The year is Universal Century 0084, those few remaining souls who fought for Zeon independence so many years ago have managed to find their way to Axis, the massive asteroid base located beyond the remnants of Side 3. The Principality of Zeon is no more and in its wake, the Federation has grown incredibly powerful, and with that power corruption has followed. Many at Axis watched the Delaz Fleet continue the battle they all once waged in the year 0083, and while it inspired fervor and kindled fires in the hearts of some, but failed to move Axis to mobilize for outright war.<br/><br/>The powers at Axis, contented with the modicum of power allowed to them by the Federation simply stayed their hand while the comrades of many of those aboard Axis fought and died in the name of Spacenoid Independence. With the final phases of Operation Stardust a success, the stolen colony from Side 7 impacted North America, destroying a large portion of the Earth’s agricultural land. However, this was merely a pyrrhic victory, with much of the Delaz Fleet killed in action, among them Aiguile Delaz himself and ace pilot Anavel Gato. Those few who managed to break through the Federation’s blockade in the final battle of Operation Stardust have now found themselves at Axis.<br/><br/>In the aftermath of Operation Stardust, the Federation created the Titans, a radical leaning and well- funded offshoot of the Federation tasked with hunting down and eliminating Zeon “radicals” as well as their sympathizers. However, even in its early stages it has proven that it is nothing more than a biased anti-spacenoid militia despite carrying the flag of the Federation. The Titans clearly have their own agenda, but to what ends they are willing to go is unknown at this time. What is clear though is that they are aggressively hunting former Zeon members as well as constantly harrying and imposing unnecessary sanction against the colonies that were or are sympathetic to the cause of Zeon. All the while, Axis does little else but watch as its own supporters are chastised and victimized by this new task force with the promise to “return true power to Earth’s hands.”<br/><br/>Having grown weary of inaction and falling in line to orders of those who would not take the stand they needed to, Captain Jaryk, a former ace pilot himself has decided to take what remains of his crew and commandeer an aging and soon to be decommissioned Gwazine class ship, which lacks some more modern features such as a catapault, it does have respectable firepower as well as a mobile suit hangar that can accommodate 20 units. Captain Jaryk has enlisted the help of several Papua Class Support Craft and most importantly has convinced an old war time comrade, Commander Marius Freya to join their cause, bringing with him his Zanzibar Class Assault Cruiser and compliment of 8 mobile suits. Commander Freya’s contingent of mobile suits however are dated, consisting of 4 Rick Dom II and 4 Zaku II Kai mobile suits. However, their squad leader Lieutenant Mariya Jagen is a survivor from Operation Stardust with incredible skill as a pilot and makes them a force to be reckoned with. While this guerilla force cannot be directly supported or sanctioned by Axis, they have given silent support in the form of allowing Jaryk and his rag tag band to ‘comandeer’ the Gwazine in the first place, and while Axis may offer passive support at times, they cannot be counted on for backup or supplies.<br/>Captain Jaryk’s contingent of mobile suits, as well as their pilots are more varied (these will be our characters) in both their capabilities, experiences and motivations for joining this cause. Some burn with patriotic virtue, others seek revenge, and some merely heed the siren call of war to sate their desire for combat.<br/><br/>The heroes of Zeon are either dead or biding their time to strike when it suits them best, it is now up to this rag tag band to continue the effort that so many of them embarked on seemingly eons ago in the One Year War. These are the Embers of Zeon.