Episode 11-2 - Mobile Battle
Time: 9:15 AM
Location: Kanucha Resort Conference Room #2
"Maya, the line with the Astrays! I need it now!"
"Yes, ma'am! Patching you through in just a few seconds…"
The rest of the table snapped out of their stunned states as they focused on the section of the screen displaying the new contacts. The satellite couldn't zoom in close enough to make out the finer details, but almost everyone in the room easily identified the general silhouettes.
"Astrays..?" Laura whispered in shock, her sole eye wide as can be as she leaned forward in her seat, as if doing so would allow her greater clarity. "If they were IS, the Academy's satellite would have recognized any CORE signature, but since there's none…"
"It could be something else." Charlotte shook her head, brows furrowed as she stared at the unknowns. "The Astrays are the Professor's machines, remember? These may not be the same, or perhaps they may be IS' that look like the Astrays that managed to hide their signatures."
Everyone could hear the slight tremble in her voice, the ever so subtle twinge of disbelief alongside denial, but they could not call her out on it. After all, they shared the same feeling, with some more so than others.
"Uh…are we just gonna gloss over the fact that Sahaku-san's suit can teleport?" Rin asked, glancing over at the pale faces of the other IS pilots in the room. "It wasn't just me who saw it practically materialize out of the air behind the Gospel, right? Where did he even come from?!"
"We all saw it." Cecilia tensed her jaws as she watched the section of the screen displaying the stunned IS Academy units. "What I'm more concerned about now are the ones that opened fire and caused him to let go of the Gospel."
"You're in, ma'am! Camp Schwab has given you a line to Callsign Gold!" Maya passed a phone to Chifuyu, who immediately took it.
"Sahaku, report!" The combat teacher demanded, her tense shoulders betraying her usual calm air. "Tell me what's happening right now!"
〈 Orimura-sensei? 〉 Came the confused voice of her assistant, sounding as if he was in the middle of gathering his wits amidst mumbles. 〈 How the hell did you get this line? I thought the- Nevermind! I can't talk right now, the RIMPAC's- 〉
Boom!
The communication cut into static, as well as the projected screen, but what took their attention was the explosion happening on the other side of the bay. Their heads turned to see fire and debris flying through the air at Camp Schwab, much to their sheer shock and surprise.
"Scramble, all of you!" The combat teacher roared, turning to the other teachers as they stood up. "Get the students indoors! Cooperate with resort security and get them to safety!"
"Ma'am…" The green-haired teacher looked at her with a serious tone in her voice as most of the other teachers rushed out of the room. "Camp Schwab's long-ranged communications are down. The explosion…"
"They've been sabotaged!" Laura, ever quick on the uptake, slammed a fist on the table, visibly denting it with the sound of splintering wood and lacquer. "Scheiße! Just what the hell is happening?!"
"Maya, access the Academy's satellite network. Looks like our American friends have their hands full with a new problem." Chifuyu lowered the phone to her side, her grip around it tightening. "It seems like we're on our own, for now."
"Orimura-sensei, our current hardware isn't built nor do they have the proper software to be compatible with the sheer amount of data that will come in should they link up with the Academy's network." One of the teachers that stayed behind spoke up. "If we continue with this plan, some of the laptops might even explode."
"It's better than nothing! Now, get to it before some other bullshit happens!"
"Understood!"
"Sensei," Cecilia spoke, having torn her gaze away from the windows, at Camp Schwab, to her teacher. "Do you think we should help them out? Perhaps the saboteurs wouldn't have gotten far and-"
"Unless they ask for it, It's best not to, Alcott." Chifuyu looked at her with a small turn of the head, stern browns rooting the blonde to her seat. "Politics aside, it's better for you five to stay here at the resort in case of an emergency. As security for your fellow students, you see, and for the VIPs that are here."
Creak…
"VIPs like me, I'm assuming?"
Every head turned towards the door, the previously locked door, surprise clear on their faces as two figures entered.
The teacher huffed, crossing her arms with her lips set in a neutral line. "Miss Winslet. What brings you here?"
Lath's lips were set into a frown as she ushered Kazahana inside before closing the door behind her. "I was in a meeting with a business partner in the room down the hall when the explosion at Camp Schwab happened. He had to be evacuated by his bodyguards back to his car before we even reached an agreement."
"He was a wily one for sure." Kazahana commented as she sat on the empty chair next to Cecilia's, much to the blonde's quiet delight. "Kept on smiling throughout it all, like how a fox would." She then removed a laptop from her backpack, opened it and quickly typed away.
"That still doesn't answer my question." Chifuyu pressed, her brows furrowing as the orangette strolled over to the window.
"Well, given that there are five IS Representative Candidates, the former Japanese Representative Candidate, and the former Brunhilde in the same room, this is obviously the most secure place on the resort, no?" The Scandinavian huffed, pressing a few fingers against the glass. "And on top of that…" She looked back at Chifuyu with a stern line on her lips. "I want to know what's going on."
