The battle of the 8th Fleet began just like any other battle up to that point of war. The Alliance's fleet, bent on protecting the Archangel and its valuable cargo formed up a tight defensive position. Close enough that no ship was separated from the whole formation, but loose enough to prevent from being easy targets for the four ZAFT ships' if they tried to take them down with long range fire. To further increase their defense against ship class beam weaponry, every ship facing the advancing group launched salvos of anti-beam depth charges. The large, bulky missiles traveled a short distance before bursting open and disgorging a cloud of short-lived, beam absorbing particles. At the same time, the fleet scrambled all of its Mobile Armors and prepared to meet the enemy Mobile Suits.
They didn't have to wait for long. With the large thrusters on their backs spitting out a trail of exhaust flames, a loose formation of GINNs blitzed their way towards the EA ships. While barely more than ten GINNs seemed far too little to take on a whole fleet, consisting of nearly forty ships, the pilots felt more than confident of achieving their task. Commander Rau had used the opportunity to bolster his forces with experienced and capable pilots. Many of these pilots had already fought and defeated almost impossible odds.
GINNs weren't the only thing endangering Admiral Halberton's ships. Following their comrades were the four stolen prototype Mobile Suits, jam packed with the best technologies EA could develop. Aegis, Buster, Blitz and Duel. Every one of them piloted by members of the red elites, responsible for the destruction of Artemis fortress and the advance force. In a way, these four machines were more dangerous than the four ships and their GINNs taken together.
Finally, as the final nail in the 8th Fleet's coffin, the Raven, going by the alias Hustler One, moved his AC towards the fleet, as he fell in line behind the group of Mobile Suits. Although for now, the mercenary pilot and his capabilities remained a mystery for both his employers and future targets. Of course the feelings were mutual. Hustler One had absolutely no idea about the combat potential of the target formation. However, such thoughts were quickly dismissed. After all, Nine Ball's pilot considered himself, no, he knew that we was the best pilot currently alive and unknown targets didn't really mater. Ravens were famed for their ability to improvise and adapt to a changing battlefield. Therefore, he would do the very same thing. Observe. Assess. Destroy.
Like a swarm of locusts descending on a wheat farm, Mobile Armors swarmed the Mobile Suits. Their linear cannons spitting round after round at the small group, while missiles were launched in such large numbers that every Mobile Suit had at least four missiles to watch out for. However, even outnumbered and forced to dodge fire from not only the numerous small craft, but nearby warships as well, the ZAFT pilots once again made themselves known. With machine canons blazing and missiles corkscrewing from the launchers the GINNs began to reap a deadly harvest. Almost immediately the EA forces were pushed back to their ships where they had at least some chance to survive the onslaught as they were gunned down faster than reinforcements from the remaining fleet could arrive. Sure, from time to time some of the GINNs' pilots made a mistake and received several hits, but even in these cases, the heavy armor, covering their Mobile Suits offered a sound protection from enemy fire, leaving the Mobile suit damaged, but not destroyed. As a whole, they suffered very few casualties. By the time the four Gundams entered the battle, EA had managed to destroy one and damage another Mobile Suit at the price of nearly twenty Mobile Armors and a Drake class frigate.
The arrival of four prototypes was instantly noticeable as the EA casualties skyrocketed almost instantly. And it wasn't just Mobile Armors that were getting destroyed. The advanced Phase Shift armor allowed the small group to approach the warships without any fear from the CIWS network. The numerous shells either exploded harmlessly against the Mobile Suits' armor or were dodged entirely as the pilots moved their machines out of harm's way. Even though you were invulnerable there was no point in allowing your enemy to shoot you at his heart's content. Appearances had to be kept after all. The return salvo was much more devastating. Claiming warships just as easily as Mobile Armors, Aegis, Blitz, Buster and Duel let loose with their weapons again and again, forcing the nearby ships to concentrate their attention on them. In doing so, they drew their attention away from the GINNs and it turned out to be a grave mistake. Several GINNs carried large, recoilless rifles, designed specifically to punch trough the heavy armor most warships fielded, allowing them to start destroying ships on their own. In just few minutes, ZAFT forces claimed six Alliance ships and more Moebius fighters than one could count. And many grimly realized that the battle was only beginning.
xxxxx
Kira felt his back touch the wall of the dressing room as floated into it after Flay had moved toward him to embrace him in a tight hug. "Flay … why are you ..." He still felt surprised to see her in this room, since Flay had absolutely no reason to be here in the first place.
"I … thought you had left." Kira heard her mumble since her face was still buried in his chest. "I came here to ..." A short sob interrupted her as the girl was struggling to choke back the fear and a good deal of relief. "I .. and everyone else stayed behind … to fight. I was the first one … to volunteer." She sobbed again. "That's why I ..." Kira looked around the room and immediately noticed his locker, wide open. He couldn't hold back a surprised gasp when the thought registered. Did Flay actually meant it?
