EPISODE 24: STURM AND DRANG
March, U.C. 0100, rolls into April, and the Earth Federation/Phobos Zeon Alliance Forces continue to push forward towards the Jupiter Zone. Although the Zeon Confederation Forces started the war in February with a 6:4 numerical superiority ratio over the Alliance, heavy losses among the Deimos Fleet in the Asteroid Belt and subsequent defeats at the Midway Colonies between Mars and Jupiter have cost the Confederation Forces its advance guard, making the balance of forces between the opposing sides close to 1:1 two months into the war.
The Alliance's success is attributable to the nimble, flexible, and seemingly limitlessly reconfigurable strategies and tactics deployed by General Alexander Miguel of the Phobos Zeon Forces and Major Athena Ibaz of the Earth Federation Special Forces. The Alliance has liberated space colony after space colony in the Midway Zone, and under Major Ibaz's direction, the Alliance has armed many of the colonies to help oppose the Confederation. Generally, the Spacenoids of the Midway Colonies and Outer System favor the Alliance, as Major Ibaz has persuaded the leaders of the Earth Federation Government to allow the colonies to maintain their autonomy (a plan to which General Miguel agreed and supported), casting the Alliance as liberators to the Confederation's occupiers.
The Alliance's next objective is to retake the Federation's Ceres Base, previously the stronghold of the Earth Federation Forces in the Midway and Jupiter Zones, but now occupied and converted into a key Confederation garrison.
A fierce firefight is currently underway near the space colony Westlake, which is an important supply depot for the Confederation armada. The destruction (relatively easy) or capture (likely difficult) of this supply base would cripple the Confederation's ability to operate outside the Jupiter Zone, trapping the Confederation forces within Jupiter orbit.
Naturally, Westlake is heavily fortified by the Confederation's best troops, including the Callisto Newtype Corps. Despite the presence of such Newtype aces as the Phobos Zeons' "Black Raven," 1Lt. Kyoko Yamaguchi, the Centurion Team's 2Lt. Jonah Michaels, and Major Ibaz herself, the Callisto Newtype Corps has offered unyielding resistance, and after three days of continuous siege, the Alliance and Confederation forces are at a stalemate. As the Alliance is the attacking force in this instance, that stalemate is, in effect, a disadvantage.
Athena dispatches a pair of Conferation Dreissen III mobile suits with well-placed missiles from her Waverider-configuration Cour de Leon. As she swings the Leon around for a second pass, she sees the mobile suits from both her own forces and the Phobos Zeon Forces beginning to flag from exhaustion. One Confederation MS had come perilously close to nailing Chief Warrant Officer Chieming Noah's Jet Jegan before Jonah came to her rescue, blasting the enemy mecha away…and Sgt Geoff Sutcliffe had nearly sustained a fatal hit before being bowled out of harm's way by an attentive MSgt. Karim Abdul Al-Said's Guncannon 100.
Athena recognizes that the Alliance Forces are at the brink of exhaustion, and will break if they attempt to sustain the battle any longer.
The Centurion Team Leader and Deputy Director of the Earth Federation Special Forces opens communications channels, "This is Major Ibaz to all units: disengage and withdraw from combat zone immediately."
The Alliance troops maneuver to comply with Athena's order, except 1Lt. Kyoko Yamaguchi, who continues to attack the Confederation MS forces with her Elmeth Gamma transformable mobile armor even as she appears on Athena's cockpit viewscreen to protest the order.
"Major Ibaz," the Black Raven says with a keening lilt, "This is not the time to order a withdrawal! Our forces are very close to breaking through the enemy defenses. If we maintain the attack, we'll…!"
"…be annihilated to the last man and mecha," Athena finishes, "Our soldiers are not expendable commodities, Lt. Yamaguchi. You'll follow your orders."
Clenching her teeth with rage, Kyoko nonetheless complies, but not before firing a series of parting shots that flame a dozen enemy mobile suits.
The Alliance Forces withdraw, allowing the Confederation a victory…for the moment.
The Earth Federation Forces Space Armada flagship, the General Abraham Reville, has arrived in the Midway Zone to serve as mobile command base for the Earth Federation Forces in the current operations theater. Aboard the flagship is General Manron Blackhead, who has replaced the retired General Bright Noah as Supreme Commander of the Earth Federation Forces.
The Mars Zone being secured by the Alliance, and the Midway Zone now perhaps days away from Alliance control, General Blackhead feels it is safe at last for him to journey to the Outer System to oversee the remainder of the operation, which has thus far (on the Federation end) been under the trenchant command of Major Athena Ibaz.
General Blackhead has invited General Miguel and his aides, Chief of Staff Col. Ross Davenport and Black Raven Squadron commanding officer 1Lt. Kyoko Yamaguchi, to a strategy conference with Major Ibaz and her second-in-command, 2Lt. Jonah Michaels.
"What do you mean that we will not make a direct assault on the Westlake colony?!" the young, raven-haired leader of the Black Ravens demands, turning her furious black eyes to Athena, "Westlake is the Confederation's key supply base in the Midway Zone! We must destroy it!"
Athena responds with measured equanimity, "Westlake is the enemy's most important supply base in this region. It's also home to two-million, six-hundred eighty thousand, five-hundred and twenty-three civilians. Sacrificing their lives is a strategy that's simply off the table, Lieutenant."
Kyoko smirks bitterly, "First, you withdraw our troops on the brink of victory because their lives are aren't 'expendable,' and now you refuse to use the trump card we have at hand because those people at Westlake apparently aren't 'expendable' either. This is war, Major! People die in wars."
