[X][Impression] Become an Amuro Groupie. Purchase Amuro Ray merchandise from the Gift Shop.
Londenion-Universal Century War Museum-Before Departure
You've never seen Amuro Ray fly before.
Well… you should rephrase that. You've seen documentary footage of him in combat. You've fought with and against AI that were trained on what little declassified combat data there is of him. However, all of that was far from actually watching the behavior of an AI trained on actual uncensored combat data from his own RX-78-2.
The way he fought was simply mesmerizing. It was unlike anything you've ever seen before. You want to be that good of a pilot someday, and maybe even that strong of a Newtype.
You'll never meet the man, since he's dead and gone, but you can get the closest thing to him.
His merch.
"Um, Cybele?" Theo watches you, worried as you dump a pile of stuff from the gift shop in front of the poor cashier, "Are you alright?"
You give him a weird look, "Uh, yeah, why do you ask?"
He just stares in concern as you bag your Amuro Ray hat, "I Love the White Meteor" T-Shirt, White Base commuter mug (Amuro variant), RX-78-2 model kit, Amuro Ray model kit, an Amuro Ray biography, "The Next-Generation of Mobile Suit Design" by Amuro Ray, Amuro Ray pajama set, and Londo Bell Loungewear (Amuro variant).
"She's better than alright, Theo!" Eris cuts in with theatrical flair, "She's awakened to the glory of the White Meteor! Cybele finally appreciates just what a legend Amuro Ray was!"
"…I wouldn't go that far." You laugh off her antics as you bag your Amuro Ray dakimura, "I just think he's a really good Pilot, and I want to be as good as him."
Sicilia pokes around the Clearance section of the gift shop, trying to get a good look at a Quattro Bajeena T-Shirt going for 90% off. You motion for her to get it if she wants it.
"So… it's just idolizing then?" Theo asks, although the expression on his face says that he doesn't believe that at all.
"Yep, just idolizing him. As a Pilot." You nod, bagging the last item (DIY Haro Kit-Amuro Voice Variant), "Now, if you're quite done fussing over my spending habits, let's grab a snack at the Café, huh?"
Most of their menu consisted of hot dogs and burgers. Weird.
[X][Loadout] WOUNDWORT-RAH – Hrududu II Unlocked
Bellerophon Hangar-Present
"…Okay, I'll admit," you whistle with appreciation at your Gundam's new loadout, "This is a significant improvement."
"Yeah, it's amazing what you can do with a Hrududu!" Rhea preens, gesturing grandly at your Mobile Suit's new loadout. It is quite an impressive upgrade too.
While the base form is unchanged, two Hrududu II units have been divided into pairs and attached onto the hips and shoulders. It's almost like you're a giant flying X now. In addition, you now have two Composite Shield Boosters total!
"I installed a proper dual-seater cockpit for you and the little one." She adds, "No need to thank me. She's all yours! Oh, but do keep in mind, you can still transform, but I don't think this setup is balanced with that in mind. The acceleration in Mobile Armor mode is a bit over the top."
You wave off her concern with a laugh. Over the top? Impossible. Sure, the added Hrududus easily double the size of your Mobile Suit, but the added thrust can't be that much.
…
Right?
[X][Plan] Scout the Federation forces on the far side of Axis.
It's a lot of thrust.
You think you almost blacked out on launch. You swear you and Sicilia left imprints on the seat cushioning before you dialed back the thrusters.
"Holy shit," you hear Eris through the radio, "Cybele, Sicilia, you girls okay? You launched like a bat out of hell."
"Y-Yeah, just getting my bearings," you nervously laugh, taking note of how much thrust is too much, "This is nothing. I'm fine. More importantly, how's our gymnast?"
"Haha," Theo laughs dryly as he pulls up alongside you in his Sinanju Stein, "Very funny. Riddhe helped me tune the responsiveness down a bit, and I got a few pointers from Commander Mackenzie. She has some experience handling overly responsive Suits."
