---

Johanna stumbled a bit to adjust her glasses as every eye in the room stared down at her. She...wasn't prepared to announce herself quite like this, to say the least. She recognized Cathrida, who by all accounts was thoroughly unimpressed with her arrival, and a girl who looked like she could have walked out of the assembly plant she 'helped out' earlier in the day.

"A-ah..."

“Is there anyone else?” Cathrida demanded of the empty room, looking up and away from her. Johanna tried to get up, but her legs felt heavy. Then she realized her mouth was dry, and she was in a cold sweat. Blood pounded in her ears, and she glanced up to see LAGOS looking concerned, his medical sensors on full alert.

"G-gods no, not here," she whimpered, going unheard thanks to the timely arrival of the wheelchair bound girl. She pressed her hands against the side of her head to stop them from trembling. Her heart felt like it was going to explode. "N-not n..."

She doesn't appreciate what I do.

She's so blissfully fucking ignorant of everything I've gone through, all the things I've lost for this cause.

I'm here and captain pirate diva has the fucking nerve to shut me down like that? She doesn't know a fucking thing about me, what makes her think she can say that?

Anyone else?

ANYONE FUCKING ELSE?

YOU WANT TO KNOW WHAT I CAN DO, I'LL SHOW YOU. I'LL RIP YOUR HEART OUT YOU USELESS

"No, stop it! Bad thoughts!" Johanna mumbled. "Don't lose control..." Regaining some of her faculties, she popped an emergency bottle of pills out of a compartment on her arm, dry swallowing them with a pained expression. The placebo effect dulled the dark thoughts long enough for the medicine to take hold. She felt like garbage; even when the nastier side effects of her condition were avoided, they still hit her like a ton of steel rebar. Sometimes it made her want to rip out the implant once and for all, and more then a few times she nearly tried.

LAGOS brought her firmly back to reality, his gentle electric purr soothing her frayed nerves. Johanna took a deep breath and popped up off the ground, LAGOS bouncing up to her shoulder, but not before pointing at her nose and motioning to wipe it. Johanna ran a hand across her lower lip and it came back red. Yuck. She pulled an old rag out of her pocket to clean up, just as the conversation turned back to her, with the others in the room hopefully none the wiser. Specifically, just at it turned to her robotic buddy.

“Oh, that. It’s some kind of robotic lagomorpha. Or a ‘rabbit’,” the pirate queen recounted.

“What’s a rabbit?” her friend asked.

“A small blob of flesh with large ears, larger feet, and fur all over its body.”

LAGOS did a little spin on her shoulder to show off, practically glowing.

“What do they do?”

“They eat, defecate small pellets, eat those, and wander around. Not that different from what other animals do.”

LAGOS's ears shot up in surprise at this nugget of information. Evidently finding it offensive, he glared rather crossly at Cathrida, shaking a small fist and bleeping, holographic censored swearwords appearing over his head. Johanna giggled at his reaction until the pirate lady rounded on her.

“Who are you? And where did you get this ‘toy’?” Cathrida demanded.

"Toy? LAGOS is not a toy!" she responded, somewhat miffed. "I made him myself! He's my friend!"

“I don’t know. But I swear I’ve heard her voice somewhere..”

Johanna opened her mouth to respond but closed it in surprise as a hand planted itself on her head.

"This is Johanna. Who you might know better by her Radio handle, HopPer. A Radio host infamous for having a nonexistent schedule, having a vague anti-Zern leaning, and there are rumors that HopPer might be supporting anti-Zern elements. But, I mean those are "only rumors"

Johanna sighed. "Nice to see you too, Denzel."

He shot her a friendly grin and patted her head again. "As for LAGO..." he went on, scratching the robot under the chin. ""Hey, little buddy. LAGO is useful for a lot of miscellaneous jobs. Repairing things, storing small objects, modifications and such. Johanna makes good use of LAGO, she's probably our most inventive mechanic."

"Well, I don't like to brag," Johanna said brightly. "But I know my way around an engine or two. And I can fix just about anything you throw at me."

Not a bad pilot either but..." Denzel looked at her, as though trying to detect if she was lying about her earlier intentions. "You sure you want to come on this one?"

Johanna looked at everyone in the room in turn, lingering a bit on the newcomer in the wheelchair but meeting everyone's eyes in good time. A part of her wanted to say no, that this wasn't her fight and she wasn't ready, but in reality that was dead wrong. She was always in this fight, even if she didn't throw a punch or fire a shot, and if others were inspired by her words to fight and bleed for their freedoms, why can't she do the same? And in the end, what would HopPer's calls to action amount to if HopPer herself never picked up the phone?

"Well," Johanna said, crossing her arms and trying to play it coolly. "I'm pretty interested in seeing what it is you want to get your hands on. Figure that would be the easiest way to do it."

@glwgameplayer@KaiserElectric@Sakaki Chizuru@Jarl Coolgruuf

---

Cathrida stood at her end of the table in complete silence. As Johanna and Denzel spoke her human eye narrowed and remained transfixed on Johanna. Her orange piercing stare only briefly left the girl, shifting to Denzel or around the room as others whispered at the corners of the room. Despite Denzel's words and Johanna's own claims the women's gaze did not soften. The girl's quick popping of pills did not go unnoticed by her and the more she thought of the matter the more a feeling of concern began to grow and gnaw at the back of Cathrida's mind.

"There are a few reasons she might have to take pills. One of them could be--No, that couldn't be it. Could it?"

Though Laika had missed seeing the pills, she had felt the sharp sudden spike of emotion from the bespectacled girl. It lasted for what only felt like a moment, nearly lost in the slurry pit of emotions that resonated from Dannie. Yet it stuck with Laika and left her on edge, ready for violence.

Standing by Cathrida's side Laika was able to recognize the expression on her captain's face. Looking between Johanna and Cathrida, knowing what at least one of them likely felt, Laika suddenly opened her mouth and spoke aloud.

"Y-yeah!"

The girl only proclaimed, breaking the momentary silence and drawing Cathrida's gaze.

"I know HoPPER! I mean, I know about her. I used to hear her over the landlines. She even got played on the radios in bars 'uncle' drank at. When she was on people always started talking about Zern."

Cathrida looked incredulously at Laika, her human eye and compound sensor eye-patch briefly appearing identical, as both as shrunk into narrow glowing slits.

"S-she also played some nice music..."

Laika swallowed hard. All the girl could think to do was awkwardly smile back, her body stiffening and seemingly freezing on the spot.

Suddenly, Cathrida let out a sigh. Her gaze dropped to the floor as she seemed to relax.

"If Denzel and my cabin girl vouch for you, then you're more then welcome to join." Cathrida said, turning back to Johanna her a less intense expression.

