Growth of a Seed
"Speaking"
"Radio"
'Thoughts'
Location
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Chapter 6
Planet: Earth
System: Sol
Sector: Unregistered
Region: Unknown Regions
"Fellow members of the Sol Council," began Lacus Clyne, speaking once again before the Sol Council, assembled via video conference. "We have had 24 hours to discuss the reports from the representatives with our respective governments. The Supreme Council of the PLANTs, after having reviewed the data, has voted in favor of Earth allying with the Alliance against the Empire. What consensus have your governments reached?"
One by one each member detailed the decisions made by their governments, and while none were truly unanimous, they all supported the decision to ally with the Alliance. With each member voting to support for the proposed alliance it became unanimous and official. Earth would ally with the Alliance to Restore the Republic and declare war against the Galactic Empire.
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New Alcatraz Prison A.K.A. "The Glacier"; Formerly Ice Island Prototype "Lunar" city, Antarctica
Planet: Earth
System: Sol
Sector: Unregistered
Region: Unknown Regions
Five Months BBY
Tristan Palleon looked over the quarters that were to be his new home for an indeterminate amount of time and sighed in weariness. The deal he had worked out with the Sol Council was admittedly not the most ideal situation for the crew of the Mangle, but it was something of an improvement. They had the promise of an assured supply of fresh food and water, significant space for exercise, and relatively comfortable accommodations. However they were no longer aboard their ship, having been shuttled in groups down to the planet's southern pole to a domed structure.
The dome, as Tristan had been told, was a prototype for the domed city on the moon, and possible colonies on the fourth planet of the system, and was nearly 90 years old. The dome had a two mile radius, and was hermetically and thermally sealed. Power and heat came from two sources; solar energy cells that collect energy during the summer months, and a nuclear reactor kept in a second, much smaller dome. While the continent had the same atmospheric mix as the rest of the world this city's air was considered fresher since it was supplemented came from plants growing within the dome and a carbon dioxide scrubbing system. Within the interior of the main dome were a large number of prefabrication buildings that had originally been for laboratories and domestic purposes.
After construction of Copernicus City had been completed and the city was brought to full operational status, there was seemingly little reason to keep Ice Island in operation. But economically it made little sense to just shut everything down after all the money and effort went into its construction. The then-President of the Atlantic Federation decided to keep the prototype city in operation as a prison.
Laboratories and manufacturing facilities were removed with the exception of what existed in the power plant. The agriculture plot experiments had been expanded, allowing prisoners the opportunity to grow fresh vegetables to complement the fruit trees that had already been planted and grown to maturity. The people in charge of the conversion process thought it would be good for the incarcerated criminals if they were responsible for growing and preserving a portion of their own food. If they did a good job they would have a bountiful surplus to add to the regular supply shipments. However the only tools they had for use were basic hand tools. Apart from that, the prisoners had access to a few simple machines used for cooking, entertainment, laundry, and sanitation which could be repaired at the power plant's machine shop.
For entertainment, there were televisions equipped in the various common rooms, a library filled with hard-copy literature, exercise equipment, and various sport and game equipment.
Of course there was a complete lack of anything that resembled computer equipment. And stoves and TVs lacked the components that could be scrounged to make anything useful.
There was also little chance that Palleon and his men could rig up something that could get them in contact with the Empire. Palleon had been forewarned that Earth would be keeping their jammers active around the facility, keeping communication limited to what they controlled, and the Imperials had nothing that had the power to break through it. Though, he knew that that wouldn't stop the engineers from trying to scrap something together.
There was even less of a chance of cobbling together something capable of flight, and if there was it would take years and would likely never escape the atmosphere. And hyperspace travel was completely impossible without a significant power source, specifically a hypermatter reactor.
And while the Imperials lived in this dome, everything aboard the Mangle was at the disposal of Earth to study, with the exception of personal items that the crewmen had been allowed to bring down to the surface, after being inspected to make sure the objects couldn't compromise security. And with the exception of some samples, most of the Mangle's food stores had been brought down as well.
Thus the Mangle's crewmen could live reasonably comfortably, but were completely stuck in this ice-encrusted island, while Earth reaped the technological benefits from the Mangle, which would be considerable even if it's a 20-year-old-ship. If Tristan ever made it back home, his career was guaranteed to be over. He may even be executed for the mutiny; no, he will be executed for mutiny if he ever made it back to the Empire. But, as he looked out the window and watched some of his men carry supplies to one of the prefab buildings, he felt contentment knowing that his men would survive.
He also felt a bit of gratitude to one of the guards who, as rumor had it, supplied one of the men with a list of several methods to make a still. The rumor would be confirmed soon enough.
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Moon: Yavin 4
Planet: Yavin
System: Yavin System
Sector: Gordian Reach
Region: Outer Rim
Five Months BBY
Jan Dodonna watched from the safety of an observation booth as the humanoid machine walked out of the hangar toward the designated testing grounds. Even from where he was, he could feel feeling small tremors beneath his feet each time the mobile suit took a step. It had taken nearly a month of nonstop working around the clock for Suskafoo and his engineers but already the first project was bearing fruit.
