Disclaimer: I do not own After War Gundam X, nor do I claim to.

We have reached the last chapter of this little prelude, granted a little later than I expected to be putting it out being behind a chapter in 00 Frozen Teardrops because of chapter size… But, hopefully this will help set the stage for the story that will be following both fics which is the next step in my mass crossover series which will cover the After War. As always, please read and review. And now…

*Tap*

Huh…

*THWACK!*

"Just get on with it…" Tonya threw her arms up as Sala clobbered Ald again.

"Captain, the author's out cold!" Sala looked over at him.

"Toss him in the brig." Jamil nodded towards the door as he pressed the enter key submitting the chapter.

xxxxxx

Ch. 5

"Hey, Jamil what kinds of suits are these pilots bringing aboard Daughtress's or Janice types?" Kid Salsamille looked at him.

"Neither… that's why I picked them." Jamil watched as a red and white jet flew towards the rear of the Freeden. "Here's one now…"

Sam's mouth fell open as the suit transformed "Tha… that's a…"

"GW-9800 Gundam Airmaster." Jamil smiled as it touched down "And here's the other pilot…" he gestured to the dark forest green, black and white Gundam as it seemingly dashed in without running "The GT-9600 Gundam Leopard."

"Wow… two Gundam types…" Sam's eyes were wide before he looked at Jamil "Can I…"

"No." Jamil stated flatly "You can perform maintenance though… no modifications, understood?"

Sam almost pouted a little then he looked at the machines again "Well, at least they look a little beaten up…"

"They probably haven't gotten any true maintenance in fourteen years. Make sure they're like new for this mission." Jamil patted Sam on the head, the yellow hat flipped backwards with a little of his light brown hair sticking out from around it.

"You got it Jamil!" Sam grinned at the prospect of getting to actually get inside the top of the line machines of the UNE, the ones his father had designed for the UNE's Newtype corps. He watched as the two machines made their way into the Freeden's hangar. "Oh boy oh boy dad's suits! Dad's suits!" he nearly leapt his height into the air cheering as he ran after the suits.

Xxx

"So any idea where our bunks are supposed to…" Witz trailed off as the door directly in front of them opened, and Tonya dripping walked out wearing nothing but a bath towel "Jamil the water's stopped working again!" She shouted down the hall in the opposite direction.

"Uhh…" Witz let out a light grunt not really even realizing he had, Tonya turned and looked at him and Roybea blinking at them.

"EEEEEEKKKK!" Tonya screamed as her right hand swung almost like a whip slapping Witz across the face hard enough to send him staggering into the wall.

"What's going on!" Another female voice shouted as Sala sprinted around the corner and blinked at the scene.

"WHO ARE THESE GUYS AND…" Tonya looked at her.

"They're the new pilots…" Sala blinked "Why are you taking a shower I told you the water was low…"

"Oh… okay then!" Tonya turned around and glared at the two "If you ever do that again I'll…" she puffed up her cheeks and glared at them before storming back into the one shower.

"What the hell was that!" Witz shot up glaring at Sala "She just saunters out of the shower in nothing but a towel and slaps me for not checking both directions!"

Sala rolled her eyes "Follow me, I'll show you to your rooms…"

"Well that's fine with me…" Roybea shrugged as he began following her down the corridor "By the way, my name's Roybea, Roybea Loy."

"Sala Tyrell, I'm the executive officer of this ship." Sala replied causing Roybea to stop dead. The girl around his age, maybe a year or two younger was the second in command. "What a lovely rose…"

Xxx

"Are things proceeding as planned?" the elderly CEO of the Alternative company, Von Alternative looked at the doctor in charge of Tiffa from his desk.

"In comparison to the data we retrieved from the UNE's old newtype labs, she's remarkably skilled. Her abilities are on par with category A newtypes." The doctor looked at him.

Von smiled "Tiffa is exactly what I expected then…" he nodded towards the door "Continue with the tests."

