|
Ever since the Duchies occupation of Earth in the early months of the war, mining and resource gathering operations were elevated to the highest concern to Zeonic Africa. RF-4, situated in a clearing in the middle of the thick vegetation of the Congo, was not so much a resource mine as it was a gathering station for small villages and hamlets all over the region. Food and timber, just like iron and tin, were valuable resources to the colonies. The eastern gate of the complex was some fifty yards from an area of dense vegetation, and it was here that Des Mielle and his men had set up camp. Des and four of his freedom fighters were crouched behind a fallen tree, using the sights on their rifles to watch the workings of the camp. It was just after lunch, and they had already been here for more than an hour. The rest of the group was hidden back, some ten meters more into the undergrowth, watching the backs of their companions. "Des, look left. Looks like there's a break in the wire there." Sergei whispered, slightly kicking one of Mielle's feet to get his attention. The men were accustomed to hunting game, and were moving as little as they possibly could. Des pivoted his rifle slightly, peering along the fence. "Yeah, I see it... Must miss a lot of maintenance with the trucks going in and out all the time..." Des made a mental note of the find, and went back to watching the gatehouse. A wooden watchtower stood high above the entryway, local trucks moving in and out constantly, carrying wood and grains. The duchy did not pay well for what they bought, but anyone who refused to sell to them would find their town used as target practice for mobile suit maneuvers. Zeon certainly cared very little for the people under their domain, possibly less than the Federation did. After a few more minutes investigation Des heard a crack in the brush to his right. Instinctively letting go of his rifle, Des pushed himself back, covering his entire body from view by the camp and rolled around onto his back. Soviet made pistol in hand, the South African pointed his body towards the sound, his green bandana and brown jacket melding him in with the African jungle excellently. However, his caution was unnecessary, one of his men having found the intruder before Des had even heard the noise. Omar slammed the butt of his rifle against the marines head, tripping him as he fell. The huge South African soldier levelled his gun against the Zeon soldiers head, pulling the trigger before he could call for help. Des sat up slightly, giving Omar a silent nod of appreciation. Omar nodded in return, slowly slinking backwards and melting into the jungle from whence he came. "We need to be gone before that man was supposed to report in." Sergei whispered, quietly backing up away from the fallen tree and into the brush. "Yeah. Everybody split up, meet at the rendezvous in one hour. We got what we came for." Des responded, holstering his pistol. Des Mielle: 1 CP gained, no damage "So what yer telling me is mah robot is alive?" The researchers weren't really sure if Thorvald was feigning confusion or if he actually didn't understand. They hadn't made the explanation very clear in any case, the Blue Destinies parameters were on a strictly need to know basis. "Well, not exactly..." muttered Dr. Morses, looking at the Scottish pilot and then back at his clipboard. They were at Jaburos mobile suit testing arena, positioned at a far corner of the underground city. Built like a sports stadium, it was surrounded by a solid wall of concrete and peppered with bright lights at the top, creating an artificial daylight deep within the Earth. Artificial turf covered the ground, Thorvald sitting on the crouched Blue Destinies foot. He hadn't been in Jaburo very long, but since his arrival he had learned three very important things. First, they were definitely not going to kill him. Second, the uniform they had given him was one size too small, and third, he was being given the mobile suit none of the other test pilots would volunteer for. "Let me put it this way... Do you believe in angels, private Siggurdson?" Dr. Morses asked, cocking his head a little bit like he were joking. He was a very short man, bald and with bad skin, his personage hidden behind thick glasses and a lab coat. You could tell he didn't get many dates. "Well of course I do doc, I'm a conservative Lutheran!" Thorvald exclaimed, proud of the fact. Dr. Morses chuckled, turning around at the sound of a jeep in the distance. "Well, think of it this way, your mobile suit has its very own 'guardian angel'..." The last part of the sentence trailed off as though Morses didn't believe it himself. "It's time to get started, it looks like our other pilots are here. The jeep parked at the other end of the arena, Jack Verse and Jane Shepphard getting out and moving to their