Disclaimer: See Chapter 1 The Thunderbolt starfighter is based on the SA-43 Hammerhead from Space Above and Beyond. Rick and Morty belongs to Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon.
Iron Blood and Will of Fire
by Storm Wolf77415 and Centurious the Azure
Metal Champions
(2161, two weeks out from Mars Space)
The attack on the Ares Transit Station had sent the entire Solar System into turmoil. The United Nations quickly took the lead, assembling an armada created from the space forces of the various member nations to hunt down the strange machine that destroyed the station. It had been two weeks since the fleet, thirty ships strong, had departed from Mars. So far nothing happened and boredom was setting in.
At least that's what the pilots who were the advance scouts for the fleet thought. The SA-83 Thunderbolt starfighter was a solidly built machine, building on the concepts of the great fighter planes of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Equipped with a double-barreled twenty-millimeter cannon on a turret in the chin, and a double-barreled twenty-millimeter cannon in a turret on the back, eight weapon hardpoints for varying types of missiles, bombs and other equipment.
Four Thunderbolts from the 58th Fighter Squadron, known as the "Wildcards" were out in front, the flight lead known only as "Joker", yawned, squirming in the cockpit's tight confines, willing his legs to not fall asleep. "Bunker Hill, This is Wildcard One, this sector is clear, nothing to report, as usual. Moving onto the next sector." He didn't bother to hide the boredom in his voice as he made his regular report to the squadron's carrier. "If there is some giant mechanical space whale, as the few survivors put it, then it's doing a real good job of hiding."
"Understood, Wildcard One. Keep pace for another sector and then return to the barn. We'll leave a light on in the window for you." the Bunker Hill's flight operator responded.
"Roger that," Joker said, before switching over to the squadron channel. "Hang in there in a little bit longer guys. Our patrol is almost over. After that, we can go home, and kick up our feet."
"Best news I've heard all day, Boss Man. I'm needing a cold one and fast!" Wildcard Two, known as "King of Spades", remarked. "If I have to look at these stars any longer, I'll just pop the canopy and eat sweet Lady Vacuum!"
"While I wouldn't go that far, I'll be looking forward to a nice warm shower. I'm bathing in my own sweat over here!" Wildcard Three, also referred to as "Jack of Diamonds" quipped, tugging at the collar of his flight suit. "If I wanted to do that, I would have gone to the sauna!"
"Thanks for sharing that image, Jack! Now I'm going to have to gouge out my eyes because I'll have to think of your hairy ass in nothing but a towel!" Wildcard Four, callsign, "Queen of Clubs", finally joined in on the conversation, before a ringing sound from her instrument panel diverted her attention. "This sector is clear, Joker. Let's call it a day."
"Got that, Queen," Joker said. He was just about to issue another order when his Master Alarm started blaring. Wildcard One turned all business. "Hold that thought, guys! We got LIDAR contact, bearing 214 mark 590! Bunker Hill, we're going to investigate! Wildcards on me!" He got the standard two click response from his squadmates, falling into a diamond formation. "I know I've said this before, but I'll say it again, people. Heads on a swivel!"
"Wildcard Three to Wildcard One, Joker, I have visual confirmation of the target!" Jack barked, pushing up his visor to make sure he was really looking at what was in front of him. He remembered watching the few scraps of footage command had managed to collect. "Damn, it really is a giant golden space whale! It even has barnacles and everything!"
"Understood, Bunker Hill this is Wildcard One, we have confirmation of target! Permission to engage?"
"Loud and clear, Wildcard One, we are launching squadrons now and will be at your position in under a minute and a half. You have a green light to engage!" The captain of the Bunker Hill said. "But try not to hog all the fun until then, okay?"
A feral sneer twisted across Joker's face. "We'll try to leave you something. Wildcards, weapons free and clear to engage!" The other pilots gave their respective acknowledgments, splitting into pairs, to surround their target. "Mind if I take first crack boys?" Queen asked, lining up the targeting reticle, switching from red to green to indicate a solid missile lock. "Wildcard Four, Fox Three!" She barked. sending a pair of AIM-120V "Slammer" air to air missiles at the whale ship. The projectiles hit square on the right side of the whale, just behind the whale's mouth. Queen's delicate eyebrows knitted together slightly when she saw the blackened scorch mark the missiles left. "Damn, that armor is really thick! Jack, cover me. I'm going for guns!"
