"All hands prepare for heavy fire, the Tsukoyomi will punch through the Purity forces to assist the Ceres and Bayonet!" Admiral La Flaga called from the deck of a dark red and light blue Izumo-class ship. "Get the pilots out there immediately!" he ordered. In just over a minute, Atticus, Dante, Lucian, Cassandra and Elisa were all fighting off the Gundams that swarmed the Tsukoyomi.
"Come on, let's is this really all you've got?" Dante taunted, cutting through the torso of a Blu Duel Gundam. "You may be in Gundams, but you guys are as easy to shoot down as any mass-produced!" he said, blocking a barrage of missiles from the gunbarrels of a Chaos.
"Don't get cocky" Atticus said, firing his sniper rifle. The round flew through space and ripped through the cockpit of an unsuspecting Buster that nobody else could even see.
"Elisa, cover me!" Lucian called.
"Roger that" the Slaughter Dagger pilot replied. The DOM Trooper charged forward with its energy shield protecting its body as it headed for an Agamemnon-class ship. The Slaughter Dagger flew above the DOM, firing at anything that got close to Lucian. Cassandra's Windam flew with Atticus, protecting the M1A Astray when it was sniping.
"Man, I'm the only one without a girl watching my back" Dante said with a sigh as his sword sliced through yet another enemy Gundam. The DOM reached its target ship and Elisa pulled back as Lucian fired the beam cannon on his bazooka straight down through the bridge. He flew back as the ship exploded, rejoining the advancing Tsukoyomi.
"Clear us a path, fire the Lohengrin!" Mu called to his crew. The Tsukoyomi's pilots pulled back behind the ship as the cannon fired, tearing through the Purity forces. "Atticus, the Crucifix has begun launching mobile suits, see how many you can shoot down while they're taking off" Mu ordered.
"Roger that. Cassandra, please continue to cover me" Atticus spoke, bringing his rifle up.
"Roger" Cassandra spoke, keeping the Windam close to Atticus' Astray.
"Lucian, Dante and Marion, continue to cover the ship as we make our final approach to the Crucifix" Mu instructed. The three pilots acknowledged the order and kept close to the Tsukoyomi. The Admiral could see flashes on the other side of the Crucifix as the Ceres and Bayonet got close. "Prepare for heavy resistance, the sides of that dreadnaught are lined with guns!" Mu warned.
A series of Gottfrieds fired at the Tsukoyomi as it got close, causing the ship to dip down to avoid them. "Lucian, try and take out some of those guns!" Mu ordered. The DOM shot forward, its shield activated as it fired it's bazooka at the guns along the side of the Crucifix. A mass of Gundams from the Crucifix came towards the Tsukoyomi, Dante and Elisa met them head on.
"Come on!" Dante roared, expertly cutting through an Abyss and a Raider. He moved and used his shield to bloke a beam headed for Elisa's Slaughter Dagger. Elisa popped up from behind Dante and fired her beam rifle into the Gaia that had shot at her.
"Teamwork" Elisa grinned as hers and Dante's mobile suits did a high-five before going back to fighting. Several shots from the M1A Astray's sniper rifle took out suits in the group Dante and Elisa were fighting.
"These enemies are nothing, it's their numbers keeping the battle even" Atticus said, lining up another shot. He focused in on the Calamity, waited for a moment, then fired. He kept his eye to the scope, watching the shot rip through the Gundam's cockpit. "Ha, bulls eye" he remarked, pulling the gun back to ready another shot.