"Not that I have the luxury of picking and choosing right now. If you can fight then that's all that matters, but being technically competent may also be very important in the future."

Cathrida gave one last look around the room. She watched as the workers and deviants at the edge of the light cast from the ceiling, slide even further back towards the walls as she looked towards them. It was as if they were scared of being pulled into the light and absorbed into committing to her efforts.

"Including Laika, that makes four people joining me to fight. That's good. I assume since you're all here you have a mobile worker or suit of your own. Laika, where did you hide your Scutson?"

Cathrida riffled through the papers scattered across the make-shift table before finding a crude map of Habitat 34's layout.

Laika stepped forward and pressed a finger into a north-most part of the habitat.

"Down in the 3rd Maintenance Level, stuffed in the back of a pipe room. I've had to move it around over the years but that is where it is now. Its not too far from the Northern Hanger, I'd just need to take a lift up." Laika explained and Cathrida nodded.

"Then we'll hit the Northern Hanger and steal a mining lander vessel from there. If you leave now we should be able to meet up in the hanger at the same time."

Laika grinned, every hair on her body raising as she realized it was almost time.

"Yes, Captain!"

Turning on her heel Laika made a wild sprint towards the other end of the hanger, fully intent on running all the way to her Scutson. Cathrida stood and watched as the girl blitzed away, the pirate captain nearly smiling before she remembered where she was. The women paused and took a moment to take in the presence of Denzel, Johanna, and Dannie.

"Get your mobile suits and meet at the northern hanger. We don't have the privilege of wasting time for stealth, so we'll be going in loud. We'll take the mining lander by force, though there shouldn't be much opposition right away. Its when we get outside of the colony and head for the surface that we should expect a real fight..."

---

@DostHou@vietmyke@Caduceus@glwgameplayer@Crusader Lord@veenknight343@Golden Spiral

---

Princess Asallia proceeded out of the umbilical, down the red carpet, and into the hanger to the sound of a clapping and composed crowd. The hanger itself was a large rectangular room, broken up 'cut outs' and what amounted to piers for ships to slide into and dock. Normally the docks were in zero-gravity in order to better facilitate the landing of ships and the loading and unloading of goods. However for the occasion the docks had been added to the 'spin' of the colony itself, placing it firmly under gravity for the time being.

"Not all members of the nobility or royal family move that gracefully under zero-g. And the fastest way to ruin the festivities is for someone to get a look up the Princess's dress because they floated too high off the ground." Princess Asallia whispered to Lycoris as they walked together down the carpet.

Walking alongside the Princess, heart beating a mile a minute, Lycoris was surprised at how calm and orderly everything seemed. She had expected a cheering, barely contained mob snapping off pictures and howling the Princess's name as did so often happen in her concerts. yet everyone stood, calm, disciplined, and controlled. Even the mobile suits, those standing off on the sides of the room for security and those marching in unison towards the front of the room, appeared more straight backed and at attention then usual.

As the Princesses and their company moved towards the front of the room, a band began to play somewhere in the room. Brass and drum instruments quickly filled hanger with a classical, upbeat melody that brought to mind the momentous occasion ahead. Once the Princesses were far enough down the carpet, the nobles aboard the ship were allowed to begin to disembark from the vessel, followed by the passengers and crew.

At the front of the room, past the Tommy's standing and moving in formation, were the large open gates that led into the hangers themselves. Sitting in the threshold of the large doors was a beautifully decorated parade float, one in a long line of floats intended to take the princesses through the colony in a grand display of their arrival.

"I thought you just wanted me to come out with you, not sit on a parade float for the whole colony to see!" Lycoris said in a hushed tone of panic, forcing herself to smile as the two continued to walk.

"Deep breathes Lycoris. You need to expose yourself to the things you're afraid of in order to strengthen yourself against them. And don't forget that I'm here with you. Besides, if I have go put up with this, so do you."

Asallia smiled a little more genuinely as she walked and all Lycoris could do was begrudgingly smile along with her.

Then a soldier, one of Asallia's persona guards, fast-walked up to the Princess. Leaning in he spoke quickly and quietly into her ear before departing just as fast as he came. Lycoris couldn't hear what the man had said but she could see the strain that sank into Asallia's cheerful expression.

"There's been a disturbance." Asallia whispered.

"What kind?" Lycoris felt her pulse jump

"Its likely nothing. But if something does happen...Lycoris, when I tell you to close your eyes I want you to close them. And do not open them until I tell you do do so."

"But why-"

"Lycoris. Please."

"O-Of course..."

Lycoris couldn't hide the grimace that came with the promise and she quietly followed Asallia, who continued to smile and wave even as a threat drew closer.

---

@GreenGoat

---

"Damn it, don't let that thing any closer!"

A team of four ZIMS-02 Tommys, one of many guarding the 'rear' of the colony, floated in the blackness of space. They had been told the job of guarding the other end of the colony was important. That though the Princesses and the Venue would not be there, that it was still a vital position to guard. Despite the lack of glamour and being stuck far and away from the festivities, the men had resigned themselves to their duty. After all infiltration seemed far and above a more likely threat then an all-out attack...until they received the news.

Over the crackling comms and broken transmissions, the leader of the small team had been made aware of a fast approaching unknown target. They couldn't yet see the target, all they knew was the direction it was coming in.

"Gutter, set your HE recoiless launcher shells on a timer. Something moving that fast can't have any armor, just hitting it with the shockwave of the explosion should do something!"

"Yes, sir!"

The Tommy's quickly threw up their weapons and began to fire. 90mm assault rifles sprayed in full auto and five 300mm shells spat from a recoiless launcher cut through space. The timers on the shells quickly ran down before they detonated, briefly lighting up the darkness with small flashes of heat and light.

"If we can kill this thing there will be medals in it for all of us!"

---

Ayame sighed while he made his speech, she knew she shouldn't have said anything but she just hates waiting as its excruciating and it feels like time slows down to a crawl, and the siege for as bad as it was at least she could do something other then stand around waiting for the princess and her entourage. She barely paid any attention to the whole speech but him talking about not liking his title confused her, a title is a title even if was at the cost of friends its something the higher ups like to give out to special people, soon his speech came to an end and she sighed in relief again before getting recomposed "Your right sir, I shouldn't have said anything, I'm sorry"

---

After the one sided conversation she thought long and hard on what she should said but the thought was broken when Victor asked her a question "Ayame, which pilots are on parade duty right now?" Victor murmured as his eyes scanned the mobile suits. "Things may yet heat up after all. Keep close."

The question confused her but followed right behind him trying not to pay attention to the dirty looks they were giving them but was rght behind him non the less "I got three of our best, Daniels,Kernings,Collins,and Torren that you recommended be on duty....oh hey Torren" she said as she watched Victor pull Torren out from the Tommy he was in as she entered the Tommy next to Victor,
"Ayame Izmui moving out" she reported as they were sucked out into space.