Her Thunderbolt swooped down in a graceful arc. "Let's light this oversized tuna up. Guns! Guns! Guns!" Queen snarled, opening fire with the chin mounted double machine guns, a spray of twenty-millimeter shells splashing across the gilded exterior. But like with the missiles, it did little more than leave a series of dents across the hull. "I'm not giving up that fast. Jack, prep your Slammers, but hold your fire. I'm going to concentrate my fire on a single point, once I've done that, let them fly. Let's see what that does!"
"Roger Queen." Jack locked onto the whale ship. "I've got tone, waiting on you!"
"Guns! Guns! Guns!" Queen declared, flying underneath the golden vessel, letting the twenty-millimeter death fly once again, this time focusing on a single spot on their opponent's ventral side, the shells beating against the armor, causing it to dent and cave in more and more. "Do it now, Jack!" She cried, hurtling away at top speed.
"Jack, Fox Three!" Another pair of missiles lurched off the rails, flying straight and true, producing a decent sized explosion, and much to his delight, a small hole in the unknown whale ship's hull. "Ha! First blood is ours!" Jack smirked.
"Wildcard Three look out!" King's warning came a second too late. Jack only had enough time to catch a glance as he realized his trajectory brought him straight in front of what was the whale's mouth, now open and revealing the giant cannon that had destroyed Ares Station. The muzzle flashed for a split second, and all Jack could see was a wall of gold energy coming at him. His Thunderbolt took the full force of the cannon's attack, coming apart under the stress, the fighter tumbled end over end before exploding, ending the life of Wildcard Three.
"Oh shit!" Joker said, quickly slipping into commander mode, despite the sudden shock at losing one of his pilots. "Wildcard Four, get back into formation, we'll engage it together!"
"Boss, you did just see what that thing did to Jack!" King snapped. Madly trying to avoid getting shot by the whale ship's main weapon again. The one saving grace the fighters had was being nimble enough to avoid the cumbersome beam cannon, but a single round would be more than enough to end them quickly.
"I'm fully aware of it! But if we don't do something now. This thing could get to Earth and wreak all kinds of havoc! That is not happening on my watch!" It was temporary relief as the surviving members of his flight all got into formation. At least they would stand a better chance together. He then contacted the flagship. "Bunker Hill Actual, this is Wildcard One, how soon until the cavalry gets here?"
(USS Bunker Hill, Combat Information Center)
"Another thirty seconds for the fighters." The Captain said, watching as more and more Thunderbolts were flying off not just his own vessel but the Bunker Hill's sister ship, the Valley Forge,flanking to its starboard, all the while surrounded by destroyers, cruisers and other support ships. "Battle Group Three is in position to offer long-range artillery support, standby!" He turned to face the tactical station. "Weapons, sitrep?"
"The main cannons are primed, and all VLS have been loaded with Archers. Ready to fire on your command, sir." The lieutenant manning the weapons console replied, a steely glint in his eye, and his finger itching to hit the launch button. He was the embodiment of what everyone was feeling in CIC at that moment, a desire for payback against the destroyer of the Ares station.
The captain just smirked, inclining his head by a slight margin before switching the radio back on. "We're going loud! Wildcard One, this is Bunker Hill Actual, You might want to get your people out of the way!" He uttered a single word to the weapons officer. "Fire!" He barked.
The mighty weapons of the Bunker Hill flared to life, The four twin barrel 210cm cannons opened fire, hurling their deadly payload into the void of space while the ninety-six tube Vertical Launch System began spitting out Archer anti-ship missiles, all streaking toward the target.
(Open Space)
The surviving three Wildcards were holding position out of the line of fire. Joker, King, and Queen were overjoyed seeing the incoming fire raining down on the whale ship, the shells tearing into the thick armor as the missiles followed it up, causing a chain of explosions to rip up and down across the hull. The ship began listing slightly to port. "Ha take that, you giant mechanical fish!" King pumped the air. "That's for you, Jack. A little payback is always a beautiful thing."
"Wildcard One this is Raygun, mind if we join the party, Joker?" The Wildcards commander cracked a small grin as a force of about sixteen Thunderbolts flew alongside the Wildcards. He focused on one fighter particular coming up on his right side, an old style ray-gun painted on the side. "I'm rather hurt you started without us."
"Always happy to see you, Ray," Joker responded, glad to see an old friend at his side. "And don't blame me. We weren't the ones sitting on Alert Five when it happened!" He frowned slightly. "I'll admit this thing has been giving us hell. Watch out for that thing's main cannon, took out Jack in a single hit. How about we deliver some hurt?"
"Sure, I had a friend who died on Ares Station. So this is just a little personal for me." Raygun said. "Joker, you take the lead on this one."
