Chapter 3: Respite

3rd June UC 0351
Anaheim Electronics space dock ship La Vie En Rose
On route to Frontier I

The giant flower-like space dock ship La Vie En Rose VI was a welcome sight to the crew of the Victory. The La Vie En Rose VI joined the two MCDA ships and deployed a screen of dummy asteroids to act as cover and to confuse any watching enemies. It was the Brazen that would first get the dock ship's attention as the small cruiser was locked in place by the great docking arms. Although the old cruiser was in relatively good condition, considering its age, Commander Barther had some concerns about the reactor and had requested that the La Vie En Rose VI's technicians check it over first.

The Victory was brought alongside the dock ship and a small shuttle was launched from the battleship, it carried Captain Rawlings and the mobile suit-less pilots. Rawlings had wanted to bring Jason along but Romana had demanded he be given some time to rest properly after the last battle. Normally Rawlings wouldn't allow some teenage to order him around but he considered it prudent to allow a little leeway in their case. He really wanted to retain Jason's services until the Victory got her full compliment of twelve mobile suits however he was sure that Romana would have something to say about that.

"Mr Hall, you're a historian," said Rawlings. "What can you tell me about the La Vie En Rose ships?"

"Well Captain they are operated by Anaheim Electronics. The original La Vie En Rose was famous for supporting numerous warships that carried Gundams during the 0080s," replied Kieron. "She was sunk in UC 0089. The other ships had much less glamorous careers. The current one, number VI, is quite new she was only completed a few years ago thanks to the revival in Anaheim Electronics' financial fortunes."

"I hear they've got a load of cute gals working over there as engineers," commented Harold Westings from the back row. "I sure hope we get to meet some."

"Oh grow up Harold," sighed Max Clifford. "As if any high class Anaheim Electronics lady would want to meet you. They're far more likely to be attracted to a refined person of breeding."

"Like you?" scoffed Harold. "Dream on Max you are no more refined than I am, we grew up together remember. Everyone knows gals dig pilots, I'm sure there will be plenty to go around."

The shuttle slowly swooped round and came in on final approach to the small shuttle hanger just below on of the giant bracing arms.

"Would you two behave yourselves," snapped Hall. He didn't really mind their banter but he thought they shouldn't be behaving like this in front of the Captain.

"It's alright Flight Lieutenant. I'm sure your pilots have just become restless without mobile suits," said Captain Rawlings levelly. "Hopefully the La Vie En Rose VI will be able to rectify that. Of course I expect you all to be on your best behaviour. I understand that Anaheim is still a little jittery about openly supporting the MCDA."

"Yes sir," replied the trio of pilots. The shuttle settled on to the landing pad and then the massive doors of the bay closed slowly behind them.

---

Mutual Colony Defence Alliance battleship Victory,
On route to Frontier I

Romana Tyler pulled her jacket close around her body. The cabin was dark; the lights were off because Jason was still sleeping. She turned to look at him; he was restlessly, tossing and turning getting entangling in the duvet. She was worried. Jason hadn't been sleeping well for over a week now; ever since they arrived at the asteroid Solomon he'd been restless while sleeping, now that they'd moved onto the Victory it hadn't gotten any better.

She didn't think that piloting that Gundam was good for him either. The way he acted after the last sortie was as if he actually enjoyed it. As far as she was concerned the conflict with the Empire shouldn't involve Jason and herself, it had nothing to do with them. It was true that they'd both had run-ins with the Empire in the past but they'd moved on from that. She'd tried talking with Jason earlier but he'd just gone straight to bed. She couldn't help but worry about him; she cared deeply for him and didn't want to see him get hurt.

She stood and moved to the door; maybe if she went for a little walk she'd be able to clear her head. She pressed the button next to the door to open it. She was shocked to see a woman standing at the door with their arm raised as if to knock.

"Oh hello," said the woman standing in the doorway. "I'm Doctor Dianna Livingston, the chief medical officer on this rust bucket."

"Hello Doctor, is there something I can do for you?" Romana recovered quickly to reply, she hadn't been expecting a visit from anyone.

"Yes the captain asked me to get both you and Mr Wright to undergo a basic medical examination," said Doctor Livingston. "It's just a standard thing that we get all crew members to do every now and again."

