After the Storm, - Open to all UESA -

[Azkaiel]

As the trio of GN-T drive equipped machines slowly treaded their way through the debris strewn field, their E-sensors eventually picked up the IFF signal of the AEF's newest warship, the Aeon. Upon their approach, Commander Lincoln Osis was disturbed at the condition of the vessel. The large ship appeared to have been engaged in battle, and it appeared that the vessel had barely made it out, given the visible gaps in the armor plating. Hailing the warship, the AEF pilot was given clear instructions on return procedures to the ship. Reducing the output of their GN drives, the 3 machine cautiously maneuvered their way back into the large hangar in the belly of the ship.

Entering the airlock, the 3 machines waited for the process to cycle, before the inner bay doors opened, revealing the busy hanger. Hovering above the solid metallic floor, each GN-T machine cautiously made its ways to its pre-assigned hangar bay, careful to avoid the hangar personnel. While the pristine GN-XIIIs were able to dock in their bays easily, the Arche experienced a considerable amount of difficulty in doing so, due to the loss of its lower right leg. Carefully reducing the particle output of the downward thrust, Lincoln landed the Arche. It was only until that the magnetic clamps had been applied, that the Extended totally cut off power to the GN thruster cone.

Unsealing the torso cockpit hatch, Lincoln climbed out of the Alliance manufactured Gundam, while a mechanical crane extracted the Arche's GN drive for recharging. Making his way down to the ground floor of the hangar, Lincoln was glad to be out of Gundam's cockpit. Frankly he wasn't all too pleased with his performance in the maiden battle with the Arche. But as its was, he was also relieved to be alive, after surviving the battle with the monstrous Yggdrasil Swanhild unit. Recalling the encounter with the utmost of clarity, the AEF veteran was very sure that he could not have survived the battle without the aid of the Celestial Being Gundam.

But the one thing that bugged the AEF member the most, was how did a terrorist group like Yggdrasil Swanhild develop the technology for their own unique machines in such a short while. The terrorist suit he had fought possessed an astounding amount of potent remote controlled melee weapons. And needless to say, the enemy used them to great effect in he recent fight. Given the sheer number of blades the terrorist suit possessed, it was able to pressure both units with ease. In recollection, Lincoln firmly believed that had the enemy machine gone all out with its weaponry, there was no possible way he could have survived, had not the Celestial Being Gundam been there to split the fire.

Ironically, while his machine had been damaged, the Celestial Being Gundam had gotten away relatively unharmed, by virtue of its superior GN technology. The AEF pilot was quite sure that the Gundam had left the scene of the explosion as quickly as it appeared. Right now, his prerogative was repair and rearm as quickly as possible. Given the failure of Yggdrasil Swanhild's recent plan, Lincoln Osis could hazard a guess that the terrorist group would not take this lying down. He was somehow confident that their next plan would be more dastardly than ever.

[Azkaiel]

Upon reaching the solid metallic surface of the hangar bay floor, Lincoln was most surprised to see a familiar figure approaching him. Personally, he wondered what had merited such a visit, unless that person was bearing bad news. Major Boothroyd, more familiarly and affectionately known as Q, paused and stopped before the Extended. “Ah there, you are , Commander Lincoln. I see the Arche has performed tolerably well, inspite of the opposition.”, the genile old man congratulated. Lincoln could only nod in response, to the old man's congratulations.

“In any case, I've come bearing good news. While this vessel is in transit back to the UESA Lunar base, we'll handle a series of technical upgrades on your Arche...” My Arche...at least the Major's appearance has nothing to do with a unit reassignment. And here I thought otherwise...silly me “But yes, I believe the Arche can be improved slightly further, as we've made a programming breakthrough, with regards to the GN Fangs.” Q continued. “I'm sure you will be pleased with this, and other transformations that are to take place on the Gundam.”, he assured the the pilot. “Now if you'll excuse me, I think its best we get started...We have much to do and little time for them.” the officer said, before he strode off to organize the upgrades.

