Chapter 22
CE 73, December 5th, Terchova, Slovakia, South-East Europe
Evening 18 12
A single Hyperion G, equipped with a Hyperion GUNDAM backpack unit, howled over the undulating ridgelines and forest tops, thrusters alight in furious flame. Behind it, a Hyperion G and two Dagger Ls struggled to keep up; even the Aile 105 Dagger, in flight, had trouble keeping up with the lead unit.
"Hold on!" Rolan said. "If we arrive out of formation-"
"If we arrive late," Esther gritted her teeth, "There won't be anything left to be in formation for!"
She cursed mentally, at Rasel, at Kasavok, at NEFA. Blizzard Squadron had initially joined up with the main OMNI forces at the rear after first making contact with the other Jet Dagger L unit operating as forward units for the main OMNI force, the 3369th ATS; from there they had learnt that NEFA had withdrawn most of their forces into a tighter perimeter.
Then came the drones, missiles trailing behind, throwing the OMNI frontline into utter chaos. That NEFA had the reach to bombard their rear lines was not a point well-considered by the rear-echelon mission planners.
Major Wallace was torn between high command's orders to keep the advance steady, or to send the Blizzards to the assistance of whomever was at the front. Flexibility had won out over blind obedience; unfortunately, the 3369th was not his to command, leaving the only quick-reaction force at his disposal being Mannheim's mobile suits. "Magus to Blizzard Leader," he had said. "Take your squadron and make contact with the Manhunters. The mission must succeed; whatever else happens on the way, I leave it to your capable judgement. Go!"
Esther winced as a surface-to-surface missile screamed overhead, just one of many currently in the skies towards their intended targets; using her Hyperion G's rear camera, she could see the missile open up shortly after it passed, releasing hundreds of smart bomblets that would glide towards the ground. In the distance, beam fire and CIWS tracers lit up the evening sky, but it was a facade to buy time for a furious relocation; there was no intercepting a steel rain, not when hundreds of other carrier-type SSMs were streaking in from hidden launchers.
Overhead, missile streams crisscrossed; while NEFA had exhausted most of their air forces in the initial battle, the area was still active with SAM units that carried their own medium-range radar, and the Spearhead squadrons ordered into the air by a panicking rear command were having more troubles dodging missiles than attacking the drone DINNs that were providing terrain data for the SSMs. The DINNs were not completely helpless, either; armed like any ordinary mobile suit, they flew in formation as drones, acting as both spotter and interceptor; tight groupings of weapons fire made short work of any lone fighters brave enough to engage them, and dedicated attempts to shoot them down were rendered much less successful in no small part to NEFA's SAM network.
"'The hell are the fighters doing?!" Caleria exclaimed. "They're just adding to the carnage!"
"Mixed in with those guys are replacements brought in from rear-line bases westwards," Rolan said. "They have far less combat experience than our crew."
Esther ignored the jarring impact as her Hyperion G landed, the screaming of its thrusters permeating even the cockpit. "I knew NEFA had contacts from high places in OMNI, but this is ridiculous! How do they have so many forces to throw at us?!"
"It's not really them having numbers," Rolan replied. "I don't think OMNI has deployed in force this time. No doubt it's got something to do with the recent redeployments towards Gibraltar... more shenanigans from High Command -"
Esther roared in frustration. "Whatever!" She pushed the throttle, the gap between her Hyperion G and her squadron widening further. "As long as we take the command centre, it'll be the end!"
"Oh, my," Rolan muttered. "Now she's well and truly working up into a temper."
CE 73, December 5th, Terchova, Slovakia, South-East Europe
Evening 18 24
The Manhunter Command crouched, a beam tomahawk sweeping through the air where it head had been moments ago; the Blaze ZAKU Phantom shoved its rifle into the OMNI unit's face, and it was by a hair's breath that the beam blast missed the customized Dagger L as it leapt sideways and came back up rolling, dirt flying off its battered armor.
The bright head of a beam polearm swung upwards in a dangerously fast diagonal strike, the kinetic force behind the blow knocking one of the Manhunter Command's beam sabres out of the air as Ray hastily set up a defence against the killing blow, blocking the weapon at the shaft with his mobile suit's arm. Thrusters fired as the Manhunter Command attempted to boost jump away from the melee, but a beam tomahawk from beyond his vision forced Ray to cut his thrusters or risk dying in his cockpit; his mobile suit landed heavily, legs braced against the impact. In this position, the Blaze ZAKU Phantom and its polearm-wielding compatriot both advanced on him with terrifying speed; there would be no movement wasted for the killing blow.
Aaqil's Wild Dagger sped into his vision, the mobile suit's extended beam blades forcing the Blaze ZAKU Phantom to duck behind one of its shields; an arm extended and knocked the ZAKU Warrior hybrid backwards. Its back turret swivelled; before Aaqil could get a shot off, however, the Launcher 105 Dagger it was tangling with fired its Agni heavy cannon, the multi-phase beam blast forcing the Wild Dagger and ZAFT ZAKU Warriors to jump in different directions.
"Hey! Watch your fire, you idiot!" Rasel yelled. "You're not insurgent-trained, don't act like one!"
Alan quickly considered his options. "With all due respect, Mr. Grey, we don't need that many people, even if you do want to capture, not kill, them. Leave this to me. The command centre-"
A new voice cut through the ZAFT pilot's transmission. "Striker Leader! New contacts, coming in from the north-east! They're at NOE height!"
"Flight?! No, if it's NOE then it might be possible," Rasel ground his teeth. "Seems like the other fodder didn't manage to do their jobs. Tower Leader! The command centre is your priority! Leave these fools to us!"
The Launcher 105 Dagger stepped back, thrusters alight. "Understood. All Towers, change of objective! Intercept the new contacts!"
