"In the sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through our Lour Jesus Christ, we commend to Almighty God our shipmate and we commit his body to the depths."
Traditional navy funeral rights
The Vastness of Time and Space
I.
Kim was bored. Very bored but then again the droning voice in the background also made her very sleepy. She was sleepy enough to consider falling asleep in the middle of the briefing in fact. Deciding that this was a good idea Kim started to rest her head on her arms.
"Major Possible if you wouldn't mind can you repeat the overall battle plan to me again." The older man in the room smiled in his usual way. Senior Senior fancied himself as some sort of old fashion warrior. He was always polite even in battle.
"If you insist sir!" Standing up she threw him a rather venomous look. She did not trust him at all. Man was too unstable for her.
Walking up to the front she pushed a few button bringing an image to the screen. It showed a representation of the colonies view of the current battle lines. She wondered for a second what the UN forces map showed. Probably a lot less troops then the colonist thought they did. Against her better judgment she allowed a smile on her face at the hope that the war would soon be over. There was no way the UN forces had the guts to continue fighting like this. Not with their kids dieing every day.
Pointing towards a representation of the moon she began her quick explanation. "This folks is the unfinished colony Paradise Seven of the Paradise cluster. Though it was never completed most of the colony's superstructure was built and the object itself has about 89 of the usual total mass of a finished colony. Is this correct so far sir?" With a straight face she looked directly at her superior officer. His face was less then happy but he gave her a wave to continue.
He'll learn soon what happens when you mess with a Possible. "Anyway as you all know by now the overall objective of this operation is to take this colony and basically ram it into the Earth. We prefer to hit D.C. with this hoping to deal the Americans a massive morale blow but any spot would do fine. An object of this mass would cause serious harm to where ever it hit and the Americans know this."
Bringing up another image she showed four clustered groups. Two of the groups were red while the other two were green and blue. The red groups represent our forces. The first force, henceforth know as Red One, will directly escort the colony in. The other force, Red Two, will launch a feint assault on the UN headquarters. Though Red Two will be mostly a distraction it will still attempt to take out the enemy headquarters. No point wasting valuable time and money after all."
She looked around the room as a few of the commanders present chuckled politely. Deciding she had got all the humor she could out of her lame joke she continued. "Red One true objective though is not to ensure that the colony actually hits. Red One will instead be charged with the mission of eliminating the American forces that attempt to halt the colony's advance. If Red Two job is successful the UN forces and the American forces will spilt to defend their respective points of interest. Using the colony to cause confusion among the American lines Red One will then eliminate the already exhausted American fleet. If this operation works then the American will have no choice but to go to the peace table. The UN will surely fold right after the Americans give in. Any question?"
"Isn't this a violation of the Antarctic treaty?" A young looking captain raised her hand as she spoke. Kim gave her a rather amused glance.
"It hardly matters if we win right?" The majority of officers present nodded their heads at this. Kim felt a secret joy at this. She always felt proud whenever she was able to help her father achieve his goals.
"Is that all Admiral Senior Senior?" She smiled her sweetest smile for him.
Grimacing the old admiral nodded. His hope that he would catch her off guard had failed miserably. He would learn that it was harder to catch a Possible off guard then he had first thought.
Standing up the old man addressed those presents. "If you all will excuse me I have to see to it that my fleet is present to guard the colony. We can't have the enemy stopping this grand plan before it even starts. Major Possible if you can follow me."
Kim like the respectful subordinate she played followed after the old man. If she was lucky she would some day see him drop dead from the heart attack.
II.
Captain Barkin walked into the room giving a quick glance to all five crew members present. His eyes noted the chief ordinance officer, his EXCO, and his three Mobile Suit pilots. To his pleasant surprise Lt. Stoppable pants were still on and Sgt. Kingston wasn't trying to kill another one of his crew members. It was his luck that two of the better pilots in the fleet had to have so many discipline problems.
"Alright people pay attention. I'm only going to say this once. That means you Stoppable!" He noted the Lt.'s surprised reaction with pleasure.
