Chap 3
CE76
OMNI military base
Rhineland
Germany
Yzak signed off another few papers irritably as maintenance crews made final checks on their machines. After their arrival at an airbase in the Rhineland region, the ZAFT pilots had walked their machines straight into an adjoining army base. There, they had been greeted by a stout Atlantic Federation Brigadier-General and shown to their quarters before a briefing.
A meet-and-greet session had then introduced the ZAFT pilots to their OMNI counterparts of the 904th Independent Tactical Air Squadron and the 601st Mobile Suit Squadron. Nice bunch of fellows, but the question was did they have the skill?
Here in the vast expanses of the Rhineland region, insurgents were present in force, enough to take on the OMNI forces here and capture European territories stretching from Germany all the way down to the United Kingdom. The only reason why they hadn't was they'd be spread thin and vulnerable to a counterattack by any of the the three Earth Alliance superstates.
Blue Cosmos sure had a lot of support even after all that had happened. Apparently, genetics was too hard to ignore for some.
Yzak stared at the vast land that constituted a region that shared by many different territories. He could already imagine an all out conventional war playing itself out on its vast expanses. Mobile suits, men, tanks and aircraft on both sides coming together in one titanic clash to decide the fate of Western and Central Europe.
That was highly unlikely however. Blue Cosmos would probably reserve its strength and play out a war of attrition using insurgent and propaganda tactics to turn the people against the Earth Alliance. They had already proved themselves daredevils, blatantly attacking bases across Europe in force.
Still, operations from neighbouring Belgium, France and Switzerland would strangle their hold on Europe and hopefully cut them off for the final blow. All around the world, operations were planned to do just that.
Turning to look at his GOUF Ignited one last time, he headed towards the headquarters, ready to play his part in the coming offensive.
CE76
OMNI military base headquarters
Rhineland
Germany
Shiho Hahnenfuss took a seat beside Yzak at the commanders' row. So close yet so far, Shiho could barely resist touching him or planting a quick kiss on his cheek, but she had to keep their professional image clean. Yzak looked and mouthed the three words and she smiled and nodded.
If the two had any plans to continue expressing their love for one another, they were put on hold as Brigadier-General Heinrich walked in and the men snapped to attention.
"At ease", boomed Heinrich and the men sat down.
BG Heinrich:" Ladies and gentlemen, tomorrow we begin a monumental day in history. In 12 hours time, combined OMNI and ZAFT forces will begin offensive operations all over the world to take the fight to the Blue Cosmos insurgents. Far too long have we been kept on the back foot while Blue Cosmos harasses the world virtually unchecked. Tomorrow that ends. Its time to put an end to the madness they started and make safe our homes."
The men beamed with pride and excitement, well aware of the historic endeavour they were about to partake in.
Brigadier-General Heinrich continued, "A few days ago, we had a tip-off about mobile suit sightings somewhere near Cologne. After some investigation and a stake-out, reconnaissance teams have found out that insurgents are hiding in a forest here with as many as twenty mobile suits." Given that they haven't left, they're definitely planning something big and audacious. The 904th will take up overwatch positions near the forest while the ZAFT squadrons and elements of the 601st will close in on them from your insertion point 10km from the target area. The rest of the 601st will act as a reserve and hot-drop in to catch the insurgents in a pincer maneuver. Questions?"
There were none.
CE76
50km from Cologne
Rhineland
Germany
Shiho watched the ramp open and the forest canopy almost appeared as a giant black mass, closer than she liked. She had never hot-dropped out of a low-level aircraft in the wee hours of the morning before. Her cockpit rumbled as the plane flew on to the insertion point, ready to disgorge its deadly occupants to the ground.
The light at the corners of the cargo bay were still red, signalling that it was too soon to jump.
Shiho:" All Housenkas, status report."
Green acknowledgements lights flicked on across her HUD display.
Shiho:"Give me another when you guys hit the ground".
The lights flashed amber, and Shiho tenses, her actions mirrored in her suit's posture, ready to jump out. The countdown timer flashed on her screen. Twenty seconds.
When the countdown hit zero, The cargo bay lights turned green and Shiho jumped out, thrusters engaged to slow her descent and legs slightly bent forwards. Her suit landed with a heavy crash and Shiho immediately pulled her Blaze Zaku Phantom upright, Beam rifle braced against the shoulder, mono eye strafing left and right with her rifle for targets.
The Housenka and Joule squadrons landed, status reports hastily sounded off. Shiho looked at Yzak's GOUF, which raised a thumbs-up. Shiho signalled her team and the strike force crept forwards through the forest. The forest was dense, a perfect place for an ambush and so the ZAFT teams warily eyed the forest for any sign of the enemy. Darkness crept over them, masking their suits in shadow, save for their pink mono eyes searching for their prey.
High above them, the 904th Independent Tactical Air squadron circled like vultures. Captain Johann Gunther twisted the controls of his a Jet Windam as he watched his infrared view of the forest below. Other than the ZAFT squadrons, there was no sign of the insurgents. They had probably turned off their engines and pumped up their coolant to nullify their heat signatures. Frustrated, he switched over to night vision and took a glance at his squadron of Jet Windams. Veterans one and all of the Bloody Valentine Wars, from the recapture of Victoria to the grinding battles of attrition at Jachin Due and the messiah.
