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The Ice Cream Truck rumbled slowly into what had once been Alexandria. Broken walls, twisted weapons, wasted mobile suits, and the hulking ruins of ships were scattered in an area of square miles - miles of salvageable goodies. The Earth Federation and Zeon had moved on to bigger and better things, it appeared, and the ruins were ripe for the picking. Someone had to do the gleaning; scavenging was a part of any healthy society, after all! Most of the scavengers gave the Ice Cream Truck and its MS complement a very wide berth - even the mean-looking ones. Everyone was out for himself, and everyone knew that engaging Kuuro Konishi and his band of thugs was a bad idea. The Zaku Cannons and Xamel stood head-and-shoulders above anything that they had, in terms of quality. Kuuro sighed as they reached the site that had once been the base's headquarters - now a broken, empty shell. It was good to be the king. He had plans for Alexandria, and he'd be damned if a few rough-looking scavengers threw him off a good thing. Actually, on second thought, he'd be damned if the Federation or Zeon ever came back to reclaim this hellhole. [i]God only knows why they'd waste their time, though.[/i] He thought, taking another look around - not that he believed in God; it was just a manner of speaking. In any case, he'd cross that bridge if and when he came to it; that was the way of the rogue. That was the way of Juuro Konishi. He planted an old sweatshirt in the ground, tied to a piece of rebar. "I claim this piece of shit in the name of whoever wants to pick its fuck-ugly bones." Kuuro Konishi: 1 VP Gained, No Damage The men of Overlord 6 were on the tail end of the resupply chain. Sure, they send out a good amount of minerals to the Zeon cause. Their numbers, as far as profit margins went, were up to standard. But meals, mail, and morale were at an all time low. Even the officer in charge was chewing on a steak that seemed more rubber than flesh. His eyes sparked when he saw the approaching shuttle. "RESUPPLY!" The words echoed around the asteroid, throwing men out of bunks, rubbery food bouncing off the floor, and sugar drinks tossed like water balloons at the walls. A quick poll was made to see who would go out to bring them in, favoring a few veteran seregeants and a lucky youthful private. The green normal suits exited the air lock, practically salivating at their newly gained supplies. Beacons in their hands waved the shuttle in, and the veterans moved into the system with quick efficiency. The private, seemingly confused in his oversized normal suit, idled strangely in the middle. "Private! We need these stocks in quick, just what the hell are you doing?" "Something's wrong here.. the insignia is upside down! Resupply wouldn't mispaint one of their ships! They're anal about ours as is!" The shuttle picked up speed, noticing the 'break off' signals from the group of men, and surging forward. Blast doors closed quickly, sending the shuttle rapidly at them, as the men scattered like rats. The door did close - but the shuttle rammed into it, overloaded with explosives, punching a giant hole in the hangar. The fast assault mobile suit - Kampfer - dashed in, barreling through the hole and straight into a melee. The resuppliers had entered Zakus - and though dazed and caught by surprise - attacked the Kampfer with fervent desperation. Two rushed in with heat hawks, while a third loaded a 120mm machine gun. The Kampfer, like a god among insects, parried the heat hawks with expert precision. One strong cut sent the arms of one Zaku sheared off, then impaled the other through the cockpit. The verniers blasted, sending the intact mobile suit at its machine gunning partner. As the two collided, a pair of vulcans took out the thruster - leading to a chain reaction explosion that put the two out of commission. A fourth Zaku tackled the Kampfer from behind, as if unaware of its weakness. Inside, the terrified, enraged, yet woefully outmatched private attacked with its arms and legs. At only 15, he had not yet earned his weapons training - and with his instructors lying in a crumpled, dead heap - this was the best he'd do. The Kampfer dodged the wooden attack style, then with three swift movements, took off the arms, the legs, and finally cut through the Zaku in a vertical line. A wave of guilt splashed over Roslyn as she brought the beam saber through the private's body. Even victory would have its casualties. Roslyn secured her normal suit and loaded a fresh clip into her AKS-74U. She entered the installation, checking her corners, and moving through with brevity. It was empty.. something wasn't right here. She passed a second hallway before a feeling of complete dread fed through her. She turned around, and rushed for her entry point - but it was too late. A full squad of marines laid before her and her exit, grazing her face with a bullet before she ducked behind a wall. She placed her assault rifle at the corner, firing off a short burst of rounds without looking and tried to figure out a plan. Another attempt caused a bullet to tear through her hand, and soon she found herself at wit's end. She entered deeper into the base, looking for some way out.. and feel into a mine shaft. Her normal suit, damaged, sputtered