Chapter 39

RedRat8- There will be one more upgrade to Amuro's Gundam because…well you know, Newtype stuff and whatnot. Whether not it's the Alex as shown in canon is up in the air.

And the GM variants like the cannon, GM command, and sniper will appear in…I say in the next chapter or so. I think.

As for the capture of the Apsalus III and Big Zam, I can't say much, but I believe the capture of the Big Zam should lead to an upgrade to ship survivability in the aftermath of the war, leading to a necessary shift in mobile suit weaponry and tactics.

Also I agree with you, much as I respect Gato's piloting skill, he is no match for Amuro in a one to one fight.

RoyalTwinFangs- I suppose we could get an AI go crazy and have a destroy Gundam-like mobile suit running amok in the Zeta timeline. And yes, more mobile armors for the Federation. Yay.

R reyes- Well I suppose that could make sense. Personally, I believe it was either Degwin that killed Zeon Zum Deikun or the man died of natural causes and Degwin just used it to his advantage. Though I could certainly see the Federation doing an assassination attempt on Deikun and Jamitov being the one that did it.

Moonreaper666- Do you ignore what I said in the last chapter?

Anyway, Ryu will have a part to play in the future timeline. Same with Kai, Hayato, the OCs, Amuro, Chan, and everyone else that'll survive this war. With Kai playing a big role between the events of the One Year War and the Gryps Conflict. Whether or not Ryu will be of much help in what you think he should do, is a whole other issue.

Also, as I said before, you are giving the abilities of artificial intelligences' in this fic too much credit. Have you forgotten the abilities of Newtypes? Now admittedly, what I'm doing right now may be hypocritical or contradictive to what I'm about to say, but the reason I gave Char his Newtype powers so soon as to even the odds between him and Amuro.

And no Cyborg Newtypes. Not yet at least.

Also why are you obsessed with learning these statistics? Casualty reports and whatnot? And yes, all these surviving Federation personal will have an affect in the battle of A Baoa Qu, where the Federation is going to put more strain on the Zeon forces. Whether I can actually write that well, is an issue I have to do.

Also the Titans will exists. In fact, they'll have support from another Special Forces unit of my own making.


Solomon (Now renamed as Konpei Island)

Mess hall four


"So, tell me, what was it like? Facing down that massive mobile armor?" Asked Bianca as she, along with many other pilots, were bunched around Kai, Hayato, and Amuro in one of Solomon's, now renamed Konpei Island after it was taken by the Federation, mess halls. Now that she was without a helmet, everyone could see that she had light red hair and vibrant green eyes that just radiated life in them.

"Well, I'll tell you what. It was shit." Said Kai. "Bastard had so many mega particle cannons that it wasn't even funny. Thing could outgun anything we got in the whole military with how many guns it got."

"Think the Zeons are overcompensating for something?" Asked a Ball pilot, causing a few to chuckle at that.

"Nah." Said Kai. "I can't be if that thing has no arms. If was overcompensating for something, it'll be legs. Zeon must have some people with fetishes for legs because that thing was mostly legs and body." That caused some people to laugh out loud. Amuro and Hayato, meanwhile, were looking at each other. They didn't like the attention they were getting, but it was not like they had anything better to do. Besides, it was good for them to talk with other Federation pilots. Get to know them as people. They were their fellow comrades in arm, after all.

Looking at them, both were surprised to see how many of them were around their ages. A few were as old as Burning and Sleggar, but the majority were, at most, their mid-twenties. Was the Federation that strapped for personal?

"If it was compensating for that, then they're delusional." Said Bianca with a smile. "Because I've seen women with great legs in the military, Zeons got nothing on that."

"Great, like I needed more stuff to dream of." Murmured Hayato, causing a few to laugh at that, causing him to blush.

"Anyway." Said Amuro, coughing a bit to get everyone's attention. "We're grateful for all the praise that you all have been giving us, but its really not necessary. We just did what most people would have done."

"Oh bullshit." Said one pilot. "What most people would have done is fail and get killed. You guys, not only survived, but you stopped that thing from taking out a good portion of the fifth fleet, including admiral Tianem himself."

"Yeah, my AI confirmed that Tianem would have died if it weren't for you guys." Said another pilot.

"Like hell." Said a third pilot. "Mine confirmed that Tianem would have lived, regardless. The fleet already had information that the mobile armor was weak to missiles and the fleet missile weaponry weren't used. That thing would have gone down regardless."

