Now. This is a double update. So go back and read chapter twenty-one first. Especially, if you're a fan of the Druggies, like me.
Phase Twenty-Two: Divine Thunder
Aboard the Cousteau
Several Days Later
"Panama... I think HQ is asking too much of us this time," the Cousteau's Captain said, his tone weary. "We just don't have the forces."
"We really don't have any other choice," Rau told him. "The Chairman has ordered us to disrupt the momentum the Earth Forces gained from Alaska before the homeland becomes threatened. We need to close the door to space by trapping them here on Earth. That's why it's imperative that we destroy Panama's Mass Driver."
"What of the Gungnirs?" the Captain asked.
"They'll arrive on schedule," Rau replied.
"Gungnirs...I've heard some of the officers and pilots complaining about relying on something that's never been used in combat before to win the battle. But the real problem's on our side. Will we even be able to capture the target points in time?"
"Our soldiers have sworn to extract harsh vengeance for Alaska. We will succeed," Le Creuset said before leaving the bridge.
Rau's Quarters
Flay sat in a chair. Ever since that man had kidnapped her at Alaska, she had been locked in his quarters. She hadn't showered in days, nor was she given clean clothes. In fact, she still had the handgun from Alaska.
Flay hated the man and this whole situation she was in. She was trapped on a ZAFT vessel. There was no way for her escape or for her to contact the Archangel or the Earth Forces. She didn't even know where Chris and the Archangel were after what happened at Alaska. She supposed that she should be thankful to the man for saving her life. Had he not kidnapped her, she likely would have died in the destruction of the base. But he was still a creep. What she hated the most about him was that his voice sounded almost exactly like her father's. Several times already, she reminded herself that her father was dead and this man was not her father.
The door suddenly opened and Flay stood up pointing the gun at Rau as he entered the room. He completely ignored her and sat down at his desk. "A battle is about to begin. Would you like to observe?" he asked reading from a personal computer. "I'm sorry for dragging you all over the place, but orders are orders so it can't be helped."
"But why... Why did you take me?" Flay wanted to know.
Rau let out a quiet snicker. "You're already living on borrowed time, aren't you, Flay Alster? Back at Alaska, you have been equally dead whether I had shot at you or let you run off."
Flay kept her gun on him, her hands trembling slightly. An amused smirk crossed Creuset's lips. "And you'd die within moments if you were to shoot me now. The soldiers on board would hear the gunshot and come running. Or if you didn't want them to finish you off, I suppose you could turn the gun on yourself after you kill me," he said. "I assume, of course, the gun is loaded."
He stood up and walked towards her. "On the battlefield, life is cheap. It's lost in an instant. And yet, people still fight and die for their country, for justice, or for whatever other insignificant reason. But you're not really cut out for that sort of the thing, are you, Flay Allster?" he said as he walked past her. "You may be wearing that uniform, but you're no soldier."
He stopped and turned around. "You're nothing but a scared, helpless little girl caught up in events far greater than what you can comprehend."
She had enough of this creep. She may not be soldier and she may be scared, but she wasn't a helpless little girl. Flay spun around and punched Rau square in the face. He stumbled back a few steps, blood leaking from his nose. That bitch! How dare she strike him! Rau slapped her with one hand as his other hand ripped the gun from her hands. He turned the gun on her. Time seemed to slow to a crawl for Flay. Her entire life flashed before her eyes as Creuset squeezed the trigger...
There was a click and trigger refused to move but nothing else happened. Rau glanced down at the gun. The girl had forgotten to flick the safety off. Rau started to laugh. "You're lucky, Flay Allster. If you hadn't forgotten to turn the safety off, you'd be dead by now," he said lowering the gun. "You may not be a soldier, but I won't think of you as a scared, helpless little girl again."
Creuset turned and headed for the door. The door opened and he stopped for a moment. "Oh. And don't think that I won't punish you for that," he said, an evil smirk forming on his lips. "I'm too busy at the moment. So your punishment will be later on tonight."
ZAFT Fleet
In Earth Orbit
ZAFT mobile suits were launched from the warships. They moved towards the dropships and their drop pods. A purple CGUE entered a pod with a trio of colored GINN High Maneuver Types. Five Laurasia class warship, modified to launch Gungnirs, waited alongside the dropships.
