March UE 0083
Orbit around Mars
As the
Nadesico gets closer to Mars, interference from Minovsky particles increases. As such, you and the rest of the crew only realize you're going straight into a battle when you start seeing explosions on the main monitor.
Battle of Mars-EFF defense garrison and orbital fleet versus Jovian Lizards
Space Battle
EFF Forces
Ships
Magellan Class x15
Salamis Class x10
Pegasus Class Refit x3
Birmingham Class x 5
Flagship Crocus
Mobile Weapons
Ball Squad x30
Moebius Squad x20
Delphinium Squad x10
Zaku I Squad x10
Zaku II Squad x12
Hizack Squad x15
GM II Squad x15
Byarlant Squad x5
Jovian Forces
Ships
Katonbo x60
Chulip x30
Mobile Weapons
Grasshopper squad x120
Roll for chulip reinforcements-1d100
Roll 37
An additional 11 Grasshopper squads teleport in at the start of the battle
Space Battle-Roll 1d100 for each side, and add ability based on force composition, most obsolete or out of date machines and ships will be destroyed first
EFF roll-51
51+1 (Ball squads) + 2 (Moebius squads) + 1 (Delphinium squads) + 2 (Zaku I squads) + 3 (Zaku II squads) + 4 (Hizack squads) + 2 (GM II squads) + 4 (Byarlant squads) + 10 (fleet) = 80
Jovian Lizards roll-33
33 + 2 (Grasshopper squads) + 4 (Katonbos) + 35 (Katonbo Distortion Fields vs EFF beam weapons) = 77
Space Battle Result: stalemate, heavy losses for EFF, lost all Ball and Delphinium squads, half the Moebius squads, all the Zaku I squads, 12 Zaku II squads, 8 Hizack squads, 10 Gm II squads, 2 Byarlant squads, all Magellan class ships, and 8 Salamis Class ships. Jovian Lizards lost 80 Grasshopper squads, 1 Katonbo, and 3 Chulips. 17 Chulips proceed to land on surface of Mars escorted by 20 Grasshopper squads, the rest stay in orbit to reinforce the fleet in space.
Ground Battle
EFF forces
Type 61 Tank squad x8
Core Fighter Wing x10
VF-0 Wing x10
VF-1 Wing x5
VF-19 Wing x3
Guncannon squad x5
Guntank squad x 5
Dom squad x8
Gouf squad x4
RX-79 G x6
Gm II Squad x10
GM III Squad x7
Jegan squad x5
Big Gun x2
Jovian Forces
Grasshopper squad x20
Chulip x17
Roll for chulip reinforcements-1d100
Roll 62
62 Grasshopper squads are teleported in after the battle starts
Ground battle-roll 1d100 for each side, add ability based on force composition, most obsolete or out of date machines will be destroyed first
EFF roll-35
35 + 1 (tanks) + 1 (Core Fighters) + 1 (VF-0 wings) + 2 (VF-1 wings) + 4 (VF-19 wings) + 1 (Guncannons) + 1 (Guntanks) + 3 (Doms) + 3 (Goufs) + 4 (RX-79 G) + 2 (GM II squads) + 4 (GM III squads) + 4 (Jegan Squads) + 5 (static defenses) = 71
Jovian Lizards Roll-2
2 + 2 (Grasshoppers) + 15 (human wave tactics) = 19
Result: Decisive but costly victory for EFF ground defense-All Type 61 tanks, Core Fighters, VF-0s, Guncannons, Guntanks, are lost, in addition to 1 RX-79 G, 3 Dom squads, 5 GM II squads, and a Big Gun. Jovian Lizards lose 52 Grasshopper squads and 12 Chulips. Jovian forces are forced to retreat to unoccupied areas of Mars and regroup to defend remaining chulips.
The
Nadesico is contacted by the flagship of the Martian Defense Fleet, the
Crocus.
"This is Admiral Fukube of the Martian Defense Fleet. Unknown ship, identify yourself or we will open fire."
