Chapter X: Dark Angels
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Mass Driver Base,
Ayers City, Moon,
March 28, UC 0088
"I'm not a religious man, but I'd say only Joshua could break the EFF wall, like he did in Jericho."
Armus understood that it must've been really desperate for Josh Offshore, the coordinator of Ayers City defense, to make a statement like that. But it was the truth. It was the eleventh day of Battle of Ayers City, and the EFF virtually wiped out every defense line Josh worked so hard to build. Tosh Cray's prophecy that the Feds would find trouble in urban combat didn't materialize. They were as vicious as they were in space, slaughtering the New Desides without giving much thought about collateral damage. Tosh Cray's plan backfired, and now the 70 remaining New Desides were surrounded in a mass driver base in the middle of Ayers City. Meanwhile, the X-Divisional Fleet was also ground, and Brian Aeno decided to flee Ayers City to hide in the dark side of L1.
"You're not giving up, are you?" Armus said, sighing heavily.
"Like your commander Aeno?" Josh scoffed. "How did you end up with him?"
"My unit was assigned to his fleet to reinforce Task Force Alpha, but instead he threw in his lot to you. I thought he was an honorable man with an honorable cause. Turned out I was wrong."
"Do you regret fighting for the New Desides?"
"No... " Armus paused a little. "I believe in the cause. I believe that EFF is corrupt, and somebody has to stand up against it. I just don't understand why we're acting like terrorists, using civilians as shield to win the war. It'll wash up our noble deed. Years and years from now people will only see us as a terrorist band, no matter how valiant we fight or how gallant our message is."
"Too bad, isn't it?" Josh replied softly. "Sadly, we're not the one who makes the decision."
Just then, Armus' radar screamed proximity alarm. EFF launched an all-out attack from every direction, hoping to end the battle that day. Armus readied his rifle, then broadcast his message to his squadron, "This is it, GraveWalkers! We've come a long way, and this is where we'll rest! But remember, what you do in life echoes in eternity. Give'em hell until we can use their limbs as our tombstones! Knuckle up and get ready to paint our name in their chests! Long live GraveWalker!!"
As the battlecries filled up the comlink, Armus switched to active radar and aimed his rifle to the incoming Federation mobile suits. Neros charged the mass driver base like a tidal wave, clusters after clusters, with their guns pointing straight at the New Desides rank. Armus switched to semi-automatic fire and waited until his radar got a hard lock on the stampeding mobile suits. His heartbeats shot up to 120, but he fought the urge to use up his ammunition and held his trigger until the Feds came in half a mile from the mass driver base. With a long, hoarse yell, Armus fired off his gun.
"FIRE!! Send'em all to hell!"
In a heartbeat, both sides started trading fire. Blinding forces dashed back and forth, taking out the front ranks of both forces. Three Neros exploded afloat, victimized by the accurate shots of the GraveWalkers. The Neros replied, and two Xeku Eins on Armus' left blasted off, raining sizzling molten Gundarium on his Z Plus. Armus fired once, twice, three times, torching Neros every time his rifle barked. But the Neros were much too many. One down, two replaced its position, just like Hydra the mythological beast. For every Nero Armus killed, a Xeku Ein or two exploded. And three unfortunate shots from the Neros stabbed one of Armus' wingmen on the solar plexus. The Z Plus keeled over, gushing sparks like blood, then roared into a fireball. Pieces of Gundarium chastised Armus' side, shredding armor and setting minor fire on his left arm.
"Dammit, we lost Gordy!" Lynn screamed on the comlink.
"Keep your eyes on the enemy, Varr!" Armus yelled while firing his gun. "There's nothing you can do about it!"
The Feds kept coming, but the New Desides fought bravely, taking out many Neros and GM IIIs before meeting their death. It didn't take long for Armus to spot the 10th MS Team, leading a wave of Neros blasting through the New Desides' defense line. Their shots were accurate, yet they were quick enough to evade return fires from the Xeku Eins. The image of Jack's Z Plus disintegrating in fiery explosion was still vivid in his mind's eye, and his blood boiled seeing Jack's killer, Captain Mike Sullivan in his custom Rick Dias, butchering the Xeku Eins that got in his way. Armus swore that, for Jack's sake, he would kill Mike before he died.
"GraveWalkers, I need 2 men to hit the 10th MS Team, 2 o'clock high," Armus ordered.
"Affirmative," Lynn responded and swung her rifle toward the designated target. "Riggs, disengage your enemy and fire on the 10th MS Team! Don't stop until you bring'em down!"
