Isn't it great how a single positive review can renew my faith in a story's potential? Just when I was about to phone it in for Legacy Gundam, I was motivated once again to keep on going. However, the chapter title isn't the same as I thought it would be, so "Love and War" became "Infinity's rage". Other then that, there's not a whole lot to say.

without further delay, here's the fourth chapter of Legacy Gundam.


Mobile suit: Legacy Gundam

movement 4- Infinity's rage

The Reaver Gundam battled desperately as it fires several rounds from it's rifle at the oncoming waves of opposing mobile suits. It seemed as though no matter how many Jillian shot down, they kept coming back. Again and again the relentless mobile suits charged at the Gundam. It grew more and more clear to Jillian that she was getting no refuge from the swarms of mobile suits. Growing frustrated and desperate in the cockpit, Jillian growled under her breath.
"To hell with this program! The battle never ends!"

Julian sat in the same cockpit, looking directly over Jillian's shoulder into the battlefield. After the events at Devil's eye, Julian had become something of a mentor towards the girl who happened to have a very similar sounding name. While he was only a year older than her at the oldest, when it came to experience in a mobile suit, Julian was old enough to be her father. However, assuming that mobile suit experience was what caused one to age, Jillian was growing up extremely fast, it seemed as though all the girl really needed was somebody to help her hone her skills, and tell her directly what her strengths and weaknesses were. Julian reflected on her swift growth, realizing that the only reason that he himself was so talented was because he had Andy to compete against ever since he was a child.

Julian smirked a little at Jillian's statement of the obvious.
"Uh... that's sort of the point Jill"

Jillian paused for a moment, her frustration become ever more clear by her face and the tone of her voice.
"I know that! It's just... so frustrating! I mean, why waste my time fighting a battle that's impossible for me to win!"

Julian sighed, scratching the back of his head.
"It shows how much you've grown, how long you last and how many mobile suits you've shot down is saved and recorded in the system. It's pretty useful for seeing how much better you've gotten"

Julian had in front of him a piece of paper that had Jillian's high score before he began mentoring her, and she was well on her way to tripling her previous high, Jillian was becoming a better pilot at a stunning rate. At the pace she was growing, she'd be equals with him and Eric in only a few more days, if that. This was, of course, something that he wasn't going to share with her until she was done with her current battle. An ego boost at a time like this would cripple Jillian's ability to fight, and scar her score when she finished.

The Reaver Gundam had several more mid-range weapons at it's disposal then Jillian had initially thought, many of which were very unique and were designed to force the opponents into close range combat, where the Reaver shined. For instance, if she combined the Reaver's rifle attack with her claw lances, as she was doing often these days, she had a brutal combination that hit the enemy from two sides, as the claw lances wrapped around behind the mobile suit and stabbed forward at it's back. Those without good reflexes would be caught by the lances and pulled swiftly into the Reaver's point-blank domain.

The Reaver was a much more impressive mobile suit than Julian first thought, and both it and it's pilot had grown much since Julian first battled it on Mantura's surface. Julian couldn't help but admire Jillian all the more for it, he began to see her as more than just a pretty face, she had a very special kind of drive to her, something that Julian hadn't seen in a woman for years. Most of the ladies that Julian grew up with were sheltered, spoiled, none of them believed that they had to work for anything that they got, they took their entire lives for granted. Not Jillian though, she was really something special.

His newfound admiration for Jillian, however, had to be put on hold for the moment, as the Starflare was still deep in ETGF territory. Trying to make an advance on her right now would only be a distraction for both pilots. Once they were able to rest at some point, however, maybe he'd have the chance he was looking for. Until then, he was content with these lessons, using them as a chance to spend time with Jillian. At the moment, Jillian was still doing incredibly well, although the oncoming mobile suits were dealing pretty consistent damage to the Reaver. As a particularly nasty plasma shot rang against Reaver's shoulder, Jillian shouted in frustration.
"My right arm is down! This is getting ridiculous!"

