New Mobotropolis, Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

September 25, UC 0079
0800 Hours

A very thin mist came with the morning. The floor of the valley between New Mobotropolis and Hazeltop was still festooned with blast craters and the wreckage of Magellas and Zakus. The overlook itself had the warped remains of artillery, blasted and twisted by NICOLE's defense of the city. A defense that could have potentially devolved into a battle of attrition if not for the ancient battleship parked outside the city walls.

Sitting by herself, staring at the now-silent battlefield below, Sally could only be reminded again about how much the world had changed in such a short amount of time. The bombshell Sapper had dropped the night before was just the latest memo. With Elias being forced out of power, Antoine almost dying, the disappearance of every Echidna in the world, the carnage she'd unconsciously wreaked, and the death of Bunnie's uncle, it was as if some sadist was in control of everything, favoring monsters like Naugus and Eggman. We've had so much stacked against us lately, she thought, that we needed extra help. We got some, but not the way we wanted.

Hushed footsteps drew closer. "Aunt Sally?" Tails was there.

She smiled weakly, before returning her gaze back to the valley. "I really wish we could get them to stay," she said, "but they're trying to get to their main base in the Shazamazon. After all that Sonic and I've gone through, I really do."

"Sonic told me everything," said the Fox, taking a seat on the grass. "Hard to believe that somebody actually beat Eggman."

"It also explains why Bunnie and Tilly never blew up on us on the road home," said the princess.

"You don't think Eggman's going to help them out, do you?"

"I was told that such a scenario's not very likely," she told him, "we just need to hope for the best."

"You're really leaving again?" Tails asked.

"We're going with the White Base to Jaburo," Sally explained. "We're looking for volunteers to join us."

Tails strolled alongside the wreckage of the Zeon self-propelled missile launcher, eyes fixed on the blasted remnants. "Aunt Sally," he said in a somber tone, "I want to come with you."

"Tails!?"

"Ever since the Iron Queen attacked the city, Dad's—he… he thinks we're too vulnerable. NICOLE's not a fighter, so she didn't give it her all during the fighting yesterday. After what Sonic told me about the Minovsky effect, we…" he was having a hard time relating it to the Chipmunk. It was one of those things where it was hard to argue if he was being selfish or selfless.

"What about it, Tails?"

The Fox hesitated, but eventually forced it out. "We need to research mobile suits."

"I have to admit," said the princess, "defeating a Zaku with one seems to be the only effective way. But I don't want you coming with us solely because of the General."

"I know my Dad's a bit hawkish," said Tails, "and I really don't want to wreck whatever kind of relations we could have with these people on his part. It's just… I just don't want a repeat of Knothole."

"I know that. Nobody does." To think that three years ago she was still reading him bedtime stories. Hard times really do force people to grow up.

Everyone in town shared the same story.

"He's dead."

Harvey Who sat before the violet Chaos Emerald, looking at the king's confiscated relic as NICOLE revealed to him the fate of Grant. It at least solved the question of what would be done with the Zeon prisoner going forward. The declining mental and physical health of Naugus was also on the director's mind. If he wasn't already being seen as unfit to rule, he sure was now.

"And Eggman's been captured by Zeon?" asked Elias. "This whole ordeal is unnerving."

"So what's the next move?" asked Larry. "Is it too early to push for Elias to get the crown back?"

"Naugus was just hospitalized," said Harvey. "If we were to attempt to restore Agent King…"

"It would be seen as a coup d'état," Lyco finished.

"I wonder," said Shard, "if Zeon's overrun half the planet, we shouldn't have been the only ones they've had to deal with."

"Zeon attacked the Sand Blasters, Eggman, and the Great Desert DEL Chapter," said NICOLE. "Who knows what else has run into them."

"You don't suppose GUN…?" Elias trailed off. The United Federation seemed to be those best-equipped to deal with Zeon, though not necessarily on equal footing with them.

"It's possible," said Harvey, "if worse comes to worst we may have to wire them for an assist."

"What about that human ship, the, uh, White Base?" Shard wasn't getting his hopes up that the ship would stick around, but the faction it was affiliated with could be helpful if they played their cards right.