Twin beam blades flashed to life on the Rosso Aegis' arms, even before the Launcher 105 Dagger and its comrade units had left the ground, leaving Ray, Aaqil and Navana with the Reidr Team and Rasel. "Consider your sentence unchanged, Ray Feric." Rasel said, his voice low and threatening. "If you will not join us, fine. But I have my orders. You have something that man wants; I'll deliver it to him if it even if it means making a meatsack out of you, as long as you remain alive for as long as he needs you to!"
The Manhunter Command and the charging Rosso Aegis locked blows in an instant again, beam blades tearing against each other as their pilots gave their all in trying to get a single, well-aimed attack in. The Manhunter Command was the first to give; the lighter mobile suit stepped back, and the Rosso Aegis pressed its attack, forcing Ray to give ground further or risk being spitted. Around them, the area was lighted in weapons fire as Aaqil and Navana leapt into action against the Reidr Team in a running-gun battle; in a close-combat fight they would have been easily overwhelmed and forced down.
"I don't think I have anything that could be of use to a group of mountain bandits," Ray shot back. "But if it's a beating you want, I'll gladly give it!"
"Even now you refuse to give in to logic," Rasel Grey said, the Rosso Aegis' arms slashing viciously at the Manhunter Command. "NEFA already has ZAFT allies! Your precious buddies are having their shit handed to them by ZAFT commandos! And the command centre guards; they're the sympathizers from Trecin Base; they're trained soldiers, not mountain insurgents! You're a fool to think that your reinforcements will amount to anything in the time it matters!"
The Manhunter Command stumbled as a powerful stabbing blow grazed its torso, dragging a long scorch mark into the frame; a follow-up backhand blow cut chunks off the Manhunter Command's left arm armor, before the Ross Aegis jumped back to avoid a sweeping strike from the right by Ray. "You're a pretty condescending bastard, aren't you?" Ray said. "You honestly think that OMNI doesn't have trained soldiers on their side as well?"
Rasel laughed. "Trained?! Don't be stupid; surely you can't mean the fools sent to the Lohengrin Gate! Surely not the poor bastards in the Indian Ocean who were stumbled upon by the Minerva! Yes, NEFA has knowledge of that, too! Oh, make no mistake, I trust in the troops of the Eurasian Federation," The Rosso Aegis took up its stance again, twin beam swords shining; Rasel's voice dropped, his next words more a growl than anything else. "But you must be an idiot to subscribe to OMNI's propaganda. There is no OMNI; there is only the Atlantic Federation, and it has always had the annoying habit of sticking its fingers and its troops into everything. This time, they're going to be well in above their heads. I won't stand by and let that mongrel nation drag the Eurasian Federation along into its self-dug shithole!"
"OMNI is still dedicated to protecting the Eurasian Federation alongside other militaries, even now!" Ray said. "What makes you think ZAFT will bypass you if you leave?!"
"They won't have any reason to fight us if we had never signed that World Security treaty in the first place!" Rasel roared. "The Atlantic Federation has been dragging us into one war after another!"
"That doesn't justify cleaving a schism into your own country by force and fire!" Ray shot back. "I'm here without nation! Without a side! OMNI is dedicated as much to internal threats as it is to external! If you harm the people under our shield with your actions, if you support people who commit such acts... if you conspire with the enemy to ruin us," Ray said, as the Manhunter Command lowered its stance, beam sabre held up like a rapier, "Then you're on our list!"
"Please," Rasel sneered, as the Rosso Aegis advanced on Ray. "If that's the best you can rebuke with, then you better prepare yourself to apologize from hell!"
The Manhunter Command charged, the mobile suit leaping forward to slam into the GUNDAM; he had very little options left; as his thrusters had cut out long ago. As Ray had hoped would happen, the Rosso Aegis swung at the beam sabre with its left blade, its right pulled back in a killing punch.
Letting the blow knock his beam sabre away, Ray twisted him mobile suit's body, and slammed the Manhunter Command's left shoulder into the Rosso Aegis. Even without thrusters, the explosive force of a mobile suit pushing off the ground was enough to throw the GUNDAM backwards, as the Manhunter Command's left arm reached for the anti-armor penetrator knife in its right hip compartment with a backhand grip.
Reaching out, Ray had his mobile suit grab onto the Rosso Aegis' left arm with its right; before Rasel could react, the Manhunter Command jammed its anti-armor penetrator knife into the exposed arm joint of the Rosso Aegis' left arm, set one foot onto the GUNDAM's lower torso, and kicked hard. A heartbeat later, the explosive blade of the penetrator knife detonated, and with the force applied from the Manhunter Command, sparks burst from the left arm joint; it wasn't a clean tear to the main limb as Ray had hoped, but as the Rosso Aegis stumbled away, its left arm swung uselessly, with all power to it cut, and the beam blade on its forearm sputtered out of existence. The kick, turned to the side by the immovability of Phase Shift armor, had worked against the Rosso Aegis; one of its hip-mounted thrusters had been torn off its joint, rendering its transformation devalued.
"You want to see me in hell?" Ray said. "I've already helped to send enough people there during the Bloody Valentine War. Get in line."
"Asshole!" Rasel snarled, and the Rosso Aegis raised its right arm and charged.
The Manhunter Command moved forward, Ray moving the controls by instinct. Personal defence tactics were something he had fought hard to get integrated into the curriculum during his term at the Atlantic Federation's Advanced Armor Tactics Combat Training Facility, but the headhunting of the coup members had dashed his dream. He himself had trained, first as an instructor of the AATCF, then as a pilot of Sinai Base, in his self-developed techniques, both by himself, and against his comrades in mock battles. It had proven useful during anti-insurgency operations, and it was going to prove itself useful here again.
I mentioned this before, didn't I, Kelvin? Ray thought sadly, in the split-second as the scenario unfolded. The Atlantic Federation can't rely on numbers forever, and we need to convince them of that.
