect the ReGelg's operational status. Luckily for him, he still had managed to hit the Warhammer in a way which made the 'Warrior eject.

But unlike the two 'Mechs before, this one did not explode violently. Maybe it wasn't as critically damaged as the earlier ones, maybe the reactor shut down itself, whichever was the case, it did not blow up, even though the Lieutenant Commander jumped in the same fashion as the Captain had to avoid scrapping the Suit entirely.

He came down to the ground close to the other ReGelgs which had been shooting from the front. As he turned around he realized that the 'Mech had not exploded. At this time the two ReGelgs which had been close to the Captain had helped his Suit up. They had to support the Suit for it to actually stay up.

The two groups met again, and they came up with a plan: Two of the ReGelgs would stay there with the scraps and the disabled 'Mech, while the rest would go back to base. The Lieutenant Commander and the Captain would need new Suits anyway - and maybe the half human type which was still standing (and the scraps of the other ones) could be relocated to a safer location for research purposes.

--

The Fünf's pilot swore outloud. How the hell could he miss? Luckily he had prepared for it. He aimed, took into consideration the position the half human type would be at when the shot would reach it... And fired again. His timing had to be right this time!

Of course, while this was happening, the Zakus and other Fünfs hadn't stopped firing at the 'Mech. Explosive rounds, kinetic rounds, beam fire - all types of ordnance was being shot at it from relatively close range. Their aim was becoming more accurate - the weird model of the 'Mech wouldn't save it for long. His only saving grace at this point was the fact that these pilots had never dealt with the kind of thing he was piloting.

Due to the chaotic nature of the battlefield, it'd be - hopefully - nearly impossible for him to discern the aimed shot from the rest.

--

Luckily for the two pilots, they were in Dom Fünfs going at nearly full speed rather than Zakus - the kill did not entice them to stay put close to the exploding 'Mech, saving them from the disgrace of losing their Suits to a dead enemy. Instead they, after having hit the 'Mech, just hovered past it and they continued to hover past the black Dom Fünf which had started to move backwards after firing the scattering beam cannon to add some distance between his Suit and the Nova. The one who hit the 'Mech on the level of its cockpit had simply left the Heat Saber in the 'Mech's broken frame as it didn't cleanly go through. Obviously, the Heat Saber was scrapped entirely in the explosion.

The idea was to turn around at the up coming circle and go back to the place they had thrown their Beam Bazookas to. That would let them move without slowing down until they would've actually reached the weapons - and if it weren't for the fact that the black Dom's pilot was blinded by the explosion (which only caused superficial damage to the Suit itself), no matter how momentarily, they could've done just that. Instead they had to stop and return to the black Dom, wait for the pilot to regain his vision, and then go back to their Beam Bazookas.

Some precious time was lost thanks to that.

--

Forest near Berlin

It was by freak chance that the Federation forces noticed the incoming ejection pod. They, the same group which consisted of four GM Snipers and one GM Sniper Custom - and a Hover Truck for logistics. They had been observing the escalating situation from a safe distance - thanks to the heavy M particle coverage (and the fighting), the Zeon forces had no idea they were there. Due to the M particle coverage, radar was inoperative already and radios were unusable, so the micro pulse beacon had effectively no effect on their (or Zeon) operational status.

As they were obviously curious as to who was actually ejecting, the group advanced towards the assumed location where it would land, while staying out of sight in the foliage.

It wouldn't be far.

(OOC: Not very inspired a post this one and written when tired, but I felt the urge to post right now anyway to keep this thing running and so forth! If you think the 'Mech not exploding is a bit too much, just say so and I'll change it. And if you find other things a bit out of place, please say so. Note that radio and radar IS supposed to be completely out of use out here since there's lots of M particles in the air - so using them shouldn't work.

Oh yeah, Mobile Suits *do* explode violently at times. I guess they're just more stable than 'Mechs since if you don't basically puncture the reactor or something, it'll just stop working and stand there (or fall, but still, won't go insta-explode). That's a big reason why people always try to skip fighting inside colonies unless they're totally reckless and don't care about the colony enough to not risk killing everyone inside it, since an exploding MS can punch a huge hole into a colony. Maybe not the most useful information, but felt like saying it anyway.)

((Well, I'm a big mecha geek. I was using MS before you came around (using a different account), so I completely understand the concept of how mobile suits explode. 'Mechs explode in generally the same way, except the fact that their explosions tend to melt everything around them. The cockpit is tied in directly to the reactor as a precaution against those who would try to take the 'Mech. Anywho, I'm babbling. I'm cool with the Mech being intact. However, I'm going to have to say that the reactor is no longer useable.))

Matt cursed aloud as the shots being taken at him actually impacted his 'Mech's armour. Thankfully, it was Ferro-Fibrous, and it would absorb most of the impact like scalemale armour on a knight. However, it was the beam shots Matt was more concerned with. Their impacts were almost the same amount of power as a Clan PPC, and each time their even grazed his 'Mech, his heat spiked considerably.

His path, however, now turned into a zig-zag pattern as he ran down the road, but it didn't help him avoid the shot from the Funf sniping at him. The shot splashed over his 'Mech, and his heat spiked up into the red.

"Critical hit: jumpjets offline."

"Damn freebirth scum!" Matt slammed his fist against the wall of his cockpit as his 'Mech slowed considerably back down to its normal speed. Still, he was almost there. He could see the DropShip now, and he could also see the crews recovering Kylee from her pod.

KAPANK!

A shot from one of the Zakus impacted the side of the cockpit, piercing straight through. Matt growled in distaste as his Nova fell on its face, immobilized by the shot. Thankfully, Matt hadn't been hit. His only problem? The round was lodged in his only means of escape: the cockpit window. He sighed, and then slumped back, adjusting his seat to give him more room between himself and the lodged round.

"Why does this always happen?"
______________________________________________________________

The pod slammed into the ground in the forest, sliding along the ground to come to a stop in the midst of a grove. There was quiet for a minute, and then the cockpit hatch blew open, sending the hatch-panel flying to hit a tree, and then slam to the ground a few meters away. Arcturus then stepped out, using his hands to grab the edges of the panel to pull himself out of the pod. Those who would see him for the first time would see him like this (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0a/Crysis_Delta_Force_in_Sphere.jpg/800px-Crysis_Delta_Force_in_Sphere.jpg), wearing a Nanotech Muscle Suit (http://www.ea.com/crysis/home.jsp) designed by the Scientist Caste years ago to supplement both infantry forces and downed pilots.

Cracking his neck and stretching a bit, Arcturus quickly reached into the pod, pulling out an assault rifle, which he slung onto his shoulder. He also hefted out a small, three-shot rocket launcher, which he slung onto his other shoulder, before pulling out a few grenades, a sidearm pistol, and a pair of combat utility knives. Such were the kits that every 'Mech carried for its pilot, and Arcturus was no exception.

However, as the Federation forces advanced, he began to feel the vibrations of the plodding GMs, and he quickly activated his cloak, crouching down and moving towards the nearest bush where he would wait for those who were coming for him.

The sniper grinned as he reloaded the beam bazooka. Now that the target was down, he was easy pickings. The others weren't getting much closer to the HLV-lookalike and were taking up positions to commence the original operation, which was to either disable it and take control of it, or destroy it altogether. They wouldn't interfere with his work.

Just as he took the shot, he noticed that reinforcements had arrived. He didn't exactly see what was coming, but he could damn well hear it. The first Mobile Armor from Odessa had reached the city.

He turned to look at what had come for a second, after which he turned back to watching the 'Mech, just in case it didn't blow up.

He could recognize it.

Apsalus III. He had read some things about it. It was some eccentric Zeon scientist's pet project. The Zeon leadership had agreed to let him continue on his project, and under his management they managed to finish it even under pressure from the local and desperate Federation forces. The final machine was badly damaged during one of the last of the skirmishes in the territory, and for some reason it was repaired and put back into battle.

If nothing else, knowing that such firepower had come made the Mobile Suit pilots feel that they might actually be able to succeed in the mission after failing in it so miserably before. At the moment, the Mobile Armor was anchoring its long legs onto the ground as it was preparing to fire.

--

Now that the pod had slammed into the ground, they knew pretty much exactly where they had to go. The sound came a bit off of the area they had anticipated it to fall to, which had caused them to be just a little bit off of the actual drop zone, giving Arcrutus time to do what he was doing.

As they walked towards the area it had fallen into in all quietness, one of the GMs suddenly placed its hand on the shoulder of the team leader's Mobile Suit to form a contact link.

"Sir, I see the pod."

He was pointing at it with the beam rifle of the GM Sniper.

"Good job, soldier."

The GM removed its hand from the leader's MS's shoulder, cutting the contact link.

The lead zoomed in on it.

"It's open. There's no one there!"

He opened a laser link with his team and turned towards them.

"You," he momentarily pointed with his GM Sniper Custom's free hand towards one of the GM Snipers, "pick up that pod. Take it back to the Hover Truck and escort it back to base. Who knows what's in it."

Having said that, he turned his Suit's back towards his team again. He looked at the pod again. It sure didn't look like a standard Mobile Suit ejection pod.

"The rest of you, search the area. He can't be far."

"Why are you so sure it's a he, Sir?"

"... Or she. Shut the hell up, soldier. Get to it!"

And so, they did. One of the GM Snipers momentarily crouched and took the pod and ran away. The others spread around a little to look for the missing pilot, watching the ground as they went. To help in finding him (or her), they changed viewing modes - right now, every single object in their view was being shown with black-on-white outlines. Even with the optical illusion caused by Arcturus's suit, it wouldn't be long until the optical illusion would be rendered useless unless he did something to cover his body entirely.

With a possibly hostile (and just as possibly armed) pilot on the loose, they wouldn't be leaving their Suits to look for him.

(OOC: Oh, OK. Which universe's Mobile Suits if I may ask? UC? As for the 'Mech, I wasn't expecting the reactor to be in any usable state, especially since there had to be something wrong with it for it to not just blow up in the first place. There won't be any neural comm thingies on it either I'm sure which will leave them wondering, unless they somehow find it from the wreckages of other 'Mechs, as to how they are controlled exactly without all the actuators.

As for my reasoning for going this way, it wasn't exactly because of the Mobile Suits. The idea of RPing a Principality of Zeon which won the war but didn't quite survive the aftermath without losing most of the Zabi family was the biggest reason for it. Just that the current leader has been kinda melancholic after the Neo Zeon war and the multiple assassination attempts, leaving it to be run by Gihren loyalists. So pretty much while Gihren is dead, his ghost has been haunting the Earth sphere for years.)

((I used Crossbone tech, so I was pretty up there when I had initially used it. Not to mention I was also using Valkyries and Destroids.))

As the Apsalus III began to anchor itself, the DropShip closed itself, and began lifting off. Its immense size made it roughly the same volume as its future antagonist.

"What in Kerensky's name...?" The Captain of the DropShip could plainly see the Apsalus, its huge frame clearly recognizeable in all forms.

"No clue, sir, but that big hole in that machine's center does not look friendly," the pilot replied. That's when Kylee entered the bridge.

"Do not just stand there, fools!" She roared in anger. "Prepare the DropShip for a Firefly maneuver."

"Aff, lead," said the pilot. "Charging nuclear pulse drive."

At roughly fifty meters off the ground, the DropShip's drives would suddenly turn blue, rather than the typical yellowish. Not only that, but the DropShip's thrust had decreased in volume quite drastically, and it just sat in one place, fifty meters off the ground. It did not fire, nor did it attempt to leave...yet.
___________________________________________________________

Arcturus stepped back slowly as the GM lifted the pod off the ground, but this is where everything would differ. Arcturus then made a quick run, still cloaked, and then jumped, latching onto the GM's leg as it turned. Concealed from view by the leg now, Arcturus deactivated his cloak, allowing his energy to recharge only so much, and then activated his Strength mode, allowing him to keep himself attached to the leg even under most undue stress. As the GM would run, he would slowly, but surely, climb up the machine's leg, using grooves and notches in the armour to pull himself up. Too bad for the rest of the GMs, as they would probably spend hours looking for him.

Apsalus III, cockpit

"Hmm... Why did it stop in the air like that...?"

Obviously, they had noticed the HLV stopping in midair. The main pilot - and targetter - did not reply to the question of the commander who was acting as the co-pilot of the Mobile Armor. They could see the Zakus and Doms scrambling to get a away from beneath the HLV.

"It's up to something. I can tell."

Now, the pilot broke his silence.

"So, what are we going to do?"

"Split the beam in two... Target the tip with one and the left side with the other and let's see how it goes. We'll have to try to keep up with what it's going to do here, so stay alert."

"Sure, Sir."

"Fire when ready."

The pilot nodded, adjusted the firing mode and, well, fired.

--

RGM-79[G] GM Sniper, cockpit, enroute to Hover Truck

"Holy shit!"

He had been running towards the Hover Truck for some time now, completely oblivious of having a stowaway on his Mobile Suit.

Until now, that is. Arcturus had covered a camera on the body of the Mobile Suit. They weren't large enough to be very noticiable. Mobile Suits weren't made to accomodate the needs of possible hijackers.

First, he made sure the cockpit was locked.

It was.

Second, he checked if the anti-personnel weapons, meant especially for situations where the Mobile Suit is in danger of being compromised, were loaded.

They were.

So far so good.

He knew he couldn't take the man to the Hover Truck as it would be very vulnerable. As a result, he changed direction little by little, as to not alert his uninvited guest of what he was doing.

Then he got an idea as he thought he was suitably off course.

The GM jumped with the help of its thrusters... And came down somewhat violently. While doing thus, the machine hit trees, breaking them like twigs as he went.

Repeatedly. Its leg joints were strained by the constant jumps, but they didn't break.

He had made up his mind. He'd try to first get rid of the hijacker wannabe more conventionally first. He would resort to using the anti-personnel weapons only if all else fails - and if that fails, he knew what he'd have to do.

Arcturus was nearly caught off-guard by the GM's jump, but he released his grip on the machine just as it started to boost. He soared through the air for several dozen meters, switching to his Max Armor mode, and as he came down amongst a group of trees, he grasped onto one of the branches. The energy on the armor dropped threateningly towards the zero mark as he caught the branch, which thankfully didn't break. His arm hurt like a sonnuva bitch, but it didn't matter at this point. He had to get out of there, and fast.

Pulling himself up onto the branch, he stood and eyed his surroundings, and his eyes came to rest on the GM. He could see the two holes in its head, and he instantly knew what they were. It didn't take a genius to recognize weapon hardpoint, and judging by their size, they were probably autocannons or lasers of some type. Slinging the carbine to his back, he raised his hands. Hopefully his plan would work.
____________________________________________________________

"NOW!"

Just as the Apsalus fired, the engines of the DropShip exploded to life, and the DropShip, suprisingly, managed to achieve zero to 700 mile per hour in under two seconds, easily clearing the shot intended for them. In its wake, a small nuclear explosion ensued from the drive system, vapourizing everything on the ground underneath where the DropShip had been for a good five hundred meter radius.

