Misconceptions
Gundam, UC 79
-
Alexis Pierce stood up when the recruiting officer walked into the room. She read the name off of the little patch on his chest, Colonial Simpson. He was much bigger than Alex, but that was because she was only eighteen and a young woman. Well, she would be eighteen in twelve hours. Alex was pretty tall, topping out at 5' 10".
"Congratulations. I understand that all of you volunteered to join the military. Preliminary results of your testing show a fairly high aptitude for kinetic skills and detail oriented mindsets." Simpson smiled. "That's just what we are looking for. You are being assigned to a new unit that is being built from the ground up."
The six youngsters murmured their surprise. One of the recruits raised his hand.
"Go ahead, Larson."
"So what is our unit going to consist of, sir?" the wiry red haired man asked.
"You don't have to worry. We aren't going to be training you to fly haulers, if that is what you are wondering. No, this unit is going to consist of the newly commissioned mobilesuit units that are going to be coming out very shortly." He gave them a look that brooked no argument. "This is classified top secret. You are not to tell anyone about these weapons."
"Mobilesuits, sir?" Alex asked.
"Yes. The Federation has just completed the design for a counter weapon against the Zeek's damned Zaku. Most of our new recruits are going to be trained exclusively for these." Captain Simpson shuffled some papers and pulled out printouts of a map. "You'll be assigned to barracks C, which is out of the way on this base. Sergeant Huros will be in charge of your preliminary training. Report to him immediately. That will be all."
As the captain walked out, the new pilots looked among each other in surprise. Alex grabbed her duffel bag and started to walk out. The other recruits followed her very shortly. It took about twenty minutes, but they eventually found barracks C with little problem.
Spike Montoya, one of the other recruits looked at the building speculatively. "I wonder who else we'll be bunking with?" He grimaced as he saw a group of workers putting in a foundation for a large building only a hundred feet behind the barracks.
The older man who stepped into the doorway replied. "No one. This is just for you punks. All right! Fall in. Move it, move it you maggots!" the sergeant yelled out. He was almost pleased with how quickly they responded. "That was almost good enough. Pierce, Montoya! Fifty push-ups, now!"
Spike and Alex frowned but dropped and started doing push-ups as the sergeant started in on his introduction.
"I am Sergeant Huros. Do you know what that means, Larson?" the crop-haired, olive-skinned man shouted.
"No, sir!"
"It means that as far as you care, I'm God. When I give you an order, I mean for you to follow it immediately. You wimps will be spending the next two months learning the controls of your new mobilesuits. By the time you get them, you'll know how they work better than the people who engineered them." He took a deep breath. "During that time, I am going to attempt to whip you into some sort of physical shape. You will also go over tactics. Leave the strategy to the brains. If you live long enough, maybe we'll teach you some of that too."
Alex finished her push-ups a good ten seconds faster than Spike. She stood back up and put herself at attention. It sounded like this sergeant was going to be a serious hard ass.
"All right. Follow me and I'll show you the simulators. By the time I'm finished with you, you will hate them."
-
Two months later, the 102nd Tactical Unit had decided that they did, indeed, hate the simulators. They had been configured as the new RGM-79G. This was suit specifically designed for ground combat and economy. They'd managed to 'find' the simulator files for the "Gundam" and decided that quality really did make a difference.
"Hey, Spike? Do you really think these things will function as promised?" Alex asked. She had cut her hair as short as any of the male pilots.
Spike shrugged. "We'll see. They're shipping in the first units today."
"Really?" She jumped up and looked out the window. "Would that be them?"
The rest of the 102nd joined her at the small window. In the air where the medium transports that the Federation used. The pair of vehicles landed carefully in the newly cleared area in front of the reinforced hanger that had been constructed during their training.
"All right! Pierce, Simpson and Montoya! Follow me." Sergeant Huros shouted as he opened the door. The rumbling roar of mighty jets filled the building. The three highest rated trainees followed the gruff man out to the landing field.
They shaded their eyes. Even with the light cloud cover, it was still quite bright. The Rocky Mountains to the west added a breathtaking vista that they had all learned to ignore.
Their engines immediately started to whine down moments after they landed. Large cargo doors opened and you could see large flatbed trailers that carried the tarp covered forms of the 102's new GMs.
-
"Captain." The deck crew of the Zeon cruiser bustled about their business as the lieutenant saluted the man in the control seat.
"Carl. Are the Zaku ready for deployment?" Captain Titus asked.
"Yes, sir. They should reach the engagement zone in half an hour. I still don't like this, Captain Titus. If they have functional mobile suits, we could be putting them into a very serious firefight." Lieutenant Lueng frowned deeply as he talked.
"They'll be fine, Carl. All the Intel that we have says they are receiving three units today. And these units are being delivered to a small airbase and their trainees that haven't even used a mobilesuit." Titus smiled coldly. That new mobilesuit was causing a terrible ruckus to space command. He wasn't going to see that happen with his men. "Besides, we should outnumber them by one mobilesuit."
"Yes, sir." He turned towards the communications officer. "Operation: Ground Snake is a go."
"Initiate M-Particle saturation. Gunnery, as we come over the rise, take out those communication grids in Colorado Springs. Let's not give this base any warning." The captain watched as his bridge crew began to work in a hurried manner.
As the large aerial cruiser came over the hills to the south, particle beam cannons struck the local communications centers in twelve separate areas of town. The two Gows opened their forward bay doors and dropped a pair of Zaku each.
-
Alex suddenly looked up. "Mynovski particles?" she said in consternation.
"What did you say?" Huros said loudly. He said everything loudly.
"Somebody is dumping a lot of M-particles into the area, sir!" She started to look around nervously. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Sergeant Huros didn't bother to reply as he ran into the crew area of the cargo transport they were in. "Radio the tower and see if something is going on."
Alex had already climbed up and onto the top of the GM. A boot knife cut the sturdy tarp, revealing the closed hatch. In just moments, she had slipped in and shut the hatch. A sudden nervous fear damped her brow with sweat. She started the activation sequence as quickly as possible. Within seconds, the internal reactor was beginning to rev up.
Sergeant Huros slid down the railing from the upper cabin. "I want you three up and prepped to go in five minutes! We may be under attack!"
Spike Montoya and Tim Larson looked at each other in surprise. Spike yelled out, "Yes, sir! Pierce is already in one that's outside!"
Tim yelled as he ran for next mobilesuit. "I thought these things took ten minutes to go from a cold start?"
Alex's GM suddenly belched coolant and made a roaring sound as it sat up.
"How the hell did she do that?" Spike yelled. That had to have been two minutes, tops!
"Don't you mind! Get yer ass in the next GM before I shove my boot up you butt!" Huros yelled as he ran to the GM that was half in and out of the Medea transport.
Alex grunted as the mobilesuit jerked a bit to its feet. "Damn things jerks more than the simulator." With seemingly well practiced movements, she knelt the GM nest to flatbed truck carrying the weapon components. She grabbed the beam spray gun and swore as the computer asked to calibrate the new weapon. "You piece of crap! I don't have time for this." With her left hand of the GM, she loaded its single beam saber into its shoulder holster.
With another rumble, she stood up the GM and turned it towards the south. Getting a mobilesuit to actually run usually took a week of training. Trainers referred to that week as the "falls week" because it typically took days for the new pilot to get their feet under them. Uncannily, Alex only stumbled once before she got the hang of it.
Several soldiers looked up in surprise as the GM tromped on by. Once she reached the end of the row, she triggered her thrusters and leapt over the intervening four story command center. Moments later, sirens began to wail.
The colonel that she had just startled swore up a storm. "Who's in that mobilesuit? What is going on?" he yelled as he ran into the command central hub.
A young woman turned to him. "I don't know. I'm not getting a response!"
"It must be a spy! Tell Huros to get the other mobilesuits after it!" he roared. He spun to a group of soldiers who were checking a communications panel. "What are you doing?" Colonel Simpson yelled out.
"We're trying to find out why our optical data lines aren't responding. According to the self-test, the cable's been cut ten miles away."
"Ten miles? That's Colorado Springs!" the colonel grabbed the large binoculars and turned towards the south. "Oh my god. Sound incoming air raid! We've got enemy mobilesuits only minutes away!"
"We're being jammed! M-particles at high saturation levels!"
-
Mantar was a fairly typical Zeon mobilesuit pilot. Not too smart and fairly quick. He'd seen enough combat to know how to react quick enough to keep himself alive. When the Federation GM suit rocketed over the small hill in between him and the enemy base he adroitly sidestepped a shot that looked like it could have hit him.
"Damn pilot must be stupid or something, men! Those plasma beams don't have the range of our machine guns! Why don't we show our appreciation to our enemy and kill him mercifully!" Mantar shouted excitedly.
The other three pilots acknowledged the orders, opening up with their machine guns, except for the one with a rocket bazooka. He was almost in position to take out the enemy command center. As his fellow pilots fired, he fired off a shot at the building. The laser-lock failed and the shot missed by fifty feet, disappearing over the hill. He grunted in vexation. "Damn! Missed!"
"How the hell can that thing move like that?" Mantar yelled, starting to get angry. This was no trainee. This was a pro, no doubt! The strange mobilesuit in front of him ran and rocketed around like a maniac was in control. Only a few of the bullets even hit and at that distance had lost an appreciable amount of their velocity.
"Don't worry, sir! I've got it!" the pilot of the Zaku with the rocket bazooka shouted. He had the navy-blue and white suit bracketed and immediately fired!
Alex yelled as she suddenly urged her GM to leap into the air, spinning to fire wildly at the incoming missile. Her second shot managed to hit the missile, explosively.
Mantar stared in shock. "Newtype!" He was so startled that he didn't even notice when a new GM tromped over the same rise and fired a rocket bazooka. He only had a moment to scream out orders before his squad mate exploded. "Damn!"
Up in the control room of the Gow cruiser, Captain Titus frowned. The Federation's response had been far quicker than he had expected. It now seemed obvious that they had also sent in a trained pilot, probably to teach the recruits how to use it. "Communications, laser-com the Zaku with 'Tango-Tango' and prepared to pick up the survivors!"
"Yes, sir!"
Moments later, the Zaku started to retreat in great leaps and bounds. Alex started to follow when Lieutenant Huros laser-commed her. "I think they've had enough, private. Return to base."
"But-"
"That's an order!"
"Yes, sir!" Alex slammed her fist against a panel. She was consumed with an anger that almost mastered her.
-
Captain Athena Wills walked along the corridor at a clipped pace. She rapped on a door with no identifying marks. She waited a second and then entered when she heard someone allowing her admittance.
"Captain Wills reporting as ordered," she said tersely.
Colonel Matthew nodded. "Please, sit down."
"I take it we've had another pilot show amazing aptitude?" Athena asked as she doffed her Federation's officer cap.
"Yes. One of the most damndest things. A recruit with that level of skill is just unheard of. Except for Amuro Ray, of course."
