[b]Tivvay-Class [i]Hoplite[/i] deep within the Mortem astroid cluster[/b]

Deep in space the small fleet of the Aspis; which consists of the Tivvay-Class, two Musai class ships the [i]Xiphos[/i] and [i]Kopis[/i], and a civilian cargo ship the [i]Pilum[/i] slowly drift in space as Admiral Van Dyke decides the next move.

"Sir scouts have reports of a large Federation fleet moving in. Consisting of two Clop-Class and three Salamis-Class sir." A man pronounced to Van Dyke in his Captains chair. Van Dyke was an old man sixty-four to be exact and had been fateful to the Zeon cause since the One Year War where he was the Captain of a Musai. It had taken him twenty-five years to gather enough support for this expedition many didn't believe the device was even real and even fewer were willing to die for this fools quest. But here he was looking at an old paper map on his lap one hand examining it another stroking his grey beard. 

"It was just a matter of time before the Federation decided to investigate what a group of ships doing here was doing." He croaked back at the man, "Double patrols around the perimeter and I want men on these sensors 24/7." He said taking a breath. Van Dyke was close to the ship... He felt it but the astroid cluster was risky to navigate and besides believing he was close the map was hard to read due to its condition.  

"Sir I believe if we strike them now while they are regrouping we can push them back long enough to find the Stone." The man said back. Van Dyke thought for a moment about it and then said "Lt. Campbell you may be right about this...but we are at no position to lose mobile suits. But you are a wise man... You can go along with a few suits, no more then 6." He said back to him. The mans eyes grew big as if he was given a present. "Yes sir! I will not let you down." With that he saluted and left the deck towards the mobile suit bay. 

In the bay was 8 mobile suits crammed inside the ship; including 2 modified Zaku F2s, 3 Rick Dom 2s, 2 Geara Dogas, and Lt. Campbell's own personal machine a Geara Doga or as he called it the "Spartan Doga" painted white and yellow along with 5 fuel rods for fast travel to any battlefield. 

[b]Clop Class [i]Melbourne[/i][/b]

The Colonial Guard were uncomfortable being inside the ECOAS flag ship. The ship was unusually clean and quiet when they came aboard being transferred from the noisy and active ship of the [i]Roaring 20's[/i]. As they shuffled from the across the ship glancing at the high-tech mobile suits in the bay and the ECOAS tema in fancy uniforms everyone including Ledger felt as if they were cannon-fodder to this mission but none would say it. 

They entered the briefing room about twenty men most from the mobile suit teams and a few officers from the two ships. Captain Crowns held his head high not to be shown up by the ECOAS crowd wore his Colonial uniform with pride. After the Colonel gave his speech he invited Crowns to the front to fill in any details about the Aspis. 

The man for up from his seat in the front of the room and proceeded to trot down the aisle. Crowns was a bigger man with a full beard to sport it and talked in a gruff voice to top it all of. He wasn't going to be shown up by them he thought and took his place in the front. 

"We the Colonial Guard at Achilles have been noticing strange activity in our area for months now. At first it was just strange amounts of high Minovsky particles in areas. But as recently as May 5th, two weeks ago we have noticed a few old mobile suits in the astroid belt. From our scans we were able to identify at least three mobile suits; MS-06F2 Zaku F2, AMX-006 Gaza C, and a strange one civilian racing mollie suit CAM-01 Thunderbird which may be illegal racing instead of an Aspis suit. What we have concluded from this is that the Aspis are ill-equipped and are just desprate to find the weapon. We Colonial Guards are happy to help in anyway possible and end this threat before the year. Thank You!" He said looking around the room at uninterested ECOAS members. 

Ledger was in the back of the room and was mad at the welcoming they were receiving. He saw these special team pricks just ignore his commander while just before they were standing straight up for theirs. At the same time though he knew these guys meant business and could probably kick his and the rest of the teams ass with no problem. He was just counting down the time until he could return to [i]Roaring 20s[/i] and maybe show the ECOAS that they weren't useless.