Federation's War Gaming for Dummies (13th Edition)

War Games Simulations, a sport that is either a hit or miss for schools all across the Solar System. Mostly a miss, due to the cost and the dangers of the simulations itself. The activity was first founded at U.C. 0089, on the Federation's Piloting School, North American Branch, California. First, only as a mere activity to pass the time for students that have finished their activities for the day. Due to the large quantities of old Mobile Suits and war gears from the One Year War still stored at the base not far from the school itself, the base agreed to donate some of its suits along with some blank ammunition to the school.

The sport quickly gained popularity, even spreading to private schools all across the globe, and even to the outer space Colonies. The simulations then became a mandatory activity for all Second and Third Year students of the Main Branches of the Piloting Schools on Earth. After a series of agreements, and seeing how the popularity of the sport itself has skyrocketed, the Earth Federation finally gave clearance for schools who have both the necessary funds and facilities to support War Gaming Simulations on U.C. 0097.

As of this issue, there are over fifty schools spread across the Solar System that have made the War Games a part of their curriculum, and it was only three years after the decree on U.C. 0097 to make the simulations public, that the first War Games tournament would finally take place on the Eastern European Branch of the Earth Federation's Piloting School. The competition is annual, and every school is welcome to enter such event. Although, every year, some parts of the Solar System would also commence their own annual War Games championships. Like the recently-founded Side 8 Colonies. These are, of course, sponsored by the Federation.

However, due to the extensively large cost to even support such a sport, on U.C. 101, Anaheim Electronics, after given permissions from the Federation, started to build recreated Mobile Suits and War Vehicles from the One Year War, including the Gundam-types, using recycled metal, alloy, and Mobile Suit frames, exclusively for the use of War Games Simulations along with a much safer and cheaper ammo-type called the 'simunitions'. As such, it greatly reduced the total funds needed to start the sport, and invited more schools to open up the simulations as their activity.

In War Games, members are to take part in a series of battles to destroy key objectives of the opposing team while defending their own key objectives. The most common target on the Ground War Games is usually a Flag-Vehicle, which is an armored fighting vehicle acting as the 'king' of each team. A Flag-Vehicle is accompanied by a Mobile Suit team, which in turn, compromises of two Mobile Suits each team. This formation of three is called a single 'Fire Team'. If the Flag-Vehicle is taken out during the match, then the whole Fire Team is out for the rest of the game, whether the Mobile Suits are still in working condition or not.

A single Mobile Suit team also-

"Mononobe-senpai... I mean, err... Argus Two, do you copy?" Kenji Iyamamoto queried to the other pilot of the Argus Team. Innokenti Mononobe within his RGM-79[G] has been eerily silent for the past few minutes. While he was still following the Japanese's Zaku II J-Type from the back, the more senior member of the War Games seemed to be absent somewhat. As if he was not paying attention to his surroundings. Sure, the simulation hasn't started yet, due to the fact that they're still making their way to the starting point, and would still have to wait for the others to reach their own appointed area as well, but his silence was just off.

The sounds of a book, closing its pages and the snap of its cover, accompanied by a groan through the local squad radio gave Kenji the answer he needed. "...What's up, Argus Actual...?" The tired, but not irritated voice, despite after being interrupted by him, of the GM's pilot replied, his Mobile Suit's head visibly rising from the ground, or the 180mm Cannon it's currently holding on its large, metal hands and to face his flight lead, who was looking over his Zaku's shoulder to the GM.

"Oh, no, no... um, I was just... checking if you're still there," The Japanese answered with a tone, could be perceived as being awkward.

A small round of silence ensued between the two pilots, before the other Cadet answered, "...I was just reading the..." He paused himself abruptly, and then a sigh could be heard from his suit. "...Never mind... I'm ready for your orders, Argus Actual... don't worry."

Feeling slightly guilty that he may have offended his wingman, even after disturbing him in the middle of something, Kenji swallowed a large lump on his throat and tapped his mic once, a non-verbal 'yes' to answer his senior. The GM, after hearing his response, was just to stare back dully at the ground. The Japanese himself sighed warily to himself, and decided to break the stare from the other Mobile Suit to look at their Flag-Vehicle, the M61A3 Barsele Medium Tank down below. The tank's main hatch was open, and Saori Takebe's head could be seen peeking out from it.

The girls were doing surprisingly well, for a group who have never handled a normal vehicle before, let alone, an actual tank. Although slowly, they were advancing steadily to the appointed marker that's blinking on their Heads Up Display. Kenji assumed that it's mostly thanks to Miho, who was carefully directing the crews of said vehicle with great patience and precision, despite the actual Commander being Saori. Hana, while still having difficulties on controlling the Barsele, was actually holding on pretty good as well. All was proceeding according to plan for Fire Team A.

Until,

"Wh-whoa, hey, we're gonna collide!" Saori yelled frantically, catching the Mobile Suit pilots' attention to her. The girl was pointing at a tree at their front. "Left! Go left! Left!" The Barsele barely missed the tree, and so was Saori with the branch. If she didn't duck, her head would've smacked onto a handful of leaves. "Hey, I did tell you to 'go left', earlier, right?!" She protested to the rest of the crew, particularly to the one who's handling the M61A3, which was Hana.

