Gundam-Soldiers

Side Story

The Newtypes

Chapter One: It Begins

Five of the most powerful weapons ever created have just made their way towards the Earth. I was there. I watched three of them as they descended through the atmosphere.

"Hmmm...I guess Operation Meteor will not be going as planned."

My name is Kai, and that's all you need to know about my name, for now. I am currently 25 years old, and am piloting the Sazabi Custom in the United Earth Federation. I've been a pilot for a long time now, at least it seems like a long time to me. You spend enough time on the battlefield, and you lose track of the weeks, the months, the years...

I was part of a secret colonial combat team, one of the original pilots from Operation Black. We were to compose of 6 teams consisting of commando type mobile suits that would be able to easily infiltrate deep into enemy territory, destroy our targets and then get out. We were to be able to deal with anything they could've sent out to deal with us. Each team would consist of 4 custom MS-18 Kampfer assault units and one other specially made suit as the team leader. However, the plan got scrapped in favor of Operation Meteor, and not even a single one of the planned teams was completely brought together and organized. They concluded that it would've taken far too long to destroy the enemy and gain independence that way. As a matter of fact, only Char Aznable's MS, the MSN-04 Sazabi, two of the Kampfers, and the Gerbera Tetra were completed. Another four Kampfer assault units were nearing completion, but they stopped construction and had the incomplete suits put into storage. The Sazabi was a Newtype MS and belonged to Char, so I got one of the Kampfers.

Since the Sazabi and one of the Kampfers were already completed, they decided to go right ahead and train us anyway. We did mostly attacks on small outposts out in the middle of nowhere with only a small amount of Leos guarding them. One day, Char decided that I should put my Newtype MS Physcoframe training to use, and made me pilot the Sazabi while he took the Kampfer. Everything was going according to plan when, all of a sudden, there was a mass of troops headed in our direction. The force had many Leo and Aries mobile suits. It turned out later that they were part of a force that was scheduled to take part in combat exercises in that region. Char convinced me to escape with the Sazabi, and I left him to fight off the horde of enemy troops. I never saw him die, and to this day I'm only pretty sure that he died that day. Now the Kampfer was a force to be reckoned with, especially in the hands of a skilled pilot, but I don't believe it could've survived against all those suits. I had wondered how our intelligence could've have failed to tell us about the combat exercise planned in that region. In the past, our intelligence had been extremely thorough and never even missed the smallest of details. At the time, I had thought, how could they have missed something like this? An Alliance military exercise this large must have involved a massive amount of troop movement.

When I returned to the colony after the disastrous mission, I found out some very disturbing news that made me leave my former military force. After that, I tried to achieve a sense of closure and revenge through destroying various installations and such. After being combat so many times, I got much better at utilizing the Newtype system. As a matter of fact, I believe I am now better than my late friend and mentor, Char, was.

"You have an extraordinary patience, Kai. Personally, I think I'm going to go insane if we have to sit here any longer."

That was Joyce (Helena), my partner. She's been with me for a long time, and she was also part of Operation Black. She was the pilot of the AGX-04 Gerbera Tetra, the only other commander suit for the teams that was completed. It was modified form it's original form, and she now renamed it the Valkyrie. She had left with me after we had found out the truth about Operation Meteor. She's my confidant and the person I trust most. Plus, she also provides me with a lot of info and keeps me up to date. Several years after we left, we joined with the Federation. Our CO was named Jacen, and compared to a lot of the rest of the ace pilots in the Federation, I was the "old man" of the group. It felt weird to be commanded by someone 6 years my junior.

We were now waiting for his command to commence the descent towards earth.

"Don't worry about it. It shouldn't take him long now."

As if on cue, Jacen's voice came in through the COM system.

"Alright, ladies, let's do this."

I then turned to look at the Valkyrie.

"You heard him, move out."

"FINALLY! Go ahead, I'll be right behind you, Kai."

The Sazabi then accelerated towards the troopship that had just arrived to take them to take them through the Earth's atmosphere and the Joyce's Valkyrie followed suit.

* * * * *

The red Sazabi Custom has several major differences from the original one designed by Char Aznable. Some of the more important changes were the changes made to its rifle. A whole new weapon was added to the Sazabi's arsenal. The long rifle was both a mega particle cannon and an EMP cannon. The barrel for the mega particle cannon was on top and was slightly shorter and had a smaller diameter than the barrel for the EMP cannon on the bottom. The energy shotgun/machine gun was stored on the Sazabi's back when not in use.

