Chapter 29
CE 74, January 3rd, 'E' Armament Block, Mannheim Base, Germany, Eurasian Federation
Morning 11 02
Vlitz Dyald gasped as the impact of his clash with another unit sent his Sword Strike E backwards. In front, the Sword Dagger L of the Manhunters waited, anti-ship sword held close to its body, and its arms raised, to let the blade hang downwards, over its left shoulder.
"Bitch!" Vlitz snarled. "I'll end you!"
The Sword Strike E dropped its anti-ship sword, drawing its "Shorty" beam gun from its right hip holster. Its left arm raised, and with the sound of a thunderclap, launched the large rocket anchor mounted on it at the Sword Dagger L.
The Manhunters unit pivoted, the rocket anchor missing the target to impact into a building behind the Sword Dagger L. Vlitz shifted his aim; the beam gun, however, hit air with its shots, as the Sword Dagger L surged forward with a burst of thruster fire from its back.
Vlitz barely brought his unit's left arm down as the Sword Dagger L stepped in hard; it set its left foot forward and firmly against the ground, rotating its torso joint, as the unit brought its anti-ship sword down in an almost impossibly-fast under-swing from the right, from where it hung over its left shoulder. The impact against the anchor shield was enough to push the Sword Strike E's arm against itself and lift it off the ground, and Vlitz clenched his teeth as the mobile suit rattled with the impact of a melee strike usually reserved against space warships.
The Sword Dagger L continued its momentum, drawing its arms backwards, tucking the blade close to its body, and thrust forward. The Sword Strike E's guard was smashed through in an instant, and the anti-ship sword's beam blade bit into the torso of the Phantom Pain Unit.
Vlitz winced as several screens in the cockpit shattered, sharp-edged debris flung broken and flung loose by the glancing thrust of the Sword Dagger L. Alarms screamed as the anti-ship sword's crushed its way through armor, and the solid blade of its tip transitioned to the superheated plasma of its beam edge melting through the Sword Strike E's VPS armor; the interior temperature jumping several dozen degrees within the span of a second despite the insulated layers surrounding the cockpit.
The Sword Strike E raised its left arm, beam gun ready; the shot missed, however, as the Sword Dagger L pulled back, letting go of the anti-ship sword. Before Vlitz could adjust his aim, Kaguya Sakamoto had struck; the Sword Dagger L reached out to grasp the beam gun by its barrel, turning the gun aside just as the Sword Strike E fired the second shot. As Vlitz struggled to regain the balance of his unit, its left side dragged down by the anti-ship sword still embedded in its side, the Sword Dagger L wrenched and twisted, pulling the "Shorty" beam gun out of the Sword Strike E's hand; throwing the gun to the side, the Sword Dagger L turned its torso, grabbing the handle of the anti-ship sword with its left arm; with a kick from its left leg the Sword Strike E was dislodged from the heavy blade, and sent flying into the side of a building. Vlitz moved the controls as fast as he could; Kaguya was far faster, however, as the Sword Dagger L, rear thrusters lighting up with the blue flame of rocket thrust, dashed forward with its left arm held up, smashing the flat side of its arm armor attachment into the Sword Strike E's torso.
Vlitz's vision blacked out for a few seconds from the impact between a rock and a hard place; when his sight returned, the cockpit of his unit was a shattered mess, screens cracked, image feeds distorted. His head pounded with a slight concussion; the taste of iron filled his mouth as he pulled his helmet off, and spat a wad of blood out; even breathing felt painful. His mind noted with a small amount of relief that the cockpit had not caved in completely, but pushing that out of his mind, was the sight of the Sword Dagger L on the main camera view, anti-ship sword in hand, staring him down.
"You treat your unit like a toy, your subordinates like tokens to be spent." Kaguya said, the rising ire in her voice evident even through the half-broken comms equipment of the Sword Strike E. "You deserve this unit and this command less than Blue Cosmos deserves a place in this world."
Vlitz coughed again. "You... know nothing! Only... only a filthy traitor... could ever forget the April Fool's Crisis!"
Kaguya was silent for a while. "Perhaps. I was fortunate enough to be away during that time of crisis." The Sword Dagger L raised its anti-ship sword. "But I have seen your type before. Infested with that hatred, consumed by it. Just like you, spreading more of it wherever you go."
