Begin Operation 1/ The Demands of Power

The Aile Strike touched down outside the power plant along with a squadron of "Greens." Carmello looked around the area at the perimeter defenses being constructed, and shook his head. This was a vital new power station for the new life support and climate control systems of the 4th Agricultural Dome. It shouldn't even be a primary target… except that Ghost was convinced the Manticore was nearly ready for another assault. And the Manticore intended to make Ghost pay for not helping their home planet. That made all of Ghost's resources a target. Especially a lightly defended but vital agricultural facility and its various associated parts.

"Spread out, Lieutenant Commander Graham, and secure the perimeter. Tell the men to double the security sweeps. And have one of your men find out how long until the Power is on station. We're going to need her Lohengrens if things get messy. Now then," he said, switching to a new comm. line. "Crew leader, what's your status on construction?"

"Sir, the Plant will be up and running in 20 minutes. 30 after that and we should have the 4th PLANT switched over from emergency power, and it'll be up and running. I'm curious though… why the additional security? It's very unusual to see a Primary Officer here."

"It is that. Your men are drilled on what to do in emergencies? They may have to put those drills to the test. Don't say anything yet, just keep up the work. We'll have you out of here as soon as you're finished."

The voice over the comm. Line was nervous, now. "Of course sir."

"Stay strong Crew Leader. You've got me backing you up." It wasn't that Carmello actual believed that, but the men DID. He was the rising Star, the Shining Hope, of the Ghost's troops. Lines like that raised morale. Raising morale was in his job description. The party he always had trouble with was backing up the boasts with victory and skill. One could get by through luck for only so long.

Elsewhere…

"Retreat! Move Move Move! The boundary line is only 5 miles away! If we can make it there, They'll have to stop pursuit!"

"The Rearguard is almost gone sir! Their Gp-01 units are simply too powerful, our cannons aren't fazing them!" The resistance fighter was practically histerical, and then the line was covered with static.

"Damn those so called 'Guardians!' Can't they just leave us in peace? We were fine without them!" He turned frantically to look at the border, so close, and getting closer. But with the rear guard gone, could the overloaded refugee transports get there? Some, surely, but since no help would be forecoming until they crossed that line…

He took the radio in hand, and switched to an all allies broadcast. "All Combat able Vehicles are to pull to the rear. We are now the rear guard. The Refugees MUST make it across that line, no matter how many of us have to die to see it done. We will not run while our wives and children and parents die or are imprisoned at the hands of these fascist bastards! Banzai Men! Banzai!" He could hear them taking up the call as the vehicles pulled back to make one last stand.

Miliardo watched the guerillas flew towards the boundary line. His orders were to prevent the Guerillas from escaping. Technically, he had no orders regarding the families of the guerillas, as while many of his troops and his fellows saw little difference, no official order or statement had come down stating that the families of the guerillas were to be considered guerillas as well.

He zoomed in on the moving mass of fleeing guerillas… and blinked. All of their light jeeps, tanks, and missiles trucks were pulling to the rear of the formation, and turning weapons on his men. ALL of them. That made things a hell of a lot simpler. All he had to do was take down the ones who were armed, and let their families go. The Guardian wouldn't care if one or two escaped, if the main group was annihilated. He would take from them their husbands and sons and fathers, and give them their lives. Maybe it wasn't a fair price, but he had his orders. "All units, ignore the transports. Concentrate all fire on the armed vehicles. All…"

A bright flash broke through his blast tinting for a moment, blinding him. When he blinked it away, a burning line was carved in the ground. The Angel had added a few miles to his territory, it seems. He had explicit orders not to pursue into disputed territory. "All units, withdraw at once. We have orders NOT to engage the Angel today. Withdraw NOW!" The GP-01 Full Vernian activated its thrusters and hit the ground, skidding to the stop, holding out its shield to black the way of the suit to his left and further emphasize his orders.

The Resistance leader couldn't believe his fortune. 2 milesf rom the boundary and he was a deadman. Quite suddenly, he was no longer a dead man. "Everybody! Leave everything here! Let's go!"

