CE 74, February 21st, Naval region west of Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation
Afternoon 12 22
Bedlam ruled the skies and the seas as the battle for Heaven's Base raged on. The waves were already thick with the debris and detritus of those destroyed and slain; mobile suit and aircraft components mixed in the murky waters, while beneath the surface heavier components slowly sank to the bottom. Still the battle raged on, combat craft exchanging fire both above and below the sea while the forward Eurasian naval forces unloaded their extensive arsenal against their counterparts defending Heaven's Base.
Grace Sakerfield gritted her teeth as her GOUF Ignited fired its thrusters with a thunderous roar, the powerful rocket engines stopping the mobile suit from plunging into the sea as it outran three Jet Dagger Ls. Turning to face backwards, the ZAFT mobile suit raised its right arm; brilliant green slashes of light pierced the air as it fired its arm-mounted Draupnir triple-barreled beam guns. Two Jet Dagger Ls broke off their attack to evade her shots, while one pressed forward, shield held in front and gunning for a collision course with her.
The GOUF Ignited evaded the Jet Dagger L's attempted shield strike at the last moment, the mobile suits missing each other by scant centimeters. The Jet Dagger L kept its thrusters firing as it attempted to pull away from the ZAFT unit, but Grace was faster; from the GOUF Ignited's left arm snaked a Slayer Whip heat rod, the flexible melee weapon wrapping around the leg of the mobile suit.
The Jet Dagger L jerked and pitched forward, its flight momentum lost as the GOUF Ignited dragged it in the opposite direction. The electrical current came a moment later, the powerful surge causing arcs of electricity to play across the Blue Cosmos unit and frying its internal components.
With a swing, the GOUF Ignited sent the inert Jet Dagger L flying towards one of its compatriots attempting to get a bead on the ZAFT unit. The second Jet Dagger L dodged the impromptu projectile only to face Grace for the last time as she struck with a fast strike using the Falx beam polearm her GOUF Ignited carried, the heavy melee weapon chopping through the enemy from head to the middle of its torso. With a tug, the GOUF Ignited wrenched the weapon free, and turned to face its last opponent.
The last Jet Dagger L just took aim at Grace when an impact from the right sent it reeling, its right arm falling off in its entirety from its mangled shoulder joint. Raider Leader, Alan Reidr's GOUF Crusher dived in, swinging its Spherical Breaker hammer flail around for a second pass. Thrown off-balance, the Blue Cosmos unit's fate was sealed as the weapon struck its torso from the front, demolishing the Jet Dagger L into two separate pieces sent into the sea, loose debris trailing after both halves of the mobile suit.
"Raiders!" Alan called. "Regroup on my position!"
Grace threw off a Jet 105 Dagger that tried to entangle her in melee combat, smashing the mobile suit backwards with the haft of the GOUF Ignited's Falx beam polearm. A quick swing with the weapon ate through the enemy's left leg, unbalancing the mobile suit as it fell away, thrusters firing to put some distance between itself and Grace's unit.
Its escape attempt was cut short as a beam rifle shot lanced out from behind Grace to hit it squarely in the back, the blast of energy chewing through its flight pack and cockpit block. Grace's GOUF Ignited took position beside the Guul-supported Blaze ZAKU Phantom of Raider Three, Fredric Koherg, watching as the flaming metal corpse fell towards the sea surface.
Raider Four, Suzuki Amano's Blaze ZAKU Phantom stopped beside Alan's GOUF Crusher, the mobile suit reloading its Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle. "This is never-ending. We've already gone through a full resupply once and it's not even a half-hour yet."
"They're just throwing themselves at us," Raider Five, Larry Falke, said. "Where do they get these numbers?"
Alan pulled up a map of the region, eyeing the ongoing enemy activity that was being tracked on it. A data-link to the ships kept it updated, and Alan watched as the red dots that marked concentrations of enemy units continued to coalesce around five regions that formed a rough battle line against the ongoing assault.
"What are they -" Suzuki started, her tone quickly shifting when she noticed the position of the enemies on the map. "I see it! On the shores! Underground hangars!"
Alan watched as heavyset blast doors opened, and from within rose a sight he would have been happy not to see again for the rest of his life. Five Destroy GUNDAMs emerged in mobile armor form, their thrusters firing as they began their advance over the base and onto the sea.
"If orbital support wants to deploy, now would be a good time…!" Suzuki said.
"Ah shit," Larry muttered. "This is the worst day to date."
"Even with our assistance, the Eurasian forces can't keep on it forever," Fredric muttered. "Once they run out of steam, it'll be ZAFT that has to shoulder the brunt of the attack." He looked around, his Blaze ZAKU Phantom's monoeye imitating his head motion by swinging from end to end on its rail. "Where's the Minerva's mobile suits?"
"Keep calm. The plan was to hold them back in reserve for the final breakthrough, though the plan seems to be dead now." Alan switched the comms channel. "Raider Leader to Unapproachable, enemy Destroys on the field. Request mission update."
The reply came a few seconds later. "Unapproachable to Raider Leader, command is re-evaluating the situation. Orbital forces are inbound; reinforce battle lines and hold position."
"Understood, Unapproachable. Raider Leader out," Alan said, arms shifting control sticks as Raider Team scattered to avoid the beam shots that sliced through the middle of their formation, eight Jet Windams backed by two Raider Full Specs making a beeline for their position. "Raiders, reinforce and retaliate! Clear out the small fry before they regroup around the Destroys!"
"That's the order I want to hear." Grace said. Her GOUF Ignited charged forward, closing distance with the Jet Windams and scattering them like a rock thrown at a flock of birds. The beam polearm reaped another target, the mangled corpse of a Jet Windam falling towards the sea as Grace gunned straight for one of the Raider Full Specs.
The rest of the Raiders split to take the remaining enemies. Alan bulled through the screen of Jet Windams, the GOUF Crusher caving in the head unit of one that got too close by using its un-extended Spherical Breaker hammer flail as a club, as he searched out the second Raider Full Spec.
Fredric deftly dodged a handful of beam rifle shots, using the Guul subflight lifter to vault over or under them not unlike using a wakeboard. Beam rifle answering, the lead Jet Windam exploded from torso-up as it took three shots from his Blaze ZAKU Phantom.
