July 14th, 0070. Zeonic Center. Zum City, Principality of Zeon. Kaiser Gihren POV
Inside of the Stadium which for half of the year was the home of the Zum City Stargazers, history was being made. I stood quietly in jubilation at the far right side of the constructed stage, watching as Sasro gave the introductory speech that marked the beginning of the Spacenoid People's Sovereign Front founding convention. As the Sovereign's second son and the head of the party's old media wing, Sasro would introduce to Side 3 the concept of the Sovereign Front and why it was required, where at the end he would pass the torch onto me and I would rally the Spacenoids of the Earth sphere with my newly constructed ideology of Sovereign Populism, a mix of Classical Liberal philosophy with the tenets of Bonapartism.
Having lived three years as a high-level politician, there was a large feeling of normality that encompassed me at the moment. In many respects in comparison to the referendum, the coronation, or some of my more ambitious projects, this was probably far easier of a task. Working with Cecilia and the heads of the Social Dems, I had planned for every single aspect of tonight in perfect detail and every high ranking member of the party should be on board. Barring a terrorist attack, some unexpected tyrannical overreach by the Federation, or an impossible event such as my insertion, then everything should be perfect and I'll have nothing to worry about in the elections with the Sovereign Front bringing a guaranteed supermajority.
While tonight would not bring about immediate revolutionary change to the Earth sphere, it would most likely be a crucial event in history, for tonight we take the revolution from Side 3 and begin a crusade to unite the Side's against Earth. For now we would fight for autonomy, though in our greatest hopes we would win independence.
Up to this point I had been incredibly blessed and had played in a deck stacked against my favor. Thanks to our mandate as Deikun's heirs, the Zabi family had the undying loyalty of its two billion citizens, giving me a great amount of manpower, resources, and financial capitol to enact my grand plans to uplift Zeon into the premier nation-state of the Earth sphere. While there were many projects that I was proud of, in the end what I have done til now is little more than magnify the canon successes of the Zabi family, only this time I as Gihren wasn't a megalomaniac asshole and had a few more allies that were key in causing Zeon's canon downfall.
After this week my real challenge would begin in gaining allies across the Sides and hopefully on Earth. With the Miracle in play, Zeon had a greater chance of victory. But if we had a grand coalition of the Sides who would unite in a war of freedom and liberty, then victory would be inevitable. United we stand, divided we fall.
After today the training wheels would come off and my cold war against the Federation would begin proper. The thought of bringing down the rich man's club which had caused so much misery and suffering, leading to the decline of the human race until Turn A, brought about great excitement and anxiety with me. It was one thing to be constantly planning hypotheticals of the Federation's downfall, it was another to put such ambitions into practice and light the fires of rebellion.
I could only pray that centuries from now, historians would look back on this day and the greater era in general as one of monumental change that saved humanity from gravity's tyranny, bringing the solar system back onto the path of progression and away from the cycle of decay that should have been.
I have come so far and there is no turning back. Will I be the Spacenoid's Washington, or it's Lenin?
"Without further ado, I present to you the Prime Minister and Crown Prince of the Principality of Zeon, my brother, Gihren Zabi!" Exclaimed Sasro, his announcement causing shockwaves to reverberate throughout the stadium with various shouts of Zabi, Gihren, and "Sieg Zeon!" cancelling any possibility of silence.
Confidently striding towards the podium, I briefly stopped to give a strong hug to Sasro, thanking him for the great introduction. Once I had reached the podium, I waited a full three minutes for the crowd's intensity to die down.
'Well, only one way to find out.'
"My fellow sons and daughters of Zeon-"
Rosa Lawson POV
For the next five hours the heads of the now deceased Social Democrats turned Founders of the Sovereign Front took turns making grand speeches detailing the core principles and philosophies behind the Sovereign Front, all of which were framed on the first draft of a "Declaration of Ideals", an idea that Gihren came up with to clearly write out what the party stood for as a great whole.