"A small envoy of volunteers from the city is cleared to join the crew on a voyage to Jaburo, their main base," NICOLE explained. "The ship departs tomorrow morning."

"Even though Eggman is out of the picture for the time being and Naugus is dysfunctional," said Elias, "things really didn't improve that much. We're still outgunned."

"Sonic and Sally could very well be our only chance at making it out of this war alive," Harvey remarked. "Here's hoping they're successful."

The engine of a Luggun roared overhead. Reed nervously sipped his coffee, lightened to a bright brown from sugar and cream. To his left, Mirai and several crewmen were gathered around a data terminal doing diagnostics. Even though repairs were still underway, they could only do so much. The most recent idea that was hatched was to escape back into orbit and reenter the gravity well again, this time without Char interfering. Unfortunately, the engines were still not up to snuff, so getting the whole ship back into space was out of the question, based on Marker and Oscar's projections.

Bright stood at the viewport, looking out at New Mobe, arms folded. He felt the same sort of nervousness as Reed, but had a much easier time of staying calm.

At another terminal, at that same time, Amuro and Omur had birthed another scheme.

"Will the catapult have enough strength?" Amuro asked.

Omur leaned to the side, taking a paperback manual in his hands and opened it to a section on the White Base's hangar specs. "It should be fine," he said, "the catapult was designed for the Gunperry. It should be able to handle a Core Fighter."

Amuro smiled. "Terrific."

Bright finally spoke. "Lieutenant," he said, "first and foremost we're soldiers. We have a duty to protect innocent civilians."

"We'll be saving their lives, too," Reed told him. "If we let those evacuees off White Base, they'll be in less danger. It'll allow us to orbit and begin to regroup ourselves."

"But we're in Zeon territory," Bright protested, "and these are old folks and young children."

The elevator hissed open. Fraw Bow, Hayato, and Haro entered the bridge.

As if she were somehow listening to the conversation, Fraw asked "Sir, are we landing the evacuees?"

All the while everyone was trying to work out their next move, Kai was idling in a chair by the elevator. Ever the smartmouth, he gave his "answer": "No, our Mr. Bright prefers to keep us on the run."

"You know I didn't say that, Kai."

"Ouch. Too harsh." The boy wasn't exactly repentant, he just put his cynical outlook on the whole thing into different words. "But, hey, what about food? There's rations going to a shitload of people who don't even fight y'know."

"Kai…!"

"It's just as this young man says, Bright," said Reed.

"But we can't just dump them off here," said Bright. "We were only allowed to stop for temporary repairs. I don't think the Mobians would take them all at the drop of a hat—and don't forget the Zeon attack yesterday. They barely held their ground."

"We don't have unlimited food!" said Reed. "The Zeeks aren't going to give us theirs. We need to go back into orbit and set a trajectory for Jaburo."

"How are we going to get back into space if the engines aren't at 100%?" Bright seemed to be getting on his last nerve.

Then Amuro spoke up. "Mr. Bright," he said, "Omur and I had an idea. We don't have to do another reentry. We can use the catapult to launch a Core Fighter and try to contact Jaburo. We can use the main engine to power it."

"Power the catapult directly from White Base?" asked Bright.

"It's probably our best solution," said Amuro. "The trajectory will get the plane directly to the target."

"It does seem quite possible," said Mirai. "Amuro, have you done the calculations?"

"Yeah," he confirmed, "we can attach the main engine's steam valve to the center catapult, right? What do you think?"

"We'll never get around anywhere if we just sit around playing a waiting game with the enemy," Kai remarked, butting into the conversation before Bright could say anything. "Let's try Amuro's idea."

"Well first we have to see if it's even possible to modify the catapult," said Bright. "Also, we need someone who can withstand the force of the launch without the risk of blacking out."

"Well I suggested it," said Amuro, wanting to compensate for being such a drag on everyone over the past week, "if the plan doesn't succeed, there'll just be one casualty."

Kai gave Amuro a menacing, cocky look. "Well, well. You'll be our martyr!"

