Roromi

(OOC: I had been working on this before things kinda fell apart here. In any case it felt a shame not to finish it and to not put it up here. For the same reasons I’m not going to really proof read it all that much. Hopefully someone will enjoy it.) Location: <redacted> Date: <redacted> Operation: Brook Fall (Identified from Zeon intelligence post One Year War) It seemed unavoidable, the shivering. It was a necessary sacrifice to maintain any possible element of surprise they might have however. Lieutenant Benjamin Grimsdottir sat huddled in an oversized trench coat and rubbed his leather gloves together eagerly. He keyed his microphone, “status update?” His communication line was a buried hardwire and he wasn’t afraid of it being intercepted. “We have confirmed movement from the valley LT, looks like they’re taking scenario A.” Grim grinned “Very good, make sure to keep surveillance sharp, don’t neglect anything, remain vigilant, keep your heads on a swivel.” “Roger that LT!” They had prepared for this, every conceivable precaution had been taken, all that was left was executing their plans. When Grim had been given this assignment he initially resented it. However, he soon embraced the mundane challenge and decided that he would be the best guard that this particular bunker had seen. He spent a week analyzing the terrain, figuring out possible breaches on their location. The approach by the valley seemed the most logical given that the rest of their position was surrounded by mountains; that’s not to say the zeeks wouldn’t try that too. At dusk the guardwatch reported seeing shooting stars leading to the direction of the valley entrance. Not one to take chances, Grim set some scouts ahead in light vehicles. Sure enough a team of zeeks we’re setting up to march down the valley to their location. “4 GMs and they expect me to hold a base on my own with only 4…” Grim muttered to himself. He rubbed his hands and repositioned his grip on his tiny lantern. The dull light cascaded into his compartment and drew long shadows from the dormant switches in front of him. The lieutenant tried wiggling his toes to make sure that he could still feel them. This would be the most stressful part, waiting in the cold and seeing if his crazy plan would actually work. Minutes turned into hours and sure enough the Zeeks soon arrived. The first notion of trouble was the slight vibration Ben could feel. Although the LT was shivering, the suddenly shuddering of his cockpit told him that it was more than just his body. He looked around cautiously at the dormant controls to make sure he wasn’t making phantoms in his head when a crackle on his headset confirmed his suspicions. “LT! Movement near your ridge, have a Zeek heading towards your line of sight, counting 10 repeat 10 tangos all in the valley.” “Affirmative overwatch. Setting up position, ready to be my eyes?” “Roger that LT! We are go!” Grim reluctantly uncurled from his ball in the crooked seat of the GM and began strapping himself in. His fingers shook not from the cold but from excitement of pre-battle now. He paused after strapping in and carefully considered the start up sequence of the GM. They had spent some time rewiring parts of the arm to boot up independently and with a low draw on power. Of course they tested out the sequence and of course it worked but reality often made practice seem inadequate. Still Grim slowly and deliberately toggled the switches and poised his hands over the controls for the right arm. “I’m ready overwatch, how's the show?” There was a slight pause which unnerved him and he wondered if the line had been trampled on. Finally, “LT, we got half the tangos past the skirmish line. Four units are taking the trail.” “Roger that overwatch, confirm when last two have taken the trail, countdown at 60.” “Affirmative LT, countdown at 60.” Grim closed his eyes trying to imagine the footage outside of his darkened cockpit. He could imagine the Zakus milling down the valley in scattered groups. “60” The voice from overwatch broke his concentration and he tensed both his arms over the controls. It was going to be tricky, if he didn’t complete the startup sequence quickly he would pay dearly for his gambit. “50. 40. 30.” He could practically see his heartbeat in his vision as he tried to breathe calmly. Slowly he curled his finger over the controls for the trigger. “10. 9. 8.” “This is it!” He yelled to himself. Snapping his body into the moment he tensed his fingers over the smooth plastic of the controls. “3. 2. 1. Mark!” Grim squeezed the trigger, the GM’s cockpit muffled the loud rapport of the machine gun emptying its magazine. Outside, a white GM was buried in a shallow pile of snow in a dense outline of tall conifer trees. The right arm had been poised on a pile of boulders from the nearby ridge and meticulously aimed at a so call “game trail” their squad had carved from the valley towards the base. As the GM fired off the rounds the snow melted around the weapon and the recoil bumped the de powered arm up widley. Even as the magazine emptied its contents Grim moved quickly to boot up the GM. He had insisted on digging his unit in to ambush the predicted enemy advance. The gamble was keeping the unit powered off and buried just deep enough to hide but shallow enough to pop out easily. Of course he had to keep the GM powered off too to avoid giving away a heat signature, hence rigging the arm to fire the rifle with low power and having the weapon pre aimed. As the GM woke from its frozen slumber it began to immediately fire its thrusters and gain its footing. As the snow flew from the visor of the GM Grim could see the carnage his trap had set. One zaku was on the ground bleeding smoke and fire and another behind it was tumbling into the trees beside it, explosions toppling it. Grim hardly had time to celebrate as he swapped magazines on the gun. Two more zakus further down the trail in front of him turned around in bewilderment. There was a slight pause as everyone acknowledged that things were out of place and then all hell broke loose. “All units commence counter attack!” Grim yelled into his microphone. Grim worked the controls to start charging at the two zeeks in front of him. A pink beam shot out from the base and made quick work of the zaku furthest from Grim’s GM. The shot was from one of his other mobile suits and was equipped with the only beam rifle. Ben had ordered that particular unit to remain behind to act as sniper and had given it special instructions should the battle get out of hand. The remaining Zeek in front of him paused as it drew its heathawk out and turned to consider its’ sniped comrade. The pause it stole was too much though as Grim unloaded half a clip into the belly of the monster. Four units down with six left to go. Grim’s plan had just taken out the entire rear guard of the advancing enemy forces and the remaining zeeks were at the foot of the ridge mixed in the edge of the forest that approached the base. “Unit two! Unit three! Approach the forest and proceed with the counter attack. Unit four maintain your current position as overwatch!” Three pilot voices acknowledged his order in unionship and the lieutenant dared to brave a smile on his face as he came to the base of the ridge. The next few minutes of relative calm unnerved Ben and stole the tempo of success from his stride. As he navigated the frosted forest he cautiously approached each tree, suspecting an enemy to be waiting in ambush. Step, step, pause was his rhythm now as he hunted for more enemies to engage. He contemplated changing magazines on the rifle but decided against dumping half the ammo knowing he didn’t have much reserve left. The minutes ached on and a voice on the radio nearly made him jump, “Lieutenant this is Garner! Be advised I’m not piloting my unit!” Ben couldn’t help but scowl at the announcement, “what do you mean ensign? Explain!” “It’s the boy! He tricked me and took my unit I just came to in the barracks… but I know it was him.” “Damn it! Go help Swanson