Chapter 34

Wing Zero 032- Oh the Banished are not in Southeast Asia, where the 08th MS team is stationed in, yet. They're in Central Asia and are preparing to make the trip there. They'll be there sometime during the time of Operation Odessa. No doubt to steal a certain Mobile Armor for themselves. Oh and a space-worthy ship as well. The Federation and Zeons will have a rough time when the Banished get to Southeast Asia.

Guest- A little bit, but yes. Things will be slight to maybe even majorly different in how the boarding will go.

Dragomancer- Eh, I probably am. It's just that all we've seen in advancement in UC Gundam has been relating to weapons and Mobile Suit tech. Along with research in Newtypes. We never get any mention of them putting any stock in making FTL drives. I'm open to being wrong, but I think it will be a stretch to think that they'll make a slipspace drive on par with current UNSC ones when…well, there are no actual slipspace drives available right now. Now, don't get be wrong, I'm sure in time they'll make a working slipspace drive within the time you said if they had the tech to study and put sufficient people and resources into it, it's just there's not slipspace drive tech available at the moment for them to take and study.

Hamon

Gallop Battleship

"Miss Hamon! Lieutenant Ral and Ghien are taken out!" Yelled Stetch as he reported to Hamon regarding the situation with Ramba Ral. Haman, Ramba Ral's lover and currently commanding their Gallop battleship, was stunned to hear what Stetch just said. Recovering from her shock quickly, Hamon went over to their communications officer in order to speak to Stetch.

"Ral and Ghien have been taken out!? How did this happen, Stetch!" Yelled Hamon, trying to figure out what went wrong so quickly. Ramba Ral and Ghien were doing well, holding up against the strongest of the enemies Mobile Suit, the last time Ramba Ral contacted her and now she was getting informed that they had been defeated.

"I don't know, ma'am!" Yelled Stetch as he fought off the enemy's all red Mobile Suit, keeping it pinned down with his machine gun. "I was preventing one of the enemy Mobile Suits from helping out the white one when Ramba Ral contacted me and informed me that the Trojan Horse sent someone to actually board his Mobile Suit and try to disable it. And it appeared to have worked." Hamon was stunned to hear such a thing. She had heard from Ramba Ral how both Federation soldiers and guerillas would resort to desperate and often suicidal tactics to take down some of their Mobile Suits. They ranged from using wired rockets in planned ambushes to incredibly desperate boarding actions on Mobile Suits with hand grenades in an attempt to disable the Mobile Suit by destroying the vital systems that enable it to function in the first place. The Federation and guerillas used these and many more in desperate attempts to stall and hold back the Zeon occupational forces of Earth. Rarely do they ever succeed. Rarely do they ever not end with most of, it not all, of the people involved in these type of operations dead.

So to hear that one person, one human being, could disable the Mobile Suit of one of Zeon's finest aces left her stunned. It didn't matter if the man was dead or not, the fact that he disabled Ramba Ral's Mobile Suit and probably also did the same with Ghien's Zaku as well left them dangerously understrength. To the point that Hamon wasn't sure that they will be able to accomplish their mission against the Trojan Horse now. Even with the problem Mobile Suit taken care of, they only had one Mobile Suit and a Gallop battleship to handle the Trojan Horse and its remaining Mobile Suits and fighters. And that wasn't even mentioning the weapon that took out their previous Zakus and heavily damaged their Gouf. The fact that the enemy hadn't deployed yet left Haman concerned.

Biting her lip, Hamon was wondering what to do. Naturally, her first thought was finding a way to rescue her lover and his soldiers. She loved Ramba Ral and cared for the men under their shared command and would do whatever she can to save them from whatever harm that befell on them not to mention support them as much as she possibly can without jeopardizing the mission. However, as much as she wanted to throw everything away to save her lover and her men, she knew she couldn't do that without jeopardizing the lives of all the men stationed within her Gallop. Men who trusted her to keep them safe throughout their time in Zeon's military. That trusted her to keep them alive through this war until its over so they can go back to their families in one piece. To risk conducting a rescue operation with the resources she had against the Trojan Horse with Mobile Suits and technology far beyond what she had currently had at her disposal would not only be wasteful and suicide but also something that Ramba Ral would disapprove of.

