Memories of the Past

[Ryder Sarka]

It was December 8^th, 0083. After the events of the Delaz Conflict, an elite force was created by the Earth Federation just a few days prior. They were called the Titans, a unit specifically meant for hunting down any Zeon Remnants on or around the planet. Many members of the Federation joined, including a mobile suit pilot named Ryder Sarka. He had joined the year prior, starting out in a standard GM. Over time, other teammates noticed his skills as a sniper, so he was assigned to use a GM Sniper II. When the Titans were announced, Ryder didn’t hesitate to join. He hated the Zeon with a passion, and this was a way for him to finally get revenge…

The black-haired Ensign walked through the corridors of Jaburo with many other new recruits, noticing many of their transport ships launching from its large runway. Members of the Titans were beginning to be sent out on missions, with most of them going up to space. His assignment was different though. The new Titan didn’t know much, only that the team he’d be a part of would be going to South Africa. Ryder had mostly stayed in South America over the past year, so it was a nice change of pace for the Ensign.

“Where the heck is the Stark?” He thought to himself as he glanced at many of the Medea transports. Eventually, he saw the big black letters spelling it out on the side of a ship and walked toward the opening in the rear. He noticed that not many were joining him. “Maybe a special assignment?” He thought. Two women were inside the large aircraft with a cart of new black clothes. “Name please?” One of the ladies asked. “Ryder Sarka.” Her eyes widened. “Oh! You’re one of the pilots! Take this and go join the others, once you’ve changed in the barracks.” She handed him a uniform wrapped in plastic.

The inside of the ship was smaller then he’d thought. Ryder felt cramped as he walked up the stairs to his room. There was a single bunk bed in the room, meaning he would have to share with someone else. Placing his jacket and other items on the bottom bed, he quickly changed into the new uniform. The design looked sleek, but he wished he could wear his brother’s old jacket instead.

The door creaked open. A younger man with short brown hair walked inside. “My roommate.” Ryder held out his hand to the fellow Titan. “Hi. I’m Ryder Sarka.”

[Hunter]

Jaburo certainly didn’t disappoint, though Gabriel hadn’t been there before, he certainly was astonished by the complex. The ensign navigated the bustling hangar and subsequent complex, from his transport that he had caught from North America. He carried his Ruck over one shoulder and a folder with his assignment papers in his free hand. The entire place seemed alive with the salt and pepper of Titans and Federation officials. The last few weeks had been a blur of activity since news of the fleet’s destruction by Zeon forces. One thing was certain, the Federation wasn’t taking the hit lying down.

Gabriel eventually found the oversized plane that would take him and his new squad to South Africa for deployment. The prospect of taking the fight to the Zeeks made the ensign grin. The grin seemed infectious as he found two women standing next to a cart inside the Medea transport.

“Name please?”

Gabriel tucked the folder under the other arm and snapped a salute, “Ensign Gabriel Winter, reportin for duty ma’am!”

The woman offered a warm smile at the gesture and held out a new uniform. “Here you go ensign! Please change inside and join everyone else. We’ll leave once the whole team assembles.”

“Thank you ma’am!” Gabriel took the uniform solemnly and proceeded to find the area to change.

As he changed out of the drab tan of the Federation uniform to the Titan black equivalent he admired himself in the new outfit. Clean crisp lines, black with gold trim and Red accents, Gabriel found the style to be an upgrade. He secured a locker to hide his rucksack into and took out the binder with his mission details before going to find his bunk.

As he navigated the cramped hallways he found the room he had been assigned. As he opened the door another man was already inside. Gabriel couldn’t help his nature as he eyed the other man suspiciously.

“Hi. I’m Ryder Sarka.”

Gabriel eyed the outstretched hand as he silently studied the fellow ensign, sizing up his peer. This Ryder fellow had a few inches on him in height and maybe a couple more years but seemed unremarkable otherwise. Gabriel knew first hand that appearances could be deceiving though, he offered out his hand.

“Ensign Gabriel Winter…” he shook Ryder’s hand tightly, “pleasure to meet you mate.” He released the grip and nodded his head to the beds. “Looks like top bunk is mine?” The question was more of a statement as he moved past the fellow ensign to jump into the bed agilely. His feet dangling down as he opened his binder to look at some papers. After a moment he jabbed a finger at the papers in the binder, “ah so you’re the sniper?” He glanced down past his binder to Ryder accusingly. “I’ve heard of some sweetas’ pilots in those units, knew a bloke back in my old unit who was decent at it himself.”

Gabriel wasn’t one for talking usually but he wanted to know what kind of pilot would be shooting over his head in the field.

[Ryder Sarka]

"Yeah, I'm pretty decent too." Ryder responded. His skills as a sniper were revealed a few months prior when he managed to hit a Zaku II way out of range with a standard beam rifle. At first, Ryder thought it was a fluke, but he later realized how much of a crack shot he was. However, he hadn't seen much combat, so his skill in battle would have to be proven on this mission. Ensign Sarka wondered what part Gabriel would play in their squad. "So Gabriel, what d-" At that moment, two other members of the Titans walked inside.

"There they are!" One of the members stated. The tall blonde haired man with a goatee sneered at the two ensigns. "Fresh meat for the Zeeks! Huh, Commander?" The man to the left of him sighed. He definitely looked like a One Year War veteran to Ryder. A large scar ran diagonally across his forehead and the specks of gray in his hair showed the Ensign that he was probably in his early forties. "They were assigned to this team for a reason, Dustin. I'm sure they'll do fine in battle." The commander held out his hand to Ryder and Gabriel, who had jumped down from his bunk. "I'm your new boss, Albert McConnell. The numbskull to my right is LTJG Dustin Jefferson." Declared their new commander. Ryder gripped his hand firmly and shook. "Welcome to the team." Albert pushed open the door again. "Follow us. We'll have to go over our mission now since we'll be launching immediately after we land."

The four Titans navigated through the hallways to find a room with a large screen on the wall. With the flick of a switch, the screen turned on, showing a bird's eye view of what looked to be a Savannah in South Africa. "We recently learned about a Zeon Remnant base near this location." Albert pointed to the top left of the screen. "We believe it contains varmint that needs to be exterminated. Probably somewhere between five or ten mobile suits." Ryder snickered. "Typical Zeon scum. Hiding away like the rats they are." He thought.

"If things go to plan, it'll be pitch black." Explained the commander. "That way, we can strike without them even seeing our new mobile suits." Ryder had read up on this new suit, the GM Quel. Originally, Ryder was assigned one, but the Ensign declined, saying he would be at his best if he used his GM Sniper II. Apparently, one painted in the new dark blue and black Titan colors was in the Medea's hangar, but he didn't have a chance to look at it.  The commander pointed to the letters A and B as they appeared on the screen. "Alpha team will be dropped here, while Bravo team gets dropped here. Alphas in charge of going in first, while Bravos backup."

Dustin smiled. "We're Alpha, in case you haven't noticed. Bravo team will be made up of four GM Kai's, so we'll have to act quick. Wouldn't want those outdated hunks of junk taking our kills." Ryder felt somewhat offended by this statement, because of his mobile suit. The commander cleared his throat. "Any question?"

 

Edited May 3, 2019 by FrostyFoster

[Hunter]

"Yeah, I'm pretty decent too." Ryder responded. Yeah my mate thought he was hot stuff too, Gabriel silently shot back.

Two men came into the already cramped room causing Gabriel to stiffened up and jumped down to snap into attention. He quickly realized that they were both superiors. As the two introduced themselves Gabriel already decided that he didn’t like Dustin. Loud mouthed and likely insecure, the type didn’t sit well with the ensign. Albert at least seemed more level headed, though his familiarity with Dustin was off putting. They all got a long way to go to measure up to my old unit, Gabriel thought. 

