The Speech (and other happenings)

[Enoch]

Because of the escalating war, a peace conference on Luna had been called for all major parties to join. Diplomats of the Nocturne Alliance and New Selene government were called and only the latter had shown up yet. Because not everyone was here, people other than the Shinter consulate were kept in a separate room. It was customary to have food and drinks during such occasions, and there were ample amounts on the center table. Space colonists knew better than anyone what its like to travel in the black endless sea, so they were known to be hospitable, even during wartime.

Yamato Ishida, head of the Kunstliches Herz, entered through the back door. He and his loyal band had been invited. It was well known that they were a major factor in the war, but since they had no diplomatic importance, just there presence in the back of the room was fine enough.

The Shinter consulate was called ahead of time to organize the meeting, and they had already taken their seats in their designated area. All they had to do was wait for the Nocturne Diplomats to arrive. The Chairman of the Shinter consulate headed for the stand, probably to stress the importance of this meeting and to give an introductory speech to his fellow members.

"All stand, this consulate is now in session." The chairman spoke in a mic. This was one of the rare occasions where all counsel members were in one room. Most conversations were done wirelessly over the net. But the recent turn of events made this meeting in person 0necessary.

The chairman sighed and dropped the stack of papers down onto the pedestal. "Our first topic is the assault on Alameda. As of now we are denying any responsibility for the incident with the Gwazine battlecruisers. It was officially a rogue group. We are all comrades here, and are appointed for life. Now I think it will be in everyone’s best interest to know who authorized this attack." The chairman stopped wiping his glasses for the hundredth time and looked at everyone, expecting an answer. None was given.

"...Ok..." The Chairman was pissed. "To have factions within the government at this late hour would be a bad idea gentlemen. Let's not get to that." Murmurs were heard in the crowd, it had been a well-known rumor that there were splinter groups hiding in the shadows.

Sensing his cue, a man from the back of the room walked forward, heading down the center pathway. His black and dark-gray coat flowing just enough to show that he was carrying his swords.

The chairman was surprised. "Haulpschalter! You are not a member of the consulate. What are you doing here? Your responsibility is on the prototypes!"

"I just thought I should update everyone on the progress of the Daluma project and…of Excelsior." Haulpschalter said as he walked up the small set of stairs to the stage.

"What? That project and its materials were left to rot. We stopped funding it years ago. And Excelsior is not in the agenda for this meeting!"

Although outside communication was forbidden during the meetings, several people were sending messages with mobile devices. They apparently had not been briefed on any of this. Sound recorders were also used covertly.

"Indeed it has been years, and my, have they grown. They will be most useful in the upcoming events."

"We were to discuss peace negotiations! This war has lost its purpose. The stalemate has gone on too long. We can settle this with diplo..."

"Diplomacy is dead. This is war. If you had not been incompetent with the Slades, then the tides would have been turned during the first tests."

"Don’t you see that some things are not worth the price for achieving them? What you’re proposing to do is madness!"

"I did not anticipate that you would see it my way Mr. Chairman."

"What?!"

Haulpschalter snapped his fingers. Even in this large room, it was quiet enough to be heard through all of the silence. The doors opened, and the bloody mess of the diplomats spilled into the room. The gunmen entered, tracking the dirty mess further in, and aiming their guns at the Consulate members. They were completely surrounded. The identities of the soldiers were hidden behind gas masks. They hadn’t worn any pads, or armor, and the plain, baggy, dark blue uniforms didn’t hold any sign or insignia either.

"A cu de ta? No... Haulpsch..."

A katana plunged straight into the man’s chest, when Haulpschalter pulled it out a pulsing stream of blood spewed from the wound. Without any dying words the Chairman hit the ground, screams and yells were heard from the consulate. Anyone who moved was shot by automatic gunfire and Sarin gas was pumped into the room. Certain loyal members took out gas masks and put them on, much to the dismay of the others.

Haulpschalter put the katana back into the sheath without cleaning the blood off, and the clotted blood scrapped down into the metal, adding on another layer of crimson red. The members of the consulate were all dead in seconds, and the room was filled with bloodstains mixed with internal juices that were expelled during their nervous system breakdowns.

[Enoch]

From a distance a warehouse crumbled to the ground as a Gundam MKII stood up, the roof collapsing around him. The easily recognizable symbol of the Nocturne Alliance was painted on their shoulders. Other MK II Gundams came out of buildings and neighboring warehouses. They raised their beam rifles and fired at the Conference building, disintegrating it to atoms. The four Gundams spread out over the city block, each taking its own section. People screamed and ran away, and the Gundams started to fire at other things randomly, hitting anything that moved. People, houses, cars, and transport shuttles were destroyed. During the carnage, everyone had the same question: why? Why is the Nocturne Alliance attacking us?

