Episode 18 - The 4th's 3rd Trip To 2nd [4th]

The last RPG was "Zeta Gundam: Tales from the Frontlines - The AEUG" which ran from 2006-14.
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ScornMandark
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- Spacedock -

Rem adjusted his work satchel over his shoulder as he headed for the elecar station. He was carrying his small duffel of clothes in one hand, juggling a few drawings in the other. He understood the pilots' need to explosively decompress, but he felt none of that drive himself.

Life outside of work...Might be time to reconsider again...He felt his thoughts drifting back to the last few times he tried to date.

'You're so wrapped up in your work!'

'You never pay attention to me!'

'What is it you're thinking about when you aren't thinking about me?'

On the other hand, work was a lot simpler. With that thought, he flagged down a taxi and headed back to his efficiency apartment. The ride was quiet and short. He passed through a rougher part of town, but was generally too wrapped up to pay any attention. When the car reached the building, he started a bit out of his daze. He dropped his credits into the slot and headed up into the high rise. The doorman hardly looked up from the magazine he was reading to notice the engineer enter.

Rem stepped around some of the trash on the floor. It hadn't been quite this bad when he left, but that new family had moved in on his floor just before he left and they seemed a little...well, he wouldn't want to take the elevator with them. Hopefully they'd clean up eventually. He didn't hold out much hope.

The lift stopped at the 16th floor and he stepped out. The graffitti on the walls was old enough that there were layers on layers, each trying to outdo the one below. Rem fumbled for his roomkey for a minute, then slipped inside. It wasn't that he was scared of his neighbors...just that he wanted to get inside quickly. So as not to...um...forget something in the hall. That sounded good. He was really running out of excuses, he had started reusing some about 3 months ago.

Inside, his living space was small, but neat. It helped that he didn't even sleep here half the time. About half of his work clothes were in his locker at Anaheim, folded on top of his blanket and pillow. He put down the drawings on his table, now pretty dusty. He had 2 chairs at the table, one of which he dropped his workstation bag on. The only real divisions in the apartment were the door to the bathroom and the half wall in the kitchen. Rem had added a folding screen to hide the bed, although now he kind of wondered why he bothered. He never entertained here, and it only got in the way most of the time. Well, something to think about later.

He emptied his duffel into his hamper, then grabbed the drawings and his workstation. There wasn't any food in the kitchen and he was ready to head back to work. Working with Dr. Merkwurdigliebe in the field was enlightening and empowering, and Rem was fired up to get some of this data crunched. Already he had come up with a revision for the damage acquisition system that would improve accuracy 58% over baseline, and with a few hardware tweaks would improve that threefold.

As he hopped into the nearest taxi, he was already lost back in thought. "Anaheim Electronics, please." The car pulled away with a lurch, and Rem was back into his old routine, not an hour off the Dervish.
The Mekton Zeta Mailing List wrote:27. I will not put emergency destruct devices in my mecha. I will put them in my pilots. Nothing motivates like thermite.
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- Amman -
- Fritz’ Apartment -

Fritz woke up within 30 minutes of laying down. Taking a nap before noon ended as a predictable failure, so he milled around the apartment for a few minutes before stepping out onto the tiny balcony for a smoke. He noticed more elecar in the complex’s stand and figured some of the other crew had gone home instead of taking up Pan’s offer of a party. After a couple of boring cigarettes, he went inside to find something else to occupy himself with. He pulled on his “Jimmy Says Take It Easy” t-shirt and flopped down on the couch to channel surf. After being on a military ship for a while, so much sudden downtime was a little strange to deal with.

- Anaheim Electronics Branch Office -
- Dr. Merkwürdigliebe’s Office -

Instead of going home, Dr. M had driven straight to his office at AE to continue the work he had started on the Dervish with Rem Banner’s help. Because he had technically been posted on the Dervish as part of an Anaheim contract with Gates, he had only given AEUG authorities a cursory overview of his ideas. If what he had in mind came to fruition, the AEUG would benefit - at least because of Chairman Carbine’s involvement. Dr. M called up the huge lists of data Rem had collected and began to tinker with a Rick Dias in a computer engineering program.

