Post by blackmage on Dec 23, 2009 23:33:54 GMT -5
"A Papua class?" A young pilot asked in a total surprise. "You sure that's all?" Cato nodded as he suited up.
"Apparently the space nazees are using a more desceet way of getting supplies to their frontline fleets. We do the same thing on occasion." Cato now with his helmet on drifted with his fellow pilots out to the hanger bay. He had gained the respect of his team since the last mission they were on together. In fact many of his subordinates envied the courage he had shown while in combat in a mobile suit he had never piloted before. Cato himself could never forget that battle neither. He never will forget the Zeon pilot he fought against. He was clearly Cato's equal in combat. The sublieutenant looked over at his mobile suit that was being repaired.
"Son of a bitch." Cato mumbled to himself. He was getting the hang of his GM Command in combat, but for now he was assigned a vanilla GM for the upcoming attack on a Zeon supply ship that was approaching. The Zeon were smuggling supplies to one of the fleets at the frontlines. They now had to tread carefully in 2e space since the Ohm fleet was now on the loose. "At least Admiral Heiman came through for me." Cato looked to the other side of the hanger and watched as his comrades begin to inspect their new mobile suits. The ones that had survived the previous engagement were given GMe type suits. Some of the surviving members had proven themselves in combat and Cato wanted to capitalize on the skills many of those pilots had shown. Cato drifted up to the edge of his GM and hung out the cockpit and looked out at the hanger and smiled. He never really cared for the dramatic stuff, but in this case he would be willing to make an exception.
"Alright boys, lets go kick some space nazee ass!" His speech was followed by shouts and screams of excitement from some of his replacements that had been transferred over to his seek and destroy team. Some of those pilots, he knew would not make it back alive. The rest of the replacements that do will have a more crueler outlook on war. To Cato it was the best thing that could happen to them. Those young pilots would lose their innocents but they would learn quickly that war was no game.
****
Papua class "Dardinal"
Xander quickly saluted as he stood at attention in front of the captain of the Dardinal.
"Chief Petty Officer Reece! Sir!" The captain nodded.
"At ease." Xander looked around the room as the captain continued reading a file. When he had entered the room the captain had been reading it. It was no doubt the debriefing from the engagement he had with Feddie mobile suits at the remains of the Bomer fleet. The fighting was brutal. He had lost many men in that ambush. He should have made more of an argument to have Zaku E types given to his search and rescue team. He could have had that area scouted out and he wouldn't have lost no where near the amount of men that he had lost in combat.
"This report tells me you had ran in to a Federation seek and destroy team. Is this true?" The captain looked up from his report with his glasses resting on the edge of his nose.
"Yes sir. That is true." Xander replied promptly.He was sort of surprised he and his remaining men would have been called back to help guide this Papua class across 2e to the Dren fleet. Usually after having a contact with the Feddies, he was usually transferred back to Granada to wait for another mission. "Things must be getting out of hand since the Bomer fleet was taken out." Xander thought to himself as he flashed back to his fight with that GM Command he had encountered. The GM seemed to have acted as if it moved with a slight wobbling motion white it was fighting. The pilot must have been inexperienced with that suit, but it was obvious that he was experienced enough in combat to make the kills he made during that ambush. The pilot he had killed before the engagement ended was a close friend of Xanders. It bothered him knowing that he was survived by a widow and a son that would grow up with out a father. It was actions such as those that made him despise war so much. He knew every soldier that died would be leaving their love ones behind to mourn their loss.
"Any survivors?" The captain looked up once more. Xander shook his head.
"It was two days after the battle. The situation was doubtful. We're there mostly to salvage any of our own mobile suits and Federation technology." Xander looked around the room. The captain appeared to keep his quarters clean. The captain let out a sigh as he removed his glasses and placed them in a drawer.
"You know I never wanted this life for you?" Xander's father had served in the SAF doing supply runs since the Dutchy was founded. Only recently with the Bomer Fleet gone, the Zeon had nothing to counter Ohm, and with that the Zeon had resorted to smuggling to resupply their war ships.
"I know father, but we had no other option." Xander's father let out another sigh. Both men had seen many of their friends die in this war, it was sickening to Xander's father the most. Now his own son was in the crosshairs.
"We'll figure out a way through this together Xander." He got up from his chair and saluted his son. "Your dismissed." Xander quickly saluted his father.
