EFS White Base, Grand Canyon, Northern Arizona

September 23, 0079

1408 Hours, MST

The white, equine-shaped vessel clashed against the earth colors of the Grand Canyon. She was able to get into the depression, but her size limited her from going too deep down. The fact that her keel was raking against a spire of rock was a reminder of the tight squeeze she was having to pull off.

The whole ship shook. Even though everyone was okay, Reed acted like the grind had physically hurt him.

"We're taking the weathering of the rocks into account against hull strength," Mirai reported from the helm. "We're quite alright, sir!"

Reed didn't seem to think so.

Bright, however, was more concerned about the welcoming committee behind them. "The Gaw has us pinned down," he noted. "We've no choice but to spew out Minovsky particles and use the terrain to our advantage."

"Bright," said Reed, in a tone suggesting distress. "We'll never get through a weaving ravine with an amateur at the helm! If we wreck this ship, it's all over!" No sooner had he said this did he see another stone column at one o'clock.

The ship turned to port, but not fast enough to avoid the outcropping.

"I can't take it anymore!" Reed whined, as he rose from his chair.

"Lieutenant Reed," Bright said, firmly, "please stay seated."

"Gimme the captain's seat," the flustered Reed demanded. "I'm taking command!"

"Sir, please sit down."

"Are you ignoring the order of your superior officer!?"

Even though Reed had raised his voice, the young officer stood by his guns. "Captain Paolo gave me command of this ship until we reach Jaburo!" he told him. "He said that the Gundam and the refugees are my responsibility… or did Commandant Wakkein ordered you to install yourself as captain."

Reed shut up. Wakkein didn't allow that.

The argument was almost immediately followed by a loud, electric whistle. The Zeons were about to make their move.

"See?" said Reed in a smug, but macabre tone. "All that hiding for nothing!"

Bright ignored his pessimism, and picked up his phone. "Flight deck! Is Amuro there?"

The answer received wasn't the one he wanted. "No, sir. The Gundam is ready, but he's not here."

Bright turned to the communications panel. "Sayla, call Amuro's cabin and see if he's there."

Sayla opened a line to the cabin, as instructed but the image of Fraw Bow filled the window. "Fraw Bow," she said, "where's Amuro? The enemy's about to attack!"

"He's in here," said Fraw. "But he says he's not going to fight anymore."

"WHAT!?" Bright could hear Fraw Bow clearly and he didn't believe what she'd just said. He rushed over to Sayla's side and joined in the call. "Listen, Amuro, the enemy is about to attack! Get to your station!"

Amuro finally showed his face. He did not look a bit happy. "Fight, fight, fight! That's all we do!" he complained. "How much of a break am I going to get after this sortie?"

Reed laughed. "There's a captain worthy of respect!"

Bright hurried toward the elevator, blood boiling. Dammit, Amuro! he thought. Why aren't you doing your job?

The call from the bridge had ended a few seconds ago. As soon as the screen had gone blank, Amuro had reclined again and faced the wall. There was no lie in his voice. "I'm sorry, Fraw Bow," he said. "I can't help it. I'm scared, too." He rolled over, to face his friend and "nanny". "Go ahead and laugh," he kept going, "but it's true." His eyes had the look of a man who had seen a horrible murder a few yards away from him. "When I entered the atmosphere, I couldn't slow down. I looked below me to find the White Base's hatch shut tight. So I accelerated to catch up and hung onto the deck, but I was so scared. Not just of getting burned up, but being left alone with no one else there." He turned away from Fraw again and covered his face as if he were ashamed of something. Everyone on the ship was expecting him to be some sort of hero because of the Gundam, but after all that he was just a coward.

"Amuro," said Fraw, "you were never alone. Everyone was worried sick about your we were praying you were alive—even Mr. Bright!"

Amuro finally peeked from behind his palms.

"So come on," Fraw said, encouragingly. "You have to, for all of us."