He pushed Flay away so that he could look her in the face. He saw what he'd already suspected. "Flay, could it be that you wanted to something foolish like that?" He nodded towards the locker, where the pilot suit was kept. Kira looked back at her and frowned when he saw the look in Flay's eyes. "A Mobile Suit is too much for you … A girl like you ..." His voice broke when he realized that he might have sounded too harsh, since Flay stared at him with a desperate look on her face. "I'll pilot Strike." Kira said in a more softer tone. "I'll fight for your sake as well. So you won't have to." He assured and went towards the locker.
"Kira … do you really mean it?" Flay gasped in surprise. Kira paused and looked back at her from the locker.
"Yes, I've thought about what you've said … I've decided not to run away anymore." He looked at his suit as if he was looking in a mirror. "This war won't end if we just sit around and do nothing. Therefore I will fight to protect you and everyone else on Archangel."
Flay observed him silently for a few moments and then pushed off, floating towards Kira. She touched his shoulder and breathed in a low voice. "Then … let my feelings protect you." She whispered and leaned closer. Kira tried to say something, but he was cut off by a fierce kiss that burned his lips. His eyes widened in surprise as his mind took hold of the situation, but soon he relaxed and eventually kissed her back.
xxxxx
"Boom! Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!" Hustler One exclaimed when another target went up in flames. He swung his AC around and snapped off a pair of shots, cutting two more Mobile Armors, or whatever they were called, in half. "You guys wouldn't last a second on Utopia!" He laughed and avoided a swarm of missiles with contemptuous ease. In return, he fired a salvo of his own missiles and wasn't surprised to see that not a single missile was intercepted by the defense systems of the small ship, that had targeted him. A dozen missiles struck the Drake class ship's bridge from "above", if that kind of a direction existed in space, cleanly wiping out the brains of the ship. The Raven quickly glanced around and realized that he had reached a relatively calm area of the battle. Everything nearby was either destroyed or running away from him. "That's right. Run! Flee!" He taunted and sent a cannon round after a ship, similar to the one had had just disabled. The high caliber shell blasted a huge chunk out of the area where the four engines were attached to the ship. Judging by the way the ship began drifting, especially after its engines died, he suspected that the gravity would do the rest.
His battle had taken a rather cautious path at first. He'd settled with keeping his distance and carefully observing the battle. Although there wasn't that much to observe. The strange machines, which reminded him of some Muscle Tracer models, had turned out to be barely a challenge at all. The more he had watched the more he had came to realize that there was practically no danger at all. Even though the Raven had almost no zero gravity combat experience whatsoever, he was certain that he could pull his own weight against these targets. Therefore, with boosters blazing and spitting out a bright blue flare, Hustler One had thrown his Nine Ball into the fray.
To say that the Alliance forces noticed the arrival of a new enemy was a gross understatement. It was impossible not to feel the damage this new machine dished out. Entire Mobile Armor squadrons ceased to exist as they were blown apart with deadly accuracy. Or rather cut apart, since the machine was using some sort of an unusual energy weapon. One that fired a continuous beam for a fraction of a second. Even though the duration was very short, the speeds at which the enemy and his luckless target were moving, plus the cutting power of the beam, were enough to slice the Mobile Armor neatly in two. And even if you managed to avoid being hit, there was the small problem of hitting the damn thing in the first place.
The dark red and black machine moved like greased lightning, often pulling off such maneuvers that many Mobile Suit pilots would think twice about before attempting something similar. Not only that, but the pilot seemed perfectly capable of dodging almost everything thrown at him. Weaving trough concentrated CIWS barrages, twisting around linear cannon shots or simply cutting down massed missile salvos, this new enemy posed as much of a threat as the stolen prototypes.
Hustler One threw a look at the radar, no more hostile contacts nearby. "Well, that was easy." He muttered and slid his gaze at the status display. As expected, Nine Ball was performing flawlessly. The Muscle Trace linkup was feeding the information to the computer as always. The fusion heart of his AC was ready to burst as it pumped almost immeasurable amounts of energy into its systems. The armor wasn't even scratched and even if it were, it would take a lot to get trough the protection it offered. MIA (Missile Interception Array) was scanning the front arc of the AC as always, searching for any signs of incoming missiles. The boosters, though idle for now, were like sleeping hounds of hell, ready to howl at the moments notice as they spat out a huge flare of blue light whenever the Raven would require it.
Satisfied with the overall state of his AC Hustler One turned his attention to the weapons. The main weapon of his machine was a brand new 25mm laser carbine. The small weapon in Nine Ball's right hand didn't look that dangerous, at least until it was fired, spitting out a red, highly focused, continuous beam. Although the beam lasted only for half a second and was of relatively small size, it wrecked havoc on any surface that happened to cross its path, cutting the said surface like butter, burning a hole trough an enemy machine almost instantly. A skilled pilot could even use the short duration not to only make an incision, but cut the target in half as well, depending on the resistance of the armor.
The left forearm, slightly bulkier than the right one, housed Nine Ball's only melee weapon. Once activated, the emitters unleashed a long, narrow laser blade, which looked more like a spike than an actual blade, but that was besides the point. This weapon had proven itself over the years and was practically the only weapon that could easily cut trough the ACs' armor. Housing it in the forearm meant that the pilot always had an instantly deployable weapon, useful in an emergency. Not only that, but it was impossible to disarm it without cutting off the entire arm.
