The empty, calmness of space was broken as several beams blasted above Commander's Patrick's GM Command Kai. The three Musai Late Production Type class were a fair distance away from the colony. But they were close enough for mobile suits to reach them. The three Musais could only fire on the colony with the beam cannons on the bottom part of the bow because they were positioned above the dock entrance. But they were trying to reposition themselves. And they were launching missiles.
Although the introduction of the Minovsky particle had made homing missiles useless, they were still launched in large groups in the hope they would hit something. Patrick flew up to be level with the approaching missiles. He fired the Vulcan guns in his GM Command Kai's head. The explosions of the missiles that he did hit caused the surrounding missiles to explode. Patrick sighed in relief. While that trick did work, it was not something you would want to consistently risk your life on.
The rest of Patrick's team flew out of the hanger. Also the aggressor units, several GM Kai's and the Titan's GM Quels flew out of their respective hangers. The GM Kais, GM Quels and the Aggressor units form ed their separate groups and blasted towards to the Musais.
"Attention Commander Adorno, this is Captain Kehew." Patrick looked down at the hangers. The Graceland was moving out into space. The Hawk and the Juan, who had been waited outside the hangers, formed into a triangular formation. The Hawk and the Juan were the new model Salamis Kais. Although they were essentially heavily modified Salamis' they did have the capability of Mobile Suit combat. The bow was now one large catapult, and below it a hanger that could hold four mobile suits.
"The Graceland, Juan, and Hawk will be firing along the Alpha Tri line." Captain Kehew continued. "Please be sure to stay out of the line of fire."
Patrick nodded. "Understood, Captain. Roy and Eric will stay behind with the ships to provide support to the ships and long range support for use." Roy and Erci's GM Cannon IIs turned around and flew back to the Graceland. "Form up, everybody. We're going after the Musais." With Patrick's GM Command Kai in the lead, the rest of the team formed a diamond with Richard's GM Custom on the left, Darren's GM Kai on the right, and Fred in the rear. They blasted towards the Musais.
The GM Quels, GM Kais, and the Aggressor Unit were already at the Musais. They were also dog fighting with twelve MS-21C Dra-Cs. Of them all, the EFSF GM Kais were taking the worst of the beating. Of the fifteen that had been launched, only five were still combat fit. The GM Quels and the Aggressor Units were flying circles around the Musais, trying to hit weak spots in the ships armor.
"Split up team!" Patrick shouted. "Take the Dra-Cs before going after the Musais. Let Roy and Eric worry about them." Patrick blasted his GM Command Kai at a Dra-C as his team blasted towards other Dra-Cs. The Dra-C didn't see Patrick until the pink beam of GM Command Kai hit one of its shoulder pods, which exploded. The Dra-C was thrown back by the explosion and cart wheeled through space as Patrick fired a second shot, destroying the Dra-C.
Patrick then blasted the GM Command Kai in a back flip like motion to avoid a Dra-C that was speeding towards him. As the Dra-C flew past him, he aimed his beam gun at its engine and fire. The beam hit its nuclear reactor, causing a meltdown. Patrick couldn't believe his luck when the resulting explosion knocked out another Dra-C. Patrick scanned the area. Seeing no enemy mobile suits near him, he punched some coordinates into the mobile suit's computer.
"Eric, Roy, I sending you target coordinates." Patrick shouted over the radio.
"Copy sir," replied Roy. "Receiving coordinates now."
Warning lights lit up the cockpit. A Dra-C was fast approaching Patrick's GM Command Kai. The Dra-C fired its weapon. Since the Dra-C's main weapon was a Vulcan attached to its arm, the damage was minimal. Patrick moved his GM Command Kai out of the way of the Dra-C and fired a beam at is head, basting it off. He then fired two shots that blasted of the Dra-C's arms. Patrick yelped as he saw four pink beams speeding towards him, and moved out of the way. He watched as two of the pink beams hit the bridge of a Musai while the other two slammed into one of the engines.
Patrick made a quick scan of the area. Richard and Roy destroyed the last Dra-C. The other two Musais were speeding away while the third's reactor exploded. Two GM Kais were still functional, one of which was towing the torso of a third GM Kai. Two GM Quels had been shot down while a third was missing an arm. The aggressor units seemed all to be intact.
"24th MS Team, form up!" Patrick called over his radio. Richard's GM Custom flew down towards him, while Fred and Darren flew in from behind him. "Any damage?" He asked.
"I've got a glitch in my target computer sir." Fred said. "It lags behind by about two seconds, sir."
"I took a few hits from a Dra-C, but it's nothing serious sir." Darren said.
"I've got no damage, sir." Richard said.
"Alright, get your suit looked at Fred." Patrick said. "Now return to the Graceland for debriefing."
"Yes sir!" Richard, Fred, and Darren shouted. They flew back to the colony in the same diamond formation. The Graceland, Juan, and Hawk and formed into a standard triangle formation with the Graceland in the lead. The forward hatches were open which allowed Patrick, Richard, Fred, and Darren to land on the ship. Roy and Eric hand already landed.
