April 8th, 70 CE. Egyptian Sahara, African Community. Andy Waltfeld POV.
"You can either do your duty Waltfeld, go out there and wipe out those Naturals, or you can sit on your ass here and show everyone how much of a damned coward and traitor to the cause you are Waltfeld! What's it gonna be?" Demanded the current commander of the ZAFT Terrestrial Division, Whitecoat Muhammad Bahar, a man who was chosen for the job primarily due to his history with the region as an immigrant from Abu Dabi. The man who he was brutally questioning was Redcoat Andrew 'Andy' Waltfeld, the commander of a contingent of BuCUE's whose main job was to pierce behind enemy lines and wreak havoc on the rear and supplies while the main African force along with ZAFT mobile suits pieced through the front lines in battle.
Andy sighed in frustration and shook his head, not bothering to keep up any appearance of decorum or respect any longer with how much of an brutish ass his commanding officer was being.
The action in question was Operation Dayyamu which was just presented to ZAFT hours ago by their African liasons. Andy had been expecting a rejection so that they wouldn't have to a fight on Earth when they lacked the necessary supplies for attrition and would not receive any support from their spaceborn forces with the looming figure of a nation of Naturals that outnumbered PLANT by 70 to 1, had fusion power, advanced mobile suits, and an industry that on paper appeared to be the equal to any one of the sponsor nations to boot. With a nation of Space Nazis breathing down their neck and having just kicked their asses hard, not to mention a cease fire taking place in less than a week no matter what, surely doing battle on Earth when ZAFT had all the cards on the table for a surrender was not going to happen, right?
Unfortunately it appeared that Andy was one of the few who was able to see the big picture, as the majority of his comrades bursted in excitement and anticipation at finally getting their first personal victory against the evil Alliance during the war with proclamations about how they would be marching into Jerusalem on the 14th, how Eurasia would receive the worst defeat since the Battle of the North Sea, how they would return home as heroes with medals and hot babes and dudes who would be clamoring to be taken to bed.
Only Andy saw the Operation for what it was, a strategically pointless waste of resources that would only add more bodies to the pile and not contribute anything to the upcoming peace talks.
Well, that statement wasn't necessarily true as there were a few men and women in the meeting who had the same mind as him, but they either weren't as vocal as his protests or were meek in their objections due to peer pressure. After the meeting, Andy had pulled Bahar aside to try and privately reason with him, but now it was completely backfiring as Bahar only appeared to be more zealous in private.
"Sir, it's not cowardice if the Supreme Council ordered us to stand our ground and cease operations in the leadup to the cease fire. In case you forgotten, we have literal Space Nazis pointing nukes at the PLANTs?!" Andy said, raising his voice for the first time in the meeting.
Unlike many of his fellow ZAFT servicemen, Andy didn't hate Zeon for Solomon, as ZAFT had been entirely in the wrong for the battle, especially the morons in Intelligence who didn't bother to fact check where hundreds of ships and a giant asteroid truly came from. However, when information came from Zeon about their state, history, and culture, And developed a high dislike for the Principality. It was quite obvious that Zeon was a populist dictatorship who only existed to serve its ruling family, heck from the speeches that he had skimmed from that Gihren guy, he regularly insulted democracy and got soaring applause. The fact that most of their government wore Fascist-inspired uniforms, the Principality was a one-party state, and that they all yelled 'Sieg Zeon!' did nothing to improve Andy's opinion on the state. If half of their obviously propaganda-infused history was true, then perhaps they were victims of Earth Imperialism just as much as ZAFT, that still didn't make Andy comfortable with the existence of a state with fusion nukes and superior MS right next door. At this moment there was no telling if Zeon would embrace Coordination or be of similar minds to Blue Cosmos, but if they were the latter then PLANTs days were numbered, which was why they should NOT be conducting military operations at this point in time!
"First off, the Supreme Council only told us to be on standby, not that we were to never engage in offensive operations. In line with protocol, that means that while I am to nominally stand down, that I am free to take action if I see the right opportunity, and the Africans are giving us the chance to beat a bloody nose on the Naturals and I'm taking it! This is all in-line with the regulations of ZAFT, we're a militia, not a professional army, as such we Whitecoats and Blackcoats have right to act as we see fit on the ground and I am exercising my rights! Besides, the cease fire is going to take place in four days no matter what. Sure we got those Zeon to deal with, but we're on Earth with no ships or Mass Driver to head back into space. Or are you gonna strap some rockets to your BuCUE and fly off to Solomon?" Bahar mockingly asked. Andy gritted his teeth at the response, his self-discipline and desire to be the bigger man preventing him from lashing out in equal maturity.
"Even if we have the ability to carry out this operation, it doesn't mean that we should. Can we win against Eurasia? Sure. But what exactly are we going to get in just four days?" Andy questioned.
"The Suez Canal will fall into Africa's hands with a formal annexation after the conference. With that much of the world's shipping will be wrestled away from Alliance control."
"Ah yes, the Suez Canal, such a valuable commodity when the global economy is increasingly being poured into space with each passing year, with an unprecedented boom in economic investment with Zeon's arrival, not to mention how it has the oh so strategically valuable trait of not dividing any seperating any states of Eurasia from Europe and Russia." Andy replied in a snarkish attitude, causing Bahar to fume.
"The gains made here along with Spain will play a vital role in forcing multiple concessions from Eurasia at the conference that will leave them crippled for a generation." Bahar fought back.
"Even if we somehow steamroll Eurasia completely on the first day and march all the way to Jerusalem, hell why don't we add Damascus, Mecca, or Baghdad into the mix, what does that give us? Hundreds of kilometers of worthless sand and oil, a commodity that is going to go even further down the toilet in value with Zeon's fusion power and Belt access. How the hell is that going to be a major piece at the conference when we already have their energy grid held hostage." Andy Argued.
'Besides, there's something fishy about bloodying the one member of the Alliance who somewhat tolerates us while the Asshole Federation nuked Junius Seven and they don't have any blood on their soil.' Andy thought.
"No matter what we gain at Heliopolis, Dayyamu will be an important showcase of Coordinator superiority. When the Naturals see their ground armies wiped out in addition to their space force and the power of the Neutron Jammer, they will never dare to oppress us or attack the PLANTs again. We can gain generations of peace from this!" Bahar shouted.
Andy groaned as the most likely real reasons for Bahar and the others being so for this pointless operation was increasingly revealed, they just wanted a chance to kill some Naturals before the war was over. Andy wasn't some righteous pacifist and he didn't give a damn about those who wore Alliance uniforms as he saw them as complicit in their crimes against the PLANTs. As such, he would have no qualm with killing whatever number was necessary to secure victory on the field. However, he would only do so in battle and when it was necessary, not shoot them for sport like how his comrades were thinking.
