That's it? I sacrificed my home, my family, I left the life I knew to become a soldier, I risked death time and again, battling fearsome enemies who should have eaten me for breakfast, I threw away my innocence and become a soldier, I throw away my soul and become a killer, I lost the love of my life... I left SO MANY comrades dead on the battlefield... and for all that, my reward is a two-rank promotion and a pay-raise?!
- Lieutenant Amuro Ray -- January 5, UC 0080



Chapter 17: One Man's Past

- April 28, UC 0084 -
- 1023 hours (CST) -
 By the time the alarms started ringing all over the ship, Lieutenant Matsui's team was just arriving at the starboard mobile suit deck, bounding off the bulkhead and slipping into their mobile suits and powering up for the scramble they all knew would follow. Even as he ran his systems checks, Ryo found himself amazed at Lucy's instincts. How does she always know? He thought, powering up his verniers for launch, a half-digested pork chop still churning in his stomach after Lucy had snatched all of them out of the mess hall without warning.

The main hatch opened and on cue, Lucy's mobile suit stepped onto the catapult and squatted down for the launch. Ryo felt his mobile suit lurch from the wash of Lucy's verniers as the catapult fired, then stepped onto the catapult himself and fired into space after her. He had only been in space for a few seconds before a blast of mega particles from the Titans ships zipped past them on one side. "Great, we're launching into a fire fight! I love days like this..."

"Cut the chatter, Izumi. Drop three degrees down and stay clear of the ships line of fire." All three of them were in position now right behind her, and she scanned into the distance where the beams were aimed and finally spotted their objective, "Titans," She muttered in anxiety, "Well whatdya know, it's the Agamemnon!"

Lieutenant Swanson felt a surge of excitement, "Hot damn! Finally some payback!"

Izumi's reaction was more restrained, a gradual swelling of burning hatred. Time to settle the score, Dieter. You've taken one too many people away from me, His computer chirped as a new plot of heat signatures appeared in front of them, and zooming in more he identified them all as RMS-106 Hizack mobile suits launched from the Agamemnon's escort unit. There were twelve Hizacks in front of him, and looking over his shoulder he could see the vernier flashes from the Brisbane and Adelaide's GM unit. Brian's team hasn't launched yet... "Up ahead Lieutenant,"

"I see em. Eric, Izumi, drop off to the right and peal on their left flank. Leave the right to the GMs."

"Copy, Lieutenant," Ryo followed Lucy as she changed course suddenly, somehow coinciding with a burst from the Tarawa's main cannons to bathe the three of them in its crimson glow. The Agamemnon immediately fired back along the same lines, and by the time the glare faded and the Titans pilots could see them again, the three Galbaldys were already in position to attack.

A group of four Hizacks split from the main group and charged in to meet them, with the other eight rolling out and standing their ground in the face of the approaching GMs. Lucy watched a burst of gunfire zip past her cockpit, rolled left and then back right to dodge as their aim became more accurate; only now did she even consider returning fire. "Take the first pass, Eric."

"Roger that," Swanson pushed his throttles to max, pushed ahead of Ryo and Lucy just enough to give himself a lead on them. When the first Hizack came into range, he raised his shield to them and, opened the launchers and fired all three missiles at the one in the rear, adding to it a few quick pulses from his beam rifle. The Hizack managed to dodge his rifle, but the first missile impacted in the middle of its torso, exploding in the cockpit and tearing through the back of the suit before finally splitting the entire machine in half.

Lucy took the next one, locking in with her beam rifle at first, then adjusted her aim four marks up at the very last instant and fired twice. The second shot burned struck just below the mobile suit's head and the pilot sprung from the cockpit as the machine disintegrated behind him.

The lead suit of the Hizack team reversed direction and started to fall back, knowing already it was a hopeless venture; the Galbaldy was much too fast for him to evade them now. "This is Paulson to Agamemnon, I lost Bobby and Sullivan! Send reinforcements bef...!" The rifle burned through his armor just above the radiator, knocking him into a spin for a few moments until his fusion reactor exploded. The last Hizack fired off a long burst from its machinegun in vain before Ryo's rifle struck it down as well, and now all three Galbaldy's charged through the debris towards the Titans warships approaching in the distance.

