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"Bet you it's not going to work." Inside a Tivvay-class cruiser, one pilot glanced over at another and grinned, summoning all the gruffness his voice could muster. "I'll take that bet. Oh, ensign... Engage." And a black mass detached from the Admiral Hipper and moved slowly off into space, numerous lights slowly brightening. "Sir, we've spotted something." Admiral Blex Forer glanced over at one of the bridge crew of the Manticore. The young naval officer scratched his cheek briefly, as if debating something internally. "I'm, uhh, reading a trio of Musais. It looks as though the Zeon fleet we've been tracking is moving into range. They may be trying to break through our blockade." Blex thought for a moment. It seemed a strange gesture, given the relative strengths between his forces and theirs, he felt he could hold some units in reserve. "Okay, the Swiftsure and Monarch are with us. Let's go introduce ourselves to our friends out there..." Officers jumped into motion on the bridge, as Forer continued to issue orders. "Bring up a half-dozen of the GMs from the STS-14, and launch our own suit complements. I want three GMs per ship, in a triangle formation. Further out, let's get the Balls on the perimeter. I don't want any surprises, people." The massive war machines blasted into motion. A fast-and-furious game of rock-paper-scissors ensued between the 5 lowest-ranking GM pilots. The eventual winner grinned as he sprinted towards his suit, as his compatriots grumbled about 'babysitting the binoculars.' Hectic, but orderly, the Blex fleet moved into position, and soon its flagship spearheaded its approach towards the onrushing Musais. The Columbus-class STS-14 and four GM E's were left behind to watch, and several crew members settled down for a poker game. "Told you they'd go for it." Lieutenant Church, now in his Zaku II R1, grinned at his viewfinder. Darius Carver scowled back for a moment, then sighed. "Fine. First round's on me. Now can we get on with this?" A curt laugh emanated from the cockpit of the nearby Rick Dom. Anton popped onto the viewscreen, displaying a toothy grin. The scar along his face stretches because of it, creating an odd effect when combined with his still-healing black eye (As Anton often would boast, 'You should have seen the other guy, though...' - in this case, he ended up in traction). The youngest of the trio, he seemed the most eager by a huge margin. "Finally, you're speaking my language. Let's get moving. Time waits for Nomar, or something like that." Church rubbed at a temple briefly. Vereschagin could be a headache at times. Hopefully, his more pleasant aspects would be on display soon. Besides, though he hated to admit it, the youth was right. "Okay, gentlemen. You know the drill. Keep it simple. Launch on my mark. Three..." The Admiral Hipper floated lazily forward, appearing to be no more than a harmless piece of space debris. All systems off, it had sailed well behind the line of the Federation's ships, and now was within striking range of the Columbus-class cruiser. It had made it there undetected, and was now all alone with the defenseless carrier ship. "Two..." In the Magellan, Blex nodded to a crewman, who launched several long-range missiles at the oncoming trio of Musais. They sped off into the distance, approaching impact. Blex scratched at his beard in worry, though - the enemy was making no evasion attempt. Something was wrong. "One..." The Admiral Hipper suddenly lit up like a holiday decoration, all systems coming on-line at once. Four GM E pilots, and the skeleton crew of the Columbus that had remained on duty, received quite a shock at the Tivvay-class cruiser's appearance. The suit pilots scrambled to create some sort of defensive formation, while the STS-14's crew frantically attempted to establish contact with the Magellan. "Mark! Move your asses, gentlemen!" The two Rick Doms emerged first, blasting away from their carrier and heading directly towards the STS-14. Church followed in the Zaku II R1 as best he could, though he began to quickly fall behind. The three Zeon suits moved purposefully towards their target, hunters amidst very confused prey. Following behind was the Hipper's full complement of Zaku II Fs, looking to mop up anything that remained to them. They anticipated a very dull afternoon. "What do you mean, it just vanished? Ships don't just vanish, crewman. Give me answers I can use!" A red-faced Federation officer screamed at a bridge crewmember, drawing the attention of the command crew, and Blex in particular. He quickly came over, and placed his hand on the furious officer's shoulder. Accompanying that was a cold stare, which showed the influential EFF tactician didn't care to have his staff treated so. Immediately, the man quieted, cowed by his superior officer's presence. When he spoke, it was in a much more controlled fashion. "Status report please." The young deckhand paused for a moment, before the words tumbled out of his mouth. "Sir, where our missile should have impacted, there is now no longer a Musai. There's... There's nothing, and the Zeek... Sorry sir, the Zeon ship has disappeared completely from our instruments." Forer took in these words, turned on his heel, and immediately ran back to his command chair, barking orders as he went. The