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There is nothing more sobering than an ambitious effort brought to a complete halt. What is left of the Zeon assault force on Jaburo limped away from the South American continent. Alot hung in the balance and despite giving it their all, they were unable to break the EF capital. On top of that, the TAF Commander Garma Zabi had died on their watch. Those who are still defiant boast promises of retaliation and of further attacks against the Jaburo headquarters not that they know where it is. The rest are either indifferent or downcast. Some wonder where these new "forces" will come from; this attack had taken everything they got. The smarter ones knew it was only a matter of time the EFGF would come after them to punish them for their foolishness. The only thing to do is brace themselves for it. The first counterattack fell upon the Schutzstaffel Tactical Fighting Unit. Mobile Suit teams from this fleet had penetrated the farthest into Jaburo. They had seen the stockpile of warships hidden underground from Zeon eyes. Another Earth Federal offensive is coming. The only question is when. Above the submarine fleet, a lone Medea lead a flock of Federal aircraft. Onboard, Lieutenant Jim Irwin narrows his eyes as he looked outside the Oklahoma's cockpit. He can still remember the brutality of the POWs he saw after the Zeon attack was blunted and then replused. The sight disgusted him and his heart longed for the day the war will end. "Lieutenant," spoke one of the Medea operators," the Dish crew reports confirmed acoustic signatures." "Excellent, and the Don Escargots?" "In position sir, they think they can do two attack runs before we lose the Zeon ships in deep water." "Then let's get cracking!" The reality of the fact is, the Don Escargots only have time for one single depth charge run. The veteran and experienced crews of the STFU fleet and their seasoned Sealance detector craft saw the attacking aircraft. Despite this, there is little they can do but race for deep waters, launch countermeasures, and do evasive manuevers. While making something as large as a submarine dodge attacks is comparable to an elephant tip-toeing through a china shop, the Zeon crews knew the Federal ASW book after being subjected to it so many times. As a result, depth charges plunged into empty water, often in the wake of a submarine that was just there a moment ago. Still, the stress of battle are taking their toll on the STFU fleet. After days of continuous battle without repair, the submarines respond more sluggish than they used to. This resulted in a bruise to the legendary submarine captain Marina Nemue's ego when her Mad Angler-class Pendragon recieved a direct hit from a depth charge. The massive vessel shuddered but damage control came efficiently. Barely a moment passed from the strike when the Mad Angeler righted itself and entered deep waters. On the surface, the Don Escargot were forced to broke off after some of their number fell victim to a determined Z'Gok defender. The ace Zeon pilot forced the ASW planes to regroup away from the battle, allowing the MSM to return to its mothership. Jim Irwin listen as reports came back from the planes. Despite the losses, his attack on the elusive submarine fleet scored some hits that no doubt added to the damage stacked against the Zeon's favor. Sooner or later that stack will crush the Duchy of Zeon fleet once and for all. Jim Irwin - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Sebastian Brennan - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Alec Irusk - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Gil Krundel - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Esther MacKernan - 1 VP Gained, No Damage About half of the ninety-six soldiers assigned to the asteroid mine were assembled in the mining tunnels. It was the safety place on Overlord 8. They were protected by thick rock in all directions save for the space that led back towards where they had built the mining facility. Amongst them were a plethora of mine workers, administrative officials, dock workers, and all the other people required to keep the gigantic structure running. The soldiers were wielding a motley assortment of weaponry meant to help them repel anyone stupid enough to try and take the mine from them. Today though no one was trying to take the asteroid mine. They were simply trying to destroy it and they were doing a pretty good job so far. The fleet had appeared out of a haze of particles, and without any dramatic declaration, began bombarding with everything they had. The facility's commanding immediately ordered everyone she could spare into the tunnels while she stayed back in the command center with a skeleton crew. It was not fast enough though. Their attackers had targeted the docking bay first. Not a single person who was on duty there had managed to get into the tunnels in time. A sudden