AN: Props to 'the stylus' for my first review. Like I promised, I'll take your suggestions into consideration regarding run-on sentence structure. As for why no soldiers, no one else expected to have to defend the ship from the inside. In addition, too many soldiers on-board attracts suspicion that the convoy was indeed hauling something special, something that few people know.
Regarding updates, don't expect thins quick one to be a daily thing. I have about eight chappies done so far, which I'll submit one for every three days or so.
Disc
Phase 04: Despair
- - -
"Bad luck, Admiral", Blood Grudge's best computer hacker explained sheepishly over the visual link to the bridge. "I've tried every trick I know, but the operating systems are locked up tight; won't even access the main menu until you give it both voice and password authentication."
Watching from the left-center chair separating the two crew pits, Captain Mokra Parker stretched his thin arms out and sagged only a little. The Admiral couldn't pretend they hadn't been expecting such a security measure, even on machines that weren't yet in active service.
Without both a password, and an accepted voiceprint, the only way the House of Shyron could ever use the machines they had just paid in blood for would be to physically remove and replace the main computers, preferably with the simple silicon OS of a standard Valkyrie. Surprisingly, he heard Temeritus immediately order the commencement of such a crude operation from his centermost chair, 'to be attended to at all times unless in we are in combat'.
Cutting the link, he folded his hands over his lap and blankly stared out at the planet just now becoming visible before them. "Navigation. Make certain to cut a wide berth around the Waltherian colony- we want to keep them a secret for now, say, 400 kilometers at all times... You seem distraught, captain. Is something troubling you?"
Parker flinched. How did he know that? He didn't even look in my direction the whole time he was giving orders. Not wanting the crewers in the pits below to hear him, he spoke up quietly as he could. "A few things, Admiral."
The older man shrugged. "We have half an hour before the Solar Barrier. By all means, speak your mind."
Parker shifted uncomfortably in his seat, not at all used to confessing his private fears in front of a superior. He had certainly never asked a bridge officer to do this for him.
"You are wondering why I did not order our prizes transferred to the hold of the Blood Grudge, a ship better armed and armored than the Kyoto? Or why I went to such lengths to attempt to use those machines in the coming fight?"
"Now that you have mentioned them, Admiral, both. I know we are going to have to fight our way out of Earth's outer planetary ring… never mind the fact that we're in their front yard uninvited; they wouldn't just let us escape with the crown jewel of DES' technology."
"Yes", Temeritus nodded observantly. "I estimate we'll see the first of Admiral Landon's patrol ships before we hit the Solar Barrier. Our ships are larger and more heavily armed, but his will be more numerous. I was once his friend in Anno Domino, you know. I know his style."
"I remember. You were once nicknamed the 4 Devas, were you not, sir? You and Landon and Gisbourne and Yamato, all elite Admirals in the Master wars?"
The admiral snorted. "I don't recall you ever saying you were a military historian, Captain. But yes, I have heard the name regarding the four of us. And I promise you, whatever else you may have heard, that Gisbourne didn't deserve such a title." At this point, his nimble fists both ground into the cushions of the captain's chair, tightening along with his harsh gaze upon memories from before his defection, before the sundering of the four Devas of Anno Domino, who some had rumored in hushed voices were descendants of the old Masters themselves…
"I knew that man, and I hated him then and now. He was better suited to be a crime boss in some hovel city than a military officer. Admiral Yamato was the youngest of us- about your age, actually. But he was never as cruel or stupid as Gisbourne. By the Masters, I wish it was him we were going up against right now instead of Landon. I'd do him without hesitation."
For a moment, Parker and his crew were struck silent by the tale, then urged back to their duties. Parker, however, felt a stronger urge to cheer up this man who fast becoming a friend as well as an idol, even if he kept his hands clear of the other command chair. "Keep looking forward, sir. If things continue to go the way they have, Earth may just be our next target once the MS units are prepared back home."
