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Across the Blaze; Episode 7
Topic Started: Nov 7 2011, 01:57 PM (464 Views)
Sunrise

Universal Century 0079, October 6, 11:23. North America Chihuahuan Desert eastern edge

It has been two days since last battle, for these 2 days no more CRADLE units was even spotted patrolling the surrounding areas of the Argama. It was perfectly enough for the white ship and its crew to repair and recover their conditions. Flying across close to the boarders of America, it was revealed that CRADLE forces have heavily blockaded the boarders, preventing anything from approaching Jaburo. Noa decided that it was too difficult to break through, and even if they do manage to get pass the boarders, according to computer calculation, the probability they would get safely to Jaburo is no more than 3%. Disappointed by such a low number, Noa decided to take the long way and at least get to a Federation related facility, aiming for Belfast, the closest base located in North Ireland. Hayate, all healed and ready to go again sat at the operator's chair once again. Putting down his headphones and lying back, grabbing the water bottle on the seat beside him he took a sip from the straw and sighed. The water was warm, he did not expect any cold water but he did not want something that warm in a place like this. Looking out the window, the desert was still at an endless horizon. "Ah, we have went for 2 days and we are still not seeing the end of the desert..." he complained a bit, indeed anyone would get bored at a time like this.

To conserve energy, the Argama had its air conditioner turned off during work times. Maybe it was because Noa liked to have work and rest clearly separated, but compared to the bridge, the MS hangers were much hotter. With machines producing extra heat, it was like hell there. Most, if not all the crew members had their outer uniform strapped to their waist, since everyone there were men, they could care less about how they appeared. Allen was no exception, tossing his blue Federation uniform onto the seat in the Gundam, he went down to the leg unit to attach sand proof parts to his MS. As Allen was maintaining the front leg unit, Sanders and a few maintenance crew were behind doing the same. The tanned man with oily and messy black hair looked up at the current progress. The Gundam's white armor was removed and bare machine was completely revealed during maintenance. "Hey kid, switch parts C14 and 15 around, and attach them at 45 degrees, we will adjust according to that!" he shouted with his loud voice. Busy as ever, Allen had no time to think about other stuff. Of course he might still be jealous about Sayla and Hayate, though he decided to block this thought out by work.

After being told by chief Sanders that the crew can handle the rest and he can get a rest, Allen decided to go have a glance at the bridge, at least he can see Sayla there. Washing his hands but not bothering taking a shower or even wiping his sweat, he put the sweaty blue uniform back on and zipped up. Although the hallways were quite hot, it was at least cooler than the hangers. Thinking back, there might even be over 35 degrees there, the windows were open and the desert wind can even provide a bit of cooling. Remembering what Noa told the crew this morning, it seems like the Argama is heading towards a point where the Federation prepared to resupply for them. Allen did not have a good impression of the Federation officials, especially what Major Wakkein did to them and drove them out of Luna 2. Nonetheless theres not much time for them to care about this and that. Turning around the corner, he took a glance at the clock on the wall, it was already 12 at noon. Just now, he heard that the cafeteria was starting to get noisy, it is about time for lunch. Good chance, he might go put up his courage and ask Sayla to go with him for lunch at least. The automatic door towards the bridge slid open, as the crew of the Argama were not proper military members, they knew little about the rules of the army anyways. Though the civilians all got off 2 days in Phoenix.

However when he walked in, he felt that the atmosphere there was clearly stiffer than other places. But he also noticed another thing, not the fact that everyone had their eyes glued on the cable TV system, but the fact that the noise he heard all the way from the cafeteria till the door of the bridge can no longer be heard anymore. Not sure why everyone suddenly turned silent, Allen also took a glance up at the cable TV. There his eyes widened and cannot take it off the screen. A women in her late 20s, dressed in red leather dress, standing in front of a microphone. There was a huge picture that Allen did not recognize behind her, on the corner of the TV it wrote in bold letters, LIVE.

Allen paid attention to every single word in the speech, from beginning to end. He finally knew who he was fighting against all this time. It was not Full Frontal, and not even Garma Elisard himself that he did not even know until this moment. It was the entire nation called Side 3, and their military army CRADLE. This is the first time Allen felt how small he is. Every time the audience cheered HAIL CRADLE, he shivered. In front of such powerful enemies, Allen could not help but take a step back and drop a cold sweat. "This is...our enemy....?" his teeth were about to clatter, most likely a lot of other people on board was thinking that.
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Sunrise

Above high up in the sky, even higher than the world itself, there was one ship. Instead of being like a ship, it was more like a space shuttle heavily armed with weapons. Painted in the usual dark green color scheme that CRADLE likes to paint most of their units with, the carrier slowly approached the atmosphere from above. Within, boards one of CRADLE's ace pilots, he has demonstrated outstanding piloting skills and military tactics, especially guerrilla tactics during the war, earning him a worthy title for that as well. A man around his 30s, overall a round and chubby appearance, with a beard that covered most of his chin, he turned off the television on the bridge. Right after the speech of Carissa Elisard for the deceased Garma, the channels turned back to whatever it was putting on air. "Heh, this is Earth. Well, giving me a newly made MS for me to test it out on Earth, or whether do they ask of me to destroy the rumored trojan horse...my my, that ship's rumors went all the way to me in just one night after Garma-sama's death." he commented while flipping the pages of a file.

