Mobile Suit Gundam: Road to Axis

The year is UC 0081, it's been two years since Zeon's defeat of the OYW. Zeon has no strong holds, and all their fleets are all but dead. However, a secret Manufacturing plant on the dark side of the Moon still remains. Its loyalty lies with Zeon, and they have newly designed Zeonic Mobile Suits. Fortunately there is one more fleet that can use these new model Mobile Suits . . . The Mars Fleet

Chapter 10: Among the Stars
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - February 16, 0081
Near Side 3
1126

Haze and sweat filled the visor of Japa's helmet, creating an ungodly smell. Japa was use to this stench by now; it's filled his helmet for the past year. Now, however, his breathing was more tense, and more amounts of sweat trickled down his face. His eyes darted back and forth through the monitors, searching for any unwanted pests, especially since he was practically below the small Feddie fleet. His right hand left the control stick and pressed down the comm switch, "Aren't they supposed to attack soon?"

"Yes sir, in approximately three minutes and thirteen seconds, sir." Troike replied, hiding his fear.

"Okay, after the barrage of fire begins, I want you and Bock to attack the closest Salamis to us. I believe that it's the Borodino." he said, bringing up a diagram on his main monitor. He looked at it for any weak spots in the armor. There weren't any, this Salamis seemed to have extra armor added.'It won't matter. If we destroy the bridge, it will sink.' he said in his mind, "All right, ready your Bazooka's." he said, flipping off the weapons lock in his cockpit.

"Yes sir." they replied, simultaneously.

Inside his cockpit Japa thumbed the comm closed. His alarm system went berserk as mobile suit's and gigantic beams ripped through space. He grinned as he lifted his visor and wiped his face. After the sweat was wiped from his face, he slid the visor down. Slowly adding pressure to the thrust pedal, he jammed the controls forward and he was thrown into the oncoming battle.
- - - - - -
White Scar
1130

"Where did those blasts come from?" Nasaki growled, climbing back into his seat. He rubbed his temple and noticed droplets of blood on his hand, "Launch all mobile suit's, now!"

"Yes sir." the comm officer said, relaying his orders throughout the ship. Any and everyone onboard the ship immediately stopped their activities and reported to their battle stations. Pilots scrambled to the hangar, prepared for battle.

"Sir, there are six mobile suits coming from the area of the blast's. We're going to lose radar soon." the Radar Officer said from his post.

"Shouldn't there be six more?"

"I'm not sure, sir. Judging from the number of blast's, there were only three ships that opened fire." the Radar Officer replied.

"Sir, mobile suit's are launching now." the comm officer said.

Nasaki watched as the mobile suit's were catapulted out into space. First laying idle for a few moments, and then rushing off on a wave of blue into the battlefield. He felt his nerves ease back down as Lang lead the pack of mobile suit's into combat.

Within a few seconds of their departure, in the distance, tiny flashes of blue, explosions, and yellow beams filled the darkness. Like fireflies flying around at night, they chased after each other, only their blue thrust showing their movements. Nasaki watched as two magnificent balls of fire erupted in the battlefield.

"Sir, we just lost two GM Command types."

"Damnit, you would think with our advanced technology we would be able to defeat them." Nasaki shook his head, "Open fire on the Musai's."
- - - - - -
Blitzkrieg
1141

"Ma'am, we have incoming fire from the Feddie's."

"Take evasive maneuvers' to avoid. After their fire secede's open fire on them. Then I want all three ships to split up. Fire whenever, but don't stay in the same location for more than two rounds."

"Roger." the comm officer said, hustling to give the orders to Riko and Caris. After some minutes he spoke again, "Ma'am both ships comply with your orders. Beginning now."

"Roger. How are our mobile suit teams doing?" she said, turning her head to the radar officer.

"Ma'am, from what I can make out we haven't lost any, but the Feddie's have lost two . . . No, we just lost one."

"How is the Minovsky screening going?"

"Minovsky interference is up to 95%."

"Okay, tell the Schrecklich to begin its attack." she said, straightening in her chair.
- - - - - -
Schrecklich
1145

"Sir, we have just received our orders to attack." the comm officer reported.

"All right, Gunnery fire Main Cannon's on the lead ship. Fire missiles' on either one of the Salamis'. Inform both mobile suit teams to attack." Taylor said, coughing after his statement. He cleared his throat just in time to watch as six yellow beams fled from their barrels. They tore through the darkness and found the stern of the White Scar. The beams melted the outer hull and vaporized the thrusters. Immobilizing the ship.

