Chapter 12: Stepping Stones
July 21, UC 0087. 0400 hours Zulu. AEUG Supply Depot. Several miles east of Lae, New Guinea. "Yoko, you planned all this, didn't you?" John
declared angrily as he found Yoko working on her Mobile Suit, "You never
really intended us to make that stop in Leyte Island, did you?" "We couldn't land there, Mr. Recto, because of Titans
surveillance," Yoko replied simply without taking her eyes off what she
was doing, "In fact, the whole damn Philippines is under surveillance, so
we couldn't drop you off on any of the southern islands. I suggest that you
stay with us a while and we'll drop you off somewhere safer." "No Yoko, I get off here NOW," John replied,
"Lae is only a few miles East, I can just walk over there and..." "Good luck," Yoko replied as a tiny smirk appeared
on her face, "There's no airport there, at least none that are
operational, and a ship only visits that place once every year. So you'd have
to wait a couple of months, unless of course you'd prefer hiking your way to
another port through these cannibal infested jungles..." "You *****, you REALLY planned all this from the
beginning, didn't you?" John repeated as his eyes narrowed. "I imagined nothing of the sort," Yoko replied,
trying to sound defensive, though the widening grin of her face unmasked her
lie, "We ARE assaulting Port Moresby and the Titans launch facility soon,
and after that the subs are going for a quick stop near Singapore. You can book
passage to Manila from there." "I'm not planning to fight Yoko..." John started. "Even with ten gold bars for hazard pay?" Yoko
asked as she suddenly met John eye to eye for the first time in their
conversation, "Come on John, I know that you're an honorable man, and you
know what those Titans *******s are doing. Are you really going to stand for
that? Especially when you're being paid enough to secure your family's future?" "With you in AEUG, probably not," John replied,
"If you're as bad as they are, then there's no point really, is
there?" "I may not be above doing many... undesirable
actions," Yoko replied coolly, "But do you really believe that Jean
is unworthy of your support? There are far more members of AEUG who, at least
in your eyes, should be more morally astute than I am." "You try too hard in getting what you want, you know
that?" John decided. "I do, because what I want is often what this rebellion
needs," Yoko countered, "Just one more battle John. If you choose not
to help us, fine. And I'll pay you what I promised whether or not you help us
afterwards." "Mr. Recto sir! Are you in there?!" a new voice
suddenly declared noisily just outside the hangar doors. A voice that had asked
John countless questions about the last war. A voice that John had learned to
utterly dread this past two weeks. Nikki Torecelli, "Come on sir! I need
you to help me with..." "Oh God... her again..." John muttered to himself,
"Look Yoko, I have to go before..." "What is your answer first, John?" Yoko asked,
saying each word as forcefully as she could to make sure John got the message. "Fine, I'll help you at Moresby," John replied as
quickly as he could, "But I get the pay, safe passage to Singapore, and
another message to Cynthia. And keep HER away from me, alright?" "I can get you the first three," Yoko replied with
a grin, "But I think I can't help you with the fourth," she finished,
as she pointed to something behind John. "Oh! Mr. Recto! There you are!" Nikki said outloud
as he finally spotted the hapless John, "I was just going to ask you
to..." "Later Nikki! Later!" John nearly shouted at the
top of his voice as he ran towards the nearest exit he could find. Nikki
quickly followed. --------------- July 23, UC 0087. AEUG Cruiser O'Bannon. Somewhere outside of Side 1. "Dorcetshire just within visual range sir," a
lookout reported as the Titans Alexandria class cruiser came to view, "I
don't think she's spotted us. Yet." "Keep our distance from her and continue shadowing
her," the O'Bannon's skipper, Colonel Arnold Jefferson, ordered as he took
a look at the Dorcetshire himself. A standard Alexandria class, painted in a purple-black
color scheme with what looked like three Hizacks in escort, "Her
course?" "Heading for Earth sir," the lookout reported,
"But sir, she might be going on a zigzag course to confuse us. We may not
know until we're there." "Understood, but we have to follow her and her... cargo
wherever it might go," Jefferson reminded, "And get me Captain Chow.
Tell him to prepare a Combat Patrol just in case we're spotted..." --------------- One big bruise... the lone woman in the Dorcetshire's brig
thought as she felt all the pain in her body. She felt like one big bruise from
head to toe from all the beatings she had suffered, but she ignored the pain.
