April 3rd, 70 CE. 0417 Colonial Standard. Royal Palace. Zum City, Principality of Zeon. Degwin Zabi POV
Inside of his office, sitting at his desk, Degwin Sodo Zabi fumed. Just as his military attache had left after informing the Sovereign of recent developments, Degwin slammed his fist down on the table, producing a low shock that caused all items on the table's surface to vibrate a little bit.
"Damn ZAFT, Damn East Asia, Dammit all to hell!" Degwin cursed.
'Are we so unfortunate as Spacenoids that we shall have to fight for our independence in days of our existence in a new timeline?'
One of Degwin's greatest comforts upon finding himself in this new timeline was that Zeon need no longer wage war for independence nor have to commit such unspeakable atrocities that Gihren had been planning for Operation Prussian. Outside of the Federal Fleet that remained on the Far Side, the Earth Federation no longer existed and Side 3 would no longer be bound to the tyranny of gravity, especially with the Earth divided into a collection of superstates that had been locked in a Cold War for over half a century.
Degwin's hopes were further emboldened by peaceful contacts with East Asia and Orb. Surely in time they would be able to coexist with the Earthnoid states, beginning a decline of the hateful Nationalism that had been concocted by Gihren and returning the people of Zeon to a more calm society, allowing Zeon to focus its energies on peacefully expanding into the solar system.
Such dreams had now been killed within the past ten hours. Not only did the Coordinators of ZAFT refuse to make contact with Zeon and tried to assault Solomon to kill Dozle, East Asia had betrayed them and launched a nuclear strike that far exceeded every nuclear attack in the Universal Century combined.
Zeon may have emerged victorious, but hundreds of ships and Zakus were lost, tens of thousands of men and women were torn from their families. Worse of all if the reports were correct, both of these attacks were done out of ZAFT and East Asia thinking Zeon was the other enemy, neither believing their attempts at peaceful first contact.
Lounging before him in one of the office chairs, Gihren smirked at his father's reaction."Calm down father, the situation is not as bad as it appears. If anything, these two battles are of immense benefit to Zeon."
'Where did I go wrong with that boy?' Degwin asked, aghast at Gihren non-chalant, if not pleased reaction to the recent state of affairs.
While Gihren had never been the most affectionate or empathetic child, he still had a small sense of kindness that he displayed within the family. When Gihren had graduated univeristy and became a career politician thanks to Degwin's influence, his old self had died, giving way to a Machiavellian schemer who sought to control those around him.
"How can you react in such a way Gihren? Tens of thousands of our citizens have died due to the idiocy of two nations, your own brother could have died out there in battle!" Degwin shouted.
To Gihren's credit, he looked insulted at the accusation of a lack of care towards Dozle's well-being. "I had every faith that in a war with the Federation that Dozle would emerge victorious and annihilate the opposition. You saw the after action report, he proved his abilities by obliterating a fleet of superhumans. He stayed within Solomon anyways so he was never in any hard danger. I guess Zenna finally knocked some sense into him, that alone makes her worth of the Zabi name." Gihren complimented.
While Degwin was relieved that Gihren showed some care for Dozle's well-being, even giving praise to Zenna (something she deserved for preventing Dozle from foolishly fighting in the front lines in his Zaku), Degwin was still put off by his demeanor towards the concept of a war.
"Even if we have achieved grand total victories, the like of which has never been seen in human history, we are now in a state of war, Gihren. War has come to the Principality when we are cut off from the Earth sphere's economy, the Jovian sphere no longer exists, and we have only Axis and Luna to rely on resources, the latter of which has a Federal presence. We should be focusing on planting our roots and ensuring long-term survival, not entering into a conflict caused by misunderstanding."
"I am well aware father of our pressing economic challenges father. In the months leading to now we were prepared to enter into a state of war for six years in isolation from the rest of the Earth sphere, we shall be fine for the short term, even without Jupiter. Instead of cowering in fear at the first sight of blood, we should use our wounds as opportunities to cement Zeon's domination over the Earth sphere."
