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OR The Paruta Maneuver New Amsterdam, a military base in the frozen, icy far north of old Canada, was not the fun loving city that its namesake had become. Winds howled over the base, which was in a constant battle to keep snow off runways, and keep the buildings properly heated. Mass climate change in the early 21st century, coupled with the slight orbital change post Operation British, had turned the weather in the Arctic into a much more severe version of natures design. It had stormed for days, weeks, with little respite. The clouds were dark, visibility was low. Getting aircraft above the storm was a challenge, but because of the Zeon fleet at their door, it was a challenge that they had to accept. There hadn't been any firing yet at all. Both sides stood silent, awaiting the inevitable. Cold climate GMs lined the southern gate, the northern bay and the port being assaulted by ice but not by the enemy. The cold climate GMs, advanced both in technology and in environmental warfare, were well suited to the storm, and were operating at full capacity, unlike the Zeon units on the southern ridge. In the air, a quartet of Medeas circled the base, constantly refuelling New Amsterdams impressive aircraft compliment. They had launched in a brief two hour break from the storm, and were now stuck above ground, the howling winds and pummel of snow preventing them from landing until the weather conditions improved. The Federations typical air superiority was unable to assist the ground, a strategy that EF commanders had relied on for the entire war. "Can you see anything?" Aurem asked Arieta. Their GMs had been refitted for cold climate warfare, but their visual sensors were still unable to penetrate the cloud of snow. The two ace snipers had been called to defend against a likely orbital drop, and were held back deep inside the base. "Negative.. I'm not sure how we're supposed to defend anything like this." Arieta sighed. The two were yet again refusing to talk about their personal issues, awkward love set aside for their duties in times of battle. Far to the south, the Big Tray class battleship Big Sioux rolled across the tundra, just in front of the southern mountains and forests that guarded the approach to the base. Below the storm a squadron of Type 61's, Cold Climate GMs, as well as Aaron McCaskeys GM LCT and Jack Murphy's Guntank rolled towards an enemy they could not see. A single GM Sniper lay perched atop the Tray, the pilot moving the suits arms and legs repeatedly to keep the joints from freezing. Above the storm, Jim Irwin led a brigade of mixed aircraft forward to relieve the tired pilots at the base. Jim, for one, was somewhat happy that the storm raged on, preventing him from any sort of a fight with enemy mobile suits. He was confident in his ability to rule the skies, and hated having to assault ground targets. Jack and Cray rolled on together, the two pilots nervous. Their units were primarily used to ranged combat, and the low visibility hurt them more than most. Ion was bitching about something or other getting frozen in the bowels of the tank, which Cray summarily ignored, as always. At the back of the line, McCaskey was nervous as well. The West Arctic fortress had done an excellent job so far in boxing the duchy into the Americas, and losing it would be a heavy blow to the Federation war effort. It was a weary, stormy day for all of them, and no one was particularly pleased with the situation. Between the two Federation forces however, one voice rang out, a spirit of a crazed vigilance ringing across the white plateau. "MEN! We are here to break the Federations stranglehold on North America! We are here to show them that we cannot be stopped! We are here to wipe their disgusting stain from this precious rock. We are here... For VICTORY! SHIN ZAKU TWO! SWITCH ON!" The red commander Zaku leapt ahead of the Duchy forces, landing in the soft snow and slicing a line into it with its huge double bladed greataxe. The snow melted and turned to ice, creating a very visible barrier in front of the mobile suit. "MEN, we are here to siege, and we shall siege. Not one Federation mobile suit will cross this line! Thus do I make my pledge to you, on my spirit as a warrior!" Shoji grinned, glaring ahead into the snow, even though he could see nothing. Behind him, a devastating compliment of artillery trained its guns on pre-targetted schematics of the base, Ferusha Glavadeen having scouted