"Where is the Heir of my Clan, Orimura-san?" Those sea-green eyes seemed to darken the longer she stared at the older woman. Chifuyu returned the stare with a steely one of her own, but the Scandinavian was hardly fazed.
The tension in the room rose at those words, causing the student's shoulders to tense as they prepared for an argument.
"Orimura-sensei, our connection to the Academy has been established." Maya broke the silence with her report, her eyes darting around her laptop's screen. "Linking real-time satellite imagery to the projector…now."
The holographic screen flickered to life as all those at the conference table turned their attention towards it.
The first thing they saw amidst the blues of the ocean were streaks of green, red, and various explosions.
"So that's why he asked to wish him luck…" Lath muttered to herself, her lips curling into a frown as she and Kazahana watched with tense silence.
"What the-?! Those are tracers!" Cecilia yelled, pointing at the red streaks trailing after the Red Frame. Green beams then passed by it, splashing and evaporating the water dangerously close to some of the warships.
"Not only that, those are missiles!" Rin joined her in pointing just as a few overshot the Gold Frame as it took a sudden dash to the side, right before it had to flip to dodge a red-blue beam coming from the pink rocket-like object.
"The ships from the RIMPAC are opening fire..?" Kanzashi muttered as she clutched the Strike Uchigane tighter than ever. Her ruby eyes were locked on to a suit that was disturbingly identical to her IS as it zoomed towards the black and gold Astray. "Why?"
Suddenly, blue beams began to streak towards both the IS Academy units and the incoming unknowns. The suits all dodged the beams before a red glint chased after the one who fired it.
The Gospel was still in play.
"What is going on..?" Charlotte whispered helplessly, slumping in her chair with a pale face.
.
.
.
Location: 5,700 Feet above Sea Level, seas beyond the Ogasawara Islands
(BGM Start: Call of Duty World at War OST - Black Cats)
BRRRRT!
The shield rattled as beams and bullets bounced off the bulwark, creating dents and gouges at the onslaught it persevered through. Green optics flashed behind the vision slit before the owner suddenly dove down to dodge a yellow beam.
Gray eyes widened before the Blue Frame dashed to the side, letting the beam pass him and towards its red brother unit.
Slash!
Gerbera Straight left its sheath and, in one clean motion, cut through the beam. A moment later, the Red Frame boosted up to put distance between it and the missiles that tracked after it.
Fyoom!
Davion used the Tactical Arms as a shield just in time for a green beam to splash off the anti-beam coating of the flat of the blade. Following his instincts, he executed a rapid spin that caught the charging Gundam right in its side, the edge of the greatsword impacting the armor with a shower of sparks. The edge barely cut a dent into the metal, causing him to narrow his eyes with a sneer.
'Damn, it really is Phase Shift then!' The mechanic cursed as he let the Gatling loose on the blue and white suit.
BRRRRT!
Once more, the shield interposed itself between the suit and the bullets, its anti-beam coating quickly deteriorating the more beams it took. The gray-eyed Neo-Type snarled as he materialized the missile pods of his Full Weapon System, locking on to the distant Buster and the closer Duel in less than a second before unleashing the full-salvo. The Duel was engulfed in explosions but the missiles sent towards the Buster were shot down with its own missiles, a veritable lightshow erupting from the clash.
"The hell is going on?!" Ryo hissed in their comms, the Red Frame whirling around and letting loose with the Igelstellungs, the 12.7mm bullets crashing into the SeaRAMs that were quickly gaining.
Boom!
"Why are we under fire?!" The courier dashed to the side to dodge an onslaught of 20 and 30mm cannon rounds from the CIWS of the fleet below. "We didn't do anything!"
"Well, we can rule out the US backstabbing us!" Davion noted before letting out a snarl as he barely dodged a missile. He was thankful that he dematerialized some unneeded weight earlier. "I can see Phalanxes firing alongside Kashtans and Type 730's!"
Boom!
A few of the supersonic missiles struck the distant Buster in his periphery, causing the mechanic to narrow his eyes.
'So the G Weapons aren't on the side of the RIMPAC…'
Ducking underneath a swipe of the Duel's beam saber, he rammed the Blue Frame's shoulder into the chest of the gundam before snapping a kick up its chin, sending it back with an ear-ringing clash of metal on metal and chunks of foam metal armor.
The Blue Frame was not blessed with a full Phase Shift set unlike its golden brother unit.
Materializing the Caletvwlch, he aimed at the reeling gundam-
Brrrt!
The Duel's head snapped back towards him, its own Igelstellungs roaring and forcing the mechanic to dodge the bullets.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Another lock?!" He snarled to himself, glancing down at his sensors before using the flat of the Tactical Arms as a shield. Just in time too, as hundreds of cannon rounds slammed into the Gerbera Steel blade, pushing back the Blue Frame through sheer kinetic force alone.
