On board the Musai-class ship, the King, Chief Petty Officer Ulmeyer reported to his commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Pummel on the recent departure and death of his squad leader. �What the hell happened out there?! I�d like a casualty report, Ulmeyer!� Pummel demanded. �Sir! Officer Kellin and I approached the enemy, until they entered an asteroid field�, Ulmeyer replied. �Go on� Pummel ordered. �When I asked him if we should return here, he told me we should approach them in the asteroid field. While we were searching for them, the enemy destroyed Kellin�s mobile suit. I managed to destroy one of the enemies, but the other escaped, with knowledge of our whereabouts. If I may say so, Sir, I suggest we eliminate the enemy at all costs. It would be my honor to do so to avenge the death of Kellin�, Ulmeyer said, blankly lying to the Commander.
�Dammit! Wouldn�t seem like Kellin at all to pull such a stunt. His mistake�s put my fleet in danger, and gotten himself killed!� Pummel said in anger. �At any rate, since we can�t replace Kellin, you�re being promoted to Junior Grade Lieutenant and taking his place as squad leader. I congratulate you on your accomplishment to limit the enemy to one. You have served Neo-Zeon well, and we are all proud of you�, said Pummel. �Thank you, Sir. What do we do about the enemy, if I may ask again�, Ulmeyer asked. �We�ll have to eliminate him, but first we must direct our course. If he makes it out of the asteroid field, we should assume he would try and find the remaining earth federation fleet. Of course, if we follow him, we may uncover the Federation fleet whereabouts making it a perfect time to strike. Most of their fleet was already destroyed during the battle, and reinforcements are slow. If I inform Commander Ritter of this, we�ll be sure to crush the Federation fleet, and any chance of reinforcements will fail.� Pummel said, smirking in complete confidence.
On the other side of the asteroid field, between the Neo-Zeon and Earth Federation fleets�
�I�ve got to get to the Federation fleet before the Neo-Zeon can catch up to me�let�s hope I don�t run out of fuel before I can reach them� Lieutenant Burns said to himself. Suddenly, the silence of space fell to a guttering sound in his suit. �What the hell�� Burns said, worried that there might be something wrong. Checking his suits LCD screen, he found that his thruster engines were running low on fuel. Since he didn�t have a secondary fuel source, the only other way to get the thrusters working fully again would be to use some of the suit�s battery power. But if the battery ran out of power, his suit would risk total failure to operate.
Knowing this, Burns slammed his fist on an armrest in agitation. If he shut down the suit, he could give time for the battery to recharge itself, but he didn�t have that time. �I�ve got no other choice but to go ahead with the plan, unless I could hide in the asteroid field�but they might block off my entrance if I waited too long�there�s dead space between the asteroid field and the fleet. Shit! I�d better let my battery recharge, otherwise I risk being a sitting duck in space. I don�t want to be caught with my pants down in front of those Zeon� Burns said to himself in frustration. If he could hold out in the asteroid field, until his battery was at full power, he could make the trip back home without any distractions. But if he didn�t, it would mean his annihilation, and possibly of the Federation fleet. He had to hold out just long enough�
Back on board the Musai-class King�
�Lieutenant Commander Pummel obviously bought my story. If I can prove destruction of the runaway feddy, I may gain another promotion. When we reach the Federation fleet, I will destroy all who stand in my way and gain victory as a hero! I may even take his place in command, and nothing can stand in my way. I am too good for just a squad leader. I must have more, and I will take what is coming to me� Ulmeyer said to himself, grinning. During his period of pure confidence, the door to his quarters opened behind him. �Sir, Lieutenant Commander Pummel would like to see you immediately. You are to begin departure for another search�, said a crewman. �Tell him I will be on my way� Ulmeyer replied, as the crewman exited. �Now is my chance to crush that rat who got away last time. This time I will correct my previous mistake� Ulmeyer said, as he zipped up his space suit.
Entering the command station, Ulmeyer approached Pummel who was giving orders to direct his crewmen. �Begin transmission of the Commander� Pummel ordered. �Yes, sir� a crewman said, pushing a button. A large screen of Commander Ritter appeared on the monitor. �What is Lieutenant Commander Pummel? I�d like your status report� Ritter said. �Commander, I have news of urgency that would be quite useful to accomplishing our ultimate victory� Pummel replied. �Go on, Lieutenant Commander. I�d like to hear more� Ritter said. �There is a runaway Federation pilot from our previous victory against the Federation fleet, and we think he may lead us directly to the remaining Federation fleet� Pummel said. �Does he know of our exact fleet placement and whereabouts?� Ritter asked. �Yes sir, but we will be able to destroy him once we advance to their location. I�m sure of it� Pummel said. �Unfortunately I cannot send any reinforcements to aide you in your search, since the chancellor is rather intent on not moving the fleets. You have my permission to advance, but I advise you to not take action if the Federation fleet whereabouts is found. Instead, hold your position or retreat to the nearest Neo-Zeon base. Carry on, Lieutenant Commander�, Ritter said. �Thank you, this is Lieutenant Commander Pummel, over and out� Pummel replied, saluting the commander and ending the transmission.