Once they entered space she made sure her weapon was on hand, it was a nice looking weapon but she too only had had its mag in the weapon but she also had a saber which was good for her as she preferred melee combat but she was not a bad shot and followed victor towards the commotion.

"So we broke formation to see what the Ruckus is, alright you got any idea on what we are dealing with?"

@Greengoat @veenknight343


There wasn’t too much of a danger, or that’s some said. But then there were those who still remembered the raid and assault of the Butcher. Whether it was a distraction, or just the opening hand for an audacious second attempt was hard for anyone to tell. But the need to worry for the royal family and yet not show weakness went hand in hand. The Venue, even docked as it was could not simply cower away, nor could it be risked in any manner.

Well.

The exposition was all about showing off new things right? Then he’d do it. He’ll come out to play.

The familiar Terra Fossil was a comfort, easier to drive compared to the Redcoat or Tommy in his eyes. But being so dependent and reliant on the boosters for all sorts of movement… Well. It wasn’t like he needed to outrace or corner the the intruder.

“Gaia Dryte, heading out.” Declaring his sorie as the launch-gate opened to the void of space. The hiss of air filled his ears for a few moments as his mask snapped into the suit helmet, integrating with its systems and frame.

“Taking position to fire upon the enemy and halt its aggression.”

He’d show off his own abilities, the Terra’s abilities. As for what it couldn’t do. Well, there was no need to show that off. Starting off with a strong impression, the Terra Fossil burst into action with a surprising blast of speed. The frame around him shook and shuddered from the strain on the reactor and the sudden acceleration from the reactor-plugged thruster roaring to life. He held it until he reached the point he desired. Within orbit of the colony and taking a point that had a line of fire towards the various paths the aggressor could take. A place that also potentially baited the foe into taking him as a target with his relative isolation. A rook castling a king, or that’s how that man, Brache would put it, going off Sheena’s comments about him. Not that he could defend that massive king really.

The Railgun mounted on the Mobile-Tank was ready to fire anytime, and the hands of the Fossil rose up, armed in this case with two LEWINs. There was no need for a whiskey. Not with the speeds that this thing was moving. Hitting it with the Starblazer was already asking for a lot.

“Sheena.” he opened up a private communication line. “Never showed you hunting like it’s down on good old classic earth, huh? Well, they say it goes a bit something like this… So keep your eyes open.”

Being flashy was more like her, so he wondered if she’d make fun of him, berate him, or unironically think what he was about to do cool. As he took his aim he flipped on another communications to the soldiers in the area. "Hey, might wanna get outta the way. Things're gonna light up you know." He offered with a shrug. "More for whoever that is than us if I have anything to say about it. But it'd be nice if you guys didn't get in the way and decided to take the stage as fireworks instead."

A trio of rockets launched out with the warning, blazing through space in a race with the plane heading towards where the unidentified aggressor flew towards. But before they could fly off to the void, avoided they suddenly turned twisted and shook before exploding as the passage of a MAG-shot ripped through them.

It was easy enough to follow the rockets he fired himself after all.

“Consider it a warning shot.” he spoke out to no one in particular.

The explosions were enough to pelt the plane with some heat, but hardly enough for some damage. If anything it was as meaningful as a flare in frightening its pilot. But it was enough of a grazing touch to get their attention.

What do you do now?

Arthur had a live video of the Venue as it was docking playing on his tablet along with a couple of videos from the Forge while he intended to relax before reaching the office. A small coffee shop known for its imported coffee from Luna and Mars was a perfect place to rest, although he nearly burned himself as he received a surprisingly unannounced call from the ship.

"Sir, we're seeing some suspicious activity from the mobile suits at the docks, the outermost ones within visual range are turning outwards. Would you like us to request access to their communication channels?" Arthur contemplated the idea, noticing some of the mobile workers transferring freight were slowing down in curiosity as well. It was times like this he regretted sending off Alice.

"Yes, contact the port authority to inquire about the commotion from the military. Take units... 08, 15, 17 and 04 off of cargo duty and have them on standby in case anything happens. On second thought, 08 and 15 should transition as far away as the port authority will allow before they start yelling. I don't want to be left in the dark thanks to bureaucracy on such a fine day." He gave a sigh as he leaned back. He hoped this would just be a nice official business trip, but perhaps it would turn sour faster than expected.

Samantha Brisinggart

---

Her breathing was ragged, her palms slick from sweat, her eyes seeing barely anything in the darkness of space. Yet she moved, guided by her instincts, seeing nothing but moving regardless, the hum of the engine the only thing she could hear. Lights, explosions filled the space outside, the reinforced glass of her canopy catching the light, seemingly glinting brilliantly with each blooming flower of fire. It was getting more and more dangerous every second.

There was a large ship coming out of the shadow of the colony cylinder, probably a main battleship, or a capital class ship in her view, with dots of what she assumed to be smaller ships, but yet, no cannon fire, no hail of bullets came from them. It was only when she burst past the inner perimeter, slicing off another mobile suit's limbs, that she realized why that was.

The perimeter mobile suits was too near her flight path. Any cone of fire they made right now would hit friendlies, and she was moving too fast for them to move out of the way properly. If she was to deviate right now, they would have an open line of fire without risking friendlies. It seemed to be only the perimeter firing at her at the moment, so the best course of action of course, was to head straight towards the colony surface.

With a sharp angled turn, the Swansong streaked towards the colony surface, seemingly moving faster and faster.

---

--Inside a certain battleship--

---

He put the pipe within his mouth, more to reassure himself, than to actually smoke it. The pipe itself was still unlit, as he sat in the seat, looking at the long range visuals brought up on his smaller display. The signifer's message was simply responded to with a curt acknowledgement. Glory hounds were a dime a dozen, and most did not survive for long.

Wars and battles, was like the ancient game of chess, a game he and a few other of the old dogs in the military still indulge themselves in every now and then. A single battle, could be won, with just a threat, by cutting off other routes, by making a single path look enticing to the opponent, before trapping them in a single maneuver.

His vice captains cursing at the perimeter guards to move their asses out of the firing line was of no consequences; the firing cone would be effective, but far too late considering how fast the Tommies the perimeter guards were using, and how fast that thing seemed to move. Thus, the firing cone itself was not the game ending move, but the check.

Regardless of whether it was an automated drone, or a human piloting it remotely, there was but one logical path to take; one that has the least danger of getting shot down. At the speeds at it was going, and the sheer thickness a colony wall has to be, it was bound to simply fragment itself on the colony wall if it collided with it. If it was a bomb, only the walls would be damaged. Walls can be repaired, another human, not so much.

Obviously then, the check mate will be...

---

Freya Schwartzschild

---

"..r, moving in front of the colony walls, to ....cept the dr..."