"What sort of modifications did you make to the Dagger?" He asked, curious as to the machine's performance, and comparing it to the original GAT-01A2 Dagger that it was based on.
Though the question was directed at Suskafoo, the Verpine left it to one of his human subordinates to answer since he was unable to speak Basic. "The first thing we did was replace the machine's battery with a modified X-Wing hypermatter reactor. That will increase the machine's power output, but we'll have to observe how fuel efficient it is. We also replaced the old engines with a set of ion engines of our own design, increasing its maximum thrust and fuel capacity greatly. With its standard equipment, it can only achieve about the same speed as a Y-wing. But we're hoping that with the modified Aile equipment we developed, it can reach at least the speed of an X-wing."
"Good, good," muttered Dodonna, already planning the next set of tests.
"Those, sir, were the biggest changes. There are a number of smaller modifications that we hope will enhance its performance, such as the upgrades to the sensors, or the small repulsorlifts we installed to slow and steady descent, or the inertial compensators to protect the pilot from excessive G force."
The rebel engineer didn't continue as Dodonna motioned for silence, the mobile suit having reached its destination.
The test wasn't a major one. It was simply to test the machine's weapons, to ensure that the Rebel Alliance had built them properly, and as a safety check that nothing would overheat and melt, or possibly explode.
The testing ground itself was the cleared area around the Great Temple that the rebels had installed their base in, with the mobile suit on one end and several large plates of durasteel, which were the same thickness and composition as a Star Destroyer's outer hull layer, set up on the other. Overall the length between the sides was about 250 meters, which was a little on the short end but they could test the machine's full range later.
First up was the Dagger's standard beam rifle. With the weapon and mobile suit hooked up to special sensors they would receive all the data from the test, the test pilot of the Dagger brought up the beam rifle and let loose a green lance of energy that struck the first durasteel plate. The charged particle beam had melted a hole clear through the durasteel, and even had enough power to do a little damage to the forest just behind it.
The various beings observing made appreciative sounds, each one knowing full well that a single shot from a starfighter's laser cannon couldn't do that. It might melt out a small hole but it was unlikely to go all the way through.
The mobile suit steadily stored the beam rifle and picked up the weapon for the next test, which would be for the beam sub-machine gun. Although the two weapons operated on a similar principle the sub-machine gun had a reduced power output for each shot but in turn had a greater rate of fire. As before the Dagger's pilot took aim and fired at the second target. It was a short burst of fifteen rounds that did more damage over a larger area, but had less penetrative force.
Finally it was time for the last of the weapon's test which would be for the beam saber. Again storing its current weapon the Dagger drew one of its waist mounted beam sabers and turned to face a third durasteel plate that had been set up its own end of the field for this test. A test that also proved to be a success as the mobile suit demonstrated how the beam saber, essentially a blade of plasma confined by a specialized containment field, sliced through the metal like a vibro-knife through tender nerf steak.
Dodonna smiled as the positive results flashed across every datapad and monitor. The Dagger's design was handling the new reactor and higher power output well within the safety limits. "Alright people that was a good test," he announced over the comm. so everyone involved could hear him. "Now let's pack it up and get ready for the performance and combat tests to be held in one week. By the end of the month I want to have a complete performance evaluation of the Dagger."
The elated buzz from the successful test faded as technicians and engineers went back to work of studying the data for further design refinement. There was little time for rest or celebration for those in the rebellion. Meanwhile in his head Dodonna considered a minor problem. He had said that he wanted to have a record of the mobile suit's full performance by the end of the month, however in order to get that data he needed a pilot who could push the machine to its limits.
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University of Alderaan
City: Aldera
Planet: Alderaan
System: Alderaan System
Sector: Alderaan Sector
Region: Core Worlds
Five Months BBY
"Fascinating," murmured Liam as the Coordinator swept through document after document on the holomonitor.
Currently the Junk Guild representative was in the library of the University of Alderaan, a school recognized for being one of the best in the galaxy when it came to studying philosophy, the arts, and the sciences. One of the reasons the school excelled at teaching was because the founder believed in practical application to learning, thus spent his life establishing branch facilities on worlds throughout the galaxy, a practice continued for the thousands of years after his death. Now students of the university spend much of their school life at off-world facilities that most befit their area of study, such as botany students traveling to worlds such as Ithor and other tropical planets where there is a bounty of diverse and exotic plant life to study.
The main campus on Alderaan provided facilities for basic studies in all fields covered by the school, but specialized in the study of philosophy, debate, and politics.
Of particular interest to Liam was how the library possessed a copy of every text and paper that has ever been in possession by the school. As an information resource it was arguable that there was only a handful of locations in that galaxy that surpassed it, such as the Imperial Library on Coruscant.
At the moment he was studying history texts, the Aurebesh translated into a script he could more easily understand, which turned out to be the High Galactic alphabet.