He followed everyone to the briefing room and patiently listened to the mission details. Albert began pointing at the screen dominating the room and Gabriel found a place against the opposite wall to lean against.He silently wondered how reliable this intelligence was and didn’t like the vague details of “5-10 mobile suits” lurking around. As Dustin spoke Gabriel did his best not to roll his eyes, even the man’s voice was growing to be irritating.

“Any questions?”

The plan seemed simple enough and he wasn’t one to get paid to over think any problems. Still he cleared his throat, “permission to check out my mobile suit sir?”

Albert quickly nodded his head, “granted, anything else?” Gabriel’s disinterested look answered for himself as he shook his head slowly. He was already kicking himself off his perch on the wall and moving to stand at attention to be dismissed. Like all missions he didn’t care, Gabriel didn’t care if Char Aznable himself was sitting in the desert waiting for them, the only thing that mattered was getting the chance to take down some zeeks.

His expression grew bitter as he contemplated, and he silently wondered if this new team would perform as well as he hoped. When everyone got dismissed he turned to the sniper standing next to him, “you wanna check out the new units Ryder?” His tone was as close to cheery as he got.

[Ryder Sarka]

"Sure, why not?" Ryder said to the other Ensign. While his mobile suit wasn't actually new, he was interested in seeing the Titan's first unit, the GM Quel. From what Ryder had read, it seemed to definitely be an elite unit, with its specs being exceptionally high for a mass production type. They were lucky to even have some in their squad. Ryder knew that most would be used for space operations. He followed the Ensign to the hangar and saw that his GM Sniper looked to be strapped to the top of the container holding the four mobile suits. Laying down was three of the new mobile suit.

"I've read up a lot on the GM Quel." explained the new Titan. "It's a cutting edge GM. Much better than the GM Kai." Ryder began to notice the new GM rifles they would be using. Instead of the clip going on top, the bullpup rifle had it on the bottom. Four shields and a Franz sniper rifle also were strapped in near the machines. He thought that the armaments would be in other Medea's heading toward the Federation's base. "Looks like we might not have some time off from battle..."

[Hunter]

Ryder announced "I've read up a lot on the GM Quel. It's a cutting edge GM. Much better than the GM Kai."

Gabriel nodded his head in agreement as they gazed at the new units. He did his best to not put down the older sniper unit, after all he got all his kills in the trusty GM. In many ways Gabriel was as big of a GM fanboy as the next federation pilot.

“Oh yeah mate I’m excited to see what this new Jim will do.” He led them to where both their units stood side by side. From the tiny catwalk he moved towards the cockpit and opened it up. The ensign marveled at the “new factory” smell from the cockpit. Despite himself a grin did form on his lips as he eased into the seat. “Oi! Yeah! I got a good feeling about Jimmy here! You sure you don’t wanna get one of these new boys Ryder?” He asked rhetorically.

Perhaps in another life Gabriel would have been a mechanic for the GMs. His appreciation for the machine was genuine as he fawned over the controls. His features grew more solemn as his reality caught up to him. He looked up from the controls to call out to Ryder. “So how long have you been serving mate?” His tone more grounded suddenly.

[Ryder Sarka]

"Not for too long." Ryder responded. "I joined the Federation early las-" Their two superiors came rushing in as if something had gone wrong. "Change of plans, team!" Yelled out the commander. "We're dropping now!" Ryder looked shocked. "What?! I thought we would stop at the base, then leave later." Albert looked at Ryder while Dustin ran toward one of the Titan mobile suits. "Turns out our information was false." He explained while panting from all the running. "They're hiding out in an old quarry much closer to the shore then we thought. Bravo Team's already near their location."

The aged superior jogged to his own mobile suit, climbing inside of the cockpit. The hangar's door lowered, giving them enough room to slide out. "DUSTIN! Tell them to drop the armament box! We'll load up on the ground!" Soon after, the container each weapon was strapped inside of slid across the hangar, flying out into the savannah below. The three GM Quel's were connected at the top of their backpacks, and once Albert gave the signal, the massive machines followed suit toward the surface.

"Holy shit!" He said. Never did Ryder think he would be dropping out of a plane like some paratrooper in the middle ages. His own mobile suit began to lower, allowing him to hop inside. "Alright, let's do this." He whispered as the mobile suit began to boot up. The Ensign heard someone counting down over the intercom. As he reached "one", the suit's straps unclamped, sending the GM Sniper right out of the Medea. 

The G-Forces pushed Ryder against his seat as the federation suit began to freefall. The Savanna below had just about everything. Trees, grass, and ponds of water were spread across a large area. He could also barely see his comrades near the container underneath some large forestry. Ryder attempted to pull his suit up, making sure that its feet would hit the ground. Jets began to ignite as the GM Sniper slowed its descent, near the team. Ryder sighed, relieved that he managed to not die.

One of the GM Quels walked up to him. "Grab your gear and keep a short distance between us three." The commander contacted through the comms. "We'll need you to cover us in case things get worse. We landed on the other side of Bravo Team, so we'll try to split up the Zeon into two." The three began to walk toward the old quarry as Ryder looked inside the container. He put the shield (which had two spare clips connected to it) on its left arm. Grabbing the Franz rifle, Ryder followed the others, hoping that this day would get better.

Edited May 7, 2019 by FrostyFoster

[Erin Rockwell]

Kilometers away, the Titans were being awaited by a depleted coal quarry of relatively small size, that yielded resources no more. Blackwell Quarry, having been for long home to a sizable Zeon Remnant community, today fared them goodbye. Inside its spacious tunnels, those who had taken the final decision to attempt to join Axis now started up their old wartime jeeps, APCs and even a Magella Attack Tank, while the Mobile Suit pilots prepared their Zakus and Dom Tropens for a long walk. The group would be commanded by a trash green Gouf Custom, which kneeled on the floor as it automatically gave a woman on a drab green Zeon uniform a lift with one hand, the other holding a Dom's heat saber, on a permanent guard stance. The hatch opened to let her in, and so she placed her baggage behind the seat, before seating herself in it, shifting her raven black hair back so it would be held by her ears, which would then be covered by a rugged but durable headset. Booting the systems up, turning the cabin temperature regulator on at 25 degrees Celsius and placing a water bottle on the cupholder, she tapped the microphone with her index nail, before contacting the Magella Attack, manned by her old friend, Acting Second-In-Command Stuart Rivers. - ''Testing. Testing... you comfortable in that armored coffin of yours, Stu?''

''Ha, like we're going to come under enemy fire. Say whatever you want about Maggie being less than effective, but at least i'm not the one in an eighteen-something-meter monstruosity that is bound to turn heads wherever it goes. Besides, we're going to spend half the way under the cover of Earth herself. And you?'' - Stuart responded, at the controls of the Magella's communications device, while a jeep that was positioned at the head of the formation turned its headlights on, advancing through the pitch black darkness of the biggest tunnel to clear the way for all of the ground vehicles.

''Here's counting on a miracle and all of us getting there in one piece. It's going to be tough, but you'll take good care of them all, won't you? They're counting with you. It's your big break, the one you were waiting for.'' - Erin Rockwell's Gouf Custom finally got on its feet, and walked out of the main tunnel, with the main camera shining with the well-known shade of red distinctive of Zeonic Mobile Suits, focusing on the many explosive charges set to detonate at its pilot's signal.

''Well, Maggie isn't just for show, nor are my brains...''

''If you say so, dumbass.'' - Erin chuckled for a moment, before saying a few more words. - ''Why don't you do me the honors and brief everyone? I want to hear your voice one last time...''

