Across the Moon and the wider Earth Sphere, radios of every make and model that mankind had produced since setting out to make the black void of space their new home crackled to life, provided they were tuned into a particular channel.
"Hey hey hey, ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls from across the Earth Sphere-and I'm sure some other locations too- it's your boy Fifth Wave! Coming at you with a story so fresh that the printers are still warm."
"So some of you may have had the good sense to follow the instructions I handed out on my last broadcast, and if you did do that: congratulations! You had one hell of a front row seat. But if you didn't, no worries, I got you covered. And luckily for you, its a real simple story"
"On the 5th of March, following the recent announcement of additional inter-Side and Lunar trade restrictions, protests broke out among the docks of major Lunarian cities such as Granada and Von Braun. This, as you might expect, upset our tyrant overlords and they decided to answer their citizens exercising their right to protest by sending in the local EFF garrisons to…disperse them."
"Mind you, I say citizens with a heavy degree of sarcasm because let's be honest folks, when has the Federation ever treated us like its own citizens? Despite making up more than half of the Federation's population, not even getting into how much we give Earth to keep it going, are we ever treated like we're anything more than an annoyance by the Federation?"
"The answer is a resounding NO and we've gotten that time and time again in several different ways. But in the early hours of the 5th, we got the Federation's favorite answer."
"People who were doing nothing but displaying their protests against a bill that would directly harm themselves and their families were violently dispersed by active soldiers of the Federation, who indiscriminately fired into them with rubber bullets and tear gas without a single warning to disperse."
"This caused a riot to break out and when my fellow reporters of truth at that first riot saw what was happening and transmitted across the Moon to show what was happening to their fellow sons and daughters of Luna?"
"Well dear listeners, our brothers and sisters had simply had enough. Sympathy protests broke out in every single lunar settlement. And the Federation moved to crush those as well. Except this time, my listeners, they used live rounds on us!"
"You all know the rest of the story. How we overcame the first detachments of soldiers and corrupt police. How the garrisons called for reinforcements from the Lunar Orbital Fleets. Then the Neo Zeon Fleet attacked, utterly destroying every Federation ship and mobile suit that dared to challenge them. In a matter of hours they had torn our oppressors away from our home in space."
"The Federation was defeated!"
"..."
"Some of you listeners are probably wondering why you should care about what Neo Zeon does. So what if they attacked the Federation, you say, it's Neo Zeon. That's all they think about, attacking the Federation. And you would be right, except there is something that I've been meaning to tell all you listeners out there, and now is as good a time as any."
"Cause Neo Zeon ain't just Neo Zeon anymore folks. Now you may have heard of them during the original run back in 0087 in the Gryps War but I am more than proud to announce that the Anti-Earth Union Group has once more begun combat operations against the tyrannical Earth Federation! Now I'll have more news for you listeners soon, but first, let's hear some groovy tunes from Children of the Reptile, straight from the industrial heart of Von Braun!"
Evidence Item 32-YR. Recorded broadcast following the terrorist attack on the Moon, it was widely dessimated over pirate broadcast channels and legitimate radio frequencies. SFIA, Konpeito Division has taken command of the manhunt for terrorist agitator 'Fifth Wave', the public media face of the Anti Earth Union Group terrorist organization, aka the Neo AUEG. Target Fifth Wave is believed to be circulating among various broadcasting bunkers in the Granada Triangle, from which Radio AEUG will make broadcasts.
The frequency and times of these broadcasts are hidden in codes towards the end of each previous broadcast. This code is meant to be easily decipherable however. Main problem is locating the broadcast location. Local authorities have been refusing to grant additional manpower, citing the aftermath of the riots needing their full attention.
Suggest course of action - continue the physical hunt for Radio AEUG. Agent Brumensky suggests a sizable bounty be placed on Fifth Wave, we can justify this under the Remnants Insurgent Act of 0082 though it may take some convincing to get the Konpeito HQ to sign off on it. Next most effective course of action has been determined to be increasing searches for pirate satellites. Destroying these will hamper Radio AEUGs ability to broadcast beyond the Moon.
Note - This course of action will only be of use for future broadcasts. With the amount of recordings that are being disseminated among the general public and media, there is nothing the SFIA can do to prevent prior broadcasts from spreading.
