Chapter 9
CE 71 May 8th, JOSH-A, West Alaskan Shoreline, North America
Pain unlike anything he'd ever felt before ripped through Larry's body. He was vaguely aware that he was screaming, and it was as though his blood was on fire. Unfortunately, his nerves were still intact, and he felt the interior of his pilot suit start to fuse with his skin. All of those were compounded by the fact that Larry, being a veteran of the Grimaldi Front, had already seen the Cyclops System in action once. Feeling it on his own body had been a hidden nightmare that had unfortunately come true for him.
Blood burst from his nose and splattered onto his visor, obstructing his vision. Despite having heeded the warnings from that unidentified mobile suit, Larry's CGUE had not cleared the blast zone in time, and the first indication that things were going wrong was the warning alarm alerting him of his CGUE's boosters sputtering out. The blinding pain had come a second later.
Larry turned his head with much effort, and saw out of the corner of his eye his CGUE's MMI-M7S rifle explode, the force throwing his mobile suit off its Guul subflight lifter, sending the mobile suit towards the surface of the northern Pacific Ocean. Seconds later, the lifter's engines exploded as well; blooming orange filled the screen. Larry, however, was too preoccupied with what was coming next; he could feel something well up from the back of his throat. Red filled his vision, and blood sprayed from his mouth and nostrils, all over the interior of his helmet visor, as the CGUE hit the freezing waters of the Gulf of Alaska.
His body felt as though a thousand barbed hooks had dug into his flesh as the impact threw his mangled body around, the seat harnesses digging into his chest, tearing the composite material of the pilot suit that had already partially fused with his skin apart. Larry gave a ragged gasp as a jet of water burst through the CGUE's cracked cockpit and hit him in the abdomen, the salt water causing pain to shoot through his entire body; in some far-off corner of his consciousness he was thankful that the pain had already blinded him, because his body felt more like a mangled corpse than a still-dying human's. For the next minute Larry continued screaming until his voice gave way, and only the shrill alarms from the CGUE's systems continued sounding. Water pooled rapidly in the cockpit, the stinging sensation of ice-cold salt water on raw wounds barely registering on his wracked mind.
The cockpit was nearly full with water, and Larry nearly dead from the pain, when an escaping ZnO finally responded to the CGUE's emergency signal, and arrived on scene to pick up the mangled mobile suit.
CE 73, November 14th, VoLPHAU Legacy Sight, ZAFT Diocuia Base, Black Sea Region; Turkey; Southern Eurasia
Morning 11 31
VoLPHAU Number [ZAT-1114L1] Legacy Sight landed with a bump, jolting Larry Falke out of his sleep. Looking around and out of the bunk-side window, the officer scratched his head, and sighed. Whenever I see a body of water larger than a swimming pool…
Gathering his things, he made for the door.
The door opened to reveal someone running in, and Larry felt something crash into him. The impact was strong enough that they both fell back into the crew quarters. "Ugh…" Larry tried to get his bearings back. "If you'd mind…?"
The offending person quickly got up. "I'm terribly sorry, sir!" Suzuki Amano said, hurriedly getting off him and into a deep bow. "But I was worried that you'll oversleep again, sir."
"I didn't oversleep back at Gibraltar," Larry said, annoyance creeping into his tone. "I just… overdosed on sleeping pills."
Larry had dropped from space to Gibraltar five days ago as part of a second, smaller wave of reinforcements, and he'd always had a problem with jetlag, if it could even be called as such; his old scars would start to throb again. He'd taken a couple of pills and overslept, and early this morning at four, the only thing that woke him up was his room door crashing open, and Amano figuratively dragging him out. Larry cupped his chin briefly, trying to remember the number of sleeping pills he had taken last night, but gave up and stood, dusting off his black officer's uniform.
Suzuki blanched. "That's a dangerous thing to do, sir! Perhaps you should go see a medic-"
Larry picked his bag off the floor and walked out. "Duty calls, Amano. Or perhaps you spoke the same way to Captain Joule whenever he coughed the wrong way?"
"W-what are you i-implying, sir! W-w-we had no such relationship!" Suzuki stammered, carrying her items and running after Larry. "Just… just…"
Larry slung his bag over his shoulder as he walked down the VoLPHAU's ramp and set foot on Diocuia Base. "It's just that Captain J-Joule is a really c-cool person and he fights with such s-style…" Suzuki's semi-dreamy sentence stopped mid-way as she tripped on the last two steps of the ramp and crashed into Larry again, nearly pushing the both of them into a passing fuel truck.
