As Edward was being escorted away from the meeting room, he overheard a few shots from a hall nearby. Hyrum was the leading guard who promised, “We’ll keep you safe Blare. Just stay close to us.” Edward didn’t bother protesting and simply nodded in agreement.
As soon as he and a few other men made their way to the nearest hallway he noticed the Earth Sphere uniform of the captor as he peeked from the nearest corner. A perfect opportunity. He thought to himself. He was quick to give an order, “Cut off his escape. If we hurry we might be able to help the hostage situation.”
Hyrum took control of the situation when he told Edward, “Wait here. We’ll resolve whatever’s come over the General.”
Edward nodded while he offered, “I should at least warn Ms. Peacecraft. She must have known something to hint towards this action.”
Hyrum agreed when he ordered two of his own men to follow the General, “You two follow him. Everyone else form up on me.” When the order was given, Hyrum and the other soldiers kept their sights on General Ulbricht as they waited for the situation to pan out. There were still eight guards following him and they would be able to cut off any possible escape from the General’s side.
One of Hyrum’s following guards followed him asking in a quiet voice, “Should we move in sir?”
Hyrum shook his head while he observed the tension between the two parties. He whispered back, “We can’t take this sort of action against an official without any warranting grounds.

Edward found Naina within the meeting as she observed everything the Earth Sphere had to convene. The meeting with the new Coalition President had ended and Edward made a quick movement to meet her. “Ms. Peacecraft. I believe there is something you must be warned of. I saw General Ulbricht holding someone hostage on the way down to my personal quarters. If I heard correctly from a few hours ago I believe he is facing your brother.”
Naina looked up from her computer when she asked herself, “What is Milou doing holding down one of the Earth Sphere Generals?” She stood up while asking, “Did you do anything to see they wouldn’t leave their area?”
“We have him surrounded for right now. I am a man of planning after all, not action.” Edward promised.
“I’d imagine.” She said remembering his status as a General. She told the other guards, “Escort him back. I must see this is resolved.” She made her way towards the exit door to follow Edward and his guards to the sight of the stand.

Mercurio didn’t raise his pistol when he heard what his superior was warning. He tried to cool the situation when he reminded, “General, neither of us have any intention of harming you. Please release her and we will not hold you accountable to anything.” It was a desperate attempt but it was the first thing he could try to end it.
It was the most Hyrum and his men had heard of the situation at this point when Mercurio gave the warning and when Naina showed up he wondered what she was planning. Before any of them were able to stop the threshold, Naina saw the General and brought her aim towards the hand holding his hostage. Hyrum saw Naina making her way up to the field of vision while he asked, “Wait you’re actually –“
“We’ll have to do what we can to take him back alive.” She cut him off. As soon as Naina whispered this she turned the corner and found the hand holding the General’s weapon. She fired towards Ulbricht’s hand and saw him expressing the predicted shock and pain of the situation. She ran up to the General while kicking Donna to the ground and away from her captor. A small pill flew out of Donna’s mouth while Naina tried to briefly see if she was alright. She checked back to the General and raised her pistol towards his head. She tried to follow through with the Earth Sphere protocols of arresting him when she warned, “You’ll explain your actions General. Your answers will be upheld when before the Parliament for questioning as well as any offending parties.”

|

After making their way through Orsha, the Sol Thero units continued on the path of destruction. None of the occupying Coalition forces in Kaliningrad could tell what their mission was but it seemed that all targets were fired on indiscriminately. The destruction of the facilities continued with every shot that came their way.
Within Tano’s trench one of the mobile suit pilots reported, “They aren’t hearing us out. We don’t even have a signal coming from them.”
Oleg pointed out the issue when he observed, “It’s clear we won’t have any chance of surrender then. If anything it’s probably an all or nothing battle now.”
One of the pilots was rightfully confused when he asked, “Where are they supposed to be headed though? Our most significant outpost should be out in Moscow. Why are they headed west?”
Someone nearby tried to understand the idea by offering, “Probably to regroup or something. We would have heard about the fall of Moscow obviously.”
Oleg interrupted the conversation when he reminded, “We’re not getting anywhere with a guessing game. If we’re going to survive this we probably better stay out of their range.”
Another one of the pilots gave a stark reminder, “If that’s even possible.”
Oleg saw one squad of Sol Thero units making their way towards their position. “They’re headed this way, let’s stay low.” He warned.
The programming in the Sol Thero units found the area of Kaliningrad to be insignificant to the rest of the mission, but there was an area with Coalition signals designating enemy presence. The eight units collectively lifted their gattling guns and open fired on the target without any regard for nearby pilot activity. Another explosion erupted and the Coalition signals had been dispelled significantly but the mission was still moving forward when they were targeted nearby.
The critical areas of the city were destroyed when several Sol Thero units opened their breast plates and fired a volley of missiles towards the facilities. Upon their destruction the mission for the area was complete. As it ended, several objectives were listed on the red screen of every Sol Thero unit. ‘Destroy all facility signals. Accomplished. Destroy all resistance against mission. Pending. Direction. Continue to nearest Earth Sphere port. Next target Berlin.’ The eight mobile suits made their way across the rubble while one of the units passed by without any consideration of Tano’s next move.

Donna was on the ground gasping for air after the rather unexpected kick from the back. She turned to find Ulbricht disarmed by Naina.
Milou was surprised by how Naina handled the situation. "Sis!" He shouted. "Thanks for saving Donna but was it necessary to kick her away?!"
Donna got up. "I'm fine." She answered. "Now I owe the both you though..." She covered her mouth with her neffiyeh on her neck. "Do people break like that when cornered?" She asked Milou.
Milou summed the answer. "Pretty much." He said. "Fight or flight."
Lord Lindemann ran to the scene with a number of men. "What's going on there?!" He demanded. He was left speechless with seeing Ulbricht held at gunpoint.
Donna explained. "General Ulbricht tried to poison me." She told her father. "Naina was there to save me. We thought the General was part of mother's assassination."
The Lord, hearing it from his daughter believed that she is telling the truth. "My God." He muttered in shock. He turned to the General that tried to kill his daughter. "We will hear more about this in front of the Parliament." He hissed. He returned to the Peacecraft twins. "I would like to speak to both of you after we bring the traitor to the Parliament." He said to them. "I would've lost my daughter without you." With a whim the guards escorted the traitor general to the Parliament. He guided the guards to the speaker's entrance with little regard to those speaking now.

Naina nodded to her brother when she answered, "I'm afraid so. It was the only way to make sure she would be out of the General's grasp." As soon as Lord Lindemann arrived at the scene and Donna explained the situation, the traitor was being brought before the Parliament. She accepted the Lord's request when she answered, "Of course sir." The man she had once been hired to steal from seemed to be more concerned about the immediate issue right now. He seemed to have an edge of compassion not many Coalition reports would have bothered reminding.

When the hologram faded, Malcolm tried to remain diplomatic when he assured, "We have determined that the Coalition will now proceed to see the cease fire held through. For our first motion we must -" As soon as Malcolm began he saw General Ulbricht being escorted by several of Lord Lindemann's men. It broke his concentration on the speech when he asked, "General Ulbricht? What is the purpose of this escort?"
Hyrum was the first to explain the situation when he answered, "Mr. Blare found the General attempting to hold one of the Gundam pilots hostage. It seems that another two of them asked something too classified."
Malcolm was curious about the question when he asked, "What specific question did they ask?"
Mercurio gave the story when he answered, "We were interviewing General Ulbricht on the matter of the Lindemann assassination. Milou reported that some of his men attempted to intercept us but he managed to hold them back. The General then threatened Donna with her life if we were to approach him any further."
Malcolm hesitated before he finally asked, "...General. What is your plea?"

