Gundam Zodiac Astral Prologue

Court of Libra

Maskman: Mistress Libra, there are intruders outside the Court, Caelum, Lyra and Orion. Should we prepare for sortie?

It was in the middle of the First Astral Conflict, Ophiuchus sent Caelum, Lyra and Orion to the Court of Libra and attempt to take it down from behind. However, the strange thing was the Astralists that were guarding the Court outside saw no one closing in on the Court, yet Maskman, my Astralist General, was able to know exactly who was closing in, despite being inside the Court the entire time.

Libra: Maskman, how did you know? There was no word from the guards outside, yet you seem to know precisely who among the 76 constellations is here.

Maskman, as mysterious as his name suggests. He disappeared from time to time, only to report back that he "performed justice" on some "sinners". But thanks to him seemingly believing in my values of justice, I assigned him as my second-in-command.

Maskman: Uhh... may we save this question for a later time... p- please? Isn't it your duty to protect the Court of Libra... mistress?

Libra: I guess I have no choice... I'll notify the other Zodiacs, please take my place and go first. We need to protect this place.

Maskman (slyly): As you wish, mistress.

Maskman let out a sinister grin, but that wasn't my concern at the time, since an emergency was upon my Court. I had an uneasy feeling about letting Maskman launch first, since I hadn't launched in Gundam Libra in the past ninety hours, and Maskman seemed to hide in the Gundam's chamber more often than not back then. He seemed a lot more suspicious than he was in the past.

After notifying the other Zodiacs about my situation, Lyra contacted me through a secret comm channel. The visuals and audio were garbled in that transmission, but I was at least able to make out some sort of plan that Ophiuchus had.

Lyra (garbled comms): Libra, it's been a long time since we talked like this. You know about the predicament that The Reluctance are in, right?

Libra: Of course, I'll bring justice upon Ophiuchus once this conflict is over.

The Reluctance were what the minority of the 76 constellations called themselves. They were constellations that were forced into Ophiuchus' army that don't buy into either our or Ophiuchus' ideals, constellations of neutrality in other words. They aim to protect the astral balance, but they won't fully side with us, only assisting us when they feel like it. To name a few, constellations like Andromeda, Lyra, Leo Minor, Lepus and Sagitta are part of The Reluctance.

Lyra (garbled comms): I'll make this quick, Ophiuchus is tracking all of our actions, who knows when he'll know about this channel? I know about Ophiuchus' plan for this operation, I contacted you to spill the beans so that you can thwart this operation.

Libra: Alright, friend. What's his plan?

Lyra (garbled comms): Ophiuchus wants to use me to sedate the guards so that there won't be any witnesses. Then Orion will cloak himself and Caelum just in case any neighboring Zodiacs see them. Finally, Caelum will chisel the wall of the Court in order to get in behind your back and kill you.

Libra: Why can't you just drop out of the operation? You knew all along that what Ophiuchus is doing will disrupt the astral balance!

Lyra (garbled comms): I can't! If I oppose Ophiuchus, he'll wipe me and my alignment of stars out of existence!

Libra: That's even worse! By deleting a constellation, space-time will warp, bringing existence closer to destruction! By then, not even I can predict what would be left after that!