Fandom Mobile Suit Gundam: The Uncertain Century

[Crosswire]

Civilization was destroyed

Again.

And again.

And again.
​

Anno Domini


Universal Century


Cosmic Era


After Colony


After War


Advanced Generation


Regild Century


Future Century





These are just a few of the names of eras long since past, where human civilization was torn down and brought back from the brink, only to be brought back down again. Each time things were lost, things were learned, and even more was buried in the destruction that inevitably followed. Medicine, agriculture, history, aerospace technology, the splitting of the atom, the colonization of space, the birth of exotic particles, everything was lost, remembered, and then lost again.


This cycle went on and on until almost nothing was left but barren lands and blasted skies, with barely a whisper of the things mankind once knew. Now it is the year 18 of what is simply known as the "Uncertain Century"


Now it is the year 18 of what is widely known as the “Uncertain Century”. It’s been nearly a thousand years since the last calamity destroyed civilization and things have finally returned to a sense of normalcy. The Earth’s environment has healed, lush and green with fresh air and sprawling wildlife.


People are scattered but live in peace and relative happiness in small settlements and towns. In the following years since the last disaster technology was gradually rediscovered and people went from living in crude villages to proper towns with electricity, running water, printed books, radio, and even crude computers and magnetic tapes that could store information.


With this technology people's lives became easier and they wondered what else existed to be found or created. However in spite of their growing curiosity an old taboo that had been ingrained in them since they were young held them back.

"Never dig too deep."

​

It was a strange taboo. One with a meaning that had been forgotten and many struggled to interpret until they gave up bothering to remember it at all.


Then they learned what it meant.

Buried beneath the earth were machines. Weapons, technology, and tools from Eras long since burned out of written and remembered history. These machines shouldn't have survived, shouldn't have existed, shouldn't of worked...but did.


Discovered by accident and explored out of ignorance the once peaceful towns soon began to dig the earth, uncovering weapons of war and destruction as ambitious dreams of greatness consumed their minds. Fearful neighbors dug the Earth to arm themselves with weapons to protect their own sovereignty while once petty bandits and criminals stood agape at the power of weapons that could so easily be stolen...


Now the question is, what will you do?


Will you fight to turn a simple town into a mighty nation? Rake the dirt for knowledge of the past and insight into the present? Or will you simply take power for yourself and use the weapons known as "Mobile Suits" to fuel your own selfish ambition?


Whatever your choice, remember. Conflict is just over the horizon in this...

UNCERTAIN CENTURY
​

 

[MrNeko]

(Interesting I will join)

 

[Crosswire]

(Interesting I will join)

Oh I'm glad to hear that! Give me a little bit, I'm still setting up the forum and trying to get everything looking right. I honestly wasn't expecting to draw interest this quickly.

 

[MrNeko]

Oh I'm glad to hear that! Give me a little bit, I'm still setting up the forum and trying to get everything looking right. I honestly wasn't expecting to draw interest this quickly.

That's sounds great

 

[Crosswire]

(The OOC chat is up and so is the character sheet. I will have an introduction post up as soon as I get up my own character and finish the last topic)

 

[Crosswire]

April 1st, 18th Year of the Uncertain Century


The Town of Bellbroken in what was once known as "Maine"

The morning sun rose into the sky, banishing the few dark clouds that still loomed above the land and turned the grey threatening sea waters into bright sheets that glistened in the light like trays of cut jewels. In the 'city' of Bellbroken windows cracked open and worried faces pushed through barely open doors as the towns folk finally began to leave the safety of their homes after the previous nights storm.


Rain water filled gutters, crude sewers drains, and just about everything else that could hold it even clinging to the branches of surrounding trees like a kind of dew. Debris in the form of over turned trash cans, roof shingles, and bits of laundry, lay scattered across the town's cracked roads and across picket fences.


Bit by bit people began to start their day as it became apparent that the storm had brought little with it besides wetness and worry. Within a few minutes of the sun rising the town had spring to life with people filling it's streets, sweeping sidewalks, opening shops, walking to their jobs, and greeting one another with smiles and handshakes as they past.


Despite being one of the largest 'cities' in the area with almost two thousand people taking residence within it's well built borders, Bellbroken prided itself on being pleasant, orderly, and welcoming even if it meant lying or outright hiding from the truth. That's why it was so for the townsfolk to notice the heaviness they all carried, the strange weight that seemed to press down onto their bodies and minds making everything from walking to simply waving good morning to their neighbors a trial.


It was fear.


Fear that even howling storm winds and cascading waters couldn't banish had come to Bellbroken in the form of news. Well, it was less news and more rumors. Apparently more settlements, including ones nearby had begun to dig the ground in search of buried machines and technology leaving the townsfolk a stew of emotions.