She had to try to break out... And her intuition, her mind, or whatever it was
that had turned her into a killing machine was telling her that now was the
perfect time and somehow, help was on the way. However unlikely the latter may
have seemed. Chains... she noticed. Those *******s had decided to chain
her up just to make sure... She tried to work herself free, but found her
movements to be uncoordinated and sluggish. They had been drugging her
constantly day in and day out, and had placed a tight blindfold over her eyes
to limit her senses even further. She muttered a curse. Pain, she could handle,
but her own frail body chemistry was now letting her down. If they pumped
enough of those drugs into her, she knew she might not be able to resist them
anymore despite her wishes to the contrary, and then she'd become another one
of their mindless little test subjects. They were even thinking of new
codenames for her now, as Valkyire seemed to be too heroic a name for a weapon
meant for mass destruction, just to remind her that she wasn't supposed to be
human anymore. Little did they know she'd already thrown her humanity away many
years ago... The woman then heard a door open, and the sound of several
men stepping into the cell. She gritted her teeth. What sort of mind-numbing
drugs were they going to try on her now...? She didn't have the time to wonder, as she quickly found
herself being subjected to another injection. The world slowly began to fade
back, and a terrible pain now going through her head. She resisted the urge to
scream, but the pain only grew... And little did she know, that this was just the first day of
what was to be a week long ordeal... --------------- July 30, UC 0087. 0600 hours Zulu Just outside Port Moresby, New Guinea. "We're here," John declared as he took one look
through the periscope. It had taken more than a week to get here, but he was
more than satisfied as the first half of the two additional weeks he had
promised Yoko proved to be a relatively quiet one, "Port Moresby base, and
it looks like one hell of a well-guarded facility..." "Garrison strength?" Jean inquired as he
discretely turned on the video recorder connected to the periscope. "Six Mobile Suits on patrol, GM IIs all of them,
supported by a trio of Guntank IIs," John reported, "Probably an
additional nine or twelve Mobile Suits in reserve along with an equal number of
artillery tracks, not counting approximately eight or nine heavy gun and
anti-aircraft emplacements each around the base. And that's not counting what
those Titans have in the launch facility inland. This is going to be one hard
nut to crack Jean." "We expect the Titans to have another company of Mobile
Suits in their base," Yoko added, "And some rumblings of a prototype
that uses a movable frame of some sort. Do you see any tanks out there
John?" "A couple of them just entered the base, and they look
a bit weird," John replied as he concentrated his view towards the base's
main gates, "They look like modified Type 74s, battalion strength. Yoko,
if we have to handle another tank battalion I don't think we could get this
attack of yours rolling without serious casualties..." "Don't worry John," Yoko replied with another
snide grin of hers, "All is going according to plan." --------------- Major Dave Anderson smiled as his Hover Tank Battalion*
smartly parked itself in the middle of the Federation's Port Moresby Base. For
the better part of a month his "Experimental Ground Unit Formation",
a title that his unit had been holding for the past five years, had been
guarding the Titans launch facility a few miles inland from Port Moresby. His
unit had spent the month on guard duty there instead of their traditional home
in Torrington thanks to fears of an AEUG attack coming either from the
Philippines or from AEUG infiltrators who had recently used that base as a
staging point to spy on the Gryps itself**. Not that he had complained, despite
the haughty nature of most Titans officers he had met, since his unit was
finally get some REAL action thanks to this little transfer... "So, you think these five year old cast-offs can beat
my Mobile Suit garrison?" the base commander asked as he met with Anderson
and quickly shook his hand, "I mean, your unit is still one of a kind
despite five years of development..." "Just funding problems and the small matter called
Anaheim Electronics sir," Dave replied with a sly grin as he took a look
at his first row of Hover Tanks. Designed for all terrain combat with much
lower profiles than Mobile Suits, they were far more well-suited to ground
combat than most Mobile Suits, but bad war experience and the Lunar Cartel's
political connections were stopping their widespread introduction, "We'll
be glad to show you in our coming exercises their true potential, sir." "Well, we'll see..." the commander replied with a
smug grin of his own, "Don't be too disappointed once we're done
though," he finished, before turning around to leave. Yeah, well we'll see whose going to be disappointed... Dave
thought to himself as he signaled his company commanders to huddle around him.