"Even still, these guys took it down relatively intact." Said Bianca. "No doubt the tech heads will be very happy about that once they get here. That and Tianem himself gave them commendations for saving the fifth fleet. Heck, he personally thanked them for doing so." That was true, Tianem had personally thanked the three pilots for their taking down of the mobile armor and had given them all a medal for saving the fifth fleet from that mobile amor, who had confirmed kills of over a dozen Salamis cruisers and two dozen mobile suits. "No matter how you spin it, you guys are a hero to the Federation military."

"I guess." Said Amuro, not exactly happy with being called a hero, something that Vega also agreed. He couldn't help but feel like he didn't deserve it. If being a hero involves being fine with killing the people on the opposing side, then Amuro didn't want any of it. Whenever he saw the people he was about to kill, he felt regret. Whenever he imagined their screams as his weapons were about to end their life, he felt fear and the shaking of hands. It didn't happen too much in the battlefield, mainly because he mostly only fought mobile suits, whose pilots he couldn't see, but knew were inside the suits when he destroyed them.

That wasn't saying he won't kill them, no sir, all he needed to do was remind himself that, if he didn't kill them, then they might kill his friends and lover. And that was enough for Amuro to pull the trigger on the Zeon forces. Cruel and selfish? Yes, but both Amuro and Vega knew that the same logic applied to many others in the Zeon military. Perhaps even Char himself.

"Moving on." Said Kai, seeing that Amuro was getting uncomfortable with all this hero talk. "Anyone got an idea what our next deployment is?" That got people talking about something else, causing Amuro to throw Kai a glance of thanks.

"Well," Started Bianca as she put a finger on her lips. "Given that A Baoa Qu is the only thing that's standing our way from invading Side 3, I'd say our next deployment is there."

"But we need to secure routes to there first." Said a pilot. "And you bet that the Zeons will be fighting tooth and nail as we make our way to A Baoa Qu."

"Then there's Granada." Said a 2nd pilot. "That city on the moon will be trouble. Not only does it got a good defense fleet and defensives, we can't deploy the thing we used in Solomon. Unless we want the people on the moon to hate us as well." Everyone nodded at that.

"Wherever we go." Said Hayato, a bit nervous. "There's going to be fierce fighting." Everyone also nodded at that.


Meanwhile

Konpei Island command center


"It's good that you survived Tianem." Said Revil as he talked to Tianem in Konpei Island's command center, still in the process of being brought up to Federation standards. "We already lost many admirals in this war, I'd hate for you to be among them."

"That indeed." Said Tianem as the two looked at each other with small smiles. "Especially for our attempts to reform the Federation." Revil nodded at that before looking over at the command center of Konpei Island.

"Have your engineers extracted what they can from this place?" Asked Revil, looking at Tianem again.

"Yes, we're still in the process of decrypting it all, but we already have some good information on fleet movements as well as some interesting prototypes that were in development in A Baoa Qu." Said Tianem before explaining. "One of those things being the mobile armor we faced in Solomon."

"I see." Said Revil, remembering how the thing was taken by Federation engineers and is currently being disassembled to figure out what makes it so powerful, particularly the item that enabled it to deflect beam weaponry. With such a device in their hands, the Federation could make headway in developing a shield for their ships. "What else is in development."

"Tons." Said Tianem before laying his hands on the captain's chair in the command center. "As you know, Zeon is in the process of developing several new types of mobile armors and mobile suits in order to turn the tide of the war in their favor. Most of them are one off prototypes, far too expensive to mass produce, but some of them are feasible to mass produce. Such as this one." Tianem then had his aide bring forth a clipboard with a blueprint on it. Examining it, Revil could see that it was some sort of blueprint to a new Zeon mobile suit.

"Hm…MS-14 Gelgoog?" Said Revil as he examined the blueprint. After a few minutes, he widened his eyes in surprise. "My word, if these schematics are correct, this suit is capable of using beam weaponry."

"Correct." Said Tianem as he nodded. "My engineers also inform me that it's cheap enough for Zeon to mass produce it. Intel taken from Solomon indicates that they're being produced in A Baoa Qu and Granada. Prototypes are already being tested." Revil sighed at that.

"That is beyond bad." Said Revil as he gave the blueprints back to the aide. "I hope our AI advantage can still give us an edge against the Zeons."

"It will." Said Tianem with confidence. "Those machines have aided my plan immensely. Paris was able to direct the Solar Ray system to wipe out the majority of the enemy fleet without any casualties to my men. They also did well against the enemy in mobile suit warfare. I'd say that these new prototypes won't turn the tide against us with those AIs on our side." Tianem then frowned. "What really is concerning is this report." He then sighed. "Apparently, the Zeons are attempting to make our artificial intelligence advantage null, but not in the way you expect." Revil rose an eyebrow at that.