The right back weapon, which was attached to the right side of the core behind the shoulder, was another new type of weapon. A twelve tube vertical missile launcher. Unlike conventional missile launchers that fired the missiles directly at the target, vertical missiles were more like an artillery weapon. The missiles were fired upward instead, following an arched trajectory, just like a mortar round, to strike the target from above. This launching method offered two major advantages. One, they could be fired from behind cover, without the need for clear line of fire. Second, the target was forced to divide his attention between the incoming missiles and the AC that fired them.
Finally the left back weapon was something of a classic among Ravens, a 155mm cannon, its barrel currently folded in half to save space. The simple weapon had earned its popularity due to its reliability, ability to fire a wide range of ammo types, excellent recoil absorbers and most importantly – accuracy. It was not uncommon to score hits with almost pinpoint accuracy at distances way beyond a kilometer. In short this was one of those weapons about which you could safely say that they'd be used for a long time, even when more advanced weapons were available.
The short weapons inspection was interrupted by a group of ten Mobil Armors bearing "down" on him, spitting linear cannon rounds as fast as they could, they were followed by a much larger ship than he had encountered before. The ship was not only larger, but carried much heavier armaments as well. The said armaments were immediately used to put pressure on him as they swung around and unleashed a storm of fire as soon as he was in range. Hustler One shook his head in contempt, it really was pathetic. With a slight jerk of the controls he moved Nine Ball out of the flurry of shots. He continued to play with his targets as he allowed to fire at him without returning fire. Let them find out for themselves just how outclassed they were. The thick barrage continued to follow him trough and around the debris that littered the battlefield. However, no matter how hard they tried the damned machine always was slightly ahead of them. After a minute Hustler One decided that he had given them enough chances to land a hit and it was time to go on the offensive. It wasn't his fault that the enemy couldn't touch him, or rather no wonder they couldn't hit him, no one could. He was the best damned pilot there was. And it was about time to show them why … again.
Using his boosters to turn Nine Ball around, so that he was moving backwards, Hustler One let loose a twelve missile salvo, while firing the laser carbine into the tight Mobile Armor formation, destroying one and severely damaging two more. Just as expected the remaining targets scattered like fish in the water. Their evasive maneuvers became even more frantic when the missiles arched "down" and went after their targets. Those who did manage to escape were picked off by precise laser fire as Nine Ball danced around the diminishing formation, destroying the survivors and dodging the attacks from the closing battleship.
With all ten fighters wiped out, Hustler One turned his gaze at the big target. No doubt they were already calling for reinforcements, but everyone was either too far or too busy dealing with Mobile Suits to lend any real help. Not that it mattered, since the said reinforcements would be shot down just like the ones before. It was one on one. David against Goliath. And everyone knew how that story ended.
Kicking the boosters on full burn he escaped the initial attack of the warship's cannons. Several missiles that followed next were nothing to be concerned about. The MIA array took them out in series of bright explosions of fire and smoke. While Nine Ball could weave around the incoming fire, the Nelson class couldn't. It was nowhere near as agile as its opponent. Several explosions rocked the hull as powerful cannon shells slammed into ship's midsection again and again, exposing the interior to the vacuum. Spitting out parts of itself and the crew like blood from a wound, the Nelson class battleship Courageous slowly broke in half. However, Hustler One wasn't done yet. Moving in range of the now disabled CIWS, he positioned his AC right in front of the bridge.
After zooming in, he saw the ship's crew desperately trying to get something out of the disaster that had befallen them. Some were shouting orders that wouldn't reach those they were meant to. Some were running towards the exit in blind panic and some were staring at the machine outside, fear and terror evident in their faces. "Yes, now you get the idea what I am capable of." Hustler One grinned. He reached out with Nine Ball's left hand and waved goodbye. After that, the right hand with the laser carbine came up and vaporized the crew in two red flashes of unimaginable heat.
Leaving the ship to die like a crippled dog, the Raven searched for new targets to practice on. These few engagements had shown him that there was nothing to fear from these opponents. Observation and assessment was over and done. Now it was time to destroy. Consulting his radar and observing the movement of different types of "unknowns" he deduced that his employers were moving towards the middle of the large formation consisting of several more types of "unknowns". He really had to get some data about the machines they used. To bring some order to the radar, which would make life a lot easier.
