Autumn took a deep breath, the air around him was warm this time. He felt around the pitch black space he was in. The walls were metal, he reached out in front of him and felt his cockpit controls. Wherever he was, he was still inside his mobile suit. He ran his hand up the door in front of him until he felt the emergency release for his cockpit. He pulled down the heavy handle releasing the latch on the door, the air tight seal broke and the door opened a small bit. He pushed open the door and he was blinded by bright sunlight. When his eyes adjusted he was shocked at what he saw. Dunes of sand extended for miles into the horizon and the sun beamed down on him sending a warm sensation down his spine.. He was on Earth, he breathed in the warm desert air and exhaled. He had never seen anything like it, the colony he grew up on never compared to this. His mobile suit was resting on it's knees about half a mile from a shanty town. He stepped down onto some stairs outside of his cockpit. he looked up and around and saw that there was scaffolding all around his mobile suit. In some spots there was some sand colored paint. Someone was trying to spray the mobile suit into a desert color for camouflage. Whoever it was, it seemed they intended to use the Zaku. Before Autumn could examine any more, he heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked behind him.
"Who are you?" said the figure, she was wearing a desert colored cloak and was holding a small pistol out in front of her. She looked no older than 13.
Autumn slowly put his hands up, "My name is Autumn. I-"
Autumn was quickly cut off by the girl, "I don't care what your name is, what're you doing here?" she said taking a step closer.
"I have no idea where I am." said Autumn laughing to himself on the inside, she must've thought he was playing dumb.
"What do you mean you don't know where you are? Where did you come from?" She said as her patience was obviously running out.
Autumn didn't respond, he simply turned and pointed to the open cockpit of the mobile suit. The girl's eyes widened and she slowly lowered her gun. She reached for a communicator in her pocket and quickly turned around. She spoke softly into it for a few seconds before putting it back into her cloak. "Come with me." she said sternly before turning to walk to the town in the distance. Autumn followed her close behind.
The town was very small, a small group of children were playing in front of what looked like a school. In the distance Autumn saw a blacksmith forging large metal rods at least a foot thick and nearly fifteen feet long. People were bustling around and going about their lives. Most of the buildings seemed poorly constructed, although you don't need too much protection in the desert Autumn thought to himself. He followed the girl into a house at the far end of the village. She closed the door behind him and gestured for him to go forward. Autumn slowly walked forward into the room and stops in front of the doorway. In the room there is a man sitting behind a desk, he's bald and has a large burn on the right side of his face. He's very muscular and is easily over six feet tall. He stands up from his desk with a smile on his face and outstretches his hand. Autumn walks forward and shakes the man's hand.
"I'm Cade," He says as he sits back down. Gesturing for Autumn to do the same.
Autumn takes a seat but still feels on edge, he can't sit still and keeps fidgeting in his seat.
"And you are?" Cade asks leaning forward.
"I'm Autumn, I'm a mobile suit pilot." Autumn says swallowing.
Cade nods his head. "I'm assuming you pilot that Zaku II out there. Beautiful mobile suit, sorry for any inconvenience but we had no idea that you were in there. We couldn't seem to get the cockpit open, those things are tough." He said leaning back into his chair.
Autumn took a breath before speaking, "If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did I get here? Last I remember I was floating around in the Thunderbolt Sector. I have to find a way back to my fleet."
Cade nodded and hesitated for a moment. "We have contacts in the Federation, they were able to get us a mobile suit that was in good condition. It turns out you were in there as well. After all we need some form of protection out here. You never know who might be coming for you. And about your fleet, I'd say there's nothing to really go back to." said Cade in a relaxed tone.
Autumn nodded and started to relax, "So who are you guys?" he asked curiously.
Cade chuckled, "We're the Sandsharks. All of us are soldiers who didn't want any part of the Earth Federation or the Principality of Zeon. So we all came together and founded this small little town here and we've been living happily ever since. The war has taken a lot more than it has given so we want no part of it. Although we wanted a means to defend ourselves so we scavenged your Zaku from the Thunderbolt sector." He said with a smile on his face.
Autumn nodded and looked down at the floor. Before he could say anything, their conversation was interrupted by the ground shaking. Cade quickly stood up and picked up his radio. "What's going on?!" he shouted into the mic. He waited a moment before throwing the radio down in anger once he got his answer.
"What's going on?" asked Autumn curiously.
Cade sat down and responded "There's a Guntank, 2 Guncannons, and 2 GMs about 4 miles from here, they're shelling our location."
Autumn thought for a moment. He could still pilot the Zaku, though he already hated doing it. He hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "What about the Zaku? I can hold them off while you all evacuate. If you have weapons that is."
Cade's eyes lit up, "The prototype..." he stood up and shuffled through a drawer and pulled out a radio. He tossed it too Autumn. "I'll tell you what to do, just get to the mobile suit."