Stuart sighed briefly, but complied and switched the radio to their public channel. All for the lady of my life... Ten Mobile Suits, standing in the center of the quarry, and a large contingent of vehicles, prepared to advance through the longest of the tunnels, now listened to his words. - ''Heads up, ladies. For those who slept through yesterday's briefing, Operation Last Call is underway. I'll try to tell you the plan in a nutshell. We'll ride this tunnel to someplace near the shore, then make our way to the spaceport without being spotted by the Feds, leave the cars and the jackets if we have to. It's going to be a long road, and that's why every vehicle carries enough supplies for a week. The rests will be made in well-hidden camps, which will be tightly regulated. You know what this means. No loud noises. No flashy lights. And absolutely no absences without leave! You hear me, Bryan? This isn't the time to ruin shit. Our lives depend on this.''

Erin could almost hear the voices of her comrades laughing at Stuart's reprimand for the young Ensign. Her screens showed the blue IFF blips moving, the Zakus bending their knees in preparation to leap out of the quarry, while the Tropens, unable to perform such a jump, were following the dirt ramps, hovering their way out. As the fastest units, they would be leading the group during the whole trip, and so they needed to be at the top before the Gouf jumped, five F2 Zaku IIs and two JC Zaku IIs behind it, all painted in sand brown with spots of their original paintjobs visible here and there.

''Unfortunately, as safe as we'd feel with ten Mobile Suits watching our backs, the 101th Corps is simply too big to fit through the tunnels. They'll take another route, completely over the ground. They are to meet us at the spaceport, but their odds aren't that great. We'll wait for them for as long as we can, but the Axis guys will take off whenever they feel the least bit menaced. That means they can take off without us too. We better hurry there. As for what happens if the Feds ever find us... fight or flight, it's your choice. We've given too much for each other already, and so i think it would be sensible for each one of us to make that decision by ourselves, no harbored grudges. That's all. We will now start advancing through the tunnel, and hope it's still as solid as the scouts said it was last week. Sieg Zeon.''

''Sieg Zeon...'' As soon as every pilot made their last pledge to Zeon, they switched frequencies, losing contact with the caravan, and Erin's hand would heavily fall over a handheld detonator. Bending its knees, the Gouf jumped, and turned its backpack boosters on for the first time in months, succesfully accelerating upwards. The Zakus followed her, all of their thrusters fortunately functional, and when all feet were finally on the high ground, the detonator would slowly rise up, clutched by Erin. She took a few seconds to look at the quarry, then silently wished them a good journey. Bon voyage, my sisters and brothers. Take good care of them, Stuart. To all of you...

godspeed.

The click was made, and it would be followed by a series of detonations. Mining charges, set up all over the quarry, made the tunnels collapse first, then the rest of the structure. With the tunnels closed, the Feds wouldn't know which tunnel to follow, even if they knew to look for other vehicles. And the only copies for the blueprints of the quarry had been stolen by Stu's boys a week or so ago, which meant they couldn't possibly use those either to know which their possible destinations. It was only the 101th Mobile Suit Platoon from there on. Them, and a crime scene wiped clean. Lifting her chin up, Erin now addressed her soldiers. - ''Very well, guys. It's time to do our part. Advance at the speed of our slowest units, heading two-zero-zero. Sharp sight, at all times. And if you see enemy aircraft, you know what to do. Blow those pricks out of the sky, to kingdom come and beyond.''

[Hunter]

Gabriel’s face melted into a scowl as the commander barged into the cramp hangar and announced that they were dropping. He gawked at the man, it took a large portion of his will power not to question Albert. Instead he focused on the task at hand. He put on his space suit (which was supplied inside the Quel) with the ease of a veteran. Everything seemed to be moving too fast and the ensign fumbled around booting the operating system up as bay doors opened and radio chatter commenced.

False information? Just what kind of a mission was this turning out to be?

Gabriel growled out loud as he finished getting the space suit on, with mobile suit combat it never hurt to be prepared for anything. It seemed like he barely got ready in time as his Quel was tossed out of the transport. Strapped in he felt the familiar uneasiness of G-Force’s tugging on his body. Steely eyed, the ensign fired his thrusters to get a sense of the unit and its weight. As he glided through the air he slowly got more accustomed to the movements of the mobile suit, though he admitted it would still take some time getting used to. He was the last to hit the ground, given his testing of the thrusters. The whole mission was starting to leave a bitter taste in his mouth; immediate deployment, hasty arrangements, sloppy planning, poor intelligence. Gabriel sighed but kept his criticism to himself, he wasn’t about to let his sour attitude get himself killed.

He loaded up the bullpup and shield and shuffled ahead to take point, something Albert didn’t seem to protest.

They had been marching for a few minutes when flickers in the distance seemed to catch everyone’s attention, weapons fire.

Albert’s voice chimed in, “Crap it looks like Bravo’s made contact! Everyone advance! Let’s pincer them from our side!”

At a full sprint now, it didn’t take long to see the line of mobile suits, starting to entangle in the throes of battle. “Dammit! Why didn’t Bravo wait just a few more minutes?” Gabriel wondered to himself.

As he got within weapons fire range he didn’t stop his charge. Several Zakus were engaged with the GM’s from Bravo and didn’t seem to notice his Quel rushing from the opposite side. With the vegetation and sloping of the region he didn’t have a clear picture of all the enemy units but he could see all of Bravo team as they held position on the ridge. Suddenly the upper portion of one of Bravo’s GMs burst into flames as enemy fire tore into the armor. “No!” Gabriel yelled as he skidded to a stop and opened fired at the farthest Zeek from his position. He was close enough to engage a couple of Zakus near the ridge but specifically chose one that was farther away, wanting to draw the enemy attention to himself. As his rifle boomed out rounds the Zaku went limp suddenly, telling Gabriel that a round found the enemy cockpit. He fought his urge to celebrate and kept his focus as he shifted his attention to the nearest Zaku which did notice his presence now. “C’mon you space monsters!” He yelled as he turned his shield and gun to face the next one.

Edited May 7, 2019 by Roromi

[Ryder Sarka]

“Crap it looks like Bravo’s made contact! Everyone advance! Let’s pincer them from our side!”

Ryder was infuriated. He had hoped to get a couple of shots off without the enemy noticing, but Bravo Team had other plans. Keeping a distance between the three GM Quels, The Ensign made his mobile suit kneel while its head unit's goggles lowered. Lifting the sniper rifle up, Ryder noticed they were outnumbered. "One Gouf Custom, two Dom Tropens, five Zaku F2's, and..." 

He wasn't sure what exactly the other two were. They were Zaku's, but not ones he recognized. In fact, one of them managed to take out a GM Kai with its bazooka. "Well, you're done." He thought.

BANG! One of the sniper bullets buried itself into the strange Zaku's right arm, blowing the bazooka out of it. Ryder reloaded the bolt action rifle quickly, sending another one straight into the waist of the machine. It toppled over, sending trees and other shrubbery on top of the outdated mobile suit. He noticed his fellow Ensign taking out a Zaku F2, and Dustin beginning a battle with one of the Dom Tropens. "Eat lead, you Zeon bastards!" Dustin yelled out as he fired upon the large mobile suit. Ryder aimed again, toward the Gouf Custom this time. He assumed it was the leader, hoping that destroying it would cause the others to shatter.

Aiming for the cockpit, Ryder was about to fire when a Zaku F2 launched toward him. It must've lost its machine gun, since it only held a heathawk in its right hand, sending it into Ryder's shield. The connector snapped on its left arm, causing the shield to be stuck on the ax as Ryder flew backward. Pointing at the machine, Ryder fired the rest of the ammo deep into the Zaku's cockpit, causing it to erupt, destroying the top of the mobile suit completely above the waist. "That was way too close." Ryder said, preparing to join back into the main battle. He hoped the others were fine...

