Mobile Suit Gundam - The Second Century (Part 2: The Second Century)

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 7 continued...

Garrett attacks the Cour de Leon with a flurry of beam rifle shots, and is shocked when the Leon dodges the close-range shots with impossibly deft maneuvers. As the Leon comes within striking range of melee weapons, Garrett uses the Letzter Doga’s beam saber to take a vicious swipe at the Federal Forces’ command unit mobile suit. Again, to Garrett’s shock and dismay, the Leon counters with a swift block of its own beam saber, following with a fierce counterattack that forces the Letzter Doga to roll away.

“This one fights as well as the White Phoenix,” Garrett concludes, fear creeping into his heart, “but how could that be?”

Garrett reaches out with his mind…and finds the presence emanating from the Cour de Leon fearsomely familiar.

“It’s her!” Garrett’s eyes widen in disbelief, “How can that be? I buried the White Phoenix at Valles Marineris!”

Garrett’s distraction is more than enough for Jolie to ram the beam saber of the Cour de Leon straight through the center of the Letzter Doga, burning straight through the nuclear fusion engine of the advanced Zeon mobile suit.
Garrett immediately fingers the “Cockpit Module Emergency Eject” button on the control console of the cockpit. The triple-reinforced, spherical cockpit module of the Letzter Doga is ejected out of the belly of the destructing mobile suit by three powerful rockets even as its host mobile suit explodes in a mighty explosion of flame and shrapnel.

The rockets launch the cockpit module high into the Martian sky, en rout by automatic guidance to the nearest Deimos Zeon space warship.

“Damn it!” curses 1Lt. Garrett Doga, who has never tasted defeat in mobile suit combat before, “Who is this ‘White Phoenix’ that the Federation has trained? What makes her so difficult to kill?!”

Garrett vows that the White Phoenix would be his to take down, on his honor…for his honor.


The Hellbuster warheads are deployed and burrow deep into the Martian crust. When they reach a depth of one kilometer, their cluster of heavy concussive warheads will explode and collapse the Zeon mining facilities, rendering them inaccessible for years.


Athena prepares to open fire with the Centurion Gundam Unit 1’s remaining functional weapons systems at the Zeon mobile squadron streaking above her.

Her finger tightens on the trigger, but then relents as she comes to a realization.

The Zeon squadron is not flying in to attack her, but streaks past her, as if obvious to or indifferent to her presence. They are headed in the direction where Jolie, Jonah, and the others are.

“Jolie!” Athena calls into the tac net as she launches the damaged Centurion Gundam into a slow pursuit, “more enemy units coming your way, bearing eight-zero-niner!”

“Damn it!” Jolie curses through clenched teeth, “They keep coming! How are we gonna fight all of them off?!”


The Phobos Zeon mobile suit squadron arrives upon the scene of the massive firefight between the Earth Federation Special Forces and the Deimos Zeon Imperium Forces.

“Commence attack,” General Alexander Miguel intones calmly.

The Phobos Zeon mobile suit squadron opens fire with its beam cannon and missiles…a heavy display of massed firepower, all directed towards the Deimos Zeon mobile suits only.

The fresh Phobos Zeon mobile suits, Gellonds and Geara Dogas, dive into the midst of the battle, fresh and eager for combat. They tear away at the remaining Deimos Zeon Dreissen-IIs and Gaza-Es, relieving the overwhelmed Federal Forces.

Athena’s voice come through the tactical net, “What’s the situation over there?! Are all of you all right?”

“You’re not gonna believe this, ‘Thena,” Jolie says, “The new squad of Zeon mobile suits that just showed up are attacking the enemy units we were fighting. They’re helping us, for some reason!”

Indeed, the mobile suits of Phobos Zeon specifically target their bitter rivals of Deimos Zeon, disregarding or, in a few cases, actually coming to the aid of beleaguered Earth Federation Special Forces.

The troops of the Federal Forces are frozen in confusion for a moment, not sure if they should fire upon the newly arrived Phobos Zeon Forces.

Jolie scans the area with her Newtype abilities, and her attention is drawn to the black Nightingale transformable mobile suit…a hatefully familiar malevolence emanating from its armored bulk.

“You!” Jolie screams, rage suddenly filling her, “You’re HIM!”

Jolie’s mind flashes back years…to her tenth birthday, when a coldhearted Zeon officer had slain her entire family, led his army in the destruction of her home, and sneered at her as a “degenerate.”

With a throat-tearing war cry, Jolie launches the Cour de Leon at General Alexander Miguel’s Nightingale.

“Jolie, don’t!” Jonah cries out, reaching out to restrain Jolie’s borrowed mobile suit.

Episode 7 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 7 continued...

“Jonah, let me go, dammit!” Jolie snarls angrily, “That’s the man who killed everyone I loved! I’m gonna kill him!”

“Jolie, the mission!” Jonah insists.

“I don’t give a damn about any mission!” Jolie screams back, “Just let me go!!!”

The black Nightingale turns towards the Cour de Leon and the Centurion Gundam Unit, leveling its powerful beam rifle at the two Earth Federation Forces mobile suits.

A wave of impossible familiarity comes over General Miguel, causing him to hesitate, Jonah? Impossible!

Feeling the probing presence of his elder brother’s mind, Jonah attempt to mask himself psychically…thinking thoughts uncharacteristic of him…thoughts antithetical to his pacifistic nature.

Jonah places the Centurion Gundam between the Cour de Leon and the Nightingale; Jolie and Alexander cannot strike at each other without going through him first.

They are suspended in perfect stillness for the briefest of moments, the diabolical leader of Phobos Zeon, the Federal Forces ace pilot whose family he once destroyed, and the idealistic youth who would give anything to prevent the other two from destroying one another.

The stillness does not endure, and when it ends, it ends in cataclysmic fashion as a series of massive explosions that rock the entire cosmic body of the planet Mars.

Athena arrives upon the scene of rapidly burgeoning chaos, shouting, “All units, into the air: NOW!!!”

All the mobile suits on the surface of Mars, Federation and all camps of Zeon, launch into the sky as Mars erupts in massive underground explosions and ground quakes.

The Hellbusters have detonated. Mars becomes Hell.

Hundreds of millions of tons of Martian soil, mineral, and rock are displaced within seconds, crushing the Zeon-built facilities designed to dig valuable Martian ores from out from beneath the planet’s red crust. Mountains are leveled. Canyons are filled. The face and underbelly of Mars are altered forever.

Forgive me, Athena prays, hating herself for despoiling Nature’s work…even for the cause of peace.

The Deimos Zeon Forces, realizing that they have failed to defend their mining base, retreats.

General Miguel orders his Phobos Zeon Forces, “Go after them. Let the Federal Forces go.”

“’Thena!” Jolie calls out, “What the hell are we waiting for? Let’s pursue!”

“No!” Athena calls back, “The situation is fluid and we’re at an extreme disadvantage on several levels. Moreover, we’re not done here on Mars.”

Every instinct Jolie has screams for her to tell Athena to go to hell and take off in pursuit of her most hated enemy, but after more than a year as Athena’s second-in-command, Jolie has learned to rein in her instincts in favor of military discipline. This is no insignificant feat for the passion-driven Jolie, but she feels that she owes Athena that much, so she relents…willing to play good soldier for her best friend’s sake.

For Jonah, however, Jolie spares an angry glare. She had expected him to stand by her side when she confronted Alexander Miguel, but not only had he failed to do that, he had prevented her from striking out at her most hated enemy.

In the cockpit of the Centurion Gundam Unit 2, Jonah can sense Jolie’s anger towards him, and reaches out to her psychically. For the first time, she closes off her mind to him.

Athena interjects with a much-needed call to duty, “Looks like the explosions have died down. We need to get back down there and ascertain just how much damage we did. Use caution: the area will be extremely unstable. Jolie? I can’t go down there with your damaged Centurion Gundam. I need my Cour de Leon; you ride in Jonah’s Unit 2.”

Silently, sullenly, Jolie complies with Athena’s orders, floating out of the cockpit of the Cour de Leon so that Athena can float in. Jolie enters Jonah’s Centurion Gundam Unit 2 silently and takes the emergency passenger seat without a word…or even so much as looking at Jonah.

Jonah reaches a hand out to Jolie; she turns it away.

“Tomo, Nick: you two stay behind and guard the Unit 1. Call in if there’s trouble,” Athena commands.

The Special Forces descend cautiously back towards the surface of Mars. Where moments earlier, there had been flat terrain, now there are five massive craters on the planet’s surface…each a kilometer wide and hundreds of meters deep, each spewing towering clouds of smoke that rapidly cool and re-condense upon contact with the upper Martian atmosphere.

The destruction wreaked by the Hellbusters is quite thorough. In addition to the millions of metric tons of rubble thrown helter skelter, the twisted and burnt remains of the Zeon mining facilities also litter the surface of the planet and the bottoms of the smoking craters. Thousands of man hours of labor reduced to ruin in an instant.

Initial scans of the craters indicate nothing extraordinary or unexpected other than the mass extent of the damage. Combat veterans though several of the Special Forces pilots are, they have not yet seen destruction on this scale…wreaked by a WMD that by all rights should probably be banned.

Sgt. Anna Horowitz then picks up an anomaly on her scopes…an enormous signature of thick, flat metal reflecting the radar waves her GM-IV AWAC is casting out, “Major Ibaz, I’m detecting an irregularity down in Crater 5. Metal signature, rectangular in shape, dimensions 100 meters in height, 500 meters in width.”

“Sounds like a massive door,” Athena muses, “one durable enough to survive that hellacious explosion we created. We’d better check it out.”

Episode 7 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 7 continued...

The Special Forces mobile suits descend into the gaping crater, heedful of unseen dangers lurking in the rising column of smoke. A few minutes later, through the dissipating haze, the anticipated enormous metal door comes into view.

“Definitely nothing you’d expect at a supposed mining facility,” Athena says, probing the reinforced titanium alloy door with the Cour de Leon’s hand, “It managed to survive the Hellbuster’s explosion, so whatever’s behind here is of great value to the Zeon.”

Athena backs the Cour de Leon to a safe distance and primes all ranged weapons systems, issuing an order for her subordinates to do the same, “Lock on target: all weapons. Stand by to fire on my command.”

