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It is a calm and bright day in Northern Australia. Hughendon sat lazily in the Australian outback. The Zeon fortress near the sleepy town of the same name shares the region with the Federal fortress of Torrington. Yet, except for minor brushes with small forces both bases had left each other alone. The Australian front had become one of the quietest theaters of war in the conflict between the Federation and the Duchy of Zeon. Even while the great offensives of Odessa and Jaburo ravaged most of the world, the Australian bases maintain a sense of indifference. Neither had the forces to pry each other from the continent nor do they feel like wasting their meager resources attempting to do so. For the time being, both Hughendon and Torrington were content with just "denying" the other complete control of the territory. But all good things must come to an end. The commander of the Zeon Fortress was walking up the steps to his Headquarters when a junior officer ran out to him. On the grassy field right in front of the building is a life-size statue of an dinosaur. Known as the Muttaburrasaurus, the fossil site where the dinosaur's remains were found is one of the few notable attractions in the region. The junior officer snapped a quick salute before reporting" Sir! Our Luggun recon patrol detected an enemy fleet approaching from the west!" Curtis takes the report in the junior officer's hand as they walk through the main doors. "Strength?" "Three Big Trays sir and at least four Medeas." They walked into an elevator as they began their descent to the underground command bunker. "They have heavy armor and air formations. All supported by mobile suits." "Looks like they're serious then," remarks Curtis as he looks up at the large digital map showing Hughendon's layout and defenses," contact the spaceport. I want those HLVs primed and ready to launch in the next few minutes. They'll be safer in space than down here." A cloud of dust trails behind the Big Trays of the 87th Integrated Fleet. Lead by the Big Sioux, a horde of Type 61 tanks kicked up the rough Australian top soil. Behind them, Federal mobile suits kept up their pace as their pilots survey the area. Sergeant Seth Yamanu gave out a whistle as he and his Marines drove forward on their Lakota. The infantry commander held on to the mounted machine gun as he stood up on the back of the vehicle. To his left, he sees Private Edmund Blackadder's Gundam Massed Production Ground Type as it followed Lieutenant Aaron McCaskey's GM Land Combat Type. Flanking them is Corporal Charles Gano's GMPGT and his MS Team. A bit behind is Private Thierry Mersault's somewhat misplaced Guncannon Harbor Defense Type. Suddenly the sound of a hundred jet engines caught Yamanu's attention. He looks up past the towering mobile suits to see Tin Cods, Fly Mantas, and Depp Rogs guided by Dish aircraft fly past the land formation. The unique shape of Sergeant Scott Archer's Core Booster zips past over them as well. Somewhere up there in one of the many Tin Cods should be Lieutenant Jim Irwin, the man who survived through more destroyed Tin Cods than anyone can recall. A terrific series of booms signal the beginning of the battle as a firing line of Guntank MPTs empty their howitzers on Hughendon. The Big Trays echo the blasts with their larger artillery while further away, requisitioned Guntank MPTs from Torrington did their part. As the Federal ground formation press forward, many soldiers look up as the artillery whizzes past their heads and landed on the Zeon base. Deep below ground, the Zeon headquarters staff raced to put up some sort of effective resistance. Curtis looked away from the tactical map and screamed as his flight control officer. "What the hell is wrong with the launches? Those HLVs are supposed to be in the air right now!" "Sir! Ground crews report that the spaceport has suffered damage!" "How? The Federal fleet only just begun their bombardment." "Unknown sir, but we can only launch one HLV at a time. The control tower is starting their countdown now." "Damnit, someone get the word out to the Dopps to maintain air control over the launch path!" Jim Irwin swung his Tin Cod into a roll as a Dopp strafes his position. The veteran fighter pilot is more than used to this game. Despite better numbers, a Dopp is superior when standing toe-to-toe with the standard Tin Cod. Irwin cringed as a Medea collapsed under the tenacity of a doomed Dopp. Which means Irwin has to cheat a little. Twin mega particle beams left behind very