La Vie en Rose Station Tres, UC 93

"We are exiting hyperspace, brace for reentry." The Captain of the vessel warned through the intercom.

"Acting like this is the first time we've been in space." Poral Guilish spat in annoyance from her seat.

"He's just following protocol. Respect and tolerate it." Director Clehna Hacswell advised.

"Whatever...I say he's full of it." Milly Childer chided. "You didn't do all of this boring stuff in the Federation, did ya Chris?"

"No, we didn't get any warning." Red-haired Christina Wiseman joked and snapped another photo of the energy vortex outside of their ship. "Not as good, but it'll due."

"Why are you taking all of those photos?" Mona Vespez asked her newest co-worker.

"My friend Al loved taking photos." Chris shot captured another image of her co-workers. "And it brushed off on me. So I want to capture every moment that I'm alive. You never know when that could end."

"Philosophical, but meaningful." Nina Purpleton offered kindly, though her expression was downcast. "You've shown that same passion with your new station."

"Thanks." Chris replied with a smile. "Being accepted into Anaheim Electronics has been my goal for years. It's great to set a goal and then make it."

"Well spoken, Mrs. Wiseman." The Director agreeded as the ship exited hyperspace, sending a jolt of adrenaline through it's passengers. "Damn...you never get used to that kick...do you?"

"I never did." Chris admitted and watched in amazement as the Anaheim vessel flew past a gigantic space station. "Is that...is it a..."

"Golan Corps Third Model Defense Platform?" Nina finished for the amazed Chris. "A space defense station armed with 50 plasma Turbolaser batteries; 24 Torpedo launchers; 15 Tractor Beams; 30 close-range anti-ship cannons; and 20 anti-ms guns. That station alone could hold off three Zeon fleets back to back and not get a dent in its shields."

"And that is why Golan Arms is number 2 in the Technological Manufacturing Field." October Saren mused confidently. "But the gap between number 1 and 2 is pretty wide."

"Actually, there's a lot of up and coming production companies that have been rising lately." Another new employee named Todd stated as the vessel flew towards the large colony known as the Stellar Liberty. It was a newer and more advanced colony produced by a cooperation between the Kaiba and Yanzaki rival companies in exchange for joint ownership. It boosted a large population of at least 50 million and possessed state of the art atmosphere control and air quality.

Chris tilted her head in curiosity. "Like who?"

"Romefeller...Barton's Foundation...the Vist Corporation...Yajima Corporation...not to mention Britannia and the US's in-house production capabilities-"

"Point taken." Nina cut-in or else Todd would drone on. "This exhibition will our chance to prove why Anaheim is number one and stay there."

"Our entrance will more than suffice." Their director added, reminding her charges of the ship that they flew on. The Third Model of the La Vie en Rose that they flew was based on Anaheim's signature orbital manufacturing plants.

But previous models relied on the orbit of a planet, moon or sufficiently large satellite. The vessel currently in use was using engines powerful enough to propel it from the Earth Sphere all the way to Pluto and back towards the Mars sphere. This effectively made the newest La Vie en Rose a truly mobile manufacturing, repair, testing and analysis plant.

It had no weapons, but the vessel was also equipped with Capital+ shields and Grade Delta Gundarium integrated into the molecular structure of its hull. This meant that the vessel was more durable than the new Star Defender line of capital ships that the Federation had begun producing.

"Tell what? The exhibition won't start for some time." Clehna began as the La Vie en Rose began to enter the colony's 2nd Docking bay. "Why don't we take a trip to this Mega Mall that so much money was wasted to make? Consider it a company reward."

The technicians all cheered and reminded themselves why Clehna was their favorite boss.

Nia smiled at her old friend's kindness. "Today was going to be a good day."

Golan III Defense Platform

"Why do you have a gun if you're not gonna use it?"

"I've heard this riddle before, drop it." The commander was as bored as his subordinates. For all of the supposed firepower of their Golan Defense Platform, it didn't count for squat if there was nothing to shoot at. Originally, there used to be a debris field from a battle that waged here between Axis Zeon and two Rival Earth Federation Factions, the AEUG and the Titans. But, the Golan had wasted that field days ago.

"Think we can shoot something after the Exhibition?" A young corporal asked, referring to the Stellar Liberty's weapons and technology exhibition about to take place later that day.

"Like what corporal?" One of the officers asked. "It's useless unless the target's your momma!"

"Why you!" The corporal and officer leaped into each other and started mashing fists and lips. The commander didn't even bother breaking them up, the two men were a cute couple anyway.

"Take it to your quarters or I'm taking you to the air lock." The commander would never do that, but he liked to joke around once in a while. As the couple continued their fight out of the bridge, one of the officers put on their detection muffs and was messing with their console. "Pick up another space turtle?"

"No sir...it's a mobile suit." The officer stated. "And it's not a Federation model."

The commander's smile faded at once. "Contact the mobile suit. I want a visual on this thing."

"What if it's just a derelict leo?"

"What if it's a gundam?" The commander sarcastically countered. "Visual. Now."

"Found it sir!" Sure enough, the Golan Station now witnessed a lone mobile suit approach the stations perimeter. It was carrying several objects, but appeared to be moving sluggishly as if it were low on fuel.

"I attempted to hail the mobile suit on line 111-14, but there was no reply." A no response on the universal frequency meant that the object either couldn't communicate or was purposefully refusing to communicate."

"Arm all starboard guns." A precaution straight from the book, but the commander didn't get his rank for stupidity.

"I recognize that model!" A radar officer shouted. "That's a Jupiter Ghost mobile armor!"