Julian couldn't stop himself from leaning forward and gently laying a hand on her shoulder. He spoke in a soothing voice to try and settle her down. When Jillian got angry, her abilities always dropped dramatically, this was one of the first things that Julian pointed out to her about her piloting, and one of the most difficult hurdles that she'd have to overcome.
"Take it easy... Just relax and try to focus on the task at hand."

On the outside of the Reaver's cockpit, the Gundam laid down a barrage of fire with the rifle in it's left hand. Jillian was well aware that her time was up, the loss of her right arm sealed that, now her goal was to take down as many opponents as she could with what she had left. Flying backwards, the Reaver used it's rifle to immobilize attacking mobile suits before rushing in and using her beam sword to finish the job. Switching between the two weapons often was a difficult task, so Jillian often had to focus around dodging enemy fire and attacking only when she had an opening. Despite an amazing performance from Jillian, it was only a matter of time before the Reaver was overwhelmed and destroyed.

When Jillian stepped out of the simulator, Julian was far from surprised when she leaned against the wall and started to breathe heavily. She had spent a lot of energy in that fight, during the battle she was fine, she had forced herself to continue fighting despite how tired she was. However, once the battle was over, all of that forced energy drained from her body. From the way she sounded, she wasn't overly optimistic concerning how well she performed in the simulation.
"Damn, that was pathetic..."

Julian couldn't stop himself from smiling, perhaps her ability to pilot Reaver wasn't the only part of her that was developing. Stepping around to face her, Julian looked at her with a reassuring gaze.
"Jillian, you're incredible. You just tripled your previous best score at that simulation"

Jillian was clearly shocked by this news, her eyes lit up a little.
"I... did what?"

Julian laughed a little, he was in good spirits at the moment.
"You heard me... come on, let's go get some lunch"

Realizing exactly how hungry she was, Jillian nodded and followed Julian out of the simulator room.


Cecilia was getting somewhat used to life aboard the Starflare, the other people aboard the ship were treating her rather well. Though that was only natural, as she was the pilot of the Legacy, and was one of their saving graces on the battlefield. Reflecting on what had taken place back at devil's eye, Cecilia had found it rather easy to fight against the ETGF. Why it would be so easy for her to kill people when she had never so much as pointed a knife at anybody in the past was a mystery to her, after thinking on the subject for a painstakingly long time, she decided to herself that it was only easy because she saw her opponents as mobile suits, not humans. The girl shut her eyes and tried to get a bit of rest, which was a task that had gotten quite a bit easier now that she was on the Starflare. Aboard this ship, she found that she hadn't felt so safe since she was forced to leave her home behind. And knowing that they were leaving ETGF space, that they'd be behind their own borders in a number of days, Cecilia got her hopes up that she'd get to feel what it was like to be truly safe. To sleep at night without worry of being attacked, or raided by a mob of officers, or anything of the sort. The thought was appealing, to say the very least about it.

Cecilia fell into a deep sleep for the first time in years, believing that she was safe aboard the Starflare, despite the fact that the ship had a massive target on it's hull, and was neck deep in ETGF territory.


"You really mean to say that this ship, the Starflare, was able to launch an attack on our home, mother earth, secure a top priority objective, and then escape the combat zone all without a hitch? Might I ask, what in the world were our forces on Devil's eye doing?"

The man in the mask read the report in silence, speaking aloud to the low ranking officer that had brought it to him. The young lieutenant seemed to shake in his boots, as though the man in the mask would demote him on the spot for being a part of such a botched operation.
"C-captain Talon, Sir! It was all because of those hyper advanced mobile suits, if it weren't for them, our forces would have routed Arteron."

