Gundam Fire Still

"One small question before we cut off communications, what does this 'Special Operations-E.I.' codename mean?"

"Ah, this ah, let's you understand, echo-Investigation well, echo-investigation, because some previous event of great impact caused an echo elsewhere, and so something was discovered ah. One of the guys at Operations took it, and he always takes some god-awful code name."

"I can see that it's not that simple."

2. the end of the voyage

ce715 28th over the Arctic Ocean

The lightning streaking through the portholes illuminated for a moment the silhouettes of people looking outward from the cabin, as well as the huge machinery lying flat on the cabin floor.

The c-139A transport with its excellent wing fusion design looked somewhat like a huge isosceles triangle from above, and if you didn't count the cockpit that protruded slightly from the nose, the huge square cargo bay below the triangular fuselage was big enough to park two ms lying down parallel to each other, and the eight powerful variable-cycle engines located in the middle of the wings roared to propel the huge triangular fuselage steadily through the rain clouds. In the narrow aisle of reinforced beams above the square cargo bay, someone was looking up at the rain clouds above through the observation window above. From above, looking down through the observation window, one could see the flickering electronic screens on the corridor walls.

The green dot was marking the location of another transport plane not far away, and the four remaining operational ms of this ms squadron had all boarded. But the thick cloud cover made it impossible to see even the navigation lights of the other plane.

"I was really surprised that you guys actually managed to get a transport plane." Carl switched the panel on the wall in front of him to the communications function.

"If you're familiar with the history of intelligence work and special operations you'll know that special operations units always have transport aircraft configured. Though it took a little longer for our new unit."

"What's the latest news? I don't suppose you're flying half an operation canceled?"

"It's not uncommon for that sort of thing, special ops always have to consider the risks, but not this time, they've been working on it for a long time." Roy shrugged, "Generally speaking, operation cancellations are always good news, as most of those types of missions don't have a high success rate. As for the latest news," he looked down at his watch, "ten minutes to reach an area where communications are sufficient to break through the neutron jamming background noise, that's when it will happen if at all."

"Okay, I'll check the action procedures again, and use the in-flight channel to notify you of any emergencies."

The cargo bay echoed with the roar of the engines, after all this wasn't an airliner designed for comfort, noise wasn't a consideration, and the humming background noise meant that the cargo bay wasn't a habitable place. With both flat-bed MSs open in the cockpit and the other pilot busy in the cabin, Carl jumped into the cockpit and turned on the program tuning on the main screen, while using the side screen to focus on what the young pilot called Thomas was doing in his wingman.

"Status? Ensign."

"Everything's fine, just debugging covert operations procedures that haven't been fielded before, I predict there will be a covert operations component to this training, as you hinted at." Carl could hear the rapid tapping of keyboards in the background of the Ensign's reply.

"Good guess, but just because we're with our counterparts who engage in intelligence doesn't mean we have to infiltrate as well, think of the size and noise of the ms. The infiltration work isn't a priority."

"Who knows Captain, it might be needed, we can use the terrain for cover, move slowly to reduce noise, and so on. Do you need me to stop the program at hand?"

"No, no, you can continue, the idea of covert operations is a good one, these things can be used in general combat and are very useful, but unfortunately not this time."

"So what should I prepare for this secretive exchange training? Honestly, Captain, you've been hinting that there's trouble behind the fact that we need to be prepared?"

"Don't sweat it, Ensign, essentially you don't need to tune anything, just keep in mind where the safety is and how to quickly switch to live ammunition."

"Safeties? Wait a minute, Captain, is it going to be live ammunition... At them?"

The young second lieutenant pilot seemed to be scared out of his wits, and he barely managed not to say anything about civil war or anything like that.

"At least we need to maintain this level of vigilance, the Persians there don't like us, and if they're shooting black shots in the back, you need to be prepared to switch out live ammunition at the first opportunity."

"That's..........................."

"Don't be intimidated young man, the average blue Persian is just unfriendly, they don't actively fire on friendly forces but only cause you trouble, it's the senior officers and extremists among them that you should mainly be wary of." Roy's voice inserted itself into the conversation, but it was followed by an unfamiliar voice.

