Mobile Suit Gundam: Lives on the Line
Chapter 7: Federation Retaliation
Lieutenant Felix Arcan loved his work and he took great pride out of it. He was both feared and respected by soldier and officer alike, though he cared more about the former than the latter. He was a firm believer that fear was a better, more efficient way of keeping troops in line. A man that is too scared to move unless you tell him too isn't going to step out of line to often. Respect could only go so far. He had the reputation of being one of the Principality of Zeon's greatest pilots, eclipsed only by the Red Comet himself. And he hated Aznable for it. Char basked in the limelight, which came with being in favor, while he rotted away in a sweltering hellhole. Still an order is an order, so his plans for revenge would have to wait. He was a patient man however; when the time came he would be ready. He chuckled at the thought of getting back at everyone who every crossed or overlooked him. The sudden entrance of a nervous looking subordinate snapped him from his imagination. The younger man stood perfectly still when the piercing eyes of the cadaver-like Lieutenant met his own.
"S-Sir we have reports that there are Federation mobiles approaching and we have reason to believe they are heading to the remains of the village that we destroyed a few hours ago." He was almost to the point of shivering as it was well known throughout the area that Arcan wouldn't hesitate to kill a subordinate if he felt something had been done wrong.
"Is that so? Deploy some Zaku's to cover our rear as we move on. I will leave my second-in-command to assist if the need arises, dismissed." The officer breathed a sigh of relief and turned to walk out of the tent.
"One more thing, the next time you barge in here without permission I will personally execute you." The young man's eyes widened and he literally dashed out of his commander's tent, trying to get away from the man as fast as he could. Arcan smiled once more, he loved his job very, very much.
For once the 4th team had taken off without a hitch, and was now on the way to the village. But of course, the fastest way to get there they found out was to go straight through the jungle.
"Goddamn trees!" Rob shouted, his suit nearly tripping over a root that was sticking out of the ground. Traveling without a path through a rainforest was a hard job enough for a regular team of soldiers, let alone soldiers who were piloting the massive and occasionally clumsy Mobile Suits. They were forced to make their own path by knocking down a tree every once in a while or by moving rocks.
"Hey, at least there aren't any guerrillas around here." Brian answered back. "Did you here about that one ensign who got captured during his first mission?"
"Lucky he convinced the guerrillas to help him out." Rob said, he had heard the rumors and frankly didn't believe them all to be true.
"Hey you guys, would you mind cutting down on the radio chatter? We are on a mission here."
"Oh come Eve, that doesn't matter we not exactly sneaking in" said Gatey who was following close behind the MS's in the hover truck. The HT was just as bad as the suits and had to move through the path they cleared.
"Like you would any of you would really listen to me anyway. Any readings yet Derik"?
"Nothing yet ma'am, just static" Derik for the most part stayed quiet most of the time, not drawing attention to himself, which is what he wanted to do. He didn't want any attention, as hard as that would be with the 4th team. But they weren't nasty to him; they just let him tag along wherever they went. Orders were simple, investigate the area and eliminate any Zekes that hung around to marvel at their handiwork. The next two hours came and went without any events but as soon as the still smoking remains came into view things picked up.
"Commander, I'm getting some readings, a coupla Zaku's, but I can't tell where they are or how many of them are here." Derik radioed Eve.
"Okay, stay close everyone and keep an eye out for anything, Gatey get the Hover truck out of here." The truck turned and sped down the path they had made through the jungle. The trio of suits slowly moved through the village, scanning the area around them. Though it was just a small village there where still places for a Zaku to hide.
"Incoming!" Eve shouted. Three Zaku's emerged from the forest, their machine guns blazing. A fourth burst from inside the biggest building the village. Brian turned his suit and fired at the Zaku that came out of the house, but it managed to block the shots with its shoulder shield. Eve and Rob trained their guns on the other three, with Rob blowing the head off one of them with his bazooka. Brian's enemy rocketed out off the building and floated down into the jungle.
"I'm going after that one!" he shouted to his teammates. He too rocketed into the jungle. The other team members were still back in the village pinned down in a huge ditch by the Zaku's barrage.
"Rob." Eve started. "I'm going to fire off some flares, when I do, open fire on the Zaku's" She reloaded her machine gun and prepared to move out, she planned on rushing the suits when they were distracted.
"Okay" The flares went up and the Zaku pilots predictably looked up at the sudden bright light. In that instant Rob stood and fired everything he had at the two Zaku's. Eve charged from her position and rushed the pair. She tackled one of them to the ground and destroyed it with a close range salvo from her own guns. Its partner drew its Heat Hawke and sliced the back of her suit throwing sparks everywhere. She drew her own weapon in time to block the next swipe. She quickly counter-attacked and managed to damage the Zaku's leg, causing it to hobble backward. It moved in again undaunted, only to stagger forward again, smoke billowing from it's back. Eve lunged at her distracted foe and sliced him across the chest killing it pilot. She looked up to realize that Rob had during the confusion maneuvered behind the enemies and hit him with a clean shot right in the back.
"Nice work Rob, now let's go help Brian" They rushed out into the jungle after their missing friend. Brian moved as quick and as quiet as he could the thick jungle. He had lost sight of the Zaku, whose pilot was obviously used to fighting in these conditions. Out of nowhere he was hit by machine gun fire only for it to disappear as soon as he regained his composure enough to fire back. He just couldn't get a lock on his elusive foe. He crouched down; he knew his was safe since the machine guns weren't nearly effective enough to critically damage his suit. The other pilot was just trying to get into his head and confuse him until he could deliver a killing strike. He was ready, and it paid off, he saw the Zaku launch upward from behind him and come crashing down towards him, it axe drawn, He had time only to maneuver his shield to absorb the blow. The force split his shield and cut into his chest, but not deep enough to puncture his cockpit. He kicked the suit off his own and readied for its next attack. The Zaku charged and Brian blocked a swipe aimed at his suit's head. He pushed the Zaku back and lunged forward, faking another high blow but instead swing around at the Zaku's arm. The Zaku's axe stopped the beam saber before it made contact. Suddenly fire rang out from the forest striking the Zaku's side. Brian attempted another slash but the Zeke pilot dodged. He retreated hurling his axe at the grounded Gundam. Brian knocked the axe away only to find that the Zaku had retreated deep into the jungle.
"Brian, don't go after him" Eve told him. 'The others have been defeated, we're supposed to go back to base know." Brian grunted inside his suit, he knew he would meet that pilot again on the battlefield, and then he would finish the job.
End Chapter 7
Next Time on Mobile Suit Gundam: Lives on the Line- The 4th team takes a well deserved leave from duty, but what could possibly go wrong? Stay tuned and find out next time.