Archangel's Amazing Adventures

by CSS Stravag

Mass Crossover fic. Chapter 51 UP! Powerful magic draws the Archangel and the ZAFT Creuset Team into a world of magic and intrigue like nothing imagined by the straight-laced CE residents. Their battles on Cephiro are only the beginning of their nightmarish journey as they give Odysseus a run for his money in the 'bizarre trip home' category...

37. The Archangel of Europe

(Archangel's Amazing Adventures, Section 4, Chapter 8: The Archangel of Europe)

(24 November AC195, 1000 Hours)
(Neutral Colony L4-10545)

"Container coming in," Yzak noted.

"I have it," Tolle responded as the container continued drifting in his general direction, until it finally arrived at his Gundam. "Container charlie-hotel-5-6-2-2-1-4-5-9, requesting destination."

"Container is 4-0 tons 5-centimeter Gundanium plate, destination is storage 3-sierra-1," the maintenance controller ordered. Tolle checked his right-side monitors, and the green light over the requested bay had come on to indicate where it was supposed to go.

Yzak had simplified the loading procedures and finding bay destinations for the personnel. He affixed a light bar above each of the bays, which would flash with a designated color as set by the maintenance controller on duty. This gave the pilots an easy visual reference as to where they needed to deposit or pull gear from, since (excepting Kira and Yzak) the pilots and a large portion of the crew did not spend a huge amount of time in the hangar area and did not know the lay of the land very well.

With the location in view, Tolle used very tiny corrections of his jets to move the cargo container in the direction he wanted it going. The process was simple, as a little inertia would go a very long way in space. As it happened two Mobile Suits were inducting material from the outside delivery point (Yzak and Kira), with three inside to stow the incoming material (Tolle, Nicol, and Pytor).

"Coming in for you boys, watch it," Tolle noted on the general radio frequency. He used some small amount of reverse thrust to slow it, but the bulk of the work would be impact physics and deft handling by the hangar crew.

"Is it always this relaxed?" Miriallia asked from her seat behind and to the right of Tolle.

"Not really," the pilot gauged. "We've cooked most of the Oz forces in space, so there's no rush. The longer we delay, the longer they sweat it on the ground."

"I know that, silly," Miriallia slapped at his arm. "I was referring to the loading."

"Well, same answer," Tolle spared repeating himself. After he finished putting the crate in place, he cycled in behind Pytor to receive from the next incoming crate.

"Not worried?" Miriallia asked after a minute of silence.

"Not really. We've already proved we can win, so the major thing is doing it with minimal losses," he fronted his position. In truth, it was not a dissimilar position from the rest of the crew.

"Would be nice," Miriallia noted.

After Tolle received and began transporting the next crate, he sensed something about her presence. "Man, you're frisky today, Mir," Tolle noted after he made sure his radio switch was off.

"We haven't had a coinciding shift off in over a week, dear," Miriallia reminded him.

"Glad to know I am missed," Tolle said with a slight chuckle. After a moment's maneuver, he activated the radio again. "Kira, Tolle, about how many more do we have to go?"

Several seconds passed before an answer. "Tolle, Kira, I show about thirty, give or take. Nothing major."

"Buster, this is Operations," Commander La Flaga prompted him. "I show your active time as 11 hours and 42 minutes. I'm not going to order you to stand down, since we need the manpower, but you are free to go off-duty any time you want."

"Operations, this is Mercurius, I will take over for the Buster," Athrun noted. "The Buster needs to finish up repairs as well. Can't go into battle as the one-armed bandit, after all."

"Well, I could always beat on my enemies with the severed arm of my own Gundam," Tolle said with forced cheeriness. He did not like the loss of his arm in the prior battle, but facing up against something as large as Barge meant someone was going to get damaged, end of story. He had been more surprised that nobody had been killed in that insane scrap. "Mercurius, Buster, I acknowledge changing of post. Rest is yours, Athrun."

"Sleep well, both of you," Athrun said, clearly referencing Miriallia in the machine as well.

"Thank you, mister Zala," Miriallia said with some dignitas to voice. "How did he know I was in here?"

"No clue, dear," Tolle admitted.

"I watched her board your machine when you were in last for a refuel," Athrun admitted over the radio band. "At least you've kept pace."

"Oi, nothing is happening in here. I'm on the job, no time for that kind of complete distraction," Tolle said somewhat archly. "I save that for the bedroom."

"Bit much information for talk radio there, kiddo," Murdoch said.

"We noticed you save it for the bedroom. We notice it quite a bit," Kira said, though without any manner of accusation in voice.

"Yeah, we get more ass, without getting any ass, than I think is existentially possible," Yzak noted crassly.

"Well, what do you expect us to do?" Tolle asked with a ration of gusto and challenge to voice.

"Get married," Athrun, Kira, and Nicol all said at the same time.

"Wow, great minds think alike," Yzak commented on the echo-chamber effect of their statement.

"As it happens, Mir and I will be getting married, before we jump next," Tolle said in a matter-of-fact tone. "But that's for another day. Today, I hear my bed calling me."

"Shouldn't that be your booty calling you?" Yzak asked sincerely.

"Okay, Yzak, you can lay off the kids," Mu half-ordered. "Hangar it and call it a night, Tolle. We'll be in combat before the end of the week, so rest up."

-x-x-x-

(24 November AC195, 2200 Hours)
(Open space between L1 and L4 Colony Groups)

"This is where I declare you are full of it," Yzak groused. Since Umi was on a face-slapping spree again, Yzak was studiously trying to avoid the use of any word stronger than 'damn' on an open frequency or in an open area.

"You can try to dodge, but you ain't getting off the rails in front of this freight train, man," Tolle said. "Both Murdoch and I saw you groovin' to that song."

"And Murdoch?" Yzak echoed.

"Yeah, he said the only thing missing was the air drum routine," Tolle confirmed.

"Well, it is a catchy down-beat," Yzak admitted. "Don't think for a moment I am going soft, though. I still have your metal collection in multiple copies, what exists of it I should say. Needs more power metal, I say."

"And that is the crux of my woes right now," Tolle continued the standing thought. "Everywhere we go, more of this soft crap."

"Someday, someday we'll find a decent metal album. Someday."

"If you two are through, we have an approaching contact, 3 o'clock low," Miriallia said. "Coming in hot, unidentified machine."

"Single machine...single gundam?" Yzak asked after he took a good look at it with magnified optics. "Command, we've got a tango here. He's looking for a fight, by the way he's burning for us."

"You two are it, everyone else is stood down," Miriallia noted. "Ship is going to condition one, we'll have what's available of the weapons grid online in thirty — "

"Archangel! Are you doing the right thing?" Someone asked on a general frequency.

"What the hell?" Tolle asked nobody in particular.

"I asked if you are doing the right thing? Prove to me the strength of your convictions!"

"Okay then, I think we have an interesting case here," Yzak said. "Tolle, stand by but don't jump in. I've got this one, just be ready if he hammers me."

"You sure you don't want an assist?" Tolle asked as the enemy approached at a significant rate.

"I think I know where this yahoo is coming from. All piss, no vinegar, less brains." Yzak jumped off the foredeck of the ship where he was standing sentry, and once clear he hammered his own engines to meet the enemy. "Pilot, you active on this frequency?"

"You're in the blue machine? I'm here for the ship, not you," the pilot answered aggressively.

"You're challenging the Archangel TEAM, dickhead, and you get to the ship only by way of stepping over my dead body. Try me, you'll like the answer," Yzak said with a hint of arrogance to voice.

"Fine! If you want to face the dragon first, I'll give it to you!" The enemy started off with a pair of beam cannon shots from its tail binder, though the first shot missed and the second shot was easily blocked at long range. Yzak answered with two double-taps of his own, though he didn't expect much out of them.

The closing ranges provided Yzak more arsenal to work with against the enemy, the first of which was the old Shiva railgun. Two shots kept the enemy off balance, not struck yet but these kinds of matches were decided in close. Much as he expected, the enemy white/green machine closed fast, intent to force the issue with blade or grapple.

"What is your strength?" The enemy asked aggressively, pushing in closer with beam cannon fire that was haphazardly aimed as far as Yzak could tell.

"You're going to have to do way better than that!" Yzak fired several point-blank beam rifle rounds at him, though with no real expectation of making a major difference this early into the battle. True to expectation, two misses and one graze did not a difference make. "C'mon kid! Push it!"

"You haven't answered! I'll force it out of you!" The first clash of beam trident to shield was a significant impact to the Duel, but for his Gundam the stress was less than what was exerted on his foe's machine. At a guess, Yzak figured the rival machine in the 75 ton range, fully thirty tons lighter than his own. A weight advantage could help in a fight like this, he figured.

"Force it harder, pilot!" Yzak half-ordered of the younger enemy, shoving in against his machine with shield and main thrusters in something of a ramming attack. It wasn't enough to completely off-balance the enemy, but it did change the pattern from offense to defense. The quick delay also allowed him time to stow the beam rifle and switch to beam saber for the close-in work.

The enemy machine tried to force the issue on Yzak, but the transition from trident to tail binder was painfully obvious to Yzak by the shift of the target slightly to the right. When the tail snapped up to shoot, Yzak had a missile waiting for it from the shoulder-mounted missile pack on the Duel's heavy armor system. One missile, no tail binder, and no more ranged options for the opposition.

"Gah! That won't stop me!" the enemy half-raged as the two machines broke apart and maneuvered. Yzak took a moment to loft another pair of Shiva rounds at the enemy, both misses, though his was more of a delaying tactic now that the Mercurius had departed the Archangel and was slowly cruising toward the battlefield.

"You want to see our convictions? You're going to have to work far harder than that, pilot!" The Duel jetted forward with shield set, which was both obvious and unfortunately shortsighted. The dragon released grip on the trident with its right arm, and in one swift motion shot out the same arm at Yzak's machine. "Whoa, shit!" he managed to get most of the Duel out of the way, but the shield was both mangled and stripped from the hand of the Duel as the arm passed him.

"Your strength is meaningless if you cannot defend it!" his foe countered in what Yzak guessed was a taunt, just before the enemy machine flung aside the shield ripped from the Duel.

"I've got a lot more than that, kid," Yzak answered with a smile. The left arm went up to the second beam saber and he ejected the Shiva railgun to reduce mass by ten tons — a notable boost in thrust-to-mass that could turn the battle if used properly.

"And now more?" the dragon looked over the growing 'audience' of the battle, now the Buster, Vayeate, Strike Freedom and Mercurius were close but so far not involved with the battle. "I will fight you all!"

"Heads up, dickhead, I am your opponent, not them," Yzak prompted sharply. "Time for your obligatory reality check."

"Then answer the question! Are you doing the right thing?" To punctuate his request, a pair of stabs with the beam trident were expertly parried by Yzak.

"Our actions speak for themselves!" Yzak's counter was a pair of lightning-fast stabbing attacks, one that grazed a shoulder plate and one that was deflected, not a shabby result against a close-quarters specialist.

"I am not convinced! The world is not convinced!" a single stab preceded a swipe of the trident, this second attack was enough to gouge the heavy armor plate across Yzak's chest but not enough to penetrate.

"Romefeller is dying!" Yzak stabbed with the right side to force the opposing machine left, then swung in from the left with the other saber. The contact was enough to remove the right arm of his foe's machine. "The colonies are heading toward freedom right now! What more do you want?"

"We have not seen a guarantee of freedom from anyone! This illusion you live under will not last!" Yzak allowed himself to forget that the local Gundams had machine guns and sometimes more powerful machine cannons, and in this case they were accurate enough to put a pelting on the Duel's Assault Shroud.

"And that is your problem in one sentence," Yzak stood down his beam sabers. "You are so cynical about the past, you cannot see the changing future. Game, set, match."