"Sir, direct hit on the thrusters of the white ship. Firing missiles now."

"What about the mobile suit's?"

"Lt. Hyldebrand is on his way toward the lead and Lt. Serscu is on his way toward our missile target." the radar officer reported.

"Firing missiles now!" the comm officer said, spinning in his seat to see the impact.
- - - - - -
Joachim grinned as he saw the particle blast's tear through the hull of the white ship. More adrenaline began to flow through his veins and soon he was going full-burn toward the ship. He released the trigger lock on the missile's. The stern of ship received a red lock-on target. As soon as Joachim entered the missile range he eased back on the trigger. The three missiles exited their holsters on his left forearm. He watched as all three cork-screwed through space towards the ship. Within a matter of seconds all three exploded on the exposed internal mechanic's.

"Sir, the ship has been immobilized." Merold said over the comm, though it wasn't that legible from Minovsky interference.

"Merold open fire. I'm going for the bridge." Joachim said, releasing the thrust pedal. His vernier's died down, but he was able to keep enough force to coast toward the bow of the ship. He brought the weapon select back to his Small Beam Machinegun. Another lock-on target appeared, this time being green.

He flew a few meters away from the side ship, grazing the panels. Joachim took in every detail of the Feddie ship,'This thing is a beast. No wonder the Feddie's won the war.' Joachim marveled at the power of the ship. It didn't change his mission, though; he still had to destroy the ship. He sighed as he neared the bridge. He brought his suit vertical and brought the machinegun up to arm. . .
- - - - - -
Tom lang wait, in ambush, for the oncoming Zeon mobile suit. He brought his Beam Rifle to arm and extended the stabilizing grip. The left hand grappled it and soon the Gelgoog Kürzer appeared. "There you are." he said, pulling the trigger back. To his surprise the Gelgoog pulled up in time to avoid a direct hit. Instead, the beam pierced through the right foot, causing it to explode.

"Damnit!" the Gelgoog pilot yelled.

Tom flew out from his ambush spot and came face to face with the Gelgoog. Tom looked at the color scheme and burst out in laughter, "Who the hell are you, Santa Claus?" He stopped laughing, though, as he was forced back into his seat. The Gelgoog's torso filled all of his monitor's, "Damnit, let me go!" he said, before his head hit violently off the seat.

The GM High Mobility Type was hurled into the outer hull of the White Scar. It crashed through a thin layer of armor, but managed not to breech the main hull. The Gelgoog hovered over the downed suit, with the Small Beam Machinegun brought to arm, seemingly waiting for it to move.
- - - - - -
Japa flew by the bridge of the Borodino. All the personnel in the bridge ran for cover. He watched as all of them tried to flee the bridge, but the captain ordered them to stay there. He grinned, knowing that he was about sink another ship. He switched to his Twin Beam Sword and grabbed it with his left hand. He opened a comm to the ship, "Surrender and I may not kill you."

"No we will not." came through his comm.

"It sounded like you said you won't." He stepped on the thrust pedal and the vernier's flared as he went toward the bridge. Both blades ignited from the sides of the Twin Beam Sword and Japa twirled it over his head, before readying it to slash. Before he bore down on the bridge, two shells flew past him, "Damn, they're back." He turned around to see a Guncannon Mass Production Type and a GM Command Space Type coming his way, "This should be interesting."

"Get away or we'll kill you." one of the pilots said.

"Don't talk, just fight me." Japa said, bringing his Beam Machinegun up to arm. He depressed the trigger inside the cockpit and a burst of tiny yellow beam flew out of the barrel. Both suits dodged the barrage with ease, each going a separate way.

"You'll have to do better than that, Zeek."

"Shut up." annoyed, he flipped the comm switch off. He turned towards the Guncannon Type and fired another burst of beams. None of them hit, but they gave him enough time to catch up with the suit. The Guncannon fired its 90mm Machinegun but managed to hit nothing.

"Damn, its so fast." The Guncannon pilot mumbled to himself, waiting for the lock-on to fall on Japa.


Japa dodged another burst of bullets and flew sideways, firing his Beam Machinegun. Most of the beams didn't hit, but the last few managed to take off the right leg. Japa grinned and burst off towards the helpless Guncannon. A pink beam made an abrupt stop to Japa's onslaught. A few more made him burst backwards. He looked up to see the GM Command Space Type. Japa growled in his cockpit and brought the left missile launcher to bear. He pressed the trigger and two of the three flew off. The other malfunctioned and was about to explode, "Oh ****!" Japa yelled, flinging the launcher off of his left arm. He burst away as full speed avoiding the small blast.

