Mobile Suit Gundam Fan Fiction ❯ Mobile Suit Gundam Side Story: The Forgotten Fleet ❯ Chapter 3: Shock ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
Hello! I'm very sorry if I neglected to post new chapters in media miner(mainly since I was busy finishing up other fics and posting them in the sites I hang out in more often. In fact, this fic is already finsihed, but because of some responses I'l be continuing to post it here bit by bit. If you just can't wait for the rest of the chapters though, the fic is available at the ff sites:

http://side7.gundam.com/newtype_asylum (Gundamania section)
http://side7.gundam.com/whitewolf/ (Fanfiction section)
http://www.gundam.com (Fanfic forum)
http://www.gundamwatch.com (Fanfic forum)
http://www.animex.com (Fanfic section)

Chapter 3: Shock

General Revil looked at the clock. It was now 0659 hours. It was time. He looked to his aide beside him and gave a short order, "Commence Operation Odessa." The aide nodded, and a flurry of radio transmissions were broadcasted from his Big Tray command post to the waiting Federation forces.
----------------------------
Sylvie was waiting for that. She looked behind her and saw a huge column of dust coming from the distance. It was the fifty-four Type 61s and Big Tray land battleship of the 71st Tank Battalion. She picked up the microphone, "This is the 44th, we are ready to rock 71st! Good to see you."

"This is Colonel Sean Patterson. Remain in positions. Wait for us to arrive."

"Yes sir," Sylvie was getting a little excited, but she knew the plan. Artillery and air support would go first. She checked her watch. It was now 0659 hours and 59 seconds...
----------------------------
Karl watched as the clock finally ticked to 0700 hours. He checked the computations one more time, and satisfied they were accurate, depressed the trigger. An enormous blast shook the Guntank as two 180mm shells were ejected from its guns, flying into the air at the speed of sound. It was followed by more shells a second later, as the rest of the battalion's guns opened fire.
-----------------------------
The Zeon lookout blinked hard as he saw the huge column of Type 61 tanks heading towards him. There were more than 50 of them, and there was no way they could stop that many. They won't attack, huh? He thought angrily. To hell with that yellow bellied Ma Kube! He picked up his radio and sent a distress transmission. He was just about to pick up his bazooka when he heard the whistling sound of artillery coming from above. He looked up, just in time to see death coming...
------------------------------
"Well done, Artillery!" Sylvie declared as she recorded the damage in her gun-mounted camera. Many shells scored hits on the Zeon vehicles, even though they were in protective foxholes. Although the older 155mm shells were unable to completely destroy most vehicles, the new 180mm shells were devastating. She saw one of the Zakus at the base of the hill take a 180mm hit right on top if its head, shattering the Mobile Suit all the way down to the torso before disappearing in a massive fireball. After the minute long bombardment, six of the Magella Attack Tanks were burning, and smoke spoke of less serious damage on others. The forces on top of the hill though, were more fortunate. Though both turrets were shattered, all six Zakus were still relatively intact. Not for long though.

High above the clouds above her, forty-eight FlyManthas Bombers of the 3rd Bomber group were waiting for exactly for that moment. They dived down from the sky, taking the surprised Zakus below by surprise. The Zakus fired sporadically at the incoming aircraft, killing four, but were unable to stop the attack. One by one, the FlyManthas dropped their bomb loads, filling the hill top with explosions. Three of the Zakus were killed, two more were damaged, as the lone undamaged Zaku tried to fire back at the now retreating aircraft. Suddenly, a highly concentrated red beam hit its chest and burned right through the reactor, exploding the suit.

"MAX!" Sylvie shouted angrily. The beam had come from him, and the orders had been to remain concealed until...

"They were a threat to the planes, don't worry it's just one charge," he replied coolly.

Sylvie frowned, that wasn't the real reason why he'd fired. It was because of somebody in the air group. But she could understand, couldn't she?