No one showed it of course, or if they did they hid it under the excuse of a cold or simple irritation over the mess the storm had made. Everyone, save for Mayor Pentzel, went about their day as if the world was the same as it had always been.


"This is foolish. Why have the others started digging? Does anyone listen to tradition? to the things that our parents taught us?" The wizened man rubbed his temples as he stepped out onto the steps of the town hall, looking up briefly at the bell tower were the namesake of the town, the Broken Bell of Peace, hung.


"Oh don't stress yourself Pentzel, once they tire themselves out and come back with nothing but calloused hands and pockets full of dirt this silly little craze will die town."


Uzen, a young women on the town council strode up to him with a clipboard in her hands where she quickly scribbled note after note down.


"Yes, I suppose you're right...but didn't I hear about some travelers who were interested in digging near here?" Pentzel looked to the young women who lifted her shoulders in a half-hearted shrug.


"You probably did, but I wouldn't think anything of it. More people coming here just means more business and more trade. The most we'll have to worry about is whether or not they fill in the holes they're bound to make."


Pentzel opened his mouth, visions of broken ankles filling his head at the thought of holes in the ground, but Uzen skipped away before he could fully part his lips leaving the mayor to stand outside the mayor's office and ruminate.


As Bellbroken awakened so too did a young girl. Tired and disoriented she stood up out of the boat and promptly fell over, toppling off the side and landing back first into the grainy sand of the beach the boat had been washed up on.


With a soft groan she rolled over and pushed herself to her feet, her teal hair standing out amidst the natural greens, yellows, and browns like a flare in a dark room. Iris looked around, blinking and squinting her eyes.


"Where the hell am I?"

 

[GasMaskie]

"These tracks..."


A man kept low to the ground as he inspected the markings left behind by a deer that had been in the area. For one reason or another, he was just certain that it wouldn't be returning anytime soon. He was someone who trusted his instinct. The hunter allowed his disappointment to show through his poker face. He was alone after all, hunting in this neck of the woods was rare for the law-abiding citizens of Bellbroken.


He rubbed gingerly at the raw flesh covered under his hair as he crept through the underbrush. He stopped and hid within a bush as he gazed about the area from his hidden position. Patience was a virtue, especially when it came to hunting. Still, after about ten minutes of complete silence, he emerged from the bush and began to survey the area once more. Not a single one of the snares had been triggered.


The man grimaced as he trudged off towards the coast - another one of the areas he had trapped. Something had tugged at him, he felt a sort of foreign presence in that direction. The man scratched his chin as he began to ponder the possibilities of this enigmatic feeling. Had a whale beached on the shore? Or perhaps, a body of some raider washed up on shore.


The last of those thoughts forced a soft whimper from the stoic marksman's lips. It had been years, but he had remembered those four horrible years clearly. The smell of blood, the sound of a dying man - those were things that a child never forgot. Before he knew it, however, he had crossed the threshold of greenery and took a step onto the grainy sands of the beach. The man kept a hand on a nearby tree-trunk as he stepped forward.


"Where the hell am I?"


The words pierced the silence of the wilderness that he had become so accustomed to. There was something off about the voice - perhaps it was a foreigner? It took but a moment to spot the teal-haired girl who had emerged from the sea and was now on her feet. The gaze from the man's eye probably seemed more like a hostile glare to her. The rifle strapped to his back and his attire probably wouldn't have helped with first impressions either.


"...Bellbroken."


He mustered enough courage to answer her, though his voice was low and devoid of any sort of warm sensation. The washed-up young woman didn't look hostile, but it was only natural for him to adopt such a cold demeanor in front of others at this point. Maybe she had been some pirate's hostage who had managed to escape? Or perhaps she was simply a survivor of a shipwreck. The hunter kept a death grip on the bark as he anticipated her next actions.

 

[Crosswire]

"...Bellbroken."


Iris spun in the direction of the voice so fast she nearly fell backwards from moving so quickly on the loose sand beneath her. She'd spoke aloud mostly to herself, not expecting any answer but what she gave herself. So to receive an actual answer from someone else, and a rather immediate one at that, had left her with a racing heart and eyes wide with uncertainty.


Standing where the beach gave way to green life giving dirt was a man with a gun and a glare that looked like it could see straight through her clothes and skin. At first Iris was sure he was some kind of bandit with his dark unfamiliar clothes and the rather menacing rifle strapped to his back.


However the fact he hadn't drawn his gun and that he'd spoken to her opposed to firing a bullet through her back made it clear that he at least wasn't immediately hostile. Slowly she loosened up and relaxed, a confident smile crossing her face as she came to believe she wasn't in any danger.


"Even if he is a bandit that rifle's still on his back. I may be unarmed, but I have some digging tools in my backpack and know I can close the distance between me and him before he could put his finger to the trigger of that thing."


