Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

The last RPG was "Zeta Gundam: Tales from the Frontlines - The AEUG" which ran from 2006-14.
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

[OOC: COLLABORATION, GOOOOOO]

- Gate of Zedan, P Field -

A certain three blue mobile suits emerged from the void between Echo and the group of vessels evacuating behind the Dogosse Gier. They swept down 'below' the ships that made up Taskforce Echo, their bright thruster flares streaming out behind them as they scanned the clumsy dogfight going on above. As usual Dolk remained silent, his ears and mind filled with the music pumping from the speakers behind his head as he ignored hails from the fleet. His computer identified several points of interest, highlighting Pan's Rick Dias and the fight around it in several zoomed-in popup windows. "Sir," Dokken said, her voice transmitted directly to his ears through his helmet - he frowned slightly at the interruption - "It looks like that pink mobile suit is causing trouble. Maybe it's a female pilot from the Argama that strayed out too far?" she assessed the situation.

Instead of replying, Dolk turned in his seat and took in the view of Axis, causing his eyebrows to raise up behind his sunglasses. "Right next door to hell..." he said, looking back to the Gate of Zedan, "Feels like the walls are closing in on me,". Krokus appeared in his HUD, looking irritated. "Lieutenant, you're the one that wanted to come back here because you said you saw something. Are we going to engage her or what?" she asked. Dolk punched a button and dismissed her picture without saying a word. His suit broke formation and headed 'upwards' towards the fighting with a sharp vernier burst, and the pilots following him had to abruptly pull up and change direction to keep up. As Dolk approached Pan from behind, he got a better look at the gaudy pink and yellow paint job as Heyden continued to slap away the Ipswich and Kalinin units. When Heyden broke past Trevino and headed closer to the Kirov, Dolk decided it was worth stepping in. Test machines need test data, after all.

He smirked slightly as he mentally compared his own test unit's bright royal blue paint to her shiny pink and yellow colors. "Here I am, and you're a rocket queen. I might be too much, but honey you're a bit obscene," he commented as he readied his Griffin's sea serpent and waited for the computer to switch weapons controls. His hands drifted across the control panel in front of him, switching music tracks and bringing back the video connection to Dokken and Krokus. Both pilots caught up to the lead Griffin and brought out their deadly sea serpents again, ready to fry another MS and pilot like they had done to Clute Tideland. "Ready sir," Krokus piped up, and her confirmation as echoed by Dokken. "I sense a smell of retribution in the air..." Dolk said, his suit's free manipulator changing back to the familiar "devil horns" gesture as he gave the hand signal to attempt another 'draw and quarter' attack. The two girls nodded crisply and the windows in his HUD closed as they broke formation and rushed forward to flank Pan on both sides.

"I thought those things only came in red." Pan mumbled as the darkness of space was suddenly filled with distant beam fire. These odd suits looked like Marasais, but they were moving a lot faster. It didn't matter much to Pan though, he was curious. He continued on his reckless and dangerous charge prepared to meet them head on. Pan was still putting distance between himself and the bumbling Echo pilots when Krokus caught up to him first. “Game over, honey,” she taunted, lashing out with her sea serpent. The thin wire extended out in the space between them pulled behind the angry orange hook at the front of the weapon. She grinned as the wire wrapped around the arm of Pan's suit, snagging itself on the Rick Dias' elbow armor. Heyden was surprised by the machine's speed, but the one pilot was over anxious. The blue machine struck him with a weapon he had never seen before. He didn't think about what it was or what it could do to him as he aggressively rolled twisting the sea serpent from the Griffin's grasp. "Try that again! I dare you!" He said punctuating his sentence with one of his few remaining shots.

Krokus cursed as the weapon was jerked free from the Griffin's hand before she could begin pumping her target full of deadly electricity. She had gotten to Pan too early, ruining the three-way attack. Dokken and Dolk were momentarily on their own as Pan's beam pistol shot passed close enough to her suit's head to fill her monitors' forward view with a disorienting flash, and she fell out of position to avoid a follow-up while she changed weapons. The lieutenant's suit rushed past her to fill the gap, and she stammered, "I-I'm sorry, sir. I came at her too fast,". Dolk's rebuke crackled in her ears, "I don't even wanna hear your story. Back off,". As she powered up one of the suit's beam sabers, she watched as her teammates descended on Pan. Dokken's sea serpent shot out first, trying to wrap around and entangle the Rick Dias' right arm and torso. Dolk anticipated trouble after watching what happened to Krokus, and he paused to see if Dokken could subdue the enemy for a moment. He decided he might have to just kill her off.

Pan swore under his breath as his shot missed, and he had the two other suits on his in his face - and probably every other goddamn Titan closing in on his ass. Another thin wire shot out towards him. This time he narrowly avoided it by descending slightly and rising with a strong beam saber slash bisecting the wire in two. "Think I'm gonna fall for that? Blow me!" He growled putting one of his few remaining shots in between him and Dokken. The female test pilot was jerked forward as the serpent's wire was suddenly cut and lost tension, and the electricity that began to run down it hit the cut edge and shorted out the weapon making it useless. She tossed it aside and pressed her feet down on the control pedals, sending the Griffin zipping upwards at full acceleration as a desperation move to avoid the beam pistol shot. Now she was in the same situation as Krokus - only beam sabers to defend herself with.

Dolk had flitted around behind Pan and waited for that moment to strike. "Got you," he muttered, extending the sea serpent at the back of the pink MS. The orange, hooked head at the end of the wire clanged off one of the binders and ended up making the filament thoroughly wrap around the enemy suit's head and tangle up on the backpack and binder mount. "You've been - thunderstruck!" he yelled, slamming the weapon control up to full power. A dangerous amount of electricity arced down the wire, almost overloading the sea serpent as it jumped through space onto and into the Rick Dias. The entire head and torso lit up with flashes of blue as the deadly energy worked its way across the suit. Pan smirked as the wire clung to him. He didn't know what was about to happen to him. He didn't care. With a guttural growl he twisted his Rick Dias 180 degrees and emptied his beam pistol at the closest object. Then it did happen - the strange weapon started to pump the Rick Dias and Pan himself with electricity. He managed to catch a glimpse of the unlit cigarette resting in his lips light itself. Pan couldn't help but think what a beautiful weapon this was. To be cooked alive, a fitting death for a murderer like him. Sparks erupted through the cockpit. And like a light switch Heyden was gone.

Dolk was impressed that his target managed to not only force his suit to turn around, but also fire its weapon before it succumbed to the sea serpent. He used as little movement as possible to avoid the snap shots to keep from breaking the serpent's connection. With the high power consumption it was using, it would be dangerous to go into high speed acrobatics. Once the AEUG suit stopped moving and its monoeye was no longer glowing, Dolk tentatively moved closer and disengaged the sea serpent. It reeled in and snapped into place, and when he was next to the enemy MS, he reached out and smacked it with a manipulator. When nothing happened, he put the serpent away and grabbed Pan's suit with both arms and began hauling it in the direction of the Kirov. Might as well give them a present before he recalled his team and left the area.
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Outside the Gate of Zedan’s P Field -

- The Kirov -
- Bridge -

Trent couldn’t believe their luck. The running battle that developed above Taskforce Echo was abruptly ended when the strange new MS mentioned by Nick arrived and almost effortlessly put down the Rick Dias that had been causing them so much worry. On top of that unexpected blessing, the fleet had managed to maintain full acceleration for the duration of the panic and they were already at the edge of P Field. The space behind them was currently being pumped full of mega particles by the AEUG fleet, and woe betide any Titans caught near the Gate. As this point of the battle it was like the AEUG was playing a game, smacking back any enemy forces daring to try and escape the area.

