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Twilight_Keeper said it would be a cool idea to post a nice little teaser to my in the works side-story novel, let me know what you think guys.

“Sterling! What do you think you’re doing in there?!” A rather scrawny bespectacled man screamed into the microphone. “You’ve been shot down again! If you can’t learn to improve your performance in the mobile suit, then the test data is useless!” The target of his anger was Galloway Sterling whom, for the fifth time in a row, had been decimated by enemy forces inside the Mobile Weapons Simulator. The enemies he was facing were nothing more than your standard mass production MS-06 Zaku II, armed with nothing more than their 120mm Machine Gun. It was truly an embarrassment to the Earth Federation Ground Forces that their men could not get used to piloting the GMX-78 model Mobile Suit. They were the only weapon that could possibly save the Earth Federation from the overwhelming Zeon forces, and time was running out. “Get your ass out here Sterling we’re done for the day…” The bespectacled man let out a long sigh, his eyes scanning over the failed combat data. It had been weeks since the project began, and their pilots were still incapable of defeating a single Zaku II. “Hey, Max… Let me give the simulator one more shot!” Sterling replied to the scrawny man, who in turn shook his head. “Sterling, you’ve been shot down every day in every combat. What makes you think that you will do any better this time?” Inside the simulation chamber, Sterling rubbed the back of his head. “Well, you know what they say Max; Practice makes perfect.” With a few clicks on a keyboard and the press of a button, Maxwell started the next simulation. “You know, you’re right Sterling… By the end of all this, you’ll be absolutely perfect at dying.” Sterling choked slightly at Maxwell’s comment, yelling into the intercom system. “Not funny Max!” The sound of whizzing bullets pulled Sterling’s attention back to the simulation, already one of the Zaku II had locked on to him, steadily advancing with intent to kill. Gripping the controls tightly, Sterling back stepped the deadly barrage and let loose with a counter attack from the GMX’s 90mm Machine Gun. However, the Zaku II’s mobility proved to be more than capable of evading his shots, circling around to his backside with a second assault of gunfire. And, for the sixth time that day, Galloway Sterling was shot down in mobile suit combat. Ending the test, Maxwell ran a hand through his hair, trying to quell the headache that was inevitable. “Very nice, you manage to increase your survival time by a whopping two seconds. Keep it up, and you’ll last five whole minutes some day.” Stepping out of the simulator, Sterling started the long walk back to the recording area. If testing was truly done for the day, maybe he could convince Maxwell to go out and have a little fun for once. On his way, Sterling collided with a smaller man who, strangely enough, was carrying a Katana. Immediately the smaller gentleman got in Sterling’s face and pushed him back a bit. “Hey! You should watch where you’re going asshole!” He shouted in a rather aggravated tone. “Whoa whoa, easy there pal! I’m sorry, OK?” With a slight swear under his breath, the shorter man continued on his way, leaving Sterling quote confused on what had just occurred. “Haven’t you heard the news? He’s the new test pilot, an Earthnoid if I recall correctly.” The voice came from none other than Sergeant First Class Dalton Gavem, one of Sterling’s acquaintances from around the institute. “So, that’s the new guy Max was talking about the other day? Damn... I had hoped to make a good first impression.” Sterling continued walking down the hall, stopping next to Dalton. “Don’t sweat it Sterling, he’ll come around. After all, nobody around here hates target practice.” Slapping Sterling on the back Dalton headed down the hall, in the same direction as the angered man, laughing lightly at his ‘target practice’ comment.

