Chapter 35
CE 74, February 26th, Orb Special Forces Submarine, Chukchi Sea, Atlantic Federation
Afternoon 14 44
The Orb stealth submarine had almost cleared the Chukchi Sea when Mei Kenroukuen and Karl Hartner broke the news to the group.
"We've made contact with the Atlantic Federation with regards to the lot of you," Karl said. "They'll be meeting us at the Point Hope Outpost to effect a change in personnel." He glanced at Mei. "I wasn't really keen on this considering that you're effectively standing in an Orb military secret, but it's also true that the less time spent on this ship, the less chances you'll have of overhearing something you shouldn't."
"Home again," Ray Feric murmured.
Guy Leon frowned as the memories of the wave of anti-Coordinator sentiments that had forced him to move his family to Copernicus in the first place briefly surfaced. "Not exactly my idea of a sound homecoming, to be honest."
"The two of you are making this more and more unappealing by the minute," Sheryl Camelot remarked.
"And what about the two of us?" Bolvar Kasavok asked, with Rasel Grey beside him.
"They'll be taking custody of you as well," Mei said. "But it's likely that the Atlantic Federation's Bureau of Intelligence will just hand you off to the Eurasian authorities afterwards."
"Going all the way to Orb is suddenly a much more appealing proposition," Rasel said.
Kasavok laughed. "I knew the risks when I agreed to join NEFA. So be it."
CE 74, March 1st, Orb Special Forces Submarine, Offshore Point Hope, Atlantic Federation
Night 03 00
It was deep into the night when Mei, with a group of soldiers accompanying, came to lead Ray and the others from their temporary cells. Making their way through the narrow confines of the submarine, Mei led them into the frontal hangar bay.
The front bay doors were open, and the sea wind blew in freely, with the backdrop being a cloudy, moonless night. Arrayed before them were four inflatable speedboats; the soldiers separated them into two boats each and accompanied them on, with Mei and the remaining soldiers following on the two other boats.
Mei indicated that the boats were ready, and the sound of warning klaxons blared briefly; orange lights flared for a moment. Ray set out a hand against the sides of the speedboat to steady himself as the boat rocked from the launch rail pushing the boat forward. Soon enough, a spray of seawater burst out on the bow of the speedboat at it reached the well dock area, and with a burst of speed, the small flotilla left the Orb submarine. Behind them, the submarine began submerging; in a few moments all that was left of the vessel's signs were the rapidly-disappearing wake churned up by its movements.
Ray expected a long ride, but in what seemed like no time at all, the lights of a Fraser-class escort destroyer cut through the night, and the speedboat flotilla rapidly pulled up to alongside the naval warship. Clamp arms lowered from the ship's port side to secure the speedboats, followed by flexible ladders; as their escorting soldier urged, Ray and the others began their climb onto the OMNI vessel, with crewmen standing by near the railings to assist them onboard.
By the time Ray looked back, the speedboats were already pulling away; he searched for the one holding Mei, but couldn't find it before the flotilla had vanished into the night.
Turning around, Ray came face-to-face with a familiar face. Rahabinod Ravinan gripped Ray's hand in a firm shake. "Good to see you again, Ray, Guy, Sheryl."
"Lieutenant Colonel!" Sheryl exclaimed. "You're the last person I'd expect to see right now; I thought they'd have punted you out into space by now."
"It's a long story," Rahabinod said. "Suffice to say, however, that Blue Cosmos control in the Atlantic Federation is no more."
"Coming from you, that means a lot," Ray said, arching an eyebrow at the insignia of the Bureau of Intelligence on Rahabinod's uniform. "So you're intel now?"
"I'll fill you in on the details at a more opportune time," Rahabinod replied. Tapping the communication device on his collar, he directed the crewmen to begin escorting the group off towards the interior of the ship. "Objectives secured. Let's get moving; the night's not young anymore."
CE 74, March 4th, Point Hope Outpost, Alaska, Atlantic Federation
Morning 09 00
The arrival of the remaining members of the Manhunters at the Atlantic Federation's Point Hope Outpost three days ago was a quiet event; with a short farewell to Kasavok and Rasel as they were placed on another transport, towards an airbase where they would be flown to the Eurasian Federation, Ray, Guy, and Sheryl had been quickly given bunking locations and told to remain as they were for further orders. Rahabinod himself had all but vanished the moment things had settled down, instead passing them some documents for reading. The trio had quickly devoured the information, catching themselves up to the events that had transpired during their time spent in Heaven's Base; PLANT Chairman Durandal's denouncement of LOGOS, the short-lived civil war that had erupted in the Atlantic Federation as a result, and the last remaining holdouts of Blue Cosmos scattered amongst Europe, the result of the fall of Heaven's Base and the ongoing counterattack of the Eurasian military against the earlier Blue Cosmos-led intervention attempt to force the supernation under the thumb of the radicals, as well as Orb's recent statement of renouncement against Blue Cosmos and LOGOS.
