The atmosphere inside Solomon's tactical wing was taut, as if the metallic corridors themselves sensed that something unprecedented had just arrived. The GED Squad—what remained of it—had gathered in the briefing bay at Tanya von Zehrtfeld's order. Mila Schtein stood with arms crossed; Zhou Wei leaned against a console, cigarette unlit between her lips; and Ritcher Keller tapped restless fingers on his belt. They had fought through too many campaigns to be easily impressed, yet today they were curious.
A low mechanical hiss filled the bay as the doors slid open. Two figures stepped through the threshold.
One, a red-haired woman with sharp eyes and a posture both proud and weary. The other, a silver-haired girl whose calm expression carried something almost feral beneath the surface. Both wore new Zeon uniforms that didn't quite fit, as if they were borrowed costumes from another stage.
Mila's brows furrowed. "So you're the new recruits the brass dumped on us?"
The red-haired woman bowed slightly. "Amate Yuzuriha. But everyone calls me Machu."
She gestured at her partner. "And this is Nyaan."
Nyaan smiled faintly, almost teasing. "That's Major Tanya's team, right? Looks smaller than I imagined."
Ritcher barked a laugh. "We had fifteen once. Now four. You'll fit right in."
Tanya herself was not present yet; she had sent them ahead to familiarize with the unit before their first assignment. Mila eyed the two newcomers suspiciously. Something about them felt off—not their manners, but the confidence that clung to them like armor.
Zhou Wei finally lit her cigarette. "You got combat records?"
Machu nodded. "Enough to qualify for field deployment. We can brief our sortie data after inspection."
Zhou smirked. "Sortie data, huh? You talk like you've been here for years."
Nyaan interjected lightly, "Feels like years already."
Mila sighed. "All right, let's see what you can do. I assume you've been assigned machines?"
That question drew a reaction—a flicker of nervous amusement between Machu and Nyaan. Machu answered, "We brought our own."
The three GED veterans exchanged puzzled looks. "Brought your own?" Ritcher repeated.
Before the newcomers could elaborate, the hangar supervisor appeared, clipboard trembling slightly. "Major Tanya said to escort them to Bay 12," he stammered. "Their… units are waiting."
The group followed, boots echoing down the steel corridor. As the bulkhead opened, light poured from within—pale, cold, and blinding.
Inside stood two mobile suits unlike anything the GED team had ever seen.
The first towered in gleaming crimson-white, its frame slender yet radiating power. Filamentous vents glowed faintly along its limbs, like veins of light. The second was a darker sibling, indigo-white with sleek armor plates and a compact frame built for speed and precision.
Mila took an involuntary step forward. "Those… aren't Zeon."
Zhou Wei squinted at the armor's strange contours. "They're not Federation either."
"Names?" Ritcher asked hoarsely.
Machu's voice held reverence and grief in equal measure. "GQuuuuuuX."
Nyaan followed softly, "And GFreD."
For a long moment, no one spoke. The hangar lights reflected off the strange Gundams' armor, painting everyone in ghostly hues.
Technicians and researchers hurried inside, whispering to one another. Dr. Henrick Vale, head of Solomon's research division, approached the suits like a priest before relics. He carried a data-scanner trembling in his hand.
"Extraordinary… quantum-resonance traces not based on Minovsky structure," he muttered. "These signatures—pure impossible."
Zhou Wei blew out smoke. "That a good thing or bad thing?"
"Both," Vale said simply. "If we can decipher this, we could perfect the Elmeth program—perhaps even finish the Zeong without limitation."
Ritcher tilted his head. "You mean make another monster weapon."
Vale didn't answer. His eyes were fixed on the luminous panels beneath GQuuuuuuX's chest—panels pulsing in rhythm with Machu's own heartbeat.
---
Later, inside the observation booth overlooking Bay 12, the GED squad debriefed with their new comrades. Tanya had joined them remotely via secure channel, her holographic image crisp yet cold.
