Donna nodded, and found herself yawning too. Contagious yawn maybe? "I agree." She replied. "The fight was tiring. It can be said that we did make most of our efforts to survive another day." Remembering the gossip provided, she smiled. "And I will note on your gossip. I will approach them at some point, but I do not listen much to Pop so it may have problems." She got up from the seat. "I will be off." She quietly announced as she excused herself from the room. "May tomorrow be a good day for us." She headed for the elevator back to the quarters.

As the Sundown went back to base at the Twilight Citadel many of the soldiers found themselves working more and more on their suits, or talking about the current events. After picking up everyone, recovering bodies, and informing Mariemaia about the success of the mission everything seemed to be going well. Paul sat in his room alone with his night clothes on his uniform thrown to the side of his bed. He had his eyes clothes and he felt like trash. These days were just getting harder and harder for him. He was worrying if they'd all make it back or not now. They were going to run out of ammo sooner or later despite them taking and reusing all sorts of weapons and technology from downed enemies. Soldiers lives couldn't be returned, men and women he knew that just as well as anyone. The people he has lost to old friends, and terrorists from ZAFT just kept piling up. It made him numb to loss mostly but he still couldn't help but look at the people who died. Beta Team...they weren't there at London that fateful day. Except Beta Leader. He had been with Jason for far longer than Paul had been and by all rights he should be co-captain of this ship. However he insisted that he be a simple foot soldier and that his place was not ordering the crew around but being the man the soldiers could look up too and talk too. Paul was the newer generation. The guy who fought the new battles and led the new soldiers. Beta led the men in the cafes, and bars and talked to them when they needed him.

As he fell quietly into his sleep alone in his room he couldn't help but feel like the days were going to keep going on and on without pause. But the one thing that he never could forget was that one fateful day in London the day that changed everything for him...
====

Many years ago - London England - Shattered Earth War - Cosmic Era Alternate 1 - The Assault on London

The battle of London had started out like any ordinary day in the big city. OMNI had a large military base near the city and the people of the town were sure nothing bad would happen to it. London wasn't even a viable target for ZAFT after all there were too many defenses and London wasn't too strategically valuable since Belgium, and Iceland each had orbital launchers too send ships into space. However what none of them had suspected was Lao La Lugara, the OMNI traitor whom had served them so many times before, had prepared a strike on the city. Lao had sleeper agents, and black market contacts ship in mobile suits, and weapons for his soldiers. He himself had placed himself south of the city with his own personal squad of ZAFT loyalists, and OMNI Traitors loyal to himself. Lao was intimately familiar with everything OMNI had to offer as he had lived it and for all intents and purposes his life revolved around it. And all that knowledge came crashing down on top of the heads of everyone in the city. A bomb blast erupted in OMNI Central killing many of the people in the building leaving it in tatters. The people in the hanger were gunned down by some of Lao's hired guns shortly afterward leaving only a handful of men in suits to hold off a sudden launch of Zaku units.

In the city Lao used his sleeper agents to mow down civilians by the truck load, and bomb the police stations. The city was on fire and OMNI was hopelessly outmatched. However Lao wasn't in it for a quick terrorist run he was in it to make the Britain SUFFER. That had been three days ago and supplies were running thin. OMNI had ordered men from all over Scotland, and France to join in the defense of London. The Atlantic OMNI division even authorized the use of Raigo, Strike, and Aegis Gundams. George was now currently fight below taking on all of the enemy units he could while Paul stood at the top of the building firing down using all the long range weapons he had at his disposal. His power was running low, but who's wasn't? The OMNI troops had been forced to hook up some units into other ones just to function basically turning suits into running power generators. The only power plant left active was the one in the middle of the city and it wouldn't stay that way forever because ZAFT was pressing hard. Lao had appeared briefly multiple times in the past few days too mess around with OMNI Enforcer and keep them on their toes. Alissa Flash, the pilot of Strike, was off searching for ZAFT Commandos running down the Royal Airforce near Big Ben. Paul gunned down a zaku and then another one and was forced to push back into the building he was taking cover in, the building being caved in by a bomb blast earlier, as shells smashed into the concrete walls only for George to rip the enemy apart at close range for ignoring him.

"God damn it there's no end to these guys! The more we kill the more we find! It's like Lao has an entire brigade hiding in this city! It's been three fucking days how are there even this many left!?" George growled as Paul sighed remaining quiet. He remembered the cold pit in his stomach that day he had killed more today than he had in some pirate crushing jobs. It was god damn awful. He didn't see ZAFT as worthy of being called soldiers but this was something new even for them. The city was burning, or at least had been mostly, as smoke rose from the streets as gun fire and flashes and some explosive blasts rung through the air. The sounds of buildings falling only strengthened the dreadful feeling in Paul's gut. George hadn't been too talkative like usual he was pissed off. More over he wanted blood. But one other thing also tugged at Paul but he had suppressed the feeling it was important but it could wait until he was given orders to actually follow through right now Raigo was needed for war.

A call would go through shortly after this Jason, Paul, and Alissa would need to rendezvous with each other too engage Lao...and fate would take a ride for the worse. They fought, and they fought, and they fought their way through the city seeing dead civilians, children included, as well as fallen allies and foes alike. Jason wasn't giving them orders this time around it was Chief Commander of the Atlantic OMNI Forces Alex Baldwin. Alissa had been separated from her men before she could get there and ended up having to join with George and Paul by themselves ready to take on Lao who had reappeared. It would be that one point in time that would change Paul forever. A tragedy, a betrayal, and the loss of the remaining innocence he clung to from his childhood. It was at that moment Paul become the cynical soldier he was today underneath his humanity was a hive of worms wriggling around with barely contained anger and frustration...but that was the story for another time.

