Post by Frenzy on Aug 31, 2010 12:38:10 GMT -5
“War. War never changes.” Richard had heard that phrase once, a long time ago, but didn’t truly realize how true it was until recently. Despite the rapid advance of military technology that the war had shown, it still boiled down to size and resources. Everyone knew it, from the lowest ranking soldier right up to the high command. Hell, even Lord Girhen had mentioned the disparity in resources between the Federation and Zeon in a speech he’d given. It had been the entire reason Jinyuan Industries had ordered the construction of all those asteroid mines. The Federation simply had more of everything than Zeon, which is why they were losing the war, despite their best efforts.
”Not that what happened at Solomon matters anymore…we were so close to stopping them, and then that thing fired. We should’ve known the Federation would try to skirt the Antarctic Treaty. But then, we would’ve had no way of knowing how. And what do I…no…we, do now? We can’t just walk away and condemn our comrades in arms to certain defeat. But what good can we do if we stay? We can’t possibly take on a fleet like that and win on our own, and nobody knows if the Feddies will pull out that weapon of theirs again…”
He tapped his pen in a rhythmic manner against the table in his office aboard the Bangkok. Though the wound under the bandage on his left cheek itched like crazy, he didn’t bother. The ship’s doctor had told him that it would scar regardless of what he did, but that poking at it would possibly lead to an infection or something of the sort. Emil’s death still weighed heavily on Richard’s mind, and he had wondered if there was anything he could’ve done to prevent the young man’s demise, or if he had somehow noticed what was going on if trying to help would’ve led to his own death as well. And on top of that, he hadn’t been able to track down next of kin information, though if Emil had been a Federation citizen to begin with, he doubted that his parents wanted to get a form letter from a Zeon officer stating his regret at their son’s death.
”Still…he deserves more. The funeral that General Wu held for him and the others was very nice, but surely he had some kind of family beyond us. And well, a family related by more than just being in close proximity for several months.”
Though if one really thought about it, Emil had gotten a lot more. The Federation had sent him on a suicide mission behind enemy lines. Whomever had been in charge at the time obviously had wanted Emil dead, otherwise why send him on a mission obviously doomed to fail? As it had been, they’d almost been too late given that the poor kid had gone half-crazy from oxygen deprivation, which was unfortunate, but there was little they could’ve done to reverse the effects at the time. At the very least, Emil had gotten a two-rank posthumous promotion and would probably go down as a hero in the reports that made it back to Side 3. Banks had also smiled when he realized the recommendation to promote Florian had gone through.
Sure, the kid rarely spoke, but for all the effort he’d put in, and all the good he’d done for the ZEF as a whole, he’d more than earned it, From the time he’d first joined the fleet up to now, he’d likely been one of the fleet’s deadliest pilots, especially once Grenada had issued that Schee Weiss equipment for the modified Rick Dom he’d used until quite recently. Sure, it had added a lot more paperwork onto the pile, and with it odd questions from Grenada, but the results had spoken for themselves. About the only reason the machine had been replaced with the Perfect Zeong was that they needed to orient a more mobility-oriented battle tactic as the space battles intensified and Richard bad been all but certain that the Federation had figured out there was something special with the White Rick Dom that seemed to never budge from its position in the ZEF’s battle lines.
“New technology…it’s just a pity we didn’t get that mobile armor that got assigned to the Aznable fleet. I’m damn sure Florian would’ve been almost unstoppable with that thing. And at this point, I doubt Grenada would send us one with the war situation being what it is…and I doubt Char would lend his support to us, seeing as how he always seems to do his own thing…too bad. The morale boost of having him helping us would be incredible.”
One thought still tugged at his mind as he got up to get some coffee from the mess hall - if they failed at A Baoa Qu, there wouldn’t be anything they could do to keep the EFSF from continuing on into Side 3. And while he had a feeling Revil was an honorable enough person to leave the civilians alone, there were a few officers within the Federation, or so Banks had heard, that would not only have no problem with firing on the colonies, but might actually get some kind of sick pleasure out of it. They needed to stop the Federation at A Baoa Qu, if only to keep the civilians back home safe. Perhaps they could sue for peace or something and gain their independence if they stopped the EFSF. He doubted it, but at this point, the vague hope of gaining what they’d started the war for in the first place was one of the few things he had to go on, aside from trying to keep the rest of the ZEF’s pilots alive to see the end of the conflict. But if Solomon taught him anything, is that despite the best planning and everything else they could do, that some things were just beyond human control, not that it would stop him from trying.