Their timely exit had to be luck, Trent decided. The rebels had cooked up a hell of a plan this time, and his own tactical acumen had little to do with Echo surviving it. An outside observer might disagree. Trent thought about the effects of Minovsky particles and the fleets’ positioning, and decided this meeting with Abbey was a push. Then again, some of the dead pilots might have a different point of view. Something told him he would have another crack at the 4th Squadron before the war was over. The Kirov and Kalinin were just starting to make wide turns to join the tail end of a loose formation of ships leaving the area when the pink AEUG mobile suit was handed over by the unfamiliar test units. “Dispatch a security team to the hangar. Capture the pilot if she’s alive,” Trent ordered, just to be safe.

“Not likely, sir,“ Fyodor commented as he sent the order. The captain had seen the brutal methods the Griffins had used on the suit just like everyone else on the bridge, but he had to be prepared if that pilot had somehow survived. The order was carried out, and Trent began to wonder how the capture of one of the enemy’s suits would change things. “Sir, the Buxoro has left P Field. We’re still in danger, but the computer model predicts 57% less debris will pass through this area,” Mortimer called out from the helm. Multiple Titans vessels were now clearly visible in front of the Kirov, including the large red blob he knew to be the Dogosse Gier. All of them were headed in the same direction now - away, and fast. A severe buzz followed by warning beeps called everyone’s attention upwards, and Trent watched as the countdown clock hit 1 minute. So it looked like they were going to escape by the skin of their teeth.

Another minute or so of delay would have seen them still inside P Field when Axis struck, directly in the path of an appalling amount of rocks and debris. The look Chief Kellman gave him reminded him that things were still going to be rough. Trent double checked the seals on his normal suit and then ordered, “All crew, brace for impact. Everyone prepare for emergency conditions. Damage control teams stand by,”. A chorus of affirmatives came back at him, and the lights on the bridge went red as the timer ran under 30 seconds.

He glanced at a video feed of the hangar, and saw that the crew had anticipated the orders. Most of the tools and other potential debris had been cleared and secured from work areas, and the mechanics and deck crew had retreated to the safer rooms off of the hangar. Similar orders were surely circulating on the other ships. The only thing to do now was hold on. If they could survive the next two minutes, they would probably make a clean getaway.

- Hangar -

“Leave it,” Stukov bellowed, beckoning for the mechanic rooting in his Marasai’s cockpit. He had removed his helmet to cool off and take a quick drink before launching to help subdue Pan, but the Griffins had put an end to that adventure before it even started. When the collision alarms started to go off in the hangar he had bailed from his MS without a second thought sans helmet to help the crew get to the safe rooms. The girl relented, leaving the suit and closing the hatch to head for the catwalk Stukov was waiting on. He reached out and pulled her into the room and then shut the door behind her. “I’m the only fool here who needs to be in danger, Любимая,” he rumbled, patting her on the shoulder. Somewhere behind him Wolf Ritter humphed condescendingly.

Stukov turned around and found Ritter leaning against the wall in the corner, his lapdog Haksson not too far away. “Did I amuse you, boy?” Stukov asked in Russian, his voice icy cold. Wolf’s patronizing expression changed and his brow furrowed. “You’re suddenly playing nice with the peons. You scared of dying?” Wolf shot back, folding his arms. Stukov drew himself up to his full height and rested his hands on his hips. “You’re lucky your pet there can’t understand you,” he said jutting his chin in Sven’s direction, “Besides, we’re allowed to treat our comrades with some respect, Ritter. Though I’ve heard you’re more prone to kill them,”. Wolf’s hands balled into fists. “You watch yourself,” Wolf said, falling back into English. The other nervous crew stuck in the room with the two men were relieved when the alarms picked up in intensity and prevented things from getting more heated.

- The Ipswich -
- Hangar -

“You big dumb bastard, you took your sweet time landing! We barely got in here in time,” Ens. Bostwick growled. He landed on the catwalk next to the confused giant and pushed him, sending them both backwards into the railing. “Give him a break,” Baden said, intervening as Miller got up rubbing his arm and doing a zero-g potty dance, “This is the, uh, ’special’ pilot from the Kirov. Remember?”. Bostwick blew them both off in a huff and headed for their locker area. “Mister…” Patrick said, waving for Baden’s attention, “Where’s your bathroom? I can go back to tha Kirov after I get done,”. The ensign pointed down the hallway and gave the big man directions. “You might want to stick around for a little while, uh… sir. Things may be rough outside and you don’t want to launch right into a rock,” Baden advised as he turned to follow Bostwick. “Rocks?” Patrick said breaking into a childish smile, “This is space, silly,”.
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Outside the Gate of Zedan’s P Field -

- The Dervish -
- Bridge -

“Keep firing,” Capt. Abbey ordered, “New contact coming from low in S Field,”. A transport that had waited far too long to exit the Gate of Zedan was raked with beam fire when it tried to escape across P Field and it exploded, slowing down another two ships behind it. “That one’s a Sally K,” Jungst said, identifying the newest ship to pop out of the asteroid base. Filmore added a hollow chuckle and commented, “Too bad for them. 10 points,”. “Destroy it first if our guns can reach it,” Abbey commanded, “And prepare to withdraw from the battlefield,”. Wade began to prepare the Dervish to fall back without losing the ability to use all of her forward guns. “Wade, do we need to back off any faster to avoid the fragments that’ll come off that thing when it hits?” the captain asked, gesturing to the bridge windows.

Wilson shook his head as the Dervish began to move away from the Gate of Zedan. “No, sir. We should be fine here. Sim data came from the Radish and our own systems - the crap slung off Axis when it hits shouldn’t get this far out until we’re leaving the area,” he responded. “Let’s hope so,” the captain muttered, leaning back in his seat. Another ship in the field was thumped with discouraging fire and slowed down, leaving it dangerously close to the asteroid. Far to the fleet’s port side, outside of S Field, the Argama was beginning to glide back and away from its firing position. A handful of other AEUG ships were quick to follow. Abbey looked over to Filmore, who had gone back to his work with Jane.

A tablet sat on the station in front of him, and he was writing down the beginnings of a damage and casualty assessment. ‘Lt. Richard Barrique’ would probably be near the top - this job would normally have been his. He was still in disbelief over that loss, and hadn’t yet fully reacted to the news. The captain sighed as he mentally ran a tally in his head. Clute Tideland was confirmed dead, as was Jim MacAlpin. Pan Heyden had shot Rich and then deserted and was God knows where. They still couldn’t account for Burke, who was temporarily listed as MIA. Ian Greydon had lost a leg and his career as a combat pilot was likely over. And that was just the Dervish. He knew Capt. Guanche had lost pilots, and was still waiting for reports to come in from the other ships. “I hope this was worth it,” he said quietly, shaking his head. He would mourn later with the rest of the crew.

