The Slayer Mirage descended before the catapult corridor in midst of red warning lights & sirens. A loud 'THUD' followed as it touched ground level. The catapult gate slowly gaped with a hiss, gradually revealing the runway and the 'great black void' beyond. Debris swirled in every direction as opposing pressures struggled to reach equilibrium.
Yellow signal lights flickered across the runway in sequence, pointing outward to indicate a safe passage. Yzak released the forceps to free his MS, and fixed his eyes before the void.
"Joule team, move out!" He shouted. Panel indicators turned from green to yellow, then dark red as Yzak shifted his gears to the very end.
The Slayer Mirage roaredIts afterburners loosed a stream of propellants and hurled it across the runway, leaving only a trail of sparks in its wake.
In the same manner, fourteen mobile suits launched from of their compartments to join Yzak.
Behind Yzak's squadron of five trailed two additional squadrons of analogous sizes. Heading one was Dearka Elthman, Yzak's long-time 'friend' & ace of previous wars. The other was led by Shiho Hahnenfuss, a faithful subordinate who remained with Yzak throughout both wars, and an ace on her own right.
Yzak glanced over some two-dozen red blips on his sensors, and raised his hand to flick a switch.
Click.
"Tsk…" Yzak muttered & thought: 'So much for extended-range sensors.' He flipped another switch to open a communications channel connected to the Voltaire.
"Voltaire, do you copy? Get me their IDs." He requested impatiently.
It took a good five seconds before Yzak received a reply from the Voltaire's CIC.
"Unknown source sir, possibly smugglers. Twenty-three mobile suits & a civilian transport identified. Eleven Strike Daggers, seven Windams, four Zaku Warriors…" The CIC raised her voice, "…with Gunner configuration?"
"What about the last unit?" Yzak barked, clearly annoyed at the sound of uncertainty.
"I am sorry sir, but if we are not mistaken…" The CIC's voice quivered slightly, "we've also identified a Gaia among them!"
"Transmitting unit specifications now sir!" She continued.
'A Gaia? Not only Zakus but a Gaia too?' Yzak was skeptical. 'That's impossible!' He thought.
Whereas Yzak found it understandable for mobile suits of the now-defunct Federation to circulate in black markets due to the obvious lack of arms control, leaking ZAFT counterparts was an entirely different matter. Especially with the Gaia, as a mobile suit typically designated for special squadrons, there was little in ways to obtain a Gaia other than hijacking it.
'Who could have pulled that off?' Yzak pondered. Certainly there had not been a hijacking incident since the demise of Logos, and to imply one occurring now easily indicated the gravity posed by the situation.
"Where they headed?" Yzak asked.
"Could be anywhere sir."
"Oy oy, so we are not only outnumbered, but they are using our mobile suits, again?" Dearka added, directing his words to Yzak. Although nothing more than stating the obvious, it was habitual for Dearka to relieve boredom by starting a conversation one way or the other.
"This could be a handful."
"I know that!" Yzak growled. He was not so much worried about being outnumbered than the purpose and scale of the activities ahead. He hated delicate missions, anything complicated, anything beyond simple 'search & destroy' objectives.
Especially with what he once considered to be a 'simple exercise' now turned into something far more serious, Yzak was most displeased.
"So, shall we request for reinforce…?" Dearka asked, but was interrupted before he completed his sentence.
"Quit being a chicken shit, Dearka!" Yzak snarled.
"Hey, just wanna get this over with asap, alright?" Dearka cracked his neck & faked a yawn. "I am tired, you know?" He closed his eyelids halfway and tapped his lips.
"Then you had better un-tire yourself, now!" Yzak retorted. "Or you will un-tire yourself in the nearest infirmary after I put you on the receiving end of my rifle!"
"Alright…Fine." Dearka threw his hands up & murmured to himself. "Have it your way."
Yzak ignored him.
"Housekna! Take point, and send a warning." Yzak ordered.
"Oh, a warning. That works…" Dearka smirked, evidently unimpressed at Yzak abiding by the book.
"Copy that, commander Joule." Shiho's response was a stark contrast to Dearka's, cold, straightforward & professional. "Should I inform them of your presence?"
Yzak thought for a second. "No." He replied.
"No kidding, what'd be the fun in that?" Dearka smirked. "The admiral's name is a killing word!"
"Shut up Dearka!" Yzak snapped.
Indeed, Yzak's wartime exploits were renowned in the known universe. Although his skills were not legendary, as with a certain Kira Yamato, he was nonetheless very talented and proficient. In the mop-up operations against Federation remnants following the Second War, his presence alone was all it took to end several quarrels and conflicts. Though by declaring his name now, Yzak could put an end to this small window of liberty he had waited so long for. He simply would not allow that to happen.
Shiho banked her STORM ARMS out of formation and approached the center of enemy activity. She stopped abruptly, cautiously distanced herself from her targets and placed them barely within the reach of her missiles.
