Chapter 12

CE 73, November 24th, Reipertswiller Outskirts, France, Insurgent Base Interior, Central Europe

Afternoon 12 31

Ray wrestled for control as the floor panelling cracked and shattered, and a brilliant light poured forth from underneath. Then the sound came, and a deafening roar filled the cockpit as the entire floor area of the abandoned hangar detonated in a spray of concrete, ceramic panelling and shattered steel bars. The sounds of debris hitting the frame of the mobile suit sounded like an entire orchestra composed of nothing but people banging discordantly on metal pots and pans, and it felt as though the front seat belonged solely to Ray.

Even as Ray engaged a brief burst of thrusters to manoeuvre backwards, he felt the impact toss him upwards, and for a brief moment he was off his seat, held in only by his seatbelt. Then the force was gone, and he came crashing back down the wrong way into his cockpit, his body tossed around violently, his pilot harness doing little to prevent him from feeling pain as sharp corners dug into his sides.

Ray hurriedly grabbed the controls of the Manhunter Command even as he shook his head to clear out the disorientation, forcing his mobile suit into a kneeling position as fast as he could; his body felt detached, with every muscle numb from the violent shock. Ray quickly ran a diagnostic check; the explosives weren't powerful, but they were numerous, and they did worsen the condition of his Dagger L's damaged leg; it was barely standing as it was. He wasn't going to be able to hold his own in melee combat anytime soon.

Ray quickly turned to look at his teammates. Kaguya and the unknown were standing just right next to each other, still locked in their deadly struggle; the ground around them was the only part untouched patch. A bloody trap, a corner of Ray's mind screamed in frustration.

Guy's Dagger had been flung to the far side, but it was undamaged otherwise and Ray saw it slowly getting back up and arming its Agni cannon. Sheryl's Oracle Lance, however, remained motionless, sitting on a pile of debris; his HUD, linked to the unit statues of his squadmates, showed that the Oracle Lance's autobalancer had been severely damaged, rendering any next attempt at unit balancing a precariously manual affair, at best. He quickly opened a video link to Sheryl's unit.

Sheryl was stirring, conscious, but from the looks of it, she was down for the count. "The hell... was that?!" she exclaimed. Patches of blood from shrapnel puncture wounds, mostly around her arms, began to form on her uniform as she reached painfully for the medical box; while her wounds were not severe, the prior usage of anti-coagulants meant that she would end up in danger if she didn't balance it out with a coagulant injection quickly.

"Looks like they played a good one this time," Ray replied, mildly conscious of the fact that his own pilot suit was peppered with bits, and that the Manhunter Command's left cockpit view screen had shattered and was now inoperative. "Focus on your wounds first."

Ray turned back to the deadly melee going on in-between Kaguya and the unknown, and aligned the Manhunter Command's beam rifle into position. He was no Sheryl, but his shooting skills were good enough. He waited for Kaguya to shift herself out of position, the two mobile suits vying for positioning supremacy as they strove against each other. From the corner of his eye, he saw Guy move into position; the sooner they disabled the unknown, the faster they could get Sheryl treated.

And secure the area, Ray's mind added, almost as an afterthought.

A beam shot lanced out towards the Manhunter Command, cutting into Ray's Dagger L at its left arm joint; the arm, and the shield it held, crashed to the floor. Shots continued to hit the Manhunter Command even as Ray attempted to move the unit to face his sudden adversaries, and he roared in frustration as the left leg, followed by the mobile suit's right arm, holding its rifle, flew off; one shot hit the head, slagging the left side of its face. Unbalanced, the Manhunter Command crashed to the ground. Ray pounded the control panels in anger as the entire cockpit darkened, the mobile suit shutting down from the extensive damage.

"Hunter Leader!" Guy shouted, his Dagger L ejecting its main Launcher pack as it leapt towards Ray's mangled unit, barely making it to block a fresh barrage of beam shots with his shield.