Xxx

"WHAT THE HELL DID THE LITTLE RUNT DO TO MY SUIT!" Witz shouted as he saw the Airmaster with all of its armor stripped, one of its arms being disassembled and its guns also being torn down.

"That little "runt" as you referred to him, is the chief mechanic aboard the ship." Sala spoke causing Witz to stop shouting. "I don't know why, but the Captain seems to have faith in his mechanical abilities."

"Then why is he tearing our suits down!" Roybea grimaced as the Leopard's inner arm gatling was off of the suit and half of its barrels were removed.

"Because, according to the data…" Kid Salsamille spoke as he walked over "You two knuckleheads haven't had your machines overhauled in almost two and a half years!"

"Little loudmouthed…" Witz glared at him.

"The Airmaster for example…" Sam turned and pointed at its frame "Its frame's lubricant hasn't been changed in over a year and a half, it's on the verge of breaking because of all of the wear its gotten!" he shifted his arm to the Leopard "Almost all of the barrels in the guns are shot, the rifling is filled to the brim, and half of the grenade launchers don't work! It's a miracle either of them can move let alone fight!"

Witz and Roybea blinked as the little nine year old boy tore into them about how they treated their machines.

"Chief! The wiring harness in the Airmaster's optics is nearly shot!" Rococo yelled down from his spot on top of the machine.

"Great another part to replace…" The boy shook his head "My father would be ashamed of how you treated his machines!"

Witz and Roybea blinked "Your father wha…" Roybea scratched his head, before a hand clapped down on his shoulder, he looked and saw Jamil standing there.

"Sam, please continue the overhaul of the machines while I talk with them…" Jamil nodded to him.

"Alright Jamil, but at this rate they'll need almost everything replaced…" Kid grumbled as he made his way back over towards the machines.

Jamil gestured for the two pilots to follow him. The short walk ended as they reached Jamil's room, he took a seat behind his desk and sighed as he pulled out a photograph "The man in the photograph is Able Salsamille, he was a mobile suit engineer with the UNE's forces. He is the man who developed the Gundam's."

"Woah… is this…" Witz blinked as a younger boy next to Able in the picture before it was taken from him again.

Jamil sighed as he replaced the photograph in his jacket "The reason I trust Sam so much with their repairs, is he is Able's son."

"And how did he wind up on this ship then, where's…" Roybea looked at Jamil.

Jamil sighed "I was taken in by Able and his wife after the war… I was all alone in the world and they took care of me. One night about two years after Sam was born, a mob found out who Able was… he told me to take Sam and get out… he gave me directions to an old UNE base, and that's where I came into possession of this ship. The next day…"

"Aww… man I feel like crud after I yelled at the kid." Witz shook his head.

"He has the mechanical skills and knowledge of his father. He'll take good care of the suits, and they need to be almost like new for the mission." Jamil looked at them "As you know, maintenance is covered in the contracts we agreed to."

"Fine by me then… I just have a lot of history with the Leopard, a friend gave it to me…" Roybea smiled.

"Some friend… I was given the Airmaster as the result of a job, the captain of this one ship said I deserved it." Witz shrugged.

"Well then, when the maintenance is done we'll start the preparations for the mission." Jamil stood and made his way towards the door.

Xxx

"You think that was him in the photograph?" Roybea asked as he looked at Witz.

"Can't say for sure but it sure as hell seemed to look like him…" Witz shrugged "I mean the kid in the photograph had the same haircut…"

"Yeah but come on you think he was wearing a Federation uniform… honestly he would have been what like fifteen? That's way too young for a soldier..." Roybea shrugged "All that matters is we're getting paid right… who cares about the guy's past if he can pay?"

Witz shrugged and took another swig from the bottled soft drink he'd gotten his hands on "You have a point… ah, whatever… after this is done I'll be able to go back and visit my folks for a bit…"

Xxx

"A newtype research lab?" Olba looked at his superior Colonel Aimzat Kartral.

