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The snowstorms had ceased, but not before blanketing the Hudson bay with a thick layer of ice. It was a cold, yet serene spectacle, the frozen water blanketing the ground and water alike, sparkling in the sun before being crunched under the thick steel feet of advancing Zakus. "This planet is disgusting, even she fights against us." Sebastian grumbled, his Gundam advancing at the back of the line, surveying the strike teams moving towards Augusta. The waterway going into the base was completely frozen over, and their Jukon strike teams, as well as all of their mobile suit marines, were unable to engage. An annoying, yet small setback. The Federation interdiction fleets had left the area, and there was now no way for the bases meager defenses to defend themselves. They would be destroyed, completely. Marko Dresner and Esther MacKernan moved towards the fortress with Sebastian, their Gelgoog and Gyan each looking like misshapen underlings doing the dirty work of the mighty, Zaku green Gundam. While normally Esther would be engaged in some sort of chitchat or other ridiculous pursuit, the aura of the overpowering SS commander had silenced the mood. Marko was somewhat relieved with the change of pace, the serious man happy that the rather comedic G-Force had finally buckled down. Even the kittens aboard the Berkhalter were quiet for once. At the head of the line, Noelle led an octuplet of Doms, zigzagging across the frozen land towards the fortress. The base defenses had been quiet for a time, possibly due to the sheer quantity of Zeonic and Zimmad made steel moving towards them. Everett did not like the idea of attacking in a damaged Dom, one of her units arms already removed from the previous battle. However, the wheels of war were in motion, and it wasn't like she could say no. While the might of the G-Force and the A-Team lumbered forwards, two Zeon pilots were still chitchatting away. Far above the frozen Earth, Rhett and Cora were united once again, their machines sailing through the air and leading an impressive array of Dopps towards Federal airspace. "Never leave me like that again. Nobody knows how to ride my baby like you do." Cora muttered, audibly annoyed. "Phrasing." Rhett responded, chuckling a little. "What? I'm just saying Marko wasn't any good. He shot all his ammo so fast too, he couldn't even make it last five minutes." "Phrasing." Rhett said, the word muffled through fits of giggles. All in all, the two Zeon fleets descended on the small spaceport base like a swarm, despite the total lack of Alek Irusk and his underwater brethren, the ice serving as as much defense for the Federation as anything else that day. ~ Bryce and Arianna were enjoying a quaint lunch on base when the air raid siren went off. They had been expecting an attack more or less, but not one so soon. Pilots jumped up, running down the halls and for their respective machines. The two war weary veterans were not ready for battle this day, but they would have to fight nonetheless. "It seems like we're always rushing off to battle without being able to figure things out for ourselves." Arianna muttered, looking away as Bryce got up. "Yeah. Sorry." He answered. The two knew there was nothing more to say. The explosion of an artillery round in the distance brought them back to the matter at hand, and they left their lunchtrays, running off to war. Christina rushed down the hall, moving past the regular hangar and towards a bunker hidden in the center of the compound. She stopped, an MP giving her a set of classified orders. "What do you mean we're sending the Alex to space?! The enemy is right at our doorstep, I need to launch now!" She grumbled, in shock at her orders. "Sorry ma'am, you and commander Corini are to board the shuttle with the Alex immediately. We will hold the enemy off till you leave." Christina was amazed. She was the best pilot on the base, and they were sending her off to god knows where. However, her orders were her orders. She tried not to think about all the friends who would be dying here soon, and simply nodded, turning away from the MP and moving towards the spaceport. The Ginga was already being prepped. Tin Cods and Fly Mantas shot into the air, explosions from Zaku Cannons and the Berkhalter rocking the airfield as the fighters took off. Mobile suits moved behind whatever fixed positions they could find, but it seemed as though Lord Genomes gunners were capable of targeting one bunker after the next, never missing a beat. The veteran gun crews aboard the Dobday were excellent shots when there wasn't a storm pushing their shells offcourse. "Paruta, be advised, their C-88 may be carrying high priority cargo. Make sure it gets shot down." Sebastian ordered, quietly and authoritatively. Rhett responded with a ten