The White Base had come out without me learning if there were any significant changes to the canon events. My mind was too concerned with other things to bother, but having not heard any bad news reassured me that things should've been fine at least.
I'm sure if the White Devil himself was dead, we'd learn about it before I'd gotten back to my ship.
I was out of breath, my heart racing, my body felt like I had sweated so much that I had been dipped into a river. There was no way I was looking forward to the debriefing to come.
I didn't last two seconds off my GM before Lightwing was on me like a fly on shit. His face wasn't a surprise, his expression wasn't a surprise. The fact that Dull was holding onto his arm and attempting to hold him back was a surprise.
But as I once mentioned, while being the size of a young prepubescent boy, Lightwing was built like a tank, so he shrugged the Ensign off him and stalked his way towards me.
"You okay?" he asked his concern as true as my surprise at seeing it. Even Gullar appeared to be taken back by it, it made me wonder if Lightwing had even spoken to the Ensign about what he planned.
"Yeah," I popped my lips, my helmet coming off as I did so. "Just pissed at what happened."
"It was another new unit? That one that supposedly had the Red Comet in it?" He asked me, his eyes glazing at the battle damage done to my GM Command. The head was sparking, it would need to be replaced rather than repaired, and while the shield was intact it did have a large black mark that intersected with the damage done to the head. "Did better than the last one against you."
I wondered if he was keeping the subject away from Bandager's death as a coping mechanism for himself, or because he thought I needed a breather from confronting the fact that I had lost my partner for the sortie. It was speculated that my amnesia had come from the trauma of having so many die around me at Solomon.
So it was possible Lightwing was trying to be gentle with me in case I had a mental episode of some sort. How nice of him.
Wonder what he's up to?
"I wasn't backed up by the same number of people this time," I rolled my shoulder, my arms searching suddenly with the burn of hard exercise. It was a really odd feeling that I couldn't contribute to anything but need to keep them from shaking even a little bit unless I wanted the Mobile Suit to jitter about uncontrollably. "If I had been in less of a rush to take out the ship, probably could've held out against him with Bandager."
Lightwing let out what I could only describe as a rather dirty sigh.
"You can think that," Lightwing replied to me before giving my arm a pat. "If you want to be a moron."
"I'm sorry, sir?"
It almost appeared that Lightwing was in pain as he continued to speak.
"Look, you were up against the Red Comet," The Lieutenant explained. "I mightn't have much combat experience, but I'd be a fool to think that you would beat Char Aznable even if all of us came at him at once."
There wasn't much more I could think to do other than blink at his rather stark but supportive words.
"He defeated me in a suit with just a single hand! He literally beat me one-handedly!"
This got me a raised brow from both of them. That was before Gullar's expression turned dour once it comprehended what I had just admitted to. It sort of reminded me of a child learning that Santa wasn't real.
"Wait!" He yelled, his finger pointed at my face in the oddest display of dramatic posing that I had experienced in my life. "Are you saying that the Comet is so good that you couldn't even put up a fight! You of all people!"
"... no, I was just knocked off the ship, I would've done much better if I expected him and was just fighting him during a battle rather than on top of a moving spaceship."
"And if we were on Earth that would be an excuse."
I didn't get to continue this exchange, which would've mentioned how being in Space meant that you didn't need to deal with air resistance while on top of a moving object. This was due to whatever humor that we had attempted to build with this was broken by the remains of Bandager's GM being brought past us.
My chest heaved at the shattered visor and I couldn't help tighten my fists before I shoved off from the others. I needed a cold shower and a nice drink. I could hear Lightwing yell out towards me;
"Take ten minutes and then we'll debrief with the Captain then!"
Joys of joy. Stuck recounting my mistakes with a Captain I wanted to keep in the good graces of. Hopefully, I hadn't been so bad as to get a talk down to. Maybe that was why Lightwing was being nice? Because the Captain was going to reem me?
Hope I'm not a 'Simmerson' here?
I started removing my flight suit before I even got to the locker room. It was unbelievably scratchy all of a sudden, like the fabric had decided that my skin needed to be removed. So I'd gotten the zip down to the halfway point before the chief mechanic, a man I had been introduced to but couldn't recall the name of, called me over.
