Aprilius One, September 16, C.E. 71, 2230.
It was dark. Both inside and out of the ZAFT Supreme Council Headquarters. Stars filled the sky above the building, providing the only light besides the dim street lamps and the occassional car that happened to pass by with its headlights on. Many of the residents on the PLANT were already asleep in their beds, sleeping comfortably in the sanctity of their homes.
However, there was one person who was not asleep at this time. Inside his equally darkened office, Patrick figeted in his chair behind his desk, gazing at the schematics on the computer screen in front of him. The machine that filled the screen in front of him was just a computer animated model, but if it was anything close to what would be the real thing, Patrick knew he had a way to end the war if the invasion failed. There were no words accompanying the machine to point out various parts and pieces of the device. There were only seven letters, scrolled across the top of the screen, which Patrick believed described the machine in the perfect way. G.E.N.E.S.I.S.
Patrick momentarily stopped examining the machine for a moment to take a drink from the steaming mug that sat off to his right. As he lifted the mug and brought the hot liquid into his throat, his eyes saw the picture that the mug had been hiding. His beloved wife Lenore, just as beautiful as she had been when he last saw her, and his boy Athrun. His family. Patrick scowled. He swung his hand across the desk and struck the frame with his fist, sending it flying off of the desk and smashing into the wall on the opposite side of his office. Family. Ha! Patrick had no family now. Lenore was gone, taken away from him by the Naturals, and Athrun had betrayed him. What kind of family was that? No family, to Patrick Zala.
He set the mug down in its original place and brought up another animated frame on his computer. This one was a mobile suit. A dark grey one with multiple fins protruding out of its back, huge beam rifles, and a beam saber. An N-Jammer Canceller gave the machine practically an unlimited source of power, and its phase shift armor could withstand all but the fiercest of assaults. The most heavily armed mobile suit ZAFT had ever produced, and it was nearing its completion at last. It was codenamed, X-13A Providence. The final product of the predecessor mobile suits, X-10A Freedom and X-09A Justice. The perfect weapon, to coincide with the perfect people. The Coordinators. The new species.
The intercom on Patrick's desk chimed, jarring him out of his thoughts. Grinding his teeth, Patrick pressed a button on the device and asked what the problem was. "General Amalfi is here to see you sir," came the reply.
Patrick sighed heavily. "Yes, send him in."
Yuri entered the office quietly, his boots barely making any sound as they clicked against the hard wood of the floor. His eyelids felt heavy all of a sudden, overcome by the darkness inside of Patrick's office, a sullen reminder that he hadn't gotten any sleep in almost the past day. He stopped short of Patrick's desk and stood still. Patrick had his hand draped across his forehead, as if he had a headache, and his face had the usual scowl on it. "Patrick..." Yuri quietly said. "It's time."
Patrick said just one word in response. "Yes." He pushed himself up from his chair and turned off the computer. It was time to head for Junius Five, the PLANT he, Yuri, and Ezalia would be residing before their tour of Jachin Due on the 19th, the day the invasion would officially start. He stalked towards Yuri and walked past him, not even bothering to say a word.
Yuri was about to turn after him, when something in the darkness caught his eye. Glass lay in fragments against the wall of Patrick's office. Yuri followed the trail of the fragments to the picture frame resting at the base of the wall. The photo it encased held the images of Lenore and Athrun. Seeing Lenore's face brought back memories of when Yuri had known her. She had been a very sweet lady, and a graceful one as well, which was probably why Patrick married her in the first place, Yuri thought cheerfully to himself. He hadn't had much time to spend with her given his busy schedule over the past years, but Lenore had been good friends with Ezalia and Yuri's own wife for years, as had their children Athrun and Nicol. When he had learned of her death on Junius Seven, he'd tried to console Patrick, but he had shut everyone out from his mind for several weeks after the tragedy. Yuri had decided to give him his space and give him time to mourn. It was about at that time that Nicol had joined the military, and it was a few months later that Yuri had been delightfully surprised to hear that Nicol, Athrun, Yzak, and Tad's son Dearka had all been assigned to the same team, under the command of Rau le Creuset nonetheless. Yuri knew the fighting that Nicol would be going through would be fierce, but Nicol had insisted to him that he wanted to do everything he could to protect the PLANTs, which made Yuri more proud of his son that he ever had been before.
Then came the day last March. It had been just an ordinary day on Yuri's home PLANT of November Six. Yuri had just returned from a meeting of the Supreme Council when the phone rang. It had been his wife who answered it. Yuri had heard something smash on the floor in the kitchen and had ran to see what was the matter. He found his wife lying against a cupboard, shaking violently, her eyes gushing with tears. Yuri knew only one thing could have caused this. Nicol was dead. Cut in half by the mobile suit of the Earth Forces known as the Strike, as he later found out. Days later, Yuri received another call. Apparently the Strike had been destroyed by a ZAFT unit, and the pilot credited with the kill had been Athrun. It was a conflicting emotional call however, as Yuri also learned that Dearka had gone missing and there was still no word on Athrun's location either. As the next few days dragged on, Yuri had gone back to his duties as head of the fleet, even presenting Athrun with the new X-09A Justice upon his return to the PLANTs. If Yuri had only known what was going on between Athrun and Patrick. He was later shocked to learn that Athrun had taken the Justice to Earth, and was being declared a traitor to the PLANTs.
