Chapter 4: CounterAttack!
The initial battle had gone well, Col. Sean Patterson thought. They had managed to take Hill 14 with the loss of only five tanks. His Big Tray and tanks as well as two of the 44th TMSC's GMs were now taking up positions on the opposite side of the hill, preparing to strike deep into the Zeon rear, while four RGM-79s were now digging in on the top of the hill. He was glad to have been part of the operation. For the past several weeks he had been suspected of collaborating with the enemy. Fortunately, the real culprit, Elran, had been caught, and Revil had made sure he still had his command. Well, most Federation officers were pencil-pushers unlike him, who didn't really belong in the battlefield. Unfortunately though, Lars Breivik wasn't also, he thought with a sigh. He looked up at the sky as a Federation's Dish sweeped low over his Big Tray, scanning the field before returning to high altitude. "Those 71st guys had a big day," 2nd Lieutenant Dan Pearson, pilot of the Dish, observed as he levelled his plane off in the clouds. The Dish had four Tin Cods escorting it, but it was safer to be hidden in the clouds, especially considering they had almost no armaments onboard. "Fuzzy contact bearing 001, almost dead ahead," the radar techie reported from behind him. Pearson frowned, the Dish had a very powerful radar installed in its flat frame similar to the AWACs of the 20th Century . However, Minovsky particles, even though they were less effective on Earth, greatly reduced its capabilities. "Do we have any reserve fighters left for our sector?" "Sir," the radio operator reported,"Most of the Tins and Fly Manthas have been diverted to the main Zeon defenses. I can only get a pair of Dep Rogs." Pearson frowned. The Dep Rogs were a bomber platform, not a fighter. He didn't want to send them off to what may be waiting enemy fighters. However, the loss of this Dish would be even more serious. It was the fastest link to high command in this sector, and its loss could cause delays in air support or even confusion among their lines. He made his decision. "Send them in." The radio operator nodded, and within a minute two Dep Rogs pulled alongside the Dish. Pearson looked at the cockpit of the lead Dep Rog and saw the pilot shaking his hand in anger. The pilot obviously didn't like his decision, but he had no choice, didn't he? Both Dep Rogs started to overtake his Dish, and he watched them from behind. Out of nowhere, a streak of fire shot up from below and hit the lead Dep Rog's tail. The bomber shuddered as it took the hit, before disintegrating in a ball of flame...
"What the hell was that!?" Pearson demanded. Suddenly around him two more Tins exploded along with the second Dep Rog. He instictively rolled hard to the right and began to dive out of the clouds. Four rockets streaked beside his plane. Dopp's rockets! He thought angrily, how the hell did they get here?! "Radio operator! Signal mayday, we are engaging..." he started before his jaw dropped at the sight before him. It was a massive Gau airborne carrier, its mega particle cannons already trained out at them... "Sir, I've lost contact with our Dish," Sylvie reported, "I think we had better tell the Colonel sir." "Probably just Minovsky interferance," Breivik replied in annoyed tone. "But sir..." Sylvie started, but decided to stop herself. Breivik was just too narrow minded unlike her former COs. And the Colonel probably knew anyway unless his radio man was asleep or something. She looked at Max's GM Sniper as it stopped a few hundred meters from the base of the hill. "Hey, Rifle, why did you stop?" "What's the Dish's last position," Max suddenly asked. "Um... just west of us... why?" Sylvie asked nervously. Max had an uncanny intuition. Intuition on possible danger that had saved her life countless times... Max set the large cooling unit of his GM Sniper down on the ground before beginning to attach the various cooling cables on the unit. Sylvie frowned, the Captain was going to kill them both again... "RIFLE! That's not where you were ordered to set up!" Breivik boomed angrily over the radio. "Captain, I think Harper may be on to something about the Dish..." Sylvie started. "I'll tell you when I want your opinion LIEUTENANT," Lars replied testily. Sylvie fumed at that... even if she was just a Lieutnant at least she had several months... "I have visual air contact, coming from the West," Harper reported calmly. "This is the 71st! We are not reading any friendly units in that area!" Col. Patterson reported. Uh-oh, Sylvie thought. Max was right again. Damn it, he was always right all the time even if he...
"I have some twenty Dopps and Dodais, approaching Hill 14 fast." Max reported with a slight bit of concern in his voice. How could he remain that calm? Sylvie thought, before shaking her head. It wasn't time... "Pat, find some cover!" and she immediately felt her Hover Truck start moving towards one of abandoned Zeon foxholes. She suddenly heard the whistling sound of falling bombs on the other side of the hill... On the other side of the hill, the forty nine Type 61s and two GMs were also preparing to orient themsleves against the approaching aircraft when the bombs came. They had been caught completely by surprise by a Gau that had hidden itself by flying in the clouds. The GMs managed to get away in time, but not the tanks. Seven tanks exploded from the first batch of bombs dropped, while three more died in the second, before the rest of them managed to scatter.
Dave had heard the bombs falling, and had ordered his tanks to scatter early. He was lucky. Only one of his fifteen tanks was caught in the explosions. He looked up angrily at the sky and manned the 12.7 mm machine gun in the tank's hatch. It was a new feature in the newest Type 61s, and it was built expressly for anti-air use. Not for something that big and high though, as he vainly tried to shoot at the hulking air carrier. Suddenly, a continous red beam hit the base of its left wing, in the engine section. The beam easily burned through the heavy armor, and caused a series of explosions that cracked the wing's superstructure. The wing broke apart, and the Gau tumbled down from the sky, pieces of it breaking off as it rapidly approached the ground...
