|
"God, I hate this damn weather," Carter Jensen cursed. Leaning back in his comfortable pilot's chair, Jensen glanced around the Depp Rog's cockpit. The co-pilot next to him muttered in acknowledgement. Jensen turned his attention to the forward view port. While the Depp Rog loitered at nearly fifteen thousand feet, below them, a massive sandstorm drifted ever so slowly across the Sahara. Jensen tapped into the com feed, linking his Depp Rog not only with his escort, a lone Tin Cod piloted by a one Shyla Taylor, but with the two ground units he was assigned to. "What is it?" Tobias Obrien asked. Obrien, harnessed into the cockpit of his RGM-79S "Armored GM," trudged across the difficult, alien terain of the Sahara and through the wildly strong sandstorm. Trailing behind him struggled a GM, equally battered by the strong winds of the raging storm. The weather had severely limited visibility, and Obrien was sure that if he turned around, he wouldn't be able to spot his comrade. "This weather, sir," Jensen said. "I don't know if I'll be able to make a bombing run on the Zeon mining operation." "You have the coordinates of its location, don't you?" Obrien pressed. "Of course we do," chimed in Taylor. "Don't worry so much, Carter." "But," Jensen said strongly, "The coordinates don't reveal how big the actual base is. I don't want to waste my payload on the damn desert." "Of course not," Obrien said, slowing his GM S. "Hrm." He turned his GM S around to face the other GM, but he couldn't make out his fellow mobile suit. "This weather is pretty terrible. We have no visibility down here." "Are calling this op off?" Taylor cut in. "I was hoping to kill at least some Zeeks." "I don't-" Obrien began before suddenly stopping. A strong tingling sensation suddenly rose in the back of his mind. He turned his Armored GM back in the general direction of RF-5. Something seemed...off. This is a bad idea, he thought. He frowned and turned back towards the direction that his GM was supposed to be in, which he still could not see. "The operation is off, gents," Obrien said. "Damn," Taylor said. "Trust me," Obrien said, taking a quick, side long glance in the direction of the Zeon mining operation. Corporal Zack Jenkins allowed himself to finally breathe as the reinforced armored GM turned back in the sandstorm, away from the RF-5 mining operation. Jenkins, safe within the confines of his Zaku II-J, buried up to the waist in the soft Saharan sand, was a mere dozen feet away from the GM, and was seconds away from him and his three fellow Zeon mobile suits opening up on the Federation forces. "Jesus, radioed in the pilot of the Zaku II-K, "That was fucking close." "Yeah," replied one of the other Zaku II-J pilots. Jenkins nodded. "Wonder why he turned back," he said. "Probably didn't want to fight in the damn massive sandstorm," the Zaku Cannon pilot noted. "That's probably the reason," Jenkins said. He sighed. Another day without a chance to die a horrible death was a good day. Tobias Obrien: 3 VP, No Damage The crew of the Magellan Revised class Atlantis were uneasy. Reports had come in recently that a battlegroup of respectable size had broken through the fire zone they were ferrying supplies to, and had headed in their direction, final destination unknown. Synapse grumbled, grey hair thinning and his nose getting sharper by the year. He was one of the smartest, one of the best commanders in the Federal fleet, and this is why he had been tasked at protecting a vital convoy with only four ships. A task that could one day prove impossible. "Ensign Kennedy, do another long range scan. I'm not feeling very at ease about those last few readings." Synapse said, tightening his tan cap a little. Currently the four ships in the supply escort were spread out to protect against a mobile suit attack from any angle. If they were to protect against an entire fleet, it was imperitive that Synapse detect an enemy presence early. "Sir, I don't see anything wrong but... Wait, that's weird..." Responded Kennedy, looking over the radar monitor. "What's weird? You don't just say something is weird on my ship ensign, tell me what." Synapse responded, getting irritable as ever. "Sir, four clicks out and one to the left, radar just comes up with nothing. There was some debris there I thought but now, it's almost like the waves are being absorbed? I'm not sure at this distance sir." Synapse