"Hello big brother! Missed me?" Mei Li asked as she started running towards Ming Chow.

Ming smiled at his little sister. Now a beautiful young lady of nineteen years of age, she was the only family he had left, and the one that he cared about the most. He was so glad that Zeon had finally won... He started running towards her as well...

But suddenly, a shot wrang out, and Mei Li's expression quickly changed from one of happiness to one of pain and shock, the life in her eyes irrevocably knocked out of them. She quickly fell face down on the ground, a pool of blood spreading from her unmoving body... And Ming could only scream.
-----------------------------

November 28, UC 0083
Lunar City of Von Braun

"Ming! Wake up! Ming!" Arnold Jefferson ordered in as a forceful a voice as he could. But Ming wouldn't stop. He just kept screaming and thrashing around his bunk. If they didn't stop him he'd probably hurt himself soon...

"Try this, Arnold..." Herbert advised as he picked up a pitcher of water. Oh ****, those damn nightmares again...

"Thanks chief," Jefferson replied as Herbert passed him the pitcher. He knew Ming had been badly traumatized by the death of his entire family during the war, but it had never been this bad before. Except that he had become obsessed with killing his enemy that is... In one quick motion Jefferson splashed the entire pitcher's contents into Ming's face, sending Ming quickly back to the real world.

"Wha... wha..." Ming stammered as he began to try to shake the water off his head. Mei Li? he thought... what... what happened...

"Another nightmare, Sir?" Herbert asked quietly.

Ming quickly composed himself and took a few deep breathes. ****! he thought, another one... I've been having many of those... "Yeah..." he answered rather shakily, "Sorry..."

"Want to talk about it, Ming?" Jefferson asked in a calm voice.

"No... I'd rather not..." Ming started.

"Herbert, could you leave us for a while?" Arnold requested, "I need to..."

"Got it sir," Herbert replied as he stepped out of the room. Being an officer, it was uncomfortable for Ming to reveal his problems to his underlings. But the same was probably not true with Jefferson, as it was clear that Ming trusted his former CO.

"Talk, that's an order," Jefferson ordered sternly.

"I thought you weren't in the military anymore?" Ming muttered defiantly.

"Yeah, but you're still under my care at the moment, so you'd better be grateful," Jefferson countered rather angrily. "Come on Ming, I already told you before that I was your friend, so tell me!"

"It's my sister, Sir... I keep having bad dreams about her..." Ming answered rather uncomfortably. Of all the deaths in his family, Ming regretted hers the most. If only he had not joined the military as his late father had told him to, if only he had been at Side 3 instead of wasting his time in a forgotten corner of the One Year War...

"Look, both of us were at Side 2 at the time, you couldn't have done anything," Jefferson said confortingly as he saw Ming's guilt filled eyes.

"If I had been there, she might not have been caught in that crossfire, and she'd still be alive..." Ming countered. Those Federation *******s he didn't add... Targetting his uncle, a DIPLOMAT, and killing his helpless niece with him...

"Ming, I'm not so sure about that report anymore..." Jefferson replied solemnly. The sad truth about the matter, he thought, was that his sister was probably not killed by Federal agents as the official news had said, but rather by members of Zeon security forces in their overzealous efforts to maintain security. But it was something that he still could not prove...

"My uncle and sister are both dead, right? That's proof enough what they told me is true. Those Feddies do nothing but kill the ones I love..." Ming said, his eyes burning with hate as he spoke. And that's why I should get out fo here and start killing more of them... "I should be going sir," Ming finished sternly.

"Don't let hate control you, Ming," Jefferson advised, "I've seen too many good men waste their lives because of it."

"It's not hate, it's justice," Ming replied defiantly.

"Call it what you want, but you're not going anywhere as of yet," Jefferson replied coldly. You stubborn mule, he didn't add. I just hope you start thinking clearly after a day and a half of sleep...

"Why?" Ming asked, but this time more calmly. Ming knew that Jefferson probably knew something that he didn't, and that could mean the difference between life and death.

"You need to lay low for a while," Jefferson explained, "There are no resistance cells in Von Braun, at least none that I know of that are still active. I do know a few groups operating in other Sides, but inter-colony travel is being heavily monitored at the moment. I might be able to get you a friendly transport in a few days, but until then I suggest you stay with my salvage company and help out."

