Episode 26 - Operation Maelstrom

[wonton bob]

-Axis-
-the Bindra-

Matthew anxiously waited for his turn to launch. Once the order was given to sortie he was paired to launch with Tuzenbach by Graden which was fine with him as long as he didn't have to be handcuffed to him during the whole battle. As a rookie himself, Matthew wanted to prove himself in a real battle. He had realized that the previous skirmish against the defeated Titan squad had only boosted a false sense of bravado but this was the real thing.

"Korbel away."

His Gaza took off almost spinning wildly briefly for a few seconds before coming back under control.

[Wild Goose]

-Buxoro, Hangar-

"We could always play radio battleship," suggested Vlad to the other pilots, as he checked over his loadout. He'd originally wanted to carry both an MG and a beam rifle for maximum firepower, but after a long hard look at his Hizack, had gone with a beam rifle and spare e-packs in the shield, along with the heat hawk. As will all of the Buxoro's Hizacks, the hip missile launchers were loaded and installed, ready for action.

"So, who's up for radio battleship?"

[The Loser Villain]

- The Bindra -
- Hangar -

As per Graden's orders Nikolai waited for Pris and Djorn to launch and then readyed himself as Matthew launched. It would be a different battle this time, that was for sure. With the entire AEUG closing in there was bound to be a lot of beam weapons fire lancing across space.

"Tuzenbach, launching!" The Gaza-C then shot out into space and formed up with Matthew.

- The Dervish -
- Hangar -

"Terrace, taking off!" The Rick Dias S-type launched right after Wales and fell in with the rest of Team 3.

"Wow, look at all of those pink mobile suits," he said over the team channel.

As Terrace took off Sophie waited for Eddie's go signal. It would only be a few moments till they launched. She'd get out there and provide the team with fire support from her C-Type.

- The Kirov -
- Hangar -

So far all of his items checked out as being safe. The only thing left to look over was the Barzam X-2 he was assigned to. The paranoia was building the back of Aaron's head. How much longer could the Titans fight against the AEUG when it seemed they were about to start fighting themselves any moment.

Looking at the new mobile suit he would fly he was quite impressed at the amount of fire power it would throw. "Well, at least its not a Hi-Zack again." he said to himself as he started to inspect the Barzam.

- The Buxoro -
- Hangar -

"Read a book or something then, Or better yet, see if you can't out-do Tyler and get yours to play something with multiplayer, lord knows we could all use the distraction."

"You know, if you want me to give you a of copy the program, I can. Maybe even tweak his to make it competitive, display our scores to each other when we play at the same time or something."

"We could always play radio battleship. So, who's up for radio battleship?"

"I don't know if I want to play battle anything when we're about to launch into a real battle," Tim answered. "But cockpit tetris sounds nice."

[Wild Goose]

-Buxoro, Hangar-

"I don't know if I want to play battle anything when we're about to launch into a real battle," Tim answered. "But cockpit tetris sounds nice."

Vlad shrugged in his seat, yawning. "Well, I suppose we could share sea stories," he suggested. "I'm probably the only One Year War vet in this outfit who isn't an ace; I started as a Boatswain's Mate, then got tossed into SAR duty, then got assigned to a GM team, then back to SAR duty, then to paperwork..."

[Xvlai]

- Alexandria Class-Kirov –
- Beta Team Ready Room –

Sven had fallen back into his habitual silence after hearing Wolf out. He did not agree with Wolf’s sentiment, but he was in command, and Sven would follow Wolf even if he did not agree with it. After securing his own helmet he followed Wolf down the short corridor to the hanger. Moving over to where Beta Team’s mobile suits were berthed he split ways from Wolf, vaulted the catwalk and kicked off towards his Barzam.

Arriving, he quickly slipped into the cockpit, shutting it after him and securing himself into the seat. To keep himself busy for a time, Sven began his pre-flight check up, it allowed himself to slowly settle into his battle state of mind. A state which he partially hoped would allow him to forget the shower room that he had begun to dread.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Near Gryps 2 -

- The Kirov -
- Bridge -

"Sir, it's been too long," Kellman whispered, clasping his hands behind his back as he stood next to Trent's command seat, "We need to do something,". The captain looked at the mission time for the reconnaissance team again and sighed. "Damn it," he muttered, taking a breath and blowing it out slowly through his nose. "Fyodor, are we receiving any distress signals or tracking information from data pods?" he spoke up, rising from his seat to move to the windows. "No, sir. Nothing since the lieutenant asked for radio silence," the operator answered. Trent was quiet for a few seconds more as he looked out the windows at the flashes of light at Gryps 2. "Launch Alpha. Tell Stukov to bring back those Eye-Zacks or whatever is left of them, and tell him don't get dragged into a fight if he can avoid it," he ordered, turning to Gojiro. "Yessir," he nodded, connecting to the hangar to hand down the orders.

