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It was as though god dropped a giant eggplant from the sky and forgot about it. Worst yet, under the intense heatwave common to this region of the world the crashed Gaw smells like a rotten eggplant too. The purple hull of the Morrigan stands out like a sore thumb against the jungles of the Phillipines. Like green ants swarming over dropped fruit, Zeon personnel continues their laborous task of abandoning the Gaw aircraft. Marina Nixie Nimue watches the work progress but her mind is longs for the security of the sea. She can hear the waves breaking against the island's coast and Marina can't wait to sail a vessel again. Somewhere out over the ocean is Schutzstaffel Xavier Brennan and Aldo P. Armistad. She will meet up with Brennan and she will not dissapoint him. Aurem Senaiha lets out a sigh of relief. After a moment, he zippers up and walks back to his GM Ground Sniper. The damn heatwave is getting on his nerves especially all of the warm water he's been drinking. It was hard enough tracking down the crash site of that Gaw he downed a few days ago. Normally it was good enough seeing the plane fall from the sky. But he just have to make sure. Back inside the relatively cool confines of his cockpit, Senaiha nudges the GM Ground Sniper forward. After an hour of probing, his sensors finally found what he was looking for. An eager Senaiha zooms in on the purple airframe poking out of the green canopy of the forest. Like a hunter that spotted his prey, Senaiha raises the long range beam rifle. He draws a bead on the Morrigan, taking steady breaths as he took his time to properly aim the rifle. The E-Cap is fully charged but is still only good enough for one shot. If Senaiha misses, he will have to break off to recharge. By the time he gets back, the Gaw may be gone. It is time. The trigger signals the release of the energy kept at bay in the capacitors of the massive rifle. Like a thunderbolt from the heavens, the beam flew across the land. Treetops burn in its wake and small animals unfortunate enough to be in its path were vaporized. The beam struck the Gaw on the mark. It took ten seconds of burning beam energy before the Morrigan explodes in a massive fireball. Senaiha gave a rare cheer in his cockpit. The normally quiet guy is ecstatic about his success as he watched the Zeon aircraft burn. Unseen by the GM Ground Sniper, a formation of Zeon soldiers pause in their trek through the jungle. Most of them gawked at the plume of fire that were in a few hours ago. Marina Nimue is more than happy to see it all go up in smoke. Aurem Senaiha - 3+1 VP gained, No Damage, Promoted to Private E2 Xavier Brennan - 2/2 VP gained, No Damage Aldo P. Armistad - 2/2 VP gained, No Damage Jane Sheppard doesn't know which is worse, the dead heat of the desert or the moist heat wave of the living jungle. She swats away at some insects before closing the hatch on her GM S-Type. For a test pilot of the Earth Federal Forces, Sheppard had been spending a lot of time in contact with rogues. Even today, she concluded a deal with a rogue and watched a valuable Lunar Titanium armored GM Ground Type walk off. Sheppard had to help the pilot understand what all the controls do. Ella, a female fighter loaned to her by Des Mielle, is on guard duty in her Dracken-E. Next to the small mobile suit sat a Type-74 tank with a GM off in the distance. Sheppard had learned alot from the African Union soldier from their meals together. They both share rebellious natures and steadfast determination. Sheppard is fighting a tragic family history while Ela is trying to be a soldier despite her medical deficiency. Perhaps fate brought them together to the wretched battlefields of war. What fate did brought, as it did across the entire Earth Sphere, was an ambush. The Type 74 heard the faint sound of mobile suit feet in the far distance. The GM turns around to investigate only to see a blur move sideways and the rapidly growing image of a bazooka round. Sheppard felt the explosion through the GM S-type. Even as the cockpit hatch locks into the place, the GM S-Type was lifting off the ground with the business end of the 100mm GM Machinegun swinging towards the enemy. Surprisingly, the GM is still standing after the bazooka round hit it took. Fire and smoke pours from breaches in the armor until it was finally torn in half from the heat saber of a second Dom. Sheppard puts the GM S-Type into reverse, distancing herself from the Doms. From the corner of her eye she spies Ela's Dracken-E using its small size to hide. She hopes the Type 74 is doing so as well. The GM S-Type threw a grenade at the pursuing Doms while trying to bring the 100mm GM Machinegun to bear. Suddenly, the weapon explodes as Sheppard's Reactive Armor took hits from a 120mm Machinegun. Marko Dresner slides to a stop in his Dowadge before firing off a Sturm Faust at the Federal Mobile Suit. He saw the GM S-Type dodge the warhead effortlessly. Off in the distance, the decoy Zaku II J is running to catch up. As Dresner's mobile suit team closes in on the lone GM S-Type, multiple pairs of eyes watch them but for different reasons. It was sort of funny to Jack Murphy that here he was driving a mobile suit with no legs while being stuck in a chair himself. The monstrous twin 120mm howitzers of the Gundam MPT elevate as the tank threads grind into the soft tropical ground. His target has finally slowed down enough for him to attack it with artillery. Murphy has no idea that his former lover is under attack from his target, but he worked diligently nevertheless. The auto loaders cycle the heavy shells into place as he double checks the ballistic math. Further away, another hunter is setting up his attack. Chef-turned-pilot Ernest Till listens intently to his radio while works the controls of his Zaku II K. Above him, the Luggun guides Till's aim with 180mm Artillery Cannon. Behind the poised Zaku II K, a Zaku II J stood guard. Till knew there is a Federal prototype wandering the region. Rumor has it that the pilot has liasions with rogue contacts. Now an opportunity presents itself to remind that Federal pilot that nothing escapes the eyes of Zeon. The first of the twenty 180mm shells loads into place in the breech of his artillery cannon. The Zaku II J fires a few more rounds before running out of the way. The shattered and broken body of a Dom bounces off the ground and slides to a stop several hundred meters away. Inside the cockpit of the GM S-Type, Jane Sheppard counts her blessings. The Reactive Armor protected her well enough to force the Doms to have to close in. They attacked her with heat sabers drawn and Sheppard was able to single out one of the Doms with her beam saber. It came at a price however, and Marko Dresner could see the toll wearing down the GM S-Type. At first the Federal mobile suit was keeping pace with the speedy Doms. But now it hesitates before each move. As the remaining Dom and Zaku II J move off to regroup, Dresner brings his Dowadge in at full speed with heat tomahawk drawn. Sheppard saw what should be the leader of the Zeon attackers rush her and she ran towards him with her beam saber drawn. "GOT YOU!" cries out two different voices at the same time but separated by kilometers apart. The thunderous recoil of artillery cannons shook the ground but is barely heard by the combatants. By sheer probability and chance, just as the GM S-Type and Dowadge leap into the air at each other, the artillery rounds struck. Poised with beam saber and heat hawk drawn, both Zeon and Federal mobile suits suffer direct hits from both long range attacks. The artillery rounds blew apart their mobile suit legs, sending their torsos bouncing across the battlefield. Back in the Zaku II K and Guntank MPT, the respective pilots each gave a cheer as they saw their rounds hit their mark. The sudden randomness of the event ended the fighting for the day. The two oblivious artillery units wanders off. The Dom and Zaku II J picked up the damaged Dowadge and half dragged Marko Dresner to safety. Half an hour later, Ela cracks open the cockpit hatch of the GM S-Type, relieved to see Jane Sheppard is well. Marko Dresner - 7 VP gained, Repairing 3 Jane Sheppard - 6 VP gained, Repairing 3 Jack Murphy - 2 VP gained, No Damage Ernest Till - 3 VP gained, No Damage |