"Swanson, Izumi, the escorts will try and screen for that heavy cruiser. Save your missiles for the Agamemnon if you can help it."

"Roger that. Let's go nail these..." Ryo sensed an attack from just above him, rolled over to his left just in time to avoid a blast from a Hizack's beam rifle.

He spun around and fired back at his attacker, hitting nothing but empty space as the mobile suit cut back and forth to dodge. He recognized the fighting style even before he heard the cynical laughter on his radio, "Whose side are you on, Ryo? Time to decide!"

"Found you, Dieter!" He slammed his throttles forward and closed the distance to the Hizack even before Dieter had time to get off another shot, spun around as he passed by and fired off shot after shot as he fell away. Dieter dodged under his fire, answered back with his own rifle, his beam glancing off Ryo's shield. The two of them closed in again and began to circle, testing each others defenses looking for an opening. "First the Zeeks, now the Titans! What, do you have a Gestapo complex?!"

"Still playing the underdog, huh Ryo?" Dieter stopped his spin and reversed directions, firing off three quick blasts from his beam rifle.

Ryo dodged over and under his fire, blocking the last one with his shield then fired back with his own rifle, forcing the Hizack to put distance between them again. "You don't even stay loyal to your thugs! You just follow whoever's in power!"

"Hah! That's just like you to glorify mediocrity!" Dieter fired off another shot from his rifle, then heard a dull click as his capacitors ran dry. He moved quickly to change the E-pac as Ryo fired off another barrage and sent him backpedaling in space. "That's your slave mentality, embracing meekness! It's a shame you weren't annihilated with the rest of the sheep!"

"Maybe in your Gihrenist philosophy! How many 'sheep' did you kill just to satisfy your power trip?!" Ryo quickly changed pacs on his rifle again and fired off another series of quick pulses, keeping Dieter on the run and preventing him from getting off a close enough shot. Ryo happened to time his move just right, catching the Hizack on the side of the torso and clipping off a section of armor on one side. Dieter yelped in surprise and struggled to maintain control as Ryo closed in to press his attack. Another blast of mega particles from the Tarawa bathed both of them as they battled, ultimately striking one of the Titans ships directly under its bow.

Ensign Franks saw the explosion on his monitors and let out a triumphant shout, "Direct hit on that Salamis!"

Captain Shiden swatted the air, watching on the monitor as the lead Salamis cruiser twisted in space belching fire from its insides. The ship wouldn't go down from that hit, but a smart captain would know to pull the ship out of the fight before it was too late. "Alright, now concentrate all firepower on the other two cruisers! Give me a full missile barrage in 20 seconds..."

There was no announcement from anyone, only a sudden explosion over the radio: "Matsui to Tarawa, they've broken through!"

The warning brought Captain Shiden to his feet. "How many?!"

Ensign Browning scanned the area and spotted them after a moment, "Four suits! They're headed for the convoy!"

The Captain picked up a handset from his chair, his finger already hovering over the proper call button came down, "Commander Wilson, we have incoming!"

Down in the portside deck, Naomi closed the hatch on the Gundam and grabbed her beam rifle off the rack. "Here they come!"

Rico's GM launched on the catapult without a word, and Brian and Mike followed under their own power one after another. Naomi followed them out, and all four of them spotted the Titans mobile suits almost immediately and charged after them at full thrust.

Naomi's scanners IDd them after half a second and she recognized the markings just as quickly, "Those are the guys from Luna!"

Brian checked for himself and frowned, "The ones who got Alice?"

"No doubt!" She aimed ahead of them and fired two blasts from her beam rifle, but the Titans suits ignored her and went straight after the civilian ships. "They're going for the convoy! Brian, put some pressure on em!" Just before splitting from his group to get ahead of the GMs, Naomi moved up a bit and rested her hand on the back of the GM's foot, "Brian, don't you get killed out here and leave me all alone!" She pulled away before he could acknowledge and zipped in towards the Titans suits, firing two more shots at the lead suit in an effort to slow their advance.

Lieutenant Bate ignored her again and pressed on to her target, though in his mind he was only too aware of what might happen if he turned his back on them for any period of time. "Monsha, New Guy, cover my ass!"