Towards the end Rosa had done her part and had given a speech covering welfare and human services. While it was a far cry from the Scandinavian model that Rosa had hoped for, with herself and Gihren butting heads over the amount of funding and whether to go universal or limited, in the end they had agreed upon a basic model where all adult Zeon citizens in the lowest income bracket along with children and the elderly would receive strong support in education, health, and financial/labor support to help them stand on their own two feet and live in modest independence. Zeon would not be a welfare state, but the wealth gap was slowly decreasing and the poorest within Zeon lived far better lives compared to their brothers and sisters in neighboring Sides.
While Rosa was happy about her contribution, there were some mixed feelings that lingered in other parts of the party. In the end Gihren had gotten what he wanted in creating the Sovereign Front as a big tent organization. While this wasn't inherently bad as no single traditional ideology would dominate the party, it meant that the current platform zig zagged heavily between the Right and Left. She doubted that anyone present outside of the most diehard centrists were a hundred percent satisfied at the current state of affairs.
This was why she and the other party leaders under Gihren's direction presented the Declaration as a rough draft instead of mandating it onto the wider party. In the coming days with the input of a couple thousand of the Sovereign Front's brightest, they would amend the Declaration into a final agreement that would please everyone, uniting the party into the next elections for the betterment of the nation.
In this manner, the convention was quite democratic and it was nice to see the Zabi's play team instead of Degwin ordering them as absolute monarchs. Still, the whole process left a small amount of unease within Rosa, along with rising nostalgia for the old days of Deikun.
Currently Rosa was left stewing with her thoughts in the clubhouse section of the stadium, packed with the elites of the Sovereign Front, including the Zabis themselves.
Right now with the presentations done, the party would leave in recess with many of the delegates breaking out into small groups to decide on what form of action to take. Tomorrow would be formatted entirely around a sort of town hall style event where delegates would come on stage and address their concerns or state their own opinions on how the party should move forward. This would allow dark horses and small players to have their voice heard, preventing the rise of an oligarchical system like what was present within the current Earth Federation.
Rosa would have continued to contemplate in isolation, until a tap on the shoulder jolted her back to the ongoing gathering.
"Hey Rosa!" Greeted George Ioannides, a long-time friend of Rosa and the unofficial leader of the now Sovereign Front's centrist camp.
"Hello George." Rosa returned, giving a friendly hug to the Hellenic Spacenoid. It felt good to Rosa to see such a friendly face in a stadium full of politicians whose careers had only started within the previous decade. After the tragedy of the Jimbajacking, George and her composed a practically endangered species of people who made up the founders of the old Social Democrats.
"I haven't seen Harry at all today, is he in the restroom or something?" Asked George, referring to her husband for nearly forty years.
"Harry's helping Laura watch over the twins for tonight since they've both caught pneumonia. You know how he's not a big fan of work events so our grandbabies falling ill was a little blessing in disguise." Rosa said with George nodding slightly in understanding. "Did Jennifer come her as your plus-one?" Rosa said, asking about George's spouse in return.
"Yup, last I saw she and Leo were talking with some bigshot CEO that Degwin got to move recently to from Side 1 Zeon, I think it was the Buch Concern. Jen's probably playing tag team with Leo to secure a deal. By the way I really liked your speech, certainly better than mine. We've only gotten so far as a party because Zeon taught us that as politicians we need to serve the people first and foremost and have them live a life that every Spacenoid deserves. A lot of youngsters tend to ignore that in favor of the big flashy projects that Gihren brainstorms every other week. I think you said it best at the end, 'a mighty tree is one that has strong roots, when we forgot our roots then the tree shall wither and die.' Definitely quoting that in the future."
Rosa smiled at the praise, "Thank you. I wouldn't sell yourself short George as your time on stage was pretty moving. It'll definitely win the hearts and minds of our blue-collar voters." George's speech had been focused on the booming industry of Zeon, and how in the future the Sovereign Front must act to support domestic production to enrich the common laborer and uplift the quality of living for the consumer.
Rosa gave off a soft sight, "In the end, I don't think too many people will take notice of my time though."