Yes, he was a bit reckless and was a master of utilizing limited resources to maximum effectiveness was legendary amongst the Zeon military, but that was the problem. That was his forte. Not hers. She can command troops competently and led if required, but ultimately Ramba Ral was who they needed if they wished to continue the fight against the Trojan Horse with the limited resources they had, something that was only exacerbated with the fact that Captain M'Quve, the commander of all Zeon forces in this region was only providing them limited aid in their mission of avenging Garma Zabi. The official reason was that M'Quve needed as much resources as he could muster in order to defend Zeon interests in the Europe and Central Asia regions on account of growing Federation presence in said regions. Hamon felt it was something else as well, but without evidence to the contrary, she had to accept M'Quve's reasoning.

Thus, she was stuck in a difficult position. Her heart was telling her to save her lover and his fellow pilots, but her brain was telling her to retreat and reassess the situation as well as contacting M'Quve for additional support. The Trojan Horse no doubt had more tricks up their sleeves and she didn't have the resources to deal with them now that Ramba Ral is down and it wouldn't do good for her lover and Zeon if she, the remaining men, and the Gallop were captured by the Trojan Horse as well. And then there was the fact that Ramba Ral, bless that stubborn man, would want her to continue his mission. To go back to Zeon as a hero, even if he couldn't be there with her, because, as much as her Ramba Ral detested the Zabi family, he believed in the goals and beliefs of the Principality. Of a free and independent Zeon, free from the Federation's incompetence and corruption. With all this in mind, and the fact that Ramba Ral would never forgive her if she sacrificed the mission for him, Hamon made the difficult decision on pulling back and regrouping with her remaining men.

"Stetch, pull back immediately." Said Hamon with no small reluctance in her voice as she relayed her orders to her remaining Zaku pilot. "We need to regroup and figure out a better strategy for our next engagement. And don't question my orders, Stetch, you know that Ramba Ral would do the same in our current situation." While she received some stares of shock from the men around her in the Gallop, they all knew that she was correct in pulling back. Even if they all wanted to go back to save Lieutenant Raul, it would be in vain considering that the enemy still had a few more tricks up their sleeves to win against them. Thus, they reluctantly began to conduct an orderly fallback away from the Trojan Horse with Stetch giving up on his fight against the red enemy Mobile Suit in order to fallback. In just a few short minutes, the Zeon forces withdrew from fighting against the Trojan Horse to both lick their wounds and figure out a way to get M'Quve to help them further.

Meanwhile

Bright

"Bright, both Chief and Kai are reporting that the enemy is falling back. Chief is asking for permission to pursue." Said Sayla, relaying to Bright what Lilith just told her. Upon hearing that, Bright looked at both Maker and Oscar to confirm if the enemy is indeed falling back.

"We can confirm, Mr. Bright." Said Oscar as he monitored the enemy Gallop leaving the combat zone. "Both the enemy Zaku and the Gallop battleship is retreating away from the Battlezone." Upon hearing that, Bright let out a sigh of relief. That was good. For a brief moment, when he heard that Amuro was down, he feared that they would finally be defeated by the Zeons and the White Base would be taken by the Zeons along with its valuable technology and Mobile Suits. But then the Master Chief came and not only saved Hayato, Ryu, and Amuro but he also disabled the Blue Giant's Mobile Suit along with a Zaku. No doubt forcing the enemy to retreat after losing their best asset. And it was all because of the Master Chief, who didn't have a Mobile Suit to accomplish this task. Just a powerful suit of armor and some grenades if he recalled correctly what the man had before he left for guard duty.

It sounded so surreal to Bright, but honestly he was used to surreal things ever since he learned the truth about Master Chief and Lilith. A part of him still couldn't fully believe they were from another world or universe, but the proof was all there and in different ways as well. It made him wonder just how much more to life there was beyond the Earth Sphere and what else was out there, waiting for humanity to find it. But that was a story for another time. Right now, he had a job to do, which was getting all his pilots back into the White Base, fix and rearm their Mobile Suits, and, now, secure their new prisoners of war.

To think that he would be the captain of the ship that not only was the very first Mobile Suit capable warship of the Earth Federation but also captain of the ship that killed Garma Zabi and the capture of the Blue Giant himself. He certainly raking up quite a career since taking command of the White Base and he had a sneaking suspicion it'll only get even more of a crazy career later on for…many reasons.

