|
"Slog, slog, slog. Stupid mud." Hector's mobile suit wades through what seems like an endless sea of goop, consisting of a few feet of water and a few feet more of mud. The rain pouring down overhead has continued for hours now, and all the nearby rivers and streams are taking the opportunity to gleefuly overflow their banks, converting vast areas of land into territory impassible to any armored vehicle. Any armored vehicle but a mobile suit, that is. Thus, Hector trudges across yet another river valley, seeking the Zeon troops he's quite sure are in the area. The Dish far overhead spins serenely, the pilot taking advantage of the relatively cool conditions to peer down below with his infrared sensors, keeping an eye on the nearby river for any aquatic mobile suits. The glint of metal from the edge of the valley, however, doesn't escape his eye, and he pushes his transmitter. "Breaker 3 here. There's something at the edge of the valley to your southwest." Giving a hand signal to the GM following him, Hector stops, turning and raising his machinegun. This proves quite fortunate for him, as the first shot from the Zaku Cannon hidden in the trees misses him, the pilot having led him a bit, and lands in the mud nearby, sending a tower of brown water skywards. "Shit! It's one of the cannon types! Find cover!" Putting action to words, Hector pushes his GM into a run, headed for the closest cover of any sort: a streambed. His eyes catch several more Zakus launching themselves out of the underbrush from various directions, and he raises his machinegun and darts a burst at the closest one, which neatly sideslips, and replies with a bazooka round that slams into the shield of the GM behind him, rocking it backwards. Carin curses in an unidentifiable language as she sends a spray of 90mm rounds at the Zaku while quickly backing away, but it manages to evade the blast, tossing a round object to the ground that explodes in bursts of smoke, shrouding it's maneuvers.. The other two open fire next: a second Desert Zaku, and Andrew's Zaku IIJ, armed with a large, powerful recoiless cannon. Hector manages to duck under the bazooka round, but the shell from Andrew's cannon is quite a bit faster than a bazooka round, and it punches neatly through the rear left knee joint of his GM, toppling it to the ground rather more heavily than he anticipated. "Bastards!" Carin pumps the tube under the barrel of her machinegun, a rifle grenade exploding forth and slamming squarely into the joint between the head and body of the second Desert Zaku, a split second before it can fling it's smoke grenade. The impact knocks it backwards in an untidy mess of limbs as the blast sends shrapnel scything down into the cockpit, injuring Vivian and knocking her mobile suit out of the fight as important power connectors are severed.. A second later, the smoke grenade in it's hand goes off, shrouding the fallen soldier like the winds of a cemetary. "Close up! Don't let them recover!" Andrew fires two more rounds from his recoiless cannon, aimed at Hector's GM, which by this point has rolled onto it's back and started blazing away with it's machinegun. The first round impacts the torso, the luna titanium armor holding, but knocking Hector around in his cockpit, however, the second is a little off, and pegs the shoulder of Carin's GM CCT, spinning it around as it's shield goes flying. "Hurry up, let's go! We want to finish this before reinforcements arrive!" Several more rounds from the Zaku Cannon punctuate this remark, as rounds rain down upon Hector and Carin, the explosions sending shrapnel ripping into both mobile suits. Then, something unexpected happens: a voice, over the radio...? "I won't let you do as you please here anymore, spacenoid scum!" Andrew's eyes track back and forth, but not quite fast enough, as a pair of missiles slam into his mobile suit's right arm, sending armor, his recoiless cannon, and chunks of electronics all flying , and knocking his mobile suit to the side, though he manages to quickly reposition his left leg to stay upright. Caught by suprise by the sudden attack, he takes a step back as Emmanuel's mobile suit comes skidding out of the underbrush nearby, a literal wave of bullets coming forth from it's chest machineguns and 100mm. The Zaku Cannon pilot hastily switches targets, sending a few rounds exploding around the Blue Destiny even as it charges forth. A bazooka round sails out of the smoke now mostly enshrouding the area and pancakes against the Blue Destiny's chest, knocking it backwards to the ground, the stream of machinegun fire stopping momentarily. Taking the opportunity, Andrew flings a cracker grenade in the general direction of the prone GM Ground Type, which is struggling to one knee, the blast knocking it flat again. The Cold Climate Type has gotten to it's feet however, it and his second Zaku IID engaging one another with their machineguns now. As the Blue Destiny rises to it's feet once more, Andrew's Zaku sprints forward, his left hand snatching at his heat hawk, and slicing at the the Blue Destiny with vicious speed. At the same time, the Zaku Cannon on the bridge aligns it's cannon slightly, the pilot inside licking it's lips as he settles the crosshairs onto the head of the Blue Destiny, his hand tightening on the trigger... ...and suddenly, the Blue Destiny's eyes flash, turning red, and it explodes forwards in a blur of unbelieveable motion, passing by Andrew's mobile suit before he knows what's happened. An explosion of sound and movement and impact... and Andrew finds himself laying on his back. Strange, wasn't he just charging forwards a second ago...? And why is there a coppery taste in his mouth, and a dull burning