Colonel Kartral nodded "Yes, we believe the Alternative Company is conducting research on Newtypes. We'd like you to check it out… of course this is an intelligence gathering operation…"

"Understood, however we'll need some means of defending ourselves. They won't take too kindly to UNE soldiers knocking on their door and asking for information…" Shagia smiled as he looked at the colonel.

"There are two new machines that have been finished, take them. They're developed from the GB-9700 Gundam Belphagor. I'd like to see some actual field data from combat for them." Colonel Kartral looked at the two "After you've gotten all of the information and any possible newtypes they may have there, we'll retrieve you when you send a signal to us."

"Yes sir, Colonel." Shagia smiled as the two Frost brothers saluted and made their way out.

"Brother… you meant to get us the new models then?" Olba looked at his brother as they walked.

"Of course Olba… after all, they are fierce machines… the NRX-0013 Gundam Virsago, and NRX-0015 Ashtaron." Shagia smiled as he walked into the hangar of the carrier aircraft and looked up at the two machines, the red and black Virsago, the dark smoky blue and red Ashtaron.

Xxx

"Huh?" Garrod blinked as he saw a paper on a board warning of a rogue mobile suit terrorizing towns in the region. "Hmm… a reward huh? Oh it's the guy's mobile suit… an RMS-06G Janice... those go for good money…" he pulled the paper down and smiled as he tucked it in his pocket before continuing down the street. "Easy money… Though he seems to be sticking to just this region, if the attacks continue most do it in a pattern… he should be easy to predict if I ask around a bit…"

Xxx

Witz whistled as he looked up at the refurbished Airmaster "Damn the little runt did a good job…"

"Yeah…" Roybea smiled as he looked up at the Leopard "The kid really did do a good job."

"So how long's your contract for?" Witz looked over at Roybea as he walked towards the Leopard to get a better look at his suit's repairs.

"Just about two weeks after we're done the mission… I think it's just for a little protection while they get out of the area." Roybea looked over at him and shrugged.

"I just want to get this finished and get paid." Witz shrugged as he made his way towards the Airmaster to check if it was still set up how he liked in the cockpit.

Xxx

Tiffa made her way back into her room as the doctors closed the door behind her and locked it, she looked out of the small window towards the moon. Her thoughts drifted back to the dream she'd had, a white mobile suit with a gold v shaped fin and acid green eyes stood before her. Its arm reached out for her, as she looked at the moon she wondered about it.

Xxx

"This will be a surprise attack." Jamil looked at Roybea and Witz "Your objective is to occupy and confuse their mobile suit forces, according to the information broker's data, they're mostly Daughtress types."

"So our job is to just to keep them occupied?" Witz looked at him "What's the thing we're going after?"

"Someone special…" Jamil looked at them.

"Oh so it's a hostage rescue then…" Roybea smiled "That's a bit of a pain…"

"You just focus on keeping their mobile suits occupied, I'll be the one going in to get them out." Jamil looked at them.

"You… why not one of us?" Witz blinked.

"Because we're the mobile suit pilots…" Roybea looked at him and sighed.

"Captain, who will command the ship while…" Sala started.

"You'll be in charge while I'm inside. If I'm not out in fifteen minutes, withdraw and assume I'm dead." Jamil looked at her before turning back to Witz and Roybea. "The same for you two, guard the Freeden until its clear if the withdraw time is reached."

"Sure… so long as we get paid…" Witz shrugged.

"Is that all you ever think about, money?" Sala looked at him.

"I have my reasons…" Witz brushed her off.

"We'll start an hour after sundown." Jamil looked at them "Until then, standby in your machines."

Xxx

Garrod stretched as he entered the small hotel room he'd rented for the night. "Alright, if I've got everything in the right order… he should be here tomorrow at around ten AM." He pulled off the red jacket with cream shoulders he had and tossed it on the bed. "Now, how am I gonna pull this one off?" he sighed as he walked over to the small table. "Think, damn it!" he bopped himself on the head before running his hands through his black hair for a moment "I can't afford to screw up with this many people around…" he blinked and looked in the mirror.

