Chapter 23: Turnaround

"I should have known none of you could be trusted!" Sylvie accused as she took away from Jefferson, looking as though she was now ready to take all of them on her own, "John! Get ready! If we have to fight our way out of here..."

"Sylvie calm, down..." John started as he glanced suspiciously at Yoko, feeling as though he was now being used as a pawn by this *****, "We don't have to resort to violence yet, although in the case of this kidnapper here..."

"Oh John, come on," Yoko interrupted gleefully, seemingly oblivious of the crime she had committed, "I DID hit you pretty hard. How could I have known that bruise wasn't life threatening?"

"Liar!" both John and Sylvie shouted in unison, their eyes now narrowing in anger. Yoko merely shrugged before deciding to reply.

"Come now, don't you trust me?" Yoko asked, trying to sound innocent, "We're all good friends, aren't we?"

"WHO'S YOUR FRIEND?!" John and Sylvie once again shouted in unison, which Yoko was now finding to be rather amusing. She was thinking of saying something else that would elicit another such reaction, but then decided against it. It would be much more fun if she just shared her "observations"....

"My, my both of you seem to operate on exactly the same wavelength..." Yoko observed as her lips formed a wicked smile, her eyes now glowing with mischief, "If I were you Sylvie, I would have tried to steal John away from Cynthia when you still had a chance. You two would have made a far lovelier couple, and I would have had one less homicidal maniac to deal with."

"That's it... Forget about what I said earlier..." John muttered angrily as he rolled up his sleeves, seemingly intent on following Sylvie's earlier suggestion, "Nobody gets away with an insult involving my wife, so you'd better prepare yourself Yoko..."

"And that's also one insult too many, Captain Nagato," Sylvie agreed as she readied her stance, her eyes now trailing Yoko as a hawk would its prey, "Find me a knife John. That dirty little tongue comes off today."

"Enough! All of you!" Jefferson demanded, finally stepping in and wondering what in the world he could do to stop a bloodbath from taking place, "I'm still the ranking officer here, and I order all of you to..."

"With all due respect, Colonel, I'm still a civilian," John reminded, "Sorry, but you can't order me around. Violation of civil rights, remember?"

"I am still officially a Federal officer, and I haven't defected to your cause yet, Colonel," Sylvie reminded as well, "Technically, I'm still an enemy, so I suggest that you just stay in the sidelines so you can avoid my wrath. I don't really have any qualms about executing former Zeon officers, especially ones who make a living out of breaking the law." Jefferson's now angry gaze then turned to Yoko.

"Sir, I was just trying to help," Yoko replied, trying to act as though nothing had happened, "Besides, you did want me around for the recruitment, didn't you sir? I mean, after all, I did bring along an incentive for..."

"That's it Captain Nagato, I've had it with you!" Jefferson suddenly bellowed, surprising both John and Sylvie, "I wanted to do this later, but with this stunt, I can tell that you're begging for it. You're demoted back to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant, and until I say otherwise ALL of your shore leave privileges are automatically revoked. Now get out of here before I decide to throw you into the brig, am I understood?!"

"What?!" Yoko replied too automatically, and found herself regretting it as Jefferson's gaze grew angrier, "Sir, with all due respect, you can't just demote me over this little scuffle..."

"Are you sure that's all?" John reminded, smiling smugly as he did so. For once, it seemed that Yoko had finally met her match, and it would be a lot more satisfying to see her humiliated in this way rather than the more violent course of action he and Sylvie had been planning earlier, "I seem to recall that you SHOT me in the leg when we're still back on Earth, and you promised to plead guilty when the charges have finally been filed..."

"That's another matter," Yoko replied testily, "You were interfering in a military operation, and if you pulled THAT stunt on a Titans officer you'd be charged with treason right about now, so don't act as if..."

"_Lieutenant_ Nagato, may I remind you that Mister Recto wouldn't have interfered if somebody hadn't kidnapped him in the first place?" Jefferson replied as he threw a datapad over to Yoko, "O'Connor has kindly forwarded Captain Powell's report concerning your actions over the past couple of weeks, and if you think we'll tolerate such actions, you are sadly mistaken."

