Chapter 2 : Peking Battle Operation
January 11th, UC 0079 The day after the Colony Drop
It was noon before Yuji reached Adelaide again. He felt battered, and dead inside him, but more than anything he felt a fire within his spirit so strong it seemed to engulf him. Right after he had started the engine to return to the Australian state, the radio had reported that the 4th Federation Assault Fleet led by Admiral Mcharty had retreated, with 70% casualties. Captain Lucella's carrier, the "Athelas", had no doubt been sunk, since the radio newsperson had kindly read out the names of the surviving captains of the vessels still afloat. And right after that, in line with delicious irony, the broadcaster had reported that Side 6 was declaring itself neutral, an island of nonchalance in the midst of a raging inferno.
Yuji didn't know why, but he somehow felt insulted by that.
There was a small federation supply base in Adelaide, but Yuji wasn't sure if he could get to New Zealand from there. The destruction from the Zion Colony Drop had not only turned Sydney into a sea, it had also affected the ozone layer, making a temporary hole so large there was little protection against the rays of the sun. An hour in the open would render any man crispy. Planes were probably a lot like flying microwave ovens in this temperature.
He jumped out of his Land Rover as he pulled up beside the sheltered Adelaide Base, dragging his supplies with him quickly. The heat had already blown all the street lamps, and the glass lay on the concrete floors, melting away merrily. Vehicles left in the open too long had blown their glass from the extreme heat, and their doors and hoods were starting to warp. It had rained the night before—a cursed hail of boiling water from the rivers and streams emptied from the Colony Drop, and it had fallen like sharp daggers on unsuspecting pedestrians. Many had to be treated with burns, and some of the more unlucky ones had to be warded. Some died from the steam exuded as the hail poured in a hellish torrent onto the surrounding states. Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne...
Yuji stopped short as the Commander of Adelaide Base stepped out of the sealed, air-conditioned control room to meet him.
"Junior Lieutenant Yuji Evin, reporting, Sir!" "At ease, soldier." The Commander was a large, demeaning man with a thick mustache and equally thick, brown hair. "I'm Colonel Tyler. I was informed by New Zealand Base Commander that you might pass by here." Before Yuji had left the base, he had already contacted New Zealand Base, informing the registry that he would report to their base by traveling from Sydney. Apparently they had assumed correctly that with the destruction of the Sydney Base, he would return to the Adelaide Base. "Yes Sir. May I ask if I can acquire some kind of transport to the New Zealand base from here, Sir?" The Colonel grunted, not being used to the heat pouring in from the entrance. "No, not here. We only co-ordinate supplies and organize some small sorties. The closest place you can acquire any kind of transport capable of traveling to NZ in this kind of weather is in Alice Springs. It's not even a base, though. It's civilian. You're going to have to buy your way to NZ, I'm afraid. Take these credits." The Colonel produced a small card from his pocket and offered it to Yuji. "Your liaison is also civilian—name's Yuno, Japanese. You're in good hands. Her number's on the card—call her when you get there." The Colonel saluted quickly. He was starting to perspire. Yuji returned the salute and dragged his supplies back to his land rover, just in time to see the tires explode from the heat. He heard a barely audible snicker from the Colonel as he re-entered the base. Cursing, he prodded the door open with a stick, and, thankful he had left the engine running, drove very slowly to a shelter, where he changed the tires and went on his way.
==========
January 13th, UC 0079 Time : 0600 hours
Progress had been slow. Although the heat had subsided substantially, Yuji didn't dare to travel too fast, because his engines were already making a funny noise. He was more than thankful his fuel tanks hadn't exploded, but that was because he stopped for shelter when the midday sun was out. He kept himself awake during his early morning (or really late-night) drives by listening to the secret Federation Broadcast station. It didn't report much, except how many of their men they were losing in the war, every day. There had been spirited attempts to glorify the number of kills the Federation pilots had made, until the broadcaster realized it sounded stupid saying things like, 'One of ours made a kill this morning!' followed by 'In other news, the entire 5th fleet was destroyed by a Red Zaku this morning.', because it only made the overwhelming difference even more apparent. Yuji had looked forward to those broadcasts, because it had made him laugh.
He was thinking about the Red Zaku when the radio announced, very quietly, that Zion was attempting Operation British once again. Plans were being made, the announcer reported, to stop the catastrophe from happening again.
