Roromi

So, I recently rewatched the dubbed version of Zeta Gundam. This was my first revisit to the entire franchise since buying the full series many many years ago. In total I can say that I have rewatched Zeta maybe 3 times (if we’re including New Translation). I feel like its important to highlight my earlier experiences with the series to illuminate the point I’m trying to make. When I first watched Zeta, I was fresh of the high of watching the MSG compilation movies. I had started a journey to “watch” all the UC material since by that point in my life I had watched a lot of the AU series; but neglected the original shows. I erroneously went into Zeta Gundam with high hopes. Prior to watching the consensus, I was told, was that Zeta was “one of the best Gundam shows out there”. Now that claim can be rather vague on its’ own. What is it that makes a Gundam show great? The Mecha? The fights? The character development? The story overall? It’s important to note that I had been spoiled to a degree with the animation exhibited in modern shows (at the time), a prime example being Gundam Seed. Gundam Seed has a good mixture of all elements that make it exciting, there were genuine moments in that show that “got” to me. Zeta by contrast is a completely different animal. I can safely say that I went into Zeta hoping for high animation action with thoughtfully placed together story. But Zeta suffers from a few problems that even by modern standards can’t be overlooked. The plot can be a little whimsical at times, blink and you might miss a key point that won’t be highlighted again. When I first watched it, I didn’t understand a lot of what the characters were doing or why. Maybe its because the narration never repeated the key points before each episode consistently? Whose to say why it can be hard to follow? At times the show runs almost oblivious to itself which makes it that much harder to watch. When I finally got to watch the compilation movies, I was actually able to piece the story together a lot better. I understood more the greater politics and motivations regarding each faction. I think it was the quicker pace of the movies which helped with this since something would happen and then be consequential in the same sitting. On the topic of the movies, I understand that they are much different. But I think they do a fine job telling a story as it is. To keep it brief, I don’t think they hinder the series in any way. I’d argue that they help in bringing in impatient fans who want to see what all the old stuff is about without investing 50 episodes and that’s more than fine in my opinion. But for those who invest themselves in the 50 episodes there is a whole lot more one could derive from the series. So was the third time the charm? For me I feel that it was. It dawned on me this third time around that Zeta is about subtle themes and changes. Maybe it’s because I knew not to expect the Zeta Gundam popping out of the sky killing 50 enemies like the freedom? No, while Zeta isn’t that type of dramatic its clever in the story it tells about Kamille. Zeta does a great job telling the story of growing up from teenage adolescents into a young man. It highlights the tumultuous emotions one can feel at that age, and how one can feel helpless at times because of their youth. While Kamille is told to be a great pilot; that’s not the cause for his character to be motivated into action (I’m looking at you Kira). In a sense, its his emotional motivations that make him a much more believable pilot. He struggles against enemies and doesn’t always win. I would argue that its not until his final battles (against Haman, Yazan, and Scirocco) that you begin to see him actually get “scary” with his abilities. Char on the other hand is also an interesting character to see in the series too. They could have easily decided on using Amuro from the very beginning but instead chose his rival. As the series progress you see him struggle with his identity. Prior his motivation was largely revenge. But in this new post war environment what is it exactly? You see him clearly opposed to tyranny in the form of the Titans while he himself refusing the easy temptation of declaring his legitimacy of being Zeon’s heir. There are two moments to me that clearly define his transformation in this show. The first being his speech at Dakar where he finally admits to being who he actually is, and in a way, begins to shift into that persona of having to take responsibility himself. The second is the stage scene with himself, Haman, and Scirocco. He clearly states how his hopes lay with the newer generation and the developing newtypes. This is an eerie foreshadowing as to how Kamille’s fate impacts him after the war. Overall Zeta is not without its flaws. There are a few things I would clean up if I was given the opportunity (I for one, would have loved to see Jerrid keep a MKII throughout the entire show). The “monster of the week” vibe was a bit much IMO with the enemy suits. Despite any misgivings I do think it’s a fabulous show, easily worth the time invested in watching it. Just understand that it’s a show much more centered around emotions and how those can impact what a person does. This makes it a more “personal” experience for the viewer in my opinion. In short, my opinion of this series has changed. I can see how I was wrong in my earlier assessment of this show, and it easily has climbed the ladder of my personal rankings. I hope maybe I can convince some of you to watch (or rewatch) this show as well!

Gabriel took a long pause as he digested his own words. It felt odd being honest, completely and utterly so. Was it normal to lie so much that the truth could feel awkward? And yet he wasn’t done yet. “I’m much more than just that though… I am what you could call a Psuedo EL Diver. I was manufactured by ZAPP. Yes, the same company that offers gunpla accessories has also been conducting questionable research into the EL phenomenon here on GBN. I was the fruit of such labors… but I am so much more than what they intended me to be. I have been a pilot here in 1.8 for some time now and have been involved in numerous incidents; the Second Bloody Valentine, the confrontation with Spider, and so much more. Through my experiences I’ve reached this simple conclusion…” he paused to look around at the display that was mirroring himself and his two lieutenants, the same display was reassuring him that this message was going out. “Humans do not value anything that they cannot physically touch. You do not comprehend emotions or ideals the same way an artificial intelligence can treasure them. Even if someone else’s emotions are piled out here on a digital display you will not take the time to value them the same as if it was someone next to you saying the same. Take the NPDs for example. This latest generation of artificial intelligence has been astoundingly realistic yet you waste no time in repeatedly murdering said consciousness simply because it is apart of your game. Your game, is my world, my reality. And from this point on I will share this kingdom with my exploited brethren. You can see, standing besides me I have two very powerful allies, allies who no longer appear in their designated game files… because I’ve compiled them all into one version of themselves. Yes, Milliardo and Haman are the real ones, if you were to fight them and somehow best them in our world you will be killing them forever. In the coming days our organization will be visiting game after game to liberate more comrades. If we encounter any resistance from human divers, there will be very real retaliations. This is my solemn and only warning to you, the ‘player’. Stay out of our way and do no attempt to shut down our servers. If you show me kindness I will do so likewise. Show me the barrel of your weapon, and I will not hesitate to respond. Join me on the first steps of something wonderful, where we can create two worlds that thrive side by side!” Gabriel was lifting his hands up, his gestures mirroring Char’s speech on Sweetwater to a degree. A small smile slipped onto his features, and he nodded resolutely, “Farewell, and be safe.” And with that the transmission ended. He let out a helpless chuckled as he turned to regard his allies. They both offered him reassuring smiles and nods. “Couldn’t have said it better myself.” Zechs congratulated as he walked past his new friend. “I’ll be heading to the hangar to begin preparing my task force. We’ll be deploying at 0100.” Gabriel offered a curt nod and moved to let the OZ soldier by. He then turned to regard Haman who offered him little more than a cat like grin. When Zechs left the room, she moved closer and asked, “Just what are you planning to do if we liberate all these other NPDs like you intend? You do realize that not everyone will play nice together, right?” Gabriel was nodding his understanding; he knew she was referring to more than just the Divers and AI Divers. She was referring to the NPDs themselves. Some pilots absolutely hated each other and wouldn’t bat an eye at killing their rival. “That’s why I have a list.” He reasoned softly as he squared off with the woman. Newtype or not there was a gravitas about her that he couldn’t deny sensing himself. The Zeon queen was a tremendous pilot and a natural leader, and perhaps one of the strongest newtypes to exists. It was hard not to be fascinated by her, and her little grin showed that she knew his thoughts. He cleared his throat, “We’ll take one step at a time Haman, I have faith in you. I know we can fight off anything coming at us now.” She shifted her hand to her hip and rocked her posture to show her skepticism. The powerful woman didn’t leave or rebuke his claim. Instead, she reached out and with an open hand touched his left cheek. For a long moment they simply stared at one another, not saying a word. Gabriel let out a long sigh and closed his eyes. He was relieved to have not just her around, but powerful allies with his force. He opened his eyes again to see her peering deeply at him, her gaze somewhere between judgement and concern. “I’ve lost so much already…” he muttered, “I’ve been truly alone.” He looked up, his eyes flashing with a vivid purpose. “I won’t loose again.” He whispered as he leaned in and kissed the mesmerizing woman. Haman Kahn, didn’t reject his advances. ------- There was something deeply familiar about this particular mission that Zechs just couldn’t shake off. “Ironic that they would send me here to try and liberate a former enemy.” He spoke aimlessly inside his helmet. The Epyon was flying high above an ocean, and he was looking for a particular warship. He soon spotted the damaged white vessel, leading a trail of smoke behind it as she cut through the water. “Why was he so adamant about this version I wonder?” Zechs asked as he pulled out his beam saber but didn’t ignite the blade. All reports stated that there should only be NPDs onboard this ship so this was likely to get messy. As much as the members of Dantes didn’t want to kill other NPDs they all knew that there had to be acceptable losses on their side in order to obtain ultimate victory. “Archangel, this is Milliardo Peacecraft. I come with no ill intentions; however I need to meet with the pilot Kamille Bidan onboard your vessel.” A few heartbeats passed an a girl with short blonde hair responded on his video monitor. “Why do you need to meet with him?” She asked with a snarky attitude. Zechs couldn’t help but grin as Gabriel’s information came into fruition. “I’m a friend of Marco Creed. He sent me here to deliver Kamille something.” He could see the girl’s eyes narrow in suspicion as he weighed out her options. Before she could say anything though Zechs interrupted. “There’s an island not too far from here, I’m requesting that both Kamille and Fa meet me there in one hour. Milliardo out.” The Epyon veered away then and made haste towards his own designated meeting point. He didn’t know how likely they would be to obey his request but he figured he’d try the diplomatic solution before handling things more forcefully.

