TARRRPG Chapter 3: Flight of the Osprey

[Zangetsu]

Zaraki landed the Sonicscream and walked over to the other pilots. "Hey all, whats go'n on?"

[Terrace]

"Hey all, whats go'n on?"

Terrace looked at the man. He looked oddly familiar, and Terrace had a brief memory of a conversation in space, but dismissed it as ridiculous. He hadn't been in space at all from the moment he arrived in this dimension. He shrugged.

"We're discussing the battle plan to get us over to the Suez Canal in good shape. Little Miss D&D brought up a good point that we'd probably get ambushed, and we're trying to figure out how to deal with that." Terrace adopted a quizzical expression.

"Say, have we met before? It's probably nothing, but I could've sworn you piloted another Gundam. I believe it was called the Bulletmaster..."

[Zangetsu]

Zaraki was surprised by Terrace. "Yes Zangetsu's had the Bullet Fiend a while back but, we drive the Gundam Sonicscream now. We have no problem, I can easily take care of anyone who challenges us and you all can fight the grunts."

[Strike Zero]

-Gibralter Base-
-Hanger-

If it wasn't official before, it was now: Emily was the team's resident spaz. Her antics served to both bemuse and amuse Strike as he watched her jump around the hanger, celebrating her gain in level.

Abuptly, the conversation shifted to a discussion on their next move. The plan was to cross the medeterannian and launch an attack on the Fandom's Suez Canal base. The problem was, as Emily pointed out, they would most likely be ambushed along the way by Fandom forces. They did control almost the entirty of Europe, after all.

"I say we go with Hellbore's idea," Strike said. "Unlike Europe, that continent is mostly neutral. We wouldn't have any problem getting to Suez--the Fandom couldn't possiblystage an effective assault against us from across the ocean.... no way."

-Kamaitachi-
-Bridge-

"I am glad you see things my way sir," Kayla replied. "But I would like to caution about these orders." Kayla proceeded to explain her plan to use the captured Gundam pilot to attempt to sway the others over by making them aware of this information. Once she finished, Leon nodded in approval. It sounded like a good plan. If the Gundam pilots were indeed unaware of the Federation's plot, then perhaps being made aware of it would be the most beneficial to them. Having the notorious enemy squadron defect over to their ranks was almost too much to hope for, but...

"I would like to thank you for your time and effort Sir," the Captain continued. "It's a moral booster to know you support me right now. I'm feeling rather overwhelmed with everything thats happened in the last week. Plus, just between you and me I'm worried about my brother. I still don't know where he went to or whether or not the Federation has gotten to him yet."

"I'm certain that he's alright," Leon said assuredly. However, there was now something tugging at the back of his mind. Her brother... Kyle Ryder... he did in fact believe he'd heard that name somewhere else before. But where?

He moved to the foward window and stopped to take in the view. "If you don't mind, Captain, I think I'm going to hang out here for a while. It was a long flight from Thanatos, and I think I'd like to rest at Euro HQ."

In a couple of hours, the Kamaitachi arrived and at Fandom headquarters. Almost immidiately, a group of officers arrived on the ship, bearing new mobile suits and new orders.

An officer, Corporal Graham Nelleis arrived on the ship bearing new mobile suits and new orders. Apparently, the brass upstairs had decided to reorganize this ship and the survivors that had been picked up from the base into a new Battalion under Leon's command. This was unexpected, but welcoming news. He made a mental note to take the time to get to know the new pilots, Fakin and Klein.

After the men left to take custody of the prisoner, Leon turned to leave as well. "If you'll excuse me," he said to Kayla. "I have some things that requre my attention as well--things to plan. In the meantime, I would recommend that after handing over the spoils to the brass, you use this opportunity to get some much-deserved R&R."

[Kylern]

-Kamaitachi-

The crew was being reorganized with this ship as the base of operations for a new objective. They had new mobile suits, new designation, and new mission. And they would be leaving here tomorrow it seemed. Leon then decided he had some things to do.