Captain Talon sighed, waving the report in front of him and speaking to the Lieutenant with a curious voice.
"So then tell me, how did you end up surviving that mess?"
"M- My superior gave me orders to retreat just before the fourth machine made it's appearance"

Captain Talon rested his head on his hand, the metal mask that covered the top part of his head making a tiny clang as it collided with his knuckles. He was the only officer in the ETGF that was given permission to wear such a thing, and it certainly gave him a distinctive air from his fellow officers. Captain Talon had a brutal reputation in the ETGF, he had won battles in the past that many considered to be lost causes, he could turn a fight on it's head merely by appearing on the battlefield in his mobile suit, he was a man of incredible logic and skills, truly one of the top leaders in the ETGF. While he listened to the lieutenant's tale of the hyper advanced mobile suits, Talon simply shrugged and turned his attention to the report presented to him.
"Ah yes, a fourth one made it's appearance at that battle, didn't it? It makes you wonder just how many of those mobile suits Arteron really has."

The Lieutenant nodded, his face still slightly red, and he still shook lightly before the legendary captain.
"Those above us believe that we haven't seen all of them yet, they suspect around five or six of the hyper advanced suits at this time."

Captain Talon simply smirked, setting down the report and looking up at the lieutenant, though it was impossible to tell what exactly he was looking at because the mask he wore covered his eyes. Many wondered how it was that he could see through it, his vision was a bit of a mystery among the lower ranking pilots in his group.
"I believe that those above us are wrong... Arteron only has four of those machines."
"S-sir? What makes you think that?"

Captain Talon smirked a bit wider, as though predicting that the lieutenant would question his statement.
"Arteron made a desperate move by invading Devil's eye, just to find the pilot for one of these mobile suits. If they had any more, that were still void of pilots, why would they go to such lengths to find that one girl? Logic dictates that they only have four mobile suits, and we've seen all of them."

The Lieutenant paused, thinking on his words for a few moments before replying.
"I never thought about it like that, Sir."

Captain Talon rose from his chair, looking down at the Lieutenant.
"What was your name again, Lieutenant?"

The Lieutenant stood stiff, his shaking vanishing and his face clearing as he spoke, as he figured that the worst was behind him.
"L-Lieutenant Andrew Mann, sir."

Captain Talon stepped down from his command chair, heading for the door that would take him out of the bridge.
"Walk with me, Lieutenant Mann."
"Sir!"

Captain Talon walked down the hallways, with Lieutenant Mann trailing a short distance behind him. Talon didn't look back as he spoke, he kept his head forwards and his eyes locked on his next target, even while he was speaking.
"Lieutenant, you've already massed a bit of a track record of fighting those mobile suits, haven't you?"
"That's correct, I've been involved in two battles where they've appeared so far, sir."
"Yes, I read the reports. Your first time was at the Mantura colony, and then again at Devil's eye. Tell me, Lieutenant, what did you think of them?"

Andy lowered his gaze, thinking for several moments before speaking.
"Well, they're certainly impressive, considering that three of them fought back an entire attack wave, and four of them beat us at Devil's eye. They're like nothing else in the sky, not even my Ares comes close to matching them."

Captain Talon brought his hand up to his chin, his long blonde hair trailing behind him while he thought aloud.
"According to the gathered intelligence, the enemy calls those machines "Gundams". They're supposedly generations ahead of their time, which makes them quite the formidable enemy."

Andy nodded, looking back up towards the back of Captain Talon's head.
"According to my supervisor, I'm supposed to join this ship's crew and assist in your mission... So, what exactly is your mission?"

Captain Talon looked back towards Andy at long last, a confident smile on his face while he spoke with a completely level tone.
"Simple, Lieutenant Mann, we're going on a Gundam hunt."

Andy's eyes widened a bit in shock, his voice fumbled a little bit as he spoke.
"A Gundam hunt? Sir, My supervisor said that-"

Talon's gaze became a bit more serious for a moment.
"Your supervisor? Do you happen to be talking about that scientist, Agro?"
"That's him, Sir."
"Forget what he says, he knows nothing about the military's operations. His job is simply to make new weapons for us to use to destroy our enemies with... not to give us warriors orders. From now on, you answer to me, Lieutenant Mann, understood?"
"Yes sir!"

