Act 6: The Sky is Falling. .

At last, the moment has come. The moment where several individuals will be tested in the rigorous trials of Odessa. Those who weren't ready, have already failed the trial. Within the Bulldog , the Earth-bound battleship, several life forms were already gearing up to the battle. They have hit near the Belarus/Ukraine border, and those witnessing the environment around them, could already tell how drastic the scenery was changing. Ahead, one could see a large mass of green, and the ground before them getting much softer, and the surrounding getting much more murky. Zeon attack was already predicted, and the cannons armed upon the otherwise, useless set of wings on the Bulldog were armed, as from every second to another, the cannons rotated as far as they could go, then rotated to another direction, retaining it's job as a sentry.

The cargo hold that was used as a hangar, was filled with absolute chaos. Workers running amok, screaming across the room as if the battle was beginning already. Several workers who were retained to work on the mobile suits, hurried with all their power to do last minute check-ups on the suits to make sure there aren't any glitches in the operation. The mobile suit pilots weren't the only ones who were gearing up for the fight of their lives. Several planes were in the hangar as well, as workers scattered to re-arm and re-fuel them. The tanks that were in limited supply, were already prepared, as all the tanks required two to work. The Type-61 Tank brought the Federation this far in the war, considering they managed a stalemate rather than complete annihilation due to the varsity of the Zeon Zaku.

Within the GM [G], Satoru resided. His arms were folded across his torso as his helmet was upon the control console. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't sleeping. He was just waiting for that one signal for him to move off. After a moment, a radio transmission blared into the GM [G]'s tight space. This seemed to break Satoru out of any bounds he had from the living world.

"Ensign Hakiteki, start up the GM Ground Type. The suits will move out into the northern swamp, and through there to the forest. Do I need to brief you further?" A soldier advised to the young pilot.

"No thanks. ." Satoru said, declining the worker's attempt of help.

"Very well. Good luck."

"Yeah. . You too." Satoru pressed a button on the control console with some hesitation. Possibly to push the right one. Suddenly, the darkness in the GM [G] ceased, as screens within the cockpit flickered with static for a moment. After that, a clear view went into play, basically a complete view 180 degrees around him, and a small camera over head for a rear view. A mobile suit is the least defended on the rear, and a direct hit could destroy any mobile suit from the back. It could even moderately damage Gundam, but not enough to be noticed. It was a pity that the mass production models couldn't have the same power as Gundam, but the cost would be too high for such. The view in the cockpit related to the view of the head of the mobile suit, as if you were looking through it with your own vision. However, the cockpit was in the torso, so it would be crucial for defense to the cockpit.

Satoru pressed another button, which triggered the computer to display several options. He grasped the two levers on opposite sides firmly. These controlled the mobile suit. It was very complicated, which made it important that only military occupants could pilot mobile suits. There were pedals that Satoru kept his foot rested upon, which controlled the thrusters as if it were a car. It was virtually impossible to explain how to properly pilot a mobile suit in an instant, so it would be difficult to explain. He pressed on the pedal lightly, which in turn, manipulated the GM [G] to raise it's foot a little bit, and step down, causing a minor quake to anybody who was near. Across from the GM [G], Satoru could see to his left, the Guncannon MPT, the Guntank MPT, and the Gundam [G] start up simultaneously. Before Satoru was fully in grasp with the world around him, trying to rid himself of his nervousness, he got a transmission from Senra. At the same moment, he could see the Guntank roll outwards a little bit. The massive cannons were holstered on shoulders, as the arms were positioned for battle. The Guntank seemed more like a normal tank given the gun arms that were used for machine gun fire, and the caterpillar-driven legs. The cockpit was directly within the small head between the cannons, which made up all of the Guntank.

"Satoru, are you still nervous?" Senra said. It took a moment for Satoru to answer, since the truth was, Satoru was pretty nervous.

"Well. . There's nothing I can do at this point. ." Satoru said, and then Amelia interrupted the transmission, as her portrait also was displayed within the screen of the GM [G].

"Please cut the chatter. We are about to move out. ." The woman said firmly, in a tone that none of the pilots were accustomed to. Then Avery's portrait manifested itself.

"I say we just get this over with and done. ." Avery said.

"Yes. . I do too. Team's A and B, move out!" Amelia yelled. The cargo bay door folded outwards, which triggered a huge gust of wind to follow through. All Satoru could see was the rapidly moving marsh ground. The Bulldog came to a halt from it's trek, as the door folded out as far as it could. Amelia's Gundam [G] moved forward, as the myriad of workers flocked out of the way. Satoru could only see several specks move out of harm's way from the giants. The Guncannon motioned with it's hand to proceed, as it was beckoning the squadron to move. Aside from the cannons, the Guncannon was armed with not one, but two 100 MM Machine guns. Not a good choice for long range, but just incase an enemy in closed, the twin machine guns would shred the enemy. The Guncannon's crimson frame shimmered as soon as the light from the cargo bay didn't hit the dark side of the Guncannon. It was night time, even though it was just eight o'clock.

And there, the squadron's trek began. Simultaneously, all four of the mobile suits exited the Big Tray through the cargo door. After stepping on the ramp, Satoru looked around at the scenery, basically day dreaming off about what would happen if he made a mistake. Amelia's unusually sharp tone jarred his memory.

"Ensign Hakiteki, don't fall behind. Davies, go on. We will proceed once you've given confirmation of Zeon activity. If so, the Bulldog will move and give support fire. Scout everywhere, got that?" Amelia directed.

"Yes ma'am." Avery obeyed as the GM [G] and the Guncannon MPT set off. Already, they could see the different in the land considering the soil here was extremely soft and murky. The Bulldog directed it's cannons forward, as tanks began to pour out of the cargo bay. Satoru manipulated his mobile suit with extra caution forward, switching between his sonar, thermal, and Minvosky Radar to make sure they weren't walking into a trap. The Minvosky Particles were broadcasted, which should give them protection from any planes passing by.

"And now, hell starts. ." Satoru said, leaving off a cryptic message.

****

"Okay. . Men, lets go. ." The way that Virocana commanded was anything but usual.

"Yes ma'am!" Both of the Dom pilots said simultaneously. Virocana said her words barley above the tone of a whisper, as the varied scattered amount of lights glistened within the miniscule cockpit of the Stealth Dom. The Stealth Dom, among with the duo of other Doms that served as the protector for the stealth model, stood upward from their previously kneeling position. A foot came downward, as a thick stream of exhaust emitted beneath the foot from the Zeon mobile suits. As their free fingers took a moment to move around, activating the joints, the crimson mono-optical system resonated, wildly flickering throughout all of the slots that it could go. The coloration of the Stealth Dom was different from the trademark crimson, as it was dark azure, possibly for advanced sensor assistance. Virocana's Stealth Dom beckoned the other two with it's free hand, as the beam rifle was holstered in a downward position. A back draft of wind ensued when the trio of Doms boosted off wards into the distance at unfathomable speeds without manning the rocket thrusters.

As soon as the squad was in a reasonable amount of distance from the small Zeon settlement, a radio transmission opened itself to the Dom's communication channels. A portrait of a well dressed Zeon soldier was presented, along with General Jackson in the background, giving somebody some instructions. It appeared to be within one of the Gaw attack carriers. Virocana was going to ask something at the sight of seeing Jackson before the pilot of the Gaw spoke, but Jackson swiftly maneuvered off screen, and Virocana let out a deep sigh on instinct.

"Commander Vivian, what's wrong?" The Gaw Pilot asked

"No. . Nothing's wrong. What did you want?"

"General Jackson just informed us that the 2 Gaws will move ahead first. Once you reach the forest and swampland, fall back until the Gaws swoop overhead. We will have to confirm if the enemy's in there in the first place."

"Very well." The communication with Virocana ceased. As the communication ceased, Jackson started to become absorbed in his own thoughts. .

It's a pity I have to use my trained pilots as decoys. . Without telling them even, but I have no choice. . Those thoughts rang through Jackson's mind. The Dom squad traveled into the black yonder, as the scene shifts back to the Kiev establishment. There, is Lisa fully dressed in her piloting uniform, making her way to one of the Gaws. She was drowning in her own anger and her own affairs until a soldier managed to save her from mental drought, or at least force her out of any train of thought she was indulging herself in.

