Mobile Suit Gundam Century's Dawn
The calendar of the Universal Century has reached the year 300. The Earth has fallen into a state of disarray due to a
war against an organization of countries who are seeking total world domination. Even though the Earth Federation has
numbers on their side, they are being overwhelmed by the battle-hardened soldiers of the Alliance of Middle-Eastern
Countries. This is because they had one advantage: strange humanoid machines that could devastate entire platoons
with a single strafe. To make matters worse, the Colonies have severed all diplomatic and economic ties.
Now, one ship will reawaken an ancient power that will turn the tides in this Century Dawn War.
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In blind rage, Mileena's Zaku attacked the Exalon, who was trying to find out what happened to their Core Fighter.
Before she could deliver the final blow to Commander Lucas, Koshiro appeared in the Gundam and attacked her back.
Soon, Ben Hoshum, the Dark Messiah, appeared in his Zaku, Archangel along with a small force of Zakus. Ben and
Koshiro engaged in battle before the Zakus were recalled. They left without Mileena.
Henry Kozuko, Chief Engineering Officer of the Exalon stared at the exposed control panel. He let out a loud whistle.
"This thing has some nice insides," he commented. "Neuro-reflexive circuitry, movement sensitive targeting program,
hell, this thing even has an optional flight ability."
"But nothing that looks like a view screen?" Koshiro Anaka asked over his shoulder.
"Maybe, maybe not. The Earth Federation obviously built this thing to be more than a fixed weapon. Hello!" Henry tapped
a circuit and a wire popped out from above. "Here's something.Looks like a headphone jack. There must be a helmet or
something, like our virtual guidance goggles." Henry replaced the plating on the side of the control panel. He and Koshiro
pulled back and sat on the Gundam's giant hand.
Henry said, "The virtual guidance technology is relatively new. If what you said was accurate, then this Mobile Suit
served as the vehicle for the first virtual guidance system."
"Unfortunately they never got a chance to use it," Koshiro exposited. "Their funding stopped. Your virtual goggles
must've been of an off-shoot of this project."
The Gundam's hand lowered to the ground and the two got off. They joined Commander Noah Lucas and Operator Tasha Benson.
"Well, Henry, what's the prognosis?"
"It takes a lot to impress me, Commander, yet this thing has done just that."
"Imagine if all the Federation forces had a Gundam, we'd win this war for sure."
"There might be some blueprints in the computer inside the control room down there." Koshiro pointed to the mountain that
once housed the Gundam.
"Then that's our next stop. Will you show us the way, Koshiro?"
"I'm not sure, what's in it for me?" He asked. Lucas had no reply. "Here's an idea, if I help you, you give me the
Gundam."
"Give you the Gundam?!" Tasha asked wide-eyed.
"It's the least you could do in repayment for destroying my home town."
Lucas sighed and nodded. "Terms accepted."
"All right, I'll show you to the control room. That's where the blueprints will be stored."
Just then one of the cargo bays opened and a humvee drove out. In the driver seat was the helms operator Muro Okawa.
She drove up to the group.
"Commander Lucas, sir, are you all right?"
"No worse for wear. Koshiro Anaka, helms woman Muro Okawa. Muro, this is the Gundam pilot."
Muro looked at him firmly and saluted. Koshiro didn't really know how to respond so he just nodded.
After Muro was given the lowdown, Koshiro picked up everyone in the Gundam's palm and the Gundam got back onto its
platform.
"Lee, it's Koshiro. Can you retract the platform, I'm coming in... and I have some friends of yours."
"Roger, Koshiro." The Gundam got down on one knee and the platform descended.
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The hatch on Mileena's Zaku popped open. Mileena stumbled out. Her face was bloody and her arm hung at her right side.
She was limping.
"They've abandoned me," she said to herself. "My own allies... my comrades... abandoned me... they all will pay...
every one of them will pay!" She hobbled away into the forest, away from her Zaku.
Away from her old life.
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"This base must've been here for at least thirty years," Henry figured as he looked at the shaft.
