Chapter 1. Mars, the Bringer of War
Floating in space felt like home, natural and calm and silent. Only her in the cold and comfortable safety of the Gundam cockpit, in the dim luminescence of system panels; only her, surrounded by myriads of stars swinging in an endless waltz, beneath the evil redden stare of the planet named after the long forgotten war god.
Under any other circumstances, she would have enjoyed the laziness and tranquility, the loneliness so deep that could only be sensed in space, in absolute absence of living, breathing creatures.
Under any other circumstances, she would have hummed a song after song, for only her Gundam to listen.
This time she was too tired to enjoy anything. Too agitated to take delight in the minimalistic beauty around her.
The Hammerhead hadn't appeared in time at their rendezvous point on the Martian orbit, which was equally confusing and irritating.
It had taken her about one hundred hours to accomplish the latest mission on escorting the small transport vessel to Phobos; since then she had been circling around the red planet for seventy hours already, constantly waiting for Naze's ship to come up on the radars. No wonder that the exhausting drift had worn her down to the point she started to count every minute of immobility spent inside the cramped cockpit, plugged into the Gundam.
The insufficient amount of fuel for the thermal phase transition thrusters multiplied her worries. While inertia was forcing Gundam through space in circles around the red planet, there was no need for propulsion; also, the Ahab thrusters were effective enough to fix up the trajectory. But in case of attack the lack of fuel could become fatal.
She had considered such situation possible, since the Turbines' transportation logistics was famous for its quick twists and turns; and Naze would have never missed an opportunity to benefit. It had never happened before, though.
Another unpleasant thought was trying to surface in her mind but for now she had been succeeding in pushing it away. During the last couple of years Naze had rejected her joining his family, repeatedly. All this time the head of the Turbines had been pretty capable at offering her decent jobs, and for that she was grateful. As much as an expandable mercenary space rat on her own could be.
Well, just suck it up. Naze is so going to pay for each fucking minute. However, my resources are limited. I can't wait for the Hammerhead forever.
Deep thoughts about various ways of escaping the current situation, including even the emergency landing on Mars, flowed through her mind in slow torrent, distracting from the monotonous surroundings.
There must be some way out of here...
Unlike herself, the Gundam didn't fail to notice the remarkable changes.
The Mobile Suit's customized visual sensors alarmed her with the surprising majority of data straight on course. She was about to enter the Gjallarhorn orbital station area, Ares, and such intense activity signified a predicament.
Digitally enhanced optics showed her pixelated images of some armored assault ship, Gjallarhorn halfbeak-class ship and civilian shuttle. Three blue sparkles emerged from the assault ship and charged towards the shuttle. Not long after, three similar sparkles appeared near the Gjallarhorn ship and targeted the very same shuttle.
"What a fancy party, Gremory." She sneered sarcastically. "All that show for one shuttle? Six Mobile Suits, seriously? I'm genuinely curious, but it's better to change our course now, while we're still under their radar."
Over the years of loneliness spent in the Mobile Suit, she had picked up a habit of actually talking to the Gundam. To her credit, she had never expected an answer. Yet.
Her fingers played over controls, switching the Gremory from stand-by mode to life. The familiar sensation of data flow, both intimate and powerful, burned through her spine straight to the brain.
She focused on the shuttle for one last time, trying to figure out what could be so important about it. The maximal optical enlargement showed one Graze hovering over the shuttle, and two more Grazes floating nearby. Suddenly the Graze was thrown away, crashed. Out of the shuttle cargo module emerged the Mobile Suit of visually unknown identity.
She blinked, startled.
Gundam?..
Gundam!
She froze, her rapid pulse louder in her ears than all the Gremory's noises combined.
Could be there... someone like me?.. Their moves... It's definitely the Alaya-Vijnana system!
The speed, the agility, the flawlessness of every Mobile Suit's movement proved her guess right. It looked human-like, almost... alive.
All Gjallarhorn's Mobile Suits stormed after the unknown mech and away from the shuttle that instantly came under the assault ship fire.
"Gremory, the shit's getting hotter and hotter. Look, there's another vessel in a hurry, the Red Thread. Should I really miss all the fun?.. Let's get closer; I'll take the risk of identifying that Gundam first."
Soon her radar flared with the Ahab waves' signatures. Five Grazes, Gjallarhorn Martian Branch. And the Gundam, that she could tell for certain now.
ASW-G-08.
According to the Gremory's databases records, this signature belonged to the Gundam Barbatos that was lost during the Calamity War approximately three hundreds years ago.
What should I do?.. Have to decide now, while I've still got my sensors range advantage!