The General remained silent even when he was asked to plea. It was already obvious that he would be guilty.
Milou observed sternly. "Judging by how he tried to poison Donna he plays more than the inspector for the case." He thought.
Lord Lindemann stepped up. "Ulbricht, I would like the answer on my wife's death." He demanded coldly. "Are you a Coalition spy?" To get his answer he prodded the General's wound. He only had the regard on the answer.
Ulbricht yelled in pain "I am a not a spy." He replied.
"Then what are you?" The Lord demanded.
The General remained silent. It was Donna that forced him to talk again by a kick.
"The assassination was a false flag operation." He revealed.
Both the Lord and the daughter Lindemann were stunned at the revelation. "Why Ulbricht?" The Lord asked. "I have trusted you for years."
"The true mastermind is President Kecker." He continued. "He wanted your support for the war but you refused. Your wife was killed and set up intentionally so the Coalition is to blame. You would then be convinced to commit resources for the war. There were no doubt similar plans for those that disagreed initially like you."
While Donna was crumbling from the harsh truth, her father was driven further with anger. "You only brought misery thanks to your deceit." He stated. "But the Gundams can also be your undoing." He turned to Malcom. "President, please give your sentence to this dirt I used to believe was a friend to my family."

When the two Lindemanns attempted to force General Ulbricht into confessing, both Malcolm and Relena stood prepared to protest the action. Relena began, “Lord Lindemann please –“ but heard the General give his answers. The first one was enough to calm any protests and provide any ears to what he had to answer, but the second was the moment that broke the ice among the gathering.
As soon as the General gave his confession there was a collective gasp and mass confusion among the House Representatives. The very notion that someone the Earth Sphere had come to trust had participated in such an act was one few leaders would have wanted to see happen. The strength of the issue showed when even Malcolm was unable to contain his surprise.
Malcolm sat down and gave a deep breath before he sentenced, "General Klaus Ulbricht. The people of the Earth Sphere United Nations gave their full support to you when they believed you would do everything to protect its fellow citizens. For your defense of Berlin and the willingness to come to our aid, we believed that our debt to you could never be repaid." Malcolm hesitated before continuing when he tried to determine how he could carry out the sentence. They couldn't have an execution such as this at the time. He knew the people would begin to wonder what would happen if one of their own was willing to attempt violence against their own ranks.
He was able to recall a few things that would play to his government’s advantage with this moment. With OZ now an independent entity and the real orchestrator of Lady Lindemann’s assassination in the room, they could permit him to be a separate case from the Earth Sphere while giving something to show good faith to their critical ally. It was the sort of thinking that his years as a representative for the First Priority had accumulated to. I’ll give you this Franz. You did show many of us to value the first opportunity of victory at any turn… He thought to himself before continuing.
He rubbed his head temples before he continued with the sentence, "...I regret to inform you however that you are no longer under the Kecker administration. Regardless of his return or his resignation, we now recognize your action as a confession under a new leadership. Regardless of Kecker's intention at the time, we can only recognize your willingness to follow on such an order as nothing more than subservience to the underhanded schemes of a prior administration..."
Before Malcolm could continue he heard the Secretary of Justice announce, “Mr. President, I believe this sort of immediate trial goes against our constitutional process.”
Murrow was among those who voiced this concern when he reminded, "I should also remind Mr. President, if we go through this action we will hereby revoke any possibility of President Kecker returning to office."
Relena corrected, "If what General Ulbricht is saying is true, then the former President is in fact responsible for directing conflict among the Earth Sphere officials. Regardless of the extent of his work, it was these actions that we cannot permit the President as a legitimate leader.”
Malcolm nodded to the observation when he added, “Our charter with the new OZ has determined that prisoners of war shall be handled under their jurisdiction before being brought to the Earth Sphere Justice system.” He gave the final sentence when he announced, "With your guilt now recognized by the people, your status has hereby been revoked. With your fate in the hands of the new OZ leaders."
The sentence was carried out and it seemed the Earth Sphere politicians didn’t like the idea of working with this sort of man. Mercurio heard everything about the mission General Ulbricht conducted and recognized other families probably met with the same fate at one point or another. “I suppose it’s fortunate Uncle Milliardo didn’t remain here. He might have met the same fate.” He recognized. He remained with the mission when he prepared restraints on General Ulbricht’s hands while he apologized, “I honestly never wished to see such a day sir.”

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As Oleg and the squad stayed low in their trench the Sol Thero units began to pass them like a threatening thunderstorm. They were spared when the programming in the Sol Thero unit determined on their red screens, 'Not vital to mission. Threat inconsequential.' Regardless of what Oleg could know how the mobile dolls were working he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them leave. His moment was interrupted when he heard someone on the channel announce, "This is secondary team. The enemy is making its way to the outer edge of the city."
Oleg didn't see the mobile dolls moving back to their location and decided to respond, "You're able to track them without getting noticed?"
"They're probably not on orders to destroy everything that moves."
The leading voice rallied the Leo III units, "Let's get around and see if we can flank them."
Oleg moved his Leo unit out of the trench when he tried to warn, "Hold up!" Almost as soon as he got out he saw the Sol Thero units turn around and offer a volley of gattling gun fire before any of them could get close. He was almost hit before he managed to rush back into the trenches. "Ah shit it's fast!"
One of his fellow pilots was clearly shaking through his voice when he asked, "Hey what's happening out there?"
Oleg took a quick look outside and saw the Sol Thero units continue to move without resistance. "Those units were practically anticipating secondary team's next move. Not a scratch on them."
Another one of the pilots was more frantic approaching the situation, "We've gotta have something to stop them! We let them get to any of our other installments we are off this planet!"
Oleg knew that close range combat at this point was probably not an option, but maybe the right distance could give them the advantage necessary. He signaled his fellow pilots to follow, "It's a long shot but we'll have to see if we can get a decent hit from a distance. Lets head to the weapons installation and see if we have the resources for one."
The pilots were slightly more encouraged at the suggestion but the odds were observed when one of the pilots asked, "We got something that can breach those defensors?"
Oleg didn't have any other assurance when he answered, "We better. Our only other option will be to bum rush them and pray for results." A plan no one at the time seemed to have excitement for attempting.

Lord Lindemann was visibly sicked by how he was betrayed by a man he tursted for years. "We will imprison him." He ordered his men. "To honour the friendship we used to have I won't execute him." Before the disgraced General was taken away he took the opportunity to rip off the Earth-Sphere insignias off the uniform. If he won't kill then he will disgrace him instead.
"Christ..." Stuart could only think. He could see how his best friend is trying to hold his anger.
The Lord briefly returned calm to Milou and Naina. "When you're ready find me at the third floor's meeting room." He informed them. He was physically shaking from the sudden mental stress he received when he left. Stuart followed shortly.

Milou found Donna still on her knees from what she heard. He walked to her. "You should get up Donna." He told her calmly. Seeing how she was broken he was left with no choice but to escort her out. He found a bench for her to let her sit on and sat with her. "I'm sorry to hear about all of this." He gave his condolence before leaving her alone to find his sister. "Ready to go when you are sis." He told her.

The General was taken away while the meeting was allowed to continue despite the confusion of the recent revelation. As the others left the meeting hall, Malcolm didn't bother trying to stop anyone from leaving the area. He was only thankful the issue had quickly been resolved but could see among the faces of his fellow politicians the confusion and newfound fear of the recent trial.
He continued with the meeting when he announced, “We have demonstrated what will happen to those who will advance the cause of a further war. The ideals of the First Priority Party and Pacifism Party have divided us for many years. Now more than ever however, we have a reason to unite against the idea of war. Depending on the extent of General Ulbricht’s mission, we will not permit President Kecker’s orders to be fulfilled any further.”
The Secretary of Defense stood next to him and agreed by announcing, “Effective immediately shall be the beginning of the Hunter administration.”
Relena nodded to the decision when she prayed to herself, “I only hope now that this marks a change from the previous war actions we have enacted.” It was a situation she did not hope to see occur, but at least the reveal of General Ulbricht’s mission would show the Earth Sphere was making progress.

