Chapter 6: Battle of Scandinavia
A/N: Yeah! Thanks for the votes…I'll keep it my way…and yet Fukada can make another slip up and change the story on us. (And also it is speculated that Stellar may lose her memory...but I'll stand by my way) Anyway, keep R and R ing.
Asga, Angel of Dreams: I really want to thank you guys for reading the story so far.
Chaosdragon: Thanks for the review...but unfortunately my knowledge of Gundam extends really only to Seed, Seed Destinyand Wing...being a Star Wars fan also helps but their shields probably don't take as much power...just go with me on this one.
With all the mobile suits launched, the Earth Alliance attack began in earnest. Gaia, gliding over the water, Neo, I will get that guy… for you, Stellar thought as she saw the Impulse on the coast, she charged straight towards it ready to destroy it utterly.
"Shield the bridge," Talia's voice rang out through the bridge of the Minerva, as it launched out from the drydock, "ready the Tristan and Isolde, load the Parsfeld missiles, fire on my mark." The Minerva leading the vanguard of the Scandinavian fleet, started to engage the nearest Earth Alliance carrier in combat, "Mark," Talia called out as the Minerva launched its blistering assault on the Earth Alliance carriers.
"Incoming missiles," Arthur's voice, from the Executive Officer's station, "commencing evasive actions," The Minerva sailed to port as the Earth Alliance's reply came streaming towards the Scandinavian fleet.
Shinn's Impulse, along with Lunamaria's and Rey's Zakus stood on the coast destroying Windams that came too close. He saw the Gaia bound across the bay, coming right at him, he drew his beam saber as the Gaia transformed into Gundam mode, charging straight at Shinn ignoring the other suits, and drew its own beam saber, "you, you I'll get you," Stellar screamed as she and Shinn began to fight.
"Rey, Lunamaria; try to get a crippling shot on the Gaia while I fend it off," he ordered, "but make sure you keep the other enemy mobile suits from landing, that's our main priority. The Gaia seems to only be intent on fighting me so I'll try to keep it away from the civilians." Rey and Lunamaria fired their beam cannons at the enemy Windams and Daggers in the sky, scoring hits, producing some brilliant explosions while they moved to avoid any return fire. Shinn and
Meanwhile, Athrun lead ZAFT Zakus and Goufs, and Scandinavian Astray's into the fight against the opposing Chaos, Windams and Daggers. Saviour led off the fight against the Chaos, so it is them again, as he also saw the purple Windam from the battle at the secret base. Athrun fired his laser cannons at the oncoming Windams, as he saw the enemy firing their own salvo. Explosions shook the sky as both sides took losses. Chaos and the custom Windam wheeled away as Athrun's squad blazed through the Earth Alliance forces. Athrun engaged the two mobile suits in a running battle as the other ZAFT Zaku's and Earth Alliance Windams and Dagger's engaged in a deadly dance around the battlefield.
Neo lead his Windam and Dagger squadrons in the fight against Athrun's forces. So the Saviour is here, that means ZAFT's other ace-kun is also here, I look forward to battling again. With Stellar's help he had almost taken down the Impulse only to be thwarted at the last minute by the Saviour and its pilot, who also flew like an ace, as more recent engagements had proven. It seemed to Neo that it was the pilot of the Saviour who led the mobile suit pilots on the Minerva and he had a good grasp of tactics unlike the hotheaded pilot of the Impulse. Which just means that I'll have to fly even better; even if it is impossible; I can do it. Once that Minerva and its mobile suits are gone, victory should belong to us. He led the Windam Squadron off the JP Jones and other squads off other battleships in the attack against Scandinavia, which had been holding out against Earth Alliance calls to arms. With the recent Central Eurasian rebellion put down, Lord Jibril had initiated the next step to Earth Alliance victory over PLANT.