"Understood, all fighters this is Wildcard One, let's not let the big guys have all the fun! Light 'em up!" The Thunderbolts dipped into action, splitting off into smaller groups, all of them letting loose a rain of lead from their chin-mounted cannons as they strafed along the dorsal side of the whale ship, before looping around, opening fire with the cannons mounted on the back, dinging up the armor along the stern.
King whistled. "Damn, that thing that can take a serious amount of punishment, even after being hit by the capital ships!" His eyes widened as the cannon once again flared to life. "Bunker Hill Actual, its main cannon is going to fire again! Tell all ships to clear the area!" The golden beam lanced out, this time aimed at the incoming fleet. They could only wince as it punched through one of the destroyers near the Valley Forge, exploding in a massive fireball. The barnacle pods detached from the main hull and began attacking the fighters.
"It's so fast! I can't lock onto it!" One pilot said before it cut off into static, a Thunderbolt exploding out of the corner of Joker's eye. The small pods, not much larger than the fighters, flew at such blinding speeds they couldn't be picked up by the targeting computers, armed with four chain guns apiece, they ripped through the Thunderbolts. Joker snarled, trying to snap his cannons on a pod, but it just skirted out of the range of his guns, even if he aimed ahead of it. Its mad zigzag course ensured it wouldn't get hit.
It was then he noticed one of the pods was pursuing his wingman. "Queen, you've got one on your tail!" Joker called out, watching as Wildcard Four desperately struggled to lose her pursuer, all the while the chain guns ripped through the fighter's fuselage, traveling up the length before hitting the cockpit. Joker cursed in silent rage as he saw the telltale splatter of blood all over the cockpit windows before the ship exploded.
It was then the main fleet finally joined in the fray. The Valley Forge and her battle group taking the lead. The assault carrier opened up with a full broadside on the whale ship, the Archers and 210cm shells leaving the gilded hull a blackened scorched mess. But the missile pods were quick to respond, flitting in and out, destroying Thunderbolts faster than the hapless pilots could blink. One of the escorting destroyers was hit from four different directions by sustained fire before the hull buckled and it went up in a massive fireball.
"All CIWS try and destroy those pods!" The Valley Forge's captain barked orders, grinding his teeth in silent anger as the second of its escort ships was sunk. It was then the pods turned its sights on the carrier itself, the entire ship began rocking as the shells began ripping into the hull, still, the mighty vessel wasn't going to fold up so quickly. Even as his bridge fell apart around him, flames licking out of the consoles and smoke obscuring his vision. the Captain continued issuing orders to his crew, who dutifully carried them out. "Fire the main battery again! Prepare another spread of Archers!"
"Captain, that thing is coming about!" the helmsman cried out. The Captain looked on with unblinking eyes at the giant cannon aimed square at his ship. He stared down the barrel of the cannon, the glow slowly building up in the muzzle. He only sighed, before uttering. "Fire!" The main cannons fired one last time, just as the golden light lanced out once more, hitting the Valley Forge dead on. The mighty ship was wreathed by a chain of explosions before it came apart at the seams.
"Fuck!" King raged, opening fire on the barnacle pods to no avail. "You…" His sight was locked on the whale ship itself. "You're the one responsible for all this!" He kicked his engines to the max, flying straight toward the golden vessel on a suicidal charge. But he could have cared less. All of his comrades were dying, and if this was his fate, he would at least make it count. The barnacle pods continued to pump lead into King's fighter, but he still kept coming.
He didn't even notice as the visor of his helmet shattered, cutting up his forehead and causing blood to gush out. He only had eyes for the whale ship, the main cannon emerging to fire another salvo. "Oh no you don't!" He snarled, ignoring the warnings that his ship was quite literally coming apart around him. "Wildcards forever!" He roared, smashing clean into the Whale Ship's open mouth, taking the cannon along with it!
"Ride on, King," Joker said, offering a silent prayer for his men. He checked the display, seeing that out of the original nineteen fighters, they were down to only eleven, and they were still being taken out one by one. "Damn it, we can't keep this up without at least trying to do something!" He set his tracker for the one of nearest barnacle pods. Joker took a deep breath and uttered three words that would have made any of his fellow pilots truly shit their pants in terror. "Deactivate Alpha Limiter," he whispered.
This was a true act of desperation on Wildcard One's part, as with this, the Thunderbolt would be able to move at its full potential, allowing him to potentially catch up to the mechanical devils before any more of his friends could die, but the G-Forces would be so tremendous, it could cause him to pass out, or possibly even die. Although Joker was far beyond the point of no return. If he could destroy at least one of those things, then death would be acceptable, and the Wildcards would be avenged.