"How come the Earth Federation didn't know about this?" Muro asked.
Commander Lucas guessed, "It was probably never initiated in the first place."
The platform stopped. Lee was waiting in the middle of the bay where the Gundam was first discovered. She saluted as Lucas
and the others were let down.
"Good to see you alive, Lieutenant," Lucas said returning the salute. "When the Core Fighter crashed, I feared the worse."
"Thank you, sir, Koshiro and I managed to escape just before it was destroyed."
"Lee, the Commander would like you to find the blueprints for the Gundam," Koshiro said reminding them of why they came
down here in the first place.
"Of course, follow me." Lee and the others went into the control room. Henry manned the consol and accessed the blueprints.
Henry let out another whistle. "Wow, these things are very specific. Whoever designed these things planned out
everything in excrutiating detail."
"So what makes these Gundams so remarkable?" Muro asked. "I mean what makes them different from the Zakus?"
"It's their brain," Henry explained. "The Gundam contains a sort of artificial intelligence.Let's call it the G-System for
now. It is capable of analyzing and memorizing attack patterns and strategies of opponents and prepare the necessary
means to counteract it."
"So it was the Gundam that was doing the fighting, not Koshiro?" Tasha asked giving Koshiro, who just walked in, a sly
smile.
"Not really. The G-System prepares the countermeasures but the pilot carries them out. It's like the pilot is the spinal
cord between the brain and body."
"So it's like the Gundam and the pilot are one and the same," Lucas analyzed.
"That's exactly what I mean, but even with the G-System helping, the skills Koshiro displayed during the battle were
incredible."
"You can give us more details later, Henry, right now download the blueprints," Lucas ordered.
"You bet. Tash, got a CD?"
"I don't leave home without one." Tasha reached into the pack and took out a blank CD. Henry inserted it into the drive.
"One Gundam blueprints downloading." Everybody watched as a status bar slowly became blue. The CD was ejected and Henry showed it to them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the fate of the Earth Federation is in our hand."
Suddenly a shot rang out and the disk was thrown from Henry's hand. It landed on the ground. Everybody turned to see a
woman standing by the door. She was dressed in an blue Exalon uniform but the jacket was unzipped revealing a white
undershirt. She was twirling a handgun around her finger like a pro. She had black hair down to her earlobes and tanned
skin.
"Who are you?" Lucas asked. "Why did you do that?"
"Let's just say I represent a party who's very interested in this technology. So rather than download a copy for myself,
I think I'll simply borrow yours."
"Over my dead body," Lucas declared.
"Fine by me," she replied firing her gun, this time directly at the group. Lucas, Muro, Henry, Lee, and Tasha dodged
and aimed their weapon at her. They fired. With uncanny agility, she flipped into the air and dodged all their bullets.
She landed right in front of them. She threw a spinning kick that sent Lucas half way across the room. She got Muro
in a judo hold and threw her at Henry.
A large hand broke through the wall and grabbed her.
"Guns aren't nice," Koshiro said from the open cockpit door.
"True, but then again..." The woman slipped out of her jacket and therefor, out of the Gundam's grasp. "Neither am I." She
flipped over the Exalon crew and grabbed the CD. "Keep the jacket," she called. "Consider it a trade."
"Oh no you don't!" The Gundam's hand came down again, this time his intention was to squish her flat. But she rolled
forward and dove between the Gundam's legs.
Koshiro growled in anger. "Without any decent cameras, my sight is extremely limited!"
"See ya'!" The woman blew a kiss to the Gundam then ran to the ramp. It began to rise up again.
"No!" Koshiro reached out with the Gundam's hand but the rise already disappeared into the tunnel.
Lucas reached for his cell phone. "Shinji, there's a woman in blue heading your way. Use whatever means necessary to stop
her."
"Aye, sir. I'll catch her myself if possible."
"With our weapons destroyed, you just might have to do that, Shinji."
When the woman got back to the surface, she came across Henry and a security detail holding weapons.
"All right, lady, just hand over the disk and you can leave quietly."
