Story - Raising the Flag

From Gwn

Current revision as of 14:53, 6 October 2008

Description

Story

Chapter 1

Space seemed calm once more. The United Solar Fleet consolidated military control in the solar system and vanquished the last remnants of Gemini. Mars and the Earth began to rebuild after the costly war, leaving many orphans behind. Mobile Weapons were disposed of in large numbers, with many Gemini and Alliance suits propelled toward the sun for a final solution. This solution worked for the weapons, but soldiers held a problematic position in the new world.

“Listen... ‘soldier Leo’, I do not care about your psychological state. We know who you are, and we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We have already dealt with Miran Caise and Jade Cassel, your cohorts among the Gemini Foundation. They are being reeducated, you can too if you confess to your crimes and tell us everything you know.”

The interrogator continued to push him. Soldier Leo had died that night, his essence ripped from Tom’s soul. His sister cleansed him, but did not cure him of the memories. Jade and Miran fully reverted back to their original selves before the Gemini reconditioning. He did not. Now, after being isolated somewhere in space, they now decided to break him.

“My name is Angel of Death, colonel of the Martian Confederation. My serial number is-”

“STOP! Just stop.” The interrogator replied, “We know fully who you are. You are Thomas Epsilon, born October first, After Colony 244. Your parents were John and Mary Epsilon, assassinated by Gemini agents in your birth colony. Before age fifteen, you worked as an illegal off the radar. You came into possession of Gemini technology and were conscripted into Alexander Whitewolf’s Newtype Mobile Suit Corps. From there, you failed to command the Pluto garrison, and then were captured by Gemini Agents during the battle of the Dark Graveyard. From there, you assumed the identity of ‘Soldier Leo’-also known as Adamant-where you committed numerous war crimes under command of Hyas Polydueces and the Zodiac Imperious. Now tell us, what else did you do?”

Tom listened to the interrogator replay his entire life, it seemed so brief. The main points missed the memories he held as a child, like his fist sunset, first kiss, his favorite drink, and the smell of an autumn afternoon on the Earth. These memories were faded, perhaps because of the Gemini tampering. Still, he could not accept that they absorbed the other Zodiacs into their ranks, but he could not accept it. His life as a Zodiac was bloody.

“My name is-.”

“Fine, be that way. We’ll wait. Soldier! Open the door.”

Aishiyurii Komojo watched the agent interrogate the Zodiac. He looked different from the news reports that constantly flashed throughout her brief training. She trained to fight this Gemini war, only to miss out of the major combat. Now she stared at one of the major participants, who seemed not much older than her. The agent scowled at him, storming toward the door.

“SIR!” She replied, unlocking the door. A brief glimpse at Soldier Leo showed him looking defeated. He reminded her of a beaten dog.

“That man will be a challenge. Radio Sat-Command. Let them know I need tools to facilitate a confession. I don’t think he will join the USF.” The agent ordered.

Aishiyurii responded, “Yes, Sir! What about the prisoner?”

“Let him stew in there. If he tries to escape, kill him.”

A door opened, the garrison commander entered. Ensign Komojo saluted, though her superior ignored him. She could not help but listen to their exchange.

“Agent Kaito, how goes the prisoner?” The officer inquired.

The Agent looked at him with contempt hidden behind frustration, “He is obstinate. Nothing but a failure, repeating his old Confederation rank and serial number. I never had this problem with the others. I say we lock him up and throw away the key.”

“Your office has no control over that. The fleet needs his knowledge about secret installations. There’s still the whispers that the Gemini Foundation’s bases are being raided by crime syndicates and insurgents. If the Martians who haven’t signed the treaties get hold of that technology, we could face a new war.”

Aishiyurii pondered on that. Thankfully, the EFF kept the war in space. Gemini protected the planet, though growing separatist groups threatened peace on the planet. She joined the military to protect her home, though now it seemed the prisoner could insure that.

“Well, I need to delve deeper. The virus prohibits some of my more refined techniques, though I don’t mind getting my hands dirty. I have ordered this soldier to get me some tools so I can properly extract the intelligence. Until then, we have to wait.” Agent Kaito responded, seeming to smile when mentioning torture.

“Get to it, then. We’ve had reports of activity on the long range sensors. We’re putting the garrison on hi-” A violent explosion in the cell cut off the commander’s words. Aishiyurii turned to see a long metal tool ripping through the wall. Klaxons sounded throughout the base, echoing throughout the corridors, they were under attack.