"S-sorry, I didn't hear you!" The driver apologized quickly, sounding preoccupied with the tank alone.

"The Commander signals the Driver with their feet on where to go," Miho, with a calm and even voice, explained to the still-irritated Saori, who sounded off a confused hum from her mouth. "You're supposed to kick the shoulder of the Driver."

This earned her a surprised gasp from the Commander of the tank. "Wh-wha?! I can't do that to a friend!"

"Don't worry, kick me if you must," Hana told her with a firm tone, physically readying herself for any incoming pain to her body.

"Ehhh...?" Saori produced an elongated tone of surprise and confusion. "A-alright, then! Go..." Her voice hardened, as if preparing for a hard strike, and then a large noise of a foot hitting someone's torso was heard from the Barsele's radio. "Left!" Kenji and Innokenti flinched inside their own cockpit at the noise.

Hana was silent for couple of seconds, before her voice was picked up by the radio again. "Umm... could you please be more gentle next time?" She requested, with a voice clearly like she was disoriented by the pain from the earlier kick. The tank did finally comply to the Commander's request and it started to rectify its course by veering over to its left, this prompted the two Mobile Suits behind it to follow the Barsele to their appointed starting point without question.

After reaching the starting area, the medium tank stopped its advance as well as its engines, and so did the Zaku and the GM escorts. Miho opened the side hatch of the armored vehicle and sent a nod over to the Argus Team's direction. The two pilots understood her signal, and began to hunker down at their location. Kenji's MS-06JC and Innokenti's RGM-79[G] crouched behind the treeline, hiding themselves from plain sight, whilst seeking cover from any future enemy fire beneath the shady cover of the tall trees.

"Attention, all Fire Teams," Instructor Chouno's voice buzzed on their radio, she was broadcasting on all channels. "I believe that all of you have reached the starting point of the match. Remember, there is only one rule, immobilize all other Flag-Vehicles. Go for it and run them down. Just blow everything up, you got that?"

"...She's an unsubtle one, isn't she...?" Kenya muttered on his team's frequency.

Kenji could feel his lips and eyebrows twitching lightly at his wingman's jab to the Federation personnel. His senior himself was also well-known for NOT being subtle, so, the irony was certainly palpable.

"Now, before every simulation, the War Games always begins with a formal bow, and ends with a bow," The instructor cleared her throat and a more powerful, commanding voice came out afterwards. "Everyone, you may bow."

"Let us have a fair match!"
"Quem se atvere!"
"...Audeamus..."
"Sieg Zeon!"

After everyone resounded their cries, the instructor continued, "Good luck, everyone! And be careful now, we will be spreading Minovsky Particles at combat density, be sure to be in range of your local communications!" Chouno informed the Fire Teams one last time, before she sounded an alarm, signalling the beginning of the simulations. "You may begin!" She cut herself off from the team's radio, and not long after, Fire Team A could already feel the jamming effect of the Minovsky Particles spread at the field of the match, true to the light stuttering on the radios.

"Ahh, it's finally starting!" Yukari piped up, excited. "Hey, wanna test the main guns right now?"

"Um... I think we shouldn't open fire at the trees just yet..." Miho voiced her opinion nervously to the crew.

A humming Saori finally clicked her fingers together. "Hey, why don't we start by blowing up the Student Council first? The instructor... is a woman..."

"...You're seriously still pissed about that...?" Innokenti's deadpan response came through the radio.

"Says the guy who's always pissed at the weather..." Saori bit back sarcastically. "Either way, I say we do it! I'm the Commander here!"

The Fire Team mumbled some hesitant 'okay's from their mouths, while Kenya didn't reply.

"Excellent!" The Commander of the Barsele spoke with a satisfied voice. "Alright now, full speed ahead to the Student Council's Fire Team!" A moment of silence followed when no one really reacted to her commands. "...So... where are they?" Her question didn't have to linger long.

For a single round impacted right beside their tank, the highly-explosive simunition round sent several rock matters flying to the Barsele's hull, and alerting everyone, including the Mobile Suits of the enemy's location. Now alarmed, the girls were thrown into a state of panic, while the Mobile Suit teams jumped out from their covers to protect their Flag-Vehicle. The moment their units came out from the treeline, they immediately went for their tank's flanks and crouched into a more protective posture.

Only to be catching some more pester from a beam fire. The heated round landed on the ground between the M61A3 and the two hunkered Mobile Suits, sending a small Electromagnetic-Pulse in a small radius, promptly disabling the Mobile Suit's sensors for a few seconds. Once their Main Camera's vision returned to their cockpit, their eyes were met with an RGM-79C GM Type-C from the Centaurus Team, taking aim at them, particularly at their Flag-Vehicle.

"What?! What happened?!" Saori yelped.

Miho quickly opened the hatch, ignoring the panicked state of the tank's crews to take a look at their surroundings. She instantly saw the M61CT-2 Littorio, the Cruiser Tank of Fire Team B, alongside a GM Type-C, through the towering figures of their own Mobile Suit team, with their bore and barrel smoking hot after their earlier shot. Innokenti's GM Ground-Type was seen leveling the barrel of its 180mm Cannon for a retaliation shot to the enemy team, but he didn't fire.

