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The ZMF Earth Resupply Fleet rolled hastily through the desert. Still regrouping from Odessa, the convoy knew federal forces would be in hot pursuit as soon as they narrowed down the fleet's direction of retreat. There was a small port town ahead, that would be the fleet's destination. As they pressed their advance, the rear-most Gallop signaled an air raid. "All units, full barrage skyward!" The Hogan's captain shouted, "We have to defend those supply trucks!" As bombs began to fall like rain, Gallops, Magellas and Cuis threw up an umbrella of weapons fire. Mobile Suits aimed skyward as well, firing on the bomber units. Several bombs still managed to get through, fewer still landing anywhere near their intended targets. As one Zaku shredded a Depp Rog, Thorvald swooped in from behind, riding a Dodai II, and gunning down the Zaku with his machineguns. "We're just not getting enough bombs through..." He muttered, looking ahead at the small town. "At least things are mostly going according to plan." The captain of the Hogan was shouting orders as fast as he could, trying to deflect such a heavy bombardment was impossible, but they had to hold out a little longer. "All supply units, Break off and retreat! We won't make to to the port now!" He shouted, ordering the tanks and Cui's to escort the trucks away as the Gallops and Mobile Suits attempted to draw the enemy's attention. "Sir! The supply trucks are making a run for it!" Thorvald shouted as he banked around to follow. "Let them be," Nigel's calm voice came in over the radio, "We'll take the Gallops now, and hit the trucks after. Marius, Slater, Seniaha, spring the trap." Suddenly, several federal Mobile Suits rushed out from their hiding places in the port town, covered by sniper fire and fighter planes. The Gallop commanders simultaneously issued the same order: "ALL UNITS FULL RETREAT!" "They're gonna make us run for this one!" Kyle Slater shouted, sprinting ahead of his MS team and opening fire on a trio of Zakus, one falling to his machinegun while the other two returned fire. A deadly red beam streamed across the battlefield, streaking from Aurem's sniper rifle to the bridge of the Newkirk. Aurem adjusted the beam, dragging it across the enemy land battleship until things started exploding. "One Gallop down, entering cooldown cycle." Aurem announced on the radio, his killing shot nearly overheating the GM Ground Sniper. A pair of Zakus pulled another from the burning Gallop, and the trio made a run for the direction the supply trucks had retreated in. They knew to stand and fight would be to leave their supplies and wounded men in that convoy defenseless. As the battle pressed on, the LeBeau was beginning to fall behind the other Gallops, it's forces too committed to the fight. Miss Hamon stared out over the battlefield, and without hesitation gave her command. "Send our Mobile Suits to help LeBeau retreat, we can't afford to leave them behind!" At her word, several Zakus and a single Dom launched from the Blauer Reise, making haste to the LeBeau. As the units from Blauer Reise reached the LeBeau, they came to the horrible realization that they were a rescue, not a reinforcement. All of the Zakus from the slower Gallop had been destroyed by the onrushing GMs. The newly arriving Zeons had no time to mourn however, and instantly threw themselves into the fight. Cima skating around the enemy in her Dom, making short work of a pair of GMs before singling out an odd looking blue GM. Laughing at the misfortune of the previous GM pilots, Cima made a mad dash for the blue machine, taking Thorvald by surprise and bringing her heat saber down on his left arm, slicing it clean off. She swung her suit around for a spinning slash, heat saber in her left hand, when suddenly she was stopped with enough force to nearly knock the Dom's hovering legs out from under it. "What the hell!?" She shouted in shock, looking ahead at the sight of the blue GM holding her suit in place with it's one remaining hand, gripping her left forearm tightly.The suit looked different now, nothing had changed, but it seemed... frightening. It's camera seemed to look straight at Cima herself, not the Dom she piloted. "LET ME GO!!" Cima shouted, igniting her thrusters and trying to pull away, as the GM held her in place and fired it's mounted guns into the shoulder of her Dom, then severing that shoulder with a sudden one-armed shoulder throw. Before Cima could react, a beam saber stabbed into the Dom's other shoulder, and slowly worked it's way toward the cockpit. Screaming, Cima slammed the throttle