The mood was not jovial at all as the surviving members of the 128th gathered in the briefing room. What Hachiko had first arrived at the task force with Honah, they'd had twelve members; now, they were down to ten again. Of the mobile suit's they'd lost during the battle, only Lieutenant Stormwave survived, though she needed a new pilot suit and one of her arms was bandaged.

Lt. Commander Stovni surveyed them, looking pensive and irritated as she began to speak.

"I know we're all tired, and nobody's been able to get much in the way of sleep, but we have new orders."

She lifted her electronic tablet and read from it. "By order of Major General Zhervis, commander of OPERATION: BOOSTER, in light of the damage and casualties suffered by Task Force 29, the 128th Mobile Suit Squadron is hereby discharged from its duties aboard OCS Serios Bay and all personnel and equipment are to be transferred to duty on Terra to provide the necessary reinforcements to ensure the success of the operation. Further instructions are to be received upon completion of transfer."

She brought her arm down and looked at the faces of her squadron again. Their grim expressions had transformed into ones of incredulity.

"We're not trained or equipped for combat on Terra," one of them argued. "And they want us to go down now?"

"We haven't had a chance to build our strength up after being deployed so long," another argued.

That was Hachiko's concern as well. While she and Honah had just come from Starbase Cephalon, which had rotating sections built-in to the asteroid to simulate full gravity, the Serios Bay had no such luxury and exercise facilities could only do so much to compensate for microgravity degradation.

"I know it's not ideal," Stovni argued. "But we're one of the most full-staffed squadrons available and our mobile suits are in better overall shape than some of the others. Besides that, the ship is almost crippled and we'd be having to get transferred anyway. I've been assured that we'll be given time for R&R when we reach the surface."

"I've heard that before," someone grumbled.

"It doesn't matter. Orders are orders and the operation has to continue. We'll be riding our Zakus down in the HLVs once they get back from the surface. So ready or not; feel like it or not, we're going. Think of it as an opportunity to finally visit the world our species has been calling home for the last twelve-thousand years. For most of you, it'll be your first time."

Hachiko felt her exhaustion abate slightly. She had always wanted to visit Terra. To see the real sky, to feel natural air, experience planetary weather. It was something she could genuinely look forward to.

Stovni looked at Honah. "Meadows, your MS is too shot up to be fixed in time, so you'll be riding in the rumble seats with Lieutenant Stormwave. You'll be getting a replacement groundside.

"Yes, Ma'am," she replied unhappily. No pilot liked being robbed of their mount.

"Enough with the gloomy faces," Stovni snapped. "All of you. You can waste time being miserable on your own time. We have three hours before we have to start feeling real gravity, so get your gear stowed and be ready to mount up! Dismissed."

The Collective's Heavy Landing Vehicle was a roughly egg-shaped craft designed solely for the purpose of carrying large and heavy equipment between space and the surface of the moons or Terra. Their configurations varied but most could carry four mobile suits, plus some equipment, with space for passengers in the pressure hull.

Docked to the hangar hull of the Serios Bay, the Zakus were loaded through large transfer tubes and then locked in place. Once they reached the surface, the Zakus would have to walk out of the HLVs to wherever they were needed.

While she waited, Hachiko began setting the configuration of her Zaku for ground operations. She had received some training in ground operations, of course, but training in the simulated gravity of a colony was not the same as the real gravity of a planet or moon. She honestly wasn't entirely sure what to expect and it both thrilled and frightened her.

Finally, the HLVs separated from the ship and a light puff of thrusters had them moving back down towards the planet.

Through an electronic window on her viewscreen, Hachiko watched the view from one of the HLV's external cameras, seeing the battered hull of the Serios Bay gradually shrink away.

She wondered what would happen to the ship. They were no longer being built, so perhaps, damaged as it was, it would be scrapped. It seemed a shame, but maybe it would still serve some purpose.

She felt the HLV begin to accelerate as they passed the orbital threshold and the hooks of Terra's gravity began to pull them downward. Less then a minute later, the HLV began to rattle and shake as the HLV penetrated the atmosphere.

Hachiko switched cameras and watched as the ground slowly rose up to meet them, red flames licking the exterior of the hull as the thin air in their path was rapidly compressed.

Isolated in her mobile suit, Hachiko didn't feel the buffeting as much as the passengers would be feeling. She hoped Honah wasn't suffering too much.

As the reentry fire died down and the HLV settled onto its descent path, the buffeting also diminished. Hachiko retained a sensation of weightlessness as they continued to fall. She looked at the external camera view again and was in awe as green stretched out as far as the eye could see, criss-crossed by rivers and dotted with tiny lakes. The horizon stretching away from her and arching downward, when all her life she'd seen the horizon arch upward and over her head.

