Universal Century year 0095. Sixteen years ago, the Earth and its colonies waged a bloody war against each other, called the One Year War. Since then, tensions between those who lived in space and those who lived on Earth constantly bred new conflict. Just recently, remnants of the Principality of Zeon attempted to cause a nuclear winter on Earth.

Two years had passed since then.

The colony cluster of Side 3 is now but a shadow of its former self. Independent in name only, they more or less remained a puppet of the Earth Federation government.

Meanwhile, remnants of the Neo-Zeon movements, known as The Sleeves, continued their terrorist activities on Federation military instillations.

Our story begins here.

XXXXX

Side 3 (Republic of Zeon)

Capital Bunch

Warrant Officer Eric Lagiorr sat in the cockpit of his RMS-106 Hizack observing his surroundings. The hanger of the Musai-class cruiser echoed with the sounds of machinery and mechanics. Next to his Hizack, Eric could see a number of parts floating past via the 360 degree display.

He heard someone tapping on the machine's cockpit.

Accompanied by a hissing sound, the cockpit swung outward to reveal a soldier wearing a green and gold uniform and field cap. Eric casually waved at the figure.

"Ensign Krupp," said he.

"Ready for the next OP, Warrant Officer Lagiorr?" Krupp asked. Eric lifted himself out of the cockpit of the Hizack and floated next to the Ensign.

"Investigating another ancient debris field?" Eric asked. "Please tell me it's not. I've had enough of those." Krupp laughed in response.

"Well, you're in luck then," Krupp said. "We received a report of a Federation transport vessel going missing between Side 3 and the moon. We've been tasked with investigating the area."

Eric rolled his eyes.

"A Fed ship missing?" he said. "Sounds like Neo-Zeon to me. If they're out in force we won't stand a chance!"

"Which is why there will be a Fed cruiser rendezvousing with us at the specified point," Krupp replied. "Though I heard they're bringing a number of training squadrons too. That worries me."

The two arrived at a locker, where they began to trade their uniforms for normal suits.

"Trainees?" Eric asked. "Are they insane?"

Krupp shrugged.

"That's the Earth Federation for you," Krupp concluded. "Sending little kids into battle in armored coffins since 0079."

XXXXX

A few hours later…

A warning alarm sounded, jolting Eric as he sat in the Hizack's cockpit. He switched the 360 degree monitor on and observed his surroundings.

A screen popped up in front of him.

"You awake, Warrant Officer?" Krupp asked.

Eric nodded.

"Yes sir," said he. "Are we here?"

The sound of the hanger opening echoed through the speakers.

"Indeed we are," Krupp replied. "Alright fellas, we're about to enter launching procedures. I'll see you all outside."

A chorus of "yes sir" responded to his words. Krupp nodded in approval.

One by one, the Hizacks left the ship, floating in empty space for a second before forming up alongside the Musai-class cruiser.

Eric's Hizack arrived in the formation, sliding a spare magazine he brought onto the machine's side skirt as it formed up.

"Everyone here?" Krupp asked.

All the pilots affirmed their presence.

"So far so good…" Krupp muttered to himself. Then he tapped on a button on his control panel, sending a stream of data towards the other machines.

"Alright fellas, listen up," Krupp said. "At 0900 this morning, the Earth Federation Space Force lost contact with one of its transports heading to Side 3 from Granada. The transport itself reportedly carries cargo belonging to the Strategic Naval Research Institute, or SNRI."

The blueprints of an Antietam-class transport and its planned route appeared on Eric's controls.

"Now," Krupp continued. "The Feds lost contact with the ship right around where we are right now. Because of possible Neo-Zeon involvement, the EFSF sent a heavy cruiser to rendezvous with us. Our job is to investigate the site before the Feds arrive and, once they do, protect the transport they had been escorting for the duration of the mission. That transport is carrying a whole bunch of nugget trainees."

Krupp's Hizack shifted its gaze towards Eric's Hizack.

"Just like this kid."

"Hey!" Eric pouted. The rest of the platoon laughed in response. Of course, Eric himself was no longer a trainee, but many of his squad mates made fun of him because of his young age.

