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September 12th, Universal Century 0079 Her lines sleek and colors awesomely distinct, the White Base, a brand new Pegasus-class assault carrier, descended rapidly from the upper atmosphere of Earth. After dodging numerous Zeon patrols between Side 7 and Earth, suffering causalities and damage, both physical and mental, the crew and refugees of the White Base were able to finally gaze upon the Earth's crust, the beautifully natural land that had born the human species. Within the massive hanger of the White Base, where the RX-78-2 "Gundam," the RX-77-2 "Guncannon," and the RX-75-4 "Guntank" where housed, the crew, both military and civilian, of the assault carrier worked swiftly to rearm the three mobile suits for battle. Zeon had prevented the White Base from descending on South America and the Federation's headquarters at Jaburo. Instead, they had been rerouted by force to the southwest region of North America - the region was barren and desolate, a victim of the terrible environmental changes wrought upon it by Operation British. On the spacious bridge of the White Base, Teniente Reed and Bright Noa argued over the proper course of action. "Damn you," Reed nearly shouted, his right arm in a sling, "You must send the Gundam ahead. It can easily slip through the damned Zeek lines and proceed on to Jaburo. You must do it." "No," Noa replied, turning to face Reed. "Amuro must rest. We have time before we encounter Zeon's Earth forces, and he must be rested before battle." "We don't have time!" Reed answered. "Good God, you must see that?" "Ensign Noa," called out the White Base's pilot. "What?" Nao asked, frustrated by the interruption. "We have enemy contacts." "Shit," Nao said. "Battle stations!" The purple monstrosity, known as the Gaw, drifted lazily over the southwest region of North America, the sprawling, desolate land stretching for miles around the assault carrier. In the small, spartan bridge of the massive Zeon warship, Garma Zabi stood idly behind the bridge crew. He unconsciously brushed back a strand of his purple hair. "Has it docked yet?" he asked for nearly the umpteenth time. "Yes, sir," replied one of the bridge officers. "Excellent. Have the hanger bay send him up immediately." "Yes, sir!" the officer answered. He turned back to his control panel, grabbed a nearby hard line and called down to the hanger bay. Several minutes later, after winding his way through the convoluted interior of the Gaw, Char Aznable, dressed in his characteristic red uniform and brilliant white face mask. "Captain Zabi," Aznable announced, throwing the young Zabi a quick salute. "How was your reentry, Char?" Garma replied, turning to face his old friend. "Pleasant enough," Aznable replied. "Have you located the White Base?" "Indeed," Zabi replied, pointing to a radar monitor nearby. "I am quite surprised by its design. It's so...un-Federation-like. I was further surprised by your inability to stop it and the new Federation mobile suits. I would have thought better of the Red Comet." Under the face mask, Aznable rolled his eyes. "Don't underestimate the Federation." The White Base had descended further, only a thousand feet over the desolate wasteland of the southwestern region of North America. Alert klaxons rang loud throughout the assault carrier and its crew scattered to their battle stations. In the mobile suit hanger, Ray was forced to utilize the Guntank - the Gundam was not quite ready for another round of combat. Within minutes, the Guntank rolled out of the White Base's hanger and fell swiftly to the Earth, a cloud of dust rising from the impact. "Where are the enemy forces?" Ray demanded, pressure and stress coursing through his veins. "We have spotted incoming Magella Attack Tanks from the north, past the ridge line," filter Nao's voice over the Guntank's radio. Further, a Gaw assault craft and its contingent of Dopp aircraft are approaching from the east." "Understood," Ray replied. He throttled the Guntank forward to its maximum speed, its treads kicking up a pair of dust clouds behind it. Through the cockpit viewer, he spotted a swarm of Zeon attack tanks cresting over the northern ridge. "Enemy forces spotted," Hayato Kobayashi, the Guntank's gunner, calmly announced, immediately firing the twin 180mm shoulder cannons of the Guntank, sending