Making haste, Sterling reached the recording area only to find Maxwell staring at the view screen like he had just seen a ghost. “Hey! Max! Earth to Max! My god… We’ve lost his brain to Zeon.” Grabbing Maxwell by the shoulders and putting him into an instant headlock, Sterling initiated his surprise attack. The maneuver, known in the western world as the ‘Noogie’, involved Sterling grinding his knuckles into Maxwell’s head. As expected, the sudden attack got quite the rise out of the bespectacled man. “God damn it, let me go you idiot! You’re distracting me from a vital test! Just take a look for yourself!” Letting his eyes wander to the screen, Sterling caught a good look at the simulation that was currently in progress. A single GMX-78 had already annihilated four Zaku II and was barreling toward the remaining three at full speed. It was possibly the single most incredible thing Sterling had ever seen, this pilot… he was rolling around bullets and ducking melee strikes like they were some kind of children’s game. “Max, who’s in the simulator?” Sterling’s eyes were wide in surprise, locked on the screen. This gave Maxwell ample distraction time to wrestle himself free from the headlock. “That! Is the best thing that has ever happened to this test team! He’s the new transfer from the Earth Federation Air Force, his name is… Sweiss, if I recall correctly.” Sterling shook his head to try and confirm that he wasn’t dreaming as he watched the GMX carve straight through the last Zaku II with its Low-Output Beam Saber, leaving the enemy suit in pieces on the floor. “You have got to be kidding me! That’s the shrimp? Damn it, that son of a ****!” Turning on his heels, Sterling started to rush out of the room. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” Maxwell inquired, only to get assaulted with Sterling’s blazing glare. “I’m going back to the simulator! There’s no way in hell I’m going to be upstaged that badly!” Sterling’s sentence was cut short by a rather deafening explosion. The alarm system blared to life, signaling that the institute was under attack. “What the hell? An enemy attack right now!? Damn it! Those useless ***** defense forces, can’t they do their job for once?” Turning toward the hallway, Sterling paused for a moment. “Max… How many of the GMX’s are actually ready to be deployed?” The scrawny man shook his head hard in disapproval. “No! No, no, no, no, no! You are not taking out one of the test types and getting it blown to smithereens! You’ll only get yourself killed and burden everyone who isn’t an enemy!” Sterling let out a sigh as he stepped into the hallway. “Alright… You’re right Max. I’ll just have to storm the hangar and take one by force. Later!” Giving a quick salute, Sterling dashed down the hall toward the docking bay. “Sterling! No! Damn it! ****! ****!” Maxwell jumped up and down with a lock of anger and frustration that even the gods themselves had never seen before. Yanking the intercom microphone toward him, he switched the system to full base broadcast. “This is Lieutenant Commander Maxwell Howard! Prepare three mobile units for immediate deployment! Pilots will be: Galloway Sterling, Dalton Gavem, and Vanius Sweiss! Repeat, pilots will be: Galloway Sterling, Dalton Gavem, and Vanius Sweiss! Scramble immediately! Defend the institute at all costs!” Sterling smirked upon hearing the announcement. “Oh yeah Max, work that rank like a professional!” He laughed loudly as he ducked through the hangar bay door, looking upon the real-life GMX’s like a kid in a candy store. “Oh yeah… Now, it’s time for the real fun to start!”
“Hey, Sterling…” Dalton walked up behind him, clothed in his Earth Federation Ground Forces uniform. It was like him to actually look the part… “Looks like you pulled one over on Maxwell, what happened? Did he lose a bet or something?” Sterling glared straight into Dalton’s eyes, moving himself an inch from Dalton’s face. “Shut up!” Dalton laughed, leaning back from Sterling’s face. “Oh, brilliant comeback… You’re a punk, you know that right?” Putting his hand behind his head and rubbing slightly, Sterling let out a slight sigh. “Move.” The voice was definitely familiar; it sounded like… that bastard from the hallway! “I said, move.” Sterling turned to tell the shorter man to shove it up his ass, but halfway through his turn Sweiss just pushed past and headed toward the GMXs. He was kind of a no-nonsense guy apparently, boring as hell but he got the job done. “Well, he’s not one for pleasant conversation is he… What do you think Dalty?” Dalton cocked an eyebrow at the ‘Dalty’ comment before walking past Sterling toward the GMXs. “Don’t sweat the small stuff Sterling, you don’t get to be an ace pilot by being a slacker, you know?” Sterling grumbled under his breath, Dalton had a point… he always had a point. It was hard to become a real bad-ass pilot when all you did was screw around and drink all day. This Sweiss guy… He must do nothing but train all freaking day, absolutely no fun at all! Sterling’s eyes snapped open at the sudden realization! The team was going to leave without him! “Hey! Wait for me you bastards!” Running toward the GMXs, Sterling took a deep breath… This time, the combat was real, any mistakes meant death. It was time to shine like a superstar and show everyone that he could take down just as many Zaku II as Zeon could send! Hell, he was even better than that! It was time to show the world that even the Zeon fortress A Baoa Qu didn’t stand a chance against him! Reaching the mobile suit deck, Sterling looked around for the GMX he was going to use… Slowly he came to a horrifying realization. There had been three units prepared for deployment, however only two of them