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"Are you ready, Dresner?!" "Ugh, you don't have to yell, Lieutenant Shoji, I can hear you just fine over the radio. But yes, we're inside the Hillock's sensor range, they'll be firing any second now." Lieutenant Marko Dresner jerked the controls to restabilize the Dowadge's rocket thrusters, but not before turning down the communications radio's volume. "Sorry! I just get caught up in the moment sometimes! Hey, I think I can see missiles!" Lieutenant Shoji squinted at the cockpit monitor and tried to figure out whether the black dots he was looking at were missiles or birds. Contrails began to materialize behind them, confirming his suspicions. "Maria, Akane, spread out and move in. We're taking it down before it fire again-- And keep an eye on the damn missiles!" The trio of MS-09s dispersed and began evaluating the missile trajectories, anticipating the best opportunities to evade them, all the while checking and double-checking weapon systems and visualizing the plan. "ZAK MACHINE EAGLE!" Lieutenant Shoji's Dodai and Mobile Suit pushed forward, accelerating directly into the multitude of missiles' paths. He nearly ignored their presence entirely, relying on his speed and armor to get him through the storm unharmed. Missiles slipped past him, too close to change course, and homed in on the Mobile Suits skating across the water's surface. A cloud rised from the sea's surface, anti-missile algorithms aiding the pilots' machine gun fire. The few missiles that escaped the torrent of metal crashed into the ocean, spraying the Mobile Suits with the cold surf. "You can't fire those on me when I'm this close," Sho chuckled, "so I guess it's time to... OPEN ZAK!" With one final push, the Dodai approached the ship, and Lieutenant Shoji leapt from the aircraft's platform, readying his gigantic heat blades. With a humongous crash, he landed on the ship's fore, crushing the VTOL landing pads with his weight, and his axe cut through the deck into the lower levels of the destroyer. The ship's aft pivoted into the air, and it looked nearly as if it was about to sink into the briny abyss, but the hull leveled itself out, and Ando Shoji stablized his Mobile Suit. "Now all you can fire on me with are your guns! But before you do that, I'm going to cut them to ribbons!" He lifted his heat axe and began to swing at the guns, but as he turned to face the weapons, he was met with the sight of two cannons and four machineguns facing his Mobile Suit. "Hey, wait!" He raised his axe in front of the Mobile Suit's torso, and began to jump away, but the impact that rocked his Zaku and sent it into the water meant he was too late. Fortunately, raising the axe had saved him, but in doing so, it was destroyed completely. "How am I supposed to fight now?!" "Lieutenant, we're having a lot of trouble with the missiles, and Lieutenant Shoji wasn't able to disable the guns!" "We'll just have to make due. Akane, we're moving around to the rear of the ship, Maria, you cover us just in case they decide to start moving those guns." Marko was feeling tenser now, he had been hoping that Lieutenant Shoji would've been able to do more damage by this point-- otherwise, shooting down missiles from a static distance had been a waste of time, and in hindsight, their best choice would've just been to take it out from a distance. Regardless, the missiles had provided little challenge when they had first arrived full of ammo, but now their reserves were depleted, and they'd have to cover the distance between them and the ship. The guns were incapacitated as far as he could tell, the entire gundeck was glowing orange with the presence of a disastrous fire. If they circled around to the rear, they'd only have to contend with two guns, now that they were well within the missiles' range. "Lieutenant, we've got trouble, it seems they've still got some operating guns back here." Just as he had expected. "Alright, now's our chance, launch your gre-" "INCOMING! Two aircraft, why didn't the Luggun pick them up?" Akane picked up the Don Escargot's signals first, and the planes were coming in fast. They had been away from the Gilfaethwy for only a few minutes before picking up the sounds of combat on radio and the request of their immediate return. "Sir, they're coming in ho-" Maria was cut off as her Mobile Suit erupted in a glowing conflagration, engulfing the Dom in licking tongues of flame as a missile detonated inside its armor. Marko's jaw dropped, and he was unable to say anything, and just before the Mobile Suit's image was erased permanently, he saw a Zaku in its place. He felt rage and despair, but above all, he felt a sense of failure, punctuated with pangs of guilt and self-loathing. The burning anger subsided, leaving him feeling cool and hardened; the shock was now a balm salving his pain. "....Akane, we've got to finish the job. Let's kill these bastards." "B-but, sir..! I-i-i..." "AKANE!" "Sir!" "Ha ha ha! I love the smell of burning Zeek in the mornin'!" "Sir, it's night time!" "Shut yer trap