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The buzz of activity around the Earth Federal Space Force's base of Luna II is greater than ever. Units prepared themselves to go on the attack against the Duchy of Zeon. Much of the war was spent on holding onto what ground they could. Now they can fight back. But retribution for the Earth government is still far away. For the men who will deliever that long awaited fury, it begins now. Another day at Luna II is spent in a violent exchange of paintball rounds. Except this time, low powered beam shots dashed across the empty void of space. Commander Patrick "Packie" Foley grits his teeth as he swung the GM Sniper II around. The mobile suit is not much different from his old GM Command Space Type but the big rifle it carried takes some getting used to. All in all, the british officer is glad to be back in a cockpit again. His recent conference call with Admiral Heiman didn't go well either. Victory on one front and defeat on another. What is he supposed to do? Clone himself. A burst of trace fire and paint splatters all over his shield. Foley spun around, twisting as he fires another beam shot. But like before the beam caught nothing. The commander of the Bollocks Fleet watched the Saberfish II spiral away. That reminds him, Alex Sentara is one of the few Saberfish pilots to survive the Orbital battle. The veteran fighter pilot was in grief for a while and Foley is glad he is flying again. Or whatever that maniac calls his- "SHADOW NO JUTSU!" screams a voice over Foley's headphones. "BLOODY HELL!" cried Foley at the assualt on his ears. But as his hearing took a direct hit, his eyes focused on his intruments. The contact that was the Saberfish II grew into three. "You cheeky bugger," grinned Foley," I read your BLOODY after action report!" With a flick of his controls, the GM Sniper II began reversing direction away from the Saberfish II. A pair of grenades floated away from Foley and then exploded. Sublieutenant Alex Sentara saw the detonations but they are too far away to do him any damage, even at the speed he was going. But then he saw that they are smoke grenades and not explosives. While more effective in atmosphere, the pyrotechnics did cloud up the immediate area around Foley's mobile suit. The Saberfish II is fast but it can't turn quite as well as a mobile suit. Sentara pulled up as hard as he can but his Saberfish II kept going. The Saberfish II jinxed around as he tried to regain control. Then the proximity alert sounded. The GM Sniper II is right there! Just a twitch of his control stick and Sentara's nose vulcans would be on Foley's MS. But even as Sentara started to fire, something struck his fighter. Hard. Even from a low power setting, the world became a spinning top from the beam rifle hit. Foley was about to do a second one for good measure until it dawns on him on how much trouble Sentara is in. A quick thirty seconds later, the GM Sniper II is cradling the powered-down Saberfish II as both Foley and Sentara return to Luna II. Patrick "Packie" Foley - 5 VP Gained, Repairing 2-1 Alex Sentara - 2 VP Gained, Repairing 2-1 If there is one thing that never fails to change the fortunes of war is weather. Depending on the musing of Mother Nature, the weather can transform an army of triumph into an army of beggars. It also goes the other way, by allowing a reprieve for a tired warrior. But in the case of Ion Bossa-Nova and Staff Sergeant Cray Arash Vermillion, the weather just made everything worse. "Why the hell-!" A speed bump as the mud bounced them in the seats. "-Did you-!" Something rocked them from left to right as they went into a wild spin. "-GAAAAAAAHHHH-!" Suddenly they stopped as the engine coughs in resignation. "Why the hell did you agree to a duel-?!" asked an angry Ion as she tries the engine again, "-IN THE STUPID RAIN AGAINST A DAMN JET FIGHTER?!!!" The engine sprung to life, lurching them from side to side as the Type-61 tank rolled through the European mud. The rain drops pelting their armor sound not different from the paintballs literally raining from their aerial foe. "I thought it would be good practice for you?" tried Cray as he used his optical scanners to futilely look for their opponent. "SCREW YOU!" Above them, Sergeant Scott Archer sighs as his Core Booster rose above the rainstorm. It is so peaceful up here, above the torrental rain. But a mission is a mission. Even if it is against a tank that can't shoot back. The most dangerous part of this duel is flying through the rain and crosswinds. He stalled twice already from the strong winds, forcing to abort his attack runs. Even in the relative calm at this high altitude, the Core Booster isn't responding as it should be. In any case, the nose of the fighter pointed down and Archer zooms through the rain clouds. The Type-61 is a shade of gray... hard to pick out from the color of mud but... A tank has straight edges. Nothing in nature has straight edges. Archer primes his Nose Vulcans but decides to use something else first. His mega particle canons charges up and three seconds later the low power shot erupts. The beam scorched the ground just a little bit off target from the Type-61, causing it to skid in the mud. Archer took advantage of this opperunity by letting lose with all four of his 25mm nose vulcans. In the space of two seconds, the gray Type-61 became a red tank. It wasn't going to go three times as fast however. Instead it sat there in the rain. Archer did a few more flybys then dropped a homing beacon into the mud next to the Type-61. He spotted movement over the tank as Cray and Ion climb out to survey the damage. The homing beacon would direct recovery crews to them in time. Archer is just glad he didn't have to deal with getting a 60 ton tank out of a ditch. Scott Archer - 5 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Cray Vermillion - 2 VP Gained, Repairing 2 |