Callie and Marie marched along one of the makeshift streets of Main Operating Base Shambley. This morning's rain had turned the dirt roads into mud, but the ground had all been so compacted by months of vehicles travelling over it that it hardly mattered to the large trucks rolling by. The humidity as the sun broke through the clouds and started to evaporate the ground water was almost suffocating.
"Glad I kept my tentacles long," Callie moaned as she pulled at her collar. The CSF didn't have battle dress like the other services, forcing them to wear the standard jacket and trousers while the Army personnel around them enjoyed t-shirts.
"I'd be willing to ditch the jacket at least if everyone couldn't see the ink streak down my back." Marie grumbled.
"You're too self-conscious, Marie."
Cephalopod species regulated their temperature out of water by using their ink as a heat sink. Their tentacles acted like radiators, allowing their bodies to bleed off heat away from the core of their bodies and returning cooler temperatures back. Whenever that was insufficient, their bodies would evacuate hot ink out the funnels on their backs. Unfortunately, cephalopods also defecated out the same orifice.
As the two inkyora walked they drew odd looks. They were hiding their true colours, with Marie sporting fully lime tentacles while Callie had hers fully magenta, helping to hide their identities. Unfortunately, CSF uniforms were going to stand out in an Army base no matter what they did.
They came to a shipping container with dirt piled high against it on all sides except the entrance. Camouflage netting was criss-crossed over it, providing shade from the hot sun. Inside the container was Colonel Argent's office.
The Army sentry knocked on the door and after a second the sentry permitted them to enter. The interior was dimly lit with the only major light source dangling directly over Colonel Argent's small desk. A few filing cabinets were arrayed at the opposite end of the container. The Colonel directed them to a pair of folding chairs.
"Glad you two could make it. I know you were up late last night."
Team 05 had indeed been out late. They'd been coming back from covering a retreat when Team 03 had called desperately for help to retrieve one of their downed units. Capture of one of their mobile suits was absolutely unacceptable, and so they had gone to help before its pilot had been forced to initiate the self-destruct. It had been the first combat loss the 13th Autonomous Corps had suffered since arriving four days ago.
"I'm sorry to report that Second Lieutenant Linker succumbed to his injuries after they got him to the hospital. Shrapnel damage was too extensive. Fortunately, his mobile suit is salvageable, albeit needing a lot of work. We're still reviewing the combat footage to find out exactly what happened. Meantime, we have something else to discuss."
Callie leaned forward, eyes lighting up with excitement in spite of the grim news. "Did you find anything on Starburn's blacklisting?"
Argent scratched his head. "I've made inquiries into the CSF, asked some friends to look into it for me too. Lot of people weren't thrilled we brought someone into the 13th blacklisted by one of the services, but when the higher ups found out why it didn't make any sense, they started to get curious too. Apparently, they think it's more than just a clerical error. And the closer we get to sniffing it out the more the CSF seems to squirm. As far as we can tell, the reason has to do with her mother's last mission."
Marie sniffed, her mantle turning an ugly shade of purple. "But what could that mission possibly have to do with her daughter? She was no more than twelve."
"I don't know, but the level of security around the 13th compels us to investigate. That and the Marines want to look into it to. They feel like they've been slighted by the CSF throughout the whole war, and not without reason, frankly."
Callie smirked. "So they see this as a chance for payback, uncovering one of the CSF's dirty little secrets under the guise of clearing the name of one of their shooting stars."
"And we once again become mired in inter-service politics," Marie sighed. "But we have no choice. We have to continue investigating or it'll bite us in the ass at some point."
Colonel Argent steepled his hands and looked at her firmly. "You have experienced no issues with Starburn or anyone else in your team?"
"Not really. Starburn was pretty standoffish during training but a hard worker. Definitely the type not to let anyone close, but she seems to have gotten better since we deployed."
"I think Hypori broke through her hard little shell," Callie giggled. "Actually, all three of them have improved a lot, both personally and in their skills. Don't worry, Sir, the rookies are holding their own."
Argent regarded them both soberly. "That's good, because in light of our recent successes, Major General Lakehead has a job for us."
#####
In inkling culture, Hell was often depicted as a hot, barren wasteland completely devoid of moisture. Sahna now felt that depiction was wrong, certain now that Hell had to be a humid place that perpetually suffocated you in a thousand different ways before you even had a chance to contemplate your sins.