Athena allows her colleagues a moment to prime and aim their weapons, then issues the order, “Fire at will.”

A massive outpouring of firepower pounds against the heavy alloy door, already weakened by the Hellbuster’s distant blast. The door endures, but it has become even more vulnerable.

Athena knows that a few more salvoes will accomplish the objective, “Again.”

Once again, the mobile suits unleash their collective firepower against the metal door denying them access to the secrets that lie within. Then a third salvo. A fourth. A fifth.

The newly induced smoke clears, revealing that the door has been penetrated, albeit not widely.

Athena extracts the Cour de Leon’s beam saber to finish the job.

Using the superheated stream of field-contained Minovsky particles that is the beam saber’s blade, Athena cuts through the remaining, recalcitrant layer of reinforced super metal. Upon her orders, Jonah’s Centurion Gundam and the Jegan-II units equipped with beam sabers do the same.

The Special Forces find themselves inside a massive warehouse/factory complex…not for the processing of Martian ores, but for the manufacturing and storage of mobile suits.

Hundreds of mobile suits.

“My…God…,” someone on the squad breathes.

The mobile suits under construction or in storage are mostly of the latest Zeon designs and upgrades – Gellonds, Geara Doga-IIs, Dreissen-IIs, Gaza-Es, but is also quite a number of experimental mobile suits…including a half dozen Letzger Dogas similar to the one Garrett Lockner had been operating. A few of the mobile suits are completely unfamiliar.

Athena takes note of the markings on various machinery and large storage crates stacked in various parts of the voluminous facility…logos that unmistakably belong to the Kuromizu Corporation.

“Curious, and yet, not surprising,” Athena whispers to herself.

Athena senses a threatening presence, and primes herself for combat.

At precisely the same instant, Jolie is shoving Jonah out of the pilot’s seat of the Centurion Gundam Unit 2, with a harsh command to, “Move over!”

The Cour de Leon and the Centurion Gundam open fire before the first enemy even becomes visible, their beam rifle shots striking the enemies at the precise instance they come into view.

“Combat status!” Athena tells the squad, as they recover from their brief shock and respond to training.

All at once, a new firefight erupts…between the Special Forces and a dozen Zeon Gellonds and Geara Doga IIs that had been operative and camouflaged amidst the stored mecha.

Episode 7 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 7 continued...

Jolie draws the Centurion Gundam’s beam saber and charges the enemy, cutting them down with terrible swiftness. Jolie directs the beam saber with great precision, disabling each mobile suit without inducing a nuclear fusion engine explosion that would be disastrous for the Special Forces within the confines of the facility chamber.

A squad of two dozen Zeon foot soldiers emerge with machine guns and rocket launchers in hand, desperately attempting to repel the invading Federal Forces mobile suits with their firearms. Athena cuts them down with the Cour de Leon’s Vulcan cannon.

The enemy apparently eliminated or driven off, Athena instructs Sgt. Anna Horowitz, “Anna, get a thorough video and audio record of everything here, and I mean everything. Intelligence is going to be extremely interested in this data.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the Centurions reply.

“Jonah,” Athena orders, “you’re in charge of the mobile suit squad team. Jolie, come with me. We’re going to do some searching on foot.”

Jolie does not protest. With unnerving silence, Jolie opens the cockpit door of the Centurion Gundam and floats down, her sidearm drawn.
Athena draws her own sidearm and floats out of the cockpit of the Cour de Leon.

Athena and Jolie proceed to investigate the parts of the facility inaccessible by mobile suit.

In the cockpit of the Centurion Gundam, Jonah is in deep turmoil. Has Jolie discovered that Alexander is his brother? Is that why she has turned so cold towards him?


In a concealed communications bunker at the same facility, Brigadier General Brock Kincaid sends a coded transmission, “Facility is penetrated. Activities compromised. Don’t know if this message will be received due to damage to communications equipment. Will initiate doomsday measure to compensate for compromise.”

Having sent that message, General Kincaid inserts a heavy alloy key into a shielded slot, turns it, then depresses a single red button that emerges from within a control console. The explosives are set for detonation in five minutes.

Kincaid rises from his seat, turns, and feels the force of a small booted foot slamming into his face at devastating speed, shattering his nose and fracturing several teeth.

Kincaid falls, reeling with pain, as a tiny feminine figure crouches upon him and presses the muzzle of a pistol against his head.

“Identify yourself!” Jolie demands.

“I’m Brigadier General Brock Kincaid,” the Zeon officer bites out with contempt, “I’m the commanding officer of the Deimos Forces on Mars.”

“We have questions to ask,” Major Athena Ibaz says to the Zeon general that her executive officer holds at her mercy at gunpoint, “but I’m afraid you’ll have to come with us. I see that you’ve activated a doomsday device with fewer than five minutes to detonation; our gratitude for your saving us the trouble of annihilating this facility for you.”


A minute later, it is a mad scramble for the remaining Special Forces mobile suits to escape from the surface of Mars ahead of the impending explosion a valuable prisoner of war in custody. The mobile suits of the Special Forces take to the Martian skies, streaking towards the Amuro Ray. As the mobile suits approach the Federal Forces space battlecarrier and prepare to dock, a final explosion rocks the surface of Mars.

The mobile suit pilots of the Centurion Team dock their mobile suits aboard the Amuro Ray. Their mission is accomplished, and once again, all of them have returned from the mission alive. Most of their mobile suits have taken terrible punishment, particularly 1Lt. Jolie Minh’s Centurion Gundam Unit 1, but this be rectified by 1Lt. Molly Duran and her team of mechanics and technicians.

More difficult to repair will be the rift between lovers.

Jolie walks sullenly towards the pilots’ locker facility, normalsuit helmet in the crook of her arm.

Jonah chases after her, “Jolie, wait!”

Jolie refuses to even look at him, and says in a strained whisper, “Go away.”

“Jolie,” Jonah pleads.

“GO AWAY, DAMMIT!!!” Jolie says, fury in her eyes. Jonah backs off.

Jolie throws her helmet onto the deck and disappears into the women’s wing of the pilots’ locker room.

Athena approaches Jonah, “What’s the matter now?”

Jonah says, “Oh, hello, ma’am. Jolie’s angry at me…I think because I stopped her from attacking a Zeon mobile suit that she thought Alexander Miguel was in.”

Actually, Jonah knows that Alexander was in that mobile suit, but that is information best kept to himself.

Athena says, “You won’t be able to reason with her now. Jolie is very much a creature of emotions, and when she’s angry, she’s impossible to approach. Give her some time. After she’s had some time to vent and think, she’ll come around.”

“Yes, ma’am. Thank you, ma’am,” Jonah replies dejectedly.

“Trust me,” Athena says with a sly grin, “even I’ve been on the receiving end of Jolie’s rage attacks before. They aren’t pretty, even if she is.”

So saying, Athena also disappears into the women’s locker room. Left with no further options, Jonah goes into the men’s locker room to shower and change back into his duty uniform.

Episode 7 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 7 continued...

Frontier 8 Customs Administration Minister Barclay Cartier enters his spacious office suite at the Frontier 8 Congressional Hall in Freemont City. He had dismissed his escort entourage outside the Congressional Hall as he customarily does, but he is surprised to see that none of his office staff are present. His secretaries. His press agents. His office security staff. Even the office interns…all gone.

Cartier enters his private office and finds 1Lt. Jolie Minh of the Centurion Team sitting crosslegged on his desk.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Cartier demands angrily, “Who gave you authorization to be here?!”

“This did,” Jolie replies, drawing out her sidearm.

Major Athena Ibaz enters the office, resplendent in her ever immaculate dress uniform. With her is a squad of a dozen armed Federal Forces MPs. In one hand, Athena carries a thick paper folder.

“Minister Cartier,” Athena says coolly, “by the authority of the Earth Federation High Council and the Frontier 8 Civilian Authority, you are hereby charged with the crime of treason.”

Cartier smirks, “On what grounds are you accusing me of being a traitor, Major Ibaz? Do you realize that with a single phone call, I could end your military career and have you spend the rest of your days in prison for daring to threaten an Earth Federation Government civil official?”

Athena smiles, “A Brigadier General Brock Kincaid of the Deimos Zeon Forces is already there. He’ll miss your company, Minister.”

“You can’t…” Cartier begins, his smugness fading.

“Treason during wartime is a crime punishable by death, Minister,” Athena says coldly, “as a top official in the Federation government, you’re surely aware of that.”

Cartier says no more. Desperate, the man bolts past Athena and out the door of his office.

Athena draws her sidearm, aims it, and fires a single shot.

Minister Barclay Cartier, Earth Federation Government official…and Zeon gunrunner, lies face down on the marble floor of the Congressional Hall, blood leaking from his mouth, a smoking hole in the back of his head.

Athena re-holsters her sidearm, draws a handkerchief from the breast pocket of her uniform jacket, and wipes her fingers.

“Nice shot,” Jolie compliments, walking by Athena on her way to inspect Cartier’s corpse.

************************************************** *******************


Later that evening, in the Centurion Team’s lounge aboard the Amuro Ray, Jolie finds Jonah alone, sketching something on his sketchpad. Having had some time to calm down, Jolie finds that she’s not as angry at Jonah now as she was in the immediate aftermath of the battle on Mars. She had had a noisy argument with Athena after they had finished with that bastard Cartier (may he rot in pieces), but in the end, Jolie accepted that the moment hadn’t come for her to kill Alexander Miguel…that doing so would have jeopardized their mission and her teammates’ lives. More than almost anything else, Jolie wants to kill the monster who murdered her family, but she isn’t so selfish that she would do it at the price of others’ lives.

And Jonah. Jolie sighs. Jonah is so sweet…his is the most gentle soul that she has ever known, warm, compassionate, and earnest. And she’s been so abusive of him…taking out her frustrations on him. She would have to find some way to make it up to him.

Not that Jolie is ready to do that just yet; she still has that much stubborn pride in her.

“Whatcha drawin’?” Jolie asks tentatively.

Jonah answers serenely, “You.”

Jolie sneaks a peek at Jonah’s latest work…a caricature of Jolie in one of her angry moods.

