Act 2: The Maelstrom
Live First Radio Broadcasting Station
11:15
"Ah hell! How were we supposed to know that the Federation was here?!" Within a small, confined space, the Earth was shaken. Clearly audible sounds of gunfire stained the once peaceful aura, as the occupant in this space grudged on, with forces of gravity pushing against his frail human form. Within the cockpit, was a complete surrounding simulation of what would be seen, if the scale wasn't indifferent. The elevation was much higher, as the sight stretched out as far as building tops. The man within the cockpit tightly held onto twin joysticks, directing the massive machine to his very will. The pilot appeared to be very muscular in build, and had blonde hair.
"I don't know how the Federation managed to get Zakus. . But I guess we'll have to deal!" A woman said. Her dark blue hair was discreetly tied back to allow her head to fit the helmet she was clad upon. Her eyes being the same azure coloration, looked without fail into the distance. Behind her, was a radio tower, and assuming from the defensive stance of the machine she was in, the radio station urged protection. The woman's machine along the man's, were twin Zaku II mobile suits, both with the dark green color, and the singular crimson eye that glared to the right and left. In front of them was their opposition, the Earth Federation in disguise with the same Zeon mobile suit model. Through one mean or another, the Federation managed to obtain the Zeon mobile suits. In front, there were 4 Federation-manned Zaku II's, all with their own sort of weapons, while only Ensigns Lisa Maes and Rick Cabochon surfaced as the 13th Battalion's only line of defense.
Lisa's Zaku II emitted an azure stream from it's back, which promptly forced the Zaku airborne, attempting to get a straight up attack. One of the enemy Zaku II's drove his mobile suit backwards, narrowly avoiding the machine gun fire which collided straight into the hard concrete. Massive shells dropped down at high velocities, as one of the discarded shells crushed a car on impact. Lisa grunted at the amount of force exercised when the Zaku II collided into the ground; an earth-shattering rupture ensuring. The enemy mobile suit whom she was currently engaging responded with lightning fast reflexes as it opened machine gun fire on Lisa's suit.
"Damn it!" She pulled back on one of the joysticks which steered the Zaku. With a bit of slow reaction, the Zaku boosted backwards, not giving a care of any civilian objects she might have destroyed along the way. The Zaku II quickly curved behind a building, which immediately got wrecked by machine fire. She took this time to reload her weapon, waiting for an opportunity to counter-attack which seemed like ages as the enemy relentlessly fired upon the building, either trying to give away her cover, or lure her out in the open.
On Cabochon's end, he drove his Zaku straight into one of the Federation ones. A shock forced him back, but he managed to overcome the overwhelming force as the Zaku's hand retreated behind it, immediately pulling out a miniature axe. The enemy that Cabochon "claimed" moved forward with fierce vigor, even that of more capability than his own Zaku contained.
"Take this!!" Cabochon screamed as he pushed the joystick all the way forward, and in response in perfect synchronization, his mobile suit drove the axe down into the enemy Zaku hard. With a push of another button on the joystick, the blade of the axe immediately formulated to a gold-like color. A mass amount of heat emitted from the blade of the axe as the blade drove even deeper into the enemy's shoulder. After a minute, the blade sliced clean through the enemy's right arm, leaving it discarded among the street. From the amount of force from the arm falling, street lamps among other things were shuffled about violently. The arm twitched every moment before going dead completely. The armless Zaku was left with no other options but pulling out it's own saber. "Not down yet. . No you don't!"
The rush of battle went through Cabochon's blood as he screamed, forcing his mobile suit into the enemy as hard as he could, with the blade of the weapon dubbed the "Heat Hawk" sideways. Cabochon bashed the foot pedals with his feet as he could feel the thrusters of the Zaku fire up with life. This gave the Zaku extra momentum to the blade so much that it slit straight through the cockpit area of the enemy mobile suit. The enemy Zaku hummed wildly, as it's crimson eye rotated wildly from right to left, before the suit went dead altogether. Cabochon withdrew the heat hawk for his back mounted bazooka to move on to his next prey. However, thoughts of Jackson's discretion caught Cabochon at the last possible moment of rest. Don't let them explode. . We're trying to destroy the colony aren't we?