"...Argus Actual, requesting permission to engage..." The boy spoke plainly, sounding not distressed at all, but, he did sound a bit more wary of their situation.

Kenji's Zaku II also turned to face the enemy team, aiming his own 90mm Zaku Machine Gun's barrel at the GM Type-C, ready to fire. "What should we do now, Barsele?! A-are we clear to fire?!" He asked the tank, for they were the Flag-Vehicle, and so, practically holding the command of the entire Fire Team.

"L-let's just get outta here!" Saori, in pure, and utter panic commanded instantly. "All of this is too much! Just run for now!"

Promptly, the M61A3's engines restarted with a loud roar, and the medium tank immediately rolled away from the zone.

The pilot of the Zaku blinked at her command, but considering that she was the Commander of the tank, and figuratively speaking, the whole Fire Team, he couldn't protest. His sights went back to the GM Ground-Type, who was still waiting for his command. "Um, Argus Two, focus on creating a path of escape for the Barsele for now!" He barked into the mic, lowering his own machine gun to quickly follow the retreating Flag-Vehicle of his team. "We're regrouping, Mononobe-senpai!"

"...Roger..." The GM stood back up from its crouched position, also lowering the barrel of its cannon, despite having a clear shot at the enemy team back then. The eighteen meter-tall Mobile Suit turned its head over his shoulder whilst advancing backwards with its body still facing the front, taking the brunt of the assault from the other enemy Fire Team. It was then his sensors picked up a new hostile ping from their other flank. "...Guys, I think you should watch out for that Dom..."

Without warning, an MS-09B jumped out from the nearby formation of trees, to launch a single rocket, right at the M61A3.

"Too late for the warning, Argus Two!" Kenji sounded back, his instincts kicking in to go between the projectile and the tank. "Barsele, we have a rocket incoming, brace for impact, I repeat, brace for-" His warning was cut short when the projectile exploded when it hit his Zaku's shoulder-shield, sending the Mobile Suit staggering backwards from the sheer kinetic force it'd received from the impact and its feet uncontrollably stepping on the ground, one of which, nearly hitting and flattening their own Flag-Vehicle.

Innokenti grumbled about something beneath his breath and moved in to cover his damaged Team Leader's Mobile Suit. His GM broke contact with the Type-C and the Littorio and ran towards Kenji's direction with a rather slow speed, due to the weight of the 180mm Cannon and the field ordnance weapon pack hoisted on its backpack. He arrived just in time before the Dom managed to pull out its heat saber. The veteran swooped his massive cannon, using its long barrel to knock the MS-09B back to smack the trees behind it.

"...Argus Actual... you still there...?" Kenya aimed his cannon towards where the Dom was downed, but he still didn't fire.

A groan was elicited from Kenji's mouth, and his Zaku took a few balancing steps to let its AMBAC system do its work. "I'm... I'm good, Mononobe-senpai! I've lost my shields, but I can still do it!"

The Zaku, after regaining its balance, proceeded to once again follow the retreating form of their Flag-Vehicle in the distance, along with the GM, who was still aiming towards their back for any pursuers. Naturally, the Mobile Suit's feet were faster, so they caught up in only a few seconds. The Fire Team arrived at a fork on the road, and was just about to ask to each other, which was the better way to go, but over the cliff to the left, a single Magella Assault suddenly came to view along with two other Zaku Is of the Charon Team.

Kenji's Zaku II stepped to the front, while Innokenti's GM Ground-Type stayed at the back.

"...Out of the frying pan..." The platinum-haired cadet mumbled irritably, turning on his zoom optics to locate any pursuing combat units from the enemy team.

"Wh-what should we do now?" Hana asked, the usually composed girl finally feeling the panic getting the better of her.

"We're surrounded!" Saori pointed out the obvious. "That way! Go that way!" He pointed to the right section of the fork.

But Hana unfortunately couldn't see where she was pointing at. "Where?!" She queried for clarification.

"TO THE RIGHT!" Another hard kick to the shoulder happened, and the Barsele was once again mobile, now at full speed.

After seeing their Flag-Vehicle marching rapidly to the right, the Mobile Suits once again broke engagement and started to follow the M61A3 from the back, whilst scanning its flanks for more enemies. The Zakus of the Charon Team were doing a good job at suppressing the Argus Team's Mobile Suits with their 90mm and 120mm Machine Guns, preventing them from even lowering their shields and firing back. Innokenti had no choice but to also cover for his Team Leader, for he was now the only member of his team who had an actual physical shield.

The Magella Assault has also started to give chase to the group, its mighty, long 175mm cannon opening fire, and barely missing the retreating Federation Medium Tank by a few inches to its left. The Barsele shrugged off the shockwave the simunition produced and kept advancing to an open field. To which, the Mobile Suit pilots could finally relax a bit. They were in the open, sure, but so would the enemy. At an open area like that, one couldn't possibly flank their position without giving away theirs.

Miho, who was still observing the area, with her head out from the hatch, spotted a figure, lying down on the field. Strange, but it was no time to think about such matter.

"Watch out!" She warned the Driver, and the rest of the Fire Team about the person on the ground.