little of the pursuing Dopp as Archer's Core Booster cleared the Zeon fighters that Irwin had lured in. More Tin Cods rushed in, followed by the slower Depp Rogg bombers. Irwin banked his plane to survey the situation. "The Dopps are pulling back!" It is Archer's voice on the radio. "Pulling back?" echoed Irwin as turned his head around. Archer was right, the Zeon fighters are withdrawing from their position and racing back over the base. "They're trying to hold the airspace over the spaceport!" realized Irwin," Domino and Razorback squadrons stay with the bombers. All other groups, follow me!" As the Federal air force pressed forward, bright flashes of light dance across the ground. The advancing Federal armor formation just ran into a line of dug-in Zeon mobile suits. Zaku IIs shoulder their bazookas as they bombard the approaching enemy. The Zaku II K types angled their cannons and started pummeling Federal vehicles left and right. Blue Goufs drew their swords, ready for the inevitable close range battle. Staf Sergeant Cray Vermillion watched the approaching Zeon line through the optical targetting system of his Type 61. Today he had the quartermaster load a super napalm round to the fixed missile launcher. Now all he needs to do is to hurl it into the Hughendon base itself. "Sir, Zaku II in clear sight a the 11 o'clock position, range 300!" "All tanks lock on and fire!" ordered Vermillion. The Type 61s closest to him swivel their turrets and blasted their shells into a single Zaku II. The Zeon mobile suit did not die without company; its 120mm machinegun tore up three Type 61s before falling silent. "Hhhrk!" grunted Ion Bossa-Nova as she dodged falling debris with the Type 61. "Incoming artillery 1 o'clock high!" warns Vermillion. Those words barely left his mouth when the shells straddle their tank. The armored vehicle is tossed sideways until a loud CLANG echoed throughout the compartment. "DAMN!" complained Ion," we lost a track!" While the Type-61 grinds to a stop, McCaskey jumps over the stricken vehicle and shoved the business end of his 305mm Bazooka into a Zaku II. The explosive round made the Zaku's torso explode like burst balloon. The GM Land Combat Type kicks over the dead unit as McCaskey's beam spray gun opens fire. The ground battle pauses briefly as the massive main cannon turret of the Gallop-class Rote Sonne open fire. Charles Gano and Edmund Blackadder turn away from the Zeon MS and began opening fire on the ship. Two Doms leaped off and rushed to intercept the Federal pilots. Gano stepped back as he and his MS Team blew one of the Doms to pieces. The second Dom sank its heat saber into Blackadder's shield but he then tripped the hovering MS before thrusting a beam saber into its side. It didn't end there however. The surviving Zeon MS soon rallied around the Rote Sonne, using it as the center of a counterattack. The Gallop kept moving as it slowly but surely poured heavy fire on the advancing Federal troops. Charles Gano broke away from his MS Team who were busy dealing with Zeon Mobile Suits. The former New Yorker heaved his weapons and started blasting the Zeon land battleship but a stray artillery round landed meters from him. By the time the GMPGT got back up, Gano was dismayed to find all of his weapons damaged or empty. His left manipulator hand is also wrecked. Gano needs a weapon and fast. The GMPGT's head turned left and right before catching sight of Vermillion's disabled Type-61. Vermillion and his petite pilot are surprised when the GMPGT stopped right in front of them. "Don't you have a battle you should be fighting?!" questioned Ion. "So do you," replied Gano. "Like hell we do, we blew our track! Can't move for shit," refused Ion. "You still got ammo right?" "Huh?" asked Vermillion and Ion at the same time before the world turned dark. After an eternity of sidewinding dogfights, Irwin and Archer's fighter squadrons finally broke through the Dopp fighter patrol over Hughendon's space port. To their dismay, they already see the three HLVs lifting off. The first one had already climbed considerably with the second one close behind. The last one is starting to exit the space port. "Archer! Can you get the one all the way up front?!" asked Irwin as he pulled the Tin Cod into a climb. "I'll let you know when I find out!" declared Archer as he yanked the Core Booster up after Irwin. The Tin Cod pilot watched as the Core Booster rockets past him. "Sierra squadron, shoot down the HLV on the ground!" As the lowest HLV fell to air-to-air missiles, Irwin sighs with relief as he