---UC 257, January 3rd, Side 3---

A large podium stood in front of the Zeon Zum Deikun Memorium. People had flocked in droves as Crimson Hold, the leader of this new Zeon faction had staged a Rally.

"Spacenoids... We are at war. It is an old war, a war that has raged for over 250 years now. A war between the Earth and those who shed her bonds. Many have arisen. Warlords, Tyrants, Politicians, Terrorists..." He turned to look at the Statue "Visionaries... Today, i am sad to say that i must play a role that no-one wishes to play. I am the revolutionary that must revive Zeon, once again. I know, this grave has been desecrated MANY times. So, my anger towards the Federation should be of no surprise. Not that I have revived Zeon in order to reconquer Space for the Spacenoids, but because they forced me to make such a dull and predictably repetative move. "The Revival of the great Principality of Zeon." One might call this the "Pawns Defense" of "How to start a war in the Universal Century." The name inspires fear and awe. To some of you, it inspires images of great Zaku's rolling over Federation tanks. Of the Red Comet and White Devil trading Beam-saber clashes at Jaburo, A Baoa Qu and Texas Colony. To others, it may represent the cruelty of the Zabi family, of the colony's dropped on Sydney and Dublin, the madness of Char Aznable and his attempt to drop Axis. To me, it represents the ideals of Zeon Zum Deikun; of his love for humanity and his wishing for them to move into outer space."

"I am not a politician, i am not a dictator, despite what the Federations propaganda would have you believe. I am simply a man who has grown sick and tired of those on Earth continuing to live on and pollute our beautiful cradle, to pass laws that benefit only those on earth and laws that are to the detriment of only the colonists. With your help, your support, we will be able to go to war with the Federation and force them to leave Earth so that she can recover and our childrens children will be able to enjoy her beauty. To make them understand what it is like to live in Space and why their uncaringness towards us cannot continue. Who knows, maybe it will lead us to accelerate our plans as we, the human race, begin to move forward with the colonization of Mars, Jupiter and the other heavenly bodies. Maybe in 100 billion years, when our sun goes Supernova, our decendants will look back on us and say "It is still the most beautiful planet, I am glad our ancestors were able to enjoy it."

"We are not going to make the same mistakes of Past Zeon's. Under the Zabi's, Haman Karn, Char Aznable, Edric Deikun and Prathacun Toto. We will fight this war with conventional weapons. Nothing so underhanded as Operation British. We will fight with Mobile Suits, with Warships and we will fight their armies, not their civilians. Because this war will be for you, the people. That is why i will come onto my next point. There will be no "Hail Zeons" Because Zeon is nothing without its people. Instead, i hail to you. I lead you because i am the manifestation of your wishes and your wants." He steps out from behind the bullet proof in front of his podium. "And finally, we will differ for the main reason that counts." He pulls out a gun and fires a shot into the air. "Do not be alarmed. I merely wish to show you that this gun is real. There has always been a divide between the Rulers and the Citizens of the governments, be they Earthling or Spacenoid, so i issue this to you. Anyone that does not wish for me to go through with this, this gun is loaded and i will hand it over to any of you that wishes to "Stop my evil plan" My guards have been ordered to not interfere and i promise now, whoever chooses to do so will not receive any punishment." He looks around at the crowd. "Come on, i'm deadly serious. The price of Peace is at an all-time low. Less than a bag of bread. Whoever does go through with this, you will be labelled a hero. You stopped a war by a despot that will kill millions of people... Not a man here will punish you. Not a man here CAN punish you, because your punishment will be more severe than any court can possibly give down. You will lay awake at night and ask "What if he was right? What if we could have done it... What if i ended any and all hope for the freedom of Spacenoids?" Because, dear people, i promise you, i will not be the last. I will not be the last person to dig up the name of Zeon Deikun, but i am the only one to take up his name with honest and true intentions. The next despot may be a power hungry lunatic that drops another colony on Earth, a madman like Jamitov Hymen who gasses any colony that refuses to follow him. You need to look around and ask yourself. "Do i wish to follow him?" Well, do you? If not, then please," He put the gun to his own temple "Put me out of my misery now, because if the Spacenoids will not follow, then we have failed before we have started." He looked around the rally, there was an eerie silence. A crowd full of resolute faces that said they were behind him all the way. "Thank you, people of Side 3. We need to stand together. We need to rise up whilst we have the chance to do it with morals. We need to rise up whilst we have the chance to do it with Integrity! We need to rise up so that our children and our childrens children do not have to. HAIL TO THE PEOPLE! HAIL TO THE PEOPLE! HAIL TO THE PEOPLE!" The cheering echoed throughout the colony as, once again, the long since scrapped hull of the Principality of Zeon began to stir with life, to come out of its hybernation to, once again, wage war on the Earth Federation.

---UC 257, March 20th. ZSW A Baoa Qu - Gwadan Class---

Crimson Hold, the leader of this new Zeon faction stood at the head of the war room. "Soldiers of Zeon... Until now, our forces have been making paultry hit-and-run raids against the Federation. Consolidating our forces, preventing the bulk of the Federations military from getting into space. We knew this would happen when we signed up for it, but today, playing defense ends. We take the fight to them." A schematic appeared on the board behind him "Advent Colony. Side 7, an uneventful place, except for this:" A poster came up on the screen, advertising an Air-Show, where, for the first time, the Gundams from the "Amuro Ray Memorial Museum" were going to be flying and taking part in mock battles. "The Gundams are the Federations most prized possessions, they are a symbol of power... But, Amuro Ray was a Spacenoid, he faught against the Federation on many occassions, i believe that the Gundams should serve as a symbol of Spacenoid freedom, not Federation Might. We have a number of spies already infiltrating the air-show. They will take control of the Gundams and use them to take control of one of the colony's entrances. Now, those Gundams won't have any ammunition for their weapons, with the exception of their Beam-Sabers, so don't expect fire-support from them. As soon as we have control of one of the colony's entrances, our Mobile Suits will invade the colony and, with any luck, force a surrender quickly and with as little loss of life as possible." The next slide showed the list of equipment.

"Missile launchers, Vulkans and Beam Sabers only on this one, no Beam rifles, we don't want to risk puncturing the colony itself." He said. "Now, our main risks on this operation will be local stationed garrisons, maybe a handful of old Jegans and GM's. Not too much of a threat, according to our intel, rookie pilots and outdated equipment, but our main concern is rumours that the Excaliber Battlegroup may be lurking in the area. This is why we need to take control of Advent quickly, if we can take control and get the A Baoa Qu inside, they will have no choice but to retreat or risk destroying the colony. As much as we all like to buy into the propaganda, i seriously doubt that they will be willing to take such a risk. The only other risk is this area." A small block of the colony diagram started to glow "Sector 78, we have detected some rather weak spots in the colony's superstructure and believe that even a stray vulcan shot in the area could pose an immense risks. No firing in that area, no chasing enemy suits into that area, no fleeing into that area." He said with a look that could melt steel. He wasn't joking around with that statement. "I want all pilots to their suits and prepare for launch, Sortie in 30 minutes." He saluted to his men "Captain Cadogan, i leave them in your capable hands" He said to the Newtype pilot, before meeting with the captain of the ship, Captain Cromwell, at the door and they began to walk away.

"So, today we're really going to take it to 'em. I hear Excaliber is in the area." Said the Captain.

"He is and that Gundam of his is going to be a pain in my ass, but according to all of the simulations we ran based on its combat data, and what i remember, NuSazabi is more than a match for it."

"Well, make sure to keep it away from my ship, she's not good at taking hits from mega particle cannons." Cromwell laughed. "I still can't believe it, though... 20 years is a long time..."

"Yes, now look at us, I'm leader of the free world and you're under me now. The Federation sowed these seeds 20 years ago. Now, they have sprouted into new battles."

Lin, meanwhile, was in a briefing room on Side 7. She tapped her foot rhythmically on the floor, looking annoyed and impatient. The officer she was scheduled to meet was running late by nearly an hour. Luckily, she didn't have to wait much longer. A rather flustered and green looking officer rushed into the room and sputtered out myriad apologies. Lin, for her part, just gave him a polite smile. "Get to the mission. I have been in your shoes before."

