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A trail of seagulls could be seen staggered behind a Federation carrier as it powered through the waters. The winds whipped around the bow of the boat, waves crashing against its sides as the Arianrhod entered the Duchy's waters. The 87th Integrated fleet had been mobile for a few days now, every pilot and marine on board thankful to be closing on their target. "Reckon we're there yet?" Hirsch looked up from his clutter of junk at the inquiring marine, his glasses slightly askew, a pencil behind his ear, and his hair looked as if he had just woken up. "I believe we are but a few miles from our spot of interest." After seeing a nod of confirmation, the ecentric young man went back to his charts, shuffling through pages and pages of mess. Tael just shook his head as soon as the weird red head returned to his busy work; he got his answer, and knew better than to ask any more details. He quietly sat back down next to his men, spinning a golden coin on his finger and returning to his conversation. Aurem and Jarvis sat alone at the other side of the room, neither say much, both just shook their heads. Ensign Ackart knew he had his duty to take care of, but sometimes he wondered about the people the federation assigned to him. He had an unorganized cartographer and explorer, a pirate and his band of merry men, and a silent sniper. He let out a hefty sigh as he closed his eyes; they were almost to where he needed to be, and he needed to get his mind straight. "Hey, Jarvis..." "Shut up Jack..." The sun began to set on the 87th fleet, the three ships closing in on the mouth of the harbor of Manila. As dusk fell, the decks of the ship came alive with activity, they were preparing to occupy the waters surrounding the Zeon base, and would need everyone up that they could muster to prepare for the seige at hand. Jarvis Ackart: 1 VP gained, no damage Hirsh Muncheck: 1 VP gained, no damage Tael Thorn: 1 CP gained, no damage Aurem Senaiha: 1 VP gained, no damage Jack Murphy: 1 VP gained, no damage The underwater currents of the Mediterranean Sea parts as the Jukon-class U-99 glides through the cold water. Onboard, Unterscharfuhrer Ritter Novosad of the Schuzstaffel paces the bridge. His artillery attack yesterday went off without incident. Which is an accomplishment the dedicated SS Panzergrenadier officer expects to be the norm of his career. But even as they travel through the safe depths of the sea, he maintains a vigilance. Particularly for signs of retaliation. They were on the move again. But for the men and woman of the Earth Federal fleet known as the 42nd Brigade, there are mixed feelings about being in the air again. They were pummeled in the air on their trip here. Then upon landing their brief respite was interrupted by a missile strike courtesy of Zeon. Since the missiles came from the sea, it was logical to assume that a Zeon submarine had fired at them. Which meant one of the huge Jukon-class subs. The very thought of those submersible mobile suit carriers stalking him made 1st Lieutenant Nigel Ferdinand very nervous. He was powerless to fight back and rather be singled out he would have been swept away with everyone else in a more coordinated attack. Thus, for the rare times in his life he will go out and confront his enemy. Well, confront the enemy for as much as Ferdinand could tolerate. He requisitioned two Anti-Submarine Warfare aircraft known as Don Escargots for this mission. There was supposed to be a Depp Rog heavy bomber in their formation but it was denied at the last second. For now, the Don Escargots are doing the real attacking as they search the watery depths for the Jukon. The rest of the 42nd Brigade is staying high up above the clouds and out of harm's way. Still,it was a helluva time for the commander of the 42nd Brigade to become brave and reckless. Three of his four Medeas suffered some sort of damage and all of his mobile suits are still in the middle of repair. He has a respectable air force but if there is one lesson the Earth Federal Forces learned, it is that mobile suits will decide this war. He looks at the solitary Type-61 tank in the cargo hold of the Benedictus. The driver, Private Ion Bossa-Nova is handing tools to Sergeant Cray Vermillion who is inside a maintenance hatch of the tank. Despite being much less complex than a mobile suit the tracked armored vehicle still requires tedious repairs. Ferdinand turns back towards the bridge of the Benedictus. Finding their hidden attacker isn't the only thing on Ferdinand's mind. His monkey Jojo has gone missing for a little while. On top of that, there was the episode with Jay Tessa back in the triage