Chapter 15

CE 73, November 30th, Briefing Room C, OMNI EUROCOM Mannheim Base, Germany, Central Europe

Morning 07 48

Colonel Roan Moran strode into the mass briefing room, thick file in hand. Accompanying him was Major Wallace Edwards Isenberg, his second-in-command, and the countenances of both men were grim.

Seated in the room were the combined strength of Blizzard and Manhunters Teams, as well as a dozen pilots from Mannheim's aerial command, and several officers, warrant officers and sergeants from the base's tank and three infantry battalions. Even Kim Rassare was amongst those that were present, representing the Manhunters' attached infantry unit; Ray had decided that it was better for her to hear things firsthand. Despite the low green lighting from the display screen in the darkened room, all who were assembled were coiled tight, their tension first and foremost on their minds; few things required an immediate briefing assemble, and the number of things that could actually present such a need was something that everyone in the people in the room could count with one hand, a ZAFT attack being chief amongst the possibilities.

Ray watched as Roan took his place near the tactical display screen. On it was displayed a map of the region surrounding Germany; a little out of what Ray expected, considering that it was just five days ago that reports of a combined OMNI/Orb fleet had engaged ZAFT's Minerva at the Straits of Dardanelles, with added notes of a third party that had decimated both sides.

"Bastards finally moved beyond the Black Sea zone, huh." Rolan whispered to Caleria, who was seated beside him.

Esther shot him a glare, but she turned back to the screen as Roan began his briefing.

"Gentlemen," Roan begun. "I know the battle with OMNI and Orb against the Minerva is a hot topic right now, but for those of us at Mannheim, a greater and closer threat awaits us." He set a laser pointer to the screen, and the map moved east and then south of Germany. "This place is called Slovakia, and before the formation of the Eurasian Federation as a supernation, the exact land borders you see now were the national borders of the nation known as the Solvak Republic."

Roan set the laser pointer to the screen once more, and it zoomed in to a region north-west of the region's centre. "This region within Slovakia is called Púchov." Another click, and the camera moved north slightly. "And as you can see, it's quite the mountainous area."

"Insurgents again?" Rolan ventured.

"Rightly guessed, Lieutenant," Roan said. "Just yesterday, Mannheim received an alert that there's been a gathering of force there. As you know, just two days ago, in light of OMNI's defeat at the Dardanelles, a group calling themselves the New Eurasian Federation Army, or NEFA, announced its intention to begin fighting against OMNI forces stationed in Europe as well as any Eurasian Federation forces that get in their way." Roan turned to survey each and every person in the room. "While their name doesn't change the fact that they're a ragtag group banding together for a common dastardly cause, their choice of words is, unfortunately, quite accurate; it's a significant group that's down there, and even if they don't have the skills or strategies, they do have the numbers to present an army front in the event of a head-on clash."

"Sir?" Guy asked. "Banding together?"

"We've received intel that insurgent groups and armed terrorists are making their way from all over Europe to that location," Roan said, bringing up a list of people on the display screen. "What you see here are just a fraction of the people OMNI EUROCOM has managed to track and identify as those who are attempting to join up with NEFA; some of those are small fry, while others might be people that, no doubt, some of you can recognize as high-priority targets, since the Break The World incident, or even farther back. Continued analysis of the insurgents and their data from Reipertswiller, and the men we detained from the Luisenring attack, also revealed that they were planning to move out within a few days, but we haven't been able to link their location and action together... until now."

"Just a few days later and the stinkin' dogs would have gotten themselves a Hyperion G," Rolan whispered. "My Hyperion G."

"Quiet, you," Esther said. Turning to Roan, she asked, "Sir, even if they were an army group in the numerical sense, there wouldn't be a need to mobilize every military branch this base has. Do the insurgents have additional firepower that they've just recently acquired?"

"Very perceptive, Captain Granmark," Roan said. The display screen changed again, and a photo appeared, replacing the map. "This man is the problem."