in unit four Garner! Leave him to me!” Grim switched off his microphone and heaved a heavy breath before keying in the channel for unit two, “Private Winter is that you?” There was an expected pause before the young voice responded, “acknowledge LT this is unit two…” The Aussie twang was unmistakable now and Grim clenched his teeth, there was a million things he wanted to tell the private at that moment. “Damnit Gabe! Form up on whoever you’re closest to. If you wanna play pilot that badly I’m not going to have you die alone. We’ll discuss this when this is over understand?” In a calm voice the teen responded professionally, “understood L-T forming up now.” More minutes of unnerving silence commenced and Grim contemplated pulling his forces back to the base at that time, something was definitely amiss. He was about to key his mic when weapons fire rang out through the trees. He turned his GM around towards the noise and couldn’t see anything “all units report!” Garbled voices responded with a definitive scream piercing his ears. It took Ben a moment then he realized who it was. “Wagner are you ok? Respond!” Next he heard Gabe grunting something incoherent and could hear more weapons in the distance. Suddenly a blaze of pink light flashed throughout the forest and Grim got a lock on the position, “Winter respond!” “Wagner’s hurt L-T. He took a heathawk to the cockpit. I’m afraid I can’t get a good look without leaving my cockpit though.” “Negative Winter, stay in your seat your my wingman now! Base send someone on foot to Wagner's position, me and Gabe will try and lure any remaining bogies away.” Affirmatives echoed over the radio as he finally linked up with Gabriel. The wreckage of two more Zakus had the Lieutenant gauging the outcome of the battle. He desperately wanted to get out of his cockpit to check on the now silent Wagner but knew better with four enemies still around. “I took them both out L-T…” a voice softly announced. Grim turned to regard the other GM standing next to him. He motioned for them both to move off. After a minute Ben keyed his mic, “you mean that flash wasn’t unit four? You used your beam saber?” “Affirmative sir…” there was a trace of satisfaction in the Aussies voice that Grim didn’t miss. “Good work private. Keep it up and we’ll make it out of this alive.” The duo marched along the trees zig zagging to make a path through the maze. More pink flashes Burned through the night air. “Swanson report!” Grim growled as he shifted his GM to face the base. Unit four had been perched on top of the hangar to give it a vantage point but he didn’t like the idea of them shooting. “Got trouble over here sir!” Grim didn’t wait, “back to base on the double Private!” He flared his thrusters and did a reckless leap back to the facility. Grim and Gabe leap frogged back to the base and within a few minutes the saw unit four shooting frantically from the rubble of the hangar. There was a moment when Swanson’s GM turned to regard Ben and Gabriel. The moment was interrupted by a bazooka round pounding into the chest of the GM, the cloud of smoke pulling Grim’s attention to a trio of Doms rushing into the base. “Gabe get behind and get ready I’m going to try and lure them to us!” Without waiting for a response Grim fired the remainder of his clip at the lead unit. Sure enough the Dom turned to regard the duo and lead the other two mobile suits to charge at them. As Grim started swapping for his last magazine he tried to calmly explain. “Hold your fire until they rush us!” If Gabriel understood he didn’t respond. Oddly enough Ben felt at ease with the private guarding his back. His reverie was disrupted by the trio of Doms thundering into them. A bazooka round burst into his shield and his cockpit shook violently as a follow up shot hit the shield practically shattering the feeble defense. Grim barely had enough sense to sidestep a heatrod slashing for his cockpit, “Gabe now!” The private seemed to have read Ben’s mind perfectly as unit two lashed out at the Dom with it’s beam saber. Slashing from the opposite side that the Dom was attacking Ben with. The Dom’s momentum helped the pink blade dig hungrily at the metal and it soon toppled past the pair like a car wreck. The victory was short lived as the other two Dom’s began to circle around them and began angrily shooting volleys at the two GMs. Instinct took over the two Federation pilots as they moved into reaction. Ben hardly had time to consider what Gabriel was doing but instead focused on the Dom flanking in front of him. Shieldless he bounced his GM around in a clumsy dance of thruster dodges. Trying to edge himself closer as he fired his machine gun at the faster enemy. The Dom wasn’t buying into it though. Every time Grim tried to lead his shots the Dom would juke and avoid the fire. Grim likewise did the same when the Dom lined up a bazooka shot. Grim knew they were both running out of ammo so he decided to entice the Dom for the inevitable. He tossed his machine gun to the ground and drew out his beam saber. Gripping the weapon with both hands he presented it in front of himself. Technically speaking, Grim knew he was in an inferior unit, but he hoped the pride of the Dom pilot would cloud any doubts the enemy might have. Sure enough the Dom accepted his challenge by tossing its own bazooka. And in a swift motion it produced its deadly rod and charged at the Lieutenant. Grim pointer the tip of his fusia blade at the enemy’s cockpit while the Dom predictable cocked its’ heat rod to its right side. Both units fired their thruster. The dom hovered at him in a frightening pace, too fast for him to match in speed. Grim did start in a rush with his metal feet pounding away; however as they got closer, he slowed his pace. He fired thrusters with each step making his unit seemingly bounce a bit more. At the last moment he fired his thrusters hard and dipped the blade beneath with. He whipped the sword up and focused on landing the GM from the awkward movement. It wasn’t until he turned his GM around that he saw that his maneuver had worked. Dom’a were fiercely horizontal units and it would have been crazy to fight on even ground. His blade as slashed perpendicular, cleaning through the cockpit and head of the Zeek, clouds of fire bleeding from the unit. Panic stole his satisfaction as he keyed his mic, “Winter! Do you copy!” Static responded back greedily and Grim marched forward to go past the wreck of the second Dom. Just as he came past it an explosion boomed from the last known direction of Gabriel. “Winter!” Grim called out frantically as he willed his suit forward. He was pretty much out of thrust by this point and with just his saber he didn’t know how much use he could be. As he approached the last bundle of black smoke he readied his blade in front of him. He saw that the bundle was the remains of a Dom. He then spotted a GM sitting in a pile of rubble, the cockpit was open. Sitting on the open hatch was a boy still in his teens, looking out at the destruction before him. The look on the boys face was one of satisfaction, or was it relief. Grim pulled up close and opened his own cockpit. “You ok son?” Gabriel looked up at Grim, the look of reverie leaving his face. Finally he nodded towards Grim, “never better lieutenant… never better.” Grim studied the young man for a moment and wondered to himself how the private had managed to pilot the mobile suit so well. The lieutenant knew he would have some explaining to do to command about this skirmish, yet he suspected that everything would turn out ok. The fact was that they had just repelled a superior force with nothing but wit and skill. He studied his sensors one last time to affirm his suspicions and nodded in satisfaction himself. “Gabriel… that was reckless… from now on how about you stick with me? And maybe… just maybe we’ll live through this madness.” The boy nodded his appreciation, “I think I can abide that Lieutenant.” They shared a salute and then a smile with each other. They would live to see their vow through.