- Hangar -

The MS berths next to Jacob Markado’s were now occupied by Celeste and Clute’s Rick Diases. After coming back to the ship with less than 15 seconds to spare before the final barrage, Angelina had turned Clute’s MS over to the mechanics and then locked herself in her cockpit. Sager approached the men gathered at the hatch and dismissed several of them so he could get to the controls. Before doing anything else, he knocked on the hatch with a ratchet and asked calmly, “Celeste? Celeste, are you okay?”. He waited several seconds, and when no answer came he added, “We’ll leave you alone for a while if that’s what you want. But if you’re hurt we need to get you some help,”. “I brought him back,” she said weakly, her voice piped through a speaker on her MS.

Sager looked at the other men still assembled on the Dias’ shoulder and they shrugged at the statement, just as confused as him. Then he noticed she moved the suit’s arms forward to offer the mangled escape pod. “IDELAN” was readable on one of the less-crushed areas of the pod. “Oh, man…” Sager said, feeling a little nauseous. He turned back to the hatch and knocked lightly before saying, “Okay. We’ll take care of him. You can come out when you’re ready,”. The chief nodded to the men with him and gestured to the equipment on the catwalk at the suit’s waist level. “Let’s get Lt. Tideland down, guys. Take it easy…”.

Rem and Sophie watched the groups working on Team 3’s suits from a nearby catwalk. Banner shook his head and said, "I busted my arm once, cutting a pilot out of a test rig. Nasty business, that one. Docs had me in a cast for 3 months. 3 months! Ugh, talk about a drag on soldering...". He zoned out just long enough to be noticeable. "Maybe we can get you in the simulator first, that should be low-G-impact on the arm,” he suggested, suddenly coming back to the present. Sophie laughed and said, “I think we need to get you into a bed,”. Then she blushed and quickly added, “I’ve heard you can die from sleep deprivation,”.

- Ready Room 3 -

“Jesus…” Fritz muttered. He let his helmet float away and it lazily bounced off of Clute’s locker as he unzipped the top of his normal suit and pulled it down to the waist, letting it hang loosely behind him. To say he was tired, frustrated and hot would be a grand understatement. It felt like his undershirt was sticking to his body from the sweat that had poured out of him during the battle. The ready room was quiet. Michiko was clinging to the far wall, resting her head on it with her back turned to him as she tried to calm down. “So this is it,” Fritz thought, “Here is Team 1,”. There was no reason Jim had to die. Fritz rested against the bank of lockers and ran a hand through his hair. There was no reason Rich had to die. There was no reason Pan had to run off to get himself killed. “Why does anyone have to die for this bullshit?”. The War ended over eight years ago, and now the Federation was busy at work killing itself from the inside.

Screw the Titans and the Federation. None of this had to happen. Jim shouldn’t be dead,”. Fritz’ hand trembled as it rested against his forehead. “Vaughnz shouldn’t be dead,”. He squeezed his eyes shut and tilted his head back against the lockers. “Michiko‘s family and friends shouldn‘t be dead,”. He could feel himself getting misty eyed and shut his eyes harder to hold it back. “Roy shouldn’t be dead,”. “Damn it,” he muttered, his jaw trembling. “Damn it!”. He turned around and punched the locker as hard as he could. The thin metal dented inward, and Fritz felt a sharp pain in his left hand. He leaned on his forearm against the wall and clenched his hurt hand into a fist again, feeling the tender spot radiating out from the knuckles. He floated away from the wall slightly before pulling himself back to it. Irritated at the inactive gravity block he yelled, “I can’t even fucking sit down,” striking the locker again. He had to take it out on something.

Behind him, Michiko floated in near-silence as she willed her tears to dry up. Everything had gone so wrong. There was so much she wanted to say and do… but she had looked so weak again when it mattered. And now Jim was gone. And Pan. The team was torn in half in a matter of minutes, and she knew she would never see them again. But she had to stop thinking about that unless she wanted to make herself cry again. Not this time. She hugged herself, and realized again how hot she still was in her normal suit even without the thick fabric of the shirt she usually wore underneath. She figured leaving it behind would do the trick, but it hadn’t worked, and leaving the Rick Dias hadn’t done enough to cool her off either. She wondered if it was in her head. Maybe it was stress. Nerves. But no, that wasn’t it. She had prepared for this, though - the heat and otherwise. She unzipped the front of her normal suit to get some air while she talked herself up.
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Leaving Gate of Zedan Space -

- The Bindra -
- Bridge -

“What?!” Capt. Wald blurted when he was informed of the crash(es) in the hangar. “Sir, there has been an accident in--” the soldier began to repeat, but Pizal interrupted him by waving his hand in his face. “I heard you the first time! That ‘what’ was in surprise! It was rhetorical!” he admonished, turning red in the face. He spun around and pointed at Vada, demanding, “Find out who is responsible!”. He couldn’t believe there was a multi-Gaza pileup on their first combat mission that didn’t involve PO Brouillé. Whoever was at fault, it would be their career. He would make sure of it. At the least it would make him feel better since he couldn’t deal with Julian Meighan just yet.

“Make sure the ship isn’t in danger, and get the rest of Graden’s team landed,” he ordered through clenched teeth, “I want to start plotting our course for Lagrange Point 3 some time this week,”. He turned to the bridge windows to watch Axis and ordered, “I don’t want anyone to interrupt this. Don’t come to me with this petty nonsense unless the ship is on fire!”. He would be sure to leave most of this out of his report. A nice recording of the collision and a clear victory over a group of Titan thugs with only minor damage might just be enough for a commendation. Maybe he’d get to meet the princess again. Raquel’s reaction managed to calm him down, though, and he settled in to watch the show.
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- The Kirov -
- Bridge -

“3... 2... 1...”

Trent’s grip tightened on his chair’s armrests as Mortimer made the countdown, and then… “Impact!”

For a few seconds, it wasn’t apparent anything had happened unless one looked at the viewscreens above the bridge windows. Luckily for the Kirov and most of Echo, the monumental collision between two massive celestial objects happened a fair distance behind them; it took a few tense moments for the rapidly expanding debris field and shockwave to reach their position. “Hold on!” Trent grunted as a horrible shudder ran through the deck. A large chunk of asteroid flew heart-stoppingly close to the bridge, causing the crew to gasp in shock and fear. It was followed by several other smaller pieces that streamed past and between the ships.

One of the Salamis Kais up ahead of them was clipped by a craggy rock, causing its aft section to expand into a fireball that consumed the entire ship. It was followed by another ship, a small transport that was obliterated by a flying rock. “Sir, this is bad…!” Mortimer yelled, fighting to keep the Kirov on course at full speed without ramming into debris or one of the sinking ships. “The guns!” Trent bellowed, “Use the guns to protect the ship!”. “Y-Yes sir!” Gojiro answered, sending the order to open fire to the gunnery crews. The smaller turrets began to swivel and track debris that strayed too close, blasting it to bits before it could hit the ship. But there was too much debris coming, and a piece of Zedan slammed into the bow of the Kirov. Trent was nearly thrown from his seat at the jolt, and alarms began to go off immediately.

“It’s the tip of the launch deck,” Kellman called out, holding onto his station to stay in his seat, “We got lucky,”. Trent ordered quickly, “Start damage control ASAP - seal the damaged part of the bow,”. He looked to the view behind the ship of Echo’s other vessels stretched out behind the flagship. “If you can maintain contact, tell them to stay at full speed. We have to clear the a…” he began to issue a command, but his voice caught in his throat as he watched the Ipswich get nailed amidships by a piece of asteroid that was nearly a quarter the length of the whole ship. The Salamis Kai’s entire frame buckled with the blow, and it bent to an obtuse angle before exploding from the strain.

