Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: An Equal and Opposite Reaction
Phase – 02
ZAFT destroyer Alberti, ZAFT Task Force, Jachin Due Space
17th April C.E. 70
Ichiro Suzuhara found it hard to not be impressed by the new Nazca class of high speed destroyers, the type of ship the Alberti belonged to. It seemed reasonable to Ichiro that Commander Melchett should have one of the newest ships in the fleet assigned to him, after all Melchett was the commander of the four squadrons assembled near Jachin Due. The only real issue Ichiro had with the whole operation was the fact that his squadron was taking part they just weren't ready and he intended on taking the matter up with Melchett.
Ichiro and the other squadron commanders were waiting on the Alberti's bridge for Melchett to arrive and give the mission briefing. They were gathered around the plotting table located to the rear of the white coloured bridge. To Ichiro's left was Elizabeth Bartley, his blond haired young aid, instead of her usual clipboard she'd upgraded to an electronic datapad so that she could download the mission data and carry it back to the Archimedes. As usual Ichiro noted that Elizabeth seemed overly nervous, he couldn't tell whether it was because of her age or because of something else he didn't know about. She had started to relax and open up back at December Six but now that they'd moved to the front she'd gone back to her old habits. Ichiro hated to see her like this and even though their ethnic backgrounds were different Elizabeth reminded Ichiro of his younger sister Kumiko.
His contemplative train of thought was disrupted by Commander Melchett coming onto the bridge. The most notable thing about Melchett was the man's impressive moustache; it was a big bushy thing that got Ichiro instantly thinking about handlebars off bicycles. Melchett was a heavily set man which Ichiro could only attribute to the rumours that the man enjoyed only the finest foods. There was something about the man that screamed aristocrat; but Ichiro dismissed that notion since such an antiquated social grouping like an aristocracy didn't exist within PLANT.
'So good of you to come at such short notice.' said Melchett as he came to a rest by the plotting table. 'I have just received confirmation of the Natural's movements.' He pressed a series of buttons on the plotting table and it was filled with a map of the triangle of space that was between the Earth, Luna and PLANT. 'Our forward reconnaissance units detected the early movements of the Naturals' 5th and 6th Fleets around Ptolemaeus crater yesterday. As I said I just received confirmation that the Naturals are forming up to attack PLANT directly.' Murmurs of concern rippled through the attending ZAFT officers. 'Even if the Naturals can't use their barbaric nuclear weapons we can not allow them to attack PLANT. The main portion of our fleet is massing here.' He indicated the location on the map; it was a little distance behind Jachin Due but still with plenty of room before PLANT. 'The plan is that while the Naturals try to attack our main forces head on we attack them in the flank. We will use Jachin Due a hide our presence, let them pass and then hit them when they least expect it.'
'A bold plan sir.' said Ichiro. 'However it does leave up vulnerable to friendly fire from our own fleet.'
'The risk is negligible.' scoffed Commander Marduk; he commanded a pair of Laurasia frigates that were part of the ambush force. 'The prestige we will gain from our victory today will be great.'
'Well then you'd better be getting back to your ships.' said Melchett. 'We don't have much time before the Naturals will be arriving.'
The assembled commanders, and their aids, all saluted Commander Melchett and began to make their way off the Alberti's bridge. Ichiro however still had matters to discuss with his commander. 'Sir may I have a word?'
'If you're quick about it Suzuhara.' said Melchett.
'Sir I request that my squadron be removed from this battle and returned to PLANT.'
'By what reasoning?' asked Melchett, he was astonished that anyone would give up an opportunity to be involved in such a great victory as this one was destined to be.
'Sir my Squadron was only formed two days ago.' said Ichiro calmly. 'My pilots are all fresh from the academy. I have barely had time to train them properly; I haven't even had a chance to teach them how to attack Earth Alliance capital ships. If there are sent into battle like this I fear I won't have a Squadron left once the battle has ended.'
'Stop being such a Nancy-boy Suzuhara!' declared Melchett loudly. 'We're only fighting the Naturals; even our infants could kill those pathetic weaklings. Your Squadron will be staying where it is. Students fresh from our academy are more than capable of handling the Naturals. Have faith in your pilots' abilities.'
'Yes sir.' said Ichiro bitterly as he saluted Melchett and left the bridge. He was followed by Elizabeth.
---
By the time they returned to the small shuttle they had used to travel to the Alberti in Ichiro could no longer restrain his anger. 'That bloody idiot!' he yelled as he hammered a fist onto the door of one of the small lockers, found at the back of the shuttle, he left a visible dent in the metal. 'He's got no idea what battle is really like. I was there at Junius Seven; I was there at Yggdrasil I saw what happened when rookies were sent up against hardened Earth Alliance pilots.' He kept on hammering the locker door until it was well and truly bent out of shape.
'Commander please stop it!' pleaded Elizabeth. 'It's no good beat yourself up over this. We need to get back to the Archimedes so that you can use what little time we have left to get them prepared.'