"Jupiter Ghost?" The commander scoffed, he wasn't going to waste ammunition on an outdated and failed pet project. He vaguely recalled the Jupiter Ghost being an attempt to turn a Rick Dom into a mobile armor, but it was considered a waste. "Send out a squadron to capture that obsolete piece of junk."

"Sir, I recommend shooting it out of the stars now-"

"This station was designed for heavy assault, not wasting its time with trash." The commander stated. Warning screeches sounded through the command deck, causing the commander to grit his teeth in frustration. "Now what?"

"The Jupiter Ghost is locked on to us sir." Another surveillance officer warned, the viewscreen showing the rick dom mobile armor arming and aiming a large and long missile cannon at the station. "Defense Squad 67 won't be in range to fire for another two minutes."

"No matter. Raise shields to full power, just in case." The Commander ordered and felt a sense of dread return. His hands tightened into fists as he watched five GM III's and 3 Jegans race for the outdated mobile armor. "Extend our surveillance range to make sure there aren't any others-"

"This is Romeo 8 of the 67th!" A young pilots voice shouted in the comm. "I am detecting a high energy build-up in the unidentified unit! This build-up is consistent with that the Solomon Express Atomic Bazooka! We won't reach it in time! Evacuate the station while-"

"Sir! We've lost Romeo 8's signal!" The commander and all of the command deck soon saw why. A great white flash erupted on the starboard side of the station and seemed to be hurtling towards the station.

"There are worst ways to die." Commander Lot Olsen faced his fate with dignity. At least, as much dignity as one can manage when the station created to protect you is transformed into a molten cage of burning and melting metal. Said cage soon filled with highly radioactive heat which incinerated cloth and skin from the bodies of the Golan Stations crew. Even the powerful deflector shield only managed to ward off a third of the atomic beams destructive power.

Making what should have been a painful, but quick death into an agonizing demise filled with pain and fire...

USS Vigil

"What the hell?" The destruction of the Golan Station was witnessed by the Vigil's crew as the ship exited the Stellar Liberty's 5th docking bay. When the flash had ended, nothing remained except for a crisp hollow shell that was once the stations port-side hull.

Known for quick thinking, Captain Hellard grit his teeth and nerve. "I want a full scan on the area at max range! If any of our people are still alive out there, contact them and find out what the hell just happened!"

"Captain, we've found five of our men!" Hellard heard an officer declare. "Three GMS and two Jegans...all damaged, but life signs are strong."

"Contact those men and send a Base Jabber to extract them." A second after that command, the bridge was filled with the sound of warning sirens. "What now?"

"Sir! We've got multiple signals inbound! Thirteen of them!" The Vigil's sensors quickly honed in on the newly arrived intruders and gave a visual feed to the deck. "Zeon units and they're coming right for us!"

"Char's finally shown himself." Captain Hellard smirked despite the situation. Four of the enemy units were Zaku II Kai suits supported by four Geara Doga units; Two Rick Dom IIs; two Kamfer space-type units and a red Doga suit that the Vigil's databanks could not recognize. "Deploy green and black squadrons to intercept and destroy them. I want Red Squad to pick up the Golan's surviving units and scout for the Zeon transport ship. Those Zeks didn't come out of nowhere after all."

"What if they did?" The XO who asked that question was bitch-slapped by his captain. "What was that for?"

"For asking a stupid question." Hellard stated and turned to where three squads of 7 well-trained and equipped mobile suits were deployed. One squad flew towards the Golan's wreckage and the others towards the enemy. "All wings report in."

"Red Leader standing by."

"Green Leader standing by."

"Black Leader standing by." The self-confident Stark Jegan Commander declared. "Do we give the zeks a warning shot or engage at will?"

Hellard never liked these protocols, but rules were rules. "Engage at will, Black Leader. No mercy."

Stellar Liberty

"And that's the last time we let Todd ask for directions!"

"WHAT? I didn't know that there were 13 Mega-malls here!" Todd complained to Milly who was having none of it. "Who has that much money to waste?"

"Welcome to UC 93, Mr. Alexander." Nina shrugged as the group crossed a walkway towards the Liberty Mall. Which looked more like a Fortress than a Mega-Mall. "There's no way we could afford anything in there without the company budget."

"How much money's on the budget?" Chris asked with curiosity. "A hundred per person?"

"Normally it's 30 thousand." Mona answered to Chris' quiet shock. "And that's not counting Vacation benefits...free hotels...free visits to any spa or hot spring in town...free medical insurance for all needs, no questions asked."

"And that's just for beginners. You'll get more with the more sales that you make!" Nina assured Chris, who just smirked. "Do your hardest and you'll be taken care of. Take it from me, Anaheim rewards good work ethic."

Chris nodded and briefly looked towards a black haired kid that passed them. Her eyes narrowed with a flash of anger which frightened Nina.

"Chris?"

"Sorry...I just..." Chris' eyes projected calm joy as she briefly looked back to Nina. "There's a lot that I didn't know about this company before I joined it...it's all overwhelming."

"You'll get used to it eventually-" Nina was rocked from her feet and nearly thrown off the bridge. But Chris caught her and stabilized her. "Thanks!"

"Don't mention it." Chris stopped suddenly and looked up towards the ceiling. "Anyone hear that?"

"Hear what?" Milly asked as the technicians rocked from rumbling affecting the bridge. Chris held onto the railing and narrowed her eyes with almost cold focus. "Chris? What is it?"

Chris was shaking, her hands trembling as the rumbling grew louder. "We need to move. Get off the bridge..."