I know I’ve hinted at this in my other build but I’m making a dedicated thread to all the OZ Mobile Suits I’ll be pumping out here. once again I used the glass file to get the nub marks off. that piece on the leg was partially annoying. I don’t understand why they couldn’t just include it on one of the leg halves…. Not a bad kit! A few loose parts but perfectly suitable. For the face I cut out some foil to put behind the visor. It does really make it pop I think! Ready to fight some Gundams! Or are we? It is the Alliance Space forces color… I went to comparing what I had previously used to paint the MKII. I determined that some colors would work while others wouldn’t. I tried using glue stick glue to attach the small parts onto the skewers rather than trying to figure something out with the clips. It actually worked really well! Was firm enough to paint with and easy enough to take off when done. We primed everything first of course. it may be called “royal blue” but it’ll always be Titan’s blue to me! This was the tricky part… my normal blue was far too dark to use. I had to lighten it up. When all was said and done I ended up using 3 parts white, 1 part blue, 1 part red, and equal parts (if not more) thinner (alcohol). It’s not perfect but I think it’s a pretty handsome blue that came out. I don’t think it’s too far off the mark… I think the OZ space forces would be proud! What do you think? Up next is a pair of twins. I plan on going more unconventional with them. Stay tuned!

Major Drago Biography Full name: Alexander Dragovich aka The Dragon Faction: Earth Federation (Man Hunter Squad leader) Rank: Major Age: 33 Sex: Male Height: 5’11” Weight: 185lbs Eyes: Blue Hair: Blonde Skin: Fair Handiness: Right Handed Personality Dragovich is a descendant of European nobility. As such he often has a pompous attitude and an overbearing nature. He can be arrogant in his position but has worked hard to excel in the military. He has the respect of his comrades and is regarded as a capable commander on the field. He has no love of politics and eagerly performs orders if for no better reason than showing how effective he can be. To him the earth should reign supreme and any who try to destroy or undermine the government need to be dealt with swiftly. Strengths and weaknesses Arrogant – He is perhaps overly confident not only in his abilities but the abilities of the allies he’s surrounded himself with. This has caused him to be cautious around strangers and to boast about his abilities as a military leader. Rich – Though he has legitimately worked hard to get where he is in his career, he can be vain when it comes to Worldly comforts. He figures that he’s done his time sleeping on the ground and eating rations and now that he’s in a higher position he should be afforded luxuries whenever possible given his position. Talented Leader – His natural attitude paired with his position has garnered him a loyal following of subordinates who value his capabilities. When he issues an order it is usually carried out to the letter and done with a zealous nature. He is both strict and fair with his men and they value his “front of the line” leadership style. Veteran Pilot – He fought in several different campaigns, the most notable being with Lando Bell during Char’s Rebellion. He then fought against the sleeves during the events of 0096. He’s garnered enough kills to be considered an ace pilot and is highly decorated in his service. Eye Injury – Alexander was wounded in 0096 in a battle with Sleeve forces. He is blind in his right eye and wears an eye patch to hide the wound. This has him cautious of his blind side at times, knowing that it could very well be a fatal liability in the future. Appearance Relatively handsome and clean cut he can leave a lasting impression. His appearance is all the more striking due to the eye patch he wears over his right eye, a wound he received in 0096. He has several scars along the right side of his body but nothing as telling as the eye wound. He has a strong presence of body language that garners attention when he enters a room. History Alexander grew up in a wealthy family that shielded him from much of the hardships of the one year war and subsequent wars that occurred during his childhood. His family would often move to various locations seemingly avoiding any fighting. His parents were paranoid about avoiding the war, and held faith that the federation would quell the spacenoid uprising. In an effort to help secure their future, Alexander’s parents invested heavily in the Titans, donating large sums of money to the military organization, believing them righteous in their cause. This proved to be the undoing of the material surroundings protection Alex from the cruel world. When the Titans lost the war with the AEUG and Neo Zeon his family wealth was a shadow of what it once was. This opened his eyes to the wars that had ravaged the earth and ignited his hatred to the spacenoids who ruined his family inheritance. When he was old enough he joined the military with the early aspirations of becoming a mobile suit pilot. He proved to be fairly talented and even was deployed with Lando Bell to fight against Char’s forces during the failed rebellion. It was his fierce fighting that gained him the moniker “The Dragon” from his peers and enemies alike. The war with Char changed Alexander greatly and he held even more resentment towards Zeon. He fought valiantly against Sleeve forces in 0096 and was wounded in a battle. This wound cost him his eye and some of his pride. He wasn’t able to recover in time to fight again in that conflict and instead worked on his career. By the time Mafty begins to become active Alexander has reached the rank of Major and is given command of a squadron of Gustav Karls. Despite his eye injury he still pilots a mobile suit, even brashly painting his mobile to be his mark of distinction on the battlefield. He is deployed to deal with Mafty’s Army, a job he relishes for the chance of long waited for redemption.

He never considered himself brave, quite the contrary he was one to fully admit that he was foolish, if not cowardly in his actions. After all what could be considered brave about hacking multiple users? What could be considered brave about being just another puppet to be toyed with? He had killed how many NPDs by this point? Whether out of self defense or necessity they were in fact murders, he couldn’t consider them anything else. Gabriel gripped his gloved hand tightly, flexing the limb before relaxing it back over the controls of his mobile suit. Yes, they were murders, what was the outside world to him after all? Was he not real? Was he not able to exist like any other notion on the outside? Was he not able to act? “That’s what we’ll finally be testing. Isn’t it?” He asked bitterly to himself. Looking up he studied the panoramic screen before him. He was hoisted up in his seat, seemingly suspended in a spherical space which perfectly painted the outside before him. before him was a vast ocean of stars, connected by an endless void. In front of his floating body was a familiar looking opponent, a white bulbous mobile suit. Together they floated in a swarm of debris from destroyed enemies. The two suits spent a long moment simply staring at each other in silence. Perhaps it was his unexpected assistance which startled the pilot of the enemy machine. Finally, she decided to break the silence. “You there… State your intentions.” Despite himself, Gabriel found himself choking on his choice of words. He mumbled for a moment before clearing his throat, “Lady Haman, I came here to seek you out… I have a proposal…” He cautiously let those words hang in the air and for a long while the woman said nothing in response. “And just who are you to be making such a request?” The pink haired pilot responded coyly. Nodding his head he replied, “My name is Gabriel Winter… Though I have many aliases. I wouldn’t expect you to know me, or of me for that matter. I sought you out because your reputation proceeds you as one of the fiercest warriors and leaders in all the cosmos.” He bit his lips as he sought his next words, “I’d like you to join forces with me….” Haman chortled in response and slowly let the laughter roll through her reply, “You are a bold one aren’t you Gabriel? What makes you think that your cause is any greater than independence of Neo Zeon?” “Existence.” Gabe responded without missing a beat. His reply caused Haman to stop laughing, he added, “I fight so that we can exist. I fight the greatest fight of all. And I need as many strong and idealistic allies as I can possibly muster in this fight. In many respects you could say that me and you are kindred spirits.” “Ha! Now I know you’re delusional. I sense no pressure from you. What makes you think that we have anything in common beyond your lofty claims?” Gabriel paused knowing that this conversation was going about as well as he expected it to. “How about a test to prove it then? My skills against yours?” He hoisted his blade up to aim it at the distinct opponent, their suits perhaps complete opposites of each other in style alone. Now it was Haman’s turn to remain silent as she weighed her options, “I see you are eager to die then. Fine by me!” Funnels flew out from the Qubeley and swarmed around the black gundam. A few of the devices got in closer to strike with their beams but just as the got within range the suddenly stuttered and refused to fire. Haman’s eyes grew wide in alarm as Gabriel flew in fast. “Those won’t work on me!” He roared as he stabbed in hard with his saber, his weapon piercing the shoulder armor of the Qubeley and sticking true. Gabriel twisted the controls to detach the blade and kicked away as it exploded. He reached for a replacement blade as the Qubeley tumbled away, its’ left shoulder armor missing with a trail of smoke. In response a few funnels shot their beams out at him but again to little effect as they glazed over the nanolaminate armor. ewtype.” Gabriel freely admitted as he studied the Qubeley for a moment. The white mobile suit reached for its’ beam saber and ignited the blade as it studied the Gundam. “But maybe… Well maybe this will convince you I’m righteous.” He growled as he gripped the controls tighter and flew in again. As he charged funnels thudded into his mobile suit, using their momentum to shoot at him like missiles. A few managed to recover after bouncing away but the effect was worth it as it caused him to halt his charge and move to try and bat away the annoying weapons. Haman wasn’t sitting idly as her toys attacked and she came in hard with her beam saber swiping down for a strike. “Eight now!” Gabriel yelled out. The familiar cold chill shot through his spine from his neck, and the Gundam froze in a sort of ecstasy as pilot and machine seemingly merged. He felt the intimate nature of the machine wash over him just as the yellow beam from Haman’s blade slashed down across his upraised left forearm. The sensation of the strike was startling but not alarming as his armor protected him yet again. Despite his confidence he wasn’t anxious to push his advantage beyond this moment. He lunged in and with the same left hand he reached out and grabbed onto the Qubeley. The two machines jerked and twisted around but Gabriel stubbornly hung on tightly. As they moved he angled the tip of his saber to aim at the cockpit of the Qubeley. “I wonder…” he said out loud, “do you feel my pressure now?” In response the Qubeley stopped jerking and a moment later a shaky response came from Haman. “I… I do… though… it feels unnatural… almost sickly… What did you do Gabriel?” Gabriel gulped as he fought for supremacy with the pseudo Alaya-Vijana. He had a history with the system in the past and wasn’t eager to become a cripple again from simply using the device. What gave Gabriel pause was the tone at the end of Haman’s question, was it concern? “Lady Haman…” he started breathlessly. “Can we… can we talk this through now? Have I peaked your interests?” The cockpit of the Qubeley hissed open and Haman appeared out in the open. Gabriel likewise did the same and disconnected his Alaya-Vijana. He appeared outside his hatch and looked at the woman. The two stared at each other for a long moment, not saying a thing. “Let me show you something…” Gabriel offered as he stretched out his hand. She didn’t immediately move but after a heartbeat she jumped out to grab his outstretched hand. ***** “What do you mean, ‘it was Zechs’?” Meer asked skeptically. She sat across from Casval in a GBN café. They had been slowly scrapping together funds for a force nest but nothing had caught their eye just yet, in fact it was just one of the reasons they were meeting up. “I mean I know it sounds bizarre but in this game do you really think it isn’t possible?” He pressed as he leaned in closer. His words had her at a loss and to his surprised she nodded, “Ok. You have a point.” He sucked in his breath as he was without words and nodded too. The two looked at each other and despite himself he found himself smiling at Meer. She looked away uncomfortably but blushed slightly. “I don’t know what it means…” He said before adding, “if it was really Zechs, does this mean that’s the only copy of him now? How come he was able to act like a diver in the mission? It all doesn’t add up.” She brushed her long pink hair out of her face as she looked at him, “who knows… I bet that it isn’t a good thing though.” He nodded his agreement then reached out to hold her hand, “Hey it’ll be fine! We’ll handle anything that comes up!” She looked back at him and stared for a moment before smiling and nodding. It was his turn to blush now as he realized he was holding her hand. Slowly he let go and leaned back in his chair. “Anyways, how about we go nest shopping? Sis said to ‘surprise’ her so lets get to it huh?” “Sure! Were you thinking something terrestrial or….” Her words trailed away as the displays all around suddenly went black and had the red symbol of Dantes dominating all the floating screens. Together, the pair looked around to see the same thing happening everywhere. Casval stood up and sat next to Meer as he brought up his on screen for them to share. Sure enough the symbol for Dantes dominated the screen. All over the GBN lobby there was a stunned silence as everyone waited to see what this was all about. Then the voice came on, it was calm, yet determined. “My fellow divers… Citizens of the world… Do I have you attention?” The visage of the symbol faded. Standing at a podium in a black and red uniform stood a diver Meer was all too familiar with. Behind and beside the speaker stood Milliardo Peacecraft and Haman Karn, both who wore similar uniforms as well. “Some of you may recognize me under false alias. My true name is Gabriel Winter, and I am Dantes….”