"No," the woman said simply. She drew a gun she had tucked underneath her shirt and fired. One of Shinji's security guard
fell. The others returned fire but they all missed. The woman kicked Shinji, shot one of the other guards down then took
off into the forest. When the guards tried to track her, they could find no sign of her.
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"One man dead, two more injured, and now we have a crazy woman with all our secrets," Commander Lucas said, his temper
rising with each word. "Henry, who was that psychopath?"
"You got me, Commander."
"I think I know," Koshiro spoke up. The crew turned towards him. "Her name is Sasari Mei, also known as the Dark Scorpion.
They say she's part of some sort of rebellion that's forming against both the Desert Dictators and the Earth Federation."
"And how do you know all this?" Lee inquired.
"Because... she was originally from Scatterhaven." Henry, Muro, and Tasha were taken aback but the rest weren't. They waited for Koshiro to continue. "My village always wanted to stay neutral. But Sasari wouldn't hear of it. She thought we should rise up against both the Earth Federation and AMEC."
"Why? All we want to do is protect the people."
"Well Sasari didn't think so. She thought that you preferred blowing up the enemy to protecting the people. I can see why
she might think that now. So she took off."
"I see. She must've snuck aboard to find out about our strategies and instead found this," Lucas concluded. "Well, now
we have a problem on our hands. Looks like we'll need that prototype after all, Koshiro."
"It won't be too hard to make another copy," Henry said. "The problem is we now have sensitive information that leaked out.
We need to get this to the Earth Federation Council as soon as possible."
Lucas turned to Koshiro. "Koshiro, if we take the blueprints to the Earth Federation Council, there's a chance they won't
believe us, but if we bring them a working prototype, they just might approve a mass production of the Gundam."
"I don't know. You destroy my home town, kidnap me, put me in danger, and now you expect me to help you?"
"Perhaps you are right. I wouldn't want to put you in danger."
"Well I think it's a little too late for that, isn't it?"
"You're right," Lucas decided. "I retract my offer. We'll have to make do with the blueprints."
"Wait a second, I never said I wouldn't help you."
"Well, which is it?" Henry asked, scratching around his injured hand.
Truthfully, Koshiro didn't know which he should choose. Then he realized that he didn't really had much of a choice.
Whether he liked it or not, he was seen as being on the Federation side now. But he had to look after himself and his
village, despite its current condition.
"I'll tell you what, I'll go with you to the Earth Federation council, vouch for the Gundam and what not, but after that,
I'm out and taking the Gundam with me. You'll still have the blueprints and that backup Gundam."
Lucas sighed. They would lose their main assett but it was a chance he was willing to take. "Agreed. We'll load both
Gundams onto the Exalon and take it to the EF Council in Washington D.C."
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[I'll be right behind you. Now go!]
Those were the words heard right before the entire countryside was engulfed in a flash of light.
Paiyako awoke with fright. She quickly sat up and looked around. She was in the forest laying against a tree. The sun was
still up so she couldn't have been sleeping for long. What worried her was the silence.
The deep silence.
Paiyako got up and turned to look at the horizon. Smoke was still rising from where Scatterhaven once was.
"I have to go back," she declared. She ran down the hill to the path that lead back to the valley. She kept running
until she reached the town limits.
To say that it looked like a war zone would be an understatement. Some building had been completely blown away. Those that were lucky were just made into rubble.
To Paiyako's relief, there were people walking around. She spotted Mr. Christopher, one of her teachers and a long time
friend, tending to a child's wound.
"Mr. Christopher, Mr. Christopher!" She called out.
The elderly man looked up. "Hmm? Paiyako! Thank heavens you're alive."
"So are you! I was afraid everyone was killed."
"Well, there were so few survivors that we all might as well be."
"What?"
"Paiyako, those who weren't killed or injured in the blast are scarred for life. They have been ripped from their families,
their friends, their very way of life. So in short, they were killed."
Paiyako clenched a fist. "It's all the Federation's fault. If they hadn't come..."
"Are you so sure it's the Federation's fault?"