Inside the DropShip, the crew grunted, groaned, and roared as the intense G-forces pressed them against their seats. Only Kylee was standing, and she made no sound whatsoever, her body acclimated to living on a planet with nearly five times the gravity of Earth. To her, it was merely a bit of extra weight, and she grinned in success. By the time the Zeon forces would realize what had just happened, the DropShip would have enough of a lead that any pursuit forces that attempted to run them down would be greeted by the Fleet in polar orbit over the Arctic Circle.

((This is a legit maneuver. To see what it does, please reference the TV Show "Firefly," where I got that maneuver from.))

RGM-79[G] GM Sniper

After the jumping and managing to get the uninvited guest off his Suit, he looked a little for the man. It didn't take long - he wasn't even trying to hide himself. In fact, he was up there, on a branch, with his hands up.

It's a trap. I know he's gonna try something. But what can he do? Nothing!

He still had the pod in one of the Suit's hands. Luckily, he had, similarily as the man had his carbine on his back, placed the beam rifle to the Mobile Suit's back with a custom made strap.

He then went forward and tried to grab the man to the free hand of the Suit.

--

Apsalus III

They noticed the DropShip start moving when the shot was fired, which caused the pilot to start moving the beam which was being fired from the Apsalus's mega particle cannon upwards even further very quickly in an attempt to hit the HLV.

Whether he hit or not... He couldn't tell. The nuke made it nearly impossible to see the location for a second.

The commander grinned.

"Yeah, that's what I thought. Some kind of trick. That wasn't an explosion from a ship, it had to be a nuclear attack."

The pilot turned his head a bit towards the commander.

"How did it do that, Sir? I couldn't see any distortions below it!"

The commander sighed.

"That's because it didn't use a Minovsky craft system, son. It defied gravity without anything else but sheer strength. I have no idea how it managed to pull the actual trick it did off with the massive amounts of ordnance, beam or otherwise, having hit its propulsion earlier, though. It should've been nearly crippled. It shouldn't have had that kind of maneuvering ability left."

They had been notified of the situation in Berlin, of course, as that was the reason they had come there in the first place, and how the local garrison had been engaging the HLV-looking machine from below - after seeing it rise up and "hover" in the sky, it was relatively obvious which part of it had received the brunt of the assault. Why would anyone have engaged the armored sides when they could just shoot at the systems which kept it up, anyway?

"Unless it was lighter than it looked, right, Sir?"

"Right. And a lot of its thrusters had to be redundant. It was probably built to survive otherwise deadly situations, unlike our HLVs. Even if it meant adding systems which served no purpose in regular use."

The pilot turned his head back towards the front.

"So what do we do now?"

"Well, let's start by detatching from the ground and getting the legs back in place. Then we'll have to go to Berlin HQ for new orders."

The pilot nodded, and started the process. Soon, the Apsalus would be free of the ground again.

--

Ruins of Berlin

As for what had happened on the ground below the "HLV", not a single Mobile Suit had been lost due to the successful evacuation after the beginning of its ascent. No one wanted to stay around below it to be burned by its thrusters, or crushed if it would have had come down after being shot by the Apsalus.

However, one of the Dom Fünfs had managed to courageously go forth and take the ejection pod which the unknown hostiles had left behind them. Both the Suit and the pod were safe and sound. The 'Mech, which had been left mostly intact earlier, had been taken to a safer location as well, and it was to be transported to Odessa as soon as it would be possible. And now, it would go there with the pod.

Arcturus kept completely still as the GM's hand wrapped around him, only slightly adjusting himself to prevent the GM from squishing him and crushing his weapons. He also took the time to switch to maximum armour mode, which would also help to prevent the GM from squishing him. He would not struggle, nor would he try anything quite yet. For now, he had to play it smart, for even he knew that trying to fight a 'Mech on foot was suicide.
__________________________________________________________

While the Funf had been on target with its shot, it had still neglected to kill Matt, who happened to be in for a long ride to Odessa. Turning on his own micro-pulse beacon, he would then sit back and nibble on the rations that came standard with 'Mechs. For now, he could do nothing but wait.
__________________________________________________________

The DropShip had managed to retreat from Berlin without a horrible scratch, and it would soon join back up with the fleet. After a short amount of time and absolutely no pursuit forces arrived, the fleet switched back to alert status two. Once fully docked, Kylee then began a long, detail brief on what the Clans would be facing on the ground.

"So you are saying that these 'Mechs are faster and more maneuverable?"

"Aff," Kylee replied. "There was also a larger Mech, easily about the size as one of our DropShips, that did not look like the others. It carried a large cannon of some sort in its front, although we did not retrieve any data on it. In all honesty, I believe that we should take precautions when engaging these new foes. They carry close-combat energy weapons unlike anything we have ever encountered before, and they easily destroyed an assault 'Mech. As acting commander of the fleet until the retrieval of Star Colonel Arcturus, I am ordering all personnel to stand down until we have more information on the enemy. You are all dismissed."

Much to his surprise, the man didn't even try anything when he grabbed him into the GM Sniper's hand.

That's weird.

He checked his waypoint information and he chose to go back to base instead of to the Hover Truck. They'd be better equipped to deal with an armed madman. He turned his Suit towards the intended direction and started running again.

The entire area, even the place surrounding the Federation base, was under heavy M particle interference. As a result, he couldn't transmit anything to the Truck nor the group without actually going back there. Not that he'd want to transmit anything, either - if the M particle coverage wasn't there, and they actually used radiowaves, the Zeon forces would pick them up in no time.

He'd come back later.

As the GM was running, he couldn't stop but wonder what the man had been doing there in the first place. The Zeons hadn't shown much interest in that location in the last months - not to mention that he was alone. What was up?

--

(OOC: I meant that the Dom took Kylee's pod as it was the only pod in actual poddy form, which I thought was left on the field since they were "recovering her" from it outside instead of recovering the pod with her in it, not Matt's (since his pod was still stuck in the 'Mech itself. Matt is as good as dead from at least the nuclear blast, if he didn't die from the Fünf's shot. Of course, if the empty pod was actually taken with the DropShip, I guess what you are suggesting would have to work.)

--

Dogosse Gier, Earth orbit, Titans/Earth Federation fleet

A man in a black uniform stood in front of his seat - the captain's seat, although his formal rank was that of a Rear Admiral. The reason why he was standing was rather obvious - they were moving, even if a bit slowly, towards a fleet of ships of gargantuan sizes. For a few minutes he just remained silent in an awe-induced stupor. Once he regained his composure, he spoke.

"That's not one of our fleets."

"Quite, sir. And the ships don't resemble any of the Zeon ships we've ever seen - not even the ones our Federation friends have."

The Rear Admiral scratched his chin.

"Can't say I've seen those emblems before. So I guess we can safely say that it shouldn't be a Zeon fleet, either."

"What should we do, Sir?"

"Nothing for the moment. We aren't going to shoot the first shot. They are in Zeek territory, just like we are. They'd be engaging us already if they were Zeon anyway."

He sat down to his seat.

"Send the same message to everyone in the fleet. No one shoots until we've been shot at."

"Roger, Sir."

The fourty Patriot-class JumpShip Carriers sat ominously at a distance from the Titan fleet. However, the Titan fleet had been noticed, and the Clan fleet began to move in unison, their bows facing the Titan fleet as they began to move towards them. The JumpShips then spread into eight separate formations of five ships each, each formation formed into a vertical Star-shape formation.

"What have we here?" Kylee's voice was coy as she spoke, eyeing the much smaller ships on the view screen. She sat at in the command seat, her eyes studying each type of ship.

"Several ships of unknown origin, Star Captain Kylee," replied the comms officer, even though he knew the questions was rhetorical. "Each ship appears to be less than six hundred meters in length, and their main weapons appear to be in plain sight."

"I can see that," Kylee stated bluntly. "Hail them and open a visual feed. And inform all gunnery points to prepare to fire on my mark."

"Aff," replied the comms officer.

As the communication traversed across the void to the Titans fleet, they would be greeted by Kylee (http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y222/Feronen/Rosegirl2.jpg), who was dressed in her normal uniform, several medals adorning her left breast communicating her status quite clearly. She had a scar drawn across her face and across her right eye at a downward angle, although both her eyes were not damaged in any way.

"I am Star Captain Kylee of the Clan Ghost Bear, warrior of the Survivor Clans. In the name of our founder, Nicholas Kerensky, and the Kerensky family's dream of a reformed Star League, I hereby order all ships in your fleet to lay their arms down and prepare to surrender them to our rule. Failure to comply will result in your destruction."
_________________________________________________________

Arcturus merely sat within the hand of the GM, his face covered by the mask of his Nano Muscle Suit. However, he kept looking up at the head of the GM, eyeing the weapon hardpoints located there, and then eyeing the head. Using a detailed micro-scanner built into his suit, he began to observe as much of the 'Mech as he could.

His first surprise was that the 'Mechs cockpit was not located in the head, but rather in the torso. He chuckled quitely to himself, finding the design to already be worthy of the Techs' future disection. His second observation was that of the unattached weapon. His suit provided tactical and scientific readings of the large rifle, and he was astounded to see that such a weapon had more firepower than your average large laser. Thats when he saw what had seen him. The suit began to pick out each individual camera across the suit, and he smiled.

Quite the design, he thought. Guess I had better try and commandeer it.

With that thought, Arcturus suddenly disappeared in the GM's hand. Little would the pilot know that Arcturus had merely cloaked himself with his suit.
_______________________________________________________________________

((Well, Matt was still well over a kilometer off, so the blast wouldn't have hurt him. Also, the Nova was incapacitated and lying on the ground after that fluke Zaku shot. I intended for Matt to survive so that I could use him for later plot development.

As for reference on Clanner weapons and technology, here's a dandy little link that'll take you to the info site that I made for my nation. Clanner Info Site (http://skaugra.proboards55.com/)))

Having heard and seen the transmission and noticing the enemy targetting his fleet, the Rear Admiral straightened his uniform's (http://www.gundamofficial.com/worlds/uc/zeta/characters/images/chara_jamaican_a.gif) jacket. He was standing again. Unlike Kylee's uniform, his did not have any distinguishable markings showing his rank. Distinguishable by anyone who was not in the Titans, that is.

"So this is how it'll be."

He sighed. She was beautiful. But she had now made herself and her underlings enemies of the Federation.

"Tell the fleet to loosen formation and prepare for combat," he said and extended his right arm to the, well, right, with his hand open, "Spread more Minovsky particles and dummies. Launch every Mobile Suit we have left - but use some for you-know-what. Target the hostile vessels with everything the ships in our fleet has to offer - but let them to take the first shot. Also, launch more cameras. I want us to see everything there is to see."

He clenched his right hand into a fist and continued, "We will crush them like the bugs they are, or die trying."

Then, he lowered his right arm and pressed a button on one of the arms of his seat. He started a video transmission of his own, just before the Minovsky particles would impede it. He saw dummies inflating right outside the ship with the corner of his eye.

"Know this, Spacenoid scum. You underestimate our resolve. We did not start this war just so we could surrender the first moment we see a hostile fleet. Our cause is just. We are prepared to fight to death. The question is... Are you?"

Then, he cut the transmission. The Minovsky particle coverage was becoming rather heavy anyway - continuing the transmission would've been relatively pointless.

Several ships was an understatement - it was a fleet at least a hundred ships strong, even if they varied heavily in quality. Although, it would look even larger due to the ridiculous amount of dummies in the area.

--

RGM-79[G] GM Sniper

The pilot, instead of panicking due to the supposed disappearance of the man, changed viewing modes. Yep, he was still there. A neat trick, but still, just a trick.

Instead of dropping Arcturus, as he had probably hoped, he would notice that the GM started to squeeze him even worse as to inform him that the cloaking wasn't doing the job he had hoped it would. Too bad for Arcturus, when people rely on as much visual deception as they do around here due to it being the only truly working means of seeing anything in the battlefield, simple disappearance tricks won't work that well.

He'd have to try harder to get out of the grip of the GM.

--

(OOC: OK, let's say his [edit: MECH, apparently I had hard time reading] is being taken to Odessa as well. But they know there's someone in there, or are at least strongly suspecting it - the other one, which they also managed to recover (due to it having been in an area which was actually close enough to be burnt) was open, while this one is closed. Doesn't take a rocket scientist to come to that conclusion. I'll include stuff about what's going on in Odessa in the next post.)

"So be it, freebirth scum," Kylee replied to the Titans commander. Cutting the transmission, the fleet then sprang into action much faster than expected. The JumpShips charged the titans fleet, their massive, 250-meter long, 30-meter in girth Gauss Cannons finally revealing themselves, as well as the ER large laser batteries and the long- and medium-range missile launchers. However, the massive ships did not fire upon the Titans. No, instead, they launched their fighter compliments. Seven hundred Darket light fighters from each JumpShip quite practically swarmed in groups of one hundred out of the JumpShips' hangars, and the JumpShips were soon joined by their smaller DropShip counterparts.

All in all, while the Titans had originally thought they'd had the advantage, the tables had turned drastically in the favour of the Clans. To give a total unit count, there were fourty JumpShips, six hundred DropShips, and twenty eight thousand fighters. Coupled with the fact that Clan ships were tougher, and definitely faster, than your standard Salamis Cruiser (unbeknownst to the Titans), they'd soon be in for one helluva fight.
________________________________________________________

Arcturus grunted in pain and switched back to armour mode, decreasing said pain.

"Gorram freebirth," he said, his voice semi-distorted by the commlink for his mask. "I guarantee you that you have not seen what I can really do."

With those words said, Arcturus then dropped down into the hand of the GM, and then began to push with his arms and legs to get the hand to open up, switching to strength mode. In this mode, he could easily lift a fifteen ton truck. Why couldn't he open up the hand of a mobile suit?
________________________________________________________

((Okies. Works for me.))

Definitely tougher and faster. But also definitely much more vulnerable when it came to the effects of M particles - no radar, no radio communications. Even targeting is hampered. And also definitely much more heavily affected by the planet's pull, especially in the case of the JumpShips.

"Where the hell did these people pop up from, anyway?", wondered the Rear Admiral, while standing still on the bridge of the Dogosse Gier, watching the surroundings on the monitors with visuals brought up by the multitude of external cameras, "And why the hell did they come here with a fleet of that size unless they were expecting to end up dying in a fire?", he coughed, and corrected himself, "Fighting hapless and innocent locals?"

No one answered, but they weren't supposed to, either - they already knew that, when he started asking questions, they were with quite a high certainty rhetorical.

"I wonder if they'll ever even find us from all this crap," he said as he watched all sorts of dummies all over them, and some were still being inflated even, "The dummies are spreading all over the place... Into their midst, too. And they don't seem too keen on blowing them up either. That'd be a waste of ammo, but still. We've been preparing to do this attack for years. Of course we have a boatload more than we actually needed! Of everything!"

While the Rear Admiral continued his senseless banter, the Clanners would probably start noticing the worst side effect of the M particle yet - the constant EMP effect, which is far more devious than that of any regular EMP weapon - practically any exposed electronics, be it inside or outside a vessel, would ultimately be affected, and by particles you don't really even see. No fancy explosions, no nothing. Considering the sheer size of the vessels, and the insanely high numbers of such as well, it was, at least in the mind of the Rear Admiral, highly unlikely that they were properly shielded, as not only would that require prior knowledge of the M particle's uses, AND such expensive shielding upon the vessels that they surely would not have come in such high numbers in the first place.