"Gungnirs... Bah! Things like those take all the fun out of being a soldier." Ajay complained as they waited for the Operation to begin.
Diana ignored him. "Listen up. Our job is to secure landing sites for the Gungnirs. Once they're cleared, the Gungnirs will be launched. Once they've been fired off, this battle will end."
"Attention all forces, prepare for space drop," the dropship's combat coordinator said. "In ten...nine...eight...seven...six...five...four...three...two...one."
There was a shudder as the pod was launched. The pod started it's descent towards the atmosphere alongside dozens of other pods. "YEEEEEEE-HAW!!!" Ajay shouted as entered they entered the atmosphere.
A few minutes later, the pods finished their atmospheric entry. The pods streaked through the air heading for the Port Panama Base and it's Mass Driver. Elsewhere, DINNs, Guul mounted GINNs, ZnOs, GOOhNs and the Duel were launched from the sub carriers.
Port Panama's defenders scrambled as the ZAFT forces approached the base. The drop pods opened, releasing their mobile suits. Fighters were scrambled to intercept the mobile suits as anti-air turrets power up. Diana fired her newly acquired beam rifle at a trio of approaching fighters as other ZAFT mobile suits opened fire as well. From the sea, airborne and amphibious mobile suits attacked, hitting naval warships and beach defenses.
The space-borne mobile suits slowed their descent. Those that weren't shot down by the defenders, landed safely on the ground and continued to engage the Earth Forces. Basque Gideon fired off his Barrus heavy particle cannon and Gatling guns at a group of gun emplacements on the side of a mountain. DINNs and Guul mounted GINNs chased down the Earth Forces' fighters, blowing them out of the sky. ZnOs emerged from the waters around Panama, attacking the coastal defenses and installations of the Port Panama Base. Tanks and gun emplacements roared, their shells striking some of the attacking mobile suits. The ZAFT forces were heavily outnumbered. But as always, their mobile suits were far superior to what the Earth Forces could bring to bear.
Archangel's Bridge
Onogoro Island
"How are the repairs coming along?" Murrue asked as she sat down in the Captain's chair.
The bridge officers, Mu, John and Chief Murdoch, were there with her.
"Both the Orb crews and my guys have gotten a fair amount of the repairs done," Murdoch informed the captain. "A few more days and we'll be done and ready to go."
"Then what?" John asked, a cup of coffee in his hand. "Kira said we should fight to end the war but how do we go about doing that? Should we go into space and link up with the pink princess and my comrades? Or should we stay on Earth and do something here?"
Murrue sighed. That was a very good question. Who should they be fighting? ZAFT and the PLANTs? The Earth Forces? Everything had become so complicated now. "Were you able to reach your contacts in the PLANTs?" she asked, hoping he could shed some light on things.
"Yes and no. I got in touch with the middlemen that pass the messages between us, but they were unable to reach my contacts. So I don't know what's happening in the PLANTs since Alaska."
"Captain!" Chandra said. "We're being contacted by the Orb Military HQ."
"Open a channel."
General Dante's face appeared on the main screen. "ZAFT has launched an attack on Panama." he announced.
Everyone was stunned by this. "What? So soon? They can't possibly have enough strength after JOSH-A to launch such an attack." Murrue said.
"Don't underestimate them," John said. "They wouldn't attack unless they had a means to win the battle. There's a good possibility that Panama will fall."
"A ZAFT weapon that hasn't been used before?" Mu asked.
"Likely. Though I don't now what it could be. If it was a new mass production mobile suit, they would have used it at JOSH-A, so it couldn't be that. As to other weapons, I know that they were working an EMP weapon early in the war but they took time to deploy on the battlefield and it could only be used once, maybe twice, before the Earth Forces would upgrade their EMP shielding. The military deemed it unfeasible as a weapon to turn the tide of the war and, as far as I know, scrapped the project. But they could have reopened the project after I've left or simply used what they created before the project for this one battle," John explained. "Of course, they could have some other new weapon as well. So the question is, if they do loose Panama, what will the Earth Forces do after that? Especially with their new attitude after Alaska."
ZAFT Fleet
"Sir. The landing sites have been secured."