"This is Captain Yurika Misumaru of the Nergal warship
Nadesico. We're here to help with the defense of Mars."
"Oho, finally, some good news. Well as you can see, we're in a bit of a holding action right now. We've managed to beat them back in space and on the ground for now, but the Jovian Lizards have some kind of portable teleporter that they can use to bring in reinforcements. We're sending over the data now." Fukube says.
"Confirmed, receiving data packet." Ruri intones.
"Why do you call them the Jovian Lizards Admiral?" Yurika asks.
"That seems to be what they call themselves. We received a message in text and audio saying 'We are the Jovian Lizards, feel our wrath' right before the first attack began." Fukube explains.
"Well then, what do you want us to do Admiral?" Yurika asks.
"I'd like you to assist the ground forces on the planet. How you do so is up to your discretion, I don't have a clear idea of what's going on down there."
"Understood Admiral." Yurika salutes Fukube as he ends the call.
The
Nadesico heads towards the surface of Mars and makes contact with the EFF garrison stationed there. They're grateful for the assistance, and point your group towards the Utopia settlement, or at least what's left of it. During the ground battle, a chulip over the Utopia settlement started vomiting out Grasshopper robots. The ground forces present had called in for orbital fire support, and the Admiral's flagship itself shot it down. Unfortunately, the chulip had been hovering over the center of the Utopia settlement, and as a result, most of it had been leveled when what was left of the chulip crashed. With how stretched thin the ground forces are, they want the
Nadesico to verify the status of the city and evacuate any survivors to the other settlements, which are better defended.
The
Nadesico hovers over what's left of the Utopia settlement. Ryoko's team, Goat Hoary, and Mr. Prospector head off to check on a Nergal research facility at Olympus Mons that he believes would also see use as a shelter. Akito has taken an Aestivalis along with Megumi to survey the damage to the Utopia settlement and look for survivors among the ruins. Kenji, Tsubaki, and the Build Angels, meanwhile, are heading off to the Australis settlement to check on the archeological find that Professor Shiba was interested in. You and the Rose girls remain on the ship in case the Jovian Lizards attack.
Despite the tension in the air, the crew of the bridge are somewhat relaxed. Everyone except for Yurika, that is. For once in the time you've known her, she seems irritated.
"I don't think it's a big deal. There are no enemies approaching, and the EFF garrison seems content to leave us to ourselves. I think we can make do without a communications officer." Minato is attempting to placate Yurika.
"W-Well that might be the case, but..." Yurika lets out a noise of frustration. She seems to vibrate in her seat for a few seconds before abruptly standing up.
"Captain, where are you going?" You ask with a raised eyebrow.
"W-Well...I know! Jun, would you be in charge for a while?"
"I can't do that without a good reason!"
"Bummer...Then how's this?"
Yurika places a Gekiganger plushie with a slip of paper labeled 'Captain' in Japanese pinned to it in the Captain's chair.
"Well, guess I'll be-"
"No way!" Jun yells as he takes the plushie and pitches it away. It bounces off a console and lands within arm's reach of Ruri.
"You'd probably do a better job." Ruri says to the plushie as she picks it up. You sigh before grabbing Yurika by the arm and dragging her back to her seat.
Yurika doesn't even last another hour before ordering the
Nadesico to land near Akito's current position. The other away teams have finished their tasks and come back aboard. As the ship approaches what's left of the Utopia settlement, you decide to check on your copilots down in the hangar.
Yukari is hugging Lucia from behind while Nina is reading a magazine.
"You're so freaking adorable, you know that Lucia?" Yukari kisses her on the side of the head in a show of affection. You wave to the three of them.
"Hey girls. How're you feeling?"
"Good enough I guess. Are we heading into combat?" Nina puts her magazine to the side and stands up.
"No, the captain is letting her hormones think for her again. We're heading over to where Akito and Megumi are, and I thought it would be a good idea to check on the three of you."
