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There had been nothing but blue skies over even bluer waters for the past several hours, but still the pilot of Medea held his death grip on the flight stick. White knuckled, sweating profusely and obviously undertrained, he did his best to hold the aircraft in the sky without supervision. Behind him, Hirsch Munchek was just finishing explaining his plan to the other two pilots of the GM Aqua and GM Diver. Both were fairly experienced, as was Hirsch himself, and all three kept casting uneasy glances over their shoulders at the newbie pilot flying the Medea. Evidently they had good reason to as well. Just as Hirsch was about to tell his team to get to their suits, a warning siren went off. The pilot had been so busy scanning the waters for signs of the Jukon class sub they were hunting that he failed to notice the Sealance type aircraft heading straight for them. It had no doubt already warned the sub of the Krakens presence. Hirsch noticed movement of water a short distance away, showing the first signs of the enemy submarine surfacing and preparing to deploy mobile suits. "Clear and a million and you can't even find one sub properly," Hirsch scolded the pilot as he directed his teams to quickly scramble out the back of the Medea. "Just try not to get shot down until we get back." The pilot's death grip tightened. Marina Nimue stood on the bridge of U-77 Lorelay, listening to the most recent report from their Sealance reconnaissance plane. The operator detailed how there was a Medea on a direct intercept course with them, well within range of their mobile suits, yet there were no signs that any mobile suits had been deployed. "Either it's a trap, they are trying to get shot down, or they're incredibly unlucky. Scramble the mobile suits. I want the Grabro and the Acquy to form a screen against any mobile suits they may have while the Lorelay retreats. And get the Basterds up there to deal with that Medea." Marina ordered to various members of the bridge crew. One particular girl looked like she was about to protest that Lt. Armistad's Dom was still missing its right arm, but Marina cut her off. "And I don't care how many arms Aldo's missing. I want those Feddies off our tails." At the mention of chasing tails, Marina looked around the bridge and noticed one of the operators, a female one, was missing. Hans Bond probably wasn't going to be of any use in this battle from the looks of things. Three large splashes announced the Krakens arrival. Immediately they were attacked by the Grabro and the Acquy. Hirsch calmly tried his best to regain control of the battle by issuing orders to his team. "You two take care of the small one, I'll take care of the big one." Hirsch's two subordinates quickly complied with his orders and began separating the two units. They'd come armed for mobile suit combat, intending to guard Hirsch on his way into strike the damaged submarine. Hirsch's mobile suit, the Waterproof Gundam, was carrying mostly larger weapons intended for anti-ship combat. The Grabro was certainly large enough to count as a ship, but Hirsch still had plans to fire some of his anti-ship missiles at the Lorelay. The Krakens slowly split the Zeon forces in two, unaware that the submarine they were hunting was silently retreating from the battlefield. Aldo carried his beam bazooka in his suit's left arm. He only had one arm and there was only one way to really make a good explosion out of a Medea. "I reckon it's time we make some fireworks, boys." Aldo said to Donny and Hugo motioning with his beam bazooka toward the Medea as they skimmed the surface of the water toward it. "I reckon you're right boss. We'll make sure you get a nice clean shot off on it," Hugo answered. The Medea continued to circle above the battlefield, the pilot doing his best to follow Hirsch's orders and not get shot down. Below him, he saw a large column of water erupt upwards, indicating the explosion of a mobile suit. He wasn't sure which side it was from. The Basterds split in three directions, with Aldo in the middle, Hugo and Donny trying to corral the Medea into a straight path. A bazooka shell hit the Medea's wing. The pilot responded by over-correcting to the other direction. Another bazooka shell hit the Medea's other wing. Smoke began to trail out the side of the Medea's left wing. Panic gripped the pilot. He pushed the throttle all the way forward attempting to run in a straight line as far from the battlefield as he could. He still had no idea what was hitting him. The charge on the beam bazooka finally complete and the Medea