Episode 18 - Ayers City Stop-over [TE]

[mcred23]

-Sibuyan II-
-Bridge-

"Full speed! Now!", Myers yelled. Things seemed to be going from worse to total hell, and Myers felt he had totally lost control of the situation. It was total chaos on the bridge, what with shouted reports of incoming enemy mobile suits, damage reports that were coming from more and more areas of the ship as several air-tight doors had failed. Jumbled among this was the flash and sight of the Rockford going down. The Sibuyan II was a young ship, and the majority of it's crew was too, and they weren't up to it. Not anymore.

The Salamis Kais reactor quickly came to full power, which would help get the ship to full speed, but it was then that the beam launcher shot hit the ship near its engines. The several turrets in that area of the ship were all destroyed instantly, which would turn out to be a full second before the beam completely ruined the ship's reactor. Fuel was compromised at the same time as the beam burned completely through the ship. The ship remained intact for another handful of seconds, allowing the first of the shots from the other Titan mobile suits to make hits on the Salamis Kai, but it would be clear to everyone which hit had done the damage, as a fireball erupted from the rear of the Sibuyan II and quickly enveloped it. When the light faded a few seconds later, scarcely anything remained of the AEUG warship, which had encountered the same fate as its namesake.

[The Loser Villain]

- Buxoro team -

"We got this Aaron," he heard over the comm. from Elijah.

"Copy that Elijah," Aaron replied confidently. He had already taken down one mobile suit, possibly two but it wasn't confirmed just yet, and he had a feeling this was going to be a cake walk. On the same hand he wasn't going to let his guard down even though the AEUG ship in front of him was a prime target.

As Elijah made his attack run Aaron hung back to hopefully distract some AA fire from the ship and was preparing to make his own as Elijah finished, but the entire ship light up like a Christmas tree and then all that was left was debris.

"Uh, good shot Lt.," he said not having seen the real death blow dealt out by the beam launcher. "So uh, what should we blow up next?"

[Fritz Ashlyn]

- Hatte -
- Near 18th Bunch -

- Alpha Team -

Leandro let out a whoop as he watched his second beam launcher shot obliterate the enemy ship. From his vantage point “above” the battle, he watched as the Hizacks from the Buxoro strafed the Tanaka Maru, blowing it in half with their follow up attack. It appeared as if all AEUG resistance had been obliterated. “Good work, Alvarez,” Stukov rumbled, pulling up and away from the debris left over from the Sibuyan II, “Let us return to the ship,”. Flares exploded high above the Kirov, recalling all of Echo’s mobile suits. Leandro sped up to fall into line behind the other two MS of Alpha Team, and movement caught his eye across the battlefield where several small thruster flares clustered together. “Are those escape launches?” he asked, bringing up a magnified view of the area. Stukov grunted an affirmative and ordered, “Leave them be. Our work here is finished,”.

- The Kirov -
- Bridge -

Taskforce Echo slowly adjusted position in preparation to escort the Latium towards the moon. “Sir, our mobile suits are beginning to confirm the recall order. We should have them all retrieved and ready for travel in ten minutes,” Mortimer announced in his normal grim tones. Trent nodded and watched as the thruster flares in the distance grew less random as the MS teams formed up to make their return trips. He was still preoccupied with Black Friday and his growing connection to Taskforces Echo and Juliet. Capt. Friday had been open about his involvement with Paptimus Scirocco during their first meeting and had so far seemed honest about carrying out his orders, but something about the whole situation seemed wrong to Trent. He had heard the growing rumors about Scirocco and the rift forming among the Titans.

Their reassignment to the Gate of Zedan had made it clear to him the secretive nature of the command staff, and the proximity to Luna II and Gryps allowed him to see first hand the kind of faction mentality that was overwhelming the entire organization. Men like Bask Om used fear and the promise of power to keep men loyal to them. The destruction of 18th Bunch was his doing, and whatever cargo the Latium now carried to its new target area would mean more deaths for the sake of intimidation. A man like Scirocco was all about manipulation. Trent wasn’t sure a more subtle tyrant was the better choice, but he was not in a position to question the Titans leadership. There were more dangerous men that needed to be dealt with among the enemies of the Federation.

And yet, already in the back of his mind he was beginning to fear the possibility of armed conflict between those loyal to Bask Om and those who were inspired by the actions and deeds of Paptimus Scirocco. In a way it mirrored the personal war that smoldered on the Kirov between Wolf Ritter and Nick Te’Litha. Trent hoped that neither conflict would erupt into open violence, for the sake of his fleet and the Titans.

END ARC 3