Episode 22: Descent to Earth
It is March of After Colony 206. In the eight months since the Aresian Military Service captured Vulkanus, they have done nothing but reinforce its defenses, use its onboard automated construction facilities to build an invasion army, and raid Preventer shipments of war materiel. On Earth, the Preventer Corps has begun producing a new type of mobile suit, the Pegasus, equally capable of fighting on the ground or in the air, all the while casting nervous glances skyward. The Lunar Base has been repaired, and its garrison includes Excelsior and Knights of the Realm Squadrons. Lately, however, after so long without any sign of aggression, Earth's level of watchfulness had started to slip, providing the AMS with exactly the opportunity they had been waiting for.
Thus, the Earth Sphere Unified Nation received a rude awakening when, on March 15th, After Colony 206, the Aresian Military Service launched Operation Caesar, holding off the Preventer mobile suits scrambled from the Lunar Base long enough for the vanguard of their invasion army, under the command of Brigadier General Odel Bernett, to take over the Preventer base in Siberia. While the Preventers responded immediately to this development, the invasion caught the civilian leaders of the World Nation completely unawares. In the six days it has taken for the Senate and the bureaucrats to come to grips with what has happened, the initial invasion force has been able to spread out and quickly gain control over a large area unopposed.
"What's this, Ms. President? I don't believe I'm hearing you correctly. Or did you actually just suggest that we abandon the ESUN citizens under the AMS's heel in Siberia while our soldiers gallivant about in space?" Senator Henry Preston demanded, standing before Relena's desk in her office. "I suppose you're going to tell me that we've allowed the AMS to run rampant in Siberia because Commander Une's been preparing for space operations," the senator continued. "If any of our citizens are abused by the occupation forces, I will see to it that the blame is fastened on you, Ms. President!"
"The Aresian Military Service will not abuse our citizens, Senator. I've personally met Governor Esroni, and while I may disagree with his policies, I recognize his integrity, and he would never permit soldiers under his command who abused enemy civilians or POWs to go unpunished," Relena responded icily, sitting behind her desk. "You are correct as to the reason why the enemy has been allowed to expand their territory. Commander Une has impressed upon me the critical nature of the present tactical and strategic situation. The only reason that the AMS was able to take control of such a large area so quickly was that Siberia is very sparsely populated, and what population it does have is concentrated in a relatively small number of communities. The Martians were therefore able to use their available forces to take control of the cities without bothering themselves about an empty expanse of steppe. Une anticipated this and subtly encouraged them to expand in the hopes of luring them into an over-extension of their available forces. According to Preventer Intelligence, her hopes have been fulfilled in this regard."
"What all this means, Senator," Dorothy Catalonia, Relena's chief-of-staff, said, "is that right now, the Martian forces on the ground are spread very thinly, and we could most likely defeat them easily in a series of small-scale actions."
"So why don't we?" Preston interjected angrily.
"Because Commander Une also told me that the current situation could change very soon," Relena responded. "Vulkanus is a fully automated mobile suit factory, Senator. You put raw materials in at one end and a mobile suit comes out the other. It takes a while, certainly, but the simple fact of it is that having that automation frees up a lot of their manpower for other tasks, which in and of itself is an advantage. Add to that the fact that they've captured sufficient resources to produce at least 500 more suits than they've deployed on Earth or at Vulkanus. True, they only have hangar space for another 250, but as long as they've got the suits, why not send them down to reinforce their invasion army?" Relena barely paused for a breath before going on: "That is why Lady Une and I advocate that we prioritize space operations. If we can prevent the AMS from reinforcing their troops here on Earth, it will be that much easier to defeat those troops when the time comes. If we allow them to reinforce, our task becomes more difficult on all fronts." She glowered at Preston.
"You seem to be forgetting, Ms. President," he said softly, "that the Senate, as an elected body, has a duty to the citizens of the Earth Sphere Unified Nation... as do you yourself. And among those duties is to see to their safety, first and foremost." He paused, throwing a glance in Heero's direction as the bodyguard stiffened at the senator's tone. His gaze fell on the ring on the third finger Heero's left hand, and then traveled to the corresponding ring on Relena's hand, before he continued, "You say you've met Mikol Esroni? All well and good. But the man is on Mars. How much is he really going to know about what happens here on Earth? I can virtually guarantee you that at least some of the AMS soldiers here will be thinking that exact thing should they decide to abuse our citizens."