Moving over to the white board he took out a red pen. Sure he could use the projector built into the room for this but Barkin preferred to do things the old fashion way. Never mind that the old fashion was outdated by a few decades already. His pen flew over the board with practice ease drawing four small ovals, one very large circle, and a oval much larger then the first but far smaller then the circle. Done he smiled to himself.
"Alright people," he pointed to the first four ovals, "this represents task force Success. Stoppable do you know why I named this taskforce that?"
"Um...cause that's why you expect sir." Barkin was pleased with the young man but a little annoyed at the hesitation.
"Correct Stoppable. Maybe I won't kill you before the war is over." Barkin ignored the mumble thanks and instead pointed to the large circle. "This is the moon people. It's big so I don't want any of you to hit into it. That includes you Sgt."
"Yes sir!" Her tone was a little too disrespectful for Barkin but he chose to ignore it.
Pointing to the last oval he drew an 'X' over it. "This is a colony people. This is what I want you to do to it. If you fail in this mission this thing will be dropped on top of a lot of good people's heads. Do I make myself clear?"
Barkin noted the nodding heads before continuing. "Simply put we will go in low over the lunar surface until we are within range of our intended target. Once there Lt. Stoppable and Major Cavon will advance right into the enemy fleet. You will serve as the distraction. Be proud of this and I expect you to do the job well. Sgt. Tara you will be given a single nuke which will be supplied by the chief ordinance officer who is present. I want you to take out that colony's thrusters. Your escort will consist of twelve GMs which will be provided by the three additional light destroyers heading in with us. I expect you to hit that target Sgt and I will no tolerate failure. After that we will then run back home hopping the enemy doesn't send us to our graves early. Any questions?"
He noted Lt. Stoppable hand going up. "That's a rhetorical question Lt. If you paid attention I don't have to say anymore. You're all dismissed." With that Barkin walked out of the door.
"What the hell? He calls this a briefing?" Ron frown was copied exactly by Tara who was standing up as well.
"I've had worse Lt. Now how about you two get some rest. In about," the major took a quick glance at his watch, 'fifteen hours this little operation is going to commence."
"Sir? How the heck do you know that? He never even gave us a time."
"I read the mission briefing before hand Lt. now if you all will excuse me I got letters to write home. My son just made the team after all." With that the major walked out the door leaving his two subordinates very confused and embarrassed.
III.
"Aw man! I told the little dude to jump. Why didn't you jump little dude?" Ron's wail of anguish over his fallen comrade filled the room. His significant other just rolled her eyes.
Lying on top of the bed Bonnie watched as Ron attempted again the same mission he had been doing for the last hour. She knew this was Ron way of blowing off steam. He had used video games during high school to distract himself from the harsh realities of being 'un-cool'. Bonnie secret shame was that like most of the popular people she had thought of Ron as a total loser. The thought still crossed her mind on occasion when she watched him in moments like this. It's not like she was a horrible person after all. What sort of socially adept person would shout at a video game?
'Ron though is far from being socially gifted. Kind of why I love him.' Bonnie smiled to herself as she reached out and started to stroke his hair with her hand. He barely noticed her as he prepared to fight the evil wizard guy yet again. Why this task was so important Bonnie could never guess but if it made Ron happy then she would live with this annoying hobby too.
'To think it took me to the end of senior year to finally realize what kind of man he really was. Not a jock or a pretty boy but a man.' When she was younger and less wise about the ways of the world she would have laughed at that phrase. When she had seen him on the first day of high school her first thought was that he was the epitome of loser. Describing him as a man was the furthest thing from her mind. When you grow older though you realize what is truly valuable.
'He's kind, loyal, funny, and he's there for me.' Where most of the guys she had dated in high school had wanted only one thing it had actually been Bonnie who had made the first move. Sure his first time had been a rather embarrassing affair for both of them but a couple of years of dating had gone a long way in teaching him a few tricks. She just wished they had learned together.
"Funny what you regret latter."
"Huh?" Ron looked up at her slightly confused at this unexpected comment.
'Damn he's cute when he's confused.' Leaning in she gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head. Ruffling his blond hair she smiled down at him.