on a straight path, Aldo fired. The beam took the Medea straight up the middle vaporizing the inexperienced pilot instantly. The rest of the Medea exploded and fell in tiny burning pieces into the ocean. "Mighty purty boys," Aldo remarked at his own handiwork. The Basterds continued to admire their 'fireworks' for a few moments longer before turning around and heading for the rendezvous point with the Lorelay. Hirsch was having a much harder time with the Grabro than he had initially predicted. He'd fired all but one of his anti-ship missiles, and none of them had hit. The Waterproof Gundam's relative unfamiliarity had caused Hirsch to be just slightly slow in targeting. The improved maneuverability and armor also meant that he was just as unharmed as his opponent was though. Relearning the quirks of his new machine was taking its toll on Hirsch though, and he was beginning to tire. Despite both machines being designed for underwater combat, the Grabro was starting to gain the upper hand. None of its missiles were landing either, but it was managing to get the occasional scratch in. The luna titanium armor had protected Hirsch so far, but he knew if this went on much longer, he might not see the surface again. "We're retreating!" Hirsch said quickly into the radios. The Grabro turned and began heading straight for Hirsch, hoping to score a direct hit with its claws. Hirsch finally abandoned hope of taking out the submarine and fired his last anti-ship missile. A large explosion separated the Grabro from its left arm while the right arm of the Grabro dug its way into the Waterproof Gundam destroying the Gundam's left arm. Several small leaks in Hirsch's cockpit started shorting out various pieces of equipment. A few of them actually exploded, sending small bits of debris into Hirsch's arm. "HELP!" Hirsch screamed into his radio, hoping to catch his teammates' attention before it shorted out. The GM Aqua and GM Diver, looking a little worse for the wear from their fight with the Acquy, appeared from behind the Grabro firing everything they had, trying to drive it away from their leader. The Grabro knew it was now being quickly outnumbered and made a hasty retreat toward the Lorelay. The GM's dragged the Gundam toward the surface while Hirsch finished powering down every system he could find in attempt to prevent more explosions. It wasn't until much later, after all the leaks had been plugged and he was on dry land again that Hirsch really allowed himself to breathe again. Aldo P. Armistad: 7/2 VP gained, No additional damage Hirsch Munchek: 5 VP gained, Repairing 3, Injured 1 The crew of the Himalaya-class Lleu Llaw Gyffes stared out across the ice-covered Hudson bay, their troops reaching solid ground. The Meru and Gilfaethwy made up a trio of ships unable to follow their brethren on land. As such they kept a keen eye on the harsh Canadian landscape and stood ready to attack any distant foes. Jarvis also scanned the horizon from his GM Command, out with his troops to ensure the safety of their Big Trays and Medeas. "This doesn't feel right... Do we have a Dish in the air yet?" He spoke over his radio, raising his GM's head skyward and catching sight of the Federation patrol plane. The craft quickly calling in a confirmation. "Roger that Lieutenant, this is Eagle two-five, nothing on the scopes yet but.... wait a minute... Sir! We've got a large number of hostiles closing, counting... eight Cyclops. Looks like Zeon's got an ear to the ground somewhere close, over." The Dish pilot relayed the message quickly, gaining altitude to better provide battlefield support. As he pulled through the clouds, he was forced instantly back into a dive by a group of Dopps opening fire. "$#!@!!" A garbled curse roared over the radio static as the Dish pilot fought for his life against the enemy planes. "This is Eagle two-five! Zeon air patrol right on top of us! I can't shake 'em! I cHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH---" The static filtered over quickly as the source of the signal exploded overhead. "GET OUR PLANES IN THE AIR NOW!" The Himalaya's captain shouted over the loud din of the bridge crew scrambling to prepare a retaliation. "Sir! We've confirmed that the medeas are breaking from the land fleet airspace and returning to us!" "Catapult ready, Tin Cod units launching! Depp Rog Units, standby at alert-five status!" "Gunnery Crew, ready anti-aircraft barrage!" One after the other, Tin Cods screamed off the carrier deck, Jim Irwin headed up some forty fighter planes, as bombers fueled on the deck below. The Dish only mentioned a patrol, but this was