Chapter 29: Crash of the Titans
Prototype MS or not, Max still had a job to do. Before the next mobile suit could leave the hangar he fired five bazooka shells right into the hangar. A massive explosion followed as several mobile suits inside cooked off simultaneously after taking hits. The crew inside frantically tried to contain the damage, but Max was not about to allow that. He discarded the now empty bazooka and fired two follow on beam shots. One hit a propellant tank on one of the Rick Doms, and highly unstable gases quickly permeated the hangar. Before the crew could vent the gases, Max fired one last shot. The beam ignited the gases a second later. "****! What the hell was that!" Colonel Malik demanded as a massive explosion jolted the Falklands. "A ****ing enemy mobile suit just blew our hangar up... Damn! The rest of the mobile suits have been destroyed!" the XO reported. "What!?" the Colonel replied in a shocked tone. "Magellan type! Dead ahead!" the gunnery officer reported.
"Then open fire!!!" he ordered angrily. "Mega Beam Cannons are ready, Sir!" the Spruance's XO reported as the two powerful beam cannons were deployed from their protective shells. Before he could speak again an explosion jolted the ship. "Damage report!" Colonel Patterson demanded. "One forward turret is gone, completely. Structural damage in compartments E thru G. Six dead, twenty-two wounded," young radio technican Sergeant Bennington reported as he tried to keep his voice even. All around him, the rest of the bridge crew was equally stressed.
"Alright, all main guns, fire!" the Colonel ordered. Captain Roland Dujardin scowled angrily as he surveyed the remnants of the hangar from his Gelgoog. All the mobile suits inside had been completely destroyed. Along with the rest of his pilots. Damn it... where was that Federation sniper...
A pair of massive red-purple beams suddenly sped by just in front of him. He'd never seen such powerful beams before... and he quickly turned to see what they were aiming for. They both went after the Falklands, and to his horror the Falklands had been hit by both beams, punching two massive holes that ripped the ship open from bow to stern. The ship continued to steam on for a few more seconds, but then the Zanzibar tipped over and began to spin uncontrollably. It was clear that she was a dead ship... "Wow..." Sergeant Bennington said quietly as he watched in awe to what had happened to the Zanzibar. Some beam... "Damn! The port cannon took some damage!" the XO reported. That was the problem with prototypes... "What about the starboard one?" the Colonel inquired. "Five minutes to charge... but..." the XO started but was stopped midword by a massive jolt, "****! That Gwajin..."
"Won't wait for that long... I know!" the Colonel continued for him, "Begin evasive maneuvers!" Roland may not have a place to return to now, but he'd found him. That Sniper. He quickly fired two shots at Max's GM Sniper. "****!" Max shouted just as he barely evaded both shots. Beam weapons! How'd Zeon get one so fast?! he thought angrily. He quickly fired a shot back at the Gelgoog. Roland saw the beam come and was quick to evade. He fired twice again, but the Sniper's pilot was good, he reflected, and he evaded again. He fired a third shot, which the GM evaded, but this time he charged the GM... producing his beam naginata to hack the Sniper apart... Max saw that, and fired a shot at the charging Gelgoog. It missed, and Max was barely evaded the Gelgoog's opening slash. Max quickly produced his own beam sabre, but before he could his arm was blown away by a rocket fired by a new arrival. It was the orange High Mobility Zaku. "Your luck has run out, Sniper..." Ming declared with a grin as he charged Max. He was glad Mike was keeping the surviving undamaged GM to let him finally kill this *******... Max saw the two Zeon mobile suits charging straight for him, and frantically tried to evade. He couldn't. The Gelgoog quickly hacked away a leg and decapitated his GM, while the Zaku kicked his GM in the chest, causing some monitors to explode inside his cockpit and showering him with fragments. He moaned painfully as he tried to get up, but knew that this was it. He could only hope that Sylvie... "Thanks, R-Type pilot," Roland told his new companion, "Looks like you two have a history with this guy. Send him on his way," he ordered. Ming only grinned in reply. "Oh ****!" Fred shouted as he saw the Zaku raise its axe to finish off Max. He needed to help, but with everbody else badly damaged and that damn Rick Dom... "Go straight to hell," Ming told the Sniper as he began to swing his axe downwards to the GM's cockpit. "SYLVIE!" John protested as she aimed her GM's 90mm machine gun. If they