Chapter 45
CE 74, April 8th, Dakar Spaceport, Senegal, African Community
Night 03 31
Alan Reidr regarded the landscape of destruction arrayed before him with a steely eye.
The battle against the enemy superheavy mobile unit had left them all with their fair share of scrapes. While none of the Raider Team had taken any major damage, the battle had stretched them to their limits; had it went on for longer, heavier wounds would have been dealt by their opponent. With the firepower involved, any damage could have easily escalated to fatal levels.
The gutted carcass of the Blue Cosmos transformable unit was still on the ground, untouched save for the fluorescent-specked yellow warning tapes hastily thrown up around it. Around it and scattered throughout the spaceport, a handful of GINN OCHERS and Strike Daggers, units from the local Senegal defence forces, hauled away large chunks of debris in conjunction with conventional excavation machines and regular humans engaged in search-and-rescue operations amidst the rubble.
The OMNI intelligence officer, Major Nain binte Aamir, had helpfully updated him on the current situation shortly after the end of the battle. With little to do but await the arrival of their original transport, the Vosgulov-class submarine-carrier Iron Response, Alan contented himself with simply running basic checks on his GOUF Crusher while he sorted out his thoughts.
Long-range comms from the Iron Response reported that its aquatic escorts had fought off a small force of naval mobile suits, but the enemy had fled the region almost as soon as they had finished launching their land assault; as if they had another place to be, and that the shore battle was not just a simple act of violence intended to end where it started. Alan confirmed submarine Captain Ren Shiya's suspicions with news of Blue Cosmos' hijacking of a trans-atmospheric shuttle and its subsequent escape; although he wasn't privy to the exact number of escapees nor their identities, there was little doubt that such a severe exertion of manpower and material must have been deemed worth the exchange to allow high-profile targets to escape.
Captain Shiya's question was immediate. "Was there any sign of Djibril there?"
On this part, Alan had a proper answer prepared, at least. "No. Our OMNI allies confirmed that no one matching his description was sighted during the fighting or amongst the dead currently being tallied. If he was, he was well-hidden by enemy agents."
"So he remains at large, then." Captain Shiya sighed. "At least, if we assume that OMNI hasn't let its pride to have him in irons first above all others get in their own way."
"I do not think that was the case here, captain," Alan said. "As far as I can tell, this was a fighting escape."
"I see. Well, there's little point debating what has come to pass. We'll leave it to high command to decide what actions we should take." Captain Shiya said. " Iron Response ETA is in ten minutes. We'll hold position offshore and send Guul subflight lifters out."
"Roger. Raider Leader out." Alan replied.
Alan closed the long-range comms link as he looked back to the scene of carnage before him. A distance away, he could still see the three OMNI mobile suits that had held the battle before the Raider Team had arrived on-scene. He had been briefed on the shakeups in the OMNI nations, but this was the first time he had seen their newest mobile suit, the GAT-05 Gladius, in battle.
"Good thing they brought that out only after their split with Blue Cosmos, eh?" Raider Three, Fredric Koherg said on the allied band. "Imagine if we had to take on Heaven's Base with those mass-produced."
"It's simply an improved model descended from the Dagger lineage," Raider Two, Grace Sakerfield replied dismissively. "It's better than before, but it's still a plain machine."
"Plain is what gets the job done," Raider Five, Larry Falke said. "Besides, did you see their leading unit in the final moments of the battle? Even by itself it definitely has an expanded base armament set."
"A… and it seems like they've improved on the Striker Pack system used," Raider Four, Suzuki Amano chimed in. "Their equipment configurations don't match our on-board records; and they definitely have more firepower to boast of."
"What do you think, Leader?" Grace suddenly expressed. "Is it a worthy opponent? Or just another fix-it attempt?"
Alan refrained from replying immediately as Grace's voice shook him out of his reverie. He had heard their thoughts, saw the machines in battle, but the physical attributes of the machines were not what held the forefront of his thoughts. At the battle of Heaven's Base and even before, he'd led the Raider Team on numerous missions that saw them pitted against supposedly high-spec machines. None of them had even remotely come close to downing the Raiders.
