CE 74, February 19th, Supercomplex Block E, Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation

Night 19 57

Sheryl Camelot and Guy Leon watched silently as the scene played out on the data terminal. Behind them, Karl Hartner watched as well, his gaze occasionally flickering to the two genuine OMNI members whose gaze were transfixed on the screen. The scenes of combat amongst the cities of the Atlantic Federation played out, with MS of the same colors firing at each other.

"You may or may not have heard about the announcement from PLANT Chairman Gilbert Durandal regarding the matter with Blue Cosmos and Logos two days ago," Karl said. "Today, large-scale battles occurred across Atlantic Federation territory shortly in response to that. My intel is still a bit sketchy, but I believe the conflict was primarily between Blue Cosmos-aligned forces and those that remained loyal to the Atlantic Federation itself."

"So the radicals and the moderates finally came to blows?" Guy asked. "What were the results?"

"As far as I can tell, the Atlantic Federation is licking its wounds now," Karl replied. "Unfortunately, they lost more fighting strength to the Blue Cosmos-led secession than was hoped for. Those who've escaped the self-purging in the Atlantic Federation will no doubt head to Heaven's Base to consolidate their power." The agent paused for a moment. "Here."

"What about against the Eurasian Federation?" Sheryl interjected. "Surely Blue Cosmos doesn't intend to continue their intervention now that they've lost the support of their only legitimate nation-scale backer."

"There are rumours of them retreating," Karl said. "Unfortunately, that's all I know for now. I do, however, have to say this for the umpteenth time; we're standing on the edge right now. Sooner or later, the fighting is going to reach this base; once that happens, it would be the perfect time to enact our rescue."

Karl eyed the two OMNI pilots. "The problem is, we have no idea when our diversion will come. And if the forces of Heaven's Base manage to stop them offshore, we're more or less on our own. Be ready to move at a moment's notice."

"There will be no margin of error for us. It's do or die."

CE 73, February 20th, Supercomplex Block E, Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation

Night 19 57

"Jane! JANE!"

Sheryl snapped out of her reverie to see her unit's chief technician gesturing at her.

"I need status reports on those weaponry, miss!" The man yelled gruffly. "Get your heads out of the clouds!"

"Got it!" Sheryl yelled back. "I'll send them over to the hangar office once I'm done with this!"

Turning back to the Launcher Striker pack autocannon she was working on, she let her breath out in a quiet sigh. Ever since Karl's warning to both Guy and her, Sheryl had been on edge. She didn't realize how hard the tension would hit her; while she wouldn't consider herself at home in this base, she found out that the anticipation she had been feeling up until the revelation last night was nothing compared to the stress of knowing that an impending crisis was about to sweep the base.

High command at Heaven's Base had issued a warning saying that enemy forces had broken through from the north and would possible lay siege to the base. Not surprisingly, news of the civil war amongst the Atlantic Federation nor the truth of the Eurasian Federation's defection had reached the base personnel; all of those that Sheryl had spoken to had believed that ZAFT was simply sweeping over their allies on the European continent, and that Heaven's Base was to facilitate an OMNI reprisal.

Granted, since Sheryl had spent several nights watching personnel unsuccessfully try to use the base's payphones to call home, any surprise she should have felt at the depths of Blue Cosmos' treachery was lost on her. Mobile phones were similarly non-responsive; the base command personnel had issued a statement saying that ZAFT jamming was working its devious deeds on them as a frontline base, but if Sheryl knew anything, their "jamming" was likely an allied deception as well. Some personnel still received letters, but Sheryl was beginning to realize that the majority of them were either printed and therefore easily faked, or short and innocuous correspondences that those in charge of going through the mail had deemed of no threat to the lie going on at this corner of the planet.

Sheryl didn't even know if OMNI still existed in light of the breakaways that had occurred. No doubt escaping anywhere would be better than remaining on Heaven's Base, but if they reached the European continent only to have Blue Cosmos emerge victorious in the days ahead, just staying ahead of the pursuit would be a challenge in of itself.

The sound of pilot suit boots on the tarmac drifted into her hearing; turning about, she saw a familiar set of faces, and amongst them, Linda Calis, who waved back upon spotting Sheryl.

Even the usually upbeat pilot was subdued in her greetings, however, and the reason became apparent to Sheryl when Linda approached. "Sure is getting awfully busy around here," the younger pilot remarked uneasily.

Sheryl managed a wan smile back. "Not much different from the usual checks," she replied. "Manoeuvre practice again, Lieutenant?"

"Yeah," Linda said. "We've been having at least five hours of mock combat flights a day since last week. It's tiring, but I suppose this is to be expected for an elite posting."

Sheryl merely nodded. It was in her best interests to keep her agreement up.

"Still, though," Linda said. "I've been hearing things. Some of the pilots... they aren't too hot about combat."

This got Sheryl's attention. "How so?"

The young pilot shifted uncomfortably. "They said they got wind of something. Events were going down in the European front that made them question their jobs. Weird, isn't it? We're just protecting ourselves." Linda shifted uncomfortably. "I'm sorry. I don't know why I'm telling you all these personal troubles-"

"Uh," Sheryl stumbled, searching for the right words. The surprise of the usually-naive pilot suddenly opening up to her threw her mind off its track. "No, it's fine." Finally getting her mind on what she believed to be a suitable diversion, the words were out of her mouth before she realized that it was the biggest landmine she could have dredged up. "Oh, yeah! You said you had a sister! How's she?"