The Manhunter Command turned to present its side to the enemy and arched its body forward, the right beam blade of the Rosso Aegis slipping in behind its back, missing the mobile suit by scant millimetres. The Manhunter Command's left arm, however, wrapped itself against the Rosso Aegis' right arm, locking it in position under its arm. The OMNI unit stuck its left foot behind the Rosso Aegis and kicked out, knocking the NEFA unit's left foot off the ground.
With the Rosso Aegis' stance unstable from its charge, its centre of gravity shifted, and with its balance spoiled, the Manhunter Command widened its stance and turned its torso, bending forward and downwards with all the torque Ray could demand from the machine's well-abused drive system; the Rosso Aegis was haplessly pulled along, face-planting into the dirt. Without missing a beat, the Manhunter Command set its foot on the Rosso Aegis' back, and bent its opponent's right arm against it. Pushed beyond its stress limits, the Gundam's forearm was wrenched free from the grounded unit.
Rasel's mind still shook from the impact of the blow, his body hanging by the seat restraints in the cockpit, as the Manhunter Command threw the wreckage of an arm to the side, stepped off, and moved to pick up its beam sabre.
"I told you that you knew nothing about me," Ray replied, the beam sabre flashing to life in the Manhunter Command's right hand. "I would expect a pilot of actual expertise to have reversed, or blocked my grip."
For a brief instance, Ray remembered Kelvin stalemating his throw in one of the AATCF's sparring halls, many months ago, when both of them were still together and well.
During that time, Kelvin had revealed to him that he was part of a moment to topple the current, Blue Cosmos-controlled Atlantic Federation government and military leadership. He, who believed in the ideals of Kelvin's group, had joined.
Blue Cosmos had been more ruthless and efficient than any of them had expected; in no small part thanks to an agent in their midst, Celina Searstone, a junior officer who had been sent for the express purpose of bringing them down. However, relationships between people had reached deeper than allegiances, to a certain degree, and Ray had, through Celina's machinations, been spared.
He had confronted her, angry, incensed. It was only after she had fallen beyond despair that he had uncovered the conditions of her actions. How Blue Cosmos bound people to their servitude.
It was too late for regret now, however.
Ray turned his unit around, beam sabre at the ready, as he struck a blow to match the one delivered by the Blaze ZAKU Phantom, the ZAFT unit leaping into action to cover the Rosso Aegis. Lightning arced across the land as the two units strove against each other. Without thrusters, and battered from the full day of combat, the Manhunter Command was forced to give way, stepping backwards as the Blaze ZAKU Phantom pressed its attack.
Unlike Rasel, whose movements betrayed his belief in the superiority of his unit, Ray found no such opening with the Blaze ZAKU Phantom; he barely managed to turn the barrel of the beam rifle it had stuck from underneath his guard aside with the Manhunter Command's left hand, the shot burning into the night sky; seconds later the edge of a shield swung in from the right to strike the OMNI unit in the head, sending the unit reeling to its left.
From the corner of his eye, Ray could see one of the Wild Daggers make a leap for the Blaze ZAKU Phantom, only for a ZAKU Warrior to kick it out of the air; both units crashed to the ground, the Wild Dagger barely getting up in time to avoid a killing blow by the Gunner ZAKU Warrior's beam tomahawk. Ray's opponent, meanwhile, gave him no breathing room; the Blaze ZAKU Phantom dashed forward, axe held low, shield ready. The position of its beam rifle moved, and Ray found himself starring into the weapon's gun barrel.
"Hunter One! MOVE!"
The Manhunter Command jumped and rolled backwards, a manmade behemoth throwing up a debris cloud as it landed; seconds later an object of like size slammed into the ground some distance away. The Blaze ZAKU Phantom's hasty shot splashed over the sudden appearance of a pair of beam shields; seconds later the shield conflagrated into a vague semi-circle as fire slammed into it from behind, smoke washing over the shimmering beam surface.
Ray watched as a GuAIZ R readied both the cannons it held, only to ditch one of them as a Hyperion G struck forward, a beam sword alight in its left hand. The barrel of a ZAFT Cattus recoilless gun spun and crashed into the dirt as the GuAIZ R beat a hasty retreat; the Hyperion G's attempt to give chase was stopped as a Blaze ZAKU Warrior positioned itself in-between the two, alternating between beam tomahawk strikes and close-range beam rifle fire to force the Hyperion G back. Beside him, Esther's own Hyperion G walked forward, beam shields dissipating as its pilot took in the battlefield at a glance.
"All units, hold fire! This is Blizzard Leader representing OMNI Eurocom! To all ZAFT forces present," Esther bellowed, "You are currently in Eurasian Federation territory aiding a known terrorist and insurgency element in combat against sovereign forces; retreat, or it'll be an escalation of conflict between our nations!" She paused, then added, "Don't give us a real reason to fulfil our obligations to the World Security Treaty."
In his cockpit, Alan watched, outwardly silent, as the Hyperion G with a different backpack from the data he was sent took a defensive stance against him, remaining motionless with its shield emitters at the ready.
"E... Escalation of conflict?" Suzuki said. "That..."
"Quiet," Larry said, in a private channel to the young pilot. "Raider Leader will be the one to make the final decision."
Grace eyed Alan as her ZAKU Warrior held its beam polearm at the ready, turning her machine to match the Wild Dagger prowling around her.
In his cockpit, Aaqil watched his opponent, licking the sweat from his lips. Far off, Navana did the same, his opponent, a Gunner ZAKU Warrior slowing moving its body frame to match the Wild Dagger.
A burst of static invaded Ray's comms as a new channel in the airwaves forcibly established itself. A distance away, a concealed blast door opened, revealing a service lift; on it was a jet-black unit with red and yellow highlights; it had a large backpack unit, and on both of its arms were heavy weapons systems, massive shields than most likely than not concealed weapons. On its right hip clasp were two solid swords, long, thin models made to wreck havoc with piercing attacks and slashing motions; on its left, a rocket anchor than Ray had only seen once, in archived videos of OMNI's original GUNDAM project. Behind it were more units; Dagger Ls, with two 105 Sword Daggers amongst them.