Temeritus smiled beneath his fancy beige and gold cap. "You are right, of course, Captain. But I was talking about how I'm guessing my old friend Gentz Landon will play it. He'll focus his smaller craft on this ship, wanting to lop off the proverbial head of his enemy, in order to kill me- us- and leave the fleet without direction. This ship is the one most in danger- we will only come out alive with clear tactical effort and a little luck. If by chance we do die, here Kyoto will complete our mission."
Parker slowly nodded, beginning to understand. "Is that the only reason?"
"You figured it out too, then? Smart lad. If I were to transfer the MS units here, I would be sending a message to Kyoto's crew- that I had planned to sacrifice them to let us escape with the prize. I shouldn't have to remind you, captain, that most of our people here are, like yourself, from the House of Shyron. Underhanded plots and conspiracies are second nature to them, or so the myths would have me believe."
That part about the myths, at least, Mokra Parker knew all too well, brushing his cueball forehead mirthlessly. He knew from firsthand experience with the House of Walther just what it was like to be amongst foreigners, where everyone treated him with suspicion just because of his origin. To find a superior officer who not only trusted his judgment, but expected that same trust back was a blessing he had thought had been lost forever until now.
"Admiral", called one of their crewers, for once reporting as calmly as he had trained to. "We've picked up signs of unidentified spacecraft just ahead of us. No type match yet."
"Gentz's early", Temeritus remarked, standing up to his full height at once. "Slow to quarter impulse- the faster ships will have seen us first, no doubt. Return to full speed towards and through the Solar Barrier only once the hostile ships have been identified, and instruct Imperator and Renmazou to shift to the center of our formation, with all other ships protecting them; I want to see what Landon's got before we're committed."
"As ordered, sir."
- - -
"Five war cruisers, one Requiem-Class battleship- the Blood Grudge- and one carrier. Two of the cruisers are taking cover behind the rest of their numbers, sir. They're launching Valkyries, at least forty."
Red-tinted eyes contrasting with his dark skin, Admiral Gentz Landon received the report from his secondary officer, the clone Captain 18 from the House of Gemini, with half his attention and spent the remainder reordering his own forces into a single massive blockade, his heart beating just a little faster. This battle was likely to be on a larger scale than anything any of the clones in his crew had experienced in what was laughably called 'peacetime'; Landon wanted full flexibility, and not just for the usual reasons…
"They've likely split their heist between those two ships", their 'special' guest commented in regards to the two protected ships. "Focus on those, Admiral."
Landon closed both eyes for a moment, suppressing himself from rebuking the woman. She sat in the third center chair of the bridge, looking out at the fantastic view of space his own Requiem-class, Heaven's Gate, afforded. Lacking any kind of military getup, Edwina Daravon stuck with some rather old-fashioned silk garments that, combined with her curly hair and wrinkled skin, made her look like a matron, or a chaste nun sans the black hood.
"I'll be the judge of that, mistress Daravon. Watch the Valkyrie wave closely, see if he means to throw that at us right off. Instruct all ships to form a staggered line, with the frigates concentrated in the rear centerline."
Landon did greatly appreciate the contributions DES had made to Anno Domino's power over the years. He really did. However, seeing and hearing the wife of its Premier up here, giving personal orders and expecting them to be followed, never failed to aggravate him. Unlike her much more demanding husband, Edwina Daravon had never known combat, and more importantly, she didn't know Heim Temeritus, didn't know his penchant for ambushing the ambushers. Even with local numerical superiority and the so-called home turf advantage, they were in for a fight; he didn't need any more distractions.
"No sign from the Walther colony", Captain 18 reported gruffly, stepping up from where had been personally assisting their crews moments before. "They seem content just to watch this from home."
Stroking his dark beard, Landon considered that. The mobile colonies of the House of Walther were something he had experience dealing with, serving as he had for so long here in the outer reaches of Earth's solar system. His previous dealings with them had seen them to be courteous enough, but totally focused on their self-appointed task of exploring the universe. Still, to ignore a big furball brewing on your doorstep… he had to wonder what was really going on at that colony right now.
"I don't think they would be willing to allow us to use their terrain for cover", Captain 18 suggested with an odd grunt. "Almost as insolent as the damned Shyron, they are."