Zeon country, and they weren't taking chances. "All wings report." Irwin called out to his allies, hearing them sound off quickly. "Listen up, once you find one, don't take him on alone, gang up on them and watch each other's backs." Jarvis Ackart's GM Command knelt on the deck of the Black Hawk, making a quick tactical conference with the captain of the Big Tray. The only intel they had received from the Dish was that eight mobile suits were moving in on them from the southwest, and that was all they had to go on until they could gain control of the skies. "Understood, I'll relay the orders Captain." Shortly thereafter, with orders given, the land forces hurried to set up their ambush. Snipers, artillery, a powerful frontline force, they had everything they needed to give Zeon a bad day. Aurem Senaiha played over the plan in his head while waiting for the mission to begin. It started simply with the pilots huddling in the shadow of the Black Hawk. "Alright people this is the situation," Ackart began, looking very serious about the task of briefing the soldiers, "We've got eight Zeek MS moving in on us, type unknown but probably Zakus." He stepped over to a map of the vicinity, looking to be a pre-war road atlas. "They're coming from this general area, and to make a fast strike on our fleet, they'll need to come through this valley." He said, marking the path he expected the enemy to take. "I intend to rain down so much fire on that valley that we won't see snow again till we reach the rockies." At that point Aurem expected a simple mass barrage of artillery, but that wasn't what he heard next. "That's what I'd intend to do, but it won't be that simple. We've been on the ground not ten minutes, and already Zeek's breathin down our necks. We have to expect the worst, that a large scale force awaits us, therefore we can't be shooting off all our big guns now." Ackart returned to his map, marking a series of circles, x's and lines. "Now, I want Senaiha and Wolfe here," He said, pointing to a jagged crag of a mountain jutting forth from the ice and snow. "Senaiha, have Marius take a GM CCT and set up a defensive line down the mountain from you, just in case something gets through. Aurem nodded, already running potential vantage points through his mind. "Vermillion will head the Type 61's and act as artillery from this point, you'll also have two GMs defending you. Murphy will lead the Guntanks to do likewise from this position. Hosei and a GM CCT will set up the third defense line. Sniper and artillery teams are dismissed to begin preparations." Jarvis ordered as the pilots and tankers dispersed from the group. The sky battle raged on as the overwhelming number of Tin Cods chased down the small group of Dopps. The battle would be going well, but the Dopp pilots were well trained, and used clouds, the mountains, and even the enemies cumbersome numbers to stay alive. Jim Irwin knew that there was a better way, and finally called up the Himalaya to suggest his plan. "Lleu Llaw Gyffes, recommend we start sending fighters back to refuel, Zeeks are tryin to run us outta gas, over." "Roger that Flight Leader, at your discretion." "Uh one more thing, we haven't spotted it yet, but Zeek's probably got a recon plane of some kind spotting for the Dopps. If we could get a Dish up here, it'd do a lot for us and the boys on the ground." "Understood Flight Leader, recommend you dispatch a group to watch the Dish's back." After five Tin Cods had landed and been refueled, they launched again just ahead of the Dish. This group gained altitude and veered away from the ongoing Dopp chase, moving to get a clear view of the battle in full. Deep underwater, a large form silently slid into the bay, at it's center, a rugged Zeon commander calmly gave orders and anticipated the moment. The Jukon eased into firing range, stealthily firing several torpedoes. Streaking through the water quickly, the Federation crewmen had little warning before explosions rocked the trio of ships. "What the devil was that!?" The captain of the Himalaya yelled in surprise. "Torpedo Sir! We've go multiple incoming from aft!" "WHAT!?" The captain shouted in horror as the second salvo caused the ship to lurch. "Trajectory traced, enemy Jukon just inside the bay! They're launching again!" Gilfaethwy's dead in the water! Meru reports multiple hits but is returning fire!" "Sir! Sonar reports two mobile suits launched from the Jukon!" Cold sweat trickled down the captain's face as the Gilfaethwy capsized before his eyes. The report of mobile suits incoming shook him back to reality, and he stood before shouting