CHAPTER FIVE: IN THE MOON'S EMBRACE
June 2, Cosmic Era 70
The Battle of Endymion
Endymion Crater
The surface of the moon was illuminated as the two sides clashed. Warships opened up with missile batteries and high-energy lasers seared through the void of space. What started, as a forward strike at midnight was now a tangle of capital ships evading and returning fire. Vernier exhaust trails flashed over and over as the single-manned mobile armors and mobile suits entered combat in between the ships themselves.
In one corner of the crater, Colonel Keyes' squadron weaved their way through close cropping cliffs. Behind them lay the mobile suits attempting to shoot them out of the sky. The eight Moebius Zeros broke formation as the mobile suits approached, each one targeting a single suit and attempting to provide cover fire for their squad mates. Several wired-gun barrels skipped through the confines of the canyon, the suits in their own fashion launched their missiles at the wall raising a cloud of lunar dust and rock.
Inside his own zero, Mwu la Flaga strained at his restraints as he attempted to overtake a GINN aiming at his wing mate. Arming his linear gun, he shot at the GINN, making it crash into the nearby canyon wall at speeds the eye could not follow. He was so caught up with the maneuver that he only realized his proximity alarms going off. Bursting from the hanging cloud of debris, the GINN brought out its heavy sword, ready to slash his mobile armor apart.
Mwu responded by cutting off his thrusters bringing his zero into an abrupt stop. This made the mobile suit hit the crater floor instead of the orange fighter that was Mwu's. Bringing his armor back up in the space above the canyon, he then released his wired-barrels and started showering the same GINN with fire from all directions. "Colonel Keyes, Elsa" he spoke into his communicator. "The canyon's too small for our style of combat!. We have to take the battle above."
An explosion shook his zero. Looking around for what caused the tremor, he saw the remains of one white zero go past his cockpit. "We have to make for higher orbit!" He yelled through the tactical frequency. "We'll get massacred if we continue. There are just too many of them." Mwu hoped that in spite of the Neutron jammer's effects his message got through to the remainder of his squad mates. Angling his zero upward he noticed that the 3rd fleets battle groups were moving closer and closer towards the resource base. This isn't a defense anymore. There's no way we can protect this base. He targeted the closest threat and dashed towards it.
Missiles slammed into the hull of the Null Dividend knocking Colonel Barr off his command seat. In spite of the CIWS cannons belching their streams of encased shells at incoming targets five of the warheads plowed into the hull of the ship. Another explosion rocked the ship as the Lunar Flash beside it erupted from the laser fire pumped into it by an angling Nazca warship. The mobile armor squadrons were fighting as hard as they could but against the combined might of mobile suits and their carriers, the defense line was falling apart.
Climbing back into his chair with blood dripping from an open forehead wound, he ordered the Sol Eclipse to move closer to the Endymion base. "Have the forward guns, rear missile batteries target the Laurasia moving closer toward us, FIRE!" He shouted his command. Another shockwave passed through the ship as its batteries released their destructive payload.
The missiles arced as they sped towards their target. Out of the eight explosive warheads, only 4 plowed into the hull of the ZAFT frigate. Lasers crossed the vast expanse between the two ships, three beams slashing the already peppered hull, melting streams of armor from the Laurasia gunship. Turing 15 degrees to its left and 45 degrees up, the ZAFT vessel returned fire from its aft rail guns hitting the Dividend just below the bridge and exposing several levels to the vacuum of space. Three mobile GINN units soon fired at the embattled ship, hitting the rear of the Earth Alliance carrier.
"Colonel, breach at levels 4-8, closing hatches now…" Came the voice over the intercom of Colonel Barr. "Sir, engineering informs us of a possible meltdown in the reactor. Coolant vents at 35 efficiency, engines 1-2 not responding. Another hit like that and we're dead in the water."
"No choice, bring the ship closer to the crater base, inform our mobile armor squads of the situation." Deep down inside, Tyrell hoped that the zero squadrons were faring better.