Out of the mangled doorway that used to house the blast doors, which the Manhunter Command had had a clear path to, strode five more mobile suits; three Dagger Ls, and two GINNs. The GINNs drew their swords and advanced on Kaguya menacingly, their weapons ready to lay into the Dagger L. Kaguya released her stance, smashing the rocket anchor of her Sword Dagger L's left forearm into the unknown, and slashed across its front once; its stumbled backwards, barely avoided what would have been a fatal strike, as its rifle fell away in two halves, severed. Moments later, it reached for its legs, and a beam sabre flashed to life in its right hand.

On the other side, Guy's unit wasn't fairing much better; unable to use his Agni cannon, Guy could only grit his teeth and return fire with the shoulder Vulcan while attempting to keep Ray's unit from being hit. While the vulcan was impressive, he didn't have enough power to penetrate the handheld shields of the mobile suits alone, and two of them were firing at him with commendable accuracy; enough to force him to keep ducking behind his limited, and rapidly dwindling cover, the multitude of beam shots quickly wearing down the shield's anti-beam coating with each hit.

"Hunter Three reporting; I'm pinned down here," Guy said, wincing as a beam shot temporarily filled the screen with a blinding flash. "Sorry, Kaguya, you're on your own!"

"This is Hunter Four. Acknowledged," Kaguya said, her voice an icy cold.

Kaguya's Sword Dagger L looked around as the two GINNS approached from the front while the unknown circled around from the back; she shifted her position, and Guy saw as one of the insurgent Dagger Ls, which was aiming at her, were forced to move to change their aim so as to not hit the GINNs in the back. Kaguya's Dagger L drew its remaining beam sabre, twin blades of plasma held at the ready as she sidestepped the unknown's sword-thrust.

It all happened so quickly after that Guy had trouble following what happened next. The two GINNs, hot on the heels of the unknown, leapt forward, one after the other, and Kaguya's mobile suit immediately thrust forward, swinging its beam sabre into the foremost unit, her Sword Dagger L twisting its frame to barely avoid the GINN's own sword; the glancing contact sending sparks onto the ground. Letting go of the saber, the Sword Dagger L grabbed onto the limp mobile suit, and, with a brief burst of thrusters fire from its back rockets, pushed it towards the unknown, sending both units crashing backwards as the GINN caught its former ally in an unexpected crash.

The second GINN came in fast and low, leg thrusters flaring, aiming for a slashing strike, as it swung its sword at the cockpit block of Kaguya's Sword Dagger L. As though expecting the second strike, the Sword Dagger L widened its stance, its height dropping as it bent down further, the GINN's sword cutting air as its pilot failed to anticipate Kaguya's move. With a forward thrust, Kaguya's Dagger L plunged its beam saber through the GINN's midsection; the enemy mobile suit slackened as the powerful weapon burned through its cockpit, and it slumped to the ground.

Freed from its obstruction, the insurgent Dagger L behind the melee fired, even as the unknown charged towards her.

Kicking off from the ruined ground, Kaguya had her Dagger L dash forward, the beam shot barely missing the mobile suit's right shoulder as a third thrust speared into the Dagger L. Building on momentum, the Sword Dagger L dodged to its victim's left, the unknown's CIWS fire striking at thin air, as it threw its beam saber at one of the Dagger Ls that had Guy pinned down.

The Dagger L turned to block the blow with its shield and was reward with a hail of high-caliber rounds to its torso as Guy opened fire; the second Dagger L began backing off when Kaguya's Sword Dagger L drew its beam boomerang, and threw it at the second unit before it could react, the beam blade cutting deep into the insurgent unit's left side. The machine toppled sideways from the force and lay unmoving on the fragmented floor, even as small fires begun to burst out of its inner frame.

"Damn," Guy said, even as he ducked behind the shield to dodge yet another volley of beam shots. "I knew you were an ace, but still…!"

"We can talk about that after we beat the unknown," Kaguya said, avoiding the unknown's swing, the beam saber burning a blurry path through the stale air. "There's currently no way we can beat it head-on."

A warning siren sounded out in Guy's unit cockpit, the sound inducing dread where moments ago had been hope. The Launcher Dagger L had barely wrenched the shield free from the Manhunter Command's fallen left arm when a fresh wave of weapons fire began to hammer their positions; without the increased cover, both Ray and Guy would have been toasted.