"Why?" Nina looked towards their director who answered her phone and spoke in a hushed whisper. "We can at least get off the bridge."

"Why is everyone so damned scared of a bridge?" Mona asked though she had no trouble keeping pace with the technicians as they ran across the bridge and made it to the large mall's entrance. "Anyone?"

"It's not the bridge that's the problem." Director Hacswell answered, hanging up her phone to address her charges. "The colony is under attack. I just got word from the Colony's security sensors that the Golan Defense Station was destroyed."

"Destroyed!" Poral cried out in disbelief and shock. "That's impossible! The shields on that station should protect it from-"

"They didn't protect it well enough. The station's gone and the Vigil is engaging Zeon intruders." Hacswell stated, the ground shaking from another rumble. "Vacation's over, it's time to go."

Engagement

"Got it chief." Black Leader switched off the safety measures on his Type-A Stark Jegan and opened the channel to his team and Green Squadron. "Alright hawks, we've got 14 against 13 so no pussy-footing, got it? We charge in hard and fast, cut em in half and break em apart. Blacks 2 and 4 are with me. Everyone else, suppression fire on their middle."

"Green Squadron will attack their flanks and pressure them." Green Leader added. "God speed."

"You too." Black Leader didn't worry about his men's pattern, he'd fought with them since the Stardust incident and trusted them with his life. As he neared the enemy, he saw the Zakus and Gearas form into a skirmish formation with the Doms and Kampfers as a loose rearguard. "This is it hawks! Hold on to your butts!"

It was impossible to know who fired the first shot.

Black Leader sped his Jegan towards one of the Zakus and fired his beam rifle at it's chest. His first shot missed, but the next three shots struck it's chasis, neck and cockpit and exploded. The Jegan avoided a retaliatory attack from the Zakus wingman and used his shield to deflect the Gearas cannon. Black Leader's Jegan was forced back from the shock and watched the Geara charge him with a heat hawk ignoring Black 2's shot which took off it's leg.

"Spartan are ya?" Black Leader shifted his Jegan backwards to avoid the heated axe and aimed his left forearm at its head. "Neat." Two grenades impacted on the Jegans head and torso and detonated. The Geara wasn't completely destroyed, but Black Leader highly doubted that anyone survived.

"Black Leader! I've got a boogie on me!" Black 3 cried out as her damaged Nouvel GM was frantically avoiding fire from the surprisingly quick kampfer that pursued her. "I can't shake it!"

"Keep your head on Black 3, I'm coming your way." The Stark Jegan flew through the melee, proud that his men had executed their plan perfectly with no deaths thus far. On the contrary, the enemy had lost 2 Gearas and 3 Zakus with the rest being scattered.

Except for the Red Doga.

"What's he waiting for?" Black Leader kept his eye on that Doga, but focused on the kampfer coming into his sights. "Here I am, watch the birdie!" Black Leader locked onto the blue zeon mobile suit and launched a salvo of missiles from his shield that hunted the kampfer and destroyed it.

"Thanks Black Leader, I owe you one."

"We're not done yet. Black 2 and Black 4, tighten up." Black Leader's jegan was soon joined by the jegans of his wing-men. "Status report?"

"My right arms hit, but I'm okay."

"I'm fine." Black 4 blunted as the remaining enemy units retreated towards the Red Doga. "Pursue sir?"

"That's what he wants us to do." "Screw that, let's waste the bastard from a distance." All four units armed their missiles and aimed for the Red Doga. "Enjoy the fireworks, bitch!" Black Leader wasn't bluffing either, the explosions appeared to have explosions within them just to highlight the destruction that he'd unleashed. When the fireworks ended, not a trace of the Red Geara was left.

"Beautiful sir." Black 2 muttered with a tear and gasped in shock soon afterwards. "Sir! We've just lost Red Squadron!"

"What?" Black Leader couldn't believe it, but it was true. The GMs and Jeddah units that made up Red Squadron were destroyed along with the units that they were supposed to rescue. "Why didn't we see this until now?"

"The enemy must be jamming our sensors and long-range comms-" Black 2 screamed as a beam seared through his Jegan's chest and caused it to explode.

"We've lost Black 2!" Black Leader called out and spotted the Stealth Dom that had killed him. "Congrats! Here comes a double kill!" Black Leader sped towards the Stealth Dom and fired to take out both of it's arms with one shot and followed up with a shot to it's large left leg. Black Leader could have killed him with another shot to the chest, but he instead drew out his beam saber and stabbed the disabled Dom through it's cockpit.

"Sir! More enemies incoming-" Black 5 warned before his unit was ran through by the beam saber of a stealth Gelgoog. Soon enough the two squadrons were surrounded by more than a dozen Zeon units emerging from stealth fields.

The tables turned quickly with the victorious being thrown on the defensive. The enemy used their element of surprise to ambush most of the stretched out Green Squadron and down their leader before he could readjust. His own men were quicker to adapt and defend, but Black Leader realized that his odds were decreasing with each moment.

Black Leader kicked away the silent Dom towards an approach Marasai and shot through the Dom to headshot the Marasai. "All remaining units! Fall back to the Vigil. I repeat, fall back to the Vigil-" A pulse laser took off the top of Black Leader's head and forced him to look up towards his latest attacker.

The Red Geara was above him.

It's arms were crossed on its chest in a gesture of sheer arrogance with four tiny devices flying around is legs. One of which fired another pulse laser that seared through Black 4's head.

"I'm blind out here! I repeat, I'm blind-" Black 4 was silenced when a Kampfers shotgun blasted through Black 4s jegan and left it floating silently through space.