"This is not over!" The enemy machine charged, an action Yzak was expecting at more than one level. After his foe crossed the halfway point in the gap between their machines, time began to slow as Yzak's mind opened up and began understanding faster than he ever thought possible. (1)

Left-hand spear attack, Yzak recognized from the bent of the foe's moves. Countering that was a simple task, the beam saber was released from his left hand and Yzak slid the left thruster pedal toward the outside, jetting his machine directly to the right to clear the attack. Once outside his stab line, the Duel reached in with the left hand against the left hand of the dragon Gundam — at the same time, Yzak fired three missiles into the chest of the enemy machine as a distraction.

The brief disruption of the attack was enough. Yzak's right hand came around to the shoulder binder of his foe's machine, and with a thrust of his main jets he brought the arm of the dragon down into the hardened plate over the knee of his Gundam. It was enough to first disjoint, then break the arm of the dragon, though not ample impact to sever it. Even still, Yzak was not through with the young scrapper; on the outside of his foe's normal reach, the Duel could easily put the beam rifle to the back of the enemy unit and snap off a point-blank shot into critical weakpoints, such as thruster assemblies or the head. Four rounds was all it took to stop the enemy cold, one shot being a through-and-through that severed part of the engine coolant loop, forcing his machine to shut down.

"What — how — " the enemy pilot stammered.

"You underestimated us," Yzak said coldly. "You overestimated yourself, and you hesitated. Three strikes, kid. And you still have your overarching problem, no faith in the reality around you."

"Is this your strength? Faith?"

"Part of it," Yzak admitted. "Mostly the team. I gave you the answer before we fired a shot. This is the Archangel TEAM, and we operate as one. Our strength is our complementary skills and machines, and our will to drive forward whatever the cost and in spite of whatever is thrown our way. Welcome to our reality, pilot. Welcome to the nightmare sequel of The Odyssey."

"I think he got the message, Yzak, you can stand down now," Commander La Flaga ordered. "We can't leave him floating out here in the middle of nowhere, so we might as well haul him back to the ship. We'll drop him off in Moscow when we're done freeing the city from Romefeller."

-x-x-x-

(24 November AC195, 2200 Hours)
(Suborbital Reaches, over the North Pole)

"Now entering atmosphere," Newman said. "Phase one, descent total time should be fifteen minutes."

"Proceed normal," Commander La Flaga said. "Sensors, anything in the area?"

"Right now, no. We had a couple civilian shuttles following us with adoring fans, but they've peeled off for other destinations."

"Groupies. Wonderful." Kuzzey probably could not have sounded more disgusted, as far as Miriallia was concerned.

"Well, it could be worse. At least they aren't psycho stalker groupies," Sai said with a tone of humor.

"Oh shit dude, don't say that," Chandratta said hurriedly. "We don't need no jinx like that. We've got enough people trying to knife us as is."

"True," Sai conceded. "Conn, Sensors, one contact, unidentified craft, in polar air traffic lane P-16, has transponder for civilian flight operations. Likely commercial traffic of some kind."

"Sensors, track steady, make sure she stays in her lane and doesn't do anything troublesome." Mu would not put it past Romefeller to use the guise of a civilian transport to sneak a recon or strike asset in behind them. If it worked for the Russians in Afghanistan, it would certainly work for Romefeller.

"Sensors, aye," Sai answered immediately. Within two seconds, the track was laid in and everything showed green.

"Conn, helm, entering phase two atmospheric entry," Newman declared.

"Keep her steady, Newman," Mu ordered. His concern was for the bulk of the crew, who were asleep right now or resting up for the coming battles. He would not say so, but his greatest concern thereof was for Murrue, who was not feeling well. She claimed it was some bad local food, and Mu was inclined to agree given the cheese coney he had at that one dog cart was fairly close to grody...

"Keepin' it soft and silent," the helmsman answered. In terms of prior atmospheric entry work, this one was turning out to be quite a bit smoother, probably due to the colder air in the northern hemisphere at this time of year.

"Conn, radio, we have traffic on an unencrypted band, someone is reporting us coming down over the pole. Direction is contact Charlie-1."

"That civilian liner?" Mu asked after he looked over the radar. "Damn snitch. Too bad we can't wax his ass for it." Murrue would not countenance firing on a civilian craft, even if they were aiding and abetting the enemy. In all reality, it was an idle threat on Mu's part; he figured he would have been really hard pressed to order the shot, all things considered. "Sensors, perk it up a notch. We may have company."

"Sir, we're passing through the Van Allen belt right now," Sai noted. "I couldn't see shit on a stick if you gave it a radar augmenter right now."

"High-tech shit on a stick? That's grody," Chandratta commented dryly.

"Better than your string of dragon jokes when Yzak was beating Wufei's ass," Sai replied acidly.

"Hey!" Miriallia feigned her disgust on the topic. "Even I thought 'crouching moron versus hidden badass' was a pretty good one. Lay off, Sai."

"Yes, ma'am," Sai said with all the temerity of a schoolboy addressing the principal.

" 'The dragon, chasing the dragon,' was also a good one," Newman said. "Phase three entry, sir. We'll be clear on the radio and radars shortly."

"Good. And your opinion, Pytor?"

The aged mechwarrior perked up, given he was presently covering the commander's seat in the CIC. "I was too busy paying attention to the battle between the Gundams, Commander. I must have missed that segment of the conversations."

"That settles that, it is officially 'dump on Sai hour' and nobody informed the FNG," Sai groused in a roundabout attempt to reduce the brutality.

"Embarrassment comes to us all someday in our lives, but for you it comes today," Mu said with a faux wise-man accent.

"Well, looks like I may not have the shit end of this stick," Sai said with a little more gusto. "I now show four contacts coming in from Greenland, sir. Definite intercept course, fast movers. Someone wants some action."

"Do I go to alert status?" Pytor asked.

"No, not yet. Sai, what types?"

"Two fighters, two Aries," Sai said. "They're loaded light, given how fast they're moving."

"Sensors, Conn, aye," Mu acknowledged. "Pytor, do not go to alert unless I say so. Chandratta, spin up the point defense grid."

"Chandratta, they'll be in firing range in two minutes, two o'clock high," Sai said.

"Captain, we're phase four entry now, at level flight," Newman said.

"Newman, be ready for evasive action, but try to keep it easy. I don't want to wake anyone that doesn't have to be."

-x-

"Archangel dead ahead," the fighter pilot said with a tremor of fear in voice. "Do they really expect this to work?"

"It's our best bet, pilot," the Aries lead pilot responded. "Get in over the ship and drop that bunker-buster on it. We won't survive, but at least we'll get some company in hell as a consolation prize."

"Yeah, some prize for that," the second fighter pilot answered grimly. After a few moments, he noticed a beeping from his ESM panel, which could only mean — "Oh shit, they're tracking us!"

"We're too far out for them to do anything — " the lead Aries pilot never had a chance to complete his sentence. A naval beam cannon beam ripped his machine in half above the cockpit; the explosion was simply testament to his demise.

"Maneuver! Break it up!" the second Aries pilot shouted. He made the mistake of banking hard right, which brought him into the fire arc of the other naval beam cannon turret. The fighter pilots had but a brief second to wonder how a warship could use their naval beam cannons against small and very fast targets with such accuracy, though it was a fleeting thought. They had their mission, and they would do it even in the face of death.

"Go right, Razz," the lead bomber pilot went left in an attempt to force the enemy ship to choose between them.

The ship made its choice: both. The fighter that went forward closed within range of the Virgo Beam Cannon assemblies on the starboard-forequarter of the ship, twin turret assemblies with three cannons apiece, tied to independent generators. The first trio of beams missed wide, but the second trio of beams did not miss the bomb under the center fuselage of the craft. The explosion of the bomb under his craft did nothing so much as tear the fighter in half a meter behind the cockpit; fragmentation from the heavy titanium composite case shredded the pilot before the auto-eject could even begin to loose him.

The second craft was damnably lucky in its run, though only briefly. The pilot was savvy enough to see and dodge the turreted machine cannons on the starboard quarter, but he missed the turret assembly of the 120mm autocannon slightly aft of the wing root. Most aircraft were not engineered to take abuse of any kind beyond small arms fire with an expectation of airworthiness, but an airframe that conflicted with 120mm armor-piercing munitions heading in the opposite direction was at best bound for the scrap-heap. In this case, with the craft in flight at the time of the 'airspace conflict', what befell the airframe was open-air structural shearing at 600 knots. The left wing folded in on itself while the rest of the craft from the engine housing back simply tore itself apart. This pilot was lucky enough to eject, but unlucky enough to land within 200 meters of a family of hungry polar bears.

-x-

"Two pair," Murdoch said. "Fours, eights. Beat me if you can."

"Your mustache is Cthulu incarnate; there is no defeating it," Athrun dropped his cards on the low table the mechanics had designed for use in the hot springs.

"Hey, I rather like this mustache," Murdoch said defensively.

The table rattled slightly to some manner of vibration somewhere else in the ship. "What was that?" Nicol asked.

Murdoch had recognized it as the sound of the Igelstellungs, followed by the off-timbre bark of the Ultra-10 model autocannons. "Probably just the wind," he said in the most unconvincing tone possible.

"Eh, whatever," Athrun groused before he began shuffling the cards. He knew he was being shined on, but the lack of a battle klaxon made it an effective non-issue. "Five card again?"

"Works for me," Murdoch replied evenly.

"Watch out for the mustache," Nicol said as he received his first and second cards.

-x-x-x-

(25 November AC195, 1000 Hours)
(Outskirts of Moscow, Russia)

"Let's get this party started," Commander La Flaga ordered.

"As much as I am growing fond of the Vayeate, I do miss my native machine classification," Pytor said stiffly. "It is good to be back in a battlemech."

"You'll need it," Mu commented dryly. Resistance on this first engagement was expected to be stiff and brutal. "Archangel, Skygrasper, I just rounded the Cosmonaut memorial, only shot at three times. They probably know we're coming, but they're not doing much about it so far."

"Skygrasper, this is command, I roger your report. Try to string out their ground forces toward the ship and mobile units, we'll drop 'em as they come in."

"Looks kind of like a mass driver," Mu mused while he reefed around in a lazy bank to head toward the enemy lines again. "So far, I'm seeing six Leos and a Taurus. Ground, you should be ready for them."

"Ready and waiting," Tolle said.

The plan was roughly as brutal as it was simple. The Archangel would run down the Russian M8 highway into Moscow, kicking ass the whole way, and the first destination of the ship was the Cosmonaut Museum and Memorial. Further down the M8 was the inner ring-road of Moscow, and within would be the first major symbol of liberation for this campaign: the Kremlin and Red Square. If further action was required, the plan would be to head southwest to the Grand Arena of Central Lenin Stadium, then north to the Frunze Central Aerodrome, a small airport in the middle of an urban center.

The major threat of this tour would be the urban battle work, never a pleasant task and made more unpleasant by the historical value of a lot of the city. Moscow was a storied city, and it had a lot of important buildings (especially cathedrals) that Kira had worked hard to lock out of everyone's TTS to prevent damage. Those locks could be overridden easily, but safety would be key in preventing collateral damage.

"I believe we're on television," Fuu noted from a block to the west of the Archangel, as her Rune God was observing the machinations of a news crew.

-x-

Kira, standing atop the Archangel's foredeck with the EM Rifle from the Lightning Striker, looked over the city around him with a wary heart. He knew this was the most moral and direct way to do the job, but it would be a costly method just the same. Urban warfare tended to be a bit hard on all things urban, and the Archangel was famous for being able to cause property damage.

On the other hand, any manner of victory would begin to add up after a while.