Ichiro shifted his body so that he could see his young aid; he could see fear in her eyes. Was it fear of the battle that was coming, or fear of him? Ichiro couldn't answer that question. He straightened up and ran a hand through his black hair. 'I'm sorry, please forgive me. I shouldn't have acted like that. Lets get back to the Archimedes.'
---
ZAFT frigate Archimedes, ZAFT Task Force, Jachin Due Space
Christopher 'Jaygee' Bishop took his green jacket out of the locker and slipped it on, next he hooked up his belt to complete the ZAFT uniform he wore. It almost seemed pointless to Christopher to be putting his uniform one since he was about to go on duty at combat readiness, which meant having to wear his pilots suit so that he could leap into his mobile suit at a moments notice. It was impractical to wear full uniform under a pilot's suit and so most people simply wore a shirt with light trousers. ZAFT, however, had rules about dress code and so the short trip from his cabin to the pilots lounge would have to be undertaken in full uniform.
Christopher shared his cabin with his fellow pilot David Franklin; they'd even shared a room at the ZAFT military academy. Franklin was currently on standby, he was the person Christopher was to replace. At the academy Franklin had been picked to specialise in heavy weaponry, such as the M69 Barrus heavy ion cannon and M68 Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle, whereas Christopher had been singled out as a potential flight leader and thus was given command training.
Before closing his locker Christopher ran a finger along the numerous leather backed books that were lined up on the top shelf, he stopped when he reached Bram Stoker's Dracula and pulled the book from the shelf. Christopher loved Dracula, he first read it when he was eleven and it terrified him beyond belief. He found it fascinating that such an old novel could have such an effect on him, his copy alone predated the Cosmic Era by about fifty years but he didn't know when it was originally published. He slipped the book into one of his pockets, it would serve as something to do while on standby.
He turned and hoped over to the door to the cabin and pressed the control pad. The door slip open smoothly and Christopher stepped into the corridor beyond. He looked up and down the corridor and noticed another pilot coming out of their room. 'Hey Seth you going on duty now as well?'
'Yeah, how much longer do you think we'll have to keep this up?' Seth Sims was the youngest of the pilots assigned to the Suzuhara Squadron. He was seventeen years old but highly skilled and had just missed out on getting one of the red jackets that indicated a top graduate from the academy.
'You think they tell me anymore than they tell you?' Christopher joked as he walked over to Seth. 'I saw Commander Suzuhara's shuttle return from the Alberti not so long ago. I guess he's got out orders but just hasn't passed the information along yet.'
'Four Squadrons, eight ships, forty-eight mobile suits whatever is going to happen here isn't going to be small.' said Seth. The pair of pilots started to walk down the corridor towards the pilot's lounge and hanger. 'We've got enough firepower to take on a whole Natural fleet.'
Christopher didn't really like that idea at all. 'Are you trying to jinx us or something?' he said, with a slightly worried tone creeping into his voice. 'Remember this is our first active combat mission, I'd rather not get throw up against a whole Natural fleet.'
'Come off it Jaygee.' said Seth confidently. 'We can take on anything the Naturals have to offer.'
---
Ichiro was quickly gathering together his few personal possessions from within in cabin/office. He packed them into case he'd been provided with. It was standard practice to secure or pack away any items that might become loose during a battle; such items could possibly get in the way of damage control teams or medical staff that moved about the ship. It seemed unlikely to Ichiro that his pens or picture frames could endanger the ship but protocols were protocols and it wouldn't look good if the Commander started to ignore them.
He paused by his desk and picked up a picture frame; he turned it over and stared at the picture it held. The picture had been taken in C.E. 68 a week after Ichiro had graduated from the newly formed ZAFT military academy. Ichiro was standing proud in his green ZAFT uniform with his parents behind him and hugging him was his younger sister Kumiko. Kumiko had a keen scientific mind and was deeply interesting in agricultural development; she used to lecture Ichiro for hours about how one day she'd develop new types of crops to help solve food shortages on both PLANT and the Earth. So when Kumiko turned sixteen Ichiro called in some favours from some old school friends and got her a student research placement on Junius Seven. He could still remember how excited she'd been when he broke the news to her; and now she was dead, killed by Bloody Valentine. Tears began to well up but he wiped his eyes clean and placed the picture into the case.
'I won't let it happen again...never!'
---
Almost as soon as Christopher climbed into the cockpit of his GINN the Archimedes was filled with the sound of the emergency claxon. He put his head out of the cockpit and saw all the warning lights flashing red.
'Earth Alliance Fleets detected. Level One Battle Stations. All pilots prepare to launch.' That was the voice of Captain Philips booming through the ship. It didn't take long for the rest of the Archimedes' pilots to appear from the airlock and race to their mobile suits. The last to join them was Commander Suzuhara.
