Gundam Wing Fan Fiction / Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction / Gundam 08th MS Team Fan Fiction ❯ Amalgam Gundam ❯ Operation Stardust ( Chapter 1 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Narrator: Universal Colony Year 118: A time where the Endless Waltz of history continues unabated. Let us go back one year to UCY-117: The Empire of Thallos declares war upon all neighboring star systems, and the dozens of space and planetary colonies within them. The Empire's military power is at equal strength with each Government they are at war with, so they are caught in a stalemate. However, halfway into UCY-117, the Empire acquired a new weapon whose name would be heard through the future: Mobile Suits. These new devices smashed through any and all resistance, and the Empire now controls more than 95% of the area. We now return to UCY-118. Five Space Colonies have had enough.






Location: Space Colony LX-014, Terlin star system.

Melanie Deikin tried to contain how loud her breathing was as she carried six loaves of bread through the dark streets of the deserted city. She silently cursed the engineer who had developed full gravitational capabilities for the colonies, unlike the early colonies that had limited gravity. Melanie was wearing a beret upon her head full of long, dirty blonde hair. Her eyes were full of sorrow and fear as searchlights roamed the street. She thought instantly to herself that this was like an old movie about Ghettos during the Nazi regime.

However, this was slightly different. The Nazis were devoted to a genocidal view of purification of a race, whereas LX-014 was currently under Martial Law, as it had been when it had been taken over by the Empire of Thallos three months earlier. This was not Melanie's first raid out to retrieve food. Four times before, she had attempted and failed, having to run back to the safe house before Thallonian soldiers found her breaking curfew. This was the first time she had successfully managed to retrieve the food. She was nervous and her pulse quickened as she hugged the wall with her back and moved across it to avoid the searchlights that hung on watchtowers of the city, a constant reminder of the Thallonian control of the colony.

Finally, Melanie had made it to the entrance to the safe house. She knocked four times against the brick wall, and when she heard a knock reply of two times, she knocked again three times. The brick wall opened up, and Melanie stepped inside. She had stepped into an elevator that lit up when the brick wall had closed again. The elevator brought her down several meters, and the door opened. Melanie walked out of the elevator and looked out upon the huge chamber before her. Catwalks and walkways were spread about everywhere and surrounded the huge object in the center of it all.

And that huge object was a Gundam.






Hector Deikin was not a man to be trifled with when he was angry.

He stood in the main conference room, glaring at the technicians, tacticians, and scientists that sat in chairs before him. Hector had a gray beard, which seemed to match the edges of gray hair against the bottom of his auburn hair. Hector was wearing casual clothing, which would seem to be a surprising thing for a leader of his caliber, but not for the leader of a resistance movement.

Hector: Let me get this straight: The other colonies are saying that Operation Stardust needs to occur tomorrow Morning?

Tactician: Yes, sir.

Hector: And just what the hell makes them think we can have Jubilee ready for them in ten hours?!

Scientist: Apparently, Marianna has been getting more and more paranoid about subversion and rebellion throughout the colonies, and that in three days, they'll begin level 5 scanning of all colonies, planet-side or orbital-side.

Hector: Remind me again what a level 5 scan is?

Scientist: It's the kind of scan that would expose us instantly.

Hector sighed. He rubbed his temples from lack of sleep and from a headache.

Hector: Very well. Tell Amuro that we can't wait for his fatigue and weakness lately be healed up. Tell him to be suited up and ready to pilot the Gundam in eight hours.

The group of officers stood up and saluted. Hector saluted back and the conference was adjourned. The lines of scientists and military personnel walked calmly out of the conference room as Hector sad down and pulled out some headache medicine from his pocket. He quickly chewed it up and swallowed it, gritting his teeth at the bitter taste. There was a knock on the conference room door.

Hector: Enter.

The metal door slowly opened, revealing a smiling Melanie holding a basket of bread.

Melanie: Beware Thallonians bearing gifts.

Hector smiled and Melanie walked in. The two embraced tightly, and Hector knelt down to Melanie's 12 year-old height.

Hector: Hello, pumpkin. Where'd you get the bread?

Melanie: A convenience store about thirty meters up the road.

Hector: Melanie!

Melanie: Dad, the soldiers are starving. You've got all your efforts on that stupid war machine out there that you haven't thought about the needs of the people of this resistance. How are we supposed to fight back against the Empire if all our soldiers die of starvation?

Hector: Despite what you may believe, young lady, that 'war machine' as you put it is our last means of fighting the Empire.

Melanie: Maybe, but we didn't need to spend every last bit of money we had to purchase it from that one freaky guy!