"Davion, watch out!" Ryo warned him as the Red Frame gunned its thrusters to deliver a kick to the Astray's side, knocking him out of the way of three rocket propelled rods that were meant for its back. One of them caught the heel of his suit and triggered the Trans Phase Shift, just in time as it exploded not a second later, causing both Frames to be blown back.
"Tch! Damn it!" He hissed as he righted himself in the air, having been sent flipping from the explosion. The right leg of the Red Frame had lost all of the foam armor from the impact itself, and the vibrant red TPS armor came out without a scratch in exchange for a constant drain in his batteries. "That came outta nowhere!"
Fyoom!
He spied the yellow beam far in the corner of his eye, quickly noting that it was heading straight for him. Tightening his grip on Gerbera Straight, he-
Fwoosh!
-suddenly got pulled aside, courtesy of a yellow claw that wrapped around the arm that was going to swing. He turned his head just in time to see it let go of the arm, zipping back into-
BOOM!
"Shit! Ryo, a Chinese Destroyer just got hit! The Buster shot her!" Davion growled over their comms, stealing the attention of the courier. "She's got a hole punched through her starboard side and she's taking in water fast!"
Time: 9:20 AM
Location: Nimitz-Class Carrier "Kestrel", Sea beyond the Ogasawara Islands
"The Nanning has been hit! She's taking in water!"
A red-blue beam pierced a ship ahead of them, a destroyer of the Russian Pacific Fleet, right in the helicopter pad, blowing up the Ka-27 that was on top of it. It remained there before sharply slicing up, bisecting the bridge and carving into the front of the ship. The metal bulged outwards a few seconds after the strike, right before the ship broke in two from the resulting explosion.
BOOM!
"Burnyy has been sunk! Her ammo stores activated secondary explosions! The beam came from the pink rocket-like craft that's returning to engage Gold!"
"Sir, we still can't get a hold of the Aegis System! It's registering anything in the air as hostile!"
This was the chaos that Ensign Natarle Badgiruel was met with the moment she returned from the CDC. She opened her mouth to ask something when a green beam passed by the bridge, splashing the water and causing large amounts of steam to erupt.
"Scramble Sergeant Calling's squad! I don't care how it'll look, this is a battle of life or death!" The Captain ordered, causing the helmsman to pay attention. More green beams passed by them, impacting destroyers and corvettes at key points. "And someone get the Aegis under control! Why the hell are we shooting up the Professor's golden boys?!"
"Sir, message from the HMNZS Te Kaha: 'Phalanxes were shot by the red and blue suit, VLS missiles untouched. Unable to control the system, something has hijacked the missile controls.'"
"So we're being hacked?!" Natarle asked as she stood next to the Captain, her face pale at the implications of a thing. "But how?! The Aegis System shouldn't be that easy to hack, we have manual overrides for it!"
"Manual overrides that did nothing, Ensign." The Captain sighed, his brows furrowed in frustration. "Something or someone is able to hack into multiple nations' missile defense systems both on-board and back on land."
The purple-eyed woman's heart skipped a beat, a cold pit forming in her stomach at the potential danger everyone was in. "Multiple nations' missile defense systems…no…no, they couldn't..!"
Captain Nicholas Andersen nodded, his face grim as he crossed his arm behind his back. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh that was both world-weary and frustrated at the same time.
'Just like ten years ago…'
Location: 10,000 Feet above Sea Level, seas beyond the Ogasawara Islands
Crash!
Blue optics glared into amber as the Gold Frame deflected a beam saber slash, its left forearm impacting the fist that held the weapon in a fierce backhand. The shield came in, impacting the side of the Astray's head but thanks to the Phase Shift armor and his own constitution, Ephraim was unphased.
Brrrrt!
The suit's Igelstellungs roared, the 12.7mm bullets crashing against the amber optics and causing the gundam to visibly flinch. With a kick to the Gold Frame's chest, it launched itself away, bringing the shield between it and the Astray.
'Flinching.' His mind quickly made the connections, and his lips curled down into a frown. 'A human expression. These things aren't AI.'
Purple eyes narrowed as he materialized the Type 71, aiming for the exposed leg. But just before he could pull the trigger, movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention.
Abandoning his shot in favor of boosting back, he let the Aegis pass by him. His world slowed down in that brief moment, allowing him to see the pilot that was riding on the back of the transformable suit, motorcycle-style.
They were wearing a pink pilot suit, which was more similar to the IS pilot's compared to their Cosmic Era g-suits. The two noticeable mounds on the chest told him that 'they' was actually a 'she', which only made him sneer. The opaque helmet barely did anything to hide the hostile intent of whoever's glare was behind it, and he returned it with one of his own.
Fwoosh!
"Gundams are piloted." Was his clipped report to their private comm lines as the Aegis zoomed past. "Repeat, G Weapons are piloted. These are no AI."
Boosting straight up, he resumed his shooting of the Strike, the Type 71 spewing green lances that splashed against the anti-beam coating of its shield. He kept a careful eye on the Mobile Armor as he maneuvered himself to be directly above the shielded gundam, who was holding said shield towards him. When the pink suit turned around, he cut his thrusters and freefalled.