Freya sighed. Then they were to corner the interloper, and intercept them just outside the colony wall. Her team, plus any other mobile suits that followed to intercept the intruder.

Then perhaps this would lead to the ceremony going undisturbed.

---

Dannie watched Johanna with a visible sneer of disgust as she tapped the ashes off her cigarette and onto the floor. A small part of her might've pittied the girl if all the emotions she had left rattling around in her head weren't anger-adjacent. To say Dannie wasn't happy about the idea of flying with an unstable druggie would be a gross understatement. Still, she trusted Cathrida to not get everyone killed right away and that would have to do. She rolled up to the map and took a moment to look it over.

The mention of going in loud made Dannie grin with equal parts mania and malice. It was almost time.
"Paid some real upstandin' types to let me park my suit with theirs. Might take me a bit to get there, but I'll hurry back. Wouldn't miss this for all the deuterium up Zern's collective ass."

Dannie started off in the same direction as Laika but turned back to Cathrida a moment later.
"Do me a solid and don't let that tweaker get behind me," she said with a gesture at Johanna. "I'm not keen on gettin' shot in the back."
With that she was off and away at about the pace of a jog, headed for the metal murder titan she packed away for a rainy day.

---

Gilbert didn’t know how things could have gone so wrong.

There were plenty of excuses he could probably fall back on. That the colony’s guard force was inadequately trained in interception and area-control tactics. That he wasn’t the actual commander of the colony fleet, only a special advisor with limited authority to dictate plans. That there were systemic issues in the Empire leading to an ineffective and hole-ridden early-warning network around Venus. That a missile or small vessel with such excessive mobility parameters appearing out of the black was something that couldn’t be accounted for even in contingency plans one step removed from reasonability. That he was a specialist in hunting-killing, not defense, even if each relied heavily on understanding the other.

If only he was the kind of man to take things easy like that. His life would be far more relaxed.

. . . he would probably also be married to a noblewoman of his parents’ choosing, safely nestled in a desk-bound posting on Mars.

It was those kinds of thoughts that almost made him shudder in disgust.

And now he was watching one of his handpicked, personally-requested men throw away all sense of propriety and regulation and jump headfirst into a sticky situation. The spectacle of Signifier Galahad briefly scuffling with one of his security officers was one that couldn’t be missed. Nor was the subsequent dash to the edge of the hangar, where a line of Tommies stood watch. Whispers were running through the crowd — most clueless, but the dreaded word was already falling from more vicious lips.

He scowled. Despite this, Galahad was still too useful for him to leave to those vipers.

@vietmyke
"This is hangar control. Officer, you are not cleared for launch. Please stand down."

This wouldn’t do. What Galahad had already done couldn’t be undone, but the consequences could be mitigated. Not if the younger man was forced out of the Tommy into the hands of a crowd more than willing to arrest — or worse — an "upstart" who dared to hijack a Mobile Suit in the presence of royalty. But if he made any contribution at all towards the neutralization of the unknown, Gilbert could possibly try to brush things away . . .

He brought a hand up. "This is König. I’ll authorize it."

". . . understood. Unlocking inner airlock gate." Though reluctant, the officer knew better than to try to argue it at this time.

Gilbert’s earpiece chirped again, and he turned away. "Status update."

"Target has diverted from original path. Now approaching the opposite pole. Schwarzchild and Lorenz teams remain in pursuit. An unidentified mobile weapon has also launched from the Venue."

He would have preferred news of its destruction. But at least it wasn’t on course for this pole of the colony anymore. The Princesses would no longer be in immediate danger, especially once they were properly behind the thick bulkheads of the colony’s walls.

"Alright. Continue and keep me notified."

There was little more he could do now but applaud politely for the procession of princesses as they strode elegantly down the red carpet towards the awaiting floats and escorts. Depending on how things would shake out with the intruder, he might leave the festivities at first opportunity and deal with the threat more directly . . .

---

---

The distance to the unknown dropped precipitously with each second. The smirk on Max’s face only grew. A lesser being would’ve lost consciousness by now — the blood in their body being forced into their legs despite the compression support of a normal suit, depriving their brain of much-needed oxygen — but for the superior body of a Martian, this wasn’t even near his limit. A sizeable portion of fuel had been expended on this rapid burn, but it was worth it to maximize the delta-V within a limited amount of time. He might have been bottom of the class in the mathematics of flight and orbital mechanics, but he at least understood that much.

The interception course that the Schwartzschild team was taking had been well-planned — despite the evident disparity in performance parameters, it seemed that they would be able to catch up to it if it continued to approach Annona. Even if he was only supposed to be providing backup — Max shook his head in feigned disappointment as he saw notifications of retreating allies on the monitor. Lost limbs and damaged torsos, leaving to the pilots only the option of heading back for repairs. Fools who can’t shoot down a missile or even lay their own bodies and lives on the line to protect the Empire, was his contemptuous evaluation.

But now there was another strange blip on the monitor. The IFF tagged it as a friendly, but there was no other information available — something that he’d usually only associated with the Frankenstein’s-Monster-esque cobbled-together junks that pirates favored.

With a shrug, he kicked it up the ad-hoc chain of command. "Lady Schwartzschild, looks like we’ve got a mystery man joining the hunt. What’s the plan?" @GreenGoat

---

"Why the hell are we stuck here?"

"Opposed to what? Being stuck out in space?”

The northern hanger of Habitat 34 was abustle with its usual monotonous activity. Workers moved mechanically back and forth, loading and unloading cargo ships either by hand or via mobile worker. Large supply crates and barrels polluted the hanger, creating small towers and piles dotted about the edges of the large open room. Mining drop vessels and other ships meanwhile sat in drydock, eyed by those in the control tower in the ceiling who had nothing better to do but drink cheap synthetic coffee and write up citations for improper ship docking angles.

All the while two ZIMS-01 Redcoats stood, their backs to one of the three doors that allowed entrance to to the hanger itself.

“I mean this bullshit guard duty." One of the pilots, and impatient Munifex, elaborated.

"How many of the others got sent up to Annona to provide extra security? They're up there right now guarding the royal family, the people who control mars, who control the whole Empire. Meanwhile we're stuck guarding this crowded shitbox."

"You were the one who suggested we sign up for the Garrison. What did you think we were going to be doing?" His partner, another far calmer Munifex, responded. His own boredom prevented him from simply staying silent or chiding his teammate into speaking more properly.

“I thought we were going to be fighting! Putting down deviants, stopping plots against Mars, preserving the peace and making a name for ourselves. Not babysitting a bunch of fog breathing, cancer laden retards.”

“It's necessary work.” The patient Munifex replied and the other rolled his eyes inside his cockpit.

