Chapter 4: Firefight in Side 2:

Side 2 area, December 31, UC 0078, 11:58pm

Like all of the other colony clusters, the Federation garrison was at peacetime maneuvers with many ships docked at their piers and the militia units patrolling to keep the anticipated New Years celebrations safe. Ironically though, most of the crews were on their ships and although there was a party atmosphere, some of the captains had prevented their crews from disembarking and had their engines on standby. For Side 2 had a good portion of officers loyal to General Revil and many of those officers had kept an eye on developments between Zeon and the Earth Federation with worry about the future. Unfortunately, the higher-ups were the same jackasses that one would find throughout the Earth Federation Government. In fact, the same jackasses allowed only one group lead by the Magellan class battleship Amerigo to patrol the area with a few other ships on standby. The rest of the ships laid at their piers with most of their crews on shore leave.

On the Magellan class battleship EFSF Oklahoma, the command staff of the Side 2 garrison fleet celebrated the New Year with lots of food and wine. For them, to have important parties such as this gave them reprieve from having to maintain constant patrols over those they felt inferior. Many of them had been away from Earth for many months and felt that their tours of duty felt like a waste of time, especially Side 2's commander, Rear-Admiral Mark Fowler. Therefore nearly all stations were empty when the warnings started coming in on the outer radar screens of intruders approaching. Soon the Amergio group also sent a warning but unfortunately, the command staff shrugged it off as an annoyance.

As everyone celebrated and counted down the clock to the New Year, they were to get a horrific present as instead of a large holographic silver ball dropping off of a pole, they got the image of an angry, handsome silver haired man on a podium surrounded by other men and women, all of them in uniforms of the Zeon government and military. Rear-Admiral Fowler's eyes as well as that of his command staff opened wide as they heard the words of Supreme Commander Gihren Zabi reading the declaration of war. Once that immediately ceased after a three second outburst, a harried radio operator ran into the room and activated a switch before turning to the others, "Sir, the Amerigo squadron under Colonel Dolvich as encountered the enemy and they're meeting heavy resistance", "Also they report heavy jamming".

Fowler swore and said angrily to the officer with the others listening in, "Are you sure that what they say is true"? Another officer nodded in agreement with the admiral and said into the radio to the beleaguered Federation group, "You must be insane, the broadcast could not have".

An explosion followed by a frightened woman's scream silenced any further arguing and Fowler, despite not believing it himself, said into the radio very calmly, "We'll be ready in five minutes, hold them". He then turned to the rest of the command staff and replied, "Order all ships to launch as soon as they can". The stunned and confused command staff ran off while the admiral looked off into an endless night sky that suddenly started to become brighter and dangerous.

Zeon fleet:

As he observed the sight of Side 2 before him, Lt General Dannigan smiled at the panic his fleet caused. After observing the poor state of readiness of his foes, he radioed to his ships, "Accelerate to attack speed and commence general destruction of enemy forces".

His forces were well on their way to fulfilling the general's wish, especially the new Zaku mobile suits. A few Saberfish fighters screamed in from the Federation patrol group to intercept them but the Zakus, using their 120mm machine gun cannon rifles easily disposed of the Saberfish fighters as the humanoid machines continued on.

Following right behind them was the Zeon fleet with Musais and smaller ships in the front and the Chivvays in the middle. The Musais already had targets zeroed in and were firing long range shots at their assigned targets. Within a minute, several beam blasts destroyed a Salamis class cruiser and inflicted damage on the other ships.

As a group of Zakus detached themselves to deal with the forward group, the others fanned out across the colony cluster, blasting both fixed defenses and Saberfish fighters that managed to launch in time from the colony cylinders. Soon hundreds of dogfights broke out as the surprised and disorganized Earth Federation Forces struggled to fight back.

Among the Zaku pilots were several pilots who had distinguished themselves at the Zeon academy. Although not up to the level of that of Char Aznable, their piloting skills stunned their peers and ensured rapid promotion, despite that they were only trainees like everyone else. Now they as well as their superiors were about to find out if the easy promotion in rank was well earned.

Both Johnny Ridden and Shin Matsunaga flew side by side as they plunged headlong into a group of fighters heading up from a nearby colony. After acquiring a target, each Zaku fired off a quick burst that often resulted in the target fighter exploding. They along with many others continued this process as they hoped to kill more before the EFF brought numbers to bear. After a moment, they split apart, each leading a group of Zakus towards different targets.

In another part of the battlefield, a group of MS-06C Zaku IIs headed towards a recently departing Federation squadron. Leading them was a MS-05 Zaku I and the suits escorted a group of small ships filled to the gunwales with assault troops.

As soon as the Zeon MS group approached close enough, the Federation ships responded with a vicious hail of AA fire that caught two Zakus and an assault ship by surprise. The others split up with the MS-06Cs providing cover while the MS-05 I and the assault ships continued to bore in on their targets.