Elsewhere…

"Bring me their commander. Man has balls like a Tanuki…" The trooper saluted and dashed out. The brown haired, brown eyed man with the borrowed identity looked out over the mountainside and his tiny kingdom. He'd never intended any such thing, but the weak sought out his power for their own needs, and She would not let him turn them away. It had been like that for 20 years.

Again with the Elsewhere, and this time days into the past…

"How are preparations moving?" The empty lands outside stretched in 3 directions to the horizons. Only behind him was anything to be seen. A mountain, tall and lonely. He was in a foothill of the mountain, hollowed out and fitted to service Mobile suits. At the moment it was full of Zakus. The Gelgoog suits were housed in the next hangar. His own suit was here, with his men, rather than off by itself as some military forces would treat their aces. After all, he piloted a Zaku as well.

"Sir, all checks are complete. Armaments are ready. We can depart in as soon as you give the order to the pilots to load their units onto the transports." The crew chief saluted and waited for further orders.

The man in white nodded. "Good work Chief." He then turned to his aide. "Tell Captain Versalius we are ready with the mechs. Also give the men the order to launch and board the transports. We need to be in position by noon Earth Time, 4 days from now. "

"Sir!" The aide came to attention and snapped a salute, then began relaying his orders. He moved off. Aides were always chosen from young officers eager to earn the right to command. But to do so required they also learn humility and obedience, a lesson reserved for when they followed their elders into the Lead Corp.

The man in white turned to look at his own suit. "Chief, Prep a suit for Venchenzo. I'm taking him with him. Give him a scouting model. I'll be in my suit." Venchenzo, his aide, would be ecstatic. However, giving an aide a scouting model meant that while they would observe from the front, they were forbidden to engage the enemy unless attacked. If attacked, they were required to fight defensively and withdraw to the transports. Still, it meant valuable experience for the future leaders of Manticore.

Present day, several miles from the 4th Agricultural dome power generation station…

"All units are moving into position. They enemy has not noticed us yet, sir." The man in white continued to scan the horizon. It would not do to be noticed prior to operation start time. They had not seen any patrols nearby since their arrival.

"Send out some scouts EVA. Mobile suits will be too conspicuous. We have to know what they have and where."

After dispatching his scouts, he turned to his assembled troops. This was considered a minor strike, so he was using Zaku troopers, instead of the more advanced Gelgoogs or Doms. "Alright men, a final reminder. We're going up against the Ghost here. Most of his troops still use those aging GM units. A Zaku should be more than a match for them, suit to suit. But 40-60% of the Ghost's forces are veterans who survived the Great wars, and a host of smaller battles since. Many of these men received training under Manticore instructors after the Alliance, and that means they met our standards, or they wouldn't be here. The rest of his troops were Trained by those men. Don't take them lightly." He paused, and gazed at the sky for a moment, letting his first warning sink in. Then he began his second.

"You are Manticore. You have been taught to win. Do not hold back. Fight with your full power and training, because your enemy will do the same. There is another major threat we can reasonably expect to run into that I must emphasize. The Ghost deploys support suits that will stay behind the lines. These you can beat with a Zaku, if you use your brain and work together. However, he also uses these." He held up a small device, and a holographic image appeared over his hand. " The RGM 79c GM Custom is faster, stronger, and better armored than an ordinary GM. In fact, spec to spec, it can match up with one of our Gelgoogs, or the Guardian's GP-01s. A Manticore Veteran, even in a Zaku, might be able to handle one. You, warriors, have not yet achieved that distinction. The Ghost only gives these "Greens" to his best. If you see a Green, do not engage it alone. That is an order. Use group tactics, and run interference to prevent them doing the same. If you violate that order, I won't need to punish you. You will be dead. That is my final warning. Get to your suits. We begin when the scouts return." He left unsaid the need to keep a weather eye out for enemy battle ships. If the Ghost had those in the area, the scouts would see them.

The scouts reported back 30 minutes later.

