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Specialist Naizen floated through an empty region of space, his computers telling him he was approaching his assigned coordinates. Or at least he thought it was empty until he saw Laredo Veil's Reconnaissance Type Zaku waiting for him. "Good. You're here." Laredo said as Yoritomo's Zudah drift closer. "Who are you?" Asked a somewhat cautious Yoritomo, who pulled out his bazooka, just to be safe. "A test for your new unit to break it, and you, into combat." Replied Laredo. Yoritomo began to feel a little nervous being out in the middle of nowhere, with no escort, and faced with a new 'test' from an unknown pilot. He recalled the ancient warrior that he shared his name with and thought, It's better than a non-combat test mission at least. "Use this instead." Laredo said, passing a Machinegun loaded with paintballs to Yoritomo. As he passed the weapon to his opponent, he also began to drift backward out of Yoritomo's immediate attack range and laughed menacingly. "I wouldn't want to damage that pretty new unit of yours." Suddenly filled with a more warrior like spirit, Yoritomo shouted "I'll show you what a warrior is made of!" Yoritomo immediately fired a burst of the machinegun toward Laredo, hoping for a quick victory. Laredo easily dodged and returned fire. The two circled each other firing volleys back and forth, accelerating to higher speeds, and never seeming to hit each other. Though they both used the same machinegun, Yoritomo was focusing more on not overheating his thrusters rather than conserving ammo and thus he ran out of ammo first. Laredo noticed immediately and closed the distance quickly trying to get a better shot. "This has gone on too long for my liking." Yoritomo said to himself while pulling his bazooka back out. "You're mine now!" Laredo shouted leveling his machinegun at the Zudah. At such short range Laredo didn't have time to react to Yoritomo's bazooka shot. The round impacted the Zaku's left leg, completely destroying the leg and altering Laredo's aim, sending the remainder of the ammo off into space. "I guess this means I win." Yoritomo said, pleased with himself. He turned his mobile suit around, preparing to head toward the Zeon Expeditionary Fleet and report his success. Laredo reloaded his machinegun, with real ammunition this time, and fired half of the magazine into the Zudah's head, destroying it. "But you still have a lot to learn." Yoritomo Naizen - 5 VP gained, Repairing 2 Laredo Veil - 5 VP gained, Repairing 2 Traveling through the center of Belfast, Ferusha Glaveen skirted building after building, ducking under bridges, and advanced on the Federation military compound. She had been entrusted by her Lieutenant to gather information on the last remaining strong hold in the European continent for a possible strike, but it was proving most difficult in the surroundings to get in unnoticed. The green mech tried to tip toe around corner after corner as she came into view of the base. "Here we go..." The young patriot allowed a smile as her Zaku II's mono eye zoomed in, bringing the front entrance of Belfast into view on her cockpit screen. Ferusha's golden brown eyes widened as she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach, her mind seemed to be trying to tell her something and a chill ran down her spine. The MAF Newtype dropped her suit from view, just catching a glimpse of several gundams patrolling the area. "Maybe this task requires some reconsideration, Ferusha..." She muttered to herself as she looked for a way out. The Zaku II began to crawl its way back through its city, weaving its way in and out of the buildings and city blocks as retreat seemed to be the better idea. As much as it pained the faithful MAF pilot, she made it to the outskirts of the town, and was on her way to report her failure to her superiors. Ferusha Glaveen: 2 VP Gained, No Damage Tonight Granada was quiet. Its usual hustle and bustle had dissipated, ships having already left for Side 3, or the front, or whatever their destination. The usual cabal of mobile suits designated for point defense remained in the abnormally large ship dock-slash-hangar, but even they seemed less alive than usual. Florian was both happy and upset to be back, somewhat relieved at the concept of coming home again, but at the same time upset over the timely delay of his reuniting with Siobahn. He had been called to the corner of the hangar where Flanagans personal research units were kept. A huge green mobile armor, with a gold star on its forehead, was the