Iris placed her hands on her hips, still keeping her eyes fixed on the stranger, but still smiling all the same.


"Bellbroken, huh? That's a bizarre name but at least it let's me know I'm nowhere close to home. So what are you called? I'm Iris. Make sure you don't forget. One day I'm going to be famous so you might as well learn my name by heart now."

 

[GasMaskie]

She's young and in a strange land...


"Hart."


He responded with his monosyllabic name and folded his arms, taking a slightly less tense stance. His intense gaze faded slightly as he looked her over before turning his attention to the boat that had emerged from the gray tides of the sea. The hunter turned around and gazed back at the wilderness he had emerged from.


The man scratched his side as he took a step back into Bellbroken's greenery. A long forgotten feeling had risen up inside him. While interacting with others usually paralyzed him with fear, she was different. For the time being, he wasn't the killer and the pariah that the good people of Bellbroken had come to despise. He was simply Hart. It was the same emotion that he had once felt as a child. Joy.


But, he knew what he had to do. It was the only path of action that he could take at the moment. She looked alright despite what was likely a rough travel across the vast expanse of water.


"...Noted, I'll remember it. The settlement is through here." Another step forward. This was the very least he could. Lead the girl into Bellbroken and never see them again. And if by chance they would meet again, it was likely that she'd come to hate him just as the others did. But, he at least felt content with the fact that he had managed to speak to someone normally.

 

[Crosswire]

"Your name is Heart? Like the thing that beats inside our chests?"


Upon hearing what she mistakenly believed to be the man's name Iris couldn't help but raise a hand and press it over her heart as she walked forward intent on following or at the very least getting closer to the stranger with the gun. The arrogant confidence in her smile faded as she moved, slowly replaced with a brighter more genuine glee. Part of her should have found the idea of someone named Heart ridiculous, but all that came to mind was how cool the name sounded...


"I'd love to take you up on your offer Heart, but maybe I don't want to go to the settlement right now?"


Iris looked out at the lush, foreign land before her and she caught site of what she assumed was the settlement in question. It certainly looked nice with plenty of houses, bright colors, clean streets (at least from a distance), and no crazy savagery like the sailors on the boat claimed there would be. However it was that feeling of cleanliness, that normality that soured her smile into a grimace.


"I mean it's nice and all that you'd take me there, but I didn't come all this way just to stay in a boring old town even if it is one I've never seen before. Besides I don't have any money and all I have to barter with are some clothes and tools I brought with me, all of which I kind of need..."


Iris adjusted the straps of her hefty brown backpack as she spoke, the crude stitching and patchwork repair of the battered leather becoming frighteningly apparent in the revealing light of the morning sun.


"I may be hungry and kind of thirsty all things considered, but I'm here to see new sights, search for treasures, to find adventure! So if you think town is where I'll find adventure then lead me there, if not then take me somewhere else Heart!"

 

[GasMaskie]

"I may be hungry and kind of thirsty all things considered, but I'm here to see new sights, search for treasures, to find adventure! So if you think town is where I'll find adventure then lead me there, if not then take me somewhere else Heart!"


Hart glanced back at the young woman and scratched his chin. Adventure? Here in Bellbroken? As far as he knew, the settlement was milquetoast compared to the time he had spent roaming the seas and stalking the roads as a child. Though, that was a positive for him. While he was sure that he'd never integrate into society, no one forced him to do horrible things.


"...Alright, if you're sure about this. I'll get you some food for now and then I'll take you along on my 'job'. Excavation site protection." She was young, but she'd probably be able to help out with the excavators. The violence could be left up to him, just as its always been. The view of the city disappeared as he led her down a winding path into the thickest part of wild.


The ivy vines that had taken hold of the white hull of Hart's trailer made it difficult to see at first. Its age was apparent as the faded blue stripes paint on the sides of the mobile home were flaking off. Rust covered the structure's undercarriage and the metal framing around windows. Hart retrieved a small key from his pack and unlocked the door. That lock was one of the few 'modern' improvements that he could afford.


Inside, it was surprisingly tidy and almost comfy. Although the lighting was dim and just generally terrible, the interior had been well-preserved. The blue and white linoleum tiles looked almost new. While the installed appliances looked dated, it seemed that Hart had gone to great lengths to keep them absolutely spotless. The little light that shined through the windows and thin curtains revealed the wooden interior that still had a glossy finish. A few piles of worn books lay atop a table.


The hunter retrieved some bread from a cupboard, a cutting board, and a butcher's knife. He crouched down and opened up a small fridge. The man pulled out a chunk of cured bear meat from a few days prior. He went to work preparing simple sandwiches for the two, occasionally he'd glance up at the small wall clock while he waited for the meat to finish cooking.