It didn't work, though. He turned away again. "I know that! I just… don't want to do something so scary again."

BAM!

The sound of the door opening startled Fraw, but Amuro took his time to look that way. Bright was standing in the middle of the doorframe and he was pretty steamed. When the boy saw his CO there, he gave the "captain" an ugly scowl.

"Amuro," Bright thundered "why the hell are you not doing your duty!?"

Contempt filled the boy when he heard this. "Duty? What is my duty? Who got to decide that and when?" The longer he went on with his tirade, he gradually got louder. "I don't have any, I'm not a soldier! I only fight because I chose to, not because of some arbitrary order! If you want to fight so bad, why don't you fly the Gundam?"

"Get up." As soon as Bright said this, he'd nabbed the boy by collar and dragged him onto his feet.

"Would you cut that out, that hurts," said Amuro.

"If I knew how to fly it, I'd be out there right this second," Bright told him. "Why would I bother asking somebody like you?"

Amuro didn't feel a shred of intimidation from his CO. As far as he was concerned, you could lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink. He voiced this sentiment bluntly: "I don't see why I should do it just because I can!"

SMACK! A sudden slap from the lieutenant sent the boy stumbling away.

"Y-You hit me!"

Bright didn't feel sorry at all. "Yeah, I hit you," he admitted. "So what? It must be great to you! All you need to do is bitch and moan!"

"Do you really think I'm that cheap!?" Amuro he said, offended.

He received another hard slap, which knocked him on his butt.

"You've got no right!" Amuro shouted. "Not even my own father hit me before!"

"Well there's your problem," Bright said, bluntly. "Nobody ever went through life without taking some hits!"

Even after being smacked around, Amuro wasn't going to relent. Bright may be an officer, but he wasn't going to take it. "Now I'm never gonna do it!" Amuro shrieked. "Nobody's making me get in that Gundam again!"

Bright frowned. The boy wouldn't cooperate. He was as angsty and uppity on Earth as he was in space. "Fine," he said, coldly, "suit yourself. As you are, you're just a worm. With all the talent you'd previously displayed, you could have given Char a run for his money. But so much for that." He stormed out of the cabin, slamming the door behind him.

Thirteen Dopps soared above the ancient gully. It was hard for Garma not to take in the beauty of it all, he and his men weren't there to go sightseeing. They knew what they were looking for—her hull would stick out like a sore thumb.

His radio crackled. "Commissar, this is Gevil. The 'Trojan Horse' has been sighted heading east at low speed! Estimated position: 36.1, -112.1."

"Copy, captain," Garma replied. "Swarm her for three minutes and trade passes with Holtz Squadron. The attack pattern is a counterclockwise circle, to force her northward. The Koegel regiment is at Walhalla, it'll be smooth sailing from that point. If it gets messy, radio Captain Holtz immediately."

"Yes, sir."

"Engage," he ordered, "and happy hunting." He switched to his frequency. "Garma Squadron, Holtz Squadron, enter attack formation. The Gevil boys are going to hit the 'Horse' for three minutes, followed by Holtz, and Garma."

Thirteen of the Dopps were accelerating toward the White Base from six-thirty on high. By the time Oscar had announced the incoming attack, Bright had just sat back down in his chair. He patched a line directly to Ryu's Guntank via his phone. "Ryu, we've got a squadron advancing toward the stern," he said. "Are you all set?"

"This baby's purring like a kitten," the sergeant answered.

"We're counting on you," said Bright, with a little bitterness in his voice, "Amuro's no good. The ship will fire a barrage as she advances."

"Roger, drop us first on the right bank," said Ryu. "Me and Kim in the 'tanks and Kai in his 'cannon will take the right side. Job and Alvin's 'cannons and Black's 'tank will handle the left. Let's do it, Corporal Kim!"

"Aye-aye!" Chuck Kim, assigned to the Guntank-2 cockpit, replied.

