It is the year 71 of the Cosmic Era: Tensions are mounting between Earth and the ZAFT organization. Due to the Bloody Valentine Tragedy, these tensions suddenly escalated into a full-scale war between both ZAFT and OMNI Enforcer. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the Earth Forces, with its superior numbers, would be victorious. But these initial assessments proved to be false: almost 11 months have passed since the conflict began... with no end in sight. The escalating conflict has caused endless strife amongst the populaces of both sides with the exploitation of coordinators being a major point in this war. Most coordinators look down on the naturals whom 'plague' the Earth while the coordinators are being discriminated against for not being 'purely bred'. It is these discriminations that continue to fuel the war while other factors play tribute it is mostly a war of discrimination. However a number of elite pilots have been chosen by ZAFT and OMNI Enforcer alike, for one goal: Destroy the other side. With tensions running high Earth Alliance has been working with the neutral faction known as ORB...or at least a part of it to develop mobile suits to defend Earth against the invaders.

ORB Senior Leader Richard Preston has openly given free access to Coordinators and with their abundance of resources have made it a very popular escape for people of all colors, races, and genetic types. However ORB itself is considered a free nation and a neutral one on top of that and has actively opposed to the militant counterparts in ZAFT and OMNI. However things seem to be pulling ORB Into the crossfire as news of the attacks near Helioplis are heard on Onogoro Island where a ORB military outpost is stationed ready to guard against the war. There is a small city also on the island making it an important location for ORB. The secret shared by the rogue ORB faction and their OMNI Enforcer allies are about to come to ahead. However something is about to happen there that will change the face of the Bloody Valentine War forever..

===

The bright sunny day was as clear and as beautiful as always. It was his day off at the military base and Richard Stone was preparing to do his usual things he did when the day was off. Go out to eat with a couple of his fellow soldiers. Richard was smiling at himself in the mirror as he tugged as his military coat. While it may be his day off he took pride in his appearance as a soldier for ORB. It was difficult to adjust to at first having to learn Japanese rather quickly but he had gotten use to it and it helped that many of the people here spoke English as well. It was that small comfort that had made him love this island so much. Of course his uncle was still a pain especially since he was off boozing nearly every night despite being a important scientist. It was like the man had a clockwork liver...Richard sighed deeply and shook off his thoughts about Uncle Stan and thoughts about his friends. Yuri Kobashi, Toyo Edo, and Satsuki Makunouchi were his closest friends and his most cherished companions in this city. The three had been transferred here around the same time and had been dubbed the misfits by their commanding officer Sendo Tachibana 'The Scourage of the East'. The nickname was given due to his overbearing attitude.

After quickly putting on his tie cap and spitting out the mouth wash he had been swishing around in his mouth he calmly walked out of the door after checking his cellphone for any messages from his friends. There were none so he decided that he would send one to them on the way there. Not that he expected a reply from Toyo...the lazy bastard was sometimes more trouble than he was worth.

It was that day again.

A free day off work, and another relaxing day in the city. She didn't really know what she was to expect here when she first came but everything here seemed to be ok. There were some very nice people on base, and in the city as well.

"Eeek!"

The bump in the road startled her. The driver, a fellow techie turned around to apologize, but she gave him a smile and waved it away. Jun was always such a nice guy. He didn't seem very social however, perhaps due to his tendency to stammer whenever he was nervous. Jun didn't like to be around people much. Guess she was the only one he was comfortable with, since he didn't stammer at all when she tried to talk to him.

"Ah, over there will do."

The jeep stopped in front a large shopping mall. Careful not to catch her dress on anything, she got out and smoothed down her skirt.

"Need anything else, Milya?" Jun spoke through the open car window.

"Nothing else. Thanks for sending me here."

"Its my pleasure."

She watched him drive away for a moment, and walked on into the mall.

There wasn't really anything in particular she wanted to do, she just liked the atmosphere here, just sitting down and watching people milling about doing their thing. Well, that was not entirely true, there was a place she liked to go to. A cafe that overlooks the sea, the Cat's Paw. It was a maid cafe, but it had a very nice selection of things to choose from, and there was a nice balcony where she would usually sit at.

---

Milya Sveis had finally arrived at her favourite cafe, sitting at her favourite spot by the balcony and sipping her favourite tea with her favourite chocolate cake. It was days like this she could almost forget all her stress. But she can't just laze off however, she actually had things to get now that she remembered. Some more sewing supplies, a few hard to get tools, some more food for herself to last the whole week, more detergent etc etc.

But, this was her day off, so it would be ok for her to forget about her responsibility, at least for now.

"..."

She sighed. "...would be nice to have a close friend to eat with..."

Ace in a bar on the eastern part of the city. Far off in the corner, alone, reading with great intent and drinking all the while. While it wasn't technically his day off. There wasn't anything he was needed for. All he needed to do was to study. Study the new big book of mobile suits. It was a brief but complex introduction on mobile suit matinaince. If he was going to be a pilot he was going to need the knowledge of its up keep. Trusting people was one thing, but not have anything to do at all with his suits up wasn't to his liking. He had to have a hand in it. He needed to know how the suits worked.

After reading for a while he shut his book, he finished his drink and left some money on the table. He called for a taxi to take him to his to his apartment. It wasn't a long ride, fifteen, twenty minutes maybe.