to maximum, her Dom kicking up dust and bouncing across the landscape as it struggled to it's feet moving at top speed. Humiliated, she retreated to the Blauer Reise. Her allies would not be so lucky, caught between Blue Destiny's EXAM mode and support fire from the rest of the federal force, they were mowed down quickly. Rushing in, Blue Destiny fired it's missiles at LeBeau, following through with a beam saber to the bridge and several machinegun shots to the engines. Like the Newkirk before it, LeBeau began to spew fire and explode. "Stay away from it!" Arieta shouted, stopping a GM from approaching the Blue Destiny, "Somethings not right." "Oh? Who died and made you a Newtype?" "You don't have to be psychic to know somethings seriously wrong with that machine." She said. "But he's between us and the enemy! They'll get away!" "That's enough," Nigel's voice interrupted the argument, "We've hit them hard, but we'll need a new strategy to finish them off." Nigel Ferdinand: 6 VP Gained, Fatigued 1 Thorvald Siggurdson: 6 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Marion: 5 VP Gained, No Damage Kyle Slater: 7/2 VP Gained, Repairing +2 Aurem Senaiha: 6 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Snow and ice pounded the arctic wasteland in eastern Canada. The storm masked the Hemlock and Elm trees native to Canada, and also the Earth Federation?s Augusta Base. As inches of snow compiled over mere minutes, Noelle Everett struggled as the storm provided resistance for her mobile suit. The Zeon pilot?s Dom easily hovered over the snow, but it was the wind that was the issue. Behind her, a Xamel followed, as well as her troop of marines, riding snow mobiles. ?Marines, stay back and wait for the fleet before you assault.? Noelle ordered, as she then whipped her long hair forward, slapping the screen. She then turned to the Xamel, while putting on her helmet. ?Provide Artillery support while I focus on mobile suit combat.? The Xamel pilot acknowledged the order with a simple head nod, and by the withdrawing the Xamel?s howitzer; acting as a possible metaphor. As the pilot was usually following the orders of Alec Irusk, being commanded by a woman was a new thing to him. Meanwhile Alec Irusk was leading a charge against the coast, in his newly acquired Z?Gok E, trailed closely by a Hygogg and two Acguys, all submerged in the arctic ocean. Alec?s new unit seemed appropriate, as his father before him, was in the navy. Alec remained stationed on the ocean floor, waiting for Noelle to act as the distraction. He struggled with the movement, as not only was his new mobile suit, not an artillery unit, but its underwater capabilities had him staggering. In Augusta itself, Christina Mackenzie was running simulations in her GM command. Her effort put into excelling was the reason she had higher than average accuracy. This caught the eye of her father, who had been working on mobile suit development with the Federation. As she sat in the cockpit, she spoke to the mechanics and technicians about her hometown being Libiot Colony, and other topics that could be categorized as small talk to pass the time. Just then artillery shook the hangars, as a round fired right outside the bay doors. The alarms blared and mobile suit pilots rushed to their units. Chris was the first one outside the door. As Noelle rushed the base, the purple silhouette of her Dom quickly stood out in the white snow. She quickly became a target for Type 61 tanks that rolled out, firing their cannons in response. This was however all part of the plan, as she easily maneuvered around cannon fire, doing turns and accelerating forward. The type 61s? cannon fire soon relayed their location to the Xamel pilot, who ripped them to shreds with howitzer fire. ?Take this Feddie cannon fodder!? Shouted Noelle as she fired her beam scattering gun, blinding the tank operators, and making them easy prey for her bazooka. On the Ocean floor, in the cockpit of the Z?Gok, Alec checks his watch and signals his men to move on forward. As they approach ever closer to Augusta, torpedo launchers catch wind of their arrival, and begin firing. The Hygogg clasps to the ocean surface once more, using its machinecannons to prematurely explode the torpedoes. The Acguys did the same with their vulcans. A torpedo managed to nail Alec, as he missed when he tried to fire his beam cannon to subdue it. He however got the hang of it, and destroyed the future torpedoes that would hinder their arrival. All four units then fired their rockets and torpedoes, aiming for mounted turrets. The explosions alert GMs back at base. At this time, Chris had