Sword and the Stone
Chapter 6: Assault Waves
"Major, is there a reason we're heading to the Hades Gamma cluster?"
"Other then a major training exercise with Victus' new MS Corps and the Asari Commando unit? Not much."
Victus had convinced the Hierarchy that his new MS Corps, made up of over 300 Turian-built Zaku IIs and RMS-119 EWAC Zacks, would be the future of war after kicking the shit out of every Turian fleet with MSs alone. Needless to say, it gave the EFSF/Zeon forces something to laugh at. The Turian MS carriers were modified dreadnoughts, just like the Alliance ones, as they were big enough to carry at least a dozen or so.
And Victus got his hands on a new MS: the D-50C Loto.
It was replacing a number of APCs (AN: Wheeled vehicles are NOT tanks. Get this enough your heads) through the Alliance and, due to its' performance, was replacing most of them in the Hierarchy military forces.
Mostly because the Alliance and Turian one used beam cannons.
The Gundam Mk II stood in the hanger, as it had been for the past two months.
The guys from the Cosmic Era nearly totaled it, but there was enough to fix it up, and the guys on the ReHOME were nice enough to upgrade if to use those nifty Striker Packs.
In fact, most of the Alliance MSs were being modified for their use. (AN: Who says that SEED didn't come up with awesome ideas?)
Most of the time, however, the only thing it mounted was the default thruster pack.
"It's too bad that we can't remove the quasi-psycommu system and the NT-D. After the refit Anaheim did, they're practically built in."
"At least after that debacle, we were able to tune the IFF on the fucking thing. And now I can actually control the Destroy Mode."
"Whoever came up with that nickname needs to be shot."
"Then you'll have to shoot me."
Howe balked at the thought.
"What? I can't call it 'Newtype Destroyer Mode'."
"No Newtypes to kill."
"Tell that to the pilot of the Legend."
MSC-07 Albion
The Albion, Bright Noa and four Turian MS carriers entered the Hades Gamma cluster.
"All MS forces, this is Major Pinkerton. Unlike what you have been told, this is not a training exercise. Intel from the Normandy has informed us of a Reaper invasion force coming in through this sector of space."
"Major-"
Then the EWAC Zacks started going nuts.
"Sirs, detecting large vessels entering sector!"
Then four ships, copies of the same one that attacked the Citadel 2 years earlier, dropped out of FTL.
"What the hell? Are those Geth ships?"
"No. They aren't. Albion! Send out the IWSP Kai! I think I'm going to need it!"
The Integrated Weapons Striker Pack Kai was an upgraded version of the IWS Pack created for the Strike Gundam.
It made the weapons more compact, as it combined Earth Alliance/OMNI Enforcer tech with PLANT/ZAFT tech.
Sometimes the last thing anyone wants is to fuck with someone who can kick the shit out of 50 genetically engineered people with his bare hands.
Normandy SR-2
"How long until we get to the Collector base?"
"A few hours, but that's only good news."
Sheppard looked at Miranda.
"And the bad?"
"Pinkerton's ambushed the Reaper force in Hades Gamma."
"Are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Apparently, the Major's kicking their asses. Minovsky particles are a bitch, even for the Reapers."
That put a smile on her face.
After hearing of the Cerberus attack on the Alliance training fleet in April, Sheppard decided that after the Collectors were dealt with, they were gone.
Miranda agreed with that, as she gave the Illusive Man access to MS technology and regretted it.
Hades Gamma
The four Sovereign-Class Reapers were approaching are Mach 1.5: a slow speed compared to the .9 sublight they could pull.
"These Reaper fuckers aren't ready for MS combat! Engage and destroy!" (AN: Gundam Unicorn's Laplace, anyone?)
The Turian Zakus and the Mk II broke off so the Albion's mega particle cannons could attack the Reaper dreadnoughts.
Two of them took direct hits, and the Mk II took the closest one.
"Two kilometers long and armed to the teeth, but just another piece of scrap metal in the end!" He targeted the Reaper and fired the M2010 Kerberos Agni Kai multiphase beam cannons, along with the beam magnum.