"Hmm, they're probably going after the flagship or something like that." He looked around, using the Nine Ball's optics to find the said flagship. "Oh, my god..." He gasped when he saw a truly large ship, blasting at the incoming hostiles. "I guess that's the flagship." His face quickly changed from an awe to a predatory grin as he unconsciously licked his lips. He HAD to take out that thing. Just to see if he could if nothing else. With a large flare bursting out from its boosters Nine Ball rushed towards the next target, the Menelaus.
xxxxx
Murrue was not having a good time, despite the fact that the Archangel wasn't directly involved in the battle, for now. First came the surprise when a certain group of people who should have resigned and left for Menelaus, had barged into the bridge and had announced that from now on they were officially part of the OMNI enforcer. Sure, she was happy that there were more people to help operate the ship, but they were children for crying out lout. Children didn't have any place on the battlefield. Of course it was a rather hypocritical way of thinking after she had allowed them to help out after Heliopolis, but that was different. They had volunteered and they didn't have a choice. Now, when the Archangel had reached safety and these students had the chance to leave they should have done just that. They should have left without looking back at the first opportunity they had, instead they chose the complete opposite. To remain on the Archangel and risk their life and neck by helping the undermanned ship.
The second surprise was more like a realization. Slowly, but inevitably the 8th Fleet was getting destroyed. By four ships and a handful of Mobile Suits. It was unbelievable. Sure, ZAFT always had the advantage of quality and skill over the Alliance, who only had numbers on its side. But there was supposed to be a limit on how many opponents a skilled pilot could take on. But no matter how hard they tried the Alliance was still losing. It didn't help that the ZAFT had taken them by surprise, by launching a daring head-on attack on the entire fleet. Something the rookie pilots hadn't been expecting. One after another the ships and Mobile Armors were destroyed so quickly, that they didn't have a chance to regroup and come up with a plan. Any plan that would help them get out of this chaos, since the entire fleet was dying around them with every passing minute.
However, Gundams weren't the only ones at fault. There had been several distress messages on the general frequency regarding another hostile machine heading towards them. The descriptions were very vague at best, since "insanely fast" and "damned bastard" didn't offer anything specific. Attempts to contact the ships for a more precise explanation went unanswered, mostly due to the fact that there was no one left to answer. That alone sent another chill down Murrue's spine. It was one thing to see the 8th Fleet getting destroyed by the stolen prototypes and it was an entirely different thing to hear garbled reports about something new and equally dangerous carving its way towards them.
The comm system beeped, indicating an incoming call from the hangar, judging by the id. As soon as she picked up the receiver, she could already hear Mu's voice. "Hey! Why am I on standby!?" The blond pilot yelled anxiously. "ZAFT forces are wiping out the entire fleet and I'm supposed to sit here and do nothing?" There was a short pause on the other side as Mu tried to calm down. When he spoke again, his voice was slightly calmer, but still no where near his usual calm and relaxed tone. "I know that even if I launch there's not much I can do, but at least its better than nothing!"
"We don't have any instructions allowing this ship to perform any launches!" Murrue retorted slightly harsher than she wanted. The battle was getting to them. "Please wait! I'll try to get some more information." Murrue said and severed the connection, cutting Mu off in the middle of another protest, just as another ship went up in flames. The enemy was getting closer with every passing second. Not wanting to wait until the Mobile Suits arrived, Murrue searched her mind for a way out. ZAFT was after the ship and its two machines. Everyone knew that. And while the Archangel was surrounded by allied forces, it was clear that this wasn't enough. Sooner or later the enemies would break trough the already faltering defenses and then it would all over. She couldn't allow that to happen. "Communications, connect me to Menelaus and put it on screen!" She ordered, realizing that there was only one thing to do.
"This is Admiral Halberton, what do you want?" Lewis's strained voice said from the speakers, when Archangel had managed to establish a connection with the flagship. At the same time, the main screen flickered to display a portion of the Menelaus's bridge where several other officers were ordering the remaining ships to establish something akin to a defensive perimeter around the Archangel and Menelaus.
Murrue swallowed hard, this will not be easy. "Sir, I believe that this battle can't be won if we continue like this. Therefore the Archangel is requesting permission to retreat." Lewis's face filled with shock and confusion, which was quickly replaced with disbelief. "We'd like to begin the drop sequence immediately."
"You want to retreat while the others stay and get slaughtered!?"
"The enemy's target is this ship! If we enter the atmosphere ZAFT will be unable to reach us and they will have no reason to continue their attack. However, if we stay, the 8th Fleet will be wiped out entirely." She paused, letting her words sink in. "Landing at Alaska right now is impossible, but according to our current trajectory, we'll be able to land in territory controlled by Earth Alliance Military. If you can provide cover from ZAFT forces during the initial phase of the procedure I'm certain that this plan will work." Murrue watched the Admiral purse his lips as he considered her proposal. For a moment she couldn't read anything from his face. Just when she believed that Lewis would turn down her offer, the Admiral smiled and shook his head in slight amazement.
"You're still quite a daredevil, Captain Ramius." He said with a grim acceptance in his voice. Murrue let out the breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"It's only appropriate that the subordinate follows her officer."
"All right, the Archangel is to withdraw from the battle and begin its drop sequence immediately. We'll make sure that you reach the entry point … We won't let a single bastard get past us!"
