The battleship Heaven's Thunder tore matching trenches through the Earth as it trudged towards a set of designated coordinates, the location of, according to intelligence, a band of terrorists preparing a strike against the royal family. Other forces were being gathered for a strike, but it had been decided to try a less heavy-handed approach to avoid attracting attention to another source of unrest in the Empire. Himuro Hatsuharu resisted the urge to drum his fingers against the arm of his chair, but he'd sent his Zaku pilot and friend, Kunisada Nasu, out to recon the area a half-hour ago without word.

"Target in sight, Thunder," Kunisada's voice suddenly alerted. "One Gallop-class sitting in a ravine."

"Range?" Himuro asked. "And are there other forces?"

"Range is an estimated five kilometers north-east and there's a small army of inactive suits," the Zaku piloted reported. "Zakus, Leos, and other Imperial and American designs, but they're all in bad condition and...well...I'm sending a visual."

The bridge display lit up with a somewhat-fuzzy view, the signal from the Zaku being partially blocked by stray Minovsky Particles in the air. Himuro looked at the machines lying in pieces, examining them carefully with his trained eye. It seemed there were more than enough spare parts to make functional mobile suits, though not nearly enough to challenge the Imperial Family's royal guards. All any of them needed was...

Ah ha!

"All guns prepare to fire!" Himuro ordered, rising from his seat. "Kunisada, make sure they don't leave that ravine before we've fired!"

The crew quickly hastened to fulfill their orders. The view from the Zaku quickly began to wobble as it closed in on the canyon. The more Himuro saw, the more he was convinced he knew their plan: load the Gallop's rear section with as many mobile suit reactors as possible, sneak it into the capitol, and detonate the entire vessel like a dirty nuclear bomb. A trail of bright tracers appeared on the screen as Kunisada opened fired on the crews loading the Gallop. Poorly-clothed figures hustled about on fire while another group hurried to assembled anti-armor weapons, though nothing they had would affect a Zaku.

Moments later, the deck below Himuro's feet vibrated as the battleship's guns opened fired. The view of the battle went white as the first shots hit, destroying much of the assembled vehicles and disabled mobile suits, but the Gallop managed to lurch forward.

"Correct twenty degrees to starboard!" Kunisada said, futilely firing on the renegade battleship.

The Heaven's Thunder shook again as it fired a second barrage. The battleship on the monitor was slowly picking up speed, already outrunning the Zaku II sent to stop it. It was not fast enough to outrun the artillery fired upon it. The shells hit the ship between its two sections, tearing them apart and leaving the rear section to drift to a halt. The front section of the ship began to turn as the terrorists desperately sought to reclaim their weapon. More shots were quickly upon the rear section, detonating the assembled reactors within. The blast, while not a weapons-grade explosion, was still enough to obliterate the ship and every terrorist in it.

"Good shooting, Thunder," Kunisada reported. "Target destroyed."

Outcome: Himuro Hatsuharu wins
Himuro Hatsuharu: 5 Xp, Repairing 1-1