Chapter 13

Guest- No, I actually named her Joy because of her personality just being joyful for most of the game. I considered calling her Eve or even Aegis because of the naming similarities with Cortana, but that's about it. I didn't actually think of Joyeuse at all.

Yeah, I think you're right. Those cockpits seem really small for a fully armored Spartan when you think about it. It's going to be a tight fit for him if he pilots a Mobile Suit.

I do want to do that with Joy with Mobile Suits and all, but I don't think the tech is there yet for her to interface with a Mobile Suit. Yet. Unless we do some jury-rigging/modifications here and there to allow her to do so.

Robo Reader 21- I see. Eh, I guess that makes sense. I'll have to go back later to work on that. It's going to happen, but not your typical romance. No-no. But it's going to happen. I have to. My hands are tied.

Guest- They know. Bright told them that most of the White Base crew was conscripted into service two chapters ago.

Warmachine375- I can. I've seen Batman act drastically different from his usually depicted persona in several different comic book universes. Same with Superman and Wonder Woman, especially in the Injustice universe. Who's to say it can't happen with Chief? Also, stop using that nickname. It makes you sound like a child, and I believe you're more mature than that.

I don't know about that. I've seen love happening quickly. You never know with love. Some fail. Others fail spectacularly. And others actually work well despite the brief interactions between people. You just need understanding between people, good friends, and common ground to make it work. Like any long-term relationship.

That doesn't answer the question about that episode at all.

Master Chief

With Lilith in tow, Master Chief was making his way to the bridge, ignoring the teens and young children that were running past him. Everyone who saw him gave the Spartan a wide berth on account of his intimidating appearance. Lilith, upon seeing this, sighed. Even when she was around, the Spartan still scared the crew. Something needed to be done about this and soon. She was tired of seeing them so scared of the Spartan when it was clear that he wasn't going to harm any of them.

The problem with that is that she needed to find a way to make the Spartan cooperate with that as well. He needed to interact with the others in ways beyond simply training them, though a little friendly interaction during training wouldn't hurt anyone. But the Spartan was just so stubborn. It reminded her of her sister and how stubborn she was in her ways. Remembering how her sister constantly thwarted or denied her attempts to get her to join the Coven System, a magic disciplining system for Witches that Belos created, Lilith was reminded of just how stubborn her sister was along with how annoying she can be as well.

Sighing again, she looked at Master Chief as they made it to the bridge, where Bright was giving orders to his crew on the captain's chair. Seeing Bright, Master Chief walked to the young man and spoke.

"What's the situation?" Asked Master Chief as he looked at Bright, who looked at the Spartan.

"A Federation supply officer had requested our assistance nearby, so we're moving to assist." Said Bright. "This officer has helped us significantly in the past and is our only contact with the rest of the Federation at the moment. We can't afford to lose her."

"Understood." Said Master Chief. "How far away is she? Can we arrive to assist in time?"

"Not too far away." Replied Bright. "We're going to launch Gundam in along with a Core Fighter for assistance."

"One of the mechs?" Asked Master Chief as he looked outside the window to see that the area they were in was a forested area as far as he could see with dense trees providing excellent cover for infantry units or small vehicles.

Seeing what the environment was and how poor it was for giant mech-like vehicles, Master Chief spoke to Bright.

"Captain, that's ill-advised." Said Master Chief. "The environment is ill-suited for any large-scale vehicles. They can easily be ambushed and destroyed by small commando units. It's too much of a risk to send in any of your mech units out there. I recommend sending smaller units to deal with this situation over sending the mechs."

"As much as I agree with you, we don't have anything smaller." Said Bright as he looked at the Master Chief, now used to his presence. He was still intimidating, but not as much as he used to be now that Bright knew he was an ally. "We have a few fighters, but they're the cockpits for our Mobile Suits as well. And our transports aren't armed enough to help out lieutenant Matilda with whatever is attacking her and her transport."

"I see." Said Master Chief as he looked to see this Gundam being launched from one of the hangers. "Then notify the pilots that they have to be on alert at all times. A well-placed rocket is all that's needed to destroy that mech."

"Understood." Said Bright, knowing that he was right. As Bright ordered Sayla to relay this to Amuro and Ryu, Lilith was speaking to Master Chief.

"You honestly think that something small can bring something that large down?" Asked Lilith skeptically.