"Well, we're doing fine. A little nervous I guess, but nothing we haven't had to deal with before." Lucia says.
"I've called the hot seat next time you go out." Yukari speaks up. You nod, and after making sure there's nothing else, head back up to the bridge.
It's not long before the
Nadesico touches down where Akito and Megumi are. By chance, they fell through a weakened section of ground to find the underground shelter that the survivors of the Utopia settlement had taken refuge in. A representative of the survivors, Inez Fressange, comes aboard to talk with Yurika. What she has to say isn't encouraging.
"So in other words, 'go away now.' Is that what you're saying?" You're unimpressed.
"We will remain on Mars. I'm the one who did principal design of the
Nadesico and sent those designs to Earth. That's how I know. This ship cannot stand up to the Jovian Lizards. I have no intention of boarding such a ship."
"Sorry to contradict you lady, but we've won every engagement we've had with the Jovian Lizards so far." Goat Hoary is equally unimpressed.
"Fine, how much do you know about the Jovian Lizards? How were they able to make such advanced unmanned weapons? What their goals are, and why they're trying to occupy Mars?" Inez rebuts.
"Can't you believe in us?" Akito doesn't take kindly to what Inez is saying.
Before the conversation can continue, an alert sounds.
You are Yurika Misumaru, and you're not having a good time. First Akito goes out with Megumi, and now the Jovian Lizards are attacking again.
"Enemy ships sighted, 5 large vessels, and 30 smaller ships." Ruri counts off the enemy numbers.
You order the Gravity Blast to be fired at the enemy fleet, only for it to do nothing.
"The enemy is also using Distortion Fields. Neither side will be able to wipe out the other in the opening salvo." You want to smack Inez, her attitude isn't helping.
"We'll be turned to mincemeat with those numbers." Hikaru observes worriedly.
"Raise the Distortion Field!"
"Wait!" Both Inez and Megumi cry out at the same time.
"If you raise the Distortion Field now, the ground below the ship will cave in! All of Inez's friends and the survivors are concentrated there! Akito made a promise that we'd come back for them and take them back to Earth!" Megumi explains.
"Take off and raise the Distortion Field as we gain altitude and prepare to-"
"I'm sorry, but once we've landed, it takes a while before we can take off again." Minato interrupts you with cold, hard reality.
"Enemy fleet taking position over the
Nadesico." Ruri reports.
Akito turns and glares at you.
You're paralyzed by indecision. Everyone else in the bridge is clamoring in an attempt to find another solution, but you know that there's only one way to get out of this alive. The noise washes over you. You feel yourself giving the order, but you don't hear your own voice.
The Distortion Field springs to life, a new crater forming on the surface of Mars. The survivors of the Utopia Settlement are as good as dead. Beams from the Jovian ships rain down around the
Nadesico. Inez looks at the hail of beams on the main monitor.
"It may have been that our fates were sealed the moment chulips began raining down on Mars. Even without the Field pressing down on them, with this rain of fire...In any case, it looks like you were unable to become heroes."
You feel sick. Your stomach heaves, and you barely manage to suppress a wretch as you bring your hands up to your mouth.
"Yurika!" Jun says with concern
"Retreat while continuing to maintain the field. Return enemy fire once enough distance has been obtained." The order spills out of your mouth as quickly as you can make it without losing coherency. You sprint off the bridge toward the nearest bathroom.
"How's she holding up?" You ask Akito as he comes back into the lounge.
"Not very well."
Not much more needs to be said about the current situation. The Jovian Lizards have resumed their assault in both space and on the surface of Mars. The ship had managed to escape the attack at the remnants of the Utopia settlement, but in the process, the Phase Transition Engine had been reduced to 50% operational capacity, and now it was incapable of reaching escape velocity from Mars. Worse still, Admiral Fukube had been killed when his flagship, the
Crocus, was destroyed. Although the chain of command in space had been reestablished, the space fleet had lost so many of their forces that it was now a question of when, not if, they were wiped out. The ground forces, meanwhile, were forced to retreat underground as well, Jovian air superiority proving overwhelming. The
Nadesico was now en-route to a Nergal research facility on the planet's north pole in hopes of finding a spare Phase Transition Engine.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91r6WQPM7Ag
Suddenly, a jarringly cheerful tune starts playing. You turn toward one of the monitors to see Yurika dressed in a bunny costume and Ruri wearing...an elementary school outfit? What follows is an explanation of the Phase Transition Engine and the Distortion Field.
