Chapter 1: Opening Moves

0079.03.22

0436

European Continent:

352nd MS Team Temporary Field Headquarters, 12 Miles from Stuttgart

Odessa Ataka drew in a cold lung-full of the wintry German air. She smiled to herself, this sight never failed to take her breath away. She stared down at the city of Stuttgart through the binoculars. Odessa smiled to herself, the newly fallen snow hadn't even been disturbed yet. She looked at the built in clock in the binocular display, 0437, of course nothing was disturbed. The local population hadn't even awakened to see that it had snowed, for the moment it belonged to her alone.

"Lieutenant...," perhaps not her alone anymore, "Hey! Lieutenant Ataka! Ma'am you know you scheduled the briefing to begin at 0500." the voice of Sergeant Collins, her command and control armored car commander, echoed through the trees.

Odessa sighed to herself and lowered the binoculars, the city of Stuttgart transformed from the city buildings and streets in her binoculars to a glob of light in the darkness about 12 kilometers away. She turned to face the young man of only 20 who had invaded her early morning vigil. Sergeant Ben Collins stood only about 10 meters from her lookout position and looked positively miserable about being up so early and thrust into the cold none the less, and the white camouflage jacket, pants, facemask, and helmet with their mottled green spots were doing little to hide his mood. "Milo sent you didn't he?" she asked turning to walk back to the camp, trying to match her earlier footprints as closely as possible.

"Our intelligence spook?" Collins asked quietly, referring to the battalion intelligence officer, "Yeah that paper pusher is too good to come get you himself and I was the only one awake enough to come find you and find my way back." he added with a smile, falling in line behind Odessa.

"Great," she replied sarcastically, "So if I ever need someone to be half asleep and go find something for me I'll know who to ask."

"But, Lieutenant, that's what you have our whole armored car for. Remember we're now your link back to the world outside our sector?" Collins asked, referring to the upgrades performed on the unit's command and control armored car's communications equipement.

Odessa shook her head God help us all she thought, grinning to herself, but decided it best not to continue arguing with Collins. She trudged back through the snow towards her platoon's small encampment. Upon entering she stopped again to glance around at the operations going on. Her sudden stop caused Sergeant Collins to nearly plow over her as he continued forward with the only thought in his head being reaching the warm command post and maybe getting a few more minutes of sleep. She heard him mutter a half hearted "Sorry, Ma'am," but dismissed it with a wave of her own gloved hand, "I think I can find it from here, Sergeant," she said smiling, standing only 50 meters from their destination, "Go ahead and try to get what sleep you can. Briefing is in only 15," she added checking her watch.

Collins nodded enthusiastically and trudged off for the command tent, leaving Odessa to stare up at the second sight in the region that could fill her with awe. The 3 MS-06F Zaku IIs sat about 25 meters from the command tent but this was the only location from which she could look up a their full 17.5 Meter height without straining her neck. As she watched the two technicians who doubled as her communications crew in the armored car, Specialist Carrie Owens and Specialist 1st Class Darren Tanner, working over the joints of the 2nd Zaku, checking for any ice that may have formed overnight. She sighed and shook herself out of her trance, "Tanner, Owens, you have 10 minutes to finish that up then report for the briefing," she called up to the two who were crouched on the mobile platform by the left knee. Her orders were answered by a quick "Yes, Ma'am!" shouted in unison by the two who quickly went back to their work. Odessa smiled to herself, it looked like Tanner was trying to teach Owens some of the finer points about slacking off but still getting the job done.

Odessa looked down at her watch, 0457 well everyone but Corporal Harris was here, and he was starting up the armored car like he should, and it never hurt to start early, she thought to herself. She set the half-eaten MRE down on the table beside her leg and stood up. "Alright we're gonna get this show on the road," she said looking out at the small collection of pilots and technicians, "You all know we've been here for nearly 4 days now and high command has decided enough combat drops with the HLVs. They're tired of risking 'em and we don't have many more to lose and stay on schedule for the invasion, so our forces all over the world have been ordered to secure any space ports in their areas of operations with minimal damage. Our original plan called for us to take the city of Stuttgart and its garrison out first and then push south and take the Stuttgart Spaceport," she traced both locations and their intended route on the map with her fingers. "However, with the new orders from High Command we're switching the priority of our objectives. We need to secure a new axis of attack for our armored friends along the E41 Autobahn leading to the spaceport," she traced the line of road the armored division would be using to attack the spaceport. "We'll be responsible for securing the section of road passing through the forested region in the B16 sector while other units will take other locations along the road," she pressed her hand against the map in their sector. "Our Intel boys have been working overtime to find out what we're up against and for that little bit of important information I'll let Captain Milo take over," she said stepping to the side.