"And how do you suggest we do that?" Degwin asked, though he had a strong feeling on what Gihren was planning already.
Gihren now shot upright in his chair, getting into his presentation mode, "If there is anything that the Battles of Solomon and Pezun show, it is that we are the most powerful state within the Cosmic Era. Both halves of this ongoing intrasphere war were crushed by our Space Forces, with even a military of superhumans trembling before the might of Zeon. No matter their numerical superiority or how many mobile suits or nukes either side has at their disposal, they shall all fall in battle before Zeon.
Even outside of military affairs, we are the apex nation. The Cosmic Era has had seventy years to fulfill its name and expand humanity's presence throughout the solar system. Instead of planting humanity from Earth to Jupiter, this timeline was even more incompetent than the Federation with no colonization beyond the Belt, Mars being left to private interests, and a majority of the Earth sphere's colonies were constructed for superhumans that they despise. We have more colonies than the entire Cosmic Era combined and our population dwarfs their combined population of Spacenoids. Days ago we were a Side among many, now we are the rightful rulers of space."
"I am well aware of the new power dynamics of this timeline, just what are you getting at Gihren?" Degwin asked.
Gihren smiled sickeningly, "We are already the superior race to the Cosmic Era. Let us use this conflict to extend our superiority and in the aftermath leave no possible room for the Earthnoids or the Coordinators to get within reaching distance of our power.
What I propose is for Lutjens and the 3rd Fleet to launch a rapid invasion of the L4 cluster to avenge our losses at Pezun. From the information that we have obtained from Orb, it appears that the L4 colonies are ghettos where East Asia has chosen to deport tens of millions of seditious Korean and Japanese citizens to create a Chinese-dominant society. Tens of millions of Spacenoids cry out for justice from gravity's tyranny, as a nation who has suffered for generations under Earth's rule, we should liberate our brethren."
At the mention of the L4 colonies being ghettos to contain East Asia's racial minorities, Degwin flared with anger. While he had no great devotion to his ethnic heritage, Degwin was half-Japanese so by his birth he would be a target of oppression for East Asia. Side 3 was also notorious among the Sides for being the dumping ground of racial groups that were considered to be troublesome by the Federation; Russians, Arabs, Eastern Europeans, Africans; these and many more were exported to space en mass for not conforming to the Federation's standard of a post-racial and globalist world.
"In addition to siezing Lagrange 4 into our domain, there is also the issue of the Federal remnants in the Far Side of the moon. Now that we are in a state of war with East Asia, they and the greater Alliance could partner with the Federal remnants and use them as a buffer state against our expansion into the Earth sphere, at the same time locking us from rare Earth minerals and more importantly Luna's supply of Helium-3. Even outside of the Far Side cities the Alliance would most likely lay claim to all of Luna as their own. If we eliminate the Federal Remnants and liberate the cities who already lie within our sphere of influence, then we can conquer half of the moon and send Earth into further scarcity, causing their economies to collapse with the lack of power.
Lastly there are the PLANTs. While Dozle may have destroyed them in battle, if we give them a moment of rest then they shall use their superhuman intellegence to create WMD's which can cripple our fleets as they did to the Earth. We must cripple the hourglasses so that in their reconstruction we shall sieze the solar system for ourselves. When they can stand on their own two fight, we shall overwhelm them with resource and demographic supremacy."
Degwin regarded Gihren wearily. While what he said was technically correct, his desire for total conflict with the Cosmic Era when they had just arrived was still disturbing to Degwin. He could see the merits of decisive victories over ZAFT and East Asia with grand concessions, but such a conflict must not be protracted, especially given the nature of the war's ignition over misunderstanding.
"While you speak strong points, you must remember Gihren that these wars began because they did not believe our existence. When we show proof that we are not of this world, they will most likely ask for an armistice and beg forgiveness, at which point we will not be able to create such grand victories without escalating the conflict and turning us from the victims to the aggressors. How shall we act then?"