managed to make it to the battlefield; behind her a couple GM Cold climate types. She pressed on forward to face the unknown assailant, machinegun in hand. A GM cold climate type rushed on forward foolishly, resulting in a point blanc shot from Noelle?s bazooka. After the explosion, the remaining GM cold climate type, fired his grenades effortlessly at into the cloudy storm ahead, hoping to take out the enemy Dom. This made Chris wonder why she didn?t get a grenade launcher attachment on her machinegun. Back at bay, Alec?s brigade made it to port, just as two Aqua GMs had gone skinny dipping into the ocean. The two GM fired their entire array of missiles and torpedoes. A large torpedo struck and Acguy, taking it out instantly, while remaining suits managed to avoid taking severe damage. Alec rammed an Aqua GM into the port with his claws, firing beam cannons in close proximity while doing so. The remaining Acguy manned up, firing vulcans and rockets simultaneously in vengeance for his fallen Acguy friend. Alec was used to the harshness of war, so he hardly let the loss affect him. The Acguy then punched the remaining Aqua GM straight in the gut, and fired the mega particle cannon into the cockpit, killing the pilot instantly. Meanwhile, the Hygogg had submerged to see a lone GM. ?Adam?! John?! Where are you guys? This isn?t funny!? shouted the rookie pilot, unaware that his friends were taken out. The Hygogg extended its long arms, dragging the GM to the ground, and scraping it against the ground. ?Mommmmmyyyy!? yelled the pilot, as for all he knew the monster from the black lagoon was abducting him. As the GM was drowned underwater, the Aqua GM pilot used the free arm to rip the GM in half like a rag doll. The Hygogg then resurfaced, only to be overwhelmed with machinegun fire and then grenaded back into the ocean. Meanwhile, Noelle was having trouble of her own. She was face to face with an experienced and determined pilot, and was making no progress. Chris fired her machinegun continuously as soon as the Dom was close by. The bullets tore through the Dom?s armoring, but did not do any major damage as Noelle danced around the shots in the dom. Noelle tried to fire back, but Chris would jump back, and evade any shots. Chris then decided to go on the offensives, taking Noelle by surprise, as she was focused on evasion. Chris rammed the GM command?s shield straight into the Dom, knocking it back, hoping she would be able to get a clear shot at it. Noelle did not let this happen, as she quickly took out Chris? shield with her Bazooka. Chris reached for her beam saber, and sliced the bazooka in half as she kept Noelle distracted with Vulcan fire. ?Looks like it?s down to close combat. Have does it feel to get pushed around by a woman?? asked Chris. ?That?s a good question to ask yourself.? Replied Noelle, confused as to what else to say. Noelle reached for here heat saber, as it seemed Chris was letting her. ?Touche.? Responded Chris. Meanwhile, the remaining GM Cold Climate Type was ready to interfere in the duel, and take out Noelle with his machinegun, but there was no chance that the Xamel?s pilot would allow this. A shot from the howitzer took out the GM?s shield, and arm a long with it. Had it not been for the storm, the GM would have been silenced completely. The pilot then once again aimed at the Dom, for a chance to take out the mobile suit before a second shot would be fired. This action was again interrupted, this time by the Xamel itself slamming full force into the GM, sending it flying into some unimportant facility. ?Sergeant Everett, looks like the A Team won?t be coming. They may have been delayed by the snow storm.? ?Very well. Retreat.? Replied Noelle, who was in the middle of a hardcore chick fight. She fired the beam scattering gun, blinding Chris and allowing for her retreat. The Xamel on the other hand, fired its Howitzer at the sky, signaling Alec and his men to retreat. As Noelle takes off her helmet, her hair gently falls over her face. She then notices gum attached to several strands of her hair. ?I?m going to kill whoever left Gum in my helmet!? she shouts at the top of her voice, as now she would have to get her beautiful long hair, cut short. Noelle Everett: 4 Vp Gained, Repairing 3 Alec Irusk: 4 VP Gained, Repairing 3 The peculiar thing about oceans is that at any particular point in time, one ocean can look like the other. Sometimes Nature will throw you a clue in terms of an iceberg or some other natural phenomenon. But to the sailors of the EFGF 2nd Naval Convoy, it all looks the same. The mix of naval and civilian sailors felt that the