Misconceptions 2
Gundam, UC 79
Alex groaned as she tried shift in her canvas bench seat. The deep throb of the heavy engines had done a marvelous job of keeping her awake on the flight over the Atlantic. She looked over at her two squad-mates that had managed to nod off somehow. There was limited room on the transports, all three of them were crammed in here, next to the tarp covered Gundam and it's equipment.
They only had another six hours or so before they hit the ground in Great Britain. They lived in the space age and were still flying transports that could barely go supersonic.
The PA system chimed loudly. "Sergeant Pierce to the bridge. Repeat, Sergeant Pierce to the bridge."
Alex muttered to herself darkly as she undid her harness. She stretched on wobbly legs, easing a crick in her back. She kneaded her uniform covered back as she went forward and then up the crawl-well.
"What's up?" she asked as she shimmied up into the bridge.
"I've got new orders for you, just came off the wire." Captain Boze handed her a sheaf of papers. He almost seemed to have a bit of grudging pity.
Alex had a bad feeling as she flipped open the paper. "Jaburo? How come they didn't have me fly from the North American Quadrant?" She read a little more, a throbbing headache starting to build in her head. "This can't be right. There's no way that I can make that time."
"I just delivered the orders." Boze seemed to consider her for a moment. "You'll never make it, if you have to figure out transport in the Euro Quadrant. You're looking at twelve hours, minimum."
The young pilot narrowed her eyes in thought. This was a test, she suddenly realized. "I'll do my best. Orders received." Alex snapped a pretty crisp salute for being barely awake.
Boze saluted her back. "Good luck."
Alex slid down the rails to the lower levels of the transport. How the heck was she supposed to get to Jaburo in the South American Quadrant? All she had were five broken down GMs and one Gundam. And it's not like they could fly... She smacked herself suddenly. "Doh!"
She kicked her two subordinates' feet, waking them back up. "Up an at 'em, you two. I need your help with getting the Gundam's Core Fighter prepped for flight in fifteen minutes.
Spike just tussled his out-of-control hair. "Say what?"
"I've been ordered to Jaburo by..." Alex checked her watch and refigured her time zones. "...eighteen-hundred hours, Jaburo local time." She sighed. "Only way I'm doing that is by flying on the wings of angels." And a lot of luck, she thought to herself, bitterly.
"That really sucks." Tim thought about that for a second. "Sorry, I'm sure you know that already. You're not thinking about flying all by yourself all the way to Jaburo?"
"Sure, why not?" Alex asked as she started to pull the tarp from her Core Fighter, where it was folded up for transporting.
"You aren't a real pilot, you've only done the simulator and one time up and around," Tim argued. Was she really planning of flying there by herself?
"Don't worry about it. If I don't make it, they'll just get you guys a real CO and you'll be better off," the sergeant said with a touch of dark sarcasm.
"Hey, now! Don't get so touchy! You're loads better than Huros! Don't go and die to get us saddled with someone like him!" Spike held up his hands and shook his head vehemently. He smiled after a moment, letting her know he wasn't too serious about it.
"Did you guys go over the manual for mid-air launch for a Core Fighter when it's folded up?" Alex asked as she popped the canopy open of the fighter.
Tim thought a moment. "I'm pretty sure they say you have to launch from thirty thousand feet. Engine has to be warmed up first, I think. Otherwise, you'll just splat. These Core Fighters aren't bad, but they really aren't that great a fighter."
"Captain Boze? I'm ready to be released," Alex said from the cockpit of her Core Fighter. The bay doors of the Medea Transport rattled open in the high altitude. The odd, boxy-like transport with wings was impossible before the advent of high thrust rockets would have been flatly impossible.
"Roger. The hold is depressurized, prepare to be disembarked. Release and God speed, Sergeant Pierce." Boze looked over at his communications officer, who was also in charge on keeping track of everything around them. Radar was only used to double check position, most of the time.
"She's away and dropping." Miguel looked on with concern. He didn't remember someone actually doing this maneuver before. Just the textbook explanations that it was possible.
Tim and Spike listened with bated breath.
Miguel suddenly tensed. "It looks like she's starting to spin. No, she's got it."
Everyone on the bridge sighed.
Through the static of Mynovski they head Alex's voice, "I'm clear. See you in England!" Alex desperately tried to remember everything she needed to do while piloting the small fighter. It wasn't really designed for long distance journeys. It only had a cruising speed of Mach 1.5. She was going to be stuck in this cockpit for hours.
And she suddenly realized, she wouldn't be invisible to long distance radar either. The Core Fighter was an amazing piece of engineering, but it had no room for the Mynovski Particle generators that negated radar. It would just be her luck to get shot down by an antiquated radar guided SAM. Once she had her bearings, she dropped her fighter nearly to sea level.
She pulled out a paper with the latest weather report. She'd have to swing a little wide Bermuda, as there was a tropical storm forming there.
"So, Jumian? What do you think of the forces that I've gathered for our attack?" Commander Kyle Hynes asked from his command chair on the Gow Assault Transport.
"It isn't the amount of battleships that is going to make a difference," his aide reminded him. "It's the strategy to get close enough to Jaburo's defenses undetected which is the most important part." And besides, we're attacking with less than half of the normal forces.