She still curios and want to know where this Gundam from.
"So these are the pilots of the so-called independent units," Tanya said, tone clipped. "Explain your machine origins."
Machu hesitated. "They were… experimental. Designed during a conflict that ended differently from this one."
"That's vague," Tanya replied.
"It's the truth," Nyaan added. "You wouldn't believe the rest."
Tanya narrowed her eyes. "Belief isn't required. Results are. Integrate with GED Squad immediately. I'll review your performance after live simulation."
Her image flickered out.
Mila exhaled softly. "You heard the boss. Welcome to hell."
---
That night, Machu wandered the hangar alone. GQuuuuuuX loomed above her, silent yet alive. Her gloved fingers brushed the cold metal of its foot plating.
She remembered Shuji—the boy who once stood beside her, who had vanished when their world collapsed. They had chased his signal across endless storms of data and light until everything burned white. When she woke, only Nyaan remained, and their machines had carried them here—to this impossible version of the One Year War.
"You'd laugh at me," she whispered. "Still fighting, still pretending I know what I'm doing."
Nyaan's voice echoed softly from behind. "You do. You just hate admitting it."
Machu smiled faintly. "You should rest."
"So should you. Tomorrow, we show them what a real Gundam can do."
---
Elsewhere—miles away on Luna's Solomon R&D wing—Jason Arkadi stood over a holographic display flickering with red outlines of GQuuuuuuX and GFreD. His analysts murmured nervously as he magnified the data feed.
"Run the resonance trace again," he ordered.
The system displayed a waveform unlike any Minovsky pattern. Jason froze.
He recognized it.
"This can't be right," one technician whispered. "These readings match theoretical data from—"
"From another timeline," Jason finished. His fingers hovered over the console. "GQuuuuuuX. GFreD. Names from the suppressed GQuaxxx files—timeline anomaly markers."
He closed his eyes, recalling scattered intelligence reports: a world where Zeon won. Where a girl tried to rewrite fate to save Char Aznable from death. Where Lalah Sune never became a symbol but a phantom caught between futures.
If those machines exist here… if the pilots survived…
He leaned back slowly. "Then the boundaries are eroding faster than I thought."
The techs glanced at each other. "Sir?"
Jason's gaze hardened. "Keep this classified. Not a word to Solomon command."
When they left, he whispered to himself, "Char. Lalah. How many echoes are bleeding into this reality?"
---
At dawn, the GED Squad assembled again. Mila and Zhou Wei stood with fresh data-pads, analyzing performance specs transmitted from overnight testing. The numbers were absurd—output ratios beyond Zeon or Federation comprehension.
Machu and Nyaan approached, ready for their first integration exercise. Tanya's voice came through the comm. "GED Squad, sortie in two hours. Escort operation. Machu and Nyaan will pilot independent units. Prove your cooperation."
Mila smirked. "Let's see if those shiny suits can keep up."
Ritcher chuckled. "Or if they'll vaporize us accidentally."
Nyaan laughed lightly. "No promises."
As alarms sounded and hangar cranes lifted the Gundams to launch platforms, the base trembled with anticipation. Even the researchers paused to watch.
Jason Arkadi received the launch notice in his office. He stared out the viewport toward Solomon's distant glow. Somewhere in that fortress, two Gundams from another world were taking flight—alongside soldiers who didn't yet realize what kind of war they were fighting.
He pressed his hand to the glass and murmured,
"Another from parallel timeline."
---
The hangar lights dimmed. Engines roared.
GQuuuuuuX's eyes ignited crimson. GFreD shimmered violet-blue beside it. Tanya's command echoed through the comm: "GED Squad—launch!"
The catapults fired. Twin streaks of light tore through Solomon's void, two echoes from a world that should never have crossed into this one.
And far below, Jason Arkadi began drafting a diary titled "Cross-World Resonance Incidents – GQuuuuuuX/GFreD Case."
He didn't know it yet, but this was the moment when the line between universes began to break for good.