In the months since Nicol's death, Yuri had been able to cope. But his beloved wife still was devastated over the death of their son, and there will still times when Yuri would hold her to him while she cried. She insisted that she had gotten over it, but every once in a while, Yuri could hear her sobbing quietly next to him while they lay in bed. He hated seeing his wife like this. It tore him up inside. How badly he just wanted the war to end already, and he and his wife could be at peace for once! But that was not going to happen soon. Even so, it was Yuri's job to make sure that it ended in victory for ZAFT.
"Yuri." Yuri's thought exploded and he turned back towards the door to see Patrick waiting for him. "Are you coming?"
"Yes," Yuri replied quickly, heading after Patrick.
Cool breezes nipped at them as they exited the building, hailing a car to take them to the port. "Is Ezalia already there?" Patrick asked, stepping into the car.
"I think so. She probably wanted to see Yzak before he set off again," Yuri responded.
The driver punched the accelerator and the car roared down the road under the glare of the street lamps. "Has he told you anything new about how the project is going?" Patrick asked sternly.
Yuri glanced at him momentarily and said, "He says it's going according to schedule, but he also says that he doesn't see the point in accelerating its development, Patrick."
"Tell him that if we want to win the war, we'll need it now, Yuri," Patrick said harshly. "I'm tired of that idiot objecting to every order I give him."
"It's because he doesn't share the same ideals as you and I, Patrick," Yuri said. "Although he wants to find a way to win the war, he doesn't want to risk having unnecessary losses along the way. That's the only reason why he allowed the project to be developed at Jachin Due anyway."
"Because you told him it would only be used to protect the PLANTs. Instead of using it to utterly defeat the Naturals." Patrick leaned forward and added, "It's getting to the point that I think Dullindal really doesn't care who wins the war."
"That's not true Patrick," Yuri said, getting a harsh glare from Patrick in return. "Uh...what I meant was...he just doesn't want to see any of his people end up dying for a cause that some of them may not really believe in."
"How can people not believe in the cause, Yuri?" Patrick said. "We lived in peace here for decades and when we tried to expand our knowledge, they snapped back at us and attacked us with nukes. You youself know what the Naturals will do to us should they win. Why would anyone want that to happen?"
Yuri paused. Finally, he said, "I'm sorry, sir."
Patrick sighed. "How goes the preparations for Carpentaria? I can only assume that they'll be ready when the Naturals attack."
"I've already ordered our Vosgoulof carriers to support Carpentaria, and Kaoshiung is sending down whatever they can, as well as Victoria," Yuri responded.
"Why not just send more of Victoria's forces over to Carpentaria?" Patrick said. "The Naturals in South Africa are falling back as it is, and Victoria should be safe."
"We can't afford to take that chance, Patrick. We've already moved a quarter of Victoria's forces to Carpentaria. Any more and Victoria will be left completely vulnerable to attack."
"So send them anyway," Patrick said. "As I told you last week, our top priorities at this moment are to get the invasion started and defend Carpentaria at all costs. Move all the troops you need to in order to ensure that, General."
The car reached the port and a soldier opened the door to allow the two men to exit the vehicle. As they walked into the compound, another thought reached Yuri's mind. "What about the meetings Representative Athha of Orb asked for?"
"There's no point in giving that man a meeting. He's in no position to make demands of us."
"But he wasn't making demands," Yuri reminded him. "All he wants is a meeting."
"To try and get me to stop the invasion. And you know it's not going to stop for anything." Patrick turned to Yuri and added, "Athha is of no threat to us. Orb has already been shattered by the Earth Forces, so they're in no position to put up a fight."
"But we can't be sure of that," Yuri said. "We don't know what kind of hidden weapons Orb may have. Not to mention that the Clyne Faction is still out there somewhere-."
"Forget it, Yuri. It's not worth spending effort over those fools any longer." Patrick turned away from him. "The invasion will happen. Athha will not interfere and neither will the Clyne Faction. Nothing will stand in our way and we will win the war. And if you have any objections to that, I'd watch it, or you'll end up like Canaver did. You don't want that now do you?" With that, Patrick stalked ahead and into the compound, leaving Yuri along under the dim street lamp.
Yuri clenched his fist and said to himself, "Why must you always test me, Patrick?" He quickly followed his leader into the compound, leaving the outside quiet once again.
Archangel, September 17, C.E. 71, 0500.
The six ship fleet trundled across the vast, black space on its way to L5. The Peleuia held the lead, acting as a scouting vessel for the larger ships behind her. Kusanagi, Eternal and Archangel made up a triangle behind the smaller ship, with the Capricorn and the Vasconi bringing up the rear. No mobile suits flew outside of the ships, for fear of being detected. In order for their mission to succeed, all of the vessels needed to reach L5 and get within range of Jachin Due's defenses without being seen. A hard task, but one the people aboard knew was not impossible.