“Oh God…!” Trent choked as another rumble passed through the ship. “SIR!” Gojiro yelled for his attention, “The Ipswich… it--”. “I know. I saw it,” Trent said, suddenly sick to his stomach. Ronald Sullivan, a man he considered his friend, and every man and woman on that cruiser was dead in the blink of an eye. “Get us out of here,” he demanded, “I want us clear of this debris now,”.

- The Dervish -
- Bridge -

A collective sound of awe came from the bridge crew, including Capt. Abbey as he leaned forward intently. The sheer magnitude of what they were witnessing was enough that none of them spoke. No one laughed, whistled or clapped as the leading point of Axis cleaved the Gate of Zedan in half, and the stunned hush continued as explosions began to radiate outward from the asteroids. It took a moment for Abbey to realize what he was seeing - dozens of mobile suits, transports, cruisers and battleships were being pulverized as the two objects produced a rapidly expanding debris field. He breathed out slowly. It had worked. The Anti-Earth Union Group had just blown the Gate of Zedan in half. And with any luck, the back of the Titan fleet was broken as well.

The first person to speak as the carnage before them unfolded was Filmore Hayes. Abbey was just close enough to hear him whisper “I love you Sasha… This is for you,”. He had read about Filmore’s sister who had been in 30 Bunch the day of the anti-Federation protests. Wade Wilson crossed himself silently at the helm, and then reached up behind his sunglasses to wipe something from his eye. Abbey looked out across P Field and tried to find the spot Echo had disappeared to, but it was difficult with all the light and movement. After a few seconds of futile searching, he reluctantly broke the group silence. “All ships, full withdrawal. Set course for lunar orbit.”

- Ready Room 3 -

Fritz heard the rustle of Michiko pushing away from the far wall, but didn’t turn around. How could he tell her to keep it together if he was barely hanging on himself? He lowered his head again and moved his hurt fingers to keep them from aching. Michiko softly placed her hand on Fritz’ left arm. “Fritz…” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. He began to turn around, apologizing “Michiko, I’m--”

She had floated up to better match her height to his, and moved closer to interrupt him with a soft, full kiss. As she pressed her slender frame against his chest, Fritz realized she was not wearing her normal tank top under her open normal suit. For a fleeting moment he kissed her back, and the second or two of intimate contact seemed to stretch out forever to Michiko before he put a hand up and gently pushed her away. “I… I can’t do this,” he said, his eyes dropping to the deck as he headed for the door, “I’m sorry,”. Michiko pulled the front of her normal suit closed, crestfallen and embarrassed, and nodded, her eyes similarly locked on the floor. “I understand,” she cheeped, her cheeks turning deep crimson. As Fritz stepped back into the hangar, trying to understand what had just happened while still dealing with the aftermath of the battle, the closing door cut off Michiko quietly saying, “I lo--”.


[OOC: Here is a video I edited together. The Ipswich is "on screen" at around 1:32.]
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Axis -
- Bindra Hanger -


After finally landing the Gaza-C Matthew exits the suit and looks around. "How's one supposed to land with all the ruckus and mess around?"

Pulling out some data cards from the exterior of the suit, Matthew looks up and spots the younger mechanic. " Hey you. Check the coils. Powering up the beam cannon took forever. Reaction time is totally pathetic on these things." After barking out his conclusions, Matthew turns to the exit, eagerly waiting on the results he'll find from the data. The more he can study the battle the better he'll be. And further prove his loyalty and advance the family name.


* * * * *


- Kirov -
- Ltjg. Jason Drossel -


Taking a seat, Jason was quite surprised that Grace had taken him up on his offer. Usually he would put up a false bravado when talking to women which would end up with a slap across the face. But this time he was just his regular quizzical self.
Meds must be hindering my play-Jason thought jokingly as he tried to sit back but freezes mid-motion upon attempting to lean back when a slight twinge on his left side reminded him that he's not one hundred percent. Thankfully Grace's voice erased all discomfort from his mind.

“So tell me, did you think I was someone else for a second? A lover perhaps?” she needled.

A quick flash of Sam entering her Barzam raced through Jason's mind, before replying with a sigh. "For a second, And no. Just someone who disappeared on me." Placing both elbows on the table, Jason rests his chin on his right palm and looks into Grace's eyes. "Kelborn....Kelborn.." He repeated in an amorous tone until his eyes lit up. "Oh! Your on Alpha Team. Stukov? right? I remember seeing your name on an old pilot's roster. Boy, you're lucky to be teamed up with a veteran like him." Jason's mood changes to one of seriousness. "My C.O. is a psychopath and I have reason to believe he's also a murderer. He goes off on his own and leaves us to fend for ourselves.....it's only a matter of time before my number's up."

Jason takes another look at Grace which livens up his spirits and returns his cheerful smile. "Well Kelborn. Should we dig in? Or I don't mind talking some more. I would like to know more about yourself."

“All crew, brace for impact. Everyone prepare for emergency conditions. Damage control teams stand by,” the over head speakers blared out.

Jason braces himself by clutching the edge of the table and instinctively grabbing the top part of Grace's arm in a protective manner. He lightens the mood with a humorous pun, never losing his smile. "This boat's gonna be a-rockin'..."
"War is some crazy sh**" - alexander the great
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The Loser Villain
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Bindra Team -

Opening the cockpit Nikolai peered out to see if it was safe to exit, and was promptly hit in the head with a wrench that had been floating around. Thankfully he still had his helmet on and was simply jolted, rather then injured. Grabbing the wrench on his way out of the cockpit he floated over to where Shellia and the other mechanic were taking shelter.

"Uh, I think this belongs to you," he said holding out the wrench. At this moment his voice didn't give away the anger he felt about how the AEUG seemed to be a group of backstabbing traitors, but his eyes were straining to contain giving away his emotions.

"I'm really sorry about the damage I caused to the Gaza and the deck. I'm sure Lt. Cmdr. Graden is gonna be all sorts of angry at us. And I'm supposed to be one of the more experienced at this... ugh, if I didn't loose that leg..."

----------------------

- Buxoro, Hanger -

Ens. Melton

“The reaper can’t be bargained with Tim, that’s just how it is. You can’t choose when but you can how you’ve lived up to that point.”

Tim was momentarily taken aback by his teammates fatalistic ideology and was left standing quietly as Tyler made his way out of the hangar.

Turning to say something, all he could blurt out was an: "Uh," before he realized he had nothing intelligent to respond with.

He didn't share Tyler's outlook at all. Nobody controlled the direction of his life but himself, there was no notebook with a date for him to die, no all seeing being in a cloud holding a lighting bolt at the ready to strike him down. And there certainly was no black robed specter with a scythe ready to carry him to the afterlife.

"Screw this," he mumbled as he made his way to the ready room slowly. He began to pick up speed as the alarms to brace for impact began to sound. Better to be out of the hangar where nothing would be flying around.

Lt. J.G. Faraday

“Yeah, you’re right, I guess he wasn’t one. The dumb bastard went out too far, and would have been cut off if we hadn’t found them. I’m just glad that we held off that second team so his subordinates could get out. No move a commander makes for pride or glory should ever be the reason for the death of his subordinates. If I ever make such a move that might get any of you killed unnecessarily, then you are to tell me so and displace my command.”

