Eve of the Machine: Previous Chapter Back History

"Only the dead have seen the end of war."
-Plato

A Forgotten War
The year was AC 212. More than a decade had passed since the Eve Wars of AC 195 and 197, when multiple peace accords were signed that advocated widespread disarmament-specifically dealing with the proposed eradication of mobile suits. Most nations willingly agreed to the stipulations put forth by these treaties, decommissioning most or all of the mobile suits used to augment their armed forces. However, some groups concentrated in the colonies felt the exact opposite; many of them wished to continue to produce and use mobile weapons as they desired. Discontent among the colonies began to run high, eventually erupting into what became known as the Unified Colonial Rebellion.

In perhaps one of the largest uprisings ever staged, many of the nations in the colonies that approved the peace treaties were attacked from the inside and taken control of. In place of free speech came censorship, as democratically elected parliaments turned into totalitarian regimes almost overnight. The groups responsible felt that an authoritarian point of view provided an almost undeniable form of security for their mobile suit arsenals; for them, it eliminated the "problem" that so-called inalienable human rights presented to their goals. At the center of it all emerged the Trinity Liberation Front (more commonly known only as the "Trinity"), an extremist fringe group that claimed a new war was brewing: they considered it the next chapter of an age old dispute of racial and social superiority. Through all of mankind's war-torn history, and all of the strife throughout the ages, it seemed that nobody learned a thing.

The problem Trinity had was that it didn't have enough sheer manpower, or skilled enough soldiers to conduct a successful conquest. Thus, through extensive research and development, Trinity began manufacturing a new custom type of mobile dolls called "Slades," which could essentially be mass produced, and would run off of a central/collective intelligence system-thus eliminating the need for training of hundreds of men to be skilled pilots. The system was implemented as Trinity began spreading across the Earth sphere, its sheer power demonstrated as the group's Slade army single handedly destroyed the lunar colony Selene in one day.

But the end was near for this "Retribution War," for a paramilitary resistance group known as the Guardians were established by the Earth-based Rogue Alliance, and were skilled enough to attain the vital victories needed to defeat those corrupt who stood in their path. In a powerful and well-planned counterattack, the Guardians managed to take out Trinity's army on the moon. And as Trinity had invested so much in their development of the Slades, they had nothing left in the way of an organized human army. The group's governing body fell apart, and soon did the rest of the faction. Freedom, as it seemed, had been saved.

However, even though the bulk forces of the TLF had dissolved, there were still several other satellite dictatorships in control of large portions of territory throughout the Earth Sphere. Without an organized plan of attack on the part of the Guardians (as far as to take out the rest of these governments), many began to dislike the idea of the group being a unified standing army. To those who had seen the atrocities committed by the Trinity, the Guardians became a threat in themselves to their new freedoms. As a result, and much to the anger of its members, the group was disbanded and exiled to L1.

The Seikuu Syndicate
A small splinter faction of the Guardian force formed the Seikuu Syndicate, a group bent on attaining vengeance against the new corrupt authority. In order to achieve their set goal, the Syndicate militarized with a formidable nuclear arsenal and a Slade army operating under a new moniker: the "Machines." Ironically, the same mecha it worked to eradicate during the Retribution War would become the core of its active military forces. At the center of what Seikuu considered to be their totalitarian enemy was the Earth city of Khairez.

Located in central North America, Khairez was quite possibly the capital of human achievement and wonder-with an estimated population of sixty million and a very successful industrial economy. However, the city was under the strict control of a dictatorship, where enforced law censored ideas and prevented prosperity from taking a foothold.

The Silent Night Massacre
On July 4th of AC 223, Seikuu launched its assault. Although they experienced tough resistance, the sheer adaptability, survivability, and tactical prowess of the Machines proved to be superior. The Machines brutally ravaged the city, destroying everything in their path. In a final and shocking blow, Seikuu detonated its largest thermonuclear weapon-nicknamed the "Paradox"-in the center of the city. Khairez and its entire population was wiped off of the face of the Earth.

All looked on in horror as this destruction took place. Combined with internal strife and revolutionary thinking, the fear created by the massacre caused many of the remaining totalitarian governments to fall. Ironically, through an act of utter violence, the people were liberated. And although the Seikuu Syndicate had won its vengeance, it silently disappeared into darkness.

Three years of unity and peace prevailed as remnants of the Guardians came into power and ruled with democracy.

Emergence of the Shinter
The colonies of L1 had become the center of both technological and industrial attention during the epoch of peace, for they were the closest to the raw materials of Earth and produced more than half of the goods that were distributed widely throughout the Earth Sphere.

In late AC 226, however, trade disputes between the citizens of L1 and the Nocturne Alliance led to the formation of the Shinter. Radical revolutionary ideas began to spread as Shinter amassed its own military force. Revolts against many L1 governments occurred and the Shinter quickly seized control.

The trade conflict intensified as weeks and months passed into AC 227. Shinter had found various ways to direct the resources that came in and out of L1. As a result, trading in the cluster and other surrounding colonies was seriously interrupted, and several organizations were besieged and starved for resources. In order to ensure that opposition would not be a significant obstacle to overcome, Shinter decided to recruit several key remnant forces from the Seikuu Syndicate and expand their ranks with the creation of a Machine army. Massive production of new mobile weapon types began. In reply to the growing threat, the militaries of both the rebuilt and reorganized Earth colonies and the other space colony clusters began militarization and preparation for a major war.

On the night of May 11, AC 228, the trade war began, pitting the earth-based Nocturne Alliance against the space-based Shinter. Little did its participants know that the war itself would lead to much greater consequences for humankind...