Orb late morning June 15
There was silence in the air as the country known as Orb prepared itself for the fight of its life. The earth alliance, after losing their last mass driver to head into space, Orb was an easy second target. But by the size of the fleet they had rolled out, they new it wasn't gonna be an easy battle. Orb by itself can handle a wave or two from them, but it seems like they brought an entire army.
This isn't good. We might not win this fight...
"Lieutenant Young!" A female voice caught him off guard and took his attention off the approaching ships. Turning his head and cutting on his communication, Aarav nodded her acknowledgment.
"Yes?"
"Top of command told us that you'd be stationed at point alpha-25!" Juri told him as she walked by him.
"Right! Why are they taking me away from the front lines? I'll be heading that way now," Aarav turned his machine away from the beach area and made his way towards the wooded portion of the island.
Laurasia-class
"Nassir, wait!" Abela rushed towards the door as her companion floated over towards it. Pushing off the wall, She tackled the slightly younger man away from the door. "I'm not letting you throw away your life!"
"If we don't stop them, they'll definitely-"
"Moreover, your machine isn't in any condition to go out fighting," Damon said as he leaned on the wall. Nassir clentched his teeth and tighten his fist at the hard cold truth. "Neither of ours is. That's why we're heading back to the base for repairs."
"He's right, and if you take out that GINN, we well lose our only chance at defense for a long trip, it's just not logical."
Looking away, he nodded in understanding, not wanting to admit his selfness. Letting go of his shirt, Abela sighed as she looked towards Damon.
"How badly is your machine damaged?"
"To be honest, a shell took my thrusters out, and then The enemy I was fighting slashed me in the middle... I don't even know how I'm alive..."
"What matters is that you're here. We'll have to come up with a better strategy. The ship I tried to take down had a skilled pilot in their backhand. We'll have to attack him accordingly once we get repairs. Anything you'd like to add team leader?" Abela turned towards Nassir.
"Give us any information you have on him and the ship. We'll have to time this perfectly."
Outskirts of Victoria base
Slowly but surely, Dakota's machine stopped shaking as they entered the calmer parts of the atmosphere.
"Alright, Maxwell, we're changing course! Lanai! Hold on tight."
Changing his direction, Awaken soared through the sky towards the coordinates given to him. The sun had set almost an hour ago, but the night was still young, making his way towards an underground base the Earth Alliance had set for the invasion to take their base back.
"Ah, there she is, the fearsome Awaken Gundam," one soldier said as the trio landed on the send with Maxwell being first due to him hanging on the talon of the transforming suit.
"Looks battle-damaged?"
"Apparently, there was a fight on the way down. ZAFT didn't want them coming to earth," The commanding officer said as the units opened their hatch's revealing the pilots inside. Deeraj, Maxwell, and Lani each stepped out of their machines and walked towards the rest of the squadrons."We'll have the mechanics fix it right up. It's the least we can do for our current top ace."
"Right, thank you," Deeraj turned around and followed the mechanics towards the machines. "I'll watch over the repairs-"
"No, please get some rest. We'll need you out there," the high-ranking officer walked out of his office to greet the group for three before his smile disappeared. "Wait, someone's missing. I was told there were four pilots on board the ship. Why just three?"
"We left longshot behind so he can protect the ship," Deeraj said as he and the rest of his squad saluted.
"Right, I see. Well, we're looking forward to working with you anyways!" The commander took out his hand for the group to shake.
Nelson-class outskirts of debris belt.
"You think they'll give chase?" Vince asked with his arms crossed. The rest of the bridge stayed silent as they carefully monitored the Lauraisa class battleship as it slowly turned around.
"We hope not, but still be on high alert just in case they do try anything," the captain said as he leaned back in his chair, letting out a sigh. "Sabina, how's the transmission coming along?"
"The supply will arrive in two hours, as this rendevous point!"
"Great, in the meantime, have every available combatant be ready. That especially means you, Vince!"
"Yes, sir."
"Head to the point! Be careful. We don't know if the enemy is planning anything! Let the suppliers know!"
"Roger!" The ship entered a level 1 battle station with his command given to be on the safe side. Being lively once again, the ship started to buzz around as they headed to the supplier.
Orb
Time has passed, and now he's in the wooded area of the island. The battle has log started yet, and there was no way for Aarav to tell who's winning or not.
"Why the hell am I not on the frontlines? Don't they know I'm one of the best defenses they have?" Aarav stopped his machine and looked towards the missile bombardment, some being shot down while others hit their targets. The sound of the battle from a distance made him itch for a fight. Kneeling to be covered by trees, his suit's head, mostly black and marron, gave him an excellent vantage point of being covered by shadows and abling to fire if need be.
