|
The Zeon base at Manila looked like it had just been under seige for four days. The fact that it had really happened probably had something to do with that. Across the craters dotting the base was a building that had seen better days. It's roof looked weak and part of the outside wall had collapsed slightly. Within the cell block was a prisoner from the previous besieging forces. "You sure about this Tael?" he heard one of his men ask. "Yes now help me out." replied Tael. Tael was currently kneeling on the ground in the cell him and his men had been packed in. Looking back Tael saw the three members if his squad rise from the floor and came over to him. "What are you doing?" someone asked. Tael motioned towards the wall. "Look, this part of the wall looks a bit weak." said Tael. Kneeling next to their sergeant they saw he was right. The wall had some bricks loose and was heavily cracked. Working well as a unit and began pulling at the bricks in the wall. At first they didn't budge, but piece by piece they came loose. "Come on we have to hurry before a guard shows." said Tael. Putting all their strength in it they pushed hard against the wall and a small portion gave way. "Alright go go go!' said Tael in a rush and began urging his men to crawl through the small opening. As soon as his last man was through he followed them. Four minutes later their cell had been discovered empty and the base came alive with noise. Ritter and his squad had been a little ways outside the base. But when the alert had gona out his squad loaded up on their wappa's. Within a minute they were roaring towards the base at high speed. "Sir, incoming transmission." came a voice over Ritters helmet comm. "Unterscharfuhrer, this is 2nd Lieutenant Armistad. I'm guessing you heard the alert as well. Just wanted to let you know me and my ms team are coming in, so feel free to call us for support." said Armisatd. Ritter gave a simple affirmative and closed the line. His wappa's quickly crested the perimiter fence. "Manila control, give me a status update." asked Ritter. "Unterscharfuhrer, our troops believe they are near the northen end of the base." came the reply. "Good, notify 2nd Lieutenant Armistad." said Ritter. He then ordered his units forward and the wappa's swung through the base. "Unterscharfuhrer I see them there." yelled one of his squad. Ritter looked to the right and saw what his trooper was talking about. A few men ducking behind a guard tower heading towards the perimeter fence."Take us in." he ordered the pilot of his wappa. The pilot brought the wappa in fast and landed hard just behind the guard tower. The moment the craft touched down, Ritter launched himself off it and his squad followed. Ritter ran forward in the direction the feddie prisoners had gone, and his squad followed. 2nd Lieutenant Aldo Armistad guided his Dom S, around the northern side of the base. Donny and Hugo's doms trailed slightly behind Aldo's. "Whats the plan Lieutenant?" Asked Donny. "Simple, we swoop in and force them back into the jaws of the Panzergrenadiers." replied Aldo. He grinned to himself as he led his formation of dom's right at the perimiter fence. Pulling back on the controls he slid his suit to a stop just short of the fence. When he looked down he could see the feddie troops frozen in fear before one began urging them back. "Get back!" yelled Tael as he pulled his men back. Grabbing a member of his squad he hauled him back and turned to run for the slight protection of the guard tower. But as they ran for it Tael saw the soft glow of red eyes standing around the tower. As Tael realized what was happening he felt himself go numb. He had dom's at his back and squads of Panzergrenadiers in front of him. With no options left to him he lifted his hands and surrendered. Tael Thorn - 2 CP gained, No Damage Ritter Novosad - 1 CP gained, No Damage Aldo P. Armistad - 1 CP gained, No Damage The ocean can be uncooperative at the best of times. But humanity's long history with maritime operations have conjured up ways to complete difficult tasks. As the the Hillock class Gwydion looks on, the C-88 Medea Golden Platypus successfully took on three GM Divers. The three aquatic mobile suits climb board the VTOL air carrier, whose original complement of Tin Cods are now leaving the area. The Medea had swapped teams with Private Hirsch Munchek; trading their Tin Cods for the aquatic mobile suits which would be more useful in today's operation. As the C-88 Medea took to the sky, a Don Escargot ASW aircraft lifts off the Gwydion's small flight deck. Shortly after it launched the ship's Dish plane. On the horizon, a pair of additional Don Escargots flew closer. Within a few minutes the aircraft and the Gwydion began their fishing expedition. "Oh that can't be good." The ecstasy of their success of breaking the siege of Manila has been gone long before U-85 spotted the Hillock and Don Escargots. What Zeon had to sacrifice in order to break the siege dawns on the crew of the U-85 as they took in the damage wrecked on the Jukon II-class submarine. Even worse, the only mobile suit on board is in pieces on the hangar floor. Crucial parts of the Z'Gok has to be replaced. There is no way the suit can sortie in its condition. For what it is worth, it's a hundred tons worth of junk to