In the distance, Kira watched Mu dive down on a target, fire off a blast of Agni, and bounce back up to safe flight level. "Scratch one! I think I have their attention now!"

"Bring them our way, Commander," Kira requested. "We can't help if you keep them out at range, sir."

"Working on it," Mu said as he looped back toward the Archangel to draw the enemy toward the ship.

For a distraction, the Commander worked well. A Leo used some taller apartment buildings as cover to get close to the Archangel, inadvertently at least. It was clear the pilot was not looking for a massive floating warship when he blundered out into the middle of the M8 Highway slightly south of the vanguard forces. Pytor shot the errant Leo once in the side with a pulse laser to damage and focus, then struck it with both gauss rifles when it presented a full-on shot. Another Leo was smart enough to realize the warship was about, but did not realize the MS on the foredeck had the range to drop it with a single shot from 3 kilometers.

"That Taurus has the Space Laser, guys, may want to focus on it when it comes in," Kira noted as he watched the approaching Mobile Suit hop from one defensible building to the next at range.

"No major response from the enemy forces. Are they tied up or something?" Hikaru asked nobody in particular.

Kira figured that a good question. "Computer, start scanning public and known military frequencies, see where the enemy is and what they're doing."

"On it," his battle computer answered adroitly.

"Come to papa, suckhole," Yzak ordered of a Leo that was trying to act squirrely at range. The foe was fast enough to pop off a bazooka round at the ship, but not fast enough to dodge the fire from Yzak and Nicol. Two beam rifle rounds dropped it hard in the middle of a side-road a kilometer short of the Cosmonaut Memorial.

"I have the Taurus," Pytor declared as the Stone Rhino put on some more speed. It was not fast by any stretch of the word, but an assault like this was deliberately slow to make sure the force did not rush into an ambush. Cities were very good terrain for ambushes.

"Grasper, Command, how many more in our theater? We're two kilometers out from the Cosmonaut Memorial," Miriallia requested.

"Four, once Pytor knocks off — Okay, Taurus is down," Mu said. True to his word, Pytor had targeted the Taurus as soon as it made itself available, two pulse lasers disrupting the machine in preparation for two gauss rifle strikes that dropped it clean.

"Unspent Space Laser! Sweet! Once we clear to up there, I'll pick it up," Tolle volunteered.

"Kira, I have an idea what is going on with the Romefeller forces," his battle computer reported, though it was also heard by the rest of the team.

"Go for it," Kira requested as he popped off a pair of shots at a Leo to the west, one that was trying to maneuver on the front line.

"There is a rebel assault coming in from the south, something on the order of a hundred machines from the Tula and Ryazan areas. The Oz forces are almost completely tied up to the south, except for those few units trying to contain us."

"Looks like we started the party at just the right time," Commander La Flaga noted with a smile.

-x-

So far, in the advance assault the left flank had seen no notable action, except for the Taurus that had lasted a whopping five seconds against Pytor.

As far as Hikaru was concerned, a clean right flank was a good thing. The old city of Moscow was kinda creepy, definitely run-down in places, and she did not relish the thought of having to fight a Mobile Suit in these crowded confines.

Still, Moscow as a city was not completely bereft of greenery or a human touch. The Cosmonaut Museum was sited on several acres of park and semi-forested land, not to mention the facility itself was massive and impressive to someone like Hikaru. Her first adventure outside Tokyo had been Cephiro; prior to that, she did school and her family dojo, nothing more. When she got home, she figured she would have some absolutely amazing stories for her family...that they probably would not believe.

The reality of it was good for a sigh as she continued south through the Cosmonaut Park area. No person in their right mind would honestly believe this was possible, but here she was. Hikaru reminded herself that she was seventeen and rapidly approaching eighteen, working with a Rune God to evict the Romefeller Foundation from Moscow on a separate instance of Earth from where she was born, serving with groups that had even stranger and more violent histories than she had. She did console herself that if they decided to lock her in one of those padded cells, her sword would easily chop through restraint, door, wall, whatever it took to get out.

Understand that insanity is a relative principle, Magic Knight, Rayearth told her telepathically. While the denizens of your true home would consider this quest to be nothing short of madness, whole societies elsewhere in Existence would venerate thine efforts as noble and purposeful. Be wary that ye do not become depressed upon such consideration; wherever you go, I stand with you and shall forever stand at guard for you.

"Thanks, Rayearth, I needed that," Hikaru noted.

The Rune God passed over several smaller side-streets that went on to intersect the M8 highway, and entered a park area separate from the Cosmonaut Memorial area. Probably due to the time of day, she had to be careful to avoid civilians on the grounds of the park, and even had to dodge a mid-morning picnic in one of the clear fields. Still, it was a different experience to be the focus of so much attention, mostly awe and a clear hint of fear, as well as a lot of cameras following her every move.

"Hikaru, Command, anything to the right?"

"No enemies, but a lot of press and civilian gawkers," the Magic Knight answered as she threaded the Rune God between buildings south of the park. These were mostly strip-mall and multi-level commercial buildings, enough of a building to stop her Rune God cold in a face-on collision. On careful consideration, she decided that she preferred the close quarters and buildings to the wanton overexposure of the vanguard detail. At least on the flanks of the M8 run, she could take cover. Out in the middle of the M8 highway, the only option was to stand there and take it.

"Keep an eye to the right, Hikaru. Sai keeps thinking there may be machines over there," Miriallia requested. "And if it gets too hot, shout it out. Kira and Mu can give you fast support if needed."

"Roger that. I'm not seeing anything, when I get south of this complex I'll jump up on a building and look around."

"Swing wide right, at your two o'clock is an industrial building and truck dock that should give you a clear view to the whole area," Kira said.

"I see it, moving now," Hikaru changed direction in the middle of a road, causing an instantaneous traffic snarl as her Rune God began picking its way through stopped vehicles. Rather than trying to thread her way between trees and buildings, the road seemed the best bet for this shift of destination. The shift of plan took slightly less than a minute to complete, and with a powered jump the Rune God was standing on top of a four-story industrial building. "At location, looking now."

"Anything?" Miriallia asked.

"No, nothing west of our course," Hikaru said.

Below us! Rayearth half-shouted on the telepathic plane. Hikaru looked down past the edge of the building, and saw two Aries and a Leo hiding in the shadow of the truck dock.

"Scratch that report! Engaging close!" Rayearth dropped down with the sword set to impale the Leo, which turned out to be as much of a rude shock to the enemy as it was for her to find the enemy so close. The impact of the drop was bone-jarring,. but her impale attack was true to intent and resulted in a Leo run through and cleaved down from the entry point.

"Hikaru! Report!" Miriallia ordered. In close, the Magic Knight ignored the request in lieu of bringing her sword around and into the side of the nearby Aries. Simple titanium armor would not stop a magicked sword, and in that the enemy machine fell apart at mid-chest after Hikaru barely managed to stop her sword from chopping into the nearby building.

One enemy machine remained, though the pilot picked the foolhardy option of trying to shoot it out with Rayearth. Hikaru set the left-arm shield forward and stepped over the ruins of the first Aries, intent to close and grapple with it. A pair of missiles slowed Rayearth briefly, but even that was paltry damage in the face of it. Since the enemy had backed himself into the building, her sword was not a valid option; any manner of slice or stab would damage the building and hazard killing civilians, so she dropped aside the sword two strides before she arrived, and she dropped the shield from her Rune God's left hand to free both hands. In close, Rayearth slammed into the aerial Mobile Suit with a bear hug, then threw it right and down, away from the buildings.

"Rayearth, Strike Freedom, report! Say something!" Kira half-demanded.

"Not now, busy!" Hikaru answered quickly just before she punted the machine gun from her foe's hand. With that accomplished, she reached down into the left-side engine nacelle of the Aries, grabbed a hold of the first thing her hand encountered, and hauled it out of the engine housing on pure strength alone. "Whoa, that looks important," she said after she realized she was holding a near-complete and badly mangled turbofan engine. With nothing to do with the engine, she simply rammed it exhaust-port-first into the head of the Aries. Seconds later, the cockpit blew open from an emergency release, with black smoke billowing out behind the pilot trying to escape.

"Dude! Holy shit!" Yzak said heartily. "You ripped one of his engines out and beat his machine with it! Go Hikaru!"

"That's one for the record books," Kira noted.

"Oh, well, area's clear now," Hikaru said timidly. "I'll be back in formation in a few." She had no idea why she thought of doing that, but it worked.

-x-

(25 minutes later)

"I am beginning to wonder where the savashri have gone to," Pytor noted with a soured tone. "Command, Stone Rhino reporting passing the inner ring road. No opposition forces in evidence anywhere."

"Alright, people, we are 2 and three-quarters kilometers travel from Red Square. If anything is going to happen, this area is it," Murrue warned them. "This is also our last leg. If we take the Kremlin, that's it for the Romefeller Russian command."

"One thing is for damn sure, Moscow is going to need a lot of utility work, especially for these streetcar lines we keep stripping down," Athrun said.

"Not it," Kira declared immediately.

"Not it," Tolle followed suit.

"Of course, not it," Yzak groused.

"Sucks to be their line crews, I guess," Athrun said. "At least we've managed to minimize vehicle and personnel casualties."

"Archangel, Kira, I'm starting to see some taller buildings ahead, you may want to bring your altitude up to 125 meters AGL," the Strike Freedom cautioned.

"I see them," Newman replied. "Vanguard, we'll drop back a little as well, in case we need to provide close air support."

The Archangel moved up to the requested altitude, though Kira expected it would have to go higher still the closer they got to the Kremlin. At the minimum, though, the Mobile Suits could pass through most of the necessary streets, even if single file to do so in some places.

"Can you see anything from up there, Kira? All I can see is apartment buildings and — whoa," Athrun said as the Mercurius inadvertently looked in a window, and what he saw was mind-blowing. "Okay, I really didn't need to see that."

"I won't ask," Kira said warily.

"I recognize this building we're passing," Yzak said. "Not sure what it is, though," he mused after a few more paces.

"Lubyanka Square, that's the old Rossiya Insurance building. You should know it, we covered it in ZAFT Intelligence Service history classes," Athrun said. "That is the old headquarters of the KGB during the Soviet days, and later the revised and downsized SVR Intelligence Services. Should be unused, since Romefeller's intelligence apparatus is based in Paris."

"Now that is a history lesson you won't read in most middle school history books," Fuu noted with a gasp.

"Hell, we didn't even cover it, and we went through college-level history material back in Heliopolis," Tolle groused.

The team trudged on, with still no sign of an enemy attack. After another couple hundred meters past the old KGB / SVR headquarters, they came to another square. "Whoa, this isn't Red Square, I know that much," Yzak commented. He had seen old film of the Red Square parades in the past, and the area was quite distinct. This square did not fit the bill.

"No, this is something else. Computer, care to brief us?" Kira asked the AI unit.

"To the left is Revolution Square, an old Soviet monument to the October Revolution. On your right is a separate square, Theater Square, so named because the imposing building to the north is the Bolshoi Theatre. Hotel Moskva is forward and left, and on the far side of the grand hotel is Red Square."

"Approaching Hotel Moskva now," Pytor noted. The team had some space to spread out, given the road was ten lanes wide here. "We turn left at the far corner of the hotel, quiaff?"

"Checking now," Miriallia replied. "Confirmed, turn left, pass around the Museum dead ahead of you, and you're standing in Red Square."

"This has been one badass marching history lesson," Yzak said. "While we're here, today, can we bivouac in the Hotel?"

"Since we'll probably have to hold here and consolidate for a day or two, that may be a real possibility," Captain Ramius replied.

"Approaching the final turn," Pytor noted. "There are some infantry in the area, but they appear to be running east at relatively high speed. No armor forces."

"Infantry are mixed with civilians, do not fire unless you have a clear threat," Athrun said warily.