However a women, dressed in a black one piece, with heavy make up and long blond hair tied back went up and patted the CRADLE commander on the shoulder. She was in her mid 20s, overall slim and with thick make up all over, including perfume as well. "Darling, you know that this trojan horse has become the center of attention for CRADLE now. Did her highness Carissa not say that whoever manage to sink this ship, the members of that crew will be immediately promoted two ranks without question..." she rhetorically questioned, although her words showed respect to the royalty that ruled Side 3, did her actions actually reflect on that was a question.

"Ho? So theyre going to shoot me up to Lt. Colonel in one breath if I get that? I see I see, not too bad of a deal I suppose. Plus I get to test out the new ground combat MS they just gave us...no matter how you look and think of it, its going to be different. And they decided to paint it in my favorite color too. Ha, how can this not be exciting?" the commander laughed as the shuttle shook a bit. Seeing the screens have lowered and the cameras showed a blaze of red, the shuttle is about to enter the atmosphere. The Zanzibar class is designed for mobile suit transportation, and as such the ship relies on its mobile suits for most of its offensive and defensive power. This is also the only ship that can undergo atmospheric re-entry and return to space up until today that CRADLE can build.

"Captain Ral, please sit down and put on your seat belts, as we are about to commence the atmospheric reentry." one soldier notified, the CRADLE commander took note and nodded. Hopping back onto his seat he clicked the two sides of the seat belts. Slowly the shuttle began to shake harder and eventually the vibration died out. As the shutters opened again, it was a vast horizon of blue sky and sand. As the shuttle was slowly dropping in altitude, there was a clearer view of the surroundings.

"Hmm? This is Earth, I see...I think I will like this place. Allow me, Ramba Ral to have a visit around this planet someday after the war ends! Hamon, pack your stuff and get ready to get off. Think they said theyre moving us onto a land cruiser instead of this ship!" Ral ordered, the women called Hamon, most likely his fiancee or wife nodded and bowed, then slowly walked off the bridge. Ral then took a long distance glance at the endless view of sand. Without much more words he turned and walked away as well.
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Sunrise

The live broadcast soon was over as the channels returned to the normal program. The TV system was turned down as everyone was silent for a while. Noa feared that the battle will just become more and more intense, that the not properly trained civilian soldiers on board cannot take it. However they have no other choice but to push on. The silence was soon broken by Taures, the radar caught a rare signal within sight. It was the signal of an ally force. However the sky slowly turned cloudy, for a desert, it was very rare as well. Once in a blue moon, the desert can be struck by thunderstorms, but even so, rain does not fall in at least a few hundred years. "Captain, we have detected an ally signal within radar range. Type Medea transport carrier, it has landed at the coordinates they gave us this morning." he explained, the screen displayed a shot of the ally forces that was ready to resupply the Argama.

The Medea transport plane, was the Federation's cargo aircraft, usually used to provide resupplyment from main bases to the more remote areas that the Federation has taken over. However since it was solely used for transport, it had limited fire arms, little to none that can protect itself from a MS attack. As seen, the long yellow orange coloring of the plane's main body, there were not many guns mounted in it. Unlike normal jets with had wheels on the bottom, it had a huge "box" that served as its cargo bay and its wheels mounted over the box. Blending in fairly well with the environmental colors, the Medea managed to make it through the CRADLE's line of defense. There were 5 units lined up in a formation even landing on the ground. "Alright, land the Argama! Rie, leaving it to you!" Noa commanded, the white ship also began to lower in altitude. Seeing he has no reasons to be here, Allen walked out of the bridge.

Keeping the radars up and high, then keeping a close watch on the engines making sure it does not die completely, Noa and several crew members walked off the ship to greet the leader of resupply team. Leaving Sayla and Rie on the bridge, Hayate for the past few days were not seen on the bridge as often. Although since Sayla got use to her job, she can handle many things alone now, though Hayate seems to be spending his time in the MS hangers more, at a corner Allen never went to because he did not need to use that machine there. Allen decided to go down and have a look, wondering what kind of officer the Federation sent this time. The desert was dry and hot, but after being in the hangers, outside was relatively cool with a nice breeze of desert wind. Allen blinked a bit as sand was blown into his face as he turned around and looked around the corner. From the Medea, supply crates were being moved up into the cargo of the Argama up a conveyer belt. Inside the crates there were food, water and daily needs, but also parts and fuel for the ship itself. Though there were a few larger crates, that were made of steel hard alloy instead of the normal wooden ones, those were being carried directly to the MS hanger. Allen only heard Sanders from inside shouting "Alright everyone get to work! We're gonna build this baby back up right now!", Allen then walked around, seeing Federation soldiers, wearing the same blue uniform as him hustling each other in carrying the supplies. It was only natural for them to hurry like this, since they parked right in the middle of CRADLE's territory, it would only be a matter of time until someone spots them.

