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Although the sky over Piraeus was clear, there were dark clouds on the southern horizon. The Greek port city, just a few miles south of Athens, was buzzing with life and trade under the Zeonic occupation much as it had been under Athenian rule some three thousand years ago. As her mobile suit was loaded onto the large and ungainly transport ship, Ferusha looked up at the hill in the distance. Using her cameras zoom on its maximum setting, she could clearly see the Acropolis, still praising the goddess Athena after so many thousands of years. "Clara, I wish you could see this." She said, thinking more of her mechanic than anything else. Clara didn't respond, more interested in the crew of the barge towing the mobile suits. There were three such barges, each carrying a pair of Zakus, the troop having been smashed together from multiple MS teams. Ferusha smiled at the beauty in front of her, and closed her eyes. For a moment she thought she still saw something, many small lights below her. Or more accurately, she felt them. It was a feeling she was still coming to terms with. She knew she was different somehow, but she didn't quite understand what this 'newtype' business was all about. Some evolved human she turned out to be, she wasn't even interested in procreating. She snickered. She let herself relax as the boat departed the port, Piraeus slowly shrinking into the distance. Slowly but surely she identified one specific pressure on the ship, one she had felt before... At the head of the vessel, a mid-sized group of black armored Panzergrenadiers stood, fully equipped head to toe with enough weaponry for a genocide. At their head was Ritter Novosad, the infantry commander of the operation. As they sailed towards the tiny island of Malta, the dark rainclouds on the horizon grew larger and larger. Ritter was concerned that the rain would impede the Duchies aerial operations, and it was a pity that something so uncontrollable would cause an undue loss of spacenoid life. However, the brave soldiers of Zeon would sacrifice themselves to take their objective, and the gloom surrounding the Federation base would indeed hurt the Earthnoids morale. The trio of barges were not the only duchy forces launching from Piraus this day. The U-99 scooted along underneath, and overhead flew a quartet of Dodai YS bombers, carrying a motley assortment of mobile suits. At their head was Rhett Paruta, recently identified as an exceptional pilot from his engagements in Africa. Flanking him were Dino and Genevieve, with Duncan Keystones Gouf in a protected position at the rear of the group. Duncan had been recently assigned, and this would be his first major operation of the war. "Geez, I can't believe the timing on this operation. Italy is going to play France in 30 minutes!" Genevieve howled. Laughter could be heard from Rhetts machine, while Dino and Cora let out long sighs. "Can't believe we let her on the team." Dino said, unamused. "But she has a heat hawk!" Rhett responded, laughing again. They were always excellent at making light of an otherwise depressing deployment. On the bridge of the Dragon, Ando Shoji shook a fist at the dark clouds before him. His forces had failed to take Malta the first time, but they had redoubled their efforts, and were now stronger than ever. A pair of Gaw class assault carriers flew over the skies of Tunisia, the Dragon and Stilva ready to finish the eyesore of the Mediterranean once and for all. Andos overly long scarf moved as his body shook, almost as if a wind was blowing inside the bridge of the carrier. There was a fire in the mans eyes, one that said he would never give up until his objective was complete. "Sir, we're getting a message from the Stilva. It's lieutenant Dresner." "YOSH! Patch him through!" Shoji responded, looking up as the video screen blipped on overhead. "Everyone is ready and accounted for here Shoji. How are your men?" Dresner asked. He was a very down to Earth man, who took careful stock of everything around him and played defensively in most engagements. A polar opposite of Lieutenant Shoji. "Preparations are almost complete. Care to place a bet on who strikes down one of the Federation devils first?" Ando responded, an insatiable gleam in his eye. "No, I'm not a gambling man. Uhh, Stilva out..." Dresner responded, cutting the broadcast. Deep within the bowels of the Dragon, pilots and mechanics were just finishing their pre-combat prep. Markos Steiner and the 37th Independant MS Team were at the front of the drop-group, along with Shoji's red Zaku II commander type. Markos had finished his maintenance hours before, and was happily reading Aesops Fables in his cockpit, having obtained a rather old copy during his short stay in Athens. Noelle was still busy, making the final adjustments to her Doms systems. While the MS-09 could work in virtually any environment, a lot of adjustments had to be made for optimum performance, even given something as simple as rain. A group of ten Dopps from Alexandria met up with the air group halfway to the island, the fighters from the Dragon and Stilva supplementing the wing, which flew well ahead of the two carriers. As they came closer and closer, they entered the rainstorm, a torrent of water breaking up the sky and causing a large amount of turbulance. The Gaws shook, mechanics lashing down anything in the repair decks that wasn't firmly secure. While the Gaws and Dopps were built to take much heavier punishment, the combination of turbulance and reduced visibility would make aerial maneuvers much more difficult. Ando Shoji looked on, the island now visible as a faint speck below a stormy sky. He waited for the first flash of thunder before descending to the flight deck and climbing into his Zaku. The island fortress of Malta was built into the former industrial center of the island, at one point its own sovereign nation despite its miniature populace. Now the island had very little purpose but as a military base, protecting the Federations interests by breaking up naval shipping going to and from the Mediterranean sea. While Zeon controlled the Sea of Marmara, the Black Sea and the Aegean, the combined presence of Malta and the Federation blockade at Gibraltar prevented naval shipping from moving between Asia and North America. The port was protected by a single aircraft carrier, the Dhaulagiri, while patrols of Don Escargots, Dish scout planes, and the bases lone destroyer scanned the horizon for clues of an enemy attack. Commander Giovanni was enjoying his afternoon coffee when a report came to his desk that two contingents of enemy forces were on a course for his island, coming from Greece and North Africa respectively. "Mm... I wonder if this operation will be as bungled as the last." He mused. Giovanni was a capable, although fat, commander, and his love for wargames and strategy briefings was only barely eclipsed by his love for chocolates. He gave the report back to the aide who delivered it. "How many ships?" "Two Gaws coming from Africa and a group of sea vessels from Athens sir. Submarine presence is currently unknown." "Those spacers sure love their U boats don't they. Alright, scramble everything we've got and put the base on full alert. Have captain Vizzini and the Dhaulagiri flight deck organize positioning on the perimeter, tell them I'll handle the