"Colonel Joachim Rhus," Benjamin spoke out. "The commander – well, probably former commander now... of OMNI EUROCOM's base at…"

"Trencin, Slovakia," Karl said. "This isn't a good sign."

"You know that place?" Caleria asked.

"I used to live there for a while with my grandparents," Karl said. "When I signed up with OMNI two years ago I used to work there… if memory serves me correct, that place is one of the larger bases in the region. Consider them a Mannheim equivalent."

"Joachim Rhus managed to turn most of the base's personnel to his cause," Roan said. "Prior to moving out towards NEFA grounds, the Trencin Base experienced a battle in-between OMNI forces and Joachim's separatists yesterday." The Mannheim colonel's voice changed in tone, becoming more sombre. "94% of all remaining friendly forces were lost to battle."

"Sir, what about his battle strength?" Sheryl asked.

Wallace took over Roan, and tapped the laser pointer to the screen again. "I'll be taking over this part, sir." The picture of Joachim's face reduced in size, and a list of army units started to scroll across the screen. "Getting to that now, Lieutenant. Speaking in terms of conventional forces, he has the 66th and 116th Armored Regiments, artillery support from 148th Armored Regiment, and the 226th and 227th Fighter Wings from EUROCOM 22nd Air Fighter Division, as well the 1419th Recon Squadron and 1433rd Logistics Wing from the 14th Air Support Division. Added to that are the 25th and 27th Infantry Regiments of the 2nd Infantry Division."

"That's a great deal of people on his side," Guy remarked. "Cobble them together and you have a task force already."

"Further investigation revealed that prior to his defection Joachim had been putting in many personnel transfer requests," Wallace crossed his arms. "As well, OMNI EUROCOM managed to track some of those on the list that couldn't be found on the transfer logs… one way or another, they've been making their way to Trencin." He turned to look at the list, a frown on his face. "Plenty of OMNI crew found themselves facing down their own stolen war machines that day."

"Sir," Ray said. "How many mobile suits did Joachim command?"

"You won't like what you hear," Wallace warned. "Joachim had three main mobile suit commands before his defection, and from what we know, all of them went willingly with him. They're the 366th, 391st, and 8127th Armor Tactics Squadron, the first two being combined tactical units, like the Manhunters, from the 3rd Tactical Division of OMNI EUROCOM. The investigative team couldn't find any mobile suit wreckage in Trencin that day that corresponds to any of their Ids; assuming the worst, that would give him a total of up to thirty mobile suits. This is, of course, not counting the reinforcements that are no doubt making their way to NEFA even as we speak."

The screen changed again, and the list changed to the types of mobile suits used by Kasavok's people. "The 366th ATS, callsign Ravens, has five Strike Dagger Block 65s, supplemented by four Dagger L Block 15s and a Sword Calamity. According to what we know, the 366th Squadron also has provisions for one Launcher Dagger L and one Dopplehorn Dagger L, and is supported by one radar truck and two artillery vehicles."

"They're just two mobile suits short of hitting a full battle unit," Benjamin remarked.

"More importantly, that Sword Calamity," Kaguya said. "That's probably Unit 1, isn't it? Formerly piloted by Rena "Sakura Burst" Imelia during the South American War for independence."

"Correct, Lieutenant," Roan said. "In light of the base's proximity to Diocuia and its status as a planned command centre in the event of an anti-ZAFT offensive, OMNI EUROCOM managed to request the repaired Unit 1 from its former base in the Atlantic Federation. It was pilotless after its retrieval, and when it first arrived at Trencin, it wasn't in the best of conditions because no one else maintained it like they would a combat unit. I can only guess why OMNI ALANTICOM was so ready to offload a perfectly good machine to EUROCOM."

"Wow," Rolan said. "That's a major screw-up."

"You won't like what's coming next," Wallace tapped the pointer against the screen, and it changed. "The 391st ATS, callsign Castle Crushers, uses four Strike Dagger Block 60s and two Dagger L Block 10s, one Long Dagger Block 45 with provisions for Fortresta Mode and two Buster Dagger Block 5s, supported by two radar trucks and three assault gunships. They also have two platoons of anti-MS infantry under their command."