Sahna had grown up a city girl, used to air conditioning, with the most threatening wildlife being squirrels or the occasional rabbit. Here, they had to worry about poisonous spiders the size of dinner plates, and had belatedly learned that, here, a group of flying insects was not called a swarm, but a cloud. She was still deciding whether she had grown up spoiled or this place was just that inhospitable. Given the lack of civilization, she leaned strongly towards the latter.
For the moment, she sat under the shade of a tarp covering crates of spare parts for the 13th. She, Hypori, and two of the 13th's techs were using one of the spare parts crates to play cards. Hypori had completely removed her jacket and shirt, leaving only the bandeau across her chest. That was probably against some kind of regulation but Sahna wasn't about to tell her that in this heat. The two male techs didn't seem to care and Dirk was quietly reading a book behind them.
Sergeant Buckler was a rather stocky inkyar who had been in the Army longer than Sahna had been alive. His technical skills were second to few, which said a lot give the quality of technicians the 13th had access to. He was telling them about the damage suffered by Linker's mobile suit.
"Cannon shell went in right through the exhaust vent. Had to be for it to do that much damage. Blew the whole heat exchange assembly to hell, spit the pieces out the other same way."
Hypori discarded two cards and picked up two more. "So the shrapnel from that explosion's what got him?"
"Nah, the blast didn't actually penetrate the cockpit. What it did was actually buckle the cockpit armour, which is the same stuff they use on the tanks. It's the spalling that actually killed him. When the armour buckled it shed fragments of metal that ripped into the cockpit and anything in the way. Whole inside is shredded. Gonna' have to replace the whole thing." He paused then added, "once we find a donor."
He ended his dark thought by discarding one card and picking up one more. His face didn't so much as twitch.
Officers were not supposed to gamble, especially not with NCOs, but the four of them were content to play to kill the boredom and help distract themselves from the heat and humidity.
Corporal Adler exchanged three cards as he began to speak. "Heard Bloody Eight was there. You've heard about her right?"
Sahna replied. "No, the enemy don't monogram their bullets."
Hypori smirked at that while Adler flushed.
"W-well, she's apparently one of the big aces around here. Heard about her from some of the Guntank techs that came snoopin around our hangar. Apparently, she took out a whole team of Guntanks by herself. When they reviewed the footage from the tanks that were there, they saw her zeke covered in the fluids from the Guntanks after she hacked 'em up like pieces of fresh meat. She's also got a big number eight on her shoulder shield. All that's why they call her 'Bloody Eight'."
"And how do you know she was there?" Sahna asked.
"Cause there was another Guntank that was in that same sector earlier. He took a shot at her but he missed. Down to his last shots too. Pretty sure the intel folks'll see her when they review all the footage from last night."
Hypori asked, "So is she the one that got Linker? And what's a 'zeke'?"
"Nah, but same unit. And a Zeke is just what they call a Zaku around here. You didn't see the one that got Linker? It's a new type of Zaku with a huge gun on its right shoulder. Short of one of those bazookas or the gun on one of the enemy tanks, it's the only thing there that could've made a blast big enough to take out Linker's machine like that. Heard another ugly rumour about that particular suit too. Apparently, when the intel crew brought in Linker's ambulance driver for a chat, he was yelling about getting revenge on a cannon-armed Zeke for taking out a truck full of wounded they were trying to get unstuck. The shrapnel blast holed his ambulance right through. Damn lucky it didn't pop his tires, or him."
Sahna looked at Buckler skeptically. "How do you know?"
"One of the other techs was close by and heard it. We might be able to tell from the footage if its the same one. Just gotta' see if it lost an arm at some point. Charged right at Team Three, from what I heard. This one might be bloodthirsty."
Sahna felt a burning in the pit of her gut, disgust welling up within her. Murdering wounded was an act so reprehensible it was actually forbidden by the Rights of All Species conventions under which the Articles of War were written. Anyone who willingly violated this was guilty of war crimes and could be persecuted after or even during the war.
At Camp Triggerfish, they'd been told all about this, and told that the generally accepted rule on both sides of the war was that the rules didn't apply to those who violated them. "Don't shoot parachutes" was the slogan they were given to remember. Obviously, there were areas in which the rules of war got a bit hazy, but they didn't get into detail about that.
"Any other enemy aces we need to worry about?" Hypori asked. "Any ghost Zakus that come back to haunt our front lines at night if soldiers stay up past their bedtime?"
