Phase 2 – Escape from Heliopolis and the 1st Battle of Artemis
Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed and most of my ideas came from the Dark Destiny Series that I am helping to produce, some characters from Dark Destiny may appear and changes will occur compared to the original series and Dark Destiny.
26th January, 6:30pm; Pre-Minerva-Class Heavy Battleship, Meeting Room
"It seems that Rau's forces were too well armed, there was nothing we could do, he ended up destroying Heliopolis within moments" sighed Krane as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Regardless of that fact, you have to stop those Earth Forces Machines in their track, if you don't then they will have superior weaponry that can easily battle our GINNs or so your spies have told us" muttered Patrick Zala on an open transmission line "some of their aces are well led in Tank Warfare as Commanders however, if they get control of a Mobile Suite, we have no idea what the combination of Ace abilities and Mobile Suite would do to their military strength"
"True enough that is would be a problem in its own right, Morgan Chevalier for example is a Newtype serving the Earth Alliance, therefore we could have some trouble when it comes to that pilot and a Pod System as recorded on the Moebius Zero!" announced Krane as he pressed a button on the computer at the front of the room and sent the data on the Zero.
"There have always been Newtypes working for the Alliance?" asked Patrick and Krane shrugged before answering.
"Before the PLANTs came about, then yes, a high portion however took refuge in Eurasia and Orb which is the sudden concern with the Newtype technology that has been put into the project" announced Krane with a sigh "they are not named in the P.L.A.N nor have a P.L.A.N wireless link, they are therefore illegal in Newtype Laws!"
"You speak as though Newtypes have your own rules and regulations, that is fine, so long as we win this war" smiled Patrick and Krane nodded as he turned his head and noticed he had a visitor "who is that?"
"That would be one of my many cousins, he is a spy for me within the Le Creuset Team as he watches the Potential Candidates for the Dark Celestials, however most of them fail to see the larger picture, isn't that right Maz!?" asked Krane as he glanced over at his cousin whose purple hair shimmered and pink eyes glowed.
"True enough, Cuz, their all overemotional ninnies" smirked Maz as he walked into the room "however, there is potential for a particular pilot named Nicol Amalfi, he seems to keep a cool head"
"Yuri's son, well, the Amalfi Family have always supported you and your allies when before the council" nodded Patrick as he considered the Idea "also, it seems that Canaver and Clyne are nagging me about our new Tactical Policies, they seem too…aggressive to those with little understanding"
"Then, maybe we should push the two off a cliff and see if they can fly, just a thought though" grinned Maz and Patrick shuddered at the thought "just a thought to add to your collection"
"This will all wash over when you become PLANT Supreme Council Chairman, the Council has enough radical factions within the government and therefore we can assume that Operation Spitbreak as well as other plans will go smoothly, meanwhile we must put an end to the Earth Forces' Gundam Project before they can mass produce otherwise Mass Produced Gundam will be causing us problems from here to who know where"
"Agreed do what you can, I will speak before the Council and get their attention on the possibilities of Mass Produced Gundam-Class Mobile Suites for the Earth Alliance, if Le Creuset could return with data then that would speed up the procedure greatly" nodded Patrick before signing off from his side of the transmission.
"Are there confidence in we trusting him?" asked Maz and Krane shrugged uncaring about the situation.
"Patrick Zala is nothing more than an angry dog, if he were to step onto a battlefield then he would be easily outwitted, he is predictable and stupid which is the reason he will never become a Newtype" smirked Krane as he leaned on a desk "no matter how hard he tries, no matter how much he may want it, Purebred Newtypes are born and evolve to their status but are not made and those with personal vendettas of greed or revenge can never innovate. Those who attempt to innovate via the use of technology will become a fake Newtype, an inorganic Newtype, and therefore a 'Run-Away' Newtype in name and acts!"
"The only exception being those who are implanted with the Genes of strong Newtypes from an early pre-birth age or have their Genes altered via long term experiments, right Cuz?" asked Maz and Krane nodded with a smile.