“SIR!” Komojo shouted, the hiss of vacuum sucking air from the chamber roaring. Strapped to the chair, Soldier Leo flapped in the wind like a rag doll. Thick foam spurted from the edges of the cylinder, sealing the hole. The commander shouted an order to retrieve the prisoner, though gas filled the chamber. Both the officer and agent shouted for her to enter the room, while doors in the cylinder opened.

A man stepped out with green hair and a gas mask on. He was armed with a large gun, smiling as he looked at Soldier Leo. He pulled out a small torch and began to cut at the prisoner’s restraints.

Ensign Komojo opened the door, which hissed at the low level gas. She heard both the agent and commander exit the room, sealing her to deal with the commando alone. Her pulse increased and she felt lightheaded. The man shouted at her, though she only could feel growing darkness. She hit the floor, not knowing if she would ever awake.

“DAMNIT!” Keljar shouted. The gas vented into the chamber knocked her out, though now she was left in the exposed room. When they left, she’d be sucked into the vacuum to certain death. He did not want that on his conscience. He looked at AoD, limp in the chair. He stowed his torch, and pulled a small vial from his vest. The soldier injected his former ally in the chest with ephedrine, which would hopefully awaken him from his slumber. While he twitched, he did not lift from unconsciousness.

SLAP!

“WAKE UP!” Keljar shouted, firing the foam at the access door. He could hear thumping outside, and more soldiers were incoming. The USF had been careless, keeping such a valuable prisoner in a poor location. Mars had designed extraction ships years ago to perform these exact missions. He noticed AoD stirring, thankfully.

“Eh... what... what is going on?”

“Idiot,” Keljar replied, “You know what this, get your ass in gear, we need to get out of here. Hold this!”

AoD winced while Keljar threw his gun on his lap. The pounding outside increased, while the Martian picked up the fallen USF soldier. She was shockingly light, if even a small girl. “COME ON!”

The trio retreated to the ship, which extracted the cylinder behind them. They heard the decompression-pop while beam blasts impacted against the ship’s beam shields. AoD looked at the soldier, wondering what had happened.

“I rescued you. I can’t believe you didn’t talk. That’s brave of you, though now you’re a fugitive to the new boss. But don’t worry, so am I.” Keljar smiled, though AoD seemed rather apathetic.

“I don’t deserve freedom. I am a bad person...” AoD responded, very down despite the large shot he just received.

“We are activating cloak, prepare for any impact.” A voice sounded over the ship. Keljar passed Tom a breath mask while fastening one over the soldier. The ship they were on could only cloak once the beam shields were off, removing their defense from the garrison’s retribution.

“You were not you. I know everything. We’ve got unfettered access to the USF files. The Confederacy split after Alex bit it. Most decided to play nice with the EFF, despite their slimy moves allying with Gemini in secret. Now it’s our turn to use Gemini technology against them.” Keljar smiled while saying this.

“Eh? What do you mean?”

“They haven’t found all of Gemini’s garrisons. The idiots took out the main library in their assault on Twilight City. Thumbs up their asses. You’re gonna help us find it, got it?”

“Help you find Gemini technology? NO! I can’t use that stuff, it’s cursed. It takes you over...”

Keljar sighed. Whoever Matsuo Kaito was, he did a number on poor AoD. “That was not you. They drugged you, brainwashed you, suppressed your personality. You constantly fought against it, until they found something that worked. Then your sister saved you and all the others, except you didn’t think it was a good thing. Don’t worry, AoD, you’re safe now.”

Tom listened, responding once Keljar said his old name. “Not AoD, just Tom. Tom Epsilon.”

“Oh, good.” Keljar replied, “I thought that moniker was stupid anyway.”

Both smiled, though their celebration was cut short once the soldier stirred.

“Who the hell is that?!” Tom reacted.

“Oh! She’s some dumb USF lackey that walked into the room. I didn’t want to leave her there, I’d rather only kill those trying to kill me.”

Ensign Komojo swum back to consciousness. Her mind echoed male voices, speaking words she could not understand. She could not open her eyes, despite her will to do so. Her skin started to tingle, and she could breathe in normal breaths. The room came back to her memory. She had died. All the girl could think of was this was death. Shadows and shades of reality would entice her soul for eternity. A cold feeling on her forehead broke the morbid thought.

“Wakey wakey, eggs and bacey.” The words followed vision, finally. Before her, the prisoner and green-haired commando. She could only squeak in terror.

“Eh, she’s cute. Too cute to be a soldier, especially a pilot.” The prisoner spoke.

The Commando seemed puzzled, “A pilot? Geez, why would they use a pilot to guard a prisoner?”