Relena rose from her chair and looked out the panoramic window behind her desk. Heero twitched, and she smiled mentally at his instinctive nervousness, though the window looked like another patch of wall from the outside. Then the amusement faded, and she turned to face Preston. "Very well, Senator," she said. "I shall inform Commander Une that I have decided that we shall focus our operations on Earth rather than in space. Good day." She dismissed him from her presence with a cold courtesy, and Preston turned to leave.
At the door, he paused, half-turned, and said with an unpleasant smirk, "Congratulations to both of you on your engagement, Mr. Yuy and Ms. President." Then he was gone.
Lieutenant Joshua Bradley, commanding officer, Stallion Squadron, was torn between satisfaction and weary resignation. On the one hand, the guerrilla attacks he and his squadron had been making from the base in Anpau, Kazakhstan, where they had been transferred after retreating to Ulan Bator, had succeeded in diverting some of the enemy's attention from its ultimate goal, Brussels. On the other hand, it looked as though his attacks had garnered a bit more of the enemy's attention than he'd bargained for.
At least Commander Une moved the Maguanac Corps here immediately after the Martians made landfall, he thought. If half of what's said about them is true, I'll be damned glad to have them with us today. With that thought, he entered the briefing room. "Right," he said, "You all know that our raids over the last few days have prompted the AMS to move to eliminate the distraction we represent. The force they're sending consists of five squadrons, we think of Medusa IIs. This force, while much smaller than the one they hit the Siberian Base with, is more than sufficient to destroy a single squadron of Pegasuses such as ourselves.
"Therefore, in their infinite wisdom, the higher-ups have decided to send us out to attack them." Bradley took a moment to survey the disbelief on the faces of his pilots. "Don't worry," he reassured them, "they don't expect us to actually beat them all by our lonesomes. Our mission is to strike them quickly in a series of raids, similar to the ones we've been carrying out, in order to lead them into an ambush being prepared by the Maguanac Corps." He nodded with approval as fierce grins blossomed on several faces. "I should tell you that the point of these strikes, unlike the raids, is not to inflict maximum damage in the minimum period of time. Our goal today is to inflict enough damage to get the enemy to follow us, and lure them into the massed firepower of our Maguanac friends. We will therefore be carrying only machine guns. Do you all understand?" All ten pilots of Stallion Squadron nodded. "Good," Bradley said. "Shannon," he turned to the junior-grade lieutenant who'd replaced Cyrus Faulkner as First Squad's commander, and who also served as his executive officer, "I'm counting on you to keep First Squad from getting overzealous."
"Roger that, Sir," the young woman replied. "You just watch my sister. Stephanie's got a bit of a temper."
"So I've been told, Lieutenant Amahira," Bradley answered, chuckling as the ensign in question stuck her tongue out at her sister. "And she also has a great deal to learn about proper military conduct. This briefing is concluded, now get to your suits."
The moment the door had closed behind Preston, Heero said, "He's going to tell the newsies."
Relena sat back down, her shoulders sagging. "After all the effort we put into keeping it quiet," she bemoaned, "only to have it leaked because Preston forced me to do what he wanted me to do."
"Should we do any preparatory spadework with the press?" Dorothy suggested.
"Can we do that without admitting that Heero and I are having a relationship?" Relena asked.
"No," Dorothy grimaced. She continued, "but if we can beat Preston to the punch by announcing it ourselves, we'll look better, and we can more effectively control the way the newsies approach the story."
Heero snorted. "I don't think anyone is capable of controlling the newsies," he said. "Not without a complete nationalization of the various media industries."
"Which would be against the Constitution," Relena pointed out.
" 'Control' wasn't the best word I could have used," Dorothy corrected herself; " 'influence' is more along the lines of what I meant."
"So how do we go about making sure our announcement doesn't hurt us in the eyes of the public?" Heero asked the blonde chief-of-staff.