Meanwhile; Pre-Minerva-Class Heavy Battleship, Three interlocked Royal Chambers
"So when is Krane going to let us off the leash" groaned Richard as he remained slumped on his bed without much care for getting up or getting dressed.
"Probably tomorrow when we catch up to the Archangel, another wise idea of putting the fleet between the Archangel and the Moon showed that the Archangel had sent a decoy to the moon, tomorrow we will divide Ivan and that possible Newtype between Maz, you and I!" announced Kasien over the sounds of his showering, each of these interconnected suites had their own personal shower and king sized bed and each came in a groups of three while Krane had three rooms designed specifically to be all to himself at the end of the corridor where the only door shown was the door to his office.
"Ivan is the dangerous one, he has the Level 4 Extended Implants and therefore he is virtually more dangerous than the rest of his kind, he is a born Newtype killer who can easily destroy Coordinators and Lesser Newtypes" groaned Richard as he trailed a hand down himself with a sigh "he should be a worthy opponent if we try really hard we may also get rid of another threat to the Newtypes and the PLANTs!"
"Unimportant…oh dear Lord, put some cloths on" glared Kasien as he moved to the open doorway after he finished having his shower, he himself was wearing a dressing gown.
"Why, you like?" grinned Richard and Kasien shuddered at such thoughts.
"Not at all, unlike you, I'm not willing to sleep with everyone including family" scowled Kasien and Richard shrugged.
"Your loss" shrugged Richard as Kasien headed deeper into his room.
7:00pm; Nazca-Class Destroyer: Vesalius, Rau Le Creuset's Office
"I noticed you had problems with the Strike during the last battle, was it that strong of a Mobile Suite or maybe you can't deal with the enemy as well as I thought, what would be the reason I wonder" smiled Rau coldly as he sat behind his desk and waited for Athrun to speak, unknowing to Athrun, Krane was on communication on the screen of Rau's computer and the entire conversation was being recorded.
"It isn't that, Commander, it is just that a childhood friend of mine is the pilot of the Strike" muttered Athrun and Rau perked up at that "his name is Kira Yamato and he is a first Generation Coordinator, he is just being used by the Naturals but he doesn't see that!"
"Oh, then I won't be able to expect you to shoot down your dearest friend, therefore I am calling you off the next sortie" smiled Rau as he bridged his fingers but Athrun began to argue.
"Commander, please allow me to sortie, I want to try and talk some sense into him" begged Athrun "please allow me to try!"
"Very well, I will speak to Krane about this turn of events, it is important that we understand who we are facing before we make any final decisions" announced Rau as he waved Athrun away "you are dismissed"
"Kira Yamato, does that name ring bells, Rau?" asked Krane over the transmission after Athrun left the room.
"There was a Kira adopted by the Yamato Family after the Mendel Incident, however, I can't believe that that Kira survived" muttered Rau but Krane's glance silenced him.
"Not true, the Yamato Family moved to Heliopolis from Copernicus, therefore there is a possibility that the Kira Yamato as mentioned is the one we believe" smirked Krane over the communication "there was also a pilot known as Riel Bethel and my cousin is known as Kasien Bethel, possibly the missing Newtypes in our family, how ironic that they would appear at Heliopolis at this time and each gain a G-Weapon of their own!"
"We will attempt to capture them, very well, I will tell Athrun our plans" smirked Rau but noticed that Maz had stepped into the room "Maz will remain aboard this ship now?"
"Indeed, he and Athrun have the best presentation skills, after this battle the Vesalius will withdraw to the PLANTs for resupply and you will take Athrun and Maz before the council with the indicated G-Weapon Data" announced Krane over transmission "I will lead you team in your absence, hopefully, I will be launching a attack after the resupplying is complete!"
"Very well, I will speak to you later!" announced Rau as he signed off with a sigh.
27th January, 9:00am; Archangel-Class Assault ship: Archangel, Bridge
"We're in trouble" sighed Mu as he indicated to the data on the map as an entire fleet behind them moved "the Varda and the Nazca-Class are not behind us however!"
