Mobile Suit Gundam/Kido Senshi Gundam: Peacekeepers
By: Ominae
Rating: T
NOTE:
All characters and machines of the various Gundam eras belong to Yoshiyuki Tomino, Hajime Yatate, Fumihiko Takayama, Takeyuki Kanda, Umanosuke Iida, Mitsuko Kase, Takashi Imanishi, Masashi Mukaeda, Mitsuo Fukuda, Seiji Mizushima, Susumu Yamaguchi, Satoshi Konno, Junichi Kamino, Bandai, Level 5 and Sunrise. The use of Full Metal Panic! concepts/organizations belong to Shoji Gato. I only own Mark Liu for now.
Summary:
While European Federation forces in Artemis covertly moves in to keep the Archangel in their custody, Mark, Kuzzey and Sai move in to Artemis to secure a likely "Code Black" objective. What is this objective and will they be able to live through another day? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.
Chapter 7: Covert Strike
Mobile Weapons Hangar, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"HOLY SHIT!"
The other two EF commandos were stunned when one of their own had been struck down by a brass knuckle-armed Kuzzey, who was now in a fighting pose.
"Get that brat!" The commandos drew out their combat knives from the sheaths strapped at the back of their tactical vest, abandoning their P90-like submachine guns as they charged towards Kuzzey.
"HAH!" Kuzzey yelled at the top of his voice, blocking a stabbing attack meant for his neck by dodging low and to the right. He then followed it with a punch to the stomach region.
"Gack." The commando felt like his stomach was about to explode, forcing himself to kneel. This gave Kuzzey the opportunity to hit him a lot more, punching him a lot in the face before Kuzzey delivered a heavy blow to the man's left temple.
Picking up the dropped combat knife, Kuzzey held it upside down with the blade pointed at the floor when he and the third EF commando engaged each other in a knife battle.
Corridor, en route to Mobile Weapons Hangar, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Mark and Sai were now running towards the Archangel's mobile weapons hangar, being careful to avoid running into any more EF troops than the ones the duo had initially taken care of with Kuzzey before they went their separate ways to secure areas of the ship that do not have a lot of EF forces.
"You alright?" Sai asked Mark, the former gripping his karambit knife while running.
"Yeah." Mark nodded, armed with his OMPF-issued submachine gun. "We need to move and secure Artemis while we can."
"And the officers?"
"We'll figure something out after we infiltrate the asteroid."
"Right."
The two continued to move towards the hangar, keeping low and using the dark when possible to mask their physical presence.
Mobile Weapons Hangar, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Kuzzey and the knife-wielding EF commando continued their knife duel, the blades clashing as they tried their best to get the drop on the other.
This guy's pretty tough. Kuzzey gritted his teeth as he kept his distance from the incoming slashes.
"Eat this!" The commando dashed on the side and charged at Kuzzey, nearly taking him by surprise. The black-haired teen responded in kind by grabbing the first thing he can get his hands on.
Alright! Time to be a pragmatist!
In this case, this was a metallic screw that Kuzzey found by luck. Deciding to take a chance, Kuzzey hurled the screw towards the incoming commando.
"Ow..." The commando said when he got struck by the screw. He wasn't hurt in any way, but this was an opening Kuzzey needed. He moved in, using his fast reflexes to help him do so.
Getting low, Kuzzey's head was now near the commando's chest. He raised his brass knuckle-clenched fists and struck the commando by his chest. This was followed by an uppercut to the chin with a roundhouse kick to the chest again.
Grabbing the downed commando by the neck, Kuzzey got his fists to strike at the commando's temples to ensure that he was knocked out.
"Take that! And that! And that! And that!"
Kuzzey was busy smacking his brass knuckles that he didn't notice Mark or Sai next to him.
"I see that you're getting your exercise, Kuzzey."
The teenager turned around to see that Mark and Sai were just waiting for him.
"Shaddup..." Kuzzey glared at Mark, who made the remark.
"Let me..." Sai told Kuzzey, gesturing to him to get out of the way. While Mark searched the bodies of the commandos for some key in order to use the space shuttle, Sai was seen with his karambit as he brought the blade down to the downed commando.
Commander's Office, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Mu, Murrue and Natarle wondered about what to do next. Now that they were all locked up in the commander's office and that they were not allowed to get out of the office, the trio began to think about what they should do next.
"I just wonder how everyone back in the ship's doing?" Mu mused, sitting down in the couch next to Murrue.
"Can we sneak out of here then?" Natarle told Mu, offering a suggestion.
Murrue shook her head, objecting to Natarle's question.
"It's too risky. Aside from the armed guards standing outside the commander's office 24/7 to make sure we don't do anything risky or stupid..."
"Dammit!" Mu was irritated that he grabbed his temples in frustration. "We gotta do something."
"Unless we're going to get some people to rescue us here..." Natarle sighed.
Cockpit, Enterprise-class Space Shuttle, en route to Main Hangar, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Did you really have to do that?"
Mark was now at the controls of the space shuttle with Kuzzey next to him when Sai stood behind the former, wiping the blood off his face with a wet piece of tissue.
"It was." Sai stared at Mark. "After all, he needed to keep quiet."
"I guess we'll work about disposing the other bodies in the ship when we can." Mark shrugged as he piloted the space shuttle towards the outskirts of Artemis' main hangar, which connects to the interior of the asteroid base.
"I almost wanted to remind you guys about having suits on, but the doors leading to space aren't open yet." Kuzzey told Mark and Sai, who was assisting Mark in navigating to the hangar.
"Thanks for that though." Mark told Kuzzey. "Now it's all to Kira from here on end."
"Did he make it back to the cafeteria like the others?" Sai asked Mark.
