Heated Battle of the Flame

Ben Knight

Alexander, better known to his comrades and enemies alike as "The Fire of Zeon," left the briefing room and went to his room to get ready. He was to patrol the city of New York. Apparently there had been sightings of at least 5 GM units in the proximity.

"They can't be too bad since they got through; even with Garma dead the defenses aren't lenient," he thought to himself as he got into his Lieutenant Commanders uniform. Alexander walked out of his room and into the ms loading bay.

"Charleston, how's the painting and customizing of my suit coming along?"

Charleston, a middle-aged man and Alexander's mechanic, looked over his shoulder. "Oh hey, Alexander, the paint job is done, and we're just adding the extra boosters now."

Alexander smiled, "Good, good. I have to take it out, so make sure all the ammunition has been loaded." Charleston nodded and yelled out to the other mechanics to load the ammo ASAP.

Alexander waited about twenty minutes before he heard Charleston telling him everything had been finished.

"Excellent, let me take a look at it then." He walked into the room and smiled. Before him stood his mobile suit, the new Gouf model. Thrusters had been added to allow more speed and air-time. Also everything excluding the chest and helmet had been painted a dark grey to symbolize his rock solid loyalty to his nation, and it helped to camouflage him in night battles as well. Alexander climbed into the cockpit and activated the suit. The mono-optic camera glowed the traditional reddish pink. He finished his preparations and left the hanger. His two teammates, Harris and Chris, were waiting for him outside.

"All right, let's go. Mission commenced…," Alexander told the base.

Alexander walked through the once great city of New York. He had heard of its greatness in school and from his grandfather. Yet the ravishing of the war did not take pity on this city. Flickering lights illuminated buildings with an eerie glow. The shadows of what were once skyscrapers stretched across the ground like ghostly reminders of the city's former glory...

Blip

Alexander was pulled from his thoughts by his radar which had picked up three GM units. The Federation had begun production of their own suits. But he had only seen one or two since it hadn't been long since the first was made.

"This is Maxwell; I have three Feddies on my radar. Stand-by for further orders. I will attempt to take them out myself. I repeat, do not interfere unless ordered otherwise."

He turned all non-essential systems off so the GMs wouldn't locate him with thermal tracking. Alexander waited for what seemed like hours but was in fact only a few minutes. Then he saw it. The GMs were walking right past the building he was behind. Once they were far away enough he struck, and damn did he strike hard.
The Custom Gouf Charged forward and raised its heat saber. With one swing the last GM in the line lost its right arm, with the second it was sliced horizontally at the waist. Alexander jetted backward and raised his shield. The explosion sent debris flying everywhere. Still, Alexander still had the upper hand. He knew what was going on: the two remaining GMs however were in complete disarray. Alexander extended the Gouf's arm and launched the heat rod. The grapple latched firmly onto the first GM's backpack. The GM struggled to free the backpack from the suit but it was already too late. Alexander pressed a button and thousands of volts were pumped into the GM. It flailed spasmodically as the voltage continued to fry its circuits.

Alexander once again raised his shield, and once again he protected his suit from flying debris. The GM second GM on the other hand, couldn't do a thing since the GM in front of it had effectively destroyed its escape route. "Now for the last kill. These Feddie suits aren't too bad; it's the pilots that need work." He smiled as he launched forward once again raising the heat saber. It made a satisfying sizzle as it came in contact with the GM's armor. The armor continued to spark and melt as the heat saber sliced all the way to the reactor core. Once the final explosion died down, the only evidence of a battle were the crumpled GMs and three large craters.

"That was hardly worth it; I'm a little disappointed." Alexander sighed. "This is Maxwell. I've terminated the three Feddies, and I'm heading back to the group."

While Alexander was disappointed, he didn't let it get to him. He could see that the Federation would soon be making suits that would be able to rival theirs. In fact, he had been hearing rumors about a new white Feddie mobile suit.

"I think it was called a Gundam…." Alexander walked away from the battle deep in thought but ready for the battles that lie ahead.

BOOM!

Alexander spun in the direction of the explosion and saw Harris's Zaku II falling to the ground, smoke billowing from the cockpit. Looming over Alexander's fallen companion were four GMs.

"Dammit, he must've come out from behind them!" Alexander looked to his right and saw his other teammate, Chris, locked in battle with two of the four GMs.

"That's hardly fair!" Alexander sputtered.

Alexander boosted at the GMs attacking his comrade. He pulled out his heat saber and slashed off the GM's head. The blinded pilot frantically tried to identify his opponent, but with a quick thrust, the cockpit was impaled, effective killing the unfortunate soldier.

Alexander looked up at his comrade. "Can you take the other one?" The Zaku nodded and continued the much more fair battle with the remaining GM. Then he turned his attention to the two GMs who had advanced on his position. He boosted toward them, and then activating the extra boosters, which quickly propelled him sideways.