the bases interior weeks before. The Dobdays pistons shoved into the earth, holding it in place while the ridiculous mobile suit sized main guns aimed for their targets. Smaller guns aboard the two Gallops locked in as well, Bryce in the Hildolfr and Alec in the Xamel aiming their own weaponry. Bryce was having mixed emotions in regards to the assault. He seemed to have two loves in his life. One, for a Federation Test Pilot that he'd known long ago, a love he'd rekindled recently with the 9ths operations in South America. And two, a love of the Hildolfr. Bryce loved the Hildolfr. The gigantic mobile armor tank loomed over Ando Shoji's Zaku like an ogre, its gigantic artillery cannon a Homeresque club. This beast very much gave the term 'cyclops' its original mythos. The Xamel loomed close by, Alec similarly infatuated with his machine. Behind them, a very small assortment of Zakus, Goufs, and a single barely flying Gunship Heli protected the fleets ships. Marko Dresner stood in reserve with his team, awaiting the Federations counterattack. But that was not the only Zeon fleet assembled on this day. Far, far above the storm and the skies of the Arctic, a Duchy Zanzibar and two Musais moved into position, each Musai holding a single HLV re-entry vehicle under its curved bow. "Oooorange sliiiide~" Cora howled, her bad voice and mediocre guitar playing dominating the hangar. "Sponge's priiiiiide~" she continued. Mechanics ran for cover, holding their ears. Originally the idea was to make Rhett forget his impromptu space sickness, but it hadn't been a very good idea. "Spider! Sniper! Grunge haaamster lobster revenge! DANANANANA, DANA DANA YEAH!" "Ride on shooting star!" She headbanged to the tune. Dino threw an empty coke bottle at the airborne siren, the bottle slamming into her forehead and throwing the floating Cora into a spin. She stopped playing, causing cheers throughout the hangar. "Never do that again!" Rhett groaned. "Sorry boss." Cora sighed. Life with the 25th was always interesting, to say the least. The crew laughed, but immediately went back to work when captain Sealanders voice came over the comm. "We're getting ready for our final drop formation, everybody strap in, this is going to be bumpier than normal." The group floated around the bay, hopping into cockpits and preparing for their sortie. Behind them, pilots readied their machines inside the HLVs, and the towering Apsalus II mobile armor prepared for descent as well. Yuji was studying plans of the base, preparing for his attack run. The Shooting Star and the HLVs would merely act as cover while Takeshi delivered the killing blow. On the ground, the standoff was still holding, neither side willing to make an initial move and reveal their positions to the enemy. "Captain, we just got telemetry from Vina. They'll be on top of the base in ten minutes." The Berkhalters comm officer looked at the huge man at the bridge, petting an adorable one eyed kitten with an eyepatch. Frankie mewed lovingly, the huge man looking at his staff. "Very well, it is time to begin then. Lets show them that they cannot underestimate the power of the spacenoids. Open fire." Sunny's voice rang out through the bridge, deep, low and growling. The enormous guns throughout the fleet opened fire, sailing fairly accurately through the storm and blistering New Amsterdam with shells, missiles, and high explosive warheads. The hearty base rumbled, debris knocking into Aurems thickly armored machine but doing little damage. "The hell was that? How are they so accurate?" Arieta yelled, unable to see anything but a brief flash of light in the distance. "Should we return fire?" "Negative, we wait for the orbital unit." Aurem replied. The GM line stood its ground, CCTs holding their shields up to deflect the debris. Above the storm, a line of Dopps moved out of the top of the clouds, fanning out in a wide formation and moving towards the Federal air line. "Enemy aircraft sighted, engage at will." The captain of the 77th Commanded, the flotilla of Tin Cods turning to chase into the Dopps. However, as soon as they engaged the faster Zeon fighters banked in tight turns, immediately running away from the Federal aircraft. Tin Cods broke their formations, chasing the Duchy fighters away from the base proper. Dopps ducked into the mouth of the storm, staying in the clouds just long enough to change their direction before popping out again, trying to confuse the slower Federation fighters. To the south, Irwin saw the small