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Post by aleksei on Nov 26, 2009 2:56:33 GMT -5
The stench of crude oil from the ship was nauseating. After departing from a Cambodian port with the Aqua GM and a number of personnel, the naval transport headed southwest into Federation territory. Space was tight on deck, leaving just enough room between the mobile suit and the edge of the boat to make one's way. Regardless of these constraints, no one but Hirsch spent time out in the unbearable heat. While looking out at the vast expanse of turqois ocean, he tasted the bitter salt residue on his lips. Nothing made him feel more at home.
"You must be Hirsch, right?"
He turned to a woman in uniform to his left.
"Yeah...Wait, how did you sneak up on me?"
"The name is Phuong, Phuong Vet Kha."
"That's an interesting name."
"Vietnamese. I'm based out of Southeast Asia HQ."
"No kidding?"
She was cute and perfect like a porcelain doll. Shame he was not into women.
"What brings you to the deck?" she beat him to a question.
"I like the ocean. Makes me think of New York. You know, before the Zeeks invaded it? Wonder what the hell they are doing to the Ferris Wheel on Conney Island. Hope they don't ruin the hotdogs...Sorry, tangent, but I'm missing home. Nostalgia."
"But weren't you out near Jupiter for a long time?"
"Yeah, but home is home. Family, you know? I wonder if my little sis' is having any semblance of a teenage life. Do you know if prom even exists out in Brazil? Sorry, I keep making too many tangents."
"It's fine."
"You know who I really miss?"
"Who?"
"My ma'ma. The kindest woman you will ever meet and I am not just saying that because she's my ma'ma. Oh, and she can cook a mean batch of chili. At my bat mitzvah.."
Hirsch's mood suddenly switched, "She use to tell me some stories that would make me sick to my stomach. About the Holacaust and Nazi camps where they murdered millions of Jews. Apparently half of the Muncheks died in them because they were too stupid to leave. She said I needed to hear about it in order to learn our history so that we never repeat it. Sometimes I would dream about being in a camp and wake up wet from peeing my pants. Embarassing, right? They are just stories! Then the Zeeks came and everything started happening just the way she described it. Ma'ma was sure they would gas Earth folk as soon as the Federation fell."
"You scared still?"
"Hell yeah I am. I feel like I am the same ten year old who still pisses the bed. I just wanna crawl underneath a rock and wait until it's all over."
"Why not fight back?"
"I don't wanna kill anyone. It's not me...Wait a minute, how do you know my name? And what's up with all the questions? And why are you on some random transports out in the Indian Ocean?"
"I'm here for you, silly." She turned to the Aqua GM, "And your friend here. Phuong Vet Kha, War Press Secretary. I have been instructed to follow you for the next few weeks and document your successes on film. Congratulations, Private Munchek, you are the new star of the Earth Federation Ground Forces."
"Wait, document as in create movies about me? Like a reality show? I thought those ended with the war."
"Yes, we are here to produce movies about you. The EF needs more propaganda material, it needs more heroes like you. Now let me get the camera crew out here to take some panoramic shots. Where are my make-up artists? MAKE-UP!"
There was no rock in sight to hide under.
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Post by aleksei on Dec 1, 2009 20:11:18 GMT -5
"What is in store for you and the Aqua GM in the next mission, Private Munchek?"
"I cannot say, highly classified."
The cameraman zoomed to focus on Hirsch's face.
A smirk, "But I can say that I plan to kill any Zeek who gets in my way."
The words rolled off of Hirsch's tongue strangely. They were unnatural, nothing seemed right with this. Assuming he would be awkward in front of a live broadcast and potentially do something very stupid, Phuong fed him the questions the night before. They rehearsed two hours for a five minute interview. She was a perfectionist that wanted everyone else to be just on top of their game too.