- Craters -

Lt. Mello finally got his drink after some grumbling from the bartender, and he turned around to rest against the bar and survey the club. He nearly spit out the first taste all over Pan Heyden when he noticed Ramon Sumitani, shirtless, “dancing” through zero-g right through a group of the club’s ladies. “Get that jackass out of there!” the bartender yelled, waving for a bouncer. The bouncer that had high-fived Hard AE as he was coming in the door rumbled across the club floor and reluctantly entered the zero-g area to haul Ramon out of Craters.

- MacDaniel’s Restaurant Back Room -

Carl Abbey shifted in his seat as the meeting entered its 45th minute. To either side of him on his side of the rectangular table sat Captains Dombrowski and Guanche, as well as Lt. Stalvern from the Hamburg. Across from them sat two EFSF officers - no, they were AEUG now - both in civilian clothing like the 4th Squadron’s command staff. Fittingly, at opposing ends of the table Wong Lee and Sir Maximilian Gates had stationed themselves so they could have an unobstructed view to talk at everyone. “The only way we will agree to this is on the condition that the Chuikov is released back into our general force pool. I’ve come to understand your methods, Gates, and I will not allow you-” he coughed, “the AEUG will not allow you to continue treating the 4th as your own personal spacy,” Wong barked in his usual forceful tones.

Once the barest skeleton of a debriefing had been finished, Gates and Wong had seized the floor for the last 30 minutes to argue about the 4th’s reinforcement and redeployment. Gates stifled and puffed up, “I’ve gone out of my way to strengthen the AEUG, putting myself in personal danger to negotiate defections, and you respond by taking combat strength away from my sponsored unit,”. Wong responded with a dubious frown. “Whatever your motives were, it remains a fact that the Chuikov is not capable of combat operations, and she won’t be for a while. Whether or not the 4th is on a deployment when the Chuikov is spaceworthy again, if you insist on immediately replacing her in the 4th she will be sent where she is needed when the time comes,”.

Dombrowski reacted only with a single raised eyebrow. Wong Lee was effectively presenting Gates with an unappealing ultimatum: leave the Chuikov behind and fly understrength until her repairs were complete, or take on a replacement ship immediately and split up the 4th Squadron. It took Gates a moment longer than Dombrowski to understand Wong’s meaning, but his reaction was much louder and more explicit. “This is… this is piracy! You’re taking the Chuikov as a prize to spite me!” Gates accused, ignoring the irony of his method of obtaining the new Salamis Kai being discussed. Abbey cleared his throat and asked the question he knew was on Dombrowski’s mind, “Will Nathan transfer his command to the new ship? What about the pilots?”.

Wong shook his head. “No. Capt. Dombrowski is to stay with the Chuikov,”. The blood drained from Gates’ face, and Dombrowski’s rigid posture softened a bit as his vision sank to the table’s surface with no verbal protest. Wong eyed the 4th’s captains and sponsor, and then continued, “We will release the pilots to be transferred back into your fleet to make the reinforcement process easier, and to avoid removing experienced pilots from the 4th. We’re well aware of how often the 4th is in combat,”. Gates folded his arms and looked as if he was about to threaten to hold his breath until he got his way. By “we”, Wong meant himself, Melanie Hue Carbine and the other AEUG leaders, so it was clear he had authority on his side.

Wong’s eyes narrowed. “You know your ’displays’ don’t impress me, Sir Maximilian. You’ll have to make your decision before we leave this room,” he rasped. Gates looked as if he wanted to turn the table over. He looked over to Abbey and the other men for support. “I’ll comply with whatever you decide,” Dombrowski said, sounding much more resigned than usual. Gates ground his teeth for a moment, and then asked, “I get to keep my pilots?” leaning towards Wong. The AEUG bigwig nodded. “And I retain exclusive rights to test the new equipment produced from research done with data collected from my fleet?” Gates continued, leaning in closer. Wong frowned. “Exclusive rights to test, not exclusive rights to use. Yes,” he relented.

Gates put on a smug smile, “I would never deprive the AEUG of a viable weapon. I’m just--”. “Protecting your investments. Of course,” Wong finished his sentence. “Just protecting my investments” had practically become Gates’ catchphrase. The smile on the sponsor’s face grew genuine, but it wasn’t out of joy. “Deal,” Gates humphed, falling back into his chair. “What!?” Abbey blurted, surprised at Gates’ willingness to split up the 4th. “Don’t worry about me, Carl,” Dombrowski sighed, “I get a long vacation either way, and you need a ship that can fight,”.