had been GMX-78s… The other one, was a testament to the Federation’s mobile suit technology! It was the beat all, end all, unstoppable force of absolute failure… The RRF-06 Zanny, a test unit sent down to the institute from the base at Luna II. And, because Sterling had been the last person to arrive, he got the bottom of the barrel and would be stuck with this abomination of a mobile suit. Unlike the GMX-78, the Zanny was not a well equipped war-suit. It was stuck with a 120mm Low-Recoil Canon and 60mm Head Vulcan Guns as its main armaments. The damned thing didn’t even come with a standard melee combat weapon! “Oh, you have got to be kidding me!” Dalton waved to Sterling from the cockpit of one of the GMXs. “You snooze you lose Sterling!” Closing the cockpit door after his comment, Dalton gave Sterling no time to retaliate. Gritting his teeth, Sterling climbed into the cockpit of the rehashed P.O.S known as the Zanny, activating the mobile suit. After a quick check on all primary systems and a look around with the cameras to make sure of any snags or blind spots, Sterling brought the Zanny over to the two GMXs at the hangar gate. Even if he was in this dinosaur of technology, Sterling would take down at least half a Zaku II before the day was done! Slowly the hangar gates opened, revealing the opponents for the day. Three Zaku I ground types, being commanded by a single Zaku II. It was a pretty basic Zeon mobile suit team, which was good, but could prove to be a big pain in the ass if the pilots were experienced. With a flare of his thrusters, Sweiss shot out ahead of the group. In the GMX’s hand was the Low-Output Beam Saber, primed and ready to rip the enemy to shreds. Dalton followed in suit, keeping the 90mm Machine Gun ready to provide support fire. The two pilots were working in perfect harmony, then again, that was Dalton’s greatest strength. He had been a tank gunner before, with plenty of experience following another’s lead. Pushing his thrusters to their maximum, Sterling brought the Zanny forward trying to keep up with Sweiss and Dalton.

Almost immediately, the group of Zaku noticed the presence of other mobile suits. This was probably the first time they have ever seen a suit that wasn’t a Zaku I or II. After all, it was common knowledge that the Earth Federation had yet to make a suitable unit for mass production, and that their trump card ‘Project V’ had yet to be deployed. It was no surprise that the first Zaku I was easily sliced clean in half by Sweiss’ beam saber, the top half quickly peppered by a barrage from Dalton. One Zaku down, three to go… Aiming the 120mm Low-Recoil Canon, Sterling let loose a blast toward the feet of the commanding Zaku II. The shot veered wide of its intended destination, but the explosion was enough to force the suits apart a bit. This made an opening for Dalton, whom immediately let loose multiple shots from the 90mm Machine Gun toward one of the remaining Zaku I. The bullets peppered the suit’s left arm as it tried to defend against the onslaught. In retaliation, the Zaku I let loose a burst from its 105mm Machine Gun, skimming the side of Dalton’s chest area and forcing him to go on the defensive. Meanwhile, Sweiss had engaged the other Zaku I, using his 60mm Head Vulcan Guns to force the suit backward as he moved into position with his Low-Output Beam Saber. The Zaku I had readied its Heat-Hawk, but was struggling to avoid both Saber and Vulcan Gun at the same time. The Zaku II had begun its advance, racing toward Sterling at top speed, its Heat-Hawk at the ready. Moving his 120mm Low-Recoil Canon to the side, Sterling stepped in toward the Zaku II, grabbing its wrist and holding the Heat-Hawk away from him. At the same time, he adjusted the angle of the 120mm Low-Recon Canon toward the mobile suit’s cockpit. However, the Zaku II was faster on the draw than expected, kicking the canon out of Sterling’s hand and reaching behind itself to grab one of its deadly Cracker Grenades. “****!” Spinning his wrist, Sterling let the arm and shoulder joints lock in an odd position. Allowing him to step forward and go literally face to face with the Zaku II, bringing his arm forward and locking it around the other mobile suit’s midsection. This put the two mobile suits in super-close proximity, making use of the Cracker Grenade suicide. “I’ve got you now!” Letting loose with his 60mm Head Vulcan Guns, Sterling blasted the Zaku II’s head to little more than shrapnel. He had hoped that disabling the main camera would force the pilot to surrender. What he had not expected was that the Zeon pilot was not even fazed by his position. The Zaku II activated its thrusters at maximum power, forcing the Zanny backward and onto the ground, the impact loosening Sterling’s grip just enough for its arm to break free, Cracker Grenade in hand. “SIEG ZEON!” The sound echo through Sterling’s ears as the pilot shoved the deadly grenade between the two mobile suits, panning to blow them both straight to hell. Sterling’s eyes went wide, his life flashing before his eyes… This was it, he was going to die here! “GRAAAAHHH!!!” Pushing the Zanny’s thrusters to 120% output, Sterling pushed against the Zaku II as hard as the mobile suit would allow, trying desperately to drag the Zanny out from under it. Grinding along the concrete, the Zanny slowly tore apart as it tried to lose the Zaku II and get away from the grenade. However, before he could get away completely the Cracker Grenade went off with a deafening blast. The flames consuming the cockpit of the Zaku II and setting the suit’s power source off like a bomb. The combined explosions tore the Zanny’s legs clean off, buffeting the suit’s cockpit with shrapnel and heat.
