Act 9: Crossroads

Start Date: 5/20/03

Finish Date: 6/9/03

I.. I actually killed her.. In the aftermath of Lisa's skirmish, she was labeled victorious. She managed to defeat a Federation tank mobile suit, and an experimental Dom with her lone, battle scarred Zaku II. Not to mention the pilot of the Dom was actually a very powerful newtype, on which her inability to know proper combat essentials actually rewarded Virocana's downfall. Instead of Lisa feeling good about her piloting ability like even the hardened of Zeon pilots should, her guilt instead overwhelmed her.

I really killed her.. A normal human killed a newtype… Her thoughts persisted, as she rested motionless in the cockpit. Her Zaku skated along the ground with the aid of it's thrusters, heading to the direction of the HLV. However, to her, the trip to the HLV base had never taken any longer. Her fingertips trembled on the twin joysticks, as her guilt continued to beat her into submission.

"I had to do it.. She was a freak," the woman told herself. Through an act pointing to her condition, she began to laugh out loud in the cockpit to no life form in particular. She found it funny, funny how she was actually worrying about what she did. After all, she would just tell herself that she did it for the sake of Apollo. Apollo needed Lisa, not Virocana… Some tears could be sighted at the edge of her eyes, as she continued to laugh. Her laugh exponentially turned into a twisted, maniacal laugh.

"I'm… Using him? Hah.. You can't tell me that, because you're dead now... You can't tell me anything, you snobby *****," Lisa told herself, her speech being impaired by her laughter, and her sorrow. She continued to laugh, trying to overcome her decreasing guilt. The sad thing was, everything about her that Virocana said was actually true, and Lisa didn't even know. The Zaku came to a complete halt, as she took a moment to calm herself down. With a few adjustments on the console, she attempted to establish a communication link with Apollo.

"Apollo! Apollo!" She called out in the communication link. The only response that she got, was static, and the occasional sound of gunfire. Lisa's fist collided into the control console of the Zaku, causing a crack in the plastic that she failed to see. The pain did not affect her, as her frustration took over. The moment she lifted her balled hand off the control console, the radar bleep wildly. "What the..." Lisa turned around to the origin of the signal, but her Zaku was vaulted backwards before she could even pull together the events. The Zaku fell to the ground hard, as more damaged ensued to the already defunct machine. The woman sighed after being sung around like a rag doll, and looked to the origin of the shot.

There, the GM-CA Type stood. It's signature was unknown to Lisa, as her radar gave off no serial number of the mobile suit. In fact, she had never seen a mobile suit of that configuration before. At the GM's waist, twin cannons remained aimed upon Lisa's Zaku. With one click, Lisa's eyes widened, as the cannons fired simultaneously. Without having anytime to ponder about her response, she floored her pedals , which launched the Zaku into the air.

"I missed!" Satoru cursed to himself as he continued to fire the cannons at the airborne Zaku.

"I just turn my back for a second and…" Lisa trailed off as she forced her Zaku to her right to avoid the cannon fire. The Gs forced upon her body from that one sharp turn was bound to make any inexperienced pilot experience motion sickness. She breathed loudly in response to the hard landing the Zaku had to endure. From the cockpit, she could even hear gears and hydraulics failing to function, and grinding. "…this happens. This Zaku can't even take another fight much less defend a platoon…" Lisa cursed on her luck, on how Virocana did her in even after death.

"You won't get away, Zeon!" Satoru yelled out loud as he forced his GM at twelve o' clock at top speed. As the GM closed in on Lisa's Zaku at remarkable speed, Lisa made a decision that would ensure her life. Escaping.

"****… I have to get out of here…" Lisa told herself as she sharply turned her Zaku around, and used her thrusters to take to the air. From the air, several parts from Lisa's Zaku fell to the ground, some of them falling on Satoru's GM CA Type. As he saw the Zaku trying to escape, Satoru decided to not let the opportunity get past him. Satoru pressed the pedals downward, and drove his mobile suit with amazing vigor to trail Lisa's Zaku. "I think I got rid of that Feddie…" Lisa said to herself in a sign of relief. She detected no gunfire from her adversary, but by the time she got a glimpse of her rear-view display above her, it was too late…

"I'll get you!!" Satoru screamed out, as pure adrenaline fueled his actions. The GM CA-Type collided into the back of the Zaku as if it were a tackle. Lisa was shaken like a poor rag doll, as it was completely out of her power to free the damaged Zaku from the Federation model's grip. Still airborne, Lisa tried for a higher altitude, but that just made the situation even worse… The two mobile suits fell vertically into the distance, straight to the HLV base. From the distance, both locked figures looked as if they were a falling comet…

****

"What part of that did you not understand? Is my squadron okay?" Back in the Bulldog, tension was rising in the bridge. Not of the battle, but rather Amelia's ever increasing aggravation. Usually, Amelia could keep calm under any circumstance, but evidently not a situation like this. Amelia stood over Leon, who was frantically pressing buttons on the control console in absolute panic of the woman's hostile response.