Paiyako looked at him like he was crazy. "I saw the ship! I saw the blasts fire! I saw everything! It was their fault!"
"Well why were they firing? I hardly doubt that they just started firing for the heck of it."
"They were attacking those giant robots..." Paiyako began.
"So these 'giant robots' are just as guilty as the Earth Federation."
"Yeah. I'm sure Koshiro... oh my God, I almost forgot! Mr. Christopher, have you seen Koshiro?"
Mr. Christopher gave her a surprised look. "Koshiro? I haven't seen him all day."
"Oh no, no, no." Paiyako turned and ran from the village. She ran until she came to the battlesite. A Zakus was
strewn about like dead bodies. Metal everywhere, blood everywhere.
"Koshiro!" Paiyako called, then again. "Koshiro! Koshiro, can you hear me?! Koshiro!"
"Paiyako-child." It was Mr. Christopher. He came up to her and put a blanket around her.
Paiyako managed to speak between sobs. "He... he said he would be right behind me. He wanted to stop... them. I haven't gone far when there was this huge flash of light... oh God! Oh God!" Paiyako dropped to her knees."Mr. Christopher... doesn't anybody have any compassion any more?"
"I don't know, Paiyako. Perhaps we were the last compassionate town on the planet."
Paiyako suddenly firmed up and stood dropping the blanket to the ground. "I can never forgive the Federation or AMEC for
what they have done." A red bandanna was carried by the wind over to her. She caught it in her now iron-type grip
and tied it around her head.
"Paiyako, what are you planning on doing?" Mr. Christopher asked.
"I'm going to join the Terran Alliance."
"Sasari's resistance movement? Paiyako, how do you know that exists?"
"I don't. If it doesn't, then I'll make my own. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure AMEC and the Earth Federation get
what's coming to them! Mr. Christopher, please gather up the survivors and lead them to Porter City. The government there
will give them shelter until they can find new housing."
Mr. Christopher nodded. He could see how passionate Paiyako was about this. He couldn't stop her. Paiyako gave
Mr. Christopher an embrace before running off.
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"Well that's it," Henry said. "The Gundams are aboard, I downloaded the blueprints directly to the Exalon's main frame
so we have no more incidents like this one. We're all set."
Commander Lucas nodded and turned to Koshiro. "Koshiro, last chance to change your mind. Do you still want to do this?"
Koshiro nodded. "Looks like I'm in." Lucas, Koshiro, and Henry got into the humvee driven by Muro and the humvee began
driving to the cargo bay of the Exalon. But something was lingering on Muro's mind and Commander Lucas knew what it was.
Her calling out his first name during the battle with the deranged Zaku. Her betrayal of feelings during the battle.
"Commander?" Muro addressed.
"Yes?"
"In all the excitement, I forgot to say... well... I apologize for my... informality during the battle."
Commander Lucas put on a confused face. "Informality?"
"Yes... I had no right to say what I said, you are my superior and you need to be addressed with respect in all
circumstances."
"I apologize too, Commander, I was too busy trying to survive an attack by a Zaku, I'm afraid I didn't hear what you said."
He gave her a small smile that wasn't lost on Koshiro and Henry. "What did you say?"
Muro stared at the spedometer. "Nothing... it was nothing important."
"Oh, okay then. We won't discuss it any further."
"Yes, sir."
Koshiro and Henry saw the look in Commander Lucas' eye. He did hear what she said but apparently he didn't want to
embarrass her.
Koshiro sat back in his seat. This was going to be some weird adventure.
On the Zeon, a soldier came to Captain Garrett. "Sir, our scouts report that the Federation Flagship is powering up."
"Follow them. With any luck, they have the Mobile Suit with them."
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Paiyako discovers the hiding place of Sasari Mei and the Terran Alliance and asks to join. She
discovers that there is another recruit who wants to join: Mileena, a Zaku pilot who defected.
The two are put through tests of strength, endurance, courage, and loyalty. Meanwhile, the Zeon
attacks the Exalon and Koshiro uses the Gundam to defend the ship and the crew.
Next episode: Basic Training.
