Prior to the "Present" storyline: the Kurain is caught in an ambush by Federation forces, its Jump Drive is damaged but not disabled, they manage to retreat and take refuge in an asteroid cluster by gas giant "Yggdrasill" (in a duo-orbit with twin giant Muspel) to manage repairs. Captain Fey and Commander Kaminogi suspect a spy on board...



Prologue (currently being written):

Flashback to young Miles/Nick/Larry in a field in the night watching a space battle above, where Gregory Edgeworth is a participant. Miles mentions he'd like to be a pilot someday. Blah blah blah conversation.

Fifteen years later - a small task force of three or four mechs (lead by Flight Officer Sahwit and commanded from a ways away by Second Lieutenant Payne in his little skiff, the Boulet) is investigating the asteroid cluster by Yggdrasill. Payne believes the Kurain to have taken refuge there, yet hasn't sent for backup to apprehend them. One, because he believes that since they've only got "two or three" mechs in battle status after the ambush, they're no threat to him. Two, because he knows they've been a thorn in the High Admiral's side, so taking them out would net him great reward... and it'd be personal revenge for that defeat he suffered at the hands of Mia Fey years ago that earned him shame and a demotion.

"IT'S A GUNDAM...!!!!" (or whatever)

Sahwit + AI Mechs get blow'd up. Payne, in shock and shame, gets the hell out of dodge as Phoenix lands back on the Kurain.


Chapter One:

Flashback to fifteen years ago. Phoenix waits for Miles at his house to go to school or something. Miles doesn't show. His father doesn't show. Phoenix initially doesn't think it's strange--hell, Larry gets hysterical and runs away every other week--but Miles never comes back. Not in a day, or a week, or a month. He's gone.

Fifteen years later...

Phoenix thinks something is wonky with the Huma (lateral controls a bit sticky in that last "battle") and does some maintenance. Is interrupted by Larry, who is currently freaking out because his current girlfriend/spotter just dumped him. Phoenix suggests that he doesn't always have to date his spotters, or maybe get a male spotter (Larry misunderstands the latter and indignantly responds that he's not into that).

Introduce Maya, who talks to Phoenix for... some other reason. Phoenix is called up to the Kurain's bridge, is debriefed by Mia and Kaminogi about what happened (introducing them too) and then dismissed. Short interaction between Mia and Kaminogi setting up their relationship, they discuss the traitor, know that it has to be one of the pilots, set up for the battle in chapter two.

Minor introduction of Redd, but that goes along with the Agent Blue subplot.


Chapter Two:

Ten/nine/eight/whatever years ago - Larry and Nick, now teenagers, are chilling and doing teenager-y things, like drinking beer on the balcony of Larry's apartment building. They see a Federation convoy in the distance--nothing too unusual, they're still ferrying new troops to the nearby base even if the planet is steadily supporting the Alliance. Larry wonders if he should piss on them, Phoenix convinces him it's a bad idea. They pass--and Nick freezes up, because he sees Miles. It's only for a second, and he's in a Federation officer's uniform, and it's been years since they've last seen each other, but Phoenix is one hundred percent sure that he just saw Miles. Larry blows that off because it doesn't make any sense--Edgey in a Fed uniform? That's crazy.

But Phoenix is sure.

Present day--Beginning of the big battle scene. Phoenix goes to get in his mech, the Flight Officer tells him that the mechanic he asked for came to look over Huma didn't find anything wrong. Phoenix is confused, he didn't ASK for any mechanic. the FO describes her, Phoenix starts to feel uneasy (introduction of the "Satoko"/Chinami subplot) and does a quick once-over, asks RYUUICHI to run a diagnostic--but nothing is found. Yes, this is a red herring, as the ACTUAL sabotage was done to RYUUICHI :P

Battle scene! Redd turns traitor, Phoenix tries to make it but his AI conks out, emotional destruction of the Kurain. Probably end it just there, but I might have a scene where they're on the ground after "winning" the battle and Nick has to comfort Maya.

