Chapter Ten

Titans Asteroid Fortress, Gate of Zedan, L3
1st November UC 0087

The board of inquire was a formidable sight. Commander Hohenstaufen was chairing the proceedings but the rest of the board was made up of hard faced officers from the Kilimanjaro Base. It all made Lieutenant Commander Graser rather uncomfortable. Other than Hohenstaufen none of the board had spent much more than a few weeks in space and none of them had experience combat in space. Graser suspect that he would not be getting any sort of sympathy vote from them. So far during the conflict with the AEUG some officers had escaped judgement for their failings. Rumour had it that he was going to be made an example of. This distressed Graser deeply. He did not consider himself at fault. As far as he was concerned it was his crew that had been incompetent. They had failed to detect the AEUG presence and had then failed to repulse the attacks. Those contemptible Space Forces drones had betrayed him.

"Lieutenant Commander Franz Graser this board of inquire has reached a verdict," said Commander Hohenstaufen. "It has been determined that the EFSFS Perseus was lost due to systemic incompetence across all departments; especially in the case of the senior officers. This incompetence led to the Perseus being taken into a dangerous situation without proper safeguards being put into place."

Graser considered arguing but stopped himself in time. The board did not look as thought it was in a forgiving mood. He reasoned it would probably be best to take their judgement now and complain bitterly about it later. It was true that his performance during the last mission had not been perfect but he would hardly called it systemic incompetence.

"Taking into account your war record and years of diligent service this board of inquire has decided to forgo a dishonourable discharge," Hohenstaufen continued. "You will be demoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade and reassigned to the asteroid supply base Hougourmont."

"But sir! That's a Federation Forces base you can't send me there!" interrupted Graser. It was an inadvisable outburst but the thought having to serve with more Space Farce fools was appalling.

"Be quiet lieutenant," Hohenstaufen spat the rank out as if it was mouldy bit of cheese. The old man could be surprisingly fierce when he wanted to be. "You are lucky to be still wearing that uniform. If it were up to me alone you would never be able to hold a position of authority ever again. At Hougourmont you will be under the command of Doctor Mooro. You will be assisting him in his continuing weapons research. The 185th mobile suit team will be joining up. They are as incompetent as you are. You may go now lieutenant."

"Y-yes sir," managed Graser. He was shaken to the core. But that quickly passed and was replaced with burning rage. This situation was intolerable. Mooro's blasted newtype project had been the start of all his problems. It was like a millstone around his neck that he just couldn't get rid of. He vowed there and then that he would get his revenge one way or another.

---

Earth Federation Space Forces asteroid base Hougourmont, Side 3 Border, L2

Doctor Mooro surveyed the facilities of his new base of operations. They were, in his opinion, inadequate to his needs. However it was the best he could squeeze out of the Titans. He suspected that there were still some in the organisations that didn't believe in his experiments. At least Captain Om was a believer and his approval meant that Mooro could get just enough support to keep working.

The Federation Forces crew of Hougourmont had been rather lax in their maintenance. This gave the base a dilapidated appearance with many systems operating at less than peak efficiency. Doctor Mooro's arrival had forced the previously lazy crew into almost herculean feats of activity to make the base fully operational. Mooro sighed as a pair of ratings manhandled a large cargo container through the habitation area towards an airlock.

"Is there something the matter, Doctor?" asked Ensign Zarn Farris. The boy pilot had been in his quarters.

"Hmm? oh hello Zarn. No nothing is the matter," replied Mooro, "Well I suppose something could be soon. High Command is sending us a mobile suit team to aid in the defence of this base."

"Isn't that a good thing?" asked Zarn. Mooro had noticed that the cyber-newtype pilot was a lot calmer here at Hougourmont than at his previous postings. He couldn't figure out why this was.

"It should be. However the team is the 185th and they are bringing lieutenant comm-, sorry lieutenant junior grade Graser with them," said Mooro bitterly. "This is their punishment for loosing the Perseus. I suspect that Graser will try and find a way to cause the project to fail. He is a very bitter man."

"If he does then I will kill him," replied Zarn bluntly. Despite his new found calmness, Mooro noted, he was still a trained killer. "Nothing can interfere with the project."

Before Mooro could reply he was interrupted by the bases' internal communication system. "Doctor Mooro, the transport you have been waiting for has just arrived. It is docking at Pier Two."

"Thank you very much," replied Mooro. "Come Zarn there is someone I want you to meet. They are going to be very helpful to the project."

