Chapter 36

CE 74, March 12th, Szczecin Regional Garrison, Poland, Eurasian Federation

Afternoon 15 16

"… and then, we met the Phantom Pain bastards in a mighty clash of blades! It was a tough battle, but I eventually got the upper hand and dispatched my opponent. Then I sought out my commander and bailed her out of the fire."

There was a round of laughter from the listening group, all Lieutenants or lower, in the officer's mess as the speaker finished. One of them waggled a finger at the storyteller. "Rolan, we have seen you fight in recent days, and though I do not begrudge your skills, but the day you go dashing to the rescue of that rough-and-tumble princess of brawling you call your commander is the day I will eat my boots."

Lieutenant Rolan Brego of the Eurasian Federation Armed Forces' 91st Armor Tactics Squadron Blizzard laughed, a smirk pasted across his face. "Aye friend, you don't know the half of it. During the retreat from Mannheim…"

The doors to the officer's mess swung open. The laughter swiftly died as the group caught sight of the approaching person; despite their best attempts at discrete gestures, however, Rolan, with his back facing the door, failed to notice the approaching rearward threat.

"… and then we encountered a never-before-seen variant of the Strike E. The armor on it was just plain thick-"

"I'll do something never-before-seen all right, if you don't explain what you're doing here a mere 2 hours before combat deployment," Captain Esther Granmark, squadron commander of the Blizzards, said levelly from behind Rolan.

Rolan jumped a little as he turned to face his commander. "Just a little exposition for those to come after us, ma'am."

"The intel people will give them all the exposition they require when it's their turn," Esther shot back. "Did you make sure we have our supplies ready?"

"Aye ma'am, they were already loaded up before I arrived here, I made sure of it. The other three are in the hangar giving our units the last look-over before we go on our next mission to punch out the leftover Blue Cosmos bastards in the region."

Esther regarded Rolan with a narrowed gaze for a moment. "Alright, fair enough." She turned to the group of officers, who moments ago had been Rolan's audience. "Has he sucked up any spirits yet?"

One of the officers quickly shoot his head. "No ma'am." The others quickly nodded in affirmation.

"C'mon, captain, I'm not that bad a slob," Rolan protested weakly.

To the officers' surprise, Esther laughed. "Yeah, like the last four times you said the same thing. Finish up your story, we'll meet at the hangar."

Rolan snapped off a mock salute. "Aye ma'am!"

Esther's gaze travelled skywards as she stepped back outside. Though spring came late this year, and the air was still cold and the clouds grey, the winter snow was long gone weeks ago, and each day was slightly warmer than the last. Soon enough, the Eurasian Federation's offensive drive against the remnant Blue Cosmos soldiers on the continent would shift into high gear, and then only time would tell if Esther and her unit would stop the moment they reached Mannheim Base, or if they would be roped into the efforts to retake areas as far as Spain. While some of the troops were willing to surrender, having been Atlantic Federation units duped into fighting against their former allies, Esther knew that the reports of Blue Cosmos holdouts were anything but a lie; some of those units were legitimate Phantom Pain troops, armed with the latest in equipment and armaments. They would not be opponents that any half-baked soldier could just waltz over; and that was assume that they did not take locals as hostages, as Esther herself had encountered several times since the Berlin tragedy. To complicate matters, Europe had a high number of anti-nuclear warrens built in the distant past of the Reconstruction War; if Phantom Pain had holed up in those, the fighting would only be fiercer for having to flush them out first.

A voice called out her name; Esther turned to see Master Sergeant Kim Rassare approach her.

The infantry commander was formerly part of an Atlantic Federation unit, attached to OMNI as ground action support for another MS team; during the chaos of Mannheim Base, she, and the OMNI unit she served, had sided with the Eurasian forces in combat.

Although the ground retreat had cost a few lives, Kim had gotten her platoon out with still enough soldiers left to continue the fight. With her former squadron gone, the sergeant regrouped her unit and joined up with Eurasian forces skirmishing with Atlantic Federation troops near Nuremburg, where Esther and her squadron had coincidentally retreated to as well.

Most of the other Eurasian commanders had been skeptical of Esther's new Atlantic Federation allies, and rightly so considering what had transpired, but Esther had caught wind of the new arrivals and immediately vouched for their legitimacy. She had seen their combat performance during the action against NEFA and the Mannheim Base battle; she wouldn't be able to live it down if the soldiers had ended up shuffled into a prison camp instead.