sighed a little, sinking into his chair. He didn't know who to curse at, the fates for giving him such a difficult challenge, or command for giving him such a deficient ensign. The boy wouldn't be any worse if he had a brain tumor. "Bring up M particle interference, get everybody in their mobile suits, and move all our ships to the front of the convoy. I want a full halt on all ships, tell me if that 'bubble' of yours is moving forward independantly, Mr. Kennedy." Inside the afformentioned bubble, crews upon crews were readying their machines. This wasn't a simple skirmish, this was going to be the first decisive battle in the space war since Hellion. Anton had his mind set on that. He was through his slump, over his coma, and he was going to lead his men to victory. A smart victory, of course. There was no use throwing his entire force at the enemy head on, he'd learned from the skirmishes of two weeks before that the EF naval presence was more serious than it used to be. But with a little ingenuity, and some elbow grease... John Church found himself missing his wife. The two had hugged and parted ways since he left the tentative naval border, the venture into enemy territory too dangerous for her. He was set on coming back. Looking over his mobile suit as it was readied to depart the Tippers starboard launch deck, he sighed to himself. What would she tell Patrick if he never came home? He had to do it. They had to win this battle, and this war, for their loved ones back home. "You look mighty comfortable there Anton." laughed Ryu, the mono-eye of his Val Varo peering between the two Bigros on either side of it. Two Zakus sat on either side of each Bigro, with Anton's Rick Dom standing atop the Val Varo. They were like chariots of old, Anton had said, and they would ride the waves of victory. Or something. Ryu wasn't much impressed with speeches, but he was excited to use his new mobile weapon, he'd never flown the thing before. The three mobile armors slowly diverged from the main fleet, moving a bit to the side so that they could engage the escort fleet at an angle, where AA coverage would be lighter. The main force, consisting of Carver, Church, and the majority of the MS force, would be the diversionary force. They'd managed to pick up a few extra Zakus who were on deep recon in the area, their pilots happy to find a warm meal in exchange for an assault. "You ready, John?" Darius asked, reliving memories of the one-week war. He'd lost too many friends already. Hopefully this time they wouldn't be fighting any Gundams. "Yeah. I wonder how Anton is doing with that black-shirt we picked up." John mused, trying to keep his mind off the coming assault. Anton wasn't really thinking of Berthold, the companies new SS officer. His mind was aflutter, he was excited. His excitement actually rose a little when he got a laser transmission from the Admiral Hipper. "Sublieutenant, this is the Admiral Hipper. The supply fleet has stopped early, they must have spotted us." Anton nodded, raising his mobile suits beam bazooka to signal the attack. "Very well. Start 20 seconds of support fire when we get in effective range and then pull back. The fleet will engage on my flare. This operation has officially begun!" The three ships of the Vereschagin fleet roared to life, moving at high speed towards their targets. "Captain! I'm reading three ships, two battleships and a cruiser, heading straight for us! M particle density is high, I can't make their classes out at this distance!" Kennedy said, his heart racing. It was his first engagement, although most of the Atlantis's crew was of much more veteran stock. "Hmm. Load the missile bays with anti mobile suit warheads and keep me posted. Officer Rummy, can you get me a firing solution?" Synapse asked, looking to his weapons officer. "Yes sir, although we won't be in range for about sixty seconds. Might I add that our ships are now equipped with new high density laser AA batteries sir? Command says one of these babies can-" "Yes yes I read your report Rummy, it was very... Hypothetical." Synapse said, wrinkles being slowly added to his expression. "Target the lead ship, and launch our mobile suits, but have them keep back to cover us." Rummy nodded, and started yelling into the comm. "All guns, target the center ship! Prepare to fire on my mark!" Gun crews echoed the order, the sound waves vibrating throughout