Buckler pulsed grey and tossed his cards on the discard pile, having given up on his hand. "Kalisha the Lioness is the only one I've heard about. She got famous fighting in the denser parts of the jungle, fighting mostly with some claws she had added to her Zaku's arms. Well, she was probably dangerous before that but that's the only way we know how to identify her."
Adler discarded and picked up a set of two. "Heard of her too, but she hasn't been seen in a while I guess 'cause Bloody Eight is the one people have been talking about mostly."
"Got me. We've been here less than a week so all we know are things the local troops and techs are telling us, and they've been telling us all the rumours. Any excuse they can get to talk with us."
That had been the experience of much of the 13th. Once they showed up and everyone saw their machines parked at the base, everyone was eager for a look. It wasn't as if they could hide their mobile suits under tarps after all. Sahna hadn't liked the attention in the least. The best thing about having Callie and Marie in their team was that they drew most of the attention from the rest of them. Even so, they'd all had to deal with countless people wanting to ask them questions and didn't take "classified" as a sufficient answer.
As Sahna picked up her last cards she saw Callie approach.
"Sorry to interrupt your game, but we're being called in for a pilot briefing."
Sahna flashed green and put down her hand. "Quad."
Hypori leaned forward and stared in disbelief. "What? No way did you get that just now."
Sahna flashed grey and watched as Hypori tossed her mere two twins on the crate in disgust. "Damn, I wanted to win one more hand before we got called away." They both looked at Adler who smugly put down his hand.
"King's run."
Sahna scowled, uttered a soft "Damn" then stood, following Hypori and Callie out. She hoped she would have better luck in this mission than she'd had playing cards.
The pilots of the 13th AC stood in the shade outside Colonel Argent's office container. A board had been set up, showing a map. Sahna recognized one of the roads as the main route north to south behind the front line but it was on the far left of the map, which meant this map depicted an area further forward than she was aware of.
Colonel Argent pointed at an area of the map with his swagger stick. "This is Hill One-one-three-eight. It and the jungle below it was taken months ago and was, for a while, the furthest forward the enemy had managed to advance. This is the southernmost flank on the front. Further south are marshes before you get to the Horchrest Lakes. Basically impassible by conventional forces.
"Almost since it was taken, this sector of the front has been fairly quiet, save for the occasional venture by either side's infantry. This is where we send some of our more depleted or tired units to rest and build them back up to full strength without having to take them out of the line. In short, the enemy isn't paying much attention to this area so Command wants to launch an assault to retake the jungle and then Hill 1138 itself.
"Command hopes that taking Hill 1138 will set the enemy off balance and get them to divert resources to prevent a possible breakthrough of our lines. Mostly, they want more of a buffer between here and the southernmost part of the new Horchrest Defence Line, which is further from completion than the rest of it. Thirdly, Command wants to instill a fighting spirit back into the army. Everyone's been retreating for so long people may have forgotten what an advance looks like. Taking the offensive for a change, they hope, will improve morale."
Sahna winced internally. While she understood the importance of morale, conducting an attack with morale boosting as one of its main objectives seemed like something of a waste. Then again, she had seen what the 13th's presence had done to some of the local troops. Their first night there, everyone wanted to come meet them, cheer for them after the massive effort they made stalling the enemy's advance. Sahna wondered what she might have felt about it had she not been so tired at the time.
"The plan is simple. Two teams will be sent down overnight via Gunperry transports to a forward operating base a few kilometres behind the lines." He tapped the area on the map with his stick around a circle called "FOB Marshland". "The attack will take place during the morning, allowing us the advantage of air support and stop them from dropping more napalm on us, for a while at least.
"The attack will include all local forces: infantry and tank battalions; and a least one platoon of Guntanks is being sent up as well. For the moment, the local commander, Brigadier General Wolkes, isn't sure how best to use us. We're actually a late addition to this plan. Intelligence has heard that an elite mobile suit unit has been sent south and Command thinks it best to err on the side of caution and send us as an insurance policy. All clear so far?"
He held his swagger stick in both hands and looked over them all. "This is our first offensive operation on the ground since the start of this war. I'm going to be blunt with you, this needs to go well so I need maximum effort. The teams that are staying behind will conduct fire brigade duties as usual so that the enemy doesn't miss us tonight. As for which teams are going, I'm sending Team One and Five as they are the most intact."
Sahna saw a few winces on the other teams. Team 03 was the first to suffer a pilot casualty and a mobile suit completely out of action, leaving them one short. Team 02 and Team 04 were down two machines each due to mechanical failures. Technically, even Team 05 had Dirk and Callie's machines currently in the shop.