"Ask me nicely, dammit!" The two trailing GM Quells stopped their approach and returned fire at the Gundam, but only now noticed the three GMs already much closer. "How much time you need, Bate?"

"Just give me two minutes!" Bate and Adel both zeroed in on the largest ship in the formation, one of the massive Panzok class supply ships close to the front. Each of them fired off a pair of bazooka shells from the distance, then fired again as they came close, sinking high-explosives into the cargo compartments from bow to stern. The explosions ripped the vessel open like a can of tuna, some of them even punching all the way through the hull; explosive decompression raged out of control and the vessel began ripping itself apart from the inside.

Both of them veered off to strafe the second supply ship, but at the last minute Adel glanced back at the ship, "What the hell is...?!"

Bate glanced back too at the mention of it and stared for a moment, "What's going on here? That transport is supposed to be full of ammunition..." His computer sensed a high-heat source behind him, and he spun around just in time to avoid a blast from Naomi's beam rifle... then it took him half a heartbeat to realize the rifle was not aimed at him, "ADEL!"

The warning was too late: Naomi's second shot took the GM's head off, the third one burned through the Torso just above the cockpit. Adel's GM was knocked back as if hit in the chest with a cannonball, lingered for a moment before a tremendous fireball erupted from within and demolished the suit completely.

Monsha and Osborne spotted the explosion even while avoiding fire from Brian's team, but at this point there wasn't enough time for it to register in their minds. "Bate, they're doggin us here! Gimme a hand!"

Lieutenant Bate would be obliged to do just that, if not for the mobile weapon that suddenly appeared before him with its eyes burning with green fire. "That Gundam..." He growled, discarding his bazooka for a 90mm GM rifle, "Let's see how tough you really are!"

Lucy and Eric both fishtailed between anti-aircraft fire and a few bursts from defending Hizack suits, finally getting into range of the Agamemnon to press an attack. Eric fired off a few blasts from his beam rifle and Lucy all three of her missiles before the anti-aircraft fire from the heavy cruiser forced them to pull back. One of Eric's shots hit the center of the catapult deck, and two of Lucy's missiles slammed into the starboard engine.

Admiral Dyson gripped the side of his chair as the cruiser bucked around him, reading the damage reports as they displayed on the main screen above the forward veiwports, "Dammit! Mobile suit teams, fall back and support the battle group immediately...!" A massive salvo from the Tarawa's main guns passed just over the bridge and to the side of the ship, and immediately the Agamemnon's guns fired back. Somehow the gunners managed to line up just the right angle; both of the starboard guns scored hits, one blowing off a section of the Tarawa's wing, the other hitting the portside engine and ripping it wide open, spilling a fireball out into space.

Dieter heard the signal to pull back, changing to his last E-pac as he did so and carefully plinking at Ryo's mobile suit to try and keep him at bay. "You whine too much, Ryo. You should learn to let go of the past!"

"Bullshit! You single handedly wiped out my entire colony, Dieter! And for what?! Did any of them deserve it?! DID EMMA DESERVE IT?!"

"That's what the paupers of humanity were created for!" A blast from Ryo's rifle clipped part of his shoulder armor and knocked him into a spin. He just managed to stabilize in front of him, and in a sudden desperate burst of adrenaline he let fly with his rifle and one of the missile pods on his waist armor. Ryo fired his own three missiles into Dieter's spread, charged through the explosion into a storm of beam fire; one lucky shot hit his rifle's energy pack and Ryo just managed to toss it away before it exploded. The flash from the explosion concealed him until he was close enough; in another instant, Ryo's beam rifle flashed into existence and sliced through his rifle like a hot knife through butter. Dieter drew his own beam rifle and struck out immediately, clashing with Ryo's saber in an effort to drive him back, "No one can stand on the top unless someone else stands on the bottom! Know your place, Ryo!"

He added a little pressure from his verniers, then reversed suddenly and switched of his beam saber, allowing Dieter to over extend himself. In another instant the saber flared back to life and Ryo struck down on the Hizack, slicing through the right arm just above the elbow. "Even IF that were true, you should have beaten me by now!"