Wallace's latest statement drew sharp breaths from all present. "Buster Daggers, and a Long Dagger with Fortresta armor," Ray said. "Castle Crushers is about right. They've enough firepower and armor to repel a small invasion force... or use it to assault an enemy base under the banner of NEFA."

"The worse is yet to come. The 8127th ATS, callsign Front Strikers, has two Raider Full Specs, upgraded to the Block 10 specification which gives them moderate jamming capabilities as well as improvements to their engines and joint armor. They're led by an OMNI Lieutenant Colonel by the name of Rasel Gray." Roan paused at this point.

"Sir?" Esther asked.

"Rasel Gray was formerly of the 81st Autonomous Mobile Corps. His 8127th ATS was a part of them, and he himself pilots a Rosso Aegis."

Silence filled the room as the implications of Colonel Moran's words begun to sink in.

"A Rosso Aegis…" Benjamin said. "That's pretty bad, isn't it?"

"What's the matter?" Rolan asked with a smirk on his face. "You scared, sourboy?"

"No sir," Benjamin replied with a hint of annoyance in his tone, "But the Rosso Aegis is a bit too much for what we have here, save the Hyperion Gs. And they have one Sword Calamity and two Raider Full Specs. From a technological standpoint, this is overkill and beyond our capability to deal with."

"Nothing is beyond capability," Esther said. "If we can take them by surprise, we can win this fight with minimal casualties." She sat back for a while, thinking. "The Block 65 Strike Daggers are upgraded units made to serve out of cutting costs, but corrections can only bring it so far. In terms of equipment, the Manhunter and Blizzard Teams' Block 20 Dagger Ls should prove far superior."

"The problem lies with their specialist units, especially with their software and internal hardware upgrades." Karl added. "The Buster Dagger and Long Dagger's operational capabilities are based off the units that were their base; in short, their manoeuvrability, operability and reliability are similar to their parent units, with the added advantage of modernization. If we decide to meet them head-on, we'll effectively be dealing with two Buster GUNDAMs and a Duel GUNDAM... with updated performances."

"Don't forget the Front Strikers," Caleria said. "I think that may be our biggest problem of all. And that Rosso Aegis..." she turned to look at the screen, where the Rosso Aegis' details were displayed on the screen. "Aw man, it's flight-capable too."

"Lieutenant Vayer is right," Karl said. "With the two Raider Full Specs and Rosso Aegis, air power is going to be a major problem, especially if they have conventional fighters supported by aerial mobile suits."

Wallace switched the display, changing the mobile suits listed to a picture of another man. "We have reports that the overall leader of Joachim's three main MS units is this man."

Ray, for just a second, failed to suppress his gasp of surprise, causing Sheryl to turn and look.

"Lieutenant Colonel Bolvar Kasavok." Wallace said. "This man, a former Phantom Pain member, is believed to be providing tactical support to NEFA. Details are scarce on him, but treat him as you would any high-profile target."

"You know this guy, sir?" Sheryl asked.

"No," Ray replied, without missing a beat. "No, I don't."

"Details on Kasavok are scarce, and so far our queries to OMNI CENTCOM have proven void, but take their names as you will," Wallace said. "Phantom Pain is considered an elite unit. Those who were picked to enter are considerably skilled, or so I'm told."

"Sir," Ray said, "Will we have additional support for this?"

Wallace made a small smile, the first positive sign in this briefing since it had began. "I thought no one would ever ask. OMNI EUROCOM is sending in two full wings of fighters, an EWACS support squadron, as well as two aerial mobile suits squadrons and two tank companies, accompanied by a ground MS team."

Sheryl squinted at the screen displaying Mannheim's reinforcements. "That ground MS team…"

Ray couldn't stop a smile from forming on his face. "Well, what do you know? The world's a small place after all."

Wallace tapped the screen again, and the view changed to that of a map, showing various arrows representing OMNI forces. What scattered conversation there was died down as everyone in the room turned their attention to the screen. "Mannheim's expected to lead the offensive. This operation to destroy NEFA will come in two parts; first, to retake and fortify Trencin Base, and secondly, to seek out and destroy the insurgents."