war and the world had forgotten about them. To the smart ones, this is a good thing. For the rest, each day is just a repeat of the previous. On the deck of the Hillock-class Gorge, two sailors were coiling a mooring line when someone called out to them. "Hey, shift's over! The mess hall is open too!" "About goddamn time," muttered one crewman as the other stretches. They began to walk to one of the hatches when the spotted another sailor carrying a tool set with both hands. "Our watch is over!" they yelled to him," c'mon, food is ready in the mess!" They saw the sailor nod in response and turned around to put the tool kit back. "You know, I don't think I ever saw that guy before," thought one of the two sailors outloud. "You probably won't recognize your own mutha," replied his friend," what we eatting tonight?" "Three bean salad." "Ah, the three B's: bad bowel bomb." Hans Bond actually heard that last remark from the two sailors before they disappeared below deck. Oh, the irony of it all, thought the secret agent. In the dark depths of the ocean, everything was in place. The four cargo ferries and their two escorts are unaware of the predators that spent the last six hours getting into position. Captain Marina Nimue of the U-77 Lorelay watched the large digital clock mounted on the bridge of the Jukon II. With a deep breath, she reached for the handie talkie that is connected to the ship's intra-communication system. "Engine room, bring the powerplant up to full power. Weapons, flood all torpedo tubes and prepar to open outer doors. Helm! All ahead full. Sonar? Position of the Federal fleet?" "Outer edge of firing range, captain." "Very well." A chorus of acknowledgements rang back at her as the Zeon submarine went on the attack. Marina had let the EFGF 2nd Naval Convoy sail past her for a reason. Now to open the next act to her play. What was a dull and normal change of shifts onboard the Hillock-class Valley became exciting really fast. The captain of the naval gunship turns around to the frantic shouts from his sonar crew. "Captain! High speed screws and heavy cavitations in the water coming from the rear!" "Sound battlestations for the whole fleet," barked the captain as he walked around to the sonar station," show me." "We're here sir and we are tracking them here," explained the sonarman. The captain nodded," Probably a lucky Jukon who wants to score something today. Okay, heads up! Contact Gorge and tell her we're going to flank this sonuvabitch. I want the rest of the convoy to proceed full speed ahead. Have the aircraft patrol cover them." "Torpedoes in the water!" Back on board the Lorelay Marina turn in her command chair as her sonar chief spoke up. "The two Hillocks just kicked the throttle open," he remarked with one hand on his headset," screw rotations just jumped." "I confirm that, they are coming at us," said one of the sonarmen. "Standby countermeasures, reload all torpedo tubes. How much time is left?" "Ten minutes, ma'am." On the bridge of the Valley, the captain and commander of the fleet is feeling pretty good about himself. The Zeon submarine's torpedo attack is improvised and was quite a clumsy shot. He has a textbook case of ASW operations right in front of him. His ship's own Don Escargot and Dish are lifting off and the aircraft on the Gorge should be in the air soon. Together, they will encircle, isolate, and then eliminate their Zeon attacker. Or at least, that's what the textbook said. Problem was, that manual is required reading in many naval academies. On the small cramped flight deck of the Gorge the flight crew of the ship's Don Escargot aircraft are hurrying through the preflight checklist. What they couldn't see or hear from the cockpit due to the sound of their engines are the silenced pistol rounds that systematically killed the Federal sailors in the hangar. The commander of the Don Escargot is eager to take off so the Dish surveillance plane behind him can get into the air. Oddly, he can't see anyone in the Hillock's hangar. He was about to radio the bridge when he sees a man run out with guidance batons. Relieved, the pilot of the Don Escargot began moving their plane out of the hangar. Unknown to them, Hans Bond had hooked cables and chains from the Don Escargot's landing gear to the walls of the hangar and the Dish aircraft. As the gunship moved forward, the lines went taut. Suddenly the nose of the Don Escargot slammed into the Gorge's deck, cracking the metal plating clear to the deck below. The Dish aircraft is yanked forward, crashing into the rear of the Don Escargot as ammunition spilled from crates. All of this metal