Another Jet Windam took aim at Fredric, only for the front of its shield to detonate from impact with a high-explosive shot, throwing off its balance. Suzuki took aim again with her Blaze ZAKU Phantom's Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle, and nailed the Blue Cosmos unit in its torso before it could reform its stance, the explosion throwing what remained of the mobile suit backwards. The Blue Cosmos mobile suits split as they attempted to flank Fredric and Suzuki; Larry, however, sent one side scattering as his Gunner ZAKU Phantom loosed a shot with its Orthros beam cannon, the searing shot destroying two Jet Windams in a single hit.
The lead Raider Full Spec transformed in mid-air, sending its subflight wing towards Grace in a suicide run. Grace's GOUF Ignited cleaved downwards, splitting the equipment into two, and continued her charge, the explosion behind framing her mobile suit with an aura of brilliant orange as it blocked the Raider Full Spec's counterfire attempt with the GOUF Ignited's shield, the shots from the beam rifle it had grabbed from its subflight wing just prior bouncing harmlessly off the surface of the defensive equipment as a beam sabre flared to life in the Raider Full Spec's other hand.
Suzuki's Blaze ZAKU Phantom loosed a shot from its Cattus 500mm recoilless rifle, the heavy round wreathing the nearest Jet Windam in an explosion; seconds later a barrage of rockets from the accompanying Guul subflight lifter smashed into the Blue Cosmos mobile suit, ending its role in the fight.
Fredric's Blaze ZAKU Phantom jumped from its Guul subflight lifter, thrusters burning as it closed in with a surprised Jet Windam. Opening with a shield strike, Fredric smashed his opponent's clumsy block wide-open and grappled with the enemy; a second later the Blaze ZAKU Phantom embedded its beam tomahawk deep into the mobile suit's side, and placed two beam rifle shots into its torso for good measure before pushing itself off the Jet Windam, falling into place onto the Guul subflight lifter as it passed underneath.
The last Jet Windam turned to retreat, engines flaring frantically as it sought to put more distance between itself and the ZAFT units that had just demolished the rest of its squadron; Larry snapped off a shot with his Gunner ZAKU Phantom's beam rifle that connected squarely with the Blue Cosmos unit's back, sending it to meet what remained of its allies on the sea surface.
Further up front, the second Raider Full Spec swooped in, intent on catching Grace from the side with its array of ranged weapons; a second later the mobile suit was thrown violently upwards as Alan struck from below with the Spherical Breaker, the hammer flail smashing through the subflight wing to impact squarely into the transformed mobile suit. Damaged, the mobile suit attempted to transform, but caught on its own twisted frame; its remaining claw arm took aim with its built-in machinegun, but by then Alan had closed the distance, bashing the offending limb off with the retracted Spherical Breaker as a melee weapon. The GOUF Crusher's left arm swung backwards to make space for its Impact Vise, and the claw clamped tight against the Raider Full Spec as it struggled to complete its transformation, one humanoid arm deployed and pushing vainly against the ZAFT unit.
The Impact Vise met resistance as it tightened around the Raider Full Spec's torso; there was a flash and the sound of an explosion from the GOUF Crusher's left elbow as its internal cartridge system activated, and the claw crushed the Raider Full Spec's torso block with violet force, bursting internal components and machine fluid from within the doomed Blue Cosmos unit.
Alan shifted his view to see Grace countering her opponent's one-handed beam sabre strike. Blades locked, the Raider Full Spec doubled over as her GOUF Ignited landed a kick in its torso from under the clash of beam weapons, and before the Raider Full Spec could recover, bury the Falx beam polearm's axe-head into its front.
A warning caught Alan's attention from looking at Grace's GOUF Ignited kick the Raider Full Spec off its weapon; high energy readings had been detected from the Destroys. Even from where he was, he could see the trails of energized particles wreathing the multi-phase cannon barrels the monstrous mobile suits carried.
"Raider Leader to all! Incoming fire, evade! Ascend!"
Alan's warning came none too early as Raider Team increased their altitude. Below them, the world turned white for an instant, before the angry red hues that accompanied multi-phase beam blasts played across the sea surface.
Grace hurriedly glanced backwards in time to see a squadron of warships detonate, their hulls melted into unrecognizable messes by the high-energy blast. "Raider Leader!"
"Still green. Watch their incoming fire!" Alan yelled back.
The nearest Destroy, a squat-looking monster in its mobile armor form, turned to face the Raider Team and their surrounding units, motes of light rushing up from within its top-mounted Aufphrall Dreizhen multi-phase beam cannons. A second later, the cannons fired again, a blast of red and white energy reaching out like a destructive lance of light. Raider Team evaded, barely getting out of the way; those forward had even less time to react, and the flaming wreckage that showered the sea surface in front of the Destroy was proof enough of its destructive power. The shot seared through the formation to hit another pair of Eurasian warships behind, the resultant detonations reaching out towards the sky as yet more pillars of fire and black smoke, like the others than had gone before it.
"Such power…!" Suzuki gritted her teeth, eking every ounce of power out of her Guul subflight lifter to get away from the blast. All around, the other Destroys unleashed similar displays of destruction, and from the Raider Team's aerial position, they could see all of it unfolding.
"We have to occupy its attention," Alan said. "If we can keep the front contested, even if it's just in one place, we can provide a point for our allies to launch a counterattack."
"This won't be easy," Fredric said. "How many ships and mobile suits have those monsters claimed in these mere minutes…?"
"Nothing worth doing is ever easy," Alan said, pushing his GOUF Crusher forward as squadrons of aerial mobile suits soared overhead, ZAFT DINNs and BABIs now outnumbering their Eurasian counterparts. Guul-equipped mobile suits rushed ahead, and even units of Noctiluca ZAKU Warriors approached, skating over the waves with their maneuver turbofans. No doubt the underwater battle was just as fierce, although Alan had nothing on hand to affect it. "Raiders! Get in and stick close to under the unit; keep out of reach of its all-direction beams!"