Warriors are formed.
The calendar of the Universal Century has reached the year 300. The Earth has fallen into a state of disarray due to a
war against an organization of countries who are seeking total world domination. Even though the Earth Federation has
numbers on their side, they are being overwhelmed by the battle-hardened soldiers of the Alliance of Middle-Eastern
Countries. This is because they had one advantage: strange humanoid machines that could devastate entire platoons
with a single strafe. To make matters worse, the Colonies have severed all diplomatic and economic ties.
Now, one ship will reawaken an ancient power that will turn the tides in this Century Dawn War.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In blind rage, Mileena's Zaku attacked the Exalon, who was trying to find out what happened to their Core Fighter.
Before she could deliver the final blow to Commander Lucas, Koshiro appeared in the Gundam and attacked her back.
Soon, Ben Hoshum, the Dark Messiah, appeared in his Zaku, Archangel along with a small force of Zakus. Ben and
Koshiro engaged in battle before the Zakus were recalled. They left without Mileena.
Henry Kozuko, Chief Engineering Officer of the Exalon stared at the exposed control panel. He let out a loud whistle.
"This thing has some nice insides," he commented. "Neuro-reflexive circuitry, movement sensitive targeting program,
hell, this thing even has an optional flight ability."
"But nothing that looks like a view screen?" Koshiro Anaka asked over his shoulder.
"Maybe, maybe not. The Earth Federation obviously built this thing to be more than a fixed weapon. Hello!" Henry tapped
a circuit and a wire popped out from above. "Here's something.Looks like a headphone jack. There must be a helmet or
something, like our virtual guidance goggles." Henry replaced the plating on the side of the control panel. He and Koshiro
pulled back and sat on the Gundam's giant hand.
Henry said, "The virtual guidance technology is relatively new. If what you said was accurate, then this Mobile Suit
served as the vehicle for the first virtual guidance system."
"Unfortunately they never got a chance to use it," Koshiro exposited. "Their funding stopped. Your virtual goggles
must've been of an off-shoot of this project."
The Gundam's hand lowered to the ground and the two got off. They joined Commander Noah Lucas and Operator Tasha Benson.
"Well, Henry, what's the prognosis?"
"It takes a lot to impress me, Commander, yet this thing has done just that."
"Imagine if all the Federation forces had a Gundam, we'd win this war for sure."
"There might be some blueprints in the computer inside the control room down there." Koshiro pointed to the mountain that
once housed the Gundam.
"Then that's our next stop. Will you show us the way, Koshiro?"
"I'm not sure, what's in it for me?" He asked. Lucas had no reply. "Here's an idea, if I help you, you give me the
Gundam."
"Give you the Gundam?!" Tasha asked wide-eyed.
"It's the least you could do in repayment for destroying my home town."
Lucas sighed and nodded. "Terms accepted."
"All right, I'll show you to the control room. That's where the blueprints will be stored."
Just then one of the cargo bays opened and a humvee drove out. In the driver seat was the helms operator Muro Okawa.
She drove up to the group.
"Commander Lucas, sir, are you all right?"
"No worse for wear. Koshiro Anaka, helms woman Muro Okawa. Muro, this is the Gundam pilot."
Muro looked at him firmly and saluted. Koshiro didn't really know how to respond so he just nodded.
After Muro was given the lowdown, Koshiro picked up everyone in the Gundam's palm and the Gundam got back onto its
platform.
"Lee, it's Koshiro. Can you retract the platform, I'm coming in... and I have some friends of yours."
"Roger, Koshiro." The Gundam got down on one knee and the platform descended.
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The hatch on Mileena's Zaku popped open. Mileena stumbled out. Her face was bloody and her arm hung at her right side.
She was limping.
"They've abandoned me," she said to herself. "My own allies... my comrades... abandoned me... they all will pay...
every one of them will pay!" She hobbled away into the forest, away from her Zaku.
Away from her old life.
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"This base must've been here for at least thirty years," Henry figured as he looked at the shaft.
"How come the Earth Federation didn't know about this?" Muro asked.