"Have a long range scan of the area!" commanded Ivan causing Kira and Riel to look up curious as the map widened and two markings appeared with specific indications "ah, they moving around us, with their speed they should be able to pass the Archangel before long and get ahead of us before the Archangel gets within a one million metres of Artemis!"
"If we use the repaired Moebius Zero and the Lohengrins, we should be able to damage the Vesalius enough to cause an opening for the Archangel to slip through, hopefully they will turn so that they are within the Varda's firing range, if we're really lucky it will cause a collision!" announced Mu as he pulled up a real-time calculation on the screen of what could happen.
"But if we're wrong then the Varda's guns, Naval Rifles and missiles will heavily damage the hull of the Archangel meaning a very large amount of repairs, Krane is a miracle worker meaning that if anyone can find a way through Artemis it would be him in a nutshell!" scowled Ivan as he considered "however Lieutenant La Flaga's plan seems like the best course of action, meanwhile, our Mobile Suites will remain behind to face the enemy Mobile Suites alongside the Missile Launchers and CIWS of the Archangel!!"
"Is it the only plan worth doing?" perked up Kira and everyone glanced at him confused.
"We could ram them, however both the Nazca-class and the Varda have enough engine power to hold us steady before opening a barrage against us, it would also leave us open for the other ship and the encirclement of the fleet to surround us before opening fire upon us also!" announced Murrue as she shook her head.
"Ah, yes, the legendary Dark Celestial encirclement" sighed Ivan as he changed the tactical display to show the Cuzco-classes being within 5000 Meters and their beam launching out and impacting the Archangel "the Heavy Destroyers are known for long range and heavy artillery warfare making them extremely dangerous in our predicament!"
"Therefore, we can predict that the enemy will use the encirclement, as they get closer at the rear it will mean that they are cutting off all rear based retreat routes, the Dark Celestials are known for their vicious nature" muttered Mu as he looked at the screen "they will be here soon…"
10:30am; Pre-Minerva-Class Heavy Battleship: Varda, Bridge
"Turning one-hundred and eighty degrees to face approaching enemy, we're being hailed by the Vesalius, it seems that everything ready otherwise" announced Renaldo before Krane made a gesture to open the communication.
"It seems that the Legged Ship isn't slowing" commented Rau over a transmission "shall we continue with the plan?"
"Naturally, all of their lives are forfeit now, how dare they not falter" scowled Krane as he made a gesture with his hands and the entire ship went to Level One Battlestations as they prepare to launch the two Gundams in their hanger.
"This is Richard Aras, launching in the Hawk Gundam!" announced Richard over a transmission before the mentioned Gundam launched from the Varda before changing into Mobile Armour mode.
"Kasien Bethel, Millicent Gundam launching!" announced Kasien dully over a communication as his Heavily Armed Gundam launched without any effort out of the hanger.
"Have Athrun and Maz launch, they should meet up with Yzak, Dearka and Nicol when they reach the Legged Ship!" commanded Krane with a smirk "have all our allies enter a rear encirclement formation!"
"Yes sir!" announced Paradox Lieutenant Dylan Frere as he got to work with the CIC.
11:00am; near Archangel-Class Assault ship: Archangel, Battlefield
"The Legged Ship goes down today!" announced Kasien with a grin as the moved ahead of the other three Mobile Suites "take the enemy Mobile Suites, if not, destroy them!"
"Yes sir" muttered Athrun while everyone else didn't say a thing as they knew what they had to do "I'll take the Strike!"
"Both of you deal with the Chameleon until Yzak's squad gets here, then we can each take a turn!" announced Maz as he headed towards the Rapture without waiting for a reply as soon as the Rapture noticed the Arrogance it opened fire with the experimental Dual 53mm hyper velocity shield Beam Rifles however the Arrogance dodged before firing its "Hakenfaust" piercer lock Triple Claw which once it clipped onto the Rapture's shield it began releasing a Taser shock causing Riel to shudder with a cry as he was electrocuted "hahaha, this is so fun, to defeat such lesser beings!"