them right now. Schuzstaffel Untersturmfuhrer Xaviar Brennan knew this all to well as he watches the crew run to their battlestations. The feeling of helplessness, of the inevitable, of faint denial to their most obvious fate, but yet... ...The feeling of hope. Brennan walks up to the captain of the U-85. At 17 years old, Marina Nixie Nimue is taking alot of responsibility for someone her age. "Ballast tanks and hull integrity won't let us dive underneath their depth charge attack," someone reports. "We only have full power on one shaft, so the best we can do is half speed." "Portside torpedo tubes are still closed!" Nimue looks at Brennan then back to her bridge crew. "We're not done yet, they didn't call me 'Lady of the Lake' for nothing. Bring us to half speed and load the starboard tubes for full spread!" The Schuzstaffel officer watches on, confident that even in dire circumstances, those who are picked by Gihren Zabi will stand and deliever. "Flight Charlie-Bravo-Xray-November, you are approaching a battlezone, you are ordered to change your course fifteen degrees due east, confirm immediately." One of the operators onboard the Dish aircraft watching the slow moving blips on the radar screen curses under his breath. "Something wrong?" asks the flight officer. "Civilian aircraft formation coming from the mainland have just flown into our airspace... oh look, they got smart. They're changing course." "Freaking idiots, do they want to get shot down... hey, hey! They flying towards the Medea!" "Goddamnit! Golden Platypus you have four intruders coming in..." "Stinking transport plane doesn't have weapons like a normal Medea," mutters the flight officer," contact the Gwydion and get some surface to air action going, pronto!" It is odd to see propeller aircraft in combat, especially in the new age of mobile suit warfare. But these four Dragonfly type aircraft are going to break that rule. Sent out from the truck fleet known as UPS, they flew as fast as they could towards the C-88 Medea. About a century or so ago, the ancestors of the Dragonfly fought each other in the great Pacific aerial battles of World War II. Now the aircraft is a sad spectacle of propellers trying to catch a jet-engine transport plane. A splatter of 25mm vulcan fire desperately to reach the Golden Platypus but to no avail. Suddenly, four white hot objects pummel their formation. Three of the Dragonfly aircraft explode while the fourth one narrowly evades. The pilot of the surviving Dragaonfly banks his plane and saw the Gwydion below. While the ship cannot stand very well against mobile suits, the Hillock grew from a family designed to take on planes. Only a harassing salvo of three torpedoes distracts the Gwydion long enough for the last Dragonfly to get away. The captain of the Hillock orders evasive manuevers. Two of the torpedoes from the U-85 miss but the third got close enough to detonate. The shockwave from the high explosive warhead rocks the Hillock, sending it sideways in the water but is still floating when it comes to a stop. This minor victory pales against the dark truth however. The search pattern of the three Don Escargots have gotten much smaller, boxing the crippled Jukon II-class submarine. The depth charges grow closer and closer. "Captain! Multiple large objects entering the water!" "Buoys? Torpedoes?" asks Captain Nimue. "Negative, they have reactor sound signatures! They are the Federal GM Divers!" There was no hiding it now. There was no way around enemy aquatic mobile suits in their state. Brennan saw the look in Nimue eyes, the look that is contemplating fleeing or dying a worthy death. For a haunting moment, Brennan saw Ariel standing on that fateful ship in Side 3, facing death without knowing it. "We are evacuating," said Brennan, not knowing how he said those words," Zeon needs us and Gihren Zabi needs us. Give the order to abandon ship!" Well, that was a half-truth. But Brennan is sure the head of the Schuzstaffel would understand. Nimue blinks at him, then her professional resolve took over. "Sound abandon ship! Prepare for emergency surfacing-!" "NO!" roars Brennan," that would mean capture! Have the computer maintain course and heading, get everyone to the diving hatches!" It was an insane plan but Brennan looked like someone who knew what he was doing. Besides, his apparent plan has some sense in it. Every submarine in the modern world have diving hatches. They are used for divers to exit and enter the submarine for special operations or they can be used as escape routes for crews in a sinking submarine. The chaos of the evacuation meant that some of them wouldn't be able to leave however. The quickness of the GM Diver attacker made that number much higher. Brennan barely manages to clear the submarine with Nimue in their underwater gear when the Federal torpedoes and depth charges took their final toll. The vessel known as the U-85 explodes in series of detonations. The force of the wave travels through the water at the speed of sound, tumbling the Zeon survivors away from the blast. Above the surface, a white plume of water rose into the air as the Don Escargot crews cheer. The GM Divers emerge, their joy at the victory distracting them from the Zeon sailors fleeing underwater. Xaviar Brennan – 6/2 VP gained, Destroyed 6 |