Hmm… It has already been more than three weeks since I last claimed that I would update the rest of my already-finished portions of this story, and yet I still have not managed to do that. Here is another chapter, then; hopefully this will be good enough for the wait.

Pointless Disclaimer: If I can't submit simple projects within vague self-imposed deadlines, how am I supposed to own a multi-million dollar company? I still don't own Gundam.

/**/

Char narrowed his eyes behind his mask as he blasted forward, rolling his Gelgoog as incoming fire from a rival Rick Dom flew through the space he had occupied only a moment before. The offending mobile suit was quickly vanquished as Char's faux beam rifle fired a round of paint into the Rick Dom's mono-eye, before rushing past. In front of him, the vacuum of space was lit up by the blinding lights of tracers, rockets, and mobile suits, as the pace of the 'battle' began to pick up. The various vessels of M'Quve's flotilla had squared off against one another, with the Hummel in command of one group while the Zanzibar commanded the other. As the Zanzibar was the home of the most advanced mobile units in the group, M'Quve had decided, in the interest of "fairness," to place it at a numerical disadvantage. Five ships, including the Hummel, were to fight under the colonel's command; Char, however, had the use of only three.

Even so, Char was certain of success. He had positioned his mobile suit forces to defend his three vessels, the Zanzibar, Drumel, and Argos, and fully expected the majority of his suits to survive the simulation without letting a single ship fall. Moreover, he had decided to repeat the test that he and Lalah had undertaken at Solomon, and had positioned the Elmeth accordingly. He knew that he had no need to send his suits against the enemy vessels when the Elmeth's bits could operate in their stead, and he was fairly certain that the guard he had assigned to defend the Elmeth would keep Lalah out of harm's way. As displeased as he was about the relationship between his ensign and Amuro Ray, Char could take comfort in the fact that it made the Gundam even more reliable in combat on Lalah's behalf.

It was his sister, Artesia, who worried Char the most. As he brought his Gelgoog back to engage with a Rick Dom that had used a piece of colony debris to sneak up to the Argos, the captain glanced in the direction of the Hummel, where he could see the lights of a spirited firefight underway. The Corebooster was a remarkable piece of technology, and it had proven itself against some of Zeon's best—the Black Tri-Stars came to mind. But in the end, it was still a fighter, and it had a fighter's limitations. It could not maneuver without expending propellant, and the exhaustion of its propellant supply would leave it sailing in whatever direction it had last turned, most likely to be lost. Moreover—and more importantly, at least regarding these maneuvers—the Corebooster was not meant as a defensive weapon, and could not be used in that capacity without severely handicapping the pilot. Including the Corebooster in his plan would have made Artesia practically useless in the battle, and Char knew that she would never have agreed to it. He had therefore reluctantly agreed to allow the Corebooster to fight offensively, although without mobile suit support such a mission was practically a suicide run.

Considering the amount of fire that was being let off by the Hummel's defenders, apparently Char would need to reevaluate the usefulness of his sister's machine. Clearly it was more dangerous than it first appeared.

The captain boosted forward as one of the Argos's GMs, all of which had been transferred to the Good Hope, appeared from behind a piece of colony debris and fired on its former mothership. Char took the hit on his shield, before firing a shot of his own at the GM. The offending mobile suit disappeared again, but a wingman appeared from behind a different piece of debris, and Char shot to the right before he could be hit. A swift redirection brought his Gelgoog around the debris behind which the first GM had hidden, and Char was greeted with the sight of five suits waiting for him; clearly the GM had been the bait in a well-laid trap. The masked man allowed himself to smirk just before he dodged a round from a Rick Dom's bazooka. This was getting interesting.

This thought had no sooner crossed the captain's mind before the GM and two of the Rick Doms were taken out by fire from 'above.' Char took advantage of the other Rick Doms' surprise and fired two quick shots to defeat them, before boosting forward to avoid fire from the other GM, which was now behind him. In his place, two streaks raced toward the 'enemy' suit, covering it in paint before rocketing toward the Drumel. Char recognized them as suits from the Zanzibar: Lieutenant Ramcha's Rick Dom leading Ensign Heidfeld's GM. Char noted how Heidfeld followed her superior's lead almost perfectly; the lieutenant's patience, it seemed, was finally paying off.

Before he could take too much time to admire Ramcha's training ability, however, Char glanced toward the Zanzibar, which he had situated at the Argos's rear, and immediately felt his good mood disappear. The Zanzibar had been kept away from the main line for a reason: Char had hidden the Elmeth behind it, and he had wanted no opportunity for M'Quve's people to take out his ship-killer. The floating 'corpses' of several unfortunate Rick Doms surrounding the Zanzibar attested to its defenders' abilities to keep their opponents at bay, but at least one of the suits must have warned M'Quve or his subordinates that there was something worth hunting in the area, as two ships were converging on it. One was simply a Musai, most likely the Limel from the little that Char could see. But the other was the indomitable Trojan Horse, and the masked man could only stare as the white vessel let loose with its main cannons at the Zanzibar. There was no possible means of evasion, and even as Char accelerated forward, he saw the paint splatter over his vessel's hull in several critical areas. The Elmeth's main defense had been 'destroyed'; it was only a matter of time before Lalah was taken out of the simulation.