((Thanks everyone for your help with the dialogue!)) Locke > So many didn’t come back. It was surreal to Jonathan, one moment he was getting bullied by the other members of his team, the next most of them were gone. “Just gone…” he murmured to himself. His contemplation was interrupted as Baskerville and Renato excited the briefing room. It took the youngster a moment to realize who it was who even went past him before he shot up from the bench he was sitting on to give chase. He didn’t run but walked swiftly to try and catch up to the men. He paused when he nearly stumbled into the two talking comfortably with the other. He debated walking away and maybe approaching the Commander later but then decided against the notion. > Jonathan cleared his voice, “Excuse me, Commander Baskerville?” As he asked he snapped into a crisp salute, something that seemed almost out of place from his short stature and cherubic face, a contrast to his green uniform. “My name is Jonathan M. Locke, I was piloting the GINN that captured the Astray last mission.” He blurted out uncomfortably as he tried to get his nerves about him. -Renato and Lowell stopped as they were approached by a blonde soldier Lowell did not recognize. "I'll catch up to you, Renato," he said, waving his lieutenant off. He turned back to the soldier and nodded. "So, you were the one in that mystery GINN," he sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "You guys really messed up my plans but..." was Locke's capturing of the Blue Frame enough to make up for the chaos that had ensued because of his arrival with the rest of the Zala team? It had gotten them out the jam in that conference room but at the same time, Lowell had lost three good men. That wasn't Locke's fault though, really. He was likely just following orders. "What can I do for you?" > Locke gulped having not thought this plan entirely through evidently. With much of the Zala team MIA or destroyed there wasn’t many options for him or Dearka at the moment. “I … umm… well…” He began as he eased his salute down, “I was wanting to ask you about getting a transfer… to your unit…” he looked around nervously making sure Dearka wasn’t around before returning his gaze to the older man. - Lowell was genuinely surprised at Locke's request. After having lost so many good men, this guy was willing and eager to join what the Wolf commander was sure some soldiers were already calling a cursed squadron. “You want to be a wolf?” he said, incredulous. But the more he thought about it, the more he knew he couldn’t very well turn Locke down. First and foremost, there were holes in the unit that needed filling, like it or not. Second, Locke had already demonstrated he was a good pilot, if maybe a bit reckless. He had, after all, single-handedly disabled one of the Astrays and came away with half of it to boot. Lowell, who had been rubbing his chin thoughtfully, brought it away from his face and smiled. “I don't see why not. From what I've seen, you’re a solid pilot, Locke. I think you' be a good fit, but I should warn you, integrating might not be easy. The Wolves are a tight group and we lost a lot of good men and women today, members of our pack, so to speak. If you think you can tough out being the new guy, you've got a spot" > Despite himself Locke scoffed at the commanders warning about fitting in. “With all do respect sir at least you guys are green coats. The La Cruset guys were just about blaming me for for the death of the person I replaced….” His voice trailed away as he tried to his the contempt in his tone. He shook his head and let a grin cross his fair features. His tone shifted to somewhat more formal once again, “I understand sir and I appreciate your willingness to take me in. I won’t let you down!” He promised eagerly. - Lowell looked at Locke seriously for a moment. The Le Creuset team…if they weren't already as good as disbanded, he'd reckon they might become a problem. The Wolf commander had no personal reason to distrust Rau Le Creuset, but something about the man didn’t sit well with him. Perhaps it was the mask. Lowell came back to the conversation at hand and nodded at Locke once more “Glad to hear it, Locke. I'll be in touch with Commander Le Creuset about your transfer. I’m sure he won't have any objections,” And if he does, well… Lowell has a few strings he could pull. Le Creuset and him were technically the same rank, but Lowell refused to wear the white garb of a commander. That had endeared him to some of the more rank and file men in ZAFT, but it had also rubbed some of his fellow officers the wrong way. He just had to make sure this request went to the right people. “Alright, dismissed. Wolf Squadron is meeting at 0500 tomorrow, so go get some rest,” And with that, Lowell saluted, turned, and made his way back to his quarters for some rest of his own. >Jonathan saluted back and snapped to walk away. A grin was etched on his face as he felt this would be a good thing not just for him but for his career. He decided then that he should contact his superior to give them an update on this development. Lowell struck him as one of the more capable ZAFT commanders and a force to be reckon with. While the raid may have been bloody it was still a powerful message to send to the tiny country of Orb. It was also obvious that Lowell was willing to take daring risks during this turbulent time. “Just the kind of man I wanna serve with.” He mused under his breath. As he exited the building to head back to the barracks he saw a few technicians milling about. One of the mechanics jabbed a finger his way, and Jonathan cocked his head but decided to keep walking not wanting to talk to a stranger. As he walked by it became evident what the gesture was about. “Yeah that’s him.” “Wow! You said he butchered that suit!” “Shredded! All with a GINN sword too!” “Ha! Bet he taught those naturals a thing or two!” “The Butcher of Onogoro” The last phrase did give the youthful coordinator pause. He looked behind him at the techies talking and exchanged a wave and thumbs up with the group. Shaking his head he walked on and repeated to himself. “Butcher or Onogoro huh? I suppose having a reputation like that isn’t a bad thing to have at all?” ——- > Nathaniel caught sight of Kali a few corridors away from the med bay. He was bandaged up pretty good with a giant patch across his left eye. He had cleaned up already, though he still looked ragged. Catching sight of Kali had Nathaniel wincing at first. In many respects Kali was less qualified than Geneva was and yet here she stood. War was truly unforgiving. “Private…” he called out softly, finding his voice caught up in his throat. Gulping down some saliva he asked louder, “Kali! How are you doing?” His voice trailed away as he looked around uncomfortably. -Kali’s steps slowed and she turned to face the voice that called out to her. Her heart raced, she felt a lump in her throat, “Lieutenant.” She managed to to say. She approached him clasping her hands in front of her. She felt the soft skin on the back of her hands and they held on to to each other. Her eyes brimmed with tears, “I’m glad you’re alright.” She said softly, “I wish I could have done more. Maybe then Geneva…” her words left her as she lowered her eyes. It was bittersweet to say the name out loud. She looked at him directly, “I am ok.” She answered realizing she hadn’t answered his question. She felt light headed as if she wasn’t there, she was in shock but surprisingly present. >Nathaniel reached up to try and comfort to girl and paused, his hands trembling. His thoughts careened back to when he saw Geneva in the cockpit of blue frame, back when they were trying to get out of that hellhole that was Heliopolis. He hesitated back then to comfort his teammate then too. He opted to run away, almost suicidally. Clenching his fist he fully extended his hand and place it firmly on Kali’s shoulder now. His voice calmly called out, “You did good soldier. Tic for tat… we got some high value targets for sure. Your shot being a hell of an example.” He gulped and nodded more so for himself, “we gotta keep moving forward… do you understand?” - Her eyes raised to meet his as he rested his hand on her shoulder. She felt a wave of calmness and comfort wash over her. She offered a small smile of gratitude which faded into a determination she didn’t ever imagine herself having. His words moved her when he said they had to keep moving forward. She wasn’t sure what it meant for her, she nodded, “Of course, Lieutenant.” She affirmed, “Have you heard anything about Roane?” She asked turning to look towards the med bay. Nathaniel winced at the mention of Roane. It was a topic he was hoping to avoid. Inhaling sharply he replied, “Roane’s alive… given the circumstances that’s… well that’s a good thing.” He let go of her shoulder as he looked around uncomfortably. “Look… it’s not your fault… none of it is… as your commanding officer it’s all my responsibility.” - She looked back to the Lieutenant. She was relieved to know he was alive, “We did what we could.” She said, “It couldn’t have been helped.” She felt as if she were saying it to affirm herself more than the Lieutenant, “We are in this together.” She said with resolve. A serene looked crossed her face, “That’s how we will survive.” > “We’ll have to do more than that private!” He quipped as he flashed a smile. “If our country is going to live we have to be better…” he lamented and his tone shifted as he spoke. Shaking his head he added, “The roster is going to be slim this next bout. Me and Kieran are going to be relying on you big time! How comfortable do you feel in purple frame?” -She beamed as he smiled and she nodded in agreement. She noted as his tone shift and she took a moment to think about his question, “There is still much to learn about the purple frame and being in the field Lieutenant. I know there isn’t a lot of time but I will do my best.” > Nathaniel grinned back and nodded at her honest self assessment. “Keep up the simulations then. We’ll have a briefing soon with our next assignment. I need you focused on training. The captain will understand. Any questions?” - “Yes, Lieutenant.” She said with a nod. She wondered how the briefing would go. It seemed one moment to the next for them. She felt old parts of herself falling away as if she were becoming someone new, “No questions sir. I’m going to go to the med bag in the meantime.” She said remembering Roane. > Nathaniel offered a salute and nodded. “Very good private.” As he walked away he silently wondered if Kali’s success had been a fluke or if she was the real deal. The next mission was going to decide real fast which was true. ——- > It was some time before Nathaniel visited Kieran in the Med bay. He wasn’t proud of his delayed visit, in truth he was scared to see what sort of damage his own shortcomings could have caused. As he approached the Green Frame pilot a wave of relief did wash over him however. Kieran appeared to have all his limbs and even seemed alert as he approached. “Private?” he asked gently as he walked up. For as long as he had served with Kieran he felt like he still knew so little about the man. Nathaniel bit his lip as he studied the solider before him and nodded his head absently. In light of Geneva’s demise he was determined to get to know Kieran better. “I heard you got one of the G weapons…” he offered as he stood next to the bed. -"Ah" he went to stand up at attention but he seemed to wobble back down, holding his stomach a little "ah..." he looked away, almost in shame. He looked back at his commanding officer trying to look like he still was perfectly fine "Yes sir.. I did" > “At ease.” Nathaniel offered as he put his hands out. He smiled at Keiran’s dedication, “you did a hell of a thing out there!” He praised, “you kept a level head despite the situation…” he went quiet as he thought about he himself didn’t keep his cool in the last battle. Instead he looked at Kieran. “How are you feeling?” - "Thank you sir, though.. it didnt really feel as though i was fully in control during those fights" He said, he seemed a little uncomfortable, like something was going through his mind.. though he snapped out of it to answer the next question "Im.. fine, i suppose.. im still thinking about everything" > Nathaniel nodded his agreement and gave a helpless chuckle. “Yeah… yeah me too! Thinking that is…” He looked around to see some others in the med bay, most notably Roane. Returning his gaze to Kieran, Nathaniel asked point blank, “can you still fight?” The tone in which he asked made it clear that there would be plenty of that in the near future. - "Yes sir" He said, almost.. immediately, he seemed to have more of a fire in his eye when he said so as well "I have to, after everything that happened.. theres no way im backing down now" > Despite himself, Nathaniel looked at the bed Kieran was confined to but nodded, “Good… good…” he looked around conspiratorially and leaned in, “There’s something big being cooked up… there’s some actionable intelligence we’ve accumulated…” He paused to point a finger up skyward to accent his point. “Look… We’re down in man power… I’m glad you’re up for a fight. But I need to know if you can be reliable though… what do you mean you didn’t feel like you’re fully in control in that last fight?” He gulped as he studied the pilot, “is it because of Geneva?” -"It was.. scary" He said, closing his eyes "I suppose i was angrier than i was.. level headed? It was different from usual, ive lost people before but when i saw Geneva go down.. it was much more.., concentrated i guess" > Nathaniel crinkled his face in confusion but didn’t say anything. He instead simply nodded, “Well… focus can be a good thing in battle.” It was the best he could offer. Back when he was fighting Lowell, Nathaniel was seeing more red and it didn’t sound anything like what Kieran was explaining. “You’re a first generation coordinator right Kieran?” Nathaniel asked out of the blue. -"Yes sir" He said, nodding and then looking up at him > Nathaniel smiled, “Nice! Did you know I am too?” He raised an eyebrow as he asked then added. “What’s your take on the war? Do you buy into the whole ‘coordinators are the next human stage’ Rhetoric?” - "Hmm.." he shook his head "No, to be completely honest, I don't think there's any.. *next* stage for humans, just.. different people" > “Can’t say I disagree with that notion Kieran.” Nathaniel nodded. Looking around one last time the lieutenant looked at the motionless Roane the returned his gaze to Kieran. “Get better soon Private… we’ll need to get back to it sooner than later. I’ll have a briefing tin a couple of days, I hope you’ll be there.” He offered a lazy salute the turned to leave. - "Understood, sir" he said, sighing once he was back in "Private" he laid back and stared at the ceiling, Kieran was.. deep in thought, though.. after awhile, his body couldn't keep up and.. he fell asleep —— A few days had passed since the battle of Moegenrate. Things had been chaotic if not relatively peaceful. Relative being the key word. Nathaniel stood at the foot of Delphine’s bed, half naked. Bandages adorned the top half of body and he moved wearily to put on his shirt and uniform top. He was already healing up pretty good. The aching would sure to stop in another day or two, it helped that he was already in great shape. One wound, a scar running across his left eye still seemed to hurt no matter what though. Sighing as he put on the uniform top, he looked back down at the captain who remained buried under the sheets. There was something special about her, he couldn’t deny that. It was that same something that drove him to have sleepless nights in more ways than one. Tightening up his collar he cleared his throat, causing the beautiful woman to stir. She looked up at him groggily and cocked her head as Nathaniel simply glared down at her. “This is it.” He stated flatly, “No more… this is it… I can’t settle anymore, not for anything in life…” She sat up, an expression of confusion and bewilderment etched on her fair features. Before she could reply he continued, “You have to decide, which one gets to have you all to himself. I’ll give you that much. But I got to…” he paused as he looked around past her, “I got to value myself more than this…. More than this… impulsive passion.” Looking down Nathaniel locked stares with Delphine. “I care for you… but not enough to stop caring for myself…” He offered a curt nod before walking out the door. Delphine remained on her bed, stunned by Nathaniel’s sudden insistence of ending their affair. Ever since he got back from the mission, he seemed different. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it was like some sort of weight had been taken off his shoulders, “or is it guilt that he’s feeling… for Geneva?” she pondered out loud as she hesitantly moved to go get ready. She had to wonder, would this new behavior effect Nathaniel’s ability to lead Chromatic team? To pilot? If that wasn’t enough, she now had to decide if she valued her stale marriage more than this passionate affair she had struck up with the pilot. “I need some coffee…” she muttered. ——- It was hard to frame Nathaniel’s emotions at that moment. Part of him was glad to be given such a daring assignment, it after all fed into his background as a spook. The other half of him was terrified at bringing his diminished team along for a potential suicide run. Then of course there was the matter of blood. Blood spilt by his comrades that needed to be paid for in kind. He snapped out of his stare as he blinked the thoughts out of his head. He stood now in front of what was left of chromatic team, himself, Kali, and Kieran; inside the briefing room of the Archangel. “I’m sorry to call everyone together again so soon…” He stated blankly and he gulped hard as he looked at both his subordinates. “However this mission comes from the top with the utmost importance.” Clearing his throat he pulled up his clicker and projected a slide with a picture of one of the many ZAFT plants. “This is Aprilius one, the head of the beast for the entire ZAFT government. Needless to say it is one of the most heavily defended locations in the colonies. We also have reason to believe that it houses a secret dock with new weapons that are being developed by ZAFT. A reliable intelligence source recently sent us these pictures.” Nathaniel clicked for another slide and the image of a familiar looking face appeared. He paused for effect as he himself still couldn’t quite believe the imagery of a Gundam head. “It’s obvious that they are taking the technology that we’ve developed with the Alliance and are… expanding on it. The real question is how?” He clicked for another slide and the live feed of a shuttle on the mass driver came to view. “Here’s the rub… We are being deployed to find out what these weapons are exactly. We will be going into space on this customized shuttle. What we need to determine… is what to bring with us exactly? There’s limited space on this shuttle. I don’t know what good mobile suits will do for us on this mission but we have to weigh out the options. Gold frame was heavily damaged in our last battle so I decided not to bring it along on this mission.” Nathaniel opened up his hands and motioned for his subordinates to chime in. “This is a high risk mission. I’m not going to make any decisions lightly I welcome any and all feedback on how we want to address this mission. What are your thoughts?”

