December, U.C. 0096
Despite the prevalence of snow and frigid temperatures in northern latitudes, intense heat scorches the grasslands of sub-Saharan, subequatorial Africa...a region that a few still refer to by its 21st Century moniker of "Tanzania."
A Gunperry military cargo transport, late of the Earth Federation Forces and dating back to the One Year War, glides across the African skies, its pilot judiciously avoiding detection as it makes it way from Nairobi to Musoma at a steady 434 knots at an altitude of 13,131 meters.
The Gunperry follows an encrypted signal to its destination, the pilot daring not to broadcast over the airwaves for fear of detection by Zeon Terrestrial Forces units on the ground…. leftovers from the One Year War who are still fighting that same war, uncaring or perhaps even unaware that that conflict had ended.
To lighten the load and enable faster flight, the Gunperry has also been stripped of all armaments. Were the craft to come under attack, it would have no capacity to strike back, other than through suicidal ramming tactics.
Its cargo, however, is far too valuable to waste on any such vainglory. Approximately 150 tons of staple foods, medicines, blankets, and clothing...all desperately needed by the people living in the Musoma region.
Having taken a slightly longer route to avoid remnants of the Zeon Terrestrial Forces patrolling the area, the Gunperry lands gracefully on an improvised field near Lake Victoria, its humanitarian cargo eagerly awaited and at last delivered.
Athena Ibaz, 17-year-old Red Cross International humanitarian aid worker and crackerjack Gunperry pilot, removes her aviator's goggles and breathes a sigh of relief.
"Great work, Athena," enthuses Red Cross International Musoma Relief Camp director Natasha Daniels, "We'd all but given up hope of these supplies arriving in time to avert a catastrophe. How the hell did you manage it without running into those rogue Zeke patrols?"
Athena replies plainly, "Just a matter of knowing where and how to not fly."
"Ever thought about going into professional smuggling?" Natasha teases.
Athena allows herself a wry smile, "All the water in Lake Victoria wouldn't be enough to wash the dirt off."
"They're going to need more support personnel in the med wing," Natasha then says, becoming serious.
"I'll be right there," Athena answers, "Just let me get out of this flight suit…"
Thirty minutes later, Athena is inside one of the medical tents, binding the wound of a young girl, about five years younger than Athena herself, who had taken a nasty scorpion bite to her leg while assisting her family with farming work earlier in the day.
"The antivenin I administered will take care of the scorpion venom, so don't worry," Athena tells the girl in Swahili, "Come back here tomorrow so I can wash and re-dress that wound, all right?"
Sending the girl on her way, Athena turns her attention next to a ten-year-old boy with a nasty-looking boil growing out of his forehead.
Athena does her best for the war refugees of Musoma with her field medic knowledge, but the truth remains that the camp is woefully short of fully trained medical personnel. To serve a camp population of over 2,000 people with a grand total of three fully certified medical doctors and a few dozen hastily trained volunteers such as Athena herself is all but untenable.
While treating the youth with a boil, Athena hears the faint report of heavy gunfire in the distance. She provides the boy with bandages and a topical antibiotic treatment, and rushes out of the tent to see what is happening…
She catches up with Natasha, who is standing atop a ridge with a pair of binoculars.
"ZTF rogues?" Athena ventures.
Natasha nods grimly, "Most likely a crew of ex-ZTF pilots resorting to piracy. They're almost certain to head in our direction if they clear that Federation squadron they're engaged with."
Athena turns back toward the camp, "Make that 'if' a 'when.' We need to start moving the refugees away from this location."
"Athena," Natasha calls out, "there's no way we'll be able to get everybody out in time!"
"Then we'll get whoever we can," Athena responds, "they'd all be sitting ducks here!"
Athena returns to the camp and informs the other camp leaders of the plan. Discreetly, as to not incite a general panic that would further complicate matters, the leaders begin to organize groups of the refugees.
"Athena," one of the other camp leaders interjects, "the Gunperry can accommodate only around 150 people in the cargo hold! We've got more than 2,000!"
Athena begins powering up the Gunperry's engine, "Then stop reporting the numbers to me and round up the first batch of 150! Start with the kids, but make sure at least 25 of each group are young adults!"
"Where are you taking them?" Natasha asks, having brought a group to be boarded.
"Southern end of Lake Tanganyika," Athena answers, donning her aviator goggles and headset.
A loud BOOM! is heard in the distance. Dust and dirt billowing into the air no more than two kilometers away.
As quickly as they can, the Red Cross International workers board 150 people, mostly children, but also 25 young adults under the age of 30 onto the Gunperry. As soon as they are secured, Athena lifts the Gunperry into the air, heading southeast towards Lake Tanganyika.
She prays that there will be more living bodies for her to transport to safety when she returns…
All through the afternoon and early evening, Athena makes four additional sorties between the Musoma refugee camp and the shore of Lake Tanganyika. Each time Athena returns to Musoma, she finds, much to her horror, that the firefight is moving closer and closer to the campsite.
On Athena's fifth flight back to Musoma, her eyes widen in horror as she spots the camp engulfed in flame, a RMS-106CS Custom Hizack armed with a beam launcher flanked by two MS-09 Doms, stomping upon and firing upon the remaining refugees, looking to plunder and pillage. The ground is covered with piles of corpses and the writhing mortally wounded.
Athena's eyes flash angrily at the mobile suits.
"Murdering scum…" she mutters under her breath.
The monoeye of one of the two Doms swivels towards the Gunperry. The mighty Zeon mobile suit swivels its machine gun in the aircraft's direction.
Athena barrels the Gunperry around just in time to avoid the spray of machine gun fire. Good sense overpowering rage, Athena puts as much distance between the Gunperry and the trio of mobile suits as possible.
Won't be able to do much with this Gunperry, Athena reasons, looking for a safe place to land, have to go back on foot and see what I can do.
Two hours later, Athena has made her way through the brush back to the campsite. Her heart sinks as she sees again the scene of carnage and flame before her.
A supply truck approaches, driven not by a Red Cross International worker, but by a ZTF officer...likely the pilot of the Hizack Custom, which now stands inert, its monoeye dark. The pair of Doms, however, remain active, guarding the scene, looking to shoot at anything that moves with their machine guns.
The supply truck stops near the foot of the Hizack Custom, and its driver disembarks…a blond man in his thirties whose uniform dates back to the One Year War. His face, while clean shaven, also has a scar running diagonally across it. The Zeon veteran stands roughly 5 feet 6 inches tall, and has a tired look in his eyes.
"It's funny," he mutters to himself, "When he left, I actually resented him for it… but now, I think I finally get it… there's nothing left for us here."
So saying, he looks to the stars and addresses someone far away, "Maybe if I ever get off this rock, I'll pay you a visit, Jack."
Jack? He couldn't be talking about Colonel Spencer, Athena thinks to herself, Could he? And why did I just assume that "Jack" is Col. Spencer?
"And who knows," he adds, "Maybe we can start something new together like you and I did with Gwen."
The man tears up at the thought of the woman who he had loved… that felt like a lifetime ago now. "God knows I miss her, Jack."
It suddenly dawns on Athena that she is standing much, much too far away from the Zeon officer to actually hear these words with her ears. In fact, Athena realizes, she is not hearing the words per se, but sensing them...through her mind?
The Zeon officer abruptly snaps back to the reality of the present, and orders his two subordinates...the Dom pilots, "Stone! Escort me down to the barge! McGregor! You guard my MS!"
"Yes, sir" come the replies from Stone and McGregor.
Athena sets a small fire in the brush for distraction and, seeing her chance, abruptly steals onto the refugee base. She quickly locates one of the camp's utility jeeps that the relief workers kept around for quick local transport.
The supply truck and escort Dom head off for the barge. Meanwhile, the small fire that Athena started in the brush has grown, creating quite a plume of flame and smoke that distracts the pilot of the second Dom guarding the Hizack.
During this brief window of opportunity, Athena guns the engine of the jeep and tails after the supply truck and the escort Dom, keeping the headlights off and letting the roar of the Dom's jet thrusters mask the sound of the jeep.
The barge is docked slightly over three klicks from the perimeter of the refugee camp, on the southeastern shore of Lake Victoria. Athena has often led some of the refugee children here for recreational activities such as fishing.
Many of those children are now dead, Athena recalls unwillingly, and these bastards are going to pay for that.
Setting such dark thoughts aside, Athena stealthily abandons the van and steals aboard the barge, sheltering herself inconspicuously inside one of the barge's many niches as the supply truck is loaded onto it.
Loading and securing the supply truck takes no more than five minutes, though for Athena, the time feels much longer.
"Supply truck secure, Lieutenant Turner," McGregor, the Dom pilot, affirms over his mobile suit's external speaker.
"All right," Turner calls up to the Dom, "You stay here. I'm going back to get Stone and my Hizack."
So saying, Turner runs back in the direction of the refugee camp.
From her niche, Athena carefully eyes the equipage and accoutrements of the barge. On the deck, a guardhouse and a supply shed. Below decks, undoubtedly crew accommodations and additional cargo space.
Within ten minutes, the second Dom and the Hizack custom arrive. Thirty minutes later, all three mobile suits are secured with the supply truck on the deck of the barge. Thirty more minutes later, the barge is asail on Lake Victoria, heading due northwest.