With clenched teeth Riel managed to turn the Rapture into Mobile Armour mode which in the process snapped the wire connecting the "Hakenfaust" piercer lock Triple Claw to the Mobile Suite that was electrocuting its target, with a scowl it came down to the compact High-Energy Beam Rifle located on the unit's right arm before firing at the Rapture but as the Rapture charged with its "Ahura Mazer" short-range energy sabres activated it found it was stopped from cutting the Arrogance in two, in the place of the compact High-Energy Beam Rifle was an Anti-Beam Coated, Anti-Phase Shift blade that was instantly recognised on the schematics as a Anti-Phase Shift Katar and could be folded back to revealed the previously used compact High-Energy Beam Rifle. At the same time Ivan was having difficulty while dodging the beam rifle shots from the "Torture" Shield System and the 57mm high-energy beam rifle of the Millicent as well as the "Schlag" 125mm high-energy long-range beam cannons of the Hawk as they fired in his direction, the Millicent fired its "Scylla" 580mm multi-phase energy cannon causing the Chameleon to flip as the beam bended in his direction. The battle between the Strike and Aegis had taken an unpredicted turn as the Duel had joined the free-for-all with the Strike and this caused Kasien to sigh at the incompetence of the Duel pilot who seemed obsessive with the destruction of the Strike until something crossed across the screen causing Kasien to growl, the Vesalius had been attacked and the rest of their little attack force was refusing to retreat but the Strike had run out of power causing Richard to grin as he flew in for the capture but Riel got there first and pulled away towards the front of the Archangel where the Launcher Striker Pack had been launched from the Archangel before it fired at the entire team working under Krane's commands.
1:30pm; Pre-Minerva-Class Heavy Battleship: Varda, Meeting Room
"They have entered Artemis and two of our taskforce have been withdrawn to the PLANTs including our only Nazca-Class, I assume you have a explanation for patching up this mission, well?" asked Krane with a glare as he looked over at Kasien and Richard.
"That fool, Yzak Joule caused most of our failures, how can we get the idea of deception into Kira Yamato's head if he hadn't gotten in the way" muttered Kasien as he stood straight before Krane while Richard leaned against the desk with a renewed lack of interest.
"Indeed, therefore I want all of you to prepare for launch, the fleet I requested to meet us here should be here soon" smirked Krane as he looked towards the screen which revealed the Furnish-Class Tender ship moving to their location at a gratified speed "once we have resupplies and gained a suitable fighting force we can begin the battle that will at least weaken Artemis to the point of inoperability!"
Meanwhile; Space Fortress-Class: Artemis, Command Room
"I am glad that the confirmation came through for your records however I would like to know this pilot is that you bring with you" smiled Admiral Gerard Garcia as he indicated to Ivan.
"I am Ivan Azrael, Son of Muruta Azrael and Natalie Casena, I am a Mobile Suite Commander for the 81st Autonomous Mobile Group: Phantom Pain!" announced Ivan and everyone in the room including Mu gasped at the information "my identification code is PP73896F4Y!"
"Oh, well, that is a sure surprise" muttered Gerard as he typed the code into his computer to find it checked out "well, Mr Azrael's family is always welcome here at Artemis, but as I speak you are safer here than you are out there"
"How so?" asked Natarle and Gerard answered by opening a camera recording on the large screen, it showed four extra Cuzco-Class Heavy Destroyers, twenty Nazca-Classes, eighty Laurasia-Classes and two Furnish-classes.
"There have been an increase of Dark Celestials in space as of late, Krane Hibiki has been leading them in hit and fade operations on our patrol and supply fleets, therefore we have never been unable to get enough a strong enough force to attack the PLANTs" explained Gerard as he pointed to the screen "before you are the 501st Fleet, the strongest of the Dark Celestials, however I doubt that that is the entire of the 501st meaning it could only be a fraction of Krane's personal force here! However, here at Artemis we are safe; there is no need for concern!"