“HEY!” Aishiyurii responded, feeling ashamed by his comment, “I was selected because a bacterial infection hit the normal guards. I will never talk under your torture!”

“Torture?” The green-haired soldier blinked, looking at the prisoner. They stared at each other for a moment, before erupting into laughter. Private Komojo felt depreciated from their response. Was she really that useless?

“Listen, Komojo. We don’t need to know what the guard schedules are for that base. You’re only here because I didn’t want you becoming a floating corpsicle. Had I known you were a pilot... maybe I would have left you.” The green-haired commando replied.

Aishiyurii felt reassured, despite his seeming disdain for her rank. “Oh. Why would you steal a war criminal? He’s going to help us secure peace!”

“Secure peace?” The commando’s mood changed, “No, listen. They’re using him to find out all of Gemini’s dirty little secrets. How long can they hold peace with half of the EFF’s former fleet, and most of mobile weapon fleet eliminated? That war destroyed a lot of things, and the USF wants to rebuild.”

“Rebuild!? That’s insane. We’re destroying suits in record numbers, sending them to the sun.”

The commando leaned his head back, “Girl, you know nothing. Trust me, we’ve been hacking their database for the past week. They’re planning new models of mobile suits to keep the peace and their power. They’re doing this by accumulating all the information they can from Gemini and the Martian Confederation. I’ve already personally destroyed two R&D centers on Mars. I’d rather not have an army using combined EFF, Confederation, and Gemini technology. Why else do you think they’re keeping pilots?”

The prisoner broke the exchange, “The interrogator, he questioned me on the bases. He said that Cassel and Caise had already talked.”

“Nah, they only gave them ammunition depots. Neither were given the same knowledge about Gemini you were.” The commando spoke, pulling out a small datapad. He handed it to Soldier Leo, before turning back to her. “They’re collecting the information, especially that man. His name is Matsuo Kaito, a former EFF partisan and overall ghoul. OH! How rude of me, my name is Keljar, and this lovable war criminal is Tom.”

Aishiyurii was not shocked about the agent’s identity. He gave her a bad vibe, especially when he talked about torture. The introduction did shock her. Keljar extended her hand, shaking it gingerly.

“So, what do we do with her?” Tom looked at her, his grey eyes revealed a confused soul.

Keljar smiled, pulling a knife from his vest. “Well... we could kill her.”

“HEY!” Aishiyurii pulled out her sidearm, pointing it Keljar. She would not be butchered by these two criminals.

“Um... you’re missing the clip.” Tom pointed out.

“Relax.” Keljar put the knife back. Aishiyurii could not believe her naivete. “We’re not going to kill you. I saved your life, remember? Well you can go back to serve those evil bastards and whatever their ‘take over the world’ scheme they have planned, or...”

Aishiyurii could not go back if what they spoke about was true. Her family would again be at risk. She did not want to fight for a military state. “Or what?”

“Or you join us. Right, Kel?” Tom looked at Keljar with antipathy on his face.

“Hey, she is cute. She can be like, our mascot. I wonder if we can find some bikinis.”

“Cut that out. Just because I am a girl, does not mean I am useless... EYE CANDY! I scored at the top of the EFF exams, and I was placed in the special forces! I fought against Gemini to stop this from happening, even scoring a kill!”

Keljar stifled a laugh, “Fine, fine. Maybe you are some use, even though the EFF never produced a pilot worth their suit. Even if you’re their best, you’re nothing compared to us. Hell, we have two of the four horsemen in our service!”

“Two?” Tom replied, looking at Keljar. Aishiyurii heard tales at her training camp of the four horsemen of Mars. They were aces who scored many kills during the attack on the Bolt. They lead a Pluto Garrison before Gemini broke up the ranks. She did not know they were horsemen.

“OH! Yeah, Neo’s working for the cause, too. He wanted to be here, but his skills were needed elsewhere. I am hoping to rendevous with him at a Gemini base loaded with secret weapons capable of dissolving mobile suits in one hit.”

“Neo’s alive, thank God. Well I know no locations with weapons like that, though hopefully they haven’t found one spot. Before the... battle, I was being prepped to command an elite squadron of suits into combat. Believe it or not, they’re being held in a former colony.” He turned, looking at Aishiyurii. His face intimidated her, she knew of his past and what he did to many different soldiers in the outer system.

“Hey, I am... cool. I’ll join you, I don’t want the USF to turn into another Gemini.”

“Eh, if you turn against me, then I’ll just kill you. Got it?” Tom responded.