The mega particle cannon was extremely powerful, although not as powerful as the Buster Rifle of the Wing Gundam or the Excalibur's Buster Saber. However, there is no need to charge the cannon, as the Sazabi now included a new energy storage capsule in place of where the old particle cannon used to be, which was in the lower torso/waist area of the Sazabi. Since this provided an extra buffer for energy use, it allowed the new mega particle cannon to be fired instantaneously without sacrificing any other functions during firing, such as the use of boosters. The Physcoframe II piloting/tactical combat system also allows the cannon to be surprisingly accurate even while moving at high speeds. Exactly one shot of the mega particle cannon was allowed in addition to another EMP shot before a lengthy recharge time was required for the storage unit to have sufficient energy to safely fire it's main cannons. Of course, the particle cannon is also able to fire regular particle beams that still pack a significant punch.

The energy shotgun remained relatively unchanged, except that it has now been modified to be a machine gun-shotgun combo that works much like the EMP/particle cannon. The machine gun is a standard sized weapon meant for use in medium to close range encounters as an alternative to the particle cannon. However it is mainly intended as a secondary/auxiliary weapon. The energy shotgun's barrel is significantly larger than the machine gun, and can fill an enemy full of highly charged particles, making it a deadly weapon in close range combat.

The funnels on the back of the Sazabi are a unique and distinct feature found only on itself and its counterpart, the RX-93 Nu Gundam, also a Newtype mobile suit. Each individual funnel, out of six, packs sufficient firepower on their own, but they are best utilized in at least groups of three, whereupon then I can use the Newtype system to my advantage. They can also be used to create a protective shield around the Sazabi, giving it full protection from various kinds of attacks from all sides.

The large shield stores the Sazabi's unique beam tomahawk. The tomahawk is different from other close-in weapons because of its ability to either form a large beam axe blade or a sword blade that is much larger than any normal beam saber. The shield also holds three large cluster missiles. Upon release, each individual missile separates into six micro-missiles. The Sazabi also has two beam sabers stored in its wrists that will pop out whenever they are needed.

Most of the rest of the Federation also use a standard weapon called the XMP rifle. It's a multipurpose rifle design to adapt for a variety of roles. Personally, however, Joyce and I prefer not to use the Federation's standard issue XMP rifle.

The Valkyrie is also armed with a variety of weapons. It's primary, and deadliest, weapon is the massive beam machine gun. Its unique characteristic is its ability to fire powerful beam shots in quick succession. This is possible due to the suit's new monstrously powerful generator and the external rechargeable energy cap. Other ranged weapons consist of its four large 110mm machine cannons, mounted on pairs on each arm. The Valkyrie also carries two beam sabers that are stored in its hip armor for hand-to-hand combat. To further add to its close range combat abilities, the Valkyrie can also carry a heat rod.

What's more, the suit is now customized to accommodate and utilize the Newtype combat/piloting system. However, it is slightly more simplistic because the Valkyrie lacked the funnel weapon system that the Sazabi has. The customized Gerbera Tetra/Valkyrie also has the best possible arm actuators and stabilizers. The combination of an incredible targeting system and rock-steady movements of the mobile suit make the Valkyrie the capable of being a deadly sniper.

Both the Sazabi Custom and the Valkyrie also have multiple verniers and boosters situated all over the suits at strategic points to allow them both surprising maneuverability and speed. Many have taken a look at the seemingly bulky Sazabi and have underestimated its agility and mobility. Although the Sazabi has relatively powerful main boosters, it can not come close to the detachable Sturm Booster equipped on the Valkyrie in addition to its other main boosters. The Sturm Booster allows insanely fast movement, allowing the Valkyrie to either close the distance to exercise it's substantial ability in close range combat with it's heat rod and double beam sabers, or to create a safe distance buffer between it and its target, which would in turn allow it to use it's deadly rifle in long range combat. The Valkyrie has now also been refitted with a new composite alloy stronger than Neo or Luna titanium, but it still is not as strong as gundanium. The new composite alloy is lighter than its original armor, further increasing its agility and speed. The Sazabi Custom still uses its original armor, gundarium. Gundarium armor is the predecessor to Gundanium, so it is still much stronger than Neo or Luna titanium, but even though it is not as strong as gundanium, it is slightly lighter.