“Hey!” Jolie says, unable to resist grinning, “I do NOT look like a freakin’ cartoon character!”

Jonah begins chuckling, “You do when you’re mad.”

“Let me see that!” Jolie insists, ripping the sketchpad out of Jonah’s hands.

Jolie looks at the sketch of herself…eyes wide as moons, noseless, hair hanging down like a mop. She starts to giggle.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/8730/angryii9.gif')

“You’re kind of cute when you’re angry,” Jonah says with a smile, “but you’re scary as heck too.”

“I know,” Jolie says, her laughter subsiding, “I’m sorry. I’m a really mean little b*tch when I’m pissed off, huh?”

“It’s part of who you are,” Jonah concedes, “if you want to change that, do it for yourself…don’t do it for me.”

Jolie rushes into Jonah’s arms, and he takes her in his warm embrace. It feels so good to hold her, to feel her warmth.

Jolie leans her head on Jonah’s shoulder, “I’m sorry about the way I acted today. You and ‘Thena were right. I need to get a hold of that lousy temper of mine.”

“I’m sorry too,” Jonah says earnestly, “I understand how you feel about Alexander Miguel…what he did to your family. I’m an artist by trade – a soldier by circumstance. I tend to lean towards compassion…”

“Jonah,” Jolie interjects wearily, “just shut up and hold me, please. You’re going to piss me off again if you keep talking like this.”

Jonah barely suppresses a laugh as he holds Jolie tighter. She sits on his lap, and the pair loses themselves in each other’s loving embrace.

END OF EPISODE 7

Next in EPISODE 8: INTO THE ASTEROID BELT!

[Ken Cheng]

EPISODE 8: INTO THE ASTEROID BELT

Frontier 8 secured and the Zeon military hampered by the loss of its Martian mining colonies, the Special Forces are ready to move on…beyond the Frontier 8/Mars Zone and into the Asteroid Belt.

The farther the Earth Federation Forces are deployed from Earth, the more diffuse their power becomes. Not only because their logistical and command base of Earth is far away across the Solar System, but also because Earthmen grow weaker out in the void of the cosmos, even as Spacenoids grow stronger and more perceptive. Fortunately for the Federation, the lion’s share of its Special Forces troops consist of young soldiers recruited from the Spacenoid population. Among the Centurion Team, for example, none of its officers and noncommissioned troops were born on Earth.

1Lt. Jolie Minh and Chief Warrant Officer Jonah Michaels stare out the portholes of an upper level observation deck of the bridge tower of the space battlecarrier Amuro Ray as the ships pulls away from Frontier 8. For once, the two young officers have been given a breather by their hard-driving commanding officer, Major Athena Ibaz. For a few hours, at least, they are released from the burden of duty.

Jolie, delicate cheeks resting in her hands, leans her elbows on the sill of the porthole as she stares out into the cosmos, a dreamy grin on her face. Next to her, Jonah mirrors her stance, although his chin rests upon his folded hands, and the expression on his face is grim.

Looking out at the field of glittering stars, Jolie asks absently, “Jonah…how many stars are there in the universe?”

“Nobody knows,” Jonah replies, “there’s no way to count them all. The universe is huge. There are many more stars than there are people in the entire world as we know it.”

Jolie’s eyes widen, “Cool! Then that means everybody can have their own star!”

Jonah, who has never thought of it that way, says in response, “Well, yeah…I suppose, in theory.”

Jolie points out into the distance, “That one there can be ours…”

Jonah follows the direction of Jolie’s finger, which points towards an especially bright star, so close that it shines like a glittering jewel in space.

Jonah smiles, “That’s Jupiter, Jolie. That’s where we’re headed next.”

“Serious?” Jolie says, “That big gas ball? I didn’t know it shined that brightly.”

Jonah says, “Jupiter isn’t habitable, but a large population has built up in space colonies orbiting the planet during the past twenty years. The hydrogen gas industry is huge out there. Lots of people who invested out there twenty years ago have gotten filthy rich as a result.”

“But it’s mostly Zeon-controlled, isn’t it?” Jolie asks.

“Yeah,” Jonah says, “the Federation just isn’t very strong out here. I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re the first Federal Forces fleet that has passed through this part of the Solar System in several months.”

Jolie leans her head against Jonah’s shoulder, sighing, as she says, “’Thena says we’re probably gonna have to fight through a Zeon blockade to get out of the Frontier 8/Mars Zone. We really pissed off the Zeons by blowing up their mines.”

“That figures,” Jonah says, wrapping Jolie with his arm and holding her close, “but we’ve really damaged their ability to wage war against Frontier 8 or us…and with minimal loss of life. I must admit: Athena’s plan was really intelligent.”

“That’s our commanding officer,” Jolie says, burying her face on Jonah’s chest. As she comes up, she says, “But now ‘Thena says we have to go and beat down the Zeons in the Asteroid Belt and near Jupiter to maintain the balance of power.”

“That’s right,” Jonah says, “The Deimos and Phobos Zeon camps are weakened, which means their rivals in the Asteroid Belt and Jupiter orbit are likely to attempt to prey on them. It’s the Federal Forces’ job to whittle down their power as well for the safety of this entire sector of space.”

“You’re starting to sound like ‘Thena,” Jolie teases Jonah fondly, “Did you swallow a military tactics textbook during dinner last night?”

Jonah grins, “Well, I have been reading up on some texts Athena recommended. I’ve never really had an interest in war, but after reading those books, I’ve come to understand it. It’s another kind of art, but it’s an ugly, brutal one, unlike the kind of art that I prefer. But it still requires special understanding and skill.”

“’Thena always tries to make me read those books too,” Jolie says.

“Do you?” Jonah asks, already anticipating the answer.

“You kidding?” Jolie says, grinning, “I sometimes use ‘em as lifting weights for workouts, though.”

The couple laughs, enjoying being young. As soldiers at war, they understand and accept that youth is no guarantee of longevity, and that life, love, and laughter must be seized at every opportunity, as these good things can be snuffed out in an instant, with but a gesture.

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

In the Amuro Ray’s Tactical Command Center, Major Athena Ibaz and (ship) Captain Beecher Olech are discussing upcoming battle tactics, unknowingly mirroring parts of the discussion that Jolie and Jonah are having, albeit in much greater depth and detail.

“You’re almost certainly right about the Deimos and/or Phobos Zeon blockading us on the way out of the Frontier 8/Mars Zone,” Captain Beecher says, “so the relevant question now is how we can break this blockade.”

Athena says matter-of-factly, “Despite the damage we inflicted upon them at Frontier 8 and on Mars, the Deimos Zeon Forces outnumber our task armada about five to one, and that’s not even accounting for their reserve forces. Our data on the Phobos Zeon Forces is less complete, but they are unlikely to be any smaller than Deimos…especially as Phobos is still relatively ‘fresh’ from lack of action.”

Captain Beecher adds, “On Mars, the Phobos Forces intervened, but struck only at their Deimos rivals. They took no action against our forces.”

“Odd, isn’t it?” Athena affirms, “They almost seemed to be helping us. In fact, they did help us. As I indicated in my report, our operation might not have ended as well had the Phobos Forces not intervened.”

“Perhaps they’re seeking an alliance with us,” Captain Beecher suggests.

“I’ve considered that,” Athena says, “but if so, why no further contact from them? Alexander Miguel is an extremely shrewd man. I believe he means to use the Federal Forces against his rivals.”

Captain Beecher sighs, “Then we’re playing right into his hands.”

“Not necessarily,” Athena responds, “Our intelligence reports that Miguel has been stockpiling metal ore supplies from Mars…hoarding it, as a matter of fact, for the past two years. During this time, Miguel has been less aggressive than he was known to have been in the past. His battles have been uncharacteristically defense-oriented, probing…perhaps because the mobile suits he’s been fielding these past two years have been of inferior quality, particularly in terms of armor strength. The MS he’s deployed to the front lines during the past twenty-two and a half months of combat operations have been armored with inexpensive standard grade recycled titanium…not the high grade Gundarium that his rivals, notably Deimos leader Konrad Von Bach, have generally used on their forces’ mobile suits. Miguel wants to rule Zeon, but his military movements during the past two years have reflected a defensive stance…as if he’s waiting for his enemies to deplete their strength.”

“But how is that not playing into his hands, Major?” Captain Beecher asks, “Doesn’t he want to use us to soften up or possibly even eliminate his enemies for him?”

“He is,” Athena says, “and that’s what we’ll let him think we’re doing. But don’t forget this, Captain: the individual Zeon factions are, by themselves, relatively weak. They only pose a threat to the Earth Federation and its allies if they unify once again into the Archduchy of Zeon. Keeping them on a civil war footing is of benefit to the Federation, as long as that war is contained outside of Federation space.”

“So you’re proposing…?” Captain Beecher leads.

“…to push the Zeon farther out from our frontier perimeter,” Athena finishes, “but generally maintain the status quo. Zeon strife means Federation harmony, as we’ve seen during the past several years. Our mission is not to end the Zeon civil war; it’s to keep it from spilling into Federation territory. Cut off from the mother lode of resources that Earth represents, the Zeon movement will eventually die off of attrition. The resources needed to sustain a war are extremely limited in space. No matter how self-sufficient they might be, the Zeon cannot sustain themselves indefinitely…especially not if they’re burning up their resources fighting petty wars against each other – or against us.”

Beecher rubs his eyes tiredly, “It’s a cruel plan…perpetuating one war to prevent another.”

Athena acknowledges that observation with a nod, “These are cruel times.”

“What of the Asteroid Belt and Jupiter Orbit?” Beecher asks further, “The Federation has expanded its presence there in recent years.”

Athena smiles and says, “You’re thinking of your wife, aren’t you?”

Beecher returns the smile somewhat wearily, “Elle was opposed to my getting involved in this, but I convinced her that I was doing it for our future…and our baby’s future. It’ll be our first child. Elle’s due next month. I can only hope that when it’s time, I can be with her. I’m looking forward to spending time with my family. Do you have family, Athena?”

“Only my ‘brothers and sisters’ on the Centurion Team,” Athena replies evenly, “None of my birth relatives are living anymore.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Beecher says sympathetically, having tasted that bitterness himself, “but you could start a new one some day...outside of your military career, I mean.”