"Well first, we'll have to come out and admit that you two are engaged," Dorothy began, "and explain that Heero will be resigning his position as the commanding officer of the Presidential Security Detachment as soon as he and Lady Une have selected a replacement." She paused. "Heero, I know you won't like this, but the newsies are going to want to know more about you. We may have to release parts of your history to keep them satisfied, and also to stop them from inventing wild, speculative rumors about your past. Not," she added, "that it will stop rumors from forming completely. Some people have entirely too much imagination."
Relena smiled. "That sounds good, Dorothy. Do you think I should make the announcement personally, or…?"
"No," Dorothy said firmly. "I'll give it to your press secretary to announce at the next briefing. We want to be seen as open and honest, but I doubt either of you wants to draw more attention to the story than it's going to get on its own."
Heero shook his head. "No, we don't," Relena agreed. "How long do we have until the next briefing?"
"About five minutes," Dorothy replied. "Let's get this thing together."
Lieutenant Commander Lucrezia Noin Peacecraft looked around the Lunar Base briefing room, surveying the assembled pilots of Excelsior and Knights of the Realm Squadrons. "Is everyone here?" she asked.
"Not quite," Captain Roche Nattono answered. "Sergeant Breton still isn't here."
"I think I saw him in the mess," Mariemaia volunteered. "I'll go get him." Standing up, she walked out.
Andre Breton was, indeed, in the mess, eating a danish. Mariemaia shook her head amusedly and planted her hands on her hips, standing akimbo. "Andre!" she said. "We're supposed to be in the mission briefing!"
Andre looked up. "But…"
"Now, Sergeant!" Mariemaia ordered, cutting him off. "Bring the danish with you, if you must!"
With a sigh, Andre stood up. "Yes, Ma'am," he said, putting the danish on a napkin and following her to the briefing room. When they had sat down, Noin began:
"As I'm sure you're all aware, Commander Une has intended to continue prioritizing space operations despite the invasion. That situation, however, has changed.
Noin paused to let that sink in before continuing. "Two hours ago, President Darlian contacted Commander Une and ordered her to shift her priorities to Earth operations. Since Excelsior and Knights of the Realm are seen as elite units, we had not been tasked with any mission before the shift in priorities. This means that we will be the first units transferred down to Earth. All other units will complete whatever missions they have been assigned in space. Most will then be sent down to Earth, leaving sufficient forces in space to adequately guard the Lunar Base, the colonies, and to escort convoys carrying war materiel.
"The AMS's ultimate objective has to be to seize control of the World Nation. To do that, they need to seize the capital. They could swing south around the Ural Mountains, or they could go around the north. We are or will be giving them quite a fight along the Kazakhstan front in the south, so Preventer Intelligence thinks that they'll be going north.
"That brings me to our destination," Noin said, activating the large display on the wall behind her. "If the Martians react as PrevInt has predicted, they will eventually have to come to Moscow; the city is too strategically important for them to ignore. When they do get to the city, we'll be waiting for them." Noin shut the screen off. "In light of the fact that Moscow is so important, I am certain that we will be playing emergency response force to a larger garrison, so I haven't assigned patrol zones or deployment patterns. If the Martians hit Moscow before the rest of the garrison arrives, we'd be better off striking as a concentrated force anyway. We'll be leaving in three hours, and your suits are being loaded onto carriers as we speak. Pack your things, and then I'd suggest spending some time in the simulators practicing ground combat. This briefing is concluded; you're dismissed."
"I've spotted the enemy," Lieutenant (JG) Shannon Amahira, a.k.a. Stallion One, reported. "Looks like Intelligence called it. Five squadrons of Medusa IIs."
"I copy, Stallion One. All Stallions, prepare to engage," Lieutenant Joshua Bradley replied.
"Roger that, Leader."
Stallion Squadron's PC-05MS Pegasus mobile suits, outfitted for flight, were armed only with machine guns, since they were intended merely to act as a lure, not as a serious attack force.
This is for Cyrus Faulkner, you Martian bastards! He smiled grimly as his squadron's machine guns began to fire, strafing the AMS formation.
"Sir, there's an airborne squadron of Pegasuses approaching from our 12 o'clock."