Bash!
The Gold Frame's feet slammed against the shield, crashing it into the chest of the Strike. He delivered a few hard stomps on the metal, denting and bending it, before leaping off the side when the Aegis swooped in, the four limbs opening in an attempt to grab him. Activating his thrusters again, he turned around and shot at the Aile Pack.
Or more specifically, at the obvious battery.
Fyoom!
A red shield got in the way, the beam splashing off of it harmlessly as it sailed past.
"Tch."
Beep! Beep! Beep!
"Ephraim, look out!" Davion warned him over the comms, his voice urgent.
His systems telling him of multiple lock-ons, he took a quick glance to see the sources coming from the front and behind. Looking through the rear sensor at the back of the Frame's head, he found three ESSMs heading straight for him.
At the front, he saw the Mobile Armor of the Aegis roar towards him, claws still open as its Scylla cannon charged up.
He smirked.
'Dumbass.'
The world slowed down as he suddenly flipped, thrusters roaring as the Mirage Colloid Stealth System activated.
Buzz…
And just like that, the Perfect Gold Frame disappeared from all forms of detection, be it visual or electronic.
The three ESSMs, having lost sight of their intended target so suddenly, instead locked on to the nearest heat signature.
The Aegis Gundam.
BOOM!
Three missiles laden with 39kg worth of explosives crashed into the Mobile Armor at speeds exceeding Mach 4, closing the distance in less than a second. The Neo-Type was fortunate to have been warned mere seconds beforehand, as it gave him just enough time to do the high-g maneuver.
Ephraim watched the explosion, eyes narrowed, before looking at his energy reserves. His use of the Maga no Ikutachi claws on the Gospel earlier had refilled his batteries back to nearly full, thankfully so as he had been nearing 60%.
'86%. Plenty enough for the PS Armor to take some punishment.'
Fwoosh!
A figure boosted out of the explosion cloud, arms crossed in front of its face before it arrested itself mid-air.
Purple eyes narrowed as he took in the MS mode of the Aegis, noting its height of 11 feet compared to the Astray's 8 feet. As he remembered in the anime, its binders were the main source of propulsion, having powerful thrusters keeping it afloat. Though it seems as if the side binders themselves were movable, akin to variable thrust vector engines, as they moved to and fro to keep its balance.
Its Phase Shift armor held true, with nary a scratch on the metal itself, but Ephraim knew that being hit with heavy ordinance at that speed had severely drained its batteries. He watched as the Strike floated down to its side, keeping its damaged shield at the ready as the head turned to the pink suit.
While the armor held true, some of the more sensitive equipment did not. The large sensor on the Aegis' head was shattered, leaving it a sparking mess.
Bash!
Suddenly, the red suit punched its blue and white counterpart, sending the Strike reeling. A kick from the Gundam caught the transformable suit in the cheek, before a knee from the resulting spin impacted the red chest armor.
Ephraim watched with furrowed brows as the two brawled, Phase Shift armored fists flying through the air as they went at it. The Strike seemed to be a bit more wild in its swings, showing barely a hint of refinement in its movements. The Aegis, however, seemed a bit more experienced, striking areas that would have normally downed a human, such as the liver or the kidneys.
'Well, their mistake.' Huffing to himself, he let the two duke it out amongst themselves as he cut his engines, free falling to his comrade's altitude to see how they were doing.
He couldn't simply just contact them while in stealth, oh no. The Mirage Colloid Stealth System forced his suit into radio silence, because why would someone give out a signal while invisible? That was simply asking for trouble.
Turning around in the air, he was met with the sight of green beams, red tracers, and plenty of explosions as his fellow Astray pilots fought their own skirmishes.
The Red Frame was constantly harried by supersonic missiles and hundreds of rounds from the collective CIWS of the fleet below them, the arms constantly blurring as Gerbera Straight did its work. The Astray's Igelstellungs did their part as they took down missile after missile, the courier conserving as much ammo as he could by letting chain explosions happen.
'His right leg armor is gone.' The blonde noted with narrowed eyes, watching as fragments of sliced bullets bounced off the white foam armor, chipping the lightweight metal. Following the trail of bullets…
'Shit.'
He saw that a quarter of the RIMPAC ships were smoking or on fire, and a few ships were in the middle of sinking. White-hot metal from bifurcated ships caused plenty of steam to erupt from the waters around them, scalding any survivors that tried to swim away. Other ships, Corvettes and Destroyers, had slowed their pace and set about deploying their Rigid Hull Boats to rescue those still swimming.
A yellow beam went across his vision and he could only watch as it carved through one of the bigger ships, a Cruiser of the JMSDF if he wasn't wrong. The beam, no wider than 2 or 3 feet at most, pierced through amidships, igniting the anti-ship missiles before cutting through the bridge, and then finally piercing through the Vertical Launch System.
BOOM!