veteran of many a battle, he now knew exactly what was going on, and why. "Get us turned around and back to the STS-14! I need us there five minutes ago! Relay those orders to th..." Explosions rocked the Magellan even as Blex approached his chair, causing the deck to jerk heavily. He went flying across the room, clipping his head on his own seat. The bridge crew, having been strapped-in, fared much better. As one helped Forer to his feet, another updated him on the status of the battle. "Sir, those missiles came from somewhere well beyond our scanning capabilities. We assume distant artillery support is probable, though we can't be sure. Unfortunately, the attacks managed to severely limit our cruising speed for the moment. We won't be able to reach the STS-14 for a while yet." Cursing inwardly, Blex settled into his char, back straight and chin high despite the minor injury to his forehead, complete with golf-ball sized lump. "Send the entire MS complement." At the startled glances, he nodded. "Yes, all of them. I think they've given US the best shot they'll try. We need to worry about the MS carrier, now." The order was quickly relayed, and the 9 GMs and 10 Balls jetted off into the distance, heading towards a series of distant flashes of light... "Goodbye." Darius Carver's Rick Dom shifted its aim slightly, and his heat saber cut straight through one of the GM E mobile suits that had been the unfortunate combatant closest to his approach vector. Though Carver generally preferred to attack from further out, this target had been too juicy. The blow was powerful enough to send the weapon completely through the EFF suit's midsection, emerging from the other side. As Darius jetted off, the GM exploded in spectacular fashion, causing several small pieces of shrapnel to ping off the side of Anton's own Rick Dom. "I'll see you, and raise you!" Vereschagin set up in a less-crowded portion of the battlefield and pulled up his suit's Beam Bazooka. The unwieldy weapon slotted into place, and locked onto the STS-14. A small meter began to fill, and inside his Rick Dom's cockpit a countdown began from 60. Seeing an opportunity, one of the three remaining GM E's turned and begin firing upon the Rick Dom with its machinegun. The bullets tracked across the Dom, scoring several light hits. Nevertheless, Anton held firm, making only small jukes in an effort to keep the Columbus-class within his sights as best he could. An explosion near the attacking GM caused it to break off its attack and momentarily retreat, as Lt. Church arrived to the fray. "Vereschagin, are you trying to get yourself killed?!" With his all-black paint job, Church was like a ghost amidst the combatants. The Zaku II R1 was hardly an advanced machine compared to the Rick Doms, but it still permitted Church the ability to defeat his enemy. Especially when it was as overmatched, unnerved, and generally distraught as these GM pilots were. Grabbing his heat hawk in one hand, he quickly approached another combatant. Two swipes brought nothing but space, though the scrambling GM could do little besides dash backwards. Right into the line of fire of John's bazooka. The weapon loosed its payload, boring into the GM's upper chest before detonating. As the explosion cleared, there was nothing left of the Federation suit's entire upper half. Meanwhile, Darius Carver moved about the battlefield with impunity. He quickly approached the one remaining GM that attempted to defend the STS-14, wondering about the location of the other EFF suit. Even as his mind wandered slightly, the GM cut at him with its beam saber. A valiant pilot defending the Columbus-class against impossible odds, he was rewarded as he cut deeply into the Rick Dom's leg. Then the world went white – his sensors overloaded by the Rick Dom's scattering beam gun. Once more, Darius's hands flew across his controls, and his Rick Dom swung its heat saber in a tight arc. Again, the weapon bisected its target, and Darius kicked away the split pieces of the Federation suit, even as its reactor began to go critical - sending the suit up in a blazing fireball. In the distance, the fourth GM appeared a tad... odd. Perhaps it was the heat hawk that stuck from its chest. Three Zakus surrounded it, all three clamoring as to who had actually struck the blow disabling the suit. It was clear that each had simply chucked a heat hawk at the fleeing Federation soldier, hoping for the best. "They've been spending too much time with Vereschagin. Sheesh" Speaking of Anton... "Zero." The Beam Bazooka's energy meter had finally filled, and gleefully Vereschagin had pulled the trigger within his cockpit. Matching his actions, his Rick Dom did the same, unleashing a torrent of energy from the rare Zeon beam weapon. The blast struck the Columbus-class slightly off-center, causing a brilliant white light to flare up. As the assembled Zeon pilots blinked away the dots from their vision, they saw the STS-14, miraculously still standing. Sort of. Though it remained spaceworthy, it was stretching the definition of that term as far as it could possibly go. An enormous hole had been ripped through the starboard hangar bay, easily large enough to fit a mobile suit inside. Anton laughed at the sight. "What do you say I go in and say 'hi,' guys?" Before he could introduce himself, a burst of fire rocked the