Chapter 38

CE 74, March 11th, Orb Union Intelligence Services General HQ, Oku Island, Orb Union, Pacific Ocean

Morning 11 21

After dropping off Ray and company, it took almost two weeks for the Orb Recon Brigade's submarine to finally reach Orb Union territory. The urgency to return to Orb was balanced by the fact that keeping hidden was advantageous to their cause in almost all predictions, and the need to avoid surface detection.

Rather than taking port at any of the military bases around the main island, or docking at Onogoro Island, however, the submarine had sailed into a third choice location; a sequestered underwater port located on the largest northwest island of the cluster. Called Oku Island, the name was supposedly derived from the caverns that honeycombed the center of the island once used by the indigenous population as shelter; but to the personnel that served in the Orb Intelligence Services, the name was also a subtle nod to the underground headquarters in the island for the various special forces that operated under the radar of the regular Orb forces.

It was also the primary staging area of the Orb Recon Brigade; with underground bases and hangars, the location was largely hidden from air reconnaissance, and any spying eye thinking of copping a view of the Orb Union's nonconventional military forces would only see sparse towns and the island's primary city. The location had been temporarily shut down during the occupation of the Orb Union by OMNI during the first war, but once the war ended, its personnel had quickly shifted back to resume their work.

The last time Orb Recon Brigade Commander Mei Kenroukuen, once known as Kaguya Sakamoto, OMNI Enforcer MS pilot, had set foot on Oku Island, was more than two years ago, before the Battle of Orb against the Earth Alliance, during the First Bloody Valentine War. As she stepped off the walkway leading from the submarine to the port, she glanced around; the glaring lights overhead, the smell of machine oil and parts, and the low ambient humming of equipment was as she remembered it. Submarine docking berths, some filled, some empty, were arranged in a row, with her transport taking the first slot.

Mei was not one to be nostalgic for small reasons, but she couldn't help but feel as though she was back home again.

CE 74, March 22nd, Orb Union Intelligence Services General HQ, Oku Island, Orb Union, Pacific Ocean

Morning 11 21

That was ten days ago, and whatever she had felt then was now buried in the back of her mind.

Most of the members of the Recon Brigade, like Mei, had been dispersed after the occupation of Orb, sent to infiltrate other factions, or to mingle amongst the regular forces. Though their leadership dealt mainly with external threats, there was no denying that they were just as entwined with matters of internal security; indeed, the infantry and agents of their armed forces were trained in both.

Despite the harrowing nature of their work, Mei had always felt like it was a foregone conclusion that the Orb Recon Brigade would eventually coalesce back into the single entity it was. However, she wished that their reunion had been under less pressing circumstances.

The rampant debriefings and visits from top-echelon Orb officers had occupied the first five days of her return; she barely had time to put on whatever sparse belongings she still had on hand when the call to report came. Hours of talking and having every scrap of her words analyzed by teams of tacticians and officers with more bars on their uniforms than hers quickly numbed her to the passing of time, as she fell into a pattern of reiteration and clarification with all the professionalism she could muster through the mentally-arduous debriefing sessions. Most cared less for her combat experiences than what she had seen and reported thus far through secret channels, and every location and base she had touched upon in her reports were pulled up for scrutiny.

Then came the actual catch-up. Freed from strategic concerns, she was free to return to her unit and her expected duties, where fellow Brigade Commander Kousaka Kae had rapidly filled her in on the ongoing turmoil of the Orb parliament, beginning from the kidnapping of Representative Cagalli Yula Atha, to the Orb Expeditionary Force lost to ZAFT halfway across the world, and now, the furtive political maneuvering that had the politicians of Orb in its grip after the fall of Heaven's Base.

Currently, she was seated in one of the building wings of the Primary Operations Center, the main office for the Orb Recon Brigade, the armed intervention military arm of the Orb Union Intelligence Services. The current leaders of the Brigade's MS forces were gathered around her; Commanders Kousaka Kae, Kanano Hawaki, Kanano Houka, Andi Sakovich, and "Karl Hartner", whose real identity was that of Commander Cayne Hastler. With the unit almost fully gathered, they were cross-exchanging information and updating each other on the results of their respective missions.

There was one more missing leader, however; Captain Reishou Amaki, their overall commander. And nobody around had any idea as to the whereabouts of their leader.

"He's still alive and in action, that much we know of," Kae said, mild exasperation creasing her expression. Tasked with the daily running of Brigade upkeep operations after the first war, Kae was the one who had spent the last two years handling all of their reports, including those of Captain Reishou's. "Reports were coming in as recent as just a week ago; he was planning to investigating Heliopolis and Mendel."