Left alone once again, the Extended pilot continued his way to the pilot ready room, fully intent of getting out of his form fitting pilot suit and refreshing himself. Entering the luxuriously equipped facility with artificially induced gravity, Lincoln picked up one of the many available white terrycloth towels, before heading to his assigned personal locker. Breaking the seal on the suit, Lincoln stripped down to the waist, revealing a muscled upper body, while slinging the towel around his neck. Pausing briefly to enter his own access code to unlock the locker, the Extended continued to disrobe, ultimately ending up in a pair of skin tight activewear shorts. Tossing his pilot suit back into the locker, he made a note to send it for cleaning, before ducking into the showers.

Having taking the liberty of refreshing himself in the showers, Lincoln felt that a meal was definitely in order. For some obscure reason which escaped him, he was practically ravenous after each combat sortie. It was as if each sortie was somehow causing him to expend additional bodily resources, thus creating this hunger of his. Fortunately this hunger could be easily dealt with on board the Aeon. Among its many onboard amenities was a excellent kitchen that dispensed a multitude of gastronomical delights to the ship's crew. One thing that the AEF never stinted on, it was the care of their own personnel.

Looking at his limited wardrobe, the Extended chose to dress simply in a simple white form fitting singlet, desert camo pants and heavy tanker boots. The outfit, while simple, allowed the pilot to display his physical condition, without being blatant about it. Now suitably attired, Lincoln tidied up and left the pilot ready room, intent of satiating his hunger. Fortunately, the clever engineering minds who designed this vessel had the foresight to place the chow hall within a reasonable distance. Craning his neck to peer into the dining facility, the man was pleased to note that the place was not crowded at this point in time.

[Azkaiel]

Striding into the mess hall, Lincoln was much relieved at the lack of any recognition. His initial reaction on being assigned the Arche was initially one of shock and embarrassment. For one thing, the Extended was quite unsure on why he was the lucky one to be the pilot of the Alliance's one and only Gundam. Granted it was not a true Gundam, by Celestial Being standards, the Arche was still very much a potent unique production machine. And this new batch of proposed upgrades, supervised by the Major himself, would definitely increase its potency even more.

Consulting the menu displayed overhead on a flat screen monitor, Lincoln ran through the list carefully, keeping in mind his hunger. His objective was simple, and that was to limit the number of food items that was needed to appease his growling stomach. Feeling a hankering for some meat, he immediately zoomed in on the mixed grill, with its hearty complement of assorted meats. Supplementing that dish of meats, was a large portion of potato wedges and a large glass of ice cold water. As the ice chinked about in its glassy confine, Lincoln scanned the room, looking for a cosy table to sit down at.

Given that it was apparently a off peak hour, Lincoln had plenty of seats to choose from. Settling down, he deposited his tray of food on the surface of the table, before wandering off to get a publication to browse. It was one of the many personal quirks that Extended possessed. He always liked to have something to read, while consuming something, and typically, it was the daily papers, if not some piece of fiction. It always took his mind off what he was eating, while entertaining his mind.

Fortunately the Aeon's dining facilities carried a variety of publications. However, due to the nature of the vessel being away from a UESA port on a regular basis, its publications were forced to be more of a electronic nature, as it was difficult to have the daily papers delivered. Instead, these publications were converted to their electronic equivalents and sent to the Aeon, where the content was stored on a server and accessed by the many E-book readers about the ship. Grabbing one of the fully charged large screen readers off its charging bay, Lincoln selected the daily papers for browsing, whilst returning to his seat. Setting the device down infront of the plate, Lincoln browsed the papers, while consuming his meat platter, careful to avoid staining the device.

There was really nothing all that remarkable happening globally. Pretty much, there were many articles about events happening within the UESA. But there was nothing that really attracted Lincoln's attention. He had a feeling that when news of Yggdrasil Swanhild's recent attacks broke out, there was bound to be at least a couple of pages dedicated to that. No doubt, this will bolster the morale of the populace and the resolve of the military to defeat them utterly, but there was also the chance it might embolden and goad Yggdrasil Swanhild into more shocking acts of violence. If that were the case, no doubt the AEF would have to bear the brunt of that attack.

[Legacy26]

”Debris have been eliminated, enemy is retreating.” Ensign Sorth stated as the Aeon herself prepared to withdraw from the area. ”Three targets on radar, its Commander Osis’s team” Lieutenant Hamilton stated, who then proceeded to hand control over to Second Lieutenant Vandenberg, who then guided the trio of mobile suits, also damaged from battle, into the Aeon’s cavernous central hangar.