work on the ground." Giovanni stood, putting on his hat and raincoat and walking out the door with his aide. "Oh and one more thing..." He said as the two of them walked out the door of his office, moving quickly for the much better protected control bunker in the dead center of the base. "Have Belfast send an air wing as reinforcements, tell them we'll be loading the Mouton with NCP's and shipping them to England for safekeeping." "Yes sir, we should be able to arrange a rendezvous somewhere in southern Italy." The young man said. He ran off, carrying a clipboard covered in notes on the preliminary sightings. A young man, his heart thumped wildly, knowing today was the day in which he would defend his country, or be killed by the barbarism of Universal Century war. "Come on! There's no more time!" A marine yelled, the engines of the Medea class Mouton starting to pick up and hum. The sound of jet aircraft was all over the asphalt airstrips that made up a majority of the military base, fighters of all shapes and sizes scrambling into the air. What you could hear over the noise of turbines was he rain, splashing down hard against the pavement, forming into long, shallow puddles. Engineers, scientists, VIPs and officers families ran into the open cargo deck of the Medea, the pilots making final flight preperations. Aboard the Dhaulagiri, captain Vizzina was organizing his forces, splitting the airgroups in order to repel attack from both directions. "Captain, the Greek squadron is confirmed. Three barges and a handful of mobile suits riding carpets." The flight controller was a short, red-headed girl, totally out of place amongst the grizzled men surrounding her. Vizzina himself was tall and lean, looking more like a prisoner of war than a veteran. "Have blue team engage enemy ships, green form a rear line and protect against enemy aircraft. Daniels wing is to attack enemy Dodais. Patch me through to him." "Yes sir." the woman responded, the face of a masked Tin Cod pilot coming on the overhead screens even as his squadron took off from the deck of the aircraft carrier. "Lieutenant, we're going to have enough trouble with the Gaws, I need you to shoot those carpets down before they make it to land, and cover the Moutons escape route." Vizzina ordered. The pilot gave him a thumbs up, his Cods launching off the runway and moving towards Parutas position. "Incoming fighters." Genevieve said, positioning her machinegun and letting off a volley. The five Tin Cods broke formation, going wide around the flanks of the slower Dodais. Rhett trained one as it moved past his right, firing a controlled burst of machinegun fire which caught and destroyed one of the enemy units. "Watch that lead one, he's a good shot." Daniel said to his men, going into a climb and hiding himself in the low, black cloud cover. He turned his plane around, coming down in a nose dive over the top of the Dodai formation. Duncan pointed his Gouf upwards and fired his finger machineguns at the fighter, but he wasn't fast enough, a pair of missiles falling with the rain and striking his bomber underneath him. The Dodais engines exploded, beginning to lose altitude and fall into the waves. "Duncan!" Paruta yelled, turning his Zaku around and pushing Daniels fighter away with suppressive fire. "I'll be all right, just get to the damn island!" Keystone yelled, his Gouf hitting the choppy waters and sinking into the sea. Dino downed another one of the fighters, missiles striking into his Gouf and Rhetts Zaku from behind. The small air to air missiles damaged their mobile suits, but did not cause any serious harm. "Ghh..." Rhett grimaced, firing at Daniels Tin Cod. He scored a hit, barely striking the fighter in the wing. The fighters left engine started billowing smoke, forcing Daniel to break off. A fourth fighter was shot down by Genevieve, the squads remaining missiles striking her Dodai from underneath. The bomber was torn apart, forcing her Zaku II G into the water as well. "God I wish I was watching the game." Genevieve laughed, doing her best to keep her Zaku afloat till the barges could rescue her. Dino and Rhett forced the final Dopp to turn away, moving back to the cover of the Dhaulagiris AA guns. Now unopposed, Rhett opened fire on the Don Escargots, which were hiding in the low lying cloud cover and dropping bombs on the mobile suit barges. Ferusha and the rest of the Zaku pilots fired into the air, but being mostly armed with missile pods and bazookas, it was difficult for them to hit the concealed targets. Rhett managed to destroy one, and Ferusha a second, the girl able to track the position of the enemy bombers with more accuracy than mere eyesight would allow. A group of depth charges landed on the deck of the leftmost barge, the ship exploding and taking its two Zakus with it. Ferusha continued to fire, her eerily accurate 120mm shells forcing the remainder of the snails above the cloud cover. They broke the sea of clouds, moving from a world of rain and lead to calm skies, the sun shining brightly onto the grey banks of the storm. "We're clear for now, lets move out." Novosad ordered, his black armored men coming to stiff attention and giving a salute. They ran to a huge brown tarp, nearly the size of a mobile suit, in the front deck. Removing it they found a score of Wappa hovercraft, and a fully loaded Gunship Heli assault helicopter. The Helis twin rotors started speeding up, the SS-requisitioned craft launching off the deck of the barge with a full twenty Panzergrenadiers now skimming on the water, their Wappas well ahead of the rest of the line. Ritter was in the lead, his goggled eyes fixated on a single target. That Himalaya would make a fine addition to the Duchies surface fleet. Rhett and Dino followed closely behind, when Rhett caught a splatch of yellow out the corner of his eye. He turned his suit, finding a Federation Medea trying to escape the battlefield, Daniel and his remaining wingman escorting them away from the battlefield. "I hate how those things just get away. Dino, you continue to the target, Cora and I are going after that Medea." Rhett ordered, Cora lifting the Dodai up into the cloud layer. Dino continued on, in step wih the Heli and the Wappas as Rhetts Zaku and the Mouton ascended above the rain. South of the island, a much heavier air battle was now underway. The Federation had organized their planes in two lines, the more nimble Tin Cods and Fly Mantas engaging enemy Dopps while the slower Don Escargots and Depp Rogs formed a rear perimeter. Dopp pilots fanned out, outnumbering the Federations fighter craft and engaging from both flanks. The rain seemed to have a greater toll on the smaller Duchy fighters however, Federation aircraft more sturdy in the turbulant skies. A wing of Dopps pushed a pair of Tin Cods towards the Dragon, AA fire erupting from the purple carrier and destroying both fighters. Missiles shot through the sky in all directions, explosions popping through the rain and lighting up the black clouds like flashes of thunder. Three Dopps pushed ahead of the line, only to be gunned down by the impressive assortment of machineguns emanating from he Don Escargots and the Steppe. The Hillock moved ahead of the line, coming around for a broadside and pointing both of its impressive VLS systems at the enemy Gaws. "Damn bugs. Need to take out those snails." Takeshi said to himself, the