Then, Jackson came into the radio from the T.V. Station through Lisa and Cabochon's mobile suits. The battle was so fierce, the two pilots didn't even realize the transmission until Jackson's voice sounded in their cockpits.
"Ensigns Cabochon and Lisa, you only have two mobile suits left-" Jackson said, trying to lighten the mood for both of the young pilots. Both of them retreated to a piece of cover, and tried to both communicate with their superior, and not get overwhelmed in the battle at the same time.
"Tell us something we don't know! I thought intelligence said that this colony was clear!" Lisa's excitement caught Jackson's tongue, and he could detect a bit of frustration within her tone.
"Apparently, the intelligence can't do their job correctly. ." Jackson said into the radio, sighing as he did. For something along the lines of the Federation getting mobile suits, that should have been the first thing that intelligence caught, unless. . Did Gihren not tell us about this to test us? Test me?
"What about the connection? Does it work?" Cabochon said. Cutting to Jackson's end, several workers and armed soldiers were trying their best to take control of the communication within the colony. However, Federation force interception has prevented them from taking control of the colony. The room was dim, and littered with bullet holes all across the walls. Around Jackson, several bodies laid a waste. . .
"No, the Federation cut it before we arrived. . Damn. . They knew we were going to strike all along. They must have some sources in their forces." Jackson said distraughtly.
"What. . -static- about Apollo?" Cabochon asked. The battle was raging even closer, and Jackson struggled to maintain his calm, even through the negative current events.
"The space team is dead, and Apollo is setting the last canister. . Oh wait, I have a transmission from him now. Both of you just hold on. ." Jackson replied. In response, Lisa just became more frustrated, but there wasn't much that she could have done.
"Easier said than done. . ." Is what the woman said when she steered her Zaku out from the building that served as her cover. The Federation Zaku crept close, but she opened a rain of machine gun fire upon the Zaku. Each shot hit various parts of the Zaku, but somehow, it managed to fire off it's own weapon, that drove Lisa airborne. That was the last thing that Jackson saw of the battle when he cut transmission with the two Ensigns, and said a little prayer to himself, praying that his Battalion gets out of this alive.
"Apollo!" Jackson screamed into the radio. The danger of the moment brought this so, even though Apollo's response was anything less than ecstatic.
"What?" Apollo asked his superior. Over the hazed transmission, Apollo could hear nothing but chaos. He could just assume what the sounds could be like by just assuming what it was like currently, a chaotic battle. The truth was that the battle was on a much smaller scale, but to the rest of the Battalion, it was their first live battle. The same went with Apollo as well, but by the calmness of his voice, it would appear that he wasn't worried, or that he overestimated victory over the Federation. Either way, he sounded like a veteran after years of the same battle routine.
"What's your status?" Jackson asked. When Apollo's words came out, they were mostly obscured by radio interference.
"Well. . I've set the canisters to release in 2 minutes. There are a few Federation cruisers who saw me out here, and they opened fire. It hit the canisters and I had to pull it to the longest I could do." The situation was turning to the worst already.
"Federation battleships? What in the hell is going on here?" Jackson asked. Apollo took a lag in reply, as his voice took upon a more serious tone.
"We were suckered, that's what happened. There are 3 Salamis-Class battleships. From the looks of it, they'll storm the colony and order the civilians to retreat." When Apollo said this, Jackson took a moment to retreat in his own world, pondering the irregularity of the current events.
"There is no way that Federation battleships would just be passing by. . They obviously knew about this one. ." Jackson said to nobody in particular.
"I suggest----------ignite-----get----here" A deep screech upon the radar filled sustained the captivity within the conversation between both military officials. Jackson could just assume what Apollo was attempting to proclaim. A suggestion to ignite the gas and pull the forces out of the colony. However with that, several problems resided.
"But the declaration is in 35 minutes, there will be no way to get home after that. ." Jackson asked. Sure, he was supposed to be in charge, but in a situation like this, he left Apollo with some say in the operation. After all, he's the only one who could man the gas canisters, as there were no others who could get out of the colony fast enough to prevent complete Federation takeover.