"Sir, look..." Yoko started, her voice now turning serious as she realized that her plans were now being put in jeopardy, "I only committed those actions because they were part of the operation to liberate Subject V, and as a former Zeon officer, you should know that..."

"Yoko, don't play that old favoritism game with me, I'm already being very lenient," Jefferson replied tiredly, "If it was the Forrestal who made the pick up instead of me, Colonel Ross would have already shoved you out of an airlock without a normal suit. Now get out of here and consider yourself under house arrest for the next two days. Till then try to cool off and stay the hell out of my sight."

"And mine as well..." Sylvie agreed, though still eyeing Jefferson with suspicion. Jefferson may seem to be a more honorable soldier, but she knew that all of this could just be nothing more than a show, "Unless of course you're dying to have your tongue cut off. Rest assured, next time we meet I'll have a rusty knife in hand just for that purpose."

"More hollow threats, Subject V?" Yoko asked as she turned her attention to back to Sylvie, ignoring Jefferson's order, "Don't forget that I was the one who rescued you, and as long as you are in our custody..."

"Yoko, please, just leave already, Sylvie's already got enough people in her hit list," Jefferson ordered tiredly, "And thanks to your demotion, you no longer have any jurisdiction over Captain Gressiere, so I suggest you find a Newtype somewhere else. I'll be handling this operation from now own, understood?"

"Fine, sir," Yoko replied, her eyes still locked on Sylvie, "But mark my words, without me you'll never get her to perform, and I might as well have brought back a corpse."

"We'll see Lieutenant," Jefferson replied as he glanced at Sylvie, who, despite all of his efforts, was still looking at him with suspicion, "We'll see..."
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"Have we picked them up?" Major Benito Ferrelli, commanding officer of the Titans Alexandria class cruiser Dorcetshire, demanded as he turned to his lead sensor operator, "I thought you had two contacts."

"Yes sir, but we still aren't sure if it's them," the operator replied, frustration evident in his voice, "They both _seem_ like Salamis class cruisers, and they are both in the general vicinity of our designated search area, but I can't guarantee it's those rebels. It could just be another orbital patrol, or a pair of freighters out on a supply run, or..."

"Or it could be them," Ferrelli cut off, "How close do we need to get before we can make a positive identification?"

"I'm not sure sir," the operator replied nervously, feeling as though he may have made a mistake reporting that contact in the first place, "Minvosky particle densities are increasing in our area, and it's already jamming most of our radars and all of our communications. We may have to get within visual range before we can make a positive identification."

"That's perfectly fine with me sir," a blonde man of European descent declared as he stormed into the room, looking rather annoyed at this latest development, "It's probably those rebels anyway, so let's stop wasting time debating the issue. Besides, the closer you can get my Mobile Suits to those ships, the better."

"And what makes you so certain, Captain Filitov?" Ferrelli asked as he turned to the new arrival, who incidentally was also the ship's Mobile Suit commander, "I hope that the death of your brother isn't clouding your judgment."

"Mikhail was a fool and he should have been more careful," Filitov replied coldly, seemingly unconcerned at the death of his younger brother, "Our only concern should be killing off more of these spacenoid sheep. Earth has tolerated these inferiors for far too long, and the sooner we can kill all of them, the better."

"That's a rather cruel thing to say, Iosef," the Major objected, though not very strongly. Iosef Filitov was not a particularly kind man, but Ferrelli also knew that it made him a very effective soldier, one who was worthy of his respect, "Perhaps you should mourn a bit for your brother. We're still about a day away from those rebels anyway."

"Had the positions been reversed, I would have wanted Mikhail to do exactly the same thing as I am," Filitov replied dryly, "There is simply no room for mercy nor sentiment in war."

"Very well then Captain, I won't argue with you any further on both issues," Ferrelli concluded, "Set a course for those contacts. Maximum speed."
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"Finally..." Jefferson muttered to himself as a spiteful Yoko finally left the room, revenge obviously still on top of her agenda. But for now, he had gained a small respite, as well as something that could possibly prove immensely useful in this particular negotiation...

