Chapter 1: Phantoms of the Past part 1
A young boy running through a grassy field gleefully playing in the daylight of spring, his first time on earth, a milestone in the life of a child born in space, such a welcome change from the limited living environment found in the colonies. The gentle breeze blowing through his wavy blonde hair, the sun glimmering in his blue eyes, he watched with excitement the robins flying from tree top to tree top singing there melody. The boy looked over to see tiger lilies in full bloom, he quickly leapt to his feet and plucked two of the flowers from the ground.
"Altan?" A soothing voice projected from behind. The boy named Altan turned to see a young woman closely approaching him.
"What have you found?" She said with a warm smile upon her beautiful face, tucking her flowing auburn hair behind her ears. The he then shyly handed her the two flowers much to the pleasure of the young woman.
"I... Found them for you mom." His timid voice slipped through his lips, and was greeted by his mother's smile now showing her teeth accompanied by a soft giggle. She dusted off her plum colored spring dress and began to walk back to the early American styled house, the boy quickly rushed to her side and then matched pace with her. Hand in hand the young mother and her son walked together, the first spring they spent together earthside. Soon the image faded away into darkness a dream of a happier time disappeared with the light of the sun rising in the east.
A young man woke to the sight of the peaking sun and slowly sat up from his bed, wearing only a pair of boxers. He looked over to his desk at the alarm clock to see the current time being 6 a.m. exactly when he usually begins each day, Altan Kenloch is 19 years old and has taken over his mother's hotel which she acquired after they immigrated from Side 6. In the years since her death, Altan had fallen into a depression and displayed limited tolerance with some of the guest, most of which being drunken, and boorish Federation Forces soldiers looking only to assert themselves upon the populist in his home town during this time of reform for the military.
Altan dressed for the day and fixed his messy blonde hair he wore a black T-shirt and a pair of jeans he then sat on the edge of his bed to put on his dark brown work boots. After tying the laces he stood and walked toward a photo of his late mother siting just behind it a bronze urn containing her ashes.
"I should have it ready today..." He said quietly to his mother's photograph. "Wish me luck."
He smiled then exited his room and proceeded downstairs to the lobby, to be greeted by a young woman adjusting her blouse and khaki slacks.
"Morning Altan." The red headed woman smiled awkwardly as she took her place behind the front desk. "You know the point of a vacation is to relax right? You've been going non stop for months now!" Altan smirked at his co-worker's concern and shook his head.
"I was just heading to the hangar." He assured the concerned employee. "Jobi and the others are meeting me there to finish our project."
"You're still working on that thing?" She asked in amazement at the diligence they share in the project known only by the few. "So what is it anyway?"
As he readied to exit the hotel, he turned and smiled at the woman coyly.
"You'll see at the air show." He then left the building as the door slowly closed behind him.
"Men and their toys..." She said with a sigh as she gazed dreamily at him through the glass doors.
Altan looked around at the Federation soldiers making their way to the hotel, some of them in standard infantry uniforms and others in the uniquely decorated MHA style, one group broke off and made their way to the cantina one block over, while a few of the MHA officers entered the hotel. He heard unintelligible banter between the soldiers although he overheard them speaking of mobile suits at the airfield.
He smirked knowingly then mounted onto his electric motorcycle and put on his helmet before switching the starter on, he then looked up one more time to see the fading sight of the moon in the dawn sky. He closed the visor then took off, exiting onto the service road going west.
Outside of the town about 10 miles, the Garland base is in the middle of resuppling weapons, ammo and even soldiers. Inside the main building a meeting between two officers and the base's commanding officer takes place regarding a state of the union address held by the Federation's prime minister.
"Sir I implore you! Reconsider the action you're taking!" The voice of the female officer bellowed from the office, concern thick in her voice.
"I'm sorry Lieutenant Commander, even if I was to resend the orders it couldn't be done this far into the operation... These orders are from general staff HQ." The much older commandant of the base spoke calmly to the younger and uptight officer. Her fists clenched tightly and her pulse quickening.
"Commodore, you said your self our base is seriously short staffed after losing many men to Zanscare remnants, but to push what able bodied officer we have left will only lead to disaster! Even with a full compliment of new mobile suits!"
The commodore unhooked the collar of his uniform and took off his glasses, then proceeded to rub the bridge of his nose from the stressful situation.
"Just hear me out Magaela, the fact of the matter is that in the middle of our rearmament we can't afford to wait for new cadets to bring in for training, MHA has partial jurisdiction in this region and they did offer some of their best pilots fresh from the Cheyenne academy. And one of them had been named district security advisor, would that help you and your team get your job done?"