four, muttering slightly as the signal was cut. "Who does he think he is, ordering us around. We've shot down more Medeas than he ever will." Cora said, frowning and moving the Dodai towards the Federation carrier. Dopps and Tin Cods collided, the Zeon fighters outnumbering the slower Federation craft. The Blackout would have no need to engage, the air battle would be over soon. A combination of AA turrets and Don Escargots being used as airborne gun emplacements kept the Duchy fighters away from the spaceport for the time being, but they could only hold for so long. Rhett downed the Medeas two escort fighters easily, shells spitting out of his MMP-80 and tagging the two. With practice and precision, Cora lined up the two, Rhett shredding one of the ships wings clean off with gatling fire. The Medeas left side burst into flames as it dropped out of the sky, hurtling to the ground and bouncing along the ice before coming to a flaming wreck. "What's that make, six?" Rhett said, trying to remember his Medeas killed count. He should have painted them on his Doms leg. The pair turned around only to be hit by several 90mm shells, the Dodai billowing smoke and pulling away instantly. "I got him! I got that blue menace!" One GM pilot said, happily congratulating himself. His mobile suit was torn asunder moments later, Noelle and the Dom line hurtling towards them. Arianna, Bryce, and the veteran Cold Climate GMs at the edge of the fortress opened fire, beam and machinegun rounds tearing into the enemy Doms. The Zeonic weapons were fast and their pilots excellent, but the GM pilots were experts as well, and a trio of Doms were cut in two by the beams. Bryce scored one of the kills, switching from railgun to machinegun as the enemies got closer. The Zaku line was somewhat behind the Dom line, frozen joints and jumpjets preventing them from moving at their full speed. However, as the Doms broke off to one side, Sebastian ordered the group to open fire. Machineguns and bazookas of all shapes and sizes rained down on the enemy positions, Marko and Sebastian adding their new beam weaponry to the fray. One of the arms was shot off of Ariannas mobile suit, and a pair of GMs were obliterated. One was caught in the reactor by Marko's beam rifle, exploding magnificently and knocking several allied mobile suits to the ground as it went up. "Good shooting Marko. Lets keep pushing." Sebastian said, coldly. One might wonder what could ever get such a man worked up. He looked into the air, a huge wave of missiles coming from the rear of the base. The Hillock in drydock was undisturbed, what with the Jukon teams being unable to engage. Brennan rushed his Gundam to the front of the line, its heavy armor taking the brunt of the missile fire and guarding Dresner and MacKernan. "Thanks boss!" Esther chuckled, firing a wave of missiles towards Federal positions. Bryce had just destroyed another Zaku when the missiles sailed into his mobile suit, hitting it low and taking out both of its legs. His machine crumpled to the floor. They would not be able to hold out any longer outnumbered this bad. It was then that they saw the smoke plumes rise in the background. The Ginga started to soar, higher and higher, moving towards the now Federation controlled stratosphere. "Paruta! Stop that shuttle!" Sebastian yelled, but by now the minovsky interference was too thick, and he could no longer reach the air teams. Tin Cods and Fly Mantas went down one after the other, but the Federation soldiers were not being killed fast enough. The shuttle was going to get away. Thinking fast, Arianna threw a smoke grenade and skidded her GM towards Bryce, picking up the fallen torso of his mobile suit and dashing off across the ice. She knew none of the Zeon mobile suits were as fast as her GM, and she wouldn't let the two of them be parted yet again. She was not worried about being captured herself, but she knew what the Duchy would do to a traitor like Bryce. While the two fled, the last of the base defenders were made short work of, the Hillock exploding as the Berkhalters shells slammed down upon it. Around an hour later, Tony Knight and his team finally made it to the fleet, the battle already over. His mobile suits joints had been totally frozen by the bad weather, and he had been unable to make it to the engagement on time. Bryce Hollerfelt - 5/2 VP Gained, Repairing +2, Injured 1 Arianna Elvy Saoirse - 5/2 VP Gained, Repairing +1 Alec Irusk - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Marko Dresner - 6/2 VP Gained, No Additional Damage Rhett Paruta - 5/2 VP Gained, Repairing +1 Tony Knight - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Noelle Everett - 6/2 VP Gained, Repairing +1 Esther MacKernan - 6/2 VP Gained, No Additional Damage Sebastian Brennan - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 2 |