respective machines. Jack had tried to be friendly on the way, the tall, fiery haired man doing his best to show hospitality to his fellow pilot, it was not in his nature to be closed off. Jane was not quite as forward however, keeping more or less to herself. The two had gone through similar situations in their youth, but had grown into vastly different people. Given a few drinks, perhaps they would become friends yet. Thorvald wasn't too interested in furthering the discussion about angels and how they might pertain to his personal theological views, and figured if he finished the training exercize me might get to go off shift early, so he clambered up into the Blue Destinies cockpit. It, the GMPGT and GM S Type were positioned at far ends of the arena. What Thorvald couldn't quite understand is why all the others had to be there as well. Eight fully armed GMs were standing all around the perimeter of the complex, and all faced towards the blue GM. Dr. Morses had said they were just there to spectate, but it did seem a little weird. Oh well, it wasn't Thorvalds problem anyway. Jane started up her GM, taking a quick second to review the combat data of her two opponents. She was known and well liked with the research team for being quiet and always giving 100%, and she thought the GM S Type suited her style of combat well. She spoke softly to herself as she gripped her units controls, eyeing Jack and Thorvalds mobile suits carefully. "Heavily armored and slow... And heavily armored and slow. Shouldn't be too hard." She said, taking the safety off of her 100mm. All three units were using paint rounds, giving the extremely mobile GM S Type the clear advantage. "You may begin" echoed the voice of one of the research team in the three pilots ears, radio communications working well under the surface of the Earth. Jack started off immediately, the GMPGT rushing towards Jane's GM S Type, rifle aimed carefully. He fired twice, large paint bullets simulating beam fire slamming against the far arena wall. Jane was already skating along, her GM using powerful jet engines in its knees to more or less fly across the battlefield. Her suit holding its 100mm in both hands, Jane unloaded an entire magazine into the GMPGT quickly, Jack blocking several rounds with his shield but others splattering pink paint against his cockpit and shoulder. While in reality this would not be nearly enough to destroy a Gundam, for the purposes of a wargame he was now out of the fight. "Ugh, well that was quick." Jack muttered, lowering his rifle. Thorvald ran his mobile suit around the arena, firing short bursts at Janes GM while trying to catch her from behind. Siggurdson was a decent shot, but he wasn't quite accustomed to the shaking of his cockpit as his GM ran across the turf, and several bullets went wild, a single round hitting the GM S Type in the back. The mobile GM did a quick 180 after insuring Jacks suit was down, Jane flying straight at Thorvalds unit while reloading her rifle. The Blue Destiny stopped in its tracks, Thorvald emptying his magazine as Jane started firing. Both units were splattered with paint simultaniously, but Janes fire was more accurate, Thorvald unable to hit a vital system. "Interesting, maybe it can distinguish that paint rounds pose no threat..." Dr. Morses said to himself, watching the battle from a seat in his jeep. He leaned his sickly face towards the radio, calling out to the pilots. "That's enough for now, it seems Private Sheppard got the better of you two." Jane slowed her mobile suit to a halt and lowered her rifle, but Thorvald was a little annoyed. It wasn't the losing that had annoyed him so much, it was the hours of reading he had been forced to undergo about his robots magnificent armor, only to have it prove absolutely worthless. In an act of defiance, he pushed hard on his throttle, the Blue Destiny charging forward even as it pulled back its right arm. Slamming a giant luna titanium fist straight into the GM S Types face, the agile mobile suit was knocked onto the ground, its head mangled and its camera broken. He'd probably get yelled at, but it certainly made Siggurdson feel better. Jane Sheppard - 6 VP gained, repairing 2-1 Thorvald Siggurdson - 5 VP repairing 1-1 Jack Verse - 4 VP gained, repairing 1-1 The Mosul river, starting in the east of France and ending in the southwest of Germany, was one of the most beautiful things Anton had ever seen. While there were many wonderful parks and woods inside the colonies he used to call home, none of them compared to the jagged, almost clifflike hills, coming up and falling down again as the river zigzagged its way, cutting a chasm through the otherwise elevated landscape. There was not a single place Anton looked where he couldn't see one of the villages, innumerable small hamlets of only one to two thousand people