Apsalus the only aircraft with one hundred percent mobility in the severe weather. A group of missiles struck the side of his mobile armor, the behemoth shrugging off the Fly Mantas barrage as it tore through the cloud of fighters, moving for the Escargots and Rogs forming the rear line. Yuji opened fire with his vulcans, downing a snail even as the others sprayed flak into the side of his mobile armor. A pair of Dopps sailed around the Apsalus's side, dropping a Depp Rog with their missiles as the fat MA soared above the rear line. Yuji punched the energy output of the Minovsky craft to full, a wave of turbulance striking another Don Escargot head on from above. The aircraft was torn apart, the rest of the group breaking formation. Dopp pilots saw their chance, moving past the by now decimated Tin Cods and engaging the flanks of the unprotected bombers. The Depp Rogs pushed ahead, using what little time they had to fire volleys of missiles at the Stilva. The right wing of the Gaw was hit, trailing smoke but still flying fine. It took more than a few long range missiles to pull a Gaw out of the sky. Yuji flew his fighter around, ramming a Tin Cod and destroying it before pulling back behind the Gaws, the Apsalus now trailing a heavy amount of smoke. Inside the bowels of the Dragon, the mobile suit and tank forces waited for their go to leap onto the island. Markos and Noelle shook slightly each time the Gaw rocked back and forth, hit by enemy fire. The idea of being shot down while they were inside the carrier and could do nothing about it was disconcerting to say the least. However, Ando Shoji simply stared on, trying to bore a hole through the hangar doors with his eyes, his red scarf wrapped tightly around him. He didn't even flinch when a huge sound erupted inside the hangar, the noise of engines exploding and steel buckling all around the carrier. The Steppe had opened fire. "Captain, we've lost engine one, engine two is at fifty percent." The voice yelled across the bridge of the Gaw, the captain holding on to his chair as he watched the rockets fly from the Hillock. Now at short range, the destroyer could fire its full 122 missile launchers into the purple aircraft carrier. The Gaw and Stilva returned fire, MPCs arcing pink plasma into the side of the ship. First the forward VLS went silent, the entire Hillock exploding as the second volley of mega particles struck its side. "Enemy destroyer sunk!" Another one of the Gaws bridge personnel yelled. "I need a damage report. How are our engines." The captain ordered, looking at the smoke billowing from the Dragons left wing. "Sir the rain appears to have put out the fires, but we can't maintain flight in this turbulance. We're going to have to get out of the cloud layer." The captain nodded at his pilot, the Dragon slowly picking up altitude. It came above the clouds just before reaching the base of the island. The Federation aircraft was now in retreat, their Dopp escorts in full pursuit. They had made it to the island, but between the black clouds and minovsky interference, the Dragon would have to launch its ground forces blind. At the northern shore, Wappas zigged and zagged, coming up on the impressive silhouette of the Federation aircraft carrier, blocking the islands main port. Water splashed onto Ritters armor from above and below, thunder crackling in the background as the operative moved closer to his objective. "Sir, we have enemy infantry approaching fast on hovercraft, your orders?" A bridge aide looked at captain Vizzina, the lean man watching the small black dots approaching his carrier. All of his marines had been repositioned on the fortress in preperation to hold the base from the ground. "Have the AA open fire on them, ignore the carpets for now. I don't want them to make it on this ship." He said, slamming a fist down on the side of his chair. Anti aircraft gunners swivveled their weapons downward, missile batteries pointing likewise and opening fire on the SS craft. Ritter instinctively made a wide turn, avoiding the flak as hundreds of shells flew into the water around him, sending up columns of sea spray everywhere you looked. A number of his men were hit, the shells slicing straight through the black armor and sending Ghirens finest to a watery death. The Heli opened up with its missiles, striking a number of the forward SAM batteries and destroying them before being cut up by AA fire. We can't make it on deck without more support. Ritter thought, holding an arm up and halting his line. He made a large right turn, the surviving Panzers following suit as they raced around the side of the aircraft carrier. They would rendezvous with the ground troops and assault the base instead. Ritter picked a flare gun off of his bike, firing a single red flare into the sky, signaling the U-99 to engage the Himalaya. The clouds below Rhett flashed red as he and Cora moved for the Mouton, its two Tin Cod bodyguards pulling off and turning to engage. Paruta opened fire, his machinegun nicking Daniels lone remaining wingman almost immediately, the Cod sailing through the air and smoldering for a second before exploding. His missiles spent, Daniel strafed Rhetts Zaku with vulcan fire, the light 25mm shells pinging off the Zakus armor. Paruta returned fire, but Daniel managed to dodge, his already damaged Tin Cod much more maneuverable outside of the rain. Cora's Dodai shuddered, several rounds having hit its engine modules. Now spitting smoke, it was trying its best to keep Rhetts Zaku afloat. Daniels Tin Cod came around for another pass, Rhett letting out controlled bursts as he attempted to shoot down his aggressor. Deciding he had to save the civilians aboard the Mouton, Daniel crashed his Tin Cod straight into Rhetts machinegun, the weapon sparking and making like it was going to explode. Paruta dropped the weapon, now only armed with missiles and his artillery cannon. "You okay Cora?" He asked, the Dodai shaking now but still holding him aloft. "Yeah, I think we'll be fine..." Cora said, both hands firm on the bombers throttle. Rhett had to take out the Medeas engines now or it was going to get away. Taking careful aim for its left wing, he fired all of the Zaku II K's missiles, jets of exhaust billowing from his position. At the same moment Cora screamed, the Dodai shaking heavily and throwing his mobile suit off target. "Damn it Cora, keep it together!" Rhett yelled, all but two of the rockets flying over the Medeas wing. One of its engines was struck, but the aircraft was still in working order. Cap'n White told me to never do this... Paruta thought, ignoring his TAF training as he leapt off of Cora's Dodai. Using rocket boosters to keep himself in the air for just a few seconds, he aimed carefully at the Medeas starboard engine and fired his howitzer. The shot went cleanly straight through the engine, the upper part of the Medeas wing exploding even as Paruta's Zaku II K dropped through the clouds to the ocean below. "Captain, we're hit. Losing altitude." The pilot of the Medea cried, the heavy aircraft shuddering as it attempted to stay airborne. "We'll have to turn around and land on the base." The captain responded. The Mouton began a long, clumsy turn, slowly dropping down to the base of the clouds as it went. As they finished the turn, they caught the sight of the Dragon looming over them in the distance. "Fire." The