"Thank you, sir!" Murrue said and cut the transmission. Afterwards she addressed the bridge crew. "All hands, prepare for descent sequence!"
xxxxx
Watching the battle from Vesalius's bridge was somewhat entertaining. The EA forces threw everything they could in the Mobile Suits' path, but no matter how hard they tried, the ZAFT pilots continued to carve a bloody path towards the Archangel, shooting down entire squadrons before they even managed to get a feel of the battle. It was times like these that served to remind the Alliance just how outclassed their Mobile Armors were. The average five for one ratio was usually applied when both sides didn't have any advantage and were well informed about the enemy forces. Add experienced and very capable pilots as well as five Redcoats in cutting edge Mobile Suits for ZAFT and surprised rookies for EA and the odds changed drastically. Add the fact that most of the fleet was in complete chaos as damaged ships tried to withdraw and got in the way of new ships heading towards battle and there was no wonder that the four battleships had a relatively peaceful path to the middle of the enemy fleet. Their main concern was to keep up with the Mobile Suits and destroying the remaining ships, many of which were already damaged by Mobile Suits.
Rau spared a second to check how the Raven was doing. While the pilot had been very careful in the early stage of the engagement he had become more aggressive as the battle progressed. There were already three Drake class frigates and two Nelson class battleships on his count alone, as well as a large number of Moebiuses. Just like his pilots, the Raven was fighting his way to the flagship, apparently eager to take out the brains of the fleet. However, unlike his pilots the mercenary was approaching his destination alone, from a different side, not so much destroying everything in his path as simply blitzing past the various ships with an ever increasing amount of Mobile Armors following from behind. But for all their firepower not a single shot had been landed. The machine looked just as pristine as it had been before the launch. That alone was enough to make him think.
He didn't doubt his anonymous friend on Circ-City anymore. The Ravens were capable of dealing with everything the battlefield threw at them. The demonstration he was witnessing right now constantly proved that. But that's what it was, a demonstration. Not only to ZAFT but to the Alliance as well, and that's where he saw problems in the future. Ravens were mercenaries, guns for hire, soldiers of fortune, use every term you wish to describe people who would fight for those willing to pay them. It wouldn't take long for the Alliance to start hiring Ravens of their own and send them against ZAFT. Sure, a GINN was a more dangerous opponent, but Rau didn't fool himself by thinking that a single GINN could defeat a Raven. Something had to be done.
Shelving the gloomy thought for a while, he returned his gaze to the large map display. As expected, the four Gundams were approaching the Archangel while the surviving GINNs stayed back to mop up the remaining targets. Hustler One, a strange alias if he'd ever heard one, was also making progress towards Menelaus. Everything was going according to plan. At least until he noticed a change in the formation. "What are you up to, Admiral Halberton?" He said to himself, as he studied the icons on the display. Every nearby ship was moving towards the enemy forces, while forming up into a solid defensive position. The Archangel, however, was moving further away from the main force and taking a position, which didn't make any sense when it came to combat. It took him a second to realize what was going on. They were trying to cover the Archangel as it descended on Earth. "Captain Ades, I suggest that we move towards the Archangel with everything we got." Even though he was boiling inside from the thought of losing his prey at the last moment, his voice remained completely calm and reserved. "It seems that they are attempting to drop that ship right now. Order everyone to attack! We have to take down that ship no matter what!" Rau ordered and looked at the Agamemnon class carrier. Damn you Lewis! I won't let you take that ship away from me!
xxxxx
Ever since the order to descend was given, the battle had changed noticeably. The Alliance ships formed a rigid defensive line and hurled as much firepower at the Mobile Suits as guns would allow. This tactic immediately brought some results as few more GINNs were destroyed by the torrent of munitions, missiles and beams. The firepower poured at the ZAFT machines proved too much to bear and the pilots were forced to fall back unless they were willing to take more than a couple of hits. For a GINN, those couple of hits could prove fatal, since they didn't have the exotic Phase Shift armor to protect them. It was quickly decided to hold back until their own battleships arrived and punched a hole in the formation, allowing the Mobile Suits to utilize the opening and resume the destruction of the enemy ships.
The four Redcoats, responsible for most kills in this battle decided to act differently. Their machines couldn't be hurt by conventional weapons, so they had nothing to fear, save the heavy beam cannons, however, hitting a Mobile Suit with them was pure luck. A mobile Suit was far too agile for the said weapons to track. Therefore, the small group of pilots continued to wreck havoc among enemy lines as they punched into their formation with all guns blazing and working their way closer to the Archangel.