"The Griffins are the fastest thing we've got. Let's hope Stukov can get in and out before we're noticed," Trent said, turning back to Mortimer. "We can hope in one hand, sir, and--" Kellman grunted flatly, but the captain frowned and cut him off. "Make sure the other pilots are ready to launch. We might need a little more force," he said. "Aye, sir," the helmsman nodded.

- Hangar -

"That's more like it," Stukov growled, closing the visor of his helmet as the launch alarms began to sound. "You two idiots get ready - and listen to me," he demanded of his wingmen, stepping out of his suit's rack to head for the catapult system, "We're going out to find the Eye-Zacks we sent to spy on the Zeon, not to start a fight with half of Haman Karn's personality cult. Stay close to me and please try to restrain your urges,". He snatched a beam rifle from the weapons rack on his way out, and stepped onto the waiting catapult to wait for the launch cycle. "This is Stukov. Griffin. Launching," he recited almost angrily before the lights went green and the powerful blue MS was flung from the bow of the Kirov.

- Gryps 2 Space, Ahead of the Kirov -

Gently releasing its hold on the debris he was attached to, the lieutenant's Eye-Zack began to drift backwards ever so slowly. Both monoeyes swept back and forth, and he swore again when he realized how close the Axis already were as the half dozen Gaza-Cs split into three pairs, seemingly beginning a sweep of the area his team was hiding in. "Isaiah, Rome, begin extraction," he said over an encrypted short range radio, ignoring normal protocols due to the more pressing nature of their situation. It was possible the message could be heard or the signal used to locate them, but they had to get out, and they had to do it quickly. He had made a mistake in staying so long in the same spot, but he would be willing to answer for it once they got the hell away from the Zeon. Using AMBAC movements and a split second burst from rear verniers he turned in place and began to float back in the direction they had initially come into the debris field. If they could put decent distance between themselves and the Gazas they could eventually make a run for it... He moved his suit's arms forward and grasped the machine gun tighter in its hands.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Dervish -
- Bridge -

"Team 3 has almost completed launch. Catapults cycling," Filmore reported, noting the short delay in getting Trask launched. "Faster. Get it done," Abbey urged, wishing he had anticipated the Argama's order and had his suits already deploying when the time came to advance. The Federal officer in him still looked down on that sort of "initiative" in a way though, and even if he was with the AEUG now there had to be precision and solidarity in an operation this massive. There was a time and a place to distinguish yourself. "We're still moving in sync with the fleet, sir. All ships have engaged Axis," Wade grunted as he monitored the ship's movement from the helm, adjusting the angle of the bow slightly with his station's controls. "No problems with communications yet. Things should get worse the closer we get to Gryps 2 though, captain," Jungst said, gesturing at one of the secondary monitors showing the local Minovsky density.

"No problems yet," Abbey repeated only half to Jungst. The volume of fire around the colony laser was increasing, highlighting the positions of ships and mobile suits in the distance.

- Team 1 -

The Gaza Jacob had fired at wobbled on its flight path and tried to take evasive action, the pilot apparently panicking at the loss of his main offensive weapon. Just as it seemed to level out and reach for a beam saber with its remaining arm, a clay bazooka round went off practically right in its face peppering it with metal pellets. The green monoeye exploded outward as it shuddered in place, its thrusters sputtered out and the beam saber's unlit handle spun away from a ruined hand. "Sorry Jacob," Michiko said almost playfully, sounding like she was coming out of her shell a little. "Five more..." Fritz grunted, pressing down the foot pedals causing a huge thruster flare to erupt from the back of his S-Type as he rocketed ahead of Michiko and the others. A solid cannon round and a quick pair of beams from Celeste's pistol broke up the oncoming group of enemies further, causing them to split formation as Fritz rushed forward to meet them.

