Titans Asteroid Fortress Gate of Zedan, L3
24th August UC 0087

Lieutenant Commander Franz Graser cured his rotten luck. The Perseus' return to the Gate of Zedan had coincided with Lieutenant Commander Daninghan's ill-fated colony drop on Granada city. Graser had the misfortune of having to report to Captain Om after the Titans field commander had received word of Daninghan's failure. Om was not know for being forgiving and Graser's failure in Side 4, compounded by Daninghan's failed colony drop, and resulted in a severe verbal scolding. Om had sent Graser away without any new orders; he dreaded to think what punishment Om would dish out. Graser seethed with fury. He was older and more experienced than that upstart Om; he was the one that should be giving the orders and leading the Titans in the field. If the Titans were under Graser's control none of these disasters would have occurred.

Graser sighed and planted his drink on the bar. He was sat at the bar of the Officers club, hidden deep within the bowels of the asteroid Gate of Zedan. It sickened him to think that the Titans now operated from a former Zeon asteroid fortress. It would have been far more preferable to completely kick the Federation Forces out of Luna II and use that instead. The use of A Baoa Qu was only the beginning of the rot Daninghan's colony drop stunk to high heaven of Zeon influence. It disgusted Graser to think that an alleged Titan officer would use the tactics of those Spacenoid murders. It was true that the Lunar cities and space colonies had to be brought into line but there were far more efficient ways of doing that than dropping a colony.

"Lieutenant Commander Graser?" Graser looked up to see a young junior officer. He noted the purple colouring on the junior officer's uniform and realised he work somewhere close to the upper echelons of the Titans hierarchy.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander Graser, what do you want?"

"Sir I was sent by Captain Om to pass on your new orders Sir," reported the junior officer. He pulled a sealed envelope from his jacket and handed it to Graser.

Graser tore open the envelope greedily; he was desperate to find out where his next mission would take him. He read it once and then again and again true to make sure what he was reading was absolutely correct. He couldn't believe it. Rage built up inside of them, and then he exploded and started yelling at the junior officer. "Side 3? What the hell am I being sent to Side 3 for? Is this some kind of joke?"

"I assure you sir, this is no joke. Those orders came from Captain Om."

Doctor Mooro was highly annoyed. He stormed through the myriad of corridors that adjoined the Gate of Zedan's vast dock complex. Captain Om had had the audacity to order the transfer Zarn Farris to the Perseus' mobile suit team. Mooro would have preferred to keep Zarn close at hand for continued development of the Psyco Gundam mass production test types. Captain Om had authorised Mooro to continue work on the two remaining test frames so that was a small bonus. However the Titans field commander had argued that Zarn required more experience as a pilot using normal mobile suits. Mooro agreed with Om up to that point; but he did not think that the Perseus was a wise choice. Lieutenant Commander Graser hated mobile suit pilots and despised cyber-newtypes.

Mooro stopped outside the small room that had been set aside for his lab. There was a MP guarding the door. Mooro couldn't decide whether the MP was there to protect the lab or protect the Gate of Zedan from what was inside the lab. It was probably a bit of both. Once inside the lab Mooro could see that Zarn was sitting quietly at one of the desks; he could see that the teenage boy was reading his copy of Henry V again.

"Zarn come here, you have been given new orders," barked Mooro.

Zarn carefully closed his book and then walked over to Doctor Mooro. "What is it Doctor?"

"Captain Om has seen fit to transfer you to the Perseus, you will be accompanying them on their next mission," said the Doctor. "You will be part of their mobile suit team, probably piloting one of those Hizack pieces of trash."

"What about you Doctor? Will you be coming as well?"

"No I will remain here and continue with the Psyco Gundam project." Graser could see Zarn's eyes brighten for a moment. Yes it did seem like the young boy yearned to live a little. "You should be careful Zarn that fool Graser will be your direct commanding officer. He may attempt you cause you a mischief."

"If he does that I will kill him," replied Zarn coldly. "He is insignificant."

"Zarn, you have to keep that attitude in check at least until the time is right," scowled Mooro. "Come, I will take you to the Perseus."