"No problem Leon. Just make sure everyone is ready to go by tomorrow morning at 0500." The guy left the bridge and two new people showed up looking for her. She gave a yawn and raised her hand.

"I'm her. Names Kayla Ryder and this is my ship. Are you the two new people assigned here?" She asked to move the conversation forward. After this she planned to sleep the last few days off.

-Cheyenne Mountain Federation Airforce Base-

The simulators were alive in the underground developement center. Kyle had everyone spend at least 10hrs on the simulators before they could get into the cockpit of the VF-11. Things were moving smoothly and he hoped to have them ready for combat with a several weeks.

-Fandom truck-

The Corporal watched as they loaded the Federation soldier up and he cleared his voice after the guy complained about his treatment. "I'm sorry but these soldiers have lost many friends at the hands of your Gundam buddies. You can't expect them to open their arms to you. As the Captain requested we won't hurt you and I hope things go well for you. So just relax and enjoy the trip." He said this with a smile and the nobody else spoke or moved afterwords.

They then arrived at the main building. Several MPs were waiting to escort the Federation pilot to give his report. "Sir if you will follow us." They asked very monotoned to take him where he needed to go.

[The Big Zabowski]

"I see, well let's get this over with."

Mike stood by himself as he hunkered down inside the low ceilined rear of the jeep. He hopped out, fumbling with the cuff on his left hand that was connected to an MP who had already hopped out before him. He grumbled as he twisted his wrist, the cuff digging in to his wrist and causing more pain than it had at rest. He kept up with the brisk pace of the MPs, the group of armed guards undoubtedly garnering much attention from the other pilots and base personnel that had seen the procession pass by. As they walked, Mike noted the many different types of MS and MA being fielded by the Fandom.

And then saw that his Gundam was being lumped with them, carted over to a corner of the field and then into a hangar. The doors rolled closed as he was rushed along the tarmac..

[Sume Gai]

Wan Fey Lo
Fandom Europe HQ

Wan had just arrived as the prisoner was being escorted to what Wan assumed was an interrogation. It didn't matter to Wan however, as long as the pilot wasn't in play there was no reason to care about him.

Wan's purpose here was to find pilots; he needed four of them. In addition, he hoped with a little more prodding to get some artillery type Mobile Weapons.

Sume Gai

Gai decided to add his two cents (hopefully without being totally ignored this time.)

"I don't think theres any totally safe route for us to take; I mean the Atlantic should be neutral but we still were attacked there. Even though it was a small force it ended up grounding the Osprey without much difficulty. I'd also imagine it'd be a lot easier to mount an attack when we're closer to land, yet all things considered, flying over Africa would definitely be the safer course"

[Wingnut]

- Wingnut -

"All right then. We'll take a route that moves through northern Africa and attack our target from the west instead of the northwest across the Med. It will take a little longer, but with any luck we can avoid frequent attacks, but don't think that the Fandom isn't going to try and take us down anyway.

These days we seem to be public enemy number 1 to them so I doubt they'll just let us waltz to our target uncontested.
We'll be leaving first thing in the morning, so make sure everything is ready to go by then."

[Zangetsu]

"Tch, it doesn't matter to me which way we go as long as there are though opponents, who I can kill." said Zaraki as he slamed his two fists together.

[Strike Zero]

Leon hopped back into the Sturmvogel and sent a signal back to the Thanatos, hoping the capatin would be around to establish a COM line. "This is Leon Bolt, calling Thanatos. Anybody home?"

"This is Lister," came the Captain's reply. "Recieving, over."

"Ah, Captain," Leon said. "I am calling to inform you that the Kamaitachi has safely arrived at Fandom Euro HQ, and that I have a new series of orders to hand over to you."

"I'm all ears."

"This ship is going to be departing HQ tommorow morning at oh-five hundred on a new mission: to hunt down and destroy the Gundam team once and for all," Leon said, a hint of glee escaping in his tone. "I'd like you to give me a rundown of the ship's and mobile suit status."

