Even as victors are selected, there are many who chose not to submit to their greatest falls. Just as there are those who attempt to avoid being subject to the consequences of their actions, there are those who are more than eager to reap what they have sown. Where many see an ending, the strongest see their defeat as a reason to struggle for the cause that is most important to them. Such has been the nature of humans since the dawn of war. It is for those who live to witness history that such defiance is judged. The year is After Colony 225. This principle remains unshaken.

Episode 55: Heralds of a New Cleansing

Dana followed Instructor W towards the makeshift mobile suit garage while the repairs rang through the wide-open area. When she was asked to observe the container from Lunar Development Sciences she tried to find something indicating its contents. Dana made a sweep over the container and only managed to find a label confirming its origin. There didn't seem to be anything offering any indication, but Dana decided the contents would only be determined once opened. She shook her head when she answered, "Sorry. Can't say any late arrivals were planned. Not sure if those guys on Luna had anything special planned but seems like there's only one way to find out."

Instructor W was impressed with what he saw out of the container from Luna. "Looks like upgrades." He commented at them. "We can get to work in installing them Captain." He walked to where the Sandesgeist was getting upgraded. "I think Majewski would be interested in taking charge of it as well." He told her.

He returned to overseeing the Sandesgeist's upgrade. The mechanics worked hard to get the job done, continuing the installation of the legs to the main body. He had a closer look at the legs. "They're larger than I thought." He said in his mind.

Dana agreed with the Instructor's suggestion and was able to find Gawel right next to the computer with the containers. "You feel like telling me what the cat dragged in Majewski? And give me the "for dummies" version if you don't mind."

Gawel looked up and agreed to begin, "Oh sure Cap." Gawel began to pull up the blueprints to the screen when he found the terminology he was talking about. The overview of the equipment focused on the engine when he explained, "What we've got here is an Overdrive Catalytic Conversion Engine with full compatibility to the Artemis."

He showed a simulation of it fitting onto the back of the Artemis where it seemed to stick out from the rest of the Gundam's features at this stage. He continued, "If you're looking for why this is here, well that Stymphalia Armor plating you have for the Artemis is going to build an entirely new Gundam. The Stymphalian Artemis Zero if you will. This platting is going to add about twice the usual weight to the mobile suit and add another meter to the overall height, but it will be able to give you the same usual speed of the Artemis but with that much better defense."

As soon as he pointed them out he saw the armor plates assemble onto the simulated mobile suit to form the armored creation. Gawel finished the explanation with a contained sense of excitement, "Simple terms, bigger bitch to hit but harder to drill and none of the speed sacrificed as well." He saw Dana give an unpleasant stare at the comment before he quickly added, "Er... I meant a bigger target... I'll just get started on the installation process sir."

Dana gave a playful push on his shoulder while chuckling at her earlier act, "You do that. Make sure the Aquarius is ready to move, we'll need as much new firepower possible."

Gawel was relieved when he agreed, "That one will be done sooner sir."

A mechanic walked to Instructor W with the reports on the latest repairs. Instructor W accepted it and read through. A number of Ursas are now repaired and the Aquarius is restored but with a weaker but more stable reactor, unabling it to use beam weaponry. "Well that's one news I guess." He said to himself.

As the meeting began to take its course, Mercurio and several of the other pilots had made their way to the makeshift hangar to oversee the progress on repairs. He first noticed how the Artemis had a significant amount of armor prepared while the Uriel was having some flight booster packs attached along with a new blade. He found Dana nearby and asked, "So how have the repairs been going sir?"

"Quite a pleasant sight Yuy. If the Coalition talks aren't going to make any progress, I'd say we're ready for a trip to 3 Juno and we'll be able to save ourselves a few invasion forces."

"If you want to know about your suit, Majewski is calling that new piece of work the 'Blazing Uriel Zero'. It's got an additional flight pack that should make her fly at twice the speed and with the additional stabilizers allow blade swinging abilities to only be hindered a small bit."

"That new blade you got there, slicing and blasting at its most convenient if he's good on his promise."

Mercurio chose to end the description when he asked, "Have the recent casualties even bothered you sir?"

Dana gave a sigh when she looked over the list of surviving Rogue Wings agreeing, "Yeah, not many of us are left. At least we might be able to give some room for Ermes and Dafina to bolster our ranks."
He tried to consider Dafina's possibility for the position but knew that if he could trust her with his mobile suit then he could see her on a road to gaining trust with OZ. "I guess they might be able to help with our ranks. I hope Dafina agrees to something like this after all we put her through."

Dana reminded him of their previous experiences, "From what I heard she was the one who wanted to stop the fighting in the first place. She might be glad it's this soon rather than either of you dead."

He moved on from the suspicion when he asked, "So where did you find the time and parts to make the upgrade for the Uriel?"

Dana gestured to the remaining devastation outside the city, "Majewski said he found a few spare parts lying around the Testudo and wanted to do some creative thinking."

Gawel wiped himself with a rag when he dropped down from one of the newly constructed parts, "Hope you like it Mercurio. There is something that I'll need your help with though."

Mercurio already had a feeling there was something wrong but allowed Gawel's offer when he asked, "Okay, how can I?"

Gawel took a breath before he answered, "I need to know if this sort of upgrade design can actually work on a practical level."

Mercurio quickly took another look at the Uriel to make sure it would work and saw the boosters were at least making the Uriel stick out more from the back. "You didn't even consider the dimensions of the mobile suit before trying the upgrades?"

