Sylvie was the first off the plane. The journey was uneventful, except for some turbulence that still made her a little dizzy. But not dizzy enough not to marvel at the Federation's headquarter. Their landing strip had been impressive enough, a huge camouflaged dock that opened up right in the middle of the jungle, but the interior was even more impressive. It was composed of huge caverns, which protected the many essential buildings necessary for continuing the Federation's war effort. She'd been to Luna Two, but Jaburo seemed to dwarf even that. Like many first comers to this place, Jaburo gave Sylvie the initial impression of an impregnable fortress, the supreme manifestation of the Federation's will to resist Zeon's aggression.

"Looks impressive, huh?" Sergeant Fred Chan asked, "I was like that when I was here the first time. The impression generally gets worse when you meet the personnel..."

"But still..." JP said as he looked around, "Wow..."

"You the 44th?" a rather sloppy looking Lieutenant asked the group.

"Yes," the Captain answered for all of them, "So where do we go?"

"Get on the jeeps, we'll take you there," the Lieutenant replied dryly. Feh, he thought, more lambs to the slaughter...
-----------------------------

It was getting REALLY embarassing, Sylvie thought, to be with Juan and JP. Both were staring out of the jeeps and acting like kids being brought to a new theme park or something, marvelling at the rows and rows of military equipment passing by them ranging from old Fanfans to GMs. Max was observing the gear, too, but at least he was a lot more reserved and calculating.

"Wow! Is that our ship?" John said as he pointed to a huge green ship, "I hear we have a new type of battleship."

"No she's a Pegasus-class," the more friendly Sergeant driving the jeep explained, "We're going to be taking another one in soon, the White Base."

"Which ship is ours anyway?" Sylvie asked. The White Base was almost a legendary ship to her now, but she would rather see her new ship.

The Sergeant then pointed to one of the Magellans floating in Jaburo's underground drydock. What looked like a Magellan, that is. It seemed much larger than Sylvie's old ship, Amerigo. With better guns, too. "That's the Spruance. They say she's a Magellan but the chief engineer keeps bragging that it's a lot more than that."

"Is that the new Sniper type?" Max asked as he pointed to one of the GMs near the dock. It wasn't completed yet, but it definitely looked different compared to the ordinary GMs.

"Erghh... I guess," the Sergeant replied. He didn't really do much other than truck personnel around, but he did occasionally overhear the engineers talking, "They call it Guard or Interceptor, but I know it's a high performance type with a big rifle. Still unfinished though."

"Thanks, Sarge," Max said quietly.

"Hey, neat. I think those MS are ours..." Juan said as he pointed at the GMs beside the uncompleted Sniper. They all had "44th" painted in their right shoulders.

"Hmmm... A GM Cannon, a Light Armor Type, two E-Types, and... a slighlty modified RGM-79," Max recalled, all from memory. Of all the members of the company, Max was the most up to date in terms of learning about new equipment.

"I hear the last one's been modified for an EWAC role..." the Sergeant said.

"Hey... wait a minute!!!" John suddenly said, "There are only FIVE pilots... don't tell me that..."

"I guess so... you are an EWAC operator, aren't you?" Sylvie teased.

"But... but..." John started to mumble comically before Sylvie finally laughed out loud. For the first time she realized, since the two of them had died. Thanks John, she thought.
-----------------------------

"I am Lieutenant Eric Milton, welcome to the 44th's new home, EFSF Raymond Spruance," a handsome young officer explained as they piled out of their jeeps.

"I am Captain Karl Grunther, are you going to be the replacement pliot for Lars?" the Captain asked.

"Yes, Sir," he replied with a smile, "I'm taking the EWAC-modified GM."

Sylvie nudged John as he breathe a sigh of relief. John was the ship officer type of guy who wanted to avoid MS piloting as much as possible. But whether he was really scared or just trying to be funny was beyond Sylvie's understanding.