the Atlantis. Kennedy broke the unison to make his announcement. "Enemy fleet has started to launch mobile suits sir, under a missile screen. Their ships seem to be decreasing speed." Synapse nodded, looking at the bright specks of light as they headed for him. "Don't want to beat us in a fleet engagement eh... I wonder if they're going to-" "Sir! I have three objects moving in from sector 3, they look like mobile armors!" Synapse nodded, adjusting his cap and looking at Rummy. If the enemy ships weren't going to engage, he'd just have to find a different target. "Petty officer, can our particle turrets out range a Bigro's main gun?" Rummy grinned, patting his baby, the Atlantis, on the proverbial back. "Oh hell yes they can." "20 seconds to firing range..." It seemed like the enemy fleet had taken the bait. Anton watched the enemy ships, still a little blurry at this distance, M particle interference was getting very thick. The cruiser escort for the convoy had moved forward, and Church's MS team was about to engage the Federal GMs. The mobile armors were on a straight course for the Magellan. Hazuki and the two Bigro pilots aimed carefully, ready to hit the Magellan at key points, with the Zakus unloading shortly after to engage the Salamis class ships. "10 seconds to firing range..." Berthold kept his cool, readying his bazooka for the firefight that was to come. This battle would show Zeons space supremacy yet again, and bring victory to Gihren and to side 3. His participation confirmed this, the SS could not fail. "5 seconds to firi- HOLY SHIT!" Hazuki yelled aloud, throwing his Val Varo into a tight climb as a river of mega particles blasted out from the escorts. The two Bigro pilots moved as well, dodging the particle stream as best they could, but one Zaku riding the leftmost Bigro was caught by a lucky round, completely incinerated. "Stay on target! They're firing blind, there's no way they're gonna be able to..." Antons words were cut short as a second volley raced through the sky at them, pushing the three mobile armors farther apart. The Magellan was only firing half its cannons at a time, ensuring a near constant barrage of mega particles in their direction. They simply would not be able to engage them at this angle. As the 3 mobile armors went into the M particle cloud and transmissions went from difficult to impossible, Anton got one final order out. "We're changing targets, their flagship is too hot to engage. Get the port side Salamis!" Carver and Church, leading sixteen Zakus of various types, lined up their shots against the eight GMs coming towards them. These GMs were excellently equipped, as would be expected from attacking a Federal supply fleet. Each GM was armed with two beam spray guns, affording spare shots where normally there would be none. However, the Vereschagin fleet certainly had the advantage in numbers, outnumbering the Federals more than two to one. The two groups of mobile suits came into firing range, launching an initial salvo and then splintering off in all directions. Carver earned a lucky shot, felling a GM with his bazooka early. Church signalled to his wingmen as he came around from the top, firing his MMP-80 at one of the GM E's. The GM blocked with its shield, firing several 90mm shells into Church's R1 Zaku as it came down for the kill, slamming its heat hawk into the pre-production GM. A second Zaku hit it in the leg, but the GM E pilot wouldn't be undone, activating 3 grenades just as Church disengaged, the resulting blast taking out his wingman as well as the Federal mobile suit. Another two Zakus moved in, tailing a GM and taking it out with a hail of machinegun fire, but were then both destroyed by beam fire from its comrades. Another GM E, this one with a much more skilled pilot, sliced through a Zaku with its beam saber, only to be caught as Carver shot around from underneath it, a bazooka to the backpack felling the high mobility unit. Carver then spun around, dodging more beam fire and totalling another GM. They were making short work of this escort group, although there was still some more work to do. He dodged oncoming beam spray gun rounds quickly, two Zakus behind him exploding as he sized up his next target. The three mobile armors came round, moving faster than the enemy MPC fire could track as they sized up one of the Revised Salamis as their target. Hazuki aimed carefully for