SHENANDOAH VALLEY
September 24, UC 0079
0929 Hours
To the south of Luray, nestled in the mountains, were small villages. With the mass-emigration to space of the past several decades, these tiny hamlets had become ghost towns, and inconsequential to the advancing Magella Eins and Type-61s.
Little did any of their crews anticipate the coming of a small, silver weight-like robot weaving between the columns. It easily ripped the hatch of an unlucky Eins open and dropped a little black present inside. It was destroyed in one blast a moment later, with a small, spherical robot scurrying away from the wreckage to reunite with its chunkier partner.
The two robots may not have been able to halt the procession, but they were able to weaken it.
Bombs whistled outside the Gaw as its hangar hatch opened, revealing the morning sky.
"Master Sergeant," a corporal radioed to his superior's cockpit, "do you think we're gonna fare better than the artillery?"
"Not gonna know till we try," team leader Natasha Killgallen replied. "The Anomaly's surrounded by a stone wall. I don't think that can handle a bazooka. Don't you two forget: we're on Earth. Use oxygen bursts to slow descent."
Three Zakus plummeted from the Gaw. Down below, the aircraft's futile handiwork, it had as much effect on the shield that the artillery had. They came down on the west side of the Anomaly, away from the weakened artillery batteries. The twin three-barrel turrets that had pummeled the parkway were just a short walk away in those mobile suits.
"Webb," Killgallen ordered, "acquaint the two guns with your hawk."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Kassab, you come with me. I've got my hawk and I want you to let 'em have a blast."
Killgallen's Zaku leapt like a basketball player making a slam dunk, its heat hawk ready to hack. Down it came, simultaneously with Corporal Kassab's bazooka shot, creating a shower of sparks on impact. She hacked again and again, not making a dent in the shield. "This shield's a nut that won't crack!" she called out. "Focus on the wall!"
"Master Sergeant, this is Webb! The-The turrets are repairing themselves!"
"The wall's fixing itself, too!" Kassab reported, shocked.
Sure enough, she turned to give a good look at the turrets Webb should have had not trouble with, only to see severed barrels dematerialize and rapidly reform where they had cut off, as if nothing had happened. She switched over to the Gaw "Q-15! The alien defenses—!"
Panic on the other end, nobody could hear her."Mayday! Mayday! Port engine's history! Enemy ship on our ten, losing altit—KZZZT!"
Radio static and warning lights filled the cockpit. The Zaku's right arm was getting more and more difficult to move. Killgallen could see why, but she was just as much at a loss to explain why her mobile suit's hull was becoming more and more encased in this crystalline material that seemed to form from out of nothing. The arm became too heavy and broke off.
Outside, the same ice-like substance rapidly encrusted the suit's legs.
Only one question was going through the Master Sergeant's head after this rapid change: What are we up against? As even her camera failed, she couldn't help but notice somebody with a stick on a rope bridge behind the shield.
King Ixis Naugus, free of his pupil's body, aimed his scepter, powered by the violet Chao Emerald, at the green goliath that had attempted to break the shield with some sort of ax. An eerie glow emanated from the rod and the limbs of the cyclops outside became coated with crystal, becoming heavier and heavier, until finally bringing it down. It lost an arm and then its legs. It went down and moved no more.
One could barely describe how the current king looked in this real form. A lobster-like claw, the eyes and ears of a bat, teeth like a bear trap, a single long horn rising from his head, and a thick white beard. In truth, this enitity was a chimera created by the fusion of three separate wizards: Agunus, Suguna, and Nusgau—all of whom continue to contend for control of the rapidly-decaying wizard-king.
Only a handful of horrified Mobians were around to see the faltering monarch's feat.
He was successful, but was out of breath. He lowered the staff, falling to his knees. He tried to support his weight with his arms, but he had used all his strength bringing down the giant. He coughed and wheezed before being floor completely, a shivering shamble of a once-triumphant ruler.
His status was nothing short of pleasing for the three warlocks. "Bravo," said Suguna. "Now you've shown the people you aren't a coward."
"Shut up… shut up… shut up…!"
"Come now," said Nusgau, "we gave you the idea to save your crown."
"If I die, you die," said Naugus, weakly.
"If that's our fate, so be it," said Agunus. "Our last hours will be merry ones."
Defiant, he battled his body in an effort to stand, using his scepter as a crutch. It would prove to be a short-lived fight. He had become so weak; he'd lost his grip on the rod and it passed into that of gravity's. It went straight to the ground.
He was cheek-down on the bridge again, totally immobile. No… need… my scepter…
The bridge shook from approaching footsteps. The wiggling logs would be the last thing Naugus would see before blacking out.
The White Base's first act in this new battle was a single salvo from her main gun. It connected with the Gaw detected about ten minutes ago, knocking out its port wing. It rapidly descended into the mountains, finally erupting into a column of flames on impact.
