UC 0084 - February 2
Catching up to the SS King, Captain Atrevedis and his crew kept their eyes in space, waiting for the opportunity to make a strike attack. They had been on its trail for hours, and nothing would stop them from reaching the Neo-Zeon ship. Coming to a holt, the SS King stopped clear in the asteroid field, as it approached what appeared to be a large rock. �Zoom into that position, what is it?� Captain Atrevedis asked. �It�s an asteroid sir, but it�s hollow. I see gunnery turrets on it as well� a crewman responded. �It�s a base inside an asteroid, and it has defense. Can you spot anything else?� Atrevedis asked in persistence. �No, sir, that is all I can see from this distance� the crewman said. �Fine, get our mobile suit pilots ready for combat. Will Larkins be joining us?� the Captain asked, placing his gloves on. �No, sir, his mobile suit is still under repair� the crewman said. �Dammit, I warned him not to be foolish. Petty Officer Shuu Kien will be my assistant then� the Captain said.
In the SS Shamrock�s docking bay, Larkins was aggravated that his suit hadn�t been finished with its repairs. �Is it ready yet?� he asked. �Keep dreaming, pal. She won�t be back in shape until at least tomorrow� a repairman said. �Well hurry it up! I can�t afford another delay!� Larkins yelled at him. �Maybe I�d be better off using Kien�s suit�, he thought, eyeing the other GM Quell. Nodding off, Larkins went back to his bunk, disappointed at his suit�s repairs. Passing him by in the hallway, Petty Officer Shuu Kien was already dressed for combat in his space suit. Cradling his helmet under an arm, he floated down deck to the docking bay. Seeing his mobile suit there, he smiled, and opened its hatch to get inside. Placing his helmet over his head, he stopped to turn and ask an engineer where the Captain was. �He�s getting ready. Should be out in a few�, the engineer said. As he sat inside the suit�s cockpit, he watched the Captain enter the docking bay to enter his suit. Pausing for a minute, the Captain made way towards Kien. �I know you�re a rookie, but this may be a harder fight than what we accomplished last time. Don�t be foolish, and follow my every order�, the Captain explained. Thinking about what the Captain said, then closing his hatch to prepare for take off, Kien was a little nervous and excited. �Prepare for launch. All mobile suits, prepare for launch�, said a traffic controller.
Shooting off into space one by one, the mobile suits sped for the asteroid base. Arriving on site, they were targeted for the SS King, when suddenly two Zaku II F2 mobile suits headed for them. �Kien! Get your ass over there! I�ll cover you with Burns!� Atrevedis ordered. As four GM C-types surrounded the area, one of the Zaku II F2s sped for the Captain, and the other at Kien. �Shit! Here goes!� Kien thought. Racing at eachother, Kien fired his beam rifle, but missed as the Zaku swerved to its right. Firing its machine gun at Kien, the Zaku�s bullets hit him in the shoulder, but only denting its armor. As both moved in to close range, Kien put aside his shield and took out his beam saber. Acknowledging the duel, the Zaku retrieved his heat hawk and dove in after Kien. Taking a swing at the Zaku with his beam saber, Kien missed it as he aimed at its lower body. Striking with its heat hawk overhead, the Zaku was in a lock as Kien used his beam saber to block the oncoming attack. Seeing the Zaku raise its MMP-80 machine gun in the other hand, Kien had to act fast or suffer the hand of death. Widening his eye in amazement, he jolted his right arm up, and pointed his beam rifle�s nozzle up to the Zaku�s chest. Not thinking a moment sooner, he pulled the trigger as the Zaku exploded in a quick and large blast that sent Kien flying a short distance backward.
Looking around for the Captain, Kien watched as Atrevedis finished off the last Zaku by simply destroying it with Burns to back him up. Kien had survived his first battle, but it didn�t seem as threatening to him. Happening so quickly, he hadn�t thought about his emotions, and instead focused on the battle. It was like it had never happened, but the Titans had trained him to deal with those situations thoroughly. To him, it was like another routine training exercise. The inexperienced Neo-Zeon pilots were once more no match for the superiority of the Titans. Focusing back on the mission, Kien went with the rest of the group to attack the asteroid base�s defenses. They had to take out the cannons otherwise their mobile suits would be pinned down as they tried to destroy the SS King. Time was running low though, and already the SS King embarked to exit the sector. They couldn�t take any more chances losing men like they did in the last battle.
�Everyone, surround the area. Don�t pair up. When you get the chance on my order, fire!� Atrevedis ordered on the intercom. Now it was the hard part, and Kien knew it. In the previous battle, the SS King�s cannons had pounded the Titans. This time there were four to take out. Moving into long range, Kien positioned himself to the left wing of the formation. Creating a line that made half of a circle around the cannons, the team awaited the Captain�s order. �Fire at will!� Atrevedis yelled. Machine guns and blasts from beam rifles blazed wildly in all directions. The mobile suits helped eachother by targeting one cannon each. From long range, the cannons did not suffer destruction. Though damaged, they began their retaliation. Firing at single targets, one of the cannons shot straight at Kien. �Look out!� Atrevedis yelled. Placing his shield up and moving left, Kien was hit on his right side. The explosion scorched his upper arm and deformed the top edge of his shield. A large dent was fixated where his shield was once smooth. Opening his eyes, he let go of the controls he had been gripping. Looking around, A GM C-type had already been destroyed and the Captain had been hit as well, forcing back the blast with his shield. �Fire again!� Atrevedis ordered. Recovering from the damage done, Kien and the other mobile suits took the offensive once more.