pride of the display. However, only Flanagans best pilot was allowed to deploy in the Elmeth, an honor that was only bestowed on those much more gifted than Florian. Still, even the reserved Cuyler went wide eyed when he saw what was in store for him. Siobahn would be very happy. A number of mechanics and scientists were already working on it, applying brainwave data from Florians last several sorties to fine-tuning the bits. There were nine of them, protruding from the rear of an enormous appendage that was held in place by cables from the ceiling. A scientist walked up to Florian and the two guards, who had been keeping an eye on him ever since he arrived. It was normal for there to be guards when Siobahn was away, it was for his own safety. The scientist gave Florian a readout manual, which Cuyler read as quickly as he could. "I am doing well?" Florian looked up at the man and asked. The scientist nodded, a great smile on his lips. "Yes Florian, you are doing splendidly. And now you will begin combat testing of our newest invention. The very first mobile suit equipped with the Elmeths remote weapons technology. Of course it cannot handle as many connections as the Elmeth, and the power requirements are maintained by the carriers onboard reactor, but..." The sound of the man talking faded after a while, Florian merely looking up at the giant device before him. It almost looked like a great tail. With this, he would be able to make Kycillias dream of a newtype attack unit a reality. With this, he would be able to please Siobahn. Florian Cuyler - 1 VP gained, Upgrading 4 "Ahh, there she is... My dreams and ambition taken flight, home at last." Ghinius walked quickly through the hangars of Lhasa, welcoming home his creation. It was late at night, and the hangars were dark. A few small spotlights illuminated the gigantic mobile armor, Yuji Takeshi carefully exiting the cockpit in his flight suit. The Apsalas's cockpit opened at the very top of the mobile armor, and it was something of a feat of acrobatics to make it to the floor. Behind Ghinius walked his personal attendant and bodyguard, Norris Packard, along with a host of research scientists. The intention of the project was to create an orbital attack weapon that could destroy an enemy base without violating the Antarctic Treaty, and the flight tests on the Apsalas were now complete. It has undergone several combat tests of the Minovsky Craft system, and was ready for the second phase - weapons testing. Takeshi took off his helmet, the SS soldier goose-stepping towards Ghinius and raising his arm high in salute. Ghinius ignored him, moving straight to the mobile armor and staring up at the small Zaku head, its deactivated mono-eye staring listlessly back at its father. "Ahh... Just look at it... It is so beautiful." Ghinius started to walk around the room, doing several circles as if he were waltzing with himself. His psychotic tendencies had been known to the Duchy for some time, but he was from a very important family, and his ability at mobile suit design was admirable. Still, while he was a favorite of Ghiren, many in Lhasa did not trust or like their commanding officer. Takeshi remained at attention, allowing Ghinius to finish his daydream. "With this..." Ghinius said, stopping once again in front of the beast. "With this we will win the war." Florian Cuyler - 1 VP gained, Upgrading 6 Aurem Senaiha looked on as several furry animals climbed on and around his mobile suits body. The GM Ground Sniper had been stowed here for a few hours already, in the mountains of the Lào Cai province in northwest Vietnam just outside the city of Sa Po. Tons of dirt and downed trees had been laid on both his unit and his partner, Arieta Marius' mobile suit - the GM Land Combat Type. Both mecha were well-hidden, having been ordered to prepare for an ambush onto a nearby Duchy mobile suit-based artillery unit traveling through the area. Orders were to intercept, and to that end, Aurem and Arieta had arrived in Vietnam several hours earlier. Unfortunately, since their suits were running on minimal power to reduce their heat signature, this had subjected them to the full brunt of an extremely hot day without air conditioning, which had contributed to the growing pile of bottles in Aurem's cockpit. As Aurem calmly drank yet another bottle of water, he felt an empathy towards the animals outside, struggling to come to terms with their new environment. After all, if anyone could identify with an individual being displaced from their home and not knowing where to turn, it was him. Glancing