Chapter Eight

Anti-Earth Union Group colony Sweetwater, Somewhere in the vicinity of L2
17th September UC 0087

The exact location of the Sweetwater colony was the AEUG's most closely guarded secret. Before the open declaration of hostilities on the Titans, with the raid on Side 7, it had been the only truly safe base for the AEUG. Even after several months of combat and numerous colonies and lunar cities declaring their support for the AEUG there was still a great deal of secrecy around Sweetwater. Sweetwater was still one of the AEUG's principle shipyards and intelligence centres. The small Type-1 colony was now playing host to the crew of the 'Forrestal'-type Salamis heavy cruiser Valiant and the new recruits from the Perseus.

It had been well over a year since Captain Alexander Jellico had last been to the AEUG's ultra secret headquarters. Back then the AEUG hadn't quite been as open about its own existence. The reception area that he was waiting in was rather dull. There were a handful of not very comfortable chairs and a small table with some magazine scattered about it. He could make out some copies of the Anaheim Electronics newsletter and the latest edition of the Von Braun Times. In the corner a secretary was typing away at her computer. It annoyed Alexander that he was being forced to wait. He wanted to get the Valiant turned around and back out on patrol as quickly as possible. He had no idea who Herbert Smyth was but he'd been told to report to Smyth upon docking with Sweetwater. When Alexander had last visited Sweetwater Commodore Forer had been commanding the base personally. Now he hardly knew anyone here.

---

Herbert Smyth did no like his assignment at all. He felt decidedly unsafe. Wong Lee himself had ordered Smyth to come all this way out to Sweetwater as Anaheim's representative at the AEUG colony. The journey had been terrible in a creaky old shuttle that should have been condemned years ago. He felt there had been no need what so ever to blindfold him. As if he was ever going to remember how to find the colony. It was well known at the Von Braun branch of AE that Smyth could get lost on his own floor. Wong Lee had called it an promotion. A position of responsibility at a safe and vital base. As far as he was concerned Sweetwater was anything but safe and horrendously under defended. The permanent defence forces consisted of just two mobile suit squadrons along with a few training squads. Cruisers briefly added to the defence but they rarely stayed long. This was, however, something Smyth planned to rectify. He took his wire-rim glasses off and started to clean then with a small piece of cloth.

"Ms. Dickinson please send the captain in," he said into the small intercom box on his desk. Moments later Captain Jellico was ushered into the office. The first thing that Smyth noted was that the captain was still wearing his standard EFSF uniform. Right down to the brown leather over jacket. From what he'd seen of most AEUG members they chose to modify their uniforms. His records on Jellico stated that he was 29 years old but the man before him was much older; his featured seemed weathered and stern. Merely glancing at his war record gave many answers. The words British, Loum, Solomon, and A Baoa Qu jumped out. Each one sent a shiver down Smyth's spine. Smyth hadn't fought in the last war but he'd heard the stories.

"Captain Jellico, welcome to Sweetwater. I must say I am pleased to have you with us," said Smyth with a smile. "I'm Herbert Smyth. I represent Anaheim Electronics here at Sweetwater."

"Thank you for seeing me so promptly Mr Smyth," replied Jellico with virtually no emotion in his voice. He was getting a distinct feeling that he wasn't going to like Smyth. On the walls of the office there were countless images of the moon and the various Anaheim facilities there. Jellico could tell that Smyth loved Lunar a little too much.

"You have done the AEUG a great service, Captain, by capturing the Perseus," said Smyth. He shuffled some papers around his desk and then chose one to look at. "If only all our missions were as successful as yours."

"I carried out the mission as ordered," replied Jellico. "I couldn't have done it without my pilots. They are some of the best we've got. Even the new Zeon recruits performed superbly."

"Well I'm glad that they will be bringing such expertise to our garrison here," said Smyth absentmindedly.

"I'm sorry did you say to the garrison here?" asked Jellico slightly puzzled. "I don't understand."