Yet, ever so often in the tactical briefings and preparations before battle, since his missions on the European front, one recollection kept surfacing in his mind's eye; that of an OMNI mobile suit team of Dagger Ls backdropped against a forest set on fire, damaged and scarred but unbowed and victorious. He more than easily enough recognized the scant markings on the units even after their change in machines; he'd fought them before twice now, once in the Middle East, another time in Eastern Europe.
Alan frowned in reflex as he glared at the three OMNI mobile suits. "If their pilot quality doesn't change, it won't matter even if they could mass-produce every GUNDAM design of theirs in existence."
"Yeah, I guess so," Fredric replied. "Or if they still have the numbers game as their main strategic approach."
"Good for us, eh?" Larry laughed. "Still some fish left in a barrel to shoot."
"This is no laughing matter," Suzuki said. "Taking the Striker Pack concept from them was one of the things that helped us achieve parity in battle in this second war… it's going to get disrupted again if they start fielding improved units with specially-trained pilots."
Grace, however, kept quiet while the other three members of the Raider Team debated, proof that she had caught the implied meaning behind his answer. Alan opened a private channel to her. "I thought you'd be relieved that they're down to three people."
"There's no way their close-combat expert could have been done in by regular means," Grace muttered. "They're down to three people… at the moment. For whatever reason."
"You think the pilot is still alive?"
"Someone of that caliber in close-quarters battle did not get there by running in at top speed to brandish their weapon like any common idiot. They look for gaps in the enemy's defences, keeping themselves at arm's length and away from ranged weapons, reducing any damage they can't avoid to a minimum, until they catch sight of a single exploitable moment. Then they put in their all, into a decisive strike, formulating counterstrokes and plans to safely get away or turn the tables against their enemy in the event that their move was successfully intercepted. All of this has to happen in the heat of battle; worse still in the frantic pace of close-quarters combat."
"You know as well as I do, Leader. You've trained against me enough times to tell. Pilots of that level get exponentially more dangerous the better the machine they get. You already know that." Grace said pointedly.
Alan tore his sight away from the three OMNI mobile suits of the Manhunters, in particular the Gladius variant that had joined Grace and him in delivering the killing blow. Like how Grace had her own fixation, that leading unit of the enemy - of that particular OMNI squadron, he mentally corrected himself, had its own corner in Alan's mind; specifically, its pilot.
Before Alan could reply, however, Fredric interjected with his own communiqué to Alan and Grace, letting them both know that he knew what they really meant with their previous words as well. "This war has killed enough people on both sides, Leader. With any luck, we'll remain allies if we ever meet them again."
"From a practical viewpoint, that would be ideal," Grace's reply had a restrained tone that Alan had only heard if she had something on her mind that disquieted her. "As much as I would like to… test myself, it would be ideal if that pilot, wherever they are, remains an ally."
Alerts chirped in the squadron comms as the ZAFT units detected incoming friendly Guul flight lifters on their long-range sensors. Although none of them articulated it, the escape they had just witnessed had reminded them of the knife's-edge that the seemingly-recovering world currently balanced on. Grace voiced the last of her thoughts with the other two original members of the Raider Team as witnesses as they made ready to return to their journey, and her words both resonated with and pierced their hearts with unease. "And if that pilot is indeed dead by battle, then it just means that there's someone out there who's far stronger."
CE 74, April 9th, Dover Base, England, Atlantic Federation
Afternoon 14 31
In just one day after the battle at Dakar, theSpecial Response Unit forces stationed at Dover Base found themselves visited by both their own upper officers from the Bureau of Intelligence, and those from the intelligence departments of the other branches in their first debriefing after the mission. Lt. Colonel Rahabinod Ravinan, there to assist the Manhunters in the preliminary mission debrief with additional data, had given all present a name to apply to its visage during the first debrief; the RGX-ZM Necromancer, a Blue Cosmos technology trial unit supposedly superseded by the later Destroy GUNDAM, developed from salvage that they obtained of a ZAFT design in return, the ZGMF-X11A Regenerate GUNDAM, itself descended from the OMNI-produced and stolen GAT-X303 Aegis GUNDAM.