"Ah yes, Coordinator supremacy. While the Alliance would be suicidal to continue the war, they won't just cave in no matter how brutally we beat them. Any eternal peace that you're thinking of has been dead for the past few days ever since Zeon obliterated the fleet we sent against them, a nation of Naturals. If they can do that, then with enough of a rebuild in peacetime then the Alliance will try to copy their model."
"All the more reason for us to cripple them and strengthen our diplomatic position so that they have no chance to turn Heliopolis into a Versailles from which they can rise up and commit genocide on us. As for Zeon, they're an...exception." Bahar reasoned, spitting out the answer in disgust for their defeat. "Those people came from a different timeline with access to wonder tech that we surely would have discovered in a few years. They may have invented stable fusion power a century ago, but we stopped the atom from splitting, recreating their fusion will be a piece of cake. Like I said, it's a different timeline and as such they were only able to match us through different paths taken. Besides, we don't even know if their biologically the same as our Naturals."
"What?" Andy asked, his jaw on the verge of dropping to the floor at how bizarre the statement was.
"Well they did discover stable fusion power in the early 21st century, have a steady stream of colonization all the way to Jupiter, mass replication of beam weaponry, greater industrial capability, and most importantly, their Naturals can pilot mobile suits while no Natural here could operate a GINN. With their greater strength and intellect, perhaps the true reason for the divergence of our timelines is that there's had a more advanced human race in evolution, certainly not equals to us, but more advanced that they were able to have such accomplishments. If Coordinators had been more numerous and around for longer, we could match, if not exceed their science."
At this point Andy was completely flabbergasted at how for someone with a brain designed to have a genius IQ for base intelligence, his commanding officer just spouted nonsense psuedo-science. While Andy could buy that just maybe Universal Century Naturals were physically stronger thanks to their ability to be good MS pilots, the whole superior evolution theory didn't account for why their histories were the exact same until the late Cold War, and why Coordinators, despite being superior, couldn't replicate some of the Universal Century's science and technological advancements in half a century.
"No matter what argument you try to pull Waltfeld, all you're doing is hiding your cowardice. Put away tactics, strategy, and politics, and what have you got to fear? Mobile suits are the future, any mobile suit will crush a linear tank with ease, no matter what not only will we win, but we will suffer little to no losses." Bahar explained.
At those words a fierce anger was lit in Andy's eyes, memories of footage of a disastrous battle, a gloom atmosphere in the wake of great defeat, and his attendance at a funeral without a body to bury or burn came to mind. "If we're so damn superior sir, then why the hell did we lose at Victoria, to a bunch of Natural tanks no less?" Andy questioned coldly.
Andy's question lit a similar fire in Bahar's eyes, He marched straight up to Andy, the two Coordinators standing face to face despite the vast room in Bahar's tent. "Now you listen here Waltfeld, Victoria was a one-time mistake because the fleet abandoned us, we had shit intel, and we had shit leadership. Here their energy is gone, their morale is absolute garbage, they have no radar, they are vastly outnumbered by the Africans, there will be no reinforcements, we control the sea and the skies, their Space Force is hunkering down in the moon like a bunch of turtles! We will win, now like I said, the only question here is are you going to join us as a good soldier of ZAFT, or are you going to run away as a damned coward." Bahar sneered, anger and disgust heavily present in the last sentence.
For many other people, they would likely back down and agree to Bahar's demand and join the good fight, an action that Andy wouldn't really blame for most. For Andy though, he was someone who was made of far sterner stuff and didn't give a damn about isolation or unpopularity if it meant preserving his values and judgement. Andy knew going in that he wouldn't take part in the upcoming operation. He was prepared to give his life in the war, but he wanted to do so for the right reasons at the right time. Not in a second Victoria, not to let himself die because of jingoistic hubris.
"No." Andy simply said, provoking a rising tide of rage within Bahar.
Before Bahar could unleash himself upon Andy, he turned with his back towards the superior officer and made his way to the opening of the tent, before he exited Andy said, "ZAFT regulations may allow you to conduct this operation against the Supreme Council's wishes, but they also allow me as a special forces commander to have the freedom to operate in a manner I see fit so long as it does not contradict the orders of the Supreme Council. This operation has not been condoned by the Supreme Council, and I do not view it as a sound strategic choice to operate in, therefore i refuse to participate. I'll give my subordinates the freedom to volunteer to join if they really want to, but you wont see me join your slaughterhouse."
Andy then quickly marched out of the tent, with a flurry of English and Arabic curses assaulting on him as he left. When Andy got to at least a hundred meters away with the curses no longer being heard, Andy relaxed his form and breath a sigh of relief.
'Well, there's no turning back now. I made my choice, and if they damn me for not being a bloodlusted idiot, so be it.' Andy thought. While there were surely hard consequences to come from this, Bahar could not legally order him into battle thanks to the regulatory bullshit that allowed him to conduct this op. The only way Andy would participate was if he received a direct order from the Council, and considering their makeup of generally rational people and presumed desire to not fuck up and have another Solomon, Andy doubted that such a case would occur, with him hoping heavily that they would prevent Bahar from participating in the operation entirely.
"Mission failed, huh?" Questioned an angelic voice who Andy didn't notice approach with his form being hunched over in exhaustion and eyes closed. Andy opened his eyes and was greeted with one of the most beautiful sights in the world.
"Yeah, Bahar had even less brains than I gave him credit for. If 1 in every 10 whitecoats are like him then I'm not surprised that Solomon happened." Andy responded to his fellow Redcoat and lover Aisha Hamon.
Aisha sported a smile, though it didn't reach her eyes which were a mixture of sympathy and frustration, though it wasn't directed at Andy. "Well Bahar didn't shoot you, so I'd say it was one of the better outcomes."
Aisha's wit brought out a laugh in Andy, relieving some of the stress of the meeting, though that was already accomplished by him being in her presence. "All things considered I wouldn't be surprised if I get a midnight call from one of his boys."
"It's a good thing you've been sleeping with a sidearm in your pillow, for all those desert scorpions." Aisha commented.
"Don't worry, I was intending to keep watch for the scorpions tonight." Andy said, more than catching her meaning. "Best case scenario he tries to crucify me in front of the council and arrange a court martial, but that'll make them aware of this disaster and they'll stop him and the Africans from carrying out the operation. Considering though that this is the same council that attacked a nation of Space Nazis with nukes and mobile suits and thought they were the Alliance, I'm not keeping my hopes up too high." Andy said, with silence then hanging in the air over the increasing reality of the coming days.