George frowned, "You might not have had the best placement towards the end, but not everyone can be an opening act and most of the time great presentations need solid finishing points like yours. I'm sure you'll be in the highlights on ZNN tomorrow."
Rosa shook her head at George's words, "I'm not displeased with my placement, it's just that I can't help but feel I won't reach out to a lot of the younger voters, or that I simply won't be able to.
"What do you mean?" George asked with concern.
Rosa gave a heavy sigh, releasing the thoughts that had troubled her over the past couple of weeks. "We're living in strange times George. I feel like everyday the nation is moving at lightspeed and I'm crawling at a snail's pace to keep up. While I've always been proud of my contributions to the well being of our Side, it feels like our fellow citizens don't need me anymore. Nowadays it's the Zabi show with Degwin and his children running the government."
"Then why did you agree to help Gihren form the Sovereign Front?" George asked with a puzzled frown.
"Because for all that this new Principality is an authoritarian monarchy, the fact of the matter is that Degwin's family is doing good and it would be pointless and destructive for me to stop them. In these past few years Gihren has passed more legislation then we have in our entire careers, and most of it is helping Side 3 become a powerhouse in space. It feels like I'm being left behind, but with the Zabis and all of this new blood coming into power, I don't think it's such a bad thing, and it scares me."
Rosa sighed, "Everything was simple back when Zeon was alive, the party was all one big family who were simply doing their best for the country and getting by each day at a time. I just wish I could turn back the clock and live in the moment.
George nodded, "I understand how you feel. Some days I can't help but stop look around, and ask myself what I'm doing here."
George's statement was a complete surprise to Rosa as he had always given off an air of being a generally happy and carefree spirit, completely unaffected by worries such as hers.
"When we get old, it's natural to feel like the world is leaving us behind, but like you said it's not always a bad thing. Just like Gihren said before, in a lot of ways we've completed the mission that we set out to fulfill when Zeon first ran for office. With all of Side 3 now living at the same standards as Earth, we don't really need to be great agents of change and revolution, all we have to do is keep the status quo and make sure our fellow Spacenoids have a slice of the pie.
Perhaps my golden years are past, but I'm not going to go down and quit just like that. I've got a lot of power to do the right thing, and if our nation is headed towards a better place then I want to be involved in it as much as possible. Plus right now despite how much good the Sovereign Front will eventually produce, I'm not completely satisfied with it in the current state, so I'll do my best to fight for my principles and leave a strong legacy for Spacenoids to live free and happy lives as they should.
Even if I fail or if I quit today, things aren't all bad. I've got an amazing wife, great kids who will achieve whatever they desire, we all live in a good home making wonderful memories each day. If I fail, then I've got a good life left, and at least I can say I tried instead of watching on the sidelines." George said.
George's words brought a smile to Rosa's face, being the exact comfort that she needed tonight. It gave her a new perspective and some hope for the future, that even if the world is leaving her behind, that she can still fight to stay and make a difference. Even if she failed, it wouldn't be the end, for she had a loving family to go back to and could leave behind a legacy of years of good work in service to her nation. It was a far better fate than most people could claim.
"Thanks George, you really do know how to make a girl feel better don't you?" Rosa said, with George smiling bashfully in response.
He was about to change the subject until a slap on his shoulder interrupted the pair's conversation.
"Hey Georgie, I've been looking all over for you. Say hello to Scharnhorst Ronah, the richest junker in history and my new partner." Said George's brother Leo.
"I haven't made an official agreement." Said Scharnhorst Ronah, a man who if Rosa recalled was a new member of Degwin's inner circle, while at the same time having some rather odd attitudes towards monarchism.
"Yet." Leo said cheerfully, and with that the conversation shifted towards Zeon's corporate affairs.
For the rest of the night Rosa allowed herself to relax and engage with the rest of the party. The sun may be setting on her time, but she'll fight hard to continue on as long as possible and leave her mark on the Principality.
Cecilia Irene POV
While Cecilia Irene would take no part in the convention's long list of speakers, she was still heavily involved in the convention by being one of its principal architects through her membership of what had been dubbed the "Party Planning Committee".