A warning siren rang in Kaguya's ears; a second was all she had to react as a pillar of bright light reached out from the side of her vision, towards her unit. The Sword Dagger L pulled back; the next moment, the blast of a heavy beam cannon slammed into the flat side of her blade, forcing Kaguya to let it be knocked out of her unit's hands or risk being thrown off balance for a counter-attack.
Debris crumbled as Hanna's Linebreaker Strike E clipped the corner of a building while rounding the corner, sending a spray of concrete chunks to the ground. Interposing her unit in-between Kaguya's and Vlitz's, the Linebreaker Strike E took hold of one of its right autocannon, the multi-barreled gun roaring to life moments later as Hanna directed her fire at the Sword Dagger L.
The Sword Dagger L held up its left arm as it weaved and dodged away, taking the shots that would have struck the unit in its cockpit on its armor attachment. Even as Hanna tracked the unit's movement towards the corner of another building, the Sword Dagger L unsheathed its beam boomerang and sent it towards the Strike E.
With a beam sabre flashing to life in its left hand, the Linebreaker Strike E slashed outwards, catching the beam boomerang before it could embed its blade edge into the unit, sending the weapon rocketing into the side of a building. Too late she realized, however, that the Sword Dagger L had sent its rocket anchor snaking out; the clamp caught the hilt of the anti-ship sword, pulling out in a single, violent tug; the blade flew backwards, crashing into a building from the force of its flight, and with the Manhunters unit, disappeared behind a building corner, heavy footfalls echoing into nothing.
Hanna waited for a few seconds before opening the comms to Vlitz's unit. "Flogger Two, report status."
Static filled the channel before Vlitz responded. "What the hell took you so long?!"
"Sorry." Hanna replied. "Can you still move?"
"Not in any state to fight." Vlitz replied, opening the cockpit hatch to clamber out of his unit. Breathing in the outside air again, he slowly climbed down from his unit, and sat down near the foot of the Sword Strike E, leaning on the outer armor of the wreck itself. A low humming filled the air as the last of the mobile suit's power reserves cut out and its VPS armor powered down, the battered body of the Sword Strike E fading from its colors of blue, white, and red to various shades of grey. Only the remains of the Another Trial Sword Striker Pack, the Strike E-specific variant of the equipment, retained their colors, the scorched and dented surfaces evidence of its fight against the Sword Dagger L.
"Will you be alright? I should call for-" Hanna began.
"Just go!" Vlitz snarled irritably. "Go, dammit! They're still running loose, aren't they?"
"... alright." Hanna replied. The ground rumbled as her Linebreaker Strike E's thrusters re-ignited, the unit moving to give chase to where Kaguya had retreated from.
"And don't forget to radio up the fools I brought along to get them to follow your orders, stupid," Vlitz muttered. "You're going to need them."
CE 74, January 3rd, 'E' Armament Block, Mannheim Base, Germany, Eurasian Federation
Morning 11 31
The Jet Windam staggered backwards as Guy's Launcher Dagger L sprung its ambush on the unit from behind a building, clamping down on its head unit with its left arm. The autocannon on its right shoulder started spinning; moments later, 120mm armor-piercing rounds punched through the Jet Windam's left side, shredding its left arm and wing, the brilliant flashes of gunfire reflecting off the windows where the Manhunter unit had waited in ambush for its pursuers.
The Jet Windam struggled, right arm dropping its beam rifle in an attempt to draw its beam sabre. The Launcher Dagger L was a step ahead, however, a beam sabre flashing to life in its right arm which it quickly set to its opponent.
Dropping the disarmed and disabled Jet Windam, the Launcher Dagger L boosted backwards and around the corner of the intersection, in time to avoid a beam shot from melting through its cockpit as the remaining members of Venna's battalion rounded the corner in hot pursuit; the first one to make it, however, hit the ground, a burning hole through its lower torso. At the end of the street, the Dagger L Oracle Lance shifted its aim before unleashing a second shot, penetrating through another Jet Windam to send a third crashing into a building as its right leg thrusters exploded from the glancing shot. Hefting its rifle, the Oracle Lance followed as the Launcher Dagger L passed it, and both units continued their flight deep within the central area of Mannheim Base.
