Chapter 2: Meetings
November 25, UC 0083 "I am very disatisfied with your performance, CAPTAIN," Lieutenant General Nicolo Zander warned as Sylvie Greisser finished her report, "Particularly your complaints about Lieutenant Romanov." "Sir, he's dangerous," Sylvie countered coldy, wishing again she had a different CO other than this racist moron, "He SHOT a helpless prisoner, we can't just..." "The prisoner's fate would have been no different," Nicolo replied equally coldly, "I suggest that you modify your report, as I am considering sending Ivan to a new elite unit that would suit his higher standards better." Higher standards? Sylvie thought. B***! Ivan was the worst pilot in her team unless Terry was having a bad day, and the only thing special about him was his connections to high ranking officials on Earth. "I beg to differ, Sir," she declared firmly. "Too bad then, I guess you won't be screening for promotion this year..." Nicolo said almost with a grin. Come on Sylvie, be your old defiant self, so I have one less spacenoid on the roster... "Once I emphasize the fact that you let two enemy Mobile Suits escape..." "Don't think you could blackmail me into giving Ivan a good record, SIR," Sylvie replied angrily. Fine! Send my career down the toilet, but I'm NOT letting that nutcase...
"Fine then Captain, fine..." Nicolo replied with an evil grin. Good report or not, Ivan WOULD be transferred to the new unit once it got formed, where Nicolo was sure he'd do a good job. Not Captain Gressier though. Now he had all he needed to get rid of that meddling Captain... "ARGH! That damn ****ing moron!" Sylvie shouted angrily as she entered the wardroom, the rest of her team with the exception of Ivan waiting inside. "Calm down Captain, you'll give yourself a heart attack..." Jin said comfortingly as Sylvie sat down on a chair, noisily as she vented her frustrations on the cushions she was sitting on. "Sometimes, I wish I did have one. Then I'd finally be dead..." Sylvie muttered to herself quietly. She had lost everyone she loved during the war three years ago, including the one dearest to her. And she couldn't even admit it to him... admit it to him just before he died... Now leading a lonely existence, she felt as if she was now just biding time until she died. And she often wished that it would be soon. "What was that, Captain?" Terry asked as he heard Sylvie muttering to herself. She did do that quite often, he thought, though she never... "Nothing," Sylvie replied quietly, now calming down, "Ivan's being transferred to an elite unit, though Nicolo didn't mention any details." "At least he won't bother us anymore more,' Jin replied with a smile. "Yeah, but Nicolo's gonna flush my career down the toilet for letting those two escape," Sylvie explained with a sigh. All she had left was the military, and that moron was going to take that away from her too. B*****d. "Captain, it wasn't your fault, if Ivan hadn't..." Terry started.
"Thanks guys, but I don't think that'll help," Sylvie replied in a resigned tone, "We'll probably get reassigned to some mundane post after this..." Damn, if only she had chased after those two, maybe... "Damn all these patrols..." Ming muttered to himself as a he spotted a third group of GMs circling around Von Braun city. Security had been beefed up considerably, probably because of a small battle that had occured here a few days ago, and he and the rest of the survivors had been forced to keep their distance, lest they be spotted. "An awful lot of junk around here..." Herbert observed as he looked around their positions, "Looks like this is where that force Cima sent to get that Val Walo got beat..." "Don't remind me of that traitor," Ming replied coldly. That treacherous Cima Garahau, he thought, murderer of General Delaz. If only she had stayed on with their side, then perhaps the fleet might have escaped Operation Stardust relatively unscathed. It was extremely gratifying to him to have seen her die at the hands of a Federation's mobile armor, one that was supposed to be her "ally"... "Captain, I've spotted something at bearing 2-1-3," Jake reported, "I think it's a salvage group... Oh ****! I think they're heading this way!" Ming turned to the reported bearing and indeed saw what seemed like a salvage party heading for their postions. Composed of two mobile pods and what looked like a stripped down GM, parts of which had been cannibalized from other machines. They would be no match to his team if they tried to fight, but most likely they'd raise the alarm and... "What do we do now, Sir?" Jake asked, worried. Come on... he thought, let's get out of here... "I got it..." Ming declared as he snapped his fingers, "They'll be our ticket into Von Braun..."