"Ensign Maes, your Zaku has been loaded. ." A random worker said, addressing Lisa of the status.

"Good. . That's good. ." The woman said in a sly, and unintentionally seductive manner.

"We're about to take off now, you'd better get on board before the General yells at you. ."

"General? Eh. . He's the least of my worries. ."

"Huh?" The worker didn't receive an answer, as he shrugged and returned back to his work. Lisa was simply tripping over her own thoughts. Her own jealously. How it seemed she was being replaced by Virocana in Apollo's eyes, and that of the 13th Battalion. .

She hated it.

She wanted to make Virocana pay dearly. .

But not something too trivial. . Something that would effect her life, and put Virocana into infinite shame. .

That's it. . I'll humiliate her in defeat. . Hah! That's what I'll do! With Virocana gone. . Apollo won't think any more that I'm an invalid, just because I'm not a newtype. . That's what I'll show him!! Lisa gave a chuckle not of humor. .

But more of insanity. . .

****

Tolen was impatiently tapping the arm of the metallic chair that he was currently resting within in a sign of impatience, as all he could see, where his various crew members at work, the sound of beeping that could get on anybody's nerves who really has never trained to prepare for the situation, and the endless vast of greenery out through the massive display windows of the bridge. . He heard endless amount of banter, and the clicking of keyboards being mashed upon with their fingers. He yawned, showing a symptom of physical fatigue. However. . There was a loud bleep coming from the corner of his ears. .

"Captain Tolen!" A male crew member shouted.

"What is it?" Tolen's voice was pretty seldom and sober, giving off the personification that he was either tired, or he didn't care much about the current situation at hand. Tolen ceased the beating of the chair arm and sat upward, slightly slouching over as he was awaking what the crew member was about to state. . He just hoped it wasn't anything sort of bad news. .

"I think. . I've picked up two massive structures on radar. . Wait. ." The crew member displayed some frantic typing, as some encoded messages appeared across the small display. Along side of that, minimized, was a radar display, as there was two massive objects on the radar. The radar seemed to be a new founded Minvosky Radar, even though it was oddly similar to sonar radars that were used in the Old Timeline. Tolen sat up from his slouching position grunting a little as he forced his muscles to give him the ability to sit slightly upwards, giving off a puzzled look at the crew member.

"What do you mean. . "Massive Structures"?" Tolen asked. Already, he was preparing for the worst.

"I've gotten confirmation from the other Big Tray units in the 4th Division. They've detected it as well. ."

"Great. ." Tolen stood up off of the chair, as he fell a pretty insignificant flight to the floor, considering the chair was raised upwards. He could hear the mass array of beeping adulate even louder with him off from the center of the bridge. He stepped towards the crew member, clutching onto the soft material of the chair that the crew member was seated within to give Tolen some standing support. Tolen peered over the crew member's shoulder, also witnessing and identifying the large structures detected on radar. Unlike the crew member, Tolen identified the shapes without much difficulty. . "Those are Zeon Gaws. ."

"The Zeon? Have they detected us?" The crew member said surprisingly.

"They couldn't have. . Not until we've reached the border. . They're probably going to scout the area. ."

"Should we give the mobile suit squadron orders to attack?"

"No!" The Captain's yell came completely on instinct. The crew member jumped in surprise of Tolen's sudden raise of tone.

"This is our advantage. . If we let them pass, we can get through the area without fighting. ."

"Then we should tell Team A to not advance any further, right?"

"Yes. . That would be the best course of action. . Leon, contact them."

"Yes sir. ." The communication operator named Leon started to 'button mash' on the keyboard in front of him once more. Tolen just witnessed several displays on the monitor that the Captain pretty much knew, such as phonics for the military. Leon reached to a microphone on the side of the monitor, as he spoke into it, trying to establish a clear transmission with the pilots. .

"All mobile suit pilots, report in. ." Static filled the channel. . Leon switched to a closer one, and attempted again. Tolen leaned backwards, folding his arms across his torso, just waiting in patience, or attempting to not be worried about things. . "Damn it. . Commander Amelia, please report. . . . "All teams, report in!"

"Interference? Or. ."

"They're jamming us. ." Leon said. Tolen sighed at the unfortunate turn of events. .

"Man. . These Zeon. . They must not want to lose Odessa. . Well, hopefully, the teams will be able to manage on their own. ." Tolen looked to Leon's workstation curiously as an encoded transmission formatted itself onto the display screen of Leon's monitor. . Leon just indulged himself silently by reading over the message. . Tolen also read it, and after that, he simply had to let out a sigh of utter disgust. .

"The Big Tray-Class Rivaway is going to set up a portable long range beam cannon. They've gotten permission. ." Leon said. Tolen immediately interrupted, as the sudden tone of hostility and annoyance in his voice triggered Leon to jolt in his seat slightly, accompanied by the remainder of the crew within the bridge from their sudden setback. Tolen was certainly not the one to get angry automatically unless it was for a good cause, which hinted the exigency of the situation impending.

"No! Call them back! Don't they get it? If we play this by ear, we can avoid any sort of combat!" Upon the command, Leon nodded, and did exactly what his superior beckoned. He attempted to set up a communication link with the ones who contacted their ship recently. Tracking through record numbers, Leon managed to set a direct link. Tolen firmly rubbed his mustache, baring indications of old age by the minimal yet noticeable amounts of gray hair scattered amongst black lashes. Tolen put his hands among his sides as an image generated itself on the long screen. It was another aged man, possibly older than Tolen was. With Tolen's reflexes, and possibly by habit, he saluted the man. The man just hinted a smug look of ignorance to Tolen's way. When the man talked, his voice seemed dry, as if he was smoking or taking in any tobacco, or any other substance.

"Captain Tolen reporting, sir!" From the older man's look of disapproval upon Tolen, and by the amount of badges he was wearing, he certainly must have been of very high decent among the ranks. The man just sighed at Tolen's "introduction".

"My God. . What do you want? You've gotten your orders. ." The Colonel said in a tone of pure annoyance.

"I apologize sir. . I just need to ask, why do you intend on using the portable beam cannon?" Tolen asked, no. Demanded.

"To blow those filthy Zeeks out of the air! What's it to you?" Upon the Colonel saying this, Tolen just sighed, attempting to take this as peacefully as possible.

"Might I give a suggestion sir?" The Colonel just sighed. From the way the Colonel was acting to Tolen, it would seem like there was some sort of rivalry between them. . Or perhaps it seemed that Tolen wanted to give better tactics than the Colonel so that a Captain could get resignation for battle tactics surpassing that of a higher ranking Colonel. So the Colonel probably found Tolen a threat to his position. They've met before, and the Colonel disproved anything that Tolen did. However in this case. . It might have been advantageous to allow Tolen to speak. If anything, the Colonel could just steal Tolen's idea and use it for his own purposes to get at the General rank.

"Fine. Make it quick. Revil won't wait for us to get beyond this escapade. ."

"Fine sir. . It's obvious that the Gaws are scouting overhead to make sure that there isn't Federation forces here. There's a swamp near by, so I think we should use it to our advantage. ."

"Really. . Great idea. . I mean, there's always a possibility we can hide the entire 4th Division. ." The Colonel said sarcastically.

"If we work fast enough, we can hide them in the swamp. That will bide us a little bit more time. Border affairs isn't our main goal, when we reach Odessa, that's where the real battle will begin." A slight chuckle escaped the Colonel's lips.

"Fine. I'll comply. I'll order the 4th to lay low within the swamp lands while the Gaws pass. Then we'll move forward. What about your mobile suit squadron?"

"We've already deployed our mobile suits. . Your suits are to be deployed at Odessa unless ours are destroyed, correct?"

"Yes. . Now, get to it. I'll comply with your suggestion."

"Yes sir, and sir, thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. ." Over to the Colonel's Big Tray, the link between the Rivaway and the Bulldog ceased. One of the Colonel's subordinates approached him, sitting on the bridge commander's standard metallic chair, with his hands positioned upwards, and his fingers overlapping each other. He smiled at the thought of what his next course of action will be.

"What should we do, Colonel?" A crew member asked.