* * * * *

Taking one last glance at the Earth before entering the transport, I sighed. It looked like a delicate crystal orb sitting on a vast carpet of black velvet. It was quite unlike how other colony dwellers sometimes described it, and was not at all a "giant mud-ball". During the time I had spent on Earth, I had come to actually like the place and its various wonders that a colony could never have. It was hard to believe all the events that were about to explode upon it, such as the arrival of Federation Forces and Operation Meteor. Joyce and I were to be the last ones to descend, and I had already seen most of the other reentry shuttles and transports make their way down to the Earth's surface. I knew Jacen and most of the others were already down there, helping to coordinate out forces and guiding the transports to the designated landing sites. We were still up here as a precaution against a possible attack on our flanks from God-knows-what. But I guess it still pays to be on the careful side. The transports were nearly helpless on their own, and there were rumors about another "project" that the Colonies were working on. There had been a lot more chatter on the frequencies since the Gundams first started going renegade, but they were all specially encrypted and we didn't have the time to decipher them. We have more important things to worry about now, anyway.

I was anticipating the possible outcomes and situations that could occur form our involvement in the coming crisis when my partner interrupted my thoughts.

"Kai. KAI!"

"..Hmmm?"

"Jesus Christ, Kai, if you're going to space out like this on the battlefield, you might as well have brought along your own tombstone to save the rest of us the trouble later."

"I was just thinking."

"Well, too much thinking is a bad thing, so just get in the transport so we can head down already."

Then Jacen's voice once again came through on the COM system:

"You guys are sure taking your sweet time, aren't you? Well, we are moving on ahead to do some preliminary scouting to find a secure site to setup our mobile field base. Contact us once you've reached the surface, over and out."

"Yes, sir, o fearless leader," I muttered under my breath.

"I heard that!" Jacen shouted back

The Sazabi and the Valkyrie then entered the transport and prepared for reentry.

* * * * *

I heard some noise down the corridor in the direction of the hangar and was curious, so I went to do check it out. Once I got there, I saw my mentor, Char, and one of the higher-ranking officers on the base in a heated argument. Not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, I hide behind the wall and listened in on their conversation.

"Are you serious??!! You must be joking!!"

"I assure you, Char, that I am absolutely serious about this."

"Are you telling me that all the work I've done, all my blood and sweat and time has been for NOTHING??!!"

"No, Char, that's not true."

"Yes, that is the truth, and you know it's the truth, as well! I've spent years on this project to create the perfect combat and infiltration teams, helped to begin the project with my own money, only to have them completely cut off funding and cancel the project? I will NOT let that happen, and I will NOT comply with the Colonial Council's demands!"

"Char, listen to me! The council has already decided that Operation Delta Force is not only too risky to attempt, it might bring a prolonged war, as well! What if they blame us for this? You know what they can be capable of. What if they retaliate by attacking and shutting down the colonies? Then we will NEVER gain independence! Operation Special Forces will take too long to accomplish its goals, and I may prove to be completely ineffective!"

"Oh, and the new plan, Operation Meteor, will be effective HOW? It is completely ridiculous and it is also downright INSANE! At least with my original proposal well will only attack what we must, only at OZ and military targets! I don't care if I will have to do it myself, I will stop Operation Meteor even if I must do so myself! I will inform the public about this, and no matter how much they long for independence, I KNOW they will not stand for an outrageous a plan as Operation Meteor!"

"Char, you are one of our best pilots and a military genius, but we will not stand for such insubordination! Operation Meteor will be our only chance to achieve independence and prevent the possibility of future conflict or resistance. We can finally achieve what should be ours, and become the dominant ones."

"So the truth finally comes out, eh? You people not only want independence, you want to CONTROL the Earth! You are no better than they are, and I swear upon my honor that I will oppose you and bring news of this insanity to the people! Then they will choose the right way."

"It does not matter what the people think right now, Char. In the short term they will see it as a monstrosity. They are shortsighted, just as you are. If we are able to dominate over the Earth, we can bring an everlasting peace and prosperity to the Colonies and Earth alike. We will."

"But that is just plain WRONG! The sacrifice is too great just for a few years of peace! Conflict will always exist! I will fight this to the bitter end if I have to! Even if I must destroy this organization to do it."

"Now, Char, I will be blunt. What you are saying is treasonous, and despite the fact that you are a hero to the people, there may be extremely dire consequences if you do not cease your resistance and cooperate with us."

"Oh, I see. So now you people are threatening your own if your demands are not met? Well then in that case it all doesn't even matter anymore. There is no more need for conversation. You are no better than OZ or the Romefellers or the Alliance."

"."

Then Char walked away from the officer and headed in my direction, so I ran away with all that I've just heard still running in my mind. They were disbanding and scrapping Operation Delta Force? And what's this about Operation Meteor.?

I was snapped out of my flashback by the sound of Joyce's voice through the COM. The long descent through the atmosphere had caused my mind to go back into deep thought. We were close to the surface now, only about 20 minutes more to go until we reached the landing site.