"Which is why we are so dependent on our spies," Hynes grumbled, rubbing his graying hair. He still fit his Zeon military uniform quite well, he thought. Even if he was getting older. He wasn't yet fifty.
"The defense around Jaburo are too strong for a conventional force to win with any great certainty. That's why we have to try for the knife in the back. With the knowledge of the patrol patterns and with the people at the key stations watching our approach, we should hopefully be able to get close enough to send in the Zaku." Captain Jumian hated Hynes with a passion he never dared show. The commander had no idea of how to use his forces properly. How he had managed to keep his position? He was such a fool.
"Incoming!" a technician suddenly screamed.
Krak-thoooom! A white and red fighter streaked by the front of the Gow blazing away with its light beam cannons.
Jumian stared at the retreating fighter in consternation. "I thought our spy said there wasn't going to be a patrol out here?"
The jaunty little fighter suddenly spewed flares that rocketed into the air, even as it turned on a dime. "Forward batteries, kill that fighter before we've lost our element of surprise," Hynes shouted. He didn't want to be on the under-strength side in a botched sneak attack.
The gunnery officer shouted, "Ready, aim, fire!" Particle beams and machinegun-cannons opened up, trying to hit the minor threat that was going to ruin their operation.
"We've already lost our... My God! Nothing is that maneuverable!" Jumian exclaimed.
The Core Fighter in front of them danced with angels of plasma and missiles, death kissing it but leaving it only scorched.
"Is that a... New Type?" one of the pilots of the Gow asked in awe.
Hynes just stared. New Types was just Zeon propaganda. And they wouldn't be in a Federation fighter ruining his grand strategy. "Nonsense! It's just a hot pilot that took his fighter out for a quick spin."
"Our weapon-fire is unable to pin it down and destroy it," a communications specialist said a little louder than necessary. As if that wasn't obvious from the mass confusion outside.
Hynes slammed his fist down. "It's just one fighter. Can't any of your remember you basics? Engage firing pattern Delta and blow that tin can out of the air!" His face was blotchy and red. High Command was not going to be happy that one fighter was causing this catastrophe.
Jumian nodded, surprised at his commanding officer's initiative. "All ships, initiating Attack Pattern Delta! That will finish it off. It would take an act of God for a single fighter to survive that much firepower."
God must have been listening with his pen, paper and seal. That one fighter seemed to know when it was going to be fired on, when it would be sliding into a lethal bracket of furious firepower that would have slain it, if it had followed the normal patterns of evasion.
"New Type!" Jumian said softly.
"We have incoming! Fifty fighters closing in thirty seconds!"
"Kill that fighter! Kill it," Commander Kyle Hynes shouted.
"We need to signal retreat!" his aide shouted. "We can't stand up to a fully mobilized defense!"
"If I leave now without even firing a shot, I will never command again!" his commander said. His face had gone very pale.
"Commander!" Jumian felt real panic. This wouldn't be a rout; it would be a massacre if they pressed any closer to those heavy batteries and the fighters.
"Signal retreat. Sergeant, inform Commander Dozle Zabi that we have been repelled. Tell him... that I will submit a full report after the battle." Commander Hynes stood up and walked off the bridge. Unheard of that a commanding officer would leave in the middle of battle.
But all of them knew that he would never command again.
The mighty subterranean defenses of Jaburo let the jaunty little fighter let it enter the huge entrances into the great caverns that were the primary defense of the Federation's heart. This facility was not only the governmental headquarters, but also the manufacturing heart of its military. Jaburo had become famous during the unification wars before the Space Era had begun.
Juan and Krimer looked at the battered Core Fighter as it rolled to an unsteady landing in astonishment in accordance to air control. Juan, the darker and bigger technician, just shook his head as the engines whined down and the canopy popped open. The poor fighter had seen some serious action, being scorched across almost all of its armor.
Krimer suddenly squinted. "Hey, that's not one of ours from the 17th Air Wing. And I don't remember any incoming flights either."
The pilot waved and hopped to the ground, landing unsteadily. She doffed her helmet. "Sergeant Pierce of the 85th Tactical Unit here for a special inquiry." She saluted smartly. "Where can I go get cleaned up?"
Juan nodded towards a set of door. "Locker room is right there. Get one of the PFC's to lead you around."
After twenty minutes, Alex was as presentable as she was going to be in any reasonable time. Her dress uniform was a bit rumpled from traveling folded up in her carry on. If she could only get a few minutes sleep. She shook the sleep out of her head.
PFC Mills led her to the administration building, deep underground in the mighty caves of Jaburo Headquarters. Alex checked her watch discreetly. Ten minutes to spare as she entered the room that the hearing was going to be held in. The room was severe and foreboding. The Military Police were armed with pistols and grim expressions.
During the next few minutes, more people arrived and sat down in the various seats. Four strict looking soldiers of higher rank sat at the high table. The center one picked up a gravel and banged it. "Bring in the accused."
Alex blinked in surprise as Captain Wills was led into the room in manacles. She sat at the defense consuls table, trying to look as calm as she possibly could.
The lead officer, who Alex noted as a brigadier general, banged the gavel again. "The special inquiry into the assault and shooting of Sergeant Julio Huros will now commence. Be aware that this court does have all wartime powers granted us by the Federation. Captain Athena Wells, how do you plead in these charges."