"Just thinking of how we can spend the time off that you have. I figure you should get nine hours of sleep and you'll need at least an hour to get ready. That still leaves four hours to kill. Any ideas?" She purred slightly at the last comment. Her way of telling him she was in the mood.
'Twenty bucks says he doesn't get it.' She may love the guy but she was realistic about his ability to grasp a concept. They had dated for a little more then three years and the guy was still too shy around her to even think she wanted it. He was truly a dying breed. He was a gentleman at heart and a friend always.
"How about a rousing game of Wizards of Right 12000. I'll even let you play one of my characters." He smiled up at her then hesitated. "Not Rufus junior though. He reminds me too much of Rufus. By the way I wonder how Rufus is doing."
"I'm sure he's running around in his cage right now at your mother's place. Besides I have another game I want to play." She slowly reached up and started to undo the buttons on her uniform.
"Oh that game. I like that game! Four hours worth?" Ron gulped when she fixed him with one her winning smiles. She loved it when he did that. "I don't know about that."
"Trust me here. It'll be a team effort."
Suffice it to say the next part was censored by the author.
IV.
"Mon do you think he still loves me?" Monique looked over at her best friend. The comment confused her for a second before she connected the dots.
'He'd be an idiot not to.'
"Sure he does Kim. Who wouldn't?" Monique felt pain deep inside of her. She had known for a while that Kim would never return her feelings. It would be nice to say she'd be happy just seeing Kim happy but that would be a lie. Monique though was a realist and she knew Kim would never be happy with her.
"What if he moved on Mon? I mean we are enemies now. How can we make it work anymore?" Kim had finished putting on her red flight suit before looking up at her only friend. Monique felt pride at that. For the most part she had Kim to herself and she could at least pretend there was something more there.
"The war won't last forever."
"What if he dies though Mon?" Kim voice came out very low at this point.
'Poor girl been worried sick over that.'
"You fought him yourself. Was he any good?"
"Yeah."
"Then he'll be fine. I mean as long as he..." Monique didn't want to finish the last statement. How horrible a concept that Kim might end up killing her own love interest.
"No worries there Mon. I know you're worried that I might end up fighting Ron. Believe me I'd know Ron anywhere. Even in a Mobile Suit." The red head smiled before pulling her helmet over her head. Another couple of hour's worth of patrol was waiting for them. Admiral Senior Senior insisted that even Gundam pilots had to go on patrol.
Before Monique could reply an announcement came over the speaker. "To all personal incoming hostile forces sighted. Battle Stations level one are now in effect. All crew members are to report to their stations."
"Let's go girl." Monique smiled at Kim watching as the red head slowly made her way out. For all of the compositeness the girl had it masked the pain she felt each time she killed someone. It was one of the reasons why Monique loved her. This beautiful harden warrior still wept for the unknown foes she killed.
V.
Ron made the final adjustments to the Gundam's controls. He felt a tad bit of nervousness at the onset of this battle. Striking into the heart of an enemy fleet with only a couple of ships was one of the crazier things he thought he'd never have to do.
'Look on the bright side Stoppable. At least you don't have a nuke strapped to your suit.' A quick glance to his side showed that the flight crew was going through final checks on Tara Mobile Suit. No accident would be tolerated when a nuke was involved.
"Hey kid you alright?" Ron looked up towards his screen when he heard the Major voice.
"Fine sir. It's a bondiggity day for a battle."
"Bon what?"
"Just a word I came up with sir. I got the English language down well enough that I just had to add to it." Ron smiled as he moved his suit towards the catapult.
"That's nice kid. You scared?"
"Sir I've been in battles before so yes I'm terrified. You?"
"Shaking in my little booties." Ron laughed at the mental image as he moved his suit into a crouching position.
"That's nice sir. You got my back?"
"To the death son."
"Um no offense but can you avoid saying stuff like that."
"Why I always wanted to say something like that. Nothing wrong with it. It's a cool phrase."
Ron groaned mentally. The Major was hell bent on cursing them all into an early grave. "Sir its bad luck. That's what they say in the movies before everyone starts dieing."
"Hm...I see your point. You know Amuro use to always leave his dessert for latter. Figured as long as he never finished it that meant he'd always make it back. You know what happen the day he died?"
