Chapter 11: Contingences
"Yoko, I think you'd better get out of there..."
Liv warned tersely as she did a final low-level sweep over Manila. Like Yoko,
she and Gordon had been trying to stave off the bombers now peppering Manila
Bay with depth charges, but now battle damage and rapidly dwindling fuel stocks
were now forcing her to head for the nearest AEUG safe haven. She quickly
grimaced as she spotted some trouble, "****... Three GM IIs heading for
you Yoko, Titans colors all of them." "More fresh meat..." Yoko observed as she checked
her beam gun, now down to a mere five shots at best, "Which direction are
they coming from?" "Yoko, I gotta get out of here now and you can't
possibly..." Liv started. "Just get out of here, and I'll handle them," Yoko
replied coolly as she placed her Zugock behind the nearest warehouse for cover,
"Now tell me where they're coming from." "Fine, but if anybody is hurt in any way..." Liv
started again. "I'll make sure your precious Jean will survive Miss
Sondergard," Yoko replied acidly, "Now send me those
coordinates." --------------- "We have hit the harbor bottom!" the conn officer
reported as John wiped some sweat off his forehead, "Torpedoes are still
closing in!" "Engine status?!" John demanded as he took a look
at the torpedoes' sonar track, "Please tell me that you've managed to shut
them down now..." "Done sir!" Scott reported quickly over the
intercom, "Engines are at ultra quiet!" "John, those torps are still coming..." Jean
reminded. "No..." John replied as he took one quick look at
the sonar track, "They won't..." --------------- "Hit!" the lead sonarman aboard the U-632 reported
just as the sound of two explosions reached their submarine, "I have two
explosions!" "Hull breaking noises?!" Naguchi demanded. "None yet sir," the sonarman replied, "But
we're in shallow water and..." "That IS the problem warrant officer," Naguchi
growled. The enemy submarine had been attempting to dive deeper after they had
fired the torpedoes at her, and to him that only indicated that it was trying
to hide in the harbor bottom. True, his torpedoes had been wire-guided, but it was
difficult to pick out a submarine from random rocks on the ocean floor, and
with those decoys making the weapons officer's task more difficult... "Sir! We have detected an additional Prober class
submarine in the harbor," the lead sonarman reported, "Should
we..." "No, activate active sonar and search the harbor
bottom!" Naguchi ordered, "Make sure that enemy submarine has been
destroyed!" --------------- "Christ John..." Jean started as he started
breathing again. The two torpedoes have managed to miss them by a few hundred
meters, but most of the explosive force had been absorbed by several large rock
formations now surrounding the U-606, "How did you..." "Mapped every inch of this harbor bottom back in 82',
and I remember it was pretty rocky around here," John explained,
"Lucky those torps hit the rocks instead of us. I wasn't sure if..." "WASN'T SURE?!" Jean nearly screamed, "What
do you mean...?!" John was about to tell Jean to drop it when several loud
pings began to resonate throughout the sub. John muttered a curse in Filipino
as he realized they were being tracked by active sonar. "****! The ******* was better than I thought..."
John growled as he took a look at the sonar screen, "Ready two torpedoes
and..." "Sir! We don't have torpedoes yet!" Scott reported
nervously, "We're getting tube 1 up now, but we didn't have time to fix
them thanks to..." "Then what the hell DO we have?!" John asked in a
near panicked tone, "Because if we don't..." "Sir... the enemy submarine is turning..." the
lead sonarman suddenly reported in a surprised tone, "She seems to be
changing course..." "Going after the X-7?!" John asked, suddenly
remembering Honour would have been more vulnerable than him with active
sonar... "No sir..." the sonarman responded a mixture of
shock and elation in his voice, "It's another submarine..." --------------- AEUG submarine U-557. Five thousand meters behind the U-632. "Ohhhh... ****, looks like we've just been spotted by
our little prey here..." Technical Sergeant Nikki Torecelli, the pretty,
short haired, seventeen year old lead sonarwoman of the U-557, reported as she
made a lightning fast mental calculation in her head, "Suggest two torps,
snapshot at bearing 078, set to run at exactly..." "Sixty five feet, yes our little witch, we know,"
skipper Ken Mason finished for her before she could start ordering HIS people
around again, "Fire tubes 1 and 2 and prepare for evasive maneuvers!" "Yes sir... torpedoes away..." Nikki reported,
though with a disapproving frown on her face after being called a witch AGAIN,
"Enemy submarine is evading and firing a pair of fish in return, bearing
070. Suggest..." "Drop down to two hundred and fifty feet, and launch a
pair of decoys!" Ken ordered, "And Nikki, concentrate on finding the
606 instead! I'll handle the command details!" "But sir..." Nikki started. "Just do it kid, this is no time for another
disciplinary lesson..." --------------- "How many submarines do the rebels have anyway?!"
