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« on: October 14, 2013, 05:06:32 AM »
Captain Andre sighed as he and his squadron – four Drake-class Escort Ships – flew a wide, eccentric, orbital patrol around the Moon. He knew he should be thankful that he hadn't encountered any ZAFT vessels in his patrol around the Moon, but still, as a soldier he found the lack of action somewhat galling.
"I wish something interesting would turn up…" he muttered under his breath. He immediately regretted saying that, as in the next moment, a space colony had appeared out of nowhere right in the middle of his squadron's flight path.
"Main engines, full reverse!" he ordered, his eyes going wide with panic and surprise, his expression mirrored by those of his bridge crew. As the Drakes slowed down to a crawl, Andre looked around in shock; not just one, but many colonies had appeared, occupying a large portion of L2. They resembled Orb's O'Neill-type space colony of Heliopolis, but lacked the giant mirrors and windows characteristic of the design.
"Contact the Lunar Base…" he ordered. "…space colonies don't just…" He broke off as the communications crewman picked up an incoming transmission.
"Unidentified vessel, this is Deikun City Aerospace Command; identify yourself immediately."
Swallowing, he replied "This is Captain Andre Ciel from the Atlantic Federation's First Lunar Patrol of the Third Orbital Fleet."
"…did you say 'Atlantic Federation'?" the reply came after a long pause and what sounded like a muffled argument.
"Yes…may I ask your affiliation?"
"Uh, we're with the Principality of Zeon but anyway can you tell us what year it is?"
"Cosmic Era 71, of course." he replied, perplexed by the question.
"Alright…please standby captain."
After five tense minutes, the line came back online. "Captain Ciel, you probably won't believe us, but it seems we're from another world, or rather, a parallel universe from yours. I know it sounds outlandish, but Sovereign Zabi would like to meet with you in person and explain the situation personally."
After a moment, Andre nodded, and said "Standby, I'll be heading down personally."
Turning to his crew, he ordered "Maintain a parallel course with the colony."
"Sir, with all due respect, I don't think…"
"Space colonies don't just appear out of nowhere, ensign. Personally, I'm inclined to believe their claims that they're from another world. I'm sure there's an interesting story behind this, but this is a good chance to get new allies, and we're going to have to put forward our best foot if we're to take advantage of this situation."
"Sir, yes sir."
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Within minutes, Andre found himself landing in Deikun City's main hangar, where he was met by an honour guard of green-uniformed and steel-helmeted soldiers led by a junior officer who proceeded to escorted him to a linear car that ran along the colony's outer wall. While their green uniforms uncomfortably reminded him of ZAFT soldiers, he also noted the black cape and stylized gold embroidery of the officer.
After a relatively short trip, they transferred to an electric car that drove him through a somewhat hectic city before landing him before a large building in a walled enclosure. Entering the building, he noted the tense atmosphere in the entrance hall, where officers in green and black spoke urgently with government officials in business suits. "Lieutenant Banner…" a man called from nearby, drawing the attention of his escort's leader.
"I'll take care of this." The man said, and the young officer saluted before turning to leave. "If you would please follow me…"
Bemused, Andre followed the man to an elevator, through a series of hallways, and finally to an office commanding a wide view of the city below. Three people spoke quietly there, two officious men in business suits and a young woman in red and gold. The three broke as he entered, the guide closing the door behind him as he stepped out.
"Ah, Captain Ciel…" the young woman said, stepping forward to shake his hand with a smile, before introducing herself and the two men with her. "…I am the Sovereign of Zeon, Mineva lao Zabi. This is Zeon Prime Minister Xavier, and Deikun City Mayor Valerius. Welcome to Zeon, captain."
"It's an honour, your Highness." He said, feeling somewhat out of place.
Nodding, Mineva walked back to her desk and sat down. "Now then, down to business. If you would enlighten us to your world and its setting, we would be more than happy to inform you of our origins."
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"Did you say they're from another world?" the admiral asked incredulously, causing the lieutenant on the screen to fidget uncomfortably.
"Yes sir, that's what they said."
The admiral sighed, leaned back and looked at the rest of his Command Staff in the Atlantic Federation's Lunar Base. As much as he hated to admit it, it was quite possibly the only rational explanation as to the sudden appearance of a large number of space colonies from out of nowhere. "And Captain Ciel went alone to negotiate opening relations with the newcomers?"
"Yes sir."
"I see…that will be all for now, lieutenant."
"Sir, yes sir." The lieutenant saluted before the link cut off.
"Captain Ciel has overstepped his authority, admiral." One of his officers stated. "He should have consulted with us before making such a critical move…"
The admiral raised a hand for silence before saying "Captain Ciel is a field officer. He made a tactical decision and did what he thought best in this situation. I for one intend to reserve judgment until after the results have made themselves manifest."