The surviving ships tried to shoot them down, but all they could accomplish was to force the assailants to scatter in various directions. Usually a broken formation spelled disaster for the scattered force, but in some ways it became even worse. Not only they were forced to take fire from several different angles, but the ZAFT ships had arrived as well and added their own considerable firepower to the mix. Despite this, the ships of the 8th Fleet continued their struggle. It was no longer a fight about survival, the only thing that mattered was to throw as many ships as possible in the way of ZAFT's advance, so that the Archangel could descend safely. Obviously it meant more pressure on the enemy forces as the Alliance forces fought without any concern for their lives. Their only goal to delay ZAFT until the Archangel got to safety.
xxxxx
"Re-check the entry vector and perform a hydrokinetics function test." Murrue ordered and fastened the belt. Atmospheric reentry wasn't the smoothest of rides. "Order the crew to prepare for descent." The crew on the bridge worked as fast as they could and all as one shared a fair amount of nervousness. They were fully briefed about the Archangel's capabilities and knew that the ship was built for this. Still, actually performing an orbital descent was much scarier than just talking or carrying it out during a drill. Especially if it was for the first time. Here, there could be no mistakes, if they screwed up the ship, and the crew, were done for. No retries, no angry looks from the Captain by not being able to do what you were supposed to. Just hot, painful death as the ship was torn apart due to a slight miscalculation. Of course they had computers for that, but computers were still made by humans and there were always the possibility of a human made error. Therefore, everyone made sure to double even triple check everything.
"Beginning descent phase one." Neumann announced. And God help us all!
"Ma'am, Duel and Buster have broken trough the blockade!" The radar operator yelled, unable to restrain himself during such a critical moment. "The Menelaus is moving to inter... Enemy Ship! A Laurasia class has also broken trough and is approaching us!" Murrue gritted her teeth and tightened her grip around the armrest. Despite all efforts the enemy had managed to fight its way trough the Alliance forces. Even though there were four ships, the Menelaus and it's three escorts, nearby, it was nowhere near enough to ensure the Archangel's safety. On top of that, once started, the descent sequence couldn't be aborted just like that. It was a long and complicated process, during which the ship was a sitting duck for the enemy fire.
The comm system beeped again. This time the caller was more persistent and forced his call trough to the visual comms on Murrue's chair. It was Mu again, only this time he was fully clad in his flight suit and was sitting inside his Zero. "Captain! I know it's a bad time, but how much time do we have until the limit point? Let us out until then, so that we can buy us some time."
"What are you talking about? Do you intend to launch at a situation like this? … Preposterous." Murrue paused when something registered in her mind. "Wait … we?"
"According to specs, the Strike is capable to descend on its own." Another call came trough, this time it was Kira. His voice caused several gasps and surprised stares across the bridge. Everyone had thought that Kira had left with the Menelaus's shuttle. No one expected him to stay behind, especially since this war had caused him so much trouble. "If we don't do something the Menelaus will be in danger." He continued in a much determined voice than usual.
A few seconds later, Daniel's voice also sounded from the speakers. "Yeah, I agree with what he said. Minus the descend part." Like Kira, Daniels was also at the controls of his machine, finishing the last prelaunch checks.
"You two? Why are you here? You were supposed to leave with the shuttle." Murrue couldn't believe her eyes. However, her words were mostly aimed at Kira. Daniel's obsession with the Pulverizer was well know to her, so she wasn't surprised to see the boy at its controls. Still the slight shock held her in its power and prevented her from snapping out of it.
With an exasperated sigh Natarle jumped up from her chair and reached towards the CIC's comm system. "Fine, if you are willing to go then you have permission to launch. However, be sure to return before the third descent stage begins. Also, be careful, we're about to enter Earth's gravity well, so keep that in mind. Even if Strike's specs says it fine, no one has ever tried it. We don't know what might happen on the inside, so don't take any chances."
"Yes." Kira nodded and signed off. Natarle's unexpected ignorance of the command order, finally broke Murrue out of her confused state.
She jumped from her chair and glared at her subordinate. "Ensign Badgiruel!" The fact that the woman had acted on her own and allowed the three pilots to launch, even though it was the right thing to do, upset her more than the breach of formalities.
"If our ship is shot down, the the 8th Fleet's sacrifice will be for nothing." Natarle returned the glare as she backed up her decision. Their conflict came to an end when a pair of high caliber beams streaked past the Archangel.
The Gamov, after breaking trough the defensive perimeter, had opened fire. The long range attack was inaccurate for now, but it wouldn't take long for the ship's crew to make the necessary adjustments and then the white ship would be finally brought down. In order to prevent this, the Menelaus moved into position between Gamov and its target and opened fire. Since the large carrier was a bigger threat, the ZAFT ship turned its attention towards it, and soon both ships were engaged in fierce battle.
xxxxx
Kira, Mu and Daniel had little time to incorporate the increasing gravity pull in their combat strategies, since they came under fire scant seconds after the launch. Those were stray shots at first coming from the desperate struggle further away where the remaining fleet was attempting to retreat since ZAFT forces, except Gamov, Duel and Buster hesitated to risk being pulled down to Earth. Some of the shots were more precise, since they were more or less aimed at them, specifically at Kira.
Duel, piloted by one vengeful Yzak Joule, blitzed towards the Strike, firing the beam rifle with ever increasing accuracy as the distance between them decreased. Kira didn't hesitate to return fire and when they were close enough, both pilots almost instantly switched to beam sabers and went on trying to score the fatal blow without letting the opponent do the same thing first. Unlike before, their duel was more ferocious. They attacked each other so aggressively that the duel was almost over after the first few strikes since neither one cared for their safety. Yzak was obviously seeking revenge for the humiliation suffered in their last engagement, while Kira was so determined to protect the Archangel like never before. Only then they cooled down a little and tried incorporating some strategy in their attacks.