Hearing Noa's voice, Allen assumed he was talking with the commander of this squadron, but somehow the replies made Allen a bit puzzled. Remembering the Lt. Colonel Wakkein's smug attitude at Luna 2, Allen still had the impression that the Federation officers are all like that. But what he heard was not the case, it was the tender female voice. Turning around the corner that was blocked by a supply crate, Allen had to rub his eyes to make sure no sand was blocking his eyesight. "I see, so we will be participating in the planned Operation Odessa soon then...but thank you very much, we really thought that we were done with after the battle against Garma Elisard. Moving across the Atlantic ocean would be unthinkable, but I think we can manage if we got this many supplies..." Noa saluted with a clipboard on his hand, it was neatly listed with the quantity of supplies each crates held, the list was long since there were around 30 pages. Noa then noticed Allen watching them. "Hmm? Whats wrong Allen? Is the Gundam's maintenance finished?" he asked, but then the female officer walked up to the young Allen, with the eyes of a mature women, she smiled.

"So you're the rumored Allen Ray that pilots the Gundam? My, I heard you were a student, but you are younger than I thought. Nice to meet you, my name is Silvia Santos~" She smiled and reached out, offering a handshake. Unlike most officers that wore a pair of white gloves, Silvia did not do so, her slender hands was much too tender for a Federation officer. She had light orange colored hair until shoulder length, not sure if it was dyed or natural, but Allen did not mind. Her stunning beauty already captured his heart, but Allen cannot do so. He was devoted to Sayla, or at least he believed he was. Though he still took the handshake, she smiled. Noa being called away by Taures to go check something, Silvia saw that and decided to take this chance and know more about this boy. "Those eyes, I know them...you seem to be troubled, in a few ways." she asked.

"Ah, its nothing like that. I was just thinking about how to improve the Gundam's performance. Since Noa-san is quite pushy when it comes to the Gundam, since thats all we have on board right now..." Allen suddenly changed the topic, although he was not sure why he did so, he by instinct wanted to avoid certain chat topics that he did not even know what they were. Silvia saw that and sighed, tsk tsk shaking her head and got up real close to Allen. Their faces were nearly touching, less than a few inches apart, her perfume spread over Allen's face as he tried to back off a bit.

"Ah ha, no one asked you what you want to do with the Gundam. How cold of you, talking to a lady using this sort of topic~ But you know, since you want mechanical chat then I brought you a nice present. To reduce your work we have brought stuff to support the Gundam. Now then what is it I wonder, not telling you!" she winked and took a step up again, with no intention of flirting, she only wanted Allen to know about a certain feeling that she sensed from him the moment they met face to face. "But you know what Allen, women can be dumber than you think. If you dont tell them how you feel, they might never notice what you think of them, and when someone else thats not you take them away, it will really start to feel painful. I know its inappropriate to chat about something like this in the middle of the enemy's territory, but you are still young. The war will not last until your life ends, you still have a bright future ahead of you...so tell her your feelings when you can."

Allen was shocked, how much does Silvia know about him. Can this person really tell so much from just by glaring his facial expressions, or does this person know how to read minds. But the words struck Allen hard, though reality was not so easy. He feared, what if, what if Sayla said no. Their relationships will never be the same again, it would be questionable whether they can return to being friends...
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Sunrise

An hour or so have passed, the clouds up above was beginning to gather. The sun that poured out sharp sunlight was more or less nowhere to be seen. As Allen can hear thunder roaring in the background, the cargo bays of the Argama have all shut down as the crew of the Medea was returning to their respective positions, Allen was only leaning against the wall of the Argama thinking what Silvia told him just now. But just thinking might not take him anywhere, though the person he wanted to see right now appeared. Silvia tapped Allen on the shoulders and leaned onto the wall beside him as well. "Hey, think you should get back onto the ship soon. They're going to take off and you guys will be heading towards Odessa in Ukraine soon. Still thinking about the things I told you just now?" she asked.

"I know its wrong to look at my friend like that, but I really cant stop thinking about her! I'm really a bad person am I, I always thought if I fought hard and protected the Argama, then Sayla will look at me in amazement. But in the end I am only using other people's lives to fulfill my own cowardice..." Allen looked away, there was nothing he tried to hide from Silvia, although it was only an hour since they have met, Allen already trust this person, Allen took note of the ranking badge on the collar of her Federation commander uniform. It was the sign of Ensign, not very high, the same ranking as Noa and Mu that he has not heard of ever since Earth. But why does she seem so mature and understanding, despite being so lowly ranked. Allen noticed, that military ranks means nothing and should not be used to measure a person's worthiness.

"Allen, it is never wrong to love someone. But the fact that you are trying to get her attention by using another tool, this is what you are doing wrong. There was always a line between friends and lovers, and you can cross this line anytime. But only once...remember this. Here..." she reached behind her neck and unhooked a sort of necklace, it had a charm on the bottom. Wrapping her arms around the young pilot's shoulders, she hooked the necklace behind Allen and letting it slide down his chest. "This was the lucky charm my mother gave me before I went to the army, starting today you will be jumping into the battlefield far more intense than I will ever experience, so I think its better for you to have this.