"I've already beaten you, you just refuse to stay down!" Dieter drew another beam saber just in time to block Ryo's next attack, fired his thrusters and reversed back, hoping to work his way back into range of the Agamemnon's defensive guns. "You can keep challenging your destiny but it won't get you anywhere! As long as you live, you will always be subordinate to those in power!" He fired the missiles from his other pod, and Ryo dodged two of them and caught the third one in his shield; the explosion demolished the shield and most of his left arm, and as the haze cleared Ryo just barely managed to raise his beam saber to block his next attack...

A burst of gunfire crossed directly between them, forcing both of them apart from each other and causing both to stop and reevaluate their respective positions. A GM custom in dark blue and green markings charged in with a machinegun in either hand, blasting away primary at Dieter's Hizack in a bid to drive him back to his warship and to separate him from his duel with Ryo. When he looked around, he saw at least a dozen other mobile suits likewise entering the battle, filling the sky with shot rifles and heavy machineguns for no other purpose but to intimidate the Titans and drive them back to their ships. One of them fired off a massive bazooka round into the underside of one of the Salamis cruisers, generating an explosion that almost knocked the cruiser into a spin... then another shot from the far distance, this one hitting Dieter's left leg and destroying it below the knee. With his last bit of power he turned and made a run for the Agamemnon, joined by a half dozen other mobile suits likewise retreating from the battle.

The Agamemnon itself turned away from the battle, its guns still trading punches with the Tarawa even as it began to flee. With only one of its engines still operating the ship's retreat was more than a little sluggish, but with all its mobile suits pulling back as well it was far better than nothing.

Naomi and Brian's three GMs found themselves giving chase to the 4th team, Bate's GM itself missing half of its armor and riddled with 90mm shells, trailing smoke from both of its legs. One look at the Tarawa and the Adelaide and her mind was already made up not to dare try and pursue them. "Enemy is retreating! Brian, get back to the ship and help with the repairs!"

"Roger that!"

While Brian's GM team made a beeline for the stricken Tarawa, Naomi took a few moments to scan around the sky and size up the situation. An additional sixteen mobile suits seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and driven off the Titans, most of them MS-57 Hercules types used by the AEUG.

Captain Shiden watched the new ships approaching on his monitor, an old Zeon heavy cruiser and what looked like a poor-man's refit of a Columbus class supply ship, with a heavy beam cannon bolted to its upper deck and smaller gun turrets bristling along its flanks. He spotted a flash from a signal lamp on the Tivvay, then his main screen switched on as the approaching ship hailed them, "This is the cruiser Titov to assault carrier Tarawa: we're here to escort you to AEUG territory. We request permission to come aboard."

Glancing down from his radar station, Lieutenant Browning found it amazing that something so small could bring a smile to the old man's face. "Permission granted, Titov. We're grateful for any support you could lend."


- 1340 hours (CST) -
Admiral Carter thumbed through the report to the last page, tired of the technical details and skipping to the engineer's summary. What he saw here made his heart flutter: Lucifer's combat system was everything he thought it would be and so much more. He made sure to take the information with a grain of salt, given that it was tested at the ground-department newtypes by Number Four, but as far as he knew his own pilots could come close to matching Four's newtype responses if he pushed them into combat mode long enough. Just to be sure, he began going through research files and compared the combat data on Four to Nine...

As if having been invoked by the reading of her profile, the young pilot's voice exploded in anger in the middle of his office, "You lying son of a bitch! You promised!"

Carter looked up suddenly and found the girl standing there in the middle of the room, a vein standing out on her forehead in what he was sure was a well contained temper tantrum. "How'd you get in here?"

"How many times do I have to tell you..." She stormed up to his desk and slammed her hands on the desktop hard enough to rattle the bookshelf on the other side of the room, "...through the fucking door!"

Knowing full well she couldn't see him, Carter glanced down at Nine's psychological profile, grinning at where he had highlighted the note, 'short tempered.' Biggest understatement of my career, "Is there... something I can help you with, Lieutenant Nine?"

"The hell you can! You broke your promise!"

"Did I? Just exactly did I promise?"

Nine took a deep breath and clenched her hands into fists. If she could see him she would have punched him by now. "You promised me that if I destroyed the Zeons, you would give me that goddamn operation!"

Carter grinned. "Oh, that's right. I DID promise that didn't I?"