The silence was broken by Andy after about fifteen seconds, "You know, you don't have to fall down with me. I'm more than willing to carry the cross and I'm keeping my word on letting the rest of the squad participate. I'm fine if they brand me a coward, you don't have to share the shame."
Aisha's smile then warped into a disapproving frown, "Andrew Waltfeld, are you trying to send me on an operation you repeatedly said was a pointless bloodbath?"
Andy shook his head, "No, that's not it! I don't want you to go out, but at the same time not participating may be even worse of a danger than riding across the Suez. I made my protest and I'll get hell from it, I just don't want you to take the fall."
Aisha then embraced Andy in a hug, causing him to melt into her touch. "Andy, the absolute last thing I want you to be is some macho moron who tries to play the hero and carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. You don't have to push me away, especially into the fires of some jingoistic bullshit. I know you're doing this because of Ben, and if he was here he'd tell you that you're doing the right thing. I don't give a damn what the rest of ZAFT says, and I'm sure a lot of our squad will agree when they listen to you. So no matter what, I'm staying by your side. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it, can't order me around when you have a 50/50 shot of getting into a court martial." Aisha said.
Andy chuckled and returned her embrace. "I don't deserve someone as amazing as you." He said.
"Yes you do. Now let's be cowards together."
The two continued their embrace for a short while then broke apart to prepare for the consequences of their coming defiance and try to warn as many of their comrades not to take part in Dayyamu. The events of the Operation would prove Andy's choice of action to be the correct one.
April 10th-14 70 CE. Sinai Peninsula. Third Person POV
At approximately 8 am, Cairo time, the Egyptian sands that made up the African-Eurasian border were set ablaze with the firing of thousands of African artillery upon the Eurasian positions, with the Eurasian guns rising to the occasion after a minute.
When Africa had launched their surprise invasion of Spain, skirmishes had broken out among the Eurasian strip on the west bank of the Suez, but no movement had been made within the first nine days. Eurasia was suffering greatly from the loss of power throughout much of the nation and with the Space Force running around like headless chickens due to the devastating loss in orbit and Zeon, the Eurasians could do nothing but hold their ground. For the Africans, while they sought to make Eurasia bleed, they could not march on the canal due to a majority of resources being concentrated in Uganda and Spain, while they also had to wait on the reinforcement of ZAFT's 2nd Terrestrial Division, which was still in the process of trying to establish itself on Earth.
With the news of the upcoming cease fire and the peace conference at Heliopolis on the 22nd, the Suez front had settled to a state of near silence that could not turn into true quiet due to the rattle of machine gun fire every minute. With Eurasia trying desperately to preserve the home front and ZAFT support unable to arrive in large quantities as promised due to the presence of Zeon, the Africans and Eurasians settled down and had high hopes that no matter what happened in the conference, the war would most likely be over soon and they could return to their families.
This is what would have happened were it not for the greed of President Kwame Bujine, who desperately sought to perform a grand conquest of the Suez canal to push the Eurasians out of Africa and bring glory to the Community, a nation which for most of the Cosmic Era had been looked down by the superpowers as a pitiful backwards second-world state with delusions of grandeur.
Under any normal circumstances, an offensive by the Community would have been suicidal with the Eurasian Army holding firm and then after a few days to receive reinforcements from the nearby Arabian, Israeli, Mesopotamian, and Anatolian Army Groups, they would have launched an counter-offensive and conquer Cairo within a week or two. Unfortunately for Eurasia, the very unique circumstances of the war lead the fight to be even.
With order collapsing across Eurasia, the reserve units were deployed to the nearest urban centers while the regular army units had to stay put and regain control over the immediate vicinity in cooperation with law enforcement. With the crisis at hand, the Eurasian 33rd Army, more colloquially known as the Suez Army, would be receiving no reinforcement. Logistics was an absolute nightmare for extended engagement as nearly all factories were shut down with transportation being dead due to clogged roads and silent mag trains. 15% of munitions had already been used in the prior nine days, making every bullet count. The 33rd Army could receive no naval support due to all ships either being stuck in port or adrift at sea since the Eurasian fleet was fission-powered. Worst of all was the huge drop in morale, with the once excited soldiers who expected the war to be over by Christmas now depressed and beset with worry at the fate of their families, defeatism rising over news of the destruction in orbit while the existence of Zeon brought heavy confusion across all ranks.
For the African Community, their Egyptian Army Group was already among the best of the best due to the expectation of being among the many frontlines to ward off Eurasian aggression in case of conflict. The Africans outnumbered their Eurasian counterparts 2.5 to 1 with 1.5 million to 600,000. They had full naval supremacy and with the shift in deployments had air superiority with an outnumbering of 1.8 to 1. Reinforcements were incoming from three corps in Benghazi, the middle Nile, and the Red Sea respectively. They still had near unlimited power from their unmolested fission plants in Western and Central Africa. Greatest of all benefits was the addition of the ZAFT Terrestrial Division with 247 mobile weapons taking part.
However, the battle was not one to be decided for Africa at the start. They just had four days to implement a heavily rushed blitzkrieg strategy and any delays or pauses in the campaign could bring the potential for a collapse. While they were numerically inferior, the Eurasians had technological superiority to meet quantity with quality. The Eurasian Army had an extensive network of fortifications from Port Said to Eilat comparable to in power to the mighty fortresses of the Western Front during the First World War. The flat terrain of the theater negated most advantages of the GINN which was 2/3rd's of ZAFT's forces. With a limited timetable, Africa could not bring to muster its now superior industrial capacity, which was already limited due to commitments in Spain and Southern Africa. Unlike most of Eurasia, the 33rd Army relied solely on local solar power, making them have full energy access in comparison to the Spanish front. Most importantly, Eurasia still had full access to their satellite network to negate the loss of radio communications and radar brought about by the N-Jammers, allowing their weaponry to function at near full performance while maintaining effective targeting and communications across the line, an advantage which would not existed had ZAFT conducted further operations in Earth orbit, something that was impossible thanks to the lingering presence of Solomon.