Hector: And that 'freaky guy' as you call him, despite his high price, was our last, best hope of defeating the Empire. RX-78GP01 out there, or Jubilee as we've codenamed it, is capable of running down an entire squadron of Thallonian mobile suits, including mobile dolls.

Melanie: And are you sure you picked the right guy for this? Amuro's been having faint attacks lately. If he fainted in the middle of a battle-

Hector: We've got our best doctors working him over. Now, it's late, so go to bed, young lady. Your mother and sister were worried sick when you went out.

Melanie sighed and kissed her father on the cheek, then walked out of the conference room.





Melanie gritted her teeth as she shifted her body from left to right on the mattress that she slept on. Finally, she sighed and sat up on the bed. She pushed the blanket off of her and put on a pair of sweatpants. She walked out of the cramped room that served as her room and walked down the corridor to the main chamber of catwalks and walkways, overlooking the Gundam known as Jubilee.

For some reason, she had heard a humming sound within the Gundam that helped her relax and get sleep. She walked over to a certain catwalk attached to an elevator that led down to the open cockpit of Jubilee. The cockpit had a luxurious blue leather seat in it that had been installed after they had acquired the Gundam. Melanie smiled as the elevator stopped at the cockpit, and she walked into it. She closed the cockpit door and she was encompassed in darkness. She knew exactly where the emergency release button was, and so she lay down in the seat like a cat and closed her eyes. The hum that got her to sleep so many nights filled her ears, and she slowly faded into a peaceful sleep.






The technician working at the control room across from the Gundam took a donut out of the box next to him and quickly scarfed it down. He looked out the window in front of him at the Gundam's head, mostly at its green eyes, which also where were the main external cameras for the Gundam were.

A red light on the control panel next to him started flashing, making a loud beeping noise as well. The technician turned his head to it. He gasped and turned his chair over to face it, checking over the readings that were being printed out from the computer console. He looked them over and double-checked them. He got up and pressed the button for the speaker to the conference room.

Technician: Mr. Deikin! Mr. Deikin!

Hector's annoyed voice responded to the frightened call of the technician.

Hector: What?! What is it!? Speak up, boy!

Technician: Sir, I'm detecting a radiation leak from the Gundam!

Hector: Impossible! We checked it over a thousand times, scanned it even more, and even that guy we bought it from said there was no radioactive powering system within it!

Technician: Apparently, sir, the leak is coming from the cargo hold. A small nuclear detonation system seems to be stored there.

Hector: WHY DIDN'T WE DETECT THIS BEFORE?!

Technician: The sensors didn't pick it up until it had fully eaten through the entire protective casing in the cargo hold. It's been a minor leak up until now, where the protective casing has been entirely eaten through. The radiation's been going out for some time now!

Hector: You're saying the reason Amuro's been having faint attacks and extreme fatigue was because of slight radiation poisoning?

Technician: If we hadn't caught it now, a few more exposures to it would've killed him.

Hector: How can we safely remove the radioactive substances?

Technician: There's no way we can do it down here, sir. We have to launch the Gundam into space and eject the chemicals from there.

Hector: WHAT?! We can't do that now!

Technician: Sir, we have to! Don't worry, we'll keep the Gundam's lights off and use the emergency catapult system. The jets will only be used once it reaches the inner atmosphere. We can use the emergency return sequence to bring the Gundam back down again.

Hector mumbled curses to himself.

Hector: Very well, do it quickly, though! We've worked this long, we're not screwing it up now!






Melanie's sleep was interrupted when her senses suddenly told her that the humming sound that she was so fond of had stopped. New sounds had replaced it. These sounds were strange, unfamiliar. They were sounds of the Gundam's systems coming online, and monitors flashing on. Melanie sat up, trying to understand what was happening. She looked forward to the external cameras, and saw LX-014 on the screen, spinning to generate power and gravity. She slapped herself to see if she was dreaming. The pain was momentary, and it indicated that she was quite awake. Other monitors showed readings of a purge of the cargo section of Jubilee, as the radioactivity bar dropped drastically with each passing second.

Melanie: My God... What's happened?!






Marianna Dellis was a perfect mirror of Mariemeia Khushrenada, down to the very color of her hair. She had the same confident smile, the same air of authority that carried with her.

The difference between Marianna and Mariemeia was that Marianna was the true Empress of the Empire of Thallos, whereas Mariemeia had just been manipulated by one Deikim Barton. Marianna sat upon her throne that was made higher than the height of her personal guards ands servants in the main throne room within the underground castle that controlled the entire Empire of Thallos. Soft piano music played in the background, something Marianna enjoyed immensely.

Marianna: Has the Representative arrived?

