We didn't spend long deployed in our Mobile Suits, returning very quickly to our ships. The Zeon Mussai kept the few Mobile Suits it had in its hangar. I could only guess it was in an attempt to not spook any of the task force we had here.
As we all got out of our Mobile Suits in the White Base hangar I noticed Sayla had only just arrived. It was almost hard to tell it was her if it wasn't for the flash of her blond hair from the visor. It seemed that the whole thing happened so fast that the girl couldn't even arrive before we were recalled.
She walked over to me with the sort of energy you'd expect from a soldier who'd been ordered to firebomb a kindergarten. Before we could engage in much of any conversation though the order rang out from the loudspeaker to clear the area. Two shuttles came in one after the other.
The first was the standard dark gray of a Federation design. The second was a purple and gold thing made in the same style as all Zeon vessels, very curved but also with gold lining. Out of the first shuttle came the recently shaven form of General Revils, escorted by Captain Synapse and two guards. Out of the second was a trio of Zeon soldiers, a red-haired woman I didn't recognize in a dress uniform and two guards, then the bald Zabi man himself.
Degwin Zabi.
I hadn't been aware that the General had even remained with the Task Force, never mind in the Vanquishment. I had presumed he'd return to his vessel somehow. I didn't need to guess what measures he took given the information I gave Revils and the time he had to act. He pretended to remain with his ship, probably emptied as many ships as he could and ran them as a skeleton fleet.
Obviously, the next thing he did was reach out to our agents hidden in Zeon. I am not sure if the Federation had many high-ranking spies, but it seems that Revils was able to reach out secretly to Degwin Zabi and warn him to hide his location by sending his personal flagship, a Gwazine Class ship called the Great Degwin, to one location while meeting him in a lesser ship here.
This would explain why while feeling the effects of the Colony Laser killing a lot of people, I hadn't had the same scale of reaction any of the White Base Newtypes had during the event in canon.
There was this weakness I feel wave off Degwin compared to this sense of strength in the General. Which was odd given how much older Revils appeared. The General looked like he had two decades on the man, but with the energy of a man half his age. While Degwin looked like if someone sneezed next to him it would be the end of the 'Sodo' of Zeon.
Maybe he was just made of weaker stuff than Revils, maybe he had some sort of genetic condition. Whatever the case was, I could see why the Zabi Patriarch had stepped back from directly governing if this was the state he was in. Shame his eldest son was Hilter Two: This time In Space.
Well, shame from his point of view. In mine, I would've at least imprisoned the whole family as war criminals as a start.
"It's true then," Sayla stated her voice low. "Degwin Zabi is here… on White Base."
Despite being told she wasn't going to fly right now. Sayla kept the helmet of her normal suit on. I thought it was obvious that she wasn't comfortable with the idea of Degwin Zabi recognizing her. No matter how unlikely that seemed to me, it was very possible.
This was a Space Opera after all.
"General Revils," Degwin's voice seemed to bounce off the walls of the hangar, carrying with event the stained mummer of the man. "It has been some time since we've last seen each other. I can see the war has finally ravaged your beard."
From what I can recall, Degwin was here to negotiate the surrender of Zeon to the Federation. So I imagine his attempts of humor here was trying to sooth the bruised ego of those that had accompanied him. It was a rather stark fall to go from a belief of excellence, to being the greatest power in the universe, to being told that they were too weak to win.
So making fun of Revils was probably something the two leaders had agreed on earlier.
"It was time for a change," Revils replied instead of responding to the remark. His tone alone was steady, but full of a subtle humor. "I'm sure that you should agree with me."
The response caused Degwin's small smile to shift into frown. Slowly, he walked forward, forgoing his guards as he made his way through the hangar with only a cane helping him. General Revils followed shortly after him, much the same without guard.
It was a… rather odd sight to see.