Gawel quickly shook his head when he explained, "Of course not. Otherwise the Uriel would be crushed under its own weight by now. I need to find out if there's a practical energy source you can dig up that will be compatible with the weapons tech the Testudo had. The original thing would work great, but considering these Coalition guys were dumb enough to make this thing walk around without its ammo makes me wonder just what sort of plan they had going on."

The situation was a strange one indeed. But if he was going to achieve anything for the future of the missions Mercurio knew he would have to find what the Coalition might have lost. "I'll see if the survey teams turn up anything. You still think there's a cache of ammo just lying around though?"

"Pretty much just my assumption. I thought if the Testudo did run out of ammo we found an empty container lying around somewhere though." Gawel answered.

Mercurio decided it would be something to look into but he had make sure of his suit's most critical function, "I'll still be able to use the weapons right?"
"Like the original Uriel. If you do find the ammo, just slide it into the area where the square hole is." Gawel promised.

Mercurio shook Gawel's hand when he offered, "Thanks Gawel. It's great to work this efficiently."

Gawel grinned when he was complimented, "Any time. Just mark a few dozen kills so I can say my work pays off."

Dana stood up and reminded, "Great to see you're a professional for a change Majewski. Let's make sure the Aquarius and Tallgeese are flight ready ASAP. We got to have every available suit ready in case the Coalition has any last minute tries."

Donna and Ermes went to the improvised hangar. What Donna was seeing was an upgrade to her Sandesgeist. She found Instructor W reading more documents on the clipboard. "The legs are big." She commented on the Sandesgeist.

The Instructor sighed to the reply. "I know." He dismissed. "The size is however there for defense."

Donna walked closer to the Sandesgeist. There was also something new on its back, replacing the ground-type backpack. The new backpack was white with two long and flat objects as if they are wings.

"That's the new backpack." Instructor W explained. "The Sandesgeist is now compatible for both Earth and Space combat. If you activate the backpack during combat, it will unfold to be your high-mobility thrusters."

Donna nodded as she liked the sound of this. "Thank you Instructor." She thanked.

Ermes had a look at the restored Aquarius. "I guess I'll be piloting this then." He thought.

Dana confirmed Ermes's question when she answered, "About right. You're our best out of the group after all."

When the repairs on the mobile suits had completed Zachariah and the other Ursa pilots were able to marvel at the accomplishments the repairs had made. Zachariah found Gawel preparing several coding programs on the mobile suits when he asked, "So how long did it take for you to attach the plating anyway?"

Gawel thought for a while before answering, "About an hour fifteen. That extra ten came from a jam in the right shoulder that wouldn't let up until we dug around for it in the right shoulder. Turned out to be a safety latch that could only be removed manually."

Nasir found it to be an odd addition when he asked, "Anything special about that thing?"

Gawel scratched his head when he remembered, "Something on the sides saying 'Sir Albert is German'. Not sure what that was doing there exactly."

Mercurio overheard this message when he asked, "Wait, Sir Albert?"

Gawel nodded when he confirmed, "Yeah that's what it said."

The idea was much of a longshot but decided that it was at least worth considering. "Do you think you could find some German variation of Albert?"

Gawel moved out of the programming section and used a website to show the variations of the name Albert on a website. "Yeah, there's some right here. What're you looking for?"

There were results on the page but one name stuck out to Mercurio. "Ulbricht…" He saw Dana was nearby when she was only lightly curious on the coincidence. "Captain, is General Ulbricht still stationed at the Parliamentary Building?"

She decided that this was probably the only way they would have the way forward if there was any real substance on the revelation. "He should be. You got questions for him?"

Mercurio prepared his jacket when he answered, "A few yes." He headed for the nearest jeep towards the Parliamentary Building regardless of anyone following him.

Hearing Mercurio's intention on seeing General Ulbricht, Donna tagged along. She was able to get on the jeep to the parliamentary building. Ermes noticed the jeep leaving and knew he would have to follow, getting another one.

Fortunately there to provide backup, Mercurio found Donna escorting him to the Parliamentary Building while Ermes followed in suite. As soon as the jeeps parked Mercurio prepared to enter while he asked for a last second safety plan. "Ermes, do you think you can just check a few feet behind us and make sure our sixes are safe?"

"Got your back cuz." Ermes replied. He got out his pistol to prepare for any trouble. He made sure the two were in before he followed shortly. Once he entered the parliament building, he eavesdropped at the conversation. "Sis' done quite a work there." He thought.

As soon as he found the General headed for a nearby office Mercurio announced his presence, "General. I apologize if this is an inconvenient time but I have to confirm something." He waited a moment before he asked, "Were you in any way involved in oversight of the Lindemann case 19 years ago?"

The general noticed Mercurio and Donna running to him. "Yes, I was infact the overseer of the investigations." He was reminded of how the Lord was persistent on answers years ago. "It was an unfortunate case. We never caught the assassin. Lady Lindemann was a friend as close as her husband. I just hope that her death can be avenged." He showed sympathy to the plight of the Lindemann family.

Donna thought something was off. "So where is the evidence?" She asked. "If there is any, it would be a great help."

Klaus answered, "All the evidence we have are in Berlin. I can have it sent to you in a matter of days."

Donna thought for a moment with how Mercurio found the name. "Does the name Albert ring any bells General?" She moved on.

The mention of the name brought a sudden change to the General. "Not that I am aware of." He answered. He gave a subtle sign to his guards to shoot if they ask too much questions.

Donna managed to bring up the name he had been hoping to uncover. They had confirmed Klaus's position during the Lindemann assassination and it managed to line under a fitting time period. After his answer, Mercurio would have to explain and it would determine if his superior was hiding anything.