Allen blushed again, as Silvia waved good bye, running back towards her Medea. Allen really did not understand why he felt like this, but maybe he has a bit more courage from what she said. Walking back onto the Argama he waved good bye to the Medea that took off into the air one by one. However just when the Medea went far and out of sight, for a few days they have not heard this, but the alarm rang.

"Captain Ral, seems like we have detected the trojan horse, but we have not arrived at our destination yet, what shall we do?" the pilot of the Zanzibar questioned his commander respectfully, the overall round and chubby officer put his hands over his chin and thought. Being able to capture sign of the enemy ship means the enemy also have captured sight of them now. This is not a time to think much more, ignoring this chance will make it much harder for them to spot their targets again.

"Heh heh, how can we miss a chance like this? Deploying right here, we can tell the captain of the other ship to delay an hour or something. Hamon, put down your bags and lets get ready. Help me get changed, lets see really how tough that white trojan horse is!" Ral shouted and laughed, his fiancee smiled and nodded. Holding a clipboard that displayed spy data of their enemy, the correct names of the trojan horse and the Federation's white MS was written clearly on the paper. Argama, and Gundam...
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Sunrise

Dressing up in a dark yellowish normal suit, Ramba Ral's normal suit was yet again not the same from an ordinary pilot. Though unlike Full Frontal, he decided to wear a normal suit in battle anyways. There were 3 MS lined up inside the hangers of the Zanzibar, two of them were the commonly seen Zaku, however the one in the center appeared somewhat different. It mounted a shield on its hand and one hand unit had "fingers" clearly thicker than an ordinary Zaku too, with the shield on the Zaku's shoulders removed, this blue MS had sharper spikes on its shoulders, giving it a more fierce look. Though it also had the horn of the Zaku commander type, something was different about this MS. Ral slowly let the pulley pull him up into the cockpit, before the hatches closed, he waved good bye to his fiancee or wife that waved back in the control room of the hangers to see him off. The mono eye system activated, but unlike the old Zaku, it did not have the pole down the middle of the screen, the hatches closed as Ral clipped the seat belts on and tightened it. "Acos! Cozun! This is our first battle on Earth, dont go too deeply into the enemy's territory. Make sure you can retreat anytime! he called out to his two subordinates that got into their Zakus over the radio.

The bottom hatches opened as it revealed the moving land of Earth, or maybe it was due to the Zanzibar moving of course. A strong slap of sandy wind blew into the ship, although Ral did not feel anything, he noticed the small particle of silicon beginning to attach a bit over the camera of his MS. "Haha! This wind, this texture! This is what you call warfare! Ramba Ral, launching!" his blue MS jumped off the bottom hatches while the other two Zakus followed.

At the same time, Allen got ready to launch as well. He took a close glance at the charm Silvia gave him, he was somewhat happy that she left before CRADLE found them. The group of Medea are used for transport, they will not survive in the middle of a battle. Dropping the charm back into his shirt and zipping up his normal suit, grabbing his helmet Allen ran for the Gundam. Just before he got into the MS and closing the hatches, Sanders went and screamed up at him from below. "Hey kid! The Gundam's sand-proof system and software is updated, but there might be slight uncertainties which you have to adjust yourself and get use to the system again, got it? Be careful!" he warned, Allen pointed thumbs up and closed the hatches. As usual the bright computer screens lit up his cockpit before the screen appeared. Pushing forward, seeing the hatches opened, he placed the white MS on the catapult.

"Alright got it! Silvia-san, I wont hesitate...give me the courage! Gundam, launching!" he commanded, the catapult's stress was released, firing the large MS into the sky, the Argama was still not quite ready to be launched yet, though unlike the Gaw last time, the Zanzibar did not have any large beam cannons that came this way, nor did it have bombs to attack from above. Despite Allen hearing Sanders, the Gundam seems to be slightly off course as well. "Ah..!! This thing...listen to me!!" he annoyingly adjusted his position, but the Gundam still crashed into a rock anyways, quickly standing up and readjusting his stance, he saw a large cliff like structure. The Argama thought it was a nice place to hide, but Allen knows it was also a nice place to attack. He was not wrong, there appeared a fearsome enemy. It was also Allen's first time hearing real thunder, as the blue MS holding a blazing sword was standing atop of the cliff ready to hunt its prey.

As if a tiger is eying down, Allen knew that this enemy was not ordinary, and probably he was right for bringing the bazooka instead. The skies darkened, the rare thunderstorm struck the desert hard, it was the first time Allen saw thunder as well, and of all times this valuable first experience had to appear behind the enemy like a horror movie. Allen swallowed hard as he was ready to confront a new foe.

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Sunrise

"Taures, Rie, cover Allen! Turrets get ready too!!" Noa shouted, as there are not enough crew members on board, operators like Taures and Rie has to cover for the firing of the Argama as well. Although not skilled at first, they have gotten use to handling this, and the superior computing system of the Argama allowed even novice shooters like them properly use the system. The Mega Particle Cannons fired, rails of beam battered against the cliff and kicked up a huge cloud of dust, it provided good cover for the Gundam as the enemy cannot be seen.

