Still under the uncertainty of the attackers' origin, Murrue and the bridge crew plan the next move.
"Sit Rep!"
"The unknown has stayed on our backs, attacking the Paris. It hasn't launched any MS yet, but the Paris has sent their Windams and Daggers against him."
"Captain, there's something on here. If they wanted to make a sneak attack, they should've targeted us." The post war service with the Clyne Faction gave Meyrin the security that she lacked during the past war, making her sharper in tactics.
"I know. Is like they want us to attack them. Trying to slow down…" Then, the reality of the facts hit Murrue like a brick wall. "Earth Orbit! They want to lure us away of the orbit!"
"The ghost ship?"
"Can't think of anything else…"
"Captain, multiple heat signatures from the unknown vessel¡Mobile Suits!"
"Library, talk to me!"
"No signature that we can recognize! New machines?" From bad o worse. Fighting new machines means new battle tactics, even for the aces of the Archangel.
"We can't let ourselves delayed here. If only we can reach the Mythos…"
"I think I know how to do it, but I need time." It was somewhat crazy, but one thing that Meyrin has learned from the Archangel is that they do crazy things work.
"You got it! Patrol Squad, Defensive Squad, prepare to launch!"
"What's going on?"
"Don't know, kid! Seems that someone appeared to play hardball!" Murdock and his mechanic team rushed to finish the final checks on all MS for the engagement.
"Then let's get them where they hurt the most!"
"Patrol Squad, prepare for launch! I repeat, Patrol Squad, prepare for launch!" Miri's voice made echo inside the whole hangar.
"That's our cue!" As Yzak, Dearka and Shiho were transferred to the catapults, back on the bridge, Murrue gives Miri the launching sequence of the MS as Meyrin finish her idea to contact the Mythos.
"Captain, the modified Korinthos is ready!"
"You sure this will work?"
"At least they will know that something is definitely wrong here."
"Point taken! Miriallia-san, Joule and Dearka side to side and in intervals, then the same for Shiho-san and Mwu. After that, the rookies will deploy"
"Roger! Blaze ZAKU Phantom, Gunner ZAKU Warrior, to the Linear Catapult!" Back on the Archangel's dual catapults, Yzak and Dearka awaits the 'Go' signal.
"Ready to go?"
"Whenever you said. Hey, Miri! Wish me luck." But with a serious luck and what seems to be a frown, Miri jettison Dearka without warning or the sound of the catapult claxon. Yzak watches the whole show as he hear Dearka's sudden cry.
"Still owned by a Natural girl… Yzak Joule! Blaze ZAKU Phantom, going out!"
After that, Shiho launches in time to reunite with both Yzak and Dearka, and they accelerate towards the enemy MS as Mwu and the rookies form up and start their run to protect the Paris. At the same time, the Archangel fires the modified Korinthos and accelerates toward the Earth Orbit.
Near the atmosphere, the Lorelei had even worst luck, and Captain Vasquez knew very well the whole situation: they were royally screwed right now.
"Tactical!"
"Even though the numbers, the three vessels in front don't seem to attack us, but the one in our tails is starting to veer in this direction"
"A pincer attack! They would want to canned us between their ships!"
"Multiple heat signatures detected! Confirmed Den'an-Types MS!"
"CIC, engage CIWS! Launch the alert Murasames, but hold the Omega for a while. We'll play defensive until we can think a way to get off!" Inside the main hangar, Razgriz was already inside the Omega, activating its OS.
G eneral
U nlimited
N anomachine
D iffuser /
A ttacker
M odule
Advanced Maneuver Prototype OS Ver1.0
But as she finished settling up, the bridge direct transmission came up.
"Hold your horses, missy. The Captain wants to know the whole facts before getting all blazing guns."
"Great, we could be blasted in a second and she wants to think…"
"We don't like to fight with a bind, especially if we're at total disadvantage." The red head pilot knows that even if she was able to fight by herself against the Den'an-Types, the Murasames and the Lorelei would be unprotected in this tactical scenario, so, with a sigh, she gave up the discussion.
"Razgriz, acknowledge! This is going to be a long day…"
Inside the front attacking vessels, highly modified and armored Nazca-class carriers, their crew, all clad in dark blue uniforms with little to none markers, awaited the move of the Lorelei. The Captain of the command ship, a man in his mid twenties, wonders about the current scenario.
"The waiting game begins. Launch the pods to the surface. Our land troops need to start their ops soon."
"Roger, Captain."
"Now, let see if we can recover the ship… or sunk it."