The lead suit shot at the conference building’s base, and something in the basement ignited. The explosion blew the rest of the building into the sky. All evidence of the previous massacre was burned and buried under rubble. The warehouse’s wall collapsed some more when a Gundam pulled out a Rakaten bazooka. It raised the giant gun over its head, straight at the level above them. The resulting blast blew the Gundam back, and the round punched threw the upper level. A building above lost its foundation and fell through the ceiling. It crumbled into boulders and the pieces fell onto the city block below, causing more damage.

There were no other mobile suits in the area, since this had been a neutral city for as long as anyone can remember. The city’s militia used missile trucks to defend themselves, but to no avail. They just didn’t have the firepower needed. The Gundams used their Vulcan guns to destroy them, since anything bigger would have been a waste of ammo. Men with rocket launchers tried to take out their ankles, but the Gundanium was too strong. The enemy mobile suits had the complete and overwhelming advantage. Suddenly, a Shinter transport ship broke through the smoke, and started to fire down on the Gundams. The beam cannons took out the MKII's with ease, they had nowhere to run in the crowded city. The roads were small and crammed full or cars. One Gundam fell down and didn’t get up. The beam melted a hole straight into its reactor, and the miniature I-field inside imploded. The pull it had on the fusion reaction dampened out, and the explosion blew apart the city block along with neighboring ones. The other Gundams had started to fire back at the transport, but they were outgunned. The beam rifles only managed to take out one turret. After half a minute, three were disabled, and the fourth was destroyed. The devastating attack was over.

The cities militia brought troops over to the wreckage, but the Shinter troops that were brought down took control of the Embassy building. The fire and rescue squads were held up at the main gate by the Shinter forces. The chief of the squad came up to the gate with a worried and angry look.

“What the hell are you doing? We need to get in there! There still may be people inside that building! Can’t you see that it’s burning down!”<br>
The Shinter officer didn’t budge. “We can handle our own problems ourselves. With this attack by the Nocturne forces, I doubt your city will stay neutral any longer. So if you don’t want any more trouble, then I suggest you worry about your own problems. Got it?”<br>
“Yeah…Common men, lets leave these assholes to themselves.” The city’s rescue squads left in their hovertrucks. Other APC’s rode off in the distance. The basic box-like armored van has been standard militia issue for years.

“Do you think we will join the Shinter’s side in this war now?” the driver asked the chief.

“I don’t know, Bill. What I DO know is we won’t be holding those Earthnoid bastards in this city anymore.”<br>






"You called...?" Ezekiel entered the room. It was pitch black with no light but from the door.

"You failed to defeat the test subject."

"He was far better than I predicted. I guess this makes your plans better than you hoped for. Unless you expected me to win."

"The Konzern predicted a draw, and that's exactly what it was. It entered the atmosphere before you could take it out. Your prototype machine isn't equipped with the Free Positron Pulse system. The Ace models performed better."

Ezekiel hid his enraged thoughts with a straight face. 'That’s what you think bastard', he thought to himself. "I could have used the Antimatter cannon, but I didn't think you would be very 'Happy'. Especially if I nuked your guinea pig."

"Your orders were to destroy it. Next time I expect that you carry them out to the letter. The project has no room for errors, and you can't afford one either. You will receive your new orders later."

Miharu, she had been his new doll since Silas left... "That was that the same one from Camp Drei wasn't it? But how? Even I barely survived that! He was vaporized! You may have made a better model but the pilot was the same, I know it."

A long silence awaited. Ezekiel noticed that Haulpschalter wasn't going to answer.

The shadow in the back didn’t move. "You WILL destroy him the next time. That is all."

Ezekiel left for the door, but when he opened it, he spoke to his commander without turning to look at him. "The Daimyo isn't aware of your plans."

"The failure of the battlecruisers is further proof of their incompetence. They are no longer capable of prolonging the war. And at this point any battle we lose would severely cripple Shinter. The front lines have become stale. In every war, when this happens, the newest technology was always the trump card. To maintain our hold on the Alliance, we need a weapon of overwhelming power."

[Enoch]

'You bastard. He's gonna unleash the Excelsior project.' He thought to himself. "...At the cost of humanity?"

"Human value has no place in a war. You know of this yourself. It was you who rained ash over the city of prosperity, was it not?"

Without answering Ezekiel left the room.







Minutes later he entered the control center, where Miharu was sitting, drinking coffee and monitoring the MS test pilot's medical records. She threw them down when he entered.

"Ezekiel, Enoch hasn't been found yet."

"Give me a cig." Ezekiel was one of the rare smokers in the business. No one else in the mechanics business was able to smoke next to the mobile suits. Since Ezekiel was also a pilot, he could do most anything. His position just made him more privileged. ‘Silas and I were really into these’, Ezekiel thought. It had been a while since they had a smoke together. That was their usual way of hanging out.

Miharu handed Ezekiel a cig. He sat down next to her on a comfy office chair.

"Don't worry. Silas was on his tail. If only master was still here. It's been a while hasn't it? When was the last time he called in?"

"Before the Seven Cities disaster."

