"Goddamn this patrol is boring," Scarth's Dodai pilot complained. "I'd rather get run over by that royal broad again."

"Must you always speak so disrespectfully?" Scarth snapped. "It's as well we're alone out here or we'd have been executed by now."

"Grow a pair, Gramps, and-!" the Dodai pilot began to grunt.

"Quiet!" Scarth interrupted. "What's that ahead of us? One-and-a-half kilometers?"

The Dodai pilot was silent for a moment, checking the information they'd been given on convoys, fleet movements, and declared civilian traffic. "Naval transport, Imperial registry out of Korea, but the ship's supposed to en route to India, not headed for Hawaii. You want me to hail?"

"Yes, hail them," Scarth agreed. "I'll be ready in case of trouble."

Scarth raised his Zaku I's machinegun as he listened to his subordinate call the freighter with a request for their travel plans. The freighter responded innocently enough, citing a pirate attack sending them off course.

"They're lying," Scarth deduced. "They were off course before any supposed pirates found them."

"No kidding," the other pilot replied. "Hold out, there's movement down there."

Scarth focused his scope on the deck of the ship, watching as a shape rose from the hold: a Zaku II with a machinegun of its own. The two suits looked each other in the eye as Scarth tuned in to a frequency being used. What he heard disturbed him.

"I told you we should have shot first! Now they're going to report us and have a battle group on our asses!"

"If Shinji can shoot them down quickly enough, it won't be a problem."

"EVADE!" Scarth quickly ordered as the Zaku II fired.

The Dodai lurched to its left as the stream of 120mm shells flew past the bomber. Scarth returned fired, concentrating his shots on the Zaku's eye, though his shots went off the mark due to the maneuvers. While a Zaku II would normally be more than a match for a Zaku I, it was stuck to the ship's deck while Scarth's Zaku I had superior mobility thanks to the Dodai. As the Zaku/Dodai combo flew around the ship, Scarth sprayed shells at the ship's engines.

"They're deserters!" Scarth bellowed as his shots hit their mark.

"So mark the coordinates and let the fleet deal with them!" his pilot nervously suggested.

"No, these traitors must pay with their lives!" Scarth growled. "Turn around and fire a full barrage!"

"But that Zaku-!"

"I will deal with him!" Scarth interrupted again, leaping off the bomber.

The Zaku I's engines hurled it into the air and towards the transport ship, shoulder dome first. The Zaku II fired, punching holes in Scarth's armor but failing to stop the Super Soldier's charge. The ship rocked as Scarth slammed into the deserter's Zaku II, threatening to tip the ship over as the two mobile suits began to brawl, slamming their fists and the butts of their rifles into each other as they struggled to throw each other into the sea. Sailors tried to pull out their sidearms and attempt to help their ally, but their efforts were in vain as the ship rocked back and forth. Matters only became worse for them when, with its keel rolled perilously out of the water, the transport took a full barrage of missiles from the Dodai, taking the deathblow without a prayer of survival. Scarth quickly took advantage of the chaos to fire a point-blank burst from his rifle into the other Zaku's chest, killing the pilot and sending the suit into the waters.

With the primary threat dealt with, Scarth turned his weapon on the ship's crew, most of whom were busy running to life boats or putting on life jackets. 120mm shells ended many of their lives and destroyed any chance for most of the sailors to survive. In one final act of contempt, Scarth drew his heat hawk and drove the glowing-hot blade into the ship's fuel cells. The Zaku I leapt back onto the Dodai as the transport began to burn and sink. It was a hellish fate for those who had survived the Zaku battle and Scarth's initial wrath.

"Mark the location and report it to the nearest base," Scarth calmly ordered. "And then we resume our patrol."

Outcome: Scarth Maheart wins
Scarth Maheart: 5 Xp, Repairing 2