Admiral Darlian nodded. "Then launch the Gungnirs!" he ordered. "It's time to finish this."
The bottoms of the modified Laurasia class warships opened. Five large pods were deployed from the ships heading for Panama
Port Panama
Diana fired at the advancing tanks. They were no match for her mobile suit. It was pitifully easy. There was just no point to it. Until the day the Earth Forces could field armies of mobile suits on the battlefield, they never stood a chance against them.
Diana looked up in time to see five pods descending on the battlefield. The Gungnirs had arrived, which means the battle would end soon. Suddenly, a beam struck a nearby GINN, destroying it. A blue and white mobile suit appeared, armed with a beam rifle and red shield.
"What the... Is that the Strike?!" a GINN pilot asked.
"No. It's different mobile suit," Diana said firing at the mobile suit.
Beams from the CGUE's beam rifle tore through the machine's chest destroying it, but more Strike Daggers appeared. "You won't have things so easy from now on," one Strike Dagger pilot said.
"All you Coordinators are just a little too cocky," another pilot added. "I think it's time to take you down a peg."
"At last. Opponents worth fighting. No more pitiful mobile armors, tanks and fighters," Diana said with a smirk on her lips. "Attention all forces! Incoming Earth Forces mobile suits!"
"Well, I'll be damned," Ajay said over the radio. Though to Diana, it sounded more like "It's about damn time!" than anything else. "Mass production Earth Force's mobile suits. I thought this was gonna be a dull mission."
"Cut the chatter," Diana said as she fired upon the advancing Strike Daggers.
Her beams tore through three mobile suits as other ZAFT mobile suits took another four machines. The Strike Daggers fired back, destroying two DINNs and a GINN while Diana sidestepped several shots and threw her shield at a Dagger. Her shield hit its mark cutting into a Strike Dagger's chest.
"Gah! Dammit! Sir! There's too many of them!" A GINN pilot said as he struggled to stay alive. "We have to fall back!"
"No!" Diana said drawing her sword with CGUE's free hand. "We have to have to drive them back so the Gungnirs can be deployed and fired! No retreat!"
Diana raced forward. Nearby members of the 11th Fleet charged forward with her while the rest of the ZAFT forces fired at the Daggers from the rear. Diana and her men fired as they headed for the enemy lines. The Strike Daggers were completely caught off guard by the charge. They had expected the ZAFT forces to be shocked by the appearance of their mobile suits and, combined with their superior numbers, would have enabled them to push the enemies back. Instead, they found themselves being charged by a group of ZAFT soldiers that weren't phased in the slightest by their ambush. They fired at the modified mobile suits, but with their thrusters, they were able to sidestep the worst of it. One of the GINN High Maneuver Types lost it's left arm but that didn't slow it down much.
The 11th Fleet reached the Daggers. Diana sliced one Dagger in two as she fired at another. Hilda and her team smashed through a group of Strike Daggers. The red head impaled one Dagger with her sword. Mars blew away two with grenade launcher while Herbert gunned down a fourth machine. More Strike Daggers fell. The ZAFT soldiers became reinvigorated at the sight of the 11th Fleet tearing through the Strike Daggers. "Come on boys!" a GINN pilot shouted. "We can't let the Black Hawk's Fighters have all the fun!"
The rest of the nearby ZAFT forces pushed forward, driving into the Earth Forces' line. "Dammit! We have to regroup! Fall back!" an Earth Forces Captain shouted.
The Strike Daggers fled, firing as they did. But they did little against the ZAFT forces. "This is Commander Kessel," Diana said over the radio. "We've secured Site Three but I don't know for how long. These new Earth Forces mobile suits are a lot tougher than I first though. I strongly recommend that the teams protecting the Gungnirs are reinforced as soon as possible. Or we may end up losing them."
Elsewhere, more Strike Daggers appeared across the battlefield engaging the ZAFT mobile suits. Many of those ZAFT pilots were caught off guard by the Earth Fores' mobile suits. They were not use to fighting against enemy mobile suits. They were use to fighting inferior tanks, fighters and mobile armors. Added to this, the Strike Daggers were technologically superior to the GINNs and other ZAFT machines. Many GINNs and other ZAFT mobile suits were quickly torn apart by the Strike Daggers but not all of the ZAFT pilots were being overwhelmed by the new machines.