"This is Bolvar Kasavok, NEFA MS forces commander," a voice said. "Our allegiance with ZAFT is absolute. Leave, dogs of the Atlantic Federation, before we are forced to grind you into the dust."
"Raider Leader," Grace cautioned. "We have to make a choice now."
Alan gritted his teeth. "We stay as per Stormcrow's orders. But if I sense that the cause is lost, I will exercise my judgement as a combat commander and order a full retreat."
Esther, ignorant of the exchange going on between the ZAFT units, was in no position to care; she gasped as she took in the sight of Kasavok's unit. "You bastard," she hissed, protocol forgotten. "How dare you announce yourselves as champion of our cause... with a unit that might as well be the very symbol of the oppression that the Eurasian Federation is suffering from!"
Kasavok's unit turned to face Esther, its crimson sensor lights burning against the backdrop of a rapidly-darkening sky. The mobile suit gestured once, waving its right arm in a sweeping gesture to indicate all that it held under its gaze. Then it focused the intensity of its gaze on the Manhunter Command – and Ray's blood ran cold.
"Only one person here is of possible use to me. Children who do not understand the significance of history need not be here."
The Nero Blitz leapt into the air, towards the OMNI units downhill – and vanished.
Kasavok's voice, however, remained.
"Die."
CE 73, December 5th, Terchova, Slovakia, South-East Europe
Evening 19 32
The Dagger L approaching the ridgeline stopped short as the high-powered beam shot pierced its torso, the backwash of the blast melting a sizable hole in the mobile suit's torso. Its secondary battery and drive system caught fire moments later, a fireball engulfing its partner machine as it failed to scramble out of the way in time. The Strike Dagger staggered out of the instant inferno, armor smoking, and was promptly put down by Guy's Launcher Dagger L, its 120mm automatic cannon shredding the outdated mobile suit's upper torso into chunks of ceramic composite, alloy, and scattered parts.
Sheryl's Oracle Lance set its rifle upon another target, as the two Jet Dagger Ls from Zephyr Squadron flew overhead, unleashing fire upon the enemies remaining. Beside her, the high-pitched scream of the Launcher Dagger L's Agni heavy cannon burned a path of glass into the ground, slagging the legs out from two mobile suits unfortunate enough to be in the way.
Despite their ferocity, however, the enemy returned fire in equal gusto, a collection of mobile vehicle-mounted guns, mobile suits, and rocket teams that nonetheless proved effective in creating a barrage of beam fire and solid shots that only a Phase Shift-equipped unit with a beam shield could safely tackle. There was an explosion in the sky as one of the Jet Dagger Ls took a hit; detaching from its flaming backpack unit, the mobile suit crashed into the ground, barely making it behind the ridgeline where the four mobile suits now sheltered from enemy fire. The Dagger L, however, was beyond saving; the shot had burned its way into the cockpit, incinerating its pilot despite the mobile suit's automatic failsafe.
"Shit!" Zephyr Leader remarked, his Dagger L poking its head out from above the ridgeline for a brief moment, before enemy fire forced it under again. The tower, heavily armored, had been constructed with beam shield emitters mounted on a ring-shaped rail along its height, and right now its emitters were turned in the direction of the OMNI combatants. "At this rate, we'll kill ourselves before we can shoot down their tower! Can't we just hit them from here?"
Sheryl barely held herself back from an expletive. "Nothing short of landship cannons are going to be able to burst that defence down before the enemy return fire slags us where we stand!"
"And we can't go around it either, the front is at least dozens of kilometers in either direction. " Guy remarked. "Not that it would help; they've got enough ground radars pointed along the ridgeline that anywhere would be the same."
Zephyr Leader swore. "How the hell did these people get their hands on beam shielding?! We don't even have it on mass-production yet!"
"I can guess," Guy said. "But this isn't the right time to discuss that."
"All we need is just a diversion," Sheryl said. "One second for me to get a shot in while they look in another direction."
The roar of weapons blasts and impacts continued to intensify, as a multi-phase blast from a 105 Launcher Dagger announced the prelude of another wave of fire that scorched the remains of forest material off the ridgeline that served as cover, shortening their protection by another few meters.
CE 73, December 5th, Terchova, Slovakia, South-East Europe
Evening 19 48
The Sword Calamity knelt, its left arm missing everything below its elbow joint. Its right arm propped up its battered frame with its remaining sword, stuck into the ground at an angle, broken in half at the middle of its blade; only the weapon's short beam gun function remained working, for all the good it would do. Its left leg was devoid of side armor, the broken edges arranged in a jagged manner; its right had been completely sheared off at the knee joint. The mangled mess that was its head dripped coolant, its main sensors dark.
Punched through its torso was a tear in its armor the size of a large anti-ship sword that would tell any that saw it the story; a straight stab in, followed by a violent slash that would have brought the heavy blade through half of the mobile suit and out of its mainframe. The focusing emitter of its torso-mounted multi-phase cannon had a violent shear cutting through it, the jagged edges evocative of a solid weapon.
Kaguya's Sword Dagger L, armor battered, missing in certain areas, scorched, and beaten uneven, stood in front of it. The mobile suit's anti-ship sword was stabbed into the ground, its frame slick with mechanical fluids. Smoke rose where the liquids dripped into the still-active beam emitters; the blade hummed, quietly and nondescriptly. Still, its rocket anchor/light shield still remained, as did one beam sabre. She had not touched her unit's beam rifle for the duration of the battle.
One of the Jet Dagger Ls walked up, Kaguya feeling the impacts of its footfalls shaking the earth as it approached. With one hand it held up a beam boomerang, battered, almost impossible to salvage, let alone use. "I don't think you'll need this anymore, Hunter Four, but just in case..."