Captain Agro and Andy went along a bit longer before they turned a corner. As Andy turned the corner, he accidentally rammed into a young man around his age. The new man's black hair covered one of his eyes, and he was the only person that Andy came across in the entire ship that was wearing civilian attire. Andy wasn't one to question why, and just assumed that the young man had his reasons. Recovering from the collision, Andy stepped to the side.
"E- Excuse me."

The other man walked past him, speaking quietly in a hostile tone.
"Watch where you're going next time."

The rather dark man just kept on walking, leaving Andy in a bit of a bad mood.
"Who was that guy! He could have at least said excuse me."

Captain Talon turned around to Andy, speaking in the calm tone that was almost constant for him at this point.
"His name is Alec Stargrove, and he's going to be one of your comrades out there when we're fighting."

Andy turned to Captain Talon, stunned by those words.
"You're telling me that guy is a mobile suit pilot?"
"One of the best."

Andy shook his head, still a bit surprised about this development.
"well, he could be a bit more polite in any case."

Captain Talon started moving down the hallways again, speaking loud enough so that Andy could hear him.
"You'll get used to it... besides, the life that he's damned to live isn't one that I'd want to push onto anybody."

Talon and Andy made their way down to the engineering bay, Talon had a bit of a habit of individually checking each part of his ship before takeoff. Apparently it was to ensure that everything was perfectly in order, to make sure that no complications would arise because a section didn't do their jobs properly. As the doors to the engineering bay slid open, three of the engineers turned to Talon and gave a brief salute before the captain started to look around the bay.
"How's everything looking down here?"

The head engineer took a step forward, speaking to Talon in a brief and professional manner.
"Everything's ready to go, Sir. Engines are operating at 99% capacity, we're as ready for launch as we're ever going to be."

Talon nodded, his cool tone somewhat contradicting the tone of the Engineer.
"Good, because the engines are going to be under quite a bit of stress for a while... We'll be operating at maximum speed for at least 6 hours"

The Engineer started to speak up about this statement.
"6 hours! B-but sir that's-"

Talon cut him off, his voice growing slightly more serious as he talked about the mission.
"The Arteron ship has enough of a head start on us. We have to intercept it before it gets out of ETGF territory. And that means that we have to move as quickly as possible. Make it happen."

The head engineer sighed, saluting as Talon turned his back and started to leave the bay.
"As you command, Sir."

Andy went along with Talon, speaking up for the first time since his encounter with Alec.
"Sir, do you really think we can catch up with Arteron before they get to safety."

Talon turned back towards Andy, a confident smirk crept across his face.
"Lieutenant Mann, I'm absolutely certain that we'll be engaging that ship before they slip from our grasp"


Eric was in the cockpit of the Sentinel, reading a magazine with his feet propped up against a barren and powered down control panel.
"Standby is so boring..."

Haro bounced up and down in the bay, doing his best to lighten up the far to relaxed Eric.
"No problem! No problem!"

Eric chuckled a little bit resting the magazine against his chest and looking at the little bouncing robotic ball.
"Ease up Haro, you're gonna break something."

Of course, that didn't stop the little robot from bouncing inside the cockpit. Perhaps that was something that Haro did when he was bored, act in the most silly and pointless way possible. If that was the case, then Haro had to be just as bored on standby as Eric was. He was trapped in the cockpit of the Sentinel, simply waiting around just in case there was a fight. Eric perfectly understood the need to have at least one Gundam pilot on standby, but that didn't stop it from being the most dull experience in existence. Just when Eric thought that he was going to get Haro to calm down, his comm flicked on, with the veteran fighter Captain Kamaru appearing on the main screen.
"Eric, get you feet off the Gundam's dashboard"

Eric shrugged, swinging his feet off the panel and sitting up regularly.
"well, it's not like anything's happening around here."

Kamaru sighed, shaking his head and speaking a low tone, insinuating that he was a bit ashamed of Eric's extremely laid back attitude.
"we're still drowning in ETGF territory, we have to be ready to fight at a single moment's notice"

Eric nodded, reaching to de-activate the comm as he spoke in his usual bored tone.
"I got it... I got it..."

