Chapter 24: Interventions
"What happened to the O'Bannon?!" John demanded as
yet another explosion rocked his ship. To his surprise, the explosion had
actually been caused by his ship's anti-aircraft guns, which had finally taken
down one of the attacking Hizacks. The crew's sudden jubilation would only be
short-lived, however, as the radioman only had grim news to report.
"Sir, all long range communications are down! We're cut
off from the O'Bannon!" the radioman reported, panic now evident in his
voice, "Lookouts are reporting that her bow has been blown off,
and..."
"What about the Mobile Suits?!" John asked, now
getting worried as he saw several Hizacks come back for an attack run,
"When the hell are they..."
"Too late!" a crewman screamed as a giant metallic
head suddenly appeared in the main view screen, its mono-eye already flashing
red as its pilot targeted the bridge. John's blood turned cold at that sight,
knowing full well what would happen next...
----------------
'Showoff...' Sylvie thought contemptuously as she fired,
quickly blowing a hole right through the offending Hizack's cockpit. The vain
idiot had stood completely still in front of the ship's bridge, obviously
trying to scare the bridge crew by flashing the Hizack's mono-eye, and gave her
a very easy shot. Only amateurs tried that stunt nowadays, and that particular
pilot had found out too late that Mobile Suit combat is a brutally Darwinian
affair, and she could only hope that the rest of these Titans are on the same
evolutionary level as he was...
"Good... good timing Sylvie," John welcomed, his
voice still a little shaky from that near miss, "Glad you came along when
you did, I almost thought that damn Zugock you're flying can't..."
"It's not over yet John," Sylvie reminded, her
eyes now trailing another group of incoming Hizacks, "This damn machine
can't maneuver very well in space, and even if it could the odds are still far
from our favor. I don't think I can save you this time. You should have just
listened to me and stayed out of this war, that way I would have been the only
casualty."
"Argue with me later," John replied quietly as the
Shigure's anti-aircraft guns came back to life, trying to support Sylvie's
Zugock, "I'm going to try to signal the O'Bannon for help. Maybe with a
couple more Mobile Suits around..."
"Don't be naive," Sylvie replied coldly as she
glanced at an orange Mobile Suit on the horizon, "As long as HE is around
no help will come, because if the position had been reversed, I will certainly
NOT be helping him..."
----------------
"Ming! Move!" Jefferson ordered as he sealed his
normal suit, the bridge having been decompressed by O'Brien's exploding Mobile
Suit, "And I don't give a **** about your damn feelings! You have a job to
do, now do it!"
"Colonel sir, with all due respect I can't leave the
O'Bannon while she's damaged," Ming answered, trying very hard not to
arouse Jefferson's suspicions, "The Shigure can take care of herself,
especially with that 'exceptional pilot' of theirs onboard who..."
"Ming, stop thinking of her and just do your ****ing
job!" Jefferson repeated, "Many more lives are at risk, and if you
won't get going, I'll find somebody who will!"
"Good idea, because I think she'll go on a psychotic
rampage if Ming ends up saving her anyway," Yoko added gleefully, just
unable to resist, "I'm not really in the mood to do anything, but I do
like that old Zugock of mine, and if I can get back my jurisdiction over
Subject V..."
"Shut up Yoko, don't start turning traitor," Ming
cut off coldly, angry that Yoko was letting her conniving side dominate her
actions as always, "I will NEVER help that *****, and even if there are
others that..."
"Shut up BOTH of you," Jefferson ordered angrily,
now thoroughly pissed off at his two "ace" pilots, "You're BOTH
relieved! Erich, get going! Lead the attack!"
"Me... me sir?" Erich asked shakily, Jefferson's
decision taking him completely by surprise, "I..."
"You can't do that!" Ming protested, "Erich
is junior to all of us, and even if..."
"Ming, shut the hell up," Jefferson snapped, not
wanting to waste any more time arguing with Ming, "I don't have time to
baby-sit a pair of hate mongers, and if I have to rely on rookies to get the
job done, so be it."
----------------
"You fools! Do I have to do everything by
MYSELF?!" Captain Filitov demanded as his men's latest attack run failed
yet again to destroy the enemy cruiser and its lone escort. The enemy MSM did
not posses any verniers that would allow it to effectively maneuver in space,
yet it had managed to pour deadly accurate fire on his advancing columns, while
his incompetent subordinates had failed completely to respond in kind. He
quickly signaled his men to stand down as his own Marasai began moving forward.