Donna found herself unable to sleep, likely from the adrenaline that still rushed through her from the battle. She moved around the tough bed, but gave up and opened her eyes. The Gundam pilot had many things to think about in the past days. She also worried of her own war back home. Are the Earth forces holding with the remaining Gundam pilots they had? She took her emerald field jacket to wear over her black tanktop, wore her boots and quietly walked out of the quarters.

At the hangar, she observed the crewmen that still remained at work, or ones that took a different time. She walked back to her own Sandrock with something in her thoughts. The cockpit opened for entry with interior lights activated. She climbed in and reached for a compartment with some dossiers. There was one labelled 'The Gundam pilots' that she took from the rest. Going through the clipped or stapled papers, she found a set she was interested in:

Name: Yuy Mercurio
Gender: Male
Age: 20
Born: A.C. 196
Rank: 2nd Lieutenant
Assigned Mobile Suit: XXXG-01 Wing Gundam

Father: Yuy Heero
Mother: Yuy (nee Darlian) Relena

Mercurio Yuy is the son of former Foreign Minister now leader of the Pacifist Party Relena Yuy and her bodyguard Heero Yuy. Allegedly Heero is the pilot of the original Wing Gundam, and later the Wing Gundam Zero. He grew up in Brussels as the oldest sibling with two younger twin sisters.

Eight years after the outbreak of the war, he enlisted in the military academy also in Brussels. He showed great potential that he became the pilot for the rebuilt Wing Gundam. If the rumours of his father are true, then he is born to be a Gundam pilot to change the course of history once more.

Timeskip - Four Days Later - Early Afternoon 12:00 - Mariemaia's Compound

Chapter 5 - Rage and Anger - Confrontation of the Traitorous Brother

It had been four days since Jason revealed his information to the crew of the ship and the crew had fought in that near disastrous battle in the middle of the desert. They had returned only to scavenge what they could the day after. However it was made quite clear to everyone that things were not all they seemed. Reve whom had been left behind at the Twilight Citadel, the Sundown Faction's main base of operations, had been slain in rather brutal fashion the Exia being left in a pile of rubble in the corner of the Citadel. Forces stationed they state they believe that the attacker was a ZAFT unit more particularly they believed the pilot was a high level ace. Reve's body was recovered and unceremoniously buried. No one cared other than Puru, and Nena. Nena was bothered and angry declaring that the crew had something too do with the death of Reve and thus was sent back into prison in order to protect the crew. Yzak and his compatriots whom had been captured where brought to Mariemaia's Compound which housed a prison block. They were separated from the captured Earth Federation soldiers and Gyunei Guss. The men whom had died protecting the Sundown where buried in separate graves and given a proper military send off. Beta Leader attended the funeral but left soon afterward saying he would make sure the deaths of his allies never happened again if he could help it.

Mariemaia welcomed the Sundown crew into her base the previous night and sent a token force to help protect the lands gained by the OMNI Task force at the behest of her OMNI adviser Kenta. It was both a sign of solidarity and a possible future favor in the hands of Mariemaia should something big happen. Moreover Jason requested her aid in scouting the ZAFT held port city that was OMNI's targets. Mariemia granted the request and now both factions were plotting on how best it would be too attack the city from the rear seeing as attacking from the port and moving into the city would be even more dangerous. The city was of medium length and had many large buildings giving hold to the chance there could be people there however none outside of the ZAFT patrols had been spotted. Supplies we needed for both factions so regardless Mariemaia and Jason both agreed it would be in their best interest to assault the city and split the captured supplies up as in the past battles all that remained from their victories were spare parts, and weapons with more mouths to feed as POWs lined up in Mariemaia's Base. Jason was meeting Mariemaia with Paul and SIGMA Leader in hand while Beta was examining the suits that were being used for the battle. Yuri was inside the hanger bay working on various fixes for Mariemaia's suits as they lacked a proper tuning.

Graham, and Puru decided to go around the compound and meet with Mariemaia's soldiers and ask them about what was happening at their base camp. Graham was eager to learn of new prospects that he could fight to test his skills further. Puru just wanted too make new friends and brighten up everyone's day. The rest of the OMNI crew were remaining in the landed Sundown performing repairs or otherwise guarding their secrets. Even though Mariemaia had been a gracious host Jason never trusted a little girl with more power than she knew what too do with. A contingent of armed guards stood at the hanger bays and entrances to the Sundown for good measure. With Nena being incarcerated once more people were wondering who would take over the job of Long Range Artillery unit. Hiling Care 'graciously' accepted the job but many questioned if she was really their ally after her superiority complex and brutal fighting tactics put off even the hard veterans of SIGMA. Hiling Care herself was chilling out inside of the Sundown waiting for orders not wanting too bother with dealing with Mariemaia.