"Yes." Said Master Chief, recalling the Human-Covenant War. "I've seen and done things that have brought down vehicles and armies larger than its opponent. All one needs is a well-placed shot and even the strongest of mechs can be brought down with ease. It doesn't really help that mech they sent out is so colorful. Its colors contrast too much with the environment and makes it a big target out there."

"Then perhaps you should go out and help them." Suggested Lilith. "If you're so concerned for the pilot's safety, then perhaps you could be out there and protect it from danger."

"I want to." Said Master Chief. "But I can't. The pilot doesn't know that I'm out there and that may lead to friendly fire incidents. Plus I don't know how experienced the pilot is when it comes to working with infantry around to support it. It's too much of a risk. Would you want to be out there without knowing if the giant mech that's supposed to be your ally accidentally kills you just because they didn't know you were there?" Lilith pursed her lips at that, realizing that he was right.

"So, we just sit here and wait?" Asked Lilith, not liking the idea that people were fighting to protect her without her doing anything to help.

"For now. If an opportunity presents itself, we'll help anyway we can." Said Master Chief as he looked at Lilith. "Be patient. Our time will come. Just not now." Lilith sighed at that before nodding in understanding.

"I just hope that whoever is fighting out there can handle themselves." Thought Lilith as she watched the fighting occur.

Meanwhile

Amuro

"Take this!" Yelled Amuro as he fired a bazooka round from Gundam's bazooka in the general direction he spotted his enemy, a single Zaku II. The round went flying towards the direction of the Zaku and exploded. However, he couldn't tell if he managed to hit the Zaku or not. Realizing this, he asked Ryu to check if he got the Zaku.

"I don't think you did!" Yelled Ryu as he made a fly-by around the Gundam. "I don't see a secondary explosion or anything. It must have escaped! I'll keep an eye on it. That Zaku is pretty well hidden in this area with how green they usually are." Sighing at that, Amuro turned Gundam around to see a Medea transport ship flying away. A bit damaged, but still functional. Sighing in relief that he made it in time to save Lieutenant Matilda from that Zaku, Amuro went back to checking his surroundings. As he checked his surroundings, he wondered what that attack was about.

From what he could tell, there was only one Zaku in the area, which confused him. Why would a single Zaku attack a single transport ship by itself and a single recon plane to assist it? Sure, it would have been easy to destroy it, but why would a single Mobile Suit attack by itself with just a recon plane as support? Something was wrong, he could feel it. As he wondered what the idea was behind that, he suddenly heard some weird buzzing noise from Gundam's noise receivers.

"What's that noise?" Asked Amuro to himself as he looked around for the source, he heard the weird buzzing noise getting louder and more numerous. Getting a bit nervous at the noise, Amuro suddenly found something on the radar and instantly fired upon the general location. Firing a bazooka round at a clump of trees, destroying the clump along with anything in their radius, which stunned Amuro.

Coming out of the blast were destroyed Zeon hoverbikes armed with a single machine gun each and several dead bodies. Shocked at this, Amuro then saw a bunch more coming out of the trees and flying past him. Seeing this, Amuro began pursuing the enemy. Ryu, however, saw this and radioed Amuro.

"Amuro, what the heck are you doing!?" Yelled Ryu as he watched Gundam move away from the White Base. "You're moving away from the White Base! Come back!"

"But Ryu, I spotted the enemy!" Yelled Amuro as he pursued the enemy hovercrafts. "If I pursue them, they can lead us straight to the Zaku!"

"Yeah, straight into an ambush!" Yelled Ryu as he followed Amuro. "Think for a second! They're leading you straight into an ambush! Don't be a blockhead! Wait for the White Base!" Gritting his teeth at this, Amuro was about to respond when the hoverbikes back, this time with more friends. They then began to swarm around the Gundam, confusing Amuro with their sheer speed and numbers.

"*Growls* Get off!" Yelled Amuro as he fired the Gundam's built-in machine guns located at its head in an attempt to fend off the small Zeon machines, but they all missed. As Amuro tried to fight off the hoverbikes, the riders began planting small, rectangular, objects all over the Gundam, particularly in key locations. Amuro, too focused on the boldness of the Zeon pilots, was unable to understand what their plan was until they began to open fire on the Gundam. Fortunately, the hoverbikes were only armed with machine guns that were more suited to infantry than Mobile Suits so the bullets did nothing against the Gundam's armor. The riders, however, knew this and were instead aiming for the areas where they placed their rectangular objects on the Gundam. If they shot at the right ones, then the Gundam was toast, and they get a one-way ticket to going back home. Back to Side 3.