that spot just under a Salamis's bridge where the reactor was housed, and in unison the three mobile armors fired. The three beams of particles shot through the Audacious, it exploding completely. Anton took the signal, the five mobile suits detaching from their 'chariots' and moving to engage the other ships. However, as they did this the lot of them moved between the Atlantis and the Itinerant, and were suddenly caught in a pincer between a volley of laser and machinegun fire. One of the two Bigros took it worst, several lasers cutting it up like it was made of cheese. Hazuki's Val Varo took minor damage, and one of the Zaku HMTs exploded as AA shells from the Itinerant hit it in the back. Anton signaled to target the Itinerant until the mobile armors could get back for another pass. Hazuki and the second Bigro pilot set up quick missile trajectories, targeting the lead columbus before they turned around. A volley of missiles shot from the two armors, impacting the center of the Columbus and causing it to explode in flames. Turning around as fast as they could, they came back onto the Atlantis, wanting a second shot from behind. Anton, Berthold and their escorts moved to the Itinerant, but were set upon by a number of balls. Taking a shell in the shoulder, Vereschagin grew angry, grabbing his heat saber off his back weapons rack and throwing it through one of the RB-79's. His Rick Dom shot past it, tearing the saber out of the thing like the sword in the stone before it exploded. They were only flies after all, he didn't need to waste his bazooka round on small fry. "Confirmed, Audacious sunk!" Kennedy said, looking up at the captain. "Have the remaining mobile suits pull back! Fire all missiles at the enemy as they pursue!" yelled Synapse, watching the slaughter before him. "Rummy, on your signal." A blue withdraw flare shot out of the bridge of the Atlantis, Rummy giving the order at the same time. "Tubes 1 through 4 set to a four second delay, fire on my mark. Have the Relentless and the Itinerant fire in tandem." Gun crews throughout the two ships readied their hands on their triggers as the GMs started to withdraw from the slower Zakus, Church's team moving to pursue. "FIRE!" said Rummy, slamming a fist down on his console. "Fire!" responded the captains of the Relentless and Itinerant. A huge spray of missiles shone forth from the three ships, enveloping the Zakus as the three GMs tried to escape. The Zeon pilots were used to dodging unguided missiles, but only if they were coming straight at them. Four rounds from the Atlantis shot right into the center of the remaining Zakus and then opened up, dozens of smaller warheads shooting out like buckshot in all directions. Six Zakus were taken out of the fight almost immediately, Carvers Rick Dom losing its left arm to the barrage. "Good shot Rummy." said Synapse, thinking they might just win yet. "Sir! Those mobile armors are coming around!" responded Kennedy, ruining the captains hopes. "Ugh... We need to get to the sub bridge, now." said Synapse, putting on the helmet of his space suit as he moved to the door. Hazuki and his wingman in the Bigro aimed carefully at the Atlantis, dodging MPC fire as they came in for their pass. Still though, the barrage was a little too thick, Hazuki not quite used to the controls of his mobile armor just yet. His shot went just over the bridge, the Bigros slamming through the engine cluster, destroying it completely and leaving the ship dead in the water. Just as they were about to pass however, lasers ate through the Bigro's own engines, leaving it spiraling out of control. The pilot decided a kamikazi was the best option, spinning his mobile armor straight into the Atlantis's bridge. Hazuki took some damage as well as he passed, deciding he'd get some distance before making a third pass. As this was happening, Anton and his Zakus moved expertly around the deck of the Itinerant. Berthold went in first, firing bazooka shells into the foredeck and forcing the AA gunners to push him away, Anton coming in second and slamming a Rick Dom fist straight into the bridge superstructure. Aiming his beam bazooka, still fully charged, straight at the Salamis's reactor, Vereschagin grinned, taking the shot. "This'll teach Dozle to get rid of me." The particle stream shot straight through the Salamis and out the other side, the ship exploding almost instantly. Anton's