Paul landed heavily in the hanger bay and he couldn't help but wonder who was exactly going to be their enemy when they fought their next force. The fact that Grant brought up Lao made him remember...remember a time when things were simpler than they were now. When he could actually tell if he could trust a man just because he was a fellow soldier. Before that incident in London...was there ever a time when his life where he had a constant rock he could rest on? Not really...Lacus she was always there now but the thing is Paul wasn't there in return. He was always on patrol and he often wondered if being married to a soldier bugged her. Of course the fact that they had an arranged marriage didn't help and they never officially swore their vows. [b]"Lieutenant Lyons sir the Captain wants to speak with you. He'll meet you in the meeting room sir. I'm going to go get Jack but it looked like he was packing it in for a bit so I didn't want to bug the newbie."[/b] SIGMA Leader said suddenly as he appeared in front of the young lieutenant. It would seem SIGMA was actually willing to acknowledge the younger man as a superior officer in terms of rank without sneering now. Or maybe it's because he just didn't feel like mustering the energy to scoff at him. [color=0054a6]"Thank you SIGMA do as you will."[/color] Paul said nodding at the officer and moved past him.

===
Paul could remember that day when George and he had first encountered Lao. Paul had been piloting the Raigo for a couple years now. Unfortunately due to circumstances technology related to the Gundam project had stopped and he had only been able to use his flight pack during that time with his others coming in later. George had been piloting Aegis at the time having entered into the military and scored records higher than anyone else of the time period. George no doubt acquired his skills by his father, when the bastard actually stuck around, who was an ace pilot but not in the way you'd think of it he used to pilot fighter planes and jets before even the Mobius was out. He wasn't a career soldier but the story wasn't about that pathetic excuse for a father that George had this was the story of Paul Lyons and George Kyleson. 

It was a wet day in the middle of the rocky mountains and rain was coming down...George and Paul had been out on a patrol having heard reports of the enemy forces of ZAFT intending to make a base in the mountains as a spot to attack DC and the eastern coast of the USA. Gundams were the best choice to wipe out any suits that may be there but people were confused on how GINN's of all things could've gotten into OMNI's central hub. George was as usual not one to judge a book by it's cover and was not all to excited over the news of possible ZAFT agents. [color=ed1c24]"Hey dude don't worry we got this even if there are ZAFT 'insurgences' here we can handle them. I mean come on we're the two best pilots in OMNI!"[/color] George said snickering as Paul rolled his eyes. His long time friend had still never lost his god damn sense of humor. [color=0054a6]"We're on duty you freaking idiot we got to take this seriously if we find anyone or anything we got to be ready!"[/color] Paul told off his friend as the red haired pilot scoffed and laughed harder, [color=ed1c24]"Paul-Oh I'm sorry Corporal Lyons I'll get right back to being a good soldier like you are."[/color] George said as Paul ground his teeth together and was tempted to push Aegis into the mud below. 

Paul landed heavily in the ground as he looked around. The forest was annoying and made it hard to see things but it did make the area beautiful. The Rockies were the pride of America back in the day and he could see why. He knew he would never be able to claim to well...that was a subject that Paul didn't like to think about. [color=ed1c24]"I can't believe that the guy we're after is a former OMNI Officer. Scum bag should feel like garbage for betraying his own."[/color] George grumbled as he landed next to Paul as the two of them moved forward and decided to conserve energy by moving on without their heavy equipment. [color=0054a6]"I knew Lao he was always a nut. I don't know how far he goes back with my Captain but he does go quite a ways back. And he's good. One of the former top ranked pilots in OMNI. Period. The man has a shit ton of confirmed kills under his belt."[/color] Paul muttered as George whistled. [color=ed1c24]"Sounds like we got a badass over here. Alright don't worry the brothers duo of the gundams Raigo and Aegis will prove together that we can overcome anyone!"[/color] George said smiling as Paul broke his serious attitude and chuckled him. [color=0072bc]"God damn it dude we're not a part of a kindergarten class stop acting like a dumbass."[/color] Paul said to George as the two moved forward...

Of course the story went as Paul and Lao were ambushed by Lao La Lugara Commander of the New ZAFT Coalition after the Four Month War ended and The Fractured Earth War started. Lao was in a new prototype gundam unit produced by ZAFT and was modified to work on Earth by his own hands. Lao...Lao was good. Paul and George fought a machine made to fight in space and still couldn't handle him. The machine was slow while they were fast but Lao predicted the moves of both the boys and parried and dodged. [color=bc8dbf]"Do you children really think you got ANYTHING on me!? Jason should've known better than to pick children to fight me!"[/color] Lao laughed as George futilely tried to get around him only to get shot back at by those modified dragoons. They couldn't work in atmosphere so Lao had set them up so that they could pivot up, down, left, right and forward. Lucky they couldn't hit from behind but Lao was keeping his opponents from getting anywhere near him. Paul in the past was experienced but he was not as good as he was today. He lacked his 'newtype' abilities and his mind set was still that of an upstart pilot looking to prove his worth. George was aggressive pushing hard on Lao but he could only do so much. [color=ed1c24]"Who the hell do you think you are you punk ass bastard!"[/color] George said parrying a beam slash and then moving in for a kill shot with his additional beam weapons but was shut down as Lao smashed him away with the flick of his beam rifle smashing Aegis with it knocking it off course and missing. He then shot at Paul who was aiming up a shot. It missed and Lao coutinued to play them for fools. In the end Paul would get separated from George but they'd find each other later. George apparently having fought Lao to a standstill...but Paul should've known by the look on his friend's face what had really happened.

====

Puru landed in the hanger bay next to Mask and docked on the bay and when her suit open she burst out of the cockpit and ran over to Mask (be it he was in the cockpit or not). [color=f26522]"Hey Mr. Mask wanna go somewhere and talk or get something to eat? You seem like a nice guy I'd like to get to talk to you a bit more."[/color] Puru shouted as one of the crew members told her to keep an inside voice despite the fact that people were working with heavy machinery. Behind her was Beta Leader who patted her on the back as he passed by on the way to his own Dagger. Puru's smile was lit up on her face as she waited eagerly for Mask to reply. Hopefully he wouldn't say no...who'd she hang out with then? Donna? She was nice but having to bug her for something to do wasn't appealing to the young newtype unless she had too.