Chapter II

Earth is my Birthplace

"Alright, begin the launch preparations." Hong Kong spaceport was a booming district on March 2, AA 150. The second of each month was special for Hong Kong. Arklite Industries had a shipyard built on an artificial island (that Arklite also built) for the Earth Federation's space fleet. The shipyard built only Cleveland-class cruisers. Before the Federation requested combat-ready ships with mobile suit carrying capabilities, the shipyard built only Memphis-class frigates. Arklite boasted that it could build a ship a week, which is an impressive feat considering that Arklite's shipyards were relatively small. Even during the Tsunamis of 144, Arklite continued its "ship-a-week" policy.

When the Cleveland-class was commissioned, Arklite took the contract to build all of them. The cruisers required about twice as much manpower and materials to build compared to the Memphis-class. Critics thought that Arklite would modify its "ship-a-week" policy. Surprisingly, Arklite did not modify its policy. Even better was the fact they still continued to provide a ship a week. Arklite only faltered once and was unable to produce for two months when it was attacked by an Imperial submarine. That was the only time production was stalled.

Each month, the first is reserved for the commissioning of the Cleveland-class, while the second is reserved for the launching. If the ships launch during school hours, the children are allowed to go to the rooftops to watch them launch. Workers are even allowed a half-hour break to view the gray behemoths ascend.

Aboard the SMC-110 Birmingham, the newest of the Cleveland-class, preparations for launch were being finalized. Because using one of the Federation's mass drivers (The Empire's mass drivers had a special technology that allowed for even longer distances for travel) in such a densely-populated area would be extremely dangerous, Arklite had developed a large, recyclable, and simple thruster attachment much like solid rockets used to lift space shuttles off were used in the late Twentieth and early Twenty-First centuries. This booster had just been attached to the Birmingham. The shielding for the ship's front cannons was in the final stages of sealing. On the inside, the mobile suits were being secured and the final loads of supplies being stored.

A young Japanese pilot was finalizing the auto-balancer tuning for his Talon. As the computer gave an all-green for the check, the pilot exited the cockpit and shut the blue hatch.

"Fuuma, the Captain needs all the pilots in the briefing room. So that means you too." An older, more elegant female voice soared through the hangar from the third-floor door into the interior of the ship.

"Right, right, Commander. I'll be there shortly." Eiji Fuuma obviously did not want to attend the meeting. However, the captain was a friend of his father's. To not put shame on his family's name, he bit the proverbial bullet and took the lift to the third floor.

"It's not going to be as bad as you think. He's just giving us our orders...I hear we're going to the moon as regulars for Galileo. And that place isn't boring from what I heard." Commander Chun Hei Iwase, a half-Korean pilot, was regarded as one of Asia's "Five Flowers." The Five Flowers are female pilots who have a particular elegance in and out of battle. Chun Hei was known as the Spider Lily because of the deep magenta color she paints her mobile suits.

"Tch, it's still a boring job." Eiji simply brushed past his commander and into an elevator

"Listen, it's your first time in space, right?" Chun Hei responded, darting into the elevator with him.

"Yeah, why?"

"A job as regulars on Earth is boring, I'll admit that. Do you know why it is boring though?"

"Because nothing happens on Earth?" Eiji quickly responded, pondering what she was getting at.

"Close. It's because other than North Europe...Earth is ours. We have the atmosphere heavily guarded so the Imperials can't land on our planet. Not to mention the asteroid bases we have between Earth and the Moon provide more than enough protection for our blue planet. In Space...we don't have that kind of protection. Especially at the moon."

The elevator stopped and the two pilots began to walk down the corridor. "So basically, it's boring here because it's nearly impossible for the Enders to land here?"

"Basically, yes. Just remember Lieutenant Junior Grade Fuuma, the moon is our first defense line. If they take our bases there...they can proceed to turn our planet into a dictatorship. And we cann't let that happen."

"No...we won't let that happen." As Eiji finished that sentence, the pair entered the briefing room. The two split up after that, with Chun Hei sitting at the front center and Eiji at the middle left. Around them were twenty pilots, all waiting on the captain to enter and begin.

The lights dimmed as a middle-aged man entered the room from a door to the right of the pilots. The room was moderately-size. It had seven rows of benches that could each sit fifteen people. At the front, there was a massive screen that was not only touch-screen but also connected to a specialized computer that allowed for battle plans to be broadcast to said screen.

As the man entered the room, the pilots stood and saluted. This was the captain of the ship, Captain Ujimasa Katou. "At ease." The captain's suave voice was different from what one would expect from the captain. The pilots sat down and he raised a specialized pointer from a podium. "Thank you all for coming. This is a special trip for me, as this is my seventh ship I have been an officer on. This is also my sixth ship that I have been captain of. Now, as many of you have been whispering about, we are indeed going to Galileo. However, only to resupply."