With a brilliant explosion, the Cruiser blew apart, sending debris everywhere as the rear half lurched in the water. It tilted in a high angle, the spinning propellers becoming visible before it went back down with a big splash.
Following the beam, he saw the Blue Frame striking the Duel with its Tactical Arms before firing off another missile salvo towards the distant Buster. There was clear rage in his swings, which the Duel was trying to exploit.
'Trying', being the keyword.
The Blue Frame was too fast, with too much power in its swings that whenever the Duel tried to get a swipe with its beam saber in, the Tactical Arms would smash it away several meters back. Then the Astray would fly in to deal with the Buster, only for it to use its Anti-Armor Shotgun to keep the angry mechanic away.
"Tch. Too carried by rage, are you?" The blonde muttered to himself as he increased the thruster output. He readied the Type 71, his eyes doing the aiming for his systems as he spied the green optics of the Duel. However…
'Do it.'
There was a tingle in the back of his head, a thought that both amused and embarrassed him as it flashed through his mind.
'No. Don't. There's no time for something so stupid!'
It was a childish notion, greatly so, especially since they were in an active war zone but…
'Dew it.'
'DON'T!'
Well, what was life without a bit of stupidity every now and again?
Location: 5,700 Feet above Sea Level, seas beyond the Ogasawara Islands
《 RIDER KICK! 》
CLANG!
Davion could only watch in stunned surprise as the foot of the Gold Frame impacted the Duel's head, twisting it to the side just before the gundam was launched away with a great gust. The black and gold Astray rebounded from the strike, coming to float beside its brother unit as the pilot chuckled.
"Quite a furball we're in, yeah?" Ephraim quipped as he began evasive maneuvers when hundreds of cannon rounds began flying past them. "I suspect you already know the culprit of the rogue Aegis System?"
"Tabane." The mechanic snarled, shooting down incoming missiles from below with the Tactical Arms. "I have a plan to counter it but it's way too risky."
Boom!
"Risky how?"
"'Challenging Gjallarhorn' risky."
There was an appreciative whistle coming from the blonde and the Blue Frame turned its head to look into the blue monoeye that panned over to him. "Tell me more about it. Sounds like it's right up my alley."
"It's not-!" Davion's admonishment was cut short when he realized who he was talking to and what the suit was capable of: A battle-hungry blonde with a penchant for going dangerously fast.
"…Can you still transmit signals while cloaked?"
The Gold Frame whirled around to shoot down an ESSM that was coming right for it, the Type 71's beam piercing through the missile before it could reach them.
"No."
"Damn!" The mechanic cursed, keeping an eye on the Buster as his HUD notified him of his missile pods having reloaded. "Then there goes that plan."
The Duel, having recovered from the should-have-been crippling strike, came back for another run, this time holding a beam saber in one hand and its beam rifle in the other. The shield was attached to its back skirt, increasing its drag, but from how its backpack roared, the pilot didn't care.
Fyoom!
-Golden crescents surrounded the Astray-
Gungnir quickly materialized and deflected a yellow beam, and the Gold Frame glared at the distant Buster as its arms were blurs. "Just tell me what your plan was!" Ephraim grunted as the Blue Frame dodged the errant swipe of the Duel with a duck, snapping a leg up and disarming it of its rifle.
"Duke! Takeover! Close proximity for best results!"
'Using his AI to counter-hack Tabane's? Is it even powerful enough to do so?' The blonde frowned as he let the Magashiro no Hoko loose, the Shot Lancers zooming out from their containers and rocketed towards the Duel. "How long will it take?"
One of them pierced the rifle, breaking it in two before the Gold Frame recalled it back. The other smashed against the back of the gundam's head, impacting it with a harsh ringing noise before the Blue Frame capitalized on the opportunity to deal another kick to its temple.
"Just a second or two!"
Purple eyes glanced down at the corner of his HUD, where a red symbol was flashing.
"You'll get it! And I'm going to claim my damn title once and for all!" Ephraim ducked as a blue beam flew over towards the Buster, which began its own evasive maneuvers as best it could. The Gold Frame turned its head to see the Gospel high above as it exchanged beams with the Akatsubaki, blue streaks against red crescents.
"Pass the Duke!"
"'Claim your title'...What?!"
"Just pass it!"
The Blue Frame delivered another spinning slash towards the Duel, the swing aided by the thrusters on the sword's hilt. But before it was knocked away, the beam saber found purchase on the left shoulder engine, causing an explosion and the Astray to lose altitude. Despite this, the brother unit raised its hand.
"High-five!"
Fyoom! Fyoom!
Green beams passed by him from above and Ephraim didn't need to look to know that it came from either the Aegis or the Strike, or even both. Boosting down, he began weaving to throw off their aim and reached his hand out.
Fyoom!
A green beam passed him, impacting the Blue Frame straight in the face. Thankfully, the anti-beam coating Davion had applied had negated most of the damage, but there was still a visible reddening of the metal. Consequently, whatever bullets that were in the cheek Igelstellungs exploded from the sheer heat.