"Would you believe…" Leon trailed off as he did the same procedure of scanning the battlefield of Federation signatures. When the procedure was finished, he got the same result that he received the last three times he tried it. "…I'm not sure?"

"What kind of answer is that?!" Amelia yelled. In this sort of situation, Tolen knew better than to step in. Amelia was a calm woman, but she was seriously worried about her rebels of a mobile suit squad. She thought of no offense against Virocana, but Amelia did think that it might have not been of the best choices to allow her to command the squadron. I should have followed my instincts… Those eyes of her's aren't used to battle. Great… I really screwed up this time… As she drowned herself in her thoughts, a beep sounded at Leon's console.

"Who is that?" Tolen asked, breaking out of his silence.

"That's… Ensign Rail?" Leon looked back to Tolen, as in a non-verbal exchange, the Captain just nodded his head. Leon once more began to man the communication machine, and on his screen, a portrait of Senra formulated. His helmet was off, and his blue hair was in a mess. "Ensign Rail, what is the situation?" Leon asked. Amelia swiftly moved herself to Leon's screen, and nearly pushed him out of the way.

"Well.. Things are not too good here…" Senra said, and Amelia's reply game him no time to continue on.

"Wait, where are Satoru and Virocana? You are supposed to be moving out as a squad, not independently," Amelia said. Suddenly, several thoughts of dread crossed her mind. She was expecting that both of them died already.

"I have no idea where Satoru is… We were moving too fast and lost track of him."

"And Virocana?"

"A Zaku attacked us, and then I lost sight of both of them. That same Zaku damaged my Guntank to the point where it can't move," Senra said. There was a silence among Amelia, and a silence among Tolen as well.

"I see… Just stay put until the battle is over. Lieutenant Keen, out," Amelia said. Apparently, Senra had once more thing to say.

"You say jump, we say how high," Senra said in a jesting manner. Even in a situation like this, he still manages to find the time to joke about things. With that said, Leon closed the communication. No further words from Amelia could be exchanged from Amelia as she looked to Tolen. He too, couldn't put the situation to words. Through the both of them, a mutual understanding formed. Newtypes aren't the most powerful beings on the planet after all…

"Captain," Amelia said, breaking the silence. "Do you think that Virocana is really dead?"

"We have no true verification of her death at the moment. For all we know, Virocana probably lost her suit in the battle," Tolen said. The Captain coughed loudly when another idea crossed his mind. Normally, it would be a ridiculous thing to say. However, in this situation, what the Captain was about to say would be plausible. "But this sounds suspicious.. Do you think that-" Amelia immediately cut of Tolen in mid sentence.

"No! Satoru would never do such a thing… He may hate the Zeon, but he would never do anything like that," the woman said softly. As much as she tried to deny the fact, some minuscule part of her mind and better judgment declared that what Tolen said was probably true. "At least, I hope he wouldn't…"

****

The battle for the HLV continued on for what seemed like hours. The main skirmish took place at the footing of the crater, leading to the center where the HLV was located. The Federation deployed GM units, Guncannons, Guntanks, and even a few Gundam limited production units were seen scattered around the crater. The platoon of Federation mobile suits took the Zeon by storm, as none of then had any idea that so many mobile suits would be deployed so quickly in a stealth-like manner.

"Deploy, deploy!" One Federation squad leader screamed out to his comrades. Within his Gundam [G], he pressed a button on his control scheme, and the mobile suit pulled the trigger to his weapon; the beam rifle that the Gundam was armed with, complete with a shield in it's left hand. A purple-ish beam fired from the beam rifle at an enemy Zaku II in front of them. Due to the beam's speed, it pierced directly through the shoulder of the Zaku II, not destroying it, but damaging it.