Amuro could sense his tone. "Don't worry," he said, slightly irked "I'm not saying I think this plan is going to fail. Mr. Bright, please approve the catapult modification."

"Done. Do you approve of this sir, Lt. Reed?"

"Yes, I do," said Reed, after another sip of coffee. "The most important thing to do is contact HQ and get reinforcements."

Char entered Garma's office. They'd only been back in Norfolk for a little more than an hour and the commissar had already done a jackknife into paperwork. He couldn't help but smirk at his old friend's fanatical attitude about military life. "Up early again, Garma?"

"The 'Trojan Horse' and the White Devil have made things a little more interesting," said Garma. "And it turns out my Division isn't the only ones with aliens to deal with."

"What do you mean?"

"AAR fresh from Hughenden Base," Garma explained, handing the Comet a stapled document. "It seems Donahue and Curtis' boys down in Australia have their own aliens to fight. They captured a prisoner in a skirmish near Perth yesterday. Claimed to be part of the Dark Egg Legion, too, and that the continent is really called 'Downunda'."

"Seriously?" Char asked flatly. He turned his head to the left, looking at the large monitor mounted on the wall. It was that white suit. The monster that gave him so much hell. Well now, you've developed quite the fixation.

"It's one hell of a mobile suit," said Garma, noticing where Char's attention had shifted. "If we can capture and study it, the war will be all but won. You should be commended for holding your own against the 'Horse' for so long."

"If I know her," said Char, warily, "she's probably going to try something ASAP. It'd be best if we didn't let her get too much of a rest."

Bunnie didn't have much to do in her cell, aside from stare into ceiling as her mind drifted off. She still didn't regret the Legionization, but moping about Antoine wasn't going to wake him up faster.

Footsteps echoed through the jail, and finally, a familiar voice. "Morning, Bunnie."

Bunnie sat up to see Sonic standing just outside with a red tray. Tails was with him, alongside NICOLE. The Hedgehog pushed the platter through the shield door, without disturbing the steak and eggs on it.

"A little special order from Uncle Chuck's," Sonic said, smiling.

Bunnie blushed, flattered. "Y'all shouldn'ta gone through that, Sugar-hog."

"There's more," said Tails, "but it's sort of a 'good news/bad news' thing."

"Good news is that you can get out," Sonic explained.

"R-Really?" said Bunnie, surprised, but levelling off upon recalling that it was only part of it. "But what's the catch?"

"You're being exiled from Acorn for the next four months," said NICOLE, somewhat somberly.

"Don't be angry," said Tails. "Aunt Sally told me about it. She asked the Council about letting you go last night, but the most they would…" He stopped, nervous about going on.

NICOLE had to finish the reveal. "They gave you an ultimatum: you can remain here in jail, or become part of the Volunteers."

"Volunteers?"

"The White Base is leaving tomorrow," Sonic explained. "A few of us have agreed to serve as envoys to the Earth Federation headquarters. Sally and Tails are going with me, and we still need to find others willing to join."

Bunnie let out a "humph". "I guess old King Crab's trying to throw me under the bus like he did with NICOLE, same with the Council," she said a little bitterly.

"Pull up your platter, Bunnie," said Sonic, "it's breakfast and a story."

AUTHOR'S NOTES

You have no idea what a rough job the Sonic portions were: motivations, dialogue, attitudes, you name it. The Gundam parts, not so much, primarily since it's an adaptation of the seventh episode of the TV series, "The Core Fighter's Escape". This chapter merely covered a fraction of that plot, which I found a way of working into this story.

This story will continue, but I can't do it without your help. No, I'm not asking for money, just a little boost in terms of character and dialogue. SonicEvan was a big help to me in this regard back when he was on the project, and HyperionGM is still quite useful when it comes to spitballing ideas. If you want in as a consultant on this story, hit me up on my Discord, RX-78Gundam#1229.

Also, a side-story has been inaugurated here on FF, picking up where the infamous "Endangered Species" arc ended: Knuckles: Shine in the Storm. Only the prologue has been completed thus far, but you can check it out.