"You heard it here first, folks. Private Munchek plans to torpedo his way to Federal victory as we prepare to launch a new offensive on Zeon territory. Until tomorrow, this is Phuong Vet Kha for the Federal Broadcasting Corporation. Back to you, Jenny."
Phuong smiled before signing off, then turned to Hirsch with a disparaging look.
"Okay, that was wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. You smirked, yes. But where was all the emotion? Fuck not wanting to kill - one less Zeon is one step closer to ending this war. That must count for something. Give some desire, excitement, anything!"
"I tried, I really did," Hirsch simply fidgeted with his thick, black glasses.
"Here," she said as she pulled out a few photos from a vanilla envelope.
Her superiors knew she was brilliant, but they failed to realize how much pain she was willing to inflict in order to get what she wanted.
The end justifies the means.
"These were taken a few days ago by a Flatmouse reconaissance team. Do you recognize...?"
"It's New York."
"This is what use to be Central Park, now a waste dump for mobile suit factories. Here are other reconaissance photos of Manhattan - Times Square, Lincoln Center, Penn Station... all bombed out."
"This can't be..."
Hunched over the pictures, his expression suddenly changed into a depressive state. He flipped through the black and white photos, noticing the piles of rubble as the city's skyline crumbled.
Phuong motioned to her cameraman to come back and pull out the recorder.
She whispered, "Get a shot of this, quick!"
Not a moment later, "This is going to be so good, they will eat it up. How are you feeling, Private Munchek? Vengeful?"
In the most sincere voice, Hirsch said, "I'm a lover, not a fighter."
Phuong was not sure if he was serious, "Uhhhhhhhh...Okay, cut?"
Hirsch proceeded to jump in the Aqua GM's cockpit, it was time to return to the ocean.
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Post by aleksei on Dec 2, 2009 23:03:45 GMT -5
Noon.
For many aboard the transport in the middle of the ocean, the day began at eight in the morning with a short breakfast followed by maintanence duties until sunset. Hirsch failed to make an appearance today and last night after the Aqua GM's reconnaissance mission.
"Where the hell is he?" Phuong asked.
In the distance, a yellow life raft sped against turbulent waves and signalled to those on the ship.
Some of the seamen came out with rifles, "Pirates!?" but Phuong calmed them down, "Relax, gentlemen. It's only Private Munchek, he's back. Get him out of the water and tell him I will be waiting in his sleeping quarters."
"Yes, ma'am."
When Hirsch walked into his room, Phuong startled him with a quick, "Hirsch, where the fuck have you been? You better have a good explanation for this."
"I was out on reconnaissance I'll have you know, missy."
"Reconnaissance? You were already out yesterday with the test unit doing that."
She then observed him from head to toe - retro v-neck tshirt, skinny jeans, shiny boots and a keffiyeh to top it off, "And you sure as hell weren't doing any work with that outfit."
"Yeah, I thought the keffiyeh was too much, but otherwise I look great, right...?"
"Hirsch!"
"Do you have time to listen?"
She rolled her eyes.
Hirsch began to explain, "I slipped out last night after I failed to get any details on the the base's defenses. By ten, I reached Manila Bay and made my way to my contact."
"Contact? Hirsch, I thought you didn't know anyone on Earth."
"He's some Filipino kid, an operative of sorts, that I met yesterday while on foot. Said he could introduce me to an island native who has it good with the Zeeks and owns maps detailing the entire city. Apparently, the Zeeks confiscated these compromising materials when they took over. Those that the Federation provided are out of date and full of inaccuracies. For another scouting attempt, I needed one of those maps.
So I went down to the meeting point with the kid, which turned out to be a night club full of lady-boys and their male clientele. I was told my contact would find me, but first I needed the right getup to blend in..."
Hirsch stopped mid-sentence and pulled the maps from his backpack, then proceeded to pin them up on a board. Using several colored push-pins, he dotted the maps with supply routes, barracks and storage units full of armaments. Everything but the defenses seemed dispersed throughout the city, making it difficult for mobile suits to tread without losing many civilian lives. The river was also too shallow for the Aqua GM to creep in from behind and gather data on their defensive perimeter around the port.
