April 1st, 70 CE. 2:00 A.M Colonial Standard. AFS Woodrow Wilson. Admiral Eugene Booth POV.
When Admiral Eugene Booth had been given command of the recently created Earth Orbital Taskforce with the objective of eliminating the approaching ZAFT fleet, one that seemed to consist of over half of all known ZAFT warships, he had been ecstatic. In a single battle he would be able to exterminate tens of thousands of those disgusting Patchworkers and turn the tide of the war into a total victory for the Atlantic Federation and the Alliance. Through his hands, a Blue and Pure world would be created.
While the Coordinators may have had the upper hand so far, it was only due to the superiority of their abominable genes as well as the idiotic political deadlock that Washington, Beijing, Moscow, and Pretoria continued to engage in after the righteous fires of Junius Seven. Admittedly, the quality of the GINN may have also played a role as each passing day was proving Halberton's doctrine of Mobile Suits to be far superior to the current Mobile Armors.
Even still, there would be absolutely no way for the Coordinators to win the upcoming battle thanks to the overwhelming 7 to 1 numerical advantage that the OMNI coalition had over ZAFT's fleet. Not only had they come out in full force, Booth had been given control of thousands of nukes to use at his discretion. A Natural victory was a foregone conclusion!
At least, until whatever the hell happened two hours ago. Upon the beginning of April 1st at Greenwich time, tens of thousands of servicemen across the various fleets had gone into some sort of shocks and seizures. Everyone who was afflicted was screaming like a maniac, many from the reports screeching of dying or impossible events that never happened. Booth had witnessed a number of men and women directly under him who went into shock, the most distinctive being an Ensign who assaulted him while proclaiming that ZAFT was going to massacre them all if he didn't order the fleet back to Luna.
Absolute madness!
As if the breakdown of the fleet wasn't enough, they had also received reports from Earth on military networks and civilian news channels that whatever happened here also was going down on the planet, tens of millions of individuals screeching and falling into unconsciousness, causing a general collapse of order in many areas. And if that wasn't enough, Booth had just received reports of Luna of new groupings in space. Two military asteroids along with a grand fleet stationed in Ls 4 and 5, along with hundreds of colonies suddenly appearing in L2.
'Those goddamn Coordinators!' Cursed Booth.
All signs had to point to them. The fleet was crippled just as they were about to meet this Earth invasion force. Not only had every member of the Alliance been afflicted with a terrible disease that seemed to be of an even greater efficiency than the Coordinator-concocted S2 Flu, but the neutral nations had been inflicted as well. An unknown fleet not only appears to protect the PLANTs, but one appears right ontop of the East Asian ghettos with the Lunar Cities facing a gun towards them with these mysterious colonies that the Coordinators created.
As disastrous as the situation was, it only strengthened Booth's resolve to wipe out the patchworkers and free mankind from these wicked Ubermensch, a mission that needed to succeed soon or else the Naturals would be wiped out by whatever disease the PLANTs had recently unleashed.
It was for this reason that Booth was currently in conference with the leaders of the Orbital Taskforce, the three other highest ranking Admirals of the nations taking part.
"If there is no opposition to the plan proposed then I would suggest that we end this conference and proceed with the reorganization of the fleet." Booth said.
The plan he was referring to was an emergency reorganization of the fleet to deal with the current losses brought about by the Coordinator's biological attack. While there were thankfully no confirmed fatalities, tens of thousands were now unconscious while only a few had managed to wake up. What's worse was that the attack seemed to be disproportionately targeting Mobile Armor pilots, with thousands of pilots across the fleet now incapacitated. While thankfully there were still enough pilots on hand to provide a comparative advantage, it was still enough of a blow to allow ZAFT to drag the battle out longer.
