January 14th, 0079
After figuring out where the Jotunheim was in the convoy, I flew a Dopp (apparently, I knew how to pilot Zeon fighter jets) to the transport ship. When I entered the Jotunheim, a technical officer wearing the rank insignia of a sub-lieutenant was there to greet me.
"Hey, Lt. Commander," the man said casually. "I'm Hideto Washiya. What brings you to our transport ship today?"
I felt like I should have recognized the man on sight, but my memory of MS IGLOO was super fuzzy. I must have been twelve the only time I watched it. The only thing I really remembered from that short OVA was that things ended badly for the Jotunheim during the Battle of Loum. I was pretty sure the weapon they were carrying was destroyed due to incompetence within Zeon's command structure.
"I'm here to link my Zaku's system up with the Jormungand's firing computer. You still need targeting data, right?" I said.
Sub-Lt. Washiya's eyes went wide as he realized that my visit was much more important than he had originally believed. "Yes! The ship commanders have really been freaking out about that. Thank God the brass finally sent somebody."
"Yeah, thank God they did." They didn't. "Who should I talk to about this?"
"Oh, right. You'll need to talk to Sub-Lt. Oliver May about that," Washiya said.
The casual technical officer led me to the Jotunheim's large cargo bay where the Jormungand was stored. The cargo bay was easily big enough to hold ten Zakus, but it could barely hold the folded form of that giant plasma cannon. I could tell that such a weapon would be useful against ships and space colonies, but it would be next to useless against mobile suits.
Once more, a grim thought occurred to me. Could the Jormungand pierce the hull of an O'Neill colony? If so, how long did Zeon have before the Federation created such a weapon?
Washiya led me to a man with light blond hair who was frantically working on a console attached to the Jormungand. After a moment, Washiya said, "This is Sub-Lt. Oliver May."
The man turned toward me and jerked backwards noticeably when he saw my face. There were deep bags under Oliver May's eyes, and it was clear he hadn't slept well in a few nights.
"Lt. Commander Dogwood! It's an honor, sir!" Sub-Lt. May said, giving me a stiff salute.
I returned the salute as Washiya said, "This is him? The Hero of Operation British?"
"Obviously," Oliver May said. "Don't you watch the news?"
"Uh, not really," Washiya said, scratching the back of his head.
"Guys, I'm just here as a Zaku pilot," I said, concealing my growing anger as humility. "How do we link my mobile suit to the Jormungand?"
"It's pretty simple, really. You just keep a line open to the Jotunheim, and we'll use the visual data from your Zaku to target enemy warships," Oliver said.
"I've been thinking about that. In the last battle, nuclear radiation and Minovsky particle interference completely shut down our radio communications. My mechanic told me that won't be a problem, but can you tell me how we'll communicate through all the interference?" I asked.
"Laser communication," Sub-Lt. Oliver said with a finger raised like a school teacher. "Minovsky radiation only interferes with light waves that are outside of the visual spectrum. This means radio waves and targeting systems won't work near any machine powered by a Minovsky-Ionesco fusion reactor."
"Mobile suits and warships, you mean?" I said.
"Exactly. If we use a laser in the visible spectrum in the same way we would use radio waves, then communication is possible through Minovsky interference. The downside is that communication is only possible if you already know the approximate location of the target," Oliver said.
"How wide is this laser, exactly? Will I need to remain stationary to communicate with the Jotunheim?" I asked.
"Not necessarily. You'll probably be more than 400 kilometers away from the Jotunheim when you engage the enemy, so the laser will have a cross section of approximately 4 square kilometers. As long as you're in the right place and not behind anything, we'll be able to communicate."
"I see," I said as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small strip of paper. "This is the number for the Gidoru's observation deck. Tell them you're looking for Warrant Officer Aiko Yoshida, my mechanic. You should be able to work out all the mechanical issues with her, sub-lieutenant."
"Yes, sir," Oliver said.
"By the way, who has the authority to decide when the Jormungand fires?" I asked.
"Authority?" Oliver asked as if my question was strange.
"Yeah? Doesn't your captain have to give the order for the Jormungand to fire?" I said.
"I don't know about any of that. My impression was that Ensign Hemme was allowed to fire as soon as he spotted a target," Oliver said.
"Okay, thanks. I'll go talk to Ensign Hemme while you speak to Officer Yoshida, got it?"
"Yes, sir," Sub-Lt. Oliver said with another salute.
While I searched for Ensign Hemme, I was reminded that the Jormungand had been set up to fail by the Zeon high command. There was such a bias in favor of mobile suits that the higher ups had completely forgotten that other types of weapons existed. They were partially correct that mobile suits were the future of warfare in the Universal Century, but that didn't mean it was right to leave such a promising weapon by the wayside.
I found Ensign Hemme inside the Jormungand's command station. He was a large man with a full beard, and he bore the permanent scowl of a man who had pulled himself up from the bottom. The man must have been in his forties. This paired with his rank told me that he must have started out as a crewman and worked his way up to commissioned officer over the years.
"Waddaya want?" Hemme asked as I floated into the command station.
Casually, I said, "I hear you guys need a forward observer."
A broad smile appeared on Hemme's face. He grabbed my hand in a firm handshake and said, "Maybe we'll actually be able to do some good in this next fight!"
"Maybe you will," I said with a smile. It was hard for me to keep my cool in the face of such gregarious enthusiasm. "Who has discretion over when the Jormungand fires?"
"I guess that's you now, Lt. Commander. I'll tell you when I have a firing solution, and you tell me when to fire," Hemme said.
"Sounds like a plan. Let's sink a few battleships," I said as optimism began to rise in my chest.
Giant laser acquired.