When the General denied knowledge of the name Albert, he decided that now was as good a time as ever to explain his findings. "We discovered a file on the Lindemann case and we hope that this might be a coincidence. But there was someone named Sir Albert who was contacting another by the name of Garret. I cannot offer insight on who Garret might be, but there is a reason I asked you about this case General." The tension began to rise as the reveal was brought forth. "Recently it's believed that Architect I sent a message to us. 'Sir Albert is German'. I believe you might understand why someone might see you as a candidate for questioning." He pointed this out subtly noting the German variation the name Albert had. "I only ask this with intention of finding justice sir. I don't want to believe the possibility but I must hear it from you firsthand. Did you have anything to do with the Lindemann assassination?"

It was a perfect moment to bring up the question. The events that had just occurred would be enough to make anyone wonder about the possible connections. As he gave the question he noted the oversight the General had over his questioners. There was something being planned at the moment. Ermes. It's up to you to give us a heads up. Mercurio thought as he kept his right arm steady waiting for Klaus's next answer.

The General was stern with his answer. "It is as I said before, I was merely the overseer of the investigation." He answered. "I have nothing else to say."

Klaus's guards were shot down with well-placed shots. "I believe there is much more to say." Ermes interrupted, appearing. "Your men are merely paralyzed with the shots."

The General was speechless, and it took a few more seconds to speak. "That's treason!" He yelled.

"I think not." Ermes answered. "I am the Ambassador of Mars for the Earth Sphere United Nations. I believe I have something called 'Diplomatic Immunity' as a card." He was ready to aim for the General's head. "The real charge for treason may go to you."

Klaus grabbed Donna and got out his cyanide pill in his palm. He hit her in the head before placing the pill swiftly into and covering her mouth. "Choose wisely Ambassador." He ordered. "If you try to go closer, she'll suffocate and swallow cyanide. If you try to shoot me, she will be shot instead." He advanced backwards to make an exit while still holding Donna by the neck to choke her into swallowing.

The hostage situation was grim for Ermes. Even an experienced agent such as him can fail in these circumstances. "Damn it. He can't be shot from the front. Where are you sis?"


As Edward was being escorted away from the meeting room, he overheard a few shots from a hall nearby. Hyrum was the leading guard who promised, "We'll keep you safe Blare. Just stay close to us." Edward didn't bother protesting and simply nodded in agreement.

As soon as he and a few other men made their way to the nearest hallway he noticed the Earth Sphere uniform of the captor as he peeked from the nearest corner. A perfect opportunity. He thought to himself. He was quick to give an order, "Cut off his escape. If we hurry we might be able to help the hostage situation."

Hyrum took control of the situation when he told Edward, "Wait here. We'll resolve whatever's come over the General."

Edward nodded while he offered, "I should at least warn Ms. Peacecraft. She must have known something to hint towards this action."

Hyrum agreed when he ordered two of his own men to follow the General, "You two follow him. Everyone else form up on me." When the order was given, Hyrum and the other soldiers kept their sights on General Ulbricht as they waited for the situation to pan out. There were still eight guards following him and they would be able to cut off any possible escape from the General's side.

One of Hyrum's following guards followed him asking in a quiet voice, "Should we move in sir?"

Hyrum shook his head while he observed the tension between the two parties. He whispered back, "We can't take this sort of action against an official without any warranting grounds.

Edward found Dafina within the meeting as she observed everything the Earth Sphere had to convene. The meeting with the new Coalition President had ended and Edward made a quick movement to meet her. "Ms. Peacecraft. I believe there is something you must be warned of. I saw General Ulbricht holding someone hostage on the way down to my personal quarters. If I heard correctly from a few hours ago I believe he is facing your brother."

Dafina looked up from her computer when she asked herself, "What is Ermes doing holding down one of the Earth Sphere Generals?" She stood up while asking, "Did you do anything to see they wouldn't leave their area?"

"We have him surrounded for right now. I am a man of planning after all, not action." Edward promised.

"I'd imagine." She said remembering his status as a General. She told the other guards, "Escort him back. I must see this is resolved." She made her way towards the exit door to follow Edward and his guards to the sight of the stand.

Andrew saw how Edward was escorted out by a large number of guards. "That should be enough of them." He thought as he counted.

Mercurio didn't raise his pistol when he heard what his superior was warning. He tried to cool the situation when he reminded, "General, neither of us have any intention of harming you. Please release her and we will not hold you accountable to anything." It was a desperate attempt but it was the first thing he could try to end it.

It was the most Hyrum and his men had heard of the situation at this point when Mercurio gave the warning and when Dafina showed up he wondered what she was planning. Before any of them were able to stop the threshold, Dafina saw the General and brought her aim towards the hand holding his hostage. Hyrum saw Dafina making her way up to the field of vision while he asked, "Wait you're actually –"

"We'll have to do what we can to take him back alive." She cut him off. As soon as Dafina whispered this she turned the corner and found the hand holding the General's weapon. She fired towards Ulbricht's hand and saw him expressing the predicted shock and pain of the situation. She ran up to the General while kicking Donna to the ground and away from her captor. A small pill flew out of Donna's mouth while Dafina tried to briefly see if she was alright. She checked back to the General and raised her pistol towards his head. She tried to follow through with the Earth Sphere protocols of arresting him when she warned, "You'll explain your actions General. Your answers will be upheld when before the Parliament for questioning as well as any offending parties."

Donna was on the ground gasping for air after the rather unexpected kick from the back. She turned to find Ulbricht disarmed by Dafina.

Ermes was surprised by how Dafina handled the situation. "Sis!" He shouted. "Thanks for saving Donna but was it necessary to kick her away?!"