The first day of combat was an undeniable win for the Community with African and ZAFT forces reaching the west bank of the Suez canal within eleven hours. The castle defense of Eurasia which saw a litter of fortified camps and trenches dot across the landscape were either destroyed by near nonstop bombardment by African artillery and air force, or in close combat with ZAFT with the sturdy GINN's tanking a great deal of fire while the feline-like BuCUE's could run circles around them and deliver heavy fire with little fear of retaliation. Port Said had been lost by nightfall due to the presence of the African fleet taking out Said's major defenses while African mechanized divisions along with a few ZAFT units took the place by storm with African infantry marching in shortly afterword and eliminating any holed up resistance. The process was repeated with Ismailia and Suez. The swift fall of Eurasian forces on the west bank is mainly due to the heavy element of surprise by the offensive as well as the presence of the African Navy who swam through the canal after African airpower took care of most of the coastal batteries, and prevented retreat or reinforcement.
While a stunning blow to Eurasia, the first day did not have its benefits for the defender as they forced Africa to move at three hours behind their schedule, beginning a pattern of tardiness that would last until the cease fire. The Eurasian Air Force managed to sink 9 African ships and do damage to 13 others, a high cost for the African Navy's brazen performance. Most damning of all was the unexpectedly high casualties of ZAFT with 48 mobile suits destroyed during the first day and 46 suffering varying degrees of damage. Were it not for the high support and coordination with their African comrades, a repeat of Victoria would most likely have taken placed.
In addition to Eurasian armor and defensive emplacements having guidance from their satellite network which prevented mobile suit supremacy, something that would have occurred if ZAFT had access to Minovsky particles, the performance of ZAFT pilots was a major contributor to so many high casualties. While the Coordinator pilots were undoubtedly superior in quality to their Natural counterparts in every physical category, the pilots in spite of their genius intellect and high IQ were horrible tactical and strategic minds. Nearly half of the pilots were teens with 71% being under the age of 22. This made sure that a high level of emotional immaturity was spread throughout ZAFT ranks, something which should have been eliminated with military discipline, a concept that was highly absent in the fiercely independent militia format of ZAFT. While the Eurasian military had generations of tradition and knowledge with its heritage being traced back to the mighty Red Army, ZAFT was a new organization born during a time of peace with its leaders being primarily made up of armchair generals who were given the positions either due to seniority, connections, or high performance in military history.
Without a strong foundation in tactics or strategy, ZAFT pilots could only resort to the most basic combat formations to perform, something that was inhibited by a huge wave of arrogance of Coordinator superiority in spite of Victoria which was created by the great victory in First Orbit. While the defeat at the hands of Zeon was still alive in their minds, Zeon's extra-dimensional origins and access to fusion weaponry allowed all kinds of excuses to be created. To those of ZAFT who partook, Coordinator superiority was a fact, leading many to their death by arrogance while others were rescued by their inferior Natural allies. Instead of gratitude and thanks, the saves by African forces only prompted widespread feelings of embarrassment, prompting many ZAFT MS to charge in glory alone and coordinate little, if any with the Community. This would be the foundation of widespread feelings of dislike against the supposed allies which would plague them for the rest of the war.
While ZAFT's losses were an embarrassment to the organization, as justified by Patrick Zala, the immense losses of Eurasia made this well worth it. The 65,000 defenders on the West Bank were lost within the day with 23,488 dead, 16,578 wounded, and the remaining 19,934 taken prisoner or missing. The African's dead take great losses in exchange though with 13,594 dead, 15,936 wounded, and 1,246 missing. For the first time in over six decades the sands of Egypt were red with blood, and it would receive many fresh coats of paint in the future.
The second day was mainly focused on crossing the canal and establishing a beachhead on the east bank. The crossing was a highly difficult affair as while the Air Force had seen towards the decimation of the heavy defenses which allowed the African Navy to patrol the Suez and for the AAV's to cross, they were not able to eliminate a majority of the anti-infantry defensive emplacements which were left slightly scarred though fully operational. With armor arriving at the beach by the hour and the Eurasian Air Force increasing their kill count, any crossing would be a great difficulty despite the short distance, especially with most ZAFT MS stuck on the west bank and unable to provide any substantial support.
By the middle of the 11th, the Suez was quickly turning into a recreation of Moses' first plague with thousands of bodies flooding the waterway, causing the Suez to turn red. Scrap began to pile up on the canal's sandbanks and with the two bridges destroyed by Eurasia, crossing the canal was a must. For those who crossed the canal it was a hellish experience that made D-Day seem tame. Dozens of jets were seemingly falling from the sky by the hour. Hastily dropped mines met their target with dozens dying or becoming mutilated within seconds. Machine gun and artillery fire reigned by the tens of thousands of rounds, erecting more watery graves. For the soldiers who crossed the canal in the first waves, they could do little but sit tight and defend themselves with the corpses of the fallen and husks of AAV's and tanks and try to claim every precious meter. It could have been completely possible for Eurasia to hold firm until the 14th, but a bold aerial drop behind enemy lines by a platoon of 16 GINN's created a precious breakthrough in the center of the canal at the high cost of 11 MS. This breakthrough was fully exploited by the African Army which used their strength in numbers to widen the gap, causing a general collapse of the beachfront by 10 P.M.
The costs for the beachhead were high with 17,051 African soldiers dead, 11,626 wounded, 1,864 taken prisoner, and 3,732 missing. For ZAFT they had lost 19 more MS with 12 being damaged. On the Eurasian side there was 10,044 dead, 6,672 wounded, 41,764 taken prisoner, and 1,565 missing. Excluding the prisoner count, the death and wounded rates had now switched to higher African losses, something that had not been forseen in the brief planning and was a horrible sign of things to come. Still, they had managed to accomplish their most important objective of securing the canal in complete African hands. The much hyped hope of "Jerusalem by the 14th" was impossible, but for now the Community had the long irredentist dream of controlling the canal, a gain that was made at a high price in blood.
April 12th was focused on the Community trying to advance as far as they could inland to provide breathing space for the beaches while the Eurasian Army sought to push the Africans back towards the sea and regain the beaches. While momentum was on the Community/ZAFT's side, and they still had numerically greater firepower, the high losses taken to this point had drained much of the enthusiasm of the attackers with the ZAFT pilots absolutely flabbergasted at how so many of their number could have fallen. By then most of the GINN's had either been destroyed or were in the process of repair and with the BuCUE's out of action due to the lack of open space, it fell upon the 39 remaining ZuOOT's to make for ZAFT's contribution. Eurasian reinforcements from the rest of the Sinai had already arrived with 2 corps comprising of 75,000 men arriving while hundreds of planes were arriving from bases in Israel, Jordan, and Arabia.
The third day was a grueling battle of attrition with each kill seemingly generating an equal reaction from the other side in body count. The first half of the day was akin to a see saw with pockets being created on both sides with some Eurasian regiments managing to get back to the canal while African regiments attempted to make a deep drive into enemy lines. As the evening came the balance shifted mainly into Africa's favor due to greater numbers, but it was no great advantage with only 13 kilometers gained.
