EFS White Base, en route to Luna 2
September 20, UC 0079
1038 Hours (L2T)
Less than forty-eight hours had elapsed since the White Base left Side 7. The battleship had recovered its objective, but the fighting at the colony saddled her with the role of civilian transport: something the ship was never intended for.
This morning, Fraw Bow was making her rounds delivering rations. The kids pitched in and helped out.
The residential block was pretty packed, especially in the sick bay area. It wasn't that these people were wounded, there just wasn't a lot of space for them aboard and many pitched camp in the hallway. On either side of the corridor, a swarm of refugees, about twenty all together, were crowded along the walls. They looked pretty bored and weary.
"Excuse me," said Fraw. "May I pass?"
The refugees glanced at the rations cart. Only a few of them showed their disgust for its contents: "Cans again?" "Isn't there anything else?" "Canned stuff again, really?"
"You don't like canned food?" Kikka snarled. For such a little kid, she was a bit intimidating at times, as the refugees soon discovered. The lot of them recoiled as she gave them a look that could kill. "Fine, then. No canned food for you!"
Katz was unnerved by the toddler's aggressiveness as well, and had to yank her back by the back of her tank top.
Fraw tried to be more civil. "I'm sorry, that's all we have."
The crowd finally made a hole and the four were able to keep going.
"Excuse me, miss!" a woman called from a cabin ahead on the left.
Fraw wasted no time getting there, to find a small room with about a dozen people crammed inside. A woman in the corner with messy hair was holding a very cranky baby in her arms and she looked as if she hadn't slept since the ship left the bunch.
"I keep asking for hot water for milk," the exhausted mother complained.
"We're low on water," said Fraw, trying to deal with the pressure on her shoulders, "but we'll be at the Luna II base soon."
"Isn't this ship headed straight to Earth?!" a man nearby asked.
"That's not what I heard," said a different woman.
Soon, Fraw and the three children were surrounded by the clamoring refugees, all complaining about a lack of supplies and demanding to know their destination. It was like a zombie movie.
"Be quiet!" Suddenly, the yammering DPs fell silent. Sayla, now sporting an enlisted women's Federation uniform, stood among the crowds. "What selfishness," she said, sternly. "Stop it! Have you forgotten?! You're lucky to have survived Side 7!"
Aside from that baby's crying, there was silence. Sayla had diffused the situation as if she were a Mary Sue.
So many civilians we have to babysit, Bright thought. As if Char hadn't made things tougher on us by tailing the ship to Side 7, now we're waist-deep in non-combatants. It would be nice if the return trip to Jaburo would be easier, but I'm not getting my hopes up.
The door to the elevator slid open. Sayla stepped in, leaving a hallway congested with people behind her. She stood next to Bright, and turned to face the doorway as it shut.
Bright glanced sideways at the girl. Figure out a way to break the ice, Bright. He cleared his throat. "That's civilians for you," he chuckled. "Just plain selfish, making excuses, demanding this or that…"
She didn't respond.
Not one for chatter about the moment, huh? "So you were a medical student at Side 7," he said, shifting the subject. "And before?"
Sayla cracked a little smile and asked "Is that a question or an order?"
Didn't see that coming. "Nah! It's my first time," said Bright, still trying to play Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected. "In space, I mean. I've been at headquarters for some time now…"
"So, you're one of the elite."
His façade was beginning to show cracks once she said this. "Sarcasm?"
"Not really," said Sayla, "but making excuses—that's unacceptable. Right, lieutenant?"
The elevator whooshed open once it reached the top of the shaft. Both entered the bridge.
"Still pursuing, Mr. Bright," Oscar reported.
"You're sure it's Char's Musai?"
"I've been tracking it, no mistake."
"I doubt he'll try anything now," said Mirai, at the ship's wheel.
"Why not?" Bright asked.
"Well, a matter of resources," Mirai opined. "They only have one Zaku, so they can't fight in Luna II's backyard."