Argent continued. "There aren't enough Gunperry's to ferry all of you at once so Team One will go first followed by Team Five. Team One, I want you ready to move out by twenty-three hundred. Team Five, it'll be up to the Air Force when you go."
Major Crusher and Marie flashed green.
"Then I leave it up to you from there, but I highly advise you to go in fully loaded. This won't be a short fight."
Sahna didn't doubt it. Until now, they'd fought holding actions and covered retreats. The Octarians rarely stuck around once they showed up, knowing that if they stayed away long enough they could continue their advance unopposed. But last night they'd realized the enemy had change their tactics, keeping their mobile suit squadrons together in a massive, nearly unstoppable ball of death.
Last night had been their first even fight, roughly the same number of mobile suits, with the enemy having enough tanks to make up the difference. Without their expensive armour, Sahna wasn't sure they would have succeeded in retrieving Second Lieutenant Linker and his Gundam. That night had shaken the 13th's confidence. If they ran into that elite unit in this offensive, the outcome wasn't at all certain.
Sahna sat in her cockpit going through her checks. Her machine had been through a lot over the past few days and this would be its hardest test yet. With all the mechanical issues they'd been having, aggravated by the harsh conditions of the hot, humid, and muddy jungle, she wanted to do all she could to improve her odds of avoiding mechanical breakdown. It was all she could do to keep the anxiety bubbling inside her at bay.
This is stupid. I've been in combat already, I know what I'm supposed to do, I know what my Gundamcan do, and I've fought a whole squadron of enemy mobile suits and got away fine, so why am I so nervous about this?
She thought the jitters would go away after her first battle, but they seemed to be coming back to her even worse than before. Why? Was it because of Linker's loss? Was it because she was reminded of all the reasons she'd been afraid before? She didn't know. She wondered if this was how her mother felt before she went out for a mission… like the one in which she died.
A shadow fell over her and she looked up, finding Marie leaning on the edge of her cockpit peering down at her.
"Doing checks?"
Sahna flashed green, shoving her troublesome thoughts aside. "Just doing everything I can, Ma'am. Something I can do for you?"
"Just looking in on my team, wondering how everyone's doing." She paused and looked Sahna over, as if reading her. "Can't tell me you haven't noticed how Linker's loss has affected the whole unit."
Sahna frowned. She hadn't known Linker all that well but she had worked with him and even been on the same team as him during some training exercises. He'd also been a fellow Marine.
She shook her head, trying to banish the image of the corpsmen taking his bloody body out of his Gundam's cockpit. At least he'd been alive then, but she couldn't help but imagine herself in that same situation, wondering if she might somehow miraculously survive where he had not, and she shivered.
Marie's mantle showed inquiring yellow spots, but Sahna resisted. She wasn't sure if this was something she should worry her team leader about, especially with what they were going into.
As if reading her thoughts, Marie leaned in closer. "Starburn, we're about to go into what might be our biggest fight yet and my team is full of inexperienced rookies and I'm your superior officer. You don't have to pretend you're not nervous with me. You've been through OTS, you should know not to do that."
Sahna winced internally. She was technically right but Marie wasn't exactly the easiest person to approach or open up to. It had taken a combined effort from Dirk and Hypori to crack her shell. Still, she didn't want to let them down or be burdened with this anxiety with what they had coming, and she was right, damn it.
"Ma'am, you've been in combat before right? I mean, before the 13th."
"Oh yes. Was part of a fighter squadron for a while until I was only one of three survivors after a single engagement, then got transferred to special operations the same time as Callie. Been on a couple of SpecOps missions too, but I can't talk about those."
"Right..." Sahna braced herself. It was taking more effort to open that crack than she thought. "I wanted to know… how do you get over being scared, going into a fight?"
Marie leaned back and hummed thoughtfully, staring up at the darkening sky.
"I've heard a lot of soldiers say different things so it depends on what type you are. Some say that anybody who says that they aren't scared is either lying or stupid. Some have said that you don't get scared during the operation; you get scared after. Another old squid told me that you don't ever stop being scared, you just get used to it."
Sahna pondered this for a moment, trying to apply one or multiple of those wisdoms to her situation. Unable to find a proper match she asked. "Which one are you, Ma'am?"
Marie shrugged. "Stupid."
Sahna sputtered and a few laughs even came out. She hadn't expected that from her perpetually serious team leader and been caught unprepared.