I wouldn't expect either of our sides to let our leaders just walk around without guards in each other's presence. This speak to a level of trust that I wouldn't show Zeon Teenagers, those that have never been in a Mobile Suit before nor killed a man even, but especially not the head of a family that is responsible, is culpable even, for the death of at least millions if not billions of people.
It was a shame that I was too low ranked to peak in on this meeting. Even my insider knowledge didn't grant me authority enough to speak on behalf of the Federation.
But truthfully, my attention was caught up on Sayla's shivering form. I could almost taste the girl's raw anger. It was a shame I didn't know what she'd gone through thanks to the death of her father, something the Zabi family may have had a hand in. The truth wasn't openly known, but I was aware that in a discarded script for the MSG Series, Degwin would've outright admitted this to Sayla.
I could understand her rage, facing the man who had ruined her childhood, had basically killed her mother by proxy at least too. At least if the implication of her no longer being around means what I think it does. But truthfully, I could only sympathise with the woman, I didn't know what living my life under a false identity, hiding behind it so you wouldn't be killed or exploited by every side and to watch the nation your father tried to build up be turned in Space Nazi Germany.
That wasn't something I could really relate to.
I all could give her were empty platitudes that would enrage me in her place even if I didn't take it out on anyone.
"No matter what happens from this point on, this is going to be the end of Zabi Rule," I said instead, murmuring the words to her so as to not be overheard by the Zeon Pilots. "Keep that in mind. Neither of the other two will give up without a fight. So there's still a chance for a total Zabi wipeout."
Sayla glanced at me and frowned. Briefly, I worried that I had insulted her with the idea that death would please her obvious emotional trauma over this situation. Which… would imply rather bad things about her personality. Though given the people I said would die where adult Space Nazis, I can see why I hadn't considered it before I opened my mouth.
Before I could try and recover from that flub, the redhead Zeon officer, someone I wasn't sure of their rank, had walked over to me with a quizzical brow as she pointed to my Custom GM. The woman was pretty small, only just roughly reaching the edges of five feet tall. Which gave me a bit more than a full foot of height over her.
The woman was also a bit older than me, but couldn't have been by much. This was someone in their early 20s at the most.
"You the pilot of the white and blue GM?" She asked me with what I could only describe as a honeyed voice.
"Might be," I shrugged, facing her with a keen eye. I struggled to identify her rank by her insignia. It wasn't a unique problem to Zeon Forces, I sometimes struggled with the pips and stripes of Federation Officers, but thankfully a good sir and a bit of waiting got that solved easily. As people would refer to said person by rank. "Might be the mechanic."
"From the normal suit, I doubt that," She responded with a raised brow. "I am Lieutenant D'Jeave."
It took me a few seconds before I realized that this was an invitation to introduce myself. But before I could Sayla decided to speak up:
"I'm Ensign Sayla Mass and this is Ensign Patrick Colasour, Ma'am."
One could presume that Sayla would be far too angry or just generally upset to make nice with a Zeon Officer. Especially one that seemed to work directly under Degwin Zabi. But none of this attitude showed in her voice, nor on her face.
As far as anyone watching was aware, Sayla was in a perfectly normal mood. At least those of us who either didn't know her well or didn't have Newtype powers.
"Yes, so that does make you-" D'Jeave pointed her finger toward me. "-The pilot of the white and blue machine. The man who killed Commander Char."
"You've heard of that already?" I was surprised at the speed news of his death traveled. I would've presumed due to how popular the man was with other Zeon people that they would try and hide his death for a bit. Just to keep morale up. "News travels fast in the principality. I hope this isn't an issue… it wasn't personal after all."
"It's not with me," D'Jeave replied while shrugging. She walked to the side of me, inspecting my GM with an expression that told me she didn't think much of it. "I wouldn't advertise the achievement too hard though. Char has a lot of supporters. People who want this war to continue on if it means a chance that you would die in it."
"Huh, that sounds like a pain in the ass," I replied, glancing around the room. "You are a pilot yourself then? Seems pretty interested in my machine."