"Hello Kremlin!" Tolle said. "Now this is a piece of freaking architecture!"

"Beats the hell out of a history book, and we're here to liberate it," Commander La Flaga said. "Command, I show some activity well south, on the far side of the river. May be the last skirmishes of rebels against Romefeller."

"Who's winning?" Murrue asked.

"Rebels by a third, looks like," Mu said.

"You can swing out and give 'em some support if you want, or hold here. Your discretion, Commander." The Archangel was passing high over the Hotel Moskva, as the buildings in the area were too tall for low-altitude flight.

"I'll take a couple swings at Romefeller and be back before lunch." Mu broke off and headed south toward the melee.

The Archangel stopped to hover over Red Square, descended as much as was possible given the buildings, and prepared to do something highly unorthodox in the ship's repertoire of skills. Two ropes dropped clear of the ship from crew access hatches near the wing roots, while the center vehicle access door opened in the front. Two Commandos dropped clear of the ship on the rappel lines, then another pair, followed by the first point of Elementals from the front of the ship. They would be the initial wave of troops on the ground, though the reserve Marines (Murdoch's Madmen) would join in the clearing of the Kremlin as soon as the Archangel found somewhere to park.

With the addition of the Rebels to the Moscow part, things went far smoother than Murrue had anticipated. This made her mildly jittery; easy battles usually meant something else was going wrong.

-x-x-x-

(26 November AC195, 2330 Hours)
(North America, New Fort Hood, Louisiana, Old United States territory)

"This is where we have to act," the base commander pointed to a location on the map. "This territory is an old defensive consideration. The Fulda Gap, separates the old Soviet territories from what was NATO. NATO was long concerned with absorbing a Soviet invasion in this area that never happened. In this case, we think it might be a good idea to set up defense there — we use it for the same purpose NATO would have. Absorb the fury of the Archangel Team and their sycophants from space."

"What about Poland?" the junior officer asked.

"What about it?" the commander asked in counter. "Poland has traded hands dozens of times over the years. If they want it, I say let them have it — and more power to them. Poland is Polish first, anything else second. They will have a lot of heartburn if they try holding it."

"So we concentrate our defenses farther west, in Germany? That's going to be a messy proposition."

"We don't have a choice," the Oz commander in the room noted, the first thing he had said in several minutes. "We can't win against them without concentrating our forces. We can't concentrate enough force into Poland in time to stop them. It has to be Germany. That is why I need at least two battalions from this base."

"Okay — " he was cut off by the sound of the alert klaxons.

"Enemy attack!" One of the operators shouted.

"Where!?" the Oz officer asked.

"To the south!" All three officers moved to the windows facing the south, though there was no need for binoculars in this case. The threat was roughly as obvious as it was close.

"Deploy all Mobile Suits for immediate combat operations! Get the defensive gun emplacements crewed!"

"Too late!" Four cruise missiles slammed into the defensive gun batteries on the south perimeter, belying a level of support for the rebels and their assault forces.

"They are far too well organized for a normal rebel assault," the Oz commander noted. "They're probably being backstopped by the Treize Faction."

"No shit, sensei," the base commander retorted sharply. "Where are our Mobile Suits?"

"Oh shit," the junior officer moaned.

When the commander looked back to the battle, it was in time to see the halo of a rocket motor on the far side of a bazooka round directly for the command tower. With less than three seconds flight time, the commander simply saluted the firing Mobile Suit, given he didn't have time to do anything else.

-x-

"Lead, six, command tower is mulch," the one lady pilot in the assault team said. "Where do you want me next?"

"Six, lead, move left and clear out the infantry barracks. One, two, and three have the Mobile Suit hangars on the right flank. Rest of team, enter and clear the center area!"

"Assault lead, this is Nautilus, do you need more fire support?" the Treize Faction submarine commander asked.

"Negative, we've breached the perimeter," the leader replied. "We have this one wrapped up."

"Roger that. Nautilus is leaving the theater, Typhoon will be in range to support again in three days. Good luck, pilot." The radio link popped with the close-out of his segment of the conversation.

"Damn good to see the Treize Faction is fighting with us, not parallel or against us," Four said.

"No complaints here," Lead noted. "Looks like we caught 'em napping. Six, status of the infantry forces?"

The lady fired her last bazooka round into the infantry barracks. "Barracks are down. We have some odds-and-ends sentries or stragglers, but that's it."

"Our infantry will mop them up fast enough," Lead noted. "Continue north, sweep and clear."

She continued north as ordered, though it was not long before she came to the parking area for Mobile Suit Carriers. Feeling a bit lucky, she lifted the cover on one of the still-loaded heavy carriers, wondering what was under the tarp. It only took her a few seconds to realize she wasn't looking at a typical machine. "Lead, Six, I got some serious shit here," the lady noted.

"Go," Lead answered.

"Looks like one of the Gundams — Gundam 03, the one with the guns. Except, the head is a bit different."

"What? This shit I gotta see," the Lead pilot said. "All other forces, continue operations as normal."

"Aye, sir," One answered curtly. "We have the MS hangars cleared now. Moving on the base power station and vehicle annex."

"Let's see it, pilot," the Commander's Leo pointed to the carrier in question.

The lady's Leo yanked the tarp off the inactive machine. "It looks like the real deal, except for the head isn't spiky enough."

"You're right, it's the proper form, just not the same head. An Oz rebuild of it, somewhat simplified?" Something on the north side of the base detonated, causing both Lead and Six to look in that direction. "What was that?"

"Sorry, boss, hit a fuel tank," Four answered sheepishly.

"Well, as soon as we get this area cleared, we'll look into commissioning these machines for our own use," Lead hoted. There were four other carriers parked here, all with the same pattern of object under the tarp.

-x-x-x-

(30 November AC 195, 1400 Hours)
(Warsaw, Poland)

"Reducing levitator output now, distance to ground is 4-5 meters," Newman reported.

"Keep her steady, Newman. No major ruts when we park; this field is, technically, ramp space. Other planes have to use it after we're out of here," Commander La Flaga ordered. The Captain was out again, barfing her guts out, though in this case she was joined by four crew members who also had to report in sick. The cooks had tested the beef they received in space and discarded the whole lot; one of the first deliveries scheduled for the ship here in Poland was a food resupply.

"Are you serious? A grass field ramp?" Newman asked. "What the hell are they flying out of here? Biplanes?"

"Actually, turboprop passenger aircraft," Mu said, having asked the question himself in hours past. "A lot of the airfields in this country are dirt-strip or grass-field runways and ramp space."

"Fredric Chopin Airport is notable for having a large terminal and full international facilities," Athrun commented from the second radio station seat. Since the battle was effectively done, the pilots were stood down to standard guard rotation only. Athrun, not ready to sleep, was spelling Kuzzey at the radios. "Not sure I'd want to fly commuter between here and any of the other cities in Poland, though."

"I see what you mean," Newman answered. "2-5 meters to ground."

"Conn, Sensors, I show one civilian passenger aircraft approaching for landing on Runway 33. No other traffic, no ground contacts," Sai reported.

"Roger that," Mu answered. "Track steady, but keep your sensor power low to avoid cooking it."

"I suppose that little gray flat-roof building at our 11 o'clock is what passes for our terminal?" Newman asked.

"I believe so, and it looks like we have some VIPs here to see us," Mu said, examining the building using the external cameras. As the pilot and commander were discussing the building, two limousines and two military jeeps had rolled up on the building.

"Five meters to touchdown, ten seconds," Newman said.

Mu picked up the growler phone. "Hangar, Bridge, have two HMMVWs ready to go in fifteen minutes. Pilots Joule, Zala, Yamato, Pytor, and Shidou, report to the armory to draw arms for potential ground action and SPO detail."

"That much for SPO detail?" Chandratta asked.

"We think it is clear, but I'm not so sure yet," Mu admitted. "You have the Conn, mister Chandratta."

"Aye, sir, the gun-bunny has the Conn."

-x-

The improved crew vehicles went a long way to mitigating the rough terrain, even for a relatively smooth field such as an airport grass ramp. Still, there were a couple times Mu wished he had put his seatbelt on, even given the treated cotton soft-top above him.

The dignitaries waiting for them also had some security personnel but nothing like what Mu had for himself. One Magic Knight, Three Magic Knight Apprentices, and an old-hand Clan Mechwarrior. Plenty of security if something went apeshit.

"Pull in there, Hikaru, and angle to the right," Mu ordered, pointing to the concrete pad to the north of the building.

"Got it," Hikaru noted.

The second vehicle pulled in immediately to the left of the first, and Yzak was the first out to survey the area. In direct sight, the only major threat was the security detail of this bureaucrat, no movement or threatening objects.

Once the area appeared clear, Mu stepped out to join the discussion. Once he passed the front of the two HMMVWs, the five SPOs jumped up from their kneeling positions and moved forward with their rifles slung but at the ready in case something went down.

"You are Commander La Flaga?" the bureaucrat asked.

"I am. You are?"

"Piotr Wjohewicz, mayor of Warsaw. Welcome to the Archangel Team! We are quite happy to have you in town for the liberation movement!"

"It is definitely good to be here," Mu said, taking his hand for a shake and a quick embrace. Of course, a couple newsies were on hand to take pictures of the momentous greeting, which would be good press for everyone involved. "So, how goes affairs in the city?"

"Excellent! Most of the Romefeller troops pulled out of town last night, we thought they were moving forward to halt you outside town, but in reality they were leaving for Germany. The old Underground reports they didn't stop until they got to Leipzig."

"Hmm, looks like Germany is going to be the big scrap location," Athrun noted. "That's old NATO territory, probably going to force us to run the gauntlet in the Fulda Gap."

"This is gonna suck pretty hard," Yzak said on the heels of Athrun's opinion. "All projections showed the Soviets were going to lose that one by a hair, and for sure we don't outnumber the Romefeller foundation. I don't like them apples one bit."

"Transparent plans can be avoided," Mu noted. "So, first off, do you need any further support from us right now, Piotr?"

"No, we have things mopped up in the city. Our guys — " He did not get to finish the sentence, as a single gunshot rang out midsentence. The bullet transited the mayor's chest, struck a rib on the way out, and tumbled in air between him and the Commander. When it struck Mu, the slug was sideways but still easily fast enough to penetrate clothing and skin.

The shooter turned his revolver on Hikaru, but not fast enough. Before he could center and take the shot, four of the Mayor's security detail and Yzak had dropped the hammer on him, with no less than twelve rounds striking him in the space of a second. A traitorous bodyguard hit the ground two seconds later, clinically dead before he landed

"Commander!" Hikaru and Kira both collapsed in on Mu after he staggered, favoring his side. Yzak moved to the traitor to kick away the revolver, while Athrun and Pytor moved to the Mayor.

"I'm still alive, what about him?" Mu asked.

"The shooter is dead, the Mayor...still alive!" Athrun said heartily. "We need to get him to the hospital immediately."

"Medbay on the Archangel! Pytor, Yzak, Kira, get him into a HMMVW and move it!"

"Commander, don't overdo it," Hikaru cautioned after Mu laid out the plan.

Four of the Mayor's Guard helped improvise a stretcher from a nearby piece of sheet aluminum leaning against the building, while the others looked outward for signs of further attack. When the Mayor was loaded, they joined the entourage in the HMMVWs headed back to the Archangel. Radios allowed the mechanics to be ready and waiting with rescue kits, and the doctor was partway to the hangar by the time the first HMMVW rolled into the facility.

On the part of the guards, they had no idea why one of their rank flipped and shot the Mayor and Commander La Flaga, but they were certainly glad the rest of the team didn't hose them all on general grounds. Soldiers with machine guns were generally jumpy things when one of their officers were shot.

