Superdimensional Fortress Kaguya:Homefront
Chapter Two: Sigh of relief
Written by Darkranger12 and Shanejayell
*****08:55 GST May 8th 2125AD SDF 12 Kaguya, 31st combined fleet,Earl, Sagitarrius Arm*****
As the UN SPACY variable fighter pilots fought a desperate battle with the Triolian Supervision Army Remnant forces, the 31st combined fleet was fighting a desperate battle of its own. The TSA Remnant Fleet was much more powerful that the 31st, and was tearing its advanced battle groups to shreds. A Crusader class destroyer blazed away at a pair of organic looking TSA Remnant Destroyers, peppering them with pulse fire from their impact cannons and scoring hits with its main guns.
The salvo tore chunks of organic looking armor off of the destroyers, causing both ships to belch fire and smoke, but the ships kept on coming. The young captain of the ship grunted as the TSA Remnant Destroyers powered up its main guns then blasted his ship with a barrage of beam fire.
"Ugh!" The young captain winced as the beam fire tore through the destroyers hull causing multiple explosions through out the ship. The firestorm cascaded through out the vessel until it reached the bridge.
"No!" The crew and the young captain bellowed as they were engulfed in flame as the crusader class destroyer exploded.
Onboard the flagship of the fleet, Vice Admiral Helena Chase winced at a near miss rattled the Kaguya's bridge. She frowned as she sat back in her seat and barked out an order. "Status report!"
"Our pinpoint barriers are near to the breaking point," A woman barked as she sat next to a woman with glasses. "A few more hits and they'll be down for at least 30 minutes."
"We're too hemmed in to try evasive maneuvers," the helmswoman added then grunted as another near miss flew over the bridge, "and this boat is too slow to dodge anyway."
"I know you're used to cruisers, Lieutenant, but don't criticize my ship." Helena frowned.
"Sorry ma'am," The young lieutenant answered, her fingers dancing on the controls as she used trusters to generate something like a evasion pattern.
"Apology accepted," Helena nodded, eyed the brilliant display of firepower on the foredeck then looked at the woman at the defensive weapons station. "How are our boys doing out there?"
Mari Illustrious Makinami leaned forward, eagerly reporting, "Heavy losses! We're getting hammered, but the fighter teams are giving as good as they get!"
"That girl is WAY too enthusiastic," Helena murmured, sighing and glanced at her displays, assessing the situation. After glancing at the battle map, The veteran shook her head. Helena was not liking the odds they were facing. Even with the two fleets reinforcing each other they were close to being overwhelmed. Worse, the enemy matched them in technology, they had no edge in combat effectiveness.
Misato Katsuragi made her way to the Admiral, stopping beside her as she smiled grimly. "Do you want the bad news or the worst news?"
"Hit me," Helena sighed
"We're not winning," Misato shrugged, "and unless we get help or they do somnething VERY stupid we're going to lose."
"THAT bad?" Helena asked
"We can't effectively rearm, they outnumber us and they seem willing to take worse losses than we would." Misato sighed. "Our best option may be to do an emergency jump or hold them off a little while longer so the citizens of Earl can escape."
"We gotta try," Helena agreed then turned to one of the commtechs. "Lieutenant, hail the security council. Inform them that we may be overrun in a matter of hours. Six at least. 12 at the most if we can stall them long enough. Tell them to evacuate when the opposing fleet reaches the fifth defensive line."
"Yes ma'am," Shinji nodded then sent the message. He listened for a moment then turned back to Helena. "Earl's security council says that they have planetary evacuation plans in place but it'll take time for them to enact the plan."
"Tell them to hurry, their lives may depend on it," Helena sighed thought a moment then turned to Ritsuko. "Can we make an emergency fold jump, ?"
"It'll take some time," Ritsuko noted as she studied her display then nodded to Helena. "But I think we can. Do you want me to make it so, ma'am."
Helena whas about to answer her when a alarm for Fold activity went off. "Maya. What's going on?"
Orbital Beat/Zwei Wing/ Nana Mizuki and Takayama Minami
"Ships arriving!" Maya Ibuki yelled from her station as hundreds and hundreds of ships folded in around the the combined fleet. "They're surrounding us."
"Identify them!" Helena blurted.