If you want something done right, he reflected, you have to do it yourself...
"John... get the hell out of here..." Sylvie
warned as she spotted another incoming Mobile Suit, this one belonging to the
enemy commander, "I'll try to hold them off as long as I can, but my
ammunition has run out, and I don't think..."
"Sylvie, you know very well that I don't leave people
behind," John responded as the Shigure's anti-aircraft batteries came back
to life, trying their very best to shoot down the incoming Marasai, "Try
to get back to the hangar, maybe we could..."
"John..." Sylvie started, until she realized that
the Marasai had already managed to slip behind her Zugock, which lacked the
necessary thrusters that would allow it to turn around in space. She watched as
the Marasai brought weapon its to bear, and she realized that the words she
would say next would probably be her last, "John, goodbye..."
----------------
"DAMN IT!" Ming growled as he sped towards the
Shigure, firing wildly as he did so. He absolutely DETESTED having to help that
despicable, murdering *****, but Jefferson hadn't given him a choice, and now
his sense of "duty" had supposedly prevailed. As he continued firing
however, it became apparent that the vast majority of his shots were heading
straight for Sylvie.
"***HOLE!" Sylvie screamed as she realized that
death was now coming from another, entirely different source, and she instinctively
activated her Mobile Suit's leg thrusters to evade. To her surprise, her Zugock
managed to evade not only Ming's wildly aimed shots, but also the more
disciplined ones coming from the enemy commander. Unfortunately, the move also
left her well outside of the protective range of the Shigure's AA guns, and a
pair of Hizacks quickly began exploiting her increased vulnerability.
"Hah! So even your comrades think that it is time for
you to die!" Filitov declared as his men fired their 120mm machine guns at
the nearly helpless Zugock, punching holes all over its body and chopping off
the weapon arm, "You spacenoid fools give up far too easily, and that is
why Earth shall always triumph!"
"And why don't you just stop blabbering, you Titans
*******!" Sylvie demanded defiantly even as the cockpit screens began to
explode, showering her with fragments while a hail of bullets slowly tore her
Zugock apart, "Finish me off already! I don't need any pity from monsters
like you!"
"Hey Sylvie, what about pity coming from monsters like
me?" a mischievous voice offered as a blue Mobile Suit suddenly interposed
itself between the battered Zugock and the attacking Hizacks, firing at the
Titans Mobile Suits as it did so, "You wouldn't also turn ME away, would
you?"
"You wish..." Sylvie muttered as her eyes narrowed
in dread, truly wishing that she was already dead rather than being saved by
this... madwoman, "I'd rather deal with the devil himself than with
somebody like you, and if I had any weapons left, I would be shooting YOU and
your little partner rather than those Titans."
"Oh come on Sylvie, you know very well that I'm just a
good friend looking out for your best interests," Yoko replied happily as
one of her shots beheaded an attacking Hizack, "Besides, that Titans
officer had the NERVE to punch holes all over MY beautiful Zugock, and had
DARED to insult spacenoid sensibilities in MY presence, so I'd really, really
like to teach that ******* a couple of lessons right about now..."
"Fine, but I wouldn't bet on it," Sylvie observed
as her Zugock's mangled arm pointed towards the rapidly approaching enemy
cruiser, whose guns were now slowly turning towards their positions,
"Yoko, just do me a favor and shoot me before you get yourself killed. I'd
prefer to have a head start before you start hunting me again in the
after-life..."
---------------
'Go to hell *****, you deserve it...' Ming thought viciously
as he watched the Dorcetshire's guns lock themselves into position, their
barrels now aimed directly towards Sylvie's badly damaged Zugock. He had long
regretted his decision to spare her in their first, bloody encounter, but at
long last, he could finally savor the moment of seeing the destruction of his
most hated nemesis. Erich was now recklessly dashing forward to aid the beleaguered
Captain Gressiere, reluctantly followed by Yun, but Ming knew that their
efforts would be in vain, and Sylvie would finally...
It didn't happen. Much to his surprise, a volley of beams
suddenly struck the Dorcetshire, damaging the ship's main fire control systems
along with one of its turrets. Its skipper, realizing that his ship was under
fire, wisely quickly backed off and managed to evade a second volley of beams,
while its guns turned around to meet the source of the fire. A short gun battle
erupted as the Dorcetshire and its opponent exchanged fire, but the lack of
accurate fire control quickly forced the Titans ship to withdraw along with its
escorts, leaving little behind for the battered AEUG ships. Ming then noticed
that another squad of AEUG GM IIs had entered the area, and he could barely
contain his disgust as he realized that some of them were ACTUALLY
"assisting" that ***** who...