tent. Ferdinand doesn't know the whole story yet but he is enough of a man to find out. But the source of that problem is on another Medea. The Flying Dutchman carried the GM Ground Type of Private Jay Tessa and Private Jack Verse with his Gundam Mass Production Ground Type. The woman herself is lying on a cot, recovering from their first combat in North Africa. Jack Verse stood nearby, flipping a deck of cards in his hands to pass the time. Onboard the Dignity, Private Thorvald Siggurdson ponders the mysteries of the Blue Destiny. A snore interrupts his thoughts. Lying sprawled out on a cot is Sergeant Jim Irwin. His Tin Cod is chained to the deck of the Medea's hull; if this was any other flight he would be flying as an escort. But this time, the cynical Tin Cod Pilot believes his commander is out of his element. Rather than get his Tin Cod more broken, he's going to let the mechanics work on it. Besides, if everything goes to plan, Irwin wouldn't need to do anything. But he should know better. "Sir, we've just been passed over by low flying jet aircraft!" The shout from the sonar operator caused an alarmed Novosad to leap across the cramped U-99's bridge. He leans over the sonar suite, looking at the readings. "Multiple objects entering the water!" reports the sonar operator. "Sonar buoys," realized one of the bridge officers," we need to bottom the ship." "Too late for that," corrected the officer on watch," we need to sound battlestations." Novosad let the crew do their work. Despite being the onboard Schuzstaffel, he's sure the crew will perform at their peak. Otherwise, they'll be sharing one big metal coffin. "High speed screw! Torpedo in the water!" Joe Dzurik of the 42nd Brigade's Reconnaissance Platoon can tell that his Lieutenant is very pleased. The Don Escargots have found a target with a sonar signature big enough for a Jukon. He watches as Nigel Ferdinand leans over the radio operator's shoulder as reports of the ASW operation continues. On board the other Medeas, crewmen crowd the windows to catch a glimpse of the hunt. "Ne ne, Paruta-san?" said a voice over his static-clogged headset," Can you do a kick like Char-sama?" The monoeye of Corporal Rhett Paruta turns towards the Dopp flying twenty meters away to his left. The good thing is, at least Alta Femister and the other green pilot Louie Longanecker can fly straight. The bad thing is, Paruta doesn't know how they would do in combat. At least his Dodai pilot can now fly level AND straight. Paruta swears that every Dodai pilot in the Duchy of Zeon had been ordered to mistakenly drop him at least once. Such was the woes of the 71st Combined Arms Team "Carnivore Racers". I'm not sure if I want to answer that question, Paruta thought to himself. Fortunately he had been able to convince two flights of Dopp jet fighters to help him on this mission. That's ten top-of-the-line fighter jets with pilots who know how to dogfight to help him out. Theirs and Paruta's mission is to track the Federal Medea fleet that penetrated Zeon airspace. Yesterday a Jukon sub launched a missile attack to harass the Medea Fleet. Now Parutta is here to do some serious damage. Which is the reason why he equipped his 40mm Antiaircraft Gatling instead of his usual 180mm artillery cannon. Then as if on cue, the lead Dopp spots a series of boxed shapes silhouetted against the clouds. Like a cat pouncing on an unsuspecting mouse, the Dopps peel away and ran at full throttle towards the 42nd Brigade. Trailing behind them is the Zaku IIK on the Dodai and the two rookie Dopp pilots. The flying Dish was more focused on coordinating the antisubmarine battle below than watching the sky above. But then suddenly the Tin Cods on the right flank of the 42nd Brigade were obliterated. Radio cries of alarms are exchanged with people pointing through windows shouting the same thing: Dopps. To Ferdinand, it was though fate has intervened again. But he breathed easier as he saw the rest of his Tin Cods meet the Dopps headon. The Federal fighters have performed well the last few times they met with Zeon air fighters. Perhaps they'll buy him enough time to sink the Jukon- Then he saw the Zaku II K. To his horror, the mobile suit is riding on a large flat Zeon aircraft. Mounted to its back can only be an enormous antiaircraft cannon. It confined Ferdinand's worst expectations when it belched flame and flak explodes all around the Medeas. Jack Verse saw the situation was bad and getting worse. The Tin Cods are doing their best but there were simply more Dopps this time. He clenched his teeth as two of the Zeon fighters zeroed in on the slow moving Dish. The burning surveillance aircraft spiraled out of control where