Never accuse him of not having enough firepower.
As expected, the cannons did their job: the MPCs damaged the hull while the pure power of the beam magnum's plasma round punched through the Reaper like a beam saber through butter.
"Aw, shit. Now I want toast."
"What?!"
"Random thought! Sorry!"
With one Reaper dead in space, the multimillion year old Reapers decided to run.
Not happening.
The Albion and Bright Noa dumped hundreds of beam rounds into the three Reapers while the Mobile Suit teams did their job: systematically ripping the fuckers apart.
Thankfully, the Major was nice enough to give the Turians beam magnums, as their normal mass effect weapons would be useless.
Massed fire from the Turian-built Zaku IIs destroyed two of the huge Reaper dreadnoughts while the fleet themselves destroyed the last one with mass effect railgun fire and beam rounds.
"Nice work! All MS teams, RTB! We killed four of those things today!"
Collector base
"Set the charges. We're blowing this place to hell."
The charges, of course, were nuclear.
"Commander, there's a signal coming from the Illusive Man."
"Put the bastard up."
A holographic image of the Illusive Man appeared.
"Sheppard, you've done the impossible."
"Not done yet. As soon as the charges are set, we're gone."
"Sheppard-"
"I know as about your Cerberus Zaku program. You're just a power hungry manic."
"Miranda!"
"Sorry, I'm with Sheppard on this one."
The man growled. Then the one thing they DIDN'T want to run into arrived: the fucking Human Reaper.
"I'll handle it!"
Sheppard and her team turned to face a familiar, friendly sight: Maya Futyutsuki and her Gundam Mk II.
She had boarded the Normandy a few hours before, as the Collectors weren't ready for MS combat.
"I'll handle this thing! Get back to the Normandy!"
She opened fire. The beam rifle managed to punch a few holes in the Reaper's frame, allowing the team to escape.
"Move! The Gundam will cover us!"
A round went into the Reaper's 'heart', killing it.
"Fall back to the Normandy! Forget the Reaper!"
The Gundam Mk II turned and used its' thrusters to jump out.
"This is Colonel Futyutsuki: are the charges set?"
"Aye, ma'am. They're set to blow."
"Good. I need to get back to Earth ASAP."
The Normandy met with the Gundam midway, and Sheppard and co. boarded the ship.
"All aboard?"
"We're on, Joker! Get us the hell out of here!"
"Gundam's secured! Getting the hell out of here!"
As soon as the Normandy cleared the belt, she jumped into FTL. And as soon as they were gone, the nukes blew, taking out the base.
Hades Gamma
"So, why do we have to hand the beam magnums back to the humans?"
"Have you taken a look at our Mobile Suits?"
One Zaku II's arm was in the wrong place.
"That's why. The recoil's a bitch. The only MS can actually handle it is the Gundam Mk II."
"No shit."
"At least you know why."
The two Turians faced the Major.
"It took 6 months to refit the Mk II to handle the recoil of that fucking thing. The first time it was fired, the right arm was destroyed."
"That bad?"
"My MS was made of titanium with ceramic composite. We had to add Gundarium just to it fire once. 60% of the inner frame is made of the shit now."
"And the armor itself?" "25% titanium alloy, 25% ceramic composite and 50% Gundarium alloy. That and the new Trans Shift Armor from the Cosmic Era Earth Alliance should make it be able to survive in combat longer the Mk II could ever have hoped for."
The Mk II was showing its' age, and he knew it.
The armor was almost useless against everything but missiles and Vulcan rounds.
The Trans Shift Armor, however, gave it some protection against beam weapons and ME railguns. And the Striker Packs enhanced the speed and maneuverability of the Mk II, at least when the Aile or IWSP Kai packs were installed, putting it on par with or exceeding newer Mobile Suits like the Jegan or Geara-Doga. Against the Strike Freedom or the Destiny, however, the Major would have no choice but to use the NT-D. "Major!"
The human turned to face another Turian, this time wearing normal armor.