and get back to that gun, dumbass!" "Y-y-yes sir! The Hillock erupted as the P&W Roice gas turbine, and all of its 80,000 shaft horsepower let out a final squeal as the Zeon Mobile Suits got their violent revenge, immolating the crew in much the same way their comrade was killed in her Dom. The Don Escargots were shredded by vulcans and rocket launchers, and then it was over. Ando Shoji rocketed out of the water onto his waiting Dodai, barely able to keep his Mobile Suit from falling over. The battle was won, a friend had died, and a Mobile Suit pilot had died as well, but Sho would never forget the weapon that had served him faithfully. Ando Shoji: 7 VP gained, Repairing 3 Marko Dresner: 7 VP gained, Repairing 2 The snow is coming down hard on the Federal Fortress of New Amsterdam. Ordered to be constructed by Nigel Ferdinand, it dominates the entire West Arctic territory. The fortress, despite its meager inventory, severely hinders the movement of Zeon units. Such a inconvienence will not be tolerated. It is only a matter of time before the Duchy of Zeon responded. Parked on the frozen tundra that serves as the foundation of New Amsterdam, a Type 74 vehicle sat vigilantly. The hatch opens as a member of its crew hops out into the freezing cold. Fumbling with his lighter and cigarette, the Federal soldier gazed over the icy landscape. He looks up and down the coast, the deadly cold water swooshing against the frozen land. Despite the hideously cold wind, the view had a thing of beauty to it. "Sergeant!" The man took a slow drag from his cigarette. "SERGEANT!" "ARGH! What the hell is it?!" demanded the Federal soldier, trying to keep his cigarette from going out in the wind. "We're getting seismic readings on the sonar system-." "Probably the damn ice and sea washing up against the shore again..." "Not this time sir, it's consistent... and metallic!" The Federal sergeant was about to tell the private that he is an idiot when his headset starts squawking. "Say again?" asked the sergeant with dread in his voice. "This is Echo Station 3T-A! We spotted Zeon ships!" cried the observation post over a kilometer away. The sergeant jabbed a shaking finger at the private. His voice shouts over the howling wind. "GET THOSE FRAKKING READINGS OVER TO HEADQUARTERS!" The Zeon land fleet "G-Force" rumbled across the frozen tundra. As the distant buildings of New Amsterdam took shape in the snowstorm, the Gallops peel away from the Dobday. The three combat land battleships take up positions around the coastal fortress. Bryce Hollerfelt got comfortable in the cozy pilot cabin of the Hildofr. Outside, a bundled up Zeon officer is waving guidance beacons at him. Following the directions, the massive half-MS/half-tank rolls off onto the snow. Hollerfelt can feel the change as the massive vehicle bit into the snow and ice. Once again, the pilot gave thanks that he is driving such a reliable machine. Someday, this machine will reunit him with his Arianna. He just knows it. The Hildofr moved off to take up a planned artillery position. From the deck of the Gallop-class Decimator, another artillery platform slipped out into the freezing cold. Onboard, Master Sergeant Alec Irusk smiled with anticipation as the warmonger followed his own traffic director to an artillery position. He came all this way for the taste of combat. This military brat have fought against all forms of discrimination against his family's past to be here, fighting for Zeon. Now the 680mm shells of his Xamel will show his resolve. "Git your damn arses moving or I'll toss ya like bad salad!" The booming voice of Private First Class Thorvald Siggurdson rung out like the loudest voice in a busy Irish pub. Mechanics and soldiers ran around the hangar bay of New Amsterdam like busy bees while the proclaimed Lutheran dropped into his mobile suit. "Ye hear thad lass?" asked Siggurdson to the EXAM System," here we be riding of ta dah gud fight!" A rather bewildered and flustered Private E2 Aurem Senaiha is helped into his GM Ground Sniper. He nodded absently as flight mechanics walked him through the powerup sequences. The dreams had been coming back. Aurem has no idea how he could have made it this far without Arieta. There she is, hurrying with haste to get her Land Combat GM online. The memories of his brother Xenos notwithstanding, this war has already taken away from him so much. There is no way he's going to let someone take Arieta away. Zeon may have arrived on the doorstep to the Federal Force's stronghold in the West Arctic, but New Amsterdam is not about to give up without a fight. The warriors from Side 3 are no different. Their journey brought them here and they are not going to settle for less than absolute victory. Thorvald Siggurdson - 1 VP gained, No Damage Aurem Senaiha - 1 VP gained, No Damage Alec Irusk - 1 VP gained, No Damage Bryce Hollerfelt - 1 VP gained, No Damage "Comrade Captain! We have an enemy contact... it's on a collision course!" "What's that? Confirm with Azrael and take evasive action!" Captain Aleksandra Beria ordered, giving the