Liam found it incredible that the dominant language of Earth could be virtually identical to Galactic Basic and the High Galactic alphabet, both of which had origins that could be traced back over tens of thousands of years.
The roots of Galactic Basic could be traced as far back as 25,000 years ago where it began as an amalgamation between the languages of early space-faring species, such as humans and Duros, created out of a need for a unified trade language. Aurebesh was created at the same time as the written language of Basic.
The High Galactic alphabet possessed a strong similarity to Earth's Latin alphabet and its origins began as a written language of the human inhabitants of Alsakan some 17,000 years ago, with some aspects borrowed from the Tionese language, another human language that had a remarkable resemblance to ancient Greek. Over the years the script of the influential Alsakan humans was adapted to be used with Basic.
The High Galactic alphabet was never as commonly used as Aurebesh, but it was still known to a reasonable percentage of Basic speakers and because of its purely human origins it was the official written language of the Imperial Court. Even before the rise of the Empire its characters and the characters of the Tionese language were commonly used in designations, such as those used on starships and droids.
Considering the length of time Basic and the High Galactic alphabet have existed, and their own more recent origins on Earth, it was enough to make a person pause and wonder if extraterrestrial civilization had visited Earth over the past few thousand years.
Another facet Liam found interesting in his studies, was that humans of the galactic community do not know what planet their species evolved on. Recorded human history was simply so long, and their communities are so far spread across the galaxy that the knowledge of their origins was lost to time. It didn't help them that none of the known worlds humans live on possess evidence of human evolution.
Currently it is speculated that humans evolved on one of the Core Worlds, with the strongest theory indicating Coruscant as humanities' home. However that world has been covered in cities for so long that virtually all of the native flora and fauna had gone extinct and the lowest depths of the city (which are underground) date back tens of thousands of years. It's also likely that Imperial propaganda has supported this theory to instill in the minds of the masses Coruscant became the capital and metaphorical center of the galaxy because of humans' influence and superiority.
Other theories suggest that one of the advanced ancient races, who disappeared long before humans discovered hyperspace travel, took humans from their ancestral home and transplanted them on other worlds in the galaxy.
But for most humans it didn't matter as they simply identified themselves by whatever planet they were born on and they left the speculating to scholars. However while it was practical it also left humans as a society far more divided than just about any other race in the galaxy.
Still this information was important to Liam. The fossil record on Earth shows evidence of human evolution dating back millions of years. It had gaps but from the data he read it was still far more complete than anything else in the galaxy, suggesting that Earth was indeed the home world of humans. Could an ancient civilization have visited Earth during the early years of human evolution, taken some members of the species, and transplanted them in the galaxy? If so, where did they come from? Were they from a neighboring star system, or at least some other planet in the Unknown Regions? And what sort of impact will this information have on Earth or of other human cultures if they learned of Earth's fossil record?
Another thing Liam wondered was if he could get a copy of everything in the library sent back to Earth for study.
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Anaheim Electronics Headquarters, Copernicus City
Planet: Earth
System: Sol
Sector: Unregistered
Region: Unknown Regions
Four Months Three Weeks BBY
"So Aeolia, how goes the refit of the…Mangle was it?" asked President White as he poured himself a glass of scotch. "That's a terrible name for a ship by the way. It needs a new one"
"Well enough," replied Aeolia to the question, and ignoring the latter comment, as he sipped his own brandy and browsed various documents. "We are repairing the damaged equipment and we can adapt our own equipment to its systems easily enough now that we've converted all of the computers to read our own programming. The difficult part will be adapting their equipment to our systems."
"Really? But what about all of that data the Princess supplied us with?"
"Being able to replicate a design set on blueprints is one thing. Understanding it to the point that we can produce new designs to fit our needs is something else. The technology related to faster than light travel alone has already generated three new branches of mathematics previously unknown to us. However the princess's data has gone a long way to helping us understand. And as the head of a major corporation I must thank the Sol Council for granting my company the right to work on the star destroyer on your behalf." Aeolia paused in his document reading and glanced at the AF president. "You know, I have always thought it was silly, calling yourselves the Sol Council when only members of the Earth Sphere are represented."
White chuckled with a bit of mirth. "Yes, well it's not exactly easy to contact our closest neighbors, since it takes months to travel between worlds even when they are at their closest. And neither the Martian colonies nor the Liteiria colony at Jupiter are particularly trusting of us here on Earth after our last two wars." The mirth in White's eyes left and were replaced by a more somber emotion. His next words were so quiet Aeolia almost didn't hear them, "Especially with the Atlantic Federation."
Schenberg paused and glanced at the man who was currently his corporation's greatest benefactor. But before he could say anything White continued.
"The Junk Guild has volunteered to help bridge the gap. As it turns out one of their most prominent members is on friendly terms with the leaders of both colonies. For their efforts the Council has allowed them access to whatever Imperial tech they can claim as salvage. We're hoping that their experience with varied and unusual technology will give them insights into how it works. That and it would be beneficial for us if they can install some better engines on their ships so they can quickly travel between worlds."
