Episode 19 - Brace For Impact [TE]

The last RPG was "Zeta Gundam: Tales from the Frontlines - The AEUG" which ran from 2006-14.
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Episode 19 - Brace For Impact [TE]

~January 16, Universal Century 0088~
~13:15 Coordinated Universal Time~


- The Gate of Zedan -
- Taskforce Echo Dock Area -

- The Kirov -
- Captain’s Quarters -

More paperwork. Andrewson Trent felt like he had seen more paperwork since Taskforce Echo was transferred to the Gate of Zedan than he had in his entire career up until then. If the Titans wanted to be honest about it, they would have removed the “Autonomous” part from the fleet’s name. Operating out of the asteroid base in the heart of the Titans’ holdings made his ships among those at Bask and Jamitov’s direct disposal. Echo had been kept especially busy since the Lasalle Foundation’s stunt in Riah. He hadn’t believed it at first when he was informed Gilliarme Lasalle and his two subordinates from Delta team were nowhere to be found when Echo was preparing to leave Ayers City. Trent leaned back in his chair and sighed. As if that wasn’t enough, his hunch about the Latium had ended up being well-founded in mid December when Taskforce Juliet carried out a G3 gas attack against 21st Bunch “Quebec” in Side 2. Officially it was in retaliation for the local government’s assistance to the AEUG.

When he had heard about that, Trent felt the same way he did when he watched the death of 18th Bunch. He had carried out the orders that allowed those things to happen. Those “things” were what many would call war crimes. He shivered at the thought of what would happen if the Titans lost the war. That he considered the prospect of defeat spoke volumes about his opinion of the way things had developed. Terror attacks on spacenoids would not keep them in check forever, and it was not the way he wanted to beat the AEUG. His second conversation with Black Friday had been interesting - and in a way, frightening - to say the least. Capt. Friday had begun to hint to him that Paptimus Scirocco was not content to let the Titans self-destructive behavior continue unchecked. He had not gone so far as to suggest outright that Scirocco would openly oppose Bask Om, but Trent was not a stupid man. If things deteriorated that much, Trent wasn’t sure what he would do.

- Hangar -

Aleksandr Ivanovich Stukov waited impatiently for the rest of his team on the catwalk in front of his Marasai’s hatch. “Hurry up, Alvarez. You are going to make us late,” he bellowed down at Leandro, who was hurrying up to his suit while trying to secure his helmet. “Lo siento, sir. I slept late,” Leandro apologized as he clambered into his mobile suit. Stukov humphed at the excuse and stepped into his already powered-up Marasai. “This is standard patrol route 2. We are due to launch in one and one-half minutes, Alvarez, so be quick about it,” Stukov rumbled as he stepped towards the hangar exit. Leandro grumbled under his breath at the rough ‘greeting’, but brightened up when he appeared on Grace’s HUD. “Morning, chica. Ready for another exiting trip around A Baoa Qu with me?” he asked, grinning. Grace rolled her eyes and closed the connection without a word.

Across the hangar, Picard Kamek leaned against a railing as he watched Alpha Team’s Marasais begin to leave. “Those poor losers with their Marasais,” he snorted, gesturing at them with his thumb to Ens. Shiranui, “They’d never trust them with a machine as good as a Barzam,”. “I’m not entirely certain either model is clearly superior, sir,” Kyle Roberts spoke up. He enjoyed being under the braggart Kamek’s command about as much as he had enjoyed dealing with Ens. Pendragon back on his old ship. Kamek snorted derisively and patted Kyle on the shoulder as if he were an ignorant child, “Any suit is superior when I’m at the controls, red,”. Roberts’ jaw set at the stupid nickname Picard had given him. “Just ask any of the Zekes that tried to get clever with me back when I had to make do in a regular old GM during the big war,” M-Hover continued, chuckling sarcastically, “Oh yeah, that’s right! You can’t. They’re all dead,”. The self-proclaimed newtype laughed like he had said something hilarious.

- Lt. Sayed’s Office -

Wolf Ritter frowned and exhaled sharply, “You’re telling me there are no available records for my fiancé. I simply don’t believe that, lieutenant,”. Lt. Sayed steepled his fingers and shook his head, “I did not say they are not available. They are simply not available to you. Or me, for that matter. Ens. Engel’s personnel file is sealed and I do not have the authority to access it,”. Wolf’s hands balled into fists and he rose from his chair. Even here, at the Gate of Zedan near the heart of Titans control he couldn’t get a straight answer about his Alexi. He would never admit it, but he was starting to feel alone. His family had paid dearly for their devotion to the destiny. “Then you’re no help to me. Good day,” he grunted, turning away from Tariq before the intelligence man could respond.