But unfortunately, the Driver couldn't hear her clearly, and the M61A3 kept rolling towards the downed figure. Surprisingly, and amazingly, the person seemed to realize the incoming threat, and stood back up, despite in a rather slow motion. Even more amazing for the Fire Team, was that she somehow, and actually managed to jump off from the ground, and landed on the Barsele's frontal armor at just the right time, avoiding a messy, and bloody way to go, courtesy of the medium tank's tracks.

The most surprising thing for Miho, and quite possibly Innokenti, who was also observing the girl from his Mobile Suit's Heads Up Display, was that the girl was none other than the one they'd encountered yesterday, the one with the white hairband, and the sleepy face and all. Miho gasped lightly when she recognized the face, while Kenya just raised his eyebrows without saying anything to the radio. He just kept his GM's Main Camera trained at the girl, who was already standing up, on the top of a speeding tank.

"We met yesterday!" Miho exclaimed in surprise, after finding her voice through the shock and amazement at the girl.

Saori also opened the main hatch to have a look at the intruder. "Oh, hey, Mako-chan."

The one, called Mako by the tank's Commander, stared at her for a few seconds before responding with a dull, "...Oh, it's Saori..."

Miho looked back and forth between the two girls. "Um... you two know each other?"

Saori nodded. "Yeah, we're childhood friends," She answered swiftly, before turning to the new passenger of their tank. "By the way, what are you doing out here? You've got classes, you know!"

"...I know that..." Mako answered with a voice similar to Innokenti, lacking of any emotion or enthusiasm.

Their conversation was cut short when another round slammed the ground behind them, forcing Saori to cover her ears at the close call to deafness and then letting herself back to the interior of the Barsele, Miho to slightly retreat her figure into the tank, and Mako, to stagger on the tank's hull. The Mobile Suit team, once again, turn to their back to face the pursuing hostiles, to see the forming figures of the Zaku Is and the much farther Dom and GM Type-C, with their Flag-Vehicles opening fire on them.

"It's dangerous out here, please get yourself inside!" Miho directed the dull girl, before she herself secured herself back to the M61A3's interior.

Mako complied and leisurely opened one of the hatches and plopped herself into the medium tank, fitting herself into the cramped spaces of the tank. She seated herself on the floor beneath Yukari's post, and it was not long before her head swayed left and right and it limply crashed onto Yukari's stomach, which earned her a panicked look from the girl on the station, and followed by a look of surprise from Miho, and an understanding smile from Saori.

"I... need... more oxygen..." Mako pleaded to no one, her voice also picked up by the radio of the tank.

"A-are you okay?" Yukari questioned, now sounding concerned for the girl's well being.

"Mako has low blood pressure, you see..." Saori explained in Mako's stead.

Miho and Innokenti hummed at the same time.

"So that's why she was having a hard time yesterday," She mumbled aloud.

"You ran into her?" Kenji questioned, now peering his Zaku's head slightly to look at the tank.

"...We, ran into her..." Kenya corrected drowsily from his Mobile Suit's cockpit, without looking back to the tank, for he was still preoccupied with the approaching threats behind them.

Saori let out a tune of knowing at his jab. "Ooohh... that explains why you two were kinda late back then," Their conversation were once again, cut short, and they were snapped back into reality when another near miss landed near their location, this time, it was from the Centaurus Team's Dom, who'd just launched another rocket from its 360mm Bazooka from long range. "Gah, I've had it! What are we supposed to do?!" With her voice growing increasingly shaky and wavering, she yelled to the radio.

Miho looked at their Commander, and moved over to the hatch beside her. She hesitantly reached out to the handle to open it, but finally braved herself to once again peek her head out to check on their location. The moment she looked to their front, she could see a rather large, but old bridge, over a wide, and deep ravine, big enough to fit the whole Fire Team, but the condition of said bridge itself was questionable, with rusts covering the surface of the metal platforms and the concretes actually swaying from the wind.

"Please stop the tank!" The Nishizumi plopped back into the tank and requested such to the Driver, to which, Hana complied upon seeing the bridge in question on the Barsele's Heads Up Display.

After skidding to a halt, Miho promptly jumped out from the M61A3 and walked over to the old bridge, the rest of the Barsele's crews opened their hatches in order to stop the girl from doing what she had on her mind.

"Miho-san, it's dangerous to leave the Barsele!" Kenji called out from his Zaku's loudspeaker, not bothering to use the radios anymore, since their position was already practically blown.

"I'm sure there'll be some time before the other Fire Teams catch up to us!" She yelled back to the Zaku II, whilst jogging on the surface of the bridge. "I'll be fine! I'll just be checking if the bridge can support our whole weight!" After reaching the center, she hopped on the platform several times, only to stagger back and forth at the swaying bridge. After much contemplation, she figured that it would hold. It would HAVE to hold, for their sake. "Alright... forward, slow!"

Hana nodded and went back to the tank to roll the M61A3 along the road and onto the bridge. The Mobile Suits simply watched their backs with their weapons aimed at the tanks' flanks. The moment the Barsele's caterpillar tracks made contact with the road's platform, the whole bridge shook and swayed at the added weight of the tank, much to the worry of the whole Fire Team members. Miho was still on the ground, visually directing the tank to the front.