The HLV ignited its main thrusters to slow their descent, forcing her down into her seat and she strained to keep herself upright despite her harness. She thought the HLV crew would be more gentle with their deceleration given how much weight was on board.

Below them, their destination grew larger. She could see the city of Sapurro nestled along the coast and straddling one of the rivers. Large ships sat at anchor in the harbour, waiting their turn at one of the unloading docks.

The base, located mere kilometres from the city, was directly below them now. A collection of large, rectangular buildings organized in equally rectangular groups, connected by large roads. The land was pockmarked with craters and the two large runways stretched from the south-eastern portion of the base where it bordered a collection of large hills that formed an undulating spine all the way to the mountains further west.

The HLV settled down on a landing pad just east of the runways. A small armada of cargo vehicles waited a short distance away, weathering the small storm of dirt and dust kicked up by the HLVs thrusters. Despite the hard deceleration burn, the crew landed the large craft with the touch of a feather.

Hachiko tested her limbs and did a check on her Zaku's systems, making sure nothing had been damaged during the fall. It felt almost strange to feel the effects of gravity again, but for the first time in her life, she wasn't feeling simulated gravity, it was the real thing.

The large hatches opened and sunlight poured into the dark interior. Crew began to emerge through the hatches from the HLV's passenger and crew compartments and started undoing the restraints keeping the mobile suits in place.

The voice of the HLV's captain came through the comms. "Once you disembark, wait by the road on the north side of the landing pads. Someone there will guide you."

Hachiko waited until one of the crew gave her a thumbs up and she took her first mechanical steps in a true gravity environment.

Her Zaku felt heavy, even more than she expected. The way it moved wasn't quite the same as it was on the colony. Still, the Zaku's control systems knew just what to do and allowed her to carefully manoeuvre the machine out of the HLV, down its short ramp and onto the surface of the home world.

She hadn't been able to do any research on the region they would be landing in so she wasn't entirely sure what kind of climate to expect. From school, she knew that the Orican continent had vast farmland in the north, turning to jungle once one crossed the mountains. Then further south still, it was vast savannas and deserts until they reached the more temperate southern tip of the continent. Hachiko guessed they were near the Eastern edge of the jungle.

Looking through her viewscreens, Hachiko could see trees and grasses growing on almost every bit of exposed earth. None of what she saw had been pre-planned by mortal hands but by nature.

The mobile suits walked to the edge of the landing pads and lined up along the road to wait. As a pair of busses left, a truck came the other way, occupied by two people. One of them stood up and waved their cap at the Zakus.

"I guess that means we follow them?" Someone asked.

"I suppose," came Commander Stovni's uncertain reply.

As the truck turned and scampered away, the 128th followed.

They passed cargo buildings, fuel depots and maintenance garages before being directed inside one of the hangars. Hachiko had never seen infrastructure so spread out before. In the colonies, space was, somewhat ironically, a precious resource. Every square metre had to be carefully considered, even gaps and open spaces had to be deliberate. Here, things seemed so loosely organized.

After a series of careful manoeuvres, Hachiko backed her Zaku into the alcove and shut down. Unstrapping herself, she opened the hatches. Grunting with effort and stiffness, she took her first personal steps in Terra's gravity.

As she reached the docking corridor, a tech arrived and offered her an arm, which she gratefully accepted. She was led out onto a lift and then lowered to the ground.

"First time on Terra?" The tech asked in a friendly tone.

"Y-yes." She looked around and saw that the other techs were all wearing light clothing, mostly t-shirt and shorts, some wearing light jackets and caps. A few had the upper half of their overalls tied around their waist.

"Been a long time since I've seen a clean flight suit," the tech continued. "Actually, most em-ess pilots here don't bother with 'em. Not much point to 'em, really. You'll only see the fixed-wing pilots wear 'em."

Hachiko wondered if the tech was a local and what it must be like growing up in a place where you never had to worry about decompression, meteoroid strikes, or aether storms.

The tech guided her to the other end of the hangar where the rest of the squadron was gathering. Commander Stovni was the only one who had removed her helmet. Everyone seemed to be struggling with the effects of gravity, sagging like sacks of flour, though their commander was taking it with more dignity.

A lieutenant wearing long pants but the same light t-shirt and jacket as some of the techs walked up to Stovni and saluted. "Ma'am, I'm to take your squadron to the barracks. You've been granted eight hours rest before acclimatization training."

Stovni nodded. "Alright, 128th, let's get going. I don't know about the rest of you but I'd actually like a nap." Nobody argued.

