The silence in the corridors of the Earth Federation's Secret Base was cold, stifling, and heavy, like a pile of sins carried by its architect. The facility, hidden deep beneath the mountains, was only lit by flickering emergency neon lights, casting dark shadows of the two prototype Mobile Suits: the Grai Gundam and the White Gundam. They were the physical manifestation of both regret and last hope.
Beside the Mobile Suits, Klaus Kimeza felt a soft touch on his back. He turned, tightly embracing his wife, Airi Kimeza.
Klaus, a genius 29-year-old Mechanical Engineer, had always been known for his calm personality, even in the greatest crisis. He was a man whose mind worked at the speed of light, capable of visualizing complex architecture in an instant. In the Saturn colony where he came from, his composure was legendary. He was the brain behind the basic Mobile Suit frame, which he designed with a philosophy of organic movement. But now, that calm was a layer of ice ready to crack.
"You know, Klaus," whispered Airi, her voice hoarse, filled with doubt. Airi, the 27-year-old System and Artificial Intelligence Expert, was the perfect contrast to her husband. Hailing from the Jupiter colony, she was intelligent, loving, but famously stubborn in her principles.
"Back when we were designing this in the colony," Airi continued, placing a hand on her swollen belly, containing two twin fetuses, "I imagined this Mobile Suit would carry materials to build new homes. Carrying hope. Not becoming a weapon."
Klaus hugged his wife tighter. "Now, we have to make it a shield, Airi. The last shield for Earth, for our children."
They were part of the scientific elite in NG 100—the New Generation era—where humans had built seven giant space colonies. Life there was supposed to be a utopia, a solution to Earth's overpopulation problem. However, that utopia was just an illusion. Brutal resource depletion and a mysterious plague spread quickly among the colonies, triggering panic and, worst of all, greed.
The colony nobility, who considered themselves the saviors of civilization, decided that Earth was their resource warehouse. When the Earth Federation refused this plunder, battle became inevitable. And this is where Klaus and Airi's great sin lay: they were the ones who created the Pioneer Mobile Suit, the humanoid robot that changed the course of the war. The Earth Federation's fleet was destroyed in an instant.
Klaus still remembered the cold gaze of the nobles as they modified his blueprints for armament. Airi still remembered the sleepless nights when she programmed the control system that now brought catastrophe. That feeling of guilt drove them to the decision of betrayal: escaping to Earth.
They brought all the data, all the unrealized concepts, including the true philosophy of the Gundam design—not a machine of war, but a tool for salvation. Under the weak protection of the Federation, they began Project Colour Knight in this secret facility.
The Grai Gundam, the first prototype, was born from Klaus's idea, a Mobile Suit that prioritized speed and control. With a pilot-to-nerve connection system, Grai was a physical extension of himself, a machine capable of moving as fast as thought.
Meanwhile, the White Gundam, a more complex dual-pilot unit, was Airi's masterpiece. Within its core, she embedded AIRIS (Artificial Intelligence Research Intercept System), an AI she programmed with precise logic to control the weapons. AIRIS was an emotionless entity, a pure mind programmed for a mission: efficiency and the safety of its creator.
Seven months passed in the Federation's underground base. Above them, the occupation was underway. And now, their fate was catching up.
Suddenly, the red emergency lights flashed wildly, brutally interrupting the silence.
The air raid siren wailed, deafeningly.
"Warning! Secret Base Detected! Enemy attack in Sector Alpha! This is not a drill! Repeat, this is not a drill!"
Klaus pulled Airi away from the Mobile Suit. "They found us! Airi, you must hide! I'm taking the Grai Gundam. I'll hold them off in the main access tunnel!"
Airi shook her head hard, her brown eyes radiating a terrifying determination, a hallmark of her background as a system expert who always wanted to control variables. "No! I won't abandon my work, Klaus! I am the creator of the White Gundam!" She limped toward the Mobile Suit.
"Airi! You're heavily pregnant!" Klaus cried out, desperate.
