"The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his." - General George Patton
The Lull
I.
"This gentleman is what we are now calling the Queen Bee." A middle age woman looked over the assembled room before she clicked the image.
Moving aside from the now project picture she quickly straightened out her Admiral uniform displaying proudly the UN flag. Pointing back to the image she began to describe it.
"As you can see it is a unique design never before seen in the Colonial fleet." Pointing to the odd bulb shaped projection that covered most of the back the woman continued. "This here is what makes it different. It is our belief it is the storage and control area for what we are now calling funnels."
Brining up another image she showed an odd looking object that had a circular butt on one end and a long drawn out stem. "From the previous battles as well as the one that happen we can conclude a few things. First off the funnels themselves are remotely controlled by the pilot. We detect a slight signal from the mobile suit which appears to be the command signal for the funnels. At this time we have failed to detect a noticeable programmed in pattern for the objects."
The woman clicked another image bringing up a spilt screen. On one side was one of the funnels taking a hit with what appeared to be a red field appearing moments before impact and on the other image was one of the funnels firing a beam shot. "As shown by these images the funnels are capable of both offensive and defensive action. During the previous battle we were able to witness the funnels combining their effort in triangles of three in order to deflect fire from battleships back to their source. The beam shot appear at this time to be of weaker strength then a regular beam rifle but they are capable of ripping a mobile suit or warship apart in less then a minute. We don't know how long they can remain separated from the Queen Bee without need a recharge and have at this moment detected no means to jam them."
One of the older men in the room cleared his throat. Turning the woman pointed to him. "Yes?"
"Yes I've got a real simple question. How effective is this mobile suit?"
"During the battle where the UN forces engaged the second colonial fleet the mobile suit held the entire right flank by itself. No UN mobile suits or ships survived long and if not for it leaving the battlefield the enemy would have carried the day."
There was a worried whisper carried through the room at that last comment. Then the man with white hair and brown eyes slowly rose up. Clearing his throat he waited till the room was silent again. "Betty I want your honest opinion on this. Can the Legacy or the Nemesis defeat this new Mobile Suit?"
The woman fidgeted slightly before sighing. "The Legacy is a superior suit against other lesser enemies but has proven to be less the inadequate against fellow Gundams. During the battle it mostly dealt with the average every day mobile suit. I don't see it wining in a fight unless God himself came down on its side."
The white hair man frowned slightly. A hand brushed the American flag proudly displayed on his arm. "What of the Nemesis?"
"I can't say sir. This new Mobile Suit is meant to make all previous Gundams obsolete. I highly suggest developing similar technology after this war is done. As for whether the Nemesis can win I have to say it depends on the pilot. He'll need a lot of skill and a lot of luck to win out against this."
"I see. Thank you Admiral Director. Admiral Mayes, would you care to brief us on the next stage of our operation."
A ginger haired man in his late forties or early fifties stood up walking towards the front. "Thank you Admiral Hunter for giving me the honor of following that news."
Admiral Hunter laughed before sitting down. "I do what I can."
Smiling the new speaker clicked a button brining up an image of a massive asteroid. "This gentleman is our next objective the fortress Camelot."
A hushed silence filled the room at this news. No one in their right minds had expected this. Standing up a man with pepper hair and four stars on his UN uniform raised his objection. "What about operation Zeus. We aren't supposed to ever attack that. The original plan was to isolate the fortress and starve it into submission."
Admiral Hunter raised his hands to silence the man. "The President and the remaining leaders of the UN have authorized this plan. Operation Zeus has been amended for the change. You all will be issued new copies of it with the revision included."
The speaker looked around noting that he now had the permission of the crowd to continue. "All right as I was going to say intelligence shows that the enemy fleet that was meant to escort the colony is now gathering around the fortress. They are at this time re-supplying and licking their wounds from the defeat that was just handed to them. It is the hope of ours that the planned attack will catch the enemy off guard and allow us not only to take down the fortress but the fleet gathered there as well."
"As you all know by now this fortress represents the strong center of the colonial main line of defense. When this vital link falls the enemy will have no choice but to fall back which will open them up for a march right into the heart of the colonial space. We also hope with the loss of a major portion of their total forces the enemy's will to resist will soon falter as well."
Clicking he brought up a more detailed image of the area. On it were numerous marks representing the forces that would be arrayed in the battle. "The plan is to use the third and fifth independent assault forces of the American third fleet as well as elements of the UN second fleet and the sixth, seventh, and tenth heavy assault forces of the UN first fleet to draw the enemy forces to this point here." A quick stab of the pointer pinpointed where he meant the battle to occur. "Though outnumbered, the forces will be used to keep the enemy occupied while Operation Helios takes place. The majority of the American and UN forces will be occupied with the setup and defense of that operation. Are there any questions?"
A few scattered protests appeared but with the sharp glance of Admiral Hunter they were soon silenced. "Betty do you think your forces can handle this?"