"If that's what you want you better hope that they focus on the remains of TIE fighters. While the Mangle's hypermatter annihilation reactor is currently one of the most powerful energy reactors we have available, its fuel consumption borders on the obscene, and even the PLANTs' are only in the trial runs of refining hypermatter reactant. The TIEs however, we already have an understanding for the basics of both their solar ionization reactor and their ion drives; it all corresponds to research begun in the early 21st century. Its energy efficiency is simply on a scale we've never seen before. It also lacks moving parts, making it simple to understand. As it stands we can easily design and build our own models."
"Wonderful," said White, pleased to hear that at least some of the Imperial tech was already being turned into true Earth technology. "How soon before it's in mass production."
"Not soon enough," said Aeolia with a bit of bitterness that wasn't present before. "While the physical models we are studying are sufficient for TIE fighters, the fact that it relies on ambient solar energy makes it impractical for more energy intensive systems. Fortunately we discovered that the Mangle's computers contained schematics of every spaceship known to the Empire, probably kept there for either cross-ship maintenance training, or to understand any potential enemy's weak point. Thanks to that I learned that larger solar ionization reactors utilize a controlled fusion reaction, characterized as a miniature sun, for their power requirements. However the more powerful the reactor the more shielding is needed contain it and protect those outside, limiting its use to larger vessels."
"It's unfortunate that none of those survived the battle. Now we don't have a physical model to study."
"Yes, however I have been running some simulations and even without such equipment to study I may be able to devise a shielding system by utilizing the 'suspension of free neutron movement' properties of N-jammers. Of course I will need an N-jammer canceller in the system as well, but if it works we could potentially create a smaller and more efficient reactor. As for fuel for the fusion reaction, I have some here for the prototype fusion reactors I am testing but if it is to be mass produced then I will need access to Jupiter. Or at least another planet with an atmospheric composition similar to Jupiter"
"And for access to Jupiter you need to have good relations with Liteiria. To show that we're working in good faith the Sol Council has recognized Liteiria as the first independent Jovian nation with sovereign rights to the Jupiter Sphere. Any new colonies that are established out there will be under the authority of whatever government system Liteiria installs."
"That shouldn't be too difficult," replied Schenberg in reference to obtaining good relations with Liteiria. "Despite the wealth of resources in the Jupiter Sphere, it lacks many of the necessities for human life. Establishing an independent human civilization will be difficult, but the advantages provided by the technology we've obtained should make things much easier."
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Moon: Yavin 4
Planet: Yavin
System: Yavin System
Sector: Gordian Reach
Region: Outer Rim
Four Months Two Weeks BBY
"These are the results of the Dagger's latest tests?" Dodonna asked his aid. Having had Alliance business off-world at the time Dodonna had missed the opportunity to be present when the Dagger was tested to the fullest of its limits.
"Yes sir," responded the aid. "The engineers were quite happy with the results and believe that with this data we can further improve the Dagger, taking it from a test machine to a full combat machine."
Dodonna gave a please smile at hearing how happy and excited his men were. "Give them my congratulations, and also to the pilot, Ensign Biggs Darklighter."
"Yes sir," replied the aid again. "Also, the ships and equipment that Viceroy Organa requisitioned is ready."
"That's good. What has been prepared?"
"One HWK-290 light freighter, one YT-1000 light freighter, one YT-1250 light freighter, one YT-1930 light freighter, one HT-2200 medium freighter, one YZ-775 light freighter, one, T-1B hovertank, one T-2B repulsor tank, one T-3B heavy tank, one T-4B heavy tank, one Z-95 Headhunter, one CloakShape fighter, one BTL-A4 Y-wing fighter, one CR90 Corvette, and a few speederbikes, swoops, landspeeders, and airspeeders. And the freighters had been filled with a variety of supplies and equipment. Also Viceroy Organa indicated that an ally of his would be willing to part with a Nebulon-B frigate in exchange for three ships of comparable ability within two years' time."
Dodonna held back a grimace. The items just listed were going to the Alliance's new allies on Earth. Currently they weren't in a state to participate aggressively against the Empire. While Earth had managed to defeat the Imperials on two separate occasions it was thanks to the Empire's unfamiliarity and underestimation of their weapons and technology. Davros had, like a neophyte, allowed his fleet to be encircled simply because he didn't believe that the Earth ships could harm his own despite their greater numbers. The listed materials, along with several technical advisers, were to help bring Earth up to galactic standard.
The reason Dodonna felt like grimacing was because despite the fact that many of the listed ships were decades old, they were still quite usable, and the Alliance, with their limited resources, needed every ship they could get their hands on. That same sentiment also included the tanks and speeders. Still, if it aided Earth in advancing their technology, specifically their ability to develop interstellar ships, everything would be paid 10 times over.
Less important was the equipment. Some of it was specialized, some of it was not, and none of it was really military in nature, but it was comprised of technology not commonly found on Star Destroyers such as the one they were currently studying.