Captain Edward Milo stepped up to take her position in front of the map, he looked out of place in his immaculate green dress uniform compared to the collection of slightly rumpled winter BDUs present in the tent. Odessa shook her head looking at the man, Guy belongs behind a desk, she thought to herself, and if he didn't have information on what we're up against I wouldn't want him within five miles of my platoon. "Well I think Lieutenant Ataka covered most of the plan," Milo said with a smile, "We estimate you'll be up against no more than two or three armored platoons in the woods. Once you destroy them and the Magella units begin arriving you'll join them in the attack on the base. Where we estimate only two armored companies... at the most," he added on with a confident smile, "We've had nothing for reports of Federation Mobile Suits and we believe it safe to assume that at this stage of the war they do not have this technology. However," he added, suddenly becoming serious, "The EFF Type 61s are not to be taken lightly. They can present a threat if you get overconfident and careless. So be careful out there."

"Right," Odessa said standing back up at the front of the tent, the sputtering roar of the diesel engine outside told her that Harris had managed to start up the armored car, "This thing goes down at 0530. All pilots I want you by the suits at 0515 everyone else you know your duties, if you finish up early get some sleep or eat something. I want us going into this as fresh as possible. Zieg Zeon!" she finished up with a shout.

Captain Edward Milo turned to leave the tent, Hmm, she seems to be quiet loyal to the cause… the briefing fit perfectly with regulations. I'll keep that in mind if her name should cross my path again. This unit could be a good one to have my name associated with, Milo turned back to he assembled platoon, "To victory, life or death!" he snapped a salute to the assembled soldiers before walking out of the tent, confident he had their respect.

At the looks of outrage on some of the faces in the tent Odessa held up a hand to forestall any comment until she heard the engine of Milo's staff car start and the car start down the road. As soon as she dropped her hand Private Mark Dixon, one of the other pilots in the unit, burst out, "He has now right!" he shouted, which brought several nods of agreement around the tent, "He hasn't even been on the front! Never seen death… He has no right to say that to us!"

Odessa sighed and leaned back against the table and crossed her arms over her chest, "Neither have you, Mark," she reminded him. "Unless I'm mistaken I'm the only one here who has seen the Federation in battle," she referred to her experience in the battle of Ruum, "Unless one of you is some kind of black ops pilot attached to my platoon for 'intelligence' purposes?"

Mark blushed and looked down in embarrassment at her rebuke. "However," Odessa continued with a smile, "That's all about to change… so you have more right to your opinion than he does to say that. Alright everyone the orders stand now let's get to it," she said pushing off the table and began folding up the maps and plans and slipped them into the carrying cases.

Odessa looked down at her watch for only about the hundredth time in the hour and forty-five minutes she'd been awake. It was only 0513 but one of the other two pilots had already shown up. She stamped her feet in an attempt to stay warm and glanced over at Corporal Ami MacKenzie. The girl was 18, only about 3 years younger than her and had shown a large degree of competence in the simulators. But simulators were only simulators the real thing was about to happen, all Odessa could do was hope the girl retained the same abilities in real combat as she had shown in the simulators. She glanced over in the direction that Private Dixon's muffled footsteps were coming from. The young man, like Collins, was obviously a little angry at being up so early and freezing to go get shot at. But he was following orders thus far and she hoped he would continue to do so when the shooting started or there would be little hope for his continued survival in the war. Dixon had shown some potential in the simulators too but Odessa would have liked him to have had more time back in training, but such things couldn't be helped war put a damper on any such plans.

Alright you two," Odessa began when Dixon made it to where she and MacKenzie were standing, "The shooting is real this time so no mistakes. Make sure everything is working one hundred percent or it's your own butt on the line. Also I need you following orders to the letter got it? Its gonna be bad enough having to call back to the Gallop for the full picture all the time so I need you where I tell you to be when I tell you to be there. Alright, enough of the pep talk... you both heard the briefing this whole thing revolves around our Mobile Suits pulling this off so you both need to know that plan inside out. Any questions?"