"Forget it. We have to ignite the gas in. . . 1 minute and 30 seconds. We can't wait any longer than that. ." Apollo said. Jackson took a minute to ponder the consequences, and therefore made a decision based upon the circumstances.
"Hey, blockheads! Listen up! Put on your gas-masks on the double! We're going to hi-jack a Federation cruiser! Got that Apollo?" Apollo gave no reply, and Jackson in turn sneaked a sneer upon his wizened face. "Good. Standby, and engage when Cabochon and Lisa have finished their thing." As he struggled to put on his gas equipment, he thought to himself in bewilderment. . You can't fool me Zabi. . This is one hell of a test you orchestrated. Jackson was interrupted within his thoughts by an ear-piercing crash that managed to rock the entire building. Walls cracked violently, light fixtures fell, sparks flew from electricity failures, all of the sort as the soldiers in the building were also knocked around. Lisa's Zaku was thrown violently into the radio station by an enemy. The woman shrieked before she pointed the Zaku's machine gun directly at the head of the enemy. Not caring where she fired, the machine gun rocked, firing clips at light speed. The enemy Zaku was forced back, before it promptly fell on it's back, ruining the street even more. Jackson felt the second quake the moment the enemy Zaku collided among the ground. Lisa was breathing heavily due to the fact that she stared Death straight in the eye. . .
And lived. .
"Sir. . . We've. . Almost taken care of this, but I'm not sure. . If the Federation will send reinforcements. ." Lisa was panting deeply. . Her hand was planted deeply within her chest to try to forcefully control her breathing level. She looked down at the enemy Zaku that was once contributing to the wanton destruction. She could see the cockpit of the Zaku II, shredded by machine-gun fire. Several body parts were damaged from the barrage. . She could even see a small, mangled form sticking out of a small ruined hole where the cockpit used to be. . "That. . That could have been. . Me. . That could have been me right now. . ."
"Leave the dead ones, carry the wounded! We're leaving!" Jackson spoke with his voice muffled by the gas-mask. Jackson among other soldiers were evacuating. "Lisa, Apollo is going to try to fend off the battleships. There will be no declaration for the colony, we're going to have to start the gassing immediately." Jackson barked into the communication line.
"Apollo take on 3 battleships on his own? He's only human, not a Char Aznable [2]!" Granted that the infamous Char hasn't even went into battle yet, from his simulations, they say that Aznable is a deity when it comes to piloting mobile suits, and is pretty well known in Zeon ranks. It was unknown how much capability he could behold when the real fighting actually starts. . Even though the 13th Battalion were fighting for their lives.
"He can do it. He's not normal anyway. Clean up the last enemy, you and Cabochon are going to carry all of us back, so neither one of you die." Jackson said. Immediately after, a nameless soldier gave a survey on the current situation.
"Sir! I've got confirmation, the canisters will open in 10 seconds!"
****
The massive timer on the twin canisters hit 00:00 deadlock at simultaneous rates. The lower hatch of the canister opened, as several pipes connected itself to different nozzles due to computer manipulation. A fan within the canister started off at a slow rotation, until it swiftly blew the hazardous G3 gas into the colony through the crudely made puncture. Below it, the same time happened. Both of the "skies" of the colony where emitting a yellowish cloud into the air, which spread at random. The sound that the wind was making was the sound of death upon the colony.
Before the first few symptoms could occur, Satoru and Margaret, who were making their way to the source of the battle stopped at the loud noise coming from the northeast and the northwest. Both of the students looked up, perplexed at what was happening. Before they could say anything, a dead leaf from above slowly filtered down to the ground, before it was caught by Satoru. He inspected it thoroughly, and ended up getting a nauseating feeling. . .
"Margaret. . Cover your nose." The boy desperately pleaded. Due to Margaret's impulsive nature, she rebelled against any such order that didn't have much of a purpose at first.
"Why should I?" The girl attempted to act sassy to Satoru even in moments like this. . His next comment however, would persuade her over.
"Please. . Just do it." Satoru's tone of desperation struck Margaret's heart like an arrow, and she followed his instructions. Satoru beckoned for Margaret to follow him, as he did not have a very good feeling about the cloud. His only plan, was to find his father near the hangars, were all military affairs were disputed, rather than placing them within the city. So the two took off in a dash. Margaret didn't answer, as she was only following Satoru. Every one in awhile, Satoru placed his hand on his head. . It was like some sort of rush, making his blood run cold. Every few moments, it got worse and worse. He was disinclined to mention it to mention it to Margaret until it got really bad.