dotting the riverbed, guarded on all sides by acre upon acre of terraced vineyards. The water was a light brown, carrying topsoil through the region before depositing it who knows where. Rowsdower was on his way to meet up with the rest of his unit in recently liberated Heidelberg, just beyond the rivers expanse. His first tour on Earth just beginning, he was lost in the wonder of the blue planet, encapsulated by a beauty that it seemed war had never touched. High above the clouds, a lone aircraft circled the GM Ground, unnoticed by Anton. The duchy Lugguns twin EWACS dishes pivoted on their mounts, dropping under the plane and reading the topography of the river valley below. "Sir, we've got a single enemy mobile suit, two clicks north of your position on the left. He's moving towards the river now." The Lugguns copilot said, reading instruments and listening to the chatter of radio signals at the same time. Under the water, three aquatic mobile suits silently crept forwards, barely hidden under the Mosuls browned waters. "Copy that, do not engage." Xaviar answered, the officers response quick and harsh. Xaviar was a stern leader, and he had been trained to order his men as if he were ordering dogs. "You two get his attention, I'll charge from the north." he continued. Behind him two large mono-eyes were activated, the bright red orbs an eerie sight under the darkened water. Anton was trying to be as careful as he could to not damage the vineyards, his eyes on the ground when the Acquy and Aggugguy burst out of the river to his right. Proximity warnings started blaring in his ears, Rowsdowers GM lurching backwards and turning to face its enemies. The two amphibious units fired vulcans and machineguns, Anton lifting his units shield and returning fire with his 100mm. A few shells tore into the Acquys arm, every shot landing on the GM Ground bouncing ricocheting off and barely even scraping the paint. Anton kept firing, heedless of the enemy barrage and also of the river that he had turned his suit away from. A few seconds later Xaviers Z'Gok burst out of the waves, Antons GM stepping backwards as he realized he had been outflanked. Brennan ducked the Z'Gok in a crouch, firing four missiles out of the suits head and straight into Rowsdowers GM. All four missiles hit their target, but the sturdy GM Ground withstood the assault splendidly. "How... Those Earthnoids have built a monster..." Xaviar said, in shock at his missiles failure to destroy the Federation mobile suit. Antons unit staggared backwards, but he reacted quickly, lifting his arm shield up and slamming it down on the Z'Goks right knee as it charged into him. The luna titanium shield slashed through the ceramic joint, Xaviar biting his lip as the Z'Gok crumpled into the German topsoil. Realising that soon the Agguggy and Acquy would surround him, Anton blasted his GM into the sky, hoping to leap over the winding ridge and put some distance between himself and his aggressors. Xaviar refused to let his prey escape, aiming an arm at the GM Grounds back as it boosted into he sky. A lance of mega particles fired out of the Z'Goks hand, catching Antons GM in the back and melting through the heavy luna titanium easily. There was a great explosion, the GM falling out of the sky and rolling down the opposite side of the ridge with a crash. Xaviar was about to pursue when his spotters voice came through the radio. "Sir, we've been spotted. Three enemy GMs are coming your way, ETA fourty seconds." "Damn... Get out of there, we'll meet you five clicks downriver." Xaviar said, turning around and diving his mobile suit back into the river, his team following suit. Xaviar Brennan - 8 VP gained, repairing 3 Anton Rowsdower - 6+1 VP gained, repairing 4 injured 2 Athens, and the majority of Greece, was still deeply entrenched Zeon territory, despite a moving Federation offensive into France and Germany. Protected by the highlands of Macedonia, the Greek coast served as valuable shipping for Zeonic forces, and the bombs had not started dropping just yet. Recently kicked out of constantinople for hitting on a generals mother, Kasey Greer and his team had been moved back to Athens, and were now assisting Ritter Novosads panzer team in a training exercize, showing some of the new recruits how to flush enemy combatants out of an urban area. Kasey didn't much like the idea of being used as bait, but a job was a job. An alleyway in Athens had been cleared out for the exercize, Kasey and his team hidden in a run down grocery store at the end of the street. They were well hidden behind tables and doorways, counters and fruitsands, using the produce and the walls as cover against attack, while placing a bazooka team in the second story window. Spectator marines were hunched over the side of he roof, watching as the much more experienced SS