"Zu meiner Zeit hatten die Kinder mehr Respekt vor älteren Leuten," Fritz clucked, cutting speed and hitting his verniers suddenly to roll under the first beam directed at him personally. He returned fire, the explosive shell missing high but its area of effect buffeting the Gaza and causing it to turn away to avoid more damage.

- New Yark Team -

Ens. House rushed ahead with Ramon and was the first to open fire. "Whoa!" the young pilot gasped as he let loose a shot at the four Gazas. That seemed to be all the signal the other men needed, as Waclaw, Thibaut and Hard AE all provided a vigorous volley of support at near maximum range. The four Axis suits hurriedly split away from each other to avoid the rifle fire and approach from different angles, leaving each of them temporarily on their own. "Press them!" Waclaw insisted, flying forward with his shield raised. He ignored a pair of beams fired his way to dissuade him, the closest one coming near enough to blacken the paint on his shield. "You're stone cold, man," Thibaut muttered, moving to keep up. Ens. Waclaw fired again, this time his shot clipping the leg of his target and sending it into a tumble.

- Alfred -

The Hamburg team seemed to have the easiest route of the 4th's MS units, and they managed to slip unhindered slightly ahead of the rest of the friendly advance. Al was still psyching himself up and monitoring his targeting computer when he realized the Hamburg's guns were firing past the team at a small knot of Gazas. He scrambled to make sure he was still on the team channel to warn his wingmates when the voice of the ship's comm operator crackled into his ear, "Capt. Loweno asked me to pass along word to you guys - he wants you hunting ships once the first line of Gaza-Cs are intercepted or occupied by our other mobile suits,". Loweno himself spoke up, seemingly from his own handset or the mic in his helmet, "That smaller one first! The one we're focusing on! Hit the suits and then take it out!". Instead of warning his team he acknowledged the order quietly and targeted one of the oncoming enemies, firing a pair of shots to get their attention.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 -

- The Bindra -
- Bridge -

"Volleys fired and guns are now on pause. Graden's team is now leaving the hangar, sir," Raquel reported, obviously happy to see the gunners were paying enough attention to not blow Pris and Djorn to smithereens upon launch, "We'll immediately begin moving forward at full speed to engage once Graden's team has cleared the launch deck sir,". "Minovsky interference is on the rise, captain... Contact with the Gwanban has not been impeded yet, but we should expect difficulties within a few minutes," the youngest member of the bridge crew reported, the same girl that had nearly cried with joy when Julian had finally left the bridge. "The Mandra is still firing. Commander M'Quve has... colorfully asked Capt. Bacon to stop," Vada added to the stream of information.

Wald, who had winced right along with Raquel at the close call off the bow, straightened his helmet and nodded, "Make that half speed, Chief Reyes. We don't want to be too exposed... and I want to get back into formation as soon as possible,". He frowned slightly, realizing that may have come out sounding a little cowardly. He quickly cleared his throat and added more assertively, "Prepare for another barrage. And for God's sake time it better on this cycle,".

- Hangar -

As soon as the feet of Nikolai's Gaza-C left the locks on the catapult, Julian was moving forward to take position ahead of Graden. "Don't worry, sir," Julian said, the tone of 'sir' making it clear it was tacked on only because it was required, "I'm sure at least one or two of your men will still be alive when we get out there,". He stepped onto the locks as soon as they slid back into place and dropped his suit into a half crouch to wait for the tree to cycle. "Julian Meighan, Gaza-C," he announced himself with a smirk, reaching up instinctively to touch the rose that normally was pinned to his uniform's lapel. When his gloved hand clunked against the chest of his normal suit instead, he blushed slightly and his expression went flat. "Launching," he grumbled as his suit was propelled from the front of the Bindra to join the rest of the team.

- Ahead of the Bindra -

"Slow it down... The kid may have been onto something," Joson muttered, transforming his suit back to MS mode and feathering his verniers to negate some of his forward momentum as he slipped past another piece of junk. "I'm not getting any movement but I swear I saw a light or something," Ball added, moving ahead to stay next to his CO. "Yeah, I saw it too; none of ours are supposed to be out here. Let's clear this area before we head back to the ship," Joson muttered, noting the nervous chatter coming from his pilots. He quickly looked over the area ahead of them and typed a few commands into the computer, and a few lines appeared on the screens of his young charges indicating simple routes through the debris. "Max, take Uzoma through 1. Tannehill, you're with me in the middle. Johnson and Christine you two take it easy on 3. If anyone sees anything, make some noise,".