The location itself was no port and barely a considered a base; a sparsely-equipped joint-branch military outpost for administrative and intelligence personnel, even the Fraser-class destroyer had only remained around shore long enough to allow them to disembark. The outpost had a small building complex and a split barracks, but there was little else; no special amenities, no places of interest, nothing. Even the personnel that lived there were seldom seen; Ray counted no more than five military personnel on his first day here. Ray had heard of such facilities, and the stories about their purpose and existence were equally varied; some were old barracks maintained as administrative centers, while others had various fronts, one of such masks being to masquerade as the aforementioned repurposed barracks for other purposes, such as secret bases and headquarters for the commanding staff of special forces units.
Regardless, the people there barely regarded the trio, and Sheryl had shivered when they met up on the second morning at the mess hall, shaking off snow from her boots. "This is my first time being the second and newest occupant of a barrack's female segment," she shivered. "This place is quieter than a graveyard."
"We can probably trust Rahabinod on his words," Ray said. "But this furtive maneuvering isn't any easier to deal with, nonetheless."
No sooner had Ray finished did Rahabinod enter the mess hall. Spotting the group, he quickly made his way forward. "Good, seems like I don't have to go all the way to the barracks to get a hold of you all. I apologize for the quick turn of events , but be present at the meeting room at nine-hundred-thirty; there will be a debrief and planning session there."
"Finally, things are moving forward," Sheryl quipped. "Are we going to get medals and a fat cheque for hazard pay?"
Rahabinod chuckled briefly. "That will be the least of your worries."
Sheryl returned the gesture with her own laughter as she put on her best expression of worry in front of Rahabinod to complete the joke. "We're in danger, it seems."
On his part, Ray expected a visit from the Bureau of Intelligence, or even an interrogation session. What he hadn't expected, however, was to see another familiar face when he entered the meeting room.
Nain bint Aamir smiled as Ray shook his head in amusement. "Seems like all the old guard are popping back up, Major. Can I expect Aaqil or Nanava to come through the door any time now?"
"Looks like getting dunked and shot at hasn't dulled any of that dry wit of yours, Ray," Nain said, turning to Guy and Sheryl. "Enjoyed the world tour alongside him?"
"Not exactly my idea of a family-friendly tour," Guy quipped.
"The amenities sucked at the last part," Sheryl replied, with a straight face.
Nain chuckled. "There's a lot to catch up on, it seems, but I'm afraid that this banter will have to do for now." She turned to the man standing beside her. "Colonel?"
The colonel turned to regard Ray and the group with a steady gaze, the shoulder insignia of the Atlantic Federation's military intelligence services now visible to them. "This is probably the first time we've met, so I'll introduce myself; I'm March Cornerstone, Colonel, from the Atlantic Federation's Bureau of Intelligence. I apologize for your stay here so far, but it was imperative that we meet out of sight before we get on to more important things."
"First, to get this out of the way; I've read the files on your sojourn from Sinai Base to here. In light of recent events and the context under which certain actions were performed, the Atlantic Federation is fully willing to overlook all that has happened during and after the Berlin attack."
"Nice," Sheryl remarked. "Looks like you get to keep the pay rise and the shiny rank, Ray."
March cracked a smile himself. "I am not so lenient that I am willing to let you three have everything without some returns. Nevertheless, since Rahabinod recommended your names, I am sure that you are more than capable of living up to the standards of your new assignments."
March pressed a button on the remote he carried, and the front screen in the meeting room displayed the schematics of a Windam. "I understand that none of you here have any prolonged experience with the Windam. Captain, tell me what you think of it."
Ray pondered the question as March waited, thinking back to the brief time he had spent within the cockpit of a Windam back at Heaven's Base. "It's a lightweight unit, isn't it? Designed for the capability to engage in both a higher level of aerial and close-quarters combat. I believe that it's rated more favorably against the Dagger L in mobility and agility, especially the Jet Striker variant."
"A correct observation, Captain," March replied, pacing across the front of the screen. "Which is why I regret to inform you that the Windam's base design has actually been tampered with. The design currently in production is not the same as the design signed off by the Atlantic Federation military for development and production."
Sheryl leaned forward, her brow furrowed in a serious expression. "What do you mean, sir?"