He gave an enthusiastic nod. Lin figured this was his first real assignment since school. Just about every soldier here is green enough to photosynthesize. The officer gave a quick mission rundown. "S-so Miss Einsamkeit, the mission is s-simple. You are to g-guard the area and not interfere unless something h-happens." His shakiness and nervous stuttering seemed to dissipate when he realized she wasn't the usual gruff and angry merc. The look on his face was a confusing mess of relief and happiness. "It is security duty. We don't expect anything, but we must maintain a presence in case of incident."

Lin nodded and checked her recon notes, giving the pad a tap to emphasize it. "Preliminary recon notes multiple entrances of note. I would like you to take a copy to the CO and mention that they are likely points of attempted entry by any hostile force or person. I will be guarding here." She pointed to an entrance overlooking the main exhibition area. "I will be on the balcony. Command has decided to give me any ballistic weapons, so I am not extremely worried about the colony's integrity. If anything happens with beam weapons, we must be careful to keep the civilians in check and get them out before decompression."

The officer looked moderately impressed that Lin seemed to have a handle on the situation. However, he had nothing to add so silently took the pad from her and scuttled out. Lin left the briefing room and made her way to the main area. There, Einsamkeit, her personally modified beauty, stood as a silent sentinel. She quickly entered the cockpit, grabbed a snack and drink, then had her afternoon meal. Following that, she posted up at the requisite entrance and set one of her recon funnels outside the entrance to give advance warning. Her comms lit up with a much higher ranking officer calling. She popped on her headset, giving a casual greeting. "Einsamkeit, I'm eating and wwaiting, so what is the problem?" The officer simply ran over the data she gave, though he gave a gruff and condescending snort at two of her points. "What do you call...this assessment about Sector 78? And what about this shit with posting up at every entrance? We are not at war, merc. We are just here for show and--"

Lin cut him off there. "Sector 78 hasn't had repair crews in it for nearly a decade and the structure is weak. Even ballistics can break that. And remember, you hired me. I do not half-ass my job. You will get the most thorough damn reports I can give. We may be here for show, but that does not entitle us to sloppy work. I will hold my position and you will be responsible for the other positions. If anything happens, your ass is on the line and the check still clears for me. Got it? I am the scout, you are the officer. Act like it." The officer sputtered out a few expletives and cut the call, but she knew that any higher ups compared to him would be unlikely to take his side. She was, after all, on their payroll often and did effective work.

She hooked her headset back onto the holder and stretched out, checking her suit and putting on her helmet. She then set up in her pilot seat, opening up her mind and connecting up into the system. The images of the exhibition area came into her mind and her suit statuses appeared alongside the sensor views. "Alright, twenty minutes till party time. Let's get this equipment ready." Her suit's manipulators wiggled in standard testing, then reached down to grab the MS sniper rifle and Rocket launcher. The launcher went on her back mount, the rifle on her lower back. She then grabbed the large machine gun. "As much as I hate these weapons, I can't risk innocent lives in a firefight. I hope there isn't any problem. I like it when things are quiet."

Gregory was in Hogs Heaven. The relics of wars past stood all around him. The stadium that the exhibition was taking place in was one of the largest in the earth-sphere, with the Amuro Ray memorial museum attached to the back of it. Advent was the only space colony to ever host the Olympic Games. The ZZ Gundam stood to attention at one end of the field, whilst other gundams stood around it. Through the large doors, other Gundams were being slowly marched by the staff of the museum. He walked around with a big grin on his face, taking photo's with his 3 Haro's. "Hey, Red, get a good one with me and the ZZ." He called as he finally got to the front of the que to get their pictures taken. The little robots mouth opened and a camera popped out, He picked up the other 2 Haro's and held them up. There was a click and he put them back down. He was shooed away as other people came to get their pictures taken. He continued to walk.

"AMURO! AMURO!" The green Haro chirped as a child approached it. He had already programmed the names of the Whitebase crew into his Haro's, so it came as no shock to him, but the child looked utterly shocked.

"IS THAT THE REAL ONE?!?!?" The child screached.

"Yup, found him on a trip to Earth." He lied. "I stole it from the Museum in Odessa."

"MUMMYYYY!" He ran off screaming. "MUMMY, ITS THE REAL HARO, CAN I HAVE A PICTURE?!?!?" Greg grinned as he had made someone happy.

"GREG, YOU LIE! GREG, YOU LIE!" Chirped the blue one.

"Yeah, but it keeps the kids happy." He replied to it. The childs mother saw straight through it and took the child by the hand, leading him to the rest of the family, much to the childs protest. "Well, you win some you lose some." He sighed.

"YOU LOSE A LOT." Red chirped.

"Thank you, spam-can." Greg frowned. "Remind me to take the lump hammer to you when we get home.

"REMINDER SET!" It responded. At that point, Greg noticed one of the more advanced Haro's that belonged to the museum floating around. He approached it.

"Excuse me, do you know when the Zeta Gundam will be out? It's one of my favourites." The Haro looked at him.

"The current time is 12:13pm, the Zeta is due to come onto the field at 1:00. The re-enactments involving the Zeta Gundam today are as follows: Zeta vs ZZ, 2:00. Zeta vs MKII, 3:00. Gundam Vs Zeta. 4:00" It said in a much more natural voice than Gregs primitive Haro's.

"Alright, thanks." He replied. "Come on, guys, let's... Head inside..." He stammered as he began running toward the back of the stadium, where the museum was located. The Haro's rolled after him in single file. As he entered the building, he was passed by a man and a woman in sunglasses. He held the door for them.

"Thanks." One of them mumbled as they entered into the stadium pitch. Greg gave him a strange look, but he held the door as the Haro's rolled through. He followed them into the halls and saw several engineers working on one of the RX-79's. He went through several rooms until he found the Zeta Gundam stood in it's dock. He ran over to the guard who stood next to the rappel up to the cockpit.

"Hey, Martan." He called. Martan smiled.

"Greg. And what harebrained scheme are you up to today?" He asked. Greg reached into his pocket and retreaved a small plastic box.

"I need 5 minutes in the Zeta's Cockpit." He opened the container and showed Martan the contents. "Mum's Raisin and Walnut cookies." Martan looked at them.

"You serious?" He asked.

"Oh come on." Greg huffed, throwing his arms up. "I need this for the next meet. I said i'd get some pictures of the inside of the Zeta's cockpit."

"And if those show up anywhere, then my boss knows you got past me." Martan laughed. He then put a finger on his chin. "Alright, tell you what." He whispered, taking the box of cookies. "I'm going on piss-break. In 5 minutes, i'm throwing you and the bots out into the stadium. Greg put his fist up and Martan pushed his fist into it. Martan walked away, before Greg put his foot into the rappel's harness and grabbed the rope, the Haro's little hands reached out and grabbed on as the 4 were lifted up to the cockpit. Greg had a big, cheesy smile on his face.

"Holy... Moly..." He giggled. "Guys look at it." He exclaimed "Guys, get some pictures." He said, the Haro's opened their mouths and started taking photo's. Greg leaned in and got a photo of him smiling, upside down, in front of the chair. He then turned his head up. He sat down in the pilots seat and pressed a button. The suit's systems came to life. The console flicked up between his legs. "Oh crap..." He gasped. "Quick, guys, get a picture." He then saw the camera's turn on and he could see the outside. Looking down, he saw a woman in sunglasses approach Martan.

"Excuse me, let me through." The woman said.

"Wow, hold your horses, what's going on?" he asked.

"I'm piloting the Zeta today." she said, showing him a card.

"Oh... Ok... Ummm..." Martan laughed as he scratched the back of his head. "Look, cleanup crews are still working on it, can you come back in, like, 5 minutes?" He asked. The woman looked at here watch, before pulling out a silenced pistol and shooting him 3 times in the chest. Gregory's heart stopped dead as he saw his father's friend being cut down like his life had meant nothing to the woman. He didn't know whether to scream for help or remain silent. He daren't say a word for the following moments as the world stopped dead in its tracks.

"NASTY! NASTY!" Blue piped up, immediately, a shot rang out, aimed into the cockpit of the Zeta.

"FUCK, DON'T KILL ME!!!" He screamed, his arms flailing, as if his hands would stop a bullet before it reached his face. He pushed a button and the cockpit closed. "HELP, SOMEONE, MARTAN'S BEEN SHOT!!!" He yelled, before blindly pressing buttons on the console. He hit the intercomm "HELP, SOMEONE!!!" He screamed. The woman cursed as she ran out of the room, she held her wrist to her mouth.