Naguchi shouted outloud in anger just as he ordered evasive maneuvers for his
submarine. He had fully expected to find only one U-class submarine in the
harbor, but his active sonar sweep had revealed a SECOND U-class, and this one
didn't seem too friendly at all... "We've gotten a positive identification on her!"
the lead sonarman reported, "U-class number 557. But... sir... according
to our records..." "She was lost in the middle of the Atlantic, all hands
lost," Naguchi muttered. And as usual, he thought, the reports of their
demise were once again exaggerated, "Once we evade those torpedoes, set a
course for open water as soon as possible. We may need some breathing room
soon..." --------------- Maybe I shouldn't have been so confident... Yoko thought to
herself as she evaded a volley of beams sent in her direction. This team of GM
IIs was proving tougher than she thought. In fact, they were probably the
toughest team she'd faced in this little campaign as of yet, capable enough to
damage one of her arms in a coordinated beam attack. Not that she'd hadn't nibbled the odds down a bit, of
course, she thought as she took cover behind another group of warehouses. She
had probably damaged at least two of them now, one of them probably suffering
enough damage to be put out of action, but the sole undamaged GM was still
giving her trouble, with time running out on her. She had a schedule to keep. A
VERY tight schedule... "Hawkins, spotted it yet?" Natalie whispered over
the radio as she in between checking the damage on Ivan's GM, which had been
crippled by a well-placed shot fired by the Zugock. Ivan had been lucky that
the shot took out his GM's legs rather than his cockpit, but she was a man down
now with slight damage to her own unit, and taking down a Zugock was no small
matter to undertake... "I think our enemy is hiding behind that green-roofed
warehouse mam," Hawkins reported in an equally quiet tone, "Around
twenty five degrees left of your current orientation. I have no shot on it as
of the moment..." "Take the shot anyway Hawkins," Natalie ordered,
"Try to flush the ******* out..." "Understood," Hawkins replied, "However, I
suggest that..." "I get ready before it comes out with guns blazing, I
know Hawkins," Natalie replied testily, "Now take the shot." Hawkins nodded as he quickly fired a single shot that went
through the warehouse. To his surprise, neither an explosion nor an angry
Mobile Suit appeared afterwards... ...instead, a beam came in from a totally different
direction, and Hawkin's Mobile Suit quickly took a hit that lopped off its left
arm. As he struggled to locate the enemy unit, a second beam suddenly headed
straight for his Mobile Suit, this time heading for his cockpit... "Hawkins!" Natalie warned as she realized that
Hawkins was under heavy fire. To her relief, Hawkins had managed to evade the
second beam that had been earmarked for his cockpit and fired a shot in return,
though the latter action had little tangible effect. "Damn... I spotted it!" Hawkins reported as his
Mobile Suit struggled to regain balance and fired another shot, "Heading
for the water! I require assistance!" "I got it!" Natalie replied as she moved out of
her current location and charged straight for the dock area. Hawkins fired
another shot to no effect, before Natalie spotted the Zugock which was now
preparing to leap into the water. She aimed and fired off a shot, grazing the
Zugock's back, but it was insignificant and the Zugock managed to jump down
into the bay and dived deep out of sight. Both she and Hawkins fired a few more
beams into the water, but no explosion followed. "This the commander!" Natalie snarled over the
radio to her airforces, "Concentrate all fire on the harbor! Blow them
apart before they can get out into open water!" --------------- "Glad you could finally join us Yoko..." Jean
observed as he received the report that the Zugock had entered the water,
"And when were you planning to tell us we had another backup sub out
there?" "Sun Tzu's Art of War Chapters 8 and 11," Yoko
started, "Death Ground: When faced with a situation which seems to be
hopeless..." "Unify the spirits of the army and make it clear the
only way to survive is to fight," John finished for her, "I thought
Zeeks hated Sun Tzu since his writing were bound to the gravity of Earth, you
kidnapping *****..." "There is a time for everything, Mr. Recto," Yoko
explained simply, "Now prepare to move. This harbor won't be so peaceful
once..." "Depth charges, I know," John replied, "We're
on our way out to support that sub. Who the hell is on that sub anyway?" "Ken Mason of the 557," Yoko answered, "Good
skipper. Good enough to give us escort against a Titans pursuit on our way
to..." "You know Yoko," John suddenly interrupted,