green dots maneuvering in the distance, and picked up speed. "We need to catch them now, they're trying to distract the 77th and keep it preoccupied while they drop from orbit. Lets move people." Irwin pressed on ahead, the Sioux's aircraft firing a few missiles at long range while they pressed their engagement. Below, the Sioux and its GM Sniper fired on the enemy position, but poor visibility reduced its effectiveness significantly. In retrospect, the G-Force fired again, once again causing significant damage. New Amsterdams two heavy mega particle cannon turrets returned fire, one cutting into the side of the Decimator and slicing through its maintenance deck. The second turret missed, and was almost instantly destroyed by heavy HE shells lobbed by the Hildolfr. Explosions rocked the base, Aurem, Arieta and the defensive GMs holding their positions. However, one pilot decided that this sort of defensive reactionary plannning wasn't doing them much good. "T'hell with this laddies. I'mma goin' forward, ye c'n go with me or ye c'n stay here, I don't care one wee bit." Thorvald and the Blue Destiny leapt across the bases perimeter wall, charging for an enemy position that he could barely see. A single GM went with him, its pilot convinced by the impromptu statement. About a kilometer ahead, the Duchy line couldn't see anything, but Ando felt goosebumps run up his spine. Something was coming, he could feel it. He raised his arm, ordering blind suppression fire on the plateau ahead. Zakus and Goufs blasted away with their machineguns, random shells slamming into the snow all around the Blue Destiny. Ando stood stoicly and heroically in front, wondering what Federation monster could possibly make his senses worry so. "Blast this accursed snowstorm! I can't see a thing!" Siggurdson howled, machinegun shells pinging off his mobile suit as he advanced. He threw his hands up, angry at himself for having such an impulsive strategy. As he did so, Marion appeared inside the cockpit, holding his hands and looking forward with him. "Don't worry Thorvald. I can see them all." The Blue Destinies eyes flashed red, and it suddenly picked up speed, expertly dodging the invisible Zakus fields of fire. A bazooka in one hand and shield in the other, it ran towards the duchies G-Force, Ando Shoji bracing his greataxe and preparing to stop the demons advance. Above the storm, the Duchy Dopps maneuvered as best they could, but were soon caught on all sides. Tin Cods pushed down on them from the front and the rear, outnumbering them nearly three to one. The only place to go was down, and that was impossible, taking them straight into the turbulant winds of the storm. Jim pushed down on a pair of fighters, firing missiles and vulcans which cut into the small craft, exploding wings and cockpits falling into the black clouds below. "Ignore the rest of these, head over the base!" Irwin yelled, but his message didn't get out, minovsky interference already blanketing the entire area. A few Dopps managed to fight back, veteran pilots destroying several Federation fighters before being cut down themselves. Jim ignored those that remained, his own personal wingmen heading north with him as he watched the skies above, several large fireballs appearing in the stratosphere. "Sir, we're picking up four objects above us, can't tell which is which yet." The sensor officers aboard the Splizun watched in awe, trying their best to relay targetting data to Aurem on the ground. "Christ... How fast are they moving?" The commander asked. The descent of the objects in orbit was causing turbulance down below, the Medeas bridge shaking and groaning as atmosphere was pushed down on the ship. "Very fast sir... We're only going to get one shot." Down below, Ando faced off against the blue devil, Marion watching him through cold, metallic eyes. They were equidistant from the icy line Shoji had cut through the snow. Behind Ando, Duchy troops pulled off to engage the Big Sioux, which was coming quickly onto the Zeonic rear. The fighting would begin there soon. "Blue devil... Ogre of the Federation... I command you to stay back!" Ando roared, the Shin Zaku Two pointing its greataxe at its foe. Marion responded by firing a bazooka round, which Shoji deflected on the giant blade of his axe. "Very well. ANDO SHOJI, SHIN ZAKU TWO, IKKIMAS!" Shoji yelled, charging straight at the red eyed GM. Marion responded, Thorvald keeping a watchful eye as the angel did her work. The red Zaku ducked downwards, swinging