didn't get away now... "John, SHUT UP!" she growled and fired a burst. The bullets hit the R-Type's arm, severing it along with its axe. Both Zeon machines turned to face her, and one was aiming its beam rifle, but Sylvie fired another burst, and the Gelgoog's arm was also lopped off along with its rifle. She started to aim for the cockpit, but before she could do so both mobile suits suddenly broke off and began to charge her... "Damn you..." Roland muttered quietly as he charged the EWAC, beside him, Ming was charging it as well... "What do we do now, Sylvie?" John asked worriedly as she fired several bursts at the approaching mobile suits. Some shells hit, but the damage was not serious, and if this goes on... Ming stopped a few hundred meters away from the EWAC and aimed his remaining weapon, the bazooka. He was just about to fire when he suddenly felt a massive jolt coming from below, sending him tumbling around in his cockpit. He had only belatedly realized that his legs had been blown off. The culprit, once again, was that sniper, who had hit his legs using his backup beam weapon. The GM fired another shot at him, but he managed to squeeze off a round in reply. The beam just barely missed his now severely damaged Zaku, but his shot did not. It was finally over, Max thought, as he saw his second arm disappear in the blast. At least maybe he'd given Sylvie a fighting chance, but the EWAC was up against a new prototype. But in any case, he thought as the Zaku aimed its bazooka again, he would never know anyway... Ming grinned savagely as he depressed the trigger, fully expecting to finish the GM Sniper off. But nothing happened. To his rage he realized he had run out of ammunition, and was now just as helpless as the Sniper. He'd have to let that Gelgoog take him out now... "Crap..." John said out loud as the Gelgoog charged them. The EWAC GM had alreday dumped its radar shield to give it some extra maneuverability, but that Zeon prototype was good. Roland centered the GM on his sights and prepared to slash it in half. The GM was still firing wildly, but there was little damage to his Gelgoog. Just as he was about to reach the GM a lucky 90mm shot hit his Gelgoog in the head and blew its main camera apart. He was shocked that it had happened, but he knew that a backup camera would... "That's my chance!" Sylvie thought as she saw the Gelgoog's head explode. She quickly threw her nearly empty machine gun away in favor of her beam sabre, and charged the Gelgoog. Just before she could slash its cockpit the Gelgoog blocked her beam sabre with its own weapon. Sylvie looked on in shock... sure that... "Not bad, but not good enough!" Roland taunted as he viciously kicked the GM, nearly shattering its chest... Sylvie's body told her that she had been injured, but she didn't care anymore. As her Trainer was being thrown backwards she tried to slash back at the Gelgoog. She caught both of the Gelgoog's legs with her beam sabre, slicing both of them off, but she knew that taking off its legs wouldn't be enough... she snarled back in defiance as she prepared for its final attack... Roland muttered a curse. BOTH his legs were gone, and most of the Gelgoog's main thrusters had been installed there rather than its traditional location in the backpack*. The AMBAC computer was now trying to rebalance the suit, but with his main thrusters gone... Sylvie did not hesitate when she saw the Gelgoog pause for a moment, and she quickly charged the Gelgoog one last time, intending to at the very least take that prototype with her. The Gelgoog was surprised and tried to block, but Sylvie was too close, and she quickly thrust her sabre into the Gelgoog's chest... Alarm claxons began to ring inside Roland's cockpit, telling him that a catastrophic explosion was only seconds away. He thrusts his naginata at the GM one last time, planning to take that pilot with him. You might have done well Federation pilot, he thought, but you're coming with me! The tip of his beam naginata had just barely managed to penetrate the Trainer's thin hide when his Gelgoog exploded. John winced as he saw the explosion, but to his enormous relief Sylvie had managed to back the GM away enough to keep themselves from being caught in the blast. His left arm had been broken, but at least he was alive... He breathe a sigh of relief before saying, "Wow... not bad Sylvie..." "Just..." Sylvie started weakly. "Sylvie?"
"Tell Max that we're even," she finished, before coughing out some blood. It really hurts.... Sylvie thought as she began to feel darkness overcome her. She suddenly slumped face down over her console. "Come on Ming, let's go..." Mike encouraged as he dropped his bazooka. "Yeah, sorry buddy," Ming replied, embarassed.