Christopher quickly ran through his GINNs checklist, playing close attention to his battery charge. Running out of power in the middle of the battle due to a poor charge would be highly embarrassing. The gauge showed that he was fully charged, this pleased Christopher as it proved that the Archimedes hanger crews were doing their jobs properly.
'Listen up team our mission is simple.' the voice of Commander Suzuhara came clearly through Christopher's cockpit speakers. The voice seemed different though, before during the training exercises Suzuhara had sounded sort of distant but now his tone was focused and harsh. Christopher decided that it would probably be best not to ever anger his commanding officer. 'Our job is too attack the flank of the Earth Alliance fleet while it passed onwards toward PLANT. It won't be easy as we'll be vastly out numbered and vulnerable to friendly fire from our forces approaching from PLANT. Team designations are the same as before. Franklin, Sims, Bell and Bond you're our heavy weapons units pick either a Barrus or Cattus. The rest of you remember to protect your teams' heavy weapons unit since they're the ones with the best chance of knocking out those enemy capital ships.'
Christopher toggled through his communications channels until he reached the one designated for Beta Team. 'Sims, Lowe can you hear me?
'Loud and clear Jaygee.' reported Seth Sims.
'Affirmative sir.' called in John Lowe.
'Sims what are you packing for this mission?' asked Christopher, he wanted to know the strengths and weaknesses of his team.
'The finest Barrus heavy ion cannon I could find.' declared Sims. 'Did you expect anything less?'
'Not really.' Christopher laughed gently; some people just didn't change at all. 'I just wanted to make sure Seth.' The flashing of another one of his sub monitors informed Christopher that he had an incoming message on another communications channel, he toggled through to this channel and pilot suited head of David Franklin appeared on the sub monitor. 'What can I do for you David?'
'Hey Jaygee I was wondering if you might be interested in a little wager.' said Franklin with a wry smile on his face. 'A day's wages says I get the highest kill count of the squadron.'
Christopher couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing. 'You've got to be kidding David you don't stand a chance, Command Suzuhara will get the highest but if you want me to take your money I'll be more than happy to.'
The jovial conversation was broken up the sight of the Archimedes' GINNs beginning to launch; first into the linear catapult was Commander Suzuhara's dark blue and silver painted GINN.
---
The eight ZAFT warships that had been using the massive T-shaped resource asteroid, Jachin Due, as cover all emerged at once and unleashed a ferocious barrage against the flank of the unsuspecting Earth Alliance 5th and 6th Fleets. Torrents of green high power energy beams lanced through space along with vast numbers of high speed metallic projectiles launched from railguns. Several of the periphery escort ships were caught totally off guard and destroyed as soon as the Earth Alliance commanders realised what was happening a number of escort ship and cruiser squadrons started the turn that would bring them inline with the attacking ZAFT vessels. Almost immediately these ships began to disgorge their masses on Moebius mobile armours.
---
Ichiro Suzuhara's GINN ate up the distance between the ZAFT forces and the Earth Alliance Fleet, his two wingmen that made up Alpha Team had stuck close and the other teams from his Squadron weren't far behind. The mobile suit teams from the other ZAFT warships were also spreading out, it didn't take Ichiro long to realise that the formation that was forming up put his squadron as the spearhead. He swore under his breath and cursed Melchett for arranging this.
Ichiro scanned the hordes of approaching Moebius' they were all armed with the standard linear gun and four missiles. To a veteran pilot like himself they were no contest, but to an inexperienced and over confident pilot they could be deadly if controlled by a skilled pilot. 'Tally Ho! Bandits dead ahead all Teams happy hunting!' yelled Ichiro over the communication channel.
The Earth Alliance cruisers opened fire with their main beam cannons but it was all too easy for the GINNs to easily avoid the beams. A warning light in Ichiro's cockpit warned him that they had entered the effective firing range of the Earth Alliance's linear cannons, a couple of the Alliance pilots took pot shots but they failed to hit anything.
For his part Ichiro slipped his crosshairs over the lead Moebius and patiently waited to get closer. The instant his crosshairs went green he pressed his trigger and sent a hail of bullets towards the Moebius. Ichiro didn't even wait to verify the kill; he turned his attention to the next Moebius. This mobile armour fired its linear gun three times as Ichiro zoomed in towards it then it loosed two of its wire-guided missiles but Ichiro shot them just as they were launching; the explosion rocked the Moebius giving Ichiro the opportunity to pummel its fuselage with bullets from his MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machine gun. Ichiro's wingmen soon added their own fire to the melee and several more Moebius' were downed in quick succession. Ichiro noticed that had Franklin jumped onto the back of a Moebius and fired his M68 Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle at point blank range; a gross waste of ammunition. Ichiro made a mental note to punish the young pilot for such a wasteful act.