Dafina nodded to her brother when she answered, "I'm afraid so. It was the only way to make sure she would be out of the General's grasp."

Donna got up. "I'm fine." She answered. "Now I owe the both you though..." She covered her mouth with her keffiyeh on her neck. "Do people break like that when cornered?" She asked Ermes.

Ermes summed the answer. "Pretty much." He said. "Fight or flight."

Till ran to the scene with a number of men. "What's going on there?!" He demanded. He was left speechless with seeing Ulbricht held at gunpoint.

Donna explained. "General Ulbricht tried to poison me." She told her father. "Dafina was there to save me. We thought the General was part of mother's assassination."

The Lord, hearing it from his daughter believed that she is telling the truth. "My God." He muttered in shock. He turned to the General that tried to kill his daughter. "We will hear more about this in front of the Parliament." He hissed. He returned to the Peacecraft twins. "I would like to speak to both of you after we bring the traitor to the Parliament." He said to them. "I would've lost my daughter without you." With a whim the guards escorted the traitor general to the Parliament. He guided the guards to the speaker's entrance with little regard to those speaking now.

As soon as Lord Lindemann arrived at the scene and Donna explained the situation, the traitor was being brought before the Parliament. She accepted the Lord's request when she answered, "Of course sir." The man she had once been hired to steal from seemed to be more concerned about the immediate issue right now. He seemed to have an edge of compassion not many Coalition reports would have bothered reminding.

When the hologram faded, Malcolm tried to remain diplomatic when he assured, "We have determined that the Coalition will now proceed to see the cease fire held through. For our first motion we must -" As soon as Malcolm began he saw General Ulbricht being escorted by several of Lord Lindemann's men. It broke his concentration on the speech when he asked, "General Ulbricht? What is the purpose of this escort?"

Hyrum was the first to explain the situation when he answered, "Mr. Blare found the General attempting to hold one of the Gundam pilots hostage. It seems that another two of them asked something too classified."

Malcolm was curious about the question when he asked, "What specific question did they ask?"

Mercurio gave the story when he answered, "We were interviewing General Ulbricht on the matter of the Lindemann assassination. Ermes reported that some of his men attempted to intercept us but he managed to hold them back. The General then threatened Donna with her life if we were to approach him any further."

Malcolm hesitated before he finally asked, "...General. What is your plea?"

The General remained silent even when he was asked to plea. It was already obvious that he would be guilty.

Ermes observed sternly. "Judging by how he tried to poison Donna he plays more than the inspector for the case." He thought.

Till stepped up. "Ulbricht, I would like the answer on my wife's death." He demanded coldly. "Are you a Coalition spy?" To get his answer he prodded the General's wound. He only had the regard on the answer.

Klaus yelled in pain "I am a not a spy." He replied.

"Then what are you?" Till demanded.

The General remained silent. It was Donna that forced him to talk again by a kick. When the two Lindemanns attempted to force General Ulbricht into confessing, both Malcolm and Relena stood prepared to protest the action. Relena began, "Lord Lindemann please –"

"The assassination was a false flag operation." He revealed.

Both the Lord and the daughter Lindemann were stunned at the revelation. "Why Ulbricht?" The Lord asked. "I have trusted you for years."

"The true mastermind is President Kecker." He continued. "He wanted your support for the war, but you refused. Your wife was killed and set up intentionally so the Coalition was to blame. You would then be convinced to commit resources for the war. There were no doubt similar plans for those that disagreed initially like you."

While Donna was crumbling from the harsh truth, her father was driven further with anger. "You only brought misery thanks to your deceit." He stated. "But the Gundams can also be your undoing." He turned to Malcom. "President, please give your sentence to this dirt I used to believe was a friend to my family."

The first one was enough to calm any protests and provide any ears to what he had to answer, but the second was the moment that broke the ice among the gathering. As soon as the General gave his confession there was a collective gasp and mass confusion among the House Representatives. The very notion that someone the Earth Sphere had come to trust had participated in such an act was one few leaders would have wanted to see happen. The strength of the issue showed when even Malcolm was unable to contain his surprise.

Malcolm sat down and gave a deep breath before he sentenced, "General Klaus Ulbricht. The people of the Earth Sphere United Nations gave their full support to you when they believed you would do everything to protect its fellow citizens. For your defense of Berlin and the willingness to come to our aid, we believed that our debt to you could never be repaid." Malcolm hesitated before continuing when he tried to determine how he could carry out the sentence. They couldn't have an execution such as this at the time. He knew the people would begin to wonder what would happen if one of their own was willing to attempt violence against their own ranks.

He was able to recall a few things that would play to his government's advantage with this moment. With OZ now an independent entity and the real orchestrator of Lady Lindemann's assassination in the room, they could permit him to be a separate case from the Earth Sphere while giving something to show good faith to their critical ally. It was the sort of thinking that his years as a representative for the First Priority had accumulated to. I'll give you this Franz. You did show many of us to value the first opportunity of victory at any turn… He thought to himself before continuing.

He rubbed his head temples before he continued with the sentence, "...I regret to inform you however that you are no longer under the Kecker administration. Regardless of his return or his resignation, we now recognize your action as a confession under a new leadership. Regardless of Kecker's intention at the time, we can only recognize your willingness to follow on such an order as nothing more than subservience to the underhanded schemes of a prior administration..."

Before Malcolm could continue, he heard the Secretary of Justice announce, "Mr. President, I believe this sort of immediate trial goes against our constitutional process."