"I'm a combat pilot, not a grease monkey," Ming objected rather proudly. His pilotting skills had been among the best during the One Year War, and as a warrior he felt that it was a little insulting to be given a menial job such as salvage work.

"Actually, I might have a duty that will strike you fancy..." Jefferson replied with a grin.
-----------------------------

"Damn, I hate these shoal zone patrols..." a GM Kai pilot muttered as he led his patrol of three around the debris littered area around Side 2. The pieces of wreckage around him were dangerous enough, but this area was still a favorite hunting ground for pirates and Zeon rebels, despite the growing number of colonists returning to their homes.

And his fears were quite justified. For three hundred meters away a squad of three MS-21C Dra-Cs were watching them carefully, hiding among the debris. And unfortunately for the GM pilots, they were not just there to watch.

"Alright squad, let's move out," Lieutenant Ralph Preston ordered as he began to aim his Dra's 40mm machine gun at the lead GM Kai. The Dra was a rather strange looking unit, being a mobile suit/mobile armor hybrid that had been manufactured by the Delaz Fleet using salvaged parts. But at the hands of an experienced pilot, like he and his team of Delaz Fleet survivors, it was an effective machine. The lead GM Kai entered Ralph's sights, and he just waited for the appointed time...

"Hey, what's this..." the GM Kai pilot remarked as he saw what looked like what was left of a Zaku. It could be one left over from the war, but it could also belong to one of those rebels, he reasoned. He decided to go in for a closer look, and waved for his team to follow him. It was the last mistake he would ever make.

"Easy as fishing..." Ralph remarked as the trio closed within meters of the wreckage of the Zaku. Wreckage that had been loaded with hundreds of pounds of explosives. One of Ralph's wingmen flicked a switch, and a coded signal was quickly sent through a tiny fiber optic cable attached to the Dra. On the other end of the cable, was a detonator...

The lead GM pilot had just reached out towards the wreckage when he saw a tiny spark in the center of the Zaku. He focused his sight on it, wondering what might have caused...

"Now!" Ralph ordered as he flew out of his positions and fired a few shots at the lead GM, closely followed by the rest of his team. The whole GM team turned to meet them, but then suddenly the bombs in the derilect Zaku exploded, engulfing the entire team in the blast. Two GMs died instantly, while a third battered, but still living unit floated on helplessly, its limbs having been blown off. However, Preston was not about to take any prisoners...

"Mayday! Mayday!" the surviving GM pilot screamed as he came back to his senses. The next thing he knew a trio of shells hit his GM, narrowly missing the cockpit area. He tried in vain to maneuver, but the GM was too damaged...

"Too bad Feddie, you had been pretty lucky..." Ralph said over the radio as he stopped right in front of the wrecked GM Kai and aimed his machine gun at the cockpit. He depressed the trigger, and the GM Kai went dead, "We're done team, let's go home," Preston ordered as he turned away, leaving what was left of the dead GM team to join the wreckage that had filled this area.

But the last GM was not entirely dead. At the last moment, the surviving pilot had activated an emergency beacon, and miraculously it survived the damaged inflicted by the bombs and the Dra's machine gun. Federal listening posts picked up the signal a few hours later, and a Federation Task Force was soon on its way to the shoal zone...
-----------------------------

"I'm getting the hang of it..." Ming muttered as he gingerly operated the salvaged GM that Jefferson had piloted during their encounter outside of Von Braun. Though it did take some getting used to due to the large amount of improvised parts installed in it, the really steep learning curve was figuring out the cockpit controls. Federation cockpits weren't terribly different from Zeon ones, but this was his first time...

"Why don't you use the GM's programmed maneuvers? The Feddies have pretty advanced automated systems," Herbert advised with a grin. Though Ming was initally reluctant, he had decided to try to master pilotting it as a matter of pride, lest the salvage team could brag about being able to do something an ace like him couldn't...

"**** those systems!" Ming shot back as he tried to walk the GM slowly forward. He had just taken three steps when the GM lost balance and collapsed on the ground, much to the amusement of the salvage team watching him.

"Ming, try those systems out," Jefferson recommended as he tried to keep himself from laughing out loud, "The best way to learn those controls is to watch how the computer does it..."