"So I've good news and bad news," He started this sentence with a neutral expression on his face, only letting his eyes glance over to my damaged machine. "Bad news is your unit won't be fixed till we reach Solomon. Just how long it'll take. But could get the job done quicker if you want to go along with the good news"
"I'm guessing the good news is you can install an old one faster?"
"Ahhh," The Chief raised his hand and wibbled it around a bit in the air. "We could but you'd have reduced sensor range compared to your prior head. It would be waste of parts for an otherwise fine machine"
My confusion only lasted long enough for me to see another engineer pull a tarp off a head unit nearby. In a number of ways, it appeared like a regular GM Head, but it was different enough to be distinct. Its visor was more of a long horizontal stripe across the head, rather than the 80s sunglasses look of the regular, and it had a guard that fell down to protect.
This was the head of a GM Sniper Custom.
"Where did you guys get that?" I couldn't help but ask, my confusion now overriding the lingering feelings of guilt I had over Bandager's death.
"Ah the parts were already there in ship, we had to modify one of spare GM heads here, in fact, Lightwing will be getting this one for his unit," The man shrugged. I decided to finally glance at his name tag, the dirt making it hard for me to read the first letter that was probably his personal name. Leaving me with his surname of Battrum. "And the great thing here, is that if we just use some spare parts that we have for another one of those boys, we'll be able just fix your GM's head rather than outright replacing it."
"That's great-"
"One condition," He interrupted me, and there was something more intimidating about Battrum than Lightwing. The Lt was a more built man than the mechanic sure, but the youth of the pilot made it appear that he was always unsure giving orders. Battrum on the other hand, seemed to have a gleam of confidence that the other man lacked. "You can't go around turning off the safeties on the GM. See, we can notice the warping around the back thrusters."
I flushed red briefly, pulling at my collar before stopping suddenly. Maybe I shouldn't pull at a part of my outfit that stops air from leaving my helmet during a flight.
"I'm not going to promise something if I can't deliver on it," I attempted to say with a glint of humor in my voice. But I ended sounded strained like someone was squeezing my lungs near the end of the sentence. Not really sure why that was, but I continued on regardless. "It can be a useful push when I'm stressed."
Battrum sighed, rolling his eyes and wiping his forehead.
"I know that they're tougher but the backpack on that thing isn't meant to be put under this sorta pressure," He warned me. "But I'll see about getting a cheaper backpack, something that will quick to install it after you break this one soon."
Shit had I done that much damage?
The thought must have shown on my face because Battrum chortled lightly.
"Yeah, it isn't that bad," Battrum admitted, with a small hesitant grin on his face. "But don't go pulling off that sorta thing all the time. Repeated abuse and it might explode on the field on ya. Things can get hectic on a carrier, we might miss it when the damage gets too much. You'll go out on the field with the thing, think it's in perfect condition, and then... kaboom!"
"I understand," I nodded to him, trying to make sure that he understood that I took his words very seriously. "I'll leave only for the worst of situations," Like facing a Zeong, or a Elmeth. Those boys had superior everything, and I'd rather kill myself than let Char have a hand in it. "It's a fast enough machine that I won't need in most situations."
It was true, there weren't any mooks in the Zeon Forces that could threaten me in terms of raw speed. Numbers sure, but speed nah.
"Well, if that is the best I can get off ya, it'll have to do. But please… don't pull any other stupid stunts with the GM Command, it is an expensive machine to maintain in the best conditions."
I left the hangar quickly after that confrontation, thinking to bring up the Gyan's Beam Saber after they'd fixed the head. No point in pilling on work to the man. I needed the spare time anyway, as I hoped to spot the redhead test pilot before she left the ship.
I know that there was some chance to talk to her again at Solomon, but it was better to get things out of the way. I'll have to chance asking her if she has a boyfriend outright. Maybe Bernie didn't go to the colony at all? Therefore she never defeated a Zaku II Kai?
That would make sense given what she had told me already?