"Most likely." Kuzzey told Sai, pointing to Mark that they were now in the hangar. "After all, didn't we agree on that?"
"Yeah. Wang Liu Mei agreed on that part too as well."
"I just hope Kira doesn't do anything that'll endanger his legend..."
The space shuttle had previously passed by Garcia's own space shuttle, which didn't do anything such as making contact since they were on the way to the Archangel. It was a good thing that the trio had been able to dispose of the bodies from plain sight by hiding them in unused crates.
They would remind themselves to immediately "dispose" of the crates when they return back to the Archangel.
Control Room, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"This is Control Room to EF Space Shuttle Bravo, please respond! I repeat, please respond!"
An EF officer with the rank of Captain entered Artemis' control room after being told of an important development. He was Caucasian in his late 20s with brown hair and a scar on his left cheek.
"What's happening?" The EF Captain asked someone when he got in the control room.
"I don't know, sir." The EF soldier said while checking his station. "One of our shuttles returned from the Atlantic Federation ship didn't respond to our hails on why it's coming back..."
The officer mused in thought after hearing the soldier's answer before he gave the order.
"Send a squad of MPs to check out the shuttle and see if any armed individuals are on board."
"Understood, Captain!"
Main Hangar, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Two squads of EF Army MPs stationed in Artemis began to converge on the Enterprise-class space shuttle that landed on the main hangar after receiving word from the control room to have them immediately deployed. One squad went to surround the shuttle while another began to board it after ensuring that the entrances were not rigged with traps or explosives.
A few minutes after the second squad boarded and inspected the shuttle, the MPs radioed back to the control room that the shuttle is safe and secured without any signs of anyone alive on board the shuttle before and after it landed.
This had baffled the MPs. If no one was on board the shuttle by the time it landed, then where the heck did they go off to?
After another set of few minutes, the floor panel that led to the lower levels of the space shuttle silently opened up. Mark popped out and examined the area carefully to make sure no MPs were inside.
"All clear." Mark whispered, getting out first before he assisted Kuzzey to get up back on the main floor. The former conducted rear security while Kuzzey, in turn, helped Sai get back up.
"So what's the plan then?" Sai asked after coughing to clear his throat and dusting his OMNI uniform off.
Cafeteria, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Kira."
Kira was greeted by his classmates and most of the OMNI crewmen when he was escorted by armed EF soldiers before one of them shoved Kira inside to take an empty seat next to Mir.
"What's happening?" Kira asked when he took his seat, looking around to see Heliopolis refugees also inside with them, most of them forced to sit down due to a lack of available seats.
"We don't know." Arnold shrugged his shoulders. "According to what those EF soldiers mentioned, they're keeping us up here until Artemis can verify that the Archangel was made by the Atlantic Federation for the UN."
"What?" Kira was confused. "Aren't they suppose to be friends?"
"I got the same feeling there Kira." Tolle told Kira when he heard his friend's reply.
"I'm pretty sure that it's more than just due to IFF code problems between the Atlantic and European Federation militaries." Dalida offered his suggestion to Kira and Tolle.
"I'll have to agree since there's no other way to explain this mess we're in." Mir shared Dalida's assessment.
"So what now?" Kojiro mused, stretching in his seat near Dalida and Romero. "We wait until the EF decides to let us go?"
"Speaking of which..." Flay went to ask. "Has anyone seen Sai, Kuzzey or that auxiliary policeman?"
After Sai, Kuzzey and Mark had been able to sneak away from the main hangar as most of the personnel had been concentrating on guarding and securing the Archangel while keeping low and dodging surveillance cameras, the trio had decided to sneak around the base and locate their contact inside Artemis. According to their superiors back in M, they would receive word from the contact as he would be the one to initiate contact first.
For now, it was the only plan they have. The only thing they need to worry is with roving EF MPs, cameras and other anti-intruder technologies they'll need to bypass such as infrared beams or keycard-locked doors.
Bridge, MRS-70 Ptolemaios, near outskirts of Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Anything from Artemis or from the ZAFT ships?"
Sumeragi questioned the crew after she returned back from using the toilet.
"Nothing at all." Christina told Sumeragi after greeting the woman. "The ZAFT ship's pretty quiet after they kept their distance from Artemis."
"It seems that they got their lightwave barriers down too." Lasse also spoke up to Sumeragi. "I doubt they'll try to do anything stupid, Ms. Sumeragi."
"That is true." The Eurasian frowned. "Unless..."
"Is there something we need to look at?" Lasse asked Sumeragi.
"I think we should." Sumeragi went to face Feldt. "Feldt, can you get the data on the mobile suits that were hijacked from Heliopolis?"
Feldt nodded when she began her work to get the needed data on the four OMNI/Orb-made mobile suits to Sumeragi's console for further reference.
Armory, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
A couple of EF soldiers were placed in charge of the armory, both of them outside the gated booth leading to the gun racks inside due to their break time. It wasn't like anyone would dare to invade and occupy Artemis. Besides, they got the lightwave barrier to protect the asteroid. But even without that, Artemis was blessed that some contingents of the EF's SFR had been deployed to assist the regulars in securing the place should things turn to the worst ever.
They, however, had the wrong assumption coming.
The two soldiers saw that the automated door opened up. But just as one of them was about to tell the visitors that they're temporarily closed up for break time, the soldiers were shocked to see what was the immediate response.
"Hey you can't..." An EF soldier tried to accost Kuzzey after he entered the armory. But instead of hearing an apology from him, Kuzzey raised a silenced pistol that resembled a Walther PPK and fired it twice at the man's chest. After the first soldier dropped dead, Kuzzey aimed the weapon towards the other soldier and fired two more shots.