Casualties for the third day were for Africa 15,702 dead, 19,279 wounded, 2,942 taken prisoner, and 1,405 missing. For ZAFT they had lost 16 MS and had 5 damaged. The Eurasians suffered 14,403 dead, 13,391 wounded, 7,067 taken prisoner, and 2,658 missing. The blood toll was once again on Africa with only empty sands to exchange for the dead.
The fourth and final day of the First Battle of the Suez was in many ways a repeat of the previous day, though the battle was slightly altered by the addition of the BuCUE's who now had a limited area to operate. The breathing room for the beaches allowed African reinforcements to continue with relative ease as fresh bodies and supplies could arrive to the front without fear of being shot within 100 meters of landing on the beach. The now pushed front lines, with a great width from the Mediterranean to Red Sea, allowed Africa and ZAFT greater room to operate while forcing Eurasia to spread their forces thin as they could no longer bottle their defenses. The spreading Eurasian units allowed the African armored cavalry and ZAFT BuCUE's the ability to create multiple holes in the defenses from which mini offensives could be launched and the line to be pushed back by kilometers instead of meters. The final day of action saw 32 kilometers of advancement for ZAFT and Africa with a total of 45 kilometers of Asian territory being claimed by Africa. 3 Am Jerusalem time, the guns were gradually silenced as the cease fire began, ending the first stage of the Middle Eastern campaign.
Casualties for the final day were still high with 14,019 dead, 11,370 wounded, 354 taken prisoner, and 108 missing for Africa. For ZAFT 27 MS were destroyed with 18 damaged. Eurasia suffered 13,300 dead, 12,782 wounded, 10,235 taken prisoner, and 1,964 missing.
The First Battle of Suez was the bloodiest ground battle of the first phase of the Great Solar War. Tactically it was an African victory while strategically it was a stalemate that leaned towards a Eurasian victory. While the African Community had kicked Eurasia out of the continent with the Suez canal under their control and gains in Asia, most of the Sinai peninsula remained under Eurasian control while the blood cost was in many cases too high with over 120,000 casualties. While they had been able to inflict slightly greater damage to Eurasia along with 70,000 prisoners, it was too high of a cost for the strategic exchange.
The ZAFT 2nd Terrestrial Division, despite on paper being victorious, were incredibly humiliated with near half of the division wiped out with 110 MS destroyed while a further 83 were in various stages of damage by the end of the battle. Far from proving their innate superiority, First Suez was another chink in the complex image of Coordinator domination which already had been scarred with First Victoria and Yggdrasil, and dealt a great wound with Solomon and the entrance of Newtypes onto the battlefield.
While ZAFT was well aware of their poor performance, few if any institutional changes were carried out as a result of First Suez as to do so would acknowledge the strength of Naturals, something which they could never do. While the Supreme Council was mostly appalled at the results, the manipulations of Patrick Zala prevented the public from seeing First Suez as a disaster with PLANT media spinning it as a great victory and mortal blow to Eurasia's presence in the war, something which would for sure cause the Alliance to bow to their every demand at Heliopolis. PLANT propaganda focused on footage solely of massive Eurasian casualties and ZAFT MS performing exemplary and tearing apart all who stood in front of them. While government censorship did not occur, informal censorship was rampant as PLANT news collaborated with Patrick Zala to give the sole image of victory, an eerie foreshadowing of the rise of the Zala regime.
In the end thanks to politics and bigotry, First Suez had little effect on ZAFT's evolution with its leadership and the battle's survivors gas lighting themselves to see the battle as a complete win. The only person in ZAFT who seemed to learn from the battle was the man who bravely choose to defy peer pressure and sit it out, Redcoat Andy Waltfeld. Waltfeld deeply studied the strengths and mistakes of both sides and had his preconceptions of Naturals having the potential to fight as equals confirmed. These hard lessons helped craft his later tactics and strategy which would give rise to the legend of the Desert Tiger. This is not to say that ZAFT was completely static in the coming months, but any and all changes were brought about by the fear of Zeon, not by failures on Earth.
With the massive casualties and loss of dozens of kilometers of land, it makes one wonder how First Suez could be considered a Eurasian success in any form, and why Eurasia simply didn't surrender right then and there. The reasons for Eurasia's strategic success from this first glance disaster are many. Firstly, the notion of Coordinator invincibility that had been erected after Uroboros, one which was already shattering thanks to the Battle of Solomon, partially broke thanks to ZAFT losing near half of their MS despite their superiority in quality and the N-Jammer crisis. This told Eurasian leadership along with the common soldiers, and by extension the Alliance, that if they fought ZAFT on equal ground they could definitely create victories, as exemplified by Dozle Zabi. Secondly, they managed to create six figure casualty rates for Africa, creating decent gaps in their Army and Air Force which were spread incredibly thin due to Spain and the duty of manning the massive South African frontline. This would necessitate the Sinai front to drain from other theaters, and if Eurasia and South Africa could mobilize to their fullest potential in spite of the N-Jammers, they could regain land. This made the Alliance more amenable to the idea that the war could be won, albeit with great sacrifice. If the Alliance somehow managed to make allies of Zeon at Heliopolis, then victory would once again be a total grantee.
Thirdly, though this effect was more subconscious and was not known til later on, First Suez was another big entry of Newtypes into the Cosmic Era. A big factor in the near equal African casualties and loss of half of ZAFT MS was the role of Newtypes on Eurasian lines. Fighter and bomber pilots, artillery crewman, tankers, armored personnel; all of whom had Newtypes among their ranks who with their newly developed six senses were able to deal major damage to the enemy with dozens, if not hundreds of kills. While Africa had a slightly higher number of Newtypes (With ZAFT disturbingly not having any cases during the battle), their victory caused these cases to be dismissed as high performance, while the loss for Eurasia caused them to laud many Newtypes as heroes who they raised up on a pedestal for propaganda, with 80% of participating Newtypes earning some form of medal for their accomplishments. Soon word began to spread of these heroes, with rumors exaggerating their feats into untold greatness while those who bore witness saw actions that not even special forces could normally accomplish. The Newtypes oral accounts only added to the sensation with word spreading of sixths senses aiding their decisions and superhuman feats of physical and mental performance, yet almost every single one of these miracle soldiers were Naturals.