panzergrenadiers went to work. The white paint on the buildings was old and cracked, and the sky was a dull grey, it had rained recently. Seven miniature black mobile suits marched along the end of the street, lining up at the turn into the alleyway and looking at each other with blank, masked faces. Ritters men were some of the best, and he held up a gloved and armored hand, signaling instructions to the soldiers across the street. The team did not respond, but the orders were understood. A Schutzstaffel panzergrenadier was a horror to behold on the battlefield, as silent, immobile and emotionless as a robot even when under fire or slaughtering civilians. "How are they gonna advance Margie?" Kasey asked, looking at the blue eyed marine. "It's just an exercize, you don't think they'll bring the building down on us do you..." "We won't give them a chance" responded Zane, aiming his rifle down the lane, waiting for the enemy team to move into view. Watching from their cover, the first thing the MAF marines saw was a pair of grenades rolled into the street. They exploded in a cloud of dark smoke, sets of dull red eyes visible beyond it as the panzergrenadier team moved into the alley. "Fire!" yelled Kasey, his squad opening up with their rifles and peppering old Greek pavement with heavy rubber bullets. Several rounds hit Novosads team, but the bullets bounced right off their armored suits, the conditioned SS soldiers ignoring the fire as they set up a pair of MG3 machineguns on tripods. The sound was worse than the bullets, a terrifying screech accompanying the rounds as they shattered fruits and tore through wooden doors and tables. Several of Kaseys men cried out in pain as they were hit, the rest of them taking cover behind the stone walls of the grocery store. "They're not playing fair." Kasey exclaimed, grabbing a white piece of cloth and waving it out in the open from the safety of his position behind the wall. "We surrender!" he shouted, only to be met with several rubber bullets hitting his arm, cracking a bone and cutting through the white cloth. Moments later another pair of grenades rolled into the store, detonating and splattering the entirety of the insides with a humiliating blue paint. Ritters team advanced slowly into the alleyway, his men checking the windows for imaginary snipers even as a wet and painted Kasey Greer and his men shuffled out of the grocery store. Ritter Novosad - 6 CP gained, no damage Kasey Greer - 4 CP gained, injured 2 Cambodia would be a nice place to visit, if it weren't so completely horrible. This summed up Jarvis' thoughts, as he slowly marched his GM Command towards his meeting point with corporal Senaiha. His mobile suit was moving at a brisk pace, a small stream and a clearing to his right and a hill to his left. There had been reports of Zeon activity in the area recently, and Ackerts eyes were peeled, making sure he was not caught unawares by any of the single eyed cretins that had brought him to this despicable continent. His monocle was safely stowed in his shirt pocket, and the book he had brought with him carefully put away. It actually was rather pleasant all things considered. He was able to admire the trees in the distance, several feet of armor plating and an air conditioning system protecting him from the bugs and humidity of the outside. Perhaps he would never arrive at his destination, then this just might be a good day. Just as Jarvis was turning a corner with the stream, he saw a flock of birds escaping from their nests in the trees up ahead. He aimed his beam gun towards the offending woods, and sure enough a Zeonic mobile suit blasted out of the growth, Noelle Everetts Dom gunning straight for the Federal unit. Her boyfriend had recently broken up with her, and she was intent on taking it out on this poor Federal soldier. She fired her giant bazooka quickly, but the shot went wild, slamming into he hill next to Jarvis' GM and throwing dirt into the sky. Jarvis responded, firing several shots with his beam gun and a hail of suppressive vulcan fire. "Come on, stand still you bloody coward." Ackert howled, firing beam after beam towards the Zeonic Dom. Noelle was surprised to find her opponent anticipating her attack, but reacted quickly, her mobile suit zigzagging as it moved towards the Federal GM. She managed to dodge each lance of mega particles, but vulcan shells rattled her mobile suit, destroying her suits mono eye and damaging its right shoulder joint, preventing her from aiming the bazooka. "Just not my day..." Noelle frowned, firing her scattering beam gun as she skated past Jarvis' GM. The flash of light blinded the officer, Ackert throwing an arm in front of his eyes and cursing. When his cameras reset themselves and came back online the Dom was nowhere to be found, and the only interesting things to be seen