"Bear meat. Bathroom's over there if you need it." Hart pointed at a small door before settling down at the couch near the trailer's entrance. Perhaps, he had found himself empathizing with her. Her current situation seemed reminiscent of his own around a decade ago. He had set down the rifle on the table as he took a bite out of the simple meal.

 

[Crosswire]

The mere mention of the word 'excavation' set Iris's hair on end as if the collection of letters held some kind of electric charge to them. She'd heard stories back home about men, women, whole villages tunneling into the sides of hills and pulling up whole swathes of land in search of machines buried beneath the dirt. There were never any exact details on what was found, only that the things they uncovered were like nothing they'd ever seen before.


So to find that there were civilized people on the other side of the world, much less excavations going on left Iris giddy to the point of laughter. She pranced behind 'Heart' as he lead her through dense woods and bush ridden fields. Even the sight of her guide's overgrown, dilapidated looking trailer couldn't kill her mood as she walked inside and waited for the food to finish.


"Bear meat. Bathroom's over there if you need it."


"Thanks! Do people over here usually eat bears? Because I've never had bear meat before." Iris grabbed the sandwich that had been prepared for her and stood next to the couch as she tore shoved the entire thing into her face. With fat, forcefully filled cheeks she chewed finding the meat of the sandwich to be much fatter and sweeter then she'd expected.


After the sandwich had been brought to the consistency of mush in her mouth Iris swallowed hard, wiping the crumbs and stray strands of meat from her mouth with the sleeve of her jacket. She opened her mouth to speak but a sudden rush of internal gasses forced itself from her belly and escaped in a loud resounding belch.

 

[GasMaskie]

"No."


The hunter finished the sandwich and dabbed his mouth with a napkin as he looked over to Iris. Was that how people ate nowadays? Either way, it was oddly refreshing to eat a meal with somebody even if his company was a stranger who had washed up on the shore. Silently, he stood up and retrieved two bottles full of a sweet brown liquid.


"Soda. Job starts soon."


The man placed one of the bottles on the table and popped open the other with the fixture's edge. He took a small sip before setting down the soda and opening up his bag. For this job, two magazines would probably be enough. Most of the time, nothing happened, though it was always better to be cautious and prepared. His flare gun and knife were essentials he had always carried.


Maybe small talk would help? Though, she seems happy enough. Her light steps had been noticeable when they made it back to his trailer. Hart carefully zipped up his pack and slid the rifle onto his back before taking a seat on the couch. His eyes lingered on the worn backpack she carried about. Perhaps he had another bag lying around here somewhere.


"Where are you from?" All his life, Hart had resided near or in Bellbroken. Maps were scarce, though he knew of the existence of other settlements from the chatter he had heard from the thugs under his father's command. The man's poker face was excellent at concealing the emotions that were welling up at the mere thought of that period in his life.

 

[Crosswire]

"Soda. Job starts soon."


Iris took the glass bottle of soda as soon as it was presented to her, popping the top off with the end of her palm and taking a hefty swig of it. Lying passed out in a boat in for hours and eating a fatty meat sandwich had left her mouth parched. Soda probably wasn't the best thing to drink in regards to hydration, but the sudsy sweetness of the liquid as it spilled down her throat made it really hard to want plain-old water.


Even in spite of the prospect of visiting an excavation site and getting food, Iris still wasn't sure to feel about the man before her. Despite touting around a gun and dressing like something she'd expect to see on a highwayman, he'd been almost suspiciously helpful and welcoming of her.


What bothered her the most was how stone faced he was. He was so difficult to read and said so very little, even when he spoke his sentences were short and blunt. It was hard to tell if there was something wrong with him, something he felt was wrong with her, or if it was just the way he was.


"Where are you from?"


Iris paused, briefly considering lying to the man before realizing where she had come from was irrelevant given how far she'd likely gone.


"Me? I come from a place called Sweedan. It's across the sea, lots of mountains, lots of forests, generally a pretty boring place filled with equally boring people. That's precisely why I came here, or rather left, got lost, and wound up here. Either way this place certainly feels like an improvement."


Knocking back her bottle of soda and setting it down on the table as soon as it was empty, seeing that the man had his gun on his back once more.


"What about you? Have you lived here for long or are you from somewhere else?"

 

[Quiet]

The waves crashed against the rocky, eastern shore of the town Bellbroken as the sun broke the horizon over yonder and shined its rays over the town, breaking through the glassy windows of the local housing and signaling that it was time to get a move on. It was time to wake up and go through the daily grind once again, now and forever. The sunlight pierced through the windows on a small log house, outside of town near one of the many mountains in the region, and into the eyelid of a soundly sleeping lass.


