Chapter 32: Discovery
December 24, UC 0079 - "Solar System attack sucessful, lead units reporting enemy in retreat." the Borodino's radio officer reported. Major Alfonso nodded for his commanding officer. Outside, parts of the Zeon space fortress were still glowing from the residual heat left by the laser attack. This was the result of the Federation's secret weapon, the Solar System. An array of four million mirrors used to reflect sunlight into a single point, it ensured utter destruction to anything caught in its path. "Ummm... sir..." a lookout nervously reported, "We have a large unknown object rapidly approaching us, bearing 2-3-1..." "Identify," the CO ordered in an equally nervous tone. Alfonso frowned, he had some reservations about his rather over-cautious commanding officer... "I... Dear God!" the lookout shrieked, "That thing just took out two GMs! A Salamis is burning and..." "Fire! fire!" the commander ordered in a panicked voice. And as ordered, the Salamis' three forward turrets began to open fire. "Sir! The beams..." the gunnery officer reported in a shocked tone, "They're just bouncing off!!!" Alfonso picked up the binoculars and turned to the direction of the sighting. It was, indeed, a model he had never seen before, and this one looked particularly menacing. As if it was the harbringer of death itself. Federation beam cannons scored hits on it, but as the gunnery officer had reported they were just being bounced off by some invisible barrier. Suddenly, the beam cannons installed around its central axis fired as one, and several Federation units intercepting it were caught in the fire. A series of fireballs decorated the space around it, and suddenly its mono-eyes flashed red as it found a tempting target... "****! That ****er just took down another two GMs and three Balls!" the lookout reported, his voice close to panic. "We have to get out of here!!!" the CO ordered as he began to slink away slowly, heading for the door. That, Alfonso thought, was enough! "Sir!" Alfonso countered angrily, "We can't abandon our post!" "Then you stay!" the CO replied disgracefully, before running out of the door, leaving his crew to fend for themselves. "Wonderful!" Alfonso thought. "That freaking coward!" "What do we do now, Sir!?" the gunnery officer asked in a panicked tone. "Alright..." the Major replied, keeping his cool. Damn, I wish JP was here, at least he might have some ideas... "Try missiles! Maybe..." "****! He just took down a Magellan!" the lookout interrupted.
"Oh my God..." the communication's officer started before turning to the Major, his face as pale as snow, "He got the the Titan, Sir... Admiral Tianem's flagship!" "Damn it..." Brigadier General Dolvich thought, "I should be there." There at Solomon fighting the Zeeks instead of spending time patrolling this junk yard. He knew his job was important, and he knew that keeping Side 2 free of enemy shipping, particularly after a small Zeon fleet had been captured some time earlier by the Side 6 fleet carrying "contraband," had become a paramount task. And he also knew, with quite a measure of comfort, that his men were at least spared great dangers. But he still would have preferred engaging in a fleet battle instead of the mundane task of patrolling areas that had been largely deserted by the enemy... "Sir, we're receiving a transmission from the main fleet..." the Amerigo's chief communications officer reported. "What is it?" the General inquired, hoping the attack went well...
The chief's face broke into a wide grin, "They did it! Solomon ain't Zeon no more!" "What... what happened to Lt. General Dozul?" Colonel Jefferson asked the messenger, still shocked. "He's dead, Sir," the messenger replied somberly, "He... he stayed behind to cover the retreating forces. A survivor said that he was taken down by the White Devil..." "Damn it!" Jefferson growled. Damn it, he thought, he shouldn't have left himself get transffered to Kishiria's command, thanks to that he hadn't been allowed to take what was left of his fleet to at least give some assistance... "Don't blame yourself, Sir. The Federation used a new weapon against our fleet. The defence there never really had a chance. The only reason so many got away was because of the General's actions..." the messenger offered, close to tears. Like Jefferson, he was also formerly part of Dozul Zabi's Space Attack Force. He briefly wondered what the "White Wolf", Captain Shin Matsunaga, must be feeling right now. He was Dozul's most loyal bodyguard... "Don't worry," a new voice added, "You'll be able to avenge him soon..." It was the 'newly promoted' Colonel Killing, current commander of Granada Base. "Excuse me, sir?" Jefferson replied almost with a scowl. Killing had proven to be too fanatical to Giren Zabi for his taste, and bad rumors had been circulated about the former base commander's death due to a "cerebral hemorrhage." One probably induced by a 9mm bullet, that is. "You're returning to Side 2, and you'll have a chance to have a fair crack at the Federation," Killing replied with an evil smile. "But Sir, they're probably going to march on A Baoa Qu soon and..." Jefferson objected.