"Let it be, Zephyr Three." Kaguya replied. "How many did we lose?"
"Four," came the reply, as the Jet Dagger L looked over the area. It was littered with the corpses of mobile suits; most of them were from Kasavok's forces. Of Zephyr Squadron's units, however, only three remained, with one of them too damaged to continue onward for the intense combat that was bound to be awaiting them at the command centre. Of the four downed machines, only one pilot had survived the destruction of her unit; the rest had not made it alive.
"I'm afraid I won't be able to make it anywhere with this machine soon enough," Kaguya said. "Take your other good unit and head towards the deep front; see what you can do. If there are as many units in the region as you say, there's the chance that one or more of them are currently contesting the command centre against NEFA's forces. They'll need all the help they can get."
"Understood," Zephyr Three replied. In a short while, two Jet Dagger Ls leapt into the air, engines alight in flame as they sped towards an unnaturally bright portion of the region; Kaguya was sure that even now, the periodic flashes were signs that battle was still running hot in that area.
There was a heart-stopping crashing sound as the Sword Dagger L knelt forward violently, throwing Kaguya forward; only its sword had kept it from pitching into the ground. Ignoring the pressure of her seat restraints as she hung forward, Kaguya brought up the machine schematic on the cockpit viewscreen; its right leg had finally given way, the joint actuators and carbon-conduction bands having been stretched far beyond their operational limits.
During the battle against the Sword Calamity, it had struck her unit's right leg with a blunt backhand blow while she had been distracted with an interfering unit; it had, for a while, pushed her towards her right side, forcing her Sword Dagger L to overtax its right leg during evasion. It had not been easy to wrest the flow of battle back from her opponent, and she had taken the chance to utterly lay waste to her target once ready. The price was that her mobile suit was as good as down for the count; all she could do was fire up the distress beacon and wait.
Despite the peace of the night, with only the crackling of scattered fires amongst a graveyard of machines to keep her company, Kaguya found her mind turning towards her comrades. She had not expected to find such dependable people in her journey towards an acceptable answer, for the task she had been given, and deep down, she rooted for their continued survival.
Sheryl, Guy, Ray... it's all up to you people now.
CE 73, December 5th, Terchova, Slovakia, South-East Europe
Evening 20 21
As Kaguya's unit gave up on her, a few dozen kilometres away, Ray, with NEFA's remaining command centre close enough to be in his sight, if not range, leapt into action against Kasavok.
"Blizzard Leader!" he bellowed. "MOVE!"
The Hyperion G leapt to its side, barely making it, as a beam sabre flashed to life in midair and sliced downwards where the OMNI unit had been seconds ago. The brilliant blade disappeared almost as fast as it had come; all Ray felt was a tremor in the ground as the Nero Blitz jumped off the ground again, leaving a tornado of debris in its wake.
"Bastard's gone and made himself invisible!" Esther hissed, the Hyperion G turning frantically around, beam machinegun pointing wildly around the area.
"Keep your cool! He's bound to leave signs while close to the ground!" Ray shot back.
Esther ground her teeth in frustration, frantically flipping sensor switches; seismic, thermal, atmospheric outlines. "I don't need you to tell me that!"
All around them was bedlam; the Howling Spears had re-engaged their ZAFT opponents, with Rolan's Hyperion G added into the melee, beam blades flashing against a Blaze ZAKU Warrior's beam tomahawk in swift, heavy strikes. Kasavok's reinforcements, however, had made for the command centre, leaving the area as soon as Kasavok had stepped into the fray.
That was cold comfort to Ray; the less crowded it was, the easier it was for Kasavok to move around. There was a burst of dirt as the still-invisible Nero Blitz landed; the Manhunter Command stabbed forward, the beam sabre aimed straight where the mobile suit would have been on the ground. Instead, all it cut through was a spray of detritus, proof of Kasavok's manoeuvring skill.
Ray hesitated for a split second before aiming his mobile suit's CIWS guns on the ground and firing; the rapid-fire rounds blew chunks of soil and trampled trees up, as the Manhunter Command jumped backwards; a moment later the makeshift cover was forcibly parted as something invisible pushed through, kicking up the dirt and broken branches; the Manhunter Command turned its torso a heartbeat before a beam sabre flashed to life and pierced the air where its torso had been moments before.
The OMNI unit slammed a foot down as it pushed forward; Ray was rewarded with solid contact as the Manhunter Command's left shoulder armor made contact with a solid wall. Rather than fly backwards, however, Ray felt another impact as the something clamped down on the Manhunter Command's left arm; moments later the OMNI unit was tossed to the side like a discarded toy.
The Nero Blitz flickered back into existence, and Ray saw that its massive backpack had unfolded into combat claws; one of them having been the one to have flung the Manhunter Command sideways. Even as Esther fired off a stream of shots, the Nero Blitz jumped again, and disappeared midair.
"Slippery asshole," Esther cursed. "Once I -"
A Blaze ZAKU Warrior loomed from behind, beam polearm raised. Even as Esther turned the Hyperion G to meet this new threat, the ZAFT unit suddenly stopped and reversed direction, a beam shot burning the ground where it had been.
"Blizzard Four!" Benjamin said, the three other units of Blizzard Squadron having finally caught up. "Engaging!"
"Belay last order!" Esther shouted. "Blizzard Four! You're in the lead! Take the others and join up with the assault on the command centre!"
"That's-" Benjamin began, only to be abruptly cut off by Esther.
"Go, pilot! I don't have time to repeat myself!"
"Keeping them from harm, eh?" Rolan said, even as his Hyperion G ducked under the swing of a beam tomahawk; knocking a ZAKU Warrior aside with its solid shield, its backpack machinegun turned to target the cannon-wielding GuAIZ R behind, forcing it to evade or risk being shot down with a burst of 58mm armor-piercing rounds. Far off, the rest of Blizzard Squadron vanished into the evening, making their way towards the command centre.