Mu went against a foe he was already familiar with. The Buster. At first, he was lucky, Dearka was so focused on ravaging one of the three remaining Drake escorts that he didn't notice Mu's arrival. Only his enhanced reflexes allowed him to dodge the initial barrage. Even though Zero's weapons posed no danger to his Mobile Suit, it would be humiliating to allow a Natural land the first hit. Not bothering to separate his weapons Dearka aimed the anti-armor shotgun at the annoying fighter and unleashed a volley of anti-armor charges. While annoyed, he wasn't surprised that the Mobile Armor managed to avoid the munitions cluster, Mu La Flaga had to be a worthy adversary. No way was their fight going to end with a single shot. Leaving the destroyed wreck behind, the Buster fully faced the incoming Zero and, after disconnecting the main weapons, went after the nimble craft. Mu replied by releasing the gunbarrels and guiding them towards an effective attack angle. He understood that he couldn't harm the big machine, but he could delay it for long enough.
Much to everyone's surprise Daniel went for the Gamov. He did that for several reasons. One was to somehow repay the man who had allowed him to remain with the Pulverizer. Another reason was to use the opportunity while Gamov was under attack from three ships at once. One being Menelaus itself, while the remaining two were its Drake class escorts. He reasoned that with the ZAFT ship being so hard pressed just to survive, it wouldn't have time to spare for a single machine. The CIWS network was probably the only thing that could actually endanger him, but currently the point defense weapons were busy dealing with missiles constantly being fired from the Alliance ships. Therefore he reputed himself being relatively safe. For now. With a short and decisive sigh, he armed the plasma cannons and began his approach.
His threat display lit up almost instantly as a pair of CIWS emplacements oriented themselves at the Pulverizer. Apparently someone on the ship had decided that he was a bigger threat than the missiles. This made him feel good and bad at the same time. Good because ZAFT saw him as a threat. That might not sound like much, but to him it was something of an achievement. ZAFT, THE ZAFT, the very same organization that continuously decimated the Earth Alliance forces and about whom he had read in the newspapers or had heard in the news, had acknowledged that he was a threat. Like a fan being recognized as one of their own by his favorite star player football team, so did Daniel felt recognized as a threat by ZAFT. Of course that had a lot to do with the bad thing. Now that he was a threat, he had to put his skills to the test by dodging the hail of shells coming his way.
It was no easy task. Even with the control level given to him by the Muscle Tracing linkup, he could barely avoid getting shot, still, nothing prevented him from mashing down the triggers for his plasma cannons, which sent series of azure bolts towards the Gamov. Most of the shots, fired on the move, went wide and missed by several meters. Fortunately for him, the need to dodge didn't last long. A pair of massive beams from the Menelaus's cannons seared away Gamov's port side CIWS and one of the railgun turrets. The said CIWS were the same ones targeting the Pulverizer, so for now, Daniel got some breathing room, which gave him a chance for a second attempt.
The blue bolts slammed straight into the warship's hull. And that's when Daniel noticed something unusual about them. Unlike the magnetically sheathed plasma beams, used by warships and the five prototypes, the plasma orbs behaved differently. Usually a beam would burn trough the target surface, but the blue bolts sort of splattered on contact with a surface much tougher than a Mobile Suit's armor, as if it was made from some sort of gel. Melting wide, gaping holes in the Gamov's hull, many times the size of their diameter, the Pulverizer's weapons caused horrific damage as plasma burned deeper into the ship.
Impressed by the raw power of his weapons, Daniel continued to pepper the ship with more bolts, slowly walking them towards the ship's main guns. Although this time he was more careful not to fire too quickly. The memories of his last battle were still fresh in his mind. He cursed when the Gamov almost casually destroyed one of the frigates and began turning one of the main guns at him, while focusing the remainder of its firepower at Menelaus. The other Drake class was trying to get into an advantageous position behind the Laurasia class. But before Daniel could proceed and destroy one of the Gamov's main guns, several events began to take place very rapidly.
The first thing was the return order from the Archangel. The ship had almost reached the limit point and ordered its pilots to break off from any engagements and return back. The second event took the form of four beams lancing into the Gamov's midsection as the Menelaus scored a devastating hit. The already damaged ship neatly broke in half and, before a single escape shuttle could be launched exploded in a fiery explosion as the combined destructive might of the Menelaus's beam cannons and the ever increasing punishment from the atmospheric reentry proved too much for the Gamov. The third thing was the shuttle, transporting Heliopolis's survivors, being launched from the slowly dying ship. Finally, the fourth thing was of the historical type. The last Drake class frigate, already falling to pieces from the intense heat suddenly lost its front section due to an explosion caused by hostile fire. Daniel turned around to see the cause of such sudden explosion and that's when he saw it. In fact, that's when everyone saw it.