"Yes, sir. But that's why we've kept an eye out. With this disturbing intelligence coming from Space Command about Zeon Newtypes, we have to investigate this ourselves. We can't let luck just deliver us an important asset like this." Athena almost vibrated with her intensity of belief.
"Yes, yes. I understand." Colonel Matthews stood up and walked over to stare out his window. "We're gearing up for our offensive in Europe. This girl was slated to be shipped to the front in a GM. We're going to be transferring you to her tactical unit as their new Commanding Officer."
"Yes, sir. If you don't mind me saying so, leaving her in a GM is a waste of her talents," the woman interjected.
"I don't know if we'll be able to swing you a Gundam. They are in chronically short supply. And expensive to boot!"
"The Pegasus has already proven the worth of an elite unit, sir. I'm not asking for this lightly. You know that, sir!"
Matthews sighed. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you, sir. I won't disappoint you."
-
Tim skidded into the bunk room of the 102nd's room. "Hey guys! Did you hear?"
Alex looked up from her bunk where she was reading a spec manual on the mobilesuits. "What?"
"Something about that sneak attack that the Zeeks did caught someone's attention! They're giving us a new CO."
Spike pulled the girlie magazine that he'd laid over his face off and almost glared at the smaller man. "What of it?" That had been four days ago. Huros and Alex had already received medals of valor for successfully repulsing the assault.
"I just heard through the rumor mill that she's a captain!" Timothy almost bubbled with enthusiasm.
"That doesn't make sense. That's at least two grades higher than a tactical unit usually gets," Spike argued.
"That's right. But this unit is no longer... usual." The uniformed figure framed the doorway. She stood only up to five feet four inches, but seemed to radiate a sense of command that was undeniable. A little bit of blonde hair peeked underneath her cap, which shadowed her deep, midnight blue eyes. "Form up!"
Tim goggled for just a second and was just a little slow to react. The six soldiers of the 102 lined up and snapped sharp salutes.
Captain Athena Wills looked over the group carefully. She looked over her shoulder towards the door that opened. "Sergeant Huros. Please fall in."
He snapped a salute as he took his place at the closest end to her.
Captain Wills then saluted. "At ease." She stared at them levelly for a few seconds. "I am Captain Wills. As Private Larson mentioned so loudly, I am a few ranks too high to be in charge of a 'mere' tactical squad. There are some very good reasons. You are not cleared for that information. It is on a need to know basis."
The tactical squad murmured in surprise.
"At least not yet. The parameter of this unit has undergone a change. You will still be shipping out for Europe in a week, not next month."
"What? Excuse me, Captain. This unit is not fit for front line duty!" Huros interjected forcibly.
"I understand your feelings in this matter. We will ship out in one week nonetheless. We will also be receiving the last of your mobilesuit units today."
Spike whistled softly. Somebody was pushing really hard on their unit all of a sudden.
A rumbling sound started to fill the room.
Athena checked her military watch. "Exactly on time. Follow me." She turned and walked back out the door, quickly followed by the entire group.
Alex and the others shaded her eyes. She squinted slightly as she saw the four Medea Transports landing in front of the new Mobilesuit Bunker.
"Baker and Thomas! Unload Medea 52. Larson and Montoya, you have Medea 16. Huros and Long, you have Medea 99. Pierce and I will unload Medea 9," Athena barked out as sharply as Huros ever had.
The soldiers blinked in surprise. They had been surprised by her willingness to jump in. Most Captains wouldn't be bothered to get their hands dirty. They got over it in short order.
Athena snapped a salute to the flight technicians as the opened the bay doors on Medea 9. "Lieutenant Miller! Good to see you, sir."
"Captain Wills! Your baby is ready and raring to go," the officer said as he shook Athena's hand.
"Were you able to get the spare beam rifle?" she asked.
"I don't know how you managed that, but yeah, we got 'er." Miller just scratched his head in consternation.
"Um, Captain Wills?" Alex asked tentatively. "Our GMs don't have the power plants to fully power a beam rifle!"
"That is correct, Private. This is not a GM, however."
Alex turned her head suddenly. "A Gundam?" She whistled in appreciation and hopped up onto its flatbed.
"Your Gundam."
Alex spun around in surprise, tripping on the edge and falling on her butt. "My Gundam?"
"Colonel Matthews and I believe you are the type of pilot that the Gundam was designed for. Leaving you in a GM would just waste your abilities."
Alex just sat there stunned. What was this all about?
Athena tipped the brim of her hat back. "After we get these mobilesuits settled in and get the technicians activating them, I'll brief you on your mission. We will also be having a very long talk about yourself."
-
Alex sat on her bunk, trying to read a magazine about fashion and style. If she'd been asked about what she was reading, she would have had to look to figure it out.
"Private Pierce! You're next!" Captain Wills called out from her office door.
Spike just walked past her, shuddering theatrically. "I think she's from Intel. Maybe they figure there's a spy on base," he whispered to her as they passed in the hall."
Alex looked surprised. She schooled her face into a mask of calmness as she walked in. She saluted and then sat when directed. She was surprised when the captain stood up and started attaching a few discreet devices to the door, walls, floors and on the window.
"That should be adequate. We're going to be working closely together, so please call me Athena. If you have any questions, please go ahead and ask," she said as she sat down at her desk.
"Er, Athena, why did you just do that?" Alex asked as she waved across the room.
"What I am about to tell you is classified." Athena tossed her a folder. "Here are your orders. Read through them and hand the folder back. I'll go over the basics as you read."
"Yes, sir!"
"Please, just Athena. As for what is going on, you have been assigned to a top security unit consisting only of Newtypes."
"Newtypes? Isn't that something from the Zeeks propaganda?" Alex started reading. She was being promoted to sergeant? "I'm sorry, but I'm not really that familiar with it."
"The Newtype phenomena has only been verified as a reality in the last year. The Zeon are working as quickly as they can to exploit their Newtypes. We have only verified two Newtypes that are capable of piloting mobilesuits. Amuro Ray is assigned to the Space Command at this point. You are the other one."
"Me?"
Athena nodded. "You. You exhibited an uncanny prescience during your first battle, knowing of the attack before the enemy was even spotted. Lieutenant Huros reported that you stated you 'felt' M-particles being seeded in the area. That was what really triggered my curiosity. The human body is incapable of detecting Mynovski particles."
Alex looked confused, but didn't want to sound stupid. At Athena's reassuring nod, she finally asked, "What is a Newtype?" She'd always been able to feel that strange awareness of M-particles. What was so strange about that? Her mother had been able to do so too.
"A Newtype is supposed to be some sort of evolutionary advancement due to humanities' expanding into outer space. According to Zeon doctrine, it will herald a new age. The Zeeks used this pretext to launch their aggressive war, killing millions," Athena said tightly. You could not miss the tension that lay under those words. It was a very rare person that had not lost someone important to them.
"But I've never been into space. I was born here in the North America Quadrant," Alex explained.
Athena blinked in surprise. "It doesn't necessarily have had to be you. It could have been one of your parents or grandparents."
"I don't think they have either. I'm sure my mother would have mentioned it, at least. Besides, we are from a really poor, farming family."
Athena pursed her lips. "That is... interesting."
"I thought everyone could feel M-particles? My mother and I always felt when they were doing that testing up near Black Hawk," the young woman explained as best as possible, her confusion quite evident.
"Black Hawk. That's where they did the testing on new fusion reactors. A lot of sub-atomic particle research was used in that," the captain mused. "If you don't mind, I'm going to do some checking. A Newtype that was born on Earth, with no contact to the mutating effects of space travel. It's quite interesting." Considering, hadn't she just heard of a plan to get one of the Zeon Newtypes to come to Earth to see if it affected her abilities?
"If you say so."
"You said your mother could feel it too?" Midnight blue eyes watched Alex closely.
"Uh, yeah. She said it affected her, um, sight."
Athena looked confused. "Sight? That's something I've never heard of before."
"Not her eyes, her... sixthsense," Alex finished quickly in a mumble. She stared at the ground uncomfortably.
"Sixth sense? She claimed to be a psychic?"
"She always was a little weird, if you know what I mean."
"Thank you for your candor. I do appreciate it, Alex. I think that's enough for now." Athena stood up and handed Alex her new pips. "Congratulations, by the way. That was a superb job you did there."
"Thank you." Alex was a little wild-eyed at this point. She really wanted something to distract her at this point.
-
Mantar grit his teeth as he prepared to launch using the new Rik Dom he'd been assigned to. He could hear the engines of the Gow rumbling through everything. This was going to be a fairly major operation. Some big-wigs wanted to blunt the looming Federation offensive that seemed to be in the making. Mantar and his men were going to overwhelm the same base they had hit just a few days ago.
Up on the bridge of the Gow, Captain Titus looked over to Lieutenant Lueng. "Carl, I just got some last minute satellite Intel. It appears that they just had a flight of Medea Transports that showed up out of the blue this morning."
Carl pursed his lips. "It shouldn't make a difference. We have ten mobile suits, half of which are the new Rik Doms. They are supposed to be more than a match even for that 'Gundam' that we've been hearing about."
"Inform Mantar that there may be stiffer resistance than expected," Titus commanded. He swiveled his chair back to the front. "Commence operation."
The four Gows and their fighter escorts turned ponderously and accelerated to attack velocity. As the battle group topped over the hills to the south of Colorado Springs again, they leveled communication emplacements and a few antiaircraft vehicles. The Rik Doms and Zaku IIs spread out in a battle line as they tromped over the rolling hills towards the base just over the hill again.
Sergeant Huros yelled out over the laser-com, "Let's do this! All units, open fire!"
From four emplacement pits, three GMs and one Gundam fired a salvo of rocket bazookas and one beam rifle, catching the attacking units in a vicious crossfire! As far as the Zeon soldiers could tell, the empty woods and hills started laying down a heavy fire.
Alex grinned in her new Gundam, which was hidden underneath its own camouflage. "I guess training to set up an ambush on an attack squadron wasn't such a bad idea after all!"
Mantar screamed out, "Take out those snipers! Move it or lose it!" His own Rik Dom started to jink and dodge erratically as it positioned for an attack on the beam weapon emplacement. He lined up his shot and fired, when the target erupted into flame!
The Gundam's camouflage burned off as it landed, just as it was supposed to do. Alex charged towards the surprised mobilesuits. Two more shots took out the flatfooted Zakus, while a third only winged the second Rik Dom.
Captain Titus gripped the arms of his chairs. "We've lost how many mobile suits?"
"Four, sir! The Feddies had laid down some sort of ambush! Bastards!" the communications officer called out.
"We're taking fire from nine o'clock high!" one of the pilots yelled out as he felt the ship shudder under him.
Federation high speed attack fighters swooped over the confining mountains at nearly full speed, slowing down as quickly as they could to unleash blistering particle beam blasts as they chopped through the Zeon fighter formation and hit the west most Gow. That giant air wing shuddered for just a second and then exploded.
Athena smiled grimly as she walked her GM forward, leading the last three GMs over the ridge to attack the Zeon mobilesuits head on. The colonel in charge of the base had stationed marines several dozen miles out with laser-com equipment. He'd run them ragged with the extra patrols, but it had just paid off handsomely.