Meanwhile, the red wine colored assault ship had picked up the shuttle, making the situation clearer for her.
Whatever the Red Thread is, it stands against Gjallarhorn. I don't recognize the white insignia, but it must be some Martian PMC. My chance to get out of here. I have to side with them.
After making decision, her mind fell into serenity, cold and sharp, as usual before fight. Her hands executed all too familiar dance over controls, roaring the Gundam's thrusters on full to reach the battlefield in time.
In any other situation, she would have fought alone. Even Amida had eventually given up on her at team work training, pointing out that trust should be the key whenever you fight alongside your comrades. But now...
Trust, then... That's what I should start with.
From the distance decreasing rapidly, she could already see the other Mobile Suits on the screens; moreover, all the Gremory's sensors were in their working range now. Her Gundam's databases flickered alive, analyzing every motion of each Suit, sending the result straight into her brain.
And while Gjallarhorn Grazes' movements were quite predictable, the Barbatos was nothing she'd ever seen before.
It looked as it had conscious of its own. Movements were too fast to follow. There were no records in databases helping to foresee them. However, her battle experience provided her with several conclusions.
Seems, the rifle isn't that effective for the pilot's combat style considering the speed and agility... Let's try to swap weapons, then. I could use their rifle. With only Ahab thrusters running, the best I can do on this battlefield is to cover the Barbatos' back.
But she had to demonstrate her will to side with the other Gundam first.
Switching into the fight mode, the Gremory's hood slid over the red head, protecting it with the solid nanolaminate coat, covering long distance sensors.
The closest Graze didn't even try to dodge seemingly out of intel on her fast approach.
The Gremory's scythe flashed in the darkness of space and split the Mobile Suit in two through its cockpit; the pilot died probably before even noticing it.
The momentum of the collision sent her into swift rotation towards the Barbatos; and she had several painful seconds of stabilizing the Gremory with Ahab thrusters.
Four Grazes to go.
She opened the LCS channel with the pilot of the Barbatos.
"Wanna swap the weapons? You'd look better with the scythe. I could use your rifle and get your back covered. I'm almost out of fuel but... let's kill 'em all."
She wasn't surprised to find out that the other Gundam pilot looked about her age, or even younger. Space rats rarely survived to maturity. His cold blue eyes pierced her for a split second; she could see him calculating the new tactic. Then he nodded and turned the connection off.
"I like this Kozmic Blues guy already, Gremory. No questions asked, huh? He's definitely got the skills, the training and the guts. So, here goes nothing."
She pushed the scythe slowly towards the other Gundam. He caught it, threw his rifle aside and stormed to the closest one, Commander type Graze. The Barbatos pilot evaded the enemy's assault gracefully and pierced the Mobile Suit's armor like butter with the scythe's blade, shredding it in metal scraps.
Good we can't hear in space...
Three Grazes left.
She picked up the rifle and started to shoot, ignoring the accuracy since the distance wouldn't her allow to damage the Grazes' armor anyway. However, her seemingly desultory fire disturbed the enemy and brought some attention to the Gremory.
One Graze sped towards her, leaving the Barbatos behind with two enemy's Mobile Suits; and she could see the scythe dancing between the Grazes, arching, tearing, destroying both flesh and metal in cold silence of space.
The last one.
She used the fuel leftovers to push the Gremory forward, this time aiming with all the accuracy possible. Enemy's shots didn't even scratch the Gremory's nanolaminate coat, while her single shot from the closing distance broke a wide hole in the cockpit.
And now there were only scraps of steel and corpses floating around.
She turned to face the Barbatos and suddenly caught new Ahab wave signature approaching fast from behind. The Gremory instantly provided her with the info - it was Schwalbe Graze.
What's the pretty toy doing here? It's for the big shots, quite exclusive and expensive shit. Note the high mobility.
The enemy pilot obviously had had their chance to observe the whole battle, to notice all the weaknesses, and thus, to choose the Gremory as their main target, considering it the vulnerable one. She frowned.
The unexpected enemy's reinforcement caught her off guard. There was no fuel anymore, and the single shot was all that had left in the rifle. She hesitated to contact the Barbatos pilot, to ask for joining forces against the newcomer, but rejected this plan. The pretty purple toy could have been only the beginning.
Okay... Ahab thrusters only. Turn around. Dodging won't work, I'm too slow like this. Gremory's been caught with the wire claw. How can I use it?.. Wait. They need to get closer to break my armor. Wait. Closer.
The Gjallarhorn pilot opened the LCS channel, ensured in their victory.
"Surrender quietly, and we'll punish you according the law. I know you've got no fuel left."
"Why would I surrender, you Purple Asshole?"