A 15 year old MS pilot rarely survives long.

"Anyways," Krupp concluded. "Look alive boys. We've arrived."

The entire area in front of them was riddled with debris. Bits and pieces of ship hull, mobile suit parts, and human limbs calmly floated in the empty space.

"Damn," a pilot said. "Whoever did this surely did a number to that poor transport."

"You got that right," another said. "This is Schleswig 2, this sector is clear. No enemies detected."

"Schleswig 4 here. No signs of enemy activity."

"Schleswig 5, same here."

"Schleswig 1 to Schleswig 3, Warrant Officer Lagiorr, you find anything?"

"Schleswig 3 to Schleswig 1, I think I found one of the ship's hangers. Looks like there's a mobile suit inside."

Eric's Hizack shifted its monoeye to look at Krupp.

"Shall I dig the thing out, sir?"

"Negative Schleswig 3, leave that to the Feds," Krupp replied.

He looked around nervously.

"I don't like the look of this place…" he said to himself.

"Scratch my previous order, Schleswig 3. You have permission to recover the mobile suit," Krupp ordered. "The rest of you, fan out. We'll never know if the enemy are hiding here or not."

"Roger that," everyone replied. The platoon fanned out as Eric began to dig the unknown mobile suit out of the debris.

That was when it happened.

"Captain! Minovsky particles increasing in density! Possible en-*static*-y units nearby! All u-*static*-s stay alert! They could come from any-*static*"

A bright pink explosion accompanied the sudden end of the transmission.

"Schleswig 5!" Krupp exclaimed. "W.O. Lagiorr! Hurry up with that mobile suit! We've got company!"

As if on cue, five streaks of light zoomed across the debris field, shifting their course so as to approach the four Hizacks.

"Geara Dogas! Neo-Zeon forces!" Schleswig 2 exclaimed.

"Schleswig 2! 4!" Krupp called. "You have permission to engage the enemy mobile suits! Return fire immediately!"

"Yes sir!" the two replied, before spitting a hailstorm of 120mm shells from their machine guns. The approaching MS evaded the fire from the pair of Hizacks, though one Doga took a hit to its shoulder armor, and zoomed toward the formation. Yellow beams zipped past the Hizacks, ripping apart the debris behind them.

More yellow beams zipped past, this time from the Musai.

"Ensign!" the Musai's captain said. "Get out of the-*static*! We have det-*static*-more enemy contacts moving in fast! *static*-immediately! Repeat! Get-*static*!"

A large yellow beam pierced the bridge of the cruiser. More beams followed, blowing apart the engines, turrets, and other sections which still remained.

"Fuck!" Schleswig 2 exclaimed. "We lost our ship!"

"Hold on guys!" Krupp exclaimed. "The Fed ship is almost here! We need to hold out until they arrive!"

A number of Gaza-C MS fired on the Hizacks.

"AAAAGH-!"

"Schleswig 4!"

"Schleswig 3! You done yet!?"

"Almost done sir!"

With a great pull, Eric's Hizack managed to tear off the last bit of debris covering the unknown suit.

"Ensign Krupp!" Eric called. "I'm done!"

"Good!" Krupp said. "Ditch the Hizack and climb into the other suit! We'll cover you until you reach the cruiser!"

"Right!"

With a hiss, the cockpit of Eric's Hizack opened, Eric floating out of it. Time seemed to stop.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Inhale.

Exhale.

"-ow!"

Eric rubbed his shoulder as he made contact with the suit. Upon finding the external lever, he pulled it firmly, opening the hatch with a hiss.

A blinding flash made Eric flinch.

He looked up to find a beam dissipating inches above his position.

A pink beam.

"Ensign!" Eric exclaimed. "They're here! The Feds are here!"

Krupp's Hizack looked over to where the beam originated.

"About fucking time!" Krupp exclaimed.

A Federation RGM-89 Jegan flew past the three Hizacks before firing on the Neo-Zeon forces.

"Ensign! I'm in!" Eric said. "Starting the suit!"

