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For much of the war between the Earth Federation and the Duchy of Zeon, aggressors challenged the northern region of the African contienent. All is quiet on the southern front, which wasn't a problem for the Zeon soldiers station there. The benefits of not being shot it are very appealing. Still, they knew it was only a matter of time before the war returns to them. The EFGF Odessa offensive weighs heavily on everyone's minds. Who knows what the next day would bring? Indeed, one morning a bored radio operator tapped at the knobs on his communications equipment. Static again. It has always been static aside from their scheduled broadcasts to headquarters. Outside the tent of the Listening Post, the vehicles of the Capetown Guard hid under camoflage netting. A sleepy yawn. Suddenly, the operator's eyes turned wide. Grabbing at switches he adjusted filter settings in frantic search. Adjusting a final dial, the operator cupped one hand over his headset. He found what startled him. "Lieutenant!" he cried to his bored supervisor," I have signal contact!" At the same time that the Listening Post of the Capetown Guard registered the electronic emissions of the 42nd Brigade, the veteran surviellance teams of the fleet's Dish aircraft found them. The Dish aircraft reported to the Lleu Llaw Gyffes that electronic warfare equipment is in the area. Within a few seconds, the convoy of Medeas following the Himalaya withdrew as a wing of Fly Mantas with Tin Cod escort catapaulted off the flight deck. The search and destroy hunt is on, as the Federal plans began snooping for their hidden prey. It was like field mice running away from a falcon for the Capetown Guard. Soldiers took cover and stayed still as the Federal aircraft roared over them. Drivers looked up from their vehicles. Suddenly the armor plating on their Magellas and Weasels aren't so thick any more. A few marines lifted PZF 3s out of their packing crates. The little anti-vehicle missiles felt insufficient in their hands but its a tool to fight back with. For a moment, they hoped the planes overlooked them. Then 30mm vulcan fire rain down on them followed by missiles. The ground burned as air to ground munitions dropped over the ground formation. Most of those caught in the open barely had time to feel pain as they are blown apart. Magella attack tanks revved up their engines in an effort to flee, but all that did was expose them as they left their camoflage nets. In less then fifteen minutes of strafing and attack runs, the force known as the Capetown Guard was killed to the last vehicle. Some soldiers managed to fire off their shoulder launched missiles. Another pair managed to mount the heavy machineguns on the Weasels. This ultimately futile resistance brought down two Fly Mantas who flew too low. But in the end, the 42nd Brigade left the charred remains of the Zeon patrol behind and resumed its course. Aurem Senaiha - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Kyle Slater - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Nigel Ferdinand - 1 VP Gained, No Damage Thorvald Siggurdson - 1 VP Gained, No Damage It was early morning, and already the sounds of mock battle thundered across the 87 Integrated fleet's ships. Jarvis Ackart's GM Command ran, jumped and for brief distances flew across the landscape trading shots with his opponent, the Tin Cod piloted by Jim Irwin. "You can't win Irwin!" Ackart sent his taunt out across the open channel, "That outdated plane of yours is no match for the new machines." A flurry of blue paintballs screamed across the air toward Irwin's plane, the fighter's banking turn leading the training ammo directly into the side of the Big Sioux. With a taunting jest of his own, Irwin's fighter swung out from behind the battleship, spraying paintballs of his own. "It's gonna take more than that to--hey! Better watch where you're goin' Ackart!" Jim shouted. "Oh don't you worry about me, I know exactly where I'--" His sentence was cut short by the sound of glass shattering, components breaking, and a long, low metallic groan as the GM Command's head became caught in a narrow gap in the Paragon's armor. "Oh hell... There goes the main camera." Jarvis sighed, expecting the end of his practice battle. "Take your time Jarvis," Irwin joked, "Gotta give your new machine time to show up this old plane." He watched from high above as the mobile suit had to use both hands to pull itself back out of the damaged ship. Not hesitating as it did, he fell upon the GM immediately as it was released from it's predicament. As