Marie smiled and leaned in closer. "Let me tell you the best advice I got in this regard: remember your training. Fear is a tool used to keep you alive; it helps reduce the number of stupid things you'll do."
Sahna knew this, more or less. She'd been taught much the same thing at Triggerfish, and again at OTS. But Marie's comment made her think of something else, and she asked, "have you ever known someone who stopped being afraid?"
Marie's eyes hardened and just for a second Sahna thought she saw something flash behind them, like the spark of a memory. "You'll see it the longer this war goes on, when some people just get tired of it all and don't care if they live or die. Those people are dangerous to the people around them, even the ones on the same side. Keep an eye out for those."
Sahna nodded, uncertainly. What kind of person didn't care if they lived or died? She could see the advantage but it just sounded ludicrous. What had Marie seen?
"You going to be ready?"
"Yes, Ma'am," she replied firmly. "I'll do my duty."
"That's all anyone expects, Lieutenant. Keep that in mind too."
Marie slipped out of sight and Sahna returned to her task with renewed focus. That kernel of doubt and fear was still there but much smaller now.
The 13th had been told that units were sent to the south in order to rest and rebuild, but clearly General Wolkes had no intention of allowing his troops to be idle. When Team 05 arrived at the low ridge facing the jungle between them and Hill 1138, Sahna found the most extensive defensive works she had seen anywhere on the front so far.
An extensive network of reinforced trenches had been carved into the ridge like a row of shark's teeth, with multiple supporting trenches leading to areas further in the rear. Even the craters had been incorporated into the defensive works, acting as mortar pits or tank positions. It was hard to see any real detail though because most of it was covered in camouflage.
One interesting detail Sahna could see was that some knocked out Magella tanks had been transformed into bunkers, their turrets mounted on top and pointed toward nearly a kilometre of open ground where the jungle had been demolished in front of the line.
Although some would question the wisdom of spending so much time and resources to create defences that would just end up outflanked as the enemy pushed to the Horchrest Line, one couldn't deny that even a full squadron of mobile suits might think twice about assaulting such a position.
General Wolkes decided to incorporate both mobile suit teams into the spearhead of the assault, supporting the tanks and infantry, ready to knock down any Zaku that reared its ugly head. Given what happened to Team 03, they were more than happy to stay together.
The part of Sahna that would always be an aspiring fighter pilot hated having to fight looking into the sun. Their line of assault was directly from west to east so it was mostly unavoidable, even under the canopy of trees.
The shallow valley which Hill 1138 overlooked was thick with large trees, the tallest Sahna had ever seen, creating a nearly impenetrable canopy twice the height of their mobile suits, which made the prospect of receiving their promised air support dubious at best. The broad span of their trunks and roots forced a minimum distance between the members of Team 01 and Team 05 as they supported the infantry advance.
She watched the infantry ahead clamber over exposed tree roots and force their way through the dense undergrowth full of ferns and other short plants with large leaves.
Although the advance had been going on steady for nearly three hours, nothing bigger than a 33mm gun had been seen or heard. The Gundams had come loaded for bear, carrying their heavy supply packs for the first time in theatre, holding additional ammo and heavy weapons.
Sahna glanced to her left where infantry were diving for cover as bullets scythed through the undergrowth and blasted chunks off trees.
Major Crusher stepped forward, and a line of tracers erupted from the side of his Gundam's head, raking the enemy's position. Behind him, one of the supporting Guntanks fired its main cannons, silencing what opposition survived.
"Whoa! Nice kit, Sir. Where did you get that?"
Sahna was continually marvelled how Hypori knew no fear when it came to talking to people, regardless of rank. She was sure there was some kind of protocol discouraging it. Fortunately, Major Crusher didn't seem to mind.
"Some of the techs rigged a vulcan to the head for me. A lot easier to aim than the one on the chest; a lot more useful too. I plan on recommending it for the production model."
"Gets my vote, Sir."
The infantry pushed forward, rushing to get into the former enemy position before they had a chance to recover.
Sahna's Gundam began to shrill warnings at her and Sahna instinctively raised her shield up to protect her chest as she checked her scanner readouts.
Her shield bucked and a flash was seen on the other side. Sahna was knocked back, and she had to manually manipulate the feet to keep herself from falling backwards. Her sensors detected something big ahead and moving towards her. Actually, it detected a lot of things moving.
"Close up!" Crusher ordered. "Take 'em out."