"I have no intention of making this a long war father." Gihren stated, surprising Degwin as he seemed to contradict his earlier words, "Overall this First Contact War must be above all else a splendid little war, if we go to total war with the Earth sphere then we shall exhaust ourselves and unite the world against us when they are set on killing each other. That is why we must act quickly before they realize we are not their true enemies. It must be within a short period of time to give us plausible deniability of their mistakes and have us make grand concessions as the righteous victims.
First we must focus on mobilizing the Home Fleet and the 1st Fleet at A Bao Qu to eliminate the pathetic last remnants of the Earth Federation, the consolidation of our rule on Luna must come above all else to secure our Helium-3 supplies. Next and hopefully to be done at the same time, we shall liberate L4 and bolster our numbers with the oppressed Spacenoids who call the cluster home. For now it would be best if Dozle stood his guard at Solomon to be on the watch for any superweapons up their sleeves. I don't want to engage with ZAFT without at least half our space force for a one hundred percent victory." Gihren said.
Degwin regarded the plan for a couple moments. Internally he was relieved that his son wanted a short war, and was not looking to recreate Prussian in the Cosmic Era. If Degwin made peace now, then all he would likely be offered would be reparations. But if he went through with the plan then he could control half of Luna and two Lagrange points, transforming the Principality into a might empire.
"I agree with your plan, however, after the elimination of the Federal fleet and the liberation of L4, I intend to announce our presence to the rest of the Earth sphere, including ZAFT. While I despise them for attacking Solomon and putting Dozle's life at risk, they are at the same time Spacneoids who are fighting against Earth's tyranny just as we did. ZAFT must pay, but I don't see the need to wipe them out."
Degwin had expected Gihren to vehemently disagree, but to his surprise he simply nodded his head. "As you wish, Father."
Such an easy acquiescence made Degwin uneasy.'He must have something planned for ZAFT already that does not necessitate a harsh and immediate counterattack. But what?'
Gihren stood up and made his way to exit, but Degwin stopped him, wanting his intentions to be clear. "Gihren, while I agree with taking justice against East Asia and ZAFT, what of the other members of the Earth Alliance. There is also Orb to consider, do you intend to knock them down as well?"
"The other members of the Alliance don't concern me as of now. As it was an East Asian fleet alone who attacked us, we can assume that their partners were either unaware or refused to participate. Unless they make moves to support their ally in their war against us or seek to bring the Far Side cities into their fold, then they shall be left alone. As for Orb, they are a speck of a country that is no threat to us. They'll be useful allies in helping to integrate us into the Earth sphere's economy, but I doubt that they shall be of more use than that. Such a microstate is nothing compared to the majesty of Zeon."
Gihren then began to walk out of his office, "Call the Chiefs of Staff and order them to assemble within the hour. We shall create a new strategy and then transmit it to A Bao Qu and Pezun for immediate action."
Degwin raised his eyebrows, "An hour, why not right now? Where will you be during this time?"
"Making some calls." Gihren answered abstractly, exiting the office and beginning whatever schemes he most likely concocted.
Degwin slumped in his chair and let out a sigh.
'I pray that this timeline will make him a better man, for I fear I could not oppose the monster he was about to become.'
ZSFS Great Degwin. Garma Zabi POV
After he had made first contact with Orb things had gone smoothly for Garma with him setting up a permanent communication link between Olofat and Zum City so that his father and Gihren could converse with Orb's nobles. He had discussed in detail the escort of the Raifuku Maru back to Heliopolis with Orb protection and with the ship's crew no longer in confinement there were no problems from their unfortunate detainees since.
Aside from resolving the incident and establishing relations with Orb, Garma had arranged for the transportation of hundreds of UC vaccines to go onboard of the Raifuku Maru so it could be sent to Heliopolis and Orb could have deal with any possible outbreaks from a contagion that had stowed away on the ship. From his dialogue with Keiko Keitamura, the Coordinator Noble had promised to send as much of Heliopolis' stockpile to Zeon as soon as possible, with the most important package being vaccines for the S-1 and S-2 influenza. While the two viruses were technically eradicated in the Cosmic Era, there were always possibilities of a mutant strand popping up or the virus surviving in isolation, waiting to wreak havoc.