Athena stood up. "Not guilty, General Irrs." She waited for him to signal that she should sit down.
"According to the records that we have from the battle you were in, Huros and yourself came into a conflict of authority. After the battle you were found over his bleeding corpse, your smoking gun in your hand. Could you explain this circumstance?"
The military lawyer whispered to Athena, but she shook her head and stood up. "General Irrs? To explain this situation, I must bring up matters of Alpha-Top-Secrecy."
"Very well. Only officers cleared for Alpha-Top-Secrets can remain. Milton? Could you escort the rest out of here to the waiting room?"
This matter took a few minutes. Alex was quite surprised when she presented her papers and credentials that she was allowed to stay. She gulped as she checked over her records to realize she was privy to much more than she had ever expected.
"Milton? Why is that Sergeant still in this room?" a colonial sitting at the desk said loudly.
"Her records are verified as having Alpha-Top-Secret clearance, sir!" the military police officer barked right back.
"I am aware of everyone in Jaburo that has such a high clearance. Sergeant! Stand and identify yourself," the thin, nasally colonial snapped out.
Captain Wills seemed quite relieved when she saw who was being interrogated.
Alex hopped to her feet. "Sergeant Alexis Pierce of the 85th Tactical Unit, sir!" she replied loudly while saluting as crisply as she could.
"Pierce?" Irrs asked. "Colonial Anderson, I was under the impression that she was not going to be able to make it until later."
Anderson looked flushed as he showed a hint of uncertainty. "Sergeant, would you care to explain how you managed to make it from the European Quadrant to headquarters in such a... timely manner?" His voice carried a hidden hint of anger now.
Speaking carefully and quite aware of the hidden pitfalls that were opening around her, she replied, "I had not made it to the European Quadrant, Sir! I interpreted my orders to mean that I was to use the resources available to myself to make all haste to be her. I requisitioned the spare Core Fighter for my Gundam and flew it directly here, sir!" Alex was very tense now. She could almost feel the antipathy coming from Anderson.
"Are you saying that you flew a Core Fighter all the way from the North American quadrant?" General Irrs asked.
"No, sir! My orders did not reach me until I was almost halfway to Europe. I launched enroute and came here as directly as I could. I did run into that Zeon battle fleet forty-five minutes away from Jaburo. That did cause a small delay, sir!" Alex was now very awake and nervous.
There was a murmur from the officers at the table. "Are you trying to say that you were the pilot that spotted that fleet sneaking up to Jaburo during their diversionary attack?" Anderson asked incredulously.
"If I may speak frankly?" At the nod, she continued, "I just happened to be in the right place at the right time. After lighting off my flares I was pinned down by their fire. I was only able to withdraw after our fighters got there."
"Withdraw? Are you telling us that you faced the firepower of an entire battle fleet and escaped unscathed?" Irrs asked. "According to your records, you have only two hours flight experience."
"About twelve hours at this point, really. I think my Core Fighter needs some work, but I don't think I was actually hit-"
A major at that table suddenly stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "This has nothing to do with the case at hand! Can we please get back to the matter of this court martial?"
"Major Enton, this is an inquiry into a shooting. Not a court martial. I would remind you to remember that. Very well, Captain Wills, let's get this hearing in motion again." General Irrs looked quite irritated now.
"Thank you, general. This matter is an Alpha-Top-Secret. After the second battle of Colorado Springs, Sergeant Major Huros approached me upon matters of chain of authority. I informed him that my command to release Sergeant Pierce to follow her instincts in the midst of the battle was my prerogative. He demanded that I explain the situation more fully, so that he could understand my decision. He appeared to be upset and agitated. I informed him of the Top Secret level of this knowledge and that Sergeant Pierce appeared to have New Type potential and at that point, he became even more agitated and angry, saying that Pierce was nothing but a 'snot-nosed' kid. At this point, I believe that Huros was going to compromise an Alpha-Top-Secret. I pulled out my gun to arrest him, he grabbed for my gun and it went off." Captain Wills laid her hands down on her folder.
They called up the black-box recorders of the battle from the Gundam and the GMs. They verified what they could from that information that Huros did appear to be angry at the undermining of 'his' authority. They even had a blurry view of the alteration from the Mobile Suit hanger, too. But it was a bad angle and too far away.
"Sergeant Pierce, come forward." Irrs waited until she was seated at the witness stand. "Sergeant Pierce, please tell us as best as possible what happened just after the 2nd battle of Colorado Springs."
"We had just got out of our Mobile Suits and were going to head back to the barracks to clean up. I was going to write my post-battle report. Captain Wills stopped Sergeant Major Huros from berating me for following my instincts and tried to establish her authority to Huros. We were dismissed and we left."
Anderson cut in with a tight smile. "So, Captain Wills was shielding you from Huros because of your questionable actions during that battle?"
"She was reasserting her position as commanding officer in our tactical squad, sir." Alex shuddered slightly at the uneasy feelings she was getting from Colonial Anderson.
"Intelligence is wondering how such a rank amateur could have racked up an impressive list of kills with only two weeks of training. Three Zaku and two Rickdoms. And, of course, three Gow transports and several fighters. These are the abilities of an ace fighter pilot with much experience. Not a rookie."