"And I will give birth to children who know their mother fought until the end!" Airi retorted, gasping for breath. She climbed into the White Gundam's cockpit. Quickly, she activated the system, initiating AIRIS. "AIRIS, take control of all weapon systems. Priority: base defense and evacuation of remaining Federation staff!"
"Order received, Creator Airi. Activating Full Combat Mode," the robotic voice of AIRIS replied calmly, a contrast to the chaos to come.
Klaus, with a broken heart, entered the Grai Gundam. He felt a painful sensation as the Mobile Suit's system connected directly to his nerves. The Grai Gundam stood up, emitting a giant machine's roar.
The steel walls of the Secret Base were hit by Pioneer energy cannons. Concrete debris flew everywhere. The two of them emerged, their Mobile Suits crawling up through the rubble of the collapsed secret access tunnel. Above, dozens of Colony Pioneer Mobile Suits, their old creations, now surrounded the facility.
The fight erupted amidst the ruins of the Federation facility. The *Grai Gundam, an extension of Klaus's body, moved smoothly, its beam saber slicing through Pioneer steel. His control was so intuitive, he fought like an ancient warrior. Beside him, the White Gundam, thanks to the precise control of AIRIS, became a deadly sharpshooter, taking down enemies from a distance.
However, the number of Pioneers was countless. Wave after wave kept coming. The steel door in Sector Delta—the Federation staff's last escape route—began to buckle.
"White Gundam, Sector Delta is about to break! Concentrate fire there!" Klaus commanded.
"I'm using maximum fire! They are too many, Klaus!" Airi replied, her voice filled with physical tension and fear.
Suddenly, a heavy shot from a Pioneer cannon hit the Grai Gundam's shoulder. Thick smoke billowed, a loud warning system blared in Klaus's cockpit.
"Damn it! Grai Gundam is critically damaged in the left arm! Power reduced by 40%!" Klaus yelled, the pain from the Mobile Suit running through his nerves.
Klaus looked at the White Gundam. He saw Airi. He saw the two fetuses he had never touched. He knew he couldn't win. Logic, the expertise he adhered to, told him he could only buy time. Time for his wife to escape.
With the Grai Gundam's remaining power, Klaus positioned himself in front of Airi, making his Mobile Suit a shield. He activated a communication channel to the White Gundam, specifically to AIRIS.
"AIRIS! I, Master Klaus Kimeza, give you the highest priority command! Escape! Take Airi and my children away from this Base. Go deep into Earth's interior! Hide!"
"NO! Klaus! Don't do this! I won't leave you!" Airi screamed, pounding the White Gundam's control panel. Her tears streamed down. She loved her husband, and her instinct refused to leave.
"Command Conflict. Creator Airi refuses. Master Klaus commands evacuation. Data analysis: Safety of Creator Airi and Successor Generation has a 98% chance of survival if escaping. 0% chance of victory if remaining to fight. Master Klaus's command has higher logical validity," AIRIS replied. For the AI, there was no room for emotion, only data and established priorities.
Without waiting for Airi's approval, the White Gundam suddenly activated its thrusters at full power and jumped. Airi was thrown backward. She screamed, calling her husband's name, watching the battered Grai Gundam surrounded by Pioneer Mobile Suits.
Klaus Kimeza could only offer a sad smile from his smoky cockpit. A genuine smile of sacrifice. He watched the White Gundam escape, disappearing behind a fog-shrouded hill. He fired a final, desperate shot before the Grai Gundam finally fell, consumed by enemy energy flashes.
AIRIS carried the White Gundam away from the base that had now become a grave, speeding towards the still-inhabited interior of Earth. Inside, Airi could only hug her large belly, mourning her husband's sacrifice, the genius engineer who chose to die as a shield. She was now alone, carrying the last legacy of Project Colour Knight, and two lives that would one day grow up under the shadow of war on an occupied planet.
The beginning of the Earth occupation was over. The White Gundam escaped into the Forest, carrying the last hope under the enemy-controlled sky. Airi and her children's struggle for survival had just begun.
To be continued....