D'Jeave smiled glancing up to an expression that was off given the tension elsewhere in the hangar alone.
"Technically I am, but I haven't seen much personal flight over the course of the war," She explained. "Just a few sorties, the men under my command have seen more than a 100 hours each though. And I have commanded them during those operations."
"Not the type to go out and pitch in then?" Sayla asked, still with a sweet voice, though this time the cracks showed. There was an edge to it.
"Some people are better commanders than their pilots, I just know where my skills lay," D'Jeave replied. The edge was gained "You hardly have this ship's commander in a mobile suit after all. Though of course, I will suit up to 'pinch in' if it's required. Though given the hands-on nature of most Zeon Commanders, I can understand any confusion you feel."
Given that D'Jeave was only a lieutenant, I doubted that she was in full command over the ship. It was very likely that she led the pilots alone. It made the statement and comparisons a bit off. But frankly, this situation was tense enough with Sayla taking out her negative feelings on some random officer.
I feel that this could lead to an argument, better cut in with the only topic that comes to mind.
"I have to ask," I said, drawing her attention away from Sayla for a moment. "Given the obvious attempted strike against Sodo Zabi, if I am using that title currently even, are you and crew prepared to fight against other Zeon Forces?"
It wasn't a light topic, but Sayla was far less likely to start an argument with this woman if I took control of the conversation.
"... The what now?" D'Jeave asked, confusion written on her face so sincerely that I was surprised it wasn't in print. "The strike against his excellency? What strike? I haven't been involved of anything"
I glanced over to Sayla who appeared to be as confused as the Zeon Officer.
"Well, the Federation Fleet that met with the Great Degwin, the ship not the man, at Geldova Line… well… they were all destroyed a few moments ago."
I could feel a pin in the room drop… it was then I realized that neither the White Base crew, as a whole at least, nor the Zeon folks that had come aboard had known about the deaths of those men.
"How? What could destroy… " D'Jeave trailed off as if she realized the only option that Zeon had was to destroy a fleet so quickly. I couldn't tell you how a Lieutenant knew about the Colony Lazer or even if she didn't know and merely knew there was some secret weapon being built and presumed it had been used.
Frankly, I didn't even know if it was currently a secret that it was had been built. The thing was an entire space colony, the folks inside it had been moved out before they converted it to a weapon. Hard to keep that sort of movement a secret.
D'Jeave turned to her shuttle quickly, yelling out to contact such and such and how every ship in this area needed to spread out from each other by a wider margin. Make ourselves a less attractive target.
The entire room had busted into motion at this entire affair… there were yells and there were even a few screams of terror. All of them were asking questions in a series of screeches but when a loud voice interceded with the authority few people could match:
"Enough!" Captain Synapse yelled out, silencing the room. "Our Forces and all ship captains in the area have already been made aware of the situation. As have Federation command, the ships at the Geldova Line were a dummy target. Operating with ghost crews. We mourn the loss of those brave men, but the bulk of our manpower remains largely unaffected. Finally, Command has already started an operation to deal with the Zeon weapon. We have nothing to fear. Carry on with your standard duties."
It wasn't the best speech, it didn't even address every problem that had been yelled out, but Synapse spoke so confidently that it calmed even the panicked Zeon folk. Eventually, D'Jeave returned from the shuttle, and whispered a few things to the Zeon guards before walking back to me.
"To answer your question, I am a loyal Zeon Officer," She exclaimed, saluting in time with the guards behind. "I am always ready to lay down my life in battle against the enemies of our great nation. Even traitors."
Sayla scoffed, but before she could open her mouth to speak Captain Synapse spoke up once more.
"Ensign Mass, Ensign Colasour, with me," He ordered, his back already facing us as he started to walk out of the hangar. "We and Lieutenant D'Jeave are to meet up in the briefing room."
No one asked what about, but I was sure it was about coordinating security or something silly… which would make more sense if Lieutenant Bright was involved…
… which means… what is this about?