line of Zaku IIs, who had to a man turned to watch the explosion on the STS-14. One was riddled with machinegun fire, taking near-critical damage. "They came from... behind..." As one of his squad mates pulled the battered suit from the fray, the remaining 5 Zakus reformed their defensive line against the onrushing 19 Federation mobile suits from the Magellan and Salamis cruisers. In the distance could be seen the approaching trio of ships - they moved slowly, but approached far too quickly for John Church's liking. "Damn. They got back here faster than I thought. Ok folks, party's over. Let's pack up and go home." Incredulous, Anton Vereschagin flicked his comm. "You're not very good at joking, sir. This ship's almost destroyed. One more solid blow and it's history. We can't let them repair it!" Even as he spoke, though, the 19 Feddies began to bear down on the 5 Zakus, who had formed a small circle in an attempt to avoid being individually flanked. Several more had taken minor damage, and one particularly good shot from a Ball, of all things, took one Zaku's head clean off. "No, Anton. We're done here." Vereschagin was not happy, and appealed to Darius Carver. "'Come on, man. We gotta stay, right?" Inside his cockpit, Darius simply shrugged. Orders were orders, and so he followed Church's Zaku II as it headed for the distant Admiral Hipper. In the distance, the Tivvay-class lay down covering fire, keeping the GMs at a distance while the Zeon forces hightailed it to their carrier. During the retreat, the entirety of the Federation forces shot off the entirety of their available arsenal, causing several more minor damaging impacts against the Zeon, including one shot that somehow cut off Church's Zaku II's foot without damaging any other materials. 'Still, that's a fair sight better than losing the whole leg. I figure Lauren won't be nearly as upset over this one... I hope.' As the Admiral Hipper jetted off out of range, Blex Forer sighed and looked over at his deck crew. His forehead throbbed, from more than just the welt caused by his injury. "Could somebody get me an ice pack for my head? I have a feeling I'm going to need it." John Church - 10 VP gained, 1 days damage Anton Vereschagin - 10 VP gained, 2 days damage Darius Carver - 10 VP gained, 2 days damage Admiral Hipper - No damage Two sets of distinct footsteps were strewn across the inhospitable Sahara desert, their direction being the same despite the wide dispersions between them. Fortunately for the ground mobile suits, Mother Nature looked down favorably upon the Federation, though Emmanuel Salazar was quite certain it was the work of a higher being. Even without the presence of sandstorms, however, the giant sand dunes that the terrestrial suits treaded on proved to be a problem of its own. The mere weight of the metallic beings would cause them to sink into the sands with every step, putting a noticeably increased strain on the mobile suits. Overhead, the characteristic footprints of a Federation Depp Rog formed in the stratosphere with its creator flying lazily ahead of the innocently white formations. Two distinctly different aircraft flanked the bumbling beast, but at least one other aircraft was no where to be seen. A few kilometers ahead, a single Dish aircraft floated along in the atmosphere, looking for signs of trouble prior to their arrival at the target. More specifically, the Dish was helping to conduct a simple case of counter-intelligence, hoping to detect and help destroy a presumed Luggun in the area before the latter could inform the target installation of the Earth Federation's approach. "You sure there's a Luggun in the area?" questioned the offensive sergeant, noticeably tired of an apparent goose chase, "I mean, we're almost at the mine, and my boys haven't spotted a single living creature, let alone a flying piece of metal." The interruption broke Emmanuel's mental trance, and it sort of irritated him given the Fly Manta pilot's relatively rude behavior, but he nevertheless replied, "I'm certain, sir. If the Federation can afford to have Dish patrols, then the Zeon can afford to have their own." Virgil Hilts, taking this to be an indirect challenge to his authority, shot back, "You watch it, private. I am fully aware of what the Zeon can do." The Blue Destiny's pilot couldn't understand why someone would be offended by a simple explanation of logic, but he didn't press the matter any further; more important things required attention. A predetermined checkpoint had been reached, prompting Emmanuel to attempt contact with the third person instrumental for the plan to proceed flawlessly. Pressing a small button, he began speaking, "Obrien, I'll be sending the GM towards your position right now." A few seconds went by, then minutes without a response. Each second added more and more doubt into his head until he finally decided to confront his superior with a theory. With a sound of uncertainty, Emmanuel said, "Sir, I can't get a hold of Obrien. We should be within clear communications range with him, but something either happened to him, or there's been an increase in Minovsky particles." "I don't care about the why. I just needed to know you can't contact him," retorted the pilot, sounding perfectly calm about this change in plans, "we'll do this without him." "So she said that the baby was