"They're making this too easy for us... And even if this doesn't work, I bet that will."

He smirked.

--

RGM-79[G] GM Sniper, cockpit

The pilot had grown weary of Arcturus's games, and he could see he was up to something again. He hadn't wanted to kill him, but leaving a liability such as him running around would have been borderline insane. As the Mobile Suit kept running, he let the pod fall onto the ground, freeing the other hand of the GM Sniper - then the GM came to an abrupt halt as it threw Arcturus into the air, while the other now free hand, had taken a beam saber - which was now going for the kill. He had made sure there were no convenient branches he could deviate his fall with.

--

Zeon Earth Operations HQ, Odessa, Earth

While the remains of the 'Mech and the certifiably empty ejection pod had already been sent to space, having taken the place of some non-essential equipment which had been scheduled to be sent off the planet, there was something which had to be done about the still probably occupied 'Mech. Probably, because it was, unlike the other one, still closed (and in the 'Mech itself) - and no one was ever seen actually leaving the 'Mech when it lied on the ground.

It was taken underground, to a facility which could be shut off from the rest of the world - and one which could be filled with some extremely hot substance, as to sterilize it if need be. It could also be used as a mechanism for keeping people in and possibly disposing of them if things would take a turn for the worse. Why such a system had been added to the WMD proof facility wasn't exactly known - the facility had been used for New Type research for a couple of years after the War, and they had left with no explanation as to why they had built some of these new systems.

But, well, it was just awfully convenient for situations like this. It had been used for Federation captives earlier in similar fashion, and it had proven itself to be a very efficient system. If they ended up being hostile and being un-containable by the people inside, they could just be burnt to death with very low death counts. They didn't even need a million soldiers to make sure everything would remain contained!

So, after the 'Mech had been placed deep inside the facility, all unrelated personnel had left the area after which the massive doors had been closed and the incineration mechanism was prepared for use - the few volunteers present were forcing its cockpit open...

"Star Captain, we have a problem," came the tactical officer.

"What is it now," Kylee replied, obviously frustrated.

"I am not receiving any tactical data whatsoever," he said. "I can't even get a decent lock on the enemy's fleet. I think they are jamming us somehow."

"Recalibrate all sensors to visual-thermal readings, and don't forget to recalibrate the communications to hyper-pulse frequencies," she ordered. "Have the fighters fan out and set up a protective blanket, and keep the DropShips back behind the JumpShips until I give the order to move in."

"Aff, Star Captain," replied both the tactical and the comms officers.

The fleet then began to take action, the DropShips falling into a rear-flanking position as the fighters kept their swarms confined to the area around their mother ships. Once everything was in place, the first Star of JumpShips began to target the individual heat signatures. Since the dummy baloons had nothing to generate heat with, it made it that much easier to pick out the real ships. Kylee's Star was the first to engage the fleet, targeting the largest of the ships (the Dogosse Gier) and the several ships flanking it before opening fire with a full salvo from the forward batteries.

The first set of shots was then joined by a second from another Star, and then a third, and so on, until the large ships had a full-spread firing range on Titans fleet. Each of the powerful dual gauss cannons fired slugs as large as mobile suits into each group of targets. All the while, the fleet advanced upon the Titans fleet, and it would soon become obvious that the forward batteries weren't the only guns on these ships. The port side and starboard side batteries were beginning to unfold from the confines of the ship, and it was probably quite obvious to the Titans that the large ships intended to get into a broadside stand-off.

In the meantime, the anti-fighter large pulse laser batteries and the anti-missile rotary autocannon batteries began to prepare themselves for the inevitable retaliation, and each battery began to unfold from their own locations within the ships' hulls.
______________________________________________________

Arcturus roared in surprise as he was tossed into the air, and he soon saw the GM bring out its close combat energy weapon. Right now, his only thought was to try and survive this encounter, because he knew what was coming next. Still in max strength mode, his pulled a grenade off his belt and whirled in mid-air, pulling the pin, and then chucking it directly into the GM's head vulcan, and then immediately switched back to max armour mode and hoped for the desired result.
______________________________________________________

Matt could hear people outside the Nova, and he froze. They seemed to be trying to open the pod, and they were somehow managing to do it even though the pod was made of reinforced Ferro-Fibrous, the toughest and most complicated metal alloy in existence. Reaching back to where the survival kit was, he pulled out the smallest weapon he could find - a pistol - and he readied himself, switching his own nano suit to maximum armour mode. Pulling the slide back to make sure there was a round in the chamber, he leveled the pistol to point at the door as it was slowly pried open...

Dogosse Gier, bridge

"Heh, that was close."

He watched as one of the Irish class battleships exploded not too far from his ship, along with several Salamis and Magellans - not to mention a bunch of the dummies which complemented their now loose formation being filled with holes. At least two of them looked like the Dogosse Gier, he noted. They really wanted his ship out of commission!

"But we ain't out yet!"

The dummies did have heat signatures, after all. While most of the asteroid type dummies did not have them, sure, some did, and while some of the ship type dummies did not have them, most did. Indeed, there were masses of dummies equipped with enough verniers to light them up like Christmas trees not much unlike the real ships, if one was to use some kind of infra-red vision.

And the retaliation did come, but probably in ways they did not expect. As they advanced even closer to the Titans fleet, which was ill advised to say the least, they would notice that quite a few of the asteroid-looking dummies weren't just dummies, as Mobile Suits bursted out of some of them, firing and/or piercing into the Clan ships with their beam sabers. One from each, but as there were quite a few of them... Of course, the numbers weren't nearly as high as those of the fighters the Clans were packing, but still enough to be a threat.

What good would point defense do against targets which already were on your skin?

Many other dummies in their path, as they would notice, were actually camouflaged proximity mines - exploding most violently as the Clanners came close enough. Even if there was a chance that their JumpShips would not be bothered by them, their fighters, quite likely, would be.

This was why they had saturated the entire battlefield with dummies, having already spammed some less malign ones out before any fighting had taken place - doing what they were using now had been what they had intended to use against the Zeon fleets once they would have caught up with them. It'd be nearly impossible to do anything without sustaining losses in such an environment - it would have been the perfect method to force them to withdraw.

The Clansmen had arguably chosen the worst day to invade Earth sphere. They were playing into the pocket of the Principality as they weakened the remaining Federation fleet.

--

RGM-79[G] GM Sniper (http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/08thmsteam/rgm-79g-sniper.htm), cockpit

The grenade had no negative effect on the Mobile Suit as the RGM-79[G] (http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/08thmsteam/rgm-79g.htm) types have no head vulcans, unlike their lesser, regular RGM-79 GM (http://www.mahq.net/mecha/gundam/msgundam/rgm-79.htm) brethren. They have obvious slots for them, but they are just for the show. And unlike their lesser brethren or even the ReGelgs Arcturus had fought before, they were also made of full blown Luna Titanium alloy.

What made them less desirable by leaders, rather than GM Sniper Custom or the Sniper II, was nothing less and nothing more than the lesser sensor range and lack of specialization of the Mobile Suit. They were, after all, just recolored RGM-79[G] GMs, which, in turn, were about 80% the same as RX-79[G] Gundams. In short, it was a generalist ground combat Mobile Suit working in a specialized line of duty.

He would have fared a lot better against a Sniper Custom or a Sniper II - of course, that would do little to comfort Arcturus.

The pilot couldn't help but wonder what he had done to deserve this kind of behavior from some random Zeek in the woods.

Had to be karma or something.

--

Underground facility, Zeon Earth Operations HQ, Odessa, Earth

"Jesus this stuff is hard!"

"Stop complaining, it's almost open!"

Half a dozen men had been working to open the cockpit for several hours by the time Matt finally started getting nervous. Two of them had been on it with unarmed Zaku Tanks, and as they finally managed to puncture it and pry it slightly open, only one Zaku Tank was working on it now as the five other people were standing close by. All of them had volunteered for the job, more or less - there was no knowing what they'd be facing inside the pod so people couldn't just be ordered to do the job if it went wrong. Two of the five were armed. One of them was a medic. The rest were just helping hands, just in case if the pilot in the cockpit had to be carried out of there. The Zaku Tank pilot was a civilian.

"Hey guys, it's open!"

"OK, good job!"

And so, the medic went in first, with the two armed men close behind. They were there more as a precaution, a deterrent. No one wanted the medic to die, but who knew what was going through the pilot's head right now.

The fleet was somewhat caught off guard, reeling only slightly from the unexpected surprise attack. Still, the mobile suits would not take down the JumpShips that easily. There was about fifty meters of Ferro-Fibrous armour to cleave through, and the point defenses, which were capable of shooting at the ship's own surface, now reacted to the attack and began opening fire on anything that didn't transmit a C3 slave computer signature via hyper-pulse frequency.

The fighters then reacted swiftly, their maneuverability and speed nearly thrice that of their mobile suit counterparts, and it soon turned into quite the melee as the odds turned a 100+ to 1 ratio in favour of the Clan fighters. The Darkets engaged with their rapid-fire meson blasters, cousins of the PPC, and they also brought to bear their own image recognition smart missiles, which would chase down enemy mobile suits unrelentingly until they either ran out of fuel or made impact with their intended target.

The JumpShips did not relent as they pushed through to the smaller ships. Their main weapons continued firing, and as they got closer, their broadside batteries would target enemy ship that was within their range and open fire.

"Knnh...such a pathetic and sloppy counter-attack," Kylee mused, commenting on the Titans' tactic. "Send the DropShips to the planet's surface. We will not be needing them this battle. Have them land in the Northern Desert of Africa and await orders. Inform the fighters to give them cover as they reach the atmosphere."

"Aff, Star Captain," replied the comms.

Pretty soon, the unengaged DropShips turned to face the planet, and then rocketed forth in near unison, looking like a massive metal swarm of spherical spores. In the meantime, many of the fighters broke off from the JumpShips and joined the DropShips for the time being, providing a protective fighter blanket that only engaged anything stupid or brazen enough to get too close to their wards. They would only protect the DropShips until they reached the upper atmosphere, and then they would break off and rejoin their motherships.
________________________________________________________

It was a quick reaction. Matt leaped forth, grasping the medic and pulling her to him, his pistol leveling to her head as he turned her around to face the guards.

"One wrong move and she dies," Matt said in perfect English. His finger fondled the trigger to the massive pistol he held in his hand. "Both of you back out of the pod slowly, and then toss your weapons away."

Of course the attack was "pathetic" - it had been aimed to distract a Zeon fleet, not one of completely warcrazed fanatics who hold nothing more dear than the act of war. It was meant to help the bulk of their army to go onto the ground. Of course, they hadn't expected that the enemy would go off shooting at their own ships, either, which they did, as Mobile Suits were nearly latched onto them and they still were shooting in their general direction. Indeed, they, even with compromised automatic targeting, kept trying to shoot at the Suits while they were inside their own formations. As for the supposed advantage the fighters had over the Mobile Suits, from the point of view of the Mobile Suit pilots, it did not seem quite as large. The maneuverability of a Mobile Suit in space is quite excellent.

The fleet was taking further damage, ships were being turned into scrap metal and so forth - but the real Dogosse Gier just seemed to not go down. At this point, all the remaining ships also began firing their Mega Particle Cannons. Just because.

Playtime, however, was over.

A fleet of Zeon ships appeared out of nowhere to relative proximity of the warzone. The original intended target had been the Federation fleet - but things had changed. At least they followed a known set of rules in combat. At least they were not outsiders.

At least they were a known enemy.

One weapon with the power to annihilate a colony in one shot, slapped on a relatively small and aging ship.

Now count this fifty times.

They were the same model as the ships which had annihilated Luna II with ease. Modified Musai class Light Cruisers, armed with Hyper Mega Particle Cannons.

Their weapons were already armed. Targeting, thanks to the huge sizes of the enemy ships, was also already done.

And they fired. Fourty shot at individual JumpShips, ten shot at the DropShips in general.

For once, the Principality and the Federation were actually acting together.

--

Underground facility, Zeon Earth Operations HQ, Odessa, Earth

Neither of the soldiers budged. Matt didn't know it, but they were all there fully knowing that they'd all die if the pilot in the cockpit had his way. Their families would be looked after either way, even if they didn't really think it'd turn out this way.

There was no turning back now.

"Or how about you let her go and lower your weapon so we don't have to kill her with you?"

The arrival of the Zeon ships was unnoticed until the shots rang through the ranks of the JumpShips. The JumpShips were peppered by the HMPCs, but here's the difference between Colonies and Clan warships. Colonies are made of fairly poor-grade titanium and thin sheets of glass, allowing them to be compromised by even a small, concentrated barrage from a Salamis cruiser. Clan ships, however, were made of a high-grade metal called Ferro-Fibrous that tears apart in thin metal fibers as they are damaged. That's not to say, however, that the HMPCs did not do damage to the JumpShips. Quite the contrary, they were making more headway than the mobile suits that had closed in on them and the entire Titans fleet put together.

"What in Kerensky's name just hit us?!" Kylee was in a fit of rage at the moment as her ships were rocked.

"Unknown, Star Captain," replied her tactical officer. "There is too much interference to know where those shots came from."

"Then re-route all ships back to the JumpShips," she roared. "Once all ships have returned, make a jump to the outter edge of the system!"

"Aff, Star Captain," replied the tactical comm.

However, just as that order was made, a great many of the DropShips were practically vapourized, their armour incapable of withstanding that much firepower. Still, they received their orders, and each ship made quite the u-turn, using the same "Firefly" maneuver that had been used at Berlin. The only difference this time was that there was no atmosphere with which to recreate the same explosion, and all it really did was just make some pretty lights as their thrusters ignited. They were quickly followed by the fighters, who speedily returned to their hangars as quickly as possible.

It would take a bit of time, but for now, the JumpShips gave as much cover as they could, providing a covering fire for them against the Titans. Until they could actually engage their jump drives.
___________________________________________________________

Matt eyed both of the Zeon soldiers. They seemed to know something he didn't, and he didn't particularly want to die this day. He sighed, dropping the pistol and shoving the medic back towards the guards.

"Lousy filthborn scum," he muttered quite audibly.

Sadalahn, Zeon experimental fleet, Earth orbit

"Hmph. It seems that these ships, even with their modifications, are not capable of using the Hyper Mega Particle Cannon as effectively as the newer ships," said the captain of the vessel, and also the current commander of the fleet. He was standing with his arms crossed, a few steps in front of his seat, watching the monitors to see the level of damage the weapons caused. Some of them showed the power levels of the weapons - which was why he wasn't happy about the situation.

"How disappointing," he muttered as he took a couple of steps backwards to his seat and sat down, "You really do need at least two of them to get anything done."

He sighed. Sure, one shot from a HMPC would be enough to destroy a Salamis cruiser or a Magellan, but that's just not enough for a weapon which is supposed to destroy, not just puncture, colonies and large asteroids.

"At least we managed to make them withdraw. We really don't need more would-be invaders on Earth."

"Do you think if they'll be back, Sir?"

The man nodded.

"No doubt about it. And even if they don't, some others will. And barring the folks who gave us this faster-than-light technology, they seem to be mainly hostile."

"What about the Federation fleet?"

He pressed a couple of buttons on the armrest of his seat, and the monitors showed the remains of the Federation fleet.

