Chapter 4

Ron flew at break neck speed north west toward Chicago. He had been knocked off course by the enemy, who knew how far off track Stacy, and Heather were, or Jimmy even. Ron decided to put that in the back of his mind until he got to the rendezvous point. His suit reached Chicago airspace, and he slowed his pace, looking for the marker, Rob had told them about to lead them to his yard. He landed on top of the John Hancock tower His mobile suit gently resting on the roof, and holding on to the radio tower. It seemed like some sort of futuristic gargoyle perched, waiting to strike. The mobile suit sat, frozen against the Chicago skyline. For anyone who may have seen his brief landing it must have been stunningly chilling, to see a giant robot perched on a skyscraper. So at the risk of being seen Ron got his bearings and took off, not leaving a trace of his presence. Save for any witnesses to his brief landing. His mobile suit glided almost silently across the warm spring sky, all the way to the rendezvous point. Ron was thrilled to lay eyes on Heather again, and humored, Heather and Stacy with his little detour story. The three of them congregated in a small house, on the property. Rob was there with food, and information, as well as some unexpected guests.

Jimmy was helping ReAnne pack at her house in the royal palace in Baghdad. He had been anxious when they passed security, but were waved through with no second thoughts. ReAnne had helped Jimmy bury his mobile suit in the desert. They had a few stops to make before taking off to Russia. Jimmy was uneasy around ReAnne. But she seemed unusually calm, and relaxed around him. Showing him pictures, and telling him of her plans, and adventures. Well she called them adventures, Jimmy called it training. Jimmy learned of an elite group of seven individuals around the world, who each controlled a small militia. ReAnne, was the Middle East Representative. Her friend Volof, was the Eastern European rep. Rolf, in Iceland was the Western European rep. Adrian, who lived in New York City was the North American rep, and Victor in Cuba was a rep for the West Indies. Jose, who lived in Brazil was a South American representative, and finally, Sen, the only other girl, was the Asian representative. Each rep had their own unique mobile suit, and kept in close contact with the others. Jimmy was almost intimidated by all this, but took it in stride, and looked on the bright side, at least they have friends now.
Before long ReAnne was ready. So She and Jimmy set out for the Abu-Dhabi Cantina, to seek out an informant of ReAnne’s before retrieving her MS.
Upon arrival, the two new friends kept a low profile in front of the NAEUA police, that guarded the cantina.
“I thought TOG had primary control over the Middle East.” Jimmy said as they entered the popular bar.
“They do,” ReAnne replied, removing her hood. “But that doesn’t keep NAEUA out.” They headed to a back room, where there was what Jimmy assumed was an illegal card game going on. ReAnne headed straight for the guy behind the cash-out desk, and wasted no time in asking questions.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! ReAnne calm down, just come back to my office.” The man said instructing ReAnne and Jimmy through yet another door. Once inside ReAnne began grilling the man once again.
“Why are there NAEUA guards outside?! Are my modifications done? Did you know about NAEUA’s special military mobile suits?” ReAnne yelled off like a machine gun. The man, who was a short, bald man, with big, piercing eyes, looked calmly at her, and lit a cigarette. He took a deep breath, and in his strange, high pitched voice answered ReAnne.
“I don’t know, Yes, and No. Anything else?” He asked this almost to Jimmy. ReAnne looked back at Jimmy. “Oh yes. This is Jimmy, he needs to contact his friends in America, they are the ones who stole the NAEUA mobile suits.”
ReAnne’s contact looked at Jimmy, not scary, or judgingly. He just looked. “I have a contact in America, very reliable. Let me call him and see if he knows anything.” He pulled out a phone and dialed out on speaker phone. The line rang once and was answered by a very familiar voice.
“Mmm-Yello?”
“Fowl, this is Sandrock, I’ve just met someone, I want to know if you know the whereabouts of his comrades.”
“What’s his name?” The voice asked. But before Sandrock could answer, Jimmy interrupted.
“Artie?! What the fuck? You’re a spy?!”
“Oh my god!! Jimmy? You’re alright?! And in Iraq?! How the hell did you end up there?” Artie answered back, recognizing Jimmy’s voice.
“I’m not sure, but I’m making my way back to America soon.”
The two chatted a bit more, detailing a loose plan to assemble the militia leaders, and rendezvous, in Portland. When they were finished, Sandrock hung the phone up, and said to Jimmy and ReAnne; “Well you better be off to Russia.”