Grace raced ahead, her wild laugh despite the situation complementing the white-hot flames streaming from the thrusters of her GOUF Ignited. "That's the order I wanted to hear!"
The Destroy dipped forward as lights flashed across the edge of the black shell that formed the top of the unit in its mobile armor form. A second later high-energy beams flashed from the Nefertem beam emitters, sweeping through any inadequately-defended unit with deadly efficiency. Explosions filled the skies as the all-direction attack reaped a tally of lives that increased by the dozen with every second, creating a brief rain of twisted metal and blackened pieces to blanket the sea surface with.
Alan had raised the shield his GOUF Crusher carried in time to catch one of the beams, the force of the blast throwing his mobile suit to the side. Though the weapon used a similar mechanism to that of a regular beam rifle, the power invested in it was several hundred times more than any single mobile suit could hope to output. Grace's GOUF Ignited was awash in green light as she barrel rolled around one of the beams as though it was nothing more than a solid pillar, her mind entirely focused on getting into melee range as she slammed into a Jet Windam, feinting at the last moment to slam her beam polearm in from its unprotected side; the Blue Cosmos unit fell through the air before one of the Destroy's beams cut it in half as it swept by. The rest of the Raiders wisely slowed to evade any attack that came their way, Guul subflight lifters weaving as they avoided the deadly barrage of ranged fire.
The remaining ZAFT and Eurasian forces counterattacked, beam shots and guided munitions detonating harmlessly against the Positron Reflectors that flashed to life in front of the Destroy. From below the behemoth's top shell, two flying craft detached, equipment that would usually be the Destroy's forearms. Accompanying the Destroy itself were its escorts, too many mobile suits to easily count.
"Minerva to all forces, orbital drop forces are incoming in 1 minute. Reinforce positions and prioritize enemy superheavies."
"About time!" Larry grunted, breath catching in his throat as he threw his Guul subflight lifter into a side strafe, evading a beam blast thrown his way. "Now we just need to keep these monsters busy!"
Alan dodged a slavo of beam shots from one of the Destroy's Sturm Faust remote hands, dancing a path around other munitions both solid and energy thrown his way. Spherical Breaker detaching, the hammer flail trailed behind the GOUF Crusher for a moment; the mobile suit then swung, building up the speed of the weapon to a deadly momentum. With his mind processing the situation as fast as he could, Alan barely registered the first target he claimed in this latest skirmish of the battle, a Jet Windam that had fired at him. He responded almost by instinct now, twisting his mobile suit's frame in midair and upside-down to avoid the shot while bringing in the Spherical Breaker in a killing blow from the Jet Windam's left.
The Blue Cosmos mobile suit was reduced to a spray of debris as the GOUF Crusher held its shield above its head in time to take a rocket strike, the blast throwing the mobile suit downwards as the Spherical Breaker flail trailed after it. Alan moved with the impact, putting distance between him and the expanding cloud of smoke; moments later a Jet Dagger L rounded the smoke cloud and opened fire with its beam rifle.
Shots splashing against its shield, the GOUF Crusher swung its Spherical Breaker upwards, the first strike clipping the Jet Dagger L in its legs, sending it spinning out of control. Alan followed through with the motion ,and the second roundhouse swing hit home, the blow obliterating the Jet Dagger L's Striker Pack and back segment.
Leaving the doomed mobile suit to fall into the sea below, Alan threw his GOUF Crusher forward, avoiding a salvo of rockets from the Destroy. A Jet Dagger L approached in pursuit, beam rifle firing wildly, only for Grace to slam into it from the side with the flat side of her GOUF Ignited's beam polearm. The mobile suit fell backwards, arms flailing as it tried to recover its position, but the chance never came as the GOUF Ignited raised its left arm and opened fire with its Draupnir beam guns, the shots shredding through the enemy.
"Raider Leader! There's something going on at the base!"
Fredric's warning caused Alan to split his attention, his eyes wandering across the horizon. It took him a moment to recognize the issue; the mountain that had framed the base was odd, almost out of place. An instant later he understood why; it had split itself, its natural silhouette broken down the middle with uncannily artificial linear symmetry.
"What the-" Grace's sentence fell off. "What the hell do they have there?!"
"Above!" Suzuki remarked, returning fire against her target even as she glanced skywards. "Orbital forces incoming!"
Far above the battlefield, re-entry pods screamed through the atmosphere, the fastest of them already splitting open to reveal their cargo of ZAFT mobile suits. From Alan's spot, he saw the red dots of the re-entry pods fade into nothing, replaced by the descending specks of his allies.
"About time!" Larry crowed. "Let's keep their forces out here busy while the others take the base!"
"No, there's something wrong," Alan said, his GOUF Crusher punching away Jet Windam that got too close with its Spherical Breaker. He ignored the mobile suit as it fell away, its front shattered; Grace's remark remained stuck in his mind, and as he watched, the area between the mountains began to glow with unnatural energy.
"High energy reading detected!" Fredric warned.
"Data-link update!" Larry said, his eyes growing wide in shock as the new video feed appeared on his screen, and that of every ZAFT unit currently in battle. "What the hell is that?!"
Even Grace stopped her ongoing combat at that, shoving her latest victim off and putting distance between herself and the Destroy to watch the approaching ZAFT reinforcements and the data-link feed, as the unknown array of panels arranged in a dish formation beneath the false mountain illuminated itself to an unbearably bright level. "That light…" She clenched her teeth. "Just like Jachin Due's light!"
Alan knew as well what Grace's thoughts were; he had been there along with her and Fredric at that time. He thumbed the comms, knowing that his actions were futile, but felt that he had to do something nonetheless. "Raider Leader to command-"
The scream of the energy blast drowned out his words, the disruption to the local airspace decimating the radio link into a chaotic mess. The reflections of the energy blasts from the Destroys were child's play in comparison to the stark brilliance that played across the battlefield now, as the energy blast reached skywards.
Alan could only watch helplessly as the ZAFT reinforcements vanished in the midst of the blast, its power so great that the tendrils of energy that streamed out from the mountain array obscured most of the detonations of the mobile suits that had been en route from orbit. On Alan's display, the IFF trackers continuously reported their error messages; any allied signals further than the immediate area around the GOUF Crusher were impossible to track.