Most of the Archangel's crew was asleep at this hour, resting up for the long days ahead. Only a few officers and crewmembers walked the barren corridors. Josef and Neumann sat at the front of the bridge, occassionally giving out a yawn, going about their daily routines. Natarle sat in the Captain's chair, taking over for Murrue while the Captain slept. Natarle herself was about to fall asleep right there, and she desperately tried to find something that would keep her awake and alert. Anything. She couldn't afford to look soft now. Not with a mission such as this relying on her being at her best.
In the hangar, Niada and Murdoch were the only ones about, going over one of the bomber's outside framework to check for bulges or openings that would vacuum out the air inside of them and make flight impossible. Each of them had taken in a lot of coffee to stay awake, and they both knew that they wouldn't be going to sleep for a while now. Hank Rodriguez climbed out of the nose turret on the plane and reported that everything was functioning normally. Murdoch told both of his comrades to go and get some rest because it was nearing the end of their shift anyway, so the two others wandered off into the adjacent corridors and back towards their quarters.
On the deck below the bridge, where the officer's quarters were located, John woke with a start as his alarm clock went off. The buzzing and chiming rang through John's ears like a truck horn, and he quickly reached across him to shut it off. He brought the clock closer to his face and checked the time. 0500. Time for him to start his shift. He threw the covers off of him and went over the day's duties in his mind. Check the diagnostic boards on the bombers, meet with Fernando to go over last minute updates, make sure Donnie and the morons don't do anything stupid, fix the-!
John's thoughts came to an abrupt end when he stood up. Suddenly, sharp pain rang out through his body, coursing from his hips, to his feet, and all the way up to his head. The pain was indescribable. It felt like someone had jammed an ice pick into his hip, the pain was so bad. Gasping for air, John collapsed back onto the mattress and fell back onto his pillow, the pain overcoming his senses, sweat pouring down his forehead and cascading down his back. His teeth grinded with the excrutiating pain. Somehow, he managed to grab hold of the phone next to his bed and called up the doctor, the pain intensifying every second.
Archangel, 0730.
Captain Murrue Ramius' quarters were quiet. Peaceful. Serene. It had been that way all night, and there was no way in hell Murrue wanted that to change. She lay asleep on her bed, just as she usually did. But this time, she was not alone. Mwu also lay asleep there, his arms wrapped securely around her, holding her close to him. Murrue had called him earlier that night and asked him to come see her. They had done this many times before in past days. Just laying in bed together, talking to one another and relishing in each others presence. Nothing more, nothing less, and they loved every minute of it.
Murrue dreamed peacefully on this night, her eyes closed gently and her hair falling about her face. Her pale blue nightgown gently caressed her smooth skin and her arms clutched her pillow lightly. Her back was warm where it touched Mwu's bare chest, his arms also providing her with constant warmth and sanctity. There was nowhere more safe for her than in his strong arms. She had also found his chest to make a comfortable pillow for her head and she enjoyed laying upon it whenever he would let her, which was basically all the time. It was complete peace and tranquility here. It was as if the war didn't exist for them at this moment, though they were in reality right smack dab in the middle of it. But right now, none of that mattered to either of them.
That was, until the phone on Murrue's end table rang loudly, jarring her out of her sleep. Her brown eyes blinked open, gazing from one direction to the other. She smiled when she saw that she was still lying where she had been when she fell asleep. Still wrapped in Mwu's arms, completely safe from the outside world. The phone rang once again and she was now fully awake. Slowly and gently, trying her best not to wake him up from his slumber, Murrue wriggled out of his grasp and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. She pushed back a lock of autumn colored hair behind her ear and picked up the phone. "Captain Ramius," she said quietly.
"I'm sorry to disturb you, Captain." That was Natarle's voice. "Admiral Cantarii's called a meeting at this time. He needs you on the bridge as soon as possible."
"Thank you, I'll be there shortly," Murrue responded.
Natarle added, "Captain would you mind knocking on Commander la Flaga's door for me. He didn't answer when I rang and Chief Murdoch says he's not in the hangar."
Murrue grinned. She knew exactly where Mwu was. "Yes, Natarle, I'll get him up. I won't let him sleep the night away."
"Thank you, Captain." Natarle hung up.
Murrue set the receiver down and sighed happily. She made her way over to where Mwu lay asleep and whispered his name in his ear. "Hmm?" Mwu murmured quietly.
"We need to report, Mwu," Murrue whispered. "The Admiral's called a meeting and we need to go."
It took a few seconds, but Mwu finally sat up in bed and rubbed his eyes. "Man oh man," he said, yawning in the process. "They never let us spend any time alone together."
Murrue smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "You'd still be sleeping if I didn't wake you, Mwu."
"Yeah, you're probably right."