"Knowing our leader, it must be something vastly greater in importance if he's not here at this time," Andi said. "Although, with the Earth Alliance stable, and Blue Cosmos on the run, it baffles me as to what could be more important than the current crisis brewing amongst the fatasses that constitute our politicians."

During the past few days, Kae had filled in the other returning commanders on the doings of Orb's leadership. Some, such as Andi, or the twins, Hawaki and Houka, were fairly well-versed in the events that had transpired; Andi had led his unit as an aggressor squadron in training the current generation of post-war Orb pilots, while the twins spent most of their time before and during the Second Bloody Valentine War stationed on the Ame-no-Mihashira, Orb's primary space station asset, working together with the Sahaku family, one of Orb's prestigious noble families, which helped kept them in the loop of events.

Cayne and Mei were the two commanders that needed Kae's retelling the most. While Cayne had punctuated Kae's efforts to explain the current situation with his own exclamations, as was his outspoken style, to Kae's irritation, Mei's relative silence was far from a signal of apathy towards their current situation either.

Past the battle of Heaven's Base, the Seirans had become increasing withdrawn and exclusive, with even the agents seeded by the Brigade unable to divulge much on their actions. Much of the day-to-day running of the nation had been foisted off to their political allies; the closest Kae had managed to get wind of was that the Seirans, especially the elder Unato Ema Seiran, were increasingly involved in private communications with an unknown party, or several. The younger, Yuna Roma Seiran, meanwhile, had taken it upon himself to represent the nation with his public appearances, and every word out of him was setting off alarms in Kae's consciousness. The people that occupied important government posts were in flux; many of their agents had been dismissed from key positions and replaced by unknowns or suspected Seiran supporters, an action that worried Kae greatly.

"Probably getting people to erase their trails to LOGOS," Cayne remarked. "We have evidence of the Seirans having links to certain members of that organization. I wonder how fat they got off the war profits siphoned their way during this conflict?" He crossed his arms. "We should have pushed harder instead of trying to wait for Representative Cagalli's orders, prevented them from getting their claws on the Orb Union right from the start, then let the OIS sweep in and bundle them up and out of the parliament."

"We're several months too late to consider that action now," Andi replied. "The Seirans have done a good job entrenching their followers amongst the ruling politicians. Unless one of the prestigious families agree to being an interim leader…?" He turned to look at the twins.

At this, Mei followed his gaze. It was Hawaki who replied first.

"If you're asking about Rondo Mina Sahaku, the answer is no," she said. "This isn't a hint, either. We have her personal recorded statement that she wishes no part in the forceful replacement of Orb's current leadership."

"Probably gives her a greater degree of moment with her third-party allies," Houka added. "But if she's planning something on her own, there were no signs of it last when we were still on the Ame-no-Mihashira."

"At least our dear princess Cagalli Yula Atha and her posse are back," Cayne replied. "Well, technically. But they're sequestered in Morgenrote's sub-facilities, aren't they?"

"All the better to be near the GHQ of the Orb military," Kae said. "We have contact with them, but if Representative Atha has something planned, she isn't sharing it."

"We can assume that she has nothing, then," Andi replied brusquely. "No guile involved when it comes to that one."

"If Representative Atha hasn't made any overt movement, then it's out of our hands at the moment," Mei interjected, trying to smooth over the dirty look Kae shot at Andi, who shrugged in response. "Our pressing concern remain the Seirans. Over half of the parliament is in their pocket at this time and the others are either uninvolved or are unable to mount any form of resistance. Is there any way we can crack their secrecy?"

"Not instantly, that's for certain," Kae said. "That bastard Yuna signed plenty of executive orders for himself both before and after his marriage to Miss Atha. I'm still untangling the pieces from the ropes of bureaucracy. At the very least, storming their offices in a coup d'état is out of the question. We have too little people, and they have people like the Tanamuras working for them."

The name of one of the more well-known minor founding families caught Mei's attention. "Tanamura? But Tanamura Goenji was one of Uzumi 's closest supporters."

"His son didn't share the same heart," Kae replied. "When Goenji went with Uzumi, the son was quick to take over. Ichijou is firmly in the pocket of the Seirans, and he has the ears and hands of a few others beside him as well. They've been doing a good job getting in my way this past few years."