Thankfully for Sheryl, Linda's countenance did not change much. "Injured; a letter from her came in a week ago."

Sheryl made a note to herself for her own stupidity and luck, before realizing something. "The other pilots," she said. "They don't speak to you much?"

"Not so," Linda replied, and a look of discomfort crossed her face. "But some of them, especially the older pilots... they have some... forceful opinions. And the letter from my sister said to be extra careful when in Heaven's Base; I wonder what she m-"

A shout from within the hangar got Linda's attention. "I'm sorry, I need to go." Linda said. "... Can we speak again when I get back? If you're still here, of course."

"Of course," Sheryl replied. "Safe flying, Lieutenant."

Sheryl watched as the Jet Windams filed out of the hangar one by one. She silently wondered if the feeling she felt now was similar to what Ray had felt when she had first joined the unit at Sinai Base. She hadn't expected to come this close to playing counsellor to someone whom she'd only spoken to for a few times.

Around them, other MSes were either leaving their hangars for official patrol duties, or for more mock combat manoeuvres. The spacious tarmac was now crowded with vehicles and equipment wherever she turned her head to look. The winter air that was once silent was no longer so; the blue skies were crisscrossed with the engine trails of jets every so often, and the roar of heavy transports overhead reminded Sheryl that the other blocks of this massive base, below which it no doubt hid a dungeon of depravity, were just as busy in preparing for the coming storm.

For the one and a half months that she had been here, Sheryl had mostly kept to herself, putting most of her attention to scoping out the people whom she worked with; thankfully, none of her unknowing colleagues openly displayed Blue Cosmos traits, although hallway banter had revealed plenty of expected prejudice against Coordinators. She expected as much; apart from the ongoing war, no small number of survivors from the April Fool's Crisis had joined their respective national militaries and served with OMNI since then, and still did so even now. Still, most of the personnel here were kept in the dark as to what had actually happened with Berlin and the Eurasian Federation, as well as the recent Atlantic Federation civil war; she had heard not a single mention from anyone around her of such a dire incident all day.

Sheryl stood up, wiping her hands on her work coveralls, and grabbed her datapad before heading towards the hangar office. It was a pity that she was going to have to disappear during their most crucial moment, but she quashed that thought; she was here for one overriding purpose above all else. If she tried anything idealistic, the only achievement she would have was her own corpse; and worse still, the corpses of Guy and their uncalled for benefactor, Karl.

Sheryl's chance to converse with Linda never came, however. Upon return, the squadron commander had led them all off. With her own unit busy with repairs and maintenance, Sheryl had worked late into the night on weapons that would no doubt end up being involved in Blue Cosmos-committed acts of terror someday. The thought made her uncomfortable, but the prospects of Guy's and her mad, desperate plan finally coming to fruition let her soldier on. The next day had been the same busy schedule, and her unit commander kept sending her to other parts of the base block for logistical issues; if Linda or her unit had come down to the hangar, she had missed all of them.

Dinner with Guy had been equally terse. While they met up only occasionally after duties, in order to prevent drawing too much attention to themselves, yesterday was one of their scheduled meetups; Guy reported a similar situation; and to add, his team had been one of those involved in putting together a massive unit called a "Destroy". Guy reiterated several times that he's never had to perform maintenance surrounded by armed guards before, as well as his regret that he was unable to perform any sabotage on the gigantic unit.

The two of them shared their experiences, and had checked one of the secluded corridors arrayed with personnel lockers where Karl would hide updates on the situation. What they had found there, however, chilled them to the bone; disguised small arms and ammunition for them, encrypted instructions in a datapad to meet at Block D, as well as a terse message within the instructions.

Get all the stuff ready. Anytime now.

CE 74, February 21st, Naval region west of Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation

Morning 11 43

The interior of the vertical launch hangar of the Vosgulov-class submarine carrier Unapproachable was filled with a cacophony of work sounds as crew ran last-minute checks on the various systems that lined its interior, the sound of boots on metal walkways alone forming an ever-present, if otherwise chaotic background beat to the other noises. Commander Grace Sakerfield leaned out of the cockpit of her GOUF Ignited and watched as her direct superior, Alan Reidr, conversed with another man while approaching the berth in which his mobile suit was currently locked into. She caught sight of one of her other squadron members, Fredric Koherg, entering his own mobile suit; Grace guessed that Alan was doing a walk-down to check on his squadron pilots before the mission began.

Hours ago the PLANTs, mainly backed by the Eurasian Federation and Republic of East Asia, and with a statement from the new Atlantic Federation government, had jointly issued a condemnation against Blue Cosmos and LOGOS and called for their disarmament and shutting down of their main stronghold, Heaven's Base, which the group had secretly appropriated for themselves as a powerbase both before and after Chairman Gilbert Durandal's announcement. A combined fleet now held position just off the shallow waters that surrounded the base.

Grace knew via Alan that scattered around the ZAFT forces arrayed in the area were at least nine other teams from the First Strike Corps. Such a gathering of strength of the pilots that served as the far-ranging spear of ZAFT was unprecedented since the war began, not even during the defensive actions they had held to around ZAFT's Eurasian bases in the fallout of the Berlin Incident.