The committee was made up of a small number of people selected by Gihren that were to help craft the preliminary steps of the convention and make sure that the party's most important MP's, local politicians, lobbyists, and influencers would be roughly on board with the concept and that there would be no widespread opposition to form a schism, or mass defections to the Contolist party.
On the committee Cecilia acted as Gihren's stand-in in many respects, putting forward his agenda and desires for the new Sovereign Front and helping to coordinate some of the party's various players who were not closely aligned with Gihren's wing. Fortunately Gihren had also given her a significant amount of autonomy and leeway to accomplish those goals as she saw fit, so with the lax oversight she was able to move at her place and get supporters through her desired methods, which for the most part was a success.
Serving on the committee was also an interesting time as Sasro was also a member, acting as the unspoken head since he was the only Zabi included. It was the most time she spent with the second son, and while he had been nothing but cordial and respectful to her, she couldn't help but feel like he acted heavily calculated and observant towards her. She didn't understand why as she had been nothing but the upmost loyal to Gihren, and by extension was also loyal to Sasro and the rest of the Zabis.
Minor inconveniences aside, everything proceeded according to plan, something that was obvious by the warm reception of the crowd during the first night of the convention.
After the speeches were done, Cecilia spent her time mingling with several of the lower tier leaders within the party. To her pleasant surprise many had sought her out over the course of the night and tried their best to network with her. While Cecilia knew that it was only due to her being Gihren's Chief of Staff, she was still flattered by the attention, which included a few offers of support for advancement into higher office, something Cecilia would never have thought possible a couple of years ago.
Eventually she did some slight fatigue from the day and had smoothly exited herself out of the plethora of politicking that was taking place. Moving to the more quiet and isolated upper levels of the stadium, she had called her parents to tell her about her day, and then make her way to exit the building after she finished.
As she was walking down the halls, she noticed two Royal Guardsmen standing at arms outside of a balcony access. At first she was puzzled on who was here, until she recognized the two as being regulars on Gihren's detachment.
Upon seeing Cecilia the two stood further apart and motioned to her that she was allowed access, most likely believing that she had sought out Gihren.
While she didn't have any initial intention of speaking with her boss, Cecilia thought it would be rude to just walk off, especially if the duo told Gihren later that she had brushed him by.
Besides, she hadn't had a chance to see Gihren all day, and speaking with him for a bit wouldn't hurt.
Thanking the two, she opened the balcony doors slightly, the cool breeze of Zum City greeting her.
A few meters in front of her stood Gihren in complete silence, looking over the landscape of the colony while holding what appeared to be a can of coca-cola in his hand. Upon hearing the door open, Gihren turned back to look at who had entered, with his face turning into a soft smile upon seeing Cecilia, which she returned.
"Hey." Gihren greeted simply.
"Hey." She said in return.
"How come you didn't come to the afterparty? You were more than welcome to stop by, especially since you helped organize this entire thing." Gihren asked.
"Well I got caught up in a couple of conversations downstairs, one thing lead to another and I had lost track of time." Cecilia answered. What she didn't say was that she did not go to the event because she felt a sense that she would be out of place or unwelcomed, a gathering that was a bit too high for the likes of her.
"What about you? I would think that you would be the life of the party." Cecilia asked in return, wanting to shift the conversation away from herself.
Gihren shrugged his shoulders, setting the can of coke down, "I snuck out a while ago once it was starting to feel dull. It may be a bit inappropriate on my part, but I never liked being in large crowds."
At Gihren's response Cecilia couldn't help but stammer a laugh which she tried and failed to repress at the last second. This caused Gihren to raise his eyebrows.
"What's so funny about that?" Gihren asked in a semi-serious demeanor.
"I'm sorry, it's just that I didn't expect to hear 'I never liked being in large crowds.' From the same man who gives speeches at rallies of tens to hundreds of thousands of people on a near weekly basis." She explained, with Gihren silently gesturing his concession.