And it wasn't as if the Alliance was giving these ships over for free. Earth had promised resources in return. And the pilots of the ships could begin scouting out viable hyperspace paths to nearby systems that the Alliance could hopefully use to establish bases.
That was another key advantage to the alliance with Earth, access to the Unknown Regions. Although it had weakened over the past few centuries, the hyperspace disturbance that long separated that 15 percent of the galaxy was still a formidable barrier, if only because of pilots' fear of running into it. And with the Imperials having shut down every independent exploration venture they had been hampered from even uncovering new hyperspace routes even in long established areas such as the Outer Rim. But now the Alliance had not only a safe route into the Unknown Regions but also had a staging point to begin their explorations. Within a few years that sector of space could be a safe haven from which the Alliance could rest, repair, organize, build strength, and strike at the Empire.
The one downside was that since it was on the edge of the known galaxy it could not really serve as a staging point against prime Imperial targets.
"Send the pilots to me. I'll will brief them on their mission and provide them the route details to their destination. Dismissed."
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Planet: Abregado-rae
System: Abregado
Sector: Southern Core
Region: Core
3 months 1 weeks BBY
"This certainly is a colorful place," commented Shiho as she examined her surroundings in the well-maintained cantina that existed within the Abredgado-rae spaceport. The architecture utilized two rectangular rooms that met at a 60 degree angle and possessing a bar in the center of each with three smaller private rooms branching off from the main ones. The main rooms each had an entrance and several decorative nooks, crannies, and arches so that patrons could have semi-privacy while still maintaining easy access to the bars.
Shiho Hahnenfuss and her party of three sat within one of those arches, walls and distance keeping others from eavesdropping over the music. However, despite the seemingly lively atmosphere of the well-kept watering hole, one member of the party felt the need to remind the other two of some hard facts.
"Just be careful," warned Bria Tharen, "this place is far more dangerous than it appears." The woman, whose features were hidden beneath the headdress that kept everything but her eyes hidden, was a native of Corellia and a member of the Alliance who had extensive experience dealing with representatives from organizations interested in aiding the cause. To emphasize her point she nodded to two passing beings, a human and a species identified as a Rodian, who were openly wearing blasters on their waists. Not unlike the ones that Shiho, Bria, and even Miriallia were wearing.
But even if all three women were armed that didn't change the fact that the Abregado-rae spaceport was a common stopping point for smugglers, and other more violent elements of the criminal world. That was surprising to the Earthlings considering how oppressive the government on the planet was.
Abregado-rae is a Core world that has a close proximity to the border of Wild Space and possesses a fairly strong manufacturing industry, a very weak tourist industry, and most importantly sat at the beginning of the Rimma Trade Route. But what made it an ideal stopping point for the Earth representatives was the political environment. Abregado-rae was ruled directly by the Empire through an appointed governor who shipped half the planet's tax income off-world to the Imperial Treasury, after taking what was needed to pay his salary. He then spent roughly thirty percent on law enforcement and projects to improve the spaceport as it is imperative for the trade industry. Finally the remaining paltry twenty percent of the taxes was returned in some way to the tax payers, such as utilities or other public services. However while the local government was pro-Empire, and had the weapons to impose its will on the world, the civilians were more pro-Alliance, they just couldn't act upon their feelings except in small ways or else risk looking down the barrel of a blaster.
It was a good world for the Earth representatives to visit, being just the right amount of being oppressed yet without the horrors witnessed on Raltiir.
Speaking of Earth's representatives, Bria was beginning to wonder where the others were. It was already 10 minutes past the agreed upon rendezvous time. As if in answer a tone came from her comlink, telling her there was an incoming transmission. Bringing the comlink to her lips she quietly said, "This is Group 1."
The voice that responded was Group 2's guide. "Group 1, this is Group 2 and we have a problem."
Bria tensed for a second at the thought of what the trouble might be. "What's the situation?"
"Well, we kind of got into a speeder accident with a Wookie."
Bria blinked. That, has far as she knew, was not a code indicating trouble. "Come again?"
"We were on our way back when we crashed our speeder into a Wookie's speeder. No one's hurt, but the problem is that the Wookie is throwing a fuss and won't let use leave."
Bria sighed as she realized what was going on. "And none of you can speak Shyriiwook, but I can, which is why you're calling me."
"Right, so we were hoping you could get here and translate before the local law enforcement gets here."
"Very well," said Bria quickly memorizing the location she was told. "Sorry girls," she said as she put the communicator away and got up. "I'm afraid I need to smooth over some problems with Group 2. Do you mind waiting here for Group 3?"
"Not at all, this place has enough to keep us occupied" responded Miriallia as she did her best to watch a reptilian creature with a Y-shaped head and golden bug eys passing by without getting noticed.
With a nod Bria got up and left, speaking again on her comlink on how to keep Wookie's from tearing your arms off, leaving the two Earthlings alone.
With their host gone the two were left nothing more to do than go over their reports of the planet as they waited for the others to return. Twenty minutes later and the two began to become a little worried as they hadn't heard anything from Group 3.