He saw Edwina balk a little at that. Either she had not spent much time off of Earth, or she was surprised at a cloned Captain from Gemini House actually displaying conceit and disdain. Most were generally emotioness.
"Take your seat, Captain. Their war cruisers are about to catch up." As I thought, they're going to use their Valkyrie wave to throw off our timing at the last second. Those things always have been Shyron's biggest edge over us. "Instruct all ships beside the frigates to ignore the Valkyrie swarm for now, and wait for Blood Grudge- the red-painted one- to come into their range."
Before long, the familiar red dagger-prowed ship did just that, prompting the outermost four vessels to open up on it with heavy lasers and missiles. While the larger ship responded wrathfully, Landon's attention was focused on something much smaller; the blindingly bright light that suddenly approached them from the west.
It was carrying something.
- - -
Rattling. Shaking. Absolute. Crushing. G-forces. That was all Bryce Daravon's life had become for the past two hours. Even with the heavy vacuum suit, even with the compensators built into Peregrine, he had never expected the velocities of the comet he had hijacked to be pleasant.
Just making the choice had been no picnic either. Certainly, a fair number of space rocks had passed by in the time he had had to wait. However, most of them were either too slow or too deadly or not pointed in the right direction. While Bryce had rightly feared for the whole trip that this rock was a bit too far into that second category, he could wait no longer.
No going back now. Given further time to reflect, he had come to realize just how dangerous this was. The ability of an MS unit to survive the stresses of being anchored to an active comet for a time had never been a sure thing. Anno Domino didn't want it; it was more of an experimental novelty than anything. Only his team had seen the potential of it- the new war machines, normally meant for short-range flights from a mothership like the Valkyries they were built to counter, could become a far more mobile threat if they could ride upon random asteroids and comets.
Never could get it to work, really. Just too much hard velocity on those things, like being in reentry for hours on end. Just as Troy had predicted, his green structural integrity display on the main screen showed an alarming 24.2 percent structural integrity remaining. In the simulations his team had run, the powerful machines simply fell to pieces after dropping anywhere below 15 percentile... Have to be very careful- one hit or sharp turn could take me out.
So it was with no little measure of hesitation that he goosed one thruster to roll away from the surface of the small comet, ditching it in order to catch his bearings in what looked to be a war zone in progress, a modest distance away from the closest moon.
Valkyries and Dominion-Class Frigates mixing it up, he thought uneasily. I'm too late. If I can just find which ship mom's on…
"Attention, Mobile Suit Peregrine! Come in, Peregrine!" Only now, free of the comet's gravitic pressure, did he notice that his radio was buzzing with an urgent hail request. It was an out-of-place young female voice, cute and sounding even younger than Elya.
"Peregrine here", he responded, finally managing to pull the unusually stiff microphone down to his chin- all things considered, he was lucky it didn't break. "Acting as emergency messenger for Daravon Engineering Systems. Please open a bay for me."
The female voice now sounded regretful, even through the voice-scrambling software. "…Sorry, but we can't. We'd have to let the shields down and its not safe to do th- AAAH!"
He wouldn't place odds, but it was likely the pristine white-and-bronze lead ship he'd been talking to- several of the Shyron vessels had just coordinated their laser fire, blasting its frontal area after its shields had been weakened by repeated salvos from the Valkyries that now swarmed throughout the combat zone.
"All right", he said heavily, trying his best to sound more confident than he felt about going into battle in such sorry shape. "Guess I'll have to make it safe. MS Central System, activate all weaponry except for beam daggers, reroute all discretionary power, and maneuvering thruster power into aft thrusters!"
Acknowledged. It was true this improvised setup did hamper him, switching off the small maneuvering thrusters placed all over the three suits to respond to the wearer's movements. However, pulling such maneuvers at high speeds in his state would just as likely rip Peregrine apart. I don't have a choice, but to rely on pure speed and luck…
More like a Valkyrie than a Mobile Suit now, Peregrine threw Bryce back into his seat with its acceleration once again, a reminder that his own body hadn't yet recovered from the comet's high-G forces either. Three Valkyries flashed by in a triangle near the lead Anno Domino ship, and he spanned off two shots from the shoulder launchers at them before blazing closer to the main concentration of the nimble little spacecraft at the heart of the battle.