"And the crazies, the combat crazies, the ones who are all over the place if they don't fight, watch out for them too, don't get into mock battles with them, because win or lose, they'll laugh at you if you lose, and they'll keep pestering you and fighting you if you win, even cutting to live ammunition to be real. So rather give him a step."

"And this one is?"

"Captain Christopher, don't worry, it's one of ours."

Roy pointed behind him, on the screen the man showed only a well-proportioned back, wearing a flight helmet and facing the cockpit's flashing screens and instruments.

"What's new?

"First of all, the weather in Istanbul, overcast, with winds of about 12 knots, doesn't affect flying or operations."

"What about that base?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary moving around, there are some details I'll talk to you about, go to the classified communications room and wait for me."

"Also, I suggest you and the young man you brought with you get some sleep, you may not sleep well for the rest of the day on that base." The captain added without turning around, "And jet lag, it occasionally brings trouble you don't like."

"I see." Carl nodded, "Then the call is over."

"Is it okay if we don't tell them about me and this plane?" After the call screen went completely black, the captain touched the pistol at his waist and addressed Roy, "We're a partnership."

"It's okay, there are some things they won't reveal until we tell them, I'm not worried about the Major, but I am worried about the young man. Of course, someone smart enough can figure it out, after all I hinted at it." Roy shook his head, "You are special cards, the fewer people who know the better."

"Hey, the Perestroika's wouldn't have guessed that the Special Air Service Corps would actually fly the plane."

"That's a good name, isn't it? Great cover and everyone knows the Special Air Service Corps isn't really a pilot."

============

Ensign Thomas awoke a few hours later to a combination of an alarm and the familiar sensation of acceleration, a little confused for the first moment as this was not a cabin he was familiar with, the bed was uncomfortably small, and then immediately recalled the fact that he was on a transport plane. The large cargo hold took up most of the space in the fuselage, and it was a humane enough treatment to have a narrow cabin that could be used as a lounge on the outside of the corridor separated by material with some soundproofing. But what was with the pushback sensation from the acceleration just now? He jumped off his bunk and ran all the way down to the cargo bay below, the slightly tilted fuselage not affecting his sense of balance as a pilot in the slightest. Below was his ms lying flat on his back, and the hull check was one of the most important parts of a pilot's life. The other fuselage was similarly open, which meant that his captain was already there. The one thing that confused him was that the ground preparation of the airframe was doing something around the two airframes, but it was impossible to see the addition of any obvious external components.

"Where are we?"

"Still over Eurasia, Russia, with the Black Sea ahead."

He jumped into the cockpit and the boot-up MS operating system synced up with the route map from the transport.

"What just happened to the G-force?" He hit a few keys and found the most recent flight record.

"An acceleration and the sitter from the Intelligence Fusion has picked up something, so they think we should arrive early." The captain, also in the cabin, replied over the in-flight communications, "But our mission remains the same, so we'll follow orders then."

"Understood." A response came over the channel from a fellow officer transporting on another plane.

"So what did they put on the fuselage?"

"Recording equipment, the guys at the Intelligence Fusion indicated that Perestroika might be tampering with the airframe, and they need to get some equipment to monitor that type of thing."

"So they tampered with our bodies first? I'm afraid it's no better." Someone said with discontent.

"They didn't want me to tell you, but with your familiarity with the machine, you should be able to spot the new gadgets that have been added, so I'd better give you a heads-up, don't lose it, and spend the money."

Carl's voice became serious, "It doesn't matter what you think of them, but remember one thing, the turnoff that Perestroika made in Alaska was made up by the Intelligence Combine, and all of us who didn't die in Alaska owe them. I can't tell you exactly what Perestroika did yet, but you'll find out someday."

"You checked our files, didn't you? Know that none of us support Perestroika." Thomas, who was on the same transport, suddenly asked quietly on the in-flight channel.

"Clever, I hope you don't feel *violated* by that." Carl smiled, it was a clever young man.

"No, sir........"

An unexpected beep interrupted the conversation, and then Roy's voice appeared on the transport's communications line

"Carl, come on, we're almost there, and then we find something you might find interesting."

"This is supposed to be the new organism you predicted, right?"