Before the communication was cut, Kamaru spoke again.
"Hang on Eric, there's something else... Keep an eye on the Legacy during our next fight, would you? Cecilia's about as green as they come, and I'm not sure if she'll have what it takes to hold her own in a real battle, now that she's one of us."

Eric nodded, pulling his hand off the power for a moment.
"I think I can do that for you. Don't worry, I'll keep Cecilia under my wing until she's good to go."

With those parting words, Eric cut the power and propped his feet against the control panel once more, flicking open the Magazine.
"Standby sucks..."


Hours passed without event, Terra was a bit thrown off that they hadn't encountered any Earth forces until now, since the ETGF had forward bases that would be capable of fighting. Perhaps the Starflare had gotten lucky. They had avoided the occassional patrol, but they really hadn't seen any elevated defensive measures. Was the ETGF communication really this bad with it's space fleet? Terra found it hard to believe, things were going too well, something had to be problem was, Terra wasn't sure what it was, she really had no way of predicting what the future held. She simply had to prepare for the worst and hope that her Gundam pilots could handle the rest.

Eric came into the command bridge, finally freed from the Sentinel's cockpit as Julian and Jillian took over standby for Eric and Kamaru. Eric rested his arms against the head of Terra's chair, speaking in a relaxed tone, though it was clear that he was glad to be off standby.
"How's it going up here, sis?"

Terra leaned back, sighing and taking her eyes off the screen.
"Pretty well... I guess..."

Eric paused, noticing from Terra's tone that she was worried about something. Although this was nothing new for her.
"You guess?"

Terra looked forward again, though her eyes weren't focused on the screen completely.
"Things have been way too quiet, I honestly can't believe that the ETGF is just going to give up and let us get away quietly..."

Eric nodded, pausing as his eyes glanced over to the monitor that showed the rear of the Starflare. Something seemed a bit odd, as Eric squinted, he could see a faint glimmer. It was slowly getting larger... and larger.
"Huh... that can't be good"

Terra looked up, noticing the same thing that Eric was looking at. She suddenly became far more serious, sitting up in her chair and speaking in a direct tone.
"Eric, get back in your Gundam"

Eric was already heading out the door, waving Terra off as he crossed the threshold.
"Aye, Aye."

Terra spoke to the bridge, lowering her gaze and thinking for a moment.
"Bring the ship 180 degrees around, all hands, combat condition red!"


"Hmm... seems like we've got their attention. Everybody, get ready for combat. Slow down the ship to 45% speed and prepare for engagement. Don't forget, this is the ship that beat us at both Mantura and Devil's eye, don't underestimate it"

Andy nodded, hearing the orders as Captain Talon spoke. He activated the main drive of his Ares, preparing to make his way out into the battlefield. As he started up his activation sequence, Andy's gaze flicked over to the left as the Mobile suit that shared a cargo bay with the Ares came to life. It was all black, with shades of green tracing it's frame. The Mobile suit made Andy shiver a bit, as he realized that it was exactly like the Gundams that he had fought in the past. From the cockpit of this new mobile suit, a voice that Andy recognized spoke on an open channel. It was Alec, the guy that had rammed into Andy earlier in the day.
"Captain, do I have permission to launch this time?"

Andy's eyes widened in surprise, hearing Talon's words as they came down.
"Yes, Alec, you have my permission... Show them the power of the infinity"


As the two ships closed in on one another, mobile suits began pouring out of either bays. The Four Gundams took the lead from the Arteron ships, all of them making their way towards the ETGF forces. Just as they prepared to engage, the Infinity tore out of the containment bay and charged towards the Gundams, drawing an energy sword and coming dangerously close to putting a gash in the Valian't shoulder, were it not for Julian's reflexes.
"What the heck is this thing!"

Jillian watched in shock for a moment, she sped towards the black mobile suit and attacked with her blades. The Infinity blocked swiftly, overpowering the Reaver and sending it backwards, the Infinity would have attacked Reaver, however, a few rounds from Sentinel's high caliber rifle sent it in the opposite direction. Jillian's voice came over the comm, it was clear that she was worried.
"It's a Gundam!"