Kade made a mental not to talk with the pilot of the UESA’s own Gundam, the Arche, Lincoln Osis, also known as the Crimson Lightning. Kade also remembered the new pilot, Private Hiroyuki, who had been damaged in battle with one of the enemy’s escorts. The recent events were troubling the young captain, who sat on his chair, wondering, contemplating the recent turn of events. The words of fellow AEF operative, Lieutenant Castagnier, still rang through his head.

No, the pilot was no longer a member of the AEF, he was traitor who had worked against the peacefully established truce with Celestial Being. He had acted against the commands and orders of a superior officer, worse yet, engaged one of the Gundams in combat when they were under the truce. They had the audio recordings, but the truth that their task was to destroy Celestial Being? That was nowhere to be found on any of the mission statements that Kade had received.

Rina was probably on edge as much as Kade was, things were not looking up anymore, even if they had been only a little while ago, they were definitely not looking up now. At least this time the Aeon had her mobile suit squadrons as defense if anything happened, as well as the two main cannons. However just in case, the ship was on high alert, crews were still at their action stations, ready to deploy into battle or to assist with the repairs when ordered.

Even the vessel’s SA teams, the AEF variant of a marine, was on high alert, they were also ready whenever something came up. ”The last of our units are on board.” Amy told Kade. ”Very well, set course for Stellar Night City. I want to be there fast.” Kade told Lieutenant marks, then quickly turned towards Amy, ”Alert them that we will be needing heavy repairs, make sure they know what we need and be ready.” the captain made his orders clear right now.

[Legacy26]

There were also things he would need to talk with General Redfield about, if it was possible to meet him in person. Right now, things were as mess as is, from reports of the other combat teams, pilots of the newest limited production UESA suits had defected, possibly to the side of Yggdrasil Swanhild or to their own faction. However one thing could be confirmed, they were not working with the UESA anymore, and reason, as it appeared, would not be an option.

”Amy, send a message directed to General Redfield, inform him of the defection of the pilots. “ were Kade’s orders. All the while the Aeon powered onwards through the dark expanse of space, leaving the battlefield and destroyed debris quickly behind. They directed the newest, and now heavily damaged AEF vessel back to the base with the best repair facilities for the damage, Stellar Night City. It would be the second time in very recent history that the Aeon would be reaching that dock.

The base would or at least should have the parts and equipment needed to repair the Aeon, at least given their supply listings on the database. If they didn’t then the Aeon would simply have to travel to the L5 Cluster Colony base to get the final portion of the repairs. On all accounts, the Aeon was a fast and capable ship, she had taken quite a beating recently and still had come out in one piece, ready to strike back against her enemies.

Crews were already scurrying around the vessel, doing patchwork repairs to keep the vessel in fighting condition and ready for combat as soon as it came up. Kade then, after seeing that everything was ok, gave the command for the bridge crew to wrap up and turn control over to the secondary bridge crew, who had now come up to the upper levels of the Aeon to take control over, after all, it was the end of the main bridge crew’s shift.

Now the main bridge crew of about fifteen people, went down and off the bridge to have their meals, while it was off the main meal time, meaning that it wouldn’t be around a hundred crew members consuming lunch, it would be probably twenty plus the bridge crew of 15. Give or take a couple depending on what people were doing when the bridge crew got down to the ship’s cafeteria. At least it wouldn’t be full for the Aeon’s bridge crew.

[Legacy26]

However before Kade left the bridge, he grabbed a couple pieces of paper, things that would need to be filled out anyways. He didn’t want to do much, simply to prepare the documents if his meal wasn’t going to be very eventful. Thanks to the zero gravity environment, Kade was able to have the objects float next to him as he traveled along down to the ship’s cafeteria. Only after he got to the level, and see a couple things did he realize that they had gotten gravity working.

Kade deftly collected the items around him in his left arm, scooping them up switftly, his arms and gathering them up in a neat stack. In his other arm, Kade playfully grabbed Rina before dragging her off to the cafeteria, to get there before the others, who by now, where much closer to getting their meals. However most everyone was not used to having the artificial gravity systems on, as the Techs never bothered to get it working, they hadn’t been enough time.