"Continue normal plans. Prepare the beam cannon, and tell all forces to proceed once the shots have fired."

"How many shots?"

". . . As many as it takes to have those murders running scared. Fire at their ugly mobile suits too if you have the chance. ." The Colonel's personal bias against the Zeon presented itself.

"Yes sir. ."

****

At the leading Big Tray, the Rivaway , several scattered sets of workers were at work to complete their latest inversion. A massive turret tray was positioned on top of the left wing among the triple barreled cannon. There, several sets of wires were connected to a massive base, leading to various ports within the Big Tray itself. Workers were testing many things among the beam cannon, such as the vents that was positioned in several places among the base. The barrel of the beam cannon was enormous, and very long. Workers were testing power readings, which resulted in the beam cannon generating a light blue, electric charge at the tip of the cannon.

The method on how the beam cannon was controlled, was in the fate of a single soldier, mounting the "cockpit" of the beam cannon. The soldier was hand picked by the Colonel, probably due to his resume of the field position of sniper, before the Federation felt the emergency to deploy all of the mobile suits it had to make sure that they weren't completely overrun by the Zeon. If one would think about it, being a sniper, and shooting the beam cannon wasn't that much different in itself. Along the barrel, was several cylinders aligned amongst the cannon. Soldiers were hard at work to force the bottom cylinders from an upright position, to a slightly downward position. These were probably the locks that opened and closed the cannon to fire, for safety procedures. As the shadowy figures of the two Gaws drew closer, confirmation was made as the cannon was positioned upwards, aligned with one of the Gaws.

"We have confirmation. . The target will cross the line of fire in two minutes. ." Within the cockpit of the cannon, was an extremely claustrophobic space. There were wires about, and a single computer display in front of him, giving a complete 180 view in front of him. There was a crimson cross hair, which was positioned a little bit in front of the Gaw, so the Gaw could fly into the target, and not have to chase it down. The pilot was an expert, due to his touch upon the single joystick at his right hand. His eyes were focused on a scope, which gave a more improved view of vision and precision on the target. The pilot spoke with the tone of an expert: calm and observing.

"Another easy kill. ." He directed the joystick slightly to the left, as he could feel the pressure from the entire structure shifting. The pilot smirked, as simultaneously, he pressed a switch among the stick. He also pressed a few buttons on the small console as well. The workers began to clear out of the area once the preparations were finished as a collection of bright, blue particles began to form at the tip of the cannon, emitting an electric-like pulse. .

****

"That's definitely a Zeon aircraft. ." Amelia said, peering up into the sky. The Gundam's emerald eyes lit up when it focused onto the object.

"Should we attack it? We have the fire power." Senra asked, pointing the Guntank's cannons upward.

"No. . We haven't gotten any orders yet. I think we should hide until we do get orders. ." The Gundam [G] and the Guntank made a slow decent from the hill they were perched upon. They wanted to avoid using the rocket thrusters, because the light given off from the thrusters in the darkness would no doubt give away their presence. As soon as the two were near the swamp's beginning, Amelia attempted to establish a contact with her other team.

"Ensign Davies, Ensign Hakiteki, come in. ." Amelia squinted in pain as the only response she got was the high pitched sound of various jumbled noises, and static. "I can't reach them. . They must be half-way through the swamp by now. ."

"Are the other units moving?"

"I'm not sure. . My radar is out. ."

"Yeah. . Mine too. ." Amelia's Gundam [G] came to a halt, as she witnessed the murky substance graduate even further. "We'll wait here. ."

Cutting to Satoru and Avery, both were making their way through the swamps. The two mobile suits had a difficult time getting through the thick waters, as it proved a formidable challenge for their gears to work against the thick water. Both of the mobile suit's heads continued to wander from right to left, keeping an update on their surroundings. Satoru sighed within the cockpit, getting bored on instinct, even though he wasn't too eager to get into a war anyway. Avery was just calm, readying the Guncannon's armaments for any situation it was needed in.

"My God. . This would be the perfect place for hiding Zakus. ." Satoru said.

"IF they didn't have as much trouble moving around as we do. ." Avery complained.

"Man I hate this walking. . Let's just get this over with. ." Within the cockpit, Satoru pushed one of the control levers forward. This in turn, manipulated the GM [G] into performing a boost due to the rocket thrusters. Bright blue tiers emitted themselves from the rockets mounted on the backpack of the GM [G]. The speed within the water was gradually increased, as the GM [G] surpassed the bulky form of the Guncannon. Avery just sighed, as thick water splashed on his cockpit. Avery however, continued to walk among the water. Once finding a patch of land, Satoru stopped his mobile suit upon it, searching around once more, hoping his impatient action didn't attract attention.

"Hey Avery. . Hurry up. ." Satoru said, attempting to hasten Avery's movements through taunting him.

"What's the rush? Amelia will scold us if we get too far ahead. ."

"Amelia doesn't know the mea-" Satoru trailed off in mid-sentence as he saw something from the corner of his eye. It was a red marker displayed on his radar. He looked in the same direction portrayed on the radar, and he saw nothing. . He couldn't determine how far the target was, but he started to get concerned. . "Did you see that just now? That flicker on the radar?"

"No. . I was too busy trying to catch you. . What did it read?" Avery struggled to get on the land that Satoru was on, but eventually, he did so. .

"Definitely a mobile suit. . But it just. . Disappeared. ." Satoru couldn't find any better words to describe the situation.

"A mobile suit? Where?"

"To my north. . Or to the south. I didn't catch how far it was. ."

"Did you see the model number?"

"I barely saw it. . It said," Satoru took a moment to collect his memory, and two to fluctuate it with utmost verbal precision to Avery.

"What? Get on with it. ." Avery said impatiently.

"I think it said something "09"."

"Hmm. . I don't know that number, but I think we should head out of the swamp to meet Amelia."

"Yeah. . Let's do that. ." Satoru turned his mobile suit in the opposite direction, and so did Avery. . However, as they took once step, they heard an ear-piercing shot, even through the cockpit of the mobile suit. . It was extremely loud, louder than shots that come from immense battleships. In fact, they both heard two of these sounds. They looked around for the source. . Then, looking up, they saw two, bright blue beams of light, shooting off into the sky, with an explosion of something following. . The beams traveled into space, illuminating the night sky with their brightness. In the distance, the pilots could see a crimson light, formatting over the horizon. .

****

Scattered amount of debris was falling onto the Earth's crust in hard decent, immediately at the time that the beam cannon's fire pierced through the Gaw's wing at first, unbalancing the aircraft, as the shot immediately after, struck directly through the cockpit of the aircraft. It was a pity that the pilots didn't even have a prayer, or a hope of surviving. The Gaw tilted a little bit, as the hit wing fell downwards, accompanied by flames and scattered amounts of debris with it. One could also see the amounts of speck-like humans falling from the captivity of the Gaw. To the pilot who fired, it was another number to him, even though these were human lives he was affecting. The 4th Battalion came to action as soon as the first shot was fired, let alone the second. .

The fortunate thing about the quick loss, was that the cargo hold wasn't hit, however, a chain of explosions tore the cargo hold apart. . The Gaw's nose went down, as the ship was breaking apart at unfathomable speeds due to the numerous chain reactions. The other Gaw, was turning around, firing any cannons it could at it's downside at the enemy. The Big Tray's and other ground units below also did their counterattack. A flurry of machine-gun fire, and projectile shells could be sighed clearly in the night, as well as the sounds of war. That consisted of loud gunfire, and explosions. Something that was out of the ordinary, was something among the debris. The pilot of the beam cannon gave a puzzled look as he saw 3, near mint condition Zakus, riding the debris down to the surface. .

Ensign Maes was among one of the Zaku pilots, fighting for their life with whatever advantages they could muster. She felt rather confident, as she prepared the Zaku's weapon while falling among a large piece of debris, which used to be a part of the central hull. The force and pressure on her body was astronomic, as somebody not used to the heat of battle, would probably pass out from the pressure alone. Stray shots hit the debris several times, but this wasn't of a concern to Lisa, as to her own preference, she really couldn't die. . Not until she's extracted some sort of superiority over Virocana, who was probably witnessing the battle while this was going on. .