The other two missiles flew toward the target. They neared and the pilot fired on one, destroying it. The other evaded the fire and was on a head on collision with the cockpit. But, a cannon shell from the Guncannon exploded it on impact.

"Damn it." Japa mumbled quietly. He released the Small Beam Machinegun and took the Twin Beam Sword from its rack again, "I'm not going to be able to sink that ship. ****ing Feddie's." he said, jamming his controls forward. Both of the Kürzer's hands grappled the handle and both beams ignited.

The opposing GM Command Space Type unsheathed his Beam Saber also. Glowing a luminous pink he burst off toward the oncoming Gelgoog. Finally, their beams met each other. Sparks flew and heat waves surrounded the clashed beams. Japa pulled backwards, sending a barrage of 110mm shell's toward the GM. He dodged with ease and went after Japa. The two suits were horizontal, parrying off each others blows. Blue beam clashing on Pink; Pink clashing on Blue. They exchanged blows for a while until Japa got fed up. He released his thrust and came to a stop. The GM kept going. Japa straightened out his Kürzer and brought the remaining three missiles to arm.

"Now you die." he said, confidently. The GM stopped as it noticed three missiles, coming straight for him. The pilot froze, realizing death was upon him. Before tears could even begin to well up, the missiles hit the head, right shoulder, and one made a direct hit on the cockpit. They exploded, disintegrating anything left of the suit, "Now for the other."
- - - - - -
"Does he have me?!" Joachim said, narrowly escaping another pink beam. "Damn thing is fast. The pilot is good, too. Something you don't find much with Feddie's." Joachim saw the GM shoot upwards and brought his Beam Machinegun to bear. Easily pressing the trigger back, a burst of tiny beams pierced the dark surroundings, heading for Tom.

"****." he said, bringing his shield in front of him. The beams melted through the shield but when it was destroyed nothing was behind it.

"Nice trick." Joachim said, bringing up every aspect of the battlefield on his monitors. "Damn, where is he?" Joachim said, angrily. He forgot one thing: behind him. As soon as the thought entered his head he was rocketed forward by a force from behind.

"You shouldn't have kept your guard down." the pilot cackled from his cockpit.

"I know, foolish me." Joachim grinned, "Finish me for it."

"What?" Tom said, releasing the Gelgoog.

"I figured you would do that." he snickered in his cockpit as he swung around, bringing the barrel of his Small Beam Machinegun to the cockpit of the GM, "You should have killed me, Feddie."

"You're better than the other guy. What's his name, Riko?"

"How do you know Riko?" Joachim said, inching his finger closer to pulling the trigger.

"I wouldn't say I know him. We just dueled, that's all." Tom said, readying his vernier's for his next move, "Who are you?"

"I don't like conversing with the enemy." Joachim said, pulling the trigger. He was shocked to see Tom's quick flee, "Damnit." Joachim said, bursting after the retreating Tom. He brought his Beam Machinegun up for one last firing but stopped as his comm came online.

"Joachim, report back to Schrecklich. We underestimated them. We'll get them again." It was the comm officer from the Schrecklich. Joachim could tell the man was disappointed.

"Roger. I'll get you next time." Joachim slowed down the thrust and made a sharp 90 degree turn to the right. He then exploded forward in a flash of blue.
- - - - - -
Schrecklich
1213

Taylor sat in his command chair, his hands covering his face. He rubbed his eyes for a little bit and sat back in his chair. He laid his arms back on their rests and his right hand flew across the control panel. The chair lifted off of the ground and feinted to the left, in front of the comm screen. The technician of the ship appeared, "Sgt. Grundy, where are Japa and Joachim?"

"They're on their way to talk with you." he said, a worried look overwhelmed his face. "They're not too happy."

"I didn't think they would," he turned around as the both of them entered, "be. Finish the repairs as quick as you can."

"Yes sir." he said, before the screen shuddered and went black.

Taylor lowered the command chair back to its original position and climbed down from it. He approached the two pilots and bypassed them straight out the door, "Follow me."

Joachim swore under his breath, "Why can't we talk here?" His voice was crisp.

"Joachim, not now." Japa said, flashing him a glare.

Joachim looked over at him, he could see that behind Japa's helmet, he felt the same way as he. "You're right." The two pilots followed Taylor staying a ways behind him to converse, secretively, "I was just about ready to finish off their ace. Their mobile suit's wouldn't mean a thing afterwards."