Throughout the fighting, Ray was hard at work trying to get out of his mangled machine. He'd just managed to kick the emergency hatch release when he saw it. In a move that no one could have anticipated, Kaguya's unit stepped backwards, and the ground gave way as the unknown's head-mounted CIWS blazed away at the weakened ground structure, exposing a further network of scaffolding one level down. Kaguya cursed as her Sword Dagger L's left leg sunk into the hole up to its thigh; the beam shield emitter of the unknown flashed to life, and the resulting beam shield plunged in-between the head and torso block of the Sword Dagger L. Ray could only watch, too shocked for words, as Kaguya's beheaded unit fell backwards and crashed to the ground, motionless. On Guy's screen, the comm link to Kaguya terminated in the blink of an eye.

The unknown turned to face Guy's unit, and Guy promptly turned his shoulder vulcan at it. "Son of a bitch," Guy swore, his finger tightly pressed onto the trigger as he unloaded his autocannon at the unknown. The bullets bounced off the shimmering beam shield, pockmarking the ground with holes; around them, the unknown's reinforcements approached, some drawing beam sabers; no doubt the insurgents were planning to use their mobile suits for more than scrap, if they could get away with it. "How many other tricks do you have up your sleeve?!"

"-ome in, Leon, t- -is Feric here, please re-pond!"

Guy punched the comm link button. "Sir?" He frantically glanced around the field, trying to spot Ray. He didn't want a stray round to kill his commanding officer.

"-ake Sheryl and g- out of here," the link was tenuous; Guy couldn't tell if it was jamming or the other end had a weak signal. If Ray was out on foot and trying to link up using only his helmet comm, it was a wonder that Guy's mobile suit could catch the signal in such a chaotic battlefield at all. "-repeat, take Sheryl and get out of here!"

"I can't just leave," Guy said, even as the remaining mobile suits advanced on his one lone Launcher Dagger L. His beam rifle had been wrecked earlier, his Launcher Dagger's vulcan was rapidly running out of rounds, and his Agni hyper-impulse launcher was well out of reach; even if it had been ready, it was a slow bombardment weapon; not at all suited for the high-speed aim-and-shoot capabilities that he needed right now. "There has to be a way!"

"-is an order!" Ray shouted. "Take Sheryl- leave immediately! W- Rassare and the rest to clear out!"

"With all due respect, sir, even if getting captured is okay for you-" Guy begun, but Ray's reply cut him off.

"-tivating the self-dest- should be enough- out the entire area!" Ray shouted. "GO!"

"God dammit," Guy breathed, and prepared to draw his unit's beam sabre in a desperate move even as the unknown struck out at him Launcher Dagger L, and the two insurgent Dagger closed in, shields held out in front to defend against his autocannon shots. "He's going to blow the place just to stop a handful of insurgents?!" Guy winced as electricity arced across the viewscreen. He felt an impact and the typical high-pitched whine of a beam weapon and said something unrepeatable as a beam round smashed through the Launcher Dagger L's left knee joint. "This isn't worth it-!"

And for the third time since the battle begun, the hangar exploded. But there was a slight difference; the explosion came from the vertical shaft that the Manhunters had entered the underground base from. Ray threw his arms up to cover his helmet as debris rained down from the access tunnel, and a vast cloud of smoke covered the entire hangar. Although he couldn't see it, he felt multiple impacts in the ground; the same as when an entire squad of mobile suits made a boost jump and landed.

Out of the cloud strode another mobile suit just like the unknown, flanked by three Dagger L units and a 105 Dagger. All five were firing, and Ray watched in amazement as the beam shots cut down the remaining insurgents in short order, save for their unknown, which turtled behind its beam shield, sabre still in hand.

"-friendly forces, please respond. This is Bliz-Le- of- heim Base," the radio link in Ray's helmet crackled to life. A burst of static, then the message came again, much clearer this time. "All friendly forces, this is Blizzard Leader of the 91st Tactical Mobile Suit Squadron Blizzard, 15th OMNI MS Division from Mannheim Base. Respond if you can hear this message."