"Ha. . Really good plan Ensign Maes. . This is truly a plan!" A grunt Zaku pilot said. From the tone of his voice, adrenaline was taking over his mind.

"Don't worry about it. . These Feddies are just pushovers. . We can't die due to a little pea-shooter." And Lisa just stayed calm. It was just another mission to her. . She's been piloting mobile suits since the beginning of the war.

"You're right. . We have the Zaku, we can't lose!" The grunt said excitedly.

Cutting to the Bulldog , the ship was under heavy fire from the Gaw above. It was the closest Big Tray to the twin Gaws, which was something that the Colonel probably planned. The bridge was in chaos, as every possible worker was doing their job to the full capability they could. The Bulldog hit reverse, as the triple barrel cannons were doing their best to return counter fire to the airborne enemy.

Tolen was sitting in his chair, just silently witnessing the events taking place. He could hear the scattered sounds of gunfire, and the excited cries of his fellow crew members. . Tolen's anger was silently rising as he slammed his fist into the metallic arm of the chair. The bang carried through the bridge, as some members slightly looked back at him, as something was wrong with him.

"Damn him! He was planning this all along. ." Tolen said to himself. A purple haired female crew member looked up to him.

"Planning what?" The woman asked.

"Never mind, Noyr. . The Colonel, wanted us to get out this far. . Just so we would attract the fire."

"Do you think that we can withstand them?" Noyr was the director, or the "pilot" of the Big Tray. It was a little bit different from a battleship, as a majority of the steering system was computer controlled.

"If luck's on our side. . Which it isn't. Steer the Bulldog back. Is the channel with the mobile suits still blocked?" Tolen asked.

"There's too much interference. . I can't raise them."

"Great. . This mission is turning worse already. ." Tolen said silently. Back to the battle ahead, Amelia and Senra were attempting to get a grip on the situation in front of them, as they were firing upon the debris shielding the falling Zakus. Both could feel the heat of battle directly, as the 100mm Machine gun the Gundam [G] was armed with managed to vibrate the mobile suit Amelia was in, however, she was mainly concentrating on hitting the Zakus before they landed. For Senra, the Guntank fired twin, powerful shells in the air every second, as he too, was focusing on the matter at hand.

Back to Lisa's positioned, she saw some fire below her. She muttered indiscriminately as she forced one of the joysticks of the Zaku to the right. An additional force vaulted the Zaku to the right, narrowly avoiding a high powered shell from the Guntank, that would have shredded her mobile suit the same as it did that piece of debris. The squadron of three Zakus hit the ground hand, as the abrupt landing jolted Lisa hard. She felt a force in her stomach, as she felt like throwing up at this point. The debris also came to a hard landing upon the crust. It would have shredded anything it came in contact with, given it's high speeds, even Zakus. However, these were teams of aces, as they flawlessly skated along the ground, avoiding each and every piece of shrapnel as it fell.

"What the. . What's that?" The Zaku pilot said, and then Lisa looked forward. There, she witnessed two mobile suits. Those were the Gundam [G] and the Guntank, but Lisa didn't know that. All she knew, was the robust and irregular designs the two mobile suits shared. She looked at the Gundam, and no rush of fear conquered her body.

Ah. A Gundam-look alike. . Probably can't even perform as good as the real thing. She looked at the tank, and laughed at the thought of the Federation producing something of that caliber. . "Hah! The Feddies are riots! Making suits like that. ." Lisa said as an attempt to make the situation easier than it really seems.

"I'm not sure about that Gundam though. ." The two mobile suits opened fire, as once again, they dodged with excellent precision. Senra was having a very difficult time to keep up with the much faster mobile suits, but Amelia's Gundam [G] could match up to the maneuverability of the Zeon suits, and even surpass it by gracefully dodging their fire. Each shot the Guntank fired, trailed off in the distance, hitting a stray object like a tree, automatically piercing through it, tearing it to mere fragments of splinters. The Guntank wheeled itself a little bit to the right, matching the same strafting as the Zakus were. Senra pushed a button among his lever, and another shock emitted from the Guntank, as it released another shell. . However, this time, it managed to cleave off one of the Zaku's arms. The pilot of the Zaku eyed the arm-less appendage with surprise filled within his eyes.

"What the. . That shot. . Took the Zaku's arm straight off. ." The Zaku pilot said, nearly rendered speechless from the enemy mobile suit's power.

"These little bastardizations. ." Lisa trailed off as yet another shot fired from the beam cannon, piercing the second Gaw dead on. A second shot from the beam rifle wasn't needed, as the Gaw diverted off course in it's crash procedure. . It was of a lucky thing, that the other mobile suits onboard the Gaw, did the same technique, obviously to attack the beam cannon itself. .

"And we lost another one. ." Lisa said. . She wasn't concerned about the soldier's life, but more focused on the fact that she's going to have to work even harder.

"Hey. . Virocana is closing in now. She's at the swampland." The grunt addressed.

"Ugh. . Why didn't she just die on the way. . Take these things out!" Lisa pulled out a heat hawk from the back of the Zaku, as it boosted forward in desperation. And there, the beginning of a battle was commencing.

****

Satoru observed the events taking place before him in mute horror, as he was obviously at loss for words. Avery also watched the fierce battle in the background intensify. Satoru felt a rush, so to speak, flowing through his body. It was nostalgic, yet a sickening feeling, as his head collapsed into his right hand. He grunted softly, as the sick feeling portrayed his consciousness once more. It was like, several beings were piercing away his body to mere flesh and bone with the most crafty objects, and the slowest, most horrific techniques known. A cold sweat ran down his forehead, as he looked forward, to where the battle was. . After hearing another explosion, Satoru's soul seemed to "lock", putting itself into another reality, apart from the real one. . As soon as a gasp escaped his lips, he fell forward. It was a sure thing that the seat belts caught him, but as soon as he was jolted back to the seat, he remembered when he first experienced the feeling. . Back on Guru 10.

Satoru attempted to pull himself together, even though the sickness haunted it's way through his entire figure and more some. He pulled a lever of the control scheme up, as the GM [G] slightly positioned itself upwards. Satoru was broken from his daze, by a communication link by Avery.

"What's going on?" Satoru asked, attempting to pull himself back together.

"I'm not sure. ." Avery's tone was calm, as if he was familiar to the situation. The Guncannon turned away from Satoru, pointing to the distance of the battle with one of it's machine-guns, as a signal for it to follow. "We should go back. . Just incase they need help." Avery stepped on the pedal of the control scheme, and the Guncannon walked forward, however, Avery was launched forward in his seat. He looked down through the display, to see the GM [G]'s arm, complete with a fully loaded machine gun prevent the mobile suit from advancing any further. .

"Wait. ." Satoru interrupted.

"What are you-"

"Shut up. ." Satoru closed his eyes. He felt a tremor, so to speak. Aside from all of the scattered amount of senses from the battle, he felt something not to far in. He tried to concentrate all of his senses to one point. . He didn't know how he was going to do it, considering a mobile suit doesn't implicate sounds through the cockpit very well, but he knew that he heard something. . It would be useless to ask Avery if he heard it as well, as he already knew the answer. .

His eyes darted to his right. . There was nothing there. .

Then to the left. . Nothing there as well. .

However, before he could dismiss the feeling as something that his mind created up to fool him, he definitely heard something stop not too far behind him. He looked down on his radar, and there indicated three readings. He quickly forced his mobile suit to a complete turn to the rear, as he pushed forward on one of the levers to help the mobile suit thrust, to turn quicker. Avery just looked at the fluid motion occurring, not sure of what was happening. The last thing Satoru sighted, was the sound of something firing. . There was an additional sense to this. . Like something was helping him. He couldn't control it, but he hit the switch that operated the firing system. Automatically, the GM [G] pulled the trigger of the machine gun, and several high speed rounds emitted from the gun. It seemed to hit nothing but air, but there was an incoming projectile heading right towards him, and one of the shots managed to hit the projectile, promptly detonating it. .