[Soma Taozi]

Paris Carter smiled grimly at the approaching Gaza-C's. Now was the time for some payback! She had been waiting years for this moment and the fact that she was going to be sent on a task of destroying enemy, Zeon, warships was poetic justice. Her parents had been killed when a Zeon Zacu round hit her parents transport ship’s bridge and now she was going to be giving the same kind of payback to those slim that had taken everything away from her! Let’s see how they like it when they were helpless to do anything but watch, as they disappeared from the world! Paris thought savagely.



All nerves gone, Paris was now filled with an exhilarating feeling of excitement. Finally she would be able to silence her aching heart when it came to her parents! Finally she would be able to move on! Fina-



A Gaza-C's shot forced Paris back into reality as the yellow beam flashed past her Nemo's left shoulder blade. Almost burning away the infinity symbol she had painted on the moment she had some time alone with her magnificent machine. The symbol was the old mark of the now disbanded, Infinity Trading Alliance, the one her parents had been a part of. In fact, Paris had the symbol tattooed on her left shoulder blade once it was disbanded. She had a few memento’s from her parents to remember them by and since the Alliance was a sort of second family to the orphaned girl, Paris wanted something to remember them by… forever.



Gritting her teeth. Paris targeted the same Gaza that Al was shooting at and fired. The beam went wide as the Gaza evaded. Swearing to herself Paris lined up another shot and fired; with the same result. "To hell with it!" Paris muttered, as she broke away from her wingmen and pulled to the right. Firing repeated at the pack of Gaza's. Which, maddingly, all seemed to miss. Was she that bad?



"Damn it! H- GAH!" Paris yelled in surprise as one of the beams nicked her shield at the top. Burning away a few feet of the shield and knocking Paris back. Firing her thrusters and vernier’s, Paris managed to right herself quickly. It was just like flying a ship…granted a smaller, faster, more maneuverable ship, but Paris had to admit that when it came to simple flying, she was good…not ace material, but fairly skilled.

[King Monkey]

"Glad I could help," Jacob honestly replied to Michiko. He was no glory hound. He didn't need to get the kills to feel good about his place in the world and this war. He just wanted to make sure that the objectives of the AEUG were achieved, all his team mates made it back home safe and the Titans were defeated.

He was in a support role, anyway. Though he was in a long range machine, it was no sniper, so it was much easier to harass the enemy than it was to take them out. He focused on Fritz's opponent, especially since its abrupt maneuver to avoid excessive damage forced it to lose some momentum. He cycled between the two cannons mounted on his suit's shoulders, firing a few shots from each one.

The lances of energy were meant to corral the Gaza and drive it back towards Fritz to allow his CO an easy chance of taking it out. But, Jacob got in a lucky shot, clipping the Axis Suit's right leg just above the knee and sending half the limb spiraling out into space. It was firing its jets just at that time and the nozzle locked open, so that the leg shot away and the suit itself jerked wildly as the AMBAC system tried to compensate for losing a primary thruster so radically.

[Wedge14]

-Kirov Hangar-

Leandro was caught off guard as the alarm klaxons literally made him jump about 2 feet in the air. The young commander sprayed coffee everywhere. But he quickly regained composure.

Heyden flicked the cigar he was smoking out of his cockpit as the alarm bells rang. Ignoring pretty much everything Stukov said, Pan followed grabbing a beam rifle cycling it to his left arm. Heyden then positioned his Griffin on the second catapult and took off right beside Stukov without a single world.

Pan gingerly positioned his machine a process that saved fuel. The man believe it or not was actually a pro at this kind of thing and he knew this was going to be a long battle. "Let's blast these rock clinging space monkeys back to the colony they crawled out of, and bring yer boys home"
Heyden was ecstatic, if all he had to do was fight some Zeon wannabes chances are he wouldn't run into someone he knew.


-Bindra Hangar-

With all his pilots except him and Meighan out in front it was time for Graden to derpart. Graden frowned at Meighan through the communications system on his Gaza-C. "This is commander Graden...we're launching."

The Lt. Cmdr's Gaza had left the hangar, quickly pulling infront of his team. "We know how good of a shot our gunners are, let's put some distance between us and the Bindra!"