One stepped forward and saluted, before making his report to the man dressed in white. "We spotted about 16 standard GMs, and 8 Customs. We also spotted the Aile Strike. They have 4 visible turret emplacements, 2 missile batteries, and 3 locations flagged as possible concealed emplacements. The shield system appears to be in place, but is not yet active."

"That's because they haven't detected us yet. The shield would soak up too much power to leave running all the time. It'll be on by the time we get there, but that's why I brought the bunker buster equipment. Get the equipped Zakus into position and await my signal. I will move in first to draw their fire with my Blaze Zaku Phantom. When I give the signal, send in the shield buster squad. Tell the men to leave the Strike to me when possible. A Zaku would never survive combat with that machine." His aide saluted, and turned to distribute orders. Venchenzo was coming along nicely. If he survived long enough, he would make a fine officer some day.

Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell Carmello of the Ghost's Second Lunar division looked across the cold moonscape. Strictly speaking, Granicus, which was nearly 1 and a half times the size of the Earth's original moon (destroyed some 50 years previous) had an atmosphere. It just didn't have enough of one to sustain the temperatures necessary for life. It was burning in the day, and freezing at night. All the same, Granicus was home. Granicus was refuge, safety. Granicus was their future, free from the oppression of the Guardian, safe from the aggression of the Avenger. More were made safe with their might than by the Angel's apathy, and yet… The Angel also received equal apathy in turn. No one bothered him. And those who could bear the restrictions of the Guardian were quite possibly the safest of all. The Guardian would never let anything happen to those under his protection, unless he did it himself in his own blindness. Carmello could say little of the Manticore. Tortured by sorrow, hardened by rage, consumed by hatred, they were the most skilled warriors in the System. Everyone there had a purpose, a reason, terrible though it might be.

That purpose was to bring pain to all others, such as was felt by Manticore when their home was destroyed, their people obliterated. Carmello had been tasked with preventing that purpose. Today, that meant stopping an anticipated assault by their forces on this station. He flipped open a channel. "All stations report."

"Station one is ready."

"Station two all signs clear."

"…"

"Station Three, report." Static. Damn! "Condition yellow, begin Alpha phase. Manticore forces anticipated." Outwardly, the only thing about Alpha phase that looked different… was the shield. It came on, a brilliant white and violet light cascading in a dome around the power station. Less conspicuously, the Archangel Class Power risked compromising its Mirage Colloid to move into a new position above and to the west of the Station and its shield. She had originally been on station near the Lunar surface, doing sensor monitoring. With no response from unit 3 that meant the Manticore were likely ready to attack. They should have detected them first. The sensor net had a hole in it.

They still hadn't actually detected any enemies. They had lost unit 3, and did not know where the enemy was… exactly… but if Station three was down…

"Trigger fields 4 through 7 now."

Venchenzo watched his commander launch. The White Blaze Zaku Phantom was an iconic machine to the Manticore. His Commander was a great leader skilled in combat and Strategy. And he had the honor of learning under this man. He was the son of another great Manticore, Mercury. Fathers were forbidden from taking their own children as aides. 2 years prior, he had been selected to become the aide to this man and his white division. Now, he was finally in the cockpit of a mobile suit during a combat operation. He could only observe, but, for now that would have to be enough.

The ZP moved forward with incredible speed, once the advance wave had taken out the enemy patrol in his path. He would drive straight down the middle, before the enemy could see him coming, and once they did, he'd be in position to take down several of their mobile suits before they could react, clearing the way for the Bunker Busters.

Things went wrong almost immediately. A bright flare appeared showering the entire area in a deep blue light practically highlighting the Zaku, as to make it impossible not to see. A strange blue substance shot from hidden mines all around the area, coating his commander and several of the advance wave in a bright blue substance. Suddenly, bright lances of light came hurtling from the direction of the energy shield. The commander dodged, but 2 Zaku were not so lucky, and were blown apart. Following in the wake of those shots was a wave of missles, which tracked all the coated suits. There were simply too many. Those suits not coated in the blue substance managed by and large to escape, but the suits coated in blue, except the commander, were overwhelmed and destroyed. The commander's superior skills and suit survived the wave of missiles as he hurtled forward, intent on his objective.