"I see them, Chimera Five," responded Lieutenant Colonel David Starr, Gorgon Leader. "Leave them alone; they're most likely a recon flight sent out to confirm what their satellites have told them is out--"
He was cut off by someone shouting, "INCOMING FIRE!"
Starr immediately started to bark orders to deploy defensors, but it was too late.
Ensign Stephanie Amahira let out a whoop as her Pegasus shot over the enemy formation. "Think we got their attention, Leader?" she asked.
"I hope so, Seven. Let's take a second pass just to be sure. Hear that, One?"
"Copy, Leader," Shannon replied, and the ten Pegasuses banked around and came at the Martians again.
"We survived?"
Those were the first words out David Starr's mouth when he realized that his stupidity hadn't cost him his command after all. "Deploy defensors!" he cried, seeing the enemy coming back around. "Return fire!"
The Medusa IIs opened up with their beam gatlings, forcing the oncoming Preventer mobile suits to break off their attack and evade. The ten flying mobile suits quickly fled the way they had come.
"Damage report," Starr said, suddenly weary as the adrenaline stopped flowing.
"Gorgon Six to Gorgon Leader. Very minor damage, Colonel. Most of it's just superficial pitting and scarring on the outer armor; we're lucky all they had were machine guns."
"This is Chimera Leader. Pretty much the same here. A few rounds penetrated more deeply, but nothing too serious, just a slight drop in mobility…"
Lieutenant Colonel David Starr sat back in his cockpit and listened to the voices reporting in with a sigh of relief.
"Well, that went well," Bradley commented over his suit's comm as Stallion Squadron banked to swing around the Martians and hit them again. "Now, let's try and do it again." He smiled at the enthusiastic response his remark generated. "That's the spirit, Stallions! Now, let's go kick some ass!"
President Darlian's press secretary was giving a briefing to the press: "… and the Preventers are preparing to shift the bulk of their forces down to Earth. Also, I have been informed that Colonel Heero Yuy of the Preventers' Security Section will be resigning from his position as the commanding officer of the Presidential Security Detachment and leaving active duty as soon as a suitable replacement can be found. I know you're all curious to know why, so here's the reason: President Darlian and Colonel Yuy are engaged, and felt that it would be improper for him to continue in his current position." Cameron had to shout over the hubbub that had broken out at the last announcement. "I'll have more information about the engagement at a later briefing." Cameron left the room quickly.
"Gorgon Leader, the Pegasuses are returning," Chimera Leader reported.
"I copy that. All units, this is Gorgon Leader. Deploy defensors and prepare to fire as soon as they enter our range. Ready your missiles as well."
"Roger that, Sir."
"They've got ther defensors up, Leader. We won't be able to get through," Shannon Amahira said.
"I can see that, One. Stallions, fire a missile volley—half your magazines—and then break off. If we're lucky, a few missiles will make it through. Got that?"
"Yes, Sir."
The legs of the Preventer suits split open along the vertical seams, revealing missile tubes. A flood of micromissiles shot out from the green and white suits' legs. Some were met by missiles launched from the Medusas; more were blown up in midair by beam gatling fire, and still more wasted their fury on theshields generated by the Martian suits' defensors. The bare handful of missiles that survived to strike the armor of the Medusa IIs, however, inflicted devastatin amounts of damage, destroying two of the crimson suits.
"All right, that's it," Starr muttered. "Detachment Zulu, pursue those Pegasuses!"
"Well, Leader, it looks like our cunning plan is working," Ensign Stephanie Amahira said, jerking her control sticks to avoid the enemy's beam gatling fire.
"It certainly does, Seven. But let's try not to leave them behind. We wouldn't want all our efforts to go to waste, would we?" Bradley replied, putting his own suit through a complex corkscrew evasion pattern.
"No, Sir," the younger Amahira sister agreed.
"One," Bradley said into his comm to the elder sister, "what's our ETA to Point Family Reunion?"
"About three minutes, Sir," Shannon answered.
"I copy, One. Stand by to execute Russian Wolf."
"Roger that, Sir." Shannon Amahira's face was set. "Standing by."