A beam tore through the cockpit of GINN. The mobile suit exploded. The Strike Dagger turned, searching for a new target when a DINN swooped down firing it's rifle and shotgun. The Strike Dagger tried to rise it's rifle in time, but the rifle rounds tore through the beam rifle, destroying it as the shotgun blew it's head off. The mobile suit collapsed. Two nearby Strike Daggers fired at DINN as it rose up back into the air. "Whoa..." Saya said as she dodged the beams. "These Earth Forces machines are tough."
She fired off a barrage of missiles at one Strike Dagger. The missile struck it's upper body, destroying the entire torso of the machine. The other Dagger fired and Saya started to dodge but she wasn't fast enough this time. A beam tore off a chunk of her left wing. Saya swore as she struggled to keep her DINN in the air. The DINN roughly landed on the ground. The Strike Dagger aimed the DINN's back. "Bye bye Coordinator," the Dagger pilot said.
Suddenly, a beam saber impaled the cockpit of the mobile suit. The Duel pulled it's saber out and the Strike Dagger collapsed like a ragdoll and exploded a moment later. "You alright?" Yzak asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine," Saya said and repeated, "but these new Earth Forces mobile suits are tough."
"Shame their pilots aren't as tough," Yzak added. "Come on. The mission isn't over yet."
A Strike Dagger impaled a GINN with its beam saber. The pilot withdrew the saber and kicked the GINN down before it exploded. Suddenly, a blade descended slicing the Dagger in two down the center. Ajay smirked as the machine exploded. "Even with fancy, new mobile suits, you guys still ain't good enough."
There was a burst of gunfire, followed by an explosion behind him. "You're getting sloppy," Lucius said as he approached his comrade. "The mobile suit was about to shoot you from behind."
"Nah. I already knew he was there. Just as I knew you were in the prefect position to ambush him," Ajay nonchalantly replied.
"Don't be so cocky," Lucius said. "That arrogance will get you killed one day."
"Bah! Come on. Loosen up a little."
A GINN loaded the final EMP caster into the Gungnir. "Right. Caster 12 is primed," the pilot said. "Now to-"
Suddenly, the last GINN covering him exploded. The pilot swore. He had to activate the Gungnir now. The GINN moved towards the Gungnir's control console. The GINN's fingers were inches from the console when a beam hit the GINN destroying it. A trio of Strike Daggers approached the Gungnir. "Now. What the hell is this?" one pilot asked.
"Probably some new weapon the Coordinators cooked up. We better destroy it to be on the-"
A high velocity round tore the cockpit of the third Dagger. The machine fell to it's knees and then exploded. A blood red GINN, armed with a railgun, appeared. "Pathetic. Your machines are superior, but as always, your pilots are inferior," Zane said.
"Inferior! I'll show you inferior, Patchworker!" one pilot shouted as he drew his beam saber and charged.
"Idiot," Zane said as he squeezed the trigger.
A round tore through the mobile suit's right shoulder, severing it. Three more rounds tore through the Strike Dagger's torso tearing it apart. "You bastard!" the remaining pilot shouted as he fired off his rifle.
Zane was faster as he sidestepped the shot and fired back. The round hit the machine's chest removing the last threat to the Gungnir. Zane walked up to the Gungnir's console noticing it was still waiting for activation. "Now this won't do," he said as he pushed the activation button. "There. Now everything is back to the way it was. I hope you enjoy our present, Naturals."
With the final Gungnir activated, the count down on all the Gungnirs started.
30...
20...
10...
5...4...3...2...1...0
The Gungnirs fired each releasing a wave of energy. The waves spread out, consuming the entire area. The ZAFT mobile suits were unaffected but all of the Earth Alliance machinery wasn't. The EMP waves fried the circuitry of all of their machines and computers. From tanks and gun emplacements to Strike Daggers to the Panama Base itself. The Mass Driver overloaded, sending a massive surge through the track, tearing the entire thing apart.
"What the?! My machine! It won't move!" the Strike Dagger pilot said as he frantically tried to get his machine to work.
Diana pushed the mobile suit down and pried open the cockpit hatch. The pilot stepped out with his hands raised. Other nearby members of the 11th Fleet did the sameby rRounding up a group of Earth Alliance soldiers. But...