Sailing underwater towards the Scandinavian fleet, Auel laughed as he saw that the Scandinavian fleet was hard pressed to field many submarines or underwater mobile suits. He charged straight towards them, intent on destroying them, I'll show Neo how good I can be.
"Abyss has been detected underwater and heading straight for the fleet," Arthur said, as he looked at the radar, worried that the Abyss would trouble them as it did in the battle at the secret base near Carpentaria.
"Relay the order for Lunamaria and Rey to prepare for the Archangel gambit," Talia ordered. She knew that removing Shinn's support could be dangerous for the civilians on the ground but if the Scandinavian or ZAFT fleet was destroyed, the civilians would be helpless anyway.
Lunamaria and Rey returned into the hangar of the Minerva, to be outfitted with underwater weapons. I hope that this time we can beat that Abyss, Lunamaria thought as they launched out of the hangar after the refit.
Auel rushed straight for the Minerva, as he bought his Gundam to bear. "Archangel gambit commence," Talia ordered, as the Minerva suddenly lifted from the water, "Brace for impact," she said as it inverted and Rey and Lunamaria's Zaku's lifted off, ready to jump underwater, "Isolde, Parsfeil fire on my mark," Talia ordered as the guns aimed straight at Auel who had transformed into Gundam mode, reducing his manoeuvring ability, "Fire." The Minerva fired its cannons into the water, as Lunamaria and Rey dropped into the water, damaging Auel's Gundam forcing him to surface and run towards the land as water got into the systems. Neo, piloting the Windam observed the Minerva's inversion; that seems so familiar.
Lunamaria and Rey chased Auel all the way to the coast. Meanwhile, Shinn and Stellar were occupied by the battle of their lives as they continued to attack one another furiously, I will kill you, Stellar thought grim determination on her face, as the Gaia continued its saber barrage on the defending Impulse. Shinn counter-attacked with his shield scoring a blow on the Gaia which pushed it back. He had almost no time to recover as the Gaia pressed the attack, What is with this pilot, Shinn thought as he defended the flurry of blows that Stellar's Gaia rained upon his Impulse. He saw numerous openings for a counter-attack but the fury of Gaia's blows kept him on the back foot.
Athrun transformed into jet mode as he held Chaos and the purple Windam at bay. He looped around in a narrow arc as he came on firing, the purple Windam dodged whilst the Chaos blocked with its shield. The purple Windam though less heavily armed had a better pilot than the Chaos did, that pilot flew almost as good as he did, if not better, Athrun had to admit to himself as he gave chase, firing, forcing the Windam to dodge under the clouds. He whipped around back into Gundam form, and turned to engage the Chaos, which decided to jettison its pods to add an extra element of attack.
Meanwhile, Athrun's Zakus, Goufs and Astrays were slowly beating the Earth Alliance Daggers and Windams. Neo rose out of the clouds into that battle, firing, destroying the Scandinavian forces. "Form up on me, Sting keep that pilot busy," Neo ordered as his mobile suits began fight with more co-ordination and began to slowly turn the tide towards an Earth Alliance victory. His forces criss-crossed over the enemy forces utilising a slashing attack, catching the allied forces by surprise, destroying some of them, taking no losses in return. He watched as two flights of his mobile suits engaged the enemy, one obscured by the other. The first flight broke away and predictably the guns followed them, not knowing that the second flight came blazing through the gap firing repeatedly at enemy gun installations.
The Minerva and the Earth Alliance carrier fleet traded blow for blow, the Minerva rocked as blasts from the Earth Alliance carriers hit it. "Fire," Talia ordered, as the Scandinavian ships returned fire obliterating a few of the Earth Alliance carriers. The Earth Alliance response similarly destroyed some of the defenders.
Dearka stood on the prow of the ZAFT dropship which was currently powering up towards Scandanvia to join the Minerva and help sure up the Scandinavian Kingdom's defence to stay independent. Milliaria, I wonder where you are? I want to see you again. He saw Yzak and Shiho acting all couply and a twinge of jealousy filled his heart, he realised that he wanted to be with Milly, he wished that he could hold her in his arms. He hoped that the small flame that had been kindled between them before Jachin Due was still burning.