"I already took out one of their squad leaders." Japa crossed his arms and looked at the glare reflecting off of the floor, "Did the others retreat?"

Joachim almost stopped. He didn't notice the others retreating, "I didn't see them. This must be Taylor's doing. You think?"

"I barely know the man. You've served under him for quite some time." he said, lifting his head back up.

"I know, but he's never acted like this. He's more care-free than he is now."

"Must be a separate battle phase he goes in to." Japa saw Taylor enter a door to their left, "There." Japa slowed down and kicked off the wall, sending him diving into the room. Joachim did the same. They came down about the same time and Taylor began to speak as soon as Joachim landed.

"I know you're questioning my decision, but trust me." Taylor opened up a small cabinet next to the bed. A bottle of scotch was there, along with a few glasses, "Drink?"

Japa looked at him awkwardly, "I don't drink."

"No thanks." Joachim said, finding a seat on a nearby table-top.

Taylor put the bottle away and shut the cabinet, not even fixing himself a drink, "Sorry. I'll get to the point. One of our comm officer's reported a broken message to the Federal Fleet. He could only make out some of it, but it sounded like it said for them to retreat. We don't know where they're heading but we think it might be back to Granada." He saw their expression's and realized that they thought he was going to disobey orders, "Andrea gave the orders."

"So, from what I understand, we're going back to Luna so we can ambush the Fleet, correct?" Japa said, grinning.

"Yes, simple but very effective." Taylor said, pulling out the chair from the desk.

"I don't like it. The Feddie's will be onto us. They wouldn't just forget about the attack coming from behind them." Joachim said, hoarsely.

"I already counted on that. We are one of the first to start a new type of diversionary attack.* We're going to launch a dummy of this ship and its mobile suit's. This should give us enough time head back to Luna."

"Touché." Joachim said, satisfied with Taylor's act.

Their attention shifted to the flickering comm screen, "Sir, there are four Feddie mobile suit's coming our way. Only the refueling, rearmament, and partial repairs of the Kürzer's has been completed. They're almost in firing range."

"Fire when ready," Taylor turned to Joachim and Japa. He was only able to catch a glimpse of Japa's left boot before the door closed. "I'll be there soon." He mumbled quietly.
- - - - - -
A small band of GM type mobile suit's flew toward the Schrecklich. In the lead, the scarred and battered GM High Mobility Type of Tom Lang. Three of the remaining GM Sniper II's followed close behind him. Each of the pilots the best he could bring.

Rage flowed through the veins of Tom. He had never fought an enemy who fights as well as Joachim. As much as he wanted to duel him again, he wanted to kill him, along with the rest of the Zeek's. One last recall of the battle was all he needed to send him full-speed towards the Schrecklich.

"Sir, are you sure it's okay for you to charge like that?" one of the Sniper pilots said.

"Don't worry about me. Just keep those suit's away so I can sink this thing." he said, bringing his newly added Hyper Bazooka to rest on his shoulder. "This should do the trick." he said, as the Main Cannon's of the Musai were brought upon to be targets. Grinning, Tom depressed the trigger a total of three times. Three rounds from the Bazooka bellowed through space towards their targets. He began to laugh, but stopped as soon as the Hyper Bazooka was blown from his shoulder. He frantically combed over his monitors, looking for the culprit. Another burst of yellow beams lit the darkness. "There you are."
- - - - - -
"Japa, take care of those Sniper's in the back. I owe this guy." Joachim said, pulling away from him.

"Sure thing." he said, watching Joachim fly off towards the GM. Unaware of the long range capabilities of the suit's in front of him, he was caught totally off guard, as three elongated, pink beams flew straight for him. He jammed the left control back, slowing himself down and decreasing his upward motion. "Damn, that was close." He turned his suit around once again though, as the beams pierced the Musai's belly. He watched in terror as the belly exploded. "That puts us down three more suit's." He grinned, "Fair trade I think."

"Lt. Serscu, find those mobile suit's and get rid of them. One more hit, we're gone." the comm officer said. Japa could hear explosions rattle in the background.

"I'll take care of it."
- - - - - -
Blitzkrieg
1226

Andrea looked on at the battlefield. Her stomach turned with every explosion she saw, thinking she lost another one of her men. A far off explosion to the rear of the pack sent her into tears. She sent her head into her lap and covered her face. She could feel the tears leak through the crevices of her hands. She smiled,'This is war, Andrea. Don't worry about losing. You've already lost.' She then remembered Taylor and his offer for "dinner." She giggled a bit as how he was to shy to come outright and admit it as dinner.