Captain Kehew was waiting for Patrick in the hanger. "Good work, Commander Adorno. The stories I've heard are true then."
"It depends on what you've heard." Patrick said. He then turned to a nearby mechanic. "Hey you! Take a look at Ensign Fred Malone GM Kai's targeting computer. He says that it's lagging by a couple of seconds." The mechanic nodded in reply and pushed off towards Fred's GM Kai.
"Commander, could you please accompany me to the briefing room." Captain Kehew said. "You need to meet with the Mobile Suit Team Commanders from the Juan and Hawk."
"Yes sir." Patrick said.
Captain Kehew then turned to the rest of Patrick's team. "Attention pilots of the 24th MS Team, you're officially off duty until we run into the enemy." This brought a chorus of cheering from Patrick's team. He turned back to Patrick. "Now if you will please come with me." The Graceland's briefing room wasn't anything different from other briefing rooms he had been in. There were four rows of seats with a large television screen attached to the wall at the front. Sitting near the front were two people, a man and a woman. They both stood up and saluted.
"Commander Adorno," Captain Kehew said, gesturing to the two people. "Allow me to introduce Commanders Max Waechter and Serena Rollman." Patrick shook both of their hands. "Now that we all know each other, we can get down to business. Now you all know what are mission is, to investigate the disappearance of an EFSF patrol. I just received this piece of footage I'm about to show you. Merely an hour ago, they found the wreckage of one of the missing Salamis' and were able to recover a bit of footage from the Salamis' video recorders."
The screen came to life. There was no sound to the video. For the first few minutes, it showed the bridge crew and captain going about their regular activates. Suddenly, there was a large explosion. The Captain jumped from his seat and ran over to one of the windows. For a second or two, GM Kais were visible as they launched from the Salamis. Then after another few seconds, the ship's anti-aircraft guns opened fire. Then a black Gelgoog appeared and sliced open the bridge. The crew was sucked out into space and the footage went black.
"So they were attacked by Zeon remnants." Max said as the screen shut off. "Well, it explains why we are working with the Titans."
Captain Kehew nodded. "Yes. But by the way, Commander Adorno, I have a question for you. The overall Commander of the Titan's Mobile suit teams of the patrol we're hooking up with is a Major Iakisha Adorno. Is there any relationship?"
Patrick sunk low in his seat. Of all people, why did it have to be her? "Yes, she is my sister." Max and Serena shot surprised looks at Patrick. If Captain Kehew was surprised, he didn't show it. "Well, my half sister actually, but she's kind off disowned me though."
"Do you mean since the Delaz Incident?" asked Serena.
"A little bit after that actually." Patrick said, sinking lower into his seat. "Ever since I was kicked out of the Titans." He added.
"Oh, so you're the one that they tried to shot right?" asked Max. Patrick nodded. "If you don't mind my asking, what was that about?"
"Well, it's like this…."
December 28, U.C. 0083
Patrick looked at the colonies of side 3 out of a viewport. Patrick tided up his new, black uniform as he left his room. He had been assigned to a new task forced called the Titans. He was currently aboard the Alexandria Class war ship, the Domain. They were currently on a mission to root Zeon remnants out of one of side 3's colonies. Patrick made his way down to the Domain's mobile suit hanger. The ship could hold twelve mobile suits, while the two Salamis Kais that were accompanying them could hold four a piece.
The new GM Quels were lined up in rows along the side of the haul. The ship held four squads that consisted of three mobile suits. Patrick was a lieutenant and leader of this squad. Patrick couldn't really warm up to his new assignment. The Titans seemed a bit too cruel for his liking. In the rule book for the Titan's, he was supposed to shoot any Zeon on sight.
"Attention all mobile suit pilots, attention all mobile suit pilots. Man your mobile suits and launch immediately." a warrant officer called over the ship's intercom. Patrick sighed as he floated over to his mobile suit. He climbed into his mobile suit and waited for the rest of his team to show up. Ensigns Nolan Trad and Cliff Curles both arrived and climbed into their mobile suits.
"Alright, lets get started." Patrick said to them.
"Yes sir!" Nolan and Cliff shouted in reply. The hanger doors opened. Patrick and his team launched out towards the nearest colony. Suddenly, a GM Quel flew awfully close to Patrick.
"Nick!" he shouted. "What the hell are you doing!?" Lt. Nick Wellington was also a veteran of the One Year War. Patrick had known him back then, and the two had developed a rivalry.
"Just seeing if you're on your toes, Patty!" Nick sneered, as the rest of his team laughed. Even Patrick's team snickered. Patrick was not very popular in the Titans. The only reason he was even an officer was because he was one of the very few veterans in the Titans, espically since the Delaz Incident.
Nick's team flew back to its position behind Patrick's team. Since Patrick was the most experienced pilot there, his team was going in first. Patrick and the rest of them flew towards the colony's hangers.
"Attention colony 121! This is Lt. Patrick Adorno of the Titans." Patrick shouted over the radio. "Open your hangers and let us inspect your colony." Since it was an older colony, it only had one hanger. The door opened and the GM Quel's flew into the hanger.