”Not that what happened at Solomon matters anymore…we were so close to stopping them, and then that thing fired. We should’ve known the Federation would try to skirt the Antarctic Treaty. But then, we would’ve had no way of knowing how. And what do I…no…we, do now? We can’t just walk away and condemn our comrades in arms to certain defeat. But what good can we do if we stay? We can’t possibly take on a fleet like that and win on our own, and nobody knows if the Feddies will pull out that weapon of theirs again…”
He tapped his pen in a rhythmic manner against the table in his office aboard the Bangkok. Though the wound under the bandage on his left cheek itched like crazy, he didn’t bother. The ship’s doctor had told him that it would scar regardless of what he did, but that poking at it would possibly lead to an infection or something of the sort. Emil’s death still weighed heavily on Richard’s mind, and he had wondered if there was anything he could’ve done to prevent the young man’s demise, or if he had somehow noticed what was going on if trying to help would’ve led to his own death as well. And on top of that, he hadn’t been able to track down next of kin information, though if Emil had been a Federation citizen to begin with, he doubted that his parents wanted to get a form letter from a Zeon officer stating his regret at their son’s death.
”Still…he deserves more. The funeral that General Wu held for him and the others was very nice, but surely he had some kind of family beyond us. And well, a family related by more than just being in close proximity for several months.”
Though if one really thought about it, Emil had gotten a lot more. The Federation had sent him on a suicide mission behind enemy lines. Whomever had been in charge at the time obviously had wanted Emil dead, otherwise why send him on a mission obviously doomed to fail? As it had been, they’d almost been too late given that the poor kid had gone half-crazy from oxygen deprivation, which was unfortunate, but there was little they could’ve done to reverse the effects at the time. At the very least, Emil had gotten a two-rank posthumous promotion and would probably go down as a hero in the reports that made it back to Side 3. Banks had also smiled when he realized the recommendation to promote Florian had gone through.
Sure, the kid rarely spoke, but for all the effort he’d put in, and all the good he’d done for the ZEF as a whole, he’d more than earned it, From the time he’d first joined the fleet up to now, he’d likely been one of the fleet’s deadliest pilots, especially once Grenada had issued that Schee Weiss equipment for the modified Rick Dom he’d used until quite recently. Sure, it had added a lot more paperwork onto the pile, and with it odd questions from Grenada, but the results had spoken for themselves. About the only reason the machine had been replaced with the Perfect Zeong was that they needed to orient a more mobility-oriented battle tactic as the space battles intensified and Richard bad been all but certain that the Federation had figured out there was something special with the White Rick Dom that seemed to never budge from its position in the ZEF’s battle lines.
“New technology…it’s just a pity we didn’t get that mobile armor that got assigned to the Aznable fleet. I’m damn sure Florian would’ve been almost unstoppable with that thing. And at this point, I doubt Grenada would send us one with the war situation being what it is…and I doubt Char would lend his support to us, seeing as how he always seems to do his own thing…too bad. The morale boost of having him helping us would be incredible.”
One thought still tugged at his mind as he got up to get some coffee from the mess hall - if they failed at A Baoa Qu, there wouldn’t be anything they could do to keep the EFSF from continuing on into Side 3. And while he had a feeling Revil was an honorable enough person to leave the civilians alone, there were a few officers within the Federation, or so Banks had heard, that would not only have no problem with firing on the colonies, but might actually get some kind of sick pleasure out of it. They needed to stop the Federation at A Baoa Qu, if only to keep the civilians back home safe. Perhaps they could sue for peace or something and gain their independence if they stopped the EFSF. He doubted it, but at this point, the vague hope of gaining what they’d started the war for in the first place was one of the few things he had to go on, aside from trying to keep the rest of the ZEF’s pilots alive to see the end of the conflict. But if Solomon taught him anything, is that despite the best planning and everything else they could do, that some things were just beyond human control, not that it would stop him from trying.