The explosion caught Dalton and Sweiss’ attention nearly instantaneously. “Son of a ****!” Dalton yelled as he ran over to the wreckage, his battle with the Zaku I having been long finished, the enemy suit laying full of bullet holes. Sweiss was still engaged with his opponent, the Zaku I had taken severe damage and was now barely mobile as Sweiss slowly picked away at it like a master butcher. Kneeling with his GMX next to Sterling’s fallen Zanny, Dalton took special care when taking hold of the remaining torso section. Slowly he lifted the wreckage and carried it back toward the hangar bay. Sweiss would join him shortly after, having gown bored with the Zaku I pilot’s inability to fight back and decided to cut the entire mobile suit in half from collar to hip. When the pair arrived in the hangar, a medical team was already waiting. They were ready to take care of any injuries that the team could have sustained. Setting the broken Zanny down, Dalton backed away. Allowing the mechanical team to step in and begin the process of opening the destroyed cockpit door. Quickly they started up their plasma torches and slowly cut away at the metal, trying to get to Sterling as quickly as possible. Amidst the noise a faint voice could be heard, one of the mechanical team members stood and gave an order for silence. Immediately the hangar fell quiet as he pressed an ear to the cockpit door. The muffled voice of Sterling could be heard within, as well as the noise of him kicking the control panel furiously. “Move you piece of ****! God damn it, if you don’t turn the ***** camera back on I’ll weld your ass to the wall!” The mechanic sighed motioning to the medical team, as well as Dalton and Sweiss, that Sterling was fine if not a bit bruised up. Dalton rushed over to the cockpit door, drawing his side arm and motioning for the crew to move out of the way and open the cockpit. As they pulled shards of metal from the wreck, Sterling’s cursing grew louder and more abrupt. After a bit, the cockpit door cracked open and allowed Sterling’s voice to ring out. “About time, you bastards are slower than ****!” As he moved forward to push the hatch and exit the mobile suit, Dalton readied his pistol. Standing close to the door he waited for Sterling to poke his head out, immediately shoving the gun in his face and yelling at the top of his lungs. “SIEG ZEON! Death to all Earth Federation scum!” Immediately Sterling fell backward with a girlish scream and slight flail of his arms. Dalton burst into laughter at the sight and sound of it, as did a few members of the mechanical team. It didn’t take long for Dalton’s laughter to be cut short as a pair of arms locked around his waist. “You bastard! That wasn’t funny!” Sterling leapt from the cockpit, slamming into Dalton’s stomach with a diving tackle. “People like you shouldn’t exist in this world!” Sending them both over the side of the Zanny’s remains and tumbling onto the hangar bay floor. “I’m taking you with me to hell!” Dalton said in a scary voice as he reversed Sterling’s hold into a headlock. Tumbling around the floor, trying to put each other into various submission holds, Sterling and Dalton shouted obscenities best left unheard. Off to the side Sweiss stared on at their idiocy, letting out a long breath before being joined by Maxwell.