Ryu's voice turned stern. "And Kai, don't you get it going on your own this time!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!"

The hangar hatches opened. Ryu and Hayato's Guntank-3 rolled out and eased down onto a ridge overlooking the south bank of the Colorado River with the aid of the vehicle's rockets between its tracks. Kim and Archer's Guntank-2 touched down with similar ease, but the descent of Kai's Guncannon-2 was far from graceful, it fell flat on the riverbank, leaving a huge scar in the sand.

Kai was alright, but he could barely straighten up his suit before the first wave of Dopps came rushing toward him, Vulcans blazing.

Hayato, instinctively fired a volley from Unit-3's main cannons. His shot missed and impacted against the canyon wall, kicking up a big cloud of black smoke.

"Don't fire the main guns, Hayato!" Ryu yelled up the shaft behind him. "We'll lose visibility!" Right now they'd have to rely on the BOP guns mounted as the Guntank's hands. Not as ideal as the suit's artillery, but they worked well enough to shred an incoming Dopp into scrap.

The green fighters swarmed the White Base like gnats around a horse. Fire erupted on the river-carved stone and in the air. Even with the ship's CIWS joining in the fight, it seemed to be anyone's game.

The cabin shook. The enemy had gotten a decent hit in on the ship.

Unfortunately for Fraw, Amuro was still scrunched up on his bed, feeling sorry for himself. "Amuro, pull yourself together!" she yelled. "If you won't take pride in what you do, then I hate you!"

She turned away, and rushed for the door. No sooner had she gotten into the hallway did she feel something grab her arm from behind. Or rather someone. "Fraw Bow!"

She jerked to break Amuro's grip. "Let me go! Even I can shoot a gun! I'll go and fight, too!"

"It's okay, Fraw," he said, somewhat at ease but still a bit down. "You don't have to. Whether I like it or not, I'm a man." He zipped up his collar and headed for the elevator.

He'd finally come around.

Hayato laughed as Guntank-3's BOPs reduced another Dopp to scrap, not due to a murderous thrill, but out of wonder. "You're the boss, Ryu!"

"Didn't I tell ya?" said the sergeant. "Dopps ain't nothin'!"

Shortly after that remark, the Dopps attacking seemed to clear out of the area. Five or six, in all—less than half the amount that initially attacked. "Are they giving up?" Kai radioed. "Please tell me they are."

"Their shift's over," Ryu remarked, "but there's more where they came from!"

A fresh new flight came in from the same direct the previous had come, same number and formation as if nothing had changed.

The faint sounds of skirmish echoed through the many ravines, eventually reaching a small cavern inside which three Robotnik War vets and a surviving DEL member had taken refuge in.

"You hear that?" Sally asked.

"Yeah," said Sonic. Guns, explosions, aircraft—as if battle was going on in the distance. "Either Zeon's out doing maneuvers or they're trying to get rid of somebody."

"What's the plan, sugar-hog?" Bunnie asked.

"You got a flashlight built into your finger, right?" the Hedgehog asked.

"Couldn'ta reached Sand Blast without it," she admitted.

"We're gonna lie low till dark," Sonic explained. "We'd be harder for planes to find then. We go a little bit further east, stop for a little sleep, and in the morning, we bolt for Acorn."

"But what about the bombs?" asked Tilly.

"I don't think Tails and Uncle Chuck would mind disarming them," he said, tussling her head with a smile. She had no hair or fur to speak of, but she had it coming.

"Those explosions aren't that far away," said Sally. "Hope they aren't heading our way."

"Ditto," said Sonic. Even though they had more than enough muscle to get out of a cave-in caused by a missile or something, it would still really suck to be caught in the crossfire.

Or worse.

"Oh look," said Reed, annoyed. "More Dopps. At this rate, we're all going to die within the next hour, providing they don't break out the Zakus."