Five Kilometers away in space, a Zaku E type scans the area with its monoeye searching the area for any intruders. The pilot inside shook his head to try and force himself to stay awake. He was given little time to sleep since his hours had been cut. The captain of the Dardinal was very nervous after finding out that their could be Feddie mobile suits in the area.
"Bunch of bullshit." The pilot mumbled under his breath. In the distance away from the Zaku E type, a small asteroid approached. The E type pilot raised his eye brow in surprise. "Must have been knocked out of the asteroid belt." The E type approached with caution. It's body mounted camera took pictures of the asteroid as it approached. The photograph appeared on screen. The high resolution picture showed too many smooth surfaces on the floating asteroid. If anything it appeared to the pilot that many of the features of the asteroid were...drawn on! The Zaku raised its cameragun and aimed it at the balloon. The pilot begin pressing buttons in a sequence to switch it over to infrared.
Instantly the HUD inside of the cockpit quickly turned white and begin displaying white hot images. The balloon asteroid appeared on screen as a dull black, but behind it, two mobile suits could be seen hiding behind the balloon. The camera zoomed out only to reveal new heat signatures to the E type's pilot. Above the balloon, three GMes armed with bazookas charged directly at the Zeon mobile suit like a pride of lions going in for the kill.
"Awww crap!" The E type quickly turned only to be smashed in the face by a GM. The E type was knocked backwards, its thrusters quickly engaged in a attempt to try and stabilize itself. One of the GMs hiding behind the asteroid appeared and charged forward with its beam saber and impaled the Zaku E type through the cockpit. The monoeye of the recon suit faded away symbolizing the death of the pilot.
"Would've sucked to have been him huh?" The GM pilot smirked as his beam saber blade quickly dissipated.
"Cut the chatter! Lets get this piece of junk out of the way and set up the ambush!" Cato barked as his GM appeared from around the balloon asteroid. His one eye stayed trained on to the GMs near the dead Zaku. He always seemed to dislike replacements. Not because that he didn't know them, he just always seemed to get the most inexperienced ones to replace the battle hardened veterans he was use to fighting with. "Bunch of damn kids." Cato thought to himself as he pulled a grenade from his shield and tossed it in front of his mobile suit. The grenade exploded in to a balloon asteroid just like the one he was hiding behind.
"At least they're not afraid to kill someone boss." One of the GMes drifted up to the side of Cato's GM. The GMes were all painted black to camouflage them while in space. These units were all ordered to be painted in this new color scheme by Jamitov Heiman before they were handed over to Cato's team. At first Cato had second thoughts about wasting time to paint the GMes. In a day and era where camoflage was obsolete because of infared, better radar and other forms of detection, it appeared the black GMes that his team were given appeared to had fooled at least one Zeon pilot.
"True, but that's just one pilot. The real fun is about to begin." Cato smiled devilishly as his eye focused on the Zaku E type now drifting lifelessly in space.
****
Papua class "Dardinal"
The captain entered the bridge as he drinked warm water from a plastic cup. He never really preferred cold water since his teeth were sensitive to the cold. That and warm water always seemed to refresh him. In these times that was a asset since the Federation has had mobile suits destroying supply line routes that many Zeon ships used to supply the frontline fleets. He requested the order of additional mobile suits for the trip. He was aware of the fact that his son was in the area and the possibility of his Zaku II being damaged while in combat was high. If their was even a remote possibility that his ship could be attacked it would be unacceptable to send out Xander in a damaged Zaku. The High Mobility Type Zaku R1 would serve him well while in combat against Federation forces. With that as insurance he felt his ship could survive anything a group of Federation mobile suits could throw at him.
"Status report." He sat down in his chair and placed his cup of water in a secure position after taking one last sip.
"The recon unit hasn't replied back in hours, and were just coming up on his position now." His second in command replied. The captain raised his right eye brow. It unusual that a recon suit didn't give a status report back to a ship promptly. Could the Federation have captured him? "Asteroids spotted sir!" The second in command interrupted the captain's train of thought.
"What!?" The captain looked at the monitor where; the cameras had focused in on the threat. A column of asteroids could be seen approaching in the distance. "This is too much of a coincidence. Launch mobile suits!" A siren sounded. The hanger bay was quickly filled with a river of emotions as pilots and mechanics struggled to get the mobile suits ready.