"Well that was lucky," Bright remarked.
"Yeah, well, our work's going to be cut out for us when we get to that valley!" Reed snarled.
"Lieutenant Bright," Sally said, looking squarely ahead, "the city's not going to know what to make of us. They could think it's an Eggman ship or something. If they hear my voice, you won't have to worry about them attacking us."
"If cleaning Zeon out of the valley doesn't do that first," Bright added.
"IF you clean them out," Reed grumbled.
Bright turned to the communications panel. "Sayla, patch me in with the hangars."
Amuro appeared in a window on the main screen, already in his normal suit, but without a helmet. His expression was very… Amuro, if you know what it means by now.
"Amuro," said Bright, "do you think you can take them?"
"It doesn't matter what I think," the boy responded, "I have to, don't I?"
Yesterday, he didn't want to fight all, Bright thought, now he's passive-aggressive about the whole thing. Not sure if you can call it progress.
Suddenly, Hayato poked his head into the whole thing. He was also in his normal suit. "Mr. Bright," he said. "Guntank-3 is repaired. We might do better against those airborne units you reported. Amuro wouldn't have to work as hard, either."
"I give my permission," said Reed, "only if it can drive out the enemy."
How should I know, Bright thought, frowning.
Another window opened, this time the cockpit of Kai's Guncannon-2.
"Kai," said Bright, "you and the Guncannons are going to provide ranged support."
"I guess my opinion's got nothing to do with anything," Kai quipped, "but look, Mr. Bright, all I'm gonna do is fire my guns from underneath White Base. That's it. We're not gonna get our pensions if we kick the bucket now, will we?"
Sally rolled her eyes. Am I going to bang my head against a wall every time this guy opens his mouth?
Bright sighed, in a time like this, it was up for debate if Kai's mouth was preferable to Amuro's attitude. "I'll handle the paperwork. All hands, prepare for launch! I'm counting on you!"
In a small room beneath New Mobotropolis, three figures had gathered: Harvey Who, Charles Hedgehog, and NICOLE. Not too long ago, the city was rocked by a sudden shock. NICOLE's sensors deduced that the bomber that dropped those green monsters off on their doorstep was the cause. A different vehicle, a large white one brought it down. A friendly move, it would seem, but nobody was ready to roll out the welcome mat.
"Those giant machines have attempted to break through the wall and also tried to destroy the guns," the holo-Lynx said. "Repairs were swift, and apparently the King destroyed one with his magic."
"I've heard," said Uncle Chuck. "They found him unconscious in the Bright Tree district immediately after. He's still alive, but he's been rushed to Tommy Turtle, IC unit."
"I understand that Heavy and Bomb of Team Freedom have been out in the field fighting the tanks?" Who asked.
"Yes, sir," said Sally.
"Operative Betty informed me of incoming helicopters, arriving any second," he said. "Ten to fifteen, she says. What countermeasures will you be able to provide?"
A loud string of whistle-like beeps rang out denying an answer. A holographic window appeared over the conference room. The white ship was in the valley! The two doors in its front legs were opened and a trio of titans came out of the one on the port side. They were of similar size as the two remaining green ones, but were red, not green. One of them didn't descend into the valley as gracefully as the other two, but it tried. One different unit came out of the starboard hangar. It appeared to be a torso on treads with artillery guns on its shoulders.
As if the Anomaly wasn't trouble enough, the arrival of the Federation warship was more than enough to wreck Ulmer's morning. When that Gaw dropped off the Zakus, it appeared things would get easier, but they didn't. Whereas the aliens seemed to be trying to scare his men away, the Feddies were going to do much more. Their Guncannons and one Guntank had been deployed.
As if something out of a goofball silent comedy from the late Middle Ages, one Guncannon tumbled out and, as if by accident, took out one of the two remaining Zakus with a cannon-shot to the groin. The other didn't last that much longer either.
Dopps swarmed the ship like flies on a corpse. Meanwhile, the Gunship Helis had shown up.
"Ricci," Ulmer said into his walkie-talkie, "ignore the Anomaly for now. Focus on the Feddie ship. Moore's Magella Attacks are heading our way."
"Did you see that, Amuro?" said Hayato. "Kai took out his first Zaku."
Helpful, for once, Amuro thought. He called up the shaft to his partner. "Hayato, remember to use the HG shells on the aerial units!"
"I know."
That was the game plan: Amuro would shoot up all the tanks in the area and Hayato would work the air. Thankfully, they weren't having as much trouble with the ground forces. Someone had taken out a few them earlier.
No sooner did Hayato splash a Dopp did the Guntank rock.
The Gunship Helis had arrived, and they'd just gotten a housewarming gift from them. Amuro aimed the right BOPS gauntlet at them, but it wasn't as effective against the swift whirlybirds.