Note 2, date 0094.4.1, - Per Federation Space Forces Policy Directive 592, all material and evidence collected in relation to the Neo AEUG terrorist group and United Neo Zeon are to be turned over to ECOAS operative at Luna II .
Democracy and Space Colonialism in the Universal Century by Full Frontal.
It is well known that democracy occurs in waves, or spurts if one wants to avoid established terminology. These waves are centered around historic events or movements that propagate the desire for self determination among the people of a nation or geographic area to seek to establish a democracy as their chosen governing body. Three such waves of democracy, as determined by Doctor Samuel P. Huntington during the old Anno Domini era, occurred before Mankind had even established its first settlement on Luna. This essay will not concern itself with those historic waves of democracy. Instead we will discuss the most recent historical wave of democracy, the fourth wave of democracy. Some readers will know this fourth wave better as the Unification Movement that swept mankind in the last decades of the Anno Domini era in response to a variety of major geopolitical wars, economic crises and the growing breakdown of established infrastructure due to rising overpopulation. This section will cover the first third of the essay.
The remainder of this text will be devoted to the rising Fifth Wave of democracy that has been building among spacenoids since the right of self determination was first resurrected by Zeon Zum Deikun from the mass grave the Earth Federation had thrown it into; and why it is necessary for all spacenoids to thrown their collective will behind this Fifth Wave of Democracy, which will be the final struggle against the space colonialism of the Earth Federation.
Opening Excerpt from the essay "Democracy and Space Colonialism in the Universal Century". This inflammatory essay is against the status quo of the Earth Federation's governance of space and the Moon, and serves as a guide to action for spacenoids against the space colonialism that they are currently suffering under. Written by known Neo Zeon leader Full Frontal, it would first appear as an independent article published in academic journals and webpages among the Side 3 inter-side internet, it would then be spread slowly to the remaining Sides and the Moon. It quickly became a staple of anti-Federation intellectual discourse and propaganda.
The famous saying "If not now, then never!" (which relates to one of the central questions asked in the essay of when the Federation would restore self governing rights to the Sides) originates from this essay.
Other well known saying from the essay include:
"Self Determination is the right of all mankind!"
"Spacenoids have become accustomed to the whip and boot of the Federation, it is our duty to wake our people up!"
"The Federation likes to say that it is the duty of every citizen to defend their homeland. While they mean this in relation to Zeon most likely, it is something the spacenoids must take to heart. Because it is our duty to defend our homeland, and I ask you to look around for who it must be defended from. The answer is simple."
The essay would later be the leading document in "The Sides are Groaning", a collection of short stories about the suffering of spacenoids caused by continued Federation rule. Noticeably it features stories from the reincorporation of Side 6 back into Federal Rule, the aftermaths of the Sides Reorganization riots of 0084 and insider stories from Dakar politicos relating to the efforts of the Federation government to limit then later eliminate Side wide governments.
This omnibus book is banned from being sold or printed by the Federation Literary Authority, mainly for the calls for armed revolution against the Earth Federation present throughout the entirety of the book's contents.
Multiple Federation officials and members of the Assembly have attempted to sue the original publisher of the book, Texas Colony Writing, for libel, only to discover that there has never been a company operation under that name.
U.C. 0094.3.13 1830 EOST
Anaheim City, Luna, Earth Sphere
Nagano Lounge, Anaheim Electronics Headquarters
"What will the gentleman be having this evening?" A waiter, garbed in the classic waiter attire of black pants, black vest, white button up shirt with a black bow tie to top this off, asked me. He even had that long folded white cloth hanging off his off arm.
"Do you have limoncello?" I asked. Pepe had gotten me hooked on the drink. The waiter looked like he judged me for it though. The lemon liquor was probably too low brow for a place as high end as the Nagano Lounge.
Though he didn't show his disdain, to his professional credit. "Unfortunately not, sir. If the gentleman desires a taste of Italy however, can I interest the gentleman in our Grappa?"
Next to me, Pepe made an interested hum at the mention of Grappa. I didn't know what Grappa was precisely but Anaheim would only serve the best of the best to the people who dined at the Nagano, so I told the waiter to bring me a glass.
Before departing, the waiter, who could be the maître d'hôtel of the restaurant, informed the table that the twelve course meal being served tonight was named "A Taste of Ibiza". A fancy way of saying we'd be eating Mediterranean tonight.