"But we're not crew," commented Romana.

"I know but since it might be a little while before we get back to Frontier I, I'd prefer to know the condition of everyone on the ship, just to be sure," said the doctor. "Don't worry it shouldn't take too long."

"Okay," conceded Romana. "But Jason's still sleeping so please let him rest."

"That's okay," said Livingston with a smile. "He can wait a little while. This way please," She motioned with her arm the direction in which they would be going.

---

AE space dock ship La Vie En Rose VI
On route to Frontier I

After Rawlings' shuttle docked with the La Vie En Rose VI a seemingly generic young officer greeted the party from the Victory and escorted them to one of the La Vie En Rose's many briefing rooms. The room itself wasn't particularly noteworthy, apart from the odd pot planet here and there, but it was a lot bigger than similar rooms on the Victory.

Commander Barther was already in the room along with a bespectacled man wearing the blue uniform of an Anaheim Electronics ship captain.

"Ah Captain Rawlings how good of you to join us," said the bespectacled man. "Commander Barther was just telling me about your latest little run in with the Empire. I am Captain Manering, the Council requested that I rendezvous with you as soon as they heard you were in trouble."

"On behalf of myself and my crew I thank you for taking the risk to come out here and give us a hand," replied Rawlings carefully. "Things were getting ever so slightly tricky."

"I expect your pilots are anxious to get their hands on the mobile suits we've brought you," said Captain Manering. With a simple hand gesture Manering summoned a crewman. "Take these men down to the hanger will you," The crewman saluted and then ushered Hall and the other pilots from the room. "Please take a seat Captain. So where is this civilian that piloted the Gundam?"

"Thank you sir," replied Rawlings who sat at in one of the seats around the large table. "Mr Wright is still on the Victory; his partner, Ms Tyler, was adamant that he should be allowed to rest."

"Before we came here we linked in with the Frontier Side civilian database and pulled up their records," said Manering. He worked a control panel built into the table and a data record appeared on a large wall monitor. "Jason Wright was born 4th March UC 0333 at Loum General Hospital on Frontier I. His parents were David and Mary Wright, a pair of diplomats who dealt with the Empire, they were killed in UC 0340 there are those who claim it was an assassination carried out by the Empire. With no other living relatives he was sent to a state orphanage, however he ran away. Not much else is know until he turns up again in UC 0349 as owner of a cargo ship named Vixen, which he has operated ever since. In September UC 00350 he enrolled a seven year old girl named Abby into Moorsand School on Frontier I, it is unknown who exactly this child is."

"If his parents were killed by the Empire then maybe we can convince him to fight for us," said Barther as he leaned back in his chair. "Revenge is a great motivator."

"It might be good at getting people motivated but it's lousy at encouraging teamwork. I don't want a loose cannon," replied Rawlings, "I rather he join us of his own volition."

"Next we have Romana Tyler, born 23rd November UC 0333 at Libot Colony, Side 5. Not a great deal is known about her past since she's from occupied territory. We do however know that her mother was executed for spreading sedition and her father ran a cargo haulage company. She turns up late in UC 0349 sharing the same apartment with Mr Wright," said Manering. "Not really much to go on."

"To be honest I think they come as a pair," commented Barther "I think she'll follow him whatever he does, she's very devoted to him."

"True, but she does have a lot of influence over him," remarked Rawlings. "She's very strong willed and persistent. I told you that she came to see me and demanded we pay for a new ship for them."

"It seems that we have little control over them," declared Manering as he drummed his fingers on the table. "He knows what the Empire is like. We can only hope that he realises what we are trying to achieve here and joins us."

"Captain Manering can I ask you how many mobile suits you brought with you?" asked Rawlings. "Considering our previous battles I'm a little concerned."

"We have five standard Merlins and one of the reconnaissance types," replied Captain Rawlings. "I know its more suits than you have pilots but there isn't anything I can do about that, you have more pilots waiting for you at Frontier I and Granada."

"I'm beginning to think that splitting up the training facilities was more trouble than it was worth," said Barther. "Now we have to run around trying to get together enough pilots to fill out our roster."

