Hello, everyone! Sorry for the delay in the updates. Having devoted three
chapters to Enrica, you may think that I have forgotten Jamil... well, of
course I have not! I am trying to present the things and different sides
in chronological order. So, please be patient. Here it is - chapter 15.
The historians in the following decades have argued over the exact date of the commencement of the War. Although documents have been sorted out, still the exact date could not be defined. During those years, it was generally regarded that the War was initiated in December. December, in Christianity, symbolizes hope and in climatology, it is a month in which El Niño started to show its power. Unfortunately, history of mankind also took the worse side of the symbolism: it was the downfall of peace.
Months of negotiations have passed, but still, to the disappointment to the people searching for peaceful union of the Earth and the Colonies, no agreements were reached. Later, Zaider, as the head of the negotiating team, claimed that the agenda proposed by the Federation side was not acceptable. He stated that the agenda did not include several points in which the people in the colonies insisted upon, e.g. the right of commanding the troops and resources allocation. Zaider, representing the people in the colonies, declared their independence, no longer in the control of the Federation. The Federation responded by stating the Federation and the people on Earth had the absolute right to participate in the discussion-making process in the Satellites. Most importantly, the Federation refused to promise not to bend the will of the Satellites' government by force. This shattered the last hope of the people who were looking forward to a peaceful future. The worst case was yet to come, not three hours later, three bodies belonged to a space patrolling team of Earth Federation's Air Force were discovered in a ruined spacecraft drifting in the frontier of the Federation's defense line. The spacecraft was ransacked and it was reported that one of the 'important machineries' and some documents were missing. This bloody prelude seemed to foretell the ending of the war itself and, of course, peace.
22:30pm, December 6th, The Satellite Colonies
"...Thanks for watching the evening news." Just as the words flew out from the reporter's lips, his eyes widened a little. However, he quickly resumed his composure, "Special news: There'll be a presidential address. Mr. President Zaider, will be present in a few minutes to address a new policy concerning the peaceful future of the colonies and the Earth..." The scene has changed. Through the camera, the citizens in the colonies saw a familiar, polished desktop with the model of different satellite colonies placed at the right hand side. His presidency, Mr. Zaider, was sitting upright behind his desk in his office. He was a little bit tired by judging his appearance, but his eyes retained the same sharpness as ever. His tight lips moved and words were heard.
"My fellow citizens in the satellite colonies, it is late at night now when the children were fast asleep in their mothers' arms and their comfortable beds. May the peacefulness be granted to them and when the morning Sun rises tomorrow, hopes and righteousness will be seen again as clear as daylight. Children are our future and the only people to carry our legacy, may they grow up in a peaceful land. It is my deepest regret to tell you that after hours of hard work and preparation by the people in the colonies, the negotiation between the Satellites and Earth has come to an end. Despite all the things we've done, the Earth Federation has turned a blind eye to all the efforts we put on. Due to their greed and injustice, they have refused to allow us to participate in resources allocation and the most importantly, to take the commands of the troops in the space. We are the people living in space and we have absolute right to take care of our resources and our own safety. Agreeing to these terms meant that we accepted the humiliation placed on us. Also, the Earth Federation once again threatened us with their military power. Therefore, the leaders in the colonies and I have no choice, but to quit from the negotiation. I now, by the power given by the citizens, announced that starting from 22:30pm satellite time the colonies will be independent from the Earth Federation. I understand that by this decision, the Earth Federation will no doubt declared wars against us and my fellow citizens, we'll suffer from the brutality of the Federation. However, the brutality shown will not slightly alter our will. We, as the descendants, of the brave people, a new race, who decided to explore the outer space decades ago. Among them, there were not only geniuses, but also thousands of ordinary, hardworking people. They have done everything to safeguard our future and now it is our responsibility to defend their ideals. Through unity of us, the newtypes who have been in advance in the evolutionary process, we will secure the final victory of our side. We'll try our best to prevent bloodshed, but we also have to be prepared for defending our home. Thirty minutes later, the Secretary of Defense will announce the strategy we used and also the recruitment of service men and women. The officials have already submitted the reports concerning the amount and quality of food, water and energy we have. There are sufficient amount of reserve for us to endure the hardship brought by the possible conflict. Resources will be reallocated to maximize its use to our society. I, therefore, ask for your patience and cooperation, in case the new policies bring inconvenience to you and your family. The new measures imposed concerning the energy use will be announced by the Secretary of Energy..."