With his job done Garma had taken a good night's rest and was prepared to return back to Zum City in triumph. However, shortly after he had woken up he had received a communication from Gihren, informing Garma of the upcoming attacks on Granada and the L4 cluster.
"You have proven your brilliance once again brother, our first years here shall Zeon prosper with your leadership." Garma complimented.
His words brought a rare smile to Gihren, "Thank you Garma."
Garma was well aware of how uncomfortable both Dozle and Kycillia were with their eldest brother, and while Garma was well aware of his brother's personality and character flaws, at the same time he was the man who along with his father revitalized the Principality and transformed it into an industrial titan of the Sides, slowly but surely gearing them for total independence from the Federation.
For some reason there seemed to be some movement among the Zeon public to have Garma become the next Sovereign by having his father declare him as heir. While Garma was more than flattered that he was trusted by so many to lead Zeon, he saw it as a horrid injustice to Gihren's contributions in running the Principality. Not only did Gihren deserve to rule thanks to his intellect, charisma, and super administration; he was the eldest of the family and as such the throne belonged to him.
Despite existing in the Cosmic Era for two days, Gihren was already making plans to secure Zeon's dominance in the Earth sphere and deal with the unjust aggression of ZAFT and East Asia. Garma might've been able to accomplish the same, but he didn't believe he could ever do as well as Gihren.
"I wish I could join Admiral Podarov in purging Luna of the Federation. We are finally free from Earth's tyranny and I'll be damned if those leftovers who joined us for the ride will deny us our freedom. The Lunarians have been suffering just as much as us and if we allow the Federals to ally with East Asia or the greater Alliance then we may be forced into a stalemate with their nucler arsenal alone." Garma said.
"Why not?" Gihren questioned.
"Why not what?"
"Why not join Admiral Podarov at A Bao Qu? You have already accomplished your mission here Garma, father and I can handle continuing relations with Orb and even if they do decide to backstab us like East Asia, their military might is insignificant and a single squadron of Musai's could wipe them out." Gihren reasoned.
"But I wouldn't be able to contribute much to the battle. Father hasn't given me a command yet and the Army won't be necessary if we can gain orbital supremacy." Garma argued.
Gihren let out a low chucke, "Are you forgetting my brother that at this moment you are in command of the Space Force's flagship, a Gwazine-class dreadnought along with its compliment of 20 Zakus?"
Garma facepalmed at how he was so forgetful of his current situation. The Gwazine was the pride of the Space Force and the Great Degwin in particular was the most advanced ship within the vast Zeon armada due to extensive customizations throughout the ship that made it superior to its contemporaries. While the Great Degwin alone would most likely not change the course of the battle as there were numerous other Gwazines present at A Bao Qu, not to mention its 1500 strong fleet compliment, it could deal a significant amount of damage and most likely save hundreds or thousands of Zeon lives.
"If I know you then you most likely brought your custom Zaku aboard the Great Degwin. Am I wrong Garma?" Gihren asked with Garma shaking his head. The deployment of the Great was delayed for about half an hour just so Garma could bring onboard his red and green Zaku. While Garma was optimistic that negotiations could go smoothly, one could never be too prepared, especially as shown with Solomon and Pezun.
"Then you are more than ready to join the battle." Gihren reasoned.
"But won't father be mad if I go off on my own?" Garma questioned, worried about Degwin's wrath as he was very adamant against Garma joining the military and since his graduation from the Academy gave him soft assignments.
"Garma, you are a soldier of the Principality and more importantly a son of the Zabi dynasty. When father became the Sovereign he swore an oath to serve our citizens and liberate them from the tyranny of gravity, an oath that extends to us as his children. Now in this brave new world, we have the perfect opportunity to kill the Universal Century and achieve total independence by wiping out those who oppress the Lunarians and cling to the non-existent Federation.