Rawlings sighed, Barther had a point but at the moment the MCDA wasn't strong enough to do anything very overtly and thus there had to be a lot of cloak and dagger activity. "It might be an annoyance now Commander but it will be beneficial in the long run, all our planning must be long run, this war won't be won any time soon."

Kieron Hall was very impressed by the display in the La Vie En Rose VI's hanger. The five Merlin general use mobile suits were all factory fresh and their blue paintwork still had its shine. They looked a lot different to the Empires mobile droids, which had sharp angular lines of construction; the Merlins were far more rounded and had the same style of duel sensor 'eyes' as the Raystrike Gundam. The Merlin's two beam sabres were stored in recharge sockets built into the mobile suits' backpack, giving it a distinctive look. Kieron had seen the concept sketches and even worked in simulators that depicted the Merlin in every detail but actually seeing them in real life filled him with pride and even made him a little giddy with excitement.

"They sure look good don't they Flight Lieutenant?" asked Max, the three pilots were all standing in the middle of the hanger looking at the Merlins. "I can't wait to try mine out."

"It's about time we actually get a chance to do our job," said Harold. "Jason's good and all that but he shouldn't have to fight for us."

"I understand the Captain said he could stop once we got our mobile suits," commented Kieron. "Personally I'd rather see him stay with us until there are a few more pilots. He's the only one that's been able to get the Gundam to work properly."

"I'm sure when these Anaheim guys check it over they'll be able to work out why," said Max as the trio walked up to the Merlins and started looking over them. "Anaheim used to make Gundams didn't they Flight Lieutenant?"

"Yeah a long time ago," replied Kieron rather dreamily. He ran a hand down the Merlins leg, feeling all the little lumps and bumps in the armour plating. He stepped round the back and looked up at the backpack with its trio of thrusters and then further down an extra set of thrusters on the backs of the legs.

"Hey you down there!" called a female voice from above. Kieron turned around to see from whom the voice originated. "You must be the pilots," He spotted the woman descending from one of the upper gantries; she wore a dirty blue overall and her black hair up in a bun.

"Yeah we're the pilots from the Victory," said Kieron to the descending woman. "I'm Flight Lieutenant Kieron Hall; they are Flying Officer Clifford and Pilot Officer Westings. If you don't mind me asking who are you?"

"I'm the one who designed these mobile suits for the MCDA," said the woman as she made contact with the hanger deck plating. She was quite petite and had a studious air about her thanks to her black rimmed glasses. "My name is Maria Grace. So you're the ones who're going to go and break my pretty little Merlins."

"We have no intention of breaking your Merlins, Ms Grace," said Max as he approached the little gathering behind Hall's Merlin.

"Yeah the only thing we want to break is a few Lambda droids," interjected Harold.

"I thought there were four of you," she totally ignored Max and Harold. "Where's the guy who made that old relic move? I want to meet him!"

"He's still on the Victory," replied Kieron, he wasn't exactly sure how to deal with Maria Grace, she wasn't as he expected. "When we take the Merlins over I'm sure you'll be able to meet him."

Even as he spoke Grace wasn't really paying attention to him, she was far too busy watching the technicians working in the hanger. Her bespectacled eyes spied a worker carrying a selection of parts over to one of the Merlins. Suddenly she screeched and kicked off the deck hurling herself towards the poor worker. "What the do you think you are doing?" she shrieked as she cannoned into him. "How dare you use such substandard parts on my precious Merlins!"

Hall, Westings and Clifford all took a few steps back and watched the unfolding events. Several other workers appeared and attempted to drag Grace away and calm her down. Slowly Max turned to Kieron. "Sir what just happened?"

Kieron slowly raked a hand through his hair and then sighed. "So this is the great Maria Grace? I had no idea, why are the brainy ones always the most eccentric?"

---

Empire of Lambda Colonies Space Forces patrol ship Pious,
Near the Main L5-L1 SpaceLane

The Empire of Lambda Colonies patrol ship Pious waited patiently just off the main transit space lane linking the Frontier Side with the Empire homeland of Side 1. After the Empire took control of shipping between the Sides they instigated a series of reforms that created official space lanes in which different kinds of vessels could use. The intention was to reduce piracy since the Imperial Fleet could protect cargo ships easier if they travelled along specific lines. The space lanes system was enforced vigorously by the Imperial Fleet with heavy fines and even imprisonment for repeat offenders who failed to keep within their designated lane.