When he arrived he went through the same habits he always did. He put his things, books, notepads and pen on the kitchen table. He took his shirt and jacket off and hung them on the back of his chair. He then indulged in one of his favorite and most hated ritual. He drank, and played over what he knew from his wife's death. Looking for something he didn't before. There was no training today, mobile suit or combat. No reason not to drink today.

His training taught him many things. One of the things he learned, things were never what it all seemed to be. There was always more to the picture than what the surfaced showed. His life in the military been dark, the kind that few get used to. He adapted well to it, started to enjoy it to an extent.

There was something he was missing. Something he wasn't seeing but what it was he couldn't figure out. It kept nagging at him. Always in the back of his head.

Inside a Morgenroete military hangar on Onogoro Island, a grey mobile suit was undergoing performance calibrations.

"Raise the right arm."

Arsenio, sitting in the cockpit of the Duel Gundam groaned as he did as commanded.

"Now lower it."
"Now raise it a little faster. Good."

Arsenio sighed.

"Now lower your right arm, and raise your left arm."

Arsenio continued to oblige, as they went down to leg lifts. Then a light array was placed in front of the Gundam's head. The lights blinked on and off, and it was up to Arsenio to turn the head to look at the lights. These numbingly boring procedures were to assess the most recent set of fine-tuning that had been done to the hardware and software. As the project was top-secret, they weren't exactly allowed to take the suit out for a test run or combat simulations.

"Alright, we got good data today, thank you for your cooperation. You may now go through the usual virtual training."

Arsenio remained in the cockpit seat while the inside lit up showing him a virtual environment. The suit ran a virtual combat simulator, a sort of game that he played to train his battle reflexes. Since it was all electronics, the controls were temporarily disconnected from actually controlling the suit while he trained, so he could move the controls around and fire his virtual weapons without the mech moving. Arsenio was told that all prospective mobile suit pilots trained on this program, though few of them actuality ran the program inside an actual suit. At least, Naturals used this same program, he wasn't sure what the Coordinators up in space used to train, or if they even needed training at all. As far as Arsenio was concerned, the Coordinators deserved to win the war as there was no such thing as an unfair advantage. Of course, he couldn't really voice his opinions out loud as the organization that created him got support from Blue Cosmos, a powerful, anti-Coordinator group. At any rate, world affairs were none of his business, his concern has and always would be his immediate environment and his standing within it.

He wished the program had leaderboards, so he could see how high he ranked against all these filthy Naturals. But then, the thought of the other Extended back at Lodonia Lab outscoring him made him grimace. The only reason he was here was because right now, only Coordinators and Extended like himself were skilled enough to pilot mobile suits, but being a 'weaker' Extended, he was here on this project to help them design mobile suits that even Naturals could pilot. The thought made him laugh but it also made him sick, and in a moment of distraction, his virtual mobile suit was destroyed. He stared blankly at it, wondering if he should stop training for now or if he wanted to just stay in the cockpit for a bit and cherish his isolation.

Alexander Cross needed coffee.

Now, for most people, such a thought wasn't out of the ordinary. There were many people that had a cup of coffee every morning, and felt wrong if they didn't. It helped jumpstart their awareness and keep them going throughout the day. However, for Alexander, even the thought that he needed coffee was unusual. After all, he had far greater stamina than most of his coworkers.

Though he had to admit that even the toughest Coordinator would be feeling drained. Sighing, he pushed his chair back, away from his desk, and rubbed at his eyes. He'd been working for hours, staring at line after line of code, and only switching from that to examine the diagnostic readouts on his second monitor. The workplace was almost silent around him; Most of his coworkers had either taken the day off, or been given the day off. The reason for this was very, very simple. Most of them weren't aware of the G-Project, though some were aware of the Astray Project. They were given the day off because the prototypes of both projects had been brought to the island overnight.

This, coincidentally, was also why Alexander had been working for roughly sixteen hours alone. The software wasn't quite finished, particularly on the Astrays. It worked, but it was rough; Very much in the prototype phase, the code used was inelegant, and in some particulars functions, prone to certain errors. Even if the code worked perfectly, it still wasn't maximized to make full use of the mobil suit's hardware. His sixteen hours had been spent trying to make every function as smoothly as possible before the prototypes were expected to be finished, even though he knew that it would be a half dozen more versions before it was really even approaching done.

And they were due to be finalized in a few hours.

Alexander really, really needed a cup of coffee. And he wouldn't have been complaining about a little help, either.