"Okay, Heero," Relena said, sliding onto the couch next to her fiancé, "I know you aren't very comfortable doing this, but the newsies will want to know some of your history." She smiled. "I must say, I'm quite curious as well. So fess up."
Heero closed his eyes, then reopened them in a mannerism to deliberate to be called a blink. "Just tell the newsies that we met during the war, that I was the pilot for Gundam 01 and Wing Zero, and that I had strong feelings for you even when we'd first met."
"You said you were going to kill me when we first met!" Relena protested.
"What?!" Dorothy sat bolt upright in the armchair across from the couch. "You never told me that!"
Heero ignored Dorothy's outburst. "Exactly. Tell them whatever you want, as long as it's true. As for the rest of my life story, I'll right an autobiography."
"When?" Relena asked.
"After we're married," Heero replied. "Since I won't be your official bodyguard anymore, I'll need something to keep me busy."
Relena blinked. "I guess that makes sense."
"I take it we're done here?" Dorothy said, pouting slightly at being ignored.
Heero nodded.
"I'll go tell Cameron, then," Dorothy got up with a sigh. "Nobody ever tells me anything."
"Stallion Ten, you're falling too far behind," Lieutenant Joshua Bradley barked. "Get back into mutual support range!"
"Roger that, Leader. Closing—Aaaah!" The Frenchwoman screamed.
"Ten! Are you hit?"
"The shot went low; they just got my legs. I'll be fine, S—"
"Jeanette!" Bradley threw a wild glance to his rear monitor just in time to see Private Jeanette Cormier's Pegasus explode. "Shockwave!" he shouted a warning to his remaining pilots, and then he was being shaken around in his cockpit like a bead in a baby rattle as the shock wave hit his suit. Looking at his forward monitors and blinking back tears, Bradley saw that Point Family Reunion was just ahead. "One, this is Leader. Execute Russian Wolf."
"Roger. Executing," Shannon replied, and she typed a command into the keypad at her right hand.
"Finally," Lieutenant Colonel David Starr muttered to himself. "We got one. Two!" he exclaimed to himself as a second Pegasus suddenly began trailing smoke from one of its engines and dove for the ground. It went into a controlled glide and disappeared behind one of a cluster of large hills. He flicked to the all-units frequency. "Well done, people! Now let's go finish them off," he said, watching the rest of the Pegasuses follow their downed man.
"Sir, I'm not sure that's such a good idea," his executive officer said. "They shouldn't be landing. They wouldn't be landing unless they thought they could fight us off or escape from us."
"Maybe they think they can get their man out of the damaged suit and cram him into someone else's cockpit. I don't know, and I don't care. Our numerical advantage is intact, and they aren't properly equipped to be able to stand up to us. Whatever they're thinking, they just made a mistake and gave us an opportunity, and I'm sure as hell going to take it."
"They fell for it, Leader. Here they come now," Ensign Stephanie Amahira said.
"I see them, Seven," Bradley replied. Then he said, "Maguanac Two, did you get that?"
"I certainly did, Lieutenant," Major Rasid Kurama answered. "We'll engage them once they open fire on your squadron for optimal effect."
"Understood. We'll do what we can to help." Bradley fell silent, thinking. "How good are your men at firing into melee, Major?"
"Why?"
"There's a tactic that Knights of the Realm invented for dealing with planet defensors called the Shear and Herd maneuver. It's intended for space combat, but there's no reason it can't be adapted. Have you heard of it?"
"I have," Rasid's deep voice rumbled, "and I think we can work with that."
"Great. All right, Stallions. The Major and I have a plan…"
Starr wasn't surprised to see that all nine of his opponents' suits were still on their feet; the damage that had forced the first one down was to the jet engine, after all, not its feet. The Medusa IIs leveled their beam gatlings at the nine Pegasuses standing some distance away. Starr opened a comm channel: "This is Lieutenant Colonel Starr, CO Detachment Zulu. You are outnumbered, outgunned, and your weapons cannot penetrate our defensors. Surrender." There was no verbal response, but each Preventer mobile suit dropped its machine gun to the ground. However, the pilots did not exit their suits.