An arrow lighted up, and Ray and Sheryl watched as a name was displayed; 'OMNI Africa 23rd Division, 88th ATS Howling Spears'. "The 88th ATS is going to be dropped into the zone today as a raiding and recon force. They'll be using Wild Daggers, so don't mistake them for any BuCUEs that the insurgents might be using." The screen highlighted another arrow. "The 3367th ATS and the 3369th ATS, using Block 15 Jet Dagger Ls, are heading over from OMNI EUROCOM's Poznan Base in Poland even as we speak."

He turned to look at all the gathered people. "For us, we're going to take the front; Trencin Base right now is a black zone with no guarantees, and the loss of the base as an active installation has opened up a weak point in our south-eastern front against the ZAFT advance. Your mobile suits will be integral to us securing a front and restoring our current line of security against ZAFT attack vectors. We'll need more precise strategies, but for now, this is the general gist of things."

Roan moved to the centre of the screen. "NEFA might be a terrorist organization, but if they're allowed to solidify their position and numbers, they'll have manpower on par with Mannheim or any other EUROCOM base within strategic distance. That's why we need to take them out now. With ZAFT ready at Diocuia, and their forces at Gibraltar keeping most of EUROCOM on the edge, we cannot afford to have some idealist set up a trap for us. NEFA's forces will ruin us, if Joachim is allowed to establish a foothold. Ivan Zamboise's deep-rooted insurgency to the west is enough. We don't need a second one located in a place where ZAFT can easily use them to step in and take Eurasian territory."

Wallace shut down the display. "Unit leaders will get more detail in your personal data pads at 07 30 hours. Do what you have to; we move out on the day after, at 05 30 hours. Be ready for anything."

"Yes sir!" the assembled people in the room echoed.

CE 73, December 2nd, OMNI EUROCOM Mannheim Base, Germany, Central Europe

Morning 05 15

The sky was still dark, but for Mannheim, it was the start of their mission; to establish their home away from home at Trencin Base. Ray strode up to his Manhunter Command, running a remote check of all of its components. Nearby, Sheryl's Oracle Lance lifted its modified Windam rifle from a holding rack. The rack was designed to hold up to ten rifles for ease of delivery and storage; with two spaces missing, Ray assumed that Blizzard Team's Lieutenant Vayer had already deployed in her 105 Dagger with her own rifle as well.

"A bit chilly to start an operation today," Thomas replied, saluting Ray as he reached the foot of his mobile suit. "Feels like I'm freezing even in the worksuit."

"It gets warmer as you go south," Ray said, handing Thomas the data pad. "Besides, the insurgents don't take off days."

"I wish they did," Thomas said. "Good luck to you, sir."

"Thanks, Thomas," Ray said, holding on to the winch cable and locking his foot into the foothold at its end. Giving the cable a strong tug, the automated system began lifting Ray up towards the torso and cockpit of the Manhunter Command.

Once inside, he wasted no time in shutting the hatch and booting up the environment controls. Setting his helmet aside, he went through the plan mentally again.

Once they were ready, Mannheim's transports would take the Manhunters and Blizzard Team airborne, accompanied by Mannheim Base's 416th Fighter Wing and 419th Air Defence and EWACS Squadron all the way to Trencin, if time permitted. There, the mobile suits would drop in and secure the area; they were expected to fight, if need be, against any trap that might have been lain for them. On the way, they would link up with their aerial reinforcements, the 721st and 723rd Air Fighter Wings, and combined, they would secure the airspace in the area around Trencin before the OMNI EUROCOM task force could land in force. When he had asked further, the mountains around Púchov had been highlighted as possible NEFA hiding spots; it was too wide, and too ambush-prone, to send in the task force elements by land, or for a direct assault on NEFA grounds without confirmation of the ground situation.