"We're clear." Mark told the group after he had visually inspected the booth to make sure no one was around. He then gestured to Kuzzey to wait while he checked out the booth. Sai was the last to get inside, locking the door from the inside by taking a keycard that from one of the dead soldier's pockets on his shirt.
"This'll keep us undisturbed for a while." Sai said after inputting a series of commands on the keypad to lock the door after using the keycard to make the wall console work. "I'm quite surprised that you got a suppressed pistol, Kuzzey."
"Never hurts to search one of those SFR commandos just to be safe." Kuzzey replied after he fired the second shot that killed the second EF soldier. "I'm also quite surprised that they had silenced weapons on them, Sai."
"All clear." Mark told Sai and Kuzzey, handing each one of them a FN M62A1 assault rifle. "Here, got these babies for you to use."
"And you?" Sai asked after he checked the rifle to make sure that it looked okay.
"I'll just procure a weapon later on. My legend with the OMPF's going to hell anyway after this. Let me check if the Morgenroete SMC-1's okay." Mark went to check on his Orb-issued submachine gun. "For now, we'll need too..."
The "auxiliary officer" frowned and went to check on his communications unit that he brought with him. "Looks like we got something."
"CODE BLACK" has been initiated. Meet up with agent in the power room.
A challenge question will be provided. Ask the agent "Things have changed in this era."
The reply absolutely must be "But Mithril is still around."
Mark showed Sai and Kuzzey a picture of their Mithril contact within Artemis. The trio took note that he was dressed up as an EF officer with the rank of Captain.
"Got it?" Mark questioned the two when they nodded.
He then kept his comm device. "Then let's hit the road..."
Sai took the lead when he peeked outside to see that the corridors nearby were clear of anyone. "We're clear. And the cameras can't see us from the armory's door."
"Let's do it. We'll all go to the power room and meet up with our contact." Mark gave the instructions. After he and Kuzzey got out of the armory, Sai used his karambit door to take a stab at the wall console outside the armory several times to render it inoperable.
"Move out." Mark took the lead, gesturing to the other two that it was time to move out. The trio ran down a corridor, cradling their small arms should they have no choice but to fire them.
Power Room, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
The trio made their way to the power room safe and sound without meeting any armed EF sentries patrolling the lower levels of Artemis. Sai and Kuzzey crouched down after Mark opened the door leading to the power room, using a torchlight issued to him as part of his auxiliary officer gear to illuminate part of the dark room since no one was supposed to be around the place.
"Looks clear." Mark told Sai and Kuzzey. "But keep your guard up, guys."
"Right." They said in a whisper as they began to search the place with only a torchlight to illuminate their way. As they walked slowly to get a good look at their surroundings, the trio only had the lights coming from the various machinery and consoles inside the power room as means of helping them move around the place.
"I'm getting bored." Mark mumbled as he frowned when he noticed that the torchlight illuminated a human foot. Well, a human foot inside a shoe at least. At then a leg, then...
"Who's there?" The voice challenged the trio when they saw that a pistol was aimed at them. Sai and Kuzzey aimed their newly acquired assault rifles at the unknown man.
"Who are you?" snarled Sai back at the unknown man.
"Wait..." hissed Kuzzey before he eyed Mark and mouthed the challenge question.
Right. Mark nodded before he gave out the challenge question. "Things have changed in this era."
"But Mithril is still around." came the reply from the unknown person. When Mark went to check the person out with his torchlight, he noted that it was the same man who the trio needed to make contact with.
"So it seems that we're able to avoid a friendly fire situation." The "Captain" said before he went to introduce himself. "Dammit. Always forget to introduce myself. Name's David. Currently undercover within the EF forces stationed in Artemis."
"Mark." Mark introduced himself. "Sai and Kuzzey are with me."
"Charmed." David nodded before he asked Mark. "I suppose that you're already familiar with your debriefing about the Code Black orders?"
"We all are." Kuzzey told David. "We're just wondering what kind of orders we need to do."
"It consists of blowing this place up for starters..."
Bridge, ZMS Vesalius, near outskirts of Artemis, Lagrange 3, somewhere in Space
Dearka, Nicol and Yzak were called in to the Vesalius' bridge by the ship's XO since the captain was temporarily unavailable. From what they were told by the XO, they are suppose to be talking about how they can improve the tables against them with Artemis' lightwave barrier being the only thing in the way to either securing or destroying the "legged ship".
"The only thing we need to get out of the way is the lightwave barrier." Yzak told his fellow ZAFT Reds as they examined a digital map table, which contained a map of the Lagrange 3 area. "With that covering Artemis, there's no way we can get inside the asteroid."
"Anyone got some ideas to disable the lightwave barrier?" Dearka asked his ZAFT Red comrades for an idea that would work.
Nicol went to analyze the position of the Vesalius and its proximity to Artemis.
There must be a way to get rid of the lightwave barrier of Artemis before we can storm the place. Unless we can...
"Wait a second." The green-haired Coordinator told Dearka and Yzak, pointing to Artemis' position in the ship's tactical map. "I think I may have an idea on how we can solve the problem of getting rid of Artemis' lightwave barrier."
"What kind of idea do you have, Nicol?" Yzak asked Nicol when he heard him.
"Well for starters," Nicol brought the data of the Blitz Gundam on the digital map table. "my Blitz has the ability to render itself invisible since the mobile suit was created by OMNI with Morgenroete Industries for any special operations missions where stealth is essential."
"That is a good idea." Dearka liked where Nicol's idea was going. "If you can activate the stealth system after you deploy the Blitz from the Vesalius, the Artemis won't be able to detect it until the last minute."