Even as he raced forward, however, Char noted the reaction of the Argos, which quickly reoriented its own cannons in the direction of the Limel and fired. Although the Salamis-class was not within accurate firing range of its target, Captain Hazen was already in the process of rectifying that problem, as the Argos's engines ignited to turn the ship around. Char's Gelgoog quickly got out of the way of the ship's second volley, which went wide like the first, and looked on as the Musai-class vessel responded by redirecting its attention to the Argos and firing its own cannons. Char couldn't help but smirk. "At first I thought you were being wasteful, Hazen, but I see what you've done now. If they're facing you, they're not facing Lalah."

Just as the Limel had been distracted from the Elmeth, the Argos's shots had also distracted the ship from Char's Gelgoog, which was quickly approaching. By the time the bridge crew had located him, it was far too late to call for reinforcement suits, and Char quickly covered the bridge windows with paint streaks before finishing the vessel off by taking out the engines.

Although the Limel had been eliminated, however, it had managed to call for reinforcements before it had been taken out, and Char saw the tell-tale glow of thruster flares in the distance, growing closer by the second. There weren't many left, but on the same token, Char had fewer still, and he knew that they would be very difficult to defeat if they managed to link up with the White Base. The question, though, was whether or not it was wiser to intercept the suits than to eliminate the ship, or instead take out the ship before the suits reached the Elmeth's position. Char hesitated for only a moment, before the cannons of the White Base fired upon the Argos; by luck or better technology, the paint shells hit home, and the Salamis-class was eliminated alongside the Zanzibar. Char was left with only one ship, and he knew that the Trojan Horse's continued survival would put the Drumel at too great a risk to accept.

The second that the Gelgoog's mono-eye focused on the former Federation ship, however, Char felt the sudden instinctive need to move out of the way, and followed his subconscious advice. The paint pellets that were meant for him therefore passed harmlessly by, and the captain was able to reorient himself in order to face one of the White Base's Guncannon suits—C-108. The two red suits seemed to stare at one another for a moment, before Char's opponent jerked on his controls and boosted to Char's right, bringing his weapon to bear again. The captain rushed forward to engage his foe before the Guncannon could get a lock on him, firing his own weapon to force the other suit into maneuvers. The Guncannon recovered, however, and Char grimaced as it took another shot, this time with its shoulder-mounted cannons; the Gelgoog easily evaded the attack, but Char could only imagine what destructive power was housed in those weapons. The captain passed by the Guncannon and turned as quickly as possible to hit it in the back, but the other suit boosted away the moment that Char passed by it, and the masked man scowled as he accelerated after the errant suit before it could take aim at him from afar.

It was at this point that Char saw the Gundam for the first time since it had launched from the Zanzibar's hangar, flitting around the Zanzibar's 'corpse' as it contended with the other Guncannon. No doubt it was awkward for both of the combatants, Char thought, but he was pleased to see that Amuro Ray was giving his opponent no quarter, nor was the other machine showing him any mercy. The captain quickly returned his attention to his own battle, but it seemed that the C-108 was equally interested in the other Guncannon's plight, and had turned in that direction as well; Char immediately decided that he would not allow the Gundam to fight two opponents on its own, and continued his pursuit. Even as he did so, however, Char suddenly felt as though something was wrong, and glanced in his rear-view monitor just long enough to see the White Base move past the area of the Guncannons' battle—toward the Drumel.

Snarling at his distraction, Char didn't dare to turn around and lose focus on the Guncannon he was pursuing, which would easily use the opportunity to hit Char from behind. Instead, he activated his radio and hoped that the Elmeth was still in range. "Lalah, can you hear me? I need you to take out the Trojan Horse right now! Do you copy?"

"Sir—hear you. I'm taking it—damn—"

Char had been surprised by the strength of the radio signal, considering the density of the Minovsky field in the battle zone, but it took only a moment for him to see why: The Elmeth was right in front of him, and the Guncannon had seen it first. Taking his focus off of the Gelgoog for a single moment, the Guncannon's pilot took his first opportunity and splattered the mobile armor with paint, taking Char's best hope for victory out of the fight. Char quickly retaliated, using the Guncannon's distraction to put a round into the cockpit, but as far as M'Quve's side was concerned, the sacrifice had been worth it. Furious at this, Char turned again to intercept the White Base on his own—and once again he was interrupted, this time by the mobile suits that he had seen incoming only moments ago. They were Rick Doms, numbering three, and although Char knew that he would have little trouble with them, they were just one more distraction that he could not afford to waste time against.

He ignited the Gelgoog's thrusters, moving the suit to the left before firing off a round into the face of his nearest opponent. Blinded, the Rick Dom backed off for a moment, but the other two covered it while its pilot activated the secondary cameras and reoriented himself. These two didn't fare any better, of course, but they wasted precious minutes of Char's time, and by the time he had disposed of them, the third was once more giving him trouble. Char circled around his opponent and fired, but the Rick Dom managed to get out of the way just in time and boosted off to the captain's right. Char gritted his teeth at being made to pursue yet another 'enemy'—he didn't dare to leave an opponent at his back, after all—but before he could do so, the Rick Dom suddenly jerked as it was struck from behind with three rounds, before floating away. Char immediately turned toward the source of the shots, to see the Gundam going past him toward the White Base at full speed; Amuro, it seemed, was just as aware of the danger the Trojan Horse posed as Char was. The captain grinned as he turned his Gelgoog to follow the white suit in pursuit of the 'enemy' ship. Even if the Gundam failed at bringing down the vessel, the masked man thought, it would at least be amusing to see the two pitted against one another.