As Satsuki walked into the small café with his two little children, they may as well be the way they acted....and groaned as the two laughed off about the latest chick they were trying to get to go on a date with them. The losers had already dated half the women on the island why not make it a challenge this time Satsuki thought but didn't say aloud. She didn't want to give the misfits any ideas. "What about Koko!? She's a nice girl for you Yuri!" Said Toyo as he grinned ear to ear and laughed. Koko had already declined a date with the stupid twins both at least twice. Koko was for a lack of a better term....serene and beautiful which sent a shiver up many a man's spines with her beauty. But that's all the misfits ever saw...beauty. "Come on you know she'd just shout at me if I asked her a third time why don't you?!" Yuri complained to Toyo as Satsuki went up to the counter but stopped for a moment, "Would you two kindly SHUT UP!?" Satsuki demanded of the two as they shut their mouths immediately. The one person they feared above all others was also their best friend and companion and she could get all sorts of scary! "I swear if I could strangle you if I had the chance!" She growled before turning to the lady in front of the counter and apologizing for the dunderheads. "So what can I get you." the waitress asked as Toyo asked for some coffee and a waffle while Yuri asked for some yogurt and some milk. The look Satsuki gave Yuri was enough to make his milk turn to sour milk in no time flat. But Satsuki merely groaned and nodded. "I'll be paying for them and I'll get the usual Tamaki-San." Satsuki said as the waitress grinned and told them she'd have it right away. "Speaking of right away where is our fourth wheel?" Satsuki asked as she referred to the American born Richard Stone whom she called Rich. "He's coming I'm guessing he didn't expect us to be here so early." Toyo said a which Satsuki actually agreed with her about. How strange and unusual that was for the trio...But wait Satsuki saw something out of the corner of her eye as she looked towards the front of the café. She grinned, "Hey there aren't you Milya Sveis? It's me Lieutenant Satsuki from the base! Nice to see you here." Satsuki said as Toyo and Yuri stayed behind their lieutenant but Yuri took a quick peek at Milya's chest and grinned before Toyo slapped him upside the head for it.

==
"Hey there Alex are you feeling well?" said a stoic calm voice of Stan Stone as he walked into the room Alexander was sitting in. He was in his usual lab coat attire with the ORB Union badge stapled on it like some sort of brand. His tinted glasses hung lazily on his nose and his clothes underneath the coat was disheveled. "Which project is it this time? G or the Astray?" Stan said to him as he chewed on something of unknown substance maybe it was chewing Tabaco or maybe it was gum he had a way of chewing both at times as well. His eyes glinted towards the man and he studied his body language for a moment, "You tired? You know I can't have you working yourself to death it'd look bad on my resume." Stan said with a plain monotone as if he wasn't sure if he was joking or not himself. "Man this has been one big debacle how the damn council doesn't know about this is beyond me. I mean we have some of the suits stored in the god damn airport supply center!" Stan said grumpily. "Of course the suits were in giant crates but that doesn't change the fact that they're clearly big creates....in case you didn't know they're labelled as mobile suits for the base to use so once they vanish I'm going to have to think up a rather nice lie about all of this..." Stan said sighing as if he was already writing the mountain of paperwork required for the vanishment of mobile suits of all things. "I suppose you could say we scrapped them for spare parts due to engine problems what do you think?"

Sweet.

It was hard to contain the look of bliss on her face as she took the first spoonful of the cake. Somehow they have gotten the taste, texture, and color very very close to perfection. She was very close to just shoving it in her mouth, but then she wouldn't be able to enjoy it while it lasted. Such a dilemma she faced every time she ordered one of these.

"Hey there aren't you Milya Sveis? It's me Lieutenant Satsuki from the base! Nice to see you here."

Lt. Satsuki? Another person lucky enough to have their off day on this wonderful sunny day. And those two fellows, what was their names again? She never was good with names, unless it was about machines.She was sure some of the women back at the base talked about them, but Milya was preoccupied with a compensator for a leg mechanism at the time. Leg mechanisms are very hard to maintain, overcompensate too much for the stabilizer and the MS will never be able to stand up straight. Too little and you have the same problem. Hard work, but hardly ever acknowledged by pilots.

"Ah.. Good day." Milya caught Yuri staring at her and grinning before Toyo slapped him. She put a hand up to her mouth, stifling a small laugh. It must be interesting to be around those two. "So what brings you three here?"

It just didn't seem like the place those two behind Satsuki would go to, and come to think of it, Satsuki herself didn't seem like the sort to enjoy maid cafes. Then again, they might like this sort of place because of the menu, and its soothing atmosphere.

"A little tired." The Coordinator admitted, swiveling in his chair to face Stan, resting one elbow on his desk. He had, after a moment's thought, elected not to mention that he'd been working sixteen hours; Whether Stan was aware of his genetic status or not, that would be a bit difficult to explain. "It's the Astrays. They yanked me off the G-Project a few months back, God knows why."

"But that gives me more time to focus on these." He gestured with a thumb to the screen next to him, where innumerable lines of code filled the screen, the scroll bar at right indicating many more above and below. "Some sections of their code's still as inelegant as a monkey on a dance floor, and there are a few persistent glitches. And of course, they want it all done today. It'll be half a dozen damn revisions before it's ready, and there's only time for one."

Alexander allowed a half mile to cross his face. "On the bright side, with how rushed they're making this, your report'll probably be accurate after their first battle. They haven't got PS armor, so unless the code's right and their pilots are top notch, they're just going to get shot to pieces."

Ace took one last pull from his bottle. That was it, he had drank himself past the point of being useful for his endeavors. Pushing himself away from his table. He peeled his eyes away from the dining room wall. A wall plastered with every scrap of information he could get on the death of his wife. He slowly walked over to the sliding glass door, opened it and walked through.