Next, out came the three-barreled plasma buster arm. With the elongated wings still giving him a small degree of protection, he took a moment to aim for another Valkyrie, missed and instead struck the foremost Shyron carrier, which was also facing a barrage from a pair of slender-necked Anno Domino Frigates. Seeing that huge ship dominating the target screen before he flew past it, Bryce remembered that the real battle here was still being fought the old-fashioned way: several big sluggish capital ships on either side, impossible for any of them to miss or avoid being hit by their targets, as the dozens of explosions gouting from the ship identified as the Watcher clearly showed.
"Bryce!", the comm.. unit lit up with a new voice. "Bryce, is that you?"
Hearing the voice, his ears instantly flared up alongside his other senses. The lead Anno Domino ship was behind him, but advancing on the destroyed hulk of Watcher, allowing several of the larger enemy vessels easy side shots they couldn't pass up. Before he could respond, another Valkyrie wingpair leapt out from behind the hulk and tried to smoke him. While both missed, their pursuit continued across the darkened stretch of pulverized metal, and out towards Admiral Landon's ship at equal speeds to his own.
"Mother!", he responded frantically in between dodging laser fire. "What the hell are you doing here?"
A slight pause, giving him time to sideslip the Valkyries and let Landon's flagship vaporize them with two quick stern shots. "…So Matthews told you. Get to safety, Bryce! There's more at stake here than you know!"
He grimaced at that while curving around to face the Shyron armada once again. While Edwina was usually the more kind of his parents, this was a side of her he had not seen before "How can it possibly be something more important than your life, mother? I came here to save you!"
"Bryce, listen to me", her infuriatingly calm voice came to him, now repossessed of the serenity he remembered. "Jakob has told me. We absolutely have to retrieve the MS units from them, for all the reasons you can guess at, and some others ones too. Please, get to safety!"
But instead he simply cut off the aft thruster power, slowly planting the suit's heavy legs upon the top of Heaven's Gate, plasma buster still ready to snipe. "Not until you are safe as well. We stay together, mother."
Another long pause from Edwina, only punctuated by the growing number of explosions as the ship took further damage from the ambush. If she had planned another plea for him to run away, it would never come to pass, owing fully to the terrifying jackal's laughter that now cut across all open bands and rung in Bryce's ears, prompting him to look up and curse loudly in Cantonese.
The pale white Mobile Suit was here.
- - -
Bianca Tanner of the House of Peacecraft knew a bit more about body language than one might guess. Like racing on water-skis back home, it was just something she was good at the nuance of. So she could tell just by the heavy click of polished boots' footsteps that they were coming for her.
No fear. Edmund wouldn't want to see me this way. She sat up, seeing two Anno Domino officers motion the silent guard aside outside her transparent panel door. While one of them was totally nondescript aside from his abnormally large nose, the shorter one was instantly recognizable from posters. Chocolate brown hair, tan skin, large violet eyes, a black collar and the youngest body ever to wear a spotless white Admiral's uniform, if a decade older than Bryce or herself. Admiral Yamato- one of the four Devas of Anno Domino.
She only had a moment to consider before the door swung open at the other officer's ID card. Jump Yamato, or the other one? In the end, she went for the more valuble hostage, running towards him with all her strength, forcing the large nosed officer to quickly slip his arms around her neck to hold her still, and request help from the black-suited guard.
Looking visibly depressed, Yamato spoke up after moving out of the guard's way. "I'm sorry to announce... Our war crimes tribunal has come to a decision", he informed her, his voice sounding a fair bit older than the rest of him. "We gave them time, but Peacecraft has denied any connection with you, making it most likely you infiltrated our group under Shyron's orders. They have declared you a war criminal."
"That's BS!" She shouted over the other officer's repeated attempts to muffle her, no longer caring about secrecy after three days of isolation and prison food. It was taking every bit of effort from both the guard and Yamato's subordinate just to hold her down.