“Sir Albert has the key.” Naina remembered. The name wasn’t too far off and it seemed the General was honest with his confession. It was clear that Mercurio was able to receive the proper clue necessary to come to the conclusion of Ulbricht’s involvement. She still had one thing to decode when it came to the message the Coalition Vice President offered. “What is the key though?” she wondered to herself.
While the meeting continued, Naina saw the General taken away with Lord Lindemann's personal guards after Mercurio secured the General’s restraints. Edward in the meantime was escorted by several guards to the holding room he was meant to be taken earlier. He only offered a nod in confirmation before leaving while both recognized there was no time for words. He knew not to reveal high hopes for this deed and she didn’t want to draw attention to him on this action either. If anything he was at least able to pull off modesty in a time when he thought it was necessary.
She heard Milou remind her of their meeting with Till and decided it was time she met with the Lindemann Patriarch again. "Very well. Let's not keep him waiting." She said as she walked alongside Milou to the meeting area.

Mercurio agreed to let their appointment follow through when he promised, "I'll be waiting outside until you're done." As they made their way to the meeting with Lord Lindemann, he left the building and waited near the jeep he came in. He didn’t think there would be anything for him to wait for but the recent arrest of the General was enough to be worried about. A cover-up such as this one was unheard of among the Earth Sphere and it brought him to wonder how much longer it would be before the Coalition had its full influence over the human race. He could remember early days when he was told Coalition Generals were the only ones who had the audacity to betray their own institution. The days of battle continued and it seemed the dreams of his previous generation were only being further crushed.
As he continued to wonder about the recent events he noticed Donna was making her way out and didn’t seem like she was willing discuss anything. He knew that it was times like these he could only offer some sort of encouragement in such hard times. He began, "I know most of us hadn't expected something of this scale to be within the Earth Sphere military. We never anticipated having to go against our own superiors. The only good to come out of this is that someone was brought to justice for what they did." He gave the best encouragement any soldier could receive when she was reminded, “Living with a lie is easily the worst thing anyone can be accustomed to. When people like us are faced with such a time though we have a choice of being a victim or trying to control the chaos that’s brought to us.” Everything that he and the others had come to experience was now the foundation for Mercurio’s promise, "Just remember what we are now Donna. We offer support to one another when the situation calls for it."

The Lord was waiting at the meeting room. He was still shaken and began hunching. Stuart watched over concerned. "I would like to first thank you both on saving my daughter from the traitor." He began, hiding his disgust with the thought of Ulbricht. "I didn't expect him to have had a part in everything." He gestured Milou and Naina to take a seat. "As a sign of gratitude I will be willing to forgive the bullet to the knee you are also welcome to join OZ."
Milou was stunned with how the offer was given easily. "Thank you sir." He replied. "I can however not accept since I already have the role of an ambassador. I will however agree for an alliance between the Martian Resistance and your OZ."
The Lord understood. "That is understandable." He responded. "Very well." He turned to Naina. "Ms. Peacecraft, I would like to hear if you accept it."

Donna realised Mercurio was there when he spoke. "Thanks." She whispered, still broken from Ulbricht's confession. "Because you realised about this you helped a lot." She remained at where she is just looking at the floor.

***

Thanks to being in the Anaconda, Tano managed to survive the Sol Thero units' attacks. However around him were destroyed defences. He searched for friendly signals on his rader and found a few. He tried to contact them. "This is Lieutenant Kiprotich." He said. "Whatever the thing is it is just as strong as one of the Gundams. We need to take them out one by one."

Naina considered the options and knew that she had a chance to establish herself within the Earth Sphere ranks and fulfill her mission. She answered to the Lord’s offer, “I feel that Milou has the right idea. I shall dedicate what resources I have to the assistance of OZ. I will only be able to offer the assistance until we have discovered the former President’s location and ended his operations.”

Despite his attempts to encourage her, Donna didn’t show any signs of being uplifted from her stressed mood. Mercurio decided there was only one way for her to truly hear his promise. He lightly held her hand when he promised, “I know promising trust in a group like this is a default. It’s something we would all expect to be fulfilled. Just remember that we will build our trust with our actions. It’s what made us into a squad and better soldiers for it. We’re together because of this duty and it’s our choice to support one another that got us this far.” He placed it back down when he remembered the obvious issue with his promise. “I know it’s probably presumptuous of me to speak for everyone who’s left, but I hope it’s what they believe in as well.”

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Oleg managed to hear the announcement when Tano announced the new plan. From what he could tell it seemed like there wasn’t going to be any interference from the Sol Thero units as they made their way to the other end of the city. He responded, “We read you Lieutenant. We’re headed for the hangar bays to take them out from a distance.”
Another one of the pilots added a warning, “You might do well to steer clear of those things sir. We have to stay out of their sights to have a chance at blind sighting them.”
The Leo units slowly made their way out of the trench while Oleg ordered, “Keep an eye on our six. Don’t let them prepare a surprise attack.”
One of the pilots reported, “They’re just reaching near the end of the city.” It was only a short walk before the Leo III units made their way to the hangar bays.
Oleg was the first to ask, “Inventory in our equipment?”
One of the pilots briefly accounted the weapons on the nearest rack when he reported, “Some spare beam weaponry. Don’t know how much of this is going to help. These sort of standard weapons aren’t going to pierce their shields.”
Oleg was about to curse before he quickly tried to come up with a solution. “Maybe not with just one of them. But how about assembling one monster of a gun?”
Another one of the pilots agreed to the “Might just be brutal enough. It’s not like we have another option right now.”
One concern was addressed when a pilot near the beam rifles asked, “Can we get those riffles to fire that much energy though?”
Another one answered, “If we use the charging stations at the hangar bays.”
Oleg brought them back to preparations when he ordered, “Get those beam rifles unloaded and take the chance. Make it quick, there’s no telling when those things will be out of range.” He switched his channel to contact their engineer, “McNeil, think you can dislodge some of those suit cables?”

Lord Lindemann remained reasonable. "Very well." He responded. "We will work together once we discover the former President's location. We will make sure he answers for his crimes." He returned to his bitterness that he couldn't lie from being betrayed. He raised his hand weakly to gesture the Peacecraft twins that they can leave now.
Milou stood up and tucked away his chair before leaving. He look out of the window in front of the door from the meeting room to find the city ready to rain. "Christ we're all moody now aren't we?"
He walked outside the Parlamentary building to find Mercurio and Donna with the former trying his best to get her back up. "You know it's going to rain right?" He asked both of them. Donna didn't give a response, bringing more reason to worry. She also had no reaction to the rain failling on her, forcing him to act. He took off his jacket and cover her from getting wet. "Mercurio you an start the jeep right?" He asked. "We should get out of here before we catch a cold or something." He guided the broken girl to the backseat of the jeep.

***

McNeil received Oleg. "Aye, private." He replied. "I'll get right to it. You're thinking of making a yin big gun aren't you? I don't have time to disagree anymore." He signalled his subordinates to get to work. He barely survived the destruction of the Tetsudo and he doesn't plan on dying in a forsaken outpost. The suit cabed were being extended to the Leo IIIs. "Just make us live another day private."

Naina was grateful for the lord's understanding when she left, "Thank you Lord Lindemann. In the meantime it would be helpful if you could confiscate any possessions the former General has on him. If we are to discover what key he is holding we should be able to determine what the Coalition has long based its aggression on." She left with this request while she followed Milou to leave the building. She heard Milou's concern on the state of their leaders. She considered the obsertvation from her brother when she answered, "Understandably so. These new leaders have already been through more than they could have anticipated. We can only hope that it won't be enough to break their spirits for now." The two left the building while Naina noticed the brewing rain Milou had pointed out.