The Captain pointed at the screen, slightly past the moon at an area labeled DC4. "This ship and the rest of the 3rd Division of the 22nd East Asian Army will join the 11th Defense Fleet around the Fourth Deep Cluster. We are going to be the lead defense unit for Arklite's space headquarters." The room then lit back up. "We will begin the alignment for take-off in ten minutes. That is all, you are dismissed." The Captain walked back through the same door he came in from.

Eiji was amazed at the orders. The lead defense unit for Arklite...it would be a boring but well-earned position. Chun Hei simply stood up and turned to Eiji. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "Told you it'd be interesting." She soon simply walked out of the room and to her quarters. Eiji followed her example and entered his quarters. His roommate arrived soon after.

He was another Japanese pilot, but he had a patch of his hair dyed yellow. It gave him a distinct look among the pilots. He wasn't as talkative as Eiji and soon lied down on his bed. Eiji just sat on his, waiting for the order to strap themselves in.

"All hands, alignment is commencing. Please fasten yourself to your beds or the nearest T5-class chair." The ship began to tilt upwards. Beside the Birmingham, three other ships also began to tilt upwards. It was the Birmingham's three sister ships, the Atlanta, Sacramento, and Long Island. All three were Cleveland-class and all three belonged to the 3rd Division of the 22nd East Asian Army.

Starting with the Birmingham, the thrusters on all four ships lit up with a cyan tint. Within five seconds, flames erupted from the nozzles. The ships slowly began their climb to space. Creeping at first, the ships could hardly be seen moving. However, as they exited the launching bay the ships began to pick up speed. From the city, most anyone could see was just a gray silhouette with smoke billowing from beneath it. The ships began to rattle and shake. Inside, it was like a small earthquake.

It took exactly fifteen minutes and forty-eight seconds to exit the atmosphere for each ship. The massive cruisers shed the boosters and shielding for their weapons. "All ahead full. Set course for Galileo." The ships' blue thrusters lit up like a flashlight. The massive behemoth began to cruise towards the ringed ball of rock known as the moon. "What's our ETA for Galileo?" The captain turned towards the younger male beside him.

"Sir, approximate time of arrival at this speed with no interruptions is two days, four hours. We will arrive on March fourth at o-nineteen-hundred."

" Alright. What does the radar look like?"

"We have a small debris field ahead to the port side of the Atlanta."

"Hmm. I think it'd be good for our newer pilots to have some training with the Zero-G environment of space. Hideki, tell Commander Iwase to prepare her squadron for launch. Also Lieutenant Commander Hibiki to launch with his squadron. Keep Seki and Ikeda's squadrons on board; we can't have all twenty mobile suits launched at once."

"Affirmative, captain." The young man was Hideki Ikari, the vice-captain of the Birmingham. "Maya, get on the comms and tell the Iwase and Hibiki squadrons to launch and for Seki and Ikeda squadrons to standby in their mobile suits. This is not combat."

"Roger." The young CIC operator turned from looking at the vice-captain to her computer. She flipped a switch and leaned towards the microphone in front of her. "Attention. Iwase and Hibiki squadrons are to report to their mobile suits and prepare for launch. Seki and Ikeda squadrons are to report to your mobile suits for standby. I repeat, Iwase and Hibiki squadrons are to report to their mobile suits and prepare for launch. Seki and Ikeda squadrons are to report to your mobile suits for standby."

"What?" For what reason do we have to launch?" Eiji crawled out of bed and started to put on the white space suit with his nametag on it. The suit was over-sized, but once he put the helmet on, it became airtight and the body sealed tight to his body.

"Eiji, don't ask me." His roommate was also putting on his space suit. His was solid black rather than the standard white.

"Shiro, you command a squadron. There's no reason why you shouldn't know."

"Eiji, I told you. I haven't the slightest idea as to why we're launching. Now, let's get to the hangar...maybe someone there will know what the hell is going on." Shiro started to float towards the door. Eiji followed, albeit clumsily. The lack of gravity made movement slightly more complicated as there was now a third axis to move on freely. The two took hold of handles attached to a rail going through the wall and glided down the corridor. They reached another corridor and released the handles. They then grabbed some at the start of that hall. That process repeated itself two more times before they reached the hangar. The two nodded at one another and banged their fists together.

"It's about time, Lieutenant Fuuma." Commander Iwase had already made it to the hangar and was in her magenta-colored Razor. "Any longer and we would have launched without you."

"Sorry, Commander. I'll try to improve my time next chance." Eiji scrambled inside of his Talon's open cockpit. He began to flip switch after switch. The visor lit up and the cockpit's dark interior soon showed the hangar. Eiji flipped two more switches. One closed the cockpit's outer hatch and the other the inner hatch. "Alright Commander, this is Wasp Three, system is green."

"Roger. Wasps two and five, status?"

"Wasp two here, all green."

"Wasp five, all green here too."

"Alright. Our orders are to destroy the debris to the port of the Atlanta. That's all that I know right now. Hibiki squadron will be assisting us in this operation. We have clearance to use D-Five weapons."

"Couldn't they just use the ships' main guns to take out that debris?" Eiji started to change balancer settings in the Talon's computer since it hadn't been adjusted for space use.