/**/

The Zanzibar's hangar was flooded with mechanics as its suits returned, and the radio was filled with cheers as the Gelgoog made its landing. The Elmeth was next, which brought another cheer from the crew—Lalah had been responsible for the 'sinking' of two enemy vessels, including the Good Hope, which had been a prized kill. Char grinned as the Gundam landed next; while Amuro did not get as much praise as his predecessors, there was no doubt that the crew was pleased with his performance, and the defeat of the fabled White Base would probably make him very popular amongst his fellow pilots. Lieutenant Ramcha and Ensign Heidfeld landed next, to little acclaim comparatively, as the ensign had been shot down over the Drumel while the lieutenant had spent the rest of the battle without the use of his left arm; according to the radio chatter, the mechanics were already betting on whether or not the rookie ensign had panicked and hit her commander by mistake when the enemy had come to defeat her. To her credit, though, Char noted that her landing was much better this time than it had been only weeks before, and it was only a moment after Ramcha's suit was secured in its berth that the GM powered down in its own—the Zanzibar's overcrowding problem had been partially fixed when Char had sent Ensign Bard to the Zumel.

Then, finally, the Corebooster made its landing, and was immediately set upon by the mechanics in an effort to secure it to anything that would keep it from floating around in the hangar. Immediately after the coolant was sprayed, the mechanics also set about cleaning the thing; Jenna Heidfeld had not been the only one to suffer defeat during the simulation, and the fighter was literally covered with paint. Still, the watching crewmembers started cheering the minute Artesia opened the hatch, and for good reason: She had taken the Hummel with her. Char's grin widened as he wondered how humiliated M'Quve felt at the fact that he had been defeated by no more than a glorified fighter, and as he opened his cockpit hatch and floated out of his suit he couldn't help but laugh aloud—though obviously no one could hear him. Reaching the observation deck, the captain stopped his momentum and turned back to view the hangar with pride. This crew and these suits were his to command, and they had proven themselves capable of victory; and although his ship had suffered simulated destruction, it had served its purpose in Char's plan and could not be criticized for it. For one of the few times in his life, Char Aznable was content.

Then he saw Amuro Ray motioning for the nearby technicians, and his heart sank as he felt the Newtype's frustration. "What now?" he said to himself.

As the hangar began to fill with air, Char kicked off from the observation deck and floated toward the Gundam, where the former Federation ensign was discussing the problem, whatever it was, with one of the mechanics that had responded to his summons. Once the hangar was fully pressurized, Char took off his helmet and floated closer to the pilot as he pointed to the right elbow joint and retracted his helmet visor. "It's reacting too slowly. I don't know if it's damaged, or if it's just worn out. But we can't go into combat with it like this."

"Is it just that joint?" asked the mechanic, moving forward to inspect the elbow in question.

"The elbow is the worst of it, but it's not the only problem," replied Amuro. "I think the entire suit needs an overhaul, but since that's not realistic, working on the joints will have to do."

"So the famed Gundam is not as invincible as it seems," Char muttered, causing Amuro to turn in surprise. "Didn't take it long to start showing its weaknesses, though. The suit's only been in operation for… what, three-and-a-half months?"

"It's seen a lot of use, sir," Amuro said in the Gundam's defense. "Remember, the person usually shooting at it was you. It was bound to break at some point."

Char snorted. "Is that flattery, Ensign?" he said. "I suppose it's an excuse I'm willing to take." His eyes narrowed behind his mask. "Can you fight with this problem?"

Amuro sighed. "Yes, sir, I can. But the more we use it, the more likely it is that it will tear apart under the strain."

"Under the strain of what? Your reactions?" Char studied the Gundam's pilot for a moment before saying, "I don't know how to solve this problem. To do it properly, you'd need the resources of a government-funded military, and at the moment we don't have them—although our new contacts at Anaheim might help us there, if we're lucky. For right now, I'm keeping you in this suit, since we don't exactly have any spares and, other than my Gelgoog, you'd be stuck in an inferior model that will only give you the same trouble. That said…" Char paused for a moment in thought, before turning toward the Elmeth. "Mr. Cartwright! Would you come here, please?"

"Right away, sir!" came the reply. Almost immediately, one of the technicians that had been servicing Lalah's mobile armor kicked off and floated toward the captain. "Do you need me, sir?"

Char motioned toward Amuro. "Mr. Cartwright, meet Ensign Amuro Ray. Amuro, this is Jeremy Cartwright of the Flanagan Institute in Side 6. Mr. Cartwright worked with Dr. Flanagan in his research into Newtype phenomena; the Elmeth is one of the products of that research." Cartwright nodded to Amuro, but Char took his attention again as he said, "Mr. Cartwright, I would like to begin testing the Braw Bro."

Cartwright's brow rose. "Do you mean with this young man as the pilot?" he asked. "Is he a Newtype?"

Char nodded. "I want to begin to fine-tune the Braw Bro for Ensign Amuro's use as soon as possible. As I've just learned, the Gundam is not as invincible as it at first appeared."

"Sir?" asked Amuro, confused.