XXXXX

The cockpit of the unknown suit closed with a hiss. Eric removed his helmet and breathed in the air within the cockpit.

It smelled a little bit like smoke, but not enough to kill him.

"Right then," Eric said to himself. He removed the gloves of his normal suit so as to get used to the new suit.

"Where is the power…?"

Eric laid his hand on the touch panel, hoping for some sort of activation.

He felt a shock run through his body.

"…!?"

Surprised, Eric recoiled his hand back from the panel. A humming noise followed as the suit began to activate.

"Ouch," Eric said to himself. "Wonder what that was about."

He immediately selected the suit's primary thrusters in order to get himself, and his platoon, out of this mess…

…only to find the propellant tanks empty.

"Damn it!" Eric exclaimed. "Ensign! The propellant tanks are empty! I'm going to need to drag the thing with my Hizack!"

A crackling voice responded, indicating the rising levels of Minovsky particles.

"I don't care! Just do whatever you have to do to get us out of here!" Krupp exclaimed through the comms.

XXXXX

Eric's Hizack grabbed the arm of the unknown mobile suit. By now, the Federation forces had seemingly fended off the Neo-Zeon attackers, though Fed forces seemed to be taking losses themselves.

Another Hizack exploded.

"Schleswig 2!"

"Up above!" a Fed pilot exclaimed. "Here come more Zekes!"

Thick streaks of green light burrowed themselves through the formation of mobile suits. Their source, ten Gaza-D mobile suits, fired a barrage of missiles at their enemies. Pink beams, 120mm shells, and 60mm shells flew up in return, blasting the majority of the missiles into oblivion.

But they had forgotten about the beam cannons.

A green beam struck the left arm of Krupp's Hizack, melting the arm off before causing the arm to explode.

"AAARGH!" Krupp yelled, trying to keep the suit in control after the explosion. "Fuck! That hurt!"

An Earth Federation Jegan floated up to the two Hizacks, still firing its rifle at the Neo-Zeon forces.

"You guys go back to our ship!" said the pilot. "We'll handle it here!"

Krupp's Hizack nodded.

"Thanks," replied Eric, before the two Hizacks gunned their thrusters toward the Alexandria-class cruiser, the unknown mobile suit in tow.

Eric sighed a breath of relief, before an alarm blared inside the cockpit.

Hoping the alarm was not for something he was thinking of, Eric zoomed in on the two Federation ships ahead of him.

It was as he had feared.

"Ensign!" Eric exclaimed. "The Fed fleet is under attack! Those trainees are getting shot to bits!"

XXXXX

About one hour ago…

Space between Granada and Side 3

Antietam-class transport ship

Amelia Falkenhayn floated through the corridor, enjoying the zero gravity environment. It felt liberating to not be constantly be weighed down by everything, literally. Behind her, Amelia's classmates struggled to keep their orientation in the zero gravity environment.

"Amy!" one of the classmates called. "Wait up!"

Amelia turned around, her short hair floating a bit behind her as she did so.

"You guys are just slow," said she. "It's just more training. We'll be fine!"

"The last time the ship sailed to Side 3 it got attacked by pirates!" the classmate exclaimed.

Indeed, his statement was true. Back in 0085, the ship, carrying students from the Ecole du Ciel, came under attack from a band of Zeon remnants, resulting in the complete destruction of the ship's escorts and the death of a number of students and instructors.

"But that was years ago," another classmate countered. "Zeon is gone now. It won't happen again."

The first classmate shook his head.

"I'm not so sure," said he.

Amelia sighed and returned her attention to what lay ahead of her. To be honest, she too worried about possible attacks on the ship. Sure, an Alexandria-class cruiser was escorting them, but even the Alexandria-class had reached its limit by now.

Even with newer mobile suits on board, what good would they do?

Amelia felt her head strike something hard.

"Ow!"

It seemed like she had unconsciously floated into the hanger.

Amelia looked up and eyed one of the mobile suits in the hanger.

In the back stood a strange mobile suit. It sported a greenish color, with two beam sabre hilts jutting out of the shoulders.