The Infinity changed it's attack pattern, charging at the Legacy. It flew in an extremely hard to predict evasive pattern, making it impossible for either Eric or Cecilia to target it properly. Jillian chased after the machine from behind while Julian flanked from the left. Eric spoke as he held his fire, if he shot at the angle he was in, he'd risk hitting Cecilia.
"The ETGF has one too?"

The Valiant and the Reaver closed in on the infinity, attacking it from two angles. the infinity responded by drawing a massive blade of energy and spinning around, which forced both Gundams to stop their attack and retreat. However, that moment's halt was all Eric needed to get a shot lined up and fired. As the round made it's way towards the Infinity, the black Gundam evaded by continuing it's spinning motion from it's attack, dodging the round's shot cleanly. Julian was the next to speak into the group's comm, as the Valiant charged after the infinity and swung the Valian's longsword at the Infinity.
"This thing is crazy powerful!"

The Legacy charged forward next, catching the infinity off guard as it was dodging the Valiant's sword. Cecilia drew an energy saber and struck at the Infinity's shoulder, however, the infinity was quick to counter by drawing a second lengthy saber and clashing it against the blade that the Legacy was holding. Without warning, a piercing headache rang through Cecilia's mind, she brought her hands away from the metal rods that she used to mentally control the Legacy, unable to shake the headache.
"What... is this... this pain!"

The Infinity pulled away a little bit, it's pilot pausing in surprise as his head started to ache.
"S-Sister? Are you here?"

His eyes locked onto the Legacy, which was the source of his headache.
"Sister! It's you!"

The Infinity charged directly at the Legacy, it would have stabbed it's blades directly into the cockpit if the Reaver hadn't intercepted with it's own attack. The Infinity peeled away, directly into the line of fire of the Sentinel's rifle. By keeping itself moving constantly, and making it's pattern extremely unpredictable, the Infinity was able to avoid the firing and charge at the sentinel. However, the sentinel simply put it's sniper rifle off to the side and placed it's hands together in front of it. Two pieces of a cannon came together from either side of either arm. After a single second, where there were once two arms, there was now a single, massive cannon. Eric smirked a little bit.
"Say hello to the Sentinel's ace in the hole, the peacemaker"

The Infinity's pilot wasn't an idiot, the moment he realized that he was staring down the barrels of a massive cannon, Alec called off his attack on the Sentinel, only to be greeted by a waiting pincer attack between Reaver and Valiant. They dived in from either side each slashing with a blade and each taking one of the Infinity's appendages with it. The Valiant tore off it's right arm, while the Reaver sliced away it's left leg. Julian smirked a little bit at the damaged infinity, opening a comm to Jillian.
"Good job Jill!"
"What can I say? I'm a natural"

the infinity was beaten, it began it's retreat swiftly after it lost an arm and a leg. Alec growled a bit in the cockpit as the infinity fled the field.
"Next time, dear sister, next time you will die!"

Eric let out a small sigh as he retracted his cannon.
"Aww, I went through the trouble of pulling that thing out and I didn't even get to use it?"

Jillian was already speeding towards the main battle, the Gundam's struggle against the infinity had done a good job of distracting them from the fight that was taking place between the two ships.
"Why don't you use it on that enemy ship and save us all a headache and a half?"

Julian took off as well, chasing after the much faster Reaver.
"Jill! Wait for the rest of us!"

Eric was about to go as well, when he turned back and realized that it had been a while since the Legacy had even budged. He flicked open a comm with the fourth Gundam, wondering what the problem was.
"Cecilia, you alright in there?"

Cecilia had been trapped in her own mind ever since her piercing headache when she came into contact with the Infinity, she wasn't able to move, or think about anything else other then the source of her pain. It was a sensation that she hadn't felt before in her entire life. The sort of piercing agony that only came from an outside source.
"What... was that pain? That feeling?"