The GMs didn't see that coming and tried to turn in time, but it was, as usual, too late. Alexander had already aimed his gatling gun and fired into the first GM's cockpit. The second GM, who obviously was the more experienced fighter, had backed up and activated his beam saber.

Alexander smiled "Finally someone worth fighting.…" He lunged at the GM and swung his saber. The GM blocked with its saber, and then it tried to swing the saber back around. But Alexander was prepared for the counter and brought his saber up sideways, effectively stopping the attack and throwing the pilot off balance.

"Now, I see an opening!" Alexander exclaimed as he swung the saber up over the GM's head and brought it back down into the GM's head with a sickening sizzle.

"You were a worthy opponent; it really is a shame it had to come to this." Alexander sent the message to the pilot as the saber reached the core; Alexander flew backward and raised his shield.

After the explosion had died down, Alexander looked to his comrade who had defeated the enemy GM. "Good work Chris; let's head back to the base."

"Lieutenant Commander Alexander Maxwell and Lieutenant Chris Baker, please report to the debriefing room." Alexander sighed as he saw the remains of Harris's Zaku II being hauled into the bay. Alexander knew Harris was dead: the cockpit was blown open and he could see the blast coming out of the back. He even had doubts that the Zaku could be fixed.

The debriefing room was a small office with a window looking out at a forest. Two chairs were in front of a table that had one chair placed behind it. In the farthest chair sat Captain Brian Pallop, a usually calm man, who enjoyed a good time.

Chris was already seated, and Captain Pallop had a stern look on his face. After being saluted, the Captain calmly spoke, "Lieutenant Commander, please take a seat." Alexander sat down on the unoccupied chair.

"May I ask what happened out there? Lieutenant Harris Sanders has been KIA, and I doubt the mission was any better." Alexander wished he could look away from the Captain's penetrating stare, but he continued to keep eye contact.

"I had ambushed three of the Federation's newly developed mobile suits, GM's sir. After destroying the three on my own, I began to head back to the base, thinking that all of the enemies were destroyed. When I returned I saw Lieute-" Alexander remembered that deceased soldiers were given a two-rank promotion. "I mean Captain Sander's suit collapsing, and Lieutenant Baker was fighting three GMs. I was able to destroy two GMs and Lieutenant Baker destroyed two GMs as well."

The Captain did not look at all happy. "So let me ask you, why did you initiate an unnecessary attack on the enemy during a recon mission? And furthermore, why did you order your teammates to hold their ground while you unnecessarily attacked the enemy? Your actions not only put you in danger, but your comrades as well."

He stopped to drink from a glass of water which had been placed on the table "Your teammates are counting on your leadership, which is the reason you are there. If you hadn't acted on your own today, I doubt that Captain Sanders would have been killed today. If there is ever an incident like this again, I will have you court marshaled. Oh, and one more thing, Lieutenant Baker, your services today were commendable, as were yours Maxwell, but I repeat, that kind of action will not be tolerated again. Am I understood?"

Alexander looked the Captain in the eye and gave a solemn nod; it reflected the regret he was feeling at the moment. "Yes Captain, it will not happen again."

"Good, now go get some rest, you must be exhausted. For the record gentlemen, this mission will be recorded as a success with minor casualties. You may leave."

Alexander and Chris both stood at the same time, and they each walked to their separate rooms. Alexander covered his face with his hands and thought about Sanders. He changed out of his pilot's suit and into his uniform; he couldn't sleep. Just as he was about to leave, there was a knock on his door. "Who is it?" he asked.

"May I see you for a moment, off the record, obviously?" It was the Captain. Alexander let the Captain into his quarters.

"Yes Captain?" he asked as he saluted.

"At ease, there are no ranks right now. I've known you for how long Alex?"

Alexander gave a small smile; the Captain was the only one who called him Alex. "It's been about two years."

Now it was the Captain's turn to smile. "And you haven't changed a bit; I knew you wouldn't get any rest, even if your superior ordered you to, not after what happened today. And I have another mission for you, if you feel up to it."

Alexander turned to the Captain; the smile hadn't yet faded from his lips. "What is it, sir?"

The Captain stood up and handed him the briefing papers. "It's a search and destroy mission, and it's solo. I figured it would be right up your alley."

Alexander didn't entirely appreciate the joke but smiled despite that. "When will it begin?"

"At 06:00 hours. That gives you four hours to get ready." The Captain began to walk out, but stopped and turned. "Oh and Alex, Harris's funeral will be in two days. You should be back by then." Then he turned and walked out.

Alexander stood up and thought, "Life goes on.…" He closed the door to his room and began to get ready for his next mission.