"I don't know what you want me to say, sir. I don't know if I believe in this New Type stuff. All I know is... I can feel things. Where the enemy is going to attack from, when they are pulling their triggers. I don't know what to make of it." Alex looked around nervously. "Frankly, it terrifies me."
"You are dismissed. This hearing will be adjourned after a brief recess." General Irrs banged the gavel.
Alex started to walk up to the guards around Athena but backed off quickly when she saw them tense. "Er, sorry."
She decided to grab a quick meal at the lunchroom. A private found her there an hour later, worrying fretfully about the strange captain that she realized she trusted and even liked a bit.
Back in the courtroom after the hearing called to order, General Irrs stood up. "It is the opinion of this panel that we find Captain Athena Wills to have acted properly and within the guidelines of her command in this situation. We have recommended that she be reinstated to her position and returned to her command post-haste. That is all."
Captain Wills breathed out a sigh of relief as the guard released her.
"Reporting for duty, Captain Wills!" Alex said with a smile as she saluted.
Athena returned her salute. "Well, Sergeant. I guess you better bring me back up to date on our tactical unit. Let's find an empty conference room."
It only took them a few minutes to find said room. "We should be fine in here. What happened after Huros decided to lose control of himself?"
"I was ordered to destroy the remaining Gow and its escorts. We lost Nick there but managed to finish the mission. We've been getting ready to ship out to Europe. I was actually in transit when my order to show up here arrived. So I flew my Core Fighter and, er, kind of started a battle with a Zeon fleet that was sneaking up on Jaburo." Alex looked a bit abashed at that.
"You started a battle?" Athena laughed at that. "Alex, you are a troublemaker, aren't you? I hope that someone figures that out so that you get properly rewarded." She turned serious. "You are seeing more, aren't you?"
The sandy-haired sergeant nodded woefully. "I don't know what's causing it. It is like I'm becoming more sensitive to other people. I could feel when the commander of the Gow was setting up his guns and fighters to wipe me out when I was running along the tops of them. And I knew that this battle-group was sneaking in to attack Jaburo. And I could feel when they were going to shoot at me."
"That is quite interesting-"
"What sort of inhuman monster am I becoming," Alex shouted. She seemed on the verge of panicking.
"Monster? I just see a young woman that seems to becoming psychically active. This New Type phenomena seems to be something old and forgotten that we are on the verge actually understanding. And maybe, with your help, something that we will take for granted in another ten to twenty years."
"I don't know, Captain."
Athena smiled softly. "Well, any ways, we need to get back to our job. Our tactical unit is being assigned to the European front?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Then let's get the quickest way there that isn't a core booster."
"At ease." Captain Wills walked up the row of the 85th Tactical Squadron in a briefing room. "For those of you who aren't aware, I am Captain Athena Wills. I understand that some of you," she gave two of the older men in the group a hard look, "may think that I do not understand what to do with the mobile suits that our squad has been assigned."
"Lose that attitude quickly. The 85th has a job to do and I'll see that it does it. Does anyone not understand?" she yelled at them.
"No, Sir!" the 85th yelled back.
"Sergeant Pierce is my second in command. She has proven herself capable of field command and has the proper abilities to keep you idiots alive, if you listen to her."
One of the older pilots had a look on his face that was almost comical, but had the good sense to keep his mouth shut.
"Sergeant Kerr, do you have something to add?" Athena asked.
"Sergeant Pierce has not had extensive field exposure, Sir!"
"And you, of course, have three years command experience. How many confirmed kills have you had, Kerr?"
"I have shot down ten fighters and bagged a Zaku, sir!"
"Sergeant Pierce has already bagged eight Mobile Suits and dozens of fighters, Kerr. In three battles. She bagged more 'bad-guys' than you in one battle. The Federation needs that talent and I'm not going to wait for her to mature 'more' for command."
Alex winced at that. She hoped that Athena knew what she was doing. The implications for her future career were not pleasant if she had read this wrong.
Jonas Kerr looked pole-axed at his new captain's pronouncement. "Ace already? You have to be kidding?"
"No. Not even slightly. You are our second best mobilesuit pilot after her, so you are going to be partnered for this next mission." Athena strode up to the front of the conference room and pointed at the screen with her pen-laser. "And this is the objective we have been assigned. The Danube manufacturing complex."
Tim raised his hand and asked. "Why aren't they just bombing that into rubble?"
Athena almost rolled her eyes. "Because we need it intact. Not only does it have valuable information on the enemy mobilesuit production, it can crank out a three mobilesuits each day. If we can capture it, we'll be able to increase the Federation's ability to produce more mobilesuits by fifteen percent. That's why General Brown has ordered that we take out its defenses using our tactical squad. The six of us should be able to get into the base quick enough to take out the command bunker."
She changed the screen to show the bunker. "The weather is cooperating. No snow in the assault zone is predicted. We will neutralize their anti-aircraft here and here..."
The 85th Tactical Unit 'crept' up on their forward positions. The seven mobilesuits were painted a muted white and blue that did not stand out as much as the previous schemes had. The bare trees attested to the fact that winter was not far off.
In her suit, Alex felt a feeling of dread build up. But it didn't seem to be coming from anywhere in particular. At least, not yet. Why couldn't this ability be useful?