The fresh air was extremely refreshing. He was wrapped up into what he was doing that he didn't notice the stench of stale air, old booze and the slight sent of cigarettes. Placing a hand on the balcony railing and another on his head. He tried to shake the alcohol from his head. He wanted to drink more but knew better. He wasn't stupid enough to think that his way of life could be maintained. He knew deep down that something was coming. Something that would change his life. He would either end his life in a bottle or be raised out of it.

He loved the view from his balcony. Between the view and the breeze ot was almost his favorite place to be. The ocean was as far as the eye could see. The beach was off in then distance, the sounds of sea gulls could also be heard in the wind. He wasn't over looking the oceans but he wasn't that far off. As he looked out into the distance he forced himself to think about piloting a mobile suit and how freeing it must feel.

"So what are you doing here Miss Milya? The boy wonders over here and I are waiting for Stone to get here. We normally spend our days off together and this week it was Toyo's turn to pick out where our little group went...." Satsuki said casually but with hidden malice as if she really didn't like being here. It was probably that due to the fact that she preferred movies to coffee and maids weren't really her thing. She only knew Tamaki because she had worked so many places around here. But hey she dragged Toyo and Yuri along with Richard to see some chick flicks before so it was only fair that she put up with this as well. After all if she didn't watch them on their day off who would? Richard? Please he wouldn't be able to handle a wet paper bag let alone them. Toyo sat down at a table next to Milya and Yuri sat down on the other side of them while Satsuki sat down on a seat across from Milya. "So boss where's Richy?" asked Yuri as he yawned half heartedly. Toyo pulled out a small notebook and started to draw in it fervently ignoring most conversation that would be directed towards him. Satsuki rolled her eyes, "He will be here soon enough. But yeah I wouldn't recommend trying to get them to talk they're just perverted boys. Right Toyo?" Satsuki asked as Toyo nodded, "You got it boss." he said as Satsuki grinned and Yuri growled, "Hey I ain't no prevent." Yuri commented moodily. Satsuki rolled her eyes again, "Yeah of course you aren't you just a hopeless romantic." Satsuki said sarcastically. "So how's your break Milya? Having a nice day?" Satsuki asked casually as Toyo once again repeated his line.
==
"Oh yeah I'm sorry working on Forbidden and Raider have made me a bit forgetful I'm sorry for that." Stan said apologizing in his usual monotone. He took a seat and pulled out a nicely sized bottle of whiskey from his lab coat and took a sip from it. "Alcohol makes the stress go away when your making death machines in order to stop a massive planet wide war." he said after his sip and he wiped some sweat away from his brow as he started to type on a small laptop he had with him. His arms were clearly fatigued but he still seemed to have some energy left in him born of either alcohol or some other source. "Earth Alliance...ZAFT,..ORB....South America.....what does it matter all of them are human in some shape or form. Why bother making death machines when they could work on scientific achievements while the rabble do their jobs." Stan stated to himself more than Alexander. "You know there's only so much in life that can be taken before something needs to give. But never mind my rabbling I'm just...overworked." said Stan as he typed on his laptop. "You know Alex while I respect your motivation sometimes I question if you actually understand what we're doing here. But let's save that conversation for another time. I see Mizawa has his little puppet boy doing the controls for Duel...I suppose someone has to. I already ran the sims on Buster, Strike, Aegis, Raider, and Forbidden...all are good." He said as he looed at Alex directly now. "However Calamity and the Astrays are still at the airport. We warned them of the dangers of transporting it via flight but no they thought overseas was more dangerous..." Stan said sarcastically as he looked as if he was about to smack his head into a wall. "Fucking idiots...." Stan commented sourly.
===
"Hey are you doing ok?" asked a man as he walked through the door and leaned over the railing to look over the view. It was none other than Commander Sendo the head of the entire area. "You look tense kid." said the older man who had long greying hair with grey eyes and some an earing hanging limply from his ear swaying in the wind. "You know you're more than welcome to go and take some target practice we got a new ammo shipment today." Sendo suggested plainly. He wasn't a man of many words and the words he did say were normally low pitch and withered with the age of the man. He wasn't charismatic but he knew how to get things done and his actions in pacifying trouble with minimal use of military force was well known as such he was called The Scourage of The East because no one wanted to mess with the man when he truly got serious. He was also known for beating recruits thirty plus years younger than him, coordinators as well, in the sparring ring. Sendo's past was unknown but he was promoted rather quickly since he joined the military and some suspect he is a personal relative of Richard Preston but many people decline that theory.
===

"Way I see it, ORB's in trouble no matter who wins this war. If the Alliance wins, they'll still hate the Coordinators here. If ZAFT wins, they'll hate the Naturals. Maybe by making these, and taking the data from them, we can make sure that no matter who wins, ORB is safe." The engineer paused, glancing over at Stan and shrugging sheepishly. "Above my pay grade, though. I know how to make things; Politics is a bit out of my realm of expertise."

"Are the suits at the airport under any kind of guard?" He asked, refocusing on the task at hand. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he resumed his work, but he was still looking at Stan. "You mentioned they're in big crates. If a civilian might think that's odd, who knows how the EA or ZAFT might react. And I'd hate for the Astrays I've been working on to get blown up before they even get a chance to move."