[Erin Rockwell]

After the ravine collapsed, the entire platoon ran, setting course for the woods, where they wouldn't be as easily spotted, and where they could have an advantage if so was the case. But destiny had other plans for them. Only minutes after the explosion, black aircraft appeared high on the sky, which Erin recognized on the screen as larger versions of Federation supply craft, equipped with extra engines to bear with the added weight. They were too high for any of their guns to reach them with their bullets, and there was a chance that they hadn't actually seen them, so she ordered the platoon to hold their fire and keep moving, knowing that even if they had spotted them, the forest would nonetheless allow for an ambush. Yet her worst fear was realized soon after, when four GM-type Mobile Suits fell from the sky, and cleverly landed on a ridge to block them from entering cover, all the while miraculously dodging their bullets. Their response time had been suspiciously high, as if they knew beforehand where to go, and their black bodywork betrayed their true nature as the alleged heralds of their death: the dreaded Titans, addressed by Jamitov's speeches as Earth's finest, were finally here, bullpup machine guns in hand, now pointed at them.

“Raphael! Lyle! Get their backs!” And so the Tropens sped to get their way around them, avoiding 90mm bullets like they all were of a far higher lethality. “Cosette! Yuri! Flank the ridge!” The JC-Type Zakus obeyed, and ran to position themselves. “The rest! Suppresive fire until we get there! We’ll leap right in front of their faces and sandwich them!” Not one to lose her cool despite the dire circumstances, Erin quickly directed everyone as well as she could, even though she hadn’t battled in months. The results showed up quickly: the GM Kais of the ridge were grazed by their fire, and one round even found its way into one of their cockpits, probably a result of Yuri Voychek’s marksmanship. Trying to jump off the ridge, they were surprised when Zakus flew right in front of them and began shooting at point blank range, destroying a second Kai. They would then try to fold back, only to find Raphael and Lyle, who took on the two remaining units. Raphael relieved the first of its left arm, slashing the joint with his beam saber, before it flew away and entered the forest, as Lyle rid the other one of its head by blowing it up, before pushing it from the ridge. However, soon arrived their reinforcements. An F2 would go up in flames, then at the next moment, as Erin landed on top of the ridge, she was getting a transmission from Cosette’s JC, which had lost its machine gun and gained lots of scrapes after enemy fire ignited its magazine.

“Commander, watch your back! Commander!”

And so, the Zaku leaped high into the air, before being blown up to smithereens by a beam. Cosette! Such output… a god damned sniper! “Doms! Forget those GMs! Tally a sniper on the loose, vector 360! Close the distance and get rid of him! Levchenko! Yuri! Get the fleeing Jim! We're all going to move in that direction, there's more of them.” Erin gave out new orders, and while the remaining JC Zaku ran into the woods with one of the F2-Types, the Tropens flew at top speed from the ridge, before another black GM, looking way more advanced than the Kais that had just been defeated, stood on the way of Lyle and Raphael, firing its machine gun at them. Both protected their main cameras with their arms, knowing that the thick plating would do. Raphael sped right through, but before the Quel could turn around to fire at his back, Lyle arrived, and flying at approximately two hundred kilometers per hour, he took aim at the head with his fist. The new GM attempted to evade by throwing its back on the floor, but the Tropen arrived in the middle of the maneuver and still managed to land a clean uppercut, severely damaging the head and destroying its joints, detaching it from the frame, yet leaving the lead cables intact, the head dangling from the Mobile Suit once it violently made contact with the floor. That said and done, Lyle quickly regained its lost speed. Two Dom Tropens now sped quickly at a black sniper-type Mobile Suit, while the other two new models quickly had to aim their weapons again at their friends. Staring at the sights of their machine guns, three Zeeks. A Gouf Custom and two F2 Zakus. Weapons drawn.

And the most murderous of intents.

Edited May 9, 2019 by Replicator

[Ryder Sarka]

"Welp, guess this is where I'll die." The two speedy Doms chased after the Ensign's suit with their heat sabers ready to slice. Ryder was astounded at the speed of the Zeon creations as they hovered through the air without a care for the objects below them. He attempted to aim, hoping that at least a couple of his shots would meet their machines. BANG! The first shot slid between the two, completely missing both of the targets. BANG! This one was closer to the Dom on the left side but also missed its mark.

They weren't stopping, but Ryder wasn't either. Way three shots left, the Titan fired twice at the Dom to the right. BANG! BANG! The first bullet hit it's right "bicep", causing the machine's arm to fly back, permanently damaging its other arm. The fourth shot also missed, ending up inside a nearby tree trunk. "There's no way I can accurately hit that cockpit. Unless..." With his final shot in the clip, Ryder lowered the weapon down to the leg of the mobile suit. "Oh God, please hit." The Ensign thought as he aimed for his red target. BANG!

The final round dug deep into the leg's jet engine as it burst, blowing off part of its ankle. The suit was sent down to the ground, violently smashing itself as it slammed into more trees. Ryder sighed in relief as it lay face down, out of the battle. "That was WAAAY too clo-" BEEP BEEP BEEP! The GM sniper's warning let Ryder know of the other Dom as it sliced directly at him. He threw his rifle to the side, just barely having enough time to pull out his own beam saber. The two swords connected, but there was only so much time until Ryder's suit would give out. In terms of raw power, the Dom Tropen had him beat.

As the sabers stayed locked, the Dom took its left fist and slammed it straight into Ryder's cockpit. The pilot flew out of his seat, hitting the right screen with his shoulder. With no control of this machine, The Sniper II fell right on its back, dropping its only weapon at the time. Ryder looked back up to see the enemy turning its heat saber, ready to jam itself directly into him. "All I wanted to do was get revenge for you, Len, and this is how I die? I some forest with random remnants?" Ryder accepted his fate, but someone else had other ideas. 

The Dom stopped, turning to look behind him, but it was too late. Thirty bullets sent itself straight into the torso of the Zeon mobile suit. Ryder jumped back into his seat and pulled back on the controls, hoping to dodge the explosion. It worked as the machine blew to bits, sending chunks of metal everywhere. "Thank God those GM Quels are fast, I thought... Wait." As he put his mobile suit back on its feet, he noticed a tan mobile suit reloading its machine gun by putting the weapon on the ground, using its feet to keep it steady. (Its left arm was completely gone.) "BRAVO TEAM?!" He yelled out. The GM Kai picked up his sniper rifle, handing it back to its owner. "There's two bogeys coming for me. I'll try to hold them off while you join up with the others." said the GM pilot. 

Ryder obliged, flying back to where his old shield was. It was laying against a large tree with a large gash in the middle from the heat hawk. He connected it back into its slot on the left forearm. It was looser than he liked, but it would be giving him some protection. Ryder put the final clip inside the rifle as the ran to join up with Alpha Team.

 

[Hunter]

Albert was beside Gabriel taking on one of the Zakus by the ridge. The enemies didn’t seem like pushovers as the two entwined in a deadly exchange. Gabriel was in a similar position aiming at a zaku who was doing the same. The zaku raised its rifle up and rounds slammed into Gabriel’s shield. They were almost too close to each other to shoot effectively. Gabriel fired his thrusters to bash into the Zaku, suddenly stunning the enemy mobile suit. As it fought to bring its gun back around Gabriel didn’t hesitant and brought his rifle to aim at the feet of the zaku. At point blank the bullets easily tore into the metal as the recoil drew a line up along the body of the machine. Flames bled out of the holes as the Zeek fell over and Gabriel knew that one was out of the fight.

He looked around wildly to see what other units were doing. Perhaps it was the uniqueness of it, but his attention was drawn to the Gouf leading away. “Oh no you don’t!” Gabriel popped a magazine out of the rifle as he brought his Quel around to aim at the Gouf. He charged as he slapped in the new magazine. He barely noticed the two Tropens rushing away to Ryder’s location but his focused was fixed on the Gouf now. Something about how it moved told Gabriel that this had to be the commander.