On the other hand, seeing the inside of the great warship Archangel, even if under bad circumstances, was a once-in-a lifetime experience. The guards made sure they looked everything over possible.

-x-x-x-

(2 December AC 195)
(Rural Germany, West of the town Wurzen / South of Lupitz)

"Not seeing much activity," Sai noted calmly. "Supposedly, this is the area where they are supposed to make a stand?"

"Unless they moved in closer to Leipzig," Chandratta noted coldly. "Wouldn't surprise me if they hid in among the civilians."

"If they did, we root them out," Captain Ramius said just as coldly as Chandratta had considered their tactics. "I don't want to spend my vacation time looking over my shoulder. We do this right."

"Second," Newman said.

"Third," Miriallia chimed in.

"Fourth," Kuzzey added after a moment.

"And the Romefeller forces say otherwise," Sai said. "Conn, Sensors, coming in on three vectors: northeast, northwest, and southwest. May be trying to box us in. Transports, by handling they are fully loaded. First wave will be on us in 3 minutes, with another wave every five thereafter, if I'm doing my math right."

"Better now than in Leipzig itself. Chandratta, sound general quarters."

-x-

"Old Policeman's Lament: We are so used to doing so much with so little, we now attempt the impossible with nothing," Yzak said at his most acidic.

"Welcome to the Archangel Team," Athrun replied in a clearly smartass fashion. "Time to throw some hot particle beams at them."

"I detect a minor hint of testosterone poisoning in the air," Umi said offhand as Selesce was stacking up for her catapult shot. Nicol would go first before her, and Kira would launch behind her, while the other catapult deployed Vayeate, the 105 Dagger, and Rayearth.

"Might as well use it if it's available," Pytor noted with a chuckle. "Vayeate, MS Pilot Pytor, launching!"

"GuAIZ, Nicol Amalfi, Launching!" Umi watched as she had done multiple times before, the unsettling feeling of seeing one of her friends launched out of the tube toward imminent danger.

After the shuttle reset, she stepped Selesce forward onto the footholds and braced for it. "Command, Umi reporting in place. Ready for launch!"

"Cleared for launch," Miriallia said.

"Umi Ryuuzaki, Selesce, Launching!" Miriallia tripped the catapult shuttle to drag her down the alley and throw the Rune God out into the air at high speed. Once clear of the bay, Selece snapped his wings open to catch the first hints of wind and begin maneuver.

"Time to swat some flies!" Tolle said from his perch on the back deck of the ship. He combined the beam cannon and the gun launcher to create the shotgun configuration, and with a single blast knocked out one Aries and wounded another.

Strike Freedom is out — and I'm hit!" Kira announced immediately after he launched, though the hit was minor — a damaged thruster on his leg, but not a good sign of the rest of the battle to come. "Damnit! Crappy luck!"

"About par for the course for us," Athrun admitted.

"Skygrasper, Mu La Flaga, launching!" The Commander was out behind Rayearth, but only barely. His timing was excellent, however, in that a Tragos artillery unit tried shooting through his airspace and at the Archangel. It missed both, but definitely had Mu's attention. "Holy crap, these maggots have thrown a good chunk at us!"

"Guys, I'm showing Oz High-speed shuttles on the way now! They'll be here in minutes!

"Oh great, we go from better to worse," Yzak groused. "Who's next?" His question was answered by a low pass from a Taurus, who managed to miss him completely but put a couple holes in the ship's foredeck. "You lousy bastard!" His return fire was roughly as useful.

"I've got four — GAH!" Nicol half-grunted, half-shouted in mid-sentence. "Nicol's hit! Lost my shield and left arm, nothing major...yet."

"What the hell?" Tolle asked. "These guys must be their varsity! They're — HOLY SHIT!" He managed to dodge most of the missiles aimed at him, but not all. One contacted his leg but caused no damage to the Phase Shift armor. "Sweet Jesus, Mary and Joseph! What the hell are these guys on?"

"Speed and weed, now shut up and shoot!" Yzak crassly ordered. He was not the only person shooting back, but after Tolle's first shot the enemy had smartened up some and were maneuvering seemingly erratically, making a kill difficult at best.

"Archangel, we could use some support out here!" Athrun said, before he used the Planet Defensers to stop a pair of beams aimed at the 105 Dagger.

"Oh, shit," Miriallia said. "Uh, guys, we have a failure in the FCS right now, Murdoch and a couple of his boys are working on it. Hold 'em as you can, we're going to bring everything online shortly," the Operator concluded.

"Fucking wonderful," Yzak said. "Lovely time for a tea party!"

"Shut up and shoot, Yzak," Nicol replied tersely as he was zeroing in on a Taurus. Two shots passed just behind it, but a third struck it just behind the cockpit and caused a fuel bunker to vent in flames. It did not last long, but the unit crash-landed and broke up into pieces moments thereafter.

"Time to drop these Mobile Dolls!" Kira singled out the lead column of Mobile Dolls and dispatched two with aimed railgun shots. The return fire was significant, but nothing the Strike Freedom was not ready for.

"This is Archangel, all weapon systems are live! Stand by!" Chandratta announced. "Guns coming online, FCS has contact! Point defense grid is in Special-Auto mode!" The ship began spitting fury in every direction, aiming mostly at the Taurus and Aries machines in the air, though its first kills would be a pair of Leos on the right flank, one with a Dobergun and one with a Space Laser.

"More on the left! Couple dozen!" Hikaru noted before Rayearth performed a powered sprint forward and into the midst of a column of Leo Mobile Suits. Her blade dropped one, but she stalemated against a second machine.

"Magic Knight Hikaru! Don't move too far forward! The ship can't support you!" Even despite his complaint, Pytor still supported her advance with two shots from the massive beam cannon on the Vayeate. One shot passed between two machines without harm, a second struck clean and blew the head and shoulders clean off a Tragos.

"We're not killing them fast enough!" Kira said as he sidestepped a fairly blatant missile attack. "We'll be at this all freaking day!"

"I'm not afraid of kicking ass in the dark! Keep up the pressure, they'll fold eventually!" Mu suited actions to his words, with a snap-shot of the Agni Hyper Impulse Cannon at a Taurus passing left-to-right in front of him. He clipped one of the arms, shearing it off, but did not destroy it outright.

"I'll cover the right — " Umi hesitated for a moment as a burst of machine cannon slugs passed nearby. It wasn't the first time, but it was unsettling just the same.

-x-

"Taurus Control, you have to put more pressure on them before they spread out!" the Romefeller Commander ordered.

"I'm working on it, sir! These aren't exactly pussies we're fighting!"

"Holy shit! The Strike Freedom just dropped three Virgos and damaged another!"

"That machine is fucking insane!" the Commander wailed to nobody in particular. "And I thought Gundam 01 was hell on our forces, these guys are a whole 'nother league entirely!"

"And then there is this one," the Operator highlighted the red Rune God on her console. "There goes another Leo and a damaged one," she reported as the Rune God chopped in half one machine, then removed the arm from another with a backhand stroke.

"Concentrate fire on the heavy hitters," a different Operator ordered to her controlled machines. A Tragos took up the challenge, but managed to miss the intended target (the 105 Dagger) handily. To point of fact, one of the heavy hitters managed to hit and drop an Aries, which nearly slammed into the command transport on the way down.

"Taurus Five reporting it has struck the Archangel amidships with a Space Laser. It is damaged, but not slowing down."

"Command, Aries 22 reporting Gundam 02 is approaching the battlefield from the northwest! They're engaging now!" The Aries Commander reported hastily.

"Bloody wonderful. Now what?" The Romefeller Officer asked nobody in particular.

"Magic Knight Rayearth is still operating wide on the enemy's right flank, and just dropped another Leo."

"Oh yes, we still have those to deal with." The Commander watched as two of his Aries took strafing runs against the Archangel, but they were forlorn hope runs that achieved nothing of significance. Simply stated, the 60mm chainguns carried by the Aries were not capable of damaging anything more substantial than a tank or another Aries.

"Oh crap, Archangel is preparing to fire missiles!"

"Us?" The Romefeller officer asked.

"No, just the Mobile Suits," the radar officer said after the missiles began shifting courses rapidly. A couple of the missiles missed, but four hits garnered three kills and a cripple on their right flank.

"Hit them back! I want that ship to bleed!" the Romefeller officer shouted. A Taurus took heed to his command and took a pass at the conning tower, but managed to only hit the armor around it in two shots and completely miss in three.

"Tragos forces, Command, the Archangel is in the fire sack. Begin directed shelling." Before complying with the order, one team of Tragos finished up their fire mission against the blue Rune God, with three hits that knocked her down.

"Sir! We're losing the right flank! Rayearth is overrunning our Leo companies! We're down two more!"

"How the hell does one Rune God — "

"SIR! Contact close aboard! It's the Wing Zero!"

-x-

"Archangel, this is Wing Zero, reporting the enemy command ship has been dropped."

"Welcome to the party, Wing Zero," Miriallia said heartily. "Engage at your discretion, this is a free-for-all at this time. Watch out for friendly fire!"

"Roger that. Be warned, enemy high-speed carriers are entering the theater, I dropped one on my way in and damaged another, but there may be as many as fifteen in the enemy group," Zechs noted.

"Now organizing one lovely tea party at this location," Yzak said sarcastically. "Four-way around the worlds are optional."

"Now he's starting to get on my nerves," Hikaru said crassly, even as she was in the process of chopping up Leos in an attempt to close with the Tragos units that were trying to shell the ship. She dropped three more, but was forced to divert away from direct fire from a different team of Leos.

"It's Yzak we're talking about here, his job description includes requirements for sarcastic and puerile comments," Nicol commented dryly. "Archangel, requesting missile mission, Leos due north of my position, trying to shift around behind us," Nicol requested.

"I see the bastards," Chandratta replied. It was less than five seconds before missiles were in the air, and another five seconds for the missiles to drop in on the enemies. Two Leos were reduced to scrap and spare parts by the Archangel's resident trigger-happy gun-bunny.

Another volley came up from the Taurus machines, and this time some hits rattled the ship. One shell even went so far as to knock out of alignment one of the tubes on the port-side Gottfried, though the turret immediately disabled the damaged gun to prevent damaging it further. The other barrel remained functional.

Fuu had taken to direct action on the center, too harried to use her magic but easily fast enough to put her massive sword to use. The major obstacle between her and the Tragos units firing on the ship was a landed group of Taurus. A couple landed beam rifle hits on her, though Windam shrugged it off readily and returned the favor with some fast sword work. Three swings, two kills; one pilot was fast enough to avoid her entirely, but another pilot could not avoid her midriff swing and lost the legs from his machine, to which she finished with a quick impale-and-drag attack.

Kira had the warning de rigeur for the ground units. "Wing Zero incoming! Brace for wide-area attack!" Two seconds later, Zechs made good on Kira's warning by putting down a blast that destroyed four of the Tragos and two nearby Leos. "Now that's some serious firepower. Glad he's on our side."

Kira noticed something on the left side of the battle lines, and only barely had time to react on it. "Umi, Space Laser left!"

"Wha — " Her question was cut off mid-sentence by the shot from the over-armed Leo, which clipped Selesce high in the chest and removed the left arm, both wings, and tore a chunk out of its back and shoulder. The sheer shock of the hit knocked the pilot unconscious before the Rune God hit the ground.

"Umi! No way!" Yzak half-shouted, which briefly distorted the comm channels.

"Someone recover Selesce!" Miriallia ordered immediately.

"I've got her — " Kira was interrupted by a loud beep and a highlight on Tolle's machine. The warning was entirely too late in this case, as a shot from another Space Laser blew clean through the hip plate of the Buster and sheared the left leg clean off his Gundam. "Shit! Now Tolle!"