"Identifying now," Maya nodded and glanced at her screen as long and thick organic looking ships folded in front of and around the combined fleet first. Moments later, blocky, gunmetal grey yet powerful ships bearing the Belarusian flags folded in amongst the organic ships and to the left of the combined fleet. The ships reminded Helena of the cold war period of her homeworld, when massive, heavily armed and armored ships sailed the seas. Meanwhile, vessels looking like surface navy warships with large thrusters at their afts bearing Deutschlandian, Isesian and Britonnian ships folded to the right of the combined fleet. There were even the classically navy looking ships of the Arume, shimmering white-blue against space. "It's...It's the Alliances Fourth Fleet ma'am. They've answered our distress call."
"Now we're talking!" Maria said as she sat at her weapons station. "We've got ships from the Luxian Empire, The Belarusian Stellar Republic, The Isesian Imperial Empire, The Holy Britonnian Empire, the Deutschland Federation and even ships from the Arumean Stellar Empire backing us up!""
"Settle down Lt. Langley," Helena sighed then asked Maya. "How many ships First Lieutenant Ibuki?"
"Over two thousand ships ma'am,"Maya noted then looked back at her. "We're now on equal footing with the opposing fleet. Sadly with all our damage we're effectively still at a disadvantage."
"How many ships of the combined fleet are badly damaged." Helena asked
"Over 40 percent ma'am," Maya reported then no"Deutschlandted to her. "Delta 3,4,6, and seven so heavily damaged from continous fire that they have fallen back to the rear of the fleet to make immediate repairs.
"Damn it," Helena sighed then glanced at Ritsuko. "It seems we've got a bit of respite in our allies, Lt. Commander Akagi, so I want you to belay the emergency fold procedure for now."
"Yes ma'am," Ritsuko nodded then blinked when an alert chimed from Misato's station. "What is it?"
"Just a moment," Misato blinked then grinned wrly back at her. "We're in luck ma'am. The fourth fleets sortieing their small craft towards the enemy fleet."
"What types of small craft?" Helena asked.
"Variable battlepods, Lion armored modules, Quedluun Rhea battlesuits from the Luxians," Misato reported as she called up images on her screen. "Personal Troopers, variable Fighters and Assault Frames from the Britonnian, Deutschlandian and Fusosian ships, Rhea class starfighters from the Arumean ships and SV type variable fighters from the Belarusians. Shall I send them into the snarl ma'am."
"No they've got enough back up as it is..." Helena shook her head then turned to the young man at the comm station. "Shinji hail the alliances fourth fleet.
Explain our situation to them and tell them that we need their help."
"Yes ma'am," Shinji Ikari nodded and sent the message out to the Fourth fleets command ship. He waited a few minutes then hummed thoughtfully when he received a reply back from the Fourth Fleet. "Priority message from the Commander Jean Luc and his subbordinates. Shall I put it onscreen, ma'am."
"Make it so..." Helena sighed.
Moments later, a woman wearing a dark blue uniform and a white cap similar to Helena's appeared on the screen. She had her most of her royal lavender hair tucked into her cap.
"This is Commodore Cornelia Li Brittania speaking for the 31st joint expiditonary fleet." The lavender haired commodore stated crisply then recongnized who it was. A slight smile twitched upwards as she nodded to the burgundy haired woman. "Oh, Hello, Helena. Its been a while. Having trouble with the rabble again."
"Yes, we are, Cornelia," Helena nodded, blushing unconciously at the lavender haired woman. She willed memories from the past back to back of of mind and kept it as professional as possible.
A impish smile curled Cornelia's lips, but she resumed her serious expression almost immediately. Fond memories would have to wait. "Not a problem. It seems the rabble are in force again today."
"But the rabble's highly organized, somethings not right here," Helena noted cursing inwardly as the memories of a few wonderful came to the fore causing her to blush again.
"Mm. I see." Cornelia mused then noticed that the blush had returned. She smirked, now amused. "Having trouble with something, Vice Admiral Chase?"
"N-Nothings wrong," Helena stammered, causing Cornelia to smirk even more. Meanwhile, a balding zentradi sat back with amusement in his command seat. He had heard rumors about these two, and had advised the other captains to hang back a moment to watch the fun.