They were on tight-beam laser coms at this point. On her communication screen, Tim appeared.
"Hey, Alex? What's up?" On his own screen, Alex looked pale and worried to him.
"I don't know. I've got a bad feeling."
Images started to flash through her mind in staccato fashion, almost overwhelming her.
Tim had just a moment to scream before his GM exploded.
Blink.
Athena's GM had its legs shot out from underneath her as the rest of the Tactical Squad retreated. In a dank cell, electronic torture devices were attached to her until she started telling everything and anything to stop the pain.
Blink.
Alex's Gundam managed to take out the two Zaku threatening her old team-mates, but a shot from another managed to pierce the containment of Kerr's GM, exploding spectacularly. The entire squad was either captured or killed.
Blink.
Another death of Spike and Athena caused by her saving Tim.
Blink.
Athena cut in suddenly. "What sort of bad feeling?"
In his GM's cockpit, Kerr just mouthed Alex's words sardonically. He was barely keeping an eye out ahead of himself.
"We're surrounded! It's a trap!" Alex suddenly screamed out. Her face was literally covered in a sweat from her fear and indecision. "We have to escape!" She pushed her Gundam towards the ridge line behind them in great leaps and bounds. Suddenly, a Zaku stood up in front of her, only to be blasted down by her beam rifle.
There was only one path that she could see that would save her and her teammates.
The 85th Tactical Unit almost froze but Alex's words had the desired affect. "Follow her! That's a direct order!" Athena shouted.
Lyle Kumasi almost smashed his fist into his console on his Rik Dom as the Fed Mobile Suits suddenly charged the weakest line of his encircling force. The lead suit had just killed Mattie Dumo, a confirmed veteran! "Attack! Attack now!'
The Zaku and Rik Doms went into action, their plan to trap the federation squad still intact. Blistering crossfire would pound them down. Either they would die or they would be captured. There was no escape. But Lyle had to wonder how they knew to avoid the minefield up ahead.
The Zeon weapon fire was damaging all of their enemy's mobilesuits, but not dropping any of them. That should be possible, but it was happening. The Gundam was doing an impossible job of taking the brunt of the damage. Its shield was in tatters, it's armor cracked and fracturing. But vulcans and particle beams blasted grenades and rockets out of the sky.
It just would not fall!
"Captain Wills! Get everyone out! Don't come back for me no matter what! This is the only way!" Alex shouted even as her Gundam shuddered under another attack. "I will be fine! I promise!"
"Alex?" Athena shouted, spinning her GM around just in time to see Zaku machine gun fire pushing the Gundam back in a drunken stagger. A Rik Dom beam rifle's shot burned her gun arm off.
"We have to retreat!" Tim yelled as he worked his damaged GM backwards while firing his beam pistol.
Athena bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. "Fall back!" She slammed the flare launcher controls, sending up emergency flares. That was the signal for fighter support to extract them. The mission was a total wash anyways.
Moments later, Core Fighters streaked into range and unleashed heat seeking missiles, dangerous but effective, as it knocked the ambush back on its heels long enough for the GMs to make the dubious cover of the surrounding hills.
Captain Athena Wills shattered a nonessential gauge in her cockpit. "Someone is going to pay! We were sold out, men!"
All of the pilots were shocked, but it made too much sense. There was a traitor in their midst.
Colonial Sunia just shook his head at the wreckage. "Sergeant Kumasi. I thought you promised that this ambush would net us that entire MS Squad that the Feddies were sending in?" He leaned up against his armored hover car and took out a cigarette.
"It should have, Colonial. I don't know how they figured it out, but they knew not to head into our wired mines." Wired mines that would only have gone off after they were all in the field. "Even so, our fallback plan netted us a Gundam."
"That plan was supposed to be able eliminate them all too!" he shouted as he stood up suddenly into subordinate's face. He turned to and walked over to the mecha in question. "How are you coming in extracting the pilot?"
"Just got it, sir!" a technician standing on the torso of the Gundam shouted. Surprisingly, for the damage it had taken, the mobilesuit looked quite repairable.
He hit a hidden switch and the cockpit opened up. Three soldiers tensed to fire at the pilot, only to realize that he must be unconscious. A smashed view screen attested to how that happened.
"The pilot is alive! And out of it!" one of the Zeon soldiers shouted down.
"What is the rank?" Colonial Junia yelled back. He eyed the Gundam thoughtfully.
"Sergeant!"
He sighed. "Sergeant Kumasi, see to our guests interrogation. I will be heading to HQ to report about this debacle. I might be able to talk fast enough that you won't lose your recent promotion!" He climbed into his armored hover-jet and signaled the pilot to take off. In moments, they were winging their way off to the east.
Lyle Kumasi just clenched his fists. Junia was the worst sort of officer. Always taking credit for others and assigning blame for his own failures. Lyle turned towards the almost shattered Gundam. But surprisingly enough this time, there was no one to really blame in the ranks. The Feddies just failed to fall into the trap correctly.
Their spy, on the other hand, at the local Federation Base must have sold them out. So he would pay for his double treachery.
Alex groaned in pain as she awoke. Her thoughts were woozy, drugged. The lights from the curtained windows were almost blinding.