“Yeah so is jacking off farm animals up on Luna. But that doesn't mean I want to waste my life doing it. I wish I had been old enough to join up during the Rebirth. I'd give anything for another one of those to happen."

"Don't let any of the officers hear you say that." The patient one said sternly, but his friend continued.

"Yeah, like they're ones to talk. Most of them only have their ranks because of what they got to do when pirates were everywhere. How the hell are we supposed to make our way up in the military if we aren't given anything of meaning to do? Its like--"


Both men stopped. The noise, a dull metallic impact, sounded out. It turned several heads in the hanger and immediately left the two garrison soldiers on edge.

“What the hell was that?” The impatient one asked, raising his Redcoat's 120mm rifle and eyeing the hanger.


The patient Munifex narrowed his eyes, sharpening his senses before turning his Redcoat around to face the large closed door behind them.

"It came from the entrance door." He replied and his comrade's Redcoat walked over.

"Is it stuck?"



"No. Its coming from the other side."



"Why the hell is someone knocking on the door if its not broken? Are these god damn Venusians too stupid to open doors now? Is that what my job has become, opening doors for them?" The impatient Munifex groaned.

"Is anyone supposed to be coming here at this time?" The patient one asked.

"Its a hanger. It could be anyone, workers, miners or--"



"Oh for fuck sake--Just open the door! We have enough of an excuse to beat whoever's on the other side of it until they piss blood, so let's cut the bullshit."

The patient Munifex walked his Redcoat over to the side of the door. Reaching out an arm his mobile suit grabbed and turned a large emergency opening mechanism, able to be used by mobile suits or workers. A sharp pneumatic hiss filled the air as the large liten door shuddered and split. Standing in front of the door the impatient Munifex lowered his rifle as he watched the door slowly separated and produced a growing slit through which to see through to the other side.

"You better have a good reason for-"

A deafening crack rang out.

Electrically propelled buckshot ripped through the Redcoat's torso, exploding out the back with a fanfare of shrapnel and the sound of retching metal. The patient Munifex spun just in time to see his partner's mobile suit thrown backwards and crash onto its back, smoke and sparks erupting from the dozens of holes punched into the front of the suit. His blood turned to ice as he caught a glimpse of the cause, a double-barreled gun sticking through the ever widening opening in the door.

As the gun pulled backwards the Munifex moved.

Throwing his Redcoat to the side he skidded his mobile suit across the floor, a screeching noise filling the air as metal soles ground against nanocarbon flooring.

LEWIN raised the Munifex fired from the hip, unloading 120mm rounds in full auto through the door as it began to open all the way. He didn't hesitate, he simply buried his finger in the trigger as his weapon roared to life and began vomiting spent casings across the hanger floor. Only after a few seconds of firing did he realize there was nothing on the other side of the door.

Prying his finger from the trigger, heat rising from his machinegun, the Munifex stepped back and watched the doorway carefully as iut continued to open. He kept his eyes fixed on the screen looking for any movement, listening for any sound-

Suddenly a bright orange color filled his left monitor.

The Munifex's Redcoat spun, but it was already too late.

The speeding orange hulk of construction equipment slammed shoulder first into it. Picked up off its feet the Redcoat was carried several meter's before it was slammed back first into a wall.

Inside his cockpit the Munifex was thrown forward from the impact, cockpit monitors cracking as the cockpit walls buckled inwards from the torso of the Redcoat collapsing in on itself.

Blood poured from a gash in the pilot's head, adrenaline screaming through his veins as he fought to control himself. The munifed looked up and stared through half-shattered, static plagued monitors as a Scutson pulled its spike laden shoulder out of the Redcoat's chest. For a brief moment the mono-eye of the Scutson seemed to be staring at him. It was only then did he see the teeth. Crudely drawn, the Scutson had a horrid design of a dog's own snarling mouth painted across the front of it. Staring at it from the front, through the nearly destroyed screen, almost made it seem like the Scutson had its own blood hungry maw.

The Munifex remained so transfixed on the image he didn't heard the metallic 'clunk' as the Scutson pressed its SMG against the cockpit door.

A spray of 75mm shells and the Redcoat spasmed, collapsing to the floor as fluids and oils poured from its crushed torso.

Standing over the destroyed Redcoat the Scutson looked down, Laika looking through her own monitor at what she had done.

And she smiled.

Whatever feelings came from the pilot couldn't measure up to the feelings that flooded her body. The sense of safety. The sense of power. The addictive rush as she watched them fall. Laika had almost forgot what it felt like. Almost.

Across the hanger workers and Garrison foot soldiers alike could only stand and stare at the scene before them. Slowly they began to stir as a jet black and blood red painted mobile suit marched through the fully-opened hanger entrance.

Snapping its double-barreled MAG shotgun closed with a flick of its wrist, Cathrida raised her Turncoat's weapon to the ceiling and fired. With minimal charge the shot did nothing to the ceiling, but still produced a high pitched audible 'bang' as the electrically propelled shot flew from the barrel.

"If any of you wish to die a painful death, by all means stay in this hanger." Cathrida warned, her voice booming over the internal speakers of her mobile suit.

Only a few seconds of silence followed before the hanger exploded into a panic. Workers and soldiers alike bolting in a wild panic towards the nearest exit. None of the Zern troops had any illusions of fighting the two mobile weapons on foot and many chose to fleet outright, knocking down workers as they retreated out of line of sight of the mobile suits. A handful of soldiers however stayed together and ran towards a nearby comms panel.

One soldier practically barreled into it, throwing it open, ripping the transmitter off the hook, and typing in landline code so fast he swore he broke one of his fingers.

Digging the transmitter into his face he heard a soft 'beep' as he was connected. He didn't give the person on the other end of the line a chance to speak as he shouted.

"Command! Command do you read me? We need immediate reinforcements in the north hanger! We have armed intruders in mobile weapons, they are heavily armed and-"

The foot soldier stopped as a shadow was cast over him. He began to look over his shoulder just as the sound of a gun spinning up reached his ears.

VRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRN!

A three second burst of 30mm rounds decorated the wall in gore and holes where the land-line comm panel had been moments before. Laika took her finger of the trigger, her heart beating steadily as she turned to Cathrida's Turncoat.

"He called for backup." Laika announced, not even trying to sound concerned.

"Good. I want them to feel what's coming. How many mobile suits does the garrison on this habitat have?"

"Twelve I think. Including these too." Laika pointed to the destroyed Redcoats laying on the ground and Cathrida felt a brief rush from hearing the number.

"That makes ten. Half of them are probably Redcoats. We need to get the hanger doors open and secure the ship. They'll arrive here before we can, but that just makes this that much more fun."

Moving her Turncoat forward Cathrida was unable to hide hints of her own delightment in her tone. Laika stuck close to the hanger entrance, weapons at the ready, practically bouncing up and down in her pilot seat...