Only that she didn't realize that the medium tank was constantly advancing to the left portion of the bridge. After hitting the concrete rails, the already old stones gave away, and the tank's left frontal tracks marched over the edge of the bridge. Now going even more unstable, the girls were once again thrown into panic, while Miho fell to one knee after the sudden tremors. Kenji almost moved over to see if he could help the tank, but after seeing that the bridge wouldn't hold their combined weight, he cursed to himself and watched on in worry.

Innokenti stayed in silence. Kenji couldn't place if he was also hoping, or was also forced to do nothing but to observe the situation.

"W-We're falling!" Hana's voice was full of dread and resignation.

"N-no way!" Saori yelled, but she couldn't brave herself to look at the ravine down below them.

Suddenly, a single 175mm round wheezed past the two Mobile Suits, and landed behind the Barsele, courtesy of Fire Team C's Magella Assault. Miraculously, the round actually provided enough force to slightly push the tank to the right. It was nowhere out of the danger, but at least it was not falling anymore. Now alerted, the Mobile Suits of Argus Team looked over to their back, to see that their pursuers have finally caught up to their position. Kenji and Innokenti promptly readied their weapons, and hopefully waited for a command from the M61A3's Commander to return fire.

"Are you all okay?!" Still overcame by his concern, he asked over to the Barsele at the bridge via the loudspeaker of his MS-06JC.

Saori and Yukari looked over their hatch, only to be shocked that Hana was sitting still on her seat, unconscious.

"Isuzu-dono!" Yukari yelled, alarmed.

"Hana, are you okay?!" Saori was quick to call out to the knocked-out Driver of the team.

"...What's going on down there...?" Innokenti finally asked after his long period of silence, still sounding composed, if not, tired, also with his GM's loudspeaker.

"We've lost the Driver!" Yukari reported back, to both the Mobile Suit team, and Miho, who'd recovered from the earlier blast, and was running over to the tank. "I repeat, we're immobilized!"

After her report, Miho quickly climbed over to the hull of the Federation's Medium Tank, and closed the hatch on top of Hana's head, but not before securing her from the driver's seat of the tank. She hopped onto her own hatch, and the rest of the girls closed their respective hatches to seek refuge inside the armor. Innokenti and Kenji, after confirming the status of their Flag-Vehicle, looked back to their enemies, only to see that Fire Team C's Magella Assault was standing by beside Fire Team C's recently-arrived Littorio, neither of them, and their Mobile Suit teams opening fire on each other. In fact, the teams were aiming their weapons directly at their own team.

Kenji's teeth ground beneath his mouth, it was a chance agreement. They were working together on purpose, but considering their situation now, it would be wise that the Barsele was to move immediately from its location. He quickly tapped his mic to contact the immobile tank, after turning off his Zaku's loudspeaker, realizing that what he might say afterwards could be taken as a crucial piece of information to the other Fire Teams. He tuned his frequency to the local comms and started speaking.

"Argus Actual to Barsele, um, I think you should get yourselves mobile, now!" His volume was a bit too loud that he'd might liked, but the adrenaline combined with the sense of urgency and panic he was feeling forced his throat to produce such noise.

Miho sighed, after tuning the radio of the M61A3. "...I'm not really good at driving, but I guess we don't have a choice-" Her words were stopped short, when the Barsele's engines restarted, and the tank suddenly shook, before it moved backwards a couple of feet from the edge of the bridge. After making that the armored vehicle was out of danger, the tank stopped again, but its engines were still primed and ready. Surprised, the whole crew looked over to the driver's seat.

And they saw the stowaway, Mako Reizei, already making herself comfortable with the tank's controls, she even had a manual open next to the console.

"Wh-whoa, Mako!" Saori's voice nearly choked at amazement. "You can actually drive this thing?!"

"...Just learned how to do it..." The new Driver of the Barsele shifted to a new page of the tank's manual.

"Just now?!" Kenji and Yukari both yelled in disbelief, and at the same time as well.

Saori managed to contain her surprise, and gave a smirk to the girl. "No wonder you're the top student!"

It was then, the crew of the medium tank felt several bullets hitting their back armor. Fire Team B's Littorio was firing their coaxial machine gun directly at their Flag-Vehicle, while Fire Team C's Magella Assault moved to a flanking position. This forced the Mobile Suits to split their attention to either teams. Innokenti had his sights trained on the Dom and the GM Type-C who were still, yet to fire, probably waiting until they reached a better flanking position. The Zaku Is of Fire Team B were once again spraying the area with machine gun fire, while highly inaccurate especially on full-auto, they still managed to pin Kenji's Zaku II down on its place.

"H-hey, Mako, you're going backwards!" Saori pointed out.

"...I know that..." Mako answered instantly, voice composed.

The Barsele suddenly jolted when it stopped, and it waited for a couple of seconds before advancing forward yet again, barely missing a 135mm AP shell from the Littorio's main cannon, and another 175mm round from the Magella Assault. Innokenti's GM could be seen activating its feet thrusters to quickly pivot to his left, just this close, missing a pink beam, discharged by Centaurus Actual's GM Type-C's Beam Spray Gun, and another 360mm rocket from the MS-09B. Kenji tried to keep his hand steady and feet not shaking, and the boy slowly made his way to a cliff facing the Charon Team's location to seek refuge from their fire. Despite receiving some hits, it was not enough to disable his Zaku II Type-C.