Ray hurriedly tapped his helmet comm link. "This is Hunter Leader of the 16th OMNI Armoured Division, 108th Manhunters Team," he paused for a while to catch his breath. "My team has engaged in combat with the insurgents here and have taken heavy damage. We have three mobile suits down, two uninjured, one confirmed injury and one unknown case."

"Roger Hunter Leader," the voice replied. "We'll reinforce your position and capture the insurgents at the same time."

Ray watched as Blizzard Leader's machine stepped up to face the remaining insurgent. Both piloted the same unit, and dust blew off the floor as the leg thrusters of both unknowns flared to life. The insurgent machine quickly moved towards the doorway, but Blizzard Leader's unit was just as fast and blocked off the escape route within seconds.

"Blizzard Leader to all forces," the voice said. "Keep target lock on the insurgent, but do not open fire."

"Hunter Three to Hunter Leader," Guy's voice filled Ray's helmet. "Do I comply?"

"Do as Blizzard Leader says," Ray replied as he watched the battle unfold. Both unknowns had gotten in close and were engaged in melee combat, with Blizzard Leader's machine holding the advantage.

The insurgent unknown threw its beam shield in front of it to block a quick strike from Blizzard Leader's machine, but under the cover of the beam cannon's backwash Ray saw Blizzard Leader boost the machine forward, the triangular beam shield angling itself so that its bottom tip pointed forward. A bright flash filled the air as beam shield pierced beam shield, and Blizzard Leader's machine swung its beam sabre in a quick arc, beheading the insurgent machine. Before it could fall, Blizzard Leader's machine had thrown away its beam sabre and grabbed hold of the insurgent unit's arms.

"Blizzard Leader to all units," the comm crackled again. "Grab it!"

Two Dagger Ls left the formation and grappled the insurgent machine as it fell. The unit struggled on the ground for a moment, then ceased. Ray watched as the cockpit hatch opened and a man walked out, both armed raised.

"Blizzard Leader here," the voice link sounded out, and only then did Ray realize that the voice belonged to that of a woman. "Phase one accomplished. Insertion point secured; send in the infantry to scour this place."

CE 73, November 24th, Reipertswiller Outskirts, France, Insurgent Base Interior, Central Europe

Afternoon 02 44

Ray watched as the mechanical corpse of his Manhunter Command was hauled off the vertical lift used to operate the entrance, steel cables wrapped around its charred and mangled frame. Back out on the surface, the air was fresh, and Ray had savoured every moment of it as the repair crew of both Mannheim Base and the Manhunters had gotten to work.

Kneeling beside the gathered parts of the Manhunter Command were Guy's Launcher Dagger L, Kaguya's beheaded Sword Dagger L and Sheryl's Oracle Lance. With the exception of Ray's unit, all three other Dagger Ls had suffered light damage, in comparison, and the technicians were working on them to restore the units back to field working level. It would make transporting them much easier.

Kaguya had suffered minor burns from the unknown's attack and a broken arm from the impact; the beam edge had pierced the cockpit just half a metre from the cockpit block, and Sheryl was in the medical tent getting treated for her wounds. Guy was, for all intents and purposes, fighting fit.

Despite that, the guilt clawed at Ray's mind. It was so acute that he half-expected to see blood seeping through his uniform. No matter how it ended, that had been way too close for comfort. They could all have died back there. And if Ray had survived yet again, he wasn't sure he could take the pressure of living on.

A series of rumbling steps in the ground distracted Ray from his personal thoughts, and he turned to look at the gathered reinforcements from Mannheim base. The similarly-looking unknown unit that they operated was called a "Hyperion G", model number CAT1-XG7/12; he had learnt that from his brief conversation with Captain Esther Granmark right after the operation, who was otherwise known as "Blizzard Leader".

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to recall the conversation he had had with the white-haired German OMNI EUROCOM Captain. The Hyperion G was a limited-production mobile suit based off the Hyperion, a GUNDAM-class prototype and field-evaluation unit that the Eurasian Federation operated during the Bloody Valentine War as a special-warfare mobile weapon.