Bigger guns, huh? Bright thought.
Sayla approached the telemotor and offered to take over the helm so Mirai could take a break. Mirai agreed to the switch up and gave a quick crash course
Mirai took a seat at the communications terminal on the starboard side of the bridge. "If I were Char, I wouldn't attack. I'd call for resupply."
As if on cue, Oscar called out. "Char's Musai! Another ship's approaching it!"
Bright looked up at Oscar's side of the 360⁰ panel. Two blips: one was clearly the shape of a Musai, but it seemed to be sitting out there. Another object was slowly advancing toward it. "It's not a cruiser," he said, "is it from Luna II?"
"No, sir," said Oscar, "something else. It's a Zeon ship, a big one! Looks like a Papua supply ship! They'll make contact in ten minutes!"
"Amuro! Are you in there?" Having finished rations duty, Fraw Bow entered the port hangar with a cloth bag. She found the Gundam with numerous hoses attached to various spots on its chassis, and its cockpit hatch open. It was still pretty scuffed up from the fighting from the other day. That was where she looked for her old charge first, but she found another guy instead, a swarthy man with an afro. "I'm sorry," she said. "Where's Amuro?"
The hissing of a welding torch above attracted the girl's attention. She could see the backside of a pair of blue jeans and tennis shoes leaning over the suit's V-shaped crest, though the left side had been detached during repairs.
She swam up to him in the zero-G. "Amuro," she said, warmly. "I brought you some food and some fresh clothes. You should change your clothes or you'll get stinky."
Amuro finally righted himself. He had an air of dejection about his face.
"Is it what Bright said? Don't mind him."
"That's not it," the boy admitted. "That's why I'm doing this. I don't want to die." Amuro drifted over to the separated fin and snapped it back into place. A tough job under Earth's gravity, but no sweat when there wasn't any. "Besides, I was the one who broke it." He looked back at Fraw to see that she was dressed differently than she was yesterday, her green dress had been replaced by salmon-colored one. However, this one looked more… official.
"Like it?" she asked, as she recovered her friend's dirty jacket. "It's a cadet's uniform. Sayla and Mirai are wearing crewman's clothes, but somehow—!"
Bee-bee-beep! Bee-bee-beep! Bee-bee-beep! Woop, woop, woop, woop, womp, womp, weep, weep, weep!
The sound of the alarm stopped everyone from what they were doing, including Amuro. Bright's voice blared across the PA: "All hands to the auxiliary bridge! Report now!"
"That means everyone!" said Fraw. "You too, Amuro!"
The auxiliary bridge was more or less the same size as the main bridge, but being lower on the superstructure than the main bridge, the field of view outside was less expansive.
About sixty crewmen gathered in the room, but the murmuring among them ceased as Bright took his position before a large, octagonal monitor on the wall.
All eyes were on him and he began: "Char's Musai has taken substantial losses while pursuing us, but it's about to be resupplied! If so, all we've accomplished will be for nothing! Char will once again be able to attack us! So what now? Do we just sit and wait or what?" He noticed the hand of a female crewman go up. He pointed toward her, allowing her to speak.
"Shouldn't we drop off the refugees and injured at Luna II first?" she asked.
A number of voices were raised in favor of this suggestion. "We could drop them off first," one ensign suggested, "then get back up from the Luna II forces."
"If we do that," said Mirai, "they'll finish resupplying! We can win right now! They only have Char's Zaku!"
The ensign balked. "But it the White Base gets damaged—!"
"There's one way we can fight without endangering the ship," Bright interrupted, "a mobile suit attack! The same tactic they used against us." He faced another ensign, this one on his left and spoke "Watts, how many operational Guncannons do we have?"
"Three units! And if the enemy's altitude is low, we can use the three Guntanks as well."
Another arm was raised in the back. "Sir, who'll be piloting them? Two Guncannon pilots and Guntank 3's Sabu and Chief Abe are dead!"
"I'll go out in Unit 3," said Ryu, "but if I'm driving it, I'll need a gunner."