“Alright… That’s enough!” Maxwell yelled at the top of his lungs, making sure that the two wrestling idiots heard him loud and clear. Dalton responded immediately, releasing Sterling and sending him sprawling with a well placed kick to the backside. “Hey! I wasn’t done…” Sterling would be cut off mid sentence by Maxwell’s angered voice. “Shut the **** up!” The look in Maxwell’s eyes was horrifying, rarely did he get mad enough to seem intimidating… But right now, nobody would be stupid enough not to listen to him. “Specialist Galloway Sterling on your feet now!” Sterling scrambled to his feet, getting into a respectable position, trying his hardest to appear like he was actually in the military. “Your actions on the battlefield were idiotic at best! I let you deploy alongside Dalton and Sweiss to see how you would perform in an actual combat situation. I had hoped that you would shot improvement over your simulation data due to the severity of the situation… Instead, you go and get yourself blown to pieces even worse than you do normally!” Down the sides of Maxwell’s face, tears poured like waterfalls. He was trapped in the rare mid-ground between emotions, never before had he felt this combination of royally pissed off and relieved at the same time. “You had me worried sick Sterling! You could have died today, do you understand that at all?!” Sterling stepped toward Maxwell, motioning for him to cool down a bit with his hands. “Max, I…” Maxwell’s voice interjected once more. “No! No excuses Sterling! Not this time.” Turning away from the three pilots, Maxwell stormed out of the hangar and out of sight. “Wow, harsh… But you know he’s right about that Sterling. You gave us one hell of a scare back there…” Dalton’s hand slammed down on Sterling’s shoulder, gripping tightly in an assuring manner. “Don’t sweat it too hard this time. I’ll let you off easy on account of first time jitters. But listen to the advice Sterling, if you don’t pick up your feet… You might not get up from the next fall.” Walking past Sterling, Dalton headed out of the hangar eager to get out of his uniform and unwind after the battle. The only person who didn’t give any kind of supportive speech was Sweiss he just stood there the entire time and watched everything go down. Then without a word, he walked away and left Sterling to wallow in pity and sadness. If the shorter man had anything to say, he certainly hid it well. “Well… fine! **** all of you too!” Sterling tried to shake himself of what had been said, but the words stuck deep. He knew in his heart that his friends were right, and if he didn’t get off his ass and pick up the slack, he would die. Turning back to look at the wreckage of the Zanny, Sterling shook with anger. It had been a much closer call than he had realized, the suit was… gone. It was nothing more than a shredded pile of metal with a head. Turning away Sterling stumbled out of the hangar, trying to get back to the barracks before breaking down completely.
“What do you mean?” A loud female voice boomed from the recording room. “There is no way that combat data can be correct!” A tall woman stood next to Maxwell, she was quite the knockout too, a real stone-cold fox. “You’re not reading it wrong! The computer system shows no glitches or problems. This data is completely genuine!” The foxy lady crossed her arms and shook her head at the idea. The combat data they were reviewing was from the battle on the previous day. Specifically, they were looking at Sterling’s data from the RRF-06 Zanny. “Maxwell, be honest with me… Is there anything you haven’t told me about this Sterling character?” Max stepped away from the computer screen, looking the woman right in the eyes. “I’ve known Sterling since way back in boot camp. He’s a good man, an idiot… But a good man and he’s definitely not a Zeon spy! I can’t explain why his combat performance in the Zanny is 146% higher than his performance in the GMX. I’ll run a few tests, and find out for you Jessica… It could be something as simple as the way the Zanny responds to his movements. I seriously doubt that Sterling has experience piloting a Zaku!” The woman now known as ‘Jessica’ put a finger on Maxwell’s lips, effectively silencing his never ending train of thoughts. “Listen Max, I don’t doubt your man. I want him back in that Zanny… I’ll make sure that it’s repaired, but from now on make sure that all his simulation training is Zanny only. Oh and Maxxie… When we’re on the job, you’re supposed to call me Colonel Marshall, not Jessica.” She leaned forward, planting a kiss on Maxwell’s forehead before exiting the room. She was the commanding officer of the Flanagan Test Division, while she was rarely actually directly involved in the team’s actions. She knew everything that went on inside the facility’s walls. Slowly she walked down the hallway with an air of authority that would