were a number of burning trees in the distance, struck by beam fire. "I guess a forest fire might do wonders for the local mosquito population." Ackert chuckled, deciding to continue along his way. Jarvis Ackert - 8 VP gained, no damage Noelle Everett - 6 VP gained, repairing 1 Although central California had become an extremely populated area prior to the creation of the colonies and the change to the Universal Century, much of eastern Berkeley and Oakland was now uninhabited, millions of people fleeing the heavily cramped area to find a better life in the heavens. This urban ghost town was seen as the perfect area for a military installation, and California Base had risen from the city center, creating a new vibrant culture in the area. Now it was controlled by the Duchy of Zeon, and used to build the majority of their terrestrial mobile weapons. At the outskirts of the city, two test mobile suits stood. It was dark, just past one AM, Alain and Alex taking pains to make sure no one had seen them. One thing had led to another, and there had been a heated argument in the mess, that only a battle amongst soldiers could resolve. Alain wasn't entirely sure who had started the fight, but he was pretty wasted so that wasn't surprising. Neither pilot said a word, the Efreet and Gouf High Maneuverability Type powering up, engines stirring dust in the dilapedated clearing they had chosen for the duel. Alain had brought a heat sword and a shotgun, Alex a heat sword and his suits signature weapon, the chain mine. Without warning, Alain punched on the throttle, the Efreets jump jets blazing as it leapt backwards, stars dimly lighting the blue mobile suit as it rose above the abandoned buildings surrounding them. He fired his shotgun and vulcans, peppering the Gouf but failing to do significant damage, the HMTs shield blocking most of the buckshot. Alex responded, firing his own thrusters and sending the HMT after the Efreet. The two sailed through the sky, Alain pouring shotgun shells towards his adversary. Alex juked right and left, taking a few rounds in the leg as they came down just at the edge of the clearing. He swung out with the chain mine, the Efreet strafing in the opposite direction as Grace aimed his final round of buckshot. Alex's chain mine slammed into an old apartment building, magnetic couplings locking on to the wall and priming the explosives. The Gouf leapt backwards, holding up its shield as Alain fired his final round, missing his target and hitting the chain mine instead. The explosion was enormous, concrete and piping flying in all directions as the apartment complex was totally demolished. Flaming wreckage was tossed into the air before coming down like rain, a massive cloud of dust and debris blocking Alex from view. The Efreet dropped its shotgun, Alex activating his heat sword and watching carefully for his opponent. He thought he saw the light of a mono-eye to the right, and pivoted his suit to look, firing vulcans into the night. But nothing was there, was he having a bad trip after all? In that instant Alex burst out of the smoke cloud, the Gouf flying at its opponent, heat sword glowing bright orange and held low. He swung, slicing the Efreets left leg clean off, Alain bracing his unit against the back of a building as it fell. The two swung their weapons again, the swords colliding with a heavy crack and bouncing backwards, sparks illuminating the blue and gray machines momentarily. Grace poured his remaining 40mm rounds into the Gouf, positioning his sword for a low stab as Alex moved for an overhead chop. Both weapons hit simultaniously, the Efreets heat sword stabbing into the Goufs reactor, forcing a failsafe deactivation that powered down the mobile suit. At the same time, Alex's attack cleaved straight through the Efreets right leg and arm, leaving it completely incapacitated. The huge metal arm fell to the ground, hand still gripping the heat sword that was lodged squarely in the Gouf. Later in the morning, the two would be seen walking back to base, a fanciful lie on both their lips about a Federation ambush. Alex Winters - 9 VP gained, repairing 5-1 Alain Grace - 9 VP gained, repairing 5-1 In the northern jungles of Cambodia, atop a large hill, Aurem sat. It was late in the day, and his new officer Lieutenant Ackert should have arrived almost thirty minutes prior. Something must have been keeping him. The sun was just starting to set, the sky slowly turning a dull yellow, freckled by white clouds casting shadows on the deep green jungle below. His GM Sniper was sitting much like Aurem, crouched atop the hill, beam rifle at the ready. Aurem was a patient man who spoke little, and he contented himself to watch the scenery, waiting for his commander. In the underbrush, hidden by the thick foliage, a pair of Zakus did their best to sneak up on the enemy