She refrained from locking on & switched on all communication modules.
Shiho delivered her message in an impassive but clear voice: "Unidentified crafts, you are in violation of ZAFT aerospace, cease your activities now & surrender immediately, or you will be fired upon. This is your first and final warning. You have 10 seconds to comply."
Yzak of course, would not wait ten seconds to pass. Already, he composed a plan.
"Dearka," Yzak motioned his left hand, "take the left flank & make sure no one escape. I am going to secure the transport. Nobody fire until I say so!"
"Copy that." Dearka replied, unusually obedient this time around.
As expected, ten seconds expired without response.
'Are they serious!' Dearka thought in disbelief. 'They want to take us on!'
"Housenka! Go!" Yzak demanded.
Shiho was ready. As soon as Yzak ceased transmission, the STORM ARMS arched back slightly & extended its arms. Numerous caps burst open in unison to display its impressive array of missiles. Shiho motioned her hands rapidly on her console, locking onto every red blip she encountered.
Then Shiho halted, and without warning, she clicked the trigger.
Dozens of missiles swirled in multiple directions, kindling the stars to such brightness as if a hundred suns were present. Drops of sweat dotted Shiho's forehead as she focused all of her faculty on directing the STORM ARMS' weapon systems.
As anticipated, Shiho's initial assault forced their opposition to scatter. Yzak waited no longer, and pounced the Slayer Mirage forward, brandishing its twin-glaive in both hands. He posed its shoulder mounted chain cannon & loosed its fury upon two Strike Daggers still perplexed by Shiho's intrusion. After brushing through them with relative ease, Yzak approached another mobile suit, a Windam. With its right hand, the Slayer Mirage thrust its glaive forward, a move that lopped off the Windam's cranium. The blinded Windam struggled to turn around in an attempt to flee, but Yzak would not permit it. With its free hand, the Slayer Mirage pressed its left arm against the Windam's abdomen, where a beam blade pierced through the latter's cockpit, surely killing the pilot within. To Yzak's surprise, the Windam continued to function despite losing its cockpit and presumably, its pilot, albeit it was now firing blindly. Yzak had not the time to dwell upon his initial shock. With its arm blade still wedged inside the Windam's cockpit, the Slayer Mirage pulled up, and carved through the latter's generators. For a few seconds, the Windam jerked violently, then fell silent.
By now, Shiho had depleted her missile payload, a payload no less than three times of a Paladin equipped with an artillery module, but she was not done.
Shiho readied the STORM ARMS' signature weaponry, its twin-linked beam cannons.
She lowered its frequency, positioned her crosshairs & opened fire.
Green rays of hi-powered energy discharged in an upbeat rhythm as Shiho laid an intensive barrage over a general area. Her foes fled desperately upon the sight of such awesome might, but few were caught by its waves of destruction, and subsequently incinerated, instantly.
Dearka's squadron was far removed from the heart of action, but it did little to prevent them from joining the fray. Dearka's mobile suit, the Inferno Gunner, was a long-range specialist. As such, Yzak tasked him with preventing escapees, a role he accepted with much glee. After all, Dearka was in a laid back, relaxed position and only occasionally squeezed the trigger should anyone haplessly go between his crosshairs.
The fighting gradually wavered.
The presumed smugglers had been squeezed into a pocket. With no more than three Gunner Zaku Warriors and a Gaia amongst their ranks. They mustered their remaining forces and surrounded their precious cargo as a final act of defiance.
Sensing each other as leading mobile suits, the Slayer Mirage & Gaia readied their stances in an almost ritualistic fashion. Guns fell silent as the two mobile suits initiated a duel. The Gaia transformed into quadruped form and stretched its wings. An eerie red glow extended from one end to the other on each wing, forming two beam blades.
The Gaia preceded its attack with a salvo of beam fire and hastened to meet Yzak in hand-to-hand combat. Yzak understood the ploy as nothing more than a confusion tactic. He knew the wing-blades would have caught him if he had dodged. Instead, Yzak stood ground & swept incoming beams aside with his glaive edge. As the Gaia leaped towards him, Yzak reversed his thrusters & suddenly feinted backwards, just within a hair's length of the Gaia's wing-blades. The Gaia ended horizontally above him, exposed and vulnerable. Not dismissing the opportunity, Yzak pushed his glaive forward and pierced through the Gaia's chest. Momentum handled the rest, and tore the Gaia in two.
Author's notes:
Mercy points, mercy points! I present my latest chapter with much embarrassment. Go easy on the flames & reviews, since my insurance won't cover everything! -Dons anti-flame suit-
STORM ARMS – Strategic True Offensive Rapid Maneuver Absolute Real-Motion Systematic. Referring to Shiho's mobile suit and her capacity to direct its weapon systems with complete freedom.