However that would have to wait more Moebius' were approaching and he had allowed himself to slow down. With a flick of a switch he ejected his machineguns ammo clip and replaced it with a fresh one. His GINNs monoeye flashed bright red; he was goading the entire Earth Alliance mobile armour corps to attack him. At that moment Ichiro feared nothing.
This was when the lead Moebius teams made their big mistake; they started to swarm in on Ichiro's position allowing the rest of the GINNs to head straight for the capital ships.
---
Christopher Bishop and the Beta Team took advantage of the chaos Commander Suzuhara was causing in the line of Moebius' to charge on through to the cruisers and escort ships. As soon as he had a clear shot Seth Sims fired his M69 Barrus heavy ion cannon; the high powered green energy beam burned through the bow of an escort ship. The whole front section exploded and secondary explosions quickly took hold on the rest of the ship.
For a moment Christopher was transfixed by the sight of the escort ship exploding. Real battles were totally different from simulations or training exercises, this was real and it was dangerous. He pulled himself back together and spotted a pair of Moebius' trying to sneak up on Seth's GINN. He aimed his 76mm machine gun and loosed a burst. The bullets torn through the Earth Alliance mobile armour's thin armour plating penetrating the fuel tanks which exploded. Christopher's heart was pounding and he was short of breath. It was his first kill and it felt good. The second Moebius fired its Vulcan cannons but Christopher evaded with ease.
Suddenly his GINN started to shake violently and the monitor on the left hand side exploded. The damaged report flashed up right away, the GINN's left arm had been blown off. Christopher could only assume that the Moebius had gotten off a lucky shot with its linear gun. Enraged he pushed the GINN's thrusters to full and charged off after the Moebius. When he got close enough he emptied his machinegun clip into the unfortunately mobile armour. It wasn't until the explosion subsided that Christopher realised that he hadn't been very smart; no left arm meant reloading his machinegun would be rather difficult.
---
At the same time Seth was burning down another escort ship. This time his beam had lanced through one of the bulky missile pods that created the little grey ships X appearance. The beam continued through the missile pod and into the hull. As the mighty beam exited the far side of the escort ship it vaporised a Moebius that had been trying to sneak around the escort ship. The escort ship carried on a few moments before exploding in a massive fireball.
He then turned his attention to one of the much bigger cruisers that was closing in on him from behind. The cruisers beam cannon turrets and defensive machine gun turrets opened up on anything that didn't have an Earth Alliance IFF signal. Seth zoomed up over the bow of the cruiser and trained his Barrus heavy ion cannon on the bridge. However he paused for a moment too long as the single barrel beam cannon mounted near the bow fired. The shot destroyed the GINNs right leg and sent the mobile suit into a spin that Seth fought desperately to control. Just as he regained control he fired his heavy ion cannon but he missed the bridge and beam smashed into the twin-barrel turret mounted just in front of the bridge.
It was however too late for Seth. The cruiser's banks of vertical launch missiles tubes all launched their loaded missiles at once. Seth didn't realise their target until it was far too late. The missiles looped round and all hammered into his GINN. The missiles weren't designed for anti- mobile suit duty; it was gross overkill since they were anti-ship missiles. The explosion was massive and spread to the wounded cruiser, the Natural crew succeeded in killing a GINN but it cost them their cruiser.
Seth Sims was the first of the Suzuhara Squadron to be killed; he would not be the last.
---
ZAFT frigate Archimedes, Returning to PLANT
18th April C.E. 70
Elizabeth Bartley's room on the Archimedes was relatively small but at least she didn't have to share it like the most of the crew did. It was located just across the corridor from Commander Suzuhara's cabin/office so that she would be able to get to him quickly if he needed her. He unpacked the few things she had had to secure before the battle. There was a photo of her parents; it had been taken only a few days before her mother was killed in an airlock accident.
Elizabeth placed the photo on her desk and sat down. She started to review the documents that were waiting for her on her computer, they were casualty reports. The Battle of Jachin Due had been won, but at a terrible cost. The Earth Alliance fleet had been repulsed and PLANT had been saved but the Suzuhara Squadron had four dead pilots and six others injured. Seth Sims, Ashley Bell, Jonas Bond and Alexander Bikham were all dead. They unit had only been together a few days and already a third of their number were dead. It was too horrifying to contemplate. The whole squadron only had two fully fit pilots and only one undamaged GINN. Commander Suzuhara had been right about it being too early for them to go into combat. Elizabeth could only pray that the National Defence Committee would give them enough time to recover and to train up the replacement pilots properly.
---
Next Phase: ZAFT is planning for a big offensive near the moon and the rested Suzuhara Squadron is ordered to execute raids on Earth Alliance shipping near the Space Fortress Artemis in an attempt to draw off Earth Alliance units. However is the Squadron ready for such an important assignment?
---
Author's Notes: This is merely my interpretation of the First Battle of Jachin Due. I don't believe there is any real information on the events that transpired on 17th April C.E. 70 if there is and I've missed then I'll be happy to make revisions.