For now the reorganization of the fleet ran as such. Any ship that had a number of casualties greater than 15%, had more than 20% of its mobile armor pilots incapacitated, or had most of its officers and critical personnel incapacitated would be taken out of action. In the end this would raise their total number of ships that would have to withdraw back to Luna at 571. This brought their numbers from previously 6,225 to 5,654. Within the next few hours, they would need to do an emergency evacuation to ship all incapacitated crew members from the active fleet to the retreating fleet. It was a logistical nightmare but something had to be done if they were to prevent a second Victoria.
"I still don't believe that we should wait for reinforcements from the moon. If ZAFT was able to launch a biological attack of this magnitude along with their creation of these new stealth fleets, then we must increase our numbers until the possibility of defeat is below zero." Stated the East Asian Admiral Fang Tao.
"We cannot possibly wait any longer than necessary to consolidate our fleet. By the time we have consolidated our fleet, ZAFT may have well begun their second invasion of Victoria, or possibly Gibraltar. The trajectory of their fleet shows an attack on either Europe or Africa. Given this biological attack, we cannot discount the possibility of Mass Drivers being the only targets." Said the Eurasian Admiral Erich Meisel, most likely worried for the safety of his nation as a likely potential target. Although Booth's own Atlantic Federation would be no safer with the British states at heavy risk.
"I concur with Admiral Meisel, every second that we delay is another second for the stealth fleets to move and provide reinforcements. We will most likely not be able to expect any reinforcements from Luna at the moment with the L2 fleet breathing down their necks." Said the South African Admiral Matee Numbala.
"It is for those precise reasons why we must proceed with the operation. In order to ward off the stealth fleets and protect the moon and L4, all assets must remain in their ports, in other words we are alone. If we do not act quickly then who knows what calamity the Coordinators shall unleash upon the Earth. Nuclear weapons, a kinetic bombardment, maybe some sort of new variation of the Black Plague that their labs have concocted, anything is on the table with the recent attack. We must meet the invaders head on and wipe them out so that Luna shall be free to deal with L2. The future of the Earth and its people are at stake today. If we die we die as heroes. If we wait longer then necessary then we shall be remembered as cowards who let our planet cowards. No, is there any opposition?" Booth said.
Seeing that he was both outnumbered and that they needed to act now, Fang begrudgingly gave his assent.
"Good. I want the reorganization to be done no later than 0500. Afterwords we must be at total readiness until we have engaged the enemy. Booth out." Booth said, logging off of the video chat.
Before he could attend to the rest of his fleet, Booth opened up a secret program on his terminal that would open up a channel to all Blue Cosmos affiliated ships within the grand fleet. While most of the Blue Cosmos ships were from his own portion in the Atlantic Fleet (though unfortunately a majority of the Atlantic fleet was commanded by moderates or race traitor progressives), there was a small but sizable number from Eurasia, East Asia, and South Africa. After today there would be no doubt that the ranks of Blue Cosmos throughout the entire Alliance would swell to unseen heights.
After a few minutes of typing, Booth submitted a command file to the Blue Cosmos ships. Within the files were a series of instructions on how to deal with the ZAFT fleet, more specifically for there to be absolutely no quarter given and a highly liberal usage of nuclear strikes outside of the necessary fleet orders. Any ZAFT ships or suits that attempted to surrender would be executed unless Blue Cosmos personnel were surrounded by unaffiliated units that would prevent "warcrimes". Even then Booth was confident that through the influence of Azrael and his contemporaries in the other sponsor nations that they could limit any indictments in military tribunals.
With the orders submitted, Booth exited his office to take command of the fleet on the bridge of the Wilson. Throughout the journey he wore a predatory grin on his face.
'For the preservation of our blue and pure world.'
April 1st, 70 CE. 2:30 A.M Colonial Standard. ZAFT Vincent Ogé. Admiral Rahil Sing POV
"Sir, why are the Naturals just...sitting there." Asked the Blackcoat sitting next to Rahil in the XO chair, Malcolm Dupree, a Black Coordinator who hailed from the Atlantic Federation before finding refuge in the PLANTs.