The smoke immediately cleared, and Satoru got the sight of three figures he'd never seen before. Avery also turned around, loading his weapon on instinct, and pointing it to the source of the invaders. There, he saw three mobile suits of thick design. Their mono-optical system hinted that they were of Zeon origin. The suits were black, with a really dark shade of purple. Two of them, had massive bazookas, which were holstered over their shoulders. The one who fired, had the bazooka pointed upward, never deviating off from the unknown Federation mobile suits for a second. A lead figure he saw, was much more skinny than the other two bulky suits. However, it had a weapon that neither Satoru or Avery could identify. . Satoru looked down at the radar, and positioned his crosshair upon one of the figures. . For a second, they clearly were labeled "UNKNOWN", until the blimp flickered, and then a positive name came up. .

"MS-09 DOM".

"Dom"? What is that. .?" Satoru asked, eyeing the foreign mobile suits in a curious manner.

"Not sure. . However, they don't look like they can move much. ." Avery said. Over to the Dom squad, one of the Dom pilots lowered his bazooka. Virocana in her stealth Dom, just observed, trying to take in what she was seeing before her. .

"Not bad. . Not bad. . Shot my shot in mid air. . At least I know that they're training these kids. ." The first Dom pilot said.

"What is this? These were never factored into the equation. ." Virocana said, unable to identify either of the enemy mobile suits.

"Commander Vivian, I think they're Federation mobile suits. ." The second Dom pilot replied.

"Right. . They do kinda look like the White One. . But look at the peashooters these things have." The first Dom pilot said.

"But. . We do not know of their full capability." Virocana said softly, still unsure what to make of the situation.

"Eh. . Who cares about specs. . A grunt suit is no match for our Doms. Ma'am, you go on ahead. . We haven't had any fun in a long time. ." The first pilot said.

"I won't allow myself to. I'll fight along side of you. . I was given orders to secure the safety of this unit. . I won't allow the trust in me to be violated." The woman said in a firm manner.

"Trust to be violated", huh? Don't sweat yourself. Just wait here, we'll be done shortly." The second pilot said.

"Yeah. . I think this is the beginning of a very good relationship, and a team. Let's have a little fun with these Gundam-wannabes!" The two Doms advanced forward, as to Satoru and Avery's surprised, they seemed to surf along the ground, instead of walk, which means that they're at a disadvantage with their bipedal mobile suits in such thick, swamp water. They could see the Stealth Dom with Virocana move slightly backwards, just observing the fight impending.

"Oh man. . These things are fast!" Avery yelled.

"Think we can win?" Satoru asked.

"We can always try!" The backpacks of the two Federation mobile suits kicked into life, as the juggernauts were vaulted airborne at insanely high speeds. The two Doms seemed to deviate from each other, each taking their separate pick for targets. Satoru and Avery's suits landed on the soft soil which would possibly help them in battle. The Doms crossed over the thick swamp water, clearing through it as if it was of no obstacle to them. Satoru manipulated his GM [G] to strafe to the right, as the G forces seemed to hurl his body in the opposite direction. He pressed the firing switch, and then, another volley of fire was rained upon the enemy Dom. .

The Dom froze for a second, being caught in the fire, but Satoru stopped firing, when he realized that the bullets had little effect on the armor. The Dom raised it's bazooka, and strafed along the opposite side of the GM [G]. The firing device of the bazooka shifted slightly, and yet another shot was fired. The massive projective traveled at fast velocity, as Satoru raised the GM [G]'s left arm, as it was armed with a small shield. The GM [G] was rocked back, as the bazooka shot managed to destroy half of the shield with one, accurate shot. Satoru grunted in frustration as the sight of the left arm slightly damaged by shrapnel.)

"Damn! I'll get you!" Satoru attempted to get in close range, but the Dom would simply not allow such, as it fired bazooka rounds whenever Satoru tried to get close, even more frantically than usual. Virocana was observing the fight, keeping a rather skeptical look on their fighting tactics. .

"I don't get it. . They could have dodged all these attacks. ." Virocana thought to herself. . This is the separation, I suppose. . This is the boundary. . Those thoughts rang through her mind as she witnessed the fight. Resuming the fight, Satoru was having his own difficulty trying to shoot down the enemy Dom. . Even though to the Dom pilot's eyes, Satoru was a pretty tough pilot to bring down, even though Satoru had a lack of experience. . Things over at Avery's end, were going the same way. . Avery manipulated his Guncannon almost flawlessly (Even due to the danger), which meant that whenever the enemy Dom fired a bazooka round, Avery dodged it. . Avery smiled when he dodged one bazooka shot, as it trailed off and hit a myriad of slumping trees in the distance. . Smoke filled the air, ultimately blowing through the Guncannon's figure. The head lifted upwards, and the dual cannons upon the Guncannon's back shot to life.

"Is that all you got?! The Guncannon is more powerful than you think!" Avery screamed in his moment of excitement.

"You little fly!" The second Dom pilot pulled back on one of the joysticks, as the Dom reacted by thrusting backwards. It's bazooka rose once more, as it seemed like the speed of the Dom's movement was increasing. A light blue thrust formatted under the Dom's backpack, however, positioned at the side, it provided the Dom additional power. The pilot was getting even more annoyed, as the Dom raised it's bazooka once more, and fired yet another shot. Another miss, as the bulky humanoid form vaulted into the air immediately before the shot hit. The Dom pilot looked upwards, loosing his sight of direction. "Lost him!"

The pilot only had one more shot in his bazooka before reloading, and he fired it into the sky, at what seemed like to be a shadow of the Guncannon. The projectile exploded on a tree, bringing a massive fragment of it down, however, he could see the azure visor of Avery's mobile suit move along with it, giving off a bright signal. The Dom pilot cursed on his ill luck, and moved his Dom behind a collection of trees within murky waters. . The thermo thrusters beneath the Dom's feet ceased to function, as the Dom slipped in the water, probably trying to evade any fire. All the pilot could hear was the gunfire from the distance, the fighting between his comrade, and the occasional boost from the Guncannon landing somewhere. The pilot could hear the hydraulics, but could not detect the source. . The Dom reached into a pack among it's leg, and started to reload the bazooka, as it's mono eye pivoted around every second to keep a look out. .

"Where is that thing. ." The Dom's radar gave a negative result. . The pilot was waiting in anticipation for the cowardly enemy to show himself once more. . Once the last round was about to be loaded, the Dom rocked violently. It was being fired upon by a barrage of chain gun fire from it's side. The pilot looked around, as his radar didn't detect the mobile suit. . Then, the pilot looked directly forward into some shrubbery. . There he saw a camouflaged figure. . But the massive twin cannons sticking out of the bushes gave it away. . And there, the Dom pilot was forced into mute horror. .

His trigger finger slipped, and the crosshair deviated slightly off. . One of the bazooka rounds fired, but missed. . Immediately after the confirmed miss, the Dom's thermo thrusters attempted to restore themselves once more, but both of the Guncannon's cannons shifted, vibrated, and then fired two high speed shots. The shots seemed to inflict a direct hit upon the Zeon mobile suit, and Dom's pilot was rocked back and forth, and quickly surveyed his mobile suit for a damage report. . The left arm was taken off completely, with the result of a hole where the shell cleaved directly through.

"Too bad. . I'm no rookie!"

"****!" The Dom attempted to move away from the attack, but a second shot ensured. . This shot pierced directly through the waist of the Dom, severing a majority of the circuits for it's right leg. . The Dom pilot was greeted with another forceful landing as the Dom violently fell into the murky water, with it's right leg twitching uncontrollably. The Dom struggled to regain it's composure, but it continued to slump up against the incline. . The Guncannon approached the Dom with one of it's machine guns aimed. . The Dom attempted to fire a shot, but the position the Dom was in prevented it from getting a clean shot, as the Guncannon just side stepped every shot the Dom fired. . Virocana on the other hand, was getting rather concerned about this. . Sure, she promised she wouldn't intervene, but somebody of her squadron was about to die. .

No. . He'll make it out okay. . Virocana tried telling herself this. The Dom pilot was moving the joystick around franticly, even though every shot he committed, proved to be a failure. . The Guncannon was walking towards the Dom, possibly to mock the pilot. . The Dom was attempting to lift itself out of the water, and was nearly successful on doing so. The Guncannon kneeled down, as both of the machine guns met their mark. The Dom pilot expressed a deep sigh, before allowing his fingertips to leave the joysticks, and wander onto his lap. . The pilot looked downward, having an expression of regret, and failure. .