Sahna drew herself closer to the Major, the unit as a whole retracting laterally like a squeezed accordion as they closed their ranks.
Sahna ducked, avoiding another bazooka shot and watching it sail right over her shoulder before blowing up a cluster of trees behind her, pinging her supply pack with wooden shards.
Sahna fired back with a long burst of her machine gun, only to find them pinging off a shield as the enemy unit advanced on her.
"I don't think these are Zakus," Callie observed.
"I got plenty of Zakus over here that disagree!"
The voice came from Lieutenant Sevret, Team 01's second in command.
"Fall back to the clearing we just passed through before they isolate us!"
Sahna was already trying to back up. The infantry had scattered and were huddling against the trees, but she still had to watch her step as she desperately tried to keep away from the enemy advancing on her.
Cannon fire burst from beneath the mobile suit's shield and Sahna had to raise her own to stop the shells from tearing apart her Gundam's head but doing that forced her to switch one of her secondary monitors to the backup camera in order to see forward.
The enemy mobile suit was now upon her and Shana's eyes went wide as she saw the glowing red sword raised in its right hand. She stomped on both foot pedals, igniting her boosters as she jumped back, just barely dodging the swing. Her Gundam crashed through the canopy of the trees, knocking down scores of branches before she landed.
She glanced around, seeing her corps mates all dealing with their own battles as they struggled to maintain unit cohesion. With so many trees in the way they were having a hard time providing each other with support, and the enemy was pressing them so hard that everyone was too busy looking after themselves to help anyone else.
Sahna raised her shield again as her opponent returned. She realized that the shells were coming from under the shield. Some kind of integrated weapon?
She was nearly at the clearing, if she could just make it back a bit more she would have more room to manoeuvre.
Her machine jerked as it was hit in the side. A Zaku had worked its way around to her flank thanks to the hole she'd left in the line, timing it perfectly with the attack of the enemy in front of her.
Sahna raised her shield to block the first enemy's sword swing, only for them to use their left hand to bat aside her shield first. Desperately, Sahna raised her other arm and blocked with her gun. The sword cut into her weapon, ruining it, but her move worked.
Sahna's left leg opened, her left hand grasping the beam sabre stored inside. It ignited with a sharp sizzle and she thrust it straight through her opponent's chest.
The beam sabre quickly died but it had done its job, and the mobile suit collapsed lifelessly to the jungle floor, leaving a large, molten hole straight through it.
Sahna looked to her left where the Zaku had been and found it only a few steps away, brandishing its heat hawk!
The Zaku was briefly obscured by a burst of fire and smoke. When Sahna saw it next it was tumbling to the forest floor, its right side blown open. A Guntank drove into her vision, its main cannons still smoking lightly with vapour.
"Nice shot." She said.
"Nice yourself," a feminine voice replied. "Now let's kill these bitches."
Sahna took stock of the situation as she put her beam sabre back into its compartment. Major Crusher was still holding his own, though his left chest where the vulcan gun and multi-launcher were contained had been ripped apart. Callie was beset by two very excited Zakus, but she managed to take one out with her machine gun while Marie, further on her right, managed to find an angle to shoot the other, though that had to be very close to hitting Callie. Sahna marvelled at Marie's confidence in her aim.
A huge explosion rocked the jungle and Sahna recognized it as a reactor going critical.
"What was that?" Crusher demanded, his voice badly distorted by the density of minovsky particles with so many mobile suits in the area.
"Homesteader, Sir," Second Lieutenant Starko replied. "Bazookas took her out. Couldn't see if she ejected in time."
"Damn it. We're still too far apart. Get to the damn clearing and support each other."
Sahna took stock of her weapons, trying to figure out what she could do. She lost her machine gun and all she had in her pack was the unreliable beam rifle and spare MG magazines. That wasn't going to help her support her comrades.
She heard Hypori cry out and looked to her right as another mobile suit, similar to the one she had just felled, attacked her, but instead of the jungle green of most Octarian ground mobile suits, this one was painted a golden brown, with large, curved spikes on its shoulders and three large claws mounted to each forearm. Horror washed over Sahna as she realized this had to be the famed Kalisha the Lioness.
Kalisha used her trademark claws to slash at the head of Hypori's Gundam, tearing the face off in a brutal display of mechanical gore and violence.
As Hypori staggered and fell to the ground, Sahna took the beam rifle from her pack. It was all she could think to do, and she pleaded for it to work. Just this once please work!
