It is the year Universal Century 0079. All-out war has broken out with the Earth forces of the Federation and the spacenoid colonists of the Principality of Zeon. Both sides have already taken heavy losses, despite this, Zeon continues to barrel down upon the Earth itself. It isn't long before Zeon smashes its way through the space fleets of the Federation and invades the planet thanks to the invention of humanoid weapons known as Mobile Suits. The death toll continues to climb as Zeon forces manage to conquer a substantial amount of the globe as they search for the main Federation headquarters of Jaburo. However, back in space Zeon scientists have already begun intensive research into special human beings known as Newtypes. As this story begins in a far off top secret lab headed by the Flanagan Institute of the colony cluster Side 6, where a troublesome child would soon become a hero as she searched for answers to her own questions to her existence…
"Doctor this really isn't necessary! I promise I won't leave the pod again! I promise I promise!" A little girl cried as she struggled in the grip of the soldiers at her sides while being escorted through one of the stations many corridors back towards the labs where her "bed" was. This child was no ordinary girl however, her skin was of a creamy pale white, her eyes were of a mystifying azure color, and her long fluffy dark brown hair lay almost frazzled over the towel and lab gown that barely covered her body. This made many of the soldiers around her uncomfortable as despite the girl's physical tender age of 10 years old. Her beauty was that of a young woman.
"Quiet already Cecil! You already said that the last time and the time before that AND the time before that!" The frustrated scientist retorted. Although they were in space, the station had already hit a time where most of the civilian personnel and a percentage of the military personnel were retiring to their beds.
This ruckus was only due to Cecil sneaking out of the lab to go explore and play cards with the security chief and his men. It was also this close relationship Cecil had with the Zeon soldiers that made them all the more uncomfortable and guilty when apprehending her.
"You guys should know by now how bored I get in the stupid labs! I especially hate it when you always keep me cooped up in that pod!" She whined as they were brought back into the lab where her pod was located. Cecil always hated floating around inside that thing; all that was left to her inside was her dreams. The beautiful dreams of a young girl's voice speaking to her, telling her things of the outside she never knew. The sparkly blackness of space, and the pretty blue marble in the middle of it all; only in reality, the blackness of space was littered with death. Death that Cecil was being conditioned to contribute to.
As Cecil shed away the towel and gown the soldiers who escorted her there politely looked away as the angry scientist who chastised her began filling out a report on his data pad. As she stepped into the pod she could only wonder what the outside was really like, what kind of people lived outside, and most of all; how she was going to get that pretty blue marble.
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Nu Station Somewhere near Side 2
0400 hours
4 hours later
Lieutenant Keller sighed as he rode alongside the small inconspicuous transport ship with his own Federation Mobile Suit known as the GM command. Officially they were supposed to be reporting to Earth for a rendezvous with General Revil and his combined assault force in anticipation for Operation Odessa. However while en route they accidentally discovered Nu Station and his superior officer Major Gustav recommended that an infiltration team be sent in. The ship's captain reluctantly agreed as he approved the special ops mission to go in and find out what sort of research the Zeon forces were up to.
"Alright this should be far enough, go ahead and disembark Keller, we are headed in." His commanding officer piped up into the comms unit of his mobile suit. Thankfully the Minovsky particles concentration in the area was high so the station wouldn't be able to hear their communications. "Yes sir, I'll keep an eye out for Zaku patrols." Keller said as he let go of the ship and flew to the dark side from which the station was embedded on where he hid laying in wait.
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Gustav sighed as he readied his rifle. It didn't take a genius to know that Keller was frustrated that they weren't on Earth yet. The entire crew on the Hera shared his feelings. Any Federation soldier in space would've more than happily traded their place in outer space if it meant pushing Zeon forces off of Earth.
Now Major Gustav had always been a curious man, it was both his blessing and a curse that had served him well so far in this damn war. In his own personal experience of combat, including the disaster at Loum; He learned that Zeon always had a bad habit of pulling some nasty surprise out of their pockets.