When Gihren Zabi later confirmed the existence of Newtypes to the Cosmic Era, the Alliance looked at the cases during First Suez, along with those in space, and realized that they now had access to psychic superhumans which could act as the equalizer to Coordinators. However, this revelation occurred only at the tail end of the Heliopolis conference, and by then the decision to fight on or surrender had already been made.
April 3rd. 70 CE. Hawaii, Atlantic Federation. Jane Houston POV.
Pearl Harbor. For most of Jane Houston's life, these two words had simply been nothing more than an historical fact. A tale of tragedy where the peaceful United States was cruelly attacked by the evil Empire of Japan, springing them into action with the death of thousands through aggression being the foundation for America's role in liberating the world from Nazi-Fascist aggression.
Since the previous year, Pearl Harbor became to Jane a wonderful treasure, her first assignment since becoming a atmospheric pilot where she had made many friends, did good work serving the Atlantic Federation of Navy, and most importantly someone who she believed to be the love of her life, Edward Harrelson. Her duty at the base brought nothing but good times, not even the beginning of war with the PLANTs could end Jane's time in the sun. After all, the war was in space with the Navy having no possibility of getting involved. She would do her part on Earth while the spacemen duked it out, and continue on with the rest of her career after the war was over, finishing her term of service and hopefully setting down with Edward and starting a family as they had discussed over many sunsets.
After today Pearl Harbor would become two words of tragedy today, as the day of infamy seemed to repeat with the AF Pacific Fleet coming under fire from Oceania, though the day would get far worse for Jane than simply experiencing the betrayal of a former ally of the Federation and being thrust into combat.
Over the Pacific Ocean, Jane and her squadron of F-7D Spearheads, which included her boyfriend Edward, flew to meet the incoming enemy of Oceania. Unlike the first Pearl Harbor, the Atlantic Federation had gotten amazing lucky when a rescue plane had spotted the incoming fleet while trying to respond to a distress call of an AF cruise liner, with contact lost with the plane after it briefly reported coming under attack.
No one knew why the hell Oceania had attacked one of their planes while the world was going to hell. While relations had gone frosty in recent years due to Oceania's heavy acceptance of Coordination, both them and the Atlantic Federation shared common bonds as being the two legacy states of the Anglosphere, with the two sharing a strong alliance in the first half of the first century of the Cosmic Era.
In the end, it could not be denied that Oceania had fired upon an AF aircraft with their destination set for Hawaii. Since the Oceania fleet was still operating strong despite the fact that they were fission-powered like the rest of the global navies, that meant that either the N-Jammers didn't affect them, they found a way to quickly circumvent them, or they prepared for them beforehand, meaning that they were now allied with ZAFT, and thus enemies to the Atlantic Federation and Earth Alliance.
With the entire Navy either stuck in port or left adrift at sea, it was now up to Jane and her fellow pilots to act as the first line of defense, the only one alongside the AA and coastal defense crews, to save the ships of the Pacific fleet currently stationed at Pearl Harbor, currently 57 ships.
When Jane had signed up for the Navy, she did so for three reasons; see the world, gain her pilot's license, and to help pay her college tuition. Now she had to fight, and potentially give her life in service to her nation. It was a horrifying thought that had Jane's stomach mesh in a tsunami of butterflies, with her hand carefully caressing the joystick with thoughts of shifting around and turning back. When her radar picked up the Oceania ships however, and when Jane first caught a visual glance of the enemy fighters, such thoughts of cowardice were quickly erased into nothing and replaced with a newfound courage and determination installed into her subconscious through training. She was a fighter pilot of the Atlantic Federation. She would defend her nation, lead it to victory, and if she died she would take out as many of these treacherous bastards with her as she could.
"Orca Squad, maintain arrow formation and stay course for their aircraft carriers. Get rid of them now and we can take our time to pick off the fleet at a distance. DO NOT switch targets unless it's a last stand or you have a wounded ship. Now let's send each of those patchwork puppets a ticket to Davy Jones! Hooyah!" Said Orca Leader, the commander in charge of Jane's squadron!"
"Hooyah!" Shouted the pilots, with a rather enthusiastic "Yee-haw!" hollered by Edward, which caused a few laughs on the comm and some slight alleviation of tension as they headed into their first battle. Jane shook her head in amusement at her beloved's actions, nerves threatening to rise again quickly being squashed. If he could stay strong and face the enemy head-on, then so could Jane.
In less then a minute, the Orca's along with the other Atlantean squadrons met their Oceanian counterparts head on. The two waves of opposing fighters met in an epic clash reminiscent of the opening brawl of a play of American football, hundreds of rounds and missiles launching into the air with many either being damaged or meeting a quick and instant death.
To Jane's surprise, in addition to the Seahawks (the main carrier fighter of the AF Navy) that the Oceania Navy used through purchase from the Federation, there were some newer, unknown, and advanced models that were spread among their forces while the AF Navy only featured the old Seahawks, Seagulls, and Spearheads. It was only more damning proof of Oceania's aggression towards the Atlantic Federation, and Jane swore to claim a few of the newer models as paint for her Spearhead for after the battle.
Orca squadron had survived the initial volley mostly intact, though it had suffered the loss of one of their own in the front who had a missile directly hit the cockpit, along with a few other sporting scratches. Before Jane could properly mourn her lost comrade, she had to continue with the mission, with Orca squadron marching forward to knock one of the carriers.
The arrow formation came into play as the front five of the squadron changed directions and moved to the rear in a semi-circle to face off against the returning Oceanians who had overtaken them in the first volley, while Jane and the rest of her squadmates in the center, including Edward, came up to the front to begin the new arrowhead.
At the exact moment Jane had taken up her position in the front, and recently awaken hidden sixth sense had been experienced by her the first time. A flash of electricity soured through her body in a fraction of a second. Before Jane could question the sensation, she moved her Spearhead to react accordingly and shouted into the squad comms, "Five tangos 70 degrees up ahead!" She shouted. A few seconds later, five new signatures popped up on the radar, just as Jane said.
Her squadmates didn't have the time to question how she was alerted to the presence and went along with it. Jane switched one of her missiles from automatic-lock to manual then fired, afterwards she changed the position of her Spearhead a few meters and opened fire with her 30 mm cannon. The targeted jet missed her missile, but then walked directly into her line of fire, being torn to shred and falling to the bottom of the Pacific.
Her squadmates managed to take down two others due to the warning, one of the kills being Edward's, while the other two broke off and veered heavily in a different direction to lose the Orca's. Small cheers were spread across the comms for their mini-success.
"Thanks for the warning babe! Nice kill!" Complimented Edward. Jane thanked Edward for the compliment, and while her mind was focused on continuing the battle, in the back of her head she questioned just how the hell she was able to do such a feat in her first battle, just how she had been able to sense them early.