"My only option tonight is to go through the port again and pray I don't get caught."
Phuong had something else on her mind, "Hrm. Say, Hirsch, how did you end up getting this information in the first place? I mean, no offense, but you are paid shit and informants are pricey."
"He said we could make other arrangements, so he took me to a hotel and had me copulate with him," he answered bluntly.
"What?"
"We copulated. Oh yes, what word do you Asiatic people use? Fornicate, intercourse, sex or fuck?"
Nothing threw Phuong off like Hirsch's unassuming humor, or rather what appeared to be humor. Awkward fellow, yes, but a homosexual? It was impossible for Phuong to not only conceive Hirsch as a homosexual, but also as someone willing to sell his body in order to accomplish the mission. Certainly she knew homosexuals in the Federal Forces, and they were more sociable and flamboyant - not introverted and lame. Perhaps his long absense from human interaction killed the inner queen?
"Nonsense, he's just pulling my chain," she thought.
Before Phuong could interrogate further, Hirsch pushed her out the cabin door and locked it, "Busy, bye!"
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Post by aleksei on Dec 8, 2009 13:36:20 GMT -5
The waters around Manila Bay stood still, but the earth around the city and across the island continued to shake. After the 87th Integrated Fleet arrived to lay siege once more, the Earth Federal Ground Forces commenced their grand push into the base on the second day. The fate of the battle was still up in the air when the twin Hillocks stopped their barrage of missiles. Bubbles appeared on the surface of the bay, someone was coming up.
"I found him!" yelled one of Phuong's cameramen.
During the underwater battle, the naval corps lost one of its GM Divers and heard nothing from Hirsch Munchek's GM Diver after dragging a Dom into the sea. Phuong feared the worst. As Hirsch awaited the ship crew to lift him out the water, he remembered an old song his ma'ma use to sing:
God visits all lost souls
To survey the damage
We noticed a bonfire
Burning in his eyes
He whispered
"It's the atrocities of your story
Of your story"
Once the Gilfaethwy secured the mobile suit on the side of the ship, Hirsch exited the cockpit and greeted by applause from the battlecruiser's personnel.
"Hip hip huzzah! Hip hip huzzah! Hip hip huzzah!"
Were it not for Hirsch and the Aqua GM, they would've surely been sunk by Zeon's ship-tearing mobile suits.
Everything soon quieted down on deck once sailors got busy with repairs and Hirsch took a spot on the starboard side of the Gilfaethwy . Resting on the railing, he looked out to the city that was once the Asian Pearl of Spanish and American empires that no longer existed. Just as Hirsch predicted, Manila would lay in ruins like the Biblical city of Jericho after the Federal Forces were done with this operation. Perhaps one day he would regret being responsible for destroying the city and the pilot he let get away...
"Three.. Two.. One.." Armistad whistled, his smile turning to shock as a blue GM burst out of the water in front of him right before he fired. Hirsch tackled the commander Dom, the beam bazooka being thrown into the sky and firing up towards the heavens. The Aqua GM pulled Aldo under the water, the two pilots grasping for beam picks and heat sabers respectively.
They did nothing more than observe each other for the first few seconds. It was obvious that the Aqua GM was in no fighting condition with its melted leg and exhausted thrusters. Nevertheless, Hirsch knew enough about the Dom to guess that it was far less effective underwater. Just as he decided to thrust the beam pick into the mono-eye, the Dom attacked instantly, lashing several times with the heat saber before Hirsch pulled away. The Dom had range, but the GM was faster and armed with a beam weapon.
Confused, Hirsch yelled, "Why don't you just leave? C'mon, runaway..."