Athena smiles wanly, “Only if this war finally, truly ends. I must admit that I’m disappointed in the High Command’s shortsightedness…that it’s only giving us the resources to barely contain the Zeon threat, not to eradicate it. We can beat back the Zeon for now, but unless we beat them decisively and conclusively, we’ll need to fight them again another day. This is a weed that should have been pulled out by its roots long ago, but the Federation’s leaders, General Noah aside, are afraid to provoke the Zeon. They still live in fear of the Zabis, even though the Zabis are all dead.”

For reasons of which he is uncertain, that last remark prompts Captain Beecher to say to Athena, “Major, I hope you don’t mind my being forthright…but all this time, I still feel that I’ve somehow met you in the past…perhaps when you were very young.”

Athena smiles, “I hear that often, sir.”

“It’s probably nothing,” Captain Beecher says, rubbing his eyes again, “Why not get some rest? You and your people have been working so hard since the mission began.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” Athena says, leaving.

Beecher stares hard at Athena’s back as she leaves. It is not mere coincidence or misimpression. Somewhere, somehow, he has seen her before.

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

1Lt. Garrett Lockner, of the Deimos Zeon Forces’ Talon Squadron, inspects his troops on the mobile suit deck of the Deimos Zeon space battlecarrier Iron Fist. A dozen mobile suits under his command, new AMS-216 Zimmfers, are being prepped by engineering crews for impending deployment. The Zimmfers are the latest incarnation of the classic Zaku mobile suit…the fifth generation after Hizack, Zaku-III, and Geara Doga. Recently delivered by the Kuromisu Corporation, the Zimmfers are decidedly the best frontline infantry mobile suit the Zeon Forces have ever fielded…outclassing the Federation’s entire line of GM- and Jegan-class mobile suits and, though it might be somewhat an exaggeration, perhaps are even capable of going head-to-head with Gundam-class mobile suits.

But are these pilots capable of taking on the Federal Forces’ best soldiers? Garrett wonders.

Garrett’s pride still stings from the defeat he suffered on Mars, one part of the reason that Deimos Zeon the Martian mining complex. Field Marshal Von Bach exhibited a fury that would have cowed even Olympians when he learned that the Federal Forces had destroyed Deimos Zeon’s primary source of metallic ore for armoring its war machines. Brigadier General Brock Kincaid, the commanding officer of the forces responsible for defending the mines, was fortunate that he had been taken as prisoner of war by the Federal Forces. He’d suffer in their custody, to be sure, but not nearly as much as he would if had been “repatriated” into the Deimos Zeon Forces. The Zeon did not do repatriations. They accepted their defeated and disgraced officers back only to torture them to death. The Earth Federation Forces had some awareness for this, and welcomed it as a way to easily dispose of undesirables after their usefulness had been expended.

As a junior level commanding officer with comparatively minimal responsibilities, a valued ace pilot of the Deimos Zeon Forces, and as the scion of old Zeon nobility, Garrett has been accorded grace and tolerance by Field Marshal Von Bach that was not extended to Brigadier General. Another flag-ranking officer, Rear Admiral Dieter Herrmann, has been posted to the front, commanding the armada whose mission now is to destroy the Federation Special Forces unit that destroyed the mining complex. For the Zeon warriors who survived the Battle of Mars, and Garrett in particular, this is no less than a chance to redeem their honor in the spilling of their enemies’ blood.

Then, they would contend with that scoundrel Alexander Miguel, whose untimely interference probably most greatly cost the Deimos Zeon their stronghold on Mars.

“I trust that every man present here is prepared to fight to his last breath for the honor of Deimos Zeon,” Garrett says, addressing his troops as he inspects them, “the Earth Federation has dared to attack us here, in our own territory, far away from the gravity well of the Earth where it is strongest. We shall teach them that out here, in the vastness of space, the chosen Spacenoids of Deimos Zeon rule humanity’s fate! Sieg, Zeon!”

“Sieg, Zeon! Sieg, Zeon! Sieg, Zeon!” rises the chant.

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

As the Amuro Ray and its accompanying fleet makes their way out of the Frontier 8 Zone, the Special Forces personnel in the armada take advantage of a rare moment’s tranquility. Not that there is a wide range of recreational activities available on the warships, but the troops make use of the scarce personal time in various ways.

1Lt. Jolie Minh and Chief Warrant Officer Jonah Michaels are in the ship’s gymnasium, engaging in a vigorous, sweaty workout, keeping themselves lean and fit for combat. Jolie, a natural athlete, takes to the workout like a fish to water. Jonah, a skinny and borderline sickly youth when he enlisted in the Earth Federation Forces over a half year ago, has since acquired greater muscle mass and strength, granting him a more heroic and manly form.

And Jolie has definitely noticed. Climbing down from the balance beam where she practices her acrobatic agility, her long, black hair tied in a ponytail, Jolie stares admiringly as Jonah flexes his biceps hefting a 20 kg. iron weight with his left arm.

Jolie grins, cupping her silky smooth baby cheeks in her hands, enthuses breathily, “You’re so…yummy.”

Jonah sets the weight down on a rack, giving Jolie a bemused expression, “’Yummy?’ What am I now? Food?”

“Yep,” Jolie replies, “Beefcake…100% Grade A Quality.”

“I’ve forgotten what beef tastes like,” Jonah says, wiping the perspiration from his upper body, sending Jolie’s hormones into overdrive, “I’ve been a vegetarian since I was seven.”

“Did you go veggie for health reasons or because you don’t like killing animals?” Jolie asks.

“Both,” Jonah says, “Early human beings were mostly herbivorous, and only added meat to their diet after they discovered how to control and use fire.”

“You’re just like Athena,” Jolie says, seating herself on the floor of the gym, cross-legged, and extracting a cigarette from her personal items pouch, inserting the ciggie between her lips, “Every time I ask a simple question, you guys give me a long lecture with more info than I’d bargained for.”

“Healthy body, healthy mind…and speaking of ‘healthy,’” Jonah says, gently removing the cigarette from Jolie’s mouth, “these are certainly not healthy.”

“Hey,” Jolie protests, reaching for the cigarette. Jonah holds it away from her reach.

Jonah puts his other arm around Jolie’s waist, holding her lithe form close to his body, “We’ve vowed that we’d be together forever. ‘Forever’ is going to be awfully short if you die of lung cancer in your forties. Then, I’ll have to spend the rest of my life in this world without you. There’s nothing in the world I fear or hate more than that.”

Jolie whispers in response, “Athena and I have always been horrible chain smokers. We’ve always thought it doesn’t matter because we’d probably die in combat way before cancer could get us. Maybe it didn’t matter to us because we weren’t counting on living long either way. But now, things are different.”

Jolie removes three more cigarettes from her pouch, and surrenders them to Jonah, “I think more about the future now…because now the future has you in it. That makes the future worth living for. I won’t leave you behind, Jonah…any more than you would leave me.”

“So you’re going to give up smoking?” Jonah asks, “I don’t want you to feel like I’m making you do anything you don’t want to do. I’m warning you about the health risks, and how I feel about it, but the choice is still yours.”

Jolie replies, “I choose…whatever will keep me in your arms and in your heart longer. Smoking? Jonah, I’d give up my life for you.”

“No,” Jonah says, “Please, don’t ever say that. I…I couldn’t bear the idea of your dying on me, Jolie.”

Jolie says, “Let’s win this war, soon. Then, we can live together…for a long time…forever.”

The two exchange a long kiss, and Jonah smiles as he says to Jolie, “I’m going to look forward to being able to kiss you without having to endure the smell of residual tobacco smoke.”

“Are you saying I stink?” Jolie says, grinning.

“Tobacco stinks,” Jonah replies, “not you.”

“In that case,” Jolie says, “You’d better keep those cigarettes far, far away from me. You’re gonna be my lifestyle coach…help me kick the habit.”

“With pleasure, milady,” Jonah says gallantly.

The couple laughs quietly, the cold metal floor of the gym seemingly not so cold amidst the heat their bodies generate.

Major Athena Ibaz enters the gym, obviously not to work out, as she is in her duty uniform. Athena catches sight of the couple horizontal on the floor of the gym and her eyes widen in momentary alarm, until she realizes that they are both fully dressed, albeit in comparatively skimpy gymnasium wear.

These two are like bunnies in heat, Athena notes with some amusement, One of these days, I’m going to walk in on them and find them…

Athena doesn’t finish the thought, smiling as Jolie catches sight of her and groans, “This is getting to be an annoying habit of yours ‘Thena.”

“Sorry,” Athena says, “the war is pretty rough on relationships. Hope I wasn’t about to interrupt anything serious.”

“No, ma’am,” Jonah says, standing up, “1Lt. Minh and I were…working out.”

More like MAKING out, Athena thinks, but declines to say.

“I swear this is all part of a plan,” Jolie says mockingly, “You keep on interrupting me and Jonah so we’ll never get it on…then you can come and take him for yourself.”

“Not that Jonah here isn’t a fine specimen of masculine charm,” Athena says, playfully pinching Jonah on the upper arm, “but I’m already otherwise involved, remember?”

“OK, seriously,” Jolie says, “What do you want?”

Athena becomes serious as well, “We’ll be leaving the Frontier 8 Zone soon. We expect to encounter heavy resistance as we leave. Our blowing up half of the crust of Mars hasn’t exactly endeared us to the Zeon. We aren’t going to be leaving this sector of space without a scrap.”

“Well, bring ‘em on!” Jolie enthuses, looking forward to new combat, “I’m itching to kick some Zeon tail. I didn’t get enough satisfaction on Mars!”

Battle is a thrill ride that could be addicting, and Jolie knows that the battle bug infected her blood long ago. She truly could not wait to get back to the controls of the Centurion Gundam, hunting down the enemy in battle

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

“That was your own fault,” Athena says critically, “You didn’t use your head in battle, and nearly compromised the mission. I’ve told you many times before, Jolie: no matter how great your natural fighting skills are, you’re going to lose more battles than win them if you don’t use your brain in battle.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Jolie says irritably, but acknowledging that Athena is right (as usual). Jolie is not known for her patience, and curbing her habit of charging headfirst into combat has put her into disadvantageous situations several times…which her combat prowess barely enabled her to escape.

