The Eye of the Storm
Eric "Novgorod" Goedtel
-- The year is Universal Century Zero-One-Zero-Five. The Principality of Zeon's war against the Earth Federal Forces has come to a close with both sides beaten and torn, with no obvious victor. Military leaders sign a peace treaty that places any Zeon territories as independents, but still under the military jurisdiction of the EFF. Now the citizens of Earth, and he citizens of the colonies think peace has been restored in the SOlar System. They think wrong. Both sides are busy resupplying their forces in secret and researching new vehicles and technologies. Mobile robotic infantry units, more commonly labeled as Mobile Suits, have become more numerous and standardized as the technology was refined. From the exploits of the EFF White Base (aka Trojan Horse) and their mobile suit prototypes the Guntank, Guncannon and Gundam came three new general purpose, mass-production mobile suits: The Gundam duplicate, RGC-79; the Guncannon duplicate, RGM-80;and the Guntank duplicate, RX-77D. They are the mass bulk of the EFF and became the backbone for any military operation for the EFF. The Zeon's also procured their own mobile suit upgrades. The Gooks, and the Doms became a more prominent and proliferated force in the Zeon military, no longer special-purpose class, but general purpose, mass-production suits.
-- Even with all of the military research going on through out the Earth Sphere, the civilian population seems oblivious to the military buildup. It appears that they refuse to believe that another war may break-out, given the catastrophic casualties procured by the violent war. With the possiblity of a cold war, the governments begin plans to create their own special covert-operations units. The EFF was the first to succeed, creating the Blue Eagles, an elite task force of close-range specialists and long-range artilery pilots. The Zeons managed to create a low-budget, unimportant squadron of Doms and Gooks. The Zeons do not foresee such a cold war situation as the EFF does. They spend money on a bulk force only useful in battlefield-style combat.
-- The diplomatic ties between the EFF and the Zeon Territories finally deteriorate when colony number Side 2 is mysteriously detonated in a single blast. Many people assume an Antarctic Treaty violation involving nuclear weapons. Others decide on sabotage or use of non-proliferative explosive. Whatever they decide actually happened during that incident, the colony was still lost, as well as the lives of several billion people.
-- As each side pointed fingers at the other, military preparations for a possible war or skirmish/battle commenced and the Blue Eagles were dispatched to destroy a mobile suit factory in the Zeon Earth Province of New Melbournein Australia. When they arrived, they experienced limited resistance from any infantry units. The new R-Series mobile suits made short work of the defensive turrets and artillery. Just as the explosive were being armed for detonation to destroy the base, an enemy transmission pentrated the security net and made a call do the Blue Eagles.
--"Blue Eagles!" Called out a mysetrious voice. "This is Lieutenant Farley of the Zeon Black Angels. I am sure that you've heard of us. We are suggesting as friends that you disable the explosives mounted on this factory and evacuate the area immediately." Spoke Farley.
The Black Angels? Thought the EFF Blue Eagles commander, Major Duckworth. Thats the Zeon covert-ops team isn't it?
--"Corporal Lien, patch a message through to the Commandant Headquarters." Commanded Duckworth.
--"No porblem, sir!" Replied Lien, the comms officer. "Recording channel open, sir!"
--"CHQ! This is the Blue Eagles commander Major Duckworth. At the New Melbourne objective, we met Zeon Mobile Suit resistance that goes by the code-name Black Angels. I believe that this is their covert ops crew, and we are going to complete the mission and evacuate, against the direct suggestion of the enemy squadron. B.E.'s out, sir."
--"Major, what should we do? Engage the enemy or complete the objective?" Questioned Sergeant Michaels, the ordinance officer.
--"We will complete the objective, and we'll assault the enemy only if they fire at us. Remember, only explosives, do not use your beam weapons except for evacuation control."
--The remaining team members, including Michaels and Lien, gave a collective yes and backpedaled away from the wired factory facility, leaving the Major to remote detonate the bombs at a closer range to ensure a correct detonation pattern. If everything went according to plan, the building would explode from the fuel tank storage area outward, to simulate an accident or mishap.
--"Eagle 1 reporting to Eagle Crew. Prepare for detonation on my mark! 3--2--1--MARK!" The ground shook violently as prototype plastic explosives detonated and resonated through out the valley. When the Major and his team looked to examine the damage, they found the factory still intact, and currently on Red Alert.
--"Eagle 4 to Eagle 1!" Eagle 4 was Corporal Davies. "When the detonation sounded, I noticed that the explosives had detonated 500 yards west of the facility. The Black Angel's removed the explosives to a secure area."
--"Eagle 1, thank you Eagle 4, but I kinda had that figure, thanks anyway, now starting radio silence on my mark, 3--2--1--MARK!" From the cockpit of his mobile suit, the Major could disable all radio equipment in Blue Eagles mobile suits. Radio blackout was the call for evacuation and retrieval and the crew made their way silently to the LZ where they first entered the sortie.
--"Blue Eagles, we aren't happy with the event of your previous sortie but--" Spoke the Commandant of the MS Corp.
--"COmmandant!" Interrupted Michaels, "They knew we were coming, and knew we were planting explosives and exactly where!"
--"Sergeant! If you interrupt me once more today with an outburst like that, I will see those chevrons ripped right off your uniform. Now let me continue. We are not disappointed by your own tactics Major, but by the fact that Sergeant Michaels has brought up: They knew we were coming. We believe that there is a possible mole in either your operation or in the command hierarchy of the EFF MS Corp itself. Now during the investigation, your operation will have to continue with information only given to pilots and command units, no mechanics or comrades in other units, in the Army, Navy, or MS Corp are to know. And radio silence will be maintained until all 5 units are on the floor. Also, we have given the remaining pilots, Petty Officers O'Ryan and Biffel, command operation positions." The Commandant turned on an overheard projector and a unit heirarchy popped up.
| Major John Duckworth | Unit Commander |
|---|---|
| Sergeant Paul Michaels | ordinance Control Officer |
| Corporal Xian Lien | Communications Officer |
| Corporal Emily Davies | Sharpshooter/Sniper |
| PO2 Jessica O'Ryan | Medical Officer |
| PO3 Katherine Biffel | Intelligence/Logistics |
-- "Hopefuly we will have the situation involving the mole resolved before your next sortie...good luck Eagles. Dismissed!"