"The family history of this unit would be almost funny if it wasn't for all the carnage it caused," Lieutenant Sheryl Camelot quipped wryly, as Captain Ray Feric finished narrating the sequence of battle of the entire incident, while the other listening officers furiously took notes.
"Our intel on Blue Cosmos is likely to remain incomplete for some time, but last known data dated to last year, November, does indicate that the design was supposed to be shelved for the Destroy, and the sole working prototype put to storage," Rahabinod had replied. "Either construction was secretly completed, or that group of Blue Cosmos survivors had the parts and blueprints to put together a full unit."
"The second prospect is particularly discouraging, if true," Ray said. "That'll mean that they still have a stronghold somewhere. And with a mobile weapon that powerful, the only thing keeping their reach short will be how much thruster fuel it can lug."
"About that…" Rahabinod trailed off.
Lieutenant Guy Leon looked aghast for a moment before he mastered his own expression. "You're not going to tell us that Blue Cosmos, of all the peoples and groups on this planet, are the first to lay hands on the secret of massless propulsion, are you?"
"Massless propulsion?" Sheryl asked.
"In this context? The ability to move without using a traditional method of propulsion," Guy explained. "So in terms of mobile weapons, no rockets, no thruster engines, nothing that involves shooting stuff out of one end of the unit to make it move in the opposite end. It doesn't have to burn fuel to run internal systems either. Give it a nuclear engine, and it really will operate forever. It'll only land if the propulsion drive or the reactor stops working."
"You'll be happy to know that Blue Cosmos is nowhere near that level yet, then," Rahabinod replied. "But what I'm authorized to say right now is: the Geschmeidig Panzer drive on the Necromancer doesn't match any model known to us, and the techs have already uncovered functions related to counter-ground effect."
"What, it floats if you switch it on?" One of the other officers, from the Army, remarked.
"Essentially, yes," Rahabinod said. "It isn't perfect, but current estimates put a weight reduction of about 34% on the equipped unit."
The Army officer her mouth, but no reply came out before she closed it again, and merely shook her head. Sheryl turned to one side for a short and quiet laugh, ignorant of the sidelong glance Ray shot at her.
"This is worrying," another officer replied. Ray turned his head, catching sight of the soldier's Space Force patch on his right shoulder. "Blue Cosmos seems to have advanced much further in application of combat technology than we've thought."
At the blank and questioning stares all around, the Space Force officer continued. "Recent events have forced the higher-ups to declassify a certain number of secret technologies, as you're aware, sir. This system is no doubt something gleaned from the Archangel."
"That I am," Rahabinod said. "The Space Force is justified in their worries; I also agree with the viewpoint that Blue Cosmos has essentially miniaturized the Archangel-class' Sylph System. Thankfully, it eats a horrendous amount of power, even for a nuclear-powered suit, if it's of any consolation to know," Rahabinod continued. "The MS-sized drive would shake itself to pieces if it had to fully hoist a load as heavy as the Necromancer. By all indications it seems that it only ever operated in that mode in conjunction with onboard thrusters or to lessen the ground impact the mobile weapon had."
Ray couldn't help himself this time, putting his curiosity over his aversion to interrupting Rahabinod. "The Sylph System?"
"Everyone here will have some catching up to do in the coming weeks, but I'll give a preview here," Rahabinod answered. "The Sylph System is essentially the original application of the Geschmeidig Panzer System, used for counter-ground effect and assistive movement without the use of chemical thrust; a vital aspect of strategic operations given the immediate time period following the massed drop of Neutron Jammers by ZAFT during the first war. Exact details of this black-box technology remain under lock and key, but suffice to say both the Archangel and Dominion carried a ship-scale version that was mainly used to enable their planetary flight capability."
"Tha-" Sheryl started, only to fall silent as she processed the new revelation. "Yeah. Yeah, I suppose we should have guessed something like this was in the works, considering the size of the Archangel to its wings."
"That also explains how the Necromancer could stand on those spikes it calls legs when it needed to, without piercing all the way into the ground." Guy said. "What about its ability to control other units?"