For the next twenty minutes, Orca squadron had bravely continued onward to their destination, keeping a tight defensive formation where they would eliminate their enemies from the front and rear, all the while being able to quickly deploy to either side after their short dogfights so that no one would have their back turned to the enemy. It wasn't a perfect performance as two more of their friends had died, but in return they had downed a further 11 planes of the enemy, a total of 14 jets that would never be able to launch an attack on Pearl Harbor.
Orca's good stream of fortune had ended when they reached the Carriers, more specifically their target the OUS Harold Holt.
It seemed that Oceania had wisely not deployed all of their fighters to go on the attack with many remaining to either circle in protection of their carriers and other ships of the fleet, or were in the middle of deployment on their carriers. When Orca squadron and the other attack squadrons had gotten into range, they were met with a hail of AA rounds, a system which seemed to be surprisingly advanced when one of the Orca's along with more than a dozen other planes were immediately hit within seconds.
Upon being fired, the Orca's scrambled to dodge with flares being dispersed to prevent targeting. Unfortunately in the middle of their dispersal, nearly a dozen fighter jets screeched towards them, causing the Orcas to burst and flee, isolating them from one another.
When Jane was on her own, her new sixth sense kicked into overdrive, with a new world of opening up to her as she began to increasingly feel every facet of the environment around them, the cold metallic feel of the ships and planes, and the increasingly loud emotions of those involved in the battle; a heavy mixture of fear, anger, exhilaration, depression; all sorts of emotions were felt by Jane. Rather than freaking out and cutting herself off, Jane decided to embrace this new feeling, hoping that it would help her survive.
Jane would find her instinct to be correct as with the new warnings of the future, she was able to weave and dodge the incoming fire. To the average observer, Jane was flying in a heavily erratic manner. In reality each of these movements were precise so that she would narrowly miss the incoming fire, but not being too hard to catch that her enemy could not have a lock on, providing a false sense of near victory.
With the other pilot slowly being filled with rage, he put pressure on his engines and tried to kill Jane at near blank range. Jane was able to sense this and before the Oceania pilot could react as he closed the distance, dived down and rapidly decreased her acceleration, causing her to now be behind her opponent. When Jane pulled her joystick to rise in elevation, she fired one of her missiles at the exact point her Spearhead was in a 40 degree angle, causing it to fire in a perfect arc that struck the enemy pilot's engine, instantly killing them.
With herself now free, Jane attempted to find her squadmates and regroup so that they could accomplish their objective. The first one she noticed happened to be Edward, whose voice called out for help with Jane moving to assist him. However, what she didn't notice at the time was that this cry was not on the comms and that she moved to aid him without the assistance of satellite support.
Finding her beloved being harassed by one of the newer Oceanian pilots, Jane quickly swooped in and unleashed a rapid hail of bullets to tear the pilot apart. New it may be, the fightercraft was still mortal and with several hulls across the craft, including within the cockpit with the pilot being turned into Swiss cheese, it dove into the Pacific headfirst.
"You rang?" Jane asked playfully.
"Hell yeah Jane! You've been on fire today. When all of this is done I owe you big time." Edward said.
"Come back in one piece and I'll cash that in tonight. Come back as an ace and I'll give you a repeat of Christmas." Jane said with a slight tone of seduction to both motivate Edward and take their minds off of the fear of death of the coming battle.
"Get ready for tonight mi amor, tu novio's gonna become an ace!" Hollered Edward in excitement, bringing a smile to Jane behind her helmet that even in this crazy battle that her latin love could still be himself.
Together her and Ed had partnered up and attempted to find the rest of their squadron. They managed to find four other Orca's, dwindling their squadron to below half their strength. The mood turned highly somber at the realization, but they could not let such tragedy stop them now. They had to avenge their comrades by sending one of the carriers to the grave, if not their lost comrades would not be able to rest properly and many more, along with potentially themselves, would depart by the end of the day.
Unfortunately, such a task was far easier said then done. By the time they were able to properly target the Holt, they had lost a majority of the squad, were starting to run low on fuel, expended most of their ammunition, and had taken on various forms of damage, except for Jane whose Spearhead still looked to be fresh from the assembly line. The Orcas only had one shot to take out the carrier.
They failed.
With many of the offensive fighters starting to return, constant harassment from AA fire which claimed another Orca, and the Holt's electronic warfare increasingly setting their targeting computers to the fritz, they could not destroy the Holt. They could land a few hits sure, but they were mere scraps for the titanic beast which still prowled the waters.
With such a failure Jane, now the acting squadron leader, called on them to return to Pearl Harbor and rearm and refuel for a second go. On their way back however, a bloodlusted Oceanian blitzed onto the scene and fired on Jane. Thanks to her powers growing over the course of the battle, she was able to quickly sense the incoming fire and perform a leftward barrel roll to dodge. Unfortunately, the stream of rounds meant for her had found another target, Edward, who unwittingly strolled onto its path, striking the mid-section.
"ED!" Jane screamed in horror. A fusion of fear along with murderous rage consumed the young pilot. In rapid action she followed the surprise attack after he had passed her, and in a quick and relentless pursuit , executed the enemy with dozens of rounds tearing the craft to shreds.
Jane returned to Ed and to her dread found his machine to be heavily damaged with multiple holes and his left wing mostly shredded. "Ed, please tell me you're ok. ED!"
She was met with a wheezing cough on the comm, along with the sound of a splatter. "Babe, I'm not coming home." Edward said hoarsely.
"Then eject!" Jane pleaded, hoping that Oceania in their heinous betrayal still had some sense of honor and would rescue Edward. While he would become a prisoner, it was a far better fate than death.
"No babe...I'm not coming home. " The resigned tone in Edward's voice, along with a flooding psychic sense for Jane that he was nearing the end, confirmed his worst fears.
"Don't you say that Ed, don't you fucking say that! You're coming back, the doctors will heal you, we'll get through this damned war, and we'll get married and have some kids!" Jane exclaimed, heavily in denial and hoping that the words of motivation would cause Ed to power through and reach to safety.
There was a weak laugh from Ed. "You will get married, and you'll be a damn good madre, but not with me. Jane, you were the best thing in my life. I'm happy that I got to know you. I love you." Ed then turned his wobbling jet in a gradual rightward turn, moving in an arc that would cause him to head straight for the carrier.