"Damn. . Who would have thought these new mobile suits would be this powerful. ." The machine guns focused on the cockpit, as the crosshairs aligned themselves onto the torso of the Dom, now baring a dark red coloration.

"Hmm. . I guess there was nothing to fear from these "Doms" after all. ." Immediately after the Guncannon had the Dom within it's sights, death was not far away. . From a counterattack from the Dom, the Dom fired one more bazooka shot. From the Guncannon's kneeling position, evasion would be impossible. The bazooka shot scored a direct hit on the Guncannon's shoulder pad, reducing it to a rain of shrapnel falling downwards onto the soft soil, clattering about the ground. The Guncannon stood, and aimed both of it's back cannons upon the Dom, as Avery grew weary of taunting his prey like this.

"Good. . But here's where it ends! G-" Avery was cut off. The transmission with his mobile suit hit into a dead static shock. Satoru ceased his movements elsewhere from the sound of some sort of weapon firing from across the battlefield. He turned his GM [G] around, and he was forced into mute horror. All of what he could see, was the Guncannon slump forward. From the distance he was at, he could see the clear hole through what was once the cockpit, which was molten at the sides. The mobile suit fell to it's knees, as it's eyes flickered on and off. With one more breath of life, electricity emitted from the Guncannon before disappearing in a bright, crimson flash.

Parts of the Guncannon flew everywhere. What was left of the mangled form was engulfed in the fire caused by the explosion. Satoru looked farther. The culprit was the Dom with the beam rifle. The damaged Dom was successfully lifting itself from the water, as both of the normal Dom's eyes trailed off, now glaring at Satoru's GM [G]. Besides the threat of double teaming, Satoru was forced into a quiet anger. Some sort of different presence was rising among Satoru's blood. His fist trembled, as he kept chanting something to himself. He remembered the times he's spent with Avery, as he was almost like his superior. There, a hardened veteran at battle, was taken down in a single shot from behind. He had no chance to move. .

Satoru slammed his fist on the control console, as now he had one more reason to hate the Zeon. . Automatically, the GM [G] went airborne, nearly defying all sort of logic. Satoru was spraying the ammo of the machine gun down upon any target he could muster like a mad man. The rage was going to his head, and he couldn't control it.

"You murderers. . You scum. . YOU MURDERERS!" Satoru screamed into the Dom channel. Both of the Dom pilots did not take him seriously though.

"Ah. . Look here. . This guy seems pretty angry. . We'll take care of this kid ma'am." The first Dom pilot said.

"Yeah. . Thanks for saving me though. ." The second one said, a little bit shaken due to the fact that he was nearly about to die. He thought that everything from here would be easy. Virocana was silent. She was observing Satoru's actions. The twin Doms were trying to circle in on Satoru, but his movements were so frantic and unpredictable, this would be impossible. One of the Doms fired off a bazooka shell, and as a response, Satoru manipulated his GM [G] into disappearing into the collection of trees in the background. Through the camouflaged position, he continued to fire off more machine gun shells. The shots inflicted damage onto the damaged Dom, as each shot dented the armor heavily, and with no left arm, it would be impossible for any sort of cover. .

"This fire is coming from everywhere!" The second pilot screamed. The first pilot was having a difficult time trying to obtain a lock. The GM [G] was not supposed to be pushed to limits such as these. It was too fast for the targeting computer, as the crosshairs flickered whenever it "thought" it had an affirmative lock, but then it took several seconds to track it, seconds that neither of the pilots had. Several bazooka shots were fired, but each of them hit a tree or some other obstacle in the background. Both were getting rather annoyed, as they could see the azure exhaust of the Federation mobile suit, but hitting it was something else. The Doms attempted to move forward, but a rain of machine gun fire changed their mind.

"Damn. . This guy is insane!" The Dom pilot fired one more bazooka round, and the result seemed to be positive. The pilot could see the visor of the GM [G] look towards the bazooka shell, and it failed to dodge. An explosion occurred, which was rather close. He could hear the "clang!" of machinery failing upon itself, and saw some shrapnel fly out from the explosion. The sound of the hydraulics of the GM [G] also ceased, giving off the impression that the target was dealt with. .

"We got him?" The second pilot asked.

"I don't think so. . The radar is acting crazy. I don't think the mobile suit is supposed to move that fast." The Dom pilot was referring to the various red blimps flickering upon his radar. . The second Dom pilot sighed, obviously having enough for one day. .

"I think we should just-" The Dom pilot was forced into a scream of surprise, as the head of the GM was all he saw to the right display. He franticly moved the joysticks up and down, as the result was the Dom moving wildly. The GM [G] had it's machine gun discarded, but another weapon was in hand. . It appeared to be a blade of absolute energy. An I-Field kept the energy in place. Before the Dom pilot could react, the beam saber graced upon the robust armor of the Zeon mobile suit. From the top, through the middle, the GM [G] brought the beam saber downwards. . The Dom vibrated wildly, as systems were forced into a state of emergency. The Dom attempted to fire a bazooka shot, but the shot went behind the GM [G], due to how close it was, and hit the ground instead. The cockpit was soon the home of a super-heated mass of energy. The Dom ceased all movement from that moment. .

The second Dom fired a bazooka round at the GM [G]. Unexpectedly, the GM [G] moved the beam saber in hand, and thus moving the Dom along with it, in front of the mobile suit. The bazooka shot scored a direct hit onto the lifeless Dom's head, with it's fragments being shot off elsewhere. The enemy Dom moved backwards in surprise, completely out of options on what to do in this situation. The GM [G] directed the right arm of the lifeless Dom towards the enemy Dom. . And then, the GM [G] pulled back on the right hand of the lifeless Dom, firing it's bazooka. It hit the enemy with dead on accuracy. The torso collapsed on itself, killing it's pilot almost instantly. One could see a thick, single trail of blood spill out of the collapsed cockpit. Flames emitted from the Dom, as it fell backwards. It's ceremony, was a massive explosion.

Virocana was jolted back from the instant loss of both of her comrades, however. . She sensed some sort of fear, when she saw the GM [G], like a one-eyed devil, holding up what remained of the Dom by it's torso. . The GM [G] turned it's head towards the stealth Dom. . And then, Satoru charged onward. .

"You killed Avery!! I'll show you what it's like to lose a friend, you damn Zeon!!" Satoru screamed, as rage and anger completely possessed him at this point. . However, this wasn't just any case of anger. His eyes dilated forward, never leaving the Stealth Dom, as his once calm demeanor, and even his nice attitude completely vanished in place of a merciless demon.

****

Back at the Zeon skirmish outside of the forests, the Bulldog was attempting to move forward. A trio of Zaku units had it pelted under fire. One of the triple barreled cannons attempted to fire a shot at the enemies, which ultimately resulted in failure, as the with each shot the Bulldog gave, the Zakus just dodged them with cunning expertise. Something was awry, as the Zeon mobile suits were attempting to take down the two, unknown Federation mobile suits. The Gundam [G] fired a volley of machine-gun fire, and the Zaku dodged that as well. Another Zaku stepped forward, beckoning it's squadron forward with it's bazooka arm.

"Man. . Intelligence should be doing a better job. . The Feddies already have mobile suits!" The Zaku leader said. Lisa stepped forward in her Zaku, and fired off some rounds from her machine gun at the tank-like mobile suit. The volley did not affect the Guntank, much to Lisa's surprise, and the Guntank managed to fire off another shot after flinching from the Zaku's futile assault. Lisa manipulated her Zaku into ducking the blast, as one of the shells took off a bit off the spiked shoulder pad of the Zaku instantly. Lisa just released a breath of relief.

"These guys. . Are really powerful. ." Lisa said silently.

"Don't trip up! Our weapons have no effect, but there has to be a way to get in close!" The Zaku pilot withdrew it's machine gun, and pulled out a heat hawk. The blade of the small axe lit up with a orange aura. The Zaku raised it's heat hawk, and took into the air. Amelia manipulated her Gundam [G] into pulling out it's own beam saber, and them mobile suit just held it down, waiting for the right moment to strike. The Guntank attempted to fire as well, but the Zaku pilot moved his joystick to the left, and the Zaku boosted to the left in mid air due to the maneuverable rocket thrusters, that was something that Amelia never expected. The force of gravity took a toll on the pilot as he slammed down on the ground in front of the Guntank.

