A/N: Aaannd I'm back from the grave! Sheesh, it's really has been to long since my last upload.
KnightOfZaku: The Dullahan is a pretty good mobile suit, but sadly, I have no plans - as of yet - of including it.
Animangastar17: I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the story! And for the record - not just Victory, but G-Reco and Turn A as well,
"Tch." Rose scoffed to herself, "Gundam!" Rose called out,
"Y-yes?!" Amuro stated,
"Are the civilians safe?!" Rose asked,
"Yes ma'am!" Amuro stated,
"Good, follow me." Rose proceeded to transform into the Golden Gundam's flight form, revealing shining new missile pods.
Amuro looked on as the RX-78T-1 rose and then proceeded to dive through the hole created by the mega particle explosion.
SCV-70 White Base
"Captain!" Rose ordered over the comms,
Immediately, Captain Cassius picked up on the comms. "Yes?!"
"Prepare to launch! Gather up all the Gundam-related materiel!"
"Right!" Cassius stated, "You heard the woman!" He shouted, "Hop to it! Have the civilians that boarded-"
Without warning, a beam of mega particles scrapped by the side of the bridge, sending superheated shrapnel into several crew members including the side of Captain Cassius.
He heard worried shouting before everything faded into black.
"Alright." Fraw wiped her brow as she finished helping the last of the children onto the White Base.
"Hey, you!" A blonde-haired military nurse shouted.
"Yes?" Fraw called back,
"Have the older people take care of the kids! We need help up here!"
"Right!" Fraw lept up to the balcony she was on, floating with zero gravity to the nurse, who helped pull her down.
"I'm Sayla Mass, come on."
"Fraw Bow," Fraw said quickly, following after Sayla.
Falmel
"Hit confirmed on the side of the mobile suit carrier's bridge!" A crewman shouted
"Keep firing! We need to stop them here!" Dren ordered.
As he said that, several more missiles were launched from the front of the Falmel.
Rose looked around tensely, looking for any enemy mobile suits.
"All Gundam parts loaded." A radioman said tensely,
"What about the damage to the White Base? I saw the beam-"
"We sealed the breach, but several crewmen were injured but…"
"But?" Rose insisted,
"The Captain was wounded, he's in the med bay now." The crewman sighed,
Rose bowed his head, "I see…" Rose stated.
'Sorry Captain, but I can't worry about you right now.' Rose thought to herself,
"Er…ma'am!" The RX-78-2 came out through the hole in the colony, "What do we do now?"
"We wait, and my name is Colonel Rose Sahalin," Rose replied
"Rose Sahalin…?" Amuro question, "Right! Rose-san!"
Rose rolled her eyes but didn't respond as Amuro looked around tensely.
"Get me Ensign Bright or Lieutenant Ray immediately!" Rose shouted over the comms,
"We lost track of Lieutenant Ray!" Of the comms, the man operating them shouted: "Get Bright Noa up here now!"
As soon as she ordered it, Bright went to the bridge and moved to the communications station.
"I'm here Rose." Bright stated,
"Give me a status report ASAP," Rose stated.
"It's a disaster. The Zakus took out any sort of defenses we had at Side 3. Our forces are now down to this ship, you, and whoever is manning the other Gundam." Bright stated.
"Damn it." Rose snarled, "We got caught with our pants down. Pilot!" Rose shouted at Amuro.
"Yes?!" Amuro asked,
"We're pulling back!" Rose ordered, and Amuro nodded.
'I sense him…' Rose thought to herself, it wasn't the Black Knight, but it was someone she had fought before.
'Who…?'
The Gundam and Golden Gundam proceeded to land on the White Base, and almost immediately, Rose lept out of it.
"Colonel!" One of the mechanics said.
"I've heard about the situation. Personnel?"
"All of our engineers have been wiped out. The Lieutenant is MIA too. The bridge took a serious hit, so we're also missing a lot of crew there as well." The mechanic stated,
"Start looking for replacements amongst the civilians," Rose said immediately,
"We're pressing them into service?" The mechanic asked incredulously,
"We don't have much of a choice. Right now, we're undermanned and outgunned. And besides…" Rose looked to the side.