Dozle has done his duty by protecting Zeon from an invasion by the superhumans of ZAFT. Will you do yours and cement yourself in history as the Zabi who struck the death blow to the Earth Federation, or will you be content to wallow on the homefront as others die in our name?" Gihren questioned.
His older brother's words lit a fire within Garma, a deep and burning passion to serve and protect his nation. Dozle had done his duty to the Principality, risking his life against augments with mobile suits, why should Garma not do his as well, especially to deliver the deathblow against the accursed Federation which had oppressed them for so long?
The last point of Gihren's impacted Garma the most. What right did he have to be a Zabi and help to lead Zeon, to command others when he refused to endure the same hardships as them and risk his life to defend Zeon?
"You're right Gihren, I must act or I will be worthy of the Zabi name. I shall depart for A Bao Qu at once!"
Gihren smiled at his brother's proclamation, "That is the spirit. Don't worry about Father, I shall take care of things and bear any responsibility for your deployment. Once you arrive at A Bao Qu I shall transfer Eric Manthfield and his squard aboard the Great Degwin. He is among the best of the mobile suit corps, even eclipsing Shin and Gato. He shall serve you well and protect your life in battle."
"Thank you Gihren. I shall seize victory and liberate Luna from the Federation. Sieg Zeon!"
April 3rd, 70 CE. 2300 Colonial Standard. EFSF Taipei. Renee Harper POV
On the Lunar Meridian that separated the near and far sides of the moon, a fleet of 50 ships crossed the boundary and entered the near side of the moon. These ships were not of the Earth Alliance, ZAFT, or even the newly-existed Principality of Zeon. These ships were a fraction of a much larger force that existed as a remnant of a dead nation. They were a fleet of the Earth Federation Space Force, pledging loyalty to a flag that never existed in the Cosmic Era. The fleet consisted of 31 Salamis-class cruisers, 12 Magellan-class battleships, and 7 Columbus class carriers. The fleet moved in a tight diamond formation with five squadrons of Saberfish acting as escorts as they made their trek to the near side.
In the center of the fleet was the EFSF Taipei, a Magellan-class that was led by the expeditionary fleet's commanding officer Rear Admiral Renee Harper.
Within the Federal Forces Renee was one of the highest ranking female officers in an organization that was dominated by men despite the Universal Century's emphasis on gender equality. A diligent officer with a strong strategic acumen, Renee was assigned to Lunar Command in the Far Side Fleet to help in acting as a deterrent to the Principality of Zeon's recent militarism. It was a quiet three years with the prophesied war for Zeon seeming to never come, and during that time Renee did her duty and was content with her lot in life.
Her entire world was then flipped upside down when just as Zeon was making a Declaration of Independence, with the high likelihood that the Far Side Fleet would soon be sent in to crush the rebellion, Renee experienced a bright flash of light. After maintaining order in her fleet's garrison city of Eclipse, Renee soon learned that she along with the rest of the Far Side Fleet and garrisons had been transported to another timeline. Not only did the Earth Federation not exist in this Cosmic Era, but the Far Side was all that was left of the Federation with the nearby independent Zeon being their neighbors.
For the past two days the Far Side Fleet had maintained martial law on the lunar cities, officially keeping the Lunarians in the dark that they were in an alternate dimension to prevent an uprising. Renee had joined the greater Lunar Command during that time in gathering information on their new Earth sphere and trying to keep an eye of A Bao Qu for any potential moves by Zeon. During that time they choose to keep silence on contact with the native powers in the hopes of preventing a conquest.
The overall situation that the Far Side Fleet had found themselves in was not pretty. On paper they had 2,000 ships at their disposal, however only 1310 ships had gone along for the ride due to nearly a third of their vessels either being on the Near Side or patrolling the deep space Earth-Mars route at the time of their displacement. Even if they managed to arrive with full numbers, intel made it pretty aware that Zeon outnumbered them in total.