Sarah had been stationed at Coms Base Echo for about nine months and had participated in multiple battles to protect the base in that time. but today was just another one of those boring days on patrol. But then again that was exactly what the life of a soldier "long periods of boredom broken up by a few moments of intense adrenaline and battle." A quote she had learned from her Older brother when he had learned she had first been moved to active duty. And how right he was, but today wasn't descend to be one of those days a distress signal appeared on her radar after sending a quick transmission back to base she moved to check the signal. it wasn't of the UNE, but it also didn't match the SRA's distress signal either. As she neared the signal she started to become dizzy and eventually she blacked out.

That had been some time ago Sarah couldn't even remember how much time had passed in this world. She had woken up in the middle of some desert on this messed up planet and owed her life to Mariemaia's crew who had found her and her suit and taken them in. It wasn't long after joining the crew that she had learned that her brother Gabriel had been brought to this world as well, but his current status was MIA presumed KIA. At first it had been hard for her to accept the fact that her brother could be dead, but that also was the life of a soldier. She sat in the Mess Hall of Mariemaia's camp bouncing a ball off of the wall still going over everything that had happened.

As Graham and Puru walked around the base camp they met with a handful of soldiers more talkative than the rest, willing to share some of the Mariemaia Army's going-ons with the hotblooded young man and the child following him around. As it turned out, during the time they'd been...wherever this was, they had picked up a few stragglers here and there including a number of useful pilots and their mobile suits. The machines, as technologically disparate as those on the Sundown, didn't quite fit with the massed firepower formations of the Serpents, but they had their uses and so the men were made to earn their keep acting as irregular troops.

As if on cue, a rapid approach alert rang and tension momentarily spiked before it was confirmed a friendly and everything went back to business as usual. That, the men told Graham and Puru, was one of the newcomers back from patrol. Rayburn Roberts Jr. did not particularly enjoy patrol duty, especially not at this stage of his career, but any flying was better than none, better than being holed up in an unknown base surrounded by people from an unknown force. He didn't dislike Mariemaia's Army per se, lots of good if pretty misguided kids in there, but everything was still too strange to make any sense out of. So patrol it was.

If the Sundown crew expected to see a mobile suit running or dashing along the ground, well, they were about to get something different. The Zeta Plus F cruised down from the air as a waverider, a flying machine akin to a jet fighter with grace unmatched by most any other bipedal titan forced to take to the skies. It had proven quite useful at these sorts of tasks compared to the lumbering Serpent. With a smooth, controlled approach it set down on the designated runway and glided to a gentle halt that belied its nature as a 20 meter tall killing machine armed to the teeth. The cockpit hatch popped open and out came the man himself helmet in hand.

Tall and rugged, wearing an obviously reinforced pilot suit and visibly armed, he simply screamed career soldier at plain sight even through the most definitely non-standard aviator shades and jacket and the toothpick wedged firmly in his mouth as he smiled at the few that came to greet him. "You can relax boys, if there'd been something you would've heard the alarms already. At this rate I'm going to wind up retired before I see anything resembling action out there". He stretched his aching, aging body with a grimace before taking stock of the base. "So, I heard there's some new people around".

"So you don't want to interact with those guys either?" came a somewhat familiar voice from behind Sarah. The voice belonged to the pilot of the mobile suit Airmaster, Witz Sou, the pilot responsible for keeping Mariemaia's base well scouted and safe. While Kenta kept Mariemaia's troops in line as a clear sign of authority among them due to them missing their own commander Witz provided more conventional combat services. He hadn't really bonded too well with the members of Mariemaia's Army but he did his job well which was something no one could complain about despite his distrusting attitude. He saw down next to Sarah and looked over at her. "For what it's worth I wouldn't blame you. I mean they could've gotten your brother killed. And the fact that they're military doesn't help. I mean I've seen what they can do that Kenta guy is really a cold hearted murderer. He sees an objective and he goes for it." Witz commented further as he took a sip from a glass of water in his hand. "And the rest of his buddies? They pretty much shoved all of those POWs onto us. Doesn't do well for food and some of those people were from Earth too so I'm not exactly sure where their loyalties are exactly. Not that Mariemaia's a good deal either." grumbled Witz.

====

The whole of Mariemaia's Army was delighted to see Rayburn back if not simply for the fact that there were no enemies. A few of the soldiers around the base admired the man's strong work ethic and they found his transformable suit too be really interesting. The engineers down below shouted that they'd get too work on the Zeta in a bit. However none of the 'engineers' there were actually engineers more so soldiers with qualified experience of fixing mobile suits. The soldiers inside of Mariemaia's Army were well trained but most of them were purely career soldiers leaving much to the fact that they were trained to fight with Treize Khushrenada's forces against the White Fang. Some of them were purely soldiers whom had served under Mariemaia but they were much fewer and far between. Kenta had a few soldiers of his own there but they hardly made up even a minor fraction of Mariemaia's Army. One of the soldiers, a man in a white uniform called Ryo Kabashi, whom was the overall head of the Mariemaia's forces here, just above the more cunning Kenta, and the most veteran of them walked up to Roberts and nodded at him. "It's good to have you back in one piece Roberts. As you can see the OMNI Ship Sundown has arrived and some of it's folks are around here. There have been two people here talking to the troops. One of them is a little girl who likes to talk a lot. She's a sweet thing though and doesn't mean much harm. Looks like a little girl but according to the OMNI Staff she's a brutal and skilled pilot. I don't see it personally." Ryo said as he looked over to some of his men who called over to him to ask a question about the Serpents. Apparently one of them had a jammed weapon and they were fixing it. He gave a few curt replies before turning back to Ryo. "Sorry about that. Repairs and all today you know that the younger kids can't do shit without someone babying them. Anyways the other is-" Ryo started to say as suddenly there was a whistle from down below and there stood a man in a blue uniform different from all the others there. The blonde haired man was smiling and looking up at the suit. "That's a pretty suit you got there! Who's the pilot? I'd like to talk with him if you don't mind." the man said. The individual in question was in fact the OMNI Ally Graham Aker of the American Union Faction. He was a stalwart ally of the Sundown crew. Many of the people in Mariemaia's Army didn't know him by name but they did know that he was talented and a bit of a blowhard.