Dutifully Zarn followed his master out of the habitation area and into the zero gravity section of the base. Much like the Gate of Zedan the majority of the asteroids interior lacked gravity. Only a relatively small habitation wheel deep in the heart of the asteroid gave the benefit of gravity. Hougourmont's dock area was only big enough for two docking piers. It could comfortably accommodate a pair of Salamis Kai cruisers but things got a lot more difficult if anything larger wished to dock. Currently the modified Columbus class transport Fyen was docked at Pier One but this still left enough room for the second pier to be used. The transport docking there was tiny in comparison but given that it was only carrying passengers it hardly needed to be very large.

Doctor Mooro and Zarn quickly made their way to Pier Two's reception area. They arrived just before the airlock doors opened. Two rather burly looking military policemen were the first to emerge; they were the sort that looked as they got the job thanks to sheer body mass rather than intelligence. After them came a bookish looking woman wearing glasses.

"Doctor Mooro it is good to see you again," she said. "How is space treating you?"

"I could be better Ms Paxman," replied Mooro coolly. "But this is the only place to conduct the research I need. I trust she is okay?"

"Of course," snapped Lillia Paxman, "Ensign Set come here at once."

The figure that emerged next was diminutive in stature but more than made up for it with force of personally. She practically radiated confidence in the extreme. "Do not take that tone of voice with me woman," said Ensign Set forcefully. "You are nothing compared to me."

"Still as arrogant as ever I see," said Mooro with a slight smile. "Zarn, I would like to introduce you to Ensign Dae Set. She is also a product of Pyongyang. Ensign Set my I introduce Ensign Zarn Farris. You will be working together on the project."

Zarn was instantly captivated by Dae Set. He'd never been very good at guessing people's ages but he was fairly sure she was about his own age. He only had to look at her to tell that she was native to the Pyongyang area. She was, as far as he was concerned, stunningly beautiful but he could tell from her eyes that see looked on him with disgust.
---

Civilian launch TS-1004, Approaching manufacturing satellite Lambda-Seven, Republic of Zeon, Side 3,
5th November

Lieutenant Commander Vicktor von Habsburg-Lothringen adjusted his uniform slightly and then went back to twiddling with the tip of his handlebar moustache. He disliked lengthy shuttle trips intensely since he felt confined in the flimsy little vessels. Already two hours had passed since the shuttle had left Core-3. The Lambda-Seven manufacturing satellite was hidden in the most remote corner of Side 3. Considering what was contained within the satellite Vicktor did not consider this a bad thing. However it was immensely inconvenient.

"Lieutenant Commander von Habsburg-Lothringen, we are approaching Lambda-Seven," the pilot's voice crackled over the intercom into the passenger compartment. "We should be able to dock in the next ten minutes."

"Excellent news I look forward to experiencing gravity again," said Vicktor. There was a Germanic twinge to his accent but the more time he spent in the military the weaker it became. He had some leave due after his current assignment was over and he fully intended on returning home to the Habichtsburg.

Turning to his travelling companions Vicktor continued, "Are you ready sergeant? I hope we won't be needing your services but you never can tell with these colonials."

"We are always ready sir," replied Sergeant Abhay Bipin. The Indian soldier was in charge of a heavily armed platoon of elite Titan marines.

Vicktor had the full authority of the Titans and even the approval of the Republic of Zeon government to carry out his mission. However there was always the possibility that the Republic military personnel at Lambda-Seven might resist. Therefore Sergeant Bipin and his men had come along to make sure there wasn't any problems.

"There won't be any problems will there Mr Fitch?" Vicktor asked the little man sitting in the row behind him.

"O-of course not, Lieutenant Commander von Habsburg-Lothringen," said Mr Fitch. He was a nervous looking balding man in his mid-forties. Izechal Fitch was a representative of the Republic of Zeon's government; sent to ensure that nothing ill happened at Lambda-Seven. "Our men at Lambda-Seven are all loyal to the Republic. They will carry out any order given with the appropriate authority."

The final approach to Lambda-Seven was conducted in silence. When Vicktor looked out of the small porthole window next to him he could see two Musai cruisers holding station next tot he satellite. One of the was a post war refit which sported so much needed anti-mobile suit weapons. The second ship was a two-turret variant from the latter stages of the One Year War. Vicktor did not know a great deal about that particular variant as only a handful had been built and used by the Principality's Granada base. In the grand scheme of things, however, the Musais matter little. What really mattered was hidden inside the factory.