Riding in front of a blue exhaust flame was a dark red machine, with black paint serving as a secondary color. The machine was also built unlike a Mobile Suit. The "Y" shaped profile due to the protruding body, also known as the core. The proportionally large legs. The conically shaped head, bearing some resemblance to a dog's head with two parallel, horizontal lines serving as a visor and glowing with the same blue light as the one coming from the machine's boosters. All of it, the entire build, was almost the same as the Pulverizer. I twas clear to everyone, that these two machines were somehow related. For Daniel it was made even more obvious when the Pulverizer's computer announced. "AC Nine Ball identified."
"AC? As in Armored Core?" Daniel recalled his conversation with Domenic. The brief mention of Ravens, who, according to the Pulverizer's database, were extremely dangerous. Well, he didn't need a computer to tell him that this AC, this Nine Ball, was dangerous, he could see it for himself. Moving faster than any Mobile Suit he had seen, the AC shot towards the Menelaus. The large carrier opened up with its CIWS, but to no effect. Not only did the machine avoided getting hit, but the pilot made it look easy. As it was so easy that anyone could pull it off. With both arms stretched out to either side the Nine Ball circled around the Menelaus, letting everyone get a full view of itself and sort of warning them what was about to happen.
The demise of Menelaus, the largest ship of the now destroyed 8th Fleet was fast and spectacular. With two quick shots from the long barreled weapon behind its left shoulder, the AC disabled the ship's main engines. Even though it was far too late for the flagship to escape the gravity pull, the engines were the only thing slowing it down and giving the crew time to get to the escape shuttles. With the engines destroyed, the mighty ship plummeted towards Earth like a rock. However, the Raven wasn't done. Moving back to the front of the ship he landed his AC on the ship's nose and slid, not ran and not float, slid across the ship towards its bridge. As the AC got between the beam cannons it turned and continued the maneuver sideways, while taking out both turrets with either a cannon round or a laser beam fired backwards over the shoulder. The grand finale came when the machine reached the bridge. Reaching out with the left arm the AC ignited a long, red laser blade and plunged it into the bridge. The armored windows offered no protection at all, as they began to melt from the intense heat. Any thoughts about survivors were dismissed as well, since the blade was long enough to etch a molten line in the back wall. With a precise and quick movement, the AC moved sideways, entirely ripping open the bridge windows.
Daniel watched this gruesome spectacle with an empty feeling in his stomach. Although he knew that people were getting killed he found himself enthralled by the display. The way that AC moved, the precision, the fluidness of its moves. They were so smooth, so fluid, so … perfect. He could only stare at the Menelaus's execution, carried out by the unknown pilot. But along with admiration he also felt fear. Not the obvious-deadliness-of-the-pilot fear, but more like hidden, subconscious fear, streaming from the machine in all directions, flowing trough him and settling somewhere deep inside. It felt like his view on the whole world had changed forever. As if he had witnessed the creation of a masterpiece that would amaze the entire world for generations to come. It felt wonderful and frightening at the same time.
When he finally regained control over his body, he wasted little time high tailing it for the Archangel. He knew it full well that he was no match for a pilot like that. The guy had just wiped out the biggest ship the EA had and had made it look like a child's play. No way was he going to remain in such hostile territory. He would be killed before he knew what was going on. Ravens are the Primal Threat. These words repeated themselves in his mind like a never ending mantra. No wonder that Controller thing wanted them dead. And he couldn't help notice that Ravens were mentioned in plural, as in they were more than one. He had no idea how many were there, but just this one was more than enough for him.
Gunning the booster as fast as he could, Daniel aimed for the Archangel, expecting a shot in the back at every second. Luckily for him, it didn't come, so he was able to safely land right next to Mu's Zero. The Mobile Armor was the first to make it to safety, only Kira in his Strike remained. After landing, Daniel risked a glance back and what he saw made him swallow. Hard. The Nine Ball, was far above them, gradually increasing the distance between them as it tried to escape the gravity pull. But the scary thing was that the AC was "looking" at him. Not the ship, not the Mobile Armor, him. The empty feeling increased tenfold when the AC pointed its left hand at him and made a gesture as if firing a gun. It didn't take a genius to figure out what that meant. He would have continued to stare back at the red and black machine if he hadn't heard Kira's voice across the international channel.
"No! Don't shoot!" He looked just in time to see the Duel aiming at the Menelaus's shuttle with its beam rifle, while Strike tried to intercept the attack with its shield. Fruitlessly. The beam speared trough the small transport and a large fireball came into existence as the shuttle was destroyed. The explosion was strong enough to hurl the Strike far away from the Archangel and the planned landing course.
A/N - Okay, the 8th Fleet has been wiped out and the first AC has finally made its appearance. I hope that the battle scenes were satisfactory, since I've always considered my ability to write a decent action part somewhat lacking. Anyway, I feel like I have to explain one thing, namely, how overpowered the Hustler One appeared. Well, there's a reason for that, in Armored Core universe, Hustler One is something of a legend and is often considered THE pilot of ACs, therefore I felt justified in 'boosting" him up a little. However, bear in mind that no one's unbeatable and Hustler One (whoever that guy is...) is no exception ... I think.
- Asmus