<br/>-------------------------------------------------------------<br/><br/>"You're sure of your course of action on this?" Admiral Daeken looked across the table to Captain Jaryk, the two had fought many battles together against the Federation, and while Daeken had enjoyed the spoils of war to a certain extent with a promotion and a good deal of respect among the scattered Zeon soldiers that inhabited Axis. In addition to the promotion, Daeken had aged gracefully, hints of grey creeped into his hairline and mustache, but physically, he was no worse for wear from the horrors of the One Year War. Captain Jaryk on the other hand...Daeken couldn't help but look upon his friend and comrade with some amount of pity, they had called him "The Phoenix of Zeon" at one point, but the war had broken his body, taken it from him and left the man that stood before him. Jaryk was certainly steeled of heart, but he was no longer the imposing figure he had once been. His left leg was gone from the knee down, underneath the dress blues that Jaryk had worn to their private meeting, Daeken knew there was gruesome scars that ran across his torso and left arm. The left sleeve was not as filled out as the right, his left arm having lost some of its strength when the doctors had been forced to operate to remove large chunks of shrapnel from the shattered and sundered cockpit of his Zaku II towards the middle of the One Year War. A part of Daeken grieved and burned for vengeance for his friend. But there was protocol to think about.<br/><br/>Jaryk had been given command of a ship, "The Abyssal Fury" for his sacrifices, but he couldn't physically pass the tests necessary for a pilot anymore. Jaryk stared back with his one good eye, his left bore a leather patch strapped over it, he could sense his friend looking him over, was it pity? No, it was concern, that was almost harder for Jaryk to grit and bare. "I assure you Admiral, I can-" he tried to continue, but Admiral Daeken quickly put his hand up to silence him. "Let's say for one moment that your intel is correct on this matter," he pressed a gloved finger firmly onto the document in front of him on the table, the glasses next to either man were filled with top shelf whiskey, the glasses coated, indicating this may have been their second or third. It needed to be, the information that Captain Jaryk had brought with him was incredibly delicate, and there were few within Axis that he trusted. A quick sip from his glass and Daeken continued, "-Even if this is accurate, what do you hope to accomplish with one ship? You claim to have support of another, but refuse to name him, why? You know you can trust me Arlen." Captain Jaryk nodded, "I can trust<span style="font-style: italic">you</span>, but if I am found out, I won't put someone else's feet into the fire." Arlen Jaryk had always been a commendable man, and it was no wonder to Daeken that he had gathered up the support of his full crew and even some eager mobile suit pilots. But the question remained on the table, what was Jaryk's goal.<br/><br/>The pause from Daeken gave Jaryk the cue that it was his turn to reveal his hand. "Our mission will be simple, to strike at the Titans soft targets. A small scale guerilla force can move through their fleet lines and create havoc. We've seen that when given reason to rally the other colonies will respond positively to our message." Admiral Daeken smirked, shaking his head, this tactician in front of him bore little resemblance to the hot headed ace pilot he served next to during the war. "I've never known you to be a 'big picture' man, nor a look at me politician, and this 'campaign' stinks of both." Daeken was losing interest and it pained him to do so, but he would not be a part of some half wrought plan simply to harbor glory from times past by a man who's time as a pilot had been cut short.<br/><br/>"Damnit Breya!" Jaryk slammed his right fist on the table and stood up shakily, his left arm trembling as he held the table for balance. "I've come here with good intel! This is serious, the Titans are stacking the deck to hunt down all Zeon Remnants and we're sitting here doing nothing! Just give me the<span style="font-style: italic">Abyssal Fury</span>! You don't even need her anymore, she's going to be decommissioned soon anyways." There were nearly tears in Arlen Jaryk's eyes as he spoke to his one time friend, no, he was pleading with his friend, not to get involved, but to merely step aside and allow him to take this course of action. Jaryk's face contorted into near feral visages as he spoke from his heart, imploring his friend to listen to him, "I have to be a 'big picture man now because no one else here wants to wake up and realize that we're still at war! While we sit here with our hands in our laps the Titans and the Federation are consolidating power and placing us further and further into a corner, we need to fight back, and if this campaign can do anything to help then I'm going to do everything in my power to see it happen." Jaryk was winded and red in the face and inhaled and exhaled deeply as he stared at Daeken.