"All units, Code Purple, Civ has taken control of Zeta. Begin operations immediately. Repeat. Begin operation immediately." At that point, on the Stadium Pitch, the Gundams that were on display began to move. Their Verniers roaring to life and they took into the air, there was a murmer of confusion, combined with a hoorah from some of the people in the stands, hoping that the show had started early. The Gundam, 2 Gundam Mk II's (One in AEUG colours, the other in Titan's colours), the ZZ Gundam, and an RX-79 as well as a Dijeh and a Gelgoog in Char's Colours soared into the airspace of the Colony. The ZZ Transformed into flight mode whilst the RX-78 landed atop its frame with the AEUG MKII and they shot off towards the gate.

"Umm... Hello!!" Greg said, pressing the call-button on the Zeta's controls. "Umm... Mayday, mayday, we have a..." He hit his head trying to think of the correct terminology. "2-003 (Hijacking) at The airshow. Ummm... We need a... Crash-cart, at least 1... Fuck it, look, my name is Gregory St James, some psycho bitch just shot my friend. You got to send help. NOW!" He called into the comm.

Captain Cadogan...I still can't get used to that. Rob gave a lax salute to his superior and headed for the holding room. On the way people would stop what they were doing to give him a salute, something that he just found silly. The operation of the ship was more important that some outdated military courtesy. After smiling and waving away some of the formalities he found himself staring out across the hanger that had the assault teams suits in it. There were varying styles of mobile suit but it was his own that his eyes were drawn to.

Based on a very old model known as the Kshatriya, the Mabinogi features much of the same equipment but with modern and updated versions. The agility for such a bulky suit is almost unparalleled but it is it's offensive capabilities that truly make it fearsome. Able to deploy twenty four high powered funnels, six beam sabers, two machine cannons and twelve mega particle cannons mean that there is something for every occassion. In the case of this impending mission however, the majority of it's arsenal was off limit.

The chief engineer approached Robert and gave him a nod. "Captain, the suit is ready whenever you want to get into it." With a smile and a nod Rob responded. "Cheers for the update chief. I'm glad that you're the one whose been looking after my baby." The engineer laughed before tapping Rob on the shoulder and returning to his duties. With the prep on his suit complete Robert moved to a nearby communicator and began to speak over the ships communications. "This is Captain Cadogan. All suit pilots to the hangar and prepare for deployment. Let's go and say hello to the Federation. Cadogan out."

Aster Roman sat in his quarters aboard the Excalibur, he had a place to stay here on the Advent colony but he preferred to stay here with his ship and as close to the Wing Zero as he could manage. He was taking extra care to listen to all the radio chatter surrounding the event preparations and nothing really seemed to be happening. He was curious why. These were all prime targets and if Fukushu Zeon could take them out then there would be no real way for the federation to fight back. Sure they had enough firepower but when it came to mobile suits the GM series may not be enough to keep up with all of the Zeon Mobile Suits. Chuckling to himself he stood and left his quarters bringing with him a small datapad to look things over with. Finding himself in the Hangar of the Excalibur he looked out to see the whole Excalibur squadron including his very own Wing Zero. That's when alarms blared and a younger voice came over the radio.
"Umm... Hello!!" the voice said sounding nervous, "Umm... Mayday, mayday, we have a..." He continued getting anxious it seemed now nearly frantic, "2-003 (Hijacking) at The airshow. Ummm... We need a... Crash-cart, at least 1... Fuck it, look, my name is Gregory St James, some psycho bitch just shot my friend. You got to send help. NOW!" He called out.
"Alright Excalibur Squad mount up and make sure we get some medics to the show." he began running for his normal suit and throwing it on. "Let's go, men, I wanna see those mobile suits fired up in no more than three minutes!" he shouted leaping into the cockpit of the Wing Zero and watching the door close behind him and the UI come to life. Soon the all too familiar tug at his mind began and he let the system in. Soon he was shown a wave of possibilities and had to make his mind focus down on one that would lead him to victory and the wave stopped. Moving to the launcher he set the Suits feet on the platform and waited for launch.
"Commander Roman you are cleared for launch." a woman's voice said through his comms.
"Thank you, Miss Iori. Commander Aster Roman, Wing Zero Gundam, Launch!" He said in reply using the thrusters of the suit to launch the suit out into the air around the Excalibur.

---ZSW A Baoa Qu, 20 minutes earlier---

Crimson had arrived and already entered the NuSazabi. The red light appeared on his console to indicate time elapsing "Alright, units, launch. Do not approach the colony in formation, their outdated sensors may mistake us for just meteors." He ordered. The NuSazabi stomped over to the catapult "Crimson Front, Launching!" He said before the catapult fired him out into the black void. Phase 1 of his plan was coming together. What nobody but him and Cromwell know, was that this wasn't just a mission to capture a colony with the help of some relics of bygone wars, but a rescue mission. "Remember, if you see the Wing Zero, do not engage it. Get close to, or inside of the colony, its main weapon is a pair of heavy particle cannons. A direct hit on the colony will tear it apart, so it won't dare use them. If you engage it, call me and i'll deal with it myself. Zero is powerful, but she's old. From here on in, radio silence. Do not break until i tell you." He said. The suits flew through space. "And to think... It was almost me." He sighed. "Mother, father... I'm doing something very wicked... But the Federation you knew is dead. The only way forward is to tear out the weeds at the root and regrow... Am i trying to convince you or me?" He groaned. No, he was definitely right. Everything the Federation had done, was doing was going to continue to do if he didn't stop them. He NEEDED to do this.

---Advent Colony, Control room---

One man sat at the desk, monitoring the communications going on in the colony. He barely glanced over at the radar, when he noticed 20 blips moving in. He scooted his chair over to the radar and looked at it. Probably a meteor shower... He pushed a few buttons to get of the remote camera's to reposition and have a look. Zooming in, he saw the strange objects. Although they were far too distant for him to confirm what they actually were. As he stared, the communications grid lit up with chatter of the Gundams being stolen, but he didn't notice. He finally got up and walked over to his desk, then, without looking at the monitor, punched in the call to the Colony Leader. "Hey, boss. Got some bogey's coming into view of the colony... Not sure, but we may need to prepare to close the mirrors if they're meteors." He replied. "Alright, i'll get right on that." He finished, before putting it down, he turned back to the monitor to see the comms having lit up like a christmas tree. "Holy hell..." He muttered, pressing several buttons, he got several transmissions. "Hijacking at the air-show?" he asked. He then sighed, probably a prank, but better call it in. He hated pranks like this, it meant more paper work. He then pressed a few more buttons to order police to the area, to either help out or arrest the little bugger that just made his day harder. It was that point that the office shook as he heard a thud. Looking behind him, he looked out of the window to see 3 Gundams floating outside. He waved, whereas the Gundam and ZZ Gundam flew down a tunnel underneath his office towards the docks to force the doors open, the MKII pushed a finger through the window, the man cowered and jumped over his desk, rushing towards the wall as the Gundam pulled the finger out.

"Alright, i want you to unlock all of the security gates to the outside, but do not open them. Comply and you will not be harmed." the voice came through the MKII's speakers. The man, shaking like a leaf in a strong wind, did as he was told, slowly approaching the desk and putting through an override to release access to the main gates. "Good job." The MKII said, before it dropped and began to fly after the other 2.

---The Airshow---

Greg sat at the controls of the Zeta, shaking a lot. He had never seen death before. And now, he was sat here, powerless to do anything whilst his families friend bled to death in front of him. He couldn't even get the cockpit to open. "Come on, we need to get moving." He said, if he could find someone outside, they could help. He had been a member of the under 20's Mobile Suit Club since he was 9 and had had countless hours of piloting the small mobile suits. But this thing was like upgrading from a childs RC car to an F1. The Gundam took a few simple steps to towards the big doors that led outside. "Ok, so far so good." He couldn't see a way through, the Zeta pushed its hand out to push the door open, but it simply went straight through the iron doors. "OOOOOOHHH!!! My bad!" He stammered. The doors fell down and he walked through them to the next room to see the engineers working on the RX-79. "Hello!" He called.