Hiram was among those who voiced this concern when he reminded, "I should also remind Mr. President, if we go through this action, we will hereby revoke any possibility of President Kecker returning to office."

Relena corrected, "If what General Ulbricht is saying is true, then the former President is in fact responsible for directing conflict among the Earth Sphere officials. Regardless of the extent of his work, it was these actions that we cannot permit the President as a legitimate leader."

Malcolm nodded to the observation when he added, "Our charter with the new OZ has determined that prisoners of war shall be handled under their jurisdiction before being brought to the Earth Sphere Justice system." He gave the final sentence when he announced, "With your guilt now recognized by the people, your status has hereby been revoked. With your fate in the hands of the new OZ leaders."

The sentence was carried out and it seemed the Earth Sphere politicians didn't like the idea of working with this sort of man. Mercurio heard everything about the mission Klaus conducted and recognized other families probably met with the same fate at one point or another. "I suppose it's fortunate Uncle Milliardo didn't remain here. He might have met the same fate." He recognized. He remained with the mission when he prepared restraints on Klaus's hands while he apologized, "I honestly never wished to see such a day sir."

Till was visibly sickened by how he was betrayed by a man he trusted for years. "We will imprison him." He ordered his men. "To honor the friendship we used to have I won't execute him." Before the disgraced General was taken away he took the opportunity to rip off the Earth Sphere insignias off the uniform. With a greater desire than merely seeing him dead, Till took satisfaction in seeing him disgraced in front of the parliament.

"Christ..." Andrew could only think. He could see how his best friend is trying to hold his anger.

Till briefly returned calm to Ermes and Dafina. "When you're ready find me at the third floor's meeting room." He informed them. He was physically shaking from the sudden mental stress he received when he left. Stuart followed shortly.

"Sir Albert has the key." Dafina remembered. The name wasn't too far off and it seemed the General was honest with his confession. It was clear that Mercurio was able to receive the proper clue necessary to come to the conclusion of Ulbricht's involvement. She still had one thing to decode when it came to the message the Coalition Vice President offered. "What is the key though?" she wondered to herself.

Ermes found Donna still on her knees from what she heard. He walked to her. "You should get up Donna." He told her calmly. Seeing how she was broken he was left with no choice but to escort her out. He found a bench for her to let her sit on and sat with her. "I'm sorry to hear about all of this." He gave his condolence before leaving her alone to find his sister. "Ready to go when you are sis." He told her.

While the meeting continued, Dafina saw the General taken away with Lord Lindemann's personal guards after Mercurio secured the General's restraints. Edward in the meantime was escorted by several guards to the holding room he was meant to be taken earlier. He only offered a nod in confirmation before leaving while both recognized there was no time for words. He knew not to reveal high hopes for this deed and she didn't want to draw attention to him on this action either. If anything, he was at least able to pull off modesty in a time when he thought it was necessary.

She heard Ermes remind her of their meeting with Till and decided it was time she met with the Lindemann Patriarch again. "Very well. Let's not keep him waiting." She said as she walked alongside Ermes to the meeting area.

Mercurio agreed to let their appointment follow through when he promised, "I'll be waiting outside until you're done." As they made their way to the meeting with Lord Lindemann, he left the building and waited near the jeep he came in.

The General was taken away while the meeting was allowed to continue despite the confusion of the recent revelation. As the others left the meeting hall, Malcolm didn't bother trying to stop anyone from leaving the area. He was only thankful the issue had quickly been resolved but could see among the faces of his fellow politicians the confusion and newfound fear of the recent trial.

He continued with the meeting when he announced, "We have demonstrated what will happen to those who will advance the cause of a further war. The ideals of the First Priority Party and Pacifism Party have divided us for many years. Now more than ever however, we have a reason to unite against the idea of war. Depending on the extent of General Ulbricht's mission, we will not permit President Kecker's orders to be fulfilled any further."

The Secretary of Defense stood next to him and agreed by announcing, "Effective immediately shall be the beginning of the Hunter administration."

Relena nodded to the decision when she prayed to herself, "I only hope now that this marks a change from the previous war actions we have enacted." It was a situation she did not hope to see occur, but at least the reveal of General Ulbricht's mission would show the Earth Sphere was making progress.

Mercurio didn't think there would be anything for him to wait for but the recent arrest of the General was enough to be worried about. A cover-up such as this one was unheard of among the Earth Sphere and it brought him to wonder how much longer it would be before the Coalition had its full influence over the human race. He could remember early days when he was told Coalition Generals were the only ones who had the audacity to betray their own institution. The days of battle continued and it seemed the dreams of his previous generation were only being further crushed.

As he continued to wonder about the recent events he noticed Donna was making her way out and didn't seem like she was willing discuss anything. He knew that it was times like these he could only offer some sort of encouragement in such hard times. He began, "I know most of us hadn't expected something of this scale to be within the Earth Sphere military. We never anticipated having to go against our own superiors. The only good to come out of this is that someone was brought to justice for what they did."

He gave the best encouragement any soldier could receive when she was reminded, "Living with a lie is easily the worst thing anyone can be accustomed to. When people like us are faced with such a time though we have a choice of being a victim or trying to control the chaos that's brought to us." Everything that he and the others had come to experience was now the foundation for Mercurio's promise, "Just remember what we are now Donna. We offer support to one another when the situation calls for it."

Donna realized Mercurio was there when he spoke. "Thanks." She whispered, still broken from Klaus's confession. "Because you realized about this, you helped a lot." She remained at where she is just looking at the floor.