"I think this is the first time you've came to see me at my own apartment. I'm sorry about smell, and not having a shirt on." Ace never took his eyes off the ocean in front of him. He was all but mesmerized by it. "I've been just about all over the world while working out in the field doing one thing or another, and I think.... This might be one of my favorite places to be. Amazing isn't it...? So what brings you around here? More reports of me being unstable or whatever it was last time?" His voice was plain, like asking about the weather. None of this was new for him. It wasn't that uncommon for the higher ups to seek him out and check on him. He didn't know if it was the sympathy of having lost someone at a young age or if it was because of the type soldier he was. Hell, maybe they just liked him. Either way it didn't matter right now, right now he had Commander Sendo with him. The famed Scourage of The East, one of very few people he thought was his friend. He had a great deal of respect for the man. As he hoped Sendo had for him. He was grateful for each visit if the truth were told. Though he would never admit it. Maybe that was his own foolish pride, maybe it was the shame that he needed the help. He was once a renowned solider now relearning his craft and he dearly missed his field work. At the same time it was a fifty fifty chance that his work got his wife killed. Though he had no real reason to think that, but he didn't have any real proof that he wasn't in someway the cause. He tried not dwell on the what ifs of the matter and only deal in the facts. Facts where his one saving grace right now.

"Yes, verily." She smiled at the woman. Taking another large bite out of the cake, she silently chewed on it and swallowed. "Nothing really much to do however."

Today of all times, she would have perhaps ate the cake, drink something sweet, walk around a bit and then go home after getting all the stuff she needed. Not really a good time in her opinion. Milya sorely missed all her friends back at the testing base, but the wages here were too good to pass up.

She gave a little sigh.

"Ah, if you'd like, I'd recommend the chocolate cake. It taste like sweet heaven in your mouth."

===
Stan rolled his eyes at her and smiled, "Earth can't touch ORB without causing a shit storm of the likes no one has ever seen without reason. The only reason ORB would be targeted would be for our machines that can launch ships into space. If ZAFT destroys the Alliance's guess who has the last remaining one? Us and the Earth will want it. Right now however let's focus on pacifying ZAFT militants in space. They're the main cause of this war with the Bloody Valentine's incident. It's because of them that so many people are suffering and we are fighting evil with evil..." He said as he showed Alex his laptop, it held in it all of the GUNDAMS data and their collective data. "If this get's into the wrong hands someone WILL get hurt. And it will be us in there as well." Stan continued on but when Alex asked him if he had guards stationed in the airport he was ready to smack him with his backhand. "OF COURSE I have guards around them! Don't be a twit. But fine to ease your worries I will send a call to Lieutenant Rinko and get a general call sent out to get more guards" Stan said in exasperation. "They think they're just astray units being sent here for extra reinforcement. I'm more worried about the Earth Alliance pilots here who are staying at Mozart's Hymn." Stan said referring to the hotel that the gundam pilots were staying at. Of course there were only a handful, the pilots of the Aegis, Strike, and Buster with the others far away in Washington but it was still worrying to have the group so close. "Regardless I'm going to go check up on Mizawa's kid in Duel. I warned him to keep quite but it seems the kid is being obstinate to my words." Stan said as he got up and left leaving the laptop with Alex.
===
"Yeah I stopped by since I heard you weren't doing all so hot. I take personal interest in all of my friends and my subordinates. One wasted life could be the end of everyone." Sendo said plainly as he looked over the railing. "I'm a member of the military older than the dirt I've seen dead people on." he said puling out a cigar and putting it firmly between his teeth that were still left. "Smelling nice isn't exactly something I care about unless those white bloods in top brass come down on." He said chuckling as he lit the cigar. "I hope that you aren't on killing yourself because all I've ever seen you do is drink and that's unhealthy it leads to PTSD and other sorts of shit that's going to fuck up your life. Remember your an ORB soldier now just deal with it and try to make some friends who aren't older than the dirt they're going to be buried in." Sendo said calmly before taking a long whiff of his cigar and breathing it out into the air. "Life in ORB is a lot easier than you think be grateful for what you have even if it is nothing." Sendo said calmly before coughing deeply. "You look out into that ocean and you can see why the damn feds are so fucking mesmerized by a 'Blue Earth True and Pure' that's they're slogan right? Well remember you fight for the kids playing in the ocean, the moms watching them, the dads who love them both, and yourself. Especially for the last one. Your life is your life not just everyone else's either." Sendo continued on after his coughs. "You wondering why I'm tellin' you this kiddo? You'll understand one day. Now I also came here to pick you up, since this is normally where I can find you, and get you back to base. You're needed for some guard duty. Now get your shit and let's head out. And stop moping around you're depressing me now." Sendo said before hurling the cigar into the ocean with a rather heavy throw.