at his monitor, his GM's cameras settled onto the GM Land Combat Type right beside him. His thoughts drifted towards his teammate, just reassigned back to his command earlier today. Aurem considered opening a short-range radio transmission to Arieta to check her status, but decided against it - after how terrible their "reunion" had gone, it was unlikely their conversation would go much further than that, and even if it did, he had no idea in the world what he would say. The pair had been together for several weeks now, and more often than not his thoughts as of late had left him confused as to what to make of their relationship. Ever since Arieta was assigned to his unit, besides being a very competent soldier the only thing she had done was try to get close to Aurem and help him open up, constantly peppering him with conversation in an effort to befriend him. However, when push had come to shove an old wound had prompted him to drive her away, hurting her deeply. Aurem had surprised even himself with how harsh he had treated Arieta, and even moreso at how affected he was by her. It had been a long time since he had been so emotional and outwardly responsive to another human being, forcing him to acknowledge that there was something between the. What that was, though, he had no idea. Arieta sat quietly in her GM LCT, eyes closed. She was emotionally drained from spending much of the day crying, and was eager for the present operation to be over with so she could retreat from what had become a very cruel world. Glancing over at the GM Ground Sniper, the thought of Aurem's face caused pangs of sadness to echo in her chest, threatening to overtake her once more. Fighting them back, she silently wished to break through Aurem. Arieta wasn't sure now if there was any real connection between, and found it hard to express even to herself what she wanted, but she longed for them to have something. Jack Murphy, however, knew perfectly well what he had. Although bad luck and unfortunate circumstance had conspired to tear he and Jane Shepherd apart in the past, a bond remained. Jack still felt a sense of duty, an obligation to watch over her. She had saved his life, once - he was going to do whatever he could to return the favor. Were he not confined to a chair, Jack would have surely leapt at the news that the Zeon artillery unit from the day before had been picked up by patrols. As it was, he simply spoke to a commanding officer and requested to participate in the operation. Permission to deploy had been easy to get; transportation to northern Vietnam, however, had more difficult than expected. The heat had taken its toll on exhausted flight crews and technicians, and navigating through mountainous forests with a giant robot was difficult to do without alerting the entire countryside of his presence. However, his teammates for this operation had already confirmed their setup hours earlier, and he wasn't about to let neither them nor Jane down. Jack's Guntank MPT continued ascending the top of a small mountain. He was about half an hour later than planned, but that was of little consequence. The Zeon units were to pass in the valley below, and from such a height it was fairly likely he would be able to get their attention. That's all he needed to do: lure the enemy into a battle, and his two companions hidden in the forest below would finish the job. Not that he wasn't going to do more, however. That Zaku had did some serious damage to Jane's GM S the day before, and he deserved the right to return the favor. Through fate and ferocity, after all, he felt he had earned it. The Guntank finally reached the top of the mountain, several trees its path groaning in protest as they fell. Below, Jack could just make out a trio of giant shapes far in the distance, marching in the terraced fields outside Sa Po. Wondering out loud, Jack checked his instruments. "These are our guests?" Sensors confirmed mobile suit heat signatures, and picked up on a small aircraft flying a few miles above him. Jack surmised it to be the detector plane reported to be traveling with the Zeon troops, and began calculating firing angles on the mobile suits below. Showtime. Ernest Till was enraptured. The interior of his mobile suit was painted exclusively in shades of green and gold, his monitors displaying hundreds of rice fields as far as the eye could see. The seemingly reckless tactical error to make his march through the long series of valleys scattered throughout Vietnam had, for all intents and purposes, paid off for the young chef. Communication