Till Lindemann was waiting at the meeting room. He was still shaken and began hunching. Andrew watched over with concern. "I would like to first thank you both on saving my daughter from the traitor." He began, hiding his disgust with the thought of the revelation of Klaus Ulbricht. "I didn't expect him to have had a part in everything." He gestured Ermes and Dafina to take a seat. "As a sign of gratitude, I will be willing to forgive the bullet to the knee you are also welcome to join OZ."

Ermes was stunned with how the offer was given easily. "Thank you sir." He replied. "I can however not accept since I already have the role of an ambassador. I will however agree for an alliance between the Martian Resistance and your OZ."

The Lord understood. "That is understandable." He responded. "Very well." He turned to Dafina. "Ms. Peacecraft, I would like to hear if you accept it."

Dafina recognized her new allegiance was very clearly being given to her when Till offered her a place next to her brother. At his offer she answered, "I am honored you would permit me a chance to prove myself worthwhile to your organization Lord Lindemann. I will see to it that your investment is one that is worth the trust."

Till nodded, "Very good. For now I shall expect that the two of you shall follow the orders of your superiors beyond the desire of your abilities. It is what we will require in a time as uncertain as this one is now. I believe that there is a mission that you will have to prepare for soon enough so I recommend that you see your mobile suits are prepared. I will inform you of any further developments I must see answered directly. Dismissed."

Both Dafina and Ermes gave a salute, "Yes sir."


The Anaconda travelled for nearly a day away from Brussels. Orders were passed to regroup at Konisberg, where the Coalition's Eastern European forces used as their center of operations. Tano saw the Gundam was reaching low on fuel when they were getting close and the pilot himself didn't sleep since the withdrawal. "We're almost there." He muttured to himself.

With the long amount of time Oleg had forced himself to embrace the remains of the Anaconda, he seemed to lose almost all senses except for his grip. Both hunger and sleepiness were threatening to overtake him even after such a battle but he was capable of maintaining his willpower. The only thoughts lingering in his mind were the final moments battling the Sandesgeist. He had lost the most powerful machine he ever piloted while being forced to endure this long trip. He rubbed his eyes with his hand while he tried to determine his destination wondering, "… Where did we end up?"

Tano saw that they're near the rallying point. There were multiple signals near Konisberg, all presumably from the survivors of Brussels. However the numbers were too large to include survivors from the city so there could be others that were evicted.

"Unit, identify yourself." Came a voice from the communications tower within the city.

Tano gave his reply. "Lieutenant Tano Kiprotich, Anaconda Gundam." He reported. "I am also with Oleg Tsubarov. We retreated from Brussels after the Earth Sphere liberated the city."

Oleg looked towards the gathering of Konisberg and for the most part saw what looked like Coalition insignias. "You better hope this isn't a trap Lieutenant. I don't think we'd have the resources to get out of one." He muttered to himself. Against the condition of enduring the trip he had come to expect the worst as the remains of the Anaconda made its way further into the enemy territory the Coalition was barely able to break through. Being caught now would make him and Tano official prisoners of war and they would likely have no chance to escape.

The Anaconda reached the gates of the Central European city guarded by Leo IIIs as a Coalition base of operations should be. As he approached the path was unblocked by the Mobile Suits, clearing the road for them. It took a couple more minutes to find a vacant garage in the city with most of them already filled with Mobile Suits battered from the battles they were in. Once the Anaconda stopped, the palm that carried Oleg was lowered for him to exit with a medical team ready to treat him. Tano himself got out of the cockpit for the luxury of rest as well.


It was later in the day when Oleg managed to bring himself out of his deep sleep. When he finally came to his consciousness he saw he was in a friendly base camp that both he and Tano had been looking for. He sat up to look around and found a plate of standard military food next to his bed stand. He didn't even bother with the taste, he was only glad something got rid of the weak feeling his body had to endure. He was only glad there wasn't anyone nearby when he stood up, he didn't want to answer any questions at the moment.

When Oleg made his way out of the room he searched for signs of fellow Coalition soldiers as well as the man who saved him. To his initial curiosity he found Tano waiting outside the other hall but couldn't guess that he was his superior. He only recognized it to be so when he spotted the Coalition insignia with his rank below. He saluted, "Afternoon Lieutenant. Say, could you tell me where we are? I kind of lost track when we made our way towards the edge of the forest."

Tano had a few hours rest since he arrived in Konisberg. He found other Coalition soldiers, some injured, some exhausted, some dejected and any of the three combinations. It seemed that the defeat in Brussels left a blow of morale to the military. Tano himself wasn't immune with how he failed to defeat the Gundam again. He sat on a chair in a hall of hours, uncertain with his future. He was snapped out of his worries by Oleg. "We're in Konisberg." He explained. "Or as some prefer to call the place Kaliningrad. Here is one of our remaining bases in Eastern Europe. After our defeat in Brussels I received the order to regroup here. It turns out Brussels was only the beginning and a large number of occupied cities began rebelling." Around him were soldiers with different insignias, proving him correct.

Oleg was close to home but it was probably the closest thing to assurance he could think of when he heard the news. He managed to survive but it seemed like there was no longer a chance for him to take back the enemy capital. The Coalition was close to finally ending the war but the chance had been lost thanks to the flaw in the Coalition system many had hoped finally ended. "I guess we couldn't expect anything like that to happen." He commented when he tried to sound like a patriot to the cause but knew what his foremost concern was. He could only lightly slam his fist in his hand when he cursed the luck of him and his men, "We practically had the enemy in our hands. That damn General Blare had to usurp everything at the last second." There was one concern that rushed to his head when he considered everything the occupation had lost. Three generals and the leader of the nation were all present within the capital but only one of them was his foremost concern. "The President. Is he alright? Is he still fit for leadership?"