Fed up, she glanced at her subordinate and seen him barely able to keep his eyes open, Ensign Ulrich Franz was transferred from point Kasarelia in Europe and for twelve weeks straight he helped fight against the remaining Zanscare forces and watch his allies fall one by one, though he is no older than 21 his face shows fatigue and age that is present in most veterans who served ten to fifteen years.
"Then I have no option than to request a meeting with Admiral Zachaire at general staff head quarters. Now, if you'd excuse me."
"Just a moment!" The commodore quickly halted Magaela before she could exit his office. "What I am about to tell you is not to leave this room! And I am only saying this on my own accord." He glanced at the surveillance camera in the top left hand corner of the office then turned in his chair to avoid any expressions that might be considered suspicious.
"At 2300 last night, Federation Forces naval base in Belfast was ambushed by unidentifiable mobile suits, they took heavy losses..."
Magaela and Ulrich both gave a look of concern and shock at the Commodore's revelation.
"From the looks on your faces, one rumor is confirmed... That HQ is keeping a lid on the situation, because an attack like this could be damaging to our troop's morale. But what is unnerving is that forty eight hours prior much of Europe, Asia, and Africa were without any wireless communication... Not even weather radar was working due to an alarmingly high concentration of Minovsky particles in the affected areas. Additionally a reconnaissance team was dispatched to attempt to locate the source of the communications jam."
He grabbed his coffee mug from the corner of his desk and took a sip of his undoubtedly scotched morning brew.
"The team of recon mobile suits were in the vicinity of the attack, as it was underway. But they received no distress call, no word from surrounding barracks either... Anyone who has possession of this information have been completely spooked, and are taking subtle measures in keeping this incident quiet. Not even the families of the troops confirmed KIA are aware of what happened."
"Then... Shouldn't the base be kept on high alert status?"
He glanced at her in his peripheral view at the calm but cautious field commander. He then finished his coffee in one large gulp then sighed from clumsily concealed frustration and disappointment.
"With the situation at hand, putting the base on combat status will run the risk of exposure of the attack on Belfast... But I want you to keep me advised, every hour report back to me directly! Remember to use a landline."
She raised an eyebrow at the latter statement.
"Why landline sir?" The Ensign inquired.
"Look at your phones..." He answered.
Both took their phones from their pockets to see they're phones had zero reception even with the aide of an external signal booster on base.
"All wireless communication and networks are down, even out radar and sensor equipment is jammed... Minovsky particles flooding all electronic systems. Just as indicated by the reports."
"So, we're vulnerable to a sneak attack?" Magaela asked.
The commodore gave no straight answer only sat up from his chair and walked to the window facing the mountain ranges his age shown in his physique.
"It seems that brighter future never came... I wonder if Zeon Deikun's newtype theory was just that, a theory..."
The two younger officers looked at each other then Magaela motioned Ulrich to exit their commander's office. Before she turned to exit, she looked back at him and the feeling of forlorn filled the air around the three.
"Commodore Riordan? If I may ask sir..."
"Go ahead."
"Your son was stationed at Belfast wasn't he?"
Commodore Riordan remained silent, a clear sign that his son was one of the casualties of the attack.
"My apologies sir..."
"Tomorrow Captain Hans Baptiste will be taking my place until I return from Ireland. And yes Lieutenant Commander, you and Ensign Ulrich are dismissed." Both saluted their superior and left the room, to allow him to reflect. "What times we live in, still rely on kids to fight our battles, and something intangible can undo the technology we take for granted."
Outside of the main building, the officers discussed their preparations for what is considered a very dangerous situation, knowing full well the magnitude of what may happen if any hostiles were to attack the base without any active warning systems or any communication to the base from any scouts in the fields.
"Ensign Ulrich, take this time to get some rest, you deserve at least that." With her statement Ulrich loosened his collar and unzipped his uniform half way and released a loud groan.
"Thanks commander, as much as I enjoy serving under you, that cockpit would feel like a coffin!" He laughed out loud, she shared in the levity with a smile. "So what's the plan?"
"I'll be heading into town, if anything I'll be getting my old team ready."
"You mean the Strike Banshees?" He asked fanatically.
"Who else?" She answered with a hint of nostalgia in her voice. "However one is stationed at Torrington and the other hasn't pilot a mobile suit in five years."
"Not sure if I like the sound of that, but you know what you're doing." He said nervously. A smirked scrolled across her face at his comment and she followed with a sharp but friendly slap against his back.
"Get some rest Ensign..." She said as she walked off, only to pause at the sight of the motley assortment of new mobile suits, one in particular, the menacing machine bearing the model number RGM-175, the red visor sheened in the sunlight.
-Author notes- This is my first fanfiction excuse any errors that you may find. Feel free to leave comments or pm me with any questions about the story. Thank you. T0X