[mcred23]

-The Dervish-
-Hangar-

Team 1 went off first, as usual, followed by Team 3, also as usual, but then hit a snag. Adam Trask's Kanone Dias stepped onto the starboard catapult, but never took off. Eckardy frowned and waited a minute, but when the Team 3 pilot was still there, Eckardy just started moving. "Well, I guess we all go port side until he's gone..." Eckardy sighed over the team channel as he grabbed a beam rifle from the wall weapons rack and walked to the catapult. "We'll form up once we're off and play it from there," He told the team, his tone more serious than usual. The delay from them all having to use the same catapult, unless Trask got off, would delay them a bit, and hold up getting them together once they launched, all of which annoyed Eckardy. Getting off the ship was supposed to be the easy part.

The Rick Dias Custom locked into its usual slight crouch launching position, the catapult ready. The launch lights began their usual cycle as Eddie keyed his comm to make the required radio call. "Eddie Eckardy... uh... I forgot what the f*** to say!" He chuckled to himself as he misquoted his music, before the catapult and his MSA-099S thrusters propelled him away from the Dervish. As soon as he was clear, the Rick Dias computer and his own eyes could see thruster flares and weapons fire, both beam and the different look of rockets that gave away Rick Dias types. The battle was already going ahead of the 4th.

Back on the Dervish, Cowboy was second on the catapult. His Rick Dias held the Clay Bazooka in both hands, Marvin already uncomfortable. He'd thought about grabbing a beam rifle, the Dervish had more than it once had, but they'd already stuck a few extra clips on his machine, and he had beam pistols that were almost as good, and he wasn't really comfortable with the idea of taking one, and... He shook his head as the Rick Dias was locked into position, the catapult lights cycling for him. "Marvin Hamilton, Rick Dias, goin'." He mumbled the words before being pressed back into his seat by the force of the launch, a sensation that seemed to be over far quicker than usual. Eddie was moving ahead slowly, so to better allow the team to form up, while staying clear of the Dervish's guns, and Marvin moved to join him in waiting for the rest of the team.

[Tangerine]

- Irene -

Loweno’s order made their trip more important than just the usual air cover. Irene was about to comment when the enemy made their move.

She did her usual feint. Followed the momentum and rotated her suit to face the threat before putting her calf and lower thrusters forward, propelling her suit into sudden reverse motion. The incoming Gaza suits were quick to fire. 'Unnecessary fire ,' she thought as she measured the distance. Few of the beam shots raced at her previous position with some accuracy.

She was clear of danger and was thinking to wait for closer kill when she noticed that Paris was gathering some threat. She targeted another Gaza, fired once and then another one to draw its attention from crowding into Paris. Now Irene got two on her, after a deep breath she aimed at the closest one and fired three times in slow order. Correcting her aiming and predicting her enemy’s movement based by her intuition and experience.

Both exchanged fire. ‘This one is not a novice, belted some good training but far from hardened veteran,’ she thought as the third beam forced the Gaza to slow down. It evaded upwards, gaining some altitude while giving a good view of its mobile armor mode belly. Slower and more predictable target. She fired her fourth beam and it struck its target, reduced it into a heap of debris after one quick explosion.

Eyeing on Paris once more, she hoped she doesn’t need to resort to potshot at this range. Hit or not she would endanger Paris. Al was closer…

“Al, I’ll cover you. Go for Paris!” Irene half shouted at the channel.

[Ziryab]

—Axis—
—the Bindra—
—bridge—

“Aye aye sir!” Raquel replied as she futilily tried to measure the distance Graden’s Gaza-C team was fleeing from the Bindra with her eyes rather than her instruments. “Graden’s team is clear,” after a moment of finally turning to her instruments and confirming it with the radar chair.

“Moving us out at half speed ahead,” she announced to the bridge with a hand already easing the throttle forward. She believed she felt the ship give a slight tug as if accelerating a car, before the ship began sliding ahead. “Sir? I can angle her into a relative decent,” she suggested without turning to Wald. “It’ll place us below the horizon of some of the AEUG fleet and expose their underside to us. Yet our underside guns may not be able to aim at anything.”

—ahead of the Bindra—

“Down boy,” Pris chided Djorn’s attempt at a flirtation which went completely over her head. “Like you should have been told in basic training: no tallywhacking or teabagging your foes until after the fight. For now you sniff out the prey, bark, then I let you off the leash. Nikolai, Matt; don’t fall too far behind us we’ve been given a front row seat.”