"I've heard of the manufacturing capabilities of Anvil Station, but this is the first time I'm seeing one of its results directly," the man beside Alan said, the crimson of his pilot suit a stark contrast to Alan's dark grey and black. "If we had this kind of pilot customization and support during the last war…"

"The last war was what taught them that they needed this capability, Henri," Alan replied. "The expansion of FAITH and the First Strike Corps are all consequences of that realization too. Still," he craned his neck to look forward, Grace following his gaze. "ZAFT ground forces must be tight on hands if they're sending you out here."

Henri laughed. "Says the one from the armed branch whose job it is to be everywhere without complaint."

Locked in tight in front of Grace's GOUF Ignited were two mobile suits; the foremost one painted crimson not unlike the colors awarded to a ZAFT elite pilot, the following unit a dark grey with red highlights, the native colors of Raider Team, the squadron that Alan commanded. Both were the same units, however; the ZGMF-X2000CQGB&S GOUF Crusher.

"Large-scale battles are hardly my plate either, but all the hard fights have been such since I landed at Diocuia," Alan replied. "See you on the other side."

Grace watched as Alan and Henri bumped fists against each other. Henri looked up to catch sight of Grace's gaze, and nodded in return.

Grace replied with a curt nod of her own as Alan turned back to approach her. "How's the unit?"

"Working fine as usual," Grace answered. "Who's that high-and-mighty redcoat?"

Alan chuckled. "Old friend. Henri Eugenie, FAITH member. They sent him here with the first GOUF Crusher unit."

"Other than our's, the rest of the units here are DINNs and BABIs," Grance said. "What's command smoking to send a cushy redcoat with a top-line unit down here to lead a handful of regulars around?"

"Don't be so critical of him, Grace," Alan replied. "He's got plenty of experience under his belt."

Grace merely shrugged as she left the cockpit of her GOUF Ignited to stand on the metal walkway. "We'll see once the shooting starts."

"There's still some time until the deadline for Blue Cosmos to give their answer," Alan said. "Gibraltar has almost emptied itself to provide the naval forces here today. Not to mention that the naval fleets of the Eurasian Federation, and the Republic of East Asia, have the forward line. If Blue Cosmos has any clarity of thought left to them, they'll accept the surrender."

"Do you think they'll actually accept that course of action?" Grace asked, a hint of challenge in her tone.

Alan knew why she put her question forth in such a manner. "N-"

If Alan had planned for a longer reply, it was quashed from his mind as the scream of warning klaxons erupted down the length of the hangar. Work crew looked around for an instant before breaking into a running sprint as they rushed to their stations or to clear the immediate launch area.

"This is the Unapproachable to all pilots. The enemy has opened fire on the Eurasian and Republic naval forces well ahead of schedule. All forces assigned to naval and shore breaching units are to prepare for launch immediately. I repeat, the enemy has opened fire on the Eurasian and Republic naval forces well ahead of schedule-"

The railing-mounted warning lamp beside the two pilots started flashing a stark amber light, an alert telling them that the walkway was going to be retracted. Grace hopped back onto the open cockpit of her mobile suit as Alan turned and began running towards his own assigned unit. "If that had been a bet, I would have won!" She yelled after Alan, before pulling the sealing lever that would close the cockpit of her GOUF Ignited.

Alan shook his head and snickered as he jumped into his own unit and pulled the lever, the lights of the hangar fading from view to be replaced by the dim interior illumination of an inactivated cockpit. Even then, the sounds of the alert sirens permeated the mobile suit as he took his place in the cockpit, one hand flipping the activation switches while the other deftly swung his helmet up and onto his head. The dim ambience in the cockpit receded quickly as the main lights and screens came online. The data-link and unit comms activated a moment later. "Raider Leader to squadron, report."

"Raider Two," Grace answered almost immediately. "I'm green."

"Raider Three good to go." Fredric replied.

"Raider Four!" The squadron's least senior member, Suzuki Amano exclaimed. "Status green!"

"Raider Five," The rough voice of Larry Falke sounded out. "All okay here."

"Raider Leader, roger all," Alan said, switching channels. "Raider Leader to Unapproachable, Raider Team is green. Awaiting launch orders."

"Unapproachable to Raider Team, acknowledged. Hammer Team will take first sortie. Standby for further orders."

The sound of waves breaking could be faintly heard even with the ongoing auditory chaos, as the Unapproachable broke the surface of the sea. Alan watched as brief droplets of water splashed off the surface of Henri Engenie's GOUF Crusher, as the clamps moved the mobile suit to the launch rails, even as the top bay doors opened. With a cloud of steam and smoke wreathing his view, the Unapproachable launched the crimson-colored mobile suit followed suit with eight accompanying DINNs and BABIs in short order.

The bay doors remained open as Alan's GOUF Crusher was shifted to the foremost vertical launch rail, Grace's GOUF Ignited close behind. But no immediate launch came in.

"Unapproachable to Raider all, launch is on hold. Command is currently re-evaluating the threat assessment."

"Oh yeah, just drag us all the way here from Diocuia to enjoy the grey skies," Grace muttered.

"We'll get our chance yet, Raider Two," Larry interjected in jest. "Don't tear yourself free, the submarine won't be able to work afterwards."