"Raider Two! Above you!"
Even with the deadly spectacle playing out in front of them, the battle was still ongoing. Grace's GOUF Ignited evaded just in time as a salvo of beam shots slashed through where it had been seconds before. Farther out, one of the Destroy's Sturm Faust arms hovered, strafing their position as it fired off rapid blasts of energy.
Alan and Grace split, flanking the Sturm Faust arm. Drawing back its arm, the GOUF Crusher fired its Spherical Breaker; the hammer flail sped forward with killing speed, smashing into the Positron Reflector that the Sturm Faust arm presented against the attack and throwing it off-course.
Grace sped in from its unprotected side, beam polearm shining with destructive energy; the Sturm Faust arm bent its fingers and fired to its side, forcing Grace to evade as it fired its beam guns. The GOUF Ignited raised its left arm, Draupnir beam guns firing, but the shots seared anti-beam coated armor and little else. Grace snarled as she put distance between herself and the Sturm Fast arm, avoiding another salvo of beam shots as the Destroy's second Sturm Faust arm entered the fray, firing. From above, a trio of DINNs fired their weapons as they swooped down, missiles trailing after machinegun tracers.
"This is Lancer Flight! Enacting attack run!"
Alan frantically activated the short-range allied band. "Lancer! Call off your attack run-"
The Sturm Faust arms split their formation, one arm bending its fingers to fire at a DINN as it passed in-between them in high-speed flight. The mobile suit took the blast in its side and exploded in mid-air, its constituent pieces falling to the ocean.
One of the Sturm Faust arms buckled as the GOUF Crusher's Spherical Breaker finally hit home, sending it careening off-course. Graced dashed in for the killing blow, but was forced to evade by a salvo from the other Sturm Faust arm.
The Destroy fired its weapons again, the harsh red-white lighting from its Aufphrall Dreizhen multi-phase beam cannons forming a blanket of reflective chaos with its Nefertem beam guns, adding to the dissipating visual chaos left behind by the huge blast prior as it filled the area with unadulterated death. Alan could do nothing but watch as one of the two remaining DINNs of Lancer Flight vanished under the deluge of beams, their evasive maneuvers of little use under so much weapons fire. The battered Eurasian fleet, already buckling under the assault of the five Destroys, took another hit, the detonations of warships muddying up the clouded skies with black smoke. Alan grimaced as he shifted the controls as fast as he could, the GOUF Crusher tracing a frenzied path around the slashing beams of energy; a nearby detonation told him that the last DINN had taken a hit.
Alan turned, alert ringing in his ears, to see a Jet Windam charging his position. Before he could prepare a suitable response, however, the left side of the Blue Cosmos mobile suit exploded, a second detonation blowing the mobile suit's torso apart. Suzuki's Blaze ZAKU Phantom took up position nearby, Cattus recoilless gun under one arm, and beam rifle held in its other hand, the rim of its barrel still glowing a dull orange.
"Raider Leader! The IFFs!" Suzuki said, shock still tingeing the edges of her voice. "The orbital forces are gone!"
"A strategic anti-air installation…" Larry grimly remarked, his Gunner ZAKU Phantom unleashing a blast of energy with its Orthros cannon, saving a ZAFT BABI from certain destruction as the Sturm Fast arm he targeted abandoned its firing to evade the shot. "It's just us now, then!"
Alan mentally shunted the incoming comms from his psyche, all of them alerts, warnings, and pleas on the open allied band. "Raiders, regroup on my position!" The GOUF Crusher somersaulted as it dodged a salvo of energy beams; to its side, another green lance of light swept through the torso of a nearby Eurasian Jet Windam, the strike cutting the mobile suit in half with little effort as its squadron members frantically evaded. "We'll bring this Destroy down and open up a line in their front!"
"Just another day for us, then!" Grace roared, her GOUF Ignited wielding its Falx beam polearm in a deadly dance, violently kicking the corpse of a Jet Dagger L off its blade. "I'm taking point!"
"Raider Four, Five, support fire!" Fredric ordered.
The whine of a high-energy blast from a Gunner ZAKU Phantom's Orthros beam cannon was accompanied by brilliant green bolts of energy as Larry, Suzuki, and Fredric opened fire. Both Blaze ZAKU Phantoms trailed smoke as they popped their missile casings, the mobile suits' back-mounted Firebee missile launchers disgorging their payload in short order against the Destroy. The remaining mobile suits took the cue to add their own support fire; Alan saw a group of Eurasian Jet Windams take up position, beam rifle barrels alight as they unloaded what missiles and rockets they had left against the target. ZAFT DINNs and BABIs followed Grace's flight towards the Destroy, guns alight as they sought to put as much damage as they could into the monstrous weapon and its remaining escorting mobile suits.
One Sturm Faust arm blocked the Orthros beam shot, the deflection sending streamers of energy through the air. The following beam shots and missiles forced the remote arm backwards, and the Destroy's second Sturm Fast arm fell into position only for Alan's GOUF Crusher to slam its Spherical Breaker into it, sending the remote arm flying off-course.
The Destroy turned ponderously, its Nefertem beam guns gleaming as they charged up and fired; Graced danced around the deadly arcs of energy attempting to tear her down, while those around her were neither so skilled nor lucky; a nearby BABI exploded as one of the beams seared it in half, another catching a DINN in its torso and blowing off its entire upper body. A Jet Dagger L attempted to stop her advance; swinging around its strike the GOUF Ignited lashed out with a heat rod from its left arm, taking off one wing and arm from the Blue Cosmos unit without even slowing down.
Grace's GOUF Ignited raised its beam polearm as it came within range of one of the Destroy's Aufphrall Dreizhen beam cannons, ready to deliver a strike; but the blow went wide as a Jet Windam crashed into her with its shield; the GOUF Ignited had barely brought up its own shield in time.
Alan was already en-route "Raider Two!"