"Aw...What's the matter? Is your toy broken?" a ZAFT pilot said as pushed a Strike Dagger down and fired at the cockpit, laughing as he murdered the defenseless pilot.
"Stand down dammit!!" Diana shouted. "They're defenseless!"
"Who the hell cares about a bunch of disgusting Naturals?!" the pilot said, aiming at the gathered group of soldiers.
A shot rang out. The GINN's head exploded. "What the hell?! Why are you firing at me?!"
"I will not allow the senseless execution of defenseless soldiers," Diana said. "Stand down or I'll put you down."
The pilot wisely dropped his rifle. "Attention all ZAFT forces. This is Commander Kessel. The execution of surrendering Earth Forces soldiers will not be tolerated. Anyone who shoots a surrendering soldier will be punished severely."
"Who the hell do think you are, Natural Lover?!"
"Yeah! They deserve to this for JOSH-A!!"
"Let's kill'em all!!"
Cheers filled the comm. Most of the ZAFT soldiers were out for blood. An eye for an eye. A massacre for a massacre.
"Very well then. All members of the 11th Fleet and any other willing ZAFT soldiers, I order you to stop the slaughtering of the surrendered soldiers wherever you can. The use of lethal force has been approved but try to refrain from killing, if possible. I will take full responsibility for what happens here."
Across the battle, groups of mobile suits from the 11th Fleet gathered around captured EA soldiers. Many ZAFT soldiers wisely chose to avoid these groups, more out of fear of the 11th Fleet than anything else. A small few of like minded pilots joined them in defending the captured soldiers but not all did as those two groups did...
"Out of the way!" the first of a pair of GINN pilots shouted.
"Sorry. No can do." Ajay drawled.
"Why the hell are you bothering to protect these dogs?!" another pilot shouted. "Look at what they did at Alaska! They don't even give a damn about their own forces!"
"I got my orders pal. Just back away before things get messy." he said.
"Filthy Natural Lover! Then you deserve to die as well!!" the first shouted as they raised their rifles.
But Ajay was faster. Drawing his elbow blades, he sliced through the rifles cutting them in two.
"Gah!"
"What?! Dammit! You'll pay for this Natural Lover!"
"Don't you two ever shut up?" Ajay said as he sliced through the GINNs' heads. "There. They anything else, and I'll have to kill ya both."
"Julie was at Alaska! This is for her!" a GINN pilot said as he aimed at a surrendering tank crew.
Suddenly, a sword sliced through his arm. "That's enough." Hilda said raising her sword to strike again if necessary. "They're surrendering. ZAFT soldiers don't fire on surrendering soldiers."
"But they-"
"No buts or I take your head." Hilda said. "We're ZAFT soldiers. We're better than them. We don't stoop to their level."
"Out of the way, woman," a ZAFT pilot in a DINN said.
Lisa DeCosta and her all female team stood in front of an Earth Forces Aid Station bunker. They were not impressed by this pig and his buddies. The group of DINNs and GINNs had come here to take out the Aid Station and everyone inside, something none of them were willing to allow. "No," Lisa said. "This is an Aid Station. There's nothing but injured people here. Back off or you and your buddies will need it in a moment."
"You think that we'll be beaten by a bunch of women?! Ha! There's no way you're better than us!"
"Yeah!" another pilot shouted.
"Get out of the way, girlie! Before we get angry and get rid of you too!"
Lisa fired off some rounds at that particular pilot's GINN shooting off it's head. "Call me that again, I dare you," the Commander of the Valkyire's mobile suits challenged.
"Damn bitch!" the lead pilot shouted. "Kill them all!"
Both groups of ZAFT mobile suits fired. A GINN armed with Canus missile launchers fired but to the pilot's shock, one of the GINN High Maneuver Types fired and hit one of his missile just as he squeezed the trigger, detonating the missile and taking out the GINN and two other nearby mobile suits. A GINN with a sword, charged Lisa but she was faster. She drove her GINN's free hand through the other GINN's head. The GINN stopped and stumbled back a step. Before he could do anything else, Lisa grabbed the GINN and spun it around. She stole the rifle holstered on the back of its waist and kicked the mobile suit to the ground. She fired both rifles. Rounds tore through the GINNs and DINNs, destroying weapons and tearing off limbs. It wasn't long until there was only one DINN left while all of the High Maneuver Types were still standing. "Damn you, bitch..." the leader of the group angrily said. "How...How could defeat all of us without losing single machine?!"