"Well yeah, but that's different. When I'm at those events, I'm speaking at all those people, not to them. I may be in the presence of crowds the size of cities, but in many respects I'm practically just giving a monologue alone on stage. It's different from large events where I have to be constantly active and speaking with who I need to than who I want to. It's not like I'm a wallflower, I just like my personal space every now and then."
While Gihren's desires may seem a bit childish to some, to Cecilia it was another trait of Gihren's that she found rather interesting and endearing. There was just something so comforting on finding out one of the most powerful people within the Earth sphere being uncomfortable at a party. It's not that she wanted Gihren to be miserable, it was just a pleasant surprise to find him being so relatable in his position.
"I'm honestly glad that I found a cozy little place like this. It's an absolutely gorgeous view of the city, you can't get anything like this on Earth." Gihren said.
Wanting to partake in the experience herself, Cecilia carefully edged her way to the balcony to stand next to Gihren. While she tried to put a respectable distance between them, she failed to notice Gihren subconsciously moving himself to be close to her.
True to his word, the view from the balcony was indeed a sight to see. With the stadium being at the near center of Zum City, it offered a perfect point to stare out into the vast cylinder, allowing one to observe the millions of lights that shined brightly in the night, along with the vibrant night life as hundreds of thousands of people took to the streets to pursue whatever their hearts desired.
To Cecilia, it was a living affirmation of what she was fighting for, to keep those millions of bright and happy lights always shining like the near infinite stars of space.
The two continued in silence for a small time, unsure of how to start the conversation until Gihren began speaking,
"You know, when I was little I had no idea that I would achieve any of this, make it so far and high in the world."
Cecilia tilted her head in curiosity, "And just what did you have planned before you and your family began plotting world domination." She asked in a teasing manner.
Gihren smiled at that, though Cecilia noted a hint of sadness. "Originally I wanted to be a his..." Gihren started, then becoming silent for half a minute to collect his thoughts. It was a common trait of Gihren that she noticed quite frequently. Whenever he would talk about his past, he would begin his conversation in one direction, stop completely and try to decide where to go forward, then shift gears and insert himself back into the conversation.
This always happened when he talked about his childhood, and from many conversations it seemed like he wanted to talk about something entirely different than what he ended with. From what Cecilia could tell he did love his family so she doubted it was any trauma related to him. While she respected his desire to keep certain secrets, she wished he would be more open and less hesitant on his background.
"To tell you the truth I don't really know what I wanted to be or where I thought I would end up. Like most children I had a lot of fleeting passions, the usuals like being an athlete, doctor, teacher, that kind of thing. I always just lived in the moment and never cared too much for my future. It wasn't until father started gaining hard power and his position as a dominant leader within Zeon that my career started. He wanted all of us to contribute to both his goals and the state, and as the eldest I joined him directly in his office. I started having my own ambitions of serving in government, one thing led to another, and now I'm here.
As for what the future holds, I'm pretty much set for life, since even if I get a vote of no confidence I'll still be the Sovereign one day. No matter what I'll lead Zeon, I just hope to do so to the best of my abilities and give the citizens the lives they deserve. Since my vocation is pretty much decided upon, I guess I'll focus on finding myself and just being happy, maybe start a family." Gihren said, with Cecilia strongly relating to his last wishes.
Gihren turned to her, "What about you? Where'd you start off and where do you want to go in the future?" Gihren asked kindly, bringing up reminders for Cecilia about her involvement earlier in the convention.
"Well originally I wanted to just follow in my parent's footsteps, help run the shop and take care of all the plants, something I still love doing in my time off. As I grew up though I began to notice the greater world around me, how wrong it was for us to be in the dirt despite living in space, how for many years our family struggled to get by and it was something that was normal rather than an unfortunate exception. I paid attention to the news, started reading on current affairs, studied history in the library, and decided I wanted to work in government. Submitted an application to become your secretary, and through some impossibility was accepted."
"And I'm glad I did, it all worked out well in the end." Gihren stated, causing Cecilia to to look away in slight embarrassment with a small hue of pink forming on her face.
