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Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

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

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

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

|

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

Mobile Suit Gundam Wing: Eclipse

Fortunately there to provide backup Mercurio found Donna escorting him to the Parliamentary Building while Milou followed in suite. As soon as the jeeps parked Mercurio prepared to enter while he asked for a last second safety plan. “Milou, do you think you can just check a few feet behind us and make sure our sixes are safe?”

Donna managed to bring up the name he had been hoping to uncover. They had confirmed Ulbricht’s position during the Lindemann assassination and it managed to line under a fitting time period. After his answer, Mercurio would have to explain and it would determine if his superior was hiding anything.
When the General denied knowledge of the name Albert he decided that now was as good a time as ever to explain his findings. “We discovered a file on the Lindemann case and we hope that this might be a coincidence. But there was someone named Sir Albert who was contacting another by the name of Garret. I cannot offer insight on who Garret might be, but there is a reason I asked you about this case General.” The tension began to rise as the reveal was brought forth. “Recently it’s believed that Architect I sent a message to us. ‘Sir Albert is German’. I believe you might understand why someone might see you as a candidate for questioning.” He pointed this out subtly noting the German variation the name Albert had. “I only ask this with intention of finding justice sir. I don’t want to believe the possibility but I must hear it from you firsthand. Did you have anything to do with the Lindemann assassination?” It was a perfect moment to bring up the question. The events that had just occurred would be enough to make anyone wonder about the possible connections. As he gave the question he noted the oversight the General had over his questioners. There was something being planned at the moment. Milou. It’s up to you to give us a heads up. Mercurio thought as he kept his right arm steady waiting for Ulbricht’s next answer.