Wong nodded, “Capt. Dombrowski is a practical man. Very well, then. Capt. Ebsch and the Balrampur will replace the Chuikov as of tomorrow,”.
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- Amman -

Randy actually saw Bernard while he’s moving away from the Craters. Seeing that he accompanied by someone else, not to mention a woman, Randy didn’t call out and avoid the possibility of being a jerk by ruining his friend’s day off. 'A red haired lady.' Randy thought. Adam pulled over the elecar and by chance Randy saw some convenience store nearby. He told Adam to go straight to the Craters and don’t wait for him since he need to take care of something.

Randy needed to take care of his ticket home to Side 6. If he received no notice from the AEUG then he’ll go straight home. It’s faster than his prediction but he feel great about be able to go home and enjoy his time of peace. He entered the store and bought a phone card. He also bought today’s newspaper and a can of soft drink to ease his thirst. Not far from the store he found a public phone and make a call to home. As usual he didn’t mention anything about AEUG and MS fights to his family. Only his father knew about what he’s doing, and he was glad when Randy called and told that he’s safe and okay. Next, Randy phoned his friend in travel agency and booked a return ticket to Side 6. The fastest flight available for him is in three more days.

Don’t have anything to do and wasn’t really interested in the Craters, Randy walked around the area. Purely just for sightseeing, Amman is new for him. Not a very big city, and not really that attractive for tourism or anything but still not a bad place to live with. He found a pizza parlour, ordered three slices of pizza and a coffee. He took his time and read the newspaper, trying to cope up with the world while enjoying his cup of coffee.
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- Amman -

Seeing Randy get up and walk off alone suddenly made Adam feel incredibly self-conscious. No longer willing to enter the unsavoury looking bar, Adam leaves the elecar and walks he opposite way from Randy. He hadn't been in Amman very long last time he was here, having spent most of his time on the Moon in Granada. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he loses himself in his memories of the One Year War and other, more recent, memories.
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Pan was loaded, and way too quickly too. As Mello showered him in booze. He leaned back and belched and proclaimed. "It's raining beer mello! Can you hear it? I'm a gawdamn werewolf! AWOOOoooOOOoooOOO" He leaned on Mello, and pointed at Ramon who was swimming away from the clumsy bouncer who had almost torn off Ramon's pants.

"Good ol' Ramon Queering up stuff. Y'know what? I lied i'm a monkey oo-ee-oo-ee-baa baa boo"
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'Rick' Archer/Caroline Tucker

the journey to craters had been a long and perilous one especially with Caroline at his side; the large red bump in the middle of her forehead attested to that quite clearly. finally Seeing the Sign that read "Craters" Caroline's energy seemed to perk up as she again tugged Rick's arm leading him into the club. The bouncer raised an eyebrow at the couple but didn't stop them from entering.

Once inside Caroline Scanned for another AEUG pilot and quickly caught sight of Pan, She excitedly hurried towards him still dragging rick along by the arm. When she arrived she spoke first. hoping to introduce Rick to the rest of the crew.

"Hey Guys this is--" She stopped herself when she finally saw what kind of place Craters was; the multitude of women behind the Glass Pan was starring through. "WHAT? YOU INVITED US TO A STRIP CLUB; HOW DARE YOU; YOU GUYS ARE SUCH JERKS!!!" Her eyes were narrowed and the same height as her shoulders the various bumps from the journey over disappearing in the reddening skin.

She turned, huffing and puffing, and began to stomp out; but she didn't make it two steps before her foot got caught in a bar stool beside her. Both her and the stool fell, she landed on the empty floor but the stool toppled the one next to it which, in turn, toppled the next. The third toppled the fourth and this continued all the way down the bar knocking many of the Pilots and patrons out of their seats.
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- Amman -

- Anaheim Electronics Branch Office -
- Dr. Merkwürdigliebe’s Office -

Maximilian Gates brushed imagined dirt from his sleeve and sighed at the techno babble he was being bombarded with. Dr. M clicked ahead to the next schematic and nodded, “Eh, yes. I am confident this model will be quite, ah, successful,”. His right hand tensed up and wouldn’t release its grip on the computer mouse, and he was forced to slap it until it let go. Gates pretended to ignore the bizarre behavior and insisted, “I didn’t come here just to look at numbers, and pictures, and pictures of numbers, doctor. Hiring you and Banner wasn't cheap,”. Merkwürdigliebe chuckled, “Yes, yes, I understand. But you must understand that I can’t conjure prototype designs out of thin air with pure talent,”. Gates shrugged, “I just want something concrete, Gerhard,”. Dr. M tapped his chin for a moment, off in his own world figuring time and cost and who knows what else, and then he answered with a smile, “Give me until December, mein sovereign. Then you’ll have something,”.