"I appreciate your studying the personnel list well enough to know who you'd be working with even before meeting them, and even knowing which room in the male barracks said person stays in," Larry managed to say from in-between his clenched teeth, "But at this rate, you're going to kill me first."
"I-I'm very sorry sir!" Suzuki said, bowing again.
"Stop that," Larry said. "Just stand straight and apologize. Or actually, just stop knocking into me!"
"S-Sorry, sir," Suzuki, said, bowing again.
Larry rolled his eyes and resumed walking, Suzuki trailing behind him. Recruits these days… joining the army just to idolize their favourite officers ever since ZAFT started their recruitment drive with that crazy 'Officers Monthly' magazine… well, white hair does suit his personality; shame he did away with his scar, I thought he looked quite officer-like with it… Pausing, and then turning his body to avoid Suzuki knocking into him again, he stared at the large crowd gathered at one corner of the Diocuia Base's parade grounds. "A concert? On a frontline base?" He turned to Suzuki. "Amano, have you heard anything about this?"
Suzuki thought long and hard about it before replying. "Ah! I think it was mentioned in the news that Lacus Clyne would be holding a concert for the ZAFT soldiers stationed here. I remember the title of that report… they called it a 'dazzling promise to reward the faithful guardians of ZAFT'." Suzuki stepped closer and squinted. "Oh, they even have a ZAKU as a prop. There sure are a lot of people there… I wished the flight was yesterday, and then I could be in that crowd too-"
Larry turned and started to walk again. "E-Eh? Sir?" Suzuki said, picking up her bag and running after Larry. "You don't like Miss Clyne's songs?"
"The number of people I know who actually dislike her songs, I can count them with one arm chopped off, and another hand missing all my fingers," Larry said as they walked, "But that was before the end of the Bloody Valentine War. This…"
Suzuki frowned and tilted her head towards the concert area. "She sounds the same as she was, sir."
"Not her voice, Amano," Larry said. "It's just… her style seems different from before. This is just my opinion, but I'm sure that she didn't gain her fans from being so... flamboyant."
Suzuki pondered that sentence for a while. "Well, she certainly seems more flamboyant than she was two years ago-" She turned to see Larry walking away even faster. "H-Hey! Sir! Wait up!"
Larry continued walking until he rounded a corner, nearly knocking into another person. "Sorry," Larry said, faking a cough. "Could you tell me where the personnel office in Diocuia Base is at?"
"Just over beside the barracks," the green-uniformed man said, pointing in the direction. "Are you… Commander Larry Falke?"
Larry turned to look at the man. "Yes, I am. Do you have business with me?"
The man held out his hand to shake. "Fredric Koherng, sir. I'm part of the Raider Team. Pleased to have you join us, sir."
"Likewise," Larry said, taking Fredric's hand. "Well, it seems that my query is solved. Where is Captain Reidr?"
"In the simulator, sir," Fredric replied. "If you want me to call him…"
"No, of course not, he's my commanding officer now," Larry said. "But… let's pay him a surprise visit, shall we?"
CE 73, November 15th, Simulator Room 4, ZAFT Diocuia Base, Black Sea Region; Turkey; Southern Eurasia
Morning 11 31
Alan's ZAKU Phantom went into a quick front boost, dodging under the axe-swing of Grace's Slash ZAKU Warrior; the beam-edged melee weapon cut a shimmering patch through the air, where his own mobile suit's head had been moments before. Reaching for his unit's own beam tomahawk, Alan sent the weapon towards the Slash ZAKU Warrior's torso with a tight horizontal cut, but Grace had pivoted her own machine, turning a full 180-degree in time to block Alan's blow with its Falx G7 beam polearm's shaft.
Spinning the polearm around, the Slash ZAKU Warrior struck at the ZAKU Phantom first with the end of its shaft, pushing the command unit backwards, then with the back of its axe blade, which ended in a beam emitter. The ZAKU Phantom brought up its right shield in time, but the impact from the weapon threw Alan's mobile suit backwards all the same.
Rather than struggle against the impact, Alan let it force his ZAKU Phantom backwards. Throwing the beam axe at Grace's unit, he used both hands to push against the ground as the ZAKU Phantom landed, and used its legs to push himself further. The usually stable mobile suit did a backflip to end up facing the Slash ZAKU Warrior again, and still standing on its two legs.
