Chapter 7: Port of Call
July 1, UC 0087. 1400 hours Zulu. Manila, Capital of the Philippine Islands. "What the hell..." John observed as he saw a
familiar shape start steaming into Manila Bay. It was, he recognized
immediately, a U-class submarine, and one that was listing badly to the port
side at that. He quickly picked up a pair of binoculars and was quick to
observe the ugly, jagged edges on the side of the hull where a torpedo had
nearly sent this submarine and her crew to an early grave. But what really
worried him was the lack of markings. Federal submarines would show some sort
of flag or insignia to identify themselves, won't they? "Mr. Recto, I suggest you clear the dockyards of any...
unnecessary personnel," a calm voice suddenly ordered from behind John. It
was Mayor Fernendez. "Sir.... what the hell is this? I mean..." John
started before he noticed that the sub was now attracting the attention of a
small knot of people, and the mayor's security squad was busy shooing them
away. Because if this was so... "It's just a Federal submarine coming in from
repairs," the mayor answered dryly, "The AEUG rebels have attacked
Hon Kong City in the north, and the sub was damaged trying to stop them." "Then why the secrecy sir?" John asked on,
"Our people don't have anything to be afraid of, do they?" "Just do your job, harbormaster," the mayor
replied as two of his men came up behind him, "Because if you can't, my
men will." --------------- July 2, UC 0087. 0100 hours Zulu. Subic Bay Military Facility, The Philippine Islands. "Found her yet?" Natalie asked as Hawkins entered
her tent, a bandage now wrapped around his forehead. A frown quickly told
Natalie what the answer was to her question. "I'm afraid not," Hawkins replied, "And we've
lost another three planes to our invisible enemies. I'm afraid those new enemy
units have far more sophisticated stealth technology than we have surmised, and
to continue operating aircraft in the night with them still present is simply
not an option." "Don't worry about it Hawkins..." Natalie muttered
as she looked back to her desk and began to do some more paperwork, much to her
disgust and frustration. High command always wanted everything written down so
they could lynch her properly when things were done, though they didn't really
give a damn about the boys she had lost... "Who did we lose by the
way?" "North, Dai, Takenori and Wesley," Hawkins
replied, "It's a pity. Dai and Wesley were among our best Don Escargot
operators." Natalie nodded sadly in agreement. Of her personnel, her Don
Escargot pilots were among the most competent, and dedicated, among her motley
bunch, being truly interested in the art of submarine hunting rather than the
easy paycheck. More than half of them were dead now, and their deaths had left
the battalion unable to effectively pursue the enemy submarine. They simply
didn't have any equipment in significant numbers capable of hunting submarines
in the ocean anymore, unless those two additional submarines she had been
promised but never seen showed up, unless of course the enemy skipper was
stupid enough to... "Say Hawkins, do you think they might have made port
somewhere?" Natalie inquired as she took a look at the map of the
Philippine island of Luzon, its west coast ringed by dozens of harbors. "Unlikely," Hawkins replied, "We've posted
observers in most of the smaller ones, and the municipal governments in the
largest ports are not reporting any enemy activity. All we have found is the
location of one of the submarines that was supposed to back us up. It turned
out she developed engine trouble and had to dock at one of the northern ports
for repairs. The second submarine is still missing, though high command insists
that she is still operating in southern portion of our search area." "Right, just as Wilkins promised... right..."
Natalie muttered angrily as she was reminded of her superior again. That damn
murderer... If she wasn't so damn steeped in military tradition she be slowly
choking the life out of that *******... "We could always rely on our dear
superiors on Peking, can't we?" she added sarcastically. "Perhaps the submarine is suffering some communications
difficulties mam," Hawkins suggested, though he himself was doubting his
own words, "The U-632 had just completed her shakedown cruise before this
operation mam, and with the current quality of Federal warships, such failures
of equipment are to be expected." "Well, if he is then he'd better get that radio fixed
soon," Natalie growled, "Because if that sub's skipper decided to
stop over in some island for some R&R, he's going to have a LOT of explaining
to do to ME..." --------------- "What have you got?" Major Hitachi Naguchi,
skipper of the U-632, asked his lead sonar operator. His submarine had been
patrolling the South China Sea as ordered by high command at Peking for three
days now, and so far the captured enemy submarine had eluded them. His sonar
operators had reported some sign of a battle occurring in the seas few hours
off the coast of Manila, but high command had either not received or was not
responding to his transmissions. He growled mentally at the last thought, his
submarine was supposed to be carrying the most sophisticated Extra High
Frequency radios the Federation had, ones that were supposed to be usable at
any depth, but he'd tried using them on the SURFACE and he STILL hadn't gotten
any word... "I am not so certain skipper," the sonarman
reported, "I could have sworn I heard some metallic sounds a few hours
ago, but I've triangulated them and confirmed that they are coming from Manila.