His mind thought about the team that had been deployed prior to them; the Howling Spears. Having to fight alongside Aaqil and Navana was a reassurance, as Ray had plenty of chances to see their prowess in combat, a power that had only increased when their made the switch from Dagger Ls to the newly-developed Wild Daggers.

"Lieutenant, this is Mannheim Control Tower," an operator's voice sounded out over the comm link, "The Manhunters are cleared to board Transport Six, callsign Stork Six. Beyond this point, Major Isenberg in EWACS Watchtower will take over all Command and Control orders."

"Acknowledged," Ray said. "Manhunters over and out."

Within minutes the mobile suits were loaded, along with their radar truck and supporting infantry. The loud whine of turbofans, even with the mobile suit's sound filter system, indicated that the VTOL transport was ready to take off, and Ray let the sound wash over him, settling into his cockpit for what was undoubtedly going to be a long ride.

CE 73, December 2nd, Transport Convoy over Strání, Czech Republic, South-East Europe

Afternoon 16 11

While the small fleet of VTOL transports flew at their top speed, it took them the better part of the day to reach anywhere close to Slovakia's borders. The ultra-large VTOL transports could carry up to twelve mobile suits, the exact number of a full squadron, and the smaller Manhunter Team being assigned their own transport meant that they could carry their support and supplies along with them, but compared to the other aircraft following them, the transports were almost painfully slow.

The Manhunters had spent most of the day in their respective areas; the infantry in their transports, and the pilots in their mobile suits. It was a general standby order to prevent excessive losses should the enemy mount a surprise attack, and it was also to prevent delays in reaction in case an emergency sortie was to be ordered. Nevertheless, the fact that they were en route to a mission was anything but restful for Ray; try as he might, the tension was still within him. Most of the trip has thus been spent going over the attack plan, and occasionally, engaging in small talk with the others.

Ray was resting in the mobile suit's cockpit when the siren of an alert brought him back from his half-slumber. Immediately, he established a link to the transport's bridge. "This is Hunter Leader to Stork Six," he said, "What's the situation?"

"Stork Six to Hunter Leader, you have new orders," the operator said. "Prep your team for a possible hard drop; enemy air fighters are inbound."

The operator's words made Ray's blood run cold. "Hunter Leader here, can you identify enemy air assets?"

"EWACS Watchtower has picked up IDs for forty Spearhead fighters and six Skygraspers," the operator replied, "as well as two Raider Full Specs and one Rosso Aegis."

Shit, Ray thought, they're going to open the initiative shot. Opening a link on the team channel, he began to issue orders. "This is Hunter Leader to all Manhunters, prep for hard drop in two minutes; leave what you can't take with you behind. Heavy enemy air-to-air assets incoming, including the 8127th MS Team. I repeat, all Manhunters prep for hard drop immediately."

Usually the transports would descend in height before letting their cargo loose, but with the current situation, Ray and the personnel in charge of the Manhunters' transport knew that the fighters would close within missile distance in the next minute; there would not be enough time for the transports to go lower. They would try, but they could never succeed. He watched on the screen and crew ran last-minute checks on the parachute packs equipped on the Manhunters' machines and those on the two APCs that contained Kim's men, and the radar truck.

While the transport convoy's own fighter contingent included Spearheads and Skygraspers equipped with Aile Strikers, Ray knew that the deciding factor would be the presence of the two Raider Full Specs and the Rosso Aegis in the fight. Even if Blizzard Team decided to launch their Aile 105 Dagger, they couldn't hope to drive off a fully-aerial MS team; especially, Ray realized with a creeping feeling of dread, one with an MS designed primarily for heavy tactical battle in space and in-atmosphere. The Rosso Aegis' main gun, its torso-mounted multi-phase cannon, would reap a heavy toll today.

A second screen showing the IFF tags on the battlefield appeared on the cockpit display as the transport's computer linked up with the Manhunters', showing the approach of the aircraft.