"A variant of Mirage Colloid technology," Rahabinod said. "I think some of you here have heard of the NMS-X07PO Gel Finieto; you'll know what it's like."
"For the uninitiated, the Gel Finieto was a ECM-focused mobile suit built by Actaeon Industries early on in the previous war. Using Mirage Colloid technology, it transmits an electronic virus to surrounding units that corrupts their operating system, opening or creating vulnerabilities that allow remote control of the infected units via more traditional transmission means, overriding any user control that can be offered. The Necromancer mounts a significantly shorter-ranged version - our techs suspect that its high-powered and indiscriminate weapons makes it impossible for it to get much use out of it from a regular particle-spreading system, but we do know that the short-range version is nonetheless effective in gaining an initial upper-hand. But the Necromancer's system was significantly degraded when we took it out for analysis; its onboard computer indicated that the system only ran for a handful of minutes at the most, and nowhere near the saturation level enough to force all units to capitulate. Records from the Mirage Colloid particle generator indicated that it had already been in poor condition when it was installed, and shorted out soon after activating."
"The Gel Finieto was already equipped with a metamorphic virus back then," Another officer, the dark-hued patch on his shoulder showing his hailing from the Atlantic Federation Strategic Research Institute, said. "But the Manhunters managed to stop it by shutting down automated processes and vulnerable data-links? Based on past data, the virus rewriting itself would have been near-instantaneous."
"The initial version transmitted was one already entered into the antivirus database," Rahabinod said. "Furthermore, the upgraded OS the Manhunters used were robust enough to not surrender all operating power to the virus' initial serious attempts to take over after it had probed for defences; I believe that they experienced a slowdown event, caused by the onboard computer that also utilized semi-metamorphic means to enact countermeasures against the virus, that gave the pilots enough time to change settings, and thus for onboard recovery systems to isolate, freeze, and contain the infection. Reports indicate that no warning was given on-screen, so there's definitely room for improvement, especially in locking down essential mobile suit functions the moment there is a virus intrusion. No such capabilities were available for the Senegal pilots, unfortunately."
"Saved by people not updating their systems," Sheryl quipped again. "That'll be a great story to tell too."
"More like, saved by us updating ours, you mean," Ray replied.
"In terms of primary armament the Necromancer uses weapons familiar to those who've seen the Destroy; a smaller number of shoulder-mounted Nefertem beam guns and a single-barreled handheld version of the Aufprall Dreizehn high-energy beam cannon, attached to a sub-arm and with a grip. I don't think I need to emphasis on its deadly efficiency despite the lesser number of guns overall. But I do need to bring note to its custom positron laser cannon."
Rahabinod turned to a nearby viewscreen, indicating the Necromancer's legs. "Installed in its legs are a model of energy focusing arrays unknown to our databases. If there is any record of them in Blue Cosmos databases, we have yet to uncover them. Their efficiency cannot be denied, however; based on analyzed data and comparison to our own focusing arrays in normal positron laser cannon models, this version is as every bit as robust as theirs in regards to withstanding firing stress. The only issue with it is the ammunition source; the Necromancer can only fire it at most five times on a max-load antimatter cartridge."
"Five times is aplenty," a third officer remarked. "But I suspect that the reason why the Destroy was picked over this in the end has something to do with that functionality."
"The Bureau's techs have that same view as well," Rahabinod answered. "Blue Cosmos, at least prior to now, wanted to exercise control, through propaganda, threats, and of course, fear of the power they wield. It's undesirable for them if there would have been no one left to fear them if a first strike annihilates everything in range, or if those left watching decide they have nothing to lose."
"With Blue Cosmos pushed into the wilds, however, they're now the ones with nothing to lose," Ray said, although only loud enough for Guy and Sheryl to hear, as Rahabinod continued with the debrief. "I wouldn't be surprised if this would be our first of many encounters with the Necromancer."
"That's a terrifying thought to behold," Guy quipped.