Grace was not idle while Alan was trying to avoid falling flat on the ground, however. The leg thrusters on her unit fired up, and the Slash ZAKU Phantom accelerated with shocking speed, as its back thruster added its power. Deflecting the thrown beam tomahawk with a single blow, the ZAKU Warrior slammed into the ZAKU Phantom, pushing against its foe; Alan struggled for control as his ZAKU braced itself, and pushed against the force with its twin shoulder shields held up front.
Grace quickly tipped the polearm's shaft downwards and in-between the ZAKU Phantom's wide stance, tripping up the unit's left leg. As the ZAKU Phantom fell to one knee, the ZAKU Warrior used a full body spin to add inertia to her strike, ending in Grace bringing her mobile suit's heavy weapon down on the ZAKU Phantom. Only Alan's last minute block with his second beam tomahawk saved his skin, and even then the force was great enough that the beam polearm's energy blade came close enough to scorch the paint off his unit's head; the ZAKU Phantom's command antenna started to bend from the heat. Alan grimaced as his cockpit screen became dotted with static, in response to the magnetic interference from the beam weapon in close proximity to the head sensors.
Grace increased the Slash ZAKU's arm pressure, and the axe continued pushing down on the ZAKU Phantom's block, which was fast giving out. Alan activated the Phantom's back thrusters and braced its feet against the ground, but Grace put up enough pressure for even that last-second manoeuvre to be ineffective.
Out of options, the ZAKU Phantom pulled in its left leg close to its body, before kicking outwards at the Slash ZAKU's own left leg. That did little; Grace's unit jumped backwards and landed in a perfect countering stance.
Alan had barely enough time to get his ZAKU Phantom back on his feet when Grace's Slash ZAKU Warrior opened up with its twin "Hydra" gatling beam guns. The energy bolts tore into the ground as Alan's ZAKU Phantom fired its leg thrusters, the mobile suit skating across the ground in a zig-zag manner backwards, while bringing out its own beam rifle to return fire as a distractive move; keeping clear of the deceptively powerful beam gatling bolts, as Alan tried to force Grace's unit to turtle behind its shield.
Dodging the few rounds that actually came close to hitting her, Grace was about to chase up to her commander when she realized that her unit's incoming proximity alarm was ringing shrilly. Moving the Slash ZAKU Warrior backwards barely in time, Grace's mobile suit ducked behind its shield, as a railgun round smashed in from the side, nearly rocking the unit off its feet. A second round barely missed the shield, and Grace thumbed a few switches in her cockpit, switching her unit's leg thrusters to hover mode as her Slash ZAKU Warrior begun moving towards the direction of fire to meet the new foe head-on.
Grace frowned, trying, for a brief instance, to wonder who would be so daring as to purposely interrupt a bout between two veteran pilots, as a ZAFT unit sped into view; a GuAIZ R carrying a ZAKU Warrior's bazooka on its right arm, and its beam rifle on its left, coupled together with its shield. She had no time to admire the apparent audacity of its pilot, however, as the GuAIZ R's hip guns unfolded and it opened fire with all four weapons; to top things off, the oncoming barrage of fire was fairly accurate despite the GuAIZ R boosting over the land at high speeds. Grace moved backwards, returning fire with her beam rifle as accurately as she could, her practice match with Alan forgotten at this new development. Moving in an arc long the ground, Grace's ZAKU Warrior, amidst a display of heavy fire and blinding explosions, deployed and set both hands on its beam polearm, the frame of the mobile suit awash with thrusters fire as it kicked off the ground to meet its new foe head-on; the the beam polearm swung in a brilliant arc as the mobile suit brought the weapon above its head.
Alan would have been watching his usually decisive comrade get pushed back with some amusement, and wouldn't have minded to simply watch how she would extract herself from this predicament, but on his side things weren't much better as he clashed again with the Gunner ZAKU Warrior that had closed into engagement range. The Gunner ZAKU fired its beam rifle from the hip, and Alan twisted his mobile suit to one side, the beam shot causing the paint on the left of his ZAKU Phantom's torso to start flaking off.
The Gunner ZAKU followed up with a push kick to the torso, sending the ZAKU Phantom back and off-balance. Annoyed at being knocked off balance for the third time in a row, Alex changed the settings of his unit's balancer, and the ZAKU endured the kick by lowering its stance, rolling with the blow as it flipped backwards once. Pushing the unit to the maximum, Alex hit the thruster switches, and the ZAKU Phantom steadied itself for an instant, shields sliding in front of the unit, before it shot forward in a burst of speed.