You glance at Christina's team as they travel parallel to yours. You're both heading to Axis, but she's heading straight in whilst you're looping around the outside to check out the rear. A Rick Dijeh leading three Jegans… it makes for an odd sight.
"Isn't the Rick Dijeh an Ace Unit?" You muse as you leave radio range of the Bellerophon, switching to laser comms, "You don't see too many of those flying around."
"A Devil flew it."
Huh? Did Sicilia just say something?
You look to her, and she just looks back in confusion. Huh. You must be imagining things.
You touch down on the surface of Axis, kicking up a cloud of dust as you brake with your absurd amount of thrusters. Behind you, Eris touches down in her Mk.III, Theo in his Stein, and Mort in his GM III. Honestly, out of the four of you, he's got the oddest one in the group. It's like, a Gundam, Gundam, kind of a Gundam(?), and then a fucking GM.
Oh well. You won't turn down an ally.
"All right, radio silence from here on in," you transmit to the rest of the team via optical link, "If you need to communicate, use a contact link or optical. Only break radio silence if we are directly attacked."
Three heads nod, and you turn back around and lead the team forwards. The idea is that by keeping thruster use minimal, you're less likely to attract attention. Axis has very weak gravity, so even your Woundwort with its space-use legs can get around fairly easily. In that respect, though, you're having a harder time than the other three on the team, who have proper legs.
So, you end up resorting to something like bunny hopping.
"Whee!" Sicilia giggles as you bound slowly across the surface of Axis.
"Glad to see that someone is enjoying this." You chuckle. Sicilia is honestly a joy to be around. Her emotions are so clear, so pure, and they just… you don't know how to describe it, but you can pretty much feel how she feels. When she's happy, it bleeds into your mood. When she's sad, it reflects on your as well. You just wanna protect this innocent cinnamon bun.
…
But that's not exactly true, is it? Sicilia isn't just some random little girl. She's a Cyber Newtype clone, born in a lab and raised to be a weapon of Neo Zeon. Already you've seen what she's capable of. As a Pilot, she's deadly, she seems to slip into odd trances every now and then, and… well, seriously, she started chanting "Sieg Zeon!" in the streets!
What should you do? You want to help her, but you're just a kid! You don't know the first thing about healing brainwashing! You better make sure to schedule her appointment with Dr. Bidan ASAP. He's way too blunt for your liking, but if anyone can fix Sicilia…
Wait, you see something.
You skid to a stop and raise your hand, halting the team while you get a better look. Moving to hide behind a nearby outcrop, you switch to the long distance camera.
It's a Jegan, but… those markings, they're not like any Federation division you've seen. You can't see Federation insignia… or any insignia on this thing at all.
"…Black Ops? Feasible Deniability?" You mutter to yourself, "What is with this thing… well, they must be keeping watch."
Hm, between all your team members, who would be the best at taking this guy out silently? Mort? Nah, the dude is packing heavy duty ordinance. He'd be good as a gatecrasher. Theo? He's got his Beam Rifle, a Hyper Bazooka, Beam Saber… honestly, a balanced loadout, but nothing that would take this Jegan down for sure before he alerts his buddies. Eris? The Mk.III is good, but it's all Beam weapons, and most pack too much of a punch to be called stealthy.
The Woundwort-Rah, on the other hand…
You raise both arms, preparing to launch the Composite Shield Boosters. You'll latch onto him with claws, then use the Beam Guns in them to core the cockpit.
"I've got the right claw, you take the left." You order Sicilia. She makes a quiet noise of confirmation.
The Woundwort-Rah jerks a bit as you fire both Boosters, and in your head you guide it in. The Psycommu reads your intent, making the Booster swerve around rocks and debris close to the surface, too low for the Jegan to pick up.
And by the time it does, it's too late.