The fleet was cut off from supplies from Earth and the other Sides, the most important being the nuclear arsenal at Luna II. The Near Side relied heavily on food imports, a majority being from nearby Zeon, so soon they would have to implement rationing. The worst aspect of it all was that pro-Zeon Unionists and Lunar Nationalism was pretty popular among the Far Side population, meaning that EFSF remnants were protecting a seditious population who hated them.
The opinion of the Federal Remnant was that they were to maintain independence and continue the legacy of the Federation, though this was a tough ordeal with Zeon's known avocation for the liberation of all Spacenoids. Without the Earth to support them, there was nothing to scare Degwin Zabi from launching an assault.
When the Remnant detected signs of a battle in L5 and the usage of nuclear weaponry in L4, both near Zeon's asteroids, they knew that somehow the native powers had gotten into a conflict with Zeon, presenting them with a chance for salvation with an alliance with one of the natives.
To make this happen, Renee was given a mission to engage in diplomacy with what communications had intercepted to be the Earth Alliance, a military organization made up of allied superstates that would hopefully be sympathetic to the Remnant's cause. Her fleet was there for the purpose of acting as a show of strength of the Federation, and to defend Renee should negotiations sour.
On the bridge of the Taipei, a glum mood infected the atmosphere with all officers present tending to their duties in a solemn silence, the only sound being the whir of the bridge's computers and life support system and the scattered tip tap of someone's typing.
Everyone present had left some ties behind in the old Universal Century. Family, friends, loved ones, they would never be able to see them again and now they were stuck fighting for a nation that no longer existed, the only thing keeping them moving being their fear of Zeon.
This somberness was also present in Renee Harper who did her best to present her usual image of a strong and powerful superior and not break down from the stress. While she was lucky enough to have her husband Fred come along for the ride as he was a doctor who practiced in Eclipse, the two had a daughter and grandchild who lived in Side 1. Her precious Stephanie was gone and now left orphaned with most likely no logical explanation to how her parent's disappeared. Renee's only consolation would be that her baby girl had her husband and son to help her move on with the potential for more children in the future, kids who will never know the tender love and care of their maternal grandparents.
Renee didn't want to be here. She wanted to return to her home with Fred, to drown herself in sorrow and anguish over the loss of their child and stay curled up in their bed and never come out. Unfortunately such a desire was too selfish, for if she left her duty then the thousands of men and women who served under her and looked to her for guidance would collapse and fall into a deadly depression for their losses. She had to be strong and be a warm presence for her crew and the greater fleet. If not for her loyalty to the non-existent Federation, then to help them survive and move on with their sanity intact.
For five hours the fleet slowly made its crawl across the moon. Near the meridian there was a military base that belonged to some organization called ZAFT, one who in the limited information that the Remnant had gleamed belong to a Spacenoid nation in L5. Renee wanted to make contact with them, but her superiors were adamant to create relations with the Alliance as they could not rely on Spacenoids to protect them when they would obviously ally with the Zabis.
After what felt like ages, the silence was broken with a loud ping from the operator's station.
"Sir, I have a fleet of 534 ships approaching us, they appear to have originated from the city known as Endymion. If I remember that's a city from the Atlantic Federation." The Lieutenant informed.
"Can we get a visual?" Renee asked.
"Getting it now."
Within seconds the main viewscreen showed an enhance image that portrayed hundreds of black and gray vessels. The what she assumed to be cruisers and battleships were constructed with a similar Big Gun philosophy to the ESFS. There were some noticable differences though with the cruisers having four large thrusters positioned in a X formation and their armament focused on missile racks that were awkwardly stationed in the front. The battleships were pretty close to the Magellan in design though they had an increased width and tonnage.
The most striking appearance was that of a large ship in the shape of an arrowhead. From the lack of armaments she assumed that they were carriers, though appeared to have less emphasis on cargo shipping than the Columbus.
"Should we disperse Minovsky particles?" Her XO asked cautiously.