"I'll take over from here, sir. To cut a long story short, the original designer, as well as the primary assembly line and manufacturer, Actaeon Industries, modified the design prior to mass-production and delivery to the military," Nain said, receiving the remote controls of the screen from March. The displays changed as Nain brought up a new series of schematics. "While the exterior design remains largely similar, the interior layout has been tampered with. Actaeon marketed the Windam as not only a new high-mobility unit, but as the next-generation replacement of the Dagger L as well. As a result, additional redundancy systems and other parts have been added to the base design, decreasing its original projected performance levels due to the unit mass and the requirement to link up all the parts without fail."
"To put it simply, you have a fast-attack unit forced into roles it was never designed to fight with. It was supposed to cooperate with the Dagger-series, not attempt to supplant it."
"Damn," Guy said. "With the Windam this widespread amongst the OMNI armed forces, the effects of this conspiracy is way beyond just the Atlantic Federation's scope. All those pilots who died in a Windam…"
The screen changed again, with the mugshot of a stereotypically American man in his early sixties. "This might be a familiar face if you've watched the broadcasts. His name is Bruno Azrael, one of the leading members of LOGOS, currently incarcerated by the Atlantic Federation… and the president of Actaeon Industries, the main manufacturer of the Windam."
Shery made a sound of disgust. "Are you telling me honest pilots died so that this man could earn some spare change selling more units?"
"Pretty much sums it up," Rahabinod interjected. "In CE 72 the Atlantic Federation had two MS development initiatives; one would become the Windam, while the other ended up being frozen until now. Bruno paid off numerous Atlantic Federation politicians, and even some of the generals of the military, to have them back his scheme to the detriment of the other project. We uncovered this shortly after the schism in the Atlantic Federation that occurred during PLANT Chairman Durandal's announcement of LOGOS' existence, and even until today, we're still tracing through the associated subcontractors to determine which were the willing partners, and which were the unwitting pawns."
"Are you looking for us to take a hand in the investigation, sir?" Ray asked.
"No, for sure," Rahabinod said. "The role we have in mind for the three of you are different; we want you to test-pilot the new units we're bringing into production. We've revived the frozen development plan for the Dagger L's actual successor unit."
Nain changed the displays again, and the schematics switched to that of a unit that Ray had never seen before. Rahabinod had not said anything untrue; the new unit's lineage resemblance to the Dagger L was evident, but Ray immediately spotted enough differences from the Dagger Ls the Manhunters had operated. The head unit sported additional armor on its sides, and reinforced segments could be seen on its limbs and torso that gave additional bulk to its silhouette; additional armor that improved the unit's resistance to weapons fire, depending on what reinforcing parts were used. Its skirt armor also differed from the Dagger L's; the full-body display showed a pair of beam-tipped rocket anchors on it hip block armor, but beside those Ray saw additional schematics for short-range beam guns. Beam sabre racks were built directly into its forearms, and the usual combat knife compartments integrated into recessed compartments on its upper torso, beside its head unit. Two additional primary thrusters were mounted on its rear skirt armor, in addition to the primary back-mounted thruster all Dagger Ls had.
"This is the upcoming GAT-05 Gladius," Nain said. "The Atlantic Federation military had commissioned another company, Sword Advanced Development Inc., to produce a successor to the Dagger L. Actaeon Industries' backhand deals, however, resulted in Sword ADI's plans falling through; they're still around, but they've mainly been keeping themselves relevant manufacturing what they already had with the Atlantic Federation, until now."
"This is a pretty amazing upgunning of everything that comprised the original Dagger L-series," Ray said, skimming through the displayed schematics. "Is it Striker-pack capable?"
"The original specs gave it compatibility with first-generation Striker Packs, like the standards set by the Dagger L Block 15," March said. "But in the time since we've uncovered this project and handed it off to the Atlantic Federation's own in-house development teams, we've brought it up to compatibility standard with the second-generation Striker Packs - the same standard used by the Strike E lineage, which I suspect you're all familiar with as the Another Trial Striker Pack System. Those are Actaeon as well; you might have seen some amongst your skirmishes with Phantom Pain forces."
"Very," Ray replied. "And you want us to test-drive these units?"
"That's half the truth," Rahabinod said. "Unit testing has been proceeding for some time, and some MS units are already deployed to the field. Which brings us to the real meat of our meeting here."
"Ray, I want the Manhunters to join the Atlantic Federation special forces. With recent events, the mainline military is exhausted, and even if we can reclaim the hapless followers from Europe, it will be a while before we can put them back into regular service." He crossed his arms. "However, our enemies won't wait for us; the world is still in turmoil, with rouges and insurgents running amok outside. For too long the Atlantic Federation has leveraged numbers; we need to start leveraging skill. We need to prove to our old allies that genuine cooperation is still possible."