It was something to distract me from the coming Captain's debriefing.
I didn't find Christine, I did manage to have a shower though. It was a rather cold shower, which was great for my nerves but not as good for relaxing as I had planned. The debriefing with Captain Synapse and Lt. Lightwing went as well as you'd expect.
Better than I had expected, but as you would. I don't know if I was sad that I didn't get a 'Major Lenox answered with his life' moment, or glad that I didn't that sort of treatment. I found the Captain to more than understanding about the loss of Ensign Bandage, far more than I was on myself. There wasn't any culpability on me or anything. I didn't kill the man, I just gave him orders that ended up with him recklessly following me into it.
But this would be the end of it, Lightwing would be writing up a letter to explain to the man's family about his death in the line of duty. Maybe he'd even call them, he'd certainly be mailing them what we had of his personal items. Every standard thing they'd do in this instance.
I also realized that I'd accomplished the task of saving the Magellan. It took me a while to realize that Admiral Wakkein and his ship survived this encounter with Char. But I took a great deal of pleasure in this fact.
If I was a more bleak, fatalistic man, I'd say that Bandager's death appeared to be me some sort of cosmic balance for saving the Admiral. But that would stupid because Bandager was one man, the Magellan was a ship full of…
… hundreds of people?
It was good to have managed to do a good deed. Now, I just need to figure out how to save General Revils life later on. It would take more than fancy flying moves to stop a Solar Ray Cannon from burning the man's entire battle group to pieces.
It would take actual words, something to convince the General to fake his location to the enemy. Let the Big Fat Zabi himself go to a false location in order to make the peace talks, let Gihren use Solar Ray Cannon/Colony Laser. Revils would need to sacrifice his entire battle group to trick the Fat Zabi. A lamb for the slaughter situation if there ever was one.
That would leave a horrible taste in my mouth
After this, I did manage to track down the good Lieutenant Mackenzie. Who had returned to the hanger to help supervise the transfer of spare parts in preparation of the 'Alex' transferring as well to the White Base.
Her red hair swayed in the low gravity of the ship, its length causing it to appear as if she was underwater in some regards, like Aerial's strands of hair in the Little Mermaid. They'd spilt and shifted away from each other in the air like ooze in liquid.
I'm not good with metaphors.
"Ensign," She yetted herself to the side, dodging a mechanic that wasn't too careful in moving a large crate. From the sound of Mackenzie's voice the young woman, slightly older than I currently, was happy to see me. That was good, though not something that typically lasted with me "What can I do for you?"
I pondered my approach, the synapses of my brain firing off at rapid speed. Far faster than you typically mortals would think… which actually meant that my brain farted and went blank. This caused me to stare at her for a few moments and blink a few times before the thing managed to reboot.
"See… I was wondering… "I scratched my head, even leaned onto my left foot more than my right. "Since I didn't hear you mention any and I thought it was odd, so I thought I'd if you were seeing anybody?"
It wasn't a sentence that sounded as elegant as it was written. And it already didn't read elegantly. I had, in fact, been speed saying this so fast that it was more an incoherent rant of noises and sounds than it was a sentence that humans could comprehend.
This folks was why I've only had two girlfriends in the past ten years.
Mackenzie bravely ignored that and pretended that I had said words that could be understood… or had heard the last two words I'd said and made an estimate on the rest.
"I don't think that you want to be brought up on fraternization regulations," Mackensie replied, not harshly but with a smile and a tiny bit of exasperation, like she was used to being hit on.
"Not at all, I wouldn't even recall what regs I was breaking," I joked, quickly gaining some confidence. If I made it all a joke, there wasn't much for me to be embarrassed about. I could nearly say anything if I could convince the other person it was a joke, even things I was serious about. "But to be honest, I'm not asking you out. I'm asking if you're seeing anyone?"
"And I'd ask whose business if I am or not?"
"Oh no, I'm not trying to pry. I'm just interested if the life of a test pilot is more opened to find a relationship versus my current one?" I shrugged, for some reason, I decided to mime leaning on something. Not sure why? I apparently become a Mime when nervous."Think of this as research."