"Shit!" Xander mumbled to himself as he put his helmet on and floated out to the hanger bay. "Wish we had more warning." Xander continued complaining as he reached his damaged Zaku.
"Don't use that!" A voice shouted to him. Xander turned in the direction of the voice. A mechanic stood by a R1 High Mobility Type Zaku II. "Use this!" Xander drifted over to the mobile suit being offered to him.
"I thought this was being given to the Dren Fleet? What gives?" Xander stared at the massive figure. He had seen these mobile suits in combat and found them impressive. Many of the ace pilots in Zeon used them it was like a Cadillac to Zeon pilots. It was a status symbol.
"We're giving them food and water, the other ships are reinforcing them with new suits. This suit was brought along to had over to you. The captain wanted extra insurance against the Feddies. Xander floated up toward the cockpit.
"It'll take a while to get use to." Xander replied back with a smile. It was like his father to want to give him every kind of advantage imaginable. He never complained about it when he was a kid playing any kind of sport. Now he couldn't resist when it was a mater life and death.
"Mobile suits have launched sir." One GM pilot announced over the comm link. Cato facepalmed his helmet.
"I know you clown, now shut up before you give our position away." Cato grinded his teeth together. These rookies were beginning to get under his skin. The Zakus fanned out as they approached close to the balloon asteroids. Cato turned and did a single flash with the visor of his GM to signal one of the veterans. Soon after the flash the Zaku E type drifted out from behind one of the asteroids. The other Zakus from the Dardinal begin to approach closer.
"Wolf leader to sneaky peek come in?" Xander announced over the comm link. Cato's eye widened. He recognized that voice. Only static replied back to Xander.
"Something is wrong." Xander's father thought to himself as he watched the Zakus approached ever closer in to the ambush. Cato smiled as his GM raised its machinegun.
"Now!" Cato screamed. All of the Federation mobile suits appeared from behind the balloon and opened fired with a various assortment of weapons. Machinegun fire roared, the swooshing sound from bazookas being fired, but their was nothing to hit. The Federation onslaught tore through space without harming anyone. The Zakus were no where to be seen. Cato looked to both of his sides. "Could they have flanked us?" Cato begin to worry.
"Above us!" A young GM pilot screamed in terror as his mobile suit was gun downed. The other GMs broke ranks and returned fire at the Zaku as they approached closer. Back at the Papua class the captain looked on confident now in his chances as the battle unfolded.
"Ambitious plan, too ambitious." A GM was shown on screen being shredded to pieces by machinegun fire.
"Is that all of them?" The captain's second in command asked as the Zakus now begin to poke through the graveyard of GMs. Four GMs floated near one another in various states. One was blown to pieces while the others were filled with bullet holes. A muzzle flashed in the corner of the eye of the captain. A smoke trail could be seen slithering behind a bazooka round before it smashed in to the side of the Papua. One of the crew members was knocked to the ground.
"How could they have got around us?" The captain snorted as one of the cameras on the ship zeroed in on the sector the enemy fire came from. A black GMe appeared on screen. It took aim at the Zeon vessel prepared to open fire one more time. Before it could fire a machinegun blared in the distance chopping the torso to pieces with 120mm fire. The GMe exploded as a Zaku HMT flew past it while engaging other targets.
"Bet your glad I stuck around old man?" Xander crowed as machinegun fire drowned out his father's response.
The Zaku team turned away from the GMs and focused in on the Papua class being attacked.
"We got to go back and help them!" One of the Zaku team members pleaded with the other two. The monoeye of the lead Zaku turned to the others. Behind the two stood a lone GM emerging from a popped asteroid balloon. A grenade floated up between the three Zakus and exploded peppering all three Zakus with shrapnel Cato snarled.
"I'm not making any friends with high command if I lose this many pilots in a battle." Cato complained as he darted off toward the Papua class. The HMT weaved around the vulcan fire from a GMe as it tried in vain to hit the cockpit.
"I don't care what Goloni said about me wasting ammo; This guy has to die!" The GMe fired a bazooka round at the HMT only to have it dodge the shot with little ease. The HMT returned fire with its machinegun hitting the cockpit multiple times as it passed by the smoldering GMe on to its next victim. The last black GMe fired its bazooka at the Papua. The round spiraled off toward the Zeon ship.