mobile suit. A red Zaku Commander gripped the shoulder of the camouflaged Zaku II K, Ando speaking vigorously to his comrade. "I will get his attention and attack him with my heat hawk. You finish the job." Shoji exclaimed, proud of his position as point man. Rhett responded with a mumbled yes sir, turning the link off soon after. "Wish I had a heat hawk..." They slowly moved into position, the slight rustling of the trees and undergrowth going hopefully unnoticed to Aurem in his GM Sniper. The ground was wet and muddy, recent recent rains causing many rivers to flood in the valley below. It was difficult to move in such sticky terrain, and Ando hoped he would be able to use this to his advantage, removing the GMs ability to maneuver quickly. "Alright... Here we GO!" Ando yelled, blasting his thrusters and launching his Zaku out of the mud. With a sturm faust in one hand and heat hawk in the other, he hurtled his red Zaku towards his enemy, firing his missile and preparing to crash into the GM immediately after. Aurem moved into action as proximity warnings flashed all over his monitor. Levering the sniper beam rifle, he pulled the trigger, a huge beam of pink light streaking towards the Zaku as its rocket propelled anti ship weapon took a clumsy course towards the GM. The sturm faust exploded into the hill to Aurems right, while the beam rifle hit home, eating straight through the shoulder of Ando's mobile suit. His backpack thrusters exploded, knocking the Zaku downwards and shoving Shoji face down a full two feet in the mud. He tried to get the Zaku to stand, but it was no use, his weapon was firmly lodged in the wet earth. "Oh geeze." Paruta muttered, aiming at the hill and firing a salvo of missiles and artillery fire at the enemy GM. Explosions danced about the hill, trees and earth being flung in all directions, two rounds hitting the GM Sniper squarely. A second salvo knocked the Federation mobile suit backwards as it stood, a missile hitting the beam rifle and causing it to explode in front of Aurem. Aurem said nothing, realizing discretion was the better part of valor, and leapt backwards, using his suits arms to shield the head and cockpit from missile fire. Rhett kept firing until the GM was out of reach, only then moving to dislodge his fallen comrade from the mud. Rhett Paruta: 6 VP gained, no damage Ando Shoji: 6 VP gained, repairing 4 Aurem Senaiha: 8+1 VP gained, repairing 2 It was white. The hallway was well lit, long rectangular panes of plastic hiding two glowing flourescent tubes each, the artificial lighting giving the walls a sort of hazy glow that normal sunlight cannot express. The hallway was long and bare, running from one end of the 'childrens' quarters to the next. She was twenty years old, a grown adult, but they all slept in the childrens quarters, and some of them were indeed just children. It was always quiet in the hall, the walls and doors made to deaden all but the loudest sounds, but she could always hear the humming. A dull humming, coming from the flourescent lights above. There wasn't a single window or a single picture to decorate the white walls, freshly painted without a single blemish or uncertaintly. Made of long metal panes, the groove between the panes was fascinating to behold, a tiny piece of texture on the otherwise uniform, white wall. There were also the doors. Evenly spaced, four meters from each other, on either side and spaced in a zigzag pattern, so that no door was directly opposite the other. She'd heard it was to prevent the children from seeing each other at a bad time. The doors had no knobs and extremely small, white frames, each having a number painted to the front at eye level in a very light gray. Even numbers on the right, odd numbers on the left. Her clothes were numbered as well, each piece marked in permanent ink with the same number as her door. Her clothes were white, although they were somewhat ragged, preferring a worn gray to the sterility of her surroundings. At the end of the long hall was a glass door. It had no knob, and would only open and close with the permission of the armed staff on the other side. At the top of the door was a small bulb, made of white reflective plastic, a small white pimple used for spying on this vacant world. The glass door was thick, and there was a deep wound in its lower surface, where something had smashed into it forcefully. She thought she had heard a loud thud the night before, but it could have been one of her dreams. Her dreams were normally much louder than the commotion of the hall. A few small bits of red decorated the smashed glass, but the door was thick enough that the wound did not make it to the other side. It would be fixed soon. At the top of the glass door, in loud black words, read the phrase every one of them saw as they entered and left the hallway. The