Dragons commander cooly stated, MPCs and missiles launching from the purple Behemoth. The Medea was struck in several places, exploding along with its human cargo and sending bits and pieces of debris dropping through the clouds and into the ocean below. "The Mouton has been destroyed." Vizzinas comm operator shouted. The Dhaulagiri shuddered again, another round of torpedoes hitting it dead on. Don Escargots dropped out of the clouds with Dish aircraft guiding them, Ferusha shooting down another one as they dropped rounds towards the U-99. "Ordnance is in the water, impact in 3." Explosions echoed throughout the submarine, the shallow waters of Malta and its position at a combat depth making maneuvering impossible. "Keep firing, sink that bastard aircraft carrier." The 99's captain howled, another volley of torpedoes striking the side of the Himalaya. It returned fire with its own torpedoes, AA gunners ignoring Ritter now and moving to suppress Ferusha and her teammates on the barges. Shells sailed through the sky above Glavadeens head, forcing the group of Zakus to duck down to avoid being destroyed. The Don Escargots had full reign now, and continued dropping charge after charge onto the top of the Jukon submarine. Eventually one hit a sensitive section of the sub, a gigantic column of water blasting into the sky as the Jukon was cut in two by the explosion. The Dhaulagiri, now on fire and spitting smoke, was a shadow of its former effectiveness. "I want every available man re-assigned to a fire control team. What do we still have?" Vizzina yelled, a cadet grabbing a fire extinguisher and blasting a sparkling computer next to him. "Rudder is shot, the runway is on fire... We still have the main battery and a few missile launchers sir." Came the response. Vizzina nodded, looking towards the Stilva looming over the Federation island in he distance. "Pivot the main battery to cover command, I want you to shoot down that Gaw." Above and below the clouds, the Dragon and Stilva moved to their assigned positions, hangar doors opening as the fortresses tanks, mobile suits and AA batteries launched tracers into the air. The more heavily armored mobile suits and the marines launched first, Zaku Cannons and Dresners Dowadge leaping out of the Stilva and firing barrages with their machineguns. The GM Grounds had formed a perimeter at the southern end of the base, using buildings and their heavily armored shields to protect themselves. A sitting duck in free-fall, Marko's unit was hit almost immediately, both legs shot from under him and the brown Dom landing unceremoniously into an apartment building. "Gah... Keep pushing! Don't let our sacrifice be in vain!" Dresner yelled, effectively out of the fight. K type Zakus and Magellas landed, positioning themselves on the hills over the fortress. Looking onward, Marko saw a single Guntank moving into position, preparing to fire its heavy artillery cannons into the bottom of the Stilva. Quickly, he opened up a radio signal to the forces aboard the Dragon above. "kkckss is Lieutenant Dresxxxcckkkgh enemy Guntank kkzzsgggkkkss northern side kkgkkkzkzzz airstrip." The garbled communication barely came through, static echoing through the cockpits of the Dragons mobile suits. "WAKATAWA. ANDO SHOJI, ZAKU TWO, IKKU ZE!" Shoji yelled, first to exit the Dragon. His red Zaku II S soared through the peaceful skies above the storm, booster rockets blaring at full speed and a heat hawk in each hand. For a moment he felt weightless, eyes gleaming with a deep fire as he smashed into the dark clouds. Coming through the cloud cover he found himself directly above the Federation base, landing on the airstrip behind the line of GMs and Type 61's. "ZAKU TOMAHAWK!" Shoji yelled, flinging one of his heat hawks at the Guntank just as it readied itself to fire. The superheated axe sliced through both of its artillery cannons, Shoji rushing for the Guntank with his other weapon. The pilot pivoted around, firing machinecannons into Andos red Zaku, which continued pushing on. The two mobile suits collided, Andos heat hawk slicing through the Guntanks cockpit as the tanks machinecannons all but destroyed his mobile suit. Kicking out the door of his cockpit, Shoji grabbed his pistol and leapt out of the suit. If his mobile weapon was destroyed, he would fight the enemies marines hand to hand. Noelle, Markos and the 37th Independant MS Team landed next, at the lower end of the hill on the southern side of the base. Although both Gaws forces had taken damage in the initial drop, they were now all on the ground, and outnumbered the Federations tanks and mobile suits almost two to one. At the northern end of the base Ferusha, Dino and the remaining land forces leapt off their barges, destroying the few Type 61's guarding the port and moving to engage the GMs in a pincer attack. The shadow of the Stilva soared over the base, bombs dropping out of the rear of the Gaw and forcing the GMs to break position. The Dhaulagiris main battery fired, striking the now empty hangar of the Gaw and doing no serious damage, while the Gaws MPCs returned fire, slicing straight through the bridge of the Himalaya. The Dhaulagiri went up in a spectacular explosion, the aircraft carrier finally unable to bear the strain of combat from all sides and theatres. Maltas GM team struggled to re-organize themselves, but they were now under an impressive amount of fire, Magellas and Zaku Cannons shelling them indiscriminately from the ridge. One GM was pushed back by round after round, its heavy armor finally unable to meet the strain of artillery rounds pressing into it and being torn apart. The few remaining Tin Cods and Don Escargots came in from the sides, hoping to attack the forces on the ridge and give the GM team a small respite. However, the Dopps were still in pursuit, and the vulcan fire from the Federation aircraft was short lived, having little effect. Dino and Markos charged one of the GM G's, the two Goufs heat swords slashing into the suit from both ends. Noelle's Dom raced down the ridge, firing bazooka shells into Federation tanks and destroying several. One GM turned, spraying machinegun rounds into the side of Markos' Gouf, the blue mobile suits leg giving way and it buckling onto its knees. Jackson and Lucas saved their commander, the two Zakus on the ridge striking the Ground GM over and over and toppling it to the ground as well. One Type 61 managed to strike Noelles Dom directly in the shoulder, Everett dropping her damaged bazooka and sailing in with a heat sword, decimating the remaining Federation tanks. Although they had defended themselves valiantly, the Federations ground forces simply could not cope with such a large assault from both sides. Shoji charged straight into a squadron of Federation Marines that was attempting to hold the route to the command bunker, Zeon paratroopers moving into position and holding them with suppressive fire. The Crazed Zaku Fighter fired his pistol into he formation, a bullet striking him in the side as he leapt over a barricade, kicking a Federation marine in the face as he went. He dropped into the middle of the marines, pulling a knife out of his belt and slamming it into another earthnoids gut. A third marine moved quickly, slamming the butt of his rifle into Andos face and knocking him down on his knees. Without saying a word the man flipped his weapon back