Chapter 2
The Sound of screams echoed through his head as he watched buildings engulf with flames that seemed to reach for the heavens. Each flicker of light reflected in his eyes and every horrible image ran like a motion picture on loop. He could now feel the heat against his face, burning his harder and harder. Each wave beat against him like an ironsmith bathing his new creation in flames. Now here he was, a new creation from secret wars, lost loved ones, and newfound enemies. Each holding something in him that he had yet to describe. Then in an instant it all ended with a flash of light. His head jerked up from its pillow as sweat poured in buckets full, soaking his pillow. He looked around frantically before letting his head drop back to the bed, thoughts running rapidly.
"Come on Terran get over it. That was three years ago. It's over with." He coaxed himself into security as he tried to run them out of his head. Eventually after thirty minutes and ten different positions he found that he could not sleep. Moving from his bed he walked for another ten minutes that he could not fall asleep if his life depended on it. He went for the door and let it open with a hiss wondering if there was a drink around there. It had been three days on the Zeon side and it had been more Rigorous than with the Fedy's. Every bone ached and his brain was racked with information. He hadn't stepped foot in the same hangar as the Type-A or B. Pretty much it was all technical and he was getting tired of it.
"Lieutenant, what are you doing up?"
His head turned to meet the eyes of the stunningly beautiful Dylan. He managed a smile for a moment before turning to look away so as not to stare.
"I couldn't sleep. What about yourself?"
"Me either. I was just thinking." A smile same across her face as he walked over to him and leaned against the wall. Slowly she slipped down the wall, her white tank top dragging slightly. She looked innocent and a little manlier with the white tank top and khaki's. Her hair was a mess and she didn't have any make up. Terran could tell she was more of a natural beauty. They had spent all three days practically at each other's side but he still couldn't make much out about her. She liked to keep to herself often and that just irritated him more.
"So tell me Lieutenant Dylan, what do you think of all of this?" This was the most common question he seemed to ask everyone he met.
"I'm aw inspired. Zeon seems to have technology down pact. It would seem they are far more advanced than the Damn Federation."
"Yes it does…" Terran managed to hold in the malice that could of erupted if he wasn't careful.
"And what about yourself Lieutenant Dylan? What's your history?"
She looked over to him and thought for a moment. Every part of her wanted to with hold anything about herself but she figured if they were going to be working together she would have to be a little to open.
"I don't know, there's not a lot to say. I was born on side 1 with a very rich family. I always wanted to be a pilot and took private lessons. When the Republic of Zeon became the Principality of Zeon my father took the family over to side 3 and devoted his time and money to the cause. Not all the family agreed but we learned to live with it. Eventually he died after two years and I decided to join the forces. After a year and a half I was called to be a pilot for this new Mobile Suit. I have never seen anything like it. I did fly Zeon's fighters even before I became an official soldier. I love flying, and Zeon even more. I'm just wondering where this new Mobile Suit will take me."
"What about your family now?" He asked curiously.
"When my father died my family planned to leave here and go to side 7. They weren't thrilled with the idea of being in the Shadow of Zeon. I stayed here pledging my loyalty to this cause knowing it was for the better. I understand my family's grief and I will let them go. It was their decision anyways." She managed a half-hearted smile and turned her head away slightly.
"Well Lieutenant it's your turn to spill your guts. Tell me about yourself." She looked at him throwing a wry look.
He stretched out a bit turning away with an arrogant look crossing his face.
"Not much really. I grew up an orphan here on Side 3 and was raised until I turned 18. I then joined the Army for Zeon deciding more to become a pilot. I rather enjoyed it and turned out here. Nothing exciting really but still I guess I was good enough to get here and become another test pilot. That's about it really."
He looked back to her nodding for a moment wondering how she took it.
"Sounds like dull life." She said sarcastically.
"Well I guess it's better than nothing. I'm more interested in seeing what this Mobile Suit will do. I can't believe they are that practical and needful for combat. Give me a traditional fighter any day and I'll shoot one of those mobile suits down easily," He looked back down towards her extending a hand to help her up.
Dylan stood right to her feet ignoring his hand and his rather smart remark. She would prove that these Mobile suits would be essential in winning wars.
"Well you better prepare yourself, the testing starts in a week. I'll be sure to put you in your place." She chuckled under her breath and walked away back down to her room. Terran watched her until she disappeared.
"Women, I swear…" He mumbled under his breath. He turned back towards his room as he walked in glancing around at his rather small accommodations.
"I bet she got the bigger bathroom."
He laughed to himself for a moment before letting his body flop onto the bed. He was hot in his sweat pants and tank top. The fan was broken and dust was everywhere. They obviously didn't use this room much and maybe he wouldn't be there long enough to make much use of it either. He would have to deal with it for now. Once more back flashes ran through his head. He just ignored them as his eyes slowly began to close as the images became worse. He slowly slipped into the hell that is his own consciousness. He couldn't help but wish and wait for the day to come soon.
The blaring tone of the fire alarm rang throughout the Federation Cruiser. Smoke seemed to billow from every door on the back end of the ship. It slowly started tilting slightly on the left side as it sat comfortably in the water off the shore of Spain. A simple federation base was located there where the ship 'Pride of the Colony's' was waiting for re-supply. But now a fire had broken out on the lower decks. Men rushed all about, as others just seemed to stand there blank on their cuties. Luckily for the captain and the crew itself the fire had managed to be put out within an hour or so. The fire had consumed half of their supply so they would have to make a trip to the America's for more. Captain Yvion walked quietly down on of the charred hallways into the main hangar located at the base of the ship. As he stepped in he looked at all of the damage. He then made his way slowly over towards a rather large box about the size of tank.