"Shut up," Esther snarled, although more at her frustration of Kasavok's capabilities than any anger towards her second-in-command. "If you have time for talk, take down one of those ZAKUs!"
Esther and Ray set their units back-to-back for an instant, as two Blaze ZAKUs, one of them a Phantom model, the other wielding a beam polearm, approached. Ray saw a cloud of dust as something heavy landed; the Nero Blitz re-materialized again, its right arm, and the Trikeros Mod. 0 Combined Weapon System it carried, raised at Ray.
"Last warning, Ray Feric," Kasavok said. "Kelvin must have told you something. Even if you will not join me, I want to know what it is."
Ray was silent for a moment. "Esther," he said, at length, "We'll rush down Kasavok in one strike. Get ready."
"But -" Esther said.
"Time is running out, Ray," Kasavok interjected. "I'm in no mood to play games today."
Ray ignored all the replies. "Time to learn to fight without a crutch."
The Manhunter Command thrust forward, beam sabre aimed squarely at the Nero Blitz, CIWS guns ablaze. As the Blaze ZAKU Phantom stepped in, axe coming up in a dangerously fast uppercut sweep, the Manhunter Command moved its other arm.
The beam tomahawk embedded itself into the Manhunter Command's left arm, the weapons stopped short for just a short while by Ray's timely interception before it could reach its full momentum. As Alan Reidr cursed inwardly, and the Blaze ZAKU Phantom tried to pull the OMNI unit off-course, the Manhunter Command's beam sabre grazed the left shoulder armor of the Nero Blitz, forcing Kasavok to drop his aim on Esther's unit in order to evade properly, or risk greater damage to his mobile suit.
Esther's Hyperion G rushed forward, stopping an opportunistic Blaze ZAKU Warrior's polearm sweep with its beam shielding. Despite the Nero Blitz's best attempt to disengage and vanish, Ester, using the sparks caused by the impact of the Manhunter Command's CIWS guns to adjust her aim, stabbed Kasavok's unit through the left of its torso.
In the cockpit of the Nero Blitz, Kasavok winced as the screens went dead for a moment before the mobile suit came back online. Batting Ester's Hyperion G to the side with its back claw arms, the Nero Blitz stumbled backwards.
The blow had not been deep, but despite post-war improvements, the its Mirage Colloid System was still very much vulnerable to direct damage as its predecessor's had been, and a red warning signal flashed on the screen, indicating that the damage to the torso had severely degraded the systems' capability to mimic the surrounding environment. The surface of the Nero Blitz shimmered; everything on its left side after the damaged area no longer responded to Mirage Colloid, and in the region around it the effects caused the mobile suit to seem as though it were flickering in and out of existence.
The Manhunter Commandand Blaze ZAKU Phantom crashed to the ground, the inertia of Ray's forward dash separating the two units in a burst of soil, leaves, shattered glassy material, and splintered wood. It would have taken the Manhunter Command two seconds to get up, three seconds to have any chance at avoiding an attack.
Two seconds was enough time for Kasavok to turn his wrath upon Ray.
"Bastard," he hissed, the Nero Blitz raising both of its arms; the Trikeros Mod. 0 on its left, and the Mod. 2 on its right, were both aimed at the Manhunter Command. "Do not mistake my mercy for incompetence!"
Ray was tossed around in the cockpit, the restraints barely holding him in place as four out of six kinetic penetrators smashed through the lower torso and right leg of the Manhunter Command, shattering the mobile suit's parts and taking it out of the moving battle; the powerful kinetic shots had simply penetrated the mobile suit and kept on going. The well-abused and beaten Mahunter Command crashed to the ground, finally out for the count.
The Hyperion G turned towards the Manhunter Command. "Hunter Leader!"
"He's going to be coming for you!" Ray yelled. "Take him down!"
Esther's Hyperion G barely escaped decapitation, ducking scant moments before the Nero Blitz turned and dashed forward, splitting the air above the OMNI unit's head with a straight stroke, beam sabre flashing to life on its right Trikeros for an instant. Its left arm was tucked close to its body, and came out in a backhanded bash, sending the Hyperion G flying; Esther landed her machine upright, but Kasavok was not one to let chances pass. The Nero Blitz was already catching up, its right Trikeros striking forward again.
Esther matched her opponent strike for strike, the barrels of her Hyperion G's CIWS guns aflame, and struck upwards with her Hyperion G's beam submachinegun, its beam bayonet alight, the weapon's barrel lodging itself into one of the firing ports of its left Trikeros weapon, even as her Hyperion G's beam sword burned against the shield surface of the Nero Blitz's right Trikeros. Kasavok detached the left weapon just in time as the Hyperion G's beam machinegun fired, the shots destroying the Trikeros weapon from within; but the Nero Blitz reached out with its now-free left hand to grab onto the beam machinegun, and from its back claw arm came down, striking the Hyperion G on its left shoulder.
The Eurasian mobile suit stumbled from the impact, and the Nero Blitz's back claws pressed their attack; one bashed the beam submachinegun out of the OMNI unit's grasp, while the other caught its right arm, a sickening sound of tearing metal and conducting wires resonating across the field clearly as it twisted, threatening to tear off the Hyperion G's right arm entirely; the other slammed into the Hyperion G's torso, and began to compact, right where the cockpit block was, as the Hyperion G pulled at its left arm futilely, the Nero Blitz's own left arm setting a vise's grip on the Hyperion G's to keep it from drawing its remaining beam sword.
"Blizzard Leader!" Rolan yelled, fending off a strike by a Blaze ZAKU Warrior, only to duck as a beam polearm swung perilously close to his own unit from another direction.