---

"THIS IS NOT A DRILL. REPEAT. NOT A DRILL. ALL PILOTS BOARD YOUR MOBILE SUITS AND LAUNCH IMMEDIATELY. AN ARMED GROUP HAS APPEARED IN THE NORTHERN HANGER. REPEAT..."

The sleepy garrison aboard Habitat 34 erupted into activity as soon as the message was received and reports began to flood in from those who left the hanger. Half-dressed soldiers dropped out of bunks, scrambling to dress themselves as foot soldiers armed up and began to pile into transports. Hangers filled with mechanics as Redcoats and Tommy's were quickly armed with whatever was on hand. All the while the Garrison commander argued with the other officers, practically entering a shouting match with them over weather or not to send a message to Annona.

As politics entered the play, the mobile suits began to leave the hanger. One, then two, then ten. Claxxons were set off and alarms blared to worn the citizenry to leave the streets as the Zern Mobile suit forces thundered forth. Redcoats and Tommy's ran shoulder to shoulder, boosting down the two lane streets as they blitzed towards their destination. Little attention was paid to the streets below their feet, anyone with any sense of survival had long since cleared the way.

It wasn't long before the hanger came into visual range and the Zern MS slowed. They began to split up, intent on breaching the hanger from all three entryways at once. Weapons at the ready a group of four mobile suits made their approach towards the open central door of the hanger as two teams of three MS each came in from the east and western doors...

---

Feeling the twisting knife of her antsy feelings, Lillianna had begun to listen in on the comms channels to try to keep herself busy and occupied. At least until the princesses would finally arrive. Just what was taking them so long to get here through the tunnel, however? Though she had no idea of that reasoning, the noblewoman did manage to switch to the security comms channel just as something juicy seemed to come over the line. In fact, something perhaps related to the news she'd just been told prior by one of her newer squadmates. Keeping silent, Lillianna listened in for details until finally a familiar name rang over the comms channel.

"Victor Galahad, heading out."

Wait, Victor Galahad? He was here for the parade, right? The Lion if Gibraltar? From what she knew he seemed the seasoned veteran and highly achieved-type, the kinda of guy she'd wanted to maybe spar with if she could get the chance. Always something one could learn from a veteran of their craft. Especially a guy who can pull a situation's head out of its ass.

"Well, lets see what all the ruckus is about right? If we do it right maybe we won't get court martial-ed after this."

Before Lillianna could react, she looked up to see the man himself blitzing towards the end of the hangar. Wasn't hard to think of what the chatter down below was like...or what words were flying around. She was antsy, sure, but she wasn't an ignorant idiot either. Yet at the same time, she couldn't help but briefly laugh her ass off after making sure her comms weren't doing any more than listen in to the security channel. This guy was better than she had thought!

Rushing off into a situation, breaking protocol and the rigid parade formation, and heading off into the heat of it! She so bad wanted to do so, and in part desperately wished she had been the one to do what Galahad there had just done. Then again, if she tried right now it wasn't going to be pretty since the crowd was already riled up. Damn it all! But Galahad's rank, status, and the like wasn't anything to scoff at, so maybe he'd get away with it better than she would be able to? Bah.

Though out of the blue Bernard opened up on her squad's comms line talking to her again, and the man's voice rung over the speakers in the cockpit.

"Avocati, seems the situation is getting more dire. Sure' you don't want to get outta here and-?"

That little smart-ass in his teasing voice...kicking her while she was down! No more today! A scowl rapidly wrote itself onto Lillianna's face as she quickly pinged back in to her team's comms channel with a growling tone.

"That's it. I damn well warned you, but ya' opened your mouth again.

Bernard, you're running combat exercises all through tonight, and I'm going to track your flight time after I get up tomorrow. If you haven't done it right, you'll do it again the next night.

Now stand the hell at attention, and don't ping me in the comms again unless its a serious matter. That goes for everyone."

The others were probably listening in. Or maybe a few of them were. She wasn't a paragon of discipline herself, but her ass took her job seriously when it came to her squad. Newbies had to learn to keep themselves in line, at least enough to not die or piss off the upper brass, if she had to be frank about the matter. Even if that meant she had to break them in the "old fashioned way" as Hiroshi might have put it. Heh...old man knew how to give advice at least, among other things.

But if nothing else, well, perhaps she could ask about things due to what was going on? Gilbert had a stick up his ass, but at least he wasn't like some nobles she'd seen. Opening her comms once more, the readhead decided that it was at least worth a shot.

"Hey Gilbert, what's going on out there? I have a newbie over here tryin' to listen in on the other comms channels, and while he's getting some discipline tonight over it...I just want to confirm."

@GreenGoat



It was fast, and it didn’t stop. He didn’t expect to hit it with his first volley, but if it didn’t make him enough of a target to make the ship deviate from its course of action. Then at least it’d grab the attention of his own side. The eyes of anyone, no, everyone gathered. Even as the various lines of communication blew up with the various announcements, panicked or authoritative. Well, he’ll let Sheena deal with that mess. He came out here to do one thing and it was as good a starting spot as any.

This wasn’t a show or an invasion by the boat, or it won’t be in the end. It was fast, and surprisingly deadly.

But it wasn’t the Companion. Really. Compared to having to deal with Sheena... Well. He'd take the weird modern reenactment of forgotten machines any day.

His next shots rattled the plane, striking its frame and ripping gouges in with the grazing of the LEWIN’s shots. A technical hit but nothing that would pierce into the core of the machine or hit the pilot. Plasteel ripped away from being touched and grinded against, sparks flashing against the cockpit before the bullets disappeared into the void.

“Dancing about right? Well, keep it up for as long as you can.” The fact that he didn’t hit it down yet was something that sparked a touch of irritation in him. His fingers ground into the controls tighter, pushing hard enough that his hands felt an ache.

“Come on, I don’t have all day and there’s other stuff going on too.”

His frusturation brought a moment’s peace, his firing diffuse in his aggression. Yet the shower of bullets that surrounded the ship was a tight cover that oppressively restricted it and threatened to rip it apart. Slowly he was collecting himself and getting used to the ship’s flight, adjusting quick enough, he’d definitely be able to shoot it down before it left his operating range.

“Tch, one more?... I’m thinking one more. But that’s all you’re squeezing out of me.”

A fourth rocket fired, followed after by the Terra Fossil in another blast of its thruster. Even as the forces sunk into his body, head barely kept from bobbing around from its anchoring straps, he continued to fire. The surrounding escort of bullets that worked to preclude an attempt from slipping away, the rocket meant as a explosive finish to match the beginning, were, despite the playout figured in his mind no less bloodthirsty than the star projectile.