"Here, drink this," a female voice stated. Gentle hands helped her gulp down a drink. "You are very lucky. The rest of your squad is still out there. Sergeant Lyle really needs information about what happened. I'll go get him."
"Sergeant Pierce. Thank you, nurse. This is confidential information, you will have to leave." Lyle Kumasi smiled. While technically illegal, he had to get all the information he could out of this pilot. Wearing the uniform of the enemy might net him information he needed to keep his neck out of the noose that was tightening its way there. "It looks like your file has been misplaced. Here, fill out these forms."
Alex winced but nodded. She took the clipboard and started to fill out the forms. It looked like her old recruitment forms from six months ago. Odd.
"Tell me about the ambush," Lyle said. "Why did you wait so long before trying to escape it?"
"Didn't wait, sir. I only realized it was a trap just about a minute before they attacked." Throbbing pain drummed in her temples.
"You were operating under radio silence, hoping to sneak on the base!" The Zeon officer was shocked. They didn't know it was a trap until...
"I... saw it happening just before they hit us. Little flashes of how the squad was going to die depending on my actions."
"New Type," Lyle muttered in awe.
"That's what Captain Wills thinks..." Alex blinked as if she were thinking very hard. He hadn't given her any identification or clearance. None. She started to frantically tear up the papers she had half finished filling out. "Damn trick," she muttered.
Strong hands stopped her. "Sorry, Alexis. But you are suddenly far too valuable. You are going to Paris now."
Alex winced as she was moved out of the armored vehicle. It had only been a few days since her capture. Her head was still throbbing as she was pulled forward into a French mansion. She vaguely thought it might have been a palace for their old kings. The guards led her inside the side entrance and down the opulent halls filled with tapestries and archaic arms and weapons.
"Move it, Feddie," one of the soldiers barked as he slammed the butt of his rifle into her back, sending her sprawling into the well appointed dining room. Luckily, the soft carpet cushioned her fall.
She pulled herself to her feet, blue eyes smoldering in anger. Bastard. They were all bastards.
"Tsk tsk. I'm shocked at you, Kumasi. Release her so that we may discuss things in a more civilized manner," a higher ranking Zeon soldier said from across the table. He was stocky, but only in his late thirties.
Alex looked around carefully. It had only been a few days, but she had kept her eyes open for chances to escape. Not that any chance had appeared. It did look like they felt she was a very important prisoner. She rubbed her wrist appreciatively as she was removed from the manacles. "Sergeant Alexis Pierce - PX40210B."
"General Kluz Doman. Please, let's dispense with the histrionics. We could be treating you much worse than we are," the general said as he waved her over to the waiting chair.
Cautiously, she sat down. "You won't make me betray the Federation!"
Kluz raised an eyebrow at that. "They have already betrayed the precepts that they supposedly stand for."
"And the Zeon are paragons of virtue that would never use chemical warfare, nuclear weapons or colony drops against civilian targets," she retorted savagely. She bit off her comment and stared directly ahead of herself.
The general pulled out a dossier. "Supposedly you are a powerful 'New Type', with powerful precognitive abilities." He waited for her to respond, which she failed to do. "From your paperwork, it shows that you are from Idaho in the North American Quadrant. Have you ever been into space?"
Alexis stared ahead of herself resolutely. She wasn't going to give them any more information.
Kluz sighed. "I have no desire to turn this nasty, but I must have this information." He hit a button on his intercom. "David, bring in Mrs. Pierce."
Alex's eye widened. She snatched a quick glance at the doorway where two soldiers were leading an older woman with an obvious resemblance to herself lay. "You bastard," she muttered hollowly. They must have snatched her mother during a raid. The North American Quadrant was not heavily controlled by either side at this point.
"Will you cooperate?" he asked harshly.
Mutely, Alex nodded. She didn't see any way out now.
"Let's start off with the easy part," Sergeant Kumasi said as he started this interview with Alexis. He was in a bleak looking office with no windows deep within the mansion.
Alex just nodded shortly. She fidgeted with her manacles.
"How did you become involved in the Federation New Type Program and what is its name?" Lyle asked pleasantly.
"I volunteered for the Pilot's Academy about six months ago and was tasked with being trained for the Mobiles Suits that we just developed. During my first combat, I performed very well. So well that I caught attention at head quarters. They sent out an officer to take command of the squad I was assigned to." Alex paused uncertainly. "My next combat was to defend Colorado Springs against Zeon Mobile Suits. My performance had increased even more." She paused again, then swallowed. "I destroyed several Mobile Suits and the Gow carriers."
"You destroyed the carriers?" the interrogator asked.
"Most of them. I think the fighters downed one of them. I just knew that I could charge up that mountainside and jump on top of the Gows. After I managed to survive that, I was sent to destroy the surviving units of that attack force. Then I was assigned to the European front. Where I fell to a Zeon ambush." Alex watched him carefully. She wasn't technically lying, but there really wasn't a Federation New Type project or anything. At least officially.
"That's it?"
"Well, we only have theories and my flashes of intuition to go by," she responded.
"And what is that theory?" Lyle asked as he scribbled on a piece of form.