Another hand went up, but this only went up to face-level with most of the others in the room when it was standing still. It belonged to Hayato Kobayashi. "I'll do it," he offered. "Ryu's been training me on the aircraft guns. I can handle them! The secret of competition is not to miss a chance! Like they say, 'If they push, then pull. If they pull, then push'." The stocky young man blushed a little. He twiddled his fingers in embarrassment, thinking he was metaphorically jumping into this blindfolded. "That's in reference to judo, but—!" A slap on the back and an accolade from Kai Shiden forced him to stop.
While Kai's goading spooked Hayato, a collection of shouts from the back caught everyone off guard. The kids had tagged along and joined in the briefing. They were the most gung-ho out of everyone in the room. "Kill Char!" they said, "Let's kick his butt!" Fraw had to quell the trio.
"That's the Guntanks cleared," Bright noted. "And the Guncannons?" One young man, who could pass for a young Gene Wilder raised his hand. "Okay, Petty Officer Job John. Who else?"
Kai, as giddy as a little kid wanting to get a ride in his cousin's golf cart, came forward. "Me, me, me! Leave it to me, sir."
"I don't know about weapons," said Watts, "but Kai Shiden's got a car-racing rep."
"Amuro got the new one," he said, "an old one will do for me."
"Then that's that," said Bright. "Now the Gundam. Amuro! Are you here?"
"Yes, I'm here," he said. Now dressed in a male enlisted crew uniform, but far from used to the collar, he was kind of in the back, next to Fraw and the kids.
The mutual sense of friction from Amuro's official assignment to the Gundam could be felt between the two.
"Very well," said Bright. "You'll take the Gundam."
"Not the Gundam," said Amuro. "It's not going."
Bright was turning toward the monitor as Amuro said this, but the boy's stopped him from proceeding. "What's that?"
"The Gundam's under repair! It can't go out now."
"Is that so? Omur! Can we use the Gundam?"
"Y-Yes, sir!" said Omur. "Drive system maintenance is done. A little more time to work on it, then yes, it could go out."
Bright smirked. Thought you could call the shots, Amuro?
"It's still no good!" Amuro said, with a raised voice, "I'm not going out! The Gundam's top secret and its components can't be wasted, right? Then let someone else do it! Someone other than me!"
The way things were going it seemed like it was going to be fist city in a second, but Mirai approached Bright's side. "Don't force him," she told him. "Even without the Gundam this is a viable strategy! As Amuro says, we should conserve what resources we can."
Fine, I'll give you this one, Amuro. But next time, you'd better think twice. "All right. We'll take the opportunity to get the Gundam up to 120%. Quiet down, here's the plan!" As soon as Bright pressed the button on the remote in his hand.
A recreation of a section of the Luna II surface was displayed. White silhouettes of the White Base, a Papua, and a Musai could be seen. Bright continued: "Char's Musai is trying to slip through Luna II's surveillance. It'll approach the surface and contact the supply ship." The Musai and Papua's shapes met in a large crater. "The resupply work will probably take place here. They'll turn the crater into a lake of Minovsky particles and work in the middle of this." The screen shifted to a side view of the crater; the White Base trundled up to the right-hand edge of the crater. "We'll coordinate the ship and the suits and hit them!"
The sun poked out from behind the turquoise Papua as it descended into the crater. The model dated back to about the same time the Zabis had firmly consolidated their control during the aftermath of founder Deikun's death. Ten years old and already a dinosaur: gradually being phased out by the new Pazock transports. Char himself was surprised to see the old rust bucket still on active duty.
The lasercomm turned on, but the image on the screen couldn't be made out clearly. The Minovsky concentration in the crater had distorted the audio and video coming from the Papua. It cleared up after a short while, but the static remained. Soon, a helmeted man with sideburns that connected with his mustache could be seen, though the picture was still a bit warped. "The Red Comet calling for supplies in the middle of an operation!" he exclaimed. "Did you screw up?"