Ensign Winter sat hunched on the railing outside of his Quel. Quietly he tapped away at a bulky laptop which was wired up to his mobile suit. He sifted through the lines of numbers and data, a resigned sigh escaping his lips. He had gotten scrutinized over his choice of mobile suit. Lately everyone else had been transitioning to the Hizak, a mobile suit which reminded Gabriel too much of a Zeek unit. Ensign Winter on the other hand opted to maintain his use of the Quel. His decision proved to be both a burden and a blessing; a burden because of his peers criticizing him, and a blessing because the influx of spare parts for his unit from the other Quels. Despite his abundant source of supplies he was faced with having to maintain his unit increasingly on his own. A small price to pay in his mind, he enjoyed solitude. While the world seemed to move on its own, Gabriel remained glued on the past, his mind flowing back to his home, and worse to that damn Zeek who humiliated him in this very unit. He didn’t care that his peers got new units and fancy promotions, he didn’t care that he was merely tolerated; he just wanted to fight, to get revenge. Sighing once more from the headache the screen was giving him he finally shut the laptop down, satisfied with his work. He tucked the chords away and cleaned up his station before floating along down the catwalk. His eyes wandered from suit to suit and before long he spotted the only other elephant in the room, the GM sniper tucked on the other end of the hangar. His eyes glider along the paneling of the older suit and his attention was stolen when he heard his name, “Gabe!” The Titan turned around to regard his colleague Ryder. Gabriel snapped into a salute before responding, “yessir?” Ryder was one of the blokes who received a promotion, for what Gabriel couldn’t quite wrap his head around but he wasn’t one for military politics. “You’re still not taking a Hizak Lieutenant?” Gabriel asked quizzically as he floated towards his comrade. “We’re going to make quite the odd couple out there mate…” Gabriel murmured half heartedly.