Both mobile suits tumbled through the air near each other, but Grace was the first to recover; still upside-down, with murderous speed the GOUF Ignited lashed out with its beam polearm held in one hand near the end of its handle, and beheaded the Jet Windam even as it drew a beam sabre. Before the headless mobile suit could respond, she followed through with her swing, the second roundhouse strike chopping the unfortunate unit in half at the torso. The GOUF Ignited snapped off a burst of beam gun fire after the falling torso, moving to evade only when one of the Destroy's Sturm Faust arms took aim at her. But the Destroy didn't press its attack; instead, with its Sturm Faust arms taking up defensive position in front of it, the Destroy began retreating, its escorts following suit.
"Raider Leader!" Fredric said. "Destroys are pulling back!"
Even as the ZAFT and Eurasian forces gained an unlooked-for respite from the battle, the intercom interrupted Alan's thoughts. "This is the Minerva. All forces are to fall back from the Destroys; the Minerva Team will handle them. Reinforce the battle line and deal with their regulars."
Alan wasted no time in putting some distance between the Destroy and his unit, with the remaining allied forces doing the same. "We'll take this opportunity to regroup. Raiders! On me!"
"About time!" Suzuki exclaimed, glancing upwards to see the Force Impulse, Legend, and Destiny GUNDAMs streak in overhead, the dissipating signs of battle and falling wreckage behind them speaking of their rapid entrance. "Raider Four acknowledges."
"Raider Five in position," Larry reported.
"Raider Three here, roger." Fredric said.
Grace, however, continued after the stragglers of the enemy group, her GOUF Ignited laying into the nearest mobile suits it could reach. The current target, a Jet Windam, struggled as it warded off one heavy blow, only to see Grace smash the head of the beam polearm into its front, doubling it over; reaching out and grabbing the unfortunate unit by its head, the GOUF Ignited fired its thrusters, throwing the Blue Cosmos unit downwards and snapping one of its head antenna off in the process.
The Jet Windam tumbled out of control, thrusters firing wildly in a last-ditch attempt to regain balance, only for the GOUF Ignited to close in and bury its beam polearm into its torso. Kicking the mobile suit off, the GOUF Ignited fired its thrusters, about to dash for the next target, when Alan made it within range for the GOUF Crusher to physically grab Grace's mobile suit by its shoulder armor.
"Raider Two!"
There was a moment of silence as the GOUF Ignited strained against Alan's grip, as though unwilling to let the distance between it and the enemy increase any further. Only when the Minerva Team reached the nearest Destroy and began engaging it in battle did Grace reply.
"Raider Two copies," Grace said, her tone of voice forced and flat.
Alan decided not to say anything else. "Raider Leader to Unapproachable, requesting rearmament."
"Roger Raider Leader, request accepted. Second-line squads are en route to the front. Return at will."
The GOUF Crusher cast one last look at the front before turning back. "Raider Leader to all, we're returning to the Unapproachable for rearm and refueling. New deployment orders will come in after."
CE 72 March 10th, Junius 7 Memorial Bay, Lagrange 5
Afternoon 13 11
Ray Feric kept a stoic face as he maneuvered his Strike Dagger around to join the OMNI honor guard arrayed on the port side of the Nelson-class battleship. Directly across, on the starboard side, were a line of ZAFT GuAIZ units, no doubt performing the same role as him and the Strike Daggers he was lined up with. Looking at the mono-eyed machines still triggered a vestige of tension within his heart, but he was still in control of himself when he was awake, at least.
Above them, relative to the position of those gathered here today, flickering stars peppered the jet-black canvas of space; below them, the bowl-shaped wreckage of Junius 7, the first strategic casualty of the Bloody Valentine War. The bodies had since long been cleared away, but the frozen scenery below the gathered fleets of the nations of the Earth Sphere were more than enough of a monument to the acts committed in the name of war. Of false honor. Of twisted justice.
Having been sent into a new squadron after the losses of the Second Battle of Jachin Due, Ray had spent the following months sitting around the lunar bases as the governments of both the member nations of OMNI and the PLANTs quickly put together a formal peace treaty and ratification of international cooperation. The firepower unleashed during the end days of the Bloody Valentine War had scared both sides proper, and as a soldier, there was nothing better than watching peace being made.
It would have been better if some of his closest comrades had been alive to be with him today.
His nights were still occasionally plagued by his final scene of Jachin Due; a brilliant flash of light from GENESIS, ZAFT's strategic weapon, the remains of the supply ship he had been tethered to prior to its firing, the metal corpses of his former squadron members' mobile suits that had failed to avail against a determined ZAFT defence.
The frozen, dead visage of the one person whom he might have stayed in the Atlantic Federation armed forces for.
Lin Tennan-Khole, Master Sergeant. The pilot had met with the senior technician after the OMNI sally from the Ptolemaeus Lunar Base; although they originally came close to each other due to their moderate views, Lin's expertise on mechanics had lent great support to his squadron at various points through the various skirmishes, then Boaz, and finally to the eve of Jachin Due. The two would meet up whenever there was a moment to rest and simply talk; that was how they got to know each other well enough despite their short time together.
Few had known of the Blue Cosmos influence in that decision; even up to today, investigations into the fleet's nuclear attack force were still ongoing. Only those assigned to escort the Moebius squadrons that had carried out the near-genocide of the Coordinators were privy to those plans, and most of them had died during the attempt to seal the fate of the PLANTs.
As for the rest, while some still saw the push towards the ZAFT homefront as a chance revenge, others saw it as a quick means to end the already-exhaustive war; Lin and Ray were but two of those unwitting ones.
Ray shut his eyes for a brief moment. He had steeled himself for months after Jachin Due; being a member of the Atlantic Federation forces was no longer a position he could bear with, even if he had been without the nightmares that constantly tortured him at night. Once the peace treaty session was concluded, he would tenure a notice of his resignation from his rank and position. In a week, he would be out of the force, and away from his proof of failures-
"You're not thinking of giving up, are you?"