"I've been fighting the enemy's new mobile suits," said Char, "so it was worth it."
"That so? Don't know about that, but can't we wrap this up quick? The Minovsky particles are so thick here—ZZT—feels like—ZZRT—drowning…"
Turning to his underlings, Char gave the order to commence resupply operations immediately. He'd taken a risk having this happen under the Feddies' noses and wasn't prepared to get captured.
The White Base hovered above the surface of the asteroid, perhaps only about thirty feet, with her hangars open.
At the back of the line of the port hangar, in the driver's seat of Guntank-3, Ryu made one last minute diagnostics run before his time to launch. The intercom had just announced that Guncannon-2, piloted by Job John, had just launched from starboard. Kai got called to the catapult next.
Ryu could hear everything going on. If it wasn't real, Kai's launch would have been a great comedy scene, but he was going out into the field. Apparently, he didn't squat down on the catapult and made a crash landing, grinding the surface of Luna II. His screaming could be heard over the radio. "What an idiot," Ryu grumbled. "Under Earth gravity he'd have crashed and burned." The sergeant turned to the ladder on his right, which led up to the turret. It was Hayato's first time, too and he needed a word of encouragement. "Hey, Judo! No need to worry. We'll take it nice and slow!"
Now it was time for the Guntanks to head out. These didn't require catapults for launching like the Gundam and Guncannons did, they had thrusters underneath for a short boost to jump and slow descent.
Three Guncannons bounced across the surface of the asteroid, while a trio of Guntanks followed at a distance. From the bridge of the White Base, Bright, Mirai, and the rest of the bridge crew stared out into moonscape ahead. All the ship could do right now was wait.
A transmission crackled over the loudspeaker: "This is Job John. The crater will soon be in visual range, continue at constant velocity! White Base, do you copy?"
Bright picked up the phone by the captain's chair and connected with the suits. "This is White Base. Roger. The enemy is at rest and beginning resupply. Don't rush, just surround them! On your signal, we'll begin crossfire from the rim! Understood?"
"Yes, sir!"
"They may tap into our lasercomm line, so we're ceasing transmission. Good luck." He hung up.
Bright's spirit was soaring. They didn't need Amuro after all. If things played out as smoothly as this, that Papua would be reduced to a twisted wreck, or better yet, the Musai as well. After the beating Char had taken at Side 7, he'd be outgunned. If the Red Comet goes down, they'll all be heroes!
"Shall we advance in battle mode?" asked Mirai.
Bright was abruptly drawn back into the moment. "Forward at low speed!" he ordered. "Cannons stand by!"
"You know those double Komusais?" Dren said, staring out at two spacecraft in front of the Falmel's bridge. "I never liked 'em. The equipment balance is lousy. Like a "Mama Komusai"—" The lieutenant's griping was cut short by an incoming transmission from the Papua.
The transport's captain, Gadem, was seen on the monitor again, this time much more clearly. "Char! Here come your Zakus."
"It's not a full team," Char noted, "just three units, and early models at that." MS-06Cs, the second variant of the Zaku II after Rear Admiral Kycilia Zabi declared the first unfit for service. They had taken the back seat in the war since the current MS-06F models became the mainstay of the military. The Type-C's greatest moment was Loum, but started to become archaic in the aftermath of the Type-F rolling off the assembly line in March.
"If you have a complaint," said Gadem, "go tell Admiral Dozle! Just means folks at the top are tryin' to make ends meet."
The bridge was rocked by a sudden shock.
"Ganz, damage report!" Char demanded. "I need it now!"
"Damage to the Papua's conveyor pipes," the tech reported. "Our ship's undamaged!"
"Gadem, what's your situation?"
"One of our conduits is gone. No more supplies by that route."
More explosions. The officers on the bridge all but panicked. "The Papua is burning!" "We're surrounded!"
"Return fire!" Dren ordered.
"Still charging," Ganz responded. "Three minutes to go."