"Serves her right," John declared happily, "It's about time that SOMEBODY finally teach her a lesson that she won't soon forget..."

"I would have agreed, but I still haven't forgotten that all of this could just be a show," Sylvie reminded, her eyes still locked on Jefferson, "Well is it Colonel? Is all this just a trick to get on my better side?"

"No tricks Sylvie. Yoko's excesses have been going on for far too long, and it was about time somebody finally reminded her of the rules," Jefferson replied, trying to sound as sincere as possible, "However, I don't think you'll take my word for it, will you?"

"Not really," Sylvie replied dryly, "However, there may be something else that you can do to gain my trust..."

"And what would that be, Captain?" Jefferson asked, though already having a good idea of what she would request, "Are you going to ask us to send John home?"

"It was one of your own who brought him into this predicament, and if you had any honor, you'd get him back safely to his family," Sylvie confirmed, "He's a non-combatant anyway, and his place is back in Manila, not out here fighting in space."

"And just to sweeten the deal, I'd also be willing to take Sylvie out of your hands if you send me back home," John added, "I know she's been causing a lot of tension within your group lately, and since I don't think she wants to keep on fighting anyway..."

"John, for the last time, I will not endanger your life or that of your family!" Sylvie countered before John could finish, "Those Titans are after me John, and if you think you can hide away in the Philippines..."

"Actually, the Philippines is about the WORST place you can choose to hide in right about now," Jefferson added before either of them could continue their debate, realizing that both of them probably hadn't known what has been happening in the Philippines for the past couple of days, "The Titans have recently imposed martial law on the islands, and they're already shipping in hundreds of troops to ensure the stability of the region. So far, civilian casualties have been light, but their tactics have begun to become increasingly brutal over the..."

"Wait a minute, are you trying to tell me that those *******s have occupied my home country?!" John demanded as he felt his heart beat faster, realizing Cynthia may now be in grave danger, "How the hell could they do that?! And why?!"

"It seems that the Titans are trying to impress Dakar with their military prowess, and after the attack on Subic, it gave them the perfect excuse to occupy those islands," Jefferson replied grimly, "Unfortunately, this doesn't seem to be the only operation they have planned for this month..."

"John, pay no attention to him, all of this is a lie," Sylvie interrupted cynically, "The Titans don't have enough forces in Asia to stage an operation of that magnitude, and all of this is probably just a cover story to make you work for them. I know the facts, Colonel Jefferson, and I'm pretty certain they do not support your story."

"Actually Captain Gressiere, they took most of their troops from Western Europe," Jefferson answered reasonably, "In fact, they've almost stripped the European Theater dry of combat-ready troops, so much so that a company of veteran troops could probably conquer all of Europe in under a day. I have some satellite photos on hand if..."

"Look, Colonel, Sylvie, that's not important," John demanded as he barged into their argument, now looking rather tense and apprehensive, "I want to contact my wife. I have to make sure that she's safe and..."

"We have an exfiltration specialist watching over your family, and this time I think we'll be able to establish two-way communications once he makes contact," Jefferson replied, "However, because of Minovsky interference it might still take a while for..."

"Hold it, exfiltration specialist?" Sylvie interrupted, "Isn't exfiltration the term spies use to describe the extraction of a person from hostile territory? You don't plan on kidnapping his family as a final resort, do you?"

"Captain, I don't care if you don't believe me, but Mr. Recto's family has been under strict Titans surveillance for the past several days," Jefferson countered, now starting to lose some of his patience, "And as far as we can tell, it has become Titans policy to execute suspected Kalaba agents along with their entire families. At least three families have already been executed for allegedly helping a Kalaba submarine that docked in Manila, and if they find anything suspicious they could very well..."

"Who's families have been executed?" John suddenly asked silently, taking Jefferson's previous statement as fact. Sylvie however, seemingly remained unconvinced.

"John, listen to me..." Sylvie started, "We still aren't sure if this is all a trick, and even if it isn't..."