The commandeered barge turns out to be exceptionally well-stocked with liquor. The barge's previous crew apparently enjoyed its Bacchanalian pleasures, of which now Turner and his two subordinates partake.
1Lt. Gale Turner, formerly of the Zeon Terrestrial Forces, toasts his men and swigs deeply from a bottle of Wild Turkey bourbon whiskey.
"Hey commander," Stone says louder than necessary, "Why don't you tell us about your old C.O. again?"
"All right," Gale says with a smile, as he stands and begins to speak as if he were a Homeric bard waxing lyrical about legendary heroes, "I remember the Colonel was a man who could complete missions that were otherwise impossible… a man who could formulate the most elaborate plans on the fly… establish defense grids that were virtually impenetrable… and someone who did his best to get us through each mission alive."
"Too bad he turned traitor and abandoned us," McGregor grumbles.
"I don't think that's entirely accurate," Lieutenant Turner responds, pointing at McGregor as he contemplates his bottle of liquor, "Jack was someone who saw the bigger picture, and he always kept the little people in mind… the more I think about it…the more I'm convinced he left so he could do everything he could for the people of Side 3."
"I still say he ran away," McGregor mumbles under his breath, swigging from his can of Schlitz.
Turner's fist lands on McGregor's jaw like a bolt of Jovian lightning, knocking the Dom pilot out of his chair and on his back.
"You won't speak disrespectfully of the Colonel, soldier," Turner rumbles, "You serve under me, so you respect Col. Spencer!"
A moment of awkward silence, through which the men can hear the lyrics of the song they have blasting from the barge's sound system… A cover of the Classic Black Sabbath song War Pigs done by American Thrash Metal Band Sacred Reich.
Generals gathered in their masses
Just like witches at black masses
Evil minds that plot destruction
Sorcerers of death's construction
In the fields the bodies burning
As the war machine keeps turning
Death and hatred to mankind
Poisoning their brainwashed minds
Oh lord yeah!
Politicians hide themselves away
They only started the war
Why should they go out to fight?
They leave that role to poor
Time will tell on their power minds
Making war just for fun
Treating people just like pawns in chess
Wait 'til their judgment day comes
Yeah!
Now in darkness world stops turning
Ashes where the bodies burning
No more war pigs have the power
Hand of God has struck the hour
Day of judgment, God is calling
On their knees the war pig's crawling
Begging mercy for their sins
Satan laughing spreads his wings
All right now!
A few more drinks, and the three Zeon soldiers find themselves barely able to stay awake.
"You turkeys get your asses to bed," Lt. Turner slurs, "we got lots of ground to cover tomorrow."
Thirty minutes after Athena hears the music and discussion fall silent, she decides to make her move.
Stealing out quietly from her hidden niche, Athena moves like a cat across the barge towards the prone Zeon mobile suits.
Then, Athena senses a shift and hears the door of the barge open.
Quickly shifting tactics, Athena ducks back into the shadows, her silver Marakov pistol ready in her hand.
1Lt. Gale Turner staggers unsteadily out from the barge's lower deck, a freshly lit cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth.
"Damn, Jack," Turner mutters, the glowing cigarette wagging between his lips, "How the hell you manage to drink that Wild Turkey stuff? It makes a man have to piss all night!"
So saying, Turner teeters unsteadily at the edge of the barge, struggling to loosen his fly. "I guess that's why you drink in moderation."
He then feels the unmistakable sensation of cold gunmetal against the back of his neck.
A voice, evidently belonging to a young woman, whispers harshly, "Access code numbers for the Hizack Custom. Both the cockpit hatch and authentication code for the combat computer."
"All right, all right, little lady," Gale replies, his hands raised above his head, "Don't do anything crazy now."
"The codes," Athena repeats coldly, "and don't you dare turn around or make any other sudden moves."
"6DJRUWPK to open the hatch," Gale tells her, "9LDBMQ9J" to access the combat computer."
Athena takes off her flat cap, and Turner hears the cold smile in the young woman's voice as she answers, "You've done your Duchess a great service, Lieutenant Gale."
He turns, and for the briefest of instants, catches a glance of her...a strikingly attractive teenager on the cusp of womanhood, with emerald green eyes and wispy, reddish blonde hair.
"You...you're.." Turner gapes.
The girl takes the cigarette out of Gale's mouth, putting it in her own, and relieves him of his remaining pack of cigarettes in the pocket of his uniform jacket.
"Thank you," the girl says, as she kicks Turner in the jaw with a stunningly quick and surprisingly strong thrust of her willowy right leg, sending the man plunging off the side of the barge into the crocodile- and snake-infested waters of Lake Victoria.
Wasting no time, Athena pulls the tarp off the Hizack Custom, climbs to the cockpit hatch located on the mobile suit's belly, and types in the access code that Turner provided to her.
The hatch slides open and Athena lets herself drop into the cockpit seat.
Using code "9LDBMQ9J," Athena activates the combat computer of the RMS-106CS Hizack Custom.
The mobile suit's monoeye shimmers on, and the Hizack begins lifting itself to its armored feet.
McGregor and Stone, stumbling over each other as they struggle to get on the deck, watch in confusion and horror as Turner's Hizack comes to life.
The Hizack stands, nearly causing the barge to capsize (which it might have, if not for the counterbalancing weight of the twin Doms). It then grabs one Dom's 360mm giant bazooka in one hand and the other Dom's MMP80 90mm machine gun in the other.
Athena fires choice shots from the 90mm machine gun at the arm and leg joints of the two Doms, using minimal ammunition to cripple both mobile suits so that they will not be able to challenge or pursue her.
McGregor and Stone, frightened out of their minds, dive into the lake, preferring to brave whatever might be in the water than attempt to battle a mobile suit in their shirtsleeves.
With a single thrust, the Hizack Custom takes to the air.
Athena lays down a shot from the 360mm giant bazooka, capsizing the barge.
Inside the cockpit, the combat computer of the Hizack Custom chimes in its synthesized voice, "Pilot must extinguish tobacco product while…"
Athena, exhaling casually from the cigarette, shuts the irritating computerized voice down with the flick of a switch, "Shut it. I'm the duchess; I'll do what I want."
Gale makes it to shore, thanking his lucky stars for his Newtype abilities…below average or not, he can produce enough psychic pressure to make animals wary of him… something that has saved his life here in Africa multiple times.
Stone and McGregor on the other hand… not so lucky.
Gale turns around and looks out at the barge as the lost Duchess of Zeon all but redlines the thrusters of the Hizack and takes off into the night.
"She's…," Gale begins.
"Duchess Mineva Lao Zabi," finishes a voice Gale knows all too well.
Gale turns to see the man he has long idolized standing there, wearing his old officer's long coat with a grin, "How ya been kid?"
"Colonel," he replies as he jumps to his feet and gives his former commanding officer a proper salute.
"At ease, Lieutenant," Jack orders, before turning his eyes to the burning barge, "and give me your personal shortwave."
Gale obliges, allowing Colonel Spencer to communicate with the Mining Base, "Attention all Zeon Terrestrial Forces in the Kenyan Mining Base: this is Colonel Jack Spencer… I know I've been gone for sixteen years, but I've been busy… I regret to inform you that 1st Lieutenant Gale Turner has been killed in action. The responsible party has hijacked his mobile suit and is now on the run. My orders are this: hunt them down and destroy them for this afront to Zeon… to the last man if you have to."
"Sir," Gale asks with confusion, "the Duchess...I can hardly believe she's still alive, maybe there's hope, but I don't understand...why do you want to kill the Duchess?"
"I don't," the older man replies, "but she's planning to try and change the Federation from within and frankly, I don't think it can be done, but I'm willing to give her some credit, and taking down what's left of the Zeon Terrestrial Forces is about as good as it gets."
"There's more to it than that," Gale points out, "I know you well enough to know you need at least two good reasons to do something."
"It gives us a man on the inside," Jack answers, "Something we're going to need in the future."
He then turns away and heads into the desert, "Come. There is much to be done."
Gale quietly follows Jack, content to be in the presence of the man he views as a surrogate father.
After roughly five minutes of walking, they reach a jeep, where a 14-year-old girl with pink hair sits in the passenger side seat, gazing at the stars.
"Gale," Jack says, patting his old subordinate on the shoulder, "This is my daughter, Penelope Garahau Spencer."
"Garahau?" Turner asks his C.O., "You mean like Cima Garahau?"
"Cima's her mother," the Colonel replies.
The girl turns to see her father and his companion and in a voice dripping with adolescent impatience and disdain, demands, "So this is the guy we're here for?"
"Yep," Jack answers his daughter matter-of-factly, "so we're heading back to Side 3."
Penelope immediately puts on her best pouting face and asks, "Can't we stay here until the sun comes up?"
Ordinarily, Jack would have said "no," but this was his daughter's first time on the Earth, and she really wanted to see the sunrise.
"OK, kiddo," he says with a soft affection as he sits down next to her, "We can watch the sunrise."
She immediately hugs him and grins, "Thanks, Daddy."
Gale never thought he'd see the day that Colonel Jack Spencer would demonstrate such tenderness towards anyone, but after meeting the long lost Duchess of Zeon as he did tonight, this really doesn't surprise him.
March, UC 0097
The harsh winter has given way to a milder spring in the badlands of the southwestern plateau of the region of Afghanistan. Snow gives way flowers, revealing a land ancient, and paradoxically both harsh and beautiful.