"AA's fire at the ordinance we cant handle a direct hit!" The captain screamed orders to his crew. The pair of AA guns roared to life. Tracers skimmed past the bazooka round only missing it by inches. The 305mm round spiraled around tracers as if it was intentionally avoiding them. The captain growled just before the bazooka was moments from impact. "Brace for impact!" One of the crew members shouted in terror. The Papua class shook violently flinging the crew members to the ground once more.
"Damn it." The last GMe mumbled as it took aim again. Before the black mobile suit could pull the trigger, a heat hawk slashed the barrel right off. The GMe pilot grimaced.
"You Feddies don't know when to quit!" Xander shouted out in rage as his Zaku HMT swung its heat hawk wildly. His father finally rose to his feet and looked over the console to see his son still fighting one of the Federation mobile suits. Blood dripped from the corner of his head, but he didn't notice it. To him all the panicked noises the crew of the Dardinal were shut out from his world as he looked on in pride as his son dueled a Federation mobile suit.
"When complications happen." Cato's cold voice announced over a open comm line. A GM appeared from the bottom of the Papua class's bridge and pointed its gun directly at the Dardinal's bridge. "You just have to do it all yourself." The crew panicked, many members ran for the door in a vain attempt to escape. Others stood by and watched in shock as the muzzle flash blinded them.
"I regret nothing." The captain stared down the barrel of the GM's machinegun as the flash from the muzzle enveloped his face. A chain of explosions erupted as Cato's GM turned and backed away a safe distance. The explosions started small and then built to more larger ones starting from the bridge to the main engines of the Papua Smoke consumed the Papua in its final death throws.
"NO!" Xander shouted with a confused look on his face. His Zaku HMT stopped attacking the GMe. "No! No! No!" Xander repeated as he watched another series of explosions tear through the ball of smoke. His father had died and he was unable to save him.
"Now that's what I call a fucking explosion." Cato drummed his fingers against the controls. He was pleased with himself. For once he had back to back success with nothing to set him back in forwarding his career. For once he seemed to have upstaged Ohm without it costing him a arm and a leg. The Zaku HMT charged Cato's GM while firing its machinegun.
"It was you!" Xander screamed out. The bullets impacted the left arm of the GM, sheering off the forearm relinquishing its shield. Cato reacted by returning fire with his own machinegun burst at the Zaku HMT. All of the bullets passed by the HMT harmlessly. Both mobile suits mirrored one another and took aim and pulled the trigger. A unified clicking noise signaled to both men they were out of ammo. Both mobile suits switched over to their melee weapon of choice as they collided in to one another. "You killed my father!" Xander buried his heat hawk into the shoulder of the GM.
Cato smiled as he impaled the Zaku in the side narrowly missing the cockpit. The heat from the saber forced Xander to scream in a panic as the hot energy blade was only feet from vaporizing him.
"I lost my old man in this war to." Cato relented as he removed the beam saber from the Zaku and then stabbed the Zaku in the opposite side once again missing the cockpit. "At least you know who killed your father." Cato chuckled as his GM made the saber draw close to the terrified Xander. The Zaku, in one last attempt of survival tightened its grip around the heat hawk and removed it from the shoulder and then held it high above its head almost imitating Vikings from the old as its chopped the head of the GM in two.
"Faggot space nazee!" Cato snarled as he slouched down low in his chair to avoid being hit by the super heated blade. Warning lights and sirens sounded inside of Xander's cockpit as he opened the door to his mobile suit to make his escape. As he stuck his head outside he was stunned to see the pilot of the GM that killed his father escaping as well Both men stared at each other with blank expressions. Cato smirked as he lunged forward and grabbed the younger pilot by the throat.
"Your name is Reece? Is it not?" Xander looked on in fear as the one eyed pilot shoved him against the armor of his dying Zaku. "I'll never forget the name." Cato growled as he released Xander and floated away from the tangled mobile suits.
"You basta...." Flames emerged from the cockpit of the HMT before Xander could finish. The Zeon pilot leapt from both mobile suits to defend himself from the fiery explosions that followed soon after. Cato turned back and watched as Xander floated away from the burning mobile suits. The last GMe extended its hand and caught Cato gently.
"Lets get back to the Colombus, I need a drink." Cato looked on as both mobile suits continued to burn. Xander stared as he waited for a search and rescue team to recover him. His beacon flashed on his flight suit indicating his position for his fellow Zeon pilots to find him. He twirled around in space to look at the GMe that ran from the battlefield with his father's murderer; he would never forget that man's face as long as he seeked revenge for his father.