saw pink beams cut through the top most HLV. "You got the second one?" asked Archer as he tries to pull out of his climb. "Gonna be tricky," admits Irwin," I'm not getting a solid missile lock." "Let me take care of it." "Negative," objects Irwin," by the time you recover, it would have gotten away. I'm going to try something." "Try what?" "Don't do this at home without adult supervision." Before Archer can retort, Irwin punched his throttle to the max. The HLV grew larger very fast. At the last second, the Tin Cod pilot reached down and yank his ejection seat. Once again, Jim Irwin will survive another destroyed Tin Cod as the fighter plane collides with all of its munitions into the last HLV. The triple explosion from the HLVs can be heard and felt below ground in the Zeon Headquarters. Curtis pounded his fist in anger as he watches his defense perimeter shrink by the second. Back on the surface, the Gallop-class Rote Sonne along with the Xamel and the base's Howitzer are training their weapons against the 87th's Big Trays. Onboard the Big Tray-class Big Sioux, Malak Lazarevich of the African Union watches from his Rick Dom II, waiting for something to come within range. As the artillery duel rages, Gano's GMPGT ran as fast as it could towards the Gallop. "You've got to be crazy!" complained Ion. "Shut up! He's driving now!" shouts Vermillion as he adjusts the sights on the tank's double cannons. In the perfect example of field improvisation, Gano's GMPGT craddle the disabled Type-61 in its arms. The GMPGT pilot levels the tank in its arms as Vermillion aims the Type-61's main guns at the Gallop. "Hurry up a reload!" yells Gano. "It's an autmoated system! It has only one setting!" explains Vermillion. "Which is?" "Not fast enough!" answers Ion. By luck, Seth Yamanu and his marines are still driving around in their Lakota vehicle. They only have three of their anti-tank warheads left but their small size has kept them safe in the battle thus far. Yamanu saw the tank-carrying GMPT, but more importantly he saw the Gouf rushing it from the side. He swung the mounted machine gun on the Lakota around and open fire. The line of one-in-five tracers caught Gano's eye, quick enough for him to see the Gouf and to dodge the heat sword that came his way. "Are you reloaded yet?!" asked Gano. "You're shaking us too much, the system's jammed!" "Do you have anything else?!" "Yeah, but-" "Just use it!" With a strong kick, Vermillion triggered the Type-61's fixed missile launcher. The super napalm shell fired off and shattered all over the Gouf. The flammable gel spilled all over the blue armor mobile suit. But unfortunately, it also spilled around everything near the Gouf. Seth Yamanu looked up with a horrifying revelation as the flammable gel splashed upon him and his Lakota. The screams of him and his dying men are barely audible above the roar of fire and death as the liquid ignited. The Gouf itself fell over and mercifully squashed what is left of Yamanu and his soldiers, ending their lives before the flames fully consumed them. Behind Gano's GMPGT, the Gallop-class Rotte Sonne had come to a stop. Fly Mantas escorted by Tin Cods had finally managed to cripple the land battleship. Soon, the yellow armor plating is peeled apart by successive strikes and with it ends effective Zeon resistance. A pessimistic gloom has settled around Curtis and his command room. The tactical map has shown Federal penetrations throughout their fortress. They know there is no escape. Curtis knew it was only a matter of time before Federal soldiers would kick down the door behind him. But he was wrong still. The 87th Integrated Fleet did not continue to approach Hughendon. Satisfied that the base defenses are eliminated, the Federal fleet settled in bombardment formation. From then until the following morning, the 87th would bomb and shell the Zeon base to nothing but ruins. Even the underground bunker complex is shattered and collapsed by the nonstop pummeling. Even the Muttaburrasaurus statue is destroyed. Charles Gano - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 4 Cray Vermillion - 7 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Injured 2 Edmund Blackadder - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Jim Irwin - 7 VP Gained, Destroyed 1 Injured 3 Seth Yamanu - 8 CP Gained, Killed In Action Aaron McCaskey - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Scott Archer - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Thierry Mersault - 9 VP Gained, Repairing 3 Malak Lazarevich - 8 VP Gained, Repairing 3+1 |