the GM began to stand, auxiliary cameras coming online, red paint pelted it from above. Irwin moved in to make a very close pass and finish his opponent off, but that was exactly what Jarvis was waiting for. A metal hand caught the Tin Cod out of the air, holding it still while the 90mm machinegun sprayed it's paintballs point-blank on the tiny plane. Again the sound of glass shattering, followed by cursing. "Dumbass! Ugh, now there's paint all over the controls!" A blue Jim Irwin grumbled, practically floating in the paint that flooded his cockpit after the canopy shattered. Jarvis Ackart: 4 VP Gained, Repairing 1 Jim Irwin: 2 VP Gained, Repairing 1 "Echo One to Gwamel. We see the target." "Copy that Echo One, can you confirm target identity?" "Negative Gwamel. I'm sending in Echo 2 and 3 for a closer look." "Gwamel rogers your intent. Report back as necessary." "Echo 1 copies. Echo 2 and 3 on point." "This is Echo 2, no electronic emissions from target." "Echo 3 here, low thermal readings. No centralized heat source." "Alright, close in and check for signs of life." "Echo 1, other than the nav blinkers, I see no lights on this thing. What about you Echo 3?" "This thing is darker than my coffee from this morning." "Target is still flying slow and dumb. No course changes." "Okay. Go buzz the cockpit. See if that wakes anyone up." "Negative, Echo 1. No response.' "Okay, still no response to our radio?" "Cold and quiet, cap." "Alright. Echo 2? Three round burst on my mark. Try not to hit something vital." "Standing by." "Mark." "Echo 1, we are seeing the target collapse on itself. We have confirmation on the target's nature." "Roger that Echo 3. Echo 1 to Gwamel, come in Gwamel." "We read you Echo 1. Go ahead." "We have confirmation that the target is a decoy. I repeat, the target is a balloon decoy over." "Copy that Echo 1. Target is a decoy. Return to ship." "Roger that Gwamel. Echo 2 and 3, form up on me. We're going home." The weather over East Asia is the exact opposite of the mood of the Goa National Guard. The bright and sunny sky does nothing to help the dark and grim mood of the Federal soldiers. Despite the rumbling of the Don Escargot engines, each flight crew is silent. The usual banter to pass time is gone and the silence is only broken by the few times they need to use the radio. The Duchy of Zeon had begun what has to be convoy raiding operations. As an ASW unit, the Goa National Guard should be the most proficient in combating this new threat. But not only did they fail to stop the fleet of Zeon submarines but they lost a few of their numbers as well. But fate is to once again test the Goa National Guard. Flight Sergeant Gil Krundel took a deep breath as he looked around. The cockpit of the Grabro mobile armor shook as the massive machine cruised through water. Flanking is an identical unit and a more conventional Z'Gok Marine Mobile Suit. They are under orders to rendezous with the Schutzstaffel Tactical Fighting Unit. The same fleet had decimated the EFGF 2nd Naval Convoy a few days ago. Now they are going to put more weight on this exposed flank of the Federation. Suddenly, on the control consoles of all three Zeon mobile weapons, a proximity alarm sounded. "I've got audio transients ahead of us. Sounds like Don Escargots." "Can we evade?" "No time, we're on a schedule," reminds the fat Texan," you guys dive and go deep. I'm going to throw the Feds off us." "Here comes the depth charges." Indeed they came. The small cylindrical objects are already floating down as Krundel pushed his Grabro up towards the surface. The explosions of depth charges detonating is noticed by the Don Escargot crews. Did they force their target to the surface? That they did but in a way they did not expect. The massive Grabro burst out of the water at full speed, sailing high into the air. Its massive retractable claw arms extended like a deep sea monster pouncing on prey. For the five second window he had, Krundel grabbed a Don Escargot in each claw before plummeting back into the water. The explosion of the two snared ASW plans buckled the armor on the Grabro. The retractable arms shuttered as they retract. Krundel quickly looked over his damage indicators then breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn't too serious. The water settles down as the combatants move away from each other. The shocked remaining Don Escargot gained altitude until it met with the Dish aircraft. The battle was quick but concluded without question. Once again, the Goa National Guard had been weighed and found wanting. Gil Krundel - 4 VP Gained, Repairing 2 |