"Bunker Busters, follow me in! Zaku units, cover them. I'll handle the strike. Keep to your wing men and use the tactics I've taught you!"

Carmello watched closely as the paint flare fields did their work as the missile barrages launched by his defense turrets followed the Power's shots onto the battlefield. The enemy commander, made obvious by his distinctive Zaku, evaded and continued on, followed by the remaining zakus flying in perfect escort formations.

"Power, remaing on station. I'm saving you as a trump card. Squad 2, stick with me, provide covering fire. Comets, target those Bunker Buster Zakus. Squad 3 is to support the Comets. Squads 4 and 5 are to engage enemies that attempt to flank us. Defense installations, provide covering fire. Surprise doors, wait for the enemy to bypass defense line 2." He fired a shot at the white Zaku as it came at him. This wasn't a good situation. There was only 1 White Zaku in the Manticore. It belonged to one of their best, Commander ...

Carmello's thoughts were interrupted by his need to dodge and deploy his Beam Saber to catch the Heat Hawk. Shit. The White Zaku flew on past him as he wasted vulcans in an attempt to hit it. He allowed himself to be blown back, straight into his Beam Rifle, which he grabbed and began firing as he dropped towards the lunar surface.

…

Ensign Christopher Price watched the battle begin. Graduated one year ago, top of his class, he was part of the first wave of new officers to earn the right to pilot the elite "Greens." He was in charge of the newly formed fifth squadron of the 2nd battalion of the 2nd Lunar Division. "Squads 4 and 5 are to engage enemies that attempt to flank us." The Colonel was going easy on the rookies.

The lead white Zaku charged straight into the conflict, heading for the Strike. It deployed a heat hawk and went straight for a melee attack. The Strike dropped its beam rifle to parry with shield and beam saber, allowing the enemy to force him back, straight into his discarded beam rifle. He grabbed it and began firing, dropping towards the lunar surface. The white Zaku pulled upwards and then, dodging the beams, dove again, firing his own guns.

Price was forced to look away as the standard Zaku's engaged his squadron. He was outnumbered, but his men were trained for that. "Shell formation 3! I will attack from above!" His Green could outpace the enemy Zakus on any given day, and he intended to use that to his advantage. His squad of GMs put their backs together and deployed shields, rotating and firing at the moving targets to minimize the number of exposed weakpoints the GMs would sport. Squad 4 appeared to be going on the offensive.

Two squads of Zakus moved in for the attack, firing away with their machine guns. They were operating in 5 2 man formations. He came in from with the sun behind him, firing straight down into the path of an oncoming pair just before they crossed his line of fire. One shot hit a leg, 2 more nailed the second suit through the center of mass, detonating it. The damaged suit corkscrewed and linked up with another formation as all 3 suits changed course to aim at him. Meanwhile, the other 3 formations were engaging his squad, probing the shell formation for its weak points.

"Sergeant, you have tactical command for the next 20 seconds. I've got 3 bogeys to trick."

His sergeant replied, "Try the Monroe maneuver to scatter them. Then either pick them off or hit our bogeys from behind." It was a good suggestion, as expected from a veteran. The rest of his squad was green, however. Just like him.

"Understood. Looks like they plan to hit you from three sides, be careful." There was no more time for chatter as he dived in a corkscrew at the 3 man enemy formation, initially firing his rifle but them switching to his beam saber as he got dreadfully close. They broke formation, leaving 1 of the Zaku's out to dry. He tagged it with vulcans and kept going. The squad had switched to attack formation 3 Charlie. By doing so just as the Zakus were coming in to strike, they'd caught 1 suit in the cross fire and taken it out, but the other escaped with minor damage. However, their backs were open. He fired his rifle at the incoming pair of zakus, but unlike the last group, they dodged together, so he switched fire to the 3rd pair, who went in opposite directions. "Get my tail, I've found an opening!" He gritted his teeth as one of his squad GMs lost a leg and went spiraling out of balance towards the surface. He recalled his instructors words.