Yamato smiled sadly at her. "None of the other Houses have claimed you belong to them either. Shyron is the only possibility." Following that, he took a deep breath for what was to come, speaking flatly as though the document was right in front of him. "Under article 12 of the Anno Domino War Protocols Act, any individual convicted of murder, grand theft, rape, hate crimes, pedophilia, or sufficiently harmful espionage may be drafted into our legion corps for the duration of their sentence if said sentence exceeds five years. Yours is ten, miss…?"
She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but the slightest nod from the silent guard told her that he had seen this routine before. He, too, was a convicted criminal with a sentence of greater than five years. But how do they…? "Drafting me? Good. Freaking. Luck, Yamato! You dumbass. Despite what you may believe, I'm Peacecraft. I've never even held a real gun. They're outlawed where I come from."
The young Admiral sighed glumly, seeing an eager expression from the other officer. "You'll understand in due time, miss. Administer the sedative."
That got her attention. Struggling wilder than ever, she managed to reach out and slash Yamato's left sleeve with her nails before the helmeted guard stabbed her deep with the needle he'd been given. She had about three seconds to try to balance herself before plunging into the blackest of voids.
- - -
Gentz Landon winced away from the racous laughter with more annoyance than fear, and saw several of his crewers below clutching at their ears and gritting their teeth in vain. Sounds like it's coming from everywhere at once! No way is this new guy friendly. I'd bet my ship on it!
Regaining his bearings first, he decided to shoot first and ask Edwina Daravon questions about the new arrival later. "Top deck Peragus turrets, aim and coordinate with Peregrine's plasma shots on the new Mobile Suit!", he roared to be heard over the echo. "Engines, full reverse, all beam weaponry, keep up the pressure on the Blood Grudge's bow. We can still turn this fracas around if that damned ship dies!"
His eyes hovered for only a moment on the ship they were now jousting. The blood-red flagship belonging to the 4 Devas' greatest and only traitor seemed stunned for a rare moment, only firing its own topside Peragus launchers and beams sporadically. Had the peal of insane laughter really carried so far as to affect the minds of Temeritus' own crew?
I shouldn't be so worried for my enemy's welfare, Landon reminded himself fiercely. More time to even the score, we've wasted all our fireworks on that ship's neutron shields; the vessel beneath them is intact.
Beside him, Edwina Daravon was sitting motionless in her seat, her suddenly flush of pale completing the image of a chaste nun from a century ago. "No. No.", the words tumbled slowly from her lips, "Can't be. He's dead. He has to be."
Both to release the pressure beneath his dark skin and to grab her attention, Landon slapped one hand on the metal of his chair. "I don't suppose you'd care to tell us exactly who that is, mistress Daravon?"
She gave his biting sarcasm no answer, merely staring wide-eyed at the display screens throughout the bridge. They were showing the white Mobile Suit narrowly avoiding both the Peragus missiles and Bryce Daravon's broad plasma shots. For a moment, Landon dared hope they had made a crippling hit when several angular pieces of white metal fell from the thing's right arm, but seeing those feather-shaped rockets detonate half their launchers crushed those hopes in short order.
Now the larger Mobile Suit was working a new weapon free of its torso plating, some kind of black metal cylinder that instantly provoked an explosive reaction from the MS 25-GX Peregrine: it flew directly upwards toward the other machine, firing missiles before detaching its plasma launcher assembly and attacking with fists only.
Landon's professional gaze tightened; he knew something was up simply by the way the Daravon kid had panicked. "Something's up. Redirect all engine power to neutron shields ASAP, get them back up! Roll and target with the intact belly guns! Now, now, now!"
To his relief, the Blood Grudge, now totally unopposed, settled for simply cutting a wide path around the other ship instead of continuing its assault. The thin-edged one called Kyoto was still trailing in its wake with only half of its own weapons functional. But that was the only good news: he also saw Peregrine's shoulder launchers kick back on their little pipe-shaped stands with no result, clearly having depleted the suit's magazine of seeker missiles. He saw its metal fists strike home on the white MS to no avail, and he saw the black cylinder flare up with what looked like solid plasma energy.