The surprised gunners tried to target the assault vessels but the Zakus provided effective cover and soon the ships were to close for accurate firing. Each assault ship attached itself on its target vessel and Zeon infantry spilled out, many armed with rifles and some armed with explosives. While the infantrymen scampered all around, knocking defenses as they went, the engineers hauled their explosives onto gun turrets, missile holes or the engines. Once they placed the explosives, the troops rocketed back to the awaiting Zakus and soon the bombs detonated, taking out two Magellans and several Salamis.

Inside the huge colony cylinders, panic regained all around as the word spread of the battle outside. The resulting chaos had an unexpected benefit as it prevented Earth Federation troops from returning to their ships as well as delaying their departure. The militia fighter wings from the colonies had no such problems as they roared out of their home bases but most suffered from poor training and suffered even more harshly at the hands of the Zakus than their Earth Federation Forces counterparts.

Soon enough of the Zakus penetrated the Saberfish screen to commence attacks on the rest of the ships as they detached themselves from their piers. After seeing the results done to their sisters, the gunners were eager to settle the score and they managed to kill several more Zakus with a savage barrage. That was all they could do before the Zakus split up into teams to engage them.

Despite the savage horror many of the pilots felt, they attempted to engage their foes according to what their instructors taught them at the academy. The Zakus spread out knocking out the main guns of the target warship before going for the vulnerable areas. It proved possible with the Salamis class cruisers due to their lack of AA protection. Many fell to this tactic and the Zeon mobile suits caught at least two so close to their home colonies that once the bridge was destroyed, they started to drift before slamming into the enormous steel cylinders, spilling people out into the black void of instant death by the millions.

The Magellans proved harder to crack as by operating together, their combined anti-aircraft fire gave them better protection against the Zakus, driving many of the more green pilots off and leaving the more "experienced" pilots to tackle them. They would deliver spectacularly.

Johnny Ridden flew around for a moment while observing the view in front of him. After figuring out an attack plan, he suddenly accelerated his engines to full power and headed straight down the throats of two Federation battleships fighting side by side. As the gunners attempted to focus on them, he suddenly accelerated and flew almost right in between the two ships, nearly exposing himself to vicious danger as the guns attempted to shoot him down while he peppered both ships with his 120mm machine gun while dealing with the intense g-forces such a maneuver provided. As he flew to the rear of both ships, Ridden smiled at the handiwork and threw a cracker grenade that showered both ships with fragments, destroying both of them in a single blast. Smirking at the result, he flew off to engage more targets.

Shin Matsunaga meanwhile had switched to his 280 mm bazooka and dove for the attack against a Magellan and three Salamis class cruisers. Knowing full well the bazooka only had four clips per magazine the Asian pilot grinned at the challenge and aimed while avoiding the withering hail of anti-aircraft fire. With one shot aimed at each ship, he killed them all with accurate shots to their vulnerable areas, their explosions raining shrapnel all over the area.

A sudden round of energy fire attracted his attention and he saw a Salamis class cruiser approaching at full speed. He said quietly, "For your foolish bravery you will die you pathetic fools". He activated his heat hawk and dove right at the Federation cruiser with the hand-held weapon raised.

The gunners were stunned at the apparent insanity of the pilot of the lone machine and they attempted to kill the intruder but in about a few seconds it was above them, its thick metal feet leaving an enormous foot print in the hull. They started to rush out of their stations in fear as the lone Zaku wrecked the ship while heading towards the bridge, its mono-eye glowing red with hate. It focused on the frightened bridge crew as the green-humanoid machine destroyed it with his heat hawk. Matsunaga activated his engines and rocketed away as the Salamis class cruiser ignited in a ball of fire.

Despite the success of Ridden, Matsunaga, Ramba Ral and others like them, the battle had somewhat transformed into a stalemate. Though the Zeon still the numerical advantage, General Dannigan knew that it would decrease soon and felt it was time to use his other ace-in-the hole. Plus, despite being taken by surprise, the Federation Forces fought hard and casualties among his mobile suit forces were surprisingly very high with some virtually annihilated in the first few minutes. Realizing the need to use a trusted ace-in-the hole at this very moment, he turned to an aide and said, "Order the crews to arm the missiles and prepare to fire a spread".

EFSF Oklahoma, January 3, UC 0079:

From the view of the main bridge, Fowler and the rest of the command staff watched the battle playing outside twenty-four hours straight for the last two days. The numerous explosions all over space gave everyone a very good view. They spotted the first few ships attempting to engage Zeon warships but most of their time, their energy fire flew wide off the mark. Fortunately, what targets the ships managed to score hits on did fearsome damage with a few exploding. The Zeon ships on the other hand, scored more hits than their Federation counterparts and at point blank range, which was more than what the Magellan's thick armor could withstand.