“Erland!” Edwin cried out as he saw the two mechs dump onto a building. The explosion of debris was actually quite impressive with the pressurization of the small building rupturing and gushing out air and dust in a brief but violent whirlwind. He reflexively winced at the sight and fought his instincts, scanning around. Sure enough another spinner Rodi busted out of shed and blind sided Edwin knocking the rifle from his Graze’s hand. No matter, Edwin brooded, I want these cowards to see their death coming. With the elegance of a veteran Edwin moved his Graze with the momentum of the Mobile worker and twirled his mobile suit around. As he completed his rotation he drew out his blade and fired his thrusters after the retreating Rodi. As he closed the gap the Rodi also twisted around. Dancing in their dangerous game it began firing rounds at Edwin’s Graze. Panic must have stricken the civilian pilot because their shots trailed lazily towards Edwin, and despite their closing proximity, the fool couldn’t land a hit in the Graze. Edwin thrust the tip of his blade directly into the belly of the mobile suit, a clean strike that instantly killed the pilot and made the mech go limp. He pulled the blade out and twirled his Graze around to look at his two comrades. Edwin noticed Yohan similarly dispatching another Spinner with his rifle. The problem seemed almost resolved when a glimmer of crimson stole his attention, and Edwin had to sort through his confusion at not seeing Erland’s Graze. The vision of a demon made the commander freeze in genuine fear, he could feel the stump on his arm ache at the presence of the machine. Marching solemnly towards the Gjallarhorn soldiers was a titan of equal if not greater measure. Walking down the makeshift road towards the trio was a red Gundam. Their radios crackled as a strange voice hailed the trio. “Surrender your weapons and your ship and no one will have to die.” Edwin bit his lip and switched his radio to Erland, “Erland are you alive?” At that moment Edwin didn’t want to take his eyes off the demon to check on his friend. “Erland if you’re there I need you back on your feet soldier! We got a demon to kill!” He switched his comm to include Yohan, “I’ll lure it close to me, Yohan you take shots with your rifle, aim for its joints but be careful to avoid friendly fire.” At that moment Edwin had a million questions he wanted answered, perhaps the most demanding being how these rebels found a Gundam on the moon. His concerns hardly mattered with the pressing business. He was mildly tempted to banter with the rebel to learn what he could but decided that silence would gain him more favors. He had fought with a demon once before and lost his forearm because of it. He may be the only one that truly appreciated the gravity of the moment they were in.