In the midst of this geological oxymoron, a 17-year old girl sits in the shadow of a Gunperry transport grounded by lack of fuel, by weather that, for the most part, has been ill-suited to flight, and by the constant presence of ZTF units that continue to wander the wastelands.
Dressed in a plain khaki hooded kaftan that covers her underlying clothes, including the ever-present flat cap, Athena Ibaz contemplates the majestic Hindu Kush mountains rising in the distance due east of her.
The Gunperry has sat idle on the sandy plateau since it ran out of fuel around this location nearly two months ago. She has about ten days' worth of food and water left, and is presently smoking the last cigarette from the pack of 25 that she relieved from the possession of 1Lt. Gale Turner some seven months earlier.
Athena has learned, through discreet inquiries and investigations, of an abandoned Zeon supply base up in the Hindu Kush. If she knows of its existence, however, then surely so do others…
From her pocket, Athena extracts a gold pocket watch on a chain, an heirloom from her father, the late Prince Dozle Zabi of the Archduchy of Zeon, given to her by her late mother, Lady Zenna, shortly before her death.
Athena glances at the sun directly overhead, noting the absence of shadows except directly below their substantial antecedents. High noon.
Setting the time on her father's pocket watch, the former Duchess of Zeon finishes off the final cigarette and rises to her combat booted feet.
"Time to get more," she whispers to herself.
So resolved, she turns towards the Hizack Custom looming behind her in the Gunperry's cargo bay.
Inside the cockpit of the Hizack Custom several minutes later, Athena runs a full diagnostic check of all combat and surveillance systems, leaving nothing to chance.
She also runs a feed of local and regional news on the Hizack's telecom receiver system, to determine if ZTF units are active near her location.
As she works, a blog article catches her eye: "Waiting on a Hero: The Real Story of the Earth Federation Forces at Side 3," by an author named, oddly enough, "Mafty."
Athena takes a moment to read, "You've likely grown up with these legendary names: Amuro Ray, Bright Noah, Abraham Reville, Matilda Ajan, etc. They need no introduction. History books in elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools celebrate them as heroes - brave men and women who sacrificed, endured, and overcame much to defend the innocent and uphold justice. Statues are erected for them. Government buildings, libraries, schools, and highways are named after them. DON'T BELIEVE IT FOR A MOMENT. These people are not heroes. They're butchers, and their butchery continues, sight unseen, in places such as Side 3…"
This writer's keystrokes have some salt and spice in them, Athena cannot help grinning, I like his style, assuming he is indeed a "he." "Mafty." Hmmm…
Athena bookmarks the blog on her personal reading list and programs the computer to send her an alert whenever "Mafty" publishes a new post or article.
She then returns to the task at hand, mentally going over her checklist, OK...need to refuel the Gunperry. Going to need to rig a siphon mechanism for that. Need ammo for the Hizack's bazooka cannon and machine gun. Going to need spare parts for just about everything. Some dry edibles and water...and a fresh carton or two of cigarettes wouldn't be a bad idea either.
Twenty minutes later, the Hizack Custom blasts out of the Gunperry and up into the mountainous terrain of the Hindu Kush.
Athena disembarks from the cockpit of the Hizack Custom after blasting open the gate to the supply base. Taking her Marakov sidearm and a portable electric lantern, she explores its cavernous interior on foot.
Athena flashes the light of her electric lantern around the hold, spotting numerous crates of supplies of all kinds. She locates a large aviation turbine fuel tank and, checking its gauges, determines that it contains several hundred kiloliters of fuel.
She spends the next two hours rigging a crude siphon from the fuel tank, and directs the Hizack Custom to rig it to the Gunperry several kilometers downslope. Due to the distance and the lack of pressure, fueling the Gunperry will take several hours.
Athena takes time to gather up other supplies she will be needing...the aforementioned rounds of ammunition and ordnance for the mobile suit. Spare parts for both the Gunperry and the Hizack. Enough canned rations and potable water to last two to three months.
Her last stop is the private quarters for the supply base's late commanding officer, a "Colonel Miles Dagny," according to the dust-covered nameplate on the door. Breaking through the locked door, Athena enters a private quarters of surprising luxury.
Hmph, Athena smirks to herself, plush animal skin rug. Italian leather sofas. Silk bedding sheets. This Col. Dagny lived in luxury at the Archduchy's expense.
Athena spots three cartons of filtered Marlboros, unopened, and gathers them up. She is about to leave when she spots the wet bar.
Vintage bottle of Martini and Rossi sweet vermouth, bottle of Courvoisier VSOP cognac, bottle of Bacardi black rum. Athena gathers these up (along with the corresponding glasses), carts them into an empty crate, and packs them into the Hizack Custom.
Gauges indicate that the Gunperry's fuel tanks are 80% full, and will be completely full by the time she reaches the aircraft.
Not a bad afternoon's shopping trip, Athena muses. Still, I'll need go into the nearest town to acquire some food and water since anything I find here probably expired 16 years ago… along with some other things.
Her next course of action determined, Athena climbs into her Jeep, which still bears its Red Cross International livery and paint, dons her goggles and the Zeon officer's helmet she found at the Arabian supply depot to give her the appearance of a scavenger, and heads into Kabul.
An hour later, Athena is driving through the streets of Kabul, Afghanistan. She locates one of the few modern stores in the city, her remaining stash of Earth Federation credits barely enough to buy a box of tampons.
Recalling her cultural studies classes back at the Lyceum, Athena knows that bartering is still a viable form of trade in this part of the world, and she has in her vehicle one asset that she can readily exchange for food and water: surplus medical supplies.
After acquiring all the female hygienic products she would likely require, Athena heads for the local bazaar. A blinding array of goods are available at its hundreds of stalls and stands, but Athena is mindful that she must be careful about her spending. While the medical supplies are indeed surplus in terms of her personal use, she must not trade them all at once. She must be prudent about how she spends her resources, monetary or otherwise.
With that in mind, Athena stops at the nearest food stand and begins haggling in the local tongue (Pashto) the price for the supplies she needs. A good half hour later, she has managed to acquire enough nonperishable foods and bottled water to last her a month if she rations them.
Little does Athena suspect that she has been under observation the entire time she has been in Kabul.
The commanding officer of the Dopp fighter squadron that has been pursuing her, Captain Patrick Thorne, has decided to have some of his allies on the ground do some scouting in the surrounding area. Said allies reported sighting a girl wearing an old Zeon officer's helmet from the One Year War drive into town They became immediately suspicious… doubly so when they saw her trading medical supplies for food and water. Now they intend to tail her to see if she's their intended target or not.
As she heads back towards the badlands, Athena glances periodically into her vehicle's rear view mirror. For some time now, she has noticed a vehicle trailing her at approximately half a click back...accelerating when she accelerates...slowing when she slows, regardless of road conditions.
Looks like I've picked up a tail, Athena surmises, thankfully, I set the Hizack in a separate location from the Gunperry.
Athena turns off the main highway into offroad territory, following her bearings towards the location where she had put down her Mobile Suit.
Athena parks her jeep under the shade of some trees, and scrambles to where the mobile suit awaits her.
Got to hurry, Athena thinks to herself, they'll be on top of me any second.
Athena reaches the mobile suit and opens its cockpit hatch. Dropping in, she brings the combat systems online.
Athena checks her mobile suit's weapons status. Bazooka would be a great option, except that she hasn't yet had the time to reload it with the shells she acquired from the supply bases in Arabian and the Hindu Kush.
Machine gun it is, Athena resolves, pointing the weapon, ready in the mobile suit's right hand, skyward. Just like duck hunting…
A flight of three vintage Zeon DFA-03 Dopp air units comb the skies above the Afghani steppes, seeking out their quarry.
"Bobby," calls out one of the Dopp pilots on the tactical net, "you got any visuals?"
"Negative," Bobby replies, "Nothing but trees and rocks, and more trees and rocks."
"What are we looking for, anyway?" the pilot of the third Dopp, Ryong, asks his two comrades-at-arms.
"Some girl in a jeep," replies the first pilot, name of Andrei, "Captain Thorne says she's a 'person of interest,' though not what kind of interest."
Ryong asks the obvious next question, "Is she a cutie?"
The others laugh, and Andrei answers, "Probably. Who knows? Didn't get a good look at her. But don't even think it: Captain gets first and probably last dibs!"
Ryong moans, "Man...we haven't met any hotties since we stopped over in Baghdad last month. It's enough to make a man….YEEARGH!"
Ryong's Dopp goes down in a rain of smoke and flame as his radio falls silent after his death scream.
"We're being fired upon!" Bobby screams through the tactical net.
"Where's that fire coming from?!" Andrei demands, as he directs his aircraft through evasive maneuvers.
"It's coming from….AWPPFFF!"
Bobby's Dopp goes down, crashing into the trees and rocks below and creating a conflagration.
Andrei spots it at last...a mobile suit.
Andrei reports back to Thorne, "Captain! We've spotted it. It's a mobile suit! RMS-106CS type! Armed with machine gun!"
Andrei throws his Dopp into a climb, makes a banked turn, and dives towards the Hizack Custom, launching a spread of four missiles at the mobile suit.
"This is for Bobby and Ryong, bitch!" Andrei shouts as he continues to fire his payload at the offending mobile suit.
