"Captain's Log. November 23, CE 71. The integration of our two newest members of the crew is going well and a bond of trust is beginning to form as both Jean and Barry have allowed our engineers to help them out with maintenance work on their mobile suits yesterday. Our trip to meet up with the Re.H.O.M.E. is proceeding smoothly and with luck, we can be there by the end of today to discuss our formal orientation and get resupplied. Other than basic supplies of food and water, Leroy also put in a request for-"
"Bridge to Captain Pristis."
The young woman in command of the Ortigiya paused her recording and picked up the receiver on her desk. "Go ahead."
"We're receiving a distress call from a trade ship. Apparently, their engines have been damaged in an accident and they don't have the resources to fix it properly. If we alter course now, it would be at least an hour and a half to get there and a few more hours just to help fix the problem and be on our way again. What are your orders?"
Meriol ran her hand over her short brown hair as she gave it some thought. Resource wise, they would be cutting it pretty close if they did make the detour. But if she just went along her merry way without trying something, her conscience would seriously nag her for it. And she couldn't really count on ZAFT to be able to respond in time to the other ship's distress call. "Helm, alter course towards the trade ship. Have our medical teams on standby. As soon as we get in communications range, hail the other ship and get a full damage report if you can."
"Yes, madam."
"I have to admit that it's a bit weird being here. I mean... the uniforms look like Alliance uniforms and all and this ship is still being run according to Alliance military protocol," admitted Barry as he strapped on his pilot suit. He had been ordered to be ready in his Astray unit in case any space pirates wanted to take advantage of both the damaged trade ship and the Ortigiya.
Jean chuckled at his friend's admission. "Well, you don't have to worry about their integrity. There's no way they would go back to the Alliance. Especially after the Eurasian troops were left to die in a losing battle at Alaska." He secured the white helmet to his head and retrieved the engineering briefcase next to him before letting himself float to his mobile suit's cockpit. Both him and Barry would be part of the away team that would go over to take a look at the trade ship's engines. Two Mistral mobile pods would be sent out and escorted by both Astray units.
As the group got clearance to launch, the mobile suit pilots glanced at the trade ship. It looked like the average cargo ship with the crew living quarters and workstations in the front and a larger area at the back to hold cargo. "Didn't realize that there are still trade ships around," muttered Barry to himself. When the war began, trade ships practically dropped off the radar as nobody wanted to risk getting caught in between the Earth forces and ZAFT's mobile suit army. A few weeks after the end of the war, trade ships started making trips between the PLANTs and selected nations on the earth such as the Kingdom of Scandinavia as old trade agreements were able to be revived.
The trip to the cargo vessel had been short and uneventful and soon, the away team from the Ortigiya was being welcomed by the ship's captain, a large man who sported a dark beard and a buzzcut. "Greetings, boys! I'm Captain Laverty of this little bucket of bolts here! So glad you guys could make it!"
Leroy, one of the engineers assigned to the mission, briefly snorted while Jean took control of things. "We're glad to be of service. Please bring us to your engine and we'll take a look. Also, I'm quite surprised that a cargo ship is this far out. Normally, the PLANTs only allow cargo ships into certain areas of the Aprilius City colonies."
"Well, we're not actually going to the PLANTs. We're gunning for a long-term trip to do trading with the Mars colony and the Litilia colony that's travelling out to Jupiter. We tried to modify our engines some time ago to handle higher speeds for a longer time but that didn't really go so well as you can see," explained Laverty. The four engineers that travelled using the Mobile Pods followed the large captain while Jean stayed behind to speak with Barry briefly.
"Would you mind keeping an eye out on our units here? My gut tells me that we'll be needing them soon."
"Sure. Be careful, Jean. That Laverty person... he didn't move as naturally as he should for a person of his size," warned the martial artist.
"You saw that too, huh? Good... at least I'm not seeing things and going paranoid around here. See you in a bit." Jean quickly took off after the group that headed to engineering while Barry allowed himself to float back into his cockpit and sealed the hatch of his mobile suit.
He allowed himself to sink into his meditation and breathing exercises while occasionally scanning things with his mobile suit's main camera. This went on for fifteen minutes until he spotted some movement with through his unit's optics. 'What was that?' He slowly magnified the view of where he had seen that slight bit of movement until he saw an object collide with his view and create havoc for his vision. Barry quickly turned off the main camera to let the darkness settle in and his eyes recover.
Before he could think clearly, he heard the cockpit hatch start to open as someone used the manual override from outside to get access to the cockpit. Just as the hatch opened and an intruder dressed in a black pilot suit and face mask popped in with a gun, Barry threw a right hook to knock the person back and closed the hatch. He powered up his mobile suit and used the left hand to grab the person to get a closer look. Although the person's face was hidden with a black face mask, he could tell from the jaw structure that the person was in fact a woman.
"Release her. Now." A deep male voice echoed through the cargo bay as Jean's Astray unit powered up and took out its beam rifle to point at Barry.
'How in the world did someone get past Jean's security?! Jean, where are you?!'
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(Posted Wed, 25 Jul 2007 07:00)
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