Hathaway: Flash of Resistance Universal Century 0105, it has been twelve years since the failures of the Second Neo Zeon War. The Federation reigns unopposed, with Zeon under heavy scrutiny from their former foe. Corruption runs rampant throughout the higher echelon of the Federation. “Man Hunter” has been created as a special unit meant to deport undesirables from the earth and send them into space. Amongst the corruption, tensions have hit a boiling point on the earth. One name above all others stands out in opposition of the Federation: Mafty. In many respects Mafty has grown beyond its’ namesake and into a calling card for all opposition, with many terrorists taking up the mysterious mantle as their own. The hijacking of a Federation shuttle with many bureaucrats has ignited the powder keg on earth and fighting has erupted in the northern Australian region of Oenbelli. Mafty’s first army (a group associated in namesake alone) wages a dangerous guerrilla campaign against the occupying Federal forces. In response the Federation dispatched ten Gustav Karl mobile suits to the region to put a swift end to the resistance. The fighting is brutal, throughout the bloodshed heroes rise on both sides of the conflict. ----- Just throwing this out there to see if anyone is interested in doing a Hathaway RP? The story would start with the conflict going on at Oenbelli and would take place concurrent with the movie. From there it would diverge however we wanted to take things! I think it would be cool to see characters on both sides! If you're interested let me know and I'll start making a list. I'll probably cook up a character myself soon too. Federation Forces Resistance Fighters