The Dom charged once more, firing several shots from its scattering beam gun to cover his second strike with the heat saber. Unable to dodge efficiently with busted thrusters, the Dom impaled the Aqua GM's left shoulder. Hirsch reacted to the unrelenting Zeon pilot by cutting his hand off with the beam pick before the Dom sliced down to the cockpit.
"Runaway, dammit!"
The Aqua GM then swerved behind the Dom and held the beam pick to its back where the cockpit was positioned, but he did not go through with the killing blow. Instead Hirsch clipped the mono-eye and left the Dom blind, then retreated to the safety of the Hillocks.
It was embarrassing to imagine that Hirsch let two Zeeks get away, especially one that bore the marks of the Shutzstaffel. As he looked out to Manila's crumbling skyline one last time from the Gilfaethwy, he wondered if the war was worth all this chaos - was killing even the answer?
Phuong appeared from behind and put her hand on his shoulder, "Isn't it a beautiful sight? I have to admit, Hirsch, I didn't think you had it in you."
"Excuse me?"
"Hirsch, you saved the day here and we got it all on tape. Just wait until Southeast Asia HQ gets a hold of my report. You're going to be a star, private. Good work."
When she left, the same tune from earlier played in his head:
God visits all lost souls
To survey the damage
And holding his bleeding heart
A tear comes to his eye
He whispered
It's the atrocities of History
Of History
Of...
Then he falls to the floor
For there's many more tears on the sunrise
And now we must eat those tears
Now we must eat our fill
Of the Atrocities
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Post by aleksei on Dec 9, 2009 4:39:33 GMT -5
Hirsch's mobile suit transport arrived the next morning to take away his damaged Aqua GM from Manila Bay and to safer waters. Outside of Phuong's porthole, the siege raged as the Federal guns lay more waste in the concrete mess once known as Manila. She paid no attention to it nor felt any desire to help, her responsibilities were elsewhere.
One of the more overweight members of her cameramen entered her cramp quarters with a disc in hand, "Ms. Kha, we have all the footage from the Aqua GM's recent battles. Well, except..."
"Yeah."
"We arrived too late for his duel with the Dom. The enemy mobile suit was gone by the time we got there."
"Morons. I guess this will do. I'll go ahead, and review the footage and write my evaluation. Prepare a carrier to take it to Jaburo. Oh, and not a word to Munchek. This is urgent, so get lost," she barked her orders.
---
FEDERAL GROUND FORCES
To: Jaburo, EFF HQ
Attn: General Revil
CC: Colonel Leung, Southeast Asia HQ
Subect: Experimental Mobile Suit Evaluation - RAG-79 Aqua GM
Sir,
My name is Phuong Vet Kha, senior engineer at Southeast Asia HQ. I was recently assigned to the RAG-79 Aqua GM and its pilot in the field to study the effectiveness of our experimental unit against Zeon's amphibious mobile suits. Building on the progress made with the GM Diver, the Aqua GM demonstrated its utility in neutralizing all types of Zeon units - Acguy, Z'Gok and Gogg. While lacking in armor, the unit was able to outmaneuver the enemy without compromising its weapon payload (see attached disc). Reports from the first siege at Manila indicate that the unit was too fast for the infamous Gogg that not too long ago tore our ocean fleets apart. As my footage from the recent siege demonstrates, the Aqua GM compensates for its slower speed with an assortment of armaments for increased attack potential against Z'Goks and Acguy mobile suits.
Although we were unable to test the surface-to-surface missiles, I would argue no such test is needed. The unit is designed to operate at its full potential in underwater combat, not storming beaches or ports. The GM Diver already fulfills that niche. My footage further illustrates how guarding naval ships and hunting amphibious mobile suits are more suited for this weapon, thereby giving us full range to secure the waters and surround an enemy base. If the EFGF were to mass-produce the Aqua GM, I am certain it would change our fortune against Zeon's amphibious arsenal and stealthy Jukon submarines. To this end, we will win the war by controlling the seas and supply routes.