He paused for a moment "What if I… yeah that should work… I'll just need something to distract him though…"he got up and walked over to his jacket, picking it up he turned out the pockets. "Jackpot!" he smiled as he realized he still had the glass bottle he had from his soft drink. "I'll just need a few things from this…" he pulled out his handgun and ejected the clip before clearing the round in the chamber.

Gathering the items Garrod made his way back over to the table, "One homemade flash-bang coming up!" he began popping the bullets out of their cartridges using the edge of the table, wincing each time he hit it fearing it would go off. "I'll need some magnesium…" he pulled out the small packet of magnesium rods he used to start fires while on the road. He began using the butt of the handgun to break some of the rods up and slowly turn it into a magnesium powder.

Using a piece of white paper he funneled the magnesium and gunpowder into the bottle giving it a quick shake to mix it up, he smiled as he continued working on it.

Xxx

"Its time to start…" Roybea relayed as he grasped the controls.

"Yeah, yeah…" Witz replied over the frequency as the Airmaster took off into the night sky over the Alternative Company's grounds, Daughtress type mobile suits stood guard around the facilities buildings lit by the light of the moon below him.

Witz opened fire with the Airmaster's buster rifles sending shots directly down through two of the suits as the Leopard streaked into the company grounds leveling its inner arm gatling at a suit he opened fire the barrels spewing a constant stream of bullets shredding the enemy mobile suits.

"Roybea, on your left!" Witz relayed as a Daughtress commander type took aim at the Leopard.

Roybea spun firing the right arm's grenade launcher into the machine, the high explosives tore it to pieces as it exploded from the assault. "Thanks…"

"No problem…" Witz replied as Roybea fired the eight missiles from the left shoulder's mount in a barrage raining down on the area pinning down some of the remaining defenders.

Xxx

"Has the Captain left yet?" Sala looked over at Tonya from across the bridge.

"He's leaving now!" Tonya replied "I still think this is crazy…" she added softly under her breath.

Xxx

Jamil drove at high speed towards the Alternative Company's main research lab as the explosions and gunfire echoed around the facility from the mobile suits battling. He checked his watch "Ten minutes…" as he climbed out of the blue dune buggy he ran for the main research building's door.

Everything was a blur around him as he ran, the door opened ahead of him and a man began making his way out when Jamil tackled him back through the door pinning him to the ground he had him by the neck "Tiffa Adill, where is she!" he snarled as kept the grip on the man's neck.

"Floor two twelve A." The guard choked out.

"Thank you." Jamil replied politely before decking the man across the face with the audible crunching sound of the man's nose breaking beneath his fist. He got up and began running down the hall trying to find a way to the second floor. "Tiffa… if you can hear my thoughts… help me find you."

A doctor came out of a lab carrying some papers in front of him, Jamil rammed him into the door jamb pinning him there "You will take me to Tiffa Adill, understand?" the doctor glared at him for a moment before Jamil put his handgun to the man's head.

Xxx

Roybea rounded a corner and seized a Daughtress Commander type by the head lifting it up before driving the Leopard's beam knife into the suits cockpit. "He's got five minutes left… any signals from the Freeden?"

Witz flew higher over the Alternative Company drawing some fire from the suits that were behind several of the buildings looking towards the Freeden for any signals from them which the only response he got was from its single twin barreled turret firing on the suits that were firing on him. "Nothing… we've got enemies behind the two buildings ahead of us though."

"What about the…" Roybea stopped as the Freeden's shells slammed into the third buildings face causing it to collapse down and pin the enemy suits.

Xxx

The doctor gestured to a door "Th… that one…" he gulped as he felt the barrel pressing into the back of his head.

"Unlock it." Jamil nudged him with the gun.