"Sylvie, you know very well that the Titans are quite capable of doing this, and it's about time we stopped turning a blind eye," John countered as he turned to face her eye to eye, biting his lip in guilt in the process, "And you know very well that we both shouldn't just stand by and do nothing. It's one thing to execute a man for fighting back. It's another thing to wipe out his family, because in the end, family is all that you've really got..."

"John, you know that I can't join AEUG because of that *******, and neither should you..." Sylvie replied, realizing his intent, "You have a family now, and I am not going to let you risk your life again! Just go back home and..."

"Sylvie, you should have known me long enough to know that my conscience won't allow that," John replied sadly, feeling pity for her now that she was in this state, "You've changed, you know that? You've let your hatred get the better of you, and you're allowing your own selfish motives to cloud your judgment. What happened to the caring old Sylvie that I used to know? The one who'd jump into the fray and risk life and limb because she thought it was the right thing to do? What happened to her?"

'She's dead, John...' Sylvie thought sadly to herself as she turned away, unable to meet his gaze, 'I killed her John... I killed her because...'

"Look, both of you, none of this is necessary," Jefferson interrupted, trying once again to be the voice of reason, "AEUG is a volunteer outfit, and we'll rescue John's family no matter what decision you make. And if you still have any doubts, I'll try to patch you up to Cynthia as soon as possible. That way you can be sure that all if this isn't just another lie to make you..."

"Colonel, sir, I do believe you," John declared, his eyes still locked on Sylvie, "And I think the Shigure is going to be needing a new skipper. Do you have a permanent Captain's commission ready for me?"

"John, please..." Jefferson started, realizing Sylvie was the one who was probably getting hurt the most by this little exchange, despite her apparent indifference to his decision, "I already promised you the safety of your family, and you don't have to..."

"Colonel, sir, with all due respect, it's personal now," John replied dryly, still waiting for Sylvie to respond, "Those bullies had the gall to threaten my family and to kill some of my countrymen, and if Cynthia were here, I'm pretty sure she'd agree with me that it's high time we start fighting back. My only concern now is whether or not Sylvie will be able to put aside her hatred and get back to her old self. This war is going to be won a lot faster with her fighting for our side."

'The old me is dead, John, why can't you understand that?!' Sylvie thought angrily to herself but did not say out loud. She knew that even if she did, he wouldn't change his mind anyway, and her words would only be in vain. Some part of her still wanted to protect him, if only for his family, but while Ming was around she couldn't possibly...

"Very well then, I'll forward your request to high command immediately. They should have a commission ready for you soon," Jefferson replied quietly, still looking at the silent Captain Gressiere, "What about you then, Sylvie? Will you be joining us? I know it's a hard choice, so you don't have to answer immediately. Take all the time that you need."

"I don't need any more time, I already have an answer," Sylvie replied callously, her heart and mind finally coming to a decision. She gave them both her answer.
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August 4, UC 0087.
Side 2, Bunch 32 Colony. Docks District.

"NO!" Juan and Fiona Ignacio both answered indignantly together after the military "representative" had finished revealing his "proposal". A veteran former Federal officer, Juan Ignacio had perhaps been one of the best, and definitely one of the most creative, Mobile Suit pilots of the One Year War, and because of his honored status he had often been asked to help train newly inducted recruits for the Federal Navy. He had often agreed to these training sessions in the past, but now, with a baby on the way, both he and Fiona had agreed that the military would no longer play a part in their lives, regardless of what was going on in the Earth Sphere. Unfortunately for them, what was going on in the Earth Sphere was rarely accommodating.

"Mr. Ignacio, please, reconsider," the black-uniformed officer replied reasonably, "It will only be a few short weeks, and you'll have full pay as a commissioned officer holding the rank of Captain. It will be... less troublesome than if you refused."

"And if keep on refusing?" Juan replied defiantly, pulling Fiona closer to him to reassure her, "What then?"

"Well..." the Titans officer replied as he snapped his fingers, signaling his squad of thugs to enter the room, "I guess we'll just have to beat you up, then arrest you for treason. We don't really like spacenoid pilots like you. They have an awful tendency to defect."
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August 4, UC 0087.
AEUG Cruiser Shigure. Somewhere over Earth Orbit.