"...Reurhg..." The girl let out an unintelligible groan as she tossed and turned to avoid the light creeping into the room. But it was too late, she'd already been pushed out early from her slumber as she heard her sisters scurrying about downstairs. She sat up and pulled herself away from the raggedy mattress on the hard wood, cursing the heavens as she picked her clothes off of the floor. "...One hundred and forty-nine point six billion meters from the Earth, and yet you've got pinpoint accuracy ripe for shooting me in the eye... No love for little Beth."


Lisbeth dressed herself as she exited the room she shared with her younger sister: hooking her bra together, buttoning her top, pulling her socks up to her thighs, zipping her shorts up, and pulling her jacket off the rusty iron stairwell she descended groggily with her mud-plastered boots in hand. Her steps were loud and slow as she shifted her body weight against the railing. "Well, well," A familiar, condescending tone broke the silence that Beth's loud feet trampled on. "Look who's finally up and raring to go."


"...Good morning, Mom." Beth sighed as she mentally steeled herself for a tongue-lashing about sleeping in. "You doing good?"


"Good afternoon, you mean. You were supposed to be down the mountain pass and working the shop a whole two hours ago! Chell is running clerk in your place." Her mother, Ellie, scolded her sternly as she swept the oaken floorboards, ignoring her daughter's inquisition. But her tone softened only slightly. "You were out late at the excavation site again, weren't you?"


"Well, I --" Before Beth could even construct a platform to defend herself, her mother stopped her in her tracks. She was at the excavation site last night and she was out late after shop hours... But she wasn't doing anything dangerous! Only some digging in the same pit she found the little green ball in a couple weeks back! ...If only she was able to get it to work for more than eight seconds and call her something other than "Ahhmoorow".


"I don't want to hear it. We'll... We'll talk about it tonight, just get moving. I'm making you later than you already are." With a quick kiss on the cheek, Mom pushed Beth out the door at broompoint while she struggled to put on her boots.


Beth clicked her tongue in irritation as she tied her boots' laces neatly. She loved her mother, she really did! She'd do anything to help her (and her siblings by extension) out of the financial rut that they've been caught in for years. ...But sometimes, ol' lady Woldt was just too stern and too pushy, especially after the death of her husband, Beth's father. With a sigh, she pushed herself off of the wooden deck and mounted her bicycle to trek along the thirty minute path down the mountain into town.


Bellbroken wasn't that big a settlement, but it was the biggest place that Lisbeth had ever lived. Back in her old country across the sea, her town of Weisskapele was teeny! It only had no more than five houses, a bakery, a school, and a rickety old church to the north. But this town, Bellbroken, had all the stops for a mostly modern settlement, and the General Store right in the middle of it for all the Bellbrokeners' trading, hunting, and trapping goods. Beth swung around the corner to the center of town and in through the glass door of her family's little shop.


Bellbroken's General Goods was a very small little building with aisles lining up like a labyrinth leading from the front door to the front clerk's desk, all constructed of the same glossy pine wood in the floors and the ceiling. Beth sped through the maze of shelving like a trained explorer through charted waters, past the dairy section and up over the desk her eldest sister was manning today. "Morning, Chells!" Beth called out to her sister as she hopped the wooden counter, partly to genuinely say hello but mostly to warn her from getting a boot to the chest.


"God dammit, Lisbeth!" Chell cried out, cursing her as the younger of the two soared overhead and into the back room. Beth always does this, but she had never been able to actually get used to it because she never works the clerk counter. Irritated, Chell slammed her forearm into the counter as Beth put on her apron and appraisal goggles for work. "You're not working Clerk today. The excavators called in a request for delivery, so get on it." She grumbled, slapping the list of items down for her sister.

GROCERIES REQUEST


Fresh Bananas x 6


Cucumbers x 2


Carrots x 7


Venison x 1


Russet Potato x 5


Cherry Cola x 11

A feeling mixed of disappointment and excitement brewed itself in Lisbeth. On one hand, she enjoyed working the clerk counter. She always got to see the strange faces that wandered up into town to sell their goods and buy some of hers. She'd never see them again, though. ...Except that hunter bandit man out in the outskirts that nobody trusts. She'd seen him a few times, only for meat business unfortunately for her inquisitive self. But on the other hand, she got to visit the excavation site during the day without getting chased away by digging crews or protection services!


Beth picked up a basket and filled it with the desired contents, adding as many or as little as requested by the workers down in the dirt field before racing back outside to her bicycle and hanging the straw woven box of groceries over the handlebars. With purpose and confidence, she mounted the banana shaped seat, pulled her clunky goggles over her eyes, and pushed off against the pavement to head southwest to her destination and destiny.

 

[GasMaskie]

Hart sighed softly as the corners of his mouth slowly curled into a slight frown. He took another small sip from the bottle before speaking up once more. The hunter licked his lips as he began to speak once more. A brief hint to the sorrow he held in his heart as apparent in his one eye.