“Sir...” was all Aaron could stammer in reply at first before regaining his composure, “I, highly doubt you'd ever make such a mistake...” Seeing the seriousness in Elijah's eyes, he knew he had to respond with an affirmative, no matter how unlikely the situation was to occur. Stiffening up his posture he looked Elijah in the eyes, “Lt. Robin, no Elijah, I swear I'll look out for the teams greater good, if you ever give such an order.”

Just as he finished saying that alarms began to blare and the operators voice came over the PA.

“Brace for impact, Axis has collided with Zedan. Make sure your normal suits as sealed and head for safety.”

“Oh geez,” he said putting on his helmet and closing the seals. “Guess we better get out of here, eh?” he motioned to the an exit, ready to follow Elijah as they left.
"Kamille, if it wasn't for you...." Jerid's last words

"You bastard... You don't get it! I'm... I'm special! I'm famous! I'm the king of mock battles!" Patrick
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King Monkey
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Axis -
- Bindra -

"Aye aye, Sir!" Nachtjaeger responded jovially to his commanding officer's order. He seemed completely unphased by the high levels of fail in his squad, such was his confidence in his own abilities.

And, in fact, he made an almost perfect landing. He came in a little faster than regulations accepted, but with some reverse thrusts came to a near perfect stop before dropping to the deck lightly. Unfortunately, he'd transformed his suit just once too many times during the battle. Even that light impact was enough to exacerbate the strain he'd put on his Gaza C and with a noise like a cartoon spring expanding, the suit abruptly tried to transform of its own accord. It only made it halfway through before, with the sound of metal scraping against metal, it ground to a halt.

Djorn ended up upside down in the cockpit, but, fortunately, there was no gravity so when he popped the hatch, rather than falling to the deck, he simply floated out.

- Dervish -
- Hangar -
- Team 3 -

Jacob couldn't miss the arrival of Celeste and Clute's mangled Rick Dias. He purposefully turned his head away from the ruined, suit, though. He simply could not look at it. Of course, that forced him to look at Celeste's suit.

That wasn't bad at all, though. She looked to be in no worse shape, at least physically, than he was in. But then, he heard what she said and saw what her suit was holding. the mangled escape pod was completely crushed. It looked more like a giant metal pancake than a cockpit. There was no way anyone could survive that and the sheer cruelty of a person who would do that to someone was shocking. To squash them like a bug even after they were no longer a threat spoke of an inhuman fiendishness that could never be forgiven.

"No! Clute!" he murmured. "Damn you Titans!" His body burned with hatred and shock and his eyes watered up. He reached up to wipe the tears away so that they would not cloud his vision and his knuckles smacked against his closed visor.

The foolishness of the gesture only made him madder and he smashed his fist furiously against the visor a couple times before opening it and scrubbing angrily at his eyes. Lights flashed in front of them from the pressure he'd put on them and it took a moment for them to clear.

"Jacob Markado, launching!" he declared, pushing his suit forward and ignoring the mechanics who were still working on it.

His suit had only taken a few steps before he almost stepped on a frightened mechanic. The man happened to be in his path and the giant foot almost came down on the surprised man before Jacob caught himself. He was not so enraged as to crush one of the workers on the ship.

"Get out of the way!" he commanded, his voice booming out through the speakers in his suit to echo in the hangar. It didn't occur to him to simply fly over the man and by the time he'd moved the countdown was over.

Jacob pulled up a video feed from the bridge and watched as Axis and the Gate of Zedan exploded against each other. There may not have been any laughter on the bridge of the ship, but there was in the hangar. Every explosion he saw made him laugh with savage joy.

"Die. Die. Die all of you. Die!" It hadn't occurred to him to turn off the speakers and his crazy laughter and litany of hatred were both piped out into the hangar.
Yep...That's Texas in a nutshell. Why just say "f**k you" when you can put it on a flag?

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wonton bob
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Kirov -
- Hanger -


Kyle sat and waited for orders that would never come. He figured that the safest place would be in Shiranui's Barzam so he remained there in case of a hull breech but if a rock hit the ship his chances fell to a fraction. Still better than anyone on board. A sudden jolt from a collision jarred Kyle in his seat but the straps held him in place almost too tightly. Grimacing as he reached the control panel, Kyle tapped onto the bridge's video feed in time to see the Ipswitch catch a rock and it's metal frame begun to wobble. His jaw dropped in horror as the Salamis disintegrated before his eyes. Kyle didn't know anyone personally on the Ipswitch but they were still brothers-in-arms. The tactic these fiends were using pretty much reaffirmed his decision to remain and fight as a Titan now more than ever. These monsters had to be defeated for the safety of the Earth. Them and anyone standing in our way had to be wiped out in order to ensure peace.
A second rumble made Kyle panic briefly as he tried unsuccessfully to unhook himself from the seat. The pain from the straps digging into his skin through the pilot suit made it unbearable but nothing compared to the injuries he might have suffered if he had freed himself.
"War is some crazy sh**" - alexander the great
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

"..."

Wes hadn't even launched out yet when Axis smashed into the Gate. But with his Rick Dias deployed on the catapult, he had a clear view of both space rocks colliding. The various flashes suddenly became more frequent and larger in size than the ones before the crash. To a normal person, the abundance of flashes would've been mistaken for some sort of light show. It was hardly just that...

The order for a full retreat came quickly afterwards. Curren wasn't sure of what to think now that the battle is over. Was it a victory? If so, was it even worth all the lives lost here? He had a bad feeling that this one will haunt them all collectively for quite awhile, if not completely disturb them all.

Wes manuvered his Dias off the catapult and back into the hangar just in time to overhear Jacob's angry outburst. It took him by surprise to see the usually quiet and reserved pilot become so emotional. Curren cringed a bit for every "die" Jacob uttered out before shutting off his comline.

"This war's gonna drive everyone insane by the end of it if we're not all dead by then..." he muttered. Parking his MS at its usual hangar space, Wes silently left the hangar as it began to buzz with activity again. He was probably going to need to meet up with the rest of Team 2 again, not knowing what to expect. Maybe Eddie would crack one of his lame jokes to lighten the mood a little bit.
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- Hamburg Team –

Emington watched as the clock count in his screen turned + 16s. He switched it off as he didn’t need it anymore. Axis had collided with the Gate of Zedan, AEUG bold plan have succeeded. They have won today’s war, the asteroid base had fallen. Somehow he didn’t felt any joy of being victor. In fact he felt nothing out of this. As he continued his watch, the horizon on his screen began to shift as the Hamburg along with the rest of the 4th fleet turned away to avoid the dangerous area.

There just outside of the Hamburg’s hangar door, a blue-green Nemo continued to gaze outward. It didn’t change its position and soon lost its POV toward the two asteroids. Its pilot didn’t bother change its pose. The knelt down suit stayed silent while its pilot concluded that the battle had ended. After several minutes, eventually the pilot smiled weakly when he saw a brilliant blue object loomed beyond the moon. “Probably this is all worth the trouble…,” he said while looking at the blue planet with mixed feeling.
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Wedge14
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

Gwen Brouille finally peaked out of the cockpit of her gaza-C to witness all the carnage in the hangar.

"Oh my!" She said covering her mouth in surprise. Good thing she decided to wait a bit before leaving her mobile suit or she could've gotten very badly hurt. Hopefully nobody was hurt.