"Come on you bastard!" Joker roared, throwing his fighter into a dangerous turn that exceeded 9Gs. He let loose with a blistering salvo of fire from his chin cannons. To his utter joy and delight, he managed to strike it, causing a small explosion, and smoke began to trail. "Joker, Fox Three!" He roared, letting a pair of Slammer missiles fly, straight and true, and the pod was destroyed. "Joker, Splash One!"
He whipped his head around, catching sight of another of the weapon pods destroying one of the last fighters. "Oh no you don't!" Joker hissed, hitting the thrusters, turning in a near perfect 360-degree turn. He locked onto a second pod, "Joker, Fox Two!" He popped off another two missiles, blowing them to smithereens. A shooting pain erupted in his lower leg, and he instinctively knew that he had just fractured both his tibia and fibula, but he had come too far to give up now.
"Raygun to Wildcard One, Joker what in the hell are you doing?" The Wildcard commander wasn't surprised that his friend would catch on to what he was doing. The G-forces were so great, he wouldn't need any restraints to hold him in place. Joker's innards were slowly turning to goo from all the high-speed maneuvers he had been pulling. "Oh you stupid bastard, tell you me didn't turn off your Limiter!"
"Sorry." was all he said, coughing up some blood. He could tell that his time was running out. Joker zeroed in on a third pod. This would be his final run, but he would make it count! Joker let out a last yell of defiance, forgoing his remaining missiles, choosing instead to collide with the pod, destroying it and himself in the process.
"Damn it, Joker…" Raygun slammed the wall of his cockpit in frustration. "Farewell my friend." He looked at the scattered battlefield, the shattered wrecks of starfighters and the lifeless bodies tumbling through the void, not to mention the massive cloud of debris that had once been the Valley Forge. Raygun offered a silent prayer for the fallen. "At the very least King took out the cannon. The main fleet can destroy it then." It was then his alarm went off. "What?" was all Raygun had to say as a brilliant purple-white light illuminated everything.
(Bunker Hill, CIC)
The Captain of the Bunker Hill was not a man who was easily surprised. However, he found himself unable to form words in his mouth at the sight before him. It had been enough to watch the Valley Forge's entire battle group, as well as all of the fighters, fall to this monster. But he was ill-prepared for the sight of a second one, this one resembling a massive glass octahedron. "You have got to be kidding me!" was all the seasoned naval officer could say.
"It's deploying more of those damned pods." One of the bridge officers said. "But they're not heading for us. Captain, they appear to be…gathering the remains of the other ships to fix the other ship."
"Order all remaining to destroy those pods now! Do not let that other vessel become operational!" The Captain barked. The remaining fighters rallied, beginning their attack run on the new arrival, only for the giant trapezoid to beginning launching a series of rapid-fire beams, promptly eviscerating the Thunderbolts, leaving just the Bunker Hill and a few cruisers remaining.
"How many of these monsters are there?" the Captain wondered aloud, only able to look on with morbid fascination. It was quite apparent they had been completely outstripped by this unknown enemy. An entire fleet was in ruins and now they had two mechanical demons to contend with.
A purple glow began emanating from the trapezoid's central rim, running light cycling around the entire perimeter, the glow becoming brighter with every second. "Captain, there's a massive energy build up in the new vessel!" The sensor operator's panic was visible.
The Captain said nothing, just straightening up his hat as he snapped to attention, offering a textbook salute. "Gentlemen…it's been an honor serving with all of you." the rest of his crew, accepting their fate as well, all turned to face their commanding officer, and saluted one last time before a giant violet energy ring burst out in all directions, obliterating the rest of the allied fleet, leaving nothing but debris and ghosts.
The threat dealt with, the trapezoid and its remote worker pods set to work on fixing the whale ship, within the span of an hour and a half, the golden Whale had been fully restored, not a hint of battle damage to be found on it. An exchange began via blinking lights, violet for the trapezoid and gold for the whale. The two oddly shaped machines then started their engines and took off in different directions into the star-filled void.
(Two Months Later, Orbital Station Gamma, Earth)
News of the entire fleet's demise had been a regular fixture on the news. But since the disastrous first battle between humanity and the unknown vessels. There had been no trace of either the trapezoid and the whale ship. Eric and his friends were already on the first step to joining the fight. All of them, Eric, Lunateresia, Alina, Miles, and even Masayuki, were now cadets in the newly formed Space Corps and were undergoing flight training at Gamma Station.
