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The Shadow of Loum

-January 15th/ UC 0079/ 18:30/Side 5 space, near Watohoat-

I stared blankly at the display in front of me. It showed colony 11 of Side 5, or Watohoat.
Vice Admiral Dozle Zabi designated this particular colony to be the one for the Second
Drop operation. My Zaku II was part of a unit that was supposed to protect the Zakus
attaching the nuclear pulse engines to the colony when the Federation forces arrived.

The Feddie ETA was in about three hours, when the Musai I was shipped out on, the
Gihradan, was to deploy it's Zakus to destroy the Salamis and Flying Mantas that would
no doubt try to stop the attack.

"Make all equipment checks! No Zaku is left behind! Hail Zeon!" shouted the operator.
I made sure that my Pilot Suit was airtight, and that my FOF ID worked properly, for the
umpteenth time.

I reopened the hatch and drifted out onto the balcony overlooking my Zaku. I spotted
a few mechamen tightening the conduits from the Zaku's snout exhaust port to the back of
its head. A man wearing a green uniform and a helmet approached me.

"Ensign Lylas, you have been called to the bridge for combat briefing, as have the other
MS pilots."

I saluted and kicked off from the railing, grabbing hold of a lift-grip to head toward the bridge.
at the end of a lift, timing was tricky; if you weren't careful, you could be flung painfully in to a
wall, or shot off course. The best thing to do was wait for it to stop, and I did.

At the bridge, Captain Sterin pulled up a map for us to see. It had sides one through seven,
Solomon, A Bao A Qu, Granada/ Luna, Earth, and Luna II.

"Alright then. Let's get started here. Judging by reports, the Earth Federation Forces are over
here...." said the Captain, bringing up a blue arrow that went from Luna II to an area not far from
Loum.

"And, they learned of our plan not far from our departure, so naturally we got here first. You all
know of Operation British, correct? Well, this is similar in nature, only with a little bit of resistance
from the Federation. On a combat note, do not underestimate the Flying Mantas, as their missiles
are capable of igniting your backpack. Destroy them before they can get behind you. And, on a
final note, do aim for their Magellan class ships." With that last statement, we were dismissed to
the Flight Deck.

-January 15th/UC 0079/ 22:10/Side 5 space, near Loum-

The Gihradan had positioned itself for defense of the operation. I was relayed a bit of the view
from the bridge. The EFF were late.

-22:14-

The laser sensor maps and distance counters that were used on the bridge suddenly shut off.

"All MS, prepare for launch! The EFF have opened fire!" shouted the bridge operator.

Due to the dispersion of Minovsky Particles, visual contact was the only way to determine
where the enemy was, and therefore, made units like mine necessary. Guided missiles were
useless, so I was to rely on my aim with my Zaku's machine gun..... cannon, actually.

"Ensign Lylas, you're clear for launch."

"Got it! Ensign Aleksandr Lylas, launching!"

The thrusters on my Zaku's back ignited, and the hatch parted, allowing my passage into the
hail of unguided missiles, vulcan rounds, and particle beams.

The EFF 1st Combined Fleet was approximately 28 kilometers from the Zeon 2nd Mobile
Fleet. Plenty of space to get shot in, I thought. It also gave a good amount of time for an
enemy beam cannon to blast a Zaku to vapor, if the gunnery officers knew how to direct
the guns they commanded.

I brought my Zaku 'up' by six degrees to avoid a missile from an incoming Flying Manta,
then fired a burst of 120mm shells at it. I missed. I was already closing in on a Salamis
class cruiser by 6 kilometers when I was attacked.

A bazooka shell flew over my Zaku's head, slamming into one of the Salamis' main guns.
It was Lieutenant Novak, who then maneuvered 10 degrees 'left' to dodge a missile.
I wondered how many of us were actually there; I didn't see very many MS or Gattle
fighter-bombers when I panned the mono-eye camera, thrusting upward to get out of
the way of any potential attacks.

A Sabrefish strafed my MS, one of its rounds hitting the shoulder. I threw
a grenade in its direction, blowing it into glittering bits of debris. A piece of shrapnel clinked
uselessly against my armor.

"Comrade Lylas, don't get too close. Our MS will probably be the first things that Revil's
guns will target. Back up a bit." Lieutenant Novak said, touching my Zaku's shoulder to
initiate 'skin talk', as radio was useless in the face of Minovsky saturation. Hearing this,
I fired my thrusters in reverse to distance myself from the ship guns probably aimed at me.

My display showed that I was 2 kilometers from the nearest reference to Revil's fleet, a Salamis.
In the vacuum of space, resolution was extreme, due to unobstructed radiation. This made it
hard to gauge relative distance using just your eyes, so laser sensors were used. I wasn't far
enough to avoid the brunt of an attack.