"These fucking zeks owe me 200 dollars." Black Leader spat and drew out his beam saber into his left hand with the beam rifle in his right. "Wanna a piece of me? Here I come!" Uncaring for his chances, Black Leader charged the Red Geara and fired every piece of ammunition that he had.

The Red Geara motioned with its hand and the small devices flew towards their prey.

Black Leader watched with stunned amazement as the devices emitted a rainbow ray from their points which stopped his particle beams and missiles right in their tracks.

Right in front of the speeding Black Leader.

"This is bullshit." Black Leader was oddly calm even as his life was ended by the very weapons that he'd fired...

USS Vigil

"Sir! Black Leader is down!"

"Damn!" Red Squad was down and what remained of the Green and Black Squads were being overwhelmed by the surprise attack by enemy reinforcements. "Provide covering fire now!"

"Captain! This is Green 2! We need fire support now!" The damaged GM frantically reported. Captain Hellard watched another Stark Jegan duel and fly around a Zaku II amidst the retreat. By all accounts, the state-of-the-art mobile suit should have destroyed the Zaku by now, but the Zaku was actually winning.

And then the Jegan was destroyed.

By a Zaku.

The Captain had had enough. "Sabre Flight, deploy."

"Yes sir!" Ten GMs escorted by twenty Raven Sword space fighters launched from the Vigil's hangers and engaged the Zeks. Hellard always held back one squad in reserve and now he wished that it was Black Squadron. Black Squadron was his best asset with his most skilled and experienced pilots and now only two Blacks were still alive.

Scratch that...only one was now left.

"Sir! Sabre Flight has engaged and is holding off the enemy." Holding off would be an odd choice of words. The fighters were being torn apart with only 7 still alive and half of the Sabre GMs had been destroyed or disabled. Worst yet, the Zeon Group engaged the new enemies as if it were routine.

They were good.

And they were prepared.

"Slipspace rupture detected!" Hellard slumped into the captain's chair as his crew scrambled trying to figure out what was coming at them.

"This task force was a scouting party...a vanguard for the real attack group." "Have anti-ms guns shoot any Zek that comes within range and order Sabre Flight to fallback to the ship's perimeter." Hellard maintained his decorum despite his rising dread. "Arm all Turbolaser guns and mega-particle guns."

"Rupture analyzed sir...there is something coming at us." Hellard had to hold back a laugh. "No shit." "And it's big...really big."

Hellard exhaled. "How big?" The ship rocked as the Captain got his answer.

Standing before the Vigil's stern was a big ship.

A very big ship that had to be more than 1500 meters long.

The very big 1500 meter long ship was of a peculiar design that Captain Hellard had never seen before. The vessel's front was formed into a rough teardrop drooped downward and formed a bulbous protrusion. The dorsal surface of the front section contained a recessed area that could have been the command deck. Near the aft end, the hull split into six sleek, wing-like structures.

"Can someone identify this big alien ship for me?" Captain Hellard inquired, noting that the Zeon units were now flying past him towards the colony that he was supposed to be protecting. "Anyone?"

"According to Colonial Archives..." The technician paused in sheer terror. "The Archives say that...that this vessel...is a-"

Hellard wasn't in the mood. "Get the cat off of your tongue and tell me what I'm looking at!"

The technician's eyes were red with unshed tears. "Sir...it's a Covenant Heavy Destroyer."

Hellard had to be pause. His eyes twitched and his hands shook from those three words. Of course, he had learned about the Covenant and their armada...he knew that the Covenant were a collection of aliens united by a worship of their long-past ancestors. He also knew that this Covenant waged a devastating and destructive war against Earth's colonial frontiers that ended in an uneasy treaty. He also knew that this Covenant split apart due to a religious schism and was fighting itself in ever-increasing numbers of splinter factions and separatists.

Why was there a Covenant ship here?

In the Sol System?

Composing himself, Hellard fell back on protocol. "Contact the alien vessel."

The communications officer blinked. "Come again, captain?"

"Hail the incoming vessel and establish contact. Are you deaf?"

"No sir...it's just that it's pointless-"

"Just follow your orders." As if resigned, the officer did his job and soon enough, Hellard had established contact with the alien vessel. The large vessel was just floating in place, it didn't even give any sign of preparing it's large arsenal of weapons such as pulse plasma cannons and other guns that Hellard was trying not to think about. "Unidentified vessel, this is Earth Federation Captain Hellard of the USS Vigil. You have entered Federation space unauthorized and unannounced. You are ordered to turn your vessel around and leave or you will be fired upon with all at my disposal-" The captain jumped back when his channel displayed the alien captain.

"Captain Hellard of the Vigil, I greet you. This is Shipmaster Valthor of the Scepter of Silence." A quad-jawed saurian creature with blue armor responded. "Resistance is futile. As you can see, I have you outmanned and outgunned before I even arrived. This sector is now under my command and you will yield or I will destroy you."

"I believe that you are mistaken." His crew stared at him in disbelief and shock, but the captain did not care. Hellard knew that the advantage was squarely in the alien's hands, but he choose not to back down. "I do not merely refer to my vessel, but also to the defenses of the Stellar Liberty behind me. Destroy me and you will be annihilated by the full might of this fully armed and operational battle station. You are the one who is outmanned and outgunned."

"So it would seem." Valthor replied ponderously and though Hellard could not be certain, it looked like Valthor was smirking with his left jaws. "But as you humans say, appearances can be deceiving."

"Sir! Detecting high energy build-up in the Covenant vessel!" An officer warned the exasperated captain. "It's about to fire on us! It's arming it's Energy projector!"