"Stay – your position!" Esther said, moving the controls the best she could to resist the Nero Blitz. The Hyperion G kicked out, knocking the claw on its right arm loose; thrusters fired as it swung its body in the air, and the Nero Blitz's remaining claw let go; Kasavok cursed, but was well aware that a contest of strength would leave him at a disadvantage in the numbers fight if OMNI were to push forward with numbers later on. The Hyperion G landed heavily, and Esther spared a glance at the alerts lighting up the sides of her viewscreen; her unit's right arm would not be wielding heavy weaponry anytime soon. As it was, it would be a miracle if it could withstand anything more than glancing blows in melee.
The Nero Blitz reached for its left skirt armor, attaching the Glepnir rocket anchor claw launcher onto its empty left arm with ease. The Nero Blitz held up its arm; the claw opened, for a moment, and snapped close as Kasavok aimed it at the Hyperion G, now with both swords activated.
"Insolent upstarts should know when to give up," he said.
Alan Reidr spared a glance at the standoff, impassive, as his teammates cornered their respective opponents; the Wild Dagger in a running battle, and the remaining Hyperion G kept busy by two units at once.
He turned to the spot where the customized Dagger L had fallen; in a heartbeat, his surprise turned to shock to see that the unit had rolled over; in its hand was a cylindrical device. It was one of the Blaze ZAKU Phantom's own grenades; Alan realized, a creeping coldness seizing his heart, that in the rolling melee that followed, he must had missed the alert that one of them had come loose, or was ripped off; or the electromagnetic burst had shorted out the warning system.
The crippled Manhunter Command lobbed the device, hard, and its CIWS guns flashed a moment later; Alan was too late, his beam tomahawk slower by a second in severing the OMNI unit's remaining arm at the elbow, as the grenade tumbled through the air, towards the Nero Blitz. A second later, CIWS fire pockmarked the explosive container, and a burst of napalm fire washed over the NEFA unit.
"Take him!" Ray roared.
Esther clenched her jaw, the Hyperion G slamming wholesale into the Nero Blitz, beam shield emitters pointed forward as a cutting blade, as Kasavok backtracked his MS and fought to clear his sensors of the disconcerting flames. The Hyperion G's blade went up, then chopped down; one of the Nero Blitz's back claws came off, spiralling into the dirt. The Hyperion G drew its arm back-
- and the Nero Blitz sidestepped the Hyperion G's frontal rush, away from its beam shields, and slammed its Gleipnir rocket anchor into the side of the Eurasian unit. Only a last-minute change in the controls had allowed Esther to avoid a fatal blow to the cockpit, but the impact of the unit shook her into disorientation and nearly sheared its back unit off, and the Hyperion G, sans beam shielding, tumbled sideways into the ground. The Nero Blitz drew one of its swords and raised it high.
And for an instant, the surroundings were framed in white as a massive explosion went up where the command centre was. There was a scream of tortured metal as the comm tower collapsed; on Esther's screen, the displays fuzzed for a moment as NEFA's final command centre released a last burst of static. Instantly, communiqué alerts swarmed her display, each an indicator for an allied line.
The jamming had been completely neutralized.
Kasavok's strike, distracted for a moment, was a second too late, as the Hyperion G rolled away and came back up, beam sabre held at the ready. "Surrender, Kasavok." Esther said. "There's no way in hell you're walking out of this in one piece."
"Kasavok," Alan said. "You let the tower go up in flames. I hope you know what this means."
The Nero Blitz was silent as the ZAFT units gathered near the Blaze ZAKU Phantom. Both sides were at a standstill, weapons pointed at each other, as the comm. tower burned in the background.
Rolan stopped short, as did Aaqil and Navana. "They're... retreating?"
"So, even the promises of the all-powerful ZAFT military only extends as far as this," Kasavok muttered.
"We cannot make anything out of nothing," Alan said. "I believe that the original agreement was that NEFA had to maintain its fighting capabilities. You are skilled, but you alone do not constitute an army. We're not going to win your war for you."
"If you let us go here," Kasavok said, urgency creeping into his voice, "You will have to fight the remainder of the Eurasian Federation alone later on!"
The Blaze ZAKU Phantom glanced at the fallen customized Dagger L. "Given the level of resistance your organization has shown, I see no difference between doing it ourselves, or having you on for the task."
The thrusters ignited on the ZAFT units as they lifted off the ground one by one. Soon, only Kasavok's Nero Blitz was left; an apex predator amongst pack hunters; battered, wounded hunters, but hunters who could see that victory was finally within grasp.
"Tell me!" Kasavok shouted. "Kelvin must have left some of his plans with you, Ray! TELL ME!"
Ray was silent for a moment. "He told me nothing," he replied, his voice level. "Even if he did, I wouldn't tell you."
"RAY FERIC!" Kasavok screamed.
Both Hyperion Gs and Wild Daggers leapt into action.
The Nero Blitz aimed and fired its rocket anchor in a heartbeat, the deadly projectile flying out even as Esther moved her mobile suit forward, the Hyperion G sweeping its beam sabre through the Nero Blitz's left arm. Ray had an instant to yank the controls of the disabled Manhunter Command, its stump of a right arm coming up in a pitiful attempt at a block, before the claw struck through it, and impaled the mobile suit in the upper torso, crushing its way into the cockpit block.
A claw came from above, bludgeoning the Hyperion G face-first into the dirt; the Nero Blitz swept its right arm in a backhanded blow, sending Aaqil's Wild Dagger flying backwards as it attempted to get the jump on Kasavok; Navana's unit ploughed into the NEFA MS, and both rolled on the ground for a moment, before a massive claw broke through the dust clouds with twisted scrap in its grasp; a Wild Dagger rolled backwards across the ground, its back turret wrenched free. Rolan's Hyperion G dashed in as well, and was rewarded with a straight thrust from Kasavok, the beam sabre from the Nero Blitz's remaining Trikeros impaling the Hyperion G in its hip block, sending the Eurasian unit to the ground as its left leg came free.