Instead of dodging to either side, and leaving either its left open to a beam shot, or the right to a fragmentation grenade or a beam tomahawk, the Gunner ZAKU met Alan's move head-on. Sparks flew and one of the Gunner ZAKU's shield spikes came off, as shields slammed into shield.
The screeching of metal sounded as the Gunner ZAKU's shoulder shield spun on its holder to a diagonal position, and the hilt of a beam tomahawk popped out of its top. In a first-strike, Alan's ZAKU Phantom brought its own beam tomahawk down on the Gunner ZAKU's head, but the enemy drew its weapon fast enough to counter the blow; another kick to the ZAKU Phantom's left leg sent it stumbling onto the ground in a kneeling position, and the Gunner ZAKU brought its beam tomahawk down.
Dodging to the right, Alan shifted his ZAKU Phantom's beam rifle with a toss from its left arm to its right, ditching the beam tomahawk; the Gunner ZAKU's weapon split the air a second later, narrowly missing the rifle flying through the air and slicing off the Phantom's left forearm and knee block armor. As the ZAKU Phantom stumbled backwards, it fired at the blind spot of the Gunner ZAKU's left side. The beam pierced its Gunner Wizard and ignited its contents, throwing the Gunner ZAKU to the front, where it tumbled into the ground. A second shot to the enemy unit as it struggled to regain its balance ended the fight.
Alan exhaled as the simulator screen darkened, and the side hatches opened. Clambering out, he made straight for the simulator machines right beside him as they opened as well.
Larry Falke stepped out of his simulation unit and clapped a few times. "Not bad, Reidr. I think I might be getting old, but there's no doubt your skills are excellent material." The older man clapped Alan on the shoulder. "You've come a long way since the Grimaldi Front."
Alan nodded and smiled despite himself. "Thank you, sir," he said. "To hear that from you is an honour."
Larry laughed. "I should be the one saying that. Your battlefield achievements are your own." He stood at attention, and snapped off a salute. "Pleased to be working with you again, Captain Reidr. I await my orders."
Sobbing sounds interrupted the two men's friendly reunion as Fredric coaxed a vexed Suzuki out of her simulator unit. Looking on was Grace, and Alan was both surprised and bemused at his subordinate's expression of distress.
"Did you chastise her on her combat style?" Alan asked as Larry and he joined Fredric. "She's a relatively new soldier after all, and we're not officially on our mission tour yet…"
"No, sir," Grace said, trying hopelessly to regain a semblance of her usual poker face. "I saw her weapons load-out, and on a GuAIZ R… so I remembered what I told you about her having potential… and I accidently went full-force on her…"
"N-No, ma'am!" Suzuki managed in-between sobs. "I-It was beautiful! A different kind of graceful from Captain Joule's style! One that emanates power even from a distance!" Suzuki forced herself to stand straight and saluted. "S-Suzuki A-Amano reporting for d-duty, sir!"
Larry sighed. "Look at you, sobbing because you lost in a practice match. What are you going to do when we start our duty tour?"
"I-I'll do my best, sir!" Suzuki said.
Leaning towards Grace, Alan whispered "So just what exactly did you do?"
Grace looked away. "I fought like when we encountered that Alliance convoy back in Sinai," She continued looking away. "I think I lost myself during that simulator match… fighting like a bloodthirsty berserker was not part of my intentions."
Alex put his hand on Grace's shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze. "If fate has it, we'll see them again on the battlefield. And then, you can fight them again. I know your skill… I can vouch that they were not standard Alliance soldiers." He clenched his free hand. "If I could choose, I'd like to fight them again too."
Grace lifted her head. "Yes, sir."
CE 71, May 25th, North Forest Area, Panama Spaceport Outskirts, Panama, Central America
Morning 11 58
Ray experienced a moment of vertigo as all power to the Strike Dagger was cut. It lasted for a moment, and then he slammed hard against his seat harnesses as the shock spread.
Ray tasted blood in his mouth and fumbled at his straps. He'd been fighting moments ago, and just before that sudden power failure he got hit by a GINN's machinegun round. If it came to finish him off now…
Ray thumbed the emergency release switch for the mobile suit's cockpit door in a panic, but it remained silent. Desperate, he started kicking at the cockpit door, his first blow smashing in the front screen by accident and scattering glass everywhere. As seconds passed he heard his heartbeats grow louder to a thunderous roar in the claustrophobic confines of the cockpit… until the door finally started to give way, and light streamed through the seam in-between door and cockpit.