Way to go! Let’s keep it rolling!

The violent turbulence shook the mobile and pilot alike. Stone faced, Edwin maneuvered the colossus towards the lunar surface. The weak gravity felt annoying, not quite tugging him down and not quite releasing him from the gray horizon. They landed on a ridge east of the facility. It was eerily quiet with no movement beyond the three machines. Edwin sniffed, “feels like a trap. Don’t let these rebels get an edge on us. Stick together and we’ll be fine.” He hardly waited for a reply before gliding his suit to the edge of the ridge and look down. Still no movement. Grunting he hopped the ridge and slid down towards the facility. The buildings conveniently made mobile suit the sized passages where two suits could pass abreast. The maze of passages was impressive even by mobile suit size. His rifle led the way as he took the lead. Soon They found themselves at an intersection. Edwin scowled ar the screen as he scanned the buildings. “Yohan why don’t you-“ His transmission was interrupted by a mobile worker bursting out of a garage strafing and firing at them all. A few shells rattled on their armor and before anyone could return fire it disappeared behind a building. Edwin hissed, “they’re using the facility as cover.” Silent alarms in his head went off and he resisted following the obvious bait. Something was definitely not right. “Things are about to go kinetic my friends.” The grizzled veteran growled.

Jared kept his almost infectious grin painted on his face as the woman talked. He honestly listened to her banter and kept his silent analysis of her filter behind his eyes. “Where are we headed anyway? I don't go planet side so if its Earth I get the master bathroom and whatever is attached to it." He cleared his throat, “I can’t say that I have an interest in going to earth but your machine on the other hand, catches my eye…” he leaned in close, his expression growing slightly more serious. “You see I very much wish to obtain one of these demons for my startup organization. A mascot can be a powerful symbol in the mercenary business you know.” His eyes looked at her suggestively. “I reckon you know a thing or two about combat your majesty…” there was a glimmer in his eye at the suggestion of combat. As if the excitement of the word was enough for them to understand each other. “Tell me why is it you are running away? Why is the price so high for you?” He took a moment to check a small tablet he kept with him and nodded at a message sent to him. His eyes shifted back up to the girl with the dangerous glimmer burning in his eyes. By this point several crew came floating within a respectful distance.