"If you two are finished?" he asked archly.
"We are," Helena nodded, ramming all thoughts of an intimate night to the back of her mind. She smiled at the commander politely nodding to him. "Hello Jean Luc. It's been a while."
"Indeed it has," Jean Luc nodded stoically as the rest of his subbordinates appeared on the screen. One was a serious faced Arumean officer with straight black hair and the other was a blonde haired Commodore from Belarus. "It seems you're in a bit of trouble, Vice Admiral. Do you require our assistance."
Misato was about to make a sarcastic remark but it was shot down by a slight glance from Helena. Helena glanced back at the balding Zentradi officer and his subbordinates.
"Yes we do Commander." Helena nodded at the main screen. "The Triolian Remnant Fleet is quite strong and their forces are relentless than before. I suggest that you use great caution when dealing with them."
"Sound advice from the Vice admiral on the scene," The blonde haired woman noted thoughtfully.
"Indeed," The dark haired commander of the Arumean flotilla mused then frowned seriously at Helena. "But does that give you the right to order our forces around."
Helena frowned back. Akemi Homura was the most serious office that Helena ever knew, and she was staring right back at her.
"No, I think it was the right call," Jean Luc said stoically then smirked just a bit. "Besides, Commander Homura, cute girls aren't pushy. What would Madoka say?"
"Eeep!" Homura went red. "I din't mean it like that, damn it."
"He's teasing, baka," her second officer, Kyouko said dryly.
"Yak Deculture," Helena muttered under her breath, smirking slightly at Jean Luc.
"Hmm hmm," Jean Luc chuckled then glanced at each officer. "Since she has the most experience with this combined remnant fleet, I say we should transfer command over to Vice Admiral Chase. What do you think?"
"While I'd rather stay in command, I concede you have better tactical knowledge," Homura said after a moment. "I believe you should be in overall command, Chase."
The Admiral of the Belorusian fleet nodded, her white-blond hair clashing with the combat scars she had chosen to keep. Vladilena Balalaika said, "I also feel that Helena would be best in overall command."
"We are all agreed?" Cornelia Vi Britannia confrimed.
Everyone nodded, some more reluctantly than others, but they all agreed. Jean Luc turned to her. "So, what next, Vice admiral."
"Since our fleet has sustained heavily losses, it would be costly to try to outright destroy their fleet," Helena noted then sighed. "Its my intention to drive this fleet away from Earl's orbit, perhaps out of the system."
"A wise strategy," Jean Luc nodded then asked crisply. "What are your orders, Vice Admiral."
Helena considered the tactical map a moment then turned to the commanders of the fleet.
"They're weak on the left flank." Helena noted thoughtfully then nodded. "and they've focused the majority of their fighter and light attack craft here."
"So hit them hard while also attacking the flank?" Cornelia asked with a slight smile. "Not bad. Where do you want us to go, Vice Admiral."
"Yes," Helena nodded then hummed. "Jean Luc focus on their battleships there. Balalaika see if you're ships can go after their carriers. Cornelia focus on their destroyers and Homura should focus on their cruisers. I'll leave it up to you to which battlegroups you should deploy against the remnant fleets left flank. Be mindful of the invid carriers in the area too."
"Will do," Akemi Homura nodded, heeding her advice, studied something off screen then asked curiously. "Shall we have our attack squadrons attack that area too?"
That would be helpful yes," Helena nodded at her suggestion, remembered something, then frowned grimly. "However, the remnants have thrown quite a bit of our sqaudrons into dissarray by targeting their squadron leaders. I advise that your wings should excise great caution once when they engage combat with them."
"Understood," Cornelia nodded, hummed thoughtfully, then noted to Helena ."they probably homed in on the higher communication signature command fighters have."
"We could go in radio silent, then attack." Akemi Homura suggested.
"I like it," Helena nodded
"We have talked long enough," Jean Luc said seriously ."It`s time to act Vice Admiral!"
"Indeed," Helena smiled then turned serious. "Kaguya to all ships on the left flank, target the batteships and lay down some covering fire for the allied ships."
"Uh they're already engaging them, you know," Misato noted teasingly.
"I know that, Misato," Helena said archly causing the others to giggle.
