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Post by Pitman on Apr 28, 2015 12:58:55 GMT -6
Miriam nodded as she turned to the security team who followed the Captain's orders as soon as she entered the room. When the meeting soon began Miriam looked at Earth which she thought odd why to look at it, it seemed fine an- wait she looked harder and began to take notice.
"What the fuck..", she only manage to say to see the situtation.
When the Captain continued in his explanation from hearing anything she wondered if she was dreaming but as soon the next order was given she soon replies,"Right away sir, not to mention even I wonder how they got in the ship to begin with."
When the XO began to explain everything Miriam listened all the way to the end. When he began to ask what to do Miriam soon raised her hand to voice her opinion on the matter at hand.
"Commander I believe it would be best to avoid even trying to change the past. I am no scientist but wouldn't doing something wrong could have very strong implications? After all changing the past might not be a good idea. I say we avoid all forces until such time the researchers can figure out a way to get us back in our own time. If we must get supplies when one year war breaks out and simply be in disguise. After all we have advantage of knowing how this war ends and goes.", she soon finished.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Apr 28, 2015 15:48:14 GMT -6
Harmattan folded his hands in front of his face, but despite watching the researcher he chose to speak with unbroken interest, he didn't rush him. Better that he take his time rather than spit out anything half baked to try and seek his approval. Right now they needed answers.
"Thank you, doctor, that certainly puts things in perspective. Keep working on it with your team, and let the XO or I know immediately if there's anything we can do to help your research. I'd like to make another, smaller jump once everything has been looked over and is given the go code. I'm sure our only test results being the mishap isn't going to help much to squash the bugs." A potentially dangerous idea, but a necessary one. If they did have to jump again, he didn't want yet another mishap in the process. Maybe they could figure out a way to correct their calculations with some live data to let them mover further safely? It was worth considering, but it was their court on this one, not his, and he would listen closely to their input.
The captain swiveled his chair around to put his back to the crew while James added on his own insights, staring at the image of earth, mind roiling with a stormy sea of ideas, concerns, and more. It was like some kind of movie, but real. Perhaps Jupiter would have been safer after all?
After the Commander and Lint finished talking, he turned back around to jump in again.
"I have to agree with the Lt. Commander. Doing anything drastic here could have profound influences on the future, in ways we can't predict. As much as I hate to say it, we're blazing many more scientific trails in this endeavor than we signed up for."
"For that reason, I recommend that we deal with the neutral factions if we must seek aid from the established powers. Once I get those updated manifests, we'll know how likely that is to be a necessity." If any of them were reading between the lines here, they'd very likely pick up the fact that he was implying that this would be a when situation, and not an if. They didn't pack supplies for a long term mission, they were only supposed to launch some tests. With strict rationing, they might last a couple of months if none of their supplies or water purifiers were damaged. Fuel would likely be a bigger issue.
But that did give him another idea.
"There's also the Energy Fleet, by way of neutrals. Mars and Asteroid Belt colonies would make another choice, but I doubt the supplies would hold to reach one."
"In any case, I would like to stay for the time being until we know more about what went wrong. I won't trade one bad situation for another, potentially worse one without more details." Thus, his pick was option 2, stay and work on the machine instead of trying immediately to get back.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Apr 28, 2015 17:41:10 GMT -6
With everyone spoken, they have reached a decision on what to do. If they are to remain neutral, then it'll be better if they stay away from this area, and find one that will hide them from the eyes of others. James begins to plan for possible locations and the routes towards those areas, but then one of the operators suddenly reports towards the group.
"Report! We have something on the radar! Five flying objects coming right towards us, and would arrive right at our location within a minute!"
Hearing that report did not help their situation, James scans through their location before making a quick guess on the objects.
"This aren't good, judging from our position they could be a part of the EFF Orbital Fleet, if we make encounter then an actual fleet might appear. Should we take them out? If we spread minovsky particles before the battle starts, then we might be able to defeat them without them reporting back. But without knowing where the fleet actually is, if we take too long then more of them might appear and corner us... or we can try to dive into Subspace for a few moments. If they can't find us at the location, they'll likely to search somewhere else."
They don't have much time, if they are to fight, they'll have to work quick to get the weapons ready for combat. The slower they make their decision, the less choice they'll have.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Apr 28, 2015 18:38:28 GMT -6
It seemed like things were finally starting to come together, they'd reached a consensus and no one looked outwardly pissed off about it. Which was, of course, why it couldn't last.
