This is the third edition of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Second Century.
The first edition of the story, which was never published, was conceived and composed between 1991 and 1996. Owing to the fact that it was composed in a long obsolete format (and physically exists now only as hundreds of sheets of paper documents printed over two decades ago), and that the quality of the writing was not up to par, the first edition will never see the light of day.
The second edition of the story has been hosted here at FanFiction Dot Net for more than a decade. Its publication required several years of work between 2008 and 2012, not merely physically transcribing old paper text onto modern electronic word processing suitable for uploading, but rewriting various story elements that seemed like good ideas during the composition of the first draft in the 1990s, but after a decade's time for reflection, ranged from unsuitable to embarrassing.
Since the publication of the second edition between 2008-2012, I had entertained the possibility of composing and posting a third edition of the story. Though the second edition had eliminated or mitigated many of the flaws of the first edition, I found it nevertheless unsatisfactory on some levels. A big part of the problem was that I was composing the entire story by myself, and like any other writer, I have limits in terms of creativity. Moreover, though, I have been an avid fan of the Gundam franchise for more than thirty years, my technical understanding of some of its underlying aspects of its technological world was also limited. Finally, my understanding of military protocol and reality was and remains extremely limited.
Earlier this year, I had begun to seriously think about composing a third edition of the story, but I was ill-equipped to start because I ran into the same difficulties I did in composing the second edition. In the intervening years, I knew that I wanted to improve and enhance the story, but did not know precisely how to go about it.
Through good fortune, at precisely this time, a good friend and fan of the second edition of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Second Century, who also publishes his own fanfiction here at FanFiction Dot Net under the name of J. Hellscythe, expressed interest in being a consultant and co-writer with me on the third edition. J. Hellscythe's input in multiple story elements, characterizations, technical and logistical data, etc., has been invaluable to the composition of the first chapter of the third edition. J. Hellscythe and two additional friends and fellow writers hyosuke and Ellis Alpha, have pitched in with numerous ideas to make this third edition of The Second Century a new, though familiar experience.
The third edition of Mobile Suit Gundam: The Second Century follows the same core of characters through the same general plot points familiar from the previous edition. J. Hellscythe, hyosuke, and Ellis Alpha, however, have added a wealth of depth and new twists that will make the familiar old story take on an entirely fresh and new feel. You may think you have read this story before, but in so many ways...you have not.
- Buried Alien, June 3, 2018 (updated September 25, 2018)
J. Hellscythe here to say let's start the show! You're in for one amazing story boys and girls, and it has been both an honor and a privilege to work on this story.
-An Avid fan of Gundam and the Second Century Timeline… same date.