Bright was on his last nerve. After Amuro showed his ass a little while ago, he was not in the mood to listen to Reed's defeatism. "Lieutenant, shut up!"

"Why?" the older officer asked. "This is a brand-new ship and the Gundam is AAA priority hardware… and we've got Zeeks on every side! We're dead men walking!"

A little voice disrupted the situation: "Everybody! Everybody! Lunch is here!" A Fraw Bow and the three children she had charge over left the elevator with a cart loaded with refrigerated sandwiches, chopped fruit in plastic cups, and bottle of juice and water.

This wasn't what Reed wanted. He wanted a miracle, not food. "Shut up! This is no time to eat!" he screamed.

Little Kikka broke out into tears when Reed snapped at her and she wailed louder than any explosion outside. The two others, boys, clutched the sides of the private out of fear.

"Would somebody shut her up!?" Reed yelled.

"Fraw Bow," said Bright, rubbing the sides of his head like he had a headache, "take the kids off the bridge." He was getting one, but Kikka's crying had nothing to do with it.

"Yes, sir," she said.

They left, leaving behind no food, but a sharp "Meanie!" from Kikka.

Bright's phone rang. The button that lit up on it signified the flight deck. "What's up, Omur?" Bright asked.

"Amuro's just shown up," said Omur, "but…"

"But what?"

"He wants to equip the shoulder cannon," he explained. "He thinks a physical weapon would work better for surface combat versus beam weaponry."

Bright grimaced. He sat out the Luna II skirmish because he felt the Gundam wasn't ready to fight, almost got killed earlier that day because he had more Vulcan ammo, and now this. Not twenty minutes ago, he didn't want to fight anymore, now he was trying to size up a battle on his own again. "Do as he says, but hurry." He hung up. That Amuro…

A lucky missile hit Guntank-2 in the belly. It was enough to send the unfortunate suit rolling down the bluff and into the Colorado as a flaming wreck.

This wave of Dopps didn't take quite as bad of beating as the previous one did, but it broke off and left in as orderly a fashion as they did. Like before, another squadron of equal size was there to replace it.

Kai was lucky enough to Vulcan a fighter and send it spiraling into the river. After that, he made a direct hit on another with his beam rifle.

"Kai's batting a thousand!" Hayato shouted. "It hasn't been a minute and he just scored two back-to-back kills!"

"That's good, at least," said Ryu. "Just wish Kim and Brian didn't kick the bucket. If these jokers keep coming like this, we're gonna run out of ammo!" A big hump of rock was in Guntank-3's way, they couldn't go forward anymore. "We've hit a dead end, Hayato. We're gonna have to detour on the plateau.

Guntank-3 lifted off the ground, rising higher above the canyon floor. Climbing like this wasn't the unit's forte, but it could do it. It reached the top of the cliff, but at the top, Hayato and Ryu were greeted with an unwelcome sight on the plateau on the north side of the canyon: Magella Attacks—at least twenty of them!

A few Magellas tried to fire on Guntank-3, but the distance hindered their shots accuracy and the missed. Hayato was able to fire a salvo that actually connected, as Ryu backed up to evade fire.

Ryu radioed the bridge. "Mr. Bright, those Dopps are trying to force the ship toward a shitload of Magellas on a plateau ahead of you. Might wanna get the main gun ready!"

So far, Holtz Squadron had lost a third of its men, Gevil half, and Garma's own somewhere in between.

A small price for the commissar to pay for a such a victory as this. He could already see Koegel's Magellas on Walhalla Plateau not too far ahead. There was already an exchange of fire between them and a single Guntank on the opposite side. Even though the artillery mech's range was slightly superior to that of the panzers' at that distance, its crew would have to be crazy to try to take all of them on at once. "Garma-2," he said over the radio "take Garma-4 and give that Guntank a pink slip."

Immediately, something was deployed from the starboard hangar of the "Trojan Horse". Another mobile suit, wielding a bazooka in its right hand with a second seemingly on its left shoulder.