"Let's leave them alone. They're screwed enough already as it is. We don't need to kick them in the head just because."

He stood up.

"Prepare the fleet for our return to Side 3! And leave a probe or two here!"

--

Underground facility, Zeon Earth Operations HQ, Odessa, Earth

"Good," said one of the soldiers as the woman ran towards the Zaku Tank, ignoring his mutterings, "You can listen to reason after all. Now we need you to remove that body armor of yours. If you don't have clothes under it or somewhere in that pod of yours," he signaled one of the unarmed men to get a uniform from the lockers, "We'll give you some. Any questions?"

"Unforutnately, I can not do that," Matt replied. "These suits are set to incinerate the wearer and the suit itself when taken off without authorization codes, codes that I do not have. I doubt that you would want to lose a prisoner over such a minor thing as taking off body armour."

Matt knew he was telling the truth, but whether his would-be captors believed him or not was another story entirely.
_______________________________________________________

The JumpShips would then rematerialize on the edge of the system and within range of Pluto. The poor little iceball, while still bigger than the JumpShips, looked rather small in comparison to its larger cousins in the system.

At the moment, Kylee was fuming in her personal quarters. She couldn't believe what she'd been through. First, 'Mechs that not only had super powered weapons, but very powerful close combat weapons as well? Not to mention that standard lasers didn't work on them at all! That thought trifled with her mind.

And then there was the suprise attack laid on the fleet by some unknown fleet from behind her own. Her ships, while not compromised, had been thoroughly devastated by the attacks, and replacement parts were going to be very difficult to come by. There was also the factor that nearly a hundred of the DropShips that they had brought with them were completely obliterated, and their 'Mech and Warrior compliment were gone with them. Such devastating firepower.

She had to have these weapons.

Rising from where she was sitting, she quickly marched herself to the bridge, bypassing everyone that saluted her without even a single acknowledgement. Once she entered the bridge, it was all business.

"Tac, prepare a single DropShip with a Light 'Mech Star and a Star of fighters," she demanded. "Send them back to Terra, and make sure that every Point is outfitted with an ECM suite. They are to gather as much data as possible on the forces that we encountered and report back to me."

"It will take a few days, Star Captain," replied the tac officer.

"Then so be it," she replied. "I want to know what these spheroids are using that is so much better than our own weapons."

"Aff, Star Captain," said the tac officer.

It wasn't long before the DropShip had been prepared, and once it was, it began the several week trek back to Terra with just enough supplies to get there, perform its mission, and return to the fleet.

Underground facility, Zeon Earth Operations HQ, Odessa, Earth

The man nodded shallowly and pressed his earpiece a bit, completely suppressing any sounds Matt could've heard - although that wasn't why he did it, it was just so he could hear a bit better. While he was doing this, the other armed soldier picked up Matt's gun and gave it to the unarmed man who had not gone to pick up the uniform.

"Alright, you can keep your suit, then, but that means that you can't be transferred to better quarters. I hope you understand."

He signaled to the other man who was now bringing the uniform to not bother with it.

He pressed his earpiece with his hand again.

"So, why did you invade Earth?"

--

Office of the Supreme Commander, Zum City, Side 3

Two men were in the office - Garma Zabi (in other words, the Supreme Commander himself) and the Rear Admiral who was acting as the captain of the Sadalahn. The Rear Admiral had been giving his report about the short battle, and he was explaining why he didn't destroy the Federation fleet while it was weakened. The Rear Admiral was standing, whilst Garma was sitting on his seat.

Garma rubbed his temples for some time, until the Rear Admiral ended his report. He placed his elbows onto his desk and clasped his hands in front of his mouth.

"Yet another hostile force from outside the Earth sphere, huh. Seems to be turning into a trend."

He sighed, lowered his hands to the desk and pushed his seat a bit away from the said desk, after which he stood up.

"I've received a report from the ground that these attackers are human as well... Just like the earlier ones."

The Rear Admiral seemed somewhat distraught by this revelation, but he remained silent.

"I think your actions were justified. You'll at most receive a slap on the wrist for your inability to destroy the Federation fleet when it would've been easy pickings, just for show of course. Even though we have been fighting them less than honorably... At least it used to be just between us and them."

He started pacing slowly behind his desk.

"We need to end this war quickly. These people... These outsiders that come here to pick fights with us... Are far more dangerous when we're already distracted by all this in-fighting," he said, pausing momentarily and stopping in front of his seat, "Yes, in the light of all that we have seen, I consider this in-fighting. A civil war. Each Mobile Suit lost is a Mobile Suit out of our defensive capability as a whole, making us weaker against these forces from beyond the Earth sphere."

He collapsed down to his seat again.

"Ah, I apologize, I'm just rambling now. Thank you for your report, Eriksen. Dismissed."

The Rear Admiral saluted, and Garma saluted back. After that, the Rear Admiral left the office.

So many mistakes to amend, so many dangers to neutralize, so little time...

"I highly doubt that invade is the proper term that should be used here," Matt replied. "We happened upon this planet while en route to another system. That it happened to be our people's ancestral home took us by surprise, so we decided to investigate the surface, as the planet seemed rather uninhabited, which further surprised us. Records indicate that Terra is located elsewhere. You could probably imagine our surprise finding it nearly ten thousand light years from its recorded location. Be that as it may, Terra rightfully belongs to the Clans, and it is the dream of our founders, the Kerensky family, to retake Terra and reform the glorious Star League."

Matt chuckled. "But I doubt that a freebirth such as yourself could even know of this world's history."

The man smirked while the other soldier laughed out.

"Sure, whatever you say. Some people have left the Earth sphere, but based on my knowledge on history... The only 'clans' on Earth were from Scotland and Somalia. You don't sound Scottish, so I guess that means you're Somalian, huh? And obviously our 'claim' on Earth is much more pressing than yours, 'cause we actually live around here. Not to mention that there haven't been any 'Star Leagues' here, just the Earth Federation that got its butt kicked by us."

He paused for a second.

"And who the hell calls Earth 'Terra', anyway? And what kind of a slur is 'freebirth' trying to be? Read a few too many bad Sci-Fi books, have we?"

"People of Zeon and the rest of the Earth sphere!"

Indeed, it was time for a speech. They were something of a tradition in the Principality, and people were used to them - although for the few last years there had been close to none of them. They were often given by the Supreme Commander and on current issues which pressed the Principality. Issues which might have not been public knowledge, but needed to be turned into such. As Garma had been in the state he had been for the last few years, he hadn't seen the point for having speeches. The speech was being broadcast all across the Earth sphere. This way even the leadership of the remains of the Federation would hear it.

But now, it was almost as though fire was burning in his eyes. He seemed revitalized.

"Yet again we are at war. Yet again it is us against the Federation. And I will not lie, their war is not completely unjustified. I have come to find out that the specter of Ghiren, my late brother, lingered among the Zeon leadership of Side 7. And I must take the responsibility for not having found out about this sooner."

It was quite obvious from Garma's face that his feelings were genuine. He was truly regretful of his lack of action. But the past is the past, and all he could do now was try to fix what was left to be fixed.

"But those men have been stripped of their positions and imprisoned. Not only did they go against direct orders, but they also betrayed the new Zeonic ideals. It was never my intention to let my brother's views to continue their existence like this, let alone be applied on innocent people in such a fashion."

Some men who stood on his lefthand side were seemingly becoming nervous.

"I have also found out that these very same 'ideals' of my brother, which I have never believed in, have been popular among the leaders of certain colonies within Side 3 and the reconstructed Side 1. Not only are their actions unforgivable, they are also treasonous and evil. I cannot, will not understand how these people think they can justify their actions against people only due to their family tree rather than their actions. We should be civilized enough to not fall into this ancient tradition of persecuting and oppressing the weak only because we can."

He glanced around the conference room, which was filled to the brim.

"I intend to rid us of this cancerous influence of my brother!"

Roaring applause. People had awaited him to come out of his melancholy and tell them that he would return to his plans instead of just sitting on them. For once, people were feeling hopeful. At this point, the men on his left were being escorted off the stage at gunpoint.

He signaled them to stop, and after a few minutes, he could continue.

"For the men and women of the Federation who are watching this... I implore you to help us end this war. We cannot afford standing divided anymore. We have so far been forced to drive away two separate forces which came from beyond the Solar System. Every Mobile Suit, every ship either of us loses in this war means less of a chance of survival for us as a whole. We are at constant peril even without this war. Why make things easier for those who would seek to destroy us all?"

The speech continued for quite a while - but all in all, it left no doubt in anyone's mind that Garma was coming back into his role as the Supreme Commander of the Principality of Zeon.

(OOC: It didn't come out quite the way I originally intended (as in, not quite as well), but I've been intending to make this post for quite a while and, well... Better this way than not in any way at all is what I'm thinking.)

While the Zeon soldiers couldn't see it because of the face mask, Matt had rolled his eyes.

"Petulant scum," he muttered. "If I did not know that you knew something that I did not, I would have struck you both dead right now, but I doubt that would accomplish much."

He looked between them with his eyes, making sure to maintain a rigid stance that wouldn't define his thoughts. He was trying to see what they were equipped with.

"So," he continued. "When will your equally petulant commander come to relieve you, or are you just going to hold me here for the rest of your lives?"

"See, that's the thing," spoke the one who had been speaking most of the time again, "Your body armor there complicates things. And your obvious hostility isn't helping your case either..."

Now the other one butted in.

"Yeah, and they ain't gonna let you just run around free in goddamn combat armor when you wanna kill everyone."

The first speaker nodded.

"Exactly. So, us and those three are going to be all the company you'll have for a while. There's enough rations and water out here to last us years if need be..."

"Ain't it great?" - again the other soldier interrupted him, this time with a comment which was sarcastic to the brim.

"... Anyway, you aren't going to answer my questions, are you? Pity. I thought we were getting somewhere here!"

"Well, if you would like to know," Matt said. "I am Star Captain Mattlov Jorgenson of Clan Ghost Bear, pilot of the BattleMech that you most obviously brought with you. I come from a cluster of star systems called the Elysian Fields located several thousand lightyears from the Sol System."

Matt took a breath, and then continued.

"There are four other Clans that reside with us in a perverted sense of harmony," he said. "They are Clans Wolf, Jade Falcon, Nova Cat, and Star Adder. Our five Clans reside on a Caste system, and we, the warriors, are the ruling caste. We warriors are created in test tubes, and once we are capable of living outside the iron wombs, we are then put through a rigorous training cycle until only the strongest are left. Those of us who pass every center of training are then inducted into the military as warriors, and believe you me, we are deadly loyal to our Clans."

Matt then turned his head towards the nearest of the guards.

"We also believe in a code of honour," he said. "And by my own honour, I swear not to act hostile for the next twenty four hours."

"Matt, huh? I'm Mike. Mike Frei. Zeon Earth Forces. Nice to meet you," he said, and saluted him sloppily, "You're far away from home, aren't you."

He didn't know exactly what to say about his, um, family. Or the society he was from. But he did feel lucky for not being from there - being a test tube kid with no other parents than some machine didn't seem exactly fun. Not to mention the whole "only the strongest survive" mentality. His family had always been poor, and that was kind of what brought him here... And he'd never trade that to be bred for war.

"But, you see, that's the thing," said Mike, sighing, "You can claim not to turn violent on people as much as you want, but how are we supposed to be sure that you won't try escaping? We have no idea what your suit there is capable of, if you don't count the preliminary scans which stated that it IS capable of something."

He put his rifle to rest on his shoulder while still wielding it.

"And there you go. Before our guys figure out a way to disable that suit of yours without killing you, well... We're all gonna stay here."

He paused for a moment again.

"You're kinda lucky, though. We don't do torture anymore. And I was serious when I said that you'd get to be put in better quarters, too. Without that suit you shouldn't be a big threat to the world at large. You might be a trained killer, but who isn't these days?"

No matter how special his training had been, he was still just a man.

As for what the men were wearing, they weren't in anything special - just regular Zeon uniforms with standard-issue Zeon rifles (though, these days, Zeon soldiers no longer wear those crazy looking hats, but rather more generic caps which were always used in tandem with them).

"We of the Warrior Caste are trained to be honourable to all," Matt said. "When we give our word of honour not to do something, we are obligated as such that, if we do break our word, we are to perform surkai to those who we betrayed, after which those whom we wronged may decide on our punishment, be it death, torture, or indentured servitude for life."

Matt then sighed, stepping backwards and slumping against the inner hull of the pod.

"As for my suit," he continued. "No amount of electromagnetic counter measures equipment will deactivate it. It would require that you be able to tap into the necessary frequency to shut off any failsafes, and judging by the technology you employ off the battlefield, I very highly doubt that you have what is necessary to even reach said frequency."

"I meant that you wouldn't technically need to be hostile towards anyone to try to sneak out of the detention area, and that's why we can't leave this place. Pretty simple if you ask me..."

He suddenly paused and pressed the earpiece again with his hand.

"As for your suit... Thanks for telling that, they're saying it'll give a new angle in the search for a way to get rid of that thing. But, do you think if it'd be possible to overwhelm it without killing you? That's what they're saying that we should try first off."

"And our tech, you'd be surprised. These rifles, right? They're intentionally made to look like some Middle Age stuff. You know, World War, uh, 2, or something. And this pistol, see? It's a damn replica of another gun from those days. That's what some geek told me when I was stationed at Granada. And these standard issue guns aren't that awesome, either, sure, but there's a reason for it. It'd suck if you could damage a space colony with a hand-held. They do that enough with Mobile Suits already."

Not long after the speech, the Federation leadership contacted the Principality of Zeon. They knew, just as much as the Principality did, that their ability to fight the war had been greatly diminished by the attack of the unknown forces. They had been given a honorable way out, and they weren't delusional enough to not take it.

They knew they couldn't win.

The Principality, of course, agreed to meet with the leaders of the Federation remnant in the very first attempt to get out of the war diplomatically. That had been the reason why their leader had said what he had said in the first place, quite obviously - they really were desiring to bring the war to an end, the sooner and the less people end up dead the better. They would meet in Zum City of Side 3, the capital colony and as such the heart of the Principality of Zeon.

Would there be peace without the complete destruction of one side or would the war continue, it would be decided in the coming days.

Matt pondered for a moment, thinking about the question. "No...no, I do not think that would work either..."

He then sighed. "Well, the most I can say is this." Matt then turned around, pulling out a claymore and a remote, and then turned around and tossed the remote to Mike. He then took the clarmore and strapped it to his mid-section with the explosive part facing him. He fiddled with a few buttons, arming the claymore, and then looked up at Mike.

"Even with maximum armor mode on, my nano muscle suit cannot survive a point-blank blast from an explosive of this caliber," Matt said. "Should I attempt to escape or injure anyone, you have the complete authority to kill me right then and there. The blast is directed right at me, so the possibility of anyone suffering any physical injury other than temporary deafness and shell shock is completely null and void. Now, with that settled, may I speak with your commanding officer now?"

"Uh..."

He pressed the earpiece into his ear again, and let his eyes wander to the floor.

"Sir... Yes, Sir," he mumbled.

Then he focused on Matt again.