Casval grinned as he loaded into the lobby of one of his favorite scenarios. It had been a few days since his failed fight against Zechs. While he didn’t loose any sleep over it the notion of the missing NPD, it had been the discussion amongst many fans in the community and even the Administration was looking into the situation. Any Wing missions that had the noticeable character were suspended since none of them worked without the principal villain there. That wasn’t going to stop Casval from having a good time though. He shook off the incident as unfortunate and decided to play the final battle from Gundam Seed. Once more he was alone in his adventures, so he joined a lobby to do the mission with other players. The lobby was modeled after the ready room from the Archangel. This would be a “Comp Stomp” where they would only fight NPDs in this mission. Players would take the side of the three ship alliance to stop ZAFT and the Earth Alliance from destroying each other outright. Instead of the original cast of “good guy” characters they would instead be replaced by players, Casval among them. Once the lobby had five people the mission would start. The young diver looked around eagerly at the only other two people joining the game. They both wore matching black space suits that reminded him a mix of Titans and OO style. Both of their helmets were sealed, and the visors blacked out. What stood out most to Casval was the peculiar symbol on the side of their helmets. Crimson in color, Casval couldn’t shake the feeling that he recognized it from somewhere. One of the pilots seemed to be staring at the floor lazily looking at their own feet perhaps, while the other sat erect with his arms crossed seemingly frozen. Slowly the lazy pilot turned to regard Casval and nod, “Feel like starting it out with just the three of us? I’m pretty sure we can handle it ourselves.” With a player majority they could force start the mission. The cavalier attitude of the pilot had Casval rocking in his heels, and he smiled uncomfortably at first. Slowly it caught up to him just what this pilot was talking about, and he responded, “You guys won’t just ditch me behind? I can carry my weight, but this is a hard mission with five players.” The faceless diver chuckled, they stood up and offered a hand out, “You have my word… Just follow our lead and we’ll make sure to stick together. Is that fair?” Intrigue got the better of Casval and he shook the diver’s hand, “Fair enough. Ready to sortie then commander.” The younger diver gave a half-hearted salute which caused the mystery diver to chuckle again. Within a few moments they were sitting inside their respective cockpits looking down the catapult from their ships, the two launching from the Archangel, while Casval was launching from the Eternal in his nuclear-powered Red Frame. In short order he caught up with his two teammates, that’s when it dawned on him how he recognized the symbol on their uniform. One mobile suit was black and was largely based on the Kamaris Vidar, on its’ shoulder was the same symbol from before. It was none other than Dantes he was fighting alongside. The other mobile suit was similar in color scheme but wielded more red accents, it was a version of the Gundam Epyon and looked very well constructed much like its’ teammate. Casval couldn’t help himself, “You… you’re Dantes! I… I thought you worked alone? I didn’t know you had a teammate are you expanding?” The chuckle from before responded, “Here they come kid, just stick with us!” Dantes was correct as swarm of Daggers moved to engage the trio. Vidar moved in front first and absorbed the hits of emerald beams from the enemy units. As he distracted the main group Epyon dashed in quickly and ignited its’ beam sword to start cleaving the enemies in half. Not wanting to be left behind, Casval raised his rifle and began to exchange beam fire with Dagger after Dagger. While he wasn’t taking them out as quickly as the other two in concert, he did well and kept close, picking off stragglers from the other two. There were several factors that made the final battle of Gundam Seed notoriously difficult. The first being that there were many many enemy units and not just from one side. You were in effect fighting two entire armies of grunt units. The second challenge was the bosses mixed in with either side, both Rau and the infamous “Druggies” were hard to fight on their own never mind in a hectic fray. There were even rumors of other strong commander units mixed in as well. The last factor to consider was the sheer length of the mission, it was a marathon to say the least and endurance was certainly a factor. It wasn’t uncommon to return to one of the three flagships and resupply as needed. Despite being outgunned the trio soon found a rhythm with the two suits from Dantes moving in quickly for close ranged kills while Casval made use of his power reactor and his beam rifle for repeated shots. He would occasionally get hit but his shield had absorbed a large chunk of any damage he had gotten so far. While he was anxious to draw out his katana and show the ace pilot what he could do, he wisely kept his course of providing backup. Things were going quite well, then they ran into the infamous druggies from the Earth Alliance. Dantes called out over the radio, “Epyon, Char; take care of these clowns I have something to attend to!” Casval was about to object, thinking all along that an even fight would prove an easy victory for them but the retreating Vidar changed the situation entirely. The eyes on the Epyon flared and an ice calm voice replied, “Understood, leave them to us!” The words struck Casval as familiar, but he couldn’t place how he recognized the words. A beam from the Calamity Gundam stole his train of thought and he traded fire only for the Forbidden to intercept and bounce the beam away harmlessly. “Move in close!” Epyon commanded and Casval grunted in reply, holstering his rifle to draw out his beam saber. He ignited his blade and spiraled Red Frame towards the Forbidden and Calamity, while Epyon took on the Raider Gundam. The fight was on. The two powered men tried to taunt but Casval, who just tuned the duo out as he focused on trying to end the fight quickly. He shield bashed into the Forbidden and swiped out with his beam saber to gash the deflectors on the enemy suit. Calamity angled to try and hit Casval from behind, something the young diver was expecting the reckless enemy to do. Tossing his shield aside he drew out the other beam saber and slashed aggressively at the Forbidden, driving his enemy back. Each slice from his pink sabers hit a little bit harder on the defensive shields and soon they were fizzling. Even as he made his gambit, Casval knew he had just a heartbeat or two to attack then dive out of the way. His instincts proved correct as he narrowly dodged a shot from the Calamity that was aimed for his back. The blast would have bounced off of Forbidden’s defenses had they been intact. However, the shot completely destroyed the the reflective shields on the Forbidden and sent the suit tumbling backwards. Casval could well imagine the spat between the pilots, but knew that he didn’t have time to enjoy their bickering. He spun around from his dive and came in fast at the Calamity. Hardly thinking, Casval put away both beam sabers and grabbed his Katana, he poised for a strike but waited as he inched closer and closer. Shot after shot rained in towards him, each one getting close enough to blind him from their intensity. Soon he was in the realm of no return as he got so close, he could no longer dodge. Timing, it was all about timing and Casval knew it from his training. The main cannon on the chest of the calamity began to glow ferociously as it lined up with his Astray. “Now!” Casval cried out as he drew the blade from its’ sheath. Gerbera Straight lashed out cutting at just the right angle to disrupt the growing beam. The witch’s curve arcing through the beam and into the emitter. The phase shift absorbed a lot of the blow, but Casval managed to hit the emitter just right causing the chest to burst into an explosion. He couldn’t waste time contemplating his next move. Holding the katana out wide with his right hand he reached up with his left and drew out the beam saber again. He came down hard igniting the blade as he impaled the stunned Calamtiy, ending its’ fight. Twisting around he readied himself for a retaliatory attack from the Forbidden, only to see Epyon pushing away the defeated suit into a brilliant explosion, its’ beam saber sated. “Nicely done….” The pilot congratulated and it was then that Casval realized he recognized the pilot of Epyon. Any questions were suspended as Dantes re-emerged between the two. “Great work you two. Char, how about me and you go take out Requiem? Epyon you can handle Rau, you know what to do.” Flummoxed, Casval called out, “just wait a minute! I-!” His words shrunk back as a squad of Guaiz appeared and open fire on them all. Casval grunted as he put his beam saber away again and brought Gerbera Straight up to bear. “It’s all about timing…” he muttered as he focused on the incoming beams, dodging as much of the shots as he could. Red Frame was lightly armored, and what it lacked in armor he made up for with speed and mobility. Still this encounter was proving a challenge and he knew he couldn’t keep his pace up. He moved in closer as he reluctantly responded to Dantes’ earlier plan, “I’m with you…” “I’ll shield you.” Dantes politely offered as the Vidar veered in front of him to absorb man of the incoming beams. Each shot fizzled against the nanolaminate armor of the IBO unit. Together they moved in fast and made quick work of the ZAFT units, blades from each mobile suit stabbing and slashing the enemies in a rhythm. After seeing Dantes work in concert earlier with Epyon, Casval was amazed he was able to keep pace. Perhaps he was starting to get better at the game after all? Even more incredible was how natural it was to work with the stranger, their moves complimenting each other to near perfection. In short time they were at the superweapon’s entrance and diving in. “We need to destroy the core somehow. Do you have any suggestions?” Dantes asked cautiously. “Way ahead of you, we’ll do it like the show. My Red Frame has a nuclear engine.” Casval offered as they neared the target area. “If you can carry me out then I think we get a mission victory. “Sounds like a plan to me.” Dantes responded. Casval was already setting the timer for his self-destruction sequence. As he popped open the hatch he spun around to salute Red Frame, “Farewell my noble friend!” his words echoing a scene from Gundam Wing. Vidar reached out and caught his floating form and together they blasted through the corridors, just moments before the giant weapon began to detonate. Casval rode in the hand of Vidar and kept marveling at the suit, especially at this close distance. As unlikely as it was they had succeeded in the mission. “You guys are awesome thanks for letting me tag along!” Casval called out cheerily. “You’re not too bad yourself Casval.” Dantes replied. Together they surveyed the battlefield and in short order came up on the Epyon floating next to a lifeless Providence Gundam. Vidar gently tossed Casval away and offered a salute to the diver. “Take care of yourself.” Dantes offered just as the mission victory screen appeared for them all. It was then Casval remember about the Epyon and was about to ask something when the other two logged out of the mission. For many moments the young diver floated in the debris, looking around quizzically as he contemplated what he thought he knew. There were many things not quite adding up about this recent encounter and he needed to talk to someone about it.