"What is that?" Hellard asked and quickly remembered that he was in combat. "Fire at will and raise shields to maximum-" Suddenly, Hellard was surrounded by a brilliant blue and white light. The light flooded his bridge and illuminated steel and bone, burning cloth and hair.

It flashed so quickly that Hellard barely felt anything. Not the flesh burning from his body, not his bones melting into powder, not his chair being blown into dust, and certainly not his ship being irradiated and practically cut in half.

No...Hellard was dead within half of a second along with everyone on his crew.

Stellar Liberty

"The trans-rail is two miles east." Nina pointed out. "We can take it back to the Rose and leave-" It was at this moment that same Blue-White Cleansing Beam that destroyed the USS Vigil also tore a mile-wide hole through the colony.

Destroying the entire trans-rail system in the process.

"Or...we could run away from the lasers and explosions." Hearing no argument, the technicians turned around and struggled against a distortion of wind and air to make it to the mall's entrance. Fortunately, the emergency control systems engaged and stopped the distortion.

"Mobile suits!" A pedestrian yelled as all looked up to see a large group of mono-eye mobile suits fly down through the hole and land upon the colony floor. "ZEON! ZEON'S IN THE COLONY!"

"Look!" Mona cried out, her finger pointing to the many sleek purple vessels that were following the mobile suits and firing mercilessly upon buildings and people. The colonial defense leos deployed to ward off the invaders, but many were destroyed as they appeared from their deployment panels and the rest were mangled.

It couldn't even be called a battle.

Five Leos engaged a Geara Doga and their machine guns failed to penetrate the barely visible shields above it's armor. The Doga responded by lazily shooting down each leo and decorated it's knife with the blood of the last pilot.

"Plan! Now!" Director Hacswell demanded, the other technicians too mesmerized and scared to turn away from the carnage all around them.

"I know a way!" Chris volunteered though she still glanced over to the battle. "I was stationed on this colony when I was with the Federation. I know of an emergency escape vessel that we can use to reach the Rose..."

"Why didn't you say anything about this before?" Nina increndiously demanded. Nearby, a GM was knocked on its side and had it's head stomped in by an over-eager Rick Dom. "Oh come on!"

"I didn't remember till now...and...I didn't think we'd...need it..." Chris managed despite her fear. "But it's based on a core fighter...with a proto-type stealth system...remember when I said that the mall's built where a base used to be? The fighter is in an emergency bunker under the mall...it might still be there..."

"Do you even know if this thing will work?" October asked. "If that stealth system fails then we'll be cooked like chickens!"

"But if we don't do something then we'll die anyway!" The ground shock from the fall of a downed Geara Doga which crashed into the street. The victorious Jeddah fired upwards and stepped aside for the downed ReGelgu that fell beside it.

Any hope that this skilled Jeddah offered ended when a Red Doga fell upon it with two beam sabers and cut the Jeddah into three separate cauterized sections.

That settled things for the Director. "I'll take my chances. Lead the way."

Chris nodded amidst terror. "Yes ma'am."

"Incoming!" Todd warned as he ducked under an overturned car. The ground shook from the impact of a fallen Jegan. The team recognized the suit as an Enhanced Armor Type outfitted with stronger engines and additional Gundarium armor on it's chasis and torso. The Jegan stood up despite a broken leg and fired its bazooka towards a large hover-craft. The purple craft exploded into pieces.

The Director wasn't about to wait around. "MOVE IT!"

"This way!" Chris marshaled the technicians into the mall just as a Gelgoog slip down into the street and broke down a barbershop. The Gelgoog attempted to stand, but was shot in it's chest by a hovering Jegan that turned to block an incoming Geara Doga. The two units clash from air to ground as the Jegan finally gained the edge with a surprise vulcan attack to the Doga's head. Now blind, the Doga was stabbed through it's back with a beam saber and kicked into the mall.

"Come on!" Mona said when the group ducked from the debris and items thrown at them. The Doga's mono-eye lost it's power and the Jegan turned to engage a skilled Zaku Kai using balloons as decoys. "Glad they're having fun."

"Wish I was with him." Chris muttered as the group ran down the stalled escalator with thousands scrambling in a mad panic all around them. The mall was rocked as an energy rocket blew open the ceiling and revealed a pair of Stark Jegans fighting back to back against a swarm of Purple Hover ships. "Elevators this way!"

"The elevator is right there!" Nina had to correct herself when a heavily armored Jagd Doga crushed said elevator shaft under its weight. The One-armed Leo that had fired it's harpoon cable through the Doga's neck was now using the harpoon as leverage to tear the suit in half. "Nevermind."

"Guess Leos aren't useless." Milly observed as the Leo grabbed the Doga's gatling gun and flew up into the battle above. "Which elevator are we looking for?"

"An older elevator! It should lead down to the bunker!" Chris shouted as she sped through the frantic crowd. "Look for any column with a rusted Federation insignia on it!"

"It can't be that easy." The Director scoffed, only for Todd to point out an mis-painted column one level below them. "Of course, more running."

And run the technicians did.

Despite going further down into the mall, the battle above them wasn't wasting time catching up to them. Alien spaceships kept crashing through the multi-layered mega-mall; Defense Force Units sometimes retreated into the mall for cover or to regroup; Zeon Suits thundered their canons against their enemies; and the alien warcraft continued to bombard the city above.

"Finally." Chris managed energetically, though the others were tired and at their physical limit. "We're almost home free!"

"Need a minute...need...rest..." Milly managed before a GM flew down and fired it's Hyper Bazooka through five Dogas, three ships and three zakus. But the newly christened Ace was soon surrounded by small red funnels that proceeded to lock the unit in an Iron Maiden.