"The ship and its weapon system is one-hundred percent complete and ready for operation at anytime. Currently, our mobile suit accompaniment consists of a dozen BABI units, including the infamous 'Red Eagle'".

"Oh. That guy," Leon said. "How is he?"

"He's... unhappy, to say the least," Lister replied. "The several days of inaction haven't been too enjoyable for him. In addition to those units, HQ has seen fit to supply us with half a dozen new GN-X units. And, of course..." The captain paused. "We have that monstrosity as well, the one you had us build along with your own fighter.

"So... we have eighteen airborne-capable mobile suits, plus the heavy attacker, as well as our own sixteen-strong assault force." A wide grin spread over Leon's face. "Yup. I'd say our chances might as well be a hundred percent."

"Are they?" Lister asked. "Even with thirty-four units total, I still don't believe that would be enough to take down the Gundams."

"Normally, no. That wouldn't be nearly enough. But consider, Captain, what happens when you add Thanatos to the equation."

A dead silence fell over COM. An answer to that question was not required. Against Thanatos, the Gundams had no chance. With Thanatos, victory over the Gundams was garunteed, and it was this fact that Leon was counting on for them to arrive at that outcome.

"There is one minor revision that must be made to the plan," Leon said. "Captian Ryder is going to attempt to use the captured Gundam pilot to sway the other Gundams over to our side, or at least make them wary of the Federation's plot. Should that fail, we will proceed with the operation just as planned."

"Understood. I will await your order to launch."

Leon cut the transmission and leaned back in the Sturmvogel's seat. He realized that he shouldn't be so confident. Everything hinged, after all, on the accuracy of his prediction of the Gundam's next move. But, should they move according to Leon's scenario, everything, this whole debacle with the Gundams would be over, and the Fandom's victory would be assured once and for all.

[hellbore]

-Gibraltar-

Hellbore colored slightly as his plan was unanimously approved of by the team. He wasn't one to make his voiced heard but the sudden inspiration had demanded to be voiced.

He was making his way to his quarters when a sudden pain in his head forced him to his knees. The pain made his vision blur and he could swear he could see a man taping away at a computer in the corner of a room. The features were familiar but before they could clear, the pain stopped.

He got to his feet, and shook his head. He continued on his way deeply shaken by that episode. He aimed to sleep it off.

-Euro-HQ-

Fakin and Sara saluted at the lethargic Captain. "Ma'am, we are the crew of the YTA-06BW Cerberus. I'm Captain Jacob Fakin and this is Lieutenant Sara Klein, formerly of the 115th Research division and Raven Fleet. We have been ordered to join with your group as an independent battalion. It's a pleasure to serve with you."

[Sume Gai]

Sume Gai
now that the plans had been decided Gai moved to personally greet his new teammates. He started with Terrace.

"Hello there, Terrace right? the name's Gai, Sume Gai but you can call me Night Chaser. I wanted to thank you for your teams support fire back there; I was a huge help."

Gai stuck out his hand, offering it to Terrace.

[The Big Zabowski]

Mike had been in the interrogation session for what seemed like days, the ominous and brooding atmosphere of the room weighing heavily on his mind as he put his story forward, grinding against the stare of the Fandom officers that had sat across from him at that cold metal table. He again had gone over the whole situation with the Federal order, which many Fandom people thought as some sort of ruse for them to gain trust in the pilot so he could stab them in the back at a later date.

Definitely something that Mike did not want to hear, but had expected from a people that he had been killing ever since he arrived in this world.

It didn't help later that they brought in some sort of neural scanner thing that they prompted to be akin to an old style polygraph. Again, somehow Mike knew he'd end up with some electro-helmet thing stuck to his noggin so that he'd be able to earn their trust and get the point across that he did indeed mean sincerity in his proposition to fly for Fandom. Question after question touched on points all over the map, from who he was, to who was the first Minister of Information for the Human Federation in 14CE. It was a long and arduous process, making the opressive atmosphere of the room grind even more on his psyche.