The enemy submarine couldn't have entered a friendly port, could she?" "Perhaps it was our sister submarine making port,"
Naguchi replied, "She has been having engine troubles since she was put
into service six months ago." "But sir, her patrol area is far north of us, wouldn't
she have made port in Laoag or maybe Hong Kong?" the sonarman reminded. "That is correct," the Major replied, "But
it's still a highly unlikely case. High command would probably be competent
enough to know that an enemy submarine has just made port in a Federal regional
capital. And without radio communication saying otherwise, we must assume the
likeliest case." "Does this mean we should ignore it sir?" the
sonarman asked doubtfully. "Only for the moment. Until then, we'll continue our
patrol." --------------- Yoko felt both frustrated and nervous. Sure, they had
managed to make port and begin to effect some repairs, but they had to do it
under the "protection" of an _earthnoid_ mayor, one who could turn
them all in at any second if he decided to double cross them for the extra
favors from Dakar. But what really ticked her off was how exposed they were.
They were in plain view for all of Manila to see, not to mention almost being
completely unprotected from air reconnaissance. Bad security was worse than
none at all, because the effort you spent would go to waste anyway with bad
security. It had taken a small miracle to get here in one piece at all, and
getting out of here in one piece was going to take another miracle, with their
good luck already being pressed extremely hard... "I've got bad news Yoko," Scott reported as he
emerged from the engineering hatch, "Damage is worse than I thought. A LOT
worse. It'll take a week to fix the engines enough to get us to New Guinea,
plus a few more days for..." "You've got seventy-two hours," Yoko ordered
dryly, "Otherwise, we're as good as dead anyway. Heck, in seventy-two
hours we might be as good as dead anyway, so do it in under seventy-two." "Yoko, it CAN'T be done," Scott replied,
"Maybe four days if you keep the crew from sleeping through the whole
time, but with the facilities around here..." "Get some local help then," Yoko suggested,
"That Fernendez guy ought to have know some competent mechanics around
here." "He says he isn't sure if there is anybody he could
trust," Scott replied, "And even if we could get the people with the
skills, I don't think we can pay any of them or encourage them to help
us..." "Force them at gun point if necessary," Yoko
replied coldly, "And if they don't come, start threatening their families.
We MUST..." "NOT engage in that sort of bullying Yoko," Jean
reminded as he joined the two, and already overhearing Yoko's plan of action,
"Yoko, you're no longer in the Zeon special forces. You're a member of
AEUG now, and you have to remember that..." "Don't hurt civilians, don't become like those thugs,
yada yada yada," Yoko replied sarcastically, "Look, I said it
straight out when I joined this organization that I would be here to fight the
Titans and all those who oppose spacenoid freedom by any means necessary. War
isn't a parlor game where you could afford humanitarian concerns, it's simply
kill or be killed, and if it means pissing off a couple of Manila residents to
get out of here in one piece, I'm going to do it." "You're not just going to piss them off Yoko,"
Jean replied angrily, "You're going to put them in MORTAL danger. If those
Titans come here and find us..." "They'll torch the whole city anyway, regardless who
helped us or not," Yoko replied equally coldly as she folded her arms in
front of her chest, "I know that's what they'll do, because that's the
sort of thing _I_ would do if I found out some village is helping out some
Feddie guerillas back in 79'. And if we get out of here early, they CAN'T prove
we EVER got here, COULD THEY?" "So by being like our enemies, we could avoid that
blood bath from seven years ago?" Jean countered, "Aren't we here to
stop something like that from ever happening again?!" To stop another blood bath? Yoko thought to herself before
responding. Not really. This was just another step in the long road to true
independence. Captain "Bajina" and her knew where the true path lay,
as had been preached so long ago by a great man now long dead. Man's destiny
was in space, and even if she wasn't one of those who were lucky enough to be
granted that gift despite being only second or third generation spacenoids, she
knew that she was laying the path for the future. One that had no place for the
Federation or their Titans lackeys... "Why don't we just sell them our cover story sir?"
