Phase 12 - "When Nations Collide"
"Why should we help a bunch of Naturals who couldn't even defend their own machines? I say we should order an evacuation of all the Coordinators and leave the rest to die by their own stupidity!" this outburst came from Chairman Patrick Zala. Standing up, the older man locked eyes with the other council members, determined to make his point. Several radical members nodded, agreeing with their superior's comment. Most of the others seemed to oppose the idea, since they were all staring silently at Zala. Eyes narrowing and mouth forming a thin line, the Chairman glared back at the non-supportive side of the council and called for a vote. All but four voted to help the Orb Union; so Patrick dismissed the council and went back to his chambers. Once seated behind the grand desk, the Chairman sent out an order to all ZAFT troops located in Australia.
"All troops stationed in Australia and surrounding areas are ordered to defend the Orb Union when it comes under attack by the Earth Alliance."
- - -
"All hands to battle stations! Pilots, prepare for launching!" The intercom called out over the many voices that filled the hanger of the battleship. The blue-and-white pilots were being loaded into their Daggers, and fighter planes were being taken to the top deck for flight. On the bridge, the captain looked out across the calm sea, making sure that his ship was in formation with the other ships on either side of his own.
"Sir, we are now within sight of the Orb Union!"
"Bring up the image." the man replied, adjusting his hat to better see the screen. On the view screen set into the front of the bridge, a picture of a port appeared, with the city behind it. Surrounding the entrance to the port was a large group of Aegis-class battleships. Helis were already in the sky, with more being launched every few minutes. The captain snorted, thinking that those light helicopters would be easy pickings for his Daggers. Lining the shores of the island nation were brown linear tanks with missile trucks behind them.
Checking his watch, the man signaled for the ship to stop and sent a message to the hanger. "This is the start of Operation Paradise! Launch now!"
The hatches on all of the ships opened and the Mobile Suits flew towards the Orb Union. Fighter jets roared as the took off, and the missile pods on all of the ships opened in preparation for firing. "Here we go…"
- - -
Hidden far underwater in the harbor of the Orb Union sat ten ZAFT submarines. They formed the advance troops that had been assigned to protect the Orb Union and drive out the Earth Alliance. Waiting in all of the subs' hangers were ZnOs and GOOhNs, all ready to launch at a moment's notice. Hidden around the city were GINNs, DINNs, five GuAIZs, along with the Dual, Buster, and Blitz Gundams. Several GINN WASP Types were stationed just offshore of the linear cannons, and the GM III was protecting the main building were Orb's leader was situated.
Meanwhile, Rau Le Creuset was inside the main hanger where Orb's own Mobile Suits were kept. He had taken on the task of rewriting the OS for all the machines so that the pilots could enter the battle. So far, he was only half-way done.
"Commander, why can't I go out and fight?" the question came from Athrun, who was sitting on a chair just behind Le Creuset. Pausing for a second to figure out what to do next, the man replied, "Because I need you to program this into all of the Mobile Suits when I finish. I know you want to go out and fight Athrun, but you will be of more help in here than out there."
"Alright…" the blue-haired Coordinator sighed, gazing up at the line of red-and-white Astray Gundams that lined the back wall of the room. Truth be told, he was bored. Rusty had been called back to the PLANTs for some unknown reason, and the others were waiting for the Earth Alliance to attack.
Green eyes closed, and the ZAFT pilot allowed his thoughts to settle on his fiancée, Lacus Cline. She had been devastated by her father death, and Athrun had sworn to himself to provide as much support as he could. So far, Lacus seemed to be getting better, although only time would tell if she would return to her old self. Hearing the chair in front of him creak, Athrun opened his eyes and saw his commanding officer looking at him.
"I've finished rewriting the entire system; it just needs to be uploading into all of the machines." the man said softly as Athrun moved from his chair to the computer. "I'll do it right away, sir." the Coordinator replied, fingers flashing over the keys.
- - -
Miguel drummed his fingers on the armrest of his customized orange GINN, wishing that the Naturals would hurry up an attack. He hated waiting around, especially if it was before a big battle. Sighing, the teen did a final check to make sure everything was still working without malfunctioning, and settled back in his seat. Light brown eyes scanned the blue sky pictured on all his screens, searching for some sign of the enemy.
Finding nothing, the blonde lowered his gaze back to the control panel of the machine. Seconds later, his head snapped back up as his radar beeped repeatedly. About 50 blips had appeared on the flashing screen. Grinning, he cried out, "All right! Time to show these Naturals a thing or two about real fighting!"
Hearing various orders from his comm. system, Miguel's GINN shot into the clear blue sky, it's bright colour standing out against the backdrop of steel buildings. Mono eye blazing, the GINN raced towards the opposing Mobile Suits, rifle aimed at the lead one. In the distance, the Coordinator could see the warships that the Earth Alliance had stationed off the coast of the Orb Union. He had no idea what those Gundam-like machines were, but he was going to destroy them no matter what.
"Miguel! What the hell are you doing!" Yzak's angry voice crackled over the comm. "We don't know how powerful those machines are!"
"So what? Are you just going to sit there and let them destroy the city? Or are you going to help me kick some Natural butt?" the teen shot back, simultaneously locking onto the nearest suit. Ever since Rei's GM Cannon had been destroyed back in space, Yzak had changed. The pilot of the Dual had become more cautious, and Miguel couldn't figure out why.
"No…" his team mate muttered, and Miguel noted that the Dual had lifted off and was following along behind him. The rest of the GINNs and a GuAIZ were already in the air, all heading straight towards the enemy. Unlike the other Mobile Suits, the Gundams were standing atop atmospheric flight support crafts called Guul. This helped them stay in the air without having to use the thrusters and therefore waste extra energy.
Hearing his comm. beep, Miguel flicked it on and watched as Nicol's face appeared on a side screen. The green-haired Coordinator looked slightly nervous, but he managed to give his team mate a smile before he spoke. "If you don't mind, I'll stay back and pick off anyone who gets past you, ok?"
"Sure, but you won't be doing much. See ya later!" Giving the younger teen a smile and a thumbs up, the pilot closed the link and focused once more on the approaching suits.