around, placing his gun execution style against Shoji's forehead. In the next moment the Federation marine was riddled full of holes, dropping dead where he stood. Ando turned around, his expression aghast as a dozen black armored stormtroopers walked slowly across the asphalt. Ritters machinegun pumped lead into another two marines, the remainder of the Federations infantry cut down by the rest of Novosads men. A Fanfan appeared on the Panzergrenadiers flank, but before it could fire its missiles it was destroyed by the Zakus occupying the ridge. A few minutes later, commander Giovanni, his command crew and three marines began to sweat inside the command bunker. They had lost the battle. It was clear they had lost. "We should start considering terms for surrender." One man said, Giovanni nodding slowly. He picked a small box of chocolates out of his desk drawer, enjoying the last pleasure he would probably have for some time. "This war is not without rules my friends, do not worry." Maltas commander stated, plopping a delicate treat into his mouth. "We will be taken prisoner, but we will not die here." The very next moment the reinforced door to the bunker broke open, a masked Schutzstaffel Panzergrenadier charging through the doorway. Opening fire with his Steyr, Ritter turned commander Giovanni into a pincushion before lobbing a grenade across the desk at his aides, the three remaining marines pistols unable to pierce his metallic hide. As the final Earthnoids screams were heard under the pavement below, a Duchy of Zeon flag was placed into the blood-stained ground of Malta. Ando Shoji - 12 VP gained, 6 CP gained, Repairing 4 Injured 3 Marko Dresner - 12 VP gained, Repairing 3 Rhett Paruta - 11 VP gained, Repairing 3 Injured 2, promoted to Staff Sergeant Ferusha Glavadeen - 12 VP gained, Repairing 2, promoted to Sergeant Duncan Keystone - 12 VP gained, Repairing 2 Injured 2, promoted to Sergeant Markos Steiner - 12 VP gained, Repairing 3, promoted to Sergeant Noelle Everett - 12 VP gained, Repairing 3, promoted to Sergeant Yuji Takeshi - 12 VP gained, Repairing 5, promoted to Oberschutze Ritter Novosad - 11 CP gained, Injured 2, promoted to Scharfuhrer "Well hello there Jeanne!" "Do NOT call me Jeanne. It's too early for this." Schwert mumbled under her breath, a cup of coffee firmly clutched in her hand as she stumbled onto the bridge. Lieutenant Jinyuan was slowly floating through the air, scratching the horrible absence of shaving that had protruded onto his jaw. "What do you mean by early?" He asked, a quizzical look on the mans brow. Jeanne sat down in her chair, trying to keep her eyes off the monstrous chair Jinyuan had erected next to hers. "I mean it's morning, and I haven't had my coffee. Now would you please shut up before you start talking." "Well, all evidence of your personal addiction aside, it's not like morning really exists here. I mean, we're in space. The sun doesn't rise, it doesn't set, there's really no indication of what time of day it is at all." the Lieutenant began, the rant formulating in his head barely as fast as he could let it out. "The clock says otherwise." Jeanne responded, taking a long sip of her coffee. "Yes, and the clock is based on the time in Side 3, and day and night there are artificial, and even that time is based on Jaburo Standard on Earth. I'm surprised that a patriot such as yourself would be weighed down so much by gravity that-" Jinyuan didn't continue, ducking his head downward as the empty mug flew past him and broke in three pieces against the bridge glass. Schwert scowled, providing a wonderful target as she was hit in the face with a stack of papers. She grabbed them as they began floating away and started to read. "And what is this?" "Our attack plan. I took the liberty of forging your signature. No one will know." Wu gave an overly comical wink as he set down on the bridge. Schwert quickly flipped through the pages. "Zaku II E, Bigro mobile armor, units requisitioned by Flanagan, none of this is on the Erinyes or the Lucifers Fury." She said, looking up at her lieutenant. Day by day he was giving her more wrinkles. Answering her question, a long range communique started coming through the ships comm, night-shift bridge crew up till now doing their best to remain totally silent. "Sir, two Doms and a half a dozen Zakus are requesting to join the fleet, looks like officer Banks and that boy again." "Well! The guests have started to arrive. I hope you made enough coffee for everybody." Jinyuan said, kicking himself off and floating down the hallway from the bridge to his personal quarters. Wringing the attack plan into a ball, Jeanne threw it, striking one of the floating shards of her mug. Above the fleet, Richard Banks, Florian Cuyler and the group of Zakus floated silently towards the Lucifer's Fury. Florians emotions were mixed, although you wouldn't be able to tell if you looked. He knew Siobahn was aboard the ship, and he was excited beyond belief to see her again. However, he had been charged to follow Richards orders, and the last thing he wanted to do was slip up right as Siobahn began watching personally. He would have to maintain his composure until after the battle. Richard, a practical man, continued onwards, opening a communications channel with Schwert aboard the Erinyes. "Requesting permission to land aboard the Lucifer's Fury." He said calmly. The radio opened with light static signalling the captains response when a muffled voice rang out, sounding like it was coming across a hallway. "No time!" "What? But they need to refuel." "No time, look at your mission briefing!" "Ugh, you're right. Negative Liuetenant Banks. Please land on the Tivvays deck, we will be engaging in thirty minutes." Richard was a little flustered. He'd dealt with this command before, but it was still unusual. "Roger that." Coming from a seperate direction, Caleb DeGrau, Laredo Veil and a single Bigro sailed into view, the three pilots refusing to be social whatsoever. As usual Caleb was not the friendliest or most amicable individual, and Veil was swept up in his assignments and his pictures, looking through some investigation reports rather than actually pay attention to what he was doing. The three stopped their flight close to Lucifer's Fury. The gang was all here, and it was time to start the show. The pilots lounge of the Merrimack was, as usual, colorful. Rachel floated aimlessly throughout the corridoors, a vintage tape player wrapped around her body and feeling her ears, not to mention the entire room, with music in a language that no one would find comprehensible. Emil, Marc and Issa were arguing profusely with each other at a small table, and Cato was sitting in a corner and playing with a deck of cards. You could almost hear the manipulation gears turning slowly in his brain. "I swear, no one is letting you inside the Gundam Simmons, you need to give it a rest." Issa said, glaring profusely at the know-it-all. "I swear I was nowhere near your mobile suit! Why don't you believe me?" Marc responded, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Nope, saw him there yesterday." Myberg responded. Everyone knew he was a little weird, but no one as of yet had caught on to the details of his condition. "I wasn't there yesterday! I mean, sure, I was there the day before, I wanted to see if I could recalibrate the system data to organize the