"He ate the dessert by mistake?"
"Nope. It was sitting there when we all got back. Fine and dandy. The point is son don't stress over this superstition stuff. When you go you go. Simple as that."
"Thanks sir for the pep talk." Ron had to find the Major a better topic to talk about. He did not have to hear about his predecessor unfortunate early termination.
"Nemesis you are cleared for launch."
"Roger." With that Ron felt the catapult launch him into the darkness of space.
VI.
"Despair you have permission to launch."
"Roger." Kim felt herself slammed back into her pilot chair as her Gundam was hurtled into space. Quickly recovering she jerked her suit into a high climb wishing to avoid becoming a predictable target.
With an eagle's eye over the battle field she took a quick glance. "Only four destroyers. Are the Americans insane?"
No matter she had a job to do. If the wanted to die so badly then she'd fulfill their wish. Taking her suit into a sharp dive she headed for her first target. A lone GM custom that was deep in the colonies own lines.
VII.
"Ron, see if you can't shut that battleship in front of you up." Ron took a quick glance in his screen after spinning away from a launched bazooka round. A quick shot killed the Rick-Dom pilot who had attempted to score a hit that day.
"I see it sir and I'm silencing the bad boy now." Hitting his thrusters he headed straight in firing as he moved. It took only a few shoots to wound the ship fatally. One to each turret, one clear shot through the bridge, and three into the engines. The ship wouldn't last much longer.
Ignoring the dying ship Ron moved his suit alongside a destroyer which was currently attempting to blanket the surrounding area with fire. It took only four shots before the ship shuddered and blew into little bits. Two Zakus soon joined their comrades when they popped around a debris field.
'So far so good. The enemy so ticked off at me and the Major they failed to notice the nice little surprise we have in store for them.' Moving his suit around he put a couple of shots into a few Rick-Doms trying to use a debris field as cover.
"Son we got company." What ever happen to the Monkey bit? Maybe the Major got tired of it.
"What is it..." Ron was cut off when he saw a very angry Gundam burst through the remains of a couple of suits. The Despair seemed to pause as it took a good look at the suit in front of it.
"You again. Not good!" Ron commenced to open up with his rifle. His intent was to keep this battle at a distance. Close up fights tended to end badly for both pilots. To his horror the Gundam simply drew its beam saber and deftly maneuvered in.
"Ah come on! Can't you screw up once?" Ron watched as the enemy used the cover of the previously destroyed ships to move in. Deciding this battle would have to be settled with melee combat in the end Ron stored his rifle on his back and drew his own saber.
"Alright its go time." With that he his thruster to max hoping to shock his enemy with a sudden charge.
The other suit seemed to have a similar idea as both raced toward each other. Instead of pulling up they simply raised their shields in front of themselves and headed in for a collision. It took only a second before both slammed into each other. The metal in both of their shields screamed in protest.
Not allowing the shock of the explosion to slip away Ron righted himself and moved in with a mid-chest slash. It was deftly blocked by the other Gundam who counter attacked with a high head slash. Ron waited to the last second before slamming the arm wide using his shield.
Thrusting forward he attempted to skewer the enemy but only hit empty space as the enemy twisted away. Again their beam sabers hit into each other the light flaring brightly as both sabers attempted to burn through the other one. The suits were now in a struggle to over power each other as the slammed their throttles to full.
VIII.
'Come on Tara you can do this. No stress.' Tare focused out the background noise as she approached optimum firing distance. Close enough to ensure a hit but not too close that she'd be sporting a very uncomfortable tan. She chucked her machine gun and reached behind her pulling the nuke out. It would take a few seconds for the codes in her suit to activate and arm the weapon. Hopefully the escort would last that long.
Taking a calming breath she focused her eyes forward. "It's all good Tara. You are worth something. You're a valuable member of this unit. You're not just a blond but a thinking person. You can do this. If not for you then to prove to those who doubted you that you can. You are Tara Kingston and you are worth something." Done with her calming ritual she noted that the weapon was now hot.
'Good now just aim and pull the trigger.' She carefully sighted the weapon along making sure nothing was in the way. When she was happy she pulled the trigger and watched at the missile flew away.