to Zeon command had been sparse and inconclusive, and with no officers in his ear to boss him around, Ernest was free to dream about all kinds of culinary delights. Opening a channel to his squad, he told them as much. "Hey guys, when we get to Sa Po, we're gonna' have a big dinner! You guys are gonna love my pho, I make the best meatballs." "WHOO!" Till's subordinates exclaimed their approval. The group had already stopped to eat several times earlier that day, and any anxiety about possible enemy attacks had been wiped away by their leader's incredible cooking talent. As long as they didn't have to eat pre-prepared rations, they were more than happy to follow him to the end's of the Earth. One of those satisfied customers flew above, thousands of feet in the sky. Her Luggun aircraft soared, thoroughly scanning the diverse terrains below for enemy forces. Directly, it picked up on a large heat signature on a nearby mountain. "Sir, we've got a bogey confirmed about 4000 meters east of your location, over." This report snapped Ernest back to reality, as he halted his troop's march. Almost as if on cue, a pair of 120mm howitzer shells slammed into a field about half a kilometer away. Ernest furrowed his brow, attempting to determine the location of the attack. "Artillery? Does it have a spotter?" The Luggun pilot zoomed in on the Guntank, noting the demolished trees marking the path it had carved up the far side of the mountain. "No sir, it's a lone Guntank-type mobile suit. Other side of the mountain is real torn up, it might be trying to lure you guys over there for an ambush." "Roger that. Do you have coordinates?" "Triangulating...got 'em!" The trio of mobile suits received the firing data, and Ernest got to work. Punching a few commands in, his Zaku II K bent over and clutched the ground, digging in deeply. The mobile suits powerful 180mm artillery cannon raised into firing position, and Ernest took aim as another pair of shells exploded slightly closer to his group than the first round. "All right, guys! Any backup he has is on the far side of the mountain, and our Luggun should give us the advantage in a cannon fight. How about we force this guy to withdraw and head to Sa Po?" The Zaku II J and Zaku II K pilots cheered in support of this plan. "Yes sir!" "Aye aye, sir!" Ernest nodded. "Units 1 and 2, head towards the base of the mountain and get a better firing solution on him. Stay loose, we don't want him getting lucky and taking you both out all of a sudden. In response, both the Zaku II J and K types in Ernest's group began running towards the mountain, weapons drawn. "Okay," Ernest said, squeeing the trigger on his joystick. "Let's do it!" Ernest's first shell hit home stuck just in front of the Guntank, sending piles of dirt flying onto the treaded mobile suit. Intensely focused, however, Jack raised his turrets and fired once more. This attack attempt was moderately more successful than his previous ones, coming within 100 meters of the commander unit's entrenched position. Achieving the proper firing angle and velocity was hard to do without a supporting unit, but Jack had been faring relatively well, all things considered. A few more adjustments and he would have a lock on his target. Ernest's retalitory strike didn't give him that opportunity, however - a 180mm shell struck the Guntank squarely in its right tread. The explosive force rattled Jack's mobile suit and slammed him backwards. Thinking quickly, he strafed to the left, dragging the shattered right half of his mobile suit with it to avoid a repeat performance. Glancing down, he noticed the Zaku II J and Zaku II K reaching the base of the mountain, where rice fields blended into thick forest. Jack lowered his turrets and gave the equivalent of "firing from the hip," with no prior attack calculations. However, the two enemy mobile suits were well inside his minimum range, and easily ducked under the shells as they soared overhead. Aurem stared at the pair of Zakus as they approached the mountain. So far, so good, but it wasn't quite time yet. Not until... The enemy Zaku II K stopped, and kneeled to the ground. The mobile suit's left arm went to the ground as a brace, and the right clutched its own 180mm cannon. Its mono-eye sparked as it entered this more mobile and less accurate firing position, cameras zooming in on the damaged Guntank. Aurem yanked on his controls, and opened a short-range transmission to Arieta. "It's time!" "Got it!" The pair activated their GMs simultaneously, violently emerging from the rubble of trees and dirt