born last Sunday man!" exclaimed the Luggun pilot, his voice seemingly squealing from obvious joy. A small chuckle registered over the wired communications between the pilot and navigator, "That's great man! Shoot, at least you have a girl. I almost had a thing going with this one girl I met in college, but then again, I didn't think we'd actually go to war about this," replied the second airman. Letting out a puff of air in the form of a scoff, the pilot then added, "Yea, too true. And now we get stuck in this dusty ass backwater mine. We're the stereotypical guards of a weakly defended base that gets sacked!" Nodding, the navigator continued, "Yea, and all those reports of the Federation mobile suits getting past our patrols? Freaking commander has us busting this Luggun out around the clock. I have to wonder if the maintenance crews are even servicing this thing on a regular basis." The navigator gave a few knocks against the instrument panels with his knuckles. A moment later, a sharp set of beeps resounded through the cabin as the radar began showing a single blip on its screen. Not long later, it would process the identification friend or foe signal to be that of the Earth Federation. Running his fingers down the instrument panels, he navigator began transmitting, "RF-1 command, this is Eagle Eye 01, we have detected a single Federation aircraft in the area. Current heading puts it going straight towards you." "RF-1 command to Eagle Eye 01, that's a solid copy. The commander wants you to return to base," responded the mining headquarters. As the oddly shaped reconnaissance plane banked left to complete a U turn and return back to the mine, the navigator shouted, "Shit, another one just showed up, and it's approaching us fast. High tail it out!" Sporting a grin on his face, the Tin Cod pilot pegged the throttle of the fighter jet to the furthest it could go, dumping raw fuel into the plane's exhaust. The tan aircraft zoomed past the much slower Dish, compression waves forming at its nose until finally it broke the sound barrier. A double clap boom emanated from the plane as it continued gaining speed, its radar sniffing around the airspace for a target. A diamond seemed to settle down on a dot that seemed to get bigger by every second, and just then two air to air missiles were streaking through the clear sky towards the much slower Luggun. The Zeon aircraft deployed its various counter measures, but it only managed to fool one of the deadly creatures, allowing the other to impale and disintegrate its right wing with the missile's payload. The crippled plane began spiralling towards the ground, but a series of small explosions dotting the canopy of the plane preceded two visible ejections that ended in a comparable number of deployed parachutes. In any case, the Luggun was quickly dispatched, but whether the mine had been alerted to their arrival was still a worry in Virgil's mind. Deciding not to take any chances, Virgil ordered the Depp Rog to commence its high altitude bombing run on the mine, "Remember, hit the hangars." The crew on board the Depp Rog only chuckled to themselves, joking about how they intended to level the entire base to the ground. In the meantime, the accelerated time tables prompted the Federation mobile suits to begin covering vast distances using their boosters to gain respectable air time. Emmanual muttered a few religions rites to himself, hoping that the RF-1 mine's commander would be convinced to surrender to them. The Blue Destiny's pilot reminded his teammate, "Wait until the planes finish their thing, then we'll go in." "They're drawing them out, right?" asked Frank Williams who was still becoming acclimated to the new mobile suit. The extra armor on the GM Land Combat Type only served to relax an otherwise anxious mind. Giving back a simple confirmation, Emmanual could already see the battle in the air unfurl, the plumes from gone awry criss crossing across the sky. The two Dopps had stayed close to the ground to mask their approach until they decided to shoot straight up into the incoming Federation air wing and had succeeded in surprising Virgil and his wingmen. The Zeon planes attempted to lock onto the Depp Rog on multiple occasions, but their own missile lock klaxons made them reconsider on each of those instances. Breaking off into a separate path, one of the Dopps became engaged in a turning battle with Virgil Hilts and his Fly Manta C. However, the fact that he was carrying a large AG bomb, along with the fact that the Dopps were undeniably more nimble served to put some doubt in the outcome of this dog fight. Fighting against the G forces, Virgil yelled through clenched teeth, "Could use a bit of help here guys." "Roger that," replied the Tin Cod pilot as he shot down from above, squeezing the trigger to the four 25mm auto cannons. Not having been alerted to a missile lock, the Dopp pilot failed to react in time, pulling up only to have the shells impact the cockpit area. Virgil turned his head to see the Dopp plummet straight to the ground, making note of its completely blood stained canopy. The second Dopp was quickly felled due to sheer numerical superiority and the improbability that the amateur Zeon pilot could evade three separate missiles. A final explosion in the sky signaled the end of the air battle, and it meant that