"They will find a way through, if you had been at Endymion then you would have seen, Krane's forces destroyed the defence force within a few minutes before even launching himself" muttered Mu as he pointed out "he then used the hacked Cyclops System under the base as the centre of the battlefield before…"
"I know what happened at Endymion, Lieutenant La Flaga, I was there" smiled Gerard kindly "but that doesn't explain how they are going to break through Artemis' defences with 'ease', as you put it"
"We'll just have to wait and see" countered Mu evenly.
2:30pm; Laurasia-Class Frigate: Gamow, Bridge
"The Lightwave defences of Artemis are truly impressive, in such that we have to devise a strategy that even Yzak can stick to, being purely a defensive device it keeps our attacks and men out while there are kept in" announced Krane as he indicated to the tactical map "it is known to be the strongest defensive device in the history of the Eurasian Federation, but the main issue, is that the enemy have become self complacent and fat behind its defences!"
"However, the shield needs to power down every now and then, right?" asked Nicol and everyone looked at him surprised "it's not like they have a large number of solar panels nor Nuclear Engines"
"True, once the enemy is out of range the shield is deactivated, what do you have in mind, Nicol?" asked Zelman and Nicol smiled.
"You see, the Blitz has a very special feature, known as Mirage Colloid" smirked Nicol and Krane brightened up at that.
"Mirage Colloid was mentioned in the "Geschmeidig Panzer" energy deflection armour however I mean it when I say mentioned, there are no details other than it has multiple capabilities, I would like a copy of the data gathered on the other G-Weapons if you don't mind Captain Zelman!" commanded Krane and Zelman uploaded the data on a disk before pushing it into the slot on the side of the display showing the data on the Blitz first as requested "ah, the Mirage Colloid stealth system is truly a work of art but I can also assume that the multi-purpose particles can do a lot more than hide or deflect, I will have my scientists research into this new finding!"
"Humph, truly a weapon fit for a coward" grinned Dearka and Krane gave a glance that said 'Shut the Fuck up' before turning back to the table.
"Then we will all begin a gradual retreat while the Gamow launches the Blitz, it will infiltrate the shield of Artemis and then destroy the Lightwave Relays, that will be our time to strike!" announced Krane as he looked around the table "we have an hour to prepare, move out, I will get in communication with Artemis and request the handover of the Archangel!"
3:00pm; Space Fortress-Class: Artemis, Command Room
"We're being hailed by the Varda!" announced one of the Base Commanders and Admiral Gerard Garcia smirked as he Krane appeared on the large screen, Mu, Murrue, Natarle and Ivan held their breathe.
"I request to Artemis the turning over of the Archangel-Class Assault Ship and its Mobile Suites, anything short of negotiation will force us to attack Artemis with nuclear warheads, you Gerard should know that we can reverse engineer all kinds of technology including our own!" announced Krane over a transmission as he called his bluff, the only NJC that had been successfully built had been the one used in the Varda's reactor and the experimental compact version that was being tested in the Noir Benevolence.
"I…I see" announced Gerard as he whipped the sweat off his brow "and, how would you wish for these negotiations to go ahead exactly, May I ask 'Super Ace'!?"
"I will dock the Varda within Artemis and my forces will leave, meanwhile, I want all the pilots of the Archangel as well as the Hyperion pilots brought to the meeting which includes the top three officers of both Artemis and the Archangel!" announced Krane as he continued "do so and Artemis will be spared as would Eurasia should ZAFT win the war!"
"Agreed, we'll meet in meeting room 506, I'll send one of our pilots to greet you" announced Gerard before he cut transmission "well?"
"It seems genuine" announced Natarle as she considered what Krane had said today "but do you think that they have found a way to cancel the Neutron Jammer's effects!?"
"It is always possible, Natarle, always possible when it comes to Krane and his taskforce" muttered Mu under his breathe.
3:40pm; Space Fortress-Class: Artemis, Room 506
"As you can see, the requests you have made have caused a rift in my plans, I had planned to hand the Archangel and its weapons over to the Eurasian Forces" announced Gerard as he spoke politically and Krane nodded in his armchair as he listened to the Admiral "however your threats pose an interesting request all the same, your Neutron Jammer Canceller would allow us to gain recovery from the economic destruction gained from the loss of nuclear Power plants, thereby giving us a reason to no longer side with the Atlantic Federation in this Earth Alliance"
"Are you the only one noticing, that Krane and Kira look alike" whispered Ivan and Mu nodded to the Phantom Pain Operative.