"Alright stop the firing, I will charge up front!" Allen ordered, stepping on the acceleration, the Gundam ignited its burners as it flew up towards the cliff. Although Allen was prepared for an attack, but there were no enemies to be seen. "Huh? Damn...!!" much to his surprise his enemy has already moved down, the two Zaku raised its machine guns and fired, while the unknown blue MS did as well. Though it raised its hand, and from the somewhat chubby fingers, it released a barrage and four rails of 75 mm shells. Allen now knew where that MS held its projectiles. For a MS that only holds a melee weapon to jump into the battlefield is asking for death, then there must be somewhere they're holding their guns. From his observations, the blue, Zaku looking MS did not hold a gun anywhere, but the glowing blade it held just now as gone as well, was it just used for intimidation, or was there another tactic behind it? Questioning himself, Allen fired a shot from his bazooka while using his shield to block the flying shells. In the middle of a confusion, the large bazooka shell failed to hit its target, the Gundam shook hard as Allen was being pushed back. "Ugh...hmm? Whats that..." he wondered, the Zaku was holding a weapon that he had not seen before.

"Acos! Use the cracker!!" Ral ordered, the Zaku pulled its arm back and hurled the ball like a hand grenade. The grenade has several parts sticking outside, like a screw that was only half attached. Allen also at first thought it was just a grenade that will cause problems, though he trusted Gundam's shield and if he loses feet here it would be difficult to get back up. Though reality has betrayed him, the screw looking parts exploded into different directions, like a dandylion spreading its seeds. Each screw was like a small explosive that knocked the Gundam badly off balance. Allen clenched his teeth as he felt gravity pull down on him from behind. However, he still managed to maintain balance and have his unit quickly get back to fighting pose. However the blue MS did not allow anymore free time for the Gundam, Allen's eyes widened as he saw a dark blue shadow burst out from the smoking cliff top, seems like the commander use Zaku looking MS is wanting to have a one on one match with the Gundam. Taking aim, he only had enough time to use the head vulcans, small and fast shells began to rain out from the Gundam's head, though they battered against the enemy's shield, without leaving a clear trace. "This is...!! Hmph!!" Ral was a bit surprised that Allen could pull that out in such a short amount of given time, but it was not good enough to do anything to his MS.

BGM

However it gave enough time for Allen to readjust and take aim with his bazooka. Unless this enemy pilot is a "Full Frontal" class, this shell will hit the enemy still in the air, and destroy it. Narrowing his eyesight, Allen was ready to pull the trigger, however something extended from under the blue MS hands. From the underneath the wrist of the blue MS, a long tentacle like rod was unleashed, it quickly wrapped around the barrel of the bazooka. Ral grinned, knowing that the Gundam is done for once he got this out. Allen was not sure what was going to come next, but he knows that this MS is not an enemy to be taken lightly. Most likely it was not even a Zaku, a completely new MS fielded by CRADLE. A powerful electric shock was delivered from the blue MS towards the Gundam. Through the rod, the powerful shock eventually reached the bazooka, but Allen let go of his weapon just before the shock was delivered to the Gundam, though knowing that it will destroy his weapon, he immediately pushed the shield up to protect himself. Taking the backfire of his own weapon, the powerful explosion created a shockwave that knocked the Gundam completely off balance as it went tumbling down onto its back and sliding on the sand. "Ngh...this guy, what is it...Zaku? No, but that weapon...!!" Allen panted

Ral did not continue to attack, seeing the Argama's beam cannons were aimed at him, he quickly jumped back to avoid the powerful rail of light, he knows no matter how powerful his new MS is, one hit from a battleship's cannon means everything is over. The beam smashed across the ground and burning away at the silicon ground, taking this chance Allen got his MS back up again. "I wont let you get any closer, I will protect Sayla!!" he shouted and continued to charge without a weapon, thinking of pulling out a beam saber at close distance. Unfortunately Allen did not have the chance, the enemy's tentacle like weapon has much farther reach than Allen though.

"Allen! Dont carelessly approach it!! That guy's weapon is a heat rod..." before Noa can finish shouting through the radio, it was already too late. The heat rod smacked against the Gundam and giving it a powerful flow of electric shock upon impact. Allen felt his entire body's hair stand up as even he felt the shock from inside the cockpit. The Gundam's system was for an instant "shocked" as well, being completely knocked off balance once again, Allen quickly typed in new commands into the computer to reset its malfunctioning. From above, the tiger that has been hunting its prey was prepared to deal the finishing blow. Having no choice, Allen can only throw his half battered shield at the enemy. Without a second thought, the blue MS slapped the shield away and off course without effort.

Though this was the only chance Allen has left, the Gundam managed to charge and close in to his enemy. "I'll do it, I will do this! Who cares if youre a new MS or not...!!" rising up with an upper cut, the metallic fist smashed right into the area where Allen thought was the cockpit. The entire cockpit shook hard as Ral did not expect an attack like this, though what Allen did not think of was that the Gundam's force was stopped. It would of smashed through, or at least dent the cockpit of a Zaku. Still Allen got time enough to pull his beam saber. For a long weapon like the heat rod, it should be less effective up close. Attempting to slash down and finish his enemy, the blue MS quickly punched up with its shield and stopped the beam saber. Of course it did not block the blade itself, but the shield jammed the Gundam's arm, preventing it from swinging down any further. Once again, normally the Gundam will just overpower a Zaku and slash down anyways. Allen broke a sweat, thinking it was tough, much tougher than anything he had faced before. In some ways even tougher than Full Frontal as well.