Corporal MacKenzie raised her hand slowly, "Ma'am, I... uh I kinda forgot how the Feddies organize their armored units," she blushed at the fact that she had forgotten such an important piece of information, "Do you think you could go over that again?"

Odessa fought back a smile, this was both of their first times going into a battle such things were to be expected and because she had one more under her belt than they did it was her duty to reassure them. Which, she thought to herself, I had better do soon that girl looks like she's about to die from embarrassment. "Relax, Corporal, its not like school. You don't need to raise your hand there's only three of us here. As for Federation armored units, they base theirs on platoons of four rather than our flights of two. Four of their platoons make up a Company, in relation three of our flights make a platoon and four of our platoons make a company and its all the same from there on out." Ami nodded and after the explanation had calmed down a bit, though it still looked like she was trying her best not to cry from the overload preparing for the attack had on her senses. Odessa looked back to the main camp, the troops under Sergeant Collins had finally managed to drop the main tent and stow it on the back of the armored car and now they were trying to finish off their MREs before she gave the order to move out.

"Ma'am, exactly how long are we going to have to hold this stretch of road?" she heard Dixon ask quietly, he looked as bad as Ami but at least he was asking the right questions too.

Odessa glanced down at the kneeboard she had strapped around her left thigh, the board held her grease pencil notes from the briefing and anything else she found important to the mission. "Plan calls for us to take the region by 0630, so that gives us an hour to get there and play with the Fed Troops, and the first of our armored boys should show up around 0700 so only about thirty minutes." She watched both Mark and Ami write those times down on their own boards before looking down at her watch again. "Alright its 0523 now we have seven minutes before we have to move out. I want you to get in there and crank em up early and double check everything. Look these things are fresh off the assembly line so that means the bugs haven't been hammered out of em yet," she said jerking her thumb back at the trio of suits crouched behind her, "It also means they're going to be impossible to replace if you take a hit so keep 'em in one piece. Also they're rumored to be as good as a full two platoons of Fed Type 61s so try to get at least that many before they shoot you down OK?" she asked trying to lighten the mood, but from the looks on both MacKenzie and Dixon's faces it hadn't had the desired effect. "Alright," she said trying to recover from her earlier comment, "Get in there and get 'em running we haven't got that long before we need to move out and secure this road." The other two pilots nodded and saluted before running off for their own suits and Odessa turned to here own Zaku and smiled, this was the moment she enjoyed the most.

Odessa tapped in her access code on the computer control panel and was rewarded with a shudder that ran through the Zaku as the Minovsky Reactor sputtered to life. She smiled to herself as she ran through the normal startup procedures, it would be the third time she had piloted this suit into combat, the first at the Battle of Ruum when she flew near Lieutenant Commander Char Aznable, now famous as the famed "Red Comet". She had managed to actually keep pace with Commander Char, racking up an impressive kill of a Salamis class and two or three fighters to her credit which was easily overshadowed by his five ship kill and pushing his Zaku thirty percent past what it was thought it could do. For all her efforts she had allowed herself one indulgence, a small gray wolf's head painted on her Zaku's shield. The small insignia, and her desire to work alone, had earned her the nickname of the "Lone Wolf", but all that had changed now. Now she had herself a platoon to worry about, no more running off on her own. The loud ping of the main system starting up and the main view screens jumping to life shook her out of her review of the past and she began to get ready to go into combat. As the heaters in the cockpit kicked in she pulled off the white parka with the same mottled green spots as Sergeant Collins'. Odessa pushed the parka into the survival pack she would grab if by some miracle she survived being shot down, as chances were the reactor would explode from damage to its housing, and slipped the communications headset over the BDU hat she still wore after entering the cockpit. She reached down and pulled on the fingerless leather gloves and rolled up the sleeves of the BDU jacket, with the same camouflage pattern as the parkas, and checked to see that the camera eye would work without any problems. Satisfied that everything was in order thus far she pulled back on the control stick and with a slight groan of cold mechanical parts and a whump of falling snow jolted off the suit by its sudden movement her Zaku, with a larger version of the soldier's own camouflage, rose off the ground and stood like some sort of ancient titan over the German landscape.

Odessa opened the radio channel with the rest of her platoon, "Alright, pilots check in," she ordered looking over to the other Zakus, pushing themselves off the ground.