00:58am, 7th December, a space patrolling shuttle(SP004)
"Do you think there will be another war?" one officer asked.
"I'm not sure. God knows. I personally think the war has never stopped." One answered.
"I hope the newtypes can settle these problems quickly."
"Hm...let's check the communication between the colonies. Start with channel 217 first."
...
One officer's face has turned from surprise to sheer horror. He turned to his company, "Am I mad finally or do you hear the same thing?"
"The deciphering system functions perfectly... I think we've to report to the headquarters." The other answered.
01:20am, 7th December, Federation Headquarters in Space
"SP004, do you copy?" "SP004, state your position."
"Captain, we've lost contact with SP004 for more than 20 minutes and it has disappeared from the radar totally15 minutes ago."
21:45pm, 10th December, Federation Headquarters in Space "Team 1, code name 'ginko', stays at the area E7N3x4K. Team 2, code name 'sycamore', station at E4N5x10K. Mobile Team, code name 'robin', after Team 1&2 have attacked, go for the flagship." The command was made and all the soldiers saluted to their commander.
The soldiers were then dismissed. On their way for launching their mobile suits, Jamil noticed that Lucille had a worrying expression.
"Lucille, are you OK?" Jamil asked with concern.
Lucille sensed the nervousness of him and she soothed him by giving him her gentle smile and soft blue eyes. Her smile and her eyes never ceased to amaze Jamil, power and gentleness flew out like a murmuring brook. However, Jamil also noticed one more thing: her crystal-clear blue eyes were clouded with worry. Jamil has grown to respect and love his supervisor during these two years. She was kind, gentle, sensible, intelligent and graceful. It seemed to be impossible to find so many good things in a single human being, but she deserved all the praise. To him, she was not only his supervisor, but his mentor and close friend. They spent nearly everyday together, learning new techniques and facing challenges. Lucille, too, treasured her young, diligent friend. She wished everything best for him, however, at the same time, she was unwilling to be parted from him. This mutual bond was strong and truthful, Lucille would be glad to tell him all. She knew that this young, trusting friend would be able to ease her mind. But she was his supervisor, after all, and was responsible for leading him and guiding him. Could she tell him her 'visions' when those 'visions' contradicting every point of her ideals and believes? There were heading for space then and she didn't want to confuse and distract her young friend. Maybe, after that conflict, she could listen to his interpretation to her 'visions', as in the old times.
Lucille and Jamil arrived at the space frontier no.7 three hours later. Everything was in chaotic conditions. The technicians kept shouting at one another. "Power up!" "This one's ready." "Hey, call the senior engineer." Jamil had to raise his voice in order to be heard.
"Seems like not everyone is well prepared."
Lucille absentmindedly nodded. Suddenly, she stopped abruptly and shivered. This was not the first time for Jamil to see Lucille behaved like that. The momentary shiver would be followed by a daze. Recently, she had that strange behaviour twice a day, sometimes even more. It seemed that she had a 'vision', but this time, it seemed to be a presage for her spirit was usually low after this interlude. Jamil briefly touched her forearm, immediately too, felt a strong current running through his body. He 'saw' a glimpse of the vision. It was a blurred image implicating a ruined city. He knew by heart that it was not his vision, it was hers. Though unclear, the scene was distressing and he quickly and exceptionally broke her thoughts. He called her gently and squeezed her arm. Lucille was taken aback and turned her gaze towards her friend. Her lips quivered and her gaze stilled. Her face was pale. All Jamil could see was a tired and confused young woman, much different from her usual self.
"Just now I..." Lucille began and was rudely interrupted by their team leader. "1st Lieutenant Lulliant, please go to your mobile suit NOW!"
Without a word, she nodded and headed towards her mobile suit. She settle inside it and heard a reassuring murmur reverberated in her head, "after the war, Lucille, after the war." And she smiled.