She smiled, nervously. “Don’t worry. I am smarter than that.”

Tom turned back to Keljar, “They’re in colony U29345, which Gemini relocated to the Sargasso. Chances are it’s abandoned, so we’ll face little resistance. Either that, or they blew it up. In which case we may be able to salvage some of the units. Gemini definitely evacuated it before the battle, and the soldiers working on it were killed with Sigon’s charge.”

Keljar grinned from ear to ear. “Then, we’re off to find our armors!”

Aishiyurii slumped against the ship’s bulkhead. She now was a fugitive about to steal Gemini suits to wage a guerilla war against her former employer. She knew this was right, because she felt no shame from her choice, only fear that she might die becoming a hero.

“What’s your name, Komojo?” Tom inquired.

“Aishiyurii Komojo, though most people call me Ai.” She responded.

Keljar smiled. “Ai, eh? Well, I hope you can pilot.”

Chapter 2

Sunlight, a luxury taken for granted. Neo Lee walked through the halls of the preliminary USF capital, observing the sunlight pouring through the large windows. The former Earth First Federation used this building as a Senate, though now the USF used the building to draft a new constitution. A former Martian soldier, Neo Lee would never be welcome in these halls unless he denounced his heritage. He could never deny his honor, but he could play a junior page by the name of Anthony Block.

Several women smiled at him. Neo looked down at his arm; the sleek, grey suit definitely flattered him. Still, he preferred to dress in combat togs. Their protection and symbolism trumped any aesthetic value this suit had.

“Mister Block!” A young secretary dashed after him. She held an envelope in her trembling hands. The girl was probably his age.

“Yes?” He responded.

She smiled, huffing slightly from her sprint. “These documents, you need to bring these to the PSYops division in the west tower, on the seventh floor. Orders from General West.”

“Oh? Why wouldn’t he transmit them?” Neo snuck into this program under an assumed alias to explicitly spy on electronic files within the USF database. He already retrieved thousands of extremely sensitive files detailing the organization’s true purpose. These documents seemed important, though why a general would not email them to another department perplexed him.

“No clue. Maybe he’s afraid of some spying on him?” The secretary stared into Neo’s eyes for a moment, before exploding in water-cooler laughter. Neo grinned, though the light chuckle hid a cold shock. He had no plans to die for espionage. Even if she joked, he could have been detected.

“Thank you,” Neo replied, “I’ll bring them right up. West tower, seventh floor?”

---

The dim lights in the elevator partially bathed the spy in shadow. Not many people used this elevator, since it only went one place. Before the USF commandeered the building, the EFF used this tower for Newtype research. This was Neo’s first time in this building, though he knew the floor plan well. He was ordered to form a team to infiltrate this very structure before the Gemini threat materialized. Now the USF may have changed the department’s name, but it continued the top secret research. Only the seventh floor was accessible to non-agents, an odd way to organize the building.

DING

The doors opened. Neo walked into the red and gold lobby. Plush carpets and antique furniture created an old look to a structure no more than 20 years old. Sweet smells of incense and leather enticed his nose. A lyrical voice called to him from a rosewood desk. “Excuse me, can I help you?”

“Yes, good morning. I am Page Anthony Block, I have a package for Agent... Matsuo Kaito.”

“Oh, one moment.” The secretary pressed a button. Neo looked at a painting on the wall. The colors were brilliant and the shapes very artful. This masterpiece seemed like something worthy of a museum, but instead was restricted to this lobby.

“He will see you, enter the red door over there.”

Neo complied, walking to the doors. Seven of them, each colored differently. He could only think how odd it was to have a rainbow of doors in such an artistic room. He opened the door, which revealed that the room was another elevator. He entered the small lift, which lacked any buttons. The door closed and he descended down. Neo smiled, each color corresponded to a floor, with one leading to a basement.

The elevator door opened, revealing a completely different sight than the one he came from. Dark gunmetal walls framed an obsidian floor. Sterile-white fluorescent lights illuminated the hallway, each wall containing several doors with no handles. A red light in the distance started to blink, indicating that Neo needed to walk there.

When he approached his destination, a man came out. His hair was wild and out of control. His face looked older than he should have been, and his personal hygiene left much to be desired. Neo recoiled for an instant, before realizing the man’s eyes. He looked insane.

“What do you want?” His gravelly voice responded.

“Morning, Agent Kaito. Delivery for you.” Neo raised the package. Kaito looked down at it, eyeing the label.