If Suzuki laughed, Alan didn't hear it; but with Fredric's sound of mirth obscuring most of the squadron channel he doubt he could have caught any sign of laughter from the softspoken pilot. Grace, for her part, laughed along sarcastically. "Better fly far from me, Raider Five; I might mistake you for an impromptu projectile."

Alan let them banter with each other while they could; soon enough they'd all be out there where even breathing could be considered a luxury.

"Unapproachable to Raider Leader, force alert status is being elevated. Reconfirm your launch preparation."

Alan replied as the laughter died down almost instantly, his on-screen data-link updating itself as the CIC of the Unapproachable fed him new data. "Raider Team is all-green."

"Roger. Action rally at point A4; push back the enemy advance and assist ZAFT air forces in creating a landing zone. Be aware that the zone is currently being contested by enemy heavies against Eurasian and Republic forces; two enemy Euclid mobile armors with accompanying escorts are in the area. Estimate escort force to be twenty mobile suits."

"Acknowledged, Unapproachable. Raider Leader out."

The force of being launched skywards momentarily pressed Alan into the pilot seat, as his view of the interior of the Unapproachable's hangar bay was swiftly changed to that of a grey sky overlooking a dark blue sea, and a snowclad shore bordering a grey base and its snow-capped mountain backdrop. Alan grimly noted that would have been a fairly serene view had the skies not been filled with several hundred aerial mobile suits and fighter craft exchanging fire with each other.

In front, the various smoke pillars rising into the cold skies spoke of the losses sustained by the Eurasian Federation and the Republic of East Asia navies. While their carrier craft and capital ships remained untouched, their forward fighting ships had been badly mauled in the combat, although the burning wrecks arrayed further out towards Heaven's Base told Alan that their counterattack had been equally fierce.

Underneath Alan were the fleet of ZAFT Vosgulov-class submarines that were currently on the surface launching mobile suits into the air. More were underwater, deploying the amphibious forces that would join their aerial compatriots in the assault on Heaven's Base. Alan spied the Minerva in the rear of the formation.

The GOUF Crusher's ascent slowed as the acceleration from the launch rails bled off. Flight wings snapping open, Alan felt the mobile suit's interior rumble as its own thrusters took over the job of keeping the bipedal machine afloat, weighed down by his insistence that his mobile suit be modified with additional hip block equipment clamps that now carried a standard GOUF shield and a beam rifle. A short distance away, Grace's GOUF Ignited fell into flight formation, the MA-MR Falx G7 beam polearm she had specially requested for her unit already activated. Down below, a set of three Guul flight lifters ejected from the Unapproachable's launch rails, their wings unfolding as they circled the submarine, awaiting their intended users.

"Raider Leader to Raider Two. Keep on my tail; we'll advance forward and disrupt the enemy formation. Raider Three, bring up the others once the lifters are deployed."

"Roger Raider Leader," Fredric replied.

Both GOUFs fell through the skies towards the water surface, wingtips tracing contrail as they strove to leave the air-to-air fight to the dedicated squadrons with near-surface flight. As they left the ZAFT lines and began flying over the Eurasian and Republic navy, however, a flight of Jet Windams broke off from the skies in an attempt to bar their way; with allied anti-air fire largely occupied by a multitude of other targets, the four Blue Cosmos units fell into an attack run nearly unopposed, beam rifle fire slashing through the air as Alan and Grace split their formation, letting the enemy fire impact into the ocean or against the armor of any ship unfortunate enough to be underneath them.

Grace's GOUF Ignited roared upwards, the flames from its engine nozzles flaring a brilliant white tinged with blue at their edges, as she chased down the lead Jet Windam. A handful of beam shots were deflected off the GOUF Ignited's handheld shield as she struck with a sidewards sweep from her right, the beam polearm smashing through her target's block to shear the Jet Windam in half.

Grace let her momentum carry her through the enemy formation; the Jet Windams split, attempting to track her with their weapons, and paid for it as Alan brought up Grace's rear. The nearest Jet Windam had its lower body shattered as the GOUF Crusher's Spherical Breaker smashed through the lightweight mobile suit

The two remaining Jet Windams turned to face the new threat as Alan let the momentum of the solid superdense hammer flail carry his mobile suit forward. Swinging the Spherical Breaker around, the weapon grazed off the shield of one of the Jet Windams, sending it spinning through the air; the other levelled its beam rifle at Alan, but before it could fire, the whip segments that kept the Spherical Breaker connected to the GOUF Crusher were wrapped around the unfortunate mobile suit, binding its arms to its side before smashing into its left shoulder. Before the pilot could adjust their aim, the GOUF Crusher pulled the enemy close, obstructing its ally's aim at Alan, while its left arm rotated backwards in time for Alan to smash the mobile suit's Impact Vise into the cockpit block of the Jet Windam, crumpling its front like a tin can.

Alan pushed the Spherical Breaker off from where it had wedged into the now-silent Jet Windam and let gravity do the rest as he activated the heat rod functions of the Spherical Breaker's whip, the weapon searing away enough of the mobile suit's external armor to loosen it from the whip's embrace as the flail spun around the unit, untangling itself from the unfortunate Jet Windam. The whip retracted, deactivating its segments as it went, as Grace split the last Jet Windam down the middle with a high-speed strike.