"Wait, who the hell are you? A kid, get out of that thing." the older engineer yelled.

"You have to help, Martan's been shot by some crazy lady that tried to steal the Zeta." He said.

"Yeah, a likely story." The engineer replied. "I'm calling the supervisor." He took out his phone and began dialing. Gregory sighed.

"Alright, well, whilst you mess about, my friend is dying in there. I'm going to go out and make sure nothing else happens." He said, the Engineers began dialing faster, as, as far as they were concerned, the Zeta was being hijacked. The Zeta pushed its way out of the doors and onto the field, Gregory looked around to see the place not as lively as before, with people taking cover in the stands. He could hear the unmistakable sound of battle outside. "Alright, let's see if we can get a bett-" He pushed a a button and the Zeta transformed into it's flight mode and blasted into the sky. "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-" Greg managed to blurt out as he was almost crushed against his seat by the G-forces. He looked down to see the Haro's bouncing around, but also the battle outside of the stadium, where the Dijeh, Gelgoog and RX-79 had just destroyed a trio of GM's that were guarding the event. "Shit..." He groaned.

"POTTY MOUTH! POTTY MOUTH!!!" Red chirped. The 3 Mobile Suits immediately boosted upwards towards him.

"No time for that." He pressed the comm button again. "Mayday, mayday, mayday, this is Zeta Gundam, i am under attack by 3 of the suits from the Museum, i need help." He said. Luckily, he was substantially faster than them, so he quickly lost them. He then looked back to see a White mobile suit approaching them. "Hello, White suit, this is Zeta, can you hear me. Look, i'm just a kid who was messing about with this thing when some psycho bitch shot my friend, can you help me?" He asked. The stolen suits scattered, they knew that their only mission objective was to stay alive. Also, due to the antique nature of the machines, they knew that the security forces would be trying to disable and recapture them. So, giving them the runaround wouldn't be difficult.

---Outside of Advent---

The strike force finally arrived, just as the battleship came into radar-contact with the colony. Crimson smiled, turning on his comms. "All units, break and attack, Gaza-F's get to colony quick, secure a landing for the Geara-Doga's" He ordered. The Gaza-F wings immediately transformed and shot towards the colony.

Inside, the Gundam and ZZ had finally secured an Airlock for the suits to enter. The doors opened and 7 Gaza F suits landed, transforming back. "Alright, that's your part done, where's Zeta?" the Gaza pilot asked.

"She blew it, We got these though and the MKII is on its way. We'll return to A Baoa Qu and get back here with some Gaza's." The ZZ's pilot said. The ZZ transformed and the Gundam climbed on before they blasted off, towards the battleship as it approached. Soon, the rest of the strike-force made it to the hangar.

"Alright," Crimson said. "Nice dock, but the A Baoa Qu won't fit in here. Gaza's, go and secure one of the bulk transport docks. It'll be big enough. The rest of you follow me in and prepare for ground assault, if we can push our way up to the administration levels, we'll be able to force a surrender." He said. "Captain Cadogan, head into the colony and protect the entrances to the docks, buy us the time we need and remember what i said about Sector 78." He ordered.

Lin had dropped down during the commotion to check on things. The Zeta "pilot" managed to barely get way from the other suits but started jabbering to her. She switched to intercom for his benefit while watching the stolen suits leave. "Stay in that suit, get it to cover, keep it safe, and most of all, don't get into fights. I am trusting you to act smart, so let me do the battle and you do the wetwork in your pants." She grabbed her spare shroud and set it up on the Zeta. "I doubt they will use beam weapons beyond sabers, but this will provide some extra protection against that. Now, move!"

Einsamkeit roared into life as it boosted away from Zeta. Her sensors lit up with contacts in the parts of the colony. She assessed the situation, noting that it was not normal for this many to be deployed for a security force. The colony must have been under attack. Her prime objective switched from protecting the arena to protecting the colony. She had to get up to the admin levels and prevent anything from attacking up there. She moved into the smaller halls as she also recalled her recon funnel. Weaving her way through them, she tried to find passable places to move upward towards the proper levels.

Meanwhile, she opened an encrypted comms channel to Federation forces. "This is mercenary unit Einsamkeit. I am moving to the administration levels upon confirmation of extra contacts. Be prepared for an actual fight. I will need support in the admin levels by anyone willing. If we lose this part of the colony, there will be a surrender. Contact Excalibur and brief them on the details. Zeta is not hostile, I repeat, Zeta is not hostile. It has a civilian inside moving it. They were instructed to find cover and lay low. Einsamkeit out."

Greg heard the response from Lin. "I mean, she's right, but she didn't have to say it like that." He sighed. This day was turning out to be thoroughly awful. War had finally come to Advent, Martan was probably dead, he had come close to soiling himself on no less than 3 seperate occasions today... And yet, something was making him feel comfortable. Feel right... Like... He looked down at his hands. "Like i was born to do this..." He breathed.

He looked to the Einsamkeit as it blasted towards the end of the colony where the Admin blocks were. The problem that she would find is that this was by no means a military instilation. The administration blocks were located in the heavily shielded front part of the colony, not in the sealed, open-air environment of the inner colony. As such, there was only 1 real entrance and exit to the admin levels large enough for a ship or a Mobile Suit and most of the enemy forces were now moving to secure it. He looked around to see the forces from the Excalibur, the Federation warship that had landed a few days ago using the Military dock in Sector 75, moving towards the entrance as well... At that point, he saw the Gelgoog bellow him moving towards some of the Civilian sectors. "Dammit, if he gets in, he'll probabaly kill someone..." He grunted. It was time for him to nut-up or shut-up. He pulled the handle above his head to make Zeta reassume suit form, the suit then fell towards the ground, a puff of the thrusters cushioning the landing as he came down ahead of it. He pressed a button that released the beam-saber, the suit responded, the saber popping from the sleeve and into Greg's hand. "Hey, back away from the Civilian Quarters..." He ordered as the saber ignited. He was now shaking, he had no idea how he knew how to operate Zeta, but again, it all just felt natural. Like as he sat there in the chair, Zeta had become an extension of his own body and soul. The Gelgoog reached for it's own twin-saber, igniting both ends of it and slowly backing away. "Good, now, maybe you can get out of that thing and nobody else dies today."

"Wait, you're just some kid..." The Gelgoog responded, now adopting a more aggressive stance. "Look, moron, we're fighting for your freedom too. You're a Spacenoid, we're on the same side." He boosted forwards and clashed their sabers a few times, Greg easily deflecting the blows with his own saber, much to the shock of the Zeon pilot.

"I'm not on your side, just because i was born in space!" He yelled, pushing the Gelgoog back and forcing it to lose its footing a little, before stabilizing itself. "This is my home and you people killed my friend getting those suits. Now get out of it before I kill you. I may be a kid, but i've handled suits like this before." He lied "And your suit is substantially more out of date than mine." He wasn't wrong and the Zeon pilot knew it. He moved back a step. "Get out of the suit. The museum would like it back in one piece." He ordered, before boosting towards him, making them clash another 3 or 4 times, the sounds of Beam-Saber combat echoing through the sectors nearby. The Gelgoogs pilot knew he wasn't getting away from this, the Zeta was a lot faster and maneuverable. But, he had something on his side. He slowly started to step into one of the streets where people were still fleeing to the evacuation shelters. Greg knew if they faught there then people would be killed.

"Alright, kid, keep the suit. But i'm keeping mine. Like you said, no need for either of us to die today." He grunted. The Gelgoog then blasted off down the street, making sure to avoid actively hurting the civilians, but at the same time, keeping low to the ground so that the Zeta couldn't try to engage him. Greg sighed.

"Mom, Dad..." He turned and the Zeta took off into the air, heading for his home.

---Admin-Levels---

Advent Colony wasn't a military instilation, as such, it's defenses were almost completely ineffective. Maybe a few turrets that the well armoured Geara-Doga's just punched through with minimal effort. The NuSazabi walked with the Doga's, it's funnels scouting ahead of them. "Alright, we'll be at the end of the transportation lanes soon, from there, we'll have to proceed on foot." As they reached the end of the corridor, the Geara-Doga's stopped and stood firmly for a few moments. After a minute of standing motionless, the pilots came out with rifles and shock-armour, rappelling down and onto foot. Crimson watched them. "You go, men, i'll protect the suits and cover an escape, should it be necessary." He said. All he saw was his men place an explosive charge on the door leading to the elevators to the administration level. It exploded, then the men fired several warning shots inside, before storming in. Crimson saw an old mobile suit communications panel next to them. He raised the finger of the suit, which pushed inside of it, he then quickly made his way into the colony's comms systems. All over the colony, everyone was hearing the message.