Phase – 02
ZAFT destroyer Alberti, ZAFT Task Force, Jachin Due Space
17th April C.E. 70
Ichiro Suzuhara found it hard to not be impressed by the new Nazca class of high speed destroyers, the type of ship the Alberti belonged to. It seemed reasonable to Ichiro that Commander Melchett should have one of the newest ships in the fleet assigned to him, after all Melchett was the commander of the four squadrons assembled near Jachin Due. The only real issue Ichiro had with the whole operation was the fact that his squadron was taking part they just weren't ready and he intended on taking the matter up with Melchett.
Ichiro and the other squadron commanders were waiting on the Alberti's bridge for Melchett to arrive and give the mission briefing. They were gathered around the plotting table located to the rear of the white coloured bridge. To Ichiro's left was Elizabeth Bartley, his blond haired young aid, instead of her usual clipboard she'd upgraded to an electronic datapad so that she could download the mission data and carry it back to the Archimedes. As usual Ichiro noted that Elizabeth seemed overly nervous, he couldn't tell whether it was because of her age or because of something else he didn't know about. She had started to relax and open up back at December Six but now that they'd moved to the front she'd gone back to her old habits. Ichiro hated to see her like this and even though their ethnic backgrounds were different Elizabeth reminded Ichiro of his younger sister Kumiko.
His contemplative train of thought was disrupted by Commander Melchett coming onto the bridge. The most notable thing about Melchett was the man's impressive moustache; it was a big bushy thing that got Ichiro instantly thinking about handlebars off bicycles. Melchett was a heavily set man which Ichiro could only attribute to the rumours that the man enjoyed only the finest foods. There was something about the man that screamed aristocrat; but Ichiro dismissed that notion since such an antiquated social grouping like an aristocracy didn't exist within PLANT.
'So good of you to come at such short notice.' said Melchett as he came to a rest by the plotting table. 'I have just received confirmation of the Natural's movements.' He pressed a series of buttons on the plotting table and it was filled with a map of the triangle of space that was between the Earth, Luna and PLANT. 'Our forward reconnaissance units detected the early movements of the Naturals' 5th and 6th Fleets around Ptolemaeus crater yesterday. As I said I just received confirmation that the Naturals are forming up to attack PLANT directly.' Murmurs of concern rippled through the attending ZAFT officers. 'Even if the Naturals can't use their barbaric nuclear weapons we can not allow them to attack PLANT. The main portion of our fleet is massing here.' He indicated the location on the map; it was a little distance behind Jachin Due but still with plenty of room before PLANT. 'The plan is that while the Naturals try to attack our main forces head on we attack them in the flank. We will use Jachin Due a hide our presence, let them pass and then hit them when they least expect it.'
'A bold plan sir.' said Ichiro. 'However it does leave up vulnerable to friendly fire from our own fleet.'
'The risk is negligible.' scoffed Commander Marduk; he commanded a pair of Laurasia frigates that were part of the ambush force. 'The prestige we will gain from our victory today will be great.'
'Well then you'd better be getting back to your ships.' said Melchett. 'We don't have much time before the Naturals will be arriving.'
The assembled commanders, and their aids, all saluted Commander Melchett and began to make their way off the Alberti's bridge. Ichiro however still had matters to discuss with his commander. 'Sir may I have a word?'
'If you're quick about it Suzuhara.' said Melchett.
'Sir I request that my squadron be removed from this battle and returned to PLANT.'
'By what reasoning?' asked Melchett, he was astonished that anyone would give up an opportunity to be involved in such a great victory as this one was destined to be.
'Sir my Squadron was only formed two days ago.' said Ichiro calmly. 'My pilots are all fresh from the academy. I have barely had time to train them properly; I haven't even had a chance to teach them how to attack Earth Alliance capital ships. If there are sent into battle like this I fear I won't have a Squadron left once the battle has ended.'
'Stop being such a Nancy-boy Suzuhara!' declared Melchett loudly. 'We're only fighting the Naturals; even our infants could kill those pathetic weaklings. Your Squadron will be staying where it is. Students fresh from our academy are more than capable of handling the Naturals. Have faith in your pilots' abilities.'
'Yes sir.' said Ichiro bitterly as he saluted Melchett and left the bridge. He was followed by Elizabeth.
---
By the time they returned to the small shuttle they had used to travel to the Alberti in Ichiro could no longer restrain his anger. 'That bloody idiot!' he yelled as he hammered a fist onto the door of one of the small lockers, found at the back of the shuttle, he left a visible dent in the metal. 'He's got no idea what battle is really like. I was there at Junius Seven; I was there at Yggdrasil I saw what happened when rookies were sent up against hardened Earth Alliance pilots.' He kept on hammering the locker door until it was well and truly bent out of shape.
'Commander please stop it!' pleaded Elizabeth. 'It's no good beat yourself up over this. We need to get back to the Archimedes so that you can use what little time we have left to get them prepared.'