"..." Mackenzie was silent for a little while, glancing around the room. Measuring me with something akin to a glare. "I'm not with anyone, but there is a guy back home that I want to get with."
That basically confirms that Bernie survived War in the Pocket here. Still, I can't really learn why he did in this timeline. I'd need to find the blond Zeon Pilot.
"I'm not surprised," There wasn't anything surprising about a young person being interested in another person. It was to be expected more than anything else. "Look, when this war is over. I'm a nice guy. Don't be afraid to hit me up with someone."
Maybe it was my mime trick, maybe it was the sarcastic grin I was attempting but no doubt falling at. But the redhead smiled back and even let out a small laugh. Still, part of me was actually annoyed at being shot down.
Even though I wasn't interested in dating at all. It still hurt to be just shut down like that. But that I suppose was the danger of being upfront but awkward about any subject.
"I'll be sure to do that Ensign."
It sounded like a dismissal to me. I was more than happy to escape this conversation. This whole situation made my anxiety flare-up. Which was more than a little annoying given that I've now killed men, I can kill someone but asking someone out apparently gives me a heart attack.
Live fire won't phase me but if Zeon sends a bunch of hot people at me, I'd be doomed.
Suppose it's good that I hadn't met Char in person. But there's not much concern for that, given that I was far too old for that man, and with the wrong parts too. Basically, I wasn't his type. And while I liked blonds, men weren't my preferred gender either.
"Hey, Colasour!" Ensign Dull yelled out, catching my attention from the corridor that lead to the other hanger. I unbuttoned my uniform till it was halfway done and sorta floated toward him in a leisurely pace.
When I got there I found out that Dull's GM Cannon had been fixed, at least externally. Even got a new paint job that more aligned to the stand white and red GM that my Command kept too. I hope that we weren't being made a team with a name.
That would attract a bit too much Zeke attention at this point in my career. I wanted that sort of thing when I was going around in a Gundam that had bits and bobs that could strike at my enemies with mere thoughts…
… a surprisingly realistic goal for this universe.
When I finally caught up with my fellow, and now only fellow, Ensign. I was glad to see him in decent sprits, and glad that this would be a conversation that would be far better on my nerves than the one with Makensie.
"What's up?" I asked him with a lot of the remaining anxious energy of mine disappearing into the mists of the past.
"Struck out, ehh?" Dull responded with a satisfied grin and a chuckle, things that made me want to punch his face in. But my parents didn't raise a man that leashed out when he was angry, because I was by a single parent.
So I only gave him a light 'poke' to the stomach. Enough for him to feel it, but not enough for him to be hurt.
"It's okay, sir," he continued to grin, but this time with a small wince. "Lightwing struck out first."
This time I laughed with him, something that only lasted till the man opened his mouth a second time.
"He didn't crash as hard as you," Gullar added cheekily. "But you recovered smoother than he did. Lightwing just sort of just… gapped like a fish."
Oh… that made feel sorry for the little muscle man. I'd try and help him get someone next shore-leave, I was told that I was a better wingman than I was actually at chatting a woman up… intentionally anyway.
Sometimes, I was somehow charming.
Apparently.
Mackenzie had finally left with the 'Alex' over to the White Base just before we left for Solomon. It wasn't too bad of a loss, given she took up space and couldn't contribute to combat as the Lt lacked a Mobile Suit that she was allowed to pilot. But I think I would most miss the strange sense of embarrassment that I now shared with Lightwing.
It wasn't often that I had something in common with that man. I just wish it was intentional on my part. At least we all shared a good laugh at our misfortunes with women.
By the time our battlegroup had gotten back to Solomon, the great General Revils had set up his command there. He brought reinforcements to further our presence in the area, a build-up for our eventual attack against the last Zeon stronghold of A Baoa Qu.
I had hoped that I could arrive earlier than he did, give my mind some time in order to come up with a plan to warn him about the Zeon Solar Ray Cannon Super Weapon that would soon be complete. But that wasn't to be.