'For jailers, they sure know how to treat people nicely..." Sylvie thought to herself as she inspected the contents of her "prison cell" for about the n-th time in the past two days. After her refusal of Jefferson's final offer, both he and _Major_ John Recto had provided her with an officer's quarters to stay in for the duration of the campaign. Giving her comfortable quarters was undoubtedly another tactic to get to her "better" side, but she had to admit this was far better than any cell the Titans had ever provided for her. Better yet, she hadn't seen either Ming or Yoko for the past two days, and she could almost feel her blood pressure returning to normal. In fact, she realized, things would have been perfect if she just didn't have a roommate...

"Umm... Miss Sylvie?" Gina asked meekly as she stared into the ceiling, seemingly looking for something that wasn't very visible, "A...Are you sure that they put cameras there to watch over us?"

"For the last time Miss Gina Devereux, yes they probably did," Sylvie replied tiredly, also for about the n-th time in the past two days, as she rolled her eyes in frustration. Gina was both naive and innocent, qualities that were totally inappropriate for one wearing the Titan's uniform, and Sylvie had to admit to herself that it was hard to be mean to her. If there was ANYONE who should have been recruited into the AEUG ranks, it had to be her, but so far her membership was being delayed until her "pilgrimage" to Bunch 30...

"So... sorry mam," Gina replied nervously, still rather scared of the cold-hearted woman in front of her, "I'll... I'll shut up now..."

"Good," Sylvie answered as laid her head against a pillow, wanting to return to the sanctity of her thoughts until Gina's sudden interruption. She had been contemplating what John... and Jefferson, had both told her two days ago, and she had to admit that... that she had felt a little troubled by their words. Jefferson's claims about the Philippines later proved truthful, John being able to confirm those reports when he was finally able to contact Cynthia, and she began to feel rather... guilty that she had mistrusted Jefferson all along. But he was still related to Ming, and as long as that ******* was around, it really didn't matter if Jefferson was trustworthy, did it?

"Ummm... mam..." Gina suddenly started, now looking rather tense and apprehensive, "Could you..."

"You need to go, don't you?" Sylvie asked off-handedly with a sigh, deciding to add both shy and conservative to the long list of Gina's more "peaceful" traits. The shy Gina indeed responded with a very tempered nod.

"Alright..." Sylvie replied with a sigh, before staring straight up towards a light fixture. She knew that they often put bugs and listening devices in there, and she had no doubt they were going to hear what she had to say... "Alright you perverts! You heard the lady! No peeping Toms!"
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"Yes mam!" O'Connor snapped as he turned off the screen, paying his respects to Gina's wishes, "Sir, please, could you find a FEMALE operator to..."

"Relax O'Connor, at least they can be assured that the person monitoring them is an honest guy who would never take advantage of them," Major John Recto encouraged with a smile, "Besides, Liv is still busy tending to Jean, while Nikki is... well, acting like Nikki. For now you're doing a fine job."

"But sir, look, is this really necessary?" O'Connor asked desperately, his face now turning red in embarrassment, "I mean, I don't think either of them want to escape, and with just a little bit more convincing both of them would be fighting for AEUG, wouldn't they?"

"O'Connor, this is just a precaution. Ming and his buddies don't exactly trust the two of them you know," John suggested as he lowered his voice, still wary of the fact that some officers around here still held some grudges. True, things were a little less tense now, but the casualties had proven to be very heavy, with less than thirty percent of the Hover Battalion's men making it out alive, and such losses was often bad for the discipline of the crew, "Besides, the two of them seem to be getting along pretty well, so just consider it a subtle form of therapy."

"Just like the daily news, sir?" O'Connor asked, referring to the "news report" he had to give daily to Captain Gressiere, "Are you sure they are helping?"

"Sylvie doesn't look like it, but she does like to stay informed," John replied with a grin, "By the way, tell her that I managed to contact Cynthia again, and so far she's managed to elude those Titans. They're putting off the exfiltration until things cool down, but until then she thinks they'll be pretty safe. Cynthia's getting a little worried she might be pregnant again though."