Meanwhile on board the LSN Endevour, Jean Luc studied the battle thoughtfully. The 22nd, 24th, 26th, 28th and 30th battalions were advancing against the enemy flagships, the point ships heavily armored to absorb the fire of heavy weapons. The Zentradi commander nodded thoughtfully as the battalions plowed into the left flank as the other ships of the allied fleet advanced on their own targets.
"Good, good," Jean Luc rumbed then barked out an order, his voice warbling over the commline. "Captain Rogers, Captain Starbuck, Captain Bond, begin your assaults."
"Yes sir," The captains agreed ferally and issued their orders. Moments soon enough, a trio of zentradi medium class battleships moved forward, their battlegroups following in. Their companion ships and escort squadrons maintained covering fire as the medium class battleships ship raced forward, their heavily armored prow ripping into the hull of a enemy battleship. Within moments the prow split open, spilling troops into the enemy ships. Most were wearing light battle armor while others were piloting Quedluun Rhea battlesuits. As the troopers advanced, speakers on some of their armors kicked in.
"Sweet Home Alabama!" one trooper warbled along, his out of tune-ness probably making things even worse for the enemy.
Jean Luc listened to the chaos of hundreds of assault troopers playing random music and winced.
"Merde," he muttered, maintaining his french pose.
Riker gave him a amused look. "Well, it certainly denbilitates the enemy."
"Too bad we have to hear it as well." Jean Luc frowned.
"Fortunes of war," Riker shrugged eloquently.
"Getting reports that team one from Captain Rogers Ship sir," A commtech announced.
"Something good I hope," Jean Luc hummed, frowning.
"Yes sir..." The commtech nodded then provided. "They're shutting down power to the guns and the main enginess, but they're keeping life support online, sir."
"Good," Jean Luc answered crisply then mused thoughtfully as he studied the tactical map on his screen. "I`m sure Intelligence would love to study their ship, if we can capture it intact.``
"The tenth and eleventh team is sweeping the ship for demolition charges taking care of the self distruct mechanisms as we speak sir." Another commtech reported.
"Not bad, not bad at all," Riker noted.
"Lets just hope it goes as smoothly as it's going now," Jean Luc noted then hummed thoughtfully to himself. 'I wonder how the others are fairing?'
As he studied the monitor, a 400 meter destroyer maneuvered deftly towards a medium class Zentradi destroyer. The gunmetal grey ship launched a barrage of anti ship missiles before targeting its port side with its main cannons. Some of the missiles were shot down but the rest reached their mark as the Destroyers main guns charged up."
"Main cannons ready," A woman blurted in the bridge of the destroyer.
"Fire," The young captain blurted as she sat behind her.
"Yes ma'am," Obama smiled ferally, firing a volley of particle beam fire at the larger zentradi ship. The salvo strikes true, tearing through its armor even as another volley was already charging up.
"Keep at it," Kuki frowned as her Destroyer's main cannons barked loudly at the target, blowing away more chunks of armor as another destroyer finished off the job. "Good good, Obama. Our next target is a group of triolian destroyers. Understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" Obama and Chiga answered crisply.
"Good," Kuki nodded and barked out her next order "Chiga. Reduce speed ad Turn to port 310 degrees. Obama, prepare to fire anti-ship missiles and the primary and secondary guns on my command.
"Yes ma'am," Both women answered her and went to work. Chiga the helmswoman calmly guided their vessel through heavy fire, avoiding the worst of the bombardment. At the same moment, Lieutenant Obama Mifuyu targeted a quartet of triolian destroyers and sent off another barrage of anti ship missiles at the organic looking vessels.
The missiles were shot down by the destroyers guns, causing her grin dangerously.
"My my...aren't you a tough one." Obama noted then let another volley fly as Chiga announced the distance to their targets.
Meanwhile a compliment of mecha escorted the Unbei as it made its attack run on the organic looking destroyer. Gekka class Assault Frames and Variable Fighters flitted back and forth, blazing away at their targets when they got to close to the destroyer. Mamiya studied them thoughtfully on her screen. It was incredible watching the war machines dance and kill, lights blazing in a glorious yet deadly dance with the rogue force.
"9000 meters and closing!" Obama announced.
