Chapter 2: The Cost of Defeat

(move on to this thread)

The following day, 9:00 AM. It was the day of the duel. Katoma was having breakfast by the river, several miles away from the 24th Mobile Suit Team. He chanced upon a group of fishermen fixing a small boat. Lost, and disoriented, Katoma shouted at them.

"Hey, pal! I'm lost! May I know what this place is called!?" Katoma screamed.

"You're at the base of Mt. Matalingahan, Feddie!" the fisherman replied. "If you know what's best for you, you'd get out of here before the one-eyed giants arrive!"

"Wa---one...eyed..giants?" Katoma gulped. These men were referring to monoeyes. Is he getting closer to Zeon territory? Though Katoma's knees were shaking, he felt the need to continue his journey. After finishing his half-assed meal, he went back to the Guntank and rolled back on the track.

"Shit, it's almost 10:00... won't a battle start here at noon? I gots to camp... I'll shoot that commander down while he's fighting the Gundam..." Katoma said.

Hana Ban Ban Hotel, that fateful morning...

Clara woke up with a very different mood. She walked past her fellow hostages, not even bothering to glance at them. Looking at their faces now would only weaken her resolve. She held the key to their safety, she realized that just last night. When she found some Zeon guards, she immediately asked for her to be shackled.

"Do it. It's what you want, right?" she asked the Zeon soldier whom she had just given an autograph yesterday. The soldier reluctantly placed handcuffs on her, and led her outside.

"A duel between a Zeon and a Fed... with my life on the line. If that's what makes you happy, do it!" she yelled at Boss Chief. She was ready for anything.

Boss Chief snarled at the little brat. "You're making things easier, eh?" he scoffed at her. "Very well then... tie her to that jeep. Let's go to Mount Matalingahan. We have two hours to go..." Boss Chief ordered his subordinates. They took Clara and roped her, then placed her at the back of the jeep.

Boss Chief snapped his fingers, the AI system of his Gouf responding to him. The Gouf knelt down and scooped the venerable Lieutenant in its hand. It then moved the Chief closer to the torso, giving him access to the hatch. He got in and booted the systems up. "Guadalupe, how I missed you..." he whispered. He named his mobile suit after his deceased wife, whom he was very fond of.

Escorting Boss Chief but only to the base of the mountain was the jeep that contained Clara, and according to his orders, Warrant Officers Aicelle and Thomas, who will be going in their mobile suits. They were told not to attack the Gundam, but to make sure he was alone.

"Aicelle, Tom," Chief told them, "If I die today, avenge me. Shoot down the White Devil for me..." he said. "By the way, if you spot more than one Feddie mobile suit in the area, alert the base. I'll send the Z'goks if need be." Having said that, Boss Chief's Gouf marched forward to Matalingahan, the jeep containing Clara following him.

Outside the hotel, Puerto Princesa,

No sleep. That's what Aicelle's condition is today. She was very anxious about accompanying the Boss today to his grand showdown with the White Devil. Not even two full bottles of extra-hard whiskey was able to put her to dreamland last night. All she could think about, was her important role. Serving Zeon, the motherland... to the extent of her abilities.

"Lt. Guerrero... that man sure is strange. I can never fathom the kind of mind he has," Aicelle told herself. As her Zaku II walked behind the commander's mobile suit, she sat back, trying to relax as the scenery passed her. Below her was a transport jeep carrying Clara. She looked at her every now and then, seeing if she's okay and all.

"Thomas... I hope you find the meaning of your own life. Right now I could not find mine. But following the Lieutenant's orders somehow fills up that large gaping void in my heart," she radioed him, wherever he is.

(C'mon Vangran, we have a task to do! Walk with me!)

Osmond saw the group approaching steadily. He climbed on his GM Cannon and ran to meet the group halfway. When he finally saw them a few meters away, the GM Cannon saluted the 56th Mobile Suit Team.

"Sgt. Paulver Osmond here. On behalf of the 24th Autonomous Mobile Suit Team, I welcome you here. Come, let me introduce you to Ensign Cruz and Ensign Munda---"

Blam! Ensign Mundara had been gone the whole night! His Guntank did not return, and because nobody liked him, they never even bothered to search for him. While he may not be the most popular guy, Katoma Mundara could be out there and might get captured by the Zeon! Or he could be dead! Or worse--defected to the enemy!?

Osmond's mobile suit turned back immediately. "56th MS team, we have a problem as well. One of our Ensigns is missing!" he told Shun.

Meanwhile, far into the jungle...