Athena does not take her steady, penetrating gaze off the youthful, felinely beautiful Phobos Zeon MS ace, responding firmly, "Wars aren't won by antagonizing helpless noncombatants, Lieutenant Yamaguchi. Mass murdering an entire space colony will only turn the civilian population of the Outer System against the Alliance, and that will tip this war irretrievably in the Confederation's favor."
Kyoko bares her teeth at Athena, "You don't…!"
General Miguel puts a firm hand on his young charge's shoulder, "Kyoko, please. Major Ibaz is right. We're the custodians of the Spacenoids' future, not butchers. We won't sink to the level of our enemies. Moreover, I believe the Major has a better idea, am I correct, Athena?"
"Yes, General Miguel," Athena says, then turning to General Blackhead, "With your permission, sir."
The Supreme Commander of the Earth Federation Forces nods his assent, and Athena proceeds, activating a projection screen that displays the layout of local space within a 500 kilometer radius of the Westlake Colony, "The enemy's rear guard armada and MS units are concentrated near the Westlake Colony. They've been entrenched there for months. They figure that their proximity to Westlake prevents us from mounting a substantial attack against them because we won't risk Westlake in a frontal assault…"
"…which is why we have to just forget about Westlake and wipe it off the map," Kyoko finishes.
"No," Athena continues, "a surgical strike by a small advance force at Westlake will draw them out without unduly threatening the colony. We'll pin them outside of Westlake with an irresistible target, and then ambush them with our main forces after we have them out in the open."
"And what's this 'irresistible target' you're proposing, Major?" Kyoko demands.
Athena stares Kyoko down, the slightest hint of a grin on the former Zeon monarch's lips.
Kyoko's eyes widen as she realizes the implications of Athena's statement, "You want me to bait the Confederation forces out of Westlake?"
Athena nods, "What objective could be more tempting for the Callisto Newtype Corps and their allies than the Black Raven? You've sent hundreds of them to fiery fates during the past few months. They want your blood, Lieutenant, so naturally, you'll be the irresistible target."
The challenge excites Kyoko's ego, "All right, Major Ibaz… I'll do it your way."
At his seat, General Miguel quietly smiles. He knew Kyoko would not back down from the challenge. He also knows that she will successfully meet the challenge.
The Prince of Phobos also cannot help admiring how Athena maneuvered Kyoko into going along with her strategy…it's just the sort of mind game that Alexander himself would play.
The surgical strike would commence at 03:33 the next morning…leaving approximately eighteen hours to prepare.
Far across space, at Anaheim Enterprises' Skunkworks Division headquarters beneath the surface of the lunar city of Anman, Jolie Minh earnestly and rigorously twists a crescent wrench to secure a loosened control interface component on the White Phoenix Gundam. Her fresh, youthful face is smeared with grease, as is her Anaheim Enterprises work jumpsuit.
Jolie peers out of the cockpit and glares at a crew of technicians struggling to repair the rear wing mount of the WPG, which was damaged during the previous day's test exercises. The former Centurion Team ace winces as she sees the technician crew misconnect the mounting unit, causing the unit to collapse.
"Come on, come on!" Jolie demands furiously, "There isn't time to fuck around! This mech needs to be finished and shipped to the front lines, pronto!"
Dr. Camille Vidan enters the hangar area, his jaw dropping in mild disbelief as he spots Jolie.
"She's still at it," the former pilot of Zeta Gundam mutters to himself.
As far as Camille figures, Jolie has been working on the White Phoenix Gundam…testing, diagnosing, tinkering, retesting, tinkering some more, etc., for at least thirty-six straight hours without sleep or anything more than a five-minute working meal or quick lavatory pit stop. This comes after a four hour sleep session (inside the cockpit of the WPG) that itself punctuated forty consecutive hours of work on the WPG.
The lack of sleep has made Jolie even more short-tempered and irate than usual, and she has been chasing around the technicians and engineers on Team Phoenix to speed up their work on the mecha, making impossible demands of them.
As hard as she's driven them, however, Jolie has driven herself the hardest…determined to bring the WPG to the end of its testing phase and the beginning of its operational phase as quickly as possible.
She's certainly driven, Camille acknowledges, completing the White Phoenix Gundam has become her obsession.
Camille can understand. He recognizes that she's driven by love…her love of her estranged fiancé, Jonah Miguel. She obviously still loves him deeply, and fears for his life in the war being waged between the Earth Federation/Phobos Zeon Alliance and the Zeon Confederation in the Outer System. Unable to protect him directly, she can only ensure that he goes into battle armed with the most powerful mobile suit yet to be built by humanity.
"Get that fucking wing mount installed, NOW!" Jolie screams, leaping over to personally, manually ensure that the job gets done, pushing flustered and exhausted technicians out of the way.
Jolie pulls a welding torch from the hand of one technician and sets to work on the mount herself.
Camille has seen enough. He knows that his young protégée cannot, despite her seemingly boundless energy, keep this up. Camille has come to think of Jolie as a younger sister, perhaps even a daughter, and he can't stand idly by and watch her flame out.
Camille puts a hand gently on the younger Newtype's shoulder, "Hey, Jolie…"
"Leave me alone!" Jolie snaps, continuing to work furiously.
"Jolie," Camille says more firmly, "I understand your urgency to finish this project. That won't get accomplished any sooner if you burn yourself out. Take it easy."
"No!" Jolie retorts stubbornly, "We can't lose any more time! Jonah's out in that war zone and he needs this! His life's in danger! He's in danger because…I'm…not…there. Because…I…left…him."