"Alright sir, I'll get it done," O'Connor replied with a nod, "Anything else?"

"No, nothing really," John replied with a shrug, "Except maybe tell her that the engines are still acting up. It's been a ***** trying to maintain top speed ever since we've launched..."
---------------
"Positive identification sir! It's them!" the Dorcetshire's lead sensor operator declared as he displayed several enlarged pictures on screen, "Two Salamis Kai class cruisers. One is wearing AEUG colors while the other is clearly the one those rebels captured at New Guinea. They currently have no Mobile Suits out on patrol."

"But rest assured, they will launch them once they see us," Filitov advised, "Sir, I suggest an immediate pre-emptive strike on those cruisers with everything that we've got. Let's try to hit them before they can deploy their Mobile Suits."

"Agreed," Major Ferelli responded, "How are your teams loaded?"

"Sir, my Marasai is equipped with a standard loadout," Filitov responded smartly, "Hizack Teams 1 and 2 are using the standard machine gun and beam saber configuration, while Hizack Team 3 is equipped with beam rifles. This configuration should give us adequate fire support even without the Dorcetshire's guns."

"Perfect," Ferrelli replied eagerly, now anxious to get the battle started, "Captain, launch all Mobile Suits! Begin the attack!"
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"Oh ****..." the O'Bannon's sensor operator blurted out loud as a large contact suddenly appeared on his screen, "Sir! I've got a large contact, bearing 1-7-8! It looks like an Alexandria class cruiser!"

"****... Why didn't you pick it up sooner?!" Jefferson demanded as he turned his attention to his sensor operator, "Is it the Dorcetshire?!"

"Unknown sir! I'm getting massive Minovsky jamming!" the operator replied in a panicked tone, "I think they are launching their Mobile Suits!"

"Sir, this is Lieutenant O'Brien! I'm ready and itching to go!" the angry Irishman's voice suddenly declared over the intercom, "I've been waiting for some action all week, and it's about bloody time something happen!"

"Damn it O'Brien, you can't go out there on your own yet!" Jefferson ordered as he started contacting the other Mobile Suit pilots on his ship, "Ming! Where are you?! Can you..."

"Sir, this is Ming, I'm already in the hangar," the Chinese pilots voice responded over the radio, "The Rick Dias is also about 80% operational. I'm going out now."

"Ming, are you SURE you can handle this?" Jefferson asked worriedly, fearing that Ming's injuries would get the better of him, "You still have some serious wounds, and you might want somebody else to..."

"I can handle it, SIR," Ming replied testily, "Just don't expect me to do any favors for that ***** on the Shigure. I'll be shoving a beam sabre through her cabin if I ever get the chance."

'Oh boy...' Jefferson thought to himself, but deciding to ignore the issue for the moment, "Alright! Get going and stop those *******s from getting near. I don't want to see how reliable our anti-aircraft weapons are against enemy Mobile Suits."

"Will do sir," Ming replied as he signed off. A few seconds later, his Rick Dias would be the first to rocket off the O'Bannon's deck, with O'Brien's GM II following closely behind. Jefferson then turned his attention to the Shigure.

"Contact Major Recto and make sure he gets his Mobile Suits out," Jefferson ordered, realizing that Yun and Erich had yet to launch from the O'Bannon's sister ship, "And get somebody to fetch Yoko from her quarters. That Barzam is going to need a pilot, and with odds like this, it might as well be her..."
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"Damn it Nikki, I thought you had our backs covered!" John demanded as he took the command seat, a little angry that they had been surprised by that enemy cruiser, "How many enemy Mobile Suits are there?!"

"Sir... I... " Nikki started nervously, her hands now shaking in fear as she remembered what had happened to Colonel Mason, "I..."

"Damn it, we don't have time for this..." John muttered as he turned to his sensor operator, "Nikki, pull your head together or I'm going to find someone else to man the sensor. Am I understood?!"

"Yes... Yes sir!" Nikki replied, snapping momentarily back to reality, "We... We have one Alexandria class in our baffles, along with all ten of its Mobile suit escorts... O'Bannon has already launched its Mobile Suits sir."