V-fin assigned packets to a more integrated system with the optical-" Marc was cut off. "SHUT UP. You have no idea what you're talking about." Kobayashi yelled, throwing a wad of paper at Simmons. The private ducked, the wad sailing through the lounge and knocking Arronax's headset out of its socket. Suddenly her music was enveloping all of them. a pushar pa a smeker, med motstandet vi leker. Vi sitter har i venten och spelar lite DotA a springer runt a creepar, och motstandet vi sleepar. "Would you turn that off!" Issac yelled, the Merrimacks captain walking triumphantly into the room. His beautiful brown eyes, strong shoulders and impossibly chisled jaw silenced the lot of them immediately, an aura of perfection and greatness emanating from his impossibly manly form. Rachel obeyed, turning off the tape, her body quivvering softly. "We just got a distress call from an FTC stranded in Zeon space. Now, I know we've got a big mission today, but preliminary reports show our forces outnumber and outclass the enemy so, I'm authorizing two GMs to go check it out if I can get volunteers." Something in Emil's head told him that volunteering was a good idea, so he jumped up and saluted, surprising the rest of the pilots. You never could tell with him. "Good initiative Myberg." Lon'Dozai responded, nodding softly but powerfully. "Looks like we got ourselves a rescue crew. You know what that makes us?" Still hiding behind his cards in the back of the lounge, Cato picked up the line, amused about doing good instead of killing space natzees. "Big Damn Heroes Sir!" "Ain't we just." Issac responded, a small grin on his lips. The Federation Transport Craft, broadcasting on standard EFSF Resupply Fleet frequencies, floated aimlessly through the black. It had been damaged extensively by 120mm fire, although the rounds seemed to mostly have hit peripheral and non-essential sections. Inside the craft one of the lone crewmembers sighed, fog covering the plastic visor of her flight suit. This was one hell of an ethics violation, and she simply could not believe that she'd been talked into it. But, war was war. Emil Myberg and Lars Finne's GM E's slowly approached the craft, a good distance from the engagement point between the Zeon Expeditionary Force and 1st Experimental Disco Fleet. The minovski particle density in the area was thick, but Myberg tried to make contact as best he could. "This is Seaman Myberg of the 1st Disco Fleet, we're here to escort your ship back to Federation airspace. Do you require medical assistance, over." A garbled voice came in response, static intermittant between the transmission but not quite bad enough to prevent understanding. "Negative, we're all fine in here but I think our main thruster nozzle was shot, I'm worried if we do a burn the nozzle will explode. Can you take a look for us, over." "Roger that, I'll take a look. Where are the enemy who attacked you?" Emil said, pushing his GM towards the FTCs rear. "They were engaged by a deep strike formation just after they attacked us, don't know what happened to them. Left us for dead we wager." The voice crackled and spit in response. Emil and Erik floated up towards the FTCs engine, but found there was no discernable damage. "There doesn't appear to be any damage to the primary nozzle, why don't you give it a go, over." Emil said. "Roger that. Initiating burn." The voice crackled. The engines of the FTC came to life, the nozzles bright light catching the two pilots attention as the ship began to speed up. In the same instant, two cargo doors atop the craft burst open, a pair of Zakus flying out on either side of the GMs, weapons drawn. Nadia gulped down the remains of her conscience as she pulled the trigger. "Captain, we're picking up preliminary sightings of the enemy ships. We'll be in firing range in two minutes." Jeanne's sensor officer said flatly, the lot of them trying their best not to antagonize the woman further. "See, how do we know that it's daytime at all. The sun isn't above us, it's on our left. See? Look at it. You won't go blind that's a myth." Jinyuan pointed, strapped tightly into his ridiculous chair. Jeanne let out an audible sigh as she ignored the man. "What are we looking at cadet." "Two Salamis class ships and a single Columbus, coming in about 1/3rd thrust ma'am." "What? That's not their whole fleet." Jinyuan said. He was suddenly serious, staring ahead into the darkness in front of them. "Or you were wrong. We allowed for this conitingency, have group one launch and prepare missiles as planned." "Or they're balloons and we're walking into a trap." Jinyuan added. The comm operator didn't know what to do. "Uhh, ma'am?" "Or maybe they split their fleet up and we want to engage immediately." Jeanne hissed, looking angrily at her lieutenant. "Or they're balloons and we're walking into a trap." Jinyuan added again. "Well if they're balloons what the hell are we supposed to do." Schwert threw her arms up, her bridge crew trying to shrink into their chairs. "Well the only way to see if they're balloons is to launch mobile suits." Jinyuan said, smiling with an innocent sparkle in his eye. "Then launch the damn mobile suits!" Schwert yelled at the top of her lungs. "Y-yes ma'am." Nine Zeonic units picked up thrust, pushing off of the Lucifers Fury and moving towards the Federation squadron. Splitting into three groups, Richard Banks in the Dom, Florian Cuyler in the Dom PTT, and Caleb DeGrau in the Gelgoog were each flanked by a pair of F type Zakus. A pair of heavy missiles shot out from the Erinyes, blanketing the area in front of the fleet with a sparkling substance that dampened and reflected beam fire within the cloud. In response, a hail of missiles shot out from the Federation position, piercing the cloud but failing to do any reasonable damage to the Musai or the Tivvay. "Captain, we have a sighted confirmation, those missiles came from the enemy fleet." Jeanne nodded coolly. "Alright, move to broadside and pass around them on the left flank, we'll try to use the sun for cover. As soon as the cloud disperses I want a full barrage on the lead enemy ship." She finished her statement, hand balling into a fist as Jinyuan responded. "No, something is wrong... Why didn't they fire MPCs." He said, thinking out loud. Florian knew something was wrong as well, the Federation ships in front of him not feeling quite right. However, it was not his place to say anything, and Siobahn was watching him, so he had to show his composure. He aimed his bazooka towards the lead Federation Salamis, finding a small spot on the craft that seemed more vulnerable than the rest. Opening fire at long range, the Zeon team was astonished when the shell flew straight through the Salamis, which popped into a cloud of plastic and air. Behind it, Marc Simmons blocked the round with his shield, his GM struck from behind total cover. "They're balloons! It's a trap!" Richard yelled, picking up speed and firing 90mm shells into another one of the ships. It too exploded, the Gundam and GM Juggler appearing behind it. Calebs beam rifle confirmed the third balloon, Cato's GM appearing behind the fake Columbus. Zig-zagging around the enemy fire, Cato launched a blue signal flare into the space overhead, firing a shot of his beam spray gun as the group started to engage. "Sir, they were balloons, missiles must have been pre-coursed from another fleet