his command. "Launch our bombers with escorts! Deploy our GMs on deck to intercept the enemy suits and target all torpedoes on that submarine! I want that Jukon sunk!" "Lt. Ackart, report from the Dish. "The eight Zakus are entering the far end of the valley, advise holding artillery until they are at least halfway, and cut off their retreat with sniper fire." "Understood." Jarvis replied, transmitting to the various attack groups, "Places people it's almost time. Attack group prepare to advance, artillery group shake the Zeeks up, and snipers don't let them back out on us." Aurem already had a Zaku in his sights, waiting patiently for the order to take him down. Cray Vermillion and his fellow tanks had their firing solutions locked in, as did Jack Murphy and the Guntank team. Fingers on triggers, all itching for that one word. "FIRE!" Suddenly the morning sky was ablaze with explosions. Zakus scrambled to evade and find cover, but there was little available. One Zaku attempted to throw a smoke grenade, only to have his arm snapped in two by a shot from Bigby's railgun, followed by a round from Zanzen Hosei's cannon finishing it. On Ackart's signal, the attack force began to move in, and thus the melee began. Back in the air, Irwin was quite tired of the Zeon pilots' games. Even with a Dish aiding them, the Dopps were slowly racking up kills against the larger Tin Cod force. He pulled a loop through the clouds to evade his enemy's missile, and for a brief second, he found it. The enemy's Luggun was holding position almost directly above the Himalaya. Knowing he'd be hard pressed to find a blind spot to approach from, Irwin gambled it all and rushed the Luggun head on, firing everything he had left. As bits of the Zeon plane rained down from above, Irwin went into a dive and lined up with the carrier. "Lleu Llaw Gyffes, this is Flight Leader, coming in for resupply." "Negative Flight Leader, we've engaged an enemy submarine and mobile suits! Divert to Black Hawk for resupply, repeat, divert to Black Hawk!" "All Fighters this is Flight Leader, split up and half of you assist the Himalaya defense, the rest, kill those Dopps, I'll be back in the fight as soon as I'm reloaded." Irwin said, happy to see a response in the form of ten fighters diving out of the clouds and strafing the Goggs as they popped out of the water to fire. The captain of the Lleu Llaw Gyffes was finally regaining his calm, he knew the Jukon would run out of torpedoes soon, and the fighters and GMs were making headway against the enemy suits. "Sir! We've recorded direct hits on the Jukon, but it won't stop firing! It's surfacing to fire missiles now!" "Order the Meru as well, hit that Jukon with everything you've got!" The captain shouted angrily, as massive amounts of missiles and cannon fire erupted from the two Federation ships. The Jukon would certainly be decimated, but not before a salvo of missiles would launch, bypassing the two ships entirely and striking the Gofannon. As the exterior of the Big Tray burst into flames, the Federation's barrage shredded the Zeon submarine, sinking it in a matter of minutes. "Send a message to the land fleet! We're still under attack by two mobile suits and in need of assistance!" Amazingly the Zakus were holding their ground well, having only lost one unit thus far. Just as the attack force was about to breach the enemy line, a pair of Dopps came falling out the sky. The Zaku teams acted quickly and all threw frag and cracker grenades before hitting the dirt. The result was a combination of high-explosives, kamikaze aircraft, and onrushing mobile suits that spelled disaster 'reactor explosion.' All it took was for one GM to go critical, and the blast that ensued threw the valley into complete chaos. Federation machines were tossed back the way they'd came, with several of the GMs outer armor melted and a few units burned to a crisp. Edmund Blackadder looked at his Gundam Ground Type's shield, which had melted over the suit's left hand, and quickly drew his beam saber as the seven Zakus now rushed the now scattered Federation line. Jay Tessa's Gundam was further from the blast, and thus able to quickly intercept one of the zakus, pinning it in a firefight while his allies began to regroup. A Midnight Fenrir machine sliced down hard into Jack's Guntank, cleaving the left arm clean off. As it moved in for the kill, a beam from Aurem's sniper rifle melted a hole through the Zaku's cockpit. "Artillery group, fall back and shell the Goggs in the water! You've done all you can here!" Ackart shouted, his GM Command taking some hits from a 120mm machinegun, but