Ray braced himself against the cockpit and continued his efforts of kicking at the door, hoping against all hope that his mobile suit did not fall flat on its face, sealing off all hope of getting out; or worse, that ZAFT did not decide to start running clearing operations. The thought of what he might face if a ZAFT GINN decided to flip the Dagger over right about now terrified him to no end.
The door finally gave way and popped open, and Ray, in the middle of delivering a kick, fell out. The first sight that greeted him was the left arm of his Strike Dagger, propping up the rest of the mobile suit, frozen in position. Ray heaved a sigh of relief.
Ray had been fighting on the edge of the battlefield alongside his squad, when an encounter with a GINN team had gotten them separated. Ray had dispatched his opponent, but then ran into another one, and the two fought until the GINN nailed his unit in the chest with its rifle. He had felt the impact then, and guessed that the hit wasn't that far off from hitting the cockpit. Ray turned to look at his Strike Dagger, and thin wisps of smoke curled from the main body, in addition to a few bullet holes just shy of the top of the cockpit hatch. Perhaps, the GINN pilot had taken him for dead.
Checking his watch, two hours had passed. He emerged from the shadows of his own unit, and the sight of what happened made him nearly vomit.
Blood was splattered all over the bodies of a dozen OMNI soldiers strewn all over the area, all with bullet wounds over their bodies. Some of them had their faces frozen into a grimace of pain, and some were tied at their hands, while others looked as though they died where they fell. As Ray continued across the now-silent forest alone, he saw other scenes; Strike Daggers locked unnaturally in their last position, bullet hole clusters in their torso areas; the remains of fellow soldiers blown apart by large-caliber shells, with their bodies scattered into pieces of unrecognizable meat; dead pilots on the ground with blood trails leading from their nearby mobile suits, as though they were dragged kicking and screaming to meet a terrible end. He came across an odd piece of machinery; he presumed that the orbital drops that ZAFT was so fixated about during the battle were that.
The last scene he saw was the scene of a red stain on the soil, and the meaty remains of something pulled across the land several feet. Like something… or someone, got stepped on by a mobile suit.
Ray couldn't take it anymore. He stumbled against a nearby tree and hurled.
It took a while before he was done. So preoccupied by his own disoriented mind and the sheer impact of the scene, he did not notice someone cocking a pistol to his head. He turned suddenly as he felt something cold press against his scalp, and slipping on the soil was the only thing that saved him as the gun went off.
Ray gasped as he caught sight of his would-be killer. "R-Rai!" He looked around, but no one else was in sight. "What happened to the squad? What about Lieutenant Morran? A-And Vicky? Thom? Did you see any of them?"
Ray's squadmate was trembling, his hands shaking. The gun fell from his grasp as he knelt down on the ground and put his arms around himself. "I'm sorry… thought you were a ZAFT pilot… funny… they're green, right? Green men from space… ha… haha…"
"Rai!" Ray grabbed his comrade's shoulders and shook him vigorously. "What happened here? Tell me!"
"Dead…" Rai whispered. "All dead… the… the Coordinators killed them." Rai begun to laugh. "Ha… Haha…" He lifted a finger and pointed it at the strange machinery standing in the middle of the clearing. "That thing… someone said EMP… haha… hahaha…"
What happened next made Ray's blood run cold. "I'LL FUCKING KILL THEM ALL!" Rai screamed, his voice cracking, tears streaming down his face, his twisted expression one of utter hatred. "THOSE FUCKING PATCHWORK MONSTERS! I'LL TEAR THEM ALL APART, AND ANYONE WHO SIDES WITH THEM!"
Ray watched with a mixture of horror and revulsion as Rai continued screaming incoherently, his body convulsing with his violent rhetoric. It would be another three hours, three hours as Ray realized the extent of the rift in-between Naturals and Coordinators, three hours of getting out of Panama on foot, before the two survivors were rescued.
The last time Ray saw Rai was the 10th of June, as Rai signed on a transfer request to the OMNI 4th Naval Fleet as a mobile suit pilot, getting ready to raze the Orb Union to the ground. He could still remember Rai's eyes, even now. Eyes burning with hatred. Empty, souless. Flickering with dark joy at the mention of killing Coordinators.