Lunamaria and Rey, now fighting on land, chased the fleeing Abyss over an island. Their Zakus traded blows with Abyss. Lunamaria executed a drop-kick manoeuvre as Rey attacked from the front with his laser; she came from below, lasers firing at full blast. The Abyss barely dodged that attack, by shifting to the left and Rey came full-on attacking with its beam axe. The Abyss could do nothing but block the blows that Lunamaria and Rey were attacking it with. Coming from both sides made it hard for the Abyss to unleash its lasers, it could only attack one at a time leaving it vulnerable from backstabbing by the other unit. Rey looped his Zaku around and fired again, twisting away from Abyss's scythe as Abyss tried to charge it.
Neo lead the Earth's mobile suits like an expert, taking out all of Athrun's reinforcements as Sting kept Athrun busy. Blast! Athrun thought as he saw his reinforcements being decimated by the superior tactics of the enemy commander. He knew he had to go to help his forces but the Chaos and its two shoulder pods were keeping him rather busy. He dived down towards the fight hoping to swoop on some of the enemy mobile suits, especially that purple Windam flown by the enemy commander.
However, he was forced to abort the run as Chaos flew in to attack. Sting flew with all his will and strength against the Saviour. He knew his mission was to prevent the Saviour from attacking any of the weaker mobile suits, for the attack on Scandinavia to succeed he would need to severely damage the Saviour, if not destroy it.
Good! The battle is going just as I expected. The Saviour and the Impulse are quite occupied and unable to prey on the weaker suits. That should give them enough time to break through the coastal defences. Sting and Stellar are doing quite well. Neo led his Windam squadron in a slashing run on the coastal defences, peeling away from the battle between Chaos and Saviour for the moment.
Idiot! Shinn thought to himself as the Gaia scored a hit against his Impulse. The Gaia's attacks became more and more furious as the battle went on. Shinn decided he would have to counter-attack with more fury than the pilot of the Gaia could withstand. He brought his beam saber to parry and then tried to riposte using his shield to knock the Gaia backwards. Shinn pressed the attack, unleashing a furious flurry of blows. He was too busy to notice that the beachhead had been breached by the Earth Alliance, such was the intensity of Gaia's attack.
Stellar wheeled back as the Impulse started to press its attack. That guy, I have to kill him, for Neo, I will kill him. She redoubled her efforts to attack as Shinn's Impulse pressed its own attack. Their beam sabers met in a clash, discharging energy, a brilliant light, she pushed harder on the controls as the Gaia pressed forwards slowly driving the Impulse backwards.
Shinn feeling that the pilot of the Gaia had redoubled her efforts, concentrated harder, pushing harder, forcing the Gaia back, he saw a gap in the defence so he attacked, driving his saber into the Gaia's shoulder, forcing the Gaia to jump back, Shinn pressed the attack, charging and attacking. He needed to finish things quickly, his power was down to yellow, but he was sure he could finish things before he ran out of power, and he knew that the Gaia must surely be running out of power too, he pressed his attack on, ever forward, starting to score hits.
Saviour and Chaos continued to dance around in the air, fighting, shooting at each other. Chaos's shoulder pods continuing to keep Athrun distracted from the fight, coming in from unexpected angles, the pilot of the Chaos had also improved a lot, since the fight at Junius Seven. Earth's mobile suits continued to push the attack as their numerical and tactical superiority started to take its toll. The first Earth Alliance suits had started to breach the coastal defences.
Athrun fought even harder as he saw the Scandinavian defenders slowly begin to crumble under the renewed attack. Tanks exploded on the shore as the Earth Alliance forces pushed into the docks. Athrun wheeled his Saviour around to attack the Chaos. I have to take this Gundam down soon, otherwise we're going to lose.