He got within weapons range and brought his rifle up shooting a brief blast 90mm in front of the cockpit. Gabriel was never much of a marksman and made the shot to bring the attention to himself. “That’s right big green! You’re fights with me mate!” He muttered more to himself than anyone else. As he spoke he leveled the rifle to aim more precisely. He moved forward to close more distance cautiously, he had heard many stories about the heat rod on the Gouf. Even as he advanced he brought the shield up to try and prepare himself for the retaliation. His shield was battered from his previous exchange and he wasn’t sure how much more abuse it could take.

[Erin Rockwell]

Erin couldn't believe her eyes as she watched Sargeant Raphael Gurden's death unfold before her eyes. Far from being the implacable men Jamitov spoke of, and despite the superior authority their officers wielded, the Titans’ regular ranks seemed to be comprised of mere grunts, clad in black for the purpose of intimidating the enemy. But even the best could fall prey to their own carelessness, and Raphael's had just cost him his life. Enraged, Erin grabbed the mic, and radioed her forces. They, too, were made of faulty human souls. “Yuri! What the actual hell were you doing?! How did you let this clown slip by?! Lyle, are you okay?”

“Sorry, boss! He somehow outmaneuvered us!” Claimed Yuri, holding the GM Kai from behind, for Levchenko to throw her heat hawk at its cockpit, landing its heat blade right on the middle section of the Kai and denying its pilot any chance of salvation, then kicking it further in with the foot to add insult to deadly injury. Lyle, who had his Tropen's leg blown off, got up, before cleverly speeding away with the remaining leg, using its thrust plus that of the right half of the skirt's engines.  “I am sorry, Commander... i'm out. I'll try to pick up the leg and go hide in the forest, see if it's still good enough for attaching it again.” As Levchenko and Yuri got fed up of the Kai and started charging towards the sniper, the damaged Tropen sped past them, knowing they would cover him, and dropped its machine gun to pick up the detached right leg, then flying away with it, into the forest. Erin and the Zaku behind her now fired their weapons at another Quel, before Erin noticed the presence of a third, which was knowingly pointing his weapon towards her unit, intent on firing. Think you can take on me, nugget? Quickly, Erin made the Gouf face the black GM, then after a sidestep at the right, towards its downed doppleganger, a command was inputted to use it as a shield, so the green unit obeyed, lifting the Quel up from the armpits as fast as it could. This is for Raph, Feddie scum! As the first rounds arrived, they blew off one of her gigantic, curved shoulder spikes, of which she was not very fond anyways, before the rest made contact with the inoperative Mobile Suit, hitting the torso, the skirt, and even going for the cockpit, which was kept from destruction (much to the relief of the pilot) by the head, which hanged in front of the canopy and blew up in its place, unhinging the left breast vent and outright detaching the already battered right one. Its insides briefly went up in flames too, complete with an automated ejection of the cockpit, before thin firefoam started coming out of them, which mixed up with the steam created by the clashing temperatures created a smokescreen of sorts for Erin. Now, as the F2 fired its machine gun at the farthest of the black GMs, Erin advanced towards the smartass on Unit 03, holding her makeshift shield and smoke machine up, while the heat saber remotely turned on in preparation for the time to strike...

Edited May 15, 2019 by Replicator
-2 Zakus, -1 Lyle

[Ryder Sarka]

Ryder knew he had little time to get away from the other two mobile suits. As he ran closer to the main battle, he heard his superior through the radio. "Pathetic, these fools are out of practice!" said the Commander. Ryder saw the aged veteran in a skirmish against the remaining Zaku F2. Albert did have the upper hand, but the Zaku proceeded to ram into the new Titan suit, knocking it over. As it fell onto the ground, the Zeon mobile suit turned away, running another direction.

Ryder noticed it fleeing from Albert. "Why's it leaving?" He thought. Except it wasn't actually leaving. The newer model Zaku came flying toward him, firing its own machine gun toward him! Ryder quickly raised the GM's shield as rounds hit it directly although a few managed to hit his waist armor. From the hip, he fired back with the sniper rifle. While he didn't want to waste his last clip, Ryder knew that it was the only way for him to survive. The Titan returned fire, sending five sniper bullets into the other Zaku. The first and fourth shot missed, but the second, third, and fifth hit the monoeye in its head, lower torso, and right hip. If it was a machine gun, this Zaku could maybe live to fight more but the sniper rounds demolished the face and other body parts of the mobile suit. The machine powered off the dropped as if it'd been knocked out cold.

"Ryder!" Albert said over the comms. "Are you ok?" Ryder sighed. His sniper had no rounds left. "Not really. I'm out." He dropped the rifle to the floor. "Here, take this then." His superior tossed his own machine gun toward the Ensign. "I'll be able to handle myself. Let's help out Gabriel. Dustin's been-." The time had come for the other two remaining Zaku's to arrive. "Yeah..." Ryder said. "I was gonna tell you about that." The F2 had one of the newer model machine guns, while the JC held a heat hawk in its hand. Albert ignited his beam saber and raised his shield. "Let's hope Gabriel is good at close combat. He's gonna have to be to survive..."

Edited May 15, 2019 by FrostyFoster

[Hunter]

A wicked grin formed on Gabriel’s face as his rounds hit poor Dustin’s suit. “Damn fool!” He howled. As the suit began to catch fire and emit smoke he strode forward confidently. He honestly didn’t care for Dustin and a growing part of him hoped the loud mouth was dead. He tossed his rifle on the ground and pulled out his beam saber as he slowed his approach, shield leading into the smog. In the back of his mind he kept thinking of all the after action reports he read about the Goufs, every one of them warned him about the heatrod.

He switched on his PA, “Oi! Cheap tricks and cowardice won’t save yer skin!” His eyes darted before him trying to make out shapes from trees and smoke. Finally one particularly swirling moving cloud of smoke caught his eye and he rushed forward to ignite and stab with his pink blade. His movements were precise, his Quel shuffling with caution. As his blade pierced through the cockpit of Dustin’s Quel. He kept moving and jerked the blade sideways outwards to his right, twisting the torso of his Quel and pushing his shield into the dummy Quel, practically shattering it. He didn’t know if the Gouf was still hiding behind the Quel or not but his blade would have gone through for some damage most likely if it was still there. He wanted Dustin’s Quel out of this fight either way, even if it killed that arrogant bastard in the process. What mattered more was this chance to take out a probable Zeon commander, another space monster.  “Is that the best you can do?” He taunted.

[Erin Rockwell]

The ruined Quel 02, already on its knees, fell to the floor in various pieces, letting go more black smoke, a result of the beam saber melting through the bodywork, and revealing absolutely nothing behind it anymore, as it was slowly set aflame again by the molten Gundarium alloy. A woman heard her enemy turn on the strange GM's PA system, and as his words were reproduced by the internal speakers of her Gouf Custom, she rolled her eyes. Cheap tricks and cowardice... We've got another one of those around here, huh? Just my luck… Down to business, a red circular flash appeared behind the black GM, and as Gabriel turned around, unaware of what awaited at the end of the turn, a green leg, clad in a silver boot, appeared out of the smoke to kick the battered shield off its hands, breaking the handle and leaving it still in the firm grasp of his hand. Honor… what are you, a child? The beam saber swinged forward, but the Gouf was already by his right side, ramming him with an unpainted grey shield and knocking him back a few steps. Taking a Dom's heat saber from a holster in its skirt, the Gouf immediately charged forward, and the Quel's pilot miraculously had the reflexes to block its attack with his beam saber. Now, both sabers clashed, firmly gripped by machines of nearly the same power, but very slowly closing in to the Quel, as the Gouf's pilot suddenly spoke, seemingly not above turning on the PA System herself. “You must think you're an oh-so-righteous knight, right? Come from the heavens to rain down his wrath upon evil... Pathetic… you're but a mere toy soldier!”