"I'm almost out for the autocannon," Guy said. "How are your power reserves holding out?"
"Not too good myself," Sheryl replied. "If we don't end this soon, one way or another, we're just going to become sitting ducks."
Both MSes rounded the corner to greet the silhouette of two other MSes; with a start, Sheryl moved the controls of the Oracle Lance, and would have fired on the hip, had she not recognized the two Hyperion Gs; one scored with battle scars, the other one nearly unrecognizable after the beating it took.
"I see you guys are still running strong," Rolan said.
"What the hell happened to you guys?" Guy asked.
"Phantom Pain happened," Esther replied, her voice marred by comms static, as all four MSes began moving together. "Watch out for the one using the customized Strike E. It's a damned brick." She paused for a moment. "Where's the rest of your squadron?"
"We lost contact with Ray," Guy replied. "He's somewhere in there. Kaguya is out hunting, as usual. What about Blizzard Squadron?"
"We're isolated," Rolan said. "The little three are somewhere out there, but we don't know where."
"Contact has been spotty," Esther explained. "We need to re-establish total contact. I'm going to throw the fight."
"You can't be thinking of surrender," Sheryl said, anger creeping into her voice. "That's tantamount to -"
"Not surrender," Esther said. "But it's clear that we're not going to be able to stage out of Mannheim after this. There'll be more coming in and we've taken more damage than is permissible in this fight."
"So a guerrilla counter-action?" Guy asked.
"That's one possibility," Rolan said. "The other is to punch out while we still can and see how far we can go, maybe link up with allied forces outside of the lockdown."
A warning light, signalling incoming data-link from an outside source, on the HUDs of all four pilots temporarily halted their discussion halfway through their movement. Sheryl brought up the display, showcasing a tactical map of Mannheim Base - and approaching rapidly from north-west, Atlantic Federation units. The whine of an air raid warning started up across the base.
"I thought the main CIC room was in full lockdown!" Rolan exclaimed. "Did our forces manage to get into the command centre? Manhunters, where's your infantry contingent?"
"They dug themselves into the base armory," Sheryl replied. "If this isn't an Atlantic Federation setup, then it's Mannheim's doing. And if it's true..." her voice trailed off.
"No reason for us to struggle against the tide here then," Esther said. "You need to find and contact Hunter Leader and Hunter Four and see what they say. Otherwise, you'll just exhaust yourselves here for nothing. Redeploy south-east on the outskirts of Mannheim if you guys do decide to throw the fight."
Without warning, the siren abruptly cut off, as did the tactical displays on the MSes.
"This isn't good. Someone must have pulled the master switches." Esther muttered. "Time is running out, Hunters! Go!"
"I understand," Sheryl replied. "Hunter Two out."
Esther watched as the Manhunter units stopped to change direction, before their thrusters re-ignited, sending the units down another road. She regarded her Hyperion G's display screens for an instant. "Rolan, stop for a while."
Both Hyperion Gs stopped, their thrusters cutting out, and not a moment too soon for Esther's unit; the MS immediately stumbled, one knee joint slamming into the ground as the mobile suit ground to a halt, head unit lights flickering. "Make some space, Rolan. I'm going to have to ride shotgun."
Rolan cackled. "Perfect! I always wanted to get a girl along on a ride."
"This kind of talk is why you're still single."
CE 74, January 3rd, 'A' Logistics Block, Mannheim Base, Germany, Eurasian Federation
Morning 12 03
"You slippery bastard!" Geroda hissed, as the Strike Noir was sent reeling back yet again, a long black gash across its left shoulder armor marking the spot where the Manhunter Command had made contact with its beam sabre. A second later, and Geroda would have lost an entire arm.
The scar was just one of many that adorned the frame of the Strike Noir; Geroda had tried numerous times to wrestle the flow of battle away from Ray, but each time, the Manhunter commander had slipped out and left another marking on the Phantom Pain unit. Had it not been for the unit's Variable Phase Shift Armor, the Strike Noir would be just as battered as its opponent from being repeatedly bodied.