"Attention, citizens of Advent Colony. I am Crimson Hold, leader of Fukushu Zeon. It is with a heavy heart that i inform you that your lives are in danger. Not from us. My men have been given the strictest of orders to not fire upon you. As we speak, marines are heading towards the administrator's office, to bring our take over of this colony to a speedy close. The danger is coming in the form of Federation Mobile Suits that will not accept loss as an alternative and are willing to sacrifice as many of your lives as they deem necessary to keep control of your home. That is why i am issuing, what i believe you will agree to be, a fair agreement. Federation Forces, cease all hostilities and allow us to take control of Advent. If you do, i will allow a 12 hour period for you to gather up your equipment and belongings and move your ship out of Advent's space. You will not be harmed or molested in any way, shape or form. If you do not comply, then my men will hold their ground and you will be forced to do a considerable amount of damaged to the colony and her people in order to dislodge us. In either case, i strongly urge the people to seek shelter whilst you can, the Federation aren't exactly known for their value of Spacenoid life. Are they, Doctor Cassidy?"

Crimson knew he shouldn't have said that last part, but damn if it didn't feel good. Putting the fear of god into a woman that spent a considerable amount of her life putting the fear of god into innocent people. And now, he waited for their response.

Aster made his way as safely through the Advent as he could manage. He had come up behind the Sazabi looking mobile suit just as the message finished. Drawing a beam saber he smiled within his mobile suit. He spoke through the suit's speakers to the pilot.
"I think we may need to have a bit of a meeting about those terms before anyone decides anything," he said igniting the beam saber and leveling it at the enemy suit. "My terms are simple. You leave the Advent after returning the stolen mobile suits. And disband Fukushu Zeon for good." he said before adding. "The Federation has changed in how we operate. I'll even let you leave without any bloodshed. The choice comes down to how much like Char you really want to be."

Lin's efforts to move into the admin block were stifled by the rather bad design of the colony. Not even utility suits could move about well. With a sigh, she doubled back and found herself hidden up in the hold, overseeing the confrontation between Aster and the man called Crimson Hold. Seeing a tactical advantage to set up, she hunkered down and took aim with her machine gun. Opening her comms to Aster, she spoke succintly. "Einsamkeit here, I am above you. What is the situation? I am ready to fire at any moment. I will take the others if you can hold the leader down."

In her cockpit, Lin let out a deep breath and closed her eyes, letting one less sense occupy her mind. The view from above was relatively clear, but the machine gun required far more precision than her beam funnels. She needed to focus. Ok, enemies are positioned evenly beside the leader. He is currently connected to that transmitter. His attacks will be delayed. The others seem to be standard grunts. I'd prefer a surrender, but I can take them without much issue with their old suits.

Crimson had just finished his speech when he got a response from one of the auxilliary tunnels. He was certain that the tunnel wasn't large enough for a Mobile Suit, but he was obviously wrong as something was making its way towards him fast. Turning around, he saw the Wing Zero transform back into suit mode. "Let me guess, used the lower profile of the Neo-Bird mode to get through the tunnels that your other suits couldn't?" he asked, before going to draw the double-ended Beam-Saber. He marched forward a few steps. They were completely surrounded by walls, both above and to the sides, meaning that maneuvering in here would be almost impossible, this entrance shaft was only wide enough for 2 columns of Mobile Suits. Quickly realizing this, he instead ignited the 2 in his shield. "But, let's face facts, your suit is 20 years old. And we both know you can't use it to the fullest extent. She was designed by the Federations military for quite another purpose than what you're using it for. Quite frankly, i'd love to tell you all of her little secrets, but then i'd ruin your surprise when you report back to the top brass and ask how the hell the leader of Fukushu Zeon knows more about a 20 year old project than her damn pilot. And you'll get that same old "That's for us to know and for you to be assassinated if you ever find out" speech." He grunted in a mocking tone. "I mean, even if i told you, you wouldn't believe me." At that point, a pair of the funnels popped out of the rack on the back of NuSazabi and flew upwards towards the ceiling (only about 20 feet above NuSazabi's head.) "Oh, don't worry about them, they're just a little backup policy." He said, he knew that they were in a mexican standoff when it came to firearms, Wing Zero's shoulder vulcans were almost as powerful as a beam-rifle. If he took a hit from them, he was finished, but the same was true about his Funnels.

"But, i'll tell you what." He said, "Because I would much rather we both lived through today, let's just say no ranged weapons and keep this the way god intended. Just 2 giant mechanical suits trying to hack each other to pieces?" After all, Crimson had time on his side, every second he could keep Wing Zero here, with the only entrance to the administration offices behind him, was another second closer to victory on his part. "Because it's just you and me now. Anyone lacking that suit will have to make it past Captain Cadogan and i promise you, nobodies getting past him without my say so." He ignited a third saber in the suits free hand, presenting it forward, almost to the point where their two sabers were touching. "Last chance before it turns hairy. Agree to my terms. Hell, i'll even treat you to some drinks, we can talk about a couple of the Federations most dirty secrets. Like why i'm so darn crazy. i can even show you some home movies that'll make you question everything you believe in." He sang in a mocking tone.

---Residential area 182---

Zeta slowly descended from the air, the sounds of explosions could be heard throughout the colony now as the Federation forces pushed their way to the Administration blocks, against a Zeon force that had dug its heels in and prepared to push back against anything. However, the current battle was a stalemate, waiting for something to break it. As Zeta touched down in the street, everything seemed deserted. Greg rushedd to the door and opened it. Rapelling down, the 3 Haro's followed him. He ran to the door of the house, fumbling with his keys, before opening up and rushing inside. "Mum!? Dad!?" He called. "Dammit!" He threw his arms up. Red rolled up to him.

"REMINDER! TAKE A LUMP HAMMER TO RED WHEN WE GET HOME!" Greg grinned, then burst out laughing. Although, at this point, it wasn't a laughter of joy, but one that he was afraid that, if he stopped, he would break to his knees and cry. At that point, a purple Haro rolled up to him.

"Hey, purp." he said, wiping the tears from his eyes. The purple one opened its mouth. There was the sounds of Crimson's speech going on in the background.

"Hey, honey, i'm sorry that we have had to do this, but we had no way to contact you and no telling how close Zeon forces are to the house. Me and your father have gone through with Plan Black." The woman was clearly sobbing at this point "I'm so sorry. We can't tell you where we've gone." Greg's father burst in.

"Come on, we need to go, now."

"DAMMIT, SHAUN, I'M TRYING TO SAY GOODBYE TO OUR SON!!!"

"He's a man now, he can take care of himself. Look, when we feel it's safe, we will contact you. Till then, just keep your head down. We've transfered enough money to your account for a shuttle to Von Braun. You'll be safe there. I love you."

"Me too... Please, stay safe. Keep Haro safe. Do you remember Grandma's name for you? It's the safe key.

Greg ran over to the safe that they kept, before punching in the code: 4734-2842-4588-5922-4...000? The safe clicked and he opened it. Inside was a gun and bandoleer for concealing on his chest. He took off his jacket and put it on, engaging the power-cell, then putting the coat back on. He then grabbed a solid gold pendant and put it around his neck. "Right, Von Braun." He said, heading back out into the street, he heard the footsteps of someone coming. He turned to see an older woman approaching.

"Hello." She said, Greg stood frozen to the spot for a second, before fumbling with his jacket to try and get the gun. "Oh please!" She snapped, before pulling out her own gun and offering it to him. "If the only way you're going to listen to me is with a gun in your hand, then so be it." Greg stared at her for a second. "Look, kid, i don't know who you are, but from what Crimson has said, we are both in a LOT of trouble." She then looked at the pendant that had come out of his jacket in his fumbling "That a fashion statement, or are you one of those kids that thinks the Zabi's were cool?" Greg took a deep breath.

"Family heirloom. Just because my ancestors supported the Zabi's, doesn't mean they were bad people." The woman had lit up a cigarette by this point.