While the Hyperion GUNDAM was already out of production well before CE 72 thanks to its staggering production and research costs and the loss of all three prototypes to combat or theft, the project to produce European-make mobile suits had continued, hidden from the Atlantic Federation's prideful eyes. The Hyperion G was a continuation of that project, and twelve units had been produced for field evaluation to see if they would be more powerful than the current Dagger L Block 10s/20s or Windam Block 5 used by OMNI forces.

According to Esther, the Hyperion G used by the insurgents was indeed being transported by the convoy that had been ambushed; this particular unit was CAT-1XG8/12 Hyperion G Unit Eight, and was scheduled for delivery to Mannheim Base for Blizzard Team. After seeing it fight, Ray could definitely attest to its strength. It was as good as the Windam; perhaps even better, surpassing ZAFT's ZAKU Warrior.

"-don't know how the hell did OMNI EUROCOM pass on that mission, we were supposed to get to it." Ray heard Captain Granmark's voice from behind, and turned to face her. Standing beside the OMNI captain was another man that Ray had seen exiting from the 105 Dagger; his nametag read "R. Brego, Lieutenant."

"Ma'am," Ray said, snapping off a salute.

"At ease," Esther said with a dismissive tone. "More importantly, how are your wounded? EUROCOM made a mistake with this assignment; they've been tracking this area with personnel from Mannheim Base and they knew that this was an insurgent hotspot."

"They'll live to fight another day," Ray replied.

Esther eyed him with a look that could only be described as a lack of trust. "No offence intended, Lieutenant, but I doubt your ability to accurately gauge your opponents."

"We were not informed that the convoy carried special cargo," Ray said. Nor would ordinary insurgents have access to explosives with such high yields for use in booby traps, but he kept that one to himself.

"If you say so," Esther replied, turning to converse with a junior officer that had run up. "Well, seems like the infantry just cleaned up the last of the interior." She looked to a data pad. "They've found another six insurgent mobile suits in addition to all those lost to combat." She eyed Ray for a few moments. "Thankfully your infantry contingent moved fast enough to prevent them from getting to those six, or Blizzard Team would still be inside cleaning up."

Ray merely nodded.

Esther set her right hand on her hip before speaking again. "You've made a risky decision, Lieutenant, and you nearly paid for it. I hope the next time I said to wait for reinforcements, I won't have to explicitly make it an order to follow." Her red eyes stared straight into Ray's. "Is that understood, Lieutenant?"

Ray saluted. "I understand, ma'am."

Esther nodded once. "Good," she said, turning on the heels of her boots. "See you back at Mannheim. We'll decide what you can do then."

As she walked off, the 105 Dagger pilot moved forward to Ray. "Don't mind her, she just has a bit of a problem at missing out on most of the action." the man said, holding out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, I'm Rolan Brego, Lieutenant. Thanks for keeping them tied up long enough to stop them from packing and running."

"The pleasure's mine, Rolan," Ray replied. "Rare to see someone operating a 105 Dagger Block 15 in these parts."

"It was an old unit left behind during the First Bloody Valentine War," Rolan said. "Don't know how it got in, but it was sitting in Mannheim Base's hangar when I got assigned there. Now that we've reclaimed our Hyperion G though, the 105 will probably be going to someone else, or more likely going back to gathering dust in the hangar."

"I see," Ray said. In actuality, the 105 Dagger was one of the few units left in the OMNI arsenal that had performance closest to the unit it was based off; in this case, the Strike GUNDAM. With someone like Captain Granmark in command, Ray thought, I don't think she'll let a unit on par with a modern Dagger L sit on the backlines.

A comm device beeped, distracting Rolan. "Well, duty calls," he said. "What do you say to a proper nights out in the town over a drink once you've settled in?"

"We'll see," Ray answered, as Rolan turned to walk off.

Preoccupied with his own thoughts, he had turned to walk back to the command truck when he bumped into Guy.

"Sorry, sir," Guy replied, "but Kim says that the infantry have secured everything of worth and are ready to move out."

"Apology's mine, Lieutenant," Ray said, faking a cough. "What about the mobile suits?"