it crashed into the sea. The sound of vulcan rounds hitting the side of the Flying Dutchman told him he wasn't safe either. Looking around, he ran to where Jay Tessa lay recovering on the cot. "Help me!" he orders the nearest crewmember. Together they picked her up and lowered her inside the cockpit of her mobile suit. "She doesn't stand a chance if we get strafed. At least in here she'll be protected by the Lunar Titanium armor." As the GM Ground type's hatch closed, Verse realized he should do the same too. Running across the floor of the pitching Medea, he dives headfirst into his GMPGT, slamming the cockpit hatch button even before sitting upright. A good thing too for at that moment, Paruta on his Dodai manages to get within effective range of the Flying Dutchman. The two Dopps of the 71st Combined Arms Team "Carnivore Racers" flew formation with him as he pumps round after round into the Federal flying lunchbox. The already damaged airframe, wounded from its trip to North Africa, began to buckle. "Paruta-san! Tin Cods!" cried Flemister from her large bubble cockpit. It was the last thing Parutta will ever hear from the female otaku and the split persona wingman. Two Tin Cods bore in on them, their missiles and vulcans slicing through the inexperienced Dopp pilots but plinking off the Zaku II K's armor. Missiles explode around the Zaku II K as other Tin Cods tried to scare the mobile suit off. But an intervening trio of Dopps took care of the interlopers. The Dodai itself was hit but stayed airborne. Throughout this exchange, the antiaircraft cannon was still pumping rounds into the hangar bay of the Flying Dutchman. Jack Verse can hear the pinging of metal fragments bouncing off his Lunar Titanium armor and the screams of the dying caught in the metal ricocheting. Then came freefall. In front of Paruta's eyes, it was as though the Medea disembowel itself. He watches as the plane cracks open like a giant egg and two humanoid shapes fell from its belly. Thirty seconds later, two large splashes bloomed on the surface of the sea. On the other Medeas, the rest of the 42nd Brigade heard the explosions and snuck a cautious peak out of the vulnerable windows. They saw the Flying Dutchman snap open and their comrades plummet to the sea. But only one of them can do something about it. His name is Jim Irwin and he does not like having his naps interrupted. He only has half his vulcan ammo and his engines can barely go to combat speed. But he had the mechanics unchain his Tin Cod, open the doors, then slide him out like a palette of cargo. After ten seconds of freefall, the trusty engines caught and Irwin climbed back up to where the 42nd Brigade was fighting for its life. During his ascent, he saw the Don Escargots breaking off their ASW attack to scout the location where the two mobile suits have sank. Once back above the clouds, Irwin saw something he didn't expect despite all of the chaos so far. There was a mobile suit flying. Knowing he had a better chance against the Dopps, Irwin turns his Tin Cod away. The Federal radio channel was cluttered with panicky cries but Irwin's harsh language restored order. Passing over the Benedictus he rallies the few Tin Cods left. Their only hope is to oulast the Dopps; forcing them to withdraw due to low fuel states. After a few minutes, that was what happen. The Dopp squadron leaders report to Paruta that they are RTB (return to base) for fuel. The Zaku II K couldn't close in to use the rest of its weapons and Paruta lost enough today not to risk anymore. Together, they disappear into the clouds to the relief of the 42nd Brigade. Nigel Ferdinand couldn't relax that easily. Despite the good news that the GMPGT and GM Ground Type with their pilots still alive are retrieved by the Don Escargots, his hunt for the Jukon has failed. Joe Dzurik took over as the Lieutenant sat in a flight chair to contemplate this turn of events. The 42nd Brigade turns around towards land. Below them, the U-99 is curious as to why the torpedo attack has stopped. Two torpedoes exploded close enough to rock the submarine even with all the countermeasures they deployed. But Novosad wasn't going to allow an opportunity to escape go unused. So he once again disappears into the dark depths of the Mediterranean Sea. Rhett Paruta - 8 VP gained, Repairing 3 Ritter Novosad - 8/2 VP gained, U-99 Lightly Damaged Nigel Ferdinand - 1 VP gained, No Damage Jim Irwin - 6/2 VP gained, No Additional Damage Jay Tessa - 6/2 VP gained, Repairing +2, Injured +2 Jack Verse - 6/2 VP gained, Repairing +2, Injured +2 Cray Vermillion - 1 VP gained, No Damage Jane Sheppard - 1 VP gained, No Damage Thorvald Siggurdson - 1 VP gained, No Damage |