"Private Dixon here, Ma'am," she heard Mark reply a little nervously, "I'm showing all green. And I triple checked her so she should behave herself."

"Good, glad to hear that, Private. Corporal?" she asked focusing the camera on Ami's suit.

"I... I think I'm OK, Ma'am. Nothing is showing up wrong anyway..." Ami trailed off, Odessa could see her on the video monitor, mounted in everyone's suit for easy identification of who was speaking, glancing around nervously, still in her parka none the less.

Odessa smiled and put on her best "Its all gonna be fine" look, "Well if she hasn't acted up by now chances are you're all good, Corporal. Relax, it'll be just like the sims... and you might want to ditch the parka, if you need it in the cockpit you'll have more serious concerns than being cold," she added with a smile.

Odessa watched her fumble with the parka and shove it behind her seat with the rest of her survival gear before the signal terminated. She was about to ask Collins if he was ready but his gunner, Private Allison Dawes, hanging out of the turret glanced down, nodded, and flashed her a thumbs up. Odessa forced her suit to perform a crude imitation of Dawes' gesture and glanced at the clock built into her viewscreen and sighed, this was becoming a bad habit. 0526 and they were off to war.

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Master Sergeant Kurt Murray slowly pushed himself out of the gunner's hatch on the top of the Federation Type 61. "Aw crap," he muttered to himself, shaking the snow off his hands, "Its almost April there shouldn't be snow now..." he trailed off sliding off the top of the turret and landing roughly on top of a pile of empty 55 gallon fuel drums. Son of a... didn't I tell that moron Hansen to move these last night? All this just to go answer nature's call? he asked to himself, righting one of the drums he had knocked over. "Hansen, get out here!" he yelled to the young private that served as the tank's driver, it had been a rough night already trying to sleep in what Sergeant Murray thought was some engineer's attempt at a chair.

"Yes, Sir?" Private Jacob Hansen asked popping his head out the driver's hatch, "Oh hey it snowed last night... isn't it a little late for that, Sir?" he asked glancing around the forest.

"Yeah... didn't I tell you to move those stupid drums over there with the rest of em?" Murray asked jerking his thumb in the direction of the rest of the two platoon's pile of empty drums.

"Well yes, Sir, I meant to get to that but it was getting late and..." Hansen trailed off brushing the snow away from his set of viewing periscopes.

"I don't care what your excuse is you've had your break for the day!" Murray yelled at him, "Anderson already took your shift on watch last night 'cause we couldn't wake you up! So guess what? Those drums are yours... all yours understand?" he asked with a smile.

"But, Sir!" Hansen started to protest but stopped, knowing that he would end up doing the chore no matter what he said, "Yes, Sir," he sighed and pushed himself out of the hatch and slid off the tank's body to get to work.

Crap, 25 years in armor and I get stuck with this s*** two weeks before retirement he complained to himself And if that wasn't bad enough now those Zeek b******* are acting up. Why now? He smiled watching Hansen fumble with the first drum, trying to drag it over to the area designated for disposal. As Murray turned to go on with his routine the voice of the Lieutenant left in charge of the two platoons interrupted him, "Sergeant! I need to see you a minute." Aw man, why now of all times? he thought to himself, resisting the urge to burst out but rather turned to meet the young officer. "Sergeant, I've been looking at the maps overnight and I think our current position isn't the best we could have chosen," the 26 year old officer explained. Moron, didn't I tell you that 2 days ago when you repositioned us when the Captain left? Murray asked himself again. "At 0615 we'll be moving back across the Autobahn to our original positions inside the tree line on the southern flank of the road. Your platoon will go first, with mine covering, and then we'll go next with you covering us, Understood?" the Lieutenant asked him, almost daring him to defy his orders. Typical officer Murray thought to himself with the usual view the enlisted soldiers took of their officers Too scared to go get his own brass butt shot at so send the cannon fodder first he could think of a few other things he'd like to say but instead just nodded, there was no way he'd let this fool kill him 2 weeks before he was able to finally settle down.

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Odessa chewed nervously on her lower lip, it was almost 0612 and they still hadn't managed to find the enemy tanks that were supposed to be in their area. "Collins, call up the Ark-Royal again, ask if they have anything on any of their sensors," she called the commander of her armored car.