"We're in range, Obama, fire!" Kuki barked.
"Yes ma'am!" Obama grinned a little to cheerfully as she squeezed the trigger on her command wheel. Beams of destructive fury ripped across open space, targeting the enemy destroyers that had been harrying the larger vessels. Now they tasted their own medecine and destructive beams cut into them deeply. Meanwhile Obama smiled with a satisfied look on her face. "Ah yes! Nothing like setting off a BIG GUN!"
Several of the younger bridge officers exchanged looks. "We REALLY need to get her laid."
"OH yeah..."Another bridge officer noted. Mamiya and Chiga sighed while Kuki decided she just didn't want to get involved. Obama, meanwhile, blushed angrily at the bridge officers.
The squadron of ships carved a swath of destruction half way through the Triolian Remnant Fleet then retreated as a group of battlecarriers moved forward to close the gap. However, they were soon dealt with by a mixture of Zentradi, Belarusian and Arumean ships.
At the same moment, Dustine Ageni swept the enemy with her cannon, hovering in space as she tried to keep the enemy back. Nanoha's and Fate's machine fought along side her, the trio forming a near perfect kill zone as they blazed away with their cannons. They trapped a Neo Glaug amidst a fullisade of cannon fire, ripping it to shreds and causing its allies to disperse.
"Is it me," Dustine asked the two privately, "but are they attacking less fiercely?"
"Don't jinx it," Fate said wryly.
"I think so," Nanoha said, ignoring her girlfriend.
"Mmmm," Dustine hummed thoughtfully then noticed a neo glaug trying to sneak up on Gertrudes unit. "Truddie! Check your six!"
"Eh?!" Gertrude blurted, whirled around then growled when she caught the battlepod in the act. "Why you?!"
The battlepod blazed away at her, causing Gertrude to bob and weave through the cannon fire.
"Damn you!" Gertrude rushed in, directing her pinpoint barrier to her weapons, twirled her support gunpods in her battroids hands and used two lightning quick strikes at the Enemy. he force of the impact, combined with the pinpoint barrier, tore into the battlepods armor like it was butter. Getrudes unit boosted away as the battlepods power core went critical and exploded into a bright fireball.
"Nice," Dustine acknowledged.
"THanks for the warning, Mom," Gertrude sighed.
"Don't call me that." Dustine grumbled.
Would you rather be grandmom?" Gertrude teased.
"You wanna die?" Dustine growled.
Dustine growled then sighed when Mio Sakamoto laughed cheerfully at the banter. "Shut up Mio or I'll tell everyone what happened last time you were drunk."
Mio shut up abruptly.
Dustine sighed then glanced at her surroundings. Wreckage of numerous battlepods and suits clouded the area. Kyosuke's and Lamia's units were chasing away other Triolian Remnant units as the Angelg and a pair of Angular looking 50 meter Super Robots cruised away from the wreckage of the two combining units and towards the group. Dustine noted that the combiners were tougher than they looked and it took at least 10 minutes to put them down.
"Finally..." Dustine puffed out a breath then glanced away from the wreckage of the two combining machines and took in the situation around her. the chaos around them was easing. Some of the remnant pilots were chased away from the snarl by the reinforcements from the 21st UNSPACY expiditionary fleet while the others were peeling off to deal with the squadrons sortieing from the 4th fleet. She sighed then looked back towards bronze flight and the communications buoy. "Miyafuji how's it coming."
"I've got most of her systems online," Miyafuji reported then sighed. "However, its stuck in battroid mode and Sanya reports that she's unconcious, ma'am."
"I see," Dustine sighed then weighed her options as the gespenst Mk II customs guarded the communication bouy. She eyed the bouy for a moment, flicked a few switches then called out over the commline. "Hammer Three to Delta Six. Hammer Three to Delta six do you read?"
THere was a bit of static over the commline, causing a bit of ice to form in the pit of her stomach. However the ice melted when Misato's voice responded to her call.
"This is Delta Six, we hear you Hammer Three," Misato replied crisply over the commline. "What is your situation? Over?"
"We've got several damaged machines, Delta six," Dustine noted taking in the machines around her. "Four light, One moderate and two severe and our wing leader is unconscious. We've secured the area. Two Nousjadeul Combiners destroyed and two mixed squadrons have been dealt with. Over."