sharp noise nearly caused a few of the marines to open fire. When they found out that it was one of the administrative officials opening a bottle of cheap wine then things took on a much more casual tone. They let the liquid float freely amongst them for anyone to take even as the shaking around them grew more violent. A burly dock worker grabbed an even burlier mine worker and gave him a long drawn out kiss that elicited cheering from everyone present. People were pulling out pictures of their kids and sharing stories about meeting their spouses. After a particularly powerful shake that knocked out the lights, someone decided to lead everyone else in a patriotic song. It was cut short by a mega particle beam impacting near their tunnel. The resulting explosion did not manage to reach them but it did expose the limited oxygen in the tunnels to vacuum. Soldier and civilian alike were pulled towards the open area and the empty abyss beyond it with such force that no one was able to remain stationary. Those few people that were not sent kicking and screaming down the tunnel quickly found themselves immersed in silence as the air slowly ran out. The burly dock worker from before managed to stay conscious long just long enough to see his lover desperately clawing at a female soldier. His last vision before he was swept away was the woman pressing her gun against the mine worker's stomach and pulling the trigger to save herself. Now only a handful of the marines were left. They were the elite squad; the squad given normal suits and specialized weapons specifically so that they could fight in the abyss. They sang no songs as explosions rocked their position. They merely noted that any minute now the forty asteroids they had rigged earlier that day were going to be launched towards the attackers. One dark-skinned marine counted it down, and sure enough, the explosions subsided. A younger member of the squad imagined that the asteroids were playing havoc with the attacking fleet. She imagined that each giant rock had claimed a ship and that the attacking fleet was in ruins. She then imagined that as it tried to limp away, her squad would come out of its hiding place. They would then leap into their Gundams (her Gundam could transform into a fighter plane) and they would defeat them in a mighty battle. Imagination is different than reality though. The bombardment started up again moments later. A missile strike finished off what the earlier mega particle beam could not. The marines were cooked alive from the explosion or diced to pieces from rocks and shrapnel. The imaginative marine died last; visions of her happy future unable to overcome the agonizing pain from the jagged piece of molten metal in her abdomen. A half an hour later and the asteroid mine was split in two. Another hour and there was nothing left to salvage. With their work complete, Detachment Fleet Alpha let up their bombardment and assumed position around the newly created ruins. Nacho Quintal - 6 VP Gained The EFSF Detachment Fleet Alpha was holding outside the permiter of Overlord 7. Their 5 man assault team was standing by waiting for the word to commence their attack. The assault team consisted of Alex Sentra, in his Saberfish 2, Jack Murphy and Breakfister Turbulance in their GM Command Space Types, and Derek Carter and Cassandra Beckeet in their Guncannon MPT's. Alex is sitting there in his saberfish II waiting with the other four members of the assault team. Eagerly awaiting with everybody else for the signal for the attack to begin. The GM Space Commands and the Guncannon MPT's all have their beam weapons charged and ready to cause to flashy shootings and slashing and stuff. Each pilot of the 5 man assault team waiting. For some the didn't want to wait any longer to back the place go boom. As time went past and the sweat forming on their foreheads, except for Cassandra because women don't sweat. All pilots received the go ahead signal and they jumped into action. Alex and his Saberfish II sprung into action first thrusting forward ready to meet the enemy head on. Everybody else started to move after the Saberfish II. Alex thought it was weird that there wasn't any enemy forces present to face him in combat. SO he just started firing missiles at the enemy target they are assigned to destroy. The GM Commands and Guncannon MPT's broke off formations and went to separate attack zones. They used their beam rifles to force their way inside of the installation. As they went they saw little to no enemy threats and proceeded to unleash their entire beam arsenal into the interior of the base. As they escaped they watched it go up in a big ball of beam awesomeness. Rather proud of themselves they left to return to their ships for a recharge and a party. Alex Sentra: 1VP, No damage Derek Carter: 1VP, No Damage Jack Murphy: 1VP, No Damage Breakfister Turbulance: 1VP, No Damage Cassandra Beckeet: 1VP, No Damage |