<br/><br/>"So the real Arlen Jaryk is still in there," The grizzled and wounded posture of Captain Jaryk could not hide the raw power and emotion that still emanated from the man. "Arlen, I cannot sanction this course of action, you know that-" Jaryk's whole body shrunk and the sorrow was immediately visible in his one piercing blue eye. "-However, we have been friends since the academy, and your intel here is good, I know that much. But the higher ups will hear none of it, if we were to reveal we even knew about this, well, they'd lose any shreds of power and influence they've still got and the Titans would sink us." Admiral Daeken stood up and looked at Jaryk, "I can't sanction any of this and I can't tell you anything, but the<span style="font-style: italic">Abyssal Fury</span>was retrofitted to carry only 14 mobile suits, the rest of the hanger was redesigned to carry something..." He let the pause formulate, as if looking for the right words, "...Well, something quite potent. The access codes and schematics are on my desk." Daeken turned his back to Jaryk, "You know if I am asked about any of this I will have to tell them that you held me at gunpoint and I tried to stop you. You'll have 25 minutes to get your crew and mobile suits in order, after that it will become entirely too obvious what you're doing. Good luck Arlen."<br/><br/>Jaryk quickly grabbed up the key cards that Admiral Daeken had laid out on the desk. He meandered awkwardly around the desk, his mobility limited by his lost left leg and drew his pistol. He raised his hand up, pistol in hand and was interrupted by Admiral Daeken. "Only you should access what's on those keycards, it's too much responsibility for anyone else, only you can handle it. Zieg Zeon!" Jaryk brought the pistol down, striking Daeken on the top of the head, causing him to slump down to the floor and lay there unconscious.<br/><br/>"This is Jaryk to bridge," he used his handheld comm device, the response came back immediately "This is the Bridge Captain Jaryk, we've got  the crew aboard awaiting your orders sir!". Jaryk's orders were clear, "Prepare to launch, and send an immediate scramble notification to the following pilots!" He sent the coded message to pilots he believed he could trust, that he felt would heed the true call of Zeon.<br/>-------------------------------------------<br/><br/>Viktor Ramov: You are in your quarters gazing fondly at an old photo of your estranged wife and your then infant son whom you have not seen since the Stardust Rebellion. For all you know they are back on Earth now living happily and married to some pig farmer, or worse, to some Feddie bastard. But more than that you remember the warmth and love that your family gave you, a feeling you have not had since arriving on Axis. On Axis you have only felt like a cog in a machine that is no longer needed and thus cast aside. A ping pops up on your private comm line, the following audio is streamed to you. A voice that you vaguely remember, but it is of a man that you have never personally served with. "This is Captain Arlen Jaryk, the time has come, no more can we sit idly by chewing the fat and growing weak while we convince ourselves that we have finished our fight! No, my brothers and sisters, we are still at war, the newly minted Titans have already shown their colors and their oppressive tactics towards our brethren in the colonies. Now is our time to rise up, to strike back and ignite the sparks of Zeon that still burn throughout the Earth Sphere! I ask you to join me and once again throw yourselves into the flames of war, our hands have been force and there is no other way to achieve our freedom! Zieg Zeon!" Get to the hangar with the Abyssal Fury before it launches on its campaign.<br/><br/>Tyrius Garrou: You are going over the painted tally marks from your 'glory' at A Baoa Qu, and your call numbers in remembrance of your first combat squadron when the following audio overrides your private comm line, hissing and crackling before the audio cleans up and delivers its message:  "This is Captain Arlen Jaryk, the time has come, no more can we sit idly by chewing the fat and growing weak while we convince ourselves that we have finished our fight! No, my brothers and sisters, we are still at war, the newly minted Titans have already shown their colors and their oppressive tactics towards our brethren in the colonies. Now is our time to rise up, to strike back and ignite the sparks of Zeon that still burn throughout the Earth Sphere! I ask you to join me and once again throw yourselves into the flames of war, our hands have been force and there is no other way to achieve our freedom! Zieg Zeon!"<br/><br/>Sarah Miriam (Metal Zeta): Status Pending Approval after some minor edits<br/>----------------------<br/>Thos approved are free to post now.