“General West? What the hell does he want? Fine, just put it on my desk.” Kaito withdrew back into his office, which looked like a confusing mess of equipment and hardware. He placed the file on the desk, cluttered with many other files seemingly unopened. A glint caught his eye, a black satchel filled with chromed picks and blades rested on a chair.

“Now get out.” Kaito responded, turning on an unknown device. If this data was worth the effort, Neo understood he had to somehow break into this mess and find out what this scarecrow ignored. Hopefully, Neo thought, this was something worth the risk.

The stealth ship approached the dark colony cylinder. It hung, alone, isolated in the empty of void of the Sargasso sea. Not many people explored the space between the Asteroid Belt and Jovian orbit. Gemini had many bases installed in this area, including a prison. The colony the ship approached was still unknown to the USF. After Gemini assaulted the Earth’s colonies, they damaged colony U29345. Rather than fixing the ailing structure, Gemini transported the massive construct to this deep place as a prospective training ground.

Tom never thought he would see this place again. A scant few hours ago he sat chained to a chair, about to be tortured by a foul smelling man. Now he was somewhat safe.

“That’s it, still here. No USF ships?” Tom asked the pilot.

“None in the area.”

“Huh, Gemini didn’t blow the place?” Keljar asked him, stupefied by the sight.

Tom could not believe his current situation. The former Zodiac considered killing the other three in the ship, though it would be a tough obstacle. They freed him for a life isolated in some Earth prison, left to rot away from his grief and guilt. He would not kill them if he could help him work to set things right.

“They did not have reason to. Hyas would have never anticipated his death, nor would he ever set up a contingent based upon such. Everything you want is in there.” Tom replied.

“A whole colony uninhabited? How would Gemini secure such a thing?” The former USF soldier clamored from behind Keljar. She stared out the window in awe of the cylinder which grew larger from their approach.

“Some colonies were destroyed during that attack, and many more were damaged. This one was evacuated before the battle. Hyas ordered it moved here so we could train in it. It would help make us more... lethal.” Tom ran his fingers through his hair. A scowl formed on his face, thinking about the horrors he trained for here before setting out to the outer colonies. If Keljar wanted these suits, he would do so without his help.

“Well then, let’s go!” Keljar emphatically proclaimed.

Tom inhaled, replying; “I can’t.”

Keljar turned, fire in his eyes.“What? What do you mean you can’t?”

“This place is an abattoir in training. I have no right to go in there. I have no right to enter those creations. Gemini built them to kill, I can’t have a part in that anymore.”

Keljar grabbed his arms, shaking Tom, “Did you even read what I gave you? The USF will begin their reign of terror soon to consolidate ALL power. We need to do this, otherwise all we fought for in the Gemini Wars... well all Mars fought for in the war will be lost. You can’t abandon me now.”

“Um, we got trouble.” The pilot replied, his silvery hair reflecting a red warning light. Tom and Keljar turned, looking at the screen. A small battleship dropped from hyperspace well behind them. Normal sensors would not have reached so far back, but this ship was designed for stealth and infiltration. It was not designed for combat.

“Shit!” Keljar shouted, “A USF cruiser, former EFF design. Chances are they’re loaded with Leos.”

“Leos?” Tom asked. Gemini used the name for their suits, based off his Zodiac name. Unlike a previous model from several generations before, the Gemini Leos were dangerous combat machines.

“Yes,” Ai responded, “They’ve refit a fair number of Leos from the Moon hangars. Gemini didn’t even launch 50% of their fleet before they lost. The USF changed the designs aesthetically, though many are still apprehensive about using them.”

“Well the models inside are far superior to even the most advanced Leo designed. They were weeks from rollout before the Alliance attacked. Even if they’re using the best Leos, one or two should be able to take them.” Tom commented. He suspected the USF soldier of leaking their location. Gemini often tagged their uniforms with tracking devices.

“How the hell did they find us? We’re in stealth still!” The pilot shouted.

Tom eyed the girl, “Get naked.”

Ai’s eyes widened, turning to him, “WHAT!?”

“It’s your uniform. They’re tracking us through it. Get naked and we can ditch it through the airlock, unless your undies aren’t government issue.”

“I BOUGHT MY UNDERWEAR MYSELF, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I’D RATHER NOT TALK ABOUT IT!” Ai screamed. She was fighting a losing battle, as all three men stared at her.

Tom looked at the screen, noticing the ship closing in. “Trust me, it’s a Gemini trick. They already know we’re here, and you don’t want them getting this colony. Ditch the uniform, don’t you have extras in this thing, Kel?”