Athena dodges the incoming fire with difficulty, a few times coming very close to taking a direct hit from one of the Dopp's missiles. As it is, impact from the flaming shrapnel of one near miss singes the armor of the Hizack Custom, causing superficial damage that Athena can only hope will not be revealed as more serious.
When possible, Athena tries to return fire with the Hizack's machine gun, but the intense fire that the Dopp lays down makes it difficult for her to get a bead on the target.
Damn moving target, both combatants unknowingly think to themselves simultaneously.
Up in the air, he's got an advantage over me, Athena thinks, he's faster and more maneuverable than I am. I need to take away that advantage. Need to draw him closer.
Athena fires a burst of machine gun fire that does not connect with the Dopp, but that she did not expect to. The burst of fire does, however, draw retaliatory fire in the form of 20mm Vulcan rounds from the Dopp's guns.
The Vulcan fire catches the Hizack on the upper right shoulder. The Hizack goes down on one knee.
Andrei grins with satisfaction, "Sonovagun...it's going down."
Andrei lowers the Dopp slowly, cautiously towards the Hizack as it goes down on all fours, apparently seriously damaged by Andrei's onslaught. The Dopp hovers just over 100 meters above the stricken mobile suit.
Andrei lines the Hizack up in his brackets, ready to unleash a final missile to finish the mobile suit off.
"Bobby, Ryong...watch this!" Andrei laughs as his thumb begins pressing on the trigger.
Then, it happens…
The Hizack Custom launches itself into the air, using the thruster units built into its legs.
The Dopp's missile sails under the Hizack, exploding at the point where the Hizack had stood scant seconds earlier.
The Hizack closes in on the Dopp, hovering as if it were an enormous diveboard jumper in mid-flight.
Andrei barely has time for his final thought, I'm so stupid! I forgot this is Turner's Hizack! That sonofabitch modified his Hizack for enhanced flight capability!
The ZTF pilot desperately attempts to maneuver out of the way of the incoming mobile suit, but is unable to do so before the Hizack Custom grabs his Dopp in its armored hands, as if it were a basketball player grabbing for a rebound in a national championship game.
"I'm a fool! A FOO…!" The words are heard the the pilots of a squad of reinforcement Dopps as they arrive at the battle site.
The units arrive to see 2Lt. Andrei's Dopp crushed by the power of the mobile suit's motorized hands. Undoubtedly, very little of 2Lt. Andrei will remain to be recovered in the aftermath of this skirmish.
The Hizack holds the crushed wreckage of the Dopp up for a moment, as if it were a perverse trophy to be admired, and then drops it almost casually to the ground.
The mobile suit extracts its beam launcher and points it at the newly arrived Dopp units menacingly, as if challenging them.
1Lt. Goresh, the pilot of the lead Dopp, orders the other units, "Withdraw and survey!"
SSgt. Zapista, one of the other Dopp pilots, protests, "But sir, that thing just wasted three of our men, including 2Lt. Andrei! Captain Thorne…!"
"Expects us to do our duty," Goresh finishes, "and for now, that means withdraw and survey, Sergeant!"
The Dopp units peel away.
Athena exhales with a sigh of relief, but knows that it isn't over.
Better pack it up and hightail it out of here, fast!
Within twenty minutes, all weapons and supplies stowed, Athena clambers into the Gunperry cockpit and fires up the engine.
Just in time, it would appear, because she sees an entire ZTF squadron headed her way.
"The adventure continues," Athena can't help grinning, as her Gunperry takes off, a dozen ZTF units in hot pursuit.
The Gunperry, an Earth Federation staple of the One Year War era, was designed for durability, but not maneuverability. It is a cargo transport, after all, not an interceptor or racer. That said, the engineers who designed the aircraft knew that it would need some measure of agility to get in and out of warzones, dodging enemy and friendly fire alike.
Such a point is not lost on 17-year-old Athena Ibaz as she throws the Gunperry into a series of maneuvers that are, perhaps, beyond its designers' specifications to avoid being shot out of the sky by the squadron of Zeon attack aircraft in hot pursuit of her.
Below the scene of the chase sprawls the mighty expanse of the Himalaya mountain range, as always beautiful, but as always, foreboding. Many had perished in countless attempts to reach the top of Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak on earth, due to the harsh environment. This was clearly the reason the ZTF Remnants chose to wait until she reached this area to launch their attack… they plan to use the mountains frigid environment to kill her.
Athena visually confirms what her onboard systems are telling her...the mountains below her go on for hundreds of kilometers. No suitable landing site will likely be available to her for several hours at least.
If only I had something to shoot back with, Athena muses.
Then, it dawns on her…
Athena rapidly swings the Gunperry around, and engages full thrusters!
1Lt. Goresh cannot believe his eyes, "FUCKING SHIT! SHE'S CRAZY!"
The Gunperry races towards the Dopps, forcing the ZTF air units to break their formation. The backwash caused by the heavy Federation cargo craft's passage causes the Dopps to momentarily lose stability.
Goresh snarls into the tactical net, "Zapista! Martin! Get on her flanks! Riddle her full of holes!
Obeying their squad leader, the Dopps piloted by SSgts. Zapista and Martin catch up with the Gunperry and surround her on both sides.
Athena had seen them coming and is ready for them…
3, 2, 1….now!
Athena cuts the rotors of the Gunperry; the heavy cargo craft drops into a rapid plummet, just as the Dopps open fire with their Vulcan cannon.
"SHIT!" Goresh rages, slamming his fist against his own craft's control panel as he watches two more of his men go down in flames.
Inside the cockpit of the Gunperry, Athena cannot help a grin and a shake of the head as she brings the rotors back online.
That's only going to set them back for a minute, Athena reasons, maybe I can…
Athena engages the Gunperry's autopilot control, on a heading towards Hong Kong.
She exits the cockpit and heads towards the cargo bay, where her Hizack is housed.
Ninety seconds later, the Dopp squadron has regrouped and is once again bearing down upon the Gunperry.
To their surprise, the cargo bay door opens, and the Hizack Custom stands ready inside the bay, its machine gun shooting at them and its beam launcher at the ready across its shoulder.
Some machine gun fire from the Hizack Custom brings down another Dopp. Its magazine expended, Athena swings the beam launcher from over the mobile suit's shoulder.
Athena's first burst from the beam launcher scores a direct hit on a Dopp, which disappears in a yellow cloud of superheated gas. Two more Dopps slightly out of the direct line of fire nevertheless are scorched to instant combustion by the intense heat bleed of the beam.
"Retreat! Retreat!" 1Lt. Goresh calls out, having seen enough, "That thing has a beam launcher! We're outgunned!"
Two hours later, Athena is attempting to make a poor meal out of the canned whachamacallit she acquired back in Kabul. The taste...is nothing that will be worth remembering in future years, but Athena finds it acceptable so long as it keeps body and soul together for another few hours.
Much more tasteful to Athena than the canned rations is the latest Mafty entries she reads off the Gunperry's onboard telecom receiver.
"First things first," Mafty's text reads, "my apologies to Capt. Amuro Ray, 1Lt. Matilda Ajan, and Gen. Abraham Revil. They are dead, after all, and some would say that puts them beyond criticism. While I don't necessarily share that view, it's not the dead I plan to speak about, but the living...or at least, those who might be living. Even as I post this, more are dying at Side 3. They are dying for the sins of those who, ironically enough, are also already dead. It's a strange logic that humanity has followed since before the beginning of recorded history - that the best corrective for death is...more death. I am not certain that I disagree. Those who are guilty certainly must answer for their crimes. That point is not even worth arguing. Even the simplest child understands the concept of justice. The people of Side 3, however, are guilty of nothing...unless simply existing is a crime. That is precisely what the leaders of the Earth Federation would have you believe…"
Athena reads pain in those words; she senses that Mafty, whoever he or she might be, is a tormented soul. Something beyond political conviction drives the writer's words…
Athena takes a moment away from reading Mafty's blog to check the flight computer. Due to make Hong Kong in a little over 2.5 hours…
The Gunperry's sensors then indicates aircraft closing in from her six o'clock position, and closing fast.
Athena sighs, "Damn it...not again. Didn't they learn their lesson?"
Apparently not. The combat computer aboard the Gunperry identifies the new unit chasing her, and it isn't another Dopp…
"NRX-044 Asshimar," the combat computer announces.
That's bad, Athena's brow furrows, Asshimars are fast and maneuverable, and they pack quite a bit of firepower.
Athena considers the option of getting into the Hizack Custom and blasting at them with the beam launcher again, but quickly decides against it. They're ready for her this time, and the presence of the Asshimar means that she cannot entrust the Gunperry to autopilot, even briefly.
Hong Kong also appears to be a fading option, as the ZTF air units have her ringed in a circular perimeter with the Asshimar at her six, seemingly bent on forcing her on a southeastern heading, away from Hong Kong and towards the South Pacific.
Athena begins to wonder if she is due for an oceanic grave.
1Lt. Goresh is at the control of the Asshimar in question, a squad of six Dopps arrayed behind him.
"This is flight leader," Goresh calls, "Keep her on this course and heading. When she's near our base in Borneo, she'll be low on fuel. Then, we'll pounce on her."
"That Gunperry has a large fuel capacity, Lieutenant," pipes up Chief Warrant Officer Takeshi Kanazawa, "if she fueled up back near Kabul, she could reach Australia easily."