"I have absolutely no idea. Most likely their waiting to connect with their new stealth fleets. Even still, one would think that the threat of an attack on Earth would drive them to move forward." Said the Whitecoat and provisional Admiral, Rahil Sing.
The reason why Rahil had been one of the few chosen to have the honor of becoming a Whitecoat, as well as being the choice to lead Operation Uroboros, was due to him being one of the few Coordinators in ZAFT to have military experience before its formation. This was due to Rahil's previous years of service in the Indian Navy. When he left he was a Lieutenant Commander and could've climbed far higher. Unfortunately, the extremely hostile atmosphere within the Equatorial Union after the S2 outbreak made his voluntary exile to the PLANTs with his family the safest option.
In Rahil's opinion, the whole color coded ranking system implemented by the Supreme Council was nothing but pure idiocy by politicians who had no concept of warfare. Most of the councilmen believed that ZAFT only existed as a militia force, that the color ranks would help keep individuality and not install a sense of harsh order that was imposed by the Sponsor nations. Rahil knew better, that even if the war was won by tomorrow that the PLANTs would still need ZAFT as any peace would only be a temporary truce until the next inevitable conflict with Earth. Because of this, ZAFT needed to be reformed into a permanent volunteer force with proper ranks and organization. Patrick Zala seemed to be the only member of the council who shared his vision for the future, which was why Rahil firmly supported his leadership as Defense Chairman.
"But why would they need to connect to their stealth fleets? The Natural's orbital fleet stopped their movement at midnight, which was when the stealth fleets revealed themselves. Shouldn't they have planned beforehand to have the fleets link up with them, or have the stealth fleets attack us when we leaked Uroboros?" Challenged Malcolm.
"Maybe the stealth fleets just can't connect with them and whatever happened at Midnight screwed up their engines, not just their stealth systems." Rahil offered as an explanation.
"That doesn't explain why they would park their fleets in L2 or L4. There's nothing of value there." Malcolm said.
"If there's one thing that I learned during my time in the EU, it's that military alliances are extremely fickle partnerships. The Alliance could've launched another strike after Bloody Valentine, but they choose to sit on their asses because they didn't think ahead enough of what to do after they committed genocide against our people. It may be entirely possible that the stealth fleets were created by a single nation without the knowledge of the others and Lunar Command is freaking out over that instead of focusing on us. It's been sixty years since the Reconstruction War, not even the lowly private who was commissioned before the final battles is still left in service. The Alliance as it stands is led by idiot greenhorns and genocidal Blue Cosmos. They walked into this war thinking they could wipe us out. When we stood defiant, they froze and ran away like the cowardly bastards they are. With this being the case victory is assured in the coming weeks after Uroboros." Rahil promised.
While his answer satisfied Malcom, it still did not bring up the big question that was hanging over the fleet for the past few hours, with each passing minute closing the distance to Earth necessitating a decisive action.
"Sir...are we still proceeding with Uroboros on schedule?" Malcolm asked, prompting a sigh from Rahil.
While Uroboros was going to happen no matter what, as it had to in order to end the war, the exact timing of the operation would be critical to how much of the Alliance's fleets would be wiped out after today.
The original plan called for the fleet to begin the dropping of the N-Jammers as well as the deployment of the Terrestrial Divisions just as the Alliance Orbital Fleet made contact with them. This would allow ZAFT to be given the element of surprise with the N-Jammer, catching the Alliance ships entirely unaware with their nuclear reactors and drives shut down, allowing the battle to become a turkey shoot that would see thousands of Alliance vessels turned into nothing more than debris.
If Uroboros began well before contact was made with the Orbital Fleet, then it would be possible for the Orbital vessels to be made aware of the nature of the N-Jammers and chose not to partake in battle, robbing Sahil and the hundreds of ships under his command of a prime opportunity to wipe out as much as a fifth of the Alliance's presence in space. Or more precisely, a fifth if one would discount the newly revealed stealth fleets.