"Apparently the space nazees are using a more desceet way of getting supplies to their frontline fleets. We do the same thing on occasion." Cato now with his helmet on drifted with his fellow pilots out to the hanger bay. He had gained the respect of his team since the last mission they were on together. In fact many of his subordinates envied the courage he had shown while in combat in a mobile suit he had never piloted before. Cato himself could never forget that battle neither. He never will forget the Zeon pilot he fought against. He was clearly Cato's equal in combat. The sublieutenant looked over at his mobile suit that was being repaired.
"Son of a bitch." Cato mumbled to himself. He was getting the hang of his GM Command in combat, but for now he was assigned a vanilla GM for the upcoming attack on a Zeon supply ship that was approaching. The Zeon were smuggling supplies to one of the fleets at the frontlines. They now had to tread carefully in 2e space since the Ohm fleet was now on the loose. "At least Admiral Heiman came through for me." Cato looked to the other side of the hanger and watched as his comrades begin to inspect their new mobile suits. The ones that had survived the previous engagement were given GMe type suits. Some of the surviving members had proven themselves in combat and Cato wanted to capitalize on the skills many of those pilots had shown. Cato drifted up to the edge of his GM and hung out the cockpit and looked out at the hanger and smiled. He never really cared for the dramatic stuff, but in this case he would be willing to make an exception.
"Alright boys, lets go kick some space nazee ass!" His speech was followed by shouts and screams of excitement from some of his replacements that had been transferred over to his seek and destroy team. Some of those pilots, he knew would not make it back alive. The rest of the replacements that do will have a more crueler outlook on war. To Cato it was the best thing that could happen to them. Those young pilots would lose their innocents but they would learn quickly that war was no game.
****
Papua class "Dardinal"
Xander quickly saluted as he stood at attention in front of the captain of the Dardinal.
"Chief Petty Officer Reece! Sir!" The captain nodded.
"At ease." Xander looked around the room as the captain continued reading a file. When he had entered the room the captain had been reading it. It was no doubt the debriefing from the engagement he had with Feddie mobile suits at the remains of the Bomer fleet. The fighting was brutal. He had lost many men in that ambush. He should have made more of an argument to have Zaku E types given to his search and rescue team. He could have had that area scouted out and he wouldn't have lost no where near the amount of men that he had lost in combat.
"This report tells me you had ran in to a Federation seek and destroy team. Is this true?" The captain looked up from his report with his glasses resting on the edge of his nose.
"Yes sir. That is true." Xander replied promptly.He was sort of surprised he and his remaining men would have been called back to help guide this Papua class across 2e to the Dren fleet. Usually after having a contact with the Feddies, he was usually transferred back to Granada to wait for another mission. "Things must be getting out of hand since the Bomer fleet was taken out." Xander thought to himself as he flashed back to his fight with that GM Command he had encountered. The GM seemed to have acted as if it moved with a slight wobbling motion white it was fighting. The pilot must have been inexperienced with that suit, but it was obvious that he was experienced enough in combat to make the kills he made during that ambush. The pilot he had killed before the engagement ended was a close friend of Xanders. It bothered him knowing that he was survived by a widow and a son that would grow up with out a father. It was actions such as those that made him despise war so much. He knew every soldier that died would be leaving their love ones behind to mourn their loss.
"Any survivors?" The captain looked up once more. Xander shook his head.
"It was two days after the battle. The situation was doubtful. We're there mostly to salvage any of our own mobile suits and Federation technology." Xander looked around the room. The captain appeared to keep his quarters clean. The captain let out a sigh as he removed his glasses and placed them in a drawer.
"You know I never wanted this life for you?" Xander's father had served in the SAF doing supply runs since the Dutchy was founded. Only recently with the Bomer Fleet gone, the Zeon had nothing to counter Ohm, and with that the Zeon had resorted to smuggling to resupply their war ships.
"I know father, but we had no other option." Xander's father let out another sigh. Both men had seen many of their friends die in this war, it was sickening to Xander's father the most. Now his own son was in the crosshairs.
"We'll figure out a way through this together Xander." He got up from his chair and saluted his son. "Your dismissed." Xander quickly saluted his father.