But those features weren't the first thing he'd noticed. The first thing Garma saw was that it was white. It had to be the suit that gave Char so much trouble in space.

It took to the air as if it were another Dopp. Garma-10 had come too close to it and its cockpit was snipped off as if with were a dead flower.

Three other friendlies were blown to ribbons by its head-mounted Vulcans in just a few seconds.

"Captain Gevil, are you still there?"

"Yes, Commissar."

"Char's white mobile suit just came out of the 'Trojan Horse'," he said. "Have your boys join up with my squadron and concentrate all firepower on it. Holtz boys, keep out for the time being."

Gevil-7 got dealt a bad hand as it took a bazooka shell to the left wing. The fiery puff melted the majority of the plane that didn't break off on impact. Afterward, the white suit was in the air once again and kicked the cockpit off of Gevil-1.

The blasts were a lot louder now. Swallowing her pride, Sally hugged the wall of the cave until she got the mouth. To her left, two of those green fighters were struggling against something she couldn't see. Something on top of the cliff that the rock obscured.

To her right was something more incredible: a big machine in the shape of a human or Overlander with some kind of cannon on its shoulder and another in its right hand fighting another swarm of those planes. It wasn't one of those Zeon machines, it was mostly white with a torso colored red, blue, and yellow. Another giant was nearby, also shooting at the planes, but was red with a white head.

The white giant fired off a burst of gunfire from its head, shooting down another plane, before turning to fire its bazooka at another.

The sound of the blast made the princess recoil and rush into the cave. "Sonic, Bunnie, Tilly, the battle's right outside!"

"Think we don't know that, Sal?" Sonic said with a raised voice.

"Listen, there's another two of those giant machines out there and they're fighting a bunch of Zeon planes!"

Sonic wasn't in any position to doubt Sally, but he had to run out to see for himself.

Sure enough, he saw the white giant toss its bazooka aside and the powerful rockets in its back burned brightly as it lifted off. Only two words left his mouth when he witnessed this: "Holy shit." The wonder didn't even stop there. That red goliath across the river had something on the right side of its chest. The Hedgehog immediately recognized the anchor-like insignia, though it was white and the letters read "EFSF" this time. Again, he said it: "Ho. Ly. Shit!"

Even though they'd splashed the two Dopps, it was still a bitch for Hayato and Ryu to get a clean shot at those Magellas. They'd only managed one successful salvo so far: their first one.

Their spirits soared though, as the Gundam rose out of the canyon, with something attached to its shoulder, like its own artillery gun and fired a shot into a Magella, scrapping it in one blast.

"Well looka here, Amuro finally decided to show," Ryu said with a laugh. "Guess Bright told him about the ambush on the plateau!"

"I'm not complaining," said Hayato.

The Gundam fired into the formation again and again, one-shotting the panzers with it in the same manner the beam rifle took out the Zakus. Soon the magazine was depleted, but it still had a beam saber bundled with this attachment. It proceeded to use that to fight the remainder and chase them away as they retreated.

Garma's heart sank to his stomach. He'd come so close to sinking the "Trojan Horse", but everything went south as soon at white one came out. His men fought bravely and died, scoring some good hits in the process and even taking out a Guntank. He watched in horror as Koegel's panzers fled Walhalla in disarray as the white mobile suit attacked with its glowing pink sword.

The unmistakable voice of Char crackled over the radio. "Garma, retreat! You see why I said it's worth a Cross? You fought well enough, but to keep going is pointless. Fall back!"

The commissar's pride wouldn't have it. "Don't you give me orders, Char," he said. "I outrank you!" He turned his Dopp toward the white titan on the plateau, accelerating full-tilt, Vulcans firing away.

The attack seemed to have attracted the suit's attention, as it turned and charged at the plane with its weapon. Garma dodged, but his stunt cost him half of his starboard wing. He could still fly, but he was drawing the line now. He turned about and flew back toward the Gaw. "This is Garma, open the hatch. My wing's been hit." No reply. "Gaw, come in!"