Ray recoiled with a start; perched beside him in the weightless environment of the cockpit was Lin; not in the compromised spacesuit he last saw her in, but in her technician overalls. Her face was filled with color, and her expression, warmth; a far cry from his mind's final memory of her, that being her frozen expression of pain from shrapnel wounds as she had asphyxiated. She grasped his helmeted head; instantly, Ray felt himself being freed of the headgear, as it had simply vanished. "What?! How-"
Ray turned to activate the comms panel of his mobile suit. The channels remained unresponsive as he thumbed the switches for the allied channels, then the public channels, to no avail. With a second jolt of shock, he realized that the sight displays of his Strike Dagger no longer showed the peace gathering of Junius 7, but that of the Earth; he was close enough to the home planet that Ray realized that he was in low orbit, low enough to fall out and into re-entry if he moved his MS the wrong way at the wrong time. Something then clicked in his mind, bringing his true thoughts to the forefront for the first time since these visions had began plaguing his subconsciousness.
"T... this is a dream, isn't it?!" Ray yelled to no one in particular, his anger rising rapidly, as did his feelings of frustration and disorientation. "It's another one of those fucking dreams! It's always the same damn shit!" He turned to Lin, hands gripping her shoulders; his mind only barely registering that the gesture felt too real to be true, as anger overpowered his lingering emotions of her. "Just cut the shit and bring me to Jachin Due! It always ends there, doesn't it?"
Lin simply smiled, and Ray was struck by an immense sense of familiarity at the sight of the softness of her features, his rising ire evaporating as fast as it had rose. "Not this time. You have somewhere else to be."
"I..." Ray began.
"You chose to have these dreams, Ray," Lin said. "And maybe I'd be happy that you did. But the truth is, this smile... I... won't be able to live in your memory forever. Someday, when you're old, you won't remember me anymore. And you'll be alone if you continue down this road."
"I won't," Ray stammered, trying to bring his emotions back under the lid. "Not a chance in hell. I'll die before that happens."
"Is that your choice?" Lin replied, a hint of sadness touching her expression, as her gaze bored into Ray's. "It wasn't ours. It will never be mine. We had promised to start by visiting my home once it was all over, didn't we? To get a fresh start, away from all the death and destruction, to cut the cycle of hatred."
"I... we did," Ray replied. "But there's no future left for us."
"Not for us, perhaps. But the cause is not wholly lost. That promise will have to be passed to someone else," Lin said, her smile returning. "The Ray I know would never break a promise."
"I've broken enough promises. I couldn't even keep ours!" Ray replied, and paused, frowning, as he struggled to bring greater clarity to his mind, his psyche clawing at a familiar thought that continued to flitter about vaguely in his addled mind. "Wait... who... are you talking about?"
"You'll know soon enough," Lin replied. "We could have been, but that's in the past now." She paused for a moment, before leaning in close enough for their heads to touch. Lin spoke, for the last time, saying what she had always told him before every sortie, words that he had secretly ached to hear in her voice again ever since that day at Jachin Due. "Fly strong, pilot."
Ray blinked; his vision was rapidly blurring, and Lin seemed to be fading away in front of him. A cacophony of sounds began roiling around him, a dull, gradually-increasing din that triggered a primal sensation within his veins; his mind and body recognized the sounds of gunfire and battle, even in its current state. "Wait! Lin!"
Without his realizing, he was no longer in his Strike Dagger. He tried to focus his vision, but failed; a lightless void was all around him. He felt his limbs, and realized that he was lying on a cold, hard surface, but he couldn't see his extremities, nor the ground his body laid on.
Ray gasped; a voice that he barely recognized spoke in a threatening, guttural growl, as an iron grip closed around his heart, its frantic beating resonating through his chest, pain spreading across his body as mortal sensations returned to him in sudden fullness.
You need to start thinking about what you can still be.
The voice was that of his own.
CE 74, February 22nd, Supercomplex Block C, Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation
Afternoon 12 35
Ray's eyes snapped open, and an involuntary gasp shook his pain-wracked body as he drew in a sharp breath of air.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
With a scream of anguish, he brought his hands to his face, fingernails digging into his skin. Before he could draw any blood, however, rough, but warm hands closed firmly around his wrists, pulling his hands away from his face with determined strength.
"Ray, stop! STOP! It's me!"
Ray's voice faded out as his vision slowly came into focus. For an instant, he thought he saw Lin.
Then the moment passed, and Sheryl Camelot's face came into view, her features marred by worry. "Ray! Say something! C'mon!"
From behind Sheryl, Ray watched as Rasel Grey came into view. "Shit, Feric," the ex-NEFA pilot said. "Even I didn't get crapped on this much."
Ray snickered, despite the physical soreness, and his surprise at seeing someone whom he had fought against with his all just a few months prior. "T… they like playing with new toys, Grey."
Despite her worried countenance, Sheryl laughed. "What the hell was that reply? I guess you're alright."
Ray, ignoring the pain and aches rippling across his body, placed one bruised hand on the left of her face, and without realizing it, drew his thumb across her cheek. Sheryl's expression changed to one of surprise for a moment. "Thanks for coming back for me."
Sheryl laughed again, this time with tears rolling freely down the sides of her face that she quickly wiped away. "Don't be stupid. You couldn't bust yourself out of a wet paper bag even if you needed to."
"Could."
"Couldn't."
"Your subordinates respect show, not tell, Captain," Guy Leon said as he knelt down by Ray's right. "So let's show you can and get you up and outta this shithole."
As Ray's faculties returned, so did his realization that a shrill alarm was ringing incessantly. The realization of the smell of blood iron in the air came a second later.
Kaguya Sakamoto came into view behind Guy. "Just a little bit more, Captain. We're here for you."
Ray grunted as he pushed himself into a sitting position. Bolvar Kasavok came into view, leaning by the entrance of Ray's cell; shadows casted from outside indicated even more people in this oddity of a rescue party. "You look like a beggar, Kasavok."
"You look like Blue Cosmos' chew toy, Feric," Kasavok replied. "But we can compare grooming tips for prisoners later."
Ray pushed himself off the ground, refusing the hands that Sheryl and Guy extended out to him. He needed to be able to walk out himself. "All of you owe me an explanation on this bizarre alliance later."
"We'll give you enough to make a movie out of," Guy said, handing out a combat vest. Ray took it, and ignoring the protests of pain that sprang from his tortured body, tossed the gear onto his body.