[ChrisABlair]

Ethan took a few quick shots at an approaching Gaza-C staggering the shots and aiming around it to freak the pilot out before finally aiming towards it and firing... which would have worked had yet another Gaza mobile suit hadn't fired upon him. He dashes backwards, narrowly avoiding the shot. Now he had two Gazas bearing down on him.
"A little help?!" Ethan yelled frantically. He fired off several shots, one of which tore into the armor of the one in front of him. He looked ahead in disbelief while dodging. "I got it? Hey, guys, I got one! But I'd still like just a little help!"

[blind_dead_mcjones]

"Wow, look at all of those pink mobile suits," terrance said over the team channel.


"yeah, theres quite a lot of them" wales replied over the channel "they don't particulary look too sturdy though, i heard they were a bit fragile looking but seriously, what do they use to hold them together, duct tape?" a stray beam round passed a little close for wales' liking, prompting him to shut up. as he looked around to see any more shots were comming he noticed something odd


"ehh, guys...aren't there meant to be four of us? we're kinda one short" looking back in front he saw in the distance a gaza-C from the formation team 1 broke apart veer wide enough to give a clear shot, "eh..f*** him" he said in response to his own question before bringing the clay bazooka to bear

"greetings from down under!" he yelled as he pulled the trigger, sending two rockets hurtling towards the axis suit...only for them to miss entirely due to the distance, giving the gaza-C more then enough time to evade.

"f***!"

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Near Gryps 2 -

- Alpha Team -

Lt. Dolk was away from the Kirov not a second after Pan and a gigantic electric blue thruster flare blossomed behind his suit as he surged ahead to catch up to Stukov. Stukov took a moment to check in with his subordinates one last time, his scowling visage appearing in a small window on their monitors. "Are you two ready? Remember, our primary goal is finding and retrieving those Eye-Zacks, not picking a fight with whoever else may be in the area," he asked again, his eyebrows already knit in annoyance. This time though Dolk actually answered, giving a small thumbs up and nodding, "Raised and weaned on cold steel,". Stukov blew out a breath and shook his head when he noticed that Dolk still had on his sunglasses under the visor of his helmet, but he responded, "Good... I think. Stay close to me in this debris,".

Dolk spun the sea serpent he carried in his Griffin's left hand and swung the bulky beam rifle up to the ready in his suit's right. "Kirov, we are entering the debris field now. Communications may be difficult from this point forward," Stukov reported back to the ship. That was true, but it was mostly an excuse to stop talking to them while they were busy searching.

- The Kirov -
- Bridge -

"Confirmed, sir. We'll monitor your condition for as long as we're able," Fyodor responded to the Russian. Trent turned from the windows and added, "Speak up as soon as you find something, Stukov,". He clasped his hands behind his back as he looked back to the expanse of space visible to them. The thrusters of Alpha team were already growing small as they crossed into the field of construction garbage and slipped out of sight. Beyond it the Axis and AEUG fleets were fully engaged in the struggle for Gryps 2. "Anything from the Jupitris?" the captain asked quietly as he watched the distant beams flash into existence and fade away. He was a bit reluctant to mention Scirocco's ship or even think about Friday lest his condition worsen again, but he was genuinely starting to feel better. "No, sir," Gojiro answered, "Nothing from the Jupitris or the rest of the fleet,". "...Good," Trent muttered under his breath.

- Gryps 2 Space, Ahead of the Kirov -

"Faster. Just go!" the leader of the Eye-Zack team mentally urged on his wingman. The one called Rome was taking too long to 'swim' away from his hiding spot, and the flight leader felt obligated to stay behind with him until he was sure both men were on their way. "I'm clear, sir," Rome said finally, breaking radio silence as he turned away from the bit of mirror he had been clinging to. "God damn it, Rome, use the encrypted channel!" the lieutenant immediately growled at him, nervously looking around as if he expected a Gaza to rise from behind the closest hunk of metal because of the slipup. He steadied the machinegun his Eye-Zack cradled, finally bringing up the secondary targeting computer. The EWAC suit was not meant for combat, but its computer was as capable as any other Hizack's. His blood ran cold when it immediately picked out not one, but three unidentified units closing in on his position as soon as it turned on.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered, turning in his seat to look to the monitor's left side where the enemies were approaching from. Turning his suit slightly, he engaged the weapons controls and tried to anticipate where they would come out from the trash immediately in his field of vision. He didn't have much time to think, as a pink blur shot through a gap on his right within seconds. The computer dutifully bracketed it and chimed for his attention as it tracked the enemy suit with an arrow that appeared on the panoramic screens. "Jesus! Rome, Isaiah, get out of here!" he yelled over the team channel, knowing the encryption wouldn't do him any good at this range - the communication would be picked up immediately even if they couldn't decipher it. He reached over and hurriedly ran through the commands to eject the data pods his suit carried as a purple Gaza-C appeared ahead of him, rising above a bit of metal just like he had envisioned.