The white lab coat wearing Doctor Mooro led Zarn through the maze of corridors that was the interior of the Gate of Zedan. In order to reach the berth where the Perseus was docked they were forced to travel through one of the many gravity blocks dotted around the Gate of Zedan; it was possible to go around the block but that would have added another half an hour onto the journey time. Lieutenant Commander Graser had set a strict timetable for preparation of the Perseus' launch. Mooro didn't think it wise to allow Zarn to be late; there was no point in giving Graser another excuse to berate Zarn.

Zarn enjoyed being in the gravity blocks. The feeling of gravity keeping his soul from floating free was a reassuring one and reminded him of Mother Earth. He thought it was dangerous for people to spend too much time in weightless environments. He believed that without the effects of gravity your soul to leave your body; causing you to become a soul-less monster no better than the evil Zeeks who killed his family and ravaged Europe.

This particular gravity block was one of the larger ones in the Gate of Zedan. Its proximity of the docks meant that there were a large number of mechanics workshops and one of the large medical facilities. The central corridor of the gravity block was wide and had a set of floor conveyors. The Doctor and the young pilot stepped onto the conveyor which would take them up the asteroid.

Zarn wasn't really paying attention to the passing scenery until an individual on the conveyor headed in the opposite direction caught his attention. She was older than him by a few years and had silvery coloured hair she was, in Zarn's opinion, beautiful. She was surrounded by a bodyguard of thugs along with a white lab coated person. Zarn was enthralled by her and even when they passed each other he turned to keep staring at her.

Mooro noticed that Zarn was staring at something and so turned to see what it was. As soon as he realised who it was he could not hide the disgust on his face. He looked back at Zarn and could see an all too familiar glaze in his eyes. To rectify this he slapped Zarn with all this might. The force of the blow was enough to nearly unbalance the teenage pilot.

"Don't you dare look at that Augusta Trash," roared the Doctor. "She is inferior and will corrupt you Zarn. Never look at pathetic bitch. I don't want a repeat of that Zabiarov incident."

Zarn held a hand to the cheek where Mooro had hit him; there was a look of genuine fear in his eyes. "I'm sorry Doctor," he managed.

"Sorry? You think you are sorry?" ranted Mooro. "You're not sorry at all. You said that the last time. You are special Zarn, unlike all that other trash you volunteered for the cyber-newtype programme. You are better than them; I don't want you mixing with them. Mixing with inferiors might dull your abilities."

Titans cruiser Peresus, The Side 3 Border, L2
1st September UC 0087

The Peresus' journey to the border of Side 3 had been uneventful. Lieutenant Commander Graser was bored out of his skull. This mission was a joke. Captain Om had ordered Graser to patrol the border of Side to prevent any possible collusion between the AEUG and those citizens of the Republic of Zeon who might sympathise with the traitors. There had been no intelligence reports suggesting any collusion and in any case sending a single cruiser to guard the entire frontier of Side 3 was beyond a joke; it was an impossible task. So Graser was stuck at the back of beyond until Captain Om decided he had been punished enough.

"Lieutenant Commander we have detected a pair of Republic cruisers on their side of the border, Sir,"

Graser look down at the young Lieutenant who was speaking to him. "What are they doing?" He barely recognised the Lieutenant; he suspected that the young man was a new crewman who had come on board at the Gate of Zedan.

"They appear to be ineptly shadowing us, Sir," reported the Lieutenant. "They are following us at a range of ten kilometres, Sir,"

"Well I suppose they are allowed to do what they want on their side of the border," Graser mused. "Tell me Lieutenant, what is your name? I don't recall your face."

"Er…I'm Lieutenant Neil Masterman, Sir; I joined the crew with Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael Urban at the Gate of Zedan, Sir," replied Lieutenant Masterman. "Why do you think the Zeons are following us, Sir?"

"They don't trust us, that is why," said Graser.

"But I thought we were allies, Sir," said Masterman. It was clear to Graser that the young officer was very inexperienced.