make you beg for orders. “Sweiss, what did I say about carrying around that ancient sushi knife?” Sweiss stepped forward to give who ever had just insulted his sword a piece of his mind, but held his tongue once he recognized Jessica. “Keep it peace bonded when on duty.” Jessica smiled slightly she loved it when she didn’t have to repeat orders to people. “Then tell me, why isn’t it?” Sweiss stepped back, caught off guard by the question. “I’m sorry ma’am. The attack threw my entire schedule off track. I haven’t had a chance to return to my quarters from duty.” Walking past him, Jessica put a hand on his shoulder with a slight laugh. “Just make sure it gets done, it was hard enough to get permission to let you carry it around. Don’t do anything that’ll make me look bad for letting you have it.” With a slight nod toward Jessica, Sweiss stepped back the way he came. His intention was to go and peace bond the sword like he was supposed to. On his way to his quarters, Sterling came waltzing up the hallway apparently deep in thought. For the second time in their lives, Sterling crashed into Sweiss head on. “Sorry… Didn’t see you…” The voice was monotone, lacking in Sterling’s usual enthusiasm and color. Sweiss stayed his anger, this time something was drastically different about Sterling today. “Get over it.” Sweiss spoke softly for once, the words coming straight from his heard. “Brooding on the past will only make you suffer. All you can do is walk forward and try to make your life better…” Sweiss walked away as he said the last part of his speech, leaving Sterling confused. A few seconds later, Sterling turned hoping to catch one more word with Sweiss before losing him. Mostly to find out the meaning behind the comforting speech, but Sweiss had already vanished into his room. “That was weird… Wonder what the hell Mr. Ace was on about… Wait… Why the hell did he tell me that ****? Do I look depressed or something? God damn it… everyone is going to think I’m bummed from the whole you suck ass speech… ****, great job Sterling. This is one hell of a time to be hung-over.”
As was typical, the night before had not been spent in deep thought about how to improve and become the pilot his potential would allow him to be. Instead, Sterling did the same thing he always did when he was upset at the world and depresses. He blocked out all thoughts of change and ignored everyone’s input, then crawled inside a bottle of booze and got ****-face drunk. The goal was to become so drunk that he wouldn’t remember anything from the past two weeks let alone the day prior. Today, the aftermath of a night spent swimming in liquor was rather unpleasant. Sterling had a blazing headache and a nearly unstoppable hang-over. “Ah… damn… It’s like someone dropped a colony on my head.” Sterling sighed loudly as he rubbed his temples, trying to lessen the horrifying pain that plagued him. Continuing on his way down the hall, he stopped short of the recoding room. He really was not in any mood to see Maxwell today, not after what happened in the hangar. “You’re two hours late.” That was just like Maxwell, it was like he had some kind of magic creepy sixth sense that let him know when people were around. Maybe he was a cyborg or something… That would mean Sterling would have to get a Minovsky Particle scattering device to fool his radar. Did they even make Minovsky Devices in people-sized form? Probably not… That wouldn’t be something they could sneak past Sterling. “Quit your dreaming and get in here! Today we’re going to try something a bit different.” Slinking into the room, Sterling looked about… There was nothing new, at least nothing that he could directly see. “Sit down we’re going to review combat data today.” Reviewing combat data meant a long and very boring lecture on how he could improve his capabilities and a stern warning about lollygagging, maybe a five minute film from 1950 too. “Great Max… That is exactly what I wanted to do today.” Maxwell smiled as he stepped closer to Sterling, slamming his hand into the man’s shoulder with a loud slap. “You’re hung-over, that’s good. Looks like you actually listened to what I told you for once! Now, sit down and shut up! You’re going to watch Zaku combat videos all day.” Sterling’s mouth dropped open, watch Zaku combat all day? What the hell was Maxwell thinking? “I’m… going to watch Zaku…” Maxwell laughed in response to Sterling’s confusion. Turning toward the main screen and activating the combat tapes. On the screen, a video of Zaku II in combat, specifically detailing how they moved and turned. “Now, I won’t tell you why you’re watching these. All of that is up to you. Me, I’ve got stuff to do… So! Keep on task or I’ll bust your ass to toilet cleaner.” Stepping out of the room, Maxwell left Sterling in the dark pits of video hell, with nothing to keep him company but hours and hours of boredom.