"Trust me, kid, i know more than my fair share of bad people. My one piece of advice to you, never try to avoid creating a demon. You usually only succeed in making a worse demon in the process."

"... Doctor Cassidy?" He asked.

"Give the boy a coconut." She rasped. "Look, i saw the Gundam land and i hoped to catch the pilot offguard." She took another long drag on the cigarette. "Can you fly her?"

"Bet your ass." He grinned.

"I prefer to bet my life..." She took one last drag on the cigarette, finishing it and stamping on it. "Come on, let's go. Get us to the Excalibur and i can get you out of here. By this point, his forces will be making their way to Administrators office. Once they are there, his people will force a surrender and it'll take more than a 150 year old war-hero to get us out of this."

"Umm... Shouldn't we return the Zeta?" He asked. She stared at him with immense ire.

"Are you serious? Did you forget about the part where Crimson Hold wants this station?"

"Yes, but what would he want with, as you put it, a 150 year old suit? Hell, i can pull up the blueprints for it on the internet." He scratched his head. She pretended to look at her watch.

"As ecstatic as i would be to spoon feed you every answer running through your youthful skull, i really have plans on not getting captured and killed today, plans with a chance of success that is quickly dwindling." She grunted. Greg nodded.

"Alright..." He put his 2 pinkie fingers in his mouth and let out an ear shattering whistle. Doctor Cassidy slowly reached a finger into her ear and cleaned it quickly with a look of pure disatisfaction. At that point, the 3 Haro's, along with Purple and an Orange Haro all rolled out of the house towards him. "Get in the suit." He ordered. They grabbed onto the rappel with their little hands.

"Oh goody, sharing a cramped cockpit with a boy and his little toys." The Orange Haro's mouth opened and a tongue began waving from it. "You taught it that? I'm almost impressed." She remarked. She saw him rappel up to the cockpit, before sending it back down, allowing her to also ascend. "Head for the military docks." She ordered him, she then punched a code into the console. "Excalibur, begin preparations to evacuate. Tell the dock crew to grab everything that isn't nailed down and get it aboard." She ordered.

"What the hell? Who is this? What's your clearance number?"

"Clearance level Black, Priority level Absolute, code "4363-7257-3845-5010-101" mark." The comm went silent for a minute.

"Clearance granted, beginning procedures."

"Acknowledged." She responded, before sitting down at the back of the circular cockpit. Greg looked at her with amazement.

"You're Black-ops? You don't look the type."

"I don't kill people, if that's what you mean?" She sighed. "Make people wish they had died, well, there's an argument there..." she thought. Zeta rose gracefully into the air. From here, he used the main camera to see the battle going on around the gate to the admin blocks. Stood at the tunnel entrance was a number of Geara-Doga's and a Large suit that was using funnels to halt the Federations advance.

"You really think the Federation can't win this fight?" He asked.

"What you can't see is the big fucking Gwadan that's probably docking as we speak. Excalibur is strong, but she's no match for a Gwadan. It's also the fact that they probably will have reinforcements coming. We will not. He's playing this one smart, attacking Federation ships as they try to break atmosphere. Where they have absolutely no maneuverability. A couple of ships have made it through, but not even nearly enough to stop his advance." She sighed. Zeta transformed and shot off towards the military docks near the rear of the colony.

The arms extended outward from his suits binders, each sparking up a small beam saber. In the hands of his suit two full size sabers pulsed wildly as they waited to cut through any enemy unfortunate enough to be on the end of them. Rob's orders had been simple, get to the docks and protect the entrance to them. He and his small squad set off in unison although the Captain had to be sure not to fully engage his thrusters. The standard suits of his comrades were no match for the Mabinogi at full pelt. "Remember the rules lads, keep it to sabers only. We've all spent months in the simulators for close quarters so no matter what we comes across, I don't expect to be visiting a memorial plaque for any of you in the coming days. Got it?!" A unified and forceful "Yes Sir!" came over the radio as his squad acknowledged him.

The route to the docks had been surprisingly easy, no resistence, not even a loading mech to go up against. However as they reached the entrace several suits sat in wait, clearly on alert from the furore Crimson and the rest of the forces had kicked up. In a wave of metal the Federation suits launched forward, their beam sabers trailing behind as they closed in on Robert and his team. Utilising his psychoframe cockpit Rob put the Mabinogi into a ferocious spin. The violent rotation would be enough to make most pilots fall unconcious while most suits would be shaken apart, but not Rob or the Mabinogi. He had practised the maneuver so many times that it was no longer out of the orinary for him. As the spin kicked in the arms of his binders pushed out further and he thrust his two full sized sabers to the side. The gap between him and Federation suits closed within seconds, the Mabinogi passing through the center of the group.

In a matter of seconds the rotation of Robs suit had come to an end and it stood in front of the docks giant reinforced door. His appreciation of the engineering feat of such a door was interrupted by the explosions of the federation suits behind him. His unique attack has caught them off guard and cut through each of the defenders with ease, leaving him and his squad to guard the door.

"Alright...seem's we just have to hold out here until Crimson gets back in touch. Keep your eyes peeled and keep your spacing. Just because we are going sabers only doesn't mean that the Federation will show us the same courtesy." The squad took up a staggered and spaced out formation in front of the large dock door awaiting any incoming threats. It didn't take long before the counter attack arrived, much to the delight of Robert. He had been raised with stories of the horrible and despicable Federation and now he was having his opportunity to pay them back for all the wrongs they had inflicted on his ancestors.

During the defence Crimson's declaration came over the radio, it wouldn't be long until the Federation called it quits surely? Either way, until his boss told him otherwise, Rob had to defend the door at all costs. With each counter attack another of his comrades suits fell until he found himself alone with one other pilot. He fought harder and harder to try and minimise casualties but the numbers coming at them meant he couldn't save everyone. "I can't keep letting these guys die...funnels go!" Then like a swarm of bees the Mabinogi's funnels emerged from their binders, covering the length of the dock door. Rob then made an open channel communication to any and all nearby suits, friend or foe. "This is Captain Cadogan of Fukushu Zeon, we have taken this station. Please heed Crimson Hold's words as we do not want to risk any civilian casualties." Where he hated the Federation he knew that it wasn't the general populace who were at fault but those in charge. He had no contempt for the many families who lived on the station. "Any Federation suit who comes towards us with malicious intent will be destroyed. Please make the right decision for your own people."

Aster stared down the Sazabi before him. What does he mean he knows more about Wing Zero than I do. He thought. Taking a step back from the enemy suit and lowering his beam saber slightly he continued to stare.
"I agree and honestly I don't really want to fight inside the colony." he began mind racing trying to find a way to subdue his opponent but he was outgunned for now and with the Excalibur team being the only ones he knew of that were truly capable of fighting he decided it would be best to just concede. "How about we make this deal, You give my team, all the Federation forces, and any civilians who wish to leave 12 hours to gather themselves and get onto carriers without any interference from you or your men. That way you get the colony and any who want to leave can do so. No need to spill blood where it's not needed right?" he finished doing his best to remain as calm as possible though the Wing Gundam kept showing him ways he could dismantle the enemy suit. Truthfully he didn't want to. He wanted to figure this man out and see what it was that made this man act the way he did. What other choice do I have. he thought turning off the beam saber in his suits hand and returning it to its place at the suit's side.

From Lin's cockpit, she could see and feel the deescalation of conflict. Then, she heard the terms. Grudgingly, she put her gun away. She drew a handle on one of her falxes. Looking down, she saw an opening large enough to drop through. To Aster, she sent one more encrypted message. "I hope you know what you are doing. I will back you up to the brass, but make sure it is best to cede the colony first."

Satisfied that she gave the info, she aimed Einsamkeit, dropping gracefully through the opening and landing fluidly and, relatively speaking, softly on the deck behind Aster's suit. She switched on her intercom. "You hold your end of the bargain and I will. However, I will not disarm nor stow my blade. I have seen my fair share of 'peace' arrangements go awry due to one itchy trigger finger on a grunt." As added emphasis, she raised her hilt to obvious sight before moving it back down to her waist, right manipulator ready to grasp the hilt should teh need arise.