"I read up on Zeon New Type propaganda and I don't match what they call a New Type. I'm no evolutionary product of the space age, enlightened or anything else. I'm just a normal person that might have a bit of the second sight. Uh, that's what my mother calls it," Alex responded slowly.
"So New Types are just psychics?"
"Well, so far as we can tell. It's not like I came with some sort of users manual for super powers, you know." Alex shrugged diffidently. So far she'd been able to avoid mentioning that Minovski particles seemed to be related with this odd ability.
"Why don't you think you are a product of the space age?" he asked.
"I've never been into space. I wanted to, when I was younger. I even joined the school military placement program for officers. I wanted to become a pilot. Maybe get my own freighter and visit the colonies." She looked away to stare at a blank wall.
"Well, maybe your parents..."
"No, my father was a farmer and my mother can't stand the thought of leaving the farm either. They were Seclusianists and opposed the expansion of humans into outer space. And they weren't nearly as reactionary as their own parents had been."
Lyle just stared at her in shock. There were people that actually believed that?
Alex smiled wanly. "I don't believe that, of course. You wouldn't believe some of the fights that my mother and I got into about it. She definitely didn't like me joining up with the military." She glared at the Zeon officer suddenly. "But someone has to stand up to your atrocities."
"We're not here to discuss political differences. We're here to discuss what you know." Lyle made a scribble on his notepad.
"I don't really know a lot," she noted in reply. "The Federation merely happened into this, as far as I know. But I'm just a very newly promoted sergeant. So I don't know much at all."
Sergeant Lyle Kumasi just smiled. "Well, let's see what technical information you can tell us about your Mobilesuit. It's called a Gundam, correct?"
"My Gundam?" she asked in muted shock. "Yes, it's called a Gundam."
"It seems like quite the mobilesuit, in a generalist matter. Very high performance and a very interesting armor that we haven't figured out how to duplicate."
"Um, it can sure take a wallop or two. And it's a lot higher performing than the GM's, I guess. I don't know how good it is in comparison to your mobilesuits. I think it is faster though." How the hell was she going to not reveal classified secrets about this? She was already a traitor for what she was let slipping.
"How is the armor created?" he asked.
"No real idea. I just know it's expensive. A lot more than the regular armor that the GMs use."
"Let's go take a look then. You can explain some things to us."
She didn't meet his eyes. "I'll try, sir. When can I meet my mother?"
"After we're satisfied that you are assisting us. And if you really upset us, it won't be you that suffers. Understand?"
"Yes, sir."
Alex was shown into her mother's quarters. Not quite a cell, but bars at the windows were a significant reminder that they were both prisoners. "Mother?"
Irene Pierce looked up at the entrance. "Alexis? What have you gotten yourself caught up in?" She scooped up her daughter into a tight embrace.
"You were right, going into the military was going to bring grief to our family. I'm so sorry." The younger woman fought back her sob, though tears shown in her eyes.
"I let my personal fear guide my sight, Alexis. I knew that if you left the farm, that you would do great things. But I also saw that I wouldn't live past the war."
"What! Mother!" Alex tightened her grip around her mother. Their difference in size was quite noticeable. She nearly towered over the older woman.
"Alexis Pierce! You are a strong young woman. Stronger than I could ever be." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "I will not live to see another sunset. You must find a way to escape in your beloved armor. Somehow."
The door banged open suddenly. "This visit is over," a young officer stated. "Don't try to hide what you say from us. We would consider it bad faith on the current situation. That will have... negative repercussions on Mrs. Pierce."
Three soldiers grabbed her and roughly dragged her away. Tears leaked from her eyes, distorting her view of her smiling mother.
Alex sat in her room in the darkness. She stared out the barred windows, seeing nothing of the fantastic gardens they overlooked. Suddenly, a presence started to intrude on her consciousness. She could feel it slowly creeping up to her locked door, where two guards were posted.
Acting on instinct, she moved to the door and pressed her back up against the wall next to it. She heard the muffled thud of a body hitting the floor and the zapping sounds of a tazer. A rescue? But the overwhelming feeling from the other side of the door was not of rescue, but of murderous intent.
The door finally creaked open. A darkly garbed figure crept into the room, a silenced pistol at the ready. Alex's strong fingers suddenly reached out to grip and twist the wrist that held the gun. Her knee was already smashing into the intruder's stomach. The young pilot pivoted and flipped the attacker onto their back with punishing force.
She lashed out with several full strength punches. After getting her breathing under control, she flipped on desk lamp. It illuminated the bruised face that looked vaguely familiar. "What did I ever do to you?" she muttered. She quickly dragged one of the guards into her room and stripped him from his uniform. With a grimace of distaste, she quickly donned the uniform that was only a little loose over her own uniform. She headed out into the hallway and towards where her mother was kept.
She had barely turned the corner when she heard a cry of alarm. She pulled her helmet down lower over her eyes and headed up the stairs as quickly as possible. The darkness made the suits of armor and tapestries into chasms of darkness that she could hide within. She fought that urge and continued to move. She'd have to come back for her mother, somehow. Lights were coming on downstairs. Flickering images were starting to overlay her sight again. She almost staggered drunkenly up to the fourth floor, clutching her head. Fewer options were now available, but only one seemed to grant her any chance of escaping. She opened a door and followed her instincts to the large windows.