Edwin nodded at Erland’s remark about deploying. “Soon enough. Go get some rest and in a few of hours we’ll deploy.” With that he saluted his friend before retreating to his own quarters, he was quite tired from all the traveling. A few hours later an alarm awoke him in his bed and he groggily got up to put in his space suit. The room was sparsely decorated due to the lack of gravity and he struggled to get in his suit. His fake arm floated around him as he put on the combat gear, waiting for the last minute to attach the abomination to the remains of his limb. At last he got the suit and arm on and zipped up the uniform before grabbing his helmet. It didn’t go unnoticed that his left hand shook visibly and he nervously squeezed the device to “loosen” it up before heading into the hallway. He wore a grim look on his face as he saluted the crew and soon found the entrance to his alabaster Graze. He paused as he perched on the lip of the cockpit to study the behemoth and the sword locked on its hip. Flashbacks of the fateful combat that stole his left arm flooded his vision and he could clearly recalled how crumpled up the left side of the machine had been when he was pried out. He equally recalled the eyes of the demon that maimed him, the elegant designs of the Gundam he fought. He shook the thought from his head before going into the cockpit determinedly. As he sat down he locked his helmet on and pulled the straps across his body. He began his religious system checks to awaken his own monster and prepare for combat. As he neared the end of the routine he did a radio check, “are you there Erland? Yohan?” To his delight his Adjutant responded eagerly, “Affirmative Captain! Ready to deploy when you are!” A grin did form on his face, “you ready Erland? Let’s head out.”

The young man seized up and gurgled out a cry for help that got drowned by the blood dribbling out from his nose. Jared frowned as he saw the response to the Alaya-Vijnana rejecting one of his comrades. “Dang!” Jared hissed as he turned to regard his tech, a girl by name of Betty. The blonde shrugged at her boss and tapped at her tablet vigorously. Shaking her head she finally announced, “sorry boss, there’s a lock on the operating system. We need a key of some sort to override it.” Jared punched the metal of the cockpit in frustration. The price to gut the cockpit and operating system would be substantial and he now seriously had to contemplate giving this machine in for the bounty. He looked around the hangar while burying his face in the palm of his hand. The momentum of his mock punch on the frame flung him out in a soft revolution into the middle of the hangar; if he was discomforted by the motion he didn’t show it. His thoughts equally whirled around him and he almost missed the presence of a silver haired lass as she burst into the hangar. “I made it! Thanks for waiting for me!” The words made Jared furrow his brow and as he bounced gently into the ceiling, he steadied himself to study the girl closely. A smile now formed on his face. “Your majesty!” He cried out before pushing himself towards the girl. As he sailed he caught himself on the rail side opposite of her. He continue to flash her a toothy grin, “at last we meet princess!” He studied the girl for her reaction, the second thing he noticed was the size of her pupils (the first being the hair). “I’m so glad you could join us on this voyage of the Loose End. I’m her captain, Jared Axle at your service!” He gave her a mock salute, his voice booming loudly to get the attention of everyone on the hangar.

As his beam missed Hunter hissed in frustration, “think you’re special ey?” The Gelgoog dodged away and turned to face him it pulled out its beam chain gun and sputtered a volley at him. At their current distance the exchange of fire was little more than friendly banter going back and forth. Hunter flared his legs to thrust his Quel out of danger. He curled his mobile suit into an arching charge now, evading the trail of chasing laser bullets. The Quel shuttered violently from the thrusters delivering him to striking distance. The Gelgoog flared its melee weapons to life in its hands. “Oy that’s the ticket!” Hunter growled as he shifted his Quel to grasp the beam saber with its free right hand. He pulled the shield and rifle in close to his cockpit. As the distance closed quickly he swung down hard with the beam saber, the fuchsia blade came down with ferocity. Hunter grinned with a violent glee and a wishful hatred that only his weapons could satisfy. ”why fight?” He quizzed over the radio. “Why protect yer mates?”