"I was hoping our appearance would go unnoticed for a little while longer. Pity." The captain said, turning again to watch the main screen.
"All of you are dismissed, return to your stations immediately and prepare for another subspace jump. We can't risk invoking the ire of the Federation right now, we could be mistaken for a Zeon scout force and have an entire fleet on our tails for the trouble. And that's if we don't end up touching off the One Year War early." The Jovian announced, waving everyone not part of the bridge crew out and to step on it back to their posts.
"I guess those scientists will be getting their test results early. Let's hope he was right about 'short jumps' being safe, XO. As fascinating as it would be to watch the first colonies being built, I rather like our odds here more."
Taking a deep breath to keep a solid composure, and partially to digest everything that was happening, he took hold of the phone built into his chair and keyed it in to make a ship wide announcement. "All hands, prepare for subspace jump. Engineering and Research, remain on standby for damage control and diagnosis. That is all."
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Post by Pitman on Apr 28, 2015 18:41:28 GMT -6
Miriam soon saw the situation on what was occurring and soon cursed at the worse possible moment.
"I agree with the Captain if we are caught now it could make things problematic in the future.", she agreed which meant better then screwing up entire timeline.
"Though I suggest to make a ship wide announcement we entering sub space again.", Miriam added which of course would be a good idea.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Apr 28, 2015 20:31:10 GMT -6
"All hands, prepare for light and shock."
"Energy coat, operating at 100%."
"Systems all green."
"In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0."
"Now starting subspace diving."
After glowing for a second, the ship starts to turn transparent, then funny disappear from regular space. Several moments later the detected fighters pass through the area, wondering if the radars were malfunctioning.
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"How's the system?"
Seeing that they didn't burst into flames yet, it seems to have worked as predicted. James turns to the operators so he can make sure that nothing is going wrong with the machines.
"It's in perfect conditions Commander, our position have not changed according to the systems, and the fighters did not make contact with us. It's a success."
"Good to hear that, what about traveling?"
"We're moving, but only at a very low speed, at this rate it might be faster if we get off the ship and walk."
One of the researchers heard this and decides to add his own input to this.
"Sorry Commander, but the system were not built for traveling. At most it can do is float in Subspace, so don't expect much more from it."
"Well, it'll have to do for now... how long can the diving last?"
"Around 30 minutes with a fully charged system, it would take up to six days to charge up that amount. But the energy we have in the system will only last us 5 more minutes before the energy coat disappears, and if we don't return to regular space before that, we'll be lost in subspace with no way of exiting."
"That's... less than I thought... we should conserve energy if it takes that long to recharge, warp back out to regular space."
In a flash, they found themselves right back in regular space, with the EFF fighters gone they should be all alone... or so they would have thought.
"We have another detection on the radar!"
"What...? Did those fighters decided to turn back? Maybe we need to dive again..."
"Targets, ship size!! Judging from the size, battleship 4, cruisers 72! It's a massive fleet!! And a large object is moving aside them, it's a colony!!"
"Large fleet...? Colony...?"
James wonders what exactly is going on, and where are this large fleet going... but then he looked at the screen where it's showing Australia from earlier, the numbers of detected units, and the colony... then it clicked. Everything is in place, they're at January 3rd, UC0079... when Operation British takes place.
Operation British, many historians believe that it was Zeon's only chance of obtaining a complete victory over the EFF. The operation that has slaughtered billions of people from the colony drop, and the natural disasters that are caused by the massive object slamming into Earth. It caused so high casualties, but in the end it did not bring any benefits to the Zeons, but rather it only left them years and years of hatred and curses as the enemies of Mother Earth herself.
The EFF fighters earlier weren't here to search for their ship, it was running away to pass the news to ally fleets, ally fleets that are ready to sacrifice themselves to stop the colony drop. But as much as James wants to stop the Zeons from their foolish decisions, there was nothing that their one lone ship could do, they would have to at least get out of this situation.
"Captain! We have to avoid them immediately! If we spread minovsky particles now, they might not realize our identity, and we'll have the chance to leave while they focus on their operations... but we have to find ways to stop them, we can't let that kind of disaster happen in front of our eyes!"