Jolie had fallen into an enemy trap on Mars, and embarrassingly ended up with her Centurion Gundam badly damaged as a result. The battle is a dent in the girl’s rapidly growing ego: she is the best mobile suit pilot in the Earth Federation Forces…no, the best mobile suit pilot EVER, on ANY side…better than Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, Camille Vidan, Judau Ashta, Braniff Oskar…better than ALL of them. Those Zeon clowns might have gotten the best of her using trickery on Mars, but they wouldn’t take advantage of her again. When they meet next in combat, Jolie knows, she will take all of them down.

“Anyway,” Athena concludes, “you’ve heard that lecture before, so I’m not going to repeat myself. Get your mobile suits prepped for combat within the hour, you two.”

Athena leaves, and Jolie whirls towards Jonah, toweling off residual perspiration from her neck and head, “Yadda yadda yadda! B*tch b*tch b*tch! I swear that’s all ‘Thena ever does when she sees me!”

“But she makes a good point,” Jonah says, slinging his own towel over his shoulder, “You could have been more careful back on Mars.”

“Don’t you get started,” Jolie says, waving her towel in Jonah’s face, “I don’t need to be lectured in stereo!”

Jonah grins, “We’ll sing it into your ear in harmony.”

“Hey,” Jolie says in a mockingly warning tone, “my voice might not be the greatest, but if you’re gonna sing harmony with anyone, it’s gonna be me, not her!”

“Ooooh,” Jonah teases, “Jealous…?”

“I am NOT jealous!” Jolie says, pounding Jonah softly on his now well-muscled chest with her fist, conscious of not hurting him.

“Pretty as Athena is,” Jonah says, “and I’m not saying that she’s necessarily prettier than you…you’re both pretty in different ways…it’s a surprise that she hasn’t got a steady boyfriend. Actually, you told me once that she does have a boyfriend, doesn’t she?”

Jolie sighs, “Yeah, she does, but…”

“What is it?” Jonah asks.

Jolie becomes downcast, “I’m not sure I should tell you any of this, because it’s really Athena’s personal business. But I can trust you to not repeat what I tell you to anyone else, right?”

“Of course,” Jonah says, “but if you don’t think you should…”

“No,” Jolie says, “you ought to understand our commanding officer and what her issues our. A few months ago, we were sent on a mission to Earth, to protect General Noah during a high-level security conference in Shanghai. There was this guy named Hathaway…”

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

Thirty minutes later, Jolie and Jonah are on the Amuro Ray’s mobile suit deck, and Jolie is wrapping up her story of Athena’s star-crossed romance with the young man named Hathaway Noah.

“Poor Athena,” Jonah sympathizes, “It must have been very hard to deal with having the man she loves being her enemy.”

“She doesn’t let it show,” Jolie says, “but I know it still affects her. Athena’s really stubborn…and proud. She won’t ever let you see her being vulnerable.”

Jonah smiles at Jolie, “Hmmm…sounds like another pretty young lady I know.”

Jolie returns the grin, “I know, I know. It’s probably why ‘Thena and I are best friends…and why we sometimes get on each other’s nerves. We’re too much alike in some ways.”

The two Centurion Team pilots approach their mobile suits, the twin Centurion Gundam. The two mobile suits, the pride of the Earth Federation Forces’ arsenal, have been painstakingly refurbished by 1Lt. Molly Duran and her team of engineers and mechanics after the brutal battle down on Mars.

Jolie’s eyes widen as she takes in the view of her Centurion Gundam, restored to optimum working condition and even sporting a fresh coat of paint. At the moment, Molly’s team is loading a fresh magazine of vulcan rounds into the Centurion Gundam’s head-mounted autocannon. Simultaneously, a fully charged beam rifle is loaded onto the mobile suit’s backpack weapons/thruster mount unit.

Jolie floats up to the Centurion Gundam’s cockpit, seats herself in the pilot’s seat, and brings the mobile suit’s systems to life. She feels the thrill she always does when she hears its sophisticated internal systems come online…as she feels the powerful vibration of its nuclear fusion engine revving up.

Jolie grips the control sticks of the mobile suit fondly as she addresses the machine, “Yeah…we’re gonna kick some Zeon tail together, baby!”

Jolie can hear Jonah chuckling through the comlink, “It’s only a machine, Jolie.”

Jolie protests, “The Centurion Gundam isn’t just a pile of nuts and bolts, Jonah. It’s a warrior. It’s got a warrior’s soul.”

“Uh-huh,” Jonah replies skeptically.

Jolie continues, “I’m serious! I think these mecha are basically just extensions of the people that pilot them. When I’m in battle, the Centurion Gundam kind of just becomes an extension of my body.”

“Mobile ‘suit’ in a literal sense,” Jonah notes, “Maybe there’s something to that. Still, I can’t understand getting emotionally attached to a machine.”

“Are you jealous?” Jolie teases, “Worried that I might dump you for my ‘first love,’ the Centurion Gundam?”

“Oh, what would I do?” Jonah teases back, “Losing my girl to a walking scrap heap! I’d just die!”

The couple’s laughter is cut short by the appearance of, not Athena this time, but 1Lt. Molly Duran, who pokes her carrot-topped head into the cockpit of Jolie’s Centurion Gundam, “Hey, if you two are done with the comedy routine, you need to run full diagnostics on your mechs. If there’s anything wrong with your Centurion Gundams, I’ve got to know about it before you guys sortie. Otherwise, I’m not going to be responsible if your suits break down on you out there!”

“Relax, Molly,” Jolie says dismissively, “You’ve never let us down before. If anything’s wrong, we’ll make sure you know about it.”

“BEFORE you launch,” Molly emphasizes.

“Stop being such a worrier,” Jolie tells the Centurion Team’s chief engineer, “we always come back, don’t we?”

“Yeah,” Molly says, “and too often, with your mobile suits in sorry condition. Just because we can fix any damage you bring back doesn’t mean we always want to, Lieutenant.”

“OK, OK!” Jolie says irritably, “Geeze, grouchy this morning, Molly. Did one of your mechanics pour lubrication fluid into your coffee or something?”

“Unless you want me to loosen the joint screws on the Centurion Gundam on you, don’t give me any ‘tude, Minh,” Molly says before floating away to inspect the other mobile suits on the deck.

“Well, that was unpleasant,” Jonah remarks dryly

Jolie giggles, “Eh, yeah. Molly and I are pretty tight. I like her, and she’s pretty cool with me. We just like to b*tch at each other.”

“You like to do that with a lot of people, I’ve noticed,” Jonah says, rubbing his chin in mischievous thoughtfulness.

“Meaning what, Jonah?” Jolie challenges.

“Meaning that like these mobile suits,” Jonah answers, “you’re high-maintenance. I’ve got a high-maintenance girlfriend…”

To Jonah’s shock, Jolie appears suddenly at the entrance of his mobile suit’s open cockpit. While he had been busy making fun of her, she had quietly slipped out of her Centurion Gundam’s cockpit and across the mobile suit maintenance deck into his.

Jolie invades the tiny space of the Centurion Gundam Unit-2’s cockpit, pressing Jonah back against his seat, “So you think I’m high-maintenance, huh?”

“See?” Jonah chides fondly, “All I did was make a little remark and you’re all over me!”

“I am NOT all over you!” Jolie objects. Then, seating herself in his lap, she finishes, “NOW, I’m all over you.”

Jonah laughs as Jolie squirms in his embrace, “Hey, be careful! These are extremely sensitive instruments! You think Molly is grouchy now, just imagine how ticked off she’s going to be if you knock them out of sync!”

“I’ve got some pretty ‘sensitive instruments’ myself,” Jolie remarks suggestively.

“How do they handle?” Jonah asks mischievously.

“Maybe you can find out later,” Jolie says, running her fingers fondly through Jonah’s hair.

As they kiss, Athena’s voice is heard on the ship-wide PA system, “Attention all Centurion Team personnel. This is Major Ibaz. Enemy formation has been sighted on our course, distance 700 km. All personnel stand by your mecha immediately.”

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

“You can’t get a moment’s peace in this outfit,” Jolie complains, as she disengages from Jonah’s embrace and floats out of the Centurion Gundam Unit 2’s cockpit and heads for the pilot’s locker to don her normalsuit.

Jonah follows her to do the same, “Then let’s do our duty…so we can have much more than just a moment’s peace…for better things.”

“Like checking out our instrumentation?” Jolie asks, brightening again.

“Among other things,” Jonah replies, smiling.


A dozen military green Zimmfer mobile suits deploy from the launch deck of the Iron Fist, headed by a red and black trimmed Zimmfer-S Officer’s Type, distinguished superficially from the more common standard Zimmfer not only by its color scheme, but also by the addition of a sensor crest mounted atop its head/camera unit. Internally, the Zimmfer-S features more sophisticated avionics, superior control interface, and an engine with 30% greater power output…a standard Zeon practice for officer’s mecha.

Across the Deimos Zeon armada, more mobile suits deploy…from the Blackmace, the Deathwind, and the Nightstalker, all primed to do battle against the advancing Earth Federation Special Forces fleet.

1Lt. Garrett Lockner issues orders to his subordinates, “This is 1Lt. Lockner to all units: your orders are to prevent the escape of the approaching Earth Federation Forces’ fleet from the Frontier 8/Mars Zone. No prisoners. Use extreme prejudice.”

That is all the Zeon soldiers need to hear. They want Feddie blood, and they will get it. Not a single Feddie soldier will be allowed to pass alive out of the Frontier 8/Mars Zone today.


All is controlled commotion aboard the bridge of the Amuro Ray and those of its sister ships.

Captain Beecher Olech opens communications to the entire fleet, “This is Captain Beecher. All mobile suit units: deploy in attack formation. We’re going to break the enemy blockade!”

The mobile suits of the Centurion Team are lifted, in pairs, onto the launch deck: Athena’s Cour de Leon and Anna’s GM-IV AWAC. Jolie and Jonah’s Centurion Gundams. Karim and Tomo’s Guncannon-100s, and the Jegan-IIs of the rest of the team.