giving it a grenade from his launcher in return. His machine now limping from the damage, he too backed away from the fighting. Edmund rushed in to back up Tessa, smashing his melted shield into the Zaku's head and toppling it. As much trying to break the hand free as hurt the Zaku, he kept smashing, finally giving up and plunging a beam saber into it's chest. "I'm out." Bigby said, dropping his empty railgun and equipping his beam spray gun. "Looks like I'll leave the sniping to you." With that he stormed down the mountain in his desert GM, which was suffering somewhat in the canadian wilderness, but managing to move fine. He quickly dove into the fray, firing his shotgun-like weapon carefully to avoid friendly fire. A Zaku quickly fell to the beam gun, prompting the remaining three to throw flash-bangs and attempt a retreat. One of them began to jump, not realizing that the earlier explosion had taken it's toll on his backpack. It managed what looked like a hop before the backpack blew, throwing it face-first on the ground, where Tessa shot through the exposed back and killed the pilot. The last two Zaku pilots were running scared now, attempting to retreat without thinking that they were headed right into the enemy camp. As they came around the mountain, one Zaku froze in horror at the sight of an entire infantry platoon, all aiming M136 rocket-launchers at the Zeon machine. On Seth Yamanu's command, the volley tore into the enemy suit, causing small but effective explosions and eliminating it. The final Zaku pilot was out of places to run, with the scream of a desperate man, he unloaded his machinegun at the Black Hawk, doing superficial damage. As the magazine emptied, he kept pulling the trigger in hopes that magically he could have one more bullet. In his frightened state, he never even saw the Blue Destiny walk up behind him, and simply stab once with it's beam saber, ending the fight on land. The tanks and Guntanks rolled up to the edge of the ice. Out in the bay, the Goggs were still popping up here and there firing, and the two crippled ships and their GMs could do little about it. Cray took aim carefully and ordered the other tanks. "Time it right, wait for my command..... FIRE!" He shouted, as the type 61s unleashed their cannon fire on the unsuspecting Gogg. The first few hits spun it sideways, and the next few put holes in all the right places. "One down..." Cray said to himself, looking for the other one. But He wouldn't be the one to find it, as the Depp Rogs were returning from their attack on the Jukon, several still having bombs to drop. "Enemy mobile suit sighted, I don't think he can dodge our bombs bobbing in the water like that." A bombardier mused aloud as he signaled his fellow planes to drop what they had left. The repeated explosions rocked the Gogg, and eventually one struck home, obliterating the final enemy unit. The Tin Cods reported that the last Dopp had also been shot down. Jarvis Ackart: 7 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Edmund Blackadder: 8+1 VP Gained, Repairing 4 Jay Tessa: 7 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Jack Murphy: 7 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Aurem Senaiha: 6 VP Gained, Repairing 1 Bigby Wolfe: 7 VP Gained, Repairing 1 Zanzen Hosei: 8 VP Gained, Repairing 2 Cray Vermillion: 7 VP Gained, Repairing 1 Seth Yamanu: 7 CP Gained, Injured 1 Thorvald Siggurdson: 7 VP Gained, Repairing 1 Jim Irwin: 7/2 VP Gained, Repairing +1 Aaron McCaskey: 8 VP Gained, No Damage The continent of South America is home to the last bastion of Earth Federal Forces power on Earth since Zeon's massive invasion of Earth. The underground fortress headquarters known as Jaburo is the nerve center of the EFF's war effort. Supply convoys pass safely from Jaburo through Rio de Janeiro to the various war fronts. But such sense of security ended when the Zeon's 9th Combined Operations Fleet came crashing through the region's patrols. All of a sudden, war had reached the logistical nerve center of the EFF. It is only a matter of time before the EFF began taking convoy losses. That day is today. After their successful entry into the South American continent, the 5th Invincible Task Force is formed from ships of the 9th Combined Operations Fleet. Like predators after an unwary prey, the Gaw-class Dragon, Dobday-class Schmerz, and the Samson-type Sammy head toward their first target. Corporal Alain Grace watched as his Efreet Custom is lowered onto the Dodai YS. The blue armor still have dents in it from their battle into South America. But what really occupied his mind is the voice