Renee shook her head, "I know that the numbers seem intimidating but we came here in peace. Disrupting communications or showing aggression will place us in the wrong and force them to attack. Send a message to the fleet however to begin particle storage for a mass dispersal should negotiations break down." She ordered.
After the order was carried out, Renee steeled her nerves and took deep breaths to prepare herself for what could determine the existence of the Earth Federation.
"Establish communications with the unknown fleet." Renee ordered. After it had been done, she began with her carefully prepared introduction, "Unidentified fleet to whom I presume to be in service of the Atlantic Federation, I am Rear Admiral Renee Harper of the Earth Federation Space Force. This name is most likely meaningless to you, and the suggestion that I belong to the Earth Federation contradicts your Alliance, but there is good reason. While it seems to be impossibly ludicrous, my fleet and I are not from this dimension. We, along with a collection of nine cities on the Far Side of the moon and several hundred colonies in Lagrange 2, originate from a different timeline called the Universal Century.
Through some cosmic anomaly, we found ourselves transplanted into your timeline roughly two days ago. The Earth Federation who I give allegiance to was the sole human government in the Universal Century as the Earth had willingly united into a sole sovereign nation to heal the planet and prevent the horrors of the Third World War from reoccurring. Unification took place in 2045 of the Anno Domini calendar, that was seventy eight years ago with our previous calendar being Universal Century 0078.
With the old Earth no longer in existence, the Earth Federation is now limited to the nine far side cities and the remaining assets of the Earth Federation Space Force. We come in peace and seek to establish diplomatic relations with the native nations of the Cosmic Era, in particular the member-states of the Earth Alliance. " Renee said.
She leaned back into her chair and waited in tense anticipation for a response. Four minutes had passed by without the opposing fleet replying, though there was some good news in that they had stopped course and maintained position, though Renee worried that their guns could fire at the fleet from their range.
After such a long wait, Renee was about to ask for a clarification, only to thankfully receive a response.
"This is Admiral Malcolm Carlson of the AFS Colin Powell in command of the Third Fleet of the Atlantic Federation. Rear Admiral Harper, if I hear you right then you are claiming to be from another dimension?" The Atlantic Admiral asked with a deep tone.
"Yes Admiral Carlson, I know that what I am saying is ridiculous and you have every right to disbelieve me but it is the truth. If you would like I would be willing to transfer information on the Universal Century to verify my claims. The sudden appearance of hundreds of colonies in Lagrange 2, belonging to a nation called the Principality of Zeon who are a colonial Side of the Earth Federation, should be physical proof."
"This Zeon, they are affiliated with your Earth Federation?" Carlson asked with caution. Renee guessed that they most likely contacted Zeon already and if the battles in L5 and L4 were any indication, started a war somehow.
"The Principality of Zeon is De Jure an autonomous colonial nation under the rule of the Earth Federation. In the Universal Century, the Federation established seven Sides or colonial nations in the Lagrange points where most of humanity immigrated to in order to alleviate the planet of its environmental burden. Zeon represents Side 3 and until recently they were loyal to the Federation. However, moments before our insertion into this timeline, the Principality under its ruling monarch Degwin Zabi declared independence from the Earth Federation. As such they are in a state of rebellion from the Federation and any actions undertaken by Zeon do not align with the Earth Federation." Renee clarified, hoping that she would not be shot for association with the Zabis.
"Do the two asteroids with a large military compliment that just recently made an appearance in L5 and L4 belong to Zeon or the Earth Federation?"
Renee sighed, knowing that most likely Zeon had made contact first, "Those two belong to Zeon. While they have no jurisdiction in the two Lagrange points, they were recently positioned there in the last couple of days, most likely to ward off any intervention from the Space Force as they declared independence."
"So your fleet is not affiliated or have any relations with ZAFT or PLANT?" Carlson asked.
Renee shook her head despite the lack of a visual connection, "We have not made contact with ZAFT yet though from what we could gather the Alliance is in some state of war with them. We are neutral in your conflict, though I have no idea what this PLANT is that you are referring to.