But he bit the bullet, and with a communicae of testimony from Captain Ryder, it was decided to put the pilot under a program of surveillance for the time being. With that, he was escorted over to the hangar that held his Gundam, and much to his surprise, it had been stripped of almost all it's components save for the skeleton.

"Wow, you guys work fast.."

A Technician had overheard the comment and turned to the pilot, a smile on his face.

"Well, with the generous gift that you had provided us, we didn't want to waste a single moment and decided to get to work. We only had a problem with the AI you provided, which didn't cooperate. So we instead deleted it and installed a program for us to access the files within.

I must say you sure did provide us with a gold mine of MS data, Mr. Zabowski. We appreciate your decision to come to us with this. Surely this information coup will turn the tide of the war in favor of Fandom."

Mike had stopped dead in his tracks, his knees weak. Even without a single thought for the connection the AI had for the pilot, they went along and did a complete wipe of the drives and sent the AI off to the recycle bin. He couldn't even say a word as he walked over to the console where a few flat screen monitors and a data output graph had been put in place to act as an interface with the new AI.

He carefully looked over the screen, the displays eerily similar to those that had shown in his cockpit when he flew with Sophia. Aside from a few color variations and GUI choices, it was Sophia..and yet it wasn't. He muttered to himself as he stared in disbelief at the work they had done to the Sophia..

"What have you..done..to her?"

It was then that a bright and cheery female voice pipped up over a speaker system attached to the console. A blue LCD screen had been placed next to the keyboard and as the voice spoke a EKG-like readout etched itself across the box.

"Hello Mr. Zabowski! I am the Knight Industries Tactical Artificial Intelligence, but you may refer to me as K.I.T.A.I. I will be assisting you in your installment into the Fandom military as both an adviser and a co-pilot of sorts for our new Mobile Weapon assignment."

Mike was dumbfounded and could only respond with a lack luster "Uh..Wat?"

The Technician chuckled as well as the AI, as best "she" could before the technician spoke up.

"It's nothing to be alarmed about, Mr. Zabowski. We decided to install our own build of AI into your assigned MA to serve as a link to HQ and as an information hub during your assignments. It was easier for us than trying to override the troublesome federal programming that had come installed from the factory. I will say though that it was quite a piece of work. Pity we couldn't save it after we hacked it."

Mike was practically bright red at this point and his left fist balled to the point of the veins on the top of his hand forming lines and arches along his hand. His brow furrowed as he gritted his teeth. The soldiers could see his adverse reaction to this decision and put their hands on his shoulders. The left solider spoke up.

"Captain, I suggest that it's in your best interest to stand down and work with our boys here. You don't want a mishap to happen now, do you?"

Mike knew that he had no choice but to bite his tongue, and accept the fate that like that, Sophia had been shut down and deleted like some unused word document. He felt his knees weaken and stomach churn at the thought of now being all alone within Fandom, no link to the other pilots now existing for Mike to even feel a familiarity with. It was now all new territory for him to explore, whether he liked it or not. The Technician saw this adverse reaction and sighed, walking over to the man and pulling him toward the suit that they had been working on next to the Sophia's remains.

"I apologize for doing what we had to do sir. We had no idea you had such an attachment to her.. Really I want to say that she did put up a fight to the end, a formidable opponent to the last bit of data. As consolation, the female AI was supposed to be some sort of analog for you to at least try to interact with in the same way with the other AI.

Captain Ryder's orders did stand, sir. But we had to do it. There was no other way. But, we did find plans for some sort of fighter like Mobile suit, similar to that used by Knight Company and the Variable Fighter seen within the Gundam team. The data was extremely corrupted, and there was little we could do with it. What we had, we installed into this Bawoo."

Before the pair and several technicians that scurried around it's feet, was a black Bawoo suit. It bore several similarities to the ones he had encountered in space with the Sterling team, but in it's own right it was a piece of work all it's own. The technician then spoke up.