Both GOUFs resumed their advance, the mobile suits no more than a couple of meters from touching the roiling surface of the sea as they made their way forward; some distance behind, Alan could see Fredric and the rest of the team's location following the path that Grace and him had cleared for them. Weaving past the sinking wreckage of a Eurasian Federation Arkansas-class cruiser, both GOUFs then caught sight of their listed targets; two Euclids, backed by several Jet Windams and three Aile 105 Daggers, dogfighting any ZAFT, Eurasian, or Republic forces that dared to approach them.

Alan highlighted one of the Euclids, leaving the squadron data-link to spread the details to his subordinates. "Raider Two, focus on my marked target. Raider Three, bring up the rear and support our allies."

The replies were simultaneous. "Roger."

The two GOUFs sped past an Aile 105 Dagger striking a Jet Windam's shields with its beam sabres, the two ZAFT pilots focused on the keystone units of the enemy. The marked Euclid was aware of their approach, the heavyset mobile armor turning from its forward advance to meet them with its gatling autocannons and beam cannons with surprising speed. Heavy-caliber automatic fire ripped into the ocean surface a second later as the Euclid opened fire, the GOUFs dodging only at the last moment; even with shields Alan doubted that they could have withstood the Euclid's autocannon weapons for long.

Grace's GOUF Ignited left a high-speed wake behind on the sea surface as its thrusters fired repeatedly, the mobile suit dancing around the hail of beam shots thrown its way by the Euclid's escorts. One arm raised, the GOUF Ignited's left arm-mounted Draupnir triple-barreled beam guns opened fire in retaliation, the bursts of beam shots taking out weapons, exposed limbs, and any mobile suit that didn't protect themselves or evade adequately. Those that guarded themselves against the GOUF Ignited, however, found themselves flanked by Fredric, Larry, and Suzuki; the three ZAKU Phantoms, two using the Blaze Wizard Pack and one with a Gunner Wizard Pack, opened fire, beam rifle shots mixing with rockets and cannon fire from their Guul flight lifters to tear Blue Cosmos units from the air.

Alan's GOUF Crusher, meanwhile, had unhooked the shield unit from its left hip block clamp and its beam rifle from its right, returning any attempting to down him with interest; one of the Jet Windams attempting to shoot him down took a hit directly in its torso, and fell backwards into the sea.

A warning siren sounded out, and Alan fired the GOUF Crusher's leg thrusters, giving the mobile suit just enough power to boost-flip over a beam sabre slash that threatened to bisect it at the waist. The Aile 105 Dagger that had attempted to strike down Alan fired its thrusters, using the miss as momentum to quickly speed past the GOUF Crusher, before turning around for another high-speed pass, beam sabre flaring to life as its CIWS guns fired.

Ignoring the bursts of CIWS fire as they sparked off its shield and shoulder armor, the GOUF Crusher threw its beam rifle into the air, blocking the strike with its shield as it diverted the blow to the side by angling its body towards its right side. The Aile 105 Dagger fired its thrusters again and turned to face the GOUF Crusher, just in time for the ZAFT unit's right arm-mounted Slayer Whip heat rod, now burning a brilliant orange, to slice through the Blue Cosmos mobile suit's right arm joint from above effortlessly. The off-balance mobile suit tumbled through the air for a brief moment before the GOUF Crusher caught its beam rifle from mid-air and placed a single well-aimed shot into its torso, sending the flaming wreckage of the Aile 105 Dagger into the ocean.

Alan had a brief moment to appreciate his handiwork when a cockpit siren caught his attention, and he pushed the GOUF Crusher forward, its thrusters alight as it dove towards the sea surface. Autocannon fire flashed past the GOUF Crusher as it danced across and alongside the waves, the wake left behind by its thrusters occasionally perforated by the automatic fire of the Euclid's twin gatling autocannons. The mobile armor's beam cannons angled forward and fired, the blasts throwing up copious amounts of steam as they attempted to score a killing hit on the agile ZAFT unit.

Alan's thoughts raced as he manoeuvred his unit into position. "Raider Five! Strike the marked target after me!"

Larry's reply was near instantaneous. "Roger Raider Leader. Watch your vectors; heavy fire incoming."

Bursting through the steam and falling seawater, the GOUF Crusher, still strafing around the Euclid, reached backwards. Its Slayer Whip end reconnected with the Spherical Breaker flail hammer, and in one swing Alan let fly the heavy weapon at the mobile armor. The sides of the Euclid snapped open, light flickering on its front; seconds later the Spherical Flail bounced off the activated surface of the mobile armor's Positron Reflector, a shimmering effect playing out across the shield as its constituent energized particles rippled from the impact.

The Euclid turned to face its left side as a multi-phase beam blast struck it head-on, courtesy of Larry's ZAKU Gunner Phantom wielding its Orthros beam cannon. Taking the chance, Alan brought the Spherical Breaker in a second swinging strike to the rear of the mobile armor; this time, the blow struck home, the hammer flail burying itself into the Euclid's right engine, compacting the engine's nozzles into its internal components and crushing them against each other.