"I must say Full Frontal, you have quite the eye for quality." said Martha Vist Carbine. She was our host tonight, having commanded the entire restaurant be closed down to focus on serving only myself and my two compatriots. As I understood it, the Nagano Lounge made hundreds of thousands in straight profit a night and if you weren't dining for Anaheim Electronics business, private reservations had to be made years in advance at times.
"Thank you." I replied, sending a PR approved smile at her. "Though I hate to think we've been a disturbance for others."
So her move was quite the power play, if you knew the background. So it was wasted on me, to a degree, but not on my two companions. Pepe's mustache had practically quivered in delight from his grinning when we had walked into the empty room.
"Oh nonsense." Martha Vist Carbine literally waived away my worries. "Imago Trading has quickly become one of Anaheim's most important business relationships. Anything less than our finest accommodations for when you and your associates vist us would be insulting."
Translation: Anaheim was extremely pleased by Operation Left Hook, so we get to live the high life tonight. Also, the waiters were still in the room with us, so shut up about business.
Fair enough for her, I mentally shrugged. I was tired of military food anyways.
Then the drinks arrived, followed rapidly by the first course for the four of us to dine away on. Then the second course, then the third and so on. A twelve course meal really was a twelve course meal, color me surprised and all, though I couldn't help but wonder at calling a glass of wine its own separate course.
As dinner progressed, I took the time to observe our host. Martha Vist Carbine looked good, very good. She appeared five years younger than when I had last met with her, closer to thirty-five than the early forties from previously.
Her actual age was about fifty-two or fifty-three. The wonders of the modern beauty industry in the flesh.
She was wearing a black cocktail dress, undoubtedly made of some fabric that would make a wallet recoil in pain if its name was spoken aloud, and a thin necklace of blue diamonds connected with platinum links that danced in the light framed her collarbone. She likewise had blue earrings, sapphire maybe, and her hair was…coiffed I believed it was called.
I still couldn't believe I'd been given homework by my subordinates regarding women's fashion so I would be able to compliment her properly. So yes, I was aware that Martha Vist Carbine looked like sex personified tonight. Yes, I had complimented her as being 'a stunning display of perfection' when we had met. Zinnerman had better get off my ass after this.
Meanwhile, I was wearing an ordinary black suit and tie. Anaheim had given us internal company transportation to the Nagano Lounge, so I only had to use my Elias Kaldwell, CEO of Imago Trading, identity instead of any of the others that required time and effort to assume.
Pepe wore this slate gray ensemble that he said was the official uniform of the governor-general of Palau. Though he had followed that up with cheerfully telling me he had modified the uniform to be more in line with what the Republican Guard of Riah had worn before the loss of independence. As far as I could tell, this just meant changing the buttons to a brass color and adding silver epaulets. There might have been a peaked hat as well but Pepe made a habit of not wearing hats.
The final member of my merry band of rebels was also the newest: Neuer Mann, the leader of New Desides(and yes, I was more than aware of the fake name. Not like I could judge though.). He was dressed in a dark navy suit with a red shirt and black tie.
Now, I was surprised as anyone when Zinnerman's people had stumbled upon Aires City during the lead up to Operation Left Hook. We needed a launching off point for the start of the operation and the abandoned city on the southern pole of the Moon seemed like the logical place to start the search.
As it happened, Aires City was not abandoned. In fact, it was chugging along just fine, below the destroyed surface. Cue some back and forth conversation and I ended up sitting down with the leadership of Aires City for a little talk.
Strangely, having your city destroyed by Federation military forces, due to siding and offering shelter to a rebel group, and then having it declared uninhabitable by the Federation bureaucracy, after said rebel group had fled and been wiped out, did not endear the survivors of Aires City to Earth or the Federation.
What followed, as it had been explained to me, was a triumph of the human spirit. The citizens of the Moon's loneliest city had regrouped and rebuilt the lower levels of their city. Along the way, Neuer Mann had become the interim mayor of the city, then the elected mayor.
Coincidentally the Mayor of Aires City was also the commander of the city militia.
Mayor Mann had told me that what had really contributed to the city's survival was the unexpected humanitarian relief that had come in from the other lunar cities. A real remarkable demonstration of charity and human kindness in my books considering that Aires City had sided with the Titans after they had tried to drop a colony or two on the Moon. Then the whole New Desides affair too.