Later

Hanger Bay

"C'mon, be careful with handling that thing!" Yelled a crewmember of the White Base as he instructed Kai, who was carrying the disabled Gouf inside the left hanger bay of the White Base after bringing back both the Gundam and Guntank as well as the Zaku they captured, holding it in a way that, if it somehow activated again before they could get the pilot out, he'll be able to hold it in place, preventing it from doing anything useful. Master Chief, meanwhile, was watching the Zaku pilot he captured being escorted to the brig by several White Base crewmembers. Lilith and Fernando was with him, looking frustrated.

"Chief, this isn't right." Said Fernando as he looked at his Spartan friend as he watched the young crewmembers of the White Base, who were still just teenagers, heading for the brig with the prisoner in tow. "These people are just young kids. They shouldn't be escorting people to brig nor fighting in a war. They should be in school, playing with their friends, or just living their lives. I thought the situation on the ring was bad, but this…this is even worse." Master Chief didn't say anything, but he didn't have to say it. He agreed with Fernando. Lilith, also frustrated at what she was seeing, voiced her issues as well.

"I thought humans were better than this. Better than Witches, but I this. And for Bright to continue having these children fight for their lives in this…war it…argh!" Yelled Lilith as she grabbed a bunch of her dyed hair in frustration. Taking a deep breath, she spoke again. "Just…why? Why does this war exist. Why do these young men and women have to fight and die in this pointless war of independence? Why couldn't the leaders of this Federation and Zeon simply speak to one another about achieving independence for this Zeon? Why does all this bloodshed have to be done for independence? I don't…I don't understand. I can't imagine how Luz would react to seeing her own people being so…barbaric and cruel." Both Fernando and Master Chief looked at Lilith when she said Luz.

"Friend of yours and she's human?" Asked Fernando, guessing who this Luz was based on the information that Lilith brought forth and the tone she was using. He was a bit surprised at the possibility of Lilith's universe also having humans in it as well, although maybe he shouldn't be as this universe he was in also had humans in it that were completely different to those back in his world. Lilith blinked a bit at Fernando's question before sighing.

"Yes, to both." Said Lilith with a hint of regret and sadness in it. "She even considers me an aunt, despite the horrible things I've done in the past. Both to her and to her family and friends." Before either Fernando or Master Chief could ask her what she meant by that, they were interrupted by the voice of Bright catching their attention. Looking at the young captain, the three adults said nothing as the young man approached them, saluted them when he was right in front of them, before speaking.

"First off, I would like to thank you for saving my pilots." Said Bright as he looked at the people before him. "Second, I would like to request for your aid in delivering the Blue Giant to his cell in the brig. The Blue Giant is a master of guerilla warfare so he no doubt has ways to conduct a prison escape with his fellow prisoners not to mention he is believed to be a skilled combatant in hand-to-hand combat. So, if you could…"

"Understood." Said Master Chief, understanding what Bright was asking of them. "Once he's out of his Mobile Suit, I'll escort him to the brig personally. Lilith, if you wish to help me escort him, you're free to do so. Fernando, see if you can help the other engineers in getting the Gundam and Guntank operational again. The Zeons may try to conduct an attack again earlier than we think." Everyone agreed with Master Chief's words with Bright giving Fernando permission to help the engineers in fixing the Gundam and Guntank. With that, everyone went to the ground floor to both see the Blue Giant and to fix their own Mobile Suits.

As they walked towards the Gouf Mobile Suit, which was laid on the ground with the Guncannon looking at it, ready to fight just in case, surrounded by young men with rifles all aimed at the hatch in case the Blue Giant tried to do something, the hatch to the cockpit opened to release a thick cloud of smoke coming from the cockpit. The people aiming their guns at the cockpit were stunned at this along with Bright. As he pulled out his pistol, Master Chief spoke.

"Don't panic fire!" Yelled Master Chief, catching everyone's attention. "Stay calm! I'll take care of the Blue Giant if he makes a move." Upon hearing Chief's words, the crew of the White Base calmed themselves down, trusting Master Chief after everything he's done for them. Soon, the smoke cleared away and revealed the Blue Giant holding his hands in the air. Clearly showing that he was surrendering.