"Agh!"
"DAVION!" Ephraim's heart skipped a beat, and he nearly whirled around to shoot back at his pursuers were it not for-
Fyoom!
-the bright blue beam that swept the sky behind him. The blonde looked over to see the Gospel dodging a wild swing from the Akatsubaki before it kicked the red IS back down a few hundred feet. Focusing back on his friend, he saw that, despite the damage, the Blue Frame still held its hand out.
Clang!
Which the Gold Frame slapped, their hand plugs connecting in that very brief moment. Said brief moment was enough time for the Barbatos AI to transfer from the blue Astray to the black and gold one.
The seal of the Ars Goetian demon flashed in the upper right corner of his HUD and the blonde smirked.
"Oi!" Ryo's voice crackled over their comm line, concern clear in his clipped tone. "I already know you're planning something stupid. Are you sure you can take it?!"
The blonde chuckled, rolling around to dodge a barrage of cannon rounds. The monoeye flared visibly, leaving a trail as the Gold Frame fell.
"One's plenty for a diversion."
(BGM Switch: The Red Comet of Loum - Takayuki Hattori)
"Sorry for the rough ride, Duke." Ephraim huffed as the Blue Frame covered his rear, using the Tactical Arms to shield both of themselves from the incoming beams. "But things are about to get wild!"
-Lightning formed a mitsudomoe in his mind-
With his lips stretched into a wild grin, veins bulging around his eyes, and the pupils shrinking as his world slowed down. He navigated through the HUD in those precious few seconds, quantizing the Type 71 and Gungnir in favor of the Gae Bulg as he disabled limiter after limiter.
Fwoosh!
His thrusters cut off for a mere moment before red flames replaced the blue, blazing brightly and giving his golden inner frame a welcome glint. With narrowed eyes, he spread mirage colloid particles around the suit and formed a conical shield before it, so that he could have an easier time cutting through air resistance and to not be torn apart by the sheer speed.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
The blonde ignored the warnings as he neared the ocean surface, instead, taking note of where the furthest ship was in the fleet. He was going to go through the fleet from front to back to make sure that all eyes were on him. What he remembered of the Aegis System was that it prioritized incoming threats, so if he was to make himself as the most dangerous incoming threat…
"Oh, this is going to be fun."
Just as he was about to impact the water's surface, he flipped, gunning his thrusters to max to arrest his dive. Even with the inertia dampeners integrated into his pilot suit, he could feel the G-forces acting on his body. His hearing blanked for a moment just as his vision did, but he persevered.
'This…is nothing!'
His blood flow increased, the veins widening to accommodate for a steadier flow, and his lungs expanding to take in more oxygen. His vision returned, as did his hearing, just in time for him to gun the limiter-released thrusters.
BOOM!
With a rattling boom, he casually broke the sound barrier, kicking up a massive wake from the pressure wave. He flew around the flank of the entire fleet, circling around so he could start at the front and end at the back.
Time: 9:25 AM
Location: Flight Deck Elevator, Nimitz-Class Carrier "Kestrel", Sea beyond the Ogasawara Islands
BOOM!
"Sarge, look!"
Iris Calling had just put on her helmet when one of her squad mates called out for her. She heard the sonic boom far before she turned around and saw it, her green eyes widening underneath the visor at the sight of the massive wake left behind by what was basically a shooting star.
"Holy Hell…" Another of her squad mates whistled, her voice muffled by the oxygen mask she had just put on. "That bastard's going way past Mach 2..!"
"Seriously?! How the hell is he not breaking apart?!"
The Sergeant took note of her squad's IS', the US' limited production 2.5th Generation IS 'Prophecy'. They were meant to be flown alongside the Silverio Gospel, sharing the same debut day, and it showed in their design.
Standing at 8 feet tall, the armor of the Prophecies were a dull gray compared to the reflective silver of the Gospel. It was basically a stripped-down version of the Silverio, with the large wings having been replaced with a more simplified winged thruster pack. They came with a helmet with a half-visor that only reached mid-cheek, and this allowed them to put on the oxygen masks required for operations that include high-altitude flight.
"Sarge, what are we even supposed to do?" Iris looked over to her second in command, who was looking up at all the smoke trails left by the missiles and at all the explosions happening as both Astray and the unknown suits shot them down in earnest. "This is nothing like the simulations."
As the elevator finally took them up to the flight deck, the blonde got to see just how bad things really were for the fleet.
Brrrrrt!
CIWS' of all kinds filled the sky with lead, missile systems were launching their ordinance with reckless abandon, and there was all sorts of noise from the sinking ships that echoed over the waves.
It was utter chaos.
"What the…that madman! He's going head-on!" Another of her squad pointed out, literally pointing at the frontmost of their fleet. They all turned to see the incoming fast-mover zip around, dodging red tracer fire and missiles like they were nothing.
Fwoom!