"So a case of hit and run?" Yzak said when the digital map table showed a proposed course that Nicol made, ranging from the deployment of the Blitz to the Artemis under stealth. "That works in our favor. You just need to maintain the Mirage Colloid system for the Blitz in the entire course." He then asked Nicol. "You know where to hit when you're near the Artemis, Nicol?"
"I sure do, Yzak." Nicol nodded when he replied. "The lightwave barrier should be powered up 24/7 by power emitters located on the exterior of Artemis. As long as I can get close enough with the Blitz under stealth and start attacking them before Artemis is able to get a chance to activate them, we have a good chance to drive the enemy ship out of the open."
"I'm liking where this plan is going to take us." The blond Coordinator smirked after hearing Nicol's proposal to attack Artemis. "In fact, I like it so much that the entire plan is freaking foolproof that the Naturals won't be able to counter it once we catch them with their pants down."
"I'll need to relay this plan to the captain so that he can give out his approval." The XO said after hearing what Nicol's plan is to get the Archangel out from the Artemis. "As soon as he can give the all-clear, I'll let you guys know right away."
"For now, all we can do is to wait for his approval." Dearka said after the XO left the bridge, stretching his arm muscles.
Power Room, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
David handed Mark a compact switch that he took from his pockets, baffling the Mithril operative.
"What's this thing do?" Mark asked as he examined the compact device.
"It's a switch for the explosives I planted a few days ago."
"You mean we're going to blow this place up to kingdom come?" Sai asked the undercover Mithril agent.
David nodded. "That's part of the Code Black orders the top brass gave in. I believe there should be another one..."
Kuzzey halted David in his explanation. "Don't worry. We got that part already a while ago."
Sai and Mark looked at Kuzzey before the both of them nodded.
"I believe I'm getting that now..." Mark took a look at his Mithril-issued communication device and saw that another order had been transmitted to him.
"I'm sure you guys know what to do from here." David said before he excused himself. "I need to take my leave from here, so you three take care of the rest."
Cafeteria, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Both the Heliopolis refugees and the Archangel personnel saw that Garcia had arrived inside the cafeteria escorted by an armed EF soldier. They all saw that he wore his peaked cap as he entered inside the facility.
"My apologies for holding everyone here." Garcia told everyone inside the cafeteria. "It's merely a security precaution until we can check that the ship is not from ZAFT nor is a renegade Zeon vessel trying to masquerade as an OMNI vessel."
Yeah right! The Archangel crew nearly rolled their eyes when they heard Garcia's "official explanation" for herding every single person inside the cafeteria.
"But there is one thing that I need to note." Garcia began to turn his gaze towards the Archangel personnel. "I note that Major La Flaga's Moebius Zero is under repairs and thus, uses the Union Flag Orbit Package." The officer then eyed them carefully before he continued. "So I'd like to ask on details on the white mobile suit in the hangar."
When Garcia saw that the crew members didn't respond to his inquiry, he decided to continue explaining himself.
"I've been told that the white mobile suit has seen action before and after the destruction of Heliopolis." Garcia stared at Kira and the Heliopolis-based college students. "Now I'd like to ask who is the pilot responsible for using the white mobile suit?"
Wang Liu Mei and Hong Long eyed Garcia since the admiral's questions could make Kira break cover and either attack the admiral or tell the bald man that he's the one responsible for piloting the Strike.
This is something we don't need. The Mithril observer mused while she kept her eye on Garcia.
Corridor, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Let's move..."
Mark, Sai and Kuzzey came across a three-way corridor intersection, forcing them to check front, back, right and at their backs to ensure that no EF soldier was in the vicinity. They certainty do not want to lose the element of surprise before the officers of the Archangel can be secured.
"I'll go and check." Sai peeked on the rightmost corner, seeing a couple of EF soldiers guarding the entrance of an office. He gazed at Mark and Kuzzey before he gave hand signals that he saw two hostiles nearby armed with assault rifles. Two soldiers guarding nearby with assault rifles.
Mark gave the thumbs up. Kuzzey did the same thing as well. The former, however, gestured to Sai to wait first before he fished out the detonator from his tac vest.
He grinned before he firmly pressed the red button on the detonator.
Bridge, ZMS Vesalius, near outskirts of Artemis, Lagrange 3, somewhere in Space
"We're getting some changes within Artemis!"
"There seems to be explosions going on from the asteroid!"
The three ZAFT Reds heard the crewmen report in after they had previously gotten the permission to launch Nicol's Blitz to conduct a solo attack on Artemis.
"Shit..." Dearka gritted his teeth. "This'll change our plans!"
"There's still time!" Nicol said as he shook his head and ran out of the bridge.
"Hey Nicol!" Yzak yelled as he chased after him. "Where are you going at this time?"
"I'll be the distraction for you guys when I launch the Blitz out there!"
"What?"
Cafeteria, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Mind if I ask why are you doing this?" Kira stared at Garcia. "I think you can see clearly that none of us here are pilots of a mobile suit since we're all refugees from Orb's Heliopolis colony."
"I don't think that's going to convince me." Garcia chuckled at Kira's defiance towards him. "You see, I've received some interesting tidbits of information that this particular mobile suit that the ship has in custody does have signs that indicate the OS system is not fully compatible for combat, which means only Coordinators could have done the OS configuration alone."
This nearly gave Kira and Wang a shock since Mithril does not have any informants who are actively working alongside Garcia.
Unless Garcia has an inside man inside either Morgenroete or within the Atlantic Federation-based faction of OMNI, feeding the bald officer information about the covert G Weapons program.
Suddenly, everyone in the Archangel could feel the force of explosions that were taking place within Artemis.