Ron, Heather, Stacy, Rob, Ivan, and Artie all sat in Rob’s living room, after just hearing Jimmy’s safe voice. Ron, Heather, and Stacy had just learned that Artie, and Ivan were spies working for TOG, trying to flush out a mole in NAEUA. They all agreed it had been a long day, and decided to retire for the evening. But as everyone went to bed, Stacy and Heather stepped outside to a patio. Overlooking a view of the city. They soon began to talk about they guys, and Heather’s problem.
“You’re right Heather. I do like Jimmy. I’m very attracted to him. I’m also really worried about him.” Stacy confessed to Heather.
“Hey,” Heather said placing her hand on Stacy’s shoulder. “I wouldn’t want anyone else to be with Jimmy. He’s got relationship issues, and I think you could be a good answer to that.”
The two girls talked a bit more about Jimmy, and their common concerns for his safe return. Soon the conversation turned to Ron and Heather.
“Well I never really thought about him that way until just recently. Actually until he asked me out. That’s when it dawned on me that he was the type of guy I wanted.” Heather was now confessing to Stacy.
“Honey, that’s great! Why do you sound so sad?” Stacy asked concerned for Heather’s serious tone.
“I have a secret.” Heather said, looking up at Stacy. “It’s the reason that I got knocked out in the last fight.”
“What is it? Honey you can tell me.”
Heather looked down. She decided the best way was to show Stacy. So she slowly pulled back the sleeve on her right arm. Revealing dried, bloody cuts. Then Heather pulled back her left sleeve to reveal even worse cuts. She held them out to Stacy, as if she were asking for help. Her eyes were watery, and her breath was getting short.
“I can’t stop!! I’ve tried, even since I’ve been with Ron, the feeling, the urge to hurt myself is still there!! Stacy, what can I do?!” By the time Heather finished her confession, she was crying. Stacy grabbed Heather and pulled her in close. Heather collapsed on Stacy. Crying her heart out. Stacy stood, holding Heather, and gently rubbing her back. “Everything will be alright. I can’t tell you how to stop, that is for you to overcome. But your secret is safe with me. As long as you don’t let it interfere with your life in the suit.” Stacy’s words were caring, kind, and soft. Heather looked up at her at the last part of what she said, as Stacy continued. “I love you like a sister, and I don’t want you to get distracted and end up dieing. You need to start controlling this demon.”
Heather realized she was right, she now had a friend to confide in. Someone she could tell her problems to, to help her through the mess of her life. The two girls looked out at the city once more before retiring for the evening.

The next day, the group awoke early. And immediately started repairs on the Mobile suits. Heather’s was the worst, so She, Stacy, Artie, and Rob all worked on hers. Stacy’s wasn’t damaged at all. So her suit sat in perfect condition. Ron’s only had minor exterior damage, so only he, and Ivan attended to his suit. It took all day to repair Heather’s suit. The damage inflicted from when the enemy had rammed her was almost unsalvageable. But it gave her time to bond with her suit, and learn about it. She came out of the experience feeling much more comfortable in her suit.
Once they were all done with the suits, and eating dinner. Ivan and Artie began a small presentation to help Stacy, Ron, and Heather out in battle.
“They’re four Colonels. Each working for NAEUA, and each with a different story.” Ivan said as Artie pulled out a large folder full of information regarding the enemy.
“We’ll give you a quick rundown of each of your four enemy’s. Since this is the only information we’ve yet been able to acquire.” Artie said, as Ivan pulled out the information and began.
“First; the leader, Colonel first class, Josh Corr. He’s been ordered to apprehend the mobile suits, and the pilots. Not to destroy. He’s an ace sharpshooter, and natural leader.”
Stacy then butted in. “You mean he always has to boss everyone around.” Everyone looked at her with puzzled looks. “He’s my cousin, on my dad’s side, and a grade-A asshole.” Ivan cleared his throat and continued. “Josh pilots the USMS-2 Marine Corps custom. A super-strong mobile suit designed specifically for officers. Thus far he has shown his worth in piloting the suit. Next we have Colonel Kiff Silverfox. A graduate of West Point academy, and the secret Rio Bravo training facility.”
“What’s Rio Bravo?” Ron asked. Curious to see if there was a weakness there.
Ivan continued, yet again. “All we have ascertained is that it is a mobile suit training facility out in Nevada. We’ve tried to send spies out there, but security is tight.” Ron sat back in his chair and wondered if the girl he had met in Alabama was going to Rio Bravo.
“Alright,” Ivan said with a bit of annoyance. “Kiff pilots the X-Ms. I’m sure you guys know which one that is. It’s designed for close combat, and is very fast. Kiff is a relentless fighter, taking no prisoners. But because of his skill, he was chosen to help in the apprehension of you four. Next are two convicts, who, if the task is successful, will be set free, and their respective records wiped clean. The first is Voodoo Cannon, a smuggler/gun for hire, who was serving a life sentence for the Bono family incident a while ago. He is an expert in many kinds of weapons, and tracking. He pilots the D Ms. A mobile suit built specifically for strength, and power. The last Colonel, is a convict named Gastoph. He is a professional bounty hunter and assassin. He was serving a life sentence for a number of charges. He pilots the Ghost Ms, a suit built for stealth, Gastoph was pulled into the operation mainly for reconnaissance.” Ivan set the folder down and looked over at Artie.
“Alright, that’s all we got, NAEUA is a tough nut to crack, we’ll update you with any information, but at least now you have names for the enemy. That aside, we’ve received word from a contact out in New York City, his name is Adrian. He pilots a suit called the Eagle Gundam. He can help you meet up with ReAnne and Jimmy.” Artie let out a sigh. He paused and looked at his friends. “Our superiors believe that you three and Jimmy are a priceless resource, but instead of having you each command a militia like the other suit pilots, they ask that your primary objective be destroying the interloping Colonels. Thus keeping any heat away from the other pilots.” Artie sat down, and looked up at Stacy, Heather, and Ron.
“So let me get this straight.” Stacy asked sitting up straight. “Your superiors want us to keep doing what we’re doing. But they think of is as a distraction?”
“Yes.”
“Well hell I don’t see a problem in that, we’ve survived so far, we may as well keep it up.” Stacy finished. Ron and Heather nodded in agreement.
“Ah good,” Ivan said. “here’s how to contact Adrian.”