"Concentrate on your task. Don't be distracted by the loss of your comrade. You do him a disservice if you are killed or injured for such a thing. Don't let anger control you, remain in control, and concentrate on the task immediately before you." Price deployed his beam saber, dodged the hail of bullets, and sliced the Zaku in half as he passed it. It was clear the pilot had panicked, or he'd have pulled his heat hawk and tried to block or parry. Dodging a "Green" in a Zaku was only an option for experts.

"Nice kill sir! Their regrouping!"

"Damage report Sergeant!" He turned his suit back around and flew back towards his squad, who were keeping their fronts to the enemy.

"Private Kevin is down, but he's not dead. His suit's a sitting duck though. Looks like things aren't going so hot for us, they broke the shield, but the defensive batteries are still going. But they've been forced to concentrate on the Zakus in front of them, so we can't expect help. Squad 4 has lost a GM and Ensign Markus's Green sustained too much damage to continue, but they've also taken out 4 Zakus. They're regrouping with us. However, that leaves a flank exposed."

Price could see things for himself now. The enemies's two flanking groups hadn't joined up, they didn't need to. His group would be pinned down by the 7 Zakus over here, while the other 6 hit the defense installations or slipped through the shield. For the moment, the main battle was going more in Carmelo's favor, thanks to the defense guns and the Comet team. Only a small hole had thus far been punched in a section of the Shield barrier, most of the Bunker Buster equipped Zakus had been taken out by the aces of Comet Team.

Colonel Carmelo and his Strike, with support from 2nd Squad, was holding up the White Zaku and several more Zakus, or maybe it was the other way around. Either way, he couldn't expect help unless he freed up those defense installations. That wouldn't happen if they were taken out.

"Squad 4, on my left, squad 5 on my right. I will take free safety. Use delta formation 6. We can't let them take out the defense installations or get through the shield. We've got to take them out. Engage all Zakus as best you can, and stay together. Squad Sergeants, you will select direction and targets. Squads, keep on your sergeants." He sent the "Flanking imminent" signal then pulled back and up and waited for the Zakus to engage. He wasn't surprised when a 2 whole pairs of them rose to meet him. He'd already proven they'd need more than 2 to take him, but he was still mostly riding on the power and reputation of his Green to keep them cautious. If he directly engaged 4 Zakus, he'd be toast. However, if he kept them occupied while the reduced enemy numbers attempted to deal with Squads 4 and 5, his men might have a chance. His sergeants knew their business well, and the rookies knew to listen to their sergeants. He dodged and returned fire and started flying like a man long past the point of desperation.

…

Carmelo dodged the beam shots and returned fire. This was ridiculous. He was just flying in circles and exchanging fire, and he wasn't hitting anything. His squad and the white Zaku's support squad were just taking pot shots, neither squad had lost any suits or suffered any real damage. Time to switch things up. "Squad 2, disengage and support Comet Team. I can handle this. Go, NOW!" The obeyed immediately, seconds before he faked a shot at the White Zaku and instead shot one of the supporting Zaku, destroying it. The White Zaku immediately charged and fired his guns at Carmelo's own squad, but Carmelo was expecting it and blocked the shot. "Watch your backs, and get to Comet team!"

He shot another Zaku through the leg and then had to pull out his Beam saber to parry an attack. He delivered and round house kick and put his shield on his arm, to free his hand. He grabbed an Armor Schnieder and shoved with his shield. The Zaku disengaged and he pursued, making several slashing with his Saber. The third one was blocked. He caught the counter strike on his shield, then released his shield, freeing his hand as he stabbed with his Armor Schnieder. The White Zaku tried to dodge, and was only partially successful. The blade, instead of catching his cockpit, hit his right arm, apparently disabling it.