Tracers of light filled the sky, taking out several Neros in dazzling flares. The Feds retarded their advance, trying to deal with the new threat. But the 10th MS Team never held back, thrusting into the New Desides' rank with animalistic vigor. Armus' pressure didn't seem to affect them as they inched toward the core of New Desides' defense line. Armus realized that nothing in his possession could stop it from happening.
"Prepare for hand combat!" Armus yelled, firing his rifle in vain. "Stand your ground! Nobody quits! We fight to the death!"
Just as Armus was ready for melee, a mobile suit came into his firing line, blocking his view from the Rick Dias. It was none other than the Gundam Mk. V. Brave Cod dashed with incredible speed toward the Rick Dias that had just slain a Xeku Eins. Both mobile suits drew their beam sabers and fenced right away. Fire leapt to the sky every time their beam sabers clashed. The Rick Dias, despite the less powerful mobile suit, managed to match the Gundam Mk. V's ferocity. What it lacked in force was complimented in superiority in fencing skill. Brave Cod, mesmerized by his inability to finish off the weaker mobile suit, realized that he looked down too much on Mike Sullivan. He fired his vulcan cannons to hold Mike back, then went for a desperate move, "Lieutenant Gray, don't just stand there! Fire at will!"
Armus never liked cheap shots, but his mind was stained with rage over Jack's death. He locked on the Rick Dias and let his rifle bark, sending bursts of pure energy toward Mike's midst. Mike still managed to cringe, but instead Armus' marksmanship blew the limbs off the GM II, unsuspecting of the attack. The red-white mobile suit quaked, staggering to stay afloat, but the attack took half of its power. It spiraled down and crashed to the ground. Brave Cod snatched a glance at the downed GM II, and in one swift move, he dashed forward to kill it while it was on the ground. Mike Sullivan tried to block this cowardly attack, but his Rick Dias couldn't match the sheer power of the Gundam Mk. V. He could only watch as Brave Cod's hot, gleaming blade went toward GM II's cockpit. But seconds before the impact, a fast shadow sprang and blocked Brave Cod's beam saber. The S Gundam arrived to end their personal feud.
"About time you show yourself, Ryu Roots," Brave Cod spat.
"You have been a thorn in our flesh one day too many, Brave Cod," Ryu Roots responded. "It has to end now! Surrender and your life will be spared!"
"Over my dead body, Federation's slave! Prepare to die!"
Brave Cod quickly retracted his beam saber and took off to the sky, but S Gundam followed him. Their beam sabers danced in an apocalyptic pattern, so fast it looked like ribbons made of light. The movements became faster and faster, until their entire bodies engulfed in light, then finally a huge explosion roared, illuminating one-third of Ayers City. Out of the raging fire came out a shadow of a mobile suit. Its segmented armor platting were ripped apart, its gas intakes were blowing off smoke, but nonetheless, it was the living victor of the duel.
It was the S Gundam.
The victory of their ace pumped up the morale of the EFF, while the death of Brave Cod practically stole the fighting spirit away from the New Desides. EFF attack became more and more intense, punching every hole in the defense line. It didn't take long before the New Desides' defense line disintegrated, devoured by the tidal pressure of the EFF attack.
"Fall back! Fall back!!" Armus yelled his order. The EFF become closer and closer to the defense line, and Armus had to switch to automatic rifle to keep the enemies at arms length. Heat tracker spiked up to 80 shut down, while beam streaks zipped left and right. Two of his wingmen blasted into brilliant flares under EFF heavy assault, while another one lost its left leg already. It swayed to regain balance, but his futile fight ended when 4 beam shots ripped its back, blowing up the reactor. The GraveWalkers backpedaled slowly, but soon found themselves trapped on a corner of the mass driver base. With their backs against a wall, they knew that their lives were numbered by the minutes.
Sweat beaded on Armus' forehead as the temperature in the cockpit reached 100 degree. A stray shot from the Federation's mobile suits destroyed half of his cryogenic system, and his Z Plus crawled toward overheating. But Armus defied all pain, firing his gun like a maniac. His rifle belched, spitting fire and radiant strands, while his console wailed and flashed as the temperature in the cockpit climbed well over 100. Explosions blossomed all around him, but his vision became darker and darker. The heat had taken the best of him. Armus fired until his rifle ran out of energy, then readied himself for his final stand.