Back to the battle zone of the Paris, Mwu has taken defensive position on the damage EAF ship with the two remaining rookies of the Archangel, as he radioed Yzak's group.
"Kids, we're ready! Don't forget to record and transmit the telemetry of this new MS to the Archangel."
"Copy that! Dearka, Shiho, let's see how good are this guys!"
"But fast, I already lost all of the Paris' Daggers. Only a couple of Windams stand against those things!" As they centered their targets, Shiho wasn't joking. The remaining Windams barely hold the squadron of black-colored MS. At first sight, they looked like modified DOM Troopers, but their firepower was even higher than the DOM's. Dearka was somewhat surprised as soon as he was already engaging an enemy MS.
"This guys pack a helluva' punch! And are way fast for their size!"
"In that case, let's balance the table!" Shiho didn't lose time and open fire. The GOUF Deep Arms, a prototype made with both ZAFT and Orb technology, had dual-mobile energy cannons on both shoulders, with a store chamber for beam swords in each shoulder, similar to the Saviour's beam swords rack. The shield and the tri-barreled beam weapon on their arms were discarded, mostly because of Shiho's flying style, but a beam machinegun was attached to a hard point on the back of the GOUF. As soon as an enemy MS was on her sights, Shiho fire the energy cannons. Could've been a direct hit, but the attacker deploy an energy shield.
"Crap, those things had anti-beam technology!"
"Like fighting against a Gundam… Take turns and don't let them fire upon the Paris! We need to hold the line!" Even with the disadvantage of range, Yzak was better suited for close combat, as he brings out his twin-beam axe and tore an enemy in two. Dearka was having problems with the other MS as the Orthos cannon was ineffective against a beam shield, but the assistance of the remaining Windams get him out of problem. Shiho was having a bad time, being double-teamed on both sides.
"I'll let you know why I'm called Housenka!" As she made a sudden stop, both attackers tried to close from the sides. Unfortunately for them, Shiho shifted the beam cannons in both directions 'two in front, two on her back' and fire. The enemy MS didn't knew what get them.
Close to the Paris, Mwu was starting to lose the match, as the rookies were dispatched without much trouble. Three against one, even with the reflective armor of the Akatsuki was truly disadvantage, but a sudden light helped him. The Mythos, after noticing the modified Korinthos-flare of the Archangel, manages to arrive in time. By the time it was deploying their ZAKU's and GOUF's, the enemy vessel was turning around, starting its retreat.
As the Lorelei and their Murasames put the fight in a somewhat stalemate, after seeing the descending troops from the vessels in front, Rosario and the bridge crew decided to make their move.
"We need to pass the front vessels and descend to Earth! We can't let those things loose on the planet!"
"Can we tear the three of them?"
"That's what we're going to see. Mai, tell Omega to stand by! XO, let's try 'that'!"
"As you command, Captain. Laser targeting activated. Awaiting firing solution." On the main enemy ship, this move was not unnoticed.
"Captain, we're been targeted!"
"Any sign of their weapons active?"
"No sir!"
"What are they…?" The enemy captain tried to remember something of their stolen prototype ship, and then, it hit him.
"Engines at max! Turn bow on 30, now!" Back on the Lorelei, Galen March watched as the computer confirmed the target.
"We got green, Captain!"
"Activate main guns. Target the three ships ahead.Flare-signal the Murasame wing to get out of the firing path!" From the hull and the front of the Lorelei, three positron beam guns emerged, ready to fire.
"Rhine Maiden, fire!" With the signal, the three positron guns fired, joining in a central point and releasing a powerful energy beam that disintegrates one enemy ship and badly damage the second, disabling it. The main ship managed to avoid the blast, but was taken out of his orbit. On the Lorelei's bridge, their crew is closing their mouths after seeing for the first time the true power of their ship.
"Ok, we need to use that more often. Launch the Omega! Engines at max! We'll go like this and start our descent to Earth!" On the enemy ship, its captain was mad… very mad.
"Launch all Den'ans at once! I want that ship sunk!" As Razgriz launch in the Omega and waited for the enemy counterstrike, after two Den'ans launched from the enemy ship, a high-speed electromagnetic mass hit it on the linear catapult. The Archangel has finally joined the party on the orbit. On the bridge, Chandra was amazed of Meyrin accurate shot.
"Excellent shot Meyrin!"
"Someone said that the enemy of your enemy is your ally. Let's see if that's true. Miriallia-san, launch Kira-kun and the rest."
"Roger! Strike Freedom, Infinite Justice, Impulse, Destiny, scramble!"
As the four Gundams launched from the Archangel, inside the Lorelei, Rosario was catching her breath.