"Besides?" The mechanic questioned,
"Forget about it." She shook her head.
"Excuse me, ma'am!" A girl came over to the balcony.
"Civilians shouldn't be in the hangar bay!" Rose shouted up at her,
"I know but-" The girl gently landed on the base of the hangar, "I have a license on piloting cruisers. I know I'm not military, but I think I could handle it."
Rose raised an eyebrow, "I've seen you before…Mirai Yashima right? Of Yashima Industries?"
"Yes." Mirai bowed,
"Get to the bridge."
"I see," Ryan said calmly. "I'll send Marion, Zero, and Angelica to support you immediately."
"Understood." Char saluted,
"What's more concerning is how you lost the three Zakus. What kind of mobile suit takes down two Zakus by itself?"
"If the previous Gundam's performance is anything to go by, the mobile suits of Project V are incredibly powerful," Char said, clearly remembering their episode in the Alpine Mountains.
"Regardless, we need to shut it down, even if it means repositioning the entire fleet to intercept a single ship." Ryan stated, 'I need to prevent…THAT future. No matter what.' He thought to himself.
"I'd like to avoid that." Char stated, "Is that all?"
"One last thing." Ryan said, "If capture is your priority, but if you judge that to be impossible…destroy it."
Char raised an eyebrow through his mask, "Is that an order from you?"
Ryan didn't reply, instead saluting Char and hanging up, leaving him slightly confused, but with a new direction to follow.
"Dren, prepare three Class A Shocktroopers," Char ordered,
"You aren't waiting for the Corps?" Dren asked,
"I like to use the element of surprise when possible." Char said, "Besides, Zeon-built colonies always have a good mouse hole or two."
Behind the darkened screen, Ryan sighed, picking up the receiver. "Tell Zero, Marion, and Angelica to prepare to head out immediately." He ordered,
"At once." The adjutant bowed,
"Also - prepare the fleet for sortie, and get my Efreet."
"So - kid." Rose asked, "I never got your name."
"It's Amuro, ma'am. Amuro Ray." Amuro stated.
"Amuro, huh," Rose stated. "I'll be honest, what you did back there is a crime. On top of that, a boy like you shouldn't be piloting mobile suits."
"Er…ma'am." Amuro stated, "You don't seem much older than me…"
Rose shot Amuro a look, and he looked to the side, but she simply smiled.
"Well, how old are you?" Rose asked,
"Fifteen," Amuro admitted,
"I see," Rose stated simply, leading Amuro to the bridge. Where the injured captain was still commanding from the bridge.
"Ah, Colonel-!" Paolo winced in pain as he spoke.
"Captain!" Rose moved to his side, "You shouldn't be up here…!"
"There's no time to rest. The White Base needs to get out of Side 7…!" Paolo insisted
Rose looked down sadly, and Paolo Cassius turned to Amuro.
"Him? He's the RX-78-2s pilot?" Cassius said in surprise, "He's just a boy!"
"But he fought well. Took down two Zakus on his first engagement." Rose stated, "And we're sorely lacking pilots."
"I will trust your judgment. Right, now-erk!" Cassius winced, "-We need to get off Side 7 immediately."
"Right. But that Musai-Class isn't just going to let us leave."
"Mhm. We need to force our way out." Captain Cassius turned to Amuro, "What is your name boy?"
"Amuro Ray, sir."
"I see. Your father helped make the Gundam." Cassius noted,
"The RX-78-2 - you mean?" Amuro said,
"Yes, you piloted it awfully well for someone unaware of it's existence," Cassius stated,
"Well…" Amuro scratched his head embarrassedly, he then proceeded to explain how he had known about the existence of the Gundam for the past two and a half months.
"So you've been looking through classified military files for months? And you tried breaking and sneaking onto private military property several times?" Rose facepalmed as Amuro nodded abashedly.
"Great, our pilot has already committed multiple crimes that could warrant the death penalty." Rose sighed, "Regardless, I'm willing to overlook this purely based on the fact that we are currently in some deep-seated shit."
Amuro nodded, and Rose turned to him. "Alright - listen up." Rose stood up. "Have some crew members search the colony for any stragglers - try to find the Engineering Lieutenant! I want all our mobile suits operational ASAP!"