Made of lasers.

"FLY FOOLS! FLY!" Falling smoldered pieces from the brave GM gave the group much needed motivation to reach the elevator.

The slow elevator.

"Come on! Come one! Work damn it!" The Director ordered while the elevator levels slowly climbed heedlessly of the carnage above and around it. "Fucking Hudson Model elevators! Whose idea was it to make such a damned slow elevator! They said it would be faster and grant greater access space station areas!"

"But it is faster than the 98?"

"Everything is faster than the 98." Nina mused when a Red Doga landed nearby. Everyone held their breath while the suit's mono-eye searched for any enemies. "Including him."

The horned red Doga stepped towards the wreckage of the torn apart GM and smash its foot on the head. The red funnels from before folded into its leg and then it boosted up into the above level.

Nina signed in relief. "Thank you Mother Mary...that was close."

"Finally!" The elevator doors opened very slowly. Not in the mood to wait, the technicians all "sped" up the doors by shoving them apart quicker. Everyone flooded into the spacious, but dull appearing elevator car. "Now what?"

"We go down." The elevator was rocked when a GM fell onto the basement followed by four Zeon suits. The GM was armless and firing it's vulcans at smaller targets swarming its body. A squad of armored aliens systematically tore into the downed GM until it ceased all functions, leaving the the aliens free to start cutting into the cockpit.

"We've seen quite enough here." Director Clehna Hacswell pushed the controls repeatedly, her eyes never moving as the aliens pried out the defiant pilot and proceeded to gut the poor child alive. "The elevator disagrees."

"Shouldn't we...you know...help him?" October asked though no one was going to take up the offer. Besides, the pilots head was already being kicked between the smaller aliens like it was a soccer ball. "Just thought I'd ask."

Then the elevator doors started to close. "FINALLY!" Nina slapped her hand over Milly's mouth, but too late to keep the aliens from hearing her.

One alien armed with a sword charged the elevator before its doors could close. Nina prayed for a quick death and instead was answered with salvation from above.

A left-over beam rifle had fallen on the alien and trapped it under the rifle from the waist down.

"Sucks to be you." Nina chuckled. The alien cursed in a language that no one could understand as the doors finally closed and the elevator fell downwards with surprising speed. "That was close..."

"We're not out of this yet, Miss Purpleton." Clehna reminded her charge as the elevator made it to the bottom floor with surprising speed. "That's odd? How come it took longer for it to come down here than to go up?"

"Does it matter? It worked and we are safe." Chris and the technicians took scope of the small room they entered. It was empty, but Nina spotted the all too familiar insignia of the Federation Space Forces and knew that they were on the right path. "Stay close."

"There we go!" Milly cheered after working on the elevator controls. "Now no one can follow us."

"There's still millions of people up there!" Bryan grabbed Milly by her collar and roughly shook her. "We're leaving them to die!"

"Its them or all of us." Clehna sadly stated, Nina saw Chris look around the hall for what should be the entrance to the stealth fighter. "If we go back then the invaders will capture or kill us like the others. Escaping is the only way that we can warn the Federation about what has happened here."

"Assuming it can get far..." Nina joined in. "The Rose wasn't hit by that beam, which means that the enemy hasn't made it to our docking bay yet. It will be close, but we could escape if Chris' fighter is intact."

"Over here!" The techies heard Chris call out and ran down the hall. There, they found Chris had ditched her uniform jacket and was working on a device next a sealed door. "It's old, but give me a gippy and it will open."

The hall violently shook from an impact above them. "We don't have a gippy Wiseman!" Clehna yelled and roughly pushed Chris aside. "Allow me." The Director reached her hand through the wires and proceeded to pull out a connected pair of computer chips that sparked with power.

"ID recognized. Welcome General." The door opened, perplexing Chris and the other technicians.

Clehna Hacswell rubbed her sparking hand on Chris' jacket and smiled. "Sometimes fixing a problem requires a rough hand. Lead on, Mrs. Wiseman."

Chris tilt her head to the side in puzzlement. "Right then." Five minutes of running through an small old storage depot brought the technicians to their destination.

"Stylish." The base model of the fighter was based on the old Core Booster II Interceptor Type vessel, only it seemed sleeker with a black color on most of it's hull. "I hope the stealth part isn't the paint."

"Same here." Chris admitted to the other's shock. "What? I never actually piloted it. I was an MS pilot, remember? And it's a prototype..."

"Better than nothing at all." The Director ushered the techies to the ship to find a way to open it's pilot hatch or the cargo bay. "Lovely! We found a getaway car without a key."

"I might be able to fix that." Purpleton offered and ran over to a dusty console. The console was low on power, but activated when Nina punched in her CPU key and displayed the ship's status. "Yes! Figured that would work! The Core flight series all have similar internals so..."

"What are you doing?" Chris asked and was answered with the Stealth Booster disappearing and reappearing. "Whatever you're doing, it's working."

"Running through test procedures for the Core Boosters activation." Nina answered quickly as the booster briefly hovered in place and then landed. "The thing that this baby's missing is coordinates and an assigned vessel, but we can live with that. We're just going to a bigger boat after all."

"And we need bigger boat." Finally, the cargo hatch opened with the pilot capsule following after it. "Ha! You did it!"

"Well done Nina." The Director congratulated as the group flooded into the vessel. "Do either of you know how to fly this thing?"

"I can!" Chris jumped onto the fighter and entered the cockpit before anyone could approve or object.