Edwin gave a discreet nod at Erland’s observation regarding the facility and a weak smile of acknowledgement. True he has more riding on the facility and he couldn’t stand the idea of dissidents controlling property that wasn’t rightfully theirs. Erland broke his train of thought, "If you don't mind, could you take me to the mobile suit hangar? I'd like to see what our firepower is." Edwin swept his hand behind them towards the exit of the bridge. “Of course right this way.” He calmly led the man through the bridge to the hangar. As they entered the bay Edwin gave a grin at his friend as they first saw their Grazes side by side. Red and white the two machines looked poised for action, Edwin knew it would only be too soon. “We have our machines of course. We also have four more Grazes at our disposal…” he swept his hand to hint at the other suits hiding in the hangar. “We don’t know the full strength of the enemy so it will be me you and my adjutant Yohan who deploy first. I want to keep the rest behind as a rear guard in case they decide to attack the Fortis.” He turned to look at this friend reassuringly, “Yohans a good pilot we can count on him.”

Edwin noticed the sidelong glances at his arm. Erland was of course one of the few people who knew about his injury, he felt surprisingly subconscious about his arm now, as if Erland was seeing through the long sleeve and glove he wore. Edwin shrugged the idea from his head and motioned to the window on the bridge as he moved to stand next to his friend. They both looked out at Space and he cleared his throat. “There’s an Elion Family Mining operation on the moon, which for years have been very lucrative.” Naturally both of their gazes shifted towards the natural satellite. “The entire operation went dark. At first we thought it was technical difficulties, but it’s becoming more and more obvious that it’s more than that. For years the workers have disgruntled by conditions… no small secret.” He flashed his friend a knowing glance. “In any case we have since intercepted transmission heading out towards the colonies suggesting that they found a relic from the calamity war…” he let the last phrase hang in the air as reference to the Great War was weight enough to drag Erland from Mars. “There are terrible weapons from the Calamity war… if dissidents have a weapon… well I don’t think I need to spell it out to you.” He paused as he glared at the moon. “We’re going to storm the facility… hard and fast. That’s why I need you here. I need people I can trust for this one.” In truth Edwin wasn’t entirely sure where Erland or the falk family fell in the recent discussions of worker rights. Gjallarhorn has become increasingly divided on how to treat their colonies and other assets. If this operation went down the way Edwin was imagining it then a lot of dissident workers would die.

Jared tapped his fingers impatiently on his arms. He glared out at the hangar as the metal colossus was hoisted into an open mobile suit bay. He glared dangerously at each crewman who touched the weapon and barked out ominously, “careful! Careful… we must take great care with this catch boys and girls!” His tone shifted towards an almost melodic grin as he regarded his crew. His visage was somewhat more dour than usual, the presence of a gundam was an omen of sorts. Good or bad, Jared couldn’t quite decide yet. The stories of demons shaping the world as it was today whirled in his head. Either way, right now he was in the presence of a demon and even the mercenary was feeling giddy at that prospect. As his crew finished their task Jared called out enthusiastically, “once the gundam is secure let’s leave port!” One of his crewman, nodded and floated off to let the bridge know. Normally he would have handled the order himself but this was a triumphant moment and he wanted to bask in the glory of this war machine in front of him. In many regards the presence of the demon was humbling. Maybe he wouldn’t sell it after all. Sure there was a substantial bounty on the machine but a few tweaks and they could make it indecipherable from the original form. A jerk of the ground told him that the Loose End had left port and the ever present grin on Jared’s face grew at the seamless escape thus far. “Shame we couldn’t find the girl too! She’s got quite the bounty on her as well…” Jared mused to no one in particular. His crew was used to his ramblings and could tell he was in a certain mood. “I wonder what will happen to you friend…” he offered to the Gundam as he floated in front of the machine, his posture stiff and arms crossed in serious contemplation

True! At this point the big two we’ll be starting out with is Gjallarhorn and pirates/mercenaries. We will be starting off both sides very soon 😉