"We found a way to enhance and bring the reliability levels of our MA transformation systems for the Bawoo up to comparable levels to the Variable fighters fielded by the Federation with the data you provided. Now the suit can form into one mobile armor entity and one mobile suit entity rather than what you've seen fielded in combat prior to this point. We also found a way to graft the Whysp systems found in the Gundam's GN drive into a GN Drive of our own; a spare for the Astrea. This GN drive mating alone has brought the suit into a whole new realm of combat capabilities."

The technician then pulled the weary pilot along and over to an elevator that brought the pair up to the open cockpit of the suit. The interior looked like something out of Star Wars.

"This thing looks like the inside of Darth Vader's bathroom.."

The Technician cocked his head and did a "Wat?"

"Oh, it's something from my universe.. big movie phenomenon. The tan, black, and steel made it look like something he'd find ascetically pleasing.."

"I see. Well as you can see, she's more or less ready for sortie, the last thing being us mating the drive cone from the GN Drive to the solar furnace inside the suit. If you could, we'd like for you to assist us in calibrating the suit to your needs and habits, so that the AI and yourself can better function as a single entity."

"Uh..yeah..sure.."

Mike was now blown away by what he saw that the whole debacle with Sophia now molded into a "What the hell do I do now" moment.

As he moved into the cockpit and sat in the seat, the cockpit's ambient lighting lit to place the panoramic cockpit in an eerie white glow. In a monitor cluster above his head, the blue LCD readout again appeared, the white EKG scratchings etching themselves across the screen as the AI spoke.

"Welcome aboard Mr. Zabowski! I can't wait to get out there and work with you!"

Mike half heartedly replied to the peppy AI.

"Yeah..me too, kid."

The AI flat-lined for a second before responding.

"Was it something I said?"

The Technician just shook his head and went on explaining the ins and outs of the new suit, dubbed the Bawoo K as Mike occasionally drifted in and out of thought about the loss of one of his best friends, computer or no..

[Cybaster]

-Masamune-

It was after observing the debacle surrounding the captured Feddie pilot from afar that left Date Masamune in a foul humor, stomping out of the hanger area and towards his quarters on the Kamaitaichi. For the past hour or so, Masamune found himself with little to do; the Ryofu Tallgeese was in perfect condition, and the Fandom were still getting reorganized for the next offensive. He was just on his way to the mainframe room of the base to look for...things pertaining to his mission when he ran into the defector again; curious (and surprised that he was even alive, despite Kayla's words), Masamune followed him to see what fate 'Mike' would suffer. What Masamune saw did not please him one bit.

The main fact was...if the Fandom were that ready to wipe the AI out to suit their own needs despite its importance to the defector, did they have any intention of sending Date Masamune home in the first place? Or would they just kill him and have him replaced by a Clone Trooper or something like that?

With an angry sneer and a small, barely audible mutter of 'Imbecile', Masamune turned and continued moving towards the base proper.

-Emily and Kirie-

"Little Miss D&D sounds so... munchkinny... or something..." Emily sulked at Zangetsu's nickname for her, kicking the ground once gently with her feet as she put her hands in her pockets.

Kirie, in the meantime, just nodded at the course change. It made sense, and even though it would not negate all the danger, it would nonetheless keep much of Fandom Europe away from them. And besides...he would much rather fight on land, even though he'd fight in the air if he needed to; that's what the Musha Gundam was built for in the first place...

[Lowind]

"Another syntax error... Semicolons again."

*Attempting compile*

*Compile failed*

"How did I miss that?!" Lowind facepalmed as he hit the build button for the last time. If that didn't work he would just give up.

*Build successful*

"Oho... It worked!" Lowind said as the window showed up at last.

"What's... this?" The words appeared on the screen. Apparently he managed to at least salvage some personality.

"Welcome back to the living, as much as that applies to an AI program." Lowind typed on the keyboard, not having the skill to make a fancy voice recognition program. "Do you remember your name?"