"Daydreaming again?"

"Only thinking about something in the past."

Joyce sighed and replied, "Again? Well, whatever. Just don't space out once we're engaged in combat, OK?"

I then replied a little ominously, as I usually did when she talked about combat.

"You know I won't."

She laughed a bit at my response.

"Now that's more like the Kai I know...and love."

Now it was my turn to sigh. That was Joyce for you. She always seemed to be somewhat of a complete opposite of me, always in high spirits. She did have her share of the moments of depression and quiet contemplation, though. Well, I guess I wouldn't have it any other way.

Just then the pilot then spoke up over the line and told us about several incoming anomalies.

"They're closing in pretty fast and. OH SHIT!" the pilot screamed.

"We have three incoming mobile suits, Aries types! They have a missile lock! The sensor jammers are having no effect! They're closing within firing distance and... they have a missile lock!! We have two incoming on our 4 o clock!"

The pilot the started into a desperate bank and went into a dive to try to avoid the missiles while punching out flares and chaff to try to fool the missiles, but to no avail. Soon the missiles closed the distance and were only seconds away from hitting our hapless transport. We were hearing all of the pilot and copilot's curses and yells of fear and frustration from the cockpit and it didn't exactly give us any reassurance.

The pilot suddenly screamed,

"BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

"Oh, sh-"

Before Joyce had a chance to finish her sentence, there was the sound of an explosion and the shuddered from the impact.

* * * * *

"Get those Leos moving, NOW!"

"Sir, yes sir!"

The base commander was in a fit. One of his trigger-happy fighter groups of Aries units had just downed an unidentified aircraft. If it was only a civilian transport or something, then High Command will have his ass on a plate. OZ did not need more attention being directed towards it now. Sure, orders were to guard against any aircraft that might fly into range of the base, but he was sure that High Command didn't mean to DESTROY them. He'll have to give those damn pilots a good grilling once they got back to base. He saw that the Aries Combat Air Patrol (CAP) was now continuing on its regular patrol.

"CAP-6, return to base, repeat, return to base CAP-6."

The voice of the lead pilot then crackled over the radio. The base commander could hear how his voice still shook and trembled slightly from the adrenaline rush still present from his first real shot. He was surprised to hear the base commander himself over the radio.

"But sir, we haven't finished our patrol yet."

"Forget your patrol. You've done enough already, so return to base."

The pilot was surprised by the anger in the commander's voice. He thought he had done well by destroying the craft that had trespassed over the airspace of the top-secret military base.

"Sir, the craft had no IFF and didn't fit any kind of description of any civilian craft in the our databases."

"What? No IFF (Identification Friend or Foe) and it didn't fit any descriptions of any civilian craft?"

The commander's anger was slightly displaced by curiosity. It still could be some kind of civilian craft, however. Private enterprises were always making new models and types these days.

"REGARDLESS, flight leader, bring your team home. We will send a team of Leos to investigate. But just to tell you, if you did just shoot down a non- military craft, we will be soon be stuck in a pile of shit up to our knees, son."

"Y-yes, sir. returning to base."

The commander then slammed his hand down on the console, making all that were present jump. They then started to stare at him, wondering what might become of this. He looked back at them and shouted angrily.

"What are you all staring at? We ALL might be screwed. My ass isn't the only one on the line here. Now get back to your duties."

He hoped the Leos could find some good news. It might not be so bad if it was only a cargo transport or something. They could always blame it on a misfire or the pilot's incompetence or something. But if it was a civilian airliner, there was no way that they would be able to cover this up, and the public would then be sure to start asking questions about the military, and it could lead to suspicion. He knew he shouldn't have told the troops about a possible attack from the colonies, and the possibility of new mobile suits developed by the colonies on Earth. They were now all worked up about it now, and it was probably why the pilot was so quick to attack a suspicious craft. He sighed and hoped that this would all smooth over, but he had a gut feeling that it wasn't, and that it was going to get much worse.

* * * * *

"God damn it, I didn't join up to go clean up the mess of those damn flyboys!"

The Leo squad leader was pissed. Just because some idiot had gotten too worked up and trigger happy at the announcement made by the commander and decided he needed to blow something up, he had to go out and clean up the mess.

"I can't believe I'm taking this multi-million dollar piece of equipment to clean up some trigger happy jock's mess."

"Hey, come on, cool it ok Jack? Everyone is on edge. Who know what those crazy colonials are going to do?"

"EXACTLY. We shouldn't be down here, waiting to get blown to bits by some scheme that they are cooking up. We are the ones with the mobile suits, we should be going up there to shut 'em up!"