"I have decided that our defences here at Sweetwater need strengthening," replied Smyth. He looked over the rims of his glasses at Jellico. "From this date forward the Valiant will be joining the garrison. Your pilots can help in the training of our new recruits."

"You can't do that!" snapped Jellico. "The Valiant is a cruiser. She's designed for patrolling. Hell she was specially modified to increase her capabilities as a long range patrol ship. Relegating her to garrison duty is a waste of her abilities and my time."

"The decision has already been made, Captain," replied Smyth darkly. "I told you that I represent Anaheim Electronics and it is the decision of the company that Sweetwater needs better defences. You have your orders captain. See to it that they are carried out."

---

Republic of Zeon Musai-Kai class cruiser Doric, The Side 3 Border, L2
18th September

The heavy airlock doors zuzunged open slowly revealing the survivors from the Perseus. They all looked rather unkempt and tired but Lieutenant Commander Graser looked particularly bad. Seemingly the loss of his ship was weighing heavily on his shoulders.

"Welcome gentlemen to the Republic of Zeon cruiser Doric," said Captain Vasilios Royale. He was standing in the cruiser side of the airlock with his vast girth looking resplendent in full Zeon uniform. He could scarcely hide his glee. Opportunities to mock the Titans were few and far between. He planned on taking full advantage of the situation. "I hope that your journey was not too taxing."

"What took you so long in picking us up?" snapped Graser, he might be somewhat bedraggled but he wasn't going to let some Zeek talk down to him. "We've been adrift for days!"

"You were on the Federation side of the border. Surely you know what the penalties are for the Republic ships to cross the border without permission," said Vasilios. "I would not dare to contravene the Granada Accords. So unfortunately we had to wait for an opportunity to report the situation back to fleet command. Then of course it was up to them to pass on the information to your embassy in Zum City. Now that we've got that out of the way I will have someone show you to your quarters. Unfortunately the only spare room we have is in the brig but I assure you they are quite comfortable."

Anger and disgust rippled across Grazer's face. This was no way for a stinking Zeek to treat Titans. "I'll have you rank for this, captain," spat Graser as he prodded the fat Zeon in the chest. "Don't forget that it's thanks to us your stupid republic even exists."

"You should be careful while on my ship Lieutenant Commander," sneered Vasilios. "You are a long way from home and accidents do happen out here in space. I'd hate for one to happen to you."

Graser was slightly taken aback by Vasilios. He had never met a Zeon with enough arrogance to stand up to a Titan. The ones he had met before during a visit to the Titans mission in Zum City had been snivelling little fools with no backbone. He decided to let Vasilios' insolence slide for now. The fat Zeon had at least rescued the survivors from the Perseus. Once they were back in Federation territory he would arrange for the captain to be dealt with.

Quietly Graser and the other Titans allowed themselves to be led away by a junior officer. Warren Luther took this opportunity to come out of the shadows where he had been lurking.

"I suppose you are going to tell me I shouldn't have done that," said Vasilios dryly.

"You certainly haven't done any favours for Titan-Zeon relations," commented Luther. "However that does not mean I didn't enjoy it. I don't like the Titans any more than you do Captain. I, however, have my own ways of dealing with them."

"By writing reports?" said Vasilios with disgust. He did not like Luther. The little man was always there quietly taking notes on everything. "What good has a report ever done. No one reads the blasted things."

"That's as maybe Captain but it doesn't mean we should stop writing them," replied Luther. "Our time will come soon."

---

Titans Asteroid Fortress Gate of Zedan, L3
28th September

Lieutenant Commander Graser was seriously starting to dislike waiting. He and his crew had been back at the Gate of Zedan for three days. There had been a scant debriefing on the day of arrival and then nothing. Graser felt as though he had been left to rot. Now, however, he had finally been summoned to appear before Commander Conrad Hohenstaufen, the nominal commanding officer of the Gate of Zedan. Graser supposed it wouldn't be as bad as another encounter with Captain Om. The general opinion of Hohenstaufen was that the balding old man was not really suited to an important command like Zedan. He was known as an administrator rather than a leader of men. During the One Year War Hohenstaufen had been in command of Jaburo's logistics division and while being a logistical genius he hadn't really shown any flare for leading men.

