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0079.11.03 The White Base, finally fully repaired following the numerous battles and skirmishes that had occurred since their decent to Earth, prepared to follow through with their newest orders directly from General Revil. Due to the rogue action of the EFSF Pegasus II and crew that had attacked the Zeon mine, the 13th Autonomous Fleet was to attack the TAF Supply Fleet. The crew felt uneasy due to the absence of their top pilot, the young Newtype Amuro Ray. Earlier that day, Fraw Bow had returned alone and told Bright and the other senior members of the crew of his feelings and decision to runaway, and her inability to convince him to return. However, Command appeared to have already had a plan in mind for this particular scenario. For the second time, a prototype Gundam had been assigned to assist the Pegasus ship. Liam Amon was not nearly as battle hardened as Amuro Ray, but it was still a Gundam that he had brought with him. "Guntank, Guncannon, and Gundam, be ready to launch as soon as we get into range. I've been informed we'll have additional long range support for this operation from an independent unit." Bright Noah spoke from his place in the captain's chair on the bridge. Sayla Mass, sitting at the Comm Station, relayed the information to the pilot's. As soon as her replacement arrived, Sayla left to get into her Core Booster to assist in the assault. Inside the Prototype Gundam, Liam Amon shifted uneasily. His flight suit was a custom model, with a thick kevlar addition to the breast to provide protection against shrapnel should the worst happen. The memories of his near-deadly injuiries sustained while piloting his GM bubbled to the surface, forcing the former officer to begin the breathing exercises he had been taught to calm himself. "Private Amon, I repeat, are you set for launch?" Sayla's voice came from over the radio headset in his helmet "Roger, Gundam is all green and ready to launch," the desert-turned-test pilot replied. The irony that he was replacing another deserter was not lost on him. "Gundam and Guncannon wil launch and advance on the supply fleet. Guncannon and White Base will provide fire support. Good luck." the young Federation soldier stated, the line cutting out after and the launch countdown appearing on the screen. Outisde of Liam's cockpit, the Core Booster was launched, the experimental Fighter-Bomber rising swiftly into the sky. "Sir, we have reports of the Trojan Horse heading in our direction." a Zeon soldier, one of the battle hardened veterans that composed the crew of the fleet, stated to their commander, Ramba Ral. Nicknamed the "Blue Giant", Ral was one of the best soldiers in the entire ZMF. "Excellent. Prepare the mobile suits, we will meet them head on. If we can manage to take it down, we'll be able to transfer back into space." the burly man stated flatly, standing up to leave the bridge. "Dear, do be careful." Crowley Hamon stated in her usual prim style, but a note of worry was perceptable. "Of course, Hamon my dear. I shall endevour to return victorious, you shall see." Ral replied with a smile. With that, he turned and left the bridge of the Blauer Reise. Above the White Base, the two Core Boosters of Ryu Jose and Sayla Mass were joined by the four Tin Cod fighters from the Picasso. The Guncannon and Prototype Gundam both launched out of the White Base, while the Guntank rolled off the deck and used it's rockets to slow it's descent to the ground. As the two Luna Titanium suits advanced, the Guncannon and White Base began firing their openning salvos. Far off in the distance, Vina Sealander's team had waited for this moment, and the Guncannon MPT added in it's own ranged fire against the Resupply Fleet. "This guns seem awfully useless right now," Sealander commented, the cannons mounted on her Guncannon unable to fire at sufficient range to assist, so instead she was forced to remain nearby in a support role. The two point mobile suits, Amon in his Gundam and Kai Shiden in his Guncannon, continued foward under the bombardment, the White Base and Guntank advancing slowly behind them. Machinegun fire drew the attention of both pilots, and the escort units of the Terrestrial Resupply Fleet made the presence known. Flanked on either side by three Zakus and three Magella Attack Tanks, Ramba Ral stared down at the Federal Forces. "Looks like a different model, not the same unit that gave Char all those problems. That's too bad.." Ral stated to himself, then moved foward, leading his units against the Federal mobile suits. "Shit! Bright, we need help up here, they've got us outnumbered!" Kai shouted, firing at the veteran Zaku pilots and their leader, managing to destroy two of the Magellas and damage one Zaku as he backed away. Inside the