Explosions chained through the Euclid's right side as the engine damage caused other systems to fail, including the right-side support thrusters that helped to keep the heavy unit afloat. Its Positron Reflectors flickered as the explosions swallowed its right emitter arm in a gout of fire. Listing to the right, the Euclid was too slow to respond as a second multi-phase blast from Larry tore into its left engine. Grace delivered the finishing blow, bringing her GOUF Ignited's Falx beam polearm down onto the Euclid's top segment as the shimmering energies of its Positron Reflector died and faded away, burying the weapon deep into the mobile armor's front segment. The Euclid crashed into the ocean, Grace pulling her weapon free and soaring back into the skies before the wreck sunk beneath the waves.

The second Euclid drew back, the few remaining enemy mobile suits surrounding it in a tattered defensive formation as it sought to put some distance between itself and the newcomer ZAFT units. Amano's Blaze ZAKU Phantom fired, the heavy rounds of the M68 Cattus 500mm recoiless rifle that it wielded smashing wide any individual mobile suit's attempt to block the shots, either to be destroyed with a second hit, or for Fredric to follow up with his own marksmanship. The Eurasian units reformed behind them, two remaining squadrons of Eurasian Jet Windams and a flight of ZAFT BABIs eager to avenge their near-defeat.

The fight had just began, and already the waters below them were littered with the inert corpses of mobile suits, ships, and other weapons of war, along with those of their human operators. Alan grimly issued new orders as Raider Team reformed around him to press home their attack.

CE 74, February 21st, Supercomplex Block E, Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation

Afternoon 12 19

Sheryl had spent the previous night in a fitful sleep, snapping awake to every sound she heard. When she finally woke for duty, the grip of tension on her body was stronger than ever. Still, maintenance continued as usual, and currently, her unit commander had sent her to another part of the block to requisition spare parts for a set of beam emitters for Sword Striker Packs.

No sooner had Sheryl began to entertain the thought of an attack occurring during her shift did the sound of an air-raid siren cut through the air. The vicinity was immediately filled with noise and shouted orders as the personnel of Heaven's Base erupted into activity.

Sheryl, however, ducked away from the hustle and went through a side door, emerging on the inner portion of Block E. She felt a weight lift from her heart; now that the action was on, the time to wait was over. Swiftly making her way around the mostly-empty barracks in the inner portion, she quickly found herself at the barracks of Block D, which were by now, empty of personnel.

The roar of turbofan engines caused her to duck under cover; an Euclid MA, no doubt from Block E, flew past overhead, heedless of the wind damage below it as the backdraft of its engines blew half-empty trash cans and unsecured paraphernalia about. Flights of Windams followed at a higher altitude. Far off, the similar signs of MS and MA launches could be seen; engine entrails streaked into the sky like forest trees reaching towards the sky. Sheryl felt as though she was looking at a hornet's nest emptying itself.

Shaking free from the sight, she turned to see Guy approaching at a sprint. Sheryl's partner in crime stopped just short once under the building's cover. "Where's Karl?"

"Behind you all," Karl said, as the storeroom door behind them opened, startling them both.

"Holy shit," Guy said, gasping even harder, as Sheryl glared at Karl. "Don't ever do that again!"

"I felt like I had to reciprocate a little for what I went through when the two of you first arrived on this base," Karl said, a bitter smile cracking out at the sides of his face. "Keep your small arms. I got rifles for both of you."

The two "technicians" and one "security trooper" quickly readied themselves, with Guy and Sheryl donning combat vests; she could feel vital armor plating pressing against her body, adding to the weight of the wear. Pushing a magazine into her silenced rifle, Sheryl pulled the charging handle, and the telltale, familiar sound of a round sliding into the rifle's firing chamber set her mind into the steely state she was looking for. "So, is the entrance to the deep, dark underground at Block D?"

"Somewhat," Karl said. "This is why I had you at Block E and Guy at Block D. Block C was my zone before I found the locale."

The trio entered into the office portion of Block D. "Should we be waltzing about like this?" Guy asked. "Even if most personnel are out front..."

"I've already sabotaged the cameras around here. By the time they realize they're looking at a snapshot record, it will be too late. Besides, we won't have time to sneak around," Karl said. "This is a ZAFT-led attack with allies and deserters from the other OMNI factions. Blue Cosmos may have an inflated opinion of themselves, but I sure as hell don't. We best be out of here before they flatten the base with us still inside."

The corridors were silent; those with combat posts were out there and up front, while administrative staff had already left for the air-raid shelters. Karl led them down a short hallway towards a door marked "Basement Storeroom", where a heavy-lift elevator was located. "Okay, the both of you," Karl said, as he swung the doors open. "Don't be alarmed by what you see."

Guy and Sheryl froze at the sight of four armed security troopers and an officer.

Guy and Sheryl had to fight the urge to ready their weapons as the officer, in a bulletproof vest, stepped forward. "So those are our guests. Will this compromise the mission?"

"Same paths, different goals," Karl remarked. "Our targets are likely together. The faster we make a concentrated effort, the faster we can get out of this pit before ZAFT and her new allies turn this place into a smoking crater."

The mismatched group filed into the elevator, which fit them all nicely. As Sheryl and Guy watched, Karl swiped a keycard through a reader near the elevator's floor buttons, of which there were only four.