"Margaret, do you feel that?" Satoru asked Margaret if she felt the same overwhelming motions that he did. . Unless it was to his imagination, or maybe it was only being felt to him and no other.
"Feel what?" The girl asked. Just by that reply, Satoru's question was already answered.
"Never mind. ." It was an irregular feeling indeed. It was like he could hear the voices of many people crying out. Many people that he probably seen before, or never even heard of. Or never paid any mind to. It wouldn't matter now, as the new feeling seeping through his skin and bones was a sickening feeling. . He felt nauseous all over. . And a chill was sent down his spine when he heard a scream. Satoru quickly looked around. . It was almost lifelike. No other being was around, which was odd as well. . Margaret looked over to him, concerned about his well being. After that, a verbal-less transaction was made between the two, and their trek continued on.
****
Outside of the colony, Apollo was having his own time by avoiding the flurry of beam shots from the trio of battleships. He manipulated his Zaku with expertise, dodging every blast with an amazing result of athletic ability, however. . Even that wasn't enough to prevent the power shells from piercing the Zaku's various limbs in no time at all. .
"So. . You persist on fighting. ."
Apollo said this to himself as the Zaku's leg got blown off, the force sending his Zaku spiraling. Once more at a disadvantage since his only weapon could not have been used in space. Apollo was merely attempting to bide his time until his commander gives him the okay. However, it seemed very difficult to achieve this mode of patience in such a heated battle.
"Hm. . War or not, it's all the same. . It's always humans against each other."
The other leg of the Zaku got blown off, with the resulting force hurling the legless mobile suit back.
"It's you people who are causing damnation on the world, but yet. ."
A blast hit the pelvis of the Zaku II, raising the damage meter to a phenomenal height now. The force sent the Zaku shaking violently, as the trio of screens before Apollo cracked, forcing small pieces of debris flying throughout the cockpit. The myopic eye of the Zaku glared as he targeted the closest battleship. The Zaku pulled out the flamethrower that was adored on the back part of it's shoulder.
"My cause will prevail regardless! I refuse to die now!"
Amidst of Apollo's personal hatred for these "normal humans", the Zaku flew to the nearest Salamis at the top-most ability the Zaku II could go. He gracefully dodged a barrage of energy blasts before putting the flamethrower's tip directly in front of him, on a near collision course with the bridge of the Salamis.
"Go to hell!!!" Apollo screamed these lines as he forced the tip of the flamethrower directly into the bridge. The fire from that particular Salamis among others ceased. Air was escaping the bridge as the crew members were flying out into space, where sound promptly ceased upon contact to the endless black void. With a flick of a button, the flamethrower ignited directly into the bridge. The flames scorched far, through several floors below the bridge. He pointed the tip down with the remaining amount of air at full blast. Due to his advanced intuition, the high powered flames managed to strike on directly with lots of machinery connected to the thrusters of the ship. Apollo steered his Zaku backwards, and onto the next battleship as the Salamis behind him became overcome with electricity. . The thrusters cut itself off with a few last breaths of life before the Salamis split itself in half with a chain of explosions. One could see the collection of crew members flying off to their deaths.
"I still have my job to do. It's nothing personal, you guys are just on the wrong side. ." Apollo said in his now calm manner. To the next one, Apollo drove his Zaku to the side, pulling out a Heat Hawk from it's back. Once more, no turret could manage to score a hit on Apollo now that he's actually trying. It was unknown how the heat hawk could function in space, but it was doubted that anyone who piloted a Zaku actually cared about that in battle. Once coming in contact with the Salamis, he steered his Zaku into swiping one of the particle cannon turrets, wrecking that one with it's barrels floating off into space. Then, he made his contact to the bridge. He kept his Zaku at the same thrust as he put the Heat Hawk outwards, slicing the "neck" of the bridge with one pass. The air escaped through that one filling, as all activity cut off from that ship all together. Might as well give that one a slow death. . Apollo came in contact with the final Salamis, and pointed the flamethrower directly at the bridge, establishing a connection link to the crew of the unlucky ship.