unknown enemy a death glare with her one piercing blue eye. The bridge was alive with commotion as each crewman scrambled to their respective tasks. Identify, evade, destroy, they knew their job and would never fall prey to such a foolish attack. "Azrael confirms, one ship, Columbus class, moving fast." "Set course to three-five-seven! Aim mega-particle cannons to the port-side!" Captain Beria shouted, her crew commenced the orders as quickly as if they had been thinking the same thing before she said it. With a subtle grace, the Lucifer's Fury slid to the starboard side, rotating it's cannons to port and firing on the Columbus just as it reached it's intended collision point. If sound could be heard in space, a loud 'pop' would echo in the wake of the brilliant flash of mega-particles. The Columbus, or rather the Columbus-shaped balloon, practically disintegrated from the sheer firepower brought to bear against it. Richard Banks looked on as the enemy decoy exploded, "Balloons? Are these the tactics of those who captured our battleship and killed Lieutenant Jinyuan?" He scoffed, taking a quick look at the men on the bridge of the Azrael. "Well, don't just sit there, search for the real enemy!" He ordered, adding, "And prepare my Rick Dom!" Aboard the Nebula III, the captain of the boxy cargo ship looked pleased as he surveyed the enemy position. "With all these balloons, I bet the enemy commander is quaking in his boots ready to turn tail and run at the sight of our 'fleet'. Prepare the Saberfish for launch!" His bridge crew was less impressed when they saw the Zeon Expeditionary Force move into firing range and begin deploying mobile suits. "Sir! They're not running!" The Helmsman shouted, his nervous yelp punctuated by a full barrage of mega-particle fire. 'POP!' A false Columbus fell victim to a shot from Caleb DeGrau's beam rifle. "A Balloon? Keep a sharp eye people, some of these are just decoys." Emil Myberg acknowledged the warning, and fired his bazooka into another enemy ship, only to see it explode into nothingness. "This was a Balloon too? Are there any real ships attacking us?" Nadia Adelaide's Zaku had moved away from the battlefield, meeting up with Laredo Veil who was scouring the combat zone with his Zaku II E's advanced cameras. Florian Cuyler was there as well, his Schnee Weiss randomly sending out a bit now and then to make an attack run. "So you're saying we can take it easy with them?" Nadia asked Laredo in a puzzled tone. "Yes, I've been paying close attention to these ships, and so far I can't find a single real one among them. There has to be at least one to control their movements, but it's obvious that this is a fake fleet." Laredo said, continuing his search for the real ship or ships among the sea of balloons. "I can definitely sense people on one of the ships, but the sheer number of balloons makes it difficult to pinpoint it." Florian said quietly, sending out a second bit to help narrow down the choices. Yoritomo Naizen's Action Zaku was definitely living up to it's name, flitting between the Columbus impersonators and deflating them with his heat hawk. 'POP!' One down, 'POP!' two, 'POP! POP! POP!' and three more with a few beam rifle shots. The Nebula's crew couldn't help but hear a loud popping sound in their minds for each of their fictitious allies that was destroyed. It wouldn't be long before what appeared to be a formidable fleet was proven to be a single cargo vessel full of fighter planes. Speaking of fighter planes, as the few remaining balloons began to burst, the huge doors of the real Columbus slowly opened. This was a red flag to Zeon spotters, and mega-particle fire zeroed in on the ship. The enemy attack buckled the hull of the Nebula III, it's cargo bays spewing Saberfish, launching them whether they wanted to or not. The tumbling fighters mostly collided or fell victim to enemy fire, with only three escaping what was beginning to look like some sort of evil blender exploding behind them. "We don't have the fuel to escape boys... Only one option left." The lead pilot said with a mix of despair and anger fueling his words as the trio of Saberfish made a full-throttle attack run at the Lucifer's Fury. Speeding past the mobile suit compliment, they were assailed from all sides by heavy fire. Almost there, the rear fighter erupts in a blossom of reddish yellow light. Closer still, the second Saberfish takes hits across it's wing and spirals away. With his last hopes pinned on ramming the enemy ship, the pilot lets out a fierce battle cry as he tries to force the throttle beyond it's maximum and enemy shots begin to rip away at his fighter. Mere meters away, his fuel tanks ignite and reduce the final Saberfish to tiny shrapnel, which ricochets off the Lucifer's Fury without so much as scratching it. Caleb DeGrau: 7 VP Gained, No Damage Emil Myberg: 7 VP Gained, No Damage Nadia Adeliade: 7 VP Gained, No Damage Richard Banks: 7 VP Gained, No Damage Florian Cuyler: 7 VP Gained, No Damage Yoritomo Naizen: 7 VP Gained, No Damage Laredo Veil: 7 VP Gained, No Damage |