After shaking off the bizarreness of whatever the hell that was, you turn back toward Akito and raise an eyebrow. He merely sighs.
The journey to the north pole is otherwise uneventful. Ryoko, Hikaru, and Izumi go out to do recon, only to be jumped by a group of Grasshoppers and forced to retreat back to the ship. To make matters worse, four of the remaining chulips are surrounding the research facility and teleporting in new ships every hour. The bridge crew is at a loss when the ship receives an incoming transmission.
Reinforcements-roll 1d20
1|Reserve UN spacey fleet, flagship is same class as the SDF-1
2-6|Friendly Protodevlin fleet on pilgrimage to the home world of Animia Spiritia's species
7-18|Allied Zentraedi/Meltrandi fleet, recently recruited through the power of culture and reporting to New UN Spacey Headquarters for orders
18-19|A New UN Spacey defense fleet
20|A combined Zentraedi/Meltrandi and New UN Spacey fleet, led by a Jenius
Roll-20
Roll 1d4 to see which Jenius is in charge
1-2|Komilia
3|Miranda
4|Mirage
Roll-1
"Atteni-do you read-Nades-" The transmission is garbled due to Minovsky interference. It cuts out, and a few seconds later comes back. A video feed opens up and you're greeted by the sight of a youthful looking woman with short green hair. The slightly pointed ears indicate mixed Zentraedi heritage.
"Do you read me
Nadesico? This is Admiral Komilia Maria Fallyna Jenius of the New UN Spacey.
Nadesico, respond!"
Komilia Jenius?
The Komilia Jenius? First daughter of the legendary Maximillian Jenius, one of the most celebrated aces of Space War One? Yurika shakes her head to make sure she's not hallucinating.
"Y-Yes Admiral? Captain Yurika Misumaru here!" Yurika instinctively salutes, as does everyone else on the bridge, even Mr. Prospector and Goat Hoary.
"Good, I was afraid the Jovian Lizards had destroyed you. We're fighting our way toward what's left of the Martian defense fleet, but those damn chulips opened up again and are deploying ships and Grasshoppers almost as fast as we can kill them. If you can get into orbit, we'll secure you an escape route back to Earth."
Yurika winces.
"Unfortunately, our Phase Transition Engine has sustained battle damage and is operating at less than 50% capacity, we can't reach escape velocity in our current state."
"Damn, I don't think we'll be able to get to you before the Jovians overrun your position. What's that?" Admiral Jenius turns off to the side as a Meltrandi aide hands her a tablet. She exchanges a few words in the Zentraedi language with her aide before turning back to Yurika.
"We might have a solution. Some of the older technical advisors from the Supervision Army recognize the technology the chulips use. Your best bet is to go into one of them."
Everyone on the bridge balks.
"Go
into one of those things? We don't even know what will happen!" Akito says in disbelief.
"We do have the Distortion Field." Inez points out while tapping a finger on her chin.
"I don't think you really have a choice at this point. There's an open chulip fairly close to you. Get in, and we'll destroy it from orbit to prevent any Jovian ships from following you. I almost forgot, the technical advisors say there might be a temporal or chrono-distortion effect once you go through. I'll send a message to Earth telling them to expect you anywhere between a month and a year from now. Good luck."
And with that, Admiral Jenius closes the call. Nobody really knows what to do for a few seconds until something impacts the Distortion Field.
"Enemy ships closing in on us from behind." Ruri says.
"Take us into the chulip Minato!" Yurika yelps in alarm.