They were all sitting in the cafeteria, eating lunch. "Damn, that is an absolute mess," Miles said, reading the headlines on his tablet. "The entire fleet was wiped out in under ten minutes. Thirty ships gone!" He adjusted the collar of his grey cadet uniform, currently worn open with the white shirt's collar unbuttoned. "I'm all for a fight, but if we're going against odds like that. I may have second thoughts about enlisting.'
"I heard that it was caused by a second of those strange vessels appearing." Lunateresia's pretty features were marred by the worried frown as she curled up against Eric. He didn't mind at all, Luna wore the female uniform, Her ample chest straining against the dark grey jacket of her uniform. The skirt and thick black tights doing a better job of showing off her long legs than it should have. She looked at the image of a model cadet.
Alina on the other hand, went for a more relaxed image, leaving her jacket open, and wearing long black thigh high stockings. She grunted, throwing her long white hair over her shoulder. "I don't want to dump on command, but how hard can it be to find a pair of giant ass pyramids glued together and Whalezilla? It's not like they're easy to hide."
This just elicited a derisive laugh from Masayuki. "Oh, it never occurred to you that space is really vast, near infinite even!" He made a mock gasp, bringing his hands up to his face. "I figured the fact that it's millions if not billions of miles between here and Mars wouldn't be lost on you, Alina! Oh wait, what am I saying? Math and Science never were your strongest subjects. I suppose it's not a big surprise that you wouldn't get how big space really is!"
A low rumble escaped Alina's lips, an angry gleam in her red eyes, rising up from her seat in an ominous manner that made Luna grab onto Eric's arm in fear. "Oh, math and science are my worst subjects are they? Well then, let me introduce you to the nearest airlock! I'll be able to explain what really happens when the human body is exposed to the vacuum of space!" She was about to
Masayuki just sat there, looking wholly unimpressed. "Uh, yeah. Whatever you say, Alina. Let me refresh your memory since you clearly have forgotten! You were scraping by with a C-minus at best, and if you failed another test, then you would have been ejected from the gymnastics team on your pretty ass!" Alina lost a sizable amount of her fire with those words. She had been struggling with science back then. Masayuki just sneered before continuing on. "But thanks to my expert tutoring. You skyrocketed to a solid A average. You guys wouldn't last a minute without me and we all know it! So don't go around acting so smug! Who do you think you are, Asia?"
Letting out an irritated growl, Alina collapsed back into her chair. "Okay, then, Mr. Supreme Genius. If you really think we can't do without you. Then certainly you can find a means to fight these things, whatever the fuck they are, that doesn't call for an entire fleet to be wasted! Pull that out of your ass!"
"Obvious, the simple solution is the simply fight them with equally big guns, but at the same time, they'll need to be well armored and maneuverable as well." Masayuki began playing it out in his head. "The weapons that decimated the fleet were particle based, and I can tell you that they're as experimental as fuck. The only ones who have access to that kind of tech are the military R&D branches and government contractors. Now that I think about it…wasn't your mother's team working on something like that, E?"
Eric nodded grimly. Margaret McGarret was regarded as one of the finest scientistic minds in the world. It was proof of how much Masayuki admired his mother, he was always the pinnacle of good behavior when she was around, not to mention why he never insulted either Eric or Luna since he wanted to remain in the woman's good graces. "I did recall her talking about it a few times. She couldn't go into full detail about it, But I remember one time I heard her arguing over the phone with a coworker. She was ranting on about how the beam wouldn't focus properly."
"Apparently someone else did. The main thrust should be getting one of those things relatively intact, and then we can dissect it at our leisure. The question is to figure out how to work out a weapon that can be mass produced and still be of equal quality to these UFOs." Masayuki paused for a minute as he considered his last words. "Actually, scratch that. I don't think they were made by aliens. That's fucking stupid." He let out an exasperated groan, getting up from his chair. "Well, genius can't come all at once. Sometimes you need to step back and look at the bigger picture. I'm sure I'll come up with something."
Depositing his empty tray and dirty dishes at the door. Masayuki went down the hall, looking out the window as the starscape passed him by. It was then something caught his eye. A couple of the maintenance staff were making a regular inspection of the station's solar panels, using oversized exoskeletons to conduct the sweep, conducting on the spot repairs. The exoskeletons were quite common, used not just for maintenance work, but also in the mining of resource asteroids around the Earth and Outer Sphere. Masayuki found himself entranced by the otherwise mundane task. His eyes were locked on the welding torch one of them wielded, the sparks dancing on the end.