Katoma's Guntank was moving smoothly across the land when suddenly its treads got stuck. Katoma tried reverse, but he wouldn't move as well. He looked out of the Guntank and found himself in a DIRE SITUATION.

Beside his tank was a water buffalo. It was sinking into the mud, crying for help. Katoma then realized the predicament he was into: His Guntank was caught in a giant pool of QUICKSAND. Katoma filled his backpack with canned food, slung his shotgun on his back and climbed out of the Guntank. Grabbing a piece of vine, he was able to swing himself to dry ground. He could do nothing but look as his prized mobile suit sunk to the large quicksand pit.

Eventually, it sunk so deep only its head and cannons were visible. It was virtually useless.

"PPPPRICK! You stupid mobile suit!" Katoma wailed. He had no other option. Going on foot, and with shotgun in tow, he fought his way into the bushes, and saw that he was indeed near the mountain. With no more mobile suit, Katoma figured would try to hijack one.

"HAKHAKHAKHAKHAK!" This loud and maniacal laughter filled the air around the Zeon base. The soldiers looked around and saw nobody. Then, in front of Boss Chief's Gouf, an old building crashed down. As the smoke gave way, an odd shape stood in the way of the Gouf and the Zaku team. It was one of their Z'goks, and it was in a fighting pose, claws fucking pointed at the Gouf.

"If you don't mind, Lt. Guerrero, I will escort you. I'm the new guy, they sent me all the way from Subic Base just to be a part of your fakking team. Name's Rap Goblin, Ensign! Hakhakhakhakhak!" The Zeon soldiers back at the hotel facepalmed. "That was the guy that arrived here a few hours ago, oh well, he has yet to meet the Chief," one of them said.

"I will kill many Feddies! I'll take back their skulls and decorate them on our hotel's porch! HAKHAKHAKHAK!" Rap bragged. The Z'gok then took its place beside the Gouf, marching along with 'em. "Hope you don't mind Lt, I heard about your intended duel with the Feddie Devil. Don't worry, I won't intervene. But I want that fakker's head on a stick, the pilot's head, okay?" he bargained with the lieutenant.

Palawan Jungle...

Osmond scratched his head as Shun asked him a question. "Well, I really dunno what to say. I'm not in command here, Ensign Sylvan Cruz is. Besides, we're still formulating a plan to support him. The Zeon commander challenged him to a duel on Mt. Matalinhagan, and we're fairly sure it's a trap. So, we're devising a plan to flank the Zeke. We still don't know what mobile suit we're going to face." said Osmond.

'By the way, are you the team leader? I heard there was an ensign among you, certainly it's not you..." he told Shun. "I would like to speak to him..."

"So, you're the new guy, huh?" Boss Chief acknowledged the Z'Gok pilot. "Well, glad to have you on board. I'm fairly sure you know the mission specifics. And if the pilot's head you want, you can have it. Just don't get in my way," he warned Rap.The Zeon team walked off into the road, along with the jeep that carried the hostage actress.

The jeep driver checked on Clara to make sure she's still at the back of the truck. He told her to stay calm, and that nothing will happen to her if the Feddies play along nicely. "Ey, Chief, she's fine..." the driver said.

Eventually the suits reached an open field where a Gaw Carrier was docked. The three mobile suits and the jeep were loaded inside, a perfect fit. Boss Chief decided to be badass and his Gouf climbed the frigging top of the Gaw.

The transport plane's pilot screamed at Boss Chief. "Who do you think your mobile suit is, Aladdin on his flying carpet?" Boss Chief's Gouf replied with a middle finger using its barrel hands. Left with no choice, the Gaw took off with a ridiculous-looking Gouf standing on its roof.

"He's just badass...that's how he rolls," said the jeepney driver, referring to the crazy Lieutenant. The Gaw headed for the Matalingahan mountain, the site of the showdown. "Less than two hours to go before I tear that White Devil a new asshole..." Boss Chief bragged to the MS carrier plane's passengers.

Daniel finally woke up from his concussion-induced nap, trying to deal with it like a bad hangover, hearing that the 56th MS Team showed up at their camp. He got up in a panicked manner knowing that today was the day of the duel and looked at the display screen of his GM; the time read 10:21 AM. He thought to himself nervously "Only less than 2 hours to go until the duel, what are we going to do?!"

He then saw someone talking to Osmond and upon further inspection of his uniform, found out that he was a Sergeant of the 56th. Kirkland marches over to the Sergeant and salutes "Welcome to the 24th Mobile Suit Team, I am Warrant Officer Daniel Kirkland, what is your business here?"