"I think I may have a spiffy little way to throw off those Titans..." --------------- "Alright, I think we've managed to evade both of those
torpedoes," Nikki reported as she listened intently on her sonar
equipment, "The 606 and the Zugock are moving to join us now, but it looks
like the enemy sub has just evaded our torps and is coming around for another
attack. Suggest that we..." "Ready two more torpedoes," the skipper
interrupted before she could finish once again, "And try to raise the
U-606 on the underwater telephone for a coordinated attack on..." "Raising them now..." Nikki replied, "We... I
think we're getting close enough for a transmission. Patching them to the main
comm systems now..." "Alright," Ken replied as he picked up the radio,
"This is U-557, U-606 please respond." "U-606 here," an unfamiliar voice replied,
"Nice timing but right now we..." "Who is this?" Mason demanded, "Isn't the
skipper supposed to be Jean Powell?" "This is John Recto of Manila," the voice replied
testily, "Or good old Magic if you'd prefer Ken. I believe you still owe
me and the Skate for saving you from the U-35 back in 79'." "Magic?" Nikki stammered as her eyes began to
shine, "THE Magic from the Skate?!" "Understood, and I do remember the debt Magic,"
Ken replied, a bit piqued at his counterpart's remark, "You were
saying..." "I have another little plan..." --------------- A submarine in front of them, a submarine behind them. Just
bloody subs everywhere, Naguchi thought as the reports came in. One U-class was
blocking their way out of the bay, another was beginning to push its way out of
the bay, and one little Prober going around and making his life even more
difficult... "Sir! Torpedo in the water!" his lead sonarman
suddenly reported, though Naguchi wasn't as surprised, "Two more
torpedoes, coming in fast!" "How many tubes do we have online?" Naguchi asked
quickly. "Two, and another one in a minute," the weapon
officer replied, "Should we..." "Fire one torp snapshot, and begin evasive
maneuvers!" Naguchi ordered, "Helm! Find us a safe spot in the harbor
while we try to get the hell out of..." "Sir! More depth charges!" the sonarman reported,
just before the submarine was rocked by several explosion, "****! Those
idiots are closer at hitting us than them!" Tell me about it... Naguchi thought. Not only were they
outnumbered, but were in danger of being killed by friends as well. And thanks
to that still un-operational radio... "Prepare to surface! As soon as
we're clear of those torps surface and contact those airforces. If we are to
win, we are going to have to have more help soon..." "Aye sir!" the helmsman responded, "We may be
able to evade those torps within two or three minutes, and as soon as..." "HOLY ****!!!" the lead sonarman suddenly screamed
at the top of his voice, "I've just detected an enemy MSM heading straight
for us at top speed! Thirty second to impact!" Naguchi only needed to take one glance to see the rest of
the crew quickly turn white in fear, and felt color drain away from his own
face, before ordering the only thing he could think of, "Fire remaining
torpedoes at the MSM! And surface! Surface!" --------------- They're preparing to surface, Yoko thought to herself. Just
like John had predicted. She grinned lightly at that, even if John was a
staunch Earthnoid, he was proving useful, and now if his plan would go off
without a hitch... A torpedo suddenly streaked straight towards her as the
enemy submarine fired its last, loaded weapon in panic at her, which she
quickly evaded. Before the crew could react any further, she reached the
looming shape of the enemy submarine and landed right on its deck, the excess
weight suddenly causing the sub to stop its ascent to the surface. She grinned
as she readied her beam gun, knowing the crew must have been wetting their
pants about now fearing she would kill them, but instead she aimed her gun
towards the surface of the water and fired her last shot of the day. Somebody
else was going to take care of them for her... --------------- "Beginning attack run, arming depth charges..."
the flight leader of one of the Dep Rog squadrons ordered as he approached
Manila Bay, "Target coordinates..." "Sir! I've spotted a beam shot coming out of the
water!" one of his wingmen reported, "Bearing 2-1-5! I think it's
from that MSM!" "Sir! The commander is ordering us to change our targeting
area," the Dep Rog's radio officer started, "Should we..." "Yes, change course immediately," the flight
leader replied, "Looks like our enemies have been a little too careless today..." --------------- "What... what is going on...?" Naguchi managed to
ask outloud as he realized that the enemy MSM wasn't tearing them to pieces as
of yet, "Sonar! Report!" "Ye... yes sir..." the sonarman replied shakily,
"The MSM is still on top of us, but it's not doing anything as of yet.