"As you probably know, even though that's a nice gesture, we can't really trust you. Nothing to do with you as a person and so forth, but you know, it's the times. Hell, would you let me see your superior, yourself, outside confinement anyway, if you weren't sure if I wasn't armed with something I could use to kill a lot of people? I bet you wouldn't."

He paused.

"Anyway, he's saying he's going to..."

The lights flickered momentarily, distracting the soldier in mid-sentence.

"... Show up soon," continued a man who just walked in from a door close by.

"Sir!", shouted the four men and saluted towards the man. The two soldiers stepped well away from the opening in the pod.

"At ease," he said as he walked closer. Soon, he turned towards the hole in the pod, but he stayed a bit away from the pod for some reason - farther than the two soldiers had before.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Izsak Benedek, Zeon Earth Forces. I'm in command of this facility at the moment. What do you want to speak to me about?"

"I will be frank and honest, Commander," Matt stated, getting right to business. "On the day that my DropShip deployed my Star, my transponder linking me to my fleet deactivated, telling me that the fleet has left immediate proximity of Terra. Per engagement protocol, when a Clan fleet leaves the proximity of a target planet, it is usually because they are preparing for a second attack, but instead of having the fleet of fourty ships they had the first time around, they will bring to bear a much larger fleet. I am speaking about not tens, but hundreds of ships, and not just the JumpShip types."

Matt huffed in audible exasperation.

"They may potentially bring Destroyers with them, and to be frank and honest once again, I do not think that your people will be prepared to handle a fleet of this proportion. JumpShips may be quite large, but as you begin to go through the ranks of my people's ships, you will notice that they seem to double in size in a progressive manner, and they bring to bear much larger weapons, respectively."

Matt then slumped back against the hull of the pod once more.

"While I am more inclined to ask you to surrender to my people, I know that asking you to do such a thing would be out of the question," he said. "Therefore, when the fleet arrives in system, allow me to speak with the commander of the fleet. I believe I may be able to bring my people to the negotiations table and prevent a full-scale conflict, a conflict that I do not believe would be in the best interests of either your people or the planet itself."

"Interesting," said the Lt Commander, his expression not flinching one bit, "But you do realize that we did destroy your half-human types and that our only losses were caused by our lack of knowledge on how your machines blow up, and that we made your fleet flee, yes?"

He paused momentarily.

"You are correct in assuming that we would not surrender to outsiders, especially ones who obviously do not think very highly of us. Would you, hmm? I doubt you would."

He glanced at the soldiers who were on his sides now. He was sure the man was bluffing, but it was better to make him think he was being taken in all seriousness. And if it wasn't a bluff, well... At least it wouldn't be his fault if nothing happened if he had reported it forward.

Not to mention that news had come that a nearly comparable amount of Musais had been the cause of their fleet's retreat. Not exactly very scary, especially considering that the HMPC was becoming more or less standard issue for Zeon ships. Not because of the Federation remnant, but because of the hostility of these outsiders whom seem to show up on a rather regular basis.

Still, the man's expression did not change at all. Neither did his mannerisms betray his thoughts.

"But no matter how I personally feel about this, I will let my superiors know about this. I'm sure they will do what is best for all."

"Anything else?"

Matt sighed for a moment, thinking to himself.

"Well, other than that, I do not have much else to speak on," he said after a few brief seconds. "For now, all I can say to you is that I promise not to try and flee. Your soldier over there..." Matt pointed at Mike. "...has a remote that is tied into the claymore strapped to my chest. It is meant to make sure I keep my word of honour and not attempt to escape or harm any personnel on the base."

"Star Captain Kylee, we have just received word that the DropShip has reached the sixth planet of the system," said the comms officer. "Ee tee ay to Terra is five days."

"Excellent," she replied. "Send out a hyper pulse transmission back to Strana Mechty. Request additional JumpShips plus a few destroyers and support ships. I believe it is time we begin the planning phase of retaking Terra."

"Aff, Star Captain."

As the transmission went out, Kylee smiled to herself. It wouldn't be long until the final dream of the Clans came true...

Izsak smiled for a few moments before responding.

"Yes, I know. We scanned the device, too. I appreciate the gesture."

He crossed his arms.

"But you do realize that it's not up to me, even, whether you are let out of here or not? After we found out that you had that suit of yours I contacted my superiors, and they're adamant on keeping you here until it's out of the picture."

He took a deep breath.

"Until that time... I can't let you leave. Well, I guess if your friends come back, the higher-ups might reconsider their position."

He dropped his hands to his sides, and looked towards the doorway.

"Now, if that is all, I have other things to attend to."

--

((OOC: Oh yes, if your ship goes close to Jupiter, it'd run into the Jupiter Energy Fleet and their defenses and whatnot.))

Zum City, Side 3

"So, this settles it, then," Garma said and stood up, "Peace shall reign once more!"

Every single person in the room applauded.

The negotiations had been going on for several hours at this point. Exhaustive they had been, and everyone was tired - but finally they had come to an agreement which both sides could agree on, and it had been signed.

The agreement included things, such as:

-The Federation and their Titan allies would be given autonomy in Side 7 (which includes governing, policing and so forth - the Principality, however, would be allowed to patrol Side 7, its citizens would have free access to the Side and so forth), and a limited presence on Earth in a location chosen by the Principality.

-The Federation would surrender its prototype Mobile Suits (and Mobile Armors and space ships, such as the Argama), including but not limited to, the Zeta Gundam, Psyco Gundam and Double Zeta Gundam. The Federation discontinues its relationship with Anaheim Electronics.

-The Federation would be allowed to have a garrison of its own to defend Side 7 (made up of space vessels, Mobile Suits/Armors and such), although most of their current armed forces would be integrated into the Zeon military to defend against outside threats.

All in all, the Principality would hold its grip over the Federation remnant, but much loosely than before, just as Garma had intended - although his late brother's followers had changed everything.

((OOC: Well, I wanted to get this done one way or another, and there it now is. Again not quite as good as I originally intended, but...))

((Dude, you disappeared. WTF?))

It wasn't long until the DropShip began passing Jupiter. It wasn't very close, being thousands upon thousands of kilometers away from the planet itself. It did, however, record the massive Jupiter energy fleet on its way past the planet, recording every detail of the fleet and the base of operations before it passed out of range, moving towards the asteroid field ahead.

Only three more days now...

--------------

Meanwhile, back at the fleet, repairs were beginning to go smoothly as reinforcements began to arrive with new ships, all of them updated classes. Including themselves to the original fleet were sixty more JumpShips, each with updated cargo, and the new missile replication systems. Along with them were three hundred of the Saber-class Strike Frigates, five hundred Cerberus-class corvettes, twenty Argon-class Destroyers, and five Davion-class Tactical Cruisers.

Aboard Kylee's Ship

"But what do you mean you are relieving me of command?!" Kylee's face was red with fury. She couldn't believe it! Someone was taking command of her forces?! Inconceivable!

"That is correct, Star Colonel," replied a deep male voice. The man (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/th/e/ec/Takamichi_T_Takahata.jpg) in question was that of the Maho Caste. "It is because you failed to defeat a fleet that, while numerically superior, was smaller than your own ships that I am taking over command. It is as ordered by the ilKhan."

"But Takahata-sensei-!"

"Enough!" Takahata stood up from the captain's chair, towering over kylee. "I will not have you questioning the orders of the ilKhan! You know perfectly well that disobedience is punishable by death! Consider yourself lucky that I do not strike you dead where you are standing!"

Kylee recoiled at the man's threat. She knew better than to challenge Takahata, especially when he was mad. "Aff, Takahata-sensei. Please, forgive me."

"I will this one time," Takahata replied, his voice easing to his normal octave. "You will retain command over this ship and her crew, but I will command the fleet. When the recon DropShip messages us back, we will move into orbit over Terra and attempt a peaceful resolution to this situation. Should they deny this and open hostilities, we will crush them underfoot."

((Better read some more. I've updated all my ships, and I have more details on fighters.

Capital Ships (http://skaugra.proboards55.com/index.cgi?board=clantech&action=display&thread=1196455660)
Star Fighters (http://skaugra.proboards55.com/index.cgi?board=clantech&action=display&thread=1197266777)))

Zum City, Side 3

Garma was reading a report on the man who had been detained Earth-side, sitting on his seat at his desk, as a woman in a red Zeon uniform walked into his office. He didn't raise his eyes from the report, however, until the woman was standing in front of the desk. She was carrying a file with a golden, Zeon emblem on it.

"Sir!", she said, saluting.

Garma smiled at her as she lowered her hand.

"I take it the projects are advancing as per schedule?"

"Yes, they are, Sir," she replied, opening the file from a certain place and placing it on the desk. Upside down for her, of course, so the man wouldn't have to turn it himself.

"The new and improved colony laser is nearing completion."

"So I see," he said, quickly browsing through the report, "And the other projects?"

"It's all there, Sir," she said, "Zimmad and ZEONIC are still making new Mobile Suits, as you can see here," she turned a few papers on the file to bring this part up, "Zimmad's newest is the 'Dreissen', and ZEONIC's transformable MS project has advanced from the early Gazas a whole lot."

He looked at the report, idly tapping the desk with his left index finger while doing so.

"ZMS-09? That's not standard."

She nodded.

"Yes. I was told it is because they wanted to underline the fact that the original Doms are its ancestors."

He nodded slightly.

"They still could've used a conventional model number."

Again, she nodded.

"Do you require something else, Sir?"

"No, you're dismissed. I'll have to read up on these things."

"Very well, Sir," she replied, saluting once again, after which she walked out of the room.

So Zimmad's really using that info we got from the Feddies... This Dooben-Wolf...

REEE! REEE! REEE!

"Finally, we're here."

The Captain of the DropShip flipped a switch, killing the alarm. They had just entered space around Terra, the Moon, the asteroids, and the planet itself silohouetted against the sun. The DropShip was inbound on a nearby cluster of colonies; Side 6, unbeknownst to them. All the crew knew was that they were large cylindrical objects in space.

"Approaching objects..." The Captain and his co-pilot calmly, and quickly, went through the controls, flipping switches and typing in commands. "Begin scanning."

The DropShip then began to run its scanners over each individual cylinder, obtaining data about each of them, counting life forms, and assessing military strength. The Captain looked at his scopes, cocking his eyebrows out of place.

"There are a lot of civilians in these things," he said.

"I agree," replied the co-pilot. "Could be that this is where they house the population."

"Looks to be such...Let's move on to the next cluster that's nearby. I have a feeling we'll get a similar reading."

The DropShip, as quickly as it had arrived and scanned the colonies, moved on to the next cluster near the Moon: Side 3.

The DropShip had been noticed not long after its arrival at Side 6. Not only was it of unknown configuration (which, in and out of itself, would not be enough to warrant any action against it due to the fact that there are people who use non-standard vessels in the Earth sphere), but it was also actively scanning both civilian and military assets, lighting it up like a Christmas tree on even the most basic of radars in a non-M particle infested location, which stands true for most places during times of peace.

As it was traveling towards Side 3, it was intercepted by one of the many tiny patrol fleet's which were in the area, in this case, a group of four Late Production Type Musais with full Rick Dom II complements - not exactly the best the Principality has to offer, but, for most times, good enough. But if the DropShip were to prove a problem for the current fleet, more than enough reinforcements were just minutes away.

And so, a transmission was sent.

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - SIDE 3 PATROL FLEET #19 - LUBLIN

Attention unidentified vessel! You have been reported to have committed a
most serious crime within the space of Side 6. You have been observed as
having scanned civilian colonies as well as military assets without proper
authority. This has been declared illegal by several agreements and
conventions of the Earth sphere. We demand that you cease your activities
and agree to be escorted to Granada for questioning. Failure to comply will be
met with deadly force. This is your only warning!

(OOC: I've been wanting to reply to that for quite a few days now, but only now got the inspiration to post something. Better than nothing I say, but... It feels a bit awkward. Oh well.)

As the DropShip was hailed, it came to a point where it would idle some seventy kilometers away from the fleet. There, it would sit for a time as, this time, the DropShip passively scanned the patrol fleet. After about two minutes, the DropShip would then point itself directly at the vicinity of Side 3, and in a single burst of energy from the engine, the ship would accelerate well beyond the normal speed capacity for either the Musai or their compliment of Rick Doms. Giving chase would be completely out of the question.

-----------------------

Meanwhile, the Fleet had begun to move towards Neptune, having had plenty of time to recharge their Jump Drives should they need them in case of another emergency. They crawled along at a slow pace, with picket missile boats advancing to the end of their immediate sensor range to keep an eye out for hostile forces.

Meanwhile, aboard the Davion-class Katrina Steiner, Takahata reviewed the current information that they had obtained from the previous encounters with the Titans and the Zeon Earth Forces. He specifically focused on the Zeon forces ground tactics, and on the designs of their Mechs. Peculiar that they were all humanoid, and that most of their weapons were hand-held rather than fixed into the chassis.

"Replay that last clip," Takahata ordered. The computer complied, replaying the destruction of the Fafnir. He carefully observed the close combat weapon utilized by the Zeon Mech, noting that it was glowing. He nodded, humming to himself before he let the computer continue on showing the combat data information. After a certain amount of time, the recording ended, and Takahata sat back in his chair within his quarters. These Zeon Mechs seemed to be much more superior in regards to theirs. He would just have to see for himself, though; that is, if it came down to such an event occuring.

As the DropShip scanned the Musai after it had received the ultimatum, they were doing the exact same thing to the DropShip - it was being scanned as well by the patrol fleet. They observed the unidentified ship turn a little bit, noting that it was now pointed directly towards Side 3.

Then, the ship made its tactical jump.

"Hmph. As expected," stated the captain of the Lublin, "Send in the signal. It's in their hands now."

"Yes, Sir!"

"Also, transmit the data from the scan. The folks at Granada might find it useful."

"Will do, Sir!"

--

In the vicinity of Side 3

Anyone in Earth Sphere would know that it's a mistake to make an unannounced entry to Side 3, especially now that the Principality has gained access to technology which allows its vessels to move faster than the speed of light. Now, not all of their ships were equipped with FTL drives - but more than enough were, as the DropShip's crew would soon notice. It had remained in sensor range of various long range stations, making it very easy to track it down.

A group consisting of two modified Musai and a single refurbished Gwazine class battleship jumped in the direct vicinity of the DropShip from its behind. No transmissions were sent this time. They had already been given their only warning, after all.

"Fire!"

The DropShip was in dire straits - four Hyper Mega Particle cannons, the same kind which had been used against their fleet earlier, had been pointed at it, and they were firing. They were targeting the DropShip's engines.

Ever since the appearance of warlike outsiders and the war against the Federation remnant, the Principality had begun to take these things very seriously.

The DropShip's warning klaxxons blarred to life as they were fired upon, and the Captain nearly jumped out of his seat. A small screen on his display showed the other fleet just as they began to fire.

"Shit! Evasive actions! Now! Send the signal!"

"But sir-!"

"Just do it! We might not make it out of this one!"

The pilot of the DropShip grabbed hold of the controls and swiftly ignited one of its directional rockets, forcing the ship to move upwards to avoid the shots. Two of the four shots would miss outright, but the other two would come within mere meters of striking the DropShip, which would slag a good portion of the ship's armour. The main computer read this and reported that hull inegrety was now roughly seventy percent. However, the Captain wasn't paying attention to the report. He was too busy watching the three ships behind them right now, waiting for them to fire again.