"Gods damn it! I'll get Tolle and drop him on the elevator into the hangar," Yzak said curtly. "Strike, get Selesce in the hangar!"

Kira began moving laterally to where Umi had dropped, but he only made it so far before he came under heavy fire from an assortment of enemies — mostly Aries and Leo, but enough Taurus and Leo with beam rifles to count. "Oh shit! Archangel, I'm being suppressed! I need some support fire here!"

"Providing counter fire!" Nicol took several shots in the general direction of the enemy, distracting them from Kira while the Archangel returned the favor and began suppressing them with heavier fire. Even Morgan chimed in with the Gunbarrel Striker Pack, though his efforts only resulted in some scratched Leo shields, no major damage.

Even with the counter-suppression, Kira was still hammered on as he approached the downed Rune God, who was still taking assorted fire from other enemy forces. Still, his beam shields were ample to prevent the bulk of the fire from hitting his machine, and those few rounds that passed his active guard were stopped by the Quad Phase Shift armor of the old machine.

"Hang on, Kira, I'm bringing it around — no I'm not," Mu changed tones immediately on his change of plan, from cool confidence to a hint of fright in two syllables. "Damnit, I'm hit! Got one of my stabilizers and part of my tail assembly!"

"Skygrasper, can you still fly?" Miriallia asked.

"Yeah, I'm still in, give me a second to reengage!" Mu said with far more gusto.

"Gah! Even I can't get close enough to help Kira!" Zechs grumbled. "Archangel, shift course ten degrees to starboard and prepare to punch through behind Rayearth! You're in a fire sack!"

"Archangel, the port side is collapsing, I'm falling back!" Fuu said with a small hint of panic of her own. She had taken several hits, though nothing major or truly damaging to Windam.

"Try to hold on the port, Fuu, we have covering fire coming in now!" The port-side Valiant struck and completely demolished a Leo, but several strikes from the machine cannons had little effectiveness.

"Damn!" Kira watched as first one, then two more Virgo Mobile Dolls hammered the Wing Zero and drove it into the ground. "This is not a good day," he groused after he finally reached Umi and began picking what remained of Selesce out of the mud.

Nicol moved forward to provide shielding for Kira as he recovered the downed Rune God, and in the process of taking and returning fire he dropped a Leo and an Aries, both of which were likely gunning for the Strike Freedom. The Leo dropped where it stood, but the Aries flew into the ground and skidded past the Wing Zero to slam into another Leo. The two machines ended up on the ground in a mangled mess.

"Guys, we've reduced their land forces by over half!" Miriallia noted, hoping some sign of improving condition would help the team.

"Doesn't matter if we can't stop them cold!" Surprisingly, the comment was from Tolle. "Is there anything in the hangar I can use?"

"Take out my GuAIZ," Mu ordered. "You won't be able to pilot the Timber Wolf without retraining the DI computer."

"On it!" Tolle answered.

"All forces, be advised enemy High-speed carriers are entering the engagement zone," Miriallia said. "These are high-priority targets!"

"Better and better," Yzak bemoaned. In looking to the north for the carriers, he missed an Aries that had lined up on him and unleashed twenty missiles on the ship and his Gundam. The damage was minimal, but the sheer impact had relocated his Beam Rifle over the side of the ship and down into the muddy / slightly frozen former cornfield. "Come back here you lousy bastard!"

"I got him, Yzak," Mu said curtly. He lined up on and put twenty rounds of 30mm API rounds into the side of the Aries, which flamed out an engine and disrupted his fuel system. What was left of his machine went in for a hard landing; Mu lost track of him as he went for the weeds.

"Support fire coming in behind you, Skygrasper!" Chandratta declared before three beams of Gottfried sliced through the air behind him and cleaved a Taurus in half.

"Command, Windam, I'm out of options! I have to fall back!" Fuu had back-winged twice to clear away from the enemies, but her third such jump was interrupted by a Dobergun that slammed her to the ground and broke one of Windam's wings under the mass of her Rune God. "Ow! OWW! Windam's right wing is broken! I have no flight options now!"

"Kira, one more to recover, Windam is ground-bound!" Miriallia reported. "Chandratta!"

"On it," Sixteen missiles from the Helldart launchers slammed into the ground ahead of Fuu, kicking up dust, spall, and more importantly dropping three of the Leos trying to harass her.

"Rayearth, continue the breach on the right flank! If we can get around the enemy ambush, we can — " Murrue was interrupted by the first impacts from an attack run of Oz High-speed carriers.

-x-

"This is what is happening right now," the adjutant noted.

"So far, so good," Duke Dermail noted. "How much damage have we inflicted on them?"

"We have confirmed the blue Rune God is out of action, and we think we struck down the fire support Gundam. Possible damage to the heavy assault Gundam and the green Rune God."

On the screens, Duke Dermail watched the evolving assault with rapt attention. The gamble on Germany was his make-or-break operation; if he didn't drop the Archangel here, he might as well surrender and be done with it. There would not be enough force left in the european theater to slow down a class of sixth-graders armed with popsicle sticks.

"The Duel, focus on it next," Dermail ordered after a moment of watching the actions of his foes. "If we can take out their primary long-range platforms, we can minimize their damage."

"Their primary long-range platform is the Archangel, sir. We're chewing on it, but this is not a small ship — or an easy one to sink."

"Just focus on the Duel for now," Dermail ordered as the said machine fired several rounds from a railgun into the ground nearby the Tragos.

"Are they headed for the quarry now?" the adjutant was referring to the massive stone quarry outside Lupitz.

"Why would they do that? It is no manner of big enough to drop the ship into," a military analyst noted.

"They may not realize that is what they are approaching," Dermail considered. "Time until the next wave of high-speed carriers?"

"Three minutes, sir," one of the command center operators reported. By having five or more of the carriers hit the ship at once, the risk of them being picked off individually was reduced. For such large planes, their movements had to be coordinated to achieve the necessary result, and that coordination meant a gap between strikes.

On the screen, Dermail watched that arrogant grunt Zechs try to chop up a Taurus by closing on it rapidly, but the pilot of the Taurus was fast enough to clear away from the Wing Zero and even returned fire briefly. It was very satisfying to see even Zechs grinding his teeth on this objective — this was the best of the best in Romefeller, and he wanted to see some serious results for the losses he was taking.

On another screen, the Mobile Suit that had briefly shielded the Strike Freedom was on the move, now covering the left flank where the green Rune God was trying to retreat under fire. His efforts were impressive, three solid kills (two Leos and a Taurus), but he fired thrice that in shots and achieved no result on the other attacks.

"Sir, the Strike Freedom has finished recovery of the blue Rune God," the Operator announced.

Dermail ignored the notice about the Strike Freedom, instead watching as the Tragos machines fired a full volley of cannon shells into the front of the Archangel. The damage was enough to completely rip apart the port-side hangar bay door and catapult, as well as knocked out one of the small missile launchers in the vicinity, but nothing truly critical was damaged on the ship.

"Not enough."

"Sir?" the adjutant asked.

"We just don't have enough firepower to completely drop the Archangel in one fell swoop. When we lost Barge, we lost that capability."

"Command, we have something here! Possible activity on the southern front!"

"Whose?"

"Unconfirmed! We're working on identifying them!"

"Now what?" Dermail asked the screens in front of him.

-x-

"Archangel Team, das ist Border Guard Resistance Forces," a voice said on the radios. "We're moving north und clearing as we move. We should be there in three minutes. Can you hold?"

"Hell yes! Friendlies!" Yzak shouted.

"Damn good to hear some friendly voices," Miriallia noted.

"And we have the Deathscythe coming in from the north, which adds more to our effort," Zechs noted. "We can win this!"

"All forces, fighting stand here! We have friendlies inbound!" Captain Ramius ordered.

"Cavalry to the rescue! That's how it's done!" Hikaru half-shouted.

-x-x-x-

(3 December AC195, 2330 Hours)
(Romefeller Garrison, Perth, Australia)

"Oh, no no no! Not happening!" Emilea pushed both of the two guys away from her. "I am not deserting! I wouldn't be caught dead deserting!"

"Do you want to be caught dead at your post?" Victor asked plaintively.

"What?" she asked in something approaching an inaudible screech.

"Serious. We're not jumping ship because we're like that," Tony said evenly. "We're jumping ship because right now it is the safer of two options. Stand here and die when the rebels come this way, or jump ship and take your chances on the Romefeller intelligence assets until the Archangel finishes them off."

Put in that set of constraints, Emilea considered that the two guys had a fair idea what they were getting into — and what this hair-brained plan entailed.

"What about the sentries? There are four machines on patrol tonight," Emilea asked fairly.

"What about them? We three are the best in the outfit. We could hammer them flat in seconds."

"How about a third option?" A fourth person noted.

"Oh, shit," Victor groused.

"No, no, nothing like that!" the fifth person in their suddenly-enlarged gaggle said in an attempt to smooth the waters. "We're trying to get out of here just the same as you. With the German Command shot to hell, there's nothing more than toilet paper and water between the Archangel and Paris."

"Precious little toilet paper, mind you; it is France we are talking about," the lady of the newcomers noted. "So, when do we bail? I'm not interested in finding out what the Rebels have to say about someone that surrenders."

"Agreed," Emilea answered. "So, Captain Lena, we were discussing the details. Where to? And when do we jump?"

"We definitely want to jump tonight. The Rebels will probably be on the move from Adelaide. Like I said, I ain't hanging around for introductions. Where to? Well, I think Ayers' Rock sounds a bit harsh this time of year, which means nobody will be looking for us."

"Hell yeah, I'm in," Victor noted. "When do we saddle up?"

"Break up and move for the hangars," Lena ordered. "Don't look or act suspicious. A couple of the night mechanics will be on duty, don't disturb them unless they try stopping you. Just get in, arm up, and get moving. We'll wing it for the rest."

-x-

Emilea stopped at the pilot's ready room to get her ground ops uniform and her survival kit, as did Victor and Tony. The only person in the room was Yolanda, a savvy old-hand pilot that immediately knew what was up when Lena walked through the door at this obscene hour with her known boy-toy in tow. "Heh. You five're jumping ship?"

"Shhh, don't tell nobody," Lena said as a joke.

"Fuck telling anybody. About damn time someone in this outfit grew a brain. Where are we going?" Yolanda asked immediately.

"You're coming with?" Lena asked.

"Hell yes. I wouldn't mind sticking it to these assholes on the way out, either." It was no secret that Yolanda got to her present position by way of sleeping with more than a few base commanders — and she had privately admitted that not all of those encounters were consensual. Of course, since Romefeller was literally an old-world-aristocracy in the new world, the only way for a lady to gain status and rank was to be either five times better than her male peers (and thus untouchable), or sleep her way to the top. Sadly, Commander Noin and Colonel Une were the exceptions on that list; the bulk of lady MS pilots had to be in bed at least two or three times in their career to get where they were.

"Bloody hell, this is half the company right here," Lena groused. "Should we put out an APB while we're at it?"

"Already done so," a new and rather haunting voice declared from behind them.

"Colonel Killver? You too?" Lena asked directly, to which he nodded. The Colonel was part of the old-old guard, who worked on the merits of his personnel and specifically did not allow for 'sleeping promotions' in his unit. A lot of the units under his command (southeast Australia) called him "The Australian Gentleman" for his adherence to old-world values and honor.

"Yes, me as well. Dermail has crossed the line, and the world rebels underneath him. Might as well join the party on the side that is right. I recommend joining, but once you're off the base, the unit is disbanded. You can go where you want."

"I'm in," Lena said immediately, followed by Emilea and Tony.

"I've been in contact with the Treize Faction. They have a Carrier Sub willing to flatten the garrison after we are out. I've reached down through the ranks and tapped everyone I know that isn't Romefeller to the core, so when you head out you'll be setting off a chain-reaction of desertions and defections all across the continent."