pain from his arm...? Andrew's last sight before unconsciousness is of the shard of metal pinning his left arm to his seat like a pin through a butterfly, as blood from a laceration on his forehead drips across his eyes, slowly turning everything red. Tightening his lips as his target unexpectedly moves, Chai starts firing as fast as he can pull the trigger, but the Blue Destiny is moving like nothing he's ever seen, and it slams into the second Desert Zaku like a freight train, heedless of the damage inflicted on it, it's beam saber flashing as it slices pieces off it's unfortunate victim at berserk speed, punching the mobile suit over and over with it's fist, sending it sprawling to the ground. One round from Chai seems on course to hit it directly in the head once more, but it simply... moves, turning and firing it's chest vulcans with suprising accuracy at his hiding spot, damaging his scope. Cursing, Chai pulls back on the controls, squirming back into the jungle. The Blue Destiny stands over the fallen corpse of the Zaku, having sustained heavy damage, but still quite active, as Carin's GM approaches it. "Hey, great job, buddy... you saved our asses!" Her GM reaches out a hand to clap the Blue Destiny's bullet-scarred shoulder, but before she can touch it, it turns, it's eyes still glowing that eerie red, and begins to raise it's beam saber, but then... stops, the lights in it's eyes shifting back to blue, then the entire mobile suit shutting down. "What the hell...?" Emmanuel: 8 VP gained, 3 days damage Andrew: 6 VP gained, 4 days damage, 2 days injury, 1 Desert Zaku lost Hector: 8 VP gained, 3 days damage Qayin Gershom, comfortable within his GM Command, strode down one of the main highways that ran through Rome. Spaced behind him across the six-lane freeway were a pair of GMs. Qayin swept his beam gun across the roadway, wary of potential targets. "Stay frosty, gents," he said to his two teammates, "There is supposed to be some Zeeks in the area." "Yessir!" both GM pilots replied eagerly. The trio of Federation mobile suits passed through a section of Rome that was occupied by a large number of high-rises and apartment buildings. Qayin was startled by a violent explosion of to his left. Turning, he noticed a large, ten-story apartment building collapsing, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and debris. "What the hell?" Qayin yelled. "Grah!" replied one of his GM pilots. He swung his GM Command further to the left, shocked as an imposing Gouf, flanking from behind his mobile suit squad, impaled the GM with its heat sword. "Zeeks!" Qayin hollered in panic. The pair of Dish surveillance craft flew at a steady altitude of 9,000ft, lazily drifting over central Italy. "God, I hate this job," complained one of the Dish pilots to the other. "Flying this way, flying that way. Our bosses need to just make up their minds and go somewhere." "I hear you," replied the other pilot. "I wish we could drink on the job. It'd make thins better." "Yes it would," agreed the first. "Oh shit," the second pilot said. "Our operator just picked up some weapons fire." "Where?" "Rome," the second pilot answered. "I'll alert the boys." Withdrawing from the GM, Edward Night backpedaled off the highway, watching in pleasure as the GM exploded, blowing debris in all direction. The other GM and the GM Command fired on him. Most of the enemy rounds smacked into the buildings around Edward as he withdrew into the built-up Roman district, several of the GM Command's beam rounds missing but singeing his Gouf's armor. "Shit," he cursed as he finally gained cover within the buildings. Moving several blocks away, Edward waited, hoping that the Feddies would be drawn into his trap. Moments passed. A bead of sweat from the exhilaration of combat ran down the side of Edward's face. Carefully hidden behind an apartment structure, the GM Command, beam gun in hand, walked passed Edward's hiding place and into an intersection. "Gotcha!" Edward cried in glee. Powering forward his Gouf, he crashed into the GM Command, knocking into the side of an office building, heat sword in hand. The GM Command was knocked hard into the building, destroying the face of the building. Taking a step back, Edward drew his heat sword ready and swung it downwards. The Federation mobile suit threw its shield up, blocking the sword's stroke. As Edward drew back for a second stroke with his heat sword, the GM Command opened up with its twin fixed vulcans, peppering Edward's Gouf with 60mm rounds. "Damnit," Edward gritted, backpedaling several dozen feet from the GM Command, which began to extricate itself from the building it was smashed into. He was in the midst of readying a grenade when the GM Command's other GM, armed with its 90mm machinegun, burst from around the corner, peppering the Gouf with a dozen rounds. Edward throttled backwards, behind another building, looking for cover. He quickly tossed the grenade in the direction of the GM. Exploding violently, the grenade's detonation allowed Edward to peak around the corner. The grenade didn't damage the GM, but had forced it to seek cover. He was about to charge for an attack when the world around him suddenly exploded as rounds from a third source began falling around his mobile suit, one round impacting against the Gouf's right shoulder, making the right arm useless. Turning northwards, on one of the hills of Rome, Edward spotted two deployed GM Cannons, the source of the incoming fire, and a trio of GMs began descending down the hill. More shells from the GM Cannons began falling. "Time to retreat!" Edward yelled, throwing his Gouf into full speed, running through the streets of Rome, the Gouf's right arm dangling