of the mysterious woman inside the EXAM system. The 'pact' they shared will either free them or doom them both. Elsewhere on the Dobday-class Schmerz, Flight Sergeant Ferusha Glavadeen brought her Zaku II F to its full height. Like the Efreet Custom, her mobile suit still show the violence of the battle the 9th Combine Operations Fleet fought to gain access to Federal territory. Both of her own Zaku II F is loaded on Dodai IIs. There is one disappointed Zeon pilot here today and he is Staff Sergeant Duncan Keystone. A close combat enthusaist, his lack of a flight support craft will leave him and his Gouf stranded on the ground. So much the better, his Gouf is just as damaged as the others. Several pair of red eyes silently glared at the commotion around the Dobday's external mobile suit racks. Oberscharfuhrer Ritter Novosad's blue eyes turned red as he pulled his panzergrenadier helmet over his face. Today will be an aerial battle so the armored troopers of Gihren Zabi will have little to do. The roar of heavy jet engines caught everyone's attention. The Gaw-class Dragon passed by overhead with its escort of Dopps flying. A deck officer shouted to begin launch procedures. Within a few minutes, Alain Grace and Ferusha Glavadeen lifted off to join in on hunting their prey. The EFGF 1st Resupply Fleet. The red, white, and blue colors of a Federal Jet Booster broke above the white clouds of South America. Sergeant Scott Archer took a moment to enjoy the beautiful scenery when something started to worry him. "Where is that Medea," he wondered outloud as Archer rolled the Core Booster on its side to look for the transport. Suddenly, with the grace of a wounded elephant the top of a Medea transport craft emerged from the clouds. Only to then sink back into them. Finally, the Medea climbed and leveled out with Archer's Core Booster. Following behind it are a pair of Tin Cods nursing an equally green Dish aircraft along. Archer toggled a comm channel to the Medea. "What the hell happen?" An awkward silence passed by before the Medea bridge crew responded. "Um, sorry sir but this is the first time we ever flew up this high." That confession amused and worried Archer at the same time. No matter, though. Archer is sure he will be able to pull them through this one. Now, where is that Zeon force...? The day turned very bad for the crew of the Medea Revised-class Picasso as Matilda's communications officer shouted an alarm from their Dish aircraft. "How far away is that Gaw?" demanded Matilda. "The Dish crew said it is two minutes out before they had to break contact!" "Get thos Tin Cods rolling then. Alert the rest of the convoy to turn on a evasive heading. Get a signal out to Jaburo or Rio de Janiero, maybe they can send some help our way." Outside the Medea's windows the entire flight of fourteen Tin Cods switched to afterburner in order to close with the Zeon attackers faster. As both Zeon and Federal aircraft met, a blossoming wave of air to air missiles clutter the sky. Tin Cods explode into flaming wrecks as Alain Grace swatted another one of the Federal planes out of the sky with his Heat Sword. Next to him, Ferusha Glavadeen pumped round after round out of her 120mm machinegun as her Dodai IIs followed the Efreet Custom's towards the group of Medea Bs. The Dopps are swarming around the Tin Cods, occupying the Federal defenders. The giant flying Federal boxes seem as vulnerable as newborn pups despite the sporatic AA fire. The Efreet Custom readied its missiles as Ferusha's Zaku II F hefted its 280mm Zaku Bazooka. To Matilda This has all of the signs of a slaughter as she watched from the Picasso as the Zeon mobile suits fly towards her planes. Then just as Grace and Glavadeen are about to enter into firing range, their proximity alert alarms went off. A hail of 25mm rounds, mega particle fire, and a few air to air missiles came at them as Scott Archer's Core Booster engaged them with a pair of Tin Cods in company. As the air around the mobile suits are baffled by multiple missile explosions, the Zeon pilots retaliated in kind. The Core Booster narrowly evades the wall of weapons fire as Archer banked away. The same cannot be said for his two Tin Cods as they erupted into burning fireballs. As he tried to pull back to reengage the Zeon mobile suits, Archer suddenly caught sight of a better target. The humongous purple Gaw is still surrounded by the massive aerial battle between Dopps and Tin Cods. Archer quickly radioed his own Medea. This is Archer's ace up his sleeve. On the ground, a pair of GM Ground Snipers shouldered their weapons as they aim toward the