There was a time when I thought that meeting a world leader was out of my lifestyle. Even when I woke up in this body during the Battle of Solomon, I hadn't expected to go around personally meeting the big players in the world. Except maybe killing a Titan or two… by accident as I crossed some battlefields.
So I say that entering a room where Degwin Zabi was directly speaking to General Johann Revils was a surreal sight I meant it. These two men were basically the defacto rulers of the Earth Sphere. Oh sure, Revils only commanded the Federation military but in a war that basically amounted to the entire Federation Population needing to listen to him when he spoke.
Degwin also might have found himself almost entirely usurped by his eldest son's influence. But he was still considered the head of the Zeon State. He was still the figure the government formed behind and his word was still meant to be law.
And… then there was Sayla Mass. The only living heir, thanks to yours truly, to Zeon state's namesake. A person widely believed to have been killed by members of the Zabi family by the Gundam Fandom, though who exactly was involved has never been confirmed to my satisfaction. Sadly for whatever concerns she had in the hangar, the meeting required that we at least don't have our helmets up.
So she entered with her blonde hair wide and on display, bringing attention to her in a sea of blackheads and brunettes. This was without even mentioning how her face was clear to be seen with details that the helmet masked from a distance.
So when we entered the room and the Sovereign of Zeon gasped quietly at the sight of the young woman, I knew exactly why. Though the man quickly waved off Revils' concern for the gasp, I was sure it was a mix of not knowing if Revils knew who Sayla really was and confirming who she was in front of witnesses.
I can't imagine yelling out 'Artesia Som Deikun' in the middle of a meeting with General Revils would be all that conducive to Degwin maintaining any measure of his power. A lot of the inherent support for Degwin comes from his role as the successor of Zeon Deikun, his sole remaining heir could easily rob him of a lot of support.
If Revils knew the truth about Sayla he wasn't saying anything either, something that I would mirror. Sayla taking up such a role isn't up to anyone but her in my opinion. Not even sure if Sayla is suited to the role of quasi-spiritual leader of Zeon.
"You do realize that Napoleon returned from much stricter conditions?" Degwin replied to some offer we'd not arrived in time to hear about. Though from context I could make several guesses.
"And we all know how his ambitions ended," Revils returned with a dry smirk. His was cigar unlit in his right hand but the man still rolled it between his fingers in the way I'd expect from a guy smoking it.
"It ended with him dying in relative comfort, in regards to wealth and bedding at least."
From what I recall of history, Napoleon's reign of conquering ended up with him being ousted from his first reign, then exiled to some island where he was to be guarded to ensure he wouldn't return. Then Napoleon did return and take France for a month before once more losing and being exiled or something once more until dying some years later.
I don't know if it was a painful death. But he didn't do much more than leave a mark on history that people hundreds of years later discuss.
After a while, the two fell silent till we were joined by Lieutenant D'Jeave. She stood silently but close to the Zabi family head. Eventually, General Revils spoke up once more:
"Good, now that everyone is here," He lifted a remote, and detailed plans spring from the screen at the end of the room. "There's been some changes made to Operation Star One, changes that need to be kept to a small number of people. Lieutenant D'Jeave will be informing her direct subordinate when they return to their ship, but otherwise, the only people that will be aware of the changes will be us and those operating the mission with you."
This was a concerning development.
"The Space Fortress A Bao Qu is still the primary objective," He explained, but another tap of the remote showed more detailed plans. At first, it was just defensive locations, but then it showed the schematic of the base in full. We could see every hallway and every passageway; as well as the four areas directly outside the base referred to as S-Field, N-Field, W-Field, and E-Field. "There is an objective that only you all will be saddled with. A joint Zeon/Federation group will move in to secure two VIPs, Zenna Zabi and Mineva Lao Zabi. Their safety is paramount to even your own."