"It is simple Masterman," explained Graser, "Alliances are forged by politicians. Just because politicians start acting all chummy it doesn't mean the soldiers on the ground do. They still hate us and we still hate them because of the War. It will always be like that. You didn't fight in the last war did you Masterman."

"No Sir I did not. I missed it by a year," replied Masterman.

"Then you wouldn't understand Lieutenant," said Graser as he turned his attention back to staring out of the Peresus' main window. He paused for a moment then sighed. "Have our mobile suit pilots standby for launch. It is better to be safe then sorry."

Republic of Zeon Musai-Kai class cruiser Doric, The Side 3 Border, L2

"Those Titan dogs they think they can just push us around," snarled Captain Vasilios Royale. He stood just a few feet away from the Doric's helmsman. Royale's vast girth seemed to stretch his normal suit to breaking point. "We should sink them now while we have the chance!"

"I don't think that would be advisable Captain," commented Warren Luther. "You would only cause an incident that the Republic can ill afford."

Royale turned to look at the wiry observer. Warren Luther had been sent by the Republic's assembly to observe the Republic's military. "You damned politician's rat, what do you know of war?" barked Royale.

"I assure you Captain I did my part during the last war," replied Luther calmly. "I served with the Space Attack Force as a mobile suit pilot. We used to get up close and personal with our enemies, unlike you ship drivers who just pound away at long range with your main guns."

Royale only just managed to reign in his anger. Had he less self control he would have probably pounded Luther into a bulkhead. "Well then Mr Lieutenant we will give our guests a little welcoming visit. Contact the Corinthian order her mobile suit team to buzz the Titans cruiser," commanded Royale.

Warren Luther simply raised an eyebrow and commented. "I don't think that's a good idea either Captain."

Titans cruiser Peresus, The Side 3 Border, L2

Lieutenant Junior Grade Josh Renque paced, as best as was possible in a zero-gravity environment, up and down the small pilots ready room. He was in a foul mood for a number of reasons. First there was the very nature of the 185th Mobile Suit team's mission; still being assigned to the Peresus and that cantankerous old fool Graser was a pain. Secondly there was the fact that the newtype brat who had messed up in Side 4 had been assigned to the 185th to act as replacement pilot. Yuri Vedrievich had been bumped up the full Lieutenant and given command of the team.

At that moment the door to the ready room slid open and Yuri Vedrievich walked into the room accompanied by the other new pilot Lieutenant Junior Grade Michael Urban. For some reason the upper echelons of the Titans had decided that the Peresus should have four pilots now. "Where is Zarn?" asked the senior officer.

"He is in the hanger examining his Hizack," replied Renque. "He said he wanted to see what an inferior mobile suits looks like. God that brat gets on my nerves. He shouldn't even be here!"

"His transfer orders came from Captain Om himself," stated Vedrievich sternly. "If you want to question the matter I suggest you take it up with him." He rubbed an itchy spot just behind his ear. "At least the boy is keen; he takes the time to look over his mobile suit. You could learn something from him Josh, when was the last time you properly examined your own mobile suit? You always let the flight crews do it for you."

"That's their job," said Renque dismissively.

"It's your job as well Mister," said Vedrievich angrily. He stomped over to Renque and prodded him in the chest with an extended finger. "If you don't buck up comrade I'll have your arse busted back down to Ensign in no time at all." The Lieutenant straightened up and turned to face the replacement pilot Michael Urban, who had been hiding in the corner. "Come on Urban, best give our mobile suits a once over."

"Lieutenant Commander Graser we have confirmed a mobile suit launch from the trailing Republic cruiser!" yelled the Peresus' radar operator over the low lever hubbub of the bridge.

"You've what?" demanded Graser. He floated down from his lofty command chair and hovered next to the radar operator.

"Two mobile suits launched from the second Republic Musai Sir," reported the radarman. "Profile suggests Rick Doms, Sir. They are headed on a parallel course to our own, Sir,"

"What is their armament and have their cruisers starting spreading minovsky particles?" Graser quizzed.

"Appears to be 380mm bazookas and no, Sir,"

"Interesting, I wonder what those Zeeks are up too."

