Side-7 or more popularly known as ‘Eden’. One of many fronts in the long and bloody war between the Earth Federation and the Principality of Zeon.Where 13 imposing space colonies used to orbit is now little more than a debris field comprising of the shattered hulks of starships, mobile suits and what remained of the space colonies themselves – now literal shells of what they used to be.

Even then after the One Year War had long ended, Side-7 never recovered, remaining an abandoned wasteland that served as a macabre memorial to the sheer cost of blood and steel in that war. And as if to add insult to injury, the remnants of those that opposed the current Republic of Zeon and strived to revive the Principality of old took shelter within the ruins of Side-7.

Jinsol’s no stranger to the devastation. She’s one out of many veterans of the battles that saw Eden being laid to waste and turned into a stalemate, slowly grinding down both sides in what most could only describe as the spaceborne version of the battle of Verdun.

In the cockpit of that green mobile suit of hers aboard the space carrier Mobius, Jinsol’s already suited up in that burgundy-red normal suit of hers. Every time the alarm that signals a scramble blares, Jinsol knows someone’s going to be another statistic, another name amongst those of the dead in the casualty reports. Yet unlike many of her fellow mobile suit pilots, Jinsol always makes it back, long ago having taken cold comfort in the fact that her name would never be amongst that of the fallen.

Such is the mercilessness of war, people live and people die. That’s all there is to it.

Consoles flicker to life, along with the panoramic viewscreen that allowed Jinsol a full 360-degree view of the battlefield. Like clockwork, Jinsol runs through the motions of flipping switches and running her gloved fingers over holographic controls as cranes load her mobile suit, one of Zeon’s many super prototypes, code-named ‘Kshatriya’.

The hangar door opens but instead of blinding white light, it’s the cold, inky-back of space with a thousand kilometers of relative void between the Mobius and the relative safety of the shoals of Side-7

A muffled clunk lets Jinsol know that her Kshatriya is now loaded and secured to the ship’s electromagnetic catapult. Draw in a breath, reel in her thoughts. Focus on the task at hand.

“Kshatriya, 1st Lieutenant Jung Jinsol, ready to launch!”

Jinsol’s hands grip tightly on the controls. The screaming howl of electromagnetic propulsion motors punctuated by a hard jolt reverberates throughout the Kshatriya’s frame as the catapult hurls the green MS into the void outside.

Her comms crackle to life as soon as she’s clear of the launch bay.

“Three high-speed bogeys inbound. They’re definitely Feddie suits.” Haseul, Jinsol’s commanding officer and captain of the Mobius, mutters over the comms, her voice punctuated by the rapid clacking of her fingers on a keyboard.

“I have them on sensors.” Jinsol says, eyeing the moving blips on her panoramic viewscreen. “Looks like Jegans. They’re moving faster than normal – possibly special forces units.”

The Federation’s much feared Gundams haven’t made an appearance at Eden yet it seems.

How disappointing. But perhaps that was a good thing as it means this scramble would be quick and clean.

Maybe a bit too quick for Jinsol’s liking.

“Roger. We’re seven minutes away from Side-7. Take out those Jegans then get back here on the double. Ignore their mother ship.”

“Affirmative.”

The exhaust from her ers appear to the casual observer as a trail of brilliant blue as the Kshatriya charges forward. Despite its inherently bulky design, the MS like many times before, proves to be surprisingly nimble in Jinsol’s hands.

The three Jegans are closing fast. The lead one seems to be moving faster than the rest. Either a heavily customized one not unlike that of the Red Comet’s infamous Zaku or (as Jinsol secretly hopes,) a highly skilled pilot. One that clearly knows how to push the limits of their machine.

Looks like this mission won’t be so blasé after all.

“If you wanna follow us, you’ll have to get through me first.” Jinsol mutters, seemingly to no one in particular.

“Activating funnels!”

And in that moment, her MS feels even more like an extens