Wars in space are very different from those on Earth. Directions and Altitudes are universal on Earth, no matter in marine or terrestrial environment or even the sky. Developing space wars involved very different tactics. The lack of direction in space leads to the development of a new 3-D grid reference system, the 'Polaris System'. This grid systems utilizes a reference line drawn from the Polar star to the center of the Earth, so that in anytime of the year, the directional reference is independent from the surroundings. The coordinate can be easily read out, e.g. 'E4N9x2K' means when facing Polaris, the position of the particular object should be on the right hand side, 4 standard units from the virtual line, 2 kilometers away from the atmosphere. By the time of the fifth space war, all the grid reference system used in the communication between the space army was adapted to the 'Polaris System'.
Another problem has emerged immediately after people tried to fight in space. At that time, there were two major types of weapons, the lasers and the missiles. Although dark matter in the space does exist, it does very little in absorbing the energy of laser or producing frictions to decrease the rate of the propagation of missiles. Thus, lasers become more potent in space, traveling at least three times longer than they do on Earth. For missiles, since the gravitational force and friction are different from those on Earth, the missiles can virtually go for indefinite distance without decreasing their speed. These special properties further create two problems: 1) although energy used for each missile or laser shot can be reduced, which leads to the reduction in the cost of weapon production, this also means that the area/space involved for the same number of soldiers are 3 times larger. Also, every soldier has to be aware of any shots from anywhere. The power of the traditional strategies was subdued and the answer lies on a more individual attack and a more sensitive radar system. 'Globe attack' has also been developed to allow soldiers attack in a 3-D scale and also shield each other.
'Robin' gathered at the location shielded by the three teams. It was four hours after the briefing sessions. Intelligence continued to be fed in: there were about 4000 soldiers in the battlefield from the Colonies, about 1/500 of the (suggested) population aged between 16 – 50 in the colonies. Clearly, the colonies were well – prepared. The troops were divided into three groups, the commanders are on the flagships, where were specialized in defense. There were also a team of assault spacecraft, and it was especially important when it came to high speed navigation and long - distance shooting. Flocks of mobile suits formed the last group and they were regarded as the most deadly weapons at that time due to their all- roundedness. They are highly mobile and can perform close-contact combat. For long-distance shooting, each mobile suit was equipped with a rifle. The system within the mobile suit helped the pilot to adapt to the high speed and also the great deceleration rate. Only the most skillful pilots were allowed to maneuver such state – of – art weapons, Lucille and Jamil were among one of them.
'Robin' has been on the same spot for 5 hours, waiting for the signal for assault. The Space Army seemed to have stopped adjusting their pattern and position for a long time, however they seemed stuck in their place and did not want to initiate the war. Nothing happened at both sides. Suddenly a highly panic female voice shrieked and the voice reverberated inside Jamil's head,
"Jamil!"
Jamil looked at 500 m away from him, he used the intercom, "Lucille?" he asked. No response. "Lucille?" he asked again. An uneasy feeling swept over him, he could sense her somewhere away from him grasping. "Be careful." She choked out.
Jamil quickly checked all the sensors, none of them showed any abnormal readings. As he was always wary of possible danger, he checked the surroundings again with a higher level of sensitivity. He found there was a dim spot on the screen, and the position ...
"An attack's coming!" he shouted alarmingly to the intercom and mentally warned all other soldiers. Immediately, the troops split to avoid the energy wave from the hidden cannon. Still, dozens of them could not escape and the remaining ones began the attack.
"Jamil, come here!" Lucille resumed her gentle and steady voice. Jamil watch her lacing through numerous laser beams, like an angel spreading her wings, gliding undaunted and faithfully to the place of turbulence. As in normal times, he followed her. They, too, fired numerous times, to anything which stood between them and their target. They met the attack from the opposite side, rains of laser beams showered like heavy downpours in the worst storm. Sometimes, they were pushed back by the furious attack and sometimes, they advanced at an extremely high speed, taking the advantage of their energy re-organizing themselves. Jamil did not think much all the way, he just concentrated on fighting and telepathically communicating with Lucille. Like any good partners, they watched each other's back. There are times that Jamil would be the one to attack and Lucille would shield him from any danger, in other times, it was Jamil fighting gallantly to avoid Lucille from getting hurt. They finally reached the flagship. The other members in 'Robin' also arrived. Just as they began the onslaught on the commanders of their enemy, dozens and dozens of mobile suit came to rescue. Without a second thought, Jamil navigated right in front of the flock of mobile suits. There were equal forces from both sides, and the fight was tough. Spectacular shows with explosions and rains of laser beams were all around, surrounding and engulfing every remaining visual sense. However, audibly, both Lucille and Jamil heard nothing. To be exact, they just heard the rumbling of their metallic coat, as waves and waves of energy hit those metals, not the thundering sound normal people on Earth expected to hear. Being in the vacuum of space, even the most experienced soldiers had to take time accustom to the unusual balance of the senses. Of course, the hectic pace of the battlefield helped them to quickly adjust to the new environment, but this time, Lucille seemed to be too distracted to focus. Not only she could not shield Jamil from the ongoing attack, she nearly got herself shot a few times. She noticed Jamil had changed his fighting style from the 'big brother' mode to the 'big sister' mode as they favouritely called the different roles. Jamil has been staying in the protecting role for a very long time already and yet he seemed unwilling to leave his role.