"Oh, so you'd rather sleep than spend time with me?" Murrue asked, folding her arms.
"I'm sure you'd do the same," Mwu responded. Then he smiled and flicked her gently on the nose. "Just kidding." Murrue managed a slight smile and a little giggle as well.
While Murrue went into her bathroom to change, Mwu slipped on his shirt and put his jacket back on. He looked into the mirror on the other side of the room and straightened his hair as best he could. He ran his palm across his chin to feel if any stubble had sprouted in the past few days, but none had. Murrue came out of the bathroom dressed in her uniform and she stood next to him as she brushed her hair. "You think they'll be suspicious of us?"
"Why?" Mwu asked.
"Why we're suddenly always together and seemingly inseparable," Murrue answered.
"Eh, they probably already know anyway," Mwu said. "We just gotta keep going along with it," he said, stretching his arms over his head.
Murrue set her brush down on the dresser and headed towards the door, sliding it open. She peered out into the hallway, and said, "Coast is clear."
"Clear for what?" Mwu asked, following her towards the door.
She kissed him gently on the lips as she pulled him out the doorway and into the corridor. "For that," she giggled.
Mwu smirked. "Come on Captain, we've got work to do."
"After you Commander," Murrue said.
"Oh, no, I insist, Captain. After you." Murrue laughed and lead the way down towards the elevator which would take them up to the bridge.
Much of the crew was already on the bridge when Murrue and Mwu arrived. About half of the bridge crew were at their stations while the others slept, with Natarle and Frank flanking Murrue's chair on either side. Stevy and Niada stood on the left side of the bridge, locked in their own conversation. "Good morning, crew," Murrue announced as she entered.
"Morning, Captain," Pal said from his station.
The others on the bridge saluted as Murrue took her seat. Mwu stood between Frank and Stevy on the left hand side of the bridge. "Any idea what Cantarii wants?" he asked.
"We were hoping you could tell us, actually," Niada said.
"All I got was that Cantarii wanted all the officers to be here, so it's something important I'm assuming," Frank added. "Just hope nothing else turned up regarding Jachin Due."
"Yeah. Hey, where's John?" Mwu asked.
"I don't know, I haven't seen him," Frank answered. Stevy and Niada eached shrugged.
Seconds later, Cantarii's image came onto the screen of all the warships in the fleet. Kira and Athrun flanked Lacus on the bridge of the Eternal, with Andy sitting just to their right and Captain Steele directly in front of them. "I'm assuming everyone can hear me?" Cantarii began.
"Loud and clear, Admiral," Murrue said.
"We read you, sir," Lacus said.
"Capricorn here. We read you, Admiral."
"Vasconi, likewise."
"Peleuia here. No problems."
"Very good. I'll try to make this short people, so you can get back to sleep." Cagalli was within an arm's length of Cantarii, behind his chair. Kisaka stood next to Captain Jackson. "It's come to my attention that we're going to have to make some alterations to the planned assault on the Jachin Due facilities, due to some...unexpected developments."
"What kind of developments?" Andy asked.
"Good and bad, I'm afraid. Well, first off, in the past day or so, Zala's moved another ten ships to Jachin Due to be part of the invasion force...which brings the total ships there up to around seventy," he said, as a matter of fact. "So, we're gonna have to do even more to stop them. But in hindsight, this actually could work to our advantage given the fact that this will mean the ships will have to be parked closer together in order to service them all at the docks."
"Which means that if we hit on of 'em, the entire thing will go off," Andy said.
"Precisely. This makes it easier for us to take out more of the ZAFT forces with what little strength we still have at our disposal." Cantarii paused.
"Was that the bad news?" Murrue asked.
"No," Jackson responded. "Unfortunately, that was the good news."
"Then what's the bad news?" Frank asked.
"The bad news is, we're going to need a new strike commander," Cantarii said quickly, rubbing the edges of his nose with his fingers.
"Huh?" both Murrue and Natarle said at the same time. Frank, Mwu, Stevy, and Niada each looked at each other with confused looks on their faces.
"What do you mean, we're going to need a new strike commander, Admiral?" Kira asked. "I thought Colonel Namora was the strike commander for the mission?"
"He was, Ensign Yamato," Cantarii said. "Now he's out."
"He's out?" Mwu said. "What does that mean?"
"It means he's out, Commander," Jackson responded. "He's not the strike commander anymore because he's hurt."
"What!" everyone seemed to say at the same time. "How did he get hurt?" Frank asked.
"He tried to get out of his bed this morning and when he stood up, he fractured his hip," Cantarii said. "He's on the Kusanagi right now. He's in surgery so we can replace his hip. He's gonna be out for the mission. That's why we need a new strike commander."
"But who's gonna do it?" Athrun said. "Colonel Namora was the one who planned this thing from the beginning, so who's gonna take his place?"
"Commander la Flaga." Mwu looked up at the video screen and stared right into Cantarii's face. "Technically you're second in command of the air group, Commander. So that means, with John hurt, you're in charge." Mwu's mouth dropped. Talk about a bombshell. "Of course, if you don't think you'll be able to, Commander..." Cantarii added.