at long range." The Erinyes' sensor operator barked. The chaff cloud dispersed, but the fleet was now positioned with guns pointing at fake ships. "Then where the hell are they, those mobile suits launched from somewhere." Jeanne scowled. Jinyuan looked around, trying to find what could be covering the Federations advance. "They're in front of the sun!" He exclaimed, small black dots clearly visible in the center of the yellow ball. "He's right, I'm reading ordnance coming from vector alpha niner, enemy missiles on a course for the Fury, there's an awful lot of them." The sensor operators eyes went wide as dozens of warheads smashed into the front of the Tivvay, completely disabling its forward battery. "Direct hit sir." The bridge crew of the Merrimack was much calmer, Issac standing with his arms crossed. "Launch a flak barrage towards the enemies directed position, force them to turn around, fire the MPCs when their velocity drops." He ordered, close to thirty Saberfish and GMs launching from their respective ships towards the enemy fleet. The three Salamis and the Pegasus launched another barrage of missiles, a full thirty six warheads sailing towards the Lucifers Fury. "Ma'am, your orders?" The call came as Jeanne grated her teeth, a vein in her head looking like it was about to pop. "Have group three and the Pride form ahead of the fleet to protect it from enemy missiles, have group 2 engage. Tell Banks to take out their diversion force and engage the enemy from the flank, we're not done yet." She scowled, the bridge of the Musai shaking as several enemy missiles impacted it. With the Tivvays front battery destroyed and the Musai positioned directly behind it, they were unable to fire back. "Lieutenant Banks, this is Erinyes. Get those bogies running and move to engage enemy fleet, vector alpha niner." The communication rattled in Richards cockpit as the Dom and the Gundam flew around each other, Issa taking careful aim with his beam rifle. Richard fired his machinegun, but what rounds were able to hit did absolutely no damage to the heavily armored unit. His two Zakus peppered in likewise, unable to deter the enemy suit. "Calm down Issa, you're alright..." Kobayashi told himself, aiming carefully and firing a pair of shots. The first struck one of Richards Zakus through the cockpit, the second taking off one of his Doms legs. The explosions were massive, Issa smiling even as a mega particle stream ate through the Gundams left arm. Behind him, Caleb DeGrau fired another round. The now shieldless Gundam picked up speed, turning around and spraying vulcan fire to cover himself. "If I take you down will command think more of me than Flanagans brat?" DeGrau mused, firing another shot towards the white devil. Tracers tore close to his position, Caleb breaking off as Rachel aimed closer to the enemy suit. A Zaku descended above her with a heat hawk when it was caught by four seperate beams, her ball bits carefully concealed, floating silently in the back of the line. "Gettin' the hang of this..." She mused, flipping the heavily armored around and firing at her aggressors. She trained her gun on another Zaku when her head shrieked out in pain, the girl screaming inside her oversized helmet. Behind the line, one of her ball units exploded, the second following suit shortly after. A white Dom descended from the rear, Florian firing round after round of bazooka fire into the GM Juggler. Armor buckled and groaned, titanium plates flying off of the Juggler as it floated aimlessly through space, feedback having knocked Rachel out cold. Florian couldn't deliver the finishing blow, blasts from a beam spray gun forcing him to disengage. Cato screamed curses as he fired, quickly expending his ammunition and forcing the PTT away from Jamitovs precious commodity. In his GMs other hand he whipped out a luna titanium hammer, slamming it into one of Florians wingmen as the young pilot tried to protect his charge. The Zaku pilots hand was forced onto the trigger as the hammer crushed him, puncturing the GM in numerous places and pushing Cato's unit away. Marc Simmons GM E clashed with several Zaku II Fs, a hail of machinegun shells forcing his unit farther and farther back. He let out suppression fire as best he could, machinegun and vulcans going hot as he danced around the three Zakus. However, three on one was simply too much for him, 120mm shells pounding into his suit from all sides. Despite superior speed and piloting ability, it was all Simmons could do to prevent from having any vital components of his suit hit. He caught one Zaku in the shoulder, obliterating its left arm before the units began to withdraw along with their fellows. Richard and Caleb pulled back, the group having outnumbered and outmaneuvered the four Federation attackers. Launching an orange flare, Banks turned and blasted away, his one legged Dom still operating at reasonable performance levels. Their six Zakus were now reduced to three, but they still had enough fight in them to attack the Federal fleet. On the left flank of the ZEF, the Bigro and another five F types launched towards the sun, the Federation fleet bearing down on the Lucifers Fury as it turned around. A volley of mega particle fire caught the Tivvay in a glancing hit, damaged ships and poor firing angles preventing the Federation fleet from delivering a killing blow. "Keep firing, don't let up till they've been destroyed." Issac shouted, his ship shaking as a volley of missiles from the Erinyes struck the Merrimack. By now Schwerts fleet had repositioned itself, and could at least fight back against the ambushing Salamis. Between the two battlegroups the mobile suits engaged, GMs leaping upwards and downwards while the Zakus tried to punch a line straight through them. However, the GMs and GM Es showed their technological superiority quickly, better weapons and more speed and manueverability winning out against the outnumbered Zaku IIs. A hail of machinegun fire passed between the two groups, the Zakus being all but destroyed immediately. Now unprotected, the Bigro pilot veered his armor to the right as a barrage of AA fire launched between the two groups of GMs. The Federation mobile suits followed suit, GMs above and below, fleet guards and Balls all firing on the single mobile armor. Rounds peppered the Bigros hull, a fuel explosion tossing the armor off course and forcing it to aim for the Caratan. The pilot steadied his armor as best he could given the circumstances, a blast from his heavy MPC destroying both of the ships Portside batteries before MPC fire from the Kira Yamato struck the Bigro straight through the hull. The mobile armor exploded, the Federation attack group of GMs and Saberfish now moving at a dead run for the Duchy ships. The two Zakus moved on either flank of Emil and Lars, both pilots having just enough sense to raise their shields as the units opened fire. The HMTs machinegun crackled off of Mybergs shield, Emil pressing his thrusters and shooting upwards away from the ambush. Lars was not so lucky, Nadia scoring several direct hits on the E types cockpit, the pilot killed with the mobile suit suffering nearly zero damage otherwise. Adelaide sighed, pressing on her extensive thruster package as her bulky "IMP" type Zaku shot after Myberg. Going into a full burn, Emil whipped his suit around and gave off a volley of machinegun and vulcan fire