bounces around the pitching floor of a ship in combat manuevers, inevitable mixing with the slooshing aviation fuel from an open valve left behind by Hans Bond. Zeon's master secret agent was barely able to throw away his stolen guidance batons and jump into the ocean with breathing aparatus in hand. The entire aft section of the Gorge exploded, turning heads around for miles. On the Lorelay, the sonar men threw of their headphones to protect their ears from the sound of the explosion. Marina was waiting for this signal. "Lock on firing solutions! Match bearings and shoot! Signal to the MSMs, U-53 and U-18 to begin their attack!" The trap is sprung as the Valley came under fire. The captain who wanted to trap his prey has just became the trapped victim. An ace Z'Gok pilot swatted the Valley's Don Escargot and Dish out of the sky with ease. In the middle of the confusion, Marina's second wave of torpedoes caught both Hillocks. Despite knowing that they are doomed, the two ships fought back as they launched torpedoes into the water. They would not survive the third wave of torpedoes from the Lorelay however. In the distance, the sudden elimination of the fleet's flagship and combat vessels left the cargo ferries blind. The aircraft that was supposed to protect them needed time to reogranize but they weren't going to get it. Goggs popped out of the water, spraying mega particle beams into the air as the torpedoes from U-58 and U-18 slammed into the ranks of cargo ferries. Depth charges and missiles from the Don Escargots and Tin Cods added to the confusion. A few of the transport ships tried to escape but are sent to the bottom by Marina. Lack a pack of wolves her Lorelay and the other Jukons ate up the cargo ships with ease. The last of the Federal defenders sunk with their charges, both contributing to the growing collection of wreckage on the ocean floor. It was snowing, once again. White powder dropped incessantly on the top of the Paragon, mechanic teams hurriedly doing their best to outfit mobile suits for arctic conditions. Some of them had seen battle in weather like this before. Cray and Ion were here, not too many miles away, when New Amsterdam was built, and they had defended it valiantly before it had been destroyed. The fleet commander, a stoic Lieutenant who had been placed at his post due to the lack of Nigel, Jarvis or Jim Irwin being stationed at the fleet, had decided that discretion was the better part of valor. They had thought to catch the Duchies G-Force off guard in northern Canada, before it could make its way down to the new battle lines in central America. However, they had not planned on the Duchies American fleet following them. Now some hundred miles from the Hudson, they were within range of enemy bombs, and the storm had reduced their visibility to almost nothing. Their aircraft and ground contingents were cut off from each other. So, in light of the poor visibility, they had planned an ambush. "You know I hate weather like this." Ion said, her complaining becoming about as typical as the tank teams incredible ability to survive anything. "Yes I know, treads freeze, you don't have to act frozen yourself." Cray muttered, peering out into the storm. He couldn't see a thing. The one thing the Federation did have going for it was a number of brand new Cold Climate GMs. Eight of the arctic models were stationed in a gully close to the fleet, along with Bryce and Arianna. They were happy to be together, but a little estranged after all that had happened recently. You couldn't just walk across a battlefield and hug without your baggage coming with, it had turned out. The arctic-refitted Land Combat GM and GM S Type sat side by side, the two lovers wondering when the tension would be broken. Higher up on a hill, Edmund Blackadder, Charles Gano and Thierry Mersault perched, along with the fleets other GMPGT and Guncannons. The heavier armored mobile suits would be the first to be seen in their current deployment, and hopefully they would be able to take the most fire. Rumor was that Zeon had finally gotten beam weapons technology onto their mobile suits, and the Gundam pilots did not feel quite as invincible as they once had. Charles was still getting used to fighting on land. After he had failed to save Hirsch, he needed a change of pace, and he was impressed with the power his new Gundam provided. However, terrestrial warfare was much different than aquatic warfare, much more static. And he had gone through little training since his redeployment. Thierry was a little nervous as well, being one of the least experienced pilots in the group. He'd spent