The fearsome, golden mobile suit raised its claws to deliver the finishing blow to Hypori's Gundam as Sahna aimed. The mobile suit's single pink eye then swivelled in her direction and Sahna bit out a curse as she fired her shot.
The pink beam went straight and true, a lance of deadly light heading right for where Sahna had aimed it. With the reflexes of a chipmunk, Hypori's would be assailant brought up its shield just in time. The beam burned into the large hunk of dense armour, creating a large, glowing hot gouge, but failed to go all the way through.
Sahna's gut filled with dread. That had been her best chance and it had failed.
Kalisha released her shield, which landed on top of Hypori's Gundam, and surged towards her. Fighting panic, Sahna fired her beam rifle again, only for the shot to go well wide as the barrel deformed.
"Useless piece of shit!"
Sahna hurled the now ruined weapon at the approaching mobile suit but Kalisha simply swatted it aside as she leapt at her with a burst of her boosters.
Sahna raised her battered shield only for it to be knocked aside by a swipe of her opponent's right hand. She tried to leap away with her boosters again, but she was a little too late.
There was a horrible rending sound and sparks flew inside the cockpit as the three claws on the left forearm came down, slashing her Gundam across the chest, cutting into the luna titanium armour before the boosters carried Sahna away, but The Lioness gave chase, a heat sword now in her right hand.
Sahna landed on the edge of the clearing Major Crusher had ordered them to regroup at, but despite frantically looking around, found herself alone. She couldn't even hear her comrades on the comm. Her antenna must have broken.
Sahna raised her shield, and again had it swiped aside. She tried to punch with the right arm, only for to have it sliced through at the elbow by the heat sword. Desperately, Sahna struck out with the end of her shield, managing to catch Kalisha in the side, staggering her mobile suit, before Sahna boosted away again, firing smoke from her multi launcher to block line of sight.
Sahna was on the razor's edge of panic, desperate for someone to come save her. She couldn't keep boosting away forever. She was fast running out of propellant and it seemed as though this new mobile suit was faster than her Gundam.
Kalisha emerged through the smoke and fired at her again, trying to keep her off balance as she advanced on her. Sahna desperately searched for options.
I can't get away, so running won't work. If I can't run, then I have to attack.
Now that she was in the clearing, Sahna used the opportunity to ditch her heavy pack, letting it crash to the ground with a weighty thud. Now she didn't have to worry about it being a barrier if she tried to retreat.
A light bulb, powered by the thin thread of hope she still possessed, lit up in her head. A barrier, maybe she could use a barrier! The desperate plan worked itself through in her head. If she was reading her opponent correctly, it should work.
Kalisha came at her again, but this time, Sahna stood her ground. She knew Kalisha would just swipe her shield away again so she and planted her shield in the earth instead. It was do or die.
For the first time outside of training, she engaged her Gundam's MAX mode. The whole machine seemed to shiver, as if spiked with adrenaline. All of its components' electronic governors were removed and they put in maximum effort. In an awkward manoeuvre, she retrieved the beam sabre stored in her right leg in a reverse grip and ignited it.
Like before, Kalisha came at her quickly, but rather than try to go around the shield, she simply leaped over it, leg extended to kick at the head of Sahna's Gundam.
No thought went into Sahna's next move, only instinct, as she used the last of her propellant to boost right up in front of Kalisha, her beam sabre levelled and pointed directly at her.
Sahna was slammed violently in her seat and her head hit her seat back hard as the two machines collided mid-air and landed in a heap on the ground, her Gundam's shoulders carved a deep gash into the soil before they finally came to rest.
Sahna panted heavily, her hearts beating so fast she could barely distinguish between them. Wide eyed, her body was full of adrenaline and her hands held the controls in an iron grip. Warning lights and beeps screamed at her for attention but she merely deactivated MAX mode, ignoring everything else.
She caught sight of movement to her right. A Guntank was emerging from the jungle into the clearing, its hull battered from multiple gun hits.
Sahna managed to wrench her Gundam's remaining arm free and wave at the Guntank, letting them know she was alive and should, if at all possible, avoid using their big guns in her direction. They stopped, apparently getting the message.
Sahna noted her beam sabre had been crumpled from the collision, crushed between the two heavy machines.
A shadow loomed over her and she looked through her main viewscreen to see a headless Gundam above her.
"You okay?" Hypori's worried voice asked.
Sahna looked at her warnings and began shutting things down. "I'm alive but I think my mobile suit is cooked. Mind getting this thing off of me?"