On a side note, I would like to recommend keeping Private Hirsch Munchek on the test unit despite Colonel Leung's objections. Munchek is the most experienced naval pilot on record, it would be our loss if we were to lose him. Claims of psychological distress in his record are inconclusive, nevertheless it is important to not reveal the details of this study to him.
In this envelope, I've attached a series of documents to support my claims, including photographs, filmed documentation and charts. I hope this evaluation will be of some use.
Sincerely,
Phuong Vet Kha
---
She licked the envelope , then sealed to send it away. Every day Jaburo received dozens of letters with similar evaluations of experimental technology. Hopefully, Phuong's would be one of the lucky few read.
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Post by aleksei on Dec 10, 2009 8:01:11 GMT -5
The sun had set by time the 87th Integrated Fleet called it a day following the big push on the main island. Below the makeshift transport that kept the Aqua GM afloat, Phuong typed away the finishing touches on her report. There was just enough room above deck for Hirsch to hang a worn hammock between two wooden posts. Climbing into his new found bed, he closed his eyes and passed out instantly from exhaustion.
"I know what is happening, I can feel everything," recalled Hirsch whenever he believed he was conscious of his dreams.
And yet unlike an omniscient god, he had no control of the roller coaster rides that characterized this netherworld. Even if he tried to wake up from a nightmare, an invisible force bore on his body as if gravity were multiplied by a hundred, preventing him from moving and sending him in a panic. Something somewhere wanted him to experience the pain and heartbreak of these alternative realities.
This evening's dream setting revealed an empty dark stage with a single spotlight on a small table and set of chairs. From the blackness emerged an old woman with a pot of coffee.
She spoke with a raspy voice familiar to Hirsch, "Nice of you to join me, my boy."
"Ma'ma...? Ma'ma, it's you."
"Come and join me for a cup o' coffee, we need to chat."
Delighted, he tried to recount every detail, but she cut him short, "Hirschie, I know all of this, I'm referring to your dilemma."
He began to feel like something was stuck in his throat that prevented him from speaking naturally, "Wh-? What're you talking about, ma'ma?"
The aroma of the brew was beginning to make him nautious as she pourd him a cupfull, "Do you take sugar?"
"Ma'ma, you are making no sense-"
She stopped midway on her cup and looked into his eyes through wisps of gray hair floating in front of her face, "No, it is you who is making no sense because you are failing to kill the enemy."
Hirsch knew what she was referring to - he let the Z'Gok and Dom get away at Manila. It dawned on him as she lit her cigarette and blew a puff of smoke his way that she appeared and spoke to him like a Federal officer, except she wore her Sunday best with pearls and brown stockings instead of a tan uniform. Her presence was overbearing, he could feel her weight preventing him from
leaving this nightmare and waking up.
"There is nowhere to run, there are no excuses."
"But ma'ma, the odds were against me...I couldn't do much more against so many-"
"David defeated Goliath with a sling and stone. You had one of the Federation's most advanced weapons."
His mother's hands reached out and grabbed his, he could see all the spider veins that spread up to her arms like a virus on the verge of consuming her entire being. Perhaps they already did.
"It is your duty to destroy those vile scum."
Behind Hirsch emerged three rabbis that Hirsch recognized from his old synagogue in Brooklyn. One took out a dagger and carved the lightning mark of the SS on the wooden table. He saw the same two letters etched on the body of the Z'Gok that evaded him.
Her voice grew disconcerting, "Zeon has sent the Schutzstaffel after you and the rest of us on Earth. You've seen pictures of the camps, you know our stories of torture and sorrow-"
"More than a three thousand years in the making!" interrupted the second rabbi in the group.
"The question is: are you are willing to be just as ruthless to defeat them?"
Hirsch wept before answering, "I just can't...I mean, I have, but with every mobile suit I destroy, every life I take I've just about turned into them...And I...And I find Hitler in my heart, ma'ma."