"Here's our chance!" One of his two allies, each piloting a GM [G] exclaimed. Both took the opportunity to advance forward, so that squad skid down the deep incline of the crater. Both of the GM units attacked the damaged Zaku II with their machine guns, which definitely marked a kill. As they continued on, they could hear a sound of a booming explosion, and saw the light at the corner of their eyes.

"Quick, get cover!" The squad leader shouted out to his allies. Now at the base of the crater, the enemy attack was solely focused upon them. Other Federation squads saw this as the opportunity to also descend the crater and try to surround the Zeon. Soon, nearly all of the Federation mobile suits were skidding down the crater incline. Back to the squad that was taking the most punishment, the trio of mobile suits quickly took cover behind some barracks and an armory building. Zeon fire increased even on their own materials, since they knew they would die anyway, and it would be better if the Federation could not get their materials intact.

Things are looking bad out here… Where in the world is Lisa? Apollo asked himself. Even through his voice through his own thoughts, a bit of nervousness tainted his feelings. That greatly differed from the calm demeanor Apollo usually was in, and hinted to how much he was really worried about Lisa. However, not keeping his focus in battle nearly caused his downfall, as a GM [G] with a beam rifle nearly got a kill off of Apollo. Apollo barely sidestepped the beam at the last minute with his Zaku II, and it instead hit a random barrack in the distance.

"These Federation mobile suits are absolute monsters…" Apollo said to himself out loud, as a mental reminder to not get taken in by the enemy mobile suits. He manipulated his Zaku II into trudging onward towards the GM that threatened his life. The GM [G] boosted back, and tried to fire a few more beam rifle shots at the Zaku II. Apollo side-stepped all of the blasts, by cutting his engines, allowing his Zaku to slide in the direction needed, and continued onward. The fact that this beam rifle had poor tracking added to his advantage. "I got you now!" Apollo said as he raised his 180 MM Cannon for a physical attack.

"Damnit!" The young GM [G] pilot yelled as he floored both of the pedals to his mobile suit. Adding to Apollo's surprise, the GM [G] activated it's thrusters at full power, managing to boost back far enough to get a good firing range once more. The GM [G]'s maneuvering was much more superior than Apollo's old Zaku II, but Apollo was a newtype, who could hold his own no matter how outdated the mobile suit he used was. The GM [G] raised it's beam rifle, and fired another shot. Apollo ducked this time, and it hit an ally from affair.

If I had the S-Type Zaku, I could win this easily… Now Apollo doubted he would get out of the situation. Despite how powerful of a newtype he was, he was facing a combat machine he had never seen before used in the hands of a capable pilot with great potential, who could easily release the GM [G]'s full potential. "There's nothing much I can do here, but just go for it!" Apollo said to himself as he drew the Zaku's heat hawk, and continued forward. The GM [G] pilot continued to rely on the beam rifle, as each shot came out to a miss. When the GM [G] tried to draw it's beam saber, it was too late. Apollo's Zaku II forced it's heat hawk directly on the cockpit… The young pilot meeting an unfortunate end at the end of a massive blade, and the GM [G] ceased to function.

"Commander, are you still alive?! Commander!" a voice rang out into Apollo's control console. Apollo at first hoped it was Lisa, but his hopes were shattered when he figured it was another female voice.

"Yes, ma'am?" Apollo asked. He was unsure who the woman was, except she might have been an HLV operator. Apollo's Zaku held onto the downed GM [G], and boosted back, behind a few barracks. He kneeled his Zaku II down, so he wouldn't be seen by enemies. Trusting his intuition, he continued the conversation with the woman. "Before you start, do you know where Ensign Maes is?"

"Her signature is approaching the HLV base very fast," the woman answered. Apollo gave a sign of relief, as that was his only motivation for surviving the battle; to see Lisa. "Just telling you, the HLV will launch in ten minutes… However, we just got a strange transmission from Captain M'Quve.." the woman said, trailing off.

"What could M'Quve possibly do at this point to help us out?" Apollo asked in a curious manner. The woman just sighed as a response.

"Just keep the Federation forces away for ten minutes. Transmission end," the woman said, border lining monotone.

"That's easy for them to say…" Apollo said as his Zaku II stood upward. Zaku dropped the 180 MM Cannon for an even better weapon: the GM [G]'s beam rifle. Hypothetically, the Zaku did not have the power output to even fire one shot from a beam rifle, but the GM [G] could without effort. That was why Apollo went for a quick kill on the pilot, and with the body of the GM [G] intact, he wouldn't have to worry about wasting his Zaku's own energy. The Zaku II held onto the GM [G]'s gun arm like it was a doll, with the rest of the body lying there lifelessly. Apollo's radar bleeped, which signified an enemy approaching from the air. He looked up, and saw two locked mobile suits falling to the ground rapidly. However, the mobile suit on the bottom side caught his attention, and he had to view his radar to verify it. "L-Lisa?"