Tano didn't have the answer either. The question also reminded him of his failure. "I have no news on President Falson's whereabouts either." He replied. It was possible for him to be imprisoned or executed by the Earth Sphere but hoped he survived Brussels.


Across the world from the eastern end of Russia to the border of Belarus, the capsules from Luna had made their landing. Within the city of Orsha, the Coalition military had begun its movement. Colonel Adam Andreeff overlooked the information while he saw the report on Tano's men a short distance away. "Ensure that our men in Kaliningrad get back here in one piece. We'll have to see what we can do to rally them back to the war."

He was answered back from one of his subordinates, "Yes sir. Their spirits shouldn't be completely broken." The call ended and Adam adjusted his frequency to speak with another soldier from only a short distance away.

The Colonel contacted his Major overlooking the recent impact when he asked, "Do we have any word on the landing?"

"Negative sir. We haven't found a way to open these things."

The Colonel decided it was time to return to the "Maintain perimeter. We must discover their purpose."

The Major saluted to the order, "Yes sir." The call was ended and Adam proceeded to return to business on the supplies and assignments of the Kaliningrad evacuees.

His occupation was interrupted only after a few seconds when he saw his computer screen flash up with a different soldier on the screen. "Colonel! We have an emergency report!" From the background Adam could tell that it was the crash sight he had sent men to investigate.

"What is it?" He asked trying to comprehend the soldier's anxiousness.

"Mobile suits are stepping out of the capsules sir! They're ai-" Before the Colonel could hear the warning there was a sound of gunfire that erupted through the screen and in a matter of a flash went to a 'Lost Signal' screen.

"Major? Report Major!" Adam went against his usual calculating demeanor when he saw the sudden interruption before him. He rushed over to his coat rack to don a trench coat while worrying, "The Earth Sphere couldn't have assembled something this elaborate." The trip would only be a few miles but a thunderous sound made its way to his ears by the time he was ready to reach the door. He didn't bother with the door and instead chose to look outside for what was coming. "Oh damn..." He cursed as he saw the flames and mobile suits making their way towards the city.


The Sol Thero units made their way through Belarus without any mercy and leaving a fire in their wake. There was no humanity or forethought, there was only destruction for these mighty creations.
Oleg and his squad mates made their way to the hangar when he tried to find out, "The hell is out there?"

One of the soldiers prepared to make his way into a nearby Leo III when he answered, "Can't say, something is basically blazing its way through the countryside right now."

Oleg was amazed at the fact that this was happening when he asked, "How many dozen mobile suits have they got out there if they managed to set an entire portion of the Coalition operations ablaze?"

Another one of the soldiers was reluctant to answer, "From what our early reports managed to find out, maybe three."

The report of unidentified Mobile Suits heading to Kaliningrad spread like wildfire. Tano heard the news from a communications officer. "There's a group of Mobile Suits coming for the base! All Mobile Suits that are operational report to the hangar!" He heard. He ran to the hangar with the Anaconda, one of the smaller hangars. Near his Gundam was an engineer with a tourniquet wrapped on his forehead. "Engineer McNeil, reporting the completion of the Anaconda sir." He reported. "Save all we have left sir."

Tano nodded as he climbed back to the Gundam. He quickly activated the OS and brought it out of the maintenance area. He was immediately out in the center of the city. "Anaconda Gundam please reinforce the E-Field." He was instructed by the communications tower. With the order he began moving eastwards, where the unknown units are attacking from. once he began seeing explosions from a distance, he zoomed his main camera to find jet-black Mobile Suits approaching the base, destroying anything that moved. "My God." He whispered.

After making their way through Orsha, the Sol Thero units continued on the path of destruction. None of the occupying Coalition forces in Kaliningrad could tell what their mission was but it seemed that all targets were fired on indiscriminately. The destruction of the facilities continued with every shot that came their way.

Within Tano's trench one of the mobile suit pilots reported, "They aren't hearing us out. We don't even have a signal coming from them."

Oleg pointed out the issue when he observed, "It's clear we won't have any chance of surrender then. If anything it's probably an all or nothing battle now."

One of the pilots was rightfully confused when he asked, "Where are they supposed to be headed though? Our most significant outpost should be out in Moscow. Why are they headed west?"

Someone nearby tried to understand the idea by offering, "Probably to regroup or something. We would have heard about the fall of Moscow obviously."

Oleg interrupted the conversation when he reminded, "We're not getting anywhere with a guessing game. If we're going to survive this we probably better stay out of their range."

Another one of the pilots gave a stark reminder, "If that's even possible."

Oleg saw one squad of Sol Thero units making their way towards their position. "They're headed this way, let's stay low." He warned.

The programming in the Sol Thero units found the area of Kaliningrad to be insignificant to the rest of the mission, but there was an area with Coalition signals designating enemy presence. The eight units collectively lifted their gattling guns and open fired on the target without any regard for nearby pilot activity. Another explosion erupted and the Coalition signals had been dispelled significantly but the mission was still moving forward when they were targeted nearby.

The critical areas of the city were destroyed when several Sol Thero units opened their breast plates and fired a volley of missiles towards the facilities. Upon their destruction the mission for the area was complete. As it ended, several objectives were listed on the red screen of every Sol Thero unit. 'Destroy all facility signals. Accomplished. Destroy all resistance against mission. Pending. Direction. Continue to nearest Earth Sphere port. Next target Berlin.' The eight mobile suits made their way across the rubble while one of the units passed by without any consideration of Tano's next move.