There was a bit more static before Helena spoke up over the commline. "Hammer Three, This is Vice Admiral Chase. Can you hear me?"
"This is Hammer Three, I hear you Vice Admiral," Dustine spoke up crisply, ramming the nervousness back and awaiting her orders.
"You've done well, but it sounds like your teams been put through the wringer," Helena spoke up then sighed. "Your current situation leaves me no choice to recall your squadron back to the Kaguya."
"What?" Gertrud blurted over the commline. "We CAN still fight you know."
"Silence Hammer four, your unit is damaged," Dustine blurted over the commline, sighed then responded crisply over the commline. "Roger that, Vice Admiral.
We'll return right away."
"Good," Helena answered crisply then addressed Scepter Squadron and their allies. "Scepter Squadron, ATX team and Lotus Team. Your new objective is to assist the assault on the enemies left flank. Is that understood."
"Yes ma'am," Nanoha, Kyousuke and Lamia answered crisply over the commline. Then turned towards Dustine's unit. Nanoha was first to float over to her Battroid. "Well this is it. Take care of yourselves, okay?"
"We will," Dustine nodded and worked her controls a bit, making her unit salute Nanoha's. "God speed and kick their ass."
"Good luck to you," Nanoha answered as all of Scepter squardon, The Personal Troopers and even the Super Robots returned her salute. Nanoha's unit broke the salute with a bit of flair, transformed quickly into fighter mode, then burst away towards their next waypoint. The others followed suit, leaving the PTs behind.
"Good luck, Major," Kyosuke added as Alt Eisen Reise turned around to the Personal Trooper Squadrons. "Alright, our objective here is done. Lets go people."
"Roger," The others responded as Alt Eisen Reise burst away, chasing after Scepter Squadron. They followed after the red machine even as Rein-Weissritter gave her a jaunty wave.
"See ya later, Dusty-chan," Excellen said cheerfully as the white and blue machine dashed away. "Take care! Hope to see you later in person, okay?"
"Umm, right," Dustine nodded wondering if the strange girl was hitting on her. Nah, couldn't be. She moved off towards the communication bouy. "Are the repairs to Minna's unit done, Miyafuji?"
"Yes..." Miyafuji answered, hesitated then spoke up again as she moved away from the damaged unit. "well, as much as I could with available parts."
"Understandable," Dustine nodded then asked tentatively. "Is Lt Colonel Wilcke still unconcious?"
"Yes, but life support readings are fair." Miyafuji said confidently, in her role as team medic.
"Good good," Dustine nodded then turned to her troops. "Alright, Hammer squadron, we're done here. Lynette! Miyafuji! Switch to gerwalk mode and attach a t ow lines to Minna's unit.
"Yes, ma'am!" Miyafuji agreed.
Dustine turned to Elia and Sanya as the units switched to gerwalk mode and launched two tow lines at Minna's arms. "You two...form up alongside them."
"Yes," the one woman replied calmly, once again making Dustine wonder if she was a android or something. A very sleepy android at that.
Dustine turned to Gold flight. "The rest of us will form up behind them and watch their backs. Silver flight...take point! Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am!" The squads replies crisply as they fell into place.
"Good good..." Dustine nodded, took in a deep breath before switching to gerwalk mode.
"All right everyone," she ordered, "move out!"
"Yes ma'am!" The rest of Gold flight took her cue to switch to gerwalk mode while Silver flight switched to fighter mode. With a rumble of their engines, they were off towards the fleet and away from the battlezone.
******09:30 GST May 10th 2125AD******
Dustine puffed out a breath as she padded into an antiseptic smelling hospital room. The first woman she saw was Mio Sakamoto who glared at her angrily.
"What took you?" Mio asked crankily.
"Good to see you too, Mio," Dustine deadpanned.
Minna, in a nearby bed, snickered. Dustine glanced over at her and winced. Her leg was in a cast and her arm was in a sling. "Ouch. No wonder you took pain meds inside the cockpit."
"You should see the other guy," MInna said.
Mio sighed, also strung up in casts and bandages. "This incredibly sucks."
Dustine sighed and sat on the corner of Mio's bed. "The doctor says they're going to limit you to desk duty again."
