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A fog had settled in the bay of Manila over night. So looking out now, you could barely make out the water lapping against the hull. Hirsch was standing on the deck of the Arianrhod enjoying the last few minutes before dawn. His insomnia had kept him up most of the night anyway. With a small sigh he turned and began heading for the bridge of the Arianrhod. Jack Murphy was standing besides Aurem Senaiha's GM Sniper, and had just finished checking on the repairs of his Guntank. He had decided he might as well chat with the silent pilot. "Man, I hope this is over soon. But with the way things went yesterday they can't have anything left to throw at us." said Murphy sounding hopeful. Aurem gave a small nod in reply as he noticed Hirsch leave the deck. Deciding it best to focus on the task at hand Aurem returned his focus to his GM. Though he remembered to nod at Jack's questions every now and then. Bigby walked towards the deck of the Arianrhod with a small grin on his face. Navigating the hallways of this ship was a pain, but he was in high spirits today. Chances are this would end the siege, or so he hoped. As Bigby rounded a corner that led to an outside hatch he nearly ran into Hirsch. "Whoa sorry there Hirsch. Off to watch the morning celebration eh?" asked Bigby. Hirsch only nodded in reply and continued on. Bigby shook his head before stepping onto the deck. It was apparent that Hirsch hadn't slept at all last night. Hirsch stepped through the hatch onto the bridge. He was immediately assaulted by the level of sound in the room. Reports of zeon activity was being constantly called from the comm stations to his left. To his right he saw a gunnery officer confirming the ship was ready. He walked further in until he reached the captain and Jarvis Ackart at the from of the bridge. "You look like hell." said Jarvis before he took a sip of his morning tea and winced. Hirsch ignored the jibe and questioned the captain. "When will the early bombardment begin?" The captain glanced over at him before nodding towards the deck "Now." was all he said. With that the cannons on the Arianrhod, Gwydion, and Gilfaethwy angled towards the besieged Zeon base and fired. Tael crawled through the brush to the edge of the forest. He'd lead his team a little further south this time. Sadly for them though the woods thinned up in this area forcing them to rely much more on stealth. Tael finally reached the edge of the forest and tried to settle further into the brush. He slowly reached back and grabbed his binoculars. Bringing them forward he saw that the barbwire fence was still intact in this area as well. "Anything?" has asked hoping his men had seen something he hadn't. Sadly all Tael got in return were negatives. He groaned lightly to himself as he eyed the guard towers beyond the fence. Out of all the shells landing in the base why can't one of them hit that, he wondered. With no luck here he pulled his men back again. Back on the bridge of the Arianrhod. Jarvis had just been given the bombardment effectiveness report. "Damn it!" he said before he crushed it in his hand. Seconds later he before leaving the bridge seconds later. Hirsch glanced back at his fellow officer as he stormed away. Before reaching down and unballing the report. Early airal recon by the Tin cods showed no zeon activity. It would seem they have gone to ground. Which means he Siege must go on. Jarvis Ackart - 1 VP gained, No Damage Jack Murphy - 4/2 VP gained, No Additional Damage Hirsch Munchek - 1 VP gained, No Damage Bigby Wolfe - 1 VP gained, No Damage Aurem Senaiha - 1 VP gained, No Damage Tael Thorn - 2 CP gained, No Damage, Scouting Failed A blue mechanical hand inserts a magazine of shells into a 305mm GM Bazooka. Private Thorvald Siggurdson made his preparations in silence. He had missed the last few days of battle as the 42nd Brigade captured and then fell apart at the RF-1 Mine. Being on the sidelines where it is safe goes against Siggurdson's ethos. But now the tables are turned and it is now Siggurdson's turn as a one man army to deal a decisive victory against the Zeon force at the RF-1 Mine. Or so if everything went according to 1st Lieutenant Nigel Ferdinand's plan. It was odd looking at the same compound he was just in the other day. He felt slightly guilty that he's making the Blue Destiny pilot be the decoy but the officer isn't leaving entirely alone. The Benedictus had landed a good distance away from RF-1 Mine. A new GM Sniper is now hooked up to the Medea transport. The targetting sights are pointed in the direction of the reclaimed Zeon mine. Once the Blue Destiny sufficiently distracts the defenders, the GM Sniper will strike the Gaw resting on the airfield like a sharpshooter hitting a clay pigeon on the ground. Despite the damage that the Gaw-class Dragon atmospheric attack carrier took in the previous battle, a remarkable about of repair was done since then. During the night, repair crews swarmed the monstrous airframe like ants as they broke out emergency repair equipment. Through a series of patchwork fixes, they manage to get the Gaw able to fly again. It