As the Sundown went back to base at the Twilight Citadel many of the soldiers found themselves working more and more on their suits, or talking about the current events. After picking up everyone, recovering bodies, and informing Mariemaia about the success of the mission everything seemed to be going well. Paul sat in his room alone with his night clothes on his uniform thrown to the side of his bed. He had his eyes clothes and he felt like trash. These days were just getting harder and harder for him. He was worrying if they'd all make it back or not now. They were going to run out of ammo sooner or later despite them taking and reusing all sorts of weapons and technology from downed enemies. Soldiers lives couldn't be returned, men and women he knew that just as well as anyone. The people he has lost to old friends, and terrorists from ZAFT just kept piling up. It made him numb to loss mostly but he still couldn't help but look at the people who died. Beta Team...they weren't there at London that fateful day. Except Beta Leader. He had been with Jason for far longer than Paul had been and by all rights he should be co-captain of this ship. However he insisted that he be a simple foot soldier and that his place was not ordering the crew around but being the man the soldiers could look up too and talk too. Paul was the newer generation. The guy who fought the new battles and led the new soldiers. Beta led the men in the cafes, and bars and talked to them when they needed him. As he fell quietly into his sleep alone in his room he couldn't help but feel like the days were going to keep going on and on without pause. But the one thing that he never could forget was that one fateful day in London the day that changed everything for him... ==== Many years ago - London England - Shattered Earth War - Cosmic Era Alternate 1 - The Assault on London The battle of London had started out like any ordinary day in the big city. OMNI had a large military base near the city and the people of the town were sure nothing bad would happen to it. London wasn't even a viable target for ZAFT after all there were too many defenses and London wasn't too strategically valuable since Belgium, and Iceland each had orbital launchers too send ships into space. However what none of them had suspected was Lao La Lugara, the OMNI traitor whom had served them so many times before, had prepared a strike on the city. Lao had sleeper agents, and black market contacts ship in mobile suits, and weapons for his soldiers. He himself had placed himself south of the city with his own personal squad of ZAFT loyalists, and OMNI Traitors loyal to himself. Lao was intimately familiar with everything OMNI had to offer as he had lived it and for all intents and purposes his life revolved around it. And all that knowledge came crashing down on top of the heads of everyone in the city. A bomb blast erupted in OMNI Central killing many of the people in the building leaving it in tatters. The people in the hanger were gunned down by some of Lao's hired guns shortly afterward leaving only a handful of men in suits to hold off a sudden launch of Zaku units. In the city Lao used his sleeper agents to mow down civilians by the truck load, and bomb the police stations. The city was on fire and OMNI was hopelessly outmatched. However Lao wasn't in it for a quick terrorist run he was in it to make the Britain SUFFER. That had been three days ago and supplies were running thin. OMNI had ordered men from all over Scotland, and France to join in the defense of London. The Atlantic OMNI division even authorized the use of Raigo, Strike, and Aegis Gundams. George was now currently fight below taking on all of the enemy units he could while Paul stood at the top of the building firing down using all the long range weapons he had at his disposal. His power was running low, but who's wasn't? The OMNI troops had been forced to hook up some units into other ones just to function basically turning suits into running power generators. The only power plant left active was the one in the middle of the city and it wouldn't stay that way forever because ZAFT was pressing hard. Lao had appeared briefly multiple times in the past few days too mess around with OMNI Enforcer and keep them on their toes. Alissa Flash, the pilot of Strike, was off searching for ZAFT Commandos running down the Royal Airforce near Big Ben. Paul gunned down a zaku and then another one and was forced to push back into the building he was taking cover in, the building being caved in by a bomb blast earlier, as shells smashed into the concrete walls only for George to rip the enemy apart at close range for ignoring him. [color=ed1c24]"God damn it there's no end to these guys! The more we kill the more we find! It's like Lao has an entire brigade hiding in this city! It's been three fucking days how are there even this many left!?"[/color] George growled as Paul sighed remaining quiet. He remembered the cold pit in his stomach that day he had killed more today than he had in some pirate crushing jobs. It was god damn awful. He didn't see ZAFT as worthy of being called soldiers but this was something new even for them. The city was burning, or at least had been mostly, as smoke rose from the streets as gun fire and flashes and some explosive blasts rung through the air. The sounds of buildings falling only strengthened the dreadful feeling in Paul's gut. George hadn't been too talkative like usual he was pissed off. More over he wanted blood. But one other thing also tugged at Paul but he had suppressed the feeling it was important but it could wait until he was given orders to actually follow through right now Raigo was needed for war. A call would go through shortly after this Jason, Paul, and Alissa would need to rendezvous with each other too engage Lao...and fate would take a ride for the worse. They fought, and they fought, and they fought their way through the city seeing dead civilians, children included, as well as fallen allies and foes alike. Jason wasn't giving them orders this time around it was Chief Commander of the Atlantic OMNI Forces Alex Baldwin. Alissa had been separated from her men before she could get there and ended up having to join with George and Paul by themselves ready to take on Lao who had reappeared. It would be that one point in time that would change Paul forever. A tragedy, a betrayal, and the loss of the remaining innocence he clung to from his childhood. It was at that moment Paul become the cynical soldier he was today underneath his humanity was a hive of worms wriggling around with barely contained anger and frustration...but that was the story for another time.