"That's why this sucks," Mio scowled.
"I hear you," dustine nodded then sighed as she looked at Minna. "The rest of the group seems to be fine, but it'll take some time to repair their units."
"...and what of the rest of the air wing?" Minna asked.
"We... had some losses," Dustine admitted and told her about the young and often reckless kids they had lost.
"I see..." Minna sighed then shook her head.
"So how bad is the hospital?" Dustine asked.
"Oh, it's terrible," Mio sighed just as four gourgeous nurses walked into the hospital room.
"Mio, time for your sponge bath!" One of the nurses smiles cheerfully?
"...and that's terrible?" Dustine arched an eyebrow then noticed the dangerous glint in Minna's eye. Dustine smiled wrly at them. "I guess it is."
"At any rate..." Minna sighed then glanced at her. "can we count on you to take care of the squadron and the air wing?"
"I'll do my best," Dustine promised.
"Good..." Minna nodded then smiled at her. "Thanks for protecting us. You did the right thing out there. Now...You'd best get out of here. All right."
"Right," Dustine nodded.
******10:30 GST Vice Admiral Chase's office******
"How are Colonel Wilcke and Lt Colonel Sakamoto," Helena Chase asked the copper skinned woman while her XO stood next to her. "Will they be able to return to their duties soon?"
"They're in serious yet stable condition," Dustine noted gravely then sighed. "The doctors say that they won't be be able to fly again for at least a year. They're limiting them to desk duty once when they get out of the hospital."
"I see," Helena Chase sighed, thought a bit then turned to her. "For now, you'll have to remain in command of the 501st and Hammer squadron until the doctors say that they're fit to return. Is that understood?"
"Yes ma'am," Dustine frowned.
"You don't look to happy," Misato noted.
"I'd rather fly than sit at a desk doing reports," Dustine mused.
"You'll still be able to do that you know," Misato smiled wryly.
"Ah, yeah," Dustine grunted then smiled sheepishly at her friends. "Anything else?"
Misato and Helena exchanged a look then smiled warmly back at her. "YOu did pretty good out there. You handled yourself well and you kept your squadron together."
"Thank you," Dustine aid a bit uncomfortably. "Is there anything else."
"You've got a week to recover," Helena nodded then smiled wryly at her. "Thats an order. Do you understand."
"Yes ma'am," Dustine saluted
"Now Get outta here," Misato laughed a bit as they dismissed her. "I heard you have a hot date in the onsen."
Dustine smiled greatfully then trotted out the door. Once she was gone Misato looked at Helena, "I nominated her for the Medal of Valor. You okay with that?"
"I'm fine with that," Helena nodded then looked at her. "Do you think she's ready for the next step?"
"Promotion?" Misato asked then snorted with amusement. "She'd run away screaming. ALL pilots do."
"Maybe..." Helena hummed thoughtfully.
"You can't force a promotion on her, you know," Misato reminded her.
"Especially with how she feels about some of our superiors," Helena nodded.
"Let her run the squads for a bit," MIsato offered as she took a sip of her tea. "Get her more used to the idea. Then you can offer her a promotion."
"Yeah," Helena agreed then scowled. "Damn it, with the losses we suffered we NEED officers."
"It'll take time for us to regain our strength, that's for sure," Misato nodded.
"Yeah," Helena nodded.
******10:30 GST Kaguya Onsen******
Dustine puffed out a breath as she padded into a large hotspring style bath wearing nothing but a white towel. She walked through the steam laden air, past various bathers until she spied a familiar group of people.
"Nanoha!" Dustine called out one of them.
"Dustine!" Nanoha smiled as she sat next to Fate. Her team mates were also sitting close by, gazing at Dustine curiously. Dustine blushed charmingly at the group as she walked towards them. "Come sit with us!"
"Thanks..." Dustine smiled wearily at her friends.
"About time you got here," Vita said in a surly way.
"Sorry, people to see, places to go," Dustine sighed as she disrobed showing off a rather nasty scar on her belly.
"I'm surprised you kept that," Shamal noted mildly.
Dustine shrugged as she slowly stepped into the warm water. "It's a reminder not to let my guard down."
"An old student of yours right?" Signum asked her.