(Problem: how does Nick get MIA? We've established that the Galahad's AI is SOURYUU, so where does MIA come from?)



Okay, that's as far as the actual chapters I have go, so here's just the next events.

One final flashback to Nick going to enroll in pilot school. Larry accompanies him originally just to be a friend, but after seeing some female cadets in their uniforms, signs right up for the academy as well. Nick vows to meet Miles on the battlefield, if nowhere else.

Back in the present day:

-Phoenix gets command of the Turnabout, mourns Mia's death with Maya (as well as the rest of the losses on the Kurain.) Maya hopefully mentions that the Captain's lifepod had a Jump system installed, and if the occupant was unconscious, the AI was supposed to Jump to Alliance HQ... maybe that's why they didn't find the lifepod? Phoenix sadly tells her he thought of that, but nothing ever reached HQ (foreshadowing! CHINAMI used the Jump system to go somewhere else!)

-Introduce the Turnabout's crew. (Hey Yuusaku/Mareka/Keiko, you're two games too early!) We <3 crazy old man Udgey.

-Phoenix has his first encounter with Edgeworth as enemy commanders on the field of battle. Edgeworth is not on assignment with the Badger at the moment, but commanding a different crew. Phoenix fights Edgeworth in a duel to a draw, causes Miles to order a retreat. Edgeworth doesn't know it was Nick until after the battle.

Up until then, he's just like "Crap, bested by an enemy commander AND that mysterious enemy pilot fought me to a draw. I will go be emo now." "Wait, it was Phoenix? That dorky kid with the spiky hair? Fuck, now I'm gonna go be REALLY emo."

Miles, of course, remembers Nick. But that's a part of his life--before his father's death--that he's long tried to put behind him. Finding out that Phoenix, one of his closest childhood friends, is now an enemy commander... and not just a pathetic one that he could ignore, but a GOOD one who can actually best him? It'd make everything come back sharply... and he doesn't want it to.

Miles actually believes what he's doing is right--fighting for the Federation, that is. Instead of little squabbles and conflicts between various planetary powers, there is order. Which is what he tells himself desperately--their methods are iffy, but he tries to close his eyes to it and focus on the rather "noble goal" they have. He's tried to delude himself, forget the general unhappiness that that people around him on Calypso felt under the Federation.

The war right now? Is by necessity violent--because there is violent opposition to it. Once the opposition is gone, there won't be any more need for the bellicose methods they're forced to use now. (Oh Miles, you idealistic dork) in his eyes, the Alliance... THEY'RE the villains, they're propagating the chaos and violence in the solar system.

Finding out that Phoenix, a close friend from childhood, whom he KNOWS is a good person at heart (if a bit of a dork)... is fighting on the same side as these "villains"? That shakes him up. Why is he working for the "bad guys"?

We move to the ground for a few chapters, an as-of-yet-unnamed planet. Probably a very lush one, so I guess we'd call it "Demeter" or something.

There's a skirmish in a populated area. Edgeworth's troops falter, and there's an opening that Wright could take advantage of. But at the same time, something happens that puts nearby civilians in danger. Instead of takening advantage of the opening to win the battle, Nick goes and risks his own life (and the battle) to save them. Miles is even more confused... clearly, Nick is just misguided.

Blah blah, stuff happens that leads to a one-on-one in a giant forest/jungle deep in Federation territory. Right now, it's just Mitsurugi vs Huma (though Miles knows that Fed troops are rapidly approaching to back him up)... and though Phoenix's ship is very nible in the vacuum of space, its mobility is curtailed with all the trees and on the ground, so Miles has the advantage here.