"The Elmeth is not the only Newtype-use weapon the Institute put out," Char explained. "Mr. Cartwright was kind enough to bring us the Braw Bro during our stay in Side 6, but we've had no reason to bring it out of the cargo hold—as you've undoubtedly noticed, we're already short on room here. Nonetheless, while I still want the Gundam in combat, I think it would be best to start testing the Braw Bro to determine if we can use it if your mobile suit fails completely."

Amuro did not look convinced, but Mr. Cartwright was suddenly grinning. "This will be a wonderful opportunity for more data. We've always had classroom data from our students, of course, but we've never seen any data from Newtypes in combat other than Lalah's, and my colleagues and I have wondered for a long time whether or not that data was the exception or the rule."

"Well, you're soon to find out, Mr. Cartwright," replied Char with a smile. "I'm afraid I can't say the same thing for your colleagues, however."

Cartwright waved it off. "As long as I record the data, sir, I'll get it to them eventually."

"Sir," Amuro began, "I'm not sure that I'll be able to make a Newtype-use weapon move, let alone operate proficiently."

The captain turned back to his ensign. "That's why we're testing, Amuro. I want to make sure that you can, now rather than later if at all possible." Turning his gaze back to the stricken Gundam, he added, "In the meantime, the mechanics will have to see what they can do for your reaction problem. Hopefully we're worrying over nothing."

Amuro nodded, but he was frowning as he said, "I hope so too, sir."

/**/

Lieutenant Commander Dav Crestler was still shaking off his confusion as he arrived outside Captain Char Aznable's quarters on board the Zanzibar, having been summoned over the PA system a few minutes before. Knocking on the door, he announced, "Lieutenant Commander Dav Crestler, reporting as ordered, sir."

"Enter," replied Captain Char's voice; the lieutenant commander immediately opened the door and floated inside. He found his masked superior sitting at a desk, frowning in contemplation while he faced the wall behind it. He turned his face toward his visitor for a second, before returning his attention to the wall. "Close the door, Crestler."

The lieutenant commander did as he was ordered, at which point Char put aside whatever work he had in front of him and stood. Turning to his subordinate, the captain smiled. "Lieutenant Commander Crestler, you were recently assigned to the upcoming operation to infiltrate the Zeon homeland in Side 3, were you not?"

"Yes, sir," Crestler replied. It was another thing he had been surprised about, considering that he had no experience in gathering military intelligence. While he understood that his superiors had very few options in terms of specialized manpower, the officer was fairly certain that they were not as desperate as his assignment would make them seem.

Captain Char nodded. "Good, you were made aware of it. I couldn't be sure that your inclusion had been properly dealt with; you were a last-minute addition to the roster, after all."

The lieutenant commander frowned. "Sir?"

Char chose not to elaborate, but instead moved on to a seemingly unrelated topic. "I know this will seem… strange, but please bear with me. Do you have family?"

Crestler blinked. "Uh, yes, sir," he said. "Just my father; he lives in Zum City."

"If I'm not much mistaken, your father was very political in his early years, correct?"

"Yes, sir," the lieutenant commander answered, as he began to sweat nervously. He would have preferred not to volunteer anything more, but when Char motioned for him to continue, Crestler knew he had no choice. "My father was one of Zeon Zum Deikun's followers. He disagreed with Sovereign Degwin on many issues."

"In fact, you were lucky to escape scrutiny after your father went into hiding," the captain added. He leaned forward. "Part of the reason you enlisted was to avoid suspicion, right?"

Crestler paled. "Sir, may I ask what you called me here for?"

"You may not. Now, Lieutenant Commander, if you were asked where your father is now, by me or by Gihren Zabi's secret police, what would you answer?"

The officer swallowed. "Sir, I can't say."

"Why not?"

There was a pause as Crestler sought an appropriate excuse. In the end, he couldn't find one, and was forced to settle for the truth instead. "He's my father, sir. Maybe I'd crack under torture, but I can't just give him up."

Char frowned. "What about his friends? If you were asked where to find some of Gihren's political enemies now, would you give them up instead?"

The lieutenant commander clenched his fists as he fought to remain calm in the face of his superior's scrutiny. He had no idea what this questioning was about, but considering the answers that had been dug out of him already he was certain that nothing good would come out of it. "I think it would be the same, sir. However," he added hastily, "I don't know many of my father's associates personally, so asking me would be a waste of time."

"Of course, of course," Char murmured, continuing to gaze at the lieutenant commander—at least, as far as Crestler could tell. After a moment of silence, the captain finally said, "Lieutenant Commander Crestler, what would you say if I told you that I know precisely where your father and his associates are, and that you are wasting your time by hiding those locations from me?"

Crestler blinked, before shaking his head. "I would say that you're bluffing, sir." Considering that even the lieutenant commander was unsure of their locations, he could hardly credit Char's statement. The captain, though, was not fazed by Crestler's denial.

"In this case, I'm not, but you can believe what you want." Char came forward and laid a hand on the lieutenant commander's shoulder. "Earlier you asked why I brought you in here. I will tell you, but only if you make me a promise. You told me that, if you were questioned under torture, you might give up your father. But to learn the information I want to give you, you must promise me that no amount of provocation—torture or otherwise—will make you tell anyone else what I am about to tell you. Can you promise me that, Lieutenant Commander Crestler?"

