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The Delphinus T minus 10 seconds to sortie Mission Status: Code Simmons "...Listen, you old geezer, if I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times-- there is nothing wrong with my combat skills. What? That? That's not my fault. Look, how many times do I have to tell yo- What do you mean that's where you found the DNA evidence? Yeah?! Well if I had the Gundam, NONE OF THAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED..." The shouting came from the open cockpit of the GM belonging to Petty Officer Marc Simmons. He hung out of the cockpit and shook his fist as he argued with a hangar engineer on the deck's surface. The prototype Gundam strode over next to the ready-to-launch GM command, Lieutenant Patrick Foley's unit, and peered over at the monkey-like Petty Officer. His voice reverberated even through the Luna Titanium shell encasing the Gundam's vital components. "Lieutenant Foley." "Kobayashi." "Is that Simmons yelling over there?" "It sure is." "Why are we sending him to the Komusai?" "Alright you two, you're under my command now--FIELD SENIORITY!-- and as long as we're using squad tactics, you will use the callsign "Gundam" when referring to me." Simmons grasped his control sticks tightly as he gave the order. Two GMs along with him shuddered as their pilots' control was momentarily disrupted. "And you can be... Well, I don't care what you call yourselves, it doesn't matter." Simmons chuckled, lost in his own world even in the middle of the battlefield. "Petty Officer, we really don't need ca-" "I AM GUNDAM!" Simmons interrupted, hoping he reassured the pilots with his firm, yet gentle leadership skills. "Simmons- I mean Gundam! Contact, 2 o'clock, Z- 5 degrees! Incoming artillery!" "Good, you're getting it. I mean... wait, missiles? Why are there missiles? They didn't say anything about missiles! Dodge the missiles!" The Delphinus T Plus 3 minutes Mission Status: Totally boned Explosions littered the space facing the Delphinus' sides as GMs and the Gundam fired into the explosive pests screaming towards the Gwazine's hull. Lieutenant Foley bit down and spat a curse at the incoming artillery barrage. "Damn missiles," he growled, "if it's not one thing, it's another. Kobayashi, you got a bead on incoming fire?" "Sir- I think the storm's almost over. Wait, is that a second barrage?" Kobayashi grimmaced and raised his rifle, intent on destroying every missile before it could reach the Delphinus's damaged body. The new wave of missiles avoided most of the Federation's firepower--GMs ran out of vulcan ammunition and had to take a break to reload their machine guns, while the Gundam's e-cap was depleted, no usable mega particles remained to be fire. They fired as soon as they could, but the secondardy wave had been timed too well for them to meet the missiles at full capacity. But then, it seemed as if the foremost missiles had met an invisble wall, and exploded as they zoomed towards the Delphinus. Machine gun rounds peppered the skin of the missiles from "above", Seaman Otaktai Lone Wolf's light armor GM fired down onto the incoming ballistics until he was out of ammo. The firing continued from all sides, but a few missiles passed through in a feat of logistical Darwinism, and if a ship had a mind of its own, the Delphinus would be remember an earlier event... The ship's hull was racked with explosions, armor panels collapsing in concert to the beat of the missile's force. "That the last of them, Kobayashi...?" Lieutenant Foley was careful to not get too optimistic in such a poor situation. "Yeah... yes, sir. I don't see any more incoming. Delphinus?" "Fuck off, we don't see anything," a high-pitched voice informed him. "Stay on guard until Simmons comes back. Hold on..." The voice seemed to move away from the radio. "...He did WHAT? What the fuck is wrong with him?! It was a very goddamned easy order to follow!" Otaktai Lone Wolf grouped up with Lieutenant Foley and Seaman Kobayashi just in time for them to share a collective sense of curiousity. The Delphinus T Plus 25 minutes Mission Status: Code Simmons "...Ow, stop hitting me! I said there was a fleet there, they were getting really close! It's not my fault you didn't think of that!" The marines stopped kicking Simmons as he lay on the hangar floor in the fetal position, someone who smelled like an officer was getting close, and officers usually meant business. Business that didn't involve killing things. Usually. Lieutenant Foley helped the battered Simmons up and sighed. He brushed off the front of his suit while shaking his head, starting to see why Simmons could only have mechanics who didn't know him or know which MS was his work on his GM. His GM, which, incidentally, was laying with its limbs postured randomly on the hangar floor. "Simmons, tell me what happened. It had better be a good story." "Okay, so it was like this..." The Dai Long T Plus 10 minutes Mission Status: N/A "It seems the barrage didn't deter the assault entirely. I'm not surprised. But it seems they've got very little force to spare. Captain Douglas, I believe we shall begin defensive maneuvers." "Aye Cap'n Wu. All guns, foire immediat'ly." Captain Sun Wu crossed his arms behind his back and stepped behind the captain's chair. His eyes were closed and his face was rather serene, but underneath that exterior, he was calculating all the possible variables remaining to them, all the paths left open, and beneath that, a seed of curiousity. "Captain Douglas, they're using machine guns." "Oh? How's that?" "They don't want to destroy us. This gives us a little aggressive leeway. Dren fleet location?" A voice called out from his left. "Two minutes away, visible via rearward