"What's the assessment?" He said glancing over to a corporal standing near bye.
"We lost everything captain. All the food, the water, blankets, clothes, we lost it all." His voice sunk slightly.
"Damn it." The captain mumbled under his breath taking in a deep breath then releasing it slowly. His eyes searched among the rambles of ashes hoping that there was a part that wasn't true. His eyes them fell back to the crate the size of a tank. His eyes then opened for a moment as he walked over to it.
"What is this? I was told to transport it but no one bothered to tell me what this was." The Captain walked quietly up to it glancing at the scorched wooden planks. He reached out to touch them for a moment.
"Captain! I would step away." A voice rang out from behind him. Yvion shot a glance back to see a man come walking in.
"Who the hell are you!" the captain spatted towards him.
"I sir, am a spokesperson for General Sting or the Space Federation fleet. We need to talk. Please dismiss your men" The captain looked at him for a few moments and then nodded towards his men. They slowly shuffled out mumbling back and forth to each other not really saying much else.
"Ok now explain what's going on." The look Yvion gave was harsh and really didn't need any comment to accentuate it.
"Captain, because of what has happened with the fire and the delay on your ship we need to keep your ship docked at the weigh-in station for the next few months. This box contains something of vast importance to the Earth Federation. What I am about to tell you cannot be shared or told to anyone. Barely any of the higher-ups know about this as well. Really the General, Me, you, and a few choice others are privy to this information."
"Stop with the bullshit Sir. Just tell me what the hell this thing is." The captain crossed his arms and just stared at him.
"Ok, ok, we believe that the Principality of Zeon have been creating a type of offensive and defensive weapon known as a Mobile Suit. We actually have an operative on the inside testing it as we speak. We are really working on both ends to figure out what it is possible of doing. The truth remains that this mobile suit has capabilities beyond what we could possibly imagine. We also have known about their tests for years.
As a result of this the Earth Federation set out to make a type of weaponry to combat these mobile suits. This new weaponry is a advancement beyond what anyone could possibly dream of. The part you're carrying is basically the central nervous system to it. We are planning to call is a Mobilized Armored fortress.
This MAF would be able to single handedly take down any kind of offensive weapon while facing little to no damage. We haven't come up with an official name for it but we have a idea of what it would be."
"That's great and all Sir but you haven't told me why we are holding my ship."
The man took in a deep breath before continuing on.
"Because of your position and the size of your cruiser, and the size of the cargo hold, the MAF will be assembled here and then your ship will bring it to Side 4 were you will hand pick a pilot to commence tests on it."
The captain growled under his breath for a moment and then nodded. "Very well I will obviously allow this. How long is the assembly going to take?"
"Roughly 3 months captain. There's a lot to be assembled. Not to mention we must have all diagnostics in peak condition. I suggest you start running through your list of pilots for someone to pilot this. As for the mechanics that will be assembling this, I will have a team brought in. I will need one of yours to be able to show them where certain tools are. However if they start to question too much of this they will be punished, severely. Do I make myself clear captain?"
"Of course" The captain turned around and quietly walked away from the man deciding he needed to go before he did something that got him demoted. He hated people who tried to boss him around and tell him how to use and run his ship.
"Very well Captain I will expect your man in three months and your engineer by tomorrow. You can get back to your duties now."
The captain didn't salute or acknowledge him. He merely walked out of the lower hangar bay. His eyes remained forward the whole trip to his office. This would be a long day for what he could tell.
"Everyone up and ready! Training starts in one hour!"
The voice rang through the barracks causing Terran to stir slightly. His eyes came open slowly, as the blurs began to take shape in his eyes. His body ached slightly and his head hurt. He couldn't take much more of this training. It was the fourth day and all they had been doing was sitting and listening to man talk blandly about these mobile suits. They sounded amazing but each hour on their technical details caused him to hate them slightly more. The yell came again as his head slowly turned to fall upon his clock.
"Five in the morning." He muttered to himself as he reached for his covers pulling them over his head. He heard the door open with a hiss but refused to acknowledge it.
"Get up it's time for training!." the bark came at him.
"Go to hell" the gruff voice came back.
"Come on Terran, we get to test mobile suits."
Terran's eyes turned to look at Dylan as she just stared at him with a smug look. He looked at her for a moment. His hand slowly moved back and caught hold of his pillow. He ripped it from behind his head and threw it at her hitting her squarely in the face. She grabbed and brought it down looking him dead in the eye. His eye's flared with fire and her teeth gritted.
"You immature little brat! Get the hell up now! That is a order"
That was something he couldn't ignore, even if he was pretending to be a Zeon officer. He slowly came to his feet as Dylan left. He looked around grumbling as he slipped on his uniform. After five minutes he stepped out into the hall and followed Dylan towards the main hangar. He had actually looked forward to this moment and really enjoyed the thought of possibly getting into this Mobile Suit and seeing what it can really do.
As they moved onward towards the hangar he couldn't help but notice how well Dylan was carrying herself. She seemed more independent and more arrogant than normal. He smirked slightly but said nothing since he knew it would upset her.
The light from the hangar pierced through small cracks on the edge of the door. As it slid open the Mobile suits loomed over both officers like giants. Wires hung from both suits and it seemed they were just empty armor. Men ran about making final preparations as small sparks from either mobile suit in different areas brightened the hangar for a few moments. Both officers stood there in amazement watching as computers surrounded the suits. People shouted in every direction most of the lingo, were words that neither could understand.
Finally a officer came up and greeted both with a hearty hand shake.
"Welcome to the hangar bay. Obviously you'll be Testing both Mobile suits. They are almost ready. Wait right here and we will get everything ready for you to pilot. I bet your both excited."