to check her fall, and she slammed into the ground hard. But right before her.. an Agguguy! The mobile suit tore through the installation, sending the marines into panic to get out of harm's way. Roslyn just barely managed to stay conscious - the surface wounds she took already sending her into a dizzying state of mind. She taped up a few cuts in her normal suit, then kept digging all the way through to the hangar. As she burst from the wall, her damaged Kampfer was there, floating among the debris of the Zeon mobile suits. Not one to waste an opportunity, she switched units back to her blue assault unit, and went raged out of the base in a fit for survival; chased by AA machine guns and menacing asteroid rocket clusters. Roslyn O'hara: 4 VP 3 CP gained, Repairing 3+1, Injured 5 The members of the 44th, 35th, and 24th Airborne wings flew in one large formation over the jungles of South America. Each wing's respective Dish type aircraft had detected signs of an enemy fleet trying to cross into Federation held territory. By triangulating their position, they had more quickly been able to locate their prey. Now all that remained was to coordinate an effective attack. "Looks like several large objects under water... aaand two trucks?" One of the dishes relayed to the newly designated commander of the South America Air Force, who happened to be piloting a Jet Core Booster. "Alright, Snails, you're on the subs, pick the largest target and hammer the hell out of it," he said referring to the small flight of three Don Escargots. "Cods, you guys hit the trucks. The rest of us will be on the look out for mobile suits or other aircraft," he continued. With each type of aircraft's role now defined, they prepared to intercept the target, confident they could win the battle. Gilgamos Uruk woke with a start in the Pendragon's infirmary as an explosion rocked the massive submarine. A second larger explosion knocked him clear off his bed. He landed on the hard floor with a grunt as one of his injuries re-opened. What's going on here? he thought to himself. It wasn't like Captain Nimue to take hits without sounding some kind of alarm. Pushing himself upright, he briefly considered going to find out for himself, before he remembered his wounds and decided he would probably just be getting in the way. His Zock had been destroyed anyway. Situating himself back in his bed, he tried his best to roll with the following explosions so as not to fall out of bed a second time. At the bridge of the ship, things were starting to become heated between Marina Nimue and her newish commander Raven Tarasova. Further behind them, Alec Irusk watched both carefully for signs of something sinister. A glint of light flashed from both of the two women. Upon closer inspection, Alec noticed that both women were wearing some sort of strange spider emblem. Not caring to see what the result of their argument was, he quickly left the room to return to his quaters to better investigate the new symbol he'd discovered. Neither woman noticed his disappearance. "What do you mean they caught our detector units off guard?" Raven practically yelled. "We had them in while we were crossing the border. Less conspicuous. Who would suspect a couple of ordinary trucks of anything. From what I hear, guerillas from the AU frequently drive them around these parts," Marina responded. "No use complaining about it now. Launch the mobile suits!" She ordered over what was likely about to be a complaint from Tarasova. Akira Sasaki quickly surfaced her mobile suit and tried to find some dry land to stand her obviously non-marine Kampfer on. This was made easier by the two Samson class trucks constantly yelling for help over the radios. Akira saw a swarm of angry tin cods, constantly making new holes in the trucks, but overall, not doing terribly significant damage. Pulling out her shotgun, she blew two of them away in one shot. The trucks replied gratefully over the radios and swerved out of what was obviously going to become an area full of wreckage as the remaining Tin Cods and their friends the Jet Core Boosters began to swarm over Akira and the other two marine mobile suits that had just surfaced. Behind them missiles shot from beneath the surface of the water, destroying one of the attacking Don Escargots, narrowly missing the other two. The two sides traded shots with each other, mobile suits battling Tin Cods and Jet Core Boosters, Submarines battling Don Escargots, until at last the submarines won out, destroying the last Don Escargot. With their numbers thinned, hopes of destroying the submarines gone, and their weapons dealing minimal damage to the enemy mobile suits, the remaining aircraft made a hasty retreat to higher altitudes and safer skies, chased the whole way by Akira's shotgun. Beneath the waves, Gil Krundel snored happily in a drunken sleep amongst the wreckage of what was nec his Grabro. Despite all the rocking of the ship, all the explosions, and the clatter his wreckage made with each one, Gil had barely stirred. Even now that all way quiet, he merely rolled over, and continued to dream of cheap vodka. Akira Sasaki: 1 VP gained, No Damage Raven Tarasova: 1 VP gained, No Damage Alec Irusk: 1 VP gained, No Damage Gilgamos Uruk: 1 VP gained, No Damage Gil Krundel: 1 VP gained, No Damage |