She stood upright and stared straight into his eyes, something she did that always made him nervous. "I wiped out the defense forces at Grypps, I destroyed the Ganges, I destroyed the Gagarin, I shot down fifty eight mobile suits..."

"Don't forget the two convoys you and Miranda nailed."

"Yeah, those too! I've done everything you asked me to do, Carter! Now what about our agreement?!"

Carter stood up slowly, and Nine's eyes didn't follow him for a few long moments until she realized he had moved. "You want your sight back?"

"Yes."

"You want your memories back?"

"Yes."

"You think you've earned them?"

"Yes, and you know I've earned it! I've kept my end of the bargain..."

"That's where you and I differ, Lieutenant." Carter stepped out from behind his desk and walked around the back of her, talking almost into her ear, "Our deal was for you to destroy the Zeons occupying Green Noa-II..."

"... and I've done that..."

"... ALL of them, not just a few of them. Unfortunately for you, the damn zeeks scattered like roaches when they saw us coming. If you help us track the rest of them down, I will personally take you to a movie to test out your new peepers."

Her teeth were grinding in her cheeks but for her sake she made every effort to control her rage. "I want your word on that, Carter."

"You have it. You're my best pilot, I wouldn't betray you like that."

Her shoulders sagged in disappointment, and seizing the moment, Carter added, "As usual, our deal has one and ONLY one stipulation..."

"Yes, I know. If I ever betray you, you'll give me to Dyson."

"And I'm sure you know about Admiral Dyson's little... hobby."

"How could I forget?" She turned slowly and made for the door, stopping just short of opening it. "Anyways, why would I betray you? You're the only one who can give me what I want."

"That much is true..." A loud beeping and a flashing on the monitor at his desk warned him of a call from the bridge, "Wait a minute, Nine, this might be important..." He switched on the monitor and looked into the face of his communications officer. "Carter here."

"Sir, we're getting an emergency signal from Rear-Admiral Dyson. He's tracking a large enemy formation near Side 4, headed for Luna. His ship has taken heavy damage and he's requesting assistance."

Carter raised a brow. "He knows we're still testing the new mobile suit. Why doesn't he call the Tarawa? They should be patrolling near Side 4..."

"Sir..." The officer paused for a moment and listened to the rest of the transmission, "Uh... apparently, the Tarawa's gone renegade. They're assisting the AEUG."

"Son of a... Tell Dyson we'll rendezvous in seven hours." He switched the monitor back off again and looked up at Nine; now she was smiling, already knowing what he was about to ask her. "You won't do it, will you?"

"Hell no. I'm here to kill Zeeks. You can hunt those Feddy hotshots on your own time."

She was about to open the door when Admiral Carter stopped, her, "Wait!" She turned back slowly, and listened for what she knew he was about to say, "What if I modify our little deal?"

"Go on."

"The Tarawa's top pilot is a former subordinate... in fact, she used to have YOUR job."

She turned around all the way and grinned. "Go on."

"She's very dangerous, and so are her comrades. They could do a lot of damage before this is over."

Now she folded her arms and smiled wider, increasingly pleased with her position with every passing moment. "And...?"

"You get rid of the Tarawa for me, I'll have your eyes fixed. You get your memories back once you finish with the Zeeks."

Her smile faded a bit. "Don't bullshit me, Carter. I'm blind but I'm not stupid."

"You're also a child, don't forget that. Along with your loyalty, you owe me a little respect."

"I'll wait for you to earn some respect, Carter. Until then, as far as I'm concerned you're still just a pimp with a rank." She turned around again and tapped the keypad, opening the door for her to check her mobile suit for its next mission. "I'll take care of the Tarawa for you... you better not turn out to be ugly!" She said as she left.

Carter chuckled and looked at himself with a hand mirror. "Heh... Jury's still out on that one, Kid."


- 1550 hours (CST)
With the Tarawa's portside engine out of action, all of the warships were on something of a limp... then again, escorting a bunch of civilian ships, they were still forced to reduce speed so some of the slower freighters could keep up. The Titov and Diligent took up the lead of the formation while the Tarawa and her two cruiser supports brought up the rear, a generally modest and ragtag fleet by almost any standards. All were moonward bound, headed for the rendezvous point with AEUG reinforcements at Tycho city, an underground (and underdeveloped) city built a few miles from the lip of Luna's infamous Tycho crater.