that had concealed them. Aurem's GM Ground Sniper took steady aim with its GM bazooka and fired, the large round decapitating the crouching Zaku Cannon easily. Staggering backwards, its cockpit was then pierced by a round from Arieta's railcannon, killing the pilot instantly and igniting several explosions throughout the torso of the ruined Duchy suit. The Zaku II J retaliated with its machinegun, spraying several rounds at the couple. Arieta pushed her controls forward, sending the GM Land Combat Type diving into a kneeling position. The two mobile suits exchanged fire, Arieta destroying the Zaku's left arm and her opponent scored several hits on the GM Land Armor's upper torso and head, doing no significant damage to the former but ruining the sensors and cameras in the latter. "Aurem, I'm hit!" Instinctively, Aurem moved his GM Ground Sniper in front of his temporarily disabled comrade, scoring the killing blow on her attacker with the GM bazooka. The entire mobile suit erupted into flames in a large explosion, as Aurem glanced back at his partner. "I've got you!" Suddenly, a shell slammed into the GM Ground Sniper's shoulder. The suit's luna titanium armor proved to be of little use as the round shredded the appendange, causing dozens of hydraulics to explode into flames. For its part, the suit itself was knocked to the ground, and the bazooka dropped to the ground. Aurem yelled as he was violently tossed around in his mobile suit. Trying to regain his composure, he scrambled to draw his machinegun and stand once more, only to have a leg taken out from under him by a second artillery round. "Aurem!" Arieta screamed in horror as she felt the explosions around her. Shrapnel managed to pierce more of her cameras, leaving the GM Land Combat Type essentially blind as more and more backups attempted to come online. She felt absolutely helpless as her commander continued to take fire from the turreted Zaku Cannon. Grunting in satisfaction, Ernest took aim once more. He had given up on hitting the Guntank after witnessing the rapid destruction of his two comrades, and had turned his cannon on to the forest ambushers below. Gritting his teeth in frustration, he cursed himself for not noticing the heat signatures of those two mobile suits earlier - if only he hadn't been so distracted... Narrowing his sights in an attempt to finish the fight, Ernest squeezed on the trigger, only for the joystick to be yanked out of his hand. A pair of explosions sounded behind him, and both his Zaku's massive cannon and leg supports were blown away by 120mm artillery fire. In disbelief, Ernest's gaze settled back on the mountain in front of him, watching as Jack Murphy's damaged Guntank came roaring down the mountain. This tumultuous appearance was preceded by layers of dirt, trees, and fleeing animals, as the mobile suit allowed gravity to assist its descent. Jack grinned, and fired his cannons one final time - just as much to brake his mobile suit as to attack. The rounds sailed harmlessly over Ernest's head this time, and the beleaguered pilot drew a machinegun. He opened fire on the Guntank as it parked itself in front of Aurem and Arieta, but was unable to cause any significant damage on the well-armored Guntank. Shoving his control sticks forward, Jack raised both of his mobile suits hands and began a barrage of automatic fire on the helpeless Zaku. The large 105mm rounds tore through the air, shredding the Zaku to pieces. As his ammunition began to ran low, however, Jack saw the outline of several Zakus moving in over the plains several kilometers. Nodding, Jack opened a channel to the Aurem and Arieta, both suits finally able ot stand with the others assistance. "Looks like the Luggun called in reinforcements. Shall we go?" "Roger that. Are you okay, Arieta?" "Yes sir." A fairly neutral reply, although Arieta found it hard to fight back a smile. Apparently this day was going to end much better than it started. With the Guntank's ability to climb with a broken tread questionable, the trio quickly reentered the forest and began skirting the mountain in retreat. Very little remained of Ernest Till's Zaku, Jack's Guntank coming out on top in a battle that ended with the Zaku being a scorched torso. However, inside, Ernest himself remained very much alive. Disgusted with the battle, he wiped blood out of his eyes as his Luggun companion attempted to hail him. Aurem Senaiha - 7+1 VP gained, 3 days repairing, 2 days injured. Jack Murphy - 7 VP gained, 3 days repairing.00 Ernest Till - 6 VP gained, 5 days repairing, 3 days injured |