"Unless we poke some holes in her," Goresh points out, "You brought it up, so you do the favors, Kanazawa."
"Roger and wilco, Lieutenant," Kanazawa answers his commanding officer and maneuvers for a Vulcan cannon strike on the Gunperry.
Athena is able to avoid Kanazawa's first two bursts, but the third drills holes in the Gunperry's fuel tank...thankfully, not enough to set the whole thing on fire, but enough that the onboard computer detects a slow, but troublesome fuel leak.
Shit, Athena thinks, I think I'm cooked this time. At this rate, I'll go down somewhere over the Pacific...and what will happen then?
Athena fingers the flashing ruby pendant that Char gave her, and checks her father's gold pocket watch attached by chain to her vest, quickly closing on midnight.
The Gunperry approaches the South Pacific island of Borneo shortly before the sun rises in the east. Fuel levels have reached critical levels and the aircraft's structural integrity is failing…
The onboard computer indicates a clearing in the jungle approximately 12 klicks inland; Athena programs the Gunperry to make a controlled landing at the site, and then rushes to the Hizack Custom, boarding the mobile suit and bringing its combat systems online.
They're not getting me without losing a few more of their own, Athena resolves.
"She's down sir," Chief Warrant Officer Francois Bourget reports, "Should we finish her?"
"Wait," Goresh warns his men, "her aircraft is done, but she still has that damned mobile suit. Don't proceed until I give the order, and only with extreme caution."
"Roger, sir," comes the collective reply.
The cargo bay hatch of the Gunperry opens up, and the RMS-106CS Hizack Custom that was once piloted by 1Lt. Gale Turner steps out, beam launcher in hand and bazooka at the ready.
"Stand by," Goresh instructs his men, "this bitch took down eight of our comrades. As commander of this unit, I'm going to take her down myself."
Goresh's Asshimar, upright in its mobile suit configuration, its large beam rifle at the ready at its side, faces off against Athena's Hizack Custom...about a half klick apart, as if the two mobile suits were gunfighters from the Old West.
"I'm going to ventilate you," Goresh says menacingly over the comlink, "you'll pay for slaughtering my men."
Athena receives the message, but says nothing in response...at least nothing verbally. The report of the Hizack Custom's beam launcher speaks for her.
The launcher's yellow beam of Minovsky particles strikes through Goresh's Asshimar before he can even bring his own mobile suit's beam rifle to bear upon the Hizack Custom.
Not hesitating or wasting a moment, Athena swings the beam launcher around and begins to pick off the remaining Dopps...again, very much like duck hunting, she muses.
Still in shock at seeing their commanding officer and his Asshimar immolated so easily, the Dopp pilots turn their aircraft away and flee in terror as Athena's Hizack advances at them, firing the beam launcher for precise strikes against them.
In less than a minute, it is over. The wreckage of Goresh's squadron smolders in the jungle.
"Maybe someday, I'll pay," Athena finally says, "but not today."
General Bright Noa sits in his office at Side 7's Revil Base as he contemplates the latest report he's received on a situation that the Earth Federation Forces have been monitoring since it started just hours ago.
Remnants of the Zeon Terrestrial Forces from the One Year War pursued a decommissioned Gunperry registered with the Red Cross International branch in Musoma, Tanzania, from central Africa to Borneo in the South Pacific. Most oddly, the Gunperry was equipped with a Hizack Custom mobile suit of Gryps Conflict vintage.
General Noa remembers that the Mobile Suit Test Corps had spent the early part of their operations during the latter days of the One Year War, and he knows one of his best officers and pilots is currently in a relationship with a former member of said Corps.
Not one to simply relay a message that he could get better results by seeing it delivered himself, Bright picks up his phone, and dials Major Christina Mackenzie's number.
After a couple of rings, Bright intones, "Hello Major Mackenzie. This is General Noa. Is your boyfriend present?"
Half an hour later, Major Christina Mackenzie and her boyfriend, Retired Captain Ryusuke Kenta, walk into General Noa's Office. Mackenzie could sense the emotions the general's secretary holds towards Kenta, all of which are highly negative… too negative for anyone who is actually aligned with the Federation… she'll have to bring that up to him.
They enter the office and immediately salute the general, "Major Mackenzie reporting for duty, with Captain Kenta present as you requested, sir."
"At ease," he tells them before handing them the folder.
"Remnants of the Zeon Terrestrial Forces have been unusually active lately… and whoever is responsible for this increase in activity crashed in Borneo."
"Now I see why you wanted me here," Ryusuke says as he begins to piece it together, "You know that I fought in the jungles of Borneo in October of 79, so I'm familiar with the terrain."
"Add in the fact that I don't have enough supporters in the Federation government needed to do this without being burned at the stake, and I'm left with no choice but to hire a mercenary for this rescue mission."
"Makes me wonder how far up Blackhead can put his own head up his ass to get the unlimited number of political favors he has," Christina says with distaste.
"Probably waxes his head for minimum resistance," Ryusuke jokingly replies.
"I wish to hire Captain Ryusuke Kenta as a special operative for this mission," General Noa says with a chuckle.
"Since doing so will require a Federation officer volunteer to insure the 'special operative' doesn't go off the reservation, I volunteer," Mackenzie replies, "What mobile suits can you provide us with?"
"I'm afraid I can't supply you with anything state of the art like the new ReZEL units," General Noa explains regretfully.
"We're getting RMS-179 GM II's, aren't we," Major Mackenzie sighs resignedly.
General Noah smiles, "Not nearly that dire. I do believe I've found a suitable substitute in the form of two Zeta Plus A1's."
"Not bad," Kenta said with an appreciative grin, "See to it that they're given our personal colors."
"And have your secretary taken into custody," Chris whispers, "I'm pretty certain she's a Zeon spy."
"That wouldn't surprise me since the ones who put her there are members of High Command," Bright sighs, "It feels like they'll do anything to discredit me."
"We'll head out tomorrow once the suits have been given a proper paint job," Ryusuke remarks with a nod before walking out the door, where he stops briefly and adds, "Let your friends on Earth know the Devil in Black is coming."
The woman is so terrified by the realization that she's been found out that she almost forgets to relay the message.
Ryusuke awakes at 04:00, as he has every morning since his time in the Mobile Suit Test Corp.
The veteran warrior rises and steps to the window of the bedroom in the apartment he shares with his girlfriend, the equally veteran Major Christina Mackenzie.
They have been dating for ten years but he can't bring himself to ask the question… the scars left by that day run too deeply for him to ask her that.
So consumed is Ryusuke by his thoughts that he almost fails to notice the presence of his lover walking up behind him until she wraps her arms around his waist.
"You shouldn't dwell on the past," she whispers.
Kenta chuckles bitterly as he says, "It's hard not to when I can remember every detail of that day like it only happened hours ago."
"Even after 17 years," she asks, "You remember everything in such perfect detail after 17 years?"
"There's no forgetting what happened," he sighs.
"I'm not asking you to forget them," Christina replies, "All I want is for you to move forward with me."
"Just move forward," he echoed thoughtfully. "I'll give it a shot."
"That's all I'm asking you to do."
Christina and Ryusuke board the shuttle that will ferry them to the Ra Callum, which is traveling just far enough from earth's gravity well to not be pulled out of orbit. After an hour, the couple arrives at the flagship of the Londo Bell Special Forces. Once aboard, they don their Normal Suits and proceed straight to flight deck, where their dual Zeta Plus transformable mobile suits await.
Even Kenta cannot help admitting that the Zeta Plus makes the Prototype Gundam he piloted during the last days of the One Year War look like a joke. Both were on the launch catapults in Waverider mode, making the immediate task of atmospheric reentry that much easier since they will launched into it Mother Earth's unforgiving winds.
"Ryusuke Kenta here, I'm heading out," deliberately omitting the military rank he no longer considers relevant, if he ever did.
"Major Christina Mackenzie, launching."
And with that, Ryusuke and Christina descend into Earth's atmosphere, on a course to Borneo.
Local temperature, 42 degrees Celsius...atmospheric humidity, 78%.
Such conditions are quite different from those Athena experienced during her years in alpine St. Moritz with the Masses, to say nothing of her early childhood in Axis Fortress in the Asteroid Belt. The climate is somewhat reminiscent of Musoma...but owing to the ocean breeze, balmier, more soothing, more tropical…
Athena Ibaz soaks in the brilliant rays of the sun. Attired in a metallic gold G-string micro bikini that leaves little to the imagination in terms of her shapely, finely toned physique, Athena lifts the visor of her straw hat and sips a glass of the Brut champagne she acquired from the private quarters of the long deceased commanding officer of the Hindu Kush supply base, thousands of kilometers to the northwest.
So good to just kick back for a while, Athena reflects, her longest downtime since...she can't even quite recall.
Athena takes advantage of the downtime to catch up on her reading. She is absorbed in the latest article posted by Mafty...one that warns of fascistic elements in the Earth Federation Forces, particularly one flag-ranking officer named General Manron Blackhead.
"Blackhead is a mad dog," Athena reads from Mafty's blog, "a genocidal maniac who WILL murder hundreds of millions if given the chance! He must not be allowed to accumulate more power!"
The subject becoming intolerably weighty, Athena sets her tablet aside to admire her own curves...the graceful contour of her hips and bottom...the elegant course of her long, coltish legs.
Not bad, Athena smiles with pleasure.