firing coordinates being sent to them. As one, they let loose their single beam rounds. In the sky, the two beams cut through the middle of the aerial fight. One of the sniper beams engulfed a Dopp, utterly vaporizing it. The final beam merely clipped the already lightly damaged Gaw on its side. A grievious wound marked the hit but the Zeon plane is still flying. The Efreet Custom got the call to pull back as Alain Grace was leaping off a Medea B he just gutted. The EXAM mobile suit landed back on his Dodai II and looked up to see Ferusha Glavadeen throw her heathawk into the cockpit of a second Medea B. Both of them wanted to continue killing off the Medeas like wolves after sheep but obediently fell back to the damaged Dragon. Elsewhere, Archer grumbled to himself as he flew in behind a Dopp and blasted it away with his mega particle guns. The damn Medea crew had flown too close to the battle and attracted the attention of some of the Zeon planes. Archer barely got back in time to save it from annihilation. Back on the Piccaso, Matilda breathed a sigh of relief as she watched the Zeon attackers withdraw. Her losses are severe but the EFGF 1st Resupply Fleet is still flying. Perhaps someday she can thank the Core Booster pilot that intervened. Alain Grace - 7/2 VP gained, Repairing +1 Ferusha Glavadeen - 7/2 VP gained, Repairing +1 Scott Archer - 5 VP gained, Repairing 2 Duncan Keystone - 1 VP gained, No Damage Ritter Novosad - 1 CP gained, No Damage South America. Somewhere over Guatemala, to be exact. It was a beautiful day, and the sky was a wonderful place to be. The sun was shining brightly, the clouds were lazy and roiling below them, and the temperature and smell in the Raphael was blessedly tolerable. All in all, Woody Malden's day could be worse. For instance, if the fleet were to be atta- Nah, that wouldn't happen on such a nice day, and even with the Zeon forces in the area, it just didn't feel to him like they were going to be attac- "Lieutenant! We're picking up IFFs, and they aren't friendly!" Oh dear. The Stilva was cutting through the air, headed straight for the Federation's 4th Supply Fleet-- a fleet full of large, easy, cargo-filled targets. Aboard the Stilva's bridge, First Lieutenant Marko Dresner assessed his targets, and sharply evaluated the Gaw's Mobile Suit and aircraft entourage. "Bit of a motley crew, aren't we?" He asked no one in particular, causing a few bridge crewman to chance a look at him. "What are you looking at? Get back to work." Two Lugguns hung slightly behind, prepared to transfer combat data to Zeon forces on the ground and in the air. A staggering force of 15 Dopps littered the airspace, each and every airframe resonating with an itchy desire to wreak havoc on Feddie property. The Mobile Suits, evenly spread out through the field of aircraft and all riding their own Dodais were the primary strike force; they were the weapon of choice for a reason, after all. Persephone Dawn was inside one of those Dodai-riding MS, which happened to look like something akin to a spider with four manipulator arms in addition to the normal suite of limbs found on a standard Mobile Suit. She was flying with Diego, no, she was flying with Flight Sergeant Diego Juan Alejandro Cortez III, whose blue Gouf Custom was anything but in stark contrast with the blue sky. Another blue Gouf was not far away, and nearby that was another Zaku, this time a standard mass production version. Rhett Paruta was in his own Mobile Suit, his Zaku II K, and the anticipation of explosions was causing him to tap his fingers on his thigh, something that he barely noticed at he stared at the monitor screen. "I hope they don't have any surprises for us," he muttered, and even though he didn't think that was the case, it didn't stop the thought from crossing his mind. The Medeas were in sight, not far ahead, and a shorter distance lower. The Stilva and its friends readied themselves for the assault as they noticed the Medeas shudder slightly as they began to break formation, which in turn signaled a collection of fightercraft to begin their redirection and interception of Zeon forces. It was beginning. Historical and fiction authors alike will often use the word "chaos" to describe the battlefield, but that's not quite accurate. No, chaos is not quite the word to use, because combat is actually a rather organized event. Each side comes in with their own plan, they attempt to execute their plan, and when something goes wrong, the plan changes to Plan B, and Plan B may or may not be "run." When something goes wrong, and I do mean "when"(as it always does), and Plan