The officer stared at Captain Char in confusion. What did this sudden shift in topic mean? "Sir?"

"Will you promise me, Lieutenant Commander, or will I have to dismiss you right now?"

Crestler swallowed again. Briefly wondering just how much he was going to regret his decision, he nodded. "Yes, sir. I promise not to divulge what you will tell me."

Char smiled at this. "Thank you, Crestler." He let the other officer's shoulder go as he floated to the door to his quarters, which he opened to scan the corridor outside. Apparently satisfied that there were no eavesdroppers, the captain closed the door again and turned to his guest. "Your father went into hiding rather than reject Zeon Deikun. Normally I wouldn't dare to take that at face value, but at the moment I'm… I think 'desperate' is not too strong a word for it. I'm desperate enough to risk an assumption that could backfire tremendously if I'm wrong." The masked man floated toward his desk once again. "Could you tell me what you know of your father's political leanings? Does he follow Zeon's ideals, or his memory?"

The lieutenant commander frowned. "I can't say, sir. He's said wonderful things about Zeon the man, but a lot of those things were about what Zeon believed. Maybe both?"

"You're not being very helpful, but I'll take your word for it," Char stated irritably. Reaching his desk, he picked up an envelope, which he held up for Crestler to see. "I need to know whether or not your father will support another Deikun, Crestler. Since he can't bring Zeon back, will he settle for Casval instead?"

Crestler stared at the captain. "Sir, I'm not sure I follow you."

Char nodded. "Remember, you cannot tell anyone what I am about to tell you." Crestler nodded once again, and the captain continued. "Char Aznable is not my real name. I took this alias so that I could return to the Principality of Zeon to attend the military academy without fear of assassination. My real name is Casval Rem Deikun."

Crestler added an open mouth to his stare. After a long moment, he managed to collect himself to ask, "Are you really the son of Zeon, sir?"

"Yes," Char answered shortly. "Now listen carefully. As you've probably noticed by now, there is some tension between Colonel M'Quve and me, regarding the command of our little flotilla. I have some support, but almost all of it requires me to be Char Aznable, and I don't plan to keep this alias forever. When I reveal myself as Casval Rem Deikun, I need to know that I won't be killed outright by the Zabi loyalists, or even M'Quve's followers once they realize that I've lost Lady Zenna's backing. To that end, I want you to deliver a message to your father and his associates when you take part in the upcoming spy operation. If we defeat Gihren Zabi and take power in Zum City, I need to know whether or not I will be free to remove the last traces of the Zabi family from power. I will need your faction's support."

Crestler continued to stare, but he managed to close his mouth and make a shaky salute. "I don't know what Father will say, sir, but I'll give him your message. I think he'll be happy to receive it."

Captain Char—no, Casval Rem Deikun—smiled at his subordinate as he held out the envelope in his hand. "Thank you, Lieutenant Commander. I'm very grateful."

/**/

Gihren Zabi sipped his wine as he gazed out through the window of his new study at the curving skyline of Zum City, pondering the reaction of the public to the previous day's ceremony. Most likely, he thought, the people really didn't care. While yesterday's events had seen Gihren acclaimed sovereign by the Zeon parliament, the eldest son of Degwin had been supreme commander of the military since before the war began, and as soon as the beams had started flying, the military had practically become the government of Zeon. Even what power Degwin had held as Zeon's sovereign had fallen into Gihren's hands after his father stepped out of public life in the aftermath of Garma's death. Parliament's announcement of Gihren's ascension simply put the rubber stamp to Gihren's rule; that and the conspicuous absence of all of Gihren's siblings to contest it.

So paperwork and legality now mirrored reality. But rather than view that fact in a positive light, Gihren scowled as he remembered the previous day's events. It was a farce, after all; the civilian government had not held real power in Zeon since the days when Zeon Zum Deikun was its self-appointed prime minister—not that he had been any less of a dictator than Gihren was, considering that Deikun and his party, including Degwin Soto Zabi, had not bothered with elections when they seized power from the Federation, and had depended on a vocal political minority within the Side 3 population for support. The parliament of Deikun's day had been filled with members of his own circle, and had agreed to whatever their leader decided was necessary; but unlike the parliament that existed under the Zabi family, Deikun and his parliament had never come across an issue in which they were not already in agreement. Degwin's ascension had created a massive rift between the "prime minister" and his parliament, which in any other government would have meant a vote of no confidence in Degwin's leadership. Fortunately for Degwin and his heirs, Zeon's government was more or less unfamiliar with standard legal procedures. Its members were revolutionaries rather than legislators; the methods they used to combat the hostile takeover were the same that they had used to achieve one. When Degwin won the resulting conflict, most of Deikun's former power base lay dead in the streets, including most members of parliament. Like Deikun before him, Degwin had filled the empty spaces with friendly voices, but even these people were only kept in line by the threat of force. The Zabi leadership could not afford to base its legitimacy on a government that did not trust it, and Zeon could not afford to suffer divisions at the top when the Federation posed a constant and undeniable threat to its existence. In short, Degwin needed to rule without his parliament, so that it could never rise against him again.