"Jamil, you'll go for the left and I the right."
Jamil hesitated for a little while before replying, "Copy." Jamil made the engines to work at their highest capacity and sped to the left hand side of the team of mobile suit attacking them. Things were back to the old times again; Jamil sped to the front of the leading mobile suit, skillfully avoiding the slaying attack from his opponent. He led one of them to chase after him and suddenly made a sharp 90° turn, exposing unwary man to Lucille's shooting range. Lucille shot accurately to the target without any hesitations. However, someone in the team must have apprehended their sly motions and Lucille was aimed after her victim. Just as the soldier thought he would blast Lucille by surprise, his mobile suit was ravaged by Jamil, who has tactically positioned himself in a place where he could protect Lucille. With two of the members wiped out, the assault pattern of the opposing team seemed less coherent. The remaining six members struggled to get a strategic way of attacking and maintaining the pattern. They grabbed this opportunity and quickly disarmed all of them. With a few elegant swings, Lucille managed to leave other opponents behind, but Jamil was not that lucky and had to struggle with other mobile suits. Lucille saw this and quickly went back to help him and confronted a mobile suit, which prepared to obstruct her way by a combat at arm's length. Lucille, however, was a more skillful and experienced one and raised her rifle, aiming right at the pilot's cabinet of her opponent.
Right at this moment, what Jamil heard was faint 'God help me' slipped from Lucille's lip and her mobile suit rushed towards his direction at an alarming speed.
The historians in the following decades have argued over the exact date of the commencement of the War. Although documents have been sorted out, still the exact date could not be defined. During those years, it was generally regarded that the War was initiated in December. December, in Christianity, symbolizes hope and in climatology, it is a month in which El Niño started to show its power. Unfortunately, history of mankind also took the worse side of the symbolism: it was the downfall of peace.
Months of negotiations have passed, but still, to the disappointment to the people searching for peaceful union of the Earth and the Colonies, no agreements were reached. Later, Zaider, as the head of the negotiating team, claimed that the agenda proposed by the Federation side was not acceptable. He stated that the agenda did not include several points in which the people in the colonies insisted upon, e.g. the right of commanding the troops and resources allocation. Zaider, representing the people in the colonies, declared their independence, no longer in the control of the Federation. The Federation responded by stating the Federation and the people on Earth had the absolute right to participate in the discussion-making process in the Satellites. Most importantly, the Federation refused to promise not to bend the will of the Satellites' government by force. This shattered the last hope of the people who were looking forward to a peaceful future. The worst case was yet to come, not three hours later, three bodies belonged to a space patrolling team of Earth Federation's Air Force were discovered in a ruined spacecraft drifting in the frontier of the Federation's defense line. The spacecraft was ransacked and it was reported that one of the 'important machineries' and some documents were missing. This bloody prelude seemed to foretell the ending of the war itself and, of course, peace.
22:30pm, December 6th, The Satellite Colonies
"...Thanks for watching the evening news." Just as the words flew out from the reporter's lips, his eyes widened a little. However, he quickly resumed his composure, "Special news: There'll be a presidential address. Mr. President Zaider, will be present in a few minutes to address a new policy concerning the peaceful future of the colonies and the Earth..." The scene has changed. Through the camera, the citizens in the colonies saw a familiar, polished desktop with the model of different satellite colonies placed at the right hand side. His presidency, Mr. Zaider, was sitting upright behind his desk in his office. He was a little bit tired by judging his appearance, but his eyes retained the same sharpness as ever. His tight lips moved and words were heard.