Prototype Gundam, Liam Amon was much calmer than his counterpart. Sighting in on one of the lagging Zakus, his beam rifle managed to destroy it's head, causing the pilot to stumble and stop his charge. The follow up shot destroyed the cockpit of the Zeon mobile suit, the mobile suit remaining standing where it's pilot was killed. From above, Ryu and Sayla strafed the Zeon forces in their Core Boosters, destroying all but one of the remaining Magella Tanks. "I'm going to engage that blue mobile suit, keep the others off of me," Liam Amon stated, attaching the beam rifle to the rear skirt armor hard point of the Gundam and drawing a beam saber before charging Ral's Gouf. "A head on attack, eh? You've got guts, but not tact!" Ral shouted to himself, stopping his Gouf and swinging the heat rod at the Prototype Gundam. Moving his shield to catch the weapon, Amon shouted in surprised as the whip curled around the shield and arm holding it, and discharged. While Ral dealt with the Gundam, the six Zakus, one missing an arm, moved against White Base. Shiden attempted to hold them back, but his unit was for mid-range fire support. However, he was not as poorly equipped as Hayato, who fired his weapons machinegun arms at the Zakus in a futile gesture of defense. "This is Ryu, cover me, I'm going to try and help the Gundam!" the senior pilot announced, sending his craft into a dive toward Ramba's Gouf. Firing his machineguns and missiles for fear of destroying the Gouf so close to the Gundam, Ryu's Core Booster dove upon the Gouf, pulling up and preparing for a second strafing run. "I don't think so!" Ral shouted as he raised his machinegun hand and fired at the retreating craft, the machinegun rounds hitting around the cockpit, and smoke beltching from the fighter soon after. "Ryu! Are you okay? Return to White Base immediately!" Bright shouted as he saw the fighter hit. "I'm.. I'm fine." the pilot's strained voice came through, a gurgling cough coming through soon after. "I can still fight." "Negative, return immediately, you're no good out there like that!" the young commander repeated his order. The only reply was another banking of the burning craft, heading in a steep dive toward the Gouf. Ejecting the heavy booster second, the remaining Core Fighter dove in a kamikaze attack. Releasing the Gundam, Ramba Ral spun his Gouf and thrust the shield out, the Core Fighter impacting on the shield and destroying it as well as the arm holding it. "A true warrior's spirit," Ral reflected as he gathered himself, turning toward the downed Gundam and pulling out the Gouf's heat sword. "You could all learn from his example." Inside the darkened cockpit of the Prototype Gundam, Liam could almost feel the Gouf drawing nearer, but that wasn't what his mind was focusing most on. There was something else.. something approaching that he couldn't quite place. Before he had anymore time to reflect on it, he passed out from the strain of the electric discharge. As Ramba Ral raised his saber to strike the downed mobile suit, a beam fired from his right passed right by his cockpit, creating a gash that exposed the cockpit to the outside from the front. Turning in the direction of the attack, Ramba Ral spotted a second Gundam, this one in blue, red, and white. "So this is the infamous White Devil.. I'm impressed." the Zeon ace stated, turning to meet the new foe head on. "Sorry I'm late guys," Amuro stated, firing three beam shots while moving to meet Ramba Ral, destroying three Zakus as though they were nothing. Taking advantage of the confusion, Sayla and Kai both managed to destroy one Zaku each. The final, now outnumbered, began to withdraw toward the Blauer Reise. "Hamon, take the surviving men to Odessa. I will cover our retreat." Ramba Ral stated grimly, leaping to meet the Gundam. Inside the Gundam, Amuro tossed the beam rifle aside and drew a beam saber, catching the Gouf's weapon upon it and using the shield to throw the Gouf away. Sayla strafed close to the Gundam, the Core Booster catching Ramba Ral's gaze. One of the cameras on the Gouf managed to get a shot of the cockpit, and the face behind the helmet's visor. "Artesia?" Ral spoke aloud, the moment of distraction leaving an openning for Amuro to attack. Thrusting the beam saber foward, Ramba Ral reacted too late to parry the blow, the beam saber slicing into the exposed cockpit. The Federal Forces, now having a clear advantage, pressed the remaining ships. Hamon, unable to even properly grieve the death of her lover instead followed through with his last wish. "Detatch the shell section, get as many of the surviving men into the foward section as possible, we're retreating to Odessa. Leave everything else, they'll never outrun that ship." Liam Amon: 12 VP gained, 2 days damage Vina Sealander: 3 VP gained, no damage |