"To that effect, we're looking into the feasibility of deploying small but highly-skilled strike teams towards the European front. We have the consent of the Eurasian Federation for this one; the idea is to pincer the Blue Cosmos holdouts against the Eurasian Federation military." Nain continued after the senior officer. "When Blue Cosmos deployed the Expeditionary Force to the European region, they took a lot of regular units along with them. Most of them are regular pilots led by sympathizers, who in turn lick the boots of those that remain of their fallen masters. Letting them be hurled into combat would be a waste."
"So the good-old chop-off-the-head-of-the-snake?" Guy said. "I can get behind that."
"I suppose it's better than letting the fire burn itself out, if we can put it out with our own power first," Sheryl mused. "Knowing those guys, they'll probably use up all their support units as fodder first before finally taking to the field. We should intervene if we want those soldiers back... well, those still left standing after all the trouble we'll go through to get their leaders, anyways."
Ray glanced around as all eyes focused on him. "Your call, Ray," Sheryl said. "What do you think of this?"
"I'm not going to force you to accept it," Nain said. "But we're just letting you know… if you still want to be involved in the fight… that this is what we can give to you."
Ray remained silent, simply staring at the schematics of the Gladius. Memories briefly rose to his surface consciousness; of his comrades both still living, already dead, and those yet unaccounted for. At length, he spoke.
"I was wondering if I should have tendered my resignation once I made it back to Atlantic Federation territory," he said, body leaning forward. "But after hearing all this, there's no way I can just turn around and leave."
Ray stood up, and beside and behind him, Guy and Sheryl followed suit. "You have your MS team. Where's our next destination?"
CE 74, March 11th, Fairbanks Proving Grounds, Alaska, Atlantic Federation
Afternoon 15 11
The GAT-05 Gladius ploughed through a shower of wet snow and dirt, leaving muddy streaks across its armor, as its thrusters fired full-force. The unit leapt into the air, beam rifle shots striking accurately at the mock targets set up for the exercise, and landed heavily, another shower of wet soil and debris coating the unit in grime and dirt as the ambient heat of its thrusters melted the snow layer underfoot into muddy water.
Back at the command center, Ray and Sheryl watched attentively at the live drone footage of Guy's unit maneuvering through the combat testing course. The Gladius took a glancing hit to its left shoulder; the unit barely flinched as its internal compensators stabilized the unit almost instantaneously, and the return fire from its beam rifle sizzled through the smattering of trees in front of it, popping the Linear Tank fire drone that delivered the shot like a balloon.
From the smoke of the Linear Tank's explosion came a second shot, the round too fast for sight, only evidenced by the sudden hole torn through the smoke cloud; within a heartbeat Guy's Gladius bent forward and angled its shield, and a brief trail of sparks illuminated the grey surface of the Gladius' shield as the mock round scraped across its surface, before being deflected skywards and over the Gladius.
Thruster fire burst over the ground as the Gladius engaged in another boosted jump; the force hurled the mobile suit over the smoke of its first target, and Guy spotted the second; another Linear Tank, now engaged in reverse so as to put some distance between itself and the oncoming unit. Even with all of its mass and weight under gravity, however, the Gladius' improved engines still gave it a performance increase over the original Dagger L.
On the Gladius, thrust-vectoring plates flipped and turned upwards on its main thrusters' nozzles, and the mobile suit turned its boosted jump into a high-power landing as Guy landed the Gladius on the Linear Tank, slamming a thruster-assisted foot onto the drone vehicle. The Linear Tank's suspension snapped instantly, smashing through the center of the tank through its turret, and forced its treads and trackwheels out from underneath it, scattering the parts around the tank like the remnants of a squashed insect. Loose dirt, snow clumps, and branches billowed out from around the impact point as the Gladius righted itself.
One of the operators in the command center whistled appreciatively as the Gladius jumped again, leaving the Linear Tank's corpse with its foot imprint behind. "I guess we can check that impact test…?"
"Seems like it hit parameters well enough…" Nain said, as she leaned over the operator's console to check the numbers. "Alright, mark that as taken."
Ray, Sheryl, and Guy had been transported from Point Hope Outpost to Eielson Air Force Base within hours of Ray's agreement to joining the Atlantic Federation's new task force, and were then transported to the Fairbanks Proving Grounds east of the airbase. The next day, unit testing had began immediately; the Manhunters were given basic instructions on their new units, and soon enough all three were running maneuver and combat tests.