Mercurio noticed Milou had returned from the meeting with Naina following. Milou was right when he pointed out the rain had begun. He agreed to his request, "Sure. We'll head for the hangar bay." The day had been long and he hoped by now the soldiers would have some moment of peace.
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Oleg saw the cables release from their previous positions and agreed to the engineer's observation, "You catch on quick McNeil. We'll just have to see if this manages to be enough now." He grabbed one of the nearby cables and offered it to the nearest Leo unit. The assembly was quick when the barrels were detatched to combine with one another. The new gun was long enough that it was being supported by one of the other Leo units and taken outside to be prepared for firing.
The pilot holding the gun prepared the batteries while reporting, "Here goes nothing. We need to make our shot count."
Oleg saw the charging had begun when the gun battery powering up. "How's the gun charging?"
The pilot with the trigger responded, "Already at maximum tolerating pressure. Don't know how much more it can take."
Oleg tried to remain diligent to the goal when he said, "Get it in range. You see one of those things out there?"
As soon as the target was locked the pilot agreed, "Got him. This better work."
Out of reflex he ordered, "Fire!" At the order the gun fired towards the nearest Sol Thero unit. The blast was more wide than the usual shot but didn't initially damage the gun barrel. It was after a few seconds of maintaining the blast the gun showed a small sign of overheating before it exploded. From the damage done he saw the Leo III unit had its right arm completely blown off with a quarter of its main body leaving the pilot inside visible. Oleg wasn't concerned about the shot when he called to the pilot, "Hey! You alright?"
His screen responded when the pilot answered, "I'm... kay. ... ems like it... won... hand..."
Oleg warned the rest of the squad, "It's a one time shot. Whatever you do don't hold those things."
The shot made its way across the area while the Sol Thero units progressed to their destination. Due to their programming determining the enemy units weren't worth their time they hadn't considered the shot possible. It was a mistake that one of them couldn't make a second time when the shot managed to surpass the planet defensor shield and blast off its gattling gun arm. It was in this moment when struck unit began to process the sudden information. 'Enemy fire confirmed. Detriment to overall objective.' The Zero System quickly calculated the squadron's next move, 'Remainder of squad resume progress.'
Oleg saw the unit making its way from the group when he warned, "I think it's getting attention alright. Might have evened the odds at least."
One of the other pilots saw Sol Thero unit was on its way towards the city. He remembered Tano was probably waiting for his first chance to attack one of them. He contacted him warning, "Lieutenant. I think that thing is headed your way."

The Lord remained restless than ever. "I'll speak to Blare next." He ordered a guard. "He's another person I need to speak with." Traitors are what he abhors the most but he needs to give one traitor from the other side a chance. He looked at his watch impatiently before returning to Stuart. "Confiscate all of Ulbricht's possessions." He told him. "He may be hiding more."

Donna didn't speak during the drive back, worrying Milou further. Once they returned to the hangar, she returned Milou's jacket back before getting off.
Instructor W saw Donna return with her hair partially wet. "Hey Donna!" He shouted while waving at her. "I need you to test the system-" He noticed that Donna was not in the mood to reply. He chose to let her go. He instead walked to Milou. "Hi Milou, any idea why Donna became all quiet?" He asked.
Milou got his jacket back on before explaining. "We found out who killed Lady Lindemann." He answered. "It turned out to be Ulbricht under Kecker's orders under all those years."
The Instructor didn't expect the answer. "So that's why she was quiet." He realised the harsh truth.
"Should I try to get her back?" He asked.
"I think it's something she needs to get over herself." He explained. He could relate to her despair when he lost his mother, father and some of his sisters years ago. He also remembered how Donna was quiet and reserved when he moved to the Lindemann estate five years ago. He thought he could encourage her to be more active when Lord Lindemann neglected her to focus on the war. He could only hope that Donna can get better.

***

Tano got the call "Thanks!" He waited for the Sol Thero to get closer as he hid to ambush. Once the Mobile Doll was beside him he spring into action, first disabling the right arm with his extended claw. He then activated his beam spear with his left hand to finish it off and did so after it touched the reactor. The Mobile Doll exploded but the Anaconda was unscathed. "Lieutenant Kiprotich here, Are there any more left?" He asked.

As Edward waited in his holding room he continued to plot for what move he could make. Before he had an opportunity to decide upon a plan, one of the guards entered ordering, "Edward Blare. Lord Lindemann wishes to speak with you."
Standing to prepare for the new meeting Edward agreed, "Of course. Please lead the way." He recognized a chance to earn his new leader’s favor when it presented itself and would choose to hold back on his more subtle approaches for now. He followed the guard down the hallway and saw Hyrum escorting alongside Lord Lindemann's guards. He made an attempt at creating a lighter atmosphere when he pointed out, "Much has certainly been achieved today hasn't it? These new leaders are fortunate to have the initiative of moving past what Mr. Kecker has done."
Hyrum didn't permit him to take credit for the day when he answered, "That is what has united us. If luck has played any part today it's because you've managed to show more value to us alive."
Edward was quick to agree with his new allegiance, "Yes. I would see that as the truth." He was shown into the meeting room with OZ's new leader and his assistant. He determined the safest distance from his host when he prepared to approach the meeting. He greeted, "Lord Lindemann. You called for me?"
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Mercurio heard Instructor W and agreed, "Sounds right. At least we should hope we’re given the time to permit her rest." He still had his concern when he offered his regret, "It's one thing to lose loved ones, but finding out the truth behind their fate is something that will challenge anyone."
Dana shook her head at the news, "Damn. Sounds like a lot more happened than we expected."
Gawel heard this conversation starting before asking, "Another one of our military leaders is out of commission?"
"Yeah. Another one. Damnit, why couldn't he have been in place of General Carmine or de Lombard?" Roy answered. He didn’t need to guess the recent events before he remembered the deduction Mercurio had made.
Nasir answered his question, "You think either of those guys were any better? They were willing to follow Coalition orders instead of trying to go back on them and support our leaders. How would that look on them if they survived?"
Mercurio reminded him of the vacuum answering, "We'd at least have someone in the Earth Sphere military ranks to look up to. We've hardly got anyone left at this point."
Dana reminded, "Yeah. We're forced to look out for our own now. We stuck together for this long, we can hold out for another few missions." Her remaining soldiers would need more than this to get back into a fighting spirit, but at least now she could guess that everyone was able to tolerate their new lodging. "Finish up any last adjustments you need done. We're going back on regular scheduled training tomorrow morning." She dismissed.
The remaining pilots did their best to maintain professional with only a few groaning but still adding to the chorus of, "Yes sir."
Mercurio saw Naina among their ranks and knew he would only have to fight alongside his niece from now on. He introduced her, “It’s good to have you on our side Naina… I’m sorry we didn’t take your warnings into any serious consideration.”
Naina nodded to his apology, “It’s understandable. You are part of a fellowship of loyal soldiers who believe in their nation. I didn’t want to hurt Milou either. If I had succeeded on the Mediterranean though, I could never return home.”
Mercurio hoped to steer away from the details when he offered, “I’ll just hope we don’t have to force ourselves into another duel over ideologies. The Tallgeese will have its best moments ahead of it I’m sure.”
Naina agreed, “Hopefully you are right.”
|
One of the Leo III unit pilots saw the explosion from a distance and knew the outcome for the battle as soon as he saw the other arm of the Sol Thero flew off. "He's got it!"
Oleg swiped his forehead when he heard the news, "Thank god." He heard Tano request the news on the Sol Theros before he began a radar sweep of the area. "Should be... Negative. Looks like they've moved out." He reported when the signal of the Sol Thero units moved out of the radar range.
One of the pilots decided to fall back on an earlier theory brought up, "Moved out? Guess they weren't interested in us then."
Another one of the pilots was confused about the idea asking, "What Earth Sphere operation moves in without an intention of completely wiping out its enemies?"
Oleg began to give a suggestion, "We'll probably only be able to find-" In another moment there was another explosion from a distance away. "What was that just now?"
One of the pilots showed her confusion when she asked, "No clue. The enemy shouldn't even be nearby."
Another one asked, "Must be more of our guys. You don't think they're already headed into the Poland installments do you?"
One of the pilots knew the inevitable outcome reminding, "If they are they probably aren't going to last long."
Oleg gave an urgent warning to the remaining forces, "We've got to move out and warn our superiors. If these things are collectively this powerful our Eastern European hold is screwed over." He contacted another pilot asking, "Can we at least pick up their possible destination?"
After a brief period Oleg received his answer. "If they're headed south then Poland is the most likely destination."
Oleg decided that now was the best time to move out for another engagement with the mobile suits when he ordered, "Prepare to move in. We have to get within range and warn them." Slowly but surely the notion of giving orders had come to him. “I’ll still have to make sure I have the leadership necessary for times like these. Kiprotich is my superior anyway.” He said to himself. The remaining Leo III units prepared to move out before Oleg suggested to the engineer, "McNeil, see if you can use any of the remaining unit wreckage for ourselves. Some of it should be salvageable."