"Thanks..." Sylvie's voice said quietly over the
radio, which only further disgusted Ming, who was unwilling to believe that
Sylvie actually had a sense of gratitude, "If... I didn't know better, I'd
say that someone was still watching over me."
"Perhaps there is, Captain," a voice answered as a
Salamis class cruiser appeared on the horizon, its guns still glowing red after
the beating it had inflicted on the Dorcetshire, "I am Major Helen
Ardulace of the AEUG Cruiser Achilles. Hello Shigure, looks like we got here
just in time."
---------------
"I'm sorry I had to pull you off the line, Iosef, but I
didn't have much of a choice," Ferelli apologized as his Mobile Suit
commander's Marasai landed on the flight deck, obviously a little annoyed that
they had been unable to finish off that enemy cruiser. Filitov's anger, however,
was directed only at his enemy.
"No sir, do not apologize," Captain Filitov
replied briskly, "Your recall order was correct. If I had stayed any
longer and tried to destroy that MSM, my teams would have been enveloped by
those newly arrived AEUG Mobile Suits, and I doubt we could have survived. In
fact, I must thank you for being so prompt in warning us of the third enemy
cruiser's approach. We must now focus our attention on dragooning as many
Federal units as possible to help us hunt down this battle group, as our force
is clearly insufficient to face such a large enemy formation."
"Agreed Captain. We'll need at least two more cruisers
to ensure fire support superiority, plus around ten more Mobile Suits to ensure
that we outnumber them two to one," Ferelli calculated, "Where do you
suggest we start looking?"
"Somewhere around Green Oasis sir, probably Luna
2," Filitov suggested, eyeing the three cruisers now rapidly disappearing
off the horizon, "I have no doubt they are here to gather information on
Operation Apollo, and if we can deny this information to the AEUG, then we may
not even need to fight them again in order to assure our victory..."
----------------
"Major, am I glad to see you..." Jefferson
observed as he finally caught a glimpse of Helen Ardulace through the videocom.
A rather beautiful lady with a stiff, no-nonsense air about her, Ardulace was well
known for being one of the few female ship Captains in the male-dominated
officer corp of the Federation, and for being an extremely competent one at
that, "However, I thought we were supposed to meet in Green Oasis on the
6th. Why did you...?"
"Sir, we picked up the Dorcetshire two days ago and
found that she had altered course," the Major replied smartly as she subtly
eyed her new CO, "I was worried that she may have been sent to track down
your battle group, so I chose to rendezvous with your ships at the earliest
opportunity. Fortunately, it seems my decision was correct."
"It certainly was, Major. Thank you," Jefferson
approved, wondering what might have happened if her cruiser and its four
escorting GM IIs had not appeared when they did, "Well then, I guess I'll
have to welcome you to our merry little fleet. I'll call a meeting as soon as
possible to..."
"Sir, forgive me for saying so, but no introductions
are really necessary," the Major interrupted, her face not betraying any
emotions she might now be feeling, "I know that most of your personnel are
One Year War Side 2 veterans like myself, and I'm still quite acquainted with
most of them. However, it might take me a while to get used to taking orders
from the former commander of the Zeon Side 2 Fleet, so please warn me if I
become a little insubordinate."
'Great, does EVERYBODY from the old 17th Fleet know who I am
and what I did?' Jefferson moaned to himself as he remembered that Ardulace had
commanded a cruiser in Sylvie's unit during the war, and almost wished that he
wasn't being constantly reminded of the pain he had inflicted on both sides
during that conflict, "Look, Major, I understand that you may be reluctant
to serve under my command, so I have to say that..."
"No need for apologies, sir," the Major assured,
though Jefferson noticed a small glint in her eyes that seemed to indicate
otherwise, "We were all soldiers just doing our duty back then, and I
don't really feel any ill-will towards you or your men. My hatred is reserved
only for those tyrants who used us as pawns in their insane quest for power,
and that is why I chose to join AEUG and fight these murdering Titans."
"Well... thank you, Major," Jefferson replied
quietly, a little relieved that not everyone shared Sylvie's militant attitude,
but still couldn't help feeling guilty because of what he had done. She had
probably lost many friends because of his actions, and even though he was only
doing his duty, he knew that it was really nothing more than an excuse...
"I've already met far too many people who have been blinded by hate, and
I'm glad you aren't one of them."