That does it. Jolie collapses forward into Camille's arms and begins to sob. The nervous breakdown that Camille worried would hit Jolie has indeed come to pass.
"I…never…should…have…left…him," Jolie cries bitterly, clutching Camille's arms for support as she buries her face on his chest, "If he's hurt…or killed, it's because I wasn't there!"
Camille notices the crew of Project White Phoenix technicians and engineers having paused in their tasks to observe the drama happening on the hangar deck. Camille motions with a toss of his head to the crew to take advantage of this time to take a much-needed breather…away from the hangar.
Camille cups Jolie's silky smooth cheeks in his gentle hands, forcing her to look at him, "Jolie…JOLIE! Come on, get a grip. You can't help Jonah if you collapse from exhaustion. I want to get some rest…at least eight hours of sleep, do you understand?"
Jolie nods, wiping away her tears and forcing herself back into composure, "OK…OK. Can I at least stay here…at the hangar?"
"Just promise me you'll rest for eight hours," Camille replies.
"All right," Jolie agrees, floating towards the White Phoenix Gundam.
Camille looks worriedly at his charge as she disappears into the mighty experimental mobile suit's cockpit. The veteran AEUG hero sighs. He really can't blame her. If Fa's life were similarly in danger, he'd probably do the same.
As it is, Camille has come to believe that the White Phoenix Gundam might never make it to 2Lt. Jonah Michaels. News reports indicate that the war is approaching a critical turning point…one that will likely swing the balance of the conflict irrevocably in favor of one of the two warring sides. This will likely come down within weeks, if not days, and current technical problems ensure that the White Phoenix Gundam will not be ready for rollout for at least another two months.
More importantly, although reports he has read from the Federation's files that 2Lt. Jonah Michaels, while a powerful Newtype, is simply not an ace pilot the way Jolie is. In this, Camille recognizes a parallel between himself and Jonah, and between Amuro Ray and Jolie.
In his days as pilot of the Gundam MK-II and the Zeta Gundam for AEUG, Camille was considered the AEUG's best combatant…routinely dispatching the Titans' and the Neo Zeon's best. Camille knew then as he does now, however, that his victories were attributable more to his Newtype abilities than to his actual piloting skill. Camille understands that were it not for his Newtype abilities, he would not be at the level of Char Aznable or Amuro Ray, who in addition to being powerful Newtypes, were simply gifted pilots who would have excelled in combat even without the benefit of their Newtype abilities. They were classic hot doggers, aces in the old fashioned sense from the era of the 20th Century fighter pilot tradition.
Jolie fits this ace profile. She has the mentality and the physical talent for it. Jonah Michaels does not. Michaels would not, in Camille's estimation, be able to exploit the White Phoenix Gundam's full potential the way that Camille knows Jolie can.
Camille can't help smiling bitterly, reflecting, Well, it is called the White Phoenix Gundam. Maybe this mobile suit's destiny is with Jolie, after all.
Jolie has sequestered herself inside the cockpit of the idle White Phoenix Gundam, tilting her head back in the pilot seat, trying futilely to sleep. The viewscreen of the mighty mecha is on, receiving a live feed from UNN reporting on the progress of the war raging in the Outer System. At the moment, there is no immediate action, and the coverage has turned to military and political analysts discussing the impending end of the war and its aftermath, and speculating about the postwar future of the Outer System.
Jolie follows the news intently for several minutes, but finally, her exhaustion takes over. The pretty teenager drifts into sleep…
She dreams of Jonah, her beloved Jonah, facing danger across the cosmos…
Across the cosmos, he sees her drifting away…out of reach, but not out of his heart.
"Jolie!" he calls out, "Come back!"
She turns and smiles bitterly at him, shaking her head in farewell as she disappears into eternity.
No!
"No!"
Jonah bolts awake in his quarters aboard the Amuro Ray. He checks the time. 22:11. One hour, eleven minutes after lights out. A little less than four hours before early reveille for a critical sortie.
Realizing that he just won't be getting any sleep, Jonah rises, dresses in his uniform, and leaves his quarters to stalk the corridors of the Amuro Ray.
Jonah notices the door open and lights on at Major Athena Ibaz's quarters.
Jonah pokes his head in. Sure enough, Athena is up, working through a cigarette (the latest of at least six, Jonah sees, noting the stubbed out butts in the ashtray) as she intensely studies a map of the space colony Westlake.
She works so hard, Jonah reflects, What drives her? She seems to have given over her entire life to this war. Why does she do it?
"Please come in Jonah," Athena says invitingly, although she has not looked up from the map on her desk. When she finally does, she offers Jonah that smile that he finds so irresistible.
Athena's so pretty, Jonah thinks to himself, admiring the allure of his comely commanding officer, Other than Jolie, Athena is probably the prettiest girl in the world. But what's in her life other than this war? What would she be doing if she weren't a soldier?
Out of respect for Jonah, who doesn't smoke, Athena butts out her cigarette. Knowing that he's not a drinker, she offers him a glass of water.
She also offers him an open ear, an open mind, and an open heart, "Tell me what's on your mind, Jonah."
In the months since Jolie's departure, Athena and Jonah have grown closer to one another. Their relationship, though increasingly affectionate, is not a romance; both of them are too loyal to Jolie to even consider such a development between them. Moreover, they relate more to each other like siblings…older sister and younger brother…two children of Zeon who have turned their backs on their nation's violent heritage.