Lieutenant Icarus Miarcaril drummed his fingers on the arm rest of his command chair, he'd been doing a lot of waiting around for reinforcements recently and it was beginning to grate on him. This time however it appear that the High Operational Command had finally got its act together and dispatched a Virtuous class cruiser, while not the most powerful warship in the fleet a Virtuous class cruiser far outgunned a little patrol ship like the Pious and might just have a chance against the enemy battleship. Equipped with eight mobile droids the Virtuous class was the latest in a long line of cruisers employed by the Empire, the bulk of the Imperial cruiser fleet was still made up of the older Inquisitor class cruisers since the new Virtuous class had only been introduced into active service four months previously. The Empire had developed a habit of introducing new cruiser designs on the turn of a decade but development problems had pushed back the Virtuous commission date into UC 0351; while the delay had been a humiliating blunder to Tactical Command, the branch of the Empire command structure which controlled cruisers, it didn't trouble the crews that received the new ships since they were such high quality machines.

Miarcaril was quite envious those who received command of such vessels, as far as he was concerned they were a million times better to the rust bucket he currently commanded. He made no attempt to hide his desire to be promoted and be given a larger more powerful ship. He'd thought the discovery of the enemy battleship would give him the perfect opportunity to develop his reputation further but so far his enemy had be unequivocally resolute. Now the command of the operation would fall to the captain of the cruiser since Tactical Command was dominant over Border Command, which the patrol ship fleet came under in the command structure, and if they were victorious all the praise would fall on him instead of Icarus.

Icarus watched as the Virtuous class cruiser came into view. It was a very visually pleasing design of warship; at over four hundred and eighty meters long and just over one hundred wide it simply dwarfed Icarus' tiny patrol ship. The name plate on the bow of the ship proclaimed it to be called the Inquisitor, the first batch of a new class were often named after the classes that proceeded them; on various patrols Icarus had already crossed paths with the Leonas, Zarn and Empire but he'd never worked with one of the Virtuous' before. He brought up the data file on the Inquisitor and displayed in on his command chair mounted screen; her captain was William Brentfield, a resident of Eboracum colony and a rising star in the eyes of Tactical Command. It was unusual for people to be born on Eboracum because in the early years of the Empire the entire colony had been converted into a massive shipyard and droid works, the vast majority of the Empire's military hardware was produced there.

"Mr Colinworth would you be so kind as bring us along side the Inquisitor," ordered Miarcaril. "I suspect the good Captain Brentfield will be requesting my presence soon enough."

---

MCDA battleship Victory
On route to Frontier I

One after another the Victory's three new Merlin mobile suits landed on portside catapult deck, then the armoured hanger doors opened to allow them into the hanger. The other pilotless Merlin and the reconnaissance unit had already been stowed on the lower hanger deck, thus the three newly arrived Merlins were locked into some of the many mobile suit cradles that lined the main hanger deck; the Raystrike Gundam was off in its own little alcove.

Kieron ran his hands over the smooth interior of his Merlins cockpit; even through his pilot suit it felt good. The linear floating seat had been specifically designed to give the pilot the optimum field of view, a lot of the bulk been stripped down to give it an ultra sleek look; the 360-degree panoramic monitor was also flawless, Kieron couldn't spot a single join. When the hanger had been resealed and the air was circulating again he took off his pilot suit helmet and opened the Merlin's hatch.

Standing on the hatch plate he surveyed the whole hanger. A lot the Victory's previously idle mechanics and technicians were now crowded around the new mobile suits, he could see the ships chief mechanic Melvyn Quek standing at the back of the group. Kieron knew that Quek's judgement on the Merlins would carry a lot of weight; he was considered one of the best mechanics on the whole MCDA fleet.

"So these are your new toys then?" asked Jason Wright from the gantry behind the Merlins. He smiled and added. "Mine's bigger."

"Size doesn't count, it's what you do with it," replied Kieron with a smirk on his face.

Jason kicked off the gantry and landed on the Merlin's head before dropping down next to Kieron. "I would have been here sooner but your Doctor Livingston wanted to prod and poke me for god knows how long."