Edgeworth COULD cripple Phoenix's mech here, let him be captured by the approaching forces... but he's all "This isn't like the games we used to play as kids, Wright. This is war. Get out of here," and lets Phoenix go--acknowledging, for the first time, their history together. Deep down, he desperately wants to believe that Nick IS just misguided and on the wrong side... convincing himself, "He doesn't get the seriousness of this situation. He doesn't get that he's actually fighting a war for the wrong side. That has to be it." Meanwhile, Phoenix is all "YAY HE'S STILL GOOD DEEP DOWN INSIDE HE'S STILL THE MILES I KNEEEEEEEWWWW"

We return to space. Miles returns to the Badger, introduce the crew and Flan. Phoenix goes back to the Turnabout, more "social" scenes with inter-ship character development/relationship/interaction. Miles and Phoenix reflecting.

Introduce the Global Mercenaries for... some reason. Hired by the Federation.

Maybe just a chapter with the Global crew, or something. These big "intro" chapters (of the Turnabout, the Badger, and now of the Global crew)... could use suggestions on how to handle them.

They're pit against forces from the Shikabane Space Pirate syndicate (which will deal with Zenitora later on!), minor skirmishes... Miles and Fran can learn to dislike Matt's actions and despise his motivations before the bigger fight.

Battle where Matt turns on Adrian, Fran shoots him down (Problem! How do I deal with the Global crew just being cool with the Federation blatantly "killing" one of their own? I mean sure, they don't like him and he was dangerous, but he was an excellent pilot that got them assignments.)

By this point, I've referenced the main "battle" plot--there's a crucial Alliance planet that needs taking, and Admiral Manny VK will be arriving to ensure that it goes smoothly.

Meanwhile, we introduce Lana via the scene with Matt after shot-down-time... she communicates with Gant via communicator, he's all "Hm, I was going to offer him a job anyway, but this is easier--and more interesting. Scar him, permanently." (knowing his vanity and knowing that it would push him farther into the deep end... Gant sees Matt as a "fascinating study into the depths of the human psyche.")

CLIFFHANGER WHAT WHAT?

POSSIBLY a scene here with Gant explaining the capabilities of the Assassin to Matt... I feel like I should explain what it is at some point, but I don't want to introduce Gant in person until the very end. Ideas?

More interaction with Global/Federation. Grateful Adrian stays on, Global departs for later, we go check in with what's up with the Alliance.

Here we have the opening shots of the big battle over the crucial Alliance planet. Until Admiral VK gets there, Miles is in charge, so it's once more Miles vs Phoenix (Who's in charge of the planetary defense). But there are little skirmishes, nothing more.

Right now, all Fran knows of Phoenix is that Miles has some past with him... she also knows that he's a commander and a pilot equal in skill to Miles, about. So, Fran being Fran, is all "Rawr Gyahahahahaha I will go kick his spoikey haired ass." Miles hasn't told her EVERYTHING yet about Wright (well, he probably has in the past) because he's still desperately trying to repress it. there's no interaction between the two for a while after he lets Phoenix go, maybe he alllows himself a little hope that Nick "Saw the Light," but this reinforces that Phoenix is there and there to stay.

One of the little skirmishes features Fran trying her won hand against Phoenix, that ends with... it's fairly even with a slight edge to Phoenix until Miles orders her to retreat--which pisses her off. Fran would want to know why he made her retreat, because she'd be offended by the idea that she couldn't have taken care of Nick. Miles doesn't know what the whole truth was himself, to be sure, but really he just doesn't want either of them to kill the other. :P

Either way, Fran is a tad peeved.

Bigger battle scene! Duel between Larry and Franziska, he tries to hit on her mid-fight ("Wait, you're a girl? So... uh... are you, like hot? Or one of those crazy military chicks?") and Nick has to bail him out of a sticky situation. This is a slower paced battle, with neither commander willing to commit to a full-scale assault, tseting each others' battle lines (being strategic, and also being that it's Phoenix and Miles :P).

Far off, a smaller unmarked skiff Jumps in, launches a single mech, and Jumps out.

This mech is Matt Engarde in his Assassin. He flies toward the battle lines where there are a few unnamed cannon fodder soldiers (both factions) taking potshots at each other. He first obliterates the Alliance side, so they're all "WTF a new Federation pilot?" Then he goes and kills the Fed pilots opposite them just for the hell of it.