"No, no!" Mwu stuttered. "I'll do it, no problem...it's just...heh...talk about something to wake you up in the morning."
"I know it's unexpected but we have to keep on schedule if we want this work. At least we got the bad news out of the way," Cantarii said.
"But that still leaves one question unanswered, sir," Niada interrupted. "What I mean is, sir," he stammered after Cantarii appeared a bit pissed off at his interruption.
"What he means is, with John out, who's gonna fly the third bomber?" Stevy finished. "Niada and I have the first one covered, Donnie and Jake got the second, but Mike's going to need a co-pilot for the third one."
"And according to your estimates, we're can't afford to lose a K," Niada pointed out.
"We'll deal with that later," Cantarii said. "Right now, we need to adjust our battle plans to accomodate for the new changes. Commander la Flaga is now strike commander, Commander Lapina will be second in command. Everyone else still has their current assignments, but right now we need to reconfigure our scheme to account for the ten extra ships. Lord Uzumi has already spoken to me and he's given us the go. Apparently he's decided that it's pointless to continue to attempt negotiations with Zala at this time. So that means, the mission's a go. Go over every detail, people. We can't afford to have this blow up in our face, after all that's happened." Cantarii saluted, and signed off.
"You alright, Mwu?" Frank asked.
"Sure. Never been better," Mwu responded dryly. "Guys we're gonna have to get the machines tuned up, so let's go." He turned and strolled out of the bridge, with Frank, Stevy, and Niada following.
"You think we'll have to take the Archangel even further in to get the needed results?" Neumann asked Josef.
"Well, with ten more ships it's not going to be easy," Josef admitted. He brought up the map of Jachin Due that he had been given aboard the Vasconi a few days earlier and enlarged it so both of them could see. "The anti-ship guns are the main problem at the moment. There are ten of them spread out in a U formation, each approximately twenty meters apart. That's enough for the Archangel to squeeze through, but I really don't think we'll have to try that." He shrugged. "My guess is that we'll just have to stick with what we were told earlier and hope we get it done. Why? You think we won't get it done?"
Neumann glanced casually at his co-pilot. "You think you do all that bull shit you just said?" Josef narrowed his eyes and stared blankly at him. "Right..." Neumann sighed, going back to work.
"How do think it went?" Cantarii asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Better than it could have been," Jackson said lightly.
"But it still leaves the question as to who's gonna fly the last bomber, Admiral," Josh pointed out. "You said it youself, we'll deal with it later, but I'm not sure we can afford to put it off for long."
"I think he's right, sir," Jackson agreed. "Plus, from what I've gotten out of Lieutenant Barrington, those things aren't easy to handle. It's gonna take someone with pretty good skills as a pilot to do it."
"I'll do it then," Cagalli said from behind the Admiral.
Cantarii turned in his chair to face the girl. "You think you can do it, Miss Cagalli?"
"I will if it's O.K. with you, that is, Admiral," Cagalli added.
"I'm afraid you can't, Cagalli." All their eyes turned to Kisaka, who had uttered the words, standing in his usual calm manor, arms folded, head held up high.
"Why not?" Cagalli stammered.
"Because I will," Kisaka announced.
"You sure you can handle that thing, Colonel?" Jackson asked. "I know you're a capable pilot and all, but..."
"I will do my best to meet the expectations you have of me, sir," Kisaka said to Cantarii. "I may not be the best pilot available, but I will do my best."
Cantarii smiled. "Then you better get your ass over to the Archangel then, Kisaka. Get the people over there to get you ready for it. Good luck." Kisaka saluted and left the bridge.
"Why is it that I never get to do anything to help out?" Cagalli asked, to no one in particular.
"You want to help?" Jackson asked. Cagalli nodded. "Go run through the simulators downstairs again. From what I've heard, you're pretty good at it. Who knows? We may be able to get you into an M1 soon."
"Yes, sir," Cagalli said proudly, and sprinted out of the bridge. Cantarii cast a sly glance at his Captain and Jackson just shrugged.
"We run a significant risk if we use the METEORs this soon," DaCosta said, on the Eternal. "Right now, we're still attempting to get them fully charged and until they dock with the mobile suits they'll be sitting ducks for enemy fire."
"I understand the risks involved, but we stand a better chance of taking out more targets if we do use them," Andy said. "These two are going to need all the help they can get once the shooting starts."
"Plus, we can't afford to have you two die on us this soon," Lacus said to Kira and Athrun. "We'll need you for the road ahead."
"Depending upon my father's response to when I talk with him, we'll probably be under some pretty heavy fire once the meley starts," Athrun said. "So, I'd say if we can get the METEORs, all the better."
"How far in is the Eternal supposed to go, General?" DaCosta asked.
"The Admiral wants us to be a good distance from the main docks and ready to turn out as soon as we get our tasks done. So I'm thinking we'll bring her this far in," he pointed to a spot on the map below him, "launch the METEORs here, and then proceed with the rest of our objectives. But we can't go too far in, or else they'll detect us, so you guys will have to be ready to get the METEORs as soon as we let them go, alright?"