"Y'know, I'm not Japanese," said Lieutenant Joshua Bradley, CO Stallion Squadron, Stallion Leader, "so it's somewhat inappropriate for me to say this, but—BANZAIII!" He shouted the last word at the top of his lungs, pulled out both beam sabres from the wing shields of his Pegasus, and fired his jets, sending his suit screaming toward the Martian suits. Behind him, his squadron did the same, flying into the enemy with sabres drawn.
Starr and his soldiers were utterly shocked. The tactic the Preventers were employing was a mad one even in space, where a pilot had three dimensions of movement and maneuverability to work with. However, on Earth as in space, it was the shock value of the tactic that made it work. The Preventer suits' sabres slashed here and there, slicing and impaling defensors into uselessness.
Even that wouldn't have been so bad if not for the forty Maguanac Kais that rose up out of the hills and opened fire. Taken by surprise and deprived of their defensors' protection, the Medusa IIs might still have made it if their discipline had held. Unfortunately, Starr died even before the Maguanacs' first volley, falling to one of Lieutenant Joshua Bradley's beam sabres, and the Martian formation quickly disintegrated.
In a break in the fighting, Bradley stowed one of his sabres, then continued to fight with one.
"Only using one sabre, Sir?" Ensign Amahira asked, still scything away with both of her sabres.
Bradley smiled grimly. "I'm adequately skilled with two sabres for a crazy charge like that, but for drawn-out combat, I'll stick to what I'm good at."
"Of course, Sir," Ensign Amahira agreed, blocking an overhead slash with her right sabre and stabbing through the Medusa II with her left.
When it was over, Bradley opened a channel to Major Kurama. "Thanks, Major. That was excellent timing on your part."
"You're welcome, Lieutenant. It was an excellent tactic on yours."
"Lunar Base, this is Commander Peacecraft, requesting permission for Excelsior and Knights of the Realm Squadrons to depart for Moscow," Noin said.
"Commander Peacecraft, this is Lunar Base. Permission granted."
Two carriers slid silently from the launch bay, bearing eighteen mobile suits, their pilots, and a small amount of support personnel and equipment toward the blue, green, and white globe called Earth.
Vulkanus Central Command
"General Remek, the Preventers have launched two carriers toward Earth. No escort. They appear to be heading for northeastern Eurasia, probably Moscow. We have forces moving to intercept."
"Very well. Keep me informed."
"Commander Peacecraft, there's a squadron of Medusas at one-five-zero, one-four-two. Uh, five o'clock high." Noin heard the bridge crewman's unspoken question clearly: What should we do?
Noin considered for a moment. "Pass word to Captain Nattono and have him launch two of his people, with beam cannons, to deal with them."
"Yes, Ma'am."
"… So I need two volunteers to go out there and give those Martians a good thrashing," Roche Nattono said, looking at his forward monitor, which was split into nine sections, each showing one of his pilots.
"I'll go," said Sergeant Andre Breton, as soon as Roche had finished speaking.
"Me too," Lance Corporal Brian Phinney and Zhacque chorused.
"Breton and Phinney it is, then. Take the two cannons when you leave, and good hunting."
"Yes, Sir," they said, and then dropped out of the circuit as they exited the ship.
Mariemaia opened a channel to Zhacque's Taurus II in the other carrier. "Hey, Zhacque. Who's out there?"
Zhacque appeared on her forward monitor. "Breton and Phinney, Mariemaia," he answered. "If you wanna watch 'em, I can relay the take from the carrier's aft sensors."
"Sure. Hook me up." Zhacque reached down offscreen and fiddled with some controls. A moment later, Mariemaia's forward monitor displayed a view of space looking toward the moon and Vulkanus. In the foreground, she could see two Taurus IIs armed with beam cannons, and further into the distance, she could see the squadron of Medusas approaching.
"Come on, you Martian bastards. Come on into the range of my nice beam cannon," Andre Breton crooned.
"Are we going to fire in tandem for the first shot, Sir, or go straight to independent targeting?" Phinney asked.
"Independent targeting from the start, Nine. I trust your judgement." Just beyond the range of the beam cannons, the Martian suits deployed their defensors. As they came into range, they opened fire with their beam bayonets. The two Preventer suits fired their verniers to avoid the volley.