"You must be a member of the Turian version of ECOAS."
"ECOAS?"
"It's short for Earth, Colony, Asteroid. They're SpecOps: mostly use D-50C Lotos for infiltration operations."
"Yes, sir. We're members of the Turian Special Operations Mobile Suit Corps."
"SOMSC. Not a great acronym, but hell, ECOAS isn't any better."
Then 20 TD-50A Loto Turian Types were loaded into the Turian ship's hanger.
"At least I know you guys can handle a Loto. Just like driving a tank."
"A lot harder, actually."
"A REAL tank, not those wheeled APCs."
He jumped to his Gundam, then closed the cockpit.
"Jegan team, you're dragging those magnums back to the Albion. I'll fly escort."
"Copy that, Major."
"Don't start."
Earth
The Cosmic Era fleet were on war game exercises with the remaining ships of TF 108 and TF 651. "Hold still, damn it!"
Yzak Joule turned his ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited to face the more agile Jegan piloted by Kate Warfield, a Londo Bell pilot.
"Nice try, Joule, but the only way you can beat me is with one of those Gundams of yours! Your GOUF's just too SLOW!"
He growled, but conceded the point that she was right.
The Strike Freedom and Destiny were able to disable the Gundam Mk II, which was MUCH faster and more agile then the Jegan he was facing.
And that was BEFORE the EFSF MSs were refit to use Striker Packs.
At the moment, he was facing one without a Striker Pack, and he was using the ZAFT Wizard version of the Aile Striker Pack.
And he was STILL getting his ass kicked.
Off in the distance was a different story: a trio of RMS-106 Hizacks were having trouble dealing with the Impulse.
'Impulse Gundam,' as the EFSF and Neo-Zeon boys called it.
And Luna was giving them a hard time with it.
"Don't get complacent!" The Jegan stabbed the GOUF through the cockpit with the shield, 'killing' Yzak. "Sucks to be you!"
The simulation ended, and Yzak watched as the Minerva was destroyed by the Ra-Horakhty.
"Damn."
"Well, it's kind of simple to destroy ships like the Minerva. Minovsky beam weapons punch through our armor like a hot knife through tissue paper."
"Shut up, Dearka."
The only ship actually putting up a fight was the Archangel, but it was barely dodging beams from the Gwashu and the Raptor.
It was finally destroyed by the Anavel Gato's Hyper Mega Particle Cannon, but she took out ten ships before the heavy guns of the EFSF vessels took her down.
"Alright, people, good work on all fronts. At least we found out which of your ships are the best."
"Screw you!"
To a guest reviewer: The Zaku II sucks and the GM isn't much better. The Alliance has fucking JEGANS. Besides, the Turians got their hands on Cerberus Zakus first, and there is such a thing as corporate espionage. Other then that, it's surplus: they WANT to get rid of them.
Specs on RGM-89SA Jegan Systems Alliance Type
Stats: Higher performance then original type; can mount Striker, Wizard and Silhouette Packs
Weapons: See RGM-89 GM, GAT-04 Windam and ZGMF-1001 ZAKU and -2000 GOUF
Users: Systems Alliance, Earth Federation Space Forces after UC 0210
History: Developed from the RGM-89 Jegan, the Jegan SA Type has a universal hardpoint designed to mount Cosmic Era X-Pack weapons. It is superior in performance to all but custom built Mobile Suits like the RX-93 Nu Gundam, and is rivaled by the RX-178C Gundam Mk II Commander Type in performance, making it the first truly mass produced high-performance MS. It rolled out in late 2185, and was supplied in sufficient numbers to beat back the Reaper invasion of Earth. After the end of the war, the Neo-Zeon/Londo Bell fleet left after recreating the accident that sent them to the Mass Effect universe, taking 200 Jegan SA Types with them. It is assumed they now make up part of the backbone of the new EFSF's MS Corps.
Next Time on Sword and the Stone: July 2185: the Alliance has developed a Jegan-type Mobile Suit that will replace the GM II in their service. And guess who has to test it?
Ja Ne!