---Outside of the Entrance---

A team of 3 Jegans advanced quickly through the open ground to get into a good position for their rocket launchers. A pair of GM-Cannon's were shelling down on the road to give the Jegans some cover. "Come on you Zeon bastards!" Came a roar from one of the Jegans as they got down and fired rockets towards one of the Geara-Doga's, the young pilot, still not used to fighting in gravity was hit by the missiles, smashing into his side, the second hitting the shoulder and the last into the head, felling the armoured suit. The Jegans tried to run back to cover, but one of them was cut down by missile fire.

"Dammit, we need to go back for him." one of the GM's yelled.

"It's too late for him, he'll be toast as soon as those Zeeks figure out he's alive." The commander replied. At that point, the control panells of the GMs and Jegans began to beep and flicker.

"Priority Message. Full Retreat, we are issuing a full retreat order, all Federation forces are to retreat to Sector 75. All hands, fall back, repeat, all hands fall back."

"What the hell?" One of the Jegans yelled. Several of the other GM's were already starting to bug out, blasting into the air. The two remaining Jegans stood watching their fallen comrade. "Come on, we'll grab Goose and get out of here." He said, the two Jegans charged into no-mans land, one of them laying down covering fire with a barrage of missiles at the gate, whilst the other grabbed the fallen suit and blasted into the air. As the covering Jegan ran out of ammo, he blasted off into the air as well. Several of the Geara-Doga's were in the firing line of the missiles.

---Administrators Office---

Security Guards crowded around the elevator as the Administrator sat in his office. He activated the station-wide intercomm.

"Dear friends. I am afraid that it is with a heavy heart that i must begin proceedures to surrender the colony to the forces of Fukushu Zeon. I would like to thank our Federation allies for all of their efforts in this, but i am afraid that, any minute now, Zeon forces will for their way into my office and force me to surrender. I ask that you do not antagonize the new Zeon forces in control of the station, but i do ask that you not give up hope. Has the last word been said? Must hope disappear? Is defeat final? No! We shall cooperate with the Zeonic forces to the fullest extent to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone on the colony, but I will not accept that they are the true leaders. I shall continue to support the Federation through peaceful and passive resistance. I who am speaking to you with full knowledge of the facts, and who tell you that nothing is lost for Advent, The same means that overcame us can bring us victory one day. For Advent is not alone! She is not alone!"

The sounds of gunfire can be heard in the background

"Heavy fighting has occurred outside of my office, I apologize, but i must leave you now. To the Federation forces that manage to escape, all i can say, is godspeed. Quoi qu'il en soit, la flamme de la résistance ne doit pas être éteinte et ne l'éteindra pas."

The sound of a door getting broken down sounds before the broadcast dies

---Crimson Hold---

The NuSazabi stood down as the Einsamkeit dropped down. Despite it's bulky build, it was surprisingly agile, he had a feeling that it was even newer than the Wing-Zero. He stowed his blade. "You say that, but you're the only one around here with an active weapon." At that point, the speech from the administrator could be heard. "Men, stay with the administrator and make sure he is not brought to any harm." He ordered. He then activated the speakers of the NuSazabi "Whatever happens, the flame of resistance must not be extinguished and will not be extinguished. - Charles De Gaulle, 1940. Powerful words and true, but not in the way he intends. The flames of resistance are what has fuelled Fukushu Zeon's entire campaign." He then pressed the NuSazabi's finger into the speaker again.

"Powerful Words, Administrator. I assure you, people of Advent, that your administrator is alive and well. An agreement has been reached with the Federation forces. I ask that all Zeon forces stand down immediately. Too much blood was shed for this victory, more serves no point. The Federation forces will be allowed to retreat without molestation and all civilians that wish to join them are free. None of you in this colony are prisoners. You are liberated citizens, free from the tyranny of those weighed down by Earth's Gravity. Do not treat me as someone who wishes to replace said tyranny with my own. I do not promise you that nothing will change, nor do i promise that all will change quickly, but it will change slowly and for the better." He then turned back to the 2 suits.

"You may return to your ship and prepare them to leave... By the way, i am completely serious about my offer, captain and... Whoever you are," he pointed to the Einsamkeit. "My other offer is, if you wish to join me to learn some of the Federations dirtiest secrets, you may follow me." He said, before the NuSazabi began walking towards the two suits. "I trust you to have enough tact not to betray my trust and shoot me in the back." He said, there was barely enough room for the NuSazabi to squeeze through the gap between the two suits. "Who knows, maybe you'll learn something new."

---Excalibur---

"Flight Deck, prepare to receive damaged suits." came the call over the tannoy as Zeta landed with a loud thud.

"What the hell? The Zeta Gundam?" Asked the Chief Engineer. "What the hell is it doing here?" The Zeta moved to one of the Mobile-Suit Docks and powered down, the door opened and Doctor Cassidy stood in it. "Hey, you the pilot?" Called the Engineer.

"No, the boy is." She replied, rappelling down to the deck. Greg walked out and was immediately hit by a powerful smell. Oil, Smoke, electrical-fire, burnt rubber, all hit him at the same time as sparks flew down bellow. Doctor Cassidy walked over to the engineer. "Have the Zeta armed with something a little more potent. Can you get a Beam Rifle working for it?" She asked.

"Well, I-"

"Never mind, i'll have to design a new one from scratch. Just equip it with something in the meantime." She ordered, lighting up another cigarette. "I want to see how the boy handles her in real combat." She grunted.

"Wait, this kid? Look, i know the stories about Amuro Rey and all that, but-"

"I just saw him take on a fully trained, veteran pilot and not only survive, but force him to retreat." She pulled out an I.D. badge with a special Federation logo on it and "Clearance level "Black"" on it. The Engineer stared at Zeta.

"Alright... Look, it'll take us an hour, maybe more to scratch something up, but it'll be ready for combat ASAP." He replied.

"Good, i'll be going to the bridge, make sure the boy is given a flight-suit." she ordered. She began to walk towards the exit to the hangar-bay.

"UMMM... DOCTOR CASSIDY!?!?!?" Greg called. "WHAT SHOULD I DO!?!?!?" Greg called. Cassidy took a long drag on the cigarette.

"The Chief Engineer here is going to call one of his friends over and he'll get you fitted in a Flight suit in case you need to sortie.

"SORTIE? WAIT, I CAN'T DO THAT!!!" He called. In the meantime, Cassidy had already started walking towards the bridge.

"Literally just got a station invaded thanks to your damn experiments and you're already to start another? Elizabeth, you are lower than a snakes ballbag." She could hear the words of disgust in the back of her head. "He's just a child... But he might be a Newtype... BUT HE'S JUST A CHILD! So were the others..." She put the cigarette out in a bin as she passed it. "Whatever happens... At the end of this conflict, you're a dead woman, regardless of winners..." She walked into the lift and headed for the bridge.

Aster had stowed away any of his weapons and looked to the Zeon leader as he walked away. What in the world is he talking about? he thought as he transformed the Wing Zero to its Neo-Bird mode and flew away as quickly as he could back to the Excalibur. After docking the suit now back to its more humanoid form. he exited the suit to see the Zeta Gundam docked with a crew working on arming the suit. It's a good idea but who issued the order to arm that suit. he thought approaching one of the engineers.

"I need a team of Engineers to run some diagnostics tests and extensive research analytics on the Wing Zero ASAP," he ordered getting a nod and salute from the engineer before walking away and making his way to the bridge.
"Status report," he said as he walked onto the bridge.
"Zeon Forces seem to be standing down sir, We're running analysis on all available transports to see if we can get as many people out as possible." one of the officers on the bridge reported.
"Good, keep me posted and also make sure to send a runner to the Mobile Suit hangar for updates on the analysis team I requested for the Wing Zero," he said with finality as he looked to plot a course for a nearby colony.
"Yes Sir." the woman responded as she returned to her duties on the now silent bridge, Silent except for the sounds of clicking keys and the humming of the engines.
"Ensign Strobel, Bring me the pilot of the Zeta Gundam I would like to have a word with them as soon as possible," he said looking to an Ensign who seemed to have finished some preliminary work.