It is rare for the normally calm Commander to act in such ways, but not many people can remain calm at such sight. Anyone with a bit of moral would not stand to let this happen. Even the Zeon soldiers themselves, including the commander of the Space Attack Force, Dozel Zabi himself have records of regrets with this operation. So it's normal for James to want to stop this from happening, and many of the crews and those of other departments shares a similar idea. But James did not push for anything, he looks to the Captain and the other Chiefs to see what they might choose.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Apr 28, 2015 20:52:45 GMT -6
"Steady as she goes, everyone." Accasius said as they dropped into the weird dimension known as subspace. It was a very strange place, and just moving into it made him feel as if his entire body got stretched thin. Perhaps it was some kind of mass differentiation, maybe related to how they were able to move through it? Bah, he wasn't a scientist.
He silently listened to the report from the scientists. 6 days for a full charge, and they didn't have that long now. They'd need to play it carefully, but at least things worked fine so far.
"I wish I could pat everyone on the back for the success." He said in an attempt at humor while they were still hidden, trying to lighten the tense mood.
Upon moving back into real space, it once again didn't last. At the radar readings, he leaned forward and peered over the operator's shoulder to see the readout for himself. "How many ships? That's...not good." He agreed, watching the blips on their radar as they moved. It wasn't an intercept course, but they'd be cutting close.
It all made sense then the gigantic mass in the middle of the fleet was identified.
"We won't be stopping anything, Commander Wong. It's my job as captain to see us through this mess in one piece, and I'm not sacrificing 300 lives to throw a pebble against a tidal wave. Now, begin spreading minovsky particles immediately and bring our heading away from the Zeonic fleet at a 7 o'clock position. They won't be able to spare anything to hunt us down even if we are spotted, with the fierce resistance the EFSF will put up to stop that colony." Captain Harmattan said, unmoved by the impending doom about to befall Earth. It wasn't their problem, and frankly, he didn't feel much compassion for the Federation. There was a lot of bad blood between the Earthnoids and Jovians. Perhaps if their rule had been less harsh, Dogati's dynasty wouldn't have gone mad, or ruled at all? At any rate it was preposterous to think interfering now would be a good idea. Everyone here might never be born if they stop that colony.
He went to his phone again for another intra-ship broadcast after giving his commands to the staff sitting beside him.
"This is the captain speaking, we have exited subspace successfully and are moving to evade further incoming enemy forces. Pilots and gunnery crews, head to your stations and wait for orders in case evasive maneuvers fail. Do not launch nor fire without my explicit orders. Consider us on a state of yellow alert until further notice. That is all." He said with finality before hanging up and addressing the bridge again. "Take us away from here. We have no part to play in this butcher's ball."
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Post by Pitman on Apr 28, 2015 21:07:45 GMT -6
Miriam was still on the bridge holding on nearby as they exited out of sub space. Not used this yet she managed to level herself as they exited out only to hear about enemy forces.
"Talk about luck...", Miriam managed to say.
Elsewhere
Zephyr entered the control room to see Anton Crucif off to the side and looked seeing everything looked fine. Well that was until the intercoms going off of going into sub space then suddenly into yellow alert status.
"Not a good day it seems.", Zephyr quickly went to the pilot barracks to change into his pilot suit.
Exiting out the hangar was moving frantically as mechanics trying to get the Mobile Suits prepped in time.
"Hey what is the status of the other pilots?", Zephyr soon shouted.
"Not too sure Tenjo. Others have yet to show only you and the spare are here at the moment.", one mechanic shouted back.
"Fuck... Rico get ready we may need you to pilot one of the units!", Zephyr shouted to him which he replies, "Alright let me get ready!"
"What units are ready to launch anyways?", Zephyr asked another.
"Only Flint, others are trapped behind crates and would take time to get them ready. The other is the Heavygun which was being worked on by the Chief, but its panels inside are in a mess but pilot-able!!", he replied.
"Fine better then nothing!! Tell me when another pilot shows up for now Rico and I are only ones who could do anything for now!", Zephyr soon said entering his flint.
Checking up on the system everything was being prepped to be launched just in case. Rico soon came out with his Federal pilot suit heading towards the only available Mobile suit until the mechanics finish their work or another pilot shows up.
Activating his radio towards the bridge he soon messages the Operator, "Bridge this is Tenjo, only two Mobile Suits are able to launch if we need to. Others are trapped in crates and a big mess back here still as well our backup pilot Ensign Rico Burbon will be in the Heavygun until its pilot shows. Over and out."