Graser was led into Hohenstaufen's office and told to wait while the commander finished some business. The office was surprisingly ornate by Graser's judgement. Liberal use of wood had been applied to the walls presumably to try and make it feel a little less like a box inside of a giant rock.

"So you are Franz Graser then," said Hohenstaufen as he looked up from the documents on his oak desk. "Captain Om gave me instructions to deal with you. Apparently he is busy with something else and couldn't attend to you himself. Please be seated."

"Thank you, sir," Graser said as he took the offered seat. His features had tightened at the mention of the name Om but he didn't think the old man had noticed.

"I am afraid I have rather bad news for you Lieutenant Commander. Captain Om was most displeased to here about the loss of the Perseus. We need every ship we can get during these trying times. There will of course be a full investigation into the events that led up to the loss of the Perseus."

"If I may ask, sir, who will head the investigation?" asked Graser calmly.

"What? Oh I believe it is going to be Lieutenant Dukas from the intelligence division," replied Hohenstaufen as he shuffled through some papers. "Naturally you and your men will be needed for questioning and the like so you will all be confined to your quarters until further notice."

"Commander I really don't see the need for that! We are not criminals!" Graser half-shouted the words before he realised that the probably shouldn't even spoken. Hohenstaufen might be old and a marginal figure in the Titans but he could cause Graser's life to be a misery.

"As I said you will all be confined to quarters. All except Zarn Farris. Doctor Mooro has requested that the boy be returned to his care," said the commander with a slight wheeze. "I have approved the requested. There is no sense in having a valuable test subject wasted."

"Are you suggesting that myself and my crew aren't valuable, sir?" snapped Graser

"Lieutenant Commander you had your ship stolen from right beneath your feet," replied Hohenstaufen as his eyes narrowed to stare at Graser intently. "You have been disgraced and humiliated. You are of little value to yourself right now let alone the Titans. Now I suggest you go to your room and await judgement."

---

Corregidor Shoal Zone, L2,
3rd October

Flying through shoal zones always gave Jason Raynor the creeps. It felt like he was stepping on people's graves. The Corregidor shoal zone still had lots of debris that was all too recognisable as parts of colonies. Earlier he had passed by an entire apartment block hanging dead in space. Unfortunately this was the only place near by that the AEUG could come to and do training. Even with Sweetwater's hidden location it was still too risky to perform training flights near by. So the trainee AEUG pilots were loaded onto transports and quietly shipped to Corregidor.

Being part of the Sweetwater garrison the Valiant's pilots were expected to spend time helping to train new pilots. Thus it was Jason's turn to fly around the shoal zone while a bunch of rookies tried to hit him. It had been rather amusing the previous week when Lieutenant Keffer had joined in. The veteran pilot had made mincemeat out of the luckless trainees. He had then given them a three hour debriefing during which he explained that they were all rubbish and should go back to whatever colony they came from. Jason knew that the lieutenant had been trying to do them a favour. He could generally tell what sort of person would make a good pilot.

A beam sailed past to his left indicating that the trainees had finally caught up with him. Jason had to admit that they weren't very good. They were all kids from colonies that had never seen war and thought that piloting mobile suits was a great game. He was beginning to think that they had little interest in the political goals of the AEUG, they just wanted a chance to fight against the Titans and the Federation at large.

Firing his apogee motors in the right order he turned his Nemo Cannon a full hundred and eighty degrees. Dropping a finger on his trigger he fired off a couple of volleys from the shoulder mounted cannons on his mobile suit. He deliberately missed the trailing Nemos but it was enough to scatter them quite effectively. It was quite shocking that the trainees hadn't caught Jason yet. His Nemo Cannon had reduced performance compared to the standard Nemos. Jason assumed that either the trainees really were crap or he was just a fine pilot. He'd had some pretty good teachers over the years Lieutenant Keffer had passed on a few tricks.