Clehna Hacswell smiled and motioned Purpleton towards the vessel. "Carpe Diem."

"Carpe Diem." Nina shrugged and joined the rest of the group inside the cramped passenger section. "I feel like passengers were an afterthought."

"They were, darling." Clehna stated calmly as the ship hovered off of the ground. "This was meant to be an assault fighter, not a pleasure ship. Still, it's preferable to walking back to the Rose."

"Agreed." Without warning, the passengers were rocked back into their seats as the Stealth Booster accelerated through it's hanger trench. "Wiseman! Where was the warning?"

"Situation considered, I decided to skip all of that." Chris didn't even wait for the hanger doors to fully open and moved her ship on it's vertical axis to just barely fly back onto the surface. "WHOA! I DESERVE A RAISE FOR THAT!"

"Get us back to the La Vie en Rose and you'll get it!" Clehna shouted in exhilaration, ignoring the scene of defeat and slaughter in the colony landscape. The ship flew quietly and quickly through the colony, but the passengers saw enough to know that nothing could be done to save the colony.

The defense units had all been thrown into heaps of metal and melted alloy. Soldiers and pilots were herded into long lines where aliens of different shapes and sizes waited to brutally and mercilessly execute them. Zeon mobile suits controlled many city blocks and fired upon fleeing civilians, decorating the streets red with blood.

Worst yet, Milly vomited on Mona and filled the passenger section with a smell worst than blood and death.

"Everyone alright back there?" Chris asked through the intercomm. "We'll be at the Rose in ten minutes. No one's picked us up yet either...glad I was right about something..."

"Milly upchucked, but otherwise we are alive." Clehna replied even as Milly threw up on Poral. "If not for you, we'd be dead like all of those poor people down there. When we get out of this, I promise that you'll go far Mrs. Wiseman. The Institute does not lack for gratitude, especially towards prestigious employees."

"I'll hold you to that, Chief." Chris replied, guiding the ship down through relatively more peaceful city streets. "Looks like the Covenant hasn't gotten this far. Good...that means that the ships on this side are still intact. You may want to contact the Rose and tell them to open their doors for us."

"Good idea." Nina pulled out her phone, but a thought came to her. "Covenant?

"Whose the Covenant?" Mona asked after finally cleaning off Milly's vomit.

"The Aliens that invaded with Zeon." Chris quickly answered. "I heard about them back in the Academy and read about the battles on Harvest and Onyx...but is the first time that I've ever seen them...up close like this."

"The Covenant and Zeon working together?" Clehna noted with concern. "If it was just Zeon then that's no problem. But the Covenant too?"

"If this is the same Covenant that I'm thinking of, then it technically doesn't exist." Milly managed despite her dehydration and exhaustion. "The Covenant hasn't been united since it's three leading Prophets mysteriously died in the same day. Maybe Zeon's allied itself with a splinter faction."

"In either case, Covenant technology surpasses us in many fields." Nina added. "This could be trouble, especially if the Federation isn't warned."

"I see the docking station!" Chris yelled, the passengers looking upon thousands of people scrambling to reach any ship that they could find. "All of those people...they're trying to get away before the Covenant get to them."

"La Vie en Rose! This is Nina! Open the docking bay doors!" Nina shouted in her phone. "Nevermind the security protocols! We need to get aboard! Open the Dock and have the hanger open for us!"

"Can't we let some of them on our ship?" Poral pleaded to the resigned director. "Ma'am...we can fit hundreds of those people on board. We can take them with us-"

"The time it will take to get them aboard will give the Covenant time to find us." Clehna stated, Poral teared up and cried upon the director's chest. Clehna caressed her hair to comfort her. "I'm sorry, but reality dictates that the greater good demands sacrifice."

"Agreed, it just sicks that there's nothing we can do for them." Chris admitted as the booster flew over the crowd, sending down a gust that affecting cloth and hair without anyone knowing why. The docking bay doors for the Rose opened, allowing the Booster to fly into the bay towards the untouched Rose whose aft-hanger door was already open for the booster. "Ladies and gentlemen, we're home free.

The technicians cheered and embraced despite the mess and the smell. Nina couldn't help, but giggle and laugh. "Everything's going to be okay!"

As the booster landed, Director Clehna was already giving orders into her phone. "Captain, prep the ship's engines for take-off. I want the Rose away from this doomed colony in less than ten minutes."

"You may want to belay that order Director." Chris calmly suggested as everyone vacated the booster regrouped as the hanger doors closed. "That Covenant Cruiser isn't for show. By now, hundreds of smaller ships are setting a perimeter around the colony to prevent escapes."

"Which is why we need to leave ASAP while we have a chance." Nina added with Chris adjusted her skirt and oddly taking it off. "What the hell are you doing?"

"I hate this uniform." Nina and the others blinked when Chris spat on her discarded skirt and didn't seem to care that she only had boxer briefs on. "Or maybe I just hate the smell of blood on it."

"Mrs. Wiseman, considering the situation, I'm going to calmly ask you to return to your quarters and put on a cleaner attire." Director Clehna ordered with a brisk and annoyed tone. Chris merely licked her lips and tilted her head as if confused. "In the meantime, we're getting out of this hellhole."

"No you're not." As if things couldn't be more shocking, Chris now had a gun leveled against the group. "Tell the ship's captain to power down."

Director Clehna blinked, but was otherwise unmoved. "Young lady. It's clear that these events have messed with your common sense. Now, put down that gun and I will forgive you and give you your promised raise."

Chris' eyes beamed excitedly. "And a promotion?"