Aarav thought as he aims and fires the first shot, hitting right between the torso's chest and stomach. Like the red frame Astray Gundam, his backpack can detach from the body, allowing him to perform various other mobility without it on. Laying down, he saw more than a dozen Strike Dagger float down on a parachute. That's bold...
"An enemy!?"
"Where?! Arggh!" Another beam pierced through a strike dagger. Aarav redirected his aim towards a closer one.
"Cut the parachutes!" The Strike dagger's pilot said as he detached the backpack and moved to the right quickly.
"Too predictable!" Aarav's beam traveled through the sky and hit the pilot in the reactor, causing it to explode in mid-air. With that last shot,t eh Daggers started to rain down beams in his general directions. One hitting his shield he had placed on the ground. Damn jigs up! Aarav got up from his prone position and boosted forward so that he could grab hold of his shield and reattach the backpack he had beforehand.
"It's one of Orbs units!" Ralph, a pilot of the Earth Alliance, said as he landed on the ground holding up his shield to absorb the beams that came his way. Backing up as the Astray rushed him, he thought quickly and side-stepped the vertical slash. Holding up his shield as the follow-up slash pushed him back a few feet sliding to a halt.
Aarav placed the beam saber back in its rack and grabbed the rifle, taking his opponent's attention. Two shots escaped his rifle before he had to pull back in time to avoid a downward slice with his beam saber from Ralph.
"Your fight is against me!" Ralph charged Aarav with his beam in one hand and shield in another.
"Who do you think you are?" Aarav stood still and moved his shield in time to embrace the ram sliding back a little as the two collided. "You really think this is enough?" Sparks fly as the two shields grind against each other. "You have guts. I'll give you that much!" Aarav pushed his joysticks forward, pushing the Inferior machine back. Bouncing off the other, Ralph attempted to regain himself, only for Aarav to slash his left arm off immediately. "Die!" Aarav went to slash horizontally, only for his alarm to go off, making him change his position at the last second and then slice off the legs instead.
"Gahh!" Ralph's machine landed on his back, rattling him inside.
Blocking most of the shots coming from behind him with his shield. Aarav put away his beam saber and retreated his gun, returning fire. His shots missed the first time, having him readjust his aim. The next two hit their target's legs, making them fall. The next wave was able to land thanks to him being distracted. "Well... I guess there's no time to double tap!" Rushing in, he fired more shots towards the horde.
Outskirts of Victoria base.
"Alright, the repairs are almost done."
"Already?" Deeraj asked as he got up from his seat, grabbing his helmet.
"Whoa, slow down their lieutenant, continue to rest-" The leading commander didn't even get his sentence out before Deeraj walked out of the tent.
"Sorry about that sir, he's more of a do it myself kind of person if he could help it," Maxwell shrugged his shoulder as he leaned back in his seat.
"I see," The commander smiled to himself as he saw the pilot make his way towards his machine.
"So we've fixed the shield repairing whatever holes and slashes made to it. And also did the same with the rest of the body."
"Thank you. I appreciate this. I'll do a full sweep of it now-" Deeraj said as he continued walking towards the machine.
"But sir!"
"Don't worry. You can easily step in and help if you want."
"R-right, yes, sir!"
Nelson-class, at rendevous point.
Two of which were nothing but regular Strike Daggers, while the main offensive force they have was a Gunbarrel Dagger
"The package is here... Wait a minute, that's a distress signal!" Sabina called out to the rest of the bridge.
"What?!"
"All hands level 2 Battlestations! Vince, to your machine! Let's try and help them out! What's the situation?!" The captain asked as he sat in his seat.
"There are three units! Two GINNs, and a Mobile armor? Confirmed it's an unidentified mobile armor!"
"A mercenary? So, it appears ZAFT can't handle their own problems, huh? Let's push them back!"
Vince hopped into his machine and started it up, causing the Custom Daggers Visor to light up. Stomping towards the catapult, Vince readied himself for launch.
"Vince Gray! Launching!" As he said this, the catapult pushed him forward before releasing him, making the young man grunt a little bit as he clentched his controls. "What's going on here-" Moving towards the left and right, Vince reaches for his two weapons on his side armor, firing off a full clip into one GINN already, Rittling it with holes, disabling it.
"This feeling! This hunger to live! You must be Longshot!" A voice called him, firing off a warning shot gaining Vince's attention barely dodging the shot as he turned to look at his foe. The enemy was in a monster-looking suit, a mobile armor with claws on its shoulder and a Gatling gun in its chest. Along with that was a long beam cannon, ready to fire.
"Shane? What are you doing here?!" Vince turned his machine to face the massive towering foe. The machine was close to 30 meters in height alone. How did he get past us like that? Our sensors didn't pick him up!