Ezekiel was not in the earth sphere at the time, but the MA he was piloting was close enough that after a few minutes, the molten plasma and light were visible even at the distance of Venus.

'Disaster, heh. It had been an astounding victory.' he thought. "So we have no idea where he is..."

"Ezekiel, he's dead! He went down to seven cities before the crash!"

"What? Why?"

"He went over to the Granada branch to check something out. Afterwards he radioed in about escaping down to that city. I wasn’t as good as him with the satellites, but I saw him go down into the ocean off the coast. Ships were nearby. He was probably captured in the ships, an-an-and those ships were disintegrated by the blast!"

"Snap out of it Miharu!" Ezekiel yelled, and the room fell silent as the other workers glanced at them.

Ezekiel lowered his voice back down. "Look, Enoch was sent down there as well. He was down after the blast and he went up to New Selene. He wouldn’t have done that if Silas hadn’t told him to. Enoch didn’t know jack about what was happening there."

"You mean the incident in that hangar, the one that burned the base down, Silas was involved?"

"Among others. The Nocturne and Selene were against each other for once. Herz was involved as well. I brought Enoch back, but Silas was in the ship. Heh. Don’t worry, they may in knee deep in shit right now, But Silas can get out of it."

Miharu was still jittery. "So how are they in Alameda?"

"No reports came in yet as to whether the base is still functioning. The computer-controlled systems are still active, but we don’t know if the shock waves killed the people inside or not. Several mobile suits have been spotted outside though, so Osiris must be on the assault. I may be called soon, after Anubis is repaired. My boss wants to test things. Oh, this is out of subject, but how are the medical reports going?"

"Yours are fine. You weren’t able to kill Enoch, and the reports say it was due to stress of the mind."

"You know I wasn’t going to kill him."

"Try to prove that with this evidence" Miharu handed him the pages.

"Yeah, as if I understand this stuff."

"It’s reporting that you weren’t able to kill him because you were unconsciously holding back."

"Bullshit!"

"Yeah, and here are Enoch's" Miharu handed him the other set of papers.

"Everything is normal physically, but mentally we can’t tell how he is doing. Brainwaves are irregular, but he's still a better Newtype than you."

[Enoch]

"This is after I picked him up right?"

"Yeah"

"Hmmm…well, I think I’ll go see what Granada has to offer. Unlike Silas, I wont get caught. Most of the way I can just walk in, but that would be too easy."

Ezekiel walked out of the room with Miharu watching, she didn’t want him to go, but knew she couldn't stop him.

Ezekiel turned around to face her. "You know he's making his move soon. Excelsior is about to be unleashed.” He lowered his head and leaned against the doorframe. “…And I'm probably gonna have to lead it…"

He walked over to his room, where he suited up his light Kevlar vest over his piloting suit, and put on his Mk23 handgun. He screwed on the suppressor and put it to its lowest setting. He wouldn’t be shooting at anyone in a distance, so he needed the maximum noise reduction. A mini tool kit and a portable plasma torch were kept in a separate bag. Ezekiel remembered the time when he gave Silas one of these classic guns. It had been before he left for N3 reactor test facility on Venus. Silas had hated guns, but kept it as a gift from a friend. ‘I wonder if he still has it.’ Ezekiel thought.

Just then his phone rang. He picked it up.

"Ezekiel, Enoch successfully came back up. He's docked at the rose. The Hyperion Kai is damaged slightly, but Enoch is fine."

"I’m going there now. Granada can wait. Oh, what about Silas?"

Miharu sighed, "...Not there."

"Understood. Ezekiel out."

Ezekiel closed the phone when he realized that he had just said 'out' in a phone conversation to a civilian. He hadn't gotten used to civilian life yet. Maybe he had been in Camp Drei too long.

Ezekiel left the room and jumped into a transport ship. After a few minutes of letting passengers in, the ship set off for Granada.







"I guess it's time..." Miharu said to her friend sitting a few chairs down.

"Hey, good luck."

"Yeah..."

Miharu entered the dark room. Although she had been assigned to this since Silas left, she had not gotten used to its dark persona that engulfed all who entered it.

"What news of the puppets..."

"Camp 2 is ready. We have retrieved the test subject and we are currently testing it for any abnormalities. None have been reported yet. The Informant had apparently stayed at the target's location."

"And the model?"

"The damages accurately reflect the descriptions depicted in the Prototype's Battle report. Replacement parts are being attached now. We have finished reconstructing a replica of the previous model."

"Deploy it. Send them a message. Pull a Daluma. Create a linkup."

"Yes sir."

"Another..."

"Sir?"

"Get the Konzern ready for MASS and send in the substitute models as well."

"Yes sir."

[Enoch]

Miharu left the room and the door shut. Everything was coming to a close. This was the proverbial beginning of the end. She decided to contact Ezekiel.







'BEEP-BEEP' His phone rang. Ezekiel picked it up. "Yeah"

"Ezekiel, the boss is gonna start his work! We don’t have time. We need to find Silas before the others do!"