---Bridge of Excalibur---

Doctor Cassidy had already arrived on the bridge in order to facilitate the transfer of equipment aboard. Turning, she saw the Captain give orders. "Hello captain." She approached him. "I'm Doctor Elizabeth Cassidy." she took out her ID badge. It was labled with the Federations Code Black. That meant she was answerable only to the toppest of brass, including the president. "I apologize for seizing command of your ship earlier, i wasn't aware that you were going to see sense and call in the retreat." She said with her usual backhanded cander. "I, however, do believe that bringing civilians with us will be a mistake." She said. "Partially because a warship cannot afford to have civilians not pulling their own weight, but mainly because we simply do not have the time to evacuate. Crimson has said 12 hours, but i doubt he'll keep to it."

"Sir, our sensors are getting new contacts closing on the colony." came from the radar station. Cassidy walked over.

"Damn. I thought we might get more time. He planned on a quick win and he has it." She grunted. "If the other colonies at Side 7 resist, they won't be doing so for long. We'll need to get out of here long before the 12 hours are up." She then heard him call for Greg. "I want the kid to be the one exception. He piloted Zeta with a good degree of skill, i asked for Zeta to be armed and him to be made pilot." She stared the Captain in the eyes.

---Changing Rooms---

Everyone had been in a Normal Suit at some point. Nobody ever quite forgets their first time floating in the void of space and watching the universe float around them. Staring at Earth, the planet full of people that... Well, are quite complicated beings. Many wonderful people, many terrible people. But now Greg was getting into his very first Flight-Suit. Much less well padded than Normal suits, much more vulnerable, but completely free's all movement for the wearer. He looked down at the suit. It was white with a black tinted visor, to help in case of staring towards the sun. As he stood in his suit, admiring himself in the mirror, he saw a woman approach him from the hallway. "Ummm... Hello?" He asked.

"Captain wants to see you." The woman ordered. "Follow me." Greg gulped a little. He had seen plenty of movies, he knew how much animosity there was between black-ops and the military and he suspected that Doctor Cassidy had her hands full with the captain as is. He walked through the corridors of the ship until he was lead to the bridge. "Umm... Gregory St James reporting for duty." He said, saluting.

---Crimson---

Seeing the Wing Zero break off and head for Excalibur, he pressed a few buttons and contacted the Gwadain. "Captain Cromwell, status report." He ordered.

"Ship has docked with the colony and we have several more coming in, we are preparing to take the other colonies. We anticipate sparse resistance."

"Excellent, keep on your toes, we won't have inside men this time." NuSazabi stopped at the entrance to the colony and met with Cadogan. "Head to the other colonies, assist the forces." He ordered, and watched the Doga's and the Mabinogi blasting off towards the exits. NuSazabi then turned back to the Einsamkeit. "Follow me and let me show you why Sector 78 is really off-limits." He said, blasting off towards the zone. Sector 78 looked like just another industrial sector, complete with several warehouse. NuSazabi went in to land near one of the warehouses. "Come with me." he offered Lin. He descended from the cockpit and walked into the warehouse. "Now, let me remember, where was that pesky box..." He said, walking through the vast row of boxes, he was visibly counting as he walked along. "76, 77, 78, 79, here we go." He said, before punching a code into the electronic lock. The door opened to reveal a staircase downwards. He began to walk down the stairs. "Not many know that Advent Colony is home to the Federations Black division." He said, walking down the stairs. An automatic camera was patrolling, he waved to it a he passed, then approached a door. "Let me see if they still remember me." He put his hand on the palm scanner. It whirred and beeped, before the door slid open. "Well, what do you know? Turns out the good doctor wasn't lying..." He mumbled. Walking into what looked like a control center, the place was wrecked. Bullet holes riddled the computer screens, a trash can was on fire and a Scientist ran past them with an armful of papers. Crimson's lips scrunched up a little as the temptation to shoot the man rose immensely... But it would just get him shot by the merc. As much as him becoming a martyr would further his cause, actually dying wasn't on his agenda.

"Black Division is the Federation's official research arm for "Research and Development of Advanced Technologies" but in reality, that's only half of it." He walked over to one of the few consoles that seemed to function, the LCD screen was leaking its liquid crystal, but was still mostly functioning. He pressed a few buttons, activating the camera's. "Oh my god, the bastards..." He growled. Lin would be able to see a pair of teenagers in what looked like holding cage0s, a boy and a girl, both passed out on the floor. "You've got to help me save them." He yelled at Lin. "Think what you will about me, but they are innocent in this." He typed a few basic commands into the computer. "Fuck, it's Anaesthetic gas, but they're also pumping out the Oxygen, in a few minutes, they'll be brain-dead." He took out his pistol and ran down one of the corridors, till he got to a door labelled "Holding Pens" Shooting the doors lock, the door opened and he rushed in, before shooting out the glass that was keeping the teens inside. "You get her, i'll save him." He ordered Lin. He stood, watching the gas leak out, he put his helmet back on and rushed in to grab the boy and pull him over his shoulder, before carrying him out into the main holding area away from the gas, then threw his helmet off. "Come on, you're not going to die today." He grunted, before beginning CPR.

Lin watched the Wing Zero leave, seemingly disinterested in knowing why they were told the area was decrepit. It obviously was not. Seeing as how she was given implicit free movement, she did follow the Zeon leader. Once forced out of her suit, she grabbed her handgun, first aid kit, and medical backpack. She followed calmly, keeping an eye on the leader. His credentials fit properly, hinting he was at least an ex-Federation. Once inside the Black center, signs of tech destruction were obvious. She let out an audible and dissatisfied grumble. It was obvious they were doing something shady.

Crimson seeing the kids and calling for her to help snapped her into auto mode. His emotional state was genuine, so she felt no reason to distrust him. Her sprint down the hall ended with him dragging out the two. She cracked open the hard case of her first aid kit. She connect both to her biometric readers. "Heart rate and pulse are normal for anesthesia. They can breathe, but they are going to need a jolt to wake up. Do you know how to use an adrenaline shot?" She grabbed two needles of adrenaline, holding one out to Crimson Hold. "They will live, but they will be in a hell of a daze after waking up."

@Lotrix Molick

Crimson took the shot and looked it over. "Vaguely, I know you've got to Inject it in the leg..." He said. He was about to Inject the boy when he looked at Lin. "Umm... Wait..." He quickly took his helmet off. Then took out a small balaclava. "Trust me, it's better that you don't see my face. But at the same time, you'll need this." He quickly jumped over to the other side of the room and hid his face as he took his mask off and put on the balaclava. He then shuffled back to her and put the mask over her head. "Together, on 3" He then counted to 3 and jabbed the Adrenaline into the boy's leg, seconds later, the boy sat bolt upright and let out a horrifying scream. Lin would feel a strange sensation wash over her, like an airplane hitting some mild turbulence. Crimson noticeably grabbed his head, then grabbed the boy's face and brought their heads together. "Calm. Down, you are safe now..." He whispered, The girl took a few seconds longer, she didn't have an immediate reaction, but did immediately roll over and get to her feet. "Who..." She looked at Crimson and Lin. She stared intently at Lin.

"Crimson, who is this?" She asked. "Ok..." she replied to herself. A Scientist entered the room from the opposite end of the room than Crimson and Lin had entered. Crimson looked around at the man.

"Run... RUN!!!" He yelled at the man, the two teens stared at the Scientist, who grabbed his head, Lin could feel the turbulence again. Crimson jumped to his feet and grabbed the girl's head "Stop, focus on me, focus on me, focus on my thoughts, focus on my happy thoughts..." He ordered as he pressed his head next to hers. The Scientist's nose started to bleed as he ran out of the room through the door Lin and Crimson had entered through, gurgled screaming coming from him. "Please!" He ordered. "Focus on my thoughts... Focus on Space... No weight... Earths Gravity is all gone... True stillness..." He groaned. The Boy had retreated to the corner, holding his head as he rolled into the fetal position. The girl's breaths slowed and she stared at the boy, who slowly uncurled. "Sorry, the mask has a dampener on it... Wasn't sure how they'd react." He said. "It's also stopping them from reading your thoughts." Lin would feel a the pressure again as the boy seemed to crawl towards her, a rather annoyed look on his face. "Please don't." Crimson replied.

"Take it off..." The Boy growled.

"He doesn't like the dampener." Crimson said. "Don't worry, she's not a bad doctor, she's here to keep you safe. She helped me to save you." The boy begn to reach for the mask.

"Please..." He was visibly crying.

"Look, i don't know if you are Newtype or not, but if you are, do NOT take that mask off." He said.