As they left the hangar and walked out into the bright sunshine, Hachiko nearly stumbled as she was pushed to the side and had to struggle to maintain her balance. It was as if a weak thruster was blasting against her. "What's that?"

Stovni turned and looked at her with a curious expression, as if asking what she thought she was doing, only to realize some of the others were doing it as well. As Hachiko straightened, awkwardly, Stovni smirked.

"That's just the wind. You'll all learn to get quite acquainted with it."

Some of the nearby techs chuckled but Hachiko hardly noticed.

She turned to face the direction from which the invisible force was pushing against her and stretched out her hand, feeling it's pressure against her fingers.

So this is real wind.

Hachiko let out a sigh, enjoying taking deep breaths as the breeze carried air from the sea and across the land. Despite not the most auspicious of first impressions, and almost a week learning about and getting used to the environment, Hachiko found she loved the wind.

She flexed her tentacles, letting the wind grab and play with them a little bit. Her hands glided along the grass on which she sat, letting the soft, green blades tickle her skin. The warmth of the sun on her back was also a pleasant sensation she was coming to truly enjoy.

She watched as a pair of birds rode the air currents while seagulls floated in the water a short distance away or hovered above it. It was amazing how much life there was just around the base. In the colonies, she would normally only be able to see animals if they were in the zoo. Pets were fairly rare.

She heard footsteps and turned her head as Honah sat next to her. She looked gloomy.

"What's wrong?"

Honah shook her head. "I just don't feel like I should be here. Terra… isn't a place where I belong."

Hachiko frowned and tilted her head. "What are you talking about? Our species has been living here for thousands of years, ever since the Deliverers brought us here from Earth. It doesn't matter that we grew up on the colonies."

"I don't like it," Honah said a little more forcefully. "I feel trapped. Enemies could be hiding anywhere and the city is full of non-Octarians, and I don't trust non-Octarians. You know some of them have to be spies."

Hachiko touched her friend's shoulder gingerly. "You can't live in fear like that, Honah. If you do, you're just letting the enemy get into your head and you're going to be miserable. Besides, didn't you always want to see the ocean close up like this?"

Honah stared out towards the sea, her eyes tracking the birds but without showing must interest. "I don't know what it is, I just can't relax. One of the techs thinks it might be agoraphobia, or at least a touch of it. She says it happens to people who've spend their whole lives in an enclosed environment and then come to Terra. Not being contained or protected by some kind of vessel makes them nervous."

Hachiko hummed thoughtfully and looked up at the sky. "I suppose I do understand that. I never really thought about it. But if that's the biggest thing bothering you, then I suppose that's a good thing, isn't it?"

Honah folded her arms on her knees and rested her chin on them, her expression still sour. "Yeah, sure. But I'll feel better once we're on the front lines again and I don't have to think about it."

Hachiko smirked. "Since when were you afraid of thinking? Weren't you the one who always told me to seriously think about where I am and what actually matters? We just got here and we've barely gotten used to the gravity and learning about the environment and where we'll be fighting. We still don't know how to properly fight down here and we don't want the enemy to take advantage of us."

Honah huffed. "Well I wish we could get the training over with already. The anticipation is killing me."

Hachiko giggled and patted her friend's head. "As long as that's the only thing killing you, I think we can live with that."

Honah didn't respond.

Hachiko shifted her awkwardly in her flight suit as she walked towards the hangar. Their modest training for combat on Terra had concluded and their mobile suits had been prepared by the various ground crews for Terra's environment, replacing some of the joint seals and adding various filters to the air and cooling systems to keep out dirt and dust.

Lieutenant Stormwave had been given a brand new model of Zaku, the MS-06 Zaku II J, a model optimized from the factory for ground combat. Honah have been given a similar model but with some extra equipment.

Honah stood in front of her new machine, looking the happiest she'd been since they arrived on Terra two weeks ago, staring up at her mount. Hachiko felt better herself, seeing her friend smile.

Honah's Zaku was a ground-type, just like Stormwave's, but hers had a large cannon mounted to the right shoulder and designated as a "K" model. The extra firepower probably suited Honah as much as anyone else.

"Someone looks pleased."

Honah looked at her and grinned. "It's a big gun. How could I not be pleased?"

"Don't get too excited, you haven't used it yet, and it'll handle differently to the C model you were piloting for training."

"I can handle it. I hear the ground-type's been pretty successful, and it's even faster here on Terra than the F model."

Hachiko suppressed a grimace, remembering the other times Honah had run off on her own during combat. She hoped she wouldn't repeat that mistake.