Then there was this weird vibe that I could feel as the ship entered Soloman's airspace… or rather space-space? I'm not sure about the terminology of such things. The vibe could only be described as that loud whistling that a child could hear off some old CRTs that adults couldn't, it was then mixed with a choir chanting. It made a rather annoying sound effect, it was somehow more distracting than stubbing my toe was.
And I know all about that, I tried to do that in order to distract myself from that odd fucking vibe.
Never mind the damage that it would start in seconds thanks to this vibe,
This vibe was a side effect of the technology, called Psycommu, that Zeon had developed in order to use the Newtype powers in a war machine called the Elmeth, something that looked closer to a shuttle than a combat vessel. It was green and shaped oddly enough that the Federation would come to be known as the Tricorn Hat.
See, when I called a Newtype a psychic it wasn't incorrect. But a Newtype had special properties observable by science.
I'm not entirely sure of the details, but basically, our brain waves could be sent out akin to radio waves. I believe I once heard it be called Thought-waves, but it sounds like a dumb name to me. Anyway, the Zeon tech, called Psycommu, allowed these Thought-waves to control remote weapons and drones.
These Thought-waves were also capable of more standard abilities that psychics were known for. Like telepathy, though in space that was a relatively small range at normal times; though it was possible that the Newtype tech that Zeon used in the Elmeth increased even that power's range.
It certainly let them use weapons at a long enough range.
This went towards forming my plan, go out and distract it till it was recalled or I managed to kill Lalah. Which was a dangerous plan, I'd rather not get her older boyfriend after my life.
It was more than a little convenient that my sensor and even the visor of my GM Command had been swapped over for the more powerful, but actually less energy efficient GM Sniper Custom. Given the incredibly long range of the Elmeth's weapons. I would need those improved optical sensors in order to even spot it, never mind a shot against it.
Not that it would be easy. My Beam Gun might've had improved range over the Beam Spray Gun, but in order to hit the ranges I'd in this situation. I'd need to lower the beam's penetration to levels that would make taking out my enemy in a single shot impossible.
Sadly, from the screams of those on this ship the Elmeth had already started blasting out ships from all around us. We'd already last at least two Salamis Class vessels, as well as a few fielded GMs.
This did at least give me an excuse for my plan rather than revealing my being a, possible, Newtype. That was something that I didn't want to be known.
"Okay!" I yelled, leaping from one side of the room to the next in order to float all the way up to my GM's cockpit. They had told me it would be all done by the time we got to Solomon, after all, our mechanics certainly proved their skills. "I'm launching out, Lt!"
My GM's new head had a more narrow visor than before, the top of the head now had the armored slider that adorned the GM Sniper Custom. The unit retained the white and red of normal GMs in that case.
I liked it, especially since it was white rather than green. I liked green, but the GM Sniper's green was garish to my taste.
"Wait! What?" He roared out, catching me off guard slightly as I held onto my GM by the cockpit handle. "Ensign! This isn't the time for cowboy shenanigans! We can't just let you launch without knowing where the enemy is. It could open us up to a hanger shot!"
A hanger could end up bricking the whole ship in the worst case.
Lightwing wasn't a bad guy, he wasn't a dumb guy. In a similar situation, he'd be right too. I'd be a fool to just launch out when I couldn't guarantee the enemy's position. But I had a better chance than any other Mobile Suits out there.
"We'll have to risk it," I replied smoothly, backing into the cockpit and opening a channel right to the bridge. One of the very few times that I bothered with opening a video channel. "Captain, permission to launch. With my unit's speed and sensor range, I should be able to go out there and have more of a chance of catching whatever is attacking us than anyone else?"
Synapse had a grim frown, his eyes squinted in thought. It didn't take him long before coming to a conclusion, especially in light of the explosions going on around us. Ships weren't exactly dropping left and right, but we were being attacked as we spoke.
"Very well-" He started before being interrupted by Lightwing, who had jumped into the call from his own GM.
"Captain, I must protest!" He was the most formal interrupter I'd ever met. Fitting his British roots, I suppose, and for an officer as well. "The White Base has already sent out their units! Sending out our own would only add to the chaos that is going out there!"