"So who is our commanding officer?" Karl asked rather sternly.

"I'll be your immediate superior," Col. Patterson said as he joined the party, "Good to see you again Karl. Brigadier General Alexander Dolvich will be supreme commander of the fleet."

Karl nodded with a smile. Karl had fought under Sean for a long while, and he trusted him as much as the Luna Titanium armor that once protected his GM, "What will be our unit assignments?"

"I'll let Milton explain, so Eric, take over, I have to survey my ship a little more," the Colonel ordered, his eyes gleaming at his beautiful new battleship.

"Yes, Sir!" Eric replied enthusiastically, "The GM Cannon is for you Captain. I believe artllery is still your forte, Sir. Better armor and has a 180mm fixed on the right shoulder."

Karl nodded briefly, "What about the others?"

"Ignacio and Chan will be piloting the E-Type GMs. One of the best we've got so far. It has Luna Titanium armor and much of the same operating parameters as the Gundam. We've also managed to equip them with beam spray guns in addition to the 90mm machine guns."

Well, Juan thought, that was nice. Luna Titanium had saved his life often enough, but he'd never gotten to use beam weapons though. Beside him, Fred was also smiling. But Max wasn't. He knew the limitations of the beam spray gun.

"And as for the GM Light Armor..." the Lieutenant started.

"It's mine, right?" Maurice asked.

"Yes, Lieutenant Evans. Most former fighter aces like you are being equipped with these types. Highly maneuverable and has a full-powered beam rifle, but..."

"The armor is thinner than a tomato soup can. I know," she replied with a grin. Of all the GM variants being tested out, this particular model had been her favorite even when it was still in the drawing board. She'd even sent a few suggestions to the engineers. But there was still one more... "What about Max?"

"Since he has the highest kill rate among all of you, he is being given a special issue GM Sniper-Type, the RGM-79SC. Maneuver and reactor wise, it's as good as a Gundam, but armor is a little less. also, due to the limited production of this unit we were waiting for the pilot to ask him what weapons should we..."

"Two beam sabres, stored in the forearms, but I don't want them to be fixed. A hard point for a bazooka, and two points for two beam pistols. A GM Ground Type's shield, and two precision sniper rifles. One beam, one gunpowder type. And don't bother changing the verniers. The standard configuration is fine with me," Max quickly said. He definitely did his research.

"Ummm... okay..." Eric said as he busily jotted down his specifications. But he was a bit glad. The specs he had requested were relatively easy to find and install. The specs requested by other GM Sniper pilots were a lot more demanding, but they were aces, weren't they?

Sylvie smiled. Max had been one of the proponents of the Federation MS program, which was why he got the job as a GM pilot in the first place. His own custom GM seemed a good enough reward for pushing the project forward.

Suddenly, alarm claxons began to ring all over the base as personnel all around them began to scramble to their stations. "What's happening?" Captain Karl demanded.

"I... it's... it's probably another Zeon raid," Eric replied, "We've been having a lot of those lately. Let's just get into one of the bunkers and continue this later."

"Lead the way," the Captain replied.
-----------------------------

"Enemy Ruygen Type detected!" a radar technican reported, "Four Dopps escort!"

"Point of origin?" the senior officer asked.

"California Base, Sir, what should we do?"

"Tell AA batteries to remain silent! Order the Tins to go after them!"
-----------------------------

"****! They picked us up!" the Ruygen's radar technician reported.

"Damn it! Time to bug out!" the pilot screamed. A moment later he and the flight of Dopps accompanying him started turning for home. They never saw the eight Tin Cods coming up below them, and they never would.
-----------------------------

"Tins have targets! They are engaging!" the radar technican reported.

His senior simply nodded as one by one, all five craft were blotted from the sky. Nobody survived. And yet another Zeon's recon flight from California was sent crashing into the ground by Jaburo's airgroup.
-----------------------------

"Is it over?" the Captain asked.