won't survive contact but it could fly. But just like the 42nd Brigade, the Zeon force to reoccupy the RF-1 Mine cannot avoid combat. The flying Luggun easily notices the charging blue mobile suit running across the North African landscape. Dopps soon fell upon the Siggurdson like hawks on a dashing rabbit. Magella attack tanks rumble forward from their hiding spots as the Zaku II J lifts off on the Dodai YS. Together, they clash with the Blue Destiny in a fury of weapons fire and explosions. Ferdinand could see the commotion from his position. Carefully, the GM Sniper adjusts its aim. Even though the mobile suit has enough power for more than one shot, the pilot knew it had to make the first one count. Unfortunately, the Luggun spots the hidden Medea. A quick call back to the RF-1 Mine finds the two Zaku II Ks quickly moving into position with theri 180mm cannons. Just as they fire a counterbattery salvo, the edge of the GM Sniper's beam flashes across the battlefield. The beam struck the Dragon but in a race where seconds are too long, the first of the Zeon 180mm shells land around the Benedictus. The shockwave knocks over the GM Sniper, sending the beam off in another direction. By the grace of a few milliseconds, enough of the hastily repaired Gaw's armor was left to prevent the aircraft from being totally destroyed. But the work of the past 24 hours were undone and the Dragon will not fly for some time. Siggurdson saw the flash of light as his 100mm machinegun drops empty brass into the ground. The plinking of shells against his lunar titanium armor is starting to give him a headache. His chest machineguns blew apart a Dopp when Siggurdson saw the situation turn south. Kill me. Corporal Markos Steiner and Corporal Noelle Everett closes in on the blue mobile suit. They concluded back at the base that the unit is made out of the famed Lunar Titanium and will need more firepower to break. Everett's Dom closes in first with her bazooka firing, despite one leg barely holding together. During yesterday's battle, a GM Bazooka blasted the knee to smithereens. Steiner tries to bring his one-armed Gouf close enough to slash Siggurdson with the heat sword but the Blue Destiny keeps backing off. Kill me. The Zaku II J on the Dodai YS is strafing the Blue Destiny now. Being as bold as to fly low on the ground and pulling away at the last moment. Siggurdson feels the hits of the shells strike across the chest armor. Then, like a bell chiming, several 120mm shells struck the Blue Destiny in the head. Please kill me! The voice is definitely back. The offerings of alcohol and food did not stir the spirit of the machine. But now Siggurdson is sure there are faeries in his mobile suit as the machine moves on its own. Please! Kill me! By this time Steiner got close enough to almost guarantee a mortal wound with his heat sword when the Blue Destiny changed. Moving faster and more fluidly than before, it spun around the Gouf's downward slash and grabs the Gouf's right arm with both hands. Then the Blue Destiny snaps off the blue Zeon mobile suit's arm and began bludgeoning the Gouf with it. As the crippled Steiner stumbles back, the Blue Destiny kicks the Gouf over and prepares to impale Steiner with his own heathawk like a butterfly in a museum. Please, why won't you kill me? Everett wasn't going to allow that, as her bazooka fires rounds at point blank range at the Blue Destiny. The berserker mobile suit drops the severed Gouf arm and within a single step pass through Everett's bazooka rounds. The demonized mobile suit trips the speeding Dom, spun it in the air, and broke the ground combat unit's back on its Lunar Titanium knee. All of that in the time it took for the disconnected Gouf arm to land on the ground. KILL ME! The flying Zaku II J is coming back again, firing its 120mm machinegun like a madman. But the Blue Destiny didn't care as its thrusters fire. The crazed mobile suit headbutts the Zaku II J in the chest, forcing it off the Dodai YS. In the split second before freefall, the Blue Destiny grabs the wing of the Dodai YS and breaks the aircarft over the Zaku II J as they fell. The explosion was enormous as both Zeon aircraft and Zaku II die together. I WANT YOU TO KILL ME! During its decent, the Blue Destiny's Chest Machineguns and head vulcans fire continously. Dopps and Magella attack tanks explode in doves as the blue mobile suit land. A trio of Dopps attack it headon but two explode right away. The third trailed smoke while spinning and with a stroke of luck, rams the Blue Destiny in the face in a massive explosion. No one knew what happen at that point. The survivors only saw an empty battlefield when they got out their demolished mobile suits. The Lugunn can only report that the Medea had left. Later, a squad of Marines would confirm the destroyed remains of GM Sniper. But what was that Federal blue monster? Nigel Ferdinand - 6 VP gained, No Damage Thorvard Siggurdson - 3 VP gained, Missing in Action 6 days Marion - 3 VP gained Jay Tessa - 1 VP gained, No Damage Jack Verse - 1 VP gained, No Damage Markos Steiner - 8/2 VP gained, Repairing +2 Noelle Evertt - 8/2 VP gained, Repairing +2 |