"Thanks. As for what I'll do in the future, I don't know. I'm pretty content where I am, everything's going really well right now and I don't want it too change too much. Helping you accomplish your goals is pretty good to me."
Gihren smiled widely at that, "I hope you'll be here for many years to come."
Cecilia smiled in return, "I'd like that as well."
For a near hour the pair continued to converse, talking freely together without a care for the world beyond the doors or where they would go in the future. The topics varied heavily from the type of plants they were caring for, entertainment that they had recently consumed, family affairs, recent news of events occurring throughout the Earth sphere, pretty much any average conversation that happened on a daily basis.
While what they were doing was nothing too special, to Cecilia it was something that pleasant and made her happy, just to be her and talk to Gihren. It was an experience that she couldn't quite compare to, not even among those with closest friends and family.
'Friend.' Cecilia thought with confusion.
By all signs the activities and relationship that she and Gihren had appeared to be friendship, yet she doubted that either of them would publicly admit it. It's not like such a relationship between a boss and employee had never happened in the workplace before, but what they had wasn't your typical 9 to 5 jobs.
A large part of Cecilia wanted Gihren to acknowledge her as such, to be part of his inner circle and someone he could rely on at all times, but she was too afraid to take the extra steps to make such a dynamic a reality. As lax in social manners that Gihren could be sometimes, making such a thing official could heavily throw off the comfortable status quo that they had right now and ruin the work relationship, something Cecilia didn't dare want to jeopardize. Besides, a friendship was one of equal compansionship, and she didn't think she had what it took to stand at Gihren's side.
In the meantime the two were so focused on the conversation, that they failed to take notice of each other's body language, of the subtle and quiet decrease of distance between the two, an unspoken longing to close the gap and be together.
Soon the two were only a couple dozen centimeters apart. When both took notice, there was a growing bashfulness in both Cecilia and Gihren, yet neither wanted to take a few steps back. Not to mention a hidden desire, to close the gap completely and have their lips...
"Gihren." Spoke the deep voice of Degwin Sodo Zabi.
Gihren Zabi POV
Turning around swiftly I met Degwin's stern emotionless expression with a look of heavy embarrassment, though I had no idea why I should be embarrassed as nothing had been going on or was going to happen in the moment, right?
"I have been looking for you for a while son. While I can understand wanting to take a break, you've been gone for near an hour and the other guests have been asking." Degwin said with a slight chide directed at me.
"I apologize father, I simply came out to get some fresh air, met Cecilia and we started talking and lost track of time." I explained, though I don't know just what kind of picture I presented by revealing that I spent most of my free time conversing with her.
"I see." Degwin said. "Miss Irene." He greeted.
"Lord Degwin." She said, bowing her head in deference. "I think I shall head home now. Goodnight Gihren."
"Goodnight Cecilia, see you tomorrow."
"Uh..see you tomorrow." She said, bowing once more to Degwin then taking her leave.
Things were quiet between us for a few moments until Degwin spoke up, "So-"
"Nothing happened between us!" I stammered.
"I never suggested anything of the sort." Degwin said with slight amusement. I mentally facepalmed myself as I basically gave away what he thought I was doing or how I had perceived the situation being.
Degwin let out a sigh. "Gihren, while I am your father, with my past I am the last person who should tell you who to find a relationship with. I'm sure that Cecilia is a wonderful person-"
"We're just friends!" I interrupted once more, though at the same time I felt like I was digging myself in a grave everytime I spoke.
"So you say and you probably are for now. At the same time she is the closest woman that you have ever been with besides your mothers and sister. I may be old my son but I am not blind to my children's social lives, especially with how you two interact."
Degwin then came up to me and put his hand on my shoulder in a supportive manner, relieving some of my self-inflicted tension.
"As I have said before, you and your siblings are more than free to pursue whoever you desire so long as they are good people, however our newly-accumulated stations as the ruling dynasty of Zeon have put an immense amount of pressure on yourselves. Gihren, you are my firstborn, the man who shall become Sovereign when I abdicate or die, as the first successor you carry a heavy burden to set good and strong precedents for all future Sovereigns and every man and woman who carries the name Zabi.
