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The bright skies over North America no longer belong to the Duchy of Zeon. The Earth Federal Ground Forces had fought long and hard for that, cumulating in their takeover of the Zeon fortress of New York. There is still work to be done to reclaim North America for the Earth Federation. But for the moment, the tidal wave of Federal soldiers and machines had begun to turn the region in their favor. So why is it that Lieutenant Jim Irwin all alone? Over the flat plains of midwest North America, the Medea transport Mississipi limps and then explodes. More like a water balloon popping than the death of a military machine, the transport broke into six pieces. Their flaming hulks set fire to the vegetation below. Lieutenant Rhett Paruta flew through the falling embers like a vengeful spirit. The pilot christened as the "Cyan Thunder" loooked on the falling debris with a solemn face. The Earth Orbital battle had been a brutal one. Fighting side by side with "Crimson Lightning" Johnny Ridden and Ma Kube, Paruta did his best to save as much as he can... ... But failing to save what was most important to him. Before his thoughts can linger back to the memories of the Shooting Star's crew and her captain, Paruta is interrupted by his radio. "Sir, this is Gamma team. We see no signs of other Federal units." Off in the distance, the rest of Paruta's Alpha team ate up the Dish like the tasty meal it was. The Tin Cod that was guarding the survelliance plane has been transformed into a half mile long black line on the ground. "Delta team, reporting in. Our patrol detected no hidden Federal units in the vicinity." "This can't be all of them," commented Paruta as he looks at his own sensors," keep your eyes open." "Lieutenant, this is Beta team," said the commander of the Jukon II-class Seaspray," we are detecting a fast moving object attempting to get feet week over the Atlantic. It's course seems to come from your position." "Beta Team, hold the target," ordered Paruta as he directed his Dom Cannon and the Dodai YS it is riding to turn around," we are on our way." The only good thing to happen today so far for Jim Irwin is the lack of flying mobile suits. It has been his policy ever since he joined up with the 42nd Brigade that he would not fight mobile suits. Other than that, today sucks big time. He had left the Mississipi, knowingly dooming it to the inevitable wrath of the Duchy of Zeon. Their failed attempt to take down the Viktoria Luise II can only mean harsh retribution. But it's as if that retribution ate up the Medea and now followed him out here. The Dopps of Beta Team swarms around his lone damaged Tin Cod. Irwin took one down with an expertly launched air-to-air missile. But the rest of the Dopps aren't going to be that easy. Already, the airframe on Irwin's Tin Cod show bullet holes from hits from Vulcan fire. The overworked proximity alert cried out once more into Jim Irwin's ear. He jerked his head around and through his cockpit canopy he can see specks on the horizon. Going by their contrails, they are heading for him fast. For a brief moment, Irwin allowed himself to hope that the inbound were friendlies. That hope soon died as Irwin spotted Paruta's Dom Cannon flying on its Dodai YS. At that same moment, Paruta spotted Irwin's Tin Cod. The Dom Cannon's 40mm AA Gattling burped hot metal as his MMP-80 90mm machinegun pumped bullet after bullet. The Dopps of Alpha and Gamma team now join the remaining Dopps from Beta Team as they converge on Jim Irwin's Tin Cod. He can feel the plane being shredded around him. It's like being stripped of your cloths while riding a motorcycle. But even as the Tin Cod dies around Jim Irwin, the veteran pilot did the one thing he had left. The Tin Cod's fuel tank ruptured just as Irwin's ejector seat clears the plane. The explosion was so massive that the primary parachute was ruptured and the emergency one only deployed 4 seconds before he hit the water. All this went unnoticed as the Zeon force watched the dying fires of the dead Tin Cod. After confirming that there are no other signals in the area, Rhett Paruta and his units return to the rest of the A-Team fleet to be ready for their next target. Rhett Paruta - 6 VP Gained, Repairing 1 Jim Irwin - 4 VP Gained, Destroyed 1 Injured 4 The Prince of Aargau sped toward Overlord 8 flanked by a pair of GM-E's, "liberated" from the Federation. It was once a Zeon mine, and if the Aargau's crew had anything to say about it, it would be again. "Sir! We're coming around the asteroid rockets now. Avoiding them should be no problem." "Good good, wait, is it my imagination or did that one's yaw control thruster just fire?" The captain asked, barely finishing the sentence before a massive rocket propelled rock blasted past. "What the? They must be manually firing them! Signal the overrides!" a crewman shouted, another across the room began typing madly as asteroids came closer and closer. "It's not working! Take evasive action!" The captain shouted, the ship lurching to one side as a rocket finally hit home on the engines. Ironically the disabling impact forced the ship to spin away from the remaining rockets, saving the crew. "Put me through to the mobile suits." The captain ordered, "We've taken a serious hit, I need you to reconnoiter the mine and determine if we can complete the mission in this state." The GM-E's responded, and moved ahead to get a look at their situation. Slowly drifting into visual range, they spied the base that should rightly be theirs. "I'm only seein the same cannon that was there before, you got anything John?" "Uhh... that's a negative, Bill, looks like they haven't set anything up. Wait, sighted a mobile suit, it's a Rick Dom!" John said, scanning his radio for any incoming chatter or indication it was friendly. "No IFF John-boy," Bill said, "can't take the chance, light him up!" The two stolen Federation MS belched flame from their backpack thrusters and curved wide away from James Radcliffe's Rick Dom, peppering it with machinegun fire. James dodged and weaved expertly, pulling out his own machinegun and trading shots. "I don't have time for this..." Radcliffe thought aloud, flicking the weapon selector over to 'scattering beam gun' and watching the charge light with one eye as he looped around the GMs, forcing them to maneuver closer together again. "Argh! Billy don't let him corral you like that!" John shouted, trying in vain to pull away from his wingman before they got in each other's way. "I'm trying! I'm trying! This guy's too fast!" James smirked as the charge indicator finally filled, and spun his Rick Dom to face the outclassed pilots. "I've got a schedule to keep you know!" He said loudly, firing the scattering beam gun in a blinding flash, both lightly damaging his enemy and hiding his escape. When the light subsided, the Rick Dom had vanished, leaving the two pilots with only one thing left to do. "Aargau, this is GM team, we cannot continue the mission, repeat, we must abort." James Radcliffe: 6/2 VP Gained, Repairing +1 |