Chapter XI: Desperate Plan
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Mess Hall, Gwaley,
Gwadan-class Neo Zeon battleship,
March 30, UC 0088
The soft, gentle gleam of Earth caressed the harrowing face of Armus Gray, but even the beautiful blue light failed to take away the cloud from his face. He had been a lieutenant for some time, going through hard times with Jack, Lynn, and the rest of the squadron. The loss of two-third of his men, including Jack Pielhau, felt like a beam saber that sliced his heart bit by bit, savoring his life only to sustain more heinous pain. The fact that he was on Neo Zeon battleship, the flagship of Twanning Fleet no less, couldn't rob him from his silent mourning. All Armus did the entire morning was to stare at Earth, paying homage to his memory of Jack Pielhau and the other 7 GraveWalkers that died in the Battle of Ayers City.
There were times when I wonder if I made a bad decision. There were moments when I questioned myself about paths that I took, whether I should stay on my course or took a different one. This time, I know I took a bad turn, but the path behind me is pretty much sealed. I have only a path to go on. I know that my men will die to keep me on my course, but it's the only trail I have.
Jack, Suzumi, Gordy, Samson, and everybody that died on Ayers City are my responsibility. Their talents are wasted, their lives are cut short because of my incongruity in taking the best measure for my unit. They hang their lives on me. They died to uphold an absurd philosophy that they didn't even agree, but they did it anyway because I told them to. And why am I still alive all this long?
"Sir," Lynn tapped Armus' shoulder, halting his self-torturing session. "Captain Tosh Cray wants us to gather. He has something to say regarding our next move."
"Sure," Armus gathered his posture, then walked toward the center of the mess hall where others stood encompassing Tosh Cray, the successor of the slain Brave Cod.
"Admiral Twanning of the Neo Zeon fleet graciously offered his fleet as our future allegiance," Tosh Cray briefed his men. "Of course, diffusing ourselves into Neo Zeon would give us considerable weapons and manpower that we desperately need, after Honsei Fleet and Task Force Alpha pounded us on Ayers City. We can easily accomplish our goal. However, joining Neo Zeon means we declare war on Earth, something that is against our philosophy. We do not wage war against Earth! We simply want the Spacenoids out of our government. And that means the Neo Zeon..."
"I'd rather sacrifice our weapons for our ideals," Josh Offshore spoke, amidst the crunching pain that enveloped his injured head. "Not that I don't like the idea of 'borrowing' Neo Zeon's arsenal. But we have our own principles. How are we going to make our stand if we fight under the banner of Neo Zeon?"
"But you forget that there are only 40 of us left," another New Desides spoke. "What can we do against a handful of EFF soldiers? Neo Zeon has weapons and shares the same ideals - hatred if you will - toward the EFF. I don't see any problem cooperating with people that possess actual strength."
Tosh Cray waited silently until the debate softened, then took a deep breath and said, "I understand everybody's intention. From this moment on, I announce that the New Desides has been formally disbanded. To make it fair for everybody, I will not hinder those who wish to join Neo Zeon. Those who wish to fight on with me, stay. Let's say goodbye to each other without bearing any complains. After all, we'll fight the same enemy."
The room suddenly filled with commotion. Everybody spoke his mind, arguing why or why not they should fuse themselves with the Neo Zeon. Lynn dragged Armus to the side, away from the debating crowd, then whispered, "Sir, what do you want to do?"
"Being with the New Desides was a bad idea, but being with the Neo Zeon is a lowly sin!" Armus spat. "I'll take anything over Neo Zeon. Anything at all."
"We might have a chance to desert, Sir," one of the remaining GraveWalkers spoke up.
"And live in shame for the rest of our lives," Armus sighed. "I'll see where Tosh Cray bring this few people. But you have the liberty to choose. I'm not going to hold you. If you choose to desert, I wish you a long, prosperous life in your new home. If you choose Neo Zeon, then I'll probably see you in the battlefield."
"I'm a GraveWalker, Sir, and I'll go wherever you go," Lynn stated.
The other two expressed the same comment. Armus took a deep breath, then spoke heartily, "Thank you. I will not waste your loyalty to me." He snapped a salute, which his subordinates quickly returned, then walked toward the center of the room to inform Tosh Cray about his decision.