Commander Lucas guessed, "It was probably never initiated in the first place."
The platform stopped. Lee was waiting in the middle of the bay where the Gundam was first discovered. She saluted as Lucas
and the others were let down.
"Good to see you alive, Lieutenant," Lucas said returning the salute. "When the Core Fighter crashed, I feared the worse."
"Thank you, sir, Koshiro and I managed to escape just before it was destroyed."
"Lee, the Commander would like you to find the blueprints for the Gundam," Koshiro said reminding them of why they came
down here in the first place.
"Of course, follow me." Lee and the others went into the control room. Henry manned the consol and accessed the blueprints.
Henry let out another whistle. "Wow, these things are very specific. Whoever designed these things planned out
everything in excrutiating detail."
"So what makes these Gundams so remarkable?" Muro asked. "I mean what makes them different from the Zakus?"
"It's their brain," Henry explained. "The Gundam contains a sort of artificial intelligence.Let's call it the G-System for
now. It is capable of analyzing and memorizing attack patterns and strategies of opponents and prepare the necessary
means to counteract it."
"So it was the Gundam that was doing the fighting, not Koshiro?" Tasha asked giving Koshiro, who just walked in, a sly
smile.
"Not really. The G-System prepares the countermeasures but the pilot carries them out. It's like the pilot is the spinal
cord between the brain and body."
"So it's like the Gundam and the pilot are one and the same," Lucas analyzed.
"That's exactly what I mean, but even with the G-System helping, the skills Koshiro displayed during the battle were
incredible."
"You can give us more details later, Henry, right now download the blueprints," Lucas ordered.
"You bet. Tash, got a CD?"
"I don't leave home without one." Tasha reached into the pack and took out a blank CD. Henry inserted it into the drive.
"One Gundam blueprints downloading." Everybody watched as a status bar slowly became blue. The CD was ejected and Henry showed it to them.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the fate of the Earth Federation is in our hand."
Suddenly a shot rang out and the disk was thrown from Henry's hand. It landed on the ground. Everybody turned to see a
woman standing by the door. She was dressed in an blue Exalon uniform but the jacket was unzipped revealing a white
undershirt. She was twirling a handgun around her finger like a pro. She had black hair down to her earlobes and tanned
skin.
"Who are you?" Lucas asked. "Why did you do that?"
"Let's just say I represent a party who's very interested in this technology. So rather than download a copy for myself,
I think I'll simply borrow yours."
"Over my dead body," Lucas declared.
"Fine by me," she replied firing her gun, this time directly at the group. Lucas, Muro, Henry, Lee, and Tasha dodged
and aimed their weapon at her. They fired. With uncanny agility, she flipped into the air and dodged all their bullets.
She landed right in front of them. She threw a spinning kick that sent Lucas half way across the room. She got Muro
in a judo hold and threw her at Henry.
A large hand broke through the wall and grabbed her.
"Guns aren't nice," Koshiro said from the open cockpit door.
"True, but then again..." The woman slipped out of her jacket and therefor, out of the Gundam's grasp. "Neither am I." She
flipped over the Exalon crew and grabbed the CD. "Keep the jacket," she called. "Consider it a trade."
"Oh no you don't!" The Gundam's hand came down again, this time his intention was to squish her flat. But she rolled
forward and dove between the Gundam's legs.
Koshiro growled in anger. "Without any decent cameras, my sight is extremely limited!"
"See ya'!" The woman blew a kiss to the Gundam then ran to the ramp. It began to rise up again.
"No!" Koshiro reached out with the Gundam's hand but the rise already disappeared into the tunnel.
Lucas reached for his cell phone. "Shinji, there's a woman in blue heading your way. Use whatever means necessary to stop
her."
"Aye, sir. I'll catch her myself if possible."
"With our weapons destroyed, you just might have to do that, Shinji."
When the woman got back to the surface, she came across Henry and a security detail holding weapons.
"All right, lady, just hand over the disk and you can leave quietly."