Sheryl passed a rifle to Ray. "Enough to make Kim really jealous."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Ray said, stepping out of his cell; beyond the doorway leading to the cell cluster he had been imprisoned in, he could see several armed personnel. "Your buddies, Kaguya?"
Kaguya glanced at him. "You could tell, huh."
Ray chuckled. "I doubt these two were legal entries," he replied, looking at Sheryl and Guy. "Neither were these two," he nodded at Kasavok and Grey.
"Oh, her Orb buddies will fill you in," Sheryl said. Guy shot her a look, but said nothing.
Ray raised an eyebrow. Guy, looking at the scene, prepared to speak up, when Ray shrugged. "I guess."
Sheryl eyed her commanding officer. "You're not surprised?"
"You're talking to a former coup instigator. I would be more surprised if they were ZAFT infiltrators," Ray replied. "Still, I'll take this chance as it is."
Karl turned to look as Ray entered the junction room. "Ah. The famous Ray Feric."
Ray managed a slight smile. "I suppose Kaguya has been putting in a good word for me."
"More than a good word," Sheryl grumbled, but said nothing else.
"Enough to get you a seat on my airline," Karl replied. "I'm Karl. Let's get out of here."
A low rumble reverberated throughout the walls and floor where the group stood. The overhead lights flickered once, then died, as did the wail of the alarms; backup lights came on a moment later, bathing the area in an amber hue. The alarms came back, this time with a longer tone mixed into the shrill ringing of the initial alarm.
Ray looked around. "Is there something else I should know about?"
"Oh, yes," Guy said. "I suppose it should be mentioned that right now, a ZAFT-led attack force is currently going head-to-head with all the military power available to Heaven's Base. That's why we only had to shoot our way though... I think three groups of security troopers."
"Four," Kaguya corrected him.
"Four," Guy repeated.
"What joy," Ray replied dryly, as Karl led his squad out of the room.
CE 74, February 22nd, Supercomplex Block C, Heaven's Base, Iceland, Atlantic Federation
Afternoon 13 29
Both rescued and rescuers thundered down the hallways, making their way rapidly in the direction Karl was leading them on, only stopping for Karl's squad to check around corners for adversaries. Ray spared a glance at the bodies of the security troopers strewn to their sides, suppressing a twinge of guilt at the sight of the corpses.
Telling apart the deceived from the malicious was hard enough when both sides weren't shooting at each other. Doing it under fire would demand luck that bordered on divine intervention.
Karl halted as the group neared a service lift. "ZAFT must be giving them a pretty hard time if our intrusion is considered a minor matter." Kasavok said.
"I'll kiss ZAFT's boot for a week if they can keep OMNI off our backs until we're far enough from here," Karl said, as the service lift doors opened. "Tony, Joji, we're splitting. If I don't call back down, take the prisoners and try another exit."
"Understood," Tony replied, as Karl entered the service lift, followed by the rest of his team. The lift doors soon slammed shut, leaving the two Orb operatives with the six OMNI personnel.
Joji turned back to look at Ray. "Shit, I didn't have a chance to take a close look until now, but you look worse than them all combined. What did you do to piss off Blue Cosmos that much?"
Ray shrugged. "I basically told them to go fuck themselves every time they strapped me into the electric chair."
Joji did a double take. "Electric what?!" He glanced at Kaguya. "And you, too?"
"You learned something new today, Joji," Kaguya remarked, letting a smirk appear briefly on her face.
Tony held up his hand, getting the attention of those present. "It's all clear up there. The lift is coming back down now."
Joji moved back towards the hallway, looking over the corner. Moments later, he ducked back as a gunshot dug a gouge into the concrete corner he had been at. "Better make it fast. They're coming in."
"Which is going to be faster?" Rasel asked, hefting his rifle.
The chime of the service elevator opening its doors answered that question before Tony could. "Go, go!"
The two Orb operatives stood watch until all of the prisoners had filed in; Tony then motioned for Joji to enter first. Two OMNI troopers chose that exact moment to turn the corner.
From within the lift, Joji returned fire. One of the OMNI troopers fell backwards; the other flinched, but readied his aim, when Kaguya reached out, and pulled Tony into the lift by the back of his vest, the door slamming shut a moment later. The dull sound of bullet impacts slowly disappeared as the lift ascended.
"Thanks," Tony mumbled, adjusting his vest.
"Karl would die if you weren't around to pick up his paperwork," Kaguya replied.
The lift rumbled its way upwards, and stopped after what seemed like an eternity to Ray. The doors slid open, revealing a scene of dark red splashes over the walls of what seemed to be a basement. Karl was bent over one of his soldiers, whose breathing was ragged and heavy.
"We're not at the point of having to leave you behind yet," Karl said, an edge to his voice. "Let's not speak on that any more. John! Shaun can still shoot, so give him a hand, will you?"
"Where are we now?" Kaguya asked. The lights dimmed momentarily as the ground vibrated from an impact above them. "It'll do no good to walk straight into a fortified line outside."
"These are the interrogation areas, Block C," Karl replied. "Still a ways off to the MS hangars, but I've stashed some vehicles around here. Unless there're people walking around with spare keys, they should still be around. They'll fit all of us."
The short sprint through the corridors leading to the cell rooms that formed Block C's brig and the base's less-hidden interrogation chambers sapped a significant amount of strength from Ray, but he said nothing, teeth grinding as he forced his battered body to keep up. Sheryl shot him a worried glance every now and then, but his glare was enough of a reply for her to keep quiet about his condition.
Karl led the group unopposed from the brig to the back of the block, emerging into the vehicle lot behind the building. Above, smoke trails and weapons fire crisscrossed the skies, and a sharp smell was in the air. Crackling into the skies was a column of lightning, and a strong, haphazard wind buffeted the group.
Sheryl glanced around. "There's something wrong here!" Her vision lingered on the mountains that backed the base. "I swear that mountain looks fucked up!"
"It is!" Karl hollered through the din. "They must have fired the Nieblung; their strategic anti-air cannon!"
Sheryl's look of utter confusion was only matched by the sudden scream of metal as a Jet Windam impacted the ground less than 5 meters away from them, visor cracked and frame scored with dents and carbon streaks, one of its wings missing.