"Good call on calming your men down before they did something they'll regret." Commented the Blue Giant as he looked upon those that surrounded him. He was a bit surprised to see just how young most of the people were and even more surprised to see the green giant that disabled his Mobile Suit amongst them and some weird woman that looked to be in her thirties with blue hair by his side, wearing civilian clothing, along with a man in a uniform that he'd never seen before. Taking a note of all this, Ramba Ral soon moved away from his Mobile Suit and landed roughly on the ground, still holding his hands in the air. "I take it you will abide the Antarctic Treaty, yes?"

"Of course." Said Bright as he stepped forward upon seeing the Blue Giant was cooperating with them. "So long as you and the men we captured cooperate, you'll be given the respect due to all prisoners of war within the boundaries of the treaty." Ramba Ral nodded in understanding at this before allowing himself to be escorted by the green giant that had disabled his Gouf to where the brig was no doubt located. To his surprise, the strange woman that was by the green giant's side was following them, keeping an eye on Ramba Ral as the green giant escorted him to the brig. Curious and wondering what this woman in civilian clothing was doing in a Federation military ship deep within Zeon lines, Ramba Ral spoke.

"What the heck is a civilian doing here in a Federation vessel, if you don't mind me asking?" Asked Ramba Ral, looking at the woman while also inspecting his environment, looking for any possible ways that'll help him escape not to mention planning an escape route for him and his men. Lilith blinked at Ramba Ral's words before speaking.

"This ship and its crew…helped me in a situation sometime ago and I've been here ever since." Said Lilith as she was certain that this man will think her crazy if she gave him the whole explanation concerning alternative universes and magic. Not to mention her being a different race, something that would be obvious with her ears, which is one thing that Ramba Ral noted immediately upon seeing her.

"I see." Said Ramba Ral, looking at the woman. Realizing she wasn't going to say anymore, Ramba Ral looked at the back of the green giant in armor escorting him to the brig. He doubted that he's going to get anything out of this man as he seemed to be all business so he resorted to just observing the armor and Ramba Ral, had to admit, it was a very fine piece of armor. It looked like a sci-fi power armor from comics or old movies that he'd seen back when he was a child so long ago that had been brought to life. Thinking it was apart of the V-Project, Ramba Ral wondered why the Federation would make such an armor when the V-Project was meant to help them even the field of Mobile Suit warfare when the green armored giant spoke.

"We're here." Said Master Chief as he led them all to the brig. As he was being escorted, Ramba Ral saw, to his relief, Cozun and Ghien still alive. Both men were shocked but also relieved to see Ramba Ral alive as well, but they couldn't speak to him before Master Chief escorted him to an empty cell and opened it up.

"Get inside." Said Master Chief simply as he looked at Ramba Ral. "We'll conduct a search for any and all devices on your person and then strip you of your uniform. Prisoner clothing and food will be given to you soon." Ramba Ral made a note of the man's professional and deep voice, signaling his age and experience, before nodding at him. Cooperating was in his best interest. Not only to conduct a prison break later when the opportunity presents itself but also for him to gather some information on the Trojan Horse. Information that could prove vital in him figuring out a way to defeat the Trojan Horse, even if it means his death.

"Do you…have to do that?" Asked Lilith, a bit uncomfortable with what Chief just said. She knew that they did it with Cozun but the idea of stripping a man of his clothes just to see if he had anything that could help him escape just seemed barbaric and cruel to her. A simple magic spell could sense if he had anything on him that'll help him escape and they could strip him of items without stripping him of his clothing. "I could…" She couldn't say anymore when Master Chief raised his hand and looked at her.

"No, we're conducting this way." Said Master Chief. They won't be using magic on Ramba Ral for two reasons. One, to prevent him from knowing about the existence of magic and Lilith being a witch, no matter how ridiculous that sounded to him, and two, it will give them a distinct advantage should he and his fellow prisoners try to conduct a prison break. Upon hearing, Master Chief's words, Lilith sighed before allowing John what he wanted to do, consigning herself to simply observing in case Ramba Ral tried anything funny. Not that she needed to, but she wanted to see this man. To understand why he fought in a war and killed people in said war. She wanted to understand why this man was doing what he did and if it was possible for her to convince him to stop. To stop making the young men and women of this ship fight and kill just to survive. And see if she can find a way to stop this war, no matter how naïve and hopeless it seemed.

Sighing to herself, Lilith watched as the Master Chief began his search of Ramba Ral for any materials that he could use to conduct a prison break.