Hachiko went to her own Zaku. It's dull-grey exterior had been repainted to an olive green for better concealment and it's right shoulder pauldron had been replaced with a spikeless one from a C model. At her request, they'd left the shoulder shield unpainted, leaving the black "8" numeral unmolested.

As the 128th boarded their mobile suits and stowed their gear, people evacuated the hangar, leaving just their guides to help them out. One by one they were guided out of the hangar and then they navigated themselves towards the western gate.

Hachiko had become accustomed to the t-shirt and shorts of the hot climate uniform, even in the air-conditioned comfort of her Zaku's cockpit it felt refreshing.

Commander Stovni's voice came in over the comms.

"Listen up, 128th. There's a convoy leaving the same time as us. We're to escort them to the front. There's been a lot of air attacks along the route we're taking so be prepared for a fight."

Hachiko's team leader, Second-Lieutenant Carver, suggested putting Team 04 at the rear due to Honah's Zaku having been designed partly for anti-aircraft work. After two weeks, Hachiko was finally learning the names of her squadron mates.

"Not a bad idea but we'll put you in the middle with Team Two instead. Remember, we can't move about as easily as we're used to."

The convoy was already moving by the time they reached the west gate. It stretched for over a kilometre, comprised of large trucks carrying supplies, parts, and ammunition. Stovni had the squadron walking on either side of the road. The mobile suits would have to walk in line with the convoy when they reached a town. The trip to the the forward base was expected to take over four hours.

Hachiko passed the time by looking at the scenery, her tall mobile suit offering her an excellent vantage point to see everything around them. She was even fascinated by the towns they went through. Despite their modest appearance, she had never seen so many other species in one place before. Few non-octolings ever came to the colonies.

She saw crabs, jellyfish, anemones, and many others. Some of the children stood on rooftops and looked at the procession of giants walking through their town with awe.

Hachiko waved at them with her Zaku's left arm, giving them a shock, but once it passed, they eagerly waved back.

"We're not on a parade here, Turfer," Carver said sternly. "Remember, these were Federation citizens."

"I don't think they particularly care about that," said Ensign Temple, Team 04's second in command. "I doubt they have any more loyalty to the Feddies than us, especially those kids. What's wrong with being a little friendly. We're supposed to be the good guys."

"I don't trust any, non-octarians," Honah bit out. "There are probably spies in there."

"Probably," Carver agreed. "They're likely relaying our position to the Calachoran Air Force."

"Why didn't we force the towns to evacuate?"

"Because the Calachorans don't usually attack convoys as they're passing through these towns. These were technically their citizens, after all, and they don't want to give them reason to be loyal to us instead. If we're attacked it will be between towns."

Hachiko tuned out of the conversation and resumed her sightseeing. Noting the bright colours on some of the buildings and the public artworks. Just beyond the towns were large garden plots with orchards beyond that. Less than a kilometre outside of town however, they found the burnt-out wreck of a cargo truck tipped on its side next to the road. It looked like it had been there for some time. It was an omen of things to come.

Halfway to their destination, the road was littered with the blackened out hulks of tanks, trucks, and all manner of ground vehicles. She even saw chunks of mobile suits scattered about.

"Think this is where the enemy likes to hit the convoys?" Temple quipped.

"Permission to go active," Honah asked. Carver granted it and the eye of Honah's Zaku glowed brighter as she began searching for targets with her full suite of sensors.

"Do they ever attack on the ground?" Hachiko asked.

"I haven't heard anything about it if they do. This is probably too far back for them."

For the next half hour they continued moving down the road, but the piles of wreckage never seemed to end. Hachiko wondered just how many had died on this road.

As they moved into a valley between two large hills, Honah's voice shrilled through the squadron comms net.

"Contact! Bearing, one-nine-three, Thirty kilometres and closing fast." After a moment she added, "Altitude, three-thousand metres. No ID yet."

"Pretty low for the terrain around here," Stovni remarked calmly. "Four-three, stay active and keep track of them. Everyone else, find cover and remain passive for now. Let's not broadcast how many of us there are just yet. We're in a low area so they probably can't detect all of us."

Hachiko moved from the road and knelt amidst a cluster of burned out tank hulls. The convoy soon began to do the same, with the lighter vehicles moving off the road and amidst some of the remaining trees and wrecked vehicles. The larger, heavy trucks however, remained on the road, their crews hastily abandoning them and diving into the ditches alongside.

"Twenty-kilometres. They're splitting up. Computer says they're Mantas."

The Fly Manta was the Federation's standard atmospheric bomber. It was fast and nearly as manoeuvrable as their own Dopp air superiority fighters, but packed with more ordinance.