The new GMs unloaded on the Zeon mobilesuits, catching them in the flank again. Two more mobilesuits were knocked out of commission with their first shot. "Let's rip into them, men!" she yelled out.
Mantar swore as even more Federation mobilesuits entered the battle. He saw one of them make a mistake no trained soldier who'd been on a battlefield do. "Looks like most of them are pretty raw! Use that against them, men!"
The Rik Doms were very maneuverable, able to zip around like hovercraft. They started using their advantage to take increasingly accurate shots at the slower responding GMs. Two GMs exploded before their pilots even realized they were being attacked.
The Zaku IIs were nowhere near as effective, but were able to hold their own. Most of the Zeon pilots were keeping an eye out for that overly fast Gundam. By doing that, they had managed to avoid getting shot with its beam rifle so far.
"That's enough of that!" Alex yelled out. She rocketed the Gundam forward at two Zaku that had bunched a bit to cover each other. Their machine guns bounced ineffectively off of her angled shield, even as the Gundam whipped out its beam saber. With blinding speed, it cut both of the Zaku in half with one swing.
Before she even landed, Alex spun her Gundam to slash into her blind spot and landed heavily. Her beam saber sliced through the legs of a Rik Dom that had attempted to blindside her.
Mantar goggled. That must be the Newtype! That had to have been in its blind spot! If he'd been a bit closer, he would have tried that too! He toggled a switch to try and contact the Gows. "We're getting chewed down here! They've got one of those Gundams that we've heard about! The pilot has to be a Newtype!"
Lieutenant Lueng looked over at Captain Titus. "We've lost six mobilesuits so far. We've only taken out three of the enemy suits. It doesn't look like the mobilesuits will be able to take the base at this point."
"We're going to switch to a bombing run. We'll blow up the base and retreat. All Gows and escort fighters, prepare to switch headings on my mark. We're going to about ascend to seven thousand feet and unload on that base. Carl, have the mobilesuits retreat." Captain Titus chewed his lip for a second. It was time to be decisive. That was the only way to win this minor battle.
"They're retreating! Keep up the pressure! At this rate, we'll have destroyed all of them," Huros yelled excitedly.
"Sergeant! I think... the Gows are going to attack the base!" Alex spun her Gundam around and rocketed towards the west.
"Get back here! You're leaving us exposed here!" Huros yelled loudly. His battered GM fired another two shots in quick succession at the retreating Rik Doms.
"Belay that order! Sergeant Pierce, you are freed to act independently under my authority," Captain Wills snapped across laser-com.
"Captain? We don't have time for some crazed-"
"Sergeant Huros, shut up. That's a direct order. Do you understand?" Athena said, cutting off her second in command.
The surviving GM pilots were all surprised. Something really unusual was going on here.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Huros spat out. "Montoya! Snap it up there and try to flank them."
Alex barely even heard the commotion that her abrupt departure had caused. Her Gundam was leaping up the side of mountain as agilely as a goat. A driving need pushed her ever onward and up. At the top of the mountain ridge, she just held in the throttle of her Gundam's thrusters, launching it into the air right in front of a Gow carrier.
"Coming up to attack speed, Captain!" the pilot of the Gow Cleo called over his shoulder.
"All ships are in formation. Dopp fighters are prepared to strafe the base on our orders, targeting anti-aircraft batteries!" Lieutenant Lueng called out from his console.
"Very well." Captain Titus nodded in approval.
"Captain! Something just happened to the Memnes! It's listing and on fire, no response from the pilot."
"How the hell did that mobilesuit end up on top of the Memnes?" Carl Lueng shouted as he spotted the Gundam on top of that Gow.
"That pilots going to try and blast us all by himself? Orders to the fighter escort! Have them ready to sweep across the top of the Cleo and brush this insect off of our back!" the captain thundered.
"What about the Diana?" the com officer yelled.
"It's too late for them."
The Gundam ran across the wings of the doomed Gow carrier Memnes. In front of it lay another Gow. The crew of the Diana barely had time realize they were under attack by a deadly foe when the Gundam landed on top of it.
"It's on top of us!" the pilot of the Diana screamed. He could feel the Gow shudder as the mobilesuit moved overhead. The blinding light of a beam cannon covered his momentary scream of terror before he and the crew were vaporized.
Alex turned her Gundam away from the belching hole she had just blasted through the bridge of the Gow. She started to run towards the last Gow in the row when she almost physically felt the readied attack against her if she leaped towards the last Gow. With a screech of metal on metal, she skidded the Gundam to a halt on the very tip of the wing of the giant air-wing.
"What the fuck was that?" Alex said to herself. The Gow was turning away from her, getting away. With a snarl, she snapped of shot after shot at the Gow's engines. Her gun cycled only three shots before failing to fire. "Now what?"
"That pilot must have the devil's own luck!" Titus looked over his tactical display. "Order a full retreat. We're going to attempt to pick up any surviving mobile suit units."
"We're losing engine thrust on engine one! That pilot must have shot it out!" the Gow's pilot yelled out.
"Damn the Feddies! Have the Dopp fighters make their own attack run on that base and then regroup to a defensive screen around us! Detail a wing to blow that Gundam off of the Diana!" Lieutenant Lueng shouted.
Dopp fighters screamed off at full power to follow their orders. They really didn't have the firepower to truly inflict telling damage on a modern air base, but they were going to try! The four Dopps that were ordered to attack the strange mobile suit almost snarled in unison as the looped under the Cleo and spat machinegun fire at the brightly colored figure that stood on the Athena's burning deck.
"Damndamndamndamn and double damn!" Alex yelled as her Gundam lurched. The Gow was starting to drift towards the ground thousands of feet below them. Machinegun spattered off of the Gundam's armor. Far faster than anyone should have been able to, vulcan gunfire raked out at the fighters, destroying two of them outright.
The two remaining fighters looped out and around. The lead pilot informed his wingman, "It looks like our friend down there ran his beam rifle dry. Stay out of the effective range of those head cannons and we'll chop him up!"
"Yes SIR!" the wing man shouted almost gleefully. He locked on missiles to the Gundam and fired, growling in anger as the Gundam fired its head cannons and took them out. That pilot must have the devil's own luck!
Warning lights started to blink frantically while alarms started their raucous warbling. "I know we're falling from over three thousand feet, you dumb computer!" Alex shouted, panic starting to creep into her voice. She was going to die! There didn't seem to be anything that she could do. She was even willing to trust that stupid sixth-sense-mumbo-jumbo that her mother had always talked about. "Oh, hell! Why not?"
With that, she just followed her instincts, running back up towards the center and back of the top of the doomed Gow known as Athena. The Dopp fighters still tried to gun her down, but seem confused about what she was trying to do. The Athena was only moments away from impacting into a hill almost head on!
"Got it! This is so crazy it might even work!" she crowed to herself.
Spike just watched from almost two miles away from the crashing Gow. "Did you see that, Captain? I can't believe it!"
"Now all she has to do is survive her heroics!" Captain Wills called out, only taking a moment off of watching the surviving Rik Doms retreating further and faster than her crew could follow.
Alex took in a deep breath and then yelled out, "YAHOO!" as the Athena plowed into hill. It crumpled majestically even as secondary explosions started to rip through it. At what seemed like the very last moment, Alex slammed the throttle arms all the way forward. She knew that the Gundam didn't have the thrust to slow her down enough to survive impact.
But it did have enough thrust to push her over the top of the hill. Guided more by luck than training she tried to frantically keep her feet underneath her as the Gundam skidded gigantic furrows down the hill. Trees and smaller boulders just shattered as they got in her way, until the Gundam finally stopped. Over stressed actuators whined in complaint and the Gundam could barely stand, but Alex only had bruises to show for her amazing brush with death.
"Impossible!" Sergeant Major Huros shouted. No mobilesuit could have done that. None!
"Way to go!" Tim shouted.
And Captain Wills just smiled to herself. Even better than she had hoped.
-
In the Mobilesuit hangar, Huros threw his helmet at the ground right in front of Alex. "Alright, Pierce! I don't know what you were thinking, but that sort of gung-ho heroics is shit! Not only could you have gotten yourself killed, you could have-"
"Sergeant Major Huros. What do you think you are doing?" Captain Wills demanded imperiously as she walked up.
"Captain?" the befuddled Sergeant asked.
"I will talk to you privately, later." The blond haired captain turned to her command. "Congratulations on your victory. Go take a shower and get some rest. Dismissed."
She waited for everyone but Huros to leave.
"Excuse my candor, Captain! What the fuck do you think you are doing undermining my authority?"
"Your authority? Sergeant, this is my tactical unit now. Sergeant Pierce is to be trusted implicitly when it comes to her hunches! And I gave her my direct order to continue," Athena snarled right back at the huge man.
"What the hell sort of crap is that, Sir?"
"That is classified!"
"I think I have a need to know here, dammit!"
Athena was almost shaking in her fury. Mastering herself finally. "This under the strict guidelines of Top Secret clearances. Do you understand?" At his nod and sudden understanding of the seriousness of the nature of what she was about to relate, she continued. "Sergeant Alex Pierce has been identified as a strong New Type. Her New Type abilities are to be fostered and trained as best as possible, as they may be a vital strategic ability to the Federation. There is no one, repeat, no one within this tactical squadron that is more important to get home alive than Pierce."
Huros just blinked, then got even more furious. "She's a snot nosed brat-"
"Are you understanding anything that I just told you, Sergeant?"
His face started turning beat red. "I am not going to let some mumbo-jumbo punk-assed kid with delusions of grandeur think that she can-"
Click. Captain Wills had her sidearm pointed at his chest. "Sergeant Huros, you may consider yourself under arrest for disobeying orders and possible charges of treason-"
Huros just leaped forward in a murderous fury, with the full intention of taking the sidearm away. This little, no good little bitch was just irritating the hell out of him and needed to learn a lesson.
The thundering gunshot echoed in the hanger as the two bodies collided.
-
"Attention!" barked out an unfamiliar voice in the barracks. "Fall in!" the tall, imposing man in the uniform of a colonial yelled out.
The 102 fell into line with amazing alacrity, in various states of dress. Alex prayed that her towel would stay in place, as she had just exited the shower.
"Sergeant Pierce? Front and center!" Colonial Simpson shouted out.
"Sir! Yes, Sir!" she snapped out while saluting. She started praying harder.
"Assemble your men in two hours for an emergency deployment. Meet me in ten minutes for instructions regarding the change of command with your tactical squad. Dismissed!" With that, Simpson turned on his heels and moved out of the barracks at a fast walk.
"What the hell was that all about, Alex?" Tim asked.
"Yeah!" Spike chimed in.
"Not a damn idea, guys." Alex started to throw clothes on as quickly as possible. Nudity taboos had lasted a total of two days before the extra pushups that she'd had to endure had killed that idea.