For that reason, Degwin turned his attention to centralizing the military. While Zeon Zum Deikun had recognized the need for a national army—especially with Federation garrisons still patrolling the streets as though they were actually in charge—he had been unable to organize a true military force before his death. The only real wartime experience that Zeon could claim was accumulated during the conflict it had fought against itself, and as the winners of that conflict Degwin and his people had far more experience to speak of than their (mostly dead) opponents. Degwin turned this to his advantage by taking over the development of Zeon's military using his authority as prime minister, ensuring that his control over the project was total by squeezing emergency powers out of a parliament that was too tired of war to fight him over it; only afterward did the government realize its mistake. While Degwin's so-called power base had been planted into the government already, Degwin had saved his real friends for military posts, and used his authority as prime minister to prop up these new positions until the populace recognized them as legitimate authority figures. And as soon as that time came, Degwin drew on his subordinates' new-found authority to reform the government completely, stepping away from the civilian-run parliament to lead Zeon with a wholly-supportive military at his back. The parliament was not stupid enough to allow this without resistance, but neither could its members actually act against the Zabi faction without the aforementioned military coming down upon their heads. The civilian government was made redundant almost overnight.

But even as the sovereign of a military state, Degwin had found it necessary to keep the parliament intact. While he distrusted the civilian arm of government immensely, Zeon's leader had also believed that the people would not accept his rule without parliament's existence, and so Degwin had done his best to keep his faction's disagreements with the rest of the government out of the public view. Over the years, Degwin had even managed to repair his relations with parliament, to an extent; as long as the government recognized his authority to rule as he wished, the sovereign had been willing to listen to parliament's advice, and he'd even become friendly with some of the prime ministers that served after him, including the current government leader, Darcia Bakharov. But that repaired relationship did not extend to Gihren, who had risen to the post of supreme commander of the military under his father's rule, and whose views of the Zabi dictatorship differed from Degwin's in that his ambition, not simply for himself but for the whole of Zeon, required a degree of centralized power that the continued existence of parliament could not allow.

Unfortunately, Gihren knew that his father's ascension to the position of "Great Sovereign" had been the best opportunity to remove the Zeon parliament, the last vestiges of the nation's weakness, completely. In the clamor regarding the rise of military rule, the dissolution of parliament would have been an insignificant detail that would hardly have been noticed by the populace. Instead, Degwin chose to be cautious and retain the services of the civilian leadership, so that the people had become used to parliament's continued existence in the framework that Degwin set up. Now if Gihren were to attempt to remove parliament, he would set off the same amount of furor that his father's original reforms already had—amongst a populace that was already suspicious of Kycilia's death and Degwin's disappearance, and was still reeling from the war that Zeon had just barely won. As much as he hated the thought of bowing to civilian leadership, Gihren knew that, at least ceremonially, he had no choice but to accept the parliament's place in Zeon's government. For now.

But even if he forced himself to accept the parliament's continued existence, Gihren could not allow it to exist in its current form. Many members of parliament had served since Degwin had installed them in the government more than a decade before, and some political survivors had even been present in Zeon's original parliament before the civil war cut his faction to ribbons. Only a few of them had ever supported the Zabi dictatorship, and many of those had only done so because they were grateful to Degwin for sparing them upon his rise to power. What little support the office of sovereign had in parliament was the result of Degwin's healing relationship with parliament and its members, most notably Prime Minister Bakharov. With Degwin dead, Gihren knew that the people's suspicions fell directly on him—thus, not only would the members of parliament have no reason to trust him, but they would be backed up by their displeased constituents as well. If the parliament could not be removed, therefore, at the very least it had to be replaced, if Zeon was to be saved from future unrest.

Yet the parliament was hardly the only possible cause of divided loyalties. Turning away from the view of his window, Gihren made his way back to his desk, glowering over the report that lay on it. According to his direct subordinates, including the ever-willing Admiral Delaz, Gihren's purge was well on track to remove half of the Zeon home guard—most of which could be chalked up to the complete disembowelment of the garrison at Granada, which had been totally replaced with new recruits led by men that had proven themselves to be loyal to their former supreme commander. Delaz's report carefully avoided mentioning that such a drain on the military's resources could not have come at a worse time, considering that the war had already brought the military to the brink of devastation; the admiral knew that Gihren was already aware of the situation, and would not want to be reminded of it. Therefore, Delaz saved his words for more unforeseen matters, such as problems encountered by Gihren's secret service that had been caused by a completely forgotten element: Deikun loyalists. Gihren had personally believed any loyalty to the old regime to be dead, or at least buried too deep to revive, and had been most displeased to learn that his father's old enemies had resurfaced long after they had first been beaten into submission. Apparently their attempts at lying low had been uncovered by the secret service as they attempted to root out the remains of Kycilia's faction, leading to multiple clashes between all three groups. In some more worrying cases, men loyal to Kycilia had chosen to make common cause with those that remained tied to Zeon Deikun, expanding a resistance that Gihren hadn't even been aware of.

To learn that men of Zeon were so willing to cling to a past that would never return infuriated Gihren, who spent so much of his time looking forward to a future that came closer with every passing minute. The strength of the nation was supposed to be its single, unified vision of the coming Spacenoid era; yet Deikun's days as prime minister were some of Zeon's weakest. And if certain people were unwilling to see the future as Gihren saw it—a future in which a strong Zeon ruled the Earth Sphere as the champion of the Spacenoids, and proclaimed an end to the tyranny of the so-called "Earth-born Elite"—they had to be eliminated before their lack of vision weakened the very foundation of the Principality.