Rahil sat in contemplation for a minute, trying to run through all possible scenarios to choose the path best suited for victory. Upon deciding how to proceed, he spoke.
"We shall delay our ETA for one hour then proceed to the drop points. No matter what, eliminating the Alliance's energy grid takes greater precedence. While the loss of thousands of ships would be a devastating blow, the Alliance clearly cannot continue with this war if they have no industry to replace losses and cannot feed or house their own civilian populations. I also don't want to keep the Africans waiting, we have to keep Gibraltar in mind." Rahil said with Malcolm nodding.
While the African Community would focus most of its efforts on preserving infrastructure and reconnecting power to their territories inflicted by Uroboros, the African Navy would conduct an amphibious invasion of the Gibraltar Mass Driver. The vanguard of the invasion would be an orbital assault by the GINN landing teams. Without them, there was still a chance for Eurasia's Spanish and Portuguese Armies to drive them back.
"We could've easily continued on if Chairman Clyne didn't recall the L1 fleet. They, along with the Lorenz Base could've easily trimmed the Lunar fleets." Complained Malcolm, a slight hint of disgust when mentioning the Supreme Chairman's name.
While Siegel Clyne was beloved by most of the PLANTs as their guiding light to freedom, a growing number within ZAFT were becoming vocal opponents of the Supreme Chairman due to his progressive views on coexistence with the Naturals when they showed nothing but hatred for Coordinators. Such sentiment grew heavily after Bloody Valentine where Clyne, while not continuing to be vocal on his rhetoric after the tragedy, refused to back down from his positions. Were it not for Uroboros, then Clyne would likely have been voted out as Supreme Chairman, with Patrick Zala as his hopeful successor.
"While I am not a fan of the Chairman's order, it is one that is completely understandable. The PLANTs have been on edge ever since Bloody Valentine, and the appearance of the stealth fleet would likely cause chaos if word were to leak. Above all else, we must protect the PLANTs from another nuclear strike. No amount of ships destroyed on the moon are worth a single PLANT getting nuked." Rahil argued.
"But the N-Jammers will give us total victory in battle. No matter how good this stealth tech is, it can't function if it has no power to feed it with the fission reactors shutting down. The homeland fleet can easily wipe them out, they don't need to cripple Uroboros." Malcolm argued passionately, bloodlust evident in his eyes, wishing for as many Alliance ships to die by the end of the day as possible.
"If the Alliance developed this stealth technology without our knowledge and could park an entire asteroid in L5, then there is no telling what other secret toys they have in store. No chances can be taken, in fact the fact that Uroboros as a whole hasn't been scrapped is nothing but a blessing. What's done is done. All that matters is that we carry on with our orders and wipe out the energy grid. If we do that, then those stealth fleets will mean nothing and the war will be over by the end of the month." Rahil said, his tone making it clear that there would be no more debate.
In response Malcolm then turned quiet, though it was evident by his body language that he still had more to say on the matter. It wasn't that Rahil could blame him. While he had plenty of bad memories in India, growing up as a Coordinator in the Equatorial Union was heavenly compared to the cruelties of life as a genetically enhanced citizen of the Atlantic Federation. While Malcolm didn't talk much of his life on Earth, what little he did reveal depicted a bleak and hellish childhood comparable to the experiences of Malcolm's ancestors of the Jim Crow era.
'How ironic that the birth nation of the first Coordinator, one that he was so loyal to until the very end, would be the one that hates our existence the most.' Rahil thought morbidly.
Before he would give out new orders to the fleet, Rahil turned to the ship's communication's officer, "Has there been any word of technical difficulties or general disturbances among the fleet?"
"No sir!", came back the reply.
Pleased that everything was alright, Rahil then issued new orders to the fleet.