"I did it!" Tara seconds latter heard the proximity alarm going off. She looked to her rear view monitor and then there was nothing.
IX.
Monique had left Kim to do her own thing like usual. Instead of wondering around like the idiots that most of the pilot out here was Monique had headed over the largest gather of enemy mobile suits. Her blood red suit was quickly placing the proper fear in the GMs after she had killed her third one with the ease of a true ace.
Pulling the red suit around she allowed her mind to mentally picture her baby. The blood red armor, the bulky frame with the two large shoulders, and the large swept back gold spike on top. The suit despite its size could maneuver with the best of GM customs and could take a lot more punishment. The Ares class Mobile Suit was the best outside of the Gundam class and it was all hers.
Monique noted a lone GM custom on the battlefield. Deciding to move in she noted the rather large launcher on its shoulders.
'Wonder what that is?'
She racked her mind trying to place it. A moment latter the mental light bulb came on. "A nuke!"
Cursing she moved in but noted to her distaste that the nuke was already fire. 'Well no point in letting the pilot brag about it.'
Before the suit could turn around she placed on well aimed shot straight into its back. The suit disappeared in a fiery explosion as its reactor went up.
She glanced towards the colony only to note the explosion go off. The thrusters were the first to be ripped off as the sailed randomly into space. One large one crashed straight into and through one of the colonist battleship before finishing a couple of destroyer off. The damn thing wasn't even slowed down as it continued its crazed flight into space.
"Damn bitch got us good." She didn't need to get in close to know the damage. The colony would never move again. Not with that damage. To her distaste she could already see the signal flare being launched to signal a retreat for all American forces present.
'The UN was never this rude.' Moving towards Kim she figured she should hook up with her. It was then that she noted a GM custom moving back to its ship. Its shield was heavily damaged and the suit was very much alone. She moved in to block its path. No point allowing this enemy a chance to fight again.
"One more kill."
X.
Ron screen alerted him to the signal flares as he blocked yet another low swing from the Despair beam saber. Moving in he launched a viscous counter attack which was easily blocked.
"Damn he's good. O well time to run." With that Ron turned and slammed on his thrusters. Noting the Despair attempting to follow him he simply chucked his shield at it. This time the Despair rammed straight into it.
'That'll buy me a few seconds.' Pulling out his rifle he noted the Major damaged GM dodging enemy beam fire. A red Mobile Suit was blocking the Major path.
Pressing the communication button he allowed himself a smile. "Need help sir?"
"Stop being a smart ass and help out already. Or do you want to continue your little date back there."
"Yes sir!" With that Ron raised his rifle as he passed the surprised suit. It never saw the shot which hit it right in the chest. From the location he judged that it went right through the cockpit. The explosion a second latter showed it really didn't matter.
A glance to his rear showed him one Major and no Gundams. Mission accomplished!
XI.
The surprise raid launched by the American forces though costly was a complete success. Two destroyers and 9 Mobile Suits in total was loss on the American side. Unknown losses resulted on the enemy's side.
The UN forces present to halt the enemy Red Two fleet also achieved victory pushing the enemy back. The UN forces suffered heavy loses before the American fleet was able to reinforce them and a lone colonial Mobile Suit managed to break through the lines. A single Nuke was fired by the suit which hits its target exactly.
New Genesis, Switzerland, the current headquarters for the UN was destroyed completely. Historian agree that in the end the battle came out as a draw overall.
To be continued next time...
A/N: Ha two down and many more to go. O well hope you liked this battle. Took me a while to write. Expect me to update one of my other stories next time though. I just had to write this story though. Anyway the next chapter will be another battle with another possible character death. Look forward to it.
Anyway this chapter hopefully provided more back story. Hope you like the little love story with Ron and Bonnie. I'm going to mess with that happy little tale soon. What can I say I'm too evil to leave them happily ever after that easily.
As always please read and review. I like reviews!
Disclaimer: I don't own KP and Gundam. I do own a ball of string. If Disney would like to purchase this and make a kids show out of it I'm willing to sell it. Honest I can BS a story out of it. Look at what I already did.