"What was that?" Garcia yelled when he nearly tripped himself.
Bridge, MRS-70 Ptolemaios, near outskirts of Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Sumeragi went to examine on her console the data on the G Weapon mobile suits taken by Le Creuset's ZAFT Reds. Among them, the Eurasian woman had a particular interest in the Blitz. She read over the Blitz's ability to render itself invisible to the naked eye and from radar via Mirage Colloid.
"Ms. Sumeragi!" Feldt shouted to Sumeragi. "Something's happening in Artemis!"
"What do you mean?" Sumeragi said, hearing what Feldt said to her.
"Several explosions are taking place from within Artemis." Christina went to check on her console. "It seems that the lightwave barrier's having a hard time getting functional."
"Looks like our guys did it right." Lasse smirked.
Lichtendahl smirked and nodded, sharing Lasse's sentiment while giving the thumbs up.
"It seems Code Black's getting into place." Sumeragi sighed, leaning back on her chair.
I wonder if they'll be able to put through with the second order with their Code Black instructions before the guys began their raid on Artemis.
Infirmary, MRS-70 Ptolemaios, near outskirts of Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Unggg..."
A wounded Rusty found himself coming to when he felt that he was able to sit up. And that he was still alive despite being shot at back in Heliopolis.
"I was shot..."
Still in my pants and all. It seems my shirt's done for, which is why I can see the bandages wrapped around my body.
Tieria and Allelujah came inside the Ptolemaios' infirmary, already armed to the teeth. Their Mithril-made pistols, consisting of an ordinary pistol frame with a detachable long LAM-like module, were aimed at Rusty as a blond man with a beard and wearing shades entered the infirmary with a white coat worn over his red dress shirt with black pants and male platform shoes.
"Greetings." The blond man greeted Rusty, helping him sit up on his cot. "My name is Dr. Joyce Moreno and I'm the one who got your wounds immediately treated."
"Really?" Rusty was shocked to see that someone would go to such lengths to help him.
"Of course it wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for him." Tieria snorted in anger while leaning on the wall while aiming his sidearm at Rusty.
"Him?" Rusty was confused as to who Tieria was talking about.
"How are you feeling right now?" Joyce asked Rusty while checking on his bandages to see if they needed changing.
"I'm quite alright." Rusty blinked after being questioned. "Thanks I guess."
"Do not mention it. Right now, I advise you get some rest. Despite being a Coordinator and all, it's still advisable for you not to move around for your wounds can open up again."
"Alright."
The doctor left the infirmary, accompanied by the two Mithril operatives.
"What was that about?"
Rusty frowned after seeing the armed Allelujah and Tieria leave before the ZAFT Red decided to get some rest by lying back down on his cot.
"Least I don't have to do anything for a while."
ZAFT Red Quarters, ZMS Vesalius, en route to PLANT, Space
Athrun was in his quarters abroad the Vesalius, using most of his free time to get some rest by sleeping whenever he can since he was told by Le Creuset and Ades that it would be a while before they could approach PLANT territory, especially since they may have to find a way through ROZ or Republic of Zeon territory.
After the OYBW had ended in favor to the UN, a small detachment of OMNI forces were stationed inside Side 3's Zum City. Originally, the plan made by the UN Security Council called for the Titans to be based there. But due to their questionable methods, ROZ politicians and the president were very opposed to this. And the fact that the UN and PLANTs have hostile ties with each other, alongside with the Axis-based Zeon faction, that the journey of the Vesalius may be a bit long if they need to go through ROZ territory since Side 3-based OMNI forces may be ordered to intercept them.
I'll probably just have more than enough time to head to sleep right now.
Even while in his bed, he couldn't help but still think of Rusty's "demise" back in Heliopolis.
"Rusty." murmured Athrun before he went to sleep.
Corridor, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Do it."
Mark told Sai and Kuzzey after warnings were heard through Artemis via PA systems.
Sai nodded and crouched before shouldering the M62A1. He took aim at the two EF soldiers posted outside the commander's office, being a bit confused as to the current situation. The Mithril operative had the rifle firing at semi-automatic mode and aimed the recently mounted 1.6x telescopic scope at the EF soldiers. With no one interrupting, Sai fired the assault rifle. The two soldiers went down after they were shot at.
"Nice." Mark patted Sai's back. "But you guys need to fall back now, considering that you and Kuzzey can't be seen by the officers."
"What about you?" Kuzzey asked.
"I'll take care of things here. Just be sure to do the second objective as well."
"Right. Good luck."
Sai and Kuzzey moved on as one unit, searching the corridors of Artemis for Garcia while Mark proceeded to secure the commander's office by himself.
Commander's Office, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Mu, Murrue and Natarle heard explosions that were taking place throughout Artemis, including the gunshots that rang out in the commander's office.
"What's happening with Artemis?" Natarle asked, wondering where the explosions were coming from.
"Is Artemis under attack?" Mu wondered, scratching his head, watching the ceiling in case of any damages.
"That's it? Not even a thank you?"
The three officers saw that Mark had opened the double doors leading to the commander's office. The corpses of the dead soldiers were seen in front of them.
"What... happened?" Murrue asked Mark after she saw the auxiliary officer.
"I'll take that as a welcoming sign from you." Mark told Murrue before he told her alongside Mu and Natarle. "Right now, we need to go. The base's been rigged up to explode from the interior." He then went to check outside if the coast is clear. "And before you ask, ZAFT forces didn't plant them."
"Alright..." Mu was a bit confused with what Mark has mentioned.
"Come on! We better go!" Mark said after hearing a few more explosions.