While everyone else received GMIII trainer types, Amelia had the "misfortune" of being assigned to a random surplus mobile suit.

Perhaps no one liked the MSS-009 Gemaux because of a lack of spare parts.

Amelia pushed herself up to the location of the cockpit. The cockpit opened itself with a hiss before Amelia slipped inside.

The cockpit hissed closed.

Amelia sighed.

"Finally," she said. "Some peace and quiet."

XXXXX

Alexandria-class cruiser Illustrious

Bridge

"Captain," an Earth forces crew member called. "We have strange heat signatures up ahead."

Captain Charles Emden, commander of the Heavy Cruiser Illustrious, sat himself down in the captain's seat.

"Can you identify?" Emden asked. The crew member nodded and typed some things on his terminal.

"Oh," he said in relief. "Just a number of Hizacks and a Musai."

Noticing the Captain's raised eyebrows, he added "Republic of Zeon forces."

Emden sighed.

"Good," said he. "Establish contact with them. Tell them that we'll take over now."

"Yes sir," the crew member replied.

The ships drew closer.

"Wait…" Emden muttered. "Is the Musai firing at something?" Another crew member looked in the general direction as well.

"Now that you mention it sir…"

Suddenly the Musai exploded into a massive fireball. Beams and machine gun tracers crisscrossed their view.

"Shit!" the Captain exclaimed. "Those guys are under attack! All hands to battle stations! What's the size of the enemy!?"

"Around a company, sir!"

"Good! Launch all mobile suits! Cover the Hizacks on their retreat!"

"Yes sir!"

XXXXX

Antietam-class transport

Amelia jumped in surprise. A loud alarm was blaring outside, red lights flooding the cockpit.

"What the hell!?"

The cockpit opened with a hiss and Amelia floated out into the hanger.

The ship shook.

"Nobody panic!" a crew member yelled. "Everyone get in a mobile suit! Now!"

Amelia looked down to see her classmates floating toward their respective mobile suits. Some cried. Others simply looked scared.

"We're under attack, aren't we?" Amelia said to herself.

She dived back into the cockpit, switching on the suit's power as she did so.

A voice crackled through the intercoms.

"Bridge! I'm heading out in a trainer!"

"Good luck trainee!"

"Yes sir!"

A GMIII Trainer catapulted itself out of the ship. The moment it exited the ship, however, a yellow beam struck the suit's torso, melting right through it. The GM exploded, sending fragments and debris straight into the bridge.

A Zeon mobile suit flew past, punching another beam into the Antietam-class.

The beam punched through the hanger, striking a number of propellant tanks, ammunition, and personnel. The hanger suddenly became engulfed in flames, screams echoing over the sound of air escaping from the ship.

"Shit!"

Realizing her situation, Amelia tore the locking arms off the Gemaux's arms.

The Gemaux's 60mm Vulcans shot the roof apart, exposing the open space outside. Amelia kicked the thrusters forward and the Gemaux busted itself out of the burning hull of the Antietam-class.

The suit flailed a bit before regaining its balance.

Amelia's breathing became ragged. Beams flew at her from all directions.

Left.

Right.

Up.

Down.

A yellow beam streaked past, inches from the Gemaux's head.

"The shuttles!" Amelia exclaimed.

The Gemaux's thrusters punched forward in the direction of a number of shuttles which had escaped the wreck of the Antietam-class. A number of escape pods had been launched as well.

Yellow beams struck the escape pods.

Amelia could not help but clap her hands to her mouth in horror.

Another training GM exploded. The screams of the students and crew alike echoed through the now chaotic intercoms.

"Amelia!" a voice called.

Amelia turned around to find a GM III flying towards her.

"Instructor Barns!"

"Go find a beam rifle!" Barns exclaimed. "And make sure those shuttles make it to-!"

Before he could finish, a beam punched itself straight through the cockpit of the GM III.

Amelia gunned the thrusters of her Gemaux in horror. The GM exploded, sending its beam rifle floating in the direction of Amelia's Gemaux.

She caught the rifle and proceeded to fire it in the direction of the Neo-Zeon attackers.