"Lt. Ryan Bilgem and Lt. Daniel Bingaman, your teams inspect the hanger. The rest of us will move into the colony." Patrick ordered. Six GM Quels broke off from the group and moved into the hanger. Patrick and Nick's squads moved into the colony. The two squads flew through the center of the colony, where there was a 0-g area. "Any second now." Patrick muttered. He figured that if there were any Zeon soldiers here, they would soon panic and start firing at them.
Suddenly a volley of bullets flew straight forwards. Patrick, who the volley was aimed at, moved the GM Quel sideways and the bullets flew past him, and slammed straight into Nolan's GM Quel. The engine exploded, killing Nolan. "Oh shit…" Patrick muttered as he pushed the flaming wreckage away from the populated areas of the colony. Lt. Nick and his squad flew straight down to where the bullets came from.
Patrick followed them. Six Zaku II and two Rick Doms armed with zaku machineguns were firing at them. Lt. Nick and his squad had split up to avoid the volleys. Patrick aimed his GM Quel's beam gun at a Zaku and fired. The beam hit the top of the Zaku's head and sliced through the rest of the body, causing it to explode. The other five Zakus and the Rick Doms scattered. Lt. Nick fired his beam gun at a Zaku, and shot it through the cockpit.
Patrick looked over and saw Cliff engage a Zaku with his beam saber. For some reason, he had thrown away the GM Quel's beam gun. Nolan sliced downwards, slicing the Zaku's machinegun in half, then he thrust the beam saber into the Zaku's cockpit. Then, a second Zaku appeared from behind a build and fired a burst into Nolan' GM Quel.
"Damn it, no!" Patrick shouted as Nolan's GM Quel fell over sideways. The cockpit burst open to reveal that the inside was in flames. Patrick fired to beams at the Zaku, hitting the Zaku's arm and its torso. The Zaku exploded. "Damn it! We need to move out of the city!" Patrick shouted as he saw civilians running for cover.
Patrick turned to look for Lt. Nick's squad. He saw a GM Quel blast into the air, only to get hit by a volley that slammed into its cockpit. The GM Quel fell back to the ground with a loud crash. Patrick scanned the area. He and Nick were the only two GM Quels left, while the only two Zeon mobile suits left where the Rick Doms. Patrick moved towards the closest Rick Dom. He noticed him and charged, pulling out its heat rod. Patrick pulled out one of the GM Quel's beam sabers. The two sliced at each other at the same time. The beam saber and heat rode connected. The heat rode was cut in half. The momentum of the Rick Dom forced it into the beam saber, and it was sliced in half.
Patrick looked for the second Rick Dom. Both of its arms had been sliced off. Lt. Nick was standing over it, its beam gun pointed at the Rick Dom. The pilot had climbed out and was staring at Nick's GM Quel.
"But you can't fire!" Patrick heard the pilot shout. "It will cause the Rick Dom's nuclear reactor to explode!"
"I really don't care." Nick replied. "The more dead spacenoids the better."
"No!" Patrick shouted. He slammed his GM Quel into Nick's. The force of the collision caused both mobile suits to fall down. "What the hell is wrong with you!?" Patrick shouted.
"Get off of me!" Nick shouted.
"And let you murder innocent civilians? I don't think so!" Patrick shouted back.
"These are the traitors who started the One Year War!" Nick shouted back. "They deserve to die!" Suddenly, two missiles shot out of Nick's GM Quel's shield. Some pilots stored missiles launchers on the shields as a sort of last resort weapon. Patrick watched in horror as the missiles flew through the air and slammed into a school!
Patrick got his GM Quel off of Nick's and flew towards the school. He saw bloody children running away the building. He also saw parts of children and blood splattered all over everything close to the school. Patrick's whole body started to tremble. He turned to Nick, who had managed to get back up.
"Don't cry over that lot." Nick sneered. "They are better off dead anyway."
"Murder!" Patrick screamed. He fired his beam gun at Nick. The beam blasted of his GM Quel's arm. "Murder!" Patrick screamed again. He fired at the GM Quel again, this time blasting of its head. "Murder, murder, murder, MURDER!" Patrick screamed over and over again as he fired into Nick's GM Quel until his beam gun ran out of energy. The destroyed GM Quel fell to the ground.
"You basterd!" Patrick heard Nick yell. He was still alive. "I'll make sure the shoot your damn ass for this!"
"I was court marshaled soon after that." Patrick finished. "I'm still not sure who they got stopped from executing me. But I was dishonorable discharged from the Titans. And then I ended up at side 4."
"What happened to the Nick guy?" asked Serena.
Patrick shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that he was court marshaled for what he did."
Suddenly, a telephone on the wall beeped. Captain Kehew answered it. "Hello? Yes. Okay, I'll be up in a minute." He turned to Patrick, Serena, and Max. "Rear Admiral Berenschot wants us gone now, so we have to leave now. So if you will return to you ships," He said nodded to Serena and Max. "We can get underway."
"Yes sir!" replied Patrick, Serena, and Max. And they left the room.