The doctor lowered his right hand and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket, walking over to the door at gunpoint he inserted the key into the lock and unlocked the door. "Please… please just…"

Jamil flipped the gun over in his hand and clubbed the man over the back of the head knocking him out. Dragging him out of the way he propped him up against the wall before turning to the door and opening it. There the young girl with long dark brown hair in a light pink and white dress stood.

"Tiffa Adill?" Jamil looked at her as he took his sunglasses off.

Tiffa nodded calmly in reply.

"Come with me…" Jamil held out his hand to her.

Tiffa began to walk forward when an explosion rocked the building and the floor began to give way underneath her.

Jamil ran forward and grabbed her pulling her back towards the door, as the building fell away where she had been standing. Picking her up he began to run back towards the staircase and the ground floor.

Xxx

"How much time is left?" Shingo looked over at Sala.

"Three minutes!" Sala looked over at him. "What's taking the Captain so long?" she checked the sensors from her station trying to find him on one of the cameras.

Shingo blinked "I think that's him!" he pointed towards some lights approaching the Freeden along the ground that looked to be in the pattern of the buggy's lights.

"I'll signal the withdrawal!" Tonya replied.

"Not until the Captain is aboard!" Sala yelled back causing her to wince.

Xxx

Jamil whipped the dune buggy around in a half circle as he gunned its engine driving up into the hangar.

"Jamil!" Kid Salsamille yelled as he ran over. "Who's the…"

"Go to the bridge and tell Sala we're finished, and to signal the withdrawal." Jamil ordered as he climbed out and began making his way around to where Tiffa was waiting calmly.

Xxx

Witz blinked as the Freeden fired a flair bursting over the ship as it began turning and making its way away from the facilities. "Looks like its time to go…"

"Got it…" Roybea replied as the two Gundams launched at high speed heading away out of the Alternative Company's grounds.

Xxx

Garrod yawned as he stretched in the chair looking at the clock on the nightstand it was two in the morning. "Right… if everything was right he should be here around ten…" he clicked the magazine back into the handgun and chambered a round before sitting it next to the homemade flash-bang sitting on the table in front of, him and his magnetic grappling line. "Everything's ready… now to sleep…" he got up and pulled off the jacket before tossing it on the dresser and making his way over to the lone nightstand, setting the clock to go off at eight in the morning he climbed into bed and clicked the light off.

Xxx

"I don't give a damn find her!" Von glared at Reich Anto, the man who had delivered Tiffa to them a few years prior.

"I have an idea of who is responsible… there was a rumor around about Vulture asking about us from the information brokers. I believe the easiest way to deal with this would be to employ the services of someone who isn't attached to the company." Reich looked at Von.

"Another Vulture?" Von glared at him "Damn it Reich do you know how much they cost to hire!"

"No, I was talking about a boy who no one would miss at all… he's rather good as the brokers have said from the black market dealers. He hijacks mobile suits, breaking into a warship shouldn't be too much of a hassle for him… We'll have Tiffa back in our hands within forty eight hours." He turned and walked towards the door where his black hat hung on the hook.

"Take a squad of the remaining Daughtress's! If he doesn't get her, you get her back!" Von snapped.

"As you wish, Mr. Alternative." Reich nodded as he slipped his hat on his head and left.

Xxxxxx

HA! I escaped!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this little prelude setting up the After War fic, this for those who have been reading but haven't checked out the other stories I've done is a prelude to the next stage in a mass cross over series between five of the Gundam series. I did this little side project to set up the After War because it is one of the least well known, to shed a little background/story on it. It will pick up in the next story in the series: The Eighth Space War: A Light in the Black. Thank you again for reading, and the epilogue for 00 Frozen Teardrops will have a bit of a setup for the following morning to this chapter.

*Glance*

Hey… what do you know… they didn't knock me out…

*THWAM!*

"Think you can knock me out and escape…" Shingo glared as he clobbered Ald with the butt of his rifle "Back to the brig with you!" he grabbed Ald and began dragging him back to the holding room.

*groan*

Garrod… help me!