"What in the hell... That's one of Tolen's forces. Hah, it's sad that their pilots had to be killed before the battle even started!" a random pilot started off after seeing the GM CA-Type locked onto the Zaku II in the air. Because of this loss of focus, that same pilot ended up getting killed by a 180 MM Cannon blast to the back. The cannon shot was in such close proximity, that a hole resided where the cockpit once was. The mobile suit fell, and promptly exploded, adding one small victory to the Zeon forces.

"…Take… This!!" Satoru screamed to the direction of the enemy Zaku II. Satoru pushed both levers as far back as he could, and took his feet off of the twin pedals. The GM CA-Type promptly disengaged the lock onto the battered Zaku II in mid air, where the ground was not far below. The GM CA-Type landed on the ground, and skidded several feet. However, the high momentum kept Lisa's Zaku II going, and her Zaku II collided onto the ground with extreme force. In the cockpit, Lisa was violently shaken around, as the Zaku II came to several tosses and rolls along the ground, and even collided through some barracks before a complete stop was ensured. The Zaku II hit the base of a few abandoned tents, crushing them as the Zaku II fell on it's back. Through the extreme pressure, Lisa hit her head on the control panel through the landing. From that, the woman was knocked out.. The GM CA-Type approached Lisa's heavily damaged Zaku, complete with limbs missing, and sparks riddled throughout the Zaku.

"Lisa! I got to do something…" Apollo told himself as he raised the GM [G]'s arm upwards, and aimed it's beam cannon towards the GM CA-Type… Apollo couldn't rely on the crosshair, as that gave an aim for weapons in the Zaku II's hand. Apollo hesitated as the GM CA-Type continued on towards Lisa's fallen Zaku, while Apollo tried to verify a correct aim. When the CA-Type raised it's machine gun, Apollo took a deep breath, and pulled the GM [G]'s finger back. A wild, uncontrolled blast came out from the beam rifle, directly towards the GM CA-Type.

"What the…" Satoru said to himself as the only thing he could have guarded himself with, was with his GM's left arm. The massive beam rifle shot tore directly through the GM CA-Type's left arm, tearing through artificial ligaments that kept the arm working, and even through rotors in the arm. Through that, an arm, split apart in two remained as the GM CA-Type's left arm, with only a few wires holding the mangled arm up. "I didn't know... Zeon mobile suits had weaponry like that…" Satoru steered his GM to the source of the attack. There, he saw a lone Zaku II holding the figure of an already dysfunctional GM [G].

"The shot's powerful, but," Apollo trailed off as he raised the GM's arm once more, to try to confirm yet another aim. The GM CA-Type remained motionless, as Apollo easily confirmed this target, as an easy kill. But then, mere nanoseconds before Apollo's finger hit the switch, several emergency bleeps sounded in Apollo's cockpit. There, he saw a gauge of some sort, drastically decreasing. It appeared that the GM didn't have the power required to fire a shot through it's own generator, and through a surge, some of the Zaku's power was used as well. The gauge dropped to the point where half of power was regulated. "My calculations where incorrect, but even half of the Zaku's energy will be enough for me to get out of this," Apollo said to himself, tossing the overheating GM [G] aside.

This fool doesn't even have a weapon, Satoru thought to himself. He let his overconfidence plague him once more in the heat of battle, as the CA-Type's twin cannons positioned themselves onto the Zaku's sight. With one volley following another, Satoru nearly emptied the entire cannon's payload on the Zaku II. Much to his surprise, the Zaku II just side-stepped each shot as they came. When Satoru confirmed a miss, he fired another volley from his cannon. The pattern repeated itself, until Satoru sighted the Zaku II drawing it's proximity weapon, and edged closer to the GM.

"Fine then," Satoru said out loud, as he pushed one of the levers as far ahead as possible. The GM promptly vaulted forward, attempting to capture top speed in a short amount of time. For the short moments that Apollo had of free time, he remained docile to the attack. The Zaku II just raised it's heat hawk over it's shoulder, reading the forthcoming attack with ease. When the GM was in range, the Zaku II forced it's weapon down, attempting to bring the weapon upon the GM's head. However, with one quick thrust, the GM strafed to the side at the last possible moment. "How about point blank?!" the pilot called out as the cannons along the GM's waist immediately aimed onto the Zaku II.