"This is different from a Zaku...This is no Zaku boy! No Zaku!!" Ral shouted back and returned the Gundam with a high kick that once again knocked it off balance...
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Sunrise

"This guy, is different!! No matter if its the power or armor...!!" Allen gritted his teeth as he tried to get his MS back up in fighting stance, but the enemy already loomed over him. Damn! Is this the end? He cursed, Allen could not defeat this enemy. The blue MS was just too powerful for him to face right now. Maybe he was able to hold off against Full Frontal because of the Gundam's performance, but every time the gap between their techs closes in, Allen has a harder time to fight. Allen knows, he was not skilled enough to fight against enemy ace pilots that are on better MS. Allen wants to apologize to Silvia, he could not even fulfill her wishes of keeping the charm for a day. Allen wants to apologize to Sayla even more, he failed to protect her.

Ready to deal the final blow, the blue MS's heat rod was about to lash at the Gundam's cockpit, when this happens, the powerful electric shock will most likely kill Allen. However it was this instant, from a far there were two rails of hard ballistic shells that crashed down. Immediately Ral jumped back to avoid being hit, Allen did not recognize this attack. It looked much like a tank's main cannon, but the Argama does not have such weapon. Then it might be the Federation that has come to assist the Argama, but for another second this was not possible as well. If the Federation really wishes to help the Argama, they would have not let it go down to Jaburo alone in the first place. There was an incoming connection into the radio, Hayate's voice came out. "Allen!! Stand up!!" he shouted, not sure why he was on an unknown channel, but using this chance, Allen quickly pushed the Gundam back on its feet, as the white MS stood upon the ground again.

BGM

"Hmm? Is THAT a MS as well?!" Ral was surprised at what he saw. The enemy that fired at him from way out of his range was somewhat strange looking. It seems to be a MS mounted on top of a tank's canopy, with two long barrels behind its shoulders, and gatling guns on to replace a hand. The cockpit was easily recognized from the head, the complete transparent glass did not need a screen, as the pilot can see most directions. The thunderstorm quickly passed, as the skies are beginning to clear up again, the tracks began to speed up as the tank began to charge closer at Ral's blue MS. Shells began to fly out of its gatling gun, which forced Ral to take another step back.

"That guy, MS-07 Gouf...although it looks like a Zaku, it is obviously much more powerful. CRADLE's land combat, and close combat MS. If this is the case then it should only have limited amount of firepower in projectiles...alright, with this Guntank, I can at least provide covering fire for Allen!" Hayate clicked on the computers under his arm, although not nearly as advance as the one the Gundam had, it was good enough to support a novice like Hayate.

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Sunrise

The shoulder cannons lowered, Hayate locked on close to Ral's Gouf, but before he can fire, the blue MS was already out of his lock range. Indeed an ace was not that easy to be locked on at. And once the Gouf manage to get close to the Guntank, it will be over. But to prevent this from happening, is the close combat orient MS, the Gundam's role. However Ral did not try to force his way through and attack, he only continued to pull back against Hayate's long range firing. "Hmph, this is enough I suppose, I think their rumors were true. Acos, Cozun, we're retreating! Pull back!!" the commander shouted, his blue MS jumped behind the cliff and down, while the other two Zakus followed.

"Like I'd let you run!!" Allen was the one rushing however, he tried to follow the Gouf and jumped onto the cliff once again. But what awaited him was a shower of shells from the Zanzibar's defensive turrets. Despite the ship itself was not made for combat, it was more than enough to fend of a MS that was trying to get near it. The shells battered against the Gundam's shield as Allen was trying hard to shield himself from the thousands of raining shells. Finally the Gundam lost its balance and was thrown off the cliff. "Tch!! That guy...!!" he cursed and readjusted his position as he landed. Due to the Gouf's attack, the Gundam was deprived of an effective long range weapon, Allen can only watch the Zanzibar rise high up and away into the sky.

After a few minutes, the battle ceased. As if nothing happened at all in the first place. Allen took off his helmet while he slowly landed the Gundam back into position, the maintenance crew quickly ran over and got ready for repair. The battle against the Gouf was tough, and Allen's white unit suffered some bad damage from the Gouf's heat rod. While lowering himself down with the automated laddar, he can saw a smear of black across parts of Gundam's white armor. It must be where the Gouf whipped him with the highly electrocuted weapon. Sweat drops were rolling down his cheeks as Sanders threw him a bottle of water. "Hey kid, this battle was not like you. Did the new sand proof equipments become a hinder or what?" he asked.

Allen caught the bottle and immediately put the straw between his lips and caught his breath. Without anymore words he just nodded. Knowing his enemy was just too strong for him, he just did not want to admit the fact that he could not do anything and would of died if Hayate did not come in time to help him. Although he wanted to go at least thank Hayate, but he was nowhere to be seen. The cockpit of the newly built Guntank was still open, maybe it was this that Silvia was talking about. It was already built, the maintenance crew only had to take about 30 minutes to put all the parts into one piece again. Looking around the hangers, he was no where to be seen.