Ichiro shifted his body so that he could see his young aid; he could see fear in her eyes. Was it fear of the battle that was coming, or fear of him? Ichiro couldn't answer that question. He straightened up and ran a hand through his black hair. 'I'm sorry, please forgive me. I shouldn't have acted like that. Lets get back to the Archimedes.'
---
ZAFT frigate Archimedes, ZAFT Task Force, Jachin Due Space
Christopher 'Jaygee' Bishop took his green jacket out of the locker and slipped it on, next he hooked up his belt to complete the ZAFT uniform he wore. It almost seemed pointless to Christopher to be putting his uniform one since he was about to go on duty at combat readiness, which meant having to wear his pilots suit so that he could leap into his mobile suit at a moments notice. It was impractical to wear full uniform under a pilot's suit and so most people simply wore a shirt with light trousers. ZAFT, however, had rules about dress code and so the short trip from his cabin to the pilots lounge would have to be undertaken in full uniform.
Christopher shared his cabin with his fellow pilot David Franklin; they'd even shared a room at the ZAFT military academy. Franklin was currently on standby, he was the person Christopher was to replace. At the academy Franklin had been picked to specialise in heavy weaponry, such as the M69 Barrus heavy ion cannon and M68 Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle, whereas Christopher had been singled out as a potential flight leader and thus was given command training.
Before closing his locker Christopher ran a finger along the numerous leather backed books that were lined up on the top shelf, he stopped when he reached Bram Stoker's Dracula and pulled the book from the shelf. Christopher loved Dracula, he first read it when he was eleven and it terrified him beyond belief. He found it fascinating that such an old novel could have such an effect on him, his copy alone predated the Cosmic Era by about fifty years but he didn't know when it was originally published. He slipped the book into one of his pockets, it would serve as something to do while on standby.
He turned and hoped over to the door to the cabin and pressed the control pad. The door slip open smoothly and Christopher stepped into the corridor beyond. He looked up and down the corridor and noticed another pilot coming out of their room. 'Hey Seth you going on duty now as well?'
'Yeah, how much longer do you think we'll have to keep this up?' Seth Sims was the youngest of the pilots assigned to the Suzuhara Squadron. He was seventeen years old but highly skilled and had just missed out on getting one of the red jackets that indicated a top graduate from the academy.
'You think they tell me anymore than they tell you?' Christopher joked as he walked over to Seth. 'I saw Commander Suzuhara's shuttle return from the Alberti not so long ago. I guess he's got out orders but just hasn't passed the information along yet.'
'Four Squadrons, eight ships, forty-eight mobile suits whatever is going to happen here isn't going to be small.' said Seth. The pair of pilots started to walk down the corridor towards the pilot's lounge and hanger. 'We've got enough firepower to take on a whole Natural fleet.'
Christopher didn't really like that idea at all. 'Are you trying to jinx us or something?' he said, with a slightly worried tone creeping into his voice. 'Remember this is our first active combat mission, I'd rather not get throw up against a whole Natural fleet.'
'Come off it Jaygee.' said Seth confidently. 'We can take on anything the Naturals have to offer.'
---
Ichiro was quickly gathering together his few personal possessions from within in cabin/office. He packed them into case he'd been provided with. It was standard practice to secure or pack away any items that might become loose during a battle; such items could possibly get in the way of damage control teams or medical staff that moved about the ship. It seemed unlikely to Ichiro that his pens or picture frames could endanger the ship but protocols were protocols and it wouldn't look good if the Commander started to ignore them.
He paused by his desk and picked up a picture frame; he turned it over and stared at the picture it held. The picture had been taken in C.E. 68 a week after Ichiro had graduated from the newly formed ZAFT military academy. Ichiro was standing proud in his green ZAFT uniform with his parents behind him and hugging him was his younger sister Kumiko. Kumiko had a keen scientific mind and was deeply interesting in agricultural development; she used to lecture Ichiro for hours about how one day she'd develop new types of crops to help solve food shortages on both PLANT and the Earth. So when Kumiko turned sixteen Ichiro called in some favours from some old school friends and got her a student research placement on Junius Seven. He could still remember how excited she'd been when he broke the news to her; and now she was dead, killed by Bloody Valentine. Tears began to well up but he wiped his eyes clean and placed the picture into the case.
'I won't let it happen again...never!'
---
Almost as soon as Christopher climbed into the cockpit of his GINN the Archimedes was filled with the sound of the emergency claxon. He put his head out of the cockpit and saw all the warning lights flashing red.
'Earth Alliance Fleets detected. Level One Battle Stations. All pilots prepare to launch.' That was the voice of Captain Philips booming through the ship. It didn't take long for the rest of the Archimedes' pilots to appear from the airlock and race to their mobile suits. The last to join them was Commander Suzuhara.