"Well, our friends in the SRU only need to be as crazy enough as our dear Captain here, and lob themselves straight at the enemy leaving their allies to provide backup fire," Sheryl said evenly. "I suppose if you stab and shoot all the right bits, it goes down just like any normal mobile weapon."
Amidst Guy's chuckles, Ray glanced at Sheryl, but she was now focused on Rahabinod and the briefing screen, as though she deliberately kept her sight there.
It wasn't her words, but her tone, that caught his attention for that moment.
CE 74, April 18th, Dover Base, England, Atlantic Federation
Afternoon 14 31
Rahabinod looked up from shuffling his notes at the door to the briefing room opened. Ray Feric entered, with Sheryl Camelot and Guy Leon filing through after.
"You're early today, Captain. Briefing's not due for another ten minutes."
"We've gone more than a week without action since, Colonel. Even I'm starting to get a little restless." Ray replied, a tone of humor in his voice.
"Seems like we aren't the first, despite that intention," Guy added, glancing to the seats on the front row, occupied by two women with shoulder-length hair. The higher-ranked of the pair, a Major, noticed the attention shown their way and stood up, hand held out; her right shoulder carried the insignia of the Atlantic Federation Navy, and Ray immediately wondered if she was here regarding the final missing submarine. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Annette Selveta. Pleased to make your acquaintance, pilots of the Manhunters. That's my second-in-command, Lieutenant Matsuda."
Ray shook her hand in response. "Same here, Commander, Lieutenant."
Yorui Matsuda nodded in response.
"Commander Selveta's here as part of the second and third-phase debrief," Rahabinod added. "I suspect that the initial session left you all with a lot of burning questions, while the second-phase debrief was kept to cross-branch and strategic commanders only."
"That it did," Sheryl interjected. "First off, I want to know what kind of twisted experiments they subjected Vlitz to."
"Can't say I want to know that, but I'm guessing that Commander Selveta's got some news for us regarding the submarine group encountered at Dakar." Guy added.
Annette laughed. "You let the secret slip, Colonel."
"You'll have to show up in civilian to not let it show, Commander, I'm confident that they already noticed your Navy patch right from the get-go." Rahabinod replied. "Nevertheless, there's still a lot of updating that needs to be done. You'll have your fill of the strategic situation by the time this debriefing is through."
"Looks like it'll be a couple of hours at least," Guy said, aiming a pointed look at Sheryl. On her part, she returned with an expression of annoyance before sighing, eliciting a laugh from Guy and Ranabinod. Ray merely shook his head with a smile.
"Don't worry, Lieutenant Camelot. It'll end before dinner, I promise," the aged Lt. Colonel said.
The briefing room rapidly filled as the stipulated time approached; Ray exchanged quick nods of acknowledgement with Major Venna Callis as her squadron joined those already assembled. If the naval insignia of Commander Selveta had caught his eye before, the sight now was one that tugged at his interest even more; soldiers bearing shoulder patches from the Army, Intelligence, Air Force, Navy, and even Space Force branches were gathered here.
Rahabinod glanced around as the last few people entered the briefing room, and, satisfied with the level of attendance, began his briefing. "Most of you here are already familiar with recent events in the Eurasian French theater of operations and the Dakar Spaceport attack, so I'll make it brief," Rahabinod said, immediately launching into a short summary of the events that preceded their current gathering. Ray could hear murmurs as new personnel and those that had been out of the loop exchanged thoughts, particularly as Rahabinod explained the inner workings of the large mobile unit the Manhunters and their ZAFT allies had fought.
"In particular, there's new intel from the Dakar attack that I would like to highlight." Rahabinod pressed the clicker in his hand, and the images on the screen changed from the summary of the Dakar attack to an unfamiliar schematic of a human body layout. "Atlantic Intel is just going through the last of this now, but we believe that Blue Cosmos has vastly improved augmentation procedures for baseline human pilots since we last verified their capabilities. This example displayed here, in particular, was encountered during the battle at Dakar."
"Here it is," Sheryl murmured, glaring darkly at the display screen.
