Mobile Suit Gundam: Shadow Warriors
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Prologue
Over a century ago, the human population had reached nine billion, and the Earth was too overcrowded to accommodate all those it supported. World governments were dissolved as a single governing body, the Earth Federation, took control of humanity's destiny. The new administration quickly began work on its plan to manage the overwhelming number of people under its authority. The first stage was the construction of cities on Luna, multi-tiered subterranean metropolises in which millions of people could live. However, cities on the moon alone would not solve the massive overpopulation problem.
From these lunar staging grounds, the second phase began.
In cislunar space, the area within the moon's orbit with Earth at its centre, there are five areas known as 'Lagrange Points'. At these points Earth's gravity and that of Luna balance each other out to form a zone void of gravitational effects, in which an object can remain indefinitely. Within Lagrange Point 1, located roughly three-quarters of the distance between Earth and Luna, the Federation began construction of Island 3 space colonies.
These Island 3 colonies, originally designed by Gerard K. O'Neill in the 1970s comprise cylinders thirty-two kilometres long and four kilometres in diameter with three huge solar panels. When these cylinders rotate at a rate of half a turn per minute artificial gravity is produced on the inner surface. If a layer of soil is placed atop the inner wall, Earth-like habitats, including lakes, rivers, and forests can be created within the cylinder. With the colonies at L1 built, work began at L2, the point roughly parallel to L1 that always faces the 'dark side' of the moon. Work also began at L3, which remained directly parallel to Luna. To facilitate the work at distant L3, the asteroid 1 Ceres, the largest of the solar system's asteroid belt at a diameter of 970 kilometres, was moved to L3 to serve as a mining base.
Finally, the Federation began building colonies at L4 and L5. Where the two narrower points of a rhombus formed from Earth and Luna, L4 and L5 would be the points furthest apart. The new government, with its construction plan complete, now had three thousand colonies available for use, six hundred at each Lagrange Point. The move of the majority of Earth's population began.
Though they worked to save Earth from its own children, the Federation Senate declared that the upper classes of the planet, themselves naturally included, did not have to move to Luna or the colonies. They also declared that, in commemoration of the beginning of a new era for humankind, a new calendar era would be started. Thus, the Post Colonial Age was begun, starting at the year PCA 0001 and working upwards.
For the next half-century or so, humanity lived in peace. The population steadily expanded for five decades until the birth rate suddenly, and fortunately, declined. By this point the human population had reached twelve billion, nine billion of whom lived in the colonies, one billion on Luna, and two billion on Earth. But those who lived in the colonies, the so-called 'spacenoid' population, were deeply envious of those on the planet, who had put themselves above the forced space migration. The 'Earthnoid Elite' ignored the pleas of the colonies for independence from the Federation, and only increased taxes on the colonists to fill the coffers of Earth.
A drastic change in the political climate occurred in PCA 0059. The colonies of Lagrange Point 2, which were all beginning to become overcrowded, requested the Federation build new colonies, or allow some of the population to move to Earth. The Federation Senate promptly refused, which led the people of the colonies to rebel against the officials of the Federation within their colonies. At the heart of this chaos was a man known only as Kron. When the violence ended he formed a government known as the League of Free Colonies, a military dictatorship of which he was to be the premier. In a brutal policy of 'population control' the League executed millions of their own to make life more bearable to those who Kron deemed useful.
Next came the formation of a military within L2, something the Federation at this point sorely lacked. Knowing that they would be outnumbered quickly by the considerably larger Federation if they committed to a policy of warship building, the League began development of new space weapons. The development of the Minovsky fusion reactor on Luna proved of great use, as these generators could be made far smaller than a conventional fusion reactor of equivalent output, and the Minovsky particles they generated could jam all types of sensor equipment. More importantly, these particles could be fused to form mega particles, which could be used in energy-based particle beam weapons, better known as beam cannons.
In PCA 0062 the League completed its ultra-secret development project, and prepared to mass-produce their weapon. The mobile suit was born. Standing 17.5 metres tall, the humanoid weapon created was far more agile than any conventional space fighter could hope to be, and its human limbs were far more versatile, as a variety of scaled-up human infantry weapons could be carried in its hands.
The Earth Federation, which had begun rapidly forming their own armed force soon after the breakaway of L2, learned of the existence of the mobile suit three years later, and began developing their own. Despite the clear superiority of the mobile suit, the admiralty of the Earth Federation Space Forces saw them as a gimmick, flies to be swatted by the ships being produced under their 'big ship, big gun' strategy. The Federation's mobile suit, the RGM-66 Fearless, began limited mass-production in PCA 0066, but only as a backup for the warship forces.
A decade of 'cold war' followed, as both sides built up for the inevitable war. The Federation converted 1 Ceres from a mine to a fortress, and used it to produce vast numbers of their Salamis cruisers and Magellan battleships, as well as limited numbers of Fearless mobile suits and the Pegasus assault carriers built to take them to the battlefields. The League negotiated with local authorities for control of the 'dark side' lunar metropolis of Lake Aldrin, which quickly became their key military base and production location for the LM/MS-04B Wolf and the Musai cruisers built to carry and support them.
In 0077 and 0078 both sides began upgrading their fleets. The Federation developed and began an intensified production of the new model RGM-78 Titan and numerous mission-specific variations, as the League developed the successor to the Wolf, the LM/MS-06C Rhino. Tensions rose and nerves frayed on both sides, but they had little time left to wait.
On December 19th, PCA 0079, the League gave its official declaration of war. The League Fleet was mobilised within minutes, launching attacks on the Earth Federation Space Forces' colony garrisons at Lagrange points Four and Five. The battles were inconclusive, as the Titans and Rhinos were too equally matched to be decisive in combat operations. The 'big gun' warships, in which the Federation had placed its faith, proved useless. The opening battle a stalemate, both sides prepared to intensify their attacks on the other.
Four days later, the League First Combined Fleet approaches Luna II, intent on striking the EFSF at its heart before Ceres Fleet can leave port...