As Captain Emeril looked over the convoy from the bridge of his ship, he kept his faith in Vanessa and Duncan Marquise to represent the AEUG. The tension on the bridge of the Tarawa would have given him severe doubts; all of the pilots, along with any other crewmembers present, couldn't help but eyeball the duo in suspicion, bordering on contempt. "We need some kind of assurances," Naomi said, standing in front of the other pilots, her arms folded across her stomach. "You're not exactly the kind of people we'd consider trustworthy."

Vanessa stepped forward angrily. "Oh yeah? We just saved your ass out there, Commander! You think you can't afford to trust us, you really don't have another choice!"

"Hardly. We can choose right now to part ways with you, and let the Titans finish you off. Admiral Dyson is now calling for reinforcements..."

"You've been following our course, you know our destination. We can't let you leave."

"Then I guess you're gonna have to fight us, because...!"

Ryo and Duncan both moved in the exact same way at the exact same time, each yanking the angry representative back by the collar and shushing them into silence. That being done, both Ryo and Duncan met in the middle of the bridge and both took a deep breath. "The tactical situation," Ryo began, "Means that neither of us can afford to move without support of the other."

"I agree. I think that's obvious to everyone here. The problem is the... social situation."

Ryo glanced over his shoulder at the suspicious leering and nodded. "Yeah..."

"It's not like I don't understand. Two months ago we were fighting AGAINST each other..."

"Two months ago we were fighting against everyone in the universe. We just made enemies with the Titans, that means we have no one else to turn to." Ryo glanced back at the others and addressed everyone at once, "The question is whether we can put the past behind us or not."

At that statement, Lieutenant Swanson turned and headed for the door. "This is bullshit, Commander."

"Why, Eric?" Naomi asked gently.

"You have to ask? That Zeon bitch killed Chase, and now all of a sudden we're bosom buddies?!"

Ryo sighed. "Nobody likes this arrangement, Eric, but we don't have another choice."

"I know that. You do what you like, I'm not gonna sit here and listen to this..." Eric closed the hatch behind him, somehow managing to get the system to slam the door for him.

Naomi glanced back and chuckled, Well, at least Eric's back to normal again...

"You're the one who was piloting that Gelgoog, weren't you?" Rico stepped up suddenly, surprising everyone with the action, "You're the guy who killed April?"

Duncan hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "So what if I am?"

Rico stared at him for a moment, then glanced at Vanessa, "Aren't you the one Lucy shot down?"

Vanessa sighed, "Which time?"

An awkward silence invaded the room, oppressing all of them with the stillness of the air pounding in their ears... and then out of nowhere, Lucy started giggling. Vanessa joined in, followed by Naomi... and then all of them looked at each other and started to laugh.

Captain Shiden had been listening silently from his chair until now, but at the sound of this he stood up and walked around to the two groups of enemies, No matter what side they're on, all warriors are bound by honor... "We've had our differences in the past, but now it's time to focus on things that are important. Our number one priority right now are the three-thousand civilians out there, and then we can worry about the Titans."

"Agreed, Captain... and for the time being, at least..." Duncan looked around slowly for the seeds of a protest. He found none, and continued, "Welcome to the Anti-Earth United Government."

"Appreciated." Naomi said earnestly. They changed the acronym. I wonder... "Now, I don't suppose you could spare a few hands to repair our port engine?"

"Of course. The Hercules is designed from a construction suit, after all..." All at once Duncan seemed to remember something, stopped and scanned the group of pilots before him and noticed one absence, "Er... um... where's Alicia?"

Vanessa tried and failed to suppress a chuckle; Brian raised a brow, "What's so funny?"

With a grin the size of Neptune, the older Marquise draped her arm around her little brother's shoulders, "Ever since we picked up your transmissions, Deuce has been going on and on about getting to see his little sweetheart again. Ever since this morning, Alice this and Alice that..."

The atmosphere in the room became suddenly very awkward, yet the remark had driven them all together in some strange way. Everyone knew who got the credit for Alice's death, yet no one within earshot could bring themselves to break the news to the youngster about the demise of his favorite opponent.

Brian sighed, recalling Alice's attitude had seemed almost exactly the same. "She seemed rather interested in you too, now that I think about it..."