B is enacted, the desperate scramble to right the situation is what causes people to call war chaos. On the other hand, when things go RIGHT, this is so unexpected, it throws everyone off, and a desperate scramble is made to make the situation slightly less comfortable. So, you see war isn't as much "chaos" as it is "confusing" or "stupid." Tin Cods were detonating left and right as Rhett Paruta made a dash for the nearest Medea, Dopp pilots firing off salvo after salvo of missiles into any confused and disorganized Tin Cod pilots attempting to fire on Rhett. Rhett shot down a few on his own, but most of his attention was focused on the fuselage of the comically large aircraft. Persephone and Diego were blowing up their own fair share of the Federal fightercraft, as most of their attention was focused on the fighters alone. And finally, Rhett reached his destination-- the Medea the Federation would know as the Shakespeare. The Dodai under his Zaku's feet soared around to the front of the Federal cargo transport, allowing Rhett to quickly analyze the situation while facing the ship's cockpit. Realizing that his best choice here would be to destroy the Medea, he let loose a storm of missiles into the cockpit, leaving the Shakespeare to suffer the slings and arrows of Zeon's Master Sergeant and his giant robot. Back on the bridge of the Stilva, Marko let out a small, contented sigh as he watched the first smoking Medea carcass he would see today drop out of the sky. He looked at the crew and gave them nod, and said, "Well, don't stop working yet." Persephone's Zaku was taking advantage of its additional limbs and downed another pair of Tin Cods with a pair of machine guns, and past the smoke of the erupting fighters, Persephone noticed that she was rather close to a Medea. Apparently, Flight Sergeant Diego Juan Alejandro Cortez III noticed as well, because they both began to move in on the aicraft at the same time. The aircraft, this time, was the Itten, but the name didn't matter, it was just as full of precious cargo as the last. They reached the aircraft at the same time, each sustaining some minor wounds from detonating missiles and machine gun and cannon fire, nothing more than dents, and they began their assault on the doomed aircraft. It didn't take long for machine gun and gattling gun fire to wreak havoc on the cargo plane's engines, and unable to sustain its flight any longer, it dropped altitude, doomed to a sudden death somewhere on the Guatemalan geography beneath the clouds. Not many Tin Cods were left now, but not nearly as few Medeas were left. Dopps had indeed damaged it greatly, a few of their number felled to some excellent Federation pilots, but the battle was quickly coming to a close as the Federation envoy desperately tried to escape the battle, not wanting to suffer any more losses. All the Mobile Suits, piloted by familiar faces or otherwise, renewed their assault, battering the poor Sibelius with everything in their arsenal; it too, fell to the Zeon blitzkrieg. Now, however, the remaining Medeas, relatively unhindered compared to their fallen sisters, were able to escape along with the few remaining Tin Cods. This was something Lieutenant Woody Malden would remember, and he had learned a lesson to never let his guard down again, no matter how much the country you're flying over sounds like a food, or how beautiful the day is, or how confident you are in your intuition. Meanwhile, on the ground, Sergeant Noelle Everett scoped out the landscape with his Dom, and even though the Lugguns were relaying data to him, he was still taken by surprise when three Medeas had fallen through the clouds, and he felt a slight twinge of apprehension as he noticed the first hadn't fallen very far from the place he had just been. He had been scouting along with a few ground pounders, but it turned out that there wasn't anything to look for except a few steep hills. Private Bryce Hollerfelt was in a similar position; in his case, however, he hadn't even sortied, he just sat on his Hidolfr and read a magazine. Right now, he was reclined against a bizarre angle on the Mobile Armor, head thrown back, with a magazine over his face. He sighed as he heard the radio report the enemy had pulled back and that Zeon had taken victory, but all he could do was look at his Hidolfr and make a small criticism. "Well, okay, maybe you'd be a little better if you could fly." Marko Dresner: 7/2 VP gained, No Damage Rhett Paruta: 7 VP gained, Repairing 1 Persephone Dawn: 7 VP gained, Repairing 1 Noelle Everett: 1 VP gained, No Damage Bryce Hollerfelt: 1 VP gained, No Damage |