All the Mobile Suits entrenched around Tano, opened fire at the approaching Mobile Dolls advancing slowly. The massive barrage was stopped with a signal from a commander's Leo. The smoke cleared to find the Mobile Dolls defending themselves with Planet Defensers to nullify the weak attacks. "Is that a Gundam?!" Shouted a soldier. Before his question can be answered a beam cannon from one of the approaching Mobile Doll disintegrated him.

Tano look at the damage left behind by the single shot. "Son of a bitch!" He thought with his Gundams claw prepared. "It's not a Gundam, it's a monster!" He allowed himself to have this much to curse when he stayed prepared to strike as the mobile doll approached closer to his location.

As Oleg and the squad stayed low in their trench the Sol Thero units began to pass them like a threatening thunderstorm. They were spared when the programming in the Sol Thero unit determined on their red screens, 'Not vital to mission. Threat inconsequential.' Regardless of what Oleg could know how the mobile dolls were working he breathed a sigh of relief when he saw them leave. His moment was interrupted when he heard someone on the channel announce, "This is secondary team. The enemy is making its way to the outer edge of the city."

Oleg didn't see the mobile dolls moving back to their location and decided to respond, "You're able to track them without getting noticed?"

"They're probably not on orders to destroy everything that moves."

The leading voice rallied the Leo III units, "Let's get around and see if we can flank them."

Oleg moved his Leo unit out of the trench when he tried to warn, "Hold up!" Almost as soon as he got out he saw the Sol Thero units turn around and offer a volley of Gatling gun fire before any of them could get close. He was almost hit before he managed to rush back into the trenches. "Ah shit it's fast!"

One of his fellow pilots was clearly shaking through his voice when he asked, "Hey what's happening out there?"

Oleg took a quick look outside and saw the Sol Thero units continue to move without resistance. "Those units were practically anticipating secondary team's next move. Not a scratch on them."

Another one of the pilots was more frantic approaching the situation, "We've gotta have something to stop them! We let them get to any of our other installments we are off this planet!"

Oleg knew that close-range combat at this point was probably not an option, but maybe the right distance could give them the advantage necessary. He signaled his fellow pilots to follow, "It's a long shot but we'll have to see if we can get a decent hit from a distance. Let's head to the weapons installation and see if we have the resources for one."

The pilots were slightly more encouraged at the suggestion, but the odds were observed when one of the pilots asked, "We got something that can breach those defensors?"

Oleg didn't have any other assurance when he answered, "We better. Our only other option will be to bum rush them and pray for results." A plan no one at the time seemed to have excitement for attempting.

Thanks to being in the Anaconda, Tano managed to survive the Sol Thero units' attacks. However around him were destroyed defenses. He searched for friendly signals on his radar and found a few. He tried to contact them. "This is Lieutenant Kiprotich." He said. "Whatever the thing is it is just as strong as one of the Gundams. We need to take them out one by one."

Oleg managed to hear the announcement when Tano announced the new plan. From what he could tell it seemed like there wasn't going to be any interference from the Sol Thero units as they made their way to the other end of the city. He responded, "We read you Lieutenant. We're headed for the hangar bays to take them out from a distance."

Another one of the pilots added a warning, "You might do well to steer clear of those things sir. We have to stay out of their sights to have a chance at blind sighting them."

The Leo units slowly made their way out of the trench while Oleg ordered, "Keep an eye on our six. Don't let them prepare a surprise attack."

One of the pilots reported, "They're just reaching near the end of the city." It was only a short walk before the Leo III units made their way to the hangar bays.

Oleg was the first to ask, "Inventory in our equipment?"

One of the pilots briefly accounted the weapons on the nearest rack when he reported, "Some spare beam weaponry. Don't know how much of this is going to help. These sorts of standard weapons aren't going to pierce their shields."

Oleg was about to curse before he quickly tried to come up with a solution. "Maybe not with just one of them. But how about assembling one monster of a gun?"

Another one of the pilots agreed to the "Might just be brutal enough. It's not like we have another option right now."

One concern was addressed when a pilot near the beam rifles asked, "Can we get those riffles to fire that much energy though?"

Another one answered, "If we use the charging stations at the hangar bays."

Oleg brought them back to preparations when he ordered, "Get those beam rifles unloaded and take the chance. Make it quick, there's no telling when those things will be out of range." He switched his channel to contact their engineer, "McNeil, think you can dislodge some of those suit cables?"

Kieran received Oleg. "Aye there Oleg." He replied. "I'll get right to it. You're thinking of making a mother of a big gun aren't you? I don't have time to disagree anymore." He signaled his subordinates to get to work. "I survived a shit load of bullshit before, the destruction of the Tetsudo is just one more and he doesn't plan on dying in a forsaken outpost. The suit cables were being extended to the Leo IIIs. "Just make us live another day private."

Oleg saw the cables release from their previous positions and agreed to the engineer's observation, "You catch on quick McNeil. We'll just have to see if this manages to be enough now." He grabbed one of the nearby cables and offered it to the nearest Leo unit. The assembly was quick when the barrels were detached to combine with one another. The new gun was long enough that it was being supported by one of the other Leo units and taken outside to be prepared for firing.

The pilot holding the gun prepared the batteries while reporting, "Here goes nothing. We need to make our shot count."

Oleg saw the charging had begun when the gun battery powering up. "How's the gun charging?"

The pilot with the trigger responded, "Already at maximum tolerating pressure. Don't know how much more it can take."

Oleg tried to remain diligent to the goal when he said, "Get it in range. You see one of those things out there?"

As soon as the target was locked the pilot agreed, "Got him. This better work."