Chapter 3


Side 7

Green Noa I


"Here we are! Green Noa I. First Space Colony for Side 7 of the Earth Sphere!" Yelled the captain of the freighter that the Legends saved as he introduced Side 7 to the Legends with the exception of Pathfinder and Revenant. The latter two were forced to stay on the ship, until they sell it of course, due to robots and Simulacrums nonexistent in this dimension. Pathfinder was saddened by this fact and Revenant wasn't too pleased to hear it as well. It took a lot of convincing and threats to keep Revenant in the ship, which the Legends later learned was a Papua supply ship from the captain of the freighter, whose name they learned was Mathias. Revenant begrudgingly complied with the request, though they didn't know if it was because he decided to or because of some ulterior motive. Pathfinder, fortunately, wasn't as hard to convince. They simply told him that it would be a favor to them if he stayed at the ship and that was all it took to convince him to stay.

"It's quite a remarkable place to live, I must say." Said Horizon as she looked at the colony's interior, finding all of it remarkable to say the least. During the trip here, Horizon spoke to Mathias about the Space Colonies in this dimension, amongst other things, and she was quite intrigued with it all.

According to Mathias, nearly all of the colonies in this dimension followed the proposed designs of Gerard K. O'Neill, an American Physicist of the twentieth century. Also according to Mathias, the design for the colonies was basic. The O'Neill cylinder would consist of two counter-rotating cylinders. These would then rotate in opposite directions in order to cancel out any gyroscopic effects that would otherwise make it difficult to keep them aimed toward a star system's star. They would also rotate so as to provide artificial gravity via centrifugal force on their inner surfaces, thereby stimulating Earth's gravity if placed in specific places around the star system. A marvel of science that intrigued Horizon.

Space Colonies were something that was deemed unsuitable back in their home dimension on account of the number of habitable planets for humans throughout their galaxy. Why waste money on building an artificial home for people to live in when it was cheaper to just live on a planet with a ready environment for humans? Perhaps if FTL travel wasn't achieved back in their home dimension, then their humanity would still be stuck on Earth with most of its population in artificial space stations and colonies.

"Nothing like conditions to alter the technological paths for people." Thought Horizon as Mathias spoke to Wraith.

"So, my friend works for the Titans and he told me a few weeks ago that the Titans are paying decent money for any Zeon technology and scrap." Said Mathias to Wraith as he tried to explain to her who would give them the best money for their scrap. "They're kind of arrogant and have sticks up their asses, but they'll pay well for any Zeon equipment or technology that you can give them, especially Mobile Suit technology."

"Well, I hope that we have some of that with our pile of junk." Said Horizon as she butted in the conversation. She had no idea what a Mobile Suit is, but she was quite intrigued and hoped to find out soon. "Now where are these Titans so that we can sell them our materials?"

"I already called my friend ahead of time and a Titans official should come and inspect your junk. Hopefully, they'll give you some good money for it all." Said Mathias as they all stayed near the entrance towards the space docks where their ships were. "Some Titans have been known to be quite stingy when it comes to giving money to people. Especially private contractors." Wraith just pursed her lips at that before asking a question.

"So what's the big deal with the Titans? They some private army or something?" Asked Wraith as she looked at Mathias, who just blinked at the questions before replying.

"Well, to be honest, the Titans really do act like a private army at times. In fact, that's actually a good description of them." Said Mathias, causing everyone to look at him. This caused him to elaborate a bit further. "Well, for one reason or the other, the Earth Federation created a Special Task Group called the Titans to enforce peace in the Earth Sphere as well as root out any remaining Principality of Zeon loyalists left after the One Year War."

"What? Didn't the Earth Federation win the war? Why are there loyalists or something still fighting them?" Asked Mirage.

"They did technically win the One Year War, but it was a pyrrhic victory at best." Said Mathias with a sigh. "They won, yes, but at a heavy cost. They lost a good of manpower fighting against the Zeons, especially at A Baoa Qu. Between that disaster and the early stages of the war, the Earth Federation's military is a shell of what it used to be. It got so bad that they couldn't afford to even form an organization to hunt down Zeon loyalist groups that refused to acknowledge that the war is over and that the Earth Federation won the war. At least until one such group decided it was a good idea to conduct a colony drop onto Earth." Upon hearing that Horizon widened her eyes in shock.

"Wait, what!? Why would they do such a thing?!" Yelled Horizon in shock. "These Zeons are Spacenoids, aren't they? Why would they do such a thing to their fellow Spacenoids?"

"That's the question, right?" Asked Mathias, disgust clear in his voice. "The naïve and the idiots will tell you that the Principality of Zeon was fighting for independence and freedom, like they claimed to do back during the One Year War, but be fooled. That government was full of corrupt and power-hungry officials that cared about one thing and one thing only. Power for them and to bring an age of dictatorial rule back to the Earth Sphere." The Legends, upon hearing that, either shook their heads in disgust or scowled in contempt. Hearing all that stuff reminded them of the Interstellar Manufacturing Corporation, or Hammond Robotics as they're formerly called, and how they tried to disguise their profit-orientated mindset out in the Frontier as trying to impose order and prosperity in the frontier. Though none of them participated in the Frontier War between the IMC and the Frontier-formed Militia, the only Legends that participated in that war were Anita and Jackson Williams, who were Bangalore and Newcastle respectively. The rest had no real part in the war that ended with both sides so devastated that both sides have become defunct by the end of the war, allowing the rise of criminal organizations like the Syndicate to take over the war-ravaged Frontier along with any star systems that were spared from the conflict, like the Outlands, where the Syndicate rules with an iron fist.