"Don't be too glad yet sir, because I tend to be an
exception," the Major warned as she motioned towards a pair of
"bickering" Mobile Suits now landing on the Shigure's deck, "To
many, the pain is simply too great to handle, and once that pain takes
everything away, the only thing that's left is their hatred. I would be careful
with people like that if I were you, sir. I wouldn't want to continue hurting
someone who has already suffered far too much in the past."
'And I assume you're referring to Sylvie?' Jefferson thought
to himself as he bit his lip, realizing that Ardulace probably knew the whole
story through the 17th Fleet's rumor mill. It pained him to know that the Major
was probably right, but he also knew that he didn't have a choice. Ming still
hadn't truly learned from his mistakes, and without "her" to remind
him of his past, Ming could very well return to the dark path he had once
taken, and that was something he could NEVER allow to ever happen again...
"I'll take that under advisement Major, but for now I think Major Recto
has things well under control..."
---------------
"Oh great... At this rate all hell is going to break
loose..." John muttered as Sylvie stormed into the debriefing room,
obviously still fresh from yet another scuffle with Yoko. Landing the shattered
Zugock on the Shigure's damaged flight deck had been difficult enough, but with
the destruction of the O'Bannon's Mobile Suit hangars, the Colonel had to
temporarily "relocate" Ming's Mobile Suit team to the Shigure, and
John knew very well that there was no way that Sylvie could EVER tolerate being
on the same ship as Ming...
"Sir... Captain Chow is landing without
permission!" O'Connor reported worriedly as the Shigure shook noticeably
from the collision, "He's demanding to be let in!"
"Oh ****..." John muttered as a grinning Yoko also
entered the room, further compounding an already very dicey situation,
"O'Connor, look, get some men, and..."
"John, get me a knife!" Sylvie ordered as she
turned around to face Yoko, seemingly ready to start disemboweling the former
Zeon SpecOp trooper, "If those two are giving you trouble, then I'd be
happy to..."
"Kill us for him? How ungrateful of you, especially
after how I just saved your life..." Yoko taunted, "But then again,
you're just an insane ***** anyway, and I'd be happy to take you on in a nice,
little fist fight while..."
"Sylvie don't listen to her!" John interrupted,
not wanting to hear any more of Yoko's wacky ideas, "Sylvie, stop it, you
don't have to do this, we can..."
"Oh John, don't be naive... Of course she had to do
it!" Yoko countered, enjoying this particular spat with Subject V,
"She's just an insane killing machine that wants to destroy Ming and
everybody around him, and until then she won't take orders from anyone. You
won't get to her this way. You have to do it MY way, through a combination of
torture and blackmail, and maybe just a little bit of neural
re-programming..."
"Yoko, that enough!" John shouted, disgusted at
how Yoko could view another human being, "Remember, you're still on MY
ship, and I won't have you insulting...'
"John, stop it," Sylvie interrupted in a deathly
quiet tone, "As I said before, stop caring about me. She's right. I am
nothing more than just a killing machine, and no matter what you do, you won't
be able to bring the old me back..."
"Sylvie..." John started, shocked at how...
"See John? I'm ALWAYS right..." Yoko declared
triumphantly with a smirk, "So why don't you just hand her over to me, I
promise to find whatever scraps of humanity she has left and..."
"But John, I know you're also going to need a killing
machine like me, because you're such an ***hole and keep trying to get yourself
killed," Sylvie continued, her eyes locked on a now surprised Yoko,
"So, if you're offer still stands, then I will be... willing to accept it
without any conditions. I guess... even in my current state, I'm not yet...
incapable of doing the right thing."
"Sylvie?" John started again, this time in
surprise rather than in shock. Was she... actually coming around? Was she...?
"Hey, now wait a minute you *****..." Yoko
started, now beginning to grit her teeth in frustration, "Sylvie, you seem
to forget that..."
"Lieutenant Nagato, I suggest that you change your
tone," _Captain_ Gressiere ordered, now feeling some... satisfaction that
she had wrong-footed Yoko for once, "Due to your demotion, remember that I
am now a superior officer, and you MUST address me with proper respect by
calling me MAM!"
"It doesn't matter," Yoko growled, angry that
Sylvie was actually trying to "rebel" from her authority,
"Because you've still..."
"Oh, but it DOES matter," John agreed with a
smile, remembering his first meeting with the then innocent and caring Sylvie,
and how similar the situation was now as it was then, "Though you may
argue that I'm not really that formal a guy, in your case, I think I'll make an
exception, so start showing proper respect or I'll throw you in the brig."
