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September 24th, 0079 Despite the fact it was September, Las Vegas, or what was left of it, was still boiling during the day. Captain Rick Hasan, commanding officer of the Zeon garrison of Las vegas, looked stoically out of the window of his apartment, situated near the Old Strip. His eyes drifted over the destroyed city, its ruins standing tall in the midst of the desolate region of the North American southwest. In the early stages of the war, a Federation military commander made the poor choice of standing to fight in the city. Not only was he and his forces obliterated, but most of the city went with them. "Good riddance," Hasan said, slowly stroking his long beard. "Did you say something?" asked a seductive voice. From the bead, under only a thin silk sheet, the blonde beauty woman that Hasan kept rolled over on her side to face him. "Nothing," he said, continuing to look out the large glass window. A heavy knock came from the door, causing him to turn away from the view. "Who is it?" he called out. "Lieutenant Filmore, sir," a voice answered. "The White Base has been spotted by Private Flynn's patrol." "Jesus," Hasan replied, stunned. He wasn't entirely sure that the White Base would have headed in this direction when he had received intelligence reports from California Base, but he prepared anyways, gathering as many forces as he could for that potentiality: a squadron of Dopps, two squadrons of Magellas, and a squad of Zaku II-Fs and Zaku II-Ks, plus a combat bridge of soldiers. He was ready. "Alert the squadrons. I'll be in my mobile suit in five minutes." "Understood!" Filmore yelled through the door, and Hasan could hear the young officer pounding down the corridor. The Federation assault carrier drifted slowly towards Las Vegas. Bright Noa, sitting in the command chair on the White Base's bridge, shifted his eyes across the wasteland expanse between the carrier and the devastated city of Las Vegas. "What happened to the city?" asked the carrier's helmsman, Mirai Yashima. The young girl frowned as she examined the city's remnants. "The usual," Noa replied sadly. "The Federation attempted to hold the city against the Zeon mobile suits and failed." "This is a bad idea," Amuro Ray announced, standing near one of the bridge consoles. Dressed in his usual pilots uniform, he turned to face to the White Base's commanding officer. "It's a gamble, I admit," Noa said, irritated. "But war is a gamble, and this is the best way northwards without swinging too close to California Base, and any engagement with Zeon there would not result in a positive outcome." "Whatever," the young pilot answered, rolling his eyes. Nearby, Frau Bow coughed and sent a warning glance to Ray, who only rolled his eyes again. "We'll probably have our hands full here. I'm sure there is a garrison." "And how can you be so sure?" Noa asked, swiveling his head towards the Gundam's pilot. "It's just a feeling." "There she is," Flynn pointed out. Sitting in the cockpit of his Zaku II-F, Flynn and his superior, Captain Hasan, also sitting in his Zaku II-F, were situated in the darkened ruins of a hotel. "For the Federation, it's a beautiful warship," Hasan commented over the radio. "Agreed. What's the plan?" "We'll wait for the ship to be drawn into the outer ruins, then attack," the captain replied. "And then we'll hit them with all we got." "Good," Flynn said, a wolfish grin on his face. Silently, the White Base entered the outskirts of Las Vegas, sailing slowly over the remnants of houses and businesses. On the ground, Ray marched in the Gundam, followed by Kai Shiden in the Guncannon, and Hayato Kobayashi and Ryu Jose in the Guntank. The mobile suits marched solemly through the destruction. For several minutes, the mobile suits walked quietly - the city seemed deserted. As they moved farther into Las Vegas, the buildings around them were taller, their ruins more evident and spectacular. "The Zeeks sure whacked this place," Shiden said aloud, astonished by the destruction. "Yeah," replied the Guntank crew in unison. Both men laughed sheepishly. "Quiet," Ray suddenly spoke. Something seemed...off to him. As the mobile suits came to an intersection, the Gundam's pilot swiveled the mobile suit's head back and forth, scanning for potential danger. To his left, the road came to a "T" junction nearly a hundred yards