I was close enough to Sayla to hear the creak of her gloves tighten. I wasn't sure what the young woman was thinking. Being told to value your life less than a member of the Zabi family, even one as innocent as baby Mineva would have to hit hard. Especially as Degwin sat there with a wide grin.
Well, as wide as a person who seemed to lack much energy to breathe could manage.
"In this light, we need to pair up our forces exactly. So that the mother knows we're trustworthy. A Zeon Pilot for a Federation pilot. Ensign Colasour will be our point man for the Federation for this operation."
… what? I'm the point man? I'm in charge of the operation? What kind of drugs is hidden in those cigars he's smoking? I wouldn't begin to know how to set up this operation. And we weren't half a day away from A Bao Qu.
I understood of course that being on point meant point of contact with the Zeon Forces, but given the timeframe and the goals here it basically meant I would need to make some decisions without the time to consult my commanders.
Which could mean getting Zeon soldiers to listen to me. Good, that sounds easy, not like I killed a celebrated Zeon veteran...
"Thank you, sir," I stepped forward, remaining outwardly calm in spite of the raw panic I now felt. I couldn't help but wonder if Bright wouldn't have been the best man outside of Captain Synapse to be on point for this. Both were more experienced in planning operations and they both actually went through training for this sort of thing.
"Meanwhile Lietentant D'Jeave will be the Zeon Officer coordinating their forces with you."
"Obviously, the first thing we need to is infiltrating A Bao Qu's secondary launch bay," D'Jeave was quick to supply the information, pointing to the hidden location on the outside of the A Bao Qu, close to S-Field. "It's typically an escape route and less heavily guarded… at least on the inside, though the fleet is defending that area is commanded by Colonel Aiguz Delaz."
I cringed slightly at the idea that I could end up fighting his forces. Not that Aiguz was someone without peers, but he was smart and he did command a lot of forces outside of Anvel Gato himself. Smart enough to be dangerous and with resources to take down most battle groups.
"That means a Gwazine-Class leads the forces there right?"
"That's correct, which alone could've been a problem but then we include the Musai and Pazock ships in the fleet. It's not a small number of mobile suits concentrated in that area. At my count, it outmatches the number in this battlegroup."
I wasn't aware of the number of units in this battle group exactly but I could guess. Best Count is four for the Musai, six on the White Base, five for the Vanquishment, and four each for the three Salamis ships in the group. Making our numbers twenty-seven Mobile Suits, not including the Core-Booster if someone pilots it.
A Gwazine had twenty Mobile Suits by itself. Even if it only had two Musai at full capacity then it would exceed this battlegroup.
"But it doesn't match the entire task force gathering to attack A Bao Qu," D'Jeave continued, pointing towards the other fields. "If you focus on overwhelming the other Fields, then they'll have no choice but to reinforce them using at least some of this fleet. The simplest choice we can make is to send my Musai into S-Field during a push into the E or W-Fields. The chaos of the fighting should give the vessel some cover from too much inspection."
"There's no way of telling if Delas would allow his forces to be split like that," He certainly hadn't in canon. "No, you're right that a full frontal assault is not advisable if we want to actually secure the VIPs. I just believe we'd be better off with the appearance that we aren't so forward, we still need to attack this field otherwise it will be suspicion."
"Oh?" Captain Synapse remarked for the first time interceding in the talks between myself and the Zeon Officer. "So some sort of scheme?"
"Exactly, Captain!" I smiled. "We play off that you're fleeing us. Sneak a few of our men on your ship, with Mobile Suits and fake some sort of deadly failure to the ship. Make it so we'd be required to dock. Then attack from the inside. With the men attempting to secure the VIP heading out while the area is secured."
Basically, I was stealing Return of the Jedi's idea, only making it larger scale. Getting the two out in a warship was safer than trying to shove them into mobile suits that could be one-shot by any decent Beam weapon.
"Interesting, do you think Delaz wouldn't see through this ruse?" Degwin's snide voice piped in. "He didn't reach such a high rank under my son for being a fool. As its been some time, the Musai that accompanied me has already been registered missing in action."