Her thoughts abruptly transferred to Japa. His coarse, matted brown hair that she grew to like. Then she remembered his jade green eyes. Always full of tension. She admired Japa, he was almost always able to keep a stern, serious face on him. Rarely did he smile. . .

"Ma'am the Schrecklich has been hit."

She rubbed the tears from her face, "Has it sunk?"

"No, ma'am. We did, however, lose three more mobile suit's."

"Who?"

"Corporal Bock, and Sergeant Troike from Japa's team and Ensign Merold from Joachim." he mumbled, hanging his head.

"Don't worry about it. We lost three more men and we are bound to lose more." Andrea said, with a comforting tone in her voice. "Unless you want to die, contact the gunnery and tell them to concentrate all fire on the white ship in front." her voice quickly turned stern. Another thought hit her, "Tell the Schrecklich to release its dummy and head for Luna."

"Yes ma'am."
- - - - - -
Across the way from the bridge of the Schrecklich two tiny flashes of blue flitted about. Colliding with each other and retreating within a second. Long beams of pink stretching forth and tiny beams of yellow cluttering the darkness. Neither side's beams converging on its target.

'He's going to defeat me if I keep up like this' Joachim said in his head. His breathing was hoarse and fast and sweat dribbled down his face, saturating the lining of his helmet. The sweat wasn't only limited to his helmet, his whole under-suit was doused with his sweat.

Joachim drove the controls forward and his Kürzer exploded off for one last strike on Tom. In his left hand, the Twin Beam Sword, burning blue at both ends. The Small Beam Machinegun was clutched in his right hand. Even though the e-cap was almost exhausted, it still had a few bursts left in it. He steadily raised the Beam Machinegun to bear and waited for the lock-on to appear. Joachim knew he wasn't going to be able to hit him with a lock-on, he was too good, instead he fired before the lock-on fell upon him. The tiny burst of yellow beams drilled through space toward their target. Joachim didn't expect them to hit, so it came to him as no surprise that they missed.

"You should know better by now, Zeek." Tom said, confidently.

"I said I don't like to talk." he replied, flipping the comm off. His right hand depressed the release button and the Small Beam Machinegun was tossed to the side. The Beam Sword was brought in front of him and both hands grappled the handle. He shoved the left control stick as far as it would go and burst off to greet Tom with his Twin Beam Sword. The Gelgoog's right hand took complete control of the Twin Beam Sword and brought it off to the side. His left hand protruded forward and the missile lock-on came to rest upon Tom. Joachim depressed the trigger as soon as it went red. He went out on a limb and tried to estimate his escape route.[/I]'Come on, this way.'[/I] he said, preparing to slash his Beam Sword.
- - - - - -
"****." Tom said, pulling back on his controls. He twisted the left control stick, turning the body of his GM. One missile screeched by, narrowly missing the cockpit. Before he even had time to exhale another missile was coming straight for him. He ran his left hand along the side panel, initiating the sequence for the shield to be released. He brought the left arm in front of him, and pulled away from it as the missile exploded on the outer armor. The shield was engulfed by the blast and became a pile of rubble, floating aimlessly through space. The other missile spun around in circles toward Tom. He eased down on the thrust pedal and began to fly above the missile. As he was flying he blanketed the battlefield with a shower of 60mm shells. A few of them hit, detonating the missile.

As he brought his full attention to the monitor's once more, warning beeps and lights went off as the Gelgoog was coming straight toward him, "Damn, how did he do that?" he said, igniting the Beam Saber in his left hand. He parried the first attack from the Gelgoog. As it made another slash Tom fired his 60mm Vulcan's at the head, making little indentations and shattering the glass covering of the mono-eye. The beam's collided, and sparks flew from the immense heat being given off. Tom knew that the optical sensors of the Gelgoog would be diminished a great deal if he destroyed the mono-eye. So, with the immense speed of the GM High Mobility Type, he spurted upwards, at full thrust. His muscles tightened up and his hands clutched the controls with all their might. Knowing he wouldn't be able to withstand this much pressure for long, he eased on the throttle. He magnified the bottom view to see the Kürzer racing after him. "Perfect." he said, eyeing the lock-on from the magnified picture. Instead of waiting for the lock-on to fall, he depressed the trigger multiple times. He watched as the pink beams protruded from the barrel and dropped at relatively fast speed towards the Gelgoog.