"I hear-by declare this ship under Zeon captivity. . If you force to comply, you will be killed. ." When the Zeon pilot announced these words, tension rose among the Federation crew. .
"What? That was fast. . We surrender. ." Chatter filled the bridge, both negative and positive comments regarding the quick takeover. Apollo on the other hand, just chuckled to himself.
"There's something we have in common with the humans as well. . We both adore our lives than anything else. ."
****
"Hurry up! You're running too slow!" The roles were reversed, now Satoru was the one leading Margaret.
"Shut up! I'm trying the best I can. . Don't you feel dizzy too?" Margaret said, as her voice wavered from the effects of the gas looming upon them.
"Just a little. . Bit. . Farther. ." Even throughout such a crisis with doom impending, the pair still continued the argue the long and arduous 2 miles to the hangar. Normally, such a thing shouldn't be hard to cover, but considering that the thick fog was impairing their breathing harmonics considerably, it was a miracle the two weren't dead yet from the spreading gas. The yellowish gas spread onward like a plague, and as the two agreed, they went for lower ground to bide their time as much as possible. A sight that freaked them both equally was the collection of dead bodies he saw lying among the streets. Some adults, some children that shouldn't have even died in the first place in this manner. Margaret kept telling herself that their luck would run out since they weren't wearing anything near the proper equipment for this. Satoru continued to feel dizzy and nauseated, but it wasn't due to the gas.
It was like a cold chill flying into his body. . The boy could barely even get focused on his destination, and occasionally faded between the gray area of consciousness and unconsciousness. The boy's thoughts tended to dwindle in attention of his current crisis and started thinking about their school and his friends. Did they make it out okay? Did they die back there like these on the streets? And even more so, his distress on why the Zeon, the force who he presumed to be his idol for the longest would do something like this. Was there war in mind?
. . Their hope seemed numbered until the only grateful sight all day presented itself to them.
"Look. . . It's the hangar. . My father should be in there if he hasn't died already. ." Satoru said distraughtly, already expecting the worse. Margaret tried her best to confront him, but not doing it directly.
"Doubt that. . You know what the rumors say, the Federation let the Zeon in for reasons that are unknown, so they might have planned this." The girl tried to lighten the boy's mood, but that didn't help much either. More thoughts penetrated Satoru's mind, like if the Federation knew an attack would be issued, why did they wait for it to actually happen? That would be the first thing he would ask his father as the pair entered the hangar of the colony. There beside a massive gate resided several buildings. Satoru witnessed several Federation soldiers dressed in the proper equipment with a innumerable amount of construction worker mobile pods in the vicinity. Everybody knew that mobile pods [1] were usually armed for space construction work, but never combat against a Zaku.
"Dad! Dad! Are you there?" One of the armed Federation soldiers turned as the voice sounded familiar. There was Satoru's father, witnessing Satoru and his "female companion" coughing heavily due to in take from the G3. His father's voice went dry, containing that of fear with the mixture of mild anger.
"Son. . What are you doing here? I thought you evacuated with everybody else. ." Satoru's father was more relieved than angry at the situation. Kei Hakiteki was a decent father as far as parenting goes. His wife already divorced him years ago, and she was residing somewhere on Earth. Satoru counted his blessings, as his mother was far away from the chaos taking place in space.
"Well you see. . I ditched school to see the Zeon, and-" But then Kei's aggressive and frustrated attitude kicked into high gear.
"You idiot! You should have stayed were you were! While you were wondering the streets, you possibly could be evacuated right now! Who knows how much G3 you've took in. ." Now his father seemed more worried than anything else. The father trailed off where he saw a thin outline of blood on his boy's hands that was discarded from his mouth. The girl's symptoms were a bit slow, but she too showed signs of the hazard that the G3 secretly inflicted.
"Hey. . You two soldiers, take them to the military shuttle, and make sure they get to Earth or some other medic on the double. . I have report from a few other colonies in the Side that Zeon attack started to surface. . Our colony was just the product of a slip up. ." Kei said. Two nameless grunts appeared from assumingly nowhere, but Satoru with his last remaining strength, attempted to quarrel.