Their Hyper Sensors allowed them to see a yellow projectile coming from said fast-mover impacting a Type 730 CIWS from a Chinese Destroyer. It then zipped around the bridge of the ship before a loud screech of metal on metal heralded the HQ-10 point defense missile system falling into the ocean.
"...He's defanging the ships." Her SiC muttered as she hefted the weapon the Prophecies were equipped with, the 13mm Exusiai beam carbines. It fired similar beams as the Gospel but at a lower power setting to conserve energy. She winced as one of the Kestrel's SeaRAMs fired off towards the constantly moving blur, only for the missile to overshoot when the Astray suddenly shot up into the air.
Fwoom!
The ship shook as the same SeaRAM was hit by a yellow projectile, a small explosion peering over the edge of the flight deck before smoke wafted up.
"And I'm guessing that was from the Gae Bulg Rail Bazooka." Iris drawled as she turned to her squad. She herself was equipped with a Prophecy, her usual IS currently in the middle of refitting following the revelation of Project: Astray. Her suit was different in the sense that her helmet had similar wing-like designs on the side, akin to that of the Silverio, and was a full-face covering.
"How sure are we to not get tagged as hostile by the rogue CIWS?" A squadmate asked with a bit of playful snark, resting her rifle on her shoulder as she put on her oxygen mask.
Fyoom!
A yellow beam soared over them and towards the red blur, who merely rolled around the beam before it dove back down to defang the other RIMPAC ships. Iris clicked her tongue at this, glaring at the dissipating beam before turning to her squad.
"Alright girls, game faces on! The Skipper told us to scramble and take care of that sniper over there." She pointed to the distant unknown that was busy dodging missiles from both the Blue Frame and the RIMPAC fleet. "If you get tagged by the CIWS, tell us and we'll shoot the missiles right off your tail. If it's bullets, rely on your Hyper Sensors and instincts, there's a reason why command picked you as part of the Silverio's honor guard in what would have been its debut."
Her squad mates looked at each other and nodded, their engines activating in unison. One of them turned to her as the five of them began to float off the deck.
"Hey Sarge, think we can meet with the Astray test pilots after all of this for some coffee?"
Iris laughed as she readied her twin Exusiai. "If things go well, I hope so. Natasha and I have been itching to meet lil' 'Augus' once more."
With those words, the 5-woman squad soared high, immediately making evasive maneuvers as the CIWS of their own carrier turned to them and began to fire.
FWOOSH!
A red blur passed underneath them, the sheer speed visibly displacing the air as some of the missiles after them flipped and flew off in random directions in the air. They all turned to see the same blur, effectively dismantling the anti-air measures of the Arleigh Burke's and of the Ticonderoga's. Phalanxes fell into the ocean while SeaRAMs were pierced by something as it passed.
One of the Prophecy pilots laughed, both impressed and intimidated by such a sight.
"Damn, he's a veritable red comet!"
Location: 500 Feet above Sea Level, seas beyond the Ogasawara Islands
Thud-thud…thud-thud…
The sensation was a rush.
Thud-thud…thud-thud…
Going faster than anything present, without having to worry about things such as air-resistance or drag, or even the risk of breaking apart.
Fwoom!
In this state, in this situation, he felt invincible.
Boom!
Click!
The next round was already loaded and the rail fully charged for another shot. He took aim, his movements sluggish but faster than the snail's pace of the world around him, and fired off another SAPHEI shell. With his enhanced senses and his mind running a thousand thoughts in a fraction of a second, he saw the spinning ordinance, its trajectory, and multiple scenarios on how the Phalanx was going to explode.
'Better that than to lose a whole ship.' The blonde thought as he lowered his altitude with a sharp dive, leveling out just as quickly before snapping a kick out that demolished the radome of the Phalanx of the Arleigh Burke he was coming up on.
Bash!
In those precious few moments, the monoeye locked with the shocked gaze of the captain. It flared, slowly, intimidatingly, before the Gold Frame quickly passed, kicking up a massive wake of water that splashed the entire ship.
Click!
Purple eyes glanced over at the ammo counter for the Gae Bulg, his lips curling down at the sight of the single digit flashing in red.
'I can only take down two more before I resort to melee.' He snorted, somewhat lamenting the fact that he couldn't truly let loose and decimate the fleet himself. No, he was playing another role right now, another iteration, another mask. He couldn't truly live up to the legacy of one of the men he idolized, at least, not in this way.
'I need to step up…'
He passed by a Ticonderoga, practically buzzing the bridge and giving it a monoeye flare. In this short time, Barbatos went to work, momentarily locking the ship's weapon systems in such a rapid pace due to its proximity that even the most skilled operator wouldn't be able to detect the change.
Fwoom!
The Gae Bulg rocked on his shoulder, the 35mm shell impacting the Phalanx behind the bridge right in its barrels, flaring them out before demolishing the weapons system in a dangerous spread of shrapnel. He lashed out a foot again, destroying yet another radome as he defanged this particular cruiser of all of its shell-based anti-air.