"Yeah." Dustine nodded then sighed as she sank into the water. "When I turned to help Arika up...a student of mine buried her bayonet inside me."
Signum narrowed her eyes a bit while the others winced.
"I heard about that later," Tea noted shyly as she sat next to Subaru. "the Black Ace, Tomoe?"
"Yeah, she was a vindictive girl, that one," Dustine nodded then smiled gratefully as Fate handed her a glass of iced tea. "Oh. Thanks Fate."
"Your welcome," Fate nodded nodded and settled next to her wife.
"Do you know that she has a nickname in the enemy fleets?" Nanoha asked her.
"No..." Dustine frowned warily. "What is it?"
"Tomoe the Backstabber." Nanoha noted with a frown as the others looked on. "She has proven herself again and again as untrustworthy...she definitely has her own agenda."
"I see..." Dustine nodded then frowned. "Tomoe the Backstabber. That sounds familiar. I think my big sister fought someone with a similiar nick name during Space War One."
"Mustn't have been anyone major," Nanoha teased.
Dustine snorted knowing full well that THAT person nearly killed her big sister a number of times. She took a sip of her tea and settled against the rocks.
"How are you superiors doing?" Signum asked Dustine curiously.
"They won't be flying for a while, but they're recovering nicely," Dustine sighed.
"They are valiant warriors," Signum nodded, "I hope they recover soon."
"So do I..." Dustine sighed then shook her head. "I just wish I could have done more. Like I dunno, defend them when they were attacked...or something."
"Don't be so silly..." A familiar voice said fondly as she pressed her glass of iced tea against Dustine's forehead. Dustine squeaked then looked at the 'assailant' to see Hayate smiling wryly down at her. "If you would have been there then you might've been taken out too. Then where would your squadron be."
"H...Hayate.." Dustine stammered.
"Don't do that to yourself," Fate chided her friend. "you can drive yourself crazy with what-ifs."
"Fates right..." Nanoha nodded then sighed as she leaned against Fate. "You know you did your best at the time. Just be content with that."
Dustine gazed at her friends then relented, nodding. "Your right."
With that the trio of friends that she's known so long broke out into gentle smiles at the copper skinned woman.
"We figured out why they were attacking you so hard," Nanoha noted to her friend.
"Why?" Dustine frowned thoughtfully
"Apparently your defense was so fierce the Zentradi thought you were defending something critical." The brown haired woman explained with frown on her face.
"I see..." Dustine hummed then smiled slightly. "Well we were defending two wounded and their damaged machines...and a communications buoy. Defending all three was critical to me."
"True." Nanoha nodded.
"We really need to understand them better. Would we have been better off retreating?" Hayate suggested then sighed. "High command is certainly wondering if we should have ad a dialogue with them first..."
"Maybe..." Dustine sighed and shook her head. "But retreating with two damaged mechs at that point would have been troublesome."
"No one's criticizing," Hayate noted, smiling at her. "In fact I think your decision was for the best. But we still do not really understand the enemy..."
"High command is too full of desk jockies," Signum noted, narrowing her eyes. "Fools. They should know the heat of battle before making judgements!"
"Some of those desk jockeys are former pilots, you know," Hayate note wrly then sighed. "You are right though...its better to go into battle with shields up and weapons at the ready. All I'm saying is that if we can have some dialogue with them, theres a chance that we'll come to an understanding and there won't be any conflict."
"Yeah," Dustine murmured as she took a sip of her tea. She drank it down then slouched in the water. "Like the dialogues we had with the Arume, Azonia's fleet, Breetai's fleet and Zor Prime's faction."
"I keep forgetting how alien some of our enemies can be," Hayate sighed.
"Aye," Dustine nodded.
"...and how human some of our former enemies could be," Nanoha noted thoughtfully, thinking back to their last tour of duty.
"Nanoha, you think too much," Fate chided gently. She then brightened when a waitress padded by with glasses of alcohol on a tray "Is it true you can order alcoholic drinks here?"
"Yes, but we are NOT letting you get drunk again, Fate," Nanoha said primly.
"Aww, Nanoha," Fate pouted.
"Again?" Dustine had to ask.
"Fate is a easy drunk," Hayate laughed.
"Swell," Dustine sighed.
EOF