Tom watched on as the beams seemingly missed all of their marks. This was what he expected and as the last few beams passed by Joachim, the lock-on fixed itself on the Gelgoog. Snickering, Tom pressed the trigger and the beam dove towards the Gelgoog.
- - - - - -
Joachim easily piloted around the few Beam Rifle shots that came his way. He exhaled in relief but sharply inhaled, as another beam was coming his way. Joachim knew about the beam to late, and wouldn't be able to fully avoid the blast. He feinted to his left, trying to avoid the beam. He couldn't; the beam seared through the right shoulder, dislodging the entire right arm from the body, Twin Beam Sword included. Joachim's eyes turned bitter with anger, "Damnit, I know I'm not going to come back from this one." He shook his head in disbelief, knowing that his death was inevitable, now.

That wouldn't and couldn't stop him from continuing on his path of rage. Slamming the thrust pedal down and releasing any sort of fail-safe thrust device, he went at full-burn towards the GM. The blue vapor trailing off of his thrusters grew larger and elongated itself a few meters below the Gelgoog. Reaching his full thrust capabilities, he clenched his teeth and tightened his grip on the controls. As his hands grappled the controls sticks, he could feel his stomach turning. His mind thought the same thing along with his stomach. "I'm not going to come back", they said in unison. Leaning back in his chair, he sealed his eyes shut and continued to go after his target.

His eyes slowly creaked open, a vast sea of stars flooding his vision. Within them, a lone GM, bearing its Beam Rifle on a fast approaching Gelgoog. The GM brought the visual scope of the Beam Rifle forward, covering the green visor. The Gelgoog's red mono-eyed toned up, and went back down as it brought its left forearm up.
- - - - - -
Beads of warm sweat dribbled down the face of Tom. Hitting the lining of his helmet, and diffusing into it. He could feel himself becoming more dehydrated with every bead of sweat; he'd been sweating excessively like this for the past hour, give a few minutes. Becoming dehydrated, Tom lagged in the areas he needed to survive. His reaction timed slowed, and the hair in his face stood on end. He could feel himself becoming weaker.'I need to finish this.' he said to himself, inching his finger over the trigger, preparing to rid himself of this Zeon scum.
- - - - - -
Joachim smiled, sadistically, it was the only thing he could do, without regretting it. His gaze rested atop of the GM. He watched as he saw the Beam Rifle being brought to arm. His sadistic grin grew wider as he positioned his finger over the trigger, knowing his feint attempt to destroy it with one 110mm Machinegun would not even put a mere scratch on the armor. Unscathed by this conclusion, Joachim proceeded with his original intentions and depressed the trigger. Holding it down.

A continuous flow of bullets began to clatter off the armor of the GM High Mobility Type. Each one hitting around the same area, beginning to cause minor damage to the armor. The GM did nothing, it stood there, its pose unchanged. The bullets continued, as though there was no end to them. After a while, the steady line of fire, actually began to tear through the armor on the upper chest, exposing the internal workings of the GM's chest. Still, the GM remained solid, not even swaying.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the barrel of the Machinegun began to overheat. It wasn't intended to be used a main weapon, let alone expel a continuous barrage of bullets. From the overheating, the barrel began to melt. The tip of the barrel, caved in, allowing no release for the bullets. Joachim, seemingly unaware to this, continued to clutch the trigger. Inevitably, the bullets had nowhere to exit, and began to explode inside the forearm. A few explosions erupted from inside and within a few seconds, the left forearm was blown cleanly off.
- - - - - -
Tom sat, patiently, listening to the bullets clang off of his armor. He did nothing as the warning's went off, as the bullets exposed the skeleton of his GM. After the bombardment of bullets ceased, Tom's finger reached over the trigger. He smiled, knowing he was about to get rid of one of the most important pilots to this small Zeon fleet. After much delaying, Tom finally depressed the trigger. His monitor flickered, reading that the e-cap had was now useless, "That's all I needed."
- - - - - -
Joachim watched as the pink beam made a thread straight at him. As he gazed past it, he saw the GM flying off, confident that he was going to get his kill. "Ignorant bastard." he said, as he released the controls and awaited his death. His eyes shut and his head rested against his chair. His lungs filled with air, but it would be his last breath of air. The pink beam finally met its destined target. It scorched through the tough Lunar Titanium Alloy and exited through the other side of the suit, directly above the cockpit. Joachim's eyes welled with tears and his lips opened, "Goodbye, Japa, my friend. It will never be the same." He said, before the reactor exploded. Disintegrating the entire suit.
- - - - - -
"Joachim!" Japa said, slashing at a GM. After the suit parried, the Gelgoog burst off toward the remains of the once red, white, and green Gelgoog Kürzer. Japa's eyes remained wide open, beginning to dry out. He didn't care.