It was undeniable that the Gladius was a much-improved unit; Ray could see why Actaeon Industries had moved to block its production by any means possible. The Windam was supposed to be a specialist support mobile suit built to answer the requirements of a lightweight agile unit that the Dagger L had failed to live up to satisfactorily; but the Gladius would have taken up the lion's share of the Atlantic Federation's rearmament budget as it would have replaced the far more numerous Dagger L in all other roles, including the well-funded and well-supplied space forces of the Atlantic Federation. He had no access to whatever files Nain and the others had, but it didn't take a genius to see why LOGOS would not have tolerated having a significant part of the military-industrial complex that they had little to no control over.
On the other hand, Ray had to give thanks that the Atlantic Federation Space Fleet was now equipped with the Windam instead of the Gladius. He shuddered to think of what kind of havoc they might have wrecked under the leadership of Blue Cosmos-aligned commanders if they had even better equipment that they had now.
"Test complete," one of the operators said. "Results are all green. Hunter 3, return to the staging area."
"Acknowledged," Guy's voice came in through the speakers. "Hunter 3 on return."
"And all this while we've been struggling with the Dagger L," Sheryl said. "Unbelievable."
"Blue Cosmos digging their claws this deep into the Atlantic Federation was pretty unbelievable too," Ray replied. "At least we have some measure of direction now that they're scattered or gone."
"Direction is fine and all, but personally, I can't wait to put my boot to their faces fast enough," Sheryl groused. "If we take too long, the Eurasian Federation is going to clear up their side by the time we get there."
"I hope that'll happen, it'll certainly take some pressure out from us." Nain said, as she led the two out of the command center. "But by all indicators that's unfortunately not going to happen. We're tracking far too few Blue Cosmos remnants to have accounted for all of their deployments. You'd be familiar with this one, Ray; Geroda Rells, as well as Flogger Squadron of the 81st Autonomous Corps, has been declared missing in action immediately after Heaven's Base. Most of the 81st has gone underground; to date over 80% of them are unaccounted for. It's unfortunate that they're also some of the most wanted personnel involved in Blue Cosmos."
"You think they might have escaped, as compared to the others on the European mainland?" Ray asked.
"That would be correct. We have intermittent contact with the Eurasian Federation; after going through records of those they've captured or identified after battle, we realized that a fair number of Blue Cosmos commanders that were sent with the Expeditionary Force were actually just sympathizers." Nain said, leading them towards the building complex that formed the main administrative zone of Fairbanks PG. "As well as a testimony from someone else you're familiar with."
Ray's eyes widened in surprise as he entered the briefing room. "Major Calis!"
Venna Calis looked up from where she sat, her expression oddly neutral. "We meet again, Captain Feric. Doing well?"
"No thanks to you," Sheryl snapped, stepping forward. "Major." She added pointedly.
"For what it's worth, I've been told that you've handled your Captain's detour exceptionally well, Lieutenant Camelot." Venna replied.
Ray stepped in front of Sheryl before she could snap off another acidic reply. "Are you here as a task force member as well?"
"Yes. Between the haphazard commands of Flogger Squadron and you and your friends, the 47th Armor Tactics Battalion was left in shambles." Venna said. "They offered me another command after my recuperation, but then the denouncement of LOGOS happened, and my deployment was lost in the chaos. I'd almost resigned myself to an administrative position when I was offered a part in this new initiative."
"Good to be working alongside you, then," Ray said.
Venna merely made a small sound of disdain. "Ever optimistic, aren't you, Captain? But I suppose it's a legitimate case this time." She stood up. "I have to leave now. Excuse me."
Sheryl glared at the officer as she made her way past the group, before calling out one last time. "How's Linda? Is she back from Heaven's Base?"
Venna turned around in shock, although her expression was well-controlled. "How did you know I had a sister?"
"I met her there, obviously," Sheryl replied. "A fresh nugget too good to have been involved in that shitshow. Major."
Venna gave a short laugh and shook her head. "Prisoner exchange and return; she's back on the American mainland in one piece for now."
"I see," Sheryl replied curtly. "Sorry for taking up your time asking that, then."
Guy looked at his fellow soldier as Venna left the room. "Nice of you to be concerned."
"Yeah, well, her sister and her are two separate people, alright?" Sheryl replied hastily, as she took a seat.
Nain merely smiled and shook her head, taking her place at the front of the briefing room, as other personnel began to stream in.
Afterword:
At this point in the main story the battle of Orb would be following in close in about a couple of episodes, but I personally think there's some time to put in a least one or two events to lead up to that part of the timeline (also because back in Tales of the Cosmic Era the events of the battle of Orb in SEED Destiny is dated about two months after the current date of this chapter. So what'll follow will be an original story arc where the main team gets deployed to hunt down and clear out Blue Cosmos stragglers.