Franziska, being the hot headed Flan that she is, is all "WTF bitch?!" and moves to engage. Miles has recognized by the way that the newcomer moved that it's no ordinary mech, and orders Franziska to disengage. Franziska, peeved about the Nick incident, feigns comm trouble, and Miles reluctantly orders backup.

Matt recognizes the woman who shot him down, gets pissed, and attacks her. SHe's taken by surprise at the sudden offensive and finds that she's actually unable him like she normally is foes. She takes a quick, brutal beating and then Matt is just "Ok, you're boring now, bye." before blowing Brynhildr up.

Miles is stunned and horrified until he sees a lone space-suited figure floating nearby, and quickly calls in emergency extraction. He doesn't know if she's alive or was killed in the explosion or what, but he has to hope. He immediately engages Matt personally to distract him from seeing the unconscious/"dead" Fran and finishing her off.

Meanwhile, Adrian has freaked out completely, and at Miles' command for extraction--hearing the reply that they're low on available pilots only dimly--she tears from her seat, grabbing Gumshoe/Maggey/someone as support, piloting a unshielded shuttle through the battle, suiting up in a space suit herself, going out to grab Fran and bring her in, taking off her helmet--Fran is bleeding from the head and quite clearly in bad shape--and trying desperately to get her to medical in time.

Fran's probably broken a few ribs and other bones, has internal bleeding, etc. She's in bad shape.

Miles is well aware that the capabilities of Matt's new mech outstrip his own by a fair margine, as is Phoenix--he teams up to fight Matt, while the two armies begin an unsure bigger battle with both of their commanders otherwise occupied.

They're about to destroy Matt once and for all--but just before they can see if he's truly done, the battle is interrupted by the giant bulk of Von Karma's flagship, Cerberus. (Matt is caught in the Jump wake and sent somewhere else to regenerate/return to Gant, though he's severely fucked up)

Phoenix orders a retreat. Von Karma HAS seen Miles teaming up with the enemy and orders him put in detention in preparation for a courtmartial and eventual execution for treason. He's told that Fran is in a coma and is all "she's a soldier, she's prepared for it," and doesn't give it any more thought.

Nick teams up with some members of the FEderation (mainly Gumshoe) to spring Edgeworth from prison along with Mitsurugi, bring him over to the Alliance--where he admittedly is still kept in a brig, but for a different reason... Miles doesn't want to be a traitor, he'd rather face death than run away from it.

Note--this is their first face-to-face meeting in fifteen years. In many heated, homoerotic arguments that follow, it comes out that Miles believes himself responsible for the death of his father, and this is why he went with Von Karma and joined the Federation (Problem: Why? It's not like the "failure of the defense to catch the criminal" would spur him to switch sides >.>)

Phoenix is stunned, and goes to research this. Now, as it was an Alliance ship, they have records that the Federation doesn't. Namely, they have Captain Edgeworth's final transmission, and the report from the search/rescue party. The search/rescue party found debris... but in a manner that suggested an explosion, not being crushed by an asteroid.

Edgeworth's final transmission stated that they had mechanical failure and crashlanded on a big asteroid... but they're in no danger of going critical, the only problem is possible life support failure with all the civvies on board (this right there is enough to prove to Miles that he wasn't responsible for his dad's death, but for some reason Phoenix keeps going). Gregory says that there's an approaching ship, maybe they're saved--and then the transmission gets garbled by a wierd, distinctive static-like-sound before cutting off. Phoenix is confused... it was a weak signal, but clear, it wouldn't have just faded like that, and it was a gradual thing, not instant like an energy core breach explosion. What could have caused that?

There's news that Edgeworth has escaped from his cell suddenly (probably via Larry, the doof) and has made his way to the hangar bay, stolen Mitsurugi back and gone to return to the Federation to face his fate. PHoenix is all "WTF noes!" and goes after him armed with the transmission and the proof.