After entering, Kade spotted Lincoln Osis, someone he would need to talk to, and Rina as well, so instead of grabbing a place to sit, Kade and Rina together grabbed their food, which thanks to the newly acquired artificial gravity was much better, as well as being easier to prepare, was no longer the prepared food that people had grown so used to in space. Instead it was whole freshly prepared from the ship’s stores, the little fresh food the Aeon was able to carry up from earth.

Each with two filled trays of food, Kade with his papers, and Rina with one of the news readers, walked over, the Crimson Lightning as he was called. ”So mind if two have lunch with you?” Noting his reply, the two officers sat down infront of Lincoln. The readers were a piece of Plexiglas, in the middle of the piece of Plexiglas was the actual LCD screen and the electronic components. The Plexiglas protected the screen from any food, and made them easy to stack and store.

”So I take it you’re Lincoln Osis?” Kade asked, remembering the man’s face from files as well as from the meeting back in January. Anything Lincoln could give about their new foes would be very helpful, knowing the enemy was half the battle, defeating them was the other half. And if they shared information, things would be easier. He was Kade’s senior, having been in the AEF much longer, he probably had many lessons for the young captain.

[Azkaiel]

Having been fully engrossed in his meat platter and reader article, the Extended was only vaguely aware of the two persons standing before his table, with trays of food in hand. One of them had probably said something to him if he minded the two of them joining him for the midday meal. Continuing to be fully absorbed by the article, Lincoln absentmindedly wiggled his stainless knife in response, as if to indicate that he didn't mind the sudden intrusion. Taking seats in front of him, Lincoln still did not take notice of either persons, instead continuing to read from the reader. It was only until that he heard his name being mentioned, at the edges on his awareness, did he look up, with a questioning look in his face, and knife in his right hand.

It was only there and then, that he discerned and identified the two individuals before him. Evidently, it appeared that the Aeon's Captain and Executive Officer had descended from the bridge, and having found him here, decided to join the AEF pilot at his table. Covering his surprise at the discovery, Lincoln positively identified himself to the two most senior officers. “Hmm, might one possibly enquire why the Aeon's two most senior officers are here ?”, he asked, interest dripping from every inflection. It was definitely most intriguing to find out the purpose of this unusual visit.

“Actually, I've got questions of my own. Since we're here, we might as well have a little information exchange. I assume we can all be discreet about this ? Anyway, something is very fishy with Yggdrasil Swanhild. How the devil did they even develop their GN technology that rapidly. For a group thats only appeared just recently, they're packing a surprising amount of sophisticated hardware. Their basic mass production mobile weapons appear to be quite well equipped. Frankly I'm not sure even if our Aheads can match them, unit for unit.” Lincoln rambled.

“Also their leader machines are much more formidable than any of us could have expected. The one I dealt with appears to have no ranged weaponry of any sort. But it does a massive amount of remotely operated swords, with which to use. And I can personally attest to their effectiveness in combat. I daresay that unit will give whoever its facing quite a bit of trouble, with all those remote blades. I only hope that there's only one of those monsters. I don't think we can deal with more than one of these” the pilot continued.

“Anyway...what the devil happened to the Aeon,” Lincoln asked quietly in a hushed tone. “This vessel was perfectly fine when I launched from earlier. Did this ship come under attack while I was away ?”, he asked concernedly. “I trust we will be able to return to the lunar base for repairs ? The ship does appear to be rather heavily damaged...”, the pilot observed. It seemed to the Extended that the AEF forces did not fare all that favorably in this recent battle.

[Kazuki Hiroyuki]

After his loss in the battle against the Yggdrasil Swanhild, Kazuki drifted in space for a while. From his cockpit, he could see the explosion of the debris that was suppose to be on a head-on collision with Earth. From this battle...he didn't learn about the murderers of his parents. What he did learn though....is that the Yggdrasil Swanhild is evil. As only a mere soldier in all of this, he's only somewhat a powerless spectator. He already knew...that he was no match for the enemy, yet he fought.