Shaking her head at all this, Wraith spoke up, wanting to change the subject before her voices started to pop up in her head, voicing their own thoughts about all this. To her frustration and annoyance, none of her other selves have ever had this happen to them. Getting caught in an explosion and being sent to an alternative dimension that way. While some would have thought that this would be a source of relief for Wraith, it really wasn't. If anything, it increased the frequency of them talking in her head because of the new experience that she alone was experiencing. Some did it out of curiosity. Others out of caution in case it could happen to them. And others did so because they just could. It was really annoying Wraith and it took much effort from her to ignore the voices like she usually did when she didn't need their help. And right now, with all this new information being added in. She was really struggling to handle the voices as they intensified at this flow of new information. And people claimed her powers came without a cost.

"That's great and all, but when is that official coming here?" Asked Wraith. "I'm getting kind of hungry and I want to find a hotel for us to live in for the time being in case we need to stay here for a while." Upon hearing that, Mathias nodded in understanding before speaking.

"They should be here soon. If they don't come within the hour, I'll help you guys find a place for you all to rest up and relax. Don't worry about costs. After what you all did for my people, it's the least we can do for you all." Said Mathias. Appreciating the man's generosity, Horizon was about to give him thanks when Mirage yelled out.

"Hey, guys! Black, scary jeeps approaching us." Said Mirage with a hint of worry as several black jeeps carrying men in black uniforms approached the Legends and freighter captain. Stopping before them, the men got out of their jeeps and walked toward them. The leader, at least who they assumed was the leader on account of his differing attire from everyone else and snazzier attire. That along with his strange red goggles and red beret. Walking towards the group, the red beret soldier spoke to them in a tone that oozed arrogance and authority.

"I presume that you are the individuals that have acquired Principality of Zeon technology and wish to sell it to the Titans." Said the soldier as he looked at the assortment of individuals. Having a bad feeling about this person, Horizon nonetheless held a pleasant tone as she spoke to the man.

"That we are." Said Horizon with a smile. "We were hoping to sell it off for a good price. You see, we're a little tight on cash right now and we could use the money right now." Upon hearing that, the man looked at the group of individuals before speaking.

"None of you resemble the typical scavenger scum that I have to deal with when they come demanding money from the Earth Federation, much less the Titans." Said the man as he looked at them in contempt. Ignoring the obvious dislike the man had for them, Horizon continued to speak.

"Well, we're quite new to the scavenging business and we wanted to be prepared for it. So, we spent a bunch of money to get us outfitted for it as well as our personnel tastes." Said Horizon, giving him a lie as best she could. He seemed to buy it, though, as he simply scoffed.

"Then you've overprepared yourselves." Said the man as he looked at the gear they all had. "Unless you all planned to raid Zeon remnant bases for materials to sell, in that case, you're fools as we're paying top dollar to those that provide information on Zeon remnant forces. Much more than what we provide to those that sell scavenged Zeon materials." None of the legends appreciated the man's words, even more so with the disrespectful tone that he was using with them. Still, they kept their mouths shut as they needed as much money as they can and they didn't want to risk enraging the man with insults. He had all the power in these negotiations. He can dictate what they get and there was nothing that they can do to prevent that at all. Thus, they had to put up with the man's attitude. Mathias must have realized that too, and thus spoke up.

"Yes, Commander Bask Om, they understand that completely, and thank you for your advice." Said Mathias, putting up a polite face in order to appease the Titan officer. "I must admit, I didn't expect someone as famous as you to be the one to evaluate our scavenged goods."

"Well, normally I wouldn't be bothered with such menial tasks, but recently the Titans have suffered from a bit of corruption in this area. So, I'm taking command of this colony until I'm satisfied that the corruption in this colony has been stomped out." Explained Bask Om. "Now, if that is the only question that you have, let me examine your scavenged material so I can be done with this and handle more pressing matters." Clenching a fist behind her back, Horizon then escorted him to their taken Papua supply ship. As she was walking with Bask Om and his escorts, she looked at Wraith and gave a silent message to her, to which Wraith nodded. She then spoke to Mathias and asked him to direct everyone to a hotel for them to crash while she negotiated with Bask Om. After Mathias gave them direction to a reasonable hotel and had one of his crew escorts them there, Horizon looked at Bask Om with a forced smile.

"So, darling. Let's negotiate." Said Horizon, hoping this man isn't as bad as she thinks he is. Meanwhile, on the Papua, Revenant was flexing his fingers. He was currently thinking of another Legend. One that wasn't there and he was eager to hurt. Not only just because he wanted to, but also because she's the reason he's still alive. And he'll make her pay.

"Just because I'm stuck in another universe or dimension or whatever this is doesn't mean I forgot about you Loba." Thought Revenant as he thought of ways to hurt Loba. Both physically and mentally. "I'll make you pay for what you did to me." While Revenant was laughing manically in his head, Pathfinder was trying to start a conversation with the Simulacrum.

"What to be brothers?" Asked Pathfinder, his chest screen showing a happy face.