Yuji cursed, and accelerated. If only there was something he could do—some effort he could make to stop Zion from attempting these inhumane things...to never have to see that scene again...
The look of pure, stunned innocence flashing across the little girl's face as her mother's hands fused with her own.
Yuji floored the pedal and the engine roared into life.
==========
January 13th, UC 0079 Time : 0920 hours
"Ms Yuno? I'm Yuji Evin, from the Federation Forces. Where can I meet you?" With one hand on the wheel and another holding the card, Yuji cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear. "I'll meet you near at the North entrance, Lieutenant. Are you already here?" the soft voice was pitched slightly low, indicating the person had just been woken up by Yuji. It had a slightly reprimanding tone. "Well, I'm 10 minutes away from the town. Take your time Ma'am, I'll wait." Yuji heard a loud thud and the other person on the line iterated clearly audible swear words he had not expected any woman to know. "Sorry 'bout that, hit my f- ..er, foot, aha!-yes, foot, on the, er, corner of the, urm, bed. I'll be seeing you then, Lieutenant." There was another curse, cut short as Ms Yuno switched off her handset. Yuji held the phone for a while as he permitted himself to raise an eyebrow speechlessly.
Alice Springs was in the outback of Australia, in the centre of nowhere, but it wasn't sleepy like most other nature-based towns, it was modern and trendy, and was a perfect place to visit. Now, however, a terrified silence covered the town, as the citizens stayed indoors, away from the unshielded light of the sun, terrified to even look in the skies against the glare of the sun to see if there was another colony dropping on them.
There was a red land-rover parked below the shadow of a large building. Most of the trees were barren, their leaves stripped away in the intense heat. A young woman came out of the car and waved as Yuji drove towards her.
"Yuji Evin, Ma'am." He parked in the shade, as close as he could to the stone building, and extended his hand to the young woman. She had a baseball cap on, with a ponytail peeking out from behind her cap. She was wearing a tank top, cut jeans, and sunglasses. The sun had been extremely vigorous recently, and Yuji had largely avoided the harmful effects by staying out of the roads in daylight and driving at full speed at night. His body had been quick to react, and the sudden drops in temperature – from the blazing heat of the day to the freezing cold of the nights, were almost taking their toll on him.
The young woman extended a hand. "I'm Yuno Enoshima. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands, and Yuno subconsciously wiped her hands on her jeans. "Please show me your ID, Lieutenant."
Yuji fumbled around, produced it, and she returned the ID after checking it thoroughly. They transferred Yuji's stores from his battered Federation Land-rover to Yuno's Red land-rover. There was a small federation logo on the hood of the Land-Rover's trunk.
"You came from Colonel Tyler, yes?" Yuno asked. "Well, there are certain things even he did not know about peaceful Alice Springs. Let me show you what I mean." They drove for a half-hour, and as Yuji watched in disbelief, part of a cliff opened up, and they entered a small compound. Yuno stopped her car, and they emerged. It was cool, and the soft humming of machinery even though there wasn't any machinery in sight told Yuji this was not just a hiding place. The floor jolted, and started moving down.
As the lift reached the deepest level, the sight from the descending lift that greeted Yuji was nothing he had ever seen. The gigantic base lay deep within the earth, but it wasn't just a huge warehouse like many of the underground bases Yuji had seen—it had an entire fleet of Medea Transport Planes, rows and rows of Type 61 Tanks, and an entire runway dedicated to more than 10 squadrons of Flymander Attack airplanes. Far behind the Flymanders Yuji could see a darker colored plane being worked on.
"This, Lieutenant Yuji, is Alice Springs Base." Yuno said, a small smile on her face. "Here we prepared for the eventual attack of Zion when we received news of their increasing military strength a year ago." Her smile faded. "But yet with all the logistics preparations, all the mustering and development, we still have not found any weapon powerful enough to stop the "Zaku". And now, we hear, the Zion Aces are making their names by killing more of our Federation Pilots." She turned to Yuji. "New Zealand is one of many facilities for development—the others are in Japan, China, Africa, USA, even Sydney, which was home to so many promising plans. We are desperate for test pilots, Lieutenant, but everyday we try, experiments fail, and people die. And everyday, the Zion Army kills more of our own."
The lift stopped, and Yuno stepped out. "We need a miracle, Lieutenant. And we're hoping someone will bring us one quickly."