His squadron had seen men at their best and worst during the wars. Heroes and genocidal maniacs made in the fires and horrors of war. Johann could never understand the justification for Blue Cosmos hatred and genocidal attitude towards coordinators. All he saw was the madness they had added to an already horrific war, as if the body count built up during the grinding battles weren't enough. Now the world had a chance for peace again, and Johann hoped that it would be final this time round.
Pushing his thoughts aside, Captain Johann brought his focus back to providing overwatch for the ground troops below.
Yzak was starting to get very annoyed. There was still no sign of the insurgents. Yzak panned his GOUF mono-eye left and right. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary arou... There!
Yzak:" All units hold."
The others seemed to have caught on as more than a few took aim at the powered down Windam partially visible in the clearing ahead. As they took up positions at the tree line, the rest of the insurgent force came into view.
Yzak scanned the opposition. 7 Windams, 8 Dagger Ls and 6 strike daggers high kneeling, the majority partially hidden by trees and shrubbery. In addition several civilian vehicles sat there, men sleeping within them, all except three, who woke up to the sound of approaching mobile suits. They stared dumbstruck at the many pink mono eyes observing them before realizing what was happening. The three raised the alarm and went for their weapons, alerting the entire force.
The insurgent mobile suits started up and turned to meet the threat or run for cover. Yzak cursed and opened fire at a strike dagger. The others didn't need to be told what to do and fired as well.
The strike dagger caught the Yzaks beam machine gun bolts on its shield. Not designed to withstand such high powered weaponry, the shield was torn apart and the remainder of the beams blew off the arm holding it. Staggering back under the force of the impact, the strike dagger fired a shot that went wild and hit a tree instead. Yzak let off another burst that detonated its reactor, lighting up the area.
Dearka speared a Dagger l with a beam rifle shot while Shiho ignited the reactor of another with her own shot. Two of the civie vehicles were already burning hulks beside mangled bodies as the two sides traded furious shots. Yzak growled at the loss of the element of surprise as he fired and radioed the 904th.
Johann saw the explosion before anyone else did. Then the ground at a patch exploded in a beam slugging match.
"Spectre one, multiple hostile contacts at delta two sierra. Engaging now", came Yzak's voice over the radio.
" You do know that you're supposed to radio me before you engage the enemy do you?", sighed Johann.
Yzak:" They heard us, didn't have time. We could use some air support at the tree line right now."
Johann:" Understood. Mark enemy position. Eta 1 minute"
Y:" Marking"
Johann keyed his squadron's frequency before issuing his attack orders.
Johann:" Spectre one to Spectre Actual, hostile contact against marked tree line. Air strike confirmed. Engage."
Johann's squadron dived towards the ground, target recticles falling towards a tree line marked by a laser designator. 20 seconds later, Johann releases two missiles from his striker pack, followed by eighteen more. The missiles slammed into the tree line with explosive force, destroying and damaging several mobile suits.
CE76
62 km from Cologne
Rhineland
Germany
Shiho fired off a volley of fire bee missiles, blasting the head and hands off a strike dagger before placing a beam rifle shot through a windam. Then the air strike hit, and several hostile suits perished along with any infantry they had.
Firing off a quick volley at their assailants above, the insurgent suits retreated. Johann and his squadron landed and gave chase, firing as they went.
Shiho:" Yzak go right! I'll take the left!"
Yzak didn't need to ask what she had planned. Using their superior speed, the two ZAFT forces caught up with the insurgents on their flanks and made harassing shots. Now the insurgents were caught on three sides and fired more frequently to discourage pursuit. Running all the way in an attempt to break away from the encirclement.
CE76
72km from Cologne
Rhineland
Germany
Captain Klaus von Lichtenstein kept his Windam low,like the rest of his squadron. When news of Yzak's engagement and the enemy's subsequent retreat reached his ears, Klaus had positioned his men right in their path and high kneeled to prevent detection. Klaus growled, impatient to engage and settle the score. During the Second Bloody Valentine War, his coordinator wife had suffered a brutal beating and near rape at the hands of a Blue Cosmos incited mob and the local Blue Cosmos orator. She survived, but their unborn child did not and her injuries prevented her from bearing any more.
Unknown to all save his squadron and family, Klaus had hunted the man down in his villa and dragged his broken body to the cellar, where he had first tortured the man for several days before killing him. His death had been written off as just another casualty of the anti-LOGOS riots. He remembered those days very clearly. How he had slowly cut and ripped off the bastard's skin as he screamed. He had begged, oh yes he did. But Klaus didn't care, he had lost his child and his wife lay in a hospital bed. After that he had set his lower body on fire before nailing his skull with a nail gun and smashing his skull to an unrecognizable pulp with a hammer. His squadron, never having taken a liking to Blue Cosmos had simply turned a blind eye and kept quiet about it. When one of them had found out the guy was dead and Klaus had been alone, he had simply said "Good. No witnesses means no crime."
He could see them now and he let a feral grin spread to his face.
"Fire", Klaus commanded. Beam rifle shots flared out at insurgents from the front. Stabbing torsos and heads. The insurgent suits were blown apart or knocked over for good. Within the space of twenty two minutes, the entire insurgent force had been defeated.