O'Connor suggested as he joined the caucus, "I mean, as far as they're
concerned we're a Federal submarine. We could just keep the charade going until
we get the hell out of here." "The mayor says he doesn't have anybody he could
trust," Yoko reminded coldly. "That's better than start herding off some civilians,
mam," O'Connor replied testily. "For the LAST time O'Connor, this is war, and we can
not..." Yoko started. "Alright, enough!" Jean growled, "I'm still
senior officer here, and my word stands. If we can get some people to help us
voluntarily, fine. Otherwise, we do it on our own, understood?" "Yes sir..." Yoko muttered under her breath. Just
don't come screaming to me once your precious Liv fails to intercept one of
those reconnaissance flights they keep sending over us... --------------- July 4, UC 0087. 0800 hours Zulu. Subic Bay Military Facility Natalie Dolvich woke up, as had almost been usual for the
past week, on her desk and still wearing her work clothes. She had been taking
up only four hours of sleep for every twenty-four, and her ever-messier looking
uniform was testament to how haggard she was feeling. Two straight days had
been wasted for no results except for the loss of another of her precious
aircraft, and she was at the point of ordering the cancellation of the whole
search altogether. That ******* sub had to have gotten the hell out of here by
now, unless its skipper was stupid enough to... "Good Morning mam," Hawkins reported as he entered
her tent, "I'm afraid that we still haven't found the enemy submarine,
however, we've been looking over our old data and..." "Hawkins, have you gotten any sleep?" Natalie
suddenly asked as she noticed the growing eye bugs under Hawkins' eyes. "I am having just about sleep as the rest of the men
mam," Hawkins replied, which meant no, "However, the new..." "Hawkins, it's been two days..." Natalie reminded,
"Don't you think that they might have gotten away by now?" "Perhaps," Hawkins conceded, "But our sonar
operators have been going over the acoustical recordings of our battle with
that submarine, and they have found that the damage we have inflicted on the
enemy submarine may have been more severe than we believed. Perhaps the
submarine is merely hiding out in the coast somewhere for repairs..." "I thought you said the ports were under our
observation?" Natalie reminded. "Yes, but the Philippines has an enormous coastline,
and any inventive enemy would find some way to get facilities where they aren't
supposed to exist," Hawkins replied, "I'm therefore requesting for an
aerial visual and radar search of the west coast of Luzon and the islands of
the Visayas in the south. Perhaps we might be able to find something." "This is our last card, isn't it Hawkins?" Natalie
confronted. "I... I'm afraid so," Hawkins replied, "If we
don't find anything, I'm afraid that we'll just have to report that they've
managed to slip from our grasp. There simply isn't anything else we have left
to do." "Want to retire along with me or do you want to wash
your hands of this mess?" Natalie asked as she stood up and walked towards
Hawkins, meeting him eye to eye, "You're still a promising XO Hawkins, you
needn't get your career washed out because of me." "A generous offer, but perhaps it might be more
enjoyable to meet you again in the civilian life once we're done mam,"
Hawkins replied as courteously as he could, and feeling and suppressing a
slight bit of red he was now feeling on his face. Natalie merely smiled back at
him. "Thank you, old friend," Natalie replied,
realizing she had never actually called him a "friend" since now.
Strange considering how much they've been through... "Let's be on our way
then and let's get these final formalities in place. I really doubt that we're
going to find that submarine any time soon..." --------------- "What do you mean the mayor wants me to get to the dock
area?" John muttered angrily as a pair of Fernendez's security personnel
"advised" him of the situation, "I thought he said that it was
off-limits..." "And what are you going to do to my husband once he
DOES get there?" Cynthia added testily as she eyed the two men, "He
DOES have a job to do, remember?" "He will be paid double of his current salary from the
city for helping with the repairs on the Federal submarine," one of the
men replied, "The faster we can get that sub out of here, the faster we
become an invalid threat to those AEUG rebels." "AEUG isn't supposed to target civilians," John
reminded tiredly. "We can't be sure about those rebels," the man
replied, "And the mayor says you simply must go. It is for the safety of
the city of Manila." "Cynthia?" John whispered as he turned worriedly
to his wife, "What do you think?" "I don't want to see another battle around here
John," Cynthia replied, "But I don't like this either. Take a look if
you'd prefer, but keep your eyes on the lookout for trouble. I'll try to help
if something happens." "I could just say no," John reminded. "And we might get into more trouble if we don't,"
Cynthia replied as she motioned to the two goons still waiting for him,
"As I said, just be careful. If something's wrong, we'll try to find a way
to get ourselves out of this situation. If it WOULD help us though, then it
would be better if you did help Fernendez, wouldn't it?" "Always weighing the options like your father?"