===
Toyo snorted and chuckled at Milya statement as if it heavily amused him, "You know I wonder if everyone would be able to enjoy a moment like this soon. You know sitting down and eating cake and whatever. I know that Earth and ZAFT can reach a resolution to their stupid war! I know they can! It's all a matter of finding that one thing that they can compromise on!" Toyo said smiling and grinning. "We're all human coordinator or not! Now I may be a slowly natural to the all mighty coordinators and what not but even I know for a fact that they breath, eat, die, and go to the bathroom like the rest of us. I KNOW ORB can make a better future that's why I'm here!" Toyo said with his eyes full of hope. Yuri looked at the boy with an inquisitive glance that was heavy overly exaggerated. "Yeah and world peace will be a day away Toyo keep dreaming." He said sarcastically. However a collective ring came out from the pagers the ORB soldiers used and Satsuki immediately took it out and frowned, "We're needed over at the base I'm sorry for having to leave Milya but you may want to consider going to the base as well. We'll have cake tomorrow I promise you that. Also, If you want you can come with us." Satsuki said smiling as she turned around and told Tamaki to keep their order in a fridge or something and they'll be back for it later. Satsuki, Toyo, and Yuri all paid, with the latter two complaining about having to leave before they saw a maid which caused Satsuki to practically curb stomp his foot when she and the trio got out of the café and went to a small four person car parked outside in a nearby driveway. If Milya didn't get in with them the three of them would drive by themselves to the military base/docks where the troops were needed at.

===
Richard was just about there when he got a message on his pager telling him he was needed for duty at the local airport. As he was walking he wondered what could possibly be so urgent that he actually bumped into somebody and had to apologize profusely for his doing so. He was blushing in embarrassment when a girl in a brown coat pushed past him and told him to watch it. It seemed that not everyone around here was as nice as he was....it must be someone visiting the island. Yeah the island was small but it was still home to some good amount of people and it irked him that it was like that. "Well screw you too lady." He said with snark as he moved along the path changing his way towards the airport. It was a decent walk away but he had ran a lot longer than that distance before so he thought he may as well get moving as quickly as possible. Richard broke off at a decently paced run with the wing blowing in his hair. He pulled out his badge and put it on his coat and on the way there he began to think of if the occasion was about the new mobile suits being sent through here or too here or whatever the occasion was because that was all he could possibly think about. The text from Miss Lieutenant was also strange since she rarely called anyone back without any knowledge to the off duty recruits.
===
As the group of people, about ten in total, sat in the small abandoned building, it was being renovated and the workers were off duty today for all the good it would do them, as the surrounded a small laptop that was placed before them. The group were dressed in matching trench coats and underneath were their battle uniforms. Scattered through the island were similar groups to theirs but for the most part they were still in space and on some boats off shore disguised as merchant ships. The beautiful girl with curled blonde hair and bright cyan eyes looked at her commanding officer as he typed in the codes. She wondered how much longer this would all take and how long they would be here. She didn't say anything though because she was uneasy. Much like everyone else in the room until one of the boys spoke out "Earth Alliance bastards....I can't believe they would bring ORB Into this fight...It's sickening!" a boy named Lyon said as he adjusted his old fashioned hat on his head. "The one place in the world I respect and they ruin it for me..." Lyon complained further as Kai stopped tapping his fingers on a nearby board and growled, "Shut it this mission is important and we don't need the Commander getting pissed off at us nor do we need to alert anyone to our position!" Kai told Lyon as the older soldier with them told them both to can it immediately. They all complied when the computer finally turned on and in front of them stood a man with shorter blonde hair than the girl in the room and his eyes were covered up with a a mask over his face and he was known as the greater pilot ZAFT had within the organization. For all it was worth he was a valued member of the team and this entire idea was engineered by him and his agents inside OMNI Enforcer. The man's name was Tyber Andros and he was one of the most skilled coordinators Serena knew. Their mission was simple obtain the new OMNI Suits at all costs. The G-Project suits were not up for grabs by anyone and were heavily guarded but they did intend to take them for themselves effective immediately. However the problem was the pilots...and the guards surrounding the suits. ORB would not seek open war against ZAFT else they completely show to the world they were aiding OMNI Enforcer in building these suits. However if evidence linked them back to ZAFT than it would be catastrophic on major levels. Whatever they did they couldn't let it be known it was ZAFT attacking ORB's city. They were to get in and out immediately. "Tell me Carson what is your status. My unit is prepared to drop onto the military base and the documents linking this attack to OMNI Enforcer's shipping units through a supposed neutral zone and that we only attacked ORB to capture these suits as it is in breach of ORB's neutrality.

The documents have been prepared to be sent throughout the world and the PLANTS. All you need to do is get in steal the suits. Branson's team will be with you, so don't fear that you'll be outnumbered." Tyber told them as Carson looked around at them and then back at the screen quickly, "We're ready but...don't you think Lilly's mission could have been different why do we-" Carson said as Tyber interrupted him, "It had to be done unfortunately and Lilly will be remembered as a hero I assure you just focus on your mission. Attack the airport while we handle the military base. Branson will assist you in an escape attempt with those pirates we hired for this mission. If the pirates betray us go to the designated point on the map." Tyber told Carson as the man nodded and wished him and his team good luck Carson growled and kicked the crate the laptop was on before having one of the soldiers write out he coordinates. "This plan is so flimsy..." Lyon said as one of the soldiers walked in and told them they were going to head out immediately because the workers would be back soon. Serena got up and grabbed the can of gasoline and put it on her back. "Yeah but we have to try otherwise Earth's new weapons will overwhelm us..." Serena told Lyon as Kai agreed with her saying that it was only because Earth Alliance dared to ship units through here was the reason they were attacking this place. "If ORB declares war we will be smashed like an ant under their combined military might." Kai continued as Carson laughed heartily at that. "Well kid we're coordinators and we are the best there is hence why we're going to get his mission done and we're going to do it right. Now come on hurry up...and you go throw that laptop in the sewer if one of us dies carrying it we're FUCKED hard." Carson told them as the group moved out hiding their weapons inside the coats and putting their masks into their outer pockets so they'd be easier to access when they needed them. Sure they looked completely suspicious but what else could they do? With the teams prepared Operation: Changing of The Guard was underway. Serena could only wonder what fate awaited them.