Everyone in the squad of six remained quiet. They all knew how outraged Jack was at the mistake of the Aries patrol leader. The ground forces at the base always had a grudge with the pilots of the aerial combat mobile suits. They were always cocky and looked down upon them, and now there had to clean up THEIR mess.

"I mean I don't even understand WHY they had to send a full SQUAD to investigate a damn crash site. I am gonna have a talk with our Squadron Leader. This is clearly a mismanagement of."

His tirade was interrupted by a message from the base. They were giving them new orders and details on the situation.

"5th MS team, we are picking up two strange contacts close to your area, about 10 kilometers southwest of your position. They have heat signatures and sensor profiles similar to that of mobile suits. We advise you to advance with caution. Since we have now confirmed that the craft was NOT any kind of civilian transport, and that there may be unidentified mobile suits in the area, your mission has been changed to search and destroy. Do you copy?"

"."

"5th team, I repeat, do you copy?"

"Yes, command, we copy."

"We are sending an addition two teams of Leos, the 9th and the 21st. They will be there to assist you shortly."

The adrenaline levels of the members of the Leo squad went sky high. Is it possible, enemy mobile suits? But the colonies didn't have the technology to develop mobile suits, did they? The possibility of a fight with mobile suits caused their pulses to race.

"Alright, team, let's move out. Turn off the safeties of your rifles. Just make sure you don't shoot each other..."

The joke brought out a nervous chuckle from some of the squad members. Jack's mind was racing. He had wanted a chance to actually fire and engage the enemy, but never thought he would ever have that chance. Even if it were only two suits, at the most, they would be able to get some action. He just hoped he could get a few shots in before his team completely annihilated the enemy. He smiled and contemplated how jealous everyone else at the base would be when they returned to be the only ones to actually engage and open fire on the enemy. They would be REAL mobile suits this time, not just training dummies or a simulation. There was always the possibility that he was getting all worked up over nothing, but the excitement caused him to think about nothing except the possible battle ahead.

"Let's go kick some titanium ass, people!"

Then they all started for the position that command had said the anomalies were at top speed, anticipating a quick and easy, but nevertheless fun, fight.

* * * * *

"Hmmm."

I looked over my sensors again to check the position of the Leos. They were still 5 kilometers away. I had detected them long before they had even received the message from their base with the advancing detection systems of the Sazabi. After we had escaped from the transport, we had split up to explore their surroundings and get our bearings. We were actually about 150 km north of what the original landing site was to be. I had to destroy these Leos because they had already detected me and I would lead them to the rest of the Federation Forces if I didn't.

"Kai, I'll be backing you up."

"That's not necessary. I can handle these Leos easily."

"I can get there pretty quickly if I use my Sturm Booster."

"Joyce, just go on ahead. Leave the sensor envelope of their base then contact Jacen. After that, head to our main force. I shouldn't be far behind. I just need to take care of these Leos first, or they might follow us all the way back."

"But, Kai."

"That wasn't a request. If you must contact me, do it by a laser burst transmission relayed through the satellite systems. That way they won't be able to detect the transmissions and we won't compromise our position."

Joyce sighed. I always tend to do things by myself. But this time, she knew I was right. These Leos would be no problem, and the sooner we could contact and get back in touch with Jacen, the better.

"Alright then. over and out. Good hunting, Kai."

The Valkyrie then powered up its boosters and zipped away to the south.

I checked the sensors now indicated that they were only 2 km away now, and two other squads of Leos that had just left the base were now heading towards him. I began to give verbal commands to the computer to activate the combat system.

"Initiate Psycho II combat system. Confirmation code AzRa006."

Inside the Sazabi's cockpit, I sat in a command couch situated in a middle of a spherical construct that projected carious control consoles and displayed various kinds of information. I closed my eyes and waited for the sensation of a slight electrical buzzing inside my head. I opened my eyes as data streams containing combat information flowed directly into my head and the Psycho II system interfaced with my brain. Although there were various controls and consoles displayed everywhere, there was no need for them, yet. They existed in case I needed to stop using the system and pilot manually like most other pilots. If that happened, the system will function like the Federation Neuro helmets and assist me in my piloting. The Neuro Helm technology was different from the Psycho II Newtype system, as it allowed me to directly control the Sazabi with my thoughts, allowing the incredible speed, agility, as well as accuracy in combat. It also allowed my to use the funnels on the Sazabi's back to be used with deadly proficiency. Now the whole Sazabi was entering combat mode from its idle state and various systems now came to life. The Sazabi's mono-eye flashed on and glowed green, signifying the activation of it's more complicated sensor systems. It then turned and started walking towards the Leos.