Intent on helping their teammate, the GM Sniper and the commanding Quel, distinguished by the big white 01 painted on its right shoulder, ran towards the big cloud of smoke, risking being surprised by anything, and sure enough, Yuri and Levchenko now entered the cloud by the other side, not wanting to let Erin hog all three Titans for herself. As the latter found their way into the center of the cloud and discovered Quel 03 steadfastly holding its position against the advancing enemy Gouf, they prepared a bullpup and a beam saber respectively to gang up on the green machine, but were surprised by two monoeyes, which had briefly leapt out of the cloud with their boosters to drop right in front of them, maybe wanting to let the fight drag on longer. Her heat hawk shining red, Levchenko playfully laughed, kicking Quel 01’s right feet and having it land on its knee, then holding its hand with the left arm to keep the beam saber from coming back to cut her in half, and thrusting the hawk into its shoulder with the right arm. Had she taken a few more moments, the superior Quel would have regained the upper hand by force, but Sara acted quickly. Now, the Quel's right shoulder was being slowly melted away, the arm losing power and finding itself on even grounds with the Zaku's, as Lieutenant Sara Levchenko turned on her PA too. “That’s right! Shudder in fear!”. The Sniper II, bullpup in hand, could do something about it, but the strange Zaku II, gripping one of the latest Zeon machine guns, remained slyly silent and disappeared amongst the fog of war, and was certain to reappear at the worst time if something was not done about it. Albert looked like he could offer further resistance, too...

[Ryder Sarka]

In the dense shrubbery near an ongoing battle lied a certain Lieutenant Junior Grade. The man, who was laying on the ejected seat of his mobile suit, had seen much better days. the left side of his face had been scorched by the fire in his cockpit, causing burns down his cheek and ear. "That's gonna scar..." The man, Dustin, thought to himself. Laying on his uninjured side, he looked up at the two mobile suits dueling it out. The Aussie Ensign had his beam saber ready, while the green Gouf held up his own mobile suit. "Not good for the kid. He doesn't know these cockpits eject. There's no way he can attack without thinking he'd kill me." At that moment, Unit 03 sent his blade deep into the cockpit of Unit 02. "That sonovabitch..."

Meanwhile, his teammates were busy with the two remaining Zaku's. "That's right! Shudder in fear!" One of the Zaku pilots said as they thrust their heat hawk into Unit 01's shoulder. "HA! Shudder in fear? You make me laugh!" Yelled out Albert as he pushed forward on the ignition. The jets in its backpack flared as the Titan machine headbutted the Zaku, sending it flying away from the other machine, pulling out the heat hawk in the process. However, the damage had been done. The GM Quels right arm wouldn't last for long, so the Commander switched hands, although he wouldn't have time to switch the shield. As the Zaku realigned itself, it came face to face with the black machine. staring each other down, their weapons connected, again and again, taking the two machine's battle to a different location. It left the lone GM Sniper II to fight the other Zaku.

"Stupid fog..." Ryder Sarka thought to himself. His vision was now clouded, which thankfully meant his opponent's vision was too. The Ensign secretly worried to himself. His specialty wasn't standard combat, plus the Zaku did have home-field advantage. It'd know good spots to hide and strike, leaving Ryder wide open for attack. The Titan slowly walked, peering deep into the dense fog. "There's gotta be some sort of sign. Something I can use to my advantage..." Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He stopped moving the machine and stopped looking. Instead, he listened. Mobile Suits were far from the quietest machines. If he could hear movement, that could give him an idea as to where the enemy was.

After a bit, he finally heard it. It sounded like an arm moving, but he wasn't too sure. Without moving a muscle (if mobile suits had muscles), Ryder looked to his right screen. Slightly above the crack created when he slammed into it, was a faint pink light. "Gotcha." He thought. He raised his machine gun and damaged shield as quickly as he could, firing directly at the other mobile suit. The Zaku saw this movement, firing at the same time as its opponent.

[Hunter]

Gabriel’s breathing picked up as he focused on the locked blades in front of him. Reality seemed to cast a shade over him as his arms shook in rage. Then she spoke, the damn space monster had a voice.

“You must think you're an oh-so-righteous knight, right? Come from the heavens to rain down his wrath upon evil... Pathetic… you're but a mere toy soldier!”

Something about her tone, her voice; no, monsters deserved to have a voice. The damn zeeks spoke the only words he’d listen to when they dropped the colony on his home. “Shut up. Shut up! Shut up!” He practically screamed. The Quel dropped the dead shield handle and he held the beam saber with both hands, managing to push the Gouf away with the focused strength. “You know nothing!” His voice was shrill.

The break caused his blade to swing out wide to his left and he flared his thrusters to dive at the reeling Gouf. With the saber in both hands he flew forward, ready to swipe back again towards his right. Just as he cocked the blade back he jerked his controls to suddenly jab his foot in the ground and push his Quel at a slightly off angle towards his right so he wouldn’t head straight into the enemy. His arms swung the saber after his movements, slashing horizontally. He was hoping to avoid the Gouf’s defense all together and get a slash against the cockpit ending the fight quickly.

[Ryder Sarka]

"You're nothing but a mindless follower who fights for a lost cause. Just quit!" Albert McConnell swung diagonally to the left, connecting with his opponent's heat hawk. Sparks flew as the two mobile suits pushed with their weapons. "Just a little closer..." Albert thought as the GM Quel's head got close to the Zaku's. "NOW!" The Commander launched his vulcan guns straight into the Monoeye, causing the glass surrounding it to shatter. "Ha!" He laughed. "Time to-" The Zaku took a risky move, kicking the GM Quel in its right knee, breaking it in the other direction. Both suits fell on their backs, dropping the weapons they'd used. However, only one mobile suit got up. The Zaku F2's cockpit door was raised, giving the pilot vision. It began to walk toward its prey...

Meanwhile, Ryder and his opponent took some nasty hits. As bullets hit the Titan's shield, it crumbled and cracked, most likely due to damage, which it'd received prior. Worse though was the fact that some rounds managed to hit the joint between the torso and the arm, sending the limb flying back, shield in tow. "Shit!" He yelled out, dropping his empty machine gun. As he replaced it with his beam saber, the Ensign had no choice but to use close combat. Flying towards the last location of the Zaku, he swung, only to find no Zaku in the area.

Albert tried reaching for his own beam saber but to no avail. It was too far, and the damage to the leg meant he wasn't going anywhere. The Zaku stood above him. Its heat hawk had been broken in half from the drop, but the pilot had other ways to battle. Sara made the Zaku clasp its hands, sending both of them into the shield. Albert's machine shook violently as the Zaku repeated this many times. Eventually, it just grabbed the shield, pulling it off its connector. With no way to protect himself, Albert only had one option, he fired the remaining vulcan gun rounds into the chest of the Zaku. Its arms stopped moving as it fell on top of the GM. "Dammit. Can't move at all now." He thought as his cockpit opened. He pointed his pistol above him, only to see a 60mm sized hole through the torso of the pilot. Blood began to drip on Albert's head. He noticed that the seatbelt was the only thing preventing the corpse from falling on top of him. "Commander!" He heard Ryder through the comms.

"I lost the Zaku. Are you ok?" Ryder called out. "I'm fine. Took care of my Zaku, but my GM's not gonna move." Said Albert, who was bleeding from the attack. "Go after their leader. Don't worry about the other one." Ryder became worried. "But I only got my beam saber left. I'm a sniper. You know a can't-" "THAT'S AN ORDER, ENSIGN! GO!" Ryder left for the main battle, worried that it might be his last.

Far from their location was Yuri's Zaku. It was riddled with bullets. Both hands were blown off as some of the bullets took off them. However, it could still walk as it made its way to a damaged Dom Tropen. It was trying to connect its own leg back, though it didn't seem to be possible. The two communicated with each other, then with the commander. In their condition, they were probably telling her they'd be taking another way to the rendezvous point, hoping she'd be able to do the same...