Clehna nodded. "As well as a promotion-"

A boom filled the air and afterwards, Nina wasn't sure which was worst. The blood that splashed over the others and onto the floor mixed with bits of bone and muscle or the fact that Nina didn't even flinch when she pulled the trigger.

Chris blew the smoke from her pistol's barrel. "Explosive bullets...overkill, but enjoyable overkill. This ammo's been outlawed since the Korean War, but everyone keeps using it. So I figured, why not me?"

Milly stepped towards Chris as if in denial. "Chris...why are you doing this? We're friends-"

"Friends? How much more obvious do I have to be for you to get it?" Chris pointed her pistol at Milly, shocking the latter into freezing in place. "I was putting on an act. I was lying to you all along. Using you to infiltrate this factory of death and destruction so that I could destroy it from the inside. The only reason that I'm not killing every last one of you is because my Real Friends have a use for you."

"A spy..." Nina muttered in rage. "You were never a member of the Federation...you were never assigned to this base...you didn't know about any stealth fighter...you were a liar about all of it!"

"Not all of it. I didn't know about the stealth fighter, I was relying on a tip from a friend on the inside." Chris mused. "Everything else? All true. I was a member of the Earth Federation during the One Year War...I was assigned to this colony for training before being reassigned elsewhere...I did pilot one mobile suit. A gundam. I used that gundam to down 13 confirmed kills and other unconfirmed kills. Don't believe me? I can show it to you later, Purpleton. I still have it after all of these years."

"You monster..."

Chris' smile disappeared. "Now that's mean." She walked closer and kicked the Director's headless body. "I only killed her because she'd get in my way. I was going to just capture all of you back at the mall. But I was worried about getting caught by friendly fire from the Quad-jaws, so I improvised. It wasn't even anything personal, she just had to die. But that's war right?"

"War?" Nina balled her hands into fist in pure rage, grieving for a woman who was a mentor and friend for ten years. "This isn't war! YOU JUST MURDERED AN UNARMED WOMAN!"

"And you who gladly works for an institute that designs and builds weapons of death and destruction for the highest bidder wants to lecture me about murder?" Chris snarled and forced her pistol into Nina's chin with rage flowing off of her body. "You create "cool" gundams and mobile suits to sell to any rich monster so that they can murder thousands of children while you profit from their destruction AND YOU DARE TO LECTURE ME ABOUT WHAT'S RIGHT AND WRONG IN WAR?"

Nina shook in place, fully expecting this madwoman to pull the trigger.

Instead, Chris smiled and caressed Nina's chin, lowering her gun and bringing her lips to Nina's ear. "Don't."

Nina fell on her knees as Chris reached into the Director's jacket and pulled out her phone.

"Captain, this is Mrs. Wiseman, the Director's been hit." Chris frantically said, the other technicians too scared and shocked to contradict or stop her. "Change of plans. The invaders have set up a perimeter, but I have a plan to get us out of here-"

"What's that?" Chris asked with mock ignorance as screams and roars sounded from the bridge. "I can't hear you over the sounds of dying and screaming." Chris giggled and threw away the phone.

"You bitch!" Mona growled upon realization. "You led them right to us!"

"Yep." Chris admitted with a sly smile. At that moment, an engineer sauntered into the bay, a two-pronged energy blade impaled through his stomach. "Good work. The ship is ours?"

"The ship is yours, Wise Woman." The saurian alien that held up the engineer stated in elegant, yet forced english.

"What the hell is that?" Gilly blurted out and was knocked to the floor by another saurian alien who held her down with an armored foot. "Sorry...I've just-"

"SILENCE HUMAN!" The second saurian roared down. "I did not follow you through fire and war to tolerate your bleating!"

"Follow us?" Mona's eyes widened in realization and she looked to Chris. "You slut! You told us that no one had tracked us!"

"Yeah...they didn't track the ship." Chris held out her left hand, revealing a marking that was illuminating and becoming more visible to the technicians. "But they used the signal on this glowing tattoo to follow me here. Just in case I got captured."

"If you could do that then why didn't you just stay on the ship and let the Covenant track the signal to the Rose rather then head out and have to go through all of those hoops for no real reason?" Todd inquired. "I mean...this is all surprising, but it's all pointless if you were just after the ship."

Chris was about to rebuke the man's arguments. But she thought about it and realized that he had a point. "You would be right, except that I'm not after the ship. The ship, it's equipment and everyone aboard is just a bonus. Minus the director. But that's a drop in the bucket compared to a mobile factory."

"Then why?" Nina asked, looking up to Chris in defeat. "What were you after?"

"You." Chris answered simply. "My friends figured that a bitch with as much blood on your hands would be perfect for a job of ours."

"What job-" Nina suddenly covered her head when a large explosion took out the Rose's hanger door. She looked up and saw a Red Zeon Mobile Suit fly down and land next to the Core Booster. She had never seen the suit before, but the man who emerged from it was one who anyone could recognize.

"I haven't seen a Core Booster in 13 years." The pilot confidently said as he leapt down from his Red Doga and landed with a small thud. The blond man had a flowing red cape and the shoulders of his uniform were decorated with the insignia of an organization who had not been seen for years until now.

The saurian aliens reverently bowed their heads to the pilot and knelt before him. Chris stepped forward and bowed before the newcomer with her left hand raised. Her tattoo glowed and turned red to match the same mark upon the pilot's breast.

"Zieg Zeon!" Chris Wiseman shouted in salute.

Char Aznable raised his own hand. "Zieg Zeon."

Author's Notes:

So begins our tale.

Stay tuned for the first chapter of Mobile Suit Gundam: Unicorn's Countercharge