Chapter 3 - [Missing in Action]

THE FOLLOWING OFFICERS ARE MIA AND PRESUMED DEAD: VICE ADMIRAL DOZLE ZABI, LCDR SEBASTIAN DOGWOOD, ENSIGN HEINRICH VULTEE, WO SAMPSON ORTEGA.

A slow text crawl played underneath the news broadcast, presenting me with four names that I knew well. Dozle and Vultee were missing? Did something happen to them aboard the Great Degwin? It must have been bad inside the flagship if Degwin was confirmed dead.

Even more shocking than the text crawl was the video playing above it. In the video, my one-armed gunmetal gray Zaku stood atop a Federation frigate. I was uncertain of when this event occurred until Oracle-1 began firing shells from its chest-mounted cannon into the frigate's bridge. Just as my Zaku ran out of 60mm bullets, it was struck by a high-caliber round from off-screen. The bullet grazed my reactor, and I could see as it clipped the cockpit of Aiko's mobile worker.

Before I ejected from my cockpit, the video's perspective shifted as the person taking the video turned toward the source of the shot: a Salamis-class cruiser. A Zaku's 120mm machine gun rose into view, and the video lasted just long enough for me to see the Zaku's red arm move forward to brace against the machine gun's grip.

The video was from Char Aznable's Zaku, which meant that he wasn't the one who fired the shot. No, he just let it happen. A Newtype pilot at Char's level would have had the skill to identify and eliminate the turret before it could damage me, but he decided to look the other way and capture my "death" for the people of Zeon.

Well, that one mystery was solved, and Char was still an asshole in this timeline. On the bright side, I could add "survived Char's sabotage" to the list of accolades I had acquired over the past eleven days.

More important than Char's sabotage, however, was the list of missing officers. Dozle, Vultee, and Ortega were missing and presumed dead. My only consolation was that I also fell into the category. Since I was able to escape my own brush with death uninjured, it wasn't impossible that those three could do the same.

There was also that unseen force protecting important people to consider. Vultee and Ortega probably weren't protected by fate, but Dozle certainly was. Though, the protection of "fate" did little to alleviate my worry. In truth, I had no idea how it worked. My hypothesis could simply be wrong, and the death of Degwin Zabi presented me with evidence contrary to that educated guess.

I wanted to take a break. I wanted to find some hotel and convince the proprietor to let me stay in one of the rooms for free. I wanted to sleep for twenty-four hours straight, but now wasn't the time. With the possible death of Dozle, the war still balanced on a knife's edge, though the conflict was less obvious at the moment.

Instead of taking a break, I spent the next thirty minutes determining the present location of Captain Ramba Ral and the rest of Vanguard Squadron (all two of them). They were in a base on the other side of the spaceport, and I slowly made my way to the base.

It was 1940 hours when I reached the base. Once I finally managed to convince the guards that I was actually Sebastian Dogwood and not a guy that just took his dog tags, I was let into the base at last.

In the micro-gravity of the spaceport, I entered a strange variation of the observation deck found aboard the Gidoru. Large windows built into the "ceiling" looked out into the spaceport, and several mobile suits could be seen nearby. Char's red Zaku, Ral's blue Zaku, and Ramos's gray Zaku loomed above me. There was one more mobile suit present, but it was so damaged that it no longer resembled a Zaku.

Oracle-1 was missing most of its chest where the fusion reactor had previously been held, and almost all of its armor had been stripped off by dozens of high-caliber shells. I couldn't put my finger on why, but the damaged state of my Zaku filled me with a strange sense of melancholy. It was as if it was a good friend or favored pet that was suspended there, chipped and damaged.

Ramba Ral, Char Aznable, and Diego Ramos sat in that observation deck. They were all in their flight suits, and Ramos was playing a game of cards with Cpt. Ral.

"Lt. Commander!" Ramos shouted once he saw me walk through the door to the observation deck. "I apologize for failing to come greet you when you first arrived in Zum City!"

"Don't hold it against him," Cpt. Ral said. "He was just following orders. The Supreme Commander has ordered us to remain on standby in case any Fed ships were able to sneak past Dozle's fleet."

Gihren gave the order. That was basically what I expected.

"I see you survived, Commander Dogwood," Char said. "We could hardly believe the reports that you were able to commandeer a frigate with naught but a revolver."

My actions definitely weren't buying me any favor with Char Aznable. In that moment, I committed myself to either convincing him that I wasn't a threat or staying as far away from his mobile suit as possible until the end of the war.

"They were ready to give up before I entered the ship," I said with a shrug. "Do you guys mind if I get some coffee?" I gestured to a nearby coffee maker.

As I made myself a cheap cup of instant coffee, Ramba Ral received a call. He frantically got to his feet and said, "We have to get to Dock 14 immediately."

"Yes, sir," I said, automatically reacting to the urgency in Cpt. Ral's voice. I knew it would take a lot to put fear into the old soldier's voice, and whatever was happening was nothing to take lightly.

We soon reached Dock 14 as a Gwazine-class battleship pulled into the spaceport. It was only when the battleship approached the dock did I recognize the ship as the Gidoru. The battleship docked above me, and I followed Cpt. Ral up a flight of stairs to greet whoever was disembarking.

Ramba Ral gave a salute before anyone could leave the Gidoru, and the rest of us followed his lead reflexively. Heavy feet clanged against the metal ramp of the battleship as one man stepped into view.

Vice Admiral Dozle Zabi, bandaged and burned but not slowed in the slightest, stepped off the Gidoru and entered Zum City.

"Do you need any aid, Admiral?" Cpt. Ral asked.

"No," Dozle said gruffly, and it was clear to me that his speech had been affected by the damage he had sustained. "I've had worse, but there's a loyal soldier of Zeon here who needs to get to a hospital immediately."

My heart sank as several medical personnel began pulling a gurney off the ramp. The unconscious body of Ensign Heinrich Vultee was carried into Zum City, and the frantic speed of those carrying him told me that his status was dire.

AN: Always bet on Chadzle.