X X X X

Josh sat inside the cockpit of his mobile suit, reconfiguring, updating, and basically doing maintenance on the suit. Kiff was riding the lift up to Josh’s cockpit. All four colonel’s were on a small space station, waiting to see what the enemy was doing next. They had spies, but none had yet ascertained the location of the renegade suit pilots. Kiff appeared almost out of nowhere.
“Josh, what the fuck are we waiting for?” Kiff asked angrily. “We know that one suit landed in Iraq, why don’t we chase him down and capture him?”
Josh casually looked up from his work. “You don’t think that thought crossed my mind? We need to know where he’s going, he’s probably already out of Iraq. Plus there are three weaker mobile suits in America, why don’t we hunt them down?” Josh said this and returned to his work.
“Well why don’t we?” Kiff asked pulling Josh out of his suit, and pushing him up against the railing outside the suit. Josh looked up at Kiff. He gently raised his hands up to Kiff’s and lowered them away from his body. Kiff took a deep breath and looked past Josh for a moment. He saw Voodoo, and Gastoph on the flight deck playing cards, oblivious to the two of them fighting. Then once he looked back, Josh gave Kiff a quick jab in the face, and flipped him off the scaffolding.
Fortunately for Kiff there was very little gravity, so he floated to the ground with barely a tap. Josh then jumped down, and pinned Kiff down. “YOU WANT TO FIGHT SO MUCH?! WHY DON’T YOU HEAD TO NEW YORK? AND FIGHT ONE OF THE MILITIA LEADERS YOURSELF, THEN COME BACK AND START RESPECTING MY FUCKING ORDERS!!” Josh let Kiff up, and the two stared hard at each other. Kiff then pulled a helmet off a table and headed for his suit. Josh let out a sigh. Hopefully this would let Kiff vent some steam, and start respecting Josh.

X X X X


Jimmy and ReAnne entered a large hangar, in the front was Jimmy’s mobile suit, completely repaired, and painted. It looked like new. Then behind it was ReAnne’s suit, it looked like a shapely female shrouded in cloaks, and wielded no major weapons. It was colored like the desert, and had features of the desert as well, such as rock shoulder guards, and waist plates. Overall Jimmy was impressed. They each got in their respective suits and prepared for takeoff. “I had my crew program the rendezvous points for each of the militia member’s into your computer.” ReAnne said, as Jimmy noticed the change. The two pilots slowly moved their mobile suits out into the sun, where the solar backup generators were charged, and they took off north for Volof in Russia.

Stacy, Ron, and Heather were prepping for a trip to New York, each at their respective mobile suit. Artie, and Ivan, were tapping away at computers, recording all information taken during the various fights, and sending back to their superior’s. Suddenly Rob cam running into the hangar, yelling for Stacy. “Stacy! Stacy! Your father is looking for you, he’s sent out a manhunt. You need to go back to Portland before he puts two and two together!” Ron, and Heather looked at each other, and then to Stacy. Stacy came down from her cockpit, and ran to her uncle.
“What am I supposed to say? Where have I been? I can’t just show up to my dad and not expect to have an explanation.” The mood around the hangar was bleak, she was right, They had all forgotten Jimmy, Ron, Heather, and Stacy’s prior obligations, and lives.
“I got that covered.” Rob said, out of breath. “I saw the news segment on your “disappearance” and I immediately called your father. I told him you needed a break from your life, and you called me. I told him I was in Chicago, and flew you out here for a little vacation. I had to tell him you told me that he knew you were out here, but he seemed more relived than angry.”
“That’s easy for you to say.” Stacy rebutted “You don’t have to go back to him.” Everyone looked around. Unsure of what would happen next. Obviously Stacy had to go back to her dad, but they still had a meeting with Adrian in New York.
“What are we going to do?” Heather asked.
Stacy looked around at sad and confused faces. “My god you guys are thick. I’ll go back to Portland, and stay there for a few days, eventually I’ll get out and come back here. Meanwhile you two,” She gestured to Ron and Heather. “Will go to New York and establish contact with Adrian, and meet me back here. Hopefully by then Jimmy will be back, and we can get back to thwarting those damn colonels.