He had a total of four companies in all, with fourteen vehicles each. One
company was equipped with Type 82-As, with heavy recoilless cannons and armor
suited for anti-MS work. Two had Type 82-B types, which were primarily infantry
carriers with only light anti-tank weapons, while the fourth company was
divided between 82 D-type reconnaissance units and 82 C-type artillery units,
best suited for support roles. In their entirety, they were probably not enough
to take on the whole base, but with a little more outside help... --------------- July 31, UC 0087. 1700 hours Zulu. Titans Cruiser Dorcetshire. High Earth Orbit. She had finally screamed... screamed outloud after a
straight week with hardly any rest or sleep. Instead came more and more pain as
they relentlessly conducted their experiments on her. But it was the scream
that had hurt her most. She was finally admitting that they were winning. That
they were breaking her. That her soul was about to become an inhuman slave
doing their bidding... "Move it, Subject V," a guard ordered as she felt
another abusive kick to her back. She then felt herself being roughly manhandled
as she refused to move, and found herself being thrown into something that she
assumed to be another cage for her. A much smaller cage. One that was probably
inside a shuttle... "Drugged her yet?" she heard a voice say from
somewhere in front of her. "Done. She ought to remain pretty quiet until we get to
the destination." New destination? She thought. A Newtype Lab undoubtedly, a
place where she knew she probably couldn't stop them from ripping out her soul
and finishing what they started. She tried to work herself free again, but
still couldn't make her arms move as she wished. She bit her lip as she wished
that she could just snarl out loud in defiance, but stopped herself. They would
be getting no more satisfaction thinking they'd finally broken her... None at
all... --------------- "Shuttle is launching..." a lookout reported on
the O'Bannon, "It looks like it's heading towards Earth sir..." "Trajectory?" Jefferson demanded. "Equatorial region sir, looks like in the area of
Indonesia and New Guinea," the lookout reported, "Probably the
latter." "Keep tracking it and confirm," Jefferson ordered,
"And tell Ming to pick out his team. The operation will commence in twelve
hours." --------------- "Is this what we've been waiting for Yoko?" John
asked as he handed control of the periscope over to Yoko, "It's a couple
of minutes early." "I believe it is John," Yoko decided as she
watched what looked like a Titans shuttle land in Titans Base behind Moresby,
"I think it's time to signal the 557 and begin the countdown, don't you
agree sir?" "Yes Yoko, it is," Jean replied, "Signal the
U-557 and tell them to get ready for action. Operation Pegasus is now officially
beginning. I'm assuming tactical command." "Just remind them not to let that crazy witch do the targeting..."
John advised. "I hope you are not unduly distracted by your
junior," Yoko joked. "I'm not, and I won't let you down," John
promised, "But try to keep that Torecelli out of my hair as much as
possible. She's noisier than hell and keeps asking about the damn war and me.
By the way, where'd you get that girl anyway?" "She's supposed to be heading for Nijmegan next year,
but wound up with Kalaba instead," Yoko explained, "Hayato Kobayashi
himself recruited her, and regrets it, but she's the best sonar operator in the
fleet thus far. Much like you were when you were younger." "Only far, FAR more naive," John muttered in
reply, "And far less disciplined. She needs a quick, harsh lesson or she
won't prove to be much of an asset." "Advice from the master?" Yoko observed jokingly. "I'm not taking apprentices," John replied dryly.
Especially ones who are obviously sexually frustrated in one way or another... --------------- August 1, UC 0087. 0100 hours Zulu. AEUG Cruiser O'Bannon. High Earth Orbit. "The Dorcetshire is leaving Earth orbit sir, she looks
like she's heading back to Side 1," the lookout confirmed as he uploaded a
visual image of the Titans cruiser to the main view screen, "Photo-recon
probes have also confirmed the presence of both the shuttle craft and the Hover
Tank Battalion near the Port Moresby base and the Titans launch facility." "Alright," Jefferson acknowledged as he turned to
his pilots, "Ming, you know what to do, don't you?" Captain Ming Chow stepped forward and nodded briskly. A
former Zeon ace from the One Year War with short black hair and distinct
Chinese features, Ming was now, as he had been in the last war, Jefferson's
Mobile Suit team commander. He was a changed man from what he was however, and
Jefferson could hardly help notice the dark circles around his eyes from what
he supposed to be an after effect of his recurring nightmares. His voice was
unusually quiet and apprehensive as he spoke. "Yes sir," Ming replied as he handed Jefferson a
data pad, "I've equipped the Mobile Suits which are participating with
ballutes as needed, and I've ordered the mechanics to arm them to the teeth. We
are ready to launch at a moment's notice." "Who did you pick to go with you?" Jefferson asked
as he quickly scanned through the datapad and found everything to be in order. "Lieutenants Erich Thompson and Yun Hitachi," Ming
replied as he pointed to two of his pilots. Thompson was tall and had neatly
combed brown hair, but his eyes spoke of the uneasiness he was feeling as this
would be his first combat sortie. Yun was shorter and looked a bit messier than
his partner, but he didn't have his partner's concerns as he had already fought
with Ming in the Delaz Fleet incursion three years before as well as a few
skirmishes with the Titans, and was now a seasoned veteran, "Lieutenant
O'Brien will remain on the O'Bannon to provide escort." "Sir, pardon my intrusion," the Irish, red-haired
O'Brien suddenly interrupted, "But is it wise to be sending one of those
two lads down there instead of me? It'll be one tricky operation, and we can't
just send down rookies to..." "Your protest had been noted, Mr. O'Brien," Ming
interrupted as he noticed Thompson was becoming more uneasy, "But the
Colonel needs someone experienced to protect this ship, and you're the best man
for the job." "But sir..." O'Neil started again. "Your CO is right, O'Brien. Don't let your personal
feelings get in the way of your duty," Jefferson reminded, "We've all
lost something to the Titans too." Yeah, but not your whole bloody family in 30 Bunch you Zeek
half wit. O'Brien thought but did not say outloud. Instead he merely nodded and
decided to shut up. "Alright, any other concerns?" Jefferson asked. "Yes sir, just one little thing..." Ming replied,
"About... this Subject V we're supposed to be... rescuing..." "Any problems about it Ming?" Jefferson asked as
he raised an eyebrow. Ming had gone down this road before, and he'd already
told him to forget it many times to no avail. "Who really is this person sir?" Ming asked,
"We have no idea who he or she is and why the Titans have this person sir.