Rick Dom speeding away, he got a bit of distance as his gun recharged. The next shot was going to be for the Atlantis, which had... Lost its bridge? Without a captain, the ship was a sitting duck. Anton raised his Rick Doms hand, a flare shooting into the sky to signal his fleet to advance. Church, Carver and the remaining Zakus fluttered around the Relentless and the Atlantis like buzzards, but the AA coverage on the Revised ships was much too thick. They'd lost too many Zakus, and a press would simply mean the loss of more men. They took a few pot shots, but while they were dodging so heavily they couldn't make a sincere push. Carver was the one to notice the Columbus transports, turning around and heading at full speed towards Luna II. He stopped for a moment and grabbed Church's Zaku on the shoulder. "We need to stop those transports!" Darius said, blasting off towards them in his high speed mobile suit. Church agreed, and signalling a wingman, the three mobile suits went off towards the convoy. The Vereschagin fleet moved in, lining up MPC rounds at the Relentless and the now dead in the water Atlantis. The Tippers jet black Zaku II E relayed visual info from close range, assisting the Zeonic forces accuracy in their fire. Volleys from both sides went out, the Tippers 3-barrel main cannon striking straight through the Atlantis's fore deck, and the Prinz Eugen and Vindicator all but destroying the Relentless. However, the Atlantis's return fire was startlingly accurate for a ship without a bridge, five streams of MPC fire slicing through the Prinz Eugen. "Enemy Zanzibar disabled sir!" said Rummy, looking for the captains approval. It wasn't there however, the front third of the Atlantis being eaten up by the Tippers main gun. "Do we have engine control yet?" Synapse shouted into the comm, negatives coming back from the engine crew. "Alright, we're getting out of here. Launch another MPC volley on auto-target, lets get to the capsule. The fleets fired another volley at each other, this time both the Vindicator and the Admiral Tipper taking hits. The Relentless took direct fire from the Prinz Eugen and exploded, the Admiral Tippers MS hangar and rear gun turret being sliced to pieces, and the Vindicator losing its port side engine as well as one of its own guns. The Atlantis, a terror of a ship, wouldn't have been quite out of the fight, but at that moment Hazuki returned in the Val Valo, his MPC shooting through the center of the now distracted Magellan. The Atlantis didn't explode outright, but dozens of smaller explosions rocketed throughout the ship, it turning into a hulk just as its re-entry capsule shot forward, turning around and escaping towards Luna II. Hazuki wanted to pursue, but the prize was more important. The Admiral Tipper used its impressive sensor array to cut a laser line through to most of the forces commanders, re-iterating Vereschagins orders. "Pursue the convoy. I repeat, pursue the convoy." The remaining 3 GMs and 4 Balls had centered around the fleeing 7 transport ships, which were now doing a full engine burn back to Luna II. In a couple minutes they would be travelling faster than a mobile suit, and would be impossible to catch. Carver, Berthold, Anton and Church, with their remaining 5 Zaku escorts were catching up as quickly as they could. Anton took a shot as his bazooka charged again, slicing straight through the center of a Columbus and destroying it completely. Carver landed on the bridge of another, firing a panzer faust through its center and taking it out, and Church and the remaining Zakus engaged the Federal mobile suits as they tried to make a stand, cutting through them fairly quickly. One Zaku pilot went down as a GM trained its machinegun on him, Berthold killing the Fed with his heat hawk a second later. The remaining units mopped up the Federation Transport Craft, destroying them with bazooka fire before they could get away. The M particle field now thinning somewhat, Anton looked to Hazuki, asking him if he could pursue. Unfortunately the damage from the Atlantis's AA guns was too much. They'd have to settle with 3/4ths of the convoy. As the fog of war settled, Anton looked around, the testosterone in him dying somewhat. He looked to Church, who seemed a little worse for wear. "How many died?" Anton Vereschagin 3 days damage, 15 VP gained, promoted to Lieutenant. "Battleship Eater" callsign