"So the Red Demon rises to once again to enter battle."

Then a dark cloak enshrouded the Sazabi and it vanished from sight with a crackle of energy.

* * * * *

"We're picking it up on our own sensors now, Jack. It seems that there's only one mobile suit after all. Hey! what the? It just disappeared from our sensors. It must be using some kind of stealth technology?"

"It doesn't matter now, Mac. It can't run away from us now."

"I can see it, barely, but it doesn't seem like it's even trying to get away. As a matter of fact, it's heading TOWARDS us."

"What? He's going to fight against all six of us? Well, at least he's got guts. But that won't help him now. OK, team now he's only 1 km and closing. Switch to combat formation. We'll attack it all at once. Mac, you go to the left with two and I'll get him from the right with two. Let's just hope he'll prove be at least more than just cannon fodder and at least give us a little entertainment."

Despite the fact that the Sazabi was using the stealth cloak, they were able to make out something approaching. The cloak was now flickering because of the Sazabi's high speed.

"Sir, we have visual contact. 400 meters and closing."

They then saw their adversary and their jaws dropped in surprise.

"What in holy hell is THAT?"

Sazabi then made a big jump and uncloaked.

The Sazabi was a monstrous, blood red machine and with a menacing frame. They watched as it took its time walking up to them. It had a large shield in its left arm, and it pulled a small thing out that looked like a tomahawk. Then the tomahawk turned into a huge beam sword.

Jack gaped at the mobile suit and felt a sudden pang of fear run through him.

"The...the Red Demon.!"

"What, what the hell are you talking about, Jack?"

Jack then reassured himself. Even if it WAS the Red Demon, Jack was sure they would be able to take it out. Even though it looked menacing, they outnumbered it six to one. Despite the rumors that he had heard, he was sure the guys were just glorifying and exaggerating it a bit when they said it went through other mobile suits like a hot knife through butter.

"Ok, Mac, lets do it. OPEN FIRE!"

At Jack's command, the Leos all rushed towards it and began firing their machine guns. Mac's group was slightly ahead and was closer to it. The mobile suit then charged at them with its boosters at an incredible speed, and, to their amazement, dodged the machine gun shells, assisted by its various verniers and boosters all over the suit. It then clashed with one of the Leos in Mac's group. First ramming it with its shield, it then boosted a little to the left and then raised and swung the beam sword over its head and cleaved the Leo straight down the middle. The others were no longer able to fire their weapons at this point, for fear of hitting their own guys. It then dashed towards the second Leo and destroyed it without even slowing down, cutting it in half from the bottom up and boosted a little into the air and then turned to bring down it's sword on the last Leo. Mac's entire group was annihilated within several seconds and they hadn't even landed a single hit on that mobile suit. Jack then radioed the base as the mobile suit turned towards his group.

"This is 5th team leader calling in! We are getting annihilated! The Red Demon!"

That was all that he could fit into his rushed and panicky transmission before the mobile suit had closed the distance and was upon them. It slid to the right to dodge machine gun fire and shoved its sword into a Leo, then pushing it into the line of fire of the other Leo. Exploding as the machine gun shells impacted, resulting explosion blocked the views of Jack and the last remaining Leo for a moment. Jack was firing his gun into the explosion with the other Leo when the Sazabi rose above them and raised its sword. They weren't able to respond fast enough to it, so the other Leo was annihilated when the mobile suit came down and sliced it cleanly into two halves, separating the torso and the legs. In a fluid motion, it followed through by firing its verniers, allowing it to make an extremely sharp right turn before the main boosters activated. In a manner of seconds, all Jack could see was the glowing green mono-eye of the Red Demon before it plowed full speed into the Jack's Leo. The force of the 75 ton monster of a suit sent the mere 10 ton Leo flying backwards into the air. After slamming into the Leo the blood red mobile suit pulled out a large cannon.

"Oh, f-" was all Jack could manage to get out before a huge particle beam completely obliterated him and his Leo suit.

It was all over in less than 20 seconds.

* * * * *

The 9th and 21st teams saw a huge beam blast as they began to zero in on the mysterious mobile suit. It seemed like overkill to send in a total of 18 suits until they had heard news that the whole 5th team stopped responding to any of the transmissions sent to them. As they closed the distance towards the site where the 5th's squad leader had sent his last, frantic message, something about a "Red Monster", they only got one contact on their sensors. Was it possible that the entire 5th team was annihilated? The members of the two teams did not have time to ponder this question as they received the orders to attack and destroy the lone mobile suit. They all went into formation and readied their guns charged at the red mobile suit.