In the past, Jolie had served the role of "younger sibling" for Athena, and Athena had taught Jolie as much as the younger girl would learn from her (and perhaps learned a few things from Jolie as well). Now that Jolie has left the Centurion Team, Athena finds herself transferring those feelings of fraternal affection to Jonah.
Jonah, as both "younger brother" surrogate and second-in-command, is far more tractable than Jolie ever was. Whenever Athena issues Jonah an order, she can expect him to carry it out dutifully, without protest or deviation, which hadn't always been the case with Jolie.
By that same logic, however, Athena finds that Jonah lacks Jolie's willingness to challenge her and provide her a counterpoint – something that Athena did not realize she would miss so much until after Jolie had left. Jolie served as Athena's conscience…a voice of passionate protest that served to check Athena's sometimes more callous tendencies, and although Jonah is more compassionate and humane than Jolie, he lacks the fiery assertiveness to be the same anchor of conscience that Jolie was.
Jonah answers Athena's question directly, "I couldn't sleep. I'm anxious about the war…how it's going to end…and what comes after."
"I've been thinking about the same things," Athena admits, "Your brother Alexander is a very ambitious and cunning man, Jonah. To be honest with you, I still don't trust him."
"Why are you helping him, then?" Jonah asks, "By helping him with this war, aren't we just setting up more wars in the future?"
Maybe he's a better anchor of conscience than I credit him for, Athena ponders, before putting her hand on Jonah's shoulder and replying, "Jonah…you'll find that often in life, there are things you can't help going through with…even when you know, deep down, it's utterly wrong. Sometimes, life gives us only choices we know we'll regret, but have to take anyway."
"I…don't understand, ma'am," Jonah says.
"You'll understand after you grow up some more," Athena says, winsome smile appearing again, "And don't call me 'ma'am' when we're off duty. You make me feel like an old biddy."
Jonah returns the smile, "You're far from an old biddy, Athena. You're actually one of the prettiest girls I've ever known…"
"…but Jolie is prettier, right?" Athena teases.
Jonah turns red with embarrassment, "Uh…well, she…you…that is…"
Athena is amused by Jonah's discomfort, and decides to let him off the hook, "You don't have to answer that, Jonah…I don't want you end up in the infirmary just a few hours before we have to sortie."
The discussion comes around, as it so often does, to combat.
Jonah asks, "Ma'a…um, Athena…do you think we can successfully carry out your plan?"
Athena gives Jonah a stern look, and replies with a query of her own, "What sort of a question is that to ask now, Lieutenant?"
Jonah gulps, "My apologies, ma'am. Of course, we'll succeed."
Athena sighs, "Then again, there are no 'of courses' in warfare, no matter what we tell our superior officers. It's always a gamble, Jonah…like so much of life is."
Athena turns to a photograph on her desk of a handsome young man who looks vaguely familiar to Jonah. He's noticed the photo before, but has never inquired about it.
"The guy in that photo," Jonah remarks, "That's Chieming's older brother, isn't it?"
Athena nods, "Chieming's brother…and General Noah's son, obviously. His name is Hathaway Noah."
Jonah says tentatively, "You two are in love, is that right?"
Athena gives Jonah a sidelong glare before flashing him another smile, "Jolie's told you everything, hasn't she?"
Jonah grins sheepishly in return, "She mentioned that you had a boyfriend named Hathaway, who happened to be General Noah's son, but didn't tell me much else."
"It happened more than a year ago," Athena says plainly, "the Centurion Team got caught up in providing security for General Noah during a high-level conference in Shanghai after his envoy was attacked by ISRLA assassins in orbit. I met Hathaway on Earth…"
Jonah remarks, "I'm surprised you had the time to start up a relationship under the circumstances."
Athena gives a short, bitter laugh, "It's not what you think: I discovered that Hathaway was an ISRLA agent, bent on murdering General Noah."
Jonah's eyes widen and his jaw drops in disbelief, "But…they're father and son. How could…why would…?"
Athena gazes intently at Jonah, "You and General Miguel are brothers, too."
Jonah protests, "But that's different. Alex and I have different beliefs, but we haven't tried to kill each other!"
"Yet," Athena amends gravely, then continues, "In any case, my duty required me to fight against Hathaway…to the point of killing him if I had to…no matter how deeply I loved him."
"You…didn't, did you?" Jonah asks, almost terrified of the answer.
"No," Athena says grimly.
Jonah breathes a sigh of relief. Although he has come to love Athena very much as a sister-at-arms, he has always been somewhat intimidated by her. Beneath the glamorous, gorgeous image was a sharp edged human weapon, capable of shocking callousness at times (though, Jonah must admit, not purposelessly or gratuitously so). Jonah finds it reassuring that his "big sister" can listen to and follow her heart.
Athena turns her gaze back on Jonah, "Hathaway and I can never be together, but love has a way of crossing any distance or any border. Bear that in mind, Jonah."
Jonah understands that Athena is referring to his own relationship with Jolie, "I will, ma'a…Athena."
"Come over here," Athena says, "Since it doesn't look like you're going to sleep tonight, I want to review our strategy for the surgical strike on Westlake with you. You're second-in-command of the Centurion Team now, Jonah, and there will come a day when you will be responsible not only for the lives of the soldiers in this unit, but also more lives than you could ever fathom. I want to know that you'll be ready…when that day comes."
That sounds a bit morbid to Jonah…all the "wills" and "whens"…as if Athena has already determined to meet some unspecified, but inescapable doom.