"Bellbroken, as long as I can remember."


Perhaps, this wasn't the best idea. He had hoped she'd tell fond tales of this "Sweedan" place where she came from, but instead she had simply turned the question around on him. Was this how small talk usually went? It seemed far too intimate - there was one person he could have opened up to but she was long dead at this point.


The man leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes for a moment as he regained his composure. Bellbroken would never be a home for someone like him, and the people there would never be close to him. That much had been made clear over the last decade of his life. His instincts had also made their hostilities abundantly clear even if they hided their hatred with smiles.


Although he leaned forward and that familiar, stoic expression reappeared on his face, Hart said nothing more as he finished the soda. He made a mental note to make a trip to the General Store later for more. That, and some water. The awkward silence between the two lasted a few minutes more before he glanced up at the clock and stood up.


"It's time. You'll probably be able to help the diggers. I'll keep watch." He tapped the muzzle of his rifle as he stepped through the door of the trailer. Silently, he doubted that this excavation would yield anything of importance. They never really did anyways. Still, this was the only 'adventurous' aspect of Bellbroken that he could really think of.

 

[Crosswire]

Iris followed Heart out of the confines of the trailer and into the fresh sprawling openness of the outskirts of Bellbroken. She felt a warm relief swell up inside her once they were on the move, both from her eagerness to get to digging and the uncomfortable realization that Heart didn't seem to like talking.


Part of her understood. Small talk, especially the soul smitingly dull conversations that seemed almost mandatory at parties and social gatherings were something she had come to loath with every flickering spark of her soul. However even answering a simple, innocent question in regards to his life seemed almost painful for the man to answer. It was hard to tell amongst the brickwall of a face Heart had, but the the pain was there if only for a brief moment .


Normally Iris was all for digging deeper, asking questions, uncovering mysteries and interesting facts. However this felt different. It felt looming, personal, and very painful. The fact Heart was carrying what Iris had assumed from the start was a loaded gun certainly helped deter her curiosity given they were alone and no one had seen her arrive but him.


They walked for a solid ten minutes away from Bellbroken and out along the open grassy land between the rocky sea shores and the thick woods. It wasn't long before the excavation site came into view. It was pretty damn hard to miss as it stood out like a brown, rotting wound amongst the vibrant colorful nature that surrounded and blanketed Bellbroken.

​

​

As the two of them moved closer the details of the site came into view and Iris was rather surprised. She'd always imagined a dig site to be more orderly, with smoothed walls and calculated squares of missing earth missing from the ground. Instead she found herself before a jagged trench sliced into the Earth with shovel and back obliterating effort. The place was messy and disorganized, stray stones, piles of dirt, and small excavation pits dotted the landscape around the main trench.


Most of the workers were in the pit, caked in dust, dressed in nearly nothing, and glistening with sweat. Only a few of them were working however as the majority sat off to the side on what was hopefully a break. Given the time of day it was likely they were waiting for something to eat.


One of the more perceptive diggers spotted Iris as she walked down the dirt ramp leading into the trench. Upon seeing her backpack, burgeoning with tools, he opened his mouth to yell until he noticed Hart with her. Assuming her to be more help or no one important the diggers kept to themselves as Iris looked around, eyes wide and mouth agape.


"Yes. Yes. YES. Hahaha, oh where should I start digging? Going deeper doesn't make sense but tunneling might be dangerous. Uncovering more ground and going deeper sounds better, yes that's exactly what I'll do!"





Iris talked to herself as she surveyed the trench, noticing there was a lack of machinery outside of a crane and a single crude automobile which seemed more for taking care of rocks then moving dirt. Fishing a shovel out of her backpack Iris moved down into the trench and began to dig near the one of the deeper areas, turning back and flashing Heart a grateful smile as she did so.

 

[GasMaskie]

The sniper couldn't help but smile, just a little, as he saw her take to digging like a fish to water. It seemed for the moment that his decision had actually been a good one. Hart tapped the butt of his rifle as he turned around and walked along the roughshod walls of the trench. For all the time he had spent at this excavation site, he could never understand why people were so obsessed with the past.


It was true, he had more than a passing interest in history. But some of the diggers he had come across were obsessed, nay possessed by a burning desire to reclaim the past. He had heard rumors of metal giants being unearthed, but the man doubted that these weapons of the past were still functional. Hart maneuvered through the minefield of haphazardly dug out pits before reaching his destination.


He took a glance back at Iris's position before beginning his ascent to the natural perch he had found long ago. Hart followed the same path as usual - every foothold and crack in the rock face had been committed to memory. His boots slipped against the dirt slope that had slowly grown over time as the wound in the earth widened. Finally, he settled upon a small platform high-above the bottom of the trench.