Waiting for some moments, finally Kazuki watched as a rescue team headed towards him. Gently, they picked up the debris of his mobile suit, and went towards the mother ship. Looks like fate had some other plans for him. after all, it would be a waste for people with great potential to die here. But, in the end, it was his own doing that saved him. If he hadn't tried to dodge, he wouldnt be here, alive. Good thing those training in the academy paid off

Finally arriving in the hangar, Kazuki waited as his allies got cutting equipment to get him out. Slowly, he could see lines forming up on his cockpit door. Finally, those lines formed a square and then the square is picked up by the rescue team. With this, he saw a hand came in, as if beckoning him to take it. And then, he took the hand and got pulled out of the cockpit. Because of his time in the cockpit, Kazuki was blinded by the bright light outside, as the cockpit was dark.

Once outside, Kazuki was rushed towards the medical bay for a medical check-up. He didn't really felt anything wrong with his body though, yet he went along with it. As he was rushed, he saw how technicians began to quickly repair his mobile suit. It was impossible for normal technicians to repair it, as this mobile suit is uniquely made, not a mass-produced one like a GN-XIII. And thus, it can only be repaired when he arrives back to Stellar Night City

After a grueling hour in the medical bay, the doctors decided that Kazuki should take a rest, but otherwise, he was fine. With this, he is discharged. Finally free, Kazuki decided that it was time to eat. To be at top shape for any battle or assignments, he must ensure that he isnt on an empty stomach. Promptly, he went towards the cafeteria to get some food. Surprisingly, he get to see the captain directly. What is even more surprising is that how a UESA Gundam Pilot is also with him. After getting his food, a choice of sandwiches, he thought that he should get to know his superiors. So, he then went to sit alongside them, while saying, "Sir, what's up". Unknown to them, he heard a bit about their conversation, even though not all.

[Legacy26]

”Well, the two of us are here since we heard another AEF member was present. We’d also like to talk a bit..” Kade answered to the eating pilot. ”It also came to light that the three senior officers aboard the vessel should at least meet each other before something else happened.” Rina added. ”Not that something big has already happened..” Kade joked about the condition of his vessel, though it did perform admirably against a greater foe.

The two listened on as Lincoln began to talk about what he had been through, and things were beginning to raise some eyebrows. He was right, the UESA had some of the world’s best scientists working GN technology, under the highest security, and open only to those with the maximum security clearance. Lincoln was also correct on the fact that their Aheads could not match the opposing Yggdrasil Swanhild machines.

Their mass production units were much too fast, they were also better armed than a regular Ahead, they had high tech weaponry like the cannon mounted on the chest, which was quite deadly, thankfully the pilot who allowed that to be showed, Private Hiroyuki survived his encounter with one of those machines to talk about it. Then Lincoln talked about his own encounter, about the opposing leader machines and their formidable weaponry.

When asked about his own ship’s status, Kade had a couple of answers and questions. ”Well we did come under attack, a formation of 3 at first, one of those leader units. You remember the GN field on the gundams? This guy had one just like their artillery unit.” Kade whispered to Lincoln, ”We were assisted by one of Celestial Being’s gundams, which barley was able to match our opponent.” He said, before returning to normal conversation.

”We had been doing fine, what got us was another unit. It has some sort of cloak that even our sensors couldn’t pick up, fires like a sniper. Then it closed in and caused all sorts of havoc on the deck. While the damage looks heavy, the enemy machine only targeted our deck mounted weapons, the damage mostly is visual. We should be able to return to the lunar base in a couple more hours.” Kade answered the pilot.

[Legacy26]

Rina spoke up, ”There’s an issue of great concern, AEF pilots Shirley Beatty, Emilio Castagnier, and Angela Rhambling have appeared to have defected from the UESA. In Castagnier’s words, We had deviated from our original task to destroy Celestial Being and it was now “our” objective to defeat the dangerous faction.” Rina paused. ”That wasn’t anywhere near our original orders, was it?” she asked. After all, they were now in a truce with Celestial Being, to destroy the Swanhild terrorist group.

Then Private Hiroyuki showed up, apparently the doctors had released him from the infirmary. His mobile suit had been caught up in combat with one of the apparent mass production mobile suits, and had been heavily damaged. It was a good thing he had survived; Kade didn’t want to write any more letters than he already had. The parts for Hiroyuki’s repairs weren’t available on the Aeon, they would have to wait till they were back at the Lunar Base.