"Hm…" was all that Apollo could say at the act, as with some skillful manipulation, the Zaku edged back, thrusting it's foot directly at the GM. It would seem that Apollo expected the pilot would do such, enforcing the reason why he made a weak swipe with the heat hawk, forcing the pilot in the direction he wanted to. Without time to react, the Zaku II's right foot collided into the GM's cockpit area, and the delay of the cannon shot ceased when the shots intended to mark a kill on the Zaku II, flew off aimlessly into the distance.

"Damnit!" Satoru screamed out as the GM CA-Type stumbled backwards a few feet. Using the thrusters once more, heavy azure flames emitted from it's backpack. That provided enough force for the mobile suit to regain it's footing, and not fall on it's back. The young pilot was aggravated and frustrated at this point, mainly due to the fact that it was just one mere Zaku II he was having trouble with. "I refuse to lose to a filthy Zeon!" He screamed out as the GM CA-Type charged forward, pulling a beam saber holstered at it's backpack.

Now I understand the Federation mobile suit's capabilities, Apollo thought to himself as the enemy's beam saber was swung straight down with an immense force and speed. Apollo raised his heat hawk to parry the incoming attack, but his lack of knowledge of Federation MS warfare stood against him. The beam saber was held together by an I-Field, and contained Minvosky Particles. Due to this, no heat weapon that the Zeon had could ever stand up to a beam saber. When Apollo tried to block the beam saber, the saber pierced through the heat hawk like it was butter, and continued onward, striking through the Zaku's spiked shoulder pad. Apollo was sure surprised, as he never expected that would come up. Now without weapons, the Zaku boosted back to add some distance between him and the enemy mobile suit. There's another thing I never expected… But I can easily get out of this predicament.

"I won't lose to you! I won't lose to any of you!" Satoru screamed once more in his motive of frustration and berserk-like state. He started slashing wildly at the dormant Zaku II, who didn't attempt to evade for a reason that did not occur to Satoru at the moment. When his final strike was about to be blown, Apollo foresaw the attack. He had his Zaku duck the attack, and reach for something along side of him. That same GM [G] that would save him yet again. Apollo used the GM [G] as a shield, but Satoru continued to swing at the Zaku II, even if it meant going through the ruined GM [G]. When Satoru attempted to slash vertically, the beam saber dug deeply into the GM [G]'s armoring. However, he fell into the enemy's trap… He hit the GM's reactor on accident, and Satoru caught that at the last moment. With one, brilliant flash of light, Apollo pushed the GM [G] onto Satoru. With that, the GM [G] exploded at point blank onto the CA-Type.

"It takes more to winning over a skilled opponent that wildly slashing that sword," Apollo said silently as the flames and smoke slightly cleared. The GM CA-Type stumbled back, now heavily damaged with it's left arm entirely missing, and several fragments of armor reduced to scrap metal. Now out of options, Satoru tried for another attack, but the Zaku II plowed through the flames like it was nothing. The Zaku's right hand groped what should be the GM's neck, and pushed it now up against the HLV. A massive imprint of the GM was now on one of the boosters of the HLV, but no serious damage incurred. Satoru struggled to get free of the Zaku II's grip, and nearly succeeded due to the Federation MS's strength superiority.

How could I have… How can I be losing? I have to turn this around somehow… Those thoughts continued to echo through Satoru's mind as the GM CA-Type slammed it's right fist into the Zaku's right arm to try to weaken the grip. With the same arm, he persisted to punch into the Zaku's torso, with each impact causing an exponentially increasing dent in the armoring. With the Zaku's free arm, that arm struck the GM's visor, ripping through the glass or plastic covering, ripping out vital wirings while doing so. With that impact, all three panels around Satoru gave nothing but static filled screens. With that free moment, the Zaku resumed it's grasp, now on the cockpit, and tossed the GM CA-Type to the side, with it skidding to the ground. The GM CA-Type suffered from heavy damage, as the victorious Apollo stepped over the GM CA-Type.

"What a waste…" Apollo looked down to his defeated enemy, who struggled to get up to it's feet.