XXXXX

"Here you go," Eric said as he dropped the unknown mobile suit onto the Alexandria-class's catapult deck.

"Ensign, leave the rest to me."

Krupp sighed as he landed on the Alexandria-class.

"Fine," he said finally. "Don't get yourself killed."

Eric's Hizack gave a brief salute before it zoomed towards the Antietam-class. Some shuttles had managed to escape the burning and exploding wreck of the transport. A number of mobile suits floated around the shuttles, beams firing in every direction.

A beam tore straight through one of the GMs. The exploding suit sent debris straight into one of the shuttles it had been escorting, causing it to explode.

"Damn trainees," Eric said to himself.

He gunned the Hizack's thrusters as much as the machine would allow him to, praying the thrusters will hold out.

The monoeye of a Gaza-D flashed as it noticed the Hizack's approach. Eric clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Out of my way, you little shit!" he exclaimed.

The Gaza-D launched a beam from its cannon in Eric's direction. The Hizack rolled under the beam, monoeye flashing mockingly. Eric shifted the suit's weight to avoid another beam before pouring 120mm shells into the enemy suit.

Eric's Hizack zoomed past as the Gaza-D exploded.

XXXXX

"Fucking hell!"

Amelia's Gemaux punched another beam into an enemy mobile suit before snatching the suit's beam rifle. She hated how she constantly needed to grab another beam weapon every time the one she used ran empty.

A projectile struck a shuttle, causing the shuttle to explode.

"Snipers!?"

The Gemaux shifted its gaze over to a sector of empty space, where the sensors picked up at least one suit bombarding the shuttles from long range.

That Geara Doga could cause some serious problems.

Thankfully, the beam rifle Amelia happened to have picked up was a Gaza-D's beam cannon.

It did not matter. A Jegan arrived to shoot the poor Geara Doga apart.

For once, the alarms inside the suit stopped blaring. Amelia took a relieved breath, finally able to relax.

Then a Dreissen armed with a beam javelin appeared in front of the Gemaux's face.

"HOLY FU-!?"

The Gemaux flailed back in fear, firing the head-mounted Vulcans in an attempt to do something against the enemy suit.

The Dreissen raised its beam spear, ready to strike.

Voices called to Amelia.

"Amelia!"

"Amelia-senpai!"

"Amy!"

"Falkenhayn!"

Amelia closed her eyes, hoping for the end to be quick.

Then…

"Goddamn trainees rushing to their deaths."
A smashing sound echoed through the cockpit. Amelia opened her eyes, which widened in shock soon after.

A Hizack had smashed itself against the Dreissen, its monoeye flashing in acknowledgment of the Gemaux's presence. The Dreissen swing its javelin, slicing the Hizack's machine gun in half. A flash blinded Amelia for a second as the machine gun exploded. Then she heard another smashing noise. The Hizack had kicked the javelin out of the Dreissen's hand, sending the weapon flying into empty space. The Hizack reached for one of the beam sabres on its backpack. Once drawn, it swung the sabre in the Dreissen's direction, melting off the Dreissen's right arm.

The Dreissen's monoeye flashed before the suit retreated.

A transmission crackled through the intercom.

"Current pilot of the Gemaux!" one of the operators of the Illustrious called. "Are you all right?"

Amelia nodded.

"Y-Yes sir," said she. "I'm fine."

She shifted her attention to the Hizack in front of her, which had just switched off its beam sabre, storing it on its backpack.

Amelia switched her intercom channel.

"Um," she stuttered. "Thanks for-,"

"Don't mention it," the pilot of the Hizack replied. Amelia could not help but recoil back in surprise.

That pilot.

How old was he?

XXXXX

Eric removed his helmet, sighing in relief as he did so.

"Right," said he, shifting his course to the Alexandria-class.

"It's finally over."


Author's notes: Right, let's try my hand at a Gundam UC again.

Hi guys, Karl the Arty here.

Welcome to my new Gundam UC fic. Since I have decided to write over 3000 words per chapter, update times will be more inconsistent than usual. Thank you for you cooperation.

Thanks, and I hope you read this fic again.

-SPSH Karl