"The Mannheim technicians told me that they have VTOL transports incoming to pick up the pieces," Guy said. "We're to proceed ahead first while Blizzard Team secures the area."

Ray gave the land one last look, reaching into his pocket to turn a datachip in his fingers. Nain's datachip. "Understood, Lieutenant. We'll move out."

CE 73, November 24th, OMNI EUROCOM Mannheim Base, formerly Viernheimer Heide Nature Park/Reserve, Germany, Central Europe

Evening 18 21

Ray watched as Thomas Randall, the chief mechanic, looked through the list of repairs that his Dagger L Manhunter Command had to undergo. The man had been assigned together with them from Sinai Base, and Ray was reassured to have him on board – even if that same face was now creased with an expression of one part resignation and one part foreboding dread.

"This is a pretty extensive list, sir," Thomas said, as he looked through the data pad. "Apart from the obvious limb damage, we've got a couple of components shaken loose or having suffered impact to vital areas." He closed his eyes once before continuing. "We can put the head back on, but optics… totally fried. We'll need new parts. And let's not even talk about the maintenance to the leg joints and thruster systems." He continued looking through the list, and even Ray was starting to feel uncomfortable. "Sorry, sir, but this is going to take a while. As in, a really, really long while."

"I understand," Ray said. "Just do your best."

"Roger that, sir," Thomas replied as he walked off towards where the Manhunter Command lay in pieces on the hangar floor.

Ray watched for a while as the mechanics, directed by Thomas, set to work. Even if he wasn't a mechanic, he could see that he wasn't going to set foot into his mobile suit's cockpit anytime soon.

"Seems pretty bad," Sheryl said from behind him.

"Not as bad as you look," Ray replied. Sheryl had suffered a rib fracture and a mild concussion, although most of her other injuries were flesh wounds.

"Man, it's going to take forever for our units to get fixed up again." Sheryl replied. "Anyways, have any new orders come in for us?"

Ray shook his head. "None that I know off. EUROCOM's orders ended at getting to Mannheim Base, and we're not scheduled to see the base commander until…" he checked his watch. "Tomorrow, thirteen hundred hours."

Sheryl rocked on the balls of her feet, looking at her Dagger L berthed in the hangar, technicians and mechanics swarming over the machine. "Getting outfought by mere insurgents still piss me off."

Ray replied without looking. "We were outnumbered, outmatched, and with poor intelligence on our opponents. We were lucky not to have died back there." He turned back to face the hangar. "I was lucky that no one other than insurgents died back there," he whispered to himself.

Sheryl arched an eyebrow at the last part. "This isn't about who dies, sir," she said, "This is our job. There's bound to be risks."

"I know that," Ray said. "It still doesn't allow me leeway for my judgement in ordering all of us down there before reinforcements arrived."

"Us going down there probably ensured that the insurgents decided to set a trap for us and wait for the kill rather than just outright flee and press a detonation switch from miles away," Sheryl said, straining to look into Ray's eyes even as he tried to avoid her gaze. "And which helped to delay them long enough for those EUROCOM layabouts to get here on time. There is no easy way in our job."

Ray shook his head. "This isn't whether it's an easy job or not," he continued, eyes adverted. "Someone has to take the blame. Regardless of what the outcome was, I took the risk, and I almost got the team annihilated."

Sheryl was about to say something in return, anything to refute Ray, when another voice cut in. "Damn right someone has to take the blame," Esther said, walking past. "Perhaps it will teach you that the lieutenant bars that you wear need to be earned, not given to you."

"With all due respect, Captain-" Sheryl begun, starting towards Esther, but a firm grip on her shoulder made her stop. The Captain merely looked on, an expectant look in her eyes as she skipped Sheryl to focus her gaze on Ray. Silence passed for a full second.

"I apologize for my subordinate's lack of respect, ma'am," Ray said, saluting Esther smoothly.

Esther merely nodded before walking off.

Sheryl shook herself free. "'The hell is her problem? And you, too!"

This time Ray looked directly into her eyes. "We're on duty, lieutenant."