Orb's year-round sunny exterior and constant exhorting of cooperation belied the turbulent undercurrent of its political clime. Mei understood all too well that the backing of one of the founding families of the Orb Union was all but required to keep the others in check; and that was if they agreed to lend their power to the cause. The Brigade had been a joint venture between the Athas, the Sahakus, and the Ashiharas; of these three, the Ashiharas' power had fallen significantly throughout the years, the Sahakus' overt support had been lost with the death of their previous generation, Uzumi had little chance to pass on what remained to him to his daughter before war had taken him, and Cagalli's inexperience in the courts of intrigue didn't help her any; she had no knowledge on how to protect herself or turn the tools arrayed against her to her own advantage. Though she had given authorization to Amaki Reishou, she had seldom called on the Brigade's services, preferring to instead face issues upfront.

Though her straightforward personality marked her as a trustworthy person at heart, it had no place in the political arena of Orb.

Prior to the first war, their leader, Amaki Reishou, had gathered favor by working extensively with the minor families, as well as extensive efforts in entwining the Brigade with Orb's national matters. Originally formed as an armed extension of the Intelligence Services, they were now involved with intel matters that concerned Orb's national hierarchy of power and security; it had allowed them to spread their roots to more places, be in the loop for more matters other than just being the silent sword of Orb.

For now, they at least knew of the intentions of two of the ruling families. Kae had vouched for the Ashiharas, and Hawaki and Houka for the Sahakus. To restore transparency and trust to the decisions of the Orb leadership, they would have to move against the Seirans and their allied family, the Nagamotos. But the last two were well-known amongst the regulars of the parliament to be allies, and together they commanded a significant number of minor families, chief amongst them the Tanamuras. The late Uzumi's fiery leadership had kept the other side of Orb politics strong, but Cagalli was not yet her father's equal. With the dearth of political power for the Brigade's supporters, there was little they could do without incurring the wrath of the current leadership.

Mei closed her eyes in contemplation. For every day the Seirans remained unchallenged, the possibility of an unsolvable crisis grew. The feeling of uneasiness deep within her was beginning to stir again.

Kae continued her briefing well into the day, with Mei absorbing a great deal of information regarding the state of her home nation. Tanamura Ichijou now controlled a large part of the Orb Intelligence Services in Representative Yuna's favor, and for the past few months had been actively getting in their way to make sure that they couldn't get any dirt on the new leader of the Orb Union. Information manipulation and falsification were being used to make the mainline military pliant, while the cross-checking usually provided by the internal factions of Orb were kept at bay. With the Brigade mostly occupied around the globe until recently, and Representative Atha missing for most of the time in-between, resistance to Tanamura's movements had been difficult, even for the Intelligence Services.

All that and more had Mei's mind deep in contemplation, so much that hunger became a distant concern as the hours dragged on. By the time Kae was done, it was already well into the evening. Leaving the office, Mei immediately came face-to-face with a familiar expression.

Lieutenant Commander Hanamori Kyouko's expression brightened at the sight of her commanding officer. "Commander!"

Mei and Kyouko were both members of the 6th Contingent of the Brigade, and its only MS pilots. The younger pilot was well-known for her admiration of Mei's skills, but had not followed Mei on her mission into OMNI; Captain Amaki had disallowed it, and her injury during the last war prior to the fall of Orb had dashed any chances she had of taking up an active mission. Given her disposition, however, Mei saw no other path for her spirited subordinate; she was an average enough infiltrator on her own, and if she had to watch over someone worse, the mission would have been bound for failure.

"I'll leave you two to catch up," Kae said. "I suspect she's just about had it with the paperwork while she was under me."

Mei kept her expression to that of a slight smile, acutely aware of the resurfacing memory of a similar member in the Manhunters, as Kyouko grimaced. "It never ends, if that's what she means. I don't even get half of the forms we were supposed to process!"

CE 74, March 22nd, Nantes Underground Garrison surface region, Nantes, France, Eurasian Federation

Morning 09 53

Halfway around the world from Orb, the Atlantic Federation Special Response Unit's 108th Armor Tactics Squadron Manhunters, and the Eurasian Federation forces present at Nantes, busied themselves with preparations for the long day ahead. With the main entrance secured, the Eurasian forces were now putting together assault teams to storm the interior of the base.

The Nantes Underground Garrison was far from any of the underground bases that the Manhunters had fought in before. Most of the shelter bases in the Middle-East and some parts of Europe used the long-strip design; a single underground tunnel dug wide and reinforced against bunker-busting munitions, with additional facilities built outwards from the sides of the middle of the tunnel. Heavy diagonal-movement lifts facilitated movement at either end, and if required could be set aside for aircraft catapults.