"Oh, and we have the room for them on the Sundown? Why do you think this is a joint operation, Witz?" Jack walked up from the pairs left, looking over the assembled suits as Yuri and the other mechanics did some last minute work. "Jason wasn't happy about imprisoning anyone from Earth, but with how varied we all are do you blame him?" He remembered that the girl was there and sighed. "Sorry miss, forgot to introduce myself. Lieutenant Jack Jameson with the Earth Alliance military." He offers his hand to her.

Sarah continued to bounce the ball off of the wall ass Witz came up. "They aren't all that bad. Just not into that blindly following some noble girl or whatever she is" she said before catching the ball and nearly freezing at the mention of her brother. "Gabe isn't dead yet, if he survived what I heard happened after I went to the signal then he is still out there somewhere" she responded her tone changed a bit as she tried to sound calm but a hint of her worry was there. She quickly whipped her eyes with her sleeve before turning to face Witz. "As for them being military, remember I am military as well and it's not really to bad after you get past the "YES SIR!", "NO SIR!" Bull...." She said with a grin. "But you know, I kinda feel for that Kenta person. War changes people he could of been a nice person at one point. Just realize we all have that capability and keep yourself in check to ensure you don't become like them." She continued remembering how some of her friends changed even after their first battle. And as Witz talked about the POW's she gave a sigh, "It may be a strain on our resources, but I would prefer a cell to a bullet if I were in their position wouldn't you. And at least it's three meals a cot and some walls to protect us from the other groups." Sarah commented before turning to the new comer. "Guessing your one of the crew from the Sundown then, the name is Sarah Cross private with the UNE." She said to Jack moving to shake his hand. "Now tell me, did you serve with Gabriel at all while he was on your ship? And do you have any better information than what Mariemaia's group can provide about his final battle for the Sundown?" She asked shooting straight to the question not knowing what if any information this Jack fellow could provide.

--U.C. 0089.07.13--

BGM: Leslie Fish - Space Hero

"Moon Moon?"
"Yeah, just imagine it!"
Walter put an arm around the older man's shoulder, a tumbler of caramel-colored liquor in the other.
"Out there, somewhere in this big ol' field of tin cans, there's a paradise brimming with untapped reserves of fresh pussy!"
"Pussy! Pussy!", a silver haro chirped from the end of the bar.

The older man sighed and massaged his temple.

"...And you really believe such a place exists?"
"I don't just think, pops. I know. Take a look."

Walter reached into his back pocket and pulled out a mangled slip of paper, the logo of the Colony Public Corporation printed proudly along the header. He smoothed it out and slapped it down on the countertop for all to see.

"...I'm not following.", the man known as Pops replied.
"Right here.", Walter said, jabbing a finger towards a line near the lower margin, "It's a listing for Side 2. Notice anything?"
"...An extra colony?"
"Exactly. An Island 1 colony was comissioned for it some eighty years ago. The shuttle bringing it went off-course when it left orbit due to a calculation error. The colony- still intact- drifted off into the far reaches of the solar system, thought to be lost forever. Roland's got the trajectory of the original ship- all we need's to get there."
"So how do I figure in here?"
"Well, see, these coordinates- they go right through L1."
"Raider territory."
"Bingo. Me an' Roland might be able to fly the Manatee well enough, but she just don't got the firepower. I'm lookin' for some boys to get me there. Anythin' we find- guns, money, women- we split it even, no catch. It'll be an adventure. Whaddaya say?"

Pops drained his mug, and signaled for the bartender to pour him another.

"I just don't know, Walter. I'm not as young as I used to be- why not ask those Neo Zeon boys? They seemed pretty gung-ho."
"And leave the goddamn Devil Ray to drink his life away in some no-name bar?"
"That was ten years ago, kid. I'm burned out."
"And there's nothin' I can convince you with?"
"I'm afraid not."
"Well, what if..."

--3 hours later--

"-FINE, FUCK YOU GUYS! PIECE OF SHIT FUCKIN' SPACERS THINK THEY'RE TOO GOOD FOR MY SHIP!", Walter shouted as he stumbled out of the bar, "WELL FUCK YOU, I DON'T NEED ANYMORE A' YER GODDAMN FANCY SPACE HOOCH ANYWAY! I'LL- I'LL JUST DRINK MY OWN DAMN BOOZE!"

Walter slipped a hip flask out of his pocket and took a swig of cheap scotch, spilling most of it across his shirt. He seemed to think this proved some sort of point he had made.

"I'LL SHOW YOU, YOU DRIED-OUT OL' GEEZER! I'LL FIND MOON MOON ON MY OWN! JUS' ME AN' ROLAND! YOU THINK I'M AFRAID OF CIMA'S BOYS? THIS MAN- I AIN'T 'FRAID 'A NOTHIN'! C'MON ROLAND, GETCHER ROUND ASS OVER HERE!"
"Too drunk! Too drunk!"
"I'S SOBER 'NUFF TA-"

Walter paused, belched, and puked into a nearby gutter. Leaning heavily against the wall, he dragged himself to the port, mumbling all the way.