Sylvie had never thought she'd see an explosion as big as that on Earth. The Gau's reactor had exploded as it smashed into the ground, detonating into a massive fireball that equalled those that she had seen in the Ruum. It was an awesome sight, but she quickly tore her eyes away from it. The sky was now filling with Zeon aircraft, Dopps and Dodais in groups of four, who were all heading for the hill top. "Earl, call for air support fast," below her, Earl had already abandoned his ground sonar in favor of a radio. After all, ground sonar was ineffective against planes, and Sylvie was a better gunner. Unfortunately though, the loss of the Dish would delay that air support for quite sometime. Well, at least she'd get herself some fighters first. She aimed her 30mm machine gun carefully at the leading set of Dopps, just waiting for them to get within range... Lance Corporal Juan Ignacio readied his GM's 100mm machine gun on top of Hill 14. The three other suits on the hilltop, the Captain among them, were also getting ready for the incoming Zeon aircraft. The Dodai bombers mainly stayed in the background he saw, firing rockets at the ground. The Dodais had a big range advantage, he knew, and it was just a pity he couldn't engage them. The rockets they fired could not kill a mobile suit, but they were annoying nonetheless, peppering his suit with fragments and causing minor damage. But not the Dopps though, most of which were now heading towards him at high speed, and he was going to get them before they could do some damage. He aimed his gun at the first group of four, before anti-air fire from the ground decimated the group and killed three of them while forcing the fourth to break off. He shifted his fire to the next set of four right behind the first and fired. One Dopp went down, two more exploded from the fire of his wing woman, Martha Sanderson, while a fourth was damaged by the Captain. He grinned. Zeon had sent eight Dopps, and they were getting only two back. Maybe this job wasn't so bad after... "Juan! Two Zaks and a blue one on Dodais, coming in from above!" Martha warned. Juan looked up to see three MS in their "flying carpets" heading towards them at high speed. One Zaku was hit and killed by a shot from Max's GM Sniper, but the other two kept coming. Juan fired at the blue Gouf, but it jumped off at the last moment, causing him to hit and kill the unfortunate Dodai instead. He tried to shift fire, but it was too fast... Before he could react, the Gouf extended a whip like weapon at Martha's GM. Known as a heat rod, it was an electrified cable used for shorting out Federation MS. It hit Martha's GM right on its mono sensor, shattering it while disabling the suit's controls with several thousand volts of electricity. Juan fired at the Gouf just at it pulled out a heat sword and started to swing it towards Martha's GM. The Gouf was killed by half a dozen 100mm shells that hit its chest, but he was too late; the Gouf had stabbed the GM right in the cockpit area, and he was no longer getting any signal from Martha...
"More MS apporaching!" the Captain's booming voice reported. Juan looked around to see that the second Zak had been killed by the Captain's wing man, Sergeant Fred Chan, but more MS were now coming from the west on foot. He picked up one of the bazookas that they had stowed on the hill top as he tried to cope with the shock. It was, he thought as he looked at Martha's burning GM, going to be a long day bloody day... "Earl... where is that air support?!" Sylvie asked worriedly as she surveyed the new arrivals. A total of two Goufs and four Zakus, with a six Magellas in support. Not good. "This is Dave Anderson of 12th Company! More MS coming from the North! WHERE IS THAT AIR SUPPORT!!!??? They've got a Dobday with them! Oh ****! They are firing at the Big Tray!" Just to emphasize that point, Sylvie heard a series of explosions on the other side of the hill. She gritted her teeth... how the hell did that Dobday get here so fast?! "EARL! AIR SUPPORT! NOW!!!!"
"Sylvie... I think you'd better hear this..." was Earl's scared reply.
A few miles away in an underground silo, several Zeon soldiers hurried with their preparations. Unlike most silos which held HLVs, this one had a far more sinister and powerful payload. Carrying an old nuclear missile that was supposed to have been dismantled after the Antarctic Treaty, it was kept hidden by commanding general Ma Kube just for an occasion like this. The Zeon Colonel in charge of the base recieved the final confirmation, and he watched as the rocket's engines began to ignite... "Not again... Oh dear God, please, not again. I don't want to see that again!" Sylvie thought as she heard the near panicked conversations going around her. The main forces had just recieved an ultimatum from General Ma Kube ordering the Feds to halt or he would use a nuclear weapon. She'd seen those damn things enough. More than enough. Sylvie blood chilled as she recived an unusually cool report from the main Federation Forces...
"Warning. Zeon use of NBC weapons confirmed, one nuclear missile heading for the main group... ETA 2 minutes..." On the other side of that transmission, the Federation radio officer tried to keep his voice as calm as he could as he gave the details of the missile launch. His calmness wasn't only because of his own personal efforts, it was also because he knew something that many others did not. The "White MS"... the Gundam, was on its way to stop it... but could it? He wondered. He looked at the timer. In any case, he'd know in 87 seconds...
Consistency notes:
- I'm following the events in the TV series, not the movie, ok? So don't ask why the Gundam is in Odessa;
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. |