The tremors slowly faded away, the entire cabin soon became serene as weightlessness permeated around. Edwin unconsciousness tensed his left hand, curling and uncurling the artificial fingers. It was strange how occasionally he genuinely felt as if the digits were his own. It was equally unnerving when he found himself scratching the skin of the prothstetic. They called it phantom pain and it was a sensation he doubted he would ever fully accept. Lifting his gaze from his lame hand he looked around the cabin to study how everyone else was reacting inside the shuttle. If one was studious, they could quickly determine who was new to space and who wasn’t. By this point Edwin was fairly numb to awe inspiring sensation. A young woman was giggling as she let some jewelry twirl in front of her. Another man was grinning like a fool playing with a water bottle. Edwin merely sighed and returned his gaze out the window. He would soon be onboard the Halfbeak class Fortis. The Fortis was a Bauduin family warship and had served as Edwin’s flagship during his patrol duties. As the shuttle escaped earth, Edwin could begin to make out the purplish form of the ship. Onboard was his Graze, and his crew; and he was eager to see both. Perhaps just as importantly was an old friend he was eager to reacquaint with; Erland Falk. Though the two men differed in age by almost a decade, Edwin thought of the younger man like a little brother and often treated him as such. He had been happy for the fellow noble when they had been assigned other duties on Mars. Now it appeared that fate would bring them back together. Gjallarhorn had given Edwin an important mission and was willing to give the Bauduin official any resources he needed, whether it be material or personnel; Edwin chose the latter. The rattle and clanking of the hull snapped Edwin from his contemplation and he tensed himself against his seat as the shuttle connected with the warship to drop him off. After the connection was secure a crewman gave the Captain a thumbs up. Edwin grabbed his briefcase and unbuckled himself to “leap” towards the engineer and the exit. The man gave him a salute and Edwin responded in kind, before moving down the narrow corridor towards his ship. Once he was on board a small collection of his staff saluted a greeting towards him and he returned the gesture yet again. He knew that by the time he found his way to the bridge he’d repeat the process with half his crew. By the time he made it to the bridge a grin did form along the edge of his face as he spotted his old friend. Erland stood staring out the windows, his red back turned toward him. Edwin let out a cheery greeting, “I had no idea that I’d be entertaining a member of the Falk family on my ship!” His tone showed his mock surprise. As he hovered up to the other man he stopped to regard him and offer his hand warmly, “it’s good to see you Erland!”

Jared Axle Biography Full name: Jared Axle Faction: Aegis Security Services (freelancer) Rank: n/a Age: 26 Sex: Male Height: 5’7” Weight: 120 lbs Eyes: Brown Hair: Dark Blue Skin: Fair Handiness: Ambidextrous Personality: Charming and pragmatic. Jared is a businessman and opportunist. Strengths and weaknesses Greedy - Jared won’t do anything unless there’s a profit to be made or an advantage to be had. While not daring in the courageous sense he is in the enterprising sense. Skilled fighter- growing on the streets meant Jared had to be good in a fight both in and out of a mobile suit. He takes pride in his body and keeps himself on a skilled edge. AJ system - starting out his life as human debris he has this dreaded system implanted. Which acts as both an asset and a possible hindrance. Indomitable Will - Jared his hard headed and once he sets his mind to something he Carries through with it. Charismatic - Jared is good at relating to people and is empathetic if not tactful when dealing with others. He knows that the best way to build his wealth is by networking. As such he is incredibly mindful of her persona and hates damaging his reputation. Appearance: In great physical shape. He speaks with a commanding tone and almost has the mystique about him. History: Jared grew up in squalor in the slums of mars. At a young age he was sold off as human debris and operated on, giving him the Aliyah Jenana system. Forced to use it, he lamented using the whiskers on his back. As he grew, he constantly looked for opportunities to elevate himself above his meager position. He eventually found the opportunity to kill his would be slavers and become free. By the time he was a teenager he was what he considered a “self made man”. Though often equated to being a good thief, Jared found mercenary work to be becoming and profitable. He developed a reputation as being a very good soldier of fortune. He soon found himself surrounded by like minded individuals, forming a crew and business. He established a private military company: Aegis Security Services as a front for his operations. Being a legitimate business meant obtaining a base which he could use. He settled on a battleship, the Loose End, which largely remains in orbit around Mars, occasionally venturing out. Because of his lifestyle Jared is incredible embedded in the underworld, being well connected with information and reputation. He’s worked hard to set himself up as an operation leader and is always looking for the next big payday. Possessions: The Loose End, a privately owned battle ship that functions as his base of operations. Kills: n/a Role plays: Coliseum battles: n/a