the greataxe out at its enemy, but Marion saw the attack coming. She leapt into the air, firing rounds from the bazooka into Alecs Xamel, destroying its missile launcher and then its howitzer with a pair of well placed shells. Dropping the bazooka, the winged demon pulled out her beam saber, landing behind Andos Zaku. The two swung around, colliding blades before jumping away. "ZAKU TOMAHAWK!" Ando yelled, dropping the axe momentarily and connecting his two heat hawks. He threw them at the enemy, BD sidestepping instinctively before charging at him again. Ando grasped for his greataxe, but he was too slow, Marion slicing off the Zakus right arm. She jumped into the air again, swinging around and kicking the Zaku in the face, Shoji being sent tumbling across the snow. "Gee Miss Marion, I c'n sure get t'like this." Thorvald whistled, wide eyed as he watched the action. "Hold on." Marion ducked the BD, reaching her shield up behind her and blocking shells from the Xamel and Hildolfr, Bryce and Alec having moved forward to assist Ando. Shoji stood again, his red Zaku pulling a third tomahawk off of its weapons rack and advancing with its one good arm. "Ghh... By the glory of Zeon I will defeat you. ZAKU MISSILE!" Ando yelled, charging forward as he did. Marion looked up into the sky, the Blue Destiny pivoting and throwing its beam saber into the air. The remote controlled Dodai was pierced before it could fire its missiles, the already barely aloft machine crashing into the snow with a pink saber through its gut. However, Ando was still advancing. "YOSH! Take this!!" Ando cried, leaping up and coming down on the blue demon. At the same moment, Marion reached her right arm out, the Destiny grabbing Ando's heat tomahawk as it swung back towards its master. She split the hawk back in two, facing Shoji with an axe in each hand now. The two parried each others blades, the Destinies offhand swinging out and slashing off the head of the Shin Zaku Two. Another spinning kick slammed into Shoji's gut, this time knocking him out cold. The armless, headless close combat Zaku was left to be buried by the snow. "Lassie... I c'n hear somethin rumblin', what is that ye'think?" Thorvald looked around, the very Earth shaking beneath them. Marion swivveled the Blue Destiny around, slamming both heat hawks down on the Hildolfr as it tried to ram them. Bryce kicked the throttle into full gear, the heavy treads of the mobile armor pushing the Blue Destiny back farther and farther. Chest mounted machineguns and vulcans poured out of the Federal unit, Marion bracing her legs and trying hard to stop the armors advance. However, despite the amazing construction of Federation test units, it was not enough to stop the sheer mass of the Hildolfr. Elbow joints started to give way, sparks shooting across Thorvalds cockpit and glass breaking under the pressure. At the last second, Marion flung herself upwards, the now badly damaged Blue Destiny landing atop the Hildolfr. She grabbed her remaining beam saber in her one good arm and sliced, cutting off the Hildolfrs main gun and preventing it from bombarding New Amsterdam any further. Bryce flipped a switch on his console, a pair of machinegun toting arms popping out of the side of the mobile armor. One fired into the Destiny, Marion blocking with a limp shield before jumping off into the snow. "That one's too big, I can't stop it." "It's alright lassie, we stopped 'is shellin. Lets go'n take out one o' those ships shall we?" Thorvald winced, glass from the shattered cockpit digging into his gut. Marion nodded, ignoring Bryce to rush off into the enemy line. Hollerfelt tried to turn his armor around and pursue, but he had been fundamentally disabled, and were unable to intercept the Blue Destiny, which moved with purpose through the snow and ice. Alec moved to stop Thorvald, but his already beaten Xamel was stopped by the lone GM, the pilot emerging from behind a hill to assist Siggurdson. Taking out the new GM pilot would be easy for Alec, but he would have to deal with him before he could engage the demon. Meanwhile, beneath the waves far to the north, the Krakens moved through the icy waters and towards New Amsterdams northern port. "Doesn't seem to be much action here..." Hirsch said. He looked at his team. The Waterproof Gundam was capable of handling itself excellently on land, but the rest of the Krakens were not. "You stay here, I'll go reinforce the main line." Using booster rockets to jet out of the ice, Munchek