Lord Lindemann signalled Blare to sit down. Once he sat down he began. "Mister Blare, you have shown some value." He spoke. "From what I heard you were the one that played in important role of exposing Ulbricht as a traitor and saving my daughter. I am a man of honour and I will have to reward you accordingly. I will have you promoted to more than a prisoner and into the role of an 'allied officer.' You will become part of my retinue from now on and I am interested in hear more on the skeletons in the closet of this war." Having him in his retinue would allow him to observe more of that strange man.

Donna heard Captain Dana's debriefing from a distance. She felt like avoiding people like how she used to. She had enough of the day found a stack of crates she can sleep on. The Gundam pilot undid the keffiyeh and made it into a blanket. "So war the war was a whole lie?" She asked herself before passing out.
Instructor W found her after half an hour. "It was a rough day especially for her." He whispered as he left her alone.

McNeil signalled the engineers to get started with finding salvage. "Aye Private." He replied. "We can't expect much though. Usually the insides of the best weapons are burned up." He got on a jeep himself to join the search after he disconnected.

Tano surveyed the damages brought upon by his foe. He had a flash of memory on how he was fighting something similar during the battle in Luna. "Weren't they from Luna?" He thought. He went through the settings of the Anaconda to the footages of combat. He brought it back to the newest battle in memory. The enemy did looked strikingly similar to the ones he remembered in Luna. He searched to find records back to the Mobile Suit's first sortie and his guess was confirmed. Before the previous pilot was killed by the Uriel there were silhouettes of the Mobile Suits, matching the recent footage.

Oleg confirmed McNeil’s operation when he rallied, “Good to know. Let’s head out.”
One of the pilots furthest from the hangar asked, “What’s our nearest location for our guys out there?”
Oleg took a look through the radar map and answered, “Looks like Braniewo is the next area. Let’s hope we’re fast enough.” As the search began the units would find themselves attempting to catch up with the Sol Thero units for a good majority of the day.

|

When Edward sat down he listened to what the Lord had to offer. Upon immediate evaluation it seemed things were going his way for the moment. "Your recognition is much appreciated. I hadn’t anticipated being forced to participate so soon. But at the very least we have maintained our number of Gundam pilots.” On the last note he noticed he would be able to offer something. “Ah secrets is it? Unfortunately I have only been a lowly General for the past four years so I cannot offer war changing information.” He reminded himself of his days as Colonel when he explained, “I believe both of us can agree based on what little we have seen of the former President that Hermine Falson was almost as much of an idealistic detractor as the Earth Sphere’s Founding Lady. Me and several other Generals had the same feeling Lord Lindemann. Not only for her, but we came to realize this of the Falson Doctrine when placed in practice.” He stood when he began to give emphasis to the current situation, “The Falsons were weaklings. Oh they could rally for a cause but they did not have the means or ambition to see the proper methods taken to discard conflict among even their own allies. Strong leadership is the only answer to quelling personal ambitions while those same ambitions are what drive us to battle to begin with. The Earth is a sizable prize to claim even in our age, but finding the proper pillars of labor to maintain one’s own reign over it is the most vital decision. Filling the vacuum left by the leaders of weak however, that is what separates the short-sighted from the great.” He looked out the window as he concluded, “If played correctly, this could be an advantage well worth investing. But of course the end of the war is our foremost concern. I promise to do everything within what resources I am given to end it.”

It was early in the morning while Naina was preparing to search through her files. Before she could begin she heard her communicator signaling from her breast pocket. She saw Devine’s name and knew it was time for a report. She opened the device asking, “Has the confiscation on General Ulbricht been finished?”
Devine’s voice answered, “The items have been taken. I can confirm that there is one item he was more lenient surrendering however. From what was taken I have seen that he did not wish to part with a small piece of paper with a few holes. There must have been some importance behind it.”
Before Naina thought to ask her next question she remembered something of the Lindemann Assassination file Mercurio had searched through yesterday. For anyone the square of letters and numbers seemed nonsense but from the paper’s description she had a brief moment of wonder. “Devine, could you please submit a copy of the piece?”
A few seconds passed before a filed showed up on Naina’s computer with his confirmation, “It has now been submitted.”
She sat down while reminding, “Keep me updated with the status of the executive branch. I have to find out more about this.”
“Of course.” The signal vanished while Devine signed off. Naina saw the copy arrive on her screen and noticed the Earth Sphere insignia among the square holes. She reached for the Lindemann file and slipped out the square to check the characters selected.
Naina thought to herself. “He might be on to something…” By the time the checking was done she found the two rows of character spelling two different things. The top one read EXECLIN06 while the bottom one read GRAFIN. “This must be something for the Executive Office.” Naina realized.

Naina entered Malcolm’s newly acquired office requesting, “Mr. President. I may have some information in regards to the Lindemann case.”
Malcolm was naturally curious when he asked, “Further? Do you have anything in speculation?”
“I will have to find out.”
He sighed before resigning himself to the request. He showed signs of hoping to break away from work for a while when he agreed, “Very well. See what you can find.”

As soon as Naina entered the username and password into the system she didn’t find anything out of place other than a single video file. Deciding now was the time to discover its contents she double clicked the icon. The video began with a middle-aged man in the same executive office as the Earth Sphere Building’s greeting “Good afternoon Mr. President.”
A sizable man on the President’s seat welcomed back, “We are in a secure area Franz. We shall continue the discussion as it is.”
“Of course Neil. I have received word from our superiors on the recent mission to Prussia from Major Klaus Ulbricht. Lady Lindemann has been assassinated as planned.”
“Truly regrettable the greater good must play out this way. We will be able to draw a hand when the Coalition prepares its hands in the coming years. He will have the motivation and I will begin cleaning up my old mess.”
“Assuming that Madame Falson and her followers will take the course of preparing for an invasion.”
“Her resolve can only be counted second to Madame Yuy from a decade ago. And she has the old mobile suit blueprints to prepare for a war. She only needs to decide where to stage her operations and how long this action will take.”
“It will still be a long time before the final plan can move forward into effect.”

As Dana saw the video play from the screen she asked, “So it’s confirmed then. One of our old Presidents was also setting up the stage?”
Naina agreed, “It would seem so. I couldn’t believe that Kecker was the only one behind the strings and this confirms it.”
“Last I remember Goslin was supposed to still be alive right?”
“He has been retired for the past 11 years in his hometown of Dover in England.”
Dana sat up from her chair as she prepared for the announcement asking, “Guess Ulbricht was sitting on a sweet spot. We got him on our hit list?”
Naina handed Dana a document with Malcolm’s signature answering, “Your next mission Captain.”

The remaining members of the Rogue Wings had gathered before the hangar enterance to hear their new mission as Dana explained, “Here’s our requested mission from the President. We found out that former President Neil Goslin has some extra information to share with the Earth Sphere. As much as getting scooped into the next conflict is our big goal, we are not sweeping in to shoot this place up. Above everything else make sure we take back Goslin alive and in for questioning.”
Cinzia was the first to point out the choice, “It’s great to be out on the field again Cap, but there’s a reason our squad out of everything is being picked right?”
“We’ve received reports from General Neustadt that possible enemy forces made their way through Pasewalk.” Dana answered.
Gawel was confused when he asked, “Possible enemy forces? What other forces try to make their way through one of our own territories by force?”
“Ones that take out a patrol group without any discrimination. We received this new last night and it’s pretty safe to assume they might be headed towards some of our military installations near the capital. It’s probably not a Testudo but it’s going to be something dangerous and we’ll have to prepare for it. This will be a four hour round trip for us and we have to make it quick as we can. You guys ready to pull off another mission?”
There was at least some preparation when the squadron answered, “Yes sir.”
“We’ll be heading up to Dover to revitalize our numbers with some newbies. Be back here in the next half hour when the next carrier is ready to drop us off. Dismissed.”