"Good, start launching ours," John ordered as he turned to his communications officer, "And sound a general alarm throughout the ship! I don't want anybody caught napping once this fight finally gets serious!"
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"Damn, I thought we had caught them napping..." Captain Filitov observed as several AEUG Mobile Suits now appeared in his screen. Though their numbers were hardly impressive, in general they had superior Mobile Suits, as well as possibly more experienced pilots. He would have to make use of his numerical superiority if he was to succeed, and he was already formulating a plan to ensure the AEUG forces' downfall... "Alright, Team 3, stay with me and let's try to pin down those Mobile Suits. Teams 1 and 2, concentrate on flanking around their Mobile Suits and start hitting those ships with melee attacks. Now move out!"
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"Lieutenants Hitachi and Thompson, reporting as ordered sir," Yun reported enthusiastically as his Nemo finally caught up with Ming, the young pilot now happy to be under the command of somebody HE trusted once again, "Sorry we were late sir. Shigure's catapult still has some problems."

"Don't worry about it Yun, just concentrate on the fight ahead," Ming suggested as he set his sights on the approaching Titans Mobile Suits, "Now remember, these are Hizack types with only 120mm Machine Guns. Try to use you beam rifle's range advantage to..."

"****! Incoming!" O'Brien warned as a volley of beams suddenly headed straight in their direction, several shots very nearly scoring hits on the surprised AEUG pilots, "Sir, I don't know about you, but those sure as HELL look like beams to me..."

"****, they must have modified some of those Hizacks..." Ming concluded, rather annoyed that those Titans had been smart enough to rectify that particular deficiency of the Hizack, "Alright! Pull back and try to draw them within range of the cruisers' guns. We're going to need all the fire support that we can get!"
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"Sir, they are pulling back to their ships," the squad leader of Team 3 reported over the radio, "Should we pursue sir? It looks like they're trying to draw us within the range of those capital ships' guns. Maybe we should wait for the Dorcetshire to even the odds?"

"That's going to take too long," Filitov countered as he personally signaled his men to move forward, seemingly oblivious to the threat posed by the enemy ships, "Just remind Teams 1 and 2 of their primary mission. If they just do their job, then those ships shouldn't last very long at all..."
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"Yoko, get going!" Jefferson ordered as he nervously watched his turrets rotate into position, aiming at one of the incoming Hizacks, "Ming is outnumbered ten to four! Make the odds a little bit more even!"

"Yeah, yeah, hold your horses sir," Yoko replied a little resentfully, feeling as though she was only being "appreciated" when things got hairy, "This damn cockpit still has Sylvie's stench in it, and I..."

"Yoko, launch now, complain later," Jefferson ordered as he turned his attention back to the incoming Titans Mobile Suit, whose images were now getting bigger and bigger... "Are they within range?!"

"They're just entering our fire envelope sir!" the gunner responded, "The Shigure has also locked onto her targets!"

"Alright, don't give them a chance to get close!" Jefferson ordered, "Commence firing!"
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'Surprise, surprise...' Ming thought to himself as the Titans line quickly ran afoul of the AEUG cruisers' beam fire, scattering their formation and damaging several of their Mobile Suits. To his surprise however, the Titans pressed on their attack, and he only belatedly realized that they were a lot closer than he had thought...

"****! Get moving!" Ming ordered as he dodged several beams sent in his direction, before firing a few of his own in return. His return fire did little to the enemy Mobile Suits however, but fortunately for him the rest of his team had fired back as well, and they were a little more succesful than their commander. Both Yun and O'Brien damaged a Hizack apiece, while Erich managed to kill another one outright. But the Titans still had numerical superiority, and as they quickly closed the distance between them and the AEUG Mobile Suits, Ming realized that it would only be a matter of time before they were overrun...

"Sir, I don't think we can take all of them..." Erich suggested nervously, already firing his retro-rockets in an effort to keep his distance from the onrushing Titans, "What do we do?!"