months testing new models on Jaburo, but even the tank pilots in this fleet had been to over a dozen real engagements. Thierry's first taste of big warfare was Odessa, and he'd already been shot down once. He lit a cigarette, wondering what he could do to better asist the Federation. In the air, fighters and fighter-bombers circled around the 87ths two Medeas. Scott Archer was cut off from the rest of them, but he was okay with the lack of conversation. They were expecting an ambush, and he wanted another chance to perform. He'd only caught the tail end of the action at Odessa, and the young hotshot wanted a real chance to shine. The lot of them waited, blind but not oblivious, knowing the Duchy attack would come soon. Little did they know that, just a few miles away, their attackers were already on the march towards them. "Where the hell did Noelle and Alec go." Rhett grumbled, his Dom Cannon ahead of the main group. They were keeping particle interference at a minimum, so the A Team and G Forces differing divisions could communicate in the low visibility environment. "Don't know. Their teams got lost in the storm. We'll have to go without them." Lord Genome muttered, a cat mewing in the background behind him. "Just great. And here I wanted to say how much I love it when a plan comes together." Rhett mumbled. Esther chuckled, her Gyan walking alongside Rhetts Dom Cannon. The idea was to have the two of them, along with Noelle and a Dodai II, form a fast attack wing. However, the storm and the missing Everett had made this impossible. "It's alright hun. Just check out our new mobile suits. We've got Gelgoogs, Gyans, and all these ace Dom pilots behind us. We can't lose!" MacKernan was usually in high spirits. Except for when she wasn't. Hard to tell with that girl. "You stay away from my Rhett! I've heard stories about you." Cora yelled over the radio. She was above the storm, carrying Marko Dresner and his new Gelgoog towards the enemy air fleet. It was her first battle with Rhett where they weren't fighting as a team, and she didn't like it one bit. "Alright guys, lets cut the chatter. Genome, increase particle density, I can see the enemy Medeas up ahead." Dresner was all business, as usual. The officer had lost far too many men under his command, and his sense of humor had been scrubbed right out of him. "Roger that. Relay enemy coordinates to the Jukons and then set minovsky particles at battle density." Lord Genome said, the kitten still mewing behind him. "Lets hope your plan works, Paruta." Rhett picked up speed, his Dom skating across the Canadian snow towards the invisible enemy fleet. He was confident. As long as Amuro wasn't around, he knew nobody in the Federation could stand up to his Cyan Thunder. The first combatants to make contact are the ones who didn't have to deal with the snowstorm. High above the mobile suit formations, aircraft from both side collided together in a maelstorm of fire and metal. Alpha group surged forward as the Dopps race to close in with the Federal Tin Cods. They know their machines are better than their foes but they have only so much time to use it. Fuel and time is not a luxury for them. But the Federal Tin Cods had fought Zeon fighter pilots before and knew the limitations of their machines. They might be lacking on paper but experience made up for much of the short fall. The result of this is Marko Dresner flying into a ball of confusion above the snow storm. His Gelgoog Test Type braces itself on the Dodai YS as Dresner raise his beam rifle. But as soon as he was close to locking onto an elusive target, Cora would have to bank away to avoid an enemy attack. Things are not much better for Scott Archer. His Core Booster rush past the first wave of Dopps, leaving them for the Tin Cods. In the far horizon, Archer can see the shilouette of a Gaw. But the Core Booster is soon checked by a reserve line of Zeon fighters. When Archer finally broke off his pursuers, he came face to face with Dresner and Cora. Beam fire was exchanged as the two foes cross each others flight path. In the snowstorm below them, similar lights flash. There are more of them however. Altough they were expecting it, the beam fire startled Gamma group. The Doms and Cyan Thunder split apart as the momentum of the battle is yanked to Federal control. It took precious seconds for the first wave of Zeon troops to figure out where the ambush was coming from. During that time, the climate conditioned mobile suits of the Federal force unleash their weapons with great prejudice. Guided by Type-74s and their ground sonar equipment, the effect is extremely lethal. While