"Just do as you are ordered," Killing replied coldly. That fool Fon Hershing may have failed and even let his damn ship and cargo get captured, but as long as that Wavell 'cooperates,' he'd teach Side 6 an abject lesson on the power of a fusion reaction...
December 24, UC 0079 - "Solomon has fallen, are you sure we must continue this plan, General?" the former base commander, Colonel Alfred Gullivan, asked his superior, General Wavell. "Yes," the General replied simply, "Do you wish to disobey Commander-in-Chief Giren?" "But Sir," Gullivan protested, "The Feddies are increasing their patrols, they may locate us soon and..." "We have advanced mobile suits, do we not?" he inquired with a slight frown. "Do you want to question me again, Colonel?" "No, Sir," he replied meekly. They did have a good collection of advanced mobile suits to defend the base including newly issued Zaku FZs, Rick Dom IIs and even three new Gelgoogs. The problem was the pilots. His base, not being in the front lines, had only been assigned with very inexperienced pilots as veteran pilots were badly needed elsewhere. Wavell did bring three experienced pilots with him, but one was only an EWAC pilot, and a second was having a hard time piloting the Gelgoog and was assigned a Rick Dom II instead. At least the fleet's top ace, Ming Chow, had no problems in his new Gelgoog Jaeger...
"Glad that you agreed," Wavell replied after observing the fear in the Colonel's face. Good, lest you start examining your "orders" more carefully. Particularly Giren's 'signature'. Besides, Solomon was under that moron Dozul's command, and the Commander-in-Chief would NEVER do anything stupid to let A Baoa Qu fall. Not with their little secret... "Cecilia, are the reports concerning the status of my Solar Ray System completed yet?" Giren Zabi inquired as his personal secretary stepped into his office. "Yes Sir, but I have pressing matters about the Side 2 fleet..." Cecilia started. "I don't know what you're up to, Wavell," she thought, "but I'm not going to let you make a fool out of all of us..." "As far as we're concerned, Side 2 is now a write-off," Giren replied sternly, "We can't worry about the stable while the house is on fire."
Cecilia stopped for a moment, slightly piqued at his rebuke. Damn, doesn't he even trust my judgement yet? Didn't he even trust ME yet? "Very well sir, here are the reports," she finished. Regardless, she was still a professional staff officer, and this was her job. "Mike... I need to talk to you about these... boys," Ming told his wingman as they met each other in the wardroom. The training exercise they had just finished had severely degraded his opinion of the base's defense force. He and Mike had done well on their new machines, but not the eight other pilots and the three supporting ships. "I could probably wipe them all out by myself," he didn't add. "Later, Ming, I have bad news..." Mike replied grimly. "What happened?" Ming asked worriedly, he had never seen Mike look this serious... "Solomon has fallen. Lt. General Dozul is dead," Mike reported simply. But his face spoke volumes. "How bad did we lose?" Ming inquired. Dozul Zabi was one hell of a field commander, he thought, it didn't seem like he could be defeated that easy or... "Very bad," Mike continued, "A Baoa Qu is next. I'm... I'm not sure we can win anymore..." "What are you talking about?!" Ming replied angrily, "Damn it you've always said that we have to fight for our homeland, haven't you?" "Yeah, Ming... but if they could get Dozul, how do you think those pencil pushers under Giren will do?" he countered. "They'll think of something. Don't worry, at least WE'LL make sure they don't foul up, eh?" he encouraged.