"Where is everyone?" wondered Miriallia aloud as she scrolled through the memory of her camera. "It's a half hour past the time we agreed to meet."
"I don't know," responded Shiho. "They might have gotten lost or lost track of time. But it's not like we're in a hurry, we have time."
If Miriallia was going to say anything else it was interrupted as small metallic objects flew through the open windows. Shiho reacted and pulled Mir down just as the objects released a sonic shockwave. Shiho felt her bones and eardrums vibrate as the intense sonic waves were conducted to her brain. The patrons of the cantina cried in pain and confusion as their senses were overloaded, many becoming paralyzed.
Shiho and Mir were on the edge of one of the shockwaves and were able to see as soldiers, dressed in the grey fatigues of Imperial Army troopers, carrying E-11 blaster rifles and wearing plasteel armor marched in. The troopers spread out to the various patrons, running some kind of scanner over them. Depending on the scanners reaction the troopers either left them alone or hauled them up and carried them out. If anyone was able to resist they were stunned and carried out.
One trooper moved to inspect the Earthlings and Mir, who had suffered more from the sonic grenades due to being a Natural and was only just beginning to recover, jerked at the sudden appearance of the trooper and accidentally hit the flash button of her camera. The bright and sudden light didn't affect the trooper thanks to the anti-flash lenses of his goggles but he still reacted, hitting Miriallia with a stun bolt. The trooper moved to grab Mir, which caused Shiho to react.
The Coordinator leaped forward, punching the trooper in his unprotected neck. She then swept the troopers legs out from underneath him, grabbing his rifle as he fell. Once he hit the ground Shiho used the rifle to send a stun bolt into trooper.
Her actions did not go unnoticed as another trooper shot a stun bolt at her. The bolt hit and Shiho cried in pain as fire burned across her nerves. Her leg muscles gave out and she fell to the floor. Her vision swimming, Shiho was barely conscious and could barely comprehend as she watched the booted feet of a trooper stomp up to her. Then the world went black as a second stun bolt hit her.
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Outside the Cantina, Group 3 watched as Imperial troopers carried various creatures away. They had been halted from entering because of the operation the troopers were undergoing to catch a band of pirates. They also couldn't warn Group 1 inside because of the jamming.
"Damn," muttered Morgan as he spotted Shiho and Mir among the beings being carried away. "The council is not going to like this."
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Anaheim Electronics Main facility
Copernicus City
Planet: Earth
System: Sol
Sector: Unregistered
Region: Unknown Regions
"So Yzak, any idea why we were called here?" asked Dearka as the two waited in the rather large office of Anaheim Electronic founder and president Aeolia Schenberg.
"Not a clue," responded the silver haired commander. "Whatever this old man wants, nobody briefed me on it."
"Old man eh?"
Yzak and Dearka practically jumped where they stood, taken completely by surprise by the silent entry of the room's new occupants.
"Are you sure these two are really the best selection?" Aeolia asked the young man standing next to him, a little ticked at the old man reference.
"They often tend to shoot off at the mouth Mr. Schenberg," said Kira. "But they are two of ZAFT's best pilots. And they'll have motivation for the mission."
"Yamato," said Yzak neutrally when he saw Kira. Despite its tone it was a greeting though a highly informal one for an individual who was technically a superior officer. "Why are we here, and whose she?" with a nod of his head Yzak indicated the woman standing on Kira's other side.
She was dressed up in some kind of black uniform that the ZAFT pilots didn't recognize. She was also quite distinguishable, by Earth standards at least, by possessing shoulder length snow-white hair (which was as noticeable as Yzak's silver hair) yet she was quite young, maybe in her late teens or early twenties. Another thing the pilots noticed was that she looked almost exactly like Princess Leia. In fact they could be sisters.
"This is Winter Retrac, an intelligence agent of the Rebel Alliance," Kira said in introduction. "Ms. Retrac, these two are Yzak Joule and Dearka Elsman, two of ZAFT's best pilots and my personal recommendation for the mission."
"Mission?" Dearka wondered aloud. If an Alliance intelligence agent was here that must mean that whatever mission it was involved the outer galaxy.
"You two should probably sit down for this," Kira warned.
The two pilots gave each other a quick look. Dearka took the advice but Yzak remained standing.
"Twenty hours ago we received word that Shiho and Mir were captured Imperial Troopers."
"WHAT!" The shout was practically deafening. In less than a second Yzak was at Kira, gripping the front of his coat in a threatening manner, just barely beating Dearka who took extra time to stand up.
"What do you mean Shiho was captured! Why! What happened!" snarled Yzak.
"And Mir! Is she alright! Was she hurt!" asked the more frantic Dearka. Ever since they first started dating Dearka had developed a sense to protect Mir, due to how he used the Buster to protect the Archangel in the first war.
Yzak was going to say something else when a very solid object cracked him on the head. "OW!" Shouted Yzak again, turning to glare at old man Aeolia whose cane was up to deliver another whack.