"Well, good luck! Colonial Simpson is supposed to be harder than Huros!" Tim said glibly.
Alex smoothed her hair back and stuffed it under he cap. "Well, you heard him. Spike, I want you and Tim to get the rest of these guys ready and check with the repair teams for the Mobilesuits. I want a full list of functionals and what it'll take to be ready in fifty-five minutes."
"Ah, man!"
The sergeant didn't even bother to find out who made the comment as she stepped out of their barracks. She started to trot towards the command center. She backtracked a moment later and then hopped into the squads assigned ride. Within moments, she was driving at almost reckless speeds towards the main command center.
After some quick directions to the CO's office from a sentry that challenged her, she managed to find it within a short time, only showing up a minute late.
She rapped on the door. "Colonial Simpson?"
"Come in. I'm impressed. I wasn't expecting you for another five minutes."
"Sorry, sir! I'm not familiar with the layout of this building!"
Simpson narrowed his eyes. "No reason you should have been. Due to an incident with Captain Wills and Sergeant Major Huros, you are in command of the 102nd tactical squad effective immediately."
Alex looked down for a second. "May I inquire as to what happened, Sir?"
"Not at this time. There is most likely going to be a trial. You will be needed as a witness, so don't go and get yourself killed." The colonial stood up and spread out a map. "This will be throwing you to the wolves, but Jaburo wants that last Gow finished off. It appears to have gone to ground near Denver, which is held by the Zeon, of course."
"Yes, sir. What are our orders?"
Simpson narrowed his eyes at her. "You are to get your troops to the suspected landing zone of that Gow and exterminate them with extreme prejudice. Your actions may determine the direction of the inquiry into the incident between Huros and Wills. That is all." He spun back to his computer.
-
"Incident?" Tim asked.
"That what he said. I'm as much in the dark as you guys," Alex said. She shrugged theatrically. "How many mobilesuits are functional?"
"Four that pretty functional. Two more are fixable in two days. Captain Wills was almost as tough on her GM as you were on your Gundam," Spike replied.
"Looks like I'll be using Huro's GM. Have everything prepped for us to depart at 18:00 hours. We'll then have a briefing and then move out."
"Eighteen-? That isn't enough time to properly repair these guys!" Tim called out.
"Just get them fixed up as best as possible. These orders come from Jaburo!"
Just minutes later, the remnants of the 102 were gathered around a table that Alex had set up. Maps and papers were strewn around.
"You guys have done an amazing job! Thanks a lot for your hard work. Here we go." Alex took a quick breath. Her first command. Don't screw it up. "The enemy Gow that attempted to attack us earlier has holed up near Denver, at an old airbase. It's pretty lightly defended and Command has decided that they want that unit annihilated utterly." Alex took a swig from her water flask. "We've only got four effectives right now. Nick, Spike, Tim and myself will take the functioning GMs and do a two prong attack."
Tim looked over the area. "The terrain is easier to get through here, where the road is."
"That's correct, but they've got ack-acks and anti-armor weapons there too. On the other hand, it's a good distraction. This hill is impassible for anything except, of course, Mobilesuits. These guys seem to be old hands at this." Alex suddenly smiled a nasty little grin. "They probably don't think much of us yet. We'll set up a diversion at the main gate to make us look inept. The real attack will be over that hill."
"Whoever is knocking on their front door is going to get beat down pretty hard," Spike noted.
Alex pursed her lips in thought. "I'll be the distraction. Spike, you're in charge of the actual assault on the hanger."
-
"Hey, Gunnie?" a Zeon private yelled out.
"What?" the gunnery sergeant yelled back.
"Something's tromping its way towards us, around the bend."
"Fall in! Looks like the Feddies are coming right down our guns! What a bunch of idiots!" he yelled back. In moments, all of the tanks and anti-armor emplacements rotated towards the road. "Come in, Echo-niner! Looks like we've got unfriendlies walking into our guns." He listened a second. "Yeah, I know. They must have taken the stupid-Feddies course of strategy."
A GM suddenly walked around the corner, its Spray Particle Gun (SBG) at the ready.
"Fire!" the sergeant yelled. Ha! He'd get to bag one of the new Feddie mobilesuits. Damned idiots didn't even know what to do with them-???
The man couldn't believe his own eyes as the suit suddenly rocketed sideways in an amazing dodge and then leaped into the air. The anti-aircraft guns just couldn't track something that big making such advanced maneuvers. Two tanks exploded from blistering return fire.
"It's some sort of Feddie Ace!" he screamed into his Com. "We need those new Mobile Suits out here to help us repulse the attack."
Mantar looked up from where his Rik Dom was getting some armor repaired in the spacious hangar that held the wounded Gow Memnes and its escorts. "What the? Shit! That New Type is here?"
Lieutenant Carl Lueng pulled himself out of the guts of the other surviving Rik Dom. "You heard the man, Mantar! Get in that Mobile Suit and drive off the enemy!"
"But Sir!"
"I know you'll be almost a sitting duck, but this bases' defenses can not stand up to a concerted attack from a MS Ace!" Carl Lueng stood up and saluted.
His mouth suddenly dry, Corporeal Mantar saluted back. "Yes, sir." In moments, he was in his rapidly activating mobile suit. He tromped out of hangar with the Memnes at his back. He was about to turn towards the main gate of the compound when he caught a glint at the top of the hill. "Ah, shit. It's a diversion!" he yelled into his commo.
The air bases commander in his bunker blinked at that. "What the hell are you talking about, pilot?" he called out suddenly into the headset he was wearing.
"They're flanking us!" Mantar yelled, almost in a panic.
"We've been spotted," Spike shouted. "Charge!" He pushed his GM into a loping gait and then leaped at the last moment. The enemy's fire scorched the paint on the bottom of his GM's feet.
Behind him, Nick had ducked behind him to shift his position. The wild shot hit a weakened section of the armor and started to spurt vapor. "I'm hit! I'm losing coolant! It isn't shutting down!" the panicked pilot screamed.
"Punch out, Nick! Damn it, punch out!" Tim yelled. That thing was going to blow! He pushed his own GM into a frantic run. He had only made it about fifty feet before Nick's GM exploded, pushing him forward even faster.
Back at the gates to the air base, Alex spun her GM sharply. "How did that happen? The plan is going to the crapper!" She suddenly charged the remaining anti-aircraft guns. The gunners panicked and ran, so she didn't even have to do anything except step on two of them in passing.
She crouched the GM and then leaped over the corner of the huge building. Right below her landing zone was a Rik Dom that was shooting at the remaining GMs.
Mantar suddenly felt a palpable anger emanating from above! He was so shocked at the feeling that he barely even noted that he just stood there as the GM activated its beam sword as it came down. At the last moment, he tried to move, but it was too late.
His Rik Dom's armor failed almost instantly. The beam sword slashed effortlessly through the pilots compartment and into the core. Alex rocket leaped again on pure instinct, just a bare moment before the mobilesuit exploded.
Technician's screamed two Federation Mobile Suits dashed through the door and into the armored hanger. Carl looked up from his repair work to see a nightmare entering. With brutal efficiency, they let loose with blistering fire into the damaged Memnes. "Captain Titus! Get out now!"
Whatever the captain's response, it wasn't fast enough. With a mighty boom, the Gow started to explode, killing all aboard. Carl just stared in shock. His friends were now gone.
With a cry of anger, he tried to ignore the tromping of mobilesuit and repair the final Rik Dom. He'd show those bastards.
"Step away from the Mobilesuit," a voice blared out from the GM that was standing.
Carl Lueng spun around, his fists tight in anger.
"I don't want to hurt you, but that Mobilesuit is coming with us," the pilot said.
The voice sound like a woman's voice, he thought to himself. He was too caught up in his anger to really notice anything beyond that about his enemy.
"Just back away. I really don't want to hurt you?" the voice said from the GM.
Another GM tromped up. "Ah, just kill him already! Damn Zeeks are all bastards anyways!" the male voice from it called out.
"I don't kill defenseless people. Even Zeon," she retorted. "I won't sink to their level."
Carl tried to climb into the cockpit of the mecha, but he was plucked from the gantry like he was a rat. He thought for sure that he was about to die. Not many pilots were good enough to not crush a human, he idly thought.
"There you go. Spike, pick up that mobilesuit and let's hoof it back to the base." The GM set the Zeon soldier down. With reasonable care he was placed next to some of the men from the base trying to put out the fire.
Carl just stared. He'd have some bruises from that. But he really wasn't hurt. All he could do was just stare as the three Feddie Mobilesuits left with the last Rik Dom. He was brought back to his senses as one of the firefighters screamed for help.
-
"I would like to say how proud I am. We have struck back against the Zeon fascists with their murderous tactics. No longer do they have the technical superiority to dominate the battlefield." Colonial Simpson looked over the parade ground and the four rows of soldiers. "Sergeant Pierce, step forward." He pinned a medal to her chest.
At his nod, she backed up into the ranks. He called up another fifteen people to receive a similar medal. Her stomach churned. The scuttlebutt had it that the 102nd was due to be dissolved and they were going to be transferred.
"I had to pull some strings to get those medals for you this quick. Once again, let me tell you how proud I am of you all." Simpson saluted them, to which they all responded. He nodded at Alex, Tim and Spike. "You three have probably heard, the 102nd has been dissolved. You are all transferring to the new 85th Tactical Squad."
"Yes, Sir!" they said.
"You've got someone's eye, Pierce. You're the new CO of that unit. Do me proud. You'll ship out to England at 2200 hours. That's all," he finished. He saluted one more time and then abruptly walked off with his second in command.
Spike just looked pleased as the cat that bagged the mouse. "England! I'd heard that the operation was going to be in Europe!"
Tim just nodded and fiddled with his sun glasses. "Congratulations, Alex. Looks like we didn't screw up enough to mess up your promotion!"
"You guys did the best you could. Nick just got hit with a lucky shot," Alex said as she grabbed them both by their shoulders and hung off between them. "Let's hit the bar."
"I thought we were on duty?" Spike asked, slightly startled.
Alex just winked. "I won't tell if you won't! Besides, we deserve a bit of celebration."
"You're on, Sarge!" Tim said enthusiastically.
Cast of characters:
Sergeant Alexis Pierce - main hero of the story.
Sergeant Major Huros - bigoted first C/O.
Captain Athena Wills - mysterious C/O, in charge of the New Type battalion on Earth for the Federation.
PFC Timothy Larson - survivor of the 102nd, transferred to the 85th.
PFC (now Corporeal) "Spike" Montoya - survivor of the 102nd, transferred to the 85th.
Lieutenant Carl Lueng - Zeon officer that survives attacking Colorado Springs.
Corporeal Mantar - Zeon MS Pilot, KIA in battle near Denver.
Colonial Simpson - in charge of Colorado Springs Air Base.
Captain Titus - Gow Captain that goes down with his command.