Giving chase as he was, it’d be a few vital more moments, a few vital more threatening volleys before the plane could leave his sights and range. If it didn’t go down no, he’d definitely do it in those next ones.

---

As soon as she made her statement she noticed an object turn and was racing towards the colony "Found it, getting a closer look with the camera... what the hell?! Its an ancient aerospace fighter! Its looks like its gonna ram into the colony,moving to intercept Boss!"Ayame said and speed off still nearby the colony wall, looking at the craft it looked like it survived time relatively well, she couldn't make out the marking as it was moving too fast for her to find out what kind it was which was a shame knowing she probably wont know as its gonna get destroyed either by ramming the colony which she wouldn't allow or be destroyed with flak fire which was more obvious.

Once she got to a point where she was in the path of the ancient craft she pulled out her Rifle took aim and with the help of the on board targeting opened up a volley of Heckler fire shooting until the entire magazine was empty.

Only a couple of minutes passed before Arthur slapped himself upside the head. This entire event was filled with news, what were the odds someone had a live coverage and thought to follow the action? He opened his tablet and searched through the news agencies he's seen strolling around, hoping one had a launch or at the very least a good view of the outside. Sure enough, one did, playing the footage from a launch allowed just outside of the dock for footage of the Venue arriving but attempting to follow the mobile suits as they moved to intercept an unknown. The news group played an clip of what they had, showing off a small but bright red angular object moving around the mobile suit lines before veering off towards the colony surface. "Well well, what have we here..." He watched the short clip they had of the ship turning away and taking some fire from mobile suits, and still going. For a relic, it was certainly impressive. He brought up other quick images of the machine from the same source and compiled them together for the best view he could get of a really grainy object. "Well well little sparrow, did you come flying into the eagle's nest on purpose?" The more he examined the images, the more he recalled the schematics of older Earth planes and spacecraft before mobile workers and mobile suits became popular, and how underutilized they are with the modern metal men...

Samantha Brisinggart

---

The glass was cracking.

Perhaps a piece of shrapnel hit it. Perhaps it was a lucky graze against a bullet, but regardless, her flight patterns became even more erratic, less because of any conscious decision on her part, but more because her vision was starting to get blurry from all the g-force and adrenaline hitting her.

The amassed mobile suits, the weapons fired on her.

Samantha was barely aware that she had already crashed into a mobile suit, an army Tommy, the sharp blades on her ship severing its arms neatly. Like a rocket she boosted along the colony's surface, the blades on her ship spinning rapidly as she scored and gauged out the surface, creating a field of debris behind her.

---

Freya Schwartzschild

---

"What? They're already on the colony?" Her hand flicked up to her ear piece immediately, utterly livid at the sudden change. What were these security people doing? "Percival! Rally all ground troops. Rouse the local police! Protection of the princesses are our highest priority!"

Pulling on her gloves tighter, she started running towards the hangars, where her custom mobile suit was waiting. She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little bit happy. Now there wasn't so much boring standing around.

---

"What the hell?! Its an ancient aerospace fighter! Its looks like its gonna ram into the colony,moving to intercept Boss!" called Ayame through the comms as she rocketed off in her Tommy. Victor took a moment to gather in his surroundings before he too shot off after the craft. The amassed fire from the mobile suit squadron around the dock had seemingly scared it off, and it had took off along towards the colony itself, leaving the dock safe for the time being.

The strange, ancient fighter was doing some sort of skimming maneuver against the colony walls, strange blades sending debris flying off the colony itself. It was managing to keep its speed and didn't flip end over end in a silent fireball, so Galahad assumed the structural damage to the colony itself wasn't too great. Still, he sent visual information to the command center along with locations, so patch crews could get their more quickly and begin patching up damage before it actually started becoming a problem.

"Keep after it, herd it towards the far pole. I'll try to cut it off!" Victor called into the comms as he boosted off, switching to a leading pursuit to better cut the distance between them.

"Use Mills bombs in flash configurations," Victor barked, opening up local comms with allied forces in the area, "Scramble the ships sensors or the pilot's senses, get them to bug off the wall or risk crashing into it." he continued, as he attempted to lob one of his own flash grenades ahead of the unknown craft. The flash wouldn't damage the craft or the colony, but the concentration required to maintain such speed while maneuvering so erratically must've been enormous, hopefully the flash would daze the pilot enough to force them to pull up and away from the colony wall, or interfere with the craft's sensors enough that such a maneuver would no longer be tenable.

"The Tommy's won't be able to keep up with it, we've gotta come at it from multiple angles or force it into a killzone." Victor called out as he attempted to calculate and cut the angle the craft was flying at whilst simultaneously directing the forces around him.

---

Following hot on the heels of the pirate queen and her companion was a powder blue COOL-te, rugged and subdued with a rifle slung across its back. Inside, Johanna ran her hands across a series of knobs and switches, activating and deactivating servos to prep for the coming battle. Despite the subdued exterior of her mobile suit, the pilot area was a frantic mix of different operating systems and control units frankensteined together in a highly specific way. A trained pilot in the Zern Empire would spend years trying to figure out how Johanna got her MS to work, and even then they could never work it quite as efficiently as she did.

"I probably could have shut down that alarm if y'all didn't fly in here guns blazing," Johanna snarked, no doubt sounding more like the firebrand on the landlines then the painfully shirking violet from before. Overhead, in the special harness interface, LAGOS chirped quizzically.

"Of course I couldn't do it," Johanna assured her friend after muting the comm channel. "Making them feel like an ass is payback for the tweaker comment." Grinning, she flicked the mute off again and started going to work on her software suite. "HopScotch online, let's see what we're looking at."

Outside of the suit, LED lights lit up along the arms and upper torso of the Mobile suit, and a pair of antennae resembling rabbit ears extended from the head of the unit as the MS leapt towards the back of the hanger.

"Alright, here we go," Johanna announced, gleefully looking over the wireless systems in the hanger. "We got cameras inside and outside. Smile Dannie, you're on Mars' Most Wanted!" Johanna tapped a few buttons and with one sweep of her hand overrode the security measures and yoinked the camera systems right away.

"LAGOS, give me eyes on the exterior," Johanna said as she reached behind her and pulled out a handful of archaic floppy discs. "As for the interior...ooh, this will do." Inserting it into a drive below her controls, Johanna expertly rerouted the inside cameras to display a cartoon of a girl spinning a leek around in her hand. Whistling the catchy tune to herself, LAGOS chirped happily as camera feeds from outside kicked on inside the MS just as BUN-e took cover in the back, overwatching on the front entrance with its rifle.

"Yep, we got ten, three up front, two coming in from the sides. Before we get started, any requests? I have an extensive playlist for this sort of situation."