January 11th, UC 0079 The day after the Colony Drop
It was noon before Yuji reached Adelaide again. He felt battered, and dead inside him, but more than anything he felt a fire within his spirit so strong it seemed to engulf him. Right after he had started the engine to return to the Australian state, the radio had reported that the 4th Federation Assault Fleet led by Admiral Mcharty had retreated, with 70% casualties. Captain Lucella's carrier, the "Athelas", had no doubt been sunk, since the radio newsperson had kindly read out the names of the surviving captains of the vessels still afloat. And right after that, in line with delicious irony, the broadcaster had reported that Side 6 was declaring itself neutral, an island of nonchalance in the midst of a raging inferno.
Yuji didn't know why, but he somehow felt insulted by that.
There was a small federation supply base in Adelaide, but Yuji wasn't sure if he could get to New Zealand from there. The destruction from the Zion Colony Drop had not only turned Sydney into a sea, it had also affected the ozone layer, making a temporary hole so large there was little protection against the rays of the sun. An hour in the open would render any man crispy. Planes were probably a lot like flying microwave ovens in this temperature.
He jumped out of his Land Rover as he pulled up beside the sheltered Adelaide Base, dragging his supplies with him quickly. The heat had already blown all the street lamps, and the glass lay on the concrete floors, melting away merrily. Vehicles left in the open too long had blown their glass from the extreme heat, and their doors and hoods were starting to warp. It had rained the night before—a cursed hail of boiling water from the rivers and streams emptied from the Colony Drop, and it had fallen like sharp daggers on unsuspecting pedestrians. Many had to be treated with burns, and some of the more unlucky ones had to be warded. Some died from the steam exuded as the hail poured in a hellish torrent onto the surrounding states. Adelaide, Canberra, Melbourne...
Yuji stopped short as the Commander of Adelaide Base stepped out of the sealed, air-conditioned control room to meet him.
"Junior Lieutenant Yuji Evin, reporting, Sir!" "At ease, soldier." The Commander was a large, demeaning man with a thick mustache and equally thick, brown hair. "I'm Colonel Tyler. I was informed by New Zealand Base Commander that you might pass by here." Before Yuji had left the base, he had already contacted New Zealand Base, informing the registry that he would report to their base by traveling from Sydney. Apparently they had assumed correctly that with the destruction of the Sydney Base, he would return to the Adelaide Base. "Yes Sir. May I ask if I can acquire some kind of transport to the New Zealand base from here, Sir?" The Colonel grunted, not being used to the heat pouring in from the entrance. "No, not here. We only co-ordinate supplies and organize some small sorties. The closest place you can acquire any kind of transport capable of traveling to NZ in this kind of weather is in Alice Springs. It's not even a base, though. It's civilian. You're going to have to buy your way to NZ, I'm afraid. Take these credits." The Colonel produced a small card from his pocket and offered it to Yuji. "Your liaison is also civilian—name's Yuno, Japanese. You're in good hands. Her number's on the card—call her when you get there." The Colonel saluted quickly. He was starting to perspire. Yuji returned the salute and dragged his supplies back to his land rover, just in time to see the tires explode from the heat. He heard a barely audible snicker from the Colonel as he re-entered the base. Cursing, he prodded the door open with a stick, and, thankful he had left the engine running, drove very slowly to a shelter, where he changed the tires and went on his way.
==========
January 13th, UC 0079 Time : 0600 hours
Progress had been slow. Although the heat had subsided substantially, Yuji didn't dare to travel too fast, because his engines were already making a funny noise. He was more than thankful his fuel tanks hadn't exploded, but that was because he stopped for shelter when the midday sun was out. He kept himself awake during his early morning (or really late-night) drives by listening to the secret Federation Broadcast station. It didn't report much, except how many of their men they were losing in the war, every day. There had been spirited attempts to glorify the number of kills the Federation pilots had made, until the broadcaster realized it sounded stupid saying things like, 'One of ours made a kill this morning!' followed by 'In other news, the entire 5th fleet was destroyed by a Red Zaku this morning.', because it only made the overwhelming difference even more apparent. Yuji had looked forward to those broadcasts, because it had made him laugh.
He was thinking about the Red Zaku when the radio announced, very quietly, that Zion was attempting Operation British once again. Plans were being made, the announcer reported, to stop the catastrophe from happening again.