Donna found herself not sleeping on the crates anymore and on a comfortable bed with pastel coloured blankets. She looked around the room to find where she was but it looked like her room in the Lindemann estate. She went out and the corridor familiar with her brother’s bedrooms and the staircase to the atrium. The light from the glass ceiling was shining on her as she was taking the stairs down.
She found the living room and gasped at what she saw. Her mother was there as if she wasn’t shot and aged since the photograph she held. Her father was there also looking much happier than she remembered with his beard shaven. “Hi, mother?” She started the conversation awkwardly.
Lady Lindemann looked at her daughter. “Donna you must have had a long night if you slept that much.” She responded. “It’s already 10am in the morning.”
Donna saw how her father was laughing it off. She was surprised that her father was lenient at all. A radio broadcasted news from the world with nothing on the war. The closest thing to a bad news would be an industrial accident in Singapore. “Isn’t there anything on the war?” She asked curiously.
Lord Lindemann laughed with what his daughter said. “Nonsense.” He shrugged off. “We haven’t had a war since the Mariemeia Rebellion. You must’ve been dreaming.”
Donna walked to her apparently alive mother. “And I thought you died.” She began. “And your death made our family miserable.”
Her mother smiled. “It’s okay.” She replied. “I’ll always be watching over you.”

Milou found Donna asleep. He would want to leave her alone but leaving for their next mission forced him to wake her up. “You need to wake up Donna.” He said as he shook her reluctantly.
Donna woke up and realised she was either dreaming of a world never achieved or a nightmare on what could’ve happened. When she got off the crates, she realised she had a sore back but managed to hide her expression of it from Milou.
“Sorry for waking you up that way.” He apologised. “But we will have to sortie out soon.”
Donna hid her emotions. “Okay.” She responded back. “I’ll get ready then.” They both got out of the dark part of the hanger to get prepared.

Lord Lindemann listened to what Blare said. “I was fooled into believing that the Coalition was responsible for my wife’s death.” He replied. “Turned out it was a way to make me loyal and contribute to the war.” He thought for a moment. “For my wife death indirectly allowed for the construction of the Gundams however, they may become the avatars of her vengeance when we see Kecker again.” He returned to Blare. “I hope for our unity to last long unlike the Falsons.” He expressed.

***

From what McNeil was able to salvage there were the double barrel beam gatling from a Sol Thero, improved sensors and a more powerful fusion reactor. It seems like something Oleg would want to upgrade with if he will fight the same enemy again. “Tsubarov, we’ve got some junk for yer’ Mobile Suit.” He announced. “It’ll be the best to take them anyway with how an entire battalion was annihilated with them.

Tano sortied with the survivors to follow the Sol Thero units. “I have seen those units on Luna before.” He said to the squad. “They were able to combat two fleets with small numbers and fared much better than the Panthers.”

Edward thanked his new superior for the position a final time, "As do I Lord Lindemann. A mutual relationship usually reaps the greatest rewards after all."
The meeting had ended and Edward was able to give a quick judgment of the Lindemann patriarch’s character. "Quite a respectable man. Unfortunately he certainly doesn't have the ambition beyond simple revenge."
“Does it somehow affect your decision to assist him?”
“Oh no. Just an observation. I certainly hope that his family hasn’t endured more than what they have already faced.”
“We’ll note your concern Officer.”
Dana stood at the front of the carrier waiting for the trip to begin when she saw the mobile suits being loaded. She turned to Gawel asking, "Are the others ready for the mission?"
"Should be. Milou just found Lindemann in one of the cargo areas."
It reminded Dana why Donna wasn’t seen at the morning exercises. "Probably explains her absence this morning. Keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t lose her focus."
Zachariah was in the pilot seat when he asked, "Things go that far south I think she'll be able to handle it. She can't be that troubled from last night can she?"
Dana shook her head when she answered, "You'd be surprised how much it can effect someone."

As Keijo strapped himself into his seat when he reminded Mercurio, "We drop down there and we're going to be classified as enemies by the British defenses."
"As long as the Gundams aren't deployed we should be able to maintain our cover."
"This is just the consequence of working under a hidden government sponsorship isn't it?"
"We just have to make sure we don't do anything to warrant military action against us. I think the Captain will be able to keep us from having to take out any more of our allies."
“You think it’s still right that we are acting semi-autonomously though? We’ll be lucky if Lord Lindemann isn’t planning to use OZ for his own personal gains.”
“We won’t repeat the history of the past unless the Earth Sphere President ends up using it for the same purpose as it was decades ago.”
“True stuff. We’ll have to see if our British allies are going to give us an easy time for now.”
“I think Naina will be able to keep us under a low profile. She did manage to slip into Lord Lindemann’s estate effectively.”
Roy hoped to maintain the optimism when he entered the conversation, “That’s a good thing to assure ourselves. So how about hearing how Patrick is going to find the people who dealt him his injury?”

Dana contacted into her intercom, "It's time for us to head out. All personnel prepare for liftoff."
A nearby computer screen lit up with Ludwika announcing, "This is secondary team reporting. We're right behind you Captain."
"We break up at Amsterdam airspace. Report on any enemy activity while we're out. Don't pursue the enemy unless it's something you can handle."
"Easy enough. Just try and get out of there with a clean mission sir."

As the carries began to make their two hour trip across the North Sea another conversation began among the pilots. Pascal was one to point out, "So you think the enemy isn’t going to be powerful enough to overwhelm basic defenses? It should just be enough to drop Naina in there and wait while she does her magic."
Keijo reminded Pascal of the current situation, "The northern German area has taken a serious beating these past few weeks. Just about anything could get through. It would only take the proper strategy to take out a patrol team after all.”
Pascal didn’t bother “Even then, why the Gundams?”
Mercurio added to Keijo’s observation, “We don’t know what could be out there. We’re not going to take the chance of risking the capital being taken under siege again. At least assuming it’s their location, we don’t even have an idea of what enemy we’re dealing with.”
Dana recognized the speculation and wasn’t afraid to be frank with the worst scenario adding, “Well we just found out that our former president was willing to perform some underhanded decisions. We’ll just have to hope the state of the Earth Sphere hasn’t reached its own level of internal fighting.”
|
The remainder of the Kaliningrad forces made their way through Poland while McNeil managed to use what resources he found from the early wreckages. Oleg heard McNeil’s report and knew he would at least have one advantage in battle. He answered back, “Perfect work, that’s the sort of news we need at the moment.” He looked at the function of the arm and decided to instruct, “Do a full replacement with the gun arm and sensors if you have the time. Leave that reactor until later; we have to work on that thing when we have the proper conditions for installing it.” It was right after he heard Tano’s report on the power of the Sol Theros he felt his confidence shake even more than he though possible.
One of the Leo III pilots was shaken when she asked, "Wait a minute. Two fleets?"
Oleg hoped to see realism in the scenario when he asked, "You have to tell me they had their causalities."
He heard one of the pilots report back, "From what Mc Neil and his guys found even that is debatable. They got done searching and there's no pilot."
Oleg was about to wonder aloud what this could mean but recognized in a moment where this could be headed. Sorry about this granduncle. Your legacy is being used in enemy hands now. He thought to himself while letting out an audible groan.
He heard one of the earlier pilots ask, "So with all of this, how do we stand a chance against those things?"
Oleg gave the only real answer when he said, "Unless the Lieutenant is invincible we don't. We can only rely on our forces in Szczecin to hold them off." He was quick to adjust the communication frequency to the endangered base while announcing, “Attention Szczecin base. We have a first class priority with the enemy. They are going to try and break through. Objective unknown. Repeat objective unknown.”
One of the pilots asked after the communication was finished, “Good that we can warn them. What do we do now?”
Oleg knew that trying another shot like the one at the base would be too costly and gave the only order he could see plausible at the time. “We’ll have to follow those things and keep making an effort to take them out. At least assuming Lieutenant Kiprotich will order something like that.”