"I can't lose," Satoru said, as he felt his world move as the GM CA-Type pulled itself up from the ground. Joints grinded loudly as the GM began to stand up. Around Satoru, the panels gave off only limited vision of his surroundings, looking like distorted TV visions. Without the main camera, he couldn't rely on basic targeting systems. Not like targeting made a difference without a weapon… "I refuse to die here!! I will make them experience the pain they put me through!!" Satoru screamed out as the GM CA-Type stood on it's two feet, slightly slumping over due to some joint malfunctions. Somehow, Apollo could hear the boy's scream.

"What the…" Apollo said to himself as he looked at the GM. He could see fumes emitting from the GM, which could be completely passed off as his own imagination. Those fumes were in fact some kind of aura that he saw, giving off a deep purple coloration. "This aura…" he continued. Apollo had never felt a surge like this in any pilot he had encountered. The GM CA-Type now went to one leg, as it struggled to get up once more. The aura grew even more thick, as this sight that Apollo could only see rendered that pilot a…

"This is an announcement to all Zeon pilots on the field. I repeat: this is an announcement to all Zeon pilots on the field," a deep voice came out. Apollo's concentration on the GM pilot ceased, as he immediately recognized the voice to be Jackson's. "A nuclear weapon has been dropped over Odessa. The blast will engulf everything in the surrounding area, including this HLV base. The nuclear weapon is scheduled to drop in 10 minutes… The HLV will launch in a minute, so get out of the area. If the Feddies want to stay and fight, it's their death wish," Jackson said as the transmission ended.

"You heard him, we leave now! Everybody, advance as far east as possible!" Apollo's voice of command put an end to all of the skeptics just then. With order established, the Federation narrowed into the HLV, and began concentrating their fire on the HLV itself. A few Zakus got free kills off of distracted Federation pilots, and began to flee. Apollo boosted away from the fallen GM CA-Type and boosted towards Lisa. Not bothering to try to pry her from the cockpit, Apollo picked up the battered Zaku II, and made haste into the distance. As he looked back, he could hear the sounds of gunfire slowly fading away. Now, he was one among many of the fleeing Zeon forces. In particular, he remembered that Federation pilot with the frightening aura… "He would be a good choice for The Movement… I wonder…" Apollo said to himself as the Zeon forces disappeared in the distance.

"Damnit… I… I really did lose…" Satoru said, laying in the cockpit of the nearly destroyed GM CA-Type. In another attempt, Satoru tried to regain the GM's balance, to try to join in on the attack of the HLV. However, something bleeped on his radar. Sweat ran down from his forehead when he attempted to turn around, quickly assuming it was an enemy pilot. No thoughts ran through his mind at that moment, especially in the aftermath as it was really a Dom. A Dom that was stripped of it's paint, most of it's frame, riddled with burn marks where fires started, and the most relaxing feeling of all, wasn't an enemy. "It's you…"

"Satoru," Virocana started off weakly. It was but a miracle that she managed to survive her mobile suit being fully engulfed in a mine field explosion, but by her raised voice, she wanted to inform of something of grave important. "We have to leave now… I got a transmission meant for Zeon pilots… They are going to drop a nuclear weapon on Odessa, and surely it will take this entire base as well." She said in an urgent tone. The GM broke free of the Dom's hand, and stepped forward to join in the attack of the HLV.

"Why in the hell should I trust you?" Satoru's harsh tone provoked anger into the normally well maintained woman.

"There is no way at this point you can stop the HLV!" Virocana yelled in aggressive vigor. That was one of the rare moments when she was borderline on shouting. She came all the way in the battle field, at risk of being mistaken for a Zeon pilot to help Satoru. And he didn't even want the help, as he still wouldn't trust a Zeon woman. She looked up to the HLV, as one booster along the sides erupted into flames. The Federation concentrated on random locations of the HLV, which didn't make the attack too effective.

"Satoru, you're going to have to trust her this time…" Another voice from Virocana's signal said. That voice was immediately identified to be Senra's. Satoru did not share a friendly moment with Senra, as at that point, Satoru considered his friend a traitor for trusting the Zeon woman so blindly. In the Stealth Dom's cockpit, several display screens were shot out. Virocana sat in the scratched up seat, while Senra sat to the edge. To Senra though, losing his suit didn't concern him. Neither did the threat of the nuke, as he knew that there would be some way to get around it. However, Virocana sensed something… A lot of noises coming from the HLV.