And when they found Zaku II model mobile suits patrolling heavily along their route; he just had to know why.
"Alright guys we are almost at the drop point, ready your jump packs." He said through his space suit's visor. His team members silently acknowledged as they checked each other's flight packs. A bitter silence filled the ship as it slowly nestled itself into the hangar of the station used by both the security forces for their mobile suits and the scientists for their shuttle transports.
Thank God for false Zeon IFF signals… He thought as he led his team deep into the station. Only it wouldn't be long before their mission would start to go awry and he would meet the one person to give himself and his men hope that they would survive the war.
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Cecil's slumber within the pod was suddenly interrupted by a loud noise coming from outside the confines of her liquid blanket. As she opened her eyes she saw a bright red light blaring from the nearest wall as it continued into the hallways. She grinned as her pod suddenly opened causing the foul smelling liquid that kept her in that state of temporary suspended animation spilled out with her along with it.
She vomited and coughed most of the liquid out that had gotten down her throat and briefly rubbed her stomach.
"I hate tasting that stuff…" She mumbled as she looked at the station's alarm and; her exploratory curiosity getting the better of her, she wandered out of the lab searching for the cause of who or what triggered the station's alarm.
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Things had only gone from bad to worse for Gustav and his team as they had been detected by some stroke of rotten luck; a scientist who was going to bed. Before they knew it they found themselves trapped inside a room full of documents and pinned down by Zeon soldiers out in the hall behind them.
"Well shit, what else could go wrong…" He mumbled as no sooner had he said that the Zeon soldiers stopped firing.
"Attention Federation intruders!" Security Chief Krueger called. "Drop your weapons and surrender! I promise that you will be treated in a humane manner befitting soldiers such as yourselves!" Although he couldn't help but worry, how the hell did the Federation find them so far out in space? The intense concentration of Minovsky particles; while making it hard from themselves to communicate with other Zeon forces should have made them almost invisible to Federation detection systems as well! It made him wonder if there was a security breach somewhere or if one of his own men had turned traitor.
It was then that he began to hear footsteps in the hallway to his right. This made him sigh with regret as he knew where that hallway lead and who was coming to them, he hated having her see him like this.
Cecil stepped into the view of Krueger and some of his men looking lost as she looked around. When she saw Krueger she smiled.
"Chief Krueger..? What's going on?" She asked. "Is this another drill?" She said in a soft-almost sleepy tone.
Krueger tried pleading with Cecil as he said. "Please Cecil! You have to get to safety! There are enemy soldiers here and they are very dangerous!'
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Cecil looked to where Krueger and his men were looking into the documents room where some of the scientists kept experimental data on her. Enemy soldiers? Dangerous? She could sense other people inside sure but, to her they didn't seem to be dangerous, moreover they almost seemed kind of scared. They didn't seem to be hurting anyone as far as she could tell.
"Hello? Federation soldiers?" She called but heard only silence as no one responded. She looked at the horrified Chief Krueger as every ounce of him told her to not go inside the room. She always liked the chief amongst all the soldiers in Nu station. He had always treated her as he said "like his own child." Although he had told her that, she was very unfamiliar with the concept of a family. All her short life that had known for the past several months since she was created, all she had ever known was the cold, dark yet almost mechanically lively halls of the station. And as much as she secretly didn't want to admit it, despite her friendship with the Zeon soldiers on the station, she never knew fully about the Principality as a whole. She was never given a reason to care as they never told her to. All the scientists ever cared about was gathering data, analyzing her brain, and running her through all those simulations that quickly lost their appeal.
What Cecil always wanted to do was to get out of Nu Station and see the blackness and go to the blue marble that always sparkled in her dreams. And right now these supposed "enemy soldiers" were her only ticket off the station.
"Umm hello Feddies?" She said as she coined the slang term she heard one of Krueger's men say when he described Federation soldiers.
"I'm going to come in now, I know you all are scared but please, don't shoot me." She said although she knew they most likely wouldn't try. With Chief Krueger's pleas echoing in her ears she walked into the room where the intruders were. As she expected they stared at her with shock, horror and disbelief.