"Data from reclamation teams at Lodonia are still incoming, but we know enough to identify this as a direct-feed man-machine interface; we're identifying any enemy personnel outfitted with it as Augmented, for the moment." Rahabinod said, laser pointer in hand as he circled the head region of the schematic. "If there are any here not familiar with their work in human augmentation works, then let me just get you up to speed; we previously only knew of the Extended, which are Blue Cosmos pilots and operatives typically selected from orphanages and other marginalized social groups to be trained and improved from a young age, and the Boosted Men, which used purely temporary chemical means to boost their performance. For the Augmented, the results show themselves as soldiers at least on par with the average Coordinator in terms of combat performance under equivalent conditions, but I don't think I have to explain any of the moral and social ramifications of such a project here."
A wave of murmurs rippled through those assembled. "Did you know anything about the original two types prior?" Sheryl asked Ray.
"Not much, only ever as rumors." Ray answered. "Even in the first war, Eurasian Coordinators were better-known."
"Unlike the long-term procedures used for the Extended, or the Boosted Men's agonizing withdrawal symptoms, Augmented typically have man-made data translator plugs implanted into the subject's brain tissue directly and on other body locations with high density of nerve bundles as required, greatly improving response times as well as data interpretation rates in real-time combat to rates easily surpassing the previous two types of special pilots." Rahabinod continued. "From our known example, however, the procedure appears incomplete or was deliberately left that way, as all in-house simulated and recovered data from Lodonia indicates that their current procedures leaves the subject very open to physical body damage; lack of dedicated anti-hemorrhaging measures, infection, and others."
Ray could hear a groan of disgust from someone behind him as the screens changed again to show the interface plugs and a detailed cross-section on how they worked; someone remarked to another about the fine metal spikes that extended from its base by the dozens.
"In particular, the interface plugs require extensive surgical procedures to implant. To keep it brief, those short spikes you see on one end of the plug require intensive synthetic nerve thread-through techniques with the subject's own nerve network to create a fully-usable link between human and machine. Not to say that it isn't doable with a minimally set-up facility, as we've inferred from the recovered subject and the timeline of the Dakar attack, but both operation techniques and materials used would not pass any of our current safety measures in the health and prosthetic fields. Heavy damage to the plugs can also translate to nerve damage to the user due to the close linkage involved, killing off large swathes of nearby nerve cells in the human nervous system. It's fairly obvious what would happen in such an event," Rahabinod paused for a moment as his laser pointer circled the head region of the human schematic, "If feedback burns happened to any plugs in the cranial region."
"Anti-rejection drugs and high-power steroids are also required to keep the user at optimal fighting condition due to the brute-force nature of the procedures. Those of you currently taking the time off from investigating other Extended laboratory sites to be here will easily understand the difference in human body modification procedure types."
Hushed whispers flittered around the room; Ray had no doubt that some of them were investigative teams sent here due to the augmented late Vlitz Dyald's relation to Blue Cosmos' human augmentation projects. With all the cost sunk into making superior soldiers and pilots to the Coordinators, it would be whimsical for them to have stopped at just the Extended, considering that Ray knew very well that human lives were the least-valued resource for the supremacist group. This, at least, lent assurance to his personal conclusion that Blue Cosmos also had a way to put its regular members to other uses if it so desired.
"With all that said, the results show for themselves," Rahabinod said. "The subject operated a mobile weapon that would have been rated for a joint crew of at least two to four people, alone, and in addition, took control of allied and enemy mobile units for use as combat drones, again, alone." Rahabinod swept his gaze across the room. "The Augmented procedures may be the Blue Cosmos equivalent of a back-alley chop-shop surgery, but the combat prowess it provides cannot be denied. A more in-depth data file is being prepared by HQ for all squadrons to familiarize themselves on their expected capabilities during a combat encounter, covering any expected mobile weapons that Blue Cosmos may use them for. As new data comes in, we'll update our strategies accordingly."
"With that done, we can continue on to the post-Dakar events. From where I left off just now, Atlantic Federation advance forces managed to regain the trail of the enemy fleet that had launched the attack," Rahabinod continued. "I'll let Commander Anette Selveta of the Navy take over from here."
