"Lauren Reed, Captain of the Third Squad of the Broken World Armed Forces' Mobile Suit Division, you are hereby promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and Captain of the Mobile Suit Division of the Rebirth Project."
As Lauren stood at attention in front of the General's desk, she found it harder and harder to keep her jaw from dropping. A two-rank promotion--for no reason, at that! Was this all a dream? Trying to hold down an unprofessional grin, she felt that her heart would burst with butterflies. If it was a dream, then it was a pretty damn good one, for sure. Her mind still raced for some sort of explanation, or rationale, almost forgetting to respond.
"Thank you, sir," she said with a sharp salute. Vainly, she had tried to keep her voice as calm as possible. It wasn't as if she knew what else to say besides for those three words. Hell, it was hard enough to stand like this, let alone speak.
"Now, then, I guess I should tell you why you've been promoted and your new assignment. Sit, sit," General Howard Mant said, waving--as if on cue--at the chair in front of his desk. After taking his own seat, the General spoke again. "I believe you have already been briefed on the Rebirth Project, yes?" He paused long enough for Lauren to nod. "The pilot has fully recovered from the operations. He is eating again and has already been back in a mobile suit. It will be your job to make sure he...to put it bluntly, does not die."
Lauren thought this over for a minute. He sounded serious. "You mean I'm a bodyguard, sir?"
"A babysitter if you want to get technical. Nolan, the pilot, has been rather childish since the operations. He still knows to follow orders and such, and can still pilot a mobile suit. We aren't sure if it is from the procedures or the medications he must take now. You will have to make sure he eats, as well as give him a shot of one of his medications before he sleeps. It is very possible for his heart to stop if he does not take all of them." The General stood up, now." As for the reason of your promotion, you will be serving on the Trotzburg with Nolan. You now have sufficient rank to get him out of any trouble he may cause. You will be leading a unit consisting of Nolan and some other pilots, until the rest of the G-suits have been completed. Then you will be leading a unit with all of the G-suits. The Trotzburg launches today at sixteen hundred hours. You are to go to the hanger where the Trotzburg is docked. You will find your new mobile suit there. Prepare for departure after you have looked over your new suit. You are now dismissed, Lieutenant Colonel."
Lauren stood up, saluted, and left General Mant's office. As soon as the door was shut, her upright posture immediately melted into a comfortable slouch. The General liked his formalities. The uniforms, the salutes, the 'Sirs' and 'Ma'am's.' Lauren? Not so much. Standing up straight all the time hurt the back. A mobile suit pilot with a sore back was next to useless. Or so the instructors at the Broken World Military Academy said.
Lauren slowly made her way through the colony's military facility. The hanger was on one of the basement levels of the facility, and General Mant's office was on the second floor. Needless to say, it was a bit of a long walk. On her way down, she stopped at a window to look out at the inside of the colony. It was supposed to look like a place on Earth called Germany, whatever that was. Green and old, just like the pictures. They even spoke the language. Focusing her eyes on the window itself, she found her own reflection-- a tall, pink-haired, twenty year old woman. She was tall, with short hair, and brown eyes. She'd look pretty normal if it wasn't for the mis-labeled hair dye. Her superiors weren't exactly pleased when they saw the hair. But, it wasn't like she cared. Shaking her head, Lauren continued on her way to the hanger.
When she entered the hanger, she was met with a rare sight. The Trotzburg; the first ever fortress battleship, the largest ship in the world. She couldn't help but be impressed at the sheer size of the ship. The Broken World's largest battleships were all under three hundred-fifty meters. She didn't believe it when she was told, but now she did believe the Trotzburg was well over one thousand meters long. She was beginning to wonder if it could fly or not. Something as big as that would be incredibly heavy.
"A beaut, isn't it?" a voice said from beside her. Lauren nearly jumped at the sound of the man's voice. She didn't hear him coming. He was a tall one, and bulky, too. A mechanic, by his clothes, and a head mechanic of some sort with those bars on his shoulders. What surprised her was that he looked to be a few years younger than her. "The name's Max. And you're Lieutenant Colonel Reed? I'm supposed to show you your new suit before it's loaded onto the ship." Max started walking away without waiting for an answer. She followed him, looking around the hanger. There wasn't much to look at. Hell, the Trotzburg was all she could see. Dumbly, she allowed Max to lead her around the corner to take view of the mobile suits that stood lifeless and stony. Hard to imagine that these things could do so much damage. There were several Fels, the Broken World's choice of mobile suit. But, there was one suit she didn't recognize. It looked almost like a Fels, but red instead of grey.
Max stopped in front of the red suit. "Here it is. The ONI-183 Feuer. Only one other like this one. That one belongs to the general. This one has been slightly modified. Its armor is much lighter than that of other suits, so you should stay behind the other suits and use the rifles. Originally we had only one beam sword on there, but we added another according to the equipment that was on your old Fels. So, what do you think, Lieutenant Colonel?"
Lauren wasn't paying attention by this point. She was more focused on the suit beside hers. It was a very different design. All sharp edges and almost square-looking. It was mostly black, with some white here and there. The suit looked out of place among all the others. What looked more out of place was what appeared to be a giant battle axe on the suit's back. That was a weapon she had never seen on a mobile suit before.
"GCMS-01 Kotecu Gundam. Nolan named it. I have no idea what it means, but it sounds as intimidating as the suit looks. And cool." Max was following her eyes now. "Come, I'll introduce you to the kid. You'll have to meet him sooner or later, you'll be...working together." It was obvious that Max knew Lauren was to be Nolan's babysitter. She still had a hard time believing that.
Lauren followed Max over to the crew in front of the Kotecu. "Hey, Nolan. This is Lieutenant Colonel Lauren Reed. She's your new commanding officer," Max said to a group of people. Lauren couldn't see anyone who appeared to be the pilot, they all looked like mechanics, and some were too young to be pilots yet.
"Hi, hi!" said a voice from the middle of the group. Out of the small mass squeezed a young boy with hair as white as snow and a huge grin on his face. It took a moment, but Lauren noticed, with slight fascination, that the boy had eyes of incarnadine red. Albino? That was definitely different. "I'm Nolan," he said, still grinning. Before Lauren could introduce herself and say "hello," he had already squeezed his way back into the group.
"He does that," Max said. "A lot like a little kid. I think it's all the meds they have him on. He brought them down here the other morning. He had to take around six or seven pills. Huge ones, too." Max shuddered. "Anyway, if there's anything you need to know about the suit, I can tell you now, or later if you like. If not, we need to get it loaded onto the ship. She's launching today and we had short notice."
"Thanks for showing me the mobile suits, Max. I'll go get ready for launch, now." With that, Lauren turned and walked towards the exit."