"My name is Gaelio Bauduin!"
His lance was pointed straight into her cockpit, wire claw fixed on the Gremory's right arm. The distance between them continued to decrease quickly.
Wait!
The spike of the lance was about to scrape her armor when she launched her last shot at the Graze's arm, holding the wire. The combination of close distance and deadly accuracy resulted in the Schwalbe's ripped hand, while the recoil from the shot and torn wire sent the Gremory aside. She amplified the momentum with the Ahab thrusters and dodged the lance successfully, her sudden maneuver startled the enemy into brief stillness. This was enough for her to shift the Gremory behind the purple Mobile Suit's back.
She threw the useless rifle away, to drift nearby. The Gremory had only one weapon left. Brutal but effective against nanolaminate armor, because of the rare metal alloy it had been made with.
Gundam's red claws blazed deviously before plunging into the Graze's purple armor, penetrating it, tearing the nanolaminated plates apart.
She felt hot bubbles of blood splattering both down her throat and out of her nose, and grinned ferociously at the familiar taste.
Another Ahab wave, and one more Schwalbe Graze was detected. This one engaged in a battle with the Barbatos. She noticed the newcomer preferred to stay out of Gundam's close range, shooting at him instead, seeking for the weak spots.
Whatever... Kozmic Blues can handle it.
Meanwhile, the Gremory's left hand pushed further, harder, tearing off the purple Schwalbe's arm with the lance still in it, as the right hand shredded through the head, destroying the optic sensors.
The enemy pilot screamed. He'd never bothered to turn their communication channel off.
"Not so eager to gloat anymore, Plum Shithead?" She croaked.
But it seemed he didn't hear her.
His scream turned into words.
"McGillis! Help me! McGillis!"
I guess it can't be helped, those two have to stay alive.
Still, animalistic instincts were too strong to let her prey escape easily.
Right claws glided along the Mobile Suit's head, demolishing all communication systems.
Left claws stroke the cockpit, scraping off the nanolaminate armor, leaving the long thick shreds on the solid steel.
Another splash of blood from her nose cleared her mind.
The Schwalbe's backside was pressed almost intimately to the Gremory's front, with Gundam's hands all around the head and chest of the enemy's Mobile Suit.
"You know, Gremory, maybe you should grow up a dick for such occasions, what do you think? Could be new type of porn. Hm... Nah, someone must have invented that already."
The joke eased her further out of the battle induced ferocity. She pulled the claws out and kicked the damaged purple Suit away, almost into the arms of the blue Schwalbe Graze which instantly hurried towards Gjallarhorn biscoe-class ship.
Considering the catastrophic state of the purple mech, she imagined there wouldn't be further reinforcement.
The red wine assault ship was returning to pick the Barbatos up.
The other Gundam pilot turned on the communication.
"Why?" He asked, blue eyes penetrating her mercilessly. "You said let's kill 'em all."
"Those last two were different, Suits and skills, didn't you notice?.." She rasped tiredly, blood still lingered in her throat, drifted in small bubbles around the cockpit. Gremory's claws always affected her like that.
He just nodded shortly.
"I didn't expect such extraordinary reinforcement. We could both die here." Adrenaline in her blood was fading away quickly. "Now you and your friends can safely retreat. And, by the way, I'd prefer to tag along. Don't wanna be a scapegoat, you know."
His intent cold stare almost made her squirm. And she'd never squirmed.
"That's for Orga to decide." He cut curtly.
The LCS was off before she could ask anything.
She watched as he threw the scythe towards her and went after the rifle.
Suddenly, there was a connection with the red assault ship bridge.
They're all not older than me... that is strange for PMC. But. Military mannered. Uniform with the same insignia as the ship.
Lilac Wine in the captain's chair must be their leader.
Goldy Locks over there looks familiar, certainly the rich kind. A passenger?..
"This is Aoi, Gundam Gremory pilot speaking." She stated. "My employer, Naze Turbine, didn't appear at the rendezvous point in time. That's why I stuck here, on Martian orbit."
She licked her bloody lips and quirked a smile.
"So... I thought getting involved in your battle could be my ticket to ride out of here, on reasonable conditions, of course. Oh, and I'm out of fuel. Think you could sell me some?"
The guy in the captain's chair tilted his head, a single stray of pale hair fell upon his right eye.
"Naze Turbine - as the Turbines, Teiwaz' transportation branch?" He inquired, voice surprisingly deep.
"The one and only. Something must have happened. Naze is a man of his word, you know." She mused, mostly to herself.
"Well, then. The name is Orga Itsuka, the Boss of Tekkadan and the captain of the Isaribi. Welcome aboard."