- Craters -

The atmosphere in Craters quickly deteriorated, and Lt. Mello found himself tangled up in a domino rally style collapse of bar stools and then thrown out on his rear end alongside Ramon. “Jeez…” he complained, rubbing his sore lower back. The bouncer had rounded up Hard AE and then dragged Mello to the exit by his collar before giving him the bum’s rush. The two pilots from the New Yark stood up and dusted themselves off. “Makes me wonder why I stick with you,” he grumbled at his friend, who was still smiling and dancing around as if nothing had happened.

“I’m going home. You should too, Ramon. Guess we weren’t destined to enjoy this fine establishment,” he said sarcastically as Capt. Loweno exited the bar. Loweno gave the two pilots a wink and a nod as he stopped to collect himself. “Just remembered I’m supposed to be at a meeting. I told John to go in case I forgot…” he said as he set off down the block with one of the girls from the bar.
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- AE Branch Office -

A pile of rolled plans and stapled printouts burst through the door as someone muttered, "Oh, jeez..." Rem stumbled a bit and nearly lost the lot of it, barely catching himself before snatching a stray paper with his hand, losing 2 more in the process. This continued for another good 15 feet or so until he managed to find a table to spread the pages out on. He checked his watch. 'Man, Dr. M is probably already meeting with the program financer...'

He had really hoped to be at the meeting, but with the traffic in the streets and some bar brawl spilling onto the sidewalks, there was no way he'd have made it. Instead of disrupting the meeting by walking in 15 minutes late, he instead spread out the plans on a table near Dr. M's office. The doctor's work area immediately surrounding his office was full of brilliant engineers and scientists, and there was a central conference table where staff met to discuss current projects. Rem took over 2 of the whiteboards and started hanging printouts and schematics, plugged in his workstation, and started in on some of the design revisions the Dr. had encouraged him to work on. A few were remarkaby straightforward, a few a little less intuitively obvious. He waited for Dr. Merkwurdigliebe and Mr. Gates to finish so he could speak with them, even if just briefly.
The Mekton Zeta Mailing List wrote:27. I will not put emergency destruct devices in my mecha. I will put them in my pilots. Nothing motivates like thermite.
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- Amman -

- Anaheim Electronics Branch Office -
- Conference Area -

“That sounds expensive,” Gates said as he walked out of Dr. Merkwürdigliebe’s office into the common area where Rem was waiting. Dr. M shook his head and chuckled, “I assure you, the basic technology is available to us now. It’s simply a matter of reapplying it to other existing designs. You’ll be, ah, profiting from Anaheim Electronics designs that are on queue to be tested for other research teams,”. Gates did not look convinced. “The, eh, Zeta Project, for one, still has tests pending on equipment,” the doctor said. Gates perked up a little, “Now there’s a profitable name,”.

- Fritz’ Apartment -

Fritz was pleasantly surprised when his wife came home early in the afternoon. “Why didn’t you call me when the ships came in?” Elizabeth asked as they hugged, laughing, “I found out your unit was back in Amman when we had a soldier come in with a gash on his forehead from a fight at some dive called Craters,”. “Please tell me it wasn’t Jim,” Fritz muttered, only half serious. He placed a hand on her stomach and said, “Wow, you really can’t even tell yet,”. She kissed him and replied, “I probably won’t really start showing for another month or so,” as she sat her bag down and they moved to the living room. “Tell me about how things went in space. My father heard the AEUG was going to try and make a deal with Axis. How are Michiko and the others?” she asked as they sat down. Fritz shook his head. “The Argama tried to talk to Axis but failed. It’s been rough out there,” he explained, putting his arm around her. “Let’s talk about that later.”
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