"Fuckin' old farts... Some Zeon pride that is... I'll show em all, just you see..."

Haro under arm, he tripped through the boarding hatch of the Manatee, faceplanting. With a groan, he crawled across the floor and climbed into the navigator's seat, noting a garbled distress signal. Looked like the station hadn't picked it up- no real surprise, considering radio transmissions were often scrambled beyond recognition by Minovsky interference. Well, it wasn't like he'd found any recruits here- maybe these poor bastards would be more inclined to listen. Seating Roland into the helm, Walter set a detour for the distress signal, slumped forward, and cruised out of port.

About an hour later, Walter was shaken out of his comfortable daze by flashing red lights and the blare of klaxons, followed by a high-pitched "BRACE! BRACE!" from his copilot. Darkness crept into his vision as the crash harness pulled tighter. His stomach turned over. It felt like his eyes were going to pop out of their sockets.

Walter passed out.

----------

He awoke some time later with a hangover hard and heavy enough to lay low the creator himself. Bleary-eyed, he pawed around the console until his hand wrapped around a small plastic bottle taped to the dash. Opening it, he swallowed a couple of painkillers and washed them down with the flask. He unbuckled his crash harness and looked around. Viewports completely dark. Instrument panel set to atmospheric flight. 1100 feet above sea level, give or take a bit. Outside cameras had nothing but noise.

"Roland, just what in the hell happened here?"
"Need speaker! Need speaker!", the Haro chirped, laying upside-down in its magnetic harness.
"Right, right. Lemme getcha outta there first."

After a few minutes of fumbling, Walter found the switch to disengage, and his companion rolled to the floor. Walter grabbed an auxiliary jack carelessly soldered into the console panel. Kneeling down, he jammed the other end underneath the robot's wing.

"Alright, buddy. What's our situation?"
"A mountain hit us.", the instrument panel's speakers piped.

Walter pinched his nose.

"Roland. Buddy. I've got a headache that could kill a moose. Now ain't the time."
"I'm serious! One minute we're headed for the signal and the next, boom! There's a mountain!"
"Alright, alright, so pretending for the moment that's not a load a' shit.", Walter replied, "What's our situation look like?"
"Front verniers and all outer cameras totaled, we've got a gash to rival Naliss Zabi's vag along the starboard, we're not picking up anything on feddie or spacer bands, and we're out of scotch."
"Even the cheap stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Motherfucker. Any good news?"
"Our cargo is 71% intact, and from the looks of things your mobile suit is still undamaged."
"I think we can work with that."

--Two Days Later--

Walter swept his hands wide and looked down at his companion.
"So? Whaddaya think?"
"Traded down! Traded down!"
"Hey, don't be like that. There's no way we coulda kept the Manatee in the state she was in. We're just lucky them Vulture boys was willin' to trade one of theirs for ours."

He shaded his eyes, looking over their new ship. A Rocky-class land battleship, they'd called it. Rust-red with long-faded lettering along the side, it had cost them the Manatee and two-thirds of their cargo of Mobile Suit parts. The downsides: For a battleship, the thing was pretty poorly armed, and they sure as shit weren't getting airborne anytime soon. On the upside, it had cupholders.

"Bad deal! Bad deal!"
"I ain't seein' any better ones, buddy. 'Sides, we're just lucky they wanted to make a deal. Now then, first order a' business!"

Walter held up a half-full bottle of what was probably toilet wine the Vultures had left behind and broke it across the side of the ship.

"I hereby christen ye the good ship Manatee II, on account of me being too hungover and worn out to remember what this damn thing was called when I signed the lease. Now, to adventure!"

With that, Walter and Roland climbed aboard.

Ray nodded at the mechanics and Ryo both, planning to stick around and make sure everything went smoothly. Not only was the Zeta Plus quite complex for a mass production machine, so much so it was quickly deemed too expensive and discontinued in the eternal search to save every possible penny, this particular unit was both made up from disparate parts from a number of the line's variants and specifically tuned to his own liking. He wasn't about to let anyone monkey around in it too much without him to supervise, it's why he made sure to keep the machine was always nicely locked and its safety features engaged when he wasn't planning on piloting.

He shrugged at Ryo when he mentioned OMNI and their people. He had no real idea what the hell OMNI was, and in fact had only joined up with Mariemaia's group because they didn't shoot at him the minute they met. As far as he could tell, they were essentially a Zeon-type group that took over the Earth after a wide-scale disarmament brought about by a large-scale war, exactly the kind of shits that made peace impossible. "Well, I don't know what OMNI is or why I should care here of all places, but I do plan to stick around for work on the Plus so I guess we think alike there. Gotta keep the younguns in line".

Of course, talk of a child pilot didn't sit well with him, but coming from Universal Century it was not at all surprising. "As for the child pilot, well, that just ain't..." he was interrupted by the newcomer, a blonde man who seemed particularly excited about the Plus for some reason and who Ray inferred was one of the newcomers. "Lookin at him kiddo, and damn straight it's a beauty. Zeta Plus series, been in service for close to a decade and two major wars now and never been better. The name's Ray, and you are?"