Noises like multiple locks being released…

****

The inside of the HLV, presented nothing but a commotion. Workers frantically running around, trying to establish last minute checkups. Some however, have gotten used to the quakes causes by the occasional close stray of gunfire. A massive quake ran through the HLV when one of the boosters was rendered inoperable. In the main hold, General Jackson sat among one of the many commanders and important passengers. In front of him, he saw a line of workers, manning operating systems. In front of each of them, was a display of various camera displays around the HLV. Jackson looked up, and saw the clock now passing 30 seconds until launch.

Apollo… Lisa… The 13th… My family, please be safe out there… I can't play the father any more. Let's see if my teachings paid off up to this point, Jackson thought to himself as the countdown clocked even more. He placed a tight grip on the arm of his chair, as he waited for that moment to commence.

"Countdown ten to lift off, locks released… Propulsion system activated. Main reactors 1 and 2 operational, reactor 3 is inoperable," a female voice rang out. "Propulsion activated… 5... 4... 3... 2..."

"Be safe, my children…" Jackson said out loud as he prepared himself for the new experience in space… Now that the crossroads are set, Jackson did wonder how the war will go on from that moment out.

****

Outside, a thick amount of smoke emitted from the HLV. It was at that very moment, the Federation attack increased like no other previous time. Mobile suits emptied entire clips from their machine guns with no avail. Many took airborne, and attempted to halt the HLV's progress by laying finishing blows with their beam sabers. None of them knew, of the impending nuclear threat that Tolen's mobile force knew. It wasn't like they would listen to Virocana for her being in a Zeon suit for the most part. It wasn't like they would listen to Satoru or Senra either, due to how Tolen was generally disliked for an undisclosed reason unknown to his pilots. The Stealth Dom attempted to drag Satoru's GM back, but naturally in a stubborn type of resistance, he tried to be the hero.

"Satoru, what are you doing?!" Senra cried out to his stubborn friend before Virocana could even think of a response. The GM CA-Type continued forward, nearly being blown off of it's feet by the excessive force from the HLV's thrusters. "You don't even have a weapon! Your GM has absolutely no weapons at all!"

"I can do this! I'm going to kill those Zeeks one way or another!!" Satoru snapped back as he had his mobile suit thrust forward at top speed. The speed greatly differed with the propulsion pushing his suit back. But once he met the HLV at point blank, he tried the most desperate move in his situation; taking out the HLV with excessive force. One kick followed after a punch with it's only remaining fist, none managed to do in the HLV. Satoru wasn't even aware of how futile his attempts where, his rage set his mind upon one thing, stopping the Zeon.

"Grab him!" Senra urgently said to Virocana.

"I know, I know…" Virocana's voice dropped back to her near monotone style. She pushed the Stealth Dom ahead at it's full capability, not concerned about how many joints in her suit she stressed. With one fluid motion, the Stealth Dom's stripped down, skeleton like hand grabbed the foot of the GM CA-Type, causing it to lose footing. The smoke and fumes emitting from the HLV grew even more aggressively, as the massive structure itself, started to free itself from the ground. With another swoop, the next of the GM CA-Type was grasped tightly, and from there, the Stealth Dom dragged the mobile suit into the distance. That wasn't without Satoru's struggling and cursing, however.

"Damn you! You Zeon *****!" Satoru screamed out, as he realized that all his attempts were futile. His rage continued to boil, as his losses in the current mission just continued to add up and pile up. One could say he was just angry with his current track record. He kicked his control console in his fit of rage, shouting one more word that refuted Virocana's tranquility. "Murder!" with that word said, all Satoru could see was the HLV lifting off into the sky, and the sight of futile attempts by Federation suits. There, his victory was escaping into the skies… Into the space which I hated so much…

****

Minutes passed, as the Bulldog was once again the setting. The entire ship was filled with panic, as Virocana informed a single mechanic on why she had the forces retreat. On the bridge, Tolen's facial expression did not change. The bridge was surprisingly silent, compared to the more noisy cargo hold. All three of the pilots were on the bridge as well, standing in a row. Amelia, who was leaning upon a railing, starred at them. To her, the defeat didn't bother her. But how the current situation would be resolved, was the main factor.

"Are you sure the announcement said a nuclear bomb was actually dropped on Odessa?" Amelia asked. Virocana just sighed, beginning her response.

"I'm not sure… But by the time I got to get Ensign Hakiteki, the Zeon defense was nowhere to be sighted," she woman said. Tolen looked to the side, towards Leon.