"Yes ma'am!"
Char motioned for two of the shock troopers to move in through the hole of the colony. With him and the remaining trooper following immediately afterward.
"It seems that Federation forces have either been destroyed or cleared out."
"No, they're holed up on the carrier most likely." Char stated, "Falmel, come in Falmel."
"Falmel here Lieutenant Commander," Dren replied,
"Open fire on the spaceport, let us know if they attempt to break out."
"Yes sir!"
"Hurry up! The Colonel wants us out on Side 7 on the double!" A mechanic shouted, right as another explosion rocked the docking bay of the White Base.
"And so do I…" The man muttered.
"Alright!" Rose lept down into the busy hangar. "What's our situation looking like?"
"We've recalibrated the Golden Gundam's balancer. It will work perfectly. The RX-78-2 has been touched up as well."
"Issue the RX-78-2 its shield and beam rifle. Reload the Vulcans as well." Rose moved towards the Golden Gundam.
"I have some loose ends to tie up," Rose stated, right before she entered the Golden Gundam.
Rose smoothly landed inside the colony, near the remnants of the development base.
"Any remnant forces, you have one minute to evacuate the premises before I open fire to prevent the capture of any remaining classified documentation," Rose announced, but received no answer, apparently, the development facility was clear.
"I see." Rose nodded, flipping open a trigger, she reloaded her missile pods.
"Loading Napalm missiles." Rose stated, "Locking on - fire!" She pressed down on the trigger, firing a spread of missiles on the remains of the facility, and sending it all up in scalding hot flames.
At the base of the Gundam's feet, she noticed a body catch and begin to burn. Nodding sadly, she saluted it before transforming into fighter form and flying off.
Unknown to her, Char was watching her fly off with electronic binoculars.
"So much for that," Char remarked,
"So what now sir?"
"Let's wait for the flames to burn out, then we can try to see what we can salvage."
"Right, commander."
Char peeked his head over the piece of a ruined building they were hiding behind.
"Let's go."
Sayla looked around from the driver's seat of her car. Looking for any stragglers.
"It's like a graveyard…" Sayla muttered to herself, it was then she noticed the glimpse of a red pilot's suit near a ruined Guncannon.
Immediately, Sayla pulled over and lept out of the car and after the pilot, hastily grabbing a sidearm from her glove compartment.
"Stop!" She yelled aiming her side arm directly at the red-suited man.
"Turn around slowly with your hands up," Sayla ordered,
"Whatever you say…" The man turned, revealing his mask.
"The mask too. Off." Sayla said, 'Why do I feel like I've met him before…?'
"So be it." He nodded, taking off the mask, he revealed his face to Sayla.
"Casval…?" Sayla lowered the gun in sheer surprise, giving Char time to quickly react, kicking upwards he threw the gun out of Sayla's hands.
"Artesia…!" Char realized, quickly backing away and reapplying his mask.
Sayla tried to pursue but was shot at by several shock troopers, who also proceeded to follow after their commander.
Without warning, 60mm Vulcan fire erupted above her and trailed after the men, who dived through a maintenance shaft to escape the gunfire.
"Sayla! Get on now!" Rose kneeled to her, allowing Sayla to climb onto the Gundam via her legs and into the cockpit.
"Open the hatch!" Rose ordered, "Multiple Zeon troops have just slipped through!"
"Yes ma'am!" As she said that, gunfire rained down on Char and his men as he tried making his way out of the hangar and into open space.
Char weaved and ducked under the gunfire, barely avoiding a bullet to the head, unfortunately, one caught his camera, forcing him to discard it.
"Tch! There goes my camera!" Char said as he ducked into a maintenance tunnel and followed it out to space.
Immediately, Char tapped the side of his helmet, activating his comms:
"Dren! Launch my mobile suit immediately!"
"Captain!" Rose's face filled the screen as she activated a communication link.
"Colonel? The enemy got away…!" Cassius warned,
"I know. They'll likely send mobile suits after us, tell Amuro to launch in the RX-78-2 as well!"
As Rose finished her orders, her eyes flitted to the side:
'I have a feeling…I've encountered this enemy before. I just know it.'
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