---------------

"Sir, we have received the signal." The comms officer aboard the Katrina Steiner reported.

"Alright," Takahata replied. He had, by now, returned to the bridge. "Engage jump drives on my mark...Mark."

The Katrina Steiner then disappeared in a flash of light in orbit over Neptune. Soon, the entire fleet followed suit, and within a few mere miliseconds, the fleet had reappeared within two thousand kilometers of the DropShip's transmission location. The Katrina Steiner, however, had appeared directly on top of the Gwazine and its Musai escorts, sitting five hundred meters above them. The tactical cruiser, just shy of nine kilometers in length, easily dwarfed this fleet, and would take up the near entirety of their sensors.

To the starships assaulting our DropShip, this is Takahata Takamichi, representative of the Clans and newly assigned commander of this fleet. Desist in your attack upon that vessel immediately. I come bearing a white flag, and wish to meet with your leadership. No harm shall come to you should you comply with our request, but our weapons will not stay silent should you continue your assault.

This message was sent on a wide-band frequency within a sixty thousand kilometer radius of the flagship, easily powerful enough to blast through any Minovsky interference and sound out with clarity. In the meantime, since the fleet was spread out so far and wide, it now began to converge on the flagship's location. Even the previous patrol fleet would encounter many of these ships, and each of them would simply bypass the patrol fleet without so much as bothering to notice them.

(OOC: You know... I've felt weird about this exchange of ours for a while now. Then I went and, out of boredom and wonderment on what I'd actually post in reaction to that, calculated the combined crews of your massive fleet of 925 (!) capital ships with assorted fighter craft.

Over five million people. That's enough to populate a country. And what about the ships themselves? 500 ships that are 560 meters long? 300 ones that are close to Victory class Star Destroyers in size? :eek:

Now, I understand that the Clans are all about the military. I also understand that the Clans were more technologically advanced than the Inner Sphere. They also beat the asses of the said Inner Sphere until they realized that they could abuse the rules the Clans followed and had begun to adapt to the somewhat better technologies of the Clans.

The Clans, however, were very frigid and had a very strict set of rules on how to conduct themselves in and outside of the battlefield. They also barely went beyond "natural evolution" when it came to technology when you look at the whole thing. This, and their focus was on land warfare. Very much so. They had space ships, just like their Inner Sphere counterparts did, but they weren't much more than just glorified BattleMech transports. All the stories I've read have been about BattleMech warfare, with space ships being used only to bring more Mechs, supplies and the sorts.

What I'm trying to say is... Where did all that technology come from? How did the Clans manage to build fleets that size with such short notice (note that in this RP, it hasn't even been a year since you first showed up, probably just a couple of months at most)? I've been trying to use suspension of disbelief, but seriously, when some "weak" exploratory fleet would dwarf the fleets the locals have, which, by all intents and purposes, is large in my opinion, just comprised mostly of smaller ships... There's something very, very wrong. Especially when one gets the feeling that you roleplay the ships as actually being worth something, rather than being destroyed by a bad look, and they somehow aren't like 80% of your fleet, but rather a small fleet of ships that you could throw pretty much anywhere and wouldn't care if they all were destroyed.

With that out of my system, I'm going to try and figure something out soon enough.)

((Well, at the moment, most of my actual fleet is dedicated to this RP right now. Roughly 85%, to be technical about it. :D While I'm engaged in other RPs, the Invasion of Caligula wiped out most of my fleet, which mostly consisted of the massive 3km to 6km ships, and that battle happened a little over four years prior to this conflict.

When I first started out this nation, I was being rather n00bish when it came to fleet size and ship size. When I caught myself, I decided that, rather than retcon, let's make the original ships I started out with rather weak in comparison to the Coredian Fleet. This worked out for me in the end, and now I've managed to redirect myself to being more conservative about sizing. Trust me, what I have here is the max that I'm ever going to bring into this RP.

And no, I'm not afraid to lose a fleet of this size because I have New Dornalia, Evil Woody Thoughts, and Core Worlds giving me financial and economic backing for military production for an upcoming campaign. It wasn't until recently that I had the thought of, "Hmmm...rather than try and invade Zeon, why not try diplomacy and try to enlist him in the future battles against the GE?"

But I digress...it all makes sense in my head, and many people agree that it's a rather muddled mess at the moment...and I don't deny it. Trust me, as we go on, it'll make more sense to you.))

(OOC: OK, that's fine, then. I guess the Zeon fleet (combined with the new and improved Colony Laser (which actually is the largest Hyper Mega Particle Cannon known to man)) could then stand a chance against your fleet after all, what with the fleet of Musais which are Hyper Mega Particle Cannon platforms and such. And it's good to hear that you no longer intend to piss in my cheerios. That makes the whole thing a lot more bearable to me.)

IC:

Office of the Supreme Commander, Zum City, Side 3

"... The question is, can we trust them, Sir. Remember, these people seem to be the same ones who took the Federation fleet by surprise and attacked it," said the officer standing in front of Garma's desk. The golden insignia on his uniform's coat identified him as a Rear Admiral. He held his arms crossed in front of him, tapping the floor with his left forefoot, which made no sound, however, as he was standing on a carpet.

"Yes, I understand that, Admiral Eriksen," replied Garma, sighing as he sat on his seat, leaning forwards a little with his elbows touching the desk, his hands clasped before his mouth. "But they seem to have changed the leadership of their fleet. That's a man, not a woman."

"Yes, yes, Sir. And you're gonna trust them just because there's a chance they might have a different person in charge? What if it's a set up?"

Garma leaned backwards and crossed his arms. His back now touched the back of the seat.

He shrugged.

"If that's what you think... I'm going to send her."

"Her? ... You don't mean... Her, Sir?"

"Yeah. I let her take the Sadalahn for a reason, Eriksen."

The man slammed his hands onto the desk.

"You gave my ship to her and now you're making her represent us?"

Garma grinned.

"Yes. You say it's not safe for me to go out there, or let them come here, so she's going to take my place."

He raised his hands off the desk and stood up properly again with his hands crossed over his chest.

"Psssht! She's just riding her..."

Garma stood up like lightning and now it was his turn to slam the desk as he slammed his right fist on the desk, which startled the Admiral visibly. He even dropped his arms to his sides.

"Enough! You're out of line, Rear Admiral Eriksen! Don't make me get your ass thrown in the brig!"

The Admiral gasped. He had never seen the Supreme Commander burst out like this. It took him a minute to recompose himself.

"Of course, Sir," he said with a very compliant voice, "If it is her you want."

Garma nodded.

"Yes, her. Now, go forward my orders."

"Will do, Sir," responded the Admiral, saluting. After that, he left the room.

Garma sighed and sat back down, taking some papers from the pile on his left. It was a pile of reports, things requiring signing and so forth.

He had actual work to do - and unruly Rear Admirals weren't helping him.

On the bridge of the Sadalahn (http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/zz/sadalahn.jpg), Axis defense fleet, near Axis

Minutes later, the person in question received an urgent audio/video transmission from Zum City, top priority. She was sitting on the captain's seat on bridge of the ship Sadalahn, which happened to be one of the most advanced ships the Principality had. Her uniform was... Unusual, to say the least. People were allowed to customize their uniforms, even if it wasn't customary.

After the initial, albeit awkward pleasantries, the Rear Admiral got to the point: She was to rendezvous with the new arrivals, and act as the representative of the Principality of Zeon. He also told her that the order came from the Supreme Commander himself.

"So, he wants me to go instead?", she asked with a slightly condescending voice, grinning ever so slightly as she finished her question.

"Yes," responded the Rear Admiral, not bothering to give her the satisfaction of reacting to her insolent tone, "It's not wise for him to meet with them. Not yet anyway. We don't now what they might be up to."

"Very well," she said without any emotion in her voice, "I will do this for him."

"Good. Don't mess this up. We're counting on you."

"I know," she uttered and cut the transmission, hanging up on the Rear Admiral. They weren't exactly at the best of terms after she had taken over the Rear Admiral's command. But it didn't matter to her. Not much, anyway.

She knew it was the way things worked, especially with old, stuck up men like Eriksen. They had forgotten that they don't own their posts.

She stood up.

"Send a transmission to the Gwadan (http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/z/gwadan.jpg) and the Gwaley (http://mahq.net/mecha/gundam/z/gwadan.jpg) that we're going to the fleet at Side 3 and give them the approximate coordinates. After they've confirmed their orders, initiate a tactical jump. They say the fleet's pointed at Side 3, so get us in between them and the Side."

"Roger, Ma'am!"

"Aye, Ma'am!"

She sat down again. She crossed her arms and her legs.

"Confirmation received!"

"Alright, coordinates are set in. Initiating jump!"

The ship jerked momentarily as it made the jump. Then, it was at its target location, with the Gwadan and the Gwaley on its sides. The ships were larger than the Sadalahn at longer than 1200 meters compared to the approximate 820 meters of the Sadalahn, carrying also much larger Mobile Suit complements.

Again, she stood up. She sighed, put on her head gear which had been positioned on her left armrest and jumped into position over her seat.

"Holoscope."

With that, a large holographic image of the woman (http://img89.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hamankarnpw8.jpg) was projected just above the front of the Sadalahn, and she started.

"I am Zeon's Haman Karn. You say you come in peace. Yet all we have seen so far says otherwise. You attacked us on Earth and decimated a Federation fleet. You jeopardized the lives of millions of people with your scans, just so you could gain an excuse to come back. And now you are disrupting travel in this sector. Nonetheless, we will listen to what you have to say if it means we can avoid more pointless bloodshed, but rest assured - we will remain wary of you. A single grievance of this magnitude more and we will make sure you go back home in a casket."

(OOC: It was oddly difficult to find a picture of the character in the Zeon-esque uniform, rather than more regular clothing - that's what she's supposed to be wearing. Although, THIS (http://youtube.com/watch?v=d9Mxu-vSCPk) shows better what she looks like if someone didn't know already. Yes, I'm using some characters right out of the actual series, too. Comes with the territory for roleplaying that time.)

The response was quick, and in real-time. As a matter of fact, Haman would get quite the surprise when, suddenly and from pretty much no-where, Takahata appeared on the bridge of the Sadalahn. It wasn't very obvious, but it happened to be a real-time hologram, perfect in all features, capable of actually making physical contact with its surroundings and other beings, and to make it more interesting, Takahata was controlling it with not his body, but his mind. Of course, this piece of information wasn't presented, and probably never would be.

"Greetings," he began. "I am quite glad that there are more sensible minds to negotiate with, as I happen to be the only sensible mind present to represent my people. I am Takahata Takamichi. I must say that it is quite a pleasure to meet you, Karn-san, and that I have no intention of perpetuation my Warrior Caste colleague's meaningless slaughter." Takahata had now walked forth to Haman, standing before her and offering her a handshake. His business suit would make it quite nearly impossible to distinguish him from your average business man. Of course, he had already made himself quite known as an outsider, so it probably wouldn't matter. Another note to follow is that he stood head and shoulders taller than Haman, and that he was of his middle ages, roughly thirty five. He also had a warm, welcoming smile on his face, showing his exact intentions not to be hostile.

Haman was a New Type. As the hologram appeared, she was initially slightly surprised by it, sure, but it did not take long for her to catch on. The slight, nearly unnoticiable imperfections in it gave it away. Not to mention the fact that it felt as though the slight pressure caused by the man was displaced, and it was obviously not coming from the hologram. It was obviously much more advanced than the holoscope attached to the Sadalahn.

She nodded at the man as she shook his hologram's hand.

An interesting toy, she concluded. She could feel it. Right then, she faintly smiled for a fleeting moment.

"Good to hear. The size of your fleet does raise some concerns, however. If you are here in the name of peace, why bring so many ships with you? Just to impress us? That sounds hardly likely."

She crossed her arms.

"Also, your fleet is sitting in the middle of Zeon space. For all we know, you could be doing this as some kind of trick to buy time," she said, and continued, "So, while it is an interesting experience to speak to a near life-like hologram, we would prefer it if you would actually come to this vessel for any negotiations. It would ease the tension, so to speak."

As he would probably notice, Haman was barely in her twenties, her presence oddly imposing for such a fragile-seeming young woman and her expression was dead serious, not changing as she spoke.

(OOC: If you accept this offer, assume that there's already a place for your shuttle/whatever in the (Mobile Suit) hangar. The man would be taken to a meeting room inside the ship.)

"Understandable," Takahata replied. "I have no reason to hide myself like I am. This really is just a formality of sorts. Expect me in five minutes. I will have my fleet take temporary residence around Saturn, although my flagship will move to orbit the antarctic circle for obvious security reasons. I tell you, these Warrior Caste people are quite stringent about that. Drives me up a wall..."

The hologram would then bow politely before dissipating immediately there after. Within thirty seconds, the entire fleet had vanished in a blinding white light as they jumped to orbit Saturn just above its northern pole (save for the Katrina Steiner. The massive Davion-class tactical cruiser would then jettison a single Darket light fighter before rotating towards Terra and burning for its holding location. Meanwhile, the fighter would maneuver itself towards the Sadalahn, where it would hold half a kilometer away from the ship.

"Takahata Takamichi requesting permission to land."

As the hologram disappeared, Haman started watching the fleet. She smiled slightly when it left the area in its near entirety as only one ship was left. Maybe they were serious, after all, and this wasn't a huge waste of everyone's time.

"The bridge is yours," she said to a man who had been standing almost beside her seat. He nodded silently as she passed him for the way out of the bridge. Just before she exited, she said, "Send Drescher to escort this Takamichi to the meeting room."

"Roger, Ma'am. He'll be there when the shuttle arrives."

"Good," she muttered, opened the door and left the bridge for the meeting room. She'd be waiting when Takamichi would show up.

--

"Permission granted," was the near-instantanious reply, "The hangar doors are open. Once you are inside, wait for pressurization. You will be escorted to the meeting room. Sadalahn out."

(OOC: This is gonna turn into a short post galore I'd wager. Well... No can do. Although, I guess we could skip to the reaching of the meeting room, if you're willing.)

((Fluid time it!))

Takamichi, by now, had reached the meeting room, and he was lead in there by a person who had call themselves Drescher. Takamichi had been polite, and he had also kept conversation to a minimum. He didn't want the Zeon forces to learn too much too quickly about himself and his people, and he really wanted to keep his Maho Caste abilities a secret.

Entering the meeting room, he bowed in respect to Haman. "Greetings once more, Karn-san," he said. "It is an honour to meet you in person, although, if you forgive my saying, I do believe we have already met in person once before, by techinicality." He smiled warmly at Haman with the same warm smile he had given her once before.

The man who had escorted Takamichi to the room took a position in front of the door to the meeting room as he went in. Lieutenant Drescher was under orders to not let others disturb the negotiations and stay there until either he's relieved or the said negotiations end.

As the man entered the meeting room, Haman could feel that something was... Amiss. The man was hiding something. Something he probably thinks that would help him in the negotiations. Perhaps.

Good thing that she wasn't just your run-of-the-mill human, either, then. And since he kept silent about his... Powers, she wasn't going to tell him about hers.