"The guys upstairs know something that we don't. Contact the main force, right this minute," Tolen said in his commanding tone. Leon didn't stop to ask questions, he just did as Tolen ordered. With a few clicks, a transmission of a man appeared on his screen. Truth be told, that man was some sort of assistant of General Revil, or the ring leader of Odessa.

"Yes, sir?" the man asked.

"Please, this is urgent from a Big Tray in the 2nd half of the 4th Division. We need to talk to General Revil right away," Tolen said to the man.

"Is this about the missile threat?" the man asked. Tolen's silence confirmed the man's intuition. "You do not have to worry. The Gundam will take care of the missile threat. After all, it's in their region," the man finished as the transmission was abruptly cut.

"The Gundam cannot take down a nuclear missile! It's just a mobile suit…" Tolen said in disbelief. At the moment, he simply could not fathom why the Federation leaders would put so much faith into a single mobile suit. At that point, Tolen felt sorry for the crew commanding the Gundam, for the fact that for all the stunts they pull, they never get rewarded. Tolen looked up, and folded his arms across his chest. "What more can we do? We can't cross the river, and we won't be able to move south fast enough. So I guess we might as well place our bets on the Gundam."

"Well… I accept," Amelia said in response to Tolen's "bet". "We have nothing else to place our faith in, and Gundam has gotten the Federation this far," she said in a joking manner.

"Well… I guess this will place some excitement in life. If we win the bet, God loves us. If we don't, I guess he wanted Zeon to win," Senra said. From the conversation, and how half-heartedly the crew was taking the situation, Satoru and Virocana did not exchange any more word with themselves, or each other.

"Nuclear Weapon ETA in 30 seconds…" Leon called out.

"Sir, we can still try to move the ship now!" Noyr called out. Tolen just shook his head.

"ETA… 25 seconds…" Leon said. There was a quiver in his voice, indicating his fear. Amelia, Senra, and Tolen did not seem too effected by the threat on the outside, but on the inside, they were trusting how far their luck could go. Satoru's thoughts, wondered on if the nuclear strike was successful, why would God place victory in a force who would nuke their own forces just to get rid of the enemy. The crew stared out into the distance, where they could see a distant smoke trail descend from the sky. "ETA in 10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2..." with each number, everybody's heartbeats grew faster. Before Leon could even call the last remaining number, the trail disappeared. The ant like figure that was the nuclear weapon also disappeared… At first, they came to inane conclusions that the explosion had no sound, because they were engulfed so quickly.

However… No such flash came… The Gundam was truly successful…

****

Odessa, Europe

November 10th, UC 0079

07:30 A.M.

It was a long battle, but at last, Operation Odessa came to an end. All of the fighting ended with Zeon defense forces wiped out, or them escaping by HLV or other methods. In front of a fallen, mangled Zaku, two GM [G]s planted a flag through the Zaku's monoeye, possibly in a show of mockery. The flag displayed some sort of star figure, which was the insignia of the Earth Federation. The fields among Odessa were filled with fallen mobile suits, crashed planes, and wrecked tanks. Within the Bulldog, the crew was out in various places of the ship, enjoying their free time.

"Commander Jamitov Heiman… What did you want to discuss with me?" Tolen asked. The bridge was completely vacant, and nearly all the systems were rendered offline, with the exception of the systems Tolen turned on himself to make the communication link possible. The man on the screen in front of him, appeared to be that of high military rank. He seemed wizened in his old age, and wore a dark brown Federation cap. But not even that hit the streaks of grayness in his hair.

"I wanted to discuss the future placement of your unit…" Jamitov's voice was deep, and even in some cases, emotionless. His eyes gave off a deep stare, showing eyes that were used to the battlefield, and used to blood.

"Future placement… You mean Revil isn't going to be dictating our movement?" Tolen asked.

"No… From this moment on, the lives of your crew are now under my command," Jamitov said in his deep tone. This however, did not assure Tolen of his safety in the future…

To Be Continued

Author's Notes

[1] - Captain M'Quve had a booby trap set in the ending stages of Operation Odessa. He set a nuclear weapon to be dropped in the Odessa region. Naturally, the White Base crew managed to thwart M'Quve's efforts. The Gundam and the G-Sky managed to destroy the nuclear weapon without detonating it. Now the main thing is, that this happened in the TV Version of Mobile Suit Gundam. In the movie version, White Base never made it to Odessa. So I'm having this fic follow the TV Version of the story.