She wasn't able to dwell on it for very long before Eric's voice rang through the Legacy's cockpit. Looking up towards the speakers, Cecilia snapped herself back to reality and gripped the Legacy's metal bars.
"I'm alright, let's go."

With that, the Legacy and the Sentinel sped off to catch up with their two fellow Gundams, who were already neck deep in mobile suit combat.


Andy groaned as he blocked an overwhelming attack from an attacking machine, it was the same mobile suit that he had Julian had battled back on Mantura, the red Gundam. Andy felt almost overwhelmed, barely able to keep up with the red bullet.
"Somebody's learned some new moves! Damn, when did you get this good?"

Andy's eyes widened in dismay as the Red Gundam suddenly appeared behind him, he thought that he was done for. However, just before the Red Gundam finished Andy, it was bombarded with fire as four other Ares models charged in.
"Lieutenant Mann! You alright?"

Andy let out a sigh of relief, flicking on his comm and speaking in a relieved voice.
"Well, about time you guys showed up!"

The four newly arrived Ares models beat back the Red Gundam, ensuring that Andy wasn't in harm's way for the time being.
"We're all that's left of the Ares blades, we have to look after one another."

Andy nodded, joining in the attack.
"I hear that!"

All five of the ares units started to assault the Red Gundam, overwhelming it with the superiority of numbers.


"Damn it all!"

Jillian was struggling against the Ares units, she could do nothing but dodge and try her best to keep distance. Even that was a failing goal, as the mobile suits flanked around her and were starting to overwhelm the Reaver. She was starting to get utterly overpowered by the Ares units, and she started to take some damage from the near constant rifle fire. Luckily for Jillian though, a pair of powerful beams blasted in between the Reaver and the Ares units. The Legacy arrived at the Reaver's side, evening the odds of the battle a little bit.
"Are you okay, Jillian?"
"Yeah, I'm fine... Thanks Cecilia"

Once Cecilia came to the rescue, Jillian charged towards the Ares cluster, attacking one of the units swiftly. No harm came to the Ares as it's four allies came to it's aid, but before they were able to overwhelm the Reaver for a second time, the Legacy broke up the crowd and allowed the Reaver to back away. It was a cycle that happened multiple times over the matter of about fifteen seconds before they found themselves in a stalemate. Jillian paused for a moment, trying to think of a way that they could tilt the odds in the favor of the two Gundams.
"Well this is just dandy..."
"What do you think we could do, Jillian?"
"Not sure... things are sorta messy right now... What are the boys doing right now!"

Eric and Julian were forcing their way through a small clump of Legionnaires, trying to make a hole to the ETGF command ship so that Eric could blast it apart with the his peacemaker. It wasn't going as well as it could of, as the Legionnaires were doing an admirable job of holding the line against the two Gundams. Julian checked behind him to see the few remaining Nomura units defending the Starflare against the ETGF's attack wave, with Captain Kamaru leading up the defense. That meant that he and Eric would be alone, and that the four Gundams were really all that was able to attack the Earth's ship.
"Hate to say it Eric, but this isn't really going as well as I hoped."

Eric's voice came over the comm, replying to Julian's statement as it fired a few rounds into the squad of enemies.
"I agree, it's not like we can just pull back either, or this little group will go to attack either our fellow Gundams, or the Starflare."

Julian nodded, pulling out the Valiant sword and putting the rifle away.
"Agreed, so then how are we going to get rid of these guys? Eric, will your cannon do the trick?"
"I'm afraid not, it takes a good minute to recharge after I use it... And the Sentinel's performance also drops pretty badly after I pop off the peacemaker."
"Great... it's a last resort weapon..."

The opposing squad started to advance on the two Gundams, the Valiant lifted it's longsword into a fighting position, and the Sentinel pulled up it's sniper rifle again. Eric's voice came over the comm, finishing the conversation as both Gundams plunged into battle.
"Best not keep our company waiting."