“Centurion Leader to all units,” Athena instructs the team, “We have thirty six bogies sighted. Mobile suits, unfamiliar signatures…possibly new models not registered in our databanks. They are supported by four battlecarriers, Prince Garma-class. Use extreme caution. 1Lt. Minh? Chief Warrant Officer Michaels?”

“Ma’am,” Jolie and Jonah respond in unison from the cockpits of their respective Centurion Gundams.

“Take the point,” Athena orders, “We’ll hit them up front with our strongest hand.”

“Roger, ma’am,” the two teenaged ace pilots reply.

The mobile suits are launched into space by the powerful nuclear-powered catapults of the launch decks and by the MS’s own fusion-powered thrusters…thrown into the eternal night of the cosmos to engage in savage combat against the mechanoids that fight under a different flag.

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

Sgt. Lina Bai, reconnaissance specialist in the Talon Squadron of the Deimos Zeon Forces, informs her commanding officer, “1Lt. Garrett, sir. Enemy units approaching: twelve in number. Two Gundam units. A Cour de Leon. Guncannon and Jegan IIs.”

“All units, attack!” Garrett orders.

Across space, Maj. Athena Ibaz of the Earth Federation Special Forces issues similar orders to her troops, “Jolie, Jonah! Take out their command unit first! I’ll go after their recon unit. The rest of you, remember: we’re outnumbered three to one, so do as much damage as quickly as possible and cover your teammates.”

“Roger, ma’am!” comes the collective reply.

“Contact in ten seconds!” Anna declares.

“Here we go!” Sgt. Geoff Sutcliffe says, psyching himself up for the clash.

The seconds drop away…five, four, three, two, one…zero.

The battle is engaged. The war continues.

Jolie makes a beeline for the red and black-trimmed Zimmfer mobile suit, which she had identified (and Anna has confirmed) as the enemy squadron leader. Take him down, and the rest of the enemy squadron will fall into disarray, becoming easy targets for the Centurion Team.

But that’s easier said than done, even for Jolie. Between her and the enemy command unit are five of the new, unfamiliar Zeon mobile suits. These are not the Geara Doga-II or even the Gellond units that Jolie and the rest of the Centurions are accustomed to fighting against. These new MS are fast, strong, agile…almost, unbelievably, on par with the Centurion Gundam. Jolie begins to wonder: have the Zeon made the next leap forward in mobile suit technology? Have the Federation’s mobile suits been outclassed by the Zeon’s?

It doesn’t matter, Jolie resolves, even if their mobile suits are stronger, the skill of the pilot can make the difference!

Jonah’s Centurion Gundam Unit 2 appears next to Jolie’s, reducing the opposition from five to three.

“Thanks, Jonah!” Jolie calls out as she moves in on the remaining three. The enemy command unit has soared away.

“Damn!” Jolie curses. Losing her patience, Jolie launches her attack.

Shimmying around the enemy’s missile and beam fire as if they were static, the Centurion Gundam Unit 1 opens fire with its beam rifle. Jolie’s shot lances directly through the center of the first Zimmfer in her path, exploding in a massive fireball of exploding nuclear energy. The concussive force and blinding flash of the explosion stuns the other enemy mobile suit pilots, and Jolie takes advantage of their disorientation to press her attack. Jolie draws out the Centurion Gundam’s beam saber and carves the second Zimmfer in half lengthwise, from its crotch to its head. A pair of carefully directed missiles rapidly dispatches a third Zimmfer even as it aims its beam rifle at Jolie’s Centurion Gundam, its shot arcing off wildly as Jolie’s missiles hit home.

Thus far, the advanced Zimmfer mobile suits have not fared much better against the White Phoenix than have other models of mobile suits that have engaged in combat against her. They still fall before her assault like sick lambs to an angry lioness.

Jonah, however, is not faring nearly as well. The Zimmfers are just fast and maneuverable enough to avoid his beam rifle shots, and are able to stay out of range of those shots than the enemy mobile suits that Jonah is more familiar with. After four stray shots that strike harmlessly into the void, a fifth shot finally connects with one of the Zimmfers, solidly enough to damage it, but not to destroy it. At the same time, its two undamaged compatriots close in on the Centurion Gundam Unit 2 with their beam sabers drawn.

One of the Zimmfers, piloted by a 22-year old mobile suit pilot by the rank and name of Chief Warrant Officer Arrjay Viswanathan, attacks Jonah’s Centurion Gundam viciously with the downward strike of his Zimmfer’s beam saber. Jonah manages to block the slash with his own mobile suit’s beam saber, with a nanosecond’s margin for error.

As Chief Viswanathan locks up the beam saber of Jonah’s Centurion Gundam, Viswanathan’s partner, Chief Warrant Officer Janelle Waterman, closes in for the kill from behind. The nuclear fusion engine of the Centurion Gundam lies squarely in the targeting reticle of Chief Waterman’s Zimmfer beam rifle.

The Zimmfer fires the shot, but it arcs in an awkward angle, far away from Jonah’s Centurion Gundam. An instant passes before anyone can process the fact that Chief Waterman’s Zimmfer has been cut in two by Jolie Minh’s Centurion Gundam beam saber, its upper and lower halves floating uselessly in space.

In the same motion, Jolie redirects the beam saber upwards, above her Centurion Gundam’s head. Switching the angle of the thrusting verniers on the Centurion Gundam’s backpack and legs, Jolie directs her mobile suit in a headlong charge towards the enemy mobile suit presently assaulting Jonah’s Centurion Gundam.

Viswanathan barely has time to cry out in terror as the beam saber of the Centurion Gundam Unit 1 stabs through the head/camera unit of his Zimmfer, shutting down the main camera and most of the sensor and tracking equipment of his mobile suit.

Viswanathan retreats. Without the camera unit and sensors, he’s fighting blind and useless in the battle.

Jolie takes no chances. She disarms Viswanathan’s mobile suit, removing all missile packs, beam rifle, and beam saber with strategic slashes of her Centurion Gundam’s beam saber. Jolie further neutralizes the Zimmfer by disabling its backpack thruster with a solid jab of the Centurion Gundam’s armored knee. Only life support is left functioning. Viswanathan and Waterman will live to fight another day, but their role in this battle is over.

“Jonah, are you all right?” Jolie asks worriedly.

“I’m fine, thanks to you,” Jonah says, “Good job stopping those two without killing them.”

Jolie says, “I haven’t forgotten what you told me.”

“Thank you, Jolie,” Jonah replies warmly, “I’m glad you…”

“Watch out!” Jolie calls out.

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

The battlefield is merciless, despite the merciful inclinations of some who wage war within it. Jolie has killed three and spared two in the course of a battle that has thus far, raged for fewer than three minutes. Despite her vow to Jonah, Jolie knows that it is unlikely that she will be able win this battle and keep both of them alive without taking a few more enemy lives.

Jolie fires a few shots from her Centurion Gundam’s beam rifle, sending a Zimmfer to flaming ruin with each shot. Jonah, for his part, adds his firepower to the fray, learning to be a steelier warrior even as Jolie endeavors to be a more merciful one.


Elsewhere, Major Athena Ibaz has just immolated the Zimmfer Recon Unit of 2Lt. Lina Bai when she finds her Cour de Leon under assault by 1Lt. Garrett Lockner’s Zimmfer Officer Type. It is commanding officer vs. commanding officer.

Garrett takes a shot at the Cour de Leon with his Zimmfer-S’s powerful beam rifle. Athena dodges the powerful incoming beam of energy by transforming the Cour de Leon to Waverider configuration, diving at the Zimmfer-S and firing its forward-mounted beam cannon.

Garrett manages to twist his Zimmfer-S away from Athena’s beam fire, although he is forced to use the Zimmfer’s arm-mounted shield to deflect some of the incoming beam energy.

She’s not the White Phoenix, Garrett muses, impressed, but this Federation commander fights extremely well. A formidable opponent.

Garrett gets a bad taste of just how formidable Athena is as her Cour de Leon rushes straight into the face of his Zimmfer-S and slashes with its beam saber. The slash makes contact with the left shoulder of the Zimmfer-S, causing it to spew sparks. Garrett is able to chase Athena’s mobile suit away with a quick counterslash from his own MS beam saber.

Garrett curses himself for dropping his guard in the face of what is obviously a highly skilled and fearless opponent. Garrett has been so focused on the White Phoenix that has forgotten that the Federation Special Forces has other extremely dangerous ace pilots.

Athena seethes with frustration at having failed to cleave the enemy mobile suit’s weapons arm from its body with that slash. The enemy had been just quick enough to pull away before she could inflict critical damage. The damage that Athena did manage to inflict would hamper the enemy commander somewhat, but not outright take him out of the battle.

Damn it, Athena grates, Where are Jolie and Jonah? They’re the ones who were supposed to take out this enemy command unit!

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

Athena brings up the Cour de Leon’s beam saber just in time to redirect Garrett’s counter slash. The two ace mobile suit pilots are nearly evenly matched in skill. The battle promises to be a long one.

Athena seizes upon the greatest advantages her Cour de Leon has to offer: its speed and maneuverability. In close-in mobile suit combat, Athena and the Leon can do little more than stalemate Garrett and his powerful Zimmfer-S. He has the advantage in strength and raw firepower; thus, she must counter with dexterity and stealth.

The Cour de Leon transforms from mobile suit to Waverider configuration, in this mode taking the form of a sleek space fighter plane instead of an armored, anthropomorphic knight.

Athena streaks away from Garrett’s Zimmfer-S, seemingly fleeing from the battle.

Although his mobile suit lacks the Cour de Leon’s tremendous speed, Garrett begins to pursue Athena’s mobile suit, resolved to not let the Feddie coward escape.

“Didn’t your training officers teach you to never turn your back to the enemy?” Garrett taunts.

Garrett makes two mistaken assumptions. The first is that Athena is truly fleeing from the battle. In fact, Athena is merely clearing space and building up momentum for a strafing/bombing dive run. The second is that Athena is a coward, unable to match his tenacity and willingness to sacrifice all of herself for victory.

With neck-breaking suddenness, the Cour de Leon reverses course, 180 degrees. It comes nose-first towards Garrett’s Zimmfer-S, its beam cannon blazing and a half dozen missiles ripping forth from internal nacelle-mounted firing pods.