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"Chief, we have more incoming vessels approaching from the opposite direction as the Federation vessels."
Cursing under his breath, the chief operations officer at the Deikun Aerospace Command monitoring centre opened up a link. "Unidentified vessel, this is Deikun City Aerospace Command, identify yourselves."
"This is the ZAFT…Descartes."
After a similar discussion with the Federation vessels from earlier, another officer, this one from ZAFT, was on his way to meet with the Sovereign, while two groups of vessels hung in parallel courses around Deikun City.
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"What have I done?" Mineva lamented, slumping in her chair in her office in Zeon's capital of Deikun City. "I had intended to lead our people to a new beginning across the great ocean of space...but instead, I simply exchanged one hell for another."
"Don't blame yourself, Mineva." Char said. "We had no way of knowing that instead of taking us to Alpha Centauri the hyper-space fold system would take us into a parallel universe. We should consider ourselves lucky that all colonies survived the trans-dimensional transit undamaged, to say nothing of the relatively restrained reaction to our arrival in this world, considering their current circumstances."
Mineva passed a hand over the files on her desk and snorted. "Naturals...Coordinators...a war on a smaller scale yet still all-too similar to the One Year War...I'm surprised we don't have riots exploding across Side 3 as a result of this bloody catastrophe."
"Yes, but with the fold systems irreparably and most importantly, obviously, fried, the announcement regarding our botched FTL jump has been met surprisingly well." an aide reported. "Both the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs have also received our data-stream and have requested a meeting regarding our future standing in this world."
"I will not lead Zeon into war." Mineva said firmly, standing up and heading for the door followed by Char and her aide. "Nor will I allow either of the opposing factions to enter Side 3. If they want to meet with us, it will be in neutral territory in open space. Place the military on alert, and prep the Gwadan for launch – we'll be heading out once the emergency senate session is closed. Inform both ZAFT and the Alliance of our decision."
"How do you intend to deal with both the Senate and the public, your Highness?"
"We are a democracy. Zeon is no longer a tyranny governed by my fool of an uncle, Gihren. Therefore, we will tell both the Senate and the public the truth. They need to be informed of this situation, before we can make a decision regarding our future in this world."
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Three Alliance warships, one Nelson-class and two Drake-class traveled towards the rendezvous point. Aboard the battleship, Atlantic Federation Vice-Foreign Minister Allster conversed with the ship's captain. "Do you think the Zeon will align themselves with us or with ZAFT? Or will they opt to remain neutral?" the captain asked.
"To be honest, I'm not sure." Minister Allster replied. "If they would align with us it would be a big help, considering the sheer size of their population, around two billion if they're not exaggerating the data, to say nothing of their industrial capabilities."
"The opposite would hold true if they sided with ZAFT. And if they chose neutrality it wouldn't do any of us or the ZAFT good, much like Orb..." the captain's reply was cut off as alarms began to blare across the bridge.
"N-Jammer interference is increasing rapidly...captain, this is deliberate!"
The captain cursed. "It would appear ZAFT has no intention of allowing us to make contact with Zeon. All hands to stations, and issue a Level One Battle Alert."
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"We're detecting massive electromagnetic interference in this entire region of space." a crewman at the Gwadan's sensor console reported.
"M-Particles? No, it's probably one of those N-Jammers." the captain said. "Looks like either the Alliance or ZAFT has no intention of adhering to the arrangements of the upcoming negotiations. Check the status of our reactors."
"All reactors functioning at normal parameters."
"That's not surprising..." Mineva commented from her seat on the bridge. "...N-Jammers only interfere with fission reactions and our reactors make use of aneutronic fusion reactions."
"So it would appear...hurry and send out a scout!"
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"All mobile armors have launched!"
"We've detected enemy mobile suit squads - eighteen units!"
"Damn ZAFT! They really don't want us meeting with Zeon do they?" the captain snarled before turning to Minister Allster. "Minister, please proceed to the launch bay and to your personal shuttle. I cannot guarantee your safety against eighteen GINNs."
"I understand." Minister Allster said, wiping his face before heading for the bridge doors as the captain bellowed out orders.
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"Incoming laser communication...ZAFT and the Earth Alliance are engaged in combat, eighteen mobile suits against twelve space fighters. The Alliance appears to be on the defensive."
"Well, isn't this nostalgic." Mineva commented sarcastically. "I seem to recall back during the Gryps War when Haman was going to meet with the AEUG and the Titans and the latter ambushed the former before they could rendezvous with this same ship. Or was it the other way around?"
"Your Highness, do we engage or do we fall back?"
"Let's go and help the Alliance out. While I still have no intention of entering this war, I believe we may have an easier time negotiating with people who actually try to adhere to our agreement regarding the negotiations."
"Understood; have the 10th MS Team launch immediately!"
"I'll be heading out myself." Char said with a nod to Mineva. "Prep the Nightingale for launch."
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