"Sir?" Jake and Herbert asked together. He wasn't thinking of... "I'm a little uneasy about this..." one of the pod pilots muttered to his boss riding in the salvaged GM, "I mean, Mr. Arnold, Sir, we knew Kelly and..." "Look, salvaging is our job, and part of the money will go to Lateura. She's still broken hearted you know," Arnold Jefferson replied quietly. Poor Kelly Lazyner, he thought, if only he had just settled down with her... Though he was himself a former Zeon Colonel, he had learned that their cause was not all that worth fighting for. "I'm more worried about those Zeon rebels," the second Pod pilot commented, "The EF spotted a few lurking around the Moon yesterday..." "Maybe I know one of them..." Arnold replied quietly, trying to remember all of his former comrades that had joined Delaz. Most were probably dead now, he knew, after the small shooting war that happened a few weeks ago. A war that Federal officials were working hard to deny that it ever happened... "But it's very unlikely that..." "Salvage team, keep quiet or we will kill you all," a cold, but seemingly familiar voice suddenly ordered over the radio. A pair of Zeon Mobile Suits suddenly appeared right in front of the salvage team. "Who... who are you?" the first Pod pilot asked nervously. Oh ****! What have we... "I am a Captain of Zeon's Delaz Fleet, don't try anything and we'll let you live," Ming ordered, aiming his Rick Dom II's 90mm Machine Gun at the lead Pod. He really hoped they would play ball, as in reality they were completely out of ammunition, "We need to get into Von Braun and..." "Why didn't you just ask nicely, Ming?" Arnold asked as he recognized the voice, "Especially with that empty gun of yours..." "Colonel Jefferson?" Ming asked in an astonished voice. Jefferson had been his CO during the war, and it couldn't be... the odds were just too...
"Call me Arnold from now on," Jefferson replied with a grin, "It's been a while, old friend..." "What's taking that salvage team?" the tower control officer in Von Braun asked, "They haven't called back, and they should have reached the wreck site by now." "Maybe they're taking their time, Sir," his aide suggested. "And maybe they've run into trouble," he replied more firmly, "Do we have any patrols close enough to take a look?" he inquired. "The 3rd MS squad is on its way back now, Sir, but they could probably take a quick check if you want..." the aide reported as he flicked through the computer records, "They won't be too happy though... you sure you want them to check it out?"
"Yes, I'm sure," the officer ordered wearily. Probably just another wild goose chase, he thought, but high command would sack him if any of those rebels managed to escape... "Umm... boss, aren't we breaking some sort of rule here?" one of the Pod pilots started. Though both Pod pilots were also former Zeon soldiers, much of their military experience had been diluted by civilian life, and they were very reluctant to give it up. "Look, trust me guys," Jefferson replied calmly, "He's a friend, and if we get caught I'll take the blame, alright?" "Thank you, Sir," Ming replied quietly. "I told you I'm not army anymore, so cut out that sir crap," Jefferson replied sternly, "Now get ready to ditch your Mobile Suits, we'll never be able to sneak them into Von Braun..." "But si..." Ming started before stopping himself, "I mean Arnold, it's the last of our combat equipment, we won't be able to continue the fight if..." "Begging your pardon sir," Jake interrupted, "But our fight is finished. It's been finished since ten days ago, I say we cover our ***es first before we think about combat..." "I didn't ask for your opinion LIEUTENANT," Ming replied sternly. "But he IS right," Hebert added, "If we don't go now some damn Feddie patrol will..." "Spoke too soon Herb..." Jake warned, "****, here comes a patrol..." "I can hide three men," Jefferson warned, "But not two Mobile Suits. Are you confident you can beat the whole Von Braun garrison, Ming?"