optics." Captain Wu rubbed his chin and nodded. The Dai Long's remnants continued firing on the trio of GMs, but somehow, Simmons always knew where to dodge, and the GM pilots followed. It was infuriating. "Hey, you two!" "Uh, yes, 'Gundam'?" "That looks like a fleet." "Don't be ridiculOH MY GUNDAM IT IS A FLEET! We have to get away!" Simmons's GM began to turn around, but was stopped by the two others. "What about the Komusai, sir?" "Blowituprunaway!" Simmons turned around and fired at the Dai Long, and fired until he had no magazines left to reload with. The two GM pilots were too confused to follow his lead at first, but eventually, they, too, fired onto the Dai Long. The bridge, the engines, the sides-- all riddled with bullet holes. Simmons had turned around and fired his boosters at full thrust while ignoring the stress his body suddenly felt. He had already began closing the distance between him and the Delphinus by the time the Dai Long finally detonated. Sun Wu stared out the canopy peacefully. "So this is the end, is it?" He mused. "What will Jinyuan think?" He dipped his head in serene acceptance as the depleted uranium round shattered the canopy and all the crew's bodies were sucked out the gaping orifice, immolated moments later by the Komusai's expanding flames. The Delphinus T Plus 20 minutes Mission Status: Complete? Simmons's GM slammed into Patrick Foley's GM, crushing the frontward armor panels in his mad dash to get back into the hangar. He crashed into the massive chamber's floor while firing retroboosters, singing the shiny metal surface and nearly killing suited workers. He pulled himself out of the cockpit as his foot magnets engaged, and a group of marines in space suits grabbed his arms... Sun Wu: 5 VP gained, Killed in Action Marc Simmons: 7 VP gained, Repairing 1 Otaktai Lone Wolf: 7+1 VP gained, No damage Patrick Foley: 7 VP gained, Repairing 2 Issa Kobayashi: 7 VP gained, No damage The sun dawned on the Maltese coast, as the Fighting Mongooses made their way back to Malta. It was not an uncommon sight for several of the Zeon officers and soldiers aboard, for just a few weeks ago, Malta was captured from Zeon hands. It seemed like just yesterday for Ando Shoji as he reminised while observing his Shin Zaku II. He began talking to himself out loud. "Soon we will cleanse this island from Federation control. It is only a matter of time until we free the earthnoids from the clutches of the corrupt federation and the restrictions of gravity." he spoke clearly and conciselly, his hands taking comfort in his trenchcoat pockets. "Heh, in due time." responded Marko Dresner who overheard the heart moving statment. "Have you seen Private First Class Hollerfelt?" "No, but if he is anywhere to be found, it is aboard the Hochstetter."replied Ando, saluting his superior officer. "Right, of course. Thank you." he replied and then turned to Maria Berelli, "You are coming with me to scout on ahead." "How nice of you to invite." she replied sarcastically. "It's not like you would have followed my orders to remain on the ship if I had commanded you to." he retorted. The Fighting Mongooses arrived at Salina Bay, and an announcement of their arrival blared on the intercom. As soon as the Land Battleships made their way off the barges, the Liger lead the fleet towards the center of the island, where the fleet would be staging their siege. After twenty minutes, the fleet comes to a halt, and the ships get into position, forming a defensive line. Hangar bay doors fling open, and tanks roll on out to fortify their position. Mobile suits soon follow. As David Anderson forces his large mobile armor out of the Berkhalter, Duncan Keystone watches in amazement. His attention is not focused on the Adkzam as it is on the Gouf Flight Type. He was a Gouf connoisseur, and as such he respected all the varients for their vast differences. "They just made the best thing better." he commented to his squadmates. "Still to this day, the Minovsky flight system surprises me." Meanwhile, Maria, Bryce and Marko had managed to hop aboard a jeep and head into enemy lines to survey the area. It was a longer than expected drive, and a bumpy one at that, but the three pilots had to make sure they were not caught. Scouting was perfectly normal, but Bryce had ther motives for requesting to tag along. The jeep ceased its roaring after Marko stepped on the brakes. The three stepped down and pulled out their binoculars. "This should be a good spot. We are far away enough from the base to be undetectable."informed Marko as he lead the other to a cliff, shrouded in greenery, overlooking the Federation's base of operations. Bryce scoured the base with his binoculars, and his fears were somewhat dissolved. "It's good, there is no sign of her...bu she may be indoors." he thought to himself. "Not a lot about the layout has changed since I last remember it. That is good." commented Marko. "Alright let us return back to base, we got what we came here for." Maria and Bryce simply responded with a nod. Upon returning back to the fleet, they found out that everything was going according to plan; the forces have been mobilized and the siege would commence soon. From within the Liger's bridge, Ando glanced down at the Zeon personnel as they completed preperations, and he turned to other ship captains and strategists. "With Malta in enemy hands, the Mediterranean route would be completely closed to us? This tiny island was a vital feature in the defence of our Middle East position...and we must get it back." claimed Ando. Bryce Hollerfelt: 1 VP Gained, No Damage Ando Shoji: 1 VP Gained, No Damage David Anderson: 1 VP Gained, No Damage Duncan Keystone: 1 VP Gained, No Damage Marko Dresner: 1 VP Gained, No Damage |