Her smile fades when she senses two interlopers approaching.
She grabs the Marakov pistol lying at her side and points the weapon at the two approaching figures: a man and a woman.
"That's close enough," Athena says, "who are you people and why are you here? And don't tell me 'Earth Federation Forces' because I can already tell that from your gear. I want names, and I want reasons."
The woman, an attractive red-haired mobile suit pilot who looks at least a decade younger than her forty years, raises her hands and says calmly, "I'm Major Christina Mackenzie. This is Ryusuke Kenta. Frankly, we're here to investigate you, Miss…."
"Athena Ibaz," comes the reply, the Marakov pistol still trained distrustingly on the two Earth Federation Forces officers.
Athena spots Mackenzie's companion...the man named Kenta, and draws in her breath as she recognizes him.
It's him, Athena shudders, from a sudden feeling of coldness unrelated to her skimpy attire, the man who killed all those Federation MPs in St. Moritz!
"You've been on quite a rampage the past two months," smiles Major Mackenzie, "tore up over a dozen Zeon units between Musoma and this location."
"For survival," Athena answers, "They were trying to kill me."
"Undoubtedly," Christina says, even as Athena eyes Ryusuke Kenta uneasily, "and we're very interested in knowing why the ZTF has such an interest in killing you."
"So am I," Athena confesses turning the muzzle of her pistol away as she begins to sense that she can trust these strangers, "You two care for a drink? I wasn't expecting company, but there's enough Brut here for the three of us."
"Why not?" Christina answers, taking a seat next to Athena on the deck. Kenta joins them silently, much to Athena's unease.
Athena pours the champagne into a martini glass and a brandy goblet, handing the first to Christina and the latter to Ryusuke, "My apologies for the breach of etiquette...I didn't figure I'd need more than one champagne glass."
Athena toasts Christina and Ryusuke, and the trio tastes the expensive bubbly.
"We'd like to talk to you about your past, Miss Ibaz," Christina begins in a manner that encourages trust, "and depending on what you tell us, possibly your future."
"I'm listening," Athena says, offering Christina and Ryusuke cigarettes that they politely decline before she ignites her own.
At that moment, fifty kilometers northwest of Athena's location, a large ZTF attack group led by Captain Patrick Thorne from his vintage Titans ORX-005 Gaplant proceeds towards their target
In addition to Thorne's Gaplant, the attack group also includes one Gallop ground assault vehicle, five Z'gok amphibious mobile suits, fifteen Doms, five standard Hizacks, and a duo of Galbaldy Betas
Thorne radios his crew, "This is Thorne. Target is fifty kilometers southeast of our position. We've received word from our friend on the ark that our target won't be alone. She's going to have two friends with her...one of whom is none other than the 'Devil in Black' himself...Captain Ryusuke Kenta!"
The mention of the name sends a shiver down the spines of the ZTF troops...some in apprehension, some in terror, and some in eagerness and anticipation.
"Kenta is mine, boys," Thorne ensures his men understand, "Your duty is to pluck the feathers off the two birds with him."
"So you're telling us that with one Gunperry and one Hizack Custom, you outmaneuvered several ZTF squads, making shitburgers out of them across several continents?" Ryusuke Kenta says with a measure of incredulity.
After what I saw you do in St. Moritz, Athena thinks to herself, do you find what I did so hard to believe?
Her words come out slightly more diplomatically, "You don't have to believe any of it, Captain Kenta, but it's the only truth I can tell you."
"Ha! Nobody's called me that since the One Year War," the only man present chuckles, "Though it does beg the question of how you knew that I was a captain."
"I know that a Captain Ryusuke Kenta was an important hero of the Earth Federation Forces during the closing days of that war," Athena answers matter-of-factly, "and judging from your age, it's a safe assumption that you're that same Ryusuke Kenta."
Athena's explanation brings a wan smile to Kenta's face, "Smartass… but the history books are wrong… I'm no hero… If anything, I'm a demon."
Athena puts on a shirt, covering her top, but leaving her legs delightfully exposed, "Hero or demon, now that you're here, you're going to have to deal with whatever shit I attract, but I guess you already counted on that."
Christina smiles, "We came down with a pair of Zeta Pluses; you didn't think we arrived here first-class in commercial shuttlecraft, do you?"
Athena, "No, but when we return to space, I'd certainly like to go first-class."
"That can be arranged," Christina replies, "but first…"
She stops in mid-sentence.
"I think your playmates have found you," the one-time pilot of the Gundam Alex says.
Five seconds later, Athena and Ryusuke sense it too.
Kenta chuckles as he says, "Such is the power of an Empathic Newtype."
Athena begins dressing in her flight suit, "I'm going to take the Hizack into the forest and keep them at bay for a few minutes while you two get to your mobile suits. How far away are they?"
Christina replies, "About a klick from here."
"Then what are you two waiting for?" Athena says aloofly, pulling on her helmet, "Move your Feddie asses!"
Athena disappears into the Hizack's cockpit.
"Bossy bitch," Christina remarks, though with a smile, "not even enlisted yet, and already giving us orders."
"Seems like she's used to people obeying her," Kenta observes noncommittally.
The ZTF attack group closes in on the target location, now a mere three kilometers out.
"Fan out," Thorne orders his men, "Don't let them pick us off easily, and remember...Kenta is MINE!"
Thorne's troops obey their commanding officer's orders, spreading themselves out across the dense Borneo jungle, some of the treetops tall enough to completely obscure even their 20-meter tall mobile suits.
"Man," one of the Dom pilots complain, "this jungle is dense! All I see is trees!"
"Did I just see something move?" another Dom pilot asks.
"Probably just a vin…!"
The Dom is blasted to an expanding fireball, setting the jungle on fire.
"Fan out wider and stay low!" Thorne orders his men, "or you'll be sitting ducks!"
Kenta and Christina have lifted off in their Zeta-Pluses, hovering at low altitude, using the smoke created by the conflagration resulting from Athena's immolation of the Dom as cover.
"Not bad," Christina enthuses, "the smoke cover she created will make it difficult for the enemy to spot us."
"It also makes it a little more difficult for us to spot them," Kenta amends, "but we've got something they don't."
"They've got units coming in from the river," Christina notes, checking her combat computer, "Z'Goks. Five of them."
"When's the last time you went swimming, Kenzie?" Kenta asks.
"Two years ago," Christina answers, "when we took that vacation in Aruba."
"You still look great in a swimsuit," Kenta remarks.
"Let's see how I look in a MOBILE suit," Christina answers, transforming her Zeta Plus into mobile suit configuration and plunging into the river.
The Z'Goks, not expecting to be confronted first, are caught flat-footed as Major Christina McKenzie's Zeta Plus tears into them with its beam rifle. Though the water somewhat attenuates the intensity of the Minovsky particle stream, it is nevertheless more enough to reduce to scrap the Z'Gok it penetrates.
Having thus shocked and awed the enemy, Christina launches the Zeta Plus out of the water and back into the air, "Don't want to stay down there too long; that's still their element."
"Remember when we went spearfishing in Aruba?" Kenta says, "What did I show you how to do?"
"Right," Christina answers, drawing out the blue Zeta Plus's beam saber, igniting, and throwing THROUGH the next Z'Gok that emerges from the water, causing it to explode.
"Let me get down there and help you finish them ," Kenta adds as another explosion in the jungle indicates that Athena Ibaz must have taken down another ZTF suit, "before that crazy kid turns this entire jungle into an inferno."
And I thought I was a first-class hellraiser, Kenta grins.
"Hmmm?" the former Earth Federation Forces ace lifts his head to see a Titans vintage Gaplant, flanked by a pair of RMS-117 Galbaldy Betas, bearing down on him from 10 o'clock high.
Aboard his mobile armor configuration Gaplant, Captain Patrick Thorne smiles as he visualizes the glories sure to be his after he has liquidated the Earth Federation's so-called "Devil in Black."
They will praise me above all other heroes of Zeon. Jack Spencer? Char Aznable? Breniff Oguz? Johnny Ridden? Haman Karn? The Zabi Family? BAH! Their names will be as nothing compared the glory that is THORNE. When the books of history have closed upon our time, it will be recorded and taught to schoolchildren for generations to come that Patrick Thorne was the one who led Zeon to its greatest glory...the cornerstone of 10,000 years of Zeon dominance!
This line of thought was broken by both of his Galbaldy Beta wingmen being vaporized by two individual shots of Kenta's Zeta Beam Rifle.
"Jack doesn't let delusions of grandeur anywhere near his thoughts," Ryusuke taunts his opponent over the universal comms channel, "and I have just enough experience with empathic sensing to know that's what was going on in your head."
"You arrogant bastard," Thorne snarls, "I'm going to make an end you and take your woman as my trophy!"
That is all it takes to make this duel into a demonstration of how a vastly superior combatant can toy with his opposition should he choose.
Ryusuke wears an amused grin as he says, "Then let's see if you can keep pace with me… when Jack and I fought mano-a-mano back in the day during the assault on the mining base, it ended in a draw… your mobile suit and mine are a close match in terms of performance, so this is gonna come down to skill. Tell me, Thorne: do you have the skills needed to best me?"
Thorne growls as he suppresses the growing sense of dread and charges forward in MA Mode with the intent of ramming the Zeta Plus. "DIE FEDDY SCUM!"