Realization dawned in the young man. His lips flared outwards into a huge grin as he began cackling madly. He tore down the hall "I am a genius!" Masayuki declared as he burst back into the cafeteria, everyone looking toward him. He paid the other diners no mind, marching up to the table with the widest, smuggest grin any of them had ever seen. "I am a genius, Alina, and I will tell you exactly why!" He slammed his hands down on the table. "Because I figured out the solution to this little problem!"
"Oh really, Masa? You already managed to come up with something?" Alina drawled, still not convinced. "Do tell! I'm certain it will be as brilliant as that nuclear-powered toaster you came up with!"
"Don't mock the toaster. It will catch on in time. But this idea is truly brilliant! It's easier to show than tell. Come with me, and I will show you exactly what it is!" Reasoning they had nothing to lose, Eric and the others followed after him. They all stopped at the viewport were the maintenance workers were still plugging away.
"I don't understand, Yuki. What are we looking at here?" Miles asked.
"I present to you, the solution to our problems!" Masayuki pointed at the exoskeletons.
"The maintenance lifters?" Lunateresia asked.
"Correct, Moon Angel." Luna blushed slightly at the term of endearment. Masayuki smirked as he continued on. "I know they don't look like much now. But if we reinforce the cockpit, add some really powerful engines, and cap it off with some heavy armor and put into their hands, I know we'll have something that could fight those oversized toys on equal terms!"
"Okay, let me stop you right there, Ikaruga. I'll admit some of your ideas have actually merited something but this is just plain mental!" Alina exclaimed.
"Now just hold on, Alina." Eric remarked. He glanced over to Masayuki, still with that obnoxious smirk on his face. "As much as I hate to say this. Masayuki might actually be onto something here." Everyone was stunned by those words. Miles just sighed, running a comb through his hair. Alina was about ready to bash her head against the wall. Luna said nothing, her arms just folded across her ample chest. "Let's look at the facts. A single one of these things went toe to toe with an entire fleet. Even though the allied forces took heavy losses, they still managed to beat it up something good. So it's not like they're invincible. It took a second of those monsters to turn the tide. Maybe what we need is a champion of our own."
"It's nice to know you're seeing things my way, E," Masayuki smirked, stretching his arms over his head. "That being said. I'll need some time to refine my ideas. But when I do, send them straight off to your mother. She has access to resources I do not. I'm certain she'll be thrilled at the promise of a new challenge."
(Four Months Later, Carrier Battle Group Five, U.S.S. Enterprise.)
Four months had passed since the war began. And the UN forces had taken a colossal beating. In that stretch of time, three more mechanical behemoths had made its presence felt. Casualties had been high, and morale was at an all-time low. But now hope supposedly had come. The Thunderbolt pilots were eyeing the strange contraptions now sitting in one corner of their carrier's hangar bay.
A quartet of titans constructed in the rough approximation of the human form out of steel and wire, standing at sixteen meters tall. A blocky head with a single eye, giving it a cycloptic appearance. Clenched in one hand was a 110mm rifle with a drum-shaped magazine and an underslung grenade launcher. In the other was a shield, hanging on the hip was a heavy looking battle axe.
What was even more shocking was the fact of who the pilots of these strange new devices were. Cadets, mere children barely out of boot camp, being sent out to the front lines. Most of them seemed personable enough, although the main technician, a smarmy little Asian brat, had gotten on everyone's bad side within minutes, insulting their intelligence. So it was everyone looked away when Masayuki entered the hangar.
Masayuki looked on with all the pride of a new father. "Aren't they just a sight to behold? My beautiful mobile suits. I do have to say, I've outdone myself this time." He drawled. "The EB-01 Gauntlet. With these little beauties, we are all but guaranteed to win this little conflict."
"I suppose even you have your moments." Alina huffed, all the while looking up to her new machine, painted in the stark white she preferred. A part of her secretly eager to test her Gauntlet out.
"But don't forget, Masayuki, you have Eric's mother to thank as well," Miles smirked, working on the sights of his mobile suit's sniper rifle. "It was because of her that we even have these new toys to play with in the first place."
"I suppose I can share the glory every once in a while." He huffed, looking to where Eric was looking over his machine with help from Luna. The latter's parents had forbidden her from stepping into the cockpit, but that didn't mean she couldn't help with maintaining the potential new weapons. "Dr. M. and her team did most of the heavy lifting after all."
"You'll excuse me if I'm still skeptical about this whole thing." They looked to see one of the Thunderbolt pilots, a pair of silver double bars on his lapels. "Nothing is certain until these things have seen actual combat."