"You have my- our- dearest apologies, Admiral", Edwina finally spoke up, the flashing energy reflected in her tearstruck eyes. "It's too late to abandon ship. We are all dead, and we have none but ourselves to blame for it. He'll follow what the equation tells him."
Captain 18, who hadn't heard their earlier exchange, rounded on her suddenly from across the room. "What do you mean? Are you saying you know who's piloting that monster?"
"Know him?" Edwina looked startled, then gave a laugh. A short, but very sad laugh that was scarcely one at all after what had just rocked the bridge. "We created him, Captain. He should have died… but some loose ends can't be gotten rid of so easily."
The pink whip of energy flashed downward, towards the bridge…
- - -
Mae Yu Wa Iji Sin Ji Te no KaniNe Muri O Ma Wari
Iji Kan Ji You Yamete O Ga
Unh… what?
Structural integrity at 16.8 percent. Plasma Buster offline. Estimated enemy Mobile Suit integrity at 97.2 percent.
The verbal reminder woke Bryce with a start. He looked through his badly cracked glasses at the red-tinged superstructure displays first, then at the white MS still in his viewscreen, trying to grasp and understand what had just happened. Had he really fallen asleep? What was that weird song? And why I do have a killer headache all of a sudden?
The MS 00-GX Alpha, which he could finally spot the label of underneath its raised left arm joint, had been knocked back by something, knocked away from exposed bridge of the Heaven's Gate. While its beam whip was still active, it had been dislodged from its hands, and he could plainly see small chips of white metal flaking from the left armpit. Something had hit it there at a high velocity.
Then he remembered. It felt like I was dreaming wide awake. I saw everything in black and white, a photo negative, those weird black streamers all over the place… I must have rammed into him! A suicide tactic, given his integrity, but it had bought his mother, Admiral Landon, and everyone else aboard Heaven's Gate a few more seconds of life.
The voice that issued from the MS Alpha was as excitable and bizarre as ever, but more rational than he had ever heard that suit's pilot sound. "So the little boy knows the equation now, does he? Do you crave it now? Do you wish to see more of it?"
With that, he aimed his massive arm-mounted beam cannon straight down at the ship's hull, too late to stop the first shot from impacting on hastily recharged neutron shields. Those boiled away, shorting out half the cruiser's systems, but leaving it in one piece.
Fully snapping out of whatever weird chanting had just taken over his brain, Bryce quickly recounted his options. The launchers were out of missiles, the beam daggers didn't have enough power to work, and the tri-barrel Plasma Buster had been detached just as the Alpha's handheld weapon had. The Peregrine's sole reserve weapon, a sawed-off Vulcan cannon, would only be an annoyance to the Alpha.
…Which left fists, and ramming with the aft thrusters at full power. Bryce was still in the dark as to what bizarre daydream had compelled him to attempt it the first time, but knew that doing it again would certainly take structural integrity below 15 percent, likely destroying his machine and killing him.
But the alternative was to watch helplessly as the white Mobile Suit killed Edwina Daravon along with the ship. No choice at all.
This time however, Alpha's battle-crazed pilot was prepared. Once he retrieved his beam whip, blocking the Mobile Suit accelerating towards him was easily accomplished. The larger machine shot the round cannon on its right arm forward into the thinned armor of Peregrine, physically penetrating it but not firing, then flung it as far as it could away from the ship.
Structural integrity at 13.5 percent. All thrusters offline. Neuro-computer offline. Internal pressure sensors offline. Structural integrity critical…
"No!" Both the Alpha's pilot and all those present aboard Heaven's Gate could hear Bryce's strangled shout from the powerless wreck of his MS even as it drifted out of range. "STOP IT! Mother! NO!!!!!"
Alpha's pilot wasn't listening. He swung the beam whip once again, eroding shields with the first strike, and splitting Heaven's Gate down the middle on the follow-through. The resulting explosion knocked Peregrine out of the battle, knocked a few more fractions of a percent off its structural integrity index…
And in that dark moment, Bryce idly hoped that would be enough to kill him along with his pain as well.
- - -