They would have to inform command of the recent occurrences with the AEF pilots, they still held clearance to classified documents and the UESA mainframe. They had access to all UESA and AEF troop movements, as well as operational information, if their privileges were not revoked. However that could not be done aboard the Aeon, it would have to wait till the vessel was back at dock in Stellar Night City, some security measure that had been put in place.

Turning to the recently appeared private, Kade was slightly surprised by his greeting as was Rina, but didn’t say anything about it. ”Private, I see they released you from the infirmary and I see you’re in one piece. How was your first taste of combat?” Kade asked, ”And you do know all occurred in this operation is under level 3 classification, nothing you saw or fought will be talked about to those without this level of clearance.” He made sure the pilot understood.

”Your machine will be repaired when we return to Stellar Night City’s base, remind the technicians to load some of the spare parts onto the Aeon so we may be able to make some field repairs in the future. Just so you know Private, we can’t be running back to base for mobile suit repairs all the time, especially when on deployment. If all else fails, we could always put you in a GN-XIII.” Kade laughed a bit, before noting him to join them in the meal.

[Azkaiel]

Chewing on his meat slice, Lincoln had much to think about. Yggdrasil Swanhild's sudden GN technological superiority in their unique production suits, as well as their grunt units were disturbing. But even more so, was the sudden defection by the 3 former AEF members, with their GNZ series units. The revelation made by the trio of former UESA pilots was not to be put aside. The fact that they announced that they would destroy Celestial Being without the help of the AEF had certain implications for the massive Alliance. This meant that whoever was behind the production of the GNZ series and the training of their pilots definitely had access to their own GN technology and facilities, independent of the UESA.

The inclusion of this rogue faction could potentially muddy up more the already muddy waters. As the situation stood right now, it was a delicate three way tie, with the UESA vs Yggdrasil Swanhild vs Celestial Being. Now with this unidentified fourth faction entering the fray, it was rather clear that future events were potentially messier than before. Who knew how long Celestial Being's truce with the Alliance would last. For all the Extended knew, they could suddenly just go back to their infamous armed interventions, that so shook the world.

“Captain, I believe we should inform the General with the utmost of haste, with regard to the defections. From my brief tenure as his temporary assistant, I believe the General will act on this information most quickly, thereby clamping down our potential losses. Also I believe it would be wise to report to him our mmm...limited success with Yggdrasil Swanhild. He should be made aware of the GN technological disparity the Alliance has, with regard to those terrorists. Whatever information we forward to him, will also help out the rest of the Alliance forces, who do not have our level of expertise.” Lincoln commented.

“In the meantime, we should remain vigilant, considering Yggdrasil Swanhild will not take this slap to the face lying down. I believe the General will divert considerable amounts of Intelligence assets to the matter, in light of the current situation. They should not be permitted to do whatever they please, to disrupt the current fragile balance we have. Yggdrasil Swanhild will be neutralized as quickly and efficiently as possible, so things can return to normal. All this unwanted tension cannot be good for any of us.” the pilot added, while taking a stab at his potato wedges.

While chomping on the vegetable, the Extended pilot gave the new comer a cursory glance over. Judging from Kade's admonishment, Lincoln deduced that this young man before them was new. Not to mention that he also had a personal machine, as indirectly implied by Kade. Bereft of any rank on his person, Lincoln whimsically wondered what the young man would address him as. “Mmmmmm, yes, it would be wise to listen to the Captain's words, Private. We should all remember that Yggdrasil Swanhild are a sneaky bunch.” the senior pilot advised.

[Kazuki Hiroyuki]

As he sat, he munched on his sandwich, while hearing his superior. He has been an expert in hearing people, while being busy, and not pretending to hear. Some moments before he really sat, he overhead the part about some members defecting. "Hmm....does that mean that we're fighting a new enemy?", Kazuki wondered. Not wanting to be nosy, Kazuki kept this to himself. It would be unwise to talk about this, as this seemed to be a personal matter for both of his superiors.