from their position. Beyond the junction stood a ruined apartment building. For a moment, Ray let his eyes settle on the building. Was there something there? He shook his head and was about to start forward again when he picked up, barely, a vague red circle, just for a moment, from the confines of the destroyed building. "Shit..." he said slowly, checking the computer readout on his beam rifle, making sure that it was ready. And then all hell broke lose. In the sky, a wing of seven Dopps descended from the sky, their engines straining under the maneuver, towards the White Base, each fighter craft releasing a barrage of missiles, most of them impacting against the top of the massive carrier. From either end of the intersection where the Federation mobile suits stood, enemy fire spewed forth. From the left, where Ray had spotted the first enemy mobile suit, a large 180mm round streaked forth from a Zaku II-K, and only his Newtype senses allowed him to quickly bring his arm shield up. The round struck hard against the shield and exploded outward, sending debris in all direction. From the right, three Zaku II-Fs, each armed with the potent 280mm Zaku bazooka poured from several destroyed buildings. They began firing, two swinging wide and striking against already ruined buildings and the third hitting the Guncannon dead on. "Fuck!" yelled Shiden in panic, maneuvering his Guncannon backwards, firing frantically with the mobile suits two 240mm shoulder cannons. In a lucky shot, one round penetrating one of the Zaku II-Fs in the shoulder, exploding and sending the enemy mobile suit tumbling uselessly to the ground. Following the street they were are northwards, the crew of the Guntank spotted a squadron of Magella Attack Tanks approaching at high speed. "We'll handle the ground units," Jose yelled, throttling the Guntank forward at full speed. The gunner, Kobayashi, began firing the mobile suit's twin 180mm cannons as well as the 40mm arm rockets, sending fiery death towards the oncoming Magellas. "Shiden," Ray ordered, taking stock of the situation, "Fall back to the White Base and take care of those Dopps. I'll handle the Zakus." "Understood," replied the panicky Guncannon pilot. He swiftly maneuvered the blood-red Guncannon southwards, hit the suit's thrusters and bounded skywards, landing heavily on the open deck of the White Base. Farther above in the sky, the Dopp squadron maneuvered easily past the anti-aircraft fire of the carrier, diving again and again on the White Base, firing missiles and 20mm shells into the Federation vessel. Every explosion rocked the ship. "Get the White Devil!" Hasan shouted, charging past the falling corpse of Private Flynn's mobile suit. His other Zaku similarly charged, and both pilots began firing rapidly with their 280mm Zaku bazooka. The Gundam blocked the first short with its arm shield, heavily scarring the shield. Past the Gundam, the Zeon squad's Zaku II-K moved out of its camouflage of the ruined apartment building, moving to get a better aim at the now maneuvering Gundam. "Watch cross-fire," reminded the other Zaku II-F pilot. The Zaku pilot let another round off and Hasan did the same. The Gundam would have none of it, however, and its pilot boosted skywards, landing on top of a nearby building. All three Zakus immediately corrected their firing lines, each letting off a new barrage of fire towards the White Devil. The Federation mobile suit turned and jumped downwards, behind the Zakus. Hasan grunted, swiftly turning his Zaku. The Gundam, beam rifle in hand, fired, and the Zaku pilot closed his eyes in anticipation of his death. After a moment, he opened his eyes, only to see the Gundam boosting away. Hasan glanced around, wondering where the White Devil had fired, only to see his Zaku II-K's carcass splattered across the roadway. "Goddamnit," he cursed. "To the left!" Jose cried to Kobayashi. The gunner swiveled the Guntank's turret to the left, spotting a retreating Magella. The Guntank fired both of its 180mm cannons, one of the large shells striking true against the Zeon tank's turret. The tank exploded violently, sending debris skywards. "Haha!" the gunner whooped. Kobayashi turned the Guntank's torso, scanning the ruined cityscape for more targets. The pair had eliminated five of the seven enemy tanks - hunting the last two, however, had proven difficult. The Guntank rolled forward, the torso scanning for the last two enemy units. