Chapter 15: Transition"Hey, Sylvie. You're Sylvie, right?" JP asked as he found a female officer sitting quietly under the shade of one of the GMs. Sylvie nodded as she blinked her eyes hard. There were still a few tears in them, and she didn't want her new teammate to see them. She didn't have time for grief, she'd learned that lesson the hard way in Ruum. But still, it was hard... it was hard because she was human, wasn't she? And she'd still feel it no matter how much she tried to ignore it... "You don't have to try to hide it, Sylvie, it's alright... I do understa..." JP started. "Enough, we've got work to do... and don't forget to give me the proper respect by calling me MAM!" Sylvie growled angrily. "And COULD you understand?" "Yes, mam," he replied. "I see you two are getting along well," Sergeant Fred Chan said as he joined them. Sylvie gave him the coldest gaze she could muster, to which Fred could only chuckle lightly. "What's so funny?!" she screamed. "Well actually it reminds me of you and..." Fred started before realizing his mistake, "Oh, sorry Sylvie..." "He might even be worse..." she muttered as she tried to keep herself from crying. "I... " JP started. "Lay off her a while," Fred whispered to John as he dragged him away, "She's... well, ****, the most kind hearted of all of us and..." "The most sensitive, making it harder on her than anyone else, yeah... I noticed," JP finished for him, "But... I don't think leaving her alone will help much." "Trust me, Sir." "Cut out that sir crap, I've never has much respect for authority you know..."
"Yes, Sir." It was hard to watch it, but he couldn't do anything. Nothing that wouldn't cause more pain later. "Why don't you go and help her out, Max? You're her friend, right?" Maurice asked, rather disapprovingly. "I won't be able to help her, Maurice. Trust me..."
"Why?"
Sylvie smiled lightly, though painfully, as she saw Max and Maurice start chatting together. At least, despite all the tragedy going around them... there were those two. Even if... "So do you understand now?" Max asked.
"Yeah," Maurice replied with a slight smile, "I guess so... but you haven't changed at all..." Sylvie took a long deep breath before standing up and wiping away the last of her tears. "Sorry guys..." she whispered as she looked at Pat and Earl's graves, "I'll miss you, but I still have a lot of things to do... But I promise, I'll never forget you." She started to walk towards John who was waiting nearby. "I apologize for the way I've been trea..." JP started. "It's alright now, forget about it. Right now I'm more interested about you, Sergeant," Sylvie asked. "Actually, I'm a Second Lieutenant now, but I don't mind..." JP replied rather sheepishly,"Anyway, my full name is John Paul Recto. Call me JP or Magic as you please. Been on Earth all my life, right here in the Philippines. But I AM a radarman and sonarman first class." "And you can sniff out those Zeon boys, right?" Sylvie asked, though with a slight bit of doubt. "Probably, space isn't that different from underwater environments. In fact I think they have the same school for sub and space ship officers. Both need mastery of the 3D environment," Magic answered. "We'll see..." Sylvie said as she quickly scanned his face. It was a kind one, she realized for the first time. But also mature, but it was still hidden under the brashness of youth. "Anyway, since we're going to be working together, I'm Sylvie Gressier. Just call me Sylvie and forget about the mam crap. I'm also not so touchy about rank," JP's eyebrows then went up a notch, "But I DO care about respect, so give it to me. And don't worry about space, my home is in Libo of Side 6, and I can teach you the works." "Thanks, Sylvie." "And as for the others..." "Actually, I've met them all. You're the only one I was waiting for..." "Really?" Sylvie asked, surprised, "Have I been out that..."
"Yeah, you were." "And you had better make sure you write, okay Dad?" Cynthia concluded. "Yes... I will, I promise...." Colonel Patterson replied rather weakly. Cynthia had taken after her mother, who had a certain way of bullying him around... But he had to keep his promises. One of the duties as a father. Even if that included keeping her... "friend" in one piece without being nepotistic... "But don't worry, Dad," Cynthia said as she read her father's face,"If JP misbehaves, I won't mind at all if you beat him up a little..." "I don't haze my subordinates." "You might actually want to start with him..." Cynthia replied with a wide grin on her face,"In fact, I'm really surprised that his former superiors hadn't gotten around to arranging some sort of accident for him..." "You don't really mean that, do you?"
"Of course not, Dad," Cynthia replied with a gleam in her eye, "Of course not." She then quickly kissed him in the cheek and hugged him tightly. She had been used to these partings. But there was another man who she still had to see off... She certainly looked magnificent, Brigadier General Alexander Dolvich thought as he surveyed his fleet's newest ship, now floating in Jaburo's underground dock. She was the Magellan-class battleship Raymond Spruance, though "Improved Magellan" may be a better term to describe it. The 'Vinson Project' had provided the Federation with ships that had MS-carrying capacity, but at the cost of loss of armaments as cannons and missile launchers were replaced by hangars capable of carrying limited numbers of mobile suits. But the Spruance was different. She was nearly 40% larger than her predecessors, giving the ship enough room for up to six mobile suits without any real loss in armament at all. In fact, the Spruance packed even more firepower than an ordinary Magellan as the ship was now equipped with two, very powerful cannons that were normally equipped in Pegasus class ships in place of her two side turrets. One hit from these cannons could kill a Musai outright, or even a Tibe, making her almost a match for any Zeon ship, even a Gwajin. Additional AA and missile batteries gave the ship good close range capabilities against MS, and best of all she had a huge cruising range and a slightly faster speed thanks to a better reactor. She would be the core of his fleet's mobile reserve, and he was damn glad to have this ship. Some distance away from the Spruance were the other two ships of his reserve. The modified Salamis class cruisers Gloucester and Anzio. Like the Spruance, they were larger than their other sisters and had their reactors upgraded, allowing it to carry up to three MS, cruise faster and at longer ranges, and also have the two forward side turrets replaced by Magellan-type turrets with twin mega particle guns. The two ships were really "Pocket Battlehips" instead of cruisers. Too bad, he thought, that he could only have two of them. Most of his fleet was already in space, docked at Luna Two. It was composed of the Amerigo and six Salamis, but they were either old ones or those built prior to the 'Vinison Project', inferior to the Zeon units. Worse, his newest MS weren't ready yet. The new GM Sniper Custom was a wonderful unit, good enough to match a Gundam, but the one assigned for his fleet was still unfinished. And there was also that problem of a couple of Zeon Special Forces groups occasionally sneaking into Jaburo. He feared a drop operation may start soon, but Jaburo was supposedly impregnable. "Right..." he thought. Just like California. "So, who will replace Lars?" Lt. General Nicolo asked as he joined Dolvich. "Karl Grunther, Sir, he's a former member of the 71st batta..." "Oh, he's from Earth, good," Nicolo said as he flicked through the files, "He ought to do well..."