It's always a gamble, Jonah…
"I do not like that woman, Major Athena Ibaz," 1Lt. Kyoko Yamaguchi complains to her mentor and commanding officer, General Alexander Miguel, aboard Phobos Zeon flagship Cassius, "she is given to scruples that hinder our efforts. You have always taught me that scruples are for weaklings and fools, Lord Alexander."
Alexander remarks in response, "Major Ibaz is neither, Kyoko, and she might not be as scrupulous as you believe. For now, however, I want you to follow her directives. Whatever problems Athena Ibaz might present, she is good at winning wars. I plan to use her as long as I can."
"I believe she will become a threat to us eventually," Kyoko adds, unwilling to concede a centimeter to that bitch Ibaz.
Kyoko seats herself in Alexander's lap. Alexander reaches under the hem of Kyoko's short uniform skirt to caress the warm, smooth skin of her thighs.
Alexander locks Kyoko's lips into a passionate kiss, and holds her head on his shoulder affectionately as he answers, "I understand. You are right, of course, Kyoko…and I'm very pleased by how perceptive you've become. In time, I will need you to eliminate Athena Ibaz for me. For now, I need you to be patient. Ibaz is right about one thing: wars are not won by antagonizing those whose support one needs. To win a war requires more than superior firepower, combat skill, and battle tactics, my dear. One also must be astute to the psychological effects one's actions has on the populace. I want you to bear that in mind."
Kyoko says warmly, "I'll do whatever you wish of me, my lord. I'm yours…."
Alexander smiles as he embraces Kyoko more tightly, allowing the beautiful teenager to fall asleep in his arms.
Kyoko is young, Alexander reflects, and although highly gifted, she remains naïve to how this degenerate world operates. She will learn. She must learn. When I claim my destiny as the Sovereign of Zeon, she will be my Queen. Together, we will spawn the new pure race of Spacenoids that will claim the stars as their domain.
03:33
Zero Hour has come.
Across the Alliance armada, troops rush to duty stations in preparation for the surgical strike on Westlake Colony. Gunners take positions behind their cannon emplacements. Communications technicians check for clear channels. Mobile suit pilots strap themselves into the cockpits of their mecha.
Major Athena Ibaz and 2Lt. Jonah Michaels take to their Cour de Leon and Centurion Gundam mobile suits, respectively. The commanding officer of the Centurion Team and her executive officer exchange a fist-bump wishing each other luck before disappearing into the cockpits of their mobile suits.
Athena opens communications to all Alliance Forces mobile suits, "This is Major Athena Ibaz to all units. We'll be entering the Westlake Colony through the access ports now displayed on your combat data screens. Our intelligence personnel have identified these access ports as relatively lightly guarded and thus, vulnerable to penetration, but use extreme caution. This could be an enemy entrapment ruse or, perhaps, the situation has changed since this data was last updated three hours ago. Good luck to all of you. Ibaz out."
On the mobile suit launch deck of the Cassius, 1Lt. Kyoko Yamaguchi of the Phobos Zeon Forces straps herself into her Elmeth Gamma and runs a final systems check. The success of this operation depends greatly on her, so she can leave nothing to chance. She will not fail Zeon. She will not fail Lord Alexander.
The mobile suits line up on the launch catapults of their respective mother craft, and are hurtled once again into the blackness of space.
Aboard the Amuro Ray…
"Major Athena Ibaz, Cour de Leon, now launching."
"2Lt. Jonah Michaels, Centurion Gundam, now launching."
"Chief Warrant Officer Chieming Noah, Jet Jegan, now launching."
And aboard the Cassius…
"1Lt. Kyoko Yamaguchi, Elmeth Gamma, now launching."
At 04:11, all is quiet in the space surrounding the Westlake Colony. The Alliance Forces' disposition since breaking off the previous engagement has been characterized as a "withdrawal," and the Confederation Forces have taken advantage of the lull to lick their wounds and prepare a counterstrike.
Rear Admiral Glengarry McFarlane of the Callisto Armada has been given responsibility over the Westlake Colony by Fleet Admiral Lara Constantinas. McFarlane is a thirty-year veteran of the Zeon Forces, and commanded the Zeon destroyer Spoiler during the Battle of Solomon. He has a proven record of success in battle that stretches back decades across dozens of campaigns.
McFarlane is on the bridge of his current command, the battleship Dessler, supervising the maintenance and repair work being conducted on his forces' mobile suits and ships. Labor resources being insufficient among the enlisted personnel, the Confederation Forces have taken to conscripting the citizens of Westlake Colony, mostly unwillingly, to work as auxiliary personnel in the maintenance docks.
Westlake has been occupied by the Zeon Confederation Forces now for nearly three months, and the once peaceful and prosperous (and strategically located) colony has endured privation and acts of outright thuggery by their occupiers ever since. Westlake's security forces, supported by the Earth Federation, were overrun by the Confederation Forces in January. Those suspected of anti-Confederation activities were systematically rounded up and eliminated during the first weeks of the occupation, and as many as five-hundred thousand of the colony's inhabitants have been killed or have otherwise disappeared. All civil liberties have been suspended indefinitely, and Confederation mobile suits and foot soldiers constantly patrol the streets of the colony, attacking those whose actions they consider "suspicious" without trial or inquiry.
A few Westlake citizens have gathered in what was once a beautiful park near the middle of Westlake City, trying to eke out a poor meal of the meager rations provided by the Confederation Forces. Malnutrition and disease have begun to set in at the colony, and these factors will likely end up taking more lives at Westlake than will beam or missile blasts.