"Atticus!" Cassandra called. She darted behind the Astray, bringing her sabre up to block the shield beam sabre of a Blitz. "I'll handle him, keep shooting!" the Windam pilot ordered, pushing the black Gundam away. The Windam advanced, clashing sabres with the Blitz several times before landing a hit, stabbing it through the shoulder. The Gundam's shield arm went limp and the Windam boosted back. "You're all mine now" she said, readying her beam sabre. The Blitz's grappling claw flew forward, the point just piercing the cockpit. Cassandra screamed as the claw opened, tearing the cockpit hatch to pieces and causing the monitors to explode. The Blitz lined it's Igelstellungs up with the open cockpit and the pilot smirked as his finger went to the trigger. Before he could fire, a barrel pressed against his cockpit and Atticus pulled the trigger. The shot tore through the Blitz and threw it back before it exploded.
"Cassandra, are you alright?!" Atticus called, moving so he could see inside the cockpit. He zoomed in and could see blood from shrapnel wounds, but it looked like she was just unconscious. His Astray grabbed the Windam and quickly flew it back to the Tsukoyomi. "Cassandra is injured, look after her" the Orb pilot said to the ship, pushing the Windam into the hangar. Atticus turned and continued his fire on the enemy mobile suits.
"I can take out the guns, but this ship's armour is just too strong to pierce" Lucian said, pulling back after destroying several of the Crucifix's Gottfrieds. He put his bazooka away and pulled out his sabre as he helped Dante and Elisa finish the last of the mobile suit group they were fighting.
"Alright, everyone fall back for now, we'll wait for the Ceres" Mu called to his pilots. The DOM, GOUF and Slaughter Dagger retreated back to the ship and travelled alongside it.
"So the other Heaven's Blade group was our second backup ship. I guess we should have expected that" Richard said as he saw the Tsukoyomi's mobile suits. "Get me a feed with both the Bayonet and Admiral La Flaga's ship" Richard spoke. Within seconds the faces of Terrance and Mu were both on the main screen. "How are your ships and pilots doing so far?" Richard asked, looking at both faces.
"I'm down to only myself and Raquel. I lost both Victor and Roberto in that last little skirmish" Terrance spoke with a sigh. "But we will still fight, this operation has to be completed" he continued, adjusting his eye patch.
"Cassandra was badly injured so I'm down one pilot, but the rest are still good to go and the Tsukoyomi hasn't taken any major damage" Mu explained.
"I'm sorry for both of your losses, but as Terrance said, this operation has to be completed. We must launch our assault on the Crucifix now. We are almost within attacking range. Once we get there, I will have Garret and Marcel engage the Tyranny. All of the other mobile suits and the three ships are to focus on destroying the dreadnaught's mobile suits and dealing as much damage to the thing as possible" Richard explained.
"Captain, there's an incoming ship, it's the Cherubim!" one of the Ceres' bridge crew called.
"I was wondering when we'd have to face that thing. Alright, we will handle this thing; it's been a thorn in our side for far too long. I want the Bayonet and Tsukoyomi to keep any other mobile suit teams from attacking us" Richard ordered. Mu and Terrance nodded and the transmission was cut.
"Victoria and Garret, you two go for the ship itself. Marcel, Hilde and I will deal with the mobile suits" Aston ordered. The Perfect Strike and the Paladin took a wide birth around the mobile suit team that was deployed ahead of the Cherubim. Hilde watched as a Verde Buster led the other Gundams towards the Ceres.
"Allen" she whispered, readying her beam rifle. "Aston, Marcel, please leave the Verde Buster to me, I want to try and persuade Allen to come with us" the purple haired pilot spoke. Marcel took out his pistol and one of the beam knives that came out of his leg and flew towards the enemy with Aston beside him, holding both swords ready. Hilde watched as they dove head long into the group of Gundams, quickly destroying two of them.
"Hilde Regent…" Allen spoke, opening a communication link with the Saviour as he held up his twin rifles. The two simply watched each other for a few moments as the explosions erupted from behind the Buster with Aston and Marcel destroying the Purity mobile suits.
"Take this!" Marcel roared, plunging his beam knife into the chest of a Duel. "You okay Commander?" he called, seeing Aston in a sword fight with another Sword Calamity.