"Ah, so the white blur finally responds... It makes no sense for you to be in a long-ranged unit Vince!" The mobile armor held a Strike Dagged in its claws, slowly but surely crushing the pilot inside.
"Aaah! Help! HELP ME!" The desperation was clear in the pilot's voice. The machine's metal squeezes together as the claws went to work. Vince rushed forward, firing a shotgun shell into the claw's arm, though it dished out no damage. Shane smiled as he crushed the Dagger and threw it towards the white machine. Seeing it spend from the force, Vince stopped and ascended upwards, making a good decision as Shane immediately followed up with a shot with his normal beam rifle. Hitting the reactor causing it to explode, the light blinded what was in front of him.
"He won't be that easy," Looking up, Shane saw the glare from the white machine rushing towards him, Taking his third arm with the beam cannon, mounted on its forearm, and fired.
"Tch!" Vince releases both his submachine gun and shotgun with its shells inside, allowing them to be hit instead, making an explosion in his place while dodging the beam with ease. Grabbing the beam saber and igniting it, Vince closed the distance, slashing downward in an attempt to catch him off guard. "Why are you fighting?! Didn't you say you were tired of the needless bloodshed?!" Vince asked as Shane looked towards him and blocked the attack with his own beam saber, particles repelling off each other as they collide.
"Needless? Isn't the way to win a war through the defeat of the enemy? When all those are dead that you fought so hard to destroy, is also when the parade of the celebration starts?!" Shane shouted as he pushed Vince back and used his lower two arms to slice horizontally, making Vince back up, dodging the attack.
"Even still-!" Vince started a counter-argument, though Shane cut off his words as he parried a slash at his side, and weaving from another was defensive.
"So, you admit it's true then?! You understand that war can't be won by something as simple as talking! There will always be those who are willing to fight, just for the bloodshed!" Shane rushed forward, his speed surprising Vince as he was already om front of him in a second, preparing for a downward slice with all six arms, combining to form a larger, more powerful blade. Backing up, Vince cycled through his weapons and selected the missile rack in the shoulders of his suit, opening them up and firing them right in Shane's face. This was enough to knock him off balance, giving Vince enough time to escape.
Vince cycled through his weapons and grabbed his sniper rifle, The sensors aiming in as he adjusts for the right time. He's quick and is melee-based... Will this work?
"You think some missiles will stop me?!" Rushing in, flying through the smoke with a blazing speed. Slashing for the waist, Shane was surprised to see the mostly white but black machine thrust upwards, aiming with his sniper. Firing, the beam melted through the side of his mobile armor.
"But, we can still end the war and come to an understanding! There are ways-" Vince started only to dodge to the right aiming for the backward engine, using his unit's more superior speed and agility.
"Garrgh! Even with you saying that! Humanity will fall back into war again! History will repeat itself one way or another!" Shane turned his machine around to face Vince, only to see he was already above him, firing more missiles into his face blinding him for a second. Blind, throwing a saber out of the smoke, Vince grunted and stopped with his verniers pushing himself to dodge the attack barely. "Even if you win today, the future is never guaranteed!" Shane boosts himself out of the smoke, meeting white trace with a slice of his beam saber.
"SHIT!" Vince backs up and ignites his beam saber in his left hand right on time to block a diagonal slash for his body. The bigger body and heavier thrusters pushed the smaller machine back with ease. Pushing the saber away, Shane used the other claw-like hands to stab forward. Vince grits his teeth as his life flashes before his eyes. I...Is this it?! With momentum on Shane's side and being the one pushing, he increases his speed and stabs for the cockpit, aiming to kill him personally.
"You'll die along with your childish ways!"
"Not yet!" Vince moves his control sticks while stepping on the pedal, increasing his thrusters output to maximum. With ease, his machine glides to the side, allowing the stab to hit his left arm, leaving his right arm free, pointing the rifle. Vince opens fire, hitting the chest area going blank four times, each one melting away at the armor. This caused pink smoke and an explosion to occur around the area sending Vince and his unit back away from the smoke, a stab wound in his unit's right side in the gut.
"Vince!" Sabina called out in a panic, standing from her seat, causing those on the bridge to tense up and stare in anticipation. His white unit floats out from the smoke, slightly exploding because of the stab, but nothing more.
"He's been hit?!" the captain clenched his fist as he looked hopelessly.
"Can't we do anything?!"
"If we fire as much as a single shot, we might run the chance at hitting Vince as well!"
From the explosion emerges the big mobile armor, its chest area melted through, yet it was relatively unscathed.
"Had he been able to fire one more... I'd be toast!" Shane looked at the damage to his cockpit, seeing a light explosion in it. "Damn... Mission was a bust. They got their upgrades."
