In nearby space, Colonel Luther Bonham uses the Byg Zam’s multiple hyper beam particle cannon to dispatch Federal Forces MS and fighter spacecraft with impunity. Twenty years have seen great improvements in the Federation’s combat spacecraft and mecha, but not enough to overcome the sheer destructive force of a Zeon Byg Zam.
Aboard the Byg Zam, Bonham smirks, “Alex Miguel is going to be mighty pleased to get this baby. She still packs a mean punch.”
So saying, Bonham opens fire with the Byg Zam’s main gun again, wiping out an approaching Salamis class battlecruiser.
A beeping noise suddenly emits from the Byg Zam’s combat computer. It is a warning:
“Unidentified Federal Forces MS closing fast, range 40 km, 2 o’clock position,” the computer’s synthesized voice intones.
Must be some new experimental mecha the Federation has, Bonham muses.
The Byg Zam’s combat computer finds the closest match that it can from its twenty-years outmoded databank, “Enemy target is an unknown model; closest analogue: RX-78 Gundam.”
The Byg Zam unleashes a torrent of hellfire into apparently empty space. Suddenly, from seemingly nowhere, Jolie’s Gundam 100 appears and rides the wave of destructive energy like a surfer off the California coast.
Jolie levels the Gundam 100’s beam rifle at the Byg Zam, scoring direct hits, but doing little damage.
“Jolie,” Athena’s voice comes through the tactical net, “the Byg Zam is equipped with an I-Field that disrupts beam energy. Use missiles.”
$this->handle_bbcode_img_match('http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/6141/centuriongundaminactionta3.jpg')
The Gundam 100 in action
Athena’s last word of “missiles” barely reaches Jolie’s ears before she finds herself dodging a few fired from the Byg Zam’s talon-like feet. A shot from the Gundam 100’s beam rifle disintegrates one missile, and two quick dodges enable Jolie to avoid the others.
The Byg Zam fires its remaining talon missiles. The Gundam 100 disintegrates a fourth missile with a well-placed beam rifle shot, slashes down a fifth with its beam rifle, and intercepts the sixth with its head-mounted Vulcan cannon.
In the cockpit of the Byg Zam, Bonham begins to realize that his opponent is not to be tarried with. He feels certain that given enough time, he can defeat the enemy’s Gundam mobile suit, but possibly not without risking damage to the Byg Zam.
Bonham hits the Byg Zam’s afterburners. The giant war mecha blasts away from the scene.
Jolie is not about to let Bonham get away so easily. Engaging the Gundam 100’s boosters, she launches in pursuit.
Persistent, eh? Bonham concedes, as he sees the Gundam 100 pursuing on his rear view monitor screen.
Aboard the Gundam-100, Jolie is singularly focused on the target. For the moment, nothing else matters more than destroying the enemy unit.
Responding to the motion of Jolie’s trigger finger, the Gundam-100 cuts loose with a firestorm of several dozen missiles. The explosive projectiles strike home on the Byg Zam’s main fuselage and engine block, immobilizing the Zeon mobile armor.
Jolie, her bloodlust having completely taken over, screams out, “Die!!!” as she draws the Gundam-100’s beam saber from its housing and prepares for a lethal stab straight into the Byg Zam’s nuclear fusion engine.
Athena, arriving on the scene in her GM-IV Officer’s Custom, emits a Newtype spark and shouts with horror, “Jolie, don’t!”
Episode 4 to be continued...