"Sir!" both Kira and Athrun said in unison.
"Just promise me one thing you guys," Andy said, bringing his sole remaining eye to bear onto the two pilots before him. "Don't overdo things, too much." Kira and Athrun grinned at each other slyly.
Africa, September 19, C.E. 71, 0430.
Low, thin clouds shrouded the eastern coast of the continent, the night sky still casting darkness across the landscape. Across the horizon, the bright colors of the early morning were just coming into form, signaling the imminent arrival of the sun. A warm, peaceful morning at the Victoria Spaceport, was just about to be shattered.
Approximately forty miles to the southwest, running along the eastern coast of Africa, an Earth Alliance fleet consisting of twenty-five ships, including nine aircraft and mobile suit carriers, chugged northward through the calm, early morning seas. Strike Dagger pilots readied themselves in their briefing rooms for the long flight ahead, while the crews of the sea going vessels headed to battle stations. Mechanics finished preparing the machines for combat and guided the pilots to their machines as they arrived on station.
Over the vast landscape of the east African desert, another group of ships, only a force of seven, centered around the new assault ship, Dominion, traveled in the same direction, in order to strike in two different directions. Shani, Orga, and Clotho sat in the infirmary, each one trying to beat out the seering pain in their heads following the intake of their daily drug supplements. Their 'physicians' watched with keen eyes, trying to get some sort of reading on the concoction that had proven much more efficient on the trio at Orb. As far as the High Command was concerned, Orb had just been a test. Victoria would be the real thing.
On the bridge, Captain Omanney sat in his chair, his hands clasped beneath his chin, staring out the front viewport. Sutherland arrived on the bridge through the rear doors and stood next to the Captain. "How go the preparations, Captain Omanney? I trust nothing has gone wrong, yet."
"I have no reason to expect otherwise, sir," Hal responded. "Strike Dagger units are on station, awaiting orders to launch. The only concern I could see us having is with Mr. Azrael's people."
Sutherland turned to Azrael, who was sitting in his own chair below and to the left. "Don't worry, Admiral. They'll perform up to full potential this time." He smiled. "Or else we'll just have to punish them some more."
"Punish them, sir?" Hal inquired.
"With some people you just need to be forceful enough for them to perform, Captain," Sutherland answered, taking a seat.
"How much longer until the sun rises, Captain Rutherford?" Azrael asked his assistant who sat at a console next to the Blue Cosmos leader.
"Approximate time is 0434, sir. Sun rise is scheduled for 0539 this morning. More than an hour left."
"Shall we begin then, Admiral Sutherland?" Azrael said.
"It should be light enough in the next twenty minutes," Sutherland said. "Captain Rutherford, give the order for all ships to have their mobile units on standby at a moment's notice and all ships to proceed full speed toward the target. Victoria Spaceport."
"Yes, sir," Rutherford answered.
"All hands, level one battlestations!" Hal ordered. "Get the Calamity, Raider, Forbidden, and the Strike Daggers ready for takeoff!"
"Yes, sir."
"All hands, level one battlestations! All hands, level one battlestations!"
"I suggest that you improve your performance if you don't want to feel that kind of pain again," the 'physician' said to the trio below him on their knees. Their breathing came heavy and deep, sweat pouring down their foreheads and onto their flight suits. Slowly, they got to their feet and headed towards their machines.
"You think we'll be in trouble if we screw up this time?" Shani wondered out loud.
"Bet on it," Clotho answered. "That bastard Azrael's only using us to make himself look good."
"Well, at least we're kicking ass instead of getting our own asses kicked," Orga said happily.
With waves flapping against their hulls, the naval vessels turned to the west, towards the coast. Strike Daggers stood on the decks, waiting to jump onto the soil rapidly approaching. The mass driver at Victoria was visible just on the horizon, approximately fifteen miles inland.
"Catapult connection confirmed. Launch aircraft now!" Planes roared down the deck of the carriers and into the air, weapons fully primed and ready.
"Have Kruger assault team and Dallas support team launch on the double!" one ship captain ordered. The ship came within a few meters of the shore and the Daggers jumped into the air and landed gracefully on the ground. They began their short journey on foot towards the spaceport, aircraft from the carriers covering overhead.
"Naval units have commenced launch, Admiral," a crewman on the Dominion reported. "Manchester team is standing by on the catapult, ready for launch."
"Get them out," Hal commanded. "CIC, how far are we from the bases main premises?"
"Twenty-nine miles, approximately, Captain!"
"The Lohengrin's got a range of ten miles, but the Gottfried's only have seven miles ranges," Hal computed in his head.
"We'll need to get closer before we can start doing any significant damage," Sutherland confirmed.
"I'm more worried about the mobile teams on their approach to the spaceport," Hal corrected.
"The anti-air cannons," Rutherford said.