She had her spoon up, another piece of the chocolate cake ready to be consumed, but what the man said ruined her appetite, and the chocolate cake started feeling like cardboard in her mouth. Of course she knew that, of course there was a war out there, but to mention it right on this day when she was supposed to relax on her off day.... Her expression didn't change, but her smile seemed a little tense around the corners.

Milya declined politely when they suggested she ride with them, staying in her seat until they left the store. She stared sadly at her cake. She didn't feel like doing anything today now, not when they had just ruined her day. When the thought of other people dying out there hung around in the back of your mind, it tends to take the color out of everything you do.

"Ah, excuse me? Can I have the bill?"

***

She sighed, as Jun kept eying her when he thought she didn't notice.

"Do I have something stuck on my face?"

"No." Jun turned his attention back to the road. "You don't look relaxed."

"Is it that bad?"

"Its just your eyes. It doesn't have its usual shine to it."

She stared at him a while. Shine? She didn't really know what he meant, but Jun was correct about her.

"Well its-"

"Ho there! Pass?" Another voice cut through the air as they neared the base's entrance. It was the security guard, with a bored look on his that meant he was only asking because of regulations.

"Here you go, Glen." She reached out he window and handed it over to the guard. He only gave it a cursory glance before handing it back and waving them through.

They both stayed silent as Jun drove her back towards her quarters, with only a wave goodbye as she got off his car and he drove off.

Finding the quarters empty, she simply walked back to her room and collapsed on her bed, feeling very very tired all of the sudden.

"Hey! If you're not going to train anymore, then get out of there!" Mizawa yelled, breaking Arsenio out of his introspection.

Arsenio grumbled to himself, but he couldn't disobey. He opened the cockpit and stepped out onto the catwalk that was moved in front of the chest of the Duel. "Did you need me for something...sir?" he asked, with a twinge of snark.

"No, just don't waste time or hog the equipment if you're not going to put it to good use," Mizawa replied.

"No one else is going to use it anyways..." Arsenio said to himself, though he was well aware that sometimes programmers went in to interface with the OS or technicians calibrated the controls.

Mizawa left, leaving Arsenio to himself. Arsenio looked around the hangar. "Tch...don't see that cute lady tech anywhere," he said, scratching his hair. He took an equipment lift down to ground floor and wandered casually around the hangar for a bit. "Might just go back to my room..." he thought to himself.

Ace let out a hardy laugh, he couldn't help it. "Don't worry, no plans to off myself just yet. You think putting a half drunk, unstable, elite ground solider on guard duty with a gun is a good idea? I knew there was a reason I liked you more than the other damn COs." He pushed himself away from the balcony railing grinning from ear to ear. He never did well with the soliders of today or their officers. Ace always thought they were too soft, that the hard edges. Sendo was different he still had those hard and rough edges. A man that could fight a war and command the respect of his men by his action and not his rank. That was very rare these days, and almost nonexistent in the Feds. The reason he was all too happy to leave, that and the growing paper work. One of these days he would figure out if it was the right thing to leave the way he did. Having Sendo around was a pretty big indication that it was.

Walking into his apartment he grabbed his shirt and jacket. As he got dressed he couldn't help but wonder he was summoned for guard duty on this day. "I gotta ask, why today? I haven't had to pull any guard duty for a long while now. Whats got you so nervous that you can came and got me personally? Is there some dignitary or princesse coming that we don't know about?" His voice filled with dread, he hated having to pull those details. It was nothing more than baby sitting, there was already more than one incident where in he was mistaken for a butler. That didn't end very well for Ace one bit.