"No," the woman said simply. She drew a gun she had tucked underneath her shirt and fired. One of Shinji's security guard
fell. The others returned fire but they all missed. The woman kicked Shinji, shot one of the other guards down then took
off into the forest. When the guards tried to track her, they could find no sign of her.
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"One man dead, two more injured, and now we have a crazy woman with all our secrets," Commander Lucas said, his temper
rising with each word. "Henry, who was that psychopath?"
"You got me, Commander."
"I think I know," Koshiro spoke up. The crew turned towards him. "Her name is Sasari Mei, also known as the Dark Scorpion.
They say she's part of some sort of rebellion that's forming against both the Desert Dictators and the Earth Federation."
"And how do you know all this?" Lee inquired.
"Because... she was originally from Scatterhaven." Henry, Muro, and Tasha were taken aback but the rest weren't. They waited for Koshiro to continue. "My village always wanted to stay neutral. But Sasari wouldn't hear of it. She thought we should rise up against both the Earth Federation and AMEC."
"Why? All we want to do is protect the people."
"Well Sasari didn't think so. She thought that you preferred blowing up the enemy to protecting the people. I can see why
she might think that now. So she took off."
"I see. She must've snuck aboard to find out about our strategies and instead found this," Lucas concluded. "Well, now
we have a problem on our hands. Looks like we'll need that prototype after all, Koshiro."
"It won't be too hard to make another copy," Henry said. "The problem is we now have sensitive information that leaked out.
We need to get this to the Earth Federation Council as soon as possible."
Lucas turned to Koshiro. "Koshiro, if we take the blueprints to the Earth Federation Council, there's a chance they won't
believe us, but if we bring them a working prototype, they just might approve a mass production of the Gundam."
"I don't know. You destroy my home town, kidnap me, put me in danger, and now you expect me to help you?"
"Perhaps you are right. I wouldn't want to put you in danger."
"Well I think it's a little too late for that, isn't it?"
"You're right," Lucas decided. "I retract my offer. We'll have to make do with the blueprints."
"Wait a second, I never said I wouldn't help you."
"Well, which is it?" Henry asked, scratching around his injured hand.
Truthfully, Koshiro didn't know which he should choose. Then he realized that he didn't really had much of a choice.
Whether he liked it or not, he was seen as being on the Federation side now. But he had to look after himself and his
village, despite its current condition.
"I'll tell you what, I'll go with you to the Earth Federation council, vouch for the Gundam and what not, but after that,
I'm out and taking the Gundam with me. You'll still have the blueprints and that backup Gundam."
Lucas sighed. They would lose their main assett but it was a chance he was willing to take. "Agreed. We'll load both
Gundams onto the Exalon and take it to the EF Council in Washington D.C."
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[I'll be right behind you. Now go!]
Those were the words heard right before the entire countryside was engulfed in a flash of light.
Paiyako awoke with fright. She quickly sat up and looked around. She was in the forest laying against a tree. The sun was
still up so she couldn't have been sleeping for long. What worried her was the silence.
The deep silence.
Paiyako got up and turned to look at the horizon. Smoke was still rising from where Scatterhaven once was.
"I have to go back," she declared. She ran down the hill to the path that lead back to the valley. She kept running
until she reached the town limits.
To say that it looked like a war zone would be an understatement. Some building had been completely blown away. Those that were lucky were just made into rubble.
To Paiyako's relief, there were people walking around. She spotted Mr. Christopher, one of her teachers and a long time
friend, tending to a child's wound.
"Mr. Christopher, Mr. Christopher!" She called out.
The elderly man looked up. "Hmm? Paiyako! Thank heavens you're alive."
"So are you! I was afraid everyone was killed."
"Well, there were so few survivors that we all might as well be."
"What?"
"Paiyako, those who weren't killed or injured in the blast are scarred for life. They have been ripped from their families,
their friends, their very way of life. So in short, they were killed."
Paiyako clenched a fist. "It's all the Federation's fault. If they hadn't come..."
"Are you so sure it's the Federation's fault?"
Paiyako looked at him like he was crazy. "I saw the ship! I saw the blasts fire! I saw everything! It was their fault!"