"What do you mean, Tianem?" Asked Revil, a bit confused at what Tianem is saying.

"You remember how you told me about what happened in Jaburo? How Char managed to nearly beat White Base's Gundam?" Asked Tianem. When Revil nodded, Tianem further explained. "Well, it seems our theory that Zeon is making New types was correct." Tianem then sighed as Revil frowned.

"So, New types are real." Said Revil, causing Tianem to nod. "Well, it seems Zeon Zum Deikun wasn't as mad as we thought." Revil then closed his eyes. "Let's hope that the New types aren't as powerful as some of the theories make them out to be. If they are, then we truly need that EXAM system." Upon hearing of the EXAM system project, Tianem snorted.

"That crazy scientist is only working with us because we're providing him funding for his research." Said Tianem, disgusted that they're working with such a crazed man. "If it weren't for the fact he's the only one that can make the EXAM work in time to actually be of any help in this war, I would had him shot the moment I met him." Revil nodded at that, understanding and even agreeing with Tianem on the matter of Chlust Moses.

"On that we agree." Said Revil. "Unfortunately, we need him as you said. *Sighs* I'll ask for more EXAM equipped units to arrive to the frontlines in space and for one system to be equipped to the white Base's Gundam. The pilot may need for the trials to come." Tianem nodded at that before talking about another topic.

"Anyway, I heard that the R&D department is developing several new GM mobile suits, all of which are more advanced than the ones' we have at the moment. Is that true?" Asked Tianem.

"Yes." Said Revil. "Luna II is in the process of developing a new model of GM, based on reports from our initial models. The most promising are the models based on the GM cold climate type developed sometime ago. The prototypes should arrive here by the end of the week." Tianem nodded at that, satisfied.

"I think we should give the White Base crew some of those prototypes." Suggested Tianem, looking at Revil with a smirk. "They deserve it for saving my fleet from that mobile armor." Revil nodded.

"They seem perfectly capable of it." Agreed Revil. "That and they'll be in the frontlines of future conflicts in this war. They need those new advanced suits. Alright, I'll orders the first prototypes, that haven't already been assigned, be given to the White Base crew along with any other Pegasus carrier that will see frontline combat." Tianem nodded at that.

"That's good." Said Tianem. "Now, let's focus on our future war plans." Tianem then brought up a map on a screen above them, showcasing the entire Earth sphere. What was confirmed Zeon territory was in the red while what was Federation territory was in dark blue. The various sides were grey, indicating they were in the process of siding with the Federation. "As you know, the capture of Solomon has given us a major foothold in Zeon territory. It'll allow us to strike various asteroid bases that the Zeons have placed in key routes to Side 3. The most vital of these being A Baoa Qu." The screen then highlighted A Baoa Qu. "Once we take A Baoa Qu, we have a clear shot straight of Side 3. If we do that, this war is as good as ours. The problem, however, is getting there." The screen then showed several circles and lines around routes that lead to A Baoa Qu. "Most of the routes that lead straight to A Baoa Qu are either heavily defended or give the enemy time to strengthen their defenses." Revil nodded, looking at the map.

"The most direct route is mostly protected by Granada and its defense force." Said Revil, looking at the depiction of the moon, circled to represent a major threat to the Federation. "The 2nd direct route is, unfortunately, in the Thunderbolt sector." He then pointed to a line that went in a field of dots before ending in an arrowhead on A Baoa Qu. "The rest take too long or are defended heavily by other Zeon bases." Tianem nodded, looking at the map along with Revil, wondering what to do.

"If we take Granada, it'll be a long and costly effort that might give the Zeons time to develop more New types and new weapons against us. Not to mention making more defenses for A Baoa Qu. Same problem with taking other routes, albeit on a lesser scale." Said Tianem as he placed a hand on his chin.

"Indeed." Said Revil, looking at the map. "The best way for us to take A Baoa Qu quickly is to take the Thunderbolt sector." Tianem frowned at that. He knew about the Thunderbolt sector and it's history.

It was a relatively new development, caused by this infernal war. The Thunderbolt sector had been created after Zeon had attacked Side 4, otherwise as Moore. While the Side was still functional, the damage not as extensive as it was on Side 5, the damage was enough to create a massive debris field, made out of destroyed ships, mobile suits, and even colonies. Not only was the debris field dangerous to navigate, there were massive electrical storms, created from damaged reactors, that not only caused interference with ship scanners, but also can be fatal if they struck a ship. Though Side 4 is technically with the Federation, they moved away from the Thunderbolt sector, both out of a concern for their safety and to be away from such a tragedy to them, making the sector neutral ground, though neither side bothered with it as it was too dangerous for any major movement to be made. But now it seems that it was time for them to do so.

