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Pink Panthers Ambush Ion Bossa-Nova Ion Bossa-Nova trudged across the North African desert in her GM Ground Sniper, winds whipping around her mobile suit violently. The last time Bossa-Nova and her crew of GMS and Type 74 had tried to enter Zeon-controlled North Africa in the desert sandstorms, it had been a disaster. But she was sure that this time, they would meet success. "I hope so," said one of the GM pilots after Bossa-Nova had shared that thought with her team. Behind her GM Ground Sniper, a pair of GMs, painted in desert camouflage, trailed close behind her, each armed with their 90mm machineguns in one hand and large tower shields in the other. Bossa-Nova herself was equipped with her 100mm machinegun and arm shield instead of her usual long range beam rifle - the sniper rifle would be useless in the weather. To Bossa-Nova's left, through the whipping sand, thought she saw a sand dune collapse. "What the..." Out of the nearly blinding sandstorm bounded a Zaku II-D "Desert Zaku," most of the exterior painted in bright pink. "Panthers!" Bossa-Nova yelled, not surprised that yet another excursion had been discovered. "There's probably more, so watch out." She immediately opened fired on the charging Zeon mobile suit. The Desert Zaku, 280mm bazooka in hand, dodged to Bossa-Nova's right, on a handful of 100mm rounds slamming into the Zaku's armor. The Zeon suit quickly brought to bear its bazooka, letting a round fire off. The round streaked passed Bossa-Nova's GM Ground Sniper, barely missing her suit. Not phased by the incoming fire, Bossa-Nova continued fire, letting loose with her machinegun. On either side of her, her fellow GMs opened up with their slightly smaller 90mm machineguns. Further to Bossa-Nova's right, she spotted a second pink Desert Zaku charging towards her, this one equipped with a 120mm machinegun. The first Zaku starting strafing, attempting to dodge the fire. Both Zakus opened fire with fury, machinegun bullets bouncing off the GM Ground Sniper. A 280mm bazooka round struck violently against Bossa-Nova's suit - she was barely able to raise her arm shield in time to deflect the explosion. The explosion shook the Ground Sniper. Next to her, one of her GMs expertly tossed one of their grenades, which impacted the soft desert sand beneath the first Desert Zaku. The resulting explosion toppled the already damaged Zaku backwards, sand, dirt, and debris flying in all directions. "Concentrate fire on the second," Bossa-Nova yelled, hoping to quickly knockout the remaining Pink Panther before the rest of the pack showed up. The clip for her machinegun ran dry, and as she was reloading, the Desert Zaku disengaged into the sandstorm, slipping away from her forces. Bossa-Nova let several minutes drift by before she allowed herself to relax. "Boys," she said, "I think we made it." She lifted the left arm of her suit and examined the damaged arm and shield. Better than getting pushed back again, she thought. "Okay gang, remember, new rules. Candice and David will go after the Sleipner, while Arcaile and I will coordinate the mock defenses. Same damage effects as before, the computer will keep track of everything… But today, the mobile suit that looks prettiest in pink and yellow owes the first round." Dani Jhouti's even voice filled the cockpits of his two opponents for the day. Shrugging to slide his ponytail off of his shoulder, Dani settled in and waited for the signal from Lt. Nasr. "That's not exactly going to be how we'll do it, Dani." Six eyes widened at the sound, as Arcaile's voice matched the launching of the Sleipner's GM Ground Sniper. Because of the nature of the fight - paint instead of live weaponry - the suit's powerful beam sniper rifle was not usable. However, Arcaile reasoned, he could still fire just fine from the machinegun. "I think in this case, it might be fun to do a little officers versus enlisted. Dani has to protect me. If you can take me out within 5 minutes, you win. If either of you is 'killed,' or I'm still alive in 5 minutes, we win. Losers have to buy dinner, and not from the ship's cafeteria. Someplace in Texas Colony. Someplace nice." Dani groaned, and opened a private channel to his new teammate. "Arcaile, I don't think you realize what you're doing here. Just head back to the ship - the new rules should give us a good work-out as it is." The charismatic Lt. Nasr was not to be denied, however. He replied back, still on the private channel. "Nonsense, Dani. You've got more flight time than both of them combined. As long as I keep moving, they don't stand a chance." Before Jhouti could explain his reticence, Arcaile switched back to his general channel. "Those are the stakes. Take 'em or leave 'em." Neither Candice nor David could bark their assents quickly enough. While Petty Officer Renault simply offered an affirmative grunt, Petty Officer Ro vocalized her willingness to participate. Her voice was still somewhat tired, but the opportunity to win dinner off her superiors had banished any lingering thoughts of the headache that had plagued her, at least for the moment. "I'm game. May be the best team win!" Dani slapped his hand to his face. 'I guess I'd better start thinking of places to take these two. Maybe I can find out what kind of food Candice likes…' As Dani mused to himself, his worst fears were justified. The three other suit pilots watched Arcaile attempt to move into position next to the Juggler. The hefty GM Ground Sniper was able to move its limbs with less resistance than it would on Earth, but its designed purpose was terrestrial, and lacked any sort of space refitting. This was a very, very big problem. "Wh... HEY! NO!" The GM quickly lost its vertical orientation relative to the other 3 suits, slowly drifting into an odd twisted angle. Frantically swinging his arms in an attempt to orient himself properly, Arcaile suddenly thought that he might have made a minor mistake. "Go ge-" "GO? YES SIR!" In his attempt to call for help, Arcaile had made an enormous mistake. David's interruption had cemented it, cutting off the Ell Tee before he could complete his demand. As Arcaile frantically yanked at his controls, the GM barely moved. *WHUD* The first paintball struck the GM Sniper, Dani's GM Juggler dashed away as fast as possible. *WHUD* *WHUD* Two more shots struck the helpless Lieutenant's suit. Both Candice and David waved about, their maneuvers not preventing easy shots at the immobile GM. *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* *WHUD* "Excuse me, Lieutenant, is there a suit underneath that paint?" Candice Ro: 3 VP gained, no damage David Renault: 3 VP gained, no damage Arcaile Nasr: 2/2 VP gained, 1-1 days damage Dani Jhouti: 1 VP gained, no damage |