Hypori knelt down and rolled Kalisha's mobile suit off of her and onto its back.
"Can you walk?"
"I think so." Sahna managed to stand up, but her mobile suit was shaky. She could also feel one of her ankle actuators starting to give out again. Sighing, she locked it in place before it had a chance to trouble her too much.
She saw more Gundams enter the clearing from both teams, all scarred with signs of intense battle. She saw Callie and Marie, but not Dirk. Major Crusher also appeared, but only with two other members of Team 01.
Crusher's breathless voice came through the comm. "Team Five, report."
Marie answered. "We're all alive, Sir. Five-Three is disabled and will need recovery. Overall, we're in rough shape."
"Afraid we're not much better, but the rest of the enemy mobile suits retreated, in pretty rough shape themselves. I don't think they'll be a problem so I think the local units can handle the rest of the advance without us. Frankly, we're in no shape to fight, so we'll hold this clearing for now."
As Major Crusher got the remains of their group arrayed in a defensive position, Marie approached the fallen Lioness, examining the hole Sahna had made straight through it.
She knelt shakily, her machine having clearly suffered some component damage, and climbed out of the cockpit.
Sahna frowned, wondering what she was doing.
Marie flagged down some soldiers who were standing around, gawking at the fallen machine and had them join her on its chest. She knelt next to what Sahna assumed was the cockpit hatch and took out her tablet, connecting it to a port next to the hatch. After a minute, it groaned open and the soldiers pointed their weapons inside. Marie even brandished her own pistol.
When nothing happened, Marie peered inside then climbed down into the cockpit. Eventually, an unconscious octoling was pulled out and placed on a stretcher before being taken to a waiting ambulance.
"So that's The Lioness," Sahna murmured.
"She's pretty," Hypori observed. "I bet she's popular."
"I never did like popular girls," Stark said.
"I'm sure the feeling was mutual."
Sahna laughed a little. It felt good after such a tense fight.
The clearing became a forward evacuation point for wounded, with VTOLs coming in and out to take the injured to the nearest aid station.
"Sir, it's Homesteader!" Lieutenant Starko blurted.
"What?"
Everyone looked at their monitors where Starko's nav point indicated. It was indeed, Second-Lieutenant Homesteader being carried on a stretcher to one of the evacuation VTOLs, her body badly bloodied and her face twisted with pain, but alive. They could hardly believe it.
Major Crusher disembarked from his Gundam and ran to see her as the medics looked her over. She responded to him and he squeezed her hand before patting her on the shoulder and returning to his machine.
"She managed to eject before her Gundam cooked off," he told them. "Still kind of got caught in the blast though. She'll probably lose her legs."
Sahna grimaced. Her legs would grow back eventually but it would take the better part of six months to a year for her to be back to normal.
Well, at least she'll live.
And so they continued to sit and wait. Sahna was able to catch some sleep at one point. As evening approached, traffic in the clearing decreased significantly. A Gunperry landed and dropped off a Berge Guntank, a Guntank modified to act as a recovery vehicle, to start retrieving the wrecked Gundams, starting with Dirk's.
Dirk's Gundam was a mess, shredded down almost to its bare frame, with the coup de grace being a large hole run right through it just below the reactor, almost exactly what Sahna had inflicted on the Lioness.
"Dirk, you look awful," Hypori said. "Boy, you need to take better care of yourself."
"Still have my head," Dirk retorted.
"Meh, I wasn't using it much."
Sahna rolled her eyes. "Seriously though, you're not actually hurt are you?"
"Ears hurt from alarms. Otherwise, fine."
"Same here. The Lioness knocked me around a bit."
"I saw."
Dirk's battered Gundam was loaded onto the Gunperry and the enormous VTOL took off, probably to Shambley.
As afternoon turned to evening, even the still walking members of their group were evacuated. Sahna carefully marched her wounded machine into the Gunperry, her severed arm secured to the deck after the Berge Guntank had recovered it.
As the Gunperry took off, she looked through the open doors towards the east and saw their forces reaching the top of Hill 1138. She settled into her seat, relieved. The Federation could finally taste a victory.
Author's Notes:
This was one of the hardest parts of the story to write, not least because there's a lot to go through before we get to the fun battle, but because the battle itself is against an elite unit and I had to come up with a believable way that our rookies could actually survive the encounter and that the Federation could actually win. The details of how they managed it will be sprinkled here and there in future chapters so you can look out for that. Obviously, it didn't come without cost.