Suddenly his cockpit started beeping at him. His let leg was severed below the knee. But that was more easily dealt with than the loss of the primary weapon arm. He was forced to disengage when he sensed the support Zakus attacking from 3 sides. They formed in front of their commander and laid out a barrage of fire. Carmelo shot one through the chest and watched it die while he took aim at his enemy, but the White Zaku had got his chance to recover, and fire his missiles. Carmelo was able to shoot them down, but his enemy, heat hawk in his left hand, dived at him. Carmelo had to discard his rifle to grab his saber and block. He grabbed his other saber and the two resumed dueling.

Suddenly he got the signal that his troops were down to 80%, while the enemy was at 70% strength, and flanking was "Imminent." "Deploy surprise doors!"

…

Price was almost giddy. His two squad had taken out a further 2 Zakus without losing any suits, though they had sustained much damage. His distraction of the 4 pursuing Zaku was working. Then the hidden doors opened up and he got a "help coming" signal. The Comet team had sent 2 of its Greens to assist him. He switched tactics and dived, firing with much greater accuracy than when he'd been running distraction. The sudden change in tactics almost caught the Zaku's off guard, but obviously they had a good officer leading them, because he only took out a foot. But the real coup was when the enemy took attacks from behind, courtesy of a pair of incoming Greens, killing 2 Zaku. They had been distracted by his sudden attack and hadn't seen the new enemies.

The Surprise doors were hidden hatches hiding 4 Guncannons, which immediately began firing beams, shells, and missiles at the units attempting to flank, taking them by surprise and destroying a further 3 Zakus. 2 more sustained significant damage. Suddenly, 3 flares appeared over the horizon, and the enemy suits pulled out.

Colonel Carmelo's voice came over the line. "They're just regrouping, things weren't going their way. But we're still outnumbered, and they may have more suits of their own they haven't used yet. All Squads, check in and report.

"Comet Team, Lieutenant-Commander Rich reporting, all accounted for, no significant damage sustained. Making visual checks now."

"Squad 2, Lieutenant Bryson, Jimmy was hit, but he's not dead. His suit may not be combat worthy though."

"Squad 3, Ensign Romanov. I lost two, both killed. The rest of my squad is intact sir."

"Squads 4 and 5, Ensign Price reporting. Ensign Markus sustained too much damage to continue. Squad 4 also lost a GM. Squad 5's Private Kevin lost a leg, and is not combat worthy, but he and his suit are recoverable."

"Understood. Get suits below 80% combat effectiveness out of here. Squad 5, you are now under Squad 2. Squad 3, remain with Comet Team. Squad 4, join Squad 3 under Comet Team. Squads 2 and 4, you have our flanks. Gun Cannons, one each with Squads 2 through 5. Comet Team, you have the center. Squads 2 and 5, you have the flanks. Power is to remain on standby. I suspect he'll bring out his ships before long."

The Man in White landed for resupply on his Musai Carrier. He headed to the briefing room to meet with his officers and his analysts, and they reviewed the situation.

"Most of our early losses were to either that missile trap or the defense guns. We didn't lose any veterans to the second, just rookies who stopped moving long enough to get tagged. The majority of the rest of our losses were to the enemies Greens. We forced one out of combat, but the others are all intact. The enemy only had 6 suits shot down or disabled."

"This is utterly embarrassing. 24 Zakus shot down and 8 more have lost legs or suffered severe damage. That's close to half our troop strength. We only kept 2 squads in reserve, that leaves us with about 34 mobile suits!"

"Most of our losses were converts, we expected to lose them, they don't have the Manticore spirit. And we were up against not just the Strike, but these as well." The man in white put an image on the screen. It was of a RGM 79N Custom, painted white and blue with a picture of a comet on the shield. "This is the Comet team. One of the best mobile suit teams the Ghost has, and WE trained them. Or at least, we trained the original team. Since they are still the one of the Ghost's Aces, and considering they account for nearly half our casualties, it is safe to say the new generation is as good as the old, or the old generation still has it. Either way they have to be dealt with. I think I know how to do it, too."