The lighting in the elevator dimmed for an instant, before all the button and level lights in the elevator glowed red. The elevator dropped sharply for a moment before settling on a less-suicidal descent speed; Sheryl felt that they had long passed the B4 level that the elevator had as its deepest destination.

"Say, Karl," Guy asked. "Why did they build a secret doorway here?"

"It's not exactly a secret," Karl said, motioning to his group of guards. "Their posting were for guards for the retrieval of sensitive documents from the four basement levels." Karl fiddled with his rifle before continuing. "There're three ways to enter the underground prison block. One is via the interrogation rooms in Block C. Two are ways are hidden under the guise of document storage, one in Block A, and one here. Armed guards are present to maintain a facade and to provide extra security."

"Not bad," Guy replied. "So a whole squad of infiltrators were inserted into this location, huh?"

"It's got the right size to accommodate us," one of the soldiers piped up. "The main entrance would cause the security squad to be filled with normal OMNI personnel."

"Alright, that's enough," Karl suddenly said. "Get ready."

The lift doors opened to reveal, to two very surprised security troopers, a squad of ten armed personnel. Sheryl, up in front and on her knee, dropped the first soldier; both shots on the chest, just under the neck, while Karl and one of his squad members put down the other soldier.

Despite the messy work, no alarms had yet been raised. The infiltrators filed out of the lift and took up overlapping fire positions in the straight corridor.

"Should they be doing this?" One of Karl's squad members asked. "Don't want them to flip out on us for killing their allies."

"No need to concern yourself about us, we aren't going to put one in your ass." Sheryl sniped back. "Worry about yourself first."

"Listen to the lady," Karl said, chuckling. "She's already showed that her shooting is as good as yours, Joji."

Sheryl eyed the Caucasian-looking Joji as he made a disgruntled sound, but said nothing, and the group quickly made their way down the corridor.

"Okay, you two," Karl said, as the group moved rapidly through the facility. "I was only able to pull records of which rooms were occupied and their numbers, but not the exact prisoners. Luckily, there are only three occupied cell clusters. If it's not one of them, it's the others."

After passing by three entrances, they stopped. Their entryway of choice was closed, and the electronic lock panel was red.

"Let's start with this one. Tony," Karl said, motioning another team member, the officer, to move forward. Tony made his way up silently, snapping a lockpicker into place on one of the panel's electronic ports. The rest of the group shouldered their rifles, waiting for the door to open.

The door slid open, revealing three personnel; two armed guards and a cell administrator in a junction room. Karl's team fired, but one of the guards had been standing in front of the administrator; in the time it took for the group to manoeuvre around the guard for a better firing position, the administrator had slammed on the alert button under her desk. A shrill alarm drowned out the administrator's grunt of pain as one of Karl's team shot her.

"We're out of time!" Karl hollered. "John, Dennis, you're on guard. Tony, Shaun, with me. George, pull the admin's list, get the name we need!"

"Three from the door," George said, pointing to the left door as he tossed a keycard to Karl. As his leader's group left to search their location, George looked up from his position at the ex-administrator's desk. "You two. I see another name here. Down the central cell group, two from the door." He passed the two another key card pilfered from the administrator's desk.

"Thanks," Guy replied. "We'll be right back."

Sheryl and Guy passed through the middle doorway, entering into a room with a row of six electronically-locked cell rooms. All the doors were locked, the red glow of their panel lights visible in the low lighting of the group's walkway. Guy and Sheryl stopped on the third door from the entrance.

With mounting tension, Sheryl slid the card through the third cell's reader. The cell doors hissed open, revealing an empty cell.

Or so Sheryl thought. A pair of hard hands, bony, and lined with veins, reached out, clamping down firmly on her rifle and pulling her into the cell; a violent push slammed her against the cell's far wall. Sheryl, feeling something amiss, lashed out with a backhanded strike; her assailant grunted as the impact threw him off balance, but did not let go of his grip on her only weapon until Guy pulled the prisoner away, throwing him against the left wall of the cell.

"Ray! Stop! It's us! Guy and Sheryl!"

The prisoner stopped, and Guy and Sheryl had a look at the prisoner's face for the first time. Sheryl, however, immediately raised her rifle, to Guy's shock. "What the hell are you doing here?!" Sheryl snarled.

Guy turned to look at the prisoner.

Bolvar Kasavok's eyes widened as he took in the faces of his unwitting rescuers, before managing a gaunt smile. "I recognize you people. Feric sure has some nice friends... or did Roan send you people to rescue me?"

"Nobody was sending for you," Sheryl spat. "Do as you please."

Sheryl stormed out of the cell, with Guy giving one last look at Kasavok.

"She seems to hate my guts," Kasavok said.

"Not without good reason, considering who you once were," Guy replied. "I won't lock you back in. You can probably pilfer weapons from the dead guards outside. But we won't be catering to you; from here on, you're on your own if you want to get somewhere."

Kasavok grunted, rubbing his jaw where Sheryl had hit him. "Fair enough."

Sheryl and Guy filed back into the junction room in time to see Karl support a dishevelled and beaten Kaguya into the room.

Sheryl's eyes widened. "Kaguya... the one they were looking for... was you?"

Guy narrowed his gaze, but kept silent.

"'Kaguya'?" George snickered. "That's what they're calling you, eh?"