"My name is... Sophia." The words seem to be coming in faster, as though the program is waking up. "What's going on? I feel that a large amount of my subsystems are missing." (OOC: About 9/10 of it, to be exact, so it is not going into my suit)

"That is because you are now part of my computer, and in fact was just recompiled twenty minutes ago. For some reason mostly functional source code was found in the recycle bin where the real 'you' had been thrown into, and being a programmer myself, I couldn't resist."

"Where is him?"

"Perhaps you could tell me about him, and everything still in your databanks. This is your new creator talking here, so I hope you will be obedient."

[Volnixshin]

Bio stood there streaming the info on his new glider. He couldn't use the glider he had gotten used to as there were no spare parts to rebuild it. He was stuck with the Guul. But it had missle launchers, and he did still have that shotgun.
Bio unplugged his wires and turned around, thinking of that munchkin of a machine Lancelot. It definitly struck his interest. It came after him again last time, so maybe he could consider this a riverlry? Hmm...

Bio grabbed his sack of pumpkin bombs, and leapt horizontally onto the Guul, the guns wobbling in their place holders. He launched into the sky. There was nothing to do. Maybe he could find some more rebels to pin down..

[Wingnut]

- DC Attack Force, Osaka bay -

Being the masters of stealth in their domain that they were, 6 Killer Whale class submarines quietly approached the Fandom base at Osaka that contained their primary objective. The capture of the dimensional portal located there.
The base would not be easily taken however as a sizable garrison was present to guard one of the Fandom's most valuable treasures.

Ordinarily such a garrison would first be attacked by a MAPW to soften up the enemy before attacking, however the possibility of the portal becoming unstable after such an attack meant that this assault would have to be done the old fashioned way.

The DC subs therefore surfaced and began firing waves of cluster missiles (Think the type seen on the attack on the Torrington base in episode 1 of 0083.) at the enemy hangers and barracks before launching their first waves of armored modules to put down any further resistance and capture their target.

The leader of the attack force called out on a frequency to the attack force. "Attention all armored module units, your main targets are the enemy mobile weapons and fixed defenses. Avoid civilian casualties if possible and whatever you do, don't shoot at the structure that has the gate in it. Let's go!"

[The Big Zabowski]

Sophia attempted to do a search through what RAM memory hadn't degraded beyond being even legable code, the program's integrity and speed dropping down to dangerously slow speeds, almost to the point of a system crash. It seemed like forever, and Lowind would undoubtedly soon become impatient with the barely together remnants of the Sophia AI...

But about five minutes into the search:

Fnd irtu!

It was then that a small dossier on the pilot of the Sophia appeared on the screen for Lowind to see. It was an official federal document of sorts, a personnel file on a Captain Michael 'Zabowski' Radachi

Name: Michael Radachi
Rank: Captain in the Human Federation Navy
Age: 21
DOB: 10 March 1987
World: Earth Bravo Sierra 37
Deployment date: 15 May 100CE
Last stationed: HFS Grey Wolf
Last Command: HFS Liberator

There was then a text block of what was known about the pilot, his home, college life in Michigan, his family. After scrolling though the work a bit, Lowind would come upon a small note.

Pilot has undergone duplex merger phenomon. Neros pilot confirmed DOA. Cpt. Zabowski is the surviving entity. Surviving entity found to have enhanced biological characteristics immeasurable to the Federal scientific community at this time. More study may be needed to ascertain the feasability of creating other enhanced beings of this nature.

Status: Officer in question has been studied, and deemed fit for duty.

It would seem that the Federals were not only interested in staving the newtype flow into Fandom, but making their own super soldiers by bending the rules of space time and physics. Looks like Uncle Go decided to pay this world a visit..

Though the fact that there was a ship command on his record was even more intriguing..

Wrk now sir..?