She kicked off her machine rather gracefully and floated towards the ready room. Then she stood by the door, her face getting a bit red around the cheeks. She'd wait a while before she went in there. Didn't wanna see anything she'd never be able to unsee*.



*She googled marcus allen once
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Drei
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

~Balrampur Team~
- Johnathon Miller -

Johnathon felt sick and confused. He didn't know the dead officer, but he still felt almost as sad as when his lover died. Then thoughts ran through his head that maybe if he had been paying attention to the battle, Lt. Folk could have been reinforced by the man who helped him, saving his life. Even then he still made the connections to the dead woman he loved. The Nemo was going in slowly to the hangar as Johnathon thought and rightly so as the right leg wasn't responding as it should be. He contacted the Balrampur's operator.

"Miller here, I'm coming in."

The machine struggled to align itself properly but reached its goal fine. The time Johnathon had right now was important for him as he still had to think about the deaths so far, making a small note about Axis crashing into The Gate.

It can't be my fault. Even if I was fighting better than I was... My teammate would still have come to my help. It shouldn't be a bother anyways... He was just another man I barely knew. Like all of my old Titan teammates, they shouldn't matter to me.

"Axis did it, huh?"
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- The Hamburg -
- Pilot Ready Room -

Having finally dragged his broken Nemo inside the hanger to a few jeers, Adam made to the ready room and begun pulling off the pilot suit, the black shirt he was wearing underneath almost dripping from accumulated sweat. Now that his skin was able to breath, he grabbed the water bottle he had with him, took a gulp through the straw and laid back, floating lazily, and closed his eyes, missing the entirety of the spectacular crash.
On Compromise: Let's agree to respect each others views, no matter how wrong yours may be.
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

-Axis-
-Bindra
-Bridge-

Eventually enough, Raquel found the strength in her to actually begin breathing again. Maybe it was the same for everyone when they watched the collision. Not wanting to make a sound. There was nothing but the hum of the ship's own systems sounded on deck. Maybe the closest thing that could be heard from the humans was the sound of a room full of pupils dilating all at once as the once A Baoa Que, now Gate of Zedan, was split in two.

You just have to be here, she told herself, believing there was no other way to properly capture this. No video footage, no movie special effects she felt, could ever justly reproduce actually having been here. Her entire body vibrated--shockwave? no not so soon--and slowly she settled back down into her seat like a freefalling feather until she slumped dead into it.

". . ." Words failing her as she wanted to expel a loud "magnificent" instead.

As if dying her hands reached for the helm controls, gently clutching it once they reached. Her mouth open and closed a few times wanting to speak to their radar operator but failed. She relented to looking upon her own readings and the view outside to measure their safety from debris, feeling no amount of sorrow for the Titans who would have to ride out far much of the collision's debris.
Hmm. Luke, this Gundam reminds me of a puzzle.

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Sume Gai
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

-=[Bindra]=-
-Kenneth Gradem-

Graden was outside the Bindra when the Asteroids finally hit each other. For him it was a moment of infamy, His first battlefield and the place that had been his home for the last nine years met violently. It was sight he could never forget; the tainted fortress was smashed by his pure home.

"Titan Pigs... You shall share the fate that we granted your precious Gate of Zedan; to be rent in two by our might."

Graden unfortunately had little time to enjoy the spectacle; he still had to land on the Bindra before he was left behind. He came in with a near prefect approach and speed and extended the legs, Graden planted both feet firmly on the deck, then there was a resounding *Crack*. The hydraulic that controlled one of the right toes gave out, the end result of his struggle with the Titan. Thankfully Graden adjusted to prevent a tumble before limping over to the last berth.

-Shellia Northran-

Shellia was addressed by the pilot that had sent a toolbox flying. She took note of his request but didn't move to act on it, they had more important matters to deal with. The accidental source of one such problem was the next to address her offering the wrench and an apology. Shellia accepted both.

"Thanks and don't worry about the mess; I'm sure we can fix it." She smiled innocently "Though I'd hate to have the Lt. Commander mad at me." She nearly shiver at the though of a lecture from him.

-=[Balrampur]=-
-pilot lounge-
-Rick Archer-

Rick found himself passing through the Pilot's lounge where to his surprise several people were gathered around a screen. He glanced over one of their shoulders just in time to see the Asteroids colliding. Unlike most Rick watched with disinterest. It hardly mattered to him in the grand scheme of things, the war would continue and he'd still be a mobile suit pilot either way.
"If You are a man you'll do what's important before you grieve" -Captain Harlock

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Attomoku
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

Kirov, Hanger

Lt. Te’Litha

Nick was pissed. After launching without authorization he missed out on taking down the lone suit, which was just a pink monstrosity of a Rick Dias and not the Zeta or Mark2 as he had hoped. Worse it was taken out by the Griffons which had been near him and shown him up while he conversed with Celeste which only incensed him further. He landed ahead of them and had tried to open a channel but only some old music had piped though his speakers. When they left to where-ever, it was up to him to manhandle the suit into an empty berth (Patrick’s in this case) and get it buckled down before the shit hit the fan. Highly exasperated, he climbed out of his Marisai and pushed off to the cockpit of the pink Dias figuring he’d satisfy his morbid curiosity about who would pilot such a gaudy machine and take his mind off the frustrations about the battle and Nick and Tiraq. He had finally found the emergency manual override which would blow the door open, oblivious to the destruction of Zedan, when he was flung off into the middle of the hanger by the bow impact. Generally headless of danger (and the general quarters alarm) and unusually single minded in his purpose, the impact klaxon sounding a second and a half before the hit was the only warning he noticed before he was bucked. Now extremely irate and nothing to do but wait to reach a wall or for the ship to explode, he hummed the tune from earlier which was now stuck in his head.

Pilots Lounge

Ltjg. Kelborn

"For a second, And no. Just someone who disappeared on me." "Kelborn....Kelborn.."
When Jason looks straight into her eyes she hikes an unbelieving eyebrow. “A player,” she thinks to herself, as some of the bravado shows though, “and an awkward one too.” She grins despite herself after a second
"Oh! You’re on Alpha Team. Stukov? right? I remember seeing your name on an old pilot's roster. Boy, you're lucky to be teamed up with a veteran like him. My C.O. is a psychopath and I have reason to believe he's also a murderer. He goes off on his own and leaves us to fend for ourselves.....it's only a matter of time before my number's up."
His change in tone surprised her. Maybe some of it was just part of his game but he just seemed so despondent. She could tell he was telling the truth about the last part, it was well know that being semi-psychotic must be an unofficial requirement to be a team CO aboard the ship since they all seemed to be in one way or another, but a murderer? There was that rumor about Beta’s CO too…. The new smile on his face showed that he had moved on and so did she too.
"Well Kelborn. Should we dig in? Or I don't mind talking some more. I would like to know more about yourself."
She was silenced momentarily, “What do I say to that? ‘Oh , sorry I don’t remember anything before I’m 12?,’ ‘That I have amnesia and PTSD?’ No that would never work.” She was saved from answering by the announcement.
“All crew, brace for impact. Everyone prepare for emergency conditions. Damage control teams stand by,”
She stiffened, and the hair on the back of her neck rose on end, something about that announcement called from the black abyssal that was her memory of when she was 12.
Jason’s protective hand is comforting but something about the kind gesture also draws from the black. The way she grips him back has the strangest feeling of déjà vu, she may be a tall woman now but the placement of hands feels so familiar. She doesn’t hear Jason’s pun but her eyes slowly draw wide in fear and understanding. When they lurch from the bow strike she screams and silently weeps for a brother she knows she had but cannot remember save for a grip in the dark interior of a dying colony.