"I Understand. Ill get down in the drop zone ASAP. Whether Anubis is repaired or not." Ezekiel left for Vaun Braun. The MA was stored there in a neutral base following the agreements of the NEW MOON treaty. Other forces have bases and embassies there too. The moon was too important as a median from the colonies and earth to constantly fight over it. But it wasn't without its troubles. The New Selene base attack and the assaulted peace conference proved that the place was unstable and was only getting worse over time.

The transit systems were better now than they have ever been in the past. Like the Cyprus gateway on earth, the moon had its own high-speed transit between major cities. It only took 4 minutes to return to Vaun Braun, but security was strangely tighter than usual. He went down the hallway for his MA, but there were guards standing next to it. They were armed to the teeth with weaponry. He couldn’t risk walking up to them, and a firefight wouldn't be a good idea either.

Ezekiel got to a lower walkway just underneath the main one that led to the cockpit. These were made of metal and had pipes and wires underneath for Power, water, oil, fuel, etc. He jumped up and grabbed the pipe above him from the upper walkway. He then climbed up behind the guards. They were a mere 3 feet away, but they were trained to remain in their posts, and didn’t turn around. They kept looking forward like statues, waiting for someone to come at them.

Suddenly the MA's cockpit closed. The guards were alerted to the sound and started to shoot, but the door closed in time. The engines activated immediately since the engine was nuclear. The 4 reactors gave it ample power. The systems check gave an all-green status, so it must have repaired completely. They had a few weeks, after all.

Anubis broke out of its constraints and flew off, smashing straight through the hangar and spewing out the oxygen of the room. The oxygen separated into its pure state in the vacuum of space and burned behind the rockets of the Mobile Armor.







Unbeknownst to people outside, Core 3 was cut off from all communication. This was the headquarters of the Shinter Government, and it was now dead in the water. Without knowing of the consulate’s demise, Sentries of the former government posted themselves within the colony in strategic locations. They had complete control. The citizens were not aware of the danger they were in.

“What do YOU of all people want with me?” Was the first thing that came out of the General’s mouth. He was in charge of defending the Core, and maintaining its efficiency.

“The list.” A dark figure on the monitor spoke back.

“What list?”<br>
“I’m rather busy so Ill be frank. Maybe it’s the best way for you to understand. Play idiot all you want, but I’ll get it one way or the other. You seem to forget that I am in control here. It isn’t that hard of a concept to grasp. You are now powerless, and unless you cooperate, you will be eliminated and everyone who knows you will be killed in front of your eyes, one at a time. This is just standard protocol, General.”<br>
The General frowned, he had been in hostage situations before, on both sides of the spectrum, but never had his own family been included. “Okay, I’ll give you the list. Just what are you going to do with them?”<br>
“Your job now is to collect the ‘non-mentioned’ and locate them in sectors D through H. Their fate is in your hands, General. Don’t compromise your role.”<br>
He had not gotten his answer, but a harsh command instead. He had no choice but to comply. Although he was only a pawn, now that the people would be relocated into the emergency sections everything was becoming clear. Although it was immoral, it seemed necessary. Not for Haulpschalter’s ideals, but for the survival of his people. That was motive enough for him to act.

“This kind of thing takes time. Especially since I don’t really have a reason to tell the people. It will be done in 6 hours.”<br>
“You have 3.”<br>
“Understood.” The monitor shut off. The general left the room in a hurry.

[Enoch]

Ezekiel had gotten a few clicks from the embassy when he got a call.

"Ezekiel! Haulpschalter started his speech! It’s being broadcasted from a telecommunications station on the moon. I’m patching it through..."

'...Spacenoids have long been under the control of those pathetic naturals down on their wasted planet. They know nothing of our troubles and needs, and only seek to fill their bottomless pockets with the resources we worked so hard to create. History has shown how the naturals repeatedly harassed us spacenoids for their own gain. One does not have to look far to see proof of this infamy; the peace conference on Luna and the city of Vaun Braun was attacked by Nocturne Alliance mobile suits. How long must we tolerate their arrogance?! These hostile acts against our nation cannot and will not be tolerated! We must not continue to stand by and let their oppression and tyranny cripple us! Now is the time to take them down to their knees once and for all!'

"Wow, that’s bad! I’m going to the drop point. If anything is to happen. It will be there..."

"Ok. Ill keep the feed through. It looks like he paused his speech. Wait that’s..."

"Miharu, I have a better idea...Enoch is here."

"What? No! Get out of there now Ezekiel!"

Before the link went dead Miharu heard a loud explosion that faded into static. She turned her attention over to the TV.

Haulpschalter raised his hand over the new Mobile armor behind him and then tightened it into a fist. 'Behold! The new machine armor; Zankoku.'

'The previous Slade system has already proven its worth in numerous battles against the Earth Forces. This newer model has been further upgraded from the original, thus increasing our dominance. This is the key to our conquest!'