Masayuki was about to lay into him, only for Miles to clap his mouth shut. While Eric stepped up to him. "I understand how it looks, Lieutenant. I know Cadet Ikaruga can be…difficult at the best of times." He ignored the stinkeye his friend gave him. "But I do know that he's not the type to cut corners or go for shoddy craftsmanship. The best way to test them is under actual battlefield conditions, so here we are, sir."
An alarm klaxon began blaring. "This is not a drill! This is not a drill! General Quarters! General Quarters! All hands to battle stations! Pilots report to the ready room immediately!" Argument forgotten, everyone scrambled to their posts.
(Deep Space)
Since the linear catapults weren't able to accommodate the mobile suits. The four Gauntlets had to simply depart through the hangar bay, slipping out into the void of space. The weapon was very reminiscent of a manta ray, with the curved looking wings, and the sweeping tail trailing behind it. A single yellow eye gleamed ominously. The stars reflecting off the mirrored armor plating. Eric thought there was a certain beauty to it, despite all the mayhem and death it had caused.
"That's one of the new ones that showed up," Miles said, remembering the footage shown at the earlier briefing. He raised his rifle. "Let's hope these new toys of yours match up, Masa!"
"You got your green light, Miles!" Eric said. Miles's rifle, in essence, a giant linear cannon, opening fire with a giant flash, and a yellow line tracing across space, impacting square in the war machine's side. "Did we get it?" He asked nervously, zooming in with the Gauntlet's high optic camera. Eric didn't have to wait long for his response. It was a small indentation, but he could see a star-shaped series of cracks forming in the armor. "Hit it again, Miles! Do it now!" He barked.
A second sunbeam shaded line flew straight and true. Eric grinned watching as the cracks grew wider. "Okay guys, weapons free. Light this fucker up!" He raised his rifle and added his own fire to the barrage, followed quickly by Alina and Masayuki. The yellow eye switched to an angry red.
"I think we pissed it off!" Alina said, firing a few rounds.
"Oh, you think? What else does flashing bright red mean? I want to give you all hugs?" Masayuki snapped. His radar started blinking as several new blips began disgorging from the mobile armor. "We've got drones! Be ready to engage!"
"It just means we have a target rich environment!" Eric smirked, raised his rifle, zeroing in on the nearest one. They were basic in shape, a teardrop shape with a pair of stubby wings, armed with twin chain guns, spitting out rapid-fire death.
Eric threw his Gauntlet to the right, to avoid being pepped with fire, opening fire launching a three-round salvo, only for the drone to nimbly dart to the left, closing the distance between them. He pulled out a heavy battle-axe, swinging at the drone, embedding it deep into the drone's main camera eye, firing a single round point blank range, destroying it. "This is Gauntlet One, Splash one bandit!"
"Nice shooting, Gauntlet One!" Alina smirked, lining up on one of her own drones. "Although I can't let you have all the fun now, can I?" She fired a two shot burst, catching it in the wing before using the underslung grenade launcher to finish the job. "Gauntlet Three, Splash one!"
"Hmph, so you dropped one of those things. I'll show you how to really use these bad boys!" Masayuki sneered. Forging his rifle and going straight for the axe. "Time to get schwifty with it!" He cackled, quoting his favorite Rick and Morty song, before opening up the throttle in pursuit of the drones. He held the axe in a backhanded strike, the edge of the weapon gleamed. Masayuki buried the weapon square into the middle of the drone, hacking it in twain. He then wheeled around, avoiding being shot full of holes by the chain guns. He lashed out again, severing the wing of another drone.
"Shit on the floor!" Masayuki's bloodthirsty grin was growing wider as he struck down a third drone. "Ha ha! I am indeed a genius! Behold the fruit of my superior intellect!" Only for his master alarm to start buzzing, he found a drone bearing down on him. He froze, only for Alina to swoop in, firing her rifle, blowing it away. Masayuki regained his composure, silently cursing the fact that he now owed the Issue heiress his life.
Miles found a good sized asteroid to camp out on, his Gauntlet prone on the ground. "Let's see if my luck is just as good." Wordlessly he lined up on the main mobile armor. He would let his friends deal with the small fry, while he tried to do some damage to the main threat and make things easier for Eric and the others.
The whole while, the captain of the Enterprise clenched the arms of his command chair. He had been told by his superiors that these new experimental weapons could possibly hold the key to staving off this threat, however, he was skeptical. "Order all Hammerhead squadrons to launch, load missile tubes and all cannons. We can't just sit here and let those kids do all the work for us!"