"Your issues will be considered for the near future, however, I believe it is time for the real reason I'm meeting with you now" smirked Krane as his eyes turned Golden and suddenly Kira's eyes also turned Golden causing Krane's smirk to widen, this was followed by the entire base rocking violently.
"What the hell is going on?" gasped Gerard but Krane didn't answer as he and his team walked out.
4:20pm; Space Fortress-Class: Artemis, Hanger
"There you are" smirked Nicol as he headed towards the Archangel while the OMNI Ships fought outside in constant combat but it was obvious that the weaker OMNI Enforcers were getting trumped by the Dark Celestial Fleet.
The Blitz charged at the Strike and fired its Lancer darts at the Strike which dodged two before slashing through the last with its "Schwert Gewehr" anti-ship sword, next the Blitz fired its "Gleipnir" anchor which impacted the Strike's "Panzer Eisen" rocket anchor which exploded alongside the "Gleipnir" anchor, the Blitz managed to erect its "Trikeros" offense/defense system's Beam Sabre as it blocked a slash from the Strike's "Schwert Gewehr" anti-ship sword as it came down.
"All forces, withdraw, this area is becoming unstable" announced Krane over a transmission as the Varda began to leave port while the Archangel and Strike escaped through the flames towards the rear hanger area "I really had no idea that Asuzur's team was so thorough, I repeat: All forces, withdraw, this area is becoming unstable"
"Yes, my Lord!" announced all the Dark Celestial pilots and while Dearka and Yzak tried to move forward, Nicol headed back towards the entrance, grudgingly the Buster and Duel soon followed.
Info – And that is the end of another gruesome chapter where Krane once again pertains miracles, what did he do to Kira I wonder, you're going to have to find out. Review!!
Dark Celestial Ship designs:
Cuzco-Class Heavy Destroyer
Overview
Class type:Heavy Variation of the Nazca-Class Destroyers
Launched:September C.E. 70
General Characteristics
Length:300 meters
Armament:
2x 120cm Duel High-energy short-to-long range beam Cannon, replaces the single cannons at the nose of ship
2x Quad beam-cannon turrets
18x CIWS
50x Heavy Missile launchers
MS Catapults:1
MW Maximum:9 Mobile Weapons
MS Contingent:
?x ZGMF-L600 Black GuAIZ
?x ZGMF-L515AS Black CGUE Assault Type
?x YFX-L200 Black CGUE DEEP Arms
?x ZGMF-L1017AS Black GINN Assault Type
Other Vehicles: Shuttles and Escape Pods
Information: This heavy variation of the Nazca-Class is considered to be the most potential in both range and power, it was put into limited production however before it could be abandoned it was adopted by Krane who placed it into Mass Production for his Dark Celestials as well as collected up all the remaining Originals
The Varda's/Seven Satan's Tender Ship: the Furnish-Class
Fast Facts
Ship Type:Tender Ship
Class:Furnish-Class
Launched:Late September, C.E. 70
Ships of Class:Furnish I, Furnish II
Commanding Officer:Unknown
General Characteristics
Length:700 meters
Propulsion:thermonuclear pulse thrusters x 34
Armour:Gundanium Alloy armour, unknown thickness
Armament:
4x High-Energy Beam Cannon, located at the top and bottom near the bridge
100x 45mm CIWS
5x Heavy Missile Launchers
2x Duel High-Energy Beam Cannons, located at the top and bottom of main ship
Max MS Complement = Unknown
Mobile Suit Complement: None
Linear Catapults:Has connection point at the front of the Ship to link into the hanger of the Varda for easy resupply
Information – A ship designed to be not only swift in movement but also a worthy tendership for quick resupply, it is also designated for heavy attacking capabilities