Dren clinched his fists in frustration. At the rate they were going, they might not have three minutes!
Char, however, gazed out toward the ridge from where they were being fired upon. "Is it out there? Is that mobile suit out there? The white one?"
"No, sir!" said Ganz. "They're all old models."
"Then there's no cause for alarm!" the Comet announced. "Don't panic! Return fire and keep their heads down!" He faced the monitor again. Static. This isn't an attack by the cowards at Luna II, Char thought. That "Trojan Horse"! Pretending to flee… until now, no one has ever outwitted me. Fascinating! A foe I can't afford to underestimate!
"Char!" the voice of Gadem crackled over the bridge's loudspeaker. "My ship's done for! Whatever cargo I've got, it's all yours! And these Zakus, too! More Zakus? Obviously meant for another unit, but them going to someone else was better than getting scrapped in the wreck.
Nevertheless, Char had a full squad again.
"Don't worry about me," he said. "I'll handle these Feddies."
A well-aimed salvo from Guntank-3 scored a direct hit on a Komusai above the smoldering crater. The stricken shuttle took a dive and exploded when it hit the slope, just a short throw away from its killer.
The fireball made Hayato jump. "Ryu!" he yelled. "I can't see well enough to fire!"
It was something Ryu didn't want to hear. "If we're careless, we'll end up firing at each other."
Visibility wasn't any better for Kai. He had dust and smoke billowing all around his suit, he couldn't just shoot off his beam rifle and expect to hit something.
Suddenly, a pink light glowed ominously in the cloud surrounding him. No sooner did the camera pick up the skull-shaped visage of an MS-05 Zaku I emerge seemingly from nothing.
Kai screamed when he saw the apparition-like machine appear. "What the hell!? I thought there wouldn't be any mobile suits!"
The Guncannon was decked by a strong left hook to the head. Even though that old Zaku had no weapons, it was still going to fight!
Now the Zaku was about to whale on the downed Guncannon, with Kai panicking inside.
Fortunately, the enemy suit bumped into something that knocked it off balance—an artillery barrel, it turned out. The obstacle proceeded to fire a close-range round at the Zaku as it fell, wasting it in one shot.
Kai panted like a dog on a hot day, tears were streaming down his cheeks. This was the closest to death he'd been since that stunt they pulled at the construction block back at Side 7!
A familiar voice could be heard over his radio: "You alright, Kai? Are you still alive?"
"Hayato," Kai said, thoroughly grateful for the save, "I owes ya one."
The crater had become filled with smoke, dust, and fire. The Papua was nothing more than a scrap heap, but the Musai emerged from the clouded depression like a submarine, just below the distant sun. It was trying to get out of Dodge as fast as it could, but the White Base had a clear shot at the cruiser.
Bright seized the moment. "Cannons! Target their missile launchers! Don't miss!"
Now or never.
But as the White Base took aim at the fleeing Musai, something moved between the two ships, obscuring the sun's light—a Magellan-class battleship, a friendly. Or so it seemed at first…
The bridge received a transmission: "Report your ship's name and assignment! Who gave you permission to fight a battle in our airspace?! Respond immediately or die!"
Bright had no choice. The Magellan had her guns trained directly on them.
"Very well," the Magellan's skipper continued, "we see you're not resisting. In the name of Admiral Wakkein, commandant of Luna II, we're taking you into custody!"
Now or never? Never.
Originally the asteroid Juno, Luna II was dragged out of its original position in the Asteroid Belt and set opposite the moon for use as a weigh station in colony construction. Since the apocalyptic events of January, it has become the Earth Federation's last space base. At this point in time, it is at its furthest point from Zeon.
Under normal circumstances, the White Base and her crew would have been under much friendlier terms, but after that skirmish earlier, they found themselves confined to the ship. In fact, she was given extra mooring over the incident.