only way into or out of this world was through those words. She walked towards the door slowly, vacantly reading the words even as the glass pane slid open, welcoming her into the rest of the Flanagan institute. Two men appeared from behind the door, dressed in white coats and carrying clipboards thick with paper. She had seen these men many times, but she could not quite remember their names, or much about them at all. They were nice men, at least, they were as nice as any of the men in the institute. She could not remember any specific details about either man, the mannerisms of one blending into the other in her mind, until they all resembled the same personality, each indistinguishable from the other. "How are you feeling today Persephone?" One of the men asked, looking at his clipboard and not at her. She thought about the question, a number of answers forming in her mind but not quite making it to her tongue. She responded. "The door is broken." "Yes, it will be fixed soon." The man answered, looking at her with a smile. She was lead through the room adjoining the hall, a group of men behind a counter, watching a long set of TV screens and paying her little attention. Each TV screen had a number taped to it, even numbers on the top row, odd numbers on the bottom. They went into a bare elevator, one of the men pushing a button. The elevator started climbing, towards the mobile suit hangar at the top floor of the facility. "Have you been having bad dreams again Persephone?" one of the men asked, hands on his clipboard and a white pen. "A little." she responded, looking up at the top of the elevator. It was illuminated by a plastic pane, holding a pair of cylindrical flourescent lights, much like her hall. She strained her eyes, thinking for a moment that she saw a color, something beyond the haze. She couldn't quite grasp what color it was. She looked away as the door slowed down to a halt, opening into the mobile suit deck. This deck was a world of color, huge mobile armors, mobile suits, and military personnel filing in and out. The military base was large and expansive, ships coming and going, civilian contractors handling enormous jobs for the sake of the war. The gravity was weak enough that people could leap several times what they would be able to on Side 3 into the air, jumping onto elevated raftors and into standing mobile suit cockpits. Construction mobile suits flew around at the top levels, the entire roof of the hangar a massive double doored airlock. However, only certain people came to this far corner of the hanger, the two white elevator doors at right angles to each other. Three men were already waiting by the other, two in white lab coats and carrying clipboards, and the third in an all white outfit, a number tattooed into his shirt collar. Persephone looked at Chris, and she smiled slightly. The color of the boys apparel was refreshing. "Shall we begin?" One of the men asked, the others nodding. Persephone and Chris were quietly lead to their mobile suits. The Zaku II Manipulator stood at the base of a lunar cliff, about a hundred meters from the fortress proper at Granada. The Braw Bro floated in the air, waiting for the signal to begin. A flare was shot from the fortress, the two mobile weapons going into action quickly. She watched her screen closely, her arms quickly reaching for buttons and controls, a beam of pink flying across the screen to her right. She felt the lunar gravity lessen as her suit flew into the air, hands slowly moving a targetting crosshair across the screen. She closed her eyes for a moment, and for the next several seconds she was back in the elevator, looking beyond the flourescent light above. She opened her eyes. They were walking back to the fortress, back to the white hall. Her mobile suit was undamaged, and the Braw Bro was covered head to toe in over a hundred splotches of colored paint. Two empty, circular drums were left at the site of the battle. She had a headache. They were back in the elevator, which slowly slid its way down into the hall. Her headache was worse. The door opened, and she walked on her own towards the counter with the armed men behind it. There was a tray on the counter with a pair of small paper cups. One was plain, and filled with water. The other had a number on it, with a few pills inside. She recognized the number, and fluidly tossed the pills into her mouth, draining the water from the other cup shortly after. They tasted like chalk. She walked to the glass door, reading the words inscribed there as it opened. She looked down for a moment, the wound on the door was already gone. She had a headache. One of the men asked her about it. She looked at him and smiled. "I couldn't find the right color." Persephone Dawn - 6 VP gained, injured 2-1 Chris Burnett - 4 VP gained, repairing 1-1 injured 2-1 |