and the Gundam came crashing down in the middle of New Amsterdam, close to Arieta and Aurem. He recognized the two. "Aurem! Good to see you old friend. Where can I be of assistance?" Hirsch asked happily. Aurem pointed his snipers arm towards the front. "Thorvald went off on his own, he's engaging the enemy right now." Aurem said. "I'm here on sniper duty." "What?? And your front line is just standing there?! Christ." Hirsch said, shaking his head. "Well, the Krakens will back up Siggurdson, it's the least we can do for all his help at Seattle." Munchek and the Waterproof Gundam charged forwards, leaping over the GM CCTs that were still positioned safely at the bases defensive perimeter. "Ion, I'm not getting any slack out of the treads anymore, what's going on!" Cray yelled, firing shells into the shadows in the distance. Both sides were blasting away at each other, blind as bats. "I told you, the cables are frozen solid!" Ion muttered, doing her best to keep the machine they were in from stopping altogether. Marko and his compaions returned fire, Zakus taking random shells from the tanks and pulling back, but returning fire wholesale with their machineguns. Both sides were only taking limited damage, unable to hit their targets in the snow. Two great blue Goufs emerged out of the storm, charging into the tanks and cutting several apart with their sabers and heat rods. The close combat oriented Gouf worked well in the snow, able to fight in melee where they could still see. "Have the mobile suits regroup on Cray's position, we need to take down those Goufs!" McCaskey ordered, firing his railgun into the blue monsters. One was hit in the shoulder, but their dodging was eerily accurate, expert pilots showing their skill. The cold climate GMs descended upon them, the insulated suits working well in the storm. Beams shot out, one Gouf being hit straight in the middle and exploding. The concussive force of the blast pushed the storm away for a few moments, and in those moments Cray swivveled his turret around. "There you are, ya blue bastard." Vermillion grinned, firing his pod-mounted hunter killer at the blue suit. It flew forwards, slicing a small hole straight in the Goufs cockpit. The machine dropped into the snow. "Whew... Glad they didn't get close to me." Jack chuckled, firing the main guns of the Guntank again. Shells slammed into the rear of the Berkhalter, the Big Trays own guns becoming more and more accurate as they closed the gap. Aboard the bridge of the Dobday, Sunny and his men held on to their chairs as the ship shook. Frankie, the little one eyed kitten, was still impossibly cute. "We can't take much more of this. Tell Marko to take out their damn artillery." the behemoth sized commander yelled. In the distance they could see a blue mobile suit leap on top of the Hochstetter, proceeding to do horrible things to the ships bridge. "Alright, Maria, we need to make a push." Marko yelled. Maria nodded, shouldering her giant bazooka and firing towards the enemy. Marko blasted forwards in reserve, the Dom and Dowadge skating in zigzags and kicking up snow, moving quickly for the Federal flank. "What is that..." Jack muttered, seeing a pair of shadows move quickly through the snow. He stopped focusing on his artillery, sliding the Guntank to the right slightly. He caught the glimpse of a mono-eye, and started firing wildly with his machineguns. Dresners Dowadge was hit in several places, but continued moving. Maria emerged first, firing her bazooka into the Guntanks treads and then cutting off the barrels of its cannons before skating past. Marko emerged second, firing several 360mm shells into the Big Sioux. Cold Climate GMs turned, firing their beam spray guns and chasing the two away. "That'll have to be enough.. Where the hell is Paruta." Dresner asked, angrily. Above the storm, the fireballs were huge now, the flames subsiding to reveal a Zanzibar, two HLVs and the Apsalus, all of them barreling down onto the Federation base. "Here they come..." Jim said to himself. They were only going to have a few seconds before the Apsalus opened fire. Aboard the shooting star, Rhett and the rest of the 25th were ready, their mobile suits connected firmly to the three Dodais. "Any time captain." Paruta smirked. As if to answer him, a green light flicked on at the back of the flight deck. "We're through the atmosphere, ships have stabilized. All units, launch fighters." Captain Vina Sealander commanded. The two HLVs opened up, five Dopps flying