Despite the one-sided superficial damage to the Manhunter Command, however, the unit was still limber and agile enough to keep Geroda at bay. "Looks like you're skilled enough to make that technology gap matter, at least," Ray replied.
"Figures that someone like you would excel in the art of running away!" Geroda roared, as the Strike Noir sent beam shots chasing after the Manhunter Command, which ducked behind a building. "Don't pretend that you didn't see that unauthorized communiqué just now. Whatever it was, the sender didn't encrypt it. You know as well as I do that this fight is as good as done."
"Then why are you in such a damned hurry to finish it?" Ray shot back. "Couldn't just sit back and hem in the survivors like the sadistic shits the whole lot of you are?" The Manhunter Command moved again, beam rifle fire bathing its former hiding spot with ionized gasses and vaporized concrete as they missed their target; from up high, the remaining members of Flogger Squadron circled; there were only two units, but they kept up their pressure regardless, sticking just below the top height of the mostly-uniformly-built buildings around them.
You have no idea, Geroda silently retorted, as he pushed the Strike Noir forward; seismic sensors had quietened down, and thermal sensors were dark but for scattered spots where beam weapons fire had once hit; those were numerous. Rounding a corner, he was greeted with nothing but the rubble remains of a building that both units had slammed into prior in their fight -
The sensors suddenly spiked as a beam sabre blade flashed to life, the supercharged energy stream extending well beyond its standard length just to pierce the outstretched hand of the Strike Noir's gun arm. Gasping in shock, Geroda threw his unit into a backward boost, the action saving him from a sweeping stroke before the beam blade fizzled out from its overcharge, as the Manhunter Command burst out from the hole gouged into the side of the building, and launched itself at the Strike Noir.
Both units rolled, a cacophony of metal parts and concrete and gravel thrown into the air, as Geroda sought to break Ray's grapple. The Strike Noir's left arm, its ruined hand loosely attached by wires, rose, and its other arm barely made it in time to block the Manhunter Command's downward stab with its anti-armor knife, the blade edge stopping just short of the cockpit block.
"Maybe a big shot will have your head if you don't wrap up this little uprising posthaste?" Ray replied, as the Manhunter Command changed its stance; its right arm still pressing down with its knife, its left arm struck forward repeatedly with its battered shield, each impact felt dearly by Geroda. "In that case, I'll need to be as annoying as possible."
"The only thing you need to do is to die quietly!" Geroda roared, the Strike Noir twisting its body to throw the Manhunter Command off. On its right hip, a compartment opened, extending the hilt of an Armor Schneider anti-armor knife into its hand.
The Manhunter Command drew its remaining beam sabre. Both units steadied for an instant, then launched themselves at each other -
- And both units were abruptly interrupted as a Sword Dagger L and a Linebreaker Strike E crashed through a building and into the two units.
"Hunter Four!" Ray exclaimed.
"Nice to see you again, Leader," Kaguya said. "The rest of the squadr-"
Whatever remained of Kaguya's sentence was interrupted by a burst of static, as the comms equipment on all the MSes present recalibrated themselves to the new presence on the field.
"The rest of your squadron won't matter."
Ray directed his gaze upwards, the warning sirens in his cockpit alerting him of new contacts. Several Aile 105 Daggers and an Aile Strike E descended towards ground level, stopping just at hovering height. All had their weapons trained on the two Manhunter MSes. In the sky, Ray could see air transport flights and MSes being dropped out of them.
Unfortunately for the Manhunters, enemy reinforcements had arrived.
"Phantom Pain 137th ATS Fear, currently attached to the Third Atlantic Federation Expeditionary Force. Power down your MSes immediately."
Ray drew in a deep breath - and slammed the controls of his MS forward. "Kaguya! Disengage!"
Behind him, the Sword Dagger L leapt into action, a heavy strike sending the Linebreaker Strike E reeling backwards as it turned to run. The Manhunter Command slammed into the nearest Aile 105 Dagger, its anti-armor knife embedding deep into the enemy unit's shoulder.
The Aile 105 Dagger staggered backwards, and was promptly rendered into slag as the leading Aile Strike E thrust it aside, and its allies opened up with a deluge of beam rifle fire. Even as Ray turned his unit leftwards to run, the first beam smashed through the Manhunter Command's left foot; the next connected squarely with the left shoulder. The impacts of multiple beam shots threw the unit backwards, sending it to the ground in a tremendous display of debris and molten frame composites.
