Beneath the dome of Side-7's Dockyard 3, pale beams of searchlight pierced the tranquility of the simulated starry sky, illuminating the anchored steel behemoth like a cold tombstone. The Pegasus-class assault landing ship, the White Base, lay silently at its berth, its streamlined silver-gray hull exuding a forbidding aura. The massive mobile suit ejection ramp resembled a maw, devouring its prey. The bright red Federation eagle emblem and "WB" hull number on the ship's flank resembled freshly dried blood in Aiden's eyes.

"Hurry! Rookies!" A youthful yet commanding voice boomed. Second Lieutenant Brad Noah stood by the gangway, his immaculate Federation uniform framing his tall figure. He was about nineteen, with a sharply defined face beneath short, dark green hair. His brows were habitually furrowed, his eyes sharp as an eagle's. He exuded the solemnity and lingering immaturity characteristic of military academy elites. He quickly slapped his ID badge on the chests of Aiden, Gai, and Amuro. "I'm Brad Noah, acting as recruit manager! Now, get to the hangar! I'll show you what the 'iron coffin' you'll be entering looks like!"

Through the narrow passage, permeated with the cold smell of engine oil and metal, the heavy gates rose with a roar of hydraulic pressure. The hangar of the first mobile suit in the white base unfolded before them like a temple of a giant. Under the pale light, three steel giants stood on their fixed frames, casting a suffocating shadow.

Left: Dark green paint, a single crimson eye, a thick shoulder shield covered with craters and crude welds—a captured Zaku II (MS-06F). Gai's pupils shrank sharply when he saw it, and his face paled instantly, as if the single eye was staring back at him. The sound of metal tearing in his father's attack at the port echoed in his ears again. Center: A round, round-headed, light gray tin can, armed with a slender cannon barrel, as crude as a child's toy—the Federation's mobile coffin, the Iron Ball (RB-79 Ball).