Already the fighters from Mannheim were in combat against those of NEFA. While the jets were matched and Mannheim's forces seemed to hold the advantage in skill and discipline, the 8127th MS team broke through the front; Ray watched as the ID of an allied Spearhead right in the path of the Rosso Aegis simply vanished without a prior missile warning, the fighter presumably having been simply rammed by the Phase Shift Armor-equipped mobile suit.

"Sir," Kaguya opened a private line to Ray's Manhunter Command. "Something-"

Ray clenched his teeth as he saw the Rosso Aegis' ID change directions; it angled straight for their transport's signal on the display map. "I see it-"

The main comm link crackled to life. "Stork Six to all crew and Manhunters, brace for im-"

The operator's sentence never finished as the shriek of tearing metal ripped through the VTOL transport. Secondary explosions shook the interior, and Ray felt a slight weightlessness in his stomach as the massive carrier craft, wounded, begun to descend from the skies, the only thing keeping it up being its massive wingspan and its rapidly-failing engines.

It was then he noticed the Rosso Aegis sticking straight into the hangar, in-between where Guy and Kaguya's Dagger Ls were tethered. The mobile suit, currently in mobile armour form, opened up its front.

The interior of the darkened and damaged transport bay began to brighten with harsh lighting and flickering shadows as the Rosso Aegis charged its 580mm receiver-aperture-boosted "Scylla" multi-phase beam cannon, which was aimed straight at Ray.

The Scylla cannon, under usual conditions, was an anti-ship weapon, recommended for use against space-use heavy warships, which had thicker armour than every other class of ships, be it OMNI's massive Hannibal-class land battleships, or ZAFT's renowned Vosgulov-class cruiser-carrier submarines, that could operate on the surface of the Earth. The Manhunter Command was directly in its way and Ray had no illusions as to the steps he had to take in order to live; his own unit's beam carbine would not be able to shear through the electromagnetic charging field that the Rosso Aegis had on its front before it fired, and the Oracle Lance, secured beside his unit two berths away, would never be able to fire its rifle within the next second. There was only one course of action left.

Slamming the controls, the Manhunter Command wrenched itself free of its hangar restrains. As the Rosso Aegis fired, Ray turned the mobile suit to face its right, and its left arm came up with its shield.

The blast immediately dispersed as it melted off the shield's anti-beam coating and its secondary alloy layer, and Ray detached the worthless armament a second later to prevent his Manhunter Command's arm from suffering the same fate; the leftover energy from the blast melted through the right side of the transport, seconds where Ray's unit had been before. Men who had survived the initial crash and the instant immolation from the blast were now sucked out to their screaming doom. The flank breach in the massive transport was wide enough to fit a mobile suit through; the orange light of the evening sun poured through, and was quickly obscured by the smoke from outside the transport. In a brief moment afforded to Ray, he glimpsed nothing where the transport's right wing, and its four heavy-duty engines, should have been.

The Manhunter Command turned to the Rosso Aegis, head-mounted CIWS blazing; the GUNDAM-class mobile suit ignored the sparks that showered its otherwise untouched armour, and quickly reversed its four claw-arms to push itself out of the hole it made in the transport. Ray watched as it shut its claws together into a more streamlined form and rocketed away to smash into another transport, repeating its grisly task; and at the same time, the unbalanced transport began to dip towards its left.

"Hunter Leader to Stork Six, do you read me?" Ray shouted into the intercom over the rising din of the cockpit's alarms and the din within the transport bay. Static greeted him, and he shut the line with a sigh. "Manhunters! Engage your units' electromagnetic holding system! Engage hard drop protocols! Cut us out!"

By then, the rest of the Manhunters had managed to free themselves; Kaguya had her Sword Dagger L working on one side of the door, with Sheryl on the other side; Guy had simply deployed the Launcher Dagger L's Agni cannon; a medium-powered beam punched through the air a second later, and Guy moved the cannon's firing arc, first across the top, then through the middle, and then the bottom seams of the rear bay doors.