"You are, sir, but I'm currently not. Either way, this is completely unlike you," Sheryl said. "I don't think your decision was wrong, Ray, and that attitude of hers just because she got a chance to show off some shiny EUROCOM toy, especially a toy we helped her to get it back, is starting to piss me off. You saw the state of their base! If we hadn't 'jumped the gun', or so she's putting it whenever she opens her trap, they would have packed her new robot to god-knows-where!"

"Sheryl, I-" Ray begun, but Sheryl cut him off.

"What's her problem? She's the one in a brand-new machine while we're stuck in what amounts to off-the-shelf gear that we're already squeezing the maximum performance out of, and she thinks she would have made it if we hadn't kept the insurgents there with their heads down for one more night and the next day?" She continued pressing her point, not willing to let Ray speak. "And you, Ray, you should have told her that! She's what, four years younger than you! You, a former advanced tactics instructor, a USSA war veteran, and especially you, a godamned First War veteran!"

"This is a rank issue, Sheryl, she still outranks me regardless of the circumstances," Ray said, a pained expression in his eyes. "And to put it properly, we did slip up. I did slip up-"

"So we were shifted off Sinai Base just to come here and take orders from someone who looks like she should still be neck-deep in her university studies?" Sheryl said, getting breathless. "All our experiences, all our efforts, for this?!"

Ray remained silent for a moment. "We're soldiers, Sheryl," he said. "Soldiers don't play the wounded pride card."

"Sir, I-" Sheryl begun, but Ray held up a hand.

"Enough, Sheryl," he said. "This discussion is over."

Sheryl bit on her lower lip before giving her last reply. "I'll follow that line of thought in the future," she said, her fists balled. "Doesn't mean that I have to like it." She turned to walk away.

Ray watched Sheryl walk off to the barracks before turning around, only to come face-to-face with Kaguya standing behind him, dressed in vest slacks; boots, field pants, and a simple military t-shirt. A gauze patch covered the right side of her face and her right arm, which was heavily bandaged, bore the scars of a recent plasma burn on its uncovered parts; the enemy Hyperion G's impromptu attack with its beam shield had struck quite deep into the cockpit.

"Considering what she started off with, that's an amazing level of restraint," Kaguya said. "You don't get that with a simple superior-subordinate relationship."

"What do you mean by that, Sakamoto?" Ray asked.

"I agree with most of what Sheryl has said," Kaguya said. "But I also agree that Captain Esther Granmark has the right to be dismissive of our abilities. It would be one matter if we had subdued the insurgents before she arrived, but not only did we technically go against the orders of a superior officer, we also failed to accomplish our objectives. In our position, it's hard to make a justifiable case, even if the odds had been completely against us."

Kaguya smiled, a rare honest grin appearing on her face. "I've read the personnel files before coming to Sinai, but it was only after just now that I could see why she would have respect for you, and only you."

Ray hesitated for a moment, his mind flashing back to when Sheryl had just been assigned to Sinai Base. "Don't make it sound so noble. I needed her to function as a soldier as much as she needed to clear her mind so OMNI wouldn't throw her into capital prison," Ray asked as he begun to walk, and Kaguya kept pace with him. "And do you always speak in that archaic manner?"

"Only when I have advice to give, sir," Kaguya said. "Not as a subordinate, but as a fellow soldier to another, as a fellow defender of rights to another."

"Rights," Ray laughed bitterly. "Which one, the right to trample on the dreams of others, or the rights to call others freaks from space?"

They both stopped, and Kaguya turned to look at him. "Then, sir, would you like to find yourself again?"

Ray took in a quick glace of the area. They were right outside the sparring rooms. "To find myself?" He turned to Kaguya. "Lieutenant, I'm not delusional or wallowing in self-pity. Don't assume otherwise."

Kaguya shook her head. "I had no such intention to do that, sir," she opened the door to the sparring room, and Ray could see the cushioned walls and sparring mats on the floor. "In times like these, the best way to release your anger and regain a clear mind is to spar."

"Sparring?" Ray said, entering the room, followed by Kaguya. "In your condition?"

"You wouldn't ask me in that manner if you were really confident of beating me, even in my current state, would you?" Kaguya replied, closing the door behind them.