---

Republic of Zeon Musai-Kai class cruiser Doric, The Side 3 Border, L2
14th October

The small alarm clock mounted on the wall above Warren Luther's bed started it's shrill beeping. Warren himself wasn't sleeping despite it being "night-time" on the Doric. He leaned over from where he was seated at the desk and deactivated the alarm. It was finally time. He had to admit that he had mixed feelings about the final part of his mission. He had enjoyed his time working for the Republic Assembly. It had given him the chance to lead a comparatively normal life if only for the last six months. There was also the minor issue of Susan back in Core 3. She'd been a lovely lady and he had felt a little bad lying to her. He made a mental note to arrange for her to be provided for once Side 3 was back under control.

Warren picked up his rather small duffel bag from the corner of the room. It had been packed for hours. Time had dragged at a snail's pace while he'd waited for the prearranged timeslot. He locked his door as he exited the cabin he'd lived in for the last three months. There was no sense in letting any of the Doric's crew think any suspect was going on.

It did not take Warren very long to reach to the pilot's locker room next to the hanger. It was a small room to fit the small number of pilots the Doric carried. Luckily for Warren there was a spare pilot's suit. He had been half worried that he would have had to use a normal suit instead.

---

The security in the Doric's hanger was very lax. Warren did not find this very surprising. From what he'd seen of the Republic military it was pretty complacent when it came to border patrols. It wasn't as if the Federation was going to make trouble so border patrol was a low priority and therefore was considered an "easy" assignment where nothing happened.

The one thing they probably were not expecting was for the Republic Assembly representative on mission to steal a Rick Dom. However that was exactly what was happening. Warren skipped most of the start up procedure for the Rick Dom. He knew the machine was in good condition though he still wasn't used to the panoramic screen. He had only tried a panoramic screen a couple of times and each time he had felt somewhat overwhelmed. This, however, was not the time to dwell on such things.

A few strokes on the Rick Dom's control board activated to virus Warren had hidden within the Doric's main computer. It override all the safely protocols and opened the hanger doors. Once the doors were open wide enough the clamps holding the Rick Dom in place released and let the bulky machine leave the hanger under it's down power.

"Luther! What the hell do you think you are doing!" Captain Vasilios Royale's voice bellowed through the radio. Immediately Warren regretted not deactivating the Doric's communications array.

"I'm stealing a Rick Dom you fat idiot," retorted Warren. "What does it look like I'm doing?

"How dare you speak to me like that!" roared Royale. "Return this instant or I will have you shot!"

"No my dear idiotic captain. It is not I who will be shot. It is you," said Warren as he lined up his giant bazooka. "Glory to the Space Attack Force, Glory to the Principality and Glory to Princess Mineva Lao Zabi!"

Before Royale got a chance to reply Warren fired off six rounds from his giant bazooka into the unprotected hanger. The initial explosion destroyed much of the command structure. Then secondary explosions rippled through the rest of the hull until all that was left of the Doric was burning debris.

Warren checked his instruments and then estimated his approximate position based on the location of main landmarks of the Moon and Side 3. Happy that he vaguely knew where he was he took the Rick Dom over the border into Federation space and headed for his destination.

---

It took about two hours to reach his destination but that didn't bother Warren. What was important was that he got there. Hidden amongst a cloud of dummy asteroids was a ship. It was green and its basic shape was similar to that of the Doric. However it was quite different in many ways. For a start it was a lot bigger and second its armaments were far more formidable. The most striking difference was the fact that it was an Axis Zeon ship.

"Mirandra control this is Warren Luther requestion permission to land," Warren asked over the communications channel he'd been told to use.

"Luther this is the Mirandra you are clear to land on catapult one," said an all to familiar voice.

"Why Storm Lord, you didn't have to come out all this way just to pick me up," replied Warren with a smile on his face. "You could have sent one of your minions to do it."

"You are the best minion I've got Warren," retorted Commander Anthony Curran. "I've got to look after you. Welcome back my friend."

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