A van carried a group of Earth Alliance soldiers to the base that the G-Project was kept. As it stopped at the entrance the driver showed his ID card to allow the vehicle in, the barriers removed for unrestricted entry. Soldiers in white and grey uniforms, each carrying a bag disembarked the transport they were in. There was a woman that looked like a representative of the Morgenroete waiting for them.
“Welcome to ORB Captain Harper.” The representative spoke.
A blond-bearded officer walked to reply. “It is an honour.” He returned. “How is the progress of the G-Project?”
The representative took them to the chamber where the G-Project was kept. The younger officers were unable to see the Mobile Suits and had trouble imagining how the tide of the battle will finally turn to them. Donald hope that the Mobile Suits will be impressive enough to surpass what ZAFT has right now.
“So the project is at its final stage?” Captain Harper asked the representative.
The representative nodded. “Yes. This is why the pilots are required.”
“I see.” The Captain said as he looked at the Mobile Suits. “Seeing the progress, headquarters JOSH-A will be happy.”
They were now guided away from the G-Project to be taken to their temporary housing. As they were being taken to their barracks Donald noticed a group of three young women, presumably employees. One of girls, with blue hair and pink rimmed glasses noticed and returned a wave, making him blush. Harper noticed his vice-captain’s reaction and thought about how he should be trying to get a wife before turning thirty. As the other officers went to find their beds to claim and drop their baggage, Donald stayed outside to take a smoke first. He took out a cigarette case from a bag he carried, grabbed a cigarette and lit it with the OMNI-logo imprinted lighter.
Getting out of the housing Captain Harper found Donald taking a smoke. “I saw that girl wave at you.” He noted.
The vice-captain pretended to be apathetic. “Yes, but we have a mission sir.” He replied.
The good Captain blew away some of the smoke. “You should think about marrying.” He advised. “JOSH-A will know that you need more money to support a family and gives you a better chance at promotions.”
“I can only eat by fighting ZAFT sir.” Donald responded. “I don’t have anything else to do for a wife. Can’t sing, dance or make a corporate presentation.”
The Captain laughed at the statement. “Trust me.” He asserted. “Get thee a wife, get thee a wife.” Quoting an old theatre.

"Don't worry kid there are worse things in the the world than Mizawa. Like coordinators." said a OMNI guard who was sitting nearby Arsenio. He didn't say much more but he did get out his cellphone and send out a text message to someone as he sat there by himself. The other guards were out on a bathroom break and since there was no need to worry about the amount of security needed they figured they could just run and get right back. "Look I don't know what makes you so special kid but if you're piloting that...thing there then you need to do it right got it? I don't fancy losing my whole el familia to scummy space assholes." The man continued as he chewed on some food he pulled out of one of his pockets.
===
"I don't need men slacking off even if they're drunk. If they get their job done right then they're going on duty." he replied to Ace gruffly. However he sighed and simply replied to the next question with as much seriousness as he could, "I came to get you personally because of ONE reason. Because I need more people. We are undermanned right now even with those OMNI fuckers nearby, if you don't know about them don't ask they arrived a couple days ago and they're only passing by. I don't like OMNI Enforcer....I haven't for a long time now. I NEED ORB soldiers who have experience on duty while they're here and while I get this whole mess settled out. I got the whole staff on duty and I was the only one free to round up the remaining soldiers. I already got Truman, Grant, and Takahada." he confided in Ace simply as he adjusted his ORB coat.
===
As Richard Stone approached the airport he stopped to catch his breath his brow was covered in sweat and he needed to wait just a moment in order to get in a presentable manner. Once he did that got to the main gate and presented them with his ID badge and was let through as he watched a nearby Astray unit waltz by on it's patrol. Having seen the things many times before he had gotten to used to the sight of them.
===

The OMNI Pilots for the G-Project, minus the pilots for Calamity, and Forbidden which were at the military base to go and practice on the simulators, were all situated in the small hotel known as Kawaii Superstar! A famous place where pop singers were known for staying at but still hosted normal clients. The OMNI enforcer pilot for Aegis recommended it because of his collages' stoic demeanors which made him cringe half the time. The bright eyed commander of the group of young pilots was sitting in the living room playing video games with the pilots of Strike and Buster whom has protested but given in when he told him they'd get court marshaled for not following an order. The pilot for Blitz was taking a shower while the others did their thing and the only female pilot of them all, the pilot of Raider, sat by herself reading fan fiction on the internet for mere fact that she was bored and didn't feel like training with her fellow pilots at the base or play video games. She just wanted off the island. "Damn it that's cheap dude!"
strike's pilot complained to Aegis's pilot as the man started to beat him using a rather obscure method of playing that he saved just to mess with his friends. It was only due to the fact that he had played this so often he even knew about the method he was using and it was extremely cheap but it was just so funny to see them get flustered, "Oh cry about it some more you whiny little baby." Aegis's pilot said laughing as Buster's pilot stood there calmly, "You know Duel's pilot is a creep." Strike said as Aegis told him to shut up, "He's our companion like it or not we gotta work with him not shut up and get your butt whipped some more you big baby!" Aegis replied to Strike sarcastically.

vancexentan said
"Don't worry kid there are worse things in the the world than Mizawa. Like coordinators." said a OMNI guard who was sitting nearby Arsenio. He didn't say much more but he did get out his cellphone and send out a text message to someone as he sat there by himself. The other guards were out on a bathroom break and since there was no need to worry about the amount of security needed they figured they could just run and get right back. "Look I don't know what makes you so special kid but if you're piloting that...thing there then you need to do it right got it? I don't fancy losing my whole el familia to scummy space assholes." The man continued as he chewed on some food he pulled out of one of his pockets.

"I was made for this, I'm good at what I do. That's what makes me special," Arsenio said, looking the man up and down, "I may not like Mizawa, but he's good at what he does as well. Him and I are in no position to be criticized by the likes of you. I'll keep being good at what I do, and you can...well, do whatever it is you do, chew cud like cattle or something. If you lose something to 'scummy space assholes', then it only means that you weren't strong enough to keep it, that the 'scummy space assholes' are stronger than you." Arsenio smirked and began walking away, keeping his senses and reflexes heightened in case the man chose to attack him in a fit of rage. He couldn't help it, he loved being condescending to grunts.