out of each along with the entirety of the 25th. "The fuck..." Jim said, astonished. He barely had time to dodge, rolling his Tin Cod to the side as Dopps let out a barrage of missiles and mobile suits tore into them with their machineguns. Almost a dozen fighters were hit simultaniously, Rhett causing the most damage with his shoulder mounted anti-aircraft cannon. The Zanzibars MPCs targeted the Flying Dutchman, striking home and tearing the ship apart in a single volley. "Jesus.." Jim said, but pushed on his throttle anyway, moving straight into the center of the Federation troops. Below the storm, Aurem and Arieta could see the shadows of the enemy units now, but had no idea which was which. "How the hell do I fire at something I can't see?!" Aurem yelled, pointing the LRBR up at the shadows but afraid to fire at the wrong target. "Twenty seconds to effective range... Eighteen... Seventeen..." Yuji counted down, the Apsalus II rocketing down in the center of the Duchies fighter screen. Jim flipped his plane in circles, dodging rounds from Paruta repeatedly. Rhett and Cora turned to advance on him, the rest of the team trying to ward off the dozens of Federation fighters attacking them from all sides. "This is like shooting fish in a barrel!" Genevieve cried, yelling GOAL to herself every time she downed another Tin Cod. But there were too many fish for her to see them all at once, and missiles from a Fly Manta slammed into her Zaku. The reactor was pierced, Genevieve and her unit exploding in a massive fireball. "GEN! ART!" Dino yelled, hand mounted machinegun shells tearing through the Manta pilot that had killed his comrade. Rhett bit his lip, trying hard to down Irwins plane as it descended on the Apsalus. "Ten... Nine... Eight..." Takeshi whispered, the cannon in the front of the mobile armor starting to light up and charge. Jim passed the plane, launching a flare out the rear of his fighter just moments before backdrafts from the minovsky craft system flung his plane irrevocably into the stormclouds below. "THERE!"Aurem yelled, the green of the flare visible through the thick clouds. He aimed his beam rifle and fired, the pink stream cutting through the thick clouds and slamming into the side of the Apsalus, cutting a considerable gash in it. However, it was not a direct hit, Aurem unable to target off of anything but the light of the flare. "Fire." Yuji smilled, pressing hard on his trigger. The Apsalus suddenly stopped in midair, a gigantic swathe of bright pink mega particles soaring out of the ball shaped armors front. The blast dissolved the storm clouds as it went through them, cutting apart the very blizzard. The storm opened up on all sides, the massive Apsalus and Zanzibar instantly visible to Federation and Zeon forces alike. The Apsalus's blast struck dead center onto New Amsterdam, the pavement of it turning red, then yellow, then white in a moments time. There was an enormous explosion, the very Earth beneath the fortress giving way and cracking in a massive quake. Entire bunkers were thrown into the air, the sea gobbling them up as well as the ice that surrounded the base, which melted for almost a square kilometer surrounding the fortress, forming a lake which prepared to absorb everything inside. Mobile suits were flung across the terrain, pilots slamming into the ground. The sheer force of the blast was enough to shock and awe both sides into ceasing their activities, the entire battleground stopping to witness the destruction that was taking place. New Amsterdam had been destroyed. Hirsch Munchek - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Injured 2 Thorvald Siggurdson - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 4 Injured 2-1 Marion - 6 VP Gained, No Damage Aurem Senaiha - 6/2 VP Gained, Repairing +3, Seriously Injured Cray Vermillion - 7/2 VP Gained, Repairing +2 Aaron McCaskey - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 1 Jim Irwin - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Injured 2 Jack Murphy - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 4 Yuji Takeshi - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 3, promoted to Sturmmann Rhett Paruta - 6 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Ando Shoji - 7/2 VP Gained, Repairing +2 Injured 5 Marko Dresner - 7/2 VP Gained, Repairing +2 Alec Irusk - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Bryce Hollerfelt - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 4, Promoted to Private First Class |