Cafeteria, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Both the refugees and the Archangel crew had noticed that Garcia left Biddulph in charge to trying to get round of interrogations ready to the crew in order to get solid answers to who was in charge of piloting the Strike. Of course, they wouldn't risk telling the EF forces in Artemis that Kira had piloted the mobile suit a few times.
"What do we do?" Romero asked his colleagues as he watched Biddulph speaking to a couple of EF soldiers being posted outside the cafeteria.
"We can't stay here anymore." Kojiro told Romero by whispering. "We gotta take control of the ship back before we're killed from the explosions."
"But how?" Arnold joined in the conversation with Romero and Kojiro. "They're armed and we're not."
"Well sooner or later, we'll need to retake control of the ship and get the refugees away from here before we're all toast..."
Corridor, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
David was walking on one of the many corridors of Artemis after explosions rang out throughout Artemis. It seemed that his legend was safe.
"Freeze!"
Until he was surrounded by EF Army MP Special Response Team operators with their FN M61A1 pistols aimed at him.
"What is this about?" David shouted at the SRTs. "I am an officer placed here in Artemis..."
"We know that, Captain." A MP with the rank of Major approached David. "And we've been ordered by Admiral Garcia to keep an eye out for any spies and agents in Artemis. And frankly, your recent actions do indicate either one of those positions."
"Would you care to explain yourself before I decide to call on the Admiral's attention on this matter?"
"There's an eyewitness who claimed that you approached near the power room an hour ago. Can you please explain that?"
"What do you mean being near the power room?"
Mark continued to escort Mu, Murrue and Natarle towards Artemis' main hangar. In the meantime, Mark placed his left hand into his pants pocket and pressed another button on the detonator before taking his hand out.
"What was that?" Murrue asked while Mark stopped them from moving, checking a nearby elevator lobby before he sighted a couple of EF MPs in front of him.
"Hey you..." A MP confronted him before Mark raised his SMC-1 submachine gun and aimed the iron sights at his chest. He then fired semi-auto, watching the MP go down. Mark then repeated his actions towards the second MP, firing his submachine gun at his chest again in semi-auto.
Murrue and Natarle were shocked to see an Orban auxiliary police officer shoot an EF soldier to save their lives. Mu went to press the down button to call on a nearby elevator.
"You guys alright?" Mark asked the the women as the elevator car was heading to their floor. They nodded in reply.
Corridor, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Garcia had promptly showed up after he had been forced to return to Artemis with the string of explosions that took place. So far, he was directed to see the MPs and David after they had placed him into their custody.
"So I take it that this is the man reported to be near the power room?" Garcia was confused to see why David was in the SRT's custody.
"Yes, sir." A SRT operator saluted Garcia. "We're just going to take the Captain for further questioning."
"Well I hope for your sake that things will be alright with you." Garcia faced David as he was escorted by the SRTs.
"I hope so too, Admiral Garcia." David replied to Garcia.
Cockpit, GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam
Nicol had the Blitz launched immediately after word was out already that explosions were reported at Artemis. Despite some objections from the crew in the Vesalius to wait, Nicol mentioned that there was not enough time to just sit by and wait. As the Blitz was approaching the outskirts of Artemis, Dearka and Yzak followed from behind in the Buster and Duel.
"Almost close to Artemis." Nicol murmured before he activated the Mirage Colloids. "Activating Mirage Colloids now..." While he had the Mirage Colloids activated to render the mobile suit invisible, the green-haired ZAFT Red soldier make contact with Dearka and Yzak and told them to distract the enemy while he would try and go for the nearest power emitter and destroy them to render the lightwave barrier meaningless for the EF asteroid base.
"There's one of the power emitters." Nicol said as he came across a power emitter raised up to try and get Artemis' lightwave barrier up and running. When Nicol made the invisible Blitz land next to a power emitter, he got a beam saber at the ready before he went for a diagonal slash at the power emitter in front of the mobile suit.
"HAH!" Nicol shouted after he used the beam saber to make short work of the power emitter. He then went for another power emitter behind him and executed another diagonal slash.
Corridor, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Sai and Kuzzey were on the same corridor where Garcia, the SRT team and David were when the former began to confront them.
"Admiral Garcia!" The latter shouted as they had their assault rifles aimed at the SRT team, surprised to see two teenagers in OMNI-issued clothes carrying small arms.
"It's the enemy!" The SRT leader said before he was able to raise his assault rifle. This was when David decided to spring into action, using his right elbow to smack the man's balaclava-clad face, followed by a roundhouse kick.
"Dammit!" Garcia said he crouched behind a corner, protected by a SRT operator. "Hand me a weapon!" In response, the SRT operator handed Garcia his sidearm before Sai shot the operator in the chest several times with his assault rifle.
For a few minutes, a gun battle ensued in a corridor inside Artemis.
Cafeteria, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"What's the meaning of this?"
Biddulph found himself confronting Kojiro, Dalida and Arnold after the EF officer saw them approaching him. He had been assigned two MPs for his protection and for "protecting" the people dumped inside the cafeteria.
"Don't you think that you need to do something about this?" Dalida said to the officer, being upset.
"Of course we are!" Biddulph shouted at Dalida. "Now if you would kindly take your seat..."
"You can't just let most of us stay back there!" Kojiro shouted at Dalida. "We're all in danger, especially if ZAFT's still out there waiting for a chance to attack us!"
"Stand back, you!" A MP approached Kojiro, his hand on his holster while his M62A1 was slinged on his left shoulder.
"Are you too stubborn to just stop and think that in a few minutes, we're all going to be blown up to kingdom come?" Arnold came to face Biddulph that he shouted at the officer, shocking him as he had never seen a low-ranking soldier in the OMNI forces challenge him.