The Sword Dagger L paused just short of escaping. "Leader!"
"Go!" Ray hollered. "There's no point in both of us going do-"
The comms link cut off as the Linebreaker Strike E barrelled into the Sword Dagger L with its own body, bringing both units to the ground. Amidst the dust clouds of concrete and gravel, a beam blade - the Sword Dagger L's beam boomerang, scythed through the air to burn into the left shoulder of the Linebreaker Strike E; but at the same time, a beam sabre flashed to life in its hands, and Hanna's unit stabbed downwards.
Ray watched helplessly as the Sword Dagger L's status window turned orange, indicating its disabled status. Around them, the MSes of the Atlantic Federation gathered.
"We've confirmed the interception and capture of two of the insurgents."
CE 74, January 3rd, 'E' Armament Block Outskirts, Mannheim Base, Germany, Eurasian Federation
Morning 12 26
Sheryl stopped short. In the distance, the MS units that had swarmed around a specific point of the base's interior superstructure were beginning to break off towards other parts of the base.
Both Guy and Sheryl had briefly caught Kaguya's unit on their IFF sensors, duelling with another enemy unit. They had followed the signal as best as they could, evading or destroying incoming enemy units while trying to keep Kaguya's unit within sensor sight.
Nearing the edge of the interior superstructure, both of them opted to exit the forest of buildings instead, hoping to attain greater speed in catching up to their squadron mate - and that was when they both saw what the buildings had obscured. Three full transport squadrons of the Atlantic Federation had made it within the base's airspace, and immediately began disgorging aerial MS teams, a large portion of which peeled off towards that specific area. Both Guy and Kaguya could hazard a guess as to what their purpose was.
Now that the MS flights were moving away, with none making an attempt to clear the building district, both pilots could guess the result that awaited them if they were to continue on.
"What now?" Guy asked. "If they're taking that lacklustre approach, they probably have both of them in their grasp already."
"If we let them be, they'll be shipped off to who-knows-where," Sheryl snapped. "Blue Cosmos won't hold their punches doing whatever they want to them."
"If we engage those forces now, we'll be joining them," Guy replied. "Is that what you want?"
Sheryl gritted her teeth. "Of course not! But you heard Ray's history! Those guys after him are making this farce personal!"
"A fair enough reason that they won't just execute him," Guy said. "Enough time for us to mount a rescue."
"What?" Sheryl exclaimed. "You're insane! The entire base is under their control now!"
"Easier for us to cheat them into thinking that we've escaped with the rest of the lot, isn't it?" Guy replied. "Basic version; we toss our MS at the edge of the base and double back. We know the area better than these guys; there will be ways to stay hidden."
There was a moment of silence, and Sheryl started laughing, though bitterness tinged her voice. "You're mad. The actually mad kind of mad; no one with something to live for would do this. Are you sure you actually have a daughter back home?"
"Children need heroes, Sheryl," Guy said. "Now, here's the plan..."
CE 74, January 3rd, "A" Exterior Control Tower, Mannheim Base, Germany, Eurasian Federation
Noon 13 04
"They really cut the primary power cables," a Mannheim base technician replied. "Nothing's been going out of this room since the first tactical transmission. Efficient bastards - when they're not fighting ZAFT."
A Mannheim Base infantry lieutenant sighed. "It took all we had to break in through to here, and as far as we can tell they've been redirecting forces to lay siege to this tower the moment we approached." Around the room, infantrymen gripped their rifles tighter. "They're going to storm the room soon. Better get into position, Colonel. Give us your orders."
Roan Moran was about to set about ordering to the defence of the CIC room when one of the console technicians screamed. Turning around, the Colonel was greeted with the visage of several Jet Windams.
The CIWS on all the gathered MSes opened fire, punching through the structure of the room and eviscerating the people inside. In-between the blinding flashes of high-caliber automatic fire, Roan only saw death and destruction before his vision went dark.