"It seems so, usually it's just a few planes from California. They never attack us seriously." Eric replied quietly.

"We managed to capture a few MSM pilots a few days ago. They seem to have been testing new prototypes," the Captain warned.

"Sir, I doubt that they can find a way in."
-----------------------------

"Snoop 1 here, it's confirmed. This IS a dock," an Acguy pilot reported.

"Alright, let's get out of here. The Mad Angler Squadron may find this very interesting..." his senior replied with a smile.
-----------------------------

The next five days were spent preparing and testing out the new equipment, as well as getting to know more about each other. Eric had proved to be a useful guide around Jaburo, he even managed to get them authorization to watch the White Base dock some time ago, which was great. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be that good with his EWAC GM (right). Principally the same as an ordinary GM, it had a large independent radar array instead of a shield. It gave it EWAC capability, but at the cost of some protection. But it wasn't that bad, Sylvie thought.

Max though, was having a field day. His GM Sniper Custom was finished in almost record time thanks to him, giving him a full day to test out the new machine. And it was great on the ground, even if it was a space type. Her daydreaming was suddenly interrupted by yet another alarm claxon. The 17th one she had heard since her stay, and it was getting annoying. Especially with the launch only six hours away... Another damn raid...
-----------------------------

"Oh... oh my God!" the radar technican screamed.

"What is it?!" his senior officer asked.

"Zeon aircraft! Dozens of them! It's a ****ing drop operation! ****! Minovsky Jamming!"

"Sir! Enemy mobile suits are inside the base!!!" another technician reported.

"What?!" the senior officer exclaimed, "Damn it... ALL UNITS! Scramble!!!"
-----------------------------

The commanding officer of Gau no. 4 was angry. Very angry. He and the rest of the forces stationed in the California Base had been ordered to attack the Federation's HQ at Jaburo way ahead of schedule. So much so that most of their carefully built prototypes had yet to be fielded. But since the great Char Aznable had found Jaburo's docks the commander had willingly ordered them to attack. Great. And if this operation fails...

The Gau just left of his suddenly took a dozen AA hits as it began to drop its bomb loads. A volley of air-to-air missiles followed. The Gau then exploded into a massive fireball that took some of the escorting Dopps with it. Damn it... he thought, this is a VERY bad idea... "How long before we reach our landing zone?!" he demanded.

"Six minutes to positions! Our mobile suit complement is ready!"

"Good! Let's drop'em and get out of here as soon as we can!" he turned his attention back to what was going on in front of him. He was just in time to see a burning Fly Mantha start its kamikaze dive towards his bridge...
-----------------------------

"Echo 8, for God's sake pull out!" a radio officer screamed. His words were in vain. The Fly Mantha and the Gau collided. A moment later, the huge airborne carrier disappeared in a deafening explosion.
-----------------------------

Even from below, John had heard it. But what was going on above was the least of his concerns. Right now, he was running for his life as a group of MSMs that had come from nowhere had begun to lay waste in Jaburo's interior. A turret opened fire on them, but the group led by a red MSM killed it before it could do real damage. A Fanfan followed suit and was quickly downed as well. A GM then entered the fray and valiantly began to shoot at the enemy MS, perhaps scoring a few kills, but then the red mobile suit charged the unfortunate GM and poked it right on the chest. The enemy mobile suit then viciously kicked the wreckage away as the reactor exploded.

"****, is he...???" John said as he witnessed the slaughter. But then, a red beam shot out from the darkness and narrowly missed the red MSM. It was from a new arrival. The RX-78-2 Gundam. "John! Get in!" Sylvie screamed as she pulled her jeep just beside him, "The whole base is under attack! MSMs are everywhere!"

"That was... that was Char!!!" John finally said out loud, "Sylvie, he's the ****ing Red Comet! shouldn't we get help..."