"My fellow citizens in the satellite colonies, it is late at night now when the children were fast asleep in their mothers' arms and their comfortable beds. May the peacefulness be granted to them and when the morning Sun rises tomorrow, hopes and righteousness will be seen again as clear as daylight. Children are our future and the only people to carry our legacy, may they grow up in a peaceful land. It is my deepest regret to tell you that after hours of hard work and preparation by the people in the colonies, the negotiation between the Satellites and Earth has come to an end. Despite all the things we've done, the Earth Federation has turned a blind eye to all the efforts we put on. Due to their greed and injustice, they have refused to allow us to participate in resources allocation and the most importantly, to take the commands of the troops in the space. We are the people living in space and we have absolute right to take care of our resources and our own safety. Agreeing to these terms meant that we accepted the humiliation placed on us. Also, the Earth Federation once again threatened us with their military power. Therefore, the leaders in the colonies and I have no choice, but to quit from the negotiation. I now, by the power given by the citizens, announced that starting from 22:30pm satellite time the colonies will be independent from the Earth Federation. I understand that by this decision, the Earth Federation will no doubt declared wars against us and my fellow citizens, we'll suffer from the brutality of the Federation. However, the brutality shown will not slightly alter our will. We, as the descendants, of the brave people, a new race, who decided to explore the outer space decades ago. Among them, there were not only geniuses, but also thousands of ordinary, hardworking people. They have done everything to safeguard our future and now it is our responsibility to defend their ideals. Through unity of us, the newtypes who have been in advance in the evolutionary process, we will secure the final victory of our side. We'll try our best to prevent bloodshed, but we also have to be prepared for defending our home. Thirty minutes later, the Secretary of Defense will announce the strategy we used and also the recruitment of service men and women. The officials have already submitted the reports concerning the amount and quality of food, water and energy we have. There are sufficient amount of reserve for us to endure the hardship brought by the possible conflict. Resources will be reallocated to maximize its use to our society. I, therefore, ask for your patience and cooperation, in case the new policies bring inconvenience to you and your family. The new measures imposed concerning the energy use will be announced by the Secretary of Energy..."
00:58am, 7th December, a space patrolling shuttle(SP004)
"Do you think there will be another war?" one officer asked.
"I'm not sure. God knows. I personally think the war has never stopped." One answered.
"I hope the newtypes can settle these problems quickly."
"Hm...let's check the communication between the colonies. Start with channel 217 first."
...
One officer's face has turned from surprise to sheer horror. He turned to his company, "Am I mad finally or do you hear the same thing?"
"The deciphering system functions perfectly... I think we've to report to the headquarters." The other answered.
01:20am, 7th December, Federation Headquarters in Space
"SP004, do you copy?" "SP004, state your position."
"Captain, we've lost contact with SP004 for more than 20 minutes and it has disappeared from the radar totally15 minutes ago."
21:45pm, 10th December, Federation Headquarters in Space "Team 1, code name 'ginko', stays at the area E7N3x4K. Team 2, code name 'sycamore', station at E4N5x10K. Mobile Team, code name 'robin', after Team 1&2 have attacked, go for the flagship." The command was made and all the soldiers saluted to their commander.
The soldiers were then dismissed. On their way for launching their mobile suits, Jamil noticed that Lucille had a worrying expression.
"Lucille, are you OK?" Jamil asked with concern.
Lucille sensed the nervousness of him and she soothed him by giving him her gentle smile and soft blue eyes. Her smile and her eyes never ceased to amaze Jamil, power and gentleness flew out like a murmuring brook. However, Jamil also noticed one more thing: her crystal-clear blue eyes were clouded with worry. Jamil has grown to respect and love his supervisor during these two years. She was kind, gentle, sensible, intelligent and graceful. It seemed to be impossible to find so many good things in a single human being, but she deserved all the praise. To him, she was not only his supervisor, but his mentor and close friend. They spent nearly everyday together, learning new techniques and facing challenges. Lucille, too, treasured her young, diligent friend. She wished everything best for him, however, at the same time, she was unwilling to be parted from him. This mutual bond was strong and truthful, Lucille would be glad to tell him all. She knew that this young, trusting friend would be able to ease her mind. But she was his supervisor, after all, and was responsible for leading him and guiding him. Could she tell him her 'visions' when those 'visions' contradicting every point of her ideals and believes? There were heading for space then and she didn't want to confuse and distract her young friend. Maybe, after that conflict, she could listen to his interpretation to her 'visions', as in the old times.