Anette nodded as she stood up to take her place at the front of the room. "Atlantic Federation naval forces first regained location data about the Blue Cosmos fleet designated Proditor near the south-western borders of the Atlantic Ocean five days ago. Trajectory approach suggested that their likely target was the Panama Spaceport; with the Dakar Spaceport incident in mind considering that they would pass between the islands of St. Lucia and Martinique, as well as the strategic protection of Panama as a top priority, Naval Command ordered the nearby 7th Naval Fleet to intercept and capture or destroy the enemy fleet."
"Atlantic Federation forces engaged the enemy shortly after on the 12th of April, at twenty-three hundred hours," Anette continued. The projected images on the screen behind her changed from the to a force chart that showed the composition of the Blue Cosmos fleet; someone behind Ray gave a low exclamation of surprise at the submarine supercarrier and its ten submarine escorts.
"Based on data shared by ZAFT naval support from the Dakar attack and updated by our own forces, enemy battlegroup Proditor was estimated to have no more than half a squadron of mobile suits remaining, thanks to the previous actions of allied forces during the Dakar Spaceport attack. The 7th Fleet split into two primary battlegroups, with capital ships primarily assigned to engage enemy submarines in direct battle while an escorted carrier task force deployed air cover and aquatic mobile suits to disable the enemy submarine supercarrier and force it to surface, or failing that, to engage and sink it in battle."
The squadron heraldries of the mobile suit units appeared one by one as force organization data of the 7th Fleet during that battle joined the already-displayed information about Battlegroup Proditor; Ray instantly noticed that one of the leading squadron's markings matched those that Commander Selveta wore on her left shoulder.
Sheryl hummed in appreciation. "So the great warrior herself is here to debrief us."
"All the better for you, I'd bet," Ray chuckled. "If the fleet admiral of the 7th was the one talking from a post-action report, you'd probably be conked out already."
For a reply, Sheryl nudged Ray in his side, as Anette continued, the screen behind her showing a simplified view of enemy and allied unit movement around the area of operations, concentrating hours of bloody action into a ten-minute video of simple colored vector lines, crosses, triangles, and short phrases describing unit status, as the markers representing the 7th Fleet and Battlegroup Proditor moved towards and around each other. "I won't keep you here with the minute details of the battle. Suffice to say, the submarine supercarrier, checked against recovered records as the Orcinus-class Magna Coercitor, was successfully disabled, and is now secured by the Atlantic Federation Navy. All enemy Delaware-class submarine escorts were sunk in battle."
"So two at France, and now one more… that's a load off us," Guy loosed a sigh of relief amidst a backdrop of clapping and cheers from the majority of those present in the room. "With only one sub left for movement, it'll be easier to track and lock their reach to local levels."
"As you've all realized, with the previous action in France by SRU mobile suit teams and allied support, all but one Blue Cosmos naval attack fleet have been accounted for," Rahabinod said, as the celebratory outburst died down. " This doesn't mean that all breakaway and remnant Blue Cosmos groups are now harmless, but it's a good start towards that goal. With any luck, we'll soon eliminate the last of their means to be self-sufficient on a global scale; if they have to reach out to other factions for mass aid and movement, it will hopefully make it easier for us to spot signs and act on them."
Rahabinod quickly finished the remainder of his briefing; Ray listened intently as the Lt. Colonel went through actions undertaken by the Special Response Unit in East Asia against Blue Cosmos agents there. "Investigation teams are going to remain as they are, but the combat teams might encounter some deployment shakeups towards smaller regions. Don't get complacent, though; just because we've sunk their boats doesn't mean that the weapons they already have on hand are any less functional. That's all."
The personnel in the room filed out in lines, some to report to their field superiors of the update to their strategic situation, while others made ready to return to their assignments. A few of them went out of their way to congratulate the members of the Manhunters and Venna's squadron, as well as Anette and Yorui; Ray accepted the praises and exchanged handshakes with the last of them as Rahabinod approached.
The older officer let out a long breath. "Feels good to finally make some headway, eh?"
"It's been a long time owed," Ray replied. "And we've let it sit for too long, on our end."