"Dammit!" The MPs were already fed up with the Archangel crew members and made the decision to draw out their sidearms to keep them back away from Biddulph. That was before they realized that the crewmen tackled Biddulph and the MPs on the ground with full force so that they won't be able to stand up and fight back.
"Okay!" Kojiro told the others. "Let's restrain them so that they don't get in the way before we dump 'em out of the ship..."
Main Hangar, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Get inside!"
Mark had gotten far to escort Mu, Murrue and Natarle on one of the unused shuttles when MP SRT units charged into the hangar and faced with Mark, firing their assault rifles after lobbing in smoke grenades.
"What about you?" Mu asked as he was about to step inside the shuttle first.
"Forget about me! Just go!" Mark yelled as he began to empty his carbine towards the SRTs, trying to give the officers time to escape back towards the Archangel.
"Shit..." muttered the Mithril undercover agent, diving behind a forklift truck while he reloaded his weapon. As Mark fired again towards the MPs, he noted that the shuttle had just started to depart from the hangar towards the Archangel.
He later heard another explosion outside of the Artemis while engaging in the firefight.
"Outside... That could only mean ZAFT is coming..."
Corridor, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Sai and Kuzzey admired their handiwork when they got the upper hand against the SRT. However, David had been severely wounded during the firefight.
"I'll go check on him." Sai slinged his rifle and went to see David's condition. "You better go and check on our admiral."
"Right!" Kuzzey ran up to the corner where Garcia went to hide. When he went to see the admiral, silenced pistol drawn out, he saw the bald man leaning up on the wall with a few wounds on his stomach.
"So you got me..." Garcia muttered he coughed. "I never expected the day when Artemis would be severely compromised." The bald man coughed once more. "Even though you're wearing OMNI uniform..."
Kuzzey didn't say anything. But he did have his assault rifle slinged with his left index finger on the pistol's trigger guard, ready to be used.
"Are you with ZAFT or with those Axis Zeons?"
Kuzzey once again did not say anything, except to raise the silenced pistol and aim it at the wounded admiral.
"Mithril, sir." The black-haired teen said calmly. "Do you know them?"
The teen's question threw the admiral with a surprise.
"It can't be! I thought they disbanded permanently after the Cold War ended."
Kuzzey smirked. "You thought wrong, admiral."
As Garcia went to raise the pistol on the young Mithril agent, Kuzzey immediately shot the wounded admiral three times. He then saw the wounded admiral now dead for good, dropping the pistol near him.
"All hail Mithril."
"Just leave me." David said while clutching the wound on his side. "You guys need to head back to the ship and get out of here."
"But what about you?" Sai asked David while trying to see if he can help the wounded man.
David shook his head. "I'm alright. Just go."
To prove his point, David aimed his own sidearm at Sai's head.
"I'm not about to risk you guys while you still have to get out of here. Just tell the general that I did my job."
"Shit..." Sai sighed and spoke up to Kuzzey. "We need to leave now."
"Right."
Sai and Kuzzey said their goodbyes to the wounded David before they ran off, heading back to the main hangar to meet up with Mark and escape Artemis.
Cockpit, GAT-X105+AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike Gundam
Kira had been deployed into the Strike after the crew had regained control of the Archangel, being able to get any EF Army personnel in the ship to leave at once due to the Blitz, Buster and Duel's attack on Artemis.
"Good thing they had a sense of leaving the place instead of engaging us. That would been a bummer..."
As the Aile Strike Gundam deployed out of the Archangel, the brown-haired teenager saw that Artemis deployed a few AEU-09 AEU Enact Space Types armed with Linear Rifles to combat against the ZAFT-controlled mobile suits. A few GINNs were seen being deployed by the Vesalius to render assistance to their ZAFT Red comrades.
"This just keeps getting better and better."
He drew out the beam saber and went off to engage a GINN that tried to intercept him.
Bridge, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Murrue and Natarle had just returned back to the Archangel's bridge when they were greeted by everyone, including the Heliopolis refugees. A few minutes, Mu came along and greeted the crew.
"Nice work, guys!" Mu smiled and went to give Mir a hug before patting them on the shoulder.
"Has anyone seen Sai or Kuzzey?" Natarle asked as she took her seat in the CIC.
"Not yet." Dalida told Natarle. "Most of us presume that they were hiding to get away from the EF MPs. We haven't also accounted for Mark as well."
"Order Kira to cover the Archangel until everyone is accounted for!" Murrue gave out the order as she took her seat in the commander's chair.
"Yes, ma'am!"
Main Hangar, Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
Mark was now at his limit.
The undercover Mithril agent was now running out of ammo for his carbine. And he didn't consider using his sidearm since he needed it for "extreme measures". Which means he needed to nab the assault rifle being used by the MP SRTs instead until he can escape the asteroid with Sai and Kuzzey.
"Great. This is just..."
Suddenly, gunfire rang out from behind the SRTs as they were taken by surprise. In a few minute, all of them were gunned down from the back.
"Is that..." Mark peeked out to see that Sai and Kuzzey are alive and well as they fired their assault rifles after reloading to take down any surviving SRT operatives.
"Mark!" Kuzzey greeted Mark after the duo arrived in the hangar.
"While I'm glad to see you guys, we got to get out of here!" Mark said as he ran for the space shuttle nearby. "We need to head back to the Archangel!"
The three moved, getting inside the space shuttle. After they got in the cockpit and turned the engines on, they proceeded to navigate the vehicle towards the Archangel.
Bridge, OMNIS Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Captain!"
Mir called out to Murrue from the CIC station. "I'm detecting a shuttle that's moving in towards the Archangel."
"Is it from Artemis?" Natarle asked Mir.