Gamma team's high mobility units found cover and safety fairly quickly, the slower Zaku II Js and MSMs of Beta and Delta teams are not so lucky. Projectile and bazooka rounds add to the mix, tearing apart Zaku IIs and Magella attack tanks. Cray Vermillion's Type 61 coordinated the volley fire from the hull-down tanks. Concealed by the snowstorm, the relatively tiny armor vehicles are invisible from the wrath of the Zeon mobile suits. It is pretty good hunting for the Federal until something faster than lightning appeared at Bryce Hollerfelt's side. The radiation sickness from Odessa slowed him down, but even at peak condition there was nothing his GM Land Combat Type could do to avoid being clotheslined by the Cyan Thunder. Rhett Paruta spun his Dom Cannon around the falling Bryce and jammed the barrel of his 90mm machinegun into his side. The GM Land Combat type fell into the snow, smoking from its guts. Bryce struggled to stop his head from spinning while still amazed on how every status light went red from green so quickly. Charles Gano is the first to react to this threat. Paranoid about his debut battle on land, his GMPGT had been twitchy ever since they got here. Charles saw Paruta take down Bryce with minimal effort and in response emptied his 100mm GM Machinegun in one long burst. He got a few blasts Paruta broke off, his Dom Cannon's hovering ability allowing him to manuever faster than most. But the game is up as Charle's wild shooting attracted the other Federal mobile suits. Arianna Elvy Saoirse is the first on the scene, appearing by Bryce's side as fast as her GM S Type could go. Her 100mm GM Machinegun echoed her cries for Bryce. Thierry Mersault lined up the Guncannon HDT's Beam Spray Gun only to feel something slice into his mobile suit's arm. A heat tomahawk dragged down the Guncannon's arm with its weight as Rhett Paruta fades back into the snowfall. The fighting grew more intense as Edmund Blackadder jumped into the fray, the beam rifle of his GMPGT blasting. Suddenly, the gun is blasted out of his hands by well aimed machinegun rounds. Parutta slide the Dom Cannon out of the way as Esther MacKernan leaped at Edmund with the beam sword swinging. Despite the ferocity and stubbornness of the Parutta's Gamma team's push, there is nothing left to exploit the moment. Behind them are the burning wrecks of tanks and mobile suits. Despite their superior numbers, they came one after another in small groups and had fallen victim to the prepared defense line as a reault. It has been a tough day for both Zeon and Federal fighter pilots. Lessons are learned quickly and those who did not learn will never get the chance to ever again. No one knew which way the battle would sway but they fought nevertheless. A sudden salvo of heavy mega particle fire changed all of that. Lord Genome watches with satisfaction as the Gaw's antiair weapons broke the Federal ranks. Tin Cods evaded as the purple flying fortress plowed its way into battle. Scott Archer disengaged his Corebooster from Marko Dresner's Gelgoog Test Type as the Federal air force began to retreat. Scores of beam fire and missiles chase them as the Zeon air power prepare to rout the enemy But this change of fortune did not last long. Lord Genome finally recieved word of the misfortune on the ground. There is still heavy fighting below, but despite the losses done to the Federal force the Zeon attackers did not have the weight to break through. Disgusted at having come so far and so close to victory, Lord Genome issued the retreat order. Below them, Rhett Paruta was rallying his surviving troops for another push around the dug in Federal troops when he recieved the signal to fall back. The Dom Cannon snapped off the head of a GM CCT with a sigh. Tossing the body into the snow, Paruta calls the rest of Beta, Gamma and Delta to him. Like ghosts, the Duchy of Zeon fleet disappear into the white mist of the snowstorm, leaving the Federal force bewildered but still holding their ground. Rhett Paruta - 6 VP Gained, Repairing 4 Marko Dresner - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 4 Esther MacKernan - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Bryce Hollerfelt - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Arianna Elvy Saoirse - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 4 Edmund Blackadder - 8+1 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Charles Gano - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Cray Vermillion - 7/2 VP Gained, Repairing +3 Scott Archer - 7/2 VP Gained, Repairing +3 Thierry Mersault - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 3 |