"We're battered but still able to fight Admiral. Just make sure your boys are there."
With a smile Admiral Hunter nodded. "Alright gentleman lets move on to the technical details now."
Soon the entire operation was mapped up and the individual pieces began to be moved into place.
II.
Kim stared silently at the photo in front of her. Her hand traced its way over the image of the dark skinned girl. Making its way down she felt the engraved message on the photo frame.
'Best of pals forever.' A smile came to Kim face looking at how happy the girl was. The way she held up the shirt she had bought at the mall that day. Monique had always liked to shop.
With a sigh Kim set the photo down. 'Buried in space like so many others.' Kim felt the pain flash through her again at that thought. She had lost her only friend.
'Come on Possible it's not like you haven't seen death before. You've killed plenty yourself.'
Kim decided to focus on other things as she got up and made her way to her dresser. Moving the assorted object there she started to put her brush and makeup away. Why she wore makeup on a battleship was beyond her. It just felt right.
Picking up a particular brand of lipstick she felt her hands shake slightly. 'Mon helped me pick this out. She said it always looked good on me.'
With a determined thrust of her hand she placed the item in the drawer as well. 'People die Possible. It is war after all don't go to pieces here. Just calm down.'
Taking in a deep breath she made her way back to her bed. Practically falling upon the blue quilt she let out a tired grunt. Lack of sleep was finally getting to her. Reaching over she prepared to set her alarm when her hands hit a picture placed nearby. Looking up she saw a familiar blond haired boy.
'If he was here he'd know how to make this all better. Ron I need you!' This silent thought echoed through her head. Deep down inside she felt as if...
Knock Knock.
Glancing at the door she muttered something about murder under her breath before getting up. Making her way over she opened the door expecting to deal a very harsh tongue lashing.
"What the hell...'
"Kim!" The cry by two freakily similar teenagers interrupted her. As if they had the same mind they both rushed forward hugging the girl. Kim with a shocked expression on her face let her hands rest on their uniformed shoulders.
"Tweebs?"
III.
Ron frowned as he looked upon the large piece of equipment in front of him. It appeared to be like any other shield except it had a cross cut into it. It gave it an odd look as if the shield had come from the crusade themselves. Though it would have to have been used by a giant to be of any use back then.
"Alright man I give. What does it do?" Ron turned towards his pal a frown on his face.
"Simple Ron-man. We decided to convert the beam reflecting technology recently introduced into a shield sized unit. What you got her is a shield that'll not only block mass projectile fire but it'll handle almost all beam fire from anything smaller then a ship. Took us a total of two days to put this bad boy together when it got shipped to use from the rear lines." Smiling with pride Felix looked up towards his pal.
"Um...cool. So like I can block beam shots now right?"
"Well yeah if you want to sum it up simply. It is really a work of art if you consider it. We had to carefully consider how to get the shield to properly project a magnetic field wide enough to cover its entire surface without going any further and at the same time make sure that it was strong enough to be of use. Then came the part of making sure the thing can take a hit. We in the end decided to use a compound that mirrors the strength of Gundamine without the drawback of the magnetic interference you usually get with it. Of course the compound itself is not as strong as Gundamine but it should hold up real well. Now the interesting part is the paint job. It's not just for appearance after all consider the paint helps shield the unit..."
"Wow man your making my head hurt. As long as it works I'm cool." Ron reached out and ran his hand over the cool surface of the shield. Its black paint job shone brightly even after his hand ran over it. Reaching out he felt the much rougher surface of the inner green cross of the shield. Frowning he noted the difference for latter consideration.
"Well anyway this is an expensive bit of equipment here. It'll disperse any beam fire used against it but don't get cocky ok. The shield will also explode if the internal unit takes too much damage so watch out."
"Wait what? I don't know about this Felix. Exploding shields sounds a little risky to me."
"You'll be fine Ron. Anyway you up for a game tonight. I just got the latest Warrior Princess game. The heroine wears thirty percent less clothing then the last one."
"Sorry man me and Bonnie got a dinner date tonight. The Ron man got to show off his bondiggity cooking skills or he's going to have one less then badical night today." With that Ron made his way out of the hangar with a wave to his friend.
As he left his eyes fell upon the spot where a particular mobile suit was now lacking. For some reason he felt a sudden urge to look off in the distance. Pausing he stared for a while until a crewmember accidentally bumped into him.
"Sorry there man lost track of time." Shaking himself Ron continued on to the mess hall where the cooking staff had promised him the use of the place for the night.
IV.
Captain Steve Barkin was getting on in the years. Despite his best efforts to keep himself in ship even he had to admit Father Time was winning the battle. Though he fully intended to make the old man work for every last second he squeezed on of him. Captain Barkin motto was always to live life to its fullest and enjoy every second.