Five Kilometers away in space, a Zaku E type scans the area with its monoeye searching the area for any intruders. The pilot inside shook his head to try and force himself to stay awake. He was given little time to sleep since his hours had been cut. The captain of the Dardinal was very nervous after finding out that their could be Feddie mobile suits in the area.
"Bunch of bullshit." The pilot mumbled under his breath. In the distance away from the Zaku E type, a small asteroid approached. The E type pilot raised his eye brow in surprise. "Must have been knocked out of the asteroid belt." The E type approached with caution. It's body mounted camera took pictures of the asteroid as it approached. The photograph appeared on screen. The high resolution picture showed too many smooth surfaces on the floating asteroid. If anything it appeared to the pilot that many of the features of the asteroid were...drawn on! The Zaku raised its cameragun and aimed it at the balloon. The pilot begin pressing buttons in a sequence to switch it over to infrared.
Instantly the HUD inside of the cockpit quickly turned white and begin displaying white hot images. The balloon asteroid appeared on screen as a dull black, but behind it, two mobile suits could be seen hiding behind the balloon. The camera zoomed out only to reveal new heat signatures to the E type's pilot. Above the balloon, three GMes armed with bazookas charged directly at the Zeon mobile suit like a pride of lions going in for the kill.
"Awww crap!" The E type quickly turned only to be smashed in the face by a GM. The E type was knocked backwards, its thrusters quickly engaged in a attempt to try and stabilize itself. One of the GMs hiding behind the asteroid appeared and charged forward with its beam saber and impaled the Zaku E type through the cockpit. The monoeye of the recon suit faded away symbolizing the death of the pilot.
"Would've sucked to have been him huh?" The GM pilot smirked as his beam saber blade quickly dissipated.
"Cut the chatter! Lets get this piece of junk out of the way and set up the ambush!" Cato barked as his GM appeared from around the balloon asteroid. His one eye stayed trained on to the GMs near the dead Zaku. He always seemed to dislike replacements. Not because that he didn't know them, he just always seemed to get the most inexperienced ones to replace the battle hardened veterans he was use to fighting with. "Bunch of damn kids." Cato thought to himself as he pulled a grenade from his shield and tossed it in front of his mobile suit. The grenade exploded in to a balloon asteroid just like the one he was hiding behind.
"At least they're not afraid to kill someone boss." One of the GMes drifted up to the side of Cato's GM. The GMes were all painted black to camouflage them while in space. These units were all ordered to be painted in this new color scheme by Jamitov Heiman before they were handed over to Cato's team. At first Cato had second thoughts about wasting time to paint the GMes. In a day and era where camoflage was obsolete because of infared, better radar and other forms of detection, it appeared the black GMes that his team were given appeared to had fooled at least one Zeon pilot.
"True, but that's just one pilot. The real fun is about to begin." Cato smiled devilishly as his eye focused on the Zaku E type now drifting lifelessly in space.
****
Papua class "Dardinal"
The captain entered the bridge as he drinked warm water from a plastic cup. He never really preferred cold water since his teeth were sensitive to the cold. That and warm water always seemed to refresh him. In these times that was a asset since the Federation has had mobile suits destroying supply line routes that many Zeon ships used to supply the frontline fleets. He requested the order of additional mobile suits for the trip. He was aware of the fact that his son was in the area and the possibility of his Zaku II being damaged while in combat was high. If their was even a remote possibility that his ship could be attacked it would be unacceptable to send out Xander in a damaged Zaku. The High Mobility Type Zaku R1 would serve him well while in combat against Federation forces. With that as insurance he felt his ship could survive anything a group of Federation mobile suits could throw at him.
"Status report." He sat down in his chair and placed his cup of water in a secure position after taking one last sip.
"The recon unit hasn't replied back in hours, and were just coming up on his position now." His second in command replied. The captain raised his right eye brow. It unusual that a recon suit didn't give a status report back to a ship promptly. Could the Federation have captured him? "Asteroids spotted sir!" The second in command interrupted the captain's train of thought.
"What!?" The captain looked at the monitor where; the cameras had focused in on the threat. A column of asteroids could be seen approaching in the distance. "This is too much of a coincidence. Launch mobile suits!" A siren sounded. The hanger bay was quickly filled with a river of emotions as pilots and mechanics struggled to get the mobile suits ready.
"Shit!" Xander mumbled to himself as he put his helmet on and floated out to the hanger bay. "Wish we had more warning." Xander continued complaining as he reached his damaged Zaku.