"Let the Gundam handle it."
-----------------------------

"What are these units?" the pilot of Snoop 1 asked as he began to move towards the 44th's MS hangar. He had never seen the Gundam Massproduced before, and he was in no mood to find out their true capabilities. He aimed his Acguy's 105mm vulcans at the green painted GM's face.

Unfortunately for him, Max was already in the GM Sniper, and already aiming his beam spray pistol. And Max was much faster on the draw. One shot from Max's gun blew the unfortunate Acguy apart.

"Their mass-production type can carry beam weapons?!" Snoop 1's senior officer exclaimed as he saw him die. Damn it! He thought, as he began to aim his Gog's chest mega particle guns at the GM.

But Max saw him, too, and his beam pistol was far easier to aim than the clumsy guns installed in the Gog. A single shot pierced through the Gog's cockpit, and the MSM fell dead on the ground.

"Max! Enemy ground units are being air-dropped on top of Jaburo, we are being ordered to support!" Sylvie said as she tried to listen in on her portable radio. Beside her, John was now in the drivers seat and gesturing him to go up and help.

"What about the MSMs?" Max asked.

"The Gundam beat most of them off, but there are still many units on the surface."

"Alright 44th, let's deploy!" Captain Karl ordered as he boarded his GM Cannon. The four other MS went to life as their respective pilots boarded them. All around them, dozens of GMs began to move, followed by Type 61s and Fanfans. They were all not going to let Jaburo fall.
-----------------------------

The Zeon air fleet had become a mere shadow of its former self. Fully a quarter of the aircarft were lost before the drop, and more fell as Federation AA batteries and fighter squadrons intensified their assault. But at last, they were able to reach their drop coordinates, and one by one, the Gaus dropped their loads.
-----------------------------

It was raining mono-eyes, an observer on the ground thought, but they weren't going to lose. Most MS were using their thrusters or parachutes to slow down their decent, but it gave the surviving AA batteries and MPT Guntanks a chance to take some of them down. The sky was soon filled by tracers and ocassional explosions as a few shots found their marks. By the time the Zeon mobile suits had landed, they had already suffered heavily. Many officers were dead, some units were disabled. And it was becoming clear that something was going wrong in this impromptu attack.
-----------------------------

The 44th had just managed to set up around one of the docks before the Zeon troops came. Two Gaus dropped a total of six mobile suits on their positions, but they and a pair of supporting Guntanks killed two MS before they could land as well as damaging one of the Gaus. As a flight of Tin Cods finished off the Gau, Captain Karl ordered his mobile suits to fire at the surviving enemy. A Dom and three Zakus.

Max was the first to fire, and to kill. His prelimenary shot killed the squad leader Dom, causing the rest of the Zakus to start panicking. Juan and Chan's E-Type GMs each got one even though they were hampered by the E-Type's poor ground performance, while the third disappeared from a direct hit fired by the Captain. The entire battle had lasted 2 minutes.

"How are the other sectors faring?" Captain Karl asked. He was pleased, but he knew they got lucky. In fact, it almost felt like murder. But this was Jaburo at stake.

"Still heavy fighting everywhere, the fixed defenses have been shot all to hell, but the facilities are still mainly intact. High command is telling us to stay put for any further..."

Max suddenly fired his beam rifle into the air. An explosion followed as a Dopp exploded mid air.

"...attacks, but I think we can score this one for the good guys."
-----------------------------

Within hours, that statement became a fact. Though Zeon units would continue to fight stubbornly for several days, Zeon had not made any significant gains on their initial positions. Too many units were lost before they could be landed, and the Federation just had too many reserves that could arrive in a much shorter time. Though Zeon soldiers proved more experienced than their Federation counterparts, the quantitative edge was too great for them to overcome. Had it been planned better, they may indeed have suceeded, but thanks to this hasty attack Zeon's last chance to destroy Jaburo was thrown away forever.

Remarks:
BTW, that's the last time Char Aznable ever appears in my story, period! :D

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.