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Gustav could only stare at the little girl standing before him with curiosity in her trembling glittering eyes. What was worse was that the girl was naked and soaked in a liquid he could only describe as something that would be used to keep someone in suspended animation. What was worse was that it made her look as if she was a baby, freshly born out of a woman's womb. This made Gustav seriously call into question at what kind of research the Zeon scientists were doing here. He crouched down on one knee as he tried to smile at her.
"Hey there, what's your name?" He asked nicely as he could see his men about to ask him questions on what he was thinking.
The little girl smiled as she nearly whispered. "I'm Cecil, my name is Cecil. What's yours mister?" Where in the hell were this girl's parents? He wondered as his paternal instincts began kicking in. As he looked at his squad mates he saw they were about as horrified as he was. As he looked back at Cecil he noticed she was giving them all a strange look of…pity? Sympathy? Despite the presence of what she should have considered dangerous men with guns in the room she just smiled at them, unafraid and cheerful.
Suddenly feeling as if he was being rude not answering her question he decided to introduce himself. "My name is Gustav, Gustav Meller; can you tell me where your parents are Cecil?" He asked to which she frowned and tilted her head in confusion.
"Parents? I've never really had those." She said which shook Gustav at his core. "I was created here, I'm a Cyber Newtype!" She said with a cheery giggle in her tone. This horrified Gustav even more as he saw that his squad mates shared his feelings. Regardless, he had to get her off this station.
He looked at one of his men and asked. "Rawlings, do we have any extra suits?" The young man quickly nodded as he took one out of his pack and passed it over to him.
"Major it might be a little big on her." He warned as Gustav smiled.
"It's a one size fits all suit anyway." He said and then looked at Cecil. "We are going to get you off this station okay? You're going to come with us." This made Cecil glitter with delight as she gave him a hug.
"Thank you…" She whispered as Rawlings came forward and fitted the suit onto her. Everyone figured what their commander planned to do as they readied their oxygen helmets while Rawlings put Cecil's helmet on her.
Gustav then saw his communications light flashing on his helmet. He answered it as he began to hear Keller's voice. "Major! What's going on in there?! I'm hearing Zeon com chatter go off like mad!" He said as sounds of his GM Command powering up echoed over the radio.
"Calm down Keller we just had a change of plans and need help with the exit. Can you lock onto our position and make a hole?" he asked as he nodded towards his men.
Keller chuckled and said. "Yes sir, I'll keep any Zeon assholes off your backs." A few seconds passed before a loud explosion was heard and screams of the Zeon soldiers outside echoed in the hallway as they were sucked out into space. As Gustav and his team exited he could swear he heard Cecil mumbling her goodbyes to the departed Zeon soldiers.
As they found the transport ship and flew out Keller fired into the hangar destroying the Zaku's that the security forces were using. The blasts caused the station to explode as fuel canisters and ammunition ignited from the weapons fire. Cecil watched from the ship's window almost in awe as her old home exploded.
"This beats those stupid simulations any day…" She mumbled as Gustav looked at her worriedly. It scared him that a child like Cecil was being so casual about war and death as if it was a daily routine to her.
As Keller escorted them back to the ship Cecil was feeling very giddy as she floated around the transport. "Weeeee!" She squealed as she looked at Gustav.
"So Mister Meller, where are we going?" She asked as he caught her and gently placed her down on her feet.
"Well once we leave here we'll be heading for Earth Cecil." He said as her delighted smile grew wide with excitement.
"I get to go to that blue marble?! Awesome!" She cried as she hugged him again as a large ship came into view from the asteroids.
As Cecil looked outside and saw it her eyes went wide with more excitement. "Is t-that a Pegasus-class battleship?!" She asked causing everyone in the ship to wince at how knowledgeable she was on military ships.