But... Oh ****! We have two torpedoes coming in and depth charges right on top
of us! We have to move or we are going to get hit!" "Prepare to..." Naguchi started, before the
sickening sound of metal being torn open resounded throughout the hull. The
sound of onrushing water and screaming quickly followed. --------------- Yoko watched quietly as the submarine was slowly torn apart
as depth charge after depth charge exploded on its hull. Part of the rear hull
seemed to survive after the initial set of blasts, but then a pair of torpedoes
from the 557 quickly extinguished any chance for those sections to survive.
More depth charges exploded the wreckage of the submarine as its reactor
finally cooked off, the brilliant white fireball expanding all the way to the
surface of the ocean... --------------- "That is a definite kill," the Dep Rog flight
leader observed as a huge cloud of bubbles erupted on the ocean's surface,
followed by small bits and pieces of wreckage, "Scratch one AEUG
sub." "Well done, flight groups..." Natalie
congratulated as she also watched the explosion from the shore, before taking a
quick look at the burning city behind her. Most of her battalion, the better
part of a city, all lost for one AEUG submarine and its few escorts. Somehow,
she felt that she was still on the losing end... --------------- "Alive..." Jean breathed out in relief as he
stretched himself in his chair, "Dear God... we really are still
alive." "All for getting my hometown wrecked and making my wife
a nervous wreck again," John reminded grimly, realizing that Cynthia might
wonder if he was still alive or not, "Which reminds me, when can you drop
me off so we can..." "Two weeks," Yoko answered, "We can drop you
off in our next stop if you want, but only if you want to. Haven't you regained
your teeth yet Magic? I have a Captain's commission all ready for you if you
want." "Money would be nice, but no thanks you felon,"
John replied acidly, "Not unless you're talking double pay with a down
payment consisting of a college scholarship fund for my kids..." "Twenty standard Federal gold bars, enough money for
you John?" Yoko suddenly offered, "And you can take my pay to double
yours." "Yoko!?" Jean stammered, "Where the hell are
you going to get that money?! And you can't jut go off..." "I have my sources and authorizations," Yoko
replied simply. "I wasn't serious Yoko," John replied with a
frown, "Though pay for the two weeks would be nice. But what I'd really
like is a way to inform Cynthia that..." Yoko stepped towards John and handed him a piece of paper,
"Twenty words or less. And is a Captain's monthly pay for the two weeks
good enough for you?" John gave Yoko a suspicious look, but decided not to answer
at the moment. Instead, he took the piece of paper from Yoko's hand and began
scribbling away. --------------- He... he can't be... Cynthia repeated to herself. He can't
be... please God no... John... why did you...? "Mommy? Where is dad?" little Antonio asked her as
he tugged her shirt, "Isn't he coming with us?" And the kids... what would... what would she do now? Two
young boys... and maybe a third child without a father? How could they... "Mrs. Recto?" a voice suddenly declared as he
politely knocked on the door, a voice that she recognized as one of the Garcia
brothers who had told her about John staying in that blasted submarine,
"Are you in there?" No... I don't want to answer it... I don't want it
confirmed... I... "Mam, this is Pedro Garcia, I have a message for you,
and it's one very weird message..." Weird... message? The it's not about his death? Cynthia
quickly stood up and headed for the door and quickly opened it. It was indeed
Pedro who was waiting on the front porch of the house she was temporarily
renting, and he was holding what looked like an old-fashioned telegram... "It's really cryptic mam," Pedro explained,
"But I think it comes from..." "John?" Cynthia asked as she took the message into
her hands and quickly read through it. "Magic hunting awhile. Kidnapped by Zeek /*segment lost
during receipt*/ but am okay. Be back soon. Good name Katherine for girl. Love
you." Cynthia found herself stifling a tear of joy after that.
Only he could be that cool after... after something like this... And if he was
alive, then it meant he was going to come home to her even if he had to fight
through hordes from hell just to get back, just like he promised. She felt
herself placing the message close to her heat and she quickly felt herself
standing tall once again. Yes, he was coming back. He was alive and we're both
not alone. Life hadn't completely collapsed on her. At least not yet… --------------- Notice: This fic and all its contents are copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting. No part of this work may be taken by any other person without permission from the author. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by Bandai and their respective companies. |