The Nantes Underground Garrison, however, was built in a "Y" shape, with two side entrances facing towards the coasts and a single main entrance in which they now occupied the top part of, serving as the primary corridors for over several dozen large facilities and their accompanying rooms. The arrangement was merely one part of the equation, however; with most of it at over 700 meters underground and reinforced to not only survive, but to continue operation in the face of nuclear exchange and counter-bunker strikes, the Nantes Garrison was built to spec as a testament to the conflict of its era, the Reconstruction War. Had the war went fully hot, the Nantes Garrison would have housed a conscripted rescued populace and a significant military force in the western region of France. As things turned out, over the years, the base had been cleared of equipment and survival facilities, and re-equipped as a semi-public protection facility for sensitive materials, and was due to be fully decommissioned as a military site and reinstated as a government secure storage and repository site by CE 79.

Although Blue Cosmos had taken the facility, the Eurasian Federation remained assured that the only things they needed to worry about was chucking grenades into the rooms that had been used for archival storage. Ray, however, disagreed on that front, and privately, so did Sheryl and Guy.

"This is going to be a lot more complicated than simply strolling from end to end," Lieutenant Sheryl Camelot said, swiping over the tactical pull screen to move the schematics of the underground base around. "They have their hearts in the right places, but I'm not sure they're equipped to handle a jaunt into the underworld."

"I concur," Lieutenant Guy Feric added. "Those underground bases we've fought in before are outposts compared to what Nantes is. In about six hours, additional Special Response Unit reinforcements will arrive on-site. We'll have better odds then."

Unlike his subordinates, who were seated in their MSes, Ray was outside, comm-set on head with a link to the Atlantic Federation air transport overhead and to Dover Base HQ, and face-to-face with the local commanders of the Eurasian Federation France Regional Guard. Colonel Ellard Karon from the Eurasian Federation France Regional Guard, commander of this side of the battle against Blue Cosmos, watched the surface map and underground schematics laid out on the foldable table with a furrowed brow.

"We can take this place," Major Jahn Heres, Sabre Leader of the 711th Armored Brigade, gestured at the maps. "The 17th Division overstretched their arm trying to weaken us in time for their escape, and we've spent the whole morning hacking at that limb."

"Records sent by the Atlantic Federation matched with our own data indicates a 38% strength loss for the Blue Cosmos forces here." Ellard said. "But that has less impact now that we're no longer engaging them in an open fight. If we send you down there now, they'll waste you as soon as the lift is within firing range."

"And destroy their own way out?"

"I doubt they were ever thinking of escaping from this route," Ray interjected. "The two side tunnels of the Nantes UG point towards the coast. In past times those would have been useful in deploying units against amphibious assault; now, they're going to give the 17th Division a straight shot at the sea."

"We have units on watch at the coast," Lt. Colonel Len Kadinger, Hache Leader of the 255th Armored Brigade said. "If they so much as peek out, they'll be dead."

"Will they?" Ray set a data-pad on the table, over the maps, and the group leaned closer as he scrolled through the equipment list sent by Rahabinod's people all the way from Dover Base. "This is a manifest of just their MS capabilities." He set a finger on the screen, and it abruptly stopped as it reached the listing of special combat units.

"Look at their listed models. Blu Duel. Verde Buster. Two Strike Es with special equipment. Even two Rosso Aegis units. A total of six special combat mobile suits in addition to their regular forces." Ray straightened up and eyed the officers around him, rank and position momentarily forgotten as memories of his battles near Slovakia bubbled just under his conscious mind. "I'm not listing this just because they're GUNDAM-class units. Expect their assigned pilots to be highly capable combatants; you won't be going up against just some Dagger Ls and Windams. They even have remaining air support; just deploy the mobile suits, secure a launch zone, and they'll have aerial over-watch too. Consider your vehicular armored forces out of the fight if they even so much as show up at one of the gates. As for your MS forces…" Ray shook his head to emphasize his point. "You may think that beam weaponry equalizes the field, but that assumes that you can land hits on them in the heat of the moment."

Some of the gathered officers eyed Ray with some degree of animosity, but although he understood why, he couldn't care less; there was no need to rush this fight. A mountain of corpses would serve no purpose but weaken them in the days to come.

Ray's thought were interrupted as a junior officer ran up next to the group and hurriedly passed Ellard a printed message. The Colonel's expression twisted into that of a severe frown as he read the contents of the paper.

"Bad news from the naval front," Ellard said, glancing at Ray. "Your target submarines, other assorted subsurface-capable ships, and naval MS support have been spotted in the northern waters bordering the Bay of Biscal; suggested vectors seem to be pointing towards French shores. They've scattered a ranging Eurasian battlegroup and are assumed to be making their way here."