Short of manpower, and with Kim's insistence, Eurasian command had deigned to put the infantry of her combined unit under Esther's command, complete with the ranks they held as part of the Atlantic Federation forces. Stopping the enemy at the Polish border, Esther and Kim had worked together on several operations against Blue Cosmos-led forces, helping to keep the usurpers at bay until Chairman Durandal's announcement of the existence of LOGOS. Contact with the restored Atlantic Federation was made soon after, and Kim's new orders were made official by the new leadership of the Atlantic Federation military as part of a new global attempt to rein in their forces and reach out to allies, compared to Blue Cosmos' rampant actions of the past.

"Soldiers are ready to move out, ma'am," Kim said. She eyed the doors to the officer's mess for a moment. "I was going to report our combat capability status, but then Caleria told me that you had went looking for Rolan."

Esther chuckled. "So even you know where to go by now."

"With a reputation as legendary as his, it's not hard to learn quick," Kim replied with a smirk of her own.

"Slovenly as he looks, he has it where he counts," Esther said. "Let's go back to the hangar. I've no mood to be in the mess, and it's better than standing out here in the cold."

Grey skies stretched out overhead as the two walked. It was less than four months ago that they launched their attempt to break free of the Atlantic Federation's grasp, when they caught wind of the disaster going on at Berlin, but Esther felt as though it had been years since she last saw the pilots of the Manhunters.

I hope you're still alive, Ray… I won't accept you dying before this whole mess is over.

CE 74, March 15th, Fairbanks Proving Grounds, Alaska, Atlantic Federation

Night 23 34

Venna Calis was currently strapped into the cockpit of her GAT-05 Gladius, but it didn't prevent her from tilting her head backwards by reflex as her hands moved the controls of her machine to do the same; a beam sabre blade passed centimeters from in-between the chin of the Gladius's head unit and its torso block as it backtracked, the glow of the weapon the only ground-level light for miles around the darkened landscape of the wilderness of Fairbanks at night.

The Gladius swung its shield forward in a side hook, but its opponent was too far away to be hit by the last-minute blow. Instead, drawing back for a moment, the enemy leapt forward; another Gladius unit much like hers slammed its shield against her own, throwing Venna's unit to the ground.

The heavy impact left stars across her vision, but her reflexes were practiced enough to engage the mobile suit's CIWS guns, forcing the enemy Gladius back as the rapid-fire rounds sparked against its shield, held up to protect its head. Back and shirt thrusters flared, momentarily illuminating the region and melting pits into the snowy ground, causing vast clouds of steam to rise, as Venna righted her unit in seconds; in close-contact combat, every moment counted.

From behind its shield, her opponent let loose an anti-armor penetrator knife, the projectile aimed straight at her unit's torso. Knocking the weapon off-course with her shield, she struck forward for a quick kill, intent on ending the fight as soon as possible. Her opponent, however, braced itself; angling its shield, it lowered its body and charged, rear thrusters alight as it met Venna's unit head-on.

Shield struck shield in a dazzling display of sparks as the surfaces grinded against each other, briefly lighting up both units beyond just darkened silhouettes, but her opponent was faster; the Gladius' shoulder thrusters fired as it sidestepped, and drew its other beam sabre. Thrown off-balance forward, Venna twisted her unit around in one last desperate slash at her enemy, only for the flash of a beam sabre to fill her screen as the enemy ducked under her swing with practiced precision, and responded with a swift strike of its own.

"End environment simulation," an operator's voice announced over the comms. "Simulation 13-B is over."

The cockpit of Venna's Gladius dimmed momentarily as it switched modes, the beam sabre dissolving into digital motes of light. On the night-vision enabled on her screen, she saw Ray Feric's Gladius holding out its hand.

Refusing the gesture, Venna righted her own unit, pulling her helmet off her head. Letting out her breath, she glanced at the MS of her former instructor and now fellow pilot. "Another perfect win for you."

"You would call this perfect, Major?" Ray asked, handing her unit its beam rifle; both MSes had lost their beam rifles in the early minutes of fighting; Ray's to Venna's ambush, Venna's from being overpowered in close combat. "A brawl is hardly the way to finish things nicely."

"A brawl is what you seem to excel at," Venna muttered, but another voice cut through the intercom on the common band next, saving her the trouble of a proper reply.

"All units, that's it for today," Nain's voice sounded out. "13-B, report all provisions and actual damages."

"Hunter Leader, all green," Ray reported.

"Shortsword Leader, all green," Venna replied.

"Copy that. Return to base." Nain said, her reply momentarily marred by background noise of the other units reporting in.