The rocket from the Dom's Giant Bazooka, however, slammed near the Barsele, but thankfully, due to Mako's skills, the tank was only affected by the shockwave from the blast, and didn't suffer a direct hit. This woke up the unconscious Hana inside, and the girl frantically yelped in surprise at the sudden awakening, and looked around, before realizing that she was no longer on her original post, but instead, placed on the seat beside the Driver's seat.

"Are you okay?" Miho queried to the girl.

Hana, after registering the voice, looked to her back. "A-ah, yes, I'm fine. I... uh, apologize."

The Nishizumi shook her head several times. "No, no, it's fine. Just rest for now."

Hana gave her a look, and turned back to work on her post. "No, please, I'm fine."

Miho could feel herself smiling at her, before she looked over to Yukari. "Akiyama-san, please turn the turret!"

"Roger!" Yukari beamed in excitement as she did what she's told.

"...Does this mean, we can finally open fire at these guys...?" Innokenti's voice piped up on Miho's earpiece.

"Yes, yes you can, Argus Team!" Miho instantly answered without thinking. "I was wondering why you two didn't retaliate to the enemies back then!"

"We were waiting for our Fire Team Commander's orders... she told us to run..." Kenji suplemented, and Saori shrunk on her seat in embarrassment.

Innokenti tuned out the conversation, and stabilized his own GM on its landing after activating its feet thrusters earlier. Straightening the Mobile Suit with the help of the AMBAC system, the veteran pilot switched to the GM's targeting modules, bringing up the zoom scopes from the contraption beside his seat. After leveling and bringing up the barrel of his 180mm Cannon up to the enemies, his crosshairs fell upon the MS-09B Dom, which possessed the most threat to his team's Flag-Vehicle. In which, said Mobile Suit was also in the middle of activating its own thrusters to hop over his own unit to get a better lock on the Barsele.

Without hesitation, the pilot pressed the trigger on his flight stick, and his RGM-79[G] responded by catapulting a solid, highly-explosive 180x800 millimeter round towards the Zeon Mobile Suit. Seeing the oncoming round, despite already being in mid-flight, the Dom hastily deactivated its thrusters, forcing the suit to crash onto the ground, and throwing it out of balance from the earlier flight. Despite missing, Kenya wasted to time to re-triangulate his aim at the downed Mobile Suit. After recovering, the Dom immediately aimed its Bazooka at the Ground-Type GM, but it was too late, for the GM fired first.

The cannon round that was discharged from Innokenti's GM slammed hard onto the chest of the Dom, sending the Mobile Suit flying back from the massive force that hit it from close-range. After crashing back down to the ground, the MS-09B laid there, still, and unmoving. A white flag popped up on Innokenti's Heads Up Display, signalling that he's disabled the enemy Mobile Suit, the sound of his cockpit's alarm blaring snapped him back to reality, and to see that the GM Type-C of the Centaurus Team was already aiming at him. From that range, it was impossible to evade, so the Cadet just gripped hard on his flight sticks to brace for the impact.

"FIRE!" Miho's voice barked on the radio, and before he knew it, the thundering sounds of the Barsele's twin 120mm main cannons, firing shells directly at Fire Team B's Littorio, were heard. The rounds traveled through the sky at high speed, before landing perfectly at the frontal hull of the opposing team's M61CT-2. One round severely damaged the tank's hull, and the other one finished the job, by completely disabling the Cruiser Tank as a whole. A white flag popped out from the tank's hatch.

Innokenti blinked, then he turned to the RGM-79C in front of him, who's also surrendering its weapons by throwing it on the ground, and then raising its hand into the air. Fire Team B was defeated.

"...Whoa..." He muttered, sounding amazed, at least, for once.

Meanwhile, at Kenji's location, the boy was still occasionally peeking out his Zaku's head from the cliff face, only to be met with another endless torrent of bullets. The leader of the Argus Team formulated a plan inside his head, and after a few seconds of thinking, he blinked in realization that Fire Team B was out from the game. He sighed, that was one less threat to them, but the Magella Assault and the Zaku Is were still giving them a hard time.

He suddenly remembered something. He shifted through the weaponry list of his Zaku and confirmed the choice presented on the touchscreen console. He also keyed his radio to contact his team.

"Argus Two, Mononobe-senpai, are you alright?!" The junior just needed confirm the other pilot's condition.

Not a second later, the radio buzzed. "...Yeah, more or less... what's up...?"

"On my mark, can you shoot Charon Actual's Zaku I? I will be throwing a cracker grenade to try and disorient them, then it's up yours! I will also be coming out of cover!" Kenji's Zaku reached for its waist to pull out a single piece of rounded object resembling an explosive.

"...Roger, Argus Two, I have you covered..." Innokenti moved his GM and his 180mm canon from his side, a perfect flanking position without the other team realizing it. His crosshair slowly landing upon the leading Zaku I of the Charon Team. "...Gun, ready..."

"This is the Barsele, we'll be opening fire at the Magella Assault as well, soon enough!" Miho reported in to the Mobile Suit pilot. "We're ready, just give the mark!"

Kenji took one, deep breath to calm himself down. And then moved his Zaku's hand over the edge to toss the Cracker Grenade over to Fire Team C's area. Surprised at the sudden projectile thrown at them, the Zaku Is stopped firing at the cliff, to retreat to a safer distance. However, the grenade detonated early, sending shrapnel and more highly-explosive, tinier grenades to rain upon them. Despite not damaging the Zakus, the entire Fire Team was thrown into a state of disarray.

