1200 hours - Fort Jefferson 'United States', Union Territory

It had been five years since Celestial Being first appeared, and four years since their defeat. And yet, the one year that Celestial Being was active felt like a lifetime compared to the four years since the end of the conflict. The world felt peaceful by comparison, but to some the comparison was twisted by the conflict. Compared to a nearly unstoppable force of four Mobile Suits and a single Flagship that took the combined might of the three factions to defeat, yeah these days were pretty quiet. But compared to what things were like before Celestial Being... it didn't feel all that different. Some people had forgotten what it was like to live in a cold war, where nobody was allies, nobody was enemies, war was all around but invisible to the naked untrained eye. 

There was no denying it, the world was at war. They just hadn't pulled the trigger yet. 

The Union wasn't about to stand by and let its enemies sneak up and make the first move. Not that they had any intentions of open declaration of war, but the Union was certainly preparing for one. More and more weapons, warships, Flags, Soldiers to use these things of course as well. And that meant that new squads were forming up. 

One such Squad, currently unnamed as the members were still being picked, was lead by Soma Peries. Formerly from the Human Reform League, she had more than proven her loyalties to the Union in the battle against Celestial Being. Even when the UN formed she didn't trust it. She knew it wouldn't last. The HRL and the AEU were cowards. They were intimidated by the power the Union held. It was after all, the Union who was at the forefront of the conflict, putting their soldiers, their people at most risk to end the threat. Now, it was the other Nations that were a threat, not some small group of children with fancy Mobile Suits.

But she had to put all these feelings behind her. The time for war would come, she was sure of it, as she sat in her new office. Fort Jefferson was a new addition to the Union's bases. It was, at one time, nothing more than history. A fortress from a world long forgotten. But the Union decided it could be of use again, and rebuilt the whole fort from the ground up, including a large number of hangars to store Flags, and a large port for warships. It wasn't exactly, extremely close to the Orbital Elevator. But it was within sight of it, and was a lot closer than her previous post in Washington, now putting her in the middle of the ocean South-West of the Florida Peninsula. She felt like she could do more from here, and in fact, she had been put in command of her own squad, and to be honest, she wasn't far off from being the Commanding Officer of the whole base. There were only a few people above her, but she liked that. Something in her head, a part of her rebuilding at the hands of the HRL... it made her want to take orders. To be told where to point her weapon. Where to aim her sights, and when to pull the trigger. It was the program they put her through... to be a good soldier. To follow orders. 

But now, she had to give them, as she sat there behind her desk, feeling more than a little awkward in such a place, awaiting the arrival of the first of her new squad members. 

At least things were... tropical.