Turning to Ulmeyer standing next to him, Pummel gave him orders. �You are to do a reconnaissance sweep for the Feddy, and keep us informed of your findings. If you see him, don�t approach. Instead, return back here and tell us of his location. We�ll track him from there. You are dismissed�, Pummel said. �Yes, Sir�, Ulmeyer responded. Walking back to the ships docking bay, Ulmeyer thought to himself, �Heh, if I find that feddy, I�ll just follow him to the Federation fleet myself, then eliminate him. Pummel will look like a fool to my actions of heroism. Neo-Zeon will hail me as a true soldier, and perhaps I may even get a chance to take advantage of the Chancellor��
Back in the asteroid field�
�Only about an hour and a half to two hours until this battery is ready. I just hope they�re not on to me already. At least I�ve got a head start, and if I can keep it that way, I�ll be heading home safely.� Burns said to himself. Suddenly, in the distance, Burns saw what appeared to be a mobile suit, or perhaps wreckage from before. As the object came into view, passing by Burns, he identified it as a Zaku II F2-type. The lower end of it�s body seemed torn apart, below the waist. It�s back looked chewed up as well. Although only about 100 meters away, it didn�t seem to have any power, as its mono-eye was not lit up. Startled by this, Burns kept his eyes on the suit, watching it pass by. Perhaps the pilot was dead, and it had supplies or information he could use. On the other hand, it may have been a trap, although highly illogical, he would expect anything in his situation. �What the hell is a Zaku doing all the way out here? I thought they were all gone. I don�t remember ever destroying a Zaku, anyway.� Burns thought to himself.
Taking a chance, he finally decided to check out the Zaku, and get a closer look, while his battery charged. Getting out of the cockpit, and lifting the hatch, he holstered his pistol. Leaping off his mobile suit, he approached the Zaku, to find that it�s cockpit hatch was open. Raising his pistol, nervous that a Zeon enemy pilot was around him, he slowly advanced toward the suit. Suddenly, a Zeon pilot popped out from its side, startled to see Burns with a pistol. �Don�t move or I�ll blow your head off!� yelled Burns. The Zeon pilot put his hands up. �Who the hell are you? Just another lost feddy? I suggest you get out of here before the Neo-Zeon fleets track you down�, said the pilot. �I know what�s going on so don�t tell me what do! What are you doing out here!� Burns said, angered. �I�d should be asking you the same question,� the pilot said. �Don�t act so calm! I could�ve killed you by now! Maybe I should�ve! You bastards wanted a war, and now my friends are dead! You give me a reason why I shouldn�t pull the trigger!� Burns shouted. �I was betrayed, and left for dead. Kill me if you want to, but what good will that do you? We may be on the same side here� the pilot replied. �Don�t try and play mind games with me! You will tell me your name and rank! Then you will tell me where your capital fleet is! And maybe, I will take you in as a prisoner! Understand?!� Burns said. �Isn�t that a little too much to ask? I mean, I am still loyal to my cause� replied the pilot. �Your name and rank on the count of 3, or I pull the trigger�1�� Burns said. �I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Kellin of the Neo-Zeon.� Replied Kellin. �Keep talking. What are you doing out here Kellin?� Burns said. �I was betrayed on a reconnaissance mission to find two escaped feddy pilots from our last victory.� Kellin said. Burns� eyes widened, as he knew who the pilot really was.
�You�you�re the one who killed Powell�� Burns stuttered to say. �What are you talking about?� Kellin asked in confusion. �You son of a bitch! I should kill you now! You tried to kill us both, but you killed him instead!� said Burns. �You�re the one we were tracking?!� Kellin said. �My friend Powell is dead now, because of you! Any last requests before your termination?!� Burns said, raising his pistol. �Heh�� Kellin said, managing to raise his hands down over the course of the conversation. Behind him, his hands were fixated on a grenade. Pulling the pin, Kellin threw the grenade, and then dashed to his right. Firing off two blasts, before realizing what Kellin had thrown, Burns made an attempt to get back to his mobile suit. But by then, it was too late�
The grenade exploded, as Burns shielded his arm over his face. To his surprise, it was a smoke grenade, and within seconds the smoke covered his view entirely. Plunging out of the smoke, Kellin grabbed Burn�s right arm, trying to obtain his pistol, as they fought for control of the weapon. Firing several gunshots upward during the struggle, Burns kneed Kellin in the stomach, and pushed him off. Aiming his pistol at Kellin, Burns fired his weapon, only to see that no blast came out. His gun was out of ammunition, and Kellin stole the other pistol clip from his belt. �You little rat! Next time I�ll kill you!� Burns shouted at a grinning Kellin. �You�re not so tough without your gun old man!� Kellin yelled back, smiling. Suddenly, both heads turned upward as a Zeon mobile suit passed by in a search. �Ulmeyer, I�m sure it�s him. No one else would be out here, alone� Kellin whispered to himself. �We�ll have to continue this some other time, I�ve got business to attend to� Kellin said. Both Kellin and Burns raced to their mobile suits, one trying to pursue and the other trying to escape the searching Zaku II