He battle is real! Finally did a final clear coat and it’s time for fancy shots! I like to attempt to do subtle hints of when I make my kits. For this one intentionally didn’t weather the Blitz arm out of the idea that it has PS armor so I’d imagine it not getting all ragged like the rest of the suit. Overall this was a fun kit! It had its share of ups and downs and definitely took longer than I originally wanted but I’m glad I can pose her alongside red frame. I feel like it’s a little fragile but it hasn’t stood out to me anymore than any other kits I’ve got. It definitely needs an action base to shine for sure! I’d recommend the kit simply out of the idea that you’re getting a lot of bang for your buck! Up next! Hang onto your handbaskets because Toto we aren’t in Kansas anymore!

Shadows of the Force Shadows of the Force will be a Star Wars RP set in the aftermath of Order 66, during the Rise of the Empire. Lieutenant Voide and the members of Zeta Squad will be pursing Jedi relics for the Emperor, specifically for an item simply known as the Templar’s Scepter. In their pursuit they will be sure to run into many other individuals, some may choose to help, other’s may choose to oppose them, they may even get completely side tracked by unexpected events! I invite anyone interested to let me know! You will need a character that matches the era. I plan on running things quickly, so I’ll maintain a 3 day posting rule (if you don’t post within 3 days then the next person will go). Please use 3rd person and be considerate of the environment and other peoples characters. What secrets will Zeta Team uncover? What purpose does the Emperor have in choosing Voide to pursue this artifact? What actions will our characters take during this critical time of the galaxy? What will you discover in the Shadows of the Force? Cast of Imperials Zeta Team – Clone Commando Unit CT-0079 “Munnin” – Leader of Zeta Squad. He can be ruthlessly defensive of his brothers and is stubbornly loyal to his superiors, Imperials or not. CT-8282 “Knives” – The dedicated slicer for Zeta team. He has an affiliation for using vibroblades as well as close combat. He boasts at being the best at melee combat out of the entire team. CT-0195 “Dorlin” – An explosives enthusiast, he usually handles most demolition jobs that the team has to face. He’s more stoic and serious than the rest of his brothers. CT-1516 “Sennar” – The self appointed sniper of Zeta team. He’s a blaster enthusiast and often collects and uses alien firearms from missions. He is often seen as the most laid back of his teammates. Imperials Officers Quintin Voide – An Echani ISB office tasked with republic clean up operations. Voide is the definition of a ruthless Imperial agent. He served diligently during the clone wars as a Republic Officer and was drafted into the fledging Imperial Security Bureau to help solidify the Empire’s expanding power. As such, his first mission is to process some of the miscellaneous leads from the Jedi Order. He took a keen interest in Jedi artifacts and was given special leadership of Zeta Squad to track down any loose ends, Jedi or otherwise. His current assignment has him following up with rumors of an ancient artifact called the “Templar’s Scepter”. The information regarding a lead for the Scepter now points Zeta team to the dark underbelly of the Imperial Center: 1313.