Colonel
Lieutenant-Colonel
Major
Captain
Lieutenant
2nd Lieutenant
Sergeant Major
Sergeant
Corporal
Lance Corporal
Private
Gundam, UC 79
-
Alexis Pierce stood up when the recruiting officer walked into the room. She read the name off of the little patch on his chest, Colonial Simpson. He was much bigger than Alex, but that was because she was only eighteen and a young woman. Well, she would be eighteen in twelve hours. Alex was pretty tall, topping out at 5' 10".
"Congratulations. I understand that all of you volunteered to join the military. Preliminary results of your testing show a fairly high aptitude for kinetic skills and detail oriented mindsets." Simpson smiled. "That's just what we are looking for. You are being assigned to a new unit that is being built from the ground up."
The six youngsters murmured their surprise. One of the recruits raised his hand.
"Go ahead, Larson."
"So what is our unit going to consist of, sir?" the wiry red haired man asked.
"You don't have to worry. We aren't going to be training you to fly haulers, if that is what you are wondering. No, this unit is going to consist of the newly commissioned mobilesuit units that are going to be coming out very shortly." He gave them a look that brooked no argument. "This is classified top secret. You are not to tell anyone about these weapons."
"Mobilesuits, sir?" Alex asked.
"Yes. The Federation has just completed the design for a counter weapon against the Zeek's damned Zaku. Most of our new recruits are going to be trained exclusively for these." Captain Simpson shuffled some papers and pulled out printouts of a map. "You'll be assigned to barracks C, which is out of the way on this base. Sergeant Huros will be in charge of your preliminary training. Report to him immediately. That will be all."
As the captain walked out, the new pilots looked among each other in surprise. Alex grabbed her duffel bag and started to walk out. The other recruits followed her very shortly. It took about twenty minutes, but they eventually found barracks C with little problem.
Spike Montoya, one of the other recruits looked at the building speculatively. "I wonder who else we'll be bunking with?" He grimaced as he saw a group of workers putting in a foundation for a large building only a hundred feet behind the barracks.
The older man who stepped into the doorway replied. "No one. This is just for you punks. All right! Fall in. Move it, move it you maggots!" the sergeant yelled out. He was almost pleased with how quickly they responded. "That was almost good enough. Pierce, Montoya! Fifty push-ups, now!"
Spike and Alex frowned but dropped and started doing push-ups as the sergeant started in on his introduction.
"I am Sergeant Huros. Do you know what that means, Larson?" the crop-haired, olive-skinned man shouted.
"No, sir!"
"It means that as far as you care, I'm God. When I give you an order, I mean for you to follow it immediately. You wimps will be spending the next two months learning the controls of your new mobilesuits. By the time you get them, you'll know how they work better than the people who engineered them." He took a deep breath. "During that time, I am going to attempt to whip you into some sort of physical shape. You will also go over tactics. Leave the strategy to the brains. If you live long enough, maybe we'll teach you some of that too."
Alex finished her push-ups a good ten seconds faster than Spike. She stood back up and put herself at attention. It sounded like this sergeant was going to be a serious hard ass.
"All right. Follow me and I'll show you the simulators. By the time I'm finished with you, you will hate them."
-
Two months later, the 102nd Tactical Unit had decided that they did, indeed, hate the simulators. They had been configured as the new RGM-79G. This was suit specifically designed for ground combat and economy. They'd managed to 'find' the simulator files for the "Gundam" and decided that quality really did make a difference.
"Hey, Spike? Do you really think these things will function as promised?" Alex asked. She had cut her hair as short as any of the male pilots.
Spike shrugged. "We'll see. They're shipping in the first units today."
"Really?" She jumped up and looked out the window. "Would that be them?"
The rest of the 102nd joined her at the small window. In the air where the medium transports that the Federation used. The pair of vehicles landed carefully in the newly cleared area in front of the reinforced hanger that had been constructed during their training.
"All right! Pierce, Simpson and Montoya! Follow me." Sergeant Huros shouted as he opened the door. The rumbling roar of mighty jets filled the building. The three highest rated trainees followed the gruff man out to the landing field.
They shaded their eyes. Even with the light cloud cover, it was still quite bright. The Rocky Mountains to the west added a breathtaking vista that they had all learned to ignore.
Their engines immediately started to whine down moments after they landed. Large cargo doors opened and you could see large flatbed trailers that carried the tarp covered forms of the 102's new GMs.
-
"Captain." The deck crew of the Zeon cruiser bustled about their business as the lieutenant saluted the man in the control seat.
"Carl. Are the Zaku ready for deployment?" Captain Titus asked.
"Yes, sir. They should reach the engagement zone in half an hour. I still don't like this, Captain Titus. If they have functional mobile suits, we could be putting them into a very serious firefight." Lieutenant Lueng frowned deeply as he talked.
"They'll be fine, Carl. All the Intel that we have says they are receiving three units today. And these units are being delivered to a small airbase and their trainees that haven't even used a mobilesuit." Titus smiled coldly. That new mobilesuit was causing a terrible ruckus to space command. He wasn't going to see that happen with his men. "Besides, we should outnumber them by one mobilesuit."
"Yes, sir." He turned towards the communications officer. "Operation: Ground Snake is a go."
"Initiate M-Particle saturation. Gunnery, as we come over the rise, take out those communication grids in Colorado Springs. Let's not give this base any warning." The captain watched as his bridge crew began to work in a hurried manner.
As the large aerial cruiser came over the hills to the south, particle beam cannons struck the local communications centers in twelve separate areas of town. The two Gows opened their forward bay doors and dropped a pair of Zaku each.
-
Alex suddenly looked up. "Mynovski particles?" she said in consternation.
"What did you say?" Huros said loudly. He said everything loudly.
"Somebody is dumping a lot of M-particles into the area, sir!" She started to look around nervously. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Sergeant Huros didn't bother to reply as he ran into the crew area of the cargo transport they were in. "Radio the tower and see if something is going on."
Alex had already climbed up and onto the top of the GM. A boot knife cut the sturdy tarp, revealing the closed hatch. In just moments, she had slipped in and shut the hatch. A sudden nervous fear damped her brow with sweat. She started the activation sequence as quickly as possible. Within seconds, the internal reactor was beginning to rev up.
Sergeant Huros slid down the railing from the upper cabin. "I want you three up and prepped to go in five minutes! We may be under attack!"
Spike Montoya and Tim Larson looked at each other in surprise. Spike yelled out, "Yes, sir! Pierce is already in one that's outside!"
Tim yelled as he ran for next mobilesuit. "I thought these things took ten minutes to go from a cold start?"
Alex's GM suddenly belched coolant and made a roaring sound as it sat up.
"How the hell did she do that?" Spike yelled. That had to have been two minutes, tops!
"Don't you mind! Get yer ass in the next GM before I shove my boot up you butt!" Huros yelled as he ran to the GM that was half in and out of the Medea transport.
Alex grunted as the mobilesuit jerked a bit to its feet. "Damn things jerks more than the simulator." With seemingly well practiced movements, she knelt the GM nest to flatbed truck carrying the weapon components. She grabbed the beam spray gun and swore as the computer asked to calibrate the new weapon. "You piece of crap! I don't have time for this." With her left hand of the GM, she loaded its single beam saber into its shoulder holster.
With another rumble, she stood up the GM and turned it towards the south. Getting a mobilesuit to actually run usually took a week of training. Trainers referred to that week as the "falls week" because it typically took days for the new pilot to get their feet under them. Uncannily, Alex only stumbled once before she got the hang of it.
Several soldiers looked up in surprise as the GM tromped on by. Once she reached the end of the row, she triggered her thrusters and leapt over the intervening four story command center. Moments later, sirens began to wail.
The colonel that she had just startled swore up a storm. "Who's in that mobilesuit? What is going on?" he yelled as he ran into the command central hub.
A young woman turned to him. "I don't know. I'm not getting a response!"
"It must be a spy! Tell Huros to get the other mobilesuits after it!" he roared. He spun to a group of soldiers who were checking a communications panel. "What are you doing?" Colonel Simpson yelled out.
"We're trying to find out why our optical data lines aren't responding. According to the self-test, the cable's been cut ten miles away."
"Ten miles? That's Colorado Springs!" the colonel grabbed the large binoculars and turned towards the south. "Oh my god. Sound incoming air raid! We've got enemy mobilesuits only minutes away!"
"We're being jammed! M-particles at high saturation levels!"
-
Mantar was a fairly typical Zeon mobilesuit pilot. Not too smart and fairly quick. He'd seen enough combat to know how to react quick enough to keep himself alive. When the Federation GM suit rocketed over the small hill in between him and the enemy base he adroitly sidestepped a shot that looked like it could have hit him.
"Damn pilot must be stupid or something, men! Those plasma beams don't have the range of our machine guns! Why don't we show our appreciation to our enemy and kill him mercifully!" Mantar shouted excitedly.
The other three pilots acknowledged the orders, opening up with their machine guns, except for the one with a rocket bazooka. He was almost in position to take out the enemy command center. As his fellow pilots fired, he fired off a shot at the building. The laser-lock failed and the shot missed by fifty feet, disappearing over the hill. He grunted in vexation. "Damn! Missed!"
"How the hell can that thing move like that?" Mantar yelled, starting to get angry. This was no trainee. This was a pro, no doubt! The strange mobilesuit in front of him ran and rocketed around like a maniac was in control. Only a few of the bullets even hit and at that distance had lost an appreciable amount of their velocity.
"Don't worry, sir! I've got it!" the pilot of the Zaku with the rocket bazooka shouted. He had the navy-blue and white suit bracketed and immediately fired!
Alex yelled as she suddenly urged her GM to leap into the air, spinning to fire wildly at the incoming missile. Her second shot managed to hit the missile, explosively.
Mantar stared in shock. "Newtype!" He was so startled that he didn't even notice when a new GM tromped over the same rise and fired a rocket bazooka. He only had a moment to scream out orders before his squad mate exploded. "Damn!"
Up in the control room of the Gow cruiser, Captain Titus frowned. The Federation's response had been far quicker than he had expected. It now seemed obvious that they had also sent in a trained pilot, probably to teach the recruits how to use it. "Communications, laser-com the Zaku with 'Tango-Tango' and prepared to pick up the survivors!"
"Yes, sir!"
Moments later, the Zaku started to retreat in great leaps and bounds. Alex started to follow when Lieutenant Huros laser-commed her. "I think they've had enough, private. Return to base."
"But-"
"That's an order!"
"Yes, sir!" Alex slammed her fist against a panel. She was consumed with an anger that almost mastered her.
-
Captain Athena Wills walked along the corridor at a clipped pace. She rapped on a door with no identifying marks. She waited a second and then entered when she heard someone allowing her admittance.
"Captain Wills reporting as ordered," she said tersely.
Colonel Matthew nodded. "Please, sit down."
"I take it we've had another pilot show amazing aptitude?" Athena asked as she doffed her Federation's officer cap.
"Yes. One of the most damndest things. A recruit with that level of skill is just unheard of. Except for Amuro Ray, of course."