"Pilotting a Federation machine is shameful enough, but to be forced to use systems designed to kill our Zeon brothers..." Ming started angrily.

"And you should stop complaining, SOLDIER! Swallow your ****ing pride and learn!" Jefferson shotback in an equally angry tone, "Like it or not, they won, and you probably will never get your hands on a mono eye, so deal with it!"

"Yes, Sir," Ming replied quietly as he switched on the GM's automated systems. Jefferson was REALLY pushing it, but Ming still respected him. And he was also right, as the GM began to operate more easily, almost lazily, while under the supervision of the GM's computer.

"That's better!" Jefferson encouraged almost like a drill Sergeant.

"Sir better than that sir!" Ming replied with a slight grin, remembering the proper naval reply to that particular statement.

Jefferson laughed at that. Good, he thought, start forgetting about the damn war already, and you might live to have grandchildren Ming... Jefferson sighed a little at the last thougt. Despite his age, he had yet to find the right person, and probably never will, though Ming's hot temper and insensitivity would probably make him equally hopeless in that department... Unless the lady he found was a deity of compassion and patience that is...

"Argh!" Ming growled as the GM lost its balance again and collapsed on the ground, leading to an outburst of laughter from the salvage team watching him. And THAT, Ming thought, was too much...

"Oh boy..." Herbert muttered as Ming began to use language his mother would not have approved of, "Maybe I should..."

"Nah, let him release some steam," Jefferson replied as he shook his head. Maybe even a deity of understanding would give up on him...
-----------------------------

"Side 2... of all the places, Side 2..." Sylvie Greisser muttered to herself as she got her squad's transfer orders. That Nicolo... he really wants to tear me apart, doesn't he? For who? That arrogant Romanov?

"Any problem, mam?" Jin asked as he saw Sylvie's expression turn ugly. What now? he thought. Sylvie was a good CO, but she was just so damn anti-social, especially to men. Probably a reason why nobody in the officer corps dared to ask her out, lest he earn her wrath...

"It's nothing..." Sylvie muttered in reply. I'm going back to his dead home, she thought sadly, the home he turned his back on to save me... And I just... I just couldn't...

"Mam?" Jin asked as he saw Sylvie start becoming teary eyed. Wasn't she from Side 6? What happened in Side 2 that made her...

"Just get your things ready Jin," Sylvie ordered coldly as she quickly turned away and started walking to her room. She felt tears well up her eyes again, which she quickly wiped away. Max... I'm sorry, she thought to herself, hoping somehow her dead love could hear her thoughts, but I still love you, and I don't think I could ever let go...
-----------------------------

"There! HA!" Ming declared triumphantly as the GM finished a complex series of maneuvers under his control. And he had done it all manually, without the help of a computer. It HAD taken nearly sixteen straight hours of practice, but Ming felt singularly proud at his achievement.

"Perfect, Ming," Jefferson observed with a grin, "Now you up for some real work?"

"What's the job?" Ming asked, wanting to show off the skills he had learned to the rest of the salvage crew.

"We're going on a little salvage expedition to Side 2. We'll be away for about a week and a half, but once we're done I could get you that transport," Jefferson explained, "If you still want it..." he continued, hoping Ming would just give it up already...

"Great, at least I could pay you back for your generosity," Ming replied with a smile. In around two weeks, he thought, I could get back to my "real" job...
-----------------------------

"It is good to hear from you, Nicolo," General Gene Corini greeted with a slight smile as his subordinate's face came up the view screen, "So, do you have the list?"

"Yes, Sir! All dedicated to the cause, as you requested, Sir," Nicolo replied confidently.

"Good, as we shall be announcing our formation in a week," Corini replied as he began to pet his cat, sitting quietly in his lap, "I really might start considering a good spot for you if they are as good as you say..."

"Thank you, Sir," Nicolo replied while a smile formed on the back of his head. With my record, he thought, I should be leading the Titans in no time...

"Very well then, I have work to do, dismissed!" Corini concluded as he turned off the video screen. That fool Nicolo, he thought. Did he really think I'd trust a schemer like him? In any case, just as Jamitov Heimann had asked, his wish will be granted by the December 4...

Notice: This story and all related material is copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting, no part of this story may be taken by any other person. If you wish to use any material, please contact me first. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by their respective companies.