Bright came in over the lasercomm. "All hands, on our four! Tank reinforcements inbound."
Kai felt like vomiting. By some miracle he'd taken down a Zaku on his own, but there was still a shitload of Dopps, choppers, and now more tanks! He could barely roll out of the way for their missiles. He was like a cornered mouse.
A small wall of Magella Attacks emerged from the side of the hill. He fired his Beam Rifle like crazy, screaming his head off. But he would be given no peace of mind: he soon discovered that the bodies of the tanks were destroyed, but the turrets detached easily and functioned like little planes.
The flights of about half of them were cut short by Amuro and Hayato's Guntank. A third went down from a burst from Kai's Vulcans. If there's a God out there, he thought, mortified by the warzone, He either hates me or He has a humiliation fetish.
A salvo of rockets hit the side of the starboard hangar, rocking the ship.
"Hard a-port, Mirai!" Bright ordered, "we need to hit that battery!"
"Bright, we can't take much more of this!" said Reed, on the verge of tears. "We got Zeek all over this ship! We've gotta retreat!"
"We can't retreat!" said Sally. "Not now!"
"You watch your mouth, you little fuzzball!" Reed barked. "You aren't in the Federation military!"
"The princess is right," said Bright. "If we tried to withdraw now, the enemy would be in an even better position to sink us! We're going to have to break them!"
"Do you want a court martial!?"
"Do whatever you want," Bright snapped. "We're doing whatever it takes to win." The gun placements on the parkway erupted in pink blossoms, colored in such a way through Minovsky radiation.
"Look at it this way, Lieutenant Reed," said Sally "there's no more Zakus and we've just hit those long-range guns!"
"Well, there's still all these Gunship Helis and Dopps," Reed countered.
A line was patched to the Guntank. It had taken a beating, and needed to be called back in ASAP. "Amuro," said Bright, "return to the ship. We're transferring you to the Gundam. That Guntank's just too slow."
"Roger."
Bright then turned to Marker and Oscar's platform. "Any more enemy reinforcements detected?"
"Negative," Marker reported.
"See, Lieutenant?" said Sally, still irked by his defeatism. "We're not out of the game yet!"
The elevator opened. Sonic, Bunnie, and Tilly entered. The ship had taken a couple of hits, but unlike Reed, the trio stayed calm.
"One hell of a 'Welcome Home' party out there," Sonic remarked.
"Hardly," said Sally. She lowered her tone until it was under her breath. "I can honestly say that Antoine at his most timorous is more levelheaded than Lieutenant Reed, here."
Sonic busted a gut at the thought. He'd seen a little bit of the guy's hysterics last night, but to hear this!
"I wasn't being funny," she said, flatly.
A window popped up on the screen, it was a line from the starboard hangar. "Mr. Bright, Guntank-3 is safely aboard."
Unable to fight, Amy Rose and Big the Cat had come together at the home of their friend Cream the Rabbit and her mother Vanilla. Even though they all had a shield over their heads, the bombardment was enough to reduce the little bunny to tears. She had it really bad when at big airplane flew over, but not so much now. With the passage of time, things seemed to become less loud, less scary.
No bullet or bomb was going to get through to her, so Amy ran out of the cottage to see what all was going on.
A white ship hovered to the south of the city, fending off a swarm of planes and helicopters, while the weakened artillery on the mountainsides were aiming for the large vehicle.
Something descended from the vessel, a white giant joining the fight alongside a trio of red giants. Loud bursts from the sides of its head brought down a bunch of those helicopters quickly. Turning its attention to the south, it aimed is massive gun where one unit of artillery was barely holding out. A pink streak ripped through the air, hitting the distant ridge. It turned eastward, and with a huge, rocket-boosted leap, came down hard on it, firing off its head-mounted cannons.
Soon, the pitiful remnants of tanks, choppers, and fighters broke ranks and hurried out of the area. One of the red giants out in the field pursued the tanks a short distance, firing off its rifle, an energy-based weapon of some sort, making the same effect as the white one's.
The battle had ended.
Every able Mobian came out of hiding to see the huge, equine vessel that was slowly descending into the large clearing outside the wall. The city was as silent as a cemetery.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, a voice boomed through the valley: "Attention citizens of New Mobotropolis! Do not be alarmed. This is Princess Sally Acorn. I have returned!"
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Two intentional references were made, one to Journey to Jaburo for the PS2 and another from Forrest Gump (one of Lt. Dan's lines from the jungle battle scene). I wasn't intending it, but Sally channeled Anavel Gato in Gundam 0083 (or, given the current circumstances, Earth: Three Years Later).
Since this was a somewhat new location, I worked in a bit from the Kondo manga, namely Amuro and Hayato in the Guntank.