As the barrage continued, Amuro was confused about why they were doing this as the machine guns weren't doing anything to Gundam. Raising the shield to protect Gundam's more vulnerable cameras and sensors, Amuro was about to do something when he received a radio transmission from Bright, asking him if he managed to destroy the Zaku. Before he could respond, a massive explosion occurred that blew off the top half of Gundam's shield. Stunned at this, Amuro realized what they did. They planted bombs all over Gundam and were shooting at them. Realizing the danger that he was in, he used the remainder of the shield to create powerful wind gusts that sent the hoverbikes flying, forcing the riders to retreat lest they lose control of their bikes and be sent falling to their deaths.

Once the enemy was gone, Amuro opened the cockpit and saw another bomb on Gundam. Shocked to see another bomb, Amuro realized that the enemy planted numerous bombs on his Mobile Suit. Bombs were powerful enough to damage its powerful Gundarium armor, a special substance created for the Project V prototype Mobile Suits that was stronger than any other armor in the Earth Sphere. Seeing the danger that he was in, Amuro contacted the White Base and informed them of the situation as well as him moving into a clearing so they can get a better understanding of where the bombs were without fear of another ambush from the hoverbikes. As Amuro was moving to a clearing, Master Chief overheard what was wrong and shook his head, something that caught Lilith's attention.

"What's wrong?" Asked Lilith as she looked at the Spartan.

"The pilot, Amuro, went too far ahead of us." Said Master Chief. "He went straight into an enemy ambush without support from us. As a result, we have this situation in our hands. Something that could have been prevented if he didn't go ahead of us." Realizing that Chief was right, Lilith asked if he'll scold him for this. "I have to. If this happens again, it may cost him or others their lives. It's situations like this that I'm trying to help them avoid by training them. If he was properly trained and thinking ahead, he could have seen the obvious trap waiting for him when he pursued the enemy." Lilith, conceding to his point, then spoke up in defense of Amuro regarding his scolding.

"If I may be so bold, can you lessen your scolding against him? He's a teenager and didn't know any better." Said Lilith. "And if there's anything I know about teenagers, they're stubborn and have narrow views on everything. He may perceive what you're doing as just belittling him and causing him to resent you. Even more, than he already does." Looking at Lilith, Chief made a note of that as the Gundam move away from the White Base for a clearing nearby.

"I'll keep that in mind." Said Master Chief as the White Base followed the Gundam. "For now, we have a situation in hand. One that may require our assistance." Lilith let out noise at this. Before she could say anything, Chief saw the Gundam and Amuro out in the open, causing him to shake his head. That kid had a lot to learn. A lot.

Later

"What the situation Omer?" Asked Bright as he, along with a few others, were watching another conscripted teen scanning one of the bombs attached to the Gundam with a portable X-ray machine.

"Well, I can't really tell much." Said Omer while scratching his head. "All I can get from my readings is that the bombs are set to detonate in a set amount of time." Bright hummed at that while looking at Amuro, who was holding X-ray scans of the bomb.

"Amuro, can you get anything out of the X-ray scans? Anything that can help us diffuse them?" Asked Bright. Amuro, while examining the X-rays, just shook his head.

"I'm afraid I can't tell much from these scans." Said Amuro. "All I can tell from these scans is that there's a thin wire in the middle of all this that can act as a time fuse, but that's it. If we tear the explosive from the plastic casing, we'll set off the explosive. Isn't that right, Omer?"

"That's about right. That means we have to remove them by hand as well as find a way to get out of the blast radius in time." Said Omer as he looked at Bright. Humming at all this information, Bright looked at Master Chief and Lilith, the other two that were with him, and asked their take on the matters.

"What we need to do is simple." Said Master Chief as he looked at the Gundam. Unbeknownst to everyone, Joy was quickly scanning the Gundam for any more bombs, having scanned the first one they found in order to find the others. "Because we don't know when exactly these bombs will go off, we need to act quickly. First off, give me whatever bomb-defusing equipment that you have available. Then get yourselves back to the ship and out of danger. Lilith and I will deal with both the removal of the bombs and getting rid of them." Upon hearing all that, Bright frowned at that while Amuro and Lilith widened their eyes in shock. Before Lilith can protest this, Amuro spoke up.