To that end, Gihren was willing to dispose of as much as eighty percent of the Zeon military, if it meant that he could be free of Kycilia's, or even Zeon Deikun's, influence. And while Delaz's report assured the sovereign that he would not have to waste quite so many resources, its conclusions regarding Kycilia's followers hiding among Deikun loyalists only served to remind Gihren of Casval Rem Deikun and Kycilia's lackey M'Quve, neither of whom had been located. Delaz, of course, had no knowledge of Casval's continued existence, and Gihren would prefer that to remain the case. Even so, the admiral was well aware of the dangers posed by the famed Red Comet, and M'Quve had proven to be shrewd enough to warrant Kycilia's attention, which had automatically given Delaz reason to be cautious of his ability. Gihren knew that his subordinate was taking no chances. There was no other explanation for the number of seemingly mundane topics that had found their way into the admiral's report: a single mysterious fire in a government warehouse in Granada, suspected pirate activity in the L4 shoal zone that could be something more dangerous, unidentified shuttles that had made their way to Earth without government clearance, a list of missing notables that had arrived in Von Braun on the same flight…

If Delaz could find no better leads than those, Gihren knew better than to ask for more. He had personally inspected the known facts behind each of these happenings, and from them had decided that the least likely scenario was the most likely to be hiding something more important from its investigators. Not often did a group of people that had been on the same shuttle all disappear after that shuttle had already landed, unless (as Gihren suspected) the people concerned were already missing at the time of their supposed arrival at the lunar city. The sovereign had already sent his investigators to Von Braun to scrutinize further; the shuttle, the pilots, the military officer attached to the flight, and any known contacts of the passengers were all to be investigated as thoroughly as possible, as well as the space surrounding the shuttle's flight path. Gihren frowned even more deeply as he considered the amount of space that might actually be, but he was less worried about the flight path and more concerned about the prime hiding spot that lay within a few hours from it: the remains of Side 5 at L1.

Fortunately for Gihren's fast-approaching migraine, the patrol he had sent in that direction had already earned its stripes in Zeon's hardest fought battle, suffering the onslaught of the Federation at Solomon and coming out alive. If M'Quve and Char Aznable were hiding at L1, they would be found. And the ensuing hunt would be swift and decisive.

/**/

Lieutenant Erden kept his eyes open warily as he walked through the not-so-crowded streets of Granada, knowing that his very presence in public spaces was bound to draw unwelcome attention from Gihren's secret police. Of course, he knew better than to appear nervous, and only his clenched fist, clutching his briefcase handle, gave away his worry. It was hard not to let his eyes dart around the street, though, since Erden hadn't seen it so empty of traffic since the opening days of the war, when Granada was freshly captured. In effect, Gihren's seizure of power had captured the city for a second time, and the reaction of the populous was understandably similar to that following Lady Kycilia's arrival more than twelve months before. But all the same, Kycilia's death and the associated changes had occurred several weeks ago, and any resident of the city would have become used to the silence on the streets; Erden could not pass for such a resident if he became noticeably nervous about it.

Despite that, Erden was a Zeon officer, and had been trained from the beginning to resist cracking under pressure. He had no doubt that others could have done a better job of it than he was, but the lieutenant knew without a doubt that he could pass anyone's scrutiny if he had to; if he couldn't, after all, Colonel M'Quve would never have chosen him to be his messenger in Granada. It was a vote of confidence that Erden accepted with pride, and as he continued down the empty streets, he took comfort in the fact that his commander vouched for his reliability.

It was another ten minutes before Erden arrived at his destination, a Chinese restaurant that stood on the left side of the once-busy roadway. The lieutenant was not surprised to see that the restaurant's door was firmly shut, as a result of lack of business; Erden opened it anyway, as M'Quve had assured him that the establishment would be open if his contact was involved. In fact, the lieutenant's contact was the first thing that Erden saw upon entering the building, sitting at the nearest table to the front door. The lieutenant noted that the other man's plate was still full, and mentally congratulated himself on finding the restaurant before he was expected to arrive. "Mr. Perone?"

The man, who had glanced up when the door had opened, lowered his eyes back to his plate. "The boss isn't here," he said. "No reason to be, with no business."

Erden gritted his teeth. "I have business," he insisted, praying that he wouldn't have to report to M'Quve that he had been unable even to meet with his contact.

The man scoffed in between bites. "You?" he asked, before taking a gulp of his wine. "Sovereign Gihren has thrown Zimmand to the dogs; if you have business with us now, it's only to find a bargain before someone else snatches us up. Do you really think Mr. Perone would want to meet with anyone for that?"

"You don't give my employer his due credit," Erden stated, taking the seat opposite the other man without invitation. The man glared at him for his insistence, but the lieutenant ignored it. "You have dealt with him before, and he has given you all due respect. Now that you have come up on difficult times, he thought you would be grateful for his continued patronage. Should I return to my employer and tell him otherwise?"

The man gazed levelly at Erden for a moment before returning his gaze to his food. "Go ahead."

The lieutenant blinked. "What?"

"Either your employer wants to cannibalize us, or he's desperate. You're being polite, so it must be the latter. Go ahead and tell him that our company does not simply jump for the sake of 'respect.'"