I didn't like being countered by the fat Zabi himself, but there was plenty of logic in that takedown of my plan.
It was then I had a new plan, but I didn't realize till I'd already been a few sentences into my next plan idea that General Revils had opened his mouth to talk.
"Okay, so instead I need Five Mobile Suit Pilots, with the Gundams taking defensive points to guard our units as we go in. With that, the rest of the Battlegroup should be able to stand against the S-Field fleet on its own. But it will be tight for whoever goes in with me. Three Zeon Suits and two of our own."
Degwin had a loud laugh when I finished, turning to Revils with a grin that made me want to punch his face in.
"Is that not your plan, General?"
"Yes, the Ensign has a sharp mind. I told you that your grandchild will be in good hands," Reveals replied dryly as if my speaking out of turn was planned for. "Though once you've taken hold of the VIPs, make sure to declare so to the Zeon Forces openly. They shouldn't want to shoot down anyone then in case they take down the Zabi family member. There won't be a single Zeon pilot open for that curse."
I wouldn't want to be known as a killer of children in general. Never mind the killer of the last child of the family that ruled my home nation. Things went back to the political realm, with the General and Degwin discussing things I lacked the context for. But it certainly appeared that Degwin was trying to retain some power over the Principality while Revils was pushing for house arrest for Degwin at least.
Revils had the advantage in negotiations, it went without saying that the side surrendering had a disadvantage. Eventually, Degwin ended negotiations, citing his poor health as an excuse so he was escorted by D'Jeave.
As he passed by Sayla though, he whispered something I am sure he meant for the blonde's ears only but ended up being heard by myself and even D'Jeave.
"It was me… Artesia. I did it. I killed your father."
Degwin said it with such glee as if he was sure of what reaction the young woman would have and found it amusing. This gleeful joy in the sorrow of someone else... I can see Gihren grew up in a house run by this man.
I was almost distracted by the expression of raw shock on D'Jeave, but my senses quickly warned me of someone who was about to do something they'd regret. Before Sayla could lift her fist, my hand already caught the arm by the wrist. We struggled briefly against each other, lucky that we were at an angle where none of the Federation Officers could make out what Sayla and my hands were doing. Meanwhile, the Sovereign went to finish leaving the room with a low chuckle in his throat. As he walked through the door he ended up face to face with a Federation Pilot I thought still in the med bay.
"I've killed two of your children," Amuro whispered, so low that none of the Federation officers heard though they could tell he said something. Amuro quickly stood to attention and moved to the side, letting the man out of the room as he shook in rage.
"Second Lieutenant Amuro Ray reporting for duty, sir!" Amuro yelled out as he entered the room, saluting with rigid attention most wouldn't presume the boy had learned.
"At ease, soldier," General Revils replied, "Its good to see you fit for walking about once more. I hope you've had your fill of rest for the next few days because we're going to be in the fires of combat that none of you have faced before."
He left filling Amuro in on the mission to Sayla and myself while reminding me of my new duties that I needed to be ready for.
Amuro was cleared for duty not long after that with little fanfare. At least that I saw, there was some sort of commotion between Hayato and Amuro at one point, but my care for Hayato's issues was so small that I had lint bigger than it. So I didn't pay them attention.
Hayato was probably jealous of his future wife's concern for Amuro.
I had some fight on my hands in getting Lila off Captain Synapse's control and onto my own. In fairness, I let him keep Lightwing and Dull. They combined with the newbies we'd collected from Solomon would allow the Vainquishment to stay safe while having offensive options to send after Zeon Forces.
Not that he agreed with that. As Ensign Lila Mira Rira was apparently such a commanding presence she'd been able to plug my role easily for the four hours I was gone. Something Synapse would lack if I took her as well.
I had managed to convince Synapse to let her go with an argument about how I needed someone as used to space combat as the Ensign was to move about the tight spaces in A Bao Qu. Dull was the only other option I would take from the Vainquistment, but he wasn't so good at tight spaces while the other pilots just didn't have the experience of Lightwing even.