"If you're done with the hysterics we can move on to detail the rescue mission."
Yzak gave Kira one last glare before releasing him and stepping back, Dearka following his lead.
"Are you sure these two are the best for the mission?" Winter asked Kira.
Kira lightly chuckled at her obvious skepticism. "Like I said, they're good pilots and they're motivated. They'll also probably do better piloting the new machines than anyone else we have."
Kira's brief moment of mirth was brought to an end by Yzak.
"Alright Yamato, start talking. What's going on?"
Knowing that they would be easier to deal with once they had details to focus on he was about to brief them before Aeolia spoke.
"Let's walk and talk, we don't have a lot of time." He said as left the office through a different door that led down a flight of steps. The others quickly followed.
"A little over twenty hours ago Imperial Security troopers raided a cantina at the Abregado-rae. The purpose of the raid was to capture members of a pirate crew that they had been informed as there at the time. During the operation something happened and both Miriallia and Shiho were arrested on the charges of assaulting an Imperial soldier, but they could be labeled as accomplices or even as members of the arrested pirates. Thanks to the Alliance we know that if they are tried with the former they'll be jailed at an Abregado-rae prison for 5 years. If they are tried with the latter they will be sent to the prison world Kessel for hard labor."
"That's bull," Dearka practically shouted as they walked down a barren hallway. "We can't let the girls be sent to an Imperial prison on some trumped up charges!" Dearka tactically left out that they could let the girls to a prison even on true charges.
"I know," responded Kira as they entered a hexagonally shaped control room. Through the observation windows they could see marked containers arranged to surround the room, one visible through each of the five window panes. "Which is why we're working with the Alliance to rescue them."
The woman, Winter, stepped forward. "Currently the Alliance is undergoing an operation to acquire sensitive information. However this information is protected by Darth Vader."
Because Yzak and Dearka were among the first group to make contact with the Alliance they knew more than the average person, though information about the galaxy was spreading at an alarming rate, so they knew just by hearing Darth Vader how steep a mission was. Darth Vader was the second most powerful man in the Empire; the one who executed the Emperor's will and served as Supreme Commander of the Empire's military. Any information he was regulated to guard had to be extremely valuable.
But that left a question.
"What does that have to do with a rescue mission?" asked Yzak.
"We hope that by initiating a prison break utilizing machines completely unknown to the Empire, we can draw Vader's attention away from key aspects of the operation," Winter explained. "So the Alliance has requested that Earth send some mobile suits as the forefront of the operation. The Alliance will send Z-95 headhunter starfighters and shuttles for support. The prison Ms. Haw and Hahnenfuss are held also holds a number of Rebel supporters whom we can free at the same time. This will help hide Ms. Haw and Hahnenfuss's importance."
"I'm glad you have this thought out," said Yzak, the normally sarcastic tone that would accompany these words absent as he focused on the details. "But our mobile suits can't exactly enter and exit the atmosphere at will, they can't fly as far or fast as your starfighters, without a properly equipped support ship to return to they'll run out of energy, and if we don't have N-Jammers they can try picking us off at range."
The response came from Aeolia. "Yes, the mission does seem impractical with your old machines. So you will be piloting these new mobile suits." He hit a command on the console and in response the doors to the second and third containers opened.
As Yzak and Dearka watched their eyes widened and unconsciously stepped right up to the glass to get a closer look
"Is that the Duel…" began Yzak.
"And Buster…" finished Dearka.
"Not quite," clarified Aeolia. "These machines are the Nebula and the Solar, new prototypes designed to test hybridized systems combining our most advanced mobile suit technologies with galactic standard technologies obtained through studying the remains of the imperial ships and what the Alliance has provided. Their base frames and controls are based upon two of the Blu Duel and Verde Buster, descendants of the machines you piloted three years ago. So it shouldn't take long for the two of you to adjust to their capabilities."
The two Coordinators studied the mobile suits. They immediately recognized the strong resemblance they had to the Blu Duel and Verde Buster. As the original pilots of the Duel and Buster they had been briefed about the new Earth Alliance machines so they could identify weaknesses that could be exploited. Still, despite how they were nearly identical there were some distinct differences.
The Nebula was almost identical, but its shield was thicker than the Blu Duel's, likely containing a beam shield generator. The railgun had been moved from under the shield to behind the right shoulder, with a second one mirroring it on the left shoulder. Finally there were two solid swords mounted on its hips.
The Solar had a more extensively modified external appearance. Its chest armor had been expanded, grenades had been mounted on the waist, and missile pods had been mounted on the legs. The more noticeable modification was the large backpack, which looked to have been based on the Legend's backpack as it contained 10 DRAGOON pods.
"You said there were five prototypes," said Dearka, not taking his eyes off of the Solar. "Where are the pilots for the other three?"
"The first prototype has already been taken by its pilot for their own assignment," answered Kira. "And the last two machines aren't finished yet. You two will be the only ones going."