Dannie's voice dripped with malice and perverse glee as it came through the commlink.
"I want the alarms on. I want them to know I'm here."
Recompense moved into formation with the rest of the assembly, shock spear in hand. The hum of her mobile suit's Franken-reactor could be just barely heard by any suits directly adjacent to her as she rolled her shoulders.

All systems were optimal and she was more than ready to tear someone apart. She blew smoke from her nose as she worked the controls and double checked the harness keeping her locked into the seat. Everything was set, now she just needed something to break. She raised her shield in anticipation and brought her spear parallel with the ground. Her spear was a frightful thing, all cobbled together with a mess of electronics welded to the length of it, the last seven feet or so arcing with electricity as though the weapon itself were hungry for battle.

Dannie herself could hardly wait. There was nothing in existence that brought her more happiness than using her mobile suit. By herself, she was a crippled ex-pirate with no marketable skills that didn't involve violence. When she was strapped into the cockpit, she felt almost invincible. She might not have been a drug user, but she had an addiction of a different sort.

---

Ayame was in shock, this hunk of junk survived this entire barrage? "Are you fucking kidding me? It survived that?!"Ayame was pissed that it somehow survived that barrage of fire, and to top it off its close enough to do damage to the colony with a blade as debris flew off from the structure.

"Keep after it, herd it towards the far pole. I'll try to cut it off!" Ayame heard Victor call out,

"Already on it! Oh no you don't you hunk of junk! get back here!" Ayame yelled as she set her thrusters to max to try and keep up with this fighter, but with this being a normal Tommy and not her Commander type she can't keep up with it easily. The stress of a Tommy and full speed was hard on her body but it was nothing compared to her Tommy with the Albatross gear

"Use Mills bombs in flash configurations,"She heard Victor call out again,

"Good Idea, lets see here, good thing they didn't take out the Mills bombs" she thought out loud as she watch a Mills bombs detonated nearby the fighter with a flash of bright light as it happened she tossed her own bomb right afterward Victor's detonated not giving the pilot a chance to recover as it flashed in the same bright light as Victor's a few second later. After the Flash she readied her other Grenades ready to throw more if need be as she needed to see first if the flash grenades worked as she was started to fall behind the Fighter craft.

@Jarl Coolgruuf@KaiserElectric@glwgameplayer

---

"Silence is the best music before battle. If you have time to joke and play the part of the DJ, then you have time to open the hanger bay doors." Cathrida snapped, audibly growling over the communication channel as she turned the head of her Turncoat and glancing backwards over her shoulder.

The crimson red sensor running down the face of her machine like a glowing scar seemed to pulsed irritably as Cathrida looked back into the rear of the hanger. There should could see Johanna's rabbit-themed mobile suit standing, far enough away from all the interior entrances that she was hard to hit but close enough that she could still provide cover fire with her sniper rifle. Behind here the massive dull red hanger door loomed like the battered gate of some ancient Earth castle. It took up most of what would be considered the north-most wall.

Cathrida knew from experience that the hanger doors on Venusian habitats were reinforced, often thicker and stronger then the actual walls of the habitat themselves. It was less suicidal to try and crash through the walls of the habitat then to even consider busting through the hanger doors with a flimsy mining ship.

"Access the control tower and depressurize the hanger. I can handle taking control over a ship myself when the time comes, but it won't matter if the doors aren't opened by then. If you really want to show your worth then keep the interior doors from closing and disable the pressure seals. Unless that's simply too much to handle little rabbit." Cathrida goaded over the comm, turning her mobile suit back to face the western entrance to the hanger.

By the front door, Laika's Scutson remained hidden off to the side of the doorway. Pressed up against the wall with her weapons at the ready the mono-eye of her mobile suit swiveled back and forth before eventually fixing on Cathrida's Turncoat.

"If the inner doors are closed then the Zern won't be able to come at us right away." Laika commented, her excitement giving way to impatience as she tightly gripped her controls.

"Exactly. And we wouldn't want to leave before 'thanking' the wonderful men in uniform here, now would we? Laika, stick to the main door, I'll handle the western door. And Dannie...you just have fun."

Inside her cockpit Laika was struck with a strange feeling. A tingle went up her back and she felt something. A series of small, closing pressures like a small vice tightening around her head.

"They're--They're coming. Get ready!" Laika called

---

"Unit 1 report in!"

"We're in position outside the western door sir, ready to breach."

"Unit 2 report in!"

"We're outside the eastern door, what the hell are we waiting for?"

Two teams of three mobile suits, four ZIMS-01 Redcoats and two ZIMS-02 Tommy's acting as team leaders. All armed with Lewin Machineguns. They stood and waited in the large halls to the sides of the hanger, just behind the heavy closed doors.

"Unit 3 report in!"

"We're outside the front entrance and ready to approach under cover of sniper fire. No visual confirmation on the enemy yet."

Three ZIMS-02 Tommys, armed with proper 90mm Heckler Bullpups stood with weapons raised down the road from the hanger. Their aim was set on the open doorway and they vigilantly watched for any sign of movement. One Tommy had perched itself on a nearby building and taken aim at the doorway with a Screwdriver Mag rifle.

"Roger that, but don't let your guard down. We don't have exact confirmation of the enemies numbers but we can't afford to careless. Members of the Royal Family have just arrived at Venus. If we allow these deviants to do any significant harm we will look like incompetent fools! Teams 1 and 2 are to breach the doors and deploy smoke bombs. Team 3 you are to charge in and attack as soon as you see the smoke. Surround them and kill them. For the longevity of mankind under the Zern Empire!"

"LONG LIVE THE ZERN EMPIRE!"

With that the units moved.

The eastern and western doors of the hanger snapped open just far enough to let the Tommy's lob grenades. The heavy, car sized munitions bounced across the floor before exploding into a thick white mist that began to fill the front of the hanger. As soon as the thick smoke was in the air the first and second units breached their doors which slid open with sharp phumatic hisses as they barreled through with guns raised and already firing.

Outside of the hanger the third unit charge, the ground shaking as all three Tommys sprinted with bullpups raised and bayonets deployed as they attempted to run straight through the front doors of the hanger.

Samantha Brisinggart

---

Perhaps if the mobile suits could match the Swansong's speed, or even had grenade launchers instead of throwing it manually, things could had gone differently. But with that and all the debris she was leaving behind, the grenades did barely anything save for making her swerve right and left even more erratically, the grenades too slow to be able to catch her in its effective range.

She has found what she was looking for however. A sudden burst of air from a cut open hole, indicating it was a maintenance access port, which also doubles as an emergency escape tunnel in the event of a catastrophic failure of the colony. There was no way to effectively evacuate the huge amount of people in such events with just the few ports they currently have open after all.

"Gotcha!"

Swerving around, she slammed right into two bits of the colony wall, the gun on the nose of her craft powering up as she doubled back, firing spikes towards the pursuing mobile suits.