"Nah, don't worry. Let's just get out of here," he concluded, as he grabbed Ming's R-Type Zaku and dragged it and his friend away. "How many guns do we have left?" Colonel Patterson inquired as his ship took another hit. They had been squaring off with the Bismark for around half an hour now, and it was starting to go badly for the Spruance. They had knocked out one of the Bismark's turrets, but the ******* had slipped behind them and was now pumelling his ship into submission. "Two more turrets are down, and only one rear turret left to shoot back at them," the XO growled, "What do we do?" "How's the Anzio?" Sean inquired. If he could get a second ship to outflank that red monster... "Lt. Col. Yang says she's beat. We're going to have to tow her back if we make it out alive," the XO replied grimly.
"Then let's try to evade for a while, XO..." Sean ordered. The enemy warship could probably catch up with them very soon, but at least it would give them some time to think... It was getting frustrating, Yang thought, as he saw the battle unfolded. He couldn't help the Spruance, couldn't draw some fire, couldn't do a damn thing! The repairs were ongoing, but at the rate it was going it would take... Suddenly, a trio of red purple beams flew by right beside his ship and struck the enemy battleship. He saw much to his delight that one of the enemy ship's turrets had been knocked out. He turned around and saw a Salamis class cruiser off in the distance. It was the Johnston.
"Major Miles here," the Johnston's commanding officer declared, "Sorry, we're late, but let's go get that *** ** a *****!" "We've recovered all mobile suits, Sir," the Bismark's XO reported to General Wavell. "How many?" he inquired. "Only the two that we brought, that's all," he replied grimly.
"All right then," Wavell replied solemnly. He only had three guns left in one turret now, and he wasn't planning to die yet, even if he had only killed one ship, "Let's get out of here, flank speed." "Miles am I glad to see you," Colonel Patterson told his old shipmate as the Johnston pulled up beside the Spruance. The enemy battleship was falling back now, and his battered ships could not pursue. Might as well, he thought, he had already lost twenty two crew to that monster... "Sorry I was late sir," he apologized, "We detected that big monster heading towards you a couple of hours after you left, and General Dolvich sent me to trail her. Good thing I managed to catch up. That sucker was fast..." Sean nodded in reply. The Spruance's badly damaged rear superstructure certainly reflected that. "Anyway, Sir, I think it's high time we get the hell out of here."
"You're right, Miles. Begin recovering mobile suits immediately." "Sylvie, wake up! Sylvie..." John shouted as he tried to revive her, but he couldn't. She was still alive, but blood was dripping down her forehead, and he couldn't find where... "Tell her to hold on just a little longer, John..." Fred advised. He had dragged the Trainer almost to the hangar now, and he just hoped... "Come on, Sylvie... don't die," Max encouraged quietly, his battered GM Sniper just beside her Trainer, "And yes, I know... we're even now..." "Maybe you should tell her something else," John muttered. "John, just..." Fred started. "I know... I know... I'm going to shut up now..." John replied.
"And also... I do care about you," Max thought but did not have the courage to say out loud. "So don't die..." Mike shook his head as he observed the damage on Ming's Zaku. He was't sure if... "Looks like I'll have to use a Rick Dom for a while..." Ming told him sadly as he joined his friend. "You might end up using a Rick Dom permanently," Mike warned. "I know..." he replied with a sigh. "Or you might get something else..." Mike told him with a grin. "After losing a SECOND prototype..." "Actually, that WASN'T a prototype," Mike replied as he handed him a file, "They're gonna mass-produce that thing now you know..." "But would they give it to a wash-out pilot like me?" Ming scoffed. "Unless they want to lose more men to that sniper, they'll have to," Mike replied, "So cheer up, alright?"
Ming nodded. Mike sure was one reliable friend... "Cracked ribs, internal bleeding, and a real bad concussion," John told the rest of the 44th as he got Sylvie's medical report. He smiled before continuing, "But she'll live. She can be back up and running in three or four days." "Boy, I really thought we'd lose a lot of people back there," Fred declared. And boy were they lucky... "Yeah..." Juan agreed. Both his and the Captain's GMs were nearly total wrecks now, and he was relieved to make it out in one piece. "Umm... those who want to visit her can do so in about two hours..." John added, looking at Max. "She'll be fine..." Max told John. "Max, look... I don't know much about..." "So leave it alone," Max interjected firmly. "Just don't suddenly regret it in the future," John replied coldly. "I..." Max started before stopping himself. He might regret it indeed.
Remarks: - *This is not the high mobility B-Type Gelgoog that also has backpack thrusters. This is just the regular A-Type whose thrusters are in the legs and skirt armor.
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. |