"Well why were they firing? I hardly doubt that they just started firing for the heck of it."
"They were attacking those giant robots..." Paiyako began.
"So these 'giant robots' are just as guilty as the Earth Federation."
"Yeah. I'm sure Koshiro... oh my God, I almost forgot! Mr. Christopher, have you seen Koshiro?"
Mr. Christopher gave her a surprised look. "Koshiro? I haven't seen him all day."
"Oh no, no, no." Paiyako turned and ran from the village. She ran until she came to the battlesite. A Zakus was
strewn about like dead bodies. Metal everywhere, blood everywhere.
"Koshiro!" Paiyako called, then again. "Koshiro! Koshiro, can you hear me?! Koshiro!"
"Paiyako-child." It was Mr. Christopher. He came up to her and put a blanket around her.
Paiyako managed to speak between sobs. "He... he said he would be right behind me. He wanted to stop... them. I haven't gone far when there was this huge flash of light... oh God! Oh God!" Paiyako dropped to her knees."Mr. Christopher... doesn't anybody have any compassion any more?"
"I don't know, Paiyako. Perhaps we were the last compassionate town on the planet."
Paiyako suddenly firmed up and stood dropping the blanket to the ground. "I can never forgive the Federation or AMEC for
what they have done." A red bandanna was carried by the wind over to her. She caught it in her now iron-type grip
and tied it around her head.
"Paiyako, what are you planning on doing?" Mr. Christopher asked.
"I'm going to join the Terran Alliance."
"Sasari's resistance movement? Paiyako, how do you know that exists?"
"I don't. If it doesn't, then I'll make my own. I'll do whatever it takes to make sure AMEC and the Earth Federation get
what's coming to them! Mr. Christopher, please gather up the survivors and lead them to Porter City. The government there
will give them shelter until they can find new housing."
Mr. Christopher nodded. He could see how passionate Paiyako was about this. He couldn't stop her. Paiyako gave
Mr. Christopher an embrace before running off.
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"Well that's it," Henry said. "The Gundams are aboard, I downloaded the blueprints directly to the Exalon's main frame
so we have no more incidents like this one. We're all set."
Commander Lucas nodded and turned to Koshiro. "Koshiro, last chance to change your mind. Do you still want to do this?"
Koshiro nodded. "Looks like I'm in." Lucas, Koshiro, and Henry got into the humvee driven by Muro and the humvee began
driving to the cargo bay of the Exalon. But something was lingering on Muro's mind and Commander Lucas knew what it was.
Her calling out his first name during the battle with the deranged Zaku. Her betrayal of feelings during the battle.
"Commander?" Muro addressed.
"Yes?"
"In all the excitement, I forgot to say... well... I apologize for my... informality during the battle."
Commander Lucas put on a confused face. "Informality?"
"Yes... I had no right to say what I said, you are my superior and you need to be addressed with respect in all
circumstances."
"I apologize too, Commander, I was too busy trying to survive an attack by a Zaku, I'm afraid I didn't hear what you said."
He gave her a small smile that wasn't lost on Koshiro and Henry. "What did you say?"
Muro stared at the spedometer. "Nothing... it was nothing important."
"Oh, okay then. We won't discuss it any further."
"Yes, sir."
Koshiro and Henry saw the look in Commander Lucas' eye. He did hear what she said but apparently he didn't want to
embarrass her.
Koshiro sat back in his seat. This was going to be some weird adventure.
On the Zeon, a soldier came to Captain Garrett. "Sir, our scouts report that the Federation Flagship is powering up."
"Follow them. With any luck, they have the Mobile Suit with them."
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Paiyako discovers the hiding place of Sasari Mei and the Terran Alliance and asks to join. She
discovers that there is another recruit who wants to join: Mileena, a Zaku pilot who defected.
The two are put through tests of strength, endurance, courage, and loyalty. Meanwhile, the Zeon
attacks the Exalon and Koshiro uses the Gundam to defend the ship and the crew.
Next episode: Basic Training.
Warriors are formed.