One of those precedents is who you shall marry as they shall be the first consort. Not only is a strong marriage necessary, but whoever shall bear your children must be a strong mother to raise good and proper leaders. I like to think that the good within you and your siblings came from your mothers, while my neglect and selfishness has lead you on paths that you did not need to take. If my grandchild has good parents, then they shall become a great Sovereign.
Like I said before Gihren, you are free to fall in love with who you want, just remember to take the time and choose carefully. A normal dysfunctional family would simply bring about personal misery within its members. A dysfunctional dynasty shall be the ruin of its nation. Am I understood?"
"Yes father." I said quietly. Inside though I had feelings of pride and gratitude towards Degwin. While his parenting may have been partially responsible for the clusterfuck of canon, I was happy that with my intervention he had rescued himself and was becoming a good father, almost as good as my original one.
"Come, now let us return. If you would like I can make up an excuse that you were ill and were preoccupied in the restroom." Degwin offered, with myself returning a small laugh.
"I appreciate the thought father but if you do then you are all but implying that I received food poisoning and I would rather not slander our caterers."
"Then maybe next time you can stick around and bear the burden of socialization like the rest of us." Degwin retorted, while I playfully rolled my eyes.
Walking back to the party I really hoped that tonight didn't serve as some sort of confirmation of whatever images Degwin and perhaps my siblings had in my head. While it was true that I was biased towards Cecilia, it was not like there weren't other friends that I had made or were as close to in this new life.
I mean, just because I liked Cecilia it didn't mean...
Wait. What did I just say?
I like Cecilia Irene. I like her, I like her, I like her, I like her.
I kept on repeating the saying in my head as a sort of mantra. I thought that doing so would make the declaration seem silly false. Yet each time it sounded more true.
Wanting to do a true test, I slowly whispered to myself so that the guards didn't hear.
"I like Cecilia Irene." I said, my heart fluttering slightly as I gave life to the words.
Huh, so I do like her. This is a good thing, right?
A/N: Hello everyone, Kaiser Chris here. Sorry for the long wait, though a combination of writer's block (If I take a really long time then that means I'm doing either romance or social chapters) and the craziness of the corona outbreak lead to this delay. I got a lot of messages asking for my wellbeing, and just to let everyone know I and my family are healthy, though I appreciate the concern.
Right here in this chapter I sort of wanted it to be a transition chapter to show the birth of the Sovereign Front and the next stage of the Zabi's plans, along with the eyes of Zabi allies who while supportive of their plans, oppose some of it and have their own ideas on how Zeon should be, though they want to put them forward in a constructive manner rather than Jimba Ral. Then we have at the second half another step forward in Gihren and Cecilia's relationship, where Cecilia desires something more with Gihren and Gihren admits that he likes her, at least to himself. More developments on these two and other relationship moving forward in the future.
As a minor shoutout, George Ioannides and his relatives are OC's of a fan of this fic, Many Faced Mage. He submitted them along with others to me a long time ago, and I'll be using some of them moving forward. Thanks for the support Mage!
Also this chapter was beta'd by Jaenera Targareyan! Thanks Jae and be sure to check out her work everyone!
Lastly I want to take the time to have a major shoutout to a new fic on the website "A Full Frontal Assault" by Balerion The Drake. The story is about a SI into Full Frontal that starts off with their awakening months after the events of Char's Counterattack. AFFA covers the rise of Full Frontal into the Sleeves with a look on how things might have preceded with canon, with the recent chapters diverging into an interesting AU that involves the reclamation of Axis and the creation of a second AEUG. The self-insert is a really fun and engaging character to read and the author does a good job at character introspectives and fight scenes. If you like Gihren's Glory then you are sure to love this. The story is rated M so you can find it in the mature section of the UC Gundam fandom page.
The next update shall come after the next chapter of Cosmic Crusade and shall focus on Degwin. Thanks for reading everyone and stay tuned for more!