It is enough firepower to immolate a space battleship, and all of it is directed at Garrett’s Zimmfer-S.

Terror shoots up Garrett’s spine as he senses the torrent of firepower heading his way. His Newtype instincts and senses immediately take over, the telltale spark of his psychic energy erupting from his forehead.

1Lt. Garrett Lockner throws his mobile suit Zimmfer-S into evasive maneuvers, drawing upon all of his talent, training, and limited experience to moving his mobile suit out of the path of the destructive firepower headed his way.

It is a feat of piloting that would have fit honorably and comfortably alongside the best maneuvers in Amuro Ray, Char Aznable, or Jolie Minh’s catalogues of spectacular maneuvers, as Garrett slips his mobile suit through the minute, fleeting gaps of time and space in Athena’s salvo to avoid the worst of it.

Even Garrett Lockner, however, cannot entirely avoid the shot of the Earth Federation Forces’ best markswoman. Two of Athena’s missiles and one of her beam cannon shots find the mark, destroying the Zimmfer-S’s right arm and left leg, and rupturing the outer shell of its head/camera unit, leaving the Zimmfer-S’s camera and other sensors in a compromised state of function.

Sensing her opportunity to finish off her formidable enemy, Athena swoops in for the kill, transforming the Waverider back into mobile suit configuration and drawing out its beam saber.

The slash surely would have finished 1Lt. Garrett Lockner and his Zimmfer-S, had not a deadly rain of massed beam cannon fire from the Deimos Zeon fleet not forced Athena to retreat.

Mirroring Garrett’s predicament of a moment earlier, Athena finds herself in the path of massed firepower…far more than she had fired at Garrett (the firepower of several space battleships rather than a single mobile suit). Once again, however, the maneuverability of the Cour de Leon (and Athena’s considerable piloting skill) is Athena’s saving grace. Reverting once again to Waverider mode, the Cour de Leon averts the beams of deadly energy, but is separated from its intended target.

No matter, Athena acknowledges, focused as always on the overall goal, We need to break this blockade. Hmmmm…

Athena studies the underbellies of the three Zeon space battleships above her…fat, slow targets looking eminently vulnerable.

Would the falcons continue to hunt knowing they have no roost to return to? Athena thinks.

Jolie and Jonah reappear on the scene as Athena ponders this point, the couple having torn a devastating gash through the enemy mobile suit formation.

“We’ve cleared through the first enemy formation, ‘Thena!” Jolie reports to her commanding officer, getting the point across, albeit without proper military protocol.

Setting aside that irrelevance, Athena responds, “Good work. Now stay here. We’re going to take out those three enemy battleships.”

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...my buddy Ren Wo Xing is rapidly eating through my backlogue supply of chapters. There's only ten pages of Episode 8 left, and I've only got eight pages of Episode 9 ready to go! Ack!!!!

“Battleships?!” Jolie protests, “Are you kidding?! We…”

Athena ignores Jolie’s complaints, contacting the mobile suit deck of the Amuro Ray, “This is Major Ibaz to 1Lt. Duran. Prepare to deploy three Hyper Particle Bazooka Cannon to my mobile suit and 1Lt. Minh and Chief Michaels’ Centurion Gundams.”

Molly’s reply comes immediately, “Right away, Major, ma’am! Give us a few minutes to get ready!”

“You have three,” Athena tells her senior engineer, “I’m sending you our vector data so your boys will know where to point them.”

“Roger that, ma’am,” Molly returns. Then, floating out towards the arsenal bay, Molly calls out to her team of mechanics, “You heard the woman, boys! Let’s get those HPBCs mounted and ready to go NOW!”

Molly and her engineers scramble into action, prepping the three powerful cannon for imminent deployment.


The Centurion Team is holding its own against the Deimos Zeon Forces, despite being outnumbered three to one. This is due in no small part to the efforts of the team’s three officers and ace pilots, Major Athena Ibaz, 1Lt. Jolie Minh, and Chief Warrant Officer Jonah Michaels. Together, the trio is an unbeatable triangle of death…immolating enemy mobile suit after enemy mobile suit.

But the Zeon forces are numerous and relentless, coming at the small Earth Federation Special Forces fleet in wave after wave.

Aboard the Amuro Ray, Captain Beecher Olech receives a report from his tracking and scanning tech, “Captain Beecher, we have enemy reinforcements arriving…three more battlecarriers, likely carrying mobile suits.”

“Hurry and deploy those HPBCs!” Beecher exhorts the MS engineering crew, then, through the MS pilots’ tactical net, “Athena! Did you get that?”

“Roger that, Captain,” Athena replies, “we have visual confirmation. A fresh wave of enemy mobile suits is presently being deployed from the enemy reinforcement fleet.”

“Whatever you have in mind, you’ll need to pull it off quickly, Major,” Captain Beecher says grimly to the Deputy Director of the Earth Federation Special Forces.

“Understood, sir,” Athena says, then to Jolie and Jonah, “1Lt. Minh, Chief Michaels. Keep the newly arrived enemy units busy for another ninety seconds!”

“Roger, ma’am!” come the spirited, united reply as Jolie and Jonah’s dual Centurion Gundams dive into the midst of the oncoming enemy forces and unleash a new round of carnage.

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ren Wo Xing]

Mwahaha, don't think that I don't see you rapidly putting up small excerpts to keep yours on top!

[Ken Cheng]

Mwahaha, don't think that I don't see you rapidly putting up small excerpts to keep yours on top!

I'm heading into town, so the forum's yours for the rest of the day.

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 continued...

On the mobile suit deck of the Amuro Ray, 1Lt. Molly Duran and her team have the three HPBCs armed and mounted on launch catapults for immediate deployment.

“Major Ibaz, three HPBCs headed your way right now!” Molly reports, then to her crew, “OK, launch ‘em!”

The launch catapults hurl the heavy mobile artillery pieces into space at a speed several times the velocity of sound waves. After the HPBCs have cleared the launch deck, directional thrusters built into their aft sections kick in, and computer guidance systems direct them towards Athena’s Cour de Leon and Jolie and Jonah’s Centurion Gundams.

Jolie notices the contrails of the approaching weapons, “’Thena…our packages have arrived!”

“Magnetic homing beacon,” Athena orders.

Jolie and Jonah comply. The three Federation mobile suits draw the incoming HPBCs towards themselves via magnetically-encoded signals.

Tool mechanisms from nacelles in the lower arms of the Federal Forces mobile suits extend to affix the HPBCs into firing position. These high-powered beam cannon draw power directly from their host mobile suits’ nuclear fusion engines.

“Acquiring targets,” Athena instructs her two charges, “the two Zeon battlecarriers on the left and right flanks.”

“Ma’am,” Jonah says, “each of those ships carries several hundred troops. If we…”

Athena says, “I know, Jonah. Just do it.”

Jonah knows that Athena isn’t a remorseless killer, but that she is perfectly willing to be ruthless when necessary. This is one of those moments.

Do you know what you’re doing, Jonah? Jonah’s conscience seems to ask him,
Do you realize that in doing this, you are doing exactly what you left your brother to escape from?

Perhaps there is no escaping the reality of war, another part of Jonah realizes, That’s a reality that Athena and Jolie accepted a long time ago…something that maybe I’ll have to accept too…

“Target acquired,” Jonah reports, setting aside his aching conscience, focusing on his duty, “Power charging in fusion battery. T-minus ten seconds to firing.”

“Nine seconds and counting to firing,” Jolie confirms from her end.

The seconds continue to fall away, tensely, ominously.

The muzzles of the HPBC begin to glow, and soon reach supernova intensity.

“Commence firing!” Athena orders.

Twin beams of annihilative energy erupt forth from the muzzles of the Centurion Gundams’ HPBCs, lancing towards the Zeon space battlecarriers Blackmace and Nightstalker.

Nine hundred and thirty-two Deimos Zeon space troopers scream in pain and terror as the energy unleashed by the two Centurion Gundams reduce their battle carriers to cosmic dust.

The two Centurion Gundams disengage their HPBCs as the weapons expend their charge; one firing is all these massively powerful weapons are capable of before requiring servicing and recharge at a maintenance facility such as those aboard the Amuro Ray. HPBC are terrifyingly powerful weapons, but not at all energy efficient. Hence, they are not favored for melee combat, but instead for strategic mass assaults.

“Tomo, Geoff, Nick: keep up the heavy fire. The rest of you; cover me!” Athena orders.

The Guncannon-100’s piloted by Higashi, Sutcliffe, and Van Dyck pour forth shells from their shoulder-mounted 280mm cannon…not even a fraction of the firepower of a single HPBC blast, but still enough firepower to bring down a space battleship if fired with precision.

The remaining Centurions cut a path towards the Deimos Zeon fleet’s flagship, the Iron Fist. Athena uses this fleeting opportunity to bring her Cour de Leon right up to the hull of the Zeon flagship.To ensure that Athena does not fall prey to enemy fire while executing her plan, Jolie and Jonah

Athena presses the muzzle of her mobile suit’s HPBC up against the Iron Fist’s’s hull, right where the ship’s nuclear fusion engine is located. With a single pull of her finger, Athena could destroy the ship, herself, and everything within a 5km radius.

Episode 8 to be continued...

[Ken Cheng]

Episode 8 conclusion!

Athena opens the tactical net to the Zeon frequency, “This is Major Athena Ibaz of the Earth Federation Forces: attention to all enemy combatants. You will cease all hostilities and allow our forces to pass out of the Frontier 8/Mars Zone immediately. If you fail to comply, this flagship and all of its personnel will be destroyed.”

On the bridge of the Iron Fist, Rear Admiral Dieter Herrmann blanches in terror, croaking through the tactical net, “All forces! Cease fire immediately! Let them through!”

1Lt. Garrett Lockner, struggling to pilot his damaged Zimffer-S, protests the order, “Sir! We can’t let the enemy escape into free space! They’ll continue to be a thorn in our side if we let them live!”

“As you were, Lieutenant!” Rear Admiral Herrmann replies harshly, “Lives are at stake! Comply with orders or face court-martial!”