"Damnation, I forgot that their bayonets had the same range as our cannons," Breton cursed, returning fire with his weapon. The powerful beam lanced out toward a cluster of three Medusas; two of them managed to evade the blast, but the third was destroyed as the beam cannon's power overloaded its defensors.
Phinney also fired; his shot caught one of the suits that had dodged Breton's attack. "Two down, eight to go," he muttered.
"Nine, let's close up the range a bit, keep them away from the carriers." Mariemaia watched and listened as her former squadronmates moved toward the enemy, dodging their fire.
"Their coordination's good," Zhacque commented.
"Could be better, though," Mariemaia replied. "If it'd been me and you out there…"
Zhacque laughed. "Mari, if you were out there, you'd already have won. I don't think you'd need more than a single shot from the twin buster rifle."
Mariemaia smiled as she heard Zhacque use her nickname for the first time. Zhacque's kind of formal that way, she thought. He doesn't use nicknames much. Onscreen, the two sides were almost close enough to use beam sabers. Against Tauruses with beam rifles, Mariemaia thought, those Medusas would be making a bayonet charge right now, but their defensors can't protect them from a beam cannon's firepower.
Suddenly, Nine—Brian Phinney—exploded, hit by a flurry of beam gatling fire.
"What was that?" Andre asked, alarmed.
"Knight Eight, be advised that there are stealthed Vulturises in your vicinity," Roche Nattono's voice said. Breton immediately began taking evasive action, jerking randomly to and fro. Then the Medusas launched a missile volley at nearly point blank range, and it was all over.
"Damn," Nattono said. "Commander Peacecraft, my people were just mousetrapped quite neatly, and we may be next. The Medusas can't catch up to us, but there's a group of Vulturises out there that could get us."
Noin considered her options. "Bridge, this is Commander Peacecraft. Alter course to take us into the atmosphere. The Vulturises are weakly armored; if we begin reentry now, the won't be able to destroy us."
"But Commander, if we alter course as drastically as you're suggesting, we'll end up in the middle of the Martian-controlled area.
"I don't care. We'll fight or sneak our way through. But Knights of the Realm Squadron is the only active defensive option we have at the moment, and Taurus IIs aren't meant to withstand reentry. If Excelsior launches and we continue on our present course, their carrier will be destroyed by the Vulturises before whichever suits we launch can get there. Knights of the Realm has already lost two pilots; I'm not going to sacrifice all of them."
"Yes, Ma'am. Altering course."
The Arctic OceanA few miles from the Russian coast, a squadron of Xiphiasi, the AMS's amphibious mobile suit design, floated among the ice floes. Captain Ariadne Galloway, CO Sharktooth Squadron, looked up at the red streaks in the sky.
"Well, well. That's an unusual vector. Looks like they're aiming for the coast." Ariadne flipped a switch. "Come in, Mongol Leader. This is Sharktooth Leader. Do you copy?"
"This is Mongol Leader. I copy. What's up, Sharktooth?"
Galloway smiled. "Mongol Leader, there are a couple of Preventer carriers headed your way, ETA five minutes. We're going to head in toward their projected landing zone near the coast and give you a hand. Just thought I'd give you a heads-up."
"Thanks, Sharktooth. See you there. Mongol Leader, out."
"Commander, we've decelerated enough to drop mobile suits now and we're just waiting to get some solid ground underneath us to drop you ont—Shit! Uh, Ma'am we just detected a squadron of Tempests on the ground ahead of us. We may have to do an aerial drop."
Lucky us, Noin thought. "Inform the other carrier."
"Already done, Ma'am."
"Good. Drop us when the Tempests fire or when we're directly above them, whichever comes first."
"Affirmative."
The AMS-11MS Tempests of Mongol Squadron aimed their shoulder-mounted beam cannons at the approaching carriers… and fired.
"All suits, drop!" the bridge crews in each carrier slammed the emergency release, and sixteen mobile suits began to fall through the cold Russian air.
To be continued in Episode 23: A Power ReemergesCheck out my profile for links to Third Beat side-stories and other features!