Chapter 30 - [Quintzem]

We were already accelerating toward Side 3 when I started calculating the relative trajectories of Vanguard Squadron and Cowen Fleet. It was 1459 hours, and Cowen Fleet would reach Side 3 at approximately 1725 hours. According to my Zaku's computer, we'd be able to reach Cowen Fleet at around 1700 hours if we used up all our propellant in the burn. This plan had two major downsides: we'd have no way of decelerating back to a manageable Earth orbit, and Cowen Fleet would begin its retrograde burn less than ten minutes after our arrival.

My two options were either to intercept Cowen Fleet before they reached Side 3 or to regroup with Captain Ramba Ral by the colonies. For some unknown reason, I decided to take the more dangerous path. We accelerated toward the Federation fleet and only stopped when our velocity was significantly higher than that of our target.

When the acceleration period was over, I rotated my shoulders in my seat. I had spent more than twenty minutes accelerating at 5 Gs that day, and a pervasive ache had started to filter through my whole body. No matter how much training your body undergoes or tricks you learn to counter the effects of high gravity, the human body's preference for 1 G could not be easily overcome.

The trip through space was several hours long, so I spent most of that time on the commlink. I sent a few calls to the colonies at Side 3, spending nearly half an hour trying to reach Cpt. Ramba Ral. I started with a call to Zum City, the capital colony, but I quickly figured out that Ral wasn't there. Next, I called the other colonies, and none of them knew the current position of the Captain.

Eventually, I called Quintzem, and Cpt. Ral had apparently launched from that colony. By the time the face of Captain Ramba Ral appeared on my HUD, it was 1522 hours. He was sitting in a Zaku's cockpit. When he popped up, he looked at me with a long, perceptive glance before saying, "Lt. Commander Dogwood, I hear that you're leading the ace squad moving against Cowen Fleet."

"That's true, Captain. Are you up to date on the situation?" I asked.

"To an extent…" Cpt. Ral said, and there was a grunt of annoyance in his voice. "I know that a fleet of Federation ships are moving toward Side 3, and they intend to crack our colonies." Anger only rose in his voice in the last few words.

"The Federation fleet has split in half. One half attacked the Great Degwin, and the other half is still moving toward Zeon. I had to leave half of Vanguard Squadron behind to evacuate the flagship," I said.

"I see," Ral said calmly, but I could hear the slowly-growing panic in his voice. "Who is still with you?"

"Char Aznable and Diego Ramos," I said.

"We have a mere nine Zakus to hold back a fleet of warships," Ramba Ral sighed.

"I've been meaning to ask somebody about this," I said with a frown, "but are we sure that the Federation fleet won't just aim their ships at the colonies and crash into them at orbital speed?"

Ramba Ral paused for a moment, deep in thought, before responding. "No, that wouldn't be sufficient to destroy a colony. Every part of an O'Neill cylinder has two-tiered armor. Any holes created by the Federation fleet would be sealed by the second layer of armor."

Oh, it was like when I put a hole in Wathort's spaceport. The blast doors closed immediately, providing a second layer of defense between the colonists and the cold vacuum of space. If the same happened everywhere on the colony, then you'd need to breach the same spot twice in order to crack one of Zeon's colonies, and the colonies' rotation meant that every part of them was constantly moving. It was basically impossible to do that at orbital speeds.

"Right, it slipped my mind," I said. In truth, any Spacenoid should have known that fact about the colonies, so I decided to move on to the next topic of conversation. "My orbital computer predicts that they'll reach Side 3 at 1725 hours. Based on their numbers, they'll probably take three warships to hit every individual colony. Can you split your Zakus evenly among the five colonies?"

"I can do that," Ramba Ral said, though he clearly didn't appreciate the thought. "That will leave just a single Zaku protecting each colony."

"It's the best we can hope for with our current force distribution," I sighed.

"I will incorporate your plan into our defense strategy," Ramba Ral said. "See you on the battlefield."

"Right," I said, and Ramba Ral's face disappeared from view.

Throughout the rest of the flight through space, I explained everything to the rest of Vanguard Squadron and planned for the coming battle. I told them about my call with Ramba Ral, and I explained my plan for the battle.

Between Char and I, we were down to just nine nuclear warheads, so it would be next to impossible for us to sink all fifteen ships on our own. Thus, my plan was for each of us to magnetically clamp to a different Federation warship, and we would aid Ramba Ral's men in stopping the surviving warships.

"Remember, men. We can't afford to lose a single colony. If we mess this up, millions will die, and we will lose the war." I turned my single cyclopean eye toward Char's red Zaku. "We'll be executed or forced to return to civilian life. No glory can be claimed by history's losers."

After a beat of silence, Char said, "There's no need to be concerned, Commander. You have Char Aznable on your side. Victory is already assured."

He was right, to an extent. I was sure that we would win if Char wanted us to win. If he decided that his ends were better served by the complete annihilation of Zeon, Side 3 was doomed.

Vanguard Squadron burned in retrograde for ten minutes, and the remnants of Cowen Fleet entered our visual range at 1703 hours.