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," Kobayashi sang softly. Out of his right eye he spotted movement, and the gunner brought the Guntank's weapons to bear, showering the area with cannon and missile fire. He yelled in delight as he saw the usual Magella turret burst out of the rubble skywards, confirming the destruction of most of the tank. He lifted the Guntank's arms, firing more missiles towards the Magella turret, while Jose rolled the mobile suit forward to keep pace. "This is too much fun," Jose said, smiling and laughing as the Guntank destroyed one of the last remnants of the Zeon land forces. "Where is he?" the other Zaku II-F pilot asked, scared. He and Hasan had maneuvered slowly around the builtup area of Las Vegas, searching for the White Devil. After destroying the Zaku Cannon, the Gundam had disappeared. It was somewhere around here, Hasan thought, carefully sweeping his Zaku bazooka back and forth, ready for the Gundam. The other Zaku had backed up to the side of an abandoned hotel, hoping for the building to provide him a solid back to fight from. That was not to be the case. A magnificently loud crashing sound came from behind Hasan's subordinate as the Gundam crashed through the building's wall and into the back of the Zaku. With unnatural speed, the White Devil's beam saber was out. "Jesus Christ!" the pilot screamed in fear as the Gundam calmly thrust the saber through the Zaku. The White Devil maneuvered back into the building for cover from the ensuing explosion. "Goddamnit," Hasan cursed. He tossed his bazooka aside and slipped his heat hawk off of his suit's lower back magnetic rack. Thumbing the heat hawk active, he valiantly charged forward. The Gundam charged as well and the two clashed quickly, Hasan's heat hawk slamming into the damaged arm shield while the Gundam's beam saber swipe went wide. The Zeon captain raised his melee weapon for a second time and swung it hard downwards. The Gundam blocked it again, but this time, its pilot did not miss, spearing the Zaku through the chest. "ARGH!" the Zeon officer screamed, his voice cut-off by the vicious explosion of his mobile suit. Shiden swung his Guncannon's two 240mm cannons to the east and fired, sending shells skywards. His fire was joined by the White Base's, its anti-aircraft cannons and missiles firing, forcing the remaining Dopps to evade and avoid the incoming fire. A Dopp dropped low, reduced it is twin 20mm vulcans, and fired at the exposed Guncannon. The burst peppered the mobile suit, but Shiden ignored it. He fired back with the Guncannon's linked 60mm machineguns located in the suit's head, several rounds striking home, sending the Zeon fighter tumbling out of the sky. "Yes!" Shiden yelled, fist pumping in the confines of his cockpit. The remaining Dopps suddenly broke off, slicing through the sky westwards, their engines screaming under the pressure. "Victory!" he yelled again, watching the Dopps retreat. "God, I can't believe we won." "Excellent job, Amuro," Noa said, congratulating the pilot. The Gundam and the Guntank had returned from the field and had been recovered by the White Base. The ship's commander had met the young pilot in the hanger bay. "Thanks," Ray replied, removing his helmet. "Turns out you were right." Noa smiled. "We should be clear till we hit Oregon country," the captain said. "Then we'll have to run another gauntlet through heavily patrolled Zeon territory. You should have time to rest by then." "Good," the Gundam's pilot replied. The two men studied each other. "Victory," Noa said, a smile on his face. "Victory." "Well, our Las Vegas forces could not halt the White Devil," Garma Zabi announced, walking over to his friend and comrade, Char Aznable. The pair, standing on one of the many tarmacs of California Base, watched as Zeon technicians and engineers scrambled to loud Zabi's Gaw with a new complement of mobile suits and tanks. "I wouldn't have expected them to," the Red Comet replied. "Captain Hasan was a fool to have even attempted to." The young Zabi nodded in agreement. "The battle does tell us one thing, however." "What's that?" Aznable turned to face his superior. "We know where they're going." "Seattle?" "Yes. And Seattle is where we shall be. Very soon, Garma, very soon, we shall have the White Base and the White Devil under our control." |