Buxoro, Bridge

Ltcmdr. Winter

The commotion above the taskforce had ended quickly enough but the Buxoro was still the last ship to leave P Field.
“Brace! Brace! Brace!” the Captain suggested as the countdown hit zero and started into the negatives. The shockwave sent an appalling vibration through the deck a heartbeat later. “Give us 110 on the engines! And gunnery teams track and destroy all major inbounds!” bellowing orders, Winter watched in horror as smaller vessels were obliterated by debris. Then the Ipswitch on their bent towards them oddly before being consumed by flame and plasma, he didn’t see it strike but he knew what did it.
The ship now pinged with debris from the Ipswitch as well. Shocked with eyes wide and voice on the verge of breaking, Winters corrected himself: “140 to engines! Cut enviro, lighting, and all power in non essential areas and shunt that and emergency power to the weapons!”
As the light at the rear of the ship intensified the Buxoro slowly inched faster towards the Kirov.

Hanger

Lt. Robin

“Lt. Robin, no Elijah, I swear I'll look out for the teams greater good, if you ever give such an order.”
“Thank you Aaron.” the moment of understanding
“Brace for impact, Axis has collided with Zedan. Make sure your normal suits as sealed and head for safety.”
“Time to go” he remarked when he kicked off, fastening his seals as Aaron followed. He made his way to a Saferoom and just in time too, the lights went out and were replaced by a low, battery driven, red light.

Sickbay

Ens. August

The alarms following the first shudder were like nails on a chalkboard as he floated just off a sick bay bed with his helmet still on and on full tint. He screwed his eyes shut vainly to block out the noise. Then it stopped and he thought he heard a soft pinging sound, opening his eyes he found the room dark and couldn’t even see in front to his face. Undoing the tint he saw low light illumination. “Finally, peace and quiet.” he murmured his headache was subsiding slightly and now against the odds, he slowly fell asleep.


Balrampur, Sickbay

Dr. Proud

Ashley looked over the preliminary loss report, flabbergasted. Of all the former Zeon personnel she was supposed to look over, only two remained, pilot Ian Graydon and radioman Filmore Hayes, and it looked like Greydon wasn’t about to go anywhere anytime soon.
Richard Barrique was another matter she wanted to look into, the prelim stated that he was killed by a gunshot wound, which left all sorts of questions. The former Titan named Fritz Ashlyn also peaked her interest as well as Jacob Markado whose file had a few earmarks of an unstable individual, and had just lost two teammates. The Balrampur had lost a pilot but she decided that she needed to visit the Dervish, they seemed to be more in need of her. Well adapted to microgravity by now, she found her way to the bridge to request transport.
“Captain Keaton, I need a launch to visit the Dervish” she asks unceremoniously.
IAN: (Shaking fist up at sky in a storm of GN particles) Science does not WORK this way, Setsuna!!!
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Fritz Ashlyn
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Re: Episode 20 - The Gate of Zedan

- The Kirov -
- Hangar -

"Fan out. I'm not taking a chance on this. Lt. Te'Litha, please stand back."

The burly Titans soldier unslung his rifle and waved the rest of his security team onto the catwalk. As the captured AEUG mobile suit had been slowly brought into the hangar of the Kirov most of his men obidiently spread out into a semicircle, but someone with a smart mouth questioned, "It's pink, sarge. Afraid a girlie might jump out and beat you up?". The sergeant allowed a wry smile and responded, "Shut up, Frank. But thank you for volunteering to pop the hatch and haul her out,". Chuckles from the other soldiers caused the loudmouth's face to turn red and he muttered, "I'll haul her out, all right. May have to get 'physical' with her," causing another round of muted laughter. The truth was they were all nervous, and anyone watching would be able to pick up on it. But it was healthy, the sergeant thought - that kind of nervousness is what kept soldiers alive. The pink and yellow Rick Dias scraped across the deck as it was locked into place in one of the empty MS berths. Once the movement stopped and the crew gave a thumbs-up, he pointed towards the head and egged his man on, "That's your cue, hero."

The security team fell silent as the grumbling soldier kicked off the catwalk, and all of their guns trained on the area of the cockpit hatch. Frank perched tentatively on the suit's broad shoulder and rapped on the hatch with the butt of his rifle. "Open the hatch and keep your hands where I can see 'em, honey," he demanded, using a properly macho voice. After several seconds of silence, he sighed and struck the cockpit again. "I said open up! Don't get cute with me, just play nice and come out!". "She might have cooked in there, sir. Whatever our boys did to this thing fried it but good," one of the other men said, gesturing to the scorch marks and ruined panels. Frank recoiled and raised his rifle when the hatch began to slide open with a sickly mechanical whirr. Whatever the sea serpent attack had done to the suit had ruined a lot of the computer equipment, and because the systems had shut down most of the cockpit appeared before him as inky darkness. The lone exception was a small red glow. "...All right. Just come out slowly," he said, reaching out with his left hand to beckon the pilot to exit with a wave.

The lit cigarette flew out of the hatch, its cherry hitting Frank right in the eye producing a puff of ash and embers. As the Titan floated backwards clutching his eye and screaming in pain, Pan Heyden ominously stepped out onto his suit's shoulder and surveyed the stunned soldiers with an unimpressed look on his face. Then his eyes stopped on their sergeant, a dark-skinned mountain of a man. Whatever was going through his head was hard to read, especially since his appearance was so distracting - in addition to clearly not being female, his normal suit was blackened and disheveled as much as his face and hair. The electricity pumping through his suit had been enough to cook a lesser man, but all it did to Pan was give him a bad hair day and an attitude. What was worse were the things the Titans soldiers couldn't see. Heyden's slightly unhinged look came from something deeper than his physical injuries, and his thoughts were further muddled by a heavy dose of high voltage.

The soldiers leveled their guns at Pan's chest. "Hold on," the sergeant said, lowering the gun from his shoulder, "I've got his,". He tossed his weapon to the man next to him, eliciting looks of confusion and disbelief. He had seen plenty of tough guys in his time, and more importantly enough unnecessary killing on top of it. If he could talk Pan down he would, and if he couldn't his fists would do the talking. "My name is SFC. Nada," he announced amiably, moving upwards to the same level as Pan, "And that's the chances you've got unless you cooperate. Otherwise you better find yourself some place to hide and pray I never find you,". Pan eyeballed Nada as he approached the suit's shoulder. Nada reached behind his back slowly and produced a set of handcuffs. "Try these on," he said, his voice still serious but not overly threatening as he held them out. Heyden held up a hand to keep the Titan back and scornfully blew out a breath as he replied, "Look, you crazy mother--". "Put these on," Nada said again, thrusting the manacles out. "Hey!" Pan yelled angrily, causing some of the soldiers to twitch nervously. He thrust a finger out at Nada's chest and warned, "Stay away from me!". Nada moved forward unimpressed at the display and demanded a little more forcefully, "I'm telling you you dumb son of a bitch, p--".