Kenta simply sidesteps the attack, the Zeta beam rifle resting lazily against the shoulder of his mobile suit.
"I hope for your sake that wasn't your best shot," he says in a dark tone that shows how amusing this is to him.
Thorne is outraged by his opponent's flippant attitude...as if Kenta does not view him as a threat!
The ZTF veteran points his Gaplant's dual beam cannons at the black Zeta Plus and fires, only for the Devil in Black to dodge once more.
In response, Kenta activates the beam saber function of the Zeta beam rifle and dashes forward, stopping just short of skewering his opponent before declaring, "I win."
Captain Patrick Thorne doesn't get the chance to respond as the beam fires from the rifle, piercing the cockpit and vaporizing the pilot.
"So much for your grandiose ambitions, eh, Thorne?" Kenta says, his voice dripping with derision.
A single Dom, observing the scene from behind the cover of the dense jungle foliate, draws a bead on the back of Kenta's Zeta Plus with its bazooka.
It fails to fire upon Kenta before it is immolated by a powerful beam launcher shot behind its own back!
Athena Ibaz's Hizack Custom, looking worse for the wear with one arm torn off, its head crest broken, and an assortment of burns and breaches in its armor, stumbles out from the jungle.
"You left your back open, Kenta!" Athena complains.
"No, I didn't," Kenta replies with a smile, "I knew you were there, and now, I know where your head and your heart are."
Athena answers only with, "There are still about four of them back there...three Hizacks and one more Dom. You guys finish it. My mobile suit has had it!"
Kenta and Kenzie disappear into the jungle, their mobile suits converted to mobile armor configuration. Several explosions in the jungle, and within minutes, it is over.
The Zeta Pluses return just as Athena clambers out of the cockpit of the Hizack Custom and onto the jungle floor.
The former Duchess of Zeon surveys the heavily damaged Hizack Custom and exhales, "Yeah...it's done. I'm done here too."
Major Christina McKenzie and former Captain Ryusuke Kenta approach the young woman.
"Hey, you OK?" Christina asks, genuinely concerned.
Athena shrugs nonchalantly, "I'm fine, but my mobile suit and the Gunperry are trashed. Looks like I'm done running."
Christina smiles, "There's no need to run anymore...if you don't want to."
Athena glances at Kenta, who nods and grins encouragingly.
Athena turns to Christina, "So you're saying…?"
Christina nods, "We'd like you join us. The Earth Federation Special Forces can use talent like yours."
Athena weighs that option; her goal has been to reform the Federation from within, and maybe this is where she will begin.
"I'll go with you to Shanghai," Athena tells them.
Christina opens the cockpit hatch of the Zeta Plus, quickly sets up the seldom-used jump seat, and invites Athena to strap herself in.
"So is this a Zeta Gundam?" Athena asks, checking out the transformable mobile suit, presently in its mobile armor configuration.
"Zeta-Plus," Christina amends, strapping herself into the pilot's seat, "second generation derivation of the original Zeta Gundam. This thing is fast, so make sure you're strapped in tight."
"I figure it's more airmobile than the Gunperry," Athena remarks dryly.
"Would you like to try your hand flying it?" Christina asks with a grin, clearly not serious.
"No thanks," Athena responds, "I think I'll just be a passenger this time around."
Kenta's voice comes through their helmet comms, "I've called up Pacific Flight Command. They've given us clearance to hook up with the Grand Tunny."
Christina asks, "Rendezvous point?"
Kenta checks and replies, "368 kilometers northwest of here...sending you the heading data now. We'll intercept it in 47 minutes."
"Copy that," Christina replies.
The two Zeta Pluses lift off from the Bornean jungle, accelerating to supersonic speed in the stratosphere.
"So where are you from, Miss Ibaz?" asks Christina shortly after they're airborne.
"Tanzania," Athena answers plainly.
Christina nods knowingly, "I have a feeling you weren't raised there."
"I'm a drifter," Athena allows, "I go where the wind blows."
"A rolling stone, eh?" Christina pursues, "You know, you look…"
"Mind your flying, Major," Athena cuts her off, "my life is in your hands."
"All right, then," Christina answers, saying no more.
Imperious bitch, Christina thinks to herself, Hah! I like her!
Forty-five minutes later, in the skies over Malaysia, Captain Kenta and Maj. Mackenzie make visual contact with the Grand Tunny, the Earth Federation Forces' successor to the Garuda-class air transports that ruled the skies during the UC 0080s. Slightly smaller than the mammoth Garuda class, the Tunny class holds the advantage of far superior speed and maneuverability, including the capability of acting as a gunship to an extent that its older, larger cousin never did, compensating for the Tunny's slightly lower cargo capacity.
"This is Zeta-Plus 01, Maj. Christina Mackenzie of Earth Federation Londo Bell Special Forces, hailing Grand Tunny," Christina announces through the comms, "requesting permission to dock."
"Permission granted, Zeta-Plus 01," a cockpit tech replies, "Captain Halsey welcomes you aboard."
"Copy that," Christina replies, "extend my thanks to the captain."
The cargo hatch of the Grand Tunny opens, and Christina's Zeta-Plus synchronizes speed and altitude with the Tunny...a feat requiring considerable precision and skill, especially with the powerful wake created by the massive Tunny, flying at speeds that previous generations would have considered impossible for an aircraft of such mass.
"This is a high precision maneuver," Christina explains for her passenger, "the slightest miscalculation, and we go down...taking the Tunny with us."
Athena, sitting with her arms crossed, looks and sounds positively bored as she deadpans dryly, "You'd better focus, then."
Christina smiles; if Ibaz is nervous about this, she isn't showing the slightest hint of it.
A marshaller from the crew of the Grand Tunny waves in Christina's Zeta-Plus using a pair of orange signaling batons. Christina, simultaneously keeping track of the marshaller's baton signals, verbal instructions from the Tunny's bridge crew, and her own instruments, maintains course and speed synchronization, extending the Zeta Plus's magnetic clamp landing gear.
Twenty hair-raising seconds later, the landing gear attaches itself to a corresponding magnetic hook mechanism built onto the landing deck of the Tunny's cargo hold. The Zeta-Plus abruptly snaps to a dead stop from 205 knots.
"Made it," Christina exhales, removing her helmet and opening the cockpit.
Behind her, Athena Ibaz rises, removes her helmet, grins mysteriously, and puts a hand on Christina's shoulder, saying only, "I'm impressed."
A rising commotion among the Grand Tunny's deck personnel, as they scream in terror and scramble to whatever safety can be had, alerts them to the approach of Captain Kenta's Zeta-Plus 02, approaching at a speed of at least 400 knots.
"Oh, my God!" somebody screams.
"He's CRAZY!" another concurs.
"Out of the way!" a third roars.
"...th' HELL he doing?!" a fourth voice shouts, "We haven't reset the arrestor gear yet! Holy shit! He's gonna…!
Scarcely 200 meters from the deck, the Zeta Plus 02 transforms from mobile armor into mobile suit configuration, retro and vectoring jets firing, slowing the mighty mechanical warrior down as it lands gracefully on the deck, its armored feet magnetized to the deckplates of the Tunny's cargo deck.
"He did it better," Athena quips, hiding her slight grin behind the back of one hand.
Christina puts her hands on her hips and glares at Kenta, waving to her from the open cockpit of the Zeta-Plus 02, "Now, he's just showing off."
Thirty minutes later, having received a warm welcome from the Grand Tunny's commanding officer, Captain Patrick Halsey, Athena, Christina, and Kenta cool their heels within one of the aircraft's lounges.
Christina and Kenta observe carefully as Athena drinks tea from a ceramic cup held under by a saucer. Even the way she holds the cup and sips the tea bespeaks a privileged background - Old World class - that belies her self-claimed drifter status.
Kenta further notes the young woman, beautiful, though commanding even at a mere seventeen years of age, carefully studying her environs...taking mental note of every nook and niche of the Tunny's internal layout...almost as if she were planning an escape (or takeover of the aircraft), though Kenta does not believe such a plan to be likely, given that Athena Ibaz had requested to go with them to Shanghai.
Bored, Kenta opens one of the lounge's cabinets, spotting a stack of board games and magazines.
"Well, what have we here?" Kenta says, pulling out a flat cardboard box, "Shogi. Been a while since I played. Kenzie?"
Christina answers, "Maybe later. I need to report to General Noa."
"Ibaz?" Kenta invites.
Without answering, Athena steps over to the table, sets aside the teacup and saucer, and takes a seat.
"Ever play shogi before?" Kenta asks.
"Never," Athena answers, "but if it's anything like European chess, I'll figure it out."
"Fundamentally, it's not that different," Kenta tells her, setting up the board and pieces, "Let me explain a few of the differences."
Kenta's explanation is thorough, but does not take long. In fewer than ten minutes, Athena has a fundamental understanding of how shogi works differently from European chess.
She's a fast learner, Kenta observes, as expected.
As the experienced player, Kenta allows Athena to make the opening move. She surprises him slightly with a conservative move.
She's probing, Kenta notes, she's clearly not going to make any big moves until she knows more.
As game play progresses, Kenta feigns vulnerability, attempting to bait Athena into making big, aggressive moves in which he can trap her. She is patient, however, and it takes time for Kenta to draw her into making such a maneuver.
When she does, Kenta nails her, taking her emperor piece.
"You lasted longer than I thought you would, Ibaz," Kenta says with a grin, "but you were always going to go down."