"Shi--" he blurted, opening fire with the machinegun as the Gaza's knuckle buster flashed. The short stream of 90mm bullets flew wide as the beam lanced through the lieutenant's Eye-Zack destroying it instantly. The four data pods tumbled away into the garbage intact as his wingmen began to run for their lives.

- Alpha Team -

"Explosion ahead!" Stukov rumbled, "Engage and ensure the safety of our recon units,". He had barely finished giving the order by the time Dolk overtook him and flitted into the debris at full speed, bobbing and weaving around the trash effortlessly with his verniers and smooth movements to keep from losing momentum. The Griffin's advanced computer was already probing ahead, and it picked out three or four signals that were likely to be mobile suits, highlighting them for Stukov in his monitor. "They will resist us. How unfortunate for them," he said, smiling just slightly as he moved into the debris field.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 Space -

- The Dervish -
- Bridge -

"We're now in position one. Slowing down to temporarily hold here," Wade said, working quickly with the helm controls. "Good work. Keep the engines hot," Abbey nodded. "Eddie is taking Team 2 out now, sir. There seems to be a problem with the starboard catapult locks - Ens. Trask has failed to launch," Jane spoke up, reporting the mess developing outside. "Damn it. Get that Kanone unstuck - override the locks and get him out of here," the captain ordered. "Yes, sir. One of the mobile engineering teams is already on it," Jungst responded quickly. Filmore turned in his seat slightly to look at the captain and announced, "Captain, one of the Axis ships ahead of us is advancing. It hasn't opened fire yet,". "That'll still be a pretty long range," Wade commented. "Indeed. But they may intend to get much closer," Abbey nodded before gesturing to Jungst and ordering, "Gunnery teams stand by to reorient fire from launch support to that Axis vessel,".

- Team 1 -

Jacob's quick support fire oriented on Fritz' first opponent was quite effective, causing the Gaza-C to overcompensate and wildly fly even further out of formation. Fritz was quick to capitalize, firing another rocket soon after Markado's barrage that perfectly intercepted the wounded suit, blowing it completely apart with a hit center mass. "One," Fritz jokingly counted, thinking back to a wild story from the One Year War about Amuro Ray taking on a dozen Rick Doms. Or was it twenty? The unexpected attack from Wales was enough to put one of the survivors on guard, and the Gaza managed to avoid the cannon rounds from Celeste's support shots as it searched for a spot to get back into the action. Michiko fired another scattershot round that came close enough to detonate and ding another one of the four remaining enemies, but it soldiered on and returned fire enough to make her break off her attack.

- New Yark Team -

"A little help?!" House called out as he frantically returned fire at the Axis suits that were charging him. "I got it? Hey, guys, I got one! But I'd still like just a little help!" he amended his plea after managing to down one of them. "Support fire, hoo~!" Ramon called out, sliding forward in an impressive acrobatic maneuver. His Nemo seemed to 'jump' above Ethan's as he closed in, thrusting above him from behind and tipping forward into what looked almost like a forward flip. Hard AE took aim and fired a three round burst with his beam rifle at the apex of the rocket-assisted leap, tagging the other oncoming Gaza with the first and destroying it with the third as it wobbled in its course. Waclaw and Thibaut rushed forward to get ahead of Ethan to give him a small screen in case he needed a moment to recover, firing at the other two enemies to get them to back off. "Not bad, gentlemen, not bad. And nice trick, sir," Waclaw complimented his CO. "That's nothing," Thibaut said, "Wait until he takes out a beam saber,".