"Sure," Mike replied somberly, "But the fight is at A Baoa Qu. We're still stuck here at Side 2..." "That's a shame..." Colonel Patterson said as he received the news. He might really miss that crusty old Tianem, especially since thanks to him they now had a steady flow of reinforcements coming from Luna Two consisting of GM and Ball teams. In fact, the Gorbachev was just returning from a supply run carrying a replacement squadron of Publics... "You wish you were there instead of here, Patterson?" Brigadier General Dolvich inquired. "No Sir, I'm happy where I am right now," Patterson replied. He might not be part of the headlines, but he was still doing his part to win the war nonetheless. And at least here his chances of seeing Cynthia again were considerably improving...
"I guess I should be, too," the General agreed, though with a forced smile. It was the fighting man in him, he knew. And maybe his admiration for the Zeon's Dozul Zabi as well. They were somewhat the same, both fighting men in a war full of politicians. "But, Sir... we just barely managed to intercept a Zeon ship carrying nukes, are you sure..." the commander of the Federation's Libo base objected. What the hell was this new guy up to, he wondered. "You will do as you are told," the man on the other side of the videocom answered in a icy tone. It was General Nicolo. "And if..." the commander started. "Or do you want me to stress the fact of the loss of the Gundam?" he interrupted angrily. Don't cross me, I've just barely managed to clamber out of that battlefield hell-hole alive, he thought, and I'm going to make sure my plans go forward now that Tianem is gone... "Yes sir..." the commander grumbled in reply, and the videocom went dead. He took a look at his staff. It was clear what they thought about the cancellation of all patrols around Side 6. And all were thinking the same thing: Three star or not, to hell with him! "What do we do, Sir?" his aide asked eagerly.
"We can't disobey orders," the commander replied firmly, "But contact all nearby commands and inform them of the situation. And be sure to remind them of what we captured a few days ago..." The patrol was boring, as usual, Sylvie thought. And having Max watching over her was even worse. For some reason, she just needed to get away from him now, though she wasn't sure herself why... Maybe to think, maybe to figure out... "Whoa... Sylvie, slow down. I've got something!" John reported in a muted tone. "What is it, John?" she asked as she signalled Max to slow down as well. This had better not be another false alarm... "Here," John told her as he forwarded her the image. It was a Zaku, or at least what looked like one. It seemed to have a number of additional features... "Want me to take him down?" Max inquired, aiming his beam rifle. "No," John replied as he shook his head, "Let's follow it for a while, maybe it has a mother ship nearby..." "Alright," Max agreed, "But inform the fleet, and if he tries anything he's going down."
"Already done," Sylvie replied quickly, "Here we go..."
The Zaku FZ's pilot muttered a curse. These patrols were so damn boring, he thought. At least now, it was time to return to base. He began to plot a course for home... "Easy, Sylve... easy," John warned. Sylvie was keeping up with the relatively fast moving Zaku, but she was occasionally being forced to drop out of cover and be seen out in the open... "Don't worry," Sylvie replied, "The pilot seems green to me..." "He does seem like it," John replied, "But I won't underestimate him." "I'm NOT, it was an honest observation," she shotback. "Slow down..." John suddenly ordered. "Why? If we don't he might get away!" Sylvie objected. "I'm picking up one REAL big contact up ahead... we might... OH ****!" John suddenly shouted out loud, "Duck for cover!" Sylvie instictively dived for the nearest piece of wreckage and nestled the EWAC behind it. Max, trailing some distance back, had also found himself a spot. "What is it?" Sylvie inquired. "You two take a look," John replied as he forwarded the image to both Max and Sylvie. It looked just like Malta Base, but this time there were Zeon ships guarding it... "It's a base. Much like Malta," Max observed, "How did we..."
"Miss it?" John finished for him, "Same reason as Malta, all this damn junk. Let's inform the command. I'll bet they'll be VERY interested..."
Back in Malta Base, Brigader General Dolvich recieved the word. He smiled lightly, looks like they weren't just going to spend the rest of the war patrolling after all... The dock workers of Hormuz Base were particulalry apprehensive today. They usually loaded dangerous cargoes of all sorts, explosives, fuel, even leaky fusion reactors, but this cargo was especially memorable. To some of the older workers, this was a cargo that they had not had the opportunity to see since the Antarctic Treaty. For the rest of them, it was their first opportunity to view an awesome weapon of destruction. One that had once brought man to the brink of destruction. Nuclear weapons.
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. |