A few hours later, they sent another scout team of three Leos into the area to see if they could reestablish contact with the 5th, the 9th, and the 21st teams as well as locate the lone mobile suit. They had lost the mobile suit on their sensors a few minutes after the Leo mobile suit teams stopped responding. On arrival, the scout team reported that the mysterious mobile suit was nowhere to be found, and that they had found the 5th, 9th and 21st teams. They followed up on that by say that a very large cleanup crew would need to be called in.

* * * * *

"So Kai said that he would be right behind you, huh?"

"Yeah, and I don't think he's gonna contact us unless he was in trouble, so he should be fine."

Jacen shook his head. That was just like Kai. He wasn't worried, though. He knew that Kai would have no need to communicate with them unless it was of utmost importance or he was in dire trouble. Jacen frowned. They may have lost their advantage of surprise now, but not much. He guessed correctly that OZ would still probably be in confusion over the destruction of three of their Leo MS teams. That meant that their plan to make their way towards the New Edwards base should be going according to plan. Finally, Operation Eruption was underway.

Operation Eruption is a mission to free the US, the core country of the Federation, from the control of the Alliance by force. The first step would be to capture the Alliance leaders at the New Edwards base in California and to begin the destruction of the Alliance itself. Various parts of the Federation Force were to be landed all over the US and would follow a path towards New Edwards.

"So, Joyce, I guess Kai would be the first one to encounter the Alliance mobile suits, then. I wonder how he did against them."

Both Joyce and Jacen were standing outside. The atmosphere was tense and it almost felt as if the air was charged with energy. In the background, pilots and the techies (technicians/mechanics) were running checks over the mobile suits and preparing for battle. They were soon going to heads towards New Edwards, and the only things that were left to do were to do final system checks on the suits. They were to start towards New Edwards in about 10 hours, after dealing with that base to their northeast, and they were sure that Kai would be back before then.

"He's. a very experienced pilot. I'm sure he'll know exactly what to do with whatever they choose to throw at him, Jacen."

A sudden gust of wind blew over the area. Joyce brushed her hair away as it blew into her face.

"As a matter of fact, he should be back right about. now."

Just then the Sazabi uncloaked behind her, causing many of the other personnel present to look up at it in surprise. After uncloaking, it went into a kneeling position and the cockpit opened up.

* * * * *

I stepped out and got down to the ground to report to Jacen.

"Major Kai reporting for duty, Commander Jacen."

Jacen nodded and then frowned.

"Punctual as ever."

"Just wanted to test out the detection abilities of our forces and the effectiveness of the stealth-cloaking device. As you have just observed, the cloaking device either works very well, or our sensors aren't really all that great."

"That's very interesting, but we shouldn't worry about that now. The freedom of a whole country is at stake here. Come on, I'll run over the plans one more time."

Jacen then walked towards the temporary field command center, which was actually a tent with a large crate inside to use as a table. We followed him and then Jacen walked over to the table. He then laid out a map of the US marked with military base positions and mobile suit movements of both the Federation and the Alliance.

"Alright, we're currently in Washington State with 180 suits. Jerry and Carl are positioned in Texas with 160 suits, Mike and Daniel are in old Chicago with 170, Wong-Fei is by himself in Florida with only 90, and my brother, Davis, is in D.C. with 180 suits and White Base. They are all currently already getting close to New Edwards, and they'll reach the same distance form it as we are now in about 10 hours, if everything goes as planned. They've left behind 10 of their suits at every base that they have destroyed, so the force that actually makes it to New Edwards should be relatively small. Since they don't have a strong military presence in this area, and our suits are superior to whatever the Alliance has, we've already deployed our suits towards various bases in the whole of the Northwest region. If we are successful, we will have full control of the US, including the capital, in just about 10 hours, 15 at the most."

"So we have 10 hours on our hands to waste somehow?"

"I don't think we'll have them wasted, we need to head out now!

Later Jacen, and everyone else got prepared and readies to go.

"Alright, everyone, we are going to proceed on schedule. We will arrive long before any of our other teams will get there, so we'll be the only ones there and we will be without backup. Despite that, we WILL capture New Edwards! Kai, Joyce, and I will head towards New Edwards with 7 suits. The rest of you, hit that base to our northeast."

The various Federation suits, the Excalibur, the Valkyrie, and the Sazabi then powered up.

"Alright, Alpha Force, let's move out!"

He contacted the other segments of the Federations assault force and then warned us of the oncoming battle.

"The Gundam pilots are young and headstrong, and they don't know who we are. We need to be careful."