A well-dressed officer entered the base's interrogation room: clean-shaven, white peaked cap with badge, black jacket and white pants, ribbon bars, gold buzz cut—a bigwig just by looking at him. "I am Commandant Wakkein," the man announced, stone-faced. He took notice of the young lieutenant junior grade in the room, flanked by two of his subordinates. "You're acting White Base captain Bright Noa, right?"
Bright saluted.
"Sit down," Wakkein ordered. "I've heard your full report and I've inquired at Jaburo about your mission. I am responsible for Luna II; I can't overlook your actions."
A knock came on the door.
"Enter," said the commandant. Another officer entered and saluted Wakkein. "Yes, DeMond?"
"All White Base officers have been taken into custody," he reported. "The others, including refugees, are being held on the ship!"
"Sir, this isn't necessary!" said Bright. "If you've contacted Jaburo, then surely you understand how vital our mission is! Time is of the essence!" With the way he was feeling right now, Bright felt like he could spray fire. "Just now, we had a chance to sink Char's Musai. If it weren't for that Magellan, we'd have defeated the Federation's sworn enemy, the Red Comet!"
"You're saying we got in the way?" the officer of Bright's left asked, not feeling any remorse.
"That's right!"
"Aren't you out of line, lieutenant?" asked the other.
"I appreciate your candor," said Wakkein, "but you don't understand our situation." He looked away. "You have no idea how Luna II managed to survive as a lone island in a Zeon sea. How strategically important it is to maintain the tension here." He faced Bright again. "Also, you've violated military rules. You brought civilians into a secret operation and put them in uniforms!"
"But Captain Paolo authorized it!" Bright told him. "So we could tell the replacement crew apart from the other refugees!"
Wakkein wasn't backing down. "There's more. The Gundam you received is AAA classified technology, but you've used it in combat more than once!"
Bright had no defense this time. They had no choice and the first time was never planned.
"Somebody must be held responsible," said Wakkein. "The Gundam will be taken to Jaburo by my men."
"But sir, at least let us drop off the refugees! There's hundreds of them, you can't keep them cooped up inside the ship!"
"We'll see," said Wakkein, "but I don't know if we can fulfill your request."
The bridge was as dead as a doornail. Sayla, Marker, and Oscar remained at their stations after the ship was impounded, just waiting for whatever was going to happen next. Mirai, did her languishing in the captain's chair. Bright was getting chewed out and Paolo was still in sick bay, so there was no objection.
Mirai faced the two operators. "You can come down now," she told them. "Why not get some rest?"
"That's okay," said Marker, "I can rest just fine up here… and even if we go below, there's refugees everywhere."
Sayla stood on her feet and walked to the viewport. Nothing was out there but a busy docking bay. To Mirai, it seemed the blonde was in a trance, but not quite. Two cryptic words came from her lips: "Someone's coming."
'My, my, my, there you are, Amuro!" After all that fuss during the briefing about the Gundam not being battle-ready, Fraw was surprised to find Amuro holed up in a cabin in the dark, his head turned away from her. "Well?" she said. "Aren't you busy repairing the Gundam?"
The boy didn't respond.
"Hayato and Kai still haven't come back, and Bright and the others were taken away by the commandant."
Still nothing.
Fraw was getting flustered. "You were even given this fancy room because you're the Gundam's pilot… Amuro, say something!"
She grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled. The boy's eyes had a dead look in them. He was still alive, but something seemed to be bothering him. "Someone's coming," he said in a hushed voice. "Char. Char's coming!"
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
WOOF! This was a long one! After giving Sonic and Sally a bit of attention on "Mobius", you know we'd be going back to the White Base soon enough. I recall people on the internet some fifteen years ago going on about how Amuro looked like a Hobbit, but if you saw the attitude he had early on in the manga, you could easily compare him to a ring-addled Frodo. Especially during the briefing. LOL.
But seriously, we've only covered the equivalent to the first 3.5 episodes of the original series at this point and I am aching to get the ship to Earth. But how will our heroes get out of this pickle?
Also, foreshadowing with Amuro and Sayla!