"Oh, ****!" Senra screamed, looking upon the Zaku with fear.

"You're dead, boy." The Zaku pilot drove the Zaku's heat hawk through the right cannon of the Guntank. The Gundam [G] could not strike, given the massive, unintentional shield the Guntank was to the Zaku. After excessive force, the Zaku's heat hawk managed to pierce through one of the cannons. It's mono-eye glared towards the head of the Guntank. On instinct, the pilot assumed that must have been the cockpit. Before the Zaku could swing it's melee weapon upon the cockpit, ending the battle, both cannons fired. Without the barrel itself, the right cannon came out as a slug gun almost. At point blank, the shrapnel from the faulty cannon pierced through the Zaku itself. The Zaku pilot screamed, as the last thing he saw, was the area around him, filling with smoke. The Guntank backed up, not to be caught in the resulting explosion as the Zaku fell on it's back. . Sparks emitted from the fallen giant, and then, a bright crimson orb decimated it's remains. .

"Man. . Nearly messed up on that one. ." Senra said to himself. Amelia's Gundam [G] continued to advance, not letting her finger trail off from the trigger, or her crosshairs on the Zakus for a second.

"Senra, you're damaged. . Are you-" Amelia asked, and was interrupted by Senra.

"I'll be fine. . I still have at least one fully functional cannon. I can make it. ."

"Any word from Satoru and Avery?"

"None. . I hope they're not dead already. ." The two remaining Zakus jumped back, still trying to dodge the crossfire with all this commotion from the battle going on. .

"This is crazy! These suits aren't just pushovers. ." Lisa said to herself, figuring out the obvious a little bit too late.

"Man. . They're pushing us back. . And thanks to that idiot, the tank has a "new" weapon." The Zaku pilot said.

"What about the other ships?" Lisa asked about the situation, which was looking bleak.

"They're closing in. ." Not to far from the battle, a skirmish of a larger scale was occurring. Among the lines of the entirety of the 4th Division, three Zakus were attempting to hold them back. They knew it was a suicide attack, but they might as well try their best. One of the Zakus took airborne, attempting to land on top of another Big Tray. The Zaku succeeded, and was about to point it's machine gun directly on the bridge below it. A blue shot illuminated the horizon. The beam cannon mounted on the Rivaway fired a third shot. The shot pierced through the Zaku instantly. Most of the upper fragments were vaporized instantly, as the legs fell back, triggering a small explosion on the wing of the victim Big Tray. One of the Zakus landed forward, taking a pause in the massive scale of crossfire. The Zaku beckoned for it's only remaining comrade with it's weapon hand, to attack the beam cannon no doubt.

"If we take care of that turret, that'll make our lives easier. . Let's go!" The other grunt pilot just obeyed as if he was an animal. Both of the Zakus rushed towards the Rivaway at top speed. Several shots trailed off, while some hit mere centimeters from them that would have previously marked their death. That was taken into consideration of how the two Zakus were the only targets among the Federation line. The barrel of the Rivaway rotated, and the beam cannon shifted downwards. Both of the Zeon pilots could see the electricity and particles gather at the tip of the beam cannon.

"We're almost there!" As the Zaku Commander manipulated his mobile suit towards the Rivaway , there was an error that he overlooked, one that would cost him his life. The triple barrel cannon beneath the beam cannon was still active, and it already achieved a lock. Before the commander could even react, the cannons fired simultaneously. The Commander was so well in hesitation, that his nerves couldn't grant him the ability to dodge. The cannons hit the Zaku dead on, nearly sending it flying in mid air. The grunt continued onwards, and drew his heat hawk. .

"If I do this. . I can be a hero!" Overconfidence was yet another down fall. . The grunt steered his Zaku up, as it jumped into the air. . He raised his heat hawk upwards, preparing for a strike. The beam cannon tilted it's tip upwards to fire at the airborne Zaku. The grunt was forced into a scream as the Zaku crashed onto the tip of the beam cannon, practically impelling itself upon it. The charge of the beam cannon overloaded the Zaku instantly. . The Zaku was violently shaking as the heat hawk dropped from it's hand, cutting apart some crucial wires along the beam cannon. As soon as the positive intake of energy began to commence, the beam cannon raised upward, with sparks shooting out of it. .

The sniper of the beam cannon jolted back, attempting to pull together what he was seeing. His monitor flickered out, as sparks shot out from all directions within the cockpit violently. . As glass shot around the cockpit from the exploding display, the pilot just shrieked, as the cockpit of the beam cannon exploded. . The beam cannon corrupted, as it was firing several rapid shots of energy into the air. The Zaku was shredded on the first shot, as it's torso and legs fell down. Wires connecting to the beam cannon was sparking out of control, as the stand of the beam rifle collapsed. The beam cannon fell down from the stand, still continuing to fire due to the error. A stray shot took out a nearby Big Tray out of pure accidental intention, and on the Rivaway's bridge, chaos ensued.

"Sir! The circuits are overloading! We can't stop the beam cannon!" A crew member screamed.

"Oh hell. . What of the pilot?!" The Colonel asked. The entire Big Tray shook violently, as one by one, the display screens flickered and then ceased to be. The Colonel could hear massive ruptures within the frame.

"Pilot is dead sir, I've confirmed it!" A female crew member screamed.

"Generator heat rising. ." The male crew member said.

"Radiator cooling system failing. . The central circuits are overheating!!" The lights flickered, as the Colonel looked onward out of the display. He could hear an explosion come from within his ship from the bridge. . It was loud, and it shook the entire Earth-bound battleship. "Main Generator on the course to immediate melt down! Colonel, what should we do?" The Colonel looked off towards the distance, and took his hat off. There revealed a bald set of hair, and some white aged hair to the sides. He expressed a deep sigh before looking down. .

"We greet the new day we won't see. ." The crew was silent. . The last thing they felt, was the floor caving in under them. . The entire bridge of the Rivaway collapsed upon itself, as the base of the battleship erupted in flames. . From the distance, the scene shifts to the Bulldog .

"Captain Tolen. . We've lost contact with the Rivaway . The 4th Division is moving forward at full intensity. ." Leon said. As a result, Tolen just collapsed into his chair. .

"Odessa hasn't even started, and we're already having causalities. . What about our squadron?"

"Amelia's team is pushing the remaining two Zakus back. . Still no contact from Avery's team. ." Noyr said, and Tolen stood up.

"Tell Amelia to rap it up. . Make any emergency repairs to the mobility-gears. We're moving into the swamps ASAP!"

"Yes sir!" All of the crew members said simultaneously. The only remaining Zakus were attempting their best to thwart the threat of the Federation mobile suits. .

"Sir. . I have a transmission. ." Lisa said, in their only moment of rest within the battle.

"From who?" The Leader asked.

"That- . . Virocana."

"Why hasn't her squadron made contact yet? We really need it. ."

"She said she ran into two more Federation mobile suits. . Her Doms were decimated. She's taking care of one more. ."

"Man. . Well. . At least all we have left are these two. ."

"I'm going to assist Virocana. ."

"No! You have to help me with this!" The Zeon leader pleaded. Lisa saw her chance to get at Virocana. . And nothing was going to stand in her way. . No matter how many court marshals it took. .

IF the witness lived. .

". . . **** you, old man." Lisa manipulated her Zaku in the opposite direction towards the forest. The Bulldog didn't even bother to fire back. . The Zaku Leader screamed in frustration, as the two Federation mobile suits opened fire on the last remaining mobile suit. Lisa chuckled to herself, as she could hear a string of curses by her commander. . She heard static after, and an explosion occurred in the background. . "Long live the commander. . Ha. . Ha. . Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Now for that *****. ."

****

"What's wrong?! You're backing down? Why aren't you fighting?!" Satoru screamed in his motive of rage. Virocana contained a great amount of fear from the hostility the enemy mobile suit presented. The way it was fighting. . The way it took out two Doms. . It was just savage, like an animal on it's prey. Virocana had her hand over her forehead. . A cold sweat ran from her hair, still not getting adjusted to the air with her helmet off in the corner of the cockpit. The GM [G] took a step forward, with it's beam saber in hand. The Stealth Dom eased back, pointing it's beam rifle in a standard motion of caution.