Thirty-five year old Matthew Colvin takes a seat in the park with his lifelong friend, thirty-two year old Ganeesh Bhatangar, sharing cans of cold rations. The two friends are lucky to be alive. Many of their friends and relatives, however, have not been as fortunate. Matt lost both of his parents and a brother, while Ganesh is now a widower…and the parent of an infant son who will never grow to manhood.
Matt scoops what remains of his rations into Ganesh's can, "These fucking Zeon bastards expect us the live off these rotten scraps. They've got to be fucking sadists. If they had any human decency in 'em, they would have just killed us and been done with it when the fighting started."
Ganesh, once a robust, bulky man, has since shriveled into a pathetic shell of his former self, lacking nourishment both from the shortage of edibles, and from the depression into which he has fallen since the loss of his wife and son, "I only wish they had taken me with my dear Gopi and little Sanjay. I had just seen them off on the shuttle leaving the colony, when one of their mobile suits…one of their mobile suits…"
Ganesh breaks down into sobs, replaying the events in his mind…his horrified screams as he watched the Zeon Confederation Forces' Dreissen-III mobile suit bring its beam tomahawk down on the space shuttle that would have borne his wife and son, and dozens of other helpless civilians, to safety.
"They said none of us could be allowed to leave alive," Ganesh continues, "That we were to remain here to serve whatever needs that the Confederation had. Then they…they…"
A heavy vibration alerts Matt to the approach of a Callisto Zeon mobile suit, escorted by a squad of rifle-bearing Callisto Zeon soldiers.
A stern faced Callisto Zeon sergeant approaches, demanding, "You two…what are you doing out here?!"
Matt replies, "Just trying to eat our rations, sir. Nothing else."
The sergeant un-straps his rifle, firing rounds at the feet of the two men, forcing them to scurry away, "Go eat inside your homes. If I catch you out here again, I'll be aiming for your heads rather than your feet next time."
Matt and Ganesh leave the park, fully aware of the guns trained on them.
"Zeke bastards," Matt mutters under his breath, "they'll pay for this some day…"
Ganesh, pushed over his limit by hunger, by fear, by a desire for vengeance, decides not to wait for this "some day" that might never come. His teeth bared in rage, his eyes wild, Ganesh turns around and charges towards his tormentors.
"ZEON PIGS! YOU MURDERED MY WIFE AND SON! I'LL TAKE ALL OF YOU TO HELL WITH ME!" Ganesh screams.
"Ganny, don't, my man!" Matt pleads.
It's too late. The Zeon troops level their weapons towards the two friends.
Ganesh falls to his knees, his chest a cavity of blood.
"GANNY!" Matt screams.
There follows an explosion at one of the terminals of the space colony. The Callisto Zeon troops and mobile suit escort rush towards the explosion, to investigate its cause.
"Ganesh!" Matt cries, cradling the head of his dying friend.
Matt hears the roar of mobile suit engines engaged at maximum power. He looks above into the skies of the colony to see Earth Federation Forces mobile suits…a Gundam, and several mobile suits of the GM type.
"You see that, Ganny?" Matt says through sobs, "The Federation is here, my man! The Federation is gonna liberate us, teach these Zeke bastards a lesson, and make life good here good again…like it used to be…"
Ganesh sees the Federation mobile suits in skies, smiles briefly, and dies with a sigh.
"Target all military objectives," Major Athena Ibaz orders from the Cour de Leon, "Hit their ships, maintenance facilities, mobile suits, weapons stockpiles…but stay clear of the residential zones!"
Centurion Team and all Earth Federation Forces mobile suit units obey Athena's orders dutifully, well aware of the consequences they would face if they fail to respect the commands of the Deputy Director of the Earth Federation Special Forces. To fight with that precision is difficult, and adds to the risk, but Major Ibaz has been very specific that the surgical strike must minimize losses and damage to the civilian sectors of Westlake Colony.
"Get their forces off the streets and out of the colony!" Athena orders, switching the Cour de Leon from Waverider to mobile suit configuration to contribute to precisely to that objective.
Jonah uses the Centurion Gundam's armored right leg in a flying kick to down a Callisto Zeon mobile suit looming menacingly over an apartment complex near the center of the city. Having stunned the enemy unit, the Centurion Gundam grabs its enemy's armored body and engages thrusters, jetting towards a colony exit port.
Everywhere around the colony, the scene is the same, with Alliance mobile suits using the safest methods possible to drive the enemy forces off the streets of Westlake City towards the spaceport and out into space.
Athena surveys the scene around her…most of the chaos and mayhem is localized in the areas occupied by the Confederation Forces. Good…
"All forces withdraw now," Athena orders.
As quickly as they came, the Alliance mobile suits exit the Westlake Colony.
Aboard the Dessler, Rear Admiral McFarlane issues an order, "This is McFarlane to all hunting dogs. The hunt is on. Bring them back bloody."
McFarlane turns to his helmsman, "Take the ship out of the colony. We're going to pursue the enemy."
"Right away, sir," the helmsman replies.
The Alliance mobile suits burst out of Westlake Colony with the Confederation Forces in hot pursuit. The firefight continues, now with greater gusto that the Alliance Forces have the enemy out in the open, where they can fight without having to exercise caution to not endanger civilians.
Athena opens communications once again, "Centurion Leader to Black Raven. Breakfast is served, Lieutenant."
The Elmeth Gamma bursts onto the scene, faster than the senses can track, letting loose with its multiple weapons systems, immolating Confederation mobile suits and warships en masse.
A new flight of mobile suits arrives in the melee zone, much faster and more nimble than the units that the Alliance Forces had heretofore been fighting.