The weapons and flight control officers needed no further prompting from their CO. They immediately set about their respective tasks. Even if the Hammerheads were little more than cannon fodder against the drones, at least they could take some of the fire off of Eric's team, and the main cannons of the Enterprise were more than capable of damaging the mobile armor's hull. As long as no reinforcements came, they could take it down!
"It looks the fleet is giving us some back up!" Eric said, watching as the fighters began disgorging off the carrier. "Gauntlets, forget the small fry and focus all firepower on the main unit." He raised his rifle opening fire on the giant steel and chrome-hued manta ray.
Alina swooped in on the metallic behemoth, axe winding up for a backhanded strike, the metal blade embedded deep into the thick armor plating. She pulled it out and smashed it again, leaving a sizable dent. It was then several panels opened up, revealing eight tube micro missile launchers and triple barrel CIWS gatling cannons. "Oh, balls!" She groaned, powering her engines and kicking off before she could be hit.
She was then rescued by a few anti-air rounds courtesy of Miles's sniper rifle, blowing the rockets out of the sky. Alina just gave the standard two click response, she'd give a more suitable thank you to him once they got out of there alive!
Eric and Alina both opened fire, trying to take out the mobile armor's point defense capabilities. Eric managed to destroy one of the CIWS cannons and one of Alina's rounds connected with what looked like an antenna. "Alina I think you did something!" Lunateresia cut in. "The
"Hell yeah! This is Gauntlet Three, I think I just figured out this thing's weak spot." Alina hooted, ejecting the empty magazine, slamming into another one. Only for a pair of drones to get behind her, but they were only there for a second. They exploded, She looked to see a pair of Hammerheads flying by. "Thanks for the assist!"
"No problem Gauntlet Three!" The lieutenant from earlier said. Even if he was skeptical of the mobile suits. Everyone was still on the same side. "Whatever you did made the drones easier to handle. We'll take care of them, try and draw their fire off you. Just destroy the big one however you can!"
"You don't have to tell me twice!" Alina rejoined Eric and Masayuki. "We need to finish this right now, Eric. Otherwise, this thing could repair any injuries and we're right back at square one. Any ideas you may be hiding would be a real good time fill us in!"
Eric tuned his radio. "The Hammerheads can deal with the mobile pods, but the big one's point defense is still a problem. Let's see about taking out some more of the point defense, they'll get chewed up otherwise!" Receiving acknowledgments from his squadmates, the four Gauntlets waded into the fray, the heavier armor and superior maneuverability of the mobile suits allowing them to soak up more damage than the fighters, who were rushing about, taking down the handicapped drones.
Miles had one of the micro-missile launchers in his sights. His aim was flawless as always, but no one expected the fairly large explosion that resulted from the warheads going off, causing various ruptures in the hull. smoke began leaking out. Alina whooped, this was the proof these things weren't indestructible.
Eric was quick to take advantage of this.
"This is Gauntlet One to Enterprise=Actual, have all ships prepare a full spread of missiles and salvo of cannon fire, but wait until my mark! Hammerhead squadrons, and Gauntlet Team, target the missile launchers. Let's light 'em up!" The four mobile suits and the remaining fighters opened fire with everything they had, raining down on the manta ray shaped mobile armor, aiming for the missile launchers. It was a slam dunk, the launchers exploded, causing secondary detonations throughout the machine.
"This is Gauntlet One, all ships fire!" Eric barked, the contrails of numerous missiles arced gracefully, impacting on the stricken mobile armor, chasing a massive chain of explosions, before being finished off by a full broadside from the Enterprise's powerful cannons. Eric felt a little satisfaction at a job well done. The mobile suits had proven themselves in combat, and a degree of payback for the fallen of Ares Station had been earned.
As Eric brought his Gauntlet back into the hangar. The young soldier's face tightened a little, for though the battle had been won. The war had just begun. He climbed out of the back mounted cockpit, to hear Masayuki's voice issuing out commands.
"Collect as much of that debris as possible, I want to study every inch of it!" He had a look of absolute glee on his face, rubbing his hands together. It was the cliche pose of the mad scientist. "Finally, I can get a chance to look under the hood! I'm so excited!" Eric didn't share his slightly unhinged friend's scientific curiosity, but it learning more about these behemoths worked made it easier for them to defeat, and more lives saved. He'd take what he could get.
He looked to his mobile suit, humanity now had a champion to fight these monsters, the question is, how long until victory was achieved?