By that time, one-third of the ex New Desides had already left the room, leaving only 28 men that still wanted to fight under Tosh Cray. The moment Tosh Cray saw Armus' eyes, he knew that Armus was staying with him. "Thank you for your loyalty, Lieutenant Gray. From now on, our path will get harder to transverse. The New Desides is no more and from now on, the battles we wage are our own personal fights. Let's take a gamble and see what we can accomplish with only twenty eight people!"
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Launch hangar, Gwaley,
Gwadan-class Neo Zeon battleship,
March 31, UC 0088
Tosh Cray informed Admiral Twanning that a dozen ex New Desides wished to join the Neo Zeon, while the rest would stay true to their cause. Admiral Twanning deflected his fleet from his original course to rendezvous with Admiral Aeno in L1, so that the 28 ex New Desides had somebody to harbor them. After 20 hours floating in space, Twanning Fleet made contact with Bull Run, and Tosh Cray led his men to the hangar for a departure.
Roughly about 2 dozen mobile suits escaped Ayers City under the Neo Zeon's husbandry, but only the GraveWalker's Z Plus and Josh Offshore's Xeku Zwei that were salvageable. The other Xeku Eins were so bad that Tosh Cray told Twanning to scrap them and use them as his spare parts. Twanning, of course, couldn't be happier, and he intended to give Tosh Cray a weapon of his own.
"My friends, it is time for us to go our separate ways," Twanning, a strong man with well-kempt beard stated. "I wish you could be part of Neo Zeon Holy War against the Federation. We can definitely use men of your qualities. But I fully understand your decision to not join our war. Therefore, as farewell assistance and a gesture of good will, I will provide you with a cruiser and a mobile armor. This prototype machine is equipped with realistic combat abilities. We call her Zodiac, but all of you have the freedom to give her whatever name you want. The operation manual is inside the cruiser. I hope to have another chance to meet up with all of you."
"We are indebted to you," Tosh Cray said. "I hope someday we could return the favor."
"Kill the Feddies!" Twanning leered, sprouting revulsion from his deep, brown eyes. "Kill them all, and consider your debts off!"
"I will," that was all Tosh Cray said. He exchanged salutes with Twanning, then boarded his Enterprise shuttle, followed by his men.
Armus fastened the straps on his helmet and stepped into his WaveRider. The Neo Zeon performed minimal repair on the GraveWalker's mobile suits, so they could escort the Enterprise and fight in case it fell under EFF attack. He punched his startup button, and as his WaveRider groaned to life, he pressed the pedal gently to bring it out of the hangar.
Outside, Armus saw a Musai-class cruiser with a white conical object towed behind the cruiser. It was the Zodiac, Neo Zeon's prototype war machine. At 200 meters in length, it was so big that the entire GraveWalker squadron could park in it. But unlike the Musai, Zodiac was a mobile armor, the same class as Nieue Ziel or Big Zam, only 5 times bigger and more powerful.
"Is that the Zodiac?" Lynn asked, circling around the strange mobile armor as it was being hauled to line up with Bull Run.
"Sure is," Josh Offshore replied. "It's equivalent to another squadron like the GraveWalker!"
"I hope Tosh Cray will make use of it wisely," Armus commented.
Leaving the Twanning Fleet, Armus led his squadron to enter Bull Run, Aeno's flagship. The fight with Honsei Fleet destroyed everything but Bull Run and Seikyou, and even these 2 ships could barely move. As Armus entered the hangar of Bull Run, the damage became more profuse. Parts of mobile suits floated everywhere. Oil and fuel dripped from their container, blended with blood. Smoke hung in the air. Gristles splattered on the wall, along with soot and grease. It was a gruesome image, but it was the reality of war.
Armus parked his WaveRider, then waited until Tosh Cray and Josh Offshore exited their respectable rides. Together they walked toward the elevator that subsequently brought them to the bridge of Bull Run. The bridge, though ornamented with busted cable and acrid smoke, held together, and Admiral Brian Aeno greeted them with a forced smile. "Welcome to Bull Run, people. I am glad to see you all alive. Please accept my deepest sympathy for Captain Brave Cod. How strong are we now?"
"Twenty eight personnel, 5 mobile suits, and a new mobile armor Zodiac," Armus stated. "The Musai being used to tow the Zodiac is a downgraded cruiser that has no weapons."