Keljar grinned, pondering the half-naked girl wandering about the cockpit. Tom’s question broke his concentration. He looked at the spacesuit lockers. “We only have spacesuits.”

“You guys suck. Privacy?” Ai responded, looking for a secluded place to change.

“Just hurry it up, we’ve see half-naked women before. If you don’t hurry, then the USF soldiers might see you with much more. They don’t like traitors.” Tom responded, grabbing a suit.

Ai grimaced. She removed her uniform, and placed it in the gang-tube. Tom passed her the uniform which she quickly jumped into. Keljar depressed the airlock, launching the suit into space. The pilot commented they had some extra time.

Keljar returned to the co-pilot chair, flipping switches and turning on scanners. “Then, we go to the colony before they do. I hope you remember the way.”

“Captain Ferra, the ship stopped moving!” The ensign called out from the pit. Captain Antonio Ferra watched the dead colony before them, out of place in this near-empty void. The rebels had found this place, most likely a Gemini outpost. He would receive a high commendation for recovering the prisoner and whoever busted him out.

Ferra looked as the scanner-readout displayed on his own display. The USF command issued all units fitted with tracking devices. The captain questioned the purpose of such a thing, but now realized how important it could be.

The Ensign called out with concern, “Wait... they discarded the uniform. We have it up on the magnifier.”

“Hmm, they’re smart, but not smart enough. Have the suits began to deploy the anti-stealth chaff. Bring the ship to the colony so we can dock. Prepare our marines, this place could be a Martian stronghold. ETA to our reinforcements?” Ferra asked his deck officer.

“Less than two hours, sir. They’re departing from the Martian command.”

“Martian command? That means the Vanguard is coming.” Ferra distrusted Phrixus Kushrenada. While his own father served under Trieze Khushrenada during the Eve Wars, this new Kushrenada did not fight for honor. He assembled his own Gemini force, and simply aligned with the winners.

“Yes, sir. Bryan Draco is accompanying two ships with the Aaxylon II, equipped with a full force of mobile suits.”

“Hurry up, then. We don’t want them claiming credit for our work.”

The small Martian ship locked with the colony at a small hangar. The USF ship moved into the main hangar, though their time there would be difficult. Gemini disabled that area so they could use it for a target range. Tom detailed what was what, and where they needed to go. Ai looked on with disbelief, unable to comprehend her situation. She joined the army to explore things and protect her home, yet now reality confronted her. The universe was larger than anything she could think of, and their current isolation at the dead colony forced dread into her mind.

“We’ve docked. Should I stay with the ship, or accompany you to take a ship?” The white-haired pilot inquired.

“Stay behind, us three can handle it.” Keljar ordered. He turned to Ai, “If you’re serious about stopping the hegemony, fine. But if I sense you’re a traitor at all... I’ll kill you.”

“She’s serious.” Tom interjected. He rubbed his temples, something Ai felt was odd.

Keljar grinned, picking up his big gun. “Newtype stuff? Fine, let’s go.”

The trio walked down the gang-tube, into the airlock. All three wore space suits, which looked evil. They were crimson and black, surrounded by flowing cloth and hiding every inch of skin. Ai felt grateful for their coverage, though wondered why they dressed like super-villains. Keljar’s use of the word ‘Newtype’ perplexed her.

“Newtype?” She asked.

“Yeah, you may know them as Psychics. The new types of humanity. It’s more of an outer system phrase.” Tom responded.

“You’re one of them?” Ai inquired.

Tom opened the main door, opening the them to the dead colony. Before them, dim lights barely illuminated a grim sight. Skeletons of buildings contrasted against dark mountains. Swirls of gas and air mottled the atmosphere. Tom turned to Ai, and responded, “Yup, so are you.”

“They’ve docked in the main hangar, but haven’t be able to access the systems. I’m guessing it will take them a while to open things up there.” The pilot broadcast to the trio. Keljar noticed a small transport train, mainly used to transport raw materials to the auxiliary port. He waved the two over there, while Ai still looked around in awe.

Tom broke the silence as Keljar warmed up the train. “We’re gonna need to move to the industrial block. Gemini had a factory there, and that’s where the units are stored.”

“Right, OH! Here.” Keljar removed his backpack, and pulled out a pair of silver handguns. They looked old, though seemed to be well maintained. The commando handed them to Tom, who seemed a bit apprehensive.

“Where did you find these?” Tom responded.

“They found your Gundam on the Moon, the Martians did. Hyas had it dry docked, and a friend secured these for me. Sorry buddy, but they scrapped it soon after.”

“That’s fine,” Tom took both from Keljar, “I never liked it anyways. These have more history.”