The Callisto Newtype Corps has arrived.
Captain Renaldo Desmond, commanding officer of the so-called "Family," issues orders to his elite Newtype unit, "This is Daddy to his boys and girls. We're going bird-hunting kiddies. Ever skewer a black raven before?"
"No, sir, but we'd like to do it sir," comes the chorus of eleven.
"Ready the nets and the guns, then," Desmond replies, "Daddy will show you how it's done!"
From the Cour de Leon, Athena surveys the situation and contacts the Amuro Ray, "Captain Beecher, please deploy the fleet. Pin the enemy down so they can't get away from the Black Raven."
"Roger that, Major," replies Captain Beecher.
The Alliance Armada closes in, its weapons primed for bombardment.
Aboard her Jet Jegan EWAC unit, Sgt. Helen notices fire breaking out back at the Westlake Colony, "Major Ibaz!"
Athena spots it, "Centurion Team units to Westlake!"
The Centurions follow their commanding officer back to the burning space colony.
In the midst of her battle with the Callisto Newtype Corps, Kyoko makes contact with her squad, "Black Ravens…support the Centurion Team!"
"Roger, ma'am," comes the response from Chief Warrant Offer Charles Calley, Kyoko's second in command.
"Black Ravens to Westlake," Chief Calley orders.
Vice-Admiral McFarlane, having sensed that the odds are against his forces in this engagement, has ordered a "Scorched Earth" attack on Westlake. Perhaps his forces will not be successful in holding onto the colony, but better to destroy it than to allow the Alliance Forces to capture it.
The Centurion Team bursts back into Westlake to find a scene of chaos…a limited number of Confederation mobile suit units not lured into the battle raging outside the colony are wreaking havoc upon the city.
The Jet Jegans, Guncannon 100s, Centurion Gundam, and Cour de Leon take positions for urban combat, exchanging fire with the few remaining Dreissen-III and Gellond units in the colony.
The Black Raven Squad storms into Westlake Colony, attacking with abandon, filled with rage upon seeing its internecine kinsmen/foemen.
Mobile suits tumble over buildings, including apartment complexes, offices, shops, and public facilities. Westlake City explodes into conflagration.
Aboard the Cour de Leon, Athena seethes as she witnesses the Black Ravens' reckless attack, "Stop this attack now!"
The Black Ravens continue to attack the Confederation mobile suits heedless of the terrified human souls in the streets beneath their armored feet.
"Dammit!" Athena snarls, then orders her squad, "Separate them! I want all the hostile units: Confederation AND Allied, neutralized NOW!"
"Yes, ma'am!" comes the reply.
Setting the example, Athena takes the Cour de Leon to the air, dousing a Callisto Zeon Dreissen-III and the Black Raven Squad Nova Doga it is matched against with super adhesive that immobilizes the joints of both mecha.
Following suit, Jonah uses the magnetic clamp cables of his Centurion Gundam to discreetly neutralize three more mobile suits, coiling the cables around the allied and enemy units and sending a disabling surge of energy through the cable.
All around, it is the same, as the Centurions subdue both Confederation foes and battle-mad Alliance units alike.
All units are subdued except Chief Warrant Officer Calley's Nova Doga. The young Phobos Zeon officer has lapsed into a berserker rage, and is repeatedly shooting at and hurling an already disabled Dreissen-III mobile suit through the city blocks of Westlake.
"Confederation scum!" Calley growls, as he directs his mecha to lift the fallen Confederation mobile suit into the air again, "All of you deserve to die for daring to resist us!"
So saying, Calley extracts his mobile suit's beam saber from its storage nacelle, activating its green blade and preparing to plunge it into wreckage of the Dreissen.
The explosion would likely destroy Westlake City.
The beam saber is raised, poised to strike.
A single beam strikes through the back of the Nova Doga, felling the Phobos Zeon mobile suit.
Athena lowers the Cour de Leon's beam rifle.
Outside the colony, 1Lt. Kyoko Yamaguchi's Elmeth Gamma has all but disposed of the Callisto Newtype Armada.
Captain Renaldo Desmond is now a "father" with no "children," his charges having all fallen to the Black Raven.
In his heavily damaged mobile suit, a gravely wounded Captain Desmond stares at the image of the black mobile suit facing him…the one who, in a matter of moments, has eradicated his proud unit as easily as they had vanquished so many other enemies in the past.
Desmond is down to his mobile suit's beam saber. He would use it, in one last valiant charge.
"You're not done, yet," Desmond bites out, launching his MS towards the Elmeth Gamma.
Kyoko dispatches him with a contemptuously effortless slash from the Elmeth Gamma's beam saber.
Captain Roland Desmond's mobile suit explodes, and his Newtype essence joins those of his recently departed comrades in eternity.
The Callisto Newtype Corps is no more.
All hail the Black Raven.
Kyoko turns the head unit of her Elmeth Gamma towards the Westlake Colony, from which can see the flags of the Earth Federation and the Phobos Zeon being raised. The Alliance Forces are victorious. Westlake is liberated!
But Kyoko also sees a disturbing sight, the Centurion Team's mobile suits escorting out enemy units…and her own Black Raven Squad units, forcibly disarmed by the Federal Forces and in postures of surrender.
Two hours later, Major Athena Ibaz glares furiously at General Alexander Miguel aboard the Phobos Zeon flagship Cassius.
"Your men flagrantly violated orders and jeopardized the mission," Athena says angrily, "They must understand that as long as the Alliance stands, they must operate under Alliance regulations and directives! If they won't comply with those conditions, then I refuse to continue to allow them to serve alongside my personnel!"