"Fine..." Ming agreed grudgingly, I just hope we can make it in time... "Salvage team 1, this is 3rd MS Team, please respond," the squad leader hailed over the radio. And once again, there was no response. Great, what the hell was happening with those guys... "Damn, I'm going to be late for our meeting again..." one of the GM Kai pilots muttered. "You've been dating her for two years now, Peter," the squad leader remarked jokingly, "Why don't you propose to her already?" "I AM going to propose to her today sir," the pilot replied rather in an annoyed tone, "But I've been so damn busy after those Zeeks..." "Yeah, nearly turned us to ashes at that naval review. Boy am I glad we were late back then," the squad leader replied with a chuckle. It had been one scary experience back then, and he was extremely glad to be alive, "Why don't you try calling'm Pete?" "Yes sir," Peter responded, "Salvage team 1, this is 3rd MS Team, please respond..." "Salvage team 1 here, we copy," a voice replied. "Gee, glad to hear you Salvage team 1, any problems out there?" the squad leader inquired. "No, we just had some communication difficulties, sorry we failed to check in," the voice responded, "We'll be returning to Von Braun soon." "Do you need an escort on the way back? There are some Zeon stragglers spotted around this area," the squad leader advised. "No, we'll be done soon, and I doubt they'd blast a pair of helpless Pods and a busted GM just for fun..." "Yeah, but you know them, they're a bunch of butchers sometimes..." the squad leader continued as he checked his fuel gauge. It was almost empty... "Alright, we'll just report your position to tower command, and wish you on a safe return..." "Thank you 3rd Team, appreciate it..." the voice replied before signing off.
"Alright Pete! Let's get you to your destiny!" the squad leader declared with a grin. "US!? BUTCHERS!? They're the damn..." Ming started as Herbert let go of his mouth. "Calm down sir..." Herbert started, glad that he had shut his Captain up in the conversation minutes ago just in time, "After the hell we'd been raising you can't expect them to..." "Shut up Herbert! Even though you're old I'm still..." Ming started again, his anger rising. "Ming, stop it!" Jefferson ordered angrily. Damn, hasn't he learned anything in the past four years? he thought, he was still his revenge obsessed self... "If Herbert didn't shut your big trap you'd be under arrest right now. You're a Captain! Use your head!" THAT calmed Ming down. Military or not, he still respected Jefferson. ****! he thought, I really screwed up back then... "Sorry about that Herbert... I guess the lack of sleep is getting to me..." "Tell me about it, Sir..." Herbert replied with a grin, "I'm over sixty, I need sleep more than you do..." "Good," Jefferson declared, "Now let's get to Von Braun. I'd really like to know what happened out there..." "Don't you know, Sir?" Ming asked, surprised. After all that they'd done, surely... "There's nothing on the official news," Jefferson explained, "In fact, all they are saying is that a major group of Zeon rebels had been annihilated." "What about the attack on the naval review? Or the colony drop?" Ming asked, almost desperately. Don't tell me that those *******s had covered up the truth about them too...
"Some people heard about those news, Ming," Jefferson replied grimly, "But most just discount it as rumors... In fact, the only bad news we have had for the past couple of weeks is a food shortage on Earth..." Manila, The Philippines "The price of rice has gone up, AGAIN..." John Recto, a former Federation officer now turned museum curator, declared as he entered the house, his arms full of groceries, "They say something happened to the food supplies of North America..." "I've heard rumors about that too John," Cynthia asked worriedly to her husband, "Do you think the rumors are true?" "Maybe, but Sylvie and the rest of my old friends in the military haven't written to me about anything yet..." John replied as he put the groceries down the table, before walking to hold Cynthia's hand. She smiled and led it to her growing stomach. He smiled as well as he felt the new life growing within it. "Then let's hope it's really just nothing..." Cynthia continued for him, "So in two months..." "Yeah, I know..." John replied with a smile. May life remain peaceful as it is...
Notice: This story and all related material is copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting, no part of this story may be taken by any other person. If you wish to use any material, please contact me first. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by their respective companies. |