It begins to turn, having finally picked up the incoming Boosters, but barely manages to move before your Booster snaps into Claw mode and grasps the torso from the back. Sicilia's claw comes right in behind and completely tears off its head from the force of impact. Without hesitation you hit the trigger and a couple of beam shots burst out of its chest.
It stands there, still… and collapses to its knees. Phew, no reactor detonation.
You motion for the others to move forward, and they do.
"Won't be long before they realize they're down a guy…" You sigh. You wish you could have avoided them, but it's not like there's a lot of places to hide in Axis, and if you had to duck inside you might have run into more enemy forces.
Then, as you approach one of Axis's docking gates on the far side, you see them. Ships. Your team wastes no time slipping behind cover as you all begin scanning the area. There are multiple ships down there, damn it's like a whole fleet-! Wait.
Something isn't right.
"Big Sis…" Sicilia leans forward, squinting at the screen, "Someone blew those up."
She's right… there's a large Magellan here, with two Salamis, and a large number of old Columbus-class transport ships. But… only the Magellan and Salamis Cruisers are in Federation colors, all the Columbus-types are in generic civilian gray, and are extensively modified with Mega Particle Turrets, AA turrets, and visible launch catapults.
Plus, the Federation ships are clearly destroyed, gutted from what could only have been an attack from Mobile Suits. You'd put money that this was done by the group that owns those Columbus transports. You're also seeing more of those unmarked Jegans around here… although there's one big thing that really, really sticks out to you.
A line attaches to your Mobile Suit, launched from Eris, and you hear her voice over the link.
"If that is what I think it is… we might be in trouble." She groans, "I doubt we brought the firepower to take on that thing, whatever it is."
"Agreed." You grimace at the thought of having to fight that thing. No, not the Columbus refits, not the many, many unmarked Jegans…
You mean the giant Mobile Armor on standby just outside of one of the docking ports. It's big, it's blue, and there's no mistaking what it is. Just from a glance, you're able to identify two giant weapon containers on the top, two sub-arms on the bottom, a huge engine block in the rear, and a giant Mega Particle Cannon slung under the front.
"Where's the cockpit?" Theo asks, having joined in the call by joining hands with Eris, "I don't see one."
"Probably buried inside." You guess, "It also might be the type that needs to be docked to a Mobile Suit, but I wouldn't push my luck."
"We should head back and tell the Captain." Sicilia suggests, "Then we can get Commander Mackenzie and her team to help!"
Yeah, she's right, you don't want to assault this force without bringing everything you have to bear. Go in half-assed and the Bellerophon might be down a Mobile Suit Team, and you don't want to get everyone under your command killed.
"What? We're just going to leave?" Mort asks incredulously, having touched your Woundwort's shoulder, "But they don't even know we're here! We've got the drop on them! I bet if we unleash everything we've got right now, we can at least take that Mobile Armor out of the picture! It's worth a shot! We can pull back immediately after!"
"I'm the team leader, Mort," you counter firmly, "I don't want to risk everyone when we can go back and get Commander Mackenzie's team to back us up."
"Of course, Cybele, I'll follow your lead," he replies, "but I'm just saying, this is the perfect chance. What if we come back and that Mobile Armor is up and active? I like our chances at a fighting retreat now, but if we have to contend with an active Mobile Armor with escorts later, our odds won't look good."
"Mort…" you groan, shaking your head. He's making a good point, you really get it, but that's a big risk to take. Your mission was just reconnaissance! What will the Captain think of you if she sent you out on a simple scouting mission only to learn that you tried to take on the main enemy force all on your own? After all, she told Mackenzie's team to fall back when they encountered the enemy, doesn't the same hold true for you?
[] It's too risky. You're falling back to link up with Mackenzie's team.
[] You'll fall back. But only after making an alpha strike on that Mobile Armor. You won't… no, can't leave that thing operational.
[] Actually, do you really need Mackenzie's team? Launch an assault!
Author's Note: Updates will be more frequent and shorter during this arc.