As he strode out of Tariq’s office he straightened the cuffs of his uniform and stood up straight. No one would see his weakness. To admit it and show it now would jeopardize everything his father and dear sister had died for. He frowned at the thought of the sick joy Nick Te’Litha would derive from his pain. Eventually, that person would be dealt with. Severely.
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- Buxoro Pilots Lounge -

The boredom was so prevalent in the lounge that one could almost taste it. Elijah sat on one of the long couches and twirled his cane absentmindedly, he was a very patient man, he had to be as the “Longbowman of Cambodia”, but even he had his limits. The occasional patrol helped to aleve things a bit but since nothing ever happened on them it quickly became a chore. Now with some time to kill after their last patrol he thought his team. It was a young team and now after the events of last month he was becoming a bit worried about them.
Faraday was a good soul, Ens. DeRossi’s untimely demise and how hard he took it were proof enough, and he secretly worried that the 18th bunch incident might be slowly eating him up inside. The way that he heard Ens. August initially spun the news didn’t assuage his qualms either and made a mental note to ask Aaron how he was doing later, Elijah hoped that if he was in straits that he wasn’t stupid enough to “Pull a Sheen” and jump ship like LaSalle. The intelligence officer who called for an emergency meeting of all officers and MS team leaders after Delta went AWOL was scary enough when it was on another ship.
Melton also concerned him but that was largely because he never really saw him around or even talked to him other than the few pleasantries that they exchanged on the off chances they did run into each other. Him also having a know associate in the AEUG worried him, he knew that it shouldn’t, and that it was cleared by command, but still such things had a bit more gravity after Lasalle fled.
He looked at Tyler who sat, reading Machiavelli’s The Prince, at the opposite end of the same couch abet with his back on the seat and his legs on the back with his feet on the wall.
Tyler was an odd case, and the CO wasn’t sure if it merited his worry. After the initial shock of 18th bunch he seemed completely unphased by the event and remained as up beat as when he first came onboard the Buxoro. Concerned that perhaps he had blocked out the event (or that he might have a psychotic who relished genocide on his team) he talked to him to try and ascertain which and found the answer to be… atypical.
When questioned about it he replied that it was just “simply was their time to go.” He must have had a quizzical look on his face, because with a faint smile as if he’d seen a look like that before, the Ensign quickly explained his philosophy on death and Elijah recalled the reasoning:
“When it’s your time to die, it’s your time to die and there is not a damned thing you can do about it. When it’s your time to go you, you will go. While it stands that you could die in battle, if you sat at home and refraining from taking risks, you suffer an equal chance to die by getting hit by a stray meteor, runaway bus… or in this case a colony laser.”
As far as the Lieutenant could tell, Gryps just validated Tyler’s philosophy that death could strike at any time and so wasn’t really affected by the Titans brutal show of force. But, while morbid, when read between the lines the consequences of such a philosophy were also strangely optimistic. If Tyler believed that he’ll drop dead at some unknown magic hour then it becomes important that he live his life to the fullest so he’ll have no regrets.

Sitting there now Elijah fully realized that he’d have had to have made his peace with death in order to make such a philosophy fully work properly but since it seemed to work fine for him and didn’t affect performance or his cheery personally, Robin didn’t feel like prying into what event might have caused that to occur. At least he knew he wasn’t a psychopath and that was good enough for now.
Next to him, unaware of his boss’s internal fretting Tyler snapped his book shut, rolled backwards onto his feet, stood up and asked “Hey, want to grab a bite to eat?”
Elijah stopped spinning his cane, looked up and replied, “Yeah, that sounds good,” then stood up and followed Tyler to the mess hall while wishing that he didn't have so much time to worry.
IAN: (Shaking fist up at sky in a storm of GN particles) Science does not WORK this way, Setsuna!!!
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- Buxoro Corridor -

Something about being back a the Gate of Zedan was unsettling to Aaron. He couldn't quite place it, but he thought it might have something to do with the name, or perhaps that it had once been the site of the last battle of the One Year War. Either way he didn't like the place and did his best to stay on the Buxoro, even if it was beginning to get a little claustrophobic.