Christopher quickly ran through his GINNs checklist, playing close attention to his battery charge. Running out of power in the middle of the battle due to a poor charge would be highly embarrassing. The gauge showed that he was fully charged, this pleased Christopher as it proved that the Archimedes hanger crews were doing their jobs properly.
'Listen up team our mission is simple.' the voice of Commander Suzuhara came clearly through Christopher's cockpit speakers. The voice seemed different though, before during the training exercises Suzuhara had sounded sort of distant but now his tone was focused and harsh. Christopher decided that it would probably be best not to ever anger his commanding officer. 'Our job is too attack the flank of the Earth Alliance fleet while it passed onwards toward PLANT. It won't be easy as we'll be vastly out numbered and vulnerable to friendly fire from our forces approaching from PLANT. Team designations are the same as before. Franklin, Sims, Bell and Bond you're our heavy weapons units pick either a Barrus or Cattus. The rest of you remember to protect your teams' heavy weapons unit since they're the ones with the best chance of knocking out those enemy capital ships.'
Christopher toggled through his communications channels until he reached the one designated for Beta Team. 'Sims, Lowe can you hear me?
'Loud and clear Jaygee.' reported Seth Sims.
'Affirmative sir.' called in John Lowe.
'Sims what are you packing for this mission?' asked Christopher, he wanted to know the strengths and weaknesses of his team.
'The finest Barrus heavy ion cannon I could find.' declared Sims. 'Did you expect anything less?'
'Not really.' Christopher laughed gently; some people just didn't change at all. 'I just wanted to make sure Seth.' The flashing of another one of his sub monitors informed Christopher that he had an incoming message on another communications channel, he toggled through to this channel and pilot suited head of David Franklin appeared on the sub monitor. 'What can I do for you David?'
'Hey Jaygee I was wondering if you might be interested in a little wager.' said Franklin with a wry smile on his face. 'A day's wages says I get the highest kill count of the squadron.'
Christopher couldn't stop himself from bursting out laughing. 'You've got to be kidding David you don't stand a chance, Command Suzuhara will get the highest but if you want me to take your money I'll be more than happy to.'
The jovial conversation was broken up the sight of the Archimedes' GINNs beginning to launch; first into the linear catapult was Commander Suzuhara's dark blue and silver painted GINN.
---
The eight ZAFT warships that had been using the massive T-shaped resource asteroid, Jachin Due, as cover all emerged at once and unleashed a ferocious barrage against the flank of the unsuspecting Earth Alliance 5th and 6th Fleets. Torrents of green high power energy beams lanced through space along with vast numbers of high speed metallic projectiles launched from railguns. Several of the periphery escort ships were caught totally off guard and destroyed as soon as the Earth Alliance commanders realised what was happening a number of escort ship and cruiser squadrons started the turn that would bring them inline with the attacking ZAFT vessels. Almost immediately these ships began to disgorge their masses on Moebius mobile armours.
---
Ichiro Suzuhara's GINN ate up the distance between the ZAFT forces and the Earth Alliance Fleet, his two wingmen that made up Alpha Team had stuck close and the other teams from his Squadron weren't far behind. The mobile suit teams from the other ZAFT warships were also spreading out, it didn't take Ichiro long to realise that the formation that was forming up put his squadron as the spearhead. He swore under his breath and cursed Melchett for arranging this.
Ichiro scanned the hordes of approaching Moebius' they were all armed with the standard linear gun and four missiles. To a veteran pilot like himself they were no contest, but to an inexperienced and over confident pilot they could be deadly if controlled by a skilled pilot. 'Tally Ho! Bandits dead ahead all Teams happy hunting!' yelled Ichiro over the communication channel.
The Earth Alliance cruisers opened fire with their main beam cannons but it was all too easy for the GINNs to easily avoid the beams. A warning light in Ichiro's cockpit warned him that they had entered the effective firing range of the Earth Alliance's linear cannons, a couple of the Alliance pilots took pot shots but they failed to hit anything.
For his part Ichiro slipped his crosshairs over the lead Moebius and patiently waited to get closer. The instant his crosshairs went green he pressed his trigger and sent a hail of bullets towards the Moebius. Ichiro didn't even wait to verify the kill; he turned his attention to the next Moebius. This mobile armour fired its linear gun three times as Ichiro zoomed in towards it then it loosed two of its wire-guided missiles but Ichiro shot them just as they were launching; the explosion rocked the Moebius giving Ichiro the opportunity to pummel its fuselage with bullets from his MMI-M8A3 76mm heavy assault machine gun. Ichiro's wingmen soon added their own fire to the melee and several more Moebius' were downed in quick succession. Ichiro noticed that had Franklin jumped onto the back of a Moebius and fired his M68 Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle at point blank range; a gross waste of ammunition. Ichiro made a mental note to punish the young pilot for such a wasteful act.