Long story short, it was after the generous help of their fellow lunarians that Neuer Mann had a new New Decision of his own. The Earth was the problem and the Moon needed to be set free from them.
Why they decided to keep the same name, I don't know, but every member of the original New Desides had gone down fighting in 0089 so there was no one around to contest the ideological changes the organization and the ordinary citizenry rapidly underwent in the early 0090s. Mayor Mann's efforts were helped along by surviving members of the city's militia throwing their support as 'war veterans' behind him. That got the citizenry onboard and right up until my scouts stumbled upon them, Aires City had been chugging along at full swing towards a goal of lunar freedom that they had yet to announce to anyone other than themselves.
Which made the Neo AUEG a very appealing opportunity for New Desides when we came knocking and following Left Hook's smashing success, heh, they had been putting out their own recruitment drives on the lunar airwaves. Reported success from the recruitment drive hadn't been passed over to me yet but I'd been told that their message wasn't landing on unfertile ground.
So the AEUG was waiting on those results from the Moon. Pepe was reporting a major uptick in recruitment for the Restorationists in his neighborhood. He'd even confided that his people were estimating that they would have the manpower to crew a fleet by July.
My mealtime musing was taken to a meaningful end by the ever attentive waiters swooping down to clear away the last course: a palate cleansing sorbet that had a fruity flavor. Our chosen drinks were swapped out for fresh ones and the shutters on the windows of the Nagano Lounge fluttered shut, sealing away the sight of the traffic lanes of Anaheim.
The lights over the rest of the lounge shut down, leaving our table in a spotlight at the very top of the pyramidal seating structure the lounge had been constructed in.
Was this how opera singers felt? I sipped my grappa. Nah, they were getting paid for their trouble. I had to pay for the trouble. Heh.
"A fine meal." I toasted our host. Pepe and Mayor Mann echoing my words.
"Anaheim only serves the very best for our trusted business associates." Martha Vist Carbine responded. "And following your recent success, well, I believed that a suitable award should be arranged."
"The meal was good." Said the Mayor of Aires City, his voice gravely from either too much smoking or an injury to his vocal cords during the rebellion I guessed. "But we all need more than food if we are going to continue to contest the tyrants from Earth."
Pepe and I exchanged a look.
"Quite right." Martha Vist Carbine responded and while she didn't even bat an eyelash in annoyance at the Mayor's words, I could tell in my gut she was. She was and remained a very easy woman to offend.
"What I believe my comrade means, besides thanking you for this wonderful feast, is that it is time to move onto business." Pepe chimed in, smiling beatifically at Carbine. I nodded along in assent with his words.
"Very well, gentlemen such as yourselves can hardly rest on your laurels can you?" She said, tapping away on a keypad on her side of the table. "After all, we here at Anaheim expect the best from our partners."
I suppressed a snort. Cast aside subtleness are we?
A holographic projector emerged from the middle of the table and activated with a whir. A mobile suit appeared before us, the technological details rapidly following the machine's body.
I glanced at the name, though I already knew what this mobile suit was. I had flown against it after all.
RGM-89D Jegan D Type. A bog standard upgrade of the original RGM-89 that Char had flown against during the Second Neo Zeon War. The exact type of standard upgrade package the Federation had been declining to purchase from Anaheim due to their planned demilitarization following the Axis Shock event.
"So the Federation has reached out?" I asked.
Martha Vist Carbine smirked. "Within twenty-fours of your attack we had the contract finalized and the first payments came in three later."
"So Anaheim is convinced of the value that our mutually beneficial relationship has?" I queried. My only point of contact with Anaheim's leadership was through Carbine, so I had nothing other than her words to gauge how the company was feeling towards Neo Zeon.
"Our profits are in the black and the Federation has come crawling back to us with their checkbooks wide open. What's there to complain about?" Martha Vist Carbine elegantly shrugged and sipped at her wine. She made a noise of pleasure at the taste of the drink.
"Anaheim Electronics is eagerly anticipating your next move, Full Frontal, to say the least. Not to mention the future efforts of your colleagues. Of course, we are standing by to assist as suppliers in any material matters you need to fulfill in order to continue operating."
I smiled and nodded in gratitude at her words.
What a kind way to say that we are ready to take your money. Oh and the unspoken threat that you had better not go off on your own and produce everything in house, otherwise that would lead to the Federation finding us in a very short amount of time.