"Why. . Why didn't you do anything? . ." Satoru asked. Kei was a Federation officer, and they knew that the Zeon were in the colony in the first place. He refused to see it from a realistic view however, and saw it as the Federation was willing to make sacrifices.
"We had to make sure that the Zeon weren't trying anything. . We didn't want to start a war, but it's too late for that now. . Oh. . You must be Margaret. . I'm sure you've kept him alive longer than he would, eh?" Kei attempted to pass a joke. He knew Margaret's parents well, but their fates were unknown. Margaret's actions were sluggish though. .
"Heh. . Heh. . Just my. . Job. ." The two were on the verge of passing through the line of the mortality as two nameless Federation soldiers hurriedly carried the kids to the military shuttle. The orders were to launch the shuttle as soon as possible, and hopefully the mobile pod pilots would be able to retreat onto the shuttle with their lives, but that didn't seem to be the case.
"Sir. . The two mobile suits are coming. . We'd better prepare." One of the soldiers said.
"That's true. . They've already captured one of our Salamis'. . but I'm sure that it'll work before they organize again." The tone of Kei's voice gave some hint about his confidence on the Federation fixing the situation.
"Sir. Will we survive this one?" The soldier asked. Kei just looked down to the ground.
"Do you have a family soldier?"
"Why. . Yes. ."
"You've left them and yourself no regrets. Just tell yourself that." Death was inescapable at this point, but the soldier that Kei attempted to console sighted a new found confidence to fight. . And so did Kei.
****
The final stage was set. Cabochon and Lisa with their damaged Zakus with the entire remaining 13th Battalion in tow were about to meet with the final defense line of Guru 10. The captured Federation cruiser hasn't organized yet, so a direct attack was out. Apollo announced that his Zaku was too damaged to operate in gravity-based combat, and the gravity wells for the colony weren't hit considering that would be more of a hurt than a help.
Once at the final line, the armed soldiers of the 13th Battalion disembarked from the green giants, and fought for their lives. With guns blazing in every direction, several soldiers were brought down among both sides, however, the lack of numbers on the hangar's end drove them to retreat back for cover. As the two Zaku pilots were making their way to the hangar with their weapons blazing to cause visual chaos, a mobile pod appeared from behind the building to Lisa's 6.
"I won't die now! After I've come so far. . I have a life too to live!" Lisa yelled out in her moment of excitement. The mobile pod that challenged her was weakly armed, granted the few collections of spikes and smelters. The mobile pod vaulted forward, as it's frail little form rifted a few feet off the ground. Lisa manipulated her Zaku downward, throwing it into a dive dodging a hit that the mobile pod inflicted on her left leg. A spike was left engorged into the Zaku's left leg as the gears and tubes within failed on themselves. Lisa grunted in frustration as she withdrew her machine-gun, recklessly and aimlessly showered the mobile pod with rounds. The shots pierced right through the non-existent armor of the mobile pod, with it's pilot dying instantly from a shot that would have cut through a human just like that. Getting up with the mobile suit's weak leg, it staggered forward, firing on any mobile pods in the way, taking them down like flies.)
"C'mon men! Don't give up now! This is our home that they trampled through, we won't let them out without a fight!!" Kei said within a pod. He was more concerned about dodging the enemy fire rather than attacking as the situation seemed hopeless. Men that he knew for years were being brought down like amateurs. However, none of them were accustomed of the heat of real battle, alike that of the Zaku pilots. I'll probably die anyway. . I've already let my wife down, and now my son, but. . If I run away now, I could never face them again. . That is, if the afterlife is really as they say. . A stray shot struck a structure near Kei's mobile pod, forcing his mental decision to make a haste.
"None of us will survive, so I might as well try. ." Kei punched the lever at it's maximum thrust, vaulting the mobile pod airborne. It armed it's only useful weapon, the smelter. Even an experience-impaired soldier such as he would have known that a smelter would be disastrous at anything at close range. Even a Zeon Zaku. He dodged the volley of stray shots as he was an experienced pilot that was probably triggered due to the intensity of the moment, or a lapse in his reflexes. A stray bazooka shot whizzed right past the mobile pod, striking dead on with another mobile pod, as it endured the noiseless death of a few streams of fire striking out of the cockpit. Cabochon was inclosing on Kei, firing the bazooka shots at the mobile pod as it evaded each shot with unheard of expertise.