Shinn and Stellar kept on fighting, even though their power levels were beginning to go critical. Stellar pushed herself even harder, more desperate, she gambled and it succeeded, with a stunning uppercut she managed to force Shinn over the edge of the fjord, sending his suit tumbling down, she jumped down after it, using the last of her suits power to fire at the Impulse, tearing sections from its body as its phase-shift armour failed.
Shinn could do nothing but eject, as the Impulse plunged to its destruction. He landed deep in the fjord and made to escape. The Gaia was so intent on blasting the smithereens out of the Impulse, Stellar didn't notice Shinn slip into the forest, only later to be ambushed by Earth Alliance's landing army.
Meanwhile, the battle of Scandinavia was effectively over, the Earth Alliance's sheer numbers wreaking havoc on the Scandinavian port, the Minerva was forced to withdraw, picking up the Saviour and its two Zakus.
"Where is the Impulse," Athrun asked as he docked in the Minerva. The Impulse had been gone since the beginning of the fight. He had tried to warn Shinn not to be too reckless before and it seemed as if Shinn had taken the advice to heart to the point where he had considered Shinn a friend, Shit, it was just like losing Nicol again, but Shinn was only missing, he hadn't seen Shinn die like he had seen Nicol die. Hopefully Shinn went to ground and is safe.
"It was fighting the Gaia and the Gaia seemed to have won," Meyrin replied, sad that one of their pilots had been lost, it had been a hard battle that had cost too much in the end. Athrun annoyed, landed the Saviour in the hold of the Minerva. Shinn should have been good enough to take the Gaia out as well.
Shinn was marched onto the JP Jones by the Earth Alliance army, who had captured him. He was brought to Neo, "this is one of the ZAFT pilots that survived, you wished to interrogate them, Colonel," the Captain of the soldiers said.
"Yes, put him in the brig for now, I need to debrief the pilots," Neo replied, as Shinn was lead away into the brig. Neo was satisfied, the battle had gone his way and the prize that they now had in this ZAFT pilot was an added bonus.
"Auel, Sting, Stellar, come to my office now," Neo ordered, as the three Gundam pilots followed him into his personal office. "You all did well," he said, as the pilots rested on the lounges, "Stellar, good job in taking the Impulse down."
"Neo, thank you…" Stellar replied, happy for the praise from Neo, her infatuation for him deepened.
"Sting, thanks for holding off the Saviour, you did your job properly allowing our troops to get through without too many losses," Neo said, giving praise where it was due
"Too bad I couldn't take that Saviour out," Sting replied, exhausted from the battle with the Saviour, it had required all of his concentration and willpower to keep up with the Saviour.
"Auel…you did okay there, though the Minerva came up with an interesting tactic to flush you out of the water," Neo stated, "you'll get something big for me next time right?"
'Of course I will," Auel replied, "I'm too powerful for anything they can put underwater."
"Alright, I think it is time for your rest, return to the Lab, you know where. Dismissed," Neo commanded, as he allowed his pilots to go. As soon as they left, he pulled off his mask, set it down on the lounge and lay down to think. He mulled over the battle and the interesting tactic that he had seen executed by the Minerva, it had seemed familiar at the time. Sometimes he felt as if he had seen some of these things, had heard of some words before but they hadn't been in what Lord Jibril had provided. He sat in his office lost in his thoughts when he remembered that the ZAFT pilot had to be questioned. Donning his mask again he exited his room, the door clicking shut behind him, he walked to the brig, little knowing what would happen.
A/N: I'll try to have some Seed Mode next chapter. Anyway, does anyone know if Star Wars Lightsabers existed first of Gundam beam sabers? What will happen to Shinn? Will anyone ever see Neo unmasked? Read the next chapter: Enter Destiny Gundam.
Poll: Should I give Stellar a Seed or not? Please tell me when you guys review. Thanks.