Because I had gotten into bed with Anaheim Electronics, and they knew everything. I dreaded the day when I had to make some hard decisions regarding Neo Zeon's partnership with Anaheim. But now in the present, I could enjoy their hospitality and tepid friendship.
"As a gesture towards that future working relationship, we will be providing all of your organizations with the full profile of the Type D." Martha Vist Carbine continued on. "And the first delivery of Nemos and Ga-Zowmns to Mr. Mengamon's organization as well."
Funny thing that, turned out that Pepe's pilots were big fans of the AMX-008. So big fans that they didn't want to phase it out for the Nemo IIIs, according to Pepe. So he had gone back to Anaheim and amended the existing contract for the Nemos to include a small production run of Ga-Zowmns which would serve as commander type units for the Restorationists. They even had their own paint job that was a reversal of the orange-black colors the Restorationists used.
"My pilots are eagerly awaiting their arrival." Pepe responded.
"When will my mobile suits arrive?" asked the Mayor.
Carbine hemmed for a moment before responding. "The initial production run will be delivered by the end of the month, future deliveries will be arranged after that."
"Very well." responded the Mayor and he went back to his drink.
New Desides had elected for the cheapest option available for their mainstay mobile suit, which was the revamped Nemo III. A good choice for them considering that the AEUG fronted half the bill for Nemo purchases per the founding agreement between the member organizations.
The Mayor had also chosen to contract Anaheim to manufacture all the necessary parts and weapons to rebuild or refit the surviving Xeku series mobile suits that had survived the fighting at Aires City and found their way back into the hands of the city militia.
Also a good choice in my books, not for the financials, no, this was a costly purchase for them. It was a good choice because I had met the members of White Squadron, the pilots of the surviving Xekus, and they were, one and all, utterly insane. Both in tactics and personality.
Extremely skilled with their chosen machines but I would not want to trust them to watch my back in battle. The penchant for constant all-or-nothing attacks made it a guarantee that you'd be left wide open for a flank.
Wickedly skilled hit and run fighters however, so their flaws were balanced out in the end.
Though I had to wonder who exactly Josh Offshore had been and what he had done to make his former command venerate him so.
"Is it now Mr. Frontal's turn to ask about the status of his delivery?" Martha Vist Carbine asked, one perfectly plucked eyebrow raised.
My lips twitched up in amusement and I toasted the most dangerous woman in the Earth Sphere, who I was not about to even partially antagonize by hinting at her company being late on a delivery.
"Neo Zeon has full faith and confidence that our reactors, munitions and general supplies will arrive on time and with all the nuts and bolts accounted for." I leaned forward. "Though personally, I do want to follow up on something related to mobile suits."
"Oh?" Carbine again sipped her wine.
"Yes, you see I've been looking to trade in my current ride for some time now. But before I do that I'd have to know that my replacement is fully operational. Would some as well informed as you happen to have a progress report available on that?"
"Why Full Frontal, I thought you'd never ask." Martha Vist Carbine swapped out the diagram for the new Jegan with an all too familiar mobile suit.
I grinned at the sight of it. It wasn't perfect, not yet, but there it was. The rough stone from which I would craft the finest blade ever wielded against the Federation.
"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Anaheim's next generation psycho frame use mobile suit and the current flagship of the Federation Forces UC Project: the Sinanju Stein."
I gazed up at my mobile suit in anticipation.
'You weren't ready yet but have patience my friend, soon we'll be rulers of the battlefield.'
A/N - back again I see.
So we've met the next member of the Neo AEUG and caught up with what's going on with our pal Pepe in Riah to a degree. I hope the explanations I gave for the New Desides made since, even for those who haven't read Gundam Sentinel.
(long story short some Titan over at Pezun go rogue and drag Aires City, a bastion of earth fanatics, into their fight. New Desides is completely destroyed and muck everything up for the EFF in the lead up to the first Neo Zeon War. Aires City gets totaled in the fighting and that's the last we ever hear about it in UC.) Obviously I've advanced their story for my own purposes.
I also hope that my very ametuer political and philosophical blather that I've made to try and fit into the Universal Century political discourse isn't too big a put off for my readers. I think it makes sense, let me know if you have questions I guess.
AFFA continues to surprise me in a way, because I continue to enjoy writing it even though it is my oldest story from date of writing. Hope that is a good indicator of its quality to you readers as well lol.
See everyone next time.