The Gundam returned to the hangar. Fraw was right there, waiting to congratulate Amuro for saving everyone once again.

The boy exited the mobile suit, looking for all the world like a man who hadn't slept in an entire year. A virtual zombie, seemingly devoid of emotion. He looked at Fraw straight in the eye. His expression wasn't happy, sad, or angry. It was as blank as a clean sheet of paper.

He kept going, straight for his cabin. The walk felt like it was taking an eternity.

The second he reached his door, the came a loud cheer. Katz, Letz, and Kikka had come barreling down the corridor with a cart loaded with juice bottles, pie, and other stuff. Haro was with the trio, bouncing along.

Kikka was the first to speak. "Y'know what? All us kids got together and we baked a pie and we're gonna share it with everyone!"

"Yeah, and we've got soda, juice, and candy," Letz added.

"Let's celebrate, Amuro," said Katz. "You won today!"

"Celebrate-Amuro-Celebrate-Amuro!" Haro beeped.

Amuro wasn't having any of this festivity. He didn't want to heart any of their feelings, he just wasn't in the mood for much of anything right now. In a tearful-sounding voice, he spoke: "Just… leave me alone, okay?"

He closed the door. He could hear Kikka call him a party pooper through it, but he paid the little girl no mind. He just collapsed on his bed, still in his normal suit, completely bereft of energy.

Marble Canyon: the north end of the Grand Canyon, near the Arizona-Utah line. It was only the middle of the afternoon, but it felt like dusk after all that happened that day. Nevertheless, they'd survived, despite Reed's doomsaying.

The ship had settled atop a large mesa for the remaining mobile units to return to the ship. It was a victory, perhaps, but a bittersweet one. The AAR confirmed it: still stuck in the middle of a Zeon zone, so there was nowhere to dock for repairs; Chuck Kim and Brian Lucado were killed when Guntank-2 was destroyed; Guntank-3 had suffered bad splash damage from those Magellas; engine output was reduced to below 30%, meaning reduced elevation and speed. Still, it could have been worse: Amuro could have still acted like a spoiled brat. They'd definitely be in worse shape if it came to that.

Bright's thoughts returned to that message from earlier that Jaburo sent. The one telling them they couldn't send any support and that they should break through the enemy lines. He was starting to see why Reed broke down crying like a baby and swearing like a sailor that day. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he painted the picture, but it was still pretty bad.

POM!

A cloud of smoke appeared over the ravine, about a mile downriver. A distress flare?

There was no warm blood on the Gaw's bridge when the young commissar was there; he was reserving his fiercest bit of wrath for the Major in charge of the Gaw. Garma held a communications circuit in his right hand, one which somehow became free from its socket. With the circuit out, nobody could contact the Gaw. He violently slung it onto the floor. "How did you idiots fail to notice that this had come completely unplugged? This goes beyond shoddy maintenance. The penalty isn't going to be light, Panteleev, so watch yourself." He shifted his gaze to the red-clad lieutenant commander to his left; he wasn't off the hook either. "Char, you could clearly see my status via the monitor. Why didn't you turn the Gaw around and aid my pickup?!"

"I was afraid that doing so would hurt your pride," said Char. "Giving your piloting skills, I didn't doubt you'd make it back in one piece and I wasn't prepared to mar your record by offering trivial relief."

It was good enough for the commissar. "I see. Forgive me for losing my temper."

"I'm just glad you understood, Garma."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Would you believe I didn't need any input this time aside from one detail from Hyperion regarding mobile suit decals?

Mostly follows the first attack by Garma in the manga verbatim, but starts to go off on a slight tangent after Kim bit the big one (RIP, Kim. Nobody knows who you are.). Not much to say apart from that I got through this over the course of an afternoon (I really didn't expect that!).

Next time, history.