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The African Union truck known as the Raidne plodded through the desert sands, it's occupants finding a cruise in the Sahara to be surprisingly relaxing. At least, until the truck began to jostle and shake, it's speed reducing and handling suffering. "Hey Jimbo, I think we'd best pull over and take a look." The man riding shotgun suggested, and Jimbo pulled the truck over by a wrecked building. The two men and a couple of passengers in the back all got out to inspect the vehicle and find out what was wrong. They weren't really sure until they heard a muffled thud from the front passenger side as Jimbo kicked the tire and muttered "Flat." "Bruce, get the spare." Jimbo grumbled, leaning against the fender as he scratched his head and surveyed the area. One of the other passengers brought him a tire iron and he began wrenching at the lug nuts. Bruce rolled the spare around to the front, laying it down as the flat tire was still secured firmly to the truck. Jimbo grunted and torqued with all he had, but the nuts weren't turning. "Must have sand in it." Jimbo said, seeing as it was the desert, 'sand in it' seemed like a good catch-all explanation. "Bruce, you try it, everyone else, we'd best set camp in case we can't get this tire off." Bruce, sweating profusely from his efforts to remove the tire, removed his African Union-emblazoned t-shirt, and continued straining against the tire iron. The sun was beginning to set, and Jimbo had returned with a canteen. "Take a rest, we'll camp here for the night." Jimbo said, handing Bruce the water. "Did you figure out where we're at?" Bruce asked, unsure if it'd be safe to attempt any kind of distress call. "It's Kayla, or what's left of it. Bombed out and abandoned now." Jimbo replied, glancing at the bent flagpole and scratching his bald head. He grabbed Bruce's discarded shirt, and before the other man could dispute, climbed and attached the garment to the flagpole. "What'd you do that for Jimbo?" "Just seemed like the thing to do." The pirates of black rock, feared Brigands of space no opponent would dare face them in battle but, today, they find a foe that can match even their might; paperwork. "You can't be fucking serious!" The Captain of the pirate ship "'Ol Jovie's Bones" spat at the screen from his captain's chair "we already transferred clearance to you an hour ago!" "It became corrupted in Minovsky particle interference" The stone faced Zeon official returned in a neutral tone. "The fuck!? There can't be any damn particles here, we're in the middle of space you ass!" The captain yelled partially raising from his seat "Just let us through!" "I'll thank you not to speak to a Zeon official in such a disrespectful manner." The Zeon retorted in his unaltered professional tone. "We will be boarding you to Validate your papers manually, please be ready to receive us" "Fuckin' bullshit bureaucracy" the pirate captain said visibly spitting onto the deck to the side of the captain's chair. "I'll also expect to see three forms of identification for your crew, this includes you captain" The Zeon officer said his eye twitching slightly. "we must verify that you are not taking part in transporting any unsavorable people" "Asshole" The pirate captain muttered. "and I'd like a tour of your cargo ba…" the Zeon added before being cut off by a flying chair impacting the screen and cutting the feed. Black Rock Pirates Fleet: delayed one day "Argh, anyone got a smoke?" A chorus of groans answered the guerilla fighter as the African Union truck Molpe bounced up and down on the dirt road. Even for an all-terrain vehicle, the lands of North Africa are harsh, as the men riding in the back of the Molpe can tell. The heat of the midday sun beated down on the truck as it drove forward. Dirt splattering everywhere as a dust cloud is kicked up from the wheels. In the driver's cabin, the man sitting in the passenger seat leaned into the map in his hands. "We should be at our location any moment now." "You said that an hour ago." "I mean it this time. Just look for some landmarks." "All I see is sand, dirt, and gravel. EVERYWHERE." "Then you are not looking hard enough." "And you're lost. About as lost as your mom when she went down on me." "Why I oughta-!" "Hey, is that a sign?" The two guerillas looked down the road and sure enough, there was a sign. It stood on a single wooden pole that is tilted in the loose soil of North Africa. Duchy of Zeon Customs and Immigration 2 kilometers ahead Buckle up for safety. It's the law. Silence fell upon the two men as they passed the sign. "Worst. Checkpoint. Ever." The Molpe pulled up along some makeshift tents in the middle of Zona Rosa. Devastation marked where the Zeon mine was. The guerillas hopped out of the back of the truck, weapons at the ready. As a whole, they stormed the tents, shouting as they go. After a few exciting moments, they all came back out. "Looks like they left." "Figures. They didn't leave any consumables either." "Forget about the food. Where is the damn bathroom around here? I've been holding this back for the past two hours!" "Uh.... I think you're standing in it." "What? ARGH GODDAMNIT. THAT. IS. DISGUSTING." Arianna's thoughts wandered as she stared at the watch bestowed upon her by her love, Bryce. It had been so long since the two had been together; it was nice to see him again. She let out a sigh as she moved her gaze to the monitors of her cockpit, the systems just coming on line as she prepared for her duel with one of the Federation GMPGTs. They were tough, but if she were to make her way back to Bryce she'd have to hold up. Edmund Blackadder sat in his cockpit whistling to himself as he sat opposite the tundra from his opponent. He grinned, from ear to ear, confident as ever that this would be an easy win for him. He loaded the clip into his machine gun and took aim. His shots went wide right as Arianna powered up and skated to the left, slamming the paint magazine in her own machine gun. She squeezed the controls of her suit tightly as she began to skate across the tundra erratically, snow and ice whipping around the legs of her suit as the thrusters created the airpocket that her suit seemed to 'float' on. Edmund grunted as his paint markers exploded harmlessly across the frozen ground, not being able to hit the elusive GM S-type. "Sit still!" He grumbled, grabbing his shield and his bazooka. The Gundam power jumped over top the GM S-type hoping to gain the advantage, landing some distance behind her. He snickered, holding his shield to protect himself as he aimed his Bazooka. The shooting solution began to flicker red as the back of her suit came into view. But before he could pull the trigger he saw the S-type slam its bazooka into the ground, using it to sling shot itself around in the turn and before he knew it she was facing him again. She almost squealed as she attempted the risky manuever; she couldn't think of anything else to allow her to keep from sliding off and losing control. She was slow to regain her bearings as her body still was not used to the force. Arianna shook her head clear and saw a bazooka round go sailing past where she had been. "He's not playing around anymore..." She abandoned her bazooka, brandishing her shield in front of her she sped off across the frozen tundra towards the Gundam, who in turn began running towards her. The two let bullets from their machine guns fly as they closed in, shields clashing. Edmund slammed the butt of the Machine gun into the torso of Arianna's S-type. "It's just a simulation!" She growled, pulling on the controls, sending the shield slamming into his unit's head. The sudden outburst broke the two apart, and she spun the GM S-type around, spraying the backside of the Gundam with paint rounds for the win. "You know if this had been live fire, you would have never won, little girl..." He grumbled as he relinquished his weapons. In a paint simulation her superior speed and mobility proved to be a great asset, but Edmund knew in real combat he wouldn't trade the durability and toughness of his suit for any thing. Arianna Saoirse: 6 VP Gained, 1 Day Repairing Edmund Blackadder: 4+1 VP Gained, 1 Day Repairing |