After a short flight, the Gelgoog came to a stop. It didn't move, except for the mono-eye, fluttering from side to side. Japa inside his cockpit, doing the same: grazing through the monitors. After some time searching, Japa gave up, he found nothing, except for debris from the destroyed mobile suit.

Instead of immobilizing himself, Japa brought up magnified pictures of the surrounding area. The one of the Schrecklich held what he was searching for. The GM High Mobility Type. Forcing the thrust pedal down with all his might. His left hand slammed the controls forward, and the Gelgoog burst off, riding a flood of blue thrust. His right hand flew across the controls panel, readying the Missile Launcher on his right forearm, along with the Small Beam Machinegun being carried by his right hand. Two targeting scopes flittered about on the main monitor, trying to find a place to rest. After covering every portion of the monitor they found Japa's target. Neither was in range, though, the Missile Launcher would be in range within a matter of seconds. When it was, Japa would, without hesitation, pull the trigger.

With a quiet beep, the missile lock-on went red, signifying that it was in range. Immediately, Japa pulled the trigger. The missiles withdrew themselves from their rest and charged through space toward the GM. They twisted and turned through space as they neared the target. The unsuspecting GM continued to attack the Schrecklich. The first missile to reach it missed, and rammed into the side of the Musai. Japa didn't care, for all he cared the ship was already sunk. The second missile looked like it was going to actually hit, but the GM knew about the attack. It flew up, causing the missile to collide with the Musai again. The third missile actually followed the GM. It was to hold the same fate as the others, though. It, however, did not hit the Musai, it just flew by the bridge, vanishing into the vacuum of space.

Japa continued his pursuit of the GM. Waiting for the Beam Machinegun's lock-on to go red. He doubted that the beams would hit, though. This pilot was an ace, and the only one the Feddie's had left. After a while of chasing him away from the battlefield, the lock-on went red. Japa pulled the trigger, and a burst of beams exited the tip of the barrel. They approached the GM and it didn't seem to notice them. It remained stationary. As the beams were about ready to hit, the GM brought its new shield up to bore. The beams hit it, and began to puncture the heavily armored shield. After the beam attack concluded, the GM exploded toward Japa and his Gelgoog Kürzer, "You're the one who was with him before."

Japa was taken by surprise from this pilots daring attempt to talk, "I know, and it seems as if you're the only one left."

Tom brought up a picture of where the GM Sniper II's original position was, "Three GM Sniper II's. Not bad, but I shot down one of your aces."

Japa's blood began boiling with anger, "We still have three more. Now shut up and fight."

"The other spoke with the same intensity as you. You two know each other?"

"You could say that. We 'Zeek's' don't like to talk much." Japa said, preparing to depress the trigger once again.

"Riko gave me a false impression of you Zeek's. I began to respect you, but now, I despise you." Tom said, forcing more weight onto the thrust pedal.

"Enough." Japa said, closing the comm line. His finger hovered over the trigger as his breath became deep. After gaining more ground on the GM he lowered the trigger, and kept his finger down. The tiny yellow beams flew through space, following the GM. It dodged at first but Tom wouldn't be able to keep this type of force up for much longer.

After a while of dodging them at an incredible reaction time, his dehydration caught up with him. The force of the thrust pedal was released and the GM coasted along at its original pace. The beams eventually caught up with him and the first few tore through the right leg. The beams continued and pierced the left leg, also. The knee joint of the left leg was shot and the leg began to fall off. Another round of beams hit the GM. This time, the left leg was shot cleanly off, from the knee down. The right calf was blown off, wires and the internal skeleton being exposed. Tom rattled around inside his cockpit, his vision began blurring, "If only the Sniper's were still here." He said quietly, before he completely blacked out.

Japa smiled as he saw the GM's legs being blown off. The reading's from his right side monitor indicated that these were the second main source of thrust. Indeed the information was true; the GM eventually came to a creeping like motion. A startling thought hit Japa, as he saw the GM did nothing to move.'Did I kill the pilot already?' he thought to himself. He didn't want to take a chance and erupted toward him, in a flash of blue. He arrived at the GM's immobilized position. He brought the Small Beam Machinegun to bear, and put the barrel into the slit in the GM's cockpit hatch. He opened the comm once again, "Are you alive?" Nothing. "Are you alive?" No reply came, but Japa could hear feint sounds of breathing. His right hand flipped the comm switch off. He moved his finger into place over the trigger again, preparing to avenge Joachim's death, "I told you I would get him, Joachim."
- - - - - -
"All right, all Guncannon's open fire on that Gelgoog. Don't hit it, though, we can't lose Tom." a pilot of a GM Command Space Type told his men.