The Mobile Armor's eyes lit up and it rose to its feet. The public was now aware of its true height. It was far bigger than any mobile suit, but had the image of one. The giant shoulders barely fit in the hangar.

'We shall regain the land that our ancestors have bled and toiled over to create and maintain what is rightfully ours! No longer will Naturals control our fate with their ignorance! We will liberate the colonies from the domineering hands of the Nocturne alliance, and be free once and for all!'

The mobile armor stood up. Haulpschalter walked back into the shadows, and an outward camera showed the Mobile Armor leaving the hangar. It used Minovsky drive engines, and it accelerated through space faster than anyone could have predicted for a mobile armor of that size.







It was now night in Core 3. Despite the evacuation of people to locations unknown, all was peaceful. No one was sleeping, the traffic was loud, people were scared, and the ones led away were rushed into military vehicles with little or no supplies. It was quiet after midnight. Although the populations of some blocks were cut in half, there was no rioting, no misconduct, nothing. It was dead quiet.

Not many people noticed, but power to the Core was cut. Lights went out everywhere, and a few screams in the distance echoed down the empty alleyways. People rushed outside to see that it was pitch black. Since the Core was lit with artificial lighting, it was impossible to navigate anywhere. There were no stars, no moon, nothing. Several battery powered lights activated, and people rushed like moths over to them. No one understood what was going on. Most of the space colony was in a state of mass panic.

A loud hissing was heard throughout the core. It seemed to be coming from the walls. People stared at each other in fright. There was nothing anyone could do. A man was heaving hard, almost hyperventilating. Suddenly he clutched his throat, no longer able to obtain oxygen. His eyes pulled back, he started to drool, and blood started to ooze from pores in his skin. His neuromuscular spasms dropped him to the ground. People were now sprawling on the streets, poisoned by the toxic chemicals that were dumped in the air. It had only taken twenty minutes.

The colony was now a floating grave, masking itself from view with the pale moon, a silent reminder of man’s greatest sin.







The commander watched the monitors carefully. 'This was one hell of a day' He thought.

[Enoch]

The captured Senate members; the failed hostage exchange; the assault on Alameda from the Osiris, the Kunstliches Herz, and from the unidentified battlecruisers; the lack of communication from the peace conference up at Vaun Braun; the speech that was broadcasted by the unidentified commander and his new mobile armor: all of these events couldn’t be happening right after each other by coincidence. He had a gut feeling that something larger was in store.

Suddenly the sensors picked up a small object headed towards the base from above. It was using its heat shield to cruise through the atmosphere without melting. The alarm sounded throughout the command center. The red lights were on all day, and nobody has noticed them turn off, but they were back on again.

"Aim the anti-aircraft cannons at it!"

"We can’t! They were taken out by the Shinter forces. Most of the operational ones are too weak for that range!"

"Aim all we got! Get a camera on it! We need to know what the target is."

A camera zoomed in to show a Gundam falling with its shield in front. It had a standard beam rifle and was white, gray, or some other light color. The plasma obscured it too much to see any insignia.

"...Its the Hyperion..." Silas whispered. He coughed up a little blood. His wounds hadn’t completely healed yet.

"What?" Gabe asked.

"Anaheim must have fixed it up when he left. Look, it has its shield back. It wouldn’t have been able to get into the earth without that.” Silas struggled to talk. He was animated more now that he saw Enoch had survived.

The Hyperion landed outside the base without incident. Enoch got out when the outside cooled down, and the camera zoomed in to show him in a new normal suit, it not only looked better than the original, but it lacked all of the external couplings and wires as well. It was still the basic dark gray color of the Anaheim test pilot suit that he wore earlier.

"Let him in, open a personnel door,” the commander ordered.

Silas turned to the commander. "What about his mobile suit? Where did he get this older version? What happened to his new one?”

"Leave it there. We are not going to open any more doors." The commander said.

“He...” Gabe started to talk. Everyone turned to listen. He was sitting against a wall, barely awake.

“This can’t be. After…on Venus...how?”

“What are you talking about?” The commander asked. No one understood.

“A long time ago a Helium isotope collection agency put out a bounty. I was bored, so I went for it. That’s when I met up with Enoch for the second time. We were the only ones who got into it, since the pay was small. We went into a facility on the surface of Venus, and our mission was to collect data. I didn’t question why but it was obvious: they wanted important data from a rival organization. Heh…everything went rather well, until we left. A mobile armor flew out of the clouds and attacked us. I fired, and the EMP took out my Gundam. After it came back online Enoch was gone. There was no trace of either suit but…particles…everywhere. Something exploded. I went back, presuming he was dead. It was a while till I saw him again. He had a new Gundam, much improved from his first one.”<br>
“That was the Hyperion Kai.” Silas whispered.

“Yup…and this was his old…”

After about ten minutes Enoch entered the command center and met the others. Gabe immediately sensed a multitude of newtypes in the area. This had happened before, only now it was much stronger.

The alarm sounded and the red lights went back up.