General Miguel, fingers steepled gravely, looks at Athena earnestly, and then says in a reassuring tone, "Major Ibaz, I understand and share in your anger. You are absolutely right. Insubordination is intolerable within the military, especially during a critical combat situation. I am deeply embarrassed by the actions of my men. I assure you that I will discipline them."
Miguel calls for Col. Ross Davenport, "Ross, send Chief Warrant Officer Calley in here immediately."
"Yes, my lord," Davenport replies, and leaves to retrieve Chief Calley from the detention cell.
"General Miguel," Athena says more gently, "I respect that these are your soldiers, and I'm not asking you to modify your military's culture on my behalf, but there must be a mutual understanding of our forces' shared objectives."
"Say no more, Athena," the general says, "my man was out of line, and he will face the consequences."
Chief Calley, looking rather beaten up after being extracted from the wreckage of his mobile suit, is ushered into General Miguel's office by Col. Davenport and two Phobos Zeon MPs.
General Miguel glares at his officer severely for a moment, then says, "Take a seat, Chief Calley."
The terrified Phobos Zeon officer sits, a cold sweat forming on his skin, his body trembling.
"Explain your actions, Chief," General Miguel says quietly.
"My lord, I…I was overcome with hatred for the enemy. Hatred that has always been encouraged to us since before our academy days…since we were schoolchildren. I…I was frustrated sir, and angry because the enemy refused to yield to us…so…so I…"
"That will be enough, Chief Calley," Miguel says, "You are guilty of insubordination and failure to observe Alliance directives towards the safety of civilians. Before I issue your penalties, I want you to apologize to Major Ibaz."
Chief Calley turns to Athena as if in supplication, saying tremulously, "Major Ibaz, I…apologize for my actions. I sincerely regret failing to observe Alliance directives and acting counter to your orders. I am unworthy of continuing to serve in the Alliance Forces."
Athena says nothing, turning her back to the Phobos Zeon officer.
"Chief Calley," General Miguel's intones with eerie calm.
Athena hears a gunshot ring out, and spins in alarm.
Chief Calley lies dead on the floor of General Miguel's office, a gunshot wound between his eyes oozing blood and smoke.
General Miguel holsters his sidearm.
"Col. Davenport," Miguel says grimly.
"My lord," Davenport responds.
Miguel issues the following order to the colonel, "Have Chief Calley's remains shipped to Side 3 for a proper military burial, with full honors. See to it that the Chief's surviving family members are well-cared for, and issue a special reward pension in his name to his survivors, collectable annually."
"Yes, my lord," Davenport replies, summoning the MPs to assist him in collecting Calley's remains.
"Military discipline is strict and certain in the Phobos Zeon Forces," Miguel tells Athena, "Chief Calley needed to pay with his life for his insubordination. However, I also recognize his devotion to Phobos Zeon and his valor in combat, and thus, I also reward him by ensuring that his family will be well cared for in perpetuity. The Chief himself would likely agree this is just."
In it's own perverse way, perhaps, Athena thinks.
"It wasn't necessary to kill him," Athena says darkly.
"On the contrary," General Miguel rejoins, "it was unequivocally necessary. Discipline would otherwise break down. If one of the men under your command were insubordinate in battle, Major, would you not do the same?"
Athena chooses not to reply to that question, saying only, "General, with your permission, I must take leave now and return to my command."
"Very well, Major," Miguel says, "Sorry to have detained you so long, and for all the trouble my personnel have caused you. I look forward to seeing you again at the next strategy conference."
Another hour later, Jonah lights a cigarette tucked between Athena's lips as the two and Chief Warrant Officer Chieming Noah sit at a booth in the Officer's Club aboard the Amuro Ray. The trio shares a round of drinks as an off-duty steward blows a mournful old jazz tune on a saxophone.
Athena exhales a stream of smoke and downs a shot of whiskey, shaking her head. Jonah and Chieming watch their commanding officer's smoldering frustration with mounting anxiety.
Athena eyes the two of them pensively, "You two sure are quiet tonight."
Jonah replies with a slight grin, "You haven't exactly been talkative tonight either."
Athena inhales from the cigarette again, creasing her eyes, "I had a discussion with your brother tonight over today's incident at Westlake."
"How'd it go?" Jonah asks, pouring Athena a fresh shot of whiskey.
"Chief Calley is dead," Athena says plainly, "Alex shot him right there in the office."
Jonah gulps, Chieming's expression is blank.
"Sometimes," Athena says through clenched teeth, knocking down another shot of whiskey, "I wonder why the hell I even bother."
Athena rises and leaves the Officer's Club, donning her officer's hat and overcoat before she leaves…undoubtedly to face another long, sleepless night of anxiety and remorse.
And this is after a day of victory. Westlake is no longer under Confederation control; the Confederation has lost a crucial supply base, and its hold over the Midway Colonies is in grave jeopardy.
Jonah takes a sip of his own shot of whiskey, hating its taste…How can Athena drink this stuff?
"An officer," Jonah observes, "and a lady…"
"…and it isn't easy to be either one," Chieming adds, sipping from her own glass of whiskey.
At that very moment, Phobos Fortress, now completely cleared of civilian residents and infrastructure, is on its way back to the Outer System to play its crucial role in the final phase of the war. Phobos is now truly a battle fortress, all of its facilities converted to combat configuration. Lurching through space on its nuclear pulse engines, the fortress is expected to enter the Midway Zone in three weeks…