"Well, where is she?" Duncan said impatiently.

Brian walked up slowly, put his hand on Duncan's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "Patience, little guy. She will be here very soon."


- 1550 hours (CST) -
It was a very old building in downtown Sweetwater, erected during the early days of the space colonies, even before the drafting of the Earth Federation. It had originally been built by an American architect for another colony, but just looking around the structure, Lieutenant Larson could see all of the renovations and repair work that had pieced the stack of bricks back together again. She guessed correctly that the AEUG Headquarters building, like half the buildings in this colony, had been salvaged from a shattered colony floating somewhere in the Shoal Zone. Almost everything in Sweetwater seemed to have been recycled from the ruins of the One Year War, from the mirror panels that provided sunlight to the very people who depended on them for warmth.

The office of Commodore Brex Forra was stuffy and humid, with poor ventilation and even worse lighting, but it was tastefully furnished with a pair of high-backed leather chairs and a sofa on one wall opposite an impressively equipped bookshelf. All this seemed to confirm Gwen's suspicion that this building had probably been the deans building at some colonial university back before the war. "Aren't your legs tired?" The Commodore said at last, gesturing to one of the chairs in front of his desk. "Have a seat."

Both of the chairs were angled towards his desk so whoever sat down would be fully encouraged to a three-way conversation. She hadn't seen the face of the other man who had been here when she arrived, but taking the Commodore's suggestion she made herself comfortable and took an eyeful of the other man. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Brex," She said, still keeping one eye on the other man.

The Commodore smiled and leaned back slightly in his own chair. "Likewise, Ms. Larson. Needless to say, we owe you a debt of gratitude. Thanks to your cooperation, we managed to make off four ships instead of the intended two... this will go a long way in our efforts."

"Just glad to help out, Commodore." She said, taking her attention off the other man for just a moment. Where have I seen him before? He looks so familiar...

Brex seemed to notice her curiosity and decided not to keep her waiting much longer, "Now... this is Lieutenant Quattro Bajina, a recent defector from the Earth Federal Forces and... well, frankly, he's top dog around here as far as the troops are concerned."

"Is that right?" Gwen sized him up in three seconds; the thick sunglasses, fluffy blond hair, lean build like a wrestler in a dyed-red Federation uniform minus the sleeves... and then the image came crashing down on her from almost a decade ago, a mysterious youngster with the personality of an Admiral and piloting skills of a lifetime veteran. It was hard to believe that this man sitting next to her in Brex's office was the same man she had looked up to for all those years, the man who had years ago given her and hundreds of others like her something more to believe in than where her next paycheck would come from. So Char is still alive? Maybe there IS a God... "A little hero worship, huh?" She said coyly.

Lieutenant Quattro shrugged. "Well, I'm responsible for training the new pilots. The youngsters seem to look up to me for some reason."

If they only knew... "Well, I'm sure you're qualified for the job, Lieutenant, but of course you realize there's no substitute for experience."

Lieutenant Quattro nodded. "Indeed. That's why YOU will be heading out on this next mission."

"Next mission?"

Commodore Brex sighed, almost regretting having to say what he was about to say. "It's a big mess out there, Lieutenant. We just got a report from the Titov that a convoy of civilian ships fleeing Green Noa-II is under fire from a Titans battle group. Titov managed the intercept, but they've also linked up with a Feddy unit that seems... dissatisfied with Titans policies."

"I know the feeling," Gwen self-consciously rubbed the still-visible cigarette burns on her arms. "How many civilians?"

"Three thousand, give or take, and that's a conservative estimate. Emeril thinks there could be twice that."

"And you just need us to rendezvous with the convoy and escort it back to Sweetwater?"

"Precisely. Just keep in mind, under the circumstances this will not be as easy as it sounds. As it stands now, you might have to fight your way back to Side 2 from Luna."

Gwen nodded and made a mental note of it. "Okay, here's the real question: why me? My ship just came into port, she's got a skeleton crew, she needs fuel, ammunition, a new captain..."

"The resupply for the Challenger is already complete, Lieutenant, considering you stole it from Solomon with its magazines topped off. We've already assigned new crewmen to fill your empty duty stations, as you requested. You may still be shorthanded in a few areas, but it'll be more than enough to keep you up and running."