"Yes, sir. But that's why we've kept an eye out. With this disturbing intelligence coming from Space Command about Zeon Newtypes, we have to investigate this ourselves. We can't let luck just deliver us an important asset like this." Athena almost vibrated with her intensity of belief.
"Yes, yes. I understand." Colonel Matthews stood up and walked over to stare out his window. "We're gearing up for our offensive in Europe. This girl was slated to be shipped to the front in a GM. We're going to be transferring you to her tactical unit as their new Commanding Officer."
"Yes, sir. If you don't mind me saying so, leaving her in a GM is a waste of her talents," the woman interjected.
"I don't know if we'll be able to swing you a Gundam. They are in chronically short supply. And expensive to boot!"
"The Pegasus has already proven the worth of an elite unit, sir. I'm not asking for this lightly. You know that, sir!"
Matthews sighed. "I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you, sir. I won't disappoint you."
-
Tim skidded into the bunk room of the 102nd's room. "Hey guys! Did you hear?"
Alex looked up from her bunk where she was reading a spec manual on the mobilesuits. "What?"
"Something about that sneak attack that the Zeeks did caught someone's attention! They're giving us a new CO."
Spike pulled the girlie magazine that he'd laid over his face off and almost glared at the smaller man. "What of it?" That had been four days ago. Huros and Alex had already received medals of valor for successfully repulsing the assault.
"I just heard through the rumor mill that she's a captain!" Timothy almost bubbled with enthusiasm.
"That doesn't make sense. That's at least two grades higher than a tactical unit usually gets," Spike argued.
"That's right. But this unit is no longer... usual." The uniformed figure framed the doorway. She stood only up to five feet four inches, but seemed to radiate a sense of command that was undeniable. A little bit of blonde hair peeked underneath her cap, which shadowed her deep, midnight blue eyes. "Form up!"
Tim goggled for just a second and was just a little slow to react. The six soldiers of the 102 lined up and snapped sharp salutes.
Captain Athena Wills looked over the group carefully. She looked over her shoulder towards the door that opened. "Sergeant Huros. Please fall in."
He snapped a salute as he took his place at the closest end to her.
Captain Wills then saluted. "At ease." She stared at them levelly for a few seconds. "I am Captain Wills. As Private Larson mentioned so loudly, I am a few ranks too high to be in charge of a 'mere' tactical squad. There are some very good reasons. You are not cleared for that information. It is on a need to know basis."
The tactical squad murmured in surprise.
"At least not yet. The parameter of this unit has undergone a change. You will still be shipping out for Europe in a week, not next month."
"What? Excuse me, Captain. This unit is not fit for front line duty!" Huros interjected forcibly.
"I understand your feelings in this matter. We will ship out in one week nonetheless. We will also be receiving the last of your mobilesuit units today."
Spike whistled softly. Somebody was pushing really hard on their unit all of a sudden.
A rumbling sound started to fill the room.
Athena checked her military watch. "Exactly on time. Follow me." She turned and walked back out the door, quickly followed by the entire group.
Alex and the others shaded her eyes. She squinted slightly as she saw the four Medea Transports landing in front of the new Mobilesuit Bunker.
"Baker and Thomas! Unload Medea 52. Larson and Montoya, you have Medea 16. Huros and Long, you have Medea 99. Pierce and I will unload Medea 9," Athena barked out as sharply as Huros ever had.
The soldiers blinked in surprise. They had been surprised by her willingness to jump in. Most Captains wouldn't be bothered to get their hands dirty. They got over it in short order.
Athena snapped a salute to the flight technicians as the opened the bay doors on Medea 9. "Lieutenant Miller! Good to see you, sir."
"Captain Wills! Your baby is ready and raring to go," the officer said as he shook Athena's hand.
"Were you able to get the spare beam rifle?" she asked.
"I don't know how you managed that, but yeah, we got 'er." Miller just scratched his head in consternation.
"Um, Captain Wills?" Alex asked tentatively. "Our GMs don't have the power plants to fully power a beam rifle!"
"That is correct, Private. This is not a GM, however."
Alex turned her head suddenly. "A Gundam?" She whistled in appreciation and hopped up onto its flatbed.
"Your Gundam."
Alex spun around in surprise, tripping on the edge and falling on her butt. "My Gundam?"
"Colonel Matthews and I believe you are the type of pilot that the Gundam was designed for. Leaving you in a GM would just waste your abilities."
Alex just sat there stunned. What was this all about?
Athena tipped the brim of her hat back. "After we get these mobilesuits settled in and get the technicians activating them, I'll brief you on your mission. We will also be having a very long talk about yourself."
-
Alex sat on her bunk, trying to read a magazine about fashion and style. If she'd been asked about what she was reading, she would have had to look to figure it out.
"Private Pierce! You're next!" Captain Wills called out from her office door.
Spike just walked past her, shuddering theatrically. "I think she's from Intel. Maybe they figure there's a spy on base," he whispered to her as they passed in the hall."
Alex looked surprised. She schooled her face into a mask of calmness as she walked in. She saluted and then sat when directed. She was surprised when the captain stood up and started attaching a few discreet devices to the door, walls, floors and on the window.
"That should be adequate. We're going to be working closely together, so please call me Athena. If you have any questions, please go ahead and ask," she said as she sat down at her desk.
"Er, Athena, why did you just do that?" Alex asked as she waved across the room.
"What I am about to tell you is classified." Athena tossed her a folder. "Here are your orders. Read through them and hand the folder back. I'll go over the basics as you read."
"Yes, sir!"
"Please, just Athena. As for what is going on, you have been assigned to a top security unit consisting only of Newtypes."
"Newtypes? Isn't that something from the Zeeks propaganda?" Alex started reading. She was being promoted to sergeant? "I'm sorry, but I'm not really that familiar with it."
"The Newtype phenomena has only been verified as a reality in the last year. The Zeon are working as quickly as they can to exploit their Newtypes. We have only verified two Newtypes that are capable of piloting mobilesuits. Amuro Ray is assigned to the Space Command at this point. You are the other one."
"Me?"
Athena nodded. "You. You exhibited an uncanny prescience during your first battle, knowing of the attack before the enemy was even spotted. Lieutenant Huros reported that you stated you 'felt' M-particles being seeded in the area. That was what really triggered my curiosity. The human body is incapable of detecting Mynovski particles."
Alex looked confused, but didn't want to sound stupid. At Athena's reassuring nod, she finally asked, "What is a Newtype?" She'd always been able to feel that strange awareness of M-particles. What was so strange about that? Her mother had been able to do so too.
"A Newtype is supposed to be some sort of evolutionary advancement due to humanities' expanding into outer space. According to Zeon doctrine, it will herald a new age. The Zeeks used this pretext to launch their aggressive war, killing millions," Athena said tightly. You could not miss the tension that lay under those words. It was a very rare person that had not lost someone important to them.
"But I've never been into space. I was born here in the North America Quadrant," Alex explained.
Athena blinked in surprise. "It doesn't necessarily have had to be you. It could have been one of your parents or grandparents."
"I don't think they have either. I'm sure my mother would have mentioned it, at least. Besides, we are from a really poor, farming family."
Athena pursed her lips. "That is... interesting."
"I thought everyone could feel M-particles? My mother and I always felt when they were doing that testing up near Black Hawk," the young woman explained as best as possible, her confusion quite evident.
"Black Hawk. That's where they did the testing on new fusion reactors. A lot of sub-atomic particle research was used in that," the captain mused. "If you don't mind, I'm going to do some checking. A Newtype that was born on Earth, with no contact to the mutating effects of space travel. It's quite interesting." Considering, hadn't she just heard of a plan to get one of the Zeon Newtypes to come to Earth to see if it affected her abilities?
"If you say so."
"You said your mother could feel it too?" Midnight blue eyes watched Alex closely.
"Uh, yeah. She said it affected her, um, sight."
Athena looked confused. "Sight? That's something I've never heard of before."
"Not her eyes, her... sixthsense," Alex finished quickly in a mumble. She stared at the ground uncomfortably.
"Sixth sense? She claimed to be a psychic?"
"She always was a little weird, if you know what I mean."
"Thank you for your candor. I do appreciate it, Alex. I think that's enough for now." Athena stood up and handed Alex her new pips. "Congratulations, by the way. That was a superb job you did there."
"Thank you." Alex was a little wild-eyed at this point. She really wanted something to distract her at this point.
-
Mantar grit his teeth as he prepared to launch using the new Rik Dom he'd been assigned to. He could hear the engines of the Gow rumbling through everything. This was going to be a fairly major operation. Some big-wigs wanted to blunt the looming Federation offensive that seemed to be in the making. Mantar and his men were going to overwhelm the same base they had hit just a few days ago.
Up on the bridge of the Gow, Captain Titus looked over to Lieutenant Lueng. "Carl, I just got some last minute satellite Intel. It appears that they just had a flight of Medea Transports that showed up out of the blue this morning."
Carl pursed his lips. "It shouldn't make a difference. We have ten mobile suits, half of which are the new Rik Doms. They are supposed to be more than a match even for that 'Gundam' that we've been hearing about."
"Inform Mantar that there may be stiffer resistance than expected," Titus commanded. He swiveled his chair back to the front. "Commence operation."
The four Gows and their fighter escorts turned ponderously and accelerated to attack velocity. As the battle group topped over the hills to the south of Colorado Springs again, they leveled communication emplacements and a few antiaircraft vehicles. The Rik Doms and Zaku IIs spread out in a battle line as they tromped over the rolling hills towards the base just over the hill again.
Sergeant Huros yelled out over the laser-com, "Let's do this! All units, open fire!"
From four emplacement pits, three GMs and one Gundam fired a salvo of rocket bazookas and one beam rifle, catching the attacking units in a vicious crossfire! As far as the Zeon soldiers could tell, the empty woods and hills started laying down a heavy fire.
Alex grinned in her new Gundam, which was hidden underneath its own camouflage. "I guess training to set up an ambush on an attack squadron wasn't such a bad idea after all!"
Mantar screamed out, "Take out those snipers! Move it or lose it!" His own Rik Dom started to jink and dodge erratically as it positioned for an attack on the beam weapon emplacement. He lined up his shot and fired, when the target erupted into flame!
The Gundam's camouflage burned off as it landed, just as it was supposed to do. Alex charged towards the surprised mobilesuits. Two more shots took out the flatfooted Zakus, while a third only winged the second Rik Dom.
Captain Titus gripped the arms of his chairs. "We've lost how many mobile suits?"
"Four, sir! The Feddies had laid down some sort of ambush! Bastards!" the communications officer called out.
"We're taking fire from nine o'clock high!" one of the pilots yelled out as he felt the ship shudder under him.
Federation high speed attack fighters swooped over the confining mountains at nearly full speed, slowing down as quickly as they could to unleash blistering particle beam blasts as they chopped through the Zeon fighter formation and hit the west most Gow. That giant air wing shuddered for just a second and then exploded.
Athena smiled grimly as she walked her GM forward, leading the last three GMs over the ridge to attack the Zeon mobilesuits head on. The colonel in charge of the base had stationed marines several dozen miles out with laser-com equipment. He'd run them ragged with the extra patrols, but it had just paid off handsomely.