"Now, open fire!" Kenji peered out of cover, and instantly switched to his Zaku Machine Gun, and setting it to the single-shot mode. After his aim was placed upon the Support Unit of the Charon Team, he fired a single 90mm round to the Zaku I. The bullet found its target, and the MS-05B staggered back from the shot. It was damaged, but it was still standing. Kenji gritted his teeth, letting the recoil of the earlier fire to sink in first before pulling the trigger yet again. Letting another bullet go, this one also sent the Zaku I a few more steps backwards. Unrelenting, the Japanese pilot fired two more shots towards the enemy Zaku. Two bullets struck onto the armor of the hostile unit, and its staggering posture was on its last legs.

And Kenji didn't hesitate to finish it off, by firing one last shot from his Zaku Machine Gun to the Charon Mobile Suit. The 90mm round that hit the chest of the Zaku I made the unit to topple down and fell backwards on its back. After smacking the ground, and becoming completely still, the junior's Heads Up Display lit up, showing that the Zaku I he'd been firing at was now disabled and has popped a white flag for everyone to see. He then looked over to the now-alarmed, other Zaku I of the Charon Team, and prepared to fire on that unit as well.

Until a lone 180mm round impacted against the chest of said unit. And like the Dom, the Zaku I was thrown a few meters into the air, before landing unceremoniously on the ground, to pop up a white flag. A surprised, adrenaline-rushed Kenji blinked twice, and then he turned his Zaku's Main Camera to look over to the RGM-79[G] in the distance, with its 180mm Anti-Armor Cannon's barrel still smoking hot from his earlier shot. The GM stood back up to its feet and gave a shrug to the Zaku II J-Type.

The force of the Zaku I's fall disrupted the Magella Assault's aim, and they fired anyway. The round missed by a long shot from the M61A3, and it fired back, by sending over two 120mm rounds over to the Tank Destroyer. The Magella Assault suffered the same fate as the Littorio, not far from it, and the twin shells found their place, on the frontal hull of the HT-01D. The smoking tank finally popped up its own white flag, signaling its disabled state. Fire Team C was then completely decimated by the Barsele's team.

It was not the time to celebrate, however, because Saori suddenly called in on the radio.

"Guys, we've got another team coming in!" She shouted on the radio. "Two teams, in fact!"

"...Are we seriously getting gank'd by all four Fire Teams...?" Innokenti grumbled, raising his GM to turn over to the other side of the bridge, not realizing the lens flare on the distance. Reacting too late, a long, thin beam made a direct hit on his GM's left wrist, and the kinetic force sent the Ground-Type GM staggering backwards, before falling by the Electromagnetic Pulse produced by the direct hit of the beam round. "...Whoaaa... we've got a sniper, guys, watch out..." The downed veteran groaned on the radio.

"Mononobe-senpai, are you alright?!" Kenji frantically yelled in panic, he also turned his Zaku's optics to look at the distance, picking up four more Mobile Suits of Fire Teams D and E. He could also confirm the GM Sniper's location, hunkered down by the treeline across the river. He tensed up when he saw Balthazar's MS-07A Gouf Test-Type aiming its 75mm Gatling Gun directly at him. In a frantic, and panicked motion, he activated his Zaku's jump pack to propel himself to the right.

The rocket boosters of the Zaku II J-Type roared in response, before they fired up to throw the Zaku over to the trees right beside the cliff side he was at. The continuous, nearly endless salvo of 75mm rounds filled Kenji's ears, as the bullets nearly missed his Zaku by only a few inches. With his Zaku downed on the trees, he was at least out of sight from the Gouf, but he'd left the Barsele on the open by the bridge. He could see that the M61A3 was still turning its turret to return fire to the other Fire Teams across the ravine.

Looking at the situation, it was hopeless, Kenji deduced inside his mind.

He only didn't expect that the GM to suddenly fire off a 180x800 millimeter round from its Cannon directly over to the GM Sniper on the other side of the ravine. This shocked the entire members of the match, seeing how the GM earlier was already laying down on the ground. But Kenji could confirm that his senior's RGM-79[G] was not disabled. It was damaged, yes, but it's still moving, and Innokenti hasn't popped up his white flag just yet. Eyes widening, he then also realized that his senior's shot landed on the spot of the sniper, disabling one of the two Mobile Suits of the Orthus Team.

"Wh-what?" Kenji asked to himself, dumbfounded.

"...Got me good, but he hit the shields... the EMP disabled my systems for several seconds, but I'm not out just yet..." Kenya replied on the radio, his GM detaching its shield from its left wrist, and taking aim on the Gouf.

Kenji looked at the probably still-dazedMS-07A, who looked back and forth between the M61A3, and Argus Two's GM Ground-Type, who was preparing to fire, but had to reload his empty 180mm cannon. Innokenti damned himself on the radio, but it was left unheard by Kenji, who was now rushed with adrenaline again after witnessing that Balthazar's Gouf Test-Type was risking it, and instead, aimed for the Barsele, that was still in the middle of rotating its main cannons to fire at the opposing Fire Teams.