Lisa smirked. "There's a reason why my machine and I are called Lady Luck," she said. "Ever since this war started, there hasn't been a single fatality among my team. And my teammates have survived crashes that should have been fatal. They believe me to be the embodiment of luck protecting them from harm. Kind of foolish if you think about it, but if they wish to rationalize it like this, it's fine with me. Of course, I believe that it's the opposite. I don't bring them good luck but rather, I bring our opponents bad luck."
"Quit screwing around with me!!!" the enraged pilot shouted, raising his rifle and shotgun. "I refuse to be beaten by a bunch of women!!"
Lisa and her entire team fired. The sheer number of rounds tore through the DINN's head and limbs. Shredding them and tossing the DINN's torso back.
"Sarah, secure the fallen weapons. Maria, Linda, check the survivors. Take the wounded to the Aid Station and keep the rest in a group away from there. Everyone else, stay on alert."
"Sir!" the women said before carrying out her orders.
But even then, there just wasn't enough of them to save many of the Earth Alliance soldiers. For every one they saved, ten more were mercilessly gunned down. Medics and wounded soldiers leaving a bunker were mowed down by a pair of GINNs. Immobile Strike Daggers were used for target practice for ZAFT mobile suits. Their pilots still inside. Lifeless naval vessels were sunk by ZnOs and GOOhNs whose pilots would then crush the fleeing lifeboats with their suits arms. A barrage of missiles from the ZAFT sub carriers rained down upon the base. Without its anti-missile turrets, there was nothing to stop the missiles from hitting their targets. Destruction rained down upon the Port Panama Base. Buildings and hanger were hit and leveled. Not even the underground base command center was spared. Several missiles struck the building over top of the command center, causing the ceiling to collapse, crushing the command center and everything within it.
Saya watched the massacre in horror. There were rules to war. You weren't suppose to shoot surrendering soldiers, especially if they were unable to defend themselves. They had even been ordered not to kill them by Commander Kessel, but they continued their merciless slaughtering of Earth Forces soldiers. Even some of her own teammates had gotten involved in the killing. It just wasn't right. She didn't join the military to kill defenseless people. She joined to protect her family and the PLANTs. "Sir, are we just going to let them do this?" she asked, hoping that Yzak would do something about this nightmare unfolding before them.
Yzak shrugged. "Shooting targets that can't fight back doesn't interest me but I'm not about to pick a fight with our own forces over saving some Naturals," he said, turning away from the slaughter. "Come on. We're heading back."
Saya reluctantly turned and followed after him leaving the scenes of carnage behind her.
Zane walked through the remains of the Panama Base watching as ZAFT soldiers mercilessly gun down the defenseless Earth Forces soldiers. Zane himself hadn't joined in the slaughter. There was no need to. The angry and vengeful ZAFT soldiers were more than willing to show the true nature of humanity. Though there had been those that had resisted. The 11th Fleet. They were becoming more and more of an irritation. Of course, with Zala now the undisputed leader of ZAFT, they wouldn't be a problem for much longer. Especially after this. They would either be brought to heel or dealt with, one way or another. Zane smirked as a GINN gunned down a group of soldiers trying desperately to escape with their lives. Another GINN appeared crushing a number of fleeing soldiers under it's foot.
"Ha! They're like little rats running from the exterminators," one of the pilots said.
"Of course. The Naturals are nothing but vermin. And it's our job to exterminate them," Zane said nonchalantly. "Go. Wipe them all out. They deserve nothing less."
The pilots cheered and resumed exterminating the Naturals as tried to escape with their lives.
I didn't do the scene with Athrun and Lacus because I'm gonna do that in the next chapter, alongside the build up to the Battle of Orb. So don't worry. I didn't forget about that scene. Nor have I forgotten about Dearka and the others in the brig. Again, they get some scenes in the next chapter. I just wanted to get the immediate aftermath of Alaska, the Druggies' debut and Panama done in these two chapters.