Collins sighed, this was about the 6th time since they'd arrived on this stinking hill. "Yes, Ma'am," and answered and then triggered the intercom for the vehicle, "Alright, Tanner, you heard the lady give Ark-Royal a buzz and find out what ghosts they have for us to chase this time." Collins rubbed his eyes before looking back out the commander's set of periscopes mounted on the armored car, wishing for the thousandth time that the high command had installed a thermal sensor on their car like the Magellas had but this was only an APC, meant to be used and expended radios or not.

In what would have been the troop carrying compartment if the vehicle had still been in service for its original purpose Specialist 1st Class Tanner readjusted the microphone on his head set and clicked the transmit button on the control panel, "Ark-Royal this is the "Steel Wolves"," he said, using the unit's unofficial name, "We need to know if you have any suspicious contacts in our area showing on any of your sensors."

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Specialist Jarrod Carroll sat in front of his sensor monitor in the Combat Command Center, the 3C for short, aboard the Gallop class Ark-Royal. He glared at the radio that had dared jump to life again S***, not those guys from the 352nd again he cursed to himself I still gotta get these Magella dumbs**** back on course I don't have time to screw around with them he complained, wishing they could understand his situation. He glanced at the sector those MS jocks had been assigned and seeing nothing keyed his own radio, "352 this is Ark-Royal, nothing is showing at all. Same as last time you asked, you're gonna have to find em on your own." he snapped, reopening the line to the commander of the Magella unit, now 5 minutes behind scheadule, "228th you're 3 klicks north of where you need to be recommend you move south for 3 klicks you'll meet the road there." Carroll sighed to himself, this was going to be a long day indeed.

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Odessa groaned softly, finding the enemy on her own was something she didn't look forward to. That meant wandering around an entire 5 kilometer by 5 kilometer grid with three Mobile Suits and a communications armored car looking for about 8 to 12 tanks that may or may not be there. She sighed, it was already 0614 they didn't have time for this crap, but there was no other way unless they just blundered into each other's sights.

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Sergeant Murray felt a slight shudder run through the Type 61 as the engine roared to life, he'd been with this tank for nearly 7 years now and she'd always been good to him. The various crewmembers had come and gone, some more memorable than others, but he had stayed with the Type 61 through it all and intended to finish out his career with her. The current crew was a mix of the good and the bad from over the years. The first was his gunner Lance Corporal Danielle Anderson, she was probably his favorite in all his years of service. The girl was only about six months out of training at Jaburo and was an above average gunner, a rare find in times of peace with the cap on the amount of ammo units were allowed to fire in training, plus she had a great sense of humor and never failed to make the rest of his platoon laugh when they needed it most. Then there was Private Peter Hansen, he was a decent driver, though a little unorganized and irresponsible. With a little more work the kid could be one of the best drivers he'd ever served with but he hadn't put out the effort yet. He still had hope for the young man though, he'd heard stories about guys who couldn't get it together during peace but were real tigers during war so there was hope for him yet... maybe.

"Time to move out, Sergeant," the Lieutenant's voice echoed in his crewman's helmet. Like I needed to be reminded Murray cursed the officer silently. He smiled and touched the small photograph of his wife he kept taped by the compass on his control console Don't worry, Kate, two more weeks and we'll buy a real house and finally be able to start a real family, no more army bases I promise he thought with a smile, Murray sighed and decided it was time to move out, no need to tick off the officers more than necessary.

Murray keyed the platoon radio net, "Alright lets get this over with," he said with a sigh, this meant setting up camp all over again. He felt the Type 61 lurch forward and head for the tree line to the south.

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Odessa was about to order the team off the hill to continue their search when the first Type 61 burst clear from the forest, "Oh s***, all units two... no three... four a full platoon of Fed Type 61s northern tree line, Dixon lets see how well that bazooka of yours works!" she yelled over the radio, "Collins find some cover for your tin can that 20mm isn't gonna do anything but tick those guys off." Collins' reply was cut off by the blast of the first 280mm rocket fired by Dixon, which landed slightly behind his intended target throwing snow and dirt into the air. "Dixon, remember to lead 'em! MacKenzie move to their left flank we're gonna pinch em between us! Dixon cover the armored car!" she called, lighting her thrusters and flying down the hill, not waiting for a response from either of them.

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"Oh s***!" Murray cursed as the first Zeon rocket round impacted slightly behind Corporal Terrance's tank, "Where are they? Anyone see where that shot came from?" he called over the radio.