"Pull back, but keep firing at those *******s!" Ming ordered as he started heading back towards the O'Bannon, still firing his beam rifle at the enemy as he did so, "Try to wear them down before they get to the ships!"

"But sir!" O'Brien protested, now feeling overwhelmed by the enemy's numbers, "Even WITH AA gun support we can't possibly take on nine enemy Mobile Suits with just..."

"Damn it O'Brien, I know that!" Ming shouted back in frustration, still firing his weapon madly at the enemy Mobile Suits, "But I don't have a choice!"
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"Anti-aircraft batteries! Get ready!" John ordered as he watched several Titans Hizacks breakthrough the line of AEUG Mobile Suits, and knowing that most of them were out to target his ship, "And get me Sylvie! Tell her that..."

"Incoming!" Nikki screamed as a Hizack expended its missile packs on the Shigure, scoring several hits just below the bridge. Most of the command crew was thrown off their seats and left floating in the air, but the armor plating had held, preventing a catastrophic explosion that would have most certainly resulted in their deaths, "Si... Sir! We've got more Hizacks coming in!!!"

"You don't need to tell me anything more John, I know you're under attack," Sylvie's callous voice suddenly declared over the intercom, "And I am NOT going to help you. You wanted this, so just rely on your AA batteries to protect your ship."

"Sylvie, you know very well that those ****ing batteries aren't worth a damn!" John replied angrily as he got back into his seat, only to be promptly thrown off again as another explosion rocked the Shigure, "Don't make me remind you again of what a ***** of a pilot you were during the war! You nearly got me killed far too many times!"

"And I'm also a ***** of a pilot that has saved your *** far too many times," Sylvie reminded coldly, but... once again, feeling the protests of her conscience, "Besides, I thought you re-assigned my Barzam to Yoko. What am I supposed to use?!"

"You know, I just remembered..." John replied as he braced himself for another impact, several 120mm shells now damaging the ship's catapult, "Aren't MSMs supposed to be air-tight, even in space?"

"You are NOT making me fly Yoko's Mobile Suit."
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'I HATE this Mobile Suit...' Yoko thought to herself as she finally scored a kill, wishing that she could have flown in something that was more... "extraordinary". She was SpecOp specialist, not a ground pounder who...

"Capt... I mean Lieutenant," Ming started as he pulled up beside Yoko's Barzam, using the touch-to-touch radio, "O'Brien's GM II has been damaged. We need to establish a defensive ring around the O'Bannon to..."

"The O'Bannon only sir?" Yoko asked as quickly as she could, still wary of Titans Mobile Suits flying all over the place, "What about the Shigure? Are you just..."

"Yoko, you should understand," Ming replied quietly, "We can only save one ship, and you should know which one I'm choosing."

"Well, you ARE my superior officer, sir," Yoko replied with a wry grin, "We both seem to like to hold grudges, you know that? Maybe we should talk about it if we survive..."
---------------
"Ming, what the hell are you doing...?" Jefferson muttered as the O'Bannon was rocked by another series of explosions. His Mobile Suits were now forming a defensive ring around the O'Bannon, but he was leaving the Shigure completely unprotected. He wouldn't be doing this unless...

"Sir! O'Brien's Mobile Suit is returning!" a technician reported as a damaged GM II appeared over the O'Bannon's bow, both its arms having blown off earlier by a pair of beams. Suddenly, a well-placed shot went right through the GM II's chest, scoring a direct hit in its reactor. Jefferson's jaw dropped as he saw that happen, knowing full well what would happen next...
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"That's it! Shift your attention to the other ship," Filitov ordered as the GM II exploded into a massive nuclear fireball, scorching the bow of the enemy cruiser and damaging much of its superstructure. One of the enemy cruisers was undoubtedly crippled now, and he could now focus all of his attention on destroying the second...
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Notes:

- AEUG bugs are indeed usually placed iin the ceiling light fixtures, as was the case in Emma's interrogation in the Zeta TV series.
- There's one reference each for Redcommet's "What Cost for Freeedom" and HDS's "In Vain Doth Valour Bleed." I wonder if anybody caught them ^_^.