"Fine, SIR. Fine, MAM," Yoko grumbled, to the
amusement of John and, to a much lesser extent, Sylvie, "But both of you
are still forgetting one very important thing..."
As if on cue, the doors suddenly slid open, and a scarred,
angry man entered the room, seemingly spoiling for a fight. Sylvie's eyes
instantly burned in anger as she realized who it was, and she likewise readied
her stance. It was Ming.
---------------
"Chief, calm down..." General Heinrich Pluskat
ordered as he noticed the anger on Captain McDermut's face, obviously not happy
at the new arrival, "He's already taken away the Old Lady, don't let him
take away your career."
"Excuse me sir, but the Old Lady IS what's left of my
career..." McDermut answered a he took a step towards the newly arrived
Federal Colonel, who only smiled as he recognized McDermut. It was Colonel
Justin De Grasse, Commanding Officer of the EFSFS Richelieu and the perennial
nemesis of Commodore Megan Hawkins, even well after her death...
"My, my Chief, it has been a long time," the
Colonel welcomed, the tone of his voice seemingly designed to further provoke
an already angry McDermut, "And as you can see, I won."
'Arrogant *******, you don't need to gloat...' Pluskat
thought disapprovingly but did not say out loud, concentrating instead on
Captain McDermut's state of mind. McDermut had been Commodore Hawkins' most
loyal subordinate, and had been witness to the bitter rivalry between Hawkins
and De Grasse. Both warship designers during the war, Commodore Hawkins'
proposal to upgrade warships with Mobile Suit hangars had ultimately won out
over De Grasse's outdated adherence to the "Big Ship, Big Gun"
strategy so prevalent among the Federation's old guard, but unfortunately the
good Commodore did not live long enough to see her vision become a reality.
Hawkins had been killed at the Battle of A Bao A Qu, and De Grasse had seen to
it that he regained control over the Federation's Warship Design Bureau after
the war to erase all of her much needed reforms. His pre-historic stupidity
eventually caught up with him however, as so vividly pointed out by the
disastrous performance of his 83' flight Salamis class cruisers during the
Delaz Fleet crisis, and after his disgrace De Grasse had devoted most of his
time and energies in tormenting Hawkins' remaining associates. McDermut
however, wasn't the type to take this lying down...
"Fine, SIR," McDermut grumbled after a long
silence, obviously doing his best to control his temper, "Have you
anything else to say before I depart?"
"Actually, I have," De Grasse replied with a sly
grin, before handing McDermut a camera, "Get me a couple of snapshots of
your wretched ship when she explodes. It should be the crowning piece of my
collection."
"*******!" McDermut shouted as he threw the camera
back at De Grasse's face, who caught it mid-air before it landed, "You may
be a bloody Colonel, but I..."
"Oh? Did I hurt your petty little feelings?" De
Grasse cut off sarcastically, before turning around to leave, "Well too
bad, because instead of those snapshots, I want your resignation. Have it filed
by the end of the week."
"You son of a *****!" McDermut growled as he
stomped after the fleeing De Grasse, wanting to give the arrogant Colonel a
piece of his mind, but Pluskat quickly grabbed him by the shoulder and kept him
from going any further, "Let go of me sir! I've had it with that
nonsensical *******, and now that he's sacking me, I can just..."
"Find yourself in the brig," Pluskat reminded,
"Chief, remember, he still outranks you, and he won't hesitate to file
charges if you start resorting to physical violence. Besides, your resignation
would have to go through ME first, and you can be sure as hell that I'm NOT
going to approve it."
"Sir, thank you for that vote of confidence..."
McDermut replied more calmly, though his face was still fuming in anger,
"But with the Old Lady gone I might as well..."
"Chief, look, I know you're going to miss the Warspite,
we still have our responsibilities," Pluskat reminded dutifully, yet
trying to be consoling at the same time, "I can't afford to lose a great
engineer like you, so don't go off and do something stupid. Reports have
indicated that a couple of AEUG cruisers have infiltrated the area around Green
Oasis, and I DON'T want you trying to be a hero, alright?"
McDermut frowned mightily at Pluskat's last comment, but,
out of loyalty, decided to follow his CO's advice for the moment. "Alright
sir, don't worry, no heroics..." McDermut replied with a sigh, still
looking decidedly unhappy at the ignominious fate intended for the Warspite,
"Anything else sir?"