"Sir! Three Zeek bipedals to the front!" Anderson yelled to him, already pressing her eyes against the sights for the twin 150mm cannons, "Oh hell! Here they come! Sir, request permission to engage," she added a little calmer now.

"Take 'em Dani!" he yelled back as the tank jolted backward from her first shots, "Treat it like artillery fire, everyone take evasive action!" he yelled his orders over the radio That rocket sure rivals the artillery cannons for caliber, lets just hope they keep missing he thought nervously Where is the Lieutenant? We can't take these guys on our own...

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He's treating us like artillery? How interesting... up till now we were treated as tanks. Are they learning or is this guy just lucky? Odessa asked herself. "Collins contact Ark-Royal again. Let 'em know we're engaging one enemy tank platoon," she finished just as the second Federation Type 61 platoon broke clear of the woods on her right, "S***, make that two platoons! This just got a whole lot more interesting..." she trailed off turning to face the new arrivals, pointing the barrel of the 120mm machine gun at the tanks. "Ami, change of plan my flank is compromised, you and Mark are gonna have to toast the originals."

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Specialist Jarrod Carroll looked at his sensors in disbelief, The 352 is engaging already? he asked himself How did the Feddies manage to hide in that sector for so long?

Captain Edward Milo smiled and glanced at the sensor screen over the young technician's shoulder, he watched the symbols representing friendly suits and enemy armored contacts merge on the small screen and knew they had to be fighting for control of the sector now. Perhaps it was that MS Team I visited this morning he thought his grin growing slightly Well one way to find out, I've gotta ask this Specialist Carrie... Carroll... something like that. "Specialist, whose unit is this?" he asked pointing to the team currently engaged with the Federation tanks.

Aw 'cmon I don't have time for this Carroll complained to himself, considering turning around and telling whoever it was to buzz off but he noticed the insignia indicating this guy was from the intel section Not someone to mouth off to Carroll told himself. "The 352nd MS Team, Sir. They call themselves the 'Steel Wolves', unofficially of course. I believe they're under a Lieutenant Ataka."

So it is them... in the thick of it already Lieutenant? I knew you wouldn't disappoint me. "Thank you, Specialist, carry on," Milo said walking out of the command center.

Jerk Carroll thought to himself, turning back to his console.

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"S***!" Sergeant Murray cursed, watching the Lieutenant's platoon burst from the woods and break off in pairs of two, "Lieutenant, these guys aren't tanks... they're in another league by themselves don't bunch up like that!" he yelled over the whump of the twin 150mm cannons firing again.

"Sir!" Danielle called down again, "I can't hit this guy, the turret just won't turn fast enough I'm shooting behind him all the time!"

Before he was able to even reply to that the Lieutenant's voice crackled over the radio, "Don't tell me how to run MY platoon, Sergeant! You concentrate on actually hitting one of those Zeeks."

Moron, its gonna be a miracle if we survive this I think we were better off alone he thought to himself and hoped his tank wouldn't fail him now.

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Odessa had to smile, with the adrenaline pumping through her body and the danger of combat this was when she truly felt alive. It was almost scary, she knew these Federation soldiers stood no chance it wasn't like fighting back against the heavily armed battleships. It was almost a slaughter, but those Feddies were shooting back so they were keeping this going. Odessa promised herself as soon as they stopped shooting so would she, her conscience wouldn't have it any other way. She squeezed the trigger and the rifle sent a trio of 120mm rounds flying towards the two tanks that were turning to engage her. The first tank was ripped open as two of the rounds impacted on it and burst into fire as its own ammunition began cooking off, but her third round missed throwing up snow near the tracks over the second tank, throwing one of its caterpillar treads off the drive sprockets. "There, you're out of it now pal!" she smiled turning and firing off two quick bursts at the other two tanks, both flying over their turrets. The two tanks fired off their own return shots and Odessa lit her thrusters and slid left along the snow slickened ground causing both rounds to miss.

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Corporal Ami MacKenzie tightened her grip on the control stick for the Zaku This is nuts she told herself what does the Lieutenant mean take care of these guys? I'm not ready for this yet! She pulled her Zaku out of the path of another set of shells fired by that particularly annoying Type 61, wishing she could pause long enough to get a few return shots off at him but his wingmen had her continually moving to avoid their fire. The alarm blaring to life again drew her attention back to the hilltop in time to see Dixon's next rocket streak down at the tanks, the smoke trail ended in an explosion as the 280mm rocket nearly disintegrated one of the Type 61s. The Federation tanks all seemed to pause as the first of their number died, Ami smiled and added her 120mm machine gun to the return fire.