Today was not one of those days where his motto meant anything to him. Sitting there right now he felt the full weight of his years pressing him down. As most Captains had he'd seen one too many bright eyed recruits loaded in flag draped coffins for the return trip home. Even if those coffins were only filled with their spare flight uniform at least the parents would have something to bury.
Staring down at the picture of the blond haired girl before him he again felt that annoying twitch in his eye. A nervous habit that only appeared at moments like this it had been his curse in earlier years. His eyes flew over the record absorbing all relevant bits of information.
"21 years old born in Middleton Colorado USA. Parents Jerry and Sarah Kingston. Only child." Christ how many of those had he sent to an early grave.
Taking his hand he rubbed it in between his eyes trying to focus on the letter. To make sure that no errors were present. Reading it again he repeated it in his head.
'Dear Mr. and Mrs. Kingston. Damn I sound cold with just the first line. Focus!'
He continued to read. 'It is my sad duty to inform you that your daughter has been killed in a recent military action. Though I'm sure it will be of small comfort to you I would like to assure you that her death was not in vain. Though I am not permitted at this time to reveal all information on the engagement I will tell you that by her selfless sacrifice many millions were saved. It was an honor to serve as her commanding officer and it is my honor to extend the thanks of a grateful nation. May God go with you.'
He couldn't help but feel that the letter was lacking something. Then again he was never happy with any of these letters and the fact that he had three more to write did not help. The poor lads hadn't even seen the missile that had killed them. He just prayed that they'd died instantly instead of burning to death.
"Christ I can't wait till this war is over." Looking to his side his eyes fell upon the picture of old friends. Most of them were dead by this point and the sad fact was that over half had never even seen proper action. Damn colonist had managed to stab that day.
"I think I'll get something to eat."
V.
Ron sighed as he looked out at the table. Sitting besides Bonnie was both of his commanding officers. Captain Barkin and the Major just sat there laughing their heads off. Of course he was now stuck making dinner for them too.
Stirring the pasta he looked up when the Major called his name. "Sir?"
"Hey Stoppable is it true what the Lt. here says?"
"About what sir?"
"That you're better then anyone else in three things."
"Those would be?"
Bonnie seemed to go red as the Major looked back. "Let's see cooking, piloting, and what was the last one again Lt?"
Blushing Bonnie looked back up. "I have no idea what you're talking about sir."
"Well the girls done in the flight deck seem to think otherwise. Something about wild animals. Ring a bell?"
"Of course not sir."
Laughing the Captain was just shaking his head. Looking up his tone just instantly. "Stoppable why haven't you married this girl yet."
The question caught Ron by surprise that he actually burnt himself. Letting out a screech he ran over to the sink ignoring the laughter from the two men. Bonnie though had turned towards Ron.
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"I think you were asked a question Ron. I'd appreciate an answer."
"Um..."
VI.
James was beside himself in rage as he sat there in the briefing room. He looked towards his commanders his face beet red. "Well! Anyone care to explain to me how the enemy did all this to us!"
One of the Admirals swallowed nervously. "It's not all bad sir. We hurt them as much as they did us. Besides I'm sure they'll fall apart soon."
"Fall apart nothing this was supposed to knock them out." Looking around James sighed and visibly tried to calm down. "Alright care to explain to me what the enemy is up to."
"Sir they appear to be gathering their forces here at point C." He pointed at some dot on the map right before a massive line. "We think they are going to strike one of the fortresses on the front line. Our guess is that they are going to try to spilt the right flank forces in an attempt to open a way into the heart of the empire."
James stared at the image and frowned. "What about Camelot. They're pretty close to it."
"Sir I don't think even the Americans are crazy enough to try that."
"And sending in four light destroyers against an entire fleet wasn't crazy. Should I remind you how many ships we lost?"
"Sir even if they strike Camelot it'll be a massacre for them. I still say they won't even try and if they do then they'll just be doing us a favor."
"You better be right then. Ok so what do you gentleman suggest to counter this advance."
The debate continued into the night.
VII.
Within the vastness of space a might armada was gathering. Numerous flags from various nations were shown as these ships gathered together.
Mighty battleships their guns gleaming in the darkness steadily made their way forward as smaller bug like ships scurried between them. Flying between these juggernauts the occasion Mobile Suit shot past while the ever watchful destroyer screen covered their larger brethren. In the middle of the fleet massive transports made their way forward. A watchful screen of ships covering them.
Onward they came preparing for the battle that would decide the war.
To be continued.
A/N: Well big battle is up next. Lots of killing I promise!
Anyway I've noticed a few things. People honestly don't want this to end Ron/Bon. Poor girl to have so many fans routing for her to die. Guess she needs to hire a new agent. By the way I'm curious to see how you all think this is going to end. If you want send me your guess. It'll be a lot of fun for me and you'll get to try your luck at guessing how I think.
Well hope you enjoy this chapter. As always review!
Disclaimer: I don't own KP and Gundam.