Athena pulls out her gold pocket watch to check the time; they have been in flight for more than 45 minutes.
"Cool watch," Kenta remarks, "18 carats, at the very least...must cost five figures."
Athena closes the watch and repockets it in her vest, "It was my father's."
"Your daddy must have been someone important," Kenta observes.
"Was," Athena answers, "I don't have much memory of him."
Kenta, "You're like...seventeen this year? Your daddy a One Year War veteran?"
"Yes," Athena responds plainly.
"I'm not going to ask which side," Kenta tells her, "Wouldn't be the gentlemanly thing to do."
"There's still at least an hour before we touch down in Shanghai," Athena remarks, "Go another round?"
"You're a glutton for punishment," Kenta says.
"We'll see," Athena answers darkly.
Another round...and although Athena begins probingly, as before, she mounts a far more aggressive attack much sooner than she did in the previous match...not giving Kenta a millimeter of breathing space.
High risk maneuvers, Kenta notes, big risks, but big rewards.
Once again, Athena plays Kenta tightly, but once again, he takes her emperor.
"You were more than ready to sacrifice it all to take me down," Kenta says, "even though there wasn't much of a chance you would."
"Mmm-hm," Athena confirms.
"You didn't think about those pieces you risked and sacrificed?" Kenta probes.
"It's just a game," Athena shrugs.
"But what if they were real lives?" Kenta presses further.
Athena does not answer, but gives him a mysterious smile and gazes at him through those strikingly bright green eyes.
Major Christina Mackenzie enters the lounge, "Captain Halsey says we'll be entering Shanghai airspace in about twenty minutes, so we'd better get ready."
Throughout her long sojourn across the Asian steppes, Athena had piloted both the Gunperry and the Hizack Custom mobile suit clad in an aviator's flight suit and helmet. The same garb was also deemed adequate, by necessity, for the flight from Borneo to intercept the Grand Tunny.
Now, however, Athena finds Major Mackenzie handing her a normalsuit and helmet. A straightforward airstrip landing would not seem to require such a precaution, but Athena knows better than to argue, quickly donning the protective gear.
"Getting out of here and onto the ground will be like something you might have seen in old-time spy movies," Christina comments, putting on her helmet.
"You don't say," Athena, already helmeted, comments in response, arms crossed and expression and body-language as insouciant as ever.
The Grand Tunny's rear cargo hatch opens, and the sprawl of metropolitan Shanghai with its 30 million inhabitants looms below.
A green light on the deck indicates the authorization to detach and depart.
The Zeta-Plus 01 plummets out of the back of the Grand Tunny in mobile armor configuration. Several seconds later, Christina redirects its orientation into a nosefirst power dive towards the ground.
"Remember...what I told...you...back...on...the deck…," Christina tells Athena, "Hold your breath and squeeze your stomach...kind of...like taking...a shit….in reverse….like this…'hnnngh'...push the blood back into...your head!"
"Hnngh," is all Athena manages by way of affirmation, following Christina's directives and privately glad that she had visited the head on the Tunny just before donning the normalsuit, or she would have made a terrible mess in it by now.
Athena sees the urban sprawl of the city grow larger and larger ahead of (below) them. She glances to the side and sees Kenta's Zeta-Plus 02 making a similar dive.
In her helmet visor, Athena can read the altimeter...9,000 meters….8,000 meters...7,000…
Athena shakes her head and holds her breath again, "taking a shit in reverse," as Christina had frankly and accurately articulated it, as her peripheral vision momentarily grows foggy. She feels her ears popping and a splitting headache…
At 500 meters, the pair of Zeta-Pluses extend their legs and activate retro-thrusters, slowing themselves to a near crawl as the mobile armors unfold into mobile suits and touch down on the tarmac.
Christina removes her helmet and turns back to Athena with a grin, "Fun?"
"Thrilling," Athena admits, removing her own helmet, "Now get me to the nearest sink or latrine so I can be sick…"
Christina helps Athena out of the Zeta-Plus cockpit; the 17-year-old former Grand Duchess never makes it to a sink or latrine, spewing her guts up onto the tarmac...two cups of tea and a few hardtack crackers.
Athena collapses on the tarmac. Kenta and Christina examine her before a paramedic crew arrives.
"She'll be OK," Kenta says, "That power dive was just a bit more than she could handle."
Christina nods as the paramedics examine Athena and lift her onto a stretcher, "She did better than I did the first time."
Thirty minutes later, a lucid Athena Ibaz has been given a clean bill of health and allowed to depart the airbase infirmary with Major Mackenzie and Captain Kenta.
With the destruction of previous Earth Federation Government capital of Lhasa, Tibet during the Second Neo Zeon War, the surviving government apparatus moved its operations to Shanghai, China, including the Legislative and Deliberative Assemblies, formerly located in Dakar, Senegal.
Three passengers board SUV shuttles that bear them away from the aerospace base station and across the capital metropolis, still a resplendent Jewel of the East whose architectural decor continues to reflect the historical grandeur of its 20th and 21st Century past. Within thirty minutes, they arrive at the offices of the Central Ministry of the Earth Federation Forces, where at 08:13, Athena Ibaz is officially enlisted in the Earth Federation Forces.
Formal induction will occur after Athena's documents are processed, a procedure that will require days. In any case, Athena's training will occur at Side 7's Revil Base. As no commercial or military transports (the latter needed by Ryusuke and Christina for their mobile suits) from Shanghai to Side 7 are scheduled until the following evening, the trio spends the night at Shanghai's Fairmont Peace Hotel.
Having checked into their rooms, the trio decides to have dinner at the venerable Dragon and Phoenix Restaurant in the lobby of the grand old hotel, a venue famous for its fine Chinese cuisine.
The head waiter seats the trio near a window, from which they can see Shanghai's famed, beautiful Bund waterfront district.
"I hear the Beijing Duck here is excellent," Athena remarks, reviewing the menu.
"Why not?" Christina answers, "It's on the Federation's dime. General Noa loaned me his military credit card."
Kenta looks out at the view of the the Bund and remarks, "Three-hundred or so years ago, gangsters fought over this turf. The streets ran red with blood every day, as European and Japanese imperialists struggled both alongside and against the local Chinese gangs and nationalistic agitators over control. Not much has changed in three-hundred years. Different people, different turf...same stupidity."
The waiter comes to take their order, and Athena orders the Beijing Duck and a vintage bottle of Chablis, dating back to UC 0069.
"You have expensive tastes, kid," Kenta observes.
"There may be no tomorrow," Athena responds, "and I'd really hate it if my final drink was from a canister of water I lifted from the Hindu Kush supply base."
"Good point," Kenta answers.
The delicious meal arrives, along with the delectable wine. One hour later, the trio is more than comfortably satiated, if not slightly drunk.
Christina asks for the bill, to which the waiter replies, "It's already been paid, ma'am."
Christina's eyes widen in alarm, "By who?"
"That gentleman over there, ma'am," the waiter replies, indicating a handsome young man around Athena's age, clad in a burgundy three-piece suit.
The young man toasts them with his drink, but only Athena sees fit to return the toast.
Athena, without taking her eyes off the handsome young man, says to Christina, "You said on the Federation's dime, right?"
Christina turns her eyes towards Athena, "Uh oh. What do you have in mind, Athena?"
Athena grins.
Five minutes later, the waiter brings a refilled glass and a fresh bottle of Chablis to the young man, who rises and smiles pleasantly as he walks over to the table where Athena, Christina, and Kenta are seated.
"I must thank you for your kindness, Miss..." the young man begins graciously, offering his hand to her.
"...Athena Ibaz," Athena finishes for him, taking his hand,"and it's we who need to thank you for your kindness first, Mr…."
"Noa," the young man finishes, "Hathaway Noa."
Kenta and Kenzie exchange silent glances, but say nothing.
Hathaway Noa, too absorbed with Athena and her ethereal beauty to notice her two companions, continues, "You aren't from around here, are you? I've lived in Shanghai for some time now, and I haven't seen you around. I would definitely have noticed a young lady as strikingly pretty as you."
Athena answers, "Thank you. I'm just passing through. I'm on my way to Side 7 tomorrow."
"Such a shame," Hathaway remarks, genuinely chagrined and reluctant to let go of Athena's hand, "Hope we meet again if you should ever come through Shanghai in the future."
"We should," Athena remarks, also reluctantly letting go of Hathaway's hand.
When Hathaway is out of earshot, Christina whispers to her two companions, "That kid is General Noa's son!"
"Hathaway Noa," Kenta confirms, "He's in hot water with his old man over that incident in 0093. You're not planning on telling your boss about this encounter, are you, Chris?"
Christina mulls that over.
Athena sips her Chablis, indifferent to Kenta and Kenzie's discussion.
Hathaway Noa…
A day later, Athena, Christina, and Ryusuke are aboard an Earth Federation transport shuttle, launching from Shanghai Aerospace Base Station to Side 7's Revil Base.
In her seat, Athena reads again from her personal tablet...a new posting from Mafty.
The words, however, make her scowl. Up until now, they had made her smile.
"...and the only viable solution is the complete destruction of the Earth Federation."
Complete destruction, Athena muses, such a waste. Why destroy what you can use for your own purposes?
Athena takes a look out the viewport at the Earth, fading out of view behind her.
Hathaway Noa…