Destroying one cannon, and damaging two others, the mobile suits stepped back awaiting action from the cannons. Firing in single order once more, the cannons did not aim at Kien. Instead they targeted the Captain once more. Recognizing him as their squad leader, killing Atrevedis could have caused confusion in the ranks. Once again, Atrevedis survived by taking a nasty blow that removed the top of his shield. �Attack!� Atrevedis ordered once more. The Titans were persistent not to give up. They would destroy the cannons, no matter what the cost. Defeat was not an option. Firing at the cannons again, the group destroyed a second one, and left the last two even more severely damaged. Firing back at the mobile suits, the cannons destroyed one GM C-type as the other fired at Kien. The blast hit Kien with his shield raised, removing the shield from his grasp and destroying his left forearm. �Shit!� Kien thought. �Stay where you are and provide cover fire for me!� the Captain ordered. Knowing that his team would not make quick progress if they kept firing at long range, Atrevedis moved closer to the cannons. Firing at the cannons again, the mobile suits could not create efficient damage. Firing back at the mobile suits, Kien was hit once more, this time, the blast removing the left foot of his mobile suit. �Kien, you�re no good out there! Get back to the Shamrock� the Captain ordered. Turning his head back at the cannons, Atrevedis opened both eyes. A shell was seconds away from impact.
Being too late to dodge the blast, Atrevedis tried turning right, only to lose his right leg to the shell�s explosion. Behind him, Burns and the other GMs were able to destroy another cannon. �Captain! Are you alright?!� Burns asked frantically. Tightening his eyebrows, the Captain put his suit at full speed with the thrusters he had left. �They�re not going to get me� he thought to himself. Coming down on the cannon, with his beam saber raised, Atrevedis slashed the turret with his beam saber as it began to fire. From outside the blast, Burns and the two remaining GM C-types watched in horror as Atrevedis did not return from the blast. �No�� Burns thought to himself. Ever since the day he had been rescued from the Neo-Zeon, he respected the Titans as a close friend. He volunteered to embark with the Titans to rid the Neo-Zeon of Luna II. At this point, he could only feel the agony of failure. Knowing what his last orders were to be, he ordered his GMs to follow him to the SS King. Reaching it at a wide distance, Burns decided to begin the offensive phase. �Fire at will! Destroy it!� he yelled. Firing their weapons, minimal damage was caused. They needed to move closer to cause real damage. Suddenly, a large missile was launched from the SS King�s hull. Moving toward them, the GMs split apart. Exploding at the left of them, one GM C-type was destroyed, as Burns and the other damaged GM continued to fire. Thinking it was hopeless to continue, Burns was about to call for a necessary retreat. From behind, the SS Shamrock and the SS Sword had already caught up to them.
�Sir, the two Federation ships have reached us, sir� a crewman onboard the SS King said. �What? Then destroy them! Keep them pinned down! We must reach Colony A on Luna II within the next few days otherwise we�ll be destroyed! We cannot afford to suffer any more delays with these Federation scum!� Pummel yelled back. �We�re in extreme danger sir! I don�t think we can hold out much longer!� the crewman said. �This ship will not be destroyed! Keep moving forward, and we�ll lose them in the asteroid field! I only hope that the Chancellor himself won�t scold me if I fail because of this pathetic crew! Once we reach Colony A, this Federation fleet will crumble at the hands of the Neo-Zeon main fleet. For now, move onward!� Pummel responded, tightening his fist.
Firing a second large missile, the SS King hit Burns and his GM below, but causing minimal damage. The missile had missed them by a quarter of a mile, but the radius of its explosion was still greater. Navigating its way toward Burns, the SS Shamrock and Sword closed in on the King. Firing its laser cannons, the Sword pierced the hull of the King, melting its outer armor like butter. The Shamrock fired its cannons, removing chunks from the ship�s hull. From the interior of the King, ten missiles streamed out at the approaching ships, hitting the Shamrock and Sword with minor damage. It was almost at an end. The King was almost entirely stripped of its outer armor shell. Any more would surely cause an explosion from its insides.
�We�re losing the exterior! We�ll die if we take one more hit!� a crewman said, as the ships crew ran rampantly throughout the ship. Sirens of red flashing lights illuminated the bridge while many erupted in a state of panic. �No! Get me out of here! Call for my evacuation, quickly!� Pummel yelled. On screen, a large beam from the SS Sword struck at the side of the ship, blowing it to pieces. Next came the center of the ship, splitting itself in half, and following up on the rest of the ship. Pummel froze like a statue before a flash of white light silenced him. As the explosion cleared up, the SS King�s remnants were merely pieces of metal drifting through space.
After the battle, the SS Shamrock scouted the area for signs of the Captain. He had survived, but his suit was impounded into the asteroid�s surface like a crater. Using cables, the Shamrock pulled his GM Quell out of the rock, and brought him back to the docking bay. The Captain was unconscious, but would awake within the next hour, suffering minor injuries and a broken arm.