"So your people are not Coordinators?"
"If you are referring to the augmented humans of this timeline, then no we are not. The term does not exist in the Universal Century and the Federation has been pretty adamant against unrestrained genetic modification. While we do have gene therapy for medical treatment no individual is modified from birth, though some designer babies did pop up in the black market."
Renee's response opened up another bout of silence. She was worried that they were getting nowhere though thankfully a response came quicker this time within half a minute. "Rear Admiral Harper, if your claims are true then this is quite an extraordinary event that I must proceed with carefully. I don't know if you are aware of the current state of the war, but a tremendous escalation has taken place recently thanks to an attack by ZAFT on the Earth. As such our normal chain of command has been put into...disarray for the time being.
Before I can continue further dialogue with yourself, I must confer with the rest of my fleet, and then my superiors and the meantime I would ask that both our fleets maintain position."
"Understandable, if it would help then I would like to transmit my data packet soon so you can understand our background and who we are. I would also like to request an in-depth series of files on the state of the Cosmic Era. I am not asking for your fleet's protocols or anything classified, merely public knowledge on the international affairs and history of the Earth sphere. As someone who has proudly served the Federation for most of my life, the revelation of a history of Earth that is still divided into nation-states is quite shocking to say the least."
"I shall do so shortly after you transmit your data Rear Admiral. For now I must make my leave, Carlson out." The Admiral finished.
Renee sank back into her chair with relief, the body language of the bridge crew had also relaxed considerably. The lack of shooting was a good sign and Renee hoped that barring the Atlantic Federation being run by lunatics, that Carlson's superiors would approach the situation rationally and she would begin her work to making the Earth Federation a member of the Alliance to deter Zeon. Then her mission would be accomplished and she could focus on rebuilding with her husband some semblance of what they had lost in the Universal Century, though deep down Renee knew things would never be the same.
A/N: Here the Principality makes its next moves to respond to Solomon and Pezun and begin its first steps in planting its roots in the Cosmic Era. In this chapter we see more of Gihren's Greed at play with him already coming up with plans to secure Zeon's position in the Cosmic Era and cripple both ZAFT and the Alliance, the full extent of this will be revealed in due time. I also wanted to highlight Degwin being disturbed at Gihren's ruthlessness, but his agreement with his son's plans and Gihren typically exerting his dominance in decision making tends to make Degwin submissive to Gihren's agenda, leading to him being rolled over in canon. Time will tell if Degwin will find a new will to stand up to Gihren and guide Zeon to a better path or if he will allow him to take control like canon.
For the Garma portion of the chapter, I know that it may seem like Gihren is trying to send his brother to a trap like he did with Degwin in canon, but that's not at all true. Gihren loves Garma the most out of his family and while he doesn't like that so many people within Zeon want to see Garma as the heir, he trusts his brother and knows that Garma will support his claim. With Dozle making a name for himself at Solomon, Gihren as a good older brother wants Garma to see some action and be involved in wiping out the Federal Remnants. This not only furthers Garma's prestige and helps him rise in power, but furthers the Zabi name. Garma won't take command at A Bao Qu, but he'll be central to the coming battle on the moon.
Lastly we have a new OC, Renee Harper. Renee is a creation of mine who is meant to represent the Federation and by extension anti-Zabi elements that came along for the ride with Zeon. She'll appear later in Gihren's Glory but right now Renee has her hands full dealing with the survival of what's left of the Federation and establishing a partnership with the Alliance. Speaking of, after Pezun you guys are probably surprised how first contact there seemed to go so well, especially with the Atlantic Federation. The reasons why it went so well will be shown in a couple of chapters but let's just say it was incredibly obvious that Renee's fleet was not ZAFT. Renee will be integral to the plot in the future so we'll see more of her as time goes on.
The next chapter of Cosmic Crusade will come after Chapter 50 of Gihren's Glory and shall deal with Zeon's Liberation of L4. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!