At the same time, on the bridge, Hayate was standing in front of Noa, while the others all stared at him. It was not a stare like they looked at Allen when he first piloted the Gundam, it was another meaning. Noa seriously glared into his eyes as he sighed. Normally what Hayate just had done will be considered to be treason and will be immediately executed. Noa sighed and cracked his knuckles. "Hayate, I know if you had not went out at that time, we would of lost the Gundam and Allen. But what you have done is against orders, I did not order you to launch in the Guntank, I only told you to go help with the turrets. In war, one individual's actions can cause the entire crew to lose their lives. I think you understand this, but since this is not a properly operated ship, I will not go too much into detail about your punishment. But at least, you will get this. Brace yourself!" Noa lifted his arm back.

Hayate sort of knows what he did was wrong. He originally only wanted to help, but seeing Allen in such a position, he could not control the fact that he wants to immediately jump into the battlefield. For these days, he has been using the MS simulation machine in the corner of the hangers, although only up until yesterday he managed to clear a course, but it was only when his unit was heavily damaged. Since the machine was based on the performance of the Gundam, it will only be natural that he will not survive in a much lower performing Guntank. He wants to help, but yet so powerless. He felt the huge pain when Noa's palm rammed against this face, taking a few steps back, his cheeks was swollen. Since he knew he was wrong, he bowed and walked out of the bridge.

On the way to his room, he saw Allen walking towards him. Allen was just looking for Hayate, though it was a weird atmosphere, as it was Allen that was doubting about his relationship with Sayla. Noticing the swollen cheek on Hayate, Allen just pointed at it. Quickly thinking of an excuse, Hayate only scratched the back of his head and laughed. "Ah, hahah...yeah this, I bang my face against the controls. My my, it was difficult piloting a MS, probably you cant even call that a MS anyways. Allen, I once again think youre just amazing, being able to fight so well in that sort of a machine." he walked up and praised.

"Ah, not really. If you hadnt appeared at that time, I probably wont be here. But Hayate, sorry...I, doubted you..." any further words did not come out. He has known Hayate for so long, and Allen trusts his friend in any times. He was afraid that if he had said anymore, their relationship will crumble, and he will lose his trust. He already lost someone, Allen does not want to lose anymore. But Hayate did not mind that gap, he only smiled and replied.

"What are you saying? Its only natural for friends to help each other when they're troubled arent we?" he laughed. Allen did not continue, he only bowed, much to Hayate's surprise, he did not see Allen bow to many people, let alone him. Walking past each other, Allen patted him on the shoulder and smiled.

Friends, do I deserve to be called like this still...
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Sunrise

Allen, lying on the bed, recalling what everything happened today. Thinking back, quite a lot has happened, unlike the other two days when there were no enemies chasing after them. First he met Silvia, he looks up to her as an adult that has experienced much more in life. Then he met a powerful enemy sent by CRADLE to defeat the Argama. Of course, against that sort of powerful enemy, he can die anytime. But the thing that he was most concerned about was that in Hayate's eyes, he was still his friend. Not wanting to think so much, Allen threw himself onto the pillow in a flip and went to sleep. Slowly he closed his eyes as his world sunk deep into the darkness. The journey was still long, but they still do not know where they will arrive.

While at the same time, Ral was ready to get off the Zanzibar with a small suitcase that held his personal items. Looking up at the sky, the desert at night was surprisingly cold. He shivered a bit and walked down the ramp, taking in a deep breath of desert air, he nodded. "Mm, indeed this Earth is different from the colonies, even the air smells different. Hamon, what do you think? I think this might be a good place to rent a house and live for a few weeks dont you think?" he jokingly asked his fiancee that was following closely behind him.

"Haha, dont be silly honey. They have better places on Earth, I see little reason why you would want a little cottage in the middle of nowhere. Plus, we are still in battle. You came back empty handed didnt you earlier today?" she laughed, Ral laughed with her as well. The soldiers nearby did not see too much of a meaning in their conversation, but one soldier was brave enough to whisper next to Ral's ear. Captain, please move on, the other side is waiting. That was all he said, Ral took a glance at the wristwatch as it pointed at 8 am, somehow he forgot to set the time according to where they were right now, not sure what the time is right now though.

"Ha, I see I see. But I did not come back empty handed you know. I at least managed to flush out another new, or I wonder if it was intended to be a MS, but lets just call it a MS for now. Seems like the Federation is trying to make their MS adapt to different roles, that tank like unit must be the prototype...and that so called Gundam, I feel that the MS is quite well made but the pilot seems to be still somewhat inexperienced..." he commented, hitting right on the point, just there was no one on the Argama to listen to this. The two continued their chat as they moved onto a land battleship. It had hover engines underneath, making it able to "fly" in many types of different landscapes on Earth, and this unit was most effectively used on sand. Having an overall yellow, much like the Federation's Medea color scheme, it blended somewhat well into the surroundings. A huge dome-like structure was attached on the back of the main unit, CRADLE's land battleship, the Gallop class was ready to go. Seeing the MS being loaded into the dome, Ral assumed that it was a MS hanger that can be detached in exchange for higher mobility. "Interesting structure, I like this sort of guerilla use battleship!" he ironically put a oxymoron in his speech, Hamon just giggled in the background as the two boarded the ship.