She put out her cigarette and stood up painfully slow, "Remember, Hirschie, from the corpses flowers grow. Make the world a better place and murder them all. Do your people proud, my son. Good bye."
"Ma'ma, don't punish me for wanting your love inside of me," he cried out.
"God shall punish those who make us suffer, the massacre of Zeon is upon us!" said the third rabbi before they walked off into the darkness of nowhere.
Suddenly Hirsch jolted from his dream as if that was his cue to wake up. He was meant to hear all of that, he thought. Or rather, he wanted to hear it. The hammock swayed a bit as he looked out to the black heavens of the night sky.
And I find Hitler in my heart
From the corpses flowers grow
Flowers grow
From the corpses flowers grow
Flowers grow
"I should've killed them both."
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Post by aleksei on Dec 17, 2009 12:29:09 GMT -5
Ice everywhere. Earlier in the evening the transport moved the Aqua GM into a Federal tanker suited for the tundra where Hirsch was headed next. There was more room to walk on the deck with the mobile suit stored in hull, but the ship was slow and easy to spot with its bright red coat. The pilot and crew were easy targets for the enemy.
Once preparations were complete, Phuong approached Hirsch's cabin and knocked on the metallic door.
"It's Phuong, can I come in?"
The door slowly opened, dark except for the bright light emanating from a desk where Hirsch sat hunched over a pile of books. To her right, shells and scraps piled in a trash bin.
"Weren't these your models...?"
"I'm over them, not of much use to me anymore."
Hirsch was short tempered from what Phuong could tell, so she decided to get to the point and handed him one of her infamous vanilla envelopes.
"Here are your new orders. You're to report to North America via the Arctic for a special operation. HQ wants to assist a ship called White Base stranded in Seattle, so important that all available mobile suits in the area are being called. Honestly, I haven't seen orders like these before."
"Yeah, I figured after I saw a floating iceberg outside. just leave it on my bunk, I'll get to it later."
She put it down, then moved closer to Hirsch, "I didn't come down just to hand orders. I'm actually here to say goodbye. I've been called back to Southeast Asia HQ for administrative duties, so I'll be leaving in a few minutes..."
He did not hesitate to cut her off, "Farewell."
Phuong, upset by his response, turned to the door and walked out before returning to his side, "Did I do something? You're awfully cold."
The ship's intercom suddenly cut in the middle of the conversation, "Pilots of the Don Escargot, GM Divers and Aqua GM please report to the hull. We shall commence operations shortly. Thank you."
"You lied to me," Hirsch responded.
"What-"
The pilot got up from his seat and pulled out his wet suit to change. Phuong turned around once more.
"The entire hero segment for the broadcasting network was just a big o' lie to spy on me in the GM."
He was midway from getting the suit zipped when Phuong tried to defend herself, "Hirsch, it was my job. It's people like me that get these units out on the production line for better-"
"Save it. I don't trust you anymore or anyone else for that matter. Good riddance you're leaving."
"Hirsch," he heard Phuong say as she wiped her tears, "if it's any consolation, I really did believe you were a hero."
He stormed out his room after getting his wetsuit completely zipped, and shoved Phuong in the process. Before he could think about going back and amending his friendship, a scrawny technician appeared before him.
"Private Munchek, the Aqua GM is ready for deployment, and the pilots on your team are awaiting orders. Will you need anything else from us today?"
Hirsch read the envelope Phuong handed him, "Looks like we are gonna be underwater for hours. Have them put a few sandwiches in our cockpits. Make them Kosher."
"Anything else, sir?"
"No, now get out of my face."
Once the amphibious mobile suit team set out on the ocean, Hirsch sat patiently in the Aqua GM's cockpit and hummed his song.
As I search for a piece of kindness
And I find Hitler in my heart
And he is whispering
"As sure as love will spring
From the Well of Blood in Vain, oh Jew!
The Well of Blood in Vain!"
La la la la la la
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