"Shall I order our mobile suits to intercept Sir?" asked Lieutenant Masterman who had been loitering near the rear of the bridge.

"Not yet," replied Graser without even looking at Masterman. "As much as I hate the Zeeks it would do us no good to actually start a fight with them."

By now the two Republic of Zeon Rick Doms had caught up with the Peresus. Flying in close formation the two mobile suits raced towards the Salamis Kai's command tower from the aft. Mere moments before collision they spilt off and swung around the tower at roughly bridge level. They continued down the length of the cruiser. After passing the bow they arced back round and hurtled towards the bridge. As they whooshed past everyone on the bridge, apart from Graser, ducked slightly. Graser stood in resolute defiance; he wasn't going to be frightened by some Zeek show off.

"Launch our mobile suits," he ordered. "Have them form up and escort the Peresus."

The Peresus' mobile suit elevator slowly lifted Lieutenant Yuri Vedrievich's and Ensign Zarn Farris' green Hizacks from the bowels of the cruiser to the catapult deck. Once it was in place Vedrievich gently eased his Hizack onto the catapult and allowed the locks to set in place.

"Keep it loose out there people, don't like the Zeeks rile you up," ordered Vedrievich. "Yuri Vedrievich, Hizack, Launching!"

The catapult flung Yuri's Hizack out into the depths of space where it was quickly joined by Zarn's. A few minutes later the elevator was bringing up Renque's and Urban's Hizacks. When all four of them were in space they peeled off to their positions. Renque and Urban covered the bow of the Peresus while Vendrievich and Zarn covered the aft.

The Rick Doms now took interest in the Titans mobile suits. The pair spilt off onto their own to investigate the Hizacks. One of the purple and black Rick Dom cruised up close to Zarn's Hizack. The Republic of Zeon mobile suit then powered up and darted in front of the green Hizack. In an impressive display of close formation flying the Rick Dom cut his main thrusters and his verniers to slip above Zarn with only meters to spare.

In his cockpit Zarn was getting seriously frustrated. "Get away from me the damned dirty spacenoid!" he bellowed at the top of his lungs. "How dare you come near me?"

"Ensign Farris calm down," ordered Lieutenant Vedrievich. "That Zeek pilot is only trying to test you. Ignore him."

The Rick Dom cut into a barrel roll that encompassed Zarn's Hizack. Mid way through the roll the Rick Dom stuck out an arm. On the hand two fingers were stuck up in the ancient gesture of defiance invented by English archers centuries ago.

"Get away from me you stinking Zeek bastard!" roared Zarn. The mere concept of the Titans being allied to these lowlife spacenoids was unbearable. He had to do something about it; surely they would thank him for it in the long run. He quickly deactivated the safety controls for his beam rifle and in one swift movement brought the weapon to bear. As the Rick Dom began a sweeping move bringing it up in front of Zarn's Hizack the young Titan burned a mega particle hole right through the Rick Dom's back.

The Rick Dom that had been hovering around the bow instantly reacted to the death of his comrade. Kicking the bulky antique mobile suit up to full power it charged towards Zarn's Hizack with its 380mm bazooka ready to fire. As it closed the range he opened fire, sending two of the massive bazooka rounds hurtling towards Zarn's suit. For his part Zarn was easily able to avoid the relatively slow munitions. Zarn swung his beam rifle around with the intention of ending the life of the second Republican pilot.

As events unfolded Vedrievich swore loudly and without thinking set his Hizack on an intercept course with the remaining Rick Dom. "Renque you and Urban restrain Farris. I'll deal with the Rick Dom," without even waiting for a reply he closed with the Rick Dom. Deciding it wasn't worth risking using his beam rifle at this time, or messing around with the inefficient heat hawk, he chose to ram the Rick Dom. Using the Hizack's left shoulder, with the spikes, he barged into the Rick Dom and knocked it off course. Before the Zimmad machine could regain its position Vedrievich had his beam rifle aimed at its torso at the same time he opened an open communications channel. "If you even move that bazooka in my direction I will not hesitate to kill you right here and now. Be smart and drop it." The Rick Dom hesitated for a few seconds as the pilot decided what to do. Eventually it let go and allowed the 380mm bazooka to drift free.