"Don't use that!" A voice shouted to him. Xander turned in the direction of the voice. A mechanic stood by a R1 High Mobility Type Zaku II. "Use this!" Xander drifted over to the mobile suit being offered to him.
"I thought this was being given to the Dren Fleet? What gives?" Xander stared at the massive figure. He had seen these mobile suits in combat and found them impressive. Many of the ace pilots in Zeon used them it was like a Cadillac to Zeon pilots. It was a status symbol.
"We're giving them food and water, the other ships are reinforcing them with new suits. This suit was brought along to had over to you. The captain wanted extra insurance against the Feddies. Xander floated up toward the cockpit.
"It'll take a while to get use to." Xander replied back with a smile. It was like his father to want to give him every kind of advantage imaginable. He never complained about it when he was a kid playing any kind of sport. Now he couldn't resist when it was a mater life and death.
"Mobile suits have launched sir." One GM pilot announced over the comm link. Cato facepalmed his helmet.
"I know you clown, now shut up before you give our position away." Cato grinded his teeth together. These rookies were beginning to get under his skin. The Zakus fanned out as they approached close to the balloon asteroids. Cato turned and did a single flash with the visor of his GM to signal one of the veterans. Soon after the flash the Zaku E type drifted out from behind one of the asteroids. The other Zakus from the Dardinal begin to approach closer.
"Wolf leader to sneaky peek come in?" Xander announced over the comm link. Cato's eye widened. He recognized that voice. Only static replied back to Xander.
"Something is wrong." Xander's father thought to himself as he watched the Zakus approached ever closer in to the ambush. Cato smiled as his GM raised its machinegun.
"Now!" Cato screamed. All of the Federation mobile suits appeared from behind the balloon and opened fired with a various assortment of weapons. Machinegun fire roared, the swooshing sound from bazookas being fired, but their was nothing to hit. The Federation onslaught tore through space without harming anyone. The Zakus were no where to be seen. Cato looked to both of his sides. "Could they have flanked us?" Cato begin to worry.
"Above us!" A young GM pilot screamed in terror as his mobile suit was gun downed. The other GMs broke ranks and returned fire at the Zaku as they approached closer. Back at the Papua class the captain looked on confident now in his chances as the battle unfolded.
"Ambitious plan, too ambitious." A GM was shown on screen being shredded to pieces by machinegun fire.
"Is that all of them?" The captain's second in command asked as the Zakus now begin to poke through the graveyard of GMs. Four GMs floated near one another in various states. One was blown to pieces while the others were filled with bullet holes. A muzzle flashed in the corner of the eye of the captain. A smoke trail could be seen slithering behind a bazooka round before it smashed in to the side of the Papua. One of the crew members was knocked to the ground.
"How could they have got around us?" The captain snorted as one of the cameras on the ship zeroed in on the sector the enemy fire came from. A black GMe appeared on screen. It took aim at the Zeon vessel prepared to open fire one more time. Before it could fire a machinegun blared in the distance chopping the torso to pieces with 120mm fire. The GMe exploded as a Zaku HMT flew past it while engaging other targets.
"Bet your glad I stuck around old man?" Xander crowed as machinegun fire drowned out his father's response.
The Zaku team turned away from the GMs and focused in on the Papua class being attacked.
"We got to go back and help them!" One of the Zaku team members pleaded with the other two. The monoeye of the lead Zaku turned to the others. Behind the two stood a lone GM emerging from a popped asteroid balloon. A grenade floated up between the three Zakus and exploded peppering all three Zakus with shrapnel Cato snarled.
"I'm not making any friends with high command if I lose this many pilots in a battle." Cato complained as he darted off toward the Papua class. The HMT weaved around the vulcan fire from a GMe as it tried in vain to hit the cockpit.
"I don't care what Goloni said about me wasting ammo; This guy has to die!" The GMe fired a bazooka round at the HMT only to have it dodge the shot with little ease. The HMT returned fire with its machinegun hitting the cockpit multiple times as it passed by the smoldering GMe on to its next victim. The last black GMe fired its bazooka at the Papua. The round spiraled off toward the Zeon ship.