The Nero Blitz's thrusters ignited in fury, lifting the unit up into the air; in an instant, it slammed down beside the crippled Manhunter Command, one solid sword held ready. "You truly know nothing about Kelvin's plans?"
Ray gasped. The blow had sent much of the cockpit caving inwards; not enough to kill him outright, but in-between crushing pressure on his chest and the mangled remains of his cockpit, the only consolation was that Ray could still feel his legs.
"You... didn't think... he would so... readily divulge... everything..." Ray managed to articulate. "When they... purged us... there were... as many innocents... as those guilty..."
Kasavok was silent as Ray spat out his last words; what little he could see of his cockpit was rapidly blurring into a mess of grey and black. "Challenging... Blue... Cosmos... from outside... is just feeding fuel... to the... fire..."
"And you think they can be changed from within?!" Kasavok shot back. "Naive fo-"
A powerful beam shot lanced out, the focused strike burning through the Nero Blitz's drive systems; Kasavok barely had a moment to gasp in surprise before the Nero Blitz's systems shorted themselves from the massive feedback, and the mobile suit, nearly bisected, knelt, with what remained of its internal frame barely keeping the machine together.
A kilometre away, Sheryl's Oracle Lance straightened up, the other OMNI units assaulting the commander centre coming up from behind her unit. "Hunter Two to Howling Spears and Blizzards! Requesting a situation check on Hunter Leader!"
Aaqil was already on it, his Wild Dagger having been preparing to charge Kasavok from downhill. Skidding to a stop just beside the Manhunter Command, Aaqil clambered out of his mobile suit's cockpit, and stopped, the sight of the rocket anchor embedded into the OMNI machine framed against the orange-tinted background of a smouldering forest at night. Even from where he stood, there was no doubt that the blow had breached the cockpit block. To how much, however, Aaqil dared not guess.
"Hunter Two," Aaqil said, swallowing, before turning back to his Wild Dagger. "Contact emergency response immediately. I'm going to try wrenching that thing free first!"
CE 73, November 21st, Terchova, Slovakia, South-East Europe
Night 21 14
Kim Rassare kicked the corpse of an insurgent over. Glancing at the man's open eyes and glassy stare, combined with the multiple holes shot into his chest, she didn't need any second confirmation of his condition.
Having discovered an alternate entrance into the underground warrens that constituted the NEFA base, Kim had led her infantry against the enemy, with OMNI reinforcement snuck in under cover backing her up. She had led her squad at the front, striking deep into the heart of the enemy. They had smashed the insurgents' resistance, and now, unconscious at a corner of this small room Kim was now in, was Joachim Rudel, the leader of NEFA, and a few other ragtags.
Staff Sergeant Hanson Warbeck, his shoulder swathed in bandages from a bullet wound received from Joachim when the infantry had stormed the room, looked on in disgust. "Dirty bastard made us run through so many rooms just to get him and his lackeys."
"Such is life," Kim said. "How are the rest?"
"The other infantry teams have secured the center," Hanson said. "We were the first in here, of course, and with Joachim alive, too, so the top honor goes to us. As for the outside, they're saying that everything is under control. This battle has been won."
Kim sighed. "Sure was one hell of an adventure from Mannheim to here."
Hanson nodded appreciatively. "Can't wait to get back to a proper set of barracks again. I think I've had enough of brimstone and hail for a year."
Laughing, Kim let Hanson leave, before exiting the room herself, to make space for an OMNI infantry officer with a security detail to secure Joachim.
"I wonder how the Manhunters are doing," Kim wondered aloud.
CE 73, December 5th, Terchova, Slovakia, South-East Europe
Night 20 58
Alan Reidr looked on from a ridgeline in the Terchova region, watching as OMNI swarmed all over the NEFA territory. He was sorely tempted to order the Roksova to fire its guns, but actual command of the land battleship was under Fernandz Kodor. As well, without NEFA as a screen, it was not wise to stay any longer. Beside him stood Grace's Slash ZAKU Warrior.
"So we retreat," Grace said. "In the end, our deal with NEFA never got through."
"They cannot protect even a single objective," Alan said. "There's no sense in sticking around to die for them."
"Still, if we had come in force, and shielded NEFA from the brunt of this attack..." Grace begun.
"ZAFT Intelligence was given minute-to-minute updates of this battle," Fernandz interrupted their comm link. "They have arrived at the same conclusion as your commander; they have skilled troops, but not enough to make them self-sufficient. Even if we had supported them, we won't be knocking on the doors of the Geneva headquarters for a while."
Alan was silent for a moment. "There's something else, isn't there?"
Fernandz's reply was almost unwilling. "ZAFT Intel had just recently received data that the Earth Alliance is shifting their HQ to Iceland." Silence followed for a moment. "I must confess, I had to put in quite the effort to convince them to not pull out of this endeavour immediately following that revelation."
Grace was silent for a while. "They were screwed from the start then. All we did was to give them false hope."
Fernandz's reply came a bit quicker than Alan had expected. "I had believed that opening a second front apart from the Saragossa Defence Line would allow us to pressure the Eurasian Federation into opening the negotiating table for us." There was an audible sigh. "I guess we'll never get to find out if that would have worked. Return to the ship, Raiders. We'll meet up with the main force... let's see if we can't get you guys some peace at Diocuia."
As the thrusters on the Blaze ZAKU Phantom powered up, Alan kept his silence, sparing the burning forest expanse one last glance. Within his mind was the mangled remains of the customized Dagger L.
He had not achieved combat superiority over it this time. This was a point, he thought, that was worth taking note of.
Because Alan was not sure if he could win, were he to ever meet that unit again, under equal, or even disadvantageous conditions.
Afterword:
The dynamic amongst the nations of the Earth Alliance was, I felt, always one of the most neglected points across not in SEED, but in Destiny as well. The underground fractures present between the nations would have lent themselves very well to reinforcing the standard storyline, even.