the massive rounds northwards, dropping them amongst the enemy tanks. The Magellas, despite their antiquity in the new age of mobile suit warfare, were quite fast and maneuverable, with only one of their number exploding violently as a 180mm shell crashed into its turret. The Zeon tanks opened up on the lone mobile suit, firing their 175mm cannons, several rounds striking home against the Guntank. Ray and Kobayashi shook under the impact of the rounds, but swiftly recovered and continued firing on the enemy forces. Some of the Magellas continued to focus on the Guntank, while others began raining shells on the White Base. Kobayashi struck home with one of his 180mm cannons, striking one of the Magellas in the hull. He was surprised, however, when the oddly shaped Magella turret quickly burst skywards, flying. "Shit," Ray cursed, as the flying turret continued, along with his compatriots, firing at the Guntank and the White Base. "I can't work with this mobile suit," Ray announced. "Is the Gundam ready?" "Affirmative," replied one of the hanger controllers monitoring the exterior battle. "Hrm, that strange mobile suits is retreating," Zabi observed from the bridge of the Gaw. The purple assault carrier and its Dopp escort had moved considerable closer to the White Base, and Zabi and Aznable observed the engagement between the Zeon's Magella Assault Tanks and the Guntank. "We should press the attack. Clearly this is opportunity to capture the White Base. Deploy the Zakus and have the Dopps directly attack the White Base." "Yes, sir!" replied the communications officer of the Gaw. The young officer immediately began ordering the Zeon forces into battle. The rear of the Gaw slowly opened, revealing the massive internal hanger of the assault carrier. Three Zaku II-Fs, the standard land mobile suit utilized by Zeon, began their drop, falling swiftly to the ground. The Dopps accelerated to their top speed, breaking off into two large "V" formations. The Dopps closed swiftly with the White Base and, nearly simultaneously, both the Federation carrier and the Dopps began firing at each other, the former firing its anti-aircraft machineguns and missile launchers and the latter letting lose with its own missiles. The Dopp missiles impacted against the armor of the White Base, exploding violently, but doing little more than scarring the massive assault carrier. The Dopps began maneuvering around the Federation's anti-aircraft fire. Explosions rocked the sky as several Dopps were struck by the White Base's withering fire, their burning carcasses streaking towards the ground. The White Base took the Dopps' punishment, a score of missiles striking against its battered frame. Within the Federation carrier, the crew shook under the relentless fire from the Dopps and the approaching Magellas. From the bridge of the Gaw, both Zabi and Aznable watched the battle closely, Zabi with a grin on his face and Aznable with apprehension. Where was the Gundam? Now comfortable within the confines of the quiet cockpit of the Gundam, Ray quickly checked the mobile suits weapons levels, secured his beam rifle with both of his suit's hands, and began maneuvering the suit out of the White Base's hanger. The Gundam swiftly cleared the White Base, falling nearly uselessly towards the ground. As the mobile suit hit the ground, Ray stumbled, not used to the Earth's gravity. Behind him, the Guntank, now crewed by Kobayashi and Ryu Jose, followed suit, returning to battle. "Press the Magellas," Ray ordered, himself raising his beam rifle to assist the White Base in clearing out some of the Dopp fighters. Feeling natural in the Gundam, Ray downed two low flying Dopps with quick efficiency, scattering debris over the wasteland. Beside him, the Guntank began firing rapidly, striking several Magellas, their turrets flying skywards. The White Base slowly approached the ridge line. "We're nearly clear of the Zeeks," Reed announced, looking at his monitor. "Agreed," Noa replied, examining his own computer monitor. The White Base's commander punched his com link. "Amuro, this is Noa." "What?" Amuro asked, frustrated, as his Gundam was suddenly brackted with cannon fire from the Magellas. "Concentrate on the Magellas. The White Base is close to a break through," Noa ordered. "Right," Amuro replied. He ignored the orders, instead turning his attention to