John asked with a slight smile. "I guess so," Cynthia replied, "But please
don't end up like him. We have little need for another hero..." --------------- "It's getting hairy out there," Olivia Sondergard
reported as she met Jean on the conning tower, "Their air patrols are
increasing, and from what I could see they're sending more FlatMouse and Dish
in the air to hunt us. The Flatmouse are easy to get for the most part, but
Gordon and me are having a lot of close shaves with those Dish. Their radar has
been upgraded quite a bit since 79', though not good enough to get a solid lock
on us as of yet. How's the repairs coming?" "Not good," Jean replied grimly, "Three more
days minimum. Fernendez is getting a few locals to help us now using our cover
story, but it's taking a while, and I'm not sure they're going to be much help
when they get here. I'm afraid you'll have to keep scaring those Titans away
until then." "You sure we can trust that Fernendez guy?" Liv
asked suspiciously. "He may be an earthnoid, but he's sympathetic to
us," Jean replied, "His wife and two daughters were killed by the
Titans in Bunch 19* when they were vacationing there a couple of months ago.
Those *******s had opened fire indiscriminately on the crowd of protestors, and
his family was crushed under the debris of a building the Titans had blown up.
He hates them with a passion now, and he hates the people in Dakar even more
for ignoring what had happened to his family." "Christ... I... I didn't know that..." Liv replied
as she set her eyes downcast towards the deck, "I just joined after I
heard about 30 Bunch and all the atrocities they've been committing, but to
lose your family..." "I know, we all have our reasons," Jean replied,
"It's just that it's not always the same, nor as simple..." "What about you Jean?" Liv asked as she turned to
face him, "Why did you sign up?" "One of my superiors convinced me to join," Jean
replied with a smile, "And so far I haven't regretted it. He took good
care of us back in Fire Base Malta when the Federation seemed to forget all
about us, and I figure I did owe him some." "Sir, the mayor's men have arrived," O'Connor
reported as he joined the two in the conning tower, "Ummm... Did I just
interrupt something?" "Nothing O'Connor, it's nothing," Jean replied as
he noticed the mischievous look on O'Connor face, and hoping that Liv wasn't
having any particular emotional reactions, "How many?" "Not sure, but I guess you'd want to meet them now,
wouldn't you?" --------------- No markings, no number, John thought as he took a quick look
at the submarine. But Feddie subs up to some dirty tricks didn't carry them
also, and if it had a particularly mean skipper... "Alright, are you the locals who have volunteered to
help us?" Jean started as he arrived, "First off I'm sorry
that..." Wait a second... John thought as he recognized the sub's
commanding officer, "What the... Jean, is that you?!" "Magic?" Jean asked as he also noticed the voice
that had called him, "John Recto? Good God John is that..." "Yeah Jean, it's me," John replied as he stepped
forward to shake his former shipmate's hand, "I thought they said you went
MIA. You didn't..." "It's a secret," a cold female voice suddenly
ordered behind him, "And welcome. Your exploits are quite legendary, Big
Game Hunter of the Pacific." John's blood suddenly chilled as he recognized the woman's
voice, as he knew, this one wasn't as friendly as the man standing in front of
him now... He turned his head slowly and caught a glimpse of the woman that he
had once helped to capture: Captain Yoko Nagato, Zeon Special Forces. And if
she was here... "I... I think we'd better talk this through, for old
time's sake..." Jean decided as he saw the confused and suspicious looks
on the other local engineers. Something was telling him that their cover was
about to get blown wide open... --------------- * This incident appears in Redcomet's current work in progress,
Zeta Side Story: What Cost For Freedom? Available in the Gundamwatch for your
viewing pleasure. And yes, I'm going to be using refrences in a few other UC
fics, notably "Road to Alexandria"(by RedComet) and
"Orange"(by The Master Termite). --------------- Notice: This fic and all its contents are copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting. No part of this work may be taken by any other person without permission from the author. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by Bandai and their respective companies. |