the ground forces were soon to be employed. Thunderous explosions dotted the mining compound, completely obliterating the hangar and two anti aircraft batteries surrounding it as the Depp Rog finished its bombing run. The Zaku's, however, were already well clear of the hangar and setting themselves up to down the Federation aircraft. Their attention, however, went to the two mobile suits that cleared the last great dune and were now raining down upon their position. With the AA batteries continuing to ineffectively down the pesky Federation planes, the Zakus turned their attention to the mobile suits. The Blue Destiny landed first, surviving a bazooka round thanks to its shield, while the GM LCT landed nearby. The Blue Destiny quickly jumped to the side to dodge another bazooka round, responding in kind with a hail of 100mm and 75mm fire. Riddled with several smoking holes, the Zaku IIF dropped to its knees before falling face forward into the ground. Emmanual scanned the rest of the base, seeing two Zakus running amongst the wreckage of the base with the GM LCT in hot pursuit. Realizing what was at hand, he quickly shouted at his team mates to cease following the enemy, but it was too late. The lone cannon emplacement in the base fired a single shot, impacting and obliterating the shield and the arm it was attached to. The GM quickly turned around to fire a slug into the base of the cannon, causing a satisfactory explosion that insured the cannon's destruction. Above the ground skirmish, Virgil was now attempting to negotiate the terms of surrender with the RF-1 mine's commander, but the lack of a reply was quickly getting on his nerves. Determined to squeeze an answer out of the Zeon, he dove his Fly Manta towards the suspected headquarters bunker with the intent of dropping the potent AG bomb on the structure. Just as the fighter bomber was starting its bombing run, a couple of AA shells clipped its wing, causing the plane to list to one side while detaching the bomb, making it veer off target. Even without a solid hit, though, the payload was enough to destroy more than half of the bunker and throw debris an appreciable distance into the air. Gaining altitude, the sergeant saw the Tin Cod pass its plane on the way towards the ground as it let loose its ATA missiles and also its 25mm auto cannons at one of the Zakus, hoping to distract it. As expected, the small caliber rounds and the titanium rods from the missiles bounced off the high tensile steel of the Zakus, but the Zeon suit did turn around to let loose a burst of 120mm rounds which the fighter jet easily evaded. The Zaku pilot would regret his actions, as a single metal slug shot a clean hole through the hip of the Zaku. Crippled, but not destroyed, the Zaku leveled its machine gun as it fell to the ground and fired a string of rounds at the GM Land Combat Type. Frank was surprised at the Zaku's persistence, managing to be struck by the machine cannon rounds, but his reinforced chest armor stood strong against the impacts. After dispatching the fallen Zaku with another shot from his rail cannon, he turned around just in time to see a Zaku coming down on it with an activated heat hawk. Too late with bringing up his damaged arm to parry, Frank had both his rail cannon and the rest of his destroyed arm taken out. He looked at the monoeyed suit with fear, knowing that a second slice would come before he could finish even reaching for his beam spray gun. Just as the Zaku was bringing its heat hawk to bear upon the chest of the GM, the Blue Destiny dropped from the sky, beam saber activated, and sliced diagonally across the Zaku. Unfortunately for Emmanuel, the Zaku would have its final wish in decommissioning the GM LCT. The GM simply limped to the ground, being supported only by the decapitated Zaku in front of it, the latter's heat hawk remaining embedded within the GM's body. Drops of sweat beaded down Emmanuel's face while he panted for a bit. A cold shiver ran down his spine as he tried to discern if the heat hawk had hit the cockpit area of the GM, but it was becoming more and more apparent that Frank wouldn't be emerging from the mobile suit. The girl's voice that had accompanied him throughout the battle was also now nonexistent just as the two remaining AA batteries ceasedfiring. All of a sudden, the area seemed quiet, the sound of overhead jets and crackling fires being the only sources of noise. Plagued with heavy static, a message played out in front of each Federation soldier's screen, "This is Major Hurston, commander of the Zeon RF-1. We accept your terms of surrender and have laid down our arms in accordance with the terms. I personally apologize for the late response, as it took a few minutes to repair our communications systems after our bunker suffered a tremendous blast." Virgil slammed his fist on the panel in front of him, cursing the Zeon commander for making such an outrageous excuse. But he was in no position to attack surrendering Zeon soldiers, and he proceeded to land on the relatively untouched runway with the Tin Cod not far behind it. Checking his side arm, he peered out of the cockpit to see various Zeon soldiers coming out with their hands held up, prompting a smile despite his recent bout with anger. Emmanuel Salazar - 8 VP gained, 1 days damage Virgil Hilts - 8 VP gained, 1 days damage |