"Great work. How's the new weapon?"
"Works well, though the pilot I was fighting wasn't an easy one... White Trace..."
"Your one lucky man to have survived... Return home. We'll make whatever repairs we can."
"Roger!" Shane slowly backed away and looked at his defeated foe. "Had I been in a regular suit... He would've won... I'm still not there yet!" Turning around, Shane retreated with his damaged mobile armor.
Orb
Pinning one down, his alarm went off as two more rushed from his blind side. Aarav ducked under a slash for his torso, countering with a ram of his shield, pushing the strike dagger back into the dirt. Stabbing the saber into the reactor, causing it to go haywire. Deactivating the sword, he leaps forward while it explodes, giving him the perfect smokescreen.
"I... I can see the enemy!" Opening fire, his beam hit directly through the stomach of the first Dagger, leaving the other confused at what just happen. Moving to the side, he aimed with his beam rifle and ducked underneath a flying object coming his way using his shield to block it. Though it flew straight up, making the pilot lower his guard. It was until he looked back in front of him that he saw his mistake. Aarav laid on the side, aiming his rifle, and shot right through the torso.
That's 10... Strike Gundam lead them away more towards the city while I cleaned up... I need to head back there.
Standing up, Aarav jumped and attached the backpack to his thrusters and flew towards the main battlefield. There Astray's fought off Strike Daggers with their quicker mobility and higher performance than the other. Blocking an attack, a Strike Dagger pushes the Astray to the side, switches its hands for the beam saber, and slashes across the torso, cleaving it in half. Turning to his next foe, he couldn't react in time as he was hit in the side, killing him and making the machine explode.
Aarav lands on the battlefield, hovering as he shoots multiple beams towards the enemy, two of which hit their heads. The rest were blocked by the shields backing up as he moves closer by the second. Sliding on the ground as his thrusters stop, his feet started to run while he continuedly shot into the shield higher and higher until he could see their legs. Before they could realize what's going on, the Strike Dagger's feet were shot off by his next two beams, making them one-sided.
Stopping and using his verniers to slide to the side, his unit's shield meets with a Strike Daggers beam saber.
"Damn!"
"I've taken quite the interest to you... You should be thankful!" The unknown pilot shouted as he pushes Aarav back a little with his thrusters. Aarav ducks under his shield, not backing down, allowing the pilot's saber to knock it back. During that time, Aarav had made his way behind him and was about to slice the unknown Dagger in half, only for the pilot to use his thrusters to both mess up his monitor but also get away from the certain death. Jumping away, the pilot makes his machine back kicks into Aarav's chest, causing the slice to miss its intended location. Turning around and landing to face his foe, the enemy held a smile as they both surge forward, slashing diagonally, sabers fading through each other, making the beams bend on contact before going back with a slash across the chest meets the blade again in the middle.
"Tch!"
"Gahrah! You're strong... Too dangerous to be left alive-!" As he says that, Aarav pushed his beam to the side and followed up with a slash across the stomach while jumping up roundhouse kicking his opponent to the ground. The slice melted through the armor, almost cutting the Dagger in half; instead, the surface was cut open, giving a good view inside the cockpit. The pilot bounced around as his machine hit the dirt on its back. Looking up, Aarav pointed his beam rifle towards him.
"Why did you try me?"
"My name is-!" The pilot attempted to say only for Aarav to shoot his beam into the torso, giving it a few seconds before it explodes.
"You were good... Too bad you meet me on the battlefield."
Looking up, a flare was shot, signaling a retreat, sending all those Daggers around him back to the sea.
It's over... But the damage... We won't last that much longer
Nelson-class
"Vince!" Sabina shouted as she floated over towards the damaged unit.
"Ma'am! Stay back. This unit is in bad shape!" A mechanic looked towards her and attempted to stop her, though she only glares at him stopping on the floor.
"I don't care! Where is he?!"
"Still inside. We're working hard to get him out."
"Damn it!" Sabina clentched her fist as she looked on helplessly.
Inside the machine, Vince laid unconscious, bleeding from the wound on his stomach, still holding onto the control sticks. Trying hard to stabilize them, Sabina held tightly onto her lover until the medical crew caught her. The hatch finally opened thanks to them forcing it with a code. Pulling Vince out while still trying to maintain the fire from the machine's torso, he floated right into the arms of Sabina, who, once she saw him rushed towards him and caught the young man.
"I'll take over from here," The man said as he took hold of the pilot.
"He seems to be in bad shape. Please, lieutenant. We'll make sure nothing bad will happen to him.
"Okay..." Sabina watch as Vince was carted away towards the clinic. Please... Be ok!