Lucille and Jamil arrived at the space frontier no.7 three hours later. Everything was in chaotic conditions. The technicians kept shouting at one another. "Power up!" "This one's ready." "Hey, call the senior engineer." Jamil had to raise his voice in order to be heard.
"Seems like not everyone is well prepared."
Lucille absentmindedly nodded. Suddenly, she stopped abruptly and shivered. This was not the first time for Jamil to see Lucille behaved like that. The momentary shiver would be followed by a daze. Recently, she had that strange behaviour twice a day, sometimes even more. It seemed that she had a 'vision', but this time, it seemed to be a presage for her spirit was usually low after this interlude. Jamil briefly touched her forearm, immediately too, felt a strong current running through his body. He 'saw' a glimpse of the vision. It was a blurred image implicating a ruined city. He knew by heart that it was not his vision, it was hers. Though unclear, the scene was distressing and he quickly and exceptionally broke her thoughts. He called her gently and squeezed her arm. Lucille was taken aback and turned her gaze towards her friend. Her lips quivered and her gaze stilled. Her face was pale. All Jamil could see was a tired and confused young woman, much different from her usual self.
"Just now I..." Lucille began and was rudely interrupted by their team leader. "1st Lieutenant Lulliant, please go to your mobile suit NOW!"
Without a word, she nodded and headed towards her mobile suit. She settle inside it and heard a reassuring murmur reverberated in her head, "after the war, Lucille, after the war." And she smiled.
Wars in space are very different from those on Earth. Directions and Altitudes are universal on Earth, no matter in marine or terrestrial environment or even the sky. Developing space wars involved very different tactics. The lack of direction in space leads to the development of a new 3-D grid reference system, the 'Polaris System'. This grid systems utilizes a reference line drawn from the Polar star to the center of the Earth, so that in anytime of the year, the directional reference is independent from the surroundings. The coordinate can be easily read out, e.g. 'E4N9x2K' means when facing Polaris, the position of the particular object should be on the right hand side, 4 standard units from the virtual line, 2 kilometers away from the atmosphere. By the time of the fifth space war, all the grid reference system used in the communication between the space army was adapted to the 'Polaris System'.
Another problem has emerged immediately after people tried to fight in space. At that time, there were two major types of weapons, the lasers and the missiles. Although dark matter in the space does exist, it does very little in absorbing the energy of laser or producing frictions to decrease the rate of the propagation of missiles. Thus, lasers become more potent in space, traveling at least three times longer than they do on Earth. For missiles, since the gravitational force and friction are different from those on Earth, the missiles can virtually go for indefinite distance without decreasing their speed. These special properties further create two problems: 1) although energy used for each missile or laser shot can be reduced, which leads to the reduction in the cost of weapon production, this also means that the area/space involved for the same number of soldiers are 3 times larger. Also, every soldier has to be aware of any shots from anywhere. The power of the traditional strategies was subdued and the answer lies on a more individual attack and a more sensitive radar system. 'Globe attack' has also been developed to allow soldiers attack in a 3-D scale and also shield each other.
'Robin' gathered at the location shielded by the three teams. It was four hours after the briefing sessions. Intelligence continued to be fed in: there were about 4000 soldiers in the battlefield from the Colonies, about 1/500 of the (suggested) population aged between 16 – 50 in the colonies. Clearly, the colonies were well – prepared. The troops were divided into three groups, the commanders are on the flagships, where were specialized in defense. There were also a team of assault spacecraft, and it was especially important when it came to high speed navigation and long - distance shooting. Flocks of mobile suits formed the last group and they were regarded as the most deadly weapons at that time due to their all- roundedness. They are highly mobile and can perform close-contact combat. For long-distance shooting, each mobile suit was equipped with a rifle. The system within the mobile suit helped the pilot to adapt to the high speed and also the great deceleration rate. Only the most skillful pilots were allowed to maneuver such state – of – art weapons, Lucille and Jamil were among one of them.