At that time, Ray had finally understood what had changed in Rai.
CE 73, November 19th, North-East of El-Tor, OMNI Enforcer Sinai Base, Egypt
Morning 07 00
Ray awoke to the sun in his face, and noticed that his pillow was soaked again; although he couldn't remember what he was dreaming about; he'd certainly know if it was about Jachin Due again. Two days had passed since they returned to Sinai Base, and what remained of the force that went out to the Lohengrin Gate was settling back into a quiet life of guardianship at the Base again.
Or so Ray was led to believe. Drawing the curtains to his room, the view outside revealed numerous transport aircraft. Ray frowned as he watched pull trucks haul his squad's Dagger Ls into the planes. What in blazes are they doing? Ray thought, getting off the bed.
He was almost to the door when it burst open, and Ray found himself staring down the barrel of a rifle. Ray held up both hands and stepped back slowly, as the two soldiers facing him backed him into the room, followed by a man wearing an OMNI uniform with two yellow bands on his collar ending in two blue tabs. A Colonel? Ray thought. And to add to that… his eyes slowly focused on the shoulder insignia of the officer. An OMNI patch on the left… but his right has the patch of the Atlantic Federation Home Guard instead of another OMNI patch.
"You are Ray Feric, First Lieutenant of OMNI's 23rd Army Division, 108th Squadron 'Manhunters', am I correct?" The colonel asked, his voice reminding Ray of a predator about to pounce.
"Yes," Ray replied guardedly. "I am."
The colonel nodded. "Get packed. OMNI Global Command is closing this place down," he handed Ray a thick file. "These are your new deployment orders."
Ray took the file, but didn't open it. "Sir, I am a part of OMNI Global Command, and I answer to that, not borrowed officers and orders from OMNI Atlantic Co-"
Ray never got to finish his sentence as one of the soldiers slammed a rifle butt into Ray's stomach. As he doubled over, the other soldier finished Ray with a blow to his back. Struggling to catch his breath, Ray could do nothing but stare up at the colonel from the floor.
"This base was built with Atlantic Federation resources," the officer coldly replied. "From what I gathered, you withheld important equipment," the officer took a few sheets of paper from another file he held, and threw them onto the floor; from the corner of his eye Ray saw that they were pictures and details of Guy and Kaguya's Dagger Ls with their Striker Packs on. "From Atlantic-led OMNI forces at the Gulnahan Ravine even after requests." The colonel leaned in close and grabbed Ray by the jaw. "Be thankful I am not having you shot and your body tossed into a ditch in this area, you patchwork-loving son of a bitch."
Straightening up again, the colonel walked out of the door, the two soldiers following him. Ray slowly stood up, set his orders aside, and punched the nearest wall as hard as he could. The red stain of blood dotted the white plaster surface.
CE 73, November 19th, North-East of El-Tor, OMNI Enforcer Sinai Base, Egypt
Afternoon 04 11
"Do you have any plans for the future, sir?" Ray asked Rahabinod, as the two watched the loading process continue. Ray had met with his squadmates; the Manhunters were still a team, although for many others, they would be split up.
Rahabinod scratched his head. "Well, I was planning to earn enough to retire and fly off to the Kingdom of Scandinavia, but I'm short of three years' salary." He smiled. "I guess I'll still have to stay on and let them push me around, unfortunately."
Ray looked at his deployment orders again. "I can't believe OMNI Global Command actually authorized this travesty." He clenched his free hand in an effort to keep himself from crushing his documents; he'll still need them in a presentable condition once he arrived at his new workplace. "What right does the Atlantic Federation have to do this?"
"The Eurasian Federation never really recovered from the blow at JOSH-A," Rahabinod said. "With them in the last phases of rebuilding their forces, they're cautious about going directly against the Atlantic Federation. The only reason why the Atlantic Federation hasn't gone on a genocidal rampage like the last war is due to the treaty they forced on the entire Earth early on in this war."
"The World Security Treaty Organization," Ray said. "That farce of a peace treaty? All it did was to take away the power and capability of the weaker nations to go against any form of intervention by Atlantic or OMNI forces; and with that set of counter-conditions, it'll be crazy to not sign it. It's basically cheating other nations into allowing the Atlantic Federation to deploy forces on their own soil without giving any thoughts to the host nation; and if they don't sign, the Atlantic Federation has all rights to consider them a hostile nation. That's just bullshit."