[Erin Rockwell]

Albert finished transmitting, and the voice of a young woman would reach for his ears. The woman who had just been shot through the chest by a 60mm round was rapidly bleeding out, and losing consciousness. But she was still alive, and with her last breath, she had drawn her own sidearm, a standard issue Naban Type 62, before surprising her killer with her last words, staring down the sights of the Zeon pistol, ready to shoot it at the Titans commanding officer that had mistaken her for a corpse too soon. “You’re a fool… it might be a lost one, but at least we follow… urgh! We… we follow…”, she managed to utter, holding back the extreme pain she was going through, but as she tried to finish the sentence and pull the trigger, she realized it was too late. Her strength was not enough anymore for any of the two, and so Sara Levchenko ceased to live, dropping her bloodied gun right on Albert's face, hitting him in the nose and making it bleed. Now Albert sat in his cockpit, awaiting rescue, and reflecting on the purpose of it all while death looked him straight in the eye, as it hung above him and dirtied him with the blood of those whom he had killed.

The smoke cloud had begun to dissipate, and Erin kept battling against the dark blue Mobile Suit. She had managed to anger it beyond recognition: a minute earlier, its pilot treated the fight like a game. Now he was shouting at her, telling her to shut up, that she knew nothing. “I know nothing? Oh, boy. We had to try to drop an entire colony in Jaburo just to demonstrate how badly you had mistreated us. Then your beloved Federation chose to preserve itself at the cost of a whole chunk of Australia, with all the deaths that implied. Shameful, cowardly and pathetic.” Her Gouf spun over its right leg like a dancer, nimbly dodging the particle blade and positioning the Quel to its left, before grabbing its arm in a similar manner to Levchenko, with a lot more of success due to the strength difference between the Gouf's arms and the Quel's. However, she didn't count with her words enraging the pilot any further, making him drop the beam saber out of its left hand and grabbing it with the right for another hard-hitting strike. All she could do was to quickly raise her left arm to put it in the path of the blade, which upon contact with the magazine of her arm gatlings made it explode, shattering the transparent visor that had been put in front of the monoeye and leaving most of the left arm of the mobile suit in ruins, as its pilot made it pull back to recover, while the Quel put the breather to good use. “Now you've done it! I am gonna. Mess. You. Up!”, she exclaimed, hell-bent on dragging on the battle, but an incoming transmission interrupted what would have been further unnecessary bloodshed. It was Yuri, from the safety of the infinite forest.

“Retreat, Commander! The sniper is coming for you, it's now or never!”, he yelled at the radio, before Erin replied back, seemingly intending to hold back the dark navy Mobile Suits for them to run away. “The show must go on! You've still got a shuttle to catch, so run away and don't waste those lives of yours!”. Lyle turned on his mic and joined the discussion, attempting to make her come to her senses, and knowing her better than Yuri, he had more luck. “You've got a shuttle to catch too! Don't throw away your life on being a distraction! You also promised Dominic to put it to good use, so come back and walk us to the stupid shuttle, will ya?!” Lyle struck a sensitive chord on her, and she reluctantly considered clinging on to her life. There wasn't much time, for the Quel was preparing to charge at her with the beam saber again, and the Sniper II wasn't that much far from them now. Finally, she made up her mind, and prepared for the GM's attack. “Aaaarrrgh! I can't believe I'm doing this!”.

The Quel fired up its thrusters at her Gouf, stopping at a close distance by burying its foot on the dirt, swiping to its right again with the beam saber in both hands. As it pulled out the exact same maneuver than seconds before, Erin knew where to strike, and made the Gouf pull its right arm backwards beforehand. Then, before the blade could reach her, she made a throw forward, and the Quel pilot would only know too late that she had unleashed the Gouf's infamous heat rod, when a long, red-hot rope came down upon his Mobile Suit with the throwing motion. Like a lightning, it struck down the Quel, first slashing the left arm's joint, then a piece of the torso, missing the cockpit by a few centimeters. It then went on to melt the left leg’s first stretch, then finally the right knee. Losing three of its limbs at the same time, the Quel hit the floor hard, trying to land on its missing feet and crushing what was left of the right leg under its weight as a result. As quickly as it made its attack, the Gouf retracted the heat rod into the right arm, and gave the Quel a good view of its back, as it bent its knees, preparing to thrust into the forest. Before it did so, it gave the Quel's pilot a last word.

“I’m sorry. I held back.”

And so the Gouf flew away. The Quel used its sole remaining arm to lift the Mobile Suit and fire its vulcans at it, futilely. The Sniper fired its bullpup in a burst at it too, but it was too far to get a reliable shot by the time it was finished aiming, so the three bullets were wasted, flying at the lowering sun. The battle was over. The operational debut of their team, the Titans defeated seven Mobile Suits, but three of them ran away, and the fact that they were all together on that cursed forest meant going after them alone in the GM Sniper was too risky despite the deplorable condition they were in. Ryder had to let go of them, regardless of whether anybody at the base felt he had taken the right decision or was just being cowardly.

Edited May 22, 2019 by Replicator

[Ryder Sarka]

Ryder ran to help out his fellow Ensign, but he was too late. The only machine left was a mangled GM Quel, with no Gouf custom in sight. "DAMMIT!" He yelled out. He knew that their leader would join up with the other two functional suits. It was unlikely that they'd find them now. Ryder turned off his beam saber and put it up in its slot, noticing movement at the bottom right side of his screen. It was Dustin, bleeding out on his own pilot seat... "Uh... Commander? We're gonna need a medic."

A few hours later, Ryder sat in the hangar bay, looking at the mess of mobile suits inside. Two other pilots sat by him, saying nothing to each other. Albert, who had a bandage on his nose, looked at the other one. It was the surviving GM Kai pilot, who's headless mobile suit had fallen off a ridge, missing the battle. His poor skills as a pilot ended up saving his life. As for Dustin, he was being treated in the Medea's medbay. Last time Ryder saw him, the injured Lieutenant Junior Grade was mumbling something about Gabriel to the Commander. Speaking of, Ryder hadn't seen Gabe since they all got on the ship. He thought that maybe the other Ensign wasn't taking his loss very well.

However, the silence had gone on for too long and Ryder tried to lighten things. "You know, seven out of ten isn't that bad." He joked. Albert glared directly at him. "Ten out of ten is what we strive for. The Titans are only satisfied if every Zeon is dead." The Commander stood up. "Through you just reminded me of our little friend in the cell. Come with me." Ryder and the other soldier. "Not you." exclaimed Albert. "This is Titan business." The two walked to the brig. "What about Gabe?" Ryder asked. The older Titan frowned. "Gabe... did something on the battlefield. I'm gonna have a talk with him later." They opened the cell door to find a Zeon Remnant Soldier cuffed to a chair, bleeding. It was one of the Zaku pilots, who Ryder had incapacitated once trees had fallen on his mobile suit. 

"Watch and learn." said Albert as the walked toward their prisoner. "This is how the Titans conduct business." Albert tried to make eye contact with the soldier but to no avail. "Tell me where your friends are headed." The soldier looked up at him, spitting blood in the Commander's face. "The other ones tried. You're getting nothing out of me." He uttered. Albert responded by pulling out his pistol, smacking the Zeon prisoner in his face. "TELL ME!" He yelled as blood dripped down his enemy's face. Ryder was shocked. Albert was harsh, but he didn't expect him to torture the prisoner. He thought that maybe something happened on the battlefield.

The soldier grinned, looking back up at Albert. "Sieg... Zeon..." Albert scowled, turning away. "We're done here." He said to Ryder. Just as he walked to the door, he turned around, putting a 9mm sized hole in the Zeon soldiers head. 

[Hunter]

“Damn it! Damn it Damn it!” Gabriel screamed, his voice hoarse from emotions. He futility clicked the trigger on the Vulcan controls trying to shoot the cursed woman down. He had long run out of bullets, he couldn’t even see the enemy anymore but still he clicked the trigger.