“Right,” Keljar responded.

The trio approached the factory. A silent megalith, the imposing structure was out of place in the colonial environment. Several small mockups of Alliance mecha remained, damaged from test fire maneuvers. Ai stared at them with disbelief, how could no one have known that this existed seemed impossible. This hidden city eluded the army until now.

“Jeez, this reminds me of my training.” Ai recounted, “This officer I liked, Tim, trained us. How he got through the physical training, I have no idea. Anyways, we had to fight our way into a facility to ‘steal’ our mobile suits, which were EFF ones. Anyways, I nearly died from a fatal hit.”

Tom and Keljar turned to Ai, their emotions masked by their imperial guard uniforms. Keljar spoke out in reaction to her story, “Why the hell would you say that?”

“I dunno, just trying to make conversation.” Ai sheepishly replied.

“Heads up, you guys. They’ve entered the colony, using some Leos. They’re not near you yet, but they will be.” The stealth-ship pilot transmitted, breaking the awkward moment.

“We’re here anyways, got any explosives?” Tom nudged Keljar. Keljar turned, motioning a thumbs up to his partner in crime. Ai looked on with worry, wondering if she would make it out of this with these two leading her.

Tom approached the massive hangar doors. His hands pushed blocks of white explosives onto the door where the hinges met the door. He slowly thread in the detonators before rejoining his comrades. “See, they lock up tight when they aren’t home, and no power means no lock. However, we have a universal key.”

BOOM!

Metal whipped through the air, and the doors collapsed.

“Yeah, except this key just gave us away. Let’s hope they have gas in em, otherwise I don’t think we have enough to destroy all these suits.” Keljar quipped.

The trio entered the storage hangar adjacent to the factory. Inside the structure, a brilliant line of black suits stood. Emergency lights faintly glowed in the darkness. They were a beautiful sight.

“So, let’s hope they work.” Tom pulled a rod from his thigh pocket, to which Tom did the same. Ai fumbled through, realizing that the device was a magnetic-grappling line. Her partners picked their suits. She decided on hers, hitting the armor with the hook. The tether reeled her up to the cockpit.

Tom sent out a message while entering his cockpit. “Code is 1234, Gemini were real creative. OS is standard for the most part, you two should just disable the psycommu protocols and switch to manual.”

Ai followed Tom’s orders. The cockpit opened, revealing a nice setup. These suits definitely looked better than the EFF models she trained in. She rested into the chair. When the OS turned on, she disabled the psycommu option from the suit. Her chair hummed to life, adjusting to her weight and posture. Before her, the outside world materialized through the 360-degree view-screen. The suit armed itself and illuminated where the unfriendly USF Leos walked in the distance.

“Unit 14, online. You guys seeing them?” Tom reported, his picture popping up on the display.

“Roger,” Ai responded, “They’re on our level it looks like. Should we worry?”

“Nah. What we have to worry about are weapons. The suits have fixed vulcans and beam sabers, though if the Leos are packing we’d be out-gunned.” Tom responded.

“Where are the big-honkin’-space weapons? You told me these things would have weapons beyond belief!” Keljar manically replied to Tom’s orders.

“I never said that, I never wanted to get in these things. The weapons should be somewhere. Look around, we have state-of-the-art sensor suites. They have to be around here somewhere.” Tom replied.

“You don’t know where the weapons are?” Ai yelped, realizing they were in trouble.

“Hey, whenever I used these, they were already armed. I’ve only been to this place once before.” Tom responded. Each suit glowed red as the USF mobile suits closed onto their position. Ai worried that they were sitting ducks.

“Got them. You guys worry too much. It’s not like we’re going to die or anything. Well... never mind.” Tom’s pushed open a massive locker, revealing a rack of mobile suit-sized weaponry.

“Now we’re talking. Are those luscious beam rifles? Or a sweet new Gemini particle weapon that can punch through beam-shields?” Keljar spoke, wishing his dreams would come true.

“They’re bullet weapons?” Ai responded, noticing the ammo boxes.

Tom’s head shook, though he were laughing. “Yup. Old school. Gemini foresaw that the Alliance would graduate to I-fields in their suits, so they designed these rifles. High-velocity bullets capped with gundanium piercing heads, and a special acid inside each one that would literally burn the armor away. I think they’ll do the trick against some Leos, am I right?”

Chapter 3

Neo ran across the rooftop while the sun set upon Brussels. His black suit held many surprises inside, though it mostly concealed himself from any errant observers. The spy had a brief amount of time to move before the rooftop cameras would turn back on. His virus only would buy him moments before the system would adjust. The moments were precious, but the spy had trained hard and under the best conditions.