"You're in the wrong place kid. The hanger is in the other direction. Besides we're the only ones here right now." Witz grumbled at Jack as he turned around in his chair to give him a dirty distrustful look. He looked over to Sarah and grumbled. "Alright I guess we'll play nice I suppose." Witz said exasperated at his comrade's comments and the fact that he now would need to sustain a conversation with the new comer."I think he served with him. If memory serves right he was with the crew the day that Gabriel guy vanished or got KIA. Any idea on what happened to him?" Witz asked more to reinforce Sarah's statement more than anything.

===

"Oh so we got a big shot in here huh?" Graham said clearly joking as he walked up closer to the machine and looked it over close after Ray mentioned it was serving for about a decade or so now. He looked it over eye balling the machine and he was silent for a moment. However the more Graham looked over it the more he smiled and nodded his head. Before Ryo could ask him to leave the machine alone Graham spoke up once more back at Ray. "This machine's seen some combat hasn't it? It's a beautiful piece of work. I have a similar machine. Not as advanced as this one but same concept. It's called a Flag. It has a jet mode, and a mobile suit mode. It may not look like much when compared to the Gundams around here but I'll be damned if I wouldn't want to pilot anything else. It's a pleasure too meet your acquaintance good sir. I'd shake you hand but I'm afraid my arms don't reach up there. My name is Graham Aker ace pilot from the Union, and currently a associate of OMNI Enforcer. Tell me have you met any interesting characters when fighting out there? I've been on the look out for good challengers! If I'm going to be here I may as well test myself against challengers I'd never meet otherwise. You get what I mean right?" Graham said as he saluted Ray and Ryo. Ryo looked down at the man and shook his head. "Told you he was a blowhard. All he does is ask people that around here. Looks like you may be stuck with him." Ryo mumbled so Graham couldn't hear him but loud enough for Rayburn to hear him. He clearly wasn't very happy about having Graham in the hanger.

====

"...So after looking through all the possible scenarios a front on assault of the city would be the best option wouldn't it? We can reinforce and retreat as we please. However as you advise we should go through this as quick as possible. The more destruction we cause the more trouble we will have securing the area. Destruction and debris may ruin any possible supplies we can gather from the area. Graham Aker, Witz Sou, and Donna will provide the support to needed troops. Granted if we advanced through the north to the south we only need to focus on one point so they will be able to be held back until something shows up. Lyons, Care, and your men will lead the assault's main forces. The rest of our aces should be charged to hold and capture areas that the main force has held." Jason stated as he leaned over the holographic table. Mariemaia sat in a chair nearby as Kenta stood there silently adjusting his mask. "I agree with that statement though I believe we should put Sarah, and your pilot Stella in the assault force as well. We need more men on the offensive not just out top suits. Since I will be held in charge of defense of our base here I will be unable to provide support in my Subjugated. Still with me here no one should be able to take this place." Kenta stated coldly as he looked over the data they found. Zaku. Mostly Zaku anyway there were a few other suits here and there but this was a ZAFT unit through and through. "What about possible enemy reserve forces? We need to prepare for them too arrive. No doubt they have allies. People have been here way too long for alliances not to be formed by most factions. Statements say another unknown force is located directly west. They have a gundam type with them. It's an outdated piece of trash though compared to what we have." Mariemaia stated boredly tapping on her chair. Jason, Kenta, and Mariemaia had been going over a battle plan. For the past half hour they've been going at it. Mariemaia was more cautious, Jason argued in favor of a balanced offensive, and Kenta planned to destroy everyone in a grand offensive. "Fair point Miss Mariemaia. Don't worry we'll have too relocate our allied soldiers for that but we'll be fine. Who should be on the defensive?" Kenta asked Jason. "Jack, and Puru. They're not great for our main offensive unit but Puru, and Jack are capable of holding their own. Besides we've been retrofitting Duel with the captured Duel's extra armor. It's heavier than before but has more protection." Jason stated plainly as Paul, and SIGMA Leader stayed out of the conversation for the most part. However Paul spoke up for this. "I can handle the offensive just make sure i'm not cut off. I'll need a constant need for reinforcements. We're lacking in the manpower department." Paul stated as Mariemaia chuckled. "Aren't we all? All the more reason to crush them before they get settled too far into the city. We'll need more men but we'll make do with what we have now. Besides we have a ton of ace pilots and multiple gundams. They'll be dead before they know it. Still we can't rush off too quickly or we'll make dumb mistakes. When I took over Earth I nearly lost everything when I had my men surround Duo Maxwell. One pilot can make a big difference."

Jack grimaced when they asked where Gabriel was, though moreso because it it was the one loss the crew had all felt more than anything. With a sigh, he started in on the tale. "The truth, Sarah, is that we haven't the slightest clue what happened to Gabriel. Everything I saw was post battle, being engaged elsewhere at the time. We did manage to recover what was left of his suit, but the cockpit was empty. Personally, I think he ejected before his opponent caused fatal damage to his suit or him." He leaned against a wall nearby.

"But that's also entirely a theory. He hasn't tried to reestablish contact, but that could be for a number of reasons."

The news Jack gave was indeed different then what she had heard from Mariemaia's group. The thought her brother could still be alive gave her a bit of hope, but she tried not to let it show. "Well that is a bit of good news maybe we will run into him sometime." She responded looking down at her ball for a bit. After a moment of silence she looked up trying to change the subject. "So Witz, you have an Airmaster right? How did you end up finding that. From what information I have been able to piece together they seem pretty rare after the Colonies fall." She asked, mainly trying to figure out how specialized military hardware could fall into civilian hands even after such a disaster. Or even how it would have survived so long.