Close. But not high enough. Hart took a prone position and readied the worn rifle as he kept watch over the area. Bandit attacks were an extreme rarity, though there had been a few close calls in the past. From his vantage point, the diggers were like insects crawling over a festering wound. The small teal speck had reassured him that someone familiar was down there.


Hart rubbed at the scars around his left eye before bringing his vision through the scope of his firearm. He had a good estimate of the wind velocity and the temperature. The air became thinner as elevation increased. All these factors and more had been accounted for. From high above, he could deliver death with precision. Silently, he prayed that today would be another peaceful day for the excavators and treasure hunters.

 

[Quiet]

Blustering winds whipped up as Beth peddled tirelessly on her rusty Schwinn two-wheeler, kicking rocks around and coasting her jacket's hem on the wind. Her goggles protected her eyes from watered on contact at the cost of their magnifying lenses breaking her close-range sight, forcing her to look far beyond her current position. It wasn't anything she couldn't work against, however. ...More a minor nuisance than anything truly impeding her. The young lass continued along through the region's fresh, crisp greenery as her bicycle's rubber tires smoothed the dirt path below them.


A haze of sea-salty mist covered the land from the constant crashing waves of the seaside, making everything in the area smell quite fresh and brine-y. Like fresh french fries and deep-fried cod. The very thought of such made Beth's stomach gargle in desire... She did leave home without eating breakfast first, which wasn't too smart in hindsight. Gonna have to go on break for a bit when I get back, She thought to herself on her lonesome ride to the digging grounds.


A twist of her handlebars, she began to set down a path away from the heavy woodlands before she would pull up to the site and stop her pedalbike with a squeeze of the brakes. It was a massive, hectic scene with people everywhere and tools in hand to strike matter down. It was like Black Friday on Boxing Day, it was horrible. From the townsfolk' view, the Excavation Site was an eyesore itself, with all the trees that once belonged in the area chopped down and turned into three years worth of paper by now. But to Beth, it was more beautiful than the prettiest, fairest maiden in town... She'd never admit that, however. Neither her affinity for the digging site or her huge crush on Ms. Nancille Bodega.


Beth dismounted her bike, flinging down the kickstand with one skillful swoop of her foot and removing the straw basket from its precarious dangling on her handlebars. With one hand, she untied her half-apron and started to wave it in the air like a brown flag to alert them that she was here... And also so they know she's friendly so she won't get shot by any hired hands on site. "General Store delivery for a Mr. 'Icie Viener'! Come and get it!" She called out as she slowly approached one of the expansive trenches nearby. "Tell Mr. Viener his delivery has arrived!"


The young lass had a hungry look in her eyes, a desire to blow off her job and stay the day helping out around here... To uncover more of the strange technology below the earth... She could even see some partial bits uncovered below the dirt. An MS-06 Zaku II, possibly? It could be wishful thinking, but she removed her journal from her jacket and flipped to a few pages dedicated to her favorite mass-production model while she awaited the arrival of Mr. Viener. "...Oh, you saucy minx.." Beth muttered, her eyes alternating between scanning the sketch of the Zaku and peering towards the half-covered metal beast in the valley below. She lusted to know what it could have been.


She has to know, dammit!

 

[Crosswire]

The slacking workers hid beneath the shade of an out of the way resting area snickering to themselves at Beth's honest calls for "Icie Viener". Despite their empty stomachs and aching muscles the men put off collecting their prank-ordered food just so they could sit and see how long it would take for the delivery girl to realize what had been done.


As the majority of the workers rested Iris dug. She took her shovel and occasionally her pick to the earth like she was possessed, her limbs moving like the pistons of a locomotive as she cast dirt, rocks, and nondescript bits of debris aside uncovering more and more of the strange object that she'd only just barely uncovered.


Even as her muscles began to ache and sweat began to soak through her clothes, Iris kept digging, casting aside her backpack and shedding her clothes down to her underpants and t-shirt just so she didn't have to stop. Dirt began to pile up behind her in large mounds as the object in the dirt slowly became revealed. However as one object neared being fully revealed the edge of another object was uncovered.


And another, and another, and another.


But Iris continued to dig and in a manner of minutes she'd uncovered not one but five objects.


As the fifth one was uncovered and nothing else show up in the dirt as she did so, Iris let herself drop to the ground, her skin red with heat and her breath heavy. For a moment she couldn't think or move, all she could do was catch her breath and lie there in the dirt. Slowly she caught her breath and her eyes shifted to the objects she'd uncovered...