Dolvich frowned, but did not respond. There WERE arrogant elitist in the EF, and Nicolo was one of them. Though Dolvich may be an Earthnoid, he had not one racist bone in him, and he just detested men like Nicolo. Unfortunately, the reverse also seemed true. He'd been in the military a long time, but he'd never fought in space, Karl Grunther thought as he read his reassignment orders. Well, at least he now had units that were up to par with Zeon's, or so they say... Not that he had any choice. He didn't really have anything left now. All he could do now was to just try to live through this war, and wish her luck. But he still missed her. "Captain, the whole company is here," Sergeant Fred Chan declared as he stood at attention. Behind him, three men and two women were also at attenton, ready for the new commanding officer's customary introductory speech. With a slight bit more enthusiasm than the last time. "Alright, I believe you all know me now. And I am not a hard officer to work for. However, you WILL follow my orders. But I do know that I'm not as experienced in space and we ARE going there soon, so if you have anything important that you believe may be helpful, tell me and I will listen." Well, Sylvie thought, at least he really is better than the now fishfood Lars at the moment. "But you'll have to do it in a hurry. We are going to leave on the 30th and head to Side 2. We'll receive further orders then." Side 2? Sylvie thought as she glanced at Max, of all the places... "However, due to your combat record, we'll be equipped with more advanced space-type GMs and operate off a new Magellan class ship. They have high expectations for us, so we'd all better do well. Now, any questions?" "When do we leave again, Sir?" Max suddenly asked, surprising Sylvie. "The 30th. Any problems, Lieutenant Harper?" "None at all, Sir," he replied quietly.
"Very well then, get your things in order. We leave for Jaburo at 1900 hours tonight. Dismissed!" "Well Karl, looks like this is it..." Dave said as he shook Karl's hand once the briefing had ended. Karl had saved him and his company countless times, and he was going to miss his fellow Captain. "Don't worry Dave, we'll see each other again, won't we?" Karl replied with a grin. "Yeah, whenever you pass by Torrington, don't forget to say hi," Dave said as he showed him a picture of the Torrington base. He was getting reassinged there as a training instructor. "No problem, just don't stepped on by an enemy MS, alright?**"
"Of course I won't." "You're going tonight, John?" Cynthia asked rather disappointedly. "Yeah, I am... Going to earn my pay I guess..." JP replied rather shyly. "Well... um... you will keep your promises, right?" she asked quietly. "I will, don't worry, alright?" JP replied with a smile. "Please... I don't want to lose you... You've been my best friend, brother, and even a second father, all in one... and someday, maybe if..." she started as she began to move closer to him... JP held her arms and pulled her closer to him. He smiled at her, his gentle brown eyes locked on hers. Cynthia closed her eyes and moved her face closer to his. They kissed, and as they did a few tears flowed down Cynthia's cheeks. "Hey, Cynthia, come on... don't cry. I'm not going to die. I swear, I'll come back to you... As long as I know you're waiting, even if I have to go through the whole Zeon army if I have to, I'll be back." "Yeah... but... to tell you the truth, I'm not used to having you not around... I just..." John gently wiped away her tears and held her cheek. "This isn't like you, Cynthia... you're the type who's always waiting," he said quietly. "I know but... I've never really realized that I wasn't really waiting... That I had already found someone," she looked away, staring at nothing, "Someone who was always just beside me. Who was there for me... And when he was gone for a while..." she looked straight into JP's eyes, "John, I..." Cynthia said before stopping herself. But everything she was feeling was showing on her face. "I know that you do love me, Cynthia..." JP finished for her before kissing her again, "And I feel the same way. So I won't make you wait for long. I promise," he finished solemnly.
"Thank you."
The Midea transport left at exactly 1900 hours. Cynthia Patterson watched it as it left carrying the two people dearest in her life. Their fates now lay in the stars above. If everything went well in Jaburo. November 24, UC 0079 - Somewhere in Brazil
"This is Snoop 1. I may have just found something," an Acguy pilot said as he ran his mobile suit's arms along a crack in the rocky river shore. It was straight, lined with steel, and definitely man-made. And only a short distance from the Federal Forces Headquarters, Jaburo.
Remarks:
Notice: This story and all related material is copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting, no part of this story may be taken by any other person. If you wish to use any material, please contact me first. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by their respective companies. |