"Actually, yes," Pluskat replied, the tone of his
voice now becoming very serious, "Aside from being a hero, I would also
appreciate it if you don't suddenly disappear. I think far too many of us have
been tempted to join the rebellion, and it would REALLY make my life here more
difficult if you ended up being one of them..."
---------------
"Administrative leave?" Hawkins asked doubtfully
as Natalie finished explaining to him her "current" situation.
Wilkins had, as he had promised, filed charges against Lt. Colonel Dolvich, and
she was now being forced into administrative leave while a committee
"investigated" the matter. However, it seemed as though she had other
ideas in mind while this "investigation" took place...
"I'd prefer to call it a long overdue vacation,
Hawkins," Natalie replied with a grin, seemingly untroubled by Wilkins'
plot to ruin her career, "And... this time, for once, I... I would like to
spend it with you."
"Mam..." Hawkins replied, feeling the color rise
in his face as he did so, "Please, I don't think it's really proper for us
to..."
"Hawkins, look..." Natalie started, feeling the
color rise in her own face as well, "Wilkins is going to try to ruin both
of our careers for letting the New Guinea Base and his precious Barzam project
get destroyed, and I'm almost certain that he's going to succeed."
"Mam, you don't know that..." Hawkins whispered,
now feeling as though... he truly was beginning to conspire against the
organization he was supposed to protect, "They've already managed to
rebuild some of the facilities in New Guinea, and they've recovered enough data
from the Barzam project to..."
"To make a piss-poor Mobile Suit that's barely any
better than a GM II," Natalie reminded, "Hawkins, I've seen the
report, and much of the Barzam's special equipment, including a nifty little
beam machine gun that our engineers have been developing, was either captured
or destroyed by those... "rebels". Wilkins isn't happy that his
supposedly war-winning Mobile Suit has now been reduced to nothing more than a
plain-vanilla GM II, and he's sure to pin the blame on both of us to save his
career."
"But mam, without our ranks, we would be hard-pressed
to expose Wilkins' treachery," Hawkins countered, "Unless, of
course... you're already thinking of some other way to make Wilkins pay for his
crimes..."
"Indeed I have Hawkins," Natalie replied with a
nod, drawing her face only inches away from his, wanting him... to know that
she trusted him and him alone, and that... she probably was going to...
"rely" on him even more... "While we're off on our little vacation,
I think we should start canvassing for an alternate career..."
---------------
"Colonel, we may be part of a rebellion, but I never
expected anything like THIS!" Major Ardulace observed angrily as she
entered the Shigure's debriefing room, which was now slowly being destroyed by
a fistfight taking place within its walls. Both Captains Gressiere and Chow
were in the thick of it, obviously trying their best to kill each other, while
others tried in vain to restrain them, particularly the now badly bruised Major
Recto. It had been Recto who had called for help after his own security forces
failed to restrain the two heated opponents, and she could tell from the faces
of those present that this fight could rapidly escalate far out of control...
"Attention on deck!" Colonel Jefferson ordered
angrily, trying his best to gain everyone's attention but failing to do so,
"Everyone! Cease and desist! I won't have my people go off and..."
'That's not going to work, Colonel...' Ardulace thought
tiredly, getting annoyed at how "tolerant" her fellow officers were
of their men's antics. She quickly pulled out her sidearm and aimed it at the
floor. Sometimes, she reminded herself, even the most brutal tactics have their
uses...
The sound of three gun shots suddenly eliminated all other
sound in the room, quickly causing some less courageous individuals to scramble
for cover. Jefferson's eyes went wide as he realized what Ardulace had done,
even more so as he realized how close those bullets were to his feet, but an
angry glare from her quickly made him too nervous to complain. In the center of
the room, both Ming and Sylvie, still grabbing each other by the neck, stopped
their fight for a moment to survey the new arrival. Ardulace resisted an urge
to smile as she decided to re-introduce herself...
"I am justice, and my word is law," Helen
declared, aiming her gun at the two primary offenders, "And it is time for
both of you to be judged. So I suggest you desist, lest I also choose to become
your executioner..."
---------------
Notes:
- Just in case anybody's wondering, yes, Ardulace is a fan
of "Planescape: Torment", and she's also met a certain character from
What Cost for Freedom? ^_^.
---------------
Notice: This fic and all its contents are copyrighted by Thomas E. "Zinegata" Ting. No part of this work may be taken by any other person without permission from the author. Gundam and all related trademarks are owned by Bandai and their respective companies.