Ray's Manhunter Command fired at the seams of the rear bay doors, and with an impact that he would feel even with the chaos all around, the massive rear cargo doors of the transport fell away into the air; debris and detritus were sucked out almost instantly, a roaring filled the external sound feed. "Radar truck first, followed by APCs. Hunter Four on radar, followed by Hunter Two and Three on APCs." Opening a separate line, he told Kim of the situation. "Tell your men to secure themselves down. If there's something loose, they have ten seconds to grab onto it and strap themselves in."

"Aye sir," Kim replied. "Stancha! That grenade belt is slipping out of the safety netting!"

Leaving the senior sergeant to her tasks, he braced his unit against the side of the transport bay. Already the dying transport was starting to pitch into a nosedive; their Dagger Ls could keep steady with the electromagnetic capabilities on the soles of their feet, but too steep, and it wouldn't make a difference. Their current victory conditions were to safely extract the radar vehicle and the infantry-filled APCs; nothing less would suffice.

Kaguya's Dagger L began to push the radar truck out. Sparks erupted as the holding gear of the truck grated against the dead rails of the transport bay. Alongside her, Sheryl did the same with the APC containing Kim's squad. Ray was certain that whatever crewmembers that had survived the Rosso Aegis's attack had long since bailed out; there was nothing they could do with this dead aircraft that wouldn't be classified as an outright miracle.

"Hunter Leader!" Guy said. "Fighter at your eight!"

Ray's mobile suit turned as a Spearhead slotted itself into position behind Stork Six and fired its vulcans before it could stabilize itself. Several rounds punched indents into the Manhunter Command's right torso and shoulder armour panels as the backwash from Stork Six's still-running left wing engines rocked the light fighter around, and the rest embedded themselves into the interior frame of the dying transport.

"Bastard," Ray hissed, and turned his Manhunter Command's CIWS onto the fighter. The 12.5mm rounds smashed the cockpit of the smaller fighter and chewed into its fuselage and left wing, and the fighter fell away in pieces, spiralling towards the ground.

"Hunter Four here," Kaguya said. "Radar truck is out. Four engaging drop." The Sword Dagger L vanished from Ray's immediate sight as it stepped into the air.

"This is Hunter Two," Sheryl said, as she pushed the APC out of the transport bay. "APC away. Two engaging drop." Moments later, the Oracle Lance was gone as well.

Ray turned back to Guy. "Your turn, Hunter Three."

A loud explosion shook the transport; as Ray watched from the hole left by the Rosso Aegis, the left wing tore itself off, and the aircraft dropped sharply. Guy's Launcher Dagger L stumbled, and the remaining APC's deployment tracks bent and warped as the deckplates twisted and popped out of position.

"Shit," Guy said. "We're stuck!"

"Pull it out," Ray said. "We're not leaving them to die here!"

"Sergeant Fauser here," the comm crackled open. "Sir, is there a situation with the hard drop?"

"We got things under control here, sergeant," Ray said, as Guy's Launcher Dagger L got to wrenching the APC free. "Just sit tight."

With a screech, the mobile suit pulled the APC free of its moorings; its left caterpillar track shattered from the force as it caught on something. Ray couldn't tell what it was through the thick smoke that shrouded the interior. "It's free, sir," Guy said.

Another explosion ripped through the transport, and Ray saw the right wing begin to twist and warp. "Hunter Three! Jump, now!"

"Yes sir," Guy said as his Launcher Dagger L, holding on to the APC with both arms, stepped off the flaming transport. "See you on the other side."

As the Launcher Dagger dropped into the air, its parachute pack opened; that was Ray's signal to jump.

The world spun as the Manhunter Command left the transport last; Ray's last sight of it as it his mobile suit dropped through the air was its right wing tearing off, and its main body taking a sharp, almost vertical dive downwards into the mountain ranges that marked Slovakia's marked borders. Ray mutely saluted the transport as it went down.

An alarm snapped him back into harsh reality; turning, he saw a sight that made him stiffen; a Raider Full Spec angled into an attack run, and sped straight for Guy's Launcher Dagger L. Behind it followed two Spearhead fighters. "Hunter Three!" Ray shouted. "Enemy from the top!"