Opening it up, she saw a discouraging sign, the green of an armored shoulder of a Zaku. It was only a few feet away... and a little below her. She opened the window and looked around quickly. The Zaku was kneeling and scanning for possible attack. Alex took a deep breath suddenly and then launched herself to land on the mobilesuit.
How was she going to get from here to the entry hatch in the middle of the Zaku's chest? She worked her way in front of the 'head' and looked down below. She saw a flicker of light, dim orange for just a moment. Alex grinned like a wolf. The pilot actually had his door open while taking a smoke break. A sudden sense of urgency nearly overwhelmed her. She had to act now!
She thumped onto her rear and slid down the curved front, almost paralyzed with fear. A fall in the dark would be fatal. She shifted to the left suddenly and bent her knees, just as she hit the open hatch that looked like a high tech drawbridge. She was already spinning around towards the surprised pilot with a double-fisted hit to his neck that sent him tumbling off into the darkness with a muted cry. Her protesting legs nearly collapsed even as she forced herself to tumble into the cockpit.
"Edward! Seal up, man! The prisoner just got loose!" the radio squawked. She had barely gotten into the mobilesuit in time!
Alex fumbled the headset on as she cycled the hatch closed. She found the slightly different radio controls. She tapped the button down while saying, "Right," in as low voice as possible and coughed. She then tried to figure out how to power up the mobile suit to full power.
"You need to stop smoking, man. Those things are going to be the death of you sometime." There was a long pause. "Ed?" the man on the other side of the radio called out.
Alex ignored him. It was obvious that the Federation engineers had copied the Zaku's controls extensively, except where it was obvious that something was in a stupid place. The startup switches were just out of reach and set vertically, but in the same general area.
"Hey, Ed? Why are you powering up?"
The Federation pilot jockeyed her controls, then stood the mobilesuit up while buckling into the chair.
Suddenly, she had a flash of premonition stronger than anything she had ever felt before. Her mother and General Doman were yelling when a gunshot suddenly rang out. In seemingly slow motion, she saw her mother fall to the ground. Kluz Doman lowered his smoking pistol.
Alex screamed mentally.
"ED! What the hell do you think you are doing?" the voice on the radio yelled out.
Her lips turned up in a snarl suddenly. She turned on her friend and foe scanner to target the other Zaku and then manually turned it off. Outside, her Zaku suddenly turned around and raised its heavy machine gun and fired the length of the house to shoot at the other Zaku that was guarding the other corner of the mansion. It was totally unprepared for that and its gun arm and head were sheared off by the hail of bullets.
She flicked on her radio. "For Freedom! For the Federation! Forever!" she shouted into the radio, anger clouding her thoughts. They had killed her mother. So they would all pay. She clicked off the radio. She suddenly pushed the Zaku into a leaping run towards the military base just fifteen miles away
"What the hell was that?" came a new voice over the radio. "Malcom? Richards? Report!"
Alex tapped some controls on the power plant limiters. The Zaku's power plant started to over heat, but that would boost its output for fifteen minutes. She started taking deep breaths, feeling the inimical presence of enemies up ahead.
The two Zeon mobilesuit pilots in their Zaku's were shocked when Alex's Zaku came shooting out from the trees as quickly as a Rik Dom. Alex unleashed a tight burst of machinegun bullets into the first Zaku even as the huge feet of her mobilesuit slammed into the other one. She stepped back and emptied a single shot into the cockpit of it. She then spun and turned, charging towards the hanger where her Gundam was being kept.
She took out her heat-axe and chopped through the support struts for the armored door and then kicked it in. Screams of panic from the technicians were ignored as Alex moved her Zaku in front of her repaired and repainted mobilesuit. She opened her own hatch and was about to exit the Zaku when a grenade bounced between her feet.
With a surge of adrenaline, she dove into the Gundam just as the grenade went off. Jagged pain clawed at her left thigh. She smacked her head into one of the control screens, shattering it and knocking herself silly for a minute.
"Did we get that pilot?" someone asked from outside.
"I don't know. Max! Get up there and put a bullet in his head for his troubles."
Alex whimpered in pain but dragged herself into the pilot seat. Her blood made it slick to sit in. Even as she toggled the door closed and locked it, she stripped off her Zeon military shirt and wadded it up against the wound. The stolen Zaku was going to be exploding any minute!
She managed to shave thirty seconds off of her fastest power on time, but the Gundam was not cycling smoothly. With an oddly churning noise, she started to get it to move off, even as she watched the power plant closely.
The Gundam's shield had been a total loss, but her beam cannon and beam saber had been repaired. She knew they didn't have the armor repaired with the original Gundanium that it had, so she couldn't depend on it for anything drastic.
She lowered the Gundam into a charge at the other door, whipping out the beam saber and chopping through the supports. With a horrendous crash and a very worrisome cough from her power plant, she actually made it two hundred yards before the cataclysmic explosion of the dying Zaku destroyed the mobilesuit hanger and the remaining mecha.
She immediately pointed the Gundam northwest and set it moving it a quick, loping gait. Even as the Gundam jerked and moved, she grabbed for the emergency medical kit. It was a very sloppy pressure bandage and it left her hands covered in blood. She had to force her breath into more shallow intakes. She could be going into shock.
Somehow she had to hang on.