"As you can see, Bull Run and Seikyou are nothing more than floating garbage bins," Aeno replied. "Really, people, our strength is on the mobile suits and the Zodiac."
"That's fine," Tosh Cray spoke up, drawing eerie attention from the entire bridge. "I have a plan to make maximum use of the Zodiac. At this time, the EFF fleet must still station around Ayers City to clean up the quagmire. Other battlegroups are either busy tracking us down or guarding their colony lest Twanning makes a surprise attack. That leaves Penta dead cold, unguarded..."
"So you want to occupy Penta," Aeno asked, not clearly understood what Tosh Cray was going.
"Penta is an easy target," Tosh Cray continued. "Once we gain control of Penta, we can launch a surgical attack at Federation Legislative Assembly in Dakar, Africa. I plan to use Zodiac to accurately bomb the Federation Legislative and the commanding office of Federation Forces at Dakar. However, don't expect to see us throwing bombs at the Senate. Zodiac has the ability to enter the atmosphere. Thus, it is similar to a scaled down version of a colony drop. My plan is we use Zodiac as the bomb, ram it to the EFF Commanding Office. Since it is small and controllable, the accuracy rate will be much higher than the colony drop ala Zeon."
Chill ran up Armus' body. "That means..."
"I die," Tosh Cray finished Armus' hesitation. "Yes, Lieutenant Gray, I will die. In fact, fighting or no fighting, I will still die. But I will not die as a stupid reckless. I will die so that people can see things the way I see. The seed has to die for a plant to grow. And I can only do that if I die in a glorious sacrifice. Your job, Lieutenant Gray, is to make sure I don't die as a stupid reckless."
Armus froze, looking at Tosh Cray without a blink. There he was, a man who believed in his principles and single-mindedly stood up to uphold them. Even if it meant death to him. Armus never met a man at that quality. But still, Tosh Cray was blinded by his ideals. He considered his principles as the general truths, and he was willing to sacrifice his life for that. It was his mortal sin.
"What do you say, gentlemen?"
Armus didn't see any other choice, so he cleared his throat and said, "I'll do my best."
"Bull Run will do everything it can to support your plan," Aeno added.
"I've been fighting with you since the beginning, Sir," Josh tuned in. "You know where I stand."
"Very good, very good," Tosh Cray summed up the meeting. "Now let's get some rest. The last 2 weeks were hell, and we're entitled to get a break."
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Next, on "I, Feddie" Chapter XII:
Armus and Josh burst out of the fire exit and roared their weapons. Five troops screamed and toppled, writhing in their own pool of blood. Armus struck down two more soldiers before his gun clicked. He dove behind a barrel, just as a soldier showered him with machine gun slugs. Bullets whizzed on top of his head, but they failed to harm him. Josh fired his last round, then took a refuge behind another barrel. Lynn arrived and quickly made her pistol to work. Three shots quickly bore the heads of three soldiers. She shifted position to her right and fired again, bringing down 2 more soldiers with her razor-sharp marksmanship. Armus and Josh emerged from the barrels, pinning down the soldiers in a nasty crossfire. They fired until the last soldier fell, gurgling and retching, blood gushing from every orifice. His fall was the epitome of his defeat, his death the end of the resistance.
"How do you see your life after this war, Sergeant? What do you want to do?"
"Me, Sir? Well, what I want to do is different from what will happen. I want to quit the military. I'm sick of this killing business. I'm a doctor, and I was sworn to uphold life in any form. I want to be a doctor, a wife, a mother, a human. I want to get married, I want to find myself a strong man to cling on, someone who understands me, treats me like a princess. I want kids that make me proud, make me cry and smile at the same time."
"I'm sorry I dragged you into this mess."
"Hey, it's my decision to fight with your, Sir. I could've said no, remember? So I don't want to cry over a crushed dream. I take all responsibility of my life. What about you, Sir? Any plan after this is over?"
"I don't know. I've mad bad decisions all my life, and I don't know if I can make a good one."
"Sir, you are the best leader I've ever worked for. You put your men as your first priority. I don't know if I can ever ask a better leader. I'm sure Jack agreed with me. It's been a privilege to fight with you, Sir."
"The honor is still mine, Lynn."