"I'd kind of like to have those out of the equation before we get close," Hal said.
"There's only three of them, Captain. How much damage could they possibly do?" Azrael chuckled.
Hal narrowed his eyes. "More than I'd like to get out of here with, Mr. Azrael."
"The new machines will be able to tear apart those guns with ease. It's only a matter of getting them close enough without being detected," Sutherland said.
"Captain Rutherford. Send these coordinates to the Calamity, the Forbidden, and the Raider. Mark delta twenty-seven, charlie omega nine-three-six," Hal ordered. "Tell 'em to be ready to move when the guns start shooting."
"You have a plan, I assume?" Azrael inquired.
"Maybe," Hal replied. "When we get within twelve miles, activate Lohengrins, Gottfrieds, and starboard Valient. Tell the Daggers to continue with their pre-determined attack runs!"
"Order the naval units to commence their attack at once!" Sutherland commanded.
Victoria Spaceport, 0450.
Ensign Jesmin Corl waltzed into his post inside one of the sentry outposts on the edges of the spaceport. The mass driver loomed in the distance immediately behind him, with other facililities lying strewn about the base all around him. He took his seat at his post and said, "Anything new?"
"Nothing, sir," one of his men replied. "No disturbances to report." The man yawned. "Think I'll turn in for a while, sir."
"Alright then," Corl said, leaning back in his chair, crossing his legs and propping them up on the console.
He shut his eyes and retreated back into his head for a short moment. He was rudely awakened by the phone on the console in front of him. Biting back a curse, Corl grabbed the receiver. "Sentry outpost, seven."
"Ensign Corl!" came the shouting reply. "We have contacts coming in from delta omega thirty! Can you see them? We think they're Earth Forces!"
"What! You're crazy! The Earth Forces are all at Carpentaria! This can't be..." Corl's voice trailed off when he turned around. Aircraft buzzed overhead of the outpost, flying top speed for the facilities behind him. Corl could count at least ten from where he stood.
"Sir, we have contacts coming in from all over the place!" another of his men shouted. "Mobile suits and airplanes!"
Corl saw a watch tower just to their south explode in a fireball as a mobile suit jumped to the ground just beyond it, its rifle still firing at other targets. "Command center! Multiple Earth Forces contacts confirmed! Mobile suits and aircraft! Alert all base personnel and get the-!" Corl never got the chance to finish as a Dagger landed right in front of the building and fired a single shot from its beam rifle right into Corl's face.
Dominion, 0455.
"Course clear for launch! X-370 launch!" Clotho punched the thrusters and the Raider surged forward down the catapult. The course that he and the others had been ordered to take was displayed on his diagnostic board in front of him. That's straight ahead. What's the point on having us just stay there and not head anywhere else?
"X-370, do you copy?"
"Roger that, Dominion," Clotho answered.
"Circle back and wait for the X-131 to launch. The X-252 will follow shortly. You are to maintain the assigned heading until conditions prove too dangerous for you to deviate. Understood?"
"Yes, control." Clotho pressed a button and the Raider transformed itself from combat mode to flight mode. Executing a quick 360 degree turn around the Dominion and back, Clotho skimmed the desert sands just off of the ground and charged beside the ship. A jolt sounded through the Raider as the Calamity landed on top of it. "Orga, you on?"
"Yeah," Orga responded. "Where the hell is Shani? Let's get this over with already. I don't know what the hell the Captain's thinking."
The Forbidden followed the Calamity out of the hangar and into the air beside the two other mobile suits. "You don't think they're setting us up, do you?" Shani asked dubiously.
"I wouldn't count it out with that bastard running things," Orga answered. "Just do it and if we get shot at, do what you have to."
"Roger that," Shani sent back.
The mobile suits continued on the projected course towards the spaceport, the mass driver appearing as a black monster in the early morning sky. The sun had not yet risen yet, but the brighter blues and whites of the early morning were taking shape off to the east. "Target in sight!" Clotho shouted.
"I see it, I see it," Orga said.
"Anti-air guns at mark beta, forty-four," Shani transmitted. They all could see them ahead, looming in the distance, their double 200 meter cannons sticking into the sky. Clotho could see them already firing into the air from his cockpit. He could see Strike Daggers engaging GINNs and other forces on the ground, and explosions from when people had bitten the dust.
"They're gonna see us, you know," Clotho said.
"Shut your mouth!" Orga shouted.
"You shut up!" Clotho shot back.
"Why don't you both shut up!" Shani added.
The center cannon rotated on its axis in front of them and aimed its cannons directly at them. "They're gonna shoot!" Clotho shouted.
"Then move, you idiot!" The cannon fired. The trio managed to maneuver out of the way just in the nick of time and the blast didn't hit anything. Suddenly, weapons flashes soared past them from behind, striking the cannon installation dead center, which exploded in a ball of flame and smoking debris. "Huh?" Clotho said. He turned the Raider around and saw the Dominion charging behind them, its main cannons and plasma cannons already in the firing position.
"You boys alright?" That was Azrael's voice.