"What the hell was that firing for?!" an angry voice demanded that made Sylvie cringe. It was her immediate commanding officer, Captain Lars Breivik.

"Rifle fired a shot to cover the FlyManthas sir, I don't think..."

"Alright Sylvie, enough!" he interrupted,"44th Tactical Mobile Suit Company! Let's go!"

A total of six RGM 79G GM Ground types suddenly rose from the ground from their protective camouflaged holes. There were three MS in both left and right flanks of the 71st Battalion's tanks, and they began to fire their 100mm machine guns at the Zeon positions as the Type 61 tanks started to move rapidly towards the hill...
-----------------------------
The new MS were welcome, Captain Dave Anderson thought as he checked his Type 61's guns, but he was sure that the tanks alone could handle them now. A veteran tank company commander, he was familiar with Zeon tactics, and he was sure their new tactics would work against them. Before, Zakus had great success against Type 61s thanks to the long reload time of the 150mm guns compared to their machine guns. The Zakus simply hid under cover, waited for the Federation tanks to fire an opening, often ineffective, volley, and then slaughter them as they tried to reload. Not anymore though, as the Type 61s charged towards the Zakus at break neck speed...
---------------------------
The pilot of the surviving Zaku at the base of the hill watched as the Type 61s headed for them. There were some humanoid type Federation machines in the distance, but they were still too far away to be a threat. The Type 61's 150mm guns had a slight range advantage compared to his machine gun, and so he was waiting for them to fire first. He had already drilled himself on how to react against Type 61s, just like the manual said, although he hadn't fought this many. Well, he'd get as many of them as he could. Beside him, the longer ranged Magella Attack Tanks began firing, scoring a few kills on the advancing force...
---------------------------
Dave and the rest of the tanks had just reached optimal firing range. There were only 49 of them now. Five tanks had been exploded from the 175mm shells fired by the Magella Attacks. He scowled, but losses were unavoidable. And they'd get back at them, he was sure. Their new tactics called for each tank to have a "wing man." The two tanks would fire alternately, ensuring that a constant, though less powerful fire would be maintained on the Zeon forces. He watched as his wingman and around half of the tanks in the battalion fired. It probably wouldn't be effective, but if he adjusted his guns and waited for that Zaku to come out...
-------------------------
The Zaku pilot ducked his MS down the foxhole to avoid the fire. Shells exploded around him, but none found their mark yet. As the firing subsided, he blessed his luck, and started to get up to fire back. He was shocked to see the horizon flash yellow again....
---------------------------
"Gotcha!" Dave shouted as he hit the Zaku in the head. Its mono-eye was shattered, and began to fire wildly, before a second volley from his wingman killed it altogether. Around it, all but one Magella Attack was burning, and the pilot of that tank was now waving a white flag. Smart of him, he thought. From the hill top, the shattered pieces of the two formerly damaged Zakus now littered the rocky slopes, and 71st Battalion had just accomplished its primary mission.
----------------------
Sylvie smiled as she heard the victory report from the lead tanks. Now they were moving around the hill to strike into the Zeon rear. The forces assaulting the main defenses were having a tough time, but they had been weakened on the expectation that the treacherous General Elran would not attack this particular sector. Well, they got that b*****d now, and Zeon was paying for it, "Earl, any business coming for us?"

"I'm hearing a Dabude artillery track from a distance, but it's too far away as of yet."

"That's good," Captain Lars interjected, "Now, Rifle, Sylvie, relocate to positions just east of the hill. The rest of you, follow me to the top of the hill. It's not over yet people."
----------------------
Consistency stuff:
The tank battalion numbers are based on present day numbers(54).
The Type 61 tactics are my own ideas. They are based on gaming experience and logic.
120mm machine guns fire very quickly(perhaps too quickly) and loading two shells takes longer than one, even with an autoloader. The 150mm having a better range can be seen in all G-Gen games(range of 6 vs the Zak's 4). The 180mm being capable of killing a Zak with one hit is based on stats in the Blood of Zeon game.