Coward! Garrett seethes angrily, It’s your probably only your own life that you fear for! What red-blooded man of Zeon would not gladly sacrifice his life for his nation’s honor?!

Nevertheless, Garrett forces himself to comply with orders…despite the further wound to his pride. The Deimos fleet had already lost two ships and over two dozen mobile suits, barely inflicting any damage on the enemy Federation fleet. Revenge could wait until circumstances were more germane.

“You Earthist pigs will pay for offending Zeon!” Garrett snarls at the depleting Federation fleet, then orders the Talon Squadron to withdraw.


“Jolie, Jonah,” Athena instructs, “disable the ship’s engines.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the couple replies, both relieved that their commanding officer hasn’t ordered them to commit further acts of mass slaughter.

Athena acknowledges as much, God forgive me. I’ve turned those two wonderful kids into killers on a massive scale. Oh, Jolie, Jonah…I’m so sorry for bringing you into this. I pray that in the end, the better world we do this for emerges, or I’ll have sold all of our souls in vain.

The two Centurion Gundams fire a small number of missiles into the Iron Fist’s engine block, enough to critically damage the Zeon flagship’s primary and secondary engines, but not enough to cause the ship to explode. Fortunately for the crew, Zeon space battleship design powers life support and onboard systems through a separate, self-contained generator rather than the main engines.

Athena had taken that into account. Ruthless as she could be when called for, she has no particular inclination towards mass murder.

“All units: deploy magnetic clamp cables,” Athena orders.

The mobile suits of the Centurion Team deploy the magnetic cables from nacelles tucked in their lower arms. The cables’ clamped heads attach themselves to the hull of the Iron Fist

The dozen mobile suits of the Centurion Team drag the Iron Fist towards the border of the Frontier 8/Mars Zone, the remaining enemy ships and mobile suits unable to fire without striking their flagship.

Athena transmits to the Zeon forces on their frequency, “We’ll be borrowing your flagship and its crew for a short time, gentlemen. They’ll be returned to you intact, provided we experience safe and unmolested passage into free space.”

Then, to the Centurions, Athena instructs, “Team? Farewell gift for our hosts.”

The Centurions understand their commanding officer’s insinuative order instinctively, opening fire on the receding Zeon armada with all of its weapons. The Federation fleet led by the Amuro Ray follows suit, firing its aft weapons.

The Deimos fleet is forced to take evasive maneuvers, unable to counterstrike for fear of jeopardizing their flagship and its crew.

Episode 8 to be continued...

Episode 8 continued...

Thirty minutes later, five-hundred kilometers beyond the border of the Frontier 8/Mars Zone, the Special Forces Fleet is met by a contingent of the Earth Federation Forces’ Asteroid Belt Armada, fifteen ships and two-hundred mobile suits strong, in a rendezvous that had been arranged weeks earlier. The Asteroid Belt Armada, commanded by veteran Federal Forces officer Commodore Oscar Dublin, former White Base bridge tech under Bright Noah’s command during the One Year War.

Assured that her fleet is safe from further attacks by the Deimos Zeon Forces, at least for the present, Athena issues new orders, “Disengage magnetic clamp cables.”

Obeying their commanding officer’s directive, the Centurion Team release the magnetic clamp cables from the disabled Iron Fist.

Athena opens communications channels to the Zeon ship, “You may send a distress signal to your forces to recover you after we’ve cleared the area. Our fleet’s guns have an effective range of 50 kilometers, with missile capability up to 2000 kilometers. Bear that in mind if you have thoughts of calling in reinforcement for retaliatory action.”

They do, and the Special Forces fleet, now escorted by the Asteroid Belt Armada, departs for the Federation spaceport located at the dwarf planet Ceres, the Earth Federation Forces’ strongest foothold in the Asteroid Belt Zone.

Athena talks to her team once more, “Centurion Leader to all units. Good work today, ladies and gentlemen. Return to ship. Debriefing session in conference room in thirty minutes.”

The Centurion Team returns to the Amuro Ray, triumphant, but not in a celebratory mood.


The Cour de Leon lands on the mobile suit deck of the Amuro Ray, received on the same catapult devices that had hurled it out into space several hours earlier. Athena secures her mobile suit at its assigned maintenance dock and doffs her helmet, shaking her mane of blonde hair loose before she disembarks from the cockpit.

Athena floats out of the cockpit and is greeted by 1Lt. Molly Duran, approaching the Cour de Leon with toolkit in hand.

“Hey, there, Major,” Molly says cheerfully, “Let me get the Leon refreshed for you!”

“Thanks, Molly,” says Athena, floating by, patting her engineer on the shoulder, “Excellent work by you and your crew today. You guys turned the tide of battle. Things wouldn’t have gone nearly as well without you.”

Molly blushes. Athena rarely dishes out the praise so openly; it’s a real treat when she does, “Just doing my duty, ma’am.”

Athena gives Molly a “thumbs up” and floats away.

Molly watches the major go as she begins working on the Cour de Leon, Now that’s who I want to be, Molly thinks to herself wistfully.


************************************************** **************************


The cockpit hatch of the Centurion Gundam Unit-2 opens, but before Chief Warrant Officer Jonah Michaels can float out from it, he’s pinned back inside by 1Lt. Jolie Minh, who immediately wraps him in a warm embrace.

Jonah holds Jolie tightly, stroking her fine, jet black hair through his gloved hands.

“Hey, boyo,” Jolie says softly, “Looks like we made it through another one.”

“Yes,” Jonah admits, “It’s a relief. But we killed so many people today, Jolie.”

“I know,” Jolie says, “I…didn’t feel good about that at all. But Athena reasoned that it was the best tactic, and it was, but maybe a bit cruel. I bet she isn’t feeling much better about it.”

“No,” Jonah agrees, “It must be hard to be in command. You have to constantly make decisions that go against what your conscience tells you.”

Jolie nods, “It’s what drives ‘Thena to drink, I think. That girl’s carrying a conscience as heavy as a titanium block.”

“We’d better get to that debriefing session before she decides to take it out on us,” Jonah says, nervously joking.

“Right,” Jolie says, headed for the pilots’ locker, “See ya there!”



Athena, Jolie, Jonah, and the rest of the squad spend ninety minutes in the conference room dissecting the most recent battle, noting which tactics worked and which didn’t, and identifying holes in the enemy’s strategy they could exploit, and holes in the Centurions’ own strategies that needed plugging.

The team generally dissolves into its individual activities following the conference, but the team’s three officers, Major Athena Ibaz, 1Lt. Jolie Minh, and Chief Warrant Officer Jonah Michaels gather at the bar in the team lounge, nursing drinks together.

Athena offers Jolie a cigarette, and to her surprise, Jolie declines it, “I’ve quit smoking.”

“Oh?” Athena says, raising a curious eyebrow as she inserts the cigarette between her own lips and lights it, “When did you make this uncharacteristically wise decision?”

Jolie tells Athena, “Jonah wanted me to quit because it’s unhealthy, so I did.”

Athena smiles wanly, “Good to see you’re finally getting better counsel than I can give you,” as she downs a shot of whisky, her third.

Jonah, sitting next to Jolie, stoops over his own untouched glass of whiskey, looking very disturbed. He says, in a barely audible tone, “Ma’am…Athena…the tactic we used against the Deimos Zeon fleet today…”

“It was ruthless and inhumane,” Athena confirms, “and I’d do it again without a moment’s hesitation. It’s my duty. You’re going to have to get used to the idea, Jonah.”

“Are you all right?” Jolie asks Jonah gently, tentatively

Jonah downs his shot of whisky in a single gulp. He loathes its smell. He hates its taste. He wants the tranquilizing effect it brings.

“Hey,” Jolie says, putting her hand on his, “wanna talk about it?”

Jonah shakes his head. His hand trembles on the whiskey glass. Athena pours him a fresh shot.

Jolie wraps Jonah in a comforting embrace, but even this does not quiet his tortured mind.

Athena puts her own glass to her lips and downs a fourth shot of whisky.

“Ever read Machiavelli, Jonah?” Athena asks somberly.

“Yes, ma’am,” Jonah replies vacantly, “and I’d always thought his worldview was inhumane and immoral.”

“That depends on how you interpret what Machiavelli actually argued,” Athena says, smiling knowingly, “Many people mistakenly believe that Machiavelli advocated the viewpoint that the ‘ends justifies the means.’ That’s a very limited understanding of what Machiavelli was trying to convey, however. Contrary to popular belief, Machiavelli was not an immoralist…or even an amoralist. Morality was the root of his argument - that measured cruelty…discriminate, swift, effective, and short-lived…must be undertaken to uphold morality.

Jonah’s eyes flash angrily at Athena, “So you’re trying to tell me it was ‘moral’ for us to kill all those troops?! In cold blood?! Athena, we didn’t know those soldiers! They could have been someone’s son or daughter, father or mother, brother or sister…friend or lover! Didn’t that cross your mind at all?! Doesn’t it bother you?! ”

“More than I could ever tell you,” Athena replies, looking Jonah in the eye with a fixed stare, downing a fifth shot of whiskey, “but you said it yourself. We didn’t know those soldiers. You can’t know that had we not killed them today, they might have gone on to kill someone else’s son or daughter, father or mother, brother sister…friend or lover, perhaps yours. Didn’t that cross your mind at all? Doesn’t it bother you?”

Jonah turns to Jolie, who looks at him plaintively.

Jonah drinks down his second shot of whiskey, its bitter taste in his mouth inconsequential in comparison to the bitterness in his heart.

“It’s the same lie, no matter where I go!” Jonah screams as he dashes his whisky glass to the ground, shattering. He leaves the lounge.

“Jonah, wait!” a worried Jolie chases after her distraught boyfriend.

Athena lets the couple leave. She downs a sixth and final shot of whiskey, and inhales from her fourth cigarette of the hour, its smoke concealing the anguish within her soul.

END OF EPISODE 8

New chapter is still in production, so the newest update is an image:

This is Chief Warrant Officer Jonah Michaels' RX-780 Centurion Gundam Unit-2. Note the painting of Jolie Minh on the mobile suit's shield.

$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/962/82721848uy4.jpg')

RX-780-2 Centurion Gundam