“Multiple heat sources falling through the atmosphere. Some have a controlled decent, others are adjusting course, they’re mobile suits! There are too many! We cant shoot them all down!” The radar operator yelled out.

The main monitor showed bright lights in the night sky, the suits were long-limbed, and had no feet.

“Slades…” Gabe said disgustingly.

While everyone was watching the screens, Silas noticed Enoch was different. The scar on the left side of his face was missing. He had that scar ever since he came back up from that failed test run.

“Wait a…it can’t…your…” Silas was having trouble staying awake from the blood loss.

“Enoch didn’t answer. He didn’t even take his eyes off of Gabe. Suddenly he pulled out a KG-9 assault pistol from the holster and aimed it directly at Gabe’s head.

Time began to slowly decelerate as Gabe could see the trigger slowly start to pull back…<br>

[Leo Cana]

Leo was down on one knee next to Gabe with a first aid kit open. Though he was already taken care of Leo made it his job to treat any of Gabe's wounds should he recive anymore. The base was in shambles and the survivng work crews were scrambling to make emergency repairs to the vital systems Alameda needed to survive another assualt. If another invasion happened at this point the battle lines could be drawn here at the command center.


If Leo's ears could twitch they'd be doing so once Enoch arrived. He glanced at the man once but said nothing more. Something wasn't quite right about the man though, his thoughts kept drifting back to him as he watched Gabe. He'd only seen Enoch a few times so the lack of a scar didn't throw him off. He only knew the man's voice and knew he was a damn good pilot. Still there was a strange hum in the air, almost an aura of wrongness about him as he stood their while everyone else scrambled for battle stations. Then Silas spoke.


“Wait a…it can’t…your…”



"Huh?" was Leo's responce. His face was confused then surprised when Enoch drew and aimed a KG-9 assualt pistol at Gabe's head. Leo bolted for Enoch, postioning himself for a tackle. The trigger pulled just as Leo's shoulder met with Enoch's stomach, pushing all the air out of him as he went to the floor. The pistol went off, firing harmlessly into the air. Leo tried to pin Enoch down but was surprised when he slapped him across the face with the pistol. Leo fell over holding his face and hoping his jaw wasn't broken. by now though the fight had been noticed and armed soilders had surrounded Enoch with weapons drawn. "Don't move!" one of the yelled.

[Gabriel Fox]

Gabriel stood, shocked, needless to say dumbfounded by the whole situation. Angrily he lifted his M4 and pointed it directly at Enoch's head.

"You fuck, what the hell were you thinking? I knew there was something fishy about this whole situation; I could sense it the moment you walked in here!"

Enoch did not answer back. His blank stare into gabes eyes made him uneasy. He didnt show one hint of fear or concern for his own safety.

Enoch pulled up his assault pistol at gabe, when one of the soldiers fired at his right arm. The gun flew out of his hand and unto the floor. Enoch showed no sign of pain, his right arm limp at his side. He didnt even seem human.

Enoch got up to attack, but Gabe hit him upside the head with the M4's stock, knocking Enoch out.

"Clap him in irons, and throw him over there in that corner. Keep a close watch on him; if he moves even the slightest increment, kill him."

Gabe shook his head as the guards dragged Enoch away to a far corner of the room.

"Bring all Divisions back behind the defensive perimeter. Prepare a defensive strike! I want each and every Midnight Faction soldier armed and ready ASAP. Be prepared to evacuate to Helene if the situation calls for it."

He paused a moment, thinking of his own Gundam.

"And someone ready my Archangel; I will need her for the trials ahead. Be prepared, gentlemen, for our situation has just gotten a whole lot worse."#nosmileys#nosmileys

[Leo Cana]

Leo stood slowly and watched as Enoch was dragged away, he rubbed his jaw where a good sized bruise was forming. "Damnit that hurt......Gabe you ok?" He turned to his friend still barking out orders and went to him should he need any help. "Things are looking pretty bad.....are we going to have to leave the base?"

Leo looked concerned which was a surprise even for him, usually he'd concern himself with the battle and nothing more. Perhaps it was because now it was his time of need, Selene wanted him dead and he had nowhere else to go. The NA was his home now though he wasn't offically a member and Gabe was like his brother. His only family, and he didn't want to leave any of it behind.

After a few moments of thought he cought the arm of a tech that was passing by with an armload or spare gundam parts. "Outside in a corner is a large white and blue Gundam with wings. That's mine, I want the armor repaired and replace the chain gun with the strongest beam rifle you have. Even a buster rifle will do, got it?" The tech nodded and Leo let him go, all he could do now was wait.

[Gabriel Fox]

Gabriel glanced around at each person doing their assigned duties inside of the Command Center, taking to mind the situation at hand. He was angered and disgusted by the sight of the Slades as they landed on the ground, armed and ready to attack.

"This 'Haulpschalter' has lost his mind. Using these sickening mecha to achieve his agenda is just an abomination of humanity. I will never forget that day on Selene-it will never be purged from my mind."