Yzak nodded in understanding. Truthfully he wouldn't have let himself be held back even if he was limited to an old GINN. "When do we start?"
"Right now. You have twenty-four hours before you leave for the mission to train on the machines. Winter will brief you on the specifics of the mission and what you should expect to fight."
"And try not to get the prototypes destroyed," added Aeolia. "They each cost as much as a battleship to develop and it would be arduous to try and take compensation from your paychecks."
Yzak and Dearka were not sure if Aeolia was joking.
()()()()()()()()()()()()()
Author's Notes: Again I don't quite make it to where I want, yet there is far more than I originally intended. It's only recently that I have figured out just how arduous it is to write about two civilizations of this scale with so many differences meeting and coming together. It's just fortunate that there is so much established canon information to fall back on.
Despite what I have written there is still a lot that I have planned going on that I just can't seem to work into the story such as how the Rebel Alliance setup a series of communications satellites that lead through the known entrance into the Unknown Regions to make communication with Earth possible and reliable. And I really can't think of any way to write about Mars and Jupiter joining the Sol Council, mainly because overall they are not that important to the story. Well, Mars isn't. I have some ideas that make Jupiter important, but again I am having trouble figuring out a way to more directly involve that in the story.
Anyway, this chapter was more setup for events for the future. There will be a battle in the next chapter which is only partially written but I have a strong idea of how I want it to go. I give thanks to Tellemicus Sundance for helping me work it out a year ago. I also thank him for the five Gundam OCs he provided me a year ago, two of which are introduced in this chapter. I hope you don't mind but I made some slight modifications. Nothing major I just changed the placement of some weapons like the Nebula's Stilettos and the Solar's beam sabers.
Also, although I didn't respond to your private message, I liked your idea for the Nova and I will go with it. I believe I have figured out a way to make it all work.
Finally some thanks go to SkywalkerT-65. I will admit that his recent bout of chapter posting in recent weeks has somewhat spurred me on to complete this chapter.
Mechanics: (These Gundams are the creation of and thus the property of Tellemicus Sundance who has allowed me to use his creations in my story. So any praise or criticisms should go to him. Any comments directed at me should only be about how I use them.)
NEBULA GUNDAM (developed from the Blu Duel)
Model number: GAT-X122
Unit type: prototype close combat mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics
Operator: Earth Alliance
First deployment: CE 74
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 16.89 meters
Weight: max gross weight 84.24 metric tons
Armor materials: unknown
Powerplant: prototype hypermatter reactor, power output rating unknown
Equipment and design features:
Galactic Phase Shift (GPS) Armor, experimental
Inertia Dampeners, experimental
Repulsorlifts, experimental
Sensors, range unknown
Solar Shield generator, experimental (Star Wars beam shield)
Fixed armaments:
2 x M2M5 "Todesschrecken" 12.5mm automatic CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
1 x shield, mounted on right arm
1 x MX2200 beam shield generator, mounted on shield
2 x M7G2 retractable beam gun, mounted on forearms, hand-carried in use
2 x M443 "Scorpion" railgun, mounted over shoulder when in use
Optional hand armaments:
2 x MMI-599 "Ensis" Phase Shift sword, stored on hips
3 x Mk315 "Stiletto" rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator, stored in left shoulder, hand-carried in use
2 x ES05A beam saber, mounted on legs, hand-carried in use
SOLAR GUNDAM(developed from the Verde Buster)
Model number: GAT-X133
Unit type: prototype artillery mobile suit
Manufacturer: Anaheim Electronics
Operator: Earth Alliance
First deployment: unknown
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: head height 18.46 meters
Weight: max gross weight 99.36 metric tons
Armor materials: unknown
Powerplant: prototype hypermatter reactor, power output rating unknown
Equipment and design features:
DRAGOON (Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network)
Galactic Phase Shift (GPS) Armor, experimental
Inertia Dampeners, experimental
Mirage Colloid Stealth System
Repulsorlifts, experimental
Sensors, range unknown
Solar Shield generator, experimental (Star Wars beam shield)
Fixed armaments:
1 x 94mm high-energy beam cannon, mounted on backpack over left shoulder
1 x 350mm gun launcher, mounted on backpack over right shoulder
2 x dual ion cannon, mounted in chest (experimental)
2 x 6-tube proton torpedo launcher, mounted on shoulders
2 x MX2200 beam shield generator, mounted on forearms
2 x 4-tube multipurpose missile launcher, mounted on shins
Optional hand armaments:
2 x M9009B composite bayonette-equipped beam rifle, can be combined into one rifle, stored on backpack when not in use
4 x proton grenade, stored on waist
2 x MA-M01 "Lacerta" beam saber, stored on knees
Remote weapons:
2 x (beam spike equipment type): GDU-X7 assault beam machine gun, mounted on backpack
8 x (general type): GDU-X5 assault beam machine gun, mounted on backpack and waist
PS. If you see something really odd with the format of the chapter please inform me. I am in a rush as I post this and don't have time to check for all of the things the Doc Manager messes up.