Sortie-04 – Have Suit, Will Travel

OMNI Enforcer Lunar Base Wells, H.G. Wells Crater.

Shortly After The Crete Naval Battle.

My whole body hurts…

That was the only thought Kevin Stockdale could manage. At the hands of his Alliance "interrogators", he'd been pummelled and beaten for a few days, all the while having to listen to vitriolic rants about how subhuman Coordinators were, and the 'blue and pure world' that would exist once PLANT was destroyed for good. It was the Blue Cosmos rhetoric that stung most, more than the physical pain. The mentality that led to the Bloody Valentine was alive and well, even if millions upon millions of people were not in the wake of the furious war that had followed.

"Are you alive?" the voice was soft, remorseful.

"…Just. Who are you?" replied Stockdale, curious even in agony.

A weak laugh. "Your guardian angel. Come on, let's get you out."

The cell door opened, revealing a man of average height, with bright red hair. The OMNI uniform fit him surprisingly well. He was carrying a bag, which he proceeded to toss towards the battered Coordinator.

"What's this?"

"A few bits and pieces to clean you up. And a spare uniform of mine. I'm sure it'll offend you to wear it, but it's the only way you're getting out alive."

"…Fine."

A few minutes later, Kevin Stockdale looked almost human, even if he didn't feel it in an EAF uniform. Walking with the mysterious man, it nagged at the ZAFT pilot's mind why this was happening; it was beyond surreal. Just as he turned to ask, the man replied, as if sensing his thoughts:

"It was me who captured you. What those guys did was inhuman, though. Call this my way of repenting." though his voice betrayed little, his face conveyed everything. "Don't thank me. Shooting a retreating soldier is a terrible thing to do."

With those words, Stockdale's own guilt rose. Memories of Panama rushed back. Revenge for Joshua, we thought it was just…

With a nod, to his saviour, Kevin carried on.

"This?" he remarked, looking at the machine he was supposed to escape in.

"Yes, that. This is the closest hangar to the cells, after all."

"Okay. I'll manage."

"Hopefully so. It's better than a Moebius, at least."

Stockdale felt vaguely uneasy boarding the machine, but as he shifted into a more comfortable position, the cockpit of the GAT-01 Strike Dagger became more tolerable. The basic layout was close enough to a GINN or GuAIZ to be familiar, so that wasn't too bad. He'd been told the launch system had been automatically programmed, and was set to bypass the security systems.

Sure enough, as the leg boosters were attached and the antique mobile suit moved onto the catapult from its museum hangar, leaving five of its brothers behind, no alarms sounded.

Of course, as the Strike Dagger blasted out of a giant linear cannon into cool, open space, all kinds of warnings started blaring. It was fortunate the EAF didn't seem to invest in ground-based defences for their lunar facilities, so the only enemy threat was the Windam team approaching. Even though his machine was far less agile, and infinitely worse armed, Stockdale wasn't too worried. Hitting a communications switch, his machine transmitted a signal to the trio of Windams.

Instantly, all three machines went dead, their thrusters and cameras all going dark in the blink of an eye. The best of OMNI, dead in an instant. Of course, the virus destroyed itself completely once it had been used, and Stockdale doubted even the best Coordinator could extract the data. Still, it was a useful send-off.

Another warning beeped. That was unusual. A lone Windam soared up, painted in a non-standard colour scheme… the one who let him escape was coming!

"Sorry, but I can't let you go without a fight, of course." came the voice of Stephan O'Riley.

"Of course." he replied, knowing this one was for the cameras, not for blood.

Turning, the ancient Strike Dagger raised its rifle, letting off a trio of ill-aimed blasts to show 'resistance'. In return, O'Riley fired wide a few times, his machine's aim deliberately off. Just to make it convincing, though, another shot from the Windam's rifle came pretty close, taking the left foot of its war-vintage older cousin. In return, the Strike Dagger blasted off the Windam's left arm.

For sake of drama, O'Riley fired his trademark 'shotgun' blast. a killer blow only prevented by the older machine's shield, which half-melted under the force of the beams. With superb speed the redheaded Natural abandoned his ruined rifle and grabbed a 'Stiletto', tossing it perfectly into the Strike Dagger's own rifle. In response, it grabbed its beam sabre from the right shoulder mount, igniting a furious orange blade. Grabbing an ES04B of his own, O'Riley prepared to dance.

Parry followed slash, slash followed parry, and the dance went on, neither gaining an advantage. Neither took advantage of their CIWS guns; Stockdale because they weren't loaded, O'Riley to keep things fair for his opponent. A moment later, the 'opponent' had rammed his blade through the Windam's faceplate before delivering a punishing kick to the torso, sending the latest GAT Family machine falling towards the lunar surface.

Kevin Stockdale pointed his machine at L4, and blasted off to Armoury One.