Captain Talon paused, looking at the battle field while he sat in his command chair. It really didn't suit him well, but he had to analyze the entire battle in all of it's aspects. He needed to gather all of the information that he possibly could on the opposing ship, and the four mobile suits that it carried. The moment that the infinity retreated back to ship, Talon's priorities changed. This turned from a battle that he was trying to win, to a battle to collect combat data. And he certainly was collecting an impressive amount of information on these opposing mobile suits. He rose his hand up to his chin, wishing that he was out there himself battling against the mobile suits, instead of in this ship, stuck in the command chair where he could do nothing but watch.
"Well, at the very least, this proves that we're able to actually put up a fight against these machines... these Gundams"

He sat there, observing the perfect stalemate for several moments before he decided that he had all the information that he needed. Looking down at his navigator, he spoke in a calm and level tone.
"prepare the ship to back off, and order the suits to retreat..."

the navigator looked up at him in surprise at this sudden order.
"S-sir, are you sure?"
"We've got what we came for, and there's really no reason for us to throw away more of our soldier's lives, order the retreat, we're backing off... for now"

He nodded, inputting the commands in the panel and turning the ship around.
"Understood, Sir. Mobile suits are returning to the Ship, and we're preparing for retreat."


"They're... retreating?"

Terra watched the battle from her command bridge, surprised that the Earth forces were retreating when the battle was still deadlocked. She lowered her gaze and started to think, her mind scrambling for a possible motive for their retreat.
"what were they up to here?"

Lilly looked over from her command panel towards Terra.
"Ma'am, what are your orders?"

Terra looked over, speaking quickly.
"order our own retreat, I have a bad feeling that more ETGF are on their way here."
"You got it Ma'am"

About a half an hour later, the regular crew was sitting around the briefing room, thinking about what had happened during the battle while the Starflare sped away from the scene where they were fighting for their lives just moments ago. Julian looked up at Terra, speaking in a serious tone.
"The thing that worries me the most about this battle, was that we just saw an ETGF Gundam... and it took all four of us to fight it back."

Terra looked over towards Julian, replying in an equally serious tone.
"was it really that strong?"

Julian lowered his gaze, looking at his hands, which were cupped together and resting on the table.
"If I were fighting that thing on my own, it would have worked me over."

Eric vouched for Julian, his eyes blocked from view as his feet were resting on the table.
"Same here, that Gundam's not one to be messed around with."

Terra sighed, crossing her arms and thinking for a moment.
"So they got their hands on a Gundam... I'd really like to know how that happened..."

Jillian balled her fist, a bit angered that they had struggled in such a way against a single enemy. She rose from her chair and punched the table.
"Does it even matter! It's an enemy, so we just have to fight it and destroy it! Simple as that!"

Julian shrugged, chuckling slightly at Jillian's outburst.
"Jill, I really hope it's that simple."

Jillian turned towards him, a mixture of frustration and confusion in her voice.
"Well, what could complicate it?"

Julian replied in a level tone, he tried to get Jillian to calm down and think about it rationally.
"Our Gundams are supposed to be the secret weapons of Arteron, if the ETGF also has Gundams, that contradicts our only real advantage that Arteron has."

Jillian nodded, thinking silently for a moment before speaking up.
"I get it... But even still, it's not like we're totally overpowered. I mean, we did end up winning today... right?"

Terra shut her eyes, sighing in frustration before she spoke.
"We lost quite a few Nomuras today... if anything, I'd consider it a tie... And even then, I can't help but feel that we lost today. Something about the forces we fought today were... different. They operated far more professionally and reacted to our moves much faster then what we previously engaged... Whoever their commander was, he meant business."

The room sat in silence after that, nobody had anything else to say. After a few seconds passed, Terra addressed the room.
"I suppose that's all for now, we'll be remaining in combat condition yellow until we get out of Earth territory, dismissed"

Everybody stood up and filed out of the room, leaving Terra alone with her thoughts as the room was left barren.
"We sat in one place for a long time... I have no doubt in my mind that we're going to have a hard time getting out of ETGF territory..."

End of movement 4