"And still, my original question... why me?"

Lieutenant Quattro leaned forward, plucked a file folder off the Commodore's desk and found the first piece of information he needed, "For one thing, as a former office of the Marquis Fleet you'll be in a better position to deal with the refugees. But besides that, it has to do with the Federation unit the Titov joined up with..."

Quattro handed her the file: a printout of a Federation service record belonging to... "Commander Naomi Wilson." She said, reading the name out loud and trying her best not to show some emotion. "You've got to be shitting me."

Brex looked at her in confusion. "You have a problem, Lieutenant?"

Gwen sighed and slouched heavily in her chair. "I don't know exactly what you've been told about my... er, relationship with Commander Wilson, but... well, sir, we didn't exactly part company on the best of terms. She'd much rather shoot me than talk to me."

Lieutenant Quattro grinned. "So I've heard. That's exactly why we're sending you."

Gwen was about to ask another question when Commodore Brex dropped the bomb on her, "And as for the Challenger needing a new Captain, I don't think that will necessary. The one we have now is more than adequate."

"What are you talking about?"

The Commodore stood up for his chair, reached into his desk and brought to the surface a small wooden case with an AEUG logo on the cover. He dropped the case into Gwen's lap and declared with a grin, "That's all for now. Good luck on your mission, Captain Larson."

Gwen's eyes filled with tears. Opening the case, she felt immediately there was something a little odd about accepting an AEUG rank insignia, especially considering how similar it was to the Federation counterpart. Then again, just having it at all seemed like a sudden skyward thrust of achievement. Outwardly she was confused, but inside she felt like grabbing Commodore Brex and giving him a hug. "Th-Thank you, Sir!"

"Don't thank me. It's the least I could do."

Gwen closed the box again, stood up sharply and saluted. "Sir, the Challenger will depart on its mission just as soon as the resupply is completed and all personnel are accounted for..."

"One more thing, Captain," Brex stepped out from behind the desk, and slowly Larson dropped her salute and stood more at ease, "You'll also be transporting a VIP to and from Tycho city on some urgent business. She never asks for much, but I would like you to treat her with the utmost courtesy."

Gwen looked confused. "What kind of VIP, sir? Top officer or something?"

"Oh, not at all! Merely a young woman who has contributed significantly to the AEUG... an investor, so to speak. Her most recent contributions helped fund one of our corporate dealings with Anaheim Electronics, so just to show gratitude, we're having you play chauffer for a little while. Sorry about this, but..."

Gwen nodded. "It's okay, Sir, I understand. Don't worry, she won't even know she's on a warship."

Brex smiled as Gwen turned to leave the office. "Don't count on that. She's a war-vet herself, you know."

"In that case, we should get along just fine." Gwen closed the big wooden door behind her and Brex heard the creeping footsteps recede down the hall to the barely-operational elevator next to the barely-useable stairwell.

Brex sat back down at his desk and sighed. "What kind of world is this, Lieutenant? Our top officers are getting younger every day."

Quattro frowned. "It's the young people who change the world nowadays. In any case, Gwen Larson is in her forties."

"Is she really?" The Commodore actually did a double take at the now-vacant chair in his office. "Aging gracefully from the looks of things." He plucked the service record from Quattro's hand and scanned over Commander Wilson's history again. "By the way... what IS the deal between Captain Larson and this pilot? Doesn't seem like a happy relationship..."

"It's a bit of a long story, Commodore," Quattro knew all of the specifics by now, but to avoid embarrassing AEUG's newest flag officer he decided to keep Brex out of the loop for now, "Suffice to say, Captain Larson was reckless in her youth."

Brex picked up on the things Quattro did not want to say. "You've met before haven't you?"

"Once or twice."

"On what occasion?"

Lieutenant Quattro paused, took off his sunglasses and looked Brex in the eye, "Hopelessness is a form of spiritual death, Commodore. The condition in which I found Captain Larson years ago... I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy."

Brex stared at him for a few moments, then sighed and stared at the desk top. "Forget I asked."

"Good idea." Quattro put his sunglasses back on and started out of the office. And that's how it'll be, Gwen. You keep my secret, I'll keep yours.