From here, Earth, the moon, and the space colonies were nothing more than a particularly bright white dot in the endless black canvas of space. It was a cold, lonely void, and the Earth Federation Forces Pegasus-class carrier Shadowfax had hiked the long journey over the weeks from the Earth Sphere with precious little company beyond here Salamis-class escorts.
The gleaming lights of Ceres ahead were a welcome sight for all aboard the three vessels of the flotilla as a result. They meant more people, and a chance to see something other than the inside of their ships. Even if it meant that their real mission, the search-and-destroy of a new and ultra-militaristic Zeon faction was about to begin in earnest.
Aboard the Shadowfax, Task Force Anthem's primary mobile suit squadron had been given the order to stand by for launch. The weeks of flight from the Earth Sphere to the asteroid belt had given them time to get to know one another well enough, and to practice working together, but this was their first true operation: Escorting and acting as guard for the shuttle that woudl be taking over the task forces' commanding officer and other important persons in order to liase with and meet the head of the Asteroid Miners government. The task forces' ships would also take on supplies after their journey following that, and maintaining a tight security cordon was important during the operation.
Captain Callie Suthorn propelled herself across the zero-G environment of the carriers' mobile suit bay, catching onto and swinging around the railing of the work platform in front of her S-Gundam's cockpit and exchanging a fist bump with the smiling engineer.
"All good to go, Captain!"
"Thanks, Paul. I'll be eager to get out there knowing you've worked on my suit. And I promise I'll try to bring it back in one piece".
"You'd better! Good luck out there!"
She gave him a thumbs up as she pulled her normal suit helmet on and fastened it at the collar before climbing into the suits' cockpit. A few moments and she was strapped into the seat and running through the sleek, powerful Mobile Suits' startup routine. As soon as her comms came on-line she checked in with the rest of her squad.
"Black Thorn to all units, are we all ready to go? I'm standing by and ready to launch".
As she spoke, the hangar door folded down, leaving the launch catapult clear for her, and the launch 'shoes' fastened around the S-Gundams' feet. The diminutive - comparatively - shape of the transport shuttle was ahead and just off the starboard side of the Pegasus-class ships' bows, waiting for its' escort.
The lights at the bay entrance flicked to green, and with a rush of movement and force, the S-Gundam was thrown forward, rocketing off the catapult and into space on flaring blue thrusters. Keeping a steady course, she joined on the wing of the shuttle, waiting for the rest of the unit to form up on her. A scan of the area was encouraging; minimal Minovsky Particle interference and nothing that seemed overly suspicious, but that didn't mean any of them could let their guard down for the meantime.
"All right, team. Stay formed up on the shuttle, and keep your eyes peeled. There's a lot of traffic back and forth from Ceres' bays and ports. It'd be a strong show of force for our enemy to attack us as soon as we arrive, and use it as an excuse to cause damage, or turn the miners against us. Stand by, they could be disguised out there".
Callie's words weren't without a ring of truth. There were flocks of civilian ships of various shapes and sizes clustered around the open mouths of docking bays and attacked to scaffold-like docking ports that jutted from the planetoids' surface, loading or unloading cargoes of materiels and supplies. Many of them were big enough to hide mobile suits or other vehicles and weapon systems, and while all looked sound and secure, the task force were here for a reason.
As the Shadowfax dwindled behind them and Ceres loomed large enough to fill up the entirety of their view ahead, the shuttle was well on course for one of the yawning docking bays. Callie shuddered momentarily, a creeping sensation up her spine, and tightened her gloved hands on her mobile suits' controls, casting a look all around the 360 cockpit display. She grimaced and murmured wordlessly to herself; she didn't think she was a Newtype, but a funny feeling and a hunch in a bad situation was, experience had taught her, something worth paying attention to.
"Eyes peeled everyone," she said with a short, sharp tone as the shadow of the bay began to fall over them. "I have a bad feeling that we're not in the clear just yet..."
Member
Lunamaria Hawke
Half Pint
Einherjar 906
Mae
Snowdrops
Crimson Flame
Slypheed
vietmyke
Sky Blue