***

People were mad at him, that was to be expected. The glares Dustin gave him hardly seemed worth the effort to return however as Gabriel blankly left the medical bay and headed back to the hangars. He leaned against the railing staring glumly at his wrecked Quel. There in the near darkness of the hangar his thoughts tortured him, why couldn’t he shoot down that cursed GOUF? His eyes repeatedly traced the edges of the damage, replaying all of the events. It wasn’t the Quel that failed him, it was himself. So engrossed in his thoughts he didn’t hear Albert approach or call out to him. It wasn’t until the man roughly grabbed his tunic to make him face each other did Gabriel snap out of his trance.

“I want you to explain yourself.” Albert hissed angrily at the Ensign. There was the unmistakable glimmer in the officer’s eye, the intent to kill. Gabriel instantly knew that his leader was in a sour mood.

“Do ye even care…” Gabriel’s Aussie twang trailed off, and as the man crinkled his nose. Gabriel quickly added, “Do ye even care that we lost to those bloody basterds? Or do you care about all the evil they’ve done to this world?”

Albert was taken back by the philosophical question before grinding his teeth, “what I care about …. ensign… is you destroying not one but two Quels!”

“And how many zeeks did you kill today sir? On the battlefield and not tied to a chair?” Again his twang trailed in the air and his eyes seemed glazed over. Albert was about to say something when Gabriel cut him off. “Do what you’re gunna do... as far as I’m concerned I was denying the enemy sensitive technology they were intending to steal. You saw them carrying Dustin’s unit, he should have been more dedicated and self destructed... But let me make this clear sir….” his gaze finally focused on Albert whose face was red with rage. “I don’t care what happens to me, so long as I get to kill more zeeks.” And the glare Gabriel returned to his commander was enough to give even the enraged Albert pause. The look on the ensign’s face was one of sheer hatred and intent, it spoke volumes about Gabriel’s will.

Albert's fist flew into Gabriel’s face, reacting, more than anything else. The commander looked at the fallen ensign and spat out in a fit, “damn insubordinate little…” He muttered as he marched away clearly disgusted, if not a little on edge from the chat with Gabriel.

The ensign brought himself back to his feet only to resume his vigil over his fallen suit. He spat out a mouthful of blood and cleared his throat, “we’ll get ‘er…” he promised his broken machine.

[Erin Rockwell]

One Week Later

"From the hands of the 101th Mobile Suit Team of the Zeon Earth Assault Force's South African branch: Take as much time as you want, but don't let it be because of us. The ten of us have signed this piece of paper as our will to sacrifice ourselves, with the intention to buy this convoy a strong head start. Make use of it and let them reach Axis. Give them their home, and they'll give the Feds their war."

The entirety of Port Elizabeth in South Africa stared at the abyss of a clear night sky. An airfield in the outskirts of the city had opened the doors to the biggest hangar, one that was surprisingly big enough for a Gaw attack carrier. While this happened, sentries watched out for anything that looked even remotely like the glow of a GM's composite visor. The silhouette of a man leaned against a railing at the top of the abandoned control tower, glancing briefly at the hangar where the engineers quietly tried to get the main engine to work again (after a failed launch days prior), then lifting his gaze at the skyline of the thriving metropolis. His hands grasped the handle of a nearby ice container to open the door, taking out a beer can to quench the thirst and placate the heat. Condensation formed in the outer walls of the tin cylinder upon contact with the air. A nearby lamp post ocassionally flickered on and washed him in a warm, faint light, only to abandon him a few moments later. It had been a long day, and it would be a long night. Time seemed to be endless after the Axis officer read that letter he had handed him out loud. Erin had told him that it was a secret meant for the officer, that he or anybody else were never to even glance at it. Now, he knew why. He wouldn’t have left if she were ever to tell him.

The woman behind him, of whose presence he was unaware, had been through a lot more. After the battle that ended with the lives of all but two of her team members a week ago, their struggle to live another day was all but lost. However, it didn’t turn into much of a disruption for her plans. Leading the Titans away, they would be sure to be too focused in her team for any kind of attempt at investigating the ruins and finding out about the convoy that was en route to Port Elizabeth. After all, ten pilots weren't much when compared to the whole group of Mobile Suit mechanics, workers and soldiers that would reach Axis. They weren't expecting a battle that early, hoping to gain a head start and lead them further, but the two Zeonics and the Zimmad that had come out of that mess were still enough to keep pushing. Enough to keep moving forward. Enough to eat a few more rounds. And so the three carried on, to what they thought would be their bitter end.

Not everything had been lost, however.

Two days of constant watch later, Lady Luck smiled upon their perseverance one more time, and had them find a remote village where scarce remnants of the ZEAF had gone into hiding after their base was retaken by the Federation. Scared and tired, the vast majority decided to forgive but not forget, carrying on with a calm rural life and a low profile. Five of them did not forgive either, though, secretly mantaining their Mobile Suits, their uniforms and small arms as best as they could, all of it for the day when the Principality would come back for them. Taking some rest at the local inn, she told them about the convoy that was making its way to Port Elizabeth, and so they agreed to repair her Mobile Suits and join her, with the condition that she tried to take them there. The Gouf Custom and Dom Tropen got up better next morning, while the Zaku’s legs were deemed a lost cause after they never turned on again, and replaced with a Magella Attack’s tracks to be given as a Zaku Tank to the greenest of the bunch. They started marching towards Elizabeth, the three of them plus a blue Zogok and a captured GM that had been painted in green camouflage. Yuri kept travelling by her side, but Lyle decided to stay in the village and help them heal their sick, being as their medic had been lost months ago in an unfortunate, violent robbery, and few of them actually risked a walk into the city. In exchange, the Tropen would be given to the leader of the local squad for him to pilot. Erin knew Lyle’s decision wasn’t all about helping the villagers, but also a result of his doubts after Raphael’s death. She would miss him, but she let him stay, as it would be for the best. No point trying to force somebody to fight when motivated pilots were available, and while his skills as a medic weren’t stellar, they were better than nothing at all.

Now, Erin was back. The last week had been nothing if not terrifying. Every corner, every bush, every moving object could be a potential sign of a terrible death to come. Every step was a miracle. But that would be no more. She was safe and sound, and ready to go back to her life of eternal grudges and jingoism. Go ahead. You can say it now, you magnificent bastard. Happy to be there again, she let out a smirk and grabbed a beer can too, leaning against the railing, then looking into his astonished eyes. "I'm home..."

[Ryder Sarka]

A large waterfall was crashing down onto the rocks below, keeping a large pond filled. Ryder Sarka sat near this lake during his break from his duties at Jaburo. It had been a week since the skirmish with the Zeon Remnants, and things had changed since then. The Commander had received new orders from the higher-ups. The four were to leave for space once Dustin had healed. The Ensign knew little about the assignment, only that they would be apart of a larger division. He hoped that it was a special unit, but only time would tell.

As for the Zeon survivors, no search parties ever found them. Ryder assumed they had made it to their destination. He hoped that his next mission would go differently. The Titan picked up a small stone, tossing it across the water. It began to sink as it hit it. "I was never good at skipping stones." Ryder thought to himself. Ryder had been doing a lot of thinking lately. The Titans were something completely different to him, and part of him wished that he'd never joined. He knew it had to be done though. Ryder needed closure for Len's death, and the only way to do that would be through the specialized Zeon killers.

He got up and began walking back toward the base. It wouldn't be long before he'd be leaving and going back to space. That got Ryder excited. Not only would it be a change of scenery, since it'd been years since he'd gone back up, but it would be a new chapter in his life as a Titan. he wouldn't allow himself to lose again. This time, thing's would be difference. Ryder Sarka wouldn't allow anything but the best of his abilities in order to become a star in the Titans...

FIN