Both units engaged their thrusters, the units leaping towards Fairbanks Proving Ground's main base and hangar area. Around them, in the distance, Ray could see similar streaks of light, the thruster fire of other units, as they returned from the exercises they had been running.

There was a burst of soft static in Ray's hearing, as the short-range band of his MS received a signal from Venna's unit. Intrigued, he opened the channel. "What's the matter, Major?"

"Why did you take up this assignment, Captain?" Venna suddenly asked. "You didn't strike me as the very patriotic type; you'd have since been taken in by Blue Cosmos rhetoric if you were."

Ray pondered the question before answering. "You would be right on that count. Frankly, I had wanted to walk away from all this. Get back to a civilian life, just forget all that has happened. Let the war and the associated baggage be someone else's problems."

"And now that goal is as far as it can get again," Venna pressed. "I see no reason in you to keep going. Not a good one, anyways."

"What do you think is my reason, then?" Ray replied.

"Guilt," came Venna's immediate reply.

Ray gave a short laugh. "Straight to the point, with no detours. I see why Celina looked up to you as a partner."

"Don't-" Venna shot back. She made herself take a deep breath before continuing. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Ray thought back to his actions at Mannheim Base; how he had ordered Guy and Sheryl to target the hangars housing the MSes assigned to the new recruits. He had hoped that that would keep them out of the fight then. But with their loss at Mannheim, they were now probably out there on the Eurasian front, if they were still alive, being misled by the remnants of a radical organization.

"I take my successes when and where I can get them, be it partial or full," Ray said. "I won't deny what happened with Celina. But it was her end that highlighted how deeply ingrained Blue Cosmos was in the Atlantic Federation. Any kind of counter-action wouldn't have been an easy job." He paused as the Gladius landed one last time, the lights of the hangars now visible, and began walking towards the base.

"If I had been mindful of what I said, Celina might still be alive. I have no excuses to offer." Ray said, as the machines trudged forward. "But even though I supported Kelvin's attempt at rebellion; even though, in another time and place, I might have sided with NEFA… their way isn't how I would want to solve this issue, now that I have seen and heard all that I have. This problem encompasses something beyond mere ideology; it gnaws at the very roots of human fear of obsolescence."

"Rampant gene modification would have thrown our world into a new arms race, except that the war would have been focused on the biological. But now that the Coordinators are a part of our world, simply destroying all of them won't succeed; the Bloody Valentine War is direct proof of that. So is the same as trying to rid the Atlantic Federation and Earth of radicals like Blue Cosmos merely by singling out guilty parties. A general is nothing without an army; their support came from playing up the fears of the regular citizens, their forces formed out of the ignorant or the deluded - or those who truly believe the justice only they can see of their cause. Simply hitting back in an eye-for-an-eye does nothing to solve the issue."

Ground crew guided the Gladius mobile suits with marshaling lights as they walked towards their assigned hangars.

"That's probably why I choose to remain. To convince even just one more person that the use of brute force in this world will only lead to ashes and failure. If this is guilt, I'll willingly carry it for the rest of my days."

Venna remained silent as Ray's machine went on its way, and she moved her Gladius into its assigned berth, the sound of soft humming from the now-blank private comm link the only thing that remained of the conversation.

CE 74, March 17th, Fairbanks Proving Grounds, Alaska, Atlantic Federation

Morning 10 23

The main briefing room of Fairbanks Proving Grounds was filled with pilots, Ray amongst them. To the front was an officer speaking, with Rahabinod standing by the side.

To Ray's right, Sheryl Camelot's eyes narrowed as she peered at the map displayed on the screens. "Looks like we're gonna pincer them, eh?"

Guy mentally counted the markers on the maps, which were currently displaying the locations of nuclear-resistant bunkers constructed during the days prior to the Reconstruction War more than 75 years ago. "Between the regions of France, Spain, and Switzerland, that's a lot of potential hiding holes to run to. Pincer or not, digging them out is going to be a pain in the ass."

"Let's wait for the briefing to finish first before we take bets on speculations," Ray said.

Rahabinod stepped forward as the officer finished speaking. "I'll take over from here now. As you've all just heard, with the Eurasian Army coming down hard on from the eastern front, they're breaking from the lines they held. Most of them are running west; the Eurasian Navy is speeding to intercept them, but we have reports of a new threat that might make their escape a reality."

The viewscreen changed to display the schematics of a large submarine; it resembled a symmetrical double-hulled design, although the side prow protrusions extended beyond its middle body by only a bit; both the topward and forward launch bay doors were clearly visible on its hulls. "A week ago, the Bureau of Intelligence uncovered a secret port facility located south of Isotorq, Greenland. Agents initially believed it to be an abandoned Blue Cosmos military facility, but further investigation revealed it to be a development dock of sorts."