"With respect, I caused all this and Gundam is my responsibility. I should be the one that gets rid of these bombs." Said Amuro as he looked at Master Chief with surprise. He didn't like the man because of the amount of training that he's putting him and the others through, but that didn't mean he wanted him dead over something he caused. Upon hearing that, Master Chief looked at Amuro, still drenched in sweat from the workout prior to all this.

"That may be true, but I'm the most qualified to do this." Said Master Chief. "And I can quickly diffuse the bombs better than everyone else on the ship. I know that you are at fault for this, but that doesn't mean you have to handle this yourself. Yes, you made a mistake, but that doesn't mean you should risk your own life to solve your mistake. Not when there are more capable people more suited to fix your mistake. I'll explain more later, but right now we don't have the time for it. Just get to safety with everyone else. Lilith, I need you here with me." Amuro looked like he wanted to argue further, but Bright grabbed his shoulder.

"He's right, Amuro." Said Bright as he watched Omer give his equipment to Master Chief, who began working on removing the bomb next to them, doing it in record time. After accomplishing that task, he looked at Gundam and ordered Amuro to move Gundam's legs, explaining there was a bomb there. Upon hearing that, he quickly went to Gundam's controls and lifted the Mobile Suit's legs, allowing Chief to remove the bomb on the back of Gundam's left leg. With two bombs removed, Master Chief ordered everyone but Lilith to go away now, which they did. Amuro was a bit more reluctant, but a direct order from Bright and reassurance from Master Chief made him go. Once everyone was leaving, Lilith spoke to Master Chief.

"I'm assuming you think my magic can help you in dealing with these bombs, yes?" Asked Lilith as Chief used his grabbling hook to launch himself at Gundam's face to deal with the bomb there.

"Correct. Since we don't know the explosive output of these bombs, we need to get these as far away as possible." Said Master Chief as he removed the bomb, leaving two more on Gundam according to Joy. "Do you have a spell that can teleport these bombs safely away from here?"

"Teleporting isn't that simple." Said Lilith upon hearing the question. "It's a complex form of magic that can quickly go awry if you don't know what you're doing. Not only do you need to know the general location of where you wish to teleport to, but you also need to make sure that you don't end up between something and that isn't a pretty experience. Believe me, I've seen what happens when someone teleports in the middle of something."

"Then how about levitating them to the skies?" Asked Master Chief. "And also learning who planted them in the first place along with their general location?" Blinking at that, Lilith processed what he asked of her before nodding.

"Yes. Yes, I think that I can do all that." Said Lilith as Chief worked on the fourth Gundam of its fourth bomb, he placed it next to the other three in a neat line.

"Then please hurry, we may not have much time left." Said Master Chief as he went to the last bomb.

Meanwhile

"Well, I don't believe it." Said a Zeon soldier, one of the soldiers that had been planting bombs on the Gundam. He and his cohorts had followed the White Base, known as the Trojan Horse to the Zeons as they didn't know the ship's real name, to the clearing, but instead of attacking, they simply sit back and watched as the Trojan Horse crew tried to remove the bombs on the Gundam. They had thought they couldn't do it in time and get away from the combined blast radius of the bombs, but they were wrong. In just under four minutes, all the remaining bombs were removed, leaving the Trojan Horse crew plenty of time to get rid of the bombs. Now, this wouldn't be a surprise to them if an entire team of bomb specialists was handling it, but it wasn't an entire team that did it. No, it was just two people. Two people! With one, a woman with blue hair, not doing anything but watch as the other person, wearing some armor that came straight out of a sci-fi comic book, went around the Gundam and got rid of all the bombs.

"How can just one person get rid of all the bombs in just under four minutes?" Asked the leader of the group. The one that led the attack on the Gundam. Looking through a telescope they brought with them, he watched as the woman brought out staff from her person, how she did that was his guess, he then watched in shock as she created a blue circle in the air.

Stunned beyond belief, the man watched as the blue circle engulfed the bombs and wrapped them in a blue bubble. He then watched as the blue bubble was launched into the air by itself, becoming little more than a blimp to the naked eye in seconds. Completely flabbergasted at what he saw, the man didn't know what to say as his fellow soldiers were trying to discern what was going on themselves. Meanwhile, the two figures they were watching were conversing with each other. What it was about, the Zeon soldiers had no idea what they were talking about, but it must be important given they're out in the open. Eventually, they went back to their ship, leaving a bunch of Zeon soldiers stumped at what they have just seen.