"Well, seems that the legends have come to the party. It's a pity that we can't contact them."
"What are we going to do now?"
"We'll continue to Earth. We'll go catch those enemy troops that descended. Launch flares! Tell our Murasames to get back."
"Captain! The remaining enemy vessel has turned to us! They're on a collision curse with us!" Mai wasn't joking. The ship was going directly over them firing without aiming.
"More so, the disabled ship and the remaining Den'an close by are firing at us! Worst of all, most of our Murasames can't return in this heavy fire!" Tactically, March knew that this combat scenario was bad. At this rate, the Lorelei could make the descent to Earth only with a couple of Murasames and the Omega, if the Gundam-Type could make a descent of its own.
"God, I hate a sore loser… Activate Gottfrieds, Tristans, and Valiants! Charge missile launchers with Sledgehammers! Let's tore them once and for all!"
Back to the MS combat, with the telemetry of the combat in rear, Kira, Athrun, Shinn and Lunamaria knew what to expect. Being the specialist in close range battles, Athrun lead this one, as Shinn and Luna 'with the Sword Impulse' tore the remaining enemy Den'ans. Kira, after slice-and-dice a couple of MS, direct himself over his 'ghost ship' and the remaining enemy ship, when a sudden feeling startled him.
"That's it! The same feeling that I sense on the lab and the last days…" After surveying the area, he catch the sight of a Gundam-type MS, destroying the enemy once after other with a weapon he hasn't seen before. "So that's the one…"
Inside the Omega, Razgriz sensed it too. A feeling of longing, and also, of a certain rage. "What's that…?" That was the last thing she thought before something on her head make her fury arise, seeing the Strike Freedom as the enemy she needed to tear apart. After a sudden cry and sensing the whole space where she was, she started to attack the Strike Freedom with everything the Omega had. Kira foresaw this, but even with all his ability, only avoiding the attacks of the Omega was difficult. Seeing an open window, Razgriz used the Whispers and fire round after round. Avoiding most of the rounds, Kira saw firsthand the power of this Gundam, as one of the shots went through the beam shield and damage the shoulder of the Strike Freedom.
"Alright, time to get real serious with this one…" With a flash on his mind, Kira went into SEED, but then something unexpected happened. He felt a Newtype resonance field from his adversary, one that he remotely remembers.
"This field is…" Now Kira was interested on this pilot, but he couldn't think more as the Omega charged into him with its beam saber, and the force of the impact sent both of them into an orbital descent. Back to the Archangel, after making the fourth enemy vessel retreat with heavy damages after activating its Mirage Colloid, Miriallia catch the Strike Freedom's orbital course.
"Captain! Kira is descending to Earth alongside with what seems to be a Gundam-Type!"
"Can you reach him!"
"Negative! He's too close to the atmosphere! In a couple of minutes we'll lose his signal!"
"He made a solo descent in the last war, so he'll be alright. I hope... Have you contacted that vessel?"
"No luck. Seems that their comm's are disabled or aren't working. They too are on route for an orbital descent."
"Full speed ahead! At least we'll try to help them pass." A little late for that, as the Lorelei blasted the drifting vessel aiming at them, and also, the command ship was being crippled with a concentrate fire. With the remaining Den'an having retreat with the fleeing enemy vessel, the last ship was a sitting duck. A couple shots later, it was history. But the problem of the Lorelei was starting.
"Change course with the verniers and follow the Omega's descent route! We can't allow losing it! Launch flares to the remaining Murasames! If they can't reach us, they will go to the Archangel and update them of this whole mess!"
"Entering atmosphere! All descent systems activated and working! We're on course with the Omega."
"If that girl don't make a good excuse for attacking Kira Yamato, I will spank her and but her on the brig!"
As the Lorelei matched the descent course, inside the Omega, and still holding the Strike Freedom as they entered the atmosphere, Razgriz only had a single thought: "Destroy the Strike Freedom at any cost…"
Ok, it's the first combat I do with this format, so if it's a little rushed or lacking things, bear with me for a while. Honestly, is difficult to describe a 3-way battle zone combat with all the variants, but hey, Jachin Due was that at all. As you can see, I'll use some of the technology of the UC arc of F90-F91, especially the Den'an types (generic) since it's not been used before.
A tech detail: The Archangel can store at least 13 MS not counting any MA. (2 Skygraspers and the Exass/Möbius Zero) As for the Lorelei, the next chapter may explain why the heavy amount of weapons, and some info of our mysterious enemies and the origin of both the Omega and Razgriz.