She nodded in acknowledgement of his statement, her expression as serious as it had been before. She was standing on the other side of the room, pretty much, next to a seat on the other side of the room.

"I hope this lack of gravity isn't a problem? We've grown so accustomed to it that we forgot to mention it", she said and sat down, "Please, have a seat," she said, gesturing him to sit down on the other end of the table, "We have a lot to discuss. Our peoples have no formal relations, after all."

"Oh, not at all," Takamichi replied, taking his seat. He had decided earlier to focus a bit of his ki to keep him attached to the bulkhead of the ship, thereby keeping him level with the ship itself. "I am quite sure that we can agree to some form of trade later on that will provide your ships with artificial gravity, but I digress. I would like to apologize for the actions of my predecessor, Star Captain Kylee, as well as for her predecessor, Star Colonel Arcturus. Their orders had been to secure diplomatic channels with any local governments still residing on or around Terra, but as their warrior instincts tell them to do battle before talking, I can quite plainly see that this mission ended in utter failure until my arrival. I can assure you that punishment shall be swift and just for both of them.

"Now, for the real reason we have come here," he continued. "We have recently been engaged in diplomatic relations with an organization calling itself the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances. This organization has been at war with another collective alliance, known as the Galactic Empire, headed by a Dark Lord known as Darth Vader. As of late, one of the leading members of the GFFA, known as the Core Worlds, has been taking the brunt of the Galactic Empire's offensives, and she and her allies have been desparately fighting, trying to hold back the Empire's armies. The Empire's Warmaster and leader of the Chronosian Imperium, Remiel de Draken, has declared Holy War against the Core Worlds, and has called for its utter destruction via a Grand Crusade. The Empire, thus far, has been launching wave upon wave of attacks, and is practically sitting on the Core Worlds doorstep.

"We, the Clans, have come here seeking to form a Grand Alliance of nations to launch a major counter offensive against the Galactic Empire. Due to the Empire's lack of knowledge regarding our existance, we have been able to move freely amongst the shadows, and have been consolidating our forces for this upcoming offensive. We wish for your nation to consider joining this Grand Alliance. We will not force the issue, but I can say that, should the Empire destroy the GFFA, the universe will fall into a deep darkness, and the foul daemons of Chaos will be allowed to roam freely amongst our worlds. This Grand Alliance is the only means by which they can be stopped, and we need all the help that we can get."

((Consider this an IC and an OOC request for future assistance. Pick one of the below answers:

1. Let's do this! (Yes) []
2. Yeah, fight your own battles. (No) []
3. Come back to us when we're sober. (Undecided) []
4. brbs0up []

You don't have to join, but seriously, we could use any help we can get.))

She kept nodding in acknowledgement as the man spoke, her expression not flinching once. She concluded that the man was actually serious. She could've told if he was lying, at least knowingly. It was possible, however, that he was a pathological liar. And those are very difficult to distinguish from those who spoke the truth.

"An interesting story. But..."

She took a deep breath.

"Galactic Empire? Core Worlds? Chaos? This seems a bit... Fantastic," she said and leaned on her left armrest, "Do you have any actual proof you could show me about these things? Recordings, reports, anything? I hope you didn't expect me to just take your word and sign our nation up on to some war that we didn't even know about a minute ago. The Sovereign would hate that. Especially since we just got out of a war which could've been costly if things had gone differently."

She put her back against the back of the seat and crossed her arms.

"Not to mention that right now all we know about you is that you are the Clans, you seem to be human, you use half human type Mobile Suits... You use something which looks like an overgrown HLV for re-entry... You have a lot of large space ships... Your culture is warlike. What else? Oh yes, your military seems to use 'freebirth' as an insult. We would need to know more about this war, and you, before we can make any decisions on this issue."

(OOC: I'm going to pick 5, "Yes, I'm interested, but I'm not going to Leeroy in without more info (Yesness combined with certain amount of undecisiveness)."

What I wanna know is... Is there actually a chance that GFFA will win the war or at least manage to fight it to a stalemate? I wouldn't want to join a war just so I could instalose and be subjugated by other people's nations. I could join the bad guys and not get subjugated instead. :p

What about this "Grand Alliance"? Who's in it right now, other than you?)

Takamichi nodded, also unflinching. "I have more than enough data provided by the nation of New Dornalia that could give you all the information you need on the Empire and on the daemons of Chaos. As for the Core Worlds and the GFFA, I can schedule a meeting with one of their delegates for you so you could attain the information you need to make your decision. Or I can just take you with me to one of their homeworlds, and you can see their culture, and the suffering they have withstood, first-hand.

"As for information regarding my people, I am quite willing to provide you with all the information you need regarding our culture, technology, and the location of our home systems. Yes, we are human, although we have some more 'fantastical' creatures that reside within our sphere of influence."

Takamichi then reached into one of his suit pockets and procured what seemed to look like a small, USB storage device. He placed it on the table, and then slid it over to Haman.

"All data provided therein is already pre-translated into basic english, and is capable of being used on any data processor across the entire universe. The access code for all data is Masaki - ehm ay ehss ay kay eye. The device contains information on both my people, and what data was provided to us by the Dornalians on the Empire."

((Yes, there is a chance to win, although what we're trying to accomplish is driving the war to a stalemate so that Core Worlds has enough time to repair and consolidate his forces enough so that we can be ready if the Empire attacks again.

Furthermore, other than myself, members of the Grand Alliance thus far are Evil Woody Thoughts, New Dornalia, the Huntarian Alliance, the Core Worlds, Godular, and pretty much every applicable GFFA member. My mission, which I have chosen to accept, is to gather as many FT nations as I possibly can to increase the number of military forces we can utilize in our counter-offensive. Trust me, we have a numerical disadvantage at the moment, but if we can seriously get enough people to hop on the band wagon and strap in, we'll seriously be able to pull this off.

As for information regarding the Clans, go to http://skaugra.proboards55.com and make a profile. It'll provide you with what information I've managed to post up thus far. I still have bit to put up, but it'll give you some generic information about what's on the data storage device Takamichi gave Haman. For the information on the Empire, contact me on my MSN at feronenkun@hotmail.com and I'll hook you up with the people who have all the necessary information.))

As Takamichi slid the device to Haman, she took it and looked at it for a second. It didn't look that different from the storage devices they used. Not that it was surprising at all. She kept it in her hand as the man continued to speak.

She did note, however, that the access code was quite simple. She deduced that the device wouldn't contain any delicate issues. None (or very little) of the negatives, and a lot of the positives. But then again, why would it be any different? This was the first meeting ever between these Clans and the Principality. Neither knew for sure if the other side was actually trying to just find weaknesses the other one might have, instead of actually being sincere.

Precaution was sensible.

"I'm going to present this device to the Sovereign's people after this meeting," she said as she pocketed it, "As long as this device contains what you say it does, I'm sure the Sovereign would like to meet with a delegate from these 'Core Worlds'. He is the one who would have to make the final decision after all. Taking me to see the carnage somewhere wouldn't make things happen any faster."

"I guess you would want a similar... Package, on us? Or what? We don't have one already compiled because we weren't expecting this to happen, so it would take some time."

(OOC: I don't need a whole lot more of OOC knowledge. And I don't have ready access to MSN. I've also read a bit on your board already (without registering, yeah, but still), and I knew a bunch about the Clans from BattleTech beforehand, too. And I like to know less than rather too much so I don't get too sucked in to things. I've found that to be a bit less fun. As long as my nation's not gonna get beaten to the ground and subjugated by some evul dudz, I'm good.)

"That would be kind of you, but it is not necessary," Takamichi replied. "As for the meeting, it may take a few days for me to make the necessary arrangements, but I'm quite confident that a representative from the Core Worlds will arrive shortly there after.

"I am quite curious about one thing, however." Takamichi leaned back into his seat, folding his hands on the table in front of him. "Why is it that the population is living in space stations orbiting the planet rather than living on the planet itself. It makes little sense to me."

((I know the reason why, but I'm just presenting the question ICly because it would be quite confusing to him.))

"Hmmh..."

She pressed a few buttons on the left armrest of her seat.

"Yes, that would probably seem odd to an outsider, such as yourself..."

She remained silent for a second before continuing, as though she was receiving confirmation to be allowed to speak about the subject. Or something. Could've been anything, really.

"There's a few reasons for it, actually. One is the Zeon ideal of Contolism... To be more specific, the part of it about how Earth is sacred and how us, humanity, should leave it. We fought a bloody war with the Federation in part to make this a reality, although the main reason for the war was to gain our independence."

She pressed a few buttons on the armrest again, and a large screen on one of the side walls of the room began showing footage of the war. Ships being torn apart by Mega Particle Cannon shots, Mobile Suits one-shotting ships without defenses against them... And so forth.

"It was also the first war where Mobile Suits were used. It was us who came up with the concept, and the Federation never really managed to keep up. Can't say they didn't try... But they failed in the end nonetheless. In the end, we won such a decisive victory that we could dictate any terms for the Federation we wanted. The entire population on Earth was relocated to space in the time of a few years."

She pressed a button on the armrest once again and the footage ended.

"As to what made people think the way we do..."

A few button presses, and new footage began. This time... On Earth's wastelands. Giant deserts as far as the eye could see, maps with growth rates of such deserts and the likes.

"This combined with the sheer size of the human population is what caused the need for humanity to migrate to space in the first place. Earth was being polluted to death. But as it turned out, we couldn't afford just having most people leave the planet. Although a vast majority of humanity was already in space by the beginning of the war, the planet was still being polluted. The planet was dying, albeit slowly enough for some people not to care. It had been like that for many centuries, starting from the Middle Ages. Now, Earth can hopefully recover from all the abuses done to it."

Again, a few button presses, and the footage ended.

"There are certain less noble reasons for it as well. Gihren Zabi, a madman and the late Supreme Commander of the Principality of Zeon, wanted to exert control over the entire human populace. It would've been easier to accomplish that if everyone was in space in his view, and it wasn't completely without merit. It's a lot easier to gas the 'unruly' population of a space colony than of a city on a planet."

"Right now, we sincerely want Earth to recover. Maybe once the damage we've done to it as a species is no longer we can go back to Earth and do things differently... But that's not going to happen any time soon."

"It seems so," Takamichi replied. "Quite a tragedy. It's a pity that the planet has befallen the plague of humanity. Terra is our origin as well, and I can assure you that this information pains me to hear it. Never the less, I agree. The planet must be left to its own devices, so that it may heal."

Takamichi then took a deep breath and spoke once again. "Now, I do believe I should get to arranging that meeting, shouldn't I? I guess I shall take my leave, and I will have a time frame in which you can expect them. When they arrive, I, too, will be accompanying them, as I wish to negotiate with your Sovreign directly, not that I do not enjoy your company, Karn-san."

Haman nodded.

"Of course. The sooner the better," she said, "I'm sure the Sovereign will be pleased to meet you and those envoys you've been talking about. I doubt anyone's going to object this time, either, since you didn't attack us. Though, I hope you will keep that giant fleet out of Earth sphere entirely next time. It makes people... Nervous."

She felt relieved, although it did not show outwardly. She was fairly certain that there wouldn't be a war in Zeon territory. While she of course still had her suspicions, she was prepared to give Takamichi the benefit of the doubt. He had, after all, risked his life when he actually boarded the Sadalahn, had sent the fleet away, leaving only one ship in the Earth sphere... And he didn't seem to be lying - she could tell.

Although, there was a chance that he had nerves of steel and was still lying. But she didn't believe so. Her instincts said otherwise. And anyway, once the storage device has been checked (in a system isolated from the networks), and if the envoys actually show up... They'd know for sure.

(OOC: Since the talks have probably ended, you may use fluid time again to get your guy out of the ship and so forth.)

((Gad...sorry about the delay. With the start of the Harrowing, I'm kinda floundering a bit. Here goes. FLUID TIME!))

Back aboard the Katrina Steiner, Takamichi was fervently going about the proper channels of getting into contact with the Coredians. He'd already spent hours dealing with this bureaucratic brecht crap, and it was starting to wear down on his patience. Finally, after countless relays, he managed to get a message out to the planet of Konoha.

"Dear Coredian recipient,

My name is Takahata Takamichi, representative of the Clans and of the Maho Caste. Recently, we have come into contact with a fairly young nation known as the Principality of Zeon. After a short conflict between ourselves and them, we came to be allied with them via my negotiating abilities. Furthermore, I believe we can bring them aboard in our future Grand Alliance against the Galactic Empire. However, they need more convincing than I can personally provide. They wish to speak with a representative of your nation in person. Coordinates have been provided within this message in an attached document.

Live free. Fight well."

"Dear Coredian recipient,

My name is Takahata Takamichi, representative of the Clans and of the Maho Caste. Recently, we have come into contact with a fairly young nation known as the Principality of Zeon. After a short conflict between ourselves and them, we came to be allied with them via my negotiating abilities. Furthermore, I believe we can bring them aboard in our future Grand Alliance against the Galactic Empire. However, they need more convincing than I can personally provide. They wish to speak with a representative of your nation in person. Coordinates have been provided within this message in an attached document.

Live free. Fight well."
The message was retrieved by Konoha's Communications Department and sent up the line to the Hokage's Office. Tsunade took a short break from her other paperwork to read the message and swiftly leafed through the roster of available Jedi. She decide on a certain Water Knight and made motions to send a transmission with the coordinates.

Then she returned to her paperwork, all of which currently deal with Konoha's reconstruction.

=====

Soon, the Nautical Nausea was on its way to the rendzevous point...

The incoming vessel was first discovered by the long range sensors of the asteroid base Axis. It was yet another vessel they had never seen before, but it was alone, and it was on its way to the rendezvous point agreed upon with the Clansmen in a close proximity to Side 3's Zum City, where the Sadalahn laid waiting. It wasn't difficult to come to the conclusion that it was the ship transporting the envoy from the Core Worlds.

Not long after the Clansmen confirmed it to be true, and a transmission was sent to the vessel as it closed in to the location.

PRINCIPALITY OF ZEON - AXIS FLEET - SADALAHN

Welcome to Zeon space. We have been given confirmation of your identity.
You have been given clearance for entrance to the space colony Zum City, and
the Sovereign has been notified of your arrival. Instructions on entry and
exact coordinates have been sent to you as an attachment.

Sadalahn out.

At the same time, Takamichi was given clearance to enter the colony with his shuttle.

(OOC: Oh yes, just pointing out that ships up to the length of 410 meters or so have been known to be able to enter a space colony. If your ship is a lot longer than that, there might be some... Trouble with it coming into the colony's docking bays. So if it is longer than that, it'd be probably better to just use a shuttle craft for entry.)

OOC: No problems with that. The Nautical Nausea is a souped-up light freighter, a YT-2000 class.

IC:
As noted, Jacen Masaki landed his ship at the docking bay. When he was done, he, his silver-plated "protocol" droid Amphibos, and his young twin apprentices Tim and Jim all took their time getting out of the modified freighter.

"Statement: I do hope that something interesting would happen today." Amphibos grumbled. "Like the time we had the Imaldis incident."

"Probably not today." Jacen replied longsufferingly. "After all, this is a diplomatic mission, not a battle. A fresh change if you ask me."