"That's just standard procedure," said Kieron. "Anyway now we'll be able to give you a hand out there, assuming you'll stay on and help us."

Jason sighed, he knew it'd come down to this eventually. He gently set himself down and dangled his legs over the edge of the hatch. "I don't know about that. Rawlings said I could stop once you lot got some mobile suits, but there's only three of you and we're still a way from the border."

"I won't force you," said Kieron in a tone of voice he thought might be comforting. "I'd love to have you pilot with us, heck we need everyone we can get, but I want it to be your own decision."

---

ELCSF Virtuous class cruiser Inquisitor,
In pursuit of enemy battleship

Lieutenant Icarus Miarcaril marched down one of the Inquisitor's many corridors; his destination was the armoured command centre, one of the Virtuous class' many novel features. Icarus was impressed by the look of the room; it had banks of computers along the walls and a central holographic plotting table that currently depicted the Inquisitor and Pious.

"Lieutenant Miarcaril I'm so pleased you could join us," said Captain Brentfield. He was still quite young and had the handsome good looks that were a propagandist's dream. Icarus felt instantly at ease in his presence.

"I came as soon as I could sir," replied Icarus smartly. "I must say I'm pleased to be working with such a fine ship as yours sir. My previous partner was less than reliable."

"I've read your report into the loss of the Devout Lieutenant. You are not at fault. Lieutenant Multan was an arrogant fool who made to many mistakes and that cost him his life," Seriousness fell across Brentfield's brow as he spoke. "I have no doubt that we'll soon catch up with the MCDA battleship and cruiser. What is your opinion of them; you have after all fought them and survived."

Icraus clasped his hands into the small of his back and tried to look as confident as possible. "Sir the battleship is powerful but it appears their crew is inexperienced but they improve with every confrontation. The weapon they deployed to counter my mobile droids is also very powerful, I'm hesitant to call it a mobile droids because I feel its actions have been far too erratic to match any droid control program I know. Less is known about the cruiser but judging from its actions in the previous battle it seems to be undermanned."

"If possible I would like to capture the enemy ships," said Brentfield. "But I understand that might not be possible so we'll destroy them if we have to."

---

MCDA battleship Victory,
On route to Fronter I

The three Merlins danced through the dummy asteroid field that surround the MCDA ships. Captain Rawlings had suggested that they take them out give them a proper going over, he'd even suggested Jason joining them but he refused. Kieron was having the time of his life. He loved the thrill of pushing the Merlin to its very limits as he darted in and out of the dummy asteroid field. He knew it didn't matter if he actually hit one of them but he was using all of his skill to make sure that didn't happen. Westings and Clifford were also putting their Merlins through their paces but not with the same zeal that Kieron was putting into it.

From his position on the Victory Captain Rawlings couldn't help but be impressed by the display. "They certainly know how to handle those machines don't they?"

"That's for sure captain," commented Commander Barther.

"Fighting mobile droids is different to fighting dummy asteroids," said Jason. He was standing next to Rawlings command chair with his arms crossed. "Though I think they'll pick it up pretty quickly. There are only so many combat manoeuvres it can perform, once you learn them you've pretty much got them beat."

"You make it sound so easy," said Commander Barther who was seated in the second command chair.

"You've just got to think it through thoroughly," said Jason with a slight shrug.

"Captain I think we have a problem!" yelled Ensign Duncan-Smith from the radar operators position. "We have multiple contacts approaching from outside our radar range. They appear to be missiles sir!"

"What the heck? Is it the Empire?" asked Rawlings. He turned to George Macintyre, the ships mobile suit coordinator. "Order the Merlins to investigate."

"That would be unwise sir," said Macintyre. "They're not loaded out for combat and they are already on half tanks of fuel, we need to bring them in to resupply."

"Damnit! Right fine, call them in and get them turned around as fast as possible," ordered Rawlings. "Jason, I need you out there right now."

Jason was already making his way to the hatch at the rear of the bridge which led into the bowels of the ship. "I'm on it sir."

Chapter Notes:
Eboracum:- the Roman name for the settlement on the site of present day York in the UK.
Merlin:- Mythical Arthurian Wizard and Bird of Prey found in the UK.