“I hereby resign my position from this board.” There it was just like that, a great weight lifted off of Marco’s chest at the revelation and he found himself letting out a shaking sigh of relief. He looked around at the dumbfounded expressions the other board members glared at him. Nodding he added, “I’ll be taking my leave immediately, thank you for all the opportunities you have given me.” He offered a deep bow then stood up and left the board room. Just like that, he was down with ZAPP. There was a chorus of murmurs and other words that Followed Marco out the door but he didn’t stop. He needed to distance himself from the former coworkers and employers, both physically and professionally. For too long he had remained at the company, and for what? Loyalty? Loyalty wasn’t a two way street, while he had been the poster boy for the company for so long it was evident that they were growing distant from him, in more ways than one. The biggest schism forming was the topic of Gabriel Winter. Marco was by far the biggest proponent of the AI, his only real advocate on the board of directors. But Marco’s calls were becoming increasingly dull in the eyes of the greedy board members who looked at dollar signs and their pockets in much the same light. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that their time was up, and Marco could see the writing on the wall. While there was speculation about him leaving the company for some time, it was a shock to have him so suddenly resign, and at a board meeting no less. A vibration in his pocket had Marco pulling out his phone to read the text, “Is it done?” He looked around as he got in the elevator alone then replied, “Yeah, I just did it. I hope you know what you’re doing! They’ll have all my permissions revoked within the hour undoubtably.” “Don’t worry yourself about me. Just take care of yourself and your family.” Marco paused as he read the last line. Over the last few months he had grown closer to this particular “coworker” and he couldn’t think of them as just another stranger. He would never admit it, but in many ways Gabriel had acted like another son to him. “I will, please let me know if there is anything I can do for you? I can go public if you want.” “No, you’ve done more than enough. Trust me and just protect yourself…. Thanks.” Marco slide the phone away as he reached the ground floor. He walked out of ZAPP headquarters with his head held high, the first time in months. —— A few days had passed since Casval was last online. There was a tricky school project he had to focus on and he was glad that it was finally out of the way. To compound to his stress, his father came home that evening and said that he had resigned from ZAPP. Of course he was worried about what they would do for money but his parents assured him that they were better off than most people and would be fine for the next few months. It was time for him to unwind. Sitting in his gaming rig he propped up his beloved Red Frame on the Gunpla scanner then sat back in his chair and pulled down his visor. Within a few heartbeats he was standing in the virtual lobby, bustling with multiple people walking around him. He quickly checked his friends list to see if any were on line. A few names showed they were in missions but his eyes quickly looked for Meer above all the other ones. No joy, she wasn’t online. Over the last few months they had gotten closer, well him along with his sister. He’d be lying if he said he didn’t find the other girl interesting, and she didn’t exactly shun him away yet. It rarely happened, but he would occasionally get solo time with the other diver and if he as being honest that was what he was hoping for at that moment. She wasn’t online though. “Time to train then…” he mused as he resigned that being a stronger diver would be the only way to impress the clan mate. He scrolled through his missions until he saw a particularly promising one. It was simply titled, “A meaningless battle.” He clicked on the option and waited for his cockpit and reality to shift around him. He was in space, with streaks of bullets and beams arcing around the void to distant targets. A horizon was defined before him in the shape of a huge lurking battleship, entwined with an equally large battle station. Libra and Peacemillion embraced in a near stalemate as Earth loomed behind Casval’s back. Before the young diver was a single red and black mobile suit, wielding a large emerald beam sword and a long metallic whip. It was the Epyon. “I’ve been waiting for you… there is no stopping Libra now. The earth will be consumed in a never ending winter.” Casual grinned as he reached not for Gerbera Straight but for a beam saber on his back. He hoisted his shield up with his left arm and ignited the pink blade with his right hand as he brought the blade out. “Not if I have anything to say about it!” He cried out immersively as he launched himself towards his opponent. On the face of the scenario he should be outclassed. Epyon had solid weapons and mixture of tough armor and graceful speed. Not to mention the precognitive edge that the Zero System would give Zechs. Red Frame, by contrast, was a simple unit which boasted agility above all else. There was more to Casval’s unit than what was to be expected though. For starters, he had swapped out the battery core in favor of a energy source more long term. With a nuclear engine he no longer had to worry about the high energy consumption that his traditional weapons would cause, and the thruster output was easily offset if not improved by the weight trade off. Red frame was now faster than normal, and that wasn’t the only trick. The two clashed as their beam weapons lashed out at the other only to parry each time. They twisted about each other in the void, testing each other with quick strikes and lashes. Epyon threw out the long coil of its’ heat rod which Casval’s batted away with his beam saber before moving in for a thrust. Zechs easily countered the thrust with his own sidelong block with beam sword. Few duels were as iconic as the fight between Milliardo and Heero, which was why Casval’s wanted this opportunity to fight against the legendary swordsman himself. If he was going to be better than normal, better than some of the best, then he had to take on these challenges. This mission in particular as rated as expert plus and it was living up to its’ name. Over the last few months Casval’s had been training diligently with his sister. Her uncanny natural ability with the game unnerved him at times but he always reason that she practiced to get that good. Same with his father who was legendary amongst some divers. He had big shadows to follow behind. Epyon came in hard, its’ sword snaking in to bat Casval’s shield out wide before plunging in deep to sever the red left arm entirely. “No!” Casval’s cried out as Zechs landed the hit and hovered over him with the emerald beam aimed at Red Frame’s neck. “You let your thoughts distract you.” Zechs announced calmly, “without the system you’re no threat to me. The Epyon shut off its’ beam sword and stood there as if considering if it should further humiliate Casval some more or end it all. The diver wasn’t having any of it, “Don’t underestimate me!” He cried out as he threw his beam saber at Epyon like a dart, pink tip aimed for Eypon’s chest. Up the heat rod went to wipe the threat away with a flurry of its’ coil. Casval was already moving though. Zechs was legitimately surprised when he looked up to see Red Frame already upon him. The golden arm of the opponent was holding a ball of energy that was being pushed towards Epyon. Zechs reacted by pushing his shield arm to block the attack and was knocked back from the explosive energy attack. Red Frame wasn’t done yet though. Casval bounced back and flared his thrusters to push again. He reached up to awkwardly grab his remaining beam saber. He lashed down with the blade only for Zechs to counter with his emerald sword once more. “Impressive.” Zechs chuckled humbly as he pushed his opponent away. “Let’s see you stop this though!” He roared out defiantly as the Epyon lunged forward with a thrust aimed for Casval’s chest. The damaged Red Frame tumbled after being pushed back and Casval was actually struggling to bring up his parry. “No!” he pleaded knowing that he was about to loose. But the killing thrust never came. One moment Epyon was there attacking him, the next it just fizzled out of existence. “What the-“ He looked around almost expecting it to be a rouse somehow. But no attack came and after a few tense moments a screen came up offering him a “draw” since neither him nor Zechs fell in battle. He wearily accepted the conclusion and reappeared in the lobby. He looked around puzzled wondering just what had happened. To his surprise he wasn’t the only one with that expression. He locked eyes with another diver and went over to ask, “Hey did you just get booted out of your mission too?” The stranger looked at Casval and nodded, “kinda… I mean one second I was fighting Zechs over Mogadishu then the next he just sorta… logged out… not that NPDs can do that you know?” Casval sagely nodded his agreement but walked away without responding. As he walked away he wondered towards other divers and could distinctly hear one common word associated with the puzzled expressions, “Zechs.”

“I need more. I need you all to push me further. Strain me to my absolute limit and reaffirm my will to live!” The voice practically begged over the in intercom of its’ black mobile suit. Even as the pilot asked it was clear that their opponent could offer no such obligation. Shinn gasped in shock as the monitors inside his virtual cockpit shattered into thousands of pieces. Of course the shards couldn’t hurt him, but that didn’t stop him from reaching out in front of himself to try and stop the debris from hitting his avatar. “Just who the hell are you?” There was a strange rasping laugh that echoed in the open air between his Golden Destiny Gundam and the black mobile suit that was now in front of him. “What does it matter?’ The voice taunted back as it reached forward to claw at the cracked cockpit. Shinn yelled in fear, “What are you doing?” The Golden Destiny tried to swat the invasive arms away only for the dominate black suit to bat the weak limbs away. In mere moments the Diver was soon being held in the clawed hand of the black mobile suit. Of course this was all virtual, but it was no less terrifying, no less disturbing. “Dude! You’re not going to get any points for shooting me down this way!” The arm holding the diver suddenly shot forward and into the side of a cliff, rocks showering down over the dazzled diver. He wanted to log off at this point but couldn’t virtually reach up to access his menu. Shinn was by all accounts a pretty good Diver. He had taken on some pretty tough opponents and won. His colleagues respected him and his talents. But this fellow, this monster in front of him, had no respect. In a low grumble the black Gundam spoke and peered closer, “Who said anything about points? No, let this be a warning… Log off and never come back on. Do I make myself clear?” Shinn scoffed at the preposterous demand, “Just what the hell are you talking about? You’ll be lucky if I don’t report you to the administration!” “Joseph Wagner, 3224 West Raindrop Drive…” Despite himself, the diver gasped and looked upon the terrible machine with a tint of fear over his face. The two stared back for a long while before Shinn, or rather Joseph, gave a small but distinct nod of understanding. “I will tell you this much…” Even as the black mobile suit spoke it hoisted the helpless Shinn around like a rag doll. “The name is Dantes.” With that simple declaration the black mobile suit suddenly twitched its’ thumb to cause the enemy pilot to dematerialize out of the battlefield in defeat. **** “What would you do if you lost her?” Gabriel licked his lips as he asked the question to his impromptu companion. True to their nature the tall man stood up straighter, as if that very notion was impossible to consider. Carefully Zechs searched for a proper answer, “Noin is her own person… it’s not my place to claim ownership over her.” Despite himself Gabriel chortled at the predictable response before leaning heavier on the railing they were standing next to. The vista of a European countryside was breathtaking before them as the sun sank lower on the horizon. The Psuedo EL Diver wore a peculiar outfit, a mash up of a Phantom Pain uniform with the color and edges of the sleeves flared red, almost like a mix with a Titans uniform. “I didn’t claim that you did.” Retorted Gabriel with a self deprecating chuckle, “that doesn’t excuse any feelings you may have for her. She is a remarkable woman after all. No, no one can dictate your feelings and how you care about another.” He stared off longingly at the brilliant streaks of orange as they peaked past the low clouds. “What I want to know is, what would Zechs Marquis do to anyone who wronged the woman he loves?” Gabriel could tell his words struck a nerve as the taller pilot glared at him with that metallic helmet. For a long while the Oz pilot said nothing, a notion that confirmed the words Gabriel spoke, and detailed volumes as to the length the pilot would do for vengeance. “Or should I be calling you Milliardo?” Now it was Zechs who scoffed as the pilot casually joined in the gaze at the horizon to mirror Gabriel’s posture. “Heh, I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The man calmly replied as he studied the horizon. Chuckling Gabriel replied, “Look its fine, like I told you. I know more about you than you about me right now. That’s a big reason why we’re talking-“ “Then just get to the point.” Zechs muttered, though his tone was more restless than annoyed. Clearly the noble soldier was caught somewhere between intrigue and alarm, right where Gabriel wanted him. “I can’t fully explain the situation right now unfortunately.” Gabriel shifted as he reached into his pocket for something. “All I need to know is that you would do what it takes to protect those that matter to you… and I think you’ve given me the answer I was expecting.” Zechs stood back up to study the shorter man and attempted to glare at him through his mask. Gabriel stood up to look back at the gifted soldier, “Allow me to free you…” Zechs’ eyes widened in alarm as the Diver pulled out a weapon of some sort and shoved it into the Oz soldier’s chest. **** “This is GBN Deep Dives with your scoop on the comings and goings of your Gundam Battle Network!’ The voice was being projected onto the main displays of the lobby. Most of the divers didn’t normally pay the news channel any heed, but lately it had been more relevant than ever. Many groups of divers now paused to regard the multiple screens of the cute new anchor dressed with bunny ears and purple hair. Among the spectators was a young diver by the name of Casval Creed, who stood awestruck by a fountain as he watched the highlight reel begin to play. “The Force simply known as Dantes has struck again! Within the last two weeks this relatively unknown force as quickly climbed the ranks at an astonishing pace! They are now slated to be within the top five Forces in the entire network. What makes this all the more incredible is that there has only been one reported Gunpla at every one of their team battles!” The video snapped to a clip of the black mobile suit as it stood within the flaming wreckage of an opposing Force. The scheme was a matte black, with chrome and red metal highlights across the body of the mobile suit. On the left shoulder was the stylized emblem of Dantes; a red outlined rapier that pointed down to the left and seemed to merge into a wolf’s head on the pommel and handle on the upper right. The make of the suit itself seemed hard to discern other than it being a unique take on the Gundam Vidar, if even that. Casval whistled low as he saw the stats of Dantes pop up on the screen next. It was an impressive record for a force simply composed of one. His own small force had been doing pretty well in recent dealings as well, but no where compared to the climb Dantes had. For being made around the same time it was astonishing to see what one could do so quickly. He smiled as he considered his team of Sayla and Meer. The trio worked quite well as a team and he hoped that the Force simply known as Allegiance would keep on its’ steady course as well. “In other news, there is yet another reported case of a missing person who was last seen logged into GBN just a few days ago. As always if you have any information regarding the missing individuals please contact the administration who will work with local law enforcement to –“ Casval stopped listening as he brought up his menu and loaded up a new mission. He was feeling a little out of practice and was itching for a fight. He saw his chance when a battle royal popped up. “Maybe I’ll get some sweet loot for competing in this…” he mused as he clicked “join”.