Minato immediately maneuvers the
Nadesico toward the open chulip Admiral Jenius pointed out. A salvo of blue beams lances down from the sky, bombarding the enemy Jovian ships. Their Distortion Fields flare to life, blunting part of the assault, but not enough to prevent some of the smaller ships from being vaporized. Some of the remaining ships turn upwards to assist with the battle in space while the rest maintain their pursuit of the
Nadesico. However, the orbital bombardment from the allied fleet has given you enough time to make it into the chulip. Shortly afterwards, the ship's sensors detect another orbital bombardment from the friendly fleet, and the chulip disappears from sensors.
"I have no idea what will follow next. All hands, brace for shockwave." Yurika says while looking at the floor, a defeated expression on her face.
You turn to face your copilots. You clasp hands with Lucia and Nina. Yukari gives Nina a deep and passionate kiss before she hugs you.
"Whatever happens, I'm glad I met you girls. I mean it."
They nod.
The world goes white.
April UE 0083
Amsterdam, OZ headquarters
"Sir, the 56th picket fleet has detected a large surge of chrono-particles. They were moving to investigate when they came under attack by ZAFT."
An aide presents Trieze Khushrenada with a manila folder containing all the relevant details.
"And the status of the 56th?" Trieze asks.
"They were able to repel the ZAFT assault, but they took 84% casualties, they're down to two ships and more mobile suits than they can hold."
"Send a message to Admiral Misumaru advising that he order the 56th to retreat. We will send our own group to investigate the chrono-particle surge."
The aide bows respectfully before leaving the room. Trieze sighs.
"My lady, if you would be so kind as to organize a rescue force for the
Nadesico? I would do so myself, but there are many pressing matters that require my attention."
"Of course, Lord Trieze. Shall I inform Zechs?" Lady Une bows.
"He has his own matters to attend to as well, although if he could enlist the aid of one of the Colony Gundam pilots for this matter that would be wonderful."
"I will pass along the message then. By your leave, my lord." Lady Une bows again before leaving the room.
Trieze sighs again before bringing up a particular data file on his computer. Making a task force to take on all of the troubles the Earth might face was no easy task, even for one as gifted as him. Perhaps most vexing was that he could not decide on a name. He would have to decide now, or no one would take the offers to join the task force seriously.
What will the name of this new group be?
Default name will be Task Force AR if no one votes on this-please come up with something better (the AR stands for Anti-Radicalism)
[ ] Write-In
Who does Trieze manage to bring in as founding members? OZ and Nergal Heavy Industries will be founding members by default. The Gundam pilots from Wing will also be initial members by default, in addition to Haman Karn and Chara Soon.
Pick TWO out of the following options:
[ ] The Holy Trinity
-Photon Power Labs, the Saotome Institute, and Londo Bell, having convinced Amuro Ray to come out of retirement
[ ] Super Terrorist Wars
-Celestial Being, The Black Knights, and Dragon's Hive (Dancouga Nova)
[ ] Privatized World Peace Initiative
-Mithril, SMS (will not have members of Macross Frontier cast, but will open up Frontier plot sooner)
[ ] Robot Romance et al
-Big Falcon, The Nanbara Connection, the Anti-Balm defense group (Daimos), crew of the warship
Idaho and friends (Metal Armor Dragonar)
Please keep votes for organization name and founding members separate, and vote for founding members by plan.
A/N:
And here's the promised mega update. Don't worry about why the Wing boys or Haman and Chara are working with Trieze, I'll explain that once Mira meets them in the next update. If the location of OZ headquarters seems arbitrary, I could not for the life of me find out where OZ headquarters was located in the Wing anime, so I decided to pick a city that would fit Trieze's refined as hell tastes. Also, I wanted this update to be around 8k words, but I started running out of brain power, so sorry about that. Anyway, I hope this will rekindle interest in the quest and get people to vote and discuss more. Speaking of which, vote, discuss! Also, like always, I welcome constructive criticism.