"That goes without saying. We need to move fast. It's likely the Gundams will destroy EVERYTHING in that base, and we want those Alliance leaders alive."

"In that case, Kai, I really hope that we get there in time to stop them."

"That makes two of use, Joyce."

* * * * *

Though we went at top speed towards the base and reached it within a few hours, our attempt to reach New Edwards before the Gundams was futile. When we got there, we found the gundams already engaged in combat. The Alliance forces present could seemingly do nothing to stop the gundams. As we scanned through the broadcast frequencies, we picked up the frantic transmissions from a variety of Alliance military units. Things were so confusing and chaotic that they didn't even try to encrypt them.

"This is MS Team Five requesting assistance."

"MS Team Ten reporting, we need reinforcements!"

"This is Team Six."

"This is Team Seven, we're getting annihilated.!"

".reporting. mysterious mobile suit is tearing my Team to pieces."

".mysterious mobile suit with a large scythe beam weapon is."

The New Edwards command replied with similarly baffled messages to the Team leaders, as they did not seem to know what was going on, either. They were asking for more detailed descriptions and situation reports, but the mobile suit teams were too busy, or confused, as they were trying to fight back against the gundams. They were also sending out distress signals and requests for assistance to any other friendly military forces in the area and trying to get information from the Alliance intelligence or even the Alliance Central Command. However, they did not get any answers.

Apparently, the rest of the Alliance was just as puzzled as those at the New Edwards base were. We could imagine the frustration of those in the New Edwards Command Center, not being able to make heads or tails of anything that was going on. We heard the various communication and sensor controllers relaying the situation to their higher-ups.

"We have incoming reports of three unidentified mobile suits."

"Check that, I have information from squad leaders telling me that there are only two."

"Not possible. Analysts from Central Command are telling us would take at lot more than just two or three mobile suits to cause such havoc on the military force present here."

"We just lost Team Five."

"Team Twelve is gone."

".lost contact with Team Three."

".not getting any response from Team Fifteen."

"They're dropping like flies, sir.!"

".my god in heaven. three whole mobile suit units aren't responding anymore!"

"They can't hold them! They're breaking through on every."

"Wait. wait a minute. we are getting new contacts from the north, sir!"

".Friendlies?"

".I don't think so."

We knew from that last transmission we intercepted that they had spotted us. We had not even bothered with the stealth cloaks because everyone was distracted by the confusion going on at the base. As we got closer, we saw on our sensors that all five of the gundams were here.

Jacen dashed forward and joined the battle with Wing and Deathscythe.

Then Jacen scans the skies and sees an O.Z. transport.

"That must be..."

Then, Wing gundam suddenly flew up and slashed the shuttle in half. The two halves of the shuttle exploded after a moment and fell back to the earth as two fiery pieces of wreckage. No one could've survived that, and no one had time to parachute out of the shuttle. Wing gundam's attack was just too sudden.

We were about to continue our fight when multiple contacts appeared from the east and south appeared. They were all broadcasting the Federation IFF (Identify Friend or Foe) signals, and were converging on what remained of New Edwards.

Our reinforcements had arrived. Almost all of the buildings were turned to rubble by stray missiles and weapon fire, as well from mobile suits that had fell on them. The wreckage of various kinds of Alliance mobile suits littered the area, as well as a few of our own RX suits. It was all suddenly strangely quite, except for the sound of a few fires and exploding munitions stores and fuel tanks. Staring into the ruin of what was once probably a top of the line and highly guarded Alliance base, one couldn't help but wonder how many died without even knowing what they were fighting for, defending something that they thought was worth their lives. It was a scene I was far too familiar with, and it had lost most of its impact over time. But, still, just to stand there and think.

"Did everyone see that OZ shuttle that tried to escape?"

Jacen's voice once again interrupted my thoughts. He was answered by "Yeah", "Uh huh" from various people that had been fighting and had detected the shuttle when it made its ill-fated run for safety.

"The one that was destroyed by a Gundam?"

He was again affirmed by many of our pilots present at the time.

"I just intercepted a transmission from Trieze to their Central Command. And guess what. The Alliance leaders were in that shuttle."

There was a moment of complete silence before the com lines were filled with cursing and cries of frustration for a few moments before they stopped and Jacen made it official with an announcement.

"That's right, ladies and gentlemen, mission failed."

This meant that the conflict was now probably going to last much longer than we originally intended. However, it wasn't a complete loss as we did manage to free the US from Alliance control. The gundam pilots have disappeared and we now have to prepare for destroying OZ, the Alliance, and the Romefellers, little by little.

Thus began our mission to bring peace,