Oh, the balls on this man. That was something to be proud of.
"Lieutenant, I understand your concern," I responded to him, trying my best to keep an even tone. There was no reason for me to be rude… at the moment. "But there's no reason to worry. My plan is simply to launch on my own to act as support for White Base's units. We don't have to deploy the rest of you with me. The risk will be limited."
"Ensign! I don't need to explain my orders to you, I am in charge of the Mobile Suits on this ship, " Lightwing's face went far redder than I was used to. Enough that I almost voiced my concern that he should see the ship's medic. "I am ordering you to get out of your GM. You will not launch!"
When Synapse sighed, I wondered if the Lt could tell that the man was about to countermand him. Other ships were launching their mobile suits, and we were going to receive the orders to go to Combat Level 1 or some such thing soon. Meaning we would be launching regardless.
So Lightwing's concerns, while well-meaning, were short-sighted.
Before I could start my own counter to Lightwing's orders, the vibe dissipated. Which meant that the attack had ended and there was no point in antagonizing the Lt by trying to run around the young by appealing to the Captain for a countermand.
"Fair enough, Lt!" I grinned, opening the hatch to my Mobile suit in order for the two men to see the artificial light of the hangar. "I'm getting out, I'm sure that the Gundam and White Base have this situation more than handled."
Lightwing's eyes narrowed in the way that I only really saw from people that wore the wrong prescription lens for their glasses. Then his eyes glanced over to the side, looking up at either where I am or where the Captain is? I couldn't tell.
"Maybe we should launch?" Lightwing eventually croaked out those words with the same sort of energy of a young child that just realized that they'd screwed up their chances at getting a bit of ice cream. "Just to be safe."
Well, since there wasn't a danger to the ship now, I could use this experience as a moment to push along his growth as a leader. Since, I thought that he'd been slacking since I'd arrived on board. The one time he attempted to establish authority over me, he chose the wrong method, the wrong timing, and even the wrong topic…
… at least I thought so.
"No, don't lose your edge on me," I started, sitting back down and banging my fists together for no particular reason but to satisfy my desire for movement. "You were just getting into the groove. Next time, add some punishments to the threats whenever you see my disobedience. You want me, and other people, to only disobey whenever there are the direst of reasons."
"... Are you insane?" Lightwing responded, his voice as shrill as ever. "You want me to punish you?"
I suppose it sounds odd. Better make it sound better, more rational than simply 'spank me daddy'. Thankfully, the Captain took his cue to leave the call channel. Probably trying to help one of the two of us pilots save face.
"Of course nothing that would go on my record, those foster resentment and you could be asked to explain why you couldn't control your men," I tapped my forehead, a grin on my lips. "You've got to establish yourself as the boss." Taking in a deep breath, I held up my hands in preparation for what I was going to do next.
"Everyone in that hangar looks to me, and they go 'My god, it's the Immortal of Solomon. He's the best pilot here! He should be in charge, not that green Lt!'-" I let my voice go all high pitched, my hands coming together over my heart and my eyes flutter as I mocked people that didn't actually exist. "-and while being both true and leaving out my good looks. People shouldn't be looking to me as the leader of the Mobile Suits here. They should be looking at you! You've got to humiliate me and showcase your authority."
"... is this a sex thing?"
Lightwing appeared as green as he did intimidated by me. This brought me nothing but discomfort.
"... Just tell me to do a thousand push-ups in front of everyone and… then get some help by doctors to deal with the sexual fantasies that you've developed about punishing people."
Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait on this one. There is still a odd amount of editing I have to do when I upload to this site, so that tends to zap my energy regarding posting here. Things should pick up, but I can't promise anything faster than once a week for a while.
As a reminder, on Spacebattles I post chapters in the format of 1.1,1.2 etc. But here its Chapter 1 and that is made up of 1.1,1.2 etc. So the posts there are much smaller and with a tiny bit less editing than on here. Thankfully, there should be no delay for next week.
And I have ten chapters of another fic that I have been working ready and raring to go. That won't interfere with this fic as this has more chapters done than that already.