Vedrievich breathed a sigh of relief. He then opened a channel to the Peresus. "185th to Peresus situation under control. I will escort the Rick Dom back to its cruiser. Lieutenant Junior Grade Renque and Lieutenant Junior Grade Urban will escort Ensign Farris back to the Peresus."

He gestured with his beam rifle to the Rick Dom and it seemed to get the idea. It slowly started to move back towards the Republic cruisers.

Republic of Zeon cruiser Doric, The Side 3 Border, L2

Captain Vasilios Royale was furious, even more so that usual. "Those impudent Titans bastards! How dare they do this!" he roared.

Warren Luther however was far more level headed. "Captain reasonable evaluation shows that you are just as much in the wrong as they are." he said calmly. "You shouldn't have ordered the mobile suits to buzz the bridge of the Titans vessel. However your pilots also overstepped their orders. They were only told to buzz the bridge and not the mobile suits and so the blame also falls on them. This will certainly liven up my report; I thought it was going to be so boring. Don't worry Captain I will stress that it was the Titan mobile suit which fired first. I will recommend to the assembly that we file a formal complaint against the Titans, not that any action will be taken of course."

Warren walked off the bridge with a slight smile on his face. Yes this incident would make his report to the Republic a little more interesting but they wouldn't really take any notice of it. They were too busy trying to keep in the Titans good books.

His detailed analysis of the Republic of Zeon's military capability certainly wouldn't be seen by Princess Mineva Lao Zabi and it probably won't even get as far as Haman Karn. However Warren thought it necessary to include ever detail that might assist Axis when the mighty asteroid fortress finally returned to the Earth Sphere. He knew the report would be of interest to many of Axis' military commanders, included his own CO Commander Anthony Curran, they would want to know how far Side 3 had slipped during the years since the One Year War.

Titans cruiser Peresus, The Side 3 Border, L2

Just like Captain Vasilios Royale, Lieutenant Commander Graser was also furious. He was furious at Zarn Farris for doing something as stupid as shooting down a Republic mobile suit. It wasn't so much the killing of a Zeon that made it a problem it was the political implications. It would almost certainly cause trouble back at the Gate of Zedan which would probably result in the Peresus being stuck out on the border even longer.

"When they drag that brat out of his cockpit I want him slung in the brig immediately," he ordered.

"I'll see to it right away Sir," replied Lieutenant Masterman who quickly departed the bridge.

"Captain Om isn't going to like this at all," Graser muttered to himself. "Increase sailing speed to one half. We should try and get some distance between us and the Zeeks."

Renque and Urban both leaned into the cockpit of Zarn's Hizack and dragged the young newtype out of it. The young boy's body was limp and he did not even try to resist. Lieutenant Masterman was waiting for them to bring out into the light of the hanger.

"Ensign Farris you are to confined to the brig by order of Lieutenant Commander Graser until we receive word from the Gate of Zedan on what to do with you," said the Lieutenant in a formal tone of voice. Zarn didn't even reply. It was almost as if the boy had lost the will to live. "Take him away,"

The junior grade lieutenants hauled Zarn away towards the nearest airlock that led into the ships interior. As soon as Renque had determined that they had gotten far enough away from Masterman he stopped them and leant in close to Zarn's head.

"You might be the good for nothing brat that caused Lieutenant Hoges death but if you can keep killing Zeeks and traitors like that I might actually be able to respect you," he said quietly. "Don't think we friends or anything, but I might just be able to respect you enough not kill you while you sleep okay?"

Chapter notes:

Ship names and types
Doric – an order columns from Greek architecture. This ship is the standard Musai Kai as seen in Zeta Gundam. I'm not totally sure on the number of heavy mobile suits, like the Rick Dom, they can carry which is why no mobile suits launched from her in this chapter.
Corinthian - an order columns from Greek architecture. This ship is a two-turret design. The style is the same as the Musais seen in A War in the Pocket.