Pan's fist moved like lightning, striking Nada right in the bridge of his nose. The big sergeant reeled and then wiped his nose with the back of his arm and looked down at the spot of blood the punch had drawn. He looked back up at Pan, his tone markedly more grave, "I'm trying help you, and save some trouble for your dumb ass,". Pan raised up and growled back, "You can't even save you own,". This time it was Nada's punch catching Pan off guard, sending him backwards into the side of his machine's head. "I'm giving you a choice..." Nada said, his breaths coming faster from adrenaline, "Either put on these handcuffs, or start eating that mobile suit,". Pan pushed away from the Dias and the two men began to circle each other as best they could in the low gravity of the hangar. "Not this year," Pan said, raising his fists. Nada's eyes narrowed, but he relented and tossed the handcuffs aside. "All right..." he said, preparing to give Heyden the beating of his life if he wouldn't cooperate. The rest of the soldiers backed off but kept their guns at the ready.

"Come on... Come on!" Pan growled, egging Nada on as they sized each other up. The sergeant was goaded into swinging a left hook that Pan ducked and countered with a quick series of blows to the head and chest. The Titan floundered against the catwalk, and when Pan tried to capitalize with another punch it was evaded and Nada returned the favor with a strong one-two combo of his own. Pan's body bounced off the catwalk with a loud clang, and he dragged himself to his feet with an evil look in his eye. "I don't want to fight you," Nada said, slapping away Pan's retaliation. "I don't wanna fight you. Stop it!" he repeated, blocking another punch. If he let this crazy AEUG captive go wild in the hangar they'd doubtlessly just blow him away without a second thought. Pan wouldn't have it, roaring "NO!" as he tried to take the Titan's head off with a haymaker. Nada grabbed Pan's arm and pulled him closer, planting a punch right in Heyden's eye socket that left the outcast AEUG pilot cursing loudly and rubbing his eyes. The sergeant plucked the floating handcuffs out of the air and approached Pan telling him again, "Put on the handcuffs,". A sly smile formed on Pan's face as he waited with his back turned until his opponent was close, and then he suddenly spun and violently backhanded Nada across the face. He grabbed him by the collar and struck him in the jaw, then decked him again and let him fly back into his Rick Dias.

As Nada squirmed to get upright, he realized he had misread Pan. This guy wasn't fighting to avoid capture - he was fighting because it was all he had left. Something had gone seriously wrong for him along the way, and he was acting like he knew he was a walking dead man. Then he realized Pan's outstretched hand was in his face and Nada smiled slightly. Then again, maybe he was just resisting because he was the type that had to do things his way. "I told you," Pan said with a hollow chuckle as he clasped Nada's hand and helped him up, his voice faux-friendly, "Not this year!". He punctuated 'year' with a nasty strike to the mouth that sent Nada back to flailing against the low gravity. Then his hand grasped a handful of Nada's hair, raising his head up to line up another punch. The sergeant tried swung a quick uppercut aimed for Pan's groin, but the pompadoured pilot caught his hand by the wrist. "You dirty motherfucker!" Pan grunted, pulling Nada up by his arm. The Titan turned it into a headbutt to the underside of Pan's chin, causing the assembled soldiers and crew to wince at the sharp crack it produced - a followup to the nose sent him sprawling to the catwalk floor.

Nada, bruised and breathing hard, reached over and scraped up the handcuffs again. He waved back the soldiers that began to move forward, and grabbed one of Pan's arms and slapped the cuffs into his hand. Let him do it his way. "Take a walk," he barked, pointing down the hall towards the brig, "Put 'em on,". Pan pulled himself upright and looked at the shackles in his hand, then stuck his considerable chin out and defiantly let them drop to the ground. The two men stared each other down again for a couple of seconds, then Nada bent over tiredly to snatch up the cuffs. Pan took the opportunity to knee Nada right in the face, and as the Titan was trying to catch the catwalk railing Pan picked up the handcuffs and angrily tossed them across the hangar. He turned his back on the group of soldiers and began walking back towards the open hatch of his mobile suit. With a frustrated angry yell Nada tackled Pan from behind, hauled him upright and let him have it again with a series of punches. Pan managed to fend him off long enough to grab him in a side headlock, but the lack of full gravity combined with Nada's resistance made them flip upside down and Pan landed hard on his upper back and shoulders when they hit the catwalk. The security team soldiers began to look at each other, not sure if they should intervene or not when the two men began to tussle on the floor, and then Pan escaped from Nada's hold by biting his hand until he released his grasp.

They rolled and floated across the floor - now Pan was throwing punches again until he was tripped up. Nada gained the upper hand and began to throttle Pan and slam his head against the deck, but Heyden shoved him off and rolled him back over. He unleashed a sickening series of knees to the groin, causing Nada to wheeze in pain and his vision to double. The sergeant managed to twist his legs up with Pan's as the AEUG pilot tried to walk away again, tripping him and giving him a second to compose himself. Both men were battered and bloodied, and Nada was just about done playing nice. If Pan hadn't gotten it through his thick skull that he was trying to make things easy on him, then he probably never would. Maybe he didn't give a shit. Nada's scanned the catwalk near them and his eyes fell on a large wrench. He hefted it as both men staggered to their feet again, and he took a wide swing with it that Pan barely managed to back out of. He swung again, this time spinning around in the low-g as Heyden ducked the blunt object. Heyden looked around frantically for something to fight back with, and he was in luck as an empty whisky bottle floated out of his Rick Dias. The two men were locked in a stand off again, brandishing their new weapons momentarily. Nada took the initiative, swinging his wrench like a sledgehammer for Pan's head but finding only the monoeye of the captured mobile suit. The glass and camera behind it busted, sending shattered glass outwards into the hangar.

Both men stopped in their tracks and looked at the damage the pipe had done, wide eyed. Nada glanced down at the improvised weapon and threw it down, saying "Oh man, I'm sorry...". Pan's face switched back to a scowl and he rumbled, "You f--" as he tried to bust the bottle in his hand into a sharp weapon. It broke uselessly all the way down to the neck, and he tossed it aside with a sharp curse. Nada erupted into laughter at the sight, but Heyden was not amused. He tackled the Titan again and then jerked him to his feet, both men trading blows until the MP got ahold of Pan's arm and bent it behind him in a restraint hold. "Put the handcuffs on! PUT 'EM ON!" he commanded, his voice getting hoarse from the yelling and exertion. Pan reached out and kicked the inside of Nada's knee, putting him off balance and allowing Pan to grab him and slam him into the catwalk. The big sergeant stayed on his back this time, trying to suck in air as Heyden once again pulled himself to his feet and staggered to where the handcuffs were floating freely. Pan grabbed them and slipped them into the chest pocket of Nada's jacket. "Fuck... you..." he rasped, pointing a finger in Nada's face to make his point heard before he turned to walk back to his MS again.

Nada let Pan walk away as he caught his breath, and when he crawled to his feet with the help of the railing he saw that Pan was leaning against his Rick Dias holding his left side. The sarge approached him slowly, and when Pan realized he had come back for more he cried out in anger. They grappled again, exchanging more noticeably weaker punches and elbows before Nada grabbed Pan by the waist and hoisted him up to head height with his remaining strength before hammering him to the deck again in a sloppy body slam. The two men were totally exhausted as they wallowed on the ground next to each other. Nada took the handcuffs from his pocket and pulled himself over to Pan; he roughly pulled Heyden's hands together and slapped the cuffs on, then managed to drag him to his feet. He turned him around to face the hall that headed to the brig, and demanded, "Walk!".
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