Donna noticed a visibly shaken Suchart in the carrier as well. Judging by how he smelled he decided to drink away his sorrows. He was another victim of war just like her. She found an empty seat and strapped herself into it. Overhearing Keijo and Mercurio, she doubted that her father would have much purpose with OZ now with vengeance against Kecker in mind.
Milou pretended to hiss that Naina gets all the credit for infiltrating while he was just as good. "Well one sibling has to be better..." He mockingly muttered.

Tano was surprised with what he heard. What they were fighting were in fact Mobile Dolls. Remembering how they destroyed a fleet and a half he knew it will now be up to them to stop the Sol Thero before more damage can be done. "Right, I will issue our objective." He spoke to the surviving pilots. "We will continue with our pursuit of the Mobile Dolls. We saw first-hand what they can do to an battalion and a fleet and a half. We will stop them at all costs." He was used to how his subordinates died in front of him but he promised that they will have to survive.

Two hours had passed before the mobile suit carrier made its way towards the coastal town. They passed the nearby Griffon Carrier making its patrol knowing the crew recognized their fellow Earth Sphere aircraft. Zachariah confirmed their location when he pointed, "There we are. That's Dover."
Dana entered the cockpit room to ask both pilots, "We got the coordinates for Goslin's estate?"
Gawel entered a few commands into his screen to place emphasis on the mission coordinates, "We have it right there. Looks like a place for former Presidents to go."
Among the chatter a voiced became prominent to the three. "This is Admiral Begum. Requesting your clearance entry."
Dana moved to the area of the radio and began her talk with the Admiral, "This is Captain Houston with Wing 1. We have clearance from the new administration for landing to pick up our recruits. Transmitting the code now."
Gawel made a few clicks before he sent the passcode to the nearby carrier. It was only a few seconds before the Admiral agreed to the entry, "We have acknowledged your authenticity Wing 1. You are clear for entry."
Dana made her way to the holding area for the crew and saw Naina was preparing her jacket and looking over some makeup items. Dana asked her back, “It might be about time for us to head down Naina. Can we get your confirmation?” Naina nodded when she moved to the cockpit area to overlook Gawel’s map of the area.
Gawel pointed to the moving dot of the area before moving his finger to a nearby road. "Here's our location. This where you need to be dropped off?"
Naina confirmed their progress, "This is the spot. Make a pass over the nearest intersection and it should be far enough." She moved back to the holding area while preparing her parachute for the drop.
Dana ordered to the crew in the back, "Open the hatch. We've got a drop ready."
The rear hatch opened to give Naina the chance to drop. She promised the crew, “I’ll return with the objective.” She gave her jacket and parachute pack final adjustments before she made a quick dash towards the opened hatch and into the sky below. Keijo looked down and after a few seconds saw the parachute open while Naina descended to the ground.
He turned to Dana while he closed the hatch, "Looks like she’ll make it down. We just wait for now sir?"
Dana nodded, "We'll make a landing further from the estate. Find our nearest clearing and we'll wait to receive her."
Pascal pointed out the possible problem when he asked, “The local populace gonna be okay with that sort of thing?”
She turned to the two pilots at the front of the carrier when she reminded them, “Just don’t land on any of the roads and we should be alright.”
Keijo sat back down when he asked, “So now we just have to wait for the fresh meat to get shipped in and we’ll have our numbers back up to a decent amount right?”
Mercurio confirmed this part of the order, “That’s the idea. Just be sure to go easy on them and lower your expectations. Just pretend they’re the green version of yourselves before this started.”
Pascal rubbed his face when he sighed, “That’ll be some hard memories to bring back up.”

As Naina made the descent to the ground fairly close to Goslin Estate she found an open area of land where there weren’t any observing eyes able to recognize her. For many she would just be pursuing a hobby while another carrier was passing by. She made the drop to the ground while detaching the parachute from her back and began to make her way towards the location of her target.
While making a brisk walk Naina took out a picture with Devine’s most recent choice for a disguise. She took another brief look over the photo within before pocketing it and began to work with the makeup items she packed earlier. “Just as convenient as I need.”

Neil Goslin’s retired life was uneventful as he lay in his armchair listening to various radio stations. Few people bothered to visit considering his current status although he clearly had expectations of guests for some time. It was noticeable with the guards positioned inside and outside his estate but would be the only obstacle for anyone who wanted to meet with him. Despite this, he was content to enjoy listening to the radio while watching his wife Yasmin maintain some of her indoor plants. This peace was interrupted when he heard the doorbell from the entry hall request his presence. He stood up telling Yasmin, “I shall answer that.”
When Neil opened the door he found Naina waiting for him. She greeted while extending her hand and maintaining a softer voice, "I bid you good morning Mr. Goslin. I am reporter Ilonca Dieperink. I would like to know if you have time for an interview?"
Neil lightly took her hand in greeting, "Why of course young lady. What audience shall I have the pleasure to enlighten I might ask?"
"A new generation of men and women who hope to hear insight from a politician with great experience." Naina answered.
"I certainly have much that I could discuss. Please do come in." The two entered while the guards outside moved back to their position. He began his way to the living room when he requested, "Yasmin, please do prepare the living room for our guest if you please."
She answered back. "Of course. Just a moment." Once the two entered Naina saw her arranging two chairs for a nearby table before turning off the radio. She acknowledged their entry when she offered, “I shall permit you both to have the room for now then?”
“Yes of course my dear.” Neil agreed before Yasmin showed herself out. “She and I both know I can’t expect anything further then a chance to sit next to you as you might imagine Ms. Dieperink.” He chuckled lightly before sitting down. "Now then, down to business I take it?"
"Yes Mr. Goslin." Naina said as she returned to her normal voice. In the next moment she drew out her pistol and demanded his confession. "I should like to know about your involvement in starting this war."
If Neil was surprised he managed to contain himself for the moment. "You would threaten me would you? Even with my dear Yasmin present?" Was all he had to offer.
"She won't see any of this." Naina warned.
Neil laid back in his chair when he commented, "So you have been able to determine where this war began then. I knew there would be someone who would connect the right dots eventually. It seems that Klaus wasn’t able to let go of the past after all."
"And how much will you be willing to disclose? If your statements in that video are true then you are subject for arrest by Earth Sphere law. Even if it is the only part of that past that you’ll allow others to see." She deduced.
Neil placed his hands up when he agreed, "As much as you would like to know dear." He maintained an air of calm when he commented to himself, "By now Kecker has begun his voyage away from here and prepared to use the Sol Invictus. Regardless of how much you will soon know we will have accomplished our mission."
"Who permitted this? Who would be able to organize such events?" Was the first question Naina brought.
Neil stood up when he began to pace around the room answering, "No organization dear. That is the first thing me and my colleagues made sure to address. We will not allow the human race to pin one organization to the wrongdoings it must face itself. History has shown this is how conflict ends so swiftly. Now we only present the actions of a handful of individuals who will perform the greatest atrocity in human history. And even now we will be able to reduce it down to one."
Naina was quick to figure out what sort of madness he was preaching when she asked, "To prove what?"
Neil still managed to maintain a frank tone when he answered, "This effort will undo everything the preceding generations did to bring about peace. It is the final necessary motion that will destroy the Peacecraft Doctrine once and for all."
Naina was slightly shaking with her pistol in hand as much as her voice did when she demanded, "Relena Peacecraft sacrificed so much for humanity to be brought in the direction it was headed and your intention is to purely show that it can be undone?"
Neil turned around to face the window of the garden outside when he answered, "True peace cannot be achieved through the means of pacifism. You can kill me now with your pistol and then destroy it. But you will not forget how to use it and you will not be restrained from the means of obtaining a new one. Nor does the act remove any of the wrongdoings you have done. As this applies to you, this applies to all scales of humanity as well." He turned around when he continued, "No. The only path to peace is when humanity is united against an abstract concept itself. Regardless of the scale of the disaster if it is applied to something as simple as the Romefellers or nature itself then humanity will understand a narrow portion of what will end general conflict in the short term. When it is at the hand of a human however, one who resigns himself from being associated with anything, then it will force the human race to truly look within itself and wonder about the way forward to peace.” Naina continued to listen when he moved forward towards her finishing, “As we move forward to colonize within our own system, we will require a much larger catastrophe for such devastation to occur. What this act lacks however is the individuals who have nothing to lose in permitting this destruction to be performed."
Hoping to use the knowledge against him Naina denied his speech, "I won't it happen now. Franz will not be permitted to perform such devastation in the name of his and your vision of peace." The workings of the conspiracy had come around full circle when she saw what both Neil and Franz were working on from years ago. In this moment she was certain it would be the only necessary information to stop whatever atrocity Neil was planning.
"You will not stop Kecker now. He was permitted success the moment he began his launch towards the Sol Invictus. It saves me the trouble of the trip as well." Neil answered this back to her offering a very stark reality. Despite what they both now knew about Franz’s achievement, Naina was able to show a recording device in her breast pocket.
“For what you confess now I can have you executed and present this recording as all the justification I need.” She warned the former President.
Neil stepped back when several gunshots began to make their way through the living room. He made his way towards the nearest doorway when he parted, “It will not change anything. And I’m afraid I cannot permit any attempts to stop the inevitable. Not just yet.” Some of the inner guards made their way towards the room when he ordered, “Stop this woman!”
Naina saw where she was now. She was surrounded by two sides of guards who only now saw an assassin. She didn’t waste any time to throw one of her gas pellets to the ground and made a run for the assembly of guards behind her. While they were caught offgaurd she managed to hit their vital areas and render some unconscious while shooting other unfortunate ones. It was a challenge to maintain her own composure in the gas but she had a chance to make it out at the moment. Unfortunate things end this way at times…