Once the spy approached the door, he used a small torch to burn off the door handle. Thankfully the EFF never installed proper security on this building, perhaps because it was built shortly before the Gemini war. The USF installed many different security features, but thankfully this rooftop access door never reached the contractor’s gaze. Now he looked down at the elevator’s service shaft, his target.

Neo pulled out a long rope and tossed it down the shaft. His gloved hands gripped onto the rope while he repelled down to the target floor. The spy moved slowly. Unlike the security system on the roof, the protocols in the shaft were based on an older and more exploitable system. This bought Neo more time to get in and get out.

Once on the floor, the spy opened the doors. He could see Kaito’s office in front of him. The doors were shut, something not capable of deterring him. He walked calmly to the office. The door opened easy after a quick swipe of a cloned security card. A mess confronted him, like the spy observed earlier. Geniuses often lived in less than organized settings, but the rotting smell of week-old food and less than sanitary smell coming from the bathroom made him wonder about Kaito’s hygiene.

“Sickening. How could the USF work with such a slob?” Neo spoke, though in a very soft voice. He approached the desk where he left the intelligence earlier. The file was there buried under a pile of candy wrappers. He pulled the file out and thumbed through the intelligence papers. They were studies about some mineral that Gemini was interested in, including hacked reports recovered from the Gemini databases recovered in the Kuiper Belt. Neo quickly passed the papers through an optical scanner. After scanning the intelligence, he placed his equipment back into his satchel before returning the file onto Kaito’s desk. He did not know if the agent would ever notice if the files were misplaced.

“Oh, sweetie, did you break into the wrong office.” Neo never heard the door behind him open, but he did hear Kaito’s words. The spy turned around to see Kaito standing before him, armed with a long saber. The agent pointed the blade at Neo’s heart. “Let me guess, you’re a renegade Gemini agent seeking revenge? Take off the mask.”

Neo remained still. He had no way of knowing if Kaito was proficient enough in sword-play to keep up with him. Neo himself was well trained in many forms of combat. Kaito did seem to have a sword handy, though. “Sorry, I am the cleaning crew. This place is a mess. Didn’t your mother ever teach you to clean things up?”

“Cute,” Kaito responded, “I’ll be sure they clean your blood up after I find out who you’re working for. Did you find that report interesting?”

“Nah, I like the comics section myself. My favorite is the one with the tiger.” Neo took one step back. He gingerly moved his thumb to the space under his pinky finger. The glove had a special sensor which would activate a small gas vial in his belt. A quick rub turned on the device, spewing a small cloud of nerve gas which would paralyze the target for a minute or two.

Kaito dropped the sword after inhaling a small amount of gas. He scrambled to the alarm, though Neo had already anticipated such a move. He made sure the alarms on this floor would be disabled due to an electronic’s test, something which blacked out the security systems that concealed his entrance. Kaito scrambled to regain himself while the gas dissipated. The spy grabbed a computer server and threw it toward the agent. Thankfully, Kaito ducked as expected. Neo ran forward and jumped over the evasive agent, stopping after hitting the corridor wall.

“Sonuvabitch!” Kaito raised to his feet, drawing the sword once again. “GET BACK HERE AND FIGHT ME!”

Neo took off for the elevator shaft. He had no interests in engaging the agent. The quicker he could leave, the better. Rule number one when in unfriendly territory and when you are compromised, get out with the intelligence. Kaito wanted a fight, then he could fight the mess inside the office. The rope was his salvation, and he jumped inside the shaft.

The spy looked up and began to climb. Just a few stories, and he would be on the rooftop. The roof meant freedom. He would not have to be on this planet any longer.

“WHERE YOU GOING?!” Kaito called out. Neo looked down, and noticed the agent was standing on an ascending elevator car.

“Aw...” The spy muttered, before moving faster up the rope. His muscles began to burn as he tried to outrun the elevator. Kaito stared up at him, sword in hand. Only a few feet away, he would never make the exit level. Neo looked at the sword, and noticed how Kaito held it. “Amateur.”

Neo pulled out the small knife from his breast-pocket, and cut the line. He landed near Kaito onto the car, and the agent did not react. Neo now had confirmed that the agent was only a novice when it came to swords.

Characters

• Thomas Epsilon II
• Keljar Moatis
• Aishiyurii Komojo
• Neo Lee
• Matsuo Kaito
• Antonio Ferra

Related Topics

Twilight Privateers