Leo nodded in concordance, for he remembered the destruction of their homeland just as easily.

Gabriel felt a pair of female arms wrap softly around his body and embrace him tightly. He instantly identified the woman as Aimee, from the scent of her perfume and her one of a kind touch.

"You're awake...a lot has happened while you were sleeping."

Aimee moved from behind him to in front of him, and after he set his M4 on the floor he enveloped her in his arms as she laid her head upon his shoulder.

"Wha...What's happened?"

"A man by the name of Haulpschalter has declared war on all Naturals, and has mentioned something of a new Machine that he is going to unleash."

Aimee lifted her head and stared closely into her lover's eyes with an expression of both worry and concern, as well as fear.

"Oh my God, Gabe, I'm a Natural...that means..."

Gabriel interrupted, "No one will harm you, Aimee. Not the Shinter, not the Slades, not even Haulpschalter himself will lay a finger upon you. I will do anything and everything to protect you."

Tears began to stream down Aimee's face, as Gabriel leaned his head down and kissed her passionately on her lips. After this he placed her head upon his shoulder once again, and began to whisper into her ear...

"Because I don't know what I would do if I lost you. You are the key to my soul and my existence, the very reason I live today."

He closed his eyes as he held her tight and close, as if the second he let her go would be their last moment together.

"Sir, all remaining Divisions are fortified; every entrance is covered. Intel reports that the Slades are closing in quickly; ETA at five to ten minutes, depending on what we can throw at them."

Gabriel opened his eyes.

"How about our evac window?"

"If the mecha get past our defenses, only another half hour at most. According to our accrued battle data, they will seek out any warm body and attempt to annihilate it. Any suggestions on a COA, Commander?"

"Create a battle line and give 'em as much hell as we can, and if they push us back beyond the defensive perimeter, then and only then is the opportune time to evac."

"Understood."

The radio man relayed the necessary orders to the troops, and went back to his terminal to aim all remaining Anti-Aircraft systems.

All they could do now is wait. Wait for the time to evacuate, or wait for the time to claim a victory.

[Enoch]

(silas)

the doctor patched up Silas and 'recomended' that he not pilot anything for a while. His T-35 Gunner would have to just sit there.

Everyone prepared for the upcomming attack, but silas was still shocked at the fact that this 'Enoch' tried to kill a comrade. Silas was convinced it wasnt him.

Silas walked down the hall where they dragged Enoch's limp body. The blood trail showed where he went, but it was hard to follow because of the pools of it allready covering the floor. It led to a room manned by 2 guards.

"Let me in." Silas whispered

"No sir, Your not even a Nocturne alliance soldier , and we need permission from commander Fox to open this door."

"Listen, he's knocked out and chained down, so it shoudlnt be a problem. I know him better than anyone, just let me see him."

"You've got Five minutes, got it?"

"Yeah." Silas said. 'That's all i need.'

The door opened and the lights came on. The switch was outside, and there was no doorknob or latch to even open the door from the inside. If he had been tricked, then he was screwed.

Enoch layed on what looked like an operating table, but with metal latches holding him down. 'Was he really knocked out?' Silas cautiously walked towards him.

The blood on Enoch's head didnt clot yet, even though it had been atleast 5 minutes, and the blunt end of the Assault rifle Gabe used barely broke the skin. The blood ran down the side of his head and had allready started to seperate into its multiple liquids.

Silas put his hand in his shirt pocket, as the door to the room cracked open slightly.

"Times up." One of the guards said. They didnt enter the room as a precaution.

"He's dead..." Silas whispered to himself as he walked out of the opened doorway, leaving the dead body behind. A small Glitter outlined the knife standing vertical just before the door closed.

[Ishima]

His transmitter cackled into life. Gabe's voice came through:Ishima get down here now. The Black Shadow's stealth will be useful.


He received the transmission. He knew what had to be done .He threw done the weapon he had been testing. It took him about 3 minutes to get to the hanger."Powering up thrusters, prepare to launch, and GO !!!

His mobile suit flew down the hangar and activated its stealth mode.

The enemy was somewhere in the main complex, and they were gathering outside. Ishima would not let them escape.

[Gabriel Fox]

"Sir, we've just finished running the battle situation through our simulators; statistics show that our chances of survival greatly decrease as the Slades converge on us. Corrections in calculations of the ETA show that we will only have another five minutes if they keep coming at their present velocity."

"Shit..."

Gabriel knew that there would be only one solution to this problem; total evacuation. The Slades were much more powerful than the MF's aged Mk IIs, with the advantage of about a 5 to 1 kill ratio, thus meaning a slaughter if the remaining exhausted MF soldiers attempted a defensive strike.

He hesitated to give the order, becoming angry at the fact that he would have to sacrifice yet another homeland to the Slade abominations.

"This is Commander Fox to all Midnight Faction soldiers. Evacuate to the Cyprus Gateway Transport deck. Take all essential gear only; we will have to travel light this time."