When asked about his first taste of combat, Kazuki paused for a moment. He recalled at that moment....He could have been killed by that mobile suit... After pulling himself together, he let out his opinion on this. "....It was...hard. I could have been killed, but it seems fate has another plan for me, even though if somebody were in my shoes, they all wouldn't know the beam cannon on that unit...". He then recalled that he was glad, he made that maneuver. He would have been vaporized, had he not dodged.

With this, Kazuki shuddered. He recalled again to a time in his childhood. He was reading a book, when he read the quote, "The ones that wishes to go to war, are the ones that never tasted it". Surely...every person who experienced war, wouldn't want to participate in it, and yet there are young people like him who are willing to do it. That is why now, war disgusted him. It seemed that the old people waged wars for their own "ideals", while young people die for them.

After wandering off in his mind, he listened again to his captain's words. He then remembered that this operation is very secret. Not a word should be left out in the public, who knows what panic will happen. With this, Kazuki only replied with a sentence, "Yes sir...it will be locked up in the prison of my mind..". Who knows what would happen if he told even somebody about this. The public might stage a mass rally, or even worse, riot.

Once he heard about his mobile suit's lack of spare parts, Kazuki only laughed a little. "You should have blamed my technician for that! Don't worry, spare parts will be there...next time". At this same period too, he talked to himself, "Kyosuke....you idiot!". Once he's all done, he went back to eating his sandwiches. The good thing is, his superiors act so nicely to him, he wouldn't have a problem being honest to them.

[Legacy26]

Kade proceeded to calmly eat his meal, listening to the pilots, understanding that all had been taken care of, to this point. Upon hearing Lincoln’s reasoning, and suggestion of informing General Redfield about the present situation, Kade nodded. ”I have already had a communiqué sent out, with the highest priority, informing him of the events and the likely members implicated. Likely there’s a message sitting on the communications desk or waiting somewhere with his response.” the captain stated.

Kade resumed eating, for a little bit, ”We should be able to use the main briefing room for a video conference. Very likely we’ll be having the other pilots come with us, as all input we can have on this matter should be present.” Kade began to finish off his meal, listening to the Private’s response, understanding in some points, but putting the blame to the technician, yes, it was reasonable, but also it was partially the pilot’s responsibility to make sure the machine was in good repair.

The Aeon proceeded on course, to the Stellar Night City dockyards, there she would receive repairs, restocking of supplies, and allow the crew a quick breather, giving them shore leave until the vessel was repaired and back in battle ready condition. There was also the subject of new restocking of supplies, thanks to the vessel’s Artificial Gravity finally working. Repair parts would also have to be collected, in case something occurred (as it was likely going to happen) during their tour.

As of now, the Aeon had lost three mobile suits, and had also gained 3 new ones, so Kade decided to inform Lincoln. ”So Lincoln, as of now, due to the defection of the GNZ series machines, your Arche and GN-Xs will be using their hangar spaces. That will be your temporary assignment until you wish to be deployed elsewhere.” Kade informed the pilot as he finished off his own meal, preparing to ha a bit longer chat with everyone.

However at that moment, Ensign Camille Wray came down from the bridge informing them that General Redfield was requesting a conference with them, as soon as possible. Acknowledging that, ”I think we can finish our meals in the briefing room, It would be a bad idea to keep the general waiting.” Kade stated before getting up and carrying his food with him, leading everyone else to the bridge level and the briefing room.

[Azkaiel]

Nothing the change in the the current situation, Lincoln consolidated his food supplied onto one tray, before standing up, with tray in hand, to follow Kade Sirin, and his Exec. Officer. Looking back at the junior pilot at the table, the Extended pilot felt that it was probably a good idea that the kid sat in, for this meeting. He had the feeling that the junior pilot could be trusted to keep a few secrets. Turning to face the young man, he politely asked the young man to come along. "Private, I think you best come along with us, and sit in on this conference. I think we could use any input from you."