And Lightwing was just a non-starter as he was the official commander of the ship's Mobile Suit squads. Given the importance of this mission to the peace efforts, Synapse was quick to fold on my taking Lila as a wingman.
The other Federation pilot I was bringing with me was Kai Shiden and his Guncannon. The man wasn't the most talented pilot, but as a pilot he understood positioning, and timing, and more importantly, Shiden knew his limits. A self-admitted coward he might be, but that just told me he grasped where his skills stopped. I didn't need to worry about him running off to play the hero.
And the Guncannon was a good support Mid-Range Support Mobile Suit. So while not exactly suited for the interior of the base, Kai's machine would handle covering us very well.
D'Jeave was taking a position she'd earlier told me to be unusual for her. The Zeon Officer was going to go out as a pilot in her Gelgoog. The other member of her squad she was bringing with us was a Ric Dom pilot. In terms of units they were good, I just wondered how good D'Jeave could be given her supposed pilot history. It meant some sense that she'd gotten her hands on a Gelgoog even if she was a bad pilot, something I was sure to be false given her confidence alone, as the things were about to be given out to green academy students as their actual seasoned pilots were dropping like life flies.
And as a Commander of a squad, D'Jeave had far more reason to receive such a prime machine. In terms of mass production units produced in this span of time, the Gelgoog sat out as king.
Limited machines are another story. Probably went to a Gundam in that case.
My team of five was set.
My equipment for the endeavor was changed from my last outing. I had a pair of Beam Spray Guns strapped to my unit's waist and dropped the Sniper Rifle. With the Gyan's Beam Saber remaining attached to my unit, it was a matter of pride more than anything else. As part of my equipment was the standard Hyper Bazooka, which would be my secondary weapon more than anything else.
But that was about it for the changes from my last loadout. I retained the GM Command Space Type's Beam Rifle but it wasn't like I had a booster pack to strap on so I could carry every weapon onboard while maintaining normal-ish speeds. I know there were such equipment somewhere in the fleet but there wasn't any in this battlegroup.
The next thing I did was bring an assault rifle with a strap as extra personal equipment. I could vaguely recall the training for it, which was an interesting experience that told me there was some merging between me and my new body, and how it had three modes. Single shot, semi-auto-, and fully automatic.
While the smaller corridors of A Bao Qu would limit the usefulness of the weapon, the base had plenty of wider halls and rooms that the rifle would be my main weapon for. If we had a shotgun on board, I would've taken that too.
But two weapons were really about as much as I could safely handle.
The Atmosphere in the White Base was somewhat tense, which wasn't helped by the presence of General Revils now known throughout the ship. But this wasn't something that bothered me too much, as the man did need to be in this vessel or Admiral Wakkein's Magallan to command properly.
As they were the only ships that could coordinate such large fleets as the incoming battlegroups. However this didn't mean Bright no longer commanded White Base, just that General Revils operated from here.
We neared the rendezvous point already in our Mobile Suits. Worried slightly that Zeon would attempt to meet us away from A Bao Qu given that attack against Revil's convoy. Since they had real people in that battle group, this still amounted to a decent loss to our overall firepower for Operation Star One.
Many aboard White Base probably felt this more than I did. Given I know that in a worse situation, our forces managed to pull ahead against the Zeon Defenses at this base. There was something to be said about the sheer confidence this factoid gave me as I suited up for launching out.
Before leaving the locker room though, Sayla approached me. As I was only returning to pick up extra gear for the operation, this meant we were the only two in the room.
"I want to thank you," she explained, with a tiny bit of unease. "I don't understand why he said to me then, but I would've regretted striking him then and there. He wanted my reaction, I know that. So I wanted to thank you."