uselessly at its side. The GM Command, dented and damaged from the Gouf, met the two GM Cannons several minutes after the Gouf escaped. Qayin breathed heavily from the exhilaration of combat. "Thanks, friends," he said. "No problem," Cameron Sune replied. "Our pleasure," Tetsuya Morimoto answered, "We've been tracking this Gouf for the past several days." "Well, thanks anways," Qayin said, happy to have been relieved from a sticky situation. Edward Night: 7 VP, 3 Days Damaged Qayin Gershom: 6 VP, 1 Day Damaged Cameron Sune: 4 VP, No Damage Tetsuya Morimoto: 4 VP, No Damage The 24th MST Intercept Jennifer Morales The skies above Africa were a stormy sight, as Morales and her team moved along the plains of South Africa. A storm was brewing near their location, as Jennifer opened a communications channel to Ibrahim. “Is there any way we can avoid the storm?” “Negative ma’am, we can minimize contact if we take this path though,” the older pilot responds, indicating the direction that, while out of their way, would be faster compared to possible slow down due to flooding and rain. The monoeye on the Gouf Custom flashing, the other suits follow closely, unaware their path would intersect with another team of suits. Further south, a trio of GM Grounds, their pilots newly commissioned along with the Type 74 tank, carried along, stopping every 15 minutes to check for enemy Zeon forces. As the storm was approaching, their team leader opened a channel to the tank. “Hold here, do your scan, we need to hurry up.” As the tank anchors itself, two GM Grounds equip their 305mm GM Bazooka, with the leader of the team equipping the 100mm machinegun. Waiting, it didn’t take long before their idle chatter was interrupted. “Bogies! Three of them!” The GM Grounds readied their weapons, their first taste of combat. “Just do what we practiced in training, we’ll make it,” the leader says, trying to reassure them as they wait in ambush. As her team continues on their altered course, the skies were slowly beginning to darken, the storm approaching slowly. “This is coming up faster than expected, but keep your guard up!” Morales exclaims, before a warning emitted from their cockpits as two rockets streaked out, one landing on the ground in front of them, the other exploding near the leg of the Zaku F, the shrapnel taking away some of the armor. “Enemies! Viktoria, Ibrahim, covering fire! Mitchell, go!” Jennifer orders as her Gouf Custom starts running forward as well. As the Dom and Gouf Custom ran forward, the two Zakus took up firing positions, the F type arming the 280mm Zaku Bazooka. “I’ll show those Feddies!” he yells out, firing the Bazooka using the targeting reticule for assistance. As the Zaku Cannon fires back, one GM Ground focuses his attention on the Dom, trying to hit it with the Bazooka. However, the Dom easily moves left and right, showing not only its superior mobility, but also the better skill. Arming the Giant Bazooka, the GM Ground leader directs his fire at the Dom. “What are you doing?! Switch weapons already!” the leader shouts out, the panic in his voice as the 100mm machinegun hits the armor of the Dom, putting in several dents into the armor on the right side. Firing off the Bazooka, Mitchell missed his intended target, however striking another, as the Type 74 tried to flee upon seeing the units approaching, their cries of anguish filling the channels followed by silence. “Avenge them, work together!” the team lead yells, as a shell from the Zaku Cannon strikes the shoulder on his unit, damaging the resilient armor. While not breaking off completely, it did indeed crack, pieces of the armor breaking off. The GM Ground retaliated in kind, shells exploding around, Ibrahim not fully used to long-range combat compared to close combat. Focusing as the rain downpoured, the GM Bazooka fired and impacts into the Zaku Cannon’s chest, shattering the armor there with the force of the impact throwing the Mobile Suit onto its back. Landing hard back, the landing was softened and at first, Victoria breathed a sigh of relief, before realizing that the ground felt too soft. “Lieutenant! The storm, it’s starting to flood!” As she heard, the shield was raised to fire the 75mm Gatling gun, hitting the GM Bazooka toting Mobile Suit. As the GM pilot tried to defend himself from the weapons fire, the team lead charged on Morales, firing the machinegun at her, leaving the other pilot undefended to the Dom’s attacks, as he charged in, drawing the heat saber. Firing a final shot with the GM Bazooka, the Dom avoided again, its right arm rendered inoperable so instead using the left arm for the heat saber, cutting off the GM Ground’s arm. As the storm worsened, the floods made it harder for everyone save the Dom. “What’s the matter, can’t move well? This battle is ours!” At the same time, the lead GM and the Gouf Custom clashed, the two units with bullet holes in each other’s armor. Using the shield’s claw, the GM punched the Gouf who effortlessly blocked with the shield and pulling out the heat saber, ejected the shield and slashed, cutting into the head, driving further in as the pilot retaliates with vulcans firing into the head, both of their main cannons destroyed. Jennifer breathed hard, hearing the communications chatter of her teammates, before berating Gavin. “What are you doing, pull back. We’re retreating for now, and help your teammates,” she orders, the water making it worse as the retreat flares were fired off. Bewildered, the GM Ground pilots fell back into their chairs, sweating and breathing hard. As the rain came, the water put out the fire from the tank’s remains, all that was left of their support. Jennifer Morales: 6 VP gained, 2 days repair |