"Captain wants us to get some training before we get to Galileo. Ikeda and Seki's teams get the next debris field." The thinner visor of the Razor lit up as Chun Hei closed her hatch. "Not to mention if there is an enemy fleet waiting, then we'd be giving our position away."

"Right, right. Like we couldn't fight a couple of their ships and mobile suits off."

A massive lift system grabbed the shoulders and feet of the Razor. In a matter of seconds, the Razor was in the center of the small hangar. "Lieutenant Fuuma, don't get arrogant. They have aces who have shot down pilots more talented than you. Not to mention their mobile suits aren't cheap."

"Yeah, yeah. They use 'quality' parts for those cyclopes." A slot in the bottom of the hangar, beneath the Razor, opened. The massive mobile suit began to slowly sink into the hole. At the bottom was a linear catapult, much like the ones used on 21st-Century aircraft carriers. The difference was essentially these were propelled by magnets instead of steam like the older ones.

"Bridge, this is Commander Iwase. I am ready for launch." The clamps on the feet released and the mobile suit was lowered by the shoulders onto the two foot stands.

"Commander Iwase, once final preparations are complete, you may launch."

"Roger bridge." Clamps on the sides of stands locked onto the feet of the Razor. The shoulder restraints released and raised back up. The Razor was pulled to the back of the massive corridor and two panels opened on the sides. The left contained the Razor's shield and the right contained a large bazooka. The bazooka itself had a clip/cooling system on the end that merged with the shoulder pad. The Razor grabbed the bazooka and the shield slid into a slot on the arm. From behind, another panel opened and two spare clips for the bazooka were attached to the back of the "skirt" armor. The mechanical arms holding the items retracted and the panels closed.

In front of the magenta-colored beast, a massive door opened. The two halves opened outwards. As they exposed the empty space outside, a pair of specialized emitters fired a short laser outwards, since they were guiding the launch. A screen appeared on the heads-up-display in the cockpit with six bars. The first three were red. The next two were yellow. The final was green. The top red bar was the only one lit up.

"This is Commander Iwase, launching in Razor." The bars lit up rapidly and the mobile suit lurched forward. The two stands shot forward in unison at extremely high speeds. The mobile suit launched out as the stands reached the end the corridor. The Razor darted to the side and took position alongside the bridge of the massive ship she had launched from.

One after another, four Talons followed the same process that the Razor had gone through less than a minute before. The Birmingham's first squadron had launched for the first time without a single problem. The bridge crew began to clap for the success of the Captain. "Congratulations, Commander Iwase. You led the first launch operation for this ship."

"Thank you, Captain. Now, Wasp Three and Two, take my left flank. Wasps Five and Four, take my right." As the units re-arranged, five more mobile suits launched in the same order of the Iwase unit. "Ah, Shiro. It's nice you finally joined us."

"Heh, I'm surprised that the Spider Lily even had the need to launch." Shiro's black Razor took position at the other side of the bridge. The white bear on the shoulder of Hibiki's unit was a symbol associated with him. His nickname was the "White Bear of Okinawa." This was an ironic misnomer, as his mobile suits were always solid black with a custom red visor.

"Alright Wasps, let's swarm." Chun Hei turned her joysticks around and the magenta Razor boosted upwards and to the left. The unit passed over the bridge and to the Atlanta. The four Talons supporting the Razor boosted after her.

"Alright my young bears, we're going to support those annoying bees." Shiro and his unit followed the Iwase team. The two v-formation squadrons began to zip towards a group of mangled ships that have been floating since before the Federation's Orbital Defense Network's formation.

"We should be fine to fire wherever. These appear to be Vesuvius-class carriers from the Empire's first attempt to attack Earth directly." Chun Hei began a final scan of the surrounding area. "Okay, coast is clear. Begin attack."

"Roger." The entire squadron responded in unison.

"Shiro, keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary."

"Just because I'm half a rank beneath you does not mean you can order me around, dammit." Shiro removed his helmet and attached it to the seat.

Chun Hei giggled slightly. "Oh? I won't order you around on that premise. Instead, I'll go with your position – supporting my unit."

"Tch, whatever." Shiro flipped a switch. "Alright Grizzlies, let's sit back for now."

Eiji's Talon raised its arm and in turn its bazooka. The Talon fired two rounds at the bow of the wreckage. Both hit the side of the hangar, and a large explosion ripped the bow into pieces. The debris slammed into the Talon and knocked it slightly backwards. However, it unbalanced the massive machine. "What the hell? Commander, I thought we could hit anywhere!"

"Eiji, I had no idea there was anything that could explode with that much...force. Come on, just get a little bit farther away and attack again."

A few miles ahead, another debris field silently orbited the planet Earth. Inside another carrier's wreckage, a lethal perplexity hid within its derelict hangars. "They took the bait, Commander."

"Morons, thinking they were safe attacking a debris field. You never know what you'll find." In the midst of the shadowy silence, a single scarlet eye illuminated the bleak darkness of the hangar.