"Heh. Looks like we're going to take the Thunderbolt Sector for ourselves." Said Tianem, sighing. "I'll make the proposal to the other admirals in the next meeting. Still, we should move our other fleets in other directions towards A Baoa Qu as well as taking other enemy bases, to keep the momentum on."

"Agreed." Said Revil. "We should focus on taking the bases here and here." Said Revil as he began to point at various Zeon military bases.


Few hours later

White Base


"That was rough." Said Kai as he made it into the White Base's hanger, along with Amuro and Hayato. After they finished their meal, the three went back to their ship, which was currently being repaired for any damages it had sustained along with other high priority ships. Even from there, they were met with more people giving them praise for their actions at Solomon, giving them respectful nods or looks of awe. It was nauseating to say the least. "This is why popularity is overrated, right?" Amuro and Hayato nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, rather be the unpopular chap than the popular jock." Said Hayato as he watched the engineers working on their mobile suits, fixing what problems there were that couldn't be fixed by the Artificial intelligences.

"Mainly because you're a pipsqueak, Hayato." Said Kai with a smirk. "You're fifteen, yet you're the size of a child." That caused Hayato to glare at Kai in annoyance. Before an argument can happen, Ryu and Sleggar arrived.

"Well, if it isn't the golden trio." Said Sleggar as he came to them with a big smile on his face. "See you guys are exhausted. Must have met your new fan club, huh?"

"If by fan club, you mean a bunch of Federation soldier boys giving us praise for taking down a massive mobile armor, yeah. We did." Said Kai. "Honestly is was rough. I've never been a popular kid back in school, but if that was what a popular kid has to deal with, I'm glad that I didn't receive any of it."

"Same here." Said Amuro, remembering how withdrawn he from other students in his school back in Side 7, focusing more on homework and machines over socializing with other people, something his father didn't mind, strangely enough. "I'd spent my time at home, working on school assignment or pet projects of mine. Didn't really spent much time socializing." That caused Sleggar to laugh a bit.

"And yet you managed to garner friends from the pilots and crew of this ship." Said Sleggar as he slapped Amuro's back, surprising the young man. "That's the one good thing about war. The ability to create friends with people you fight together with. I know that feeling. Became friends with tons of people in this war. Lots of them are dead now." Sleggar then sighed, remembering all the people he fought with that are now gone, some of which had died in the same mission as he was. "Hope that doesn't happen to any of you. You all are too young to see good friends die. That and the fact that you're all too young to die yet. Rather an old man like me die than young folk like you." That last sentence caused the teens to smile.

"We rather none of us die, mister Sleggar." Said Amuro, looking at Sleggar. "After all, it's the job to teammates to cover each other's back, right?" Sleggar nodded, but had a frown on his face.

"But not everyone will make it out of this war, kid." Said Sleggar, pointing that fact out to everyone. "Some of us may die in the next battle, kid, and I rather be me. Or some guy in the 4th Immortal team over you guys." He then looked at them all with a serious face. "What I'm saying is, don't be disappointed or angry with yourselves over the death of me or anyone else in this ship. Well, to the point of trying to get vengeance, at least."

"We know." Said Amuro, getting what Sleggar was saying. "But that doesn't mean we can't try to prevent that from happening. I made a promise to keep us all alive until the war is over" Sleggar rose an eyebrow at that.

"You can't prevent death from happening all the time, kid." Said Sleggar, serious. "Eventually we'll run out of luck and one or more of us will end up in death's door."

"I know that." Said Amuro, clenching his fists. "We all know that." Ryu, Kai, and Hayato nodded their heads in agreement. "We know that eventually some of may end up dead. I may have made a promise to ensure that none of us will die, but deep down, I know that was a fool's errand. That it was nothing more than a naive man's dream and wish. A fairy tale. But that doesn't mean I won't try to make it happen." He then looked at Sleggar with a fierce expression on his face. "Because that's what keeps me going in this war. My friends and my want to make sure they all come back alive out of this war. No matter how farfetched it may seem." With that declaration, Hayato, Ryu, and Kai went up behind Amuro and stood by his side.

"And we're going to be there to help him out." Said Ryu, pursing his lips and puffing himself up.