April 1st, 70 CE. 4:30 A.M Colonial Standard. ZAFT Giambattista Vico . Heine Westenfluss POV
Inside the confines of his cockpit, Redcoat Heine Westenfleuss sat rared and ready to go for launch. From what he had heard from the Captain, the fleet would begin Operation Uroboros within the hour. Soon after the first landings of the N-Jammers and ZAFT's Terrestrial Expeditionary Forces, they would enter into battle with the approaching OMNI fleet, using the power of the N-Jammers to wipe them out and force the beginning of the end of this war.
Currently Heine was in a state of increasing anxiety, though he would never admit or show it to his teammates to keep up the image of the calm and cool Redcoat that he liked to impose on those around him. It was not the prospect of going into battle itself, of taking one's life and risking your own, that caused Heine to be nervous. He had already fought and drawn blood in this short conflict multiple times, most notably at Yggdrasil, a battle they should've won if it weren't for the efforts of the damned Zero squadron, two of Heine's own teammates falling to the orange bastards. No, what bothered him about this upcoming operation was the nature of the mission itself, how Uroboros would wipe out most of the planet's energy grid and leave over half of the population without power.
Unlike some progressives within the ranks of ZAFT who believed that the war should be conducted in an honorable fashion, Heine was no fool and saw that the atrocity that was Junius Seven needed to be avenged. ZAFT not only had to avenge the colony, but they had to strike back at the Alliance harder and ensure that Earth would never dare think of nuking another PLANT again. When it came to those objectives alone, Uroboros was sure to be a total victory. Yet, was ZAFT about to go too far?
'Any victory after this will have been for nothing if hatred still exists within the souls of Naturals.' Heine thought remorsefully.
While most thought that Uroboros would be a quick and easy victory, one obtained through a "bloodless" method unlike the mass destruction of nuclear warfare, Heine had done the numbers on his own and found disturbing results. Even if the war were to end by May 1st and ZAFT helped the defeated Alliance to clear the N-Jammers, millions at minimum would die from the lack of power and the global economy would enter into total freefall from the absence of a month's production.
While ZAFT will undertake Uroboros as a just response to Bloody Valentine, the people of Earth will hardly see it in such a manner. They will compare the two based on numbers alone and argue that Uroboros was little more than mass genocide, a warcrime on an equal scale to the Kashmir nuclear strikes. In return they shall double down on Bloody Valentine and erase any opposition, justifying it as a strategic strike meant to cripple the PLANTs and a just response to the so-called "Copernicus Dirty Bombing."
'Dirty Bombing my ass.' Heine thought with revulsion. The Coordinators of the PLANTs didn't have to use their enhanced intelligence to easily figure out that the bombing was most likely a false flag birthed by Blue Cosmos. They had the most to gain from such an event, while anyone who knew anything of Siegel Clyne's character would know that the "Stalwart Shield" of the PLANTs would never dare to commit such a heinous crime when he had spent most of his life to secure peaceful existence of the Coordinators through non-violence.
In the end, facts didn't matter in an age where humanity was fueled by emotion and passion, keeping them from unlocking their full genetic potential over frivolous excuses. There was no such thing as universal adoration or love. For even when there exists the most noble, righteous, and good people; there would always be evil who would be ready to strike them down.
"Westenfluss Team. Admiral Sing has given us the green light. Operation Uroboros is at a go. Standby and prepare for launch." Heine's thoughts were interrupted by the ship's captain, informing him that the time to wait was over and the operation to end the war was to begin.
Readying himself quickly, Heine moved his GINN to the front of the hanger, the ship's mechanics scurrying to attack the launch cable to his suit so he could make his exit. His five teammates followed his lead and took their positions.