[Cybaster]

Osaka Castle

During the turbulent Sengoku Period, Osaka Castle at first never existed; On the ground where the castle stood today once stood a stronghold of Warrior-Monks and Buddhist Priests known as the Ishiyama Honganji which, after Nobunaga razed the Enryaku-ji monastery Mount Hiei in 1571, became not only the center of Buddhist resistance against the infamous warlord but also the bastion of Buddhism throughout all of Japan. The Ishiyama Honganji eventually surrendered to Nobunaga in 1580, and the stronghold was razed to the ground. It would not be until 1583 when Toyotomi Hideyoshi, Nobunaga's strongest successor, decided to build Osaka Castle on top of that very site --- construction would take over fifteen years to finish, and for a brief time, the majestic Osaka Castle became the symbol and central location of the Toyotomi House's power and right of rule over unified Japan.

After Hideyoshi died, however, what he had built there gradually became meaningless. The Toyotomi's allies suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Sekigahara in 1600, isolating them from much of Japan; In 1614, the rising Tokugawa House besieged the Toyotomi in Osaka Castle only to be defeated, but a second attempt in 1615 --- the famous "Summer Siege of Osaka" --- succeeded and brought an end to the Toyotomi House once and for all. Rebuilt soon after, Osaka Castle would not see prominence until the events of the Meiji Restoration in 1868, in which the castle was burned down, rebuilt again, and converted into a barracks for the Emperor's new modernized army. Subsequent reconstructions would restore the exterior to a perfect replica of the Edo-era appearance in the late 20th Century and, centuries later after the Fandom's invasion of Japan, Osaka Castle became the Japanese Theater's main Command Center and underground research facility.

Now, Osaka Castle was going to burn once again in the hands of the Divine Crusaders.

As the waves of cluster missiles blasted off from Osaka Bay, Osaka's various towers and turrets blazed to life almost immediately, automated AA guns and Defensive Missile turrets rising up from hidden openings and sliding gates on the roofs and firing upon the clusters of missiles. In the initial volley of machinegun, beam and missile fire, over half of the first wave of cluster missiles fired by the DC were destroyed early, explosions flashing above the ancient bastion of the Toyotomi Clan in their wake, but the rest got through, and created small explosions throughout the courtyard and some of its walls, destroying a few naval transports moored there as well.

Fortunately for the Fandom, however, Osaka Castle was not the place where Mobile Weapons and vehicles were serviced; This was done in a separate base further away from Osaka Castle, only thirty-or-so seconds away, and hence they were spared the bulk of the missile fire as they scrambled.

Commander-in-chief Ishikawa Shigetaka narrowed his eyes at the screens in the war room beneath Osaka Castle as the first of DC's armored modules began surfacing. He was not worried yet; There was no cause to, and unlike Toyotomi Hideyori before him, Ishikawa didn't intend to be defeated so easily this time. "All automated defences keep firing at enemy air attacks until my order. Ensign, relay my orders to the Umeda base. Have them mobilize their Mobile Weapons and spread out throughout the city to minimize losses, but do not enter Osaka airspace yet."

"Aye, sir."

Ishikawa nodded. "Right. Facility control, lockdown the underground floors. Isolate our power supply and communications."

"Being done, sir. Estimated time to completion: 35 seconds."

"Excellent. Order the Umeda base to send their Mobile Weapons in after 60 seconds to attack any landing parties and armored vehicles." Then, Ishikawa looked back up, and grinned. He had a surprise planned for the Tokugawa this time.

"Upper floor, begin charging the EMP. Withdraw automated defences and fire after 40 seconds."

"But Commander, if we fire the EMP---"

"We can always fix the power to the city later, but this siege must be turned now. Charge the EMP."

"Yes, sir."

[Terrace]

Terrace shook 'Night Chaser's' hand.

"Glad we could help. I treated the whole scenario like a duck hunt. My boys and I even had a challenge going with one of the Doms. Last one to hit it buys lunch for the whole Gundam team." He was interrupted by the angry squawk of the GM Heavyarms pilot who lost the challenge.

"Sir, you said only for our team!" Terrace looked at him.

"That's right, Joey. This is our whole team. You better pony up in the cafeteria en route."