"To the death!!" Armus screamed, using his empty rifle as a club, waiting for the EFF to come into close quarter fight. "Fight until you can't fight anymore!"
Then something strange happened. Armus' radar picked up new mobile suits descending from the sky, but their signatures were not those of the EFF's. Seconds later mega particle bursts rained down upon the EFF ranks, singeing dozens of unsuspecting Neros and GM IIIs that were busy engaging the New Desides. Complete disorder broke out on both the EFF and New Desides' rank. Armus looked up, might as well see angels, but instead he saw myriad AMX-003 Gaza-C and AMX-007 Gaza-E mobile suits, flashing their cannons, wiping out the first layers of EFF ranks. Still confused, Armus checked his database to see if those new mobile suits had other patron. But he wasn't daydreaming. Gaza-C and Gaza-E were undoubtedly the workhorses of a very powerful faction...
"Neo Zeon?" Lynn yelled unbelievingly. "What the hell is Neo Zeon doing here?"
"I don't know and I don't want to know," Armus muttered his response.
"All units, this is Alpha-One," Tosh Cray's voice crackled on broadcast frequency. "Disengage and take off immediately. We have permission to dock with Gwaley, Neo Zeon's flagship under Admiral Twanning!"
"Neo Zeon? Twanning? What is going on?" Armus gibbered in doubt.
"You don't have time, Lieutenant!" Tosh Cray snapped. "Just do what I say and get your ass out of there before the EFF realize what's going on!"
Armus argued no more. "GraveWalkers! Switch to WaveRider and punch out! We have a ship to catch!"
Four WaveRiders blasted off the mass driver base. Armus, Lynn, and two fortunate soldiers left the mass driver base, dancing among dozens of Gaza-C and Gaza-E that provided cover fire for the New Desides. Armus didn't understand what caused the Neo Zeon to lend their hands to help the New Desides, but he didn't care. He had a chance to salvage 3 members of his team, and that was enough. Flew along with the GraveWalkers were some beaten Xeku Eins, so dreadful Armus doubted if they would ever see combat again. Josh's Xeku Zwei was towed by 2 Xeku Eins, and Tosh Cray anchored the entourage in his Enterprise shuttle. Forty survivors total. Forty out of the original 600 before the Eagle Force started 11 days ago.
As the New Desides escaped, the Federation force wisely held their fire. They were worn, they were weary, and they were outnumbered by the fresh Neo Zeon troops. After the New Desides reached a safe distance, the Neo Zeon mobile suits retreated to their fleet. Their mission was not to battle EFF, not on that day. There would be another time for them.
In the distance, the voice of Mayor Kaiser Pinefield echoed through PA's and public televisions, marking the conclusion of Battle of Ayers City. "To Earth Federation delegations... This is Kaiser Pinefield, mayor of Ayers City. I respectfully declare that from this point on, Ayers City would end its resistance and will voluntarily reenter the control of the Federation Government. The responsibility of our insurrection must be put upon me and me alone. I shall die to take the responsibility. But let the citizen of Ayers City go back to their prosper lives. This war has taken so much from them, and they deserve a wealthy compensation..."
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Next, on "I, Feddie" Chapter XI:
"Admiral Twanning of the Neo Zeon fleet graciously offered his fleet as our future allegiance. Diffusing ourselves into Neo Zeon would give us considerable weapons and manpower that we desperately need. We can easily accomplish our goal. However, joining Neo Zeon means we declare war on Earth, something that is against our philosophy."
"I'd rather sacrifice our weapons for our ideals. How are we going to make our stand if we fight under the banner of Neo Zeon?"
"But you forget that there are only 40 of us left. I don't see any problem cooperating with people that possess actual strength."
"I understand everybody's intention. From this moment on, I announce that the New Desides has been formally disbanded. To make it fair for everybody, I will not hinder those who wish to join Neo Zeon. Those who wish to fight on with me, stay. Let's say goodbye to each other without bearing any complains. After all, we'll fight the same enemy."
"I wish you could be part of Neo Zeon Holy War against the Federation. We can definitely use men of your qualities. But I fully understand your decision to not join our war. Therefore, as farewell assistance and a gesture of good will, I will provide you with a cruiser and a mobile armor. This prototype machine is equipped with realistic combat abilities. We call her Zodiac, but all of you have the freedom to give her whatever name you want. The operation manual is inside the cruiser. I hope to have another chance to meet up with all of you."
"We are indebted to you. I hope someday we could return the favor."
"Kill the Feddies! Kill them all, and consider your debts off!"