Thrusters fired as the Launcher Dagger L, having deployed its parachute, turned sluggishly upwards to face the new threat; its shoulder vulcan roared a thunderous challenge, spitting out 120mm shells that smashed fiercely into the Trans-Phase Shift-protected Raider Full Spec. While Phase-Shift protected, the armor could not fully dissipate the kinetic force behind the rounds, and the mobile suit slowed visibly. Rounds tore into the Full Spec's sub-wing attachment, and smoke begin to billow from its underside. The Launcher Dagger L continued to drop, having been forced to fire through part of its set of parachutes; one of the packs shrivelled up into a stream of canvas that trailed far above the Launcher Dagger L, the material thoroughly perforated by the 120mm armor-piercing shells.

Undeterred, the Raider Full Spec abandoned the sub-wing, and sent it on a crash course towards the Launcher Dagger L. Letting go of the APC, the Launcher Dagger L caught it with both hands with a resounding crash, and the sub-wing pushed the mobile suit out of course and rushing towards the ground.

From behind the Raider Full Spec, the two Spearheads veered away; one went for the APC, while the second one struck out for the Manhunter Command. With a desperate yell, Ray pushed his mobile suit forward, CIWS guns blazing, thrusters burning rocket fuel at an alarming rate.

The rounds tore into the first fighter, but the damage has been done; the APC had released both of its parachute sets, but the fighter's missile has been too close when Ray's CIWS had targeted it; the explosion ripped apart the rear parachute set and sent shrapnel into its rear, while at the same time knocking the APC spinning.

As the vehicle rushed to meet the ground, spinning, with only a single parachute set between it and total obliteration, a missile alert forced Ray to turn his Manhunter Command back and face his opponents; one Spearhead and the Raider Full Spec from before in flight form, charging him with its twin shoulder-mounted M2M3 76mm machineguns spitting out high-calibre rounds. One round smashed into the Manhunter Command's left leg armour, the impact sending alert windows popping up on his HUD, with another shattering the tips of his mobile suit's right shoulder block armour, as Ray, with teeth clenched and seat straps straining against G-forces, forced the Manhunter Command to dodge through the air, utilizing every bit of training he had learnt for space combat, the mobile suit's thrusters firing madly to accommodate his outrageous manoeuvres. Unlike space, gravity was working against him, and as the Raider Full Spec passed him by, the Spearhead from behind opened up with two missiles and its vulcan guns.

Ray took the time the Raider Full Spec needed to turn to face him again to fire the Manhunter Command's beam rifle at the Spearhead; the fighter had speed, but not enough manoeuvrability, as it took the beam shot head-on and came apart, its wings and canards flying in parallel directions as the high-powered energy shot sheared the fighter in half through its main airframe, killing its pilot instantly. The Raider Full Spec turned, but Ray pushed the back thrusters of his Manhunter Command to their maximum output to face his target; the beam carbine shot that soon followed clipped the left wing of the Raider Full Spec. That didn't deter the enemy, however, as it closed distance, transformed, and grappled the Manhunter Command, stealing one of the Dagger L's beam sabre from its own rack. It flashed to life in its hands, and the Raider Full Spec pushed against the Manhunter Command as it sought to cut the Dagger L into two.

The close-contact match ended as the Raider Full Spec suddenly released Ray's unit and rocketed away. An Agni cannon blast split the air a second later, and Ray turned to see Guy's Launcher Dagger L fire its thrusters at full charge in order to slow its descent, Agni cannon out and smoking; behind it, the Raider Full Spec's discarded sub-wing fell to the ground in flaming wreckage.

Then another alert sounded, and Ray turned his mobile suit around to face a flash of red filling his screen.

Afterword:

We finally begin the attack on the insurgent base that has been building itself up in Europe's side. Since the show largely portrayed ZAFT as a passive force in the second conflict, I decided upon the idea of a divided Europe to not only showcase some action in the days leading up to the major events within the series, but also, how some portions of those with power in the region think of the current world situation. Especially in Europe, which has been historically proven to have as many opinions diversified in all matters as there are nations on the continent.