Wanting to give his subordinates one last pep talk, Heine opened the communications line, "Friends, we are about to embark in the greatest battle to ever take place in human history. Hours from now, the Earth Alliance shall experience total defeat as their industry collapses and their fleets are wiped out. Generations from now, our legacies shall live on as heroes who laid the foundation for the prosperity of the PLANTs and the freedom of Coordinators throughout the Earth sphere. Our grandchildren shall look to us as the greatest generation, men and women who made their lives of peace possible. Today we walk towards the battlefield as soldiers, tomorrow we shall leave as legends. The end of the war starts now, and it shall be a glorious tale to last to the end of time. For ZAFT!"
"For ZAFT!" His teammates yelled in high enthusiasm. Satisfied that his talk had done its intended purpose, Heine tuned out the bursting chatter to focus on his launch, the hanger doors having already opened and the mechanics signalling him to get into position.
In the end, Heine's thoughts and contemplations would mean little to the outcome of the war. The repercussions of Uroboros would be left to the Supreme Council. Under Chairman Clyne peace would soon be obtained and Heine had no doubts that the Stalwart Shield would do everything in his power to help Earth recover and ease the hatred brought about by this terrible war. It would be no easy task, and it would be one that would likely take years. Maybe, just maybe, everything would work out in the end and a future could be created where all Coordinators could exist without suffering hatred for their genes.
For now, Heine had a job to do. To eliminate as many Alliance units as possible and to ensure the success of Uroboros. With every Alliance member he killed, it would bring in return one child from the PLANTs who will never have to experience the cruelty of war and be able to live a life of peace and happiness.
The launch sign turned green, and with it Heine kicked his mobile suit into light, vernier engines roaring. "Heine Westenfluss, GINN. Taking off!"
His GINN accelerated heavily and launched itself away from the Nazca-class, the magnetic catapult launching him into the void of space. Towards the battlefield where he would become a legend as the Orange Blitz.
A/N: First off in the chapter we have the POV of Eugene Booth, an OC Atlantic Federation Admiral who is unfortunately one of many with secret allegiance to Blue Cosmos,. While my interpretation of the Alliance wont be as ludicrously and cartoonish as they were in Destiny, they certainly won't be white knights in shining armor with Booth being a clear example of the worst that they have to offer. At this point Blue Cosmos doesn't have complete and total control of the Alliance, or even the Atlantic Federation, but their reach is far and deep with the war presenting a prime opportunity for radicalization of the population so they can take control. Whether Blue Cosmos shall be dominant by the end, or experience a dramatic downfall, shall be explored as we move forward.
Then we shift forward to ZAFT's perspective with Rahil Sing's POV and his conversation with his subordinate Malcolm Dupree, both of which are my OC's. Sing and Dupree exist to offer a wider viewpoint of ZAFT beyond the Le Creuscet team and other mobile pilots, and moving forward they shall be major players within the war. For some who may wonder why Sing has the title of "Admiral", it is only a provisional rank to give him temporary command of what is currently half of the ZAFT Space Force. After Uroboros commands he shall just be given command of the Vincent Oge along with a much smaller fleet, though still high ranking within ZAFT and in Patrick's good graces.
Lastly we have the appearance of Best Boi Heine. Along with Lunamaria and Meyrin, Heine was my favorite character in Destiny as he was one of the few members of the cast who was a regular person and not a trope. Plus he had an extremely likable personality and looked to have great leadership potential. I could definitely see him reforming Shin into shape had he survived where Athrun's method is slap and berate, only pushing Shin further away and not getting the message through. It's a shame that Destiny killed off one of its best and only high points due to Fukuda's weird fixation on killing off J-Pop VA's. Here Heine will be a main character on ZAFT's side, and let's just say that with Le Creuscet being out of the action for now, he's got some new doors opening for him. Lastly to answer a Guest review, Side 7 was not transported to the Cosmic Era. It's just that Zeon looked at L3 and saw a single O'Neil colony along with an asteroid, and simply assumed that it was Side 7 along with Luna II that came along for the ride. Both are back in the Universal Century.
Next time shall be Operation Uroboros and the beginning of the Bloody Valentine War's escalation. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!