'Robin' has been on the same spot for 5 hours, waiting for the signal for assault. The Space Army seemed to have stopped adjusting their pattern and position for a long time, however they seemed stuck in their place and did not want to initiate the war. Nothing happened at both sides. Suddenly a highly panic female voice shrieked and the voice reverberated inside Jamil's head,
"Jamil!"
Jamil looked at 500 m away from him, he used the intercom, "Lucille?" he asked. No response. "Lucille?" he asked again. An uneasy feeling swept over him, he could sense her somewhere away from him grasping. "Be careful." She choked out.
Jamil quickly checked all the sensors, none of them showed any abnormal readings. As he was always wary of possible danger, he checked the surroundings again with a higher level of sensitivity. He found there was a dim spot on the screen, and the position ...
"An attack's coming!" he shouted alarmingly to the intercom and mentally warned all other soldiers. Immediately, the troops split to avoid the energy wave from the hidden cannon. Still, dozens of them could not escape and the remaining ones began the attack.
"Jamil, come here!" Lucille resumed her gentle and steady voice. Jamil watch her lacing through numerous laser beams, like an angel spreading her wings, gliding undaunted and faithfully to the place of turbulence. As in normal times, he followed her. They, too, fired numerous times, to anything which stood between them and their target. They met the attack from the opposite side, rains of laser beams showered like heavy downpours in the worst storm. Sometimes, they were pushed back by the furious attack and sometimes, they advanced at an extremely high speed, taking the advantage of their energy re-organizing themselves. Jamil did not think much all the way, he just concentrated on fighting and telepathically communicating with Lucille. Like any good partners, they watched each other's back. There are times that Jamil would be the one to attack and Lucille would shield him from any danger, in other times, it was Jamil fighting gallantly to avoid Lucille from getting hurt. They finally reached the flagship. The other members in 'Robin' also arrived. Just as they began the onslaught on the commanders of their enemy, dozens and dozens of mobile suit came to rescue. Without a second thought, Jamil navigated right in front of the flock of mobile suits. There were equal forces from both sides, and the fight was tough. Spectacular shows with explosions and rains of laser beams were all around, surrounding and engulfing every remaining visual sense. However, audibly, both Lucille and Jamil heard nothing. To be exact, they just heard the rumbling of their metallic coat, as waves and waves of energy hit those metals, not the thundering sound normal people on Earth expected to hear. Being in the vacuum of space, even the most experienced soldiers had to take time accustom to the unusual balance of the senses. Of course, the hectic pace of the battlefield helped them to quickly adjust to the new environment, but this time, Lucille seemed to be too distracted to focus. Not only she could not shield Jamil from the ongoing attack, she nearly got herself shot a few times. She noticed Jamil had changed his fighting style from the 'big brother' mode to the 'big sister' mode as they favouritely called the different roles. Jamil has been staying in the protecting role for a very long time already and yet he seemed unwilling to leave his role.
"Jamil, you'll go for the left and I the right."
Jamil hesitated for a little while before replying, "Copy." Jamil made the engines to work at their highest capacity and sped to the left hand side of the team of mobile suit attacking them. Things were back to the old times again; Jamil sped to the front of the leading mobile suit, skillfully avoiding the slaying attack from his opponent. He led one of them to chase after him and suddenly made a sharp 90° turn, exposing unwary man to Lucille's shooting range. Lucille shot accurately to the target without any hesitations. However, someone in the team must have apprehended their sly motions and Lucille was aimed after her victim. Just as the soldier thought he would blast Lucille by surprise, his mobile suit was ravaged by Jamil, who has tactically positioned himself in a place where he could protect Lucille. With two of the members wiped out, the assault pattern of the opposing team seemed less coherent. The remaining six members struggled to get a strategic way of attacking and maintaining the pattern. They grabbed this opportunity and quickly disarmed all of them. With a few elegant swings, Lucille managed to leave other opponents behind, but Jamil was not that lucky and had to struggle with other mobile suits. Lucille saw this and quickly went back to help him and confronted a mobile suit, which prepared to obstruct her way by a combat at arm's length. Lucille, however, was a more skillful and experienced one and raised her rifle, aiming right at the pilot's cabinet of her opponent.
Right at this moment, what Jamil heard was faint 'God help me' slipped from Lucille's lip and her mobile suit rushed towards his direction at an alarming speed.