"You're welcome," I replied lowly. "I feel I could've said something to the egg-shaped shit encounter. But frankly, my mind just blanked at the time. Actions are easy, I can physically react to just about anything. I just can't always think of what to say."
Sayla smirked slightly, leaning on the side of the door.
"I wouldn't worry to much about that, Amuro took the wind out of him easily enough. I'm glad that Degwin didn't say it loud enough to reveal my identity to the whole room. I don't desire to be in that position. Even potentially leading a nation or a group spiritually gives me hives." "
I'm presuming she means metaphorical hives and not real ones. Though people getting hives from nerves was something I'd heard before now.
"I mean… the Zeon Officer totally heard. So do you want me to get rid of her?" I said with one of the most mocking tones that I could, even dialing up some of the pitch to help the delivery. When Sayla laughed I knew that I'd succeeded with the effect.
"No," She sighed. "I will just have to deal with it. I don't want to be the type of person who… does things like that. Who gets rid of people for convenience. That's all it is, not like I can be forced to rule Zeon. Or that the politicians left would even want that."
I reached out and patted her on the shoulder, thinking about the future Mineva Zabi once had. Being used in that same fashion as Sayla proclaimed she couldn't be. Sure, Mineva was younger when that started but to me, it was clear a skilled enough manipulator could use even this adult easily.
"Watch yourself okay… and if you need help even past this world don't be afraid to call for my help," I winked as I passed by her, putting my helmet on as I entered the flight deck. "I'm always down for the trouble."
I walked away from her with the confidence that I was very up for helping the woman. But it did bring up concerns I had for Mineva's life. Degwin might be alive now, but he was an old fuck. He looked like he had about four years of life if that was in him.
It was weird to be in a hangar, even one I had already been on three times, without the Chief's presence. On the Vainquishment the man was a constant presence, making sure all the crew were checking the machines, and making sure everyone was doing their jobs. But on the White Base for as good as the ship ran, I couldn't tell you who was meant to be in charge of this place.
This worked, but only because everyone on the White Base was very motivated to do their jobs. They didn't seem to need a Chief.
"Colasour!" I turned to face the coming form of Kai Shiden, who seemed slightly peeved with me. "Why did you choose me for this? This sort of thing isn't exactly what I'd volunteer for."
"It's important sure, but it's hardly the most dangerous part of the operation, " I replied. "That's gotta be the people working on the outside, we're not going to be engaging too much with the fighting. What we will be doing is safer."
"It involves jumping out of our Mobile Suits though right?"
"It involves two of us doing so, you're going to remain in the Guncannon and make sure to wreck the Zeon suits if they betray us."
Kai nodded, shaking his head as he left to go into his machine with a sigh.
This finally left me to enter my machine. The setup on the White was slightly different from the Vainquishment. I didn't need to push off the ground and float up to my unit. Instead, all I needed to do was walk down a railing of sorts and walk into the cockpit.
I was out as the third unit, following after Hayato's Guncannon and Amuro's Alex. Job John was right behind me next in the CoreBooster, something I had actually forgotten about, and finally Kai and Sayla in their Guncannon and Gundam respectively.
Briefly, I let myself be drenched in the childhood wonder of flying next to the Gundam. I let myself be overtaken by the Alex, while we organized with the recently launched Zeon units into proper formation.
"Lieutenant D'Jeave here, ready to roll," The woman declared over the comms. Her standard green Gelgoog flew alongside a Ric Dom whose pilot stayed tensely silent. A stark contrast against D'Jeave oddly cheery voice for someone who may be known as a traitor very soon.
As the battlegroup met the coming Zeon forces aligned in S-Field, I tightened my grip over the controls.
"We're going to hang back for a while, then the Alex makes an opening and we ram through their defenses just as start to have good unit penetration from the rest of the battlegroup in the mid-section of the S-Field!"
Author's Note: I am far too tired for a long author's note.
Anyway, please leave a review if you like my work, it tells me that it interests you and that people are enjoying the story so far. And that does miles for my motivation to write these fics.