Underneath the Windam was all but one of the rover vehicles that Karl was counting on.
"Shit!" Karl snarled. "This is going to put a dent in our departure time. Alright, Shaun and Kaguya, you two have priority. Joji, you know the road, get them to our ticket off this hellhole, wait a while, but not too long. The rest of us-"
"I'm not going to hightail it out of here while the rest of you crawl your way to only God knows where," Kaguya said, her tone set.
To the surprise of Karl's squad, the spy clapped a hand on Kaguya's back, and pushed her towards the remaining rover with nary an attempt at argument. "Sorry, miss," his countenance showing a brief, crooked smile. "Orders from high up. I chose to lead this mission, I've handled my loose ends before coming here. You, however, have not. The chief wants your reports, Sakamoto."
When Kaguya barely budged, Karl continued. "My life as collateral, colonel. The rest of us will do all we can to escape as well. Now go!"
Kaguya glanced sideways at Sheryl, an indecipherable expression on her.
Sheryl let loose an explosive sigh. "Oh, for f- orders! From hiiiiiiiigh up, we get it! Now fuck off!"
Despite the severity of the situation, Kaguya couldn't help the wan smile that flashed across her expression. As she began to make for the rover with one last glance, Kasavok made a quip. "You two sure are good friends."
"What?!" Sheryl replied, indignation written all over her face. "No!"
"We'll save that for later," Karl replied, as the rover sped off. "We need to get some form of transportation; it's some ways to the shores and I don't want to be here when they start blockading the island. We-"
"-can use that Windam over there, for starters," Ray interjected, and began making for the crashed machine.
"What?!" Karl shot back. "Are you insane?! We don't even know if it's IFF-locked -"
"Better to try than die on foot," Ray replied, pulling a covered hatch open and slamming the butt of his rifle into the emergency release control. There was a hiss, and the cockpit snapped open to reveal a groggy OMNI pilot, beginning to stir.
Reaching in to undo the seat straps, Ray pulled the semi-conscious pilot out. Pulling off pressure locks on the pilot suit's neck segment and liberating the pilot of his helmet, Ray then unceremoniously dumped him onto the ground.
He slipped the helmet back on; its HUD was barely functional, but it was still there. He pushed himself into the pilot seat and strapped in; reaching for the physical jack, he pushed it into the helmet's backup receiver, a wire now connecting his stolen helmet to the still-active MS.
"It's a good thing they never considered implementing biometrics for pilot suits," Ray mumbled to himself. To think I almost pushed for it back during the South American war!
Outside, the group stepped back as the Windam ejected its ruined Jet Striker, the mangled flight pack sliding to the ground. The MS pushed itself into a kneeling position, and stretched out one hand towards the ground, its cockpit still open. "We better get moving before they send someone here to take a look," Ray said. "Get on!"
The group clambered onto the Windam's open palm, riding it up as the MS moved its arm towards its torso. Sheryl and Guy pressed themselves into the side of the cockpit, while Kasavok and Rasel crouched near the entrance with Karl. Trying to ignore the stinging wind blowing into the cockpit, Ray moved the controls, and the Windam broke into a brisk stride, the visual sight outside through the front a contrast to the screen displays by his side. "Where's the R-location?"
"You're good to go," Karl replied, as the Windam continued on, the sound of the wind rushing into the cockpit and the thunderous echoes of the battles raging just short of their location a constant background noise. "Just keep heading south-west like that."
While Ray held little hope of sauntering out of the base unhindered, the unmistakable alarm whine of an approaching unit on an intercept cause still made his heart sink.
"Ah, shit." Karl began.
"What is it?" Kasavok interrupted, turning back to look at Ray.
Ray swallowed once before replying. "It's a Strike Noir. IFF shows it as the 9th ATS... the Floggers."
Geroda's voice pierced the cramped cockpit before anyone else could reply. "Is that you, Ray Feric?! You sure are proactive when it comes to being a thorn in somebody else's side!"
Ray said nothing, but gritted his teeth as he maneuvered the Windam behind a corner. "So much for the great escape. You guys are going to have to hoof it to the hangars yourselves. There's no way we're fitting everyone in this cockpit, and there's no way we're going to outmaneuver him by just stumbling around."
"We came to get you out!" Sheryl snapped. "If you die here, everything would be wasted!"
"I'm not taking any arguments about this," Ray replied levelly, as he lowered the Windam into a kneeling pose. "Besides," he nodded at Rasel, "he can vouch for me."
Rasel chuckled, shaking his head as he jumped off the Windam. "You cheeky motherf…"
"The captain has a point." Guy said, preparing to disembark, while the others were already on the ground. "Besides, if we find any spare units, we'll be able to come back and surround him."
"I…" Sheryl hesitated.
"I'm not looking for a place to die," Ray said, locking sight with Sheryl. "So trust me."
Their gazes held for an instant, before Sheryl pulled herself to the front of the cockpit. "Only as far as you can throw Geroda." She turned back for one last look, the vestiges of a smile on the corner of her lips. "So make it a good toss, alright?"
Ray managed a short laugh as she hopped off. On the radar, the on-screen blip that represented the Strike Noir rapidly approached the Windam.
The sound of battle and howling winds lowered to a muffled drone as the cockpit of the Windam closed, the pressure locks activating with a hissing sound. Ray straightened the mobile suit, turning to face its incoming opponent. "Are you sure the frontlines can stand not having your presence around, Geroda? ZAFT is making a hell of a ruckus, by the looks and sounds of it!"
The snarl was evident even over the radio static. "ZAFT is a straightforward issue. But you… I'll make sure you stay down this time!"
Afterword:
The chapter had originally started with just Ray's flashback, which I felt had a bigger impact on the reading as a whole considering the ending of the previous chapter, but I couldn't find a way to fit in the Raiders portion without pushing things out of chronological order, especially since the rescue group starts out after the flashback having already found Ray. The actual battle itself was also rather short once Shinn and friends deployed, greatly expediting the ZAFT effort to crush Blue Cosmos at Heaven's Base; the only good way I saw to end the Raiders portion yet keep things interesting and at least somewhat true to the series was to switch viewpoints just as the Minerva team deployed.