"Yeah, we're fine," Orga said.
"Good. You have permission to do whatever you want, now," Azrael said. "This time, don't hit the driver though, O.K.? Thanks for the backup."
"Finally," Orga sighed. "Clotho, let's go kill some people!"
"With pleasure!" He kicked the Raider's thrusters for all they were worth and soared towards the spaceport. Shani was already way ahead of them with the Forbidden, charging towards the second anti-air cannon, his sythe fully grasped in the Forbidden's hands. "Die!" he shouted, swinging the giant blade in a low, sweeping arc, slicing off the top portion of the cannon, managing to jump out of the way before it exploded.
"You're terminated!" Orga laughed, bringing his bazooka to bear on the final gun.
"Obliterate!" Clotho shouted, firing the Raider's Zorn mouth cannon at the target, Orga following instantly with his own barrage. It took a few direct hits before the gun exploded.
"All anti-air guns, confirmed destroyed!" a crewman on the Dominion reported.
"Head to the spaceport!" Sutherland ordered. "Let's teach those space invaders a lesson on what happens when you defy the Earth Forces!"
"Maximum speed!" Hal commanded. "Load rear missile tubes and activate Igelstellungs!"
"Enemy mobile suits incoming from orange delta two!"
"They're DINNs, Admiral," Rutherford confirmed.
"Deal with them," Sutherland ordered.
"Fire missiles in tubes seven through twelve!" Lieutenant Yeardley Poprawa, commander of the Dominion's CIC commanded in her deep, eloquent voice. "Fire helldarts and anti-beam depth charges!"
Earth Alliance planes fired their guns and missiles at targets on the ground, catching some before they could even take off. Several DINNs managed to get airborne and downed three Alliance planes before being pounced on by the Calamity and Raider. Orga fired his Schlag cannons at an airborne DINN, catching it in the leg before blowing it to pieces with a direct shot to the back. He cried out in ecstasy as he jumped off of the Raider and onto the tarmack below, unleashing more fire from the cannons on his back along with his chest cannon. "Come on, bitches!" he challenged.
"Ensign Buer, watch your back!" one of the Strike Dagger pilots warned.
Clotho turned his head just in time to see a DINN make a pass at him, barely even putting a scratch in his armor. "I've got ya!" Clotho swung the Raider's arm and fired his Mjolnir hammer at the machine, catching it square in the chest and sending it sprawling backwards. "Annihilate!" he shouted, firing both his shield cannons at the falling DINN, shredding it to pieces that fell harmlessly to Earth.
Shani stopped in mid-air just above one of the hangars, a BuCUE and two ZuOOTs, firing at him from just beyond the open door. Shani closed the Forbidden's backpack around himself and deflected the beams with ease. "Come on! You can't get past my Trans-Phase Armor." Retracting the backpack, Shani fired the plasma cannon in front and cut down a ZuOOT. "If that's the best you can do!" he shouted, slicing with his sythe, cutting the other ZuOOT in half, but just missing the BuCUE. "These guys are pushovers," he commented to himself.
"Our mobile suit teams have taken control of areas delta four and delta nine!"
"That's impressive," Azrael commented. "I didn't expect we'd get it done this easily."
"It's probably because our feint at Carpentaria drew most of their forces away from here, sir," Rutherford pointed out.
"Another brilliant plan concocted by myself and the Admiral," Azrael said.
"Well...actually sir..." Rutherford began, but he was cut off.
"Order Manchester and Kruger teams to proceed into the base. Have our special forces teams hurry to the command center and disarm the driver's self-destruct!" Sutherland ordered. "We can't afford to lose this one!"
"Main cannons, fire!" Hal shouted. Green laces of light streaked out of the cannons in front of the bridge, and caused explosions on the ground below.
"Heat sources from port, Captain!"
"Aim Valients and fire!" Poprawa shouted. "Tell the Raider to watch out for more forces from the hangars."
"Ugh...We've already blown 'em up, keep your shirt on lady," Orga shouted back.
"Knock it off, Ensign Sabnak," Hal warned. "Just get your job done, alright."
"Whatever."
"Well, I'd say it's going relatively well, wouldn't you say, Captain Rutherford?" Azrael asked his assistant.
"I agree sir, in principle. But don't you think it's going a little overboard by saying that we won't be taking any prisoners?" Rutherford asked. "I mean, isn't that kind of harsh, sir?"
Azrael chuckled. "Oh, Captain. You'll never win this war with thoughts like that. You've got to eliminate all your enemies for a war to truly and completely end. That's why so many wars in the past have led to another one in a few years. Which is what we're trying to avoid now, by putting the Coordinators in their places."
"Yes, sir," Rutherford responded, turning back to his console.
Azrael folded his arms behind his head and yawned. "Captain Omanney," he said. "I suggest you tell the ship's cook that he'll be needing to move to a larger location soon." He grinned smugly. "With the way things are going now, we'll be able to dine on African cuisine tonight inside the Victoria spaceport. Just one more step on the road to total victory."