Erden leaned forward with a glare. "I'm sure Colonel M'Quve will be most displeased to hear that," he murmured softly.

The man choked, and barely managed to swallow the food in his mouth. His eyes quickly found Erden's again. "You're with M'Quve?" he hissed. At Erden's slight nod, he glanced around warily, even though he had to be aware that they were the only two in the restaurant besides the proprietors, all of whom were safely out of earshot. "Are you out of your mind?" he snarled as softly as he could. "Gihren's got his eyes all over this city! You're bringing the praetorian guard right to our door!"

"If Gihren's men knew who I worked for, I would already be dead," Erden replied just as softly, and hoped he was telling the truth. "Regardless, I'm here now, and I have the colonel's business to discuss. Will you take me to Mr. Perone so that I can do that much?"

The man narrowed his eyes at the lieutenant. "You're not going anywhere near the boss with that kind of stigma," he growled. "Tell me what you want with him, and I'll act as your go-between. I'll be here tomorrow with his response." When Erden began to shake his head, the man added, "Zimmand will not stick its neck out for a traitor to Zeon. Either you let the company protect itself, or you'll get no help at all."

The lieutenant glared at the man, but he was forced to admit that the other's reasoning was sound. "I will tell you what the colonel wants," he said eventually, "but I can't hand over the specifics to anyone other than Mr. Perone. The colonel will not tolerate leaks."

The other man snorted. "That's the risk of doing business." When Erden glared again, he said, "I'll tell Mr. Perone what you want me to tell him, and if you want him to know that there's more to the story than you can say to me, I'll tell him that too. But I can't promise you that he'll care."

Erden frowned and said nothing for a moment. But in the end, he admitted defeat and placed the briefcase on the table between them. Opening it, he said, "I can't give you these things, but I hope that you can impress on Mr. Perone just how important they'd be to his company."

From the briefcase, the lieutenant retrieved a laptop, which he placed on the table before closing the briefcase again and putting it down on the floor next to his feet. Activating the computer, he turned it so that the other man could see what was on the screen. The man immediately abandoned his meal, pushing it to the side so that he could lean over the table to inspect the display more closely. "A Gelgoog?" he hissed, his eyes wide as he gazed upon the data in front of him. "But no… Is this Anaheim's work? What have they done…?" After many minutes of staring, the Zimmand representative glanced up at Erden. "How did you get this information?"

"Our sources have asked for anonymity in this matter," the lieutenant replied. "I can acknowledge that Anaheim and Zeonic have both suffered a serious leak, but no more."

The man turned his eyes back to the design of the altered Gelgoog. "That's the biggest understatement I've heard in some time," he murmured. "I've never seen anything like this in all my years as an engineer. It's a performance model, of course, but the way Anaheim has simplified the internals is absolutely astounding."

"How does it compare to Zeonic's model?"

The man frowned in thought. "I've never seen an original Gelgoog schematic, so I can't give any precise answer. But I have seen the machine in action. In my professional opinion, performance of that kind can only be attained with some very expensive toys. By simplifying the internals like this, Anaheim seems to be diluting Zeonic's formula, rather than improving it."

The lieutenant furrowed his brows in irritation; Colonel M'Quve would not be pleased with a negative report. "So it's a dud?"

"That depends on how you look at it," replied the man, returning his attention almost completely to the data. "The Gelgoog gets its power through its complexity, but that means that only very talented pilots will be able to use it to its full potential. A Gelgoog piloted by the Red Comet, for example, could have won the war on its own. A Gelgoog piloted by a rookie is a steel coffin." The man nodded toward the computer screen. "This design cuts down on the Gelgoog's complexity and power. But it also makes it easier to use. Most pilots would stand a much greater chance of survival piloting this machine, rather than Zeonic's model." The man frowned suddenly, giving Erden his attention once again as a thought came to him. "You want us to build this thing?"

"Not necessarily," Erden replied. "Colonel M'Quve only wants Mr. Perone to get some idea of the competition, as well as some ideas for his next project. The colonel is very interested in acquiring machines that can stand up to Zeon's current and future fleets, and he hopes that this will help you to devise such a weapon for him."

The man shook his head. "I hope your colonel reacts well to disappointment," he said. "Zeon already fields our Dom and Rick Dom suits, and I'm sure that you already have enough of those yourself. The Gelgoog trumped us; we don't produce anything that can compete with it. Our only high-performance model in its league is the Gyan, and that was built with your colonel's design input in mind. No one else would find it useful."

Erden nodded, though he was frowning. "Aren't there any new designs on the table?"

"Not as far as I know, but obviously Mr. Perone would know more," replied the man, shrugging. "If we had material like this to dig through, obviously, that would probably change. Although I think that you want something from this design that it can't give you."

The lieutenant frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I already told you that this isn't meant to be quality work," the man answered. Pointing at the design, he said, "There is very little that we could take from this design that would translate into something on par with the Gelgoog, or even the Dom, for that matter. Those designs were meant for power, but this redesign is meant for efficiency. It's harder than you think to find the balance between those two extremes, and most designers don't bother trying." Even as he said this, though, the man still could not tear his eyes away from the altered Gelgoog schematics. "Despite that, I know Mr. Perone would want to see this. Even if this design wouldn't help you, it would definitely help us."

Erden nodded. "As long as Mr. Perone is willing to help us in return," he replied.