CE 73, November 24th, OMNI EUROCOM Mannheim Base, formerly Viernheimer Heide Nature Park/Reserve, Germany, Central Europe

Evening 18 21

The man's head hung low, not rising to even check the newcomer into the interrogation cell. With the scream of metal grinding on metal, the only door to the featureless room slammed shut, and Esther Granmark sat down on a chair in a corner of the room, watching, as Wallace Edwards Isenberg, second-in-command to the commander of Mannheim Base and a Major of the Eurasian Federation Armed Forces Intelligence Branch, gather his notes on a small wooden table opposite here. "You were a few minutes too late if you wanted to hear my talking, Captain."

"So what's that man's beef?" Esther asked, as armed guards filed in and dragged the man from his seat, forcing him forward and out of the room. "I doubt an insurgent would get information on the transport of new weapons so easily, and the convoy was well-guarded enough to repel anything but a mobile suit assault." Her eyes narrowed. "Especially a mobile suit assault in this region. What's the group's name?"

"None," Wallace replied. "On that aspect he has refused to speak, but I've got news from him and the army ground-pounders – both ours and the Manhunters' – that might interest you."

"Go on, sir."

"Most of the personnel whom we have managed to identify, both live and dead ones, are all former Eurasian Federation soldiers. I'm not talking about long-time-past deserters either; most of them were working soldiers until, at the latest, just two months ago. They were preparing to move out from the region, until they ran into the Manhunters and were prevented from just sneaking out. They had staked everything on overpowering one squad; us arriving that quickly was well out of their means and completely destroyed any plans to escape the region."

Esther was silent, her mind processing the information. "Well, we'll leave their escape plans for later. So you're telling me, sir, that the convoy ambush at the start was due to a leak?"

"That's one possible way to see it, but a leak is the least complicated of our worries," Wallace said. "It's what that newcomer, Ray Feric, reported to me this afternoon during the debrief. He said that his team had not been notified that the convoy ambushed by the insurgents had been carrying such cargo, and he even showed me his deployment papers; his statements check out. And after combing through that base with the cleanup crew, I've realized that they've got equipment one would usually expect to find with mainline military forces… like those of the Eurasian Federation. Not mobile suits and weaponry, of course, but in my opinion, force multipliers like advanced jamming hardware and updated cryptograph equipment can be just as deadly when wielded correctly."

"Doesn't matter," Esther said, standing up and reaching for the door. "All I'm concerned with is being saddled by dead weights from who-knows-where while ZAFT continues to encroach on our ever-shrinking borders day-by-day."

"They're Sinai Base personnel," Wallace said. "If they were good enough to serve under Lieutenant Colonel Rahabinod, then they'll be good enough for us, too."

Esther stopped. "You're kidding me. 'Mirage Force' Rahabinod? That Rahabinod?"

"The man who was able to command his forces to hold their own in almost every fight against ZAFT's North African Corps during the first African campaign in the last war? Him and only him," Wallace said, his voice going low. "But as we both know, OMNI has been closing down a few bases recently; most of those were bases built by Atlantic forces during the last war. Also, if you think about it, a convoy carrying a top-of-the-line mobile suit should really be more well-guarded than what they had set out with before the ambush happened. Not to mention Lieutenant Feric's incomplete orders; missing information can be as deadly as any weapon."

"You're saying that the Atlantic Federation is trying to interfere again?" Esther asked.

"Worse," Wallace replied. "If we're not careful, Europe will burn in a four-way battle royale between us, the insurgents, ZAFT, and the Atlantic Federation."

Afterword:

Esther's the confident, talented young commander foil to Ray's older embittered veteran feel (although I must note here that he's not THAT old), something that was long planned, but it took an update to the initial draft to make the friction between the two much more noticeable and (largely) much more justified than just "lol SUDDENLY! Rivals". Sheryl's flip-out with Ray was also originally much more hostile here due to his initially more pronounced moping, but after establishing his backstory in a much more solid manner in Tales of the Cosmic Era, all that self-angst suddenly seemed very uncharacteristic for Ray, a supposed steel-minded veteran; even a broken one. Thus the long time spent editing this chapter and subsequent ones.