CE 74, January 3rd, south-western outskirts, Mannheim Base, Germany, Eurasian Federation
Noon 13 14
Kim Rassare looked back as the sounds of a distant explosion echoed out; around her, all her soldiers did the same. Only her eavesdropping on the panicked transmissions of the Mannheim crew had saved them all; she had made her decision to abandon their position, and it had been just in time. Now, they were headed for the outskirts of the base; with any luck, they could escape the grasp of Mannheim entirely and meld into the local population. After then, Kim reasoned, they could plan their next step.
Another explosion went up in the distance; the top control room of one of the air traffic towers in Mannheim Base burst into flames as aerial MSes veered away from the site.
"Shit," Hanson replied. "That must have been the guys who got that air raid siren running."
"Keep up that fast march! Don't even think of looking back." Kim said. "We've only just managed to make it this far ourselves, and what's happened has already happened. Now we need to put distance between ourselves and this damned pl-"
One of the soldiers assigned to rear lookout pointed, binoculars held to his eyes. "Air attack incoming! Four Windams headed straight this way!"
"Run!" Kim shouted, urging what remained of her company to run for the forest in the distance, resisting the urge to join their sprinting until last of them was about to pass her. She was barely 10 steps away when the lead Windam opened fire, the CIWS shells punching craters into the soil, the roar of the MS guns deafening all of them as they ran. Dimly, she noted that the soldier that had been sprinting beside her had vanished amidst a spray of soil debris. "FUCKING RUN!"
CE 74, January 3rd, ?, ?, Atlantic Federation
Time unknown
The man eased himself into the seat, regarding the rest of them gathered in the room. "I assume you've all heard the news."
"Bad news, that is," a second voice replied. "The Destroy GUNDAM sent to Berlin is no more."
"There is that news, then there is news that we have control over much of the western territories of the Eurasia Federation," the first man replied. "That will count for something."
"It will count for exactly fucking nothing," a third voice hissed. "We were supposed to secure the aid of the Eurasian Federation! Their troops should have been ours! Yet the little rebellion they launched across all their little states couldn't have come in at a worst time! The Destroy and its dedicated escorts should have been screened by Eurasian Federation troops!"
The sound of a fist slammed onto the table. "Yet the leadership of the Eurasian Federation, and more importantly, their tramp of a Federation Chairwoman, escaped our grasp! Even as we speak, she and her surviving cabinet members are en route to Central Europe - once they get into Siberia, it'll be the stronghold of General Kylius Vardan." The third voice sighed. "Consider them as good as allied to the PLANTs."
A fourth voice immediately chimed in. "Do not forget that the footage of the Destroy's defeat is quite disturbing. Despite our best efforts, we never managed to curb the Three Ship Alliance before they vanished, and now," There was a pause, "Their stolen ships and mobile suits are back to haunt us. I don't know if they're allied with ZAFT, but it'll be safe to assume that the possibility is there."
"There are shreds of good news here and there," the second voice said. "Colonel Roan Moran is dead. Without him, any resistance against incorporation of the western Eurasian forces into our expeditionary units, whether from within or without, will swiftly falter." There was a flash of light as the person activated a large screen at the end of the room, bringing up the visages of Ray Feric and Kaguya Sakamoto. "We also have two people we've been hunting around for some time. These two have done well laying low, but that's in the past now. They'll be shipped to Heaven's Base as soon as possible."
"I hope this is a herald for the decoding of what happened at the Gulnahan Gate," the first voice replied. "Any longer, and the data will likely be obsolete." He stood up. "I have to report to Lord Djibril of the overall situation. He will not be pleased about the destruction of the Destroy, and it is unfortunate that military matters do not interest him."
The man eyed the portraits. "Pry whatever you can out of the both of them. We may have lost the propaganda war, for the moment, but there is yet time to turn our strategic fortunes around. Victory atop a field of corpses will still be a victory."
Afterword:
So ends this particular attempt at rebellion. It coincides with the end of the Berlin attack, which I thought was an appropriate conclusion to the fact that it can be interpreted as the Atlantic Federation attempting direct control over the European region; Berlin was the "face", while this instance in Mannheim is more of a representation of region-wide incidences. Although the series doesn't touch on the ramifications of what essentially boils down to JOSH-A 2.0, I felt that it was only right that I attempt to present what happens when such a blatant imbalance of power over the region was allowed to happen.