"Damn maggot!" Cabochon screamed as he forced his Zaku forward, chasing down the mobile pod as it continued to dodge Cabochon's shots. The Zaku was much faster than the mobile pod, but Hakiteki persisted. As soon as Hakiteki steered his mobile pod behind a building for cover, he aligned his radio system to a different station than the one he was supposed to be on, possibly to cause interference with the radio. On Cabochon's end, the radar flicked, as the disturbance of Minvosky Particles broadcasted themselves in an irregular fashion, and with the addition of the chaotic battle occurring simultaneously, Cabochon's radar was giving off all the wrong targets. The symptoms were switching target after target, and the crosshair flicked out of place. No problem. . I'll find you eventually.
The Zaku went at a slow advance around the containers and buildings placed around the battle field. Cabochon turned at every corner to a possibility where the enemy mobile pod might have been, but for the first few tries, that ended up in failure. Kei's hesitation increased dramatically with every step the Zaku took, trying to lure the pilot out of fear due to the superior machine that the enemy had.
It's now, Kei's hesitation increased, as he longed for the moment that would either mark the end for his enemy, or himself in the long run. Or, was another word that rang through his mind. He gripped the levers tightly, and drove his machine into the open. "Never!" He screamed out. Kei made a quick prayer to God, and a farewell to his son as he withdrew from the cover, seeming to make a suicide attack on Cabochon's Zaku.
"There we go. . Now you die you little annoyance, like all those other maggots that have tried to stand in Zeon's way! As Cabochon aimed with the last bazooka shell he had, he aimed carefully at the rapidly incoming mobile pod. As soon as Cabochon had an affirmative lock on, he pulled the trigger. . However, he had committed a fatal error. . The crosshair drifted off, resulting to a complete miss from the mobile pod. As the pod closed in at point blank, it revealed one of it's arms, aiming a small cylinder shaped smelter at the cockpit of the Zaku.
"Oh. . ****. ." These were Cabochon's last words as the smelter burned through the cockpit at an insane rate. There would probably have been nothing left of the grizzled Zaku pilot as the Zaku fell backwards, colliding onto the ground as the entire giant then went lifeless. . .
"Guys. . I did it. . Finally! My first real kill-" Kei was cut off abruptly as stray fire scorched into the cockpit. Hakiteki saw glass flying around from the formally intact cockpit, as the seating below him started to give away rapidly. . The last things that Hakiteki saw was the picture of his family wedged into a control panel in the cockpit. . Shattered by a machine gun shell as the mobile pod erupted in flames, erasing every trace that the mobile pod had in the battle. . It's a pity, nobody is invincible in war. . Even in it's infant stages. From that moment on, the Zeon forces continued onward through the lines without much opposition. Even one Zaku was enough.
"That's what you get for killing my wing-man, you scum. ." Lisa muttered in her cockpit. Lisa stepped back, and a transmission from Jackson came into view. There, she saw the portrait of Jackson's obscured face due to the limited visibility of the gas-mask he was wearing.
"Lisa. . Cabochon's signal has ceased. . Did he-"
"Yes, he's dead, but I can't worry about that now. You've taught me better, haven't you General?" Lisa said barley above the tone of a whisper. These words, actually pleased Jackson's ego.
"I guess I have. ." As little as anybody knew, Jackson kept to himself after the failure of the radio station raid, as he felt that it all was his fault for not being careful enough, and that he fell straight into a Federation trap. . However, Lisa's statement was assurance that he did something right.)
****
"Great. . With all the troubles we're having with the shuttle, we might as well surrender." A voice rang out in some sort of cockpit for a ship. The other pilot seemed calm enough, while the truth was that both of them were nervous.
"It'll fly. . The [ I]Night Light is closing in. Who would have known that Switzer's troops were such cowards. ." The second pilot said. The shuttle was poorly disguised under a sheet, as they could hear the rocking of the battle getting closer and closer behind them, with the addition of how the Salamis that the lone Zaku pilot captured was reorganizing themselves to attack the colony.