to deter his pursuers. "Hey Emil! Lets play!" said the voice, a small girl outside the cockpit holding a basketball. "Damn it not now!" Myberg responded, taking fire and juking right to avoid the shells. He emptied his magazine, throwing a grenade before grabbing another, trying his best to make it back to the Disco fleet in one piece. Beneath them the Prince of Aargau slowed to a halt, teams of men in normal suits pushing off the deck and grabbing the GM E, using their packs to slowly push it towards the pirate FTC. Nadia banked to the left, firing another barrage of machinegun shells and blocking return fire with her shield, the IMP taking some hits in the right minovsky particle generator. The faster HMT Zaku caught up with Myberg, the red suit grabbing a heat hawk and slicing Emils machinegun in two. Quickly the boy grabbed his beam saber, cutting through the Zakus reactor before it could make another swing. The HMT Zaku exploded, the force tossing Emils GM E away from the battlefield and out of Nadias range. Nadia was about to pursue when the damaged particle generator exploded, plasma erupting from it and throwing her suit into a spin. She would have to disengage. "Ma'am, you'll want to take a look at this, this GM is almost completely intact." the FTC captains words echoed in her head. Adelaides feelings on the matter were mixed. Zeonic would love the chance to tinker with a brand new Federation mobile suit, but at what cost? Could she work on a machine whose pilot she had killed herself? "Fourth group of missiles is incoming vector Alpha niner point three three five, numbers two and three intercept." Veil said calmly, his black Zaku floating in tandem with the Lucifers Fury. He directed the AA batteries of the Pazock and the rear guard of Zakus in detonating the Federation missiles prematurely, Schwert having already given the evac order. "I wonder what Ghettid is going to say to Ghiren about all this." Veil scowled, carefully plotting coordinates while keeping the Saberfish flying towards the battlegroup in the corner of his eye. He didn't know what he'd done to deserve a babysitter, and one who was a certifiable maniac wasn't the best man for the job as far as he was concerned. The Expeditionary Force turned around, the Erinyes firing anti beam chaff over and over in all of its missile tubes as the ships moved away from the battlefield as fast as they could. However, the incoming Saberfish proved much faster than maneuvering battleships. Zakus and the Pazock opened fire, shredding several but unable to cope with the sheer number of Federation fighters. The group launched a huge volley of missiles, striking all three ships and significantly damaging each of them. Veil dropped his camera and picked up his 120mm, destroying a pair of Saberfish as they veered away. Zakus chimed in likewise, pushing the fighter group away from the fleet. Schwerts ships picked up speed, and it was unlikely that the Federation would be allowed another pass. "Captain, they're retreating, what are your orders?" The Merrimacks helmsman shouted, explosions plastering the sky amidst the stars in front of them. Lon'Dozai paused for a moment, knowing that his damaged fleet would not be able to outrun the faster Duchy ships in their own territory. "Box in the remaining Duchy mobile suits, try to take them out before they return to their fleet." He answered. The Disco fleets AA gunners did their best to push Banks group away from the Expeditionary force, firing waves of flak designed to move the attackers towards the open flank. At Issacs order the Federation reserve blasted ahead, another seven GMs pincering the Zeonic mobile suits from behind. Banks and Florians Doms jetted in opposite directions, Florian downing another GM before machinegun fire struck his unit from all sides. The Federation assault force was returning, and the crippled remains of Cato, Issa and Simmons units had pursued them from the decoy location. They were totally surrounded. Caleb was hit with a bazooka round, disabling his beam rifle and severely damaging the Gelgoog. "I can't let the test units fall into Federation hands." Banks said to himself, slapping the last magazine into his MMP-80 and looking at his fuel reserves. They were going to red-line soon. He flicked on his radio, hoping that the M particle density was low enough that his order would get out. "kkgkgkkxkxx and DeGrau retreat, all other unixxkkkgghsss our position, repeat, Zakus cover our kkkjjzjzzzzzz" Even without hearing his name in the order, Florian blasted away from the battlefield, firing the rest of his bazooka shells towards the melee to deter pursuers. Caleb did likewise, emptying his vulcans into the cloud of Federation units. He would have left regardless, there was no profit in following orders if it meant capture. Richard barely made it out, his one legged Dom taking several hits as the Zakus did their best to cover their commander. The remaining F types were enveloped and destroyed, GMs eating them alive in no time flat. No pursuit order was given, Lon'Dozai wary about venturing too far into Duchy territory with an already damaged fleet. Approximately three hours later, the humbled and broken Zeon Expeditionary Force received a coded signal from operations command at Solomon. Jeanne Schwert stormed into Wu Jinyuans quarters and slammed an after action report on the mans desk. Jinyuan peaked around her intimidating form, Laredo Veil quickly hiding as he was spotted eavesdropping on the conversation. "Can I help you?" He asked. "No, you can get the hell off my ship!" She scowled. "Immediately, by orders of Kycillia Zabi." "Uhm, is it the beard? I know I should shave more often but-" "No!" Schwert yelled. "Because of my failed plan of action against the EFSF, you've been given command of the entire fleet. You're the captain of the Lucifers Fury now." She opened the document, showing a copy of her written battle plan and the forged signature. "Uhm, forgive me for asking but, the Fury is bigger than the Erinyes, right?" Jinyuan said, trying to hide the smile on his face. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it." Jeanne scowled. She almost made to hit Wu, who quickly backed away and snuck out of the room. "Oh yes, my plan was to lose the entire time." He said sarcastically, Veil acting like he was just walking by as the Lieutenant exited the room, quickly moving away. Realizing that this last line might make it to the desk of Ghiren himself, Jinyuan looked at Veil and added an addendum. "Joking, of course." He said. One of his books flew across the hall, Jinyuan leaping out of the way as Jeanne charged after him. "Boy, I'll need my very own bridge crew. Maybe I'll hold interviews." Issac Lon'Dozai - 10 VP gained, no damage Issa Kobayashi - 10 VP gained, Repairing 3, promoted to Petty Officer 3rd Class Rachel Arronax - 10 VP gained, Repairing 3 Injured 3, promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class Marc Simmons - 10 VP gained, Repairing 3 Cato Goloni - 10 VP gained, Repairing 4 Injured 2 Emil Myberg - 10+1 VP gained, Repairing 4 Injured 1, promoted to Seaman Wu Jinyuan - 8 VP gained, Injured 1, transferred to Lucifers Fury Laredo Veil - 8 VP gained, Repairing 1 Richard Banks - 8 VP gained, Repairing 4 Florian Cuyler - 8 VP gained, Repairing 4 Injured 1 Caleb DeGrau - 8 VP gained, Repairing 4 Nadia Adelaide - 8 VP gained, Repairing 3-1 |