The lieutenants in command below Gabriel passed along the order to those who did not hear it. Within a matter of minutes everyone had made it inside.

"Commander, all forces are inside."

"Good. Seal all the entrances and exits. Men, I know this was not in our original plan, but if we do not evac right now, the Slades will come in and kill us all. Leave no man behind."

Gabriel knew that the decision to leave would be a tough one, but one that he had to make. He looked to the Commandant and to the other MF soldiers in the Command Deck, and nodded to signal that it was time to leave. He moved over to the mainframe terminal, and disconnected and removed the Alameda mainframe information storage disk. He placed it inside of its transport container, and gave it to the Commandant. At the same time he activated the self destruct system, set to go off in fifteen minutes.

"Sir, the Slades have been distracted; they're attacking the Osiris rebels still on the battlefield. If they stay occupied, this gives us another five minutes to evac. Ten minutes total now, Commander."

"Good, now lets go!"

[Enoch]

The osiris MKII's ran down the foggy, ash covered grassland. They were allready out of propellant from the last battle they were in. The Nocturne alliance MKII's at the front lines were just as powerful and the pilots just as skilled.

Schwartz looked down at his radar screen, only a few dots appeared on it. They had lost the battle, the element of surprise was taken away by bad planning, and the unexpected arrival of the Shinter and Kunstliches Herz.

Now there group was retreating, another painfull memory reminding them of the unforgiving nature of war. They had to run, to be able to fight another day.

The radar no longer showed enemy forces behind them. the MKII's retreated deeper into the base. 'They're more damaged than i thought.' Schwartz thought.

The radar blipped, and the lights in the cockpit turned red. The beeping became ever faster as 10 missiles flew directly at him.

He blocked with his shield, but the fire covered everything so he couldnt see, and the explosion shook him around.

Schwartz was disoriented, and when he looked at his main monitor, it no longer functioned on the right side. He was knocked to the ground, and his teammates were shooting at something in front of him.

The Zssa stood up and the camoflauge fell off. It took a hit to the body by vulcan bullets and shot off a few missles before igniting its booster attachment. The small Mobiel armor flew towards the group of beat down Gundam MKII"s and smashed into one, breaking it to peices. It took another blast at the leg, but since it was hovering that didnt matter. The Zssa quickly flew out of range over a hill top and was gone.

The Osiris forces stopped running, and began to help anyone who was still alive. Schwartz got out of his mobile suit to see if buddies were allright inside the downed Mobile suits. Just as he reached the ground, he heard the beeping on his radar.

That signal was clear, and was the one he never wanted to hear. It confirmed an unidentified Mobile suit.
Schwartz saw lights above them in the night sky.

Large laser beams rained from the heavens and blew holes into his troops. The explosions were bright, they whited out and blinded Schwart'z eyes.

When he got into his cockpit he got a call from Paragon.

"Schwartz! These are Shinter slades! We cant take them on in this condition! We MUST run!"

"To where? We're in the middle of a field, and they're faster tan us!"

Schwartz tried to make his Gundam stand back up, it got it left elbow underneath its body. A slade flew down and landed its sword straight into the cockpit section of the Gudnam, killing the pilot instandly. The Gundam lay motionless, with its gun arm lifted into the sky.

"Ive managed to kill you bastards before, and ill do it again!" Paragon yelled into his comlink. The computer controled slades gave no reply.

The Slade in front of paragon flew towards him but straifed to the side just before he fired his last beam rifle shot. He pulled out both beam sabers and lounged at it with his left, but the slade blocked it with its right arm sword.

'The slade is using his sword to block, so he cant attack, his right side is open!' Paragon thought this through a million times, how to defeat these damn mobile dolls and had terrorized his life when he was a part of the Nocturne Alliance. He Had managed to kill off a few by luck, and by being creative, the one thing that computers lacked.

"I go you now!" He lounged his right beam saber towards the slades right lower torso, where it was undefended.

The slade yawed to its right, and dodged the attack by a few feet. It wasnt on the ground, due to its advanced minovsky craft system. The mobile doll did a backflip kick into the gundams head, and sliced the left hand at the same time, ruining the left beam saber.

"Aagh!" Paragon yelled as his head sensors fell offline, and he was now using his chest sensor, which gave far less of a panoramic view.

'Damn! That allways worked.' He thought. Somehow the Slades were faster at responding, faster at learning. That move was sure to kill any slade, but now they had learned to counter it somehow. These werent normal slades anymore.

The slade backed off and fired its beam cannons on automatic.

It had low power, but was good enough to puncture gundanium. Similiar to the VSBR, the slades arm cannon was able to decrease or increase power and attribute it to firerate.

The machine cannon blew holes into the Gundam until it hit the main reactor, exploding it into peices, and burning the tall grass in the field.

The slades stopped, the targets in this section were all destroyed. They're atack pattern was to take out any hostile targets and force there way into the base. Step one was comeplete.