"Hey worker! Forget about it, we're taking off now!" The first pilot yelled. The worker tried to rebel.
"We still have some people out there!" The worker said, and the pilot was left with no other choice but to comply. For what seemed like ages, the remainder of the survivors, or the ones who wanted to live to fight another day boarded the shuttle. By then, the Salamis-class cruiser had already opened it's remaining firepower on the colony. Several shots struck the hangar dead on, while another shot hit the gate leading back into the colony, abruptly cutting off any survivors trying to escape.
"The exit is blocked. ." The second pilot said. Both of them attempted to get the launch procedures correct.
"We don't have a choice. Launch now!" The engines took a bit to warm up, as the shots strayed more and more closer and direct to the shuttle. Just before the Night Light was in point blank, the shuttle took off, with the amount of G forces binding the pilots to their chairs. To the cargo, Satoru and Margaret were placed among many soldiers of the Federation's sick list, with several female medics attempting to at least give them time to survive until they met their destination.
The shuttle barely managed to escape the Night Light , as the shuttle crew deemed that the cruiser ceased it's fire, giving them a chance to escape. The legless Zaku didn't even bother to catch them either. From behind, they could witness a majority of the occupant's home, being left back in the distance as an example of the Zeon attack. Many of the occupants were discussing on why the Zeon would do something like this, but then. . "He" came into all transmissions. .
" I hear by announce this message from all of the people of Zeon. Here, we are at crossroads. We could have settled the dispute boundaries between spacenoids and earthnoids equally. . However, as you know, the Federation gave us no chance, as they oppressed us even further. . . " Gihren Zabi's voice rang through all channels, striking fear into the ones who had to suffer from his endeavor. From Satoru's point of view, he got up weakly at the sound of the transmission coming through all channels, including radios. He recognized the voice as Admiral Gihren Zabi, the man who was the figure head of Zeon who Satoru also admired. However, the Admiral's next words would change his mind immediately.
" . . . We know that my people, our people will NOT rise for this injustice! We will show all of those people, all of the people who secretly aligned themselves with the Federation, to feel our justice! To feel that the Duchy of Zeon wants independence! The Federation knows of this, as they too, don't care about spacenoid affairs. We will show all of the earthnoids, and the traitorous spacenoids that space, is the true final frontier! Sieg Zeon!! " Gihren yelled off.
"I don't. . believe it. ." Satoru's internal injury started to give away as he coughed up a thick layer of blood as he muttered something of the lines of "that couldn't be my Zeon. . I. . Believed in their ideals. .". He saw the various flashes in the distance from the entire Side 1 cluster, and in the distance of space, several other flashes. The soldiers around him mentioned that this is a simultaneous attack on all of the colonies that did not align with Zeon. Somebody else asked him how he could have known, and he explained that all of those flashes were NBC weapons being used in the most indiscriminate manners. .
With Satoru's image of Zeon shattered. . . He faded to black, as an intensifying pain quickly conquered his frail body as the scattered chatter of medics faded along with him. . There, he could barley see Margaret out of the corner of his eye. She was also mortally wounded, but at least both of her parents counted their blessings on their daughter being alive. Satoru could just feel that his father was did. . He began to fade into the darkness, not because of the injury, but because of the feeling he had on the colony, amplified a thousand times over. He heard thousands of screams in the distance, and his human mind couldn't take it any longer.
Guru 10 was just one of the products of the scar of war. . Sieg Zeon. .
To Be Continued.
****
Author Notes
[1] Not much on this chapter, but by Mobile Pod, I mean a pre-version of the RB-79 Ball, possibly the most useless "Mobile Armor" ever in the One Year War.
[2] Char Aznable is the Red Comet in the original Mobile Suit Gundam series, who is really the son of Zeon Zum Deikun. He also had a daughter that became Sayla Mass. Sure, the battle hasn't begun, but in my mind, I see Char being talked about a lot before the war as the talented rookie. Char is also talked about to be a freak that can see into the future. Basically, he's a newtype, and newtypes can see into the future, and have amazing reflexes. Char eventually pursuits White Base and his trek to capture or destroy the Gundam, the core mobile suit of the Federation.
