Intro 
By Jan McDougherty

	Shannon is a fifteen year old girl who goes to a public high school. One day a new 
boy joins her homeroom. His name is Jon McArthur and he seems to be very interested in 
Mobile suits. Shannon even catches him going over MS manuals during World Studies where they
sit next to each other. Jon's joining of the school comes shortly after a rebellion against 
the government began in space. Shannon and her best friend, Nicole, side with the rebels and
hope to be MS pilots for them once they get out of high school. One day while walking 
through town, they are stopped by a man who says he needs some help getting a part for his 
car from a junk dealer. He says that the dealer only talks to women and if he tried talking 
to her himself, he would never get the part. They agree to help him, but they both figure 
that something's up. The man tells them to ask the dealer for a "trophy" and that its for a 
friend. The girls get the part, but its wrapped in a box. When they get back to the man who 
stopped them, Shannon refuses to give him the part unless he tells them what's going on. The 
man agrees and tells them that his name is Howard and he is an engineer for the rebels. The 
part that he asked for is a vital component to a mobile suit that he is fixing and the 
dealer is actually a good friend of his, but her shop is under tight surveilence by the 
government. Shannon and Nicole ask him if there is anything else they can do to help him and
end up assisting him in installing the part. After hearing about their plans to join the 
rebels, Howard agrees to send the girls instruction manuals on some of the MS that they 
might pilot so that they can be ready. Shannon and Nicole study the manuals whenever they 
get a chance, but it is obvious from the start that Nicole can learn the controls faster and
better than Shannon.
	One day during drama club (which Shannon and Jon are a part of) Jon tells Shannon 
that he's seen a lot of mysterious white vans around the school and elsewhere and that he's 
getting suspicious. Shannon tells him that she's also noticed them around her neighborhood. 
Jon then warns her that she should be careful and she decides that he's probably right.
	On the last day of school, Shannon gets off the bus and sees one of the white vans 
behind the bus. She hurries toward her house, which is not that far away, and when she looks
behind her, the van is almost on top of her. She starts to cut across her neighbors lawn and
two men jump out of the van and chase her down. They catch up to her just as she's about to 
mount the steps to her house. While Shannon is trying to fight them, she sees the horror 
struck face of her younger sister in the window. One of the men puts a wet cloth to 
Shannon's face, and suddenly everything goes blank.
	When Shannon wakes up, she finds that she is in a secret army base. The people at 
the base begin to perform tests on her involving something called a zero system. This is 
where we begin our story.