Vicktor could just see its red coloured bow sticking out into space. The closer the TS-1004 got to the factory the more he could see. He quickly began to appreciate just how important this ship was going to be. It was simply huge. Vicktor wasn't old enough to have served in the One Year War so he had only heard stories about the Principality's fearsome Gwazine class battleships. Now he was coming face to face with the only one left in operation. It was called the Gwadrim and it was the Republic of Zeon's most treasured secret.

The Gwadrim had still been under construction when the One Year War ended. Knowing that the victorious Federation would never have allowed them to keep such a vessel various people within the new republic managed to hide the partly completed battleship. The records pertaining to the Gwadrim were destroyed before the Federation Forces seized control of the shipyards. As the years passed the Gwadrim remained hidden at the Lambda-Seven factory satellite. Slowly but surely engineers from the Republic started to complete the battleship. They planned on it being the Republic's insurance if the Zabi loyalist who had fled to the Axis asteroid ever returned. They did not merely complete the Gwadrim they improved upon the design incorporating many new technologies. The entire mobile suit hanger was redesigned to make use of two mobile suit catapults which both faced forward. The hanger was also enlarged to fit in no fewer than twelve mobile suits. Both the engines and the power plant were replaced with newer and more efficient models which greatly increased the cruising range and combat ability. It was indeed a fearsome ship and now Vicktor was going to command it.

Before long the TS-1004 had landed in the Gwadrim's hanger. After the hanger was sealed and oxygenated Vicktor and his fellow passengers disembarked. Waiting for them was a small part of the Republic military officers. First and foremost was a man in a captain's uniform who Vicktor presumed was the current commander. He could tell that the captain was a veteran of the One Year War though unlike most of the veterans that Vicktor had them. Many of them were broken men easily pushed around by both the Federation and the Titans. This man, however, held himself up high and looked the consummate professional.

"I am Lieutenant Commander Vicktor von Habsburg-Lothringen," declared Vicktor to the Zeon officers. "In the name of the Titans and by order of the Republic of Zeon government I am taking command of this vessel." He believed that a good first impression was important. Even if this captain wasn't easily pushed around a show of confidence was always welcome.

After eyeing Vicktor up for a few moments the captain replied. "My name is Lorin Halifax, Captain in the Republic of Zeon Space Forces and commander of the Gwadrim. Let it be noted that I strongly object to the Titans seizing control of this vessel."

"Your objection is noted captain, but it does not change anything," replied Vicktor coolly. "Our good friend here Mr Fitch carries with him all the documents I need to take control of the Gwadrim."

"I don't doubt that," said Halifax. "However I feel that giving over our only weapon of defence against the Zabists to the Titans just because they are feeling a little hot under the collar is inexcusable." He didn't let Vicktor get a reply in before continuing. "However I will comply with the orders. I am no traitor to me nation."

"Good," replied Vicktor. He did not now what to make of Captain Halifax. He was clearly loyal to the Republic but was more than willing to criticise it. "You should know captain that the Titans are your best insurance against any renegade Zeons. Serve us well and you will have our protection against anything they try to do. Betray us and we can not help you at all." He let the Zeons chew that over a bit before continuing. "Now we must get ready to leave as soon as possible. We are due to meet the Hario in twenty four hours time over the border in Federation territory. They are carrying a supply of mobile suits for our little fleet. We just can't use the relics you people have."

---

Anti-Earth Union Group colony Sweetwater, Somewhere in the vicinity of L2
6th November

The main community hall in Sweetwater's rather modest residential district was a hive of activity. The graduation party for two of the trainee squads was well under way. Everyone who wasn't on duty was attending the party. Recently there had not been a great deal to celebrate and so the party was being used to bolster the morale of all who could attend.

A stage had been erected at one end of the hall and the well known band called The Von Braun Express were playing a set. James Keffer was hovering near the buffet table at the side of the hall with a glass of champagne in one hand and tucking into the nibbles with the other.

"Are you enjoying the music, Lieutenant?" asked Herbert Smyth. The Anaheim Electronics representative was also hovering by the buffet table. Smyth was really out of his depth at this sort of event. He did not like mingling with the soldiers as the majority of them were frightfully common. "They've been topping the Luna Music charts for months now. It was quite a coup for us to get them."

"I don't particularly like this type of pop music," replied James. He noticed the all too visible flicker in Smyth's face. "I prefer something with a little more edge to it. The Cylinders were my favourite group when I was growing up."