Zephyr soon stated then relaxed until the order to launch is given.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Apr 28, 2015 21:38:36 GMT -6
"Captain! But that is 2.5 billion people we're talking about here! Now to mention the damage to Earth itself will be enormous and will bring about an endless chain of hatred between Earthnoids and Spacenoids!"
Though he agrees that it is a part of their job to keep the ship itself save, James just can't stand there and watch the death of so many people, both Earthnoids and Spacenoids. It is true that there is absolutely no chance of winning against such fleet, but they could still buy a small bit of time if they perhaps plant mines in the area before they escape. The mines would cause the Zeons to move with more care, and at a slower speed, in case of hidden enemies. The small amount of time that the action would create, would allow the EFF fleets to prepare more and have a easier time with the colony drop.
"If we use the Mine Cluster Missiles, we'll be able to plant space mines in the area, and reduce the movement speed of the attacking fleet, buying some time for both EFF and ourselves if the Zeons detected us. We won't have to risk direct combat, with a fleet of that size they would not be able to move fast enough to chase after us if we're able to slow them down, and at this distance they would believe that it is an EFF ship that has attacked them!"
He tries to give a reason on why they should do something about the Zeonic fleets, if they simply leave the area, him and many others on the ships would likely to not sleep well at night. After all, those that see and ignore problems, still have some level of responsibility if they don't reasonably do something about it.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Apr 28, 2015 21:55:03 GMT -6
The captain was quick in responding to the hangar.
"Roger Tenjo. Stay on your toes, over and out." He said. Short, but enough to confirm that the pilot had been heard. What luck, the MS were buried. Would anything go right today?
He steepled his fingers, brow furrowing slightly at the idea of attempting to waylay the incoming attack fleet.
"Out of the question. We're standing at the scene of the single biggest turning point in the history of the Universal Century. I cannot think of a worse time to interfere than now, the smallest action could have enormous repercussions on the entire war and scheme of geopolitics that will develop throughout and after it. There is too much at stake and it is impossible for us to predict what will happen. For every possible good I can think of, two bad counter it."
The older man leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs into a four. "Our only responsibility now is with ourselves until we get home. We may need those missiles to cover a definite retreat later, and not a potential one. I won't be wasting anything on ifs and thans, especially for people who may well put us in jail and torture information out of us for what we know, and take our technology for their own ends. We have no allegiance and we have no flag, until we get one our only protection is what we can give to ourselves."
There was also the fact that they might have a hard time getting new ammunition, but that was a secondary concern at the moment, and it probably went without saying.
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Post by Pitman on Apr 28, 2015 22:03:16 GMT -6
Miriam was listening to the Captain talk then added her own input on the situation, "Commander the Captain is correct, as much I wish to help all those people if we mess up it could lead into more dangerous future then what we ended up with."
Back in the Hangar Rico was screaming top of his lungs at the mess inside the Heavygun.
"You got to be fucking kidding me!! Really?? He had to go and unplug everything!! What the hell the Chief was thinking!!", Rico shouted.
Zephyr soon chuckles, "You know the Chief he has to make sure everything is working. I mean some of these units are outdated."
"That is the fucking point!!", Rico said as he connected one wire to the next on his terminal inside the cockpit.
"Why does the SNRI an place of researching new innovations have such trash bin outdated units!! Only the Flint is new and everything else olddddd!!", Rico complained.
"Err your forgetting the Captain's mobile suit that is a Jovian design and quite advanced...", Zephyr mutters.
"What?!", Rico then shouted which Zephyr promptly, "Nothing."
"Rico just get your unit ready just in case trouble happens.", Zephyr soon stated.
"What trouble ever happens here?", Rico then stated as the wire shocked him slightly, "GRHHHHH I fucking hate old mobile suits!!"
Zephyr soon laughed at Rico.
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Post by Carlos on Apr 28, 2015 22:24:54 GMT -6
The Chief suddenly appeared in the open hatch of the cockpit. Before Rico knew it, he had a large wrench pressed against his throat, but not hard enough to cause any permanent damage. Perhaps a bruise. He floated in close enough that he was inches from Rico's helmet.
"You listen'ere, these Heavygun saw many a brave man through combat. When those nickle and dime bastards on high were too damn slow to phase out the Jegan," The Chief's eyes narrowed. "I piloted a Jegan, let me tell you, I did the best I could with that piece of junk. Now you're going to do the best you can."