- Alfred -

Al mainly focused on staying with his teammates after his first few shots as they advanced on the Gazas. Once they were closer he fired again at the target he had missed before, this time not scoring a hit because of the pilot's reflexes instead of his unsteady aim at long range. He was slowly putting on blinders as he focused on that particular Gaza-C when he heard Paris react to the near miss that clipped her shield. "Damn it! H- GAH!" she yelled as she fought to keep her Nemo out of a tumble. "Paris!" Al yelled, abandoning his chase to roughly jerk back in her direction with a rash thruster change. “Al, I’ll cover you. Go for Paris!” Irene called out, only winding him up even more. "Back off!" he angrily yelled at the Axis suits, firing a wild four shot spread at the enemies closest to her. The suit that had been antagonizing her broke off its pursuit to avoid the fire, giving her some space and a moment to catch her breath. "Are you okay?" Al asked, blushing at the way he had yelled her name over the team channel at the first sign she was in danger.

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Gryps 2 -

- The Bindra -
- Bridge -

“Aye aye sir! Graden’s team is clear,” Raquel answered as she prepared to nudge the ship ahead. "Gunnery teams are preparing to recommence firing, sir. Our orders from the Trammel have not changed... Capt. M'Quve is still busy trying to redirect Capt. Bacon," Vada added without looking up from his station. “Moving us out at half speed ahead... Sir? I can angle her into a relative decent. It’ll place us below the horizon of some of the AEUG fleet and expose their underside to us. Yet our underside guns may not be able to aim at anything," Chief Reyes suggested as the Bindra lurched forward to cover her sister ships. Capt. Wald hooked his thumbs on his belt and nodded, "Good idea. If we come under attack from below we can rely on the mobile suits,". That assumed, of course, that there would be mobile suits left to come to their aid. The cobbled-together squadron they were acting as a part of should have at least 30 Gaza-Cs, but the majority of them were totally green...

- Julian Meighan -

"We know how good of a shot our gunners are, let's put some distance between us and the Bindra!" LtCmdr. Graden said, a slight buzz creeping in under his voice as interference began to affect their radio communications. All the beam fire coming from their own ships and the other activity going on was quickly making the Minovsky density shoot up. "Sir," Julian responded flatly, slowing a bit to make sure the rest of the team was ahead of him. They were his extra armor, after all, and he would make use of that for as long as he was able.

- Ahead of the Bindra -

"Get the other two!" Joson yelled at his team as he blasted the funny looking EWAC Hizack he had stumbled onto. The other pilots had tiptoed through the floating garbage per his orders, but hadn't noticed the Titans MS until they were practically on top of them. "Why didn't anyone speak up? I could've had it on that one, damn it! Keep your eyes open and go after the others!" he admonished the rookies as he flew through the wreckage of the Eye-Zack and spun into a new course to pursue the fleeing units. "We didn't see anything, sir... computers didn't pick anything up on our end until that radio chatter started," Lt. Ball said, answering for himself and Uzoma. "Sorry sir, I wasn't sure if my computer was tracking one of you guys, or..." Johnson said, his face a deep red. "Watch the goddamn IFF next time, ensign!" Joson growled as he accelerated around a shattered mirror panel. He caught a glimpse of one of the Eye-Zacks and fired at it, but the beam splashed against a piece of rock. The other five Gazas reoriented and fell in behind and beside their leader as they chased the retreating Titans recon units.

[King Monkey]

—ahead of the Bindra—

"Aye, aye, sir!" Djorn replied jovially over the radio back to Pris. He wasn't the least bit put off by her gentle rebuff. He didn't particularly expect her to react particularly positively to his flirtations. "This fight will be over before you know it."

With that said, he pushed ahead a bit, all too happy to play guard dog. His barking would no doubt come in the form of knuckle buster fire as soon as he got anywhere near optimal range of an enemy unit.

- Team 1 -

Jacob kept his head on a swivel, as it were. He was far enough back that he could see the entire battle involving his team. He was able to watch the ebb and flow of the fight almost like a pure spectator. The enemy were too far away to draw a real bead on him and the worst he had to worry about was stray fire aimed at someone else coming at him.

He spotted Michiko's little duel and looked away, expecting that her shot would take the Gaza out. A second later, he spotted the enemy indicator still flashing on his display in the corner of his eye and snapped his attention back. As it pressed its attack and put Michiko on her heels, he turned his full attention back.

He quickly fired a pair of twin blasts at the machine to turn the tide in Michiko's favor. The first were enough to make it draw up short while one of the second two blasts annihilated the machine's head. Given the design of the Suit, it wasn't a kill shot, but the pilot would have to wait for secondary cameras to kick in before he could continue the fight. Jacob suspected Michiko wouldn't give him that time.