The new GMs unloaded on the Zeon mobilesuits, catching them in the flank again. Two more mobilesuits were knocked out of commission with their first shot. "Let's rip into them, men!" she yelled out.
Mantar swore as even more Federation mobilesuits entered the battle. He saw one of them make a mistake no trained soldier who'd been on a battlefield do. "Looks like most of them are pretty raw! Use that against them, men!"
The Rik Doms were very maneuverable, able to zip around like hovercraft. They started using their advantage to take increasingly accurate shots at the slower responding GMs. Two GMs exploded before their pilots even realized they were being attacked.
The Zaku IIs were nowhere near as effective, but were able to hold their own. Most of the Zeon pilots were keeping an eye out for that overly fast Gundam. By doing that, they had managed to avoid getting shot with its beam rifle so far.
"That's enough of that!" Alex yelled out. She rocketed the Gundam forward at two Zaku that had bunched a bit to cover each other. Their machine guns bounced ineffectively off of her angled shield, even as the Gundam whipped out its beam saber. With blinding speed, it cut both of the Zaku in half with one swing.
Before she even landed, Alex spun her Gundam to slash into her blind spot and landed heavily. Her beam saber sliced through the legs of a Rik Dom that had attempted to blindside her.
Mantar goggled. That must be the Newtype! That had to have been in its blind spot! If he'd been a bit closer, he would have tried that too! He toggled a switch to try and contact the Gows. "We're getting chewed down here! They've got one of those Gundams that we've heard about! The pilot has to be a Newtype!"
Lieutenant Lueng looked over at Captain Titus. "We've lost six mobilesuits so far. We've only taken out three of the enemy suits. It doesn't look like the mobilesuits will be able to take the base at this point."
"We're going to switch to a bombing run. We'll blow up the base and retreat. All Gows and escort fighters, prepare to switch headings on my mark. We're going to about ascend to seven thousand feet and unload on that base. Carl, have the mobilesuits retreat." Captain Titus chewed his lip for a second. It was time to be decisive. That was the only way to win this minor battle.
"They're retreating! Keep up the pressure! At this rate, we'll have destroyed all of them," Huros yelled excitedly.
"Sergeant! I think... the Gows are going to attack the base!" Alex spun her Gundam around and rocketed towards the west.
"Get back here! You're leaving us exposed here!" Huros yelled loudly. His battered GM fired another two shots in quick succession at the retreating Rik Doms.
"Belay that order! Sergeant Pierce, you are freed to act independently under my authority," Captain Wills snapped across laser-com.
"Captain? We don't have time for some crazed-"
"Sergeant Huros, shut up. That's a direct order. Do you understand?" Athena said, cutting off her second in command.
The surviving GM pilots were all surprised. Something really unusual was going on here.
"Aye, aye, Captain!" Huros spat out. "Montoya! Snap it up there and try to flank them."
Alex barely even heard the commotion that her abrupt departure had caused. Her Gundam was leaping up the side of mountain as agilely as a goat. A driving need pushed her ever onward and up. At the top of the mountain ridge, she just held in the throttle of her Gundam's thrusters, launching it into the air right in front of a Gow carrier.
"Coming up to attack speed, Captain!" the pilot of the Gow Cleo called over his shoulder.
"All ships are in formation. Dopp fighters are prepared to strafe the base on our orders, targeting anti-aircraft batteries!" Lieutenant Lueng called out from his console.
"Very well." Captain Titus nodded in approval.
"Captain! Something just happened to the Memnes! It's listing and on fire, no response from the pilot."
"How the hell did that mobilesuit end up on top of the Memnes?" Carl Lueng shouted as he spotted the Gundam on top of that Gow.
"That pilots going to try and blast us all by himself? Orders to the fighter escort! Have them ready to sweep across the top of the Cleo and brush this insect off of our back!" the captain thundered.
"What about the Diana?" the com officer yelled.
"It's too late for them."
The Gundam ran across the wings of the doomed Gow carrier Memnes. In front of it lay another Gow. The crew of the Diana barely had time realize they were under attack by a deadly foe when the Gundam landed on top of it.
"It's on top of us!" the pilot of the Diana screamed. He could feel the Gow shudder as the mobilesuit moved overhead. The blinding light of a beam cannon covered his momentary scream of terror before he and the crew were vaporized.
Alex turned her Gundam away from the belching hole she had just blasted through the bridge of the Gow. She started to run towards the last Gow in the row when she almost physically felt the readied attack against her if she leaped towards the last Gow. With a screech of metal on metal, she skidded the Gundam to a halt on the very tip of the wing of the giant air-wing.
"What the fuck was that?" Alex said to herself. The Gow was turning away from her, getting away. With a snarl, she snapped of shot after shot at the Gow's engines. Her gun cycled only three shots before failing to fire. "Now what?"
"That pilot must have the devil's own luck!" Titus looked over his tactical display. "Order a full retreat. We're going to attempt to pick up any surviving mobile suit units."
"We're losing engine thrust on engine one! That pilot must have shot it out!" the Gow's pilot yelled out.
"Damn the Feddies! Have the Dopp fighters make their own attack run on that base and then regroup to a defensive screen around us! Detail a wing to blow that Gundam off of the Diana!" Lieutenant Lueng shouted.
Dopp fighters screamed off at full power to follow their orders. They really didn't have the firepower to truly inflict telling damage on a modern air base, but they were going to try! The four Dopps that were ordered to attack the strange mobile suit almost snarled in unison as the looped under the Cleo and spat machinegun fire at the brightly colored figure that stood on the Athena's burning deck.
"Damndamndamndamn and double damn!" Alex yelled as her Gundam lurched. The Gow was starting to drift towards the ground thousands of feet below them. Machinegun spattered off of the Gundam's armor. Far faster than anyone should have been able to, vulcan gunfire raked out at the fighters, destroying two of them outright.
The two remaining fighters looped out and around. The lead pilot informed his wingman, "It looks like our friend down there ran his beam rifle dry. Stay out of the effective range of those head cannons and we'll chop him up!"
"Yes SIR!" the wing man shouted almost gleefully. He locked on missiles to the Gundam and fired, growling in anger as the Gundam fired its head cannons and took them out. That pilot must have the devil's own luck!
Warning lights started to blink frantically while alarms started their raucous warbling. "I know we're falling from over three thousand feet, you dumb computer!" Alex shouted, panic starting to creep into her voice. She was going to die! There didn't seem to be anything that she could do. She was even willing to trust that stupid sixth-sense-mumbo-jumbo that her mother had always talked about. "Oh, hell! Why not?"
With that, she just followed her instincts, running back up towards the center and back of the top of the doomed Gow known as Athena. The Dopp fighters still tried to gun her down, but seem confused about what she was trying to do. The Athena was only moments away from impacting into a hill almost head on!
"Got it! This is so crazy it might even work!" she crowed to herself.
Spike just watched from almost two miles away from the crashing Gow. "Did you see that, Captain? I can't believe it!"
"Now all she has to do is survive her heroics!" Captain Wills called out, only taking a moment off of watching the surviving Rik Doms retreating further and faster than her crew could follow.
Alex took in a deep breath and then yelled out, "YAHOO!" as the Athena plowed into hill. It crumpled majestically even as secondary explosions started to rip through it. At what seemed like the very last moment, Alex slammed the throttle arms all the way forward. She knew that the Gundam didn't have the thrust to slow her down enough to survive impact.
But it did have enough thrust to push her over the top of the hill. Guided more by luck than training she tried to frantically keep her feet underneath her as the Gundam skidded gigantic furrows down the hill. Trees and smaller boulders just shattered as they got in her way, until the Gundam finally stopped. Over stressed actuators whined in complaint and the Gundam could barely stand, but Alex only had bruises to show for her amazing brush with death.
"Impossible!" Sergeant Major Huros shouted. No mobilesuit could have done that. None!
"Way to go!" Tim shouted.
And Captain Wills just smiled to herself. Even better than she had hoped.
-
In the Mobilesuit hangar, Huros threw his helmet at the ground right in front of Alex. "Alright, Pierce! I don't know what you were thinking, but that sort of gung-ho heroics is shit! Not only could you have gotten yourself killed, you could have-"
"Sergeant Major Huros. What do you think you are doing?" Captain Wills demanded imperiously as she walked up.
"Captain?" the befuddled Sergeant asked.
"I will talk to you privately, later." The blond haired captain turned to her command. "Congratulations on your victory. Go take a shower and get some rest. Dismissed."
She waited for everyone but Huros to leave.
"Excuse my candor, Captain! What the fuck do you think you are doing undermining my authority?"
"Your authority? Sergeant, this is my tactical unit now. Sergeant Pierce is to be trusted implicitly when it comes to her hunches! And I gave her my direct order to continue," Athena snarled right back at the huge man.
"What the hell sort of crap is that, Sir?"
"That is classified!"
"I think I have a need to know here, dammit!"
Athena was almost shaking in her fury. Mastering herself finally. "This under the strict guidelines of Top Secret clearances. Do you understand?" At his nod and sudden understanding of the seriousness of the nature of what she was about to relate, she continued. "Sergeant Alex Pierce has been identified as a strong New Type. Her New Type abilities are to be fostered and trained as best as possible, as they may be a vital strategic ability to the Federation. There is no one, repeat, no one within this tactical squadron that is more important to get home alive than Pierce."
Huros just blinked, then got even more furious. "She's a snot nosed brat-"
"Are you understanding anything that I just told you, Sergeant?"
His face started turning beat red. "I am not going to let some mumbo-jumbo punk-assed kid with delusions of grandeur think that she can-"
Click. Captain Wills had her sidearm pointed at his chest. "Sergeant Huros, you may consider yourself under arrest for disobeying orders and possible charges of treason-"
Huros just leaped forward in a murderous fury, with the full intention of taking the sidearm away. This little, no good little bitch was just irritating the hell out of him and needed to learn a lesson.
The thundering gunshot echoed in the hanger as the two bodies collided.
-
"Attention!" barked out an unfamiliar voice in the barracks. "Fall in!" the tall, imposing man in the uniform of a colonial yelled out.
The 102 fell into line with amazing alacrity, in various states of dress. Alex prayed that her towel would stay in place, as she had just exited the shower.
"Sergeant Pierce? Front and center!" Colonial Simpson shouted out.
"Sir! Yes, Sir!" she snapped out while saluting. She started praying harder.
"Assemble your men in two hours for an emergency deployment. Meet me in ten minutes for instructions regarding the change of command with your tactical squad. Dismissed!" With that, Simpson turned on his heels and moved out of the barracks at a fast walk.
"What the hell was that all about, Alex?" Tim asked.
"Yeah!" Spike chimed in.
"Not a damn idea, guys." Alex started to throw clothes on as quickly as possible. Nudity taboos had lasted a total of two days before the extra pushups that she'd had to endure had killed that idea.