Suddenly the pressure let off Rico's throat. The chief quickly went about slotting things into place. Wires into sockets, boards into slots, and panels held back on with scotch tape. He did this in record time. Evidently having memorized where it all went. He'd done work on ships that were spinning out of control in combat.
"This Heavygun has more torque then your standard Heavygun. I modified the beam rifle to have a beam dagger along the bottom of it's barrel for melee in a pinch. And replaced the hip grenades with super napalm munitions. Good luck to you, boy" The chief said quickly before pushing out of the cockpit just as he hit the hatch to close, narrowly gliding out before it could close on him.
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Rabite
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Post by Rabite on Apr 28, 2015 23:11:28 GMT -6
James looks like he's got more things to say, but hearing what the Chief of Security has said, he stops himself before he could say something else towards the woman. Giving a heavy sigh, he turns back to the crew, and repeats the orders of the captain.
"Helms, take us to point N28, W70! That should be able to avoid the planned route of the coming fleet."
"...Yes sir."
Thanks to the ship's superior radar range, they are able to detect the Zeon fleet before the other way around, and retreat from the area before anything else happens. Less than a hour after their detection of the fleet, a massive battle rages on near the Earth Orbit, with numerous explosions and projectiles showing how fierce the battle is. The Colony did not get destroyed, but like in history, parts of it gets broken off by EFF efforts and the Colony ends up dropping on Sydney.
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Richter
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Post by Richter on Apr 28, 2015 23:59:52 GMT -6
The Captain tried not to think too much on the apocalyptic battle going on behind them. He got the impression that nobody else did either. It was an unfortunate situation to be sure, and maybe in better times, he'd have tried to be a better man and do something to help it. But this was the hand that they were dealt, and so they had to try and deal with it.
There was a heavy silence after that, the awkward kind that let you know everyone was deep in thought. But the ship continued to operate, and that was what was important. With some time to rest, the crew finally managed to get him those reports he wanted. They weren't too terribly supplied, but they were working around an uncertain schedule. It came back to two choices again, similar to the XO's original ones:
Try to stay hidden while they work on the subspace engine.
Or head to a neutral area sooner rather than later and try to make some headway, while they had more to trade and were less desperate.
There was also the issue of his moral standings in related to the commander's, that could be an issue. But for now he didn't have a way to approach him about it without arousing suspicions from the crew that more was at play than it seemed already.
So he went with the more outwardly focused concern first.
"I think it's time for us to decide where to go. I'm still of the opinion that we aim for neutral powers, though the possibility to work for either side, should it come to it, could also prove beneficial with the war having started in earnest. But I feel that's the riskier of the two, and should be considered as a last resort." While saying this, the Jovian was thinking of the White Base. Everyone knew that story, and how the Feddies used them as live bait for the Zeonic hounds. They could well be the 2nd one, in a best case scenario.
"With British underway, we could probably sneak down to the neutral countries on Earth more easily. Leaving would be more difficult, however."
He said aloud, hoping to bounce ideas. While doing that he forwarded the supply reports to the Commander, so that he could give an accurate input. "What do you think, Commander Wong?"
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Post by Pitman on Apr 29, 2015 1:51:03 GMT -6
With the battle going as it should in history Miriam soon sighed, though she sided with the Captain this time in this situation it was also against what she did believe in. She would try to help as many people within reason but with this battle which determined the fate of the war early on. It was simply too risky to try to change its outcome. Miriam then went soon says to the Captain, "Sir I will head out to begin carrying out your orders. If you need anything simply call."
She soon saluted and then left the bridge, to begin the mopping up operation.
Meanwhile Rico was suddenly being assault by the Chief. Of course throughout Zephyr was laughing like a hyena, on how Rico asked for it.
"But... didn't a lot of men simply steamrolled against the Crossbone Vanguard when they used Jegans!! I mean it could easily happen again if we keep using these out dated shit!!", Rico managed to cry out.
That is until he heard how it was modified which made Zephyr from his Flint laugh even harder at how Rico was utterly beaten against the older mechanic.
"Rico... never judge a book by its cover. It gets you killed in combat, my dad and grandfather advice and their heroes.", Zephyr soon offered.
Now left alone in the cockpit Rico could only curse and soon mutters, "What me?!"
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