"Annoyed statement: A boring change if you ask me." Amphibos replied gratingly.

Jacen just smiled. "You'll never change, Amphibos. You'll never change. For now, stick to protocol mode, all right? Unless you wish to have water in your circuits again..."

"Plaintive statement: Oh, no, Master! I shall be on my best behavior today!" Amphibos replied sarcastically.

"Don't worry, Master! We'll make sure he's good!" Tim Powers grinned. He's the one in the blue shirt.

"Yeah! Otherwise, we're going to test some of our new bottle rocket experiments on him!" Jim Powers grinned as well. He loves green as opposed to his brother's blue. Both are nasty trainess in battle, utilizing heavily armed bazookas and rockets to defeat enemies. Even so, their lightsaber skills were almost like watching the Masaki Twins fight. A duet of whirling light.

Jacen laughed even though it wasn't the first time he heard his own droid do the electronic equivalent of a gulp. "All right. Well, let's get down to business!"

No sooner had the Coredian ship arrived than the small form of a Darket played across their shadows. It landed a few dozen meters across the hangar of the Colony, its small protrusions folding into the ship like the X-Wing's S-foils. No sooner had it landed did the cockpit hatch open, and the single form of Takamichi exited the small ship. Tossing the standard helmet back into the cockpit, the ship would then close itself. From there, he walked calmly to join the Coredian party. Takamichi's form commanded respect, and even the Jedi would've picked up that he was not exactly...well, normal.

As they walked towards the main terminal, Takamichi introduced himself.

"I take it that you're the Coredian delegation?" He smiled warmly. "I'm Takahata Takamichi, representative of the Clans. I took command of the original Clan fleet sent here before things got too...well, I guess you could hectic, if you take my meaning."

"Ah. Jacen Masaki, my apprentices Tim and Jim Powers and my protocol droid Amphibos." Jacen introduced them. "So what happened here? I take it it was interesting..."

As Takamichi had begun talking with the Coredian delegation, a group of three men walked up to them. On first glance it should have been obvious that two of them were just regular soldiers, while the third one, whom was in the middle of the said two, was an officer. Second glance, it should be obvious that he's not just a random officer within the Zeon military. The golden emblem on his chest would, however, probably mean nothing to the Clansman nor the Coredian group.

But still, it was obvious that the man was remarkable.

The man saluted.

"I am Garma Zabi, the current Supreme Commander of the Principality. You must be the envoys. From both the Clans," he said as he glanced at Takamichi, "and the Core Worlds," he continued as he glanced at the others, "correct?"

'Yeah, but we prefer Coredia." Jacob nodded, bowing slightly. "We thank you for allowing us to come here."

Garma nodded and smiled a little.

"Very well, Coredia it is," he said.

"We have a lot to discuss. But I'd prefer not doing it here," he said, glancing at the group.

He continued, "If you'd follow me," gesturing them to follow him through a rather inconspicuous door, leading them to an equally inconspicuous corridor.

"So, I've read some of the information on your peoples that you gave to Haman," he said casually as they walked along the corridor, glancing at Takamichi, "It has all been very interesting. And your struggle against this Galactic Empire..."

He stopped speaking momentarily as he pressed a button next to an elevator door.

"We had heard rumors of these groups, but I don't think any of us thought they'd actually be true to any extent. It's hard to believe that there are forces in the galaxy that even make my late brother pale in comparison when it comes to sheer cruelty and ruthlessness."

The elevator door opened, and he gestured the group to get inside. The far side of the elevator was windowed, showing a perfect view of the colony.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

He sighed.

"My brother never understood the sanctity of anything. He took the expression 'ends justify the means' to a completely new level, much like these people you're struggling against. He caused the death of billions just to get his way. I shudder to think what he would've done if he was still alive..."

*ding!*

"Ah," he said, turning around, "we're here."

They walked out of the elevator onto a somewhat decorated corridor. Paintings depicting battles on the walls, a red carpet on the floor. They continued walking until they came upon wooden double doors, which the two soldiers opened, allowing entry to the room, to which the group then walked. As they had entered, the soldiers closed the doors and stayed outside.

"Please, have a seat," said Garma after he had walked to the farther side of the table which commanded much of the said room, gesturing the others to sit down on the side opposite to him. There was a window behind him, continuing for the whole length of the table, but the electronic shutters on it were closed.

He sat down.

"So, shall we begin?"

Takamichi nodded the entire time Garma spoke, taking in his words. He wasn't surprised that such a man like Garma's brother, Gihren, had managed to attain power here within the Principality, although, from the way Garma was speaking, it sounded like Gihren was no longer within the living realm. Good, he thought.

As they walked into the appointed meeting room, Takamichi observed the paintings briefly, and then returned his attention back to Garma. He took a seat directly opposite of Garma, and then folded his hands, placing them in front of himself.

"Before we begin officially, I would like to sincerely apologize for the actions of my subordinates," said Takamichi. "They are Warrior Caste, and they do not understand the necessity of diplomacy.

"Now, let us begin..."

"My brother never understood the sanctity of anything. He took the expression 'ends justify the means' to a completely new level, much like these people you're struggling against. He caused the death of billions just to get his way. I shudder to think what he would've done if he was still alive..."
"I sympathize. Lady Nightshade is what your brother would be if he had access to the Force." Jacen sighed. "It seems a common curse to have brother against brother these days."

"But let's get down to business."

"Very well," he said as he took a datapad out of his pocket and placed it on the table to his left side, leaving his hands clasped on the said table.

"Having read the report, I have a pretty good idea as to what you are after. You want us to join some kind of an alliance, correct? Against this 'Galactic Empire' I just told you I had read about."

He paused momentarily as he looked at the datapad he had placed on the table, sighing shallowly.

"What do you think we could do to help you against them? I see tons of risks involved. Aggravating an obviously strong alliance being just one of them. While I do personally think that your struggle against such an unmistakably evil grouping of nations is a valiant one... I can't just go off jeopardizing my people, not to mention the others who aren't even part of the Principality here in the Earth sphere. I need strong assurances of them being safe in any eventuality. Can you assure me that, for instance, even in the chance of a defeat, this Galactic Empire would not find its way here? And is there any feasible chance of victory against them? And as I have read through the information you gave us... If we do end up agreeing to this, is there any certainty of this war ever ending?"

These were just a few of the most pressing issues on Garma's mind, but if the Coredians and the Clansman could answer them satisfactorily... It would indeed be a good thing.

"I will be honest here. The Empire might eventually find its way here with or without learning the location from us. Randomness seems strong in our universe after all." Jacen began. "Rest assured though that we secure newly discovered coordinates to the highest degrees, to the point where if they are found, it's likely that our cities are burning and all our secrets would be destroyed. For the time being, you should be safe from Imperial incursion."

"More than anything, we need logistics. Arms, equipment, perhaps volunteers if you can spare them. We cannot win this war on our own and we need the help of those who are able to spare whatever they can."

And is there any feasible chance of victory against them? And as I have read through the information you gave us... If we do end up agreeing to this, is there any certainty of this war ever ending?"
Jacen sighed. "That's a question that runs through the minds of us and our allies. When can we hope for the war to end? I don't have a clue, really. I can say this: the more we are all able to band together and combat the Imperial threat, the better a chance of victory we'll have. And in the end, you'll have a big stake in the future of the galaxy should we win."

It wasn't what he wanted to hear. Not by longshot. No guarantee of the colonies of not getting attacked, nor any obvious guarantee of the Principality receiving any help if it ever was to fall under assault by this "Galactic Empire", if they were to align themselves to this other side.

But they had technology which could change many things within the Principality... If they would be willing to part with some... It could be worth the gigantic risk. And there always was thechance that they wouldn't be found by the Empire, or at least that their involvement would remain unknown.

"Yes, yes," Garma replied, leaning backwards so his back hit the back of his seat, crossing his arms, "I appreciate your honesty. However, you have only made it clear as to what you want from us. But you haven't given me a single reason as to why we would want do this, other than something about how we would have some vague stake in the future of the galaxy if your side happens to win the war. Which, as you yourself just admitted, is not certain."

"For us to help you... If you can't assure the safety of our space colonies, then what can you give us in return for our cooperation? You said that you are having trouble with resources so I will not go there. But there are many other options left on the table. Technology, for example. You have access to some kind of shielding technology, for instance, which we do not possess. That alone would greatly increase the survivability of our space ships. But that is only the tip of the iceberg - I'm sure you have technology in other fields which could revolutionize them for us."

He paused momentarily.

"You also have access to non-technology related information which could be of use for us. Star charts, for instance. Information about distant star systems. And as I understand it from the data we were given, you have access to people who use something called the 'Force'. Our Newtype research institutes have been requesting access to a person with this kind of ability for a while now."

Garma placed his hands onto the armrests of his seat.

"So... What are you offering?"

This time, it was Takamichi who stepped into the foray.

"When it comes to the Clans, we can provide you with a more efficient means of faster than light travel, what we call the Advanced Kearney-Fuchida Jump Drive. It is a means of instant slash near-instant travel within a three thousand light year radius in any direction. These can be easily integrated into your colonies for use in emergency situations. While the drawback is that the drive can only be used once a day before needing a recharge, this can be avoided if we equip Lithium Batteries to the colonies as well, which provide additional charges for the ay kay ehff Jump Drive.

I am also quite sure that the Coredians would be more than willing to share some of their technology as well." At this statement, Takamichi casually mental-nudged Jacen, as if to say, 'C'mon. Start thinkin' a little more tactically in this.'

"For us to help you... If you can't assure the safety of our space colonies, then what can you give us in return for our cooperation? You said that you are having trouble with resources so I will not go there. But there are many other options left on the table. Technology, for example. You have access to some kind of shielding technology, for instance, which we do not possess. That alone would greatly increase the survivability of our space ships. But that is only the tip of the iceberg - I'm sure you have technology in other fields which could revolutionize them for us."
"Hmm. Yes, there are technologies we can offer you, as well as starcharts of our Galaxy at large. We can offer you shielding, yes, shields powerful enough to withstand any bombardment short of a Death Star or other superweapon. As well as our own model of jump drive, which can be used multiple times a day, instead of just once. Actually, the fastest recovery time we know of was 30 seconds in an emergency jump test. Medical technology as well. AI technology too. I might even be able to persuade the Empress and the High Council to let go of some weapons technology. I can offer you all that and then some."

He paused momentarily.

"You also have access to non-technology related information which could be of use for us. Star charts, for instance. Information about distant star systems. And as I understand it from the data we were given, you have access to people who use something called the 'Force'. Our Newtype research institutes have been requesting access to a person with this kind of ability for a while now."
"We have an entire galaxy's worth of starcharts, except for the parts we don't have. We could also direct you to companies that would be useful to you. On access to the Force...yes, that could be acceptable. We do welcome people from all over the galaxy, and even beyond. The Force, though, is just the tip of the iceburg of what we know about supernatural powers." Jacen smiled a bit there.

Garma nodded approvingly, smiling slightly in the process. Indeed, it was good news that they were willing to part with their technology and give it to the Principality in return for its cooperation. In his mind that was an obvious deal maker. How could he refuse?

With accurate faster-than-light drives and shielding which could be installed onto the space colonies themselves, he came to the conclusion that the space colonies wouldn't need as strong assurances of protection. If this Galactic Empire were to assault the Earth sphere, the colonies could be evacuated to a safer place with a moment's notice.

This was more than he had hoped for. Even if it did, in some ways, make it obvious that they were desperate for allies. But if their desperation would aid the Earth sphere to advance technologically well beyond where it is now...

It would be worth it.

"Excellent. This is something we can work with. If what you say is true, and you can - and will - give us all this in exchange for our cooperation... It would be stupid of me to not rally the Zeon forces to your cause, even if it meant joining a war which could possibly become a very long and exhausting one. Of course, we will need more information on the specifics of, for instance, what kind of medical technology you are offering us and so forth. But other than those issues, yes, this does sound like something we could agree on."

A momentary pause again.

"We had thought of installing FTL drives to our colonies, but we currently do not have the ability to make drives suited for them. But as both of you are suggesting FTL systems to be installed onto them... Could I, in turn, suggest installing both into them as a precaution? Redundancy, when it comes to such important systems as these, is never a bad idea. Especially considering that being able to evacuate the colonies would obviously end up being a large part of our defensive strategy against any concentrated attacks against us..."

(OOC: While I might not be exactly happy about this post, I felt the need to post right now as to keep this RP's pace up. So, there you go.)

"I see no problem with it," Takamichi replied, looking over to the Coredians for their answer. "I'd even see to it to outfit your Colonies with defensive weapons, as well, should you want them. We're well equipped to assist in attaching such weapons to their outter hulls. On a personal note, I find that it would be worth considering that you suggest such defensive weapons for the other nations within the Earth Sphere. If a hostile extra-stellar power were to attempt to invade, they would be hard-pressed to deal with so much firepower, and it's guaranteed that the other nations could probably hold their own defense wise long enough for assistance to be rendered."

"That is a good idea", Garma responded, "Considering the amount of excess solar power we have currently on our disposal, adding weaponry onto the colonies shouldn't strain the colonies, even with the shielding and the FTL drives. And if it still would turn out to be a problem, solar panels are cheap to manufacture. We haven't done this ourselves because our weapons would require their own power sources as they cannot use solar power to function. It's simply not economical enough."

"As for the other nations, yes, of course we would want them to install the same systems. We... Are held in high enough esteem across the Earth sphere for them to listen to us without incident. Only issue that comes to mind is that they might try to reverse engineer whatever is placed onto their colonies... But it isn't a problem that would overshadow the usefulness of such an endeavor."

"I don't see any reason why redundancy shouldn't be a problem. Besides, the more protection you have against your enemies, the better you will be for it." Jacen said. He then pulled out two datapads. One with the list of standard equipment the Coredian can offer. The other was a Friend/Foe list of nations Coredia encountered that are either friendly, neutral or hostile. "These two datapads should be of use to you. Look over them. If you are satisfied with all these things, contact us at the frequency in the first datapad and our people and your people can work out the formal treaties."

"Very well," Garma said as he took the datapads and began browsing the first one, "But does that mean that you do not have the right to make any treaties? I was under the impression that that was one of the reasons for this meeting of ours. But if it wasn't... My presence would not have been required. Haman Karn, the SpecOps Captain mister Takamichi met with earlier, could have continued these negotiations just as well, as I had given her the right to do so in my stead..."

He placed the datapads onto the table, next to the datapad he had already placed onto it earlier. Then, he picked up the said datapad and gave it to Jacen.

"That pad contains basic information on the situation here. Issues like the diplomatic status between the different states within the Earth sphere, our current military capability and so on. We have quite a lot of currently unused equipment including Mobile Suits which we could transfer to your cause, not to mention logistics vessels and so forth. While they might not be exactly high tech from your point of view, they still should be capable of doing their job quite well even against this Galactic Empire."

Pause.

"And of course, once our colonies are equipped with actual defensive measures against attacks which your enemies could commit themselves to, we will bring our own military assets to assist you. While we cannot compare to you in sheer amount of people and fieldable vehicles of war, our military is quite... Capable. With the information in the pad you should be able to come up with ideas as to where we could help you the best."

(OOC: Another "not too happy about it but had to post something to make the thread move along" post. :p )