"Be that as may be, the Atlantic Federation cannot break its own craft, and this time ZAFT has done nothing of provocation." Rahabinod said. "Their history has always had a list of racist and bigoted policies, but even they cannot attack fellow Naturals without good reason even if said Naturals were neutral towards Coordinators, to say nothing of bigger nations with actual retaliatory capabilities like the Eurasian Federation." The older officer took off his cap and held it in his hand. "Unfortunately, they've always had a support or two in OMNI Global Command. As well, you should take into account that in this war one could say that the Eurasian Federation is more or less an unwilling participant, even if they don't say it out loud. Depending on how things go, it might cool OMNI down, or simply make it easier for the Atlantic Federation to take over." The officer sighed. "One can only hope that the Atlantic Federation will not do anything drastic."
Ray watched as Sinai Base's infantrymen marched up a waiting transport. He'd spoken to some of them; Mendez and his team would be deployed to Eastern Europe, while Ray's mobile suit team would be accompanied by others to Central Europe.
Ray watched as Rahabinod begun to walk off. "Well, it looks like my time is up. Got to catch a plane to Seattle, get retrained, then to only God knows where." The man turned back to face Ray. "If fate has it again, we will meet again, someday."
Most of the core officer crew of the Sinai Base had been reassigned. Rahabinod and his staff were slated to be transferred to the Alliance's other, newer, terrestrial bases; the majority of which were built by Atlantic Federation funding and resources. Ray knew for someone like Rahabinod, to work in the heart of Atlantic Federation facilities was the final straw.
Ray saluted after Rahabinod. "It's been an honour working with you, sir!" Ray held his salute, the memories of the elder officer's command for the past year running through his mind. "Once this war is done… Let's come back here again, and you can show me that alley bar you were talking about last time."
Rahabinod didn't turn back, but merely waved and continued walking. "The honour is mine, Ray," the officer whispered, a smile on his lips. He put his cap back on and continued walking, his head held high. "Survive."
Ray watched as Rahabinod boarded a transport aircraft. Moments later, the aircraft taxied onto the runway, and the loud roar of jet engines filled the area.
"Well, that leaves the mobile suits and infantry teams," a voice sounded out beside Ray. Turning, he saw Nain, flanked by two soldiers. They were different from the ones who confronted him, but they bore the same OMNI and Atlantic Home Guard shoulder patches.
"Nain… that means you're with the combat teams too?" Ray said.
"No," Nain sighed. "I'm going to OMNI Atlantic Command." She placed a hand on Ray's shoulder. "They've promised me a blue and pure world."
"What-" Ray begun, but he never got to finish his sentence, as one of the soldiers pushed Nain along. Ray watched as the Atlantic Federation colonel joined the three, and all four boarded a transport with Atlantic Federation markings.
A pat on the back of his right shoulder startled him. Turning, he saw Sheryl. "So Major Nain has been taken by the Atlantic Federation?" Ray continued watching the transport fly off as Sheryl pressed something into his hand. "This was on your back."
Ray took the small square of folded paper from Sheryl and unfolded it, reading the words silently. "Blue guys think that we have their tourist shots, so it's straight off to the nest for me. That's pretty hot, but I've forgotten to pack my luggage. Remember to keep your knife shiny. You can take it to the mixers if you want, but don't set it on the table anyhow."
The Atlantic Federation suspects that we have the data that they want, so they're bringing me back to the heart of the Atlantic Federation's Bureau of Intelligence. They were right, so I hid it somewhere else. Check your Dagger.
Sheryl's countenance hardened. "Oh no," she said. "What's going to happen now?"
"I… I don't know," Ray said, and focused on the note again. Take that data to the Eurasian Federation. OMNI Eurasia is probably no longer safe, so don't just dump it there.
"This…" Sheryl said. "This means that we're… I mean… damn it! ZAFT's right in front of our doorstep and we still have to worry about shit like this!"
"This is the ugly truth behind the façade of superiority OMNI likes to display," Ray said, cracking his knuckles. "An ugly power struggle that kills as many of its own as the enemy does."
Afterword:
A bit of focus on the ZAFT representative characters in this chapter, as well as setting up the Manhunters' situational shift across two continents. Amongst military, some would say that action-chasing is a curse.
I may have perhaps gone overboard with Nain's secret message stunt, seeing as I've got close to zero actual knowledge of cloak-and-dagger procedures of army/civilian intel ops in our world.