Later

Master Chief

"I must admit, I didn't think that you could pull that off so quickly." Said Bright as he looked at Master Chief and Lilith, who both pulled off riding the Gundam of it's bomb situation and getting rid of said bombs before they could detonate.

"Understandable." Said Master Chief simply as everyone congratulated him and Lilith for saving Gundam and their lives. While Lilith was blushing from the praise, Master Chief just looked at Bright as if nothing else mattered. "However, that's the only reason I'm here. Lilith managed to find the location of the base that the bombs originated from."

"Really?" Asked Bright in surprise. He then looked at Lilith, who blushed further before explaining.

"It's a complex tracking spell that I learned during my service as a…let's say law enforcement agent." Explained Lilith. "If you want the location, I'll be more than willing to help you find where it is on your map."

"That would be more than helpful. However, we can't stay in this region for much longer. We're needed at an important operation in Eastern Europe. We'll log the base's location for later and inform Lieutenant Matilda of the location the next time we meet. Hopefully, she can give that information to the right people." Said Bright. Nodding at that information, Master Chief stayed while Lilith began telling Bright about where the base was, having a feeling that this will take a while. As he waited, however, he was suddenly approached by Amuro along with a young girl that he learned a few days ago was called Fraw Bow. Seeing the two approach him, the Spartan spoke up.

"What is it?" Asked Master Chief as he looked at the two. Amuro just pursed his lips before speaking up.

"I'm sorry for what I pulled today." Said Amuro as he looked at the ground for a moment before looking back at Master Chief. "If I didn't do what I did, you wouldn't have done what you did to save Gundam. I'm sorry." Upon hearing the genuine sorrow in the boy's voice, Master Chief spoke.

"That's the reason why I've been focusing on your discipline." Said Master Chief. "If you had obeyed orders or stayed near the White Base, this wouldn't have happened. This is the importance of discipline and what I'm trying to impart to you and the others. Discipline is a key element of keeping people alive and you, along with the others, require honing this in order to continue surviving against your enemies. Is that understood?" Upon hearing all that, Amuro nodded in determination. "Good. Now, if there are any more complaints, let me know. Just because I'm hard on you and your fellow soldiers, doesn't mean I don't care about your wellbeing." Stunned to hear that, Amuro looked at Chief for a few moments before nodding. With that done, Chief told Amuro to go get some sleep. He needed it after what happened today.

Upon hearing that, both Amuro and Fraw Bow left the bridge, letting Master Chief resume his watch on Lilith as she spoke to Bright and a few others. As he did so, Joy spoke to him.

"You really do care about him, don't you?" Asked Joy with a smile as she spoke to Chief.

"I do." Said Master Chief. "That's why I'm hard on them. They need the training I give them if I want them to survive." Joy gave a chuckle at that.

"Tough love routine, huh?" Asked Joy in amusement. "You know, as much as I love all this, I'm left wondering something. Jega and the Banished that were with him. They were in the explosion along with us. Where are they? If they weren't with us at the Zeon base, where could they be?" Upon hearing that question, Master Chief immediately made a reply.

"Wherever they are, it can't be good for anyone." Said Master Chief simply as he thought of the Banished and where they possibly could be.

Meanwhile

Asia

Meanwhile, in Asia, an entire village was being burned to the ground, but it wasn't because of any Zeon Mobile suit or any sort of Special Forces team from either the Earth Federation or the Principality of Zeon. It was caused by something far worse than either of those two governments.

In the ashes of the destroyed village, a man was crawling away from something, his wounds too debilitating for him to walk. Suddenly he was pressed to the ground by something. Something that couldn't be seen with the naked eye, which soon revealed itself to be something completely inhuman, both in appearance and character.

Jega growled at the pathetic human beneath it, trying to break free from his foot. Snorting a bit, he raised his robotic arm in the air before activating its built-in energy blades. He then brought the blades down at the man, killing him.

Satisfied with the kill, Jega looked at the burning village, where more of his fellow Banished were ransacking the village for anything of value, specifically where their equipment was along with anything else that they can use for their own nefarious purposes.

Kicking the dead body away, Jega went to assist his fellow Banished in the massacre of the village.