Over on Satoru's end, a communication link opened. . Surprisingly with the enemy. . There, Satoru had the sight of a beautiful woman who seemed a little young, despite how old she really was. . She was panting, as her hand was still over her forehead. Satoru could grant no remorse, as anger fueled his senses completely.

"Get-Get away. . It's people like you. . Who'll make the sky fall. . You and your machine. . All of you. ." Virocana said quietly. Apparently, Satoru caught what the woman said, and saw it as a way to mock him.

"'People like me'"? How dare you talk down to me. . You murderer!" The GM [G] vaulted forward at top speed. . Satoru was screaming due to the intense amount of G forces upon his body. He manipulated his mobile suit into raising the beam saber upwards for a quick kill. Much to his surprise, the Stealth Dom fired a shot from the beam rifle. Satoru cursed on his fatal error, and tried to boost to the left. The rocket thrusters didn't allow a complete dodge, as the string of energy pierced through the right arm of the GM [G], directly where the joints were. After landing, the GM [G] promptly dropped the beam saber, as the arm fell down slightly, being held up by a collection of wires and a few joints and gears. The Stealth Dom eased forward, raising it's beam rifle.

"People like you need to be disposed of. . People who wield too much power. .You'll cause nothing but chaos [1]. ." It was like another presence entirely took over Virocana.

"Damn it. . I'm not done yet!" Satoru pushed the lever in his control scheme as far as it could go, and he could feel the rush of his mobile suit moving forward at top speed. Virocana froze for a moment, as the GM [G] outstretched one of it's legs. The amount of speed and momentum following the mobile suit helped the attack to be successful, as the GM [G] inflicted a patented kick upon the upper chest of the Stealth Dom. The Stealth Dom fell backwards, as Virocana was violently shaken around in the cockpit like a rag doll, or a dummy for a test car.

The GM [G] raised it's foot, about to stop on the cockpit of the Stealth Dom. Still having it's beam rifle in it's hand, the Dom raised it's weapon at lighting fast speed, and fired one shot. Satoru could not dodge, as he hesitated. The beam shot went through the foot, and a majority of the GM [G] upwards. The entire leg was spilt in half by a chain reaction of explosions, and the mobile suit fell downward, leaving what was left of the leg now a burnt slump of metal. The vibrations within the GM [G] were tense, and Satoru was swung around in the cockpit violently. A quick, yet heavy amount of pain filled Satoru when he collided into something within the cockpit, and the object jabbed into his already broken ribs. He winced in pain, but pushed onwards. The Stealth Dom stood up, and wasted no time on killing the enemy as quickly as possible. Another shot was fired from the lethal weapon, and the GM [G] boosted once more, along the ground. Satoru had no options on attacking, and fleeing was probably the course to go. The GM [G] was skidding along the ground, as Virocana fired another shot. . The GM [G] tried to block with it's left arm, but it ultimately went through it's arm, severing the only remaining arm. . Satoru slammed his fist on the control console, now facing his ultimate failure. . He was going to end in the same fate that Avery did. .

"No! No!! I refuse to die now! Not here!" The Stealth Dom raised it's beam rifle to confirm a kill. . However, a machine gun volley came from behind. . The volley managed to knock the beam rifle out of the hand of the Stealth Dom. . The beam rifle rolled on the ground, and hit the armor of the GM [G]. It's head looked down. . And Satoru counted his blessings. . If he could pull it off. The Stealth Dom turned around, to see a lone Zaku II pointing it's trademark machine gun at her.

"Pilot. . What is the meaning of this?" A portrait of Lisa generated on Virocana's screen. Virocana could hear the maniacal laughter that Lisa was doing.

"Heh heh. . The little ***** is stuck in a bad position. . Well. . I guess it's natural."

"Lisa? Why are you doing this?"

"Because you need to die. . You weren't worth anything anyway. Who cares if you're a newtype. . You're certainly not good at piloting. ."

"Lisa. . Why do you hate me? I've never done anything to you. ." Upon saying this, the GM [G] was attempting to get a hold on the beam rifle with it's only remaining foot.

"Who cares. . Apollo replaced me with you. . That's why you have to die. . Nobody, and I mean nobody gets my man. . Besides. Who's going to know?" Lisa said, but Virocana lost her focus. She looked upon the assumedly "defeated" GM. With the only remaining energy that the beam rifle had in it, the GM [G] slammed it's remaining foot on the trigger. The tip of the beam rifle sparked, and then a golden shot was fired in the distance. Ultimately, it missed the Stealth Dom completely, but that wasn't the target. The beam pierced through a massive tree in the distance. . With a large hole through it's base, the tree tilted. While Virocana and Lisa were still in their discussion, Virocana looked to the side, wondering about the shot that was fired. Then, she looked up. . A massive tree was falling. To make matters worse, she hesitated. . Her senses froze, and she couldn't move her fingers. . She gasped at it, and tried to move her Stealth Dom. Lisa disappeared in the distance, but the tree fell completely on top of the Stealth Dom. The Dom fell to the ground, as the tree, with all it's weight, smashed the mid section of the Stealth Dom. . The Dom attempted moving, but it was trapped under the tree. . The Dom ceased all functions, as Virocana didn't have a method on getting out.

"I need to get back somehow. ." Virocana said to herself as she discarded all the obstacles that bided her to the mobile suit. The cockpit of the Dom was forced upwards, as outside, a heavy gust of wind ensued. Her helmet was cracked, along with some of the glass being cracked, limiting her view. Sparks shot all around the Dom, and even a few small electrical fires started. It wouldn't be easy, but Virocana saw a bit of hope left. . Until the legless GM boosted over to the Stealth Dom's location.

"I'll kill you. . I'll kill you. . You filthy Zeon. ." Satoru could see the woman in her live appearance, scared straight from the mangled titan towering above her. Satoru's head was burning, and his body was trembling as deep breathing obscured the random clicks and beeps within his cockpit. Some sort of rush conquered the boy, as he pushed the lever as far as it could go. He was attempting to ram the entire GM frame into Virocana, ultimately killing her. "I'll kill you!!"

Virocana gasped as the titan loomed even closer over her. Virocana could feel some sort of. . Connection to the pilot through this tense moment of danger. "Please don't!" A voice screamed out in Satoru's mind. The boy ceased his transactions, as his hands rushed to his head. Virocana looked up to the GM, who froze at the last second. .

'Satoru, please. . Don't do this!' A voice cried out to Satoru. It was evident that it wasn't Virocana saying this, as the Zeon woman could hear the same voice in her head as well. The universe around them ceased to be. . The murky swamps broke around the two pilots like a shattered mirror, and a serene existence enveloped them. It was like space. . Just with several randomizations of different colors. Contact with the outside world ceased to be. . Even their mobile suits. Virocana could see a young boy of the age of 17 struggling.

"What the hell. . Get. . Get out of my head!" Satoru screamed to the direction of the voice. He threw his helmet off, which vanished into non-existence in the massive hallucination. Some sort of pain filled Satoru's presence. . But it was so familiar.

'Please don't kill her Satoru. She's one of us. She needs to stay alive.' The voice said.

"Who. . Who are you?" Virocana asked, but expected no answer. The pain that snatched Satoru started to increase to the most unfathomable levels.

"Who. . Are you?" Satoru said, as the pain in his mind started to overtake, and conquer him in dominance. Satoru collapsed in the hallucination, which was really in the cockpit of the GM. In real time, the GM fell backwards, and remained lifeless. . As the hallucination around both of them ended, Virocana maintained her consciousness, and could hear the voice say one more thing.

I'm just your guardian, sent by the Abandoned Ones. . Please. . Help him.' That was the last thing that this undeterred voice declared, as the hallucination broke. . All that was left was the swamp, with Virocana standing up. Virocana had the opportunity to run at this point. She could even hear the Federation approaching. . But she felt some sort of urge to follow on what the voice commanded.

"Help, him?" Virocana said to herself. . And there she was. She was the Victim of Circumstance. . And she was determined to make the best of it, and face her fate head strong. She couldn't decipher the voice. . But for once in her life, she could actually relate to it.

To Be Continued