He gestured at the submarine plans. "Submarine carriers are what most of you here would regard as the domain of ZAFT, but that didn't mean that the concept escaped consideration by the Atlantic Federation. Unfortunately, while the main military abandoned the idea, Blue Cosmos seems to have fully welcomed it."

"I think the odds of them tricking the military into abandoning it is more probable," Sheryl muttered under her breath.

"What you're seeing here is the prototype Orcinus-class submarine carrier," Ranahinod continued. "Capable of carrying up to twelve MSes with mission pack support, and up to sixteen if it's just transporting them, the Orcinus-class also has surface-to-air missile support capability for surface combat, ballistic missile capability, as well as a stock of torpedo launchers located in its middle hull. We believe there is a hangar there as well for other purposes; it's not marked on the files, so that's our best guess."

Guy whistled appreciatively. "It definitely packs more than ZAFT's Vosgulovs."

"Well-observed, Lieutenant. Shore bombardment capability is definitely better than the Vosgulovs', based on the data that we've decrypted, in addition to supporting multiple types of munitions." Ranahinod replied. "As far as we can tell, the facility held enough space for four submarines; three are currently unaccounted for. We have ID on the last, but tracking is still in progress."

"Just great," Sheryl shook her head. "Terrorists with strategic attack weapons."

"You would be half-correct on that part, Lieutenant," Rahabinod said. "Our current stock of nuclear weapons are all accounted for, including those stolen by Blue Cosmos during their shift to Heaven's Base. But that doesn't mean that we're out of danger yet; we should assume that the chances of them being provided or having a hidden cache of nuclear devices compatible with ballistic missile weaponry is very high. If we simply oust them from allied territory, there is a high chance that they may choose to enact a scorched-earth policy as a last-resort strike."

"So even as we attempt to prevent the radicals from escaping to sea, we have to be mindful of naval support from them," Ray remarked. "If both sides are already in contact and planning an escape, this could be tough for us if we want to bring them in without too much destruction."

"We're currently bringing in multiple branches into this operation, as well as Eurasian Federation Armed Forces units," Rahabinod said. "Their main force keeps up the pressure, and the navy cuts off their naval escape route. Then, the SRU, in support of Eurasian Army units, will crush the rest of them in a land battle. I'll mention more on that later."

The screen flickered as it changed to display a map of western France. "We currently have intel on three units maintaining position at fortified locations along the coastal line, corresponding to former OMNI bases. The others are likely hiding in the nuclear shelter bases as indicated thus far."

"Our timeline on this doesn't have a lot of leeway. We want the submarines to enter the naval zone long enough to be noticed; if we hit the bases first, they'll either turn tail and run, or the enemy will hold out long enough to pull off a largely-unobstructed evauation, messing up our schedule. So we'll take on those sequestered in the warrens first, and force them out."

"Just three submarines won't be able to carry all their mobile suits, would it?" One of the listening officers asked.

"We're assuming that they'll abandon a lot of gear in the final phase of their escape attempt," Rahabinod said. "But this is assuming that the submarines are alone; strategic prediction paints that as an unlikely outcome, however. As much as possible, the personnel are the more important aspect of this operation. Capture or kill is acceptable; the less people that make it offshore, if the naval aspect of the operation fails, the better off it will be for us in the future."

"This will be the first official mission of the Atlantic Federation's Special Response Unit. If the SRU succeeds, it will go a long way in beginning the restoration of relations between our allies and us."

Sheryl sighed. "The stakes of this upcoming battle seem no less than when Blue Cosmos still existed as a formidable force."

"People backed into a corner will fight all the fiercer, that's a given." Guy said. "Only way for us to match that edge is to rise up to the challenge ourselves."

CE 74, March 19st, Fairbanks Proving Grounds, Alaska, Atlantic Federation

Morning 09 14

Although all three of the Manhunters expected the Gladius to have some sort of multi-mission capability, what they saw differed from what they expected based on memory. Sheryl's eyes widened as she saw the equipment arrayed in front of her, the hustle and bustle of the cavernous hangar bay lost to her as she took in what she saw. "You mean to say that something like this existed and we're only getting it now?!"

"All of these were either impounded by Blue Cosmos sympathizers or dug out from locked files to be worked on until recently," Rahabinod said. "Be glad that enough talent remained loyal to the Atlantic Federation that we could restore so much in so short a time."

"I imagine this is now easier to get than the Striker Packs we used for our Dagger Ls back in Sinai," Ray said, eyeing the equipment set being prepared for mounting onto their Gladius units.