Is it... really worth the risk?" "Ming, I suggest you forget about that little detail
and let Yoko handle everything," Jefferson reminded with a sigh,
"It's her job to find more about this. Your job is to inflict as much
damage on the Titans facilities down there and if possible, capture some of the
battleships under construction there, understood?" "Understood sir," Ming replied, but still felt
uneasy about that little detail. Who could be so important as to risk an
operation like this to be rescued? A rogue Newtype? --------------- August 1, UC 0087. 0550 hours Zulu AEUG submarine U-557. Twelve miles off Port Moresby. "Cruise missile targeting data has been uploaded,"
Nikki reported sulkily as she finished uploading the data on a bunch of
Anaheim-made cruise missiles. She'd been chastisised again by the skipper for
trying to ask the great Magic more questions about the last war, and that made
her mad. He was almost a legend to her, after all, so why wouldn't they let her
talk to her one of her heroes? "Good job Nikki," Ken congratulated as he took a
look at the status of his cruise missiles. Being taken from a design going back
all the way to pre-UC times, it was difficult to program and equally difficult
to build, as some ancient Congress had stupidly decided to shut down the plants
manufacturing these wonderful weapons and never re-opened them. Such was the stupidity
that permeated 20th Century governments. Something mankind had not learned to
rectify in all these years... "What about the U-606?" "They're only just getting ready sir..." Nikki
replied. --------------- "Ten minutes, what's taking you Scott?" Yoko
reminded impatiently as she boarded her Zugock E2. The show was about to start
in ten minutes, and she could only hope that her big role in this mission would
go off without a hitch. She reminded herself of her target's physical
description. Brown haired, probably in a pony tail, wearing a ruffled Titans
uniform, and very slim and fit. Not a very good description at all, but it was
all that her informants could get. Informant who had also warned her that her
target's guards had been ordered to shoot her dead if capture seemed imminent.
She felt herself grinning suddenly. She always liked a challenge. "Programming is complete, mam," Scott reported
over the intercom, "Sorry, but we had to iron some bugs out. Missile bay
doors are opening now." "John, what's the Hover Tank Battalion doing now?"
Yoko inquired as she began to turn on all of her vital systems, knowing that
only one piece of the puzzle was left... "Out on maneuvers Yoko, right on schedule..." --------------- The exercises yesterday had gone badly for them, Dave
thought, just as he had planned. Now those Mobile Suit pilots were
overconfident, and that was going to be their mistake... "The commander is signaling us to begin the
exercise..." his command vehicle's radio officer reported as he handed him
the radio. "Alright men, you know what to do. Let's go kick some
****!" Dave encouraged as he signaled his own gunner to get ready. He
pressed a button and a white colored shell was loaded into the Type 82-A's
280mm recoilless cannon. Practice shots were supposed to be colored blue. War shots, on the other hand, were colored white. --------------- * These vehicles are mainly inspired by Gundam technical
expert Leroy Loke, who's also done superb work in devising strategems, vehicles
and base defenses used in a number of fanfictions, most notably Redcomet's
"Road to Alexandria". ** I'm referring to the incidents recorded in Redcomet's
excellent "What Cost for Freedom?", specifically chapter 9 wherein
protagonist Storm Kaufman uses New Guinea a stop over point before his fateful
little encounter within the Gryps ^_^. And I know... the chapter seems to be rather fast paced,
isn't it? Just trying out a new style, as it's one I've never tried before ^_^. --------------- 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. |