"Perfectly fine" Aston responded as he quickly spread his arms and fired his Scylla through his opponent. "Sorry, but I can't afford fight fair here" the Commander commented, spinning around and gutting a Gaia in half.
"Stop fighting us Allen! Can't you see you're being used?" Hilde called as she dodged several shots from the Buster's rifles.
"I know that Lord Alastair isn't the best leader, but you know how I feel about Coordinators. Both of the last two wars have been started because of them, I won't let them keep throwing this world into chaos!" Allen said, joining his guns and firing a combined beam. Hilde dodged the attack and closed in quickly, drew her beam sabre and severed the Verde Buster's right hand.
"What about this war then? It wasn't the Coordinators who started it, Alastair did" Hilde said. She dashed back as Allen took a swipe at her with his remaining rifle's bayonet.
"It's a small price to pay to end the threat of those abominations once and for all" Allen said, launching a barrage of missiles at the Saviour. Hilde raised her shield and blocked a majority of the projectiles.
"They're humans just like us!" Hilde roared, flying forward with her beam sabre. Allen went to the side and avoided her thrust. He fired his rifle and destroyed Hilde's right leg. She retreated backwards and took out her own rifle.
"Hilde…" Allen said, tears in his eyes.
"Don't make me shoot you down Allen" she said as she started to cry. Her rifle was pointed straight at the Verde Buster's cockpit. "You're my friend; you're almost like a brother to me. Don't make me do this!" Hilde screamed, the Saviour's finger hesitating on the gun's trigger. Allen's gaze shifted as he saw an Aile Strike coming up behind Hilde with its beam sabre held high.
"If you're right, then lead this world to a new era…" Allen spoke.
"What?" Hilde asked as the Verde Buster flew forward. It flung the Saviour to the side and the Strike's beam sabre cut diagonally through the Buster. "ALLEN!" Hilde screamed as the Verde Buster exploded. One of Aston's beam boomerangs sliced through the Strike as Hilde broke out in tears, her Saviour floating through space.
"Hilde, get back to the Ceres! We can handle the rest" Aston called, backing towards the Saviour. He turned and reached out to the red Gundam as a beam came down and destroyed his Calamity's arm. The explosion pushed the two Gundams apart. "Enough already!" Aston roared as he threw his sword away and hurled his boomerang into the Aegis that has shot him. "Hilde… go back to the ship" Aston said.
"No. I'm going to stay and fight, I will make them pay" Hilde spoke, her tone serious.
"Victoria, use the Agni!" Garret called as he dodged multiple shots from the Cherubim's Valiants before returning fire with his own.
"Right" the brunette pilot responded, bringing the massive green gun up. The ship pitched left as the beam fired so that it grazed the right gunwale and wing. "Damn, I missed" she said, flying at the ship with her sword. She rammed the blade down into the Cherubim's hull and flew along the left side. Garret brought the Paladin up level with the ship's bridge and fired a shot from his Moralltach into the command centre. The ship came to a halt as the bridge exploded and Victoria fired her Agni again, this time the beam tearing through the hull and coming out the other side. The ship began to explode from the outside and the two Gundams retreated back to the Ceres.
"Aston!" Garret called as he saw the Sword Calamity's missing arm and flew over to it.
"I'm fine. It's just a scratch" Aston said.
"Just a scratch? Your suit is missing an entire arm! Go back to the ship and get it repaired, you can't fight like that!" Garret ordered. Aston's eyes widened and he laughed a little.
"Wow, I never thought I see the day when I was taking orders from you" he remarked. He knew Garret wasn't joking around though; the boy was serious and genuinely worried. "Don't worry, I'll head back now. But if you guys are in trouble I'm coming back out, two arms or one" Aston said as he turned and docked with the Ceres.
Alright then, it's time to deliver the final blow that will end this war! Advance on the Crucifix and destroy that monster!" Richard called to the three ships and their mobile suits. There was a cheer and then the group began heading straight for the giant Purity ship.