"That's the unfortunate truth," Rahabinod said, turning to Anette. "What about you, Commander Selveta?"
"Those cornered will fight all the harder, regardless of faction," Anette said. " In order to prevent any possible attacks to the civilian facilities on St. Lucia and Martinique islands the 7th Fleet had to resort to a sped-up operation schedule and some pretty reckless maneuvers. We gave a good account, but we'll need some time to recover; ships from the 3rd Fleet will be stopping by at Devonport to resupply before linking up with the 7th to resume support operations for the African region. Lt. Commander Matsuda and I will join them for the return trip."
"It's nice to know that the Navy is doing a good job despite the Federation's mistake, it seems," Rahabinod mused.
Anette managed a bitter smile. "Just barely. It'll be a long while before the Navy recovers its former strength; Blue Cosmos knew what it would need when they planted the majority of their Atlantic agents in the Navy."
The Manunters watched for a while as Anette and Yorui took their leave. "In contrast, the Air Force and Army had most of the corruption limited to the very upper echelons." Guy said. "And then there's the Space Force…"
"The Space Force!" Shery exclaimed. "Damn, with all the terrestrial action we've been involved in all this while, I'd almost forgot about them. Have they launched the assault on Arzarchel yet?"
"Word from space says that Operation Iron Trial was a success," Rahabinod explained. "But the Space Force's reach remains amputated; Arzarchel Base is a gutted locale with minimal functionality and the combined Atlantic, Eurasian, East Republic, ZAFT, and Lunar Cities Defence Force fleet took quite a beating trying to dislodge them. Preliminary reports indicate that they saved the best for the last."
"Like a space-based version of Heaven's Base, then," Ray remarked.
"Close enough, yes, though the difficulty came from the need to prevent Blue Cosmos from digging in, forcing us to attack before our numbers could fully gather. The Arzarchel Lunar Base is ours once again, but the Atlantic Space Fleet is now down to 43% operability from the initial 62% estimate after the defections, generally speaking. Furthermore, they're reporting that skirmishing incidents with Blue Cosmos raider ships or battlegroups haven't abated; patrols nearing the Debris Belt have crossed shots with suspected Blue Cosmos fleet units. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a full battlegroup's worth prowling within, though general reports indicate that those ships aren't broadcasting active IFF or seeker tags; it's hard to tell if they're pirates or mercenaries or Blue Cosmos."
"Who else would be stupid enough to fire on ships of the national militaries of the Earth Sphere?" Sheryl remarked.
"You'd be surprised," Rahabinod said. "Blue Cosmos has not been above hiring additional guns if they want to. That leaves us the question of how much battle strength they have left."
"Surely ZAFT would be more than happy to help smoke them out," Ray asked. "Space is their home ground, after all."
"I've received news that the Space Force has gotten and accepted several offers to do so. But what tracks they have are leading them all over the place; enemy ships have been spotted as far out of place as the Eurasians' Artemis Defence Zone. Iron Trial sapped everyone involved of a lot of fighting strength; the Lunar Cities fleet has been virtually decimated and the Eurasian and ZAFT components haven't fared much better. As for us, we're a ghost force up there; the Space Fleet is in no condition to go around picking fights."
"And with Blue Cosmos turned loose, it's probably no surprise that ZAFT will prioritize their homeland defence," Ray added. "They don't have a major base that ZAFT can preemptively strike at anymore."
"Geez," Sheryl grumbled. "All the chaos up there makes it feel like all the hard work we've been doing down here is a drop in the bucket."
Afterword:
This chapter is a bit of a breather chapter and some opportunity to further explain some of the unexplained parts of the Cosmic Era universe. I think my greatest regret here is that the thought of a space-version of the counter-action against Blue Cosmos, like what happened with the revelation of Logos and Heaven's Base never crossed my mind until I got to writing this chapter. I would have certainly included it in the earlier Tales of the Cosmic Era to further flesh out the melee between the national forces of the Earth Sphere and Blue Cosmos remnants. Regardless it's still very much a thing in the background, although I probably won't have many chances to visit the battle itself, rather, only letting the characters of this story interact with its consequences and aftermath.