the high-flying Dopps, a good dozen still swarming around the White Base and her mobile suit escorts. Jesus, Amuro thought, these guys don't give up. "There it is," Zabi observed, looking at his bridge monitor. It displayed, in all its glory, the Federation's Gundam. "Is it truly as powerful as you claim, Char?" the young Zabi asked, turning to face his friend. "Truly," Aznable replied, similarly examining a monitor. "Have the Zakus attack the White Devil immediately," Zabi ordered. "Let's test this beast." "Zakus!" Kobayashi cried from his position as gunner in the Guntank. Ray swiftly twisted the Gundam back towards the ridge line, watching as three Zaku II-F models, one equipped with the 280mm Zaku bazooka and the other two equipped with the 120mm Zaku machinegun. At full speed, the three mobile suits bounded past the surging Magellas, clearly focusing on the Gundam. "Guntank," Noa ordered over the radio, "Focus on the tanks. Amuro, take out those Zakus!" "Of course," Ray muttered. He charged forward in the Gundam, easily dodging past a 280mm bazooka round. He brought his beam rifle to bear, firing into one of the Zaku's, striking it twice. The mobile suit exploded violently, showering the combatants with debris. The other two Zeon mobile suits quickly surrounded the Gundam, firing their ineffective 120mm machineguns into the Federation mobile suits, only to watch in horror as the bullets pinged uselessly off the Lunar Titanium armor. Ray swung his beam rifle around, lined up a shot, and fired, striking the second Zaku square in the chest, the lance from his beam rifle piercing the Zeon mobile suit. The resulting explosion sent debris everywhere. Nearby, a Magella turned its turret towards him, but before it could fire, Ray pierced its turret with another round of his beam rifle. Behind me, Ray thought, the image of a charging Zaku, heat hawk out, suddenly appearing within his mind. At a speed nearly inhuman, Ray turned the Gundam, brought the beam rifle up, and fired at the leaping Zaku, striking it in the center of its torso. Only a dozen feet away, the explosion and debris knocked back the Gundam. Zabi frowned. Within the space of only a couple minutes, all three of his Zakus had been destroyed by the Gundam, as well as more of his Dopps and Magellas. "This will be more difficult than I had imagined," he mused aloud. "Indeed," Aznable replied, a grin on his face. "I told you about the power of that mobile suit." "Yes, you did," Zabi answered. "This has convinced me of our need to acquire the Federation's new toy intact. We can most definitely utilize its technology for our own programs." "Of course," Aznable replied. "Our forces must withdraw," Zabi announced, scratching his chin lightly. "Sir?" asked one of the bridge officers. "You heard me," Zabi snapped. "Order them to withdraw. We cannot take the White Devil now, not with our forces depleted. We can choose the place to fight them next. They are on our terrain, not theirs. We will have an opportunity to capture the Gundam later." "Understood," the bridge officer replied, complying with his superior. The crew of the White Base cheered as the Dopps and Magellas swiftly retreated. "Amuro, Guntank, return to the White Base," Noa ordered. He turned and smiled at the bridge crew of the assault carrier, pleased with the way the civilian crew had handled the situation. His crew had even made an impression on Reed and the former crew of the Salamis. "What is your next move, Bright?" Reed asked, looking at a bridge monitor now displaying a map of the southwestern region of North America. Noa moved over an examined the same monitor. "We're fairly close to the southern entrance to the Grand Canyon. We'll make for the canyon, proceed north to its end, and then head west." "West? That's to the heart of Zeon's territory in North America," Reed answered. "Yes, but it is the only option left to us. The battle lines at Mexico would quickly pick us up and destroy us before we made it to friendly territory" Noa studied the map. I pray this works, he thought. And I pray Amuro can handle the pressure. Ray entered into his dark quarters, exhausted from yet another battle. He had left quickly from the hanger, ignoring everyone who had engaged him. He needed sleep, not conversation. Ray swiftly peeled off his battle suit and fell onto his bed. But sleep didn't come... |