The guard that Marianna had spoken to was standing next to her throne, having a sheathed saber at his side and a handgun on the other side. In his hands held a high-powered automatic rifle. His uniform was entirely black, except for the golden symbol on his right breast pocket that signified him as a personal guard for the Empress. The guard nodded at Marianna to confirm that the Representative was in fact waiting outside the throne room.

Marianna: Good. Send him in.

The guard spoke into the communications device that was placed on his ear with a microphone coming down from it. A few seconds afterwards, the doors to the massive throne room opened, and two guards escorted the prominent diplomat into the throne room, who looked up at Marianna and bowed before her.

Representative: Hello, your eminence.

Marianna: Good evening. You are the Representative of the space colony LX-014, yes?

Representative: Yes, my Empress.

Marianna: I was wondering if you could assist me in a matter.

Representative: My life is at your command, Empress.

Marianna: Such loyalty! I'm happy you feel the way you do.

Representative: Thank you, Empress.

Marianna: However, it seems your colony is not as loyal as you are.

Representative: What do you mean, your eminence?

Marianna: I have been getting reports from both my Defense and Intelligence Ministers that colony LX-014 may be preparing to rebel against the Empire of Thallos, and that they have constructed a mobile suit to attempt to liberate the colony from my control!

Representative: Then, your majesty, I must say that they are wrong. The colony could not be happier with your Empire!

Marianna: Well, that's what I told them. And I told them that no colony under my dynasty as Empress has attempted to secede from the Empire. It's quite a preposterous accusation.

Representative: I must agree, your majesty.

Marianna: Good.

The Representative let out a sigh of relief in his mind. Marianna continued smiling as she continued talking.

Marianna: However, I can't rule out the possibility that there are actions of rebellion on LX-014. So, I have decided to make an example for any else who even thinks of attempting to disrupt my Empire.

Marianna flipped open a panel on her throne, which revealed a console concealed under it. Marianna pressed a button on that console. Some curtains nearby automatically pulled to the side, revealing a large screen that showed a camera image of LX-014.

Marianna: My good Representative, your home is this colony, yes?

The Representative gulped.

Representative: Y-yes, your majesty.

Marianna: Well, then say goodbye to your home.

Representative: NO!

The Representative leapt up to try to stop her, but the two escorts grabbed onto his arms and kept him back as Marianna pushed another button on the console.





Melanie gasped as she noticed something was wrong with the colony. The rotations it used to keep the colony's gravity up were beginning to speed up. Melanie knew that a colony's gravity needed to be kept at a certain speed or else the gravitational fluctuations would either crush the rotation drives, eliminating gravity for the colony, or the gravity would just continue to get more intense until the colony was crushed from it's own gravity.

She gaped and stopped breathing as she saw sections of the colony begin to crumple inwards, and then suddenly giant breaches in the armoring formed as the rotation continued to gain speed. And then, without warning, the holes got immensely bigger, and the colony began to explode. Melanie could hear no sounds because of the vacuum of space, but she knew that people were screaming and dying, running for their lives in a futile attempt to escape what was happening. And then, it was all over as the colony was crushed down into a small section. The Gundam's sensors did not detect any kind of life coming from the crumpled mass of metal that had been her home for 12 years. She then began to breathe again as tears filled her eyes. She collapsed down on the console, hitting it in a fit of hysteria and rage as she realized that her family was gone. The resistance had also been crushed, and all hope for liberating the colony was gone because there was no colony to be liberated.

Suddenly, she realized that she had hit the wrong button, because an image suddenly popped on screen. She could tell that it was a recording, because the image was of her father's assistant Trent Akimaya.

Recording: Good evening, Amuro Heding. You have been chosen by the resistance movement on LX-014 to pilot the Gundam known as "Jubilee" in Operation Stardust. The five-colony alliance between MG-166, LX-014, LX-059, AS-002, and AX-010 all have managed to purchase a Gundam from one Clarke Axem. We have also been recently informed that Axem was also the one who originally sold the first mobile suits to the Empire, but that's not our concern.

The recording split into two different parts, one showing Trent while the other showed diagrams of Operation Stardust.

Recording: Operation Stardust has three parts to it. Part 1 is where the five Gundams meet at the prearranged coordinates laid into the onboard computer, and then the Gundams attaching themselves to asteroids that will be passing through the coordinates. Part 2 explains why this plan is called Operation Stardust. The asteroids that the Gundams will be clinging to are passing through Thallos' atmosphere, creating a meteor shower on the planet. The asteroids contain a high content of gold, and the atmosphere will melt the gold into a dust-like compound that will fall to Thallos once it passes through the atmosphere. Hence the title, Operation Stardust. The Gundams must successfully survive the atmospheric drop to the planet. Part 3 is where the Gundams locate a safe place to hide and then await further orders. Goodbye, Amuro, and good luck.





To Be Continued...