"Then this is the time to strike now!" Lt. Colonel Kadinger insisted. "The Blue Cosmos dogs will have fire support when the submarines show up. If we're going to stop them as painlessly as possible, then there will be no better time."

" Lieutenant Colonel Kadinger has a point," Major Heres said. "I appreciate the additional forces from the Atlantic Federation SRU in six hours' time, but in six hours the enemy may already be done and escaping."

"What about you, Captain Feric?" Ellard said, turning to Ray. "If push comes to shove, I'd greatly appreciate having your battle prowess, but I have no direct authority over your unit."

Rey heaved a sigh of resignation, tapping the side of his comm unit. "Hunter Leader to Argo Leader. Do you copy?"

"Argo Leader copies. Your prepared message has already been piped to Dover. Stand by."

The minute that passed felt like an hour to Ray as the gaze of the present Eurasian soldiers alternated between the data pads, the maps, and Ray's face. Ray knew via Argo Leader that the battle at Brest had concluded, the Blue Cosmos forces smashed in their attempt to escape via hijacking local ships. That left the conflicts at Rennes and Nantes.

"Argo Leader to Hunter Leader. Express permission from the Colonel," the operator said, Ray knowing that it referred to Rahabinod. "The choice is yours. You have the green light to take whatever action is required to ensure success, or to stay back and await reinforcements."

"Understood," Ray replied.

"I defer to your decision, Colonel Karon. My original orders were to show preference to a slower pace of operations, but in light of recent developments I have been allowed to do whatever it takes to ensure success. The Manhunters will assist you with all the strength we have if you choose to commit to a direct assault."

"I appreciate it, 'though I'm afraid I have little choice in the matter now that the enemies are at the gates, figuratively speaking," Ellard replied. "Still, I will not simply order people into hell with no preparation. You speak as though you've fought these units before, Captain Feric. What do you advise in our case?"

"Apart from getting your most hardened pilots to go down there? Have your personnel pull working parts from the scraps, if you can spare the people to do so," Ray said. "There are a few units lying out there that have been equipped with Striker Packs, and the Eurasian Federation forces must have had some past experience in using their own. The people going down should be well-equipped, defensively and offensively. Most of your Dagger Ls are Block 20s; compatibility should be no issue."

"I'll make sure they get as much as can be put together," Ellard said.

As the group dispersed to their tasks, Ray opened a comm link to his fellow pilots. "Who's betting on staying up?"

"I'm betting on going down," Sheryl replied.

"Your tone says it all, Ray," Guy said.

Ray sighed. "Take a second stretch outside of the cockpit if you want to. This might be the last time we'll get to stretch our legs in a while."

A distance away, Sheryl pulled herself out of the cockpit. She attached a miniature comm unit to her ear, stepping onto the access winch in one deft motion as it lowered her from the Lightning Gladius' cockpit to the ground. "What kind of surprises do you think the defenders will pull out of the bag?"

"Rigging the place to blow is cliché, but it works," Guy chimed in. "I don't think Blue Cosmos would simply let the Eurasian Federation reclaim this place that easily, they've always been petty little shits."

"So the MS teams and the infantry will have to work together, then," Sheryl said. "We'll spring the trap and clear the way for the foot soldiers."

"Those platform lifts on the main entrance are crisis points," Ray replied. "We'll still have a chance of survival if they blow the lifts out from under us, but infantry won't be so lucky. No, the first round in this fight will be all on our mobile suits."

"What about the seaward entrances?" Guy asked. "Those are incline lifts rather than straight drops like this one; it'll be a lot easier to storm the fort if we don't have to contend with the ground being blown to bits from underneath us."

"The seaward doors are still sealed, as far as they can tell," Ray replied, as he returned to where their mobile suits were. "Not indestructible without heavy gear like your Agni launcher, but they have facility control; they can change deployment positions faster than we can. Or they'll just turtle until the submarines are here. Either way, we have to force them to commit to one route and only one; as it is, we're too spread out to enact any sudden breakthroughs."

"This is such a pain," Sheryl grumbled. "If they would just surrender, things would be so much easier."

"We wouldn't need to be here if they were capable of such," Ray said.

Afterword:

This chapter is an in-between for both ends of the main cast, and also marks a return to the very first style of combat action the Manhunters committed to, clearing enemy forces from an underground location. The stakes are a lot higher, however, since it's no longer some insurgents but Blue Cosmos forces. I hope that this and others will help to lend a balance of weight and semblance to the global scenario following the battle of Heaven's Base, especially on the OMNI side, since Blue Cosmos remnants would concern them just as much as, if not more than ZAFT forces on Earth.