TRANSCRIPT OF SHIP'S LOG

LOG 1.1
"This is Captain Van Owen, the date... I'm not sure, so we'll go with day 1. We've been driving for about six hours now and to be frank everything looks like bullshit from where I'm standing. The terrain's... It's this featureless, perfectly flat plane- mostly grey, but there's some brown and red in there, too. Sensors and visuals are all clear, but only out to a distance of about two kilometers. Past that there's this weird sort of... fog, or mist, or something that keeps us from seeing past the immediate area. We've spotted a few mountains, but otherwise no landmarks.

LOG 1.2
"So, good news, turns out the fog don't block radio- we've been receiving transmissions on the shortwave since we turned it on about an hour ago. The bad news: People in this... Country? Planet?
"I'd say planet."
"People on this planet seem to use it exclusively to talk shit. I've been listening to a guy scream about how much he loves- but also wants to kill- the Gundam for a good twenty minutes now. Now, I can't see this man, but I can tell ya with absolute confidence he's got himself a raging boner. Van Owen out."

LOG 2.1
"So shit just got real spooky all of a sudden. One minute, we're cresting a hill- the next, we're in Sydney. Like, the Sydney, with the opera house. The one they dropped the colony on. The colony's here too, actually. Up in the sky. It's just kinda... Hangin' there, like it's waiting for somethin'. There's more hills on all sides- maybe hill's is the wrong word. It's more like we're in one a' them, whaddaya call it- calderas. Like a big bowl. Anyway, we're getting the hell outta here."

LOG 3.1
"We tried our luck with another one of those craters- we're calling them craters now- and now we're on some kinda island. There's a pair of Gundam-types 'bout one-point-two kilometers to the South here, they're fighting a pair of... Giant, mechanical snakes. The snakes are also Gundams. They're making some kinda pose... How'd they do that? Roland, geddover here! An' bring the popcorn!"

LOG 3.2
"Them karate boys told us we couldn't salvage nothin', since we'd get cancer. I tried to sell 'em some parts, but they told me they had somethin' called a 'Mobile Trace' and it was better 'n anything I got on me."

LOG 4.1
"Another crater today. A city, this time. Place looks deserted- there's a few mechs here and there, green ones with camera heads- might be worth something stripped, not sure. They look pretty top-heavy compared to- oh, hold on, we're getting movement to the East of us. Not seein' a heat signature, so I don't think it's hovering. Gonna try hailing him over comms and see if he's willin' to talk."

END TRANSCRIPT

The abandoned city in the crater
Bruin had parked the Gouf outside, beginning his latest scavenging, looking at a road sign for some evidence of his location. He couldn't remember any city called Truth Or Consequences in Zeon territory. He must be farther out than he thought.

This grocery store was the twelfth store he'd raided today- a few electronics stores for spare parts for the leg cybernetics, drugstores for painkillers, aspirin, booze, and cigarettes. He'd also raided a bookstore. Shortly after, he made two disturbing discoveries: the first, the bookstore didn't stock Monkey Punch. The second, it had enough dirty mags in stock that he had to use several crates to get them back to the Gouf. Obviously, he dared not try anything using the girly mags. His cybernetics would rip him to pieces.

Just one more thing Rommel ruined for me, he thought as he tossed a shopping cart through the glass doors. Stepping through, he righted the cart and made his way around the aisles. Scooping canned and preserved foods into the cart, he grabbed the cash registers as well, just in case.
---
Bruin sat, chewing on some meat still on the bone. There were perishables in the store- fruits and meats of all kinds. Most of which were probably from Earth. Those would be the first things to eat, obviously. He needed the vitamins if he was going to survive out here.

We're talking away
I don't know what

Thankfully, the store sold charcoal and matches. Bruin was able to build a fire and cook some of the meat. It was the best meal he'd had in weeks, and the warmest he'd been.

I'm to say I'll say it anyway
Today's another day to find you

Plenty of bottled water. No telling how long it would last. He needed to find a base camp, and soon. Preferably one with watershed access. An abandoned city like this might have a river if he was lucky. One he could follow to civilization.

Shying away
I'll be coming for your love, okay?

He could swear he heard a familiar song. Probably a hallucination, though. Aside from the green robots, there didn't seem to be a lot going on in this city. Let alone the greatest vintage hit from A-Ha.

Take on me, (take on me)
Take me on, (take on me)

A realization dawned on him.

"That's the comms. Sweet mother Mary, that's the comms!" he shouted, running to the crouching Gouf's cockpit and scrambling to activate the receiver.

I'll be gone in a d-

"Yes! Hello, is someone there? This is Bruin Bellenheim- I'm lost in a city named... Truth Or Consequences? I'm the only one here, it seems. Do you require supplies or assistance?"

Bruin tightly held the mic, for once overcome with a sensation that wasn't burnt nerve endings and twitchy cybernetics. There was no telling whether or not this person would be friendly. But between the isolation and bland desert land surrounding him, he figured anyone in this hellscape would be in need of goods and services. If not, most crews would gladly trade the girly mags for information.