Neil made his way into a nearby guestroom where he found Yasmin startled and struggling to maintain her compsure despite her age. He approached her while assuring, “Don’t worry about this. We know how to handle intruders like these.”
The woman managed to shake herself to composure when she agreed, “Of course. I hadn’t imagined that one of the Earth Sphere would attempt this.”
The two made their way to a nearby desk with a touch computer screen while Neil offered, “I suppose that makes for the both of us.”

Admiral Begum continued to wait for Coalition attacks along the English coasts but found very quickly his duty was needed nearby. The voice of Neil Goslin managed to make its way through the secure airwaves. “Admiral. I have a warning. The carrier that has descended within the area is the main vehicle of operations for my assassin. She is attempting to kill me right now. Do not let her have a means of escape.”
The Admiral knew his duty and offered his assurance, “We read you Mr. Goslin. Please remain in a safe area while we arrive.” He turned to the intercom when he ordered, “Primary Griffon squadron man your battle stations. We have an enemy aircraft in the area.”
One of the operators managed to focus on the Wing 1 carrier when he asked, “So where is the enemy located sir?”
The operator next to him agreed and reported, “Down there. That’s the carrier that entered just a short while ago.”
“Damn thing received clearance. They must be taking advantage of the chaos Brussels is going through.”
The Admiral didn’t let any further doubt cross the minds of his crew when he ordered, “Traitors are going to try anything to make sure we don’t survive this war any further. Let’s show them we’re not letting any of them in our borders.” He stated as he remained focused on the upcoming battlefield. The Griffons began to make their descent to the ground in preparation for attack while he hoped to see the quick resolution.

|

As Oleg and Tano’s group managed to make their way across what was becoming a wasteland of Poland’s self, their hopes continued to wane as they saw the results of the Sol Thero units. Oleg shook his head when he pointed out, “Szczecin forces have been completely wiped out."
One of the pilots asked, “So what’s the closest installment from our current location?”
Another pilot managed to overlook the progress when he searched the radar, “We’re just a few steps away from Pasewalk now.”
Oleg realized their situation when he saw the location of the nearby town, “Then the only way we have to go now is into enemy territory. We only barely managed to get the Testudo through there and they’ll be on high alert after this whole mess.”
One of the pilots managed to speak for a portion of the concern when he asked, “Any point to following them then? They were probably doing some last minute round ups to make sure our forces are still down.” Oleg kept an eye on his radar while he tried to figure out their next move but found his thoughts interrupted when more Earth Sphere signals began to make their appearance on radar.
Oleg realized they didn’t have any further time for discussion when he ordered, “Enemy rendezvous incoming! Cease progression and stay low!” The mobile suits stopped moving when Oleg warned what was happening. They saw the black mobile dolls begin to make progress towards their allies while Oleg asked, “We got a signal on those guys?”
One of the pilots agreed to the objective reporting, “I should be able to overhear them if there’s any dialogue. We should be able to figure out their mission at least.”

The leader of the Earth Sphere squadron announced an order to the Sol Thero squadron, “Attention mobile suits. Identify your unit.”
The Zero System of the mobile dolls calculated everything there was to know about the entities before them. In moments the system came to a conclusion, ‘Earth Sphere Mobile Suits. No Detriment.’ They continued to progress between the open spaces of the mobile suits while the leading unit turned around to note their defiance to orders.
He tried again when he ordered, “Hey get back here! Identify your unit!”
The red eye of one of the Sol Thero units turned around to note the progression of one particular Panther unit. Despite the movement the system calculated, ‘Earth Sphere pursuing. No Detriment.’
The leading Panther unit raised its rifle when the pilot warned, “Hey this isn’t funny. Get back here now or we’ll have to get serious!” He gave one final warning when he fired above the heads of the mobile suits, “Stop where you are now!”
One of the Sol Thero units turned around to recognize the new threat and came to a new calculation in regards to the new aggression. ‘Earth Sphere Mobile Suits. Hostility engaged. Detriment to overall objective.’ The mobile dolls deployed their planet defensors and began their swift sweeping of the helpless pilots.

Oleg was surprised as anyone else at the sight. The Sol Thero units were every bit as effective against the Earth Sphere as they were against Coalition for some reason. “Hey what the hell is going on over there? Those are supposed to be Earth Sphere mobile dolls right?”
One of the pilots agreed on the chaos, “And they’re firing on their own people? I thought the progress in technology kept AIs from reaching this far backwards.”
The eavesdropping pilot pointed out the problem with the situation as well, “It doesn’t make sense about their communication either. There was just that one guy on the line and there wasn’t anything explaining the objective.”
Oleg managed to return to some level of calm when he observed the true achievement at this moment. “Well it looks like someone didn’t just open Pandora’s Box at this point. They took out the disasters inside and threw them right in our faces.”

Suchart was in thought with how "green" they all used to be when he became jaded after numerous battles. He knew others that would be jaded as him like Donna who was visibly troubled since she returned from the parliament building. He could only hope that the new recruits can be as good.
Donna saw they new recruits making their way to the carrier. They clearly looked like they are yet to see proper battle. When she saw a number of carriers heading to them she sensed something is not right. She found Captain Dana to consult on the new company. "Captain, it looks like we have a reception waiting." She reported. "Orders?"

***

Tano was also caught off-guard by the Sol Thero Mobile Dolls' attacks on the Earth Sphere patrol. "There were no friednly fires when I was fighting them." He commented on the actions that brought more complications. "It looks like they malfunctioned or something if both sides are attacked. It will be dangerous fighting them at our current strength." He discretely looked for any listening posts he can leak the information of the Sol Theros to. "Earth-Sphere or Coalition won't matter against those monsters now."