Other then his dislike for Zedan, he wasn't to pleased with some of the methods being employed by certain units in the Titans. They might as well trade in their black uniforms for olive drab and start fist pumping if they keep up. It was actions like these taken by the Zeon that had caused him to sign up in the first place. However, he wasn't about to vanish like Delta team. He may question his sides actions internally, but he'd never give voice to them, least he get carted off.

As he floated down the corridor on the lift grip, he spotted Elijah and Tyler up ahead exiting the pilot's lounge. Rather then continue his internal narration, Aaron felt it better to change the subject and just shoot the crap with his fellow pilots.

"Lt. Robin," he said giving a salute while continuing forward motion, "mind if I join you two?"
"Kamille, if it wasn't for you...." Jerid's last words

"You bastard... You don't get it! I'm... I'm special! I'm famous! I'm the king of mock battles!" Patrick
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- Buxoro Corridor -

“Not at all,” Lt. Robin replied, “we were just on our way to get something to eat.”
“And we’re not on duty,” he added dismissing the salute “so you can stow the formalities”
“Hey Aaron, you heard any good rumors lately? Tyler turned around as they continued to float down the hall. “I asked this guy earlier,” he thumbed behind him at Elijah, “but all Lt. Wise-ass here said was that Russell’s Teapot had been finally been found by the Jupitris.”
The ‘wise-ass’ comment earned him a light smack to the back of the head from his CO’s cane. “Ow, what?” he turned back grinning, “I addressed you by your rank.” and ducked the second blow, but Elijah was ginning now too and half-heartedly chased the Ensign into the nearby mess hall.
"Get back here Ens. Fatalist" he chuckled.
IAN: (Shaking fist up at sky in a storm of GN particles) Science does not WORK this way, Setsuna!!!
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- Buxoro Corridor -

Laughing at himself, Aaron realized he was a bit too formal at times. He was thankful that Elijah wasn't like a lot of other CO's in the Titans that took a fancy to beating on their subordinates. He was also laughing at Tyler's antics and the cane thumping he got. Something about the relaxed environment on the ship seemed out of place, well at least when M-Hover ran the ship.

"Any idea what they have to eat today?" asked Aaron, "Cause I'm getting tired of chicken."
"Kamille, if it wasn't for you...." Jerid's last words

"You bastard... You don't get it! I'm... I'm special! I'm famous! I'm the king of mock battles!" Patrick
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- The Gate of Zedan -
- Taskforce Echo Dock Area -

- The Kirov -
- Bridge -

Trent sat in his command chair as he reluctantly leafed through more petty orders and information that had been issued to Taskforce Echo. Patrol schedules were being changed. Routine maintenance was completed on the Buxoro’s engines. More of the useless crap that piled up on his desk while Echo did busy work at the Gate of Zedan instead of hunting down the AEUG. Trent sighed again at the thought of his fleet going to waste sitting in the docks. What made it seem even more ridiculous to Trent was that the Federation had withdrawn their support, making things even harder on the Titans now that they couldn’t press EFSF units into service to help them take on the rebels. With a sudden manpower shortage, Echo was still sitting idle. Then a set of orders with a different header caught his eye. He straightened up when he saw Bask Om’s signature across the bottom.

“Taskforce Echo is to stand by on level one alert as of 1200 hours on January 17...” Trent read aloud quietly, wondering what the sudden change was about. “Taskforce Juliet is to oversee dock security between 1200 hours on January 17 and 1200 hours January 19,” he continued, his brow furrowing. “It is security for the negotiations,” Tariq said, causing Trent to look up from the papers. “I didn’t know you were back on the bridge,” Trent said, slightly surprised at the intelligence officer’s sudden interest. He skimmed the first paragraph of the orders again before asking, “What negotiations?”. Sayed smiled just slightly, enough to give away his expression behind his dark sunglasses. “I think we should continue our discussion in your office, sir,” Tariq suggested, clasping his hands behind his back.

The captain glanced around at the quiet activity on the bridge. He shook his head and his expression hardened slightly, “No. If you have something to share, you can tell me here,”. Tariq had been a busy man for the last month or so, between investigating Commodore Ritter’s death and cooperating with the Lasalle inquest. Trent was also aware of his monitoring of his meetings with Black Friday. Throughout it all Sayed’s attitude and actions had made it clear he was firmly in Bask Om’s camp. Whether he wanted it to or not, Trent was suddenly aware it might put them at odds at some point in the future. Tariq’s smile disappeared. After a moment he grunted in acquiescence and explained, “Admiral Hymem intends to conduct talks with Haman Karn. The follow-up orders to the ones you received today will arrive tomorrow sometime before noon,”.