Miles is met halfway by Von Karma and his Absolute, who is all "You know, I decided to skip the whole 'courtmartial' thing, I'll just execute you right here. You should be honored." Miles decides to face his fate when Phoenix attacks Von Karma abruptly, transmits him the data and tells him to listen to it.

Von Karma is pissed and decides to engage his primary weapon.

The Absolute was an experimental design that was never sent into mass production because it was supposedly too dangerous to the pilot. It has a MASSIVE secondary power source solely used to power its primary weapon, the "Lightning Gun." This isn't always turned on (the mech is especially dangerous because if THIS reactor goes critical, its a gigantic explosion much bigger than a normal mech blowing up, and irradiates the surrounding area more lethal than any other "normal" radiation)... but when it is, it causes a wierd sort of communications static.

Since they're closer, Miles and Phoenix can still talk with one another, but (in an homage to his sleuthing alter ego) Nick recognizes the communications disruption as VK powers up his Lightning Gun--it's the same one that was on Gregory Edgeworth's last transmission. And there's only one Lightning Gun, Lightning Gun reactor, and Lightning Gun reactor-holding mecha in the entire system... Manfred VK's. It was Manfred who killed Gregory Edgeworth.

Miles figures this out as well, and the two of them team up against Manfred for their climactic final battle, that eventually heads towards the Cerberus, swooping around the giant flagship at high speeds. Manfred manages to disable Phoenix a bit and is about to take him out when Miles decides he won't let that happen. So he literally tackles von Karma with Mitsurugi and the two of them crash into the hull of the bigger ship.

The Lightning Gun goes critical, gigantic boom--that hits the Cerberus' reactor core as well, causing THAT ship to "blow up" (though its hulk is still there for later...) Phoenix is stunned and all "NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Meanwhile, Franny has woken from her coma, ripped the IV from her arm, gone to demand a mech to pilot (she's disbelieving that Manfred and Miles are currently in a duel)... but has woken up just in time to, horrified, watch both her father and brother "die" in the explosion of the Cerberus.

There's a scene a little bit later with her, now in the "captain's" cabin with the insignia marking her as the new captain of the Badger (that used to be Miles') thinking about the two deaths (Miles hits her MUCH harder than her father, though she refuses to let herself cry because a captain does not cry on her ship. She's in the middle of cutting her hair and swears vengeance on the man responsible for all this--Phoenix Wright.

The aforementioned Phoenix Wright has a "congratulations everybody!" scene back on the Turnabout, though he's still mourning Miles. Yay closure, it's the end of the first arc!!

...Epilogue.

High Admiral Gant (reveal of the Big Bad in person!!!) in his sanctum on board Space Fortress Tartarus looking at Matt Engarde floating in a bacta tank (not really but something like that :P) and musing (to himself ostensibly, but Lana is there silent and stoic as always so it's just as much for her as it is for him) about the loss of Von Karma and the Cerberus. He's all "Unfortunate... but not unexpected." Von Karma was "ambitious," after all, and he'd have had to dispose of him sooner or later. Still, he regrets the loss of such a fine vessel and so many good crew.

Lana tells him that due to the Lightning Gun, the Cerberus is unsalvageable, and is no better than irridated scrap. Gant decides to leave it to the scavengers.

He muses about Matt being a fascinating example of the human psyche, and talks about how the truth about the Edgeworth incident (he somehow knows the truth) caused Miles to turn on Manfred... and how Franziska herself is reacting to their death. Truly the "ties that bind a family together" are... *casting a glance and the slightest of smiles over at Lana* "...powerful, wouldn't you agree?" (ZOMG FORESHADOWING)

The loss of the Cerberus is certainly a setback, but losing the battle is not losing the war, and then asks Lana to prepare his shuttle to take him to "Charybdis."


END OF ARC ONE!

karma-scream: as Freeza von karma
as cell engarde
And as majin godot