"Holy shit, how many?" Victor asked.

"Roughly two-thirds of the Australian Command."

"Dude, we could take over the islands and go independent if we did that," Emilea noted.

"We may do that," Colonel Killver noted with a savage smile.

-x-

In fact, the conspiracy to defect did go all the way to the top of the Australian Command — General Drake. At a predetermined time, he picked up a phone and called the Perth control tower. "Perth Tower, this is General Drake. Initiate White Light. Repeat, initiate White Light. Confirm my last."

"Perth tower acknowledges call White Light. Good luck, General."

-x-

(Melbourne Garrison, Control Tower)

Operator Cindy picked up the external line. "Melbourne Tower," she replied officially.

"Melbourne, this is General Drake. Initiate Operation White Light. Repeat, initiate operation White Light. Confirm my last."

"Melbourne copies call to initiate Operation White Light...what does that mean, sir?" the confused Operator asked.

"If you don't know, keep your head down and cover your arse. Command is out."

"That was bizarre as fuck," Cindy noted as she hung up the telephone handset. "Commander, what operation White Light do we have running, oh shit," she didn't even hesitate as she transitioned from confused to scared shitless, such was the abrupt change in her mood. "Umm, guys, is this for real?" the Operator asked even as a silenced pistol was waved in her face.

"Quite real, kid, and you're ass deep in it," a transplant guard from America said as he forced the base commander to his knees. "Now, I suggest you listen to the fellow operator and get on the ground, girl."

"Okay," Cindy said. "You're not — are you rebels?" she asked in a half-panic after a moment.

"In a manner of speaking," the senior Operator noted. "We're just standing against the Romefeller Foundation right now. Rebellion? I'll leave that to the semi-professional rebels."

Cindy looked around the room, and saw that only herself and the base commander were tied up. The rest of the tower was in on it, apparently, even the janitors! That was a freaky thought to her, but then again maybe she could talk her way out of this? "Erm, is it too late to sign myself up?"

"We'll discuss this here in a few. Off to the brig with you, Cindy, and to the gallows with the Base Commander. No more rape-for-rank for you!" the senior Operator was at least professional enough to holster his pistol before he gestured them out of the tower.

-x-x-x-

(7 December AC 195, 0800 Hours)
(Paris, France)

There was an air of absurdity to the whole affair, Dermail figured.

First, the Archangel had been nicknamed 'the Energizer Warship' because the bastard ship just kept going and going and going, even after Dermail had thrown everything he had available at it. Others had hearkened it back to The White Death, a reference to a Finnish sniper (Simo Hayha) who killed Soviet troops by the hundreds with impunity, cross-referenced against the predominantly-white hull of the ship. Either way you looked at it, the presence of the Archangel was very bad news for Romefeller and its (admittedly few) allies.

The second major problem with this day's newscasts was the vanguard of Mobile Suits leading the charge in front of the mercenary Archangel Team. Maganac, Leo, and Aries troops were marching out front, with more Aries and Taurus forming an overflight guard over the formation, and the major problem with the graphics was the nations and factions represented. Each faction had a flag-bearer Leo (or a Maganac unit in their case) with a massive flag that told clearly who they were facing: the Mideast Nations, Switzerland, Germany (and a separate contingent of the Bundeskriminalamt, the German Border Guard, hardasses from a nation full of 'em), Russia (and two contingents of Spetsnaz), Poland, the Sanc Kingdom (the white Taurus machines and the Sandrock Gundam were rather distinctive, let alone Wing Zero), and last among the vanguard was the depleted but VERY pissed-off Archangel Team. This count-off, of course, made no mention of the forces behind the Archangel Team, of which there was plenty.

The final straw to break the camel's back today was in his own forces...or lack thereof, in this case. Not only did he have less than optimal forces to defend against half the fucking continent headed straight for his front door, most of the troops had fled down south toward the border with Spain, or west toward Normandy. Spain had deliberately declared itself neutral for purposes of this scrap, after throwing out the Romefeller-loyal troops in the nation, but the Irish and Scottish were supposedly landing troops in Normandy to reinforce the rebels. His personal adjutant had called such actions 'flexing their sack', since it was painfully obvious the Scots and Irish reinforcements would not be needed in this campaign.

And all of this combat force was aimed at him.

"This is what you call, officially, a 'bad day'," Roche Nattono said with a clear dose of irony in his voice. "We have three Leos still in the guard — not including the Prize force — and there is no way we can hold those Mobile Suits and rebel infantry for long. Supposedly, even their Elemental Troops are down there and ready to scrap it. I am not in a hurry to learn what exactly is so special about them."

"We will fight them, sir, but we have no expectation of victory...or survival," Captain Broom Brooks said to Dermail. "What are your orders?"

"At this point, all we can do is send as many of them to hell as possible, so we have company when we get there," Dermail said with a soured expression. "If you want to flee, I will not hold it against you. Everyone else has."

"We go to the front, such as it is. See you when we see you, Duke Dermail," Roche said with a salute before he turned toward the door. His two subordinates followed without hesitation, the mark of a proper commander and team.

"Well, Kessler, we'll be drinking cognac and playing baccarat again shortly," Dermail groused to an empty office and a deceased comrade.

-x-

" 'Annie are you okay? You've been hit by, you've been struck by, a smooth criminal!' "

"You damn well better not do Michael Jackson's crotch-grab-and-scream routine, or I will shoot you myself," Yzak said directly to Tolle.

"Bonus points if your Gundam does it," Kira said mischievously.

"Not going to go that far," Tolle said. "Maybe another day. Still need to work on how to make a Gundam moonwalk. Okay, next up on Whoopass Radio, I think we'll do a real trip song. Iron Butterfly: Inna Gadda Da Vida."

After thirty seconds of marching, one of the Germans had the line de rigeur for Tolle's music selection: "This sounds like someone wrote it on some real mellow weed."

"Ja," one of the Bundeskriminalamt troops answered.

After about seven minutes of song, the band's drum solo kicked in, and roughly a quarter of the pilots in the rebel faction were doing some version of air drums or console drums in some manner of tune to the song. It would have been grossly unprofessional had they actually expected any resistance in Paris, but forward recon reports had made it clear the enemy was long gone and the trio of remaining Leos had been stomped flat by the Aries patrols over the airspace of the town.

Roughly at the end of the drum solo, the Archangel sensor systems picked up an unusual reading. "Conn, Sensors, I have what appears to be Mobile Suit transponders broadcasting in the open toward the target zone. Repeat, Mobile Suit transponders; whoever they are, they want us to know they are there."

"Roger that," Commander La Flaga responded over the radio before Murrue could. "Kira, Athrun, Yzak, Pytor, Morgan, let's do it," Mu said as he pushed his throttle forward to advance beyond the present line of the vanguard.

Once the transponders lit off, the distance to cover was less than a kilometer total. Kira was the first on scene, Mu and Morgan not far behind him. Athrun, Yzak, and Pytor were last to the show, but they arrived as a second group from a different direction. "Nyuk, Nyuk," Yzak said, looking at the three customized machines in front of him.

"Those are some interesting customized Leos, there," Athrun said.

"Bonus points if the female Leo is being piloted by a guy," Kira noted.

"Would that make it a cross-dressing pilot, or a cross-dressing Mobile Suit?" Yzak asked after a moment.

"One of the great mysteries of Existence," Commander La Flaga noted. "Kira?"

Kira cleared his throat hastily. "Type match, Oz Prize unit. Special Forces, old-school hardasses. Leo N, high-strength and defense. Leo R, cross-dressing high-speed close quarters machine. Leo S, General purpose very-high-performance machine. Despite the long hair and high heels on a Mobile Suit, they're worth talking about."

"Good, I'd hate to come this far just to go two rounds for a throw-down," Yzak said. "Where to begin, where to begin?" Yzak had made the smart move of the day by stowing his beam rifle to present his beam saber and shield. Athrun did shield and beam pistol, Morgan did beam saber and shield, Mu did shield and open hand, Kira did paired beam sabers, and the Vayeate planned on dropping back to engage in support of the other five taking the lead.

"Okay guys! Due to a bet I had on with Murdoch, this one's for you and the foes," Tolle said as he could be heard changing selections on his radio console. "This one is Tom Sawyer, by Rush."

"Your DJ has a sense of humor," one of the enemy pilots said. "I know we cannot stop you, but orders are orders."

"Play it smart, man," Captain Chevalier said immediately. "There isn't enough military force left in Paris to stop a class of sixth-graders armed with popsicle sticks. You don't have to throw your lives away."

"We're mercenaries, not monsters," Mu continued the thought. "Your boss may be on our shit-list, but that doesn't mean we're here to execute him."

Kira continued the next: "All we want is to end this war, fix the ship, have a short vacation, and get the hell out of here. Nothing more, nothing less. You walk away right now, we'll forget we saw you here."

"Prize does not abandon their posts! How dare you suggest such a thing!" The enemy shouted; the machine with the cape shook its fist in the general direction of the formation to punctuate the rage. "This conversation is over. We settle this by blades!"

"Well, worth a shot," Mu said warily. "Drop 'em soft if you can, hard if necessary. Nobody else needs to die to stop Dermail's insane ambitions."

"I've got the lead," Kira noted, though this one was not on the open bands. His analysis was done simultaneous with the enemy machines activating their beam sabers and preparing for close-quarters battle. "Recommend Morgan and Mu on the Romeo unit, Athrun and Yzak on the November. Pytor, wherever you have a shot, take it, but be wary of civilians."

"Jumpoff, now, now, now!" Miriallia ordered from her post in the Archangel CIC. On the third rendition, all six pilots jumped in their intended direction

"Let's get it on!" Yzak shouted as he hammered his jump-jets to the mechanical stops, intent to ram the Leo N and force close-quarters on the sizable machine. His foe held the same idea, causing their machines to collide in a monstrous heap of 200 tons of mangled Mobile Suit in the middle of the clearing north of the Arc De Triomphe. "Ow, my frickin' head," Yzak grumbled. "I'm alive, I'm alive," he reported after his vision began deblurring.

"Roche, my Leo N is trashed. Like flying face-first into a steel wall," an older guy said on an open channel.

"Command, Vayeate reporting, we will need several recovery vehicles to detangle the Leo N and the Duel at this time."

"Roger that, report when the area is cleared," Miriallia ordered.

"Understood, command."

-x-

"Kratz! Coming in behind you!"

"Like I can do a damn thing about it!" Kratz had clearly seen the flanking maneuver by the now-unattached Mercurius, but in the way Murphy tended to be the only winner on a battlefield, he still had to deal with the 105 Dagger and the GuAIZ dead ahead of him, both of which were piloted by seasoned aces and certainly were not pushovers.

"Move right! They can't get you if you're moving!" Roche could not accomplish a mirror movement of his own because he was pressed in close by someone worse than the two / three now harassing Kratz. Where the 105 Dagger and GuAIZ were 'common' machines piloted by elite personnel, the Strike Freedom Mass Production / LRRP unit in front of him was something else entirely, despite it being nominally a 'common' machine by its name. The affair was made only that much worse by the pilot himself, Kira Yamato, a prodigy of Mobile Suit combat and notably a lucky sonofabitch to boot.

Kratz cleared right by way of jumping in between the Mercurius and 105 Dagger, though the maneuver came to a stop nearby a water fountain. He reactivated the beam lance he preferred for close-in and high-speed attacks, then hammered the boosters to close in with the 105 Dagger. So focused on the enemy machine with the orange barrels on its backpack, by the time he arrived at the target he had failed to realize that the beam lance — nay, his entire right arm — was no longer attached to his machine. Unlike the collision between the Leo N and the Duel, though, the 105 Dagger had a larger shield and 20 tons on the Leo R; Kratz lost this head-on collision completely. "What the hell happened to my arm?" He asked after his machine landed face-first in a flower garden.