"Yes it is." Mir said before she checked her console. "Hold on! I think I'm getting something..."
"This is Mark Liu to the Archangel. Can anyone hear me?"
"We read you, Mark. Are you close?"
"Yes, I am. I just need a few more minutes before I can get near the Archangel. Will probably need some help here."
"I'll go!" Mu said as he ran out of the bridge.
"Major La Flaga's going out to make sure you can make it inside!"
"Thanks! How's Kira?"
"He's fighting ZAFT mobile suits to help us escape Artemis."
"Well... tell him I said hello."
Enterprise-class Space Shuttle, en route to Archangel, Inside Artemis, Lagrange 3, Space
"Alright. La Flaga should cover our asses 'til we can get inside."
Mark told Sai and Kuzzey after he made contact with Mir.
"Great. In the meantime, Sai and I got an idea to make sure our cover isn't blown."
Mark nodded after hearing Kuzzey's comment. "Great idea. I'll assume that you tossed the guns you got from the armory?"
"Yep." Sai nodded before checking himself if any blood got on his face before he wore his "glasses" on. "We ditched them already. The only thing that matters is getting back in the Archangel without being blown up by gunfire to smithereens and become yesterday's news alongside Artemis."
Cockpit, SVMS-01OP Union Flag Orbit Package
"Mu La Flaga, Union Flag Orbit Package, launching!"
The Atlantic Federation OMNI officer shouted before the mobile suit launched from the port side catapult of the Archangel, flying off towards the incoming shuttle. He was able to dodge in time falling debris coming from the wrecked remains of an Enact that was shot down by the Buster.
"Come on you..." Mu muttered as he piloted the Orbit Package towards the shuttle, which was now slowly approaching the Archangel.
The kid better hurry up or else...
Seeing an incoming GINN towards him, Mu had decided to let the Orbit Package fly towards the ZAFT mobile suit. He fired the Linear Rifle several times before he got the mobile suit's vibroblade and used it to stab the GINN's head module. Mu followed this up by bringing the weapon vertically near the cockpit before flying away as the GINN exploded.
Command Center, unknown Mithril base, somewhere in space
Colonel Dan Berserk, former officer in the OMNI Army's special forces unit and veteran of the OYBW, walked in the Mithril command center after being informed by an aide that Mark, Sai and Kuzzey are able to evacuate safely from Artemis. He stood out from Mithril's UE officer's corp since he wore the OMNI special forces beret alongside his grey Mithril officer's uniform.
"Colonel." A Mithril non-combat operator with the rank of Corporal greeted Berserk when he got in. "Our agents were able to escape Artemis. We just got word that Captain David's been wounded during the assassination of Admiral Garcia."
Berserk nodded. "I see. Anything else?"
"It'll be a while before we can mount an extraction of our forces since they'll have to pass through the debris field." The soldier pointed to a table-based tactical map nearby when he showed the officer, which showed a possible course of the Archangel away from Artemis with the Vesalius nearby. "Not to mention that the Vesalius is still hunting them."
"I still have the Ptolemaios secretly keep an eye out on the Archangel." Berserk told the soldier, zooming in on the Ptolemaios' position hidden behind some asteroids. "For now, have them stand down and not do anything unless they tell me. It's going to risk our plans in extracting our agents and the Heliopolis refugees back to Orban soil. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"And I've heard that agent Liu has extracted a wounded ZAFT Red?" Berserk asked the soldier while examining the tactical map. So far, the Archangel has already cleared out of Artemis.
"Yes, Colonel. According to the data provided by Dr. Moreno and Captain Noriega, his name is Rusty Mackenzie."
"From what I've read on the Le Creuset ZAFT Red unit, he doesn't have any relatives in the PLANT Supreme Council. Quite odd if you ask me..."
Berserk sighed.
"Remind him that I'll have a talk with him when he returns back to base. Understood, Corporal?"
"Understood, Colonel Berserk."
"Colonel!" Another operator from the command center shouted for the colonel's attention.
"What is it?" Berserk asked.
"We're getting readings on another explosion from Artemis."
"Another one?"
"Yes, sir. It may be secondary explosions from explosives planted by Captain David."
David... Berserk sighed.
"Colonel, agents Liu, Argyle and Buskirk have made it back in the Archangel safely!" A Mithril operator with the rank of Private First Class called for the Colonel's attention.
"Excellent." Berserk nodded after hearing the report. "Have them report in when they can."
"I'll inform them at once."
"Sir, what about the wounded ZAFT Red?" The Corporal asked Berserk, waiting for a reply.
Berserk sighed. "I guess we can't do anything about this. Tell the Ptolemaios to keep an eye on Mackenzie and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."
Chapter 7 END
PS - Here goes another chapter of Peacekeepers! I hope you peeps enjoyed the chapter as much as I did.
Finally, I got time to put in an FMP! reference. See if you can spot it. It ought to be obvious.
Also, the pistols I described in the hands of Allelujah and Tieria are based on the pistols used by Celestial Being in Gundam 00. Not sure if I described them right, so I'm doing them based on what I've remembered in the TV series. Well hopefully that'll do for now. I shall slowly begin to diverge from the main GSEED storyline soon starting from this chapter too while I'm at it.
Meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out if I can get some Wing characters/factions in this story since the Sanc Kingdom is involved. Mobile suit's aren't a problem. While I do know that AGE is out, I don't know if I can incorporate them into the story, considering that I'm not going to and probably will not since I'm not interested. Maybe except the mobile suits with some cameo characters. But I do plan to get some SRW characters/mobile weapons in the story.
Anyway, Jormungand! And maybe Upotte! too, but I do like to see Jormungand fanfics ups and running since there are a lot of fanfic potentials.