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"S***!" Murray cursed as the Federation Type 61 exploded, "They got Terrance? We'll make 'em pay! Dani what have we got left to shoot at these guys?" he called up to his gunner.

"We got about 14 rounds of HEAT, 6 HEAP, and maybe 10 SABOT left, Sir, we're hurting for ammo and we haven't even touched em yet," she answered quietly, as if that would somehow make the news any less damaging. Murray silently cursed his luck and did some quick calculations, each gun fired one shell so two per salvo that meant he had 15 shots left... if Dani's count was accurate.

"This is Foxtrot 05 to all units left, We've lost a tread and our turret is damaged... if someone can lure that b***** in front of us we're willing to take the shot," he heard the Lieutenant's voice over the radio, he sounded a little weaker almost like he was wounded, "S***! He just got Kerry its just us and Foxtrot 07 left we need support!"

"Sir, we're a little busy over here its just three of us against two of them," he called back, then the Zaku they'd had pinned down before opened fire. Murray watched in horror as the 120mm shells stitched their way across the landscape and over the top of Foxtrot 11. "Its just two of us now, Sir, I think its over lets put up the white flag," he said quietly.

"If you do anything of the sort, Sergeant, I'll shoot you myself," the Lieutenant's voice hissed back over the radio, "You will fight to the death the same as the rest of us. Where is your sense of honor?"

Concepts of Bushido will get you killed on the modern battlefield he thought to himself, but the Lieutenant's remaining wingman fired off another salvo at the single Zaku and his own wingman followed suit. It wasn't over yet.

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Private Mark Dixon smile, it was like shooting fish in a barrel. He pulled the trigger again and a loud whup sounded as the next rocket from his Bazooka flew down at the remaining tanks, obliterating another. Ami had the other backing up for the tree line and he waited for a new round to cycle into the chamber. Fish in a barrel he thought to himself, lining up the next tank in his sights.

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"Sir, this isn't good," Murray heard the voice of Private Hansen over the vehicle intercom, "I can't get any traction here we're just sliding back towards the woods."

"Sir, we're down to five salvos of HEAP," Dani's voice replaced Hansen's and her news was no better.

Murray was about to order them to give it up, the Lieutenant was likely dead, his wingman had been taken down moments ago anyway. Its over he thought with a sigh, he was reached up and swatted Dani on the calf, "No more OK? Its useless we've lost," Murray was about to pop the hatch and give up when he saw something that stopped him cold. One of the Zakus was lining up the killing shot.

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Ami tightened her finger on the trigger and the Zaku rocked as the stream of tracers threw up snow and dirt. Only one round hit the tank, but that was all it took. The 120mm shell blew a hole right through the front of the sloped armor on the front of the tank leaving it a smoking wreck. No one could have survived that she thought to herself Two today that's a good start too... maybe this isn't so hard after all.

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Master Sergeant Kurt Murray groaned softly, he couldn't feel anything below his waist. The last shell had really done them all in. The driver's station, along with Hansen, was just gone. Dani was slumped against the turret, blood running down the side of her face from a gash on her forehead. She might still be alive, but he couldn't check her for a pulse. He was too busy trying to keep his insides where they belonged, and staring at the photo of his wife through his increasingly blurry vision. I... I'm sorry, Katie, it looks like you'll have to buy that house on your own he thought before he finally gave in and slumped over the commander's console.

Just to iron out a few inconsistencies right off for those of you who pay close attention to the details of the OYW. I decided to base the story in Germany because the weather and terrain is varied enough for me to play with. I have not personally visited the city of Stuttgart or its surrounding area so the roads and physical features I mentioned may or may not be there. Sorry guys it's been nearly 6 years since I was in Germany. Anyone with proper information is more than welcome to contact me with it at CharAznable86@hotmail.com. Also the Federation armored units were loosely based on US and NATO armored units, as that's what I have the most experience with, and I made up the Zeon armored units. Again anyone with proper information please contact me with it. I know I also took a few liberties with the Zeon uniforms and pilot gear but I was trying to portray the Zeon front line troops and I felt that this helped that feel. I also appreciate any other feedback you might have.