"We have pretty good insurance in the Archangel Team," Commander La Flaga used the beam gun mounted in his shield to fire three rounds into critical components inside the chest of the Leo R before Kratz could bring it standing. "Mutual Sniper. Excellent shot, Pytor."

"The Falcon's Claws rip another one," the pilot of the Vayeate answered.

"Kira, you're it," Commander La Flaga said.

-x-

"You and me, Kira Yamato," Roche Nattono said warily.

"You know, you really don't have to do this," Kira said, more for the record than in any actual hope of swaying his opponent.

"My honor demands I stand to the end! Fight like a man, mercenary!" Roche answered.

"You want it, you got it. Tolle, throw up Royal Guardsmen: Snoopy Versus The Red Baron," Kira requested.

"Wow, we're really gone old-school with that one," Tolle said but complied nonetheless.

"Time to settle who is the Red Baron today," Roche said, giving props to the fact that both pilots were confirmed aces.

"White Mobile Suit gets the part of Snoopy," Kira said before he jumped forward and at an angle, trying to force Roche south and toward the Arc De Triomphe.

"Can't have that!" Roche countered the faster Strike Freedom with a direct double beam saber assault, trying to neutralize the speed advantage and force the battle in close. He partially achieved his intended result, though the paired beam sabers clashing left the chest of the Strike Freedom open to take shots at the Leo S.

"I could blow the top half of your machine clean off right now, but that won't settle this," Kira noted in echo to Roche's belated realization of vulnerability. Instead, the Strike Freedom began driving the arms of the Leo S inward from their exterior attack position, which caused a creepy series of endoskeleton creaks and cracks from the mechanical stress. One particular crack threw an instant alarm in his cockpit, the failure of the main structure and servo for the right arm, which immediately severed the power conduit to the beam saber. Once that was loosed, the right beam saber died out, followed quickly by the left fist of the Strike Freedom coming in against the helmet on his machine.

Though completely ungentlemanly, Kira decided a demonstration of the power of a Gundam was in order. A second and harder left cross knocked the cameras completely out of action, to which he followed-up by delivering a swift, armored kick to the whang on the enemy machine. Unbeknownst to Kira, the proximity of the Leo's cockpit to the lower exhaust ports ensured that the impact (and driving the said exhaust ports a full meter up into the machine) translated up the machine readily into the cockpit. Roche was lifted briefly against his cockpit harness, then slammed down hard as the Leo S doubled over from the impact behind the center of gravity. He barely noticed the shattering of every LCD in his cockpit from the translated impact.

Kira was not through, though, given he did not know the enemy was incapable of piloting his machine at this point. A knee to the head of the Leo S caused the whole machine to overbalance past the center of gravity, though this time it landed face up on its back instead of simply doubling over. On the left arm, Kira activated the beam shield, stepped forward two paces, and drove the shield down into the shoulders and upper chest of the Leo S, effectively cutting the head and shoulders clean off the enemy machine.

"Command, Kira, reporting Roche Nattono defeated. No Mobile Suits detected in Paris theater."

"Archangel, this is Russian Contingent. Spetsnaz troops have entered the Romefeller headquarters. Resistance is light. He can't run anywhere."

"Archangel Team, Command, stand by to provide support if needed, but otherwise take a break. Snoopy versus The Red Baron, looks like Snoopy wins this one," Captain Ramius declared.

-x-x-x-

-click-

"Easily the most publicly watched Mobile Suit battle in the war, with five professional cameras and four internet bloggers on the job. We have three gems in this one: One, the head-on collision between these two dumbasses," and the video footage showed the Duel and the Leo N colliding. "Word is it took them twelve hours to pull these machines apart, and if you look at this highlighted spot, you can clearly see the right foot of the Duel up the ass of the Leo N. Even in an epic failure, go out on a high note. My hat's off to Yzak Joule, the pilot of the Duel."

"Second clip, is the Romefeller pilot who forgot his arm, completely. Check it." The camera angle was perfect to catch the shot from the Vayeate that sheared the arm off the Leo R. "I mean, seriously? This guy is supposed to be one of Romefeller's best, but he forgot his freaking arm. In all seriousness, I kid the psycho. He's on his way to a mental institution right now, raving about how he was cheated or something."

"Third one's the charm, and this one will cause all you guys to cringe in pain. Since the invention of the Mobile Suit, everyone has wondered at least once in their life if it was possible for a Mobile Suit to kick another machine in the nuts, or the thruster pipes down there, or whatever you'd call them. Well, Kira Yamato has answered that question in the most painful way possible." The clip showed the overnight-infamous 'zack kick' in all it's glory. "Seriously, though, watch this. When the Strike Freedom kicked it, you could see every armor plate above it jam from the impact, and who knows what that did to the poor pilot in the cockpit a couple meters above the kick point. Then, just to add insult to injury, Kira goes all Leonidas on his enemy and cuts his head off with the edge of his shield. Great way to bring back Sparta!"

-click-

"It's the party of the century in downtown New York, Times Square is full of people celebrating the downfall of Romefeller. Nobody knows what the future will bring, but for sure it won't be under the autocracy of Duke Dermail — "

-click-

"Pilot Yzak Joule, Do you have any comments on Duke Dermail's exile to the Falkland Islands?"

"Yeah, I welcome it. Drop him on the Falklands, give him a herd of sheep, and tell him to have fun. He's no longer a problem for the world, there's no real way off the islands that can't be guarded, and I get a vacation. Problem solved."

"Thank you," she said to the back of the Duel pilot as he walked away briskly.

-click-

"Hi! Billy Mays here for — "

-click-

"No word on what the Archangel shall do next, but word is the crew is looking forward to a Mediterranean vacation at an undisclosed location before they continue on their journey. In other news, Australia has already moved to declare its independence from the Romefeller Foundation —"

-click-

The room went dark for several minutes, before either said a thing.

"Well, we paid for it, but we won," Mu said.

"So long as Selesce and Umi pull through, we're ahead of the game," Murrue said.

"Three weeks, and we're out of here. Where do you want to take that vacation?"

"I'm thinking, eastern shores of Spain? Hear it's lovely this time of year."

"Sounds lovely to me," Mu said before he snuggled in closer to the Captain.

---

Author's Chapter Afterword:

There is something of a bad case of 'holy shit the dice just did WHAT' in this chapter. Or, more appropriately, several cases of it.

First, the battle with Wufei was a bit of an interesting engagement to write. Wufei's whole schtick of 'who is doing the right thing' versus the pragmatic determination of the Archangel Team. Whether or not Wufei learned the lesson Yzak was trying to present, only shall that be shown in the next chapter. The actual battle was more of an interesting engagement from the procedural side, as I was able to establish a more granular control on the battle using random results.

Second, the battle in Moscow, Russia, was my first direct use of Google Earth for terrain analysis and engagement planning. I have written using Google Maps before (Inferno In Chicago), but Google Earth provides the advantage of 3D terrain so I can tell if there are obstructions, if there are terrain restrictions, and even do some history lessons in the process.

Third, the battle of Central Germany was where I brought the two techniques together. Granted, the area the battle happened in was mostly flatland with a city off to the north (the right flank of the battle), but the random results is what really showed through. A battle with the best of Romefeller's best against the Archangel Team, and casualties ensued. Now, that said, I did leave the fate of Umi hanging, and my apologies for that, but I wanted to bring the AC timeline events to a close in the next chapter and that wa slated to be part of the end regardless.

On the narrative, well, you can probably guess that a few major things are still to come in the story, though keep in mind I don't pull punches on events. I expect renewed speculation on some earlier considerations, so I want to see your opinions in some reviews, people!

As to the rest, well, I'll save that for another chapter.

NEXT UP: A party on a massive scale, a wedding, an interesting request from some higher-ups, and finally a departure from the After Colony Era. This is supposed to be the end of this era, what could possibly go wrong?

---

Review Replies: 10 Reviews for this chapter, and plenty of good feedback! Thank you all!

Mega1987: You know, Mariemaia, you could always kick off the TVTropes Page. Every work has to begin somewhere...

C0Dy88: The necessary hardware to do such a scan, even against someone with a neural network, is not available in the SF MP, or any MS for that matter. Not a bad thought, though. Of course, if they come across another Crusader Gundam that is inhabited by an AI, Kira could salvage it for use in the SF.

As to DRAGOONs, well, the Strike Freedom presently has a bare backplane with mounting hardware for Striker Packs. Kira may decide to put some mods to his machine, though...

Takeshi Yamato: Well, as always much thanks for the color commentary on the evolving narrative, and the assist on keeping my story and grammar straight.

One-Village-Idiot: Always a pleasure, amigo.

On the matter of Vulcanus, no dice. Since I do not have the source on that, I'm not going to piss on that canon. I may have to look into that series, though.

As to the end of the GW timeline, headed into EW territory, you are correct. The hopeful idealism of a certain Princess is not going to fly with Treize around, much less the Archangel Team. And the Rebels wouldn't disarm for any reason, because of the very real fear of a redux of the whole Earth Alliance thing.

Stay tuned, more coming!

CrazyHawke81: I see what you did with your name there, amigo. Luna or Meyrin?

Kira may be developing one of multiple backpack types for the Strike Freedom Mass-Pro unit, as the data archive on the SF has a long list of equipment it can draw from and remanufacture (so long as the necessary material is available).

Nightblade 1021: To any form of armor, there is always a strength and a limitation. Keep in mind, I tend to operate a lot closer to reality than Gundam WIng canon, though, and that is mainly because the Gundanium Armor mostly acts of Variable Strength Plot Armor, the same way a GINN can be hammered on in one scene and fold like a wet paper bag in the next.

Travys: I use RANDOM_DOT_O_R_G for my dice, which is run out of a university in Scotland I believe. I roll three numbers, on a basis of 1 to 100. The first number determines which side acts (ally or foe). The second number is put against a table of who receives or executes the action among the allies. The third result determines the result of that action, with a low roll being a failure and a high roll being a success. The higher or lower the roll, the better or worse the success. Example: the Space Laser that dropped Selesce was 27 (enemy action), 62 (Selesce), 99 (Very high success roll).

I have been asked under what circumstances a named character might be killed, and that has no real solid answer. For sure, they won't die of completely random shit. There has to be a pointed threat, and that threat has to be reasonably capable of being lethal, and the result has to be correspondingly high. In this battle, with no enemy aces on the field, they had to roll a 100 to score a potential kill, which no foe or ally rolled at all during the battle.

I'll leave the rest of my sources and methods for a different discussion. Thank you!

Mordalfus Grea: White Fang is not quite through, yet. They will get some kicks in the next chapter.

As to anyone going along with the ship, well, there are many possibilities. The Archangel may be holding an open recruiting drive before the end of next chapter :)

Sieben Nightwing: Though I would love to see this animated, I know this falls into the category of 'no way in hell'. Still and all, it would be an interesting exercise, no? :)

BTW, welcome to the beta team. Much appreciated for the assistance!

NEB Sparky x86: Tearing Valder a new bumhole was a bit of an author tract, I will admit, but I can't think of a guy in the SEED 'verse that earned it more than he. Sadistic asshole, he was...

Flawless Cowboy 2552: I find I like your ideas quite a bit. Cheers!

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE REVIEWS! Keep 'em coming, as shall I!

---

The Gripe Sheet:

No major complaints from the last chapter. As always, much thanks to my betas Necroblade, Sieben Nightwing, and Takeshi Yamato for keeping it clean!

---

Footnotes:

(1): Yes, it has taken a while, but someone finally went SEED again. Yzak against Wufei, but it finally happened.