Rahabinod gave a hearty laugh. "It's easier to get the required forms now, but I've never been one to do paperwork quickly. Still, I'd be remiss to simply send you back out in basic gear - even if it's improved basic gear. You'll be outnumbered where you're going, not counting the Eurasians at your backs; this should improve your odds of survivability somewhat."

Ray had chosen the Gladius' base reinforcement set, the newly-developed Vanguard Striker Pack. Additional back thrusters, as well as a right side-mounted over-shoulder beam cannon and a left side-mounted convex dish-model fire radar, formed the cornerstone of the pack. Additional frontal armor had been added to the machine's knee segment and torso, further improving its defenses; the highlight of those were two additional beam sabre racks installed within its knee armor, which could be activated as mounted weapons. Forgoing the hip block-mounted beam guns, he had opted for both hardpoints to be installed with the beam-tipped rocket anchors instead.

Guy had stayed true to his calling, and his Gladius was being outfitted with the Another Trial Launcher Striker Pack, or as Rahabinod had mentioned, the Launcher variant, or Launcher 2G, of the Second-Generation Striker Pack series. Apart from the iconic Agni Hyper Impulse multi-phase cannon, the shoulder-mounted 120mm vulcan gun and 350mm launcher tubes had been modularized; the gun launchers had multi-clamps that could now accept the vulcan gun and fin shields on either side, and Guy's unit mounted one set of one vulcan gun, one shield, and two gun launchers on each of its shoulders. Furthermore, the Launcher 2G had been further improved with the same model of fire radar the Vanguard Striker had, except mounted on the right side of the backpack. His model was outfitted with the beam gun-mounted hip-block equipment.

Sheryl's Gladius had the biggest changes compared to the other two. Although she had requested it herself, seeing it in person was another matter altogether. The equipment for the second-generation Lighting Striker Pack was placed in front of her Gladius as technicians began mounting up the parts for a synchronization test.

The unit's additional backpack mounted both its battery system and the fire radar. Unlike the version installed on Ray's or Guy's units, the Lightning Gladius' fire radar was a square plate mounted on a sub-arm system over its left shoulder, allowing it to extend well above the unit's head height and swivel to face any direction. The unit's signature weapon, its railgun rifle, utilized a folding barrel design that allowed it to be used in medium-range gun battles at the cost of projectile range and power. Sheryl's Gladius only mounted one rocket anchor on its right side; the other was set in its base form, the magnetic clamps allowing her to add in a standard beam carbine as a backup weapon.

"Still, I am curious that you told us that this design has some roots in Orb," Ray asked. "I've never seen any of our forces outfitted with this."

"In spirit, maybe," Rahabinod said. "The data for Orb's Lightning Strike served as an inspiration for a counter-target long-ranged unit, but the technology we used in its construction are all ours. The railgun there, for instance, takes from the technology used for the Mk. 11 Valiant railgun model. Orb's model used a 2-piece storage; ours uses a folding mechanism. Of course, we've have two additional years to refine it for mass production; an improved design should only be expected."

"I wonder what else was passed under the table…"

"Orb has a lot more research and development clout than they let on, I'll say as much," Rahabinod explained. "The Atlantic Federation had, at that time, hoped to glean technology from Orb, so they allowed the other side to sign an agreement of open development with the promise of data-sharing. Plenty of information passed hands before Blue Cosmos usurped the situation with the Battle of Orb; by then, we had exchanged plenty of data. Of course, Blue Cosmos tried to sift through the debris of Onogoro on their own, but I don't think the Orb government left them much to work with after detonating the mass driver and the important facilities before escaping. Most of what we have was obtained before. Of course, we only managed to keep some of it under guard, but at least it wasn't all given over to Blue Cosmos."

"There must be mountains of documents regarding the Atlantic Federation's under-the-table dealings with Orb's Morgenrote," Ray said, turning back to look at Sheryl's now-completed Lightning Gladius.

"That is only the tip of the iceberg," Rahabinod sighed. "The faster we settle the visible war, the faster we can get started on the shadows still lying in wait."

Afterword:

This is a catch-up chapter meant to kick off the next arc, with a bit of exposition for why Ray always seems so tortured whenever Blue Cosmos is involved, even when there's no under-base torture dungeon involved. I hope the insinuation with regards to Ray's past is clear enough with all the references to it as early as the Mannheim arc, but I can't deny that the meat of that story is in Tales of the Cosmic Era. Also some focus on one of the other parts of the global situation post-Heaven's Base.