One night was passed, Sayla woke up with her headphones still on. She saw a blanket covering her and looked back, taking the headphones off she saw Noa waving good morning to her. Sleeping with her headphones on, it means that there were no enemies that managed to attack the Argama while everyone was asleep. Sayla rubbed her eyes a bit as the strong sunlight of the desert once again speared into her eyes. For a night she was thinking, the fact that even Hayate now was able to be deployed, she is still sitting back in the corner of the bridge, only giving out commands. Even if she and Hayate equally shared the amount of time on the simulation machine, and she even had extra time to practice on her own. But still, she did not feel nearly as well adapted to combat. "I dislike myself, for not able to do anything that might help..." he muttered, although no one was meant to hear that, Noa somehow picked up this.

"Not one human was born for the sole reason of fighting, you dont have to hate yourself for not being able to fight...instead, being able to fight so well is somewhat unnatural. I know Allen is a genius, but not everyone can be like that. I sometimes hate myself for only being able to boss people around and myself not able to even fire a pistol properly..." he weakly replied, Sayla was silent.
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Sunrise

"Well, I probably dont have much right to be saying this sort of stuff to you. Go wash your face and start today fresh, who knows when the enemy might attack again." Noa recommended, Sayla nodded and walked out of the bridge. Noa only sat and laid back sighing, the bridge was silent, although it was silent all these days, it was the first time for him to be on the bridge all alone. Thinking back, how powerless can he be if he was all alone, unable to pilot anything, unable to take a position in the turret as well. But there must be something that only he can do, and no one else can. This goes the same for Sayla, the two does not have to try too hard to look for the role they are fit for.

Though Noa's individual time ended quickly, as in less than 5 minutes Taures and Rie walked into the bridge and took their positions, the atmosphere was stiff, the high temperature in the ship made people easier to get angry by any reasons there might be. Time did not fly, the hotter it gets, the slower it seems that time will past. "Lets hurry up, the longer we stay here, the easier it is to be found. Rie, start the engines..." Noa shook his head and tried to stay awake. However before he finished his words, Taures jumped up from his seat.

BGM

Not taking his eyes off the radar, he captured a block of heat energy approaching the Argama at high speed. It seems a bit too fast for it to be a ship, but also a bit too big for it to be MS. Wonder what it is, he did not continue to have a second thought. Noa took note of this unexpected action of Taures first thing in the morning, he immediately ordered to ring the alarm. As usual, it was not the alarm clock that woke Allen up, but the alarm that will indicate death if ignored. What approached the Argama was a large land battleship, painted yellow and carrying a dome shaped MS hanger on the back, much like a sled carrying an igloo on its cargo. "That ship...Gallop? This isnt good, CRADLE seems to be sending things stronger and stronger every time..." Noa swallowed hard, the Gallop was designed to slide past flat landscape at high speed, it will be difficult for the Argama to get away from this in a situation where it cannot take too high flight in the sky, otherwise other enemies will spot it. Despite being young, Noa was somewhat experienced with enemy units as well, especially now that he is a captain, he must read through the files of the Federation and CRADLE weapons to structure his strategies.

From a far, the Gallop stopped, two Zakus jumped out from behind it, holding their 120 mm Zaku MG as the standard weapon. The long cannon barrels on the Gallop took aim and fired a rail of shells at the Argama. The ship shook abruptly as parts of the deck was smoking in flames. Allen knows the enemy is coming, receiving a call from the bridge directly into his room, he quickly ran towards the hangers. From the bridge, Noa and the others saw the Gundam launch from the tracks of the battered deck. Though something was strange, only roughly about a minute has passed after Noa told Allen to launch, and the Gundam was already out. Noa was puzzled, and worried whether did Allen just deploy without a normal suit. Though the faster the better, at a time like this, maybe there is not a lot of options left for the Argama crew. "Alright, most likely the Gouf will come as well, ask Hayate to cover Allen! Guntank launch as well, im making him the official pilot of that!" Noa made up his mind, thinking even a little bit of power will help them.

Though what was not expected, Noa and the bridge crew did not know that Allen just got to the hangers. And also since the Gallop was attacking, they did not even notice Sayla did not return to her position on the bridge. The hatches opened as Hayate drove the Guntank out as well, the desert wind flipped his hair backwards as small particles of sand blew inside the hanger. With his helmet between his arm, he looked around, but did not spot the Gundam that was suppose to be in that corner. A shiver ran down his spine, the one that just launched was Hayate in the Guntank, then who launched in the Gundam. Sanders came walking up and looked at Allen that was just standing there. "Hey kid, what was with that chick, she just got into the Gundam saying it was the captain's orders for her to launch instead...hey!" before Sanders can finish, Allen rushed towards the interphone that connected to the bridge...
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