Hachiko disengaged her weapon safeties and checked her map. Honah was relaying her sensor readings to the rest of the squadron and the convoy's escort vehicles. The bombers were indeed separating into two groups. With the tall hills on either side of the valley, they had only two avenues of attack if they wanted to come in low: along the same axis as the road.

"Why are they going so far away?" Honah asked.

"They want to see what's here," Stovni answered. "Everyone switch to moderate minovsky particle dispersion and keep your wits about you. From what I've been told, these airforce types are a little more clever than the CSF grunts we're used to."

Vehicles in the convoy activated their smoke dispensers. Within minutes, the floor of the small valley was covered in a thick, grey cloud that covered most of the vehicles though it left the mobile suits exposed.

They were just over ten kilometres away as they crossed the road, perpendicular to it. Hachiko watched them warily, wondering what it was they were doing. Why hadn't they come in for a swift strike? Surely they couldn't afford to loiter like this behind enemy lines.

Their formation began to elongate as they entered into a holding pattern around the valley, creating two circles rotating in opposite directions. Hachiko felt like a large mammal beings surrounded by pack predators.

"Everyone go full active. Watch your sectors."

Hachiko turned on her active sensors, her monitors coming to life with a host of new information. Another minute passed, and then several of the bombers dropped out of their formation from different points around the circle instead of moving in pairs or flights. Some came down the roads as expected, while others came from the sides and from directly above.

"Weapons free, weapons free!"

At Stovni's direction, everyone picked a target and aimed to bring it down.

Honah fired her enormous cannon almost straight up. The recoil of the cannon nearly send the Zaku falling onto its back. The manta moved, gliding out of the way then resumed its dive.

The whole squadron soon opened fire in almost every direction, their targets were large enough that Hachiko thought they wouldn't be too difficult to hit, and yet, time and time again, they missed.

Their shots fell low, the bullets drawn by gravity to the ground, the mantas flew in ways that seemed impossible to pilots accustomed to moving in space, so they failed to predict where their targets would be. They moved in closer and closer, yet they never tried to respond to the Zakus with an attack of their own. Seconds later, they learned why.

While the first wave of mantas had distracted them, the others began their attack, diving down from almost every direction and firing missiles and unguided rockets into the valley.

Hachiko pushed forward, landing awkwardly on her Zaku's stomach against the hill, the ground exploding where her feet had been just seconds ago. The entire valley floor became a firestorm as rockets and bombs fell from above and churned the ground below.

Temple took a hit to the back, slagging some of her backpack thrusters. Ensign Whitehook held up her arm to block a few missiles from hitting her in the chest, unfortunately losing said arm, but probably saving her life. The feet and shins of Lieutenant Doorguard's Zaku were torn up as bombs landed around her. Worse, the Zaku's weren't the only ones getting hit.

Amidst the artificial fog, bombs and rockets ripped vehicles open like soda cans and tossed them about like toys. Ammunition popped off like endless strings of firecrackers. Briefly, the turret from one of the anti-aircraft vehicles sailed up above the smoke layer before falling back down, out of sight.

Just when Hachiko wondered when this would end, the bombers abandoned their attacks and powered at high speed to the south.

"Team Four, status report."

Hachiko checked herself over then looked at the paper doll readout of her Zaku.

"Four-Four is green."

"Four-Three" is green."

"Four-two, my backpack's been hit. Main thrusters offline. Reactor is all clear but I'll need to get it looked at when we get to base."

As Lieutenant Carver relayed Team 04's status to their commander, Hachiko surveyed the valley.

The convoy deactivated their smoke dispensers, though a great deal of smoke still lingered, the white dispenser smoke mixing and roiling with the black oily smoke of burning vehicles, supplies, and bodies.

Medics ran to and fro, trying to take care of the wounded. Crews tried to move their charges away from vehicles already burning. At least a score of vehicles in the convoy had been destroyed. Hachiko had never gotten an accurate count of the bombers, but they had to have been at least a dozen of them, and as far as she knew, they hadn't shot a single one of them down.

It was not a glorious start for the 128th on Terra.

Author's Notes:

Those of you with even a modest understanding of orbital mechanics probably raised a few eyebrows this chapter. Obviously, this story doesn't take place in the "space" we understand. While probably unnecessary, I did this to help explain some of the things we usually see in Gundam and to help preserve that style. Hopefully, I played it off reasonably well.

Obviously, although the Collective have been dominant overall so far in this war, it's clear they've started to adapt and the skies between orbit and the ground is one of the few places they have superiority, and of course, they're going to push that advantage as much as they can, and they clearly had a good day in this chapter.