However that would have to wait more Moebius' were approaching and he had allowed himself to slow down. With a flick of a switch he ejected his machineguns ammo clip and replaced it with a fresh one. His GINNs monoeye flashed bright red; he was goading the entire Earth Alliance mobile armour corps to attack him. At that moment Ichiro feared nothing.
This was when the lead Moebius teams made their big mistake; they started to swarm in on Ichiro's position allowing the rest of the GINNs to head straight for the capital ships.
---
Christopher Bishop and the Beta Team took advantage of the chaos Commander Suzuhara was causing in the line of Moebius' to charge on through to the cruisers and escort ships. As soon as he had a clear shot Seth Sims fired his M69 Barrus heavy ion cannon; the high powered green energy beam burned through the bow of an escort ship. The whole front section exploded and secondary explosions quickly took hold on the rest of the ship.
For a moment Christopher was transfixed by the sight of the escort ship exploding. Real battles were totally different from simulations or training exercises, this was real and it was dangerous. He pulled himself back together and spotted a pair of Moebius' trying to sneak up on Seth's GINN. He aimed his 76mm machine gun and loosed a burst. The bullets torn through the Earth Alliance mobile armour's thin armour plating penetrating the fuel tanks which exploded. Christopher's heart was pounding and he was short of breath. It was his first kill and it felt good. The second Moebius fired its Vulcan cannons but Christopher evaded with ease.
Suddenly his GINN started to shake violently and the monitor on the left hand side exploded. The damaged report flashed up right away, the GINN's left arm had been blown off. Christopher could only assume that the Moebius had gotten off a lucky shot with its linear gun. Enraged he pushed the GINN's thrusters to full and charged off after the Moebius. When he got close enough he emptied his machinegun clip into the unfortunately mobile armour. It wasn't until the explosion subsided that Christopher realised that he hadn't been very smart; no left arm meant reloading his machinegun would be rather difficult.
---
At the same time Seth was burning down another escort ship. This time his beam had lanced through one of the bulky missile pods that created the little grey ships X appearance. The beam continued through the missile pod and into the hull. As the mighty beam exited the far side of the escort ship it vaporised a Moebius that had been trying to sneak around the escort ship. The escort ship carried on a few moments before exploding in a massive fireball.
He then turned his attention to one of the much bigger cruisers that was closing in on him from behind. The cruisers beam cannon turrets and defensive machine gun turrets opened up on anything that didn't have an Earth Alliance IFF signal. Seth zoomed up over the bow of the cruiser and trained his Barrus heavy ion cannon on the bridge. However he paused for a moment too long as the single barrel beam cannon mounted near the bow fired. The shot destroyed the GINNs right leg and sent the mobile suit into a spin that Seth fought desperately to control. Just as he regained control he fired his heavy ion cannon but he missed the bridge and beam smashed into the twin-barrel turret mounted just in front of the bridge.
It was however too late for Seth. The cruiser's banks of vertical launch missiles tubes all launched their loaded missiles at once. Seth didn't realise their target until it was far too late. The missiles looped round and all hammered into his GINN. The missiles weren't designed for anti- mobile suit duty; it was gross overkill since they were anti-ship missiles. The explosion was massive and spread to the wounded cruiser, the Natural crew succeeded in killing a GINN but it cost them their cruiser.
Seth Sims was the first of the Suzuhara Squadron to be killed; he would not be the last.
---
ZAFT frigate Archimedes, Returning to PLANT
18th April C.E. 70
Elizabeth Bartley's room on the Archimedes was relatively small but at least she didn't have to share it like the most of the crew did. It was located just across the corridor from Commander Suzuhara's cabin/office so that she would be able to get to him quickly if he needed her. He unpacked the few things she had had to secure before the battle. There was a photo of her parents; it had been taken only a few days before her mother was killed in an airlock accident.
Elizabeth placed the photo on her desk and sat down. She started to review the documents that were waiting for her on her computer, they were casualty reports. The Battle of Jachin Due had been won, but at a terrible cost. The Earth Alliance fleet had been repulsed and PLANT had been saved but the Suzuhara Squadron had four dead pilots and six others injured. Seth Sims, Ashley Bell, Jonas Bond and Alexander Bikham were all dead. They unit had only been together a few days and already a third of their number were dead. It was too horrifying to contemplate. The whole squadron only had two fully fit pilots and only one undamaged GINN. Commander Suzuhara had been right about it being too early for them to go into combat. Elizabeth could only pray that the National Defence Committee would give them enough time to recover and to train up the replacement pilots properly.
---
Next Phase: ZAFT is planning for a big offensive near the moon and the rested Suzuhara Squadron is ordered to execute raids on Earth Alliance shipping near the Space Fortress Artemis in an attempt to draw off Earth Alliance units. However is the Squadron ready for such an important assignment?
---
Author's Notes: This is merely my interpretation of the First Battle of Jachin Due. I don't believe there is any real information on the events that transpired on 17th April C.E. 70 if there is and I've missed then I'll be happy to make revisions.