Trailing behind the two most senior officers on board this vessel, Lincoln felt a bit conspicuous, carrying a tray of food out of the mess hall. He couldn't help but feel that the Aeon's crew members were going to look at him funny. But strangely enough, no one directed even a single glance at the four of them. Perhaps it was because the crew was fully occupied with repairing the ship into some semblance of operation, that's probably why they were ignored. Entering the turbo lifts, he waited patiently while the lifts zipped up to the conference room on the bridge level

Following Kade like a mother hen, the boyish looking captain led them into what could only be described as a luxurious and highly advanced conference room. Clearly no expense had been spared in outfitting even this section of the vessel, Lincoln observed. The front of the room was equipped with a massive LCD screen, which appeared to be clearly capable of breaking itself into smaller screen sections to display other data concurrently. The conference table itself appeared to be another technologically advanced device, masquerading as a hardwood table. A close examination at the center of the table, revealed the presence of several cleverly concealed holographic projectors, that blended in with the design of the furniture.

Kade had taken a seat near the front of the massive LCD screen, and his lovely looking female EO, took the seat behind him. Not daring to waste even a moment, Lincoln also took one of the seats near the front of the table. However, he most certainly did not expect to sink into the soft comfortable cushioning of the chair. The veteran pilot almost thought that he was going to fall over, but fortunately the chair ceased and desisted in its attempt to unbalance him. Settling down at long last, the muscled pilot carefully placed his tray down onto the surface of the table, as if to avoid damaging the surface.

"It's quite alright, Lincoln," Kade said amusingly, while badly trying to stifle a smile at the pilot. "The table is quite resistant to scratches and stains, so have no fear. I believe it was deliberately constructed that way, since there was a probability that the users might have to deal with a working meal here. I think we should probably finish our meals as quickly as possible...I don't think it would be wise to eat while the General will be watching." Kade added. Wolfing down his meal, the Extended barely had time to conceal the tray and its contents, before the tabletop communicator chimed, indicating that the connection with UESA HQ in New York had been achieved.

[Azkaiel]

Earth, Central Nexus Nation, New York
UESA Headquarters

Whilst waiting for the connection to the AEF Aeon to get through, General Haven Redfield was greatly bothered by the report sent by its youthful Captain. Having poached the promising young man away from the Admiralty, Haven had many plans for the talented young man. Although his actions didn't earn him any goodwill from the Admiralty, there was no love lost between both branches of the Alliance Armed Forces. For some obscure reason, the Admiralty was not pleased, nor amused, at the AEF's formation of its own ship based combat fleet. It also didn't help that the AEF often upstaged the more Alliance Admiralty Forces, by virtue of their improved training.

In any case, young Kade had reported quite a number of troubling details in his report to him. Most importantly, was the news that the latest batch of licensed individuals had apparently went rogue, with their machines. The more shocking news was the reason behind their actions, in which they claimed that the AEF's temporary alliance with Celestial Being was a blatant deviation from their original plans to destroy Celestial Being. Immediately, the General gave orders to remove the IDs of the few rogue pilots from the Alliance systems, so that they could no longer access any information from the Alliance Armed Forces.

As the connection finally got through, Haven finally saw the personnel gathered in the Aeon's conference room. He had recognized Kade and his EO, as well as Lincoln Osis, his former interim assistant. He did not however, recognize the other person in the room. Facial identification programs quickly identified the young male as a Private Kazuki Hiroyuki, recently attached to the Aeon, with his own custom unit. Clearing his throat, Haven began to address the small group seated in the room.

"Time is short, so i'll make this brief. Alright, Kade, i've read the reports and your assessments of the current situation. Those former licensed individuals have been struck off the AEF roster, and their access privileges revoked as of immediately. I'll see what i can do about shuffling additional personnel to the ship, but it might take a while to process their transfers. In the meantime, you're to proceed to the Alliance Naval Base at Stellar Night City for repair and reload. I want the Aeon ready for combat as soon as possible. I'm also sending up Commander Kurosaki up, with his unit to assist."

Turning his attention to the Arche's pilot, Haven continued, "As for you, Lincoln, I'm reassigning you to South America. Our presence there is weak, and it is entirely possible that Yggdrasil Swanhild might take advantage of the situation to wreak some mayhem. I want you there as soon as possible, even if you have to orbital drop your way there. Speed is of the utmost essence, so move quickly once the upgrades on the Arche are done. I've already made arrangements for our South America output to accommodate you and the Arche. Lets get moving, people. Haven Redfield out..."