Ray wasn't too sure about whether he liked this Graham Aker or considered him a bit of an idiot. Then again those things weren't mutually exclusive, he could just be a likeable goof. He could definitely understand why Ryo disliked him though, he seemed the type to buy too much into the warrior ethos crap that was often sold to soldiers. "Talking to the wrong guy about that. Me, I focus on keeping myself and my people safe, war isn't a sport or a game", he said, finally stepping up to Graham to shake his hand. "Give it time and you'll get there. Can't say I've seen anyone or anything special though, whole lot of nothing".

"Moving on to something we can agree on, flying models are the future my friend. Just as long as the higher ups are willing to invest in them you get stuff like this baby" he gestured towards his Zeta Plus, which was completely unnecessary but it was kind of like the owner of an expensive car showing it off to friends who can't quite afford it. "Stick with your uh, Flag you called it? and have it worked on, upgrade it, I've seen 17 year old machines truck on with enough effort". It was then that Ray finally remembered there were actually important things to discuss. "And uh, what exactly is OMNI anyway? And what's this I hear about fielding children?".

Witz merely shrugged his shoulders he really couldn't say one way, or another if he was telling the truth or if he and those OMNI dudes really just left him in a ditch. "It's a sad fact that you lost a guy, one that one of our people knows at that, but this whole place is hostile. Not unlike to world me and Sarah both come from. I don't know what kind of place you originated from but our world was war torn and nuts. I'm not fond of the politics here though. Especially since I'm just a guy from Vulture." Witz commented as he looked at Sarah and scratched his head. "Airmaster? I don't remember to be perfectly honest. Oh wait yeah I got it from working with a guy called Jamil Neate. He worked for a group I was in and he gave the thing too me for being a good pilot. Got done some real work for those guys. Don't know if I'm all that special really compared too some of you but I can hold my own." Witz informed Sarah.

====

"Yeah I guess you got a point but up until recently I haven't seen to much in the way of actual war. I come from an era where three big nations on Earth were at a stalemate. Kind of boring just sitting on your thumbs all day like that. Listening to people brag about their skills when all you got to do is patrol get's irritating after awhile. I get war is an awful thing, but it's also beautiful when you think about it isn't it? Two clashing wills, or more, out too find out who's the strongest! It's what makes legends and I would like to take on those legends here if I get the chance. Still I wish I could do it without needing to cut through people in mass. Fighting a gundam is one thing but taking on the average Joe in a mass produced suit doesn't leave much to the imagination unless Joe happens to be pretty good in that suit. Still if people like Puru are fighting I want to help protect those kids. They shouldn't be out here." Graham explained as he leaned up against Ray's suit and looked down at the floor but he rose his voice to compensate for it.

"Yeah girls like our Elpeo Puru are being used as child soldiers by some factions. OMNI is a military organization apparently from what I gathered they're an alliance formed across the whole world with some big backing nations. They don't control all of it but they have a lot. I once fought against those Zeon soldiers, specifically a guy called Glemy Toto, who was trying to force Puru to join him. I didn't like that so I took her out.""He followed us an tried to attack and kill me and take Puru who was adamantly against joining Glemy. OMNI showed up with their allies and took them out. So far we've fought three separate ZAFT, and Zeon factions. Puru volunteered to help OMNI in her mobile suit in exchange for help finding her friend Judau whom she seems to like a lot. Probably a kid around her age. If I were a gambling man...well more of an actual gambling man...I'd bet on there being more of these kids around this world fighting people like us. It's not a pleasant thought but kids like Puru have some sort of sixth sense that makes them damned near insanely powerful pilots. They can react quicker, and control odd weapons like things called funnels. That's about all I know really." Graham said with a frown as he looked down at his feet not exactly pleased with explaining there were kids out there killing each other. On the other hand...the pilot of Exia the one called Setsuna...even if it was a kid like him piloting if he or she could provide Graham the same feeling. Maybe it was worth the chance to actually fight them.

The following days were not very good for Donna. Exhaustion from this deployment finally got her. She has found herself often almost dozing off, and she's lucky that this hasn't killed anyone yet. Other than her usual duties, she has been called for last rites again among the religious soldiers and being closer to death has made her mental situation worse.

Today has finally reached a new level as she found herself late to her duties. Only barely hearing what she's supposed to be doing she was in her work uniform, running to the hangar with a loaf of bread on her mouth. "Thank God this isn't Berlin." She thought. "But what if this place get me scolded further than ever?" The Gundam pilot shook her head in embarrassment.

As Graham took clear delight in flapping his gums, producing a surprising amount of words for what could've been answered in much shorter phrases, Ray actually gave a knowing look to Ryo the mechanic. Oh yes, he got why the man was seen as bothersome around the base. Still, as an out of place man in a strange land the information was quite welcome. Oh man, Zeon and newtypes. Always Zeon and always newtypes, even here, wherever this was. He just had to chuckle at it all. It would've been funnier if he hadn't spent a lifetime shooting at and getting shot by Zeon and seeing or hearing about disasters involving newtype experiments.

"Oooh boy, Zeon. Got some history with them I do. Have fought them almost exclusively for most of my life in fact, they never give up, ever. Every few years it's a new uprising". He shook his head and just had to laugh some more, a rather bitter and tired laugh. "You'll get your thrills with them, kid. Suicidal zealots with a love for overinvesting in high performance machines unfeasible for mass production. As for the sixth sense thing, we called them newtypes, a new step in human evolution somehow created by living in space. Load of hokey to me, just a bunch of unbalanced loons that bleed like anyone else".