gained. Upgraded to custom Rick Dom "Vereschagin type" John Church 3 days damage, 15 VP gained, promoted to Lieutenant. Darius Carver 4 days damage, 14 VP gained, promoted to Chief Petty Officer. Ryu Hazuki 5 days damage, 15 VP gained, promoted to Petty Officer 2nd Class Berthold Stulinger 2 days damage, 15 VP gained, promoted to Obermaat Attackers awarded 2100 RP credit for assault "Alright, Vinsko... hope this plan of yours works. Good hunting." Charles Dampier spoke over the radio, having command of the Griffin during the attack. In the hangar bay, the only craft left to launch were his Zaku II D and Martel's, both standing atop brand new Dodai IIs. "So do I." Andrew muttered within his own helmet, the Dodai launching from the rear hangar of the Gaw carrier soon after, Andrew fighting to keep his Zaku squatting on the "flying carpet" and the Gs pressing his own body back. His Zaku banked with the Dodai II as it joined the four Dopps already in the air, Martel's Zaku atop it's own Dodai joining soon after. "Alright people, let's hunt some whales." The Raphael, with 1st Lieutenant Hugh Woody, lead the procession through the air, his Medeas carrying materials collected from South African resource operations toward Kilimanjaro base. Around him, pairs of TIN Cods flew in formation, while a Dish kept an eye on the skies around them. "Sir, I've got something on the radar here.. looks lik-" the voice from the Dish cut into static, an explosion from the area of the craft drew the attention of the entire fleet. Four Dopps and two Cyclops on flying carpets had jumped the Dish and it's two TIN Cod escorts, heading directly for the Medea group. Without needing prompting, the four TIN Cods of the Raphael launched, moving to join the seven TIN Cods already flying in intercepting the Zeon attackers. "Raphael to fleet, continue toward Kilimanjaro. We'll cover you." Woody ordered as his Medea moved itself into position to obstruct the Zeons attack with his own craft. Something didn't sit right.. the attack force seemed meager, almost as ill-thought as the few suits they had observed a week ago firing at random toward them from the ground. And why take out the Dish first? The Griffin continued on, Dampier hoping that the Federals "eyes" had been blinded by Vinsko's diversionary attack. The giant purple craft continued through the clouds toward where the Federal air convoy should be, having had to guess approximately where the Medeas would be in order for the slower craft to intercept. The cloud cover cleared, showing the three Federal transports further away than anticipated. Cursing, the commander barked orders. "Target closest craft and fire all guns!" The hidden MPC turrets rose from their hiding places and swung to target the closest Medea... An explosion marked the destruction of the Shakespeare, the craft pierced by two lances of mega-particle energy. Tracing the beams toward their source, Woody caught sight of the massive Gaw carrier. It was losing ground to the remaining two Medeas, and firing more for show than anything else now. Even still, his forces couldn't deal with the beast. "Break off, fall back to Kilimanjaro!" Vinsko clove an unlucky TIN Cod into oblivion with his heat hawk, cursing as he saw a missile impact on one of his escort Dopps. Added with the two that had been lost in the initial Federal charge, it made three new scars that would adorn his body that night. Martel downed a TIN that was harassing her Zaku and Dodai with her 120mm, but the numbers were solidly against them now. Just as he was about to order his Dodai to charge the nearest group of fighters head on, the craft broke off and began retreating. "Sir, Federals are bugging out, should we pursue?" Glancing at his screen, he saw the Federals fleeing the area. After a bit of searching, he found the reason. The Griffin continued to fire at the quickly retreating forces, but was already banking away before Kilimanjaro's forces could be launched to support the Resupply Fleet. Taking stock of the damage to his suit, his right arm having been destroyed early when a TIN's missile impacted on the ammo magizine of his Zaku machinegun, and Martel's own Zaku having taken a shot to the back that destroyed the thrusters, he decided against pursuit. "Negative, return to the ship. We don't have the forces to engage Kilimanjaro." Andrew Vinkso: 10 VP, 2 days damage Vinsko awarded 500 RP credit. |