"Yes Cecil that is the Hera, which is the ship we'll be going to Earth in." Gustav said knowing he'd have some explaining to do to Captain Tems. As the ship docked aboard in the hangar along with Keller's GM command Cecil filed out along with Gustav and his team.
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"Captain, the GM command and the infiltration team have made it safely back on board." A young woman on a bridge communications console said to a man in the command chair. Captain Jordan Tems sighed with relief as he said. "Good, close up the hangar and let's get the hell out of here, and have Major Gustav report to the bridge for a debriefing."
"Yes sir!" The woman acknowledged and turned back to her console. Jordan Tems was a veteran naval officer in his late twenties. However the war had taken its toll on him as he had a rough grizzled beard on his face; his brown eyes were starting to show signs of stress and slight exhaustion from the near constant dodging of Zeon patrols he had the crew doing in recent weeks. Luckily his coal black hair hadn't shown signs of greying yet, which was a comfort to him as he felt he was not ready to grow old just yet.
Captain Tems had been commanding the Hera ever since the ship first ever rolled off the production line. And since then he had been with its crew through hell and back so far throughout the war. He had a stake in this war as any other Federation soldier did, as his wife and son were living at their home on a colony back at Side 1. He vowed to himself that he'd survive the war and return home to them as the proud husband his wife fell in love with and the hero he wanted his son to perceive him to be. As the doors to the bridge opened he saw Major Gustav Meller walking in with what looked to be a child tagging along at his side. Jordan's eyes furrowed as he glared at Gustav as his company commander saluted. Something was up and he needed to find out what.
"At ease Major! What the hell happened out there Major and who is that kid with you?!" He said demanding an explanation he knew that Gustav would give.
"We infiltrated the facility successfully sir, but we were detected by security before we could gather much intel; however we found, or rather to be more specific, this little girl found us and we extracted her from the station." He said calmly as Jordan's glare grew more intense.
Cecil stepped forward with a bright smile creasing her lips as she said as she gave her own salute. "Thank you for bringing me aboard Captain! My name is Cecil and I'm a Cyber Newtype!"
Jordan clenched his fists tightly as his eyes went wide with horror. "Major she's a Zeon lab rat!" As Gustav tried to explain Jordan pointed towards the door.
"Get this dirty Zeon spy off my ship!" He yelled as before Cecil could protest Gustav grabbed her hand and walked off the bridge.
As he quickly walked down to the crew quarters passing crew mates who were giving him and Cecil surprised and curious looks. He opened a door to an empty unused bedroom with some crates inside.
"Why was the Captain so mean to you? I don't understand he felt more scared than angry." Cecil asked as Gustav looked down into the girls sad trembling azure eyes.
He patted her head as he said reassuringly. "He just doesn't want something bad happen to the ship or its crew; we have kind of been through a lot throughout this war." Cecil smiled and nodded relieved that the Captain wasn't being mean to her new friend Gustav because he didn't like him.
As Gustav showed her around inside the room he told her. "Okay Cecil you can stay in here but try not to get into trouble okay?" The little girl quickly nodded with a smile and watched him leave.
As Gustav left Cecil's new room one of the crewmates; a young auburn-haired woman who was barely almost twenty years old walked towards him with a concerned look on her face.
"Major? What's going on? Who is that girl some of the others saw with you?" She said as she stared at him.
Gustav sighed as he looked at her. "I'll explain later Lemelia; right now I need you to watch over her while I talk with Captain Tems." Lemelia nodded as she watched him walk away and then turned towards the room now belonging to the new girl on the ship.
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Cecil sighed, content with her new surroundings as she took off the space suit Gustav gave her. She wasn't prepared for the sudden chill that hit her body afterwards as she shivered.
"Totally beats Nu Station…" She mumbled and sat in the corner curling up in a ball as she hugged her legs with worries of the other crew members not accepting her wracking her mind. It was in that moment that her life with the Federation military began.
Hey guys! This is just to help keep me in the swing of things for my stories. This is a future project I'll be working on while I work on my others so let me know what you guys think and I'll turn this into a full fledged story!