Yuji cursed, and accelerated. If only there was something he could do—some effort he could make to stop Zion from attempting these inhumane things...to never have to see that scene again...
The look of pure, stunned innocence flashing across the little girl's face as her mother's hands fused with her own.
Yuji floored the pedal and the engine roared into life.
==========
January 13th, UC 0079 Time : 0920 hours
"Ms Yuno? I'm Yuji Evin, from the Federation Forces. Where can I meet you?" With one hand on the wheel and another holding the card, Yuji cradled the phone between his shoulder and ear. "I'll meet you near at the North entrance, Lieutenant. Are you already here?" the soft voice was pitched slightly low, indicating the person had just been woken up by Yuji. It had a slightly reprimanding tone. "Well, I'm 10 minutes away from the town. Take your time Ma'am, I'll wait." Yuji heard a loud thud and the other person on the line iterated clearly audible swear words he had not expected any woman to know. "Sorry 'bout that, hit my f- ..er, foot, aha!-yes, foot, on the, er, corner of the, urm, bed. I'll be seeing you then, Lieutenant." There was another curse, cut short as Ms Yuno switched off her handset. Yuji held the phone for a while as he permitted himself to raise an eyebrow speechlessly.
Alice Springs was in the outback of Australia, in the centre of nowhere, but it wasn't sleepy like most other nature-based towns, it was modern and trendy, and was a perfect place to visit. Now, however, a terrified silence covered the town, as the citizens stayed indoors, away from the unshielded light of the sun, terrified to even look in the skies against the glare of the sun to see if there was another colony dropping on them.
There was a red land-rover parked below the shadow of a large building. Most of the trees were barren, their leaves stripped away in the intense heat. A young woman came out of the car and waved as Yuji drove towards her.
"Yuji Evin, Ma'am." He parked in the shade, as close as he could to the stone building, and extended his hand to the young woman. She had a baseball cap on, with a ponytail peeking out from behind her cap. She was wearing a tank top, cut jeans, and sunglasses. The sun had been extremely vigorous recently, and Yuji had largely avoided the harmful effects by staying out of the roads in daylight and driving at full speed at night. His body had been quick to react, and the sudden drops in temperature – from the blazing heat of the day to the freezing cold of the nights, were almost taking their toll on him.
The young woman extended a hand. "I'm Yuno Enoshima. Pleased to meet you." They shook hands, and Yuno subconsciously wiped her hands on her jeans. "Please show me your ID, Lieutenant."
Yuji fumbled around, produced it, and she returned the ID after checking it thoroughly. They transferred Yuji's stores from his battered Federation Land-rover to Yuno's Red land-rover. There was a small federation logo on the hood of the Land-Rover's trunk.
"You came from Colonel Tyler, yes?" Yuno asked. "Well, there are certain things even he did not know about peaceful Alice Springs. Let me show you what I mean." They drove for a half-hour, and as Yuji watched in disbelief, part of a cliff opened up, and they entered a small compound. Yuno stopped her car, and they emerged. It was cool, and the soft humming of machinery even though there wasn't any machinery in sight told Yuji this was not just a hiding place. The floor jolted, and started moving down.
As the lift reached the deepest level, the sight from the descending lift that greeted Yuji was nothing he had ever seen. The gigantic base lay deep within the earth, but it wasn't just a huge warehouse like many of the underground bases Yuji had seen—it had an entire fleet of Medea Transport Planes, rows and rows of Type 61 Tanks, and an entire runway dedicated to more than 10 squadrons of Flymander Attack airplanes. Far behind the Flymanders Yuji could see a darker colored plane being worked on.
"This, Lieutenant Yuji, is Alice Springs Base." Yuno said, a small smile on her face. "Here we prepared for the eventual attack of Zion when we received news of their increasing military strength a year ago." Her smile faded. "But yet with all the logistics preparations, all the mustering and development, we still have not found any weapon powerful enough to stop the "Zaku". And now, we hear, the Zion Aces are making their names by killing more of our Federation Pilots." She turned to Yuji. "New Zealand is one of many facilities for development—the others are in Japan, China, Africa, USA, even Sydney, which was home to so many promising plans. We are desperate for test pilots, Lieutenant, but everyday we try, experiments fail, and people die. And everyday, the Zion Army kills more of our own."
The lift stopped, and Yuno stepped out. "We need a miracle, Lieutenant. And we're hoping someone will bring us one quickly."