"AA's fire at the ordinance we cant handle a direct hit!" The captain screamed orders to his crew. The pair of AA guns roared to life. Tracers skimmed past the bazooka round only missing it by inches. The 305mm round spiraled around tracers as if it was intentionally avoiding them. The captain growled just before the bazooka was moments from impact. "Brace for impact!" One of the crew members shouted in terror. The Papua class shook violently flinging the crew members to the ground once more.
"Damn it." The last GMe mumbled as it took aim again. Before the black mobile suit could pull the trigger, a heat hawk slashed the barrel right off. The GMe pilot grimaced.
"You Feddies don't know when to quit!" Xander shouted out in rage as his Zaku HMT swung its heat hawk wildly. His father finally rose to his feet and looked over the console to see his son still fighting one of the Federation mobile suits. Blood dripped from the corner of his head, but he didn't notice it. To him all the panicked noises the crew of the Dardinal were shut out from his world as he looked on in pride as his son dueled a Federation mobile suit.
"When complications happen." Cato's cold voice announced over a open comm line. A GM appeared from the bottom of the Papua class's bridge and pointed its gun directly at the Dardinal's bridge. "You just have to do it all yourself." The crew panicked, many members ran for the door in a vain attempt to escape. Others stood by and watched in shock as the muzzle flash blinded them.
"I regret nothing." The captain stared down the barrel of the GM's machinegun as the flash from the muzzle enveloped his face. A chain of explosions erupted as Cato's GM turned and backed away a safe distance. The explosions started small and then built to more larger ones starting from the bridge to the main engines of the Papua Smoke consumed the Papua in its final death throws.
"NO!" Xander shouted with a confused look on his face. His Zaku HMT stopped attacking the GMe. "No! No! No!" Xander repeated as he watched another series of explosions tear through the ball of smoke. His father had died and he was unable to save him.
"Now that's what I call a fucking explosion." Cato drummed his fingers against the controls. He was pleased with himself. For once he had back to back success with nothing to set him back in forwarding his career. For once he seemed to have upstaged Ohm without it costing him a arm and a leg. The Zaku HMT charged Cato's GM while firing its machinegun.
"It was you!" Xander screamed out. The bullets impacted the left arm of the GM, sheering off the forearm relinquishing its shield. Cato reacted by returning fire with his own machinegun burst at the Zaku HMT. All of the bullets passed by the HMT harmlessly. Both mobile suits mirrored one another and took aim and pulled the trigger. A unified clicking noise signaled to both men they were out of ammo. Both mobile suits switched over to their melee weapon of choice as they collided in to one another. "You killed my father!" Xander buried his heat hawk into the shoulder of the GM.
Cato smiled as he impaled the Zaku in the side narrowly missing the cockpit. The heat from the saber forced Xander to scream in a panic as the hot energy blade was only feet from vaporizing him.
"I lost my old man in this war to." Cato relented as he removed the beam saber from the Zaku and then stabbed the Zaku in the opposite side once again missing the cockpit. "At least you know who killed your father." Cato chuckled as his GM made the saber draw close to the terrified Xander. The Zaku, in one last attempt of survival tightened its grip around the heat hawk and removed it from the shoulder and then held it high above its head almost imitating Vikings from the old as its chopped the head of the GM in two.
"Faggot space nazee!" Cato snarled as he slouched down low in his chair to avoid being hit by the super heated blade. Warning lights and sirens sounded inside of Xander's cockpit as he opened the door to his mobile suit to make his escape. As he stuck his head outside he was stunned to see the pilot of the GM that killed his father escaping as well Both men stared at each other with blank expressions. Cato smirked as he lunged forward and grabbed the younger pilot by the throat.
"Your name is Reece? Is it not?" Xander looked on in fear as the one eyed pilot shoved him against the armor of his dying Zaku. "I'll never forget the name." Cato growled as he released Xander and floated away from the tangled mobile suits.
"You basta...." Flames emerged from the cockpit of the HMT before Xander could finish. The Zeon pilot leapt from both mobile suits to defend himself from the fiery explosions that followed soon after. Cato turned back and watched as Xander floated away from the burning mobile suits. The last GMe extended its hand and caught Cato gently.
"Lets get back to the Colombus, I need a drink." Cato looked on as both mobile suits continued to burn. Xander stared as he waited for a search and rescue team to recover him. His beacon flashed on his flight suit indicating his position for his fellow Zeon pilots to find him. He twirled around in space to look at the GMe that ran from the battlefield with his father's murderer; he would never forget that man's face as long as he seeked revenge for his father.