-A couple of months later and the front line has advanced, and after uplinking with a nearby unknown station in orbit, they found that there are 9 large settlements across the planet, at this point they now hold 3 and the other 6 are run by pirates, but now the squadron has been broken in half and expanded with more units under each groups command, during this period of events a new test pilot who took he place of Proto 6 was Simon "Foxhound" Norma, and Marcus was promoted from staff sergeant to a first sergeant and John and Lena Elion were promoted from PFC test pilots to Corporal Test Pilots and they were given modified Brave units which retained the energy gunpods and gained instead of a beam rifle a railgun rifle which acted as its nose and fired physical high velocity rounds, Marcus's unit was the same and he had his railgun modified to shoot different round types, but regardless of this he would be more well known for the color he painted his unit, a red orange color with white trim and took down skiffs and pirate aces without hesitation but now the advance has come to a halt again and they needed to find a new tactic to force an advance-
Marcus: Hey, Corporals how does it feel being in a higher position?
Killjoy: Quite good actually, this new mobile suit is fun but it's annoying because of how small its limbs are.
Cyclops: It's ok, and this new suit is a fun advancement from the original model, being able to handle 15Gs of turning without breaking a sweat makes this thing overpowered as hell but it's a good thing against fools like this large pirate gang...what did they call themselves again? Was it the devils, rust devils? Then again who cares they will be erased but this conflict will continue to exist in the history books I've this ends.
Killjoy: Oh yeah how does that Arios Gundam do?
Marcus: It's a fun interceptor but not much of a dogfighting unit like your units are.
-The alarm goes off and both proto teams head to the briefing room, there is chatter in the room and the MSOS and DO get the room to quiet down-
MSOS: Good, now listen up we have a new strategy on how to quickly end this conflict and give these private settlements the ability to be free from pirate tyranny. And so this leads to the creation of the two new squadrons and their tasks. Deployment Officer.
DO: Yes, this is the plan the new squadrons are as follows Galleon Squadron lead by Commander Layla and she will take Proto 3, 6 and 7-9. The other is Vanguard Squadron who will consist of Proto 2,4,5 and 10-12.
-More chatter takes up the room-
MSOS: Quiet down. I said settle down!
-The room is silenced-
DO: This is your assignments, Galleon will be the defensive line units, intercepting incoming enemies and providing tactical support for advancing units. Vanguard will strike deep and hit tactical targets using machine guns, bombs and taking out enemy fleets as well as enemy fighter wings as well. Both units will have their own skiffs holding their squadrons, you will receive your postings later today, as for the next 5 hours prepare your gear to move into those skiffs as if it was your home away from home. Good luck to you all, I hope to see you all before this conflict ends.
-There is a large amount of conversation before everyone leaves but the first to leave is Marcus and Layla follows him and drags him back to her quarters in secret-
Marcus: What am I here for exactly commander?
Layla: I wanted to thank you properly, by certain means.
Marcus: I know I kept you from being killed but still I don't get how that warrants this.
-She climbs on top of him-
Layla: I say it warrants this because of how I feel about it. After all we have been kind of flirty here and there when no one has been looking, man you are dense sometimes you know that?
Marcus: Yeah...but why?
Layla: Because I want this.
-Hours go by and after 3 hours Marcus gets up without disturbing Layla who was sleeping next to him and was hugging him quite tightly when she first fell asleep. And Marcus looks both ways to not get caught and quickly dashes for his room and is able to get in and get his things together without being spotted-
Marcus: I hope I make it out of this...give it 2 more years of being a free contractor and I will have enough money to choose a different job path being an instructor instead. Hopefully she waits for me...until then.
-He packs his things and makes sure that Layla had gotten up and prepared her things to be moved to her skiff and it was, Marcus goes back to his suit and does some last minute tuning and the time arrives, it is extremely dark out so the enemy cannot see the new ships on the field and the transport of units being moved. Marcus gets aboard Vanguards skiff and it is named the "Vindicator" and it has an internal electro magnetic catapult unit-
???: Welcome aboard my flying castle First Sergeant Fox. I am Captain Gabriel Wilson, and this is Lin Ferro my WSSO and Devin Gault my helmsman.
Marcus: Well then Captain, you can just call me Marcus, and may I ask about more information on this skiff?
Cpt. Gabriel Wilson: Well that's easy, this is a Yorktown Class Battle Skiff, it has a full compliment of mobile suits carry capacity and it also has 4 CIWS hard points two are missile based and two are Gatling gun based and has a compliment of two anti-ship cannons. We also can use chaff and flairs and can also launch smoke screen missiles that are 100% programmable. Now check in to see if everything is loaded.
-Marcus checks and gives Gabriel the green light and he closes the hangar doors and the one in front, belonging to galleon squadron, the "Crescent Moon" also did the same and both ships powered up their ION engines and they lift off and separate for their intended destinations-
Marcus: Alright team, I am Marcus and I will be you commanding officer for the duration of the assignment. My Lieutenants will be Vanguard 2 and 3 and those are Killjoy and Cyclops. Our first assignment will be defeating their scrapped together fleet, and if we are successful enough we will move on if not we will have to strike it a second time. Beyond that fact I believe you should get acquainted with one another and become friends. Enjoy the trip, it will be a long one.
-Marcus heads to his mobile suit and prepares it for combat, the skiff moves quickly and they pass a few of the freed settlements which are receiving help being rebuilt and fortified-
???: Interesting to see isn't it sir?
-Marcus turns around and he is talking to another PFC, PFC. Gregory "Scramble" Cassio one of their electronic warfare specialists capable of causing massive amounts of confusion-
Marcus: Yes it is Gregory, to think that there were settlements here in the first place. Would have made it easier if we had parked in or around a city, much easier to secure and defend.
Scramble: Yes...I would think they would notify the local government but then again that's what you get when you do not have a proper government on a frontier system like this one.
???: Oh please. You know how disorganized they are on the frontier, the only frontier government that has its stuff together would be the Mulungu Empire which has done well for its people.
-Marcus sees PFC Mary "Redeye" Welrod and PFC Jordan "Ripper" Luther come through the door and they are followed by John and Lena Elion-
Marcus: Yeah...I have never been there but I imagine after the reconstruction after the damage done from the first and second Sol-Mulungu war it must look beautiful.
Cyclops: It does but father never really liked being in the city he wanted to be in the country alone, isolated away from the rabble of society.
Marcus: I guess I can understand that.
-They travel away and into the wastelands of the planet and they finally arrive at the battle point, the area where the enemy fleet was, some were still dry docked and being worked on and others were just plainly docked and the rest were heading towards a designated point-
Marcus: There they are everyone suit up.
-The alarms start blaring and the lights go from standard to emergency red-
Cpt. Wilson: Alright everyone to battle stations, General quarters I repeat General quarters prepare for battle!
-Everyone suits up and gets into their suits and that is when the battle begins-