- C Field, near the Gate of Zedan -
- Alpha Team -

The three Marasais on patrol swooped slowly into a turn that would take them back towards the asteroid base. Their patrol route was almost a joke, taking them past one of the picket ships that guarded the outer areas of the Gate. It carried its own Hizacks and reinforcements were no more than two minutes away, and yet MS teams from inside the base routinely flew security routes nearby. Stukov’s eyes were instinctively drawn to the flutter of movement in his peripheral vision. His fingers danced over the controls, bringing up a magnified view of the source. It was almost too far away to see. “Are those Barzams?” Grace asked. His wingmen had noticed the thruster flares too, which caused Stukov to allow himself to smile ever so slightly. They continued to show their competence.

The fuzzy image of three blue mobile suits was hard to make out, but Stukov could tell they weren’t Barzams. “No,” he said bluntly as he tried to figure out what he was looking at. A moment later they were identified by his computer as friendly mobile suits, but there was no name or model number provided. “Are those things Marasais?” Leandro’s voice crackled through the radio. That caused Stukov to frown - not because Leandro was wrong, but because it took him a moment to realize that the indistinct shape of the suits did remind him of a Marasai. “No, they’re moving too fast,” Grace said, echoing Stukov’s thoughts. Stukov briefly considered radioing in and asking about them before shrugging it off. “They are friendly units operating within Titans airspace. It is not our concern,” he ordered, eliciting a groan of disappointment from Leandro.

“Sir, there’s something else,” Grace said, appearing in his HUD. Camera coordinates scrolled below her image and Stukov saw with his own eyes what she was talking about before he punched in the numbers. Far out beyond the suits that had caught his eye hung a large ship with an unmistakable shape. He grunted ambiguously and said, “The Jupitris,”.
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- The Kirov -
- Hangar -
- Ltjg. Kyle Roberts -


“Just ask any of the Zekes that tried to get clever with me back when I had to make do in a regular old GM during the big war,” M-Hover continued, chuckling sarcastically, “Oh yeah, that’s right! You can’t. They’re all dead,”. The self-proclaimed newtype laughed like he had said something hilarious.

"That's a good one, sir." Roberts replied in a dejected tone. Kyle looked into space questioning if his bid on joining the Titans was a wise choice. More and more he wondered about the outcome of the war. Would he return home a war hero for putting down the rebellion or a war criminal for the deaths on that neutral colony. Either way the situation was grim, he would never be able to forget the image of the dying colony.

"I really hate these lulls ..., sir."
"War is some crazy sh**" - alexander the great
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- The Kirov -
- Corridor -


Sven made his way down one of the Kirov's corridors towards the information officer's office. He looked the same as he did when he was first transferred to Taskforce Echo. His short time in space had changed him though his rusty combat skills were not nearly as bad as they had once been. To anyone who did not know Sven his face would seem quite normal; but to anyone who was quite familiar with him they would know he was quite worried. He had been paying discreet visits to Lt. Sayed's office often to follow up on the Commodore's death. Every visit elicited the same response, "The investigation is ongoing." Even with the same answer week after week Sven made sure to stop by at least once a week.

He had spent the better part of his time at the Gate of Zedan, while not on patrol or servicing his Marasai, in his room or trying to get a communication through to his father. As a pro-Titan politician he knew it must be hard for him down on Earth. Still, he had received no word from his father or sister in the time since he had sent them news regarding the Senior Ritter's death. This lack of communication worried Sven, his father and sister normally would get back to him within days. Furthermore his lack of communication with his superior officer and the now-current head of the family worried him. Besides their regular patrols and briefings they talk they never communicated. Sven was increasingly of the opinion that the reason he was on this ship had died with the Senior Ritter.

Sven knew his position well within the Ritter's family. While the Hakssons were powerful they were nowhere near the top, and they certainly had no place asking for information. Well, perhaps father could; but me? Certainly not. I still must do something though, the Wolf senior said it himself, the culmination of the destiny is close. I cannot let Wolf falter.

Faced with these troubled thoughts Sven drew nearer to Lt. Sayed’s office as he neared it his train of thought was broken as the door hissed open and none other than Wolf walked out of the room looking quite disgruntled. Noticing that Wolf hadn't noticed him Sven snapped off a quick salute, "Sir, any news on your father's death?"
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