'Thank the Lords below for Phase Shift armor.' The Neo-Type thought humorlessly, executing sharp turns as he made to circle the entire fleet once more from the South. There were still some ships that he purposefully missed, not wanting to risk a case of friendly fire should the rotary cannons impact the bridge when he passed by.
Click!
"Last round…" Ephraim murmured as the world around him sped up, the skies far more empty of bullets and missiles. His entire body throbbed a dull pain, but he pushed the pain down. He still had a mission to do, a duty to fulfill, and a legacy to live up to.
Thud-thud…thud-thud…
He would not fail his comrades, his brothers in arms, who were also suffering in the same space as he.
Thud-thud…thud-thud…
Location: 5,300 Feet above Sea Level, seas beyond the Ogasawara Islands
'Crazy idiot's going almost Mach 6 circling around.'
Ryo watched the red blur that was his friend for a few more moments before he had to focus back on his duel with the Strike. Its Aile Pack roared as the suit closed in, beam saber and shield in its hands with the former swinging down.
Clash!
Beam saber met Gerbera steel, if only for a moment, before the edge of the physical blade cut through the emitter of the handle. The red and blue suit flew past him, letting go of the sparking weapon seconds before it blew up.
Amber met sea-green optics as the two Gundams stared each other down. The Red Frame slowly brought Gerbera Straight up by its face, the blade reflecting both the light from its eyes and of the sun. The G Weapon grabbed its remaining beam saber, igniting it as it raised its damaged shield up, its own amber eyes flashing.
Fyoom!
Suddenly, the Strike dove down, revealing the Aegis just as its Scylla cannon fired. The red to blue beam streaked towards the Red Frame, its width just as big as the Astray's chest. It was guaranteed to obliterate a normal human from the waist up should it hit.
But the courier was no normal human.
Ryo took a deep breath.
"Could you…"
FUCKING!
"NOT!"
Gerbera Straight split the beam as it swung down, the blade's extremely sharp edge, to the point of being near monomolecular, cutting through the mass of energy. The two halved streams went separate ways, flying off to the sides of the Astray amidst the lightshow going on.
When the beam stopped, the Strike and Aegis were nowhere to be found. Looking around warily, the Red Frame prepared to unholster the Tactical Arms 2 when a loud sound caught his attention, one that carried over the cacophony of the warzone they were in.
FWOOSH!
Ryo cautiously looked over his shoulder, only for his eyes to widen as a veritable swarm of missiles surged out from the rear ships of the RIMPAC fleet. They curved a second or two after launching, flying far below his level at subsonic speeds. All of them were heading north and there was a twisting sensation in his chest as he watched them go in stunned silence.
"…Damn it!"
(BGM End: The Red Comet of Loum - Takayuki Hattori)
AN:
Proofread and Edited by: ProjectRyo
And here's the second part of Episode 11, something that I had a bit of trouble writing. While I would like to make the fight scenes have some semblance of order, the fact that they're in such a chaotic battle such as this made it hard. They're constantly being harried by thousands upon thousands of rounds being fired from below in seconds, tracked by missiles both sub-sonic and supersonic, and on top of that, they have to contend with the G Weapons that are actively trying to kill them.
There is no such thing as order in that kind of pandemonium.
Also, sorry for the late upload. I've been busy with personal matters, especially one that's due tomorrow.
And if some of you are wondering as to why the other IS pilots can't join the fight, the battlefield is 1,400 kilometers away from the resort. It took the Akatsubaki + Byakushiki and the Astrays 30 odd minutes of flight in Mach 2 to arrive. If they tried to reinforce, the battle would have been way over, especially with their sub-sonic speed.
On to the reviews!
KnightOfZaku: Shit has indeed hit the fan, and with fatalities happening, the fallout of such an event is going to trigger a damn storm of it.
P.B.S: Sorry if it took a while to upload, I had plenty of things to do beforehand.
ALTER-BOT: Ah yeah, the early chapters are...rough. Very rough. I'm planning on reworking those into something that makes more sense sometime soon.
RoyalTwinFangs: Thank you!
CrocoerGinex01: ...Eh?
...
Well, with that, this is a very tired Cipher, signing off!
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Ah, here. Almost forgot about this.
Time: 9:25 AM
Location: Kanucha Resort Conference Room #2
"Multiple Tomahawk launches detected! Cruise missiles from other ships are also launching!"
"They're heading towards Tokyo! Estimated impact zones will be Chiba, Minato, the IS Academy-!"
"Alert the instructors! Tell them to form a defensive line so that none of those get close to the city!"
"Scramble the 2nd and 3rd Years! They must protect the Academy at all costs!"
The students couldn't believe it.
Missiles from multiple countries, in this case their navies, heading towards Japan? A silver-armored IS?
"Maya, get the Student Council President on the line, get her to organize a screening force 15 kilometers away from the Academy! I will not have a repeat of what happened ten years ago! Not while we could stop it!"
It was as their teacher said.
It was the White Knight Incident all over again.