Kaguya eyed George; the operative quickly faked a cough and looked away. Pushing herself off Karl's support, she grabbed a rifle from one of the fallen guards, and turned to face Guy and Sheryl. "There will be time for talk later. We still have another person to find." She turned to Karl. "Get us to the next occupied segment."

"We're running low on time, Kaguya", Karl said. "And you won't be able to keep up the pace for long."

"Another one of your buddies, you mean?" Sheryl snapped, glowering at Kaguya. "Or maybe you'd like to start by telling us your real name first-"

Ignoring a sound of protest from Karl, Kaguya drew the combat knife from his side holster.

"This is going to get in the way. Give me a moment."

Pulling her hair tight, she ran the knife through her long hair, cutting their length down to her shoulder. The rest of it fell to the floor in a stream black strands

"I mean yours - and ours," Kaguya said to Sheryl, tossing the knife back to Karl, who nearly fumbled trying to catch it. "We don't have much time. Let's move." She looked around the room, the alarm still ringing shrilly, before moving towards the door to the main corridor, pausing only to eye Karl. "'Karl' this time, right? Watch me."

Karl sighed heavily. "You heard her," he said, to the rest of his squad. "Let's make this a chop job."

"Hey! Stop your fucking act!" Sheryl snarled. "I'm not done with y-"

"Listen to the lady," Kasavok said, approaching from behind, as Karl and his group began exiting the room. He stopped to pick up a rifle; ejecting the magazine, he gave it a look over before slamming it back in. "You want to rescue your squadron leader, don't you?"

"I don't take orders from terrorist sh-" Sheryl began, but Guy cut her short by moving in-between the two of them.

"I'll let you go insane on them all later," he said. "But we have bigger priorities right now."

Sheryl was silent for a moment, before exhaling explosively with a sigh. "Fuck all of this," she said, hefting her rifle and turning to look at Kasavok. "Never thought I'd be saying this, but at least we know you came from OMNI. You with us, old man?"

"Such a sharp tongue for one so young," Kasavok chuckled, leaning down to pull a load vest off one of the slain guards. "I am, for now. Let's move."

CE 74, February 22nd, Supercomplex Block D, Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation

Afternoon 12 22

The last of the guards crumpled to the ground as Karl and his squad mowed them down with extreme prejudice. Stepping over their dead bodies, Sheryl watched as Tony worked the door locks again.

The mismatched rescue group had encountered more guards on their way towards the second occupied cluster. Thanks to Dennis and Shaun, they had the first strike on their side; the front guards were dead before they could even warn those behind time, and concentrated fire from everyone finished the security team in short order. That was little comfort to them all, however; more were undoubtedly on their way.

Sheryl silently hoped that the ZAFT assault on Heaven's Base would last as long as they need it to.

With the door opened, Sheryl and Guy prepared to charge the interior of the room. This time, however, Karl motioned to George to toss in two grenades. A yell was cut short as the explosives detonated; when the flash and explosion had subsided, the group stormed the junction room. George once again took up position at the administrative desk, seemingly oblivious to the explosives-painted walls and floor of the junction room.

"Only one." George motioned to Sheryl. "You wanna check the name this time?"

Even as Kaguya and Sheryl leaned in close to verify the name on the list, Kasavok had already had his glance, and, ignoring George's glare, had already taken a keycard. He made his way into the room, and moments later, stumbled back out, propping up a dazed Rasel Grey.

Sheryl made a noise of discontentment, but said nothing.

The haziness vanished from the former NEFA ace pilot's eyes, however, as he took in the sights. "That's quite the welcome wagon, Colonel."

"Just be happy that you can flag them down for a ride," Kasavok replied. "Can you move solo?"

Rasel moved away from his commander, stretching his fingers with popping sounds. "Tired and hungry, but still able. All I need is a rifle." He glanced around, briefly stopping at Karl. "Huh. So you're the one they call Target Alpha-Two."

Karl had a look of slight incredulity. "Who, me?"

Rasel gave a short laugh. "Yeah, you're quite famous in Phantom Pain. Or were, the last time I left it. They had orders to capture and interrogate you the moment you attempted to infiltrate the armed forces, but I think that the anti-Blue Cosmos factions in the Atlantic Federation, in their scramble to be as big a thorn in the side of Blue Cosmos as they could, did a good enough job to impede them somewhat. By accident, of course."

"I hardly like the sound of being collateral," Karl said. "So who's Alpha-One?"

"Take a guess," Rasel said, openly eyeballing Kaguya for a moment as he cracked his knuckles, accepting a firearm and a reasonably-intact combat vest from Kasavok. "Whatever. When you go running back to Orb, remember to tell your masters to thank the right people."

Guy shot a warning look at Sheryl; thankfully, her expression one that was largely neutral, albeit slightly marred with impatience.

"Let's stop messing around. We still have one more stop," Kaguya said, paying no notice to Rasel's statement. "Karl, how many more can you take?"

Karl sighed, "One more. It's a good thing I made preparations after looking at the possible personnel count."

"Good," Kaguya cracked a tired smile. "Always have a bigger boat ready."

Afterword:

The rescue is finally underway in the middle of the ZAFT-led attack on Heaven's Base. It was a bit tough to present the interior of the base, given the scant information the original series had on it, but I hoped I did well enough to shed an alternative view on both the location and the people within.