Autumn nodded and ran out the door. The towns people were rushing into their homes, it was now he realized how little protection they would provide against a mobile suit attack. He ran across the dunes to his Zaku. He climbed up the large scaffolds and entered the cockpit. He pulled the large door shut and activated the mobile suit. The mono-eye flared to life as the large machine stood up knocking some of the scaffolding into the sand. Autumn pulled the radio out of his pocket and spoke into it. "I'm in the mobile suit, now what?" he said catching his breath.
"There should be a magnetic sniper rifle next to you. It uses magnets to shoot long rods out and towards the target. Pick that up and come grab some ammo. We're gonna show the Federation what we're made of." Cade said with a smile on his face.
Autumn had never operated a mobile suit in a desert before. The large machine's feet sunk into the sand with every stride. Autumn saw a large pile of metal rods on the ground next to the blacksmith's forge. The mobile suit reached down and grabbed one. He loaded it into the large sniper rifle. The chamber clanged shut as he aimed the rifle checking the sights. The Zaku slowly marched up to the top of a sand dune overlooking the area. The machine slowly knelt down into the sand and aimed the rifle. Autumn pushed a few buttons in his cockpit, he linked his mobile suit to the sights of the rifle allowing him to aim easier. In the distance, the Guncannons and GMs had begun running towards the town. Autumn took aim at the Federation suits. He lined the sights onto on of the GMs chests. He pulled the trigger on the rifle. Instead of a loud bang, the rod slid down and out of the barrel at a blistering speed creating the awful sound of metal grinding on metal. The large rod flew and tore threw the GM's chest. The mangled rod landed in the sand behind the GM covered in machine fluids and blood. The GM stumbled a few steps before falling forward into the sand. The other 3 mobile suits stopped dead in their tracks and turned in Autumn's direction. The Guncannons began opening fire on Autumn. The large shells kicked up dust and sand creating a cloud between them. Autumn's Zaku fumbled with the rods and tried to load another into the rifle. The two GMs emerged through the dust cloud and lunged at Autumn with their beam sabers drawn. The first GM struck Autumn's Zaku in the shoulder, the beam cut through the armor like a hot knife through butter. Autumn's Zaku stumbled backwards attempting to push back against the GM attack. The GM pulled it's saber out of Autumn's Zaku before lunging forward for another attack. Autumn pulled out his heat hawk and countered the GM's strike just in time. Another GM swung out from behind Autumn and thrusted it's saber towards Autumn's cockpit. Autumn dashed to his left causing the GM to stab his ally in the chest disabling the mobile suit.
"I'll kill you Zeon scum!" said the GM pilot. Autumn heard this violent remark through his radio. The man on the other end sounded much older than the child he encountered in the Thunderbolt. It made Autumn feel better about killing him, though it was still no easy task. Autumn was breathing heavily and didn't feel the need to respond to him. Autumn's Zaku ran forward with it's heat hawk lifted above it's head. Before Autumn could land a strike on the GM, a large explosive shell pounds Autumn's Zaku in the leg. His mobile suit stumbles and falls to the sand. Autumn smacks his head into the control console drawing blood from his forehead. The Zaku mono-eye turns back and forth searching for what hit him. In the distance. the 2 Guncannons from earlier stride confidently towards Autumn and his GM enemy. Autumn tries to stand up, but his mobile suit can't keep it's balance. Autumn's heart drops once he realizes what's happened. The explosive shell blew off his Zaku's leg
"I've got you now..." says the GM pilot laughing to himself. Autumn's mind starts racing as he tries to find a solution to his dire situation. The Zaku tries to grab a hold of the sand and crawl away from the Federation mobile suit. The GM lifts up it's beam saber to lay down the final blow. Autumn comes up with a last ditch plan. His Zaku reaches over and grabs his heat hawk. He swings it over and strikes the GM right in the stomach area beneath the cockpit. The GM stumbles backwards for a few moments with the axe still in it's stomach. The GM pilot laughs.
"Nice try, but you missed..." says the GM pilot.
Autumn smirks as his Zaku looks up at the enemy mobile suit, "Don't be so sure about that. You've already lost." says Autumn with confidence.
The GM looks down at the heat hawk. The ax has been burning a whole in the GM's reactor heating up all the nuclear material inside. Autumn fumbles around with his hand held radio before speaking into it.
"Cade!" says Autumn with some pain in his voice, "Get everyone to cover!" he says covering his ears.
Cade, who has been rounding everyone up to evacuate, responds quickly. "Alright Autumn, I hope you know what you're doing." he says before getting the small town worth of people into what shelter they have. The GM pilot screams into his radio, "God damn you! The Federation will have your head for this!" he says as his mobile suit detonates. The large shock wave sends Autumn and the Guncannons spiraling through the air. Autumn braces for impact as his large suit collides with the ground...