"Yes sir." the pilots replied. They brought their aiming sensors to the front and put their faces up to them. They waited as the lock-on floated around searching for the Gelgoog. It rested on top of it and the pilots eagerly pulled the trigger. A total of four shells exited from the two suits. Inside the cockpits, the pilots moved their head to the side, to watch the oncoming show. They smiled, knowing they were about to each receive another kill, but their smiled turned to disappointment.

"Idiots, I said don't hit him. The shots were supposed to be feint so that Tom wouldn't be killed. Luckily this guy's a good pilot so he'll probably be able to dodge your shells." he said, furiously. Both pilots were shocked that they actually fired upon the suit. In the back of their minds, though, they still hoped that they could rid the Federal Forces of this pest.
- - - - - -
Japa's finger slowly began its descent toward the trigger. His face was covered with joy, as he was about avenge Joachim's, and even Adam's death. His adrenal glands began to go into motion, and his adrenaline began to mix in with his blood. This would always happen before he killed a pilot, he refereed to it as a "Pilots High", unique only to him, though. All the other pilots he talked to got this feeling as the battle began. Of course, none of them were as blood thirsty as Japa. A trait that helped him survive through this all.

Just as he was about to depress the trigger, warning lights and beeps rang in the cockpit. A image from behind his suit showed a total of four shells coming straight at him, faster than normal ones. Japa could easily pull up to avoid them but the pilot inside the GM would be killed, and it wouldn't be at his hands. This confused Japa, and he came to a conclusion. Destroy them. Spinning around, his left arm was thrown in front of him. He released the trigger lock on his 110mm Machinegun's and depressed the trigger for them. The burst of bullets targeted the first two shells. They were successful and the shells exploded, in a magnificent ball of orange and yellow. His left arm moved slightly to the right a few degrees and more bullets flew through the barrel. They targeted the other two shells. The bullets punctured the front of the shells and they exploded in a chain reaction. Japa exhaled in relief.

Japa's right hand quickly switched the main weapon to the Twin Beam Sword and the Beam Machinegun was tossed to the side. The right hand then grappled the Twin Beam Sword and brought it off of its rear rack. He swung it in front of him and both hands grappled it. The blue beams burst from the sides. Japa smirked as he swung his Gelgoog Kürzer around. He brought the Twin Beam Sword above his head in the middle of his turn. As the suit turned all the way around he brought the Beam Sword down upon the GM. It began to cut through the side of the torso and made its way through the tough Lunar Titanium Alloy. After searing through the thick torso, the beam exited the other side. Wires sparked and the alloy glowed hot orange. Something intriguing caught Japa's attention.

The cockpit of the GM was hatched open. Japa growled from inside his helmet and ran his hand along the right side panel. Magnified images of the recent battlefield filled his monitors. Nothing. Japa closed his eyes and shook his head in disbelief. He was so sure that he was going to get him, but he didn't. "Damnit, I'll get him next time." he whispered so quietly he could barely hear it.

He flopped back in his chair and relinquished his grip on the controls. His hands fell into his lap and rested on his thighs. His breathing slowed down and the sweat began to subside. Becoming stuffy inside his helmet, his hands reached up to his chin, and flipped the locks off. They grasped around the chin-piece and steadily pulled the helmet off. It was tossed down to his feet and got stuck on a lever. His brown hair was drenched with his salty sweat and lay matted on top of his head. He flung his gloved hand to his forehead and ran his fingers through his doused hair. As his hand reached the back of his skull he gently massaged the back of his stiff neck, rotating his head, trying to get a kink out of it. After some massaging, his hands fell back onto the controls. His left hand twisted the control and the suit began to rotate. After the rotation was finished, his left hand and right leg worked in tandem as the thrusters came to life, and he shot forward towards the Schrecklich.

He passed by the wreckage of Joachim's Gelgoog Kürzer, and watched as it floated among the stars.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Notes

*- I'm not exactly sure when and where the first dummy appeared. I don't remember them being used in the OYW, so I thought I might use them now. Of course, it is only a experimental type.