"ED!" Jane called in desperation, tears draining down her eyes like a waterfall. Torn between aiding her other squadmates and helping Ed, she hesitated for several seconds before taking off after him. This allowed Ed to pour all of his will into one final task to accomplish the mission. Doing his best to maintain a direct course for the carrier, Edward dove down and collided directly with the front starboard section of the carrier, creating a gaping hole in the carrier and causing a small number of Oceania sailors to be lost in his brilliant kamikaze.
At the sight of her best friend and lover exiting from the world in a fiery inferno, Jane let out a piercing scream. In that exact moment, a complicated and hidden genetic quirk awakened for Jane. Her mind briefly wandered to an empty astral plane where a blue seed shattered into a million pieces. Jane's pupils rapidly shrunk to miniscule dots while her irises grew to twice their regular size. In this moment, not only was Jane Houston a Newtype, she was a Newtype with the power of the SEED.
With the SEED factor causing her Newtype sense to explode into near perfect spatial awareness, along with heightened mental prowess and physical performance, Jane had the tools that she needed to take down the ship which had helped to steal her love. At first she had bypassed the carrier with incredible speed. Such a run was not wasted though as Jane's Newtype senses and expanded knowledge of the Harry Truman-Class carrier, which the Holt was with it being built on the North American west coast and purchased for Oceania's usage, allowed her to formulate the perfect attack plan.
The plan was one which was tragically only possible through the sacrifice of Edward, whose crater had exposed a section of the carrier which stored its munitions. With this small window open, Jane would fire all that she had and tear the Holt apart, causing it to sink.
No longer caring whether or not she made it back to Pearl Harbor, driven by an animalistic hunger to take down the Holt, Jane was free from the shackles of mortal fear which caused her to push the Spearhead above its limits to reach her goal. Such wild flying did not come without a cost as her craft was wounded for the first time of the day with brief marks of AA fire meeting their mark, but it was a worthy sacrifice as Jane was able to circle back around and make a straight dive for the Holt's weak spot.
With the usage of the SEED factor, time slowed down to a halt in Jane's vision. In real-time she moved at a breakneck pace but to her time seemed to flow as if for multiple minutes when it was in reality seconds. Her Newtype sense was able to provide a perfect path to fire along with a biological timer more accurate than any computer. Jane prepared herself, and in the exact pinpoint moment that she needed to, she unleashed all of her missiles for the target. Each of the four missiles that she launched her their true mark with a great explosion consuming the forward section of the Holt. Thousands of pieces of debris scattered in a fury, causing the lowest decks of the Holt to be punctured, beginning its slow and steady sink into the Pacific.
Jane narrowly leapt over the explosion and turned back towards the base. Nearby Oceanian fighters attempted to swarm on her in vengeance like wasps in retribution for their hive being destroyed. Fortunately for Jane, her surviving squadmates along with a score of other Atlantean pilots came in to help Jane and ward off the jets, allowing the remnant of Orca squadron to return home.
The journey home for the three remaining Orcas was deathly silent. While they had accomplished their objective, the battle was still ongoing with plenty of hours of combat left, and from the satellite data, and comms chatter, it was one that they were losing with the Oceanians closing in on Pearl Harbor. Most devastatingly to the pilots, they had lost many people who they had grown close to as friends, if not family, ripped away from them in less than an hour.
These feelings of anguished were vocalized by Jane Houston, soon to be known as the Blue Orca of Pearl Harbor, as she wailed in high sorrow at the death of her one true love, Edward Harrelson.
A/N: Kaiser Chris here with another chapter of Gihren's Greed: Cosmic Crusade. Here we see the fallout of Operation Dayyamu which was presented last chapter as well as a glimpse at what happened to the briefly mentioned strike on Pearl Harbor, with our first death of a canon character in the form of Edward Harrelson. For the first portion of the chapter I wanted to introduce Andy to the plot and to show how he reacted to the Operation. Since Andy is shown to be one of ZAFT's best tactical and strategic minds, he would be able to easily see the stupidity and waste of such an op and refuse to participate, doing so thanks to the freedom of ZAFT's very loose structure. We also get a sweet moment at the end with Aisha, with their relationship sadly never being explored or even reminisced upon by Andy after her death. We'll definitely see more of them in the future.
For the middle section I wanted to show Dayyamu, which was an overall mixed victory for Africa and ZAFT as they captured the Suez, but made no strategic gains beyond it and it came at a high price. For the reason they didn't capture the entire Sinai and obliterate the entirety of Eurasia, it's important to note that ZAFT wasn't able to eliminate the Alliance satellites since they had to rush home after Uroboros to handle Zeon, allowing Eurasia to use their satellite network for communications and targeting with radar down. The Sinai Army has access to solar power so they aren't affected too much by the N-Jammers. The whole operation was incredibly rushed so the Africans went in with low preparation and ZAFT had very low stockpiles of ammunitions and supplies for repairs. They won through numbers, but it came at a six digit price in dead and wounded. As for ZAFT's poor performance, it should be noted that at this point they don't have the OP mechs of Destiny and they can be met by conventional forces in an even setting, as exemplified by them losing First Victoria in March of CE 70. With satellite targeting, Eurasia can use tanks and artillery effective against ZAFT MS. Also, while ZAFT pilots are physical superior to Alliance pilots and have better weapons, they are poor in tactics and strategy due to arrogance with their actions just being zerg rushes with spray and pray, as shown by anyone who wasn't a main character. Thus they performed incredibly poorly, but such a performance will not be repeated if they use the N-Jammers to their most effective and eliminate Alliance satellites.
Lastly we have the Battle of Pearl Harbor and the introduction of Jane Houston into the plot and her rise as another legend of the war, at the cost of her beloved Edward Harrelson, preventing the rise of Ed the Ripper and making his rebellion erased. Jane and Ed were hard to depict as I never read the Astray manga they were featured in and have been unable to procure a copy. So I tried to base them off of what I know on the wiki and mainly focused on the battle. Jane was able to do well and become an ace and sank her carrier, with her turning into a Newtype from Zeon's entrance into the Cosmic Era. In addition, Jane now has access to the SEED factor, though it came at a high price with the loss of her love. In the canon I set up, both her and Ed participated in Canon Pearl Harbor and came out alright, but due to butterflies here Ed was shot down. To clarify some things, Ed is a South American citizen, but he didn't serve for them at the beginning of the war since they had no military, rather he joined the Atlantic Federation Navy through a process similar to the French Foreign Legion, where he met Jane and fell in love with her. With Ed gone, the South American Rebellion will be heavily altered, that is, if there is a South American Revolution?
Next chapter will focus on the Alliance perspective as they deal with Uroboros and the existence of Zeon. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for more!