The first thing she'd uncovered was a green giant, a 'mobile suit' she believed the proper term was. It was a machine in the shape of a human standing, or in it's current stay lying down, 20 meters tall. From the color of it's body, to the helmet shape of it's head, to the ornate shield fixed to it's arm the mobile suit seemed to evoke a strange presence. One of pride and defiance in the face of seemingly inevitable odds.

The second object was another mobile suit, but this one was far different from the first. Black with spiked shoulders and thick arms this machine radiated with a threatening aura of unrelenting authority. Unlike the first it had two 'eyes' instead of one and even lying in the dirt the machine had a gaze that sent a chill down Iris's spine.

The third item was not a mobile suit but some kind of weapon that seemed appropriate for a mobile suit's size. It seemed like a sword of some kind with a long silvery blade and a dull green handle. Even after sitting beneath the dirt the blade had a brilliant luster to it and a sharpness Iris could feel just by glancing at the edge. A massive button was inlaid on the side of the blade's guard which made Iris wonder if there was something more to the sword...


The fourth item was a long row of what looked like rockets stacked on top of one another and fixed to each other. It didn't look like a weapon and at the same time didn't look like it was supposed to work on it's own. Iris wasn't sure what to make of it, only that it was intended to be connected to something.


The fifth thing was...

It was a mobile suit, but radically different from the others. On top of being at least two meters shorter (standing around 16 meters) and being more colorful, the machine had an entirely different feel from the other two. The green and black giants menaced with intense feelings that seemed to scream out for combat, while the mobile suit before her didn't.


Lithe and agile looking the mobile suit seemed to have a feminine silhouette to it as the odd ribbon like attachment on it's chest and what Iris could only describe as hair flowing down it's back made that clear. What caught her eye the most however was the head of the unit. Like the black machine it had two eyes but something about it's shape and the odd V-shaped fin left her staring in exhausted awe.

 

[GasMaskie]

Hart sighed as he moved his eye away from his rifle's scope for the umpteenth time. Most of his days went on like this. The hunter would spot some suspicious speck on the horizon and he'd end up being cautious and use his scope to check. Though, something else caught his eye - a small flash of light from down below. It was a familiar sign for him - shift change. The man slowly rose to his feet and strapped the rifle to his back once more.


Back on the ground floor of the excavation site, Hart maneuvered through the field of holes. It seemed that a majority of the excavators were now enjoying their meals and apparently laughing at an 'Icie Viener'. Perhaps it would have been more amusing if he had been around to hear it. The man rolled his neck and stretched out an arm as he continued walking down the gash in the earth.


"...Iris? My shift's over." He called out her name almost half-hardheartedly as he strolled through the particular section of the trench that he had seen the young woman rush off towards. Hart had expected her to pop up from a hole, covered with dirt and bearing a painful smile. Though, maybe she was lucky. She managed to wash up on the coast with just a lifeboat as her vessel after all.

 

[Crosswire]

"...Iris? My shift's over."


Iris didn't hear the Sniper's call at first. She'd only just escaped from the throes of exhaustion and still wasn't in the soundest state of mind as she huffed and puffed on the ground, her body desperately trying to reclaim the oxygen it'd been deprived. As his voice echoed and caught on the ever heightening walls of the dig site the cyan girl took notice, pulled herself out of the sandy dirt, and looked up. Her flushed face was noticeable even from a distance thanks to the stark contrast it had with her brilliant cyan colored hair.


"Heart *huff* look at *puff* what I *huff* found!"


The excitement in Iris's voice carried even through her lack of breath as she weakly waved her arms at Hart, gesturing to the three mechanical giants and the two oddities she had managed to uncover during his watch.


Meanwhile in the distance, the treeline that stood someways away from the dig site shifted and the faint sound of snapping timbers rang out before silence returned...

 

[GasMaskie]

"..."


A curious expression appeared on Hart's face as he directed his gaze at the girl's discoveries. His mouth opened slightly but closed as he struggled to find the words he had intended to say. The fact that she had managed to unearth three of these fabled giants was enough to challenge the hunter's own grip on reality.


Hart rubbed his eyes before bringing his gaze back at Iris and the five objects. Sighing once more, the hunter began to speak once more.


"Get some rest first. I... suppose it's great that you've managed to find all of this, but we'll need to get all these things unearthed first." The man scratched his head as he shuffled in place and took a deep breath. Hart averted his gaze as he motioned over to her discarded bag and worn jeans.


"...Once they're out of the ground, I suppose it'd be best to keep those giants in the woods. I'm not sure if Bellbroken even has a building large enough to house those. And, you don't intend to sell any of those, right? I found you, so I might as well take responsibility and let you lodge at my home for the time being. Unless you think you can secure some other form of shelter in town." A tooth sank into his lip. Hart was half-mumbling now and his voice was trailing off. Anything getting excavated here was an exceptional rarity in his experience, and this was one outcome he couldn't have possibly predicted.