"Yeah, we're fighting our best to get our friends out of this war." Said Hayato. "Not out of revenge for what Zeon did to our home, but out of concern for our friend's safety and lives."

"No matter how cheesy it sounds, its an alright thing to keep someone going." Said Kai. "And if you got a problem if that, then screw you, asshole."

Sleggar, upon hearing those words, looked at the teens for a moment, gauging them. After seeing if they were lying or not, Sleggar began to laugh out loud. Not out of mockery for Amuro's wish, but out of respect.

"God damn, do you know how long I've waited for someone like you to come and say that." Said Sleggar, looking at them with a cocky smile. "Got a lot more respect for you kid. You and your pals. You got more reason to fight in this war than a lot of other people on both sides. That's good. Keep that reason, kids. Because it's a lot more meaningful than looking for vengeance or pay. Trust me on that. It'll be more fulling in the long run." Seeing that Sleggar was genuine, Amuro nodded, looking at the man with respect.

"We understand, sir." Said Amuro before saluting Sleggar. Surprised, Sleggar nonetheless returned the salute with a cocky smile. "Before you go, sir, can I just make a request." Raising an eyebrow Sleggar waited for Amuro to say his request. Taking a deep breath, Amuro spoke. "Can you stop calling us, kids? I think we're more than ready to be past that." Upon hearing that, Sleggar laughed out loud.

"C'mon, I did say I let it slip every now and then." Said Sleggar with a cheeky smile. The teens shook their heads at that.


Meanwhile


"I see." Said Char as he spoke to Kycilia Zabi from his new Zanzibar cruiser. "So, you want us to engage in guerrilla tactics against the Federation forces now occupying Solomon. With a new mobile armor developed specifically for Newtypes."

"Yes and I want Lalah to pilot it." Said Kycilia, looking at Char with her face mask and helmet on. "Her Newtype powers were the best out of all our candidates. She'll be able to utilize the Elmeth to it's fullest potential. As for you, Char, you'll be given our most powerful, non Newtype specific mobile suit yet. The MS-14S Gelgoog. You'll receive it along with the Elmeth while you're on route to Solomon."

"I see." Said Char. "And, if I get the chance, I should the eliminate the Trojan Horse and its Gundam, correct?"

"Yes." Said Kycilia with a nod. "That ship has caused too much trouble for us during this war. I want it gone completely."

"Understood." Said Char. "I'll await further orders."

"One more thing, Char." Said Kycilia. "You'll be receiving another Newtype with the shipments of mobile armor and mobile suit. His name is Challia Bull. He wasn't with the initial batch of subjects for Newtypes because he was sent to acquire Helium 3 from Jupiter. Now that he's back, we're assigning him to your ship. Along with another mobile armor."

"I see." Said Char. "Thank you. I'll do my best against the Federation in Solomon."

"I know that you will, Char." Said Kycilia before ending the transmission. "After all, why wouldn't you? Zeon is your father's legacy, after all."


Few days later

White Base hanger


"Alright, listen up." Said an engineer as he led a group of Federation scientists and other engineers to the White Base's hanger two. With them was a black box contained an upgrade for the Gundam. "Who is the engineer in charge of the White Base's mobile suits.

"That would be me." Said Isaac as he floated down towards the group of scientists and engineers. "May I ask what this is about."

"We're here on orders of general Revil and Admiral Tianem." Said the engineer. "We're here to install a brand new system into your Gundam mobile suit in order to help it fight off Newtypes." Upon hearing the word New type, Isaac blinked in surprise. He heard of Amuro's concern and fear that Char, when he retuned in Jaburo, was a New type, but he didn't put much thought into it. Now a bunch of engineers and scientists were here with something that'll help him fight Char and other Newtypes. Before he could even speak, the engineer began to budge. "We're under direct orders to do this. Just lead us to the Gundam and we'll take it from there." Not liking the guy's attitude, Isaac nonetheless did it and lead them towards the Full Armor Gundam, where Vega was currently doing a routine system check up with Chan.

"Chan! These men are here to install something to help Amuro fight off Newtypes! Help them out in anyway you can with Vega!" Yelled Isaac as he and the engineering team floated up towards the Gundam. Blinking in surprise, Chan looked at the men as they brought the black box. Looking at the Black box, both Vega and Chan felt that something was going to go wrong with its installation. Still, they were under orders and so they must do so, no matter how much they felt it was a bad idea.

"Okay." Said Chan as she looked at the black box, a bit unnerved with it for some reason. "Let's do it." With that the engineers began the process of installing whatever it is that they thought would help Amuro and Vega fight against Newtypes.