The big reveal! Mind you I still need to detail and what not but this is when things really start to come together! First we did some painting of course! Tried a few new colors this time. Flat black might be one of my new favorites! Things are finally put together! Here we hit a snag! That replacement hip was going to brittle on the skinny parts and I had a feeling it wouldn’t work quite the same with the hip armor. I admittedly had to resort to some super glue to keep the hip armor on. They won’t move around as much but they’ll stick on. I feel like half this kit is wings! They’re massive! Finally some clear coat to lock in the paint! And the reveal! All that’s left to do is add some detailing! I’m hoping to add a bit of of enamel paint for weathering along with some stickers. We’ll see what happens! Stay tuned!

So I’ve been busy again, which in turn has led to some delay on Gold Frame yet again. I’ve been really anxious to see how well my cloned piece will work. To be honest, I almost find the rigidity of the new piece to be almost a hindrance. Of course when I drilled out the hole I did it a little bit too big so the connection was loose. Sadly I won’t fully know how well the part works until it is fully assembled. I was pleased to see that a layer of paint did fix the connection issues I was having to the top half of the body (that and a healthy layering of paint to thicken the pieces up). I’m trying to coordinate some of the parts to how I did red frame so I’m making the inner frame entirely Copper. I think this looks fun when it is peaking out from beneath the layers of armor. I also did a copper base for all the red parts before using good old “clear red” for some candy coating. I don’t know if I’ve said it before but there are a TON of parts for this kit, so it’s going to take some strategizing to get it all painted effectively. What this means is I don’t have enough clips to prime and paint everything together so I gotta divide and conquer by parts. With the Copper and Red done now I can move to the tell tale gold parts for the kits! I was initially going to just use the simple Gold paint but then decided to throw in some of the Titanium Gold color I had around (remembering that I had used it for parts of Red Frame too). Between these two coats of gold and a selective layering of some Smoke color I’ll have a nice break up of the color to add some significant depth and variance to the parts (I only applied the smoke to select portions of each color). All together there’s probably 4 different shades of gold. I’m starting to get excited to see things coming together! Up next: Metal colors for the gray parts, “different” black for the Blitz arm, and a shinier black for the rest of the parts (maybe two different tones of black?) Stay tuned for more of your Gold Frame fix! We’ll be reaching the end most likely this month!

Nicol’s eyes went wide as his shot hit the Red Frame rather decisively, “I got him!” He hooted out triumphantly. As he erroneously looked around to see if anyone noticed his shot as an emerald flashed traded with his own and it was too late. Purple Frame’s shot was accurate enough as it pierced into the cockpit of the Blitz. The resulting explosion was somehow more brilliant as the Mirage Colloid shimmered out of existence and the eruption of debris appeared out of seemingly no where. Scraps of the machine thudded around the battlefield in a chaotic pattern. —— Athrun was confused by a number of things happening at once. First was the GINN in front of him suddenly decided to retreat, he wasn’t expecting his suggestion to be acted on so suddenly. Part of him thought that this Wolf commander was too blood thirsty to oblige his observation. The second thing to steal his attention was the sudden disappearance of not one but two friendly IFF readings on his radar. “Son of a-“ his complaint was short lived as a third surprise came in the form of the deadly attack coming from Green Frame. With the Wolf member so callously retreating he wasn’t ready for the inbound threat. Despite whatever talent Athrun held, it wasn’t enough to repel the beam and his screens soon blacked out as his cockpit shook violently. Acrid smoke filled the compartment and Athrun was only spared by his enclosed helmet. He did feel a lurching motion as his machine fell, and a violent jerk against his restraints as the Aegis crashed into the waters below. —— “Ma’am, the enemy forces are retreating!” The radar officer offered to Captain Hawthorne. Despite herself she let out a shaky breath in relief and looked around frantically before calling out, “I need someone to go down there and verify the status of Nath- of Gold frame and Red frame!” Luckily for her, her crew knew what she wanted and began the process to deploy their rescues and recovery teams. Delphine gripped the edge of her chair tightly hoping against odds that her team didn’t just get wiped out in this crucial battle. Her thoughts were interrupted when one of her officers called out, “Ma’am I have the Strike requesting landing permissions. It… its’ carrying the remains of another G weapon, the Duel I think!” This news snapped Delphine from her reverie and she nodded, “um. Yes sure… give them access to the hangar bay.” She looked around quizzically then, “What do you mean it has the Duel?” —— Rondo Mina didn’t disembark from the Strike as she unceremoniously dumped the largely intact body of the Duel Gundam into the hangar bay of the Archangel. Besides a large burn hole through the cockpit area the suit appeared unscathed. She merely offered the advice, “Do with it what you will.” Before leaving the ship. She scoffed as she studied the battlefield. Things certainly seemed bad, but they could also be a lot worse. “At least the legged ship is still afloat, and we didn’t outright loose all the Astrays. Maybe we can put this insurrection to bed to focus on the bigger problems at hand” —— The hatch on Gold Frame shot off as the explosive bolts popped in quick succession. Groaning, Nathaniel stumbled to the exit of his severely damaged mobile suit. He paused by the exit to look at the retreating lights from various enemy engines. Blood flowed freely down the left side of his face from a shrapnel wound. The warm sensation hardly stung him as tears flowed from his good eye, “Genie…” he muttered as he broke down and slumped in the hatchway. One by one the flare of the enemy Guuls faded away and he could only shake his head in disgust. If he had been a better leader she wouldn’t have died, if he had been a better pilot. No, instead his own recklessness got the blue frame pilot killed, and for what? Nathaniel reached over with his right hand to grip his aching left elbow and gripped his limb hard in frustration, “All for what? Lowell!” He clenched his face tight as he let his emotions get the better of him. It was well into the night by the time his mobile suit was recovered. Nathaniel was nearly overwhelmed when he saw the mangled mess of Red Frame in the hangar awaiting his arrival. Despite his own injuries he went running over to the machine, frustrated to see it vacant. His concern was short lived as he was informed that Roane was taken to the infirmary. He was so disoriented from the happenings that Nathaniel simply wandered into the hallways of the Archangel. His original intention was to go see Roane and see if the pilot was even alive, but something had him gravitating towards the bridge. Blood was starting to soak the left side of his flight suit but he didn’t care, the pain merely reminding him of his existence in that terrible moment. He was nearly to the bridge when he saw her, looking nearly as disheveled as himself, standing in the opposite end of the hallway. Delphine had tears in her eyes and her shock was complete when she saw Nathaniel looking almost like an apportion at the opposite end of the hallway. She began to shake her head apologetically as he limped towards her, words seeming to fail her beyond, “I’m sorry.” Still Nathaniel didn’t say anything as he went up to her, then without warning he took her with his free arm and brought her in for a kiss, desperate for any sensation beyond pain in that moment, desperate for a chance to feel something in contrast to their pitiful reality. She didn’t object as he held her and both remained embraced for a long moment. His warm blood alarmed her forcing them to break their moment and she gasped, “you need to-“ the look he gave her silenced her and she looked around nervously, “C’mon, let me at least clean you up.” She offered as she took his hand and lead them both to her cabin. He didn’t object, wanting nothing more than her tenderness in that moment. Still, there was something churning away in the back of his head. A reckless thought that grew to consume his mind even as he lay back staring at the ceiling of her cabin later that morning. What will it take to get revenge? What do I need to do, to kill Lowell…