"Well, good luck! Colonial Simpson is supposed to be harder than Huros!" Tim said glibly.
Alex smoothed her hair back and stuffed it under he cap. "Well, you heard him. Spike, I want you and Tim to get the rest of these guys ready and check with the repair teams for the Mobilesuits. I want a full list of functionals and what it'll take to be ready in fifty-five minutes."
"Ah, man!"
The sergeant didn't even bother to find out who made the comment as she stepped out of their barracks. She started to trot towards the command center. She backtracked a moment later and then hopped into the squads assigned ride. Within moments, she was driving at almost reckless speeds towards the main command center.
After some quick directions to the CO's office from a sentry that challenged her, she managed to find it within a short time, only showing up a minute late.
She rapped on the door. "Colonial Simpson?"
"Come in. I'm impressed. I wasn't expecting you for another five minutes."
"Sorry, sir! I'm not familiar with the layout of this building!"
Simpson narrowed his eyes. "No reason you should have been. Due to an incident with Captain Wills and Sergeant Major Huros, you are in command of the 102nd tactical squad effective immediately."
Alex looked down for a second. "May I inquire as to what happened, Sir?"
"Not at this time. There is most likely going to be a trial. You will be needed as a witness, so don't go and get yourself killed." The colonial stood up and spread out a map. "This will be throwing you to the wolves, but Jaburo wants that last Gow finished off. It appears to have gone to ground near Denver, which is held by the Zeon, of course."
"Yes, sir. What are our orders?"
Simpson narrowed his eyes at her. "You are to get your troops to the suspected landing zone of that Gow and exterminate them with extreme prejudice. Your actions may determine the direction of the inquiry into the incident between Huros and Wills. That is all." He spun back to his computer.
-
"Incident?" Tim asked.
"That what he said. I'm as much in the dark as you guys," Alex said. She shrugged theatrically. "How many mobilesuits are functional?"
"Four that pretty functional. Two more are fixable in two days. Captain Wills was almost as tough on her GM as you were on your Gundam," Spike replied.
"Looks like I'll be using Huro's GM. Have everything prepped for us to depart at 18:00 hours. We'll then have a briefing and then move out."
"Eighteen-? That isn't enough time to properly repair these guys!" Tim called out.
"Just get them fixed up as best as possible. These orders come from Jaburo!"
Just minutes later, the remnants of the 102 were gathered around a table that Alex had set up. Maps and papers were strewn around.
"You guys have done an amazing job! Thanks a lot for your hard work. Here we go." Alex took a quick breath. Her first command. Don't screw it up. "The enemy Gow that attempted to attack us earlier has holed up near Denver, at an old airbase. It's pretty lightly defended and Command has decided that they want that unit annihilated utterly." Alex took a swig from her water flask. "We've only got four effectives right now. Nick, Spike, Tim and myself will take the functioning GMs and do a two prong attack."
Tim looked over the area. "The terrain is easier to get through here, where the road is."
"That's correct, but they've got ack-acks and anti-armor weapons there too. On the other hand, it's a good distraction. This hill is impassible for anything except, of course, Mobilesuits. These guys seem to be old hands at this." Alex suddenly smiled a nasty little grin. "They probably don't think much of us yet. We'll set up a diversion at the main gate to make us look inept. The real attack will be over that hill."
"Whoever is knocking on their front door is going to get beat down pretty hard," Spike noted.
Alex pursed her lips in thought. "I'll be the distraction. Spike, you're in charge of the actual assault on the hanger."
-
"Hey, Gunnie?" a Zeon private yelled out.
"What?" the gunnery sergeant yelled back.
"Something's tromping its way towards us, around the bend."
"Fall in! Looks like the Feddies are coming right down our guns! What a bunch of idiots!" he yelled back. In moments, all of the tanks and anti-armor emplacements rotated towards the road. "Come in, Echo-niner! Looks like we've got unfriendlies walking into our guns." He listened a second. "Yeah, I know. They must have taken the stupid-Feddies course of strategy."
A GM suddenly walked around the corner, its Spray Particle Gun (SBG) at the ready.
"Fire!" the sergeant yelled. Ha! He'd get to bag one of the new Feddie mobilesuits. Damned idiots didn't even know what to do with them-???
The man couldn't believe his own eyes as the suit suddenly rocketed sideways in an amazing dodge and then leaped into the air. The anti-aircraft guns just couldn't track something that big making such advanced maneuvers. Two tanks exploded from blistering return fire.
"It's some sort of Feddie Ace!" he screamed into his Com. "We need those new Mobile Suits out here to help us repulse the attack."
Mantar looked up from where his Rik Dom was getting some armor repaired in the spacious hangar that held the wounded Gow Memnes and its escorts. "What the? Shit! That New Type is here?"
Lieutenant Carl Lueng pulled himself out of the guts of the other surviving Rik Dom. "You heard the man, Mantar! Get in that Mobile Suit and drive off the enemy!"
"But Sir!"
"I know you'll be almost a sitting duck, but this bases' defenses can not stand up to a concerted attack from a MS Ace!" Carl Lueng stood up and saluted.
His mouth suddenly dry, Corporeal Mantar saluted back. "Yes, sir." In moments, he was in his rapidly activating mobile suit. He tromped out of hangar with the Memnes at his back. He was about to turn towards the main gate of the compound when he caught a glint at the top of the hill. "Ah, shit. It's a diversion!" he yelled into his commo.
The air bases commander in his bunker blinked at that. "What the hell are you talking about, pilot?" he called out suddenly into the headset he was wearing.
"They're flanking us!" Mantar yelled, almost in a panic.
"We've been spotted," Spike shouted. "Charge!" He pushed his GM into a loping gait and then leaped at the last moment. The enemy's fire scorched the paint on the bottom of his GM's feet.
Behind him, Nick had ducked behind him to shift his position. The wild shot hit a weakened section of the armor and started to spurt vapor. "I'm hit! I'm losing coolant! It isn't shutting down!" the panicked pilot screamed.
"Punch out, Nick! Damn it, punch out!" Tim yelled. That thing was going to blow! He pushed his own GM into a frantic run. He had only made it about fifty feet before Nick's GM exploded, pushing him forward even faster.
Back at the gates to the air base, Alex spun her GM sharply. "How did that happen? The plan is going to the crapper!" She suddenly charged the remaining anti-aircraft guns. The gunners panicked and ran, so she didn't even have to do anything except step on two of them in passing.
She crouched the GM and then leaped over the corner of the huge building. Right below her landing zone was a Rik Dom that was shooting at the remaining GMs.
Mantar suddenly felt a palpable anger emanating from above! He was so shocked at the feeling that he barely even noted that he just stood there as the GM activated its beam sword as it came down. At the last moment, he tried to move, but it was too late.
His Rik Dom's armor failed almost instantly. The beam sword slashed effortlessly through the pilots compartment and into the core. Alex rocket leaped again on pure instinct, just a bare moment before the mobilesuit exploded.
Technician's screamed two Federation Mobile Suits dashed through the door and into the armored hanger. Carl looked up from his repair work to see a nightmare entering. With brutal efficiency, they let loose with blistering fire into the damaged Memnes. "Captain Titus! Get out now!"
Whatever the captain's response, it wasn't fast enough. With a mighty boom, the Gow started to explode, killing all aboard. Carl just stared in shock. His friends were now gone.
With a cry of anger, he tried to ignore the tromping of mobilesuit and repair the final Rik Dom. He'd show those bastards.
"Step away from the Mobilesuit," a voice blared out from the GM that was standing.
Carl Lueng spun around, his fists tight in anger.
"I don't want to hurt you, but that Mobilesuit is coming with us," the pilot said.
The voice sound like a woman's voice, he thought to himself. He was too caught up in his anger to really notice anything beyond that about his enemy.
"Just back away. I really don't want to hurt you?" the voice said from the GM.
Another GM tromped up. "Ah, just kill him already! Damn Zeeks are all bastards anyways!" the male voice from it called out.
"I don't kill defenseless people. Even Zeon," she retorted. "I won't sink to their level."
Carl tried to climb into the cockpit of the mecha, but he was plucked from the gantry like he was a rat. He thought for sure that he was about to die. Not many pilots were good enough to not crush a human, he idly thought.
"There you go. Spike, pick up that mobilesuit and let's hoof it back to the base." The GM set the Zeon soldier down. With reasonable care he was placed next to some of the men from the base trying to put out the fire.
Carl just stared. He'd have some bruises from that. But he really wasn't hurt. All he could do was just stare as the three Feddie Mobilesuits left with the last Rik Dom. He was brought back to his senses as one of the firefighters screamed for help.
-
"I would like to say how proud I am. We have struck back against the Zeon fascists with their murderous tactics. No longer do they have the technical superiority to dominate the battlefield." Colonial Simpson looked over the parade ground and the four rows of soldiers. "Sergeant Pierce, step forward." He pinned a medal to her chest.
At his nod, she backed up into the ranks. He called up another fifteen people to receive a similar medal. Her stomach churned. The scuttlebutt had it that the 102nd was due to be dissolved and they were going to be transferred.
"I had to pull some strings to get those medals for you this quick. Once again, let me tell you how proud I am of you all." Simpson saluted them, to which they all responded. He nodded at Alex, Tim and Spike. "You three have probably heard, the 102nd has been dissolved. You are all transferring to the new 85th Tactical Squad."
"Yes, Sir!" they said.
"You've got someone's eye, Pierce. You're the new CO of that unit. Do me proud. You'll ship out to England at 2200 hours. That's all," he finished. He saluted one more time and then abruptly walked off with his second in command.
Spike just looked pleased as the cat that bagged the mouse. "England! I'd heard that the operation was going to be in Europe!"
Tim just nodded and fiddled with his sun glasses. "Congratulations, Alex. Looks like we didn't screw up enough to mess up your promotion!"
"You guys did the best you could. Nick just got hit with a lucky shot," Alex said as she grabbed them both by their shoulders and hung off between them. "Let's hit the bar."
"I thought we were on duty?" Spike asked, slightly startled.
Alex just winked. "I won't tell if you won't! Besides, we deserve a bit of celebration."
"You're on, Sarge!" Tim said enthusiastically.
Cast of characters:
Sergeant Alexis Pierce - main hero of the story.
Sergeant Major Huros - bigoted first C/O.
Captain Athena Wills - mysterious C/O, in charge of the New Type battalion on Earth for the Federation.
PFC Timothy Larson - survivor of the 102nd, transferred to the 85th.
PFC (now Corporeal) "Spike" Montoya - survivor of the 102nd, transferred to the 85th.
Lieutenant Carl Lueng - Zeon officer that survives attacking Colorado Springs.
Corporeal Mantar - Zeon MS Pilot, KIA in battle near Denver.
Colonial Simpson - in charge of Colorado Springs Air Base.
Captain Titus - Gow Captain that goes down with his command.
Colonel
Lieutenant-Colonel
Major
Captain
Lieutenant
2nd Lieutenant
Sergeant Major
Sergeant
Corporal
Lance Corporal
Private