The Japanese reaffirmed his grip on the flight sticks, and his feet pressed hard on the pedals. His Zaku responded by jumping out from the trees and it immediately opened fire on the Student Council President's Gouf with its 90mm Zaku Machine Gun on full-auto, in an attempt to take its attention away from their Flag-Vehicle and onto him instead. His suppressing fire worked, and the Gouf fired back on his Zaku instead of the medium tank on the bridge.

After trading some rounds with the MS-07A, Kenji's alarm started to blare on due to the extensive damage his Zaku II'd suffered. He ignored the warnings and focused his sights on the Barsele, instead. The tank has completed its turret rotation, and was aiming at the M353A4-K Bloodhound Hover Truck of Fire Team E. Said armored vehicle responded by also turning its 90mm Auto-Cannon to aim at the M61A3, seeing how its surviving Mobile Suit was occupied by another threat.

The two fired at the same time, but the one who scored the direct hit was Fire Team A's medium tank. It only took one shot from one of its 120mm main bores to push the Bloodhound a few distances back and to be disabled. The Flag-Vehicle of the Ooarai Student Council raised its white flag, and Balthazar had no other choice but to also surrender. Its Gouf stopped firing at Kenji's badly damaged Zaku II, and detached all of its weaponry to the ground, signalling its defeat.

The Japanese sighed in relieve, but then he realized that the last surviving Fire Team was his and Fire Team D, which undoubtedly had the most advanced equipment of all the Fire Teams of the school.

Fire Team D had one M61FSU-3 Andrea Doria Medium Artillery Unit, in which the tank could place extremely accurate shots, even at long ranges, considering its a Mobile Artillery Platform. It was also as well-armored as the M61A3 Barsele, considering it's only a modified version of the medium tank. It's accompanied by Innokenti's former RGM-79 Thunderbolt GM, which had the edge of speed, defense, and firepower. True to the extra thrusters, then twin shields provided by its extra arm binders, and the two Beam Spray Guns, which were certainly not for show. Finally, there was the RGM-79FP GM Striker. A Mobile Suit that's heavily armored, due to its nature of being a close-range/vanguard unit. The long-reaching, twin-beam spear it's holding, and the bigger thruster output made the Striker a true force to be reckoned with on the battlefield.

Kenji gulped down, hard. It was not going to be an easy fight after all. He made his Zaku to stand back up to its feet, and regrouped by the edge of the bridge along with Innokenti's RG-79[G]. His senior, also seemed to realize what they're facing, and he promptly detached the extra weight on his back, that was the field ordnance weapons rack, dropped his 180mm Cannon, and held his hands out at his waist. The GM's thigh compartments opened like a pair of holsters, revealing two short beam saber tubes.

The GM Ground-Type pilot silently pulled both of its beam sabers and activated them. Of course, due to the rules of the War Games of using simunitions, what extended out from the tubes were not pink, hot beams, but rather, a simple, long metal stick. The GM entered a stance with two of its physical sabers/batons ready. This prompted Kenji to also pull out his Zaku's Heat-Axe from the back of his Mobile Suit's waist. Naturally, the axe wasn't heated. The tip of the blade only gained an orange color, signifying that the pilot is preparing for close-range combat.

Barsele moved slightly backwards, it seemed that Mako was also wary on the threats they were fighting.

"...Last stand, Argus Actual...?" Kenya sounded off on the radio.

Kenji blinked twice, recalling what'd happened during the match when his senior called to him. "...Yes, Argus Two. Last stand. It was a good match, no?"

"This is the Barsele," Miho's voice piped up, the same time, the tank's turrets moved. "We're ready whenever you are."

Fire Team A was ready to move to their enemies. It's just that...

They didn't expect the Andrea Doria to suddenly go up in reverse, as if cowering from their own Fire Team, got its tracks stuck in the mud, overheated its engines, and disabled itself without even fighting back.

Fire Team D alongside Medusa Team lost without even firing a shot.

The alarms blared, signalling the end of the simulation.

Das War Games

A Mobile Suit Gundam and Girls und Panzer Crossover Work of Fiction

First Simulation II

Author's Notes:

I just rushed this chapter in a day.

Wowie.

Sorry for the crappy story quality. Let me know if the battle looks too dumb.

Update on the Ooarai/Federation War Games Fire Team roster:

Fire Team A / Argus Team

Combat Units:
- 1x M61A3 Barsele Medium Tank [Flag Vehicle] - Miho Nishizumi, Saori Takebe, Yukari Amamiya, Hana Isuzu, Mako Reizei
- 1x MS-06JC Zaku II J-Type [MS Team Leader] - Kenji Iyamamoto
- 1x RGM-79[G] GM Ground-Type [Support - Armor Hunter] - Innokenti Mononobe

The reason why I didn't try to have the other teams communicating is because of the Minovsky Particles jamming the comms. I've figured they're just gonna be using the local comms to contact each other, and because the focus of the story is Miho's Fire Team. Oh yeah. Less jokes on this chapter because it's a battle chapter, and I kinda want to write seriously(ish), so yeah. Sorry if you came for the laughs but left disappointed.

Again, sorry if the chapter sucks. Rushing 8k words chapter within nine hours is really tasking. I'm tired too.

Prolly should hit the bed.