"I don't believe I've ever heard of them before," commented Smyth. Once again he was totally out of his depth. He had been told by head office that The Von Braun Express were all the rage and would be perfect for the party. Of course he himself knew pretty much nothing about popular music.

"oh I shouldn't imagine you would," said James with a slight bitterness in his voice. "They were a local band back home at Wothott colony. Unfortunately they were killed when the colony was attacked. Quite a shame. They were on the verge of becoming something really big."

"I-I'm sorry," managed Smyth.

"There's nothing to apologise about," said James. "It's not as if you can do anything about it."

"How are your squad of trainees doing?" asked Smyth, desperately trying to change the subject.

"I think they'll be ready for active service in a couple of weeks," replied James after taking a sip of champagne. "They took the death of Arnold Dent hard, especially Raima Sen. They'll toughen up quickly enough though once we get them out there."

"Well I think it's been a blessing having you here Lieutenant," said Smyth. "Having someone with your experience teaching the trainees has been invaluable."

"I'll admit that teaching these kids has probably done some good," said James calmly. "However I'd say that you've been wasting time with this damned guard duty. The Valiant would have been better utilised doing what we were meant to do. She's a patrol ship not a damned guard ship."

Smyth was left flustered when James walked off briskly. James considered Smyth to be a pathetic little man without the power to defend himself properly. There was little real point in arguing with him since he had the backing of Anaheim but it was good to blow off a little bit of steam.

"Lieutenant Keffer, can I have a word?" The voice came from behind James and he turned to see the youthful and rather attractive Raima Sen. She wore the full Federation Forces dress uniform even though she had never enlisted. James meanwhile was still sporting his usual duty uniform, he never did like dressing up for anything.

"Of course, how can I help?" asked James. He liked Raima as a student. She was a capable pilot with a exceptional strategic mind. He sometimes wondered if she'd be better off in fleet command rather than the mobile suit corps.

"How do you deal with it?" she asked. "The death of a team mate I mean."

"Well that isn't an easy one. I don't care to think of how many team mates I lost over the years." he replied sombrely. "In a way it does get better by the sheer fact that you get desensitised. But you got to remember that I leant to deal with death during the One Year War. Going out on a mission and coming back with less than half a squad left was common place."

"So you mean the best way to deal with it is to just not care?" Raima looked somewhat confused and slightly disgusted by the very idea.

"Never stop caring. If you do that then you're just dead inside. I've seen that happen to people and they don't last long," said James. "What I'm trying to say is you need to learn to be a soldier through and through. You get taught to fight but rarely are you taught how to cope with being a solider. That comes with time unfortunately."

James' train of thought was disturbed by a young officer running into the hall and looking around anxiously. Eventually he spotted James and rushed over.

"Sir, where is Captain Jellico?" he asked quickly.

"Evening Lark," said James. "I think the Captain is having a chat with Commander Reese over by that cluster of pretty ladies near the dance floor. What's up?"

"New orders and it's urgent, thank you sir." Lark was already rushing across the room before James could reply.

"Well isn't that interesting," said James half to himself. "I think I'm going to have to find out what's going on." He strode off after Lark and with in a moment Raima was following him. By the time they had caught up with Lark he had already handed over the orders to Captain Jellico.

"What's so important that it can't wait till the party is over, captain?" asked James.

Jellico looked up from reading the orders and his face was deathly serious. "It appears that the is hitting the fan James. Here." He passed the written orders to James for him to read.

It took James only a moment to take in the information. "You've got to be kidding me, with just two ships? Who the hell did you piss off Alexander? This is impossible."

At that moment Raima decided to make her presence known. "Sirs, I volunteer the services of my training team to assist you in any way possible with your mission."

"Stand down trainee, do you want to die?" snapped James. "You aren't fully trained yet, you'll be no help to us at all."

"Thank you for the offer Trainee Sen but you won't be needed," said Jellico more tactfully than James. "The best way for you to aid us will be to finished your training here." He turned to the the group of Valiant officers who had gathered since the arrival of Lark. "Spread the word to all Valiant and Redoubtable crew members. We leave port in two hours. Sober up and get ready. We have a tough mission coming up and I want everyone to be at their very best. The hunt is on and I aim to claim the top prize!"

---

Author's notes:
Full name: Vicktor Franz Josef Otto Robert Maria Anton Karl Max Heinrich Sixtus Xavier Felix René Ludwig Gaetano Pius Ignazius von Habsburg-Lothringen