The Oklahoma herself had just cleared its own pier and its main guns were already active in trying to engage Zeon ships while its fighters attempted to keep the Zeon fighters off her. Soon other ships joined up with her as they all traded long range fire against their Zeon counterparts with no noticeable success. The huge Magellan class warship shook as several beam blasts impacted on her hull but she held together.

What concerned the crew the most were the scattered reports from the resistance the forward elements were encountering. Combine that with the immense radar interference all the Federation units encountered when they closed in to engage sent shivers down everyone's spine as they contemplated the thought of the supposed inferior spacenoids actually gaining a technological advantage over Earth. As he spotted the Zeon fighters blowing another Magellan to pieces, the rear-admiral cursed aloud to his fellow officers, "Order our units to apply all necessary methods to fight off those bastards as best they can and tell the rest to speed up their departures".

This started an angry conversation among the officers as they attempted to argue about the admiral's decision with some advocating a full retreat while others, mainly the hard-liners sided with the admiral. Unfortunately, that diverted their attention from the deteriorating situation and therefore the oncoming danger. It announced itself as an enormous shockwave shook the ship and forced everyone to turn and see enormous white fireballs in front of them. Everyone knew instantly what had just happened but before Admiral Fowler could utter an order, a nuclear missile slammed into Oklahoma, incinerating it as well as nearby warships and several more colonies.

As soon as the white lights cleared away, the destruction was clear for all to see. The wrecked hulls of destroyed warships floated all around the destroyed cylinders. Most importantly, scores of corpses swarmed the area, their faces showing fear and sadness at the horror fate forced them to suffer. The sight was enough to chill the more "sensitive" Zeon soldiers and fortunately, there were few that kept their mouths shut while the rest, especially some of the "specialists" from Zeon itself smiled at their handiwork.

After observing the relative peace for a few more minutes, Dannigan then transferred his command to one of Gihren's specialists replied his orders, "Mop up the surviving enemy units, exterminate all remaining colonial cylinders and then rendezvous with the others at Side 4. His Chivvay class cruiser broke off formation and headed off towards Side 4 at maximum burn while the rest of the fleet spread out and dropped large canisters armed with the G3 gas, which the Zakus soon dragged towards the metal cylinders, which instantly transformed into tombs for millions.

The destruction of the Oklahoma as well as most of the Side 2 fleet still tied to the docks ensured the isolation of the rest of the units as they realized that they were now alone. Some of the groups decided to commit themselves onto kamikaze missions and they bore in on their foes, especially the ones armed with the gas canisters, at full speed and weapons blazing. They only lasted for a few seconds as the covering Zeon units turned all of their weapons on them. Other ships such as the Amerigo attempted to fight their way out as they realized the enormity of the disaster and the hopeless of staying around any longer.

Unfortunately, the Zeon fleet was still eager for combat and it forced each of the separate feeling elements to fight their way through roving combined bands of Zakus and Musais. It took savage skill, guile, and luck for the solitary ships to escape and among those that survived the hell of Side 2 was the Amerigo, an accompanying Salamis cruiser and a single Saberfish fighter. With all heavily damaged, the survivors set course for Luna 2, currently the safe test port in all of the Earth System.

Soon the battlefield began to die down and the Zeon forces took stock of the situation. The battle had gone almost according to plan with the extension of the defense perimeter and the acquisition of new colonies to use as potential missiles against the cradle of humanity. Also, it had given new experience to the use of the wonder weapons Zeon was banking on to win against the numerically superior Earth Federation. As Shin Matsunaga, Johnny Ridden, Ramba Ral and the other pilots flew back to their ships; they had every reason to be proud with their success, especially Ramba Ral as he used an unheard of new tactic with superb results.

Surprisingly though, the butchers bill was enormously high with a good portion of the mobile suit squadrons virtually destroyed. Throughout history, the battlefield had proven to be the most brutal form of the Darwinian process and this was no different as the number of those that bore arms and died on both sides outnumbered the living by an enormous margin.


Author's notes:

1. Oklahoma was one of the eight US battleships on December 7, 1941. She took numerous torpedo hits and eventually capsized in the harbor. After being raised from the harbor mud, she was scrapped in 1944.

2. As you can see, this has references to the Gundam UC fanfic "The Forgotten Fleet" which is still one of the all time Gundam fanfics and I credit this fanfic as well as the Gundam OVA Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory with persuading me to give UC Gundam another shot after the disappointments of the original MSG and 08th MS team.

3. I tried to vary the battle in Side 2 